Zimbabwe
Kim Plumpton has been on a 3 week Church placement. She shares her impressions.
A short while after arriving at Harare (the capital), we scanned the supermarkets for groceries and no matter how many times you hear on the news about food shortages nothing prepares you for the rows and rows of empty shelves. For those able to bounce from one shop to the next the prospects are hopeful but for those further out in the rural areas the prospects are bleak. To hear that in countries like South Africa and Zambia, Zimbabwean products are in abundance strikes a note of irony that whilst its people are suffering it is more profitable to sell its products abroad than it is to feed its own people.
‘We’re all billionaires here’ one man laughs as he pulls out a bundle of cash from a plastic bag. A loaf of bread costs 6o billion and considering you are only able to withdraw from the bank 100 billion daily it takes little imagination to realise that they face a daily challenge. By the time I leave they were no longer billionaires but trillionaires. It is a surreal world in Zimbabwe, as you drive around you can see evidence of a once prosperous Zimbabwe. The electricity and water cuts seem to be getting worse and it was not unusual to be without electricity for the whole day.
The resilience of these people amazed and inspired me. The stories I heard from many were heartbreaking, still reeling from the intimidation and the suffering endured by some during the election campaigns. It is difficult to separate yourself from politics in a country where the church must somehow find a way to help repair the damage caused by the brutality which saw many having to leave their homes, others having to come to terms with their neighbours informing upon them (usually through fear), and others tending their physical wounds.
One man told me ‘I had to leave my home because the children I teach and my own neighbours turned against me’. It’s difficult to equate the people of Zimbabwe with the harsh face that some are confronted with because the people are a humble, friendly, hospitable nation who have somehow been drawn into this awful mess. Their disheartened faces amongst the turmoil grasps at the only thing that makes sense to them, a trust and a faith in God which sustains many and a belief that God is still working on their behalf.
However, it is often challenged when they are faced with death on a daily basis, when the hospital has no doctors and the medications needed for the simplest of illnesses are almost impossible to find. Faith and hope that things will be different soon, is what keeps them going.
Bangladesh
Each year, the weather becomes more unpredictable in Bangladesh. Many people in Bangladesh report that the seasons are changing. Where there used to be six there are now reportedly four and the timings of these are not as predictable as they were.
The weather is also seemingly showing ever more extremes. In the lean, dry or Monga season in the north-west of the country, food and work are scarce. Winters are becoming colder, it has been observed, with temperatures falling to only a few degrees above 0 degrees at night in some parts. CCDB is increasingly providing blankets to affected communities during the cold months.
To make matters worse, this year rice prices are rocketing which will create serious problems during the lean months. The current increase in rice prices is partly due to supply shortages following two disasters that hit the country during the growing seasons last year (severe floods in August and a supercyclone in November).
It is also a result of global price hikes in cereals such as rice due to rising production costs associated with oil price rises as well as many cereal producers switching to biofuels production in various parts of the globe.
CCDB has been responding to the emerging crisis by providing food relief to 4,100 families, targeting 809 severely malnourished children and providing extra work opportunities to over 3,000 people. They have been working with women's groups to raise awareness on nutrition so that children receive a more balanced diet which helps to stave off illness.
"After three months my child's health improved" says Balbuli Kalku a mother who attended the nutrition training, "He's smiling. His grip is strong. His appetite is good."
CCDB along with all of Christian Aid's partners are continuing to monitor the unfolding food crisis and will responded accordingly over the coming months.
Jamaica
Jamaica's poor have been abandoned by the government and left to the mercy of violent criminal gangs, Amnesty International says in a new report. The human rights group said inner-city Jamaicans were being "held hostage" in the battle between gangs and the state.
It said Jamaican authorities had stigmatised and "wilfully neglected" inner-city communities. Jamaica has one of the region's highest murder rates, with 1,500 homicides in 2007 and 272 police killings. Often entire populations are shut down by barricades and unable to leave their homes after 5pm. Children don't go out to school and adults don't go to work because transport is suspended."
The human rights group urged Jamaican authorities to address the underlying causes of what it said was a "human rights crisis". It said the government should act to reduce murder rates, introduce human-rights based policing and reform the judicial system. A total of 300 people have been killed on the island since the beginning of the year.
ACTION
50 Global Days of Action Against Poverty and Inequality
Campaigners in more than 100 countries are preparing for a 50 day long mobilisation against poverty from 1 September to 20 October 2008 organised by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP). The period covers key international events including:
• The High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Accra (2-4 September)
• The Millennium Development Goals event in New York (25 September)
• World Day for Decent Work (7 October)
• Annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF (11-13 October)
• Global Debt Week (12-19 October)
• World Food Day (16 October)
• Stand Up and Take Action Against Poverty and Inequality (17-19 October)
Stand Up and Take Action is an opportunity for all to take part in a world record attempt for the most people 'Standing Up and Taking Action Against Poverty' at once. Political action such as lobbying politicians or holding public meetings will be key to this. If you are thinking of holding an event during the 50 Global Days of Action, or as part of Stand Up and Take Action, please let us know. There is also a toolkit available including questions and answers, a model opinion piece, media guide and ideas for Stand Up and Take Action. To receive this please email lmeadcforl@gmail.com
Trade Justice Update
No deal is better than a bad deal at the WTO.
Trade talks at the WTO have collapsed. Although this was labelled the 'development' round, the Trade Justice Movement reports that the USA and the EU consistently pushed their own interests above those of developing countries.
Central to the collapse was the failure or rich countries to allow developing countries to impose or raise tariffs to protect their poor and vulnerable farmers from surges of agricultural imports.
Aid and debt update: G8 disappointment
Campaigners from around the world expressed anger earlier this month when G8 leaders in Japan failed to face up to their role in creating climate change and the food crisis and failed to find meaningful solutions. People worldwide signed petitions calling on G8 leaders to take action to resolve the food crisis, address climate change, provide more and better aid and drop illegitimate debt.
Instead, the G8 endorsed the World Bank's 'Climate Investment Funds' which rely heavily on new lending, and a fund of $1.2 billion to fight the food crisis consisting of $1 billion of new loans. Debt campaigners say this is partially solving one crisis, only to create another.
Causes of the food crisis including trade injustice, food price speculation and bio-fuel production remained unaddressed. The G8 pledged to cut carbon dioxide emissions by half by 2050 - however there is no agreed baseline year, no agreement on when emissions will peak and begin to decline and no mid-term target on emissions reductions.
posted by: Anonymous
Date: 06-08-2008