Peter Maurer, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), warned that if the international community waits to take action until a famine is officially declared, “we know that it will already be too late. Tens of thousands of people will already have died by the time we declare a famine,” Maurer added, “The alarm bells are ringing loudly.” 

The number of people in dire need of emergency humanitarian assistance in Somalia has increased from 4.1 million at the beginning of 2022 to 7.1 million and is expected to continue to grow.

Francesco Rocca, president of the  International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), highlighted that 22 million people living in the Horn of Africa are already in the clutches of a growing food crisis. “The situation expected to deteriorate into 2023,” Rocca stressed, adding that what is being done was “minimal compared to the huge needs” of the region. Rocca said that “world leaders should listen to act immediately” in order not only to prevent a massive humanitarian crisis but also to establish “longterm solutions in the Horn of Africa.”

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said that in Somalia alone, more than $1 billion (€1 billion) is needed to prevent the worst from happening.

The Horn of Africa is currently witnessing its fifth consecutive failed rainy season. The war in Ukraine and its ensuing grain delivery shortages have further compounded the situation, as well as political upheaval across the region. More than 200,000 are at risk of dying — potentially by the end of the year. About half of the country’s population is likely to experience hunger and want in some shape during the same timescale unless aid is stepped up. The number of children facing the effects of severe acute malnutrition in Somalia meanwhile has increased to over half a million. 

James Elder, spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF, said that this level of child famine had not been seen in any country yet this century, with more than 700 children already having lost their lives this year due to malnutrition. “We’ve got more than half a million children facing preventable death. It’s a pending nightmare,” Elder stated, echoing Maurer’s sentiments who said that children potentially dying of hunger “is the result of systemic failure.”

Meanwhile, outbreaks of infectious diseases have also increased in Somalia, with around 8,400 suspected cases of cholera and nearly 13,000 suspected cases of measles.

Somalia’s population is for the most part pastoral and nomadic, making it difficult to deliver aid where it is needed most. 

Abubakar Dahir Osman, the UN’s permanent representative in Somalia, however, emphasized that humanitarian aid alone cannot provide a lasting solution to the famine in Somalia. He said that the relationship between humanitarian aid and development needed to be strengthened to find sustainable solutions for those who are suffering.

Somalia′s ′pending nightmare:′ Millions at risk of famine | Africa | DW | 14.09.2022

 Must the Show Go On?

When, finally, a monarch’s life is spent,

Then a precisely scripted spectacle

Is enacted, highly political,

It becomes a theatrical event.

Cue republicans who are expected

To heckle from the fringes, even though

There would be a very similar show

For a head of state who’d been elected.

The crown becoming dislodged by fate

Poses the point, what need for any head

Of state is there, either living or dead?

Indeed, why have a nation or a state?

 Only when capitalism’s interred

Can a leaderless future be inferred.

D. A.

Children make up about one-third of all refugees and migrants arriving in Europe. A significant percentage of these children fleeing conflicts and insecurities in the countries of South, Central and Western Asia, come through Balkans route, which is part of the Eastern Mediterranean route towards Western and Northern Europe.

 The countries on the Balkans route, including Greece, Bulgaria, and Croatia, which are members of the EU, are mainly seen as transit countries by refugees and migrants, as they try to continue their way towards the more developed countries of Western Europe.

An in-depth analysis by Save the Children reveals:

·Likely all children who migrate using the Balkans route to cross Europe are subjected to violence which threatens their physical or emotional survival

·According to children’s testimonies, police at the borders are the most common perpetrators, as well as smugglers they rely on to cross borders

·Children report smugglers sometimes kill or leave children and adults in conditions they would not be able to survive on their own, and the dead bodies then remain to be seen by other children travelling on the same route

·The deterrence and containment policies prioritised by the European Union and countries along the Balkans route are the cause of the violence

·Inadequate and often inhumane reception conditions in prison-like camps exacerbate the suffering of children, and the lack of adequate mental health support increases the risk of harm.

The report reveals a critical lack of protection for child migrants across Europe, with children reporting violence is now an integral and an almost inevitable part of their migration experience. About one in three of the children now believe that no one can help them on their journey, and some believe they are no longer able to help themselves.

The report reveals child migrants are at enormous risk of sexual violence, with boys travelling alone particularly vulnerable, and that children are being exploited at work during the journey and at their destination, including being recruited by smugglers for criminal and sex work. Almost two-thirds of children interviewed listed one or more incidents where they recognised or witnessed sexual abuse of a child.

 Those who were travelling unaccompanied, gave examples of self-harm, suicide attempts, and abuse of alcohol and other drugs as passive strategies for coping with stress and difficulty. Some children sought protection by becoming involved in criminal and sexual activities with smugglers and other adults.

Bogdan Krasic, Balkans Migration and Displacement Hub Programme Director, said:

“These findings are striking because they show the violence in these children’s lives is so present it has become normalized. Children are exposed to all types of violence, at all times – in their countries of origin, along the journey, in the countries of transit. A migration experience that includes multiple, prolonged exposure to violence may have incomprehensible harmful effects on the development of children.”

 Ylva Sperling, Save the Children Europe director, said:

“The lack of protection at European borders has terrible consequences for children. Europe’s overwhelming emphasis on deterring arrivals means children are subjected to shocking violence by police and border guards; violence which is carried out with impunity.

“Wherever we go, Someone does us Harm”: Violence against refugee and migrant children arriving in Europe through the Balkans – World | ReliefWeb

 According to a recent report by the International Labour Organization, 27.6 million people are engaged in forced labor worldwide; an increase of 2.7 million over the past five years.

Forced labor is when people are coerced to work through the use of violence or intimidation, or even to pay off a debt. It’s common in many sectors around the world, from manufacturing to mining.

If you buy products in the European Union, you might assume that those products are free from forced labor. But this assumption would be wrong.

That is supposed to change with a new EU policy proposal released today, intended to prohibit products made with forced labor from being bought or sold on the common EU market. After various versions of the proposal being leaked to the press, the European Commission has now released its take at attempting a ban on forced labor. Though the proposal was broadly welcomed by both labor rights organizations and businesses, critics point to deficiencies — which might cut into its effectiveness.

“There seems to have been a reluctance to be very ambitious with this proposal from the very beginning,” said Christopher Patz, a policy officer with the European Coalition for Corporate Justice in Brussels. With groups campaigning for more than a decade, “It’s a disgrace it’s taken so long.”

The proposed regulation would allow any actor to submit a complaint over suspected forced labor to the national authority responsible for policing imports in an EU country, which the authority would then investigate. That body would be able to stop the product from entering the EU or even destroy it. Covering all products, it would also include setting up a public database indicating the likelihood of whether forced labor is taking place in a particular region.

“For maybe the first time, forced labor is clearly illegal to use and put on the market,” said Muriel Treibich, a lobby and advocacy coordinator with Clean Clothes Campaign.

“The Commission proposes to exclude goods from the market only after the existence of forced labor in their supply chain has been established, not when it is suspected,” said Anna Cavazzini, the German member of European Parliament who negotiated for the Greens on the topic.

This is different to US legislation, where authorities may prohibit imports based on reasonable suspicion. The US framework also places the onus on companies to prove their products are free from forced labor. The EU proposal, in contrast, places the burden of proof on European authorities, which are under-resourced and would end up doing piecemeal enforcement, critics say.

“I would have indeed been happier to see the burden of proof with the company in question as it is easier for them to gather information inside their supply chain,” Cavazzini explained.

The EU proposal’s high standard of evidence “makes it a bar that’s very high to meet for civil society and for national enforcers,” said Ben Vanpeperstraete, a senior legal adviser at the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.  “It’s very unlikely that we’ll see much enforcement on this proposal.” 

Vanpeperstraete pointed out that companies have various means of handling potential cost increases; for example, by reducing their margins. With clothing, he said, wages make up about 1% of the retail price (marketing can comprise 50%). A company could shift resource allocation in production or raise prices. “A 1% price increase on a t-shirt — I don’t think that’s a bad idea.”

Patz pointed out, “If you can’t be sure your business model is not contributing to forced labor, then you shouldn’t be in business.” 

EU ban too feeble to fight forced labor, groups say | Europe | News and current affairs from around the continent | DW | 14.09.2022

 Oxfam India’s Discrimination Report 2022 blames “societal and employers’ prejudices” for women’s lower wages. Other marginalised communities also suffered discrimination in the job market, the report found. These included those at the bottom of the caste system, tribespeople and members of the Muslim community.

 Private equity refers to an opaque form of financing away from public markets in which funds and investors buy and restructure companies including startups, troubled businesses and real estate operations. Globally, private equity manages trillions of dollars for wealthy individuals and institutional investors such as mutual funds, endowments and pension funds. The industry has invested an estimated $1tn in the energy sector since 2010, and while there’s been growth in renewables, the lion’s share is still in oil, gas and coal.  Unlike banks and other publicly listed companies, private equity firms are exempt from most financial disclosure rules, making it extremely difficult to track their assets – or risks. This means ordinary workers like firefighters, nurses and teachers – whose pension funds are invested in private equity funds – have little way of knowing if their retirement nest egg is tied up in fossil fuels, which scientists warn must be phased out to limit the extent of global heating.

Private equity firms pumping billions of dollars into dirty energy projects are exposing investors, including pensioners, to unknown financial risks as the planet burns and governments face escalating pressure to act, new research finds. 

The first-of-its-kind climate risks scorecard ranks Carlyle, Warburg Pincus and KKR as the worst offenders among eight major private equity companies with significant fossil fuel portfolios. All three continue investing heavily in greenhouse-gas-emitting projects with no adequate plan on transitioning away from oil and gas, according to the analysis by two financial watchdog non-profits of publicly available information. The firms also have scant transparency on political and climate lobbying, the report finds. The eight firms on the scorecard manage a combined $3.6tn in assets including about $216bn in energy projects – an amount equivalent to the fossil fuel financing by the world’s five biggest banks last year.

More than three-quarters of Carlyle’s energy investments are in fossil fuels, and just over 60% of its 2022 first half profits came through its subsidiary NGP Energy Capital, which focuses almost exclusively on oil and gas projects.

KKR, one of the world’s wealthiest private equity firms, has said it will continue to invest in fossil fuel projects

Private equity still investing billions in dirty energy despite pledge to clean up | Private equity | The Guardian

 Crushed by soaring food and fuel prices, barely any electricity, and a currency that buys less each day, people in Lebanon now risk losing access to two more essentials – their mobile phones and the internet. When Lebanon’s 140 ambulance service line – which is run by the Lebanese Red Cross and responds to 560 emergencies a day – went down last week, the charity posted alternative numbers on Twitter and Facebook.

“The problem is that not a lot of people have access to internet, and therefore it means that they will never read the post,” Nabih Jabr, Under-Secretary General at the Lebanese Red Cross, explained.

Costly phone and internet services are not just hurting those who need to call an ambulance or suicide hotline. It is also making it impossible for many Lebanese to earn a living.

Telecoms minister Johnny Corm warned earlier this month that Ogero would stop providing services nationwide – leaving Lebanon with no phone or internet services – unless it received money from the government to import diesel. This would make it impossible for Lebanon’s almost 7 million people to communicate, costing jobs and possibly lives

As Lebanon’s bankrupt government struggles to run its power plants, homes often receive only an hour of electricity a day. Those who can afford it buy diesel to run their own generators. Since 2019, the Lebanese pound has lost more than 90% of its value, food prices have gone up more than 11-fold, and more than 80% of the population have fallen below the poverty line. Once among the best in the Middle East, Lebanon’s medical system is crumbling as hospitals and surgeries struggle to cope with departing staff on top of financial troubles and shortages.

Lebanon in crisis: Emergency numbers and suicide hotlines falter (trust.org)

A team at the University of Oxford reveals that transitioning to 100% clean energy within the next three decades could save not only lives and the planet but also $12 trillion. The study from the Oxford Martin Program on the Post-Carbon Transition, published in the journal Joule, comes as scientists continue to warn about the climate and health impacts of fossil fuels.

“There is a pervasive misconception that switching to clean, green energy will be painful, costly, and mean sacrifices for us all—but that’s just wrong,” Oxford professor and study co-author Doyne Farmer said in a statement. “Renewable costs have been trending down for decades.”

“They are already cheaper than fossil fuels in many situations, and our research shows that they will become cheaper than fossil fuels across almost all applications in the years to come. And if we accelerate the transition, they will become cheaper faster,” he explained.

The study’s lead author, Rupert Way, pointed out that “past models predicting high costs for transitioning to zero carbon energy have deterred companies from investing and made governments nervous about setting policies that will accelerate the green transition and cut reliance on fossil fuels.”

“But past models have overestimated key green technology costs again and again, leaving modelers to play catch-up as real-world costs plunged over the last decade,” he stressed.

As the researchers detailed in their paper: “We use an approach based on probabilistic cost forecasting methods that have been statistically validated by backtesting on more than 50 technologies. We generate probabilistic cost forecasts for solar energy, wind energy, batteries, and electrolyzers, conditional on deployment. We use these methods to estimate future energy system costs and explore how technology cost uncertainty propagates through to system costs in three different scenarios.”

The first scenario, which they call the “fast transition,” would feature an end to fossil fuels by 2050; this is the path that they estimate would save the world $12 trillion. The second scenario, or “slow transition,” would involve shifting to clean energy by around 2070. The third scenario is “no transition,” meaning the energy system would remain dominated by fossil fuels.

“Only a few years ago, net-zero by 2050 was believed to be so expensive that it was barely considered credible, yet now even the most pessimistic models concede that it’s entirely within reach,” noted Way. “Accelerating the transition to renewable energy is now the best bet not just for the planet, but for energy costs too.”

Farmer highlighted that currently, “the world is facing a simultaneous inflation crisis, national security crisis, and climate crisis, all caused by our dependence on high cost, insecure, polluting, fossil fuels with volatile prices.”

Rapid Green Energy Transition by 2050 Could Save the World at Least $12 Trillion (commondreams.org)

The USA poverty level has been often stated to be around 11 per cent of the population, but several independent and credible studies indicate much higher levels of economic distress. A study by the Urban Institute (UI) in 2018, before the pandemic struck, found that nearly 40 per cent of non-elderly adults and their families struggled to afford at least one basic need for health care, housing, utilities or food in 2017.

The 2018 study of UI was based on a well-being and basic needs survey of non-elderly adults in the age-group 18-64. While 40% struggled to access at least one basic need, within this group 60% struggled to meet two basic needs and 34% struggled to meet three needs.

As many as 23% said that they were food insecure in the last 12 months. 18% struggled to pay medical bills while almost the same number (17.8%) decided to go without some required medical treatment due to costs. Deprivation levels were found to be higher among younger adults, women, households with children, blacks and Hispanics. Those struggling to meet basic needs included several of those who were regarded not as poor but as middle-class.

This data is from a study of 18-64 age group. However, in 2020 it was reported that child poverty levels (under 18 age group) have been found to be 1.5 times higher than adult poverty levels.

The World Inequality Report 2022 tells us that the bottom 50% of the USA population has only 1.5% of its wealth and only 13% of its income. 

The World Inequality Report 2022 tells us that in the USA, the share of wealth held by the top 1% ( 35%) is 23 times higher than the share (1.5%) held by the bottom 50%. In 1968 the top 20 per cent of US households accounted for 43% of income but in 2018 they took away 52% of the income, more than the bottom 80% who got a share of only 48%.

According to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the USA has the highest inequality in G7 countries— the USA has Gini coefficient of 0. 434 while for the remaining six countries this ranges between 0.326(France) and 0.392(UK). 

According to an inclusive development index prepared by the World Economic Forum the USA appeared at number 23 in a total of 30 rich countries. According to Stanford University’s State of the Union—The Poverty and Inequality Report (2016) the USA is ranked at the bottom in an index of 10 rich countries. When this index was widened to include some of the less rich countries, the USA appeared at number 18 in a total of 21 countries.

 The Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston has prepared the Elderly Economic Security Standard Index which found that in 2016 a majority of seniors lacked the “financial resources required to meet basic needs.” Conditions in nursing homes have been often found to be precarious.

A Gallup poll in December 2019 found 25% of persons contacted saying that they or a member of their family had delayed treatment for an illness due to cost factors.

The number of homeless persons, estimated to be around 550,000 or so, is set to increase significantly. As the country emerged from the pandemic, in June 2021 nearly 2 million were found to be lagging behind mortgage payments and nearly 6 million were missing out in rent payments. A substantial number of these 8 million households face the threat of eviction, while the average number of cases of evictions filed in a year till 2018 was around 3.7 million. The landlords have legal counsel in over 90% of cases; the tenants rarely have such help. This amounts to about 10,000 eviction notices in a single day, a shocking figure surely, or 416 per hour, or 7 per minute.

The extent of denial of basic needs of people in a country so well-endowed for prosperity in various ways is inexcusable and one of its leading causes is excessive militarization .

The USA spends $800 billion a year on military expenses, out of the $2000 billion spent by the entire world. This excludes many expenses listed as civilian but having strong military implications and relationships. A huge and increasing share of discretionary federal spending is taken up by military expenses. According to the Cost of the War Project based in Brown University, $8000 billion were spent on the war on terror during 20 years 2001-21, resulting in direct loss of 900,000 human lives by bomb, bullet and fire.

Taken from here

Inequalities And Militarization In USA Have Led To Millions Being Deprived Of Basic Needs| Countercurrents

 Average pay including bonuses rose by 5.5% in the three months to July while regular pay (excluding bonuses) increased by 5.2%, up from 4.7% in June.

Workers continued to be hardest hit in the public sector, where regular pay grew by 2%, compared with 6% in the private sector. Annual inflation was 10.1% in July, the highest level in 40 years.

According to the Office for National Statistics, wages adjusted for inflation fell by 2.6% including bonuses and by 2.8% excluding bonuses.

Samuel Tombs, the chief UK economist at the consultancy Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the business surveys chimed with the official data to show that “labour demand is barely rising”. Tombs added that unemployment would rise as the economic situation worsened over the coming months and unemployment will rise to about 4% by the end of the year and 4.5% by mid-2023.

UK pay growth lags behind inflation as cost of living crisis bites | UK cost of living crisis | The Guardian