FOX News : Health

30 October, 2011

Academy on Labour Administration and Labour Inspection


Academy on Labour Administration and Labour Inspection

24 October-4 November 2011
By Chea Sophal
Turin, 30 October 2011

Turin, Italy: 30 October 2011, the International Training Centre (ITC) and Labour Administration and Inspection Programme (LAB/ADMIN) organized a two-week Academy on Labour Administration and Labour Inspection at the ITC, Turin, Italy.  There are around 80 participants from different continents such as Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America.  Those countries include, Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Cape Verge, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mexico, Moldova, Namibia, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Macedonia, Trinidad Tobago, Ukraine, Venezuela, Vietnam, Salvador, and Senegal.

The academy aims at analyzing and discussing new operating conditions for labour administration and labour inspection, making reference to recent international debate on the issue.  It also focuses on analysis of labour administration and labour inspection key functions, trends and challenges related to national context and comparing them to other countries practices.  

Article 3 of t he ILO Convention 81 concerning Labour Inspection in Industry and Commerce, outlines key functions of the labour inspection such as ensuring the enforcement of the legal provisions relating to conditions of work and the protection of workers while engaged in their work (provisions relating to hours, wages, safety, health and welfare, the employment of children and young persons, and other connected matter) are enforced by labour inspectors.   The other functions include supplying technical information and advice to employers and workers concerning the most effective means of complying with the legal provisions, and bringing to the notice of the competent authority defects or abuses not specifically covered by existing legal provisions.  Cambodia is not yet a state party to this ILO Convention 81 yet. 
Cambodia as the Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) and Better Work Programme are discussed in the session on Public/Private Partnership in the field of Labour Inspection and Labour Administration.  The Public/Private Partnership inspection programme like BFC and other Better Work Countries Programme are not to replace the state public labour administration and labour inspection.  It is there to help and assist the public labour inspection.

The participants who are taking part in the academy hold key positions from various institutions such as Director, Labour Inspector, Chief of Inspection Department, Coordinator- General, Researchers, Enforcement Officer, Executive Officer, and Project Coordinator.
Based on the consultation with the participants from different countries, the labour inspectors have variable monthly salary for examples a monthly salary of $150-$250 for inspectors in Cambodia, $500 for Honduras and Mexico, $1,100 to $1,300 for Peru and Chile, and $5,000 to $6,000 for Brazilian labour inspectors.
Below are some photos on the workshop and around the ITC compound.

                         Aerial view, flight from Paris to Turin over Alps mountain range

 Teleconference session with CINTERFOR and Public/Private Partnerships in Public Employment Services and Vocational Education Training.

                                                  Participants from African Continent

                                         Participants from Asia

       Better Work Representative delivered a presentation on Public/Private Partnership.
                                                            Turin City Tour

                                                               Canteen at ITC
A team of interpreters that enable us to communicate to and with different languages such as English, French, Spainish, and Portugese.
Banner on the Labour Administration and Labour Inspection Academy and ILO Skills Development Academy


The strong and helpful organizing team
                                Turin, ITC and Its Nature in the training compound.


29 October, 2011

Another timeout for Anful



About 170 garment workers fainted at a factory in Kampong Speu yesterday, the first day Anful Garments Manufacturing reopened after being hit by a mass fainting incident on Monday, workers and government officials said yesterday.

The second mass fainting at the Hong Kong-owned factory, which supplies global retailer H&M, follows the release of a report commissioned by the Swedish retailer that claimed the cause of fainting at another factory that supplies it was “a case of mass pychogenic illness”, or “mass hysteria”.

Han Porn Kun, a doctor with the department of labor and a member of the ministry’s committee on research and prevention of fainting of workers, however, blamed yesterday’s fainting on the factory’s management. It had failed to improve the ventilation system and did not rearrange the production chain according to recommendations made by the committee following Monday’s mass fainting, he told the Post.

Opposition MP Mu Sochua, who visited the factory on Monday, also warned yesterday that global brands that produce garments in Cambodia should be very careful of “peddling this propaganda” about mass hysteria. “Cambodia may be a place where they can abuse workers, but at some point this is going to backfire and hit their customers,” she explained.

“If I were the buyers like H&M, Nike, Gap, I’d bring in a real expert to ensure their names are not tainted globally,” she said, dismissing the two-day investigation commissioned by H&M. It said that workers were being forced to work overtime in violation of labour law and at the same time that the faintings were caused by mass hysteria, she said. Anful employee Sim Ra said workers were complaining of numbness in their hands and knees before they started fainting. “My head started aching, I suddenly felt tired, and then I began vomiting,” she said.

Han Porn Kun said the fainting on Monday was caused by the spraying of insecticides on fabrics and said yesterday’s fainting was a result of its failure to clean its environment as it had been ordered to do.

However, Ou Ta, an administrative officer at Anful, said the factory had cleaned its workspaces and blamed the fainting on hysteria.

Han Porn Kun said the factory would be shut until Tuesday so that it could make the improvements to its workplace it was instructed to do.

Mu Sochua said the solution was better wages and improved working environments. “This is not something that is going to go away,” she said.

H&M has yet to respond to questions about the investigation into mass faintings at M&V Manufacturing International in August. Both factories are monitored by the International Labour Organisation’s Better Factories Cambodia program, which is conducting a probe into the faintings that have shut numerous garment factories.

Mu Sochua said inflation was increasing faster than wages and that workers were as a result “unable to put enough calories into their bodies to do their work”.

20 October, 2011

Women and Gender Issues in Cambodia Garment Sector Trade Unions

20 October 2011 By Sophal Chea

Cambodiana:  20 October 2011, ILO SPG of BFC conducted half day meeting with trade union federations to discuss the study on "Women and gender issues in Cambodia garment sector trade unions"  The study  looks at the percentage of women in the trade union at the enterprise levels, factors leading to less participation of women in the leadership and trade union activities, and provides recommendations and action plan for the involvement of women in the trade union. This research was conducted with 34 interviewees, 24 of them are from four factories.  There are two federations involving in the research namely C.CAWDU and CLUF and ten are from town national federations.  The key findings include as follows:

-  Nearly all of women are members of the trade unions;
- There is high level of women involvement in the enterprise-level trade unions (deputy union leader, secretary, trainer, and women organizing committee);
and - Lack of understanding of labor law.

The ILO Consultant, Elso Ramos-Carbone, expressed the major reasons why women are not leading the garment unions.  The major reasons include:

- The findings of survey in Cambodia identifies the major reasons....which are commone to all trade unions everywhere in the world; - Existence of prejudice:  cultural factors (mentalities, behaviour, attitudes towards women and men; gendered roles/stereotyping; discrimination);
- Women's lack of confidence in their own abilities;
- The unequal division of family responsibilities; and
- Trade unins are not at " women-friendly".

The consultant provided a number of methods to tackle those challenges as follows:
- Awareness-raising, campaigns, education and training for men and women on gender sensitivity, gender equality, and sexual harassment;
- Firm commitment of trade union leaders to lead the fight for gender equality in the trade unions and elsewhere.  Action, not only words!;
- Provide a women's place in her union;
- Building women-friendly unions;
- Adoption of gender policies and action plans/prgrammes;
- Charts/manifestos on the rights of working women at the workplace, in society and trade union;
- Gender equality project  groups;
- Amendments to statutes (Constitutions) to include gender equality provisions and positive action measures; and
- Actively encouraging men to participate in events and campaigns organized by women and/or focused on issues of particular concern to them is another way of raising gender awareness.

Cambodia– almost endless opporunities

Source: Business Insider 19 Oct 11 Simon Black If you’re an eager expat looking for inexpensive adventure and opportunity, you might want to think about Cambodia. I’ll run down a few of the highlights– First, it’s important to get a clear understanding of where you’re starting from. Cambodia is an incredibly poor country. Like much of Southeast Asia, it’s had an excellent economic run over the last few years, consistently growing between 7-10%. GDP per capita, however, is still a paltry $2,000. There are a number of growth catalysts which suggest that this number will probably double or triple in the coming years. When you start off at close to the ground level, it doesn’t take much to move the needle. One of the most compelling opportunities here is in the agriculture sector. Cambodia has some of the cheapest productive property in the world that I’ve seen, far cheaper than in neighboring Thailand or even in South America. What they lack here is value-add capacity. Take rice, for example. Rice is becoming a significant export in Cambodia, yet the country lacks the capability to turn its raw paddy rice into refined, more expensive grain. Much of the rice is shipped off to Thailand at below-market rates where it is milled, repackaged, and sold at a much higher price as refined Thai jasmine or basmati. Land costs and operating costs are both much lower in Cambodia… and given the country’s relative stability and sea access, it’s much easier to achieve economic scale here. There is little reason why the entire value chain cannot take place in-country… from growing to processing to transport. Seafood and other agricultural commodities are in the same boat, so to speak. Tourism is another key driver for future economic growth. Cambodia receives a tiny fraction of the number of tourists that Thailand, Malaysia, and even Vietnam receive, yet the country’s beautiful coastline, cultural treasures (like Angkor Wat), and accommodating locals certainly rival regional competitors. The issue with Cambodia is simply a promotional one… and that’s something that can be addressed with time, effort, and a cleverly-deployed marketing budget.  There is already a steady rise in Chinese and Singaporean tourists coming to the country, and Cambodia’s reputation is slowly beginning to spread. Manufacturing is another compelling sector in Cambodia. China still dominates Asian manufacturing, but the more China transitions to a fully developed nation, the less competitively it can manufacture cheap goods. Cambodia is best positioned among its neighbors to take over from China as it has several competitive advantages: the labor market is young and fairly well educated. The port facilities are reasonably developed. And believe it or not, Cambodia’s dollarized economy makes international trade and cost structure predictable. Now, to be involved in Cambodia, you definitely have to be here. This isn’t a place to have a factory that you drop in on every few months– being here full-time is key. If I were in-country full time, I would focus on a key trend: the rising incomes of average Cambodians. As the economy continues to grow, Cambodians across the board will become wealthier. And in the developing world, it’s a simple progression. When people are totally broke, they walk. When they have a bit of money, they buy a bicycle. Then a motorbike. And finally a car. They start using more electricity, purchasing more expensive mobile phone plans, eating out more often, buying sweets, upgrading their beer selection, etc. You won’t find iPad sales skyrocketing here anytime soon, but simple pleasures do extremely well in this sort of environment. Last, I should mention that both foreigners and their capital are treated well in Cambodia. Taxes are low (0% to 10%), and the country lacks the political instability that Thailand seems to undergo every few months. Overall, for both foreign investors and entrepreneurs, Cambodia is a solid bet. There are a lot of opportunities to make some serious money here, and the start up costs are negligible. Best of all, it’s a pretty great lifestyle to boot. More on that later. Bottom line, it’s not all doom and gloom out there. Major economies are cratering for sure, and this is going to force a fundamental change in the way that the world works.  But for an intrepid, creative spirit, there is really an ocean of opporunity just waiting to be tapped.

Photos on flooded areas


A community stadium along National Road 5 was flooded during all raining seasons since it seems that the stadium is used only in dry season. 


The houses along Neak Loeung ferry were flooded.




The view in Prey Veng where it was most flooded.

Kingdom factory goes for the gold


The Phnom Penh Post

111019_01
Photo by: Will Baxter
A garment worker lays out cloth to be cut at the ShenZhou (Cambodia) Co, Ltd factory on the outskirts of Phnom Penh yesterday. The factory, which employees more than 4,300 workers, is now making Adidas apparel for the 2012 Olympics, which are to be held in London. 

Cambodian garment makers are filling orders for the 2012 London Olympics in what insiders say is the first time the country has supplied the Games.

ShenZhou International Group Holdings Ltd, one of China’s largest apparel exporters, makes shirts and other sportswear for Adidas that will supply the 2012 games.

Although Adidas would not disclose details concerning the Olympic contract, ShenZhou’s Cambodian factory produces more than 300,000 garments per month for Adidas, or about 25 per cent of the factory’s 1.3 million garment-per-month capacity.

Hidden at the back of the sprawling Vattanac Industrial Park in Phnom Penh’s Chom Chao district, and employing 4,324 Cambodians, ShenZhou is by many accounts a model producer among the Kingdom’s burgeoning garment sector. Still, worker contracts and production costs show signs of a market in the throes of development.

As an official sponsor of the 2012 Olympics in London, Adidas required suppliers of the Games to rank among the top 60 per cent of its supplying factories worldwide in terms of human and environmental safety and management effectiveness, William Anderson, head of Adidas’s social and environmental affairs in the Asia-Pacific region, said yesterday at the factory.

ShenZhou ranks low on the list. Management issues put the factory between the 40th and 50th percentile, Anderson said. The factory is free, however, of the safety hazards that would disqualify the company.

“We can tell you there are no zero-tolerance issues here. There are no major threshold issues here,” he said, referring to standards the company uses to identify problems. The lower rating is “focused on management systems.”

The decision to source Cambodian garments for the Games was simple, Anderson said. ShenZhou’s vertical operations and access to fabrics, as well as Cambodia’s trade preferences with the United States and Europe, made ShenZhou a candidate for the job, he said.

It’s the first time Cambodia has produced apparel for an Olympic Games, Von Sou Ieng, president of the Garment Manufacturers Association of Cambodia, said yesterday. Anderson confirmed that this was the first time a Cambodian company had produced garments for the Olympic Games committee.

The news is also good for the sector’s reputation after a recent spate of fainting incidents attracted unwanted attention, Von Sou Ieng said.

“It’s good for Cambodia’s recognition in being able to produce quality products,” he said. “Despite a few bad elements, we should focus on the great competitiveness of this country’s manufacturing.”

ShenZhou was free of the mass-fainting incidents that shocked the industry starting last April, but the trend was disheartening nonetheless, factory general manager Yan Delin said yesterday.

“We were very concerned about that,” he said, adding that he followed the incidents, some of which occurred in neighbouring factories, in the Cambodian media.

Adidas has investigated similar fainting cases throughout the region, but in the past 10 years Anderson said he had seen about four.

The phenomenon in Cambodia, in which more than 200 workers would be admitted to hospitals at a time, was extraordinary, he said.

“Faintings have occurred in other countries, it’s just the frequency of the ones that have occurred here. It’s exceptional to see them in large clusters,” he said.

111019_08
Photo by: Will Baxter
A garment worker sews Adidas apparel yesterday at the ShenZhou (Cambodia) Co Ltd factory, located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.
The faintings were highly emotional, Anderson said. The initial collapse of a worker because of fatigue or exposure to toxins could trigger a string of faintings in workers – primarily female – who might not have physical symptoms, he said.

Anderson listed a number of obstacles to doing business in the Kingdom, among them the high costs of production and energy, the need to import all materials and inconvenient transportation.

Although rights groups have criticised manufacturers for the use of short-term contracts for employees, both Anderson and Yan Delin claimed their staff preferred them.

Labour rights groups say compan-ies use short-term contracts to deny workers benefits. Yan Delin, however, claimed that workers preferred short-term contracts to the more stable long-term contracts because it gave them more freedom and an additional severance bonus at the end of every six-month period.  Workers, regardless of the terms of their contract, received the same benefits, he added.

Despite the severance-pay incentive, garment workers in Cambodia largely sought long-term contracts, Better Factories Cambodia manager Tuomo Poutiainen said yesterday.

“It has already been established that workers prefer long-term contracts for job security,” he said, adding that companies should promote the use of long-term contracts to stabilise the labour force.

The ShenZhou factory is also void of unions, which experts say is a rarity in Cambodia’s highly unionised garment industry.

Unions had never been barred from formation in the factory, Yan Delin claimed. Three or more workers could easily unionise with provided paperwork, he said.

Unions simply had not formed because of relatively high wages, he said. Workers at the factory earned an average of US$130 a month and the employee turnover rate stood at 2.5 per cent a month, company representatives said.

According to Anderson, preventing the formation of a union was an offence that could lead Adidas to dropping a supplier.

Yet more than 80 per cent of Cambodian factories had a union presence, David Welsh, country director for the American Centre for International Labour Solidarity, said yesterday.

“It’s an anomaly. It’s highly unus-ual,” he said, adding that factories without unions were usually of a much lower line of production.

15 October, 2011

Cambodian draft law on NGOs may breach international pact, UN rights expert warns


 UN  News Centre
14 October 2011


14 October 2011 – A Cambodian draft law making registration of associations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) mandatory and banning unregistered groups, risks breaching an international treaty, a United Nations rights expert warned today, calling on the Government to review it.

“The current draft NGO law contains a set of problematic provisions, raising concerns over a potential negative impact on Cambodian citizens’ democratic participation in furthering the development of their country,” UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association Maina Kiai said in a news release, noting that it could violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
A legal framework to ensure freedom of association should facilitate, rather than control, individuals’ enjoyment of this right formally or informally
The mandatory nature of the draft law “constitutes a clear infringement of the right to freedom of association. Having a recognized legal status may confer rights and benefits to organizations such as the ability to open bank accounts, but legal status is not necessary for the enjoyment of the right to freedom of association,” he added.

He welcomed a recent statement by Cambodia’s ambassador to the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council promising “further consultations” and called on the authorities to review the draft law in open and meaningful discussions with associations and NGOs.

By excluding refugees, stateless persons and other non-Cambodian residents from forming associations or domestic NGOs and limiting eligible founding members to Cambodian nationals, the draft further violates freedom of association, which should be enjoyed by all individuals within Cambodia’s territory, he noted.
Other concerns include the high minimum membership requirement; lack of clarity of the criteria for registration, suspension or termination; and the overly cumbersome and bureaucratic registration process for foreign NGOs, which could limit the scope of their activities and hamper their independence.
“A legal framework to ensure freedom of association should facilitate, rather than control, individuals’ enjoyment of this right formally or informally,” Mr. Kiai said. “It should also emerge from an open, transparent process that engenders goodwill and confidence.”

Two other UN experts raised concerns over the effects of the draft law on human rights defenders. The Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue, stressed that the draft could affect the defenders’ ability to exercise such rights.

The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Margaret Sekaggya said the free and full exercise of the right to freedom of association places a duty on States to create a favourable environment for defenders to act freely.

“We urge the Cambodian authorities to fully take on board the legitimate concerns repeatedly raised by NGOs and associations during the announced further consultations,” the two said, noting that the Government has reviewed and revised the draft law numerous times.

Last month, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, urged the Government to review the draft and not proceed with it in its present form.

Cambodia bans its citizens from working as domestic helpers in Malaysia

The Star Online

By ISABELLE LAI and LIM WEY WEN
newsdesk@thestar.com.my


PETALING JAYA: The dire shortage of maids affecting some 35,000 families has taken a turn for the worse with Cambodia springing a surprise ban on its citizens working as domestic helpers in Malaysia.

This comes three days after Indonesia announced that a moratorium on sending its maids had not been lifted pending a proper framework being put in place.

A Reuters report from Phnom Penh yesterday said Prime Minister Hun Sen made the decision after expressing disappointment with alleged incidents of beatings and rape of Cambodian maids by their Malaysian employers.

The report quoted Cambodia's Community Legal Education Centre, which helps abused domestic workers, as saying at least three maids were killed in Malaysia, and two raped and kept in isolation.
Their passports were also withheld by their employers.

The Association of Cambodian Recruiting Agencies president An Bunhak said it would uphold the government order.

“The Ministry of Labour will enforce what the Prime Minister has said,” An Bunhak said, adding that about 50,000 maids had sought work in Malaysia since 2009.

Cambodian recruitment agencies had earlier this year decided not to send maids to Kuwait after complaints of abuse by employers there.

The ban has major implications on Malaysian families as many employers turned to Cambodian maids following Indonesia's freeze on their domestic workers.

Malaysia National Association of Employment Agencies (Pikap) president Datuk Raja Zulkepley Dahalan said the newly-imposed ban was “very bad news”.

He said agencies had taken a beating during the maid shortage crisis with quite a number being forced to shut down.

“This doesn't only affect employers but agencies as well,” he said. “We have fewer than 150 active agencies now compared to over 300 previously,” he said.

Raja Zulkepley said employers should be prepared to source for maids from the Philippines and not put too much pressure on agencies.

Malaysian Maid Employers Association (Mama) said Cambodia's decision was “very harsh and drastic”.
Its president Engku Ahmad Fauzi Engku Muhsein said Cambodia should focus on implementing better protection for its maids, not issue a total clampdown.

“The majority of employers take care of their maids very well,” he said. “This decision will just make the maid situation worse in Malaysia.”

Engku Ahmad Fauzi said Malaysian employers should be educated and made to change their mindset so that maids would be viewed as “part of the family”.

Strikers used as ‘slave labour’


About 500 of the 600 garment makers at Meroson Cambodia Co Ltd went on strike yesterday, accusing the Taiwanese-owned firm which exports T-shirts to North America of using them as “slave labour”.

“This Chinese factory has always violated Cambodian laws. It has also violated workers’ rights by forcing staff to work on public holidays and to work overtime,” said Chey Sovan, vice-president of the Cambodian

National Confederation for Labourers’ Protection.

Chey Sovan said that the main reason for the strike at the factory in Kouk Roka commune in the capital’s Dangkor district, was the firing of three workers on October 3 who had been selected by the union to be its representatives on September 18.

He said management did not want the union in the factory because it would expose violations of labour laws.

Sorn To, who said she was fired after joining the union, accused Meroson of forcing pregnant and sick staff to work overtime, and of cutting the salaries of those who took sick leave. “They treat workers like slaves,” she said.

Employee Phoeun Samnang said the company’s recruitment policy targeted uneducated women under the age of 30 and excluded women whose husbands were police officers or soldiers. “They only recruit pretty, young women with no education,” she said.

Union representative Un Dara confirmed workers’ allegations that they had to seek permission to go to the toilet, and that managers timed them when they did.

Dave Welsh, country director of the American Centre for Labour Solidarity, described this as “outrageous”.

“Even in Bangladesh, which has the worst working environment in the garment industry, they don’t do that. So it’s shocking to hear it’s happening here,” he said, adding that it was not the first time he had heard this allegation from garment workers in Cambodia. Staff at Meroson did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

Touch Phorn, Dangkor district deputy police chief, said police were sent to the factory to protect property and prevent violence. “Police did not try to stop them from striking,” he said, adding that he had asked representatives of Meroson and workers to meet at his office to resolve the dispute.

The International Labour Organisation monitors the factory as part of its Better Factories Cambodia program. It did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.

10 October, 2011

Social Protection Programs Key to Meet MDGs in Africa Says New Report


National schemes, such as pensions, safety nets and school feeding programs, can impact positively on several Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by addressing the immediate needs of the most vulnerable.
According to “Assessing Progress in Africa toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”, a region-specific report released over the weekend, these programs will provide the very poor with labor market skills and safeguards against relapses into poverty.

“African countries should enhance the strength and resilience of their poor populations through targeted social safeguards. We urge policy-makers to recalibrate their social protection programs, so that they are perceived not as handouts but rather as measures to strengthen productive assets,” said the authors of the foreword to the report.

This year’s annual report shows that such policies will help in the region’s steady progress on some of the MDGs, eight internationally-agreed targets to reduce poverty, hunger, maternal and child deaths, disease, gender inequality and environmental degradation by 2015.

The document lays out a number of success stories in the area of policy, including Algeria's social protection scheme that contributed to reducing unemployment from 30 to 10 percent between 2000 and 2009, and Ethiopia’s 2005-2008 public works projects that led to construction of nearly 4,500 rural classrooms and improved food security for 7.8 million citizens.

Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme, covering 67 percent of the population, cut out-of-pocket expenditure for health by 50 percent. In Malawi, agricultural subsidies and outreach services resulted in an increase in the number of food-secure households, from 67 to 99 percent between 2005 and 2009.

Such schemes provide immediate protection for the poor while also making a longer term contribution to creating dynamic economies and more resilient societies, according to the report published by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Union Commission (AUC).

“Africa has made steady progress on a number of targets Thanks to policy innovations and social protection schemes,” says the report. For example, it increased primary school enrolment rates from 65 to 83 percent between 1999 and 2008.

In addition, 80 percent of the 36 African countries that have data for 1990 to 2010 increased the number of women in parliament during that period; and HIV/AIDS prevalence rates have dropped from just under six percent in 2001 to five percent in 2009.

However, while all regions of the world made progress on reducing maternal mortality, Africa faces a formidable task on this indicator, with several countries showing averages of 1,000 deaths per 100,000.

In addition, although the population with access to safe drinking water increased from 56 to 65 percent between 1990 and 2008, the rate of progress is insufficient for the continent to reach the 2015 MDG target of reducing by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.

Progress on some of the MDGs may have stalled or been reversed by the impact of the global economic crisis on Sub-Saharan Africa where the proportion of those earning less than 1.25 UD dollars a day decreased from 67 to 58 percent between 1998 and 2008.

More than 20 percent of young people in North Africa, for example, remained unemployed in 2008, while more than 75 percent of the labor force in Sub-Saharan Africa had vulnerable jobs in 2009, according to the report.

09 October, 2011

International heebie-jeebies over the jeeb

The Phnom Penh Post
Friday, 07 October 2011 12:01
Eléonore Sok-Halkovich

An ancient ceremonial dance move has the Thai and Cambodian governments twisted all out of shape

Who owns the jeeb? That’s the question which further agitated Thailand and Cambodia right in the middle of political tensions over the disputed Preah Vihear temple two months ago. It’s a debate that may seem trivial next to the situation at the border, but which revealed just how fiery the nationalist sentiments on both sides are running. 

The jeeb is the graceful hand position where the thumb touches the index finger and the other three fingers are fanned out – a cornerstone of traditional ballet and shadow theatre in both Thailand and Cambodia. But in 2008, the jeeb was included under the umbrella of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia and Khmer shadow theatre, when they were registered on UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. There they remained for three years, until August, when the new Thai Culture Minister Sukumol Kunplome declared that gaining official ownership of the jeeb, and the accompanying shadow plays, was a national priority.

“They are part of the Thai cultural heritage, so if another country has registered them, we have to find a solution,” she declared in the media, adding that the jeeb is used to promote Thai culture and it would be controversial if it was branded ‘Cambodian’.

While archeologists debate the true origin of the jeeb, and politicians squabble about who owns it, dancers on both sides of the border are quick to declare that the hand gesture wars are based on a false premise: there are actually two different types of jeeb; one for each nation.

To the untrained eye, the “Khmer” jeeb and the “Thai” jeeb both appear, well, pretty much the same – a fact which no doubt heightens the stakes of the battle. Because if Thailand succeeds in reclaiming the Cambodian jeeb that was registered with UNESCO, they will have effectively hoarded all the heritage.

Sam Sathya, a prominent 44-year-old Khmer dancer who teaches traditional ballet at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, is adamant that the hand gesture registered with UNESCO is a Cambodian one.

“The jeeb movement belongs to the Khmer people,” she told 7Days. “The difference between the Thai gesture and ours is that we have more tension in our hands and fingers, because we dance with the spirits. We keep our power in our body and our fingers.”

Her former teacher, Minh Kosny, concurs. In the 1960s, Minh Kosny danced in the Royal Ballet, and after a successful career, the 63-year-old rose up to become a Secretary of State in the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.

“These ballet dances were created at Angkor Wat at a time when there were no borders between Thailand and Cambodia. Thai people used to live in Cambodia at that time and the borders were extended to China,” she said.

“The Thai culture has its own identity, and the Khmer culture does too. We can’t use another identity. Although we have the same kinds of dance, we have different ways to express ourselves.”
Minh Kosny explained the numerous nuances within the pose.

“There are eight basic hand gestures in Cambodian dance,” she said. “The jeeb is one of them. And it can be used in different ways to express different things. For example, when the hand is placed before the mouth it means the girl is shy. It can also mean to laugh, to introduce ourselves, to pick a flower, to write, to make up eyebrows, to swim, and so on.”

On the other side of the border, prominent Thai dancer Pichet Klunchun is attempting to moderate the disagreement between the neighbours. The dancer said he believes the dispute to be a simple mix-up, inflamed by stubborn inter-governmental sabre-rattling.

“I think that the Thai jeeb belongs to Thailand, and the Cambodian jeeb belongs to Cambodia. Each one is different,” he said. “The government and related organisations are creating more conflict between Thailand and Cambodia, adding to present problems about the disputed territory, because the parties do not explain that the jeeb in Thai dance is different from Cambodia’s,” he said.

“The ambiguity creates misunderstanding and conflict. Thailand can register for the tangible heritage for the Thai jeeb but should not claim that the Cambodian jeeb, which was registered by Cambodia, belongs to Thailand. I still want to insist on the fact that the Thai jeeb and Cambodian jeeb are different.”

Anne Lemaistre, UNESCO representative for Cambodia, said that arguments like the fight for the jeeb are commonplace in countries which share a common history.

“We want to put it into perspective; the cultures of both countries are the results of centuries of dynamic changes. So it’s normal to find similar things in both cultures,” she said.

“The jeeb is only one hand gesture among about 4,500. In my opinion, the Thai Minister of Culture just wants to put the topic on top of the agenda, but if they want to register their own jeeb, they can do it.
They just have to ratify the convention on Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity first.”

For most dancers, the fight is a frustrating side issue. Khmer and Thai dancers influenced each other centuries ago, and they continue to work together today.

Belle, a Khmer ballerina, said “We don’t need to say which of the two countries owns the jeeb. I have collaborated with Thai dancers before and we think as artists, not as countries. We don’t want to fight, just make art together.”

08 October, 2011

Global Competitiveness

Source: Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation 
Changing World
By BERNARDO M. VILLEGAS
October 7, 2011
MANILA, Philippines — The recent improvement in global competitiveness of the Philippines in the World Economic Forum (WEF) ranking leaves little room for complacency.  We are still behind all of our ASEAN peers, with the exception of Cambodia.

It is a long way to go to be in the top 20 or even in the top 50.  Given the headstart the Philippines had as an industrialized and democratic society after the Second World War, we should adopt the attitude of National Competitiveness Council co-chairman Guillermo M. Luz who greeted the good news with the following cautiously optimistic words: “We are extremely happy with the results thus far.  When we set out to improve our rankings, we realized that we had to be systematic and persistent in our efforts in order to record consistent gains over time.

The teamwork between government and the private sector and the coordination among different government agencies is beginning to show results... Although our ‘institutions’ ranking improved marginally, this remains a key challenge for us.

This category looks into the strengths of our public institutions in their management of public funds, counter-corruption, legal framework, and favoritism and transparency in government decisions. Many of these indicators have begun to move in the right direction in terms of slightly improved rankings but room for improvement and gains remain. Our performance remains in the bottom 20% of global ranking.”
There are a variety of ways to continuously improve our global competitiveness. One approach is to build on our strengths to make even more quantum leaps in improving our standing. Another is to focus on our weaknesses and to move heaven and earth to overcome them.

A middle way is to spread our efforts on both building on our strengths and overcoming our handicaps. My opinion is to give the stress to building on our strengths while gradually eliminating our weaknesses, which always take a longer time to achieve.

The Global Competitiveness Index measures over 110 key indicators spread across 12 major categories or “pillars.” The Philippines recorded improvements in ranking in 9 of the 12 pillars, with significant jumps in the categories of “macroeconomic environment” (from 68 to 54), “technological readiness” (from 95 to 83), and “institutions” (from 125 to 117).

Our weaknesses were obvious in the categories where rankings declined:  “infrastructure” (from 104 to 105); “health and primary education” (from 90 to 92); and “labor market efficiency” (from 111 to 113).

Special mention has to be given to our 14-position leap in “macroeconomic management” which got a big boost from the very positive gains in credit rating, government debt, interest rate spreads, and management of inflation. Also key drivers for our improvement in ranking were market efficiency for goods, particularly in the intensity of local competition; extent and effect of taxation; prevalence of foreign ownership; the local supplier quantity; Internet users; and Internet bandwidth.

I personally cannot understand why we were cited positively for “marked improvement in FDI and technology transfer” since my own perception is that we are way behind our ASEAN peers (possibly even Cambodia) in our openness to foreign direct investments because of the numerous obstacles found in our very Constitution and other laws and administrative practices that militate against FDIs.
Removing these obstacles will take some time because, among others, constitutional amendments will be necessary.
We must have a long-term strategy to address our deficiencies in infrastructure, the quality of health and primary education, and the efficiency of our labor market. We all know that these problems take time to resolve.

Take, for example, the labor market. Part of the problem there is that our existing Labor Code is full of archaic provisions that date back 20 or more years ago. The challenge of coming out with a new Labor Code is daunting.

Even if a new Code is passed in the next two to three years, implementation will take even much longer.  It would be difficult for us to have significant improvements in this area even during the term of the current Administration.

The same can be said for the other categories in which we rank poorly. As another example, it would take more than five years before we can bring down the very high price of electricity that is a real deterrent to manufacturing activities.
In contrast, under “macroeconomic environment,” we are already No. 54. It is not overly ambitious to target breaking into the top 50 circle or even top 20 circle under the present Administration since we have an outstanding team of fiscal and monetary policy makers who are among the best in East Asia.

If we obtain investment grade in credit rating soon, continue to decrease our government debt as a ratio of GDP, bring down inflation to the 2 to 3% level, etc., our much improved ranking in macroeconomic management can compensate partly for the slow progress we may be making in improving, for example, the quality of our primary education.

We can also work more aggressively  on increasing the intensity of local competition by being more effective in preventing oligopolistic or monopolistic practices (even in the absence of a competition law which may take time);  improve the extent and effect of taxation by finetuning our tax laws and revenue collection measures;  and promote more investments from both domestic and foreign investors in our IT infrastructure so that we can move to the magic 50 circles in both Internet users and Internet bandwidth.

By working on our strengths, thus focusing on the “low-hanging fruits,” we provide the appropriate macroeconomic environment and investment climate that will attract the larger funds needed to tackle the more intractable challenges as the quality of roads, quality of ports, the quality of railroads and airport infrastructure, and the quality of electricity supply.

All these need massive domestic and foreign investments that would be easier to attract if we rank among the top 20 in those areas where we already have our strengths compared to our ASEAN peers.  Even at the corporate level, building on strengths is a more effective strategy to achieve objectives than eliminating weaknesses.

In fact, there are even circumstances under which management is resigned to the fact that some weaknesses may be difficult to remove, at least for the medium term, and the only intelligent strategy is “to make them irrelevant.” For comments, my new email address is bernardo.villegas@uap.asia.

Fainting factory hit with ‘illegal’ strike

Fainting factory hit with ‘illegal’ strike
The Phnom Penh Post
FRIDAY, 07 OCTOBER 2011 
 TEP NIMOL  


Workers at M&V International Manufacturing’s garment factory in Kampong Chhnang province went on strike yesterday afternoon after talks between management and the Free Trade Union workers broke down.

FTU secretary-general Man Seng Hak said yesterday “the strike would continue until all demands are met and workers will set tyres aflame [today]”. The demands include the reinstatement of 20 employees allegedly fired last month for attempting to establish a branch of the union at the factory.

The FTU has said that workers at the factory began joining its union after two mass fainting incidents at the factory in August. The incidents prompted investigations by the labour ministry, the International Labour Organisation and global brand H&M, which buys apparel from the factory. 

A spokesman for H&M told the Post yesterday that the company was “in contact with the FTU and M&V management”. He also said it was “finalising the results from [its] investigation” into August’s mass faintings.

FTU president Chea Mony said that 20 staff had been dismissed for trying to join his union last month.

M&V, however, has said the workers were on short-term contracts that had expired. Soum Sinath agreed, saying “the termination of the contracts between the company and workers was legal, and the factory had no work for them so it ended their contracts”.

He also described yesterday’s strike as illegal. “According to the law, if both sides fail to reach an agreement, they forward their dispute to the Arbitration Council and if the company does not follow the order of the Arbitration Council they have the right to strike,” he said.

FTU’s president at the M&V facility, Tem Silak, said she was among the 20 workers allegedly fired for attempting to establish the union at the factory. She said M&V had dismissed 290 workers in September. “We asked the company to allow them to return to work when work is available, but the company rejected this,” Tem Silak said.

The FTU said 3,000 of the factory’s 4,000 employees joined yesterday’s strike, while Soum Sinath put the number at 1,000.

M&V management declined to comment.

07 October, 2011

Textile exporters feel the heat of rising competition, costs

Textile exporters feel the heat of rising competition, costs
The Economic Time
Ranjit Shinde, ET Bureau Oct 3, 2011


India, once considered the leader in textile exports to the US, is now lagging behind Bangladesh, China and Vietnam, reveals the data from US Department of Commerce, Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA). In fact, the country has lost a bigger share of the textile export market pie to Vietnam over the past three years.

Indian textile exporters are increasingly finding it difficult to match lower prices offered by Southeast Asian companies because of relatively higher labour and operating costs. The competition is more intense in the garment segment, which accounts for three-fourth of the total textile exports to the US. The garment segment offers better realisations compared to total textile exports.

According to the data, players in the other regions charge 11-22% lesser per square metre equivalent (SME) of apparels to US buyers when compared with Indian billing rates. For instance, in the first seven months of this year, India earned $3.6 per SME from garment exports to the US. This compares with $2.8 per SME for Bangladesh, $3 per SME for China, and $3.2 for Vietnam.

06 October, 2011

SOUTH AFRICA: Clothing factories raided for labour violations

SOUTH AFRICA: Clothing factories raided for labour violations
Source: Just-style
Author: Petah Marian | 4 October 2011


A number of clothing factories in Newcastle, South Africa, have been raided after allegations surfaced of serious violations of workers' human and labour rights, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union (SACTWU) has revealed.

The raids on 12 Newcastle based clothing manufacturers was conducted by the Department of Labour, the Department of Home Affairs, the SA Police Service, the industry bargaining council and the SACTWU following widespread complaints from workers about the conditions they had to work under.

The Department of Labour said operations in one factory were stopped immediately for not having safety guards in place which posed a threat to the lives of workers. There were also claims of safety exits not being demarcated, no electrical certificates available for electrical installations, and no soap or toilet paper in toilets.

"In one instance it was found that only one toilet was shared by almost 60 male and female employees," said Abey Rasepae, provincial control inspector of the department in Kwazulu Natal.

SACTWU said yesterday (3 October) that at almost all of the companies it surveyed, workers were not supplied with toilet paper. Instead they were expected to use pieces of fabric supplied by the company.

"Instead of flushing these fabric off-cuts down the toilet, workers are expected to place these off-cuts in bags or boxes next to the toilet. These bags or boxes are often only removed once a week, resulting in filthy, smelly and unhygienic conditions. Where toilet paper is supplied, workers are often expected to pay for the use thereof, even though they receive very low wages," it said.

It was also reported to the union that in certain factories workers do not even have the use of toilets but are expected to use buckets. In some factories, workers have to pay penalties if they stay in the toilet for more than a couple of minutes. These penalties are deducted from their weekly wages.

The Department of Labour also found other serious violations like no fire fighting equipment or first aiders, first aid boxes with inadequate medical supplies, no health and safety reps or committees. It also found that employers were "on the wrong side of the law" when it came to paying contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund or Compensation Fund, said Rasepae.

The inspection also discovered that illegal foreign workers had been hired from countries like Lesotho, Swaziland and China, with immigration officers arresting and detaining some 46 foreigners.

"Recently, some commentators have rallied around certain Newcastle clothing employers and lauded their resistance to paying the legally-prescribed wages as holding the key to the future of South Africa's unemployment problem through a more flexible labour market with lower wages," said SACTWU general secretary Andre Kriel.

"As has been shown during these raids, this so-called key involves abusing workers' most basic labour and human rights and a return to the exploitation of workers seen during apartheid."

Speaking to just-style, SACTWU national organising secretary Chris Gina said the union is looking to speak to the brands who buy from the factories in an attempt to improve the situation for the affected workers.

He said this would be better than naming the brands publicly and having them pull their business, leading to redundancies for the workers. "As they work through agencies, the brands might not be aware of what's going on," he said.

Haiti: garment bosses fight new unionization drive

Haiti: garment bosses fight new unionization drive
Source: World War 4 Report
Weekly News Update on Tue, 10/04/2011 

The management of two Port-au-Prince apparel factories owned by wealthy and powerful Haitians—Gerald Apaid and former presidential candidate Charles Henri Baker—fired a total of five officers of a new garment workers union between Sept. 23 and Sept. 25, a little more than a week after the union announced its formation. Johny Deshommes, a spokesperson for the Textile and Garment Workers Union (SOTA), lost his job at Apaid's Genesis S.A. factory on Sept. 23 when he asked to be allowed to go home because of a fever. Three other members of SOTA's executive committee, Brevil Claude, Wilner Eliacint and Cénatus Vilaire, were fired on Sept. 25 when they tried to meet with the human resources director to discuss Deshommes' firing; Genesis management brought in two police agents to intimidate and threaten the unionists before they were allowed to leave. SOTA's secretary, Mitial Rubin, was fired from Baker's One World Apparel after he had leafleted workers outside the factory.

A third apparel company in the capital, Richard Coles' Multiwear SA, fired union member Hilaire Jean-François on Sept. 30, and there are reports of harassment of other unionists.

The factories, located in the National Industrial Parks Company (Sonapi) facility near the Port-au-Prince airport, are tax-exempt assembly plants producing largely for export (known in Spanish as maquiladoras). None of the SONAPI factories are unionized, and unions have been kept out of most Haitian assembly plants, although the leftist group Batay Ouvriye ("Workers' Struggle") succeeded in organizing a union in 2004 at the assembly plants in Ouanaminthe at the Dominican border in the Northeast department.

SOTA's formation was announced on Sept. 15 at a press conference in Port-au-Prince with representatives of Batay Ouvriye. Representatives of Haitian and international organizations also attended, including Camille Charlmers, executive secretary of the Haitian Platform Advocating an Alternative Development (PAPDA), and Víctor Báez Mosqueira, secretary general of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas (CSA-TUCA). The union has registered with Haiti's Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MAST).

The firings have received some international attention: the General Union of Guadeloupe Workers (UGTG), which led a 44-day general strike in the French Caribbean colony of Guadeloupe in 2008, denounced the companies' actions and declared its solidarity with SOTA. Batay Ouvriye has announced plans to file complaints with the Haitian authorities about the situation, and the group is asking solidarity activists to email the factory owners and the Association des Industries d'Haïti (ADIH, a factory owners' group) demanding the reinstatement of the unionists and full collective bargaining rights for assembly plant workers. The emails can be sent to Mr. Gerard Apaid/Genesis at gapaid33166@yahoo.com; Mr. Charles Henry Baker/One World Apparel at chbaker@pbapparel.com; Mr. Richard Coles/Multiwear at rcoles@multitex.com; and ADIH at administration@adih.ht, with copies to Batay Ouvriye at batay@batayouvriye.org. (AlterPresse, Haiti, Sept. 16, Sept. 29, Sept. 30; Batay Ouvriye press release, Sept. 27, via anarkismo.net, press release Oct. 1 via email)

In other labor news, the Association of Elementary School Teachers of Port-au-Prince Municipal Schools (ASIEMP) threatened to start an open-ended strike in the capital on Oct. 4, the day after schools open for the fall, to demand five months' back pay the union says is owed to a group of 800 teachers. The week before, on Sept. 28, some 30 members and supporters of the National Union of Haitian Teachers (UNNOH) marched in Port-au-Prince to demand that President Michel Martelly ("Sweet Micky") promulgate a law regulating school fees. Parliament passed the law in 2009, but it has never gone into effect. The marchers also demanded reinstatement of laid-off teachers and restoration of a bonus; they expressed doubts that the president really intends to carry out a plan he has announced for free public education. (AlterPresse, Sept. 29; Haïti Libre, Haiti, Sept. 30)

From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Oct. 2.

Floods drown Asia's rice bowl

Floods drown Asia's rice bowl By Ian Timberlake (AFP) HANOI — Massive floods have ravaged vast swathes of Asia's rice bowl, threatening to further drive up food prices and adding to the burden of farmers who are among the region's poorest, experts say. About 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) of paddy fields in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos have been damaged or are at risk from the worst floods to hit the region in years, officials say. In Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter, where 237 people have died in the floods, about one million hectares of paddy -- roughly 10 percent of the total -- have been damaged, they say. Heavy rains in Laos and Cambodia have also led to big losses in recent weeks, and experts say flood waters have now drained into Vietnam's Mekong Delta, a key global rice producer, making it the latest to be inundated. Further west, flooding of rice and other farmland in Pakistan's arable belt has cost that country nearly $2 billion in losses. "The whole region will now suffer from rising food prices as potential harvests have now been devastated. The damage is very serious this year and it will be some time before people can resume normal lives," Margareta Wahlstrom, the United Nations chief of disaster reduction, said in a statement. The flood damage comes on top of worries about the impact on global rice prices of a new scheme by the Thai government to boost the minimum price farmers receive for their crop. Vietnam meanwhile is the world's number-two rice exporter and the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam accounts for half the country's production. "The upstream waters have begun to drop slightly but here they are rising three to five centimetres (1.2 to two inches) daily," said Duong Nghia Quoc, director of the agriculture department in Dong Thap province. Dong Thap and neighbouring An Giang, which abut Cambodia, have been the worst affected in the delta. The UN, citing government sources, says 11 people have died, more than 20,000 homes are flooded and 99,000 hectares of rice are at risk in Vietnam. "Agricultural production is seriously affected this year by the floods that were, in fact, worse than our forecasts," said Vuong Huu Tien, of the flood and storm control department in An Giang, where thousands of soldiers have been mobilised to reinforce dykes and help residents reach safer ground. In Cambodia, more than 330,000 hectares of rice paddy have been inundated, of which more than 100,000 hectares are completely destroyed, said a senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture. Ngin Chhay said the "big loss" was likely to affect this year's rice surplus, which was expected to reach some three million tonnes. Cambodia, where more than 160 people have been killed in the floods, exports only a fraction of total rice production but the crop accounts for about 7.5 percent of gross domestic product. Laos, one of Asia's poorest nations, has also suffered, according to reports in state-controlled media there. Tropical storms which struck since June killed at least 23 people in the country and damaged more than 60,000 hectares of paddy, the reports said. In late September more crops suffered after a dam on a tributary of the Mekong released water to lower its rain-swollen levels, the Vientiane Times reported. Vo Tong Xuan, a Vietnamese rice expert based in the Mekong Delta, said a major contributor to this year's floods has been the unusually heavy rains in Thailand and Laos, which drain down through the Mekong. Experts say the delta's expanding system of dykes adds to the problem. They "prevent water circulation in some places but provoke floods in others," said Bui Minh Tang, a weather forecaster. Vietnam News, the communist state's official English-language daily, reported that the lost rice crop in Dong Thap province alone was worth $2.7 million. "The floods have seriously affected life and production of the farmers in our district, notably because of a shortage of drinking water and electricity," said Vu Tien Quang, who belongs to a farmers' association in the province.

Food security: an urgent priority of EU development policy - Andris Piebalgs Commissioner for Development

Food security: an urgent priority of EU development policy - Andris Piebalgs Commissioner for Development Source: European Commission  5 October, 2011  Ms Zimmer, Mr Berman, Mr Sall, Honourable Members, Ladies and Gentlemen, Let me begin by thanking the European Parliament's Committee on Development for organising this public hearing on food security in developing countries. Your committee has consistently shown a close interest in food security issues and the global food challenge. So has the Commission: agriculture and food security are priority areas of our development cooperation. Food security – pressing challenges Ensuring that every citizen is properly fed and has access to food should be at the forefront of our minds and consciousnesses. Not only when we hear that commodity prices are increasing; not only when we see images of food riots on our TV screens; not only when we realize that drought or war have made food unavailable to thousands of people… What is to be taken for granted by us is a luxury in many developing countries. And this is not acceptable anymore in the 21st century. A century of immense opportunities and challenges, and at the same time a century when we (re)discover the very simple essence of life – access to food. Food security and rural development have always been top priorities for the European Commission. We have never de-invested from those fundamental sectors and we have played a leading role in those areas for many years. The EU Food facility, the MDG initiative and the renewed EU Food Security Policy adopted last year are just a few concrete signs of this commitment. Annual commitments to "agriculture, food security, territorial planning and rural development" reach about 800 M€ per annum. In more than 40 countries around the world, this is a focal sector of our cooperation. Statistics show that supporting those areas offer the best return on investments that you could hope for in terms of poverty alleviation. This is why we will increase our support in the years to come. Of course, we must be realistic 1/ First, because food insecurity is a complex problem that needs to be tackled through various measures, including measures that enhance agricultural productivity, that promote the creation of opportunities in the labour market, and through social protection and assistance mechanisms. 2/ Secondly, because progress on food security will not be without its challenges. Production increases will be needed year on year to feed a growing world population; greater efficiency will be needed to cope with the pressures on natural resources and reduce avoidable losses in post-harvest production. The adverse impacts of climate change and excessive price volatility both add to these challenges and to the urgent need for greater investment from donors and partner countries alike if we truly want to reduce hunger. As well as greater investment, we need fully concerted and coordinated action between donors and partner countries if we are to make food security a reality. The example of the Horn of Africa which is suffering the most severe food crisis shows that it is not simply the result of the region's worst drought in sixty years and the recent hike in food prices; but a complex set of causes is at play here. So, now more than ever, we must act together and provide a response both to the immediate crisis and for the longer term. An EU policy to achieve food security for all The EU is actively engaged in fighting hunger and malnutrition (MDG 1), with specific attention targeted at the most vulnerable. Last year, policy frameworks on food security and humanitarian food assistance were adopted and they should give greater coherence and impact to our efforts, with a clear priority on small farmers and on women. With the Council having endorsed them last year, and with a joint implementation plan on food security in the pipeline, this food security policy is truly an EU policy. So I am delighted that the European Parliament's report on food security, drafted by the co-moderator of this session, Gabriele Zimmer, welcomes the EU policy framework and shares many of its priorities. And I am pleased to see the Commission and Parliament embracing a common vision on food security, also underlining how complex the issue is. I will not have time to reply to all of her suggestions, but you will hear that I have read her report very carefully Ensuring tangible results for the most vulnerable During my recent visit to the Horn of Africa, I witnessed at first hand the devastating consequences of hunger and malnutrition in a small children's hospital in Djibouti. Hunger and malnutrition kill, and, for those who survive it, it can have irreversible, life-long consequences. This is where we must achieve the link between relief, rehabilitation and development. I am working closely with my fellow commissioner ms Georgieva. Also, two weeks ago, along with EU Member States ministers Eamon Gilmore and Andrew Mitchell, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton we repeated our commitment to support partner countries' plans to fight hunger and scale up nutrition. With a number of Member States, we also developed technical guidance to ensure that investments in the agricultural sector translated into concrete nutrition improvements for women and children. A global response to global issues Eradicating hunger and extreme poverty is a global concern and as such requires a global response. That is why governance in food security is so important. And this is why the EU is a major contributor to global food security governance – especially through the reformed Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and for implementation of the Food Security agenda in the G8/G20 context. Alongside – and hopefully as part of – this search for global solutions, the EU will pursue its food security policy and ensure that this is backed up with suitable investments. Investing in agriculture and food security The EU is serious about investing in sustainable agriculture and food security to speed up progress towards the MDGs and reduce poverty. This is why, as the world's largest grant donor, we are leading by example. We are spearheading efforts to encourage donors worldwide to give appropriate space to food security and rural development in their development cooperation. Overall, the European Commission is meeting its 2009 L'Aquila pledge to support agriculture and food security. In 2010 alone, we have already made more than 50% of this commitment available. On top of this, the Commission has launched the 1 billion euro 'MDG Initiative' which has at its core agriculture and food security. And our commitment does not end there. Our recent public debate on the future of EU development policy has clearly identified agriculture and food security as key areas in which the EU should promote inclusive and green growth. The Commission will soon make a proposal to increase the impact of EU development policy, which will include focusing its support on sectors which have a strong multiplier impact on developing countries' economies, and which at the same time offer strong opportunities in the fields of climate change prevention and adaptation. This means placing strong emphasis on agriculture. I am also pleased to see that the European Parliament makes the same link as the Commission does: that sustainable Energy and Agriculture are the foundations for a sustainable growth. Let me raise here a couple of principles that I want to see at the core of our future policy on agriculture and food security: Commitments are needed on both sides. We cannot impose a focus on food security from the top; it has to be a bottom-up process. So we need our partner countries to commit to this agenda as much as we do. It is them who can do the most to achieve food security in their countries by prioritising agriculture and food security and by delivering on their commitments. For example, in Africa the Commission strongly supports governments in delivering on their commitments made in Maputo in 2003 to dedicate 10% of their national budgets to agriculture. I will propose that we commit to match the commitments of a government in a given country where agriculture is a sector of concentration. Investments are needed in the whole chain. There is no point to invest in agriculture and food security if we don't invest in the whole value chain. Our aid can only be high-impact if we address each and every part of the chain, from access to land and water to seeds, from infrastructures to storage, from transport to distribution, etc. One single donor cannot invest in the whole chain, but here stands our responsibility to ensure a real division of labour and to focus on everyone's added value and comparative advantage. In that respect, it is more than time that we join forces with the other players active in the sector, namely the private sector. Public and private investments could be enhanced with EU funding along the agricultural growth corridor concept where conditions are met for leveraging private investments that benefit smallholders and foster broad-based growth of the local economy and food security. But let me be very clear, in all cases, it is essential that our support at all levels strengthens secure and equitable access to land, in particular for vulnerable groups. In that respect, I will propose that we condition our assistance to a full transparency in land deals by our partners and to the existence of a clear share of profits to the benefit of the local populations. I will propose that we work along with investors to ensure that a substantial share of profits/investments benefits goes to the local economy. Of course, this can only work if we do it all together. This is why the EU will continue to support the rapid adoption of responsible agricultural investments rules. Ladies and Gentlemen, My objective is to equip the EU with an up-to-date framework for our development work over the coming decade and heighten our aid's effectiveness and impact. With a special focus on agriculture, my intention is to provide a sustainable response to help eradicate poverty. This will, in turn, enable us to make strides with food security and nutrition. I will close here. I look forward to taking your questions and hearing your views in a moment. Thank you.

The new Cambodia comes to the world's attention

The new Cambodia comes to the world's attention The Nation October 5, 2011  Thailand's neighbour has transformed from war-ravaged basket case to potential 'tiger' in two decades, but new legislation on NGOs could undo much of the good work Cambodia has progressed rapidly since the UN-brokered peace deal twenty years ago. It has moved on from being a war-torn country to one that is being described as the next Asian "tiger", with near two-digit economic growth. Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in power for three decades, wants to turn his country into a hub of economic transactions in the region, bringing back the glory days for Cambodia. Today, the streets of Phnom Penh are packed with investors and expensive new cars. Skyscrapers are now beginning to dot the city. Tourists are crowding into the ancient temple complex of Angkor Wat. The country is now preparing to be the Asean chair next year. Phnom Penh already has a long list of what it wants to achieve. Despite all the good things that are happening in Cambodia, Hun Sen is moving quickly to counter the proliferation of non-governmental organisations. Since the 1990s, Cambodian civil society groups have done jobs that the government has not paid enough attention to. They have supplemented the existing government programmes and actions regarding the alleviation of poverty, the promotion of education, and in helping the poor to fight for their land rights. Other active groups are focused on the protection of the environment and human rights - both areas of concern in Cambodia. The most controversial issue today in Cambodia is the pending draft legislation on non-governmental organisations, which donor organisations and recipients say would limit their ability to do good work. The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Cambodia, Surya Subedi, says the law should be carefully reviewed and, as it stands, "may hamper the legitimate work of NGOs in the country". In addition, he has expressed concern about the lack of progress on land rights and freedom of speech in the country. In the past few years, large tracts of land have been allotted to industrial investment companies, causing trouble for poor people who have no land to live on or farm. The government has provided new land for them, but this is either not sufficient or of poor quality. Just a few days ago, the Cambodian Ministry of Information shut down 16 newspapers, 15 magazines and six bulletins. It was the biggest media gag operation in the history of Cambodia. However, one positive thing is that Cambodia is highly tolerant of the foreign-language newspapers - English, Chinese and French. The Phnom Penh Post, which is 100 per cent foreign-owned, has so far reported straightforward news without any government intervention. Increasingly, local Chinese newspapers are making their voices heard. After Cambodia's chairmanship of Asean next year, the country will seek to become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Asean countries have already backed its bid. There will be more activities both from the government and civil society groups, which want to see more programmes to help the poor and promote human rights. At the moment, Hun Sen is focusing more on the home front because he wants to make sure that he leaves a good legacy for Cambodia. Next year, Cambodia will hold an election, which his Cambodia Party is expected to win. His continued leadership is virtually secured.

05 October, 2011

Third draft of Cambodia's associations and NGO law overlooks key concerns


The Guardian

New legislation threatens to hinder the delivery of development aid to Cambodia by curtailing fundamental rights.

A Mith Samlanh education centre run by NGO Friends-International. A law requiring NGOs to register threatens such projects. Photograph: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images
Civil society groups in Cambodia finally received a glimpse of the third draft of the law on associations and non-governmental organisations (NGO law) on 29 July.

Cambodia's citizens had previously only been able to speculate on what the draft law might contain, and how it might ultimately be enforced. The international community and civil society in Cambodia have criticised previous versions of the law as having a restrictive effect on civil society, effectively weakening citizen accountability for poverty-focused efforts.

Co-operation between the Cambodian government and civil society has long been central to the country's evolution from a war-torn country to a peaceful, vibrant, developing one. While government and civil society organisations have often had different opinions, they have held constructive discussions and co-operated.

However, the latest draft of the NGO law puts this relationship at risk by severely restricting freedom of expression and potentially reducing the voice of many organisations that represent and protect the marginalised: farmers, labour unionists, land activists, students, sex workers, and the disabled.

From the perspective of civil society, the third draft of the NGO law has not changed significantly from the second and first draft. The NGO law still fails to respect fundamental rights, including freedom of association and freedom of expression. In its present form, the draft law will have a severe, negative impact on domestic NGOs and associations as well as foreign NGOs, and will dramatically hinder the delivery of development aid to Cambodia. The result: valuable public services will be curtailed, development at the community level will be stunted, and poverty and corruption will increase. Moreover, the draft law will affect government programs. Major concerns about the current draft include:

• Registration is mandatory and complex, rather than voluntary and simple.

• No safeguards to ensure that denials of registration or involuntary dissolutions are imposed objectively.

• The law does not include a period for an appeal process when a request for registration is denied.

• Key terms in the law are undefined, and many sections are vague.

Ambiguity as well as the complex registration process and reporting requirements will add to the burden of government agencies responsible for administering new regulations, especially the ministry of the interior and the ministry of foreign affairs and international co-operation.

Civil society groups understand the government's need for a legal framework to ensure the stability and security of the country, and to facilitate the effective delivery of development and humanitarian aid. However, such a framework also needs to give citizens the freedom to engage in law-abiding activities without undue restrictions or burdens. To improve the law, the government should:

• Eliminate mandatory registration except for domestic NGOs and associations that wish to take advantage of the benefits of registration.

• Allow the NGO and association registration process to "be truly accessible, with clear, speedy, apolitical, and corruption-free procedures".

• Clearly outline a transparent process for the evaluation of registration applications. Any government decision to deny registration should be in writing and take effect over a reasonable and manageable time frame. The appeal process should be explicit and quick. It should also coincide clearly with objective legal standards for the purposes of review.

• Exclude or simplify reporting procedures for small, provincial, community-based development organisations and alliances in articles 44, 46 and 48.

• Incorporate a glossary explanatory notes for every article in the draft.

Cambodia's past development success - social and economic - would never have happened if the opportunities to freely organise and express opinions had been curtailed. It is, therefore, not only in the best interest of Cambodia's citizens but also to the advantage of the national government to make registration optional for domestic NGOs and associations, to make it simple and to define terms. Successful development of societies worldwide goes hand in hand with increased openness.

• Borithy Lun is the executive director of the Co-operation Committee for Cambodia.
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