Tag Archives: UN

United Nations

Economy

Food e-cards ~ an innovative experiment for food relief

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Now, Syrian refugees do not wait in line for food at a Turkish camp nor do they crowd around aid delivery trucks, but instead, they go to the ordinary supermarkets  to pay for the goods using their debit cards.

Under the experimental project launched by the UN World Food Programme and the Turkish Red Crescent, thousands of refugees who have fled the conflict raging in their homeland now receive debit cards charged with aid credits rather than boxes of basic supplies.

Food e-cards were initially distributed to 13,000 Syrians in Kilis in October 2012. After Kilis, the Food e-Card programme was expanded in other camps in Hatay. The programme are planned to be expanded to include a higher number of families, as cooking facilities and access to shops become available in other camps.

Each Syrian family receives an electronic Food e-Card that is loaded with 80 Turkish Liras (US$45) per family member per month. This is enough to provide a basic diet (at least 2,100 kcal per person per day). Nearly 22,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey were benefiting from the “Food e-card” project at the end of November, according to the WFP.

The Visa Electron cards, supplied by Turkey’s Halkbank, are accepted only in certain stores operated by a private Turkish retail chain. The supermarkets are stocked with fresh vegetables, meat and a wide variety of staple food products and basic necessities. But there are some restrictions. Purchases of chocolate and cigarettes are not allowed with the cards, and alcohol is not sold in these shops. At the register, the products are scanned and so is the user’s finger, which is checked against the fingerprint stored on the card’s electronic chip.

The WFP and Red Crescent said that while one potential consequence of humanitarian programmes is that an influx of aid can distort economies, they hope the combination of technology and using local suppliers used in the “Food e card” scheme could strengthen the local economy and serve as a role model in the region.

This is an interesting innovative effort to provide food relief to refugees as this is not going to affect the local economy adversely as a consequence of sudden influx of refugees from a neighboring country. But it needs advanced economy and banking system in the host country for making this type of programme to be successful.

Economy

BRICS coming closer as an economic & political bloc

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In the New Delhi summit, leaders of the BRICS group today [Thursday, 29 March 2012] pressed Western powers to cede more voting rights at the IMF this year and flayed the rich world’s reflationary monetary policies for putting global economic stability in jeopardy.

Promised changes to voting rights at the IMF have yet to be ratified by the United States, adding to frustration over reform of the G7 and the U.N. Security Council, where India and Brazil have been angling for years for permanent seats. The BRICS leaders also accused rich countries of destabilizing the world economy five years into the global financial crisis by creating excessive global liquidity. It also recognised the right of Iran to pursue peaceful nuclear energy. They said that the crises over Iran’s nuclear programme should be resolved diplomatically and should not be allowed to escalate.

The five BRICS nations signed an agreement to extend credit facilities in their local currencies, a step aimed at reducing the role of the dollar in trade between them. They also agreed to examine in greater detail an Indian proposal to set up a BRICS-led South-South Development Bank, funded and managed by the BRICS and other developing countries. This will be in the line of Asian Development Bank. The Finance Ministers will be examining the proposal and it will be discussed in the next summit.

Other moves to bring their economies closer together include the launch on Friday of benchmark equity index derivatives allowing investors in one BRICS country to bet on the performance of stock markets in the other four members without currency risk. The indexes will be cross-listed on their stock exchanges from Friday.

However, it is utmost necessary that BRICS members first develop mutual trust and confidence among themselves to emerge as a powerful bloc in the global arena. Also, they should not allow the West to play any damaging game for maintaining their hegemony over the world affairs.

Issues

International Mother Language Day

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International Mother Language Day is being observed every year since February 2000 to promote linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism. It was proclaimed by the General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in November 1999 (30C/62) to celebrate every February 21 as International Mother Language Day in recognition of the sacrifices of the Bangla language martyrs, who dedicated their lives for establishing the rightful place of  Bangla.

The date represents the day in 1952 when students demonstrating for recognition of their language, Bangla, as one of the two national languages of the then Pakistan, were shot and killed by police in Dhaka, the capital of the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. The Pakistan government was mandating Urdu language as the state language in both East and West Pakistan. I salute those brave martyrs.

Bangla is the official language of Bangladesh and also, it is one of the official languages in India. It is the second-highest spoken native language in India, after Hindi. The national anthems of both India and Bangladesh were written by the Bangla Nobel laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore. I am proud that Bangla is my mother language.

United Nations have stated that the languages are the most powerful instruments of preserving and developing our tangible and intangible heritage. All moves to promote the dissemination of mother tongues will serve not only to encourage linguistic diversity and multilingual education but also to develop fuller awareness of linguistic and cultural traditions throughout the world and to inspire solidarity based on understanding, tolerance and dialogue.

শুভ ভাষা দিবস! Happy International Mother Language Day!

Economy, Nature, Technology

An Odisha tribe gets global recognition for green farming

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The tribal community of Koraput, Odisha has been chosen by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) for recognition under its Globally Important Agricultural Heritage sites programme.

A decade ago, Raita Muduli, a tribal woman from the Koraput district, was introduced to a nature friendly farming system, which not only changed her condition but also got her tribe the UN recognition.

It all started after the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation – run by eminent agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan – introduced them to organic farming.

Muduli, along with Chandra Pradhan, another member of her Porja tribe inspired other people in the village to take up the system and now almost eight-nine villages are involved in the environment-friendly agriculture system.

Earlier, they were using a large amount of chemical fertiliser for farming. But then they shifted to organic methods. They are using cow-dung for manure. For preventing crops from getting infected, they prepare insecticides in a traditional manner using neem leaves and other plants found in the forest that have medicinal qualities.

The tribe produces several varieties of rice, wheat and cumin seeds. This green method of farming has almost quadrupled the annual yield in the last few years, while the profits have risen several times.

Muduli, along with Pradhan, were felicitated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the 99th Indian Science Congress at Bhubaneshwar for practising the ‘Koraput Traditional Agricultural System’.

It may also seen as the recognition of tribal peoples’ contribution to biodiversity and knowledge systems, whilst increasing attention to their natural and cultural heritage.