On Wednesday evening I had the pleasure of listening to Mary Robinson deliver a key note address entitled 'Copenhagen: Delivering Climate Justice'. The event was organised by Oxfam Ireland in association with TIDI.
The audience who were lucky enough to be in attendance took the rare opportunity to pose some tough questions about the science of climate change, its proposed link to future conflicts over natural resources, the need for a perpetual recession and the current thorn in the side of development education and practice - population control.
Climate change has been recently targeted by commentators who believe that the current and projected future growth in the populations of the developing world is what stands in the way of true development. Indeed, the UN Population Fund recently pointed the finger at the projected rise in the population of the developing world by 2050 as a reason for why climate change could worsen dramatically.
These commentators refuse to take concepts such as consumption into account. If they did they would have a hard time excusing countries whose population growth is considerably less than many nations in the developing world but yet have ridiculously higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions. They also fail to appreciate that education leads to greater family planning within communities and that the provision of education and the creation of the appropriate structures to facilitate this is a long process that should not be replaced by some quick fix condemnation.
It is both dangerous and alarmist to link climate change or indeed poverty to population control. It is disgraceful to essentially propose enforced population control and is an affront to human rights norms. Change will happen from within. This internal change should be facilitated, not prescribed.
However, NGOs and others in the development sector better start addressing the growing obsession with the notion of population control and start putting forward a strong case to counter some of the fallacies that we are currently being forced to listen to.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Poor and Unemployed? Then Go to Iraq
I was reading a BBC News article this week about the prevalence of Ugandan security guards in Iraq since 2007. I couldn't help but be disturbed for a number of reasons.
Iraq is currently a war zone where roughly 100,000 cilivian deaths have occurred since the 2003 invasion (according to Iraq Body Count). The mainstream media report suicide bombings and kidnappings on a daily basis and we are all too aware of the numerous accusations of torture and murder committed by foreign troops. Iraq is in a state of occupation, civil war and general disarray. It is not the first country that would come to mind when considering career prospects.
So why have more than 10,000 Ugandans already gone to work there as security guards? Seth Katerema Mwesigye, who was interviewed by the BBC, claims that the money he made in Iraq made him wealthy by Ugandan standards and that Iraq has proved quite lucrative for many Ugandan security firms. Unfortunately, for many Ugandans facing poverty and unemployment, it is seen as an opportunity to escape. But at what cost - death, mutilation, psychological scarring? It is disgraceful that people have to risk their very lives to simply have a livelihood.
Also, I do not like the idea of foreign security guards, from any country, operating in Iraq. The word mercenary jumps to mind! Though I have no reason to believe that the thousands of Ugandans who worked in Iraq operated in any fashion other than professionally, Mr Mwesigye himself acknowledged that other security firms were now offering similar services for close to half the price. Price undercutting could lead to the lowering of standards and very soon the calibre of individual being sent to fill these posts (which surely could be filled by the local population) could seriously be in question.
It is a dangerous career path which people are turning to out of desperation and one that I fear will not benefit the already suffering Iraqi population.
Iraq is currently a war zone where roughly 100,000 cilivian deaths have occurred since the 2003 invasion (according to Iraq Body Count). The mainstream media report suicide bombings and kidnappings on a daily basis and we are all too aware of the numerous accusations of torture and murder committed by foreign troops. Iraq is in a state of occupation, civil war and general disarray. It is not the first country that would come to mind when considering career prospects.
So why have more than 10,000 Ugandans already gone to work there as security guards? Seth Katerema Mwesigye, who was interviewed by the BBC, claims that the money he made in Iraq made him wealthy by Ugandan standards and that Iraq has proved quite lucrative for many Ugandan security firms. Unfortunately, for many Ugandans facing poverty and unemployment, it is seen as an opportunity to escape. But at what cost - death, mutilation, psychological scarring? It is disgraceful that people have to risk their very lives to simply have a livelihood.
Also, I do not like the idea of foreign security guards, from any country, operating in Iraq. The word mercenary jumps to mind! Though I have no reason to believe that the thousands of Ugandans who worked in Iraq operated in any fashion other than professionally, Mr Mwesigye himself acknowledged that other security firms were now offering similar services for close to half the price. Price undercutting could lead to the lowering of standards and very soon the calibre of individual being sent to fill these posts (which surely could be filled by the local population) could seriously be in question.
It is a dangerous career path which people are turning to out of desperation and one that I fear will not benefit the already suffering Iraqi population.
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