Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 19, 2020 / 12:01 pm MT (CNA).- The U.S. will be working against the use of technology to suppress religious minorities, the religious freedom ambassador announced this week.
“The United States announced today that we will pursue the topic of misuse of technology to oppress religious minorities,” said Sam Brownback, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, on a Nov. 17 press call about the 2020 Ministerial to Advance Freedom of Religion or Belief.
Brownback cited China’s abuses against Uyghurs; it has created a “virtual police state” to track the movements of the population and to engage in predictive policing.
“We’re seeing this graphically done in Xinjiang, where high-tech observation systems using artificial intelligence and facial recognition are oppressing a dominantly Muslim majority from practicing its faith, this along with being locked up in detention facilities – over a million Muslim Uyghurs locked up in detention facilities,” Brownback said.
Poland hosted the third annual ministerial, held virtually Nov. 16-17 due to the pandemic. The meeting featured leaders from more than 50 countries and international organizations. The United States hosted the first two ministerials in 2018 and 2019.
Callista Gingrich, U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, stated Nov. 16 that “[u]pholding the right to religious freedom is not just a moral necessity. It is a national security imperative. When nations effectively protect religious freedom, they are safer, more prosperous, and secure.”
Brownback was asked about the recent election of presumptive President-elect Joe Biden, and what a new administration might mean for the future of religious freedom in U.S. diplomacy.
The ambassador said he was “optimistic” because promoting international religious freedom “is a bipartisan movement” that “goes deeply into the American psyche.”
The new International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, with 32 member countries, “is not going to stop with the change of an administration,” he added.
One of the priorities for the U.S. in the coming year will be countering China’s deployment of a “virtual police state” to suppress Tibetan Buddhists and Uyghur Muslims, among others.
“And we want to stop this from spreading to other countries around the world or spreading more to other countries around the world,” he said.
Some other priorities for the U.S. next year include advocating for the release of prisoners of conscience and the repeal of blasphemy laws, Brownback said.
“We advocated for prisoners of conscience to be released during the pandemic,” he said, adding that “literally thousands of religious prisoners were released” in several countries.
“There are 10 countries in the world that give – they give the death penalty for apostasy or blasphemy,” he said, noting that the U.S. is working “for all of them to be repealed as a undue restriction on people’s religious freedom.”
Over 2000 “change-makers” from all corners of the earth are participating in the three-day “The Economy of Francesco” event taking place until Saturday 21 November.
A virtual platform connected participants for the launch of the event on Thursday afternoon, with the city of Assisi at the heart of it all, providing inspiration, its peerless spirit of fraternity and universal love, and much symbolism upon which to place the cornerstone of an economy of communion.
The so-called “change-makers” are young economists, businessmen and women bringing their virtuous models of entrepreneurship to the table, and world-class experts in economy and social sciences who have come together to respond to Pope Francis’ invitation to transform hope for the rights of future generations into reality.
A brief video, featuring some of the participants from across the globe set the event into motion: “We are here together to build the world of tomorrow where nobody will be left behind,” they declared.
And throughout the afternoon (or morning depending on where they are), people young and not-so-young, from different continents and realities, linked-up to listen to each other’s stories, testimonies and ideas. The intense 4-hour session was interspersed with videos, music, drama and the breathtaking images Assisi, its art, nature and places of faith.
A warm welcome
The first to address the multitude was Bishop Domenico Sorrentino of Assisi, with words of (spiritual) welcome, because he said, coronavirus may have changed the logistics – moving what was intended to be a “physical meeting” into a virtual realm – but it has certainly not dampened enthusiasm or curtailed commitments.
Speaking in English, he thanked the young people for being here; he thanked Pope Francis for his intuition and guidance; and he thanked St Francis, himself “a change-maker” and an “economist” who diverted a ruinous trend of injustice and exclusion when he “embraced the leper” and placed the poor at the centre of his apostolate.
Cardinal Peter Turkson was next in line. The Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Integrity, the main promoter of the event, also set his welcome speech within the context of the pandemic that, he noted, has created even more exclusion and inequality.
Recalling Pope Francis’ invitation to come up with more equitable economic models that “invest in people in respect for creation” and global solidarity, Cardinal Turkson said: “you seek to help Pope Francis, the Church and the world to emerge better, imagining and developing an economy that is inclusive, sustainable and that can help our brothers and sisters to live together in our common home.”
He reflected on the possibility of new and equitable economic models, “aimed not at serving few but at benefiting all”, and he thanked those present for setting the course for radical change, “conceiving economies and business activities as noble vocations” directed towards producing wealth that improves the world and that serves humanity.
He said that the Dicastery he heads works alongside men and women of goodwill who strive to create “good companies” and “good jobs” in pursuit of the common good, and pledged always to “accompany” and provide “moral guidance.”
“Inspired by S Francis of Assisi, with our gaze firmly fixed on Jesus and the leadership of Pope Francis,” the Cardinal added, “you, young people of faith and goodwill, can deploy a noble expression of social love by generating a new economy that brings about good wealth.”
“Thank you,” he concluded, “for bringing light into our dark world, for bringing love in these times of indifference and challenges, for bringing hope to many of us who are still in despair, and for bringing faith in a different economy which will sow friendship and bring harmony among God’s children.
Other words of welcome were proffered – in English – by the Mayor of Assisi, Stefania Proietti, who said: “fraternity and humanism should be the fuel of a sustainable economy”.
Finally, the moving speech of the visibly moved President of Assisi’s Istituto Serafico for severely disabled children: “Pope Francis has given you the responsibility and the trust to care for our brothers and sisters and our common home,” said Francesca Di Maolo, noting that the pandemic has not stopped “The Economy of Francesco” but has set a chain-reaction into motion.
In Assisi, she said, a new equation can be formulated: “Economy + Fraternity x Development = Future”
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Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin contributed concluding remarks in an online virtual symposium held on Thursday afternoon entitled Never Again: Confronting the Global Rise of Anti-Semitism.
The event was hosted by U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Callista L. Gingrich. In his remarks, the Cardinal brought contributions from Pope Francis, and cited a recently-discovered letter written in 1916 by then-Secretary of State Cardinal Gasparri.
Ambassador Callista Gingrich provides opening remarks (Photo courtesy of US Embassy to the Holy See)
In her opening remarks, Ambassador Gingrich specifically cited the 2018 attack in Pittsburgh, the more recent attack in Jersey City at the beginning of this year and numerous attacks in New York City. “Every free society”, she said, “has a stake in reversing this trend”. Then her remarks turned to describing the steps taken under the Trump Administration to address the phenomenon both nationally and internationally.
Finally, Ambassador Gingrich extended special words of thanks to Pope Francis. She called him a “significant ally in the fight against anti-semitism and holocaust denial”, citing remarks he made in January in which he stressed the importance of keeping the memory of the holocaust alive.
She expressed that many Jewish organizations are supportive of Pope Francis’s decision to anticipate the opening of the holocaust-era Vatican archives and “welcome the availability of the records”.
Church and Judaism: partners
Elan S. Carr, U.S. Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combatting Anti-Semitism, reminded participants that anti-semitism is on the rise and is embraced by people all types of ideological camps and religious persuasion. Addressing personal safety issues, criminal prosecution of offenders, promoting the adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and monitoring online anti-semitic communication while upholding freedom of speech are some of the ways the United States is actively addressing this reality.
In addition, Mr Carr said that telling the story of the positive contribution of the Jewish people is another key in combatting anti-semitism. He expressed gratitude to the Catholic Church’s “priority” in combatting anti-semitism. Since 2000, he said, the Church’s recognition of the importance to educate in Jewish values is helping to replace ignorance and hatred. In this way, the Church is a partner with Judaism in instilling “Abrahamic values” and “godliness” in today’s world. Mr Carr also recalled that Pope John Paul II was the first pope to visit Auschwitz and a synagogue and led the way in the Church’s ability to embrace her Jewish brothers and sisters.
Survival of democracy at stake
Lisa Palmieri-Billig, Representative in Italy and Liaison to the Holy See American Jewish Committee, explored the roots of anti-semitism.
She explained that the search for a scapegoat for economic crises in society is common to the persecution against the Jews. This, she said, was true throughout the history of Europe, and is true in the various other geographical areas where anti-semitism now appears. While citing the unfortunate fact that anti-semitism was compounded by the Christian teaching of contempt enshrined in European culture through art, she said she is grateful for the cooperation that various churches are now providing, especially in such areas as education and law.
“The stake”, she said, “is not anti-semitism alone, but the health and survival of democracy itself”. She concluded saying that “interreligious dialogue, cooperation and solidarity” are the positive means to achieve this.
Historical memory
Picking up the thread of the need to remember the past, Dr. Suzanne Brown-Fleming, Director of International Academic Programs United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, recalled Cardinal Lustiger’s visit to the museum. She recalled his words during his visit that the holocaust needed to be documented.
The survivors of the holocaust, she recalls the Cardinal saying, are witnesses to the fact that “hatred leads to death”. The mission of the Holocaust Museum is, therefore, very important in helping to preserve the memory of what happened. She too expressed appreciation to Pope Francis for the anticipated opening of the Vatican archives which allow historians to do this work.
From contempt to respect
Speaking specifically from the perspective of a Jewish Rabbi, Rabbi David Meyer, Lecturer Cardinal Bea Centre for Judaic Studies Pontifical Gregorian University, said that the traditional role of a rabbi is that of comforting people during times of suffering. When thinking of anti-semitism, he shared the verse from the Torah that resonates for him which is repeated both before and after the flood: “the thoughts of the human heart are continually evil” (Genesis 6:5; 8:21) “Is there anything darker”, he asked, than the violence the Jewish community has experienced over and over again?
Nonetheless, Rabbi Meyer’s asks if this darkness can be “brightened” and “defeated”. The answer, he says, is yes, because it has already been done. Beginning with Nostrae aetate, the Catholic Church’s teaching of contempt has been transformed into a teaching of respect, thus demonstrating that anti-semitism can be transformed within a society that promoted it. This is a “successful battle”, Rabbi Meyer said, from which “practical insights” can be drawn to fight anti-semitism where it is currently manifesting itself. The three tools necessary are: passion, aiming high and audacity.
Rabbi David Meyer
Promoters of peace find joy
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Holy See Secretary of State, provided the closing remarks for the symposium. He echoed Pope Francis’s words that any form of anti-semitism is “a rejection of our Christian origins”, and is thus a contradiction. Fratelli tutti offers a reflection, he said, on distortions of “fundamental concepts” such as democracy, freedom, indifference, the “loss of the meaning of the sense of history” and racism which are also reflected in anti-semitism.
The Cardinal then quoted a recently discovered document written by his predecessor, Secretary of State Cardinal Gasparri in 2016. It was written in response to a letter from the American Jewish Committee asking for a response to violence against Jews in the context of World War I. Writing on behalf of Pope Benedict XV, Cardinal Gasparri wrote that the natural rights due to human beings should also be “observed and respected in relation to the children of Israel as it should be as for all men, for it would not conform to justice and to religion itself to derogate there from solely because of a difference of religious faith”.
Then, he also cited the reaction to this letter on the part of the American Jewish Committee. They called it a “virtual encyclical”, and wrote that:
“Among all the papal bulls ever issued with regard to Jews throughout the history of the Vatican, there is no statement that equals this direct, unmistakable plea for equality for the Jews, and against prejudice upon religious grounds”.
Cardinal Parolin then emphasized the place of historical memory stating that “in order to overcome so many deplorable forms of hate we need the capacity to involve ourselves together in remembering. Memory”, he said, “is the key to accessing the future and it is our responsibility to hand it on in a dignified way to young generations”.
Cardinal Parolin concluded saying that interreligious dialogue is an indispensable tool to combat anti-semitism. Fraternity, he said, is built on the truth held by various religious that each human person is “called to be a child of God”.
“It is my hope that the more Christians and Jews grow in fraternity, social friendship and dialogue, the less anti-semitism will be possible because ‘deceit is in the mind of those who plan evil, but those who counsel peace have joy’ (Prov 12:20). Shalom!”
(Photo: Wikipedia Public Domain)United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute, Indiana, the location of the federal death row for men and the federal execution chamber.
President Donald Trump’s administration intends to execute three inmates on federal death row, the last scheduled executions by the Justice Department before the inauguration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has signaled he will end federal use of capital punishment.
Since July, when it resumed carrying out the death penalty after a 17-year hiatus, the Trump administration has executed seven federal inmates, The New York Times reported.
The United States is heading to having 10 federal executions in 2020, more than double the previous record of four in 1938.
“In the last 60 years, before the Trump administration restarted federal executions, there were only four federal executions,” two bishops wrote on the website of the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
“Since July, there have been five, which is already more federal executions than were carried out in any year in the last century. There are two more federal executions scheduled this week.”
In response to the planned federal execution of Orlando Hall on Nov. 19, and two more federal executions scheduled to take place in December, two U.S. bishops’ committee chairmen called on the government to end this practice, Catholic News Service reports.
“We ask President (Donald) Trump and Attorney General (William) Barr, as an act of witness to the dignity of all human life: stop these executions,” said the Nov. 18 statement.
It came from Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Pro-Life Activities.
“Sadly, we must call on the administration yet again to stop an execution,” the archbishops said, noting the country is “now on pace for 10 federal executions in 2020, more than double the previous record of four in 1938.”
The archbishops’ statement said the death penalty is “not necessary to protect society.
“It is not necessary to hold people accountable for grave crimes. The decision not to execute someone, even someone who has done something terrible, is not ‘soft on crime’; rather, it is strong on the dignity of life.”
They also quoted Fratelli tutti, the recent encyclical by Pope Francis.
It says: “The firm rejection of the death penalty shows to what extent it is possible to recognize the inalienable dignity of every human being and accept that he or she has a place in the universe.”
On Sept. 22, the two archbishops issued a similar statement, urging Trump and Barr to stop an execution that day and one two days later.
Sister Helen Prejean, a Sister of St. Joseph of Medaille and long-time anti-death penalty activist, has spoken against Hall’s execution on Twitter.
She described him as a Black man who was “convicted and sentenced to death by an all-white jury after prosecutors enlisted a lawyer with a known track record of excluding black citizens from juries.”
Hall, who is 49, was convicted of kidnapping and killing a Texas teenager in 1994.
Sister Prejean tweeted Nov. 18 the Department of Justice is “trying to rush through as many federal executions as possible during the ‘lame-duck’ period between now and January 20, 2021.”
She said that that lawyers with the Justice Department “have informed federal judges that more execution dates will be announced soon.”
‘KILLING SPREE’
“This shameful killing spree must end,” she added.
convicted of strangling a Missouri woman who was eight months pregnant and taking her unborn baby, who survived. Montgomery is the first woman to face the federal death penalty in decades. She has asked for a delay in her execution because her attorneys have Covid-19.
Sister Prejean has said the “system failed Lisa Montgomery. The ultimate failure would be to execute this woman who is severely mentally ill and suffered through decades of torture at the hands of those who were supposed to love and protect her.”
Brandon Bernard, 40, is scheduled to be executed Dec. 10 for the 1999 kidnapping and killing of a husband and wife in Texas when he was 18. Sister Prejean has similarly spoken out for him, saying he is “unjustly on federal death row.”
The report, Impact of the Pandemic on Trade and Development: Transitioning to a new normal, said the pandemic had accelerated existing trends in trade, investment and technology, but its impact was “tilted towards the most vulnerable, both within and across countries” and it would leave many developing countries with unsustainable debt burdens.
Getting the world back on track towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a so-called “better recovery”, meant reshaping global corporate networks and multilateral cooperation, the report said.
“While the pandemic may be far from over, it has become clear that transforming global approaches to trade and development cannot be avoided when charting a sustainable course to recovery from the pandemic”, UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi wrote in the foreword.
“It is our hope that this ‘better recovery’ can sow the seeds of a healthier, fairer and greener globalization that can be nourished by a more resilient approach to multilateralism.”
The pandemic is loading more costs onto developing countries while simultaneously reducing the availability of external finance, the report said. Cutbacks are likely in international development spending and remittances sent home by migrant workers are expected to fall 20 per cent this year.
Developing countries did not only need debt relief, but direct liquidity support to give them budgetary spending power in the short term and a framework for sovereign debt restructuring in the long term, it said.
“For developing countries – especially for the poorest and most vulnerable among them – new international consensus on financing must be reached in order to extend to all countries the fiscal breathing room and liquidity needed to meet the extraordinary outlay of resources required to tackle the health and economic crisis head on.”
New Marshall Plan
The report called for a “Marshall Plan” of international development spending to help poorer countries recover.
“There is the risk that a sovereign liquidity crisis could quickly turn into a solvency crisis if countries do not receive sufficient liquidity support. Proactive steps by the international community are required to avert a broader and deeper crisis”, it said.
The report said that international trade had sped the transmission of the pandemic and the accompanying economic shock around the world, but trade was also part of the solution and policies for fairer and greener trade would help the weakest and most vulnerable to recover.
Some of the pandemic’s economic trends would endure and should be harnessed to help the global recovery, such as accelerated digitalization. But other potentially positive changes such as more climate-friendly production and consumption, still needed policy support to reach critical mass, the report said.
Room for hope, in new world order
Despite enormous challenges to development aspirations, the right policies and sufficient coordination would steer the world economy back towards the SDGs, which were agreed by all UN Member States in 2015 and aim to reduce poverty, protect the planet and promote peace and prosperity by 2030.
“Thus, despite the grim outlook, it is still possible to turn COVID-19 into the finest hour of the United Nations and build a more inclusive, resilient and sustainable future”, the report concluded.
As the Church prepares to enter into the Season of Advent – the period of joyful anticipation of the birth of Our Lord at Christmas – the Bishops Conference of Zimbabwe (ZCBC) has called for unity and reconciliation in the country.
In their pastoral letter released on Wednesday, the Bishops, inspired by the word “Advent,” which comes from the Latin “Advenio” meaning “behold I come,” encouraged the faithful to make the cry of John the Baptist, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make His path straight” be heard in all the “socio-political, economic and religious spheres of life.”
“It is the Lord Jesus who comes to live among us in order to renew us,” the ZCBC said. “The coming of the Lord is also a coming of new things, new ideas, a renewed hope in Him and in each other and what we are capable of doing together if only we can trust, reach out and find each other across our set social and political boundaries,” the Bishops added.
“Whatever our circumstances as individuals, as families, communities, as a nation and at a global level,” the Bishops continued, “this is the time we look forward to the good news that comes with the grace of our Lord.”
Highlighting the difficult times caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, including the upheavals in the social, economic, spiritual, and educational sectors, the Bishops stressed the need for social relationships that are a “genuine acknowledgement of the other that is made possible by love alone.”
“If we are to care truly for each other, we need to begin by looking at the relationship between people,” the Bishops said, adding that “a true human and humane community can break out of the indifference brought about by consumerism and lack of political charity.”
The ZCBC members warn that “politics without charity can never bring about the common good” and called on politicians to practice politics that is inspired “by the encounter with Christ and imbued with love and political charity.” The Bishops also seized the opportunity to encourage the government to “extend a hand of welcome to all the opposition parties so that advent hope can be rekindled among our suffering people.”
Ecological conversion
Reiterating Pope Francis’ appeal in Laudato sí for profound interior conversion in the face of the ecological crisis, the Bishops warned of the urgent necessity of taking steps against the crisis that “is not far from our doorstep” and “is inside our home fuelled by poverty, business interests and consumerism.”
They note that the season of Advent calls on Christians to look again on how to curb the destruction of Zimbabwe – the “jewel of Africa” – because “the human environment and the natural environment deteriorate together and we cannot adequately combat environmental degradation unless we attend to causes related to human and social degradation.”
Looking ahead
Acknowledging that Zimbabwe has had a particularly “difficult journey this year,” the Bishops called on all to “put the common good at the heart of our recovery plans.”
“We need to help each other. Simply being kind is one small way to do this,” the Bishops recommended. “Returning to communal liturgical celebrations will help foster communion among us.”
“Let us use our time to talk creatively, positively and concretely about the future we dream and desire to build the Zimbabwe we want.”
Concluding their pastoral letter, the Bishops leave the faithful with two questions: Do I recognize my need for others? Do I realize and accept the fact that I am responsible for others and the natural world by virtue of being human?
Two Vatican offices teamed up with the local Church to host a seminar entitled: “Latin America: Church, Pope Francis, and scenarios of the pandemic.”
Taking place on 19-20 November, the online event was organized by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, and the Conference of Latin American Bishops (CELAM). It seeks to find ways to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the people of the region by promoting solidarity.
In his video message released on Thursday, Pope Francis thanked the organizers of the event, and expressed his hopes that it might inspire people to work to guarantee everyone a dignified life, especially those on the fringes of society.
“When I say ‘the marginalized’,” said the Pope, “I do not say it in the sense of giving alms to them, or as a gesture of beneficence. No, I mean they are our hermeneutical key.”
He said the Church must begin her reflections on the human peripheries, otherwise she errs.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has amplified and highlighted even more the problems and socio-economic injustices which already gravely afflicted all of Latin America, and placed even more strain on the poor.”
Bearing the brunt
Pope Francis reflected on the difficult situations that many families face, especially those who cannot procure protection against the coronavirus, such as a house, water, and health products.
“Right now, I am thinking of our brothers and sisters who—besides bearing the impact of the pandemic—are witnessing with sadness that the ecosystem around them is in serious danger due to forest fires which are destroying vast areas of the Pantanal and Amazon rainforests, which are the lungs of Latin America and the world.”
Sharing our bread
The Pope acknowledged that the pandemic’s effects will be felt long after it ends, especially on the economy.
He urged seminar participants to focus their efforts on two hinges: “In the Kingdom of God, all have bread, and it remains in surplus. The organization of society is based on contribution, sharing, and distribution, not on possession, exclusion, and accumulation.”
Solidarity is love
Faced with the crisis, the Pope urged the Church in Latin America to pay attention to three T’s as indicators of people’s situation: “the lack of a roof (techo in Spanish), the lack of land (tierra), and the lack of work (trabajo).”
He said the people of the region can teach everyone to deal courageously with the crisis, and that it is possible to emerge from it better than before.
“The path of solidarity as justice is the best expression of love and closeness,” he said.
Unity overcomes conflict
Pope Francis then urged politicians and the Church to find solutions to the afflictions facing the people of Latin America.
“It would do us good,” he said, “to recall once more that unity is better than conflict.”
“I exhort you—propelled by the light of the Gospel—to continue to seek out al those who ask for help, together with all people of goodwill.”
“And today we have agreed to proceed with the preparation of the next round of sanctions as a response against the brutality of the authorities and in support for democratic rights of Belarusian people,” Borrell told a press conference.
According to the foreign policy representative, the new sanctions will target not only individuals but also entities.
Last month, the leaders of the EU countries reached an agreement on sanctions against the Belarusian government. They did not, however, include President Lukashenko in the list, saying that otherwise no dialogue between him and the people of Belarus should ever be expected to take place.
An opposition supporter argues with a police officer during an opposition rally to reject the presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus October 4, 2020.
Belarus has been witnessing mass anti-government protests since the results of the presidential elections in the republic were announced late on 9 August. According to the country’s election committee, President Alexander Lukashenko, who has been in office for 26 years already, was re-elected for a sixth term after winning more than 80% of the vote, while opposition candidate, Svetlana Tikhanovskays, got a bit more than 10 percent. Clashes between protesters and riot police repeatedly took place during the rallies. Opposition supporters have accused the authorities of resorting to excessive violence during the protests.
Born into the privilege and comforts of a high-caste Brahmin family in Nepal, Ratna Khawas’s life changed drastically when she got married to someone outside her social class, in 1968.
She and her new husband moved to his home village in Belbari, where there were no toilets or handwashing facilities. “I got the shock of my life,” she said. “I had to go to the open field for defecation, as there were no toilets in the whole community.” That shock set her on what became a lifelong quest to improve sanitation for her and her neighbors.
Growing up in a wealthy family in Dharan, 40 miles west, and a world away from Belbari, young Ratna was encouraged to pursue her education. In 1962, she became the first young woman in the region to obtain her “School Leaving Certificate”, having passed a notoriously difficult exam, and went on to become a teacher at Kali High School. That’s when she met and fell in love with Kami Lal Khawas, a young man from an underprivileged community who had a good education.
“I was so much in love with him, as he was an educated person,” said Ratna. “I felt that was enough for me and we got married,” she said, and followed him back to his village as his wife.
Renu Kshetry
A well with a cement platform and a handwashing station has been built at a house in Belbari’s ward 8.
Everything about her new family was different: their habits, their cuisine, their culture. The adjustment was made even more difficult because her father-in-law refused to allow her to continue teaching. For him, a strong advocate of a patriarchal society, it was unimaginable for women in the community to step outside their household for any kind of income-generating work.
“I felt that my world had collapsed. I did not know what to do. I had nowhere to go, as the doors of my parents’ house were closed to me,” says Ratna, recalling the consequences of marrying outside her caste.
The most glaring challenge confronting Ratna in her new life was the complete absence of sanitation and hygiene facilities, which she knew were important for good health and personal dignity. Dharan, where she had lived as a girl, was a developing city where most of the houses had toilets. With its lack of such facilities, Belbari seemed a backward place to her.
“I tried to convince my husband to build a toilet in his house, but he refused to go against his family’s tradition,” she recalls. Ratna was frequently ridiculed by neighbors as an outsider and as someone “always talking about faeces and urine.”
Renu Kshetry
UN-Habitat has supported the construction of toilets in Belbari which offer safety and comfort, and which are more sanitary than the practice of open defecation.
A safe space
In 1975, after her father-in-law’s death, Ratna’s husband allowed his wife to participate in a women’s empowerment programme. After her training, she became a public health professional for the Belbari constituency, working for the family-planning division of the Ministry of Health.
Over the next ten years, Ratna visited 250 households in the community, educating women about reproductive health, sanitation and hygiene, nutrition, and other health topics.
Still, sanitation remained her top priority. Faced with opposition from her extended family, she was unable to build a toilet at home. In 1989, she rebelled and left the family home with her four children. They settled on a piece of land that was owned by her husband, where they built a latrine and then a home.
It wasn’t long before her husband joined her. Then her nephews started building toilets for their homes. Slowly, as they could afford it, other members of the community also began to install latrines, because they had learned that access to a toilet gave them a safe space to manage their sanitation needs.
Pushing the last mile
Life in Belbari now is a far cry from the situation Ratna found when the newlyweds arrived in the village over half a century ago. Today, with Ratna’s help and inspiration, nearly all of Belbari’s 250 households have toilets.
“My only wish now is to build toilets for the seven remaining households,” says Ratna. Her efforts have received financial support from Nari Bikash Sangh (Women’s Development Forum) and local government and technical support from UN-Habitat in Nepal, which has advocated for an end to open defecation. With the support of the office, 600,000 improved toilets have been built across the country and, in the past 10 years alone, UN-Habitat has contributed to nearly one-third of all the territory that is now free of open defecation.
“The biggest achievement was pushing the last mile,” says Sudha Shrestha, Chief Technical Advisor at UN-Habitat Nepal. “This was in the region of Tarai, where the total toilet coverage was only 13 percent. Together with the government, we achieved 100 percent within four years.”
Despite her success so far, Ratna is not resting on her laurels, with so much that still needs to be done to improve sanitation, and end open defecation. “I will consider the campaign a success once the senior citizens and middle-aged men make it a habit to use toilets regularly,” she says. With support from the UN, Ratna’s dream may be realized the world over.
