(Some
recent editorials I wrote for The Gulf Today- posted for my records)
Many Britons
feel the pinch
Affordability
is not an issue confined to the underdeveloped world alone. More and more Britons
are feeling the pinch.
For the
first time since 1982, thousands of workers in England’s state-run National
Health Service went on strike on Monday following the government’s rejection of
an across-the-board pay rise.
The
action is intended to put pressure on Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who
rejected the recommendations of an independent pay panel for a below-inflation,
one-per cent wage increase for all health service staff.
Hunt has
only agreed to implement the one-per cent rise for the four in 10 workers who
do not already receive an incremental salary increase linked to their
professional development.
They say
health is wealth, but many Britons find they do not have the wealth to fix
their health. A cursory glance at a household fridge would reveal the reality.
If there are fresh fruit and vegetables in the salad drawer, then congratulations
- you’re posh. Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found that
healthy food now costs three times as much as junk food.
Cooking
fresh meals was once a chore rich people delegated to servants, but it’s fast
becoming a leisure pastime which only the rich can afford to indulge in.
A
thousand calories’ worth of healthy foods such as tomatoes, broccoli and tuna
increased in price from an average of £5.65 to £7.49 between 2002 and 2012,
whereas unhealthy food with equivalent calories costs just £2.50.
The
situation is indeed serious and a recent study by the StepChange Debt Charity
should serve as a wake-up call for leaders to initiate corrective measures.
According to the study, nearly one in seven Britons lies awake in bed at night
worrying about money.
Those
whose sleep patterns are being disrupted are typically losing 11 nights’ worth
of sleep a year. Some 15% of more than 2,000 adults surveyed for StepChange
said that being plagued by late-night thoughts of their financial difficulties
is preventing them from sleeping properly. This equates to 7.4 million people
across the country.
Money
worries can have a serious impact on every aspect of a person’s life, from
mental health problems, to relationship difficulties and to being able to do a
good job at work. It is the duty of the government to see that a balance is
maintained and that major economic policies have a positive impact on all
sections of people.
A Nobel moment for
deprived
children
The
message from Oslo is both laudable and symbolic: Child slavery is a crime against humanity.
The conferring of the Nobel
Peace Prize for 2014 on Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzay, an Indian and a Pakistani, is a
vindication of the duo’s tireless struggle for education and against extremism.
As
nuclear powers India and Pakistan engage in heavy shelling across the border,
the peace prize for their national should be an eye-opener for both the countries
to shun the gun and embrace peace.
Seventeen-year-old
Malala Yousafzai is the youngest Nobel Laureate ever. She is also the third
Laureate born in Pakistan. Kailash Satyarthi, 60, is the eighth Laureate born
in India.
Showing
great personal courage, Kailash Satyarthi, maintaining Gandhi’s tradition, has
headed various forms of protests and demonstrations, all peaceful, focusing on
the grave exploitation of children for financial gain.
The
60-year-old founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan, or the Save the Childhood Movement,
which campaigns for child rights and an end to human trafficking.
Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman two years
ago for insisting that girls as well as boys have the right to an education.
Surviving several operations with the help of British medical care, she
continued both her activism and her studies.
Appropriately, Malala was at school in the central English
city of Birmingham when the Nobel
was announced and remained with her classmates at the Edgbaston High School for
girls.
The Nobel Committee regards it as an important point for a
Hindu and a Muslim, an Indian and a Pakistani, to join in a common struggle for
education and against extremism. It has been calculated that there are 168
million child labourers around the world today. In 2000 the figure was 78
million higher. The world has come closer to the goal of eliminating child
labour.
Satyarthi estimates that 60 million children in India, or 6
per cent of the population, are forced into work. This, he believes, has
nothing to do with parental poverty, illiteracy or ignorance.
The struggle against
suppression and for the rights of children and adolescents contributes to the
realisation of the “fraternity between nations” that Alfred Nobel mentions in
his will as one of the criteria for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Going by that norm, both Kailash and Malala are
personalities who very well deserve the award. Indeed, it is a
great moment for millions of children across the world who are deprived of
their childhood, health, education and fundamental right to freedom.
Refugee
children
deserve
basic rights
Available
figures present a grim scenario: In the Arab world, every single minute,
another child is forced to flee his or her country. In fact, every second
refugee in the Middle East is a child.
Based
on this background, the organising of the first regional conference dedicated
to the protection of refugee children and adolescents in Sharjah, inaugurated
on Wednesday by His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Supreme
Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, could not have come at a better time.
The United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees in partnership with The Big Heart at the invitation of Sheikha
Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of the Ruler of Sharjah and UNHCR Eminent
Advocate for Refugee Children, hosted the two-day conference, “Investing in the
Future: Protecting Refugee Children in the Middle East and North Africa,” in
recognition of the increasing number of refugee children in the region.
As indicated by Sheikh Sultan, the
primary focus of the conference is to protect and offer all kinds of support to
refugee children and women.
Children are often the most neglected
refugees. The United Nations has indicated five major issues of importance
concerning refugee children: Separation, exploitation and abuse, military
recruitment, education, and adolescent-specific concerns.
Separation of children from their
families is a common issue that has very serious negative consequences for the
children.
Experts on child protection have
stressed the need to revise the legal framework for refugee children to ensure
proper protection and fruitful funding as a significantly major part of the
world is suffering from refugee problems.
There is indeed a dire need for the
setting up an Arab strategy to protect refugee children and enhancing
efficiency of national organisations to deal with emergencies as suggested by
Dr Nabil Elaraby, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States.
Sheikha Jawaher Bint Sultan Al Qasimi
deserves praise for her commendable efforts through the Big Heart Campaign to
protect Syrian refugee children and youth, and the provision of healthcare,
basic relief materials, shelter and food.
Nothing can highlight the issue better
than Sheikh Sultan’s own words: “We have to find means to protect and empower
children and I believe that partnerships on a local and global scale can assist
in this issue. Refugee children must be provided with basic rights such as
food, shelter, and education and are facing serious challenges that can be
tackled through the cooperation of various countries to encourage initiatives
supporting refugees.”
Protect children
from violence
A
report released by the UN children’s agency, Unicef, makes grim reading: One
child dies every five minutes as a result of violence. No, not a majority, but
only a minority die in war zones.
Add
to this the shocking news that about 75 per cent of the estimated 345 violent
deaths that occur daily happen in countries at peace.
According
to Unicef, 6 out of 10 children globally are subjected to physical punishment.
Almost ¼ of 15 to 19 year old girls have been victims of physical violence. It
is said that 4 out of 5 children aged 2 to 14 are subjected to some kind of
violent discipline in their homes.
Millions
of children are vulnerable to physical, sexual and emotional abuse in their
homes, schools and communities.
Children who witness
domestic violence in the home often believe that they are to blame, live in a
constant state of fear and are 15 times more likely to be victims of child
abuse.
Depression is a common
problem for children who experience domestic violence. The child often feels
helpless and powerless. More girls internalise their emotions and show signs of
depression than boys. Boys act out with aggression and hostility.
One should not forget the
fact that witnessing violence in the home can give the child the idea that
nothing is safe in the world which adds to their feelings of low self-worth and
depression.
Susan
Bissell, global head of child protection for Unicef informed Thomson Reuters
Foundation, “We are uncovering the fact that children experience extreme violence
in everyday life, everywhere."
There
are ways to handle the problem. Education can help protect children in many
conflicts. It gives children a sense of normality, but also can protect them
from being recruited by armed groups.
Other ways suggested by
experts to help children who have witnessed domestic abuse include: Counseling
from professionals at school, providing a safe environment that does not
include violence in any form, finding ways to discipline that do not involve
hitting, yelling or any form of verbal abuse.
It is unfortunate that people
and leaders turn a blind eye to such a serious problem. It should be noted that
all children have the right to live free from violence, which harms their
physical and mental growth.
What one should also not
forget is that violence against children is entirely preventable. People need
to say it is just not acceptable and act accordingly.
Dengue: Small bite,
big challenge
With the
world attention focused on the Ebola outbreak in West Africa that has spread to
Spain and the United States, another deadly disease that is posing a greater
challenge and puts at risk 40 per cent of the world's population has been
largely ignored.
It is
true that more than 3,400 people have been killed by the outbreak in West
Africa, which has hit Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia hardest.
However,
a study published online in the American
Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene has highlighted that India alone has
nearly six million more dengue cases than the official annual tally and costs
the nation $1.11 billion, roughly the same India spends on its national space
programme.
What is
petrifying is that the American and Indian researchers have calculated that the
number of those suffering from the mosquito-borne disease is about 282 times
higher than officially reported.
According
to WHO, dengue is a mosquito-borne infection found in tropical and sub-tropical
regions around the world. In recent years, transmission has increased
predominantly in urban and semi-urban areas and has become a major
international public health concern.
Severe
dengue (also known as Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever) was first recognised in the
1950s during dengue epidemics in the Philippines and Thailand.
It is not
just India alone. China too is facing its worst outbreak of dengue fever in two
decades. A total of 27,219 dengue fever cases have been reported in China with
six people dead. This year witnessed an apparent increase of dengue cases with
99 per cent found in south China regions, such as Guangdong, Fujian, Yunnan and
Guangxi.
Over 2.5
billion people – over 40% of the world's population – are now at risk from
dengue. WHO currently estimates there may be 50–100 million dengue infections
worldwide every year.
The
disease is now endemic in more than 100 countries in Africa, the Americas, the
Eastern Mediterranean, South-east Asia and the Western Pacific.
Among the
suggestions by experts for prevention are: Preventing mosquitoes from accessing
egg-laying habitats by environmental management and modification; disposing of
solid waste properly and removing artificial man-made habitats; covering,
emptying and cleaning of domestic water storage containers on a weekly basis
and applying appropriate insecticides to water storage outdoor containers.
Dengue
also extracts a significant social and economic toll on affected countries.
Failure to act now will prove expensive for the world.
Power of hope stronger
than destructive ideas
There is
no place for hatred and cruelty in a sane society. Allowing a barbaric
organisation to spread an atmosphere of fear and terror will tantamount to sloppily
letting ideological cancer take a toll on human sanity.
The
Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is one such oraganisation that thrives
on violence and brutality. It represents neither Islam nor humanity’s most
basic values.
UAE Vice
President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin
Rashid Al Maktoum has hit the nail right on the head when he says ISIS certainly
can - and will - be defeated militarily by the international coalition that is
now assembling and which the UAE is actively supporting.
Being a
statesman with adorable wisdom, Sheikh Mohammed has rightly stated that
military containment is only a partial solution. Lasting peace requires three
bigger ingredients: winning the intellectual battle; upgrading weak governance;
and grassroots human development.
As he
points out, what is most worrying is that a decade ago, such an ideology was
all that Al Qaeda needed to destabilise the world, even from a primitive base
in the caves of Afghanistan. Today, under ISIS, adherents have access to
technology, finance, a huge land base, and an international jihadist network.
Far from being defeated, their ideology of rage and hate has become stricter,
more pernicious, and more widespread.
It is
also tragic that ISIS has been able to spread and resist those who oppose it.
The group has been described by the United Nations and the media as a terrorist
group, and has been designated as a foreign terrorist organisation by the
United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Indonesia and Saudi
Arabia. The United Nations and Amnesty International have accused the group of
grave human rights abuses.
The danger
posed by ISIS to humanity is too obvious to be ignored. Its seeds are growing
in Europe, the United States, Asia, and elsewhere. With its twisted religious
overtones, this pre-packaged franchise of hate is available for any terrorist
group to adopt. It carries the power to mobilise thousands of desperate,
vindictive, or angry young people and use them to strike at the foundations of
civilisation.
Yes. As
Sheikh Mohammed mentions, there is no power stronger than that of hope for a
better life. The people of the Middle East possess a power of hope and a desire
for stability and prosperity that are stronger and more enduring than
opportunistic and destructive ideas.
Loosening
the red tape
India has ushered in a breath
of fresh air with Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing a series of labour
reforms aimed at transforming Asia’s third-largest economy into an
international manufacturing hub.
The idea is to end “Inspector
Raj” with a system that is expected to sharply curb the element of discretion
with labour inspectors and a single window compliance process for companies on
labour-related issues.
Factory inspection reports
will be loaded on a government website within 72 hours of the scrutiny and
cannot be modified thereafter.
Interestingly, the number of
forms that companies have to fill on labour-related issues has been reduced
from as many as 16 to just one now.
In what comes as a big relief
for the beneficiaries, the new rules also include changes that would make it
easier for employees to link their Provident Fund savings — a payroll-funded
government savings scheme — to their bank accounts and allow them to transfer
the funds as they move jobs.
The payroll-funded programme
has 80 million members. So far, as the transfers are difficult, more than Rs270
billion ($4.4 billion) lie idle in such accounts.
It is stated that just eight
per cent of Indian workers have formal jobs with any security and benefits,
such as the Provident Fund, while the vast majority work in the informal
sector.
Experts have long cautioned
that the laws have constrained the growth of the formal manufacturing sector. A
World Bank report in 2008 indicated that heavy reform would be desirable.
Its executive summary stated,
“India's labour regulations - among the most restrictive in the world - have
constrained the growth of the formal manufacturing sector where these laws have
their widest application. Better designed labour regulations can attract more
labour- intensive investment and create jobs for India's unemployed millions
and those trapped in poor quality jobs.”
Another World Bank report
specified this year that India has one of the most rigid labor markets in the
world and "although the regulations are meant to enhance the welfare of
workers, they often have the opposite effect by encouraging firms to stay small
and thus circumvent labour laws."
Successive governments have
agreed labour reform is critical to absorb 200 million Indians reaching working
age over the next two decades.
Ease of business is the first
and foremost requirement if India has to succeed as an economic power. The new
steps are path breaking, considering that fears of union backlash and partisan
politics prevented such changes earlier.
