Category Archives: Global development

Landlocked Lesotho faces food crisis amid Covid border closures

Posted on by

Food price increases and economic impact of lockdowns have left a quarter of the kingdom’s population reliant on food aid, UN warns

Almost a quarter of Lesotho’s population will require food aid between January and March as a result of Covid-19 restrictions, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned.

More than 580,000 people out of a population of 2.2 million are estimated to be food insecure, despite predictions of normal to above average rains this year and the potential for above average cereal production.

Continue reading...

Dominican Republic activists fear total abortion ban banishes women to the dark ages

Posted on by

Scores of Dominican women die each year from botched attempts to end unwanted pregnancies

As Argentina becomes the first major Latin American country to fully legalize abortion, activists in the Dominican Republic fear their own government is banishing its women to the dark ages by upholding a total ban first implemented in 1884.

The Dominican Republic is one of four countries in Latin America – along with Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador – where abortion is illegal in all circumstances.

Continue reading...

G4S migrant workers ‘forced to pay millions’ in illegal fees for jobs

Posted on by

UK-based security firm faces calls to repay charges made by recruitment agents for jobs in Gulf states and conflict zones

Migrant workers working for the British security company G4S in the United Arab Emirates have collectively been forced to pay millions of pounds in illegal fees to recruitment agents to secure their jobs, the Guardian can reveal.

An investigation into G4S’s recruitment practices has found that workers from south Asia and east Africa have been made to pay up to £1,775 to recruitment agents working for the British company in order to get jobs as security guards for G4S in the UAE.

Forcing workers to pay recruitment fees is a widespread practice, but one that is illegal in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The practice allows companies to pass on the costs of recruitment to workers from some of the poorest countries in the world, leaving many deep in debt and vulnerable to modern forms of slavery, such as debt bondage.

Continue reading...

‘We are worried’: Indians hopeful but anxious as vaccination drive begins

Posted on by

India launches bid to vaccinate 300m people amid fears over efficacy of domestically produced vaccine

Emerging from Holy Family hospital in New Delhi, Ram Verma, a sanitation worker, breathed a deep sigh of relief. As one of the first in India to receive a coronavirus vaccine on Saturday – marking the start of the world’s largest vaccination programmes – he had been feeling a little jittery.

“I must admit I was nervous,” said Verma, who had received his Covaxin jab in a centre set up in the hospital car park. “A lot of us were. I thought I might faint or have side-effects. After all, it is something totally new. But I’m fine. There is nothing to worry about.”

Continue reading...

Bobi Wine’s party to challenge Museveni’s Ugandan election victory

Posted on by

As opposition leader’s home is surrounded by army and police he says he fears for his life

The party of the Ugandan opposition leader Bobi Wine says it is preparing to challenge President Yoweri Museveni’s election victory as it condemned what it called the house arrest of Wine and his wife.

Amid growing international concern about the conduct of the election, Wine said in an interview from his house, where he is surrounded by army and police, that he was “worried about my life and the life of my wife”.

Continue reading...

Give families cash to feed their children, there’s overwhelming evidence it works | Arthur Potts Dawson

Posted on by

Vouchers and money to buy food bring families the dignity everyone deserves, as the World Food Programme has shown

Dignity is not a word that you would normally associate with your weekly supermarket shop, or with planning how you might be going to feed your children each night.

But right now, when families are under intense pressure to find enough money to keep food on the table and ensure their children have access to a healthy and nutritious diet, dignity is something we should all be demanding for those who depend on others for the means to feed their loved ones.

Continue reading...

Black women in the UK four times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth

Posted on by

Disparity with white women shows need for action, doctors say, despite slight improvement in mortality rate

Black women are still four times more likely than white women to die in pregnancy or childbirth in the UK, and women from Asian ethnic backgrounds face twice the risk, according to a new report.

The data shows a slight narrowing of the divide – last year’s report found black women were five times more likely to die – but experts say that is statistically insignificant and not a sign of progress.

Continue reading...

Pope’s adviser says Covid has highlighted ‘existential’ climate risk

Posted on by

Focus must be on justice for those fleeing impact of extreme weather events, says new scientific adviser to Vatican

The pope’s newly appointed scientific adviser said the coronavirus pandemic has forced world leaders to face up to the “existential risk” of the climate crisis.

Prof Ottmar Edenhofer said rich countries now had a moral duty to compensate poor countries already suffering the impacts.

Continue reading...

‘Preserve my son’s name’: families of Tunisia’s Arab spring martyrs fight on

Posted on by

Delays in publication of official list of those killed and wounded provokes anger and claims of government indifference

Moslem Kasdallah rests on his crutches, the stump of his amputated leg on display. His voice hoarse, he yells the demands that, after years of delay, have brought him and the other wounded and bereaved of the Tunisian revolution to the steps of the government building they have been occupying since December.

Some are on hunger strike, others have sewn their lips shut. Kasdallah carries a bottle of fuel and a lighter, ready to self-immolate.

Continue reading...

New year, new outbreak: China rushes to vaccinate 50 million as holiday looms

Posted on by

Drive to immunise 3.5% of the population in weeks comes ahead of the lunar new year festival and as three major cities are locked down

At a Shenzhen hospital, 21-year-old airport worker Wang Shuyue lines up to receive her second shot.

“I feel it’s safe because so many people around the country have taken the vaccine so there shouldn’t be any major problems,” she tells the Guardian. “I think it should be effective otherwise there wouldn’t be so many people taking it.”

Continue reading...

Argentina legalizing abortion will spur reform in Latin America, minister says

Posted on by

‘I am very confident there will be a change,’ Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta says as new law goes into effect

Argentina’s historic decision to legalize abortion will help spur reform across Latin America, the country’s gender minister has told the Guardian, as a new law allowing the practice goes into effect.

The bill passed by congress on 30 December made Argentina the first major Latin American country to legalize abortion. It will be signed into law on Thursday evening by the president, Alberto Fernández, marking a turning point for a region where the Catholic church has been a major cultural and political influence for centuries.

Continue reading...

UN predicts ‘famine not seen in 40 years’ due to Pompeo’s Yemen policy

Posted on by

Mike Pompeo’s designation of Houthis as foreign terror group will block food and other aid, senior humanitarian says

The US designation of the Houthi movement in Yemen as a terrorist organisation is likely to lead to a famine on a scale not seen for 40 years, the UN’s most senior humanitarian official has said.

Mark Lowcock, the director general of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, called for the decision to be reversed, saying the cost of food was likely to rise by as much as 400%, way beyond the reach of many aid agencies.

Continue reading...

Aid sector is ‘last safe haven’ for abusers, UK investigation warns

Posted on by

MPs say sexual exploitation still rife despite series of scandals and call for more effective measures

The sexual abuse and exploitation of local women by international aid workers remains “rife”, say MPs, describing the sector as the “last safe haven” for perpetrators.

A parliamentary inquiry found evidence of widespread abuse of beneficiaries, ineffective investigations and whistleblowers forced out of jobs, despite a series of recent scandals that had prompted some reforms.

Continue reading...

Journeys of hope: what will migration routes into Europe look like in 2021?

Posted on by

Thousands of people, many fleeing persecution and conflict, will risk everything this year, seeking a new life of freedom and opportunity

In 2020, tens of thousands of migrants crossed desert and sea, climbed mountains and walked through forests to reach what has become an increasingly inhospitable Europe. Many of them died, overwhelmed by the waves, or tortured in the detention centres of Libya. More were displaced after the flames of Moria refugee camp in Greece burned everything they had.

As a new year begins, so do the journeys of tens of thousands more people seeking a new life overseas. The Guardian has spoken to experts, charity workers and NGOs about the challenges and risks they face on the main migration routes into Europe.

Continue reading...

Nigeria launches ‘biggest job creation scheme’ in its history after long delay

Posted on by

Initiative aimed at shielding young people from economic impact of Covid-19 will provide 750,000 paid placements

Nigeria has launched a much-delayed programme that promises to provide jobs for more than 750,000 young people amid worsening youth unemployment.

The scheme, launched this month, is being hailed by government officials as the largest job creation initiative in the country’s history.

Continue reading...

Ugandans go to polls in election pitting Museveni against pop star MP

Posted on by

Bobi Wine’s challenge to Yoweri Museveni seen as emblem of Africa-wide generation gap

Ugandans have cast their votes after one of the most keenly watched and violent election campaigns in a generation, as the pop star turned politician Bobi Wine tries to unseat Yoweri Museveni from his 34-year rule.

Delays were seen in the delivery of polling materials in some places, including where Wine voted in the capital and opposition stronghold of Kampala. After he arrived to the cheers of a crowd and cast his ballot, Wine made the sign of the cross and then raised his fist and smiled. He said he was confident of victory.

Continue reading...

From naked protests to challenging Museveni: Uganda’s ‘rudest feminist’ on the campaign trail

Posted on by

Stella Nyanzi is Uganda's most outspoken, self-described radical queer feminist. She has been imprisoned for her activism and is known for her attention-grabbing naked protests and poetry. In an election campaign that has become increasingly violent, Nyanzi is standing to be the elected MP for Kampala, as part of the growing nationwide opposition to the 35-year presidency of Yoweri Museveni. 

With most attention focused on Museveni's presidential challenger Bobi Wine, Nyanzi is on the streets and in the media campaigning for her own votes. She vows that, unlike other women who have been elected, she will not forget her commitment to feminism if she wins

Continue reading...

‘Untouchable’ Bollywood poster provokes outrage over caste stereotypes

Posted on by

Upper-caste actor playing Dalit politician Mayawati shown dishevelled and holding broom in publicity for new film

A picture of a woman holding a broom. Anywhere else, the image might pass unnoticed. But in India the poster for the film Madam Chief Minister, loosely based on the life of politician Mayawati, who is a Dalit, has triggered uproar for perpetuating caste stereotypes.

Bollywood actor Richa Chadha, who plays Mayawati, tweeted an image of the poster ahead of the film’s release later this month. She is shown looking dishevelled and holding the kind of large broom used by municipal roadsweepers. The tagline of the poster reads: Untouchable, Unstoppable.

Continue reading...

‘Like torture’: Calais police accused of continued migrant rights abuses

Posted on by

Relentless and escalating programme of refugee evictions amounts to a campaign of harassment, say activists

Shortly before sunrise on 9 January, about 40 officers and officials gathered outside Calais police station as temperatures dipped to -3C (26.6F). Shortly after, in a well-drilled procedure, a nine-vehicle convoy started down the road towards the first of five forced evictions of makeshift refugee camps planned for that morning.

When the convoy arrived at the camp, just a few miles from the city centre, masked police in black uniforms chased refugees away from their tents and belongings. Some of the other 150 refugees who had been sheltering at the camp had already packed and fled before authorities arrived. Soon the camp was empty; frost-covered sleeping bags and jackets were all that remained.

Continue reading...

Wole Soyinka: ‘One casualty of the Capitol riot will be Uganda’s election’

Posted on by

One of Africa’s most prominent literary figures says the election will be crucial for the continent

Global outrage at the storming of the US Capitol risks diverting attention from repression by Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, the Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka has said on the eve of Uganda’s election.

Soyinka, a Nobel laureate and one of Africa’s most prominent literary figures, described Thursday’s election as “crucial for the African continent”, and called for the 76-year-old Museveni and other older African leaders to step aside for a younger generation.

Continue reading...