Category Archives: Global development

‘They have killed us more than corona’: Kenyans protest against police brutality

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Peaceful demonstration in Nairobi a response to increase in violence and killings during the coronavirus curfew

Photographs by Ed Ram

A crowd of up to 200 people peacefully marched through Mathare slum in Nairobi on Monday to protest against police brutality and an increase in extrajudicial killings in the Kenyan capital.

The march was organised by three grassroots organisations from the area in response to a rise in the number of police killings since a dusk-till-dawn curfew was enforced in March to mitigate the spread of Covid-19. It was also organised to show solidarity with movements worldwide to protest against police brutality. 

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‘We’re poor people’: Middle East’s migrant workers look for way home amid pandemic

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Gulf states prepare for demographic shift as migrant workforces return home, with prospects bleak for those who stay

During 14 years in Lebanon, Jevie Olido’s four children have grown up without her, her marriage has failed and her parents have grown old. Now, the income that kept her far from her home in the Philippines has also gone, rubbed out by the coronavirus crisis and an economic implosion that has forced thousands of desperate domestic workers like her to look for ways to leave.

In neighbouring Jordan, Samir Ali, an Indian garment worker, is also waiting to be paid, after only receiving his March salary when he and other foreign workers at their factory threatened to strike. The pandemic has crippled production across the country and caused clashes between labourers and employers. Eight of the 40 men had registered to go back to India once their contracts had finished. “We’ve decided this factory is really bad,” he said. “We’re poor people, so we have to find another way.”

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Afghan car blaze deaths prompt fury over mistreatment of refugees in Iran

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Protest comes amid investigation into death by drowning of dozens of Afghans who crossed Iranian border illegally

The deaths of three Afghan refugees in a car blaze in Iran have prompted an outpouring of anger in Afghanistan, after reports that the vehicle caught fire after it was shot at by Iranian police.

Tens of thousands of Afghans have protested on social media against the mistreatment of the refugees. Dozens more have protested on the streets in Kabul and in eastern Nangarhar province, with more demonstrations planned for major cities like London, Washington DC and Toronto in mid-June. 

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‘We feel like prisoners’: the Moroccans stuck in Spanish enclaves during lockdown

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More than 500 Moroccans remain in limbo, far from home and with few resources to support themselves

On 14 March, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, ordered the country into Covid-19 lockdown, saying “extraordinary decisions” needed to be taken as the country struggled with a “health, social and economic crisis”.

The Moroccan authorities had taken their own extraordinary decision the day before, when they ordered the shutdown of the border crossings that connect the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla with the rest of the country. With the only land borders between Africa and Europe closed, many citizens from both continents found themselves trapped.

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Quake-hit Kathmandu rises from the wreckage – in pictures

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Five years after the Nepal earthquake many buildings still lie in ruins. But homeowners and conservationists are working to overcome bureaucratic hurdles to rebuild and preserve the area’s unique heritage, says resident photographer and journalist Pete Pattisson

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‘Rolling emergency’ of locust swarms decimating Africa, Asia and Middle East

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Unseasonal rains have allowed desert pests to breed rapidly and spread across vast distances leaving devastation in their wake

Locust swarms threaten a “rolling emergency” that could endanger harvests and food security across parts of Africa and Asia for the rest of the year, experts warn.

An initial infestation of locusts in December was expected to die out during the current dry season. But unseasonal rains have allowed several generations of locust to breed, resulting in new swarms forming.

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Malawi factories ordered to close after ignoring plastics ban

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Activists welcome move but say government is still dragging its feet over crackdown on waste in lakes and waterways

The Malawian government this week ordered the closure of factories belonging to two major plastic producers for flouting the country’s plastics ban.

The companies – OG plastics and City Plastics – were found to still be manufacturing thin plastics, often used to make plastic bags, despite a ruling last year that banned its production, import and use.

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Egyptian father to stand trial on charges of forced FGM of three daughters

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Girls were allegedly told they were to have Covid-19 vaccinations but were cut by doctor after being sedated

Egypt’s public prosecutor has ordered the immediate trial of a father on charges of forcing his three young daughters to undergo female genital mutilation (FGM), after he told them they were going to be vaccinated against coronavirus. The doctor involved will also go on trial.

The procedure was banned in 2008 and criminalised in 2016.

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‘I know they aren’t healthy’: the energy drink craze sweeping Afghanistan

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From children in Kabul to Taliban chiefs, the sweet, caffeine-heavy drinks are wildly popular, defying fears on nutrition

They are sold outside schools, in hospital lobbies, on street corners and in every supermarket; served at wedding receptions and ministerial meetings, while television adverts and billboards praise their qualities. 

Energy drinks have taken over Afghanistan, and the high-caffeine sweet beverages are enjoyed by all ages – including toddlers and pregnant mothers – without much attention being paid to potential health risks.

In a busy Kabul neighbourhood, Salim Wahidi, 22, has dozens of different brands stacked up next to his small roadside stand. The supplies run out fast. 

“We sell a couple of hundred each day, but that’s not even much because there are so many vendors like me,” he says, sharing one of the drinks with his 13-year-old cousin, Mustafa, who works with him. “People love energy drinks, it’s often their first choice. Every child drinks them, every adult.”

Awareness of potential health hazards is low

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Family fears grow for activists detained in notorious Saudi prison

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Reports of Covid-19 cases and allegations of withheld medical treatment have sparked concern for those held in al-Ha’ir prison

Relatives of prisoners held in a sprawling complex outside Riyadh say they fear prison conditions and denial of medical treatment are risking the lives of detainees including members of the Saudi royal family. 

Two sources close to the family of Princess Basmah bint Saud bin Abdulaziz al-Saud say the senior royal, known as an outspoken advocate for reform, is in a life-threatening condition inside al-Ha’ir prison south of Riyadh. Concerns grew following the death in a Riyadh hospital last month of prominent rights activist Abdullah al-Hamid, formerly held in al-Ha’ir.

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‘These women aren’t victims’: director turns the spotlight on garment workers

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Based on true stories, Rubaiyat Hossain’s Made in Bangladesh challenges stereotypes while revealing the relentless pressure of fashion’s supply chain

Rubaiyat Hossain’s latest film, Made in Bangladesh, opens with a scene of pure, visceral panic: young garment workers trapped in a burning factory. Alarms blare, women scream and smoke fills the stairwells.

“A fire or a building collapse is every garment worker’s greatest fear,” says Hossain. When filming the scene, the women seen desperately running for their lives didn’t need much direction. 

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Facebook deactivates accounts of Tunisian political bloggers and activists

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Several accounts reactivated after protests with social media giant blaming ‘technical error’

The Facebook accounts of several high-profile bloggers and activists in Tunisia were among those deactivated without warning over the weekend.

Up to 60 accounts are understood to have been deactivated, including that of journalist and political commentator Haythem El Mekki.

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Oxfam funding crisis puts 200 UK jobs at risk

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Threatened job losses follow announcement of 1,500 redundancies internationally and closure of offices in 18 countries

More than 200 UK jobs could be lost at Oxfam, after the charity’s funding plummeted during the coronavirus pandemic.

The threatened UK job cuts are in addition to the loss of almost 1,500 staff roles internationally and the closure of offices in 18 countries, announced by the aid organisation in May.

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#NiUnaMenos five years on: Latin America as deadly as ever for women, say activists

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Campaigners say coronavirus is compounding problem of domestic and gender violence

It has been five years since pent-up fury over staggering levels of violence against women erupted in a wave of public protest across Argentina under the slogan Ni Una Menos (Not One Less).

What started as a hashtag quickly grew into a movement, pushing women’s rights to the top of the agenda in Argentina, before quickly spreading across South America as millions of women took a stand against gender violence. 

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The Gambia demands US investigation into police killing of citizen in Atlanta

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Shooting of Lamin Sisay, son of former UN diplomat, last week prompts outrage as family and friends reject police version of events

The Gambia has demanded the US investigate the police killing one of its citizens, a former UN diplomat’s son.

The shooting of Lamin Sisay, 39, in Atlanta last week prompted anger in the Gambian community, who have described it as another example of the police brutality against black Americans that has prompted country-wide protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd.

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Turning grief into hope: one Afghan terror victim’s legacy of learning

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When his sister Rahila was killed by a bomber, Hamid Rafi was inspired by her diaries to set up an education centre in her name

The night before she died, Rahila Rafi felt too tired for homework; uncharacteristic for the studious 17-year-old. When her brother Hamid asked what was wrong, she told him she had a strange feeling in her heart and couldn’t bring herself to look at her books.

Hamid kissed his sister’s forehead and asked her what she wanted to do after she passed the Kankor exam – Afghanistan’s standard university admissions test. 

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Fighting cyclones and coronavirus: how we evacuated millions during a pandemic

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Bangladesh has battled the twin perils of a super-cyclone and Covid-19. We can offer lessons for others facing similar dangers

There was no time to lose when Cyclone Amphan began forming over the Indian Ocean in May.

But shelters are not built with social distancing in mind in Bangladesh and the country faced a challenge: how to move 2.4 million people from the destructive path of the storm without delivering them into an even greater danger – Covid-19. 

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Yemen faces ‘macabre tragedy’ as aid funding falls short by $1bn

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UN says country is on cliff edge after fundraising summit raises only $1.35bn for the year

Yemen remains on the brink of “a macabre tragedy”, the UN has warned after a humanitarian fundraising summit raised only $1.35bn (£1.05bn) for this year, around $1bn short of the target and only half the sum raised at the equivalent pledging conference last year.

The UN’s humanitarian chief, Mark Lowcock, said unless more money was raised Yemen “will face a horrific outcome at the end of the year”. 

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Voice of defiance: the Mexican radio journalist who refused to be silenced

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Carmen Arestegui’s battle to stay on the airwaves is the subject of a film highlighting the risks of exposing corruption and crime

When Mexican news anchor Carmen Aristegui was fired from a popular radio show after revealing a presidential scandal on air, it sparked an outpouring of anger and protests.

For millions of listeners Aristegui is a trusted voice cutting through government spin and corruption, and her absence left a void.

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