Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Martin Khor the 61 year old Malaysian journalist and economist, is the Executive Director of the South Centre (an intergovernmental organisation of developing countries based in Switzerland), has published an article on the IPS News Service titled ‘Debt Crises, a Damocles Sword’. Khor states “The issue of foreign debt has made a major comeback due to the crisis in Europe, in which many countries had to seek big bailouts to keep them from defaulting on their loan payments. Before this, debt crises have been associated with African and Latin American countries. …European countries, notably Germany, insisted that private creditors share the burden of resolving the Greek crisis. They had to take a “haircut” of about half, meaning that they would be repaid only half the amount they were owed. It is increasingly clear that bailouts – where new loans are given to indebted countries to enable them to keep paying their old loans in full – are not enough and may be counterproductive, when the countries are facing a problem of insolvency and not just a temporary lack of liquidity. The restructuring of some of Greece’s debt that was owed to private creditors is an example of what needs to be done. However, the ad hoc restructuring undertaken in the Greek case is not enough. A more systematic framework needs to be made available to countries on the verge of debt default, with principles agreed to internationally. In the absence of this, unilateral debt restructuring will probably be messy, as when a country is forced by desperate circumstances to declare a default and propose its own debt restructuring, which may or may not succeed in getting its creditors to agree to the terms. …Though the debt crisis now has Europe as its epicentre, many developing countries may soon also be facing the same predicament.”

Inspired by Martin Khor, IPS News ow.ly/hLSP6 Image source iisd ow.ly/hLSOn

Saquina Mucavele the executive director of MuGeDe – Mulher, Genero e Desenvolvimento (Women, Gender and Development), a Mozambique-based non-profit organisation with a focus on sustainability, rural development and gender, especially as related to climate change, has been interviewed by Sabina Zaccaro for the IPS News. Mucavele states in the interview “Networks and cooperatives are the right strategy for farmers’ development (provided) they have support and good leadership. Working cooperatively is not only about being involved in common work, it also enables members to share their problems and find collective solutions. There is even the possibility of creating a common market, and other facilities such as hospitals, education centres and banks, for members. By gathering in a cooperative, rural women can strengthen their voice to advocate for rights. …In order to improve productivity and farming methods, rural women need technical advice, information and training. A good development strategy would recognise the (crucial) role of educating and training rural women to improve production and productivity; promote women-friendly farming technologies that could reduce (the work day) and give women more time for political participation within the community and for other income-generating activities; and institutionalise their involvement and participation in the conception, formulation and planning of policies. They cannot continue to be seen only as ‘beneficiaries’ but a group in possession of (valuable) knowledge that can advance rural development and also contribute to the national economy. Finally, it is vital to support and assist women in the registration of and access to land titles and facilitate the issue of credit, especially for smallholder women farmers. This should (ideally) be done through a fund to support women farmers and the creation of women’s banks in rural areas where members can access credit under favourable terms.”

Inspired by Sabina Zaccaro ow.ly/fuGdY image source Poptech ow.ly/fuGcw

Lilly Ajarova the Ugandan Executive Director of the Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary providing food, veterinary care, facilities for rehabilitation for orphaned rescued chimpanzees, within a rainforest habitat of 100 acres. Once the individuals have been rehabilitated they are integrated into the main chimpanzee group and live as part of a community, as they would in the wild. Henry Wasswa in an IPS News article titled ‘Conservationists Call for Ugandans to Stop Eating Chimps’ states “Conservationists struggling to protect the remaining population of Ugandan chimpanzees have raised concerns that people around wildlife reserves in the west of the country have taken to eating the primates. “There is now an issue of eating bush meat. We did not think Ugandans were eating primate meat but we are starting to observe that monkeys and chimps are being eaten. This is scary. The threat to their survival has been growing bigger,” according to Lily Ajarova …The sanctuary, which houses 48 primates rescued from human captivity, was set up with the help of the Jane Goodall Institute and is managed by the Chimpanzee Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservation Trust. …Currently there are only an estimated 5,000 chimpanzees in Uganda …conservationists had first noticed people eating primate meat in western Uganda two years ago, those engaging in the practice had mostly been immigrants or refugees from neighbouring DRC. It was rare for locals in this East African nation to eat primate meat, she said. “There are many other parts of the world where primate meat is eaten but this had not been happening in Uganda. We began witnessing this over time. It has been developing slowly and we ourselves only got wind of it when we were in the field two years ago”

Inspired by Henry Wasswa ow.ly/fmUfo image source Bornfree ow.ly/fmUdL