Alternatives International

Keeping Hope Afloat: Freedom Flotilla II

Melissa Wils-Owens — 2011-07-01T16:48:43Z

Last month, an international fleet of ships embarked for Gaza as the sequel to the 2010 Freedom Flotilla which triggered the relaxation of Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip. This territory is on the brink of being intentionally reduced to deprivation, starvation and rubble. Caught between Israel's efforts to protect itself, and Hamas' military resistance to Israel, civilians in Gaza are beset with a spectrum of unlawful restrictions on indispensable materials.

Hamas, a political party founded to liberate Palestine from Israeli occupation, won the Palestinian parliamentary elections in Gaza in January 2006. After Hamas refused to return a kidnapped Israeli soldier, Galid Shalit, Israel and Egypt instated an air, land and sea blockade of the Gaza Strip in hopes of exhausting Hamas' resources. The blockade prohibited Palestinian travel to and from Gaza, as well as the import of food, housing supplies, medical equipment, antibiotics, electronics, and even fishing rods. In an effort to weaken Hamas, Israel launched a three-week military campaign to level Gazan infrastructure, bombing factories, hospitals, schools, neighborhoods...and a few Hamas hubs. Thus, while the Israeli government is only in contention with Hamas, it has proven itself willing to deprive Palestinian civilians of medicine, food, and housing; of their basic livelihoods. Such “collective punishment” is illegal under international humanitarian law.

On May 31, 2010, a Gaza flotilla composed of six ships attempted to break through the blockade and supply Gaza with aid. As Israel should not have jurisdiction over Gaza's water, boat entry was selected as the most peaceful mode of entry. The fleet was seized and obstructed by Israeli naval forces, however the flotilla induced a slew of nations to demand that Israel and Egypt ease or lift the blockade. The next day Egypt partially opened the Rafah border crossing, and on June 17 Israel's Prime Minister announced that Israel's security cabinet agreed to relax the blockade and permit the flow of strictly civilian goods over the border. Still, the gamut of goods necessary to strengthen the economy in Gaza are beyond reach, and housing supplies remain limited due to Israel's fear that Hamas will sequester potential military supplies. With the echoes of progress reverberating throughout communities concerned for Gazan human rights, a second flotilla, Freedom Flotilla II, set sail last month.

Canada's boat, Tahrir, will join boats from Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Australia and the United States in hopes of providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, and provoking further pressure on Israel to lift the blockade completely. The group Canadian Boat to Gaza (CBG) is an initiative of Canadian civil society committed to direct peaceful action towards ending the imprisonment of 1.6 million Palestinians. Yet Canada remains a steadfast supporter of Israel. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada website advises against attempting to break the naval blockade and warns that Canadian consular officials will not provide consular aid to Canadians who participate in the flotilla. For Canadians, participation in the flotilla is as much a statement to the Harper administration as it is to the Israeli government; there is a disjunction in both nations between civilian needs and administrative priorities.

In a film shot by the CBG, Dr. Mona Al Farra explains that the flotilla will remind the whole world of the daily inhuman practices occurring in the Gaza Strip. Farra, a physician and human rights activist, expressed that ninety-five percent of citizens suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, phobias, and mental illnesses, which Gaza does not have the resources to remedy. Rather than destroy Israel, most Gazans want only to lead normal lives, go to school, maintain jobs, and build a home. While the humanitarian aid will be readily welcomed, Farra believes that the international solidarity symbolized by the flotilla will resonate profoundly throughout this tumultuous territory, reminding Gazans that they are not alone in their struggle for freedom.

Yours in Solidarity,

Melissa Wils-Owens

About the AIJ: The Alternatives International Journal (AIJ) is published by Alternatives, a member of the Alternatives International federation. The articles represent the opinions of the authors and not necessarily those of Alternatives International.

Editors-in-Chief: Melissa Wils-Owens, Isabelle Reford.
Editorial Board: Feroz Mehdi, Michael Ryan Wiseman, Darren Shore.
Associate Editors: Marion Bauer, Erin Hudson, Talia Joundi, Kartiga Thiyagarajah.

Feedback: The AIJ welcomes comments, questions, suggestions, and criticisms. Email aij@alterinter.org.

Contributing: The AIJ is a volunteer-based not-for-profit publication, which remains open to new contributors and participants. To submit an article or photos for publication, participate on the editorial team, or otherwise get involved, email aij@alterinter.org.

Alternatives International Project Briefing - July 2011

Isabelle Reford, Melissa Wils-Owens — 2011-07-01T16:36:00Z

Each of the nine member organizations of the Alternatives International federation is constantly at work on a variety of projects to improve social, economic and environmental justice in their respective countries and to create international solidarity. Every month, the AIJ publishes the Project Briefing which features a summary of an interesting project from each of the members. Read on to learn how Alternatives International is changing the world.

Alternatives Espaces Citoyens – Niamey, Niger

Radio Alternative FM (99.4 FM) is an outlet for independent information and discussion in French and local languages in Niger's two largest cities, Niamey and Zinder. A selection of broadcasts is also available online (http://www.alternativefm.org/#). The radio was created by Alternatives Espaces Citoyens in 2003. After surviving a brief period of censorship in 2005, Radio Alternative FM continues to broadcast on a daily basis. Environmental conservation, gender equality, human rights, youth culture, current events and democracy are the major themes that Alternatives FM develops. Most recently, in conjunction with Niger Women's Day in May, several on-air shows featured discussions on women's role in politics through both popular participation and direct involvement as parliamentarians. Today there are fourteen women in Nigerien parliament, a significant improvement since the first Niger Women's Day in 1991when women marched to protest their exclusion from the committee forming the country's new government. A recent law passed in Senegal which moves from a quota of women in politics to gender equality was also discussed as an option for Niger. Listen here...

Alternative Information Center - Jerusalem, Israel

On June 19, 2011 the Alternative Information Center (AIC) received a letter from a group of activists entitled “Ruh Jedidia,” or “A New Spirit for 2011.” The AIC published a video on their website which explains the context of the letter: the plight of Mizrahi Jews in Israel. Unable to go back to their home countries which are considered enemy nations by Israeli judgement, Mizrahis are also denied the education needed for upward social mobility. The letter expresses Mizrahi status in Israel as being an illusion of freedom because, unlike Palestinians in Israel, they are considered Israeli and hold Israeli citizenship. Ultimately, the signatories of the letter are calling out to Mizrahi peers in Israel and Northern Africa to take action towards improving the quality of life and access to education in the coming year. Read more...

Alternatives Asia – New Delhi, India

A number of members of Alternatives Asia are on the Board of Directors of Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi(BGVS), a non-profit organization that works to promote literacy in twenty-two of India's provinces. BGVS believes that reducing illiteracy in India is the starting point for social transformation. Its projects are in place to fill the existing demand for literacy and to increase this demand by reaching underprivileged children and adults throughout the country. As part of its campaign to promote literacy, BVGS held a national script writing workshop in August 2010. Twenty writers from across the country convened in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh for the eight day workshop, the focus of which was to create scripts for songs and theatrical plays centred on the Right to Education Act. The scripts were developed in both local and national languages. This creative approach to literacy is only one of the ways BGVS is educating the Indian people. Read more...

Forum des Alternatives Maroc – Rabat, Morocco

Through the e-joussour internet portal, Forum des Alternatives Maroc (FMAS) is developing a new project entitled “Medias Communautaires, pour une information citoyenne.” In May 2011, members of FMAS met to evaluate the wants and needs of various actors in civil society in terms of information and communication. The goal of the meeting was to propose reforms for the communications sector in order to uphold the freedom of speech. Ultimately, the group called for the implementation of a legislative framework that guarantees the existence of community media. By developing the field of community media, FMAS will contribute to the strengthening of the foundations of democracy and enlarge the spectrum of civil liberties, in particular freedom of expression in Morocco and in the region. The project is currently in its first stages and will be ongoing until late 2013. Read more...

Initiative pour un autre monde – Paris, France

On June 22 and 23, the Ministers of Agriculture of the G20 countries met for the first time in Paris to discuss the global agriculture market. The meeting's main focus was the volatility of food prices and supplies, an issue that has been at the forefront of debate in agricultural circles for the past few years. It has been brought to the attention of world leaders following widespread protest in 2008 against the average rise in food prices which further impoverished many of the world's poor, particularly in the global South. The Initiative pour un autre monde (IPAM) network gathered with its member organizations and other stakeholders in global agriculture (peasant farmers, consumers and citizens alike) in Paris' Jardin des Tuileries for a “festive, alternative and active picnic.” The goal was to speak up on behalf of those who were not represented by the G20 leaders at the June meeting. Activists consider the solutions agreed upon by the G20 countries to be insufficient in preventing future food crises, nor do they support subsistence farming practices, which are believed to be the only way to support the world's starving population. Read more...

Alternatives Montreal — Montreal, Canada

Since 1994, Alternatives Montreal has focused Canadian interest in social and political activism through an annual event called Alternatives' Days. Both an opportunity for Canadian camaraderie and strategy development, Alternatives' Days is a weekend of activities related to current social, economic, political and environmental concerns. Activists and artists from within and outside Quebec, as well as international partners, official guests and members of Alternatives come together to share analyses, reflections, music and good will. Activities include panel discussions with well-known public figures, a variety of practical workshops, cultural activities, kiosques for community organizations and local produce, evenings around the bonfire and open air activities for the whole family. This year's theme is Revolutions Facing Neo-liberalism, referring particularly to the Arab Spring. Alternatives' Days exposes concerns, entices discussion and illuminates the need for global solidarity, making it a pivotal occasion. It will be held from August 19-21 at Camp Papillon de St-Alphonse de Rodriguez in the Lanaudière region. Read more...

Teacher Creativity Center - Ramallah, Palestine

This June, The Palestinian Teacher Creativity Center conducted a training session for mothers in the Silwan region of Jerusalem. The objective of this eight day program was to educate and empower women by addressing common issues faced by educational systems in Silwan. Funded by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UNIFEM), the training dealt with educational student counseling, the presence of violence in schools, methods for educating children with learning difficulties, and a range of other issues directly pertinent to the women's families. The women in attendance hope redirect their knowledge of education towards improving the local school environment. This program was successful despite an area of Silwan's occupation by Israel, and the strict traditional roles that women hold in the community. Read more...

Associação Civil Alternativa Terrazul - Fortaleza, Brazil

As the UN Conference on Sustainable Development approaches, organizations worldwide have begun mobilizing activists, academics and researchers to place pressure on the countries attending the Earth Summit 2012. However, Associação Civil Alternativa Terrazul has also begun educating and prompting local youth to fight for social, economic and environmental justice. Youth have the gumption, wherewithal and creativity to provoke transformative change, as was seen at the 1992 UN Earth Summit where Severn Cullis-Suzuk spoke about the plagues of climate change. Cullis-Suzuk was 13-years-old. Her speech explained the grave health risks due to climate change and the plagues of environmental injustice on future generations. The astute environmental consciousness of her speech exemplifies the jolting impact youth can have on sustainability. Nearly half of the globe's population is under 25-years-old, and thus their mobilization in the next year is a critical step to launching new international policies towards climate justice. Read more...

Reproductive Rights Are Human Rights

Wendy Papakostandini — 2011-07-01T15:53:56Z

On the surface, reproductive rights do not seem particularly pressing. More often than not, they are swept under the rug, and rarely are they equated with human rights. I argue however that the death of an estimated “half a million women from preventable complications of pregnancy and childbearing is a significant human rights issue.”1 Reproductive rights have been proven to be critical to families and nations around the world. As such, it is in the best interest of all people, all governments, and all nations that these rights are enforced and adhered to.

In her 1995 speech to the U.N. World Conference in Beijing, the current Secretary of State of the United States, Hillary Clinton, spoke about strengthening families and societies around the world by empowering women “to take greater control over their own destinies,” and called on “all governments — here and around the world — [to] accept their responsibility to protect and promote internationally recognized human rights.” [1] When women are free to choose whether or not to have children, when to have children, and how many children to have, then societies and nations around the world will prosper. It is in the interest of all people and all nations that women around the world are given choices and access to resources concerning reproduction and family planning.

Sadly, women are often the ones denied the right to make these decisions. Reproductive decisions are commonly determined by husbands, families, communities, religions, customs, and governments, instead of the women directly implicated. To add to the problem, there are an estimated “200 million women around the world who would like to delay or end childbearing but have no access to modern contraception.” [2] UNFPA Executive Director, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, says that we must invest in “the resources to enable women and men to have the means to exercise their human right to determine the number and spacing of their children.” [3] By violating the reproductive rights of women, we are going against the human rights of women, children and men.

In short, reproductive rights are “essential to the enjoyment of other fundamental rights.” [4] As such, there must be a greater emphasis on having “sex education and reproductive health programmes” [5] for women and girls, in addition to making contraceptives more widely available. The choices concerning reproduction often concern a “woman's right to life and health,” which further affects families and nations by “compromis[ing] the rights of the rest of the family, as it may lead to families being impoverished, and siblings being obliged to assume household responsibilities and drop out of school.” [6] If a woman dies during pregnancy, often due to complications from her age, lack of proper food, medicine, or medical care, the newborn's health is at risk as well.

Hillary Clinton asserts that “it is a violation of human rights when women are denied the right to plan their own families.” Throughout history, people have attempted to shed more light on reproductive rights of women, and find ways to enforce them. The United Nations continually held conferences throughout the 1990s emphasizing reproductive rights as essential to development around the world. We then saw the same trend of advocating for reproductive rights exhibited on an international scale, from the Cairo Consensus of 1994 to the Beijing Conference of 1995, and later the World Summit of 2005. [7] Yet, here we are years later, discussing the same issues, fighting for the same rights, and in many nations around the world, in the same place we were hundreds of years ago. While societies have seen some progress in recent decades, there are still girls being forced into pregnancy shortly after they hit puberty. Others have no control over planning their families simply because of familial power dynamics, or because they do not have access to resources and contraceptives.

One cannot help but sympathize with the voiceless women at the mercy of disempowering traditions. These women often have no say in planning their family and frequently risk their lives to have children based on the requirements enforced by their customs, families, husbands or governments. When we eliminate this prejudice and discrimination, we see that we are all human beings united in our will to live freely and provide the best future we can for future generations. By giving every woman, especially those in the developing world, the right to choose - to chose whether or not she will bear children, when she will have children, and the number of children she is going to have, we will achieve those goals. More importantly, we will show the next generation that their ancestors did all they could to secure a better future for them, and did not surrender to discrimination, ignorance and injustice.

Photo: brains the head, teofilo (flickr)

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[3] 4

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[5] 6

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[7] 8

Gendercide in India: the patriarchy of birth

Nitasha Moothoo-Padayachie — 2011-07-01T15:16:21Z

Gendercide, as coined by Mary Ann Warren in her1985 book, is viewed as a product of poverty or ignorance. This article will help demonstrate that the issue of gendercide is not class or education specific. Whilst this discussion will be confined to the case of India, the war on baby girls is in fact a global phenomenon.

Sex selection is a taboo issue at the University of Illinois, Chicago. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine is no longer concerned that society will create an artificial gender imbalance, and has thus approved sperm separation as a method for gender balancing within a family. [1] Currently, no legislation exists which prevents American families from accessing technology that enables sex selection. The UK President's Council on Bioethics keeps a record of the ethical aspects of sex selection for non-medical purposes, but it has not yet issued an opinion. Early concerns are that gender balances will be altered and that human embryos will be wasted. Gendercide is actively being practiced in China, and with dire consequences. According to a study by China's Academy for Social Sciences, more than 24 million men will be unable to marry by the year 2020. [2] The study claims that this phenomenon is worse in rural areas where aging Chinese farmers are seeking boys to carry on the family legacy. This motivation to select male births relates back to the question of why this phenomenon is so rife, particularly in developing countries.

India's provisional 2011 census data released at the end of March painted a bleak picture of India's gender imbalance, with a national child sex ratio of just 914 females to 1,000 males - the lowest figure since independence in 1947. [3] The patriarchy of Indian society however, does not limit itself to the issue of labour. This attitude speaks to a much deeper matter of girls not being allowed to carry the family name. In addition, girls are not allowed to inherit any family assets or accumulated wealth. If a family does not have any sons, the wealth is automatically transferred to the husband of the first daughter, hence surrendering centuries of family gains to another family. Married women in India face huge pressure to produce male children, who are largely seen as breadwinners of the family. Meanwhile girls are often viewed as a financial burden as they require hefty dowries to be married off. [4]
Gendercide must be understood as a phenomenon that is not isolated to the poor or uneducated; it is female genocide across all castes and classes. The situation is particularly alarming among upper-caste Hindus in some of the urban areas of Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Particularly in parts of Punjab there are only 300 girls for every 1,000 boys according to Laura Turquet, ActionAid's women's rights policy official. ActionAid has collaborated with Canada's International Development Research Center (IDRC) to conduct research and has produced a report called "Disappearing Daughters". [5] 

The ActionAid report cites findings from locations spanning across five states in north and northwest India, revealing that the sex ratio of girls to boys has not only worsened, but is accelerating compared to the last national census in 2001. One of the reasons for this accelerated rate of female feticide is the abuse of ultrasound technology to determine the gender of the unborn. The purveyors of the ultrasound business in every city, town and village of India entice parents by telling them to "spend 500 rupees now and save 50,000 rupees later.” The cost of the ultrasound scan is Rs. 500 and the required dowry for marrying daughters off exceeds Rs. 50,000.00. [6] The issue of the dowry tends to be the biggest risk facing Indian families. Many girls have now begun working and saving for their own dowries in order for this ‘burden' to be shifted from their parents.

Overall, the increase in the abortion frequency for female fetuses in India is a matter of global importance. These abortions demonstrate that gender discrimination is starting at the fetal level. Therefore, there must be a radical change in the cultural practices of inheritance and marriage in order for girls to be placed on par with boys. If this matter is not addressed, India's boys will become bachelors faced with the same problems as those of the Chinese, as discussed earlier. In conclusion, these cultural practices and expectations should be addressed through radical legislation, policy, and education that will enable India to value a female child equally to a male child. Such recognition of the issue will thereby secure the future of India's population and the rights of women.

Photos: mckaysavage, Pratham Books (flickr)

1. http://www.livescience.com/6921-boy-girl-gender-baby-pick.html
2. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/01/201011283918850331.html
3. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110520/wl_sthasia_afp/indiapopulationgendersocietykashmir_20110520053624
4. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110520/wl_sthasia_afp/indiapopulationgendersocietykashmir_20110520053624
5. http://www.riazhaq.com/2009/07/female-genocide-unfolding-in-india.html
6. http://www.riazhaq.com/2009/07/female-genocide-unfolding-in-india.html

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Moroccan Monarchy in the Arab Spring

Anna Lekas Miller — 2011-07-01T14:57:53Z

Like many Arab revolutionaries before him, including Mohammad Bouazizi of Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, Oussama Khlefi is young, highly educated, and unable to find work. He has a dual degree in information technology and business management, credentials that could earn him a lavish salary if he lived in Europe or even the United States, but currently lives with his parents in Salé (a small town outside of Rabat, Morocco), while picking up odd jobs in a vain attempt to earn and save money.

This is what pushed him and many others into the streets on February 20.

Like the many other uprisings across the Arab World, Morocco's February 20th movement began as a response to the lethal combination of widespread government corruption and economic despair. Thousands of young people in Oussama's position—young and educated recent graduates—are quickly realizing that their university degrees are meaningless in a desolate and corrupt economy.

Most of the country's economic wealth is concentrated in the hands of King Mohammad VI and the royal family. Needless to say, it is hardly able to “trickle down,” and the few Moroccans who do have jobs making use of an advanced degree are most likely employed through a personal connection or blatant bribery. It is nearly impossible to enter the job market based on merit alone.

The bottom ninety-nine percent, those who are not connected to royalty or have extraneous money in their personal budget for bribes, remain chronically unemployed. They are like Oussama Khelfi: picking up odd jobs, living with their parents and unable to imagine a future of their own.

Idleness defines the Arab youth. Idleness becomes restlessness, restlessness becomes unrest and unrest becomes uprisings and possibilities for revolution.

Inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt and uprisings across the entire world, Morocco set a date—February 20th—and organized protests across all of Morocco's major cities. The demonstrations began with few basic demands, mostly revolving around limiting the executive powers of the king. Moroccans wanted a representative government that was elected, rather than selected, and for the king to be a ceremonial rather than politically authoritative figure. As the protests began to generate momentum, these demands expanded to include the complete dissolution of the current parliament and government, the release of all political prisoners, and long overdue judicial proceedings to investigate well known, but never addressed cases of human rights violations and corruption.

In the words of Oussama Khlefi, “we want to be citizens, not subjects.”

Morocco is technically a constitutional monarchy, but shares many of the same characteristics of the sultanistic dictatorships of Tunisia and Egypt. Though power is allegedly balanced between King Mohammad VI and parliament, in practice it is highly concentrated in the hands of the king. He controls all legislative, judicial and religious decisions and hoards the lion's share of the economy as the rest of the country falls into economic disrepair. The King has promised constitutional reforms and referendums a number of times, but previous empty promises make it difficult to believe that his proposed concessions of power will be fulfilled or generate changes in any meaningful way.

Despite the illusion of stability and a balance of powers, King Mohammad VI's twelve year “ceremonial” rule has produced the same toxic effects as Ben Ali and Mubaraks' kleptocratic dictatorships. Moroccans face the same soaring rates of unemployment, illiteracy and rural and urban poverty. Education and healthcare, though on paper free and accessible to all, often require similar personal connections and bribes as employment. Decades of these inescapable social hardships render descriptions like “pluralism” and “constitutional monarchy” meaningless.

Many Moroccans celebrated on Friday, June 17 when King Mohammad VI announced that he would reform his government to be elected, rather than royally selected and make the prime minister, rather than the king, the political authority of the government. They drove through the streets of Tangier, Fez, Rabat, and Casablanca honking horns, cheering and waving the Moroccan flag. Most international media seems to have latched onto the celebratory images as a victory of the Arab Spring, but is it?

On that Friday, King Mohammad VI announced a new constitution that “enshrines a citizenship-based monarchy.” The prime minister, rather than the king, will now be the “president of the government” and able to appoint officials and dissolve parliament. He will be democratically elected, rather than royally appointed, and preside over a parliament that oversees all legislative decisions. Still, the king will remain the ultimate religious authority, and be the ultimate power broker of military and security issues. There is no guarantee that corruption within the royal family will be examined or mitigated, making it quite possible that the economic conditions that pushed Moroccans to protest in the first place will remain stagnant.

Moroccans will be back in the streets.

Photo: Frankdouwes, Magharebia

Hope for an HIV/AIDS Vaccine

Jason Leung — 2011-07-01T14:22:19Z

Around the world, HIV/AIDS is a pandemic that is identified as having a devastating effect on all aspects of life, from entire populations to individuals. June 2011 marks the thirtieth anniversary of the first published cases of AIDS as well as recognizes the thirty million lives that have been lost in the span of that time. Since then, there have been countless efforts to develop cures and vaccines for the disease.

It is true that HIV/AIDS has had a tumultuous history of biomedical research in hopes of treatment and prevention. While the development of drugs which treat the pandemic, such as antiretroviral drugs, has been quite successful, vaccine development has been marred by shortfalls. Vaccine research has been largely characterized by hopeful vaccine candidates and their failed translation into drugs for human application. The promise of a successful HIV/AIDS vaccine is certainly nothing new.

However, in May, another glimmer of hope has emerged. Studies were published reporting that another breakthrough may have been discovered. A team of researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University conducted a ten-year study with macaque monkeys by giving a cytomegalovirus vaccine (CMV) to twenty-four test subjects for the simian immuno-deficiency virus (SIV), the primate viral agent that HIV evolved from. CMV is part of the herpesviridae family of viruses, the very same that causes the herpes simplex virus.

The optimism of the results of the CMV tests stems from some unprecedented outcomes. Upon exposure to SIV, thirteen of the monkeys had protection against the virus. Twelve of those monkeys were able to retain this immunity a year after the vaccine was administered. The vaccine was able to eliminate all traces of SIV from the monkeys. The Chief Operating Officer of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), David Cook, characterized the findings to yield “the most profound protection we've seen in an experimental vaccine.”

The drug differs from other vaccines based on the vector that the team employed, CMV, to stimulate an immuno-response. The lead researcher on the Oregon team, Dr. Louis Picker, attributes the success of the vaccine in the macaques to the nature of the vector: “it fools the body into thinking it's always under threat, and keeps the soldiers ready at the point where…the [SIV] virus comes into the body.” By cutting off the SIV's access to the host monkey's cell machinery to replicate through early recognition, the vaccine was able to eradicate the SIV before it progressed to disease.

The largest problem with this breakthrough: it is for a different virus. While HIV is a strain derived from SIV, the fact remains that their research targeted a dissimilar virus. Lawrence Corey, a medical virologist, recognizes that while the success is promising “there is little corollary between animal and human models for HIV; killing the virus in a laboratory or animal host does not guarantee success in humans.” Another large issue with tackling HIV is its ability to high mutability and its ability to evade a host's immuno-defense until it infects cells and replicates. In past vaccine attempts, the vector used in the vaccine was unable to account for this adaptability and evasiveness of the virus and therefore proved ineffective in fostering herd immunity among populations.

A great deal more laboratory work needs to be conducted by the team in order to research how to take what they have achieved in simians and adapt it to humans. It will be critical that this design of a HIV-CMV vaccine include intensive studies on numerous factors and variables, including the drug's effectiveness over time and in different contexts, the drug's safety with respect to the vector, its side effects, and interaction with other drugs and diseases. Despite this, a deeper understanding of the virus from further research and experimentation with CMV may ultimately serve as an important component to an actual vaccine.
The severity of the prevalence of AIDS renders any breakthrough in vaccine research a significant one, especially considering the vulnerability of African populations to the virus . The greatest concern about CMV as a vector is the troubling epidemiology among vulnerable populations, such as children, pregnant women, and immuno-compromised individuals. It is estimated by researchers that over ninety-eight percent of the population in Africa is infected by a dormant CMV virus. While this agent is endemic and can stay benign for many years (such as the related herpes virus), it has been known to be fatal to these vulnerable groups, especially the immuno-compromised, like HIV-infected patients. CMV has been known to be the root of immuno-surpression over the human life-course, andis additionally recognized as one of the biggest causes of birth defects in the developing world. If CMV is the vector that is used to deliver the vaccine, mutations or simply failures of the drug in these populations will not only negate drug action, but will also induce the pathogenesis of CMV. These issues are the challenges that researchers will have to overcome during the continuing research for an HIV vaccine.

While the recent reports of the effectiveness of CMV-based vaccine in preventing SIV are encouraging given the impressive medical outcomes through research, it is important to temper expectations and optimism in the face of this news. Countless reports and studies have been published in favor of a spectrum of vaccine candidates – yet none have emerged to be an appropriate antidote. Furthermore, adapting this CMV vaccine to HIV in humans will require another intensive research process. Given the complexity of the viral agent and the nature of the mechanism by which it causes disease in humans, this phase of drug development will not be short or simple. Will the studies done with CMV on macaques ultimately lead to a successful HIV vaccine or will it simply serve as a stepping stone for further research by broadening our understanding of HIV and its relatives? Only time will tell as the quest towards a cure marches on.

Photos: US Mission Geneva, SimplyAvoir (flickr)

The Brazilian Surge for Hydroelectricity at Belo Monte: A Beautiful Mountain of Trouble

Salma Moolji — 2011-07-01T14:01:15Z

Thirty years ago, a Brazilian indigenous group, the Kayapo, burst onto the world stage in full colour, with feather headdresses, painted faces, disked upper lips and the singer Sting by their side. They had come out of their jungle homeland to contest internationally and very publicly against the damming of the Xingu River.

At Belo Monte (or “Beautiful Mountain” in English), the then US$ 10.6 billion dam proposed by Altamira would inundate 7.6 million hectares of rainforest, submerging the lands of eleven different Brazilian indigenous groups, one of which was the Kayapo.

What was different about this indigenous group was their innovative approach to halting the immense project. The Kayapo, while living by traditional means and in isolated villages, were anything but unaware of their global context. The Kayapo realized the world saw indigenous people as having a connection to the land that was otherwise lost. They used this conception to promote their indigeneity and ownership of the land. Kent Redford later termed this phenomenon as one of the “ecologically noble savages.” It was for this reason that any public image of the Kayapo was in full ceremonial garb.

In fact, they knew exactly how the world saw them, and exactly how to play-up identity politics to their advantage. When Payakan and Kube-i, Kayapo chiefs, toured the West to lobby against the dam, they did everything to preserve this identity. They delivered symposia on the Native preservation of biodiversity and ecological knowledge of Amazonian flora and fauna, and partnered with the David Suzuki Foundation and the World Wildlife Fund.

They also employed the then novel idea of enlisting celebrities to champion the cause. The precursors to modern celebrity philanthropy can be traced back to Sting, posing for photos with Payakan and other Kayapo. At the time, celebrity presence was a groundbreaking strategy in gaining sympathy and attracting media.

It worked. Public outcry and immense protests forced the Brazilian government to back off the project. Through a combination of international attention, persistence and ferocity of the Kayapo themselves and cooperation with environmental groups, the Belo Monte dam was not built. That, however, was in the 1980s.

Now, Brazil's growing population and rapidly expanding economy are changing the stakes. The slew of celebrities and an incredible movement to the international recognition of indigenous peoples' rights and land claims can no longer stop the flood from coming. In January 2011, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) issued a permit that allowed the construction of the dam to begin. The now US$ 17 billion project was immediately overcome by protests and lawsuits, and was forced to halt in February. Olindo Menses, a judge, turned the decision over, and although the project was jostled back and forth in the legal system the ultimate decision was not in Kayapo favour.

If constructed, the Belo Monte dam would be the third largest in the world. While the dam could provide electricity to a projected twenty-three million people, it would flood out five hundred square kilometers and fifty thousand people. Further, the project is hugely inefficient, producing a mere ten percent of its maximum capacity during the dry season and otherwise guaranteeing only thirty-nine percent of its maximum capacity. In contrast, one hundred kilometers of the Volta Grande (or “Big Bend” in English) will be subject to permanent drought. The dam will affect fish stocks that local peoples rely on for subsistence. Greenpeace dumped three tones of manure outside the Brazilian Agency for Electrical Energy in Brazil to demonstrate the “Beautiful mountain of sh*t” that Belo Monte would become.

Locals protesting against the Belo Monte dam.

Old tactics have once again forged their way into this conflict. Filmmaker James Cameron put together an aptly titled film “Message from Pandora” in 2010 as an effort to support the indigenous peoples. Contempt for the project is once again surfacing from International environmental organizations such as Amazon Watch. Indigenous groups have mobilized and protested. Yet, the resurgence of efforts previously seen have fallen short of derailing Belo Monte.

Proponents of the Belo Monte dam say that the project has been researched, considered and reworked unlike any other preceding it. For the better part of thirty-five years, they have argued that 18,700 people will be employed. Additionally, countless citizens look to the 11,200 megawatt capacity of the dam with hopes for a better future. Norte Energia promises development for the indigenous peoples affected, and predicts that the energy produced would contribute to Brazil's urban development.

However, of those several thousand initial jobs only two thousand are permanent. The rest of the migrant workers will cut more forest to live, and deplete already low natural food supplies. The destruction of indigenous territory is prohibited by the Brazilian constitution. Many worry about the immense impact the dam will have on the Amazon jungle, its rivers and the living beings that depend on them. In a country where eighty percent of total energy comes from hydroelectricity, a great game of balancing developments must now be played.

Photo: International Rivers (flickr)

Decentralizing the Effects of the Earthquake in Japan

Kevin Kaczmara — 2011-06-30T14:28:28Z

While natural disasters are intrinsically unavoidable, the aftermath of such catastrophes is, to an extent, predetermined by a country's stage of development. As far as the unofficial hierarchy goes, the more developed the nation, the better prepared they seem to be when dealing with natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, or tsunamis. The recent earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan in the spring enable us to bring forth a superficial comparison between the aftermath of disaster in Japan versus that in Haiti. Do these case studies render true the notion that developed countries are better equipped to self-recuperate and absorb the consequences of a disaster?

In Japan, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit on March 11, 2011, causing the death of approximately 24,000 people. Haiti, which suffered an earthquake fourteen months earlier, saw the death of over 200,000 people from a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. To its partial defense, the epicenter of the Haitian earthquake was much closer to the densely populated capital of Port-au-Prince than the Japanese earthquake's epicenter several hundred kilometers north of Tokyo. It is generally accepted that the Haitian earthquake's exponentially greater human toll is attributable to the country's poor infrastructure with buildings constructed according to little or no oversight and regulations. Japanese infrastructure, on the other hand, is engineered to withstand significant shocks. Thus Tokyo, unlike Port-au-Prince, did not begin to resemble Sodom and Gomorrah after Japan experienced the recent earthquake. At the same time, the Japanese would be misled by simply viewing this evidence as confirmation that they are a superior world power always capable of being thrown out of a tree and landing on their feet, as certain elusive creatures are said to do.

Although certain natural occurrences are simply outside direct human control, a country's political strengths and weaknesses are clearly exposed in the aftermath of a disasters such as those that hit Haiti in 2010, and Japan four months ago. Interestingly however, not even in the latter case can we claim that the country was completely ‘disaster-proof', as variables which greatly determine the rate of recovery and rebuilding from a disaster are not independent of the political climate of the given country. The consequences of the Japanese earthquake, and the tsunami which soon followed, are a clear indication that Japan requires a significant decentralization of political and economic structures.

The natural disaster in Japan was compounded by the meltdown in the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Japan is located close to tectonic plates which renders the Fukushima reactor plant particularly vulnerable (due to its proximity to the water) when underwater fault lines create tsunamis such as those that hit Japan's coast after the earthquake. The meltdown in Fukushima has drawn increased attention and criticism to Japan's nuclear-power industry. Though opposition to Japanese nuclear-power is not a recent phenomenon, there has been insufficient policy debate on the subject due to the political stalemate in Japan. One-party rule dominated the political scene for fifty-five years prior to the election of Naoto Kan in 2010. The government's idleness in bringing the question of nuclear-power regulation to the forefront (or even background) of debate had afforded the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the owner of the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, the ability to evolve into a monopolistic power. As TEPCO illustrates, whenever a market lacks sufficient competition, the regulatory framework tends to deteriorate, permitting the desires of the regulators and the economic profiteers to intimately coincide with one another. This process in turn allows large corporations such as TEPCO to increase political leverage vis-à-vis the government while circumventing certain safety regulations. Paradoxically, TEPCO itself was nominated as chief of the crisis committee following the nuclear meltdown.

Given the complexity surrounding nuclear energy, a debate addressing both the trade-offs and implications of nuclear power must be held. For instance, to lessen Japan's dependence on nuclear energy means increasing dependence on more environmentally degrading sources of energy, such as natural gas and coal. But in the context of the Japanese economy, the third-largest in the world, one must remember that one shoe does not necessarily fit all. In the Hokkaido region in the north of Japan, energy needs are different than those of the more densely populated Kanto region that is home to Tokyo's 35 million inhabitants. With such a wide spectrum of regional conditions, Japan may, and should, diversify its energy needs to reflect local demand. Though the economic output of each of Japan's regions should, in theory, enable a degree of self-sufficiency and increase the ability to make regional demands known, the centralization of Japanese politics, resulting from either an inability or unwillingness to erase the footprint of one-party rule, continues to deprive these regions of economic decision-making autonomy.

The ineffectiveness of Japan's centralized system of governance is reflected in disaster relief efforts; municipalities throughout the country complained of Naoto Kan's attempts to direct aid efforts several hundred kilometers away from areas of need, whilst not even having the decency to make the trip to these regions himself. As one could imagine, this had the effect of showcasing the Japanese government's inadequate knowledge of specific regional needs. Under such conditions, stories of Japanese communities and local leaders using the meager allotted budgets to finance creative rebuilding efforts must be considered all the more remarkable. Unfortunately, necessary finances are still largely concentrated in the hands of the centralized Japanese government. Whatever aid is delivered to communities such as Minamisoma—a community located close to the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and severely affected by the disaster—does not involve consultation with locals on its management.

From this, we may draw an interesting parallel between the aid provision following Japan's earthquake, and that in Haiti. In the latter case, the aid comes from northern NGOs in the billions ($10.2 billion was promised) with the underlying hope of fixing Haiti, yet the direction of the rebuilding process is spearheaded largely by outside (albeit ‘sexy' personalities) such as Bill Clinton, in collaboration with international NGOs. Such outside instruction, while potentially helpful, will inevitably become dangerous once it transgresses into the realm of outside leadership. Similar to Japan, this “we know what you need better than you do” type of thinking can, at the very least, rebuild communities, but it cannot launch sustainable economic initiatives capable of withstanding future disasters. Should not those who inevitably suffer the consequences have a say in regard to the steps taken to prevent future disasters?

Of course, not all the Japanese are unaware of the possible benefits of economic decentralization. Take Nissan, a Japanese automaker, as a clear example. Nissan's strategy embodies the advantages of a decentralized model which could be applied to Japan's energy sector. Despite the destruction of the Nissan factory in Iwaki, the automaker plans to resume full production by the early autumn 2011. While car rivals such as Toyota continue to struggle with a lack of certain car parts, Nissan avoided this pitfall by adopting both the vertical and horizontal integration of production. Under this decentralized scheme of capital accumulation, Nissan ensured a back-up plan for situations such as March's disaster, when a Nissan plant that produces an essential car component is destroyed. Nissan is not dependent on one plant to produce all of its car parts. The company's partnerships with other automakers, notably the Nissan-Renault Alliance, enable access to auto parts beyond the sharing of technology and expertise. Following the earthquake, Nissan's local production was halted for a shorter period of time than its competitors whose supply chain is not decentralized, as missing parts were manufactured in partner factories abroad.

Nissan's ability to persevere through economic hardships is strikingly similar to the capabilities of the various Japanese regions. As evidenced by their creative, grassroots post-earthquake rebuilding efforts, these regions are certainly capable of assuming economic autonomy, but the central government, as evidenced by their recent actions, disagrees. Though the degrees of destruction may vary across a large spectrum, rebuilding after a natural disaster—whether in a so-called developed or developing country—can prove equally difficult and frustrating in the face of political obstacles that compromise a people's efforts towards repairing the damage wrought.

Cartoon: Adelle Archer

Photo: Kordian (Flickr)

Like Fish Out of Water: India's Landless Farmers

Geneviève Lavoie-Mathieu — 2011-06-30T14:18:56Z

The Kondh area of central-southwest Orissa and neighbouring states is one of the most abundant areas in high quality bauxite. This has fueled a new wave of mining and metal factory based industrialization. Throughout the region, land is taken away from farmers in order to build factories that process iron, chromite, manganese and bauxite. This represents a threat to the livelihood and cultural history of tribes and farmers who inhabit these lands.

Law and Land in India

According to Amnesty International, since India's independence, mineral production increased sixty-fold in the region from 2.8 million tonnes in 1947 to 178,6 million tonnes in 2007. This can be explained by a change in governmental policies. The Indian government, in the early 1990s, promoted gradual reforms aimed at liberalizing the market. The New Mineral Policy of 1993 was adopted to promote the involvement of private and foreign investors and companies in the mining sector. This new policy included the injection of funds, technology and managerial expertise into the sector. Consequently, mining companies were not only attracted by cheap labour but also by large government induced subsidies on the labour, transport, water and electricity that is present in India.

Along with these subsidies and neo-liberal policies, land acquisition was made easier through the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 when India was still under British rule. This law currently enables the government to acquire private land for ''public purpose, ''however the government's use of the land is often opportunistic rather than public-serving. Under this legislation, the government has been distributing land to companies wanting to build dams, coal mines, power plants, iron mines, highways, urban developments and ports, all in an effort to develop, and therefore reduce poverty—or so they say.

A coal mine lake in India

As a result of years of World Bank policies, which included Structural Adjustment programmes to reverse land reforms, land literally became 'commodified.' Today in India, minerals are considered national resources and subsoil rights over land belong to the state, not to individual owners. Multinational companies can sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and receive a huge piece of land for money. These MOUs encourage the state's neglect of civilian rights. For instance, indigenous communities have been displaced from their land in order to enable the appropriation of land by corporations to access natural resources. In a country where about sixty-five percent of the population relies on farming, such allocation of land has sparked major controversy.

'Cultural Genocide'

The armed state police is also in charge of enforcing orders of eviction, due to the dissent that this process of forced land acquisition has provoked from the farmers. The majority of the cultivators are opposed to the project and they are supported by human rights and environmental activists. Yet in favour of these mining projects is the middle class, of whom the vast majority supports 'development' in the same way the government, and bureaucrats do: solely as far as government institutions benefit from it. They would like to see, and think that this could bring, modernity and prosperity to Orissa. To the majority of the Indian population, the land represents their socio-economic status as well as health, security, livelihood, cultural, political and religious values. Taking the land away from them would thus represent a flagrant violation of their basic rights to water, food, health, and work; rights legally granted to the Indian indigenous population. Such protection has been instated to preserve indigenous culture and identity. Ultimately, eviction of these peoples could literally be defined as ‘cultural genocide'.

Despite exorbitant projects in mining development, the region of Orissa itself remains one of the poorest. Corporations justify their presence by claiming that large sums of money are being poured into Corporate Social Responsibility schemes, which allows companies to claim they are acting in a "sustainable manner." But the reality is rather grim. Cases of pollution- and skin-related diseases remain rampant; however, citizens are rarely compensated for accidents or land lost. Furthermore, economic, developmental and infrastructural projects that have been approved for implementation rarely see execution.

The negative impacts of mining are economic and socio-cultural in nature, relating to health and the environment. The most common effects are land degradation, large scale denudation of forest cover, depletion of biodiversity, key water source disruption, in addition to air, water and soil pollution.
In the Jagatsinghpur district in Orissa, more than two thousand families are under the threat of eviction by state authorities. After South Korean steel company, POSCO, proposed to build a US$12 billion steel plant in the area, over two hundred families were expelled from their property and their crops and cultivation sheds were destroyed. However farmers have not remained silent. Demonstrations and protests have been organized to demand an end to further evictions, and there is hope.

The case of the Dongria Kondh, an indigenous people living in Orissa's Niyamgiri Hills constitutes a "landmark victory for indigenous rights." According to Amnesty International, they had been displaced from their home land due to the establishment of a combined bauxite mining and alumina refinery project. With the project almost completed, it left a distressing impact, primarily environmental devastation. More than seventy-five percent of the Niyamgiri mountain is covered by thick forests, home to more than three hundred species of plants and trees, including fifty kinds of medicinal plants. According to a report published by Amnesty International, poor waste management put the health of five thousand people at risk. Inhabitants of the area suffered from side effects of air and water pollution, including skin diseases caused by caustic waters.

This refinery project sparked protests due to the lack of transparency of the government, and the lack of consultation with the local communities. After six years of struggles to keep their land and maintain their way of life, the activism of the Dongria Kondh has yielded results. The refinery project was finally rejected by the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests in August of 2010, after it was revealed that it had already extensively violated forest and environmental laws. The next step forward is to avoid such environmentally detrimental and socially unacceptable projects well before the damage is done.

Amnesty International is calling on government authorities to "establish a clear and transparent process that seeks the free, prior and informed consent of any Indigenous communities who may be affected by such projects, and respect their decision, in accordance with national and international law." The violation of their basic rights is a truth that must be exposed.

Photos: Nitin Kirloskar (Flickr), Goran Ratkovic (Flickr)

A Lesson to Be Learned from India's Failing Microfinance

Liza Ponomarenko — 2011-06-30T14:09:58Z

Microcredit, microfinance, and microlending are synonymously used to describe the trend policy makers attribute to significant reductions in poverty. Essentially, microfinance programs use innovative and often contractual techniques to provide loans to people who would otherwise not qualify for typical loans from banks. The concept was introduced by Dr. Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh. He noticed that rural women needed some type of capital to launch their businesses; however, the only way to obtain such capital was through lenders who charged impossibly high interest rates. Consequently, most of the women were trapped in debt, unable to ever pay back their original lender. Dr. Yunus founded the non-profit Grameen Bank in 1976 and both eventually won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for their work as the pioneers of microfinance.

The original focus of the Grameen Bank was on rural people with no credit history and no collateral. However, the bank soon expanded and an industry started to grow around the idea of microfinance. Today, microfinance is accessible to anyone from rural Bangladeshi farmers to inner-city kids from New York. In the industry, loans are usually given to women. At Grameen, for example, ninety-seven percent of the clientele are women. This trend is based on numerous studies that show that women are more likely to spend money on improving the welfare of their children and investing in the future of their families than are men.

Typically, microfinanciers use techniques such as group lending or offering education, training, health care and other social services to offset the lack of collateral that usually prevents borrowers from access to regular bank loans. Grameen Bank's main focus is to improve standards of living and raise people above subsistence levels of existence permanently. In other words, its objective is not profiteering. Other non-profit organizations with similar vested interests are Opportunity International, Finca International, Accion International, and Oikocredit.

A client of SKS Microfinance, India

Microfinance was wildly successful in Bangladesh, which gave the illusion of a win-win situation that yielded both profits for Grameen Bank and huge improvements in development for Bangladesh. This is a tainted view since Grameen's goal was development and any profits were an added bonus. Private organizations were misled to believe they too could first and foremost profit from this type of venture while developing the country in the process. This approach which has shown little success—for instance the current collapse of several microfinance institutions in India—is a warning to the wise against mismanaged microlending.

In many ways, the microcredit crisis in India resembles the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis in the United States and may affect global markets significantly. India's microcredit industry has grown irresponsibly fast, mainly due to the pursuit of profit, which is often unregulated by the government. Until November 2010, India had the fastest microloan growth in the world. Between 2003 and 2009, the number of microloans shot from 1 million to 26.7 million. Unlike Bangladesh, most of the microlending was done by private investor-owned companies. Venture capitalists, like Vikram Akula and Vinod Khosla, have led the way in India, making tens of millions from microlending with negligible effects on the country's development. Many entrepreneurs followed their example since entry into the microcredit industry was easier once a base of consumers had been established. As a result, some villages have up to ten microcreditors offering loans.

These new profit-hungry creditors often bypass the practices of group lending and the provision of social services that in the past ensured both the repayment of loans and the success of the program. Without collateral, borrowers took out new loans to pay off the interest on the older ones. The subprime debacle in the states functioned in a similar way. Large private banks lent clients grossly overestimated mortgages that they could never pay back. The banks did so without checking their credit history or ensuring they would not easily default. Poorly-made investments became bundled up in global finance, as is the nature of the Twenty-First Century. That particular bubble burst when borrowers could not pay back their loans. Not all impoverished people are equipped to take out microloans and even those that are equipped need assistance and a development plan to help them succeed.

In India, it has been reported that loan officers severely harass borrowers. Suicide has increased due to inability to repay loans. Regardless, the Andhra Pradesh government's response to the crisis is not proactive. The government passed a law on October 14, 2010 that froze much of the microcredit across the county, similar to banning mortgages after a mortgage crisis. The ordinance is bankrupting private lenders and hurting all of the functioning microfinance programs. The objective of legislation should be to reform microfinance rather than kill it. It is unclear whether the government's new law will help or hurt the poor. However, its extremity indicates that some other measure would have likely mediated the crisis in a better way.

Meanwhile, global commercial banks such as Citigroup Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG are establishing microfinance funds. The Indian case reminds us that private microlending must be well managed. If unregulated, private firms will grow globally and surely lead to a much greater crisis than the 2008 subprime mortgage debacle.

Photos: Kalyan Neelamraju (Flickr), World Economic Forum (Flickr)