Can the World Unite to Solve Global Issues?

http://blog.globcal.net/2015/07/can-world-unite-to-solve-global-issues.html?m=1
Friday, July 31, 2015

Can the World Unite to Solve Global Issues?

U.N.’s Post-2015 Development Agenda Under Fire 

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Jul 29 2015 (IPS) - The U.N.’s highly ambitious post-2015 

development agenda, which is expected to be finalised shortly, has come fire 

even before it could get off the ground.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (second from left) with Irish Minister and UNICEF
Goodwill Ambassador in Dublin. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

A global network of civil society organisations (CSOs), under the banner 

United Nations Major Groups (UNMG), has warned that the agenda, which 

includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), “lacks urgency, 

a clear implementation strategy and accountability.”

Savio Carvalho of Amnesty International (AI), which is part of the UNMG, 

told IPS the post-2015 agenda has become an aspirational text sans clear 

independent mechanisms for people to hold governments to account for 

implementation and follow-up.

“Under the garb of national ownership, realities and capacities, member 

states can get away doing absolutely nothing. We would like them to ensure 

national priorities are set in conformity with human rights principles and standards 

so that we are not in the same place in 2030,” he added.

The 17 SDGs, which are to be approved by over 150 political leaders at a 

U.N. summit meeting in September, cover a wide range of socio-economic issues, 

including poverty, hunger, gender equality, sustainable development, full 

employment, quality education, global governance, human rights, climate 

change and sustainable energy for all.

All 17 goals, particularly the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger 

worldwide, are expected to be met by the year 2030.

The proposed follow-up and review, as spelled out, lacks a strong accountability 

mechanism, “with several references to national sovereignty, circumstances and 

priorities which risk undermining the universal commitment to deliver on the SDGs,” says UNMG.

“We are wondering how committed member states will be able to ensure genuine 

public participation, in particular of the most marginalised in each society, in 

decisions that will have an impact on their lives.”

This applies also to questions related to financing (budget allocations) in the 

actual implementation of the agenda, says a statement titled

 “Don’t break Your Promise Before Making it”.

“We are keen to ensure that people are able to hold governments to account 

to these commitments so that these goals are delivered and work for 

everyone,” says UNMG, which includes a number of coalitions and 

networks who will be monitoring the post-2015 process.

These groups include CSOs representing women, children and youth, human rights, trade unions and workers, local authorities, volunteers and persons with disabilities.

Asked about the composition of the UNMG, Jaimie Grant, who represents the 

secretariat for Persons with Disabilities, told IPS that UNMG is the official 

channel for the public to engage with the United Nations on matters of sustainable development.

“Across all these groups, stakeholders and networks, we share some very 

broad positions, but there are many thousands of organisations feeding in to it, 

in various capacities, with various positions and priorities,” he explained.

Adding strength to the chorus of voices from the opposition, the Women’s Major 

Groups, representing over 600 women’s groups from more than 100 countries, 

have also faulted the development agenda, criticising its shortcomings.

Shannon Kowalski, director of Advocacy and Policy at the International Women’s

Health Coalition, told IPS the SDGs could be a major milestone for women and 

girls.

They have much to gain: better economic opportunities, sexual and reproductive

health care and information and protection of reproductive rights, access to 

education, and lives free from violence, she noted.

“But in order to make this vision a reality, we have to ensure gender equality 

is at the heart of our efforts, recognising that it is a prerequisite for sustainable 

development,” she added.

The coalition includes Women in Europe for a Common Future, Equidad de Genero (Mexico), Global Forest Coalition, Women Environmental Programme, Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and 

Development, WEDO (Women’s Environment and Development) and the 

Forum of Women’s NGOs (Kyrgyzstan).

Kowalski also expressed disappointment over the outcome of the recently 

concluded conference on Financing for Development (FfD) in Addis Ababa.

“We hoped for a progressive and fair financing agreement that addressed the 

root causes of global economic inequality and its impact on women’s and girls’ 

lives. But that’s not what we got,” she said.

“We expected strong commitments on financing for gender equality and 

ecognition of the value of women’s unpaid care work. We expected governments 

to address the systemic drivers of inequalities within and between countries,

to establish fair tax policies, to stop illicit financial flows, and to address injustices

in international trade structures that disadvantage the poorest countries.”

“We were disappointed that there were no new commitments to increase public

financing in order to achieve the SDGs,” Kowalski declared.

Carvalho of Amnesty International said, “It will be impossible to achieve truly

transformative sustainable development and to leave no one behind without 

conducting regular, transparent, holistic and participatory reviews of progress 

and setbacks at all levels.”

“The agenda acknowledges the need for international financial institutions (IFIs) 

to respect domestic policy, but does not go far enough to ensure that their activities 

to do contribute to any human rights violations.”

“I think we need to strengthen the argument for the agenda to be universal – 

when all countries have to deliver on their commitments and obligations.”

These, he said, include Official Development Assistance (ODA) and tax justice.

Meanwhile, in a statement released to IPS, Beyond 2015, described as a global 

civil society campaign pushing for a strong successor to the 

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), said “for the SDGs to have a real 

impact on people’s lives everywhere, people themselves must participate in 

implementing the goals and reviewing progress, and be active agents in 

decisions affecting them.”

The Beyond 2015 Campaign said it welcomes the focus on inclusion and 

participation reflected in the current draft that is being negotiated at the 

United Nations, and “we count on governments to translate their commitments into action as soon as the SDGs are adopted.”

In implementing the SDGs, it is crucial that states honour their commitment to 

“leave no one behind”.

“This means tracking progress for all social and economic groups, especially

the most vulnerable and marginalized, drawing upon data from a wider range 

of sources, and regular scrutiny with the involvement of people themselves,” 

the statement added.

Additionally, an even higher level of participation and inclusion is needed, at all 

levels, when implementation starts.

“People must be aware of the new agenda and take ownership of the goals for real 

and sustainable changes to occur.”

The Beyond 2015 campaign also welcomed the commitment to an open and 

transparent follow-up framework for the SDGs, grounded in people’s participation 

at multiple levels.

“We believe the current draft could be improved by including specific time-bound 

commitments and endorsing civil society’s role in generating data to review 

commitments,” it said.

“We insist on the need for governments to translate the SDGs into national 

commitments as this is a crucial step for governments to be genuinely accountable 

to people everywhere.”

Edited by Kitty Stapp

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@aol.com

Emergency Management Magazine. Personalizing Individual and community preparedness. Planning is the key.

Let Your Community Teach You Their Needs

Risk Must Be Personalized

Risk communication must be understood and believed and it has to be confirmed.

Ronda Oberlin | July 27, 2015

Preparedness is more than having a kit. Shutterstock

"Preparing people for emergencies is about changing the way they think, not just before disasters, but also during them. What will make our communities more disaster resilient is to use emergency preparedness outreach as training for individuals to become effective disaster decision-makers: to teach them how to think in a crisis; to know what the disaster environment looks and feels like; to adapt; and to be empowered to take the necessary actions once decisions are made"\

             http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Risk-Must-Be-Personalized.html


Emergency communication is just as important before a disaster hits as it is during and after. Reaching the public with the correct message in the correct way – or in many correct ways – is key to ensuring they know what to do when faced with an emergency.

During a crisis, the public will often communicate their needs for future communication and education by showing gaps in their response.

Taking a look over your agency’s response to an emergency or disaster is wise, but do you also take a good look at how the public responded? Their actions or inactions will tell you a lot about where to focus your energy, time, and money in the future. It will also tell which group is listening or following a specific type of media and where gaps in messaging might be found.

Another concern is the focus of your pre-disaster messaging. As Emergency Management Magazine recently stated, “if the goal of our risk communication is awareness, we’ve already lost the disaster resilience battle.” The vast majority of your community is aware of their risks, so focusing on risk is unneeded.

Transforming their awareness into action is the ultimate goal. To do that involves making the risk personal and asking for small steps towards reducing their risk, which will lead to more confidence and larger steps towards the goal.

A community’s needs in a disaster vary widely and many locales have minimal resources to spend trying to find where they can improve. By watching and listening, you can identify and address communications gaps, overlooked populations, and education needs.

(Source:  Emergency Management Magazine)

Africa Advised to Take DIY Approach to Climate Resilience

http://www.ipsnews.net/2015/07/africa-advised-to-take-diy-approach-to-climate-resilience/



By Fabiola Ortiz

PARIS, Jul 23 2015 (IPS) - African countries would do well to take their own lead in finding ways to better adapt to and mitigate the changes that climate may impose on future  generations instead of relying only on foreign aid.

This was one of the messages that rang out during the international scientific conference on ‘Our Common Future under Climate Change’ held earlier this month in Paris, six months before the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21), also to be held in Paris, that is supposed to pave the way for a global agreement to keep the rise in the Earth’s temperature under 2°C.

Africa is already feeling climate change effects on a daily basis, according to Penny Urquhart from South Africa, an independent specialist and one of the lead authors of the 5^th Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Projections suggest that temperature rise on the continent will likely exceed 2°C by 2100 with land temperatures rising faster than the global land average. Scientific assessments agree that Africa will also face more climate changes in the future, with extreme weather events increasing in terms of frequency, intensity and duration.

“Most sub-Saharan countries have high levels of climate vulnerability,” Urquhart told IPS. “Over the years, people became good at adapting to those changes but what we are seeing is increasing risks associated with climate change as this becomes more and more pressing.”

Although data monitoring systems are still poor and sparse over the region, “we do know there is an increase in temperature,” she added, warning that if the global average temperature increases by 2°C by the end of the century, this will be experienced as if it had increased by 4°C in Southern Africa, stated Urquhart.

According to the South African expert, vulnerability to climate variation is very context-specific and depends on people’s exposure to the impacts, so it is hard to estimate the number of people affected by global warming on the continent.

However, IPCC says that of the estimated 800 million people who live in Africa, more than 300 million survive in conditions of water scarcity, and the numbers of people at risk of increased water stress on the continent is projected to be 350-600 million by 2050.

In some areas, noted Urquhart, it is not easy to predict what is happening with the rainfall. “In the Horn of Africa region the observations seem to be showing decreasing rainfall but models are projecting increasing rainfall.”

There have been extreme weather events along the Western coast of the continent, while Mozambique has seen an increase in cyclones that lead to flooding. “Those are the sum of trends that we are seeing,” Urquhart, “drying mostly along the West and increase precipitations in the East of Africa”.

For Edith Ofwona, senior programme specialist of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), one of the sectors most vulnerable to climate variation in Africa is agriculture – the backbone of most African economies – and this could have direct negative impacts on food security.

“The biggest challenge,” she said, “is how to work with communities not only to cope with short-term impacts but actually to be able to adapt and be resilient over time. We should come up with practical solutions that are affordable and built on the knowledge that communities have.”

Experts agree that any measure to address climate change should be responsive to social needs, particularly where severe weather events risk uprooting communities from their homelands by leaving families with no option but to migrate in search of better opportunities.

This new phenomenon has created what it is starting to be called “climate migrants”, said Ofwona.

Climate change could also exacerbate social conflicts that are aggravated by other drivers such as competition over resources and land degradation. According to the IDRC expert, “you need to consider the multi-stress nature of poverty on people’s livelihoods … and while richer people may be able to adapt, poor people will struggle.”

Ofwona said that the key is to combine scientific evidence with what communities themselves know, and make it affordable and sustainable. “It is important to link science to society and make it practical to be able to change lives and deal with the challenges people face, especially in addressing food security requirements.”

Meanwhile, she added, consciousness in Africa of the impacts of climate change is “fairly high” – some countries have already defined their own climate policies and strategies, and others have green growth strategies with low carbon and sustainable development.

Stressing the critical role that African nations themselves play in terms of creating the right environmental policy, Ofwona said that they should be protagonists in dealing with climate impacts and not only passive in receiving international help.

African governments should provide some of the funding that will be needed to implement adaptation and mitigation projects and while “we can also source internationally, to some extent we need to contribute with our own money. While the consciousness is high, the extent of the commitment is not equally high.”

Edited by Phil Harris    

IPS is an international communication institution with a global news agency at its core, raising the voices of the South 
and civil society on issues of development, globalisation, human rights and the environment 
Copyright © 2015 IPS-Inter Press Service. All rights reserved.

Upcoming Briefings: Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and Sustainable Development Goals

As we further our outreach to assist and advise communities internationally, thhe following will be added to the BEMA 'Recommended Reading List'.

During upcoming weeks daily training briefings on:

-Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

-Sustainable Development Goals of 2015, and the

-UN Emergency Response Framework

to enhance, and provide a platform for continuing education as emergency managers, and international community organizations to further understanding of the overall strategy, planning, and response in the international arena.

CDS. CEO.  Black Emergency Managers Association.



    http://www.unisdr.org/we/inform/publications/43291

Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 outlines seven clear targets and four priorities for action to prevent new and reduce existing disaster risks: 

(i) Understanding disaster risk; 

(ii) Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk; 

(iii) Investing in disaster reduction for resilience and; 

(iv) Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response, and to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction. It aims to achieve the substantial reduction of disaster risk and losses in lives, livelihoods and health and in the economic, physical, social, cultural and environmental assets of persons, businesses, communities and countries over the next 15 years.

The Framework was adopted at the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Sendai, Japan, on March 18, 2015.

View full Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (in English) [PDF 423.81 kB]

State Department releases Trafficking in Persons Report. Orphaned children of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone from Ebola Crisis. Address issue NOW rather then later.

There is an immediate need in addition to the revitalization and resiliency building of the nations affected by the Ebola crisis, there is an immediate need to address the children orphaned from this dreadful disease.  Children that have lost entire family members.  Children that have lost fathers, mothers, and other siblings.  Children left alone and homeless, some with no extended family members to care and provide the basic necessities to be members of their community.

Now is the time, not 3 to 5 years to collect data on abuses that have occurred to this individuals. But now is the time to consider integrating these individuals in the resiliency building efforts of their communities and nations.  These are truly the individuals with buy-in and ownership in the successful revitalization of their communities.

These are your future health care professionals.  Your doctors, nurses, nurses aids, x-ray and medical laboratory technicians, emergency managers, city planners, entrepreneurs, and small business owners, builders of the laboratories, and hospitals, that are the stakeholders that must be considered in rebuilding their nation.

Now is the time to act.

Sincerely,


Charles D. Sharp
CEO.  Black Emergency Managers Association


http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245365.pdf