Category Archives: Global development

‘War on drugs’ blamed for deaths of at least 122 children in Philippines

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Activists claim young people are deliberately targeted and call for UN to investigate human rights record of Duterte regime

At least 122 children, including a one-year-old, have been killed during President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” in the Philippines, according to a report that concluded some children have been deliberately shot at and targeted as proxies.

The study, by the World Organisation Against Torture, adds to growing calls for the UN human rights council to establish an independent investigation into abuses committed under Duterte. Rights groups estimate that tens of thousands of people may have died as a result of unlawful killings during anti-drug operations launched after his election in 2016.

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Cooking up a solution to Uganda’s deforestation crisis with mud stoves

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Badru Kyewalyanga’s home-produced cooking devices use less wood and mean villagers are breathing cleaner air

People are “constantly cutting down trees”, says Badru Kyewalyanga, as he squelches his bare feet into a thick paste of mud in Mukono, central Uganda. “But they have nowhere else to get firewood. The deforestation rate here is very high.”

With only 10% of Uganda’s rural population connected to the electrical grid, there is little option but to burn wood, leading to one of the worst deforestation rates in the world. Every year, 2.6% of the country’s forests are cut down for fuel, agriculture, and to make way for population growth. If things stay as they are, Uganda will lose all its forest cover in less than 25 years, the country’s National Environment Management Authority says.

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Balcony churches: Kenyans find new ways to worship in lockdown

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With no date set for religious buildings to reopen, an innovative priest brings his own brand of musical service to apartment complexes

The children hang over the balcony railings on Sunday morning, parents clutching on to their coat collars to keep them from tumbling over. In the parking lot below, a four-person band test microphones and practise harmonies.

A moment later, the group break into an upbeat chorus, filling the Mirema apartment complex in Nairobi with music: “I’m happy today, so happy. In Jesus’s name, I’m happy.”

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Combining diplomacy and development will make UK aid’s work even better | Anne-Marie Trevelyan

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Concerns have been raised about the plan to merge the Foreign Office and DfID. Here’s why I am confident it will help us lead the way on aid

  • Anne-Marie Trevelyan is the UK’s international development secretary

I have seen the enormous difference made by UK aid during my time as international development secretary. The UK is rightly respected and admired around the world for this work, which saves and changes lives in developing countries every day.

The power of our commitment to spend 0.7% of our gross national income on aid – and our expertise in this field – will not diminish when the Department for International Development (DfID) merges with the Foreign Office in September. The prime minister has made it crystal clear that UK aid’s mission to reduce poverty will be central to the new department’s mission.

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Fury in Colombia as soldiers admit rape of 13-year-old indigenous girl

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Seven soldiers confessed to raping child from the Emberà tribe

Outrage has been sparked in Colombia after a 13-year-old girl was gang-raped by seven soldiers from the country’s army last weekend.

On Thursday, seven soldiers confessed to raping the child from the indigenous Emberá tribe, who went missing from her rural reserve in northern Colombia on Sunday. She was found the next day at a nearby school. News of the horrific crime shocked much of the South American nation, which has long reckoned with violence against indigenous women and girls.

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Afghan government backtracks over rule forcing media to reveal sources

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Amendments to country’s media law revoked after outcry from press

An outcry by the Afghan press over amendments to the country’s media law has seen the government call off initially approved changes.

The newly revoked amendments included a rule that would force media to reveal sources to the government without a court order.

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South Africa tobacco ban greeted with cigarette smuggling boom

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With tobacco sales banned in effort to curb coronavirus, illegal trade has surged on border with Zimbabwe

South Africa and Zimbabwe have stepped up border patrols in a bid to stop cigarette smuggling, which has boomed since Pretoria banned the sale of tobacco in March.

The country claimed smokers were more prone to Covid-19 – something that has been challenged by tobacco companies – but the illegal trade has increased, despite South Africa erecting a R37m (£1.7m) 25-mile fence across the border in April as part of its measures to curb the spread of coronavirus. Smugglers have been crawling through broken sections of the fence and taking advance of the particularly porous Beitbridge/Musina crossing point.

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‘There hasn’t been rehabilitation’: Afghanistan struggles with fate of ‘Daesh wives’

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The Afghan government is facing hard decisions over the futures of hundreds of detained radicalised women and their children

The “Daesh wives” from the Afghan branch of Islamic State look very young. Most are already mothers.

Hundreds of them have fled combat, airstrikes and near-starvation in eastern Afghanistan where the faction of Isis known as Islamic State in Khorasan (ISK) has been under fierce bombardment from Afghan and US special forces, as well as involved in violent clashes with rival militants the Taliban.

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Nigerian pop star allegedly abducts woman after she accuses him of rape

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Seyitan Babatayo’s claims against D’banj spark outrage in Nigeria as activism against sexual abuse rises

A woman who accused an Afrobeats star of rape has claimed she was subsequently targeted by police and then held hostage by the singer, sparking outrage amid rising activism in Nigeria against endemic sexual abuse.

Seyitan Babatayo reported to Nigerian police on 6 June, three days after she alleged on Twitter that the music star D’banj, whose real name is Oladapo Oyebanjo, had forcibly gained access to her hotel room as she slept and raped her.

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Viruses do not take breaks. The world can learn from how the DRC is beating Ebola

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The African conflict zone has shown resilience and resourcefulness – and leaders tackling Covid-19 should heed its example

The Ebola outbreak in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has ended. Thursday marked 42 days since the last person with Ebola was discharged from care, double the maximum length of time it takes for symptoms to appear. Nearly two years of hard work and leadership by the communities in DRC has paid off, with the end of the first Ebola outbreak in a conflict zone.

It’s a time for celebration but not complacency. Viruses do not take breaks. DRC’s 10th Ebola outbreak may have come to a close but an 11th, in the north-west part of the country, was detected on 1 June. Cases are appearing 240km away from Mbandaka, the centre of this latest outbreak.

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‘We want to stay’: refugees struggle to integrate in Greece after camp life

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Asylum seekers discharged from island holding centres are given little support to find accommodation and work

It never occurred to Sarah Husseini that one day she might think of Moria camp with something approaching affection. The 22-year-old Afghan spent two years in the infamous holding facility on Lesbos and, throughout, her young daughters were “sick, sick, sick”.

But then she, her husband Ali and their two toddlers were instructed to board a ferry to Piraeus and their world changed. “The UN told us ‘the government wants you to leave, you have papers now, you can’t stay here any more’,” she says, explaining why she has ended up semi-destitute in central Athens.

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DfID merger: experts warn of brain drain and damage to UK’s global standing

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Research into similar exercises in other countries has shown they lead to an exodus of talent and a loss of influence with key partners

Aid experts have warned of a brain drain of senior staff from the Department for International Development when it merges with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, which could damage the UK’s international standing.

Downing Street is facing growing anger from DfID staff over the timing of the merger announcement last week, and the manner in which it was done. The merger had been long trailed, but was announced without union consultation and with many staff finding out from the media.

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Uganda reopens border to thousands of people fleeing violence in DRC

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Call for other African countries to reopen for refugees, after crossings were shut to stem the spread of coronavirus

Uganda has temporarily opened its border to thousands of people fleeing deadly ethnic clashes in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The Ugandan government closed its reception centres at border crossings in March in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

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Lagos distributes free phones in bid to bridge digital and educational divide

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Closure of Nigeria’s schools during lockdown has hit access to learning for poorer children

Like millions of other children in the sprawling Nigerian city of Lagos, 15-year-old Sharifa Umar switched from classroom learning to lessons over radio, TV and the internet when schools were closed in March because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Programmes set up by the city authorities for public schools have aired on television and radio, following statewide timetables. Individual schools have made online classes available. But for disadvantaged students, access to learning throughout the pandemic has been a challenge.

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‘Divorce isn’t an option’: Afghan women find hope in saffron scheme

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Drug addiction is common among men in many villages, leaving their wives to develop survival strategies for the family

Anita Zadid would divorce her husband if she could. Eight years into the marriage, her husband turned to opium and crystal meth because he couldn’t find work. He’s now addicted.

As well as taking care of her three children, Zadid, who was married at 14, says she also has to support her spouse. “Divorcing him is not an option in rural Afghanistan, but I mentally left my marriage many years ago,” the 30-year-old tells the Guardian. Sadly, she’s not the only woman to do so.

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Covid-19 has changed everything from crime to policy. Legal systems must keep up

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Prosecutors need to show empathy for the vulnerable and be vigilant against corruption and organised crime

The Covid-19 pandemic will have far-reaching implications for justice worldwide.

Already many places are seeing significant changes in crime patterns and criminality, and a reallocation of resources to deal with lockdown-related public order. Court operations will be disrupted for months to come. Postponed trials will become commonplace as the accused, witnesses, law enforcement officers, prosecutors, defence lawyers and court staff with coronavirus symptoms are placed in quarantine, or are required to self-isolate.

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African countries unite to create ‘one stop shop’ to lower cost of Covid-19 tests and PPE

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Online marketplace for medical supplies will allow continent to buy in bulk and lower costs, says South Africa’s president

African countries have pulled together to set up a one-stop shop to give the continent a fairer chance in the international scramble for Covid-19 test kits, protective equipment and any vaccines that emerge.

The Africa Medical Supplies Platform will work like eBay or Amazon, unlocking access to supplies across the continent, and could save billions of pounds.

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‘It would spread quickly in those cells’: Covid-19 imperils packed Egypt prison

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Families of prisoners at notorious Tora complex concerned publicised efforts to contain virus are purely cosmetic

Fears are mounting over the safety of prisoners in Egypt’s notorious Tora prison, as rights groups say parts of the complex have been cordoned off to quarantine those diagnosed with coronavirus.

Families of those held inside the huge compound south of Cairo, which houses at least eight individual prisons, including two maximum security wings, say the authorities’ attempts to combat the spread of Covid-19 inside Tora are at best cosmetic. “Things have been erratic since they banned visits in March,” said Mona Seif, whose brother, the activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, has been detained in at the prison since September.

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Delhi to transform 25 luxury hotels into Covid-19 care centres

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Fearful hotel workers asked to take on role of hospital support staff as cases in Delhi rise

Staff at luxury hotels in Delhi are to start welcoming guests not with traditional garlands but with a medical gown.

Amid growing concerns that there are not enough hospital beds to cope with the rising number of cases, the Delhi government has become the first in the country to requisition its hotels. Starting this week, 25 establishments will be repurposed as emergency Covid-19 care centres for patients with mild to moderate symptoms. In a sign of how overwhelmed medical staff are becoming, hotel employees are being trained in case they have to administer some of the care.

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‘We are facing extermination’: Brazil losing a generation of indigenous leaders to Covid-19

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Coronavirus has swept through tribes, killing elders – and inflicting irreparable damage on tribal history, culture and medicine

When Bep Karoti Xikrin fell ill with Covid-19, he refused to go to a hospital.

The 64-year-old chief of a Xikrin indigenous village in Brazil’s Amazon was plagued by headaches and fatigue and struggled for breath. But according to his daughter Bekuoi Raquel, he was afraid that if he were admitted to hospital he might never return.

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