tag:theconversation.com,2011:/es/topics/ngos-1399/articlesNGOs – The Conversation2024-03-04T22:59:07Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2249482024-03-04T22:59:07Z2024-03-04T22:59:07ZWTO conference ends in division and stalemate – does the global trade body have a viable future?<p>The 13th World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi has failed to resolve any issues of significance, raising the inescapable question of whether the global trade body has a future.</p>
<p>The three-day meeting was due to end on February 29. But late into a fourth extra day, the 164 members were struggling to even agree on a declaration, let alone the big issues of agriculture, fisheries and border taxes on electronic commerce.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJdw3ENDQTY">closing ceremony</a> was sombre, and the <a href="https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=q:/WT/MIN24/W12R1.pdf&Open=True">ministerial declaration</a> bland, stripped of the substantive content <a href="https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=q:/WT/MIN24/W12.pdf&Open=True">previously proposed</a>. Outstanding issues were kicked back to the WTO base in Geneva for further discussions, or for the next ministerial conference in 2026.</p>
<p>Briefing journalists in the closing hours, an EU spokesperson noted how hard it would be to pick up the pieces in Geneva after they failed to create momentum at the ministerial conference. She predicted:</p>
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<p>[Trade] will be more and more characterised by power relations than the rule of law, and that will be a problem notably for smaller countries and for developing countries.</p>
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<h2>Restricted access</h2>
<p>That imbalance is already evident, with power politics characterising the conference from the start. </p>
<p>There were <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/activists-criticise-civil-society-restrictions-wto-meeting-uae-2024-02-28/">accusations of unprecedented restrictions</a> on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) registered to participate in the conference. These bodies are crucial to bringing the WTO’s impacts on farmers, fishers, workers and other communities into the negotiation arena.</p>
<p>A number of NGOs have <a href="https://www.twn.my/title2/wto.info/2024/ti240228.htm">submitted formal complaints</a> over their treatment by conference host the United Arab Emirates. They say they were isolated from delegations, banned from distributing papers, and people were arbitrarily detained for handing out press releases. </p>
<p>Critical negotiations were conducted through controversial “green rooms”. These were where the handpicked “double quad” members – the US, UK, European Union, Canada, China, India, South Africa and Brazil – tried to broker outcomes to present to the rest for “transparency”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/privilege-or-poisoned-chalice-as-deputy-chair-at-next-weeks-wto-meeting-nz-confronts-an-organisation-in-crisis-223849">Privilege or poisoned chalice? As deputy chair at next week’s WTO meeting, NZ confronts an organisation in crisis</a>
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<h2>Influence of power politics</h2>
<p>These powerful countries largely determined the outcomes (or lack of them). The US, historically the agenda-setter at WTO ministerial conferences, appeared largely disinterested in the proceedings, with trade representative Katherine Tai leaving early.</p>
<p>The final declaration says nothing about restoring a two-tier dispute body, which has been <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-08-30/supply-chains-latest-paralysis-at-wto-appellate-body-hurts-global-trade">paralysed since 2019</a> by the refusal of successive US Republican and Democratic administrations to appoint new judges to the WTO’s <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/appellate_body_e.htm">appellate body</a>.</p>
<p>The EU <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/statement_24_933">failed to secure progress</a> on improvements to the appeal process. Likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/04/trump-floats-more-than-60percent-tariffs-on-chinese-imports.html">already announced</a> he would impose massive WTO-illegal tariffs on China if elected.</p>
<p>China, Japan, the US and EU – all big subsidisers of distant water fishing fleets – blocked an outcome aiming to protect global fish stocks, an issue already deferred from the last ministerial meeting.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/fisheries-deal-wto-insufficient-pacific-islands-fiji-says-2024-02-29/">six Pacific Island</a> WTO members lobbied tirelessly for a freeze and eventual reduction in subsidies. But the text was diluted to the point that no deal was better than a bad deal.</p>
<p>The EU, UK, Switzerland and other pharmaceutical producers had already blocked consensus on lifting patents for <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/india-seeks-5-yr-patent-waiver-for-covid-diagnostics-therapeutics-from-wto-123120600256_1.html">COVID-19 therapeutics</a> and diagnostics, sought by 65 developing countries. A deal brokered in 2021 on COVID vaccines is so complex no country has used it.</p>
<h2>Domestic and global agendas</h2>
<p>India’s equally uncompromising positions also reflected domestic priorities. The 2013 Bali ministerial conference promised developing countries a permanent solution to prevent legal challenges to India’s subsidised stockpiling of food for anti-hunger programmes. </p>
<p>A permanent solution was a red line for India, which faces an election next month and mass protests from farmers concerned at losing subsidies. </p>
<p>Agricultural exporters, including New Zealand, tabled counter-demands to broaden the agriculture negotiations. The public stockpiling issue remains a stalemate, without any real prospect of a breakthrough.</p>
<p><a href="https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=q:/WT/MIN24/29.pdf&Open=True">India</a> and South Africa formally objected to the adoption of an <a href="https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=q:/WT/MIN24/17R1.pdf">unmandated plurilateral</a> agreement on <a href="https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/invfac_public_e/invfac_e.htm">investment facilitation</a>. </p>
<p>The concerns were less with the agreement itself and more with the precedent it would create for sub-groups of members to bypass the WTO’s rule book. This would allow powerful states to advance their favoured issues while developing country priorities languish.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-developing-countries-must-unite-to-protect-the-wtos-dispute-settlement-system-224102">Why developing countries must unite to protect the WTO's dispute settlement system</a>
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<h2>Crisis and transformation</h2>
<p>The face-saver for the conference was the temporary extension of a highly contested <a href="https://docs.wto.org/dol2fe/Pages/SS/directdoc.aspx?filename=q:/WT/MIN24/W26.pdf&Open=True">moratorium</a> on the right to levy customs duties at the border on transmissions of digitised content.</p>
<p>Securing that extension (or preferably a permanent ban on e-commerce customs duties) on behalf of Big Tech was the main US goal for the conference. Developing countries opposed its renewal, so they could impose tariffs both for revenue and to support their own digital industrialisation.</p>
<p>The moratorium will now expire in March 2026, so the battle will resume at the next ministerial conference scheduled to be held in Cameroon that year. </p>
<p>But there is every likelihood the current paralysis at the WTO will continue, and the power politics will intensify. As the previously quoted EU spokesperson also mused:</p>
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<p>Perhaps the WTO needed a good crisis, and perhaps this will lead to a realisation that we cannot continue like this.</p>
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<p>Ideally, that would result in a fundamentally different international institution – one that provides real solutions to the 21st century challenges on which the WTO is unable to deliver.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Kelsey attended the WTO ministerial as a representative of the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), and as an invited Guest of the Chair. She advises a number of developing country governments on these issues. She is not paid by, and this is not written on behalf of, any of them. </span></em></p>The recent World Trade Organization conference in Abu Dhabi has again failed to resolve any of the big issues on the table. Power relations rather than rule-based negotiation will fill the void.Jane Kelsey, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2229422024-02-26T20:42:20Z2024-02-26T20:42:20ZTo collaborate or confront? New research provides key insights for environmental NGOs<p>Just after dawn, volunteers for a Toronto-based NGO called the <a href="https://flap.org/">Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) Canada</a> make their way along the streets of the city’s downtown core. FLAP’s mission is to limit the number of migratory birds injured or killed due to collisions with windows. These volunteers are looking for dead or injured birds that fell to the ground after hitting windows during the spring and fall migrations.</p>
<p>An <a href="https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-00568-080206">estimated 15-30 million birds</a> in Canada alone are killed each year after hitting a window. Migratory bird populations have <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aaw1313">dropped significantly</a> in the last 50 years, with window collisions <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-112414-054133">identified as a main cause</a>. However collisions, can only be reduced if building owners agree, or are obliged, to make glassed surfaces less dangerous to birds.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/buildings-kill-millions-of-birds-heres-how-to-reduce-the-toll-130695">Buildings kill millions of birds. Here's how to reduce the toll</a>
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<p>To achieve change, NGOs have two choices: confront stakeholders, or collaborate with them. Both approaches have advantages and disadvantages. </p>
<p>Highlighting guilty parties, especially through the media, can raise awareness and make responses more likely. But aggressive approaches risk closing off opportunities to work together on solutions. Working with stakeholders may achieve mutually acceptable solutions and funding, but NGO priorities may be watered down as a result.</p>
<h2>Collaboration?</h2>
<p>How does an NGO choose between collaboration and confrontation to achieve its goals? <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2023.103885">My recent study used FLAP as a case study to help explore this critical question</a>.</p>
<p>Over three decades, FLAP has continued rescue and recovery operations to assist birds who have struck windows while also continuing advocacy work to push for meaningful change to reduce the risks posed by the windows themselves. Windows are often either <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224164">invisible to birds, or reflect nearby vegetation</a>.</p>
<p>FLAP, like many global NGOs, can often find itself in a delicate position of having to measure its calls for change with the reality of maintaining ongoing collaboration with stakeholders to carry out their core activities. For example, FLAP depends on access to the grounds around office towers to collect birds, so it was hesitant to publicly confront individual building owners. </p>
<p>Collaboration with stakeholders ensures both that FLAP volunteers are welcome to patrol and property managers also encouraged maintenance staff to store dead or injured birds they found. This collaboration had clear benefits.</p>
<p>Instead of targeting specific building owners or property companies, FLAP has largely focused on raising general awareness about the overall scale of bird injuries and deaths due to windows. Since 2001, FLAP has held an <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pattern-made-2100-dead-birds-180958379/">annual public layout</a> of all of the dead birds collected by volunteers, <a href="https://flap.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Touching-Down-Spring-2023.pdf">with 4023</a> dead birds displayed in the 2023 layout. </p>
<p>Data about the location, time of collision and species of bird has also been recorded in a publicly available <a href="https://www.birdmapper.org/">database</a>.</p>
<p>Similarly, FLAP has worked with municipal and commercial stakeholders, in developing <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/official-plan-guidelines/design-guidelines/bird-friendly-guidelines/">best practices</a> for limiting bird-window collisions. These guidelines eventually became part of the <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/official-plan-guidelines/toronto-green-standard/">Toronto Green Standard</a>, which included building specifications — voluntary at first, later mandatory — designed to limit bird collisions. </p>
<p>These requirements include making windows more visible to birds by applying markers, as well as reducing other hazards, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/cities-can-help-migrating-birds-on-their-way-by-planting-more-trees-and-turning-lights-off-at-night-152573">artificial lighting</a>.</p>
<h2>Or a more assertive approach?</h2>
<p>Despite advances in awareness and policy, bird safety advocates were still frustrated with the toll on birds by existing buildings, which were not bound by the <a href="https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/planning-development/official-plan-guidelines/toronto-green-standard/toronto-green-standard-version-4/mid-to-high-rise-residential-non-residential-version-4/ecology-biodiversity/">new standards</a>. While FLAP still took a largely collaborative approach, other organizations took more assertive stances. </p>
<p>Ecojustice, an environmental law NGO, became aware of the issue in part because of FLAP’s annual bird layout. Using FLAP’s bird collision data, Ecojustice brought legal action against the owners of two buildings where particularly high collision numbers had been recorded.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/billions-of-birds-collide-with-glass-buildings-but-architecture-has-solutions-215419">Billions of birds collide with glass buildings – but architecture has solutions</a>
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<p>The first court case <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/building-owners-not-responsible-for-deaths-of-birds-that-fly-into-it-judge-rules/article_7b6bad05-57b0-54a2-861d-158a585b1ead.html#:%7E:text=GTA-,Building%20owners%20not%20responsible%20for%20deaths%20of%20birds%20that%20fly,birds%20before%20applying%20remedial%20measures.">was dismissed</a> in 2012. However, during deliberations, the property owners did make changes to the windows to reduce bird collisions by installing window markers. Confrontation, it seems, could also yield results. </p>
<p>However, the second case brought by Ecojustice in 2013 was against a property owner that had a history of collaboration with FLAP, contributing to guideline development, providing funding and even receiving a “Bird Friendly Building” Certificate from FLAP.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://canlii.ca/en/on/oncj/doc/2013/2013oncj65/2013oncj65.html">ruling</a> in 2013 had mixed results for both sides. The judge ruled in favour of Ecojustice’s <a href="https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/birds-vs-mirrored-buildings-environmental-group-loses-case-but-wins-important-precedent/article_fb9c447e-a67c-50ae-aebc-2918ac5499ac.html">novel argument</a> that light, in the form of reflected vegetation, was a form of pollution. However, the judge also concluded that the property owners had exercised reasonable care in trying to reduce bird collisions by installing window film in areas with the highest recorded collisions. Unfortunately the collaborative relationship was also affected. </p>
<p>Following the ruling, the property owner informed FLAP that its volunteers were no longer allowed on their properties unless FLAP agreed to keep bird collision data confidential, which they did not agree to do.</p>
<h2>Key lessons</h2>
<p>FLAP has taken a mostly collaborative approach, allowing them to rescue birds and create a rigorous collision dataset. This information has contributed to new building codes, as well as prompting changes in older buildings with high collision rates. Confrontation, while rare, occurred only after collaboration did not achieve desired results.</p>
<p>Visual messages, like FLAP’s bird layout, can communicate the scale of the problem and reach a broad audience. This message can be all the more effective when people see a role in the solution, rather than feeling like helpless spectators. Collision reduction options have become <a href="https://flap.org/stop-birds-from-hitting-windows">widely available</a>, giving people a sense of agency.</p>
<p>Strong data and visual images can also attract allies who may take more direct approaches. For example, the NGO <a href="https://www.nevercollide.com/">Never Collide</a> formed in 2019 to address bird collisions in older office buildings. It used FLAP’s data to single out buildings for direct confrontation, through letter writing and shareholder pressure. One of their early victories was in 2021, when the <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-countermeasures-being-installed-at-td-centre-to-reduce-bird-building/">largest bird safe retrofit in North America was installed in downtown Toronto</a>, on one of the buildings that FLAP volunteers had previously been barred from patrolling. </p>
<p>These are important lessons for building upon success in the long term.</p>
<p>In the meantime, volunteers in Toronto and other cities like <a href="https://safewings.ca/">Ottawa</a>, <a href="https://www.nycaudubon.org/our-work/conservation/project-safe-flight/collision-monitoring">New York</a> and <a href="https://www.birdmonitors.net/">Chicago</a> will be patrolling again this spring, as migrating birds return.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222942/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Abbott is affiliated with FLAP as a volunteer.</span></em></p>The experiences of bird safety NGOs show that when trying to achieve environmental goals, being on good terms with stakeholders is important, but direct action can also yield results.James Abbott, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Nipissing UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2137832023-10-12T13:30:45Z2023-10-12T13:30:45ZOver 2 million Nigerians are displaced by farmer-herder conflict in Benue State: there are 4 support systems they turn to<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550292/original/file-20230926-23-6d5e4q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Individuals, organisations and governments have pulled together to support those displaced by the conflict in Benue State, Nigeria.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kola Sulaimon/AFP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the past decade many residents in north and central Nigeria have lived in a perpetual state of fear. <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-driving-violence-in-nigerias-north-central-region-163532">Conflicts</a> between pastoralists and farmers, land disputes, cattle rustling and mass violence have driven millions of people from their homes.</p>
<p>In total, more than <a href="https://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2023/">3.6 million people in Nigeria</a> have been displaced. Many have sought refuge with relatives in neighbouring communities and in internally displaced persons camps. </p>
<p>Benue State in north central Nigeria (its major local government areas include Guma and Gwer-west) has borne the brunt of this crisis. The United Nations <a href="https://saharareporters.com/2023/07/26/internally-displaced-persons-benue-state-now-worse-north-east-region-un-official">says there are 2.1 million internally displaced people</a> in Benue State alone; the majority live in internally displaced people camp facilities within host communities such as Abagana and Daudu. </p>
<p>A great deal of attention is focused on the conflict and on people’s displacement. But that isn’t the end of the story. Both state and non-state actors offer ongoing support for people who have been displaced by herder-farmer conflict. As a researcher investigating people’s experiences of victimisation, I wanted to find out what form this support took, what displaced people thought of the interventions and whether this support was helping them to reintegrate into their original communities. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/25166069231185986">resulting study</a> revealed a complex relationship between reintegration decisions and experiences with displacement support and return settings. In Benue State, displaced victims have four primary support systems: individual, government, faith-based groups and NGOs. </p>
<h2>Four forms of support</h2>
<p>There are four main forms of support being offered to displaced people in Benue State.</p>
<p><strong>1. Individual support:</strong> People from surrounding communities visit camps, actively participate in camp activities, and generously donate food, cash, clothes, and items for young and adolescent children. They offer a personal kind of support that not only sustains those living in the camps but also uplifts their spirits.</p>
<p>One woman I interviewed said:</p>
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<p>…(T)here are still some persons who come here on their own without knowing anyone of us personally to distribute things to us. There are plenty like that, they will drive here with plenty items like noodles and sugar and food.</p>
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<p><strong>2. Support from social and cultural groups:</strong> Various sociocultural and political groups play a crucial role in providing support. These groups include political parties looking for endorsement and validation, cultural clubs and associations. The people I interviewed felt that while some of these groups were acting from genuine good will, others had hidden political motives. Still, their provision of food, clothing, cash and other goods was welcomed.</p>
<p><strong>3. Faith-based support:</strong> The displaced population is mostly Christian; the remainder is Muslim. Religious groups establish a unique connection with victims, bonded by shared faith. Some provide genuine support, while others may seize the opportunity for evangelism or recruitment. Promises of jobs, education and improved lives become lifelines for those searching for hope amid turmoil. One interviewee told me:</p>
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<p>One of the people that have really supported me is the redeemed church people from Makurdi. Since they preached to me and I accepted them, they have been good and supportive to me. They promise me to help me get a job in the town when (the) time comes. </p>
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<p><strong>4. Support from NGOs and the State Emergency Management Agency:</strong> The majority of support for internally displaced people comes from humanitarian non-government organisations working closely with the <a href="https://benuesema.org.ng/">Benue State Emergency Management Agency</a>. These organisations manage and coordinate activities in the camps, offering not only material aid but also a sense of normalcy through social events and distributions of emergency relief materials and survival amenities. </p>
<h2>Looking ahead</h2>
<p>These support systems all play an important role in providing emotional, social and practical assistance to those displaced by the conflict in Benue State.</p>
<p>They can also help smooth the path for people to resettle in their own homes and communities. One interviewee, who had returned to the home he’d fled, said the support he received while displaced and since resettling had helped: </p>
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<p>I have received different amount of support since I returned. I received rice and beans with vegetable oil, and later received plant chemicals, fertiliser and seeds to plant on my farm.</p>
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<p>Recognising and strengthening these support networks is vital for a brighter future for Benue State’s displaced communities. For this to happen, the affected communities must be engaged and involved in long-term planning. All the groups involved in providing support should collaborate while efforts continue to end the conflict that has torn Benue State apart.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213783/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victor Onyilor Achem does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Individuals, the government, faith-based groups and NGOs all offer support to those who have fled the herder-farmer conflict.Victor Onyilor Achem, Researcher, University of IbadanLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145092023-10-01T09:57:46Z2023-10-01T09:57:46ZTrade unions and the new economy: 3 African case studies show how workers are recasting their power in the digital age<p>From US <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-trump-woo-union-workers-michigan-auto-strikes-grow-2023-09-26/">car factories</a> to public sector workers <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/5/nigerian-unions-strike-again-to-protest-soaring-costs-after-subsidy-removal">in Nigeria</a> and <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2023/09/08/city-of-tshwane-samwu-strike-a-deliberate-effort-to-turn-the-city-into-a-dumpsite">South Africa</a>, strikes by trade unions continue unabated among the established sectors of the working class. In Detroit in the US, workers are resisting contract employment. In Nigeria they are angry over the rising cost of living and in South Africa, municipal workers are striking for better wages.</p>
<p>But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to build sustainable worker organisations as companies employ more people on a casual basis in the digital age. Work has become more precarious and workers are easily replaceable. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://witspress.co.za/page/detail/Recasting-Workers%EF%BF%BD-Power/?k=9781776148820">new book</a>, Recasting Workers’ Power: Work and Inequality in the Shadow of the Digital Age, we focus on workers’ power. The classic example of workers’ power is the strike: the collective withdrawal of labour to force an employer to do what they would otherwise not have done. </p>
<p>In this book we challenge the dominant narrative that new technology has destroyed workers’ power. We focus on the new jobs that are being created – food couriers, e-hailing drivers, street traders and the growing numbers of casual workers at the core of the economy.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/zambias-copper-mines-hard-baked-racism-into-the-workplace-by-labelling-whites-expats-188751">Zambia's copper mines hard-baked racism into the workplace by labelling whites 'expats'</a>
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<p>We show how these precarious workers are organising in new ways that go beyond the traditional methods of union formation. For example, they are forming coalitions with other organisations, such as NGOs. In some cases they are combining these new approaches with traditional ways of bringing workers’ collective power to bear, for example by making use of laws that support workers’ rights.</p>
<h2>Three case studies</h2>
<p>We focus on three sectors: factory workers in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg in South Africa; food couriers in Johannesburg; and transport workers in Kampala, Uganda. </p>
<p>We examined their ways of organising by applying, in addition to the strike weapon, the lens of three other ways of exercising power: associational power (collective organisation), coalitions (societal power) and institutional power (laws that entrench labour rights). </p>
<p>We found the factory workers were using a range of tools – old and new – to organise. Factory committees were formed at some workplaces. This involved working with a labour supportive NGO. But they also drew on old practices (institutional power) by taking up cases through the <a href="https://www.ccma.org.za/">Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration</a> and the amended <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/labour-relations-act">Labour Relations Act</a>. Both offer the possibility of workers being able to get permanent jobs in the company at which they work.</p>
<p>The food carriers were using different tactics. In Johannesburg they had created worker-driven messaging apps and chat groups where they shared information, developed a shared identity and announced local direct action. </p>
<p>Being self-employed weakens their organising power. But the potential for collective power was increased when they met face-to-face at work zones and began to form a collective identity. Some have engaged in collective action, but with limited impact to date. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/has-south-africas-labour-movement-become-a-middle-class-movement-82629">Has South Africa’s labour movement become a middle class movement?</a>
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<p>They achieved some success when they worked with a supportive NGO (an international organisation) to put forward demands to regulate their work.</p>
<p>In Kampala, we found that the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union was also using new approaches to organise workers. In the 1980s the union faced a near collapse of membership when privatisation undermined the public transport sector. This eliminated the position of the traditional public transport bus driver. Informal mini-taxi drivers and motorcycle taxi riders (known locally as boda boda) became the dominant mode of transport.</p>
<p>By classifying the growing number of boda boda riders as workers and therefore potential union members, the union expanded from a declining 5,000 members to over 100,000. In spite of the fragmented and isolated nature of their work these new workers were already organised – not into a trade union but into informal associations. </p>
<p>These associations formed an alliance with the established union. By doing this they gained concrete support from the International Transport Federation, a global union of transport workers. This led to the dramatic growth of the union, a decline in police harassment and growing recognition as a collective bargaining partner.</p>
<p>Importantly, where trade unions have taken up the issues of informal workers, unions have also undergone fundamental changes. They often become “hybrid” organisations, blurring the distinction between traditional unionism, informal workers’ associations and cooperatives.</p>
<h2>What next?</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/recasting-labours-power">research</a> clearly articulates the challenges workers face. But it also suggests some grounds for optimism in the new and hybrid forms of organisation and the coalitions that are emerging. </p>
<p>The question raised by these findings is whether these embryonic forms of worker organisation are sustainable. Could they become the foundations for a new cycle of worker solidarity and union growth?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-formal-employment-is-not-a-guaranteed-path-to-social-equality-177251">Why formal employment is not a guaranteed path to social equality</a>
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<p>We conclude that this is possible if they innovate and experiment with new forms of association, use digital tools, and broaden unions’ reach through coalition-building with other civil society organisations. In sum, we are suggesting that workers’ power is being recast as precarious workers in Africa experiment with new ways of organising in the digital age.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Webster receives funding from organisation.Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. I am a Distinguished Research Professor at the Southern Centre of Inequality Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand </span></em></p>Workers’ power is being recast as precarious workers in Africa experiment with new ways of organising in the digital ageEdward Webster, Distinguished Reserach Professor, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2018462023-03-27T12:24:35Z2023-03-27T12:24:35ZWhy the growing number of foreign agent laws around the world is bad for democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517248/original/file-20230323-18-m7jknq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C90%2C6002%2C3920&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Georgians protest a foreign agent bill that mirrored a Russian law used to crack down on dissent.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/people-take-part-in-a-demonstration-outside-georgias-news-photo/1247903655">Vano Shlamov/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>After several days of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64893359">mass protests and clashes between protesters and police</a> in early March, the ruling party of Georgia, a former Soviet state located in the Caucasus, succumbed to pressure and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64899041">abandoned its proposed laws</a> on foreign agents.</p>
<p>But the uproar and media focus surrounding the Georgian initiative and its demise should not mask a greater trend when it comes to such laws, which target foreign-funded media and nongovernmental organizations, or NGOs. Over the past decade they have sprung up in countries across the world. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/28/china-passes-law-imposing-security-controls-on-foreign-ngos">China</a>, <a href="https://www.fidh.org/en/issues/human-rights-defenders/india-judicial-harassment-against-the-centre-for-promotion-of-social">India</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/aug/26/ngos-face-restrictions-laws-human-rights-generation">Cambodia</a>, <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00133">Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.icnl.org/resources/civic-freedom-monitor/uganda">Uganda</a> are among the dozens of countries that have “foreign agent” laws on their books. </p>
<p>And a few days after the withdrawal of the Georgian draft laws, <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-ursula-von-der-leyen-ngo-qatargate-foreign-agents-law-disturbs-ngos/">Politico reported</a> that the European Union was going to develop its own register of foreign agents.</p>
<h2>Overly broad, prone to abuse</h2>
<p>The impetus for the adoption of these laws in recent years has come from growing international tensions and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-presidential-elections-election-2020-bf2a1b8b95350382295a1bc5d1073770">concerns of national authorities</a> <a href="https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/beyond-disinformation-%E2%80%93-eu-responses-threat-foreign-information-manipulation_en">about foreign influence</a> on domestic affairs and public opinion.</p>
<p>The interpretation and application of “foreign agent” laws varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. But they all tend to require the registration and singling out of organizations with foreign funding or “influence.” In many cases, their activities are also curtailed unreasonably.</p>
<p>From <a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/fletcherrussia/the-russia-and-eurasia-program-welcomes-new-visiting-scholar-maxim-krupskiy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-russia-and-eurasia-program-welcomes-new-visiting-scholar-maxim-krupskiy">my experience representing</a> NGOs classified as foreign agents, such laws have the potential to be used as a tool against groups providing human rights and social assistance or monitoring the transparency of government agencies. Any organization involved in any way in international activities and deemed by a state to be influencing domestic policy or public opinion runs the risk of being recognized as a foreign agent.</p>
<p>The legislation in Georgia would have required nongovernmental organizations and media outlets that receive <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64893359">more than 20% of their funding from abroad</a> to be included in a special register of “agents of foreign influence.” They would also need to file an annual financial declaration or face a US$9,500 fine.</p>
<p>The authors of the Georgia bill <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/03/07/georgia-foreign-agents-bill-tramples-rights">compared it to</a> the American <a href="https://www.justice.gov/nsd-fara/fara-index-and-act#611a">Foreign Agents Registration Act</a>, or FARA, which applies to any “agent of a foreign principal.”</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/why-is-georgia-turmoil-over-foreign-agents-law-2023-03-09/">critics argued</a> that it was a copy of <a href="http://www.consultant.ru/document/cons_doc_LAW_421788/">Russia’s more repressive foreign agents law</a>. <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/01/russia-court-order-to-liquidate-moscow-helsinki-group-human-rights-organization-unlawful/">Human rights groups say</a> the Russian law allows the Kremlin to obstruct the work of NGOs and independent media, as well as to <a href="https://www.hrw.org/russia-government-against-rights-groups-battle-chronicle">harass dissenting citizens</a>.</p>
<p>Ever since Russia enacted its foreign agents law in 2012, I have seen how authorities use vague legal concepts like “political activity,” “foreign funding” and “foreign influence” to determine whether an NGO is a foreign agent. These vague legal concepts allow executive authorities and courts to interpret the law as broadly as they like and arbitrarily decide who is or isn’t a foreign agent.</p>
<p>And this broad and arbitrary classification of foreign agents is not unique to Russia. It also applies to foreign agent legislation in more democratic countries. However, the more authoritarian a regime is, the more negative consequences these laws have on civil society.</p>
<h2>How foreign agent laws began</h2>
<p>The first foreign agent law, <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-started-with-nazis-concerns-over-foreign-agents-not-just-a-trump-era-phenomenon-109025">FARA, was enacted in the U.S.</a> in 1938 to counter Nazi propaganda. This law is still in force today but has undergone significant changes. The concept of propaganda has disappeared from it, and its <a href="https://www.justice.gov/nsd-fara/frequently-asked-questions">stated purpose</a> is to identify foreign influence in the U.S. and address threats to national security. </p>
<p>While FARA does not create repressive restrictions on civil society, it can be interpreted extremely broadly if desired. The large number of <a href="https://www.justice.gov/nsd-fara/advisory-opinions">advisory opinions</a> that the FARA unit has issued on individual requests indicates how difficult it can be to determine who should register as a foreign agent. </p>
<p>In drafting their own foreign agent legislation, Russia and Georgia both referred to FARA. However, there is a key difference between their legislation and FARA: In the Russian and now-abandoned Georgian versions, “foreign agents” do not need to carry out activities on behalf of a foreign government, political party, business or individual.</p>
<p>As such, the use of the terms “foreign agent” and “agent of foreign influence” is incorrect from a legal point of view – agency activity does not even need to be proved.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the legal consequences are very real for those who are labeled “foreign agents.” In Russia, these organizations <a href="http://duma.gov.ru/en/news/54760/">cannot engage in educational activities</a> in state schools, organize public events or produce or distribute materials for children. And their programs and activities can be canceled by state authorities even if they do not violate the law.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Police in riot gear form a barrier during a protest after dark" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517253/original/file-20230323-1493-yxw25t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517253/original/file-20230323-1493-yxw25t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517253/original/file-20230323-1493-yxw25t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517253/original/file-20230323-1493-yxw25t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517253/original/file-20230323-1493-yxw25t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517253/original/file-20230323-1493-yxw25t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/517253/original/file-20230323-1493-yxw25t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Protesters in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, face police in riot gear as they rally against the government’s planned foreign agent legislation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/police-in-riot-gear-face-protesters-in-tbilisi-early-on-news-photo/1247923598">Zurab Tsertsvadze/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span>
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<h2>Civil rights violations</h2>
<p>Similar legislation in other countries also violates civil rights and freedoms. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/28/china-passes-law-imposing-security-controls-on-foreign-ngos">Chinese law</a> requires NGOs to obtain government permission to conduct their activities and to register with the security authorities, along with a number of other serious restrictions that essentially make it impossible for them to operate. As The Guardian newspaper has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/28/china-passes-law-imposing-security-controls-on-foreign-ngos">pointed out</a>, “foreign NGOs must refrain from engaging in political or religious activities or acting in a way that damages ‘China’s national interests’ or ‘ethnic unity.’”</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.icnl.org/resources/civic-freedom-monitor/uganda">Uganda</a>, NGOs cannot operate in any part of the country unless they receive permission from the District NGO Monitoring Committee and the local government. They must also sign a memorandum of understanding with government representatives. </p>
<p>In 2022, international human rights organizations including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch <a href="https://www.fidh.org/en/issues/human-rights-defenders/india-judicial-harassment-against-the-centre-for-promotion-of-social">called on</a> the Indian government to stop applying the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act to civil society. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/18/india-should-stop-using-abusive-foreign-funding-law">They argued that</a> the law was being used to persecute the <a href="http://cpsc.org.in/">Centre for Promotion of Social Concerns</a>, a prominent local NGO that monitors human rights abuses. Indian authorities <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/press-release/2022/01/india-should-stop-using-abusive-foreign-funding-law/">accused the group</a> of “portraying India’s human rights record in negative light … to the detriment of India’s image,” and searched its office and seized documents.</p>
<p>Beyond these legal consequences for NGOs, state rhetoric against foreign agents can lead citizens to distrust important NGOs and other organizations that protect human rights and provide public services. And unfairly applying the foreign agents law to individuals leads to a return to the Soviet rhetoric of “enemies of the nation.” Vladimir Putin’s railing against unspecified “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/putin-warns-russia-against-pro-western-traitors-scum-2022-03-16/">scum and national traitors” and the “fifth column</a>” wishing to destroy Russia in the interests of the West is an extreme manifestation of this rhetoric.</p>
<p>International courts have recognized how foreign agents laws have violated citizens’ rights and freedoms. In June 2022, the <a href="https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/fre?i=001-217751">European Court of Human Rights ruled</a> that Russia had violated the right to freedom of assembly and association with regard to NGOs deemed foreign agents. Two years earlier, the <a href="https://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf;jsessionid=ADF0AD9AC24CADD2B5B1D5F2179FDEE8?text=&docid=227569&pageIndex=0&doclang=en&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=7946019">European Court of Justice determined</a> that the Hungarian law on foreign agents unduly violates individual rights and freedoms and contradicts the European Union Charter of Human Rights. However, neither decision brought practical results, as the legislation in Russia and Hungary remains intact.</p>
<h2>Growing movement</h2>
<p>In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and foreign interference in <a href="https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/press/senate-intel-releases-election-security-findings-first-volume-bipartisan-russia-report">elections in the U.S.</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/canada-starts-setting-up-foreign-agent-registry-amid-reports-chinese-election-2023-03-10/">Canada</a>, measures to protect state sovereignty have <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-ursula-von-der-leyen-ngo-qatargate-foreign-agents-law-disturbs-ngos/">grown more popular</a>. </p>
<p>Countries need to ensure transparency in financial transactions in order to curb corruption, money laundering, terrorism funding and other crimes. However, creating unnecessarily broad foreign agents laws that stigmatize and restrict law-abiding NGOs, independent media and individuals is a threat to democratic values.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201846/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maxim Krupskiy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Foreign agent laws claimed as a tool to fight back against foreign interference can also be used to silence critics and repress law-abiding NGOs, independent media and individuals.Maxim Krupskiy, Visiting scholar, Russia and Eurasia Program, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1975552023-03-20T13:18:59Z2023-03-20T13:18:59ZLGBTQ+ rights: African Union watchdog goes back on its own word<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/504208/original/file-20230112-40319-n0c4ew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Denial of observer status robs the three NGOs of a voice. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The primary human rights watchdog in Africa recently made a decision that departed from its existing practice. The <a href="https://achpr.org/home">African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights</a>, an independent expert body within the African Union (AU) framework, used sexual or gender identity as the reason it rejected applications for observer status from three non-governmental organisations (NGOs).</p>
<p>The commission said that “sexual orientation” was not an “expressly recognised right” in the <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36390-treaty-0011_-_african_charter_on_human_and_peoples_rights_e.pdf">African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights</a>. It also said that protecting and promoting sexual and gender minority rights was “contrary to the virtues of African values”.</p>
<p>The decision casts a shadow over the commission’s commitment to advancing the rights of all Africans. It also <a href="https://www.chr.up.ac.za/images/researchunits/sogie/documents/English_-_JOINT_STATEMENT_ON_DECISION_OF_ACHPR_AT_THE_73RD_SESSION_OF_ACHPR.pdf">seriously erodes its independence from AU states</a>. </p>
<p>One of the commission’s competences is to grant observer status to <a href="https://achpr.au.int/ngos">NGOs</a>. This entitles an NGO to participate in the commission’s public sessions, and make statements drawing attention to the violation of the rights of the most vulnerable, including sexual and gender minorities. </p>
<p>So far, the commission has <a href="https://achpr.au.int/index.php/en/news/final-communiques/2022-11-18/final-communique-73rd-ordinary-session-african-commission-human">granted observer status to 544 NGOs</a>. The three it recently refused observer status to are <a href="https://www.alternative-ci.org/#:%7E:text=Alternative%20C%C3%B4te%20d%E2%80%99Ivoire%20%28ACI%29%20est%20une%20ONG%20cr%C3%A9%C3%A9e,personnes%20LGBTQPour%20la%20promotion%20de%20l%E2%80%99%C3%A9galit%C3%A9%20du%20genre">Alternative Côte d'Ivoire</a>, <a href="http://rightsrwanda.com/">Human Rights First Rwanda</a> and <a href="https://synergiaihr.org/">Synergía – Initiatives for Human Rights</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/successes-of-african-human-rights-court-undermined-by-resistance-from-states-166454">Successes of African Human Rights Court undermined by resistance from states</a>
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<p>The denial of observer status means that the NGOs will not have a voice before the African commission. They will not be able to draw its attention to the human rights violations of LGBTQ+ people in Africa. The move further politicises sexual and gender minority issues in Africa, further restricts civil society functioning, and further marginalises communities and people who have already been stigmatised and excluded. </p>
<h2>Not the first time</h2>
<p>The commission’s decision has a history. In 2015, it granted observer status to a South African-based NGO, the Coalition of African Lesbians. The AU executive council <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/31762-ex_cl_dec_873_-_898_xxvii_e.pdf">directed the commission</a> to withdraw this, on the basis that the NGO attempts to impose values contrary to African values. The executive council is made up of ministers of foreign affairs. Its mandate is to “consider” the commission’s activity reports.</p>
<p>After getting <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/34655-ex_cl_dec_1008_-1030_xxxiii_e.pdf">an ultimatum</a> from the executive council, the commission complied in 2018. </p>
<p>The reversal attracted the <a href="https://www.up.ac.za/faculty-of-law/news/post_2674950-centre-for-human-rights-calls-for-autonomy-and-independence-of-the-african-commission-to-be-reaffirmed-and-for-action-on-cameroon-and-eritrea">legitimate criticism</a> that the commission was <a href="https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-rise-and-rise-of-political-backlash-african-union-executive-councils-decision-to-review-the-mandate-and-working-methods-of-the-african-commission/#more-16384">not acting independently</a> in supervising state compliance with human rights in Africa.</p>
<p>Its latest decision rests on three pillars. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>It assumes that all three NGOs advocate for the equal rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) persons, without explaining how they do this.</p></li>
<li><p>It argues that because sexual orientation is not a right expressly provided for in the African human rights charter, these NGOs lack a basis to exist.</p></li>
<li><p>The commission holds the view that the NGOs’ work of advancing equal rights and dignity for all, irrespective of sexual orientation, is against African values. </p></li>
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<p>Strong arguments can be mounted against all three. </p>
<h2>The LGBTQ+ question</h2>
<p>In my view the commission is on shaky ground in asserting that the three NGOs pursue a particular LGBTQ+ agenda. A look at the publicly accessible websites of all three casts doubt on this assertion.</p>
<p>In addition, if all NGOs working to advance equality based on sexual orientation were disqualified from observer status, many more would be affected. NGOs may have a particular focus, such as women’s rights, but they increasingly work within the reality of intersectionality. People’s rights are interrelated and indivisible. Thus, women’s rights organisations would inevitably be concerned about the rights of lesbians. </p>
<p>To deny such a body observer status is to negate the interrelatedness of rights.</p>
<h2>Sexual orientation and nondiscrimination</h2>
<p>The commission is also on shaky ground when it comes to the debate about rights. </p>
<p>It is well accepted that there is no distinct “right to sexual orientation”, as such, under human rights law. <a href="https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/sexual-orientation/sexual-orientation">Sexual orientation</a> is innate to every human being. We all have one, whatever it may be. </p>
<p>The charter to which the commission refers to justify its rejection contains a provision (article 2) setting out an open-ended list of <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36390-treaty-0011_-_african_charter_on_human_and_peoples_rights_e.pdf">non-discrimination grounds</a>. Nothing prevents “sexual orientation” from being read into this list.</p>
<p>The commission’s own practice also contradicts its argument. There are numerous grounds for non-discrimination that the commission has recognised. Take disability. It is not included in article 2. Yet the commission has tacitly accepted that “disability” is a ground <a href="https://au.int/sites/default/files/treaties/36440-treaty-protocol_to_the_achpr_on_the_rights_of_persons_with_disabilities_in_africa_e.pdf">on which discrimination is not allowed</a>. The same applies to “age”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/botswana-court-ruling-is-a-ray-of-hope-for-lgbt-people-across-africa-118713">Botswana court ruling is a ray of hope for LGBT people across Africa</a>
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<p>The commission itself has adopted the position that sexual orientation (and gender identity) are grounds on which discrimination under the African Charter cannot be tolerated. <a href="https://www.chr.up.ac.za/images/researchunits/sogie/documents/resolution_275/Resolution_275_booklet_ENGLISH_02_WEB.pdf">Resolution 275</a>, adopted at the African Commission’s 55th Ordinary Session, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/SP/55thOrdinarySession_en.pdf">in 2014</a>, specifically condemns “systematic attacks by state and non-state actors” against persons because of their imputed or real sexual orientation or gender identity.</p>
<h2>African values</h2>
<p>Finally, the commission’s approach implies a simplistic view that there is a single set of values that define what “African” is. In a continent of great diversity and dynamism, such a monolithic approach beggars belief.</p>
<p>Through its restrictive interpretation of “African values”, the commission has taken an approach that inhibits human rights. It negates charter values such as tolerance, and the foundational charter premise of equal dignity of all, which is a restatement of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-archbishop-tutus-ubuntu-credo-teaches-the-world-about-justice-and-harmony-84730">ubuntu (humanness) principle</a> in <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/policy/african%20charter/1981_AFRICAN%20CHARTER%20ON%20HUMAN%20AND%20PEOPLES%20RIGHTS.pdf">article 29 of the charter</a>.</p>
<p>Discrimination against anyone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity is not an African value. Discrimination breeds violence, and violence is inimical to respect for human rights. </p>
<p>While 32 African states (60% of them) still criminalise <a href="https://76crimes.com/76-countries-where-homosexuality-is-illegal/">consensual sex between adults</a>, 22 states (40%) have either never <a href="https://theconversation.com/abolition-of-angolas-anti-gay-laws-may-pave-the-way-for-regional-reform-111432">criminalised consensual same-sex acts between adults</a> or no longer do.</p>
<p>The commission’s reasoning on “African values” is an affront to these African states. It is equally an affront to the many non-heterosexual Africans
whose existence is an undeniable matter of human biology.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-rights-commission-can-and-should-do-more-for-sexual-minorities-116601">Africa's rights commission can -- and should -- do more for sexual minorities</a>
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<p>Two of the NGOs – Alternative Côte d'Ivoire and Human Rights First Rwanda Association – operate legally in countries that do not criminalise same-sex consensual conduct. (Synergía – Initiatives for Human Rights operates from the United States.) The commission implies that Côte d’Ivoire and Rwanda are “un-African” because they allow the registration of these NGOs. </p>
<h2>Beyond the setback</h2>
<p>The commission’s decision is clearly a setback. However, those committed to human rights in Africa need to continue supporting the commission, based on its established jurisprudence, including Resolution 275, to ensure that the African Charter protects rights on the continent.</p>
<p>The commission took a step in this direction in January, when it condemned the <a href="https://achpr.au.int/en/news/press-releases/2023-01-07/press-statement-tragic-murder-edwin-chiloba-kenya">homophobic killing of Kenyan gay activist Edwin Choliba</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197555/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frans Viljoen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Discrimination against anyone based on their sexual orientation or gender identity is not an African value.Frans Viljoen, Director and Professor of International Human Rights Law, Centre for Human Rights, University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1993922023-02-26T15:06:31Z2023-02-26T15:06:31ZHow white saviourism harms international development<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509505/original/file-20230210-28-9m08d9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=327%2C0%2C940%2C706&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Comedians Seth Meyers (far right) and Amber Ruffin (right) spoofed the 'White Saviour' complex in a fake movie segment on the 'Late Night With Seth Meyers.' </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/seth-meyers-amber-ruffin-spoof-awards-movies-white-savior-trailer-1188928/">Lloyd Bishop/NBC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A little while ago, <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/seth-meyers-amber-ruffin-spoof-awards-movies-white-savior-trailer-1188928/">two comedians on a late-night show poked fun of the “white saviour complex.”</a> It’s the idea that people of colour, whether in the Global South or in the West, need “saving” from a white western person or aid worker. </p>
<p>The comedians, Seth Meyers and Amber Ruffin, were talking about representation in movies, but the issue of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/oct/17/did-a-white-saviours-evangelical-zeal-turn-deadly-uganda-renee-bach-serving-his-children">white saviourism and colonial attitudes, especially in international development,</a> is very real. </p>
<p>Accusations of white saviourism often include a story about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/mar/23/comic-relief-to-ditch-white-saviour-stereotype-appeals">white international volunteers taking selfies with Black children</a>. However, such voyeuristic tourism is just the tip of the iceberg. </p>
<h2>White saviourism – in theory and practice</h2>
<p>These conversations are not new. More than a decade ago, writer Teju Cole defined the white saviour mentality as <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/03/the-white-savior-industrial-complex/254843/">“an emotional experience that validates privilege.”</a> Cole described white saviourism as an intricate web of North/South power relations that involve for example <a href="https://www.history.com/news/us-overthrow-foreign-governments">American-backed coups</a> and western interests in Africa.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511816/original/file-20230222-26-52l9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511816/original/file-20230222-26-52l9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511816/original/file-20230222-26-52l9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511816/original/file-20230222-26-52l9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511816/original/file-20230222-26-52l9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511816/original/file-20230222-26-52l9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/511816/original/file-20230222-26-52l9x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Invisible Children produced Kony2012 and was criticized for simplifying complex issues.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Cole discusses a now infamous social media campaign and documentary, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/08/style/kony-2012-invisible-children.html">#Kony2012 led by the American organization Invisible Children and its founder Jason Russell</a>. #Kony2012 focused on the importance of arresting the Ugandan militant Joseph Kony, then the No. 1 war criminal for the International Criminal Court.</p>
<p>The impulse behind Russell’s short documentary was that western populations did not know about Kony and that the conflict would resolve itself if they knew. It was based on Russell’s quest to help Ugandans. <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/18/kony_2012_ugandans_criticize_popular_video">“Everything in my heart told me to do something,” Russell said in the movie.</a> But Russell never went into depth with expert sources and he did not offer real potential solutions to the conflict.</p>
<p>Ugandan writer <a href="https://twitter.com/RosebellK">Rosebell Kagumire</a> says white saviour narratives often <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLVY5jBnD-E">lessen the complexity</a> of African socio-political situations. In so doing, they also ignore the role of western countries in encouraging inequalities and wars in the Global South.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-other-we-charity-scandal-white-saviourism-144331">The other WE Charity scandal: White saviourism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Aid workers in unequal power structures</h2>
<p>Scholars have described aid workers as “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/3095891">missionaries of development</a>” who represent a system supported by individuals with good intentions who avoid criticizing capitalist mechanisms of exploitation.</p>
<p>This paradox means that our economic system continues to exploit Global South populations for private gains, while international organizations try to help with localized development interventions. All this is undergirded by the western self-perception that westerners are more capable, intelligent and thus more “developed.” </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BHfD5Q5DJLr/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>White saviuorism is thus both a state of mind and a concrete unequal power structure between the Global North and the Global South based on white supremacy and exploitation. </p>
<p>As Frantz Fanon said in the <a href="https://groveatlantic.com/book/the-wretched-of-the-earth/"><em>Wretched of the Earth</em></a>, white people’s subjectivity is always confirmed, whereas non-whites are victimized. Indeed, most initiatives by European and western donors to address inequality in the non-western world thrive on the assumption that the latter cannot manage themselves and that only external “white saviours” can put things in order. </p>
<h2>Common threads</h2>
<p>As development practitioners and scholars from three countries (Uganda, Pakistan, and Canada) who have witnessed these issues within our fields, we decided to invite those impacted by white saviourism to voice their understandings of it. </p>
<p>We discussed the issue with 15 people from the Global South with diverse professional backgrounds. They talked about their scholarship and lived experience of <a href="https://darajapress.com/publication/the-white-savior-complex-in-international-development-theory-practice-and-lived-experiences">white saviourism in international development</a>. </p>
<p>In our conversations and then in our edited volume, <em>White Saviorism in International Development: Theories, Practices and Lived Experiences</em>, we found several common threads of white saviourism. </p>
<p>The contributors <a href="https://darajapress.com/publication/the-white-savior-complex-in-international-development-theory-practice-and-lived-experiences">described</a> the many woes of the international development industry: its racist tendencies, colonial attitudes, lack of accountability, lack of respect for its subjects and the lack of inclusion of those it works with and its attitude of superiority over others. </p>
<p>These include the continued dispossession of Indigenous people from their lands; the role that white women play in white saviourism; the perpetuation of the saviour complex by “Brown” saviours who take on the mantle in their own countries; how organizations of the Global North steal space from those in the Global South — a space that is not their own. </p>
<h2>Today’s buzz-worthy phrase: ‘Decolonizing aid’</h2>
<p>The goal, “decolonizing aid,” has become <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/decolonisation-comfortable-buzzword-aid-sector/">buzz-worthy</a> in recent years and organizations, activists and civil society organizations have set up <a href="https://centre-arc-hub.ca/">task forces</a>, and <a href="https://www.theracialequityindex.org/">indexes</a>, published reports <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2022/jun/23/racism-in-aid-sector-is-a-hangover-of-colonialism-says-scathing-report-by-mps">here</a> and <a href="https://www.peacedirect.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/PD-Decolonising-Aid-Report.pdf">there</a> about this issue. They have recorded <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/podcast/2020/1/6/rethinking-humanitarianism-decolonising-aid">podcasts</a>, listed tons of <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/feature/2022/08/12/Decolonising-aid-a-reading-and-resource-list">resources</a>, organized <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEYX5bKQlNc&t=244s&ab_channel=CASID%2FACEDIAdministration">conferences</a> and written <a href="https://ecosociete.org/livres/perdre-le-sud">books</a> and <a href="https://plan-international.org/blog/2022/03/22/thoughts-on-decolonising-the-aid-sector-part-1/">articles</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-time-to-end-child-sponsorship-190407">Why it's time to end child sponsorship</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But as international development practitioner and researcher Themrise Khan <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/aug/31/racism-doesnt-just-exist-within-aid-its-the-structure-the-sector-is-built-on">points out</a>, racism does not only exist within aid: it’s the structure the sector is built on.</p>
<p>To tackle that racism and “decolonize aid,” international development practitioners and scholars first need to understand the structure of white supremacy it is based on. This does not mean North/South solidarity should not exist, but that we need to reinvent its foundations.</p>
<p>Global South observers have voiced <a href="https://www.nowhitesaviors.org/">this same criticism</a> for decades now, but western organizations and individuals have been slow to hear them.</p>
<p>International involvement in Haiti is a seminal example of this <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/22/insider/investigating-haitis-double-debt.html#:%7E:text=Further%20estimates%20by%20The%20Times,it%20still%20affects%20Haiti%20today.">contradiction</a>, as Rose Esther Sincimat Fleurant indicates in her chapter in <a href="https://darajapress.com/publication/the-white-savior-complex-in-international-development-theory-practice-and-lived-experiences">our book</a>. </p>
<p>On the one hand, the country was founded on the freedom of previously enslaved peoples, who were then economically annihilated over time with the enforced debt reimbursement to France for their independence and the United States occupation from 1915 to 1934. On the other hand, when an earthquake strikes, western populations and governments send money and NGOs, while accusing the Haitian government of corruption.</p>
<h2>The road to change</h2>
<p>To disrupt these legacies of colonial inequalities (not to use the <a href="https://www-tandfonline-com.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/doi/epdf/10.1080/03906701.2020.1776919?needAccess=true&role=button">“decolonial” buzzword</a>), Global South aid workers need to take more control.</p>
<p>Our book documents and critically analyzes the actions of global aid organizations: it is one step towards dismantling the structure of white saviourism. But it will definitely not end there. </p>
<p><em>Themrise Khan from the International Institute for Migration and Development contributed to the writing of this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199392/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maïka Sondarjee receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dickson Kanakulya does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>White saviourism is simultaneously a state of mind and a concrete unequal power structure between the Global North and the Global South.Maïka Sondarjee, Professeure adjointe, International Development and Global Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaDickson Kanakulya, Lecturer, Makerere UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1902222022-09-30T12:26:24Z2022-09-30T12:26:24ZNicaragua has kicked out hundreds of NGOs – even cracking down on Catholic groups like nuns from Mother Teresa’s order<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487153/original/file-20220928-24-dggq1k.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=143%2C83%2C3850%2C2287&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nicaragua's lawmakers have closed NGOs in a string of decrees.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/general-view-of-nicaraguan-parliament-during-a-session-in-news-photo/1239277687">STR/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many <a href="https://carnegieeurope.eu/2018/07/24/nature-of-democratic-backsliding-in-europe-pub-76868">countries around the world are becoming less democratic</a> as leaders in places such as <a href="https://www.democratic-erosion.com/2022/02/16/recent-downfall-of-democracy-in-nicaragua/">Nicaragua</a>, <a href="https://www.democratic-erosion.com/2022/03/07/what-happens-to-a-democracy-deferred-malis-delayed-democratic-elections/">Mali</a>, <a href="https://www.democratic-erosion.com/2022/04/20/viktor-orbans-hungary-a-democracy-backsliding/">Hungary</a> and <a href="https://www.democratic-erosion.com/2022/06/11/freedom-of-speech-and-media-in-bangladesh-the-exploitation-of-media-and-restriction-of-free-speech-as-a-tool-to-advance-electoral-autocracy-by-ezgi-nalci/">Bangladesh</a> seek to increase their power and diminish the ability of the courts, legislatures and independent institutions to constrain them.</p>
<p>It’s a process that scholars in political science refer to as “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abb2434">democratic backsliding</a>” or “<a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/719009">democratic erosion</a>.” We’ve been studying this situation in Nicaragua, and we see it as emblematic of the global trend.</p>
<p>Unlike <a href="https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/on-democratic-backsliding/">the regime changes of the 20th century</a>, in which dictatorships sprang up overnight after violent revolutions and military coups, today’s autocrats more subtly and gradually undermine the foundations of democracy. They rig the rules in their favor by weakening checks and balances in their nations and by engaging in manipulation that keeps them in power. </p>
<p>One method that today’s autocrats and the governments under their control are increasingly using to strengthen their grip on power is to crack down on nongovernmental organizations. They are branding these often foreign-funded groups, known as NGOs, as <a href="https://nonprofitrisk.org/resources/articles/foreign-agent-registration-funding-restrictions-for-ngos/">foreign agents</a>. Another tactic is to cast them – usually falsely – as <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/Fact%20Sheet_0.pdf">money launderers and terrorists</a>.</p>
<p>All of these designations undermine the NGOs’ credibility and create a pretext for restricting their operations.</p>
<h2>Why NGOs are in the crosshairs</h2>
<p>It’s true that many powerful governments like the United States <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/isqu.12041">fund NGOs</a>. Typically, this money pays for clearly beneficial work such as building roads, wells and schools or increasing access to health care.</p>
<p>Globally funded independent organizations, like the <a href="https://www.icrc.org/en/where-we-work/americas/nicaragua">Red Cross</a>, also fill these gaps and often rush in supplies and support after disasters strike. </p>
<p>However, many NGOs focus on assistance that buttresses democracy, by encouraging voting and other forms of civic engagement. And because of those efforts, they have <a href="https://nonprofitrisk.org/resources/articles/foreign-agent-registration-funding-restrictions-for-ngos/">become subjected to</a> tight government supervision and auditing. </p>
<p>This is especially happening in countries that are undergoing democratic backsliding, such as <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/slavic-review/article/democratic-backsliding-in-poland-and-hungary/8B1C30919DC33C0BC2A66A26BFEE9553">Poland</a> and <a href="https://democracyjournal.org/magazine/62-special-issue/the-challenge-of-indias-democratic-backsliding/">India</a>.</p>
<p>Democratic backsliding is <a href="https://www.psa.ac.uk/psa/news/nicaragua%E2%80%99s-democratic-backsliding">well underway in Nicaragua</a> under President Daniel Ortega’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/nicaraguas-shift-towards-dictatorship-is-part-of-a-latin-american-backslide-11636476080">increasingly authoritarian leadership</a>. Especially in 2022, his government has been clamping down on NGOs and Catholic institutions.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487155/original/file-20220928-15-uzv3g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman walks by a mural of a man holding his fist in the air" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487155/original/file-20220928-15-uzv3g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/487155/original/file-20220928-15-uzv3g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487155/original/file-20220928-15-uzv3g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487155/original/file-20220928-15-uzv3g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487155/original/file-20220928-15-uzv3g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487155/original/file-20220928-15-uzv3g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/487155/original/file-20220928-15-uzv3g3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=555&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Daniel Ortega, who led Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990, returned to power in 2007.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-walks-past-a-mural-with-the-image-of-daniel-ortega-news-photo/1236426762?adppopup=true">Orlando Valenzuela/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Stacking the deck in Nicaragua</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/nicaragua-former-revolutionary-daniel-ortega-now-resembles-the-dictator-he-helped-overthrow-171235">Ortega first rose to power</a> in 1979. He stepped down from the presidency after losing a closely monitored election in 1990, only to become president again after a 2006 win. He has since been reelected three times, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/11/07/1053275827/nicaragua-may-be-holding-presidential-elections-but-it-is-edging-toward-dictator">most recently in 2021</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/11/07/1053275827/nicaragua-may-be-holding-presidential-elections-but-it-is-edging-toward-dictator">This phase of his leadership</a> has been rocked by waves of <a href="https://usoas.usmission.gov/oas-resolution-condemns-ortega-regime-in-nicaragua-2/">domestic turmoil and repression</a>.</p>
<p>One of the most troubling moments came in 2018, when the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/04/27/nicaragua-protests-leave-deadly-toll">authorities attacked</a> people who were taking part in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/e049398b9d9e495cb64eefe5134a4c62">widespread protests</a> over proposed safety-net reforms.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/jsForm/?File=/en/iachr/media_center/preleases/2021/302.asp">Estimates from outside observers</a> indicated that over 350 people were killed by the Nicaraguan police force, with thousands more imprisoned.</p>
<p>Nicaragua has since cracked down harshly on NGOs operating there, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/02/nicaragua-cancels-non-governmental-organizations-civil-society">prohibiting more than 1,600 of them</a> so far.</p>
<p><iframe id="YofuJ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/YofuJ/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>More NGOs expelled</h2>
<p>A series of legislative decrees passed by the National Assembly, over which <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/nicaragua/nicaragua-ortega-murillo-regimes-goal-obliterate-space-independent-civil-society">Ortega wields much influence</a>, have stripped these organizations’ rights to exist and operate in the Central American country. This status is known there as “legal personhood.”</p>
<p>The most far-reaching of these decrees were issued in 2022, sometimes with <a href="https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/nicaragua-strips-legal-status-from-another-100-ngos">100 NGOs or more</a> losing their rights at one time. For example, decrees number <a href="http://legislacion.asamblea.gob.ni/Normaweb.nsf/xpNorma.xsp?documentId=8A1E857C6C19099606258893006829EE&action=openDocument">8823</a> through <a href="http://legislacion.asamblea.gob.ni/Normaweb.nsf/xpNorma.xsp?documentId=EFC0DCAF996C6E53062588B00075B5F7&action=openDocument">8827</a>, passed between July and August, removed legal recognition from 100 organizations at a time, for a total of 500.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, lawmakers have issued a large number of decrees in 2018 and 2019 granting recognition to domestic NGOs. The largely religious and community-based organizations may have been encouraged to carry on the operations of NGOs that were being pushed out of Nicaragua. We have been unable to learn much about how these new groups are faring so far.</p>
<p>Throughout 2019 and 2020, <a href="https://www.ned.org/2021-democracy-award/colectivo-de-derechos-humanos-nicaragua-nunca-mas/">several outspoken NGOs</a> were forced to stop operating by legislative decrees, resulting in the seizure of their assets and often the imprisonment or expulsion of their leadership. This was accompanied by legislation that included the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/nicaragua-passes-controversial-foreign-agent-law/a-55291712">Foreign Agents Law passed in October 2020</a>, which mirrored word for word language <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/07/13/kremlins-repressive-decade">used by Russia</a> and other backsliding countries.</p>
<p>Nicaragua then picked up the pace of its <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/07/19/nicaragua-government-dismantles-civil-society">NGO closures</a>, including the expulsion of <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2019/country-chapters/nicaragua">human rights groups and development agencies</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/nicaragua-expels-red-cross-representative-without-giving-reason-2022-03-25/">health care organizations</a>. Even <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-62076784">some Catholic institutions</a> have been sent packing, with nuns from the order founded by Mother Teresa leaving the country on foot.</p>
<p>Nicaragua has also <a href="https://www.catholicherald.com/article/global/nicaragua-expels-the-vatican-ambassador/">expelled the apostolic nuncio</a> – who serves essentially as an ambassador of the Catholic Church – in a move the Vatican called “incomprehensible.” </p>
<p>Among countries recently experiencing democratic backsliding, not all have such an adversarial relationship with major religious organizations. In Hungary, for example, Viktor Orbán has <a href="https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2022/april/orban-hungary-evangelical-election-voices-choice-conservati.html">considerable support from Evangelical Christians</a>. </p>
<p>However, in Nicaragua, Ortega has cast a wide net in clamping down on civil society, as demonstrated by the legislation used to restrict the ability of NGOs and other organizations to operate freely. This is part of a broader effort to weaken the electorate’s ability to prevent his further consolidation of power.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190222/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>These crackdowns are occurring around the world in countries that are becoming less free because of what’s known as ‘democratic backsliding.’Kelsey Martin-Morales, Doctoral Student in Political Science, University of South CarolinaMatthew Wilson, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of South CarolinaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1874352022-07-28T20:05:09Z2022-07-28T20:05:09ZProtecting 30% of Australia’s land and sea by 2030 sounds great – but it’s not what it seems<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476437/original/file-20220728-14976-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=23%2C59%2C3970%2C2934&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Getty</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>You would have heard Australia’s environment isn’t doing well. A grim story of “crisis and decline” was how Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek described the situation when she launched the <a href="https://soe.dcceew.gov.au/">State of the Environment Report</a> last week. Climate change, habitat destruction, ocean acidification, extinction, and soil, river and coastal health have all worsened. </p>
<p>In response, Plibersek promised to protect 30% of Australia’s land and waters by 2030. Australia committed to this under the previous government last year, joining 100 other countries that have signed onto this <a href="https://www.hacfornatureandpeople.org/home">“30 by 30”</a> target. </p>
<p>While this may be a worthy commitment, it’s not a big leap. Indeed, we’ve already gone well past the ocean goal, with <a href="https://parksaustralia.gov.au/marine/parks/">45% protected</a>. And, at present, <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs/science/protected-area-locations">around 22%</a> of Australia’s land mass is protected in our national reserve system. </p>
<p>To get protected lands up to 30% through the current approach will mean relying on reserves created by non-government organisations and Indigenous people, rather than more public reserves like national parks. This approach will not be sufficient by itself. </p>
<p>The problem is, biodiversity loss and environmental decline in Australia have continued – and accelerated – even as our protected areas have grown significantly in recent decades. After years of underfunding, our protected areas urgently need proper resourcing. Without that, protected area targets don’t mean much on the ground. </p>
<h2>What counts as a protected area?</h2>
<p>In 1996, the federal government set up the <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/land/nrs">National Reserve System</a> to coordinate our network of protected areas. The goal was to protect a comprehensive, adequate and representative sample of Australia’s rich biodiversity. </p>
<p>Since then, marine reserves have expanded the most, with the government protecting Commonwealth waters such as around <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-20/two-marine-parks-to-be-set-up-christmas-cocos-islands/100924776">Cocos Islands and Christmas Island</a>.</p>
<p>On land, the government has been very hands-off. Progress has been driven by non-government organisations, Indigenous communities and individuals. New types of protected area, offering different levels of protection, have emerged. The <a href="https://www.australianwildlife.org/about-us/">Australian Wildlife Conservancy</a> now protects or manages almost 13 million hectares – about twice the size of Tasmania. <a href="https://www.bushheritage.org.au/what-we-do/impact-models/buying-land">Bush Heritage Australia</a> protects more than 11 million hectares. While these organisations do not always own the land, they have become <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/359078156_From_activism_to_not-quite-government_the_role_of_government_and_non-government_actors_in_the_expansion_of_the_Australian_protected_area_estate_since_1990">influential players</a> in conservation. </p>
<p>Partnerships between Traditional Owners and the federal government have produced 81 Indigenous Protected Areas, mainly on native title land. These cover 85 million hectares – fully 50% of our entire <a href="https://www.niaa.gov.au/indigenous-affairs/environment/indigenous-protected-areas-ipas">protected land estate</a>. Independent ranger groups are also managing Country outside the Indigenous Protected Area system. </p>
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<p>Protected areas have also grown through covenants on private land titles, aided by groups such as Trust for Nature (Victoria) and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy. </p>
<p>In total, public protected areas like national parks have only contributed to around 5% of the expansion of terrestrial protected area since 1996. Non-governmental organisation land purchases, Indigenous Protected Areas and individual private landholders have facilitated 95% of this growth.</p>
<h2>The real challenge for protected areas? Management</h2>
<p>So how did non-government organisations become such large players? After the national reserve system was set up, the federal government provided money for NGOs to buy land for conservation, if they could secure some private funding. Protected lands expanded rapidly before the scheme ended in 2012. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, federal funding did not cover the cost of managing these new protected areas. Support for Traditional Owners to manage Indigenous Protected Areas has continued, albeit on erratic short-term cycles and <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2022/05/11/historic-handback-neds-corner-returned-aboriginal-hands">very minimally</a>, to the tune of a few cents per hectare per year. </p>
<p>As a result, NGOs and Traditional Owners have increasingly had to rely on market approaches and philanthropy. Between 2015 and 2020, for example, the Traditional Owner non-profit carbon business <a href="https://www.alfant.com.au/">Arnhem Land Fire Abatement Limited</a> earned $31 million in the carbon credit market through emissions reductions. This money supports a significant portion of the conservation efforts of member groups. </p>
<p>What does this mean? In short, corporate partnerships and market-based approaches once seen as incompatible with conservation are now a necessity to address the long-term shortfall of government support. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-marine-protected-areas-help-safeguard-the-ocean-152516">How marine protected areas help safeguard the ocean</a>
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<p>You might think wider investment in conservation is great. But there are risks in relying on NGOs funded by corporations and philanthropists to conserve Australia’s wildlife. </p>
<p>For instance, NGOs may no longer feel able to push for transformative political change in conservation if this doesn’t align with donor interests. There’s also lack of transparent process in how conservation funding is allocated, and for what purpose.</p>
<h2>Protection on paper isn’t protection on the ground</h2>
<p>On paper, conservation in Australia looks in good shape. But even as protected areas of land and sea have grown, the health of our environment has plunged. The 2021 State of the Environment Report is a sobering reminder that it’s not enough simply to expand protected areas. It’s what happens next that matters. </p>
<p>If we value these protected lands, we have to fund their management. Without management – which costs money – protected areas can rapidly decline, especially under the impacts of climate change. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476441/original/file-20220728-2377-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Fox in wild" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476441/original/file-20220728-2377-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476441/original/file-20220728-2377-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476441/original/file-20220728-2377-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476441/original/file-20220728-2377-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476441/original/file-20220728-2377-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476441/original/file-20220728-2377-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476441/original/file-20220728-2377-3szen0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Feral animals like foxes can damage ecosystems in protected areas.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>We also have to tackle what happens outside protected areas. We can’t simply keep sectioning off more and more poorly funded areas for nature while ignoring the drivers of biodiversity loss, such as land clearing, resource extraction, mismanagement and the dispossession of Indigenous lands.</p>
<p>It’s excellent our new environment minister wants to begin the environmental repair job. But creating protected areas is just the start. Now we have to answer the bigger questions: how we care for ecologies, whose knowledge is valued, who does this work and how will it be funded over the long term. </p>
<p>We also have to go beyond lip service to Indigenous knowledge and Caring for Country to genuinely acknowledge First Nations sovereignty and <a href="https://www.fvtoc.com.au/cultural-landscapes">support self-determination</a>. </p>
<p>On this front, moves by conservation organisations to <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2022/05/11/historic-handback-neds-corner-returned-aboriginal-hands">return land to First Nations</a> suggests a willingness in the conservation community to begin this work.</p>
<p>While our protected area estate is large and set to grow further towards the 30 by 30 goal, lines on a map do not equate to protection. We have long known the funding and capability for actual protection is woefully inadequate. For us to reverse our ongoing environmental collapse, that has to change. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-meet-the-ambitious-target-of-conserving-30-per-cent-of-earth-by-2030-154987">How to meet the ambitious target of conserving 30 per cent of Earth by 2030</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187435/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Cooke receives funding from The Australian Research Council and has conducted contract research for the Australian Land Conservation Alliance (ALCA), Trust for Nature, Victoria (TfN) and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP). He is affiliated with Trust for Nature, Victoria through a Committee of Management (CoM) on a Trust for Nature property.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aidan Davison receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jamie Kirkpatrick received funding from the Australian Research Council for this project, is Chair of the Tasmanian Independent Science Council and a member of the University of Tasmania Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lilian Pearce receives funding from the Australian Research Council and has conducted contract research for the Australian Land Conservation Alliance (ALCA).</span></em></p>Australia’s protected areas have grown and grown. But at the same time, ecosystems are falling apart. How can that be?Benjamin Cooke, Senior lecturer, RMIT UniversityAidan Davison, Associate Professor, University of TasmaniaJamie Kirkpatrick, Professor of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of TasmaniaLilian Pearce, Lecturer, Environmental Humanities, Centre for the Study of the Inland, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1870002022-07-19T06:13:21Z2022-07-19T06:13:21Z3 lessons from Australia’s ‘climate wars’ and how we can finally achieve better climate policy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474215/original/file-20220715-16-mu9m1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4249%2C3172&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week, two influential environmental groups <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/green-groups-tell-adam-bandt-do-not-makeus-a-pariah/news-story/79302f93c565ed4de58f051f5e84393e">warned the Greens</a> not to stymie progress on Australia’s climate policy. In an unusual intervention, Greenpeace and the Australian Conservation Foundation urged the Greens to “play a constructive role” with Labor or risk being blamed for holding climate policy back. </p>
<p>The groups want the Greens to back Labor’s policy for a 43% cut in emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050 – then to push for more ambitious targets later. But Greens leader Adam Bandt has described Labor’s policy as “<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-a-smart-way-to-push-labor-harder-on-emissions-cuts-without-reigniting-the-climate-wars-187155">weak</a>” and the party has the numbers to block Labor’s bill in the Senate.</p>
<p>Tensions over strategy in and beyond parliament are a normal part of social movements and the policy process. Plus, it’s just plain hard to broker agreements for ambitious and effective climate policy. </p>
<p>But as my <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Pricing-Carbon-in-Australia-Contestation-the-State-and-Market-Failure/Pearse/p/book/9780367376826">research</a> has shown, Australia’s long-lasting climate wars offer three painful lessons we shouldn’t ignore this time around.</p>
<h2>1. We need to find common ground between idealists and realists</h2>
<p>It’s easy to dismiss the Greens and their allies in the environment movement as naive idealists. But at this historic moment, what constitutes realism is a matter of both political strategy and science.</p>
<p>The last time the green movement intensely debated carbon targets was in 2008. Then, the Rudd Labor government proposed a carbon pollution reduction scheme with a goal of a 5-15% emissions cut by 2020. The Greens argued it was inadequate and compensated polluters too generously. </p>
<p>In response, established green groups like the ACF and World Wildlife Fund for Nature and union peak bodies formed a coalition that backed Labor’s scheme and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/govt-and-coalition-strike-first-ets-deal-20091115-ifv9.html">publicly disagreed</a> with the stance of the Greens and most smaller green groups (including Greenpeace). By the end of 2009 the environment movement was split. </p>
<p>The big green groups identified as realists. They saw the scheme as imperfect, but were optimistic they could influence and improve it over time. </p>
<p>The grassroots wing of the environment movement, including new groups like Rising Tide and the Australian Youth Climate Coalition and GetUp!, was not convinced. They felt the big green groups were closing the window of opportunity too soon by agreeing to Labor’s scheme ahead of parliamentary debate. Given the grave climate threat, they wanted more and faster progress on emissions reduction.</p>
<p>Both the Greens and these newer groups believed Labor’s scheme was, as Greens leader Bob Brown put it at the time, “<a href="https://greensmps.org.au/articles/greens-and-emissions-trading-%E2%80%93-your-questions-answered">worse than doing nothing</a>”. In particular, they objected to the weak emissions target, corporate windfalls and loose carbon offset rules.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474805/original/file-20220719-22-vx4t3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Climate emergency sign" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474805/original/file-20220719-22-vx4t3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474805/original/file-20220719-22-vx4t3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474805/original/file-20220719-22-vx4t3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474805/original/file-20220719-22-vx4t3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474805/original/file-20220719-22-vx4t3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474805/original/file-20220719-22-vx4t3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474805/original/file-20220719-22-vx4t3w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Newer environment groups pushed for faster and greater action.</span>
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<p>After Rudd was replaced as party leader, Labor shelved the scheme, drawing criticism from the Greens and green groups of all stripes.</p>
<p>So what’s changed 14 years later? Labor wants the Greens and independent senators to support a bill legislating a symbolic goal (the 2030 target) without much detail about how it will achieve this. </p>
<p>For now, most green groups appear willing to support Labor’s carbon target legislation as long as the target is a genuine “floor” on ambition and there is an effective policy “ratchet” that can be used later. This is a Greens strategy straight from the 2008–09 period. But they are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/17/greens-open-to-backing-labors-43-emissions-target-but-demand-ban-on-new-coal-projects">even clearer now</a> that the ratchet should address coal and gas expansions.</p>
<h2>2. Carbon markets don’t depoliticise climate policy</h2>
<p>The legacy of the Rudd government’s weak carbon trading scheme lived on in the Gillard government’s 2011 carbon farming laws and the Abbott government’s Direct Action Plan. It left our main federal climate policy as a deeply flawed <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-central-climate-policy-pays-people-to-grow-trees-that-already-existed-taxpayers-and-the-environment-deserve-better-186900">carbon offset scheme</a> tied to incredibly <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-mr-morrison-the-safeguard-mechanism-is-not-a-sneaky-carbon-tax-182054">loose caps</a> on Australia’s heavy emitters. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-election-shows-the-conservative-culture-war-on-climate-change-could-be-nearing-its-end-183450">The election shows the conservative culture war on climate change could be nearing its end</a>
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<p>Carbon trading and offsets are a remarkably indirect way to deal with the climate problem. Emissions trading regulates emissions at the end of the pipe and tend to be designed in way that provide far <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17583004.2014.990679">too much flexibility</a> about where and when emissions are cut. </p>
<p><a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/abdae9">Existing evidence</a> suggests carbon prices have not caused actual emissions reduction. Now it seems that Labor <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/02/as-labor-enacts-its-emissions-reduction-target-will-the-climate-truce-survive">may end up using</a> the existing <a href="https://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/NGER/The-safeguard-mechanism">safeguard mechanism</a> and carbon offset scheme to reach its 2030 target. </p>
<p>Market mechanisms, particularly emissions trading and offsetting, emerged as a political solution to industry resistance to climate policy. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/this-etslite-deserves-to-be-rejected-20091122-isr0.html">2009</a>, former CSIRO economist Clive Spash published compelling <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13563460903556049">criticism</a> of carbon trading schemes. He outlined the gap between textbook theory of emissions trading and the realpolitik of industry influence over price design – and rubbished the idea you fossil fuel emissions can be offset by land carbon emissions. </p>
<p>Creating “credits” from land ecosystems should not be used to compensate for fossil fuel emissions. In terms of regulatory practice, land offsets are <a href="https://theconversation.com/now-we-know-the-flaws-of-carbon-offsets-its-time-to-get-real-about-climate-change-181071">broken by design</a>.</p>
<p>This week Labor will introduce a second piece of legislation to renew the Climate Change Authority’s role in measuring progress. This has green group support. But it’s doubtful expert advice alone will ramp up ambition. </p>
<p>No single piece of legislation will fully tackle this crisis. We urgently need <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629622002298">strategies</a> investing in new industries and transition arrangements in the communities most affected by the turbulence of economic transition. </p>
<h2>3. Energy industry policy could be effective climate policy</h2>
<p>Politically, carbon markets have not helped broker consensus between political parties and with industry. </p>
<p>Tightening the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/12/coalition-allowed-emissions-from-queensland-coalmine-to-more-than-double-without-penalty">loose baselines</a> of industrial facilities and removing the link to offsets would make the safeguard mechanism more effective. Direct industry regulation like this sends a very efficient and clear market signal.</p>
<p>At present, environment groups are supporting the case for direct energy industry policy. In the decade since the climate wars began, most of Australia’s green groups have split off to work on electricity market reform and local campaigns to stop coal and gas expansion. </p>
<p>Expanding renewables and transitioning away from coal and gas require planned industrial restructuring at state and federal levels and careful diplomacy with our trading partners. These issues were never going to be addressed with a carbon price alone. </p>
<p>Every green group will need to push Labor to keep coal and gas in the ground. And hold Labor to account on the policy mechanisms it will have to ramp up if the government is serious about climate mitigation.</p>
<p>Most members of environment groups would identify as political realists. They know perfect policies are impossible. Here’s hoping they can pressure our reluctant government to get on with things.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-a-smart-way-to-push-labor-harder-on-emissions-cuts-without-reigniting-the-climate-wars-187155">There's a smart way to push Labor harder on emissions cuts – without reigniting the climate wars</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187000/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Pearse receives funding from the Australian Research Council. In 2007-2014 she was a volunteer for Friends of the Earth. During this time she was a volunteer with its national climate justice campaign (2010-2013), and a member of its management committee (2013-2014).</span></em></p>Environment groups are pushing the Greens to accept Labor’s emissions target. What do these tensions mean for climate action?Rebecca Pearse, Lecturer, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1763472022-03-16T16:34:27Z2022-03-16T16:34:27ZHow AI helped deliver cash aid to many of the poorest people in Togo<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451998/original/file-20220314-131648-9brlb3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=198%2C68%2C4825%2C3015&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mobile devices are becoming ubiquitous in Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mobile-phone-lome-togo-news-photo/170481943">Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>Governments and humanitarian groups can use machine learning algorithms and mobile phone data to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04484-9">get aid to those who need it most</a> during a humanitarian crisis, we found in new research.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446801/original/file-20220216-24-1v07seb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Map of West Africa, highlighting Togo" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446801/original/file-20220216-24-1v07seb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446801/original/file-20220216-24-1v07seb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446801/original/file-20220216-24-1v07seb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446801/original/file-20220216-24-1v07seb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=556&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446801/original/file-20220216-24-1v07seb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446801/original/file-20220216-24-1v07seb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446801/original/file-20220216-24-1v07seb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=699&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Togo is a small West African nation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/world-data-locator-map-togo-news-photo/641462678">Encyclopaedia Britannica/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aac4420">simple idea</a> behind this approach, as we explained in the journal <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04484-9">Nature on March 16, 2022</a>, is that wealthy people use phones differently from poor people. Their phone calls and text messages follow different patterns, and they use different data plans, for example. Machine learning algorithms – which are fancy tools for pattern recognition – can be trained to recognize those differences and infer whether a given mobile subscriber is wealthy or poor.</p>
<p>As the COVID-19 pandemic spread in early 2020, <a href="https://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/">our</a> <a href="https://www.poverty-action.org/">research</a> <a href="https://cega.berkeley.edu/">team</a> helped Togo’s <a href="https://numerique.gouv.tg/">Ministry of Digital Economy</a> and <a href="https://www.givedirectly.org/">GiveDirectly</a>, a nonprofit that sends cash to people living in poverty, turn this insight into a new type of aid program. </p>
<p>First, we collected recent, reliable and representative data. Working on the ground with partners in Togo, we conducted 15,000 phone surveys to collect information on the living conditions of each household. After matching the survey responses to data from the mobile phone companies, we trained the machine learning algorithms to recognize the patterns of phone use that were characteristics of people living on less than $1.25 per day.</p>
<p>The next challenge was figuring out whether a system based on machine learning and phone data would be effective at getting money to the poorest people in the country. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04484-9">Our evaluation</a> indicated that this new approach worked better than other options Togo’s government was considering.</p>
<p>For instance, focusing entirely on the poorest cantons – which are analagous to U.S. counties – would have delivered benefits to only 33% of the people living on less than US$1.25 a day. By contrast, the machine learning approach targeted 47% of that population.</p>
<p>We then partnered with Togo’s government, GiveDirectly and community leaders to design and pilot a cash transfer program based on this technology. In November 2020, the first beneficiaries were <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/stories-56580833">enrolled and paid</a>. To date, the program has provided nearly $10 million to roughly 137,000 of the country’s poorest citizens. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Our work shows that data collected by mobile phone companies – when analyzed with machine learning technology – can help <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/02/15/966848542/the-pandemic-pushed-this-farmer-into-deep-poverty-then-something-amazing-happene">direct aid</a> to those with the greatest need.</p>
<p>Even before the pandemic, over half of the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=TG">West African nation’s</a> 8.6 million people lived below the international poverty line. As COVID-19 slowed economic activity further, our surveys indicated that 54% of all Togolese were forced to miss meals each week.</p>
<p>The situation in Togo was not unique. The downturn resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/updated-estimates-impact-covid-19-global-poverty-turning-corner-pandemic-2021">pushed millions of people into extreme poverty</a>. In response, governments and charities launched several thousand new aid programs, providing benefits to <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/33635">over 1.5 billion people and families</a> around the world. </p>
<p>But in the middle of a humanitarian crisis, governments struggle to figure out who needs help most urgently. Under ideal circumstances, those decisions would be based on comprehensive household surveys. But there was no way to gather this information in the middle of a pandemic.</p>
<p>Our work helps demonstrate how new sources of big data – such as information gleaned from satellites and mobile phone networks – can make it possible to target aid amid crisis conditions when more traditional sources of data are unavailable. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We’re conducting follow-up research to assess how cash transfers affected recipients. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjw025">Previous</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.3386/w26600">findings</a> indicate that cash transfers can help increase food security and improve psychological well-being in normal times. We are assessing whether that aid has similar results during a crisis.</p>
<p>It’s also essential to find ways to enroll and pay people without phones. In Togo, roughly 85% of households had at least one phone, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2111.00175">phones are frequently shared</a> within families and communities. However, it is not clear how many people who needed humanitarian assistance in Togo didn’t get it because of their lack of access to a mobile device.</p>
<p>In the future, systems that combine new methods that leverage machine learning and big data with traditional approaches based on surveys are bound to improve the targeting of humanitarian aid.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 150,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-150ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176347/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Aiken collaborated closely with the teams at GiveDirectly and the government of Togo described in the article. She consulted for GiveDirectly from June to August 2021. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Blumenstock receives funding from Google.org, data.org, the Center for Effective Global Action, the Jameel Poverty Action Lab, and the NSF under award IIS – 1942702.
</span></em></p>To date, the program has provided nearly $10 million to roughly 137,000 of the country’s poorest citizens.Emily Aiken, Doctoral Student of Information, University of California, BerkeleyJoshua Blumenstock, Associate Professor of Information; Co-Director of the Center for Effective Global Action, University of California, BerkeleyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1764992022-02-18T13:06:55Z2022-02-18T13:06:55ZWhat’s the IOC – and why doesn’t it do more about human rights issues related to the Olympics?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446607/original/file-20220215-27-rj68co.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C65%2C5476%2C3574&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">This protest outside IOC headquarters in early 2022 objected to the Winter Games being held in China. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protester-holds-a-banner-during-a-protest-march-gathering-news-photo/1238159433">Valentin Flauraud/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://www.paris2024.org/en/the-international-olympic-committee/">International Olympic Committee</a>, a nongovernmental organization based in Switzerland that’s independent of any one nation, was <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/history/institutional">founded in 1894</a>. It’s a group of officials who supervise and support the Olympics and set Olympic policies about everything from whether break dancing can be added as an official sport to what’s required for an athlete to compete on a team representing a country where they don’t normally reside. Because the IOC is often in the news, we asked two sports scholars, <a href="https://sportleadership.vcu.edu/about/faculty-and-staff/yannick-kluch-phd.html">Yannick Kluch</a> and <a href="https://education.uconn.edu/person/eli-wolff/">Eli Wolff</a>, five questions about what it does and why so many people want it to change how it responds to concerns about human rights and other issues.</em></p>
<h2>1. What are the main things the IOC does?</h2>
<p>The IOC coordinates what’s known as the <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-movement">Olympic movement</a>, the technical term for the constellation of committees, federations and other bodies that puts on spectacular sporting competitions every two years. </p>
<p>That includes overseeing the <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/national-olympic-committees">206 national Olympic committees</a> and <a href="https://www.arisf.sport/ioc.html">35</a> <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/international-federations">international sports federations</a>. The IOC also supervises the specific <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/faq/roles-and-responsibilities-of-the-ioc-and-its-partners/who-organises-the-olympic-games">organizing committees</a> formed for every one of the Olympic Games, seven years before the competitions begin.</p>
<p>The IOC’s 101 members, many of whom are former athletes, <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/session">meet at least once a year</a> to make important decisions.</p>
<p>They’re responsible for selecting where future Olympic Games will occur, electing their leaders, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/tokyo-olympics-live-updates/2021/07/28/1021713829/how-the-olympics-decide-what-sports-to-include">choosing new Olympic sports</a> and making amendments to the Olympic Charter. The IOC’s own officials select candidates for membership in the committee.</p>
<p><a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/mr-thomas-bach">Thomas Bach</a>, a German, has served as IOC president since 2013. He regularly convenes <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/executive-board">its executive board</a>. He represents the IOC during the Games.</p>
<p>The IOC also oversees several humanitarian initiatives such as <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/peace-and-development">Peace and Development through Sport</a>,the <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/refugee-olympic-team">Olympic Refugee team</a> and the <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-solidarity">Olympic Solidarity</a> program. The committee has <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-granted-un-observer-status">observer status with the United Nations</a> and promotes a worldwide symbolic ceasefire during the Games known as the <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-truce/resolutions">Olympic Truce resolution</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446612/original/file-20220215-21-kwcjuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Man seated next to the Olympic flag" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446612/original/file-20220215-21-kwcjuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446612/original/file-20220215-21-kwcjuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446612/original/file-20220215-21-kwcjuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446612/original/file-20220215-21-kwcjuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446612/original/file-20220215-21-kwcjuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446612/original/file-20220215-21-kwcjuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446612/original/file-20220215-21-kwcjuy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Thomas Bach is the president of the IOC.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/thomas-bach-president-of-the-ioc-who-chairs-the-press-news-photo/1204934386">Eric Dubost/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>2. What’s the IOC’s mission?</h2>
<p>The IOC <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/faq/roles-and-responsibilities-of-the-ioc-and-its-partners/what-is-the-international-olympic-committee-ioc-and-what-is-its-mission">has three main roles</a>. The global nonprofit says “its job is to encourage the promotion of Olympic values, to ensure the regular celebration of the Olympic Games and its legacy and to support all the organizations affiliated to the Olympic Movement.” </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-charter">Olympic Charter</a> the IOC goes into more detail about its principles, articulating the seven fundamental principles of “Olympism.”</p>
<p><a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/principles">These include</a> placing “sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity,” promoting the “practice of sport [as] a human right,” a commitment to political neutrality and shielding athletes from discrimination.</p>
<p>The IOC is also supposed to protect the ethics and integrity of the Olympic movement, prevent athlete abuse and harassment and generally make competitions safe, fair <a href="https://www.jpost.com/bds-threat/article-689297">and accessible</a> for all qualifying competitors.</p>
<h2>3. How does the IOC get money, and where do those funds go?</h2>
<p>About three-quarters of its funds come from the <a href="https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1110506/ioc-accounts-2020-55m-deficit">sale of the rights to broadcast</a> the Olympic Games. It gets most of the rest through marketing deals. The IOC collected more than US$5 billion for the 2014 and 2016 Games, the most recent <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/funding">data it has made available</a>. </p>
<p>Because the IOC operates as a nonprofit, its leaders do not manage this money as they might if it were a private company. Instead, the <a href="https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1054448/david-owen-the-ioc-likes-to-say-it-redistributes-90-per-cent-of-revenues-but-does-it-and-who-to">committee distributes 90% of its revenue</a> to national Olympic committees, Olympic athletes and other entities, reserving the rest of the money to cover operational expenses.</p>
<p>The IOC also provides half of the funds used by the <a href="https://www.wada-ama.org/en/who-we-are">World Anti-Doping Association</a>, established in 1999 to research and monitor the use of <a href="https://www.acmt.net/cgi/page.cgi/_zine.html/Ask_A_Toxicologist/What_is_doping_and_why_do_athletes_do_this_">prohibited medications and treatments by athletes</a>. Governments provide the rest of the association’s funding. </p>
<p>Olympic athletes, <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/22586868/olympics-athletes-pay-medal-sponsors-ioc">especially those who compete on U.S. teams</a>, get very low compensation for their participation in the Games, and they are limited in terms of their ability to earn money from marketing deals. Bach, although he is technically a volunteer, <a href="https://www.infobae.com/aroundtherings/ioc/2021/07/12/ioc-unveils-bach-compensation-payments-to-members/">earns about $244,000 a year</a>, and other IOC leaders are paid as well.</p>
<h2>4. What are some of the controversies the IOC faces?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2022/02/11/russia-olympics-doping-scandal/">IOC’s response</a>, in 2014, to proof that the Russian government was sponsoring systematic doping of its athletes has led to <a href="https://theconversation.com/russian-doping-scandal-should-other-countries-pull-out-of-the-olympics-62951">widespread criticism</a> for being too lenient and has <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-doping-case-against-russian-curler-aleksandr-krushelnitckii-92103">sparked controversy</a> ever since. To punish the Russian government, without sidelining all Russian athletes from the Games, the IOC permits them to compete as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” without allowing the use of the <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/olympics/news/roc-winter-olympics-team-russia-meaning/clvyrpwcy9rmzox9ewyc1bam#">Russian flag or anthem</a>.</p>
<p>In 2022, doping remained a problem. That became clear when belated test results showed Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva had <a href="https://www.sportingnews.com/us/olympics/news/kamila-valieva-olympics-doping-drug-test/bptb5mvcgqurafu2oxkbhchy">used a banned heart medication</a> several weeks before she competed in the Olympics. The IOC’s response to this news appeared to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/02/14/1080501383/russian-figure-skater-kamila-valieva-olympics-2022">disappoint all sides</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446592/original/file-20220215-17-6vkavx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A figure skater on the ice during the Beijing Winter Games" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446592/original/file-20220215-17-6vkavx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446592/original/file-20220215-17-6vkavx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446592/original/file-20220215-17-6vkavx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446592/original/file-20220215-17-6vkavx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446592/original/file-20220215-17-6vkavx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446592/original/file-20220215-17-6vkavx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446592/original/file-20220215-17-6vkavx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Kamila Valieva of Russia kept competing in Beijing after evidence that she had tested positive for a banned substance came to light.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/kamila-valieva-of-team-roc-skates-during-the-women-single-news-photo/1370717181">Justin Setterfield/Getty Images Sport</a></span>
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<p>Separately, the IOC has <a href="https://www.theippress.com/2021/06/12/game-of-corruptions-an-issue-that-the-international-sports-law-must-conquer/">failed to stop corruption in the bidding process</a> for hosting the Olympics, a longstanding problem most recently exposed with the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-48881867">2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro</a> and the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/virus-outbreak-tokyo-lamine-diack-2020-tokyo-olympics-japan-057023df193a02e2799678917df7d055">Olympic Games held in Tokyo</a> five years later.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446591/original/file-20220215-25-4lzt5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Olympic champions stand on the podium in an old photo." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446591/original/file-20220215-25-4lzt5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/446591/original/file-20220215-25-4lzt5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446591/original/file-20220215-25-4lzt5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446591/original/file-20220215-25-4lzt5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=925&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446591/original/file-20220215-25-4lzt5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446591/original/file-20220215-25-4lzt5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/446591/original/file-20220215-25-4lzt5j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1163&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">American sprinters Tommie Smith (center) and John Carlos raise their fists and give the Black Power salute during the U.S. national anthem at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/american-sprinters-tommie-smith-and-john-carlos-raise-their-news-photo/514698444">Bettmann/GettyImages</a></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/05/human-rights-abuses-will-taint-olympics-and-world-cup-its-time-end-sportswashing#https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/05/human-rights-abuses-will-taint-olympics-and-world-cup-its-time-end-sportswashing#">Human rights groups have expressed outrage</a> over the IOC’s decisions that allowed China to host the Olympic Games in 2008 and 2022.</p>
<p>China <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/17/show-no-mercy-leaked-documents-reveal-details-of-chinas-mass-xinjiang-detentions">faces widespread accusations</a>, including from the <a href="https://2017-2021.state.gov/ccpabuses/index.html">U.S. government</a>, that it <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-china-use-the-beijing-olympics-to-sportwash-its-abuses-against-the-uyghurs-only-if-the-world-remains-silent-175922">oppresses Uyghurs</a> in China’s western Xinjiang region. This abuse is increasingly considered to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2020.1848109">constitute genocide</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/33212070/olympics-2022-china-warned-athletes-not-protest-beijing-happens-do">Many athletes</a> and other people object to China’s <a href="https://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/claims-10012021193648.html">repression of the Tibetan people</a>. China has also drawn widespread criticism for <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/hong-kong-how-is-chinas-crackdown-changing-the-citys-identity/a-60007287">cracking down on free speech in Hong Kong</a>.</p>
<p>The United States and several other countries cited these concerns in announcing a <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/is-china-committing-genocide-against-the-uyghurs-180979490/">diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Olympics</a>.</p>
<p>Interestingly, the committee states that “at all times, the IOC recognises and upholds human rights” <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/human-rights">on its website</a>. </p>
<p>The IOC has also come <a href="https://olympicanalysis.org/section-5/at-tokyo-games-athlete-activism-takes-front-row-seat-despite-iocs-attempts-to-silence-athletes/">under fire</a> for its <a href="https://olympics.com/ioc/news/ioc-athletes-commission-s-recommendations-on-rule-50-and-athlete-expression-at-the-olympic-games">Rule 50</a>.</p>
<p>Originally adopted in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/2020-tokyo-olympics-explainer-protest-rule-racial-injustice-dcb4de638c59b77d259f713af73f5c5a">1975 as Rule 55</a>, it now states that “no kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” This is the rationale for why the IOC <a href="https://www.si.com/olympics/2021/08/03/race-imboden-protest-tokyo-olympics-x-symbol">bars athletes from engaging in protests</a> while they compete or <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/02/sport/raven-saunders-podium-protest-olympics-spt-intl/index.html">during medal ceremonies</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/181025">Time and again</a> the IOC has relied on Rule 50 to justify its commitment to what it calls “political neutrality” as a fundamental principle of Olympism – even when that commitment has contradicted one or more aspects of its mission.</p>
<h2>5. Is the IOC neutral and apolitical?</h2>
<p>Well, it depends on whom you ask. </p>
<p>“The position of the IOC must be, given the political neutrality, that we are not commenting on political issues,” Bach said, when <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/03/sports/tennis/peng-shuai-olympics.html">asked about the abuse of Uyghurs by China’s government</a> at the outset of the Beijing Winter Games. “Because otherwise, if we are taking a political standpoint, and we are getting in the middle of tensions and disputes and confrontations between political powers, then we are putting the Olympics at risk.”</p>
<p>In 2020, likewise, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2020/oct/24/the-olympics-are-about-diversity-and-unity-not-politics-and-profit-boycotts-dont-work-thomas-bach">Bach wrote that the Olympics</a> “can set an example for a world where everyone respects the same rules and one another.”</p>
<p>[<em>Over 140,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletters to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.library.brocku.ca/index.php/jess/article/view/3589/2727">Human rights experts and activists around the world</a>, however, have called the IOC’s position to be apolitical a myth and urged the committee to take a stronger stance on human rights abuses.</p>
<p>Shortly before the Tokyo Games began, in the summer of 2021, more than 150 experts on sports, human rights and social justice – including both of us – <a href="https://alicenter.org/programs-athletes-social-change-rule-50-expert-letter">published an open letter</a>. In it, we called on the IOC to demonstrate a stronger commitment to human rights and social justice.</p>
<p>“Neutrality is never neutral,” we argued. “As a reflection of society at large, sport is not immune to the social ills that have created global inequities. … Staying neutral means staying silent, and staying silent means supporting ongoing injustice.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/176499/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yannick Kluch is a member of the Team USA Council on Racial and Social Justice, where he serves as external expert on athlete protests/demonstrations and racial and social justice. He is also on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council for USA Diving, the National Governing Body for the sport of diving in the United States. Kluch serves on the advisory board for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council for Excellence (DIECE). He has signed onto the Rule 50 expert letter referenced in this article and is a co-author on the History News Network article referenced at the end of the piece.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>In addition to his role at the University of Connecticut, Eli Wolff directs the Power of Sport Lab platform, and he is also a coordinator of the Athletes and Social Change forum with the Muhammad Ali Center. He has signed onto the Rule 50 expert letter and the Beijing 2022 expert article referenced in this article. </span></em></p>The International Olympic Committee oversees several humanitarian initiatives. But it avoids letting human rights concerns interfere with the Games, even in countries with rampant violations.Yannick Kluch, Assistant Professor of Sport Leadership; Director of Outreach and Inclusive Excellence, Virginia Commonwealth UniversityEli Wolff, Instructor of Sport Management, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1755062022-02-07T16:14:00Z2022-02-07T16:14:00ZCanadian reconstruction aid to Tonga 40 years ago points the way today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444665/original/file-20220206-999-4ieinm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=452%2C9%2C2078%2C1297&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Workers for the Tonga Geological Services look at the smoke poring from the eruption site.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Tonga Geological Services/Government of Tonga)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tonga is still assessing the devastation of January’s volcanic explosion that was <a href="https://phys.org/news/2022-01-tonga-eruption-equivalent-hundreds-hiroshimas.html">hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima</a>. </p>
<p>The eruption caused a tsunami that hit Tonga and outlying islands, and spurred tsunami warnings in North America. It was a reminder that the South Pacific is not as distant from us as we might think.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-tonga-volcano-cued-tsunami-warnings-for-the-north-american-pacific-coast-175407">Why the Tonga volcano cued tsunami warnings for the North American Pacific coast</a>
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</em>
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<p>Emergency relief aid is <a href="https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/international-aid-reaches-tonga-with-clean-water-supplies-1.5751276">reaching Tonga</a>, though it’s been complicated by <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/27/earthquake-strikes-off-coast-of-tonga-days-after-volcano-eruption">a nearby earthquake</a> a few days later as well as restrictions that seek to keep the country free of COVID-19. </p>
<p>The larger challenge will be reconstruction once the attention of the world has moved on. <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/460032/tongan-eruption-85-percent-of-the-population-impacted-government">As the speaker of the national parliament said</a>: “It’s going to be a long road to recovery.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A map of Tonga and outlying islands" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442882/original/file-20220127-18-1dws5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442882/original/file-20220127-18-1dws5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442882/original/file-20220127-18-1dws5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442882/original/file-20220127-18-1dws5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442882/original/file-20220127-18-1dws5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442882/original/file-20220127-18-1dws5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442882/original/file-20220127-18-1dws5n8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map of Tonga and outlying islands and where the Tonga Kitchens project did work, compiled from Google Maps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(David Webster)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>During Canada’s ongoing <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/idw-sdi.aspx?lang=eng">International Development Week</a>, it’s important to remember there are lessons from a similar natural disaster 40 years ago in the South Pacific. That’s when Canadians helped rebuild after cyclone Isaac, the <a href="https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/675">worst storm in the region in the 20th century</a>. Emergency relief arrived throughout 1982, but people in hard-hit outlying islands were still suffering a year later.</p>
<h2>Development and kitchens</h2>
<p>One desperate need was for cooking houses. Traditional societies in outlying islands use three types of structures — dwelling houses, cooking houses and bathing houses. While international agencies helped to rebuild homes, there was poor understanding of the need for cooking houses, known as <em>peito</em> (<a href="https://tradukka.com/translate/to/en/peito">kitchen in English</a>).</p>
<p>Enter a new Canadian organization: the <a href="https://pacificpeoplespartnership.org/">Pacific Peoples’ Partnership</a> (known at the time by its previous name, the South Pacific People’s Foundation). Its director, <a href="https://pacificpeoplespartnership.org/ppp-featured-partner-victoria-foundation/">Phil Esmonde</a>, an American-born veteran turned Canadian peace activist, communicated with village women’s groups in the more remote islands of Tonga and shared the need for cooking houses.</p>
<p>A year after the cyclone, Esmonde wrote in an internal document contained in the organization’s unpublished archives: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Many peitos now consist of nothing more than a fire pit under a tree or a few pieces of leftover roofing iron.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A woman in a colourful dress stands in front of a kitchen house with tropical trees around it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442883/original/file-20220127-14-urplgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/442883/original/file-20220127-14-urplgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442883/original/file-20220127-14-urplgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442883/original/file-20220127-14-urplgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442883/original/file-20220127-14-urplgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442883/original/file-20220127-14-urplgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/442883/original/file-20220127-14-urplgw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A kitchen or pieto on the island of Nomuka in the South Pacific in 1983.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pacific People's Partnership archives)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Village women emphasized the need for cooking houses to store and prepare food, to eat and to allow women to gather and carry out traditional functions and work, such as weaving.</p>
<p>In other words, peitos were not just about reconstructing villages. They were about reconstructing village life and about women’s needs — aspects not normally prioritized by international
humanitarian agencies.</p>
<h2>Focus on gender, Indigenous needs</h2>
<p>In response, the <a href="http://pacificpeoplespartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/54-3-Tok-Blong-Pasifik-v54-3-2000.pdf">Pacific Peoples’ Partnership</a> launched the Tonga Kitchens project as its first full-scale development effort. It focused on issues of gender and Indigenous needs, not imported models.</p>
<p>Equally important, it paid close attention to the more remote northern islands — including many of the same islands <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/21/world/asia/tonga-tsunami-volcano.html">hit hardest</a> by January’s tsunami, <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/UNOSAT_A3_Natural_Landscape_VO20220115TON_DamageAssessment_NomukaVillage_HaapaiDivision_18Jan2022.pdf">including Nomuka</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jan/19/fears-for-tongas-tiny-mango-island-as-every-house-destroyed">and Mango</a>, where every house was destroyed following the eruption.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An aerial view of an island with white sand atolls and turquoise waters around it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444657/original/file-20220206-19-ga2zd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444657/original/file-20220206-19-ga2zd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444657/original/file-20220206-19-ga2zd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444657/original/file-20220206-19-ga2zd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444657/original/file-20220206-19-ga2zd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444657/original/file-20220206-19-ga2zd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/444657/original/file-20220206-19-ga2zd7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Tongan island of Mango is seen in this 2013 photo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Scott Mills)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Delving into the <a href="https://pacificpeoplespartnership.org/45-moments-over-45-years-celebrating-the-45th-anniversary-of-pacific-peoples-partnership/">Pacific Peoples’ Partnership’s archives</a> unearths stories about close ties between Canada and the Pacific islands. The organization was founded in 1975 as an offshoot of the United States-based Foundation for the South Pacific, the brainchild of Australian actor <a href="https://www.ilctr.org/entrepreneur-hof/elizabeth-silverstein/">Elizabeth (Betty) Silverstein</a> and her husband, American studio executive Maurice (Red) Silverstein.</p>
<p>The Canadian organization increased its impact through grants from the British Columbia government. Under NDP Premier Dave Barrett, B.C. created an innovative fund to match aid money raised by B.C.-based non-governmental organizations.</p>
<h2>Matching fundraising dollars</h2>
<p>The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) was at the time also willing to match fundraising as part of its emphasis on <a href="https://press.ucalgary.ca/books/9781773850405/">working closely with civil society</a> both in Canada and overseas.</p>
<p>CIDA funding for development education within Canada allowed the Pacific People’s Partnership to <a href="https://pacificpeoplespartnership.org/45-moments-over-45-years-celebrating-the-45th-anniversary-of-pacific-peoples-partnership/">host Tongan artist Sinisia Taumoepeau</a>, who strengthened the organization’s existing ties with local women’s development groups in Tonga in the early 1980s. </p>
<p>She was part of the Tonga Kitchens project, in which the Pacific People’s Partnership sent $40,000 (more than $100,000 in today’s money) to help rebuild hundreds of peitos. Islanders did all the work, contributing 80 per cent of the project’s value. As the organization’s archives say: “The project was truly theirs.”</p>
<p>CIDA’s emphasis at the time on integrating women in development made the Pacific People’s Partnership’s work with Tongan women attractive in Ottawa. The partnership has retained that emphasis, with Tonga’s <a href="https://pacificpeoplespartnership.org/international/women-and-children-crisis-centre-tonga/">Women and Children Crisis Centre</a> now a major partner. </p>
<p>The crisis centre stresses the Indigenous Tongan method of <em>talanoa</em> (talking informally) to provide mental health and other services. Its founder is feminist researcher <a href="https://www.spc.int/ofa-guttenbeil-likiliki">ʻOfa Guttenbeil-Likiliki</a>, a leading thinker in building <a href="https://iwda.org.au/resource/creating-equitable-south-north-partnerships/">equitable north-south partnerships</a>.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1489321153214693385"}"></div></p>
<h2>Aid now less effective</h2>
<p>The Canadian government, however, later abandoned its earlier emphasis on civil society, women in development, development education and on the highly effective matching grants collaboration with Canadian civil society organizations.</p>
<p>It substituted corporate-driven and bureaucratic strategies such as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/dpr.12454">pairing non-governmental organizations with Canadian mining companies</a> or <a href="https://www.foreignpolicy.ca/new-page-5">promoting structural adjustments</a> — shifts that have often made Canadian aid <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/struggling-for-effectiveness-products-9780773540576.php">less effective</a>. </p>
<p>Only in recent years has Ottawa rediscovered ideas like “<a href="https://cooperation.ca/global-affairs-canada-cso-partnership-policy/">civil society partnerships</a>” and a “<a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/priorities-priorites/policy-politique.aspx?lang=eng">feminist international assistance policy</a>.”</p>
<p>That’s a positive development, but we also need to <a href="https://devhistory.wordpress.com/">recover the historical memory of Canadian development assistance</a> and craft effective strategies on civil society and feminist aid as the <a href="https://aidhistory.ca/">Canadian Network on Humanitarian History</a> does. The Tonga Kitchens project shows the needs have remained constant over the decades, including after the latest eruption.</p>
<p>We should also learn from the sustained engagement of groups like the Pacific Peoples’ Partnership rather than rely on short-term contracts and project-based approaches. Canada’s government seems to create a new aid strategy every few years, then celebrates it. Instead, it should reckon honestly with its past and current aid record.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/neither-hero-nor-villain-canada-stuck-in-the-middle-of-the-pack-on-international-aid-124452">Neither hero nor villain: Canada stuck in the middle of the pack on international aid</a>
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<hr>
<p>A further lesson is that initiatives should be informed by the affected community. Tongans know their needs better than foreign visitors. Aid needs to be reframed as solidarity, not as benevolence. In other words, Canada needs to <a href="https://ecosociete.org/livres/perdre-le-sud">decolonize its aid</a>.</p>
<p>Finally, when disasters strike, Canadians need to remember that reconstruction takes years. To be effective, it should focus on the expressed needs of local people, especially voices that can become marginalized — those of remote Indigenous peoples and village-based women. </p>
<p>Work such as the Tonga Kitchens project not only delivers concrete help, it also “strengthens and solidifies the efforts of grass roots women’s groups, and affirms their organization,” as one archival Pacific People’s Partnership report noted.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175506/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Webster receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. He is a fellow of the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and a member of the Canadian Network on Humanitarian History.</span></em></p>In 1983, a Canadian group helped rebuild traditional cooking houses in Tonga in the aftermath of a devastating cyclone. The Tonga Kitchens project offers lessons for Canadian aid today.David Webster, Professor, History & Global Studies, Bishop's UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1724252022-01-12T14:38:21Z2022-01-12T14:38:21ZTime and trauma: what fetching water costs women and girls in Nairobi’s informal settlements<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440418/original/file-20220112-27-1vjupjv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women carry water buckets filled with water after fetching it from one of the illegal freshwater points in Mathare slum.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA-EFE/Daniel Irungu</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fetching water is usually a “<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/ref/10.1080/00020184.2020.1781594?scroll=top">women’s affair</a>”, as has been documented all over the world. The consequences of spending time and energy to get safe water are felt in women’s <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev.energy.32.041806.143704">health</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953608004784?via%3Dihub">emotional wellbeing</a>, as well as incomes.</p>
<p>Existing research on water access by women in informal settlements tends to focus on their gender role, how they collect water and the consequences of this. They don’t adequately document the everyday practices in which women manoeuvre to acquire water.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00020184.2020.1781594">recent study</a> in Kenya, I looked at how women struggle to fetch, store and save water in informal settlements. My research focused on Mathare, a large informal settlement in Nairobi. About <a href="https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/news/mathare-slums-most-congested-area-with-68-941-per-square-kilometre-2269570">206,000 people</a> live there, but around <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58d4504db8a79b27eb388c91/t/58e6a6991b10e38c7e857581/1491510980376/Mathare_Zonal_Plan_25_06_2012_low_res.pdf">90%</a> of the households don’t have piped water. </p>
<p>Residents buy water from community stand-pipes supplied by the government utility, informal water vendors and water ATMS. These provide users with cheap, clean water on demand. In dire circumstances, residents use water from the Mathare and Gitathuru rivers. </p>
<p>Through interviews, surveys and focus group discussions with 258 households in Mathare during 2016 and 2017, I found that women faced huge challenges and trauma in collecting water. Besides the woes of finding a running tap and wasting valuable time waiting in queues, procuring water entails physical hardship that often leads to mental agony that sometimes even threatens the women’s safety. </p>
<p>Needless to say women in other Nairobi informal settlements, with similar socio-economic settings, will have similar stories to tell. </p>
<h2>It’s mainly women who collect water</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00020184.2020.1781594">45% of the households</a>, women fetched water alone and women and girls fetched water together 25.6% of the time. Boys did so in only <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00020184.2020.1781594">2.3% of households</a>. Men collected water in 7%. </p>
<p>Even if men were free or better equipped (physically), they would only fetch water when there were no women in their families, women were sick, or they were not at home. Fetching water is widely considered a socially unacceptable behaviour for men. Women I spoke to said that fetching water is one of their basic tasks, and that “good women” are those who perform it well. </p>
<p>In households headed by women (where men were unemployed or were dead or absent), and in families where parents couldn’t afford to lose paid labour, girls were sent to collect water. Sometimes even at night. </p>
<p>These children were often bullied by adults while waiting in the queue. If they’re collecting water in the morning, they might be late for school, or not go in at all. The girls were socialised to fetch water for their families.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-deep-data-dive-reveals-extent-of-unequal-water-provision-in-nairobi-173258">A deep data dive reveals extent of unequal water provision in Nairobi</a>
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<h2>Time, effort and danger</h2>
<p>Water collection can take anywhere from <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/ref/10.1080/00020184.2020.1781594?scroll=top">30 minutes to two hours</a>. Though the water standpipes are <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58d4504db8a79b27eb388c91/t/58e6a6991b10e38c7e857581/1491510980376/Mathare_Zonal_Plan_25_06_2012_low_res.pdf">fairly well distributed across Mathare</a> (on average 53 metres from each household), Mathare is built on steep slopes and has precarious paths. Even a small distance can be a danger for women and girls to navigate carrying water. </p>
<p>The standpipes are also few in number – one standpipe serves about 315 people. The universal international guideline is <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/50b491b09.pdf">250 people</a>. This means long queues. When water is supplied (twice to three times a week) there are on average 80 people waiting in the queue that day. </p>
<p>Mathare often suffers from water scarcity. This can be due to poor or old water infrastructure and the illegal cutting of water pipes by cartels and water vendors to create an artificial demand to sell water at high price. Water supply can therefore be unpredictable or happen at inconvenient hours. This means that women spend extra time on water-related tasks – waiting in the queue, walking long distances to wash in the river or searching for a water vendor. Sometimes they are forced to collect water at the cost of missing work (forgoing daily wages), skipping meals, not tending to children, and even losing sleep and leisure.</p>
<p>Women in my study reported instances of violence, theft and assault when they fetched water at night. Inebriated standpipe managers were unable to keep proper account of the water sold, and disagreements led to tension. Many women also lamented that even though water supply at inconvenient hours was not under their control, their men did not approve of them spending much time in the queue at night. My research found that wife beating is common at the standpipes at night.</p>
<h2>Health and mental wellbeing</h2>
<p>Often poverty compels women to push hard to carry water, even at the cost of their health, to save on paid water labour (water vendors that carry water), while also working to contribute to family income. </p>
<p>Water prices varied according to the source. For 20 litres of water, water ATMs charge 50 cents (US$.005), standpipes charge between 2KSH and 10KSH (US$0.02 to US$0.10) and water vendors charge between 2KSH to 50KSH (US$0.02 to US$0.50). This may not seem like much, but the average household income in Mathare is <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-even-with-more-access-to-toilets-women-in-a-kenyan-slum-avoid-them-106542">about</a> 8500Ksh (USD$85) a month. These costs add up. Some residents said the cost of buying water was sometimes more than buying food. </p>
<p>General fatigue is common. Many women in my study complained of headaches, breathlessness, and pains in the chest, neck, back and waist. Some said they got so tired carrying water that they fell sick and missed work.</p>
<p>The daily engagement in negotiations and arguments – with other customers in the queue and water sellers – to procure water adds to the distress.</p>
<h2>What can be done</h2>
<p>There are steps being taken which could improve the situation for women.</p>
<p>The Nairobi City Water and Sewage Company has initiated several projects in partnership with various NGOs and other development partners to provide safe water to urban poor. It has <a href="https://www.lincolninst.edu/sites/default/files/pubfiles/2018_inquiry_community_toilets_kenya_ruffin_friedl.pdf">recently</a> constructed 24 water kiosks and extended 18km water pipeline in Mathare valley to serve a population of 200,000.</p>
<p>The World Bank <a href="https://www.lincolninst.edu/sites/default/files/pubfiles/2018_inquiry_community_toilets_kenya_ruffin_friedl.pdf">has also</a> given a grant of US$3,000,000 under the water and sanitation improvement programme to improve water services. This involves construction of 18.5 km of water pipeline extension to serve the residents of low income settlements. </p>
<p>To address the water deficit, private vendors are gradually <a href="https://iwaponline.com/wp/article-abstract/21/5/1034/69738/Can-shared-standpipes-fulfil-the-Sustainable?redirectedFrom=fulltext">being regulated</a> in Mathare. Kenyan municipalities <a href="http://waterfund.go.ke/watersource/Downloads/National%20Water%20Services%20Strategy%20Draft.pdf">have asked</a> authorised private water providers to make supply arrangements in informal settlements a compulsory prerequisite for licence renewals. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-its-really-worth-to-pipe-water-to-homes-in-rural-zambia-155149">What it's really worth to pipe water to homes in rural Zambia</a>
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<p>These are positive steps, but more must be done to increase the number of shared taps (particularly as the <a href="https://iglus.org/nairobi-another-urban-city-in-prepration/">urban population grows</a>) and prevent corruption from driving up water prices.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172425/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anindita Sarkar receives funding from University Grants Commission, New Delhi, India . </span></em></p>Fetching water entails physical hardship that can often lead to mental agony and can sometimes even threaten a woman’s safety.Anindita Sarkar, Associate professor, University of DelhiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1668042021-10-26T12:23:20Z2021-10-26T12:23:20ZWhat did billions in aid to Afghanistan accomplish? 5 questions answered<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/425780/original/file-20211011-21-l9rlc4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=141%2C79%2C5742%2C3501&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">International Committee of the Red Cross rehabilitation center staff members assist a Taliban member on Oct. 11, 2021, in Kabul, Afghanistan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/members-of-international-committee-of-red-cross-news-photo/1235821036">Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The government of Afghanistan and that country’s economy relied heavily on foreign aid until the U.S. withdrawal. That support is on hold, although the United States and its allies have begun to take <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/24/treasury-makes-us-aid-to-afghanistan-easier-amid-taliban-sanctions.html">steps toward resuming some humanitarian assistance</a>. Here, Mohammad Qadam Shah, an assistant professor of global development at Seattle Pacific University who conducted in-depth research regarding Afghanistan’s aid administration, answers five questions about the past, present and future of aid to his native country.</em></p>
<h2>1. What did foreign economic aid accomplish in Afghanistan?</h2>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.sigar.mil/about/">US$150 billion in nonmilitary U.S. aid</a> flowed into Afghanistan from 2001 to 2020, plus billions more from its allies and <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/733171601494842102/pdf/The-World-Bank-Group-in-Afghanistan-Country-Update.pdf">international organizations</a>.</p>
<p>For those two decades, Afghanistan’s economic development aid largely funded education, health care, governance reforms and infrastructure – including schools, hospitals, roads, dams and other major construction projects.</p>
<p>One notable result in terms of education was that <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/afghanistan/education">far more students were enrolled in school</a>. The number of students jumped from 900,000 in 2001 to more than 9.5 million in 2020. <a href="https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/governance/education-experts-worry-about-future-of-afghanistan-s-education-system-78595">Foreign aid helped build</a> about 20,000 elementary schools, and the number of universities grew sharply as well. The number of Afghans enrolled in higher education programs soared from 7,000 in 2001 to about 200,000 in 2019. There were no female college students in 2001, but there were <a href="https://www.eurasiareview.com/12102021-afghanistans-education-sector-prospects-under-taliban-rule-analysis/">54,861 in 2019</a>.</p>
<p>The share of girls among all students reached <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/afghanistan/education">39% in 2020</a>, versus only an estimated <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/09/womens-education-afghanistans-biggest-success-story-now-at-risk/">5,000 in 2001</a>.</p>
<p>Likewise, aid increased access to <a href="http://www.emro.who.int/afg/programmes/health-system-strengthening.html">health care</a> for most of the population. <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN?locations=AF">Life expectancy rose</a> over the two decades by about a decade, to 64.8 years in 2019, according to the World Bank. </p>
<p>Afghanistan also made progress in terms of governance reform, with the adoption of a <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Afghanistan_2004.pdf?lang=en">new constitution in 2004</a> that established a framework for liberal democratic governance and protecting human rights. It held four presidential and provincial council elections and <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/political-reform-urgently-needed-in-afghanistan/">three parliamentary elections</a>.</p>
<p>The country also adopted <a href="http://laws.moj.gov.af/">hundreds of new laws and regulations</a> regarding education, health, insurance, budgeting, mining, women rights and land titling.</p>
<p>International aid helped construct and pave <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2015/0202/Paved-roads-a-positive-legacy-of-Afghan-war.-But-who-fixes-potholes">thousands of miles of roads and streets</a>, either rehabilitated or built from scratch.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.usaid.gov/afghanistan/infrastructure">Other infrastructure</a> projects included <a href="https://www.orfonline.org/expert-speak/afghanistan-and-the-regions-future-is-tied-to-hydro-diplomacy/">hydroelectric dams</a> and <a href="https://www.scalingsolar.org/active-engagements/afghanistan/">solar power plants</a> to generate electricity, bridges and irrigation and drinking water projects.</p>
<h2>2. What were the drawbacks?</h2>
<p><a href="https://whyy.org/articles/william-easterly-foreign-aid-sometimes-goes-to-the-wrong-people/">International development experts</a> do not dispute that aid can make a positive difference. What they criticize is that this assistance, even in vast amounts, doesn’t necessarily solve a country’s problems. That is the case in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Based on <a href="https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/45216">what I’ve seen firsthand in my research</a>, the problem in Afghanistan was not the amount of aid, but its mismanagement.</p>
<p>The highly centralized governance system Afghanistan adopted in 2001 gave its president unconstrained political, fiscal and administrative power, without any way for the legislature or the public to hold the <a href="https://www.discoursemagazine.com/politics/2020/07/21/defund-afghanistan/">executive branch of government accountable</a>. To a degree, the government was accountable to foreign donors, but this lack of checks and balances contributed to <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2000/06/pdf/klitgaar.pdf">systemic corruption</a>.</p>
<p>A centralized public finance management system gave Afghanistan’s president complete control and discretion over planning, budgeting and taxation. He could also <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02634937.2021.1960487">tactically allocate government spending</a> to curry favor with elites, interest groups and voters.</p>
<p>Afghanistan’s <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=AF">$20 billion economy</a> was <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/taliban-takeover-how-frozen-assets-foreign-aid-impacts-afghanistan/">heavily dependent on foreign aid</a>, but its centralized governance system was <a href="https://www.pillsburylaw.com/en/news-and-insights/sigar-waste-fraud-afghanistan.html">prone to mismanaging it</a>.</p>
<p>For instance, the <a href="https://tolonews.com/afghanistan/parliament-probe-alleged-embezzlements-code-91">president had exclusive and unconstrained access</a> to a large share of government funds.</p>
<p>I believe the only way to have fixed this problem, before the Taliban took over again, was to <a href="https://www.discoursemagazine.com/politics/2020/07/21/defund-afghanistan/">defund the country</a> and reform the aid management system in a way that the people had the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. And I would expect to see a centralized, exclusive aid management system under the Taliban to replicate the same flaws and challenges seen in Afghanistan over the past two decades. </p>
<h2>3. What’s standing in the way of aid delivery?</h2>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/us-foreign-aid-explained-74810">Economic assistance </a> can support long-term economic development or help meet more immediate humanitarian objectives – such as providing food and shelter after disasters, or any help intended to save immediately imperiled lives.</p>
<p>As long as the Taliban remain in control, the only aid likely to flow from the U.S. and most of its allies will surely be the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171102215158/http://www.globalhumanitarianassistance.org/data-guides/defining-humanitarian-aid">humanitarian kind</a>. Even that money, however, will likely be contingent upon whether Afghanistan’s new authorities <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/18/eu-pulls-afghanistan-funding-will-work-with-taliban-if-rights-respected.html">respect human rights</a>, form an inclusive government and prevent Afghanistan’s territory from being used for terrorist purposes.</p>
<p>But the Taliban are mostly <a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/taliban-constitution-offers-glimpse-into-militant-group-s-vision-for-afghanistan/30577298.html">running Afghanistan</a> like they did in the 1990s – with an <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/11/asia/afghanistan-taliban-justice-cmd-intl/index.html">iron fist</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.interregional.com/en/non-inclusive-governance/">Taliban’s interim cabinet</a> includes no women or members of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. And there are reports that the Taliban are already <a href="https://8am.af/eng/taliban-evicted-indigenous-hazaras-from-daikundis-gizab-400-families-displaced-so-far/">forcibly displacing people in Hazara communities</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/20/world/asia/afghan-girls-schools-taliban.html">not letting girls go to school</a>.</p>
<h2>4. What’s happening to Afghanistan’s aid?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-afghanistan-the-us-again-gets-to-choose-how-it-stops-fighting-165058">U.S. military and diplomatic withdrawal</a> precipitated the collapse of the Afghan government and the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-history-of-the-taliban-is-crucial-in-understanding-their-success-now-and-also-what-might-happen-next-166630">Taliban’s takeover</a>, disrupting aid delivery. <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/8/24/investors-dilemma-abandon-billions-spent-or-work-with-taliban">Thousands of foreign aid workers</a> and their Afghan former colleagues have left the country.</p>
<p>The few exceptions include a handful of humanitarian aid programs: the <a href="https://twitter.com/NRC_Egeland/status/1426852062889926657?s=20">Norwegian Refugee Council</a>, the <a href="https://www.redcross.org/about-us/news-and-events/news/2021/afghanistan-how-the-red-cross-and-red-crescent-are-helping.html">Red Cross</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/MSF_Afghanistan/status/1426907379812159500">Doctors witout Borders</a> and the <a href="https://www.wfp.org/stories/afghanistan-wfp-continues-deliver-winter-and-humanitarian-crisis-loom">World Food Program</a> are all <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/09/can-the-world-get-aid-to-afghanistan/">still operating in Afghanistan</a>.</p>
<p>In August 2021, the <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2021/08/taliban-takeover-world-bank-and-imf-halt-aid-us-freezes-afghan-assets/">U.S. froze more than $9 billion</a> of Afghanistan’s assets. Nearly all sources of Afghanistan’s aid, including the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/18/eu-pulls-afghanistan-funding-will-work-with-taliban-if-rights-respected.html">European Union</a>, the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral organizations, stopped disbursing assistance.</p>
<p>“The economic and development outlook is stark,” the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/afghanistan/overview#1">World Bank observes</a>.</p>
<p>On Sept. 13, 2021, the U.S. Agency for International Development said it would dispatch <a href="https://www.usaid.gov/news-information/press-releases/sep-13-2021-united-states-nearly-64-million-additional-humanitarian-assistance-afghanistan">$64 million in new humanitarian aid to Afghanistan</a>, channeling it through nonprofits and U.N. agencies. But it’s <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/10/10/1044912355/the-taliban-says-u-s-has-agreed-to-provide-humanitarian-assistance-to-afghanista">not clear</a>, according to the Taliban, that this money is flowing yet.</p>
<p>In October 2021, the European Union pledged 1 billion euros, about <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_5208">$1.2 billion, in humanitarian aid and other forms of support</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/22/pakistan-eases-travel-restrictions-aid-afghanistan-taliban">Pakistan</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-58496867">China are providing emergency aid</a>, as have a few other countries, including <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/asia-pacific/qatar-dispatches-humanitarian-aid-to-afghanistan/2368127">Qatar</a>.</p>
<p>China and Pakistan are teaming up with Russia, Iran and India, along with some former Soviet Central Asian countries, to advocate for the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/20/russia-hosts-taliban-for-talks-but-warns-no-recognition-for-now">U.N. to recognize the Taliban</a> government, which could facilitate the flow of more aid.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428098/original/file-20211023-9457-eny8sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Boxes of aid from Qatar arrive in Afghanistan" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428098/original/file-20211023-9457-eny8sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/428098/original/file-20211023-9457-eny8sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428098/original/file-20211023-9457-eny8sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428098/original/file-20211023-9457-eny8sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428098/original/file-20211023-9457-eny8sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428098/original/file-20211023-9457-eny8sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/428098/original/file-20211023-9457-eny8sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Officials unload packages of Qatari humanitarian aid in Kabul on Sept. 17, 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/officials-unload-packages-as-qatari-aircraft-carrying-news-photo/1235327089?adppopup=true">Qatari Foreign Ministry/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)</a></span>
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<h2>5. What are some of the consequences?</h2>
<p>The Taliban have not yet shown that they can actually govern Afghanistan.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/the-interview/20211005-taliban-not-victorious-in-afghanistan-s-panjshir-region-parallel-govt-official-says">Resistance groups are forming</a>, and <a href="https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/isis-is-becoming-a-new-threat-in-afghanistan-says-us-president-joe-biden/videoshow/85551889.cms">ISIS-K poses a significant threat</a> to their ability to keep control of the country.</p>
<p>Perhaps more important, the Taliban <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/02/business/economy/afghanistan-taliban-financial-crisis.html">lack the money and expertise required</a> to satisfy the basic needs of the Afghan people.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 115,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Thousands of Afghan <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/hundreds-of-afghan-teachers-call-on-taliban-to-pay-their-salaries-report-2583709">public servants are demanding their unpaid salaries</a>. Afghans who used to work for nongovernmental organizations have <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/08/26/1030691740/aid-groups-wonder-whether-to-stay-or-go-as-taliban-takes-over-afghanistan">lost their jobs</a>, as have <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210909-afghans-fear-for-jobs-and-money-after-taliban-takeover">many others</a>.</p>
<p>An estimated <a href="https://www.wfpusa.org/countries/afghanistan/">14 million Afghans</a> were already having trouble getting enough to eat before the disruption of aid. That situation is now <a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/half-afghanistans-children-under-five-expected-suffer-acute-malnutrition-hunger">growing more dire</a>, according to UNICEF.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166804/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mohammad Qadam Shah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A scholar from Afghanistan outlines what more than $150 billion in assistance did and didn’t accomplish in two decades following the arrival of U.S. troops un 2001.Mohammad Qadam Shah, Assistant Professor of Global Development, Seattle Pacific UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1642262021-10-04T15:17:55Z2021-10-04T15:17:55ZEnvironmentalists must pressure the Indian government to take action on climate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423682/original/file-20210928-23-rck4kx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=77%2C336%2C8549%2C5406&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A protestor holds a banner at the Fridays for Future march in New Delhi on Sept. 24, 2021. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Manish Swarup) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scorching heat waves, torrential rains and other extreme weather events make India one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/of-the-world-s-15-hottest-places-10-are-in-india/story-i7z7pGDp8J6Tf9aN6LLg3H.html">Many Indian cities recorded</a> temperatures as high as 48 C, in 2020. And by 2100, an estimated <a href="https://impactlab.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IndiaMortality_webv2.pdf">1.5 million</a> additional people will die each year from climate change. </p>
<p>Several metropolitan cities including Delhi are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cities-that-could-become-unlivable-by-2100-climate-change-2019-2">expected to become</a> unlivable in the next 80 years. The <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_SPM.pdf">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent report stated</a> that India is likely to experience more extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts and floods in the next few decades that will lead to <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/environment/india-to-face-irreversible-impacts-of-climate-crisis-flags-ipcc-report-101628498654877.html">irreversible climate impacts</a>.</p>
<p>India pledged to <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/india/">reduce its emissions intensity (emissions per unit of GDP) by 33 to 35 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030</a>, yet the government <a href="https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/climate-change/is-india-on-track-to-meet-its-paris-commitments-67345">fails to generate emissions data</a> to monitor these targets and validate claims that it will meet the Paris objectives on time.</p>
<p>Non-governmental organizations play an <a href="https://archive.nyu.edu/bitstream/2451/40704/2/NGO%20report.pdf">important role in India</a> because of their ability to provide feedback and act as harbingers of change for economic and social systems to thrive. But instead of pressuring the government, many NGOs are increasingly putting <a href="https://www.downtoearth.org.in/interviews/-governments-alone-cannot-combat-pollution-21838">pressure on the public to mitigate climate change</a>. <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/as-ban-on-plastic-bags-looms-ngos-promote-paper-cloth-bags/articleshow/63347414.cms">For instance</a>, NGOs promote lower meat consumption, cloth shopping bags, reusable straws, LED lightbulbs and so on. </p>
<p>Actions like these feed the “<a href="https://roarmag.org/essays/there-is-no-such-thing-as-a-green-war/?fbclid=IwAR2NNHCLuoyejoNgs680X5-ZahoF2BgX3_AxHoBtw9aCY01J_vfHxXEDjCg">green me fallacy</a>,” a term coined by American writer and filmmaker Eleanor Goldfield, which is the belief that an individual’s lifestyle choices will be enough to resolve climate problems and restore ecological health. But these solutions cannot work without institutional or policy-level support.</p>
<p>Instead of focusing on symbolic gestures or actions that raise one’s social capital, Indian activists need to pressure the government to establish effective environmental policies and programs. They should protest, picket corporate offices, petition the government and stage sit-ins, hunger strikes and vigils to strengthen climate action and spread awareness about the urgency of the climate crisis in India. As a climate scholar and activist I have participated in environmental campaigns in New Delhi and Bengaluru to understand the objectives of NGOs and how they operate. </p>
<h2>Acting with a sense of urgency</h2>
<p>India is already experiencing the negative effects of climate change. Yet it is the world’s <a href="https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/12/2411/2020/">third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide</a>, and its <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/india">electricity and heating sector produces</a> more than 1.1 billion tonnes of carbon emissions annually. With coal still central to the country’s energy sector — and <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/4/19/new-indian-coal-power-plants-planned-despite-climate-risk-report">more coal-fired plants planned</a> — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/2017EF000542">emissions are set to rise</a> with economic growth. Additionally, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/dishashetty/2021/03/16/22-out-of-top-30-worlds-most-polluted-cities-in-india/?sh=511f2fdf75ad">22 out of the world’s 30 most polluted cities</a> are in India. </p>
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<img alt="Boy mid-air above a river at sunset" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424272/original/file-20211001-27-hyqw0g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424272/original/file-20211001-27-hyqw0g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424272/original/file-20211001-27-hyqw0g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424272/original/file-20211001-27-hyqw0g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424272/original/file-20211001-27-hyqw0g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424272/original/file-20211001-27-hyqw0g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424272/original/file-20211001-27-hyqw0g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A boy jumps into the Ganges River during a hot summer day in Prayagraj, India, in May 2020, shortly after an intense heat wave pushed temperatures past 45 C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)</span></span>
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<p><a href="http://www.indigenouslawyers.org/about-us/">Except for a few NGOs</a>, environmental advocacy groups in India have failed to campaign for the shutdown of coal-fired power plants and other industrial projects. Instead, many NGOs have introduced trivial campaigns such as “<a href="https://swechha.in/project/monsoon-wooding/">Monsoon Wooding</a>” and “<a href="https://www.greenyatra.org/pedh-lagao.php">Pedh Lagao</a>” (Plant Trees).</p>
<p>These initiatives act as weak solutions to India’s aggrieved environmental condition, at a time when environmental activists need to probe and have clarity on the most effective responses to climate change. These campaigns become problematic when they fail to ground themselves in science and begin to assert that they can resolve imminent threats, such as air pollution and climate change. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/combatting-an-invisible-killer-new-who-air-pollution-guidelines-recommend-sharply-lower-limits-166939">Combatting an invisible killer: New WHO air pollution guidelines recommend sharply lower limits</a>
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<p>When poorly planned, tree planting can have negative consequences on ecosystems and climate change. For instance, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/05/bad-science-planting-frenzy-misses-the-grasslands-for-the-trees/">planting trees in areas that have never been forested before</a>, such as on grasslands, savannahs and dry lands, reduces carbon sequestration and increases air temperatures. </p>
<p>With the climate crisis at India’s front door, climate activists are being sloppy if they don’t hold industries accountable for their carbon output, and instead look to citizens to reduce their relatively minuscule carbon footprint. </p>
<h2>Climate guilt and shame</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2017/jul/17/neoliberalism-has-conned-us-into-fighting-climate-change-as-individuals">The capitalist system induces</a> our ideological guilt: If we cannot plant trees in our neighbourhood, buy solar-powered products or make green lifestyle choices, then we are not green enough. It heightens the individual’s sense of responsibility.</p>
<p>Yet changing our lifestyles may not meaningfully impact the environment, because individual lifestyle choices are not the problem, mass production and consumption are. </p>
<p>Even when we act with what we believe to be the best of intentions, our efforts are often at cross purposes with our goals. For example, low energy emitting light bulbs may <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203889904577198922867850002">lead us to keep the lights on more</a>. Planting trees allows <a href="https://wrm.org.uy/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/WRM-Compensatory-Afforesation-in-India-2019.pdf">deforestation by corporations to continue by claiming reforestation elsewhere will make up for it</a>. No matter what green initiatives we take, there is always encouragement to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203889904577198922867850002">consume more</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fast-fashion-lies-will-they-really-change-their-ways-in-a-climate-crisis-121033">Fast fashion lies: Will they really change their ways in a climate crisis?</a>
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<p>Governments and corporations should not be let off the hook. NGOs must demand action from governments. They should engage in everyday forms of resistance and rights-based activism, campaign against poor and ineffective environmental policies and demand climate justice and action. </p>
<p>Only a handful of Indian environmental NGOs are challenging this mainstream narrative and speaking truth to power. One example is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2021.1878351"><em>Pathalgadi</em> movement</a>, which defies private sector advocacy by <a href="https://www.epw.in/engage/article/pathalgadi-movement-nation-autonomy-rights-adivasi-jharkhand">challenging the government over the management of <em>Adivasi</em> (Indigenous) resources</a> in the state of Jharkhand. <em>Pathalgadi</em> activists emphasize their constitutional rights to landholdings by imposing blockades on outsiders and promoting self-reliance. </p>
<p>NGOs could reach out to other groups in solidarity and collectively pressure the government to restore the environment. Instead of the feel-good token gestures that exacerbate the climate crisis, Indian activists need to frame environmental inequities in ways that pressure governments to institute effective policies and programs. This is only possible by leveraging public opinion and avoiding a system where individual responsibility is seen as having more environmental impact than the state taking ownership of the problem.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164226/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roomana Hukil does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Instead of making symbolic gestures, Indians need to pressure the government to establish effective environmental policies and programs.Roomana Hukil, PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1608832021-05-17T15:47:19Z2021-05-17T15:47:19ZSocial impact bonds fund welfare projects: how South Africa’s first two have done<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400561/original/file-20210513-18-1rm112d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Delft after protests against the local government. One of South Africa's first social impact bonds funded a project in the town.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jaco Marais/Gallo Images via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Social impact bonds are a <a href="https://socialfinance.org/social-impact-bonds-the-early-years">financing model</a> for social welfare services based on “payment by results”. They are <a href="https://golab.bsg.ox.ac.uk/knowledge-bank/case-studies/colombia-workforce-sib/">relatively new</a>: the first was launched in the UK in 2010, and the first in a developing country in Colombia in 2017. Nearly 140 <a href="https://sibdatabase.socialfinance.org.uk/">have been launched</a> in the last 10 years. About 70 are being developed.</p>
<p>In social impact bonds, investors provide working capital upfront to nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to deliver services. If the NGO successfully meets predefined targets – like placing a certain number of work-seekers in jobs – outcome funders repay investors with interest. If NGOs miss the outcome targets, outcome funders reduce their payments to investors in proportion to the performance gap, thus diminishing their returns.</p>
<p>If targets are missed by a wide margin, the investors could also lose their capital. </p>
<p>In most cases, it is philanthropists (typically charitable or corporate foundations) that provide all the investment capital. Rather than providing grants, the investments give these philanthropists the chance to earn returns and recycle social expenditure, ensuring that the money goes a little further. </p>
<p>The performance against the outcome targets is confirmed by an independent outcome auditor, with the financial management audited by a financial auditor. An intermediary typically solicits investments and outcome funding, manages the relationships between the different participants, and assists the service providers in developing results-based systems. </p>
<p>This capacity building – along with the promise of larger pools of funding – is a drawcard for NGOs. Another is that it opens an alternative funding door in an environment that has seen a decline in funding from traditional donors. </p>
<p>The first two social impact bonds were initiated in South Africa in 2018. They concluded last year. Both pioneered new solutions to stubbornly persistent social problems. They also increased the money available to social expenditure by soliciting private investment capital. </p>
<p>I was involved in compiling a series of <a href="https://www.intellidex.co.za/insights/impact-investing/the-intellidex-sibs-report-series/">reports</a> for the research firm <a href="https://www.intellidex.co.za/">Intellidex</a> about their financial and social performance.</p>
<p>The reports concluded that social impact bonds showed innovation in areas that desperately needed it. And with minor adjustments, they should be applied more widely.</p>
<h2>The projects</h2>
<p>The first social impact bond in South Africa – Bonds4Jobs – had a single performance target: the placement of economically excluded young people into well-paying, higher-complexity jobs. Meeting the target was the responsibility of NGOs that provide training and job-matching services to young people and employers. The project was led by the non-profit <a href="https://www.harambee.co.za/">Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator</a>. Two additional providers were brought in after the successful first year. </p>
<p>Matching is an approach to youth training that designs training in consultation with employers. It combines additional services with training for work-seekers. This involves the profiling of job-seekers so that they are trained for specific jobs that fit their competences and abilities. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/what-could-help-young-people-find-jobs-in-south-africa-118859">Research</a> has demonstrated that many employability programmes for young people aren’t developed on a matching basis. This reduces their effectiveness and means that substantial spending – by the state, private sector and civil society – is inefficient. In turn, this contributes to the unending catastrophe that is youth unemployment in South Africa. At <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/Presentation%20QLFS%20Q4_2020.pdf">the end of 2020</a>, 63% of 15-24 year olds, and 41% of 25-34 year olds, were unemployed. </p>
<p>The service providers were successful, meeting the social impact bond’s job target of 600 medium complexity jobs in the first year and missing it by only a small margin in the second year (1,209 placements against a 1,400 jobs target). This was due to the COVID-19 related national lockdown. </p>
<p>The social impact bond was terminated by the intermediaries two years earlier than anticipated and with full repayment of capital and returns (ranging from 7% to 11% per year) to investors. The decision to terminate was taken due to the extraordinarily negative economic environment. </p>
<p>The second social impact bond – the Impact Bond Innovation Fund (IBIF) – ended on schedule in November 2020 after an investment term of three years. Here, the Western Cape Foundation for Community Work provided home-based early learning services to preschool-aged children in two impoverished communities in the Cape metro area: Delft and Atlantis. For most South Africans, early learning services delivered in preschool-like environments <a href="http://childrencount.uct.ac.za/uploads/publications/SA%20ECR_2019.pdf">are very expensive</a>. Where services are accessible, they are typically <a href="https://ilifalabantwana.co.za/project/a-plan-to-achieve-universal-coverage-of-early-childhood-development-services-by-2030/">bad</a>. </p>
<p>The performance targets were:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the recruitment and retention of 2,000 children in the programme over the three assessment years, </p></li>
<li><p>attendance of a set number of sessions, and</p></li>
<li><p>improvements relative to a group of similar children in the Early Learning Outcomes Measure – a test that assesses programme impacts on early learning. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The project significantly over-achieved on the first target. However, though improvements were achieved, the early learning outcome measure targets were missed. This was largely due to the fact that the IBIF was the first time the test had been applied to a home visiting (rather than centre-based) model. This made setting targets difficult. </p>
<h2>Rich learnings</h2>
<p>In both social impact bonds, the priority of the NGOs was meeting the performance targets. This results orientation – along with the provision of working capital by investors to cover service delivery costs upfront – allowed service providers to try new things to ensure that targets were met. </p>
<p>The service providers’ efforts were supported by the intermediaries. They built the capacity of NGOs to improve service delivery, especially in the area of monitoring and evaluation. These systems allowed for a better understanding of performance, the needs of staff and beneficiaries, and what needed to be changed to ensure targets were met. </p>
<p>A major consequence of the monitoring and evaluation was that the evidence base about effective programming in youth employability and early learning has grown. Bonds4Jobs showed that it is possible to use a matching approach to deliver decent jobs to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This has already led to a change in the way the state designs some employment programming. Similarly, the IBIF showed the usefulness of home-based services in improving access to quality early learning and improving child-carer interaction. </p>
<p>The hope is that future social impact bonds will build in rigorous impact evaluation – rather than simple outcome verification. This would allow for a more nuanced understanding of the various effects of social programming, and how they might differ for different groups of beneficiaries. </p>
<p>Secondly, to really begin to make a dent in youth unemployment and inadequate early learning, performance targets will need to be more ambitious. </p>
<p>This could be achieved by intermediaries building capacities of smaller, less well-resourced NGOs to deliver services differently and in more areas. </p>
<p>Scale could also be achieved by the state adopting models that have been proven with the social impact bonds. </p>
<h2>Next frontier</h2>
<p>The next frontier in social impact bonds is attracting larger volumes of commercial investment. For this to happen, bigger transactions serving more beneficiaries are needed. In addition, a blended capital stack, as employed in Bonds4Jobs – where philanthropists take losses first, and commercial investors are the first to be paid out – is a promising feature that lowers the risk profile for investors. </p>
<p>Finally, more market development is required. As social impact bonds and similar instruments proliferate, and as benchmarks are developed, investing in them will seem less niche. But the need to make investment profiles attractive for commercial investors must be balanced against the needs of outcome funders who also require a good deal. It makes little sense for governments to pay investors returns unless they are shouldering significant risk in financing innovative programmes to vulnerable populations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160883/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The research series on the South African social impact bonds was funded by the Standard Bank Tutuwa Community Foundation (Tutuwa). Tutuwa participated as an investor in both the social impact bonds that we studied. However, the work was independently researched and written by Intellidex.
Zoheb Khan works as the social economy research manage at Intellidex. He is also a research associate at the Centre for Social Development at the University of Johannesburg.</span></em></p>Two social impact bonds that have concluded in South Africa showed that they got innovation going where it was desperately needed.Zoheb Khan, Social economy research manager, Intellidex and research associate, UJ, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1532542021-01-31T14:00:11Z2021-01-31T14:00:11ZHow COVID-19 could transform non-profit organizations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380891/original/file-20210127-15-1whjzx1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3940%2C2664&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed how non-profit organizations operate and how they're funded. Whether it will be enough to help the non-profit sector address growing social problems remains to be seen. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Piqsels)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 has been disruptive to non-profit organizations that are, in many cases, <a href="https://charify.ca/challenges-of-npos/">already operating on a shoestring</a>.</p>
<p>Our research team has spoken with leaders from front-line non-profit organizations, and their funding partners — like public and private foundations — to better understand how the pandemic is affecting organizations across Canada. </p>
<p>Preliminary findings indicate that traditional funding practices have eroded the resiliency of charities and their ability to build sufficient capabilities that can be drawn upon during tough times. </p>
<p>But the pandemic has also emboldened funders and non-profits to rethink traditional models and implement changes that have enormous potential to strengthen the non-profit sector. </p>
<h2>How non-profits operate</h2>
<p>Operating on small budgets is standard for many front-line, non-profit organizations like food banks, youth support organizations and homeless outreach organizations. Doing more with less is a badge of honour. </p>
<p>We spoke to officials at one non-profit delivering youth programming who recounted how visitors to their organization had been impressed with the leanness of the organization. This “leanness” is baked into the non-profit DNA, reinforced by industry observers like <a href="https://www.charityintelligence.ca/">Charity Intelligence</a>. </p>
<p>This leanness is shaped by policies and long-held <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong?language=en#t-137559">beliefs about how non-profits should conduct themselves</a>. Traditional funding models allocate money to specific projects, like youth support programs or senior engagement initiatives, constraining how funds are spent. In addition, this funding must often be renewed annually. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-non-profits-can-use-business-as-a-force-for-good-121674">How non-profits can use business as a force for good</a>
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<p>In principle, pushing funding directly to a non-profit’s constituents makes sense. But it leaves little money to build organizational capabilities. The razor-thin budgets diminish organizational flexibility, capacity and resilience. </p>
<p>Taken together, this makes planning for the future difficult at the best of times. But it makes preparing for crises like the COVID-19 pandemic nearly impossible. </p>
<p>This is problematic because non-profit organizations are vital resources for marginalized and under-served groups. In Canada, communities are struggling and the need for social services far outpaces the supply. This <a href="https://www.imaginecanada.ca/sites/default/files/2019-08/imaginecanada_charities_sustainability_smart_growth_2016_10_18.pdf">social deficit</a> has been exacerbated by the global pandemic, increasing the prevalence of social problems and making the non-profit sector all that more critical. </p>
<h2>Non-profit responses</h2>
<p>Despite the myriad challenges the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced, the non-profits we spoke with adopted creative and innovative approaches to executing their missions. </p>
<p>Make no mistake, the ability for non-profits to continue to serve their communities is a testament to their passion, with non-profit team members pouring their heart and soul into their organizations. </p>
<p>Mission, passion, will and determination have been integral to sustaining non-profits over this time. Across the organizations we spoke with, leaders described the personal sacrifices they and their teams had made. This included long hours, maintaining a flexible outlook and mental tenacity. </p>
<p>Employees of front-line organizations also faced personal risks due to daily interactions with clients and possible COVID-19 exposure. These realities have adversely impacted the mental health of employees in this sector. </p>
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<img alt="A woman wearing a mask and carrying a clipboard checks on a homeless person in a tent." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=431&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/380912/original/file-20210127-13-1fdf18j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A worker from a non-profit organization checks on homeless people in their tents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto in April 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Funding partners have responded in significant ways too. The funding organizations we talked to recognized the need to alter traditional funding procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, many funders immediately removed spending restrictions on existing grants. </p>
<p>As one funder stated: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“You guys know your business better than we do. Use the money as you need it to help you with the adjustment.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The shift to unrestricted funds suggests heightened trust and a recognition that as funders, they did not know how the organizations they supported should best use the money. </p>
<p>This trust was monumental for many non-profit organizations. As one front-line non-profit leader stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“For the first time, all of a sudden, there’s access to operations funding, which we never had before … that’s been absolutely fantastic, to suddenly have money just to pay people to do what they’re doing.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In some cases, the access to unrestricted funding that could be used for the organization’s highest priorities was the difference between continuing to meet the needs of the community and shutting the doors. </p>
<p>It’s interesting that during a time of heightened stress and confusion, many funding partners looked within and found that they trusted the non-profits they were funding, transforming a traditionally paternalistic funding relationship. </p>
<p>What remains to be seen is whether these changes are temporary, or whether they open the door <a href="http://give5.ca/">for reimagining</a> funding relationships. </p>
<h2>New pathways forward</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges but might also represent a critical inflection point for the non-profit sector. While we expect 2021 will <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nonprofits-charities-pandemic-closures-1.5625165">be a challenging</a> year for non-profits, the <a href="https://imaginecanada.ca/sites/default/files/COVID-19%20Sector%20Monitor%20Report%20ENGLISH_0.pdf">sector’s response</a> to date indicates two important and related ways the sector could <a href="https://imaginecanada.ca/en/wake-up-call-report-download">build back better</a>. </p>
<p>First, the pandemic has spurred funders to reconsider their relationships with the non-profit organizations they fund. This may have long term implications for the sector. Many funding organizations are currently waiting for COVID-19 spread to slow, signalling that the time to build back is here. </p>
<p>As non-profits navigate through COVID-19, funding partners should seek a new balance. They can do this by releasing some control and shifting from short-term funding designated for specific projects to long-term unrestricted funding aimed at building non-profit capacity. </p>
<p>Second, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of capabilities and capacity — human resources, information technology and even extra staff and resources, all expenses that have traditionally been generally discouraged by funding organizations. Yet to build capacity for resilience, non-profits must be permitted and encouraged to build this capacity.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has let the light in when it comes to how non-profit organizations operate and how they’re funded. Whether it will be enough to help the non-profit sector address the growing social deficit remains to be seen. </p>
<p><em>Lynn Fergusson of Social Impact Advisors contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153254/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brent McKnight received funding from the Social Sciences Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Mitacs and McMaster University for research that appears in this article. This project also received funding from Social Impact Advisors, a B Corp providing strategy consulting to the non-profit sector.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julie Gouweloos received funding from Mitacs for research that appears in this article. </span></em></p>The COVID-19 pandemic shone a light on how non-profit organizations operate and how they’re funded. Is it enough to boost non-profit sector capacity to address social inequities post-pandemic?Brent McKnight, Associate Professor, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster UniversityJulie Gouweloos, Instructor, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1506012020-12-09T17:29:33Z2020-12-09T17:29:33ZCOVID-19 is stifling NGO efforts to promote gender equality when it’s most needed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373392/original/file-20201207-19-1wuyhvd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C671%2C4817%2C2567&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A teacher holds a child as young women learn business skills at Centre D'Apprentissage Feminin (C.A.FE.) in Bamako, Mali, Africa in June 2018. The school is funded by the Canadian NGO Education internationale, a co-operative offering exchange and development services in education.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Sean Kilpatrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted women around the world. </p>
<p>The negative impacts of the pandemic on women are well-documented. Women have experienced increased rates of <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/371/bmj.m3687">unemployment</a>, <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/how-are-women-spending-time-overlooked-survey-method-gains-prominence-during-pandemic-97798">heightened burdens of care</a>, <a href="https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/news/women-and-girls-face-greater-dangers-during-covid-19-pandemic">decreased access to health services</a> and higher rates of <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/-/media/headquarters/attachments/sections/library/publications/2020/issue-brief-covid-19-and-ending-violence-against-women-and-girls-en.pdf?la=en&vs=5006">domestic violence</a>.</p>
<p>But what’s also alarming is new evidence that the pandemic has harmed the ability of Canada’s international humanitarian and development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to help address these inequalities. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/news/women-and-girls-face-greater-dangers-during-covid-19-pandemic">Médecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) report</a> describes how decreased access to reproductive health services, mobility restrictions, disruptions to global supply chains and insufficient public health information are having catastrophic health impacts on women, particularly on those from marginalized communities. </p>
<p>Likewise, <a href="https://cooperation.ca/how-kairos-partners-are-responding-to-the-double-pandemic/">Cooperation Canada</a> has reported that domestic violence against women has increased worldwide, with a 20 to 30 per cent increase in some parts of Canada. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman on the phone sits at a desk in an office setting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373385/original/file-20201207-21-1qcvspk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373385/original/file-20201207-21-1qcvspk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373385/original/file-20201207-21-1qcvspk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373385/original/file-20201207-21-1qcvspk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373385/original/file-20201207-21-1qcvspk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373385/original/file-20201207-21-1qcvspk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373385/original/file-20201207-21-1qcvspk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=509&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A crisis line volunteer works at Battered Women’s Support Services in Vancouver in October 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another widespread concern has been the pandemic’s economic damage, part of which has included <a href="https://time.com/5900583/women-workforce-economy-covid/">the exodus of women from the workplace</a>. This is another serious problem, because as noted by the gender empowerment office at the United Nations, “<a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-and-figures">when women work, economies grow</a>.” </p>
<p>UN Women estimates that gender gaps cost economies 15 per cent of GDP, and that shrinking the gender gap helps to improve and diversify economies. The same holds true when addressing other issues related to <a href="https://stories.plancanada.ca/how-empowering-girls-and-women-can-change-the-world/">poverty, hunger and education</a>. Gender-inclusive crisis response plans have a ripple effect beyond women to their families, places of work, communities and countries more broadly. </p>
<h2>The double impact of the pandemic</h2>
<p>Despite this evidence of the need for a robust gender-based pandemic response, <a href="https://gids.uoguelph.ca/our-research/impact-covid-19-pandemic-canada%E2%80%99s-foreign-aid-sector">our research indicates that gender equality initiatives spearheaded by NGOs have suffered since the beginning of the pandemic</a>. In July of this year, our team surveyed 151 Canadian development and humanitarian NGOs, and our research revealed some concerning trends related to gender and pandemic response.</p>
<p>Research I helped conduct found that around 40 per cent of respondents had to suspend their program delivery due to the pandemic. Nearly one-third of these organizations reported suspensions, specifically to their gender equality programs. In fact, gender equality programs were second only to education programs in terms of the frequency of program suspensions. </p>
<p>This is despite the fact that gender equality was one of the top two areas of work among NGOs prior to the pandemic. In other words, the pandemic has had a double impact on gender equality: it has both damaged the historical progress that’s been made in this area, and it’s also negatively impacted the ability of NGOs to address gender equality issues. </p>
<p>Another worrisome finding is that less than one-fifth of the NGOs we surveyed have implemented a feminist approach within their pandemic response. This was particularly surprising, given that Canada’s foreign aid is framed by the <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/world-monde/issues_development-enjeux_developpement/priorities-priorites/policy-politique.aspx?lang=eng&_ga=2.206714901.729770427.1604099362-664636324.1604099362">Feminist International Assistance Policy</a>, through which many Canadian NGOs receive funding. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-spend-foreign-aid-like-a-feminist-79888">How to spend foreign aid like a feminist</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>It’s also alarming considering the well-documented evidence that gender equality programs are especially important during the pandemic. In other words, our research exposes a gap between policy and practice when it comes to gender.</p>
<h2>Gender equality in crisis</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, gender equality frequently drops off the radar during times of crisis. </p>
<p>Gill Allwood, a professor of gender and politics in the United Kingdom, has shown that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1478929919863224">gender equality is mostly absent from policy discussions related to climate change and the migrant crisis in Europe</a>. </p>
<p>Likewise, the specific needs of women and girls are not adequately addressed by humanitarian responders during times of crisis. As Julie Lafranière, Oxfam’s Gender Team Lead, and her colleagues <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13552074.2019.1634332">have recently argued in a recent issue of <em>Gender and Development</em></a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We know from around the world that in the majority of humanitarian responses, even basic gender-mainstreaming … is not done consistently, to enhance the effectiveness of humanitarian action.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>With this gap now exposed, Canada has an opportunity to do better. </p>
<p>One of the main recommendations of our report is to prioritize and target funding to support gender equality programs and services. We suggest that specific funds are needed to increase the capacity of Canadian NGOs to work in gender equality programming in relation to COVID-19. Targeted support should include capacity-building for NGOs that have not previously been able to include gender-based approaches in their program portfolios. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman displays a traditional Palestinian embroidery dress to a customer in Ramallah." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373375/original/file-20201207-23-605imx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/373375/original/file-20201207-23-605imx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373375/original/file-20201207-23-605imx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373375/original/file-20201207-23-605imx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373375/original/file-20201207-23-605imx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373375/original/file-20201207-23-605imx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/373375/original/file-20201207-23-605imx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman displays a traditional Palestinian embroidery dress to a customer at the Soq al-Fallahat, which means ‘women farmer bazaar,’ in the West Bank city of Ramallah in October 2020. The NGO project, Access Market, targets women handcrafts small enterprises.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, a <a href="https://care.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/CARE_COVID-19-womens-leadership-report_June-2020.2.pdf">CARE report</a> published this past June has recommended several strategies to combat the absence of women in pandemic response decision-making. </p>
<p>These include the need for national governments to implement gender equality quotas in COVID-19 decision-making entities, collaboration with local women-led and women’s rights organizations and establishing pandemic responses that account for gender-specific barriers.</p>
<p>COVID-19 has presented Canadians with an opportunity to implement response strategies that increase gender equality both in Canada and worldwide. By combining the recommendations from the University of Guelph and CARE reports, Canada could extend its feminist action beyond rhetoric. </p>
<p>By rebuilding with women at the forefront, communities will be set up to succeed and improve their resilience in a post-pandemic future. </p>
<p><em>Jenine Otto, an international development student at the University of Guelph, co-authored this piece.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150601/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was funded by the University of Guelph's Covid-19 Research Development and Catalyst Fund.</span></em></p>COVID-19 has presented an opportunity to increase gender equality both in Canada and worldwide. Rebuilding with women at the forefront will help communities succeed post-pandemic.Andrea Paras, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of GuelphLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1507712020-12-08T14:46:37Z2020-12-08T14:46:37ZWhy child protection efforts in African rural communities require a change of approach<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372494/original/file-20201202-17-1dtkncf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Community engagement is a key tool in building sustainable interventions</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Sampson Addo Yeboah</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Child-focused non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Africa often use international policy guidelines in their effort to protect children. They also depend on international donors to fund their activities. </p>
<p>NGOs rely on standardised childhood policy frameworks, particularly the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Little attention is given to indigenous knowledge on childhood, and its inclusion in child-focused interventions. </p>
<p>We conducted a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09614524.2020.1832045">study</a> to explore the interplay between these two worlds. The study, using an ethnographic method of participant observation and interviews, explored indigenous knowledge on child protection in a rural cocoa growing community of Ghana. We explored rural parents’ attitudes to an NGO intervention on children’s rights to basic schooling, and the illegality of child labour. We focused mainly on the effects of indigenous knowledge on the outcomes of a child-rights based intervention; and interactions between parents and staff of a child-focused NGO. </p>
<p>Using ethnographic methods enabled us to capture insights behind practices on rural childhood which would have been impossible with a quantitative approach.</p>
<p>Findings from the study shows that parents perspectives on child protection were fundamentally different from those promoted by NGO frontline workers and the UNCRC. Rural parents viewed child protection as providing for the physical wellbeing of children and making sure they were trained in the norms and customs of the community. </p>
<p>Based on our findings we recommended that for sustainable child protection interventions in rural Africa, Child-focused NGOs working in these settings should meaningfully merge local knowledge on childhood in their intervention programmes. This may ensure long term local ownership and sustainability of the intervention by rural stakeholders. </p>
<h2>The history</h2>
<p>The idea of a ‘normative child’ only came into being in Western Europe between <a href="https://books.google.no/books/about/A_History_of_Childhood.html?id=-oBhwnTQkbEC&redir_esc=y">the 17th and 19th century</a>. During this period, childhood was constructed as a distinct phase of life separate from adulthood and children were seen as needing an enabling environment to play, receive formal education and to be free from work. </p>
<p>Today these constructs are the embodiment of childhood in Western countries and are enshrined in documents such as the UNCRC which has become the conveying instrument of this approach. Organisations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and UK and US aid bodies work mostly with countries that have ratified the UNCRC. </p>
<p>In most African countries, too, the legal construction of what a proper childhood should be is guided by the UNCRC. </p>
<p>But, as realised in our study, traditional African childhoods different from the child-rights based UNCRC. The organisation and coherence of African childhoods are usefully oriented toward different contextual purposes to those reflected in the UNCRC approach. </p>
<p>In traditional African societies, children get to know the ways of their community through family traditions. They work alongside adults on daily routines. Children are thus seen as social actors with agency for the collective good rather than oriented towards individual interests. </p>
<p>Education is through hands-on practice, rather than mainly by attending school. </p>
<p>In spite of the difference between the Western and African childhood constructs, the work of local child-focused NGOs in rural Africa is often influenced by the Western narrative of children’s rights and the illegality of children’s work. At the same time, indigenous knowledge which underpins parental perspectives as enshrined in Article 31 of the African Charter of the Rights and Welfare of the Child, is ignored.</p>
<h2>The attitudes of rural parents</h2>
<p>Interactions with parents revealed that children learning through work was highly valued. This was due to the economic and cultural implications of children’s work for parents and children themselves. Children’s work was simply essential to their integration in the local community. </p>
<p>This meant that parents continued to engage their children in work even after being exposed to the child-rights based intervention of the NGO.</p>
<p>Observations further showed that local perspectives – which were largely embedded in indigenous knowledge – were ignored by the participating NGO. The foremost concern of the NGO was to show that the childhood interventions they implemented were aligned with the global policy framework. </p>
<p>Thus the participating local child-focused NGO for the most part rejected local knowledge or treated it as an obstacle to childhood development. This resulted in implementation of an intervention that did not address local realities.</p>
<h2>A sustainable way forward</h2>
<p>What then can be done to ensure sustainable NGO interventions in rural communities of Africa? </p>
<p>First, local child-focused NGOs should stop treating indigenous knowledge on childhood as obstacles to childhood development. They should not see the situation of children in rural communities of Africa as a result of the failings of rural parents. Rather they should make an effort to consider contextual reality, indigenous knowledge and the reasons behind childhood practices. </p>
<p>They should also value the importance of the skills children learn through work in relation to their context. </p>
<p>Secondly, NGOs should identify local structures that can handle local problems. They should work with these to improve the situation of children. These local structures should take the lead in implementing interventions in the local community with NGO staff serving as resource persons with an aim of establishing an intervention that seamlessly blends local and international knowledge on childhood development.</p>
<p>In addition, local child-focus NGOs should be realistic in the content of information they disseminate on childhoods. An example is parents constantly being told that children who work at the expense of schooling are bound to fail in life. This can raise expectations that are rather exaggerated and unsustainable given the low quality of rural formal education.</p>
<p>Child-focus NGOs in these instances should strive to disseminate knowledge that is practical and capable of shifting parents from old ways of caring for children. This would involve toning down the use of standardised best practices while factoring in the social structure and intergenerational relations within family systems in rural African communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150771/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Sampson Addo Yeboah does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In Ghana and elsewhere in Africa, NGO policies directing children’s welfare ignore indigenous knowledge on childhood, and how it can aid the sustainable implementation of interventions.Dr Sampson Addo Yeboah, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1504362020-12-07T13:12:43Z2020-12-07T13:12:43ZDonors grow more generous when they support nonprofits facing hostile environments abroad<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/372612/original/file-20201202-15-1k5ff1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=209%2C71%2C3415%2C1939&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hungarian protesters hold glowing cellphones aloft at a 2017 protest against tough laws targeting foreign-backed nonprofit organizations and universities. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/prostesters-hold-their-lit-cell-phones-at-the-parliament-news-photo/686455934?adppopup=true">STR/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take about interesting academic work.</em></p>
<h2>The big idea</h2>
<p>U.S. donors become more generous toward nonprofit organizations after learning that those groups are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764020971045">contending with hostile political situations</a> in the foreign countries where they operate. </p>
<p>We determined this by conducting a survey with 500 people we connected with through <a href="https://www.mturk.com/worker">Amazon MTurk</a>, an online crowdsourced labor market.</p>
<p>The people we surveyed learned about the <a href="https://www.rescue.org/page/history-international-rescue-committee">International Rescue Committee</a>, a leading refugee resettlement agency, then responded to questions about whether and how much they would be willing to donate to it. Half read that the group works in countries that have recently passed laws that harshly restrict nonprofit organizations, while the others did not.</p>
<p>Hearing about the group’s travails didn’t affect how many would be willing to donate. Roughly half of both groups said they would donate.</p>
<p>Seeing this information, however, did make likely donors more generous. Those who’d seen it said they would be willing to donate 26% more than people who hadn’t reviewed it. Many explicitly connected their additional support to the International Rescue Committee’s legal troubles. As one person who took part in our study explained, the organization is “doing good work in countries where it is tough for groups like them and they need all the help they can get.” </p>
<p>Participants became even more generous when they read that the organization both faced trouble abroad and was mostly funded by private donations. They were willing to donate 32% more to the organization. We think this probably happened because those donors felt that their support could make a difference.</p>
<p>As we explained in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0899764020971045">Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly</a>, this difference suggests that people who donate to human rights and refugee groups realize that these organizations need more funding when foreign governments restrict their work.</p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Many countries, including <a href="https://www.fidh.org/en/region/europe-central-asia/hungary/eu-top-court-rules-that-hungary-s-anti-ngo-law-unduly-restricts">Hungary</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/05/brazil-ngos-crackdown-raids-amazon-fires">Brazil</a>, are using violence and legal measures to control, intimidate and shut down independent organizations, including foreign ones. Groups that focus on human rights, elections, corruption and media freedom – issues that challenge state authority – are especially targeted.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.amnestyusa.org/about-us/history/">Amnesty International</a> pulled out of India in the fall of 2020 after publishing reports highly critical of the government’s human rights record. The Indian government’s reprisals, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/world/asia/india-amnesty-international.html">Amnesty says</a>, made fundraising and operating there nearly impossible. Following the enactment of a <a href="https://www.cof.org/news/new-indian-fcra-amendments-impact-foreign-grants-indian-ngos">new law tightening rules on foreign-funded nonprofit groups</a>, the government <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/29/amnesty-to-halt-work-in-india-due-to-government-witch-hunt">froze Amnesty’s accounts</a> without notice. Indian officials have also <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/06/26/india-rights-groups-harassed-over-foreign-funding">targeted other outspoken nonprofit organizations</a>.</p>
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<p>Thousands of other charities face similar restrictions, <a href="https://monitor.civicus.org/">now increasingly widespread</a>, around the world.</p>
<p>In 2015, Russia expelled George Soros’ <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/01/russia-open-society-foundation-banned">Open Society Foundations</a> after passing laws that restricted nongovernmental organizations. Three years later, Hungary passed similar legislation and then also <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-hungary-soros-office/soros-foundation-to-shut-its-office-in-repressive-hungary-idUSKCN1IG0IT">forced out Open Society Foundations</a>, along with many other organizations. Since 2016, China has clamped down on <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/ccs.v9i3.5601">thousands of foreign groups</a> operating there.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/weekly-highlights-61?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=weeklysmart">You can get our highlights each weekend</a>.]</p>
<p>In response, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0899764017737384">North American and Western European governments have reduced aid</a> to repressive countries. India is a prime example: In response to its increasingly restrictive laws, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/ngo-crackdown-has-foreign-fund-inflows-plunging-40-since-modi-govt-era-report/articleshow/68342585.cms?from=mdr">foreign governments, foundations and donors have reduced their funding</a> for nonprofit operations there by 40% since 2014. In Russia, nongovernmental organizations have been <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/russia-usa-democracy-idUSL1E8NE7FF20121214">defunded and forced to relocate to other countries</a>.</p>
<p>These repressive measures appear to be working and limiting the influence of independent groups. Without consistent funding from abroad, many of them have subsequently shut down, reducing their ability to influence policy and <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2017/05/18/civil-society-under-assault-repression-and-responses-in-russia-egypt-and-ethiopia-pub-69953">hold governments accountable</a>.</p>
<p>Our findings suggest that telling donors about crackdowns by foreign governments can potentially boost support.</p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>We would like to follow up by analyzing whether donors in other countries, particularly in the European Union, would respond similarly to this kind of appeal.</p>
<p>We are also looking into what kinds of people are more likely to support besieged charities operating in foreign countries by assessing how someone’s life experiences and trust in political and charitable institutions might influence their willingness to support global causes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/150436/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many countries, ranging from Hungary to Brazil, are using violence and legal measures to control, intimidate and shut down independent organizations – including foreign ones.Andrew Heiss, Assistant Professor of Public and Nonprofit Management, Georgia State UniversitySuparna Chaudhry, Assistant Professor of International Affairs, Lewis & Clark Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1460112020-09-27T11:48:02Z2020-09-27T11:48:02ZWE Charity demise shows why trust, transparency are so critical for NGOs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360024/original/file-20200925-20-e5wcsq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=168%2C0%2C5741%2C3562&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">WE Charity's Marc Kielburger, left, and Craig Kielburger, right, appear as witnesses via videoconference at a House of Commons finance committee hearing in Ottawa in July 2020.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/we-charity-student-grant-justin-trudeau-testimony-1.5666676">scandal around the federal government’s questionable allocation</a> of a student grant program to WE Charity has led to the demise of the organization’s operations in Canada. </p>
<p>That’s prompted a renewed <a href="https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2020/07/28/we-charity-scandal-risks-tainting-entire-sector.html">debate about the trustworthiness and accountability of non-governmental organizations (NGOs)</a>.</p>
<p>When a crisis of NGO trustworthiness emerges, the public usually demands <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-the-public-trust-ngos-again-93625">more oversight</a> and formal accountability from the organizations. But does this actually lead to increased trust and transparency among donors, NGOs and the general public?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-help-the-public-trust-ngos-again-93625">How to help the public trust NGOs again</a>
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<p>I look at this question using previous research on trust and accountability inside the NGO sector.</p>
<h2>NGO trustworthiness</h2>
<p>Non-governmental organizations obtain their legitimacy largely from the trust that the general public bestows upon them. That means that <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-98395-0_3">NGO trustworthiness</a> — defined as the perceived ability, benevolence and integrity of these organizations — is a paramount element to guarantee the success of NGO welfare-delivery projects. </p>
<p>NGO trustworthiness becomes more relevant if we consider that most of these organizations fund their operations from taxpayer dollars, which is channelled through governmental agencies that act as donors. </p>
<p>Governmental donors establish accountability measures that rely on extensive administrative requirements and bureaucratic demands. But they often doing little to enhance project activities or to reach better co-operative relationships with NGOs. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students laugh outside a school." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360120/original/file-20200926-14-umwr0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360120/original/file-20200926-14-umwr0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360120/original/file-20200926-14-umwr0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360120/original/file-20200926-14-umwr0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360120/original/file-20200926-14-umwr0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360120/original/file-20200926-14-umwr0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360120/original/file-20200926-14-umwr0u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Students in Haiti in front of a WE Charity school.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WE Charity</span></span>
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<p><a href="https://www.e-ir.info/2018/08/10/building-trust-in-ngos/">Recent research</a> has shown that the current model of accountability in the NGO sector relies too much on a rational view of trust that conflates transparency and authenticity with bureaucratic accountability. </p>
<p>The WE Charity scandal demonstrates that despite the stringent accountability requirements that are dominant in the sector, relationships may fall apart due to the lack of real transparency that sustains the <a href="https://ipolitics.ca/2020/09/14/we-must-learn-from-the-we-charity-controversy/">public’s trust</a>. Current accountability models need to be reconsidered to recognize that trust is not only built on oversight mechanisms, but also on emotional components.</p>
<h2>Emotional elements of trust</h2>
<p>Trust is usually defined as the positive expectations regarding the actions of others. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/sf/article/63/4/967/2232120">Sociological research</a> on trust highlights that this concept goes beyond the use of tangible evidence to predict the behaviour of others and involves emotions. </p>
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<img alt="Craig Kielburger reaches down to touch the upraised hands of audience members." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360028/original/file-20200925-14-10acii5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/360028/original/file-20200925-14-10acii5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360028/original/file-20200925-14-10acii5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360028/original/file-20200925-14-10acii5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360028/original/file-20200925-14-10acii5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360028/original/file-20200925-14-10acii5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/360028/original/file-20200925-14-10acii5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Craig Kielburger, founder WE Charity, gets high fives from the audience at WE Day celebrations in Kitchener, Ont., in February 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Geoff Robin</span></span>
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<p>Trust is not a simple tool used to make rational predictions about the actions of a counterpart. Instead, trust has an emotional dimension involving shared values, principles, goals and beliefs. These shared values allow people take leaps of faith when forming a co-operative relationship. </p>
<p>Simply put, no matter how many administrative and oversight requirements we impose on an NGO, we need emotional elements, such as shared principles and goals, that connect us. Trust is a mix of informational and emotional elements that increase the perceived trustworthiness about the partner. Such perceived trustworthiness is sustained through communication and transparency. </p>
<h2>Communication, transparency as trust enablers</h2>
<p>The demise of WE Charity and the public scrutiny on the Liberal government started with the failure of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to recuse himself from the discussions about the award of the student program, as well as the lack of disclosure of questionable financial ties between WE Charity and Trudeau’s family.</p>
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<p>Aside from any political retaliations from opposition parties, what appears certain is that both the government and the charity failed to properly communicate and be completely transparent with the public. </p>
<p>But transparency here should not be understood as a just an act of dutiful compliance with regulations and oversight demands, but rather as the natural outcome of nurturing relationships where the important element is the common goal that connects everyone involved.</p>
<p>The preliminary results of my research into how trust and accountability interact in relationships in the NGO sector suggests that trust is enabled and enhanced by communication and transparency. That transparency is not understood as the fulfilment of bureaucratic accountability measures and administrative requirements, but instead as voluntary acts of openness and disclosure about important events that may impact the relationship. </p>
<p>In the case of WE Charity, it’s precisely the lack of communication and transparency with the public that led to the ultimate downfall of the intended collaboration.</p>
<h2>Trust eroded</h2>
<p>On paper, WE Charity could have been the best partner to implement the student grant program. It may have met all the requirements in terms of capacity and operational infrastructure, and it may have had the best intentions to connect students with volunteering opportunities. </p>
<p>But the failure to be transparent eroded the public’s trust and led to its organizational demise. </p>
<p>This suggests that stringent oversight measures — which in the current model of NGO accountability usually translates into bureaucratic paperwork — do not necessarily lead to enhanced trust and transparency in the relationships among donors, NGOs and the public.</p>
<p>Accountability requirements for NGOs are necessary — they help stakeholders check on the activities undertaken by these organizations. But these requirements should really focus on transparency, not as an exercise of simple box-checking. This will ultimately lead to enhanced trust relationships with NGOs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nelson Duenas receives funding from Fonds de recherche du Québec – Société et culture (FRQSC) </span></em></p>On paper, WE Charity could have been the best partner to implement the federal government’s student grant program. But the failure to be transparent eroded the public’s trust and led to its demise.Nelson Duenas, PhD Candidate in Accounting, Concordia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1409892020-07-03T07:23:31Z2020-07-03T07:23:31ZCivil society groups that mobilised around COVID-19 face important choices<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/344740/original/file-20200630-103645-5k0kkj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Non-profit organisation Nakhlistan and Mustadafin Foundation prepares food for underprivileged communities across the Western Cape. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Civil society groups have played an <a href="https://theconversation.com/local-networks-can-help-people-in-distress-south-africas-covid-19-response-needs-them-138219">important role</a> in responding to the COVID-19 social crisis in South Africa. Examples include the “community action networks” in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/CapeTownTogether/">Cape Town</a> and <a href="https://www.gautengtogether.org">Gauteng</a>, as well as similar initiatives in more rural areas, such as the <a href="https://easterncapetogether.co.za">Eastern Cape</a>. They also include extraordinary crisis response efforts by pre-existing NGOs, such as <a href="https://boostafrica.com">Boost Africa</a> and <a href="https://umgibe.org">Umgibe</a>, and novel social innovations like <a href="https://www.foodflowza.com">Food Flow</a>.</p>
<p>This activism has played a substantial role in hunger relief. In the Western Cape, for example, the <a href="https://wcedp.co.za">Economic Development Partnership</a> estimates that such initiatives have contributed about half of all food aid in recent months. This is especially salient considering that the state has actually <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-06-02-feeding-poor-people-the-national-government-has-failed/#gsc.tab=0">decreased food distribution</a> during the COVID-19 crisis.</p>
<p>But as the crisis drags on and evolves, these activist groups are responding to growing and diversifying needs, just when access to resources is becoming more insecure for many of them.</p>
<p>Activists thus face some tough choices around how to keep going, what to focus on, and how to achieve longer-term impacts. We have been studying and participating in a variety of these social relief and innovation efforts, in order to collect and share their experiences. At this point in the evolving crisis, we seek to highlight the need for activists to carefully consider their strategic choices, so as to avoid some of their remarkable community activism from dissipating.</p>
<h2>Stretched resources</h2>
<p>Civil society activists have been responding to social and public health aspects of the pandemic for well over three months now. It is important to take stock of the resources they have been devoting to these efforts, and those that are needed for continued work.</p>
<p>Ensuring that food gets to those who need it and navigating tense community dynamics wrought by desperation is demanding and complex work. It is all the more tiring because many activists are volunteers – <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2020-05-21-in-the-communities-the-sa-covid-19-ground-response-is-mostly-female/#gsc.tab=0">mostly women</a> – who juggle long hours of volunteering with other demands. These are remarkable efforts and many activists are exhausted.</p>
<p>Activists also carry heavy emotional burdens. They are directly confronted with the human suffering caused by hunger, disease and conflict. They receive calls from desperate mothers whose babies are dying. Many such calls cannot be responded to. This emotional cost contributes heavily to risks of activist burnout.</p>
<p>Finally, most activists have been relying on donations to obtain the food, sanitisers and other materials that they distribute. As the novelty of the crisis diminishes, there are signs that donations are diminishing, but the needs are not. In a recent survey by the Western Cape NGO-Government Food Relief Coordination Forum, about 90% of respondents highlighted that the need for food relief was growing, while 70% reported a decrease in available resources to meet this need.</p>
<h2>Growing needs</h2>
<p>The primary need that galvanised many civil society groups to action has been hunger. Initially, many activists had hoped that this would be mostly a short-term need brought about by the lockdown. But the desperate struggle for food is increasing in many communities. </p>
<p>And the need for food has also been joined by other important needs, including children’s education and psycho-social requirements.</p>
<p>From the onset of the crisis, a big part of many civil society groups’ response was to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But now activists are also responding to the growing disease burden, which may include establishing <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-04-13-the-power-of-people-caring-for-those-affected-by-covid-19/#gsc.tab=0">community-based isolation areas</a>, “<a href="https://www.resilientdestinations.com/blog-database/safe-home-established-by-rural-tourism-business-in-south-africa">safe homes</a>” or fighting stigma associated with the virus.</p>
<p>In the context of these growing and diversifying needs, various choices will need to be made around what to focus attention on, both in the short term and the longer term. For some, even thinking about the longer term seems like a luxury, given the need to meet unrelenting day-to-day needs. Others emphasise the need to go beyond such immediate crisis relief to develop more systemic, longer-term interventions.</p>
<h2>Longer-term, locally embedded strategies</h2>
<p>Activists thus face the twin challenges of diminishing resources and proliferating community needs, as well as tensions between short- and longer-term interventions. These challenges and tensions may lead to the dissolution of some groups.</p>
<p>Groups that aim to sustain themselves and deepen their positive impacts will need to tackle these tensions head-on.</p>
<p>Importantly, there are no templates or “best practice” responses. Each activist group or initiative will need to negotiate its own responses to these tensions, taking into account their local context and priorities. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, exchanging experiences and strategies across initiatives can provide some ideas and inspiration.</p>
<p>For example, activists in the <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-03-31-crisis-sees-cape-town-suburbs-reach-across-the-great-social-divide/#gsc.tab=0">Gugulethu community action network</a> have emphasised that the problem of hunger, while worsened by COVID-19, has always existed. They have thus developed a longer-term plan to enhance and maintain the many new community kitchens that have been set up, and to significantly expand community gardens to provide vegetables to these kitchens. </p>
<p>The longer-term vision is a network of local kitchens that are self-reliant, run by employees instead of unpaid volunteers. A strength of this plan is its reliance on local resources and its focus on developing local supply chains, galvanised by local community organising. Ensuring food relief (an immediate need) thus becomes a catalyst for local socio-economic development (a systemic change).</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.muizenbergcan.org">Muizenberg</a>, activists discussed longer-term options with those who have been in need of support. One of the results is a local community kitchen run by volunteers from across the economic spectrum. It provides nutritious, high-quality food both to the needy and to those who can pay a donation to help maintain the enterprise. The community kitchen not only sustains the hunger relief effort (the immediate need), but builds vital bridges across different sections of the community (a systemic change).</p>
<h2>Engaging the state</h2>
<p>The magic juice in any such strategy is the local community organising. The hope is that the civil society groups that have emerged to respond to COVID-19 can build longer-term momentum, expanding our “<a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-06-30-cape-town-together-organising-in-a-city-of-islands">imagination of what is possible</a>.” </p>
<p>A second and related hope is that they can help build a more accountable and responsive state. While the groups have been able to provide some much-needed and well-targeted sustenance in vulnerable communities, the necessary longer-term and larger-scale interventions will benefit from the resources and mechanisms of the state.</p>
<p>The state’s ability to respond to the problem of hunger has been very patchy. For years, activists have been pointing to this problem in their communities without a committed response from officials or politicians. </p>
<p>In that context, it’s been encouraging to see that there have been positive coordination efforts between government leaders and civil society groups, for instance in provincial forums in Gauteng and the Western Cape. Also, some civil servants have played <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-06-30-cape-town-together-organising-in-a-city-of-islands">important roles</a> in participating in or supporting civil society efforts. </p>
<p>But other state representatives, such as some local councillors, have been remarkably absent in local community organising. Some have even offered resistance, fearing a possible political force in the making. </p>
<p>Most activists we speak to have no ambition for political office and are at pains to emphasise this to preempt political resistance. Yet, it is possible that the civil society organising in response to COVID-19 is bringing forth a new cadre of community leaders – a network of activists who will help keep the state accountable and engaged.</p>
<h2>Silver lining in the epidemic</h2>
<p>The scale and spread of civil society activism in response to COVID-19 has been remarkable. Some of these initiatives will likely dissipate as their resources are depleted and as the crisis evolves. But some will maintain their momentum and adapt to changing circumstances. The spirit of community organising has strengthened and that is a silver lining among the dark clouds of our current times.</p>
<p><em>This article was coauthored by a research group including Annika Surmeier, Ashley Newell, Christine Fyvie, Jenny Soderbergh, Jody Delichte, Mandy Rapson, Nadia Sitas, Scott Drimie, and Thanyani Ramarumo. It is based on discussions with diverse activists and practitioners, including Andrew Boraine, Ayal Benning, Claire McGuinness, Estelline Sauls, George van der Schyff, Isa-Lee Jacobson, Leanne Brady, Megan Wooley, Nonhlanhla Joye, Pamela Silwana, Phumeza Ntsantsa, Réjane Woodroffe, Samantha Bailey, Taryn Pereira, Theresa Wigley, Temie Makefungana, and Vuyisile Dlamini.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/140989/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Members of the author team are active in some of the civil society initiatives or NGOs mentioned in this article, including Boost Africa, Food Flow and some of the mentioned Community Action Networks. These are mostly volunteering contributions but include paid work in the case of Boost Africa. This research has received ethical clearance from the University of Cape Town.</span></em></p>Civil society activists responding to the COVID-19 social crisis face important challenges and tensions. They should tackle these choices head-on as they develop longer-term plans.Ralph Hamann, Professor, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1285342019-12-12T14:15:21Z2019-12-12T14:15:21ZHow Canada’s new election law has silenced political debate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306216/original/file-20191210-95115-d0oxdg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2964%2C1841&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">People march during a climate strike in Montréal in September 2019. Climate change is a top concern for Canadians, but new Elections Canada rules left civil society organizations fearing they could not speak out on the need for climate action during the election. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s almost 2020, and with a minority government in power, another federal election could be upon Canadians sooner than expected.</p>
<p>So as the dust settles on the 2019 vote, it’s important to examine the data on an issue that clouded the election campaign — the impact of new <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-canadas-environmental-charities-are-afraid-to-talk-about-climate-change-during-the-election-122114">Elections Canada regulations</a> on public debate by civil society organizations.</p>
<p>In June 2019, the federal government amended Canada’s <a href="https://laws.justice.gc.ca/PDF/E-2.01.pdf">Elections Act</a>. The rules require third parties, including non-profit groups, to register with Elections Canada if they spend more than $500 on “political advertising.” That includes any spending to promote positions during election campaigns on public policy issues on which political parties have taken a stand, or to support or oppose particular candidates and parties.</p>
<p>The new Elections Act also sets specific spending limits on third-party election advertising. </p>
<p>These changes to the Elections Act are important measures to prevent the type of unlimited spending by political action committees (PACs) that followed the <a href="https://news.law.fordham.edu/jcfl/2018/03/07/citizens-united-8-years-later/">Citizens United</a> decision by the United States Supreme Court in 2010. The court ruled that spending limits on third-party election advertising was an unconstitutional restriction of free speech.</p>
<p>Since 2010, what are known as <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/outsidespending/summ.php?chrt=V&type=C">super-PACs</a> have subsequently become major players in American elections, enabling wealthy individuals to exert enormous political influence. Indeed, wealthy donors spent more than <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2016/11/1-4-billion-and-counting-in-spending-by-super-pacs-dark-money-groups/">US$1.4 billion</a> during the 2016 presidential election campaign. </p>
<h2>Silencing voices</h2>
<p>The new <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=pol&document=index&dir=thi/ec20227&lang=e">Elections Canada regulations</a> impose spending limits on third parties ($1,023,400 in the pre-election period and $511,700 in the election period) and specific regulations against collusion between third parties that would prevent the type of unlimited spending by super-PACs in the United States.</p>
<p>However, the new Elections Canada regulations have also played a role in silencing the voices of many Canadian organizations on a wide range of public policy issues — from climate change to health care to international aid.</p>
<p>This chilling effect came into play most powerfully when Elections Canada indicated in a training session for non-profits that organizations with public policy positions on climate change would need to register and report on their spending, given that right-wing candidate Maxime Bernier had made <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/environment-groups-warned-climate-change-real-partisan-1.5251763">public statements denying climate change</a>. </p>
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<p>The silencing impact may not have been intentional, but it is very real and represents a threat to healthy public debate and democracy in Canada. Elections are important opportunities for Canadians to debate public policy, and it’s crucial that civil society groups are able to contribute to those debates. </p>
<p>On the surface, the new Elections Act appears to strike a balance between free speech and excessive influence by wealthy individuals and corporations. </p>
<p>The Elections Act does not prohibit civil society organizations from spending money to promote public policy positions. However, many organizations saw the requirement to register and report on spending as ominous — especially after the crackdown on charities carried out by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) under <a href="https://www.fasken.com/en/knowledge/2018/08/political-activities-of-charities-a-new-world/">Stephen Harper’s Conservative government</a>. </p>
<h2>Fears of another crackdown</h2>
<p>Justin Trudeau’s government made significant changes to the <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/charities/policies-guidance/public-policy-dialogue-development-activities.html?utm_source=stkhldrs&utm_medium=eml&utm_campaign=PPDDA">CRA regulations</a> in 2019 that allow charities to engage much more freely in public policy debates. But many Canadian civil society groups still worry that the federal government will crack down on organizations that criticize its policies. </p>
<p>The regulations also add bureaucratic headaches and expenses to non-profit organizations, many of which cannot afford to pay additional costs for participation in public policy debates. </p>
<p>Staff with many Canadian civil society groups have reported that their organizations did not speak out on public policy issues during the election campaign for fear they’d be penalized by Elections Canada or the CRA. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-canadas-environmental-charities-are-afraid-to-talk-about-climate-change-during-the-election-122114">Why Canada’s environmental charities are afraid to talk about climate change during the election</a>
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<p>The silencing effect is also clear in data from <a href="https://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=fin&document=index&dir=oth/thi/advert/tp43&lang=e">Elections Canada</a>.</p>
<p>There are more than 175,000 registered non-profit and charitable organizations in Canada. Only 147 registered to report election advertising in 2019, only 50 reported spending more than $10,000 (the reporting threshold set by Elections Canada) and only two have charitable status. </p>
<h2>Climate change a key concern</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/Four-Weeks-In-Climate-Change-Fastest-Moving-Health-Care-Still-Top-Issue">Climate change</a> was a top concern for Canadians during the 2019 election campaign. However, <a href="https://johndcameron.com/data-on-ngo-advocacy-in-canada/">my analysis</a> of the Elections Canada data shows that only 17 environmental organizations registered, and only seven reported spending more than $10,000 (for a cumulative total of $634,307) during the election period. </p>
<p>Similarly, while Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer made Canada’s international aid an election issue by proposing to cut it by 25 per cent, only five international social justice organizations registered, and none of them reported spending over $10,000. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/Four-Weeks-In-Climate-Change-Fastest-Moving-Health-Care-Still-Top-Issue">Health care</a> is always an important issue to Canadians, but just one (the Canadian Medical Association) reported spending over $10,000.</p>
<p>The data suggests the new rules kept conservative groups quiet too. Only one gun rights organization reported any spending ($32,091) and just seven explicitly pro-Conservative organizations registered, spending a total of $690,922. As of Oct. 14, 2019 — a week before the election —the total reported by all organizations was just over $9.4 million. </p>
<p>Canada’s new Elections Act may have prevented the type of mammoth spending seen in the United States via super-PACs, but it’s been at the expense of silencing many Canadian organizations with important positions on public policy issues. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=434&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/306211/original/file-20191210-95159-1tz8r4a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=546&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The $500 limit must be reviewed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
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<p>Elections Canada needs to do more to make sure that the new regulations do not block public policy debates. It should also review the $500 threshold for requiring organizations to register with Elections Canada. </p>
<p>With a minority government in Parliament, Canadians could soon head to the polls again, so there may not be much time to make these changes.</p>
<p><em>This is a corrected version of a story originally published Dec. 12, 2019. This version clarifies details about the amended Elections Act and corrects the number of health-sector organizations that registered with Elections Canada.</em></p>
<p>[ <em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128534/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Cameron receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. </span></em></p>Canada’s new Elections Act may have prevented the type of mammoth election spending seen in the United States via super-PACs, but it’s been at the expense of public debate.John D. Cameron, Associate Professor, Department of International Development Studies, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1216742019-08-27T21:19:41Z2019-08-27T21:19:41ZHow non-profits can use business as a force for good<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289541/original/file-20190827-8851-1y7eu8b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3000%2C1998&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Do social enterprises come to view profit as more important than their original mission? New research suggests they don't, and the cause remains a key component of their success.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kat Yukawa/Unsplash</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can a non-profit organization pursue both social gains and business revenue? Or is it as futile as mixing water and oil and hoping that the oil — commercial interests — won’t rise to the top?</p>
<p>Think about <a href="https://ymca.ca/">the YMCA</a> of Canada. The Y is one of Canada’s <a href="https://www.ymca.ca/Who-We-Are/YMCA-History">oldest and largest charities</a>, serving more than 2.25 million people each year from 1,700 program locations. </p>
<p>It offers a wide range of social programs, from youth leadership development and immigrant services to skills development workshops. It also operates what is essentially a health club business that is somewhat more distantly tied to its mission, yet provides a critical source of revenue. The Y seems to be able to carry out its model of social enterprise just fine.</p>
<p>But for every YMCA, there are many more non-profits committed to advancing a social cause that struggle with finding revenue sources to keep themselves afloat. It’s no surprise; these two approaches often require very different mindsets, and trying to pursue both requires a cultural shift for traditional non-profit organizations.</p>
<p>Traditionally, non-profit organizations that wanted to increase their revenues tended to create commercial activities that were unrelated to their core social activities. Think about the annual cupcake sale organized by your local soup kitchen, or the café created within your local history museum. Those initiatives generate a welcome surplus of revenues, but they remain somewhat unconnected to the core social mission of the organization.</p>
<h2>Pursuing profit where it doesn’t belong?</h2>
<p>Many say the concept of social enterprise represents the incursion of <a href="https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20141202/social-innovation-simply-dressed-neoliberalism">neoliberal thinking</a> — putting the market above all else — into a sphere where it doesn’t belong.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-exactly-is-neoliberalism-84755">What exactly is neoliberalism?</a>
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<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/nml.43">Some scholars</a> have predicted that ultimately, the “enterprise” would come to dominate the “social” as the pursuit of funds becomes the goal rather than the connection to a social purpose.</p>
<p>But are non-profits really selling their souls to the market? Maybe not. This argument overlooks the ways in which organizations and their leaders assimilate and adapt new ideas.</p>
<p><a href="https://rdcu.be/bbKGy">Our research</a> suggests that non-profits tempted by the social enterprise model do not necessarily lose sight of their social mission. In fact, we observed the opposite trend: non-profit organizations interested in developing commercial activities learned, over time, how to integrate them more deeply with their social goals.</p>
<p>We came to this conclusion after analyzing 14 years of grant applications submitted to <a href="https://secouncil.ca/index.php/about/enp-landing-page/">Enterprising NonProfits</a>, then a leading Canadian funder that has since shut down, by non-profit organizations that sought to commercialize some of their services to create earned revenue. </p>
<p>With this long-term perspective, we could identify how non-profits in our study described their operating models and whether those models changed over time as the concept of social enterprise emerged and became more prevalent in society at large.</p>
<p>What we found is that the power of commerce did not win out as the years went by. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/289543/original/file-20190827-8880-othnqu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">In fact, profits did not win out over the causes of social enterprises.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Perry Grone/Unsplash</span></span>
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<p>Yes, in the early 2000s, when the concept of social enterprise was still new, many non-profits tended to emphasize the revenue-generation aspect of their new venture over the social mission, and to keep the two rather disconnected. </p>
<p>This was particularly true among non-profits in the social welfare and community benefit space. Perhaps these non-profits wanted to differentiate themselves from others in the field or just could not envision how to realize their social mission while developing commercial activities.</p>
<p>But over time, this emphasis on pure revenue-generation diminished. In the education and health fields, it never even dominated in the first place.</p>
<h2>Enhanced their social missions</h2>
<p>Instead, <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/nonprofits_many_roads_to_revenue_generation">hybrid models</a> sprang up that integrated commercial and social objectives in multiple ways. Some non-profits offered specialized products or services to their target beneficiaries and generated revenue that way. Others provided employment opportunities to their target disadvantaged populations and thus enhanced their social mission.</p>
<p>In short, non-profits became better at managing the tensions inherent in mixing revenue generation with social mission, and more amenable to exploring different options for doing so.</p>
<p>They learned what worked and didn’t work from their peers, as successful examples of hybrid social enterprises that integrated a social mission into a commercial business project became more visible in the environment.</p>
<p>In the process, non-profit organizations realized that injecting some earned revenue into their activities could not only provide some welcome relief to their bottom line, but also had the potential to enhance and deepen their social mission.</p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/ca/newsletters?utm_source=TCCA&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121674/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by an Insight Development grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and by research grants from Queen's University. Data for the research was made available by Enterprising Non-Profits British Columbia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>New research suggests that non-profits tempted by the social enterprise model do not necessarily lose sight of their social mission in favour of profits. In fact, the opposite is true.Jean-Baptiste Litrico, Associate Professor of Strategy and Organization, Queen's University, OntarioMarya Besharov, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Cornell UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.