Category Archives: Global development

‘My first time holding a gun’: from Myanmar student to revolutionary soldier – a cartoon

Posted on by

Faced with increasing state violence, young people across Myanmar are learning to fight. This is one young woman’s story

In the year since the 1 February coup, young people across Myanmar have risked their lives to resist military rule.

At least 295 young people aged 18-25 have been killed in the military’s suppression of the pro-democracy movement. More than 1,000 have been arrested, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. In response, thousands have left their homes and families to train as revolutionary fighters.

JC is a young artist and illustrator from Myanmar’s ethnic Karen community. She was born in Myanmar and raised on the Thai-Myanmar border

Continue reading...

My dying grandmother’s pain inspired me to challenge Zimbabwe’s pharmacy system | Dudzai Mureyi

Posted on by

Finding the right medicine at the right price was once a lottery – now the crowdsourcing service I set up is bringing down the cost of illness

In July 2015, as my 82-year-old grandmother, Sophie Mafuku, lay dying of a terminal illness in Zimbabwe, I spent a day speaking to fellow pharmacists as I tried to fill her morphine prescription. If it takes 24 hours for the grandmother of a well-connected medical professional to access scarce drugs, I thought, how long is it taking people with no connections? It set me off on a journey.

In Zimbabwe, systemic shortages are common. Sometimes, only a handful of pharmacies have particular drugs in stock. The shortages are caused by well-documented economic challenges, which affect Zimbabwe’s capacity to manufacture or import medicines.

Continue reading...

Mothers of the Myanmar revolution: ‘I worry about whether he has warm clothes’

Posted on by

Spurred on by military atrocities, young people are turning to armed struggle against the regime – leaving supportive but fearful families behind

When Peh Reh’s* mother, Mi Nya*, lost contact with him in September, she had little doubt as to where he had gone. Four months earlier, the 19-year-old had told her he wanted to join the armed resistance against the military, which had seized power from the democratically-elected government in Myanmar in February 2021. Yet she refused to let him leave their home in Myanmar’s south-eastern Karenni state (also known as Kayah).

“In my eyes, he is still so young,” she says. “If I could, I would like to keep my son next to me all the time.”

Continue reading...

Afghan universities reopen with strict rules for female students

Posted on by

Women required to attend separate classes and follow dress code at facilities in Kandahar and Helmand as they restart classes for first time since Taliban takeover

Public universities in Kandahar and Helmand provinces in Afghanistan have reopened after being closed for nearly nine months, with some female students joining classes.

Despite calls from education activists and students, universities and high schools across Afghanistan stayed shut after their usual summer break as the Taliban came to power. High schools have since reopened, but only for boys.

Continue reading...

‘It gives me joy’: the LGBT Colombians embracing visibility in town with a legacy of abuse

Posted on by

In El Carmen de Bolívar, LGBTQ+ people want the history of their brutal persecution by police and paramilitaries to be told, but the sense of safety is fragile and many still face prejudice

  • Photography by Sam Ritholtz

In a mountain town near the north coast of Colombia, three drag queens strike poses in the blazing sun. Wearing extravagant Caribbean carnival costumes, they place each high heeled step carefully to avoid puddles. Neighbours come out to take photos and cheer.

This impromptu show has unique significance in the streets of El Carmen de Bolívar, representing the remarkable resurgence of a community once brutally victimised by homophobic armed groups.

Continue reading...

While the focus is on Ukraine, Russia’s presence in the Sahel is steadily growing | Bruce Mutsvairo, Mirjam de Bruijn, Kristin Skare Orgeret

Posted on by

With Russian mercenaries invited to Mali as European forces withdraw, how worried should the west be about Russia’s increasing influence across Africa?

Even in the turbulent, conflict-wracked Sahel region of Africa, the recent military takeover in Burkina Faso was intriguing. Amid the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation, the decision by neighbouring Mali’s military-led government to invite fighters from the Wagner Group, widely seen as a paramilitary network of mercenaries with Russian connections, is causing growing concern in many western capitals.

Mali’s transitional government faces a rough road to recognition after the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) announced a strengthening of economic and diplomatic sanctions in January in response to the proposal to postpone elections until at least 2026.

Continue reading...

Calls for security crackdown as 60 are killed in DRC camp violence

Posted on by

Casualties included 15 children, as families sheltering in a camp for displaced people were caught in escalating violence

At least 60 people, including 15 children, were killed during an attack in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Wednesday, the latest in a series of violent assaults on civilians in the area.

Armed men reportedly attacked the Plaine Savo camp in Ituri province, in the east of the country, with machetes and guns. Local sources who spoke to Reuters blamed the militia group Cooperative for the Development of Congo, or Codeco, for the attack.

Continue reading...

Allegations of worker exploitation at ‘world’s greatest show’ in Dubai

Posted on by

Migrant workers employed at Expo 2020 allege confiscated passports, racial discrimination and withheld wages

Security guards, cleaners and hospitality staff at Dubai’s Expo 2020 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are allegedly working in highly abusive conditions that may amount to forced labour, according to a human rights group.

Migrant workers employed at the international fair in the UAE – taking place now after being delayed by Covid – allege they have been forced to pay illegal recruitment fees, suffered racial discrimination and had wages withheld and passports confiscated, said the report by Equidem.

Continue reading...

‘We have to prepare’: Tigray’s neighbours on war footing as peace remains elusive

Posted on by

Ethiopia’s government has declared a new phase of reconciliation, but a cycle of atrocities on all sides has left a legacy of mistrust. War is far from over, say those on the ground

At first sight, it could have been any normal year. Pilgrims, shrouded in white shawls, smiled as they walked the winding cobblestone streets, shaded from the glare of the midday sun by a sea of colourful umbrellas. Young men and women danced and sang, thrusting wooden sticks joyously into the air, as priests blessed onlookers beside a church carved into the mountainside.

The Epiphany of Saint George, an ancient Orthodox Christian tradition, was celebrated in Lalibela on 26 January just as it has always been. The northern Ethiopian town, a Unesco world heritage site renowned for its dazzling rock-hewn churches, is coming back to life after several angst-ridden months on the frontline of Ethiopia’s devastating civil war. “It is a day of double joy for us,” says Father Tsige Mezgebu, the archbishop who officiated the ceremony.

Continue reading...

Teachers on the run: striking public sector workers hunted by Myanmar’s military

Posted on by

Protests against the coup mean hospitals and schools are on the brink of collapse, while workers have left their homes to avoid arrest and interrogation

When hundreds of thousands of workers across the country walked out of their jobs in protest at the military’s seizure of power in Myanmar on 1 February 2021, Grace* was among the first to join.

Although she was seven months pregnant, the middle-school teacher from Chin state was determined to resist the military by refusing to work under its administration. Joining her was her husband, also a government employee.

Continue reading...

‘We relied on the lake. Now it’s killing us’: climate crisis threatens future of Kenya’s El Molo people

Posted on by

Lake Turkana’s shores have been home to the El Molo for millennia but as rising waters swallow homes and sacred sites they face losing everything

Mombasa Lenapir briefly strokes the waters of Kenya’s Lake Turkana with his hand as he boards the rickety canoe. A piece of hippo tooth or kalate, dangles from his right earlobe, evidence that he once killed a hippo in his younger years as a rite of passage.

Lenapir, who says he is 70 but looks older, is a member of the El Molo community that has lived on the shores of Lake Turkana for millennia. Two years ago, he was forced to move out of his home when rising waters engulfed his village, Komote, turning it into an island. Fearing being marooned by the expanding lake, Lenapir and other families built new homes on the mainland, while some opted to remain on the new island and use canoes to travel between the two settlements.

Continue reading...

I photographed Myanmar’s protesters one day – and their funerals the next

Posted on by

Photojournalist Moe documented the military’s terrifying and brutal attacks on protests in Mandalay, until even carrying his camera became too risky

My first encounter with the military came on 4 February 2021, three days after the coup. From the back of my friend’s motorcycle, I hid my camera under my clothes and attempted to photograph soliders as they drove in trucks through my native city of Mandalay carrying their guns. I couldn’t get a good picture, however, because one of the vehicles started following us and we had to retreat.

Within days, almost the whole country had erupted in protest. I couldn’t stay still any more, and I joined the crowds on 7 February.

‘The whole country had erupted in protest. I couldn’t stay still any more, and I joined the crowds’

Continue reading...

Myanmar’s junta struggles to prevent protests planned for coup anniversary

Posted on by

Junta warns public not to take part in planned ‘silent strike’ and arrests business owners who vowed to close on 1 February

Myanmar’s military junta has threatened sedition and terrorism charges against anyone who shuts their business, claps or bang pots on Tuesday, as it tries to stamp out any protests planned to mark the one-year anniversary of the coup.

The military, which ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on 1 February 2021, continues to face defiant opposition including peaceful protests and an armed resistance.

Continue reading...

‘I wanted my art to resonate’: The Zimbabwean sculptor responding to Covid with creativity

Posted on by

When the pandemic hit, David Ngwerume began creating pieces to inspire and raise awareness. Now, one of his pieces will feature in the Beijing biennale

When the pandemic first hit the world, Zimbabwean stone sculptor David Ngwerume took his hammer and chisel and started work on the first of a collection of Covid-inspired pieces.

Almost two years and 14 sculptures later, one has made its way to China after being selected for the ninth Beijing International Art Biennale, an exhibition showcasing work from thousands of artists from more than 100 countries.

Continue reading...

Fruit pickers lured to Portugal by the dream of a ‘raspberry passport’

Posted on by

Farm workers from south Asia describe exploitative conditions at the heart of Europe’s soft fruits industry

Three days after Sagar* arrived as a worker in Portugal from Nepal, he began to worry he had made a terrible mistake. “I had expectations to get good work, good money,” he says. “But the reality was different.”

The only job Sagar, 21, could find was on one of the country’s berry farms in Odemira, a rural region on the south-west coast. Earning less than the legal minimum wage to work 16-hour days in 40C heat, he knows he is being exploited. But quitting could jeopardise his residency application – and that’s a risk he cannot afford to take.

Continue reading...

‘We pray for rain’: Ethiopia faces catastrophic hunger as cattle perish in severe drought

Posted on by

Animal carcasses litter the land in areas where the rains have failed, as millions go without enough food and water in a country already grappling with civil war

The circumference of Nimo Abdi Duh’s upper arm measures just 12cm and, while the number means nothing to her, it does to the health workers treating her. Nimo, two, like so many children in the arid lowlands of Ethiopia, is suffering from malnutrition.

“We have been affected by the drought,” says her mother, Shems Dire, looking anxiously on. “We don’t have milk to give to the children. My child is sick due to lack of food, and this happened because of the drought … Our cattle have been harmed by the drought. We have lost so many.

Continue reading...

Myanmar’s junta torching ‘village after village’ in bid to quell opposition

Posted on by

After a year in power, evidence is growing of regime scorched-earth tactics to terrorise the civilian population

On the morning of 6 January, Boi Van Thang set out on a motorbike across the mountainous terrain of Chin state in western Myanmar. He would travel to a nearby village, he told his wife, and bring back meat for her and their seven children.

He never returned. Three days later his wife, Thida Htwe, received a call. Boi Van Thang’s body had been found. The bodies of eight other men and one boy had also been discovered.

Continue reading...

‘We just sleep and hope we don’t perish’: 2m in Tigray in urgent need of food – UN

Posted on by

Aid workers call for ‘humanitarian pause’ so crucial supplies can be delivered, after first assessment of hunger in the region since war broke out

At least 2 million people in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray are suffering from an extreme lack of food, with the 15-month conflict between rebel and government forces pushing families to the brink, the UN’s emergency food agency has found.

In the first comprehensive assessment the World Food Programme (WFP) has carried out in Tigray since the start of the war, 37% of the population were found to be severely food insecure, meaning they had at times run out of food and gone a day or more without eating.

Continue reading...

Illegal logging threatens Cambodia’s indigenous people, says Amnesty

Posted on by

Country’s ‘corrupt’ approach to conservation leaves protected forests facing ‘oblivion’, human rights watchdog warns

Rampant illegal logging of protected forests is threatening the cultural survival and livelihoods of indigenous people in Cambodia, according to Amnesty International.

Members of the Kuy people, one of the largest of Cambodia’s 24 indigenous groups, told Amnesty how deforestation in two protected forests, along with government restrictions on access have undermined their way of life and violated their human rights.

Continue reading...

West accused of ‘climate hypocrisy’ as emissions dwarf those of poor countries

Posted on by

Average Briton produces more carbon in two days than Congolese person does in entire year, study finds

In the first two days of January, the average Briton was already responsible for more carbon dioxide emissions than someone from the Democratic Republic of the Congo would produce in an entire year, according to analysis by the Center for Global Development (CGD).

The study, which highlights the “vast energy inequality” between rich and poor countries, found that each Briton produces 200 times the climate emissions of the average Congolese person, with people in the US producing 585 times as much. By the end of January, the carbon emitted by someone living in the UK will surpass the annual emissions of citizens of 30 low- and middle-income countries, it found.

Continue reading...