Monday, November 14, 2022

COP27: Climate Justice: Where do the

Religiously Marginalised Fit in?

A flooded village in Matiari, in the Sindh province of Pakistan.

Credit: UNICEF/Asad Zaidi

BRIGHTON, UK, Nov 14 2022 (IPS) - Climate change reductionism – assuming the causes and the redress for those suffering the worst impacts of extreme weather lies with climate change alone – undermines the rights of religiously marginalised persons, but broadening whose rights are being advocated for in climate change can offer redress.

As COP27 negotiations continue, we must be alive to the widespread discrimination behind why some face more devastation than others, and pursue climate justice policies sensitive to the religiously marginalised and to the freedom of religion or belief (Forb).

Climate change and religion

In response to the devastating floods in Pakistan, a top political leader in the Sindh province of Pakistan attributed the destruction caused as a punishment by God, and added that the situation will improve if the people turn away from their sins.

This is just one example of how across the globe now power holders are weaponising religion to cover up unaccountable governance. But power holders’ use of religion to cover up for their failures only worsens the situation for the vulnerable, many of whom happen to be religious minorities.

Sindh province has one of the largest concentrations of people living in extreme poverty in Pakistan, and one of the highest religious minority populations (Hindu and Christian), in the country. This religious minority population also happen to be among the poorest, especially since they belong to the scheduled castes.

Secretary-General António Guterres (right, back to camera)

along with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan

visit the National Flood Response and Coordination Centre

in Islamabad. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Like other Pakistanis in Sindh, the religiously marginalised poor have lost everything due to the unprecedented monsoon floods but they experience an added vulnerability: systemic discrimination on account of their religious identity.

This is manifest in their exclusion from large scale poverty alleviation programmes as found in recent research. This underlying vulnerability and discrimination is why it is wrong to attribute the devastation that religiously ‘otherised’ people experience in the face of natural disasters to climate change alone.

Climate change reductionism

A recent report by the UK’s International Development Committee argues that climate change is also a driver of religious discrimination and mass atrocities because of competition to control natural resources and wealth in conditions of scarcity.

The recognition the report gives to the interconnections between environmental, political, economic and social phenomena is very much welcome, but attributing the causes of atrocities or religious cleansing to climate change alone is anathema to the protection of persons’ freedom of religion or belief.

Climate change reductionism in this way assumes the causes – and therefore redress – of all evils lie with climate.

As Rigg and Mason suggest, climate science reductionism omits the role that structural factors such as “market forces, discriminatory policies, state corruption and inefficiency, and historical marginality play in people’s lived experience”.

Climate change may in some circumstances accentuate the impact of religious inequalities but we need to press on for accountability of power holders who deliberately exclude and ‘otherise’ those who are different through their discourses, policies and practices.

Religious and cultural beliefs benefiting the environment

In the name of countering climate change, we should also never pit sustainability against inclusivity in development policies and practices. Highlighted by an Amnesty International warning ahead of COP27, there are risks from climate protection strategies that exclude indigenous people, whose norms and beliefs are held sacred, even if it is not termed “religion”.

Research from the Coalition for Religious Equality and Inclusive Development (CREID) showed how the Uganda Wildlife Authority forbade indigenous people access to particular territories containing religious shrines, out of the belief that they were destroying the flora and fauna.

When the Bamba and Bakonjo people of Uganda were allowed to practice some of the religious and customary knowledge, this actually led to greater protection of the biodiversity and integrity of the habitat.

This shows that when people experience intertwining inequalities, including marginalisation based religion or belief, it’s not only that they become vulnerable to prejudice, but opportunities for building resilience to the effects of climate change are missed.

This does not mean that all expressions of people’s religious practices or beliefs are conducive to preserving the environment, we know this is not the case. However, another example can be found in the Middle East where extreme weather events have wreaked havoc on crops.

Here, the Copts – the largest religious minority in the region – have developed a system of how the land is to be harvested to remove social stigma and make sure that no one – Muslim or Copt- goes without.

While we know a multitude of measures are needed to minimize the impact of climate change on crops, the benefits of adapting the knowledge and heritage practices of those whose religious heritage has been side-lined are for everyone- not just the members of the religious minority.

So, whether it is powerful leaders wrongly weaponizing religion in order to avoid accountability and when climate change-related disasters strike, discrimination against religious minorities driving greater vulnerability to its impacts, or beliefs and knowledges of the land – prejudice against the religiously marginalized actually has a great deal to do with climate change.

Therefore, during this month’s COP27 climate summit (which concludes November 18) , freedom of religion or belief must be considered in policies to redress climate inequalities if we are serious about going beyond climate change reductionism and truly advancing climate justice.

Professor Mariz Tadros is Research Fellow at Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and Director of CREID

IPS UN Bureau

PROFIT IS PRICE GOUGING

Saputo earnings up 48% in Q2, revenues rise 21%

The Canadian Press

Nov 11, 2022

Saputo Inc. saw its net earnings rise by 48 per cent in its fiscal 2023 second quarter ended Sept. 30.

The Montreal-based company reported net earnings of $145 million or 35 cents per diluted share, up from $98 million or 24 cents per diluted share in the same quarter last year.

Revenues rose to $4.46 billion from $3.69 billion a year earlier, an increase of 21 per cent.

The company says its increased revenue was due to higher prices Saputo implemented across all its sectors, higher average block cheese and butter prices in the U.S., and higher international cheese and dairy ingredient market prices.

The company says it was able to successfully offset the cost of rising inflation through price increases.

Adjusted net earnings were $177 million in the second quarter, up from $116 million a year earlier, while the adjusted net earnings margin rose to four per cent from 3.1 per cent.

WORKERS CAPITAL

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board sees net assets grow by $6B

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board saw its net assets grow to $529 billion in its second quarter, compared with $523 billion at the end of the previous quarter.

Net assets grew by $6 billion compared with the previous quarter, consisting of $1 billion in net income and $5 billion in net transfers from the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

CPPIB says its fund, which includes the combination of the base CPP and additional CPP accounts, returned 0.2 per cent for the quarter, outperforming leading global indices and up from a loss of 4.2 per cent last quarter.

For the six-month period ending Sept. 30, the fund saw negative net returns of four per cent.

CPPIB president and CEO John Graham says the portfolio remains resilient despite inflation, increasing interest rates, and the war in Ukraine.

The fund saw five-year and 10-year net returns of 9.5 per cent and 10.1 per cent, respectively.

NO MORE AUSTERITY

Ontario slashes deficit projection 35% on higher tax revenue

Esteban Duarte, Bloomberg News

The Bay Street financial district is shown with the Canadian flag in Toronto on Friday, August 5, 2022. ,

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Canada’s largest province says its fiscal deficit will be much smaller than it expected just over six months ago, as inflation provides a boost to individual and corporate tax revenue.

Ontario’s budget shortfall is now expected to be $12.9 billion in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023, compared to $19.9 billion projected in the April budget, the government said in its fall economic update.

Total revenue is expected to reach $186.8 billion, up from $179.8 billion previously expected, while the forecast for total expenses is little changed at $198.8 billion. The government had already projected a rising trajectory for expenses, including health and education.

Those costs will help push the world’s largest sub-sovereign debt issuer back into a pattern of yearly deficits, despite the tax windfall. Ontario surprised markets with its first surplus in 14 years in fiscal 2021-2022.

The report highlighted several revisions to its economic outlook since the April budget. While nominal GDP growth is expected to be faster in 2022, it will slow in 2023 and 2024. Job creation is expected to be strong this year but that pace will check in 2023 and 2024. Inflation will stay high from this year into 2024, and home sales are expected to remain weak next year.

Ontario now sees nominal gross domestic product growth of 9.2 per cent this year, 2.5 percentage points higher than it expected in April. Salaries are forecast to rise 8.9 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent previously while companies’ operating earnings are expected to grow 4.8 per cent. The province doesn’t see significant changes to programs or financial expenses for the current fiscal year, despite speculation that labor negotiations will lead to robust salary increases.

The province is reducing its long-term borrowing program for current fiscal year by $9.3 billion to $32.2 billion, of which $13.6 billion has still to be raised. The annual borrowing rate is now expected to be 4.2 per cent, up from 3.4 per cent previously projected.

CANADA

Unions say turnover rate high for new security officers as busy holiday season looms

Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press

Unions representing airport security screeners say turnover for new employees is high despite efforts to hire more workers, with as few as one in three recent hires still on the job in some regions.

Major delays and flight cancellations at airports across Canada earlier this year drew scrutiny from passengers and politicians alike. Among other measures to ease the chaos, the government promised to ramp up hiring of security screeners — and did so, with more than 2,000 new screeners hired since April.

Now the pressure is on for airports to have a smooth holiday season, but high turnover and widespread bargaining between security screeners and their employers could throw another wrench into operations.

David Lipton with the United Steelworkers union, which represents about 2,000 airport security screeners at 41 airports, said only about a third of the screeners hired in the past few months have stayed on, with the rest either quitting, leaving during the training period or not showing up to training. Other unions reported similar turnover levels for recent new hires.

For example, Lipton said the Ottawa airport needs between 350 and 380 workers to be adequately staffed, though security employer GardaWorld disputed this, saying their target is below 350. Right now, Ottawa has around 270, up from around 200 earlier this year, Lipton said.

Security screeners at Canadian airports work for third-party contractors hired by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA). There are three main contractors providing screeners at airports across Canada: Allied Universal, Securitas and GardaWorld.

CATSA said the average reported attrition rate for security officers during the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 12.2 per cent. Spokesperson Suzanne Perseo said the agency is ready for the upcoming holiday season.

Both GardaWorld and Allied Universal both said they are well staffed, with GardaWorld increasing hiring for the holiday, while Securitas declined to comment, citing ongoing bargaining.

Almost all of the security screeners covered by USW are currently in bargaining with their employers, said Lipton. Among them are the Quebec and Atlantic Canada screeners, who recently rejected an offer from Securitas, and workers at the Ottawa airport who are bargaining with GardaWorld, he said.

Lipton said inflation has made current wages for security screening less attractive, making it harder to retain workers.

“In the times of high inflation, the workers require more of a raise just to make ends meet,” he said.

But he said working conditions are also driving people away as with fewer workers, the shifts are longer and more stressful.

Keith Aiken with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW), which represents thousands of security screeners in B.C. and Ontario, including the ones at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, didn’t give specifics but said the turnover rate for security screeners is “very high.” He attributed turnover at Pearson to scheduling and working conditions.

“Our pre-board screeners are highly monitored in a stressful environment and this causes new workers to not want to do the job,” said Aiken in an emailed statement.

The office of the transport minister acknowledged that like other sectors, CATSA is currently facing higher levels of staff turnover.

But spokeswoman Nadine Ramadan said CATSA has achieved pre-pandemic staffing levels at major airports and is entering the holiday season with lower wait times. For example, she said at Pearson, CATSA is 25 per cent above pre-pandemic staffing levels, including turnover.

But the new hires who stay are facing backlogs in the CATSA-provided training process, said IAMAW’s Aiken.

Aiken said that means many new hires can only do certain tasks, and not full screening duties.

CATSA's Perseo said the screening authority modified its training earlier this year to "accelerate screening officer readiness while prioritizing security effectiveness."

That means some new recruits are performing non-screening functions in the queues to optimize staffing. She also said CATSA has added more trainers.

COVID-19 has changed the reality for workers, said Catherine Cosgrove of Teamsters Canada, which represents around 1,000 GardaWorld screening workers across the country, including in Winnipeg and Edmonton.

“Turnover right now is widespread,” she said of the screening industry, agreeing that around a third of new hires from the past few months are still on the job.

Screeners at the Edmonton airport signed a deal in September with a 12 per cent wage increase over two and a half years after voting for strike action in July.

But despite those gains, Cosgrove said she thinks worker retention is going to be a persistent problem in the industry.

If bargaining goes south heading into the holiday season, USW screeners may not be able to strike, noted Lipton — the unions are awaiting a decision from the Canada Industrial Relations Board to determine whether they have a right to strike depending on how much of their job is considered essential.

USW is calling on the government to increase funding for CATSA’s screeners, as they say the employers are citing funding restrictions in their third-party contracts as a reason for not being able to offer better deals at the bargaining table.

CATSA did not comment on its funding but said it's confident the contractors can work with the unions to reach agreements, while the transport minister’s office said the government has not cut or decreased funding for CATSA staffing.

But Lipton said more is needed.

“I think that a major issue here is that CATSA needs to adequately fund screening operations so that the screening contractors can pay proper wages to these people and stabilize the workforce,” Lipton said.

Majority of Canadians want pay transparency laws: Survey

Daniel Johnson , BNN Bloomberg

Most Canadians would support a pay transparency law that would require businesses to disclose salary ranges on job postings, according to a survey conducted by Talent.com and Leger.

A survey released Nov. 3, found 84 per cent of respondents conveyed support for pay transparency laws on job postings.

The survey also found that participants believed pay transparency would help close the gender pay gap (61 per cent) and increase pay equity for racial minorities (57 per cent).

“Very broadly, job seekers want it [pay transparency laws],” Robert Boersma, vice president of operations for North America at Talent.com., said in an phone interview Thursday.

“Typically when these laws are adopted and salary transparency is adopted by employers, they can actually expect fewer applications, but more qualified applications.”

PAY TRANSPARENCY IN CANADA

Pay transparency laws have recently gained some traction in Canada.

In June, Prince Edward Island added a new section to the Employment Standards Act that said employers must include compensation figures in all public job postings.

In Ontario, a Pay Transparency Act was introduced in 2018 but was subsequently shelved.

Boersma said pay transparency support typically ranges between 77 and 86 per cent in different provinces.

“I think we'll see more momentum behind these types of laws coming into place,” said Boersma.

DISCUSSING COMPENSATION

The survey found over half of respondents (54 per cent) felt comfortable discussing their compensation with family members.

However, fewer individuals indicated they would feel comfortable discussing pay with friends (38 per cent) and even less when talking to colleagues (32 per cent).

Younger Canadians from ages 18 to 35 were more likely in general to feel comfortable talking about their salary.

“It's becoming less of a taboo topic with the younger generation because [of] their style of work and the way that they look at their work and their life are a little bit more blended,” Boersma said.

“So they [younger Canadians] really see less risk in having those conversations,” Boersma said.

Canadians are split on how they feel about their compensation, with 45 per cent of individuals indicating they are receiving a fair salary and another 43 per cent saying they are not.

The survey also found around a quarter of working Canadians (24 per cent) said they are considering leaving their current position within a year.

Methodology:

The survey was conducted between Oct. 28-30 and collected online responses from 1,534 Canadians over the age of 18.

Bezos makes charity pledge as Amazon is said to plan job cuts

Sophie Alexander, Bloomberg News

Jeff Bezos said he plans to give away the bulk of his fortune during his lifetime in an interview that aired just hours before reports that Amazon.com Inc. plans to cut about 10,000 jobs.

Bezos, the e-commerce giant’s founder and the world’s fourth-richest person, will focus the bulk of his philanthropy on fighting climate change and supporting those who seek to unify people, the billionaire told CNN. It’s the first time he has committed to such a pledge.

Bezos, who’s worth $123.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, said in the interview that he’s also anticipating a recession and that his advice to small businesses is to hunker down and cut expenses.

“The economy does not look great right now,” he said, sitting alongside his partner Lauren Sanchez. “Things are slowing down. You’re seeing lay offs in many many sectors of the economy.”

Amazon’s own job cuts will primarily hit employees in corporate and technology positions and could start as early as this week, the New York Times reported Monday, citing people familiar with the matter that it didn’t identify. It would be the largest number of staff cuts in the company’s history.

This isn’t the first time Bezos has timed a big philanthropic announcement around a period of controversy. Last year, he sandwiched his 11-minute trip to the edge of space, which attracted criticism over his priorities, with news of hundreds of millions of dollars in gifts, including $200 million to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Bezos, 58, has focused more attention on his philanthropy in recent years as he’s also assumed a much larger public role, acquiring the Washington Post newspaper in 2013 as well as luxury homes in New York, Los Angeles and Hawaii. A $500 million yacht he commissioned is under construction in the Netherlands, and he’s among those interested in bidding for the NFL’s Washington Commanders, possibly with music mogul Jay-Z as an investor.

For years Bezos largely stayed on the philanthropy sidelines and drew criticism for not signing the Giving Pledge, a promise by many of the world’s richest people to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. Instead he focused on Amazon and funded Blue Origin, his for-profit space-exploration company.

CLIMATE CHANGE

But Bezos has increased the pace of his giving after stepping down as Amazon’s chief executive officer last year. He set his attention on climate change with his $10 billion Earth Fund, which also aims to help restore nature and transform food systems. Bezos has said he plans to distribute the $10 billion by 2030.

On Saturday, Bezos named Dolly Parton the latest recipient of his Courage and Civility award, handing the music legend $100 million to direct to any charities she chooses. He previously awarded similar amounts to chef Jose Andres, whose World Central Kitchen feeds people in disaster-stricken areas, and Van Jones, the founder of Dream.Org.

His ex-wife MacKenzie Scott has sent more than $14 billion to nonprofits since the two split in 2019, mostly focusing on smaller charities in the U.S. that are often overlooked by larger donors. In a blog post just hours after Bezos’s CNN interview aired, Scott -- who signed the Giving Pledge -- said she donated almost $2 billion to charities over the past seven months.

Amazon, Meta join ranks of tech companies

slashing thousands of jobs

Lindsey Rupp, Bloomberg News

Tech companies are trimming staff and slowing hiring as they face higher interest rates and sluggish consumer spending in the U.S. and a strong dollar abroad.

The tech industry shed 9,587 jobs in October, the highest monthly total since November 2020, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., a consulting firm that tallies job cuts announced or confirmed by companies across telecom, electronics, hardware manufacturing and software development.

In recent earnings reports, Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp. and others fell short of projections, sending shares plunging and shaving hundreds of billions of dollars from their market valuations. Meta, for instance, has lost more than 67 per cent of its value so far this year.

Here’s a running list of who’s cutting jobs and pulling back on hiring.

Amazon

The e-commerce titan plans to cut about 10,000 jobs. The layoffs will likely target Amazon’s devices group, responsible for the Echo smart speakers and Alexa digital assistant, as well as the retail divisions and human resources, Bloomberg News reported.

In November, Amazon halted “new incremental” hiring across its corporate workforce.

Apple

The iPhone maker has paused hiring for many jobs outside of research and development, an escalation of its plan to reduce budgets heading into next year, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The break generally doesn’t apply to teams working on future devices and long-term initiatives, but it affects some corporate functions and standard hardware and software engineering roles.

Chime

The digital-banking startup Chime Financial Inc. is cutting 12 per cent of its staff, or 160 people. A spokesperson said the company remains well-capitalized and the move will position it for “sustained success.”

Dapper Labs

Dapper Labs Inc. founder and Chief Executive Officer Roham Gharegozlou said in a letter to employees that the company had laid off 22 per cent of its staff. He cited macroeconomic conditions and operational challenges stemming from the company’s rapid growth. Dapper Labs created the NBA Top Shot marketplace for nonfungible tokens, a digital asset class that has seen a steep drop in demand since the crypto market downturn.

Digital Currency Group

Cryptocurrency conglomerate Digital Currency Group embarked on a restructuring last month that saw about 10 employees exit the company. As part of the shake-up, Mark Murphy was promoted to president from chief operating officer.

Galaxy Digital

Galaxy Digital Holdings Ltd., the crypto financial services firm founded by billionaire Michael Novogratz, is considering eliminating as much as 20 per cent of its workforce. The plan may still be changed and the final number could be in a range of 15 per cent to 20 per cent, according to people familiar with the matter. Galaxy’s shares have plummeted more than 80 per cent this year, part of a rout for cryptocurrencies.

Intel

Intel Corp. is cutting jobs and slowing spending on new plants in an effort to save US$3 billion next year, the chipmaker said. The hope is to save as much as US$10 billion by 2025, a plan that went over well with investors, who sent the shares up more than 10 per cent on Oct. 28. Bloomberg News reported earlier that the headcount reduction could number in the thousands.

Lyft

Lyft Inc.’s cost-saving efforts include divesting its vehicle service business. It’s eliminating 13 per cent of staff, or about 683 people. The company had already said it would freeze hiring in the US until at least next year. It’s now facing even stiffer headwinds.

“We are not immune to the realities of inflation and a slowing economy,” co-founders John Zimmer and Logan Green said in a memo. “We need 2023 to be a period where we can better execute without having to change plans in response to external events — and the tough reality is that today’s actions set us up to do that.”

Meta

The Facebook parent is cutting 11,000 jobs, the first major round of layoffs in the social-media company’s history. Meta’s stock has plunged this year, and the company is trying to pare costs following several quarters of disappointing earnings and a slide in revenue. The reductions equal about 13 per cent of the workforce, and Meta will extend its hiring freeze through the first quarter.

“I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the statement. “I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted.”

Opendoor

Opendoor Technologies Inc. said that it’s laying off about 550 employees — roughly 18 per cent of its headcount. The company, which practices a data-driven spin on home-flipping called iBuying, is coping with slowing housing demand because of higher mortgage rates.

Peloton

Peloton Interactive Inc. laid off 500 employees globally, or about 12 per cent of the workforce, in October. It was the fourth time this year the company has cut staff. Along with other expense reduction measures, Peloton said the move will help it reach the break-even point on cash flow by the end of fiscal 2023.

“I know many of you will feel angry, frustrated and emotionally drained by today’s news, but please know this is a necessary step if we are going to save Peloton, and we are,” CEO Barry McCarthy said in an October memo. “Our goal is to control our own destiny and assure the future viability of the business.”

Qualcomm

Qualcomm Inc. said that it’s frozen hiring in response to a faster-than-feared decline in demand for phones, which use its chips. It now expects smartphone shipments to decline in the double-digit percent range this year, worse than the outlook it gave earlier.

Salesforce

Salesforce Inc. is focusing on margins as demand for its software products slow. The company has cut hundreds of workers from sales teams as it looks to improve profitability. Since 2017, Salesforce had almost tripled its workforce.

Seagate

Seagate Technology Holdings Plc, the biggest maker of computer hard drives, said that it’s paring about 3,000 jobs. Computer suppliers, including Seagate and Intel, have been hard hit by a slowdown in hardware spending. Customers are sitting on a pile of extra inventory, hurting orders and weighing on Seagate’s financial performance, CEO Dave Mosley said. That necessitated cuts. “We have taken quick and decisive actions to respond to current market conditions and enhance long-term profitability,” he said.

Stripe

Payments company Stripe Inc., one of the world’s most valuable startups, is cutting more than 1,000 jobs. The 14 per cent staff reduction will return its headcount to almost 7,000 — its total in February. Co-founders Patrick and John Collison told staff that they need to trim expenses more broadly as they prepare for “leaner times.”

Twitter

The upheaval at Twitter has more to do with its recent buyout — and the accompanying debt — than economic concerns. But the company has suffered some of the deepest cuts of its peers right now. Elon Musk, who bought Twitter for US$44 billion, eliminated about 3,700 jobs by email. Musk also reversed the company’s work-from-anywhere policy, asking remaining employees to report to offices.

“Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over US$4M/day,” Musk tweeted on Nov. 4.

Upstart

Upstart Holdings Inc., an online lending platform, said in a regulatory filing it cut 140 hourly employees “given the challenging economy and reduction in the volume of loans on our platform.”

Asia and the Pacific Islands: Pandemic’s disproportionate impact on transgender people should be “wake-up call” to governments

November 14, 2022

The dire state of transgender people’s rights to healthcare, housing, and employment in Asia and the Pacific Islands worsened at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Amnesty International said today. The organization is calling for governments in the region – and world over – to ensure lessons are learned so transgender people are not left behind in future health emergencies and natural disasters.

In a report, Pandemic or not, we have the right to live, Amnesty International documented discrimination, violence and marginalization of transgender people in 15 countries – Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mainland China, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga and Viet Nam. It reveals that transgender people suffered disproportionately under restrictions to curb the spread of the virus, at the same time that they were excluded from receiving government assistance to help people cope with the impact of the pandemic.

The pandemic and governments’ responses to it have laid bare the many barriers that transgender and gender diverse people in Asia and the Pacific Islands must navigate every day to meet their basic needs.Nadia Rahman, Amnesty International’s Researcher and Policy Advisor on Gender

“The pandemic should be a wake-up call to governments to build more inclusive and sustainable economies and societies for trans and gender diverse people, especially in the face of future health and climate crises. The first step is to ensure individuals can easily and quickly change their legal name and gender on official ID documents, which is crucial to accessing their rights to essential services on an everyday basis.”

As lockdowns were introduced at the height of the pandemic, transgender people faced numerous challenges including a loss of income, food insecurity, safe housing, problems in accessing gender-affirming treatment, increased domestic violence and a notable absence of social protection support. These are all part of systemic issues states in the region need to address urgently, to comply with their human rights obligations.

‘No money and starving’

Discrimination and stigma mean that the overwhelming majority of transgender people in the region work in the informal sector without any job security, labour protections or welfare benefits. For example, in the Philippines, South Korea and Viet Nam, trans women told Amnesty International that performing at entertainment venues, working in the hospitality industry, engaging in sex work, and taking part in beauty pageants, were often the only ways they could earn a living.

In Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, many transgender women earn money performing ceremonial functions at weddings and births, engaging in sex work or begging on the streets. When lockdowns were imposed, many of them lost their only form of income.

A trans woman in Bangladesh told Amnesty International: “No mainstream companies hire us. We are seen as ‘cursed’ and ‘taboo’. There is no data from the government about trans people. NGOs and activists talked to about 1,500 trans women [during Covid-19] and they [mostly all] told us that they are living a very miserable life, have no money and are starving”.

Obstacles to accessing healthcare

Transgender people in Asia and the Pacific Islands reported that they are routinely subjected to disrespect, lack of privacy and confidentiality, and in many cases, outright refusal of care, when they seek medical assistance.

There is also a lack of health professionals trained in the specific health requirements of trans people, including the regulation of hormones and other gender-affirming treatment. As a result, many transgender people rely on the internet or clandestine market sellers for advice about medication and its side effects.

Accessing hormones was even harder for trans people during the pandemic, with many trans people claiming that interruptions to their gender-affirming treatment was causing them symptoms of anxiety and depression.

“The main difficulty transgender men have faced is getting hormone medicines. When their hormone stocks finished, they couldn’t go to the hospital to get medicines because of the curfews. At times they also couldn’t complete the process to get their gender officially recognized because clinics were closed, and surgeries got delayed,” a trans man in Sri Lanka told Amnesty International.

Humiliation and abuse directed at trans people

The report showed that most transgender people in Asia are unable to obtain legal ID documents that reflect their gender identity, which not only made it difficult for them to access relief packages and Covid-19 vaccines, but is a major barrier for them in their everyday lives.

“They said the virus was the great equalizer but in fact it – as well as the response to it – has greatly exacerbated existing inequalities. The systems that were already inaccessible became almost impossible to access for trans people,” one trans activist in the Philippines told Amnesty International.

The inability to produce an ID that reflected their gender expression also exposed transgender people to greater harassment, abuse and violence.

“Trans women were arrested for being out during the curfew. Most cisgender people just get fines but trans women are humiliated by the officers. There are even reports where trans women were asked to remove their wigs and/or clothes and provide their IDs. Law enforcement officers often go overboard with trans communities when they enforce these policies,” said a trans activist from the Philippines.

In addition to dealing with the Covid-19 crisis, trans people lived through what was termed their “deadliest year on record” with 375 trans and gender diverse people reported to have been killed globally between 1 October 2020 and 30 September 2021, including 44 people in Asia. Between 1 October 2021 and 30 September 2022, 327 deaths of trans and gender diverse people were recorded globally, with 40 in Asia. The actual figures for both years are likely to be much higher due to lack of adequate reporting at the national levels. This shocking violence is rooted in their longstanding marginalization, which is reflected in their lack of human rights.

“The culturally rich history of transgender and gender diverse people in many countries across the Asia Pacific, and indeed world over, has been overshadowed by structural discrimination, violence and stigma. Governments must not turn away from their suffering, but address the structural conditions and inequalities that shape trans people’s everyday lives, choices and opportunities, which, if left unchanged, will continue to make them particularly vulnerable to future crises,” Nadia Rahman said.

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Asia and the Pacific: “Pandemic or nor, we have the right to live”: The urgent need to address structural barriers undermining transgender people’s rights across Asia and the Pacific

November 14, 2022Index Number: ASA 01/6197/2022

The Covid-19 pandemic caused widespread, and often deeply damaging disruptions to the health, economic and social lives of millions of people across the world. But these impacts were not experienced equally. Transgender people – who were already subject to deep-rooted and persistent structural inequalities – found their pre-existing marginalisation exacerbated by the pandemic and related public health measures and suffered disproportionately. This report documents the experiences of transgender people in 15 countries in South, Southeast and East Asia, and the Pacific Islands during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Japan's failure to produce Covid-19 vaccine highlights 'research shortcomings'

NOVEMBER 13, 2022
By JULIAN RYALL

A medical worker fills a syringe with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech

Covid-19 vaccine at Tokyo Medical Center on Feb 17, 2021.

In the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, Japan's pharmaceutical companies boasted that they would quickly find solutions – including the development of vaccines – to deal with the global health crisis.

Nearly three years on, however, those lofty ambitions have largely fallen flat.

Instead, medical industry insiders say the country's laggard status in this respect has served to highlight how it has fallen behind other developed nations in medical advances as well as a host of other areas of scientific research.

Some have expressed concerns that the lack of a home-grown vaccine – and the inability of local researchers to act fast enough to react to new pathogens – could prove costly as new variants emerge.

On Wednesday (Nov 9), the government reported 87,410 infections, an increase of more than 6,000 cases from the previous day, as well as 97 deaths.

The panel of experts set up at the outset of the health crisis to advise the government reported on Wednesday that an eighth wave has begun, with weekly cases up 40 per cent.

The peak of the seventh wave topped 260,000 daily cases in August, and experts suggest that figure is likely to be eclipsed.

The Ministry of Health announced that it is close to being able to deliver a Moderna vaccine specifically designed to counteract the BA.5 Omicron variant, complementing a similar drug produced by Pfizer and being rolled out in Japan. In total, the ministry will be able to deliver an estimated 102 million doses targeting Omicron.

Critics point out, however, that Japan should have been able to keep its promise to be the first to develop a vaccine and that does not bode well for a nation that has one of the most rapidly ageing populations in the world and will increasingly need to develop cutting-edge medicines and treatments to keep up with demand.

"There are several reasons why Japan failed to produce a drug, but I think the most basic issue is funding," said Yoko Tsukamoto, a professor at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido.

"There is not enough financial support from the government for companies that are developing new medicines, and they cannot be expected to suddenly develop a drug when a crisis happens after being underfunded for years," she told This Week in Asia. "It doesn't work like that.

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