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COVID ‘group of six’ ban in England ‘will not apply’ to places of worship

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COVID 'group of six' ban in England 'will not apply' to places of worship
(UN Photo/Loey Felipe)The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby briefs the UN Security Council in New York on August 31, 2018.

The UK government’s “rule of six,” to combat rising coronavirus cases bannig social gatherings of more than six people, comes into force on Sept. 21, but will not apply to public worship in churches.

British authorities said the law would be changed in England to reduce the maximum number of people who can gather from 30 to six, to address an upsurge in COVID-19 cases.

Scotland has different regulations.

There were 390,358 cases and 41,759 deaths during a 14-day upward trend reported ON the UK government’s novel coronavirus dashboard.

The Archbishop of Canterbury tweeted Sept. 16, “After contact with Government, we hear that there is no change to guidance on places of worship. Worship is the work of God — not a social gathering — and gives the strength to love and serve.”

On Facebook, Archbishop Justin Welby wrote, “The increase in COVID cases is very concerning. We must follow the guidance and take all the necessary measures to keep people safe.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said at a press conference at Downing Street, “In England, from Monday, we’re introducing the rule of six. You must not meet socially in groups of more than six, and, if you do, you’re break­ing the law.”

PLACES OF WORSHIP EXEMPT

He listed some exempt places, including places of worship, in which more than six people are still permitted to gather, The Church Times said.

“Within those venues, however, there must not be individual groups larger than six, and groups must not mix socially together or form larger groups.”

Earlier, Welby had said he is “deeply concerned” about the impact of the “rule of six” on family life.

A family of five will be allowed to meet only one grandparent at a time, while families of six or more will be prohibited from meeting anyone.

Support bubbles allow adults who live by themselves and single parents – to join up with one other household.

All social gatherings of more than six – whether a book club, dinner party or picnic – are banned in England under the new law.

Support bubbles allow adults who live by themselves and single parents – to join up with one other household.

Police will have the power to break up bigger groups in parks, pubs, and private homes.

Archbishop Welby’s voice carries weight in Britain because he is the Church of England’s principal leader and the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

IMPACT OF RULE OF SIX

Welby was said to be concerned about the impact of the “rule of six” “the vulnerable, the needy, the poor and the elderly” in Britain, The Daily Mail reported.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, the archbishop said: “It makes sense to look instinctively for central direction in such an acute crisis, and we’re indebted to the roles many played in doing so, especially those who organized the NHS (National Health Service) to cope with the increased demand.

“Within the Church, there are lessons to be learnt about the role and importance of central guidance and its crucial interplay with government rules that exist for the benefit of all.

“But with a vaccine still far from certain, infection rates rising and winter on the horizon, the new normal of living with COVID-19 will only be sustainable – or even endurable – if we challenge our addiction to centralization and go back to an age-old principle: only do centrally what must be done centrally.”

Mike Pompeo Urges Vatican to Call Out China for Religious Freedom Violations

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Mike Pompeo Urges Vatican to Call Out China for Religious Freedom Violations

ROME — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has urged the Vatican to bring its considerable moral authority to bear on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which persists in oppressing Christians and people of other faiths.

“The Holy See has a unique capacity and duty to focus the world’s attention on human rights violations, especially those perpetrated by totalitarian regimes like Beijing’s,” Pompeo wrote Friday in an essay for First Things. “In the late twentieth century, the Church’s power of moral witness helped inspire those who liberated central and eastern Europe from communism, and those who challenged autocratic and authoritarian regimes in Latin America and East Asia.”

“That same power of moral witness should be deployed today with respect to the Chinese Communist Party,” the secretary insisted.

“What the Church teaches the world about religious freedom and solidarity should now be forcefully and persistently conveyed by the Vatican in the face of the Chinese Communist Party’s relentless efforts to bend all religious communities to the will of the Party and its totalitarian program,” he added.

Secretary Pompeo’s public urging comes just as Vatican diplomats are meeting with their CCP counterparts to renegotiate a 2018 secret agreement between the Holy See and China on the naming of Catholic bishops in China.

“Two years on, it’s clear that the Sino-Vatican agreement has not shielded Catholics from the Party’s depredations, to say nothing of the Party’s horrific treatment of Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong devotees, and other religious believers,” Pompeo noted.

“Communist authorities continue to shutter churches, spy on and harass the faithful, and insist that the Party is the ultimate authority in religious affairs,” he wrote.

This week, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) similarly urged the Vatican to highlight religious liberty in its deliberations with China prior to renewing a 2018 deal on the naming of bishops.

“Communist China continues to persecute Chinese Catholics. USCIRF hopes any future deal between the Vatican & China is rooted in the protection of #religiousfreedom,” the Commission wrote on its Twitter page.

Both the Vatican and Beijing have signaled a desire to renew their secret 2018 agreement, which conferred on the Chinese Communist Party an unspecified amount of authority in the selection of Catholic bishops in China.

In January 2020, the bipartisan Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) released its annual report on human rights conditions in China, which revealed an overall deterioration of religious liberty since the signing of the Sino-Vatican accord.

“In September 2018, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement with the Holy See, paving the way for the unification of state-sanctioned and underground Catholic communities,” the report stated. “Subsequently, local Chinese authorities subjected Catholic believers in China to increased persecution by demolishing churches, removing crosses, and continuing to detain underground clergy.”

“The Party-led Catholic national religious organizations also published a plan to ‘sinicize’ Catholicism in China,” the report continued, referring to the stated aim of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of obliging all religions to bring their teachings and practices into line with the party.

President Xi Jinping has doubled down on the “sinicization” of religion, the report’s executive summary noted. “Scholars and international rights groups have described religious persecution in China over the last year to be of an intensity not seen since the Cultural Revolution,” it added.

China has intensified its persecution of the underground Catholic church ever since the Holy See softened its position on the state-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, allowing believers to join despite its assertion of total independence from Rome.

In his essay Friday, Mr. Pompeo wrote that history teaches “that totalitarian regimes can only survive in darkness and silence, their crimes and brutality unnoticed and unremarked.”

“If the Chinese Communist Party manages to bring the Catholic Church and other religious communities to heel, regimes that disdain human rights will be emboldened, and the cost of resisting tyranny will rise for all brave religious believers who honor God above the autocrat of the day,” he warned.

“I pray that, in dealing with the Chinese Communist Party, the Holy See and all who believe in the divine spark enlightening every human life will heed Jesus’s words in the Gospel of John, ‘The truth will set you free,’” he concluded.

Pope: “pharmaceutical marginality” furthers gap between nations – Vatican News

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Pope: “pharmaceutical marginality” furthers gap between nations - Vatican News

By Robin Gomes

Pope Francis on Saturday decried the injustice of what he called “pharmaceutical marginality”, saying those who live in poverty are poor even in medicines, treatment and health. 

He made the remark to some 300 representatives of the Italy-based Fondazione Banco Farmaceutico (Medicine Bank Foundation), which collects medicines from donors and companies to deliver them to over 1,800 charities that take care of people in difficulty. 

Injustice in treatment

Speaking to the Foundation on its 20th anniversary this year, the Pope said sometimes people “run the risk of not being able to get treatment for lack of money, or because some people in the world do not have access to certain medicines”. “There is also a “pharmaceutical marginality”, which, he said, “creates a further gap between nations and peoples”. 

 “On the ethical level, if there is the possibility of curing a disease with a medicine, it should be available to everyone, otherwise it creates an injustice.”

The Holy Father lamented that too many people and children are still dying in the world because they cannot have the medications available in other regions. Warning against the danger of globalization of indifference, he proposed the globalization of treatment, which is the “possibility of access to those medications that could save so many lives for all populations”.  

Involving all actors

This, the Pope said, requires a “common effort, a convergence that involves everyone”. Scientific research can help find new solutions to old and new problems, including new paths of healing and treatment. Pharmaceutical companies can help contribute to a more equitable distribution of medicines. 

Pharmacists, he said, can be particularly attentive to those most in need and work for the integral good of those who approach them. Through their legislative and financial choices, those in authority are called to build a more just world in which the poor are not abandoned, or worst still, discarded.

Pandemic and pharmaceutical poverty

Pope Francis drew attention to the current pandemic, which, he said, has claimed nearly a million lives and is also turning into a serious economic crisis. This is increasing the number of poor people and families who don’t know how to go ahead.

“While charitable assistance is being provided,” the Pope said, “it is also a matter of fighting this pharmaceutical poverty, in particular with a wide spread of new vaccines in the world.” He reiterated that “it would be sad if in providing the vaccine, priority is given to the richest, or if this vaccine became the property of this or that country, and not for everyone”.

Collection Day

Through its Medicine Collection Day over the past 20 years, the Banco Farmaceutico Foundation has collected over 5.6 million medicines worth some €34 million. Over 4,900 pharmacies and more than 22,000 volunteers were involved in this year’s Medicine Collection Day in February. More than 473,000 needy people benefitted from the medicines collected.  

EU should check own glasshouses before throwing stones at PH – Prof. Carlos

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Juan Sanchez Gil
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EU should check own glasshouses before throwing stones at PH – Prof. Carlos

A political analyst took to social media her stand on the recent recommendation of European Union (EU) lawmakers to impose economic sanctions on Philippine goods entering their market because of alleged violation of human rights, closure of a broadcast network, and cases of a detained legislator and a journalist.

University of the Philippines Professor Clarita R. Carlos (Photo from Prof. Carlos FB page/ PNA/ MANILA BULLETIN)

“While there is the much-debated ‘responsibility to protect’ underpinned on the oneness of humanity, let us also remind the EU that before they start throwing stones in our direction, better check first the glasshouses they also live in,” said University of the Philippines Political Science Professor Clarita R. Carlos in her Facebook post on Sept. 18.

Carlos was reacting to the recommendation of European lawmakers over the revocation of the Philippines’ Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status that provides tariff perks on Philippine goods.

Under the EU’s GSP+ the Philippines could enjoy zero duties on its exports to the EU of products falling under more than 6,000 tariff lines.

The EU Parliament, in its resolution, cited the findings of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that at least 8,663 people had been killed in relation to the anti-drug campaign as of June 2020; “deteriorating level of press freedom” with the cyber libel conviction of Rappler’s Maria Ressa and a former Rappler researcher-writer; the shutdown of ABS-CBN; and the detention of Senator Leila de Lima. 

“Since the EU wants to take the moral high ground, let us just remind them that right at their shores are thousands of refugees in despicable and inhumane conditions, which the 26 EU members are tossing about as each one refuses to take in any of these refugees,” Carlos said.

In December 2017, the European Commission took Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to the EU Court of Justice over their refusal to participate in a one-off program for relocating across the bloc refugees who had arrived in Greece and Italy.

“Let us also remind them of the leader of one EU country who had repeatedly declared that it will not accept any refugee because “it will diminish and compromise the Christian tradition of its people,” Carlos added.

She suggested that the Philippine government respond to all allegations/accusations of EU lawmakers and invite an independent team to verify the bases of their claims.

Meanwhile, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the Philippine government is unfazed by the EU lawmakers’ push to revoke the tariff perks for Philippine goods

“Europe, go ahead. At the time of the pandemic, the whole world will pay tribute to you,” he said in a press briefing Friday. “They will be the biggest contributor to the violation of the right to life in the Philippines.”


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Card. Krajewski: Father Malgesini lived ‘no greater love than this’ – Vatican News

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Card. Krajewski: Father Malgesini lived ‘no greater love than this’ - Vatican News

By Vatican News

In the Cathedral of Como on Saturday morning, a Memorial Mass took place for Father Roberto Malgesini, murdered on Tuesday by a homeless person. Bishop Oscar Cantoni celebrated the Mass and Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the Papal Almoner, represented Pope Francis and concelebrated. At the end of the Mass, the Cardinal spoke on behalf of Pope Francis. The offerings collected during and after the Mass will be used in the charities sustained by Pope Francis as well as by the poor of the Diocese of Como.

“I bring you the Holy Father’s greetings and fraternal embrace”, Cardinal Krajewski said at the end of the funeral Mass for Father Roberto Malgesini. “He is with us. He is united with us in prayer.”

He then related that as soon as Pope Francis heard the news of Father Malgesini’s death, he picked up the words of Como’s Bishop during the General Audience on Wednesday.

“I give praise to God for the witness, that is, for the martyrdom of this witness of charity toward the poorest.”

The Cardinal repeated other words Pope Francis said during the audience: “Pope Francis is with us and is united to the pain and prayers of Father Robert’s relatives…. He is united with the faithful of his Parish, to the needy whom he served with all of his heart until that last morning, and with the entire community in Como.”

“Father Roberto is dead, therefore, he is alive. Love never dies, not even with death,” the Cardinal continued. He then called to mind a Gospel passage that Father Roberto’s death incarnates: “Greater love than this has no one than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Commenting on this passage, Cardinal Krajewski said, “One cannot be a true Christian if we do not make this page our own.”


Crowd participating in Fr Molgesini’s wake outside of the Cathedral of Como

To the question, “why did this happen to Father Roberto and not to me?” the Cardinal responded he does not know. However, one thing is certain, Krejewski added, “in his life, he incorporated Jesus’s prayer: ‘Our Father, your will be done, not mine; hallowed by thy name, not mine; thy kingdom come, not mine.”

That page, the Cardinal reflected, “refers particularly to us priests, who need to live the Gospel in its purity, we who need to spread Jesus’s perfume everywhere we go.” This is the sentiment expressed in a prayer written by Saint John Henry Newman and left by Mother Teresa as a legacy to her sisters in their daily service to the poor:

Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly,
That my life may only be a radiance of Yours.

Shine through me, and be so in me
That every soul I come in contact with
May feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!

Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine,
So to shine as to be a light to others;
The light, O Jesus will be all from You; none of it will be mine;
It will be you, shining on others through me.

Let me thus praise You the way You love best, by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but by my example,
By the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,
The evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You.

Then turning to the Bishop of Como, Oscar Cantoni, Cardinal Krajewski ended saying:

“I am sure that there are many priests and lay faithful who want to pick up Father Roberto’s evangelical work because this path is the true Gospel in action. If by any chance no one comes forward, I will come to you.”

Pakistan risks Basmati export as India applies GI tag in EU

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Pakistan risks Basmati export as India applies GI tag in EU

Islamabad, Sep 19 (IANS) Pakistan is facing another potential threat of a major damage to its exports as India has applied for an exclusive Geographical Indications (GI) tag to Basmati rice in the European Union (EU).

Pakistan on the other hand, is still yet to implement the GI law promulgated in March.

Despite the fact that Pakistan produces a wide range of Basmati rice in the country and benefits from its export to the EU and other parts of the globe, New Delhi has said that it is an Indian-origin product in its application, published on EU’s official journal on September 11.

As per the Indian application, Basmati is special long grain aromatic rice grown and produced in a particular geographical region of the Indian sub-continent.

It added that this region is a part of northern India, below the foothills of the Himalayas forming part of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP).

“The special characteristic of Basmati is grown and produced in all districts of the state of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himanchal Pradesh, Uttarkand as well as in specific districts of western Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir”, the Indian application maintained.

Leading Pakistani rice exporters have called on the government to immediately oppose the Indian application.

“Indian application at EU must be opposed immediately as it would badly damage Pakistani exports to European countries,” said Taufiq Ahmed, a leading exporter and bearer of Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan (REAP).

“Despite repeated requests and reminders, concerned authorities in Pakistan have been ignoring this serious issue for years and now if the problem is not handled swiftly then we would be left with no option but to sell Basmati rice with an Indian name/brand,” he added.

Ahmed said that Pakistan must come in immediate consultation with international dictionaries to rectify the definition as the same rice is largely produced in the country.

“Apart from opposing the GI tag from the EU, Pakistan must also consult international dictionaries to rectify the definition.

“Unfortunately, India is also regarding Himalayan salt and Multani Mitti with Indian names in the international market”, he said.

Official sources from the Federal Ministry of Commerce said that the Indian application in the EU will definitely be opposed.

They added that since the GI law has been promulgated, Islamabad would take up the issue of all GI products of Pakistani origin with the EU.

“Basmati was already recognized as a product of both India and Pakistan in the European Rice Regime and its Duty-Free Regime, making it illegal for India to claim exclusive rights of Basmati in the EU,” said an official from Intellectual Property Organization (IPO), an attached department of the Ministry of Commerce.

“The Cambridge dictionary and Wikipedia also show the product as originating from Pakistan and India,” he added.

Pakistan enacted the Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Act in March this year, which gives it the right to oppose Indian application for registration of Basmati rice exclusive rights.

As per the EU’s official journal, any country can oppose the application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 50(2) (a) of Regulations (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs within three month from the date of publication.

–IANS

hamza/ksk/

European Parliament calls on PHL gov’t to renew ABS-CBN franchise, drop charges vs Ressa, De Lima

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Juan Sanchez Gil
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European Parliament calls on PHL gov’t to renew ABS-CBN franchise, drop charges vs Ressa, De Lima
ywAAAAAAQABAAACAUwAOw== European Parliament calls on PHL gov’t to renew ABS-CBN franchise, drop charges vs Ressa, De Lima
European MPs listen European Commission President’s first state of the union speech during a plenary session at the European Union Parliament in Brussels on September 16, 2020. (Photo by JOHN THYS / AFP)

(Eagle News) – Members of the European Parliament expressed alarm about what they claimed was a “deteriorating level of press freedom in the Philippines” and called on the Philippine government to “renew” the franchise of ABS-CBN, as well as to drop all charges against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa.

This was contained as part of the resolution of the European Parliament which is composed of 705 members,

The text of the resolution which also expressed “deepest concern” at the allegedly “rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte” got the vote of 626 members of the European Parliament, with only 7 voting against it, and 52 abstaining.

It also called on the Philippine government to release opposition senator Leila de Lima from detention while she is awaiting trial, and for the authorities “to drop all politically motivated charges” against her.

The full text of the European Parliament resolution was made available on Friday, Sept. 18.

In its resolution, the European Parliament said it “Is alarmed about the deteriorating level of press freedom in the Philippines; condemns all threats, harassment, intimidation, unfair prosecutions, and violence against journalists, including the case of Maria Ressa.”

It also called for the dropping of all allegedly “politically motivated charges” against Ressa and her colleagues as it stressed that “press freedom and freedom of expression are fundamental components of democracy.”

The European Parliament also “calls on the Philippine authorities to renew the broadcast licence of the main audio-visual group, ABS-CBN” as it noted how the Philippine Congress voted to deny the renewal its franchise in July.

It said that the “refusal to renew its broadcasting licence by President Duterte is seen as an act of retaliation for the media’s coverage of the anti-drugs campaign and serious human rights abuses.”

It “calls on the EU Delegation and EU Member States’ representations in Manila to closely monitor the cases against Maria Ressa and Reynaldo Santos Jr, and to provide all necessary assistance,” the resolution also said.

The members of the European Parliament (MEPs) also strongly denounced what they claimed were “the thousands of extrajudicial killings and other serious human rights violations related to the so-called ‘war on drugs’.”

“They also condemn all threats, harassment, intimidation, rape and violence against those who seek to expose allegations of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations in the country, including human rights and environmental activists, trade unionists and journalists,” a release from the European Parliament read.

-PHL gov’t rejects European Parliament claims-

The Philippine government immediately rejected the claims of the 705-member strong European Parliament.

“The freedom of expression and press freedom have never been and will never be curtailed by the Duterte administration. This as we continue to promote our shared democratic ideals with the international community. In fact, the Philippines continues to enjoy a plurality of voices, expression, opinions, and beliefs; hence, the continued operations of Rappler and Ms. Ressa’s pursuit for self-justification in response to their legal obligations,” said a statement from Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar.

He said that the Duterte administration will continue to remain “concerted and composed towards the promotion of the inherent rights, freedom, and security of media workers and in observance of the rule of law and due process as part of our collective, sincere, honest, and genuine commitment to serve the Filipino people.”

(Eagle News Service)

Organic Soybean Market Analysis Report 2020 by Supply, Demand, Components, Trends, Size, Share and more…

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Organic Soybean Market Analysis Report 2020 by Supply, Demand, Components, Trends, Size, Share and more…

Organic Soybean Market Analysis Report 2020 by Supply, Demand, Components, Trends, Size, Share and more… – Organic Food News Today – EIN News

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EU parliament resolution urging UN to probe PH drug war killings cited

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EU parliament resolution urging UN to probe PH drug war killings cited

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman lauded the adoption by the European Union Parliament of a resolution urging the United Nations to lead “an independent investigation into widespread killings in the Philippines” in connection with the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

“This is a very positive and welcome move coming as it is from one of the world’s major and influential parliaments. The Duterte administration should seriously heed the recommendation of the EU parliament, otherwise, it will only further its isolation internationally,” said Senior Deputy Minority Leader Zarate.

Lagman stated: “Neither braggadocio nor self-serving claims of sovereign independence can hide the dismal human rights record of the Duterte administration.”

“Human rights violations are global concerns which transcend sovereign boundaries justifying the call of lawmakers from the European Parliament for the United Nations to lead “an independent investigation into widespread killings in the Philippines related to President Duterte’s war on drugs,” said Zarate.

He added: “We have long been calling for an independent international probe on the spate of killings in the country like that of Bayan Muna coordinator Jory Porquia, Randall Echanis, and Zara Alvarez, as well as other human rights violations. This is a push in the right direction.”

Lagman, an independent House member, also cited the fate of human rights defenders Echanis and Alvarez, saying that they have been “summarily killed.”

“It is self-serving to bar an independent United Nations investigation, through the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), on the country’s worsening state of human rights on the pretext of sovereign immunity when the Philippines is a state party to many human rights conventions obligating signatories to promote and protect human rights,” the Bicolano solon said.

Human rights group Karapatan welcomed the resolution.

Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said this resolution was a “strong statement from the international community that there would be consequences for these abuses.”

“The sham drug war has continued to kill the poor with impunity while human rights defenders face vilification, violence, and death for their work in exposing these human rights violations even in the middle of a pandemic,” she noted.

“Domestic mechanisms have been ineffective and outright failing in bringing the perpetrators of these gruesome crimes to justice,” Palabay said.


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Survival of wildlife reserves under threat in Namibia

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United Nations News
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Survival of wildlife reserves under threat in Namibia

When radio host Tashia Kalondo visited a conservancy in Namibia, she didn’t realize just how close she would get to the wildlife. Ms. Kalondo had travelled widely and seen wildlife before, but when the camp staff said they’d have to camouflage the gate to their campsite with shrubs to prevent elephants from coming in overnight, she found it hard to believe. “I laughed because, what a joke, right?” she recalls. “Wrong!”

African elephants (file)

The next morning, she found tracks made by elephants, which, during the night, had loped silently in, just a stone’s throw from where Kalondo was sleeping. “My mind was blown,” she remembers.

Conservation and sustainable development

Namibia has 86 communal conservancies, which are run by the local residents, and are highly appreciated by tourists. Their desert landscapes of ochre sand, black rock, shining blue skies are stunning, and an array of wildlife species, including black rhinos, lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and zebras, roam the land.

Communal conservancies play an important role in sustainable development. People who live on conservancy land are granted rights to utilize wildlife sustainably, which include the harvesting of meat and the sale of trophy hunting rights, both based upon regulation and quotas. This way they benefit from wildlife management and tourism, and have less incentive to trade illegally in animal parts.

The conservancies protect and even recover wildlife, building back the population of animals lost to poachers. In 2019, poaching in Namibian conservancies decreased by more than 60% over the preceding year, thanks to greater intelligence and law enforcement operations — supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) — and tougher sentences and fines.

Zero tourists

This success now risks being undermined by COVID-19. Compared to other countries, the health toll of the virus has been relatively low, thanks largely to a ban on international arrivals put in place by the Namibian government in March. However, the impact on the economy, and tourism in particular, has been devastating: Namibia’s Ministry of Tourism is expecting zero tourist arrivals for the entirety of 2020.

Tashia Kalondo (centre) is a popular radio host in Namibia, by UN Namibia

Tashia Kalondo is from Namibia, where she’s a popular radio personality, but most tourists come from Europe, the US, China, and neighbouring African countries. In 2019, there were 1.7 million foreign visitors — that’s in a country of 2.5 million people. The conservancies alone bring in $3.2 million in income, not to mention $3.5 million in annual staff salaries. That’s a lot of money in a country that falls in the bottom third of the Human Development Index: nearly a third of Namibians are poor.

Due to the pandemic, tens of thousands of conservancy jobs are in jeopardy. With many people more desperate for food and income than before, poaching is expected to increase, yielding valuable products such as elephant tusks, rhino horns, or simply meat for local consumption. 

“Namibia is facing three challenges at once,” explains Alka Bhatia, UNDP Namibia Resident Representative. “There’s the pandemic. There’s the economic crisis. And then there’s the threat of increased poaching, which strikes a blow to the tourist industry and the economy.”

‘Conservancies must survive’

In response, UNDP  and the World Health Organization (WHO) are supporting the government by procuring medical supplies. UNDP also collaborated with the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) in the capital, Windhoek, and WHO on health education initiatives, to slow the spread of the coronavirus

The conservancies are one of the biggest tent poles holding up the national economy. If they fall, then a lot more will collapse around them. Alka Bhatia, Namibia Resident Representative, UNDP

In addition, UNDP partnered with a local online shop to launch an e-commerce platform to help informal traders regain some of their lost income. And the agency made a grant to conservancies to stay afloat, covering their salaries and anti-poaching work. That’s just the latest move in years of support that UNDP has provided to the conservancies, including training and equipment to fight fires, and help with fire and land management policy.

“For the long-term health of the Namibian economy, the communal conservancies must survive,” says Ms. Bhatia. “The conservancies are one of the biggest tent poles holding up the national economy. If they fall, then a lot more will collapse around them.” 

It’s not just the economy that will be affected. The loss of natural areas, as well as the poaching and consumption of wildlife, increase the chance that viruses will jump from animals to humans. That means more zoonotic infectious diseases — such as Ebola or HIV/AIDS that pass from animals to humans — which leads to more economic crises, more poverty, more hunger. By protecting flora and fauna, conservancies act as a natural buffer against disease.

“The human-wildlife relationship is an intricate one,” says Ms. Kalondo, reflecting on her conservancy visit. “Besides admiring the wildlife, I spent time with some community members, including a Himba tribe settlement. I saw first-hand people and wildlife living together.” Her experience points to one of the greatest values of the conservancies. 

“Conservancies create jobs. They provide jaw-dropping experiences of wildlife,” says Ms. Bhatia. “But they also give us something else. They provide a lesson on how to coexist with the natural world. It’s a lesson we should all be mindful of.”

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