"We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road - the one "less traveled by" - offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of our earth.
The choice, after all, is ours to make."
- By Rachel Carson, Silent Spring (1962)
Showing posts with label Human Security. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Human Security. Show all posts
Apr 22, 2009
Words for the Earth Day
May 18, 2008
China as a Model for Authoritative Government
This is always an argument against the rise of China (i.e. seeing China as a threat) - if China really becomes a superpower, China would become a role model for dictators and authoritative governments, such as Burma, Africa, Dubai, Pakistan, Sudan. And arguably, it is not good for world peace.
This argument has surely been weaken by the prompt response of the Chinese leaders towards the 512 Sichuan Earthquake. China's Premier Wen Jiabao arrived Sichuan to supervise relief work within a few hours. The Chinese Government has released the latest development of the relief work from time to time. Media is allowed to follow the army in its relief work. Foreign aid is widely welcome and accepted by the Government. Foreign relief teams (even from Japan and Taiwan) are allowed to enter China to join the relief work eventually. All these have shown that a people-based/ people-oriented approach towards this natural disaster.
Of course, I am not saying the Chinese Government is without problems. The hugh casualties are partly due to the low quality of the construction of buildings. The slow progress of rescue work is partly due to lack of advance technology. The lack of warnings beforehand is partly due to inadequate research and development. I am sure some government officials should be hold accountable.
Nevertheless, the prompt response of the Chinese government and the subsequent relief work illustrate that an authoritative government can also care about the lives of its people. As I have mentioned before, whether a government is "good" or not, it does not solely depend on the political system itself. If one compares between Bush's response towards the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Wen's response towards the Sichuan Earthquake, one could realise that a democratically elected President does not appear to be that "good" at all.
This article is not a critic towards the value of democracy, so I shall say no more. However, I hope that, if the Chinese Government shall be a role model for authoritative governments, the Burma Government could really learn from the approach of the Chinese Government towards its people's lives. I am "glad" to hear that the Burma aid situation is improving currently, but I hope more can be done. (Please click here for a comparison between China's and Burma's approach towards disasters)
While we are donating money and praying for people in Sichuan, let's not forget those in Burma who are still suffering!
This argument has surely been weaken by the prompt response of the Chinese leaders towards the 512 Sichuan Earthquake. China's Premier Wen Jiabao arrived Sichuan to supervise relief work within a few hours. The Chinese Government has released the latest development of the relief work from time to time. Media is allowed to follow the army in its relief work. Foreign aid is widely welcome and accepted by the Government. Foreign relief teams (even from Japan and Taiwan) are allowed to enter China to join the relief work eventually. All these have shown that a people-based/ people-oriented approach towards this natural disaster.
Of course, I am not saying the Chinese Government is without problems. The hugh casualties are partly due to the low quality of the construction of buildings. The slow progress of rescue work is partly due to lack of advance technology. The lack of warnings beforehand is partly due to inadequate research and development. I am sure some government officials should be hold accountable.
Nevertheless, the prompt response of the Chinese government and the subsequent relief work illustrate that an authoritative government can also care about the lives of its people. As I have mentioned before, whether a government is "good" or not, it does not solely depend on the political system itself. If one compares between Bush's response towards the Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Wen's response towards the Sichuan Earthquake, one could realise that a democratically elected President does not appear to be that "good" at all.
This article is not a critic towards the value of democracy, so I shall say no more. However, I hope that, if the Chinese Government shall be a role model for authoritative governments, the Burma Government could really learn from the approach of the Chinese Government towards its people's lives. I am "glad" to hear that the Burma aid situation is improving currently, but I hope more can be done. (Please click here for a comparison between China's and Burma's approach towards disasters)
While we are donating money and praying for people in Sichuan, let's not forget those in Burma who are still suffering!
Apr 29, 2008
Food Crisis Out of Control
Dear friends,
Rocketing prices threaten to starve millions and make us all less secure - sign the emergency petition for action to stop the world food crisis
Have you noticed food costing more when you shop? Here's why -- we're plunging headlong into a world food crisis. Rocketing prices are squeezing billions and triggering food riots from Bangladesh to South Africa. Aid agencies say 100 million more people are at risk of starvation right now[1]. In Sierra Leone alone the price of a bag of rice has doubled, becoming unaffordable for 90% of citizens[2]. Fears of inflation stalk the whole world, and the worst could be yet to come.
We need to act now -- before it's too late. As Ban Ki-Moon holds a high-level UN meeting on the crisis, we're launching an urgent campaign with African foreign minister and human rights campaigner Zainab Bangura. Click below to see Zainab's video message and add your name to the food crisis petition -- we need to raise 200,000 signatures by the end of this week to deliver a massive global outcry to leaders at the UN, G8 and EU:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/9.php
Rocketing prices threaten to starve millions and make us all less secure - sign the emergency petition for action to stop the world food crisis
Have you noticed food costing more when you shop? Here's why -- we're plunging headlong into a world food crisis. Rocketing prices are squeezing billions and triggering food riots from Bangladesh to South Africa. Aid agencies say 100 million more people are at risk of starvation right now[1]. In Sierra Leone alone the price of a bag of rice has doubled, becoming unaffordable for 90% of citizens[2]. Fears of inflation stalk the whole world, and the worst could be yet to come.
We need to act now -- before it's too late. As Ban Ki-Moon holds a high-level UN meeting on the crisis, we're launching an urgent campaign with African foreign minister and human rights campaigner Zainab Bangura. Click below to see Zainab's video message and add your name to the food crisis petition -- we need to raise 200,000 signatures by the end of this week to deliver a massive global outcry to leaders at the UN, G8 and EU:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/9.php
The prices of staple foods like wheat, corn and rice have almost doubled, and the crisis is slipping out of control -- so we're calling for immediate action on emergency food aid, speculation and biofuels policy, while asking forthcoming summits to tackle deeper problems of investment and trade.[3]
The global food crisis touches and connects us all, creating a tsunami of hunger for the poor and damaging economies and squeezing citizens in the rich world too. But solutions are on the horizon if leaders act fast [4] -- sign the petition at the link below now, then forward this email and ask friends and family to do the same:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/world_food_crisis/9.php
With hope,
Paul, Galit, Ricken, Graziela, Iain, Mark, Pascal and the whole Avaaz team
Sources:
1. BBC: "How to stop the global food crisis"
2. "The New Economics of Hunger", Washington Post, 27 April 2008
3. Zainab Bangura, Foreign Minister of Sierra Leone, video message to Avaaz members
4. Chinese news citing World Bank figures
5. Reuters: "Rising food prices to top UN agenda"
6. See BBC article above, and "Rising Food Prices" by Alex Evans (Chatham House report)
7. UN scientific report on fixing the world food system
8. The Guardian: "Credit crunch? The real crisis is global hunger", George Monbiot
----------
ABOUT AVAAZ
Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Paris, Washington DC, and Geneva.
Apr 28, 2008
Apr 12, 2008
No Grain, Big Pain
On 9 April 2008, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialized agency of the United Nations, has issued a press release to urge the international society to implement urgent measures to ensure that short-term adverse effects of higher food prices do not impact even more alarmingly on the very poor. It is also suggested the political unrest may be resulted in these countries.
An article in the TIME magazine with the title "No Grain, Big Pain" dated 10 April 2008 has discussed why there are rising food prices and why the poor in developing countries would be most affected by the rising food prices.
WHY RISING FOOD PRICE?
1. In an effort to contain spiraling domestic prices, major rice producers, including India and Vietnam, have sharply curbed exports — disrupting global supply chains, fueling more inflation, and prompting rice hoarding and panic-induced shortages.
2. Due to increasing rising prices in the global market, many food producers have chosen to export their food rather then to sell the food in domestic market which the price is generally lower since people in developing countries could not afford higher prices. This leads to a shortage of food supply with acceptable price in domestic market.
3. There is a short-term supply shock due to unusually cold weather and pest infestation in Vietnam, the world's second largest supplier of rice.
4. Rice production is not keeping pace with demand from surging Asian populations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that worldwide rice consumption increased 0.9% last year, to nearly 424 million metric tons. Production increased less than 0.7%.
WHY POOR FAMILY SUFFERS?
1. Most Asian families spend half of their weekly budget on food, more than double what Western household spend. Rising food prices have affected the budget of Asian families greatly.
2. In the Western market, you can always buy chicken if you cannot find pork. But rice has no good substitute in many Asian diets. In addition, rice has been important food for poor families in rural areas since people could feel full more easily after having rice compared to having other food.
3. The impact is particularly heavy in countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, which are dependent on imported rice to feed their large populations. In the Philippines, where some 68 million people live on less than $2 a day, the government recently urged restaurants to halve their portions of rice.
4. Inflation in the global market has made the African community suffers most. This is because Africa's rice depends on Asia's surpluses. Protectionism in Asia (i.e. major rice producers) would make more African living in hunger and poverty.
WHAT'S NEXT?
In this incident, both free trade and protectionism have worsen the problem. Free trade raised the price of food and people in developing countries could not afford the international price. On the other hand, protectionism in some countries has worsen the situation in countries which have no bargaining power at all, e.g. Africa. After reading the article, I ask myself a question, "so, what can be done?"
Apart from saying we should waste less food in our daily life, what's next?
An article in the TIME magazine with the title "No Grain, Big Pain" dated 10 April 2008 has discussed why there are rising food prices and why the poor in developing countries would be most affected by the rising food prices.
WHY RISING FOOD PRICE?
1. In an effort to contain spiraling domestic prices, major rice producers, including India and Vietnam, have sharply curbed exports — disrupting global supply chains, fueling more inflation, and prompting rice hoarding and panic-induced shortages.
2. Due to increasing rising prices in the global market, many food producers have chosen to export their food rather then to sell the food in domestic market which the price is generally lower since people in developing countries could not afford higher prices. This leads to a shortage of food supply with acceptable price in domestic market.
3. There is a short-term supply shock due to unusually cold weather and pest infestation in Vietnam, the world's second largest supplier of rice.
4. Rice production is not keeping pace with demand from surging Asian populations. The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that worldwide rice consumption increased 0.9% last year, to nearly 424 million metric tons. Production increased less than 0.7%.
WHY POOR FAMILY SUFFERS?
1. Most Asian families spend half of their weekly budget on food, more than double what Western household spend. Rising food prices have affected the budget of Asian families greatly.
2. In the Western market, you can always buy chicken if you cannot find pork. But rice has no good substitute in many Asian diets. In addition, rice has been important food for poor families in rural areas since people could feel full more easily after having rice compared to having other food.
3. The impact is particularly heavy in countries such as Bangladesh and the Philippines, which are dependent on imported rice to feed their large populations. In the Philippines, where some 68 million people live on less than $2 a day, the government recently urged restaurants to halve their portions of rice.
4. Inflation in the global market has made the African community suffers most. This is because Africa's rice depends on Asia's surpluses. Protectionism in Asia (i.e. major rice producers) would make more African living in hunger and poverty.
WHAT'S NEXT?
In this incident, both free trade and protectionism have worsen the problem. Free trade raised the price of food and people in developing countries could not afford the international price. On the other hand, protectionism in some countries has worsen the situation in countries which have no bargaining power at all, e.g. Africa. After reading the article, I ask myself a question, "so, what can be done?"
Apart from saying we should waste less food in our daily life, what's next?
Mar 30, 2008
What is Water Footprint?
You may be familiar with the idea of carbon footprint - the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity. How about water footprint? Now scientists have begun calculating a water footprint - the amount of water needed to produce goods or services.
The ever growing water footprint has raised concerns on the scarcity of water resources. Nearly half the people on Earth, about 2.5 billion, have no access to sanitation, many of them in urban slums. The world's cities are growing by 1 million people a week, and soon their aging water systems will not cope.
A report published this month by UNESCO-IHE, the Institute for Water Education in Delft, says it takes 70-400 times as much water to create energy from biofuels as it does from fossil fuels.It said the production of crude oil requires slightly more than one cubic meter of water for one unit of energy, compared with 61 cubic meters to grow biomass in Brazil -- mostly sugar used for ethanol -- for the same amount of energy. The water footprint of biomass grown in the Netherlands is 24 cubic meters, the report said.
According to a U.S. Environmental Agency, biofuel is considered by some as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy security by providing an alternative to fossil fuels. However, the report of UNESCO-IHE may suggest that this alternative may create problems on water security.
How could we link water security to global citizenship? All our acts in Hong Kong/ Cambodia/ every part in the world are affecting the environment. From a market perspective, the production of energy (i.e. supply of energy) is dependent on our demand on goods and services. If we consume less energy, less energy would be produced and thus less water would be used for producing biofuel.
From an environmental perspective, a decrease of consumption of water does not only improve water security, but also improves the problem of climate change. Oh, wait! Global warming has made the ice melting, so we would have more water then? Some regions are threatening by rising sea level! Yes, indeed, this statement is half right and half wrong. This is because, on the other hand, global warming has increased the temperature and inland regions would not be "benefited" from rising sea level. Instead, people there would be threatened by droughts and thus suffered from water scarcity.
We have briefly talked about human security in previuos entry. Water security is a major area which human security advocates concern on. So, what can we do? How about changing our consumption behaviour in order to decrease both carbon footprint and water footprint?
The ever growing water footprint has raised concerns on the scarcity of water resources. Nearly half the people on Earth, about 2.5 billion, have no access to sanitation, many of them in urban slums. The world's cities are growing by 1 million people a week, and soon their aging water systems will not cope.
A report published this month by UNESCO-IHE, the Institute for Water Education in Delft, says it takes 70-400 times as much water to create energy from biofuels as it does from fossil fuels.It said the production of crude oil requires slightly more than one cubic meter of water for one unit of energy, compared with 61 cubic meters to grow biomass in Brazil -- mostly sugar used for ethanol -- for the same amount of energy. The water footprint of biomass grown in the Netherlands is 24 cubic meters, the report said.
According to a U.S. Environmental Agency, biofuel is considered by some as a means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy security by providing an alternative to fossil fuels. However, the report of UNESCO-IHE may suggest that this alternative may create problems on water security.
How could we link water security to global citizenship? All our acts in Hong Kong/ Cambodia/ every part in the world are affecting the environment. From a market perspective, the production of energy (i.e. supply of energy) is dependent on our demand on goods and services. If we consume less energy, less energy would be produced and thus less water would be used for producing biofuel.
From an environmental perspective, a decrease of consumption of water does not only improve water security, but also improves the problem of climate change. Oh, wait! Global warming has made the ice melting, so we would have more water then? Some regions are threatening by rising sea level! Yes, indeed, this statement is half right and half wrong. This is because, on the other hand, global warming has increased the temperature and inland regions would not be "benefited" from rising sea level. Instead, people there would be threatened by droughts and thus suffered from water scarcity.
We have briefly talked about human security in previuos entry. Water security is a major area which human security advocates concern on. So, what can we do? How about changing our consumption behaviour in order to decrease both carbon footprint and water footprint?
Mar 29, 2008
People First - Human Security Approach
Why should we do volunteering in Cambodia? Why should we care about the lives of people there? Most of us are Chinese and shall we care the people in China first? Why should we care the people in other nations? Would other nations become a threat if they grow economically and politically stronger than our nation? Why Humanity in Focus' overseas projects adopt a bottom-up approach?
Human security can be part of the answer.
Human security refers to an emerging paradigm for understanding global vulnerabilities whose proponents challenge the traditional notion of national security by arguing that the proper referent for security should be the individual rather than the state. Human security holds that a people-centered view of security is necessary for national, regional and global stability.
This concept is first introduced by the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report 1994. In the report, it suggested that the scope of global security should be expanded to include threats in seven areas:
Human security can be part of the answer.
Human security refers to an emerging paradigm for understanding global vulnerabilities whose proponents challenge the traditional notion of national security by arguing that the proper referent for security should be the individual rather than the state. Human security holds that a people-centered view of security is necessary for national, regional and global stability.
This concept is first introduced by the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report 1994. In the report, it suggested that the scope of global security should be expanded to include threats in seven areas:
1. Economic security
2. Food security
3. Health security
4. Environmental security
5. Personal security
6. Community security
7. Political security
Human security is different from national security. National security stresses on the survival of nation-states, while human security stresses on the survival of individuals. It believes that it is the survival of individuals which affect the survival of nation-states. Therefore, given that these areas of security are highly interrelated, human security advocates focus on human development worldwide rather than political and economic power of nations.
Human security is somehow different from human rights. Generally, when we talk about human rights, we would usually think of one's freedom and basic rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion etc. On the other hand, human security concept does not only talk about this. It also talks about broader issues such as the sustainability of the environment and humanitarian aid.
Human security also emphasizes the empowerment of civil society. It believes that both top-down and bottom up approach shall be used to tackle human security problems. Therefore, it advocates the growth of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) since they are in the best position to evaluate what they need. HIF's partner, Village Focus International, has been using this approach as well. Volunteers of the Battambang Fellowship are assigned to stay in different villages for various months to establish relationship with villagers and then teach villagers how to write proposals to the government for development rather than write the proposals themselves.
The rationale of the global citizenship concept is indeed similar. It focuses on people-oriented goals and the potentials of each citizen in the world. Therefore, HIF puts forward the idea of young advocates - collective power of the youth could make a difference in the world. In addition, HIF also supports small scale overseas projects for the empowerment of villagers in Cambodia.
Human security is different from national security. National security stresses on the survival of nation-states, while human security stresses on the survival of individuals. It believes that it is the survival of individuals which affect the survival of nation-states. Therefore, given that these areas of security are highly interrelated, human security advocates focus on human development worldwide rather than political and economic power of nations.
Human security is somehow different from human rights. Generally, when we talk about human rights, we would usually think of one's freedom and basic rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion etc. On the other hand, human security concept does not only talk about this. It also talks about broader issues such as the sustainability of the environment and humanitarian aid.
Human security also emphasizes the empowerment of civil society. It believes that both top-down and bottom up approach shall be used to tackle human security problems. Therefore, it advocates the growth of local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) since they are in the best position to evaluate what they need. HIF's partner, Village Focus International, has been using this approach as well. Volunteers of the Battambang Fellowship are assigned to stay in different villages for various months to establish relationship with villagers and then teach villagers how to write proposals to the government for development rather than write the proposals themselves.
The rationale of the global citizenship concept is indeed similar. It focuses on people-oriented goals and the potentials of each citizen in the world. Therefore, HIF puts forward the idea of young advocates - collective power of the youth could make a difference in the world. In addition, HIF also supports small scale overseas projects for the empowerment of villagers in Cambodia.
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