Speakers at a virtual press conference yesterday called for ending violence in the name of religion, mob lynching, attacks on religious minorities’ home and the growing incidents of violence against women and girls. They urged to ensure rule of law, human rights, accountability and justice.
Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB) organised the conference and presented a 17-point demand, including ensuring proper trial and punishment for the perpetrators of the brutal incident in Patgram through an impartial investigation, necessary treatment for the injured and security for both families, providing necessary training and guidance to public representatives and religious leaders to prevent the violent behaviour of agitated people.
They also demanded that proper steps be taken against religious leaders who spread hatred through various provocative propaganda, and a fair and impartial investigation should be conducted into the incident of attack on a Hindu household in Cumilla.
Expressing grave concern over the Cumila incident, Nijera Kori coordinator Khushi Kabir said Bangladesh is a culturally diverse country, and ensuring the rights of every citizen is the responsibilities of the state and the government. “Why will they think of themselves as second-class citizens?” she asked.
Shamsul Huda, executive director of Associations of Land Reform and Development said time has come to move in an integrated way, as the state, government, civil society organisations and political parties should come forward to put an end to such violence.
Mainstream political parties should also be engaged through discussion and they should promise to stop such issues and their promise must be reflected in their work, he said.
Ain O Salish Kendra’s senior deputy director Nina Goswami expressed concern about the silence of responsible authorities, as they did not assure that necessary actions will be taken about the mob lynching incident.
“In a society, where 31 people are killed in mob beating, how can we talk about human rights there?” she asked, demanding a human rights-friendly state.
HRFB steering committee member Ranjan Karmaker, also the executive director of Steps towards Development, expressed grave concern over the increasing incident of violence against women and urged the government to ensure awareness and justice for rape, and criminalise marital rape by reforming the law.
Sanjeeb Drong, president of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, said law enforcement agencies should initiate action against the rape of indigenous women and land grabbing of indigenous minorities.
We strongly demand a Minorities Rights Act and a Minorities Commission to protect the rights of indigenous minorities, he said.
Transparency International of Bangladesh (TIB) executive director Dr Iftekharuzzaman, a member of HRFB highlighted that judiciary institutions should remain free from political biases. He also spoke on the importance of ensuring skill development opportunities and appropriate budget allocation for these organisations.
The press conference was moderated by Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), who is also a member of the steering committee of HRFB.
“We now have the consensus and the commitment of every country to work in an integrated, cross-cutting manner in tackling all the neglected tropical diseases”, said Dr Ren Minghui, WHO Assistant Director-General for Universal Health Coverage, Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases.
The freshly-inked roadmap sets global targets and milestones to prevent, control, eliminate and eradicate 20 neglected tropical diseases and disease groups, which affect hundreds of millions of people.
It replaces the first blueprint published in 2012, whose targets will not be achieved, despite significant progress, WHO explained.
In addition to a focus on improved coordination and collaboration among health partners in the next decade in all countries, another distinct feature is a drive for greater ownership by governments and communities.
The 2030 targets include a 90 per cent reduction in the number of people requiring treatment for neglected tropical diseases and a call to eradicate dracunculiasis – also known as Guinea-worm disease – and the chronic skin disease yaws, that affects mainly children below 15 years of age.
“The new road map addresses critical gaps across multiple diseases, integrates and mainstreams approaches within national health systems and coordinates action across sectors,” said Dr Mwelecele Ntuli Malecela, Director, WHO Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases. “It also provides us with opportunities to evaluate, assess and adjust programmatic actions as needed over the next decade.”
Vertical v horizontal
The emphasis of the new approach is on sustainability and follows a decades-old discussion about the relative merits of so-called “vertically” funded programmes that target specific illnesses, compared with the longer-term “horizontal” approach that involves comprehensive primary health care services offering greater overall protection.
“To do so effectively…countries must change their operating models and culture to facilitate greater ownership of (disease eradication) programmes”, Dr Minghui added, in a call for “smarter investments and high-level political commitment” to reduce the social and economic consequences of neglected tropical diseases.
Drugs arsenal needed
While most neglected tropical disease-control programmes rely on medicines to treat sufferers, WHO has also warned that emerging drug resistance threatens decades of advances.
It remains crucial to monitor drug efficacy closely and develop “an appropriate arsenal of second-line drugs” to ensure that populations continue to be protected against neglected tropical diseases, it said.
In a related development, COVID-19 had played its part in making communities more vulnerable, the UN agency noted, as some people have taken antibiotics in the mistaken belief that they would protect them from the virus.
Antibiotics alarm
While some countries have seen their antibiotic use dramatically decline during pandemic lockdowns, physical distancing and improved hand and respiratory hygiene, “in other situations, antibiotic use has risen alarmingly”, WHO said.
Its aims are to increase awareness and understanding of global antimicrobial resistance and encourage best practices among members of the public, health workers and policy-makers, to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.
Marking World Pneumonia Day, on 12 November, UNICEF chief Henrietta Fore, highlighted the coronavirus factor, noting that “while the world grapples with the pandemic and the severe consequences it poses for the most vulnerable, we must not lose sight of the fact that pneumonia continues to claim more than 2,000 young lives every day.”
UNICEF pointed out that medical oxygen, coupled with antibiotics, could save the lives of many children suffering with severe pneumonia.
However, cost can be prohibitive for the poorest families, as can access to health facilities with functioning oxygen supplies, and trained health workers – all of which are scarce in poorer countries.
Moreover, the pandemic has seen a surge in demand, making the shortages even more prominent.
Fortunately, oxygen can be produced locally in even remote parts of the world, at affordable cost. A key part of UNICEF COVID-19 response has been delivering oxygen concentrators, devices that take in air from the environment, remove nitrogen, and produce a continuous source of oxygen.
As of Wednesday, UNICEF had delivered 15,188 oxygen concentrators to 93 countries.
“Medical oxygen can help save some of these lives”, stressed Ms. Fore.
One size does not fit all
The response, however, is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Some settings may have available oxygen plants, cylinder-delivery networks and reliable electricity sources to use a concentrator, while others may not.
And some areas face import restrictions for certain health supplies, or dwindling health budgets and rising prices set by oxygen suppliers.
To address this, UNICEF is working with governmentsand partners for unique country solutions, mostly involve a mix of oxygen sources from cylinders, concentrators, plants and liquid oxygen.
The UN agency’s response has been global, rapid, and multi-faceted as it has supplied medical oxygen to over 90 countries to help fight COVID-19 and keep children and newborns with pneumonia alive.
Oxygen is the answer
Although this complex commodity can be challenging to provide, especially in rural settings where electricity, infrastructure and essential health equipment may be in short supply, UNICEF has noted a shift in policy worldwide.
Over the past year, governments, donors, UN agencies and partners have begun to recognize the importance of this essential medicine in helping people recover from pneumonia, whether COVID-19-induced or not. UNICEF is calling on everyone, to “amplify efforts to bring life to those fighting for breath”.
UNICEF country initiatives
Peru: Providing oxygen concentrators to help indigenous communities.
Senegal: Along with the Government, providing oxygen to 64 health facilities in regions with high rates of pneumonia.
Malawi: Helped establish an oxygen generating plant at Kamuzu Central Hospital, contributing to building a new “oxygen ecosystem” for the country.
Sierra Leone: Investing in refurbishing and installing oxygen plants.
Bangladesh: Expanding oxygen systems to prevent new-born deaths.
India: Along with the Government, investing in over 3,000 oxygen concentrators to support the fight against COVID-19.
Caritas Internationalis held a webinar on Thursday, entitled, “Fratelli tutti, what does it mean for Caritas’ work,” with the aim of analysing some of the Holy Father’s text in the context of caritas, or ‘love’. The goal of the webinar was to explore how Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli tutti can become a concrete reality for communities around the world.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the President of Caritas Internationalis, began his intervention by encouraging all those present to read the encyclical in its entirety, because, he explained “Pope Francis brings some of his previous ideas into a new synthesis as a respnse to the present conditions of a closed world”. He does this, continued Cardinal Tagle, “always drawing from the rich biblical tradition of the Church and the teachings — dogmatic, moral and social teachings — of the Church”.
“Let us join him in this extended reflection”, he said.
Cardinal Tagle then went on to reflect on the “very sad signs on the lack of love” that our world is suffering. We can see that there are “many manifestations of a world that is closing in on itself”, he said. In this closed world, all of us suffer, but the poor suffer the most, the Cardinal added. They are the ones who are easily forgotten, neglected, thrown away; and “we should be disturbed by the consequences of the closed world”, as they are consequences for human beings, for the future and for creation.
Universal love
Cardinal Tagle then focused on two main points brought up in the Pope’s encyclical. The first is universal love. Cardinal Tagle explains that in Fratelli tutti, the image of charity is that of universal love, because “that’s how God loves. God loves everyone”. That is the love that Jesus shows, explained the Cardinal. “He loved everyone, especially those that society considered unloveable. Outcasts. From there we find the parable of the good samaritan, someone who exhibits to us universal love towards a stranger”, said Cardinal Tagle.
A culture of encounter
The second main point concerns a culture of encounters. Universal love, says Cardinal Tagle, “could easily become a slogan”; but universality can only become true if it is accompanied by encounter and concretenness. “The Holy Father says if you engage in dialogue you must also know your identity so it is not denied, and your religious identity is secured and so you are open to interreligious diaologue”, Cardinal Tagle explained. Similarly, every nation is entitled to its political system and policies, but national politics must lead to international political charity in international relations.
Hopefully, continued Cardinal Tagle, “through a culture of encounter, the meetings of different cultures, we will find a better way of doing politics, dealings with the economy… a better way of establishing cultural friendship and resolving conflicts”. All this, he concluded, should lead to the common good: the good of all, which in the end will also benefit each individual.
Finally, Cardinal Tagle noted some lessons that Caritas can learn from Fratelli tutti. Among them was that of joining the Holy Father in “being sensitive to the sign of closing hearts, hands, minds and territories and cultures”. These signs are very subtle, he concluded, but Fratelli tutti is asking us to “open our eyes and be sensitive and discerning to these threats to universal openness”.
After the signing of a permanent countrywide cease-fire agreement last month in Geneva, this latest development provides more hope that the country is on the path to normality.
Representatives of the internationally recognized Libyan government and Khalifa Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) made the announcement at a United Nations sponsored Libyan Political Dialogue Forum in Tunisia.
The dialogue was established by the Berlin Conference Outcomes, and endorsed by the UN Security Council.
A new roadmap addresses the problems of displaced people and tackles the steps needed to be taken for a unified governance framework and to initiate reconciliation.
Prior to the recent ceasefire, the conflict had been especially violent. Libya has been dogged by war since the ouster and killing of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
Since then, it is estimated that around 400,000 Libyans have been displaced.
In a separate development, more than 100 migrants were rescued from a sinking boat off the coast of Libya on Wednesday. According to reports, a six-month-old baby died onboard a rescue ship soon after he and his mother had been plucked from the water.
“The Council today extended the EU sanctions regime against Venezuela for one year, until 14 November 2021,” the EU body said in a press release.
According to the release, the measures include an embargo on arms and on equipment for internal repression, as well as a travel ban and an asset freeze on 36 listed individuals in official positions “who are responsible for human rights violations and/or for undermining democracy and the rule of law”.
At the end of June, the EU Council expanded the list of Venezuelan officials subject to sanctions over “their role in actions and decisions that undermine democracy and the rule of law in Venezuela”, adding 11 names to it, bringing the total number of the sanctioned individuals to 36.
Caracas condemned the EU pressure on the Latin American country. President Maduro ordered to expel EU diplomat Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa from Venezuela saying that the nation will no longer tolerate “European colonialism against Venezuela”, but the decision was reversed.
EU punitive measures against Venezuela were introduced in November 2017. These include an arms embargo, as well as travel bans and asset freezes on a number of Venezuelan officials.
During Lithuania’s second presidency of the Council of the European Union, which will take place in 2027, the European Union could already declare Ukraine a candidate for EU membership, Lithuanian Ambassador to Ukraine Valdemaras Sarapinas has said.
“The main goal of the Ukraine-2027 initiative of former Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius is to help unite the efforts of the member states and EU institutions to help Ukraine implement reforms and, at the same time, ensure the transparent use of investments, contribute to faster growth of its economy. During the second presidency Lithuania in the Council of the EU, which will be held in 2027, the European Union could already declare Ukraine the candidate for the EU,” he told Interfax-Ukraine.
Sarapinas said that this is an excellent prospect for mobilizing Ukraine in the implementation of further democratic reforms.
“Undoubtedly, this is an ambitious plan. For its implementation it is important for Ukraine to consolidate its successes and resolutely commit reforms in the future, and for the EU to support Ukraine’s European choice in every possible way,” he said.
The ambassador said that in the middle of 2021, it is planned to organize the fourth conference of reforms in Ukraine in Vilnius, which will help strengthen the reform process.
“Ukraine faces a difficult task: to simultaneously address the problems of the occupation of Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine and commit structural reforms. In addition, like other countries, you need to fight against [coronavirus] COVID-19 pandemic. Despite these challenges, Ukraine has taken a huge step towards fulfilling important reforms,” he said.
Sarapinas said that Lithuania consistently supports the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
“I like to say that Lithuania’s support for Ukraine is an axiom,” the diplomat said.
Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola has been elected first vice-president of the European Parliament, the most senior role ever occupied by a Maltese.
She will serve in the second-highest post in the EP until January 2022, like president David Sassoli.
The European Parliament has 14 vice-presidents and they can replace the president in performing duties when necessary.
The appointment marks the first time a Maltese MEP was selected to hold one of the top jobs within the European institution.
Metsola was nominated by the European People’s Party, of which she has been a member since 2013. There were no other submissions for the role and nobody opposed the nomination, including members of other political groups. She was declared elected by acclamation.
Thank you everyone for your support.
Being elected Vice-President of the European Parliament is such an honour. It means a great deal and I will work hard to continue to build bridges between citizens and the European decision-making process.
I will not let you down. #VEEP
— Roberta Metsola MEP (@RobertaMetsola) November 12, 2020
The vacancy for vice-president was created when former vice-president Mairead McGuinness became European Commissioner for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union in September.
The MEP is expected to inherit her predecessor’s responsibilities, including a seat on the Conciliation Committee that is convened to resolve any disagreements between the Council and the EP.
Reacting to the appointment, Metsola said: “This is a role that I look forward to and I am determined to use the new responsibilities I am afforded to continue to be a strong voice for European citizens, for Malta and Gozo and continue to work to build bridges across the political divide.
“We have to hit the ground running. With the economic and health recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, terror threats, the BREXIT negotiations,; a new President in the United States, the situation in Belarus, continued migration challenges and a new rule of law framework all high on the agenda – I, together with President Sassoli and other MEPs, will continue to do our part to ensure that the European Parliament remains a strong link between citizens and the European decision making process.”
Among those congratulating Metsola were President George Vella and PN leader Bernard Grech.
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