Issues that are imortant to ponder upon

human rights

Obama and the services of his lip

2009 was been a busy year for all those who battled against human rights violations. Human rights activists were busy campaigning for a range of issues; from people harassed in places like Gaza and Sri Lanka to illegal prisons, genocides and bonded labour.

Amidst all these, there was a ‘ray of hope’ in the form of America’s new President. Obama’s promises like closing Guantanamo Bay’s prison, bringing peace in Central Asia, decreasing troops in Iraq, et al brought in some good news for the activists. But by the end of 2009, all this has turned out to be more or less a service of the lip. To worsen matters, many other human rights scandals like BlackWater (in Iraq), sexual harassments of Tamil women in refugee camps, debate over arrest warrant of Omar Bashir (the Sudanese president) and the recent news of resurfacing of ‘Blood Diamond’ activities have shamed the world. According to recent reports by various NGOs, blood diamonds are still trading freely and smuggling is quite rampant. Both Human Rights Watch and UN’s Kimberley Process want such countries to be suspended out of diamond trade; but unfortunately, no concrete action has been ordered so far. While the beginning of 2009 gave some hope to human rights activists, they have found themselves back to square one in 2010 – rather, a few steps backward. Since no major breakthrough happened in 2009, the whole of 2010 will obviously be a busy season for both the activists and abusers. Issues regarding war crimes and illegal prisons will continue to be paramount. Even numerous pending and ignored cases at the International Court of Justice are expected to be closed due to huge media pressure. In addition, 2010 is anticipated to be a year where the residual factors (war crimes) of war and conflicts will take centre stage.  

domestic violence

Closed doors...

Over the past few decades, the laws regarding domestic violence have grown from being mere laws to providing safety for victims. Many countries have seen a surge in deployment of special and dedicated teams of police, advocates, courts and experts; thus making the fight against domestic violence a priority. However, prosecution of repeated violators is not being handled properly.

Talking in terms of numbers, domestic violence has seen a rise, during the last decade, especially in the ‘developed’ western countries. Moreover, along with cases of domestic violence against women, even issues regarding domestic violence towards men have surfaced. Between 1989 and 2004, around 9000 men died in domestic violence. Many international bodies under the aegis of UNICEF, like ‘The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women’, ‘Convention on the Rights of the Child’, and ‘the Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth International Conference on Women’, are trying to fight this social malaise at their level. But the progress seems to be snail-paced due to lack of effective mechanisms at a global level. A WHO multi-country study reflects, “Between 10% & 52% of women reported being physically abused by an intimate partner... between 10% & 30% said they had experienced sexual violence by an intimate partner. Between 10% & 27% of women and girls reported having been sexually abused...” Even today, many African and Asian countries (like Angola, Nigeria & Bangladesh) don’t have laws safeguarding women from domestic violence. Only a few third world countries (like Hong Kong) have adopted laws on same-sex domestic violence while most third world countries are yet to accept the existence of such relationships.

With the battle not even half won, the fight against this problem will be a prominent issue at all socio-global forums in 2010. With an increasing number of women entering political and economic chambers, we should hopefully see some progress this year.

water scarcity

The new gold

With the water table depleting, agricultural land is losing its fertility as dangerously – if not faster. Almost all developed and developing countries are leaving no stone unturned to save water and keep the land arable. In 2007, the Spanish government fined citizens caught watering their plants with 9,000 euros. Cyprus is buying water from Greece, and Australian cities are buying water to help their farmers. On one hand, China is planning to redirect Himalayan water, and on the other, California is planning a water-rationing system.

Presently, around ten corporate magnates dominate the global drinking water industry. This whole business model of purchasing ‘water laden land’ is not as simple as it seems. Rich countries have started a land-grabbing process. Countries like China, Kuwait and Sweden are snapping up vast tracts of agricultural land in third world nations (mainly in Africa) under the veil of outsourcing their agriculture, but actually, they are eying the vast reserves of water these lands contain! Recently, Korean company Daewoo also plunged into this business by considering a 99-year lease on 1.3 million hectares of Madagascar land. Middle-East countries, which have huge drinking water problems, are well into this business. While Qatar is trying to grab 40,000 hectares in Kenya, UAE is targeting 30,000 hectares in Sudan. And the common feature among all these deals is that these lands contain huge water reserves. With the global bottled water market slated to have a value of $86.4 billion by 2011, grabbing fertile land serves a dual purpose – using the land to produce extra crops to mitigate the food crisis and also creating a potential market for bottled water, especially in third world countries. By 2025, over 1.4 billion people in 36 countries will be without adequate drinking water.

Water is being deemed as the ‘new oil’; and war over water would be no surprise in 2010. It seems that the gold rush is only waiting for a sequel. The new gold is sans any colour or lustre; but it’s definitely far more precious!