Pakistan's troubled province

Balochistan – tradition versus globalisation

Attacks by separatist groups in Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province, 

have increased recently. Mohammad Luqman looks into what is driving

 the flare-up in this frequently overlooked regiontip

Almost unnoticed by the international press, two coordinated attacks were carried out on Pakistan army military posts in the southwestern province of Balochistan a few weeks ago. A Baloch separatist group claimed responsibility for the act a short time later. What surprised observers was the quality of weaponry carried by the militants and the extent of their military expertise. Although various armed groups have been at odds with the central government for many years, the latest attacks have taken things to a completely new level.

Balochistan is both Pakistan's largest and its most sparsely populated province. The north of the region with its capital Quetta is predominantly inhabited by Pashtuns and is far more developed than the rural south. The inaccessible mountains and deserts of Balochistan are home to Baloch tribes who have lived according to their own traditions for centuries.  Even today, the word of the tribal leaders – the sardars – carries more weight than many a state authority. They rule over their tribespeople like feudal lords. Occasionally internal conflicts are still settled using archaic tribal law, the riwaj or Baloch mayar.

In exchange for cooperating with the state, the sardars are allowed to assume their traditional role. Moreover, they also receive royalties from the extraction of resources on their tribal lands. This type of indirect rule is a throwback to colonial times. Balochistan was incorporated into British India relatively late (1870). Managing such an inaccessible region was dependent on the tribal leaders who, in return for their loyalty, were given relative autonomy over tribal affairs. Following independence, the new state of Pakistan simply incorporated these colonial structures.

Pending the final partition of India, the largest Balochistan principality, Kalaat, was initially reluctant to join Pakistan. Ultimately the prince did agree, following some tough negotiations. Yet, the climbdown led to strife within his family, with his brother leading a vain attempt at armed rebellion.

A meagre existence: after more than 70 years of independence,

 Balochistan is still severely underdeveloped. Lack of infrastructure, 

poor education and health services, as well as a strong sense of their

 own marginalisation, has generated considerable resentment among

 the population. Much of the profits generated by raw material extraction 

are siphoned off by multinational companies, the sardars or central government, 

while the majority of Balochs continue to live in poverty

A region neglected

After more than 70 years of independence, Balochistan is still severely underdeveloped. Lack of infrastructure, poor education and health services, as well as a strong sense of their own marginalisation, has generated considerable resentment among the population. Much of the profits generated by raw material extraction are siphoned off by multinational companies, the sardars or central government, while the majority of Balochs continue to live in poverty.

Against this background, calls for more rights and autonomy have been audible for decades. Although there were pockets of isolated resistance prior to the millennium, the conflict with central government saw major escalation during the 2000s. Prominent sardar, politician and ex-governor of Balochistan Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti mounted a rebellion against the military government of Pervez Musharraf. In the ensuing military offensive by Islamabad, the popular 79-year-old tribal leader was killed in his mountain hideout. Bugti's death exacerbated the situation. The 2000s saw the emergence of other armed groups who carried out attacks on the army from their mountain hideouts. The government responded with further repressive measures. Political activists and those critical of the administration mysteriously disappeared, or their bodies reappeared under unexplained circumstances. People were quick to blame the security forces. To this day, the issue of missing persons remains one of Balochistan's central problems.

For its part, the Pakistani establishment accused the Afghan and Indian governments of harbouring the separatists and supporting them to destabilise Pakistan. Following the Pakistani military offensives, some of the rebels did indeed leave for Afghanistan or ask India for support. Since the Taliban's return to power in 2021, activity by Baloch separatists, who continue to use Afghanistan as a retreat, has increased.

On Balochistan's western border with Iran, another conflict has been simmering for many years. A number of Islamist terrorist groups have taken root there, repeatedly carrying out attacks on Iranian security forces or Shia pilgrims. Iran has long demanded that Islamabad take tougher action against these organisations, which has repeatedly led to diplomatic tensions between the two countries. Meanwhile, the inaccessible mountains and deserts make it difficult to monitor the border. In an ambitious project, a border fence is now being built between the two countries. A few days ago, both sides also agreed on better coordination to secure the border. Stronger surveillance could also make it more difficult to illegally smuggle fuel and other goods from Iran.

When the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was agreed in 2013, 

there was an outcry in Balochistan. Separatists view the Chinese investments 

with suspicion and accuse Beijing of wanting to exploit the province's

 raw materials without benefitting the people of Balochistan. Balochistan

 (in the western part of the country) is Pakistan's largest province in terms

 of area and also its least populous, and is rich in precious metals such

 as copper and gold. Nevertheless, the province is one of the least

 developed regions in southeast Asia

The new deep sea port of Gawadar

Since 2002, when China noticed Gawadar's potential, Balochistan has been making international economic headlines. Chinese companies built Pakistan's first deep-sea port there in 2006, and in 2013 Islamabad signed the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which will connect the two countries through an improved road and rail network extending through to the port of Gawadar. In this way, Beijing hopes to gain access to the Arabian Sea, while Islamabad is hopeful of more foreign currency. In record time, the government pushed the development of this small fishing village, with little involvement of the local population. Despite the modern port, the old neighbourhoods still lack drinking water or electricity.

Military checkpoints, erected after attacks by Baloch nationalists, further complicate the daily lives of Gawadar locals. Recently, major real estate entrepreneurs and developers have set their sights on the town. They are luring potential investors from all over Pakistan with the promise of newly planned housing societies and luxury flats in prominent locations. In late 2021, frustration erupted in one of the biggest protests the town has yet seen. For weeks, demonstrators blocked a main road until their demands were heard. A central demand of the protests was for the government to take decisive action against illegal fishing by Chinese trawlers. Fishing is a major source of income for the city's inhabitants and foreign trawlers threaten this livelihood.

Gawadar exemplifies the complex problems of Balochistan. Despite the government's frequent assertions that it wants to take the concerns of the population seriously, many feel that rapid development is being driven forward at their expense. 

Ultimately, peace and long-term stability in Balochistan can only succeed if central government does a better job of addressing the needs and concerns of the region's population. Much remains to be done.

Mohammad Luqman

© Qantara.de 2022

Mohammad Luqman is an Islamic scholar and South Asia expert with a special research focus on Pakistan.

Chinese-owned port instigates insurgency

in Pakistan’s Balochistan

by PAUL ANTONOPOULOS


China’s acquisition of Gwadar port, a linchpin of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, has instigated an insurgency as local Baloch firms and labour are excluded in favour of Chinese companies and workers.

This has heightened pre-existing feelings of marginalisation in Pakistan’s underdeveloped Balochistan region, with Baloch nationalist forces either wholly rejecting the project or voicing for greater share in these projects.

In response, tribal forces in Balochistan have opposed CPEC and nationalist groups have been involved in acts against the project.

CPEC, just one part of China’s global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has served to further exacerbate the divide between state and regionalist forces due to the exclusionary and Punjab-centric planning.

In fact, Gwadar has seen protests against CPEC in the specific context of fish resource exploitation by Chinese trawlers despite China’s coastline being thousands of miles away from Pakistan.

According to ANI, many of the local fishermen vacated their fishing spots due to the construction of Gwadar port in hope of a better future. However, the federal government granting fishing permission to the Chinese fishermen ignited widespread unrest.

This unrest culminated in a 28-day sit-in in 2021, led by Jamaat-i-Islami (JI), in which a massive number of people, including men, women, and children, participated. The protesters ended the sit-in after an agreement with the federal government.

The government accepted all the demands of the protesters, calling these demands legitimate.

However, many Balochs fear that these demands would not be fulfilled by the government. A recent bomb blast on a Chinese convoy symbolizes the deep distrust of regionalist forces against China-led development, which they view as extractive and exploitative.
CPEC is adding to accumulated separatist feelings among the Baloch population.

While Pakistan now sees the CPEC as the key to “lifting” millions of Pakistanis out of poverty, at the same time controversy will continue to hound the ambitious infrastructure-building project.

In the past, China has pressured Pakistan to review its 18th constitutional amendment (2010) – in particular, its transfer of powers and resources to the provinces – so that CPEC projects could be advanced without “provincial hurdles.”

Ever since the CPEC’s inauguration, there has been controversy about the eastern and western routes of the scheme’s projects.

Provincial and nationalist forces have highlighted what they see as the deliberate neglect of the western route, which lies along more underdeveloped regions of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Balochistan provinces without intersecting the more developed Punjab provinces, which is on the CPEC’s eastern route.

The original route-planning was altered in ways that only benefit central Punjab.

SEE LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for BALOCH 

Nuclear warhead deployment spotted in UK amid NATO’s burgeoning Russia crisis

Is the UK and Boris Johnson trying to send Russia a message?

News Service March 22, 2022

File photo

A British nuclear-armed convoy was seen heading to an arms depot in Scotland amid rising tensions between NATO and Russia as Moscow forges on with its invasion of Ukraine.

The military convoy, which was said to be carrying up to six nuclear warheads, was spotted on the motorway only half a mile from Glasgow’s city center, as it headed to the Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport (RNAD) on Loch Long, reported NukeWatch.

The route is often used for defense vehicles, however, the timing is 'alarming' after Putin put Russia's nuclear weapons on high alert, NukeWatch, an organization that tracks the transportation of the UK's Trident nuclear warheads, stated.

“There must be some reasoning in their madness but they'd never enlighten us as to what that is,” said Nukewatch UK Campaigner Jane Tallents, adding that there hasn’t been nuclear warhead transportation since October 2021.

Reports state that the recent activity of the nuclear convoy may be a way of sending a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's war on Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has been met with international outrage, with the EU, US, and UK, among others, implementing tough financial sanctions on Moscow.

More than 1.2 million people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries, according to the UN refugee agency.

INDIA

Leopard Breaks Into Mercedes-Benz Factory, Shuts Down Production

BY ROBYN WHITE 

ON 3/22/22 

A leopard broke into a Mercedes-Benz factory in India and shut down production for four hours.

The young male leopard was spotted prowling around the manufacturing unit of the car factory in Chakan, Maharashtra state, and caused panic amongst staff, animal rescue organization Wildlife SOS said in a statement.

The Mercedes facility, which spreads over 100 acres, immediately shut down production and called in rescuers from the Forest Department and Wildlife SOS to remove the unusual visitor.

The leopard was only 2 to 3 years old and had wandered into the manufacturing unitWILDLIFE SOS

In the four-hour operation, teams secured the manufacturing unit and ensured all staff were evacuated from the building and kept at a safe distance.

In a video of the rescue operation, the distressed leopard can be seen running around the facility, appearing to look for a place to hide. The leopard can be seen timidly peering out from behind crates as rescue teams prepare to tranquilize it.

Once the team located the leopard, Wildlife SOS veterinary officer Nikhil Bangar tranquilized it before lifting it into a cage. The leopard was taken back with the Chakan Forest department for care and is still under medical observation.

An initial health check of the leopard found it is only two to three years in age, Wildlife SOS said. Once the medical evaluation is completed the leopard will be released back into the wild.

CCTV footage from areas around the factory will be assessed to see how the leopard may have entered the factory, The Times of India reported. It said the animal was not aggressive and was uninjured.

Leopards are often found wandering into villages and human-dominated areas in India.

A Wildlife SOS spokesperson told Newsweek they "can't be certain" where the leopard came from, but there is a forest range nearby to the factory.

"Over time, leopards have adapted to the changing landscape of Maharashtra and are often forced to venture close to human habitation in search of easily available prey and shelter," the spokesperson said.

Range Forest Officer Yogesh Mahajan told The Indian Express that there have been no previous leopard sightings in this particular area. However other wildlife—such as deer—are often seen wandering around. Mahajan said the leopard may have wandered into the campus in search of prey.

The leopard appears to be in distress and attempting to hideWILDLIFE SOS

"A regular night patrolling routine has been in place in the area for long. Local populace has been sensitized about various issues regarding man-animal conflict," Mahajan said.

Bangar said in a statement that the prompt action for the teams "helped save the life of this leopard."

There are an increasing number of instances of leopards wandering into human-dominated areas due to habitat loss, Kartick Satyanarayan, CEO and Co-founder of Wildlife SOS said in a statement. "Our team is trained to ensure that such situations are handled with the utmost caution, keeping in mind the safety of the leopard as well as humans," he said.



In 2021, The Times of India reported that 65 percent of Maharashtra's leopard population prowl outside of sanctuaries and nature reserves. This could be why human-leopard conflict in the state is so high.

In a tweet, Mercedes-Benz India commented on the incident: "We had a very special guest at Mercedes-Benz India campus this morning. A leopard strayed into the company's production facility and was later rescued with the prompt support of the Forest Department and Local Police. Seems like the forest inspector ran a QC and gave us a star rating."

The leopard was transported for a medical evaluation and will be released back into the wildWILDLIFE SOS

Survey: S. Korea Ranks 54 of 117 Countries in Ultra Fine Dust Levels

Written: 2022-03-22

Photo : YONHAP News

A new international survey has found air quality in South Korea registered a slight improvement last year compared to the year before. 

Swiss air quality tech company IQAir released a report on Tuesday which compared the average densities of fine particulate matter in the air, known as PM2.5, in six-thousand-475 cities across the globe in 2021. 

Among the 117 countries surveyed, South Korea had the 54th highest PM2.5 concentration at 18-point-nine micrograms per cubic meter. 

The country’s PM2.5 level slightly rose from 24 micrograms per cubic meter in 2018 to 24-point-eight micrograms per cubic meter in 2019. However, it fell to 19-point-five micrograms per cubic meter in 2020 before further improving to the latest level. 

As for Seoul, its average PM2.5 level was 19-point-seven micrograms per cubic meter last year, coming in at the 45th highest among the capital cities of all surveyed countries. It improved from 20-point-nine micrograms per cubic meter a year earlier.

Ethnic minority drivers pay more for motor insurance in Britain

• Chandrashekar Bhat
 
• 22 March, 2022

People of colour in the UK pay at least £213 million more for their motor insurance than white people, according to Citizens Advice. (Photo by ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Chandrashekar Bhat

DRIVERS living in areas of Britain where there are a higher proportion of people of colour pay at least £280 more for their annual motor insurance, consumer charity Citizens Advice said on Tuesday (22).

The charity carried out research on insurance premiums in eight postcode areas.

Everyone in those postcodes pays the higher prices, regardless of ethnicity. But if the trend was replicated across the country, people of colour would all together pay at least £213 million more for their insurance than white people, Citizens Advice said.

Common risk factors of crime rate, deprivation, road traffic accidents and population density could not account for the price difference, the charity said.

“For too long the impenetrable nature of insurance pricing has just been accepted, but a £280-a-year ethnicity penalty cannot be allowed to continue,” said Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice.

Citizens Advice has previously campaigned to ban a loyalty penalty imposed on customers who do not switch insurance providers. The Financial Conduct Authority, Britain’s markets watchdog, introduced a loyalty penalty ban this year.

The FCA should require insurers to account for their pricing decisions and take enforcement action if firms cannot explain any ethnicity pricing differences, Citizens Advice said.

An FCA spokesperson said that “firms must not use data in their pricing that could lead to discrimination based on protected characteristics, such as ethnicity, and we have acted where we’ve had concerns”, adding that the regulator would consider any evidence it received of pricing issues.

James Dalton, director for general insurance policy at the Association of British Insurers, said insurers never used ethnicity as a factor when setting prices.

“There are many different risk-related factors that are used to calculate the price of a car insurance policy which…should not be looked at in isolation, but ethnicity is not one of them,” he said, adding that insurers would continue to engage on issues around inequality.

South Africa: New Clinics Built Near Pretoria but Years Later They Are Still Not Open

22 MARCH 2022
GroundUp (Cape Town)By Mosima Rafapa

People in Shoshanguve and Hammanskraal are struggling to access health services while newly built facilities stand idle

Two clinics built for townships north of Pretoria have stood unopened for years.

Residents say they are struggling to access health care services as a result.

Red tape and land acquisition issues are blamed for the delays at the clinics in Soshanguve and Hammanskraal.

Residents in Soshanguve and Hammanskraal in Pretoria are frustrated that two newly-built clinics are taking years to open.

In the meantime, residents are struggling to access health services and many are having to pay for taxis to go to clinics further afield.

Boikhutsong clinic in Soshanguve

Construction of the New Boikhutsong Clinic in Soshanguve started in May 2017 and was meant to be completed in 2018. There is a building but GroundUp saw construction vehicles still on site last week.

Spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development Bongiwe Gambu said the anticipated date of opening is now the end of March. She blamed issues around land acquisition and red tape.

According to Gambu, the City of Tshwane initially donated the land to the province, but it later rescinded all land donations made to the province and in September 2021 the City council resolved to rather sell the land to the province. The provincial government's property management unit is "currently in a process to finalise the land acquisition process with the City", Gambu said.

In November 2021, during a protest by the Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa (DENOSA), the chairperson of the Boikhutsong clinic committee Tebogo Mokonyane demanded that the clinic be opened by February 2022.

The old -- but still used -- clinic, within walking distance of the new clinic, is in a building donated "by a white couple in 1994" according to Mokonyane. "It used to be sort of a resort, hence the rondavel that serves as our filing room," he explained.

He said the clinic serves many areas and informal settlements and cannot cope. "Our patients are forced to queue outside when it rains or in the scorching sun," he said.

GroundUp spoke to Dorah Magano, who said she had arrived at 6:50am and had still not been helped by 1pm. "I haven't eaten anything and I'm on chronic medication," she said.

France Baloyi, clinician and acting manager at Boikhutsong clinic, said, "The clinic was earlier this year found to be non-compliant by occupational health and safety regulators ... The rooms are small; there's so much congestion; there's no proper ventilation. The air-conditioning units are dysfunctional. One of the consulting rooms has been partitioned into two. It serves as an emergency room and for family planning. It is so hot that nurses and patients are feeling serious discomfort."

Mandisa Shiceka Clinic in Hammanskraal

The Mandisa Shiceka Clinic in Hammanskraal also remains closed even though construction started in 2017 and was completed in 2019. Efforts to get a response from Gambu as to why this was the case were unsuccessful, but Ward 49 Councillor Adam Mashapa (ANC) said the delays were also caused by problems with land acquisition from the City.

GroundUp met a staff member who said the old clinic was demolished before the new clinic was even built. Then prefab containers had to be brought in and a large tent. The staff member said it had been chaotic.

This prefab/tent clinic mostly stopped operating in June 2021, with most patients transferred to other facilities. The tent clinic now only provides chronic medication and mental health services.

There is a doctor who is assessing chronic patients and renewing their expired scripts, according to Kwara Kekana, spokesperson for Gauteng Department of Health MEC Dr Nomathemba Mokgethi.

Kekana said the clinic was closed because the temporary structures could no longer safely accommodate the number of patients.

"The staff from Mandisa Shiceka Clinic were redeployed to Jubilee Gateway Clinic, Themba Community Health Centre and Suurman Clinic. Some of the staff members are deployed to the Covid vaccination site, with a limited number still available at Mandisa Shiceka Clinic for some services," said Kekana.

"Plans to open the new facility are at an advanced stage and will be shared with the community once concluded, in the near future," said Kekana.

Fikile Mbalula is going after us for R2 million. We must be doing something right. Support news that matters. Please donate toGroundUp.

Afghan minister who fled the Taliban now drives Uber to feed his family

Khalid Payenda said he was ‘grateful’ for the opportunity to work after exhausting his savings

ByJoe Wallen, 

SOUTH ASIA CORRESPONDENT

22 March 2022 • 

Khalid Payenda resigned days before Kabul fell to the Taliban and then fled to the United States fearing for his safety 

CREDIT: AFP/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI

Afghanistan’s former finance minister has been driving an Uber in Washington DC to support his family, as new figures show over 13,000 newborns have died since January from hunger-related diseases.

Khalid Payenda, who resigned days before Kabul fell to the Taliban in August and then fled to the United States fearing for his safety, told the Washington Post that he was “grateful” to work for the ride hailing app after exhausting his savings.

He earns roughly £115 for a six hour shift – money he uses to supplement the £1,520 he earns per semester teaching at Georgetown University in Washington DC to support his wife and four children.

“It’s like a part of my life is a story someone else told me and that I have not lived,” said Mr Payenda, when asked about his role in Afghanistan under the previous democratically-elected Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani.

“It eats at you inside. Right now, I don’t have any place. I don’t belong here, and I don’t belong there. It’s a very empty feeling.”

Mr Ghani also fled the country in the wake of the Taliban takeover and now resides in exile in the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate and activists warn that it risks being overshadowed by the war in Ukraine.

Approximately 23 million of the country’s 39.8 million citizens are experiencing acute hunger, according to the United Nations assistance mission (UNAMA).

UNAMA warns that 100 percent of female-led households do not have enough to eat as the Taliban’s takeover means that women have been unable to earn a living to support their families.

“Since the beginning of the year, roughly 13,000 newborns have died from malnutrition and hunger-related diseases in Afghanistan,” echoed Birgit Schwarz, a senior official from Human Rights Watch.

“That is on average more than 170 babies every single day. The country needs a functioning Central Bank. Aid is not enough.”

Infectious diseases are also spreading rapidly in the country, where millions of people have been internally displaced and immunisation programs have been disrupted due to the conflict.

Since January 2021, there have been over 48,000 cases of measles reported and 250 deaths. Over 95 percent of fatalities are among children under the age of five. Many infants have already had their immune systems weakened by malnutrition.

UNICEF has warned that more than 13 million children remain in dire need of international assistance and it has requested a further £1.5 billion to meet the healthcare and education needs of the Afghan people.

UK
TWO YEARS OF TRACKING COVID-19 GOVERNMENT POLICIES
22 March 2022

Photo by Davyn Ben on Unsplash

The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker (OxCGRT), the Blavatnik School’s unique global resource that provides comparative, real-time information on government responses to COVID-19, turns two this week.

Powered by a global community of dedicated volunteers, the tracker records real-time policies related to containment, economic support, health, and vaccination in 187 countries and over 200 subnational jurisdictions.

We launched the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker in March 2020 – a few days after the World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic – thanks to the resourcefulness of Blavatnik School students and faculty who were quick to grasp the importance of keeping track of government policies aimed at containing the spread of the virus. It is now the only continuously updated global dataset on non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) used by governments and policymakers, researchers, the media and the general public the world over.

“Two years into the pandemic, we need comparative information on policy responses as much as ever. What will the “new normal” look like? How will countries respond, if at all, to new surges or variants? As the pandemic has progressed, policy responses have continued to evolve, and we have expanded the data we track accordingly, most recently adding vaccine ‘mandates’ and differentiated data for vaccinated and non-vaccinated,” said Thomas Hale, principal investigator and Associate Professor at the Blavatnik School.

A research note focused on the broad patterns of government responses over the first two years of the pandemic is available now.

The Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker is critical for decision-makers today, providing real-time data to dashboards and models maintained by the UN, WHO, World Bank and many individual governments and businesses. Our data is the most widely used source for researchers seeking to model the progression of the pandemic in order to understand its effects on human health, the economy, or other outcomes of interest.

The project is also critical for future decision-making. By providing a consistent, systematic timeline of this unfolding crisis and, combined with aligned survey data, insight into changes in how our societies have responded, the tracker also provides a key evidence base for efforts to build back from the pandemic, and to build resilience to future ones.
THE MOST-CITED DATASET OF COVID-19 POLICY DECISIONS IN THE WORLD, AND THE ONLY ONE STILL PUBLISHING NEW DATA IN 2022

In research, the data in our main repository are downloaded dozens of times each hour. To date, the dataset has over three thousand academic citations recorded on Google Scholar. While we are primarily a data-driven project, our team has also published high-impact articles in journals like Nature Human Behaviour and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The data also attracts enormous interest from the public and has been featured in The New York Times, Financial Times, BBC, Al Jazeera, The Economist, National Geographic, O Globo, El Paìs, Le Monde, The Globe and Mail, Asahi Shimbun, and the Washington Post – to name just a few.

Perhaps most importantly, the data is used directly by governments, international organisations, and public health agencies to inform their real-time decisions on COVID-19 responses and the feedback we get is that our data is vital to their work.


"This data tells us what options are out there, and we can see innovation as we look at them options and we will learn which ones work in which health systems" – Dame Sally Davies, former Chief Medical Officer for England

"I really commend the work on government responses" – Dr David Nabarro, Special Envoy of WHO, Director-General on COVID-19

Some examples of our contributions:
UK Cabinet Office: We have been supporting the products of their International Comparator Joint unit, who provide updates to the government and Prime Minister. We provide fortnightly updates on trends and patterns and fortnightly trends and ad hoc ‘deep dive’ data reports on specific topics, for example education.
The ESRC International Public Policy Observatory (IPPO): We provide monthly global evidence scans on COVID-19 related policy issues using our data. Topics include: online education, gender-based COVID-19 recovery plans, income support measures, ad hoc measures for places disproportionately hit by COVID-19, adult re-skilling.
UNDP – The Vaccine Dashboard: Together we created the initial data survey to assess the equity in the accessibility and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the globe. Looking at 245 countries/nations/jurisdictions, we were able to map out how easily or not vaccines were available, what quantities, and in some cases, the cost per dose that countries had negotiated either directly with manufacturers or through COVAX. Numerous sources of data are used and imported through the dashboard, as well as our Stringency Index, and our H5 indicator (investments into vaccines).
WHO – Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB): We developed a 12-page memo on the political barriers to COVID-19 response that informed the 2021 Global Preparedness Monitoring Board annual report. The OxCGRT team identified political barriers that have hindered COVID-19 responses and made suggestions on how to overcome such barriers

As long as the pandemic continues to shift and evolve – and therefore the policy responses that governments make – there will be a need for our data. But producing the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker is an immense effort. At the core of the project, we have a global team of citizen scientists: over 1000 trained volunteers, working in more than 90 languages, have contributed data to the project so far. We are grateful to each and every one of them, and to our small but global staff team who coordinate this effort.

So the team is currently seeking funding to maintain the tracker going for the next 18 months, and to bolster their ability to use the data to better prepare for the future.


“While at the start of the pandemic the most urgent policy-informing questions pertained to how policies related to case and death rates, over time the list of important questions have grown and become more complex, as educational and job losses, vaccine hesitancy and protests have become more prominent concerns,” said Toby Phillips, executive director of the project.

ANGOLA

Tackling one of the world's highest teenage pregnancy rates, to give girls a better future

22 March 2022

Stela Varela, 28, is an activist for the Youth Support Centre, which is sponsored by the Safeguard Young People (SYP) programme in Huila, Angola. © UNFPA Angola

MITCHA NEIGHBORHOOD, Lubango – “I have had doors closed in my face many times, but my desire to bring knowledge to young people and adolescents in order to avoid unwanted pregnancy has no end,” said Stela Varela, 28, an activist for the Youth Support Centre (CAJ) and a beneficiary of the Safeguard Young People (SYP) programme.

I have had doors closed in my face many times, but my desire to bring knowledge to young people and adolescents to avoid unwanted pregnancy has no end.

Ms. Varela applies the knowledge she has acquired in her seven years as an activist in her neighbourhood of Bairro da Mitcha, on the outskirts of the city of Lubango, in the province of Huíla. Helping her community – especially girls and young women – fills her with pride.

Young women contributing to a better world

The biggest difficulty she faces is a lack of willingness among women to discuss the challenges of unintended pregnancy. It is not uncommon for her to be rejected when approaching a community to raise awareness on the negative effects of teenage pregnancy, for instance, or for mothers to refuse to let their teenaged daughters attend her behaviour change lectures.

I'm not going to give up on the girls.

While a lack of information and education may be the root cause that limits parents from being able to talk openly with their teenaged children about sexual and reproductive health, Ms. Varela remains undeterred. “I'm not going to give up on the girls. Getting them to participate in my lectures is my biggest challenge,” she said.

Students participating in an SYP-sponsored training session. © UNFPA Angola

Challenging one of the world's highest teen pregnancy rates

Angola has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the world. With a contraceptive prevalence rate of 14 per cent and an unmet need for family planning among girls aged 15-19 of 43 per cent, teenage pregnancies continue to be taboo. This is the reason for the silence she experiences from the families she approaches in Mitcha's neighbourhoods.

Underlying factors for the high rate of teen pregnancies include limited knowledge of family planning, inadequate availability of commodities, limited access to skilled health workers, and insufficient household resources allocated to sexual and reprodutive health. Teen pregnancy increases the existing vulnerability of girls, as pregnancy is often an impediment to continuing education, exemplified by the low literacy rates of only 37 per cent for young women aged 15 to 24.

At a local school, Ms. Varela leads a youth empowerment session, sponsored and monitored by the Safeguard Young People programme, with girls aged between 11 and 23 years old. © UNFPA Angola

The country has 10 million girls and women of reproductive age and, although 75 per cent of girls attend primary school, this proportion drops to around 16 per cent at secondary education level, which coincides with the age of first menstruation. High fertility rates and high levels of teenage pregnancy increase the risk of maternal mortality.

In this context, behaviour change interventions are key to empowering young women and men to make better decisions to protect themselves. The SYP programme in Angola will reach 60,000 youths with training on sexual and reproductive health, trauma resilience and job skills, while providing an enabling environment by strengthening medical posts and training for health professionals.
Working with SYP

Through UNFPA's Safeguarding Young People (SYP) programme, sponsored by the Netherlands and implemented in partnership with the Government of Angola, Ms. Varela participates in youth empowerment sessions with girls aged between 11 and 23 years old at schools. The programme was designed to address the sexual and reproductive health needs and reproductive rights of adolescents and youth.

My biggest dream as an activist is to be able to see these girls I work with today have a better future.

SYP empowers adolescents and youth to lead healthy lives, protect themselves from sexually transmitted infections (STIs) including HIV, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, early marriage, GBV and harmful practices. SYP promotes inclusion, gender equality norms and protective behaviours.

“My biggest dream as an activist is to be able to see these girls I work with today have a better future. [To see them] graduate, have a good academic background, get married and set up their homes,” says Ms. Varela.

Russian-Ukrainian war a blow to Colombo's economy

by Arundathie Abeysinghe

Impact on tea exports, tourism and foreign currency crisis. A prolonged clash risks stopping exports altogether, not least because of rising energy prices in Europe. At the moment no wheat, sunflower oil, iron and steel products are arriving from Russia and Ukraine.



Colombo (AsiaNews) - The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens Sri Lanka's tea exports, the national tourism industry (which was recovering after the pandemic) and will push up inflation. The energy sector, as elsewhere in the world, is also at risk. According to analysts, the economic consequences of the war risk bankrupting the country.

The invasion ordered by Putin has also aggravated the dollar crisis and stopped the arrival of Russian and Ukrainian tourists, the most numerous to visit the island. The Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority told AsiaNews that about 20,000 Ukrainians and Russians had arrived in Sri Lanka by January 2022, accounting for more than a quarter of the total number of visitors.

The Ukrainian tourists were the first post-Covid travellers to Sri Lanka to bring in much-needed foreign currency, a report that had bounced around various media outlets last year, accompanied by allegations that the travellers had also brought a new strain of coronavirus to the island. Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian tourists are currently stranded in Sri Lanka, unable to use their credit cards because international banks have suspended transactions with Russia.

Economists report that Sri Lankan tea exports to Russia have fallen from 46 million kg in 2013 to 27 million kg in 2021. Despite this negative trend, demand for 'Ceylon Tea' played a significant role for the Sri Lankan economy until January this year, before the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

In 2021, Sri Lanka exported 4.2 million kg of tea to Ukraine, in line with exports over the past seven years. According to sources at the Colombo Tea Traders Association, it is possible that "everything will come to a standstill", that there will be a complete halt to tea exports as "we may not be able to ship goods to Russia, Ukraine,or other Eastern European states such as Lithuania".

According to Sri Lankan tea planters, a prolonged conflict would have a "severe" impact on trade in their products, while the loss of value of the ruble and the exclusion of Russian banks from the Swift international payments system will be a major "blow to the Sri Lankan economy".

Several exporters told AsiaNews that because of the sanctions imposed by Western countries, the tea market is also likely to be affected, to the point that "there may be a possibility of not trading with Russia".

Russia and Ukraine buy about 18% of the black tea produced in Sri Lanka. Similarly, 45% of the island's wheat imports come from the two parties to the conflict. More than 50% of imports of soya, sunflower oil and pulses also come from Ukraine. Moscow and Kyiv are also important suppliers of semi-finished products of iron and steel, asbestos, copper (cathodes) and potassium chloride for fertilisers.

If the crisis between Ukraine and Russia continues for much longer, the prices of fuel and raw materials in Sri Lanka are likely to rise further, putting pressure on consumers' pockets. At the same time, inflationary pressures in Western markets, especially in Europe, caused by high energy prices and delays in supply chains, threaten to depress consumer purchasing power, reducing demand for Sri Lankan exports. Currently, Europe is an important destination for Sri Lankan exports of garments, tea, spices and seafood.