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Domestic workers deserve workplace benefits - 360 Divya Ravindranath Published on March 8, 2024 Employers provide direct financial or in-kind ‘support’ to their workers. In most households this is a form of benevolence, not an entitlement. This can change. Every day millions of women in India enter their employers’ homes and perform duties such as cooking, cleaning and child minding. Many work in multiple households. They work long hours doing menial tasks. They are poorly paid and — worse — despite being salaried employees, they have little or no protections from exploitation. Estimates of the number of women working as domestics in India vary from three to 20 million. This reflects the challenges in accurately quantifying a workforce which remains invisible despite its ubiquitous presence in urban centres. Designing, delivering and enforcing social protection for domestic workers is challenging for two reasons. Without a written contract, individual households hesitate to acknowledge their role and responsibility as ‘employers’ as private homes of employers are not recognised as ‘places of work’. While the implications of this for workers have been studied widely, an ILO-IIHS study set out to explore employers’ perspectives on social protection and their willingness to contribute to social protection measures for domestic workers. Social protection, which includes insurance, maternity entitlements and cash transfers is crucial for those in informal work. It helps these workers, who are often mothers themselves with a family to feed, cope with illness, accidents, maternity leave and old-age, unemployment or disasters. In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, social protection is fundamental to achieve several SDG goals; SDG1 specifically calls on all countries to provide social security to all to end poverty in all its forms everywhere. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the gaps in social protection coverage, with domestic workers being among the worst-hit without any form of workplace benefits like health insurance or medical leave. ILO-IIHS conducted a two-phased study in Bangalore and Chennai. In the first phase, we focused on questions of recruitment, income security, and employment and social security. We surveyed 3,067 employer households that engaged paid domestic workers in Bengaluru (1876 households) and Chennai (1191 households). When it came to the responsibilities of the employers when a domestic worker falls ill or is pregnant, the dominant response in Bengaluru (40 percent) and Chennai (37 percent) was that employers should support expenses of treatment. Of the 28 percent of households across both cities that noted that employers should give sick leave, about 59 percent and 44 percent in Bangalore and Chennai respectively noted that employers must provide paid sick leave. However, we found considerable variation on whether employers should support expenses of treatment in full or in part. When asked about maternity entitlements, only 36 percent of households in Bangalore and 16 percent in Chennai reported support for maternity leave with either full or partial salary payment. Employers supported letting a worker go with a lump sum payment if they got pregnant (31 percent in Bangalore and 43 percent in Chennai), leave without salary (20 percent in Bangalore and 24 percent in Chennai) and the sack without offering any money (9 percent in Bangalore and 12 percent in Chennai). In the second phase of the study, using the same sampling strategy as the first phase, we conducted qualitative interviews with a separate set of 403 households from 16 different neighbourhoods across Bengaluru and Chennai to understand existing practices in providing social protection for domestic workers. Most employers reported already supporting their workers with financial aid and credit for children’s education, covering the cost of treatment during illness and other emergencies. However, while employers supported the idea of maternity leave, they did not necessarily implement it. Instead, they reflected on the challenges it posed in making arrangements with their workers. They asked their workers to find a replacement and could not afford regular payment to the former worker if she availed maternity leave. When asked if they would be willing to contribute to a formal social protection programme, we found three broad sets of responses: They were open to contributing to workers’ medical insurance or obtaining group insurance (with multiple employers) for their employees. Some employers preferred to deduct a percentage from workers’ salaries for future medical expenses or retirement. Others were willing to pay an additional amount ranging from 5 to 20 percent. They expressed lack of knowledge and didn’t want to take up procedural responsibility anticipating complicated documentation and paperwork. Many were also sceptical about the effectiveness and sustainability of formal social protection schemes, fearing that the system might lack accountability or eventually die out. Some suggested that instead of setting up provident funds and insurance mechanisms, safeguarding workers’ actual salaries might be more effective. They considered the additional cost of social protection as being a financial burden that they could not afford as they were already responsible for salaries. They suggested government medical insurance or financial aid to domestic workers to ease the financial burden on both employers and workers. The study shows that a vast range of practices exist in employer homes. While several employers provided direct financial or in-kind ‘support’ to their workers it was often meted out as a form of benevolence and not as an entitlement. Any form of social protection for domestic workers can respond to the following concerns. First, what type of social protection is needed? Our data shows that while employers are willing to provide support for illnesses and other household contingencies, maternity entitlements were not seen as a non-negotiable right of domestic workers though recognised by law. Social protection could be responsive to the risks and vulnerabilities in the life cycle of an individual, and its provisioning requires tapping into various modes of delivery. This takes us to who is responsible for social protection for domestic workers. Employers are critical as they are the first point of contact for workers. Addressing the challenges employers face in direct provision of social protection requires a coordinated effort involving employers, workers and policymakers to ensure that domestic workers receive the protection and support they need. The possibility of Resident Welfare Association-led initiatives could be further explored as a potential avenue for collectively delivering social protection. However, this also means the need for an arrangement between welfare boards or other arms of the state, unions and workers, without which workers will have no recourse to redressal in case employers fail to deliver social protection. The National Policy on Domestic Workers outlines a list of schemes that domestic workers can avail as part of the unorganised workforce. This includes schemes such as health insurance, pension, subsidised medical facilities, and educational support for children. However, this does not necessarily acknowledge the need for workplace benefits that are linked to employment security to prevent arbitrary termination from work. The systemic neglect of this workforce is apparent from the fact that only a few states have included domestic workers in the schedule of the Minimum Wages Act. In this sector wages remain abysmally low and strongly controlled by employer networks at the neighbourhood level as well as determined by the axis of workers’ gender (a feminised workforce undertaking gendered duties) and caste (low status work being fulfilled by marginalised communities). Under such circumstances, whether from employers, the government or a combination of both, social protection is an absolute must for improving labour market outcomes. The project was funded by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Divya Ravindranath is a senior researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bengaluru. Her research interests include gender, informal work, social protection and urban health. Her current research project explores care infrastructure models for women in informal work. She holds a Masters and PhD degree in Social Work from Tata Institute for Social Sciences and Washington University in St Louis respectively. She would like to thank Antara Rai Chowdhury, Rashee Mehra and Dr. Gautam Bhan, her co-authors on the ILO- IIHS report. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Investing in women” sent at: 07/03/2024 06:00. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on March 8, 2024

Domino effect: Can state elections upset the Modi machine in 2024? - 360 Nikhil Sehra Published on November 27, 2023 India’s state elections don’t usually foretell national polls, but this time around, many will be looking for signs of a winning strategy. The elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram hold significant weight, being the last state elections before India gears up for parliamentary elections in just five months. While historical trends suggest differences in voting patterns between state and national elections, this time both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the INDIA alliance are under scrutiny. In Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, direct face-offs between the Congress Party and BJP are expected, while in Telangana and Mizoram, the Bharatha Rashtra Samithi and Mizo National Front hold power, with the Congress playing the primary opposition role. Historically, state elections haven’t consistently mirrored national outcomes, but the upcoming elections gain prominence due to their proximity to the next national polls, scheduled for April 2024, and a potential third term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi’s widespread appeal is a consequence of his adept domestic leadership, marked by efforts against terrorism and the implementation of reforms like the GST and demonetisation to combat corruption — a narrative diligently promoted by the ruling party. Additionally, India’s international stature has been elevated through Modi’s active engagement in forums such as the G20 and highlighted in extravagant advertising within the country, further bolstering his appeal among the electorate. These elections carry particular importance for Modi, who has been at the helm for nearly a decade and stands as the face of the BJP across all states. The party’s tradition of not declaring a chief ministerial candidate is a strategic move to navigate internal differences until the election results unfold. The BJP also leverages Modi’s larger-than-life image, portraying him as a statesman who successfully guided India to the Moon, presided over a successful G-20 summit and positioned India as a leader in the Global South. Modi recently vowed to have a chief minister from the Backward Class in Telangana, echoing a similar statement from Home Minister Amit Shah just 10 days earlier. This move ignited discussions about caste dynamics ahead of the state elections. The INDIA alliance, primarily led by the Congress, has been pushing for a nationwide caste census, marking a key demand in their first joint elections. The partners in the INDIA alliance, namely JDU and RJD in Bihar, have pledged to carry out a caste census — a practice that should be observed by the national government in the national census every decade, but a move the BJP government is reluctant about. Caste-based reforms have been an integral part of the Indian governance framework since its inception and caste dynamics hold a pivotal role in electoral politics, shaping the support base of political parties. However, unity within the INDIA alliance has appeared shaky from the start. Fractures became evident as Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party criticised Congress for not implementing a caste census during  its time in power. The discord, especially regarding seat-sharing with Congress in Madhya Pradesh, has been apparent in election rallies. This internal discord could play into the hands of Modi’s BJP, which is adept at showcasing its organisational strength and capitalising on perceived weaknesses in the INDIA alliance. Nonetheless, the BJP has its own hurdles to get over before facing the electorate. These include anti-incumbency sentiments against Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Madhya Pradesh, the presence of multiple leaders such as Jyotiraditya Scindia and Vasundhara Raje in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, respectively, as well as the task of establishing a substantial foothold in Telangana. At the moment, state issues differ from national concerns, and the BJP adeptly manages both. At the state level, it highlights achievements like the Ladli-Behna scheme in Madhya Pradesh, a cash transfer initiative for women attributed to BJP governance. Conversely, at the national level, the discourse revolves around Modi’s goals like Mission 2047, the success of the Moon mission and India’s standing in the G20. The BJP’s Hindutva politics — a political ideology that culturally justifies Hindu nationalism and promotes the idea of India as a Hindu country — takes a backseat in state elections, focusing on welfare schemes and Modi’s leadership. However, Hindutva remains a potent card alongside Modi’s charismatic image at the national level. The construction of the Ram Mandir stands in Uttar Pradesh as the central tenet of Hindutva politics, offering the BJP significant leverage in electoral politics. Simultaneously, the opposition adopts a strategy similar to the BJP, concentrating on welfare schemes. Both parties competitively announce similar schemes in their manifestos across states, creating a narrative around support for farmers, women, and the economically disadvantaged. In Telangana, Congress has pledged 200 units of free electricity, while in Rajasthan and Telangana, both parties promised LPG gas cylinders at a reduced cost of Rs.500. The BJP, in turn, has plans to expand its central scheme for gas cylinder distribution, the ‘Ujjwala Yojana’. Both parties have committed to establishing a new minimum support price for wheat and an annual support package in cash in various forms. However, the lack of unity within the INDIA alliance is apparent as seat-sharing discussions falter, leading to direct contests between Congress and Samajwadi Party in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. While state elections provide insights into political strategies and public sentiments, they aren’t absolute indicators of national trends. The evolving political landscape underscores the BJP’s ability to deflect and adapt, as seen in its strategic realignment of Members of the Legislative Assembly in Madhya Pradesh in 2020. This manoeuvre unfolded when 22 MLAs resigned from the Kamal Nath-led Congress government after Jyotiraditya Scindia’s departure from Congress, resulting in the collapse of the Congress government in the state. Eventually, these MLAs joined the BJP, leading to the reinstatement of Shivraj Singh Chouhan as Chief Minister. As these elections unfold, political parties will assess their chosen issues and strategies. Yet, the outcome at the centre will remain uncertain, as state and national electorates function independently. The national narrative is dominated by the Modi-led BJP’s agenda, emphasising the decisive actions of the Modi government. As the BJP highlights its accomplishments, it leaves the opposition parties in a reactive posture, rather than dictating their own agendas. Dr. Nikhil Sehra is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social and Political Studies at the Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad. Their academic focus revolves around identity, nation, caste, subaltern studies and cultural studies. Their specialisation delves into the intricate realms of national identity and identity issues, particularly within the contexts of Europe and South Asia. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “India state elections” sent at: 23/11/2023 11:12. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on November 27, 2023

Don't be fooled by Big Tobacco's sustainability awards - 360 Frank Houghton Published on May 31, 2022 Tobacco companies want you to know they are great corporate citizens. But it’s all a fig leaf for their environmental offences. More than 6 million people have died of COVID-19 since its outbreak in late 2019. Seeing a chance to behave as a good corporate citizen, the tobacco industry leapt into action. It distributed soaps and information leaflets and paid for billboards and health kits via a charity it sponsors. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) promotes the idea that a company should concern itself not just with profits and products but also with wider societal and environmental issues. The world’s largest tobacco firms, often referred to collectively as ‘Big Tobacco’, have made a great show of adopting CSR as a foundation of their corporate approach. They have carefully developed a reputation for corporate philanthropy, supporting an array of worthy causes from COVID to  HIV/AIDS interventions to arts and cultural events and institutions. Law researcher Lissy Friedman has described Big Tobacco’s use of CSR as a “sword and a shield”: it is a bid to minimise damage to its reputation following exposés of its corporate malpractice. What Big Tobacco does not mention in the glossy brochures describing its corporate good deeds is the pain and suffering its product causes. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that tobacco directly kills up to 7 million people a year – more than COVID – and more than a million non-smokers die from exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke. Since half of smokers die from tobacco-related illnesses, estimates suggest the global death toll will rise to 10 million people a year by 2050. Such stark statistics make uncomfortable reading for smokers and investors alike. But Big Tobacco is an expert at circumventing both bad press and government restrictions. Some have described it as the many-headed Hydra from Greek mythology: for each head cut off, two grow in its place. Big Tobacco’s CSR camouflage now includes more and more attempts to ‘greenwash’ its business activities. Greenwashing means to give a ‘green sheen’ or marketing spin to a business’s corporate public relations to imply its products, practices and policies are more environmentally friendly than they really are. The extremely negative environmental impact of Big Tobacco has been explored in depth in a number of influential WHO reports. These have produced damning evidence in cradle-to-grave analyses ranging from crop production through manufacturing and transportation to tobacco use and disposal. Issues include agrochemical use, deforestation and land degradation, carbon-dioxide production in manufacturing, and hazardous waste and waste disposal into landfill. Agencies such as the University of Bath’s Tobacco Control Research Group have highlighted other issues, such as the role of child labour in global tobacco production. In the face of such negative coverage, and conscious of ever-growing international concern about sustainability, environmentalism and social responsibility, Big Tobacco has systematically attempted to subvert such criticism. It has boldly engaged in a wide range of self-serving greenwashing activities, such as arranging beach clean-ups and funding environmental and disaster-relief organisations. Greenwashing drove the recent revamp of the British American Tobacco (BAT) website. The site now features the company tagline ‘BAT: A Better Tomorrow’ as well as a rainbow-coloured theme. ‘Sustainability’ is one of eight headers on the top menu bar. The home page prominently notes ‘BAT is an FT Climate Leader again’ because it appeared in the 2022 Financial Times ranking of companies that had reduced their greenhouse gas emissions. This is just one of the latest accolades Big Tobacco has acquired for ostensibly acting to protect the environment. Philip Morris International (PMI) has now been awarded A-list status in sustainability for five years in a row by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a non-government organisation that operates a global environmental disclosure system for large companies. Numerous examples of such environmental initiatives exist, including non-profits established or funded by the tobacco industry to give them a veil of environmental legitimacy. These include the tobacco industry-founded Sustainable Tobacco Programme, and Total Land Care, a non-government organisation that receives funding from Big Tobacco members the Altria Group, PMI, Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and BAT. Big Tobacco also works with organisations committed to important social issues such as the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation (ECLT) and the International Tobacco Growers’ Association (ITGA). At first glance such alliances demonstrate industry commitment to tackling these issues. But further examination reveals the ITGA is little more than a front for tobacco manufacturers. Leaked tobacco industry documents actually describe the ITGA using the term ‘front’, and outline how it can be used strategically on behalf of Big Tobacco. The ECLT was co-founded by BAT, and organisations with a similar agenda, such as the Slave-Free Alliance, receive funding from the tobacco industry. In 2019 ECLT members and donors included not only BAT but also JTI, PMI and Swedish Match. Perhaps the most obvious issue with Big Tobacco’s greenwashing is the veneer of respectability it provides. Environmental awards and social responsibility credentials sound impressive, but the reporting systems used to claim some awards are unbelievably weak. Many rely on company disclosures, while others lack fixed criteria or goals, allowing companies to pick and choose metrics that suit them best. There is minimal oversight of such claims and if tobacco companies receive a poor result in an assessment they can simply opt out of the scheme – as BAT, JTI and Imperial Brands did with CDP’s Forestry initiative after they received poor scores. Greenwashing of Big Tobacco is highly problematic for two further reasons. First, environmental, social and governance reporting by the tobacco industry seldom addresses their core business, often focussing instead on peripheral elements of their production, supply and sales systems. Second, greenwashing helps legitimise and normalise many tobacco products, when they remain an addictive carcinogen that kills one in two users. In May 2022 the WHO released Talking Trash: Behind the Tobacco Industry’s ‘Green’ Public Relations, which called on governments to ban greenwashing by Big Tobacco. Tobacco packaging is regulated in many jurisdictions, but greenwashing has emerged quite recently — and this has left loopholes that the industry has exploited. For example, although the main European Union directive regulating the manufacture, presentation and sale of tobacco products explicitly says the labelling and packaging of tobacco products must not feature any element suggesting “a certain tobacco product has improved biodegradability or other environmental advantages”, the legislation does not prohibit such greenwashing elsewhere. Big Tobacco’s greenwashing efforts are little more than a cynical attempt to claim some moral high ground. Under any form of scrutiny, they seem crude and obvious. But the trouble is only a small percentage of people critically investigate the industry’s claims of positive environmental and social action. That means many people are taken in by the green sheen of respectability the industry has carefully funded and awarded to itself. Frank Houghton is director of the Social Sciences ConneXions Research Institute at the Technological University of the Shannon, Limerick, Ireland. He declares no competing interests. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on May 31, 2022

Drab public housing ideal for a climate retrofit - 360 Krzysztof Barnaś Published on March 17, 2023 Eastern Europe’s ubiquitous prefab housing blocks have potential for mass climate change adaptation. Across Eastern Europe a significant part of the housing stock consists of drab, prefabricated mass housing built in the 1960s and 70s. While their original grey facades have, since the lifting of the Iron Curtain, been updated with new colours, they’re in the main an unimpressive sight. But as the planet hurtles towards 2 degrees warming, which means more heatwaves and severe weather, the uniformity of these buildings makes them suitable candidates for mass thermal retrofit programmes. Their utilitarian design means they have significant potential for climate change adaptation, according to a report by Polish researchers (Mańkowski and Szczechowiak, 2013) cited by the Polish Ministry of Development and Technology’s building energy performance enhancement guide. Such retrofits can range from installing power, heating and cooling systems based on renewable energy sources, heat exchangers and energy storage, to landscaping the immediate area to enhance water retention and facilitate natural surface temperature regulation by planting trees, shrubs and opting for native, biodiverse plant compositions instead of grass-only lawns. The housing blocks were built as part of state-wide post-war housing construction projects, to documentation and specifications that have often survived and left little room for improvisation, which means it’s possible to develop energy performance enhancement approaches with potentially much wider applications. In Poland, they comprise the greatest share of the country’s housing stock, and their energy efficiency on average – even when considering past retrofit projects – leaves ample room for improvement. With the right tools and focus, the governments of countries where such development is common, and which are also mostly developing economies not at the forefront of global green development, could make considerable advances in preparing for the consequences of climate change. With an increasingly unstable global political situation and fossil fuels having become weapons in the hands of powerful people with malign ambitions, making the built environment less reliant on grid-sourced energy — which in the former Eastern Bloc mostly means coal- or gas-powered power stations  — can make the region less vulnerable to energy market disruptions. This could also help make communities more resilient environmentally and economically. Targeting prefab housing for thermal retrofitting could also further extend their already longer-than-expected life expectancy. Initially seen as a temporary measure, these buildings have become a fixture. Replacing them outright would be hugely expensive and come at a significant environmental cost, as the millions of tonnes of reinforced concrete used to build them would have to be recycled and processed.   It’s also unknown  just how long the service life of the prefab housing can be, making potential investment risky. There are other potential stumbling blocks. It’s unlikely such a mass replacement can be timely performed given the planning and real estate development models prevalent in Eastern Bloc countries, specifically their reliance on the private sector for housing construction. In Poland for example, the rate at which new flats are being put on the market is also insufficient to make a difference, as the 1978 record (283,600 flats, Statistics Poland, 1978) is yet to be broken. Recent research has also shown that actually convincing residents and acquiring funding can be major obstacles to mass prefab thermal retrofitting. Most notably, it found that property managers were mostly unwilling to engage in projects that would require the buildings to be temporarily vacated, citing resident opposition, while the range of solutions investigated were found to have a very long payback period, which is a significant drawback. This could likely deter many prospective participants, as many decision-makers can still be said to value monetary gain above environmental costs. A significant portion of prefab housing residents are  baby boomer  pensioners, which means younger, housing-starved generations will, in the next decade, be able to move into these flats, either by inheritance or purchase. While they do have their distinct functional deficiencies, they come with other perks such as being part of larger, spacious districts planned to the principles of the Neighbourhood Unit, offering essential public services that contemporary housing complexes rarely have. Old prefab housing can offer significant, as-of-yet untapped potential for gaining ground in our struggle to adapt to the consequences of climate change, but it is not without its own specific pitfalls and obstacles. While this can come at a significant financial cost, it is the environmental cost of not tapping into this potential that must be kept in mind. Dr Krzysztof Barnaś is a Junior Professor at the Chair of Urbanism and City Structure Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology, Poland. He is also a member of the Centre for Scientific Research Improvement of the CUT. The research was undertaken with financial assistance from the City of Krakow. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Hot house” sent at: 17/03/2023 09:03. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on March 17, 2023

Dream-walking towards the planetoid bomb - 360 Daniel Deudney Published on April 12, 2022 The DART mission to redirect an asteroid is billed as potentially planet-saving. But in the wrong hands it has seriously destructive potential. In September 2022 an event of planetary importance will take place. With the assistance of a privately funded rocket, NASA’s DART mission will test the feasibility of redirecting an asteroid. The mission is, in NASA’s words, “to test and validate a method to protect Earth in case of an asteroid impact threat”. NASA’s spacecraft will crash head-on into a small asteroid called Dimorphos, with the aim of altering its orbit around a larger asteroid, Didymos. The excitement about such heroic possibilities is rooted in long-held assumptions about expansion into space. Going higher must mean getting better. However, the consequences of the mission are much less positive than space enthusiasts and many others believe. Given the immense violence potential of fast-moving space objects, the question of whether asteroid redirection is desirable roughly approximates to the question of whether space activities increase or decrease the likelihood of war. In their 1964 book Islands in Space: The Challenge of the Planetoids, astronomers Dandridge Cole and Donald Cox envisioned manoeuvring asteroids to serve as the ultimate deterrent, a “planetoid bomb”. At the time, these plans were advanced as solutions to the threat of nuclear war, specifically to the vulnerabilities of nuclear weapons based on Earth. Never attempted, these schemes were shockingly extreme, even among the apocalyptic military speculations of the 1950s and 1960s. Cole and Cox wrote that a “captured planetoid” of between 2 kilometres and 8 kilometres in diameter would have the “impact energy equivalent to several million megatons”, would create a crater 30 to 80 kilometres in diameter, and “would destroy whole countries through Earth shock effects”. They hastened to add that such devastation would “not be anything near as bad” as a general nuclear war because there would be “no nuclear fallout carried by the winds to all parts of the Earth”. A captured planetoid would be “the ideal deterrent system”, they said, because it could not be de-orbited in less than several hours and “would not be feared by a potential enemy as a surprise attack weapon”. Furthermore, “an onrushing planetoid” could not be intercepted or deflected “even if detected several days before impact”. Such an attack might even be carried out “without much danger of retaliation” because it would be difficult to distinguish from a “natural catastrophe”. Although this scheme suggests criminal insanity, it fits comfortably alongside other — fortunately abortive and outlawed — Cold War investigations of geophysical weaponisation, such as harnessing hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis for military purposes. Interstate military rivalry propelled much of human space activity. So why do we believe conflicts will not be carried into space? People who believe in the possibility of overcoming rivalries on the highly interdependent Earth, where large-scale violence is effectively suicidal, are deemed utopian. But these same rival states exploring the manipulation of asteroids equipped with titanic violence potential is, somehow, no problem. For this reason, the alteration of the orbits of asteroids by any single government or corporation should be explicitly outlawed. However, while international organisations will travel to the asteroid as observers, the DART mission is solely the preserve of US organisations. How, when and by whom this technology is developed has first-order implications for the human species and the fate of the Earth. The technologies to divert an asteroid away from the Earth are essentially identical to those needed to direct objects towards the Earth. If the DART mission succeeds, humanity will have demonstrated a destructive capability vastly exceeding that of nuclear weapons. Allowing private corporations to map and alter asteroid orbits would also be extremely dangerous. Given asteroids’ inherent mass-destructive potential, allowing private companies answerable to only a handful of corporate owners to develop this technology would be like allowing private firms to develop the hydrogen bomb in the 1950s. However, completely abandoning the mapping and alteration of asteroidal orbits is unwise because the collision of such bodies with the Earth is inevitable. This knowledge and technology is vital. Asteroid mapping and diversion should therefore be undertaken only by a consortium of leading states on Earth. A deflection consortium could be assigned the task, given the sole legal authority, and equipped with the resources to develop the capacity to defend the planet from cosmic bombardment. Such an effort would fall far short of bringing a world government into existence, reassuring those who fear control by stealth. The enduring mutual suspicion of states would impede the asteroid consortium from becoming the seed of a world state. It could be staffed and operated not by a distinct body of international civil servants but rather by members of the militaries of the contributing states. Like any human venture, a strategy of military cooperation for planetary security would have its own risks and potential paths of breakdown. If the planetary protection consortium were to disintegrate, the violence capacity of asteroids would be possessed by several states. But as long as this agency remained solely focused on its narrow mission, and no private actors were permitted to engage in these activities, states would have a strong incentive to sustain the arrangement. Human beings have long dreamed of exploring the farthest reaches of space. Space is particularly prone to dreamy assumptions, beguiling illusions and stark disorientations. But dream-walking into space is sleepwalking into space. Space expansion should be recognised as having not only a plethora of bad proposals but also a frightening potential for evil. Daniel Deudney teaches political science, international relations and political theory at Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity, which further explores the ideas in this article. This article has been republished to align with the US National Space Council meeting of September 9. It was first published on June 30, 2022. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 12, 2022

Driving towards Dubai's COP28 - 360 Reece Hooker Published on October 23, 2023 The United Arab Emirates is about to play host to the world’s leaders as they try to solve the most pressing issues in climate. On 30 November, the world’s leaders will gather in Expo City, Dubai for the year’s most important climate talks. The 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference — COP28 — will be the key opportunity to strike important deals and set the global agenda for the environment moving forward. The urgency to act has never been higher: 2023 has seen the hottest month ever measured, Antarctic sea ice tracks reach new lows and sea surface temperatures records continuing to be broken. As the world meets at COP28, it comes alongside intense geopolitical division: war rages on between Ukraine and Russia, a global cost of living crisis endures and the reverberations of intensifying conflict in Israel and Palestine are already being felt. 360info turns to the experts to get on the inside track of the road to COP28, canvassing some of the biggest discussion points that are set to be raised when the United Arab Emirates takes on the role of host. Editors Note: In the story “Road to COP28” sent at: 19/10/2023 07:49. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on October 23, 2023

Dulling the ocean racket to save fish stocks - 360 Yik Yaw Neo, Hans Slabbekoorn Published on June 8, 2022 Shipping and sonar bombard the ocean with noise and disrupt fish communication and behaviour. Countries need to work together to restore the quiet of the deep. The boom of sonar, the roar of propellers and the whine of drills as they rip into the seabed – humans pound the ocean with noise. These alien sounds distort marine soundscapes and affect fisheries in many ways. Local catches change straight away as noise disrupts fish behaviour and communication, and in the long term, fish stocks are likely to decline. Better regulation and international cooperation are needed to dull the racket. In an area off the Norwegian coast exposed to airgun noise from seismic exploration, catch rates of cod in long-line fisheries reduced by 55 to 80 percent. Meanwhile, bycatch of cod in trawl fisheries for saithe increased threefold. Noise from seismic surveys reduced long-line catch rates of both Greenland halibut and haddock by 16 to 25 percent but doubled gillnet catch rates for Greenland halibut and redfish. The noisy conditions may cause fish to stop feeding and miss the long-line baits but then move into deeper water and get entangled in gillnets and bottom trawls. Catch rates may also change when human-made noise affects the predators and prey of target fish species. When Ambon damselfish were exposed to passing boat noise, they were consumed more than twice as quickly by dusky dottybacks. When captive grey seals were exposed to tidal turbine and pile-driving sound playback, they kept foraging in high-density patches of herring and sprat but foraged less in low-density prey patches. Fish rely on natural sounds for several critical life functions, including attracting mates, finding prey, avoiding predators and navigating dark or cloudy waters. Many fish species also communicate with calls to synchronise foraging, schooling, spawning and migratory activities. Human-made noise deters fish from an area, disrupts their behaviour and masks important acoustic cues. Noise may also increase fish stress levels and energy expenditure, leading to smaller fish that mature more slowly. Theoretical models show this could mean long-term catch declines. New insights from empirical studies are critically needed here. Different human activities produce different types of sound, which affect fish in different ways. Noise can be continuous, such as shipping noise, or impulsive, such as seismic shooting and pile-driving. Continuous sounds may lead to more acoustic masking, while impulsive sounds cause more disturbance. When captive European seabass were exposed to both continuous and impulsive sounds, they recovered from their diving response more slowly after they were exposed to impulsive sound. The good news is noise pollution may be easier to solve than other types of pollution: once the source of the noise is gone, the problem disappears. The shipping industry could devise quieter propellers, travel at slower cruising speeds and chart routes away from ecologically critical areas. In some countries, pile-driving operations must encase the pile with bubble curtains to muffle the noise. Activities such as seismic surveys and navy sonar produce loud sounds intentionally. Incentives could encourage companies and the military to continuously develop novel technologies to replace noisy practices. For example, as an alternative to seismic air guns, oil and gas explorations can be made with marine seismic vibrators on the ocean floor, eliminating potential impacts on fish in the water column. These devices also produce more continuous noise with a narrower frequency band, which may reduce the negative impacts on sea life as it will be heard by fewer species. Human-induced soundscape change occurs across the globe, so more concerted efforts and collaboration among countries and governing bodies are essential to tackle the issue and improve human stewardship of the ocean. Few high-level international policy initiatives explicitly recognise human-made noise as a problem for marine life – this needs to change. Extreme weather events may also degrade marine habitats with high bio-acoustic diversity and importance, such as coral reefs. Warmer waters allow human-made noise to travel faster and further. Limiting climate change will help reduce the problem of ocean noise along with the many other environmental issues it has brought in its wake. Humans increasingly exploit the ocean as an economic resource, so it’s more important than ever for societies to manage the ‘blue economy’ responsibly. Calming our noisy oceans is one way. YY Neo is a postdoctoral researcher and project coordinator at Leiden University studying underwater noise pollution and the combined effects of noise and light pollution. HW Slabbekoorn is an associate professor at Leiden University with expertise in animal behaviour, urban ecology, and impacts of noise pollution on wildlife in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on June 8, 2022

Economy hangs in the balance as Hasina hangs on to power - 360 M Niaz Asadullah Published on January 4, 2024 Some had hoped Bangladesh would be Asia’s next tiger economy. Instead, it may be heading for a deep economic crisis, reversing years of gains. Bangladesh, one of Asia’s most promising cases of growth under democracy, will head to the polls on 7 January. The country has become a test case for electoral democracy, with the election marked by descriptions of being “staged” and a “farce” even before the actual voting begins. With tens of thousands of opposition leaders and activists arrested in a crackdown ahead of the election, Sheikh Hasina – leader of the Awami League political party – is all set to serve as Bangladesh’s Prime Minister for the fourth consecutive time. Bangladesh already has a long legacy of election controversies. Two consecutive rigged national elections since 2014 have been sustained by a hidden alliance of power elites that cuts across all key institutions — civil and military bureaucracy as well as the judiciary and business elites. Each of these key power groups has become highly partisan and stands to benefit from political continuity. In the aftermath of the last election in 2018, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party waited out Sheikh Hasina’s new government, hoping they would bring about their own downfall as cronies crippled financial and other market-enabling institutions, pushing the economy on the edge. Despite decades of sustained GDP growth and improvements in social indicators, Bangladesh’s economy is now on a fragile footing. A series of negotiated loans from international financial institutions such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development Bank recently helped avoid a Sri Lanka-like fate. Despite those multilateral concessional loans, Bangladesh’s financial crisis  is not over; the structural fault lines remain clear. The International Monetary Fund has expressed concerns over risks of capital flight. In September 2023, the US government also intensified external pressure by issuing a visa embargo on those engaged in suppressing opposition and labour leaders. Further foreign sanctions could lead to costly fallouts. In 2013, the US government punished Bangladesh for its failure to protect worker rights by leaving it out of the generalised system of preference list of countries. This subsequently hurt Bangladesh’s export diversification efforts. That legacy remains: Bangladesh’s sole reliance on readymade garments exports leaves it extremely vulnerable to external shocks. The gravity of new sanctions must not be ignored – especially considering that Bangladesh’s economy is at a crossroads. As the country is set to graduate out of Least Developed Country status, it will lose the duty-free benefits under preferential tariffs. At the same time, it has to phase out the existing export subsidies for readymade garment factory owners while reducing protection afforded to import-substituting businesses. The latter is owing to unusually high nominal tariffs on the import of raw materials. This means a potential double negative shock to export earnings and import duty revenue. With every branch of the government already deeply politicised and led by individuals loyal to the prime minister, there is little political accountability left. Another sham election will further weaken bureaucracy, judiciary and financial institutions. All these also will mean reduced state capacity. On the domestic front, the unholy alliance with oligarchs will further constrain the government’s ability to implement tariff and subsidy reform as well as restore fiscal discipline. As the repayment schedule for many of the costly loans to finance controversial mega projects begins, the tax-to-GDP ratio will need to increase while local banks need to recover bad loans. Fighting tax evasion and bringing loan defaulters to book will only become harder. On the external front, the risk of external debt distress remains low given the high share of concessional loans.  Yet prominent Bangladeshi think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue warns that Bangladesh’s external debt situation may soon slip into the yellow zone in 2024-2025. According to one projection, the debt-to-GDP ratio will cross the 100 percent mark in 2024. By lowering export receipts, a trade sanction may further add to popular concerns over debt sustainability. Other related risks involve increase in speculative behaviour by foreign traders in anticipation of further depreciation of Bangladeshi currency. This may worsen the ongoing dollar crisis. Ultimately, another election without choice in Bangladesh is likely to come at a hefty cost. What some had hoped would be Asia’s next tiger economy may be soon heading for a deeper economic crisis, reversing years of gains. After 15 years of continuous rule by Awami League, Bangladesh’s culture of election engineering has coincided with cronyism and institutionalised corruption. Most worryingly, this has polarised Bangladeshi society and weakened all key institutions including the parliament. With the enduring absence of a credible opposition party, a free press and an independent judiciary, prospects of economic recovery from further shocks look grim as critical reforms will become increasingly challenging. It will be something of a miracle if Bangladesh’s economy continues to thrive within a democratic autocracy without experiencing a major social and economic collapse by 2025. M Niaz Asadullah is a Professor of Development Economics at Monash University Malaysia and Global Labour Organization Southeast Asia Lead. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on January 4, 2024

Education giants battle for the future of learning - 360 Jason Beech Published on April 11, 2022 Influential global bodies are having their say on the future of education, and the outcome could shape the economy and environment for generations. When it comes to education, humanity is heading in the wrong direction, a UNESCO report suggests. The UN commission into the Futures of Education has reignited debate about the need to reform global education policy. This has led to debates between UNESCO and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) about the nature of education. Both organisations have their own vision about what it means to be an educated person, and how education practices should be organised, financed and evaluated. But those organisations do not represent the views of the whole world. Underlying any decision about what to change requires a full understanding of what kind of individuals and societies we want to promote. The UNESCO report proposes that education should promote change on the basis of agreed common values. While simultaneously the OECD has proposed ways to make education systems more adaptable to disruptions and change by suggesting that education could be more dynamic, and that education systems should be reformed to better follow economic changes anticipated by policymakers. The OECD has become the most powerful voice in global debates about education since launching the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2000. Every three years, PISA assesses 600,000 15-year-old students through a globally comparable exam that evaluates the extent to which young people are prepared to enter the workforce in the ‘knowledge economy’. Based on the results, the OECD publishes rankings of the 79 participating economies. These rankings matter to the policymakers and hold sway in public opinion. It also creates a market-oriented, individualised view of education. Even UNESCO has been absorbed into market logic, narrowing its concept of “lifelong learning” to a focus on workplace skills. But influences do go both ways: the OECD has softened its strictly economic rationale, adding “global competencies in its PISA assessment, measuring traits such as children’s capacity to engage “with people from different cultures, and to act for collective well-being and sustainable development”. Even then, the focus on “global competencies” is mainly about preparing workers to operate successfully in multicultural teams, rather than developing a deeper contextual understanding of discrimination or non-Western approaches to knowledge. The OECD has also started to measure the well-being of students, distinguishing between “happy” and “unhappy” schools. Latin American and Northern European countries were found to be the happiest, while countries such as Japan, Korea and China registered the lowest level of life satisfaction. But the method used for recording happiness is based on an individualistic, Anglo-centric perspective. In some non-Western societies, happiness and satisfaction are dependent on the well-being of a collective community, rather than an individual. The results therefore don’t accurately compare student happiness but are skewed by the different ways students have interpreted the exam question. UNESCO’s latest report reasserts the organisation’s humanistic values, based less on the market and more on concepts such as respect for life, social justice and shared responsibility for a common future. The report explicitly criticises the use of rankings and standardised assessments of students that encourage competition, instead promoting teaching methods that emphasise solidarity and collaboration. The report also highlights the importance of opening up education systems to include indigenous knowledge. With UNESCO suggesting humanity is heading in the wrong direction, a rethink of the way the world talks about education may be necessary to forge a more equitable and sustainable path forward. This might be easier said than done. For example, introducing collaborative methods of learning is a huge challenge in education systems that were designed to classify and order students based on individual performance. Including indigenous knowledge in institutions that have been historical guardians of Western knowledge may also be difficult. Conventional school systems were developed by mirroring developments in Western science, aimed at educating students in “rational thinking”, a Western tradition. These debates highlight how education is more than just teaching and learning. Education has the ability to shape the future and our approaches to challenges such as climate change, growing inequalities and the pandemic. Whether young people face such challenges collectively or individually; in competition or through collaboration, will be influenced by how the world regards education. Jason Beech is a senior lecturer in education policy in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. Prior to joining Monash he was associate professor in the School of Education at Universidad de San Andrés in Argentina. He is currently visiting professor at San Andrés, where he is also director of a Unesco Chair in Education for Global Citizenship and Sustainability. He is associate editor of the Education Policy Analysis Archives, and has taught in several universities in the Americas, Europe and Australia. He declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 11, 2022

Eight key questions about lab-grown meat - 360 Paul Wood Published on August 4, 2023 It’s been around for a decade now — but cultured meat still faces some huge hurdles. On 5 August, it will be ten years since the world was introduced to the first lab-grown burger. A decade after its arrival, biotechnologist Professor Paul Wood answers eight key questions about cultured meat. Cultured meat, also colloquially referred to as lab-grown meat, is the concept of taking a biopsy from a living animal, selecting an individual cell type and growing these cells in large scale bioreactors. Technically, it’s a viable alternative to growing an animal to maturity before harvesting meat from its carcass. Multiple cell types can be used from animals, such as muscle, fat or fibroblasts. The initial stage of cell selection requires the creation of a cell line which will grow continuously in a selective culture medium. The technology for the culture of cells in laboratories has been used for many decades to produce drugs like monoclonal antibodies or viral vaccines. The difference with cultured meat is the cells themselves are used to produce edible products rather than used as production systems for monoclonals or viral antigens. Cultured meat was first introduced back in 2013 with the unveiling of the world’s first lab-grown burger, which cost a whopping USD$330,000 to produce. The first commercial cultured meat product was a chicken nugget licensed in Singapore in 2020. In June 2023, the US Department of Agriculture granted two companies — Upside Foods and Good Meat — licences to sell chicken-based products. Significant excitement ensued in the food industry with predictions that cultured meat will transform the meat industry by 2030. Currently around USD$3 billion has been invested in over 150 companies working on beef, chicken, pork, lamb and exotic cell-based products. Woolly mammoth meatball anyone? Upside Foods has launched its new cell-based chicken product in a Michelin star restaurant, but it is only available one night a month and the price has not been disclosed. Commercial success will require significant scaling in production, cost reductions and consumer acceptance, or these products will be confined to niche markets for wealthy consumers. Cultured meat is unlikely to be the solution for the increasing protein needs of developing nations. The technical challenges involve scaling up cell growth in over 10,000 litre fermentation vessels, while significantly reducing the cost of cell-culture media, the capital cost of equipment and the operating cost of high-quality sterile biocontainment facilities. It has been estimated that the cost of production of cultured meat must be reduced by over 1,000-fold to match that of conventional meat production. Proponents of cultured meat like to quote the concept of Moore’s law that predicts that the cost of all new technology will be significantly reduced with time. However this law has never been applied to a biological system that has innate growth limits. Currently all cultured meats are hybrid or blended products, in which the harvested cell paste — the meat component — is combined with plant-based materials, plus vitamins and minerals to produce burgers, meatballs, sausages and dumplings. Yes, you have to add the vitamins in, and no, you can’t make a steak with it yet. From a commercial perspective this is important, as cultured meat products will compete in the commodity meat market. Cultured meat does not produce a three-dimensional steak with multiple cell types and complex taste and texture. However, there are companies aiming to develop whole cuts of meat using 3D printing and bioengineering technology. The drivers for cultured meat are that animals are not slaughtered, there can be less land and water usage and less greenhouse gases are produced than conventional meat production, particularly from ruminants like cattle and sheep. A lower manufacturing footprint is a terrific plus. And not killing animals is something a lot of people advocate for, but until cultured meat has been scaled significantly, it won’t be known if it’s really better for the planet or for humans. The largest facility built so far is a pilot plant in the USA that aims to produce around 1,000 pounds (approximately 450 kilograms) of product per week, which is equivalent to the dressed weight of three carcasses — what a single suburban butcher processes in one day. The taste and texture of food is critical to consumers — but so is value for money. So, it’s not surprising chicken is the dominant choice of meat currently. With high-end lab-grown meat products, both taste and texture can most likely be matched, and with supplementation with vitamins like B12 it should be possible to make cultured meat nutritionally equivalent to its traditional counterpart too. However, cost will be a major challenge and sales data indicated that consumers will not pay any significant premium for slaughter-free or more sustainable products. There are also questions around who the consumers will be for cultured meat. Vegans avoid animal products, vegetarians often reject the taste of meat and this new group of flexitarians, while interested in trying new products, are seldom converted to regular customers. In the US at least, this is one of the reasons that the many plant-based meat products have only captured 1.3 percent of the meat market. It is also likely that plant-based products will be a major competitor to these new cultured meat products. While the first cultured meat products have been licensed in Singapore and the US, it is expected more will follow from other regions. Even though a recent FAO report identified over 50 potential health risks with cultured meat, it concluded that the overall risk was not greater than that seen with conventional meat products. There could be delays in Europe due to the conservative regulatory approach taken in the EU. In Australia, products are expected to be approved in 2024. For now though? Well, the message to Aussie meat producers is … don’t sell the farm. is an adjunct professor in biotechnology at Monash University and is an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) “for distinguished service to science, and to global human and animal health, and through biopharmaceutical research and technological advances”. Professor Wood has been a research scientist throughout his career, from the University of Melbourne to CSIRO, CSL and Pfizer. He has received a number of awards, including the CSIRO Medal and the Clunies Ross Award. He now helps academic groups work with industry. Professor Wood is the chair of an insect farming company in the alternative protein space. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on August 4, 2023

Eight reasons why the US still has the death penalty - 360 Matthew Robinson Published on September 5, 2022 A messy mix of politics, punishment, religion and tradition result in the death penalty having a secure future in the USA. At first glance, you might think the United States is moving away from capital punishment. After all, death sentences and executions have been declining for decades. In 1996, 315 people were sentenced to death, yet only 18 in both 2020 and 2021. Eighty-five people were executed in 2000, yet only 11 in 2021 and 8 in 2022. Yet, in at least some places, the death penalty remains firmly entrenched. Research shows at least eight connecting reasons why capital punishment has not been abolished nationwide. America has a long history of violence and racism, two acts linked throughout all of America’s past. The death penalty, where nearly all those convicted are killed through lethal injection, remains a form of violence — it is, after all, the intentional killing of a person by the government. Scholars note the links between capital punishment and other acts of violence, including slavery and lynchings in the past, as well as murder itself. The death penalty no longer appears to be biased against African American killersas it was throughout much of the nation’s history. Black people are under-represented among those on death row and executed relative to the amount of murder they commit. Yet, about 76 percent of everyone executed in the US since 1976 killed White people — evidence of the so-called “race of victim bias” that characterises America’s death penalty system. Further, since 1976, the US has executed 296 Black killers who murdered Whites, but only 21 White killers who murdered Blacks, suggestive of a real inter-racial bias that persists to this day. To at least some degree, death sentences and executions move in sync with murder rates: when murder rates are higher, the public perceive a greater need for death sentences and executions. This is particularly as the death penalty is oftenviewed as a service to crime victims. As murder rates began to decline in the 1990s, there was less reason to pursue as many death sentences in the US. Yet, when heinous crimes occur against especially vulnerable populations such as children, this adds pressure to prosecutors to seek the death penalty as a measure of justice for victims and their families. Political pressures assure the continuation of capital punishment. Stated simply, capital punishment is part of the ‘law and order’ movement that took hold in US politics at the state and national levels of government starting in the 1980s. Being against the death penalty has been historically labelled “soft on crime,” something that does not accord with America’s punitive streak. Media coverage also contributes to both public perception and fear of crime. Research has found exposure to negative media makes Americans more punitive. But at the same time, media coverage of problems with North Carolina’s death penalty system led to the largest decline in death sentences across the entire country from the 1990sto the first decade of the 2000s.These political reasons help explain the significant geographical disparities found in executions in the US. About 82 percent of all executions since 1977 have occurred in the South, with another 12 percent in the Midwest, 6 percent in the West, and only four total executions in the Northeast. It is actually less than 2 percent of all US counties that account for more than half of all current death row inmates and executions since 1976, meaning the death penalty is, by definition, extremely arbitrary Americans remain very punitive people. Whether it be capital punishment following a murder or a war following a terrorist attack, America often responds to violence with more violence. The death penalty is perceived as the most serious punishment available for the most seriously perceived crime of them all — capital murder. It tends to satisfy the desire for vengeance held by many Americans, especially males, conservative Republicans, and Southerners. Elements of public support are used to justify continuing the death penalty. In the latest 2022 survey by global analytics firm Gallup, more than half of Americans say the death penalty is “morally acceptable”. The results from 2021 found slightly more than half saying they still support the death penalty. In a democratic republic, it is expected that the majority will typically get what it wants. The more Americans are aware of the details relating to the death penalty, the less they support it, unless their opinion is rooted in retribution, as predicted by the “Marshall hypothesis” in the 1970s. Alternatives, such as life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, are more likely to be chosenin place of the death penalty, No discussion of the USA can leave out religion. People who consider themselves to be Christian are among those most likely to support the death penalty. Research shows those who hold views closer to the Old Testament are more likely to support the death penalty than those who more align themselves with the New Testament. Probably most importantly, US government structures assure the continuation of the death penalty Experts cite local politics (where individual prosecutors have complete discretion to seek the death penalty) as well as federalism (where individual states have the right to follow their own paths) as critical to understanding the continued use of capital punishment. This is why nationwide abolition of the death penalty is unlikely, but instead will likely come, as it has thus far, one state at a time. Since 2000, 11 states have abolished the death penalty, and three others have imposed a moratorium on executions. A reviewof these states shows they abandoned the death penalty in face of clear evidence of racial bias, wrongful conviction, and excessive financial costs associated with the “real death penalty”— not in theory, but as it is actually carried out. This reality illustrates the way forward to abolition. The final reason the death penalty persists in the US is simply tradition. In Europe, the death penalty did not end because the public demanded it. It ended when educated elites decided to end it and a new tradition, rooted in the recognition of human rights (the first being the right to life) was born. The death penalty will be abolished in America simply when they stop using it. Until then, it will continue, limping ahead, but likely resurging as murder rates rise and if they continue to do so in the future. Matthew Robinson is Professor of Government and Justice Studies at Appalachian State University. He is past president of both the North Carolina Criminal Justice Association and the Southern Criminal Justice Association, and was recently ranked one of the top 20 most influential criminologists in the world. His work on the death penalty has been cited both in the US and globally. The author declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Death penalty” sent at: 29/08/2022 09:52. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on September 5, 2022

What does 2024 hold in store? - 360 Reece Hooker, Lachlan Guselli Published on December 18, 2023 As the year comes to a close, 360info is turning to the experts to find out what issues are set to define 2024. The year ahead is to set to be bruising and costly. Wars in Ukraine and Gaza look certain to drag on, and the spectre of a global recession will again threaten to plunge the world into economic turbulence not seen since the global financial crisis in 2007. But there’s also hope for change and renewal. Next year is slated to bring 40 national elections, sending around 41 percent of the global population to the polls. The optimistic perspective is that this could help the world be more democratically representative, more indicative of contemporary concerns and more peaceful and prosperous in 12 months’ time. To reach that better place, the work needs to be done. Economies and elections are at risk if authorities and institutions become complacent and stagnant. Already, risks of corruption, self-interest and inadequate resourcing are hampering the work of many democratic bodies around the world. Meanwhile, in tech, two letters dominated in 2023: AI. The breakthrough year for artificial intelligence has given the feeling to many that the future is closer than ever before. The evolution of OpenAI’s ChatGPT has upended education, medicine and commerce despite continued fears that it would instead trigger the end of the world. While AI has led such a whirling debate in 2023, can it keep up the pace in 2024, or will it suffer the sophomore slump as regulation, copyright cases, and increased competition emerge? AI is just one of the major issues that will shape 2024, according to 360info experts. As the medical world works out how to integrate AI into its Hippocratic framework, the quest to understand the fundamental workings of the human body presses on. The world’s first precision gene editing therapy approved for use in the UK and US will target sickle cell disease, but despite its high price, it will offer new solutions for age-old illnesses. As the world reels from the hottest year on record, new and innovative approaches to sustainability continue with hydrogen-powered homes and commercial airlines running on “waste fats and plant sugars” attempting to propel the globe toward net zero emissions. As commercial aviation shifts toward sustainable fuels, the rocket propulsion industry is set for a bumper year, with as many as 12 missions that could land on the Moon in the next 12 months.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 18, 2023

Electoral musical chairs makes a mockery of democracy - 360 Wajid Islam, Hafsa Hina Published on February 7, 2024 After enduring the worst economic crisis of 2023, Pakistan’s next election should be focused on repair and reform. What’s happening is more like musical chairs. Every citizen has heard it: “Pakistan is passing through critical times.” For 77 years, the political elite has used this phrase and used it to convince the masses that the next round of elections will solve all the country’s problems. On February 8, Pakistan will go to the polls facing myriad problems and – once again – its people are being told about the country passing through critical times. Pakistan has bitter relations with three of its neighbours. The eastern border with India has been closed since August 2019, with almost no trade and relations, and both sides blame each other for the destabilisation. Similarly, the border with Pakistan’s north-western neighbour Afghanistan has been closed since January 13, 2024. Relations on the western border with Iran have also worsened: each side has conducted air strikes and accused the other of harbouring terrorists. Pakistan is facing internal political instability and economic turmoil. Historic inflation, depleting foreign exchange reserves, increasing domestic and foreign debts, stagnant growth, rising unemployment and a drop in foreign direct investment and exports all add to the challenge. But not much is likely to change with the upcoming election. Political analyst Zahid Hussain called the election a “mockery of the entire democratic process”, an unprecedented charade even under a dictatorship. All opposition leaders are incarcerated and prohibited from running election campaigns. Even virtual events aren’t allowed, with authorities imposing internet outages during their events. Pakistan’s media faces censorship, barring any attempt to highlight or criticise the state. And while some feel the backlash of state power, a previous antagonist can become a favourite and enjoy protections. This is Pakistan’s dilemma: one ex-prime minister is labelled a traitor while another is celebrated, and vice-versa. It’s an unending game of musical chairs performed for 77 years, at the expense of the population. Yet Pakistan’s political elite has not learned from its repeated failures. The elections scheduled for February 8 have already been marred by allegations of pre-poll rigging from the caretaker government and the military. Both entities have denied doing so. More than politics, the economy will be the barometer for Pakistan’s fortunes in 2024 and beyond. Pakistan endured the worst economic crisis of 2023 according to Human Rights Watch, with soaring inflation, poverty and unemployment. Skyrocketing inflation of 44.64 percent is crushing for a population already under economic strain. According to the World Bank, the poverty level has risen manifold, and the growth rate is abysmal. Pakistan’s central bank has lifted interest rates to 22 percent, further choking business and economic growth. The country experienced a negative growth rate in 2023 and, if Pakistan avoids climate disaster and calamity, 2024 is projected to see growth of just 1.7 percent. Pakistan faces stag-flation – low growth, high inflation and unemployment. No political party even has a substantive manifesto to address critical economic issues like a looming default and persistent deficits. The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics’ Reform Manifesto highlights the issues and offers suggested solutions. Pakistan’s economy is on life support and is reliant on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to keep a pulse. The country has availed 24 IMF programs with another on the way. Along with the IMF, Pakistan is leaning on deposits from allies to deplete foreign exchange reserves. Saudi Arabia has deposited USD$5 billion, China has granted USD$4 billion, and the UAE has rolled over its USD$2 billion. Despite these deposits totalling USD$12 billion, the country’s official reserves sit under USD$8.027 billion, highlighting the economic turmoil. The country’s total external debt and liabilities have reached USD$128.80 billion. For the next three years, Pakistan has to repay more than USD$24 billion annually, accounting for more than USD$2 billion monthly. In 2024 alone, the country has to repay about USD$25-26 billion worth of external debt repayments and interest. Pakistan’s post-election government will not be able to run the country smoothly while these problems persist. No messiah can fix all the country’s problems, as has been proven over and over. Without a free and fair election that reflects the masses’ opinion, stringent reforms and a social contract built on rule of law, Pakistan will struggle to find stability, prosperity and positive change. Wajid Islam is a Lecturer of Economics at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority. Dr Hafsa Hina is an Assistant Professor at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on February 7, 2024

Eliminating HIV transmission is close, but we're not there yet - 360 Skye McGregor, Darryl O'Donnell Published on December 1, 2023 Australia is getting close to eliminating HIV transmission, but inequities in the delivery and uptake of prevention and treatment strategies remain. HIV diagnoses in Australia have nearly halved in the last decade, with only 555 HIV diagnoses reported in the 2022 surveillance data. In areas of inner Sydney, the decline has been even more significant, with new infections falling by 88 percent — meaning HIV has been virtually eliminated in these areas. If this trajectory continues, Australia will have made major progress towards eliminating HIV transmission nationwide and meeting the UN goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Although these gains are to be celebrated, Australia may still fall short of the target of a 90 percent reduction by 2030, largely due to inequities in the delivery and uptake of HIV prevention and treatment strategies. To support progress in reducing HIV transmission and care of people living with HIV, Australia needs to ensure ongoing and expanded investment in appropriate HIV responses. Reductions have been most significant among diagnoses reporting male-to-male sexual contact as the likely route of HIV transmission, with a 57 percent decrease between 2013 and 2022. The majority of diagnoses in Australia are still attributed to male-to-male sexual contact, but this proportion has declined over time, down from 70 percent in 2013 to 57 percent in 2022. While the number of diagnoses among people reporting heterosexual contact has consistently been lower — 166 in 2022 — there has been less change over time in this group. As a result, they make up an increasing proportion of the total — nearly a third in 2022. Compared to Australian-born populations, overseas-born Australians have had slower reductions in HIV diagnoses, but they are still declining — down 33 percent, compared to 55 percent in Australian-born populations. There are several likely reasons for these ongoing discrepancies: barriers to accessing appropriate prevention and treatment, including lack of culturally appropriate health services and resources and subsidised PrEP not being available for people ineligible for Medicare; the ongoing effects of stigma, particularly in situations where open discussions about sexual health are not encouraged; and the negative impact of existing legal frameworks, including around HIV disclosure and migration, that may disincentivise HIV testing. HIV diagnoses among sex workers and people who inject drugs — other priority populations globally affected by HIV — have remained low in Australia, unlike in other parts of the world. This can be accredited to the intense focus and investment in community partnerships from the earliest days of the HIV epidemic. All these declines need to be considered in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting interruptions to HIV testing and healthcare access, restrictions of people’s movement and changes in people’s sexual behaviours. There is now an opportunity to focus on nuanced public health messaging to ensure people are re-engaging in regular HIV testing, as well as using effective prevention options such as condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis (or PrEP), in which HIV-negative people take treatment to prevent them acquiring HIV if exposed, and treatment as prevention, in which an HIV-positive partner reaches an undetectable viral load, preventing HIV transmission. It is important to remember that elimination of HIV transmission does not mean elimination of HIV altogether. HIV is a lifelong, incurable infection that requires continuous investment in public health responses and services, as well as ongoing efforts to find a cure. Doing so is crucial both to ensure people living with HIV have the opportunity to live healthy and fulfilling lives, and at the same time to reduce the risk of HIV transmissions. Ensuring communities affected by HIV are at the centre of the response in Australia is essential. In Australia, researchers are indebted to the community of people with and affected by HIV, for their relentless advocacy and engagement in the development and critique of high-quality research and public health policy. Australia’s response to HIV has been internationally recognised, and characterised by a successful partnership among communities, academia, clinicians and government. Early investment in needle and syringe programs, affordable and accessible HIV testing, subsidised access to antiretroviral therapy and PrEP have relied on community advocacy, government investment, and strong epidemiological and clinical evidence. This partnership is ongoing, as shown in the recent expansion of subsidised treatment to include people ineligible for Medicare. But more could still be done to achieve Australia’s goal of virtually eliminating HIV transmission by 2030, and this can only be done with equity and partnerships as guiding principles. Sustained and expanded access to HIV testing, including self-testing and opt-out testing strategies — in which patients choose to opt out of routine testing for HIV, rather than opt in — are needed, which would ensure that people receive a timely HIV diagnosis, supporting rapid engagement in treatment and care. Delivery of treatment in a range of settings, including culturally sensitive and appropriate services, would support greater health-service engagement, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Expanded access to PrEP for people ineligible for Medicare would support reductions in HIV diagnoses among people born overseas. Education programs and open discussions around sexual health and HIV will assist in reducing stigma and discrimination, which continue to significantly affect people with and at risk of HIV. Dr Skye McGregor is an epidemiologist and senior research fellow at the Kirby Institute, UNSW. Her work focuses on the surveillance and prevention of sexually transmissible infections and blood-borne viruses. She leads production of the national sexually transmissible infections and blood-borne viruses annual surveillance reports for Australia. Darryl O’Donnell is an adjunct professor at the Kirby Institute, UNSW, former chief executive officer of Health Equity Matters (formerly the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations) and Founder and Director of Praxis Insights. He has 30 years’ experience in public health, working in community, research and public sector roles. The Kirby Institute receives funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care. This article has been republished as part of 360info’s special report on disease elimination. It originally appeared on November 30, 2023. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 1, 2023

Eliminating malaria requires new solutions - 360 James Beeson, Amaya Ortega Pajares Published on February 19, 2024 Progress towards eliminating malaria has stalled. New solutions are needed to prevent, detect and treat one of the world’s biggest health threats. Every minute, more than 400 people develop malaria, and around every minute, a person dies because of it. Most likely, it’s a child under five years old in sub-Saharan Africa. Children in Africa account for around 70 percent of malaria deaths, although there are substantial burdens of the disease in the Asia-Pacific and parts of the Americas. Yet despite the risk malaria poses to 40 percent of the world’s population and ambitious targets being set to eliminate it, progress in reducing the global burden of the disease has stalled since around 2015. Alarmingly, the global malaria burden increased in 2020, due in part to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023 World Malaria Report estimated there were 249 million cases of malaria in 2022. New strategies and tools are needed to accelerate progress towards achieving malaria elimination — through better prevention, treatment, diagnosis and surveillance of the disease. Malaria is not transmitted from person to person, but through the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes carrying a Plasmodium parasite (P. falciparum or P. vivax). This presents specific challenges for achieving elimination that differ from many other infections. Reducing malaria requires strategies that target mosquitoes as well as people, and isolation of infectious cases and social distancing measures used in other infectious diseases are not effective strategies. A simple and moderately effective way to prevent malaria infection is to sleep under a bed net to avoid mosquito bites. Bed nets treated with insecticides are even more effective in repelling mosquitoes. Mosquitos will rest indoors after biting for a blood meal, and so they can be killed by coating indoor surfaces with insecticides. Thus, indoor residual insecticide spraying can prevent onward Plasmodium transmission to others. For more than 20 years, the widespread use of insecticide-treated bed nets and indoor spraying has been essential to achieving progress in reducing the malaria burden. However, changes in mosquito behaviours and increasing resistance of mosquitoes to insecticides and parasites to antimalarial drugs have reduced the effectiveness of these methods. This has been compounded by incomplete coverage of preventive interventions in high-risk populations. In the current scenario, a vaccine that is highly protective and could prevent transmission of malaria would be transformative. The World Health Organization’s recent recommendation of widespread implementation of the first malaria vaccines (RTS,S /AS01 and R21/Matrix-M) represents a major advance. However, challenges remain. The vaccines are currently recommended for use only in young children and have a relatively short duration of protection, which means boosters are required after 12 to 18 months. Their efficacy is also affected by the genetic diversity of malaria parasites circulating in populations, so the vaccine may not prevent malaria caused by some strains. These vaccines are only effective against P. falciparum, which causes the bulk of malaria in Africa, and not P. vivax malaria, which is widely present across the Asia-Pacific region and parts of Africa and the Americas. Ongoing research is aimed at improving how long the immune system can protect against infection and designing a vaccine that protects against all strains across various geographical locations. The widespread emergence of Plasmodium parasites, especially P. falciparum, resistant to antimalarial drugs, presents a considerable risk of increasing malaria morbidity and mortality. Additionally, P. vivax establishes a latent liver infection, which can reactivate weeks or even years after the initial infection, causing relapses of malaria. Diagnosing and treating these dormant infections remains challenging, another constraint on the progress of malaria control and elimination programmes. The development of new drugs to combat resistance or the optimisation of combinations of the currently available drugs are different paths to ensure effective antimalarial therapy and patients’ well-being and survival. In parallel, reliable diagnostic tools can serve various purposes towards malaria control and elimination: early diagnosis and treatment prevents clinical complications, accurate diagnosis guides an appropriate selection of medications, and accurate diagnostic tests aid in monitoring local or seasonal parasite transmission. While malaria treatment and prevention have been the mainstay for malaria control, to achieve malaria elimination, all malaria infections must be effectively prevented or detected and treated. Many infections are not detected by routine surveillance or established diagnostic tests, and many infections are asymptomatic and go undiagnosed. As a result, transmission of malaria in populations continues. The epidemiology of malaria in the Asia-Pacific region, for example, is highly variable and diverse and further complicated by high rates of drug resistance, large reservoirs of undetected infections and diversity in the mosquito species that transmit malaria. New, highly sensitive and precise markers of malaria infection combined with new tools to define malaria transmission would enable more efficient targeting of malaria by preventive interventions and treatment and the best use of limited resources. Professor James Beeson is a medical researcher and public health physician. He leads the Burnet Institute’s Malaria Immunity and Vaccines Research Group. Professor Beeson has worked in the field of global health for over 20 years with a focus on infectious diseases and maternal and child health. Professor Beeson receives research funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Dr Amaya Ortega Pajares is a biomedical scientist specialising in immunology and tropical diseases, and manager of the Cellular Responses to Disease and Vaccination lab at Burnet Institute. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on February 19, 2024

Elon’s Twitter ripe for a misinformation avalanche - 360 Daniel Angus Published on January 19, 2023 Seeing might not be believing going forward as digital technologies make the fight against misinformation even trickier for embattled social media giants. In a grainy video, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appears to tell his people to lay down their arms and surrender to Russia. The video — quickly debunked by Zelenskyy — was a deep fake, a digital imitation generated by artificial intelligence (AI) to mimic his voice and facial expressions. High-profile forgeries like this are just the tip of what is likely to be a far bigger iceberg. There is a digital deception arms race underway, in which AI models are being created that can effectively deceive online audiences, while others are being developed to detect the potentially misleading or deceptive content generated by these same  models. With the growing concern regarding AI text plagiarism, one model, Grover, is designed to discern news texts written by a human from articles generated by AI. As online trickery and misinformation surges, the armour that platforms built against it are being stripped away. Since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, he has trashed the platform’s online safety division and as a result misinformation is back on the rise. Musk, like others, looks to technological fixes to solve his problems. He’s already signalled a plan for upping use of AI for Twitter’s content moderation. But this isn’t sustainable nor scalable, and is unlikely to be the silver bullet. Microsoft researcher Tarleton Gillespie suggests: “automated tools are best used to identify the bulk of the cases, leaving the less obvious or more controversial identifications to human reviewers”. Some human intervention remains in the automated decision-making systems embraced by news platforms but what shows up in newsfeeds is largely driven by algorithms. Similar tools act as important moderation tools to block inappropriate or illegal content. The key problem remains that technology ‘fixes’ aren’t perfect and mistakes have consequences. Algorithms sometimes can’t catch harmful content fast enough and can be manipulated into amplifying misinformation. Sometimes an overzealous algorithm can also take down legitimate speech. Beyond its fallibility, there are core questions about whether these algorithms help or hurt society. The technology can better engage people by tailoring news to align with readers’ interests. But to do so, algorithms feed off a trove of personal data, often accrued without a user’s full understanding. There’s a need to know the nuts and bolts of how an algorithm works — that is opening the ‘black box’. But, in many cases, knowing what’s inside an algorithmic system would still leave us wanting, particularly without knowing what data and user behaviours and cultures sustain these massive systems. One way researchers may be able to understand automated systems better is by observing them from the perspective of users, an idea put forward by scholars Bernhard Rieder, from the University of Amsterdam, and Jeanette Hofmann, from the Berlin Social Science Centre. Australian researchers also have taken up the call, enrolling citizen scientists to donate algorithmically personalised web content and examine how algorithms shape internet searches and how they target advertising. Early results suggest the personalisation of Google Web Search is less profound than we may expect, adding more evidence to debunk the ‘filter bubble’ myth, that we exist in highly personalised content communities. Instead it may be that search personalisation is more due to how people construct their online search queries. Last year several AI-powered language and media generation models entered the mainstream. Trained on hundreds of millions of data points (such as images and sentences), these ‘foundational’ AI models can be adapted to specific tasks. For instance, DALL-E 2 is a tool trained on millions of labelled images, linking images to their text captions. This model is significantly larger and more sophisticated than previous models for the purpose of automatic image labelling, but also allows adaption to tasks like automatic image caption generation and even synthesising new images from text prompts. These models have seen a wave of creative apps and uses spring up, but concerns around artist copyright and their environmental footprint remain. The ability to create seemingly realistic images or text at scale has also prompted concern from misinformation scholars — these replications can be convincing, especially as technology advances and more data is fed into the machine. Platforms need to be intelligent and nuanced in their approach to these increasingly powerful tools if they want to avoid furthering the AI-fuelled digital deception arms race. Daniel Angus is Professor of Digital Communication in the School of Communication, and leader of the Computational Communication and Culture program in QUT’s Digital Media Research Centre. He is a Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making & Society, the ARC Discovery Projects, Evaluating the Challenge of ‘Fake News’ and Other Malinformation, and Using machine vision to explore Instagram’s everyday promotional cultures, and the ARC Linkage Project, Young Australians and the Promotion of Alcohol on Social Media. This article was first published on January 16, 2023. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on January 19, 2023

Empowering older workers amid an ageing workforce - 360 Sharifah Rose Ee Published on October 4, 2023 Discovering new ways to empower older employees to find their groove and stay relevant in an ever-changing workplace. Malaysia officially became an ageing nation in 2022, sparking intense debate about its retirement age and the role mature employees can play in a modern evolving workforce. Yet the real debate should not be whether society needs employees to stay in the workforce longer —  there are real and broad benefits in that —  but how we can give that older population the skills it needs to keep working. The United Nations classifies a nation as ageing when 7 percent of its population is aged 65 years and above. In 2022, Malaysia’s rate jumped to 7.3 percent. Malaysia’s retirement age is 60 years, although the government has had to deny claims there are already plans to raise it to 65. Despite the rumours, increasing the retirement age is not the ultimate solution to ensure the nation’s financial stability, especially with the changing landscape of work. Keeping older workers employed longer requires thinking about the way they are trained. Online learning, or e-learning, can be a key part of that. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies scrambled to provide online training to their staff, including those less familiar with digital technology or “digital immigrants”: those born before the widespread adoption of computers and the internet who have had to adapt to digital technology later in life. Many digital immigrants are older workers. As living costs rise and retirement savings dwindle, recruiters see more seniors trying to re-enter the workforce. For many older people, this isn’t just about financial necessity; it’s also about passion and a commitment to staying productive and engaged beyond their retirement age. Retaining mature employees in the workforce does not affect job opportunities for younger generations, especially given a shift towards short-term project roles and advances in digital technology. It can even be complementary, especially given that mature employees can bring experience and often unique skill sets. Companies might need to invest in staff retention. For example, Singapore introduced a government training initiative for small and medium enterprises, providing up to 90 percent course fee funding. Organisations can leverage the National Silver Academy funding, subsidising 50 percent of training fees for individuals aged 50 and above and promoting lifelong learning. As businesses evolve and require more qualified staff, mature employees who are upskilled, reskilled and retrained can stay relevant in the workforce. Operating with a multigenerational workforce is easier for companies than dealing with shortages because of retirements and retraining existing employees are more cost-effective than hiring new ones. And, when a company invests in its employees, it signals value, fosters retention and helps attract talent. Mature employees might be less enthusiastic about learning and development. Some cite age discrimination as a barrier. Even when given the chance, they might hesitate to participate in job-related courses. Learning new technologies later in life can be like picking up a new language, engaging a different part of the brain. This might explain why older “digital immigrants” with lower levels of education might resist technology upgrades. Adult learners prefer e-learning — a form of education that uses the internet, electronic media or digital technologies — but someolder learners face challenges engaging. While a lot of adult education is underpinned by andragogy, a research-driven teaching concept designed to help adults learn in a way best suited to them, teaching the elderly might need something even more targeted — a geragogy. Developing online courses designed for older learners might help them overcome the traditional issues of engaging with adult education. Geragogy guidelines for training senior learners have been developed to create inclusive learning experiences. There are other ways to assist older e-learners. Providing technical support that boosts learner confidence helps — older people tend to prefer hotlines for one-on-one support —  as would additional materials for newcomers and clear organisation and navigation guidelines. Simplifying course navigation with direct hyperlinks might also be helpful. The fear of learning new things can be addressed once learners’ focus shifts from challenges to benefits. Mature workers should see lifelong learning as valuable for career survival as well as for a fulfilling retirement. Organisations can foster this mindset by promoting a culture of lifelong learning. As Malaysia’s retirement age undergoes review, businesses would be wise to consider what fosters an inclusive and supportive learning environment for older workers. Lifelong learning helps older adults stay active and satisfied and helps delay dependency. As the population ages, lifelong learning also acts as a powerful tool to combat inequality and exclusion and supports intergenerational learning. That in turn builds greater resilience in communities. Sharifah Rose Ee is doing her PhD in Digital Health Technology for Older Populations in Malaysia at the School of Arts & Social Sciences, Monash University Malaysia. Specialising in gerontology, she also conducts the Introduction to the Geragogy Guidelines workshops for Council for Third Age (C3A) Singapore. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on October 4, 2023

Empowering women to choose weaving over illegal work - 360 Yulia Indrawati Sari, Elisabeth A.S. Dewi, AAS Dyah Ayunda NA Published on October 18, 2022 Traditional weaving can be an escape from extreme poverty in rural Indonesia, but it doesn’t work for everyone. When Diana Timoria’s friend died while working illegally overseas, Diana decided to take action. Hailing from the island of Sumba in eastern Indonesia, Diana had seen many teenagers from poor economic backgrounds in her area deceived into falsifying their identity in order to meet the age requirement to work abroad. Working illegally, many fall victim to undocumented crime. As many as 67 illegal workers from the region died abroad in a span of six months in 2021. With poverty rates around double that of the national poverty rate, the people of Sumba Island live on less than US$1.90 a day. The province is one of  five that contribute the most illegal workers in Indonesia. But Sumba is also known for its intricately woven ikat textiles. One piece of ikat can be valued at 2-4 million rupiah or US$130-262. The challenge is bringing buyers to sellers. Timoria started a youth weaver community in her area called the Kandunu Community, producing ikat to both empower women and raise awareness on the risks of illegal migration in her community. The group includes young women and men as well as the elderly who share their knowledge, skills and history of weaving. They also spread information on the risks and scams associated with illegal migration. But empowering the women of the region to escape poverty is likely to take more than earning income from weaving. For Agustina Ronga Padak (50), weaving is her life socially and culturally. But in her humble house shared with her six children, she struggles to continue her passion because weaving is not lucrative. For Sumbanese women like Agustina, weaving is just one of the many tasks they perform from dusk until dawn. They farm, tend livestock, and do household chores. They plant corn, tubers, and nuts with harvest failure risk and small surplus to be sold. They also plant subsistence gardens to help feed their family. Producing an ikat that could sell for a decent profit takes three to four weeks in between taking care of their children, cooking and collecting water from faraway wells. The women weave during the night with limited lighting where electricity is scarce. They then have limited market access to sell their wares, along with market uncertainty. There are many civil society organisations working to empower women in the region including the Amnaut Bife “Kuan” Foundation (Yabiku), SUNSPIRIT, CIS Timor, PIKUL Foundation, as well as church based organisations. But they all have limited budgets and are spread across a large area including Sumba, making it difficult for them to address the complex poverty problems in the region. What’s missing is an effective government program to address a specific poverty issue in the province. The central government has a policy to accelerate the elimination of extreme poverty in priority districts, but in Sumba this has been controversially focused on building dams and developing food estates. There are few concrete regulations and programmes offered by local governments due to budget constraints. Until policy is aligned with the issues of Sumba its illegal migration problem is likely to continue. Yulia Indrawati Sari, Elisabeth A.S. Dewi, and  A. A. S. Dyah Ayunda N. A. are lecturers in the International Relations department of Parahyangan Catholic University. Yulia I Sari research interests include Gender, NGOs, and Environment. Elisabeth A.S. Dewi focuses on Gender in IR, NGOs, and migration. Dyah is interested in Gender, Environment, and International Political Economy. The research project is supported by the Association of Catholic Higher Learning Institutions (APTIK). Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on October 18, 2022

Ending violence in the Pacific means consulting women - 360 Nicole George Published on March 8, 2023 Asking women about the relevance of rules on gender violence can help confront this issue. Stronger laws on their own just don’t cut it. “Look. It’s like a prison inside,” a young working woman told a researcher in the Fijian capital Suva. The woman, Kuini*, was referring to a photograph of two women talking. One was standing under the doorway of her village home, a man watching them intently from inside the house. A scowl on his face, eyebrows furrowed — anger directed at the women. The photograph was one of a series about the situations that can trigger gender violence in families or the broader community. The series, shot in and around Suva and featuring local actors, was prepared with a local theatre group. The photographs were then used in research with almost 300 women from Fiji, Bougainville and Kanak communities in New Caledonia, to explore how rules on gender violence operate in their communities. Women from Pacific Islands nations live with extreme insecurity. It is estimated two in three women and girls will experience violence from an intimate partner across their lifetimes. In the last decade many Pacific states have enacted legal reforms on this issue – but with limited impact. It is often assumed stronger law and order responses will be the key to reducing violence. Yet this ignores the challenges surrounding effective implementation of these laws and, equally, the views women themselves hold about rules that promise to uphold their security. The problem is that women’s authority in identifying and enforcing rules is often unrecognised. State law, customary protocols and faith based systems of rules interweave like the strips of a pandanus in a mat in many Pacific societies. Just this month, for example, it was reported that Bible verses were being misinterpreted by some Pacific men – for example, to highlight narratives about “women submitting to men” – in order to justify domestic violence. Regulatory authority was more evenly distributed between men and women in Pacific societies before European contact. But colonial administrators and church missionaries introduced new systems of rules that increased men’s authority to make rules over the lives of women. This deprived women of the authority to be viewed as rule-makers in their own right. Over time, gendered rules of familial servitude, patriarchal obedience and feminine humility became dominant.  Today, these rules influence how laws on gender violence are implemented by the state and judiciary. In all three locations, police agencies tend to treat gender violence as a “domestic issue” and a less serious law and order concern than other areas of enforcement. In Bougainville this has resulted in scarce police resources being diverted away from the issue, a particular challenge in the territory’s many remote and rural areas, impeding police capacity to implement family protection orders. In Fiji, policing has sometimes been overtly influenced by conservative Christian teachings on morality, as during the 2008-09 “Souls to Jesus” policing campaign. During this period, police officers were inclined to ignore law reforms that obligated them to investigate women’s complaints of violence, instead counselling them to reflect on their own behaviour and act in ways that uphold the integrity of their marriage and their families. Christian ideals about the sanctity of marriage continue to shape police responses outside this period and help to explain why so few cases of gender violence end up in court. Even where cases do go to trial, the influence of local practices and customs can shape how justice is delivered to women. Judges in Fiji frequently reduce sentencing for those found guilty of gender violence if they have participated in customary (“i-soro”) reconciliation processes. These are customary dispute mediations that commonly require perpetrator atonement (through exchange of customary goods) to settle grievances. They have been criticised by gender violence activists in Fiji as an affront to gender violence justice.  Activists say these approaches are too lenient and privilege the restoration of community relations with the perpetrator over redress to the women they have harmed. Although consideration of i-soro in judicial sentencing was repealed in 2009 in Fiji, it continued to be mentioned as a mitigating factor in 40 percent of all court cases on gender violence heard in the following decade. In New Caledonia, male Kanak leaders also prefer to frame their responses to gender violence within custom and faith considerations, arguing that women are  “Kanak before they are victims”. While Kanak distrust of state police helps to explain why these solutions are preferred, sole reliance upon clan and cultural connections as critical supports can that mean in practice, women only receive temporary respite care before facing pressure to return to their, potentially unsafe, family environment. This evidence suggests how interweaving rules — customary, faith-based or state laws — can be prejudicial to women in Pacific nations who are at risk of gender violence. Yet, there is more to this picture than is at first apparent. When asked about the safety of the women depicted in the photographs mentioned above – and the rules that might increase their safety – study participants not only mentioned how rules are restrictive to them, but also identified rules of custom, culture and practice that, in their opinion, should provide women with security and allow them to resist violence. These were respectful relations and reciprocity between women and men in family life, and a rejection of gendered hierarchies. For example, in response to an image showing a male partner’s displeasure where a woman was resting rather than completing household tasks, large numbers of women challenged the relevance of rules of gendered servitude and instead focused on rules of gendered reciprocity. They argued for rules that upheld partnership and sharing within households. Some argued that men and women need to “help each other” and the importance of men putting “themselves into their wives’ shoes”. Others said men should have “humility” and show “commitment” to their partners in these circumstances, and commented that any show of anger was “wrong”. Study participants’ reflections on the rules that supported women’s safe participation in decision-making meetings within the community were equally revealing. While some participants argued this type of activity challenged norms of gendered subservience and might see women reprimanded or even exposed to violence, there were others who roundly challenged this view. They argued better decisions are made when “different people [speak with] different ideas” and that the village should “accept and respect this”. One respondent mocked men who could not accept this sort of participation, laughingly describing them as the “heroes of the patriarchy”. Understanding the complex ways in which rules on gender and gender violence are made, interpreted and implemented in the Pacific paves the way to examining where women themselves have the capacity to define and assert rules that will make them safe when violence threatens. Community, family and household-based rules may be much more relevant and closely followed in these women’s lives than state law. To understand how, we need to spend more time listening to Pacific women’s own assessments of the content and value of rules on gender violence, and make their views better recognised and better understood. *Name changed for privacy reasons Nicole George is an Associate Professor in the School of Political Studies at The University of Queensland.  She has researched gender, conflict, violence, peacebuilding and regulatory practice for over 20 years, learning alongside women in the Pacific Islands.  She is the author of forthcoming book Between Rights and Rightfulness: Regulating Gender Violence in the Pacific Islands (Oxford University Press, 2024). This report has been republished as part of a series on gender violence. It was first published on March 3, 2023. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on March 8, 2023

Energy justice key to global net zero action - 360 Justin See Published on October 23, 2023 Achieving net zero emissions requires compromise but energy justice for all needs to be at the heart of any decision. For all the talk, it’s not happening, yet. The Australian government contingent at the COP28 summit will arrive in Abu Dhabi attempting to show off efforts made under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to move the country toward net zero emissions by 2050. But despite the country’s step up from COP pariah in 2021 to the climate club in 2023, the Australian government has also approved three new coal mines this year, and state governments are trying to reopen coal-fired power stations as a way of pushing down consumer costs. It is this apparent contradiction that has some nations in the developing world claiming hypocrisy. Especially when some of their most vulnerable communities are paying a price for the push to cut emissions. It becomes a matter of ‘energy justice’. The science is clear: carbon emissions need to be reduced by almost half by 2030 to avoid the worst impacts of climate change but developing countries ask why they should forgo fossil fuels while rich countries like Australia profit from the surge in prices for fossil fuel exports and still argue for renewable energy targets. To achieve net zero, the world needs to transition away from a fossil fuel-based global economy to one powered by renewable, lower-carbon energy sources like solar, wind, and natural gas. Such projects are also the healthier and cheaper option for our planet. The energy transition would mitigate air pollution and its health impacts, create more jobs and increase tax revenues and even boost innovation. Many communities see these benefits. Standalone solar grids provide people in Malawi with electricity for essential services like healthcare and water purification. Geothermal power plants generate abundant and reliable electricity to power the Tsuchiyu Onsen town in Fukushima, Japan. Solar-based mini grids have also provided access to electricity to almost 13,700 villages in remote Cambodia. Yet there are injustices associated with transitioning to renewable energy that need to be countered. There are principles that should guide the way we scale up renewables in a just and sustainable way. Over the past decade, the term ‘energy justice’ has emerged to highlight the importance of ensuring all individuals have access to clean, affordable, and sustainable energy. It focuses on the full lifecycle of energy resources, from extraction to production to consumption. Energy justice draws upon the three core principles of environmental justice: Chile’s Generacion Comunitaria, is an example of an inclusive and participatory model for energy transition. Generacion Comunitaria is a partnership framework developed by the Ministry of Energy to ensure Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities develop and manage their own renewable energy initiatives. Aside from its inclusive processes, Generacion Comunitaria policy also works to make renewable energy affordable and accessible to the local population. Chile’s example is an exception: energy justice is generally discussed rather than practiced. Researchers have highlighted the ways that the planning and operation of renewable energy systems can affect different groups in an unequal and unjust manner. They argue that women, children, elderly, and rural communities with less opportunity to influence energy transition are more likely to bear the socio-economic burden of the shift to renewables. The Democratic Republic of Congo is a stark example. There children as young as seven are exposed to cobalt-filled dust while mining for metals. Those same metals are used to make the batteries for electric cars. In India, women face displacement and loss of their livelihoods because of the construction of a hydropower dam. Cases of injustice appear particularly in developing economies. Energy transition projects require meaningful community engagement but several studies have highlighted the lack of recognition and respect given to local perspectives and culture. In Mexico, the development of the Yucatan Solar project saw locals excluded from key decision making. This triggered social resistance and a lawsuit was filed to permanently suspend the project. In borderland India, coercion strategies based on manipulation and forced compromise have been used by developers, contractors and land brokers in clearing and cleaning of common lands to make way for a wind farm. Other renewable energy projects have adverse impacts on human health. A study in Congo found chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was prevalent among those exposed to the burning of biomass, a renewable energy derived from plants and other residues from agriculture or forestry. Emerging studies show that the renewable energy sector can affect ecosystems and biodiversity. Some habitat loss has been attributed to the construction of geothermal facilities in Kenya’s Olkaria geothermal power plant. Other studies report a high risk of collision of bats and birds with wind generators. A just approach to the renewable energy transition should pull together the various principles of energy justice in the planning and implementation stages. Renewable energy transitions must be done with energy justice at its core. To do that, efforts need to be made to ensure: The transition to renewable energy should be seen as a matter of social justice as well as a technological or economic issue. Australia has a huge land mass and abundant renewable energy resources. It could become a global leader in the shift to renewables. It could put justice and fairness at the heart of its energy transition effort to enhance the legitimacy of that potential leadership. Dr Justin See is a postdoctoral research fellow in climate change adaptation from the Sydney Environment Institute at the University of Sydney. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on October 23, 2023

English language bias goes beyond words - 360 Celeste Rodriguez Louro Published on August 22, 2022 As a common language, English connects many people. But biases against accents persist with dire effects. The English language is the most widely spoken second language in the world today. One billion people use it as their second (third, or fourth) language, but less than 400 million speak it as their first. Despite this,people often distrust information delivered in a foreign accent.There are strategies to overcome these biases, but the true obstacle lies in implementing them widely. The ‘ideal’ of the native speaker in many circumstances can determine whether a person gets a job, or secure housing. The opposite is a ‘non-native speaker’ — a person constructed as accented, exotic and potentially difficult to trust due to being perceived as unfamiliar. The English language emerged before its subsequent expansion across the world, so native English speakers have been historically seen as the absolute canons of western culture. In English language teaching, ‘native-speakerism’ policies are prevalent, particularly in developing economies where non-native teachers are usually discounted as second best. But favouring native speakers in English language teaching positions renders the field uneven and inequitable. These attitudes are reflected in how English language teaching jobs are advertised. Up to 70 percent of jobs on international sites such as tefl.com — one of the major job engines for English language teaching — are directly targeted toward native English speakers. Accented English, or English that is noticeably different from the perceived ‘standard’ mainstream English speakers, is riddled with stigma and often rejected as ‘foreign’. The trust issue runs deep: a canonical study compared three different English accents (white, African American, Latino) and found these can determine people’s future opportunities. When the researcher called different landlords about housing options in the local newspaper, a ‘white’ accent secured him several inspections but the racialised accents didn’t. African American and Hispanic accents immediately put the researcher out of the game. A 2006 study also found that insurance agents in the United States were using clients’ accents over the phone to make predictions about their race, directly impacting the services their clients could secure. Biases can stem from difficulties in processing and understanding foreign accents, but these can be reduced using interventions which expose listeners to more foreign accents. Another way to reduce biases is to actively engage people in the workplace in accent bias training as well as unconscious bias training. However, these activities can sometimes become ‘ticking-the-box’ exercises. Real change is likely to stem from creating truly multicultural workplaces through hiring people from a variety of language backgrounds. Exposure to different English accents normalises linguistic variation. Ensuring that we become conscious and aware of our subjective views informed by a standard language ideology, or an imposed ​​bias towards an ‘idealised spoken language’,  is a way forward. Language does not exist in a state of perfection and ‘standard’ English is not the sole vehicle of intelligible communication. The English language spread with the colonisation of parts of Asia and Africa in the late 16th century when it was adopted as a common means of communication between speakers whose first languages are distinct. As for who owns English, the answer depends on who you ask. A historian will tell you that English was brought to Britain in the mid-5th to 7th centuries by Anglo-Saxon migrants hailing from present-day northwest Germany, southern Denmark and the Netherlands. A sociologist will encourage you to look up the relationship between people and the Crown, including colonies and dominions. A sociolinguist will argue: “it’s complicated”. Dr Celeste Rodriguez Louro is a Senior Lecturer and Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow in Linguistics at The University of Western Australia. She is also Director of the Language Lab. The author’s research was funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA), DE170100493. She declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on August 22, 2022

Ethical cities could fix post-COVID-19 struggles - 360 Brendan F.D. Barrett Published on December 13, 2021 The post-pandemic recovery represents a unique opportunity for our cities to emerge more ethical, equitable, inclusive, sustainable and resilient. By Brendan F.D. Barrett, Osaka University A visible impact of the pandemic was on our cities. Restrictions imposed to control the virus hit the retail and hospitality sector hard. Shops were literally and figuratively shuttered. Bustling streets rendered still. Residents who could, often moved out of the city. Major global cities like Tokyo and London experienced a net loss in population during the pandemic. In the case of London, on average, escapees moved 35 miles away. Economists and business owners have reason to despair, but city dwellers wanting to get back to pre-pandemic life as quickly as possible should perhaps be careful what they wish for. Before the pandemic, high streets were already struggling due the growth of e-commerce, among other factors. High streets in the UK, for example, were a cause for concern for at least a decade before COVID-19. Likewise, large parts of our inner cities are office districts; busy by day, deserted by night. Evidence from the United States suggests downtown office districts were vulnerable even before COVID-19 and that these areas are only sustainable when they include diverse uses. Remote workers may hesitate to return to inner city office districts: it is estimated that post-pandemic between 20 to 25 percent of the total workforce in advanced economies could continue to work from home three to five days a week. According to the OECD, a housing affordability crisis existed before the pandemic. Compounded by gentrification of the urban core forcing out many often low-paid essential workers, this led Anna Minton, in her 2017 book Big Capital, to question who the city is for. She described affordable social housing in inner London pulled down to make way for foreign investment in luxury apartments. The truth is pre-pandemic urban living was already subject to powerful disruptive forces. City dwellers were confronted with seemingly intractable homelessness, growing inequality, the impact of economic austerity measures following the 2008 global financial crash and the emergence of the gig economy, automation and artificial intelligence. On top of this, urban activities are driving the climate crisis. The goal in 2022 should not be to look backward. COVID-19 has already shaped public attitudes in this respect and created an appetite for change. One recent survey of nearly 20,000 people in G20 countries revealed that 75 percent of respondents favour rapid societal transformation and a shift towards ‘well-being economies’. In April 2020, Amsterdam became the first city to formally adopt ‘doughnut’ economics. This kind of economy is composed of a social foundation and an ecological ceiling. Implicit in the idea is that no one should fall short of life’s essentials (the foundation), while respecting planetary boundaries (the ceiling). This approach has been downscaled to work at both the city and neighbourhood level. The Amsterdam City Doughnut strategy is described as a tool for transformative action. Several other cities quickly followed Amsterdam’s lead. A doughnut economy is one of numerous alternative pathways that cities could pursue. Cities that fail to transform could find themselves becoming increasingly dysfunctional and antisocial, their residents prioritising short-term interests over long-term community concerns. Another possible pathway is the ethical city, which focuses on three core areas: poverty, sustainability and governance. This utopian city strives for living wages, affordable housing, and an end to homelessness with new regenerative and inclusive economies that are zero carbon and independent of fossil fuel-based mobility. People in the ethical city assert greater control on how local decisions are made, such as citizen juries or assemblies. Transformations already underway pre-pandemic could be accelerated as cities recover. These include experiments with universal basic income in Ireland, Wales, and Catalonia. The aim is to reduce precarity for urban residents, providing a level of economic security that allows them to act as part of the transformation and to become more politically engaged. At the city level, Community Wealth Building 2.0 has emerged, seeking to foster recovery and resilience by redirecting wealth back to communities. With respect to local decarbonisation actions, there are examples of municipalities working to alter patterns of financial flows within the city and across urban boundaries. The Leeds Carbon Roadmap, for instance, would reduce energy bills for the city by £651 million (US$864.94 million) per year and create nearly 15,000 person-years of employment. Money that would normally leave the Leeds economy to pay for energy can be reinvested elsewhere. There are many other important initiatives such as local digital currencies like Bristol Pay, technological sovereignty and local control over digital platforms as found in Barcelona, sharing economies with the example of ShareMelbourne and participatory budgeting, with one of the best examples found in Porto Alegre, Brazil. These initiatives manifest the common objective of giving power back to people, communities, towns and cities. The challenge is to ensure those leading these transformations – municipal authorities, non-government organisations, local businesses, community groups, community entrepreneurs and individual urban residents – have access to the resources they need. Cities already on this path include Ethical Reading in the United Kingdom and Prato in Italy. The pandemic has shown it is possible to rapidly mobilise science, invest huge financial resources and transform people’s behaviour. The post-pandemic recovery represents a unique opportunity for our cities to emerge more ethical, fairer, just, equitable, inclusive, sustainable and resilient. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Brendan F.D. Barrett is currently professor at Osaka University, Japan. He is an urban planner by training and a fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce. He is co-author of the 2020 book on Ethical Cities with Ralph Horne and John Fien. He declared no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 13, 2021

EU policy aims for Big Tech ‘gatekeepers’ - 360 Juliane Mendelsohn, Oliver Budzinski Published on May 23, 2022 The European Union’s Digital Markets Act is a bold, innovative attempt to do what no power has successfully done: mitigate the power of tech giants. When Microsoft purchased Skype in 2011, many feared the service would be monetised at consumers’ expense. But a greater threat was in store: in the decade since, data-driven network effects and several mergers have allowed tech companies to expand and swallow up their rivals at a rapid rate, their sheer size and power allowing them to reach into every corner of digital life. “Price” is no longer the most prominent concern. Instead, as EU vice-president Margrethe Vestager has said, it is about “prosperity”, “openness” and “freedom”. In other words, it is about allowing more access to and competition on existing platforms, while making sure consumers are not locked into digital ecosystems and can enjoy the full benefits of digitalisation. The EU’s Digital Markets Act is a bold and novel approach to policy that identifies specific core platform services, such as search engines, social media and video-sharing platforms, shopping intermediaries or marketplaces, and audio assistants. In these services, the Act seeks out “gatekeepers”: companies who meet quantitative criteria such as business turnover, number of users and market durability. Then, without having to find a prior violation or infringement, it imposes obligations upon gatekeepers and penalises those that fail to comply. The new law aims to achieve “contestability” and “fairness” in digital markets by establishing a set of new rules (“dos and don’ts”). Rules focused on “contestability” instruct platforms to enable interoperability and grant competitors access to accumulated data on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The rules disallow self-preferencing and exclusivity clauses in relation to platforms’ own services. “Fairness” rules make sure that consumers can switch services (so-called “multi-homing”) and that they are not exploited, particularly regarding the use of their data. The Act is being positioned by policymakers not as a competition law but as an antidote to the “slowness and lack of teeth” of competition-law enforcement in the digital world. However, many fear that, like some other EU regulations, the Act will be difficult to enforce, stemming from a lack of clarity over how the law will operate in practice. Although some believe the regulations will be self-executing, prior attempts at regulating Big Tech suggest that projection is “overly optimistic”. Uncertainty lingers around the legislation’s goals, which have not been clearly defined. Also, important terms lack definition. “Fairness” has many interpretations, and “contestability” is understood differently in the regulations than it is in the more widely known economic theory: within the new Act, contestability is not focused on the state of a market but on the ability of competitors to overcome barriers to entry, to expand and to challenge gatekeepers based on the merits of their digital products and services. To function properly, the regulations must be able to anticipate and prevent harms before they occur. This can be difficult to achieve in a market as dynamic, innovative and disruptive as social media and technology. The regulations’ effectiveness and spread of enforcement will rest on their implementation and design. Given the limited scope of the new Act, its larger success will depend on further work on its design and its interaction with larger competition policy. The Act is a ripple in a wave of new digital-platform laws globally. Australia has introduced sweeping competition, consumer and media law reform, and India’s Competition Commission has probed and challenged several Big Tech practices. In the United States, under the stewardship of new chairperson Lina Khan, the Federal Trade Commission has pushed for the break-up of Meta Platforms while the agency awaits the passage of several new laws in a divided Congress. Germany has introduced the notion of “outstanding power across markets” – companies that have the utmost significance to competition in several interconnected markets – along with extensive competition-law obligations, imposed only on Alphabet and Meta to date. This concept aims to capture digital economic power that is not limited to a single market but reaches across several interconnected products and services and is driven by data rather than just by market shares. The German competition authority (Bundeskartellamt) is also fighting a prominent and lengthy legal battle over Facebook’s extensive use of consumer data. The case is being heard at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Compared to its contemporaries, the new Act promises a lot in terms of openness and freedom. The true power of this novel and specific instrument will, however, be determined by how well it is integrated into and supported by larger competition and economic policy. is Junior-Professor of Law and Economics of Digitization, Institute of Law & Institute of Economics, Ilmenau University of Technology, Germany. is Professor of Economic Theory, Institute of Economics, Ilmenau University of Technology, Germany. Prof Budzinski and Prof Mendelsohn have declared no conflicts of interest in relation to this article. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on May 23, 2022

Everything is connected and climate change can unravel the lot - 360 Lauren Rickards Published on February 28, 2022 Interconnected systems are what keep cities functioning. But climate change can undo one part, and unravel the whole system. Extreme heat takes more lives in Australia than any other natural hazard and, because of the high level of urbanisation, most of those deaths are in cities. But our settlements and the many devices that are integral to their smooth functioning increase ambient temperatures. The resulting ‘urban heat island effect’ sets in play dangerous positive feedback loops, increasing reliance on fans and air conditioners to beat the heat. The complexities, feedbacks and vulnerabilities do not end there. The diverse heat-generating equipment we rely on – for example cars, computers, lifts, trains – not only expels waste heat, but is itself sensitive to temperature. This includes mechanical cooling equipment. Air-conditioners and refrigerators only operate optimally, or at all, below certain temperatures. If their local environment gets too hot (or in case of evaporative cooling too humid), they are simply unable to cool spaces effectively, and instead begin to produce excessive amounts of waste heat themselves as they struggle to function. Meanwhile, the highly networked, distended character of infrastructure means the temperature experienced by people in one place and their capacity to function normally is affected as much by weather conditions in other places as it is by what is happening in their immediate locality. Take the electricity grid. Most cities remain reliant on electricity systems that stretch across enormous distances. They are therefore exposed to a wide range of local weather as well as hazards such as bushfires. At the same time, given the incredibly high internal temperatures that electricity generation and transmission generates, the electricity grid is exceptionally heat sensitive. Combined with the stress on equipment caused by spikes in electricity demand as distant users turn on fans and air-conditioners, electricity systems become prone to failure during hot conditions. Because electricity is required for so much equipment – including those fans and air conditioners – repairing blackouts quickly is essential. But repairs rely on utility workers, who need to avoid heat stress while working outside repairing overheated electricity equipment. Studies indicate that such work is sometimes only possible for minutes at a time, workers forced to drink icy water and sit in air-conditioned trucks to recover. Trucks and iced water themselves rely on wider electricity and fuel systems. Meanwhile the fossil fuel industry, including power generation, is heavily reliant on mechanical cooling systems, including the delivery of water that is also dependent on electricity. In other words, not only are specific places reliant on distant infrastructure, but different forms of infrastructure are interdependent in complex ways. The successful functioning of data centres, for example, is now at the heart of most other systems. Far from digitisation freeing us from material constraints and inconveniences, it has concentrated such vulnerabilities. Like electricity systems, data centres are heat-generating and heat-sensitive. Most remain reliant on energy-intensive mechanical cooling, with only some now being built along passive cooling lines or in ways that capture their significant waste heat and use it as a source of energy. Another system that is reliant on, and essential to, other infrastructure is transport. As COVID-19 highlighted, most of us are vulnerable to disruptions in supply chains we didn’t know we were a part of. Besides adding to the risk of pandemics, climate change is increasing the vulnerability of these dependencies. Transport and logistics systems suffer in the heat, both because of the thermal performance of the various equipment involved – from roads, runways and railway tracks, to vehicles and heavy machinery – and because of the essential role of people within such systems. In extreme heat, for example, port workers are unable to safely load and unload ships, bringing supply chains to a stop. In many cases, what is disrupted is workers travelling to and from jobs that, when disrupted, can have far-reaching effects on others. A stark example of this is the reliance of emergency services personnel – including those trying to help people with heat-related illnesses – on transport. During a recent heatwave in Australia, the Royal Flying Doctors’ Service was grounded because its planes were unable to fly due to the heat. Extreme heat is a regular constraint to the operation of freight and passenger airline services. When climate change undermines society’s enabling services it requires us to take a systems view, and one that does not erase people from the picture. This sort of systems thinking is being pursued by some areas in Australia. The new Greater Melbourne Regional Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, for example, advocates for a focus on the systems and associated people that the Greater Melbourne region is reliant on. One of its projects – the City Engine – brought together representatives from different sectors to understand their interdependencies and shared vulnerability to heat, starting with the electricity grid. The Victorian Government is now aligning regional climate change adaptation action plans with its plans for seven different systems. Combined with reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and win-win strategies such as urban greening and insulating buildings, this is an example of the sort of systemic response needed to successfully manage higher temperatures, health and infrastructure impacts, and other climatic stressors in cities and beyond. Lauren Rickards is a professor at RMIT where she leads the Urban Futures Enabling Capability  Platform and Climate Change Transformations research program. Lauren is also a Lead Author with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. Nigel Tapper is emeritus professor at the School of Earth Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University. He is President of the International Association for Urban Climate, Lead Author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and a Key Researcher in the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities, helping to bring down the mercury in our urban areas and the planet as a whole. His work on this project was funded by the Australian federal government via the Co-operative Research Centres (CRC) Program The authors declared no conflicts of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Hotter and Hotter” sent at: 23/02/2022 17:38. This is a corrected repeat. Author bio updated

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on February 28, 2022

Evidence lacking on medical cannabis for pain - 360 Suzanne Nielsen Published on December 14, 2022 Medical cannabis has been trumpeted in the media as a panacea for all manner of pain. But scientific evidence that it works is lacking. Of the hundreds of thousands of applications to Australia’s medicines regulator for special access to medical cannabis, chronic pain is the top reason given. With so many seeking access to medical cannabinoids for pain, you’d expect strong evidence for its effectiveness as a treatment. But such evidence is hard to find when looking at clinical studies and independent, high quality, ‘systematic’ reviews of well conducted, randomised, controlled trials. The reviews have consistently found medical cannabinoids have only a small effect; for most people in the trials, their pain is not reduced. Just one in 24 people across all the reviewed trials experience a clinically meaningful reduction in pain after using medical cannabis. This means that even though a small number of people might have reduced pain, for most people, medical cannabinoids do not provide a clinically meaningful change in their pain, or at least will not provide a greater effect than a placebo. Those people who do have a good result often have very specific types of pain, for example pain related to multiple sclerosis. Despite the lack of evidence, Australians continue to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars a month to access medicines that are yet to be approved by the regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Although there is no agreed definition of what medical cannabinoids are, they are generally understood to be medicines that are made from cannabis plant material, or synthetically manufactured substances that have similar therapeutic effects to the main active parts of the cannabis plant, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabidiol (commonly called THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Most of the cannabinoid products available in Australia are not approved by the TGA. Instead, it provides access to unapproved products under a special access scheme, meaning an exemption is made for someone to access a product even though it has not been registered or proven to work. During the product registration process there is an assessment of whether a product is effective and of its safety profile. Products accessed under an exemption are still required to have known ingredients, but they have not been required to conduct clinical trials to show that they work. Medical cannabis remains expensive in Australia because it has not been subsidised under the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme — which requires medicines being assessed to be both effective and cost effective. No medical cannabinoid products have been assessed to meet this standard of evidence for the treatment of pain in Australia. One product was assessed for multiple sclerosis, but evidence on whether it was safe and better than the standard treatment was insufficient to support subsidising the medicine in Australia. So even though the product is approved in Australia, it is not subsidised. The only medical cannabinoid product that is both registered and subsidised in Australia is cannabidiol for the treatment of a rare form of childhood epilepsy. There has been a lot of interest in CBD as a single ingredient for pain. CBD is often preferred because it does not cause the same ‘high’ and sedation as THC. However, there is not clear evidence that CBD works for pain, with few studies examining the effects of CBD alone. Those that have examined CBD as a single ingredient have not provided evidence that it works for pain. Given researchers have conducted a large number of trials of medical cannabinoids for pain, and a large number of systematic reviews summarising the evidence, the issue is not necessarily a lack of studies, but a lack of evidence demonstrating the benefits outweigh the potential harms. A recent Cochrane review concluded “The potential benefits of cannabis‐based medicine in chronic neuropathic pain might be outweighed by their potential harms.” Nevertheless, it is possible that further studies conducted in specific patient populations or with specific clinical conditions may identify conditions or patient groups where the benefits are greater. Meanwhile, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) says it views medical cannabis as an area for research, as opposed to clinical practice, while evidence accumulates. Similarly, the Faculty of Pain Medicine, a specialist medical college for the treatment of pain in Australia, says medical cannabis should not be used outside clinical trials. Yet many people, having read articles in popular media, have unrealistic expectations about how well cannabinoids work for the treatment of pain. With time, further robust clinical trials may provide the required evidence for cannabinoids to become widely available as a registered, subsidised medicines. If that happens, it would save patients money, and provide clinicians clearer guidance about the place of medical cannabinoids in pain treatment. In the meantime, being part of a clinical trial is one way to access medical cannabis for pain and contribute to new evidence. Suzanne Nielsen is a professor and the deputy director of the Monash Addiction Research Centre. She has been a registered pharmacist for over 20 years, and has been involved in multiple reviews on the evidence for the use of medical cannabinoids, including independent reviews commissioned by the Therapeutic Goods Administration. In the past, Professor Nielsen has received funds from Seqirus to study opioid-related harms, and was a named investigator on a clinical trial of a treatment for opioid dependence (no funding received), both unrelated to the current article. She is current funded through a National Health and Medical Research Council Fellowship (#1163961). Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 14, 2022

Expanded, empowered PIF could lock in Pacific security - 360 Anna Powles, Joanne Wallis Published on July 11, 2022 Amid global political turbulence, the Pacific is a region whose influence is sought by the world’s powers. Regional coordination is as important as ever. Regional security in the Pacific Islands is in flux, with change fuelled by a trio of dominant drivers. As global economic powerhouses China and the US renew their interest in the region, monitoring the important drivers offers key insights into the future of the Pacific. The first driver involves rethinking how security is defined. Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders committed in 2018 to cooperate more on regional security in the Boe Declaration on Regional Security. The Declaration defines security broadly, covering human security, environmental and resource security, transnational crime, and cyber security. But the breadth of issues that fall within this definition of security makes it difficult to translate into concrete policy. Underpinning it all is climate change, “the single greatest threat … to the peoples of the Pacific”. PIF officials are grappling with the question of how human rights, health, and prosperity can fit into existing regional security efforts; whether connections can (or should) be drawn between issues that would typically be classified as relating to ‘security’ or ‘development’; and what this means in practical terms for efforts to advance security in the region. To gauge how Pacific states approach regional security and prioritise their interests, the national strategies that they committed to develop in the Boe Declaration are a helpful starting point. The strategies adopted so far broadly align with the Boe Declaration, but expand on regional priorities. Solomon Islands’ national security approach identifies the implementation of the Boe Declaration as a ‘strategic action’, which will include developing a national maritime strategy and coast guard capabilities. Vanuatu’s security strategy identifies the implementation of a national cyber security policy and the establishment of a national cyber security centre. Samoa’s national security policy aligns closely with the Boe Declaration, with a strong balance between issues such as transnational crime and border security, and gender-based violence. To help implement the Boe Declaration, PIF leaders are expected to endorse the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific at the July 2022 meeting. The strategy is anticipated to recommend the region’s security arrangements are made more responsive and collaborative. The challenge will be ensuring that putting into place the 2050 Strategy does not overshadow and undermine the Boe Declaration and the action plan intended to guide its implementation. The second driver of change is the increasingly disruptive – but also galvanising – nature of geopolitical contest, particularly between China on the one hand, and the US, Australia, New Zealand and their partners on the other. While Pacific states are increasingly frustrated by their partners’ preoccupation with strategic competition in the region, they cannot insulate themselves from it entirely. Micronesian member states’ threat to withdraw from the PIF in 2021 suggested that the long-standing faultlines between states that recognise China or Taiwan might fracture regional solidarity, given that most Micronesian states recognise Taiwan, whereas other parts of the Pacific are less aligned with Taipei. But the reunification of the PIF in early June 2022 signalled that Pacific leaders continue to value regionalism. The value that the Pacific places on regional solidarity was further shown by the collective response of Pacific leaders, who called for more time to consider and discuss between themselves China’s proposed region-wide economic and security agreement. The third driver of change is the growing need for a mechanism that allows Pacific states and partners to discuss security issues and develop measures to respond. Partner states have increased their engagement in the region. For example, the Indo-Pacific Partnership for Maritime Domain Awareness was launched at the QUAD meeting of the US, Japan, Australia and India in May 2022. The Partners in the Blue Pacific announced in June 2022 comprising the US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the UK, seeks to create an informal mechanism to coordinate between partners and Pacific states. While the initiative says that it will “further elevate Pacific regionalism” with a “strong and united Pacific Islands Forum at its centre”, it is unclear how coordination will fit with existing arrangements in the region. Nor is it clear that factors that inhibited earlier efforts to coordinate have been adequately addressed. This suggests a clear need for a distinct mechanism created and controlled by Pacific states that can facilitate discussion between them and their partners on security issues, and develop measures to respond. Since 2019, a subcommittee within PIF has met regularly to discuss security issues and monitor initiatives being taken to address them. The subcommittee has primarily operated as an information-sharing forum, but PIF officials hope that its capacity to coordinate and enable security cooperation will develop. However, many regional bodies remain outside the subcommittee, as do other partners (beyond Australia and New Zealand, which are Forum members). This suggests that the Pacific may need an institutionalised mechanism, akin to the ASEAN Regional Forum, for Pacific states to collectively negotiate with partners on security issues and develop cooperative responses. As Marshallese ambassador to the US Gerald Zackios recently noted: “we lack a fully effective platform to address intense geopolitical security risks.”The Post-PIF Partner Dialogue facilitates discussion and engagement between partners and PIF members, but does not have the same expansive mandate as the ASEAN Regional Forum. PIF leaders have decided to postpone the Dialogue this year. This presents an opportunity to reconsider how dialogue partners engage with PIF leaders on security issues. Either the PIF subcommittee could be expanded, or the PIF could create a forum like the ASEAN Regional Forum to provide opportunities for Pacific states to collectively engage with partners on security matters. With geopolitical competition escalating and therefore partner interest in the Pacific likely to continue, the July PIF leaders meeting provides an opportunity for Pacific leaders to debate their options. Anna Powles is a senior lecturer in the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University. Joanne Wallis is Professor of International Security in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Adelaide. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on July 11, 2022

Exploited and unprotected: Life as a gig worker - 360 Yosuke Uchiyama Published on December 27, 2023 The booming gig economy in Malaysia leaves workers vulnerable with no benefits and susceptible to exploitation. The spillover of the gig economy in Southeast Asia is creating economic opportunities, but also significant inequalities and vulnerabilities for workers. While the flexibility offered by online gig platforms is attractive, it comes at the cost of limited job security, lack of social protection, and exploitation by platforms through algorithms and opaque evaluation systems. In Malaysia, around 26 percent of the workforce participates in the gig economy, primarily through online-to-offline on-demand apps like ride-hailing and food delivery. These workers are classified as independent contractors with no minimum wage, insurance, or other benefits. Platform companies consider workers who participate in the gig labour market as independent contractors, giving them flexibility in availability. This means the employers avoid the burden of workers’ economic and social security, including salary, insurance, and benefits. For workers, they gain flexibility in terms of controlling their salary and setting free holidays under the ultimate meritocracy, where the more they work, the more they earn. However, they do not have rights included in the labour contract, including minimum wage, insurance, and maintenance costs for assets on the job. This is particularly burdensome for gig workers who work full-time as their only source of income. Platforms also have the right to introduce algorithms to improve labour efficiency and to select, discipline or dismiss workers under their own criteria through a mutual evaluation system with customers. While this is important for the management of workers in delivering consumer safety and quality services under the customer-centricity of platforms, it also risks encouraging the development of platform capitalism, which can exploit workers through regulatory holes as a means of accumulating new corporate capital. Although platforms appear on the surface to create labour opportunities for people from different backgrounds, they risk increasing the vulnerability of workers due to structural inequalities and chronic precariousness. The Malaysian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic also highlighted the precariousness of gig work. In August 2022, Malaysian food delivery riders organised a strike, dubbed the ‘Food Delivery Blackout’, demanding improved working conditions, including better pay, increased social security benefits, and a better app system. While the strike received widespread attention and resonated with broader concerns within the industry, it failed to deliver any decisive outcomes. The platform’s operations continued relatively unscathed, highlighting the need for more effective organisation among gig workers. This highlights the need for stronger, more cohesive organisation within the gig worker community, particularly in light of the limitations of both traditional resistance movements and existing associations in Malaysia. Currently, there are several major associations, like Persatuan Penghantar P-Hailing Malaysia and Grab Drivers Malaysia Association, but participation is not mandatory. Additionally, many informal communities and drivers exist outside of these organisations. This lack of cohesion weakens collective action and can lead to situations like the blackout, where some riders actively participate in the boycott while others continue working as usual. Without a united front, it becomes difficult to exert meaningful pressure on platforms and achieve lasting change. Currently, there is no clear legal definition of a gig worker in Malaysia, broadly defined as a person who works on a freelance or independent contractor basis. Malaysian on-demand app gig workers also perceive them as independent contractors with flexibility and tend to view the corporate non-interventionist system positively. This is because the ultimate meritocratic way of working in gig work has the potential to earn more than other jobs. This would also have the potential to be the first option not only for the unemployed and vulnerable but also for younger generations, especially fresh graduates. In addition, ride-hailing drivers and food delivery riders in ASEAN nations and Asian developing countries also serve as a source of labour that cannot be absorbed by formal employment. However, the bold expansion of labour markets to accommodate market supply has generated important debates on social protection and inequality. In Malaysia, policies such as pandemic unemployment and curbs on outings have reduced demand for ride-hailing drivers but have sharply increased demand for online food delivery riders. The bold hiring of platforms and government incentive policies to address this demand served as a safety net for primary workers but failed to approach their long-term job security. In other words, this type of gig work in ASEAN countries today, particularly in Malaysia, can be seen as short-term decent work. Gig work offers flexibility as a means of reducing the stress of full-time work or earning additional income, but it would be difficult under current employment patterns and systems to give it long-term decent work. On the other hand, ad hoc short-term government measures and regulatory changes are unlikely to lead to long-term labour market changes and empowerment of gig workers. Given the balance between the growth of the gig economy market and labour relations, excessive regulation, and repression by third parties harm both sides. As a result, the growing resistance of gig workers to platform-led exploitative profit-making processes is virtually undeniable. Gig workers in ASEAN countries may be able to learn from the Western gig workers’ resistance movement. With an individualistic mindset, gig workers in Western countries are highly resistant to improving their working conditions, and if they do not like it, they strongly protest against the platform. One example is the resistance of Uber drivers in the UK. In February 2021, the UK Supreme Court recognised Uber drivers as employees rather than sole proprietors. This is the result of persistent resistance by certain UK ride-hailing drivers in the courts since 2016 for their rights as employees, such as minimum wage and social security coverage. The original platform itself is not tailored to the characteristics of Asian gig workers but is based on a Western-style platform business model represented by Uber. This misalignment is a relatively common trend in the ASEAN gig economy. To create a comfortable working environment for them in the future, effective collective action mechanisms need to be explored. Given the collectivist nature of ASEAN gig workers, specifically those in Malaysia, it would be possible to adopt a structure whereby one organisation acts as a formal communication tool with the platform. As a result, gig workers who have registered with the platform can mount strong resistance and boycotts through their organisations as a means of countering unfair working conditions. Indeed, how to increase common understanding and expand solidarity in a situation of dispersed solidarity where various communities exist would play a vital role in their access to decency. Yosuke Uchiyama is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia. He specialises in business economics including digital economy, gig economy and sharing economy, law and economics, and transportation studies. This article is part of a Special Report on the ‘Asian Gig Economy, produced in collaboration with the Asia Research Centre – University of Indonesia. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Gig workers” sent at: 16/01/2024 09:10. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 27, 2023

Extinction on our plates - 360 Published on June 29, 2022 Reducing the biodiversity footprint of food consumption requires immediate and widespread action The food on our plates has a footprint. Every bite of food we consume represents the environmental impact of all the resources used to produce that food. Land is foremost among those resources. As food is transported from farm to fork, the land used to grow the food is ‘virtually transported’ along with it. Depending on what you’re eating, one bite might have a potpourri of virtually embedded land supporting a wide diversity of wild plants and animals. That wild biodiversity is under threat from the production and consumption of global food systems. Expanding agricultural land is pushing biodiversity past a safe limit. Some species may already be ‘walking dead’, doomed to extinction because they no longer have a habitat large enough to avoid a population crash. In collaboration with NASA, researchers from universities across the United States are undertaking complex geospatial statistics to closely examine these future biodiversity impacts. Similar efforts around the world are leading some governments, including the United States, to set priorities to protect land within their borders. But more ambitious conservation efforts are urgently needed. Latest estimates show 64 percent of land in North America would need to be conserved to safeguard biodiversity, primarily because of the ecologically intact areas of Canada and the United States. By contrast, at least 33.1 percent of Europe’s land area requires conservation. The most threatened land is concentrated in developing countries where mining and farming are economic mainstays. More than half of the most at-risk habitat is in Africa. To preserve biodiversity we must not only work on protecting natural habitats but also on reducing the food system’s demand for land. If we’re expected, as predicted, to feed 10 billion people by 2050, all that extra food would require clearing at least 1.5 billion acres of forests, savannas and wetlands, an area nearly twice the size of India. But all is not lost. There are two key ways governments and individuals can reduce the land demand pressure from the food system: eating a smart plant-based diet and reducing food waste. First, consider your diet. Animal products need large amounts of land to grow feed and pasture livestock. This includes not only meat but also dairy, eggs, and even fish, which are increasingly sourced from aquaculture farms that use land-grown feed. A smart plant-based diet is a major way to reduce land demand and biodiversity impact relative to a diet high in meat and dairy. But not just any plant-based diet will do. Only a smart plant-based diet that avoids sourcing too much food from regions that have high levels of imperiled biodiversity will reduce impact relative to a diet high in meat and dairy. This means reducing consumption of some of our favourite foods like avocados, chocolate, cashews, and other tropical fruits. The international food trade of products like these spreads local biodiversity impacts around the globe. If that sounds too hard, then here’s the good news. Reducing pre-consumer and consumer food waste by 50 percent – which might be an easier change than a radical diet overhaul – has almost as much positive impact on reducing land demand in high-biodiversity areas as changing diets does. In the United States, cutting food waste in half has the potential to reduce biodiversity impacts by 18 percent. It’s important to keep in mind that both diet changes and food waste reduction are not only individual choices. Governments could implement policies that more aggressively target food waste on the farm, in the supermarket, and in the home. As a recent UN report showed, developed-world household waste is currently on the rise globally. Incentivising the production of plant-based meat alternatives would also help consumers make biodiversity-friendly choices. There are challenging decisions to be made. We need to carefully navigate complex issues and unforeseen consequences to reduce biodiversity impacts of the food we eat. An important piece of the puzzle is helping consumers better understand how their diets and food waste behaviors influence global biodiversity. This means tough trade-offs at the personal and societal level may be needed to better balance human health, economics, and environmental sustainability. Quentin Read is a data scientist and ecologist. He is currently the Southeast Area Statistician with the Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) based at North Carolina State University. This article is based on research undertaken for SESYNC and doesn’t reflect the official position of USDA. This article has been republished for the COP15 Biodiversity Summit. It was first published on June 27, 2022. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on June 29, 2022

Extreme heat will put more pressure on workers - 360 James Goldie Published on February 8, 2023 Climate change is forcing workplaces to find new ways to handle the heat. But the solutions need to be managed carefully, say experts. “We call it a heat hangover.” When Dr Matt Brearly visits construction sites in Australia’s tropical north, he sees workers pushing through the heat without complaint—and he’s worried. “They take that home and it impacts how they treat their family. They might skip football training, or they might not go to the kids’ after school activity… potentially with something to numb the pain like alcohol or medication.” Employers, regulators, unions and experts are all learning how to manage heat stress on the job as Australia heats up. But the way forward at work is still a subject of contention. The impacts of COVID-19 and climate change are combining to put unprecedented pressure on workers, according to Professor Lauren Rickards from RMIT. Last year she and her colleagues asked workers how climate change was impacting their work. “It’s the fact they didn’t sleep at all last night, and then the trains are down and they can’t get to work… they’re worried about their kids, you know they’re sleep deprived, and they can’t get home.” “Climate change impacts are about the crunch.” And those impacts are increasing. Data from Safe Work Australia shows the median compensation for a heat stress claim is rising, increasing by 25 percent over the last 20 years after accounting for inflation. !function(){“use strict”;window.addEventListener(“message”,(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var t=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var a in e.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r=0;r<t.length;r++){if(t[r].contentWindow===e.source)t[r].style.height=e.data[“datawrapper-height”][a]+”px”}}}))}(); Heat stress compensation claims by workers are becoming more expensive, outpacing inflation. So how do workers protect themselves? State Workplace Health & Safety (WH&S or OH&S) laws are the primary protection for most workers, imparting a broad duty of care on employers to protect workers from threats including heat stress. Similar Federal laws apply where workers are employed by Commonwealth bodies, such as in 2004 when the Australian Defence Force was fined over the death of a soldier training in extreme heat. Rickards suggests current laws are in need of reform, arguing that “Safety is… the end result of a whole range of factors. Any of our OH&S [laws] based on single hazards or threats… are simply not going to be effective.” Some unions are going further, pushing for blanket walk-off rights for workers when conditions get too hot. The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) uses a model clause for bargaining agreements it negotiates, giving workers the right to stop when temperatures exceed 35 degrees Celsius in most states, and 37.5 degrees Celsius in Western Australia. Search for your postcode to see how days over 35 degrees Celsius will change in the future. The CFMEU did not respond to requests for comment, but in 2019 it told news.com.au, “The policy does not mean workers automatically walk off the job when the temperature rises. It means there is a requirement to better manage a job site so heat impacts are managed and minimised.” But some other unions would prefer to rely on existing WH&S laws. “Our experience with [bargaining agreement] clauses related to extreme heat is they are very general in nature,” said Dave Henry of the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union. “We rely upon our union health and safety structures in workplaces to play a role in protecting our members, particularly our Health and Safety Representatives, who are empowered to direct cease work or issue ‘provisional improvement notices’ on their employer.” Brearly sees both sides of the argument. “This is far more complex than most people appreciate. There is a lack of willingness, especially within the male workforce to report or say, ‘It’s hot, I’m hot. Can we have a break?’ When there’s a black and white policy, it takes the pressure off.” Changing workplace cultures, especially in male-dominated industries, is one key to managing the risks, according to Brearly. “The ones that get warm are the ones that do the work… So if you’re feeling heat stress symptoms, we shouldn’t look at you as being weak. You’re the one getting the job done. We spend more time on culture than we do on the heat stress side of things.” Rickards agreed, noting that resilience “has been commandeered in some places as a kind of neo liberal kind of individual responsibility idea, which is like, ‘Well suck it up.’” One of the tools Brearly uses to educate workers is thermometer pills. The pills record a person’s body temperature for several days while they work. “We say, ‘What happened at 1100?’” Brearly said, describing debriefs with work crews. “‘Look at the core temperature; you’re way too steep for that duration of job.’” “You’ll hear a lot of ‘Holy shit.’ And we just know, their mind is so open right there.” The pills are a powerful monitoring tool, but they’re a tool ripe with potential for misuse. Brearly said he managed the data like a research study: “We say to the management, ‘This is the workers’ data, they’re signing up for it, they get the data… we’re not going to give you individual data from your workers.” Rickards warned that although the pills were being used as educational tools now, workplaces could choose to place the burden of managing heat stress on workers. “It’s just a really worrying example of the kind of adaptation solution that could be proposed more and more… putting the problem on the individual’s body response instead of a more systemic response.” This article has been republished. It was first published on February 3, 2023. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Record heat” sent at: 22/05/2023 07:51. This is a corrected repeat. Minor fix to map embed to facilitate sharing.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on February 8, 2023

Eyes in the sky can change the way we help refugees - 360 Yunya Gao Published on May 2, 2022 As technology improves, satellite-imagery based applications could help deliver faster humanitarian responses. For any humanitarian crisis, the key to responding is “to target aid to the right people at the right place at the right time”. But collecting information on refugees (or in more general terms, forcibly displaced people), can be difficult. Access can be limited and safety concerns high, eroding crucial time to help those who are fleeing conflict. Satellite imagery can help humanitarian operations by providing immediate information on the location, number of people, the situation and environment surrounding them to help with logistics and planning. At the end of 2020, 82.4 million people were forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations, with around 86 percent of them from countries with developing economies. They struggle with a lot of challenges such as a lack of food, nutrition, clean water, sanitation, and difficult access to education or medical services. To map out how much aid is required, up-to-date and high-quality data creates a set of visual representations of what refugee dwellings look like — the building ‘footprint’ — which can help estimate the size of the population in need. However, the building footprints, especially in remote areas, are often outdated or not available in open source data such as OpenStreetMap. Updated very high spatial resolution satellite imagery such as Pléiades and WorldVie, are effective in estimating the number of people displaced. Taking images of thefootprintsacross time can also help in monitoring the growth and dismantling of temporary refugee. Experts have developed different approaches for the use of satellite imagery in extracting refugee dwellings and estimating displaced people. Up to now, manually delineating and checking using Geographic Information System software by experienced staff can produce the highest-accuracy dwelling footprints. However, it is tedious, time-consuming and labour-intensive because there are usually tens of thousands of dwellings to be delineated. Instead, using a semi-automated approach — what’s known as geographical object-based image analysis (OBIA) — has become popular in humanitarian operations in the last decade. The core of OBIA is to design rulesets to help the computer recognise dwellings automatically. For example, these might be areas larger than 40 square metres, rectangle shapes, bluish roof colour. However, designing these rulesets requires expert knowledge and they are usually complex as the shelters are different across various regions or periods. With the fast development of AI technology, deep-learning based approaches have become increasingly popular in extracting refugee dwellings. This allows computers to learn what a dwelling looks like from training data, with the computer developing its own criteria by which to recognise them. Produced refugee dwelling footprints from historical humanitarian operations based on OBIA have high potential to be used as training data for deep learning models. Updated information of land cover and land use near refugee camps can also help us understand the potential supply of crucial natural resources for daily survival such as water, firewood and building materials. Satellite imagery and auxiliary data from multiple sources can assist the exploration of underground water near refugee camps so that bores might be sunk. It uses medium-resolution satellite imagery (such as the United-States based Landsat program, and the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) and radar imagery to map different types of rock that is visible on the surface. This information is then combined with Digital Elevation Models (3D computer graphics representation of elevation data to represent terrain) to find the location of groundwater. Just as satellite imagery can help direct humanitarian aid, it can also detect the environmental impact of refugees. Monitoring changes in the environment surrounding refugee camps, such as removal of trees, water sources and a change in the built environment, is a significant indicator of depletion of natural resources for host countries. The Rohingya people in Rakhine State, Myanmar, have suffered from discrimination, statelessness and targeted violence over the decades. As of March of 2019, over 900,000 Rohingya people have been forcibly displaced to Ukhiya and Teknaf Upazilas in Bangladesh. Researchers used Landsat-5 TM and Landsat-8 OLI TIRS imagery to categorise land use near Rohingya refugee camps. They analysed the area every ten years from 1990 to 2020 to assess the environmental change and found that in agricultural land, settlements, and where refugee camps have increased, the bodies of water, sandy land and vegetation have declined. Satellite imagery can assist in identifying areas at risk of an outbreak of potential infectious diseases, particularly vector-borne diseases like malaria. It can also help in assessing the risks of natural disasters near refugee camps, which can wreak havoc on already unstable housing structures. Information extracted from multi-source satellite imagery has proved to be beneficial for humanitarian operations. However, higher speed and higher accuracy are still required. With the fast development of satellite sensors, AI technology, and the benefit of past experiences, satellite-imagery based applications have high potential for faster humanitarian responses by providing more accurate and essential information for logistics planning and risk assessments. Yunya Gao is a researcher at the Christian Doppler Laboratory for geospatial and EO-based humanitarian technologies (GEOHUM) at the Department of Geoinformatics – Z_GIS, of the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg. This research has received funding support from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Digital and Economic Affairs, the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development, the Christian Doppler Research Association (CDG), and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Austria. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on May 2, 2022

Facial recognition is getting smarter, but the risks demand we proceed with caution - 360 Edward Santow Published on November 29, 2021 By Edward Santow, University of Technology Sydney Many smartphones click open each time we glance at the screen and some airports automate passport checks with face scans: it’s tempting to think we’re on the cusp of unlocking the full potential of facial recognition technology. Visions of cutting-edge law enforcement databases, helping pick out a criminal sitting in a packed football stadium spring to mind, like a science-fiction crime film come to life. But despite some innovations, facial recognition technology is far from ready to tackle these society-shaping challenges. This hasn’t exactly stopped states from a rush to surveillance. To understand what is holding back this technology, it is vital to understand how it works in the first place. Facial recognition is a type of image identification technology. These technologies rely on many of the processes and techniques associated with artificial intelligence (AI). In particular, applications tend to use machine learning to classify subjects at speed and scale. Any image recognition application starts with a ‘training’ process: a powerful computer is fed a large dataset of labelled pictures and learns to recognise the characteristics associated with a subject (for instance, a car) and discern it from non-subjects (i.e. a human or a dog). With a big enough set of diverse, labelled images, a computer will be able to tell the difference between different subgroups within the subject class (e.g. a Toyota Corolla from a Ford Focus). The same idea applies to facial recognition: by feeding the computer enough photographs of people, it will learn how to tell them apart, effectively recognising and identifying humans at scale. The effectiveness of any facial recognition application depends on the quality of this training process. The starting point is the dataset — that is, the stock of labelled pictures. The more pictures in the training dataset, the more accurate the facial recognition application is. But too often the training datasets contain a disproportionate amount of images of white men. This means applications are often poorer at identifying anyone who is not a white man, such as women or people with dark skin. That inaccuracy intensifies where two such factors are present—for example, women with dark skin. The labelling process is also crucial to the success rate of any facial recognition application. Each picture that the AI-powered computer learns from will be accompanied by a label, which states the subject’s name and other information about them. Any errors — and indeed any subjectivity — in this labelling process are then taken on by the computer, and will affect the resulting accuracy or objectivity. The most common forms of facial recognition currently in use are one-to-one facial verification and one-to-many facial identification. Facial verification involves a computer checking whether a single headshot photograph matches a different headshot picture of the same person. It is particularly useful as a way of verifying whether an individual is who they claim to be, acting like a key or a password. This technology is widely in use to unlock smartphones, tablets and other such devices. It is also used by some countries to verify someone’s identity at border control. Provided the core human rights protections are followed, one-to-one facial identification has a relatively low risk profile with its current usage. One-to-many facial identification is vastly different. Like facial verification, facial identification also matches a single headshot with a stored image of the subject. However, the matching headshot with facial identification will be stored somewhere in a larger database that has headshots of many others as well. This makes the task of one-to-many facial identification much harder, and can be like finding a needle in a haystack. But it’s also more useful. Facial identification doesn’t just determine whether an individual is who they claim to be. It can answer a harder question: who is this person? The potential application of one-to-many facial identification is limited only by one’s imagination. We have already seen dangerous displays of how facial identification can unleash havoc. In China, facial identification has been central in creating ‘social credit’ schemes that automatically detects and penalises citizens for petty crimes such as jaywalking. More worrying, it has been linked to systems of control and repression of certain ethnic groups, such as Uighur people in Xinjiang province. Even in liberal democracies, companies have used facial identification to make life-altering decisions, from whether to recruit someone for a job or deciding home loan applications. The greatest risk comes when the state collaborates with technology companies for high-stakes surveillance, such as monitoring and identifying criminal suspects. In policing, the accuracy of facial identification must be impeccable: a mistake leading to an innocent person being arrested would be a catastrophe. The current technology isn’t ready for that challenge: a 2018 trial by the London Metropolitan Police used facial recognition to identify 104 previously unknown people who were suspected of committing crimes. Of those 104 identifications, 102 were wrong, amounting to a false positive rate of approximately 98%. The promise of facial recognition technology is enormous, but we must grapple with the risks that it brings as well. Its potential to bring economic and many other benefits is similarly vast.  As AI moves from the laboratory and into the real world, the context in which facial recognition technology is used becomes more important. This year, the Australian Human Rights Commission identified gaps in existing law that could allow the technology to be used in ways that result in an unjustified intrusion on human rights. The Commission called for a moratorium on high-risk use of this technology, at least until a stronger legal framework is introduced to protect against harm associated with misuse and overuse. As governments and companies around the world press forward with the development and use of facial recognition, the need for clearer legal protections is growing more urgent. There is a dire need to have open public debate about how this technology is and can be used, and the contextual risks associated with different types of facial recognition. Governments should listen to the community in setting clear boundaries regarding the permissible use of facial recognition. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Edward Santow is Industry Professor – Responsible Technology at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). He was previously Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner (2016-2021). Mr Santow declared no conflict of interest in relation to this article.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on November 29, 2021

Facing the threat of recession - 360 Published on June 26, 2023 The world economy is in a precarious position. How policymakers react will be critical to millions. The world economy is looking grim. The World Bank says global growth has slowed sharply and will continue to decelerate as high interest rates put the squeeze on credit. “The world economy is in a precarious position,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist. Ordinary people are doing it tough. Rising prices for everyday goods, rents, and mortgages means less money for discretionary spending. The risk of recession, which is already starting to bite in some advanced economies such as Germany and New Zealand, is real. In this special report, the experts investigate the signs of recession, how to prepare, and some of the economic solutions and alternatives which could help fix the problem. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Economic slowdown” sent at: 26/06/2023 13:46. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on June 26, 2023

Failures in fighting corruption can be overcome - 360 Pallavi Roy, Mushtaq Khan Published on December 6, 2022 Many anti-corruption movements fail, but by asking fundamental questions researchers offer three ways to tackle corruption cases. Little progress has been made in anti-corruption in the last 10 years, including in high income countries, and there has even been significant backsliding. Many well-meaning anti-corruption efforts have failed, and some have even become corrupt. Research, including by SOAS, has found national anti-corruption agencies have become instruments for going after opposition leaders, or anti-corruption laws are implemented only selectively. The reason: many policies fail to address ‘who will implement the rules?’, and — more importantly — ‘do they have sufficient interest or power to do so?’ Essentially, enforcement is too often ignored. One secret to successfully fighting corruption is to use people from within an affected sector (government or industry) to self-police. The corrupt have different motives so a ‘one size fits all’ approach risks failure. Incentives to do the right thing also help. Climate adaptation projects are big business in Bangladesh. But, according to Transparency International Bangladesh, as much as 30 percent of project funds are misappropriated. However, of the nearly 5,000km of embankments and around 2,500 cyclone shelters, many of them built by the same government agencies and subject to the same formal regulations, some had much lower corruption. Research found that projects where local citizens closely monitored the construction process and took an interest in the results were less prone to corruption than others. These locals were peers of the contractors, so were better able to assess the quality of materials used and exert effective formal and informal pressure to ensure the process was not tainted. Involving the community in projects can help reduce corruption. A rethink to combatting corruption would see anti-corruption made part of the policy design for any specific sector (building, health, electricity generation, education) and not just run in parallel. What’s required are effective horizontal checks within relationships between principals and agents (where principals engage agents to deliver goods or projects). Support for investigative journalism or better compliance procedures can also help ensure transparency and accountability. Still, transparency and accountability are not enough  to overcome cases where principals have no interest in checking agents, or collude with them. Principals and agents are embedded in a complex network of relationships with others and it is the nature of these relationships and associated transactions that explain whether they follow rules or not. Having a third party monitor the principal-agent relationship can encourage them to act with integrity. A broad base of competitive organisations within an industry can also encourage a balance of power that allows firms to restrict and monitor each other. If there are numerous productive organisations there should be a general interest in following the rules. But in many middle to low-income countries, organisations are not always productive, and organisations that are powerful frequently owe this to political connections, whether they are productive or not. Corruption flourishes. It is structural as a result of the underlying incentives in society, the function of an evolving economy, and depends on the way power, capabilities and interests relate. It’s not as simple as explaining entrenched corruption as having ‘cultural roots’. There are three anti-corruption strategies: enhancing effective checks; creating effective checks; and mitigation and transformation. When one party follows the rules in one set of activities and violates rules in another within the same regulatory structure, the next step is to investigate if this behaviour can be extended with policy changes. Formal policies and transparency and accountability are already working as the rules are being followed. In a situation where no one feels obliged to tackle corruption or follow the rules, the strategy is to identify any ‘reasonable corruption’, address why it’s happening then adjust procedures to encourage violators to follow the rules. If successful, this can create more pressure on the corrupt and reduce crimes more. Absenteeism is a form of ‘reasonable corruption’. In Bangladesh  doctors at local health care centres often found rural facilities to be dangerous and difficult to work in and were frequently absent. Nigeria  had similar problems with healthcare workers. But addressing their legitimate concerns makes sense for the good of the communities which need doctors. A policy addressing this group’s concerns would increase the number of doctors who would follow the rules and thus put pressure on any who continued to flout them. There are situations where corruption is so embedded into the fabric of a community that no horizontal checks exist nor can be created. The longer-term solution has to involve a transformation of local employment and income opportunities as well as minimise damage that corruption causes. In Nigeria, there is a thriving illicit, and ‘inclusive’ local economy based around the theft of crude oil, usually from pipelines. It does severe harm to people and the environment. Yet most attempts to enforce rules through punishments and even military raids  have failed. The corruption extends from top to bottom — politicians, security agencies and communities are in collusion. These approaches not only fail, but threaten to further damage vulnerable communities as crackdowns frequently result in violent conflict. This underground economy is integrated into the wider economy in multiple ways. It directly provides much needed employment to local youth, and even indirectly to community members who supply services to sites, and severe power supply issues have created a demand for oil products for power generators, so there is little incentive to stop the practice. This is when is required. The first step would be to address the harmful effects of oil pollution. And instead of police raids, finding alternative sources of fuel — such as solar power — for communities could help. Identifying the causes and effects of corruption and providing that information and analysis to politicians, law enforcement and the public has so far not stopped corruption when there is little or no enforcement. Only by ensuring there is sufficient pressure from various self-interested parties to limit poor behaviour and to support formal accountability processes, are anti-corruption efforts likely to succeed. Pallavi Roy  is a Reader (Associate Professor) in International Economics at SOAS. She brings multi-sector experience to issues of rent-seeking, economic development and political economy research. She jointly led an international research project on multilateralism and the UN with Professor Thomas G Weiss of the University of New York and oversaw 11 research projects. She is Research Director of ). Twitter account: @roypallavi2 Mushtaq Khan is a Professor at the Department of Economics, SOAS, University of London, and a leading thinker on anti-corruption, governance, economic development, industrial policy and political settlements. He is the Executive Director of Twitter account: @mushtaqkhan100 Anti Corruption Evidence is funded by UK Aid Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Combatting corruption in democracies” sent at: 02/12/2022 13:13. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 6, 2022

Fake behaviour strikes a chord with the corrupt - 360 Juneman Abraham Published on December 9, 2022 Fake behaviour is all around and can have a domino effect which leads to corruption. Fakeness is everywhere. If you search for “songs about fakeness” on Google there are about 380 million matches. It would seem songwriters from all corners of the globe have raised concerns about counterfeit or fake culture for years. It’s not only songs. Fake news remains rife. Social media has countless examples of manipulated photographs or videos. We cannot escape it. But fakeness isn’t always so obvious. It’s become more difficult to detect. It’s even ‘celebrated’ with AI-based deepfake technology. All this fakeness cannot be good for us. Indeed, one recent study found counterfeit behaviour can impact a person’stendency for corruption. The study demonstrated the usefulness of compiling a  corruption psychology. Corrupt tendencies can be predicted by moral disengagement and moral disengagement is predicted by fakeness. This is a gradual process as a consequence of daily behaviour, particularly those instances which are counterfeit in nature.  This includes ‘normal’ daily behaviour such as fake listening and religious hypocrisy. In a society dominated by ‘speed’, ‘hustle’ and ‘multi-tasking’, people are still eager to portray themselves as ‘good listeners’ while politicians and celebrities wish to appear devout in an effort to win over the public. The problem is, this fakeness eventually damages trust.  A fake listener is merely aiming to benefit from the impression of appearing attentive while the falsely devout may feel morally superior but are actually corrupting the very values they supposedly espouse. For example,  some people cover corruption with religious terms such as infaq or charity (eg. corruption in higher and elementary education) Then there is the cultural argument to justify corruption by giving gifts. There is a popular argument which suggests regulations to prevent corruption have ignored Indonesia’s traditional values, such as gift-giving as a form of appreciation and gratitude. But the act of gift-giving should never involve the use of public resources. Nor should it trade trust in the process (because gift-giving is merely a signal of intent to fortify social relationships). And it shouldn’t influence political performance, business professionalism, and public policy.True gift-giving is an act of self-sacrifice whereas corrupt gift-giving is about taking advantage. There is a common impression that bribery is victimless and harmless compared to grand corruption and is therefore more ‘legitimate’. But simplifying the complexities of corruption with euphemisms or moral justification are aspects of moral disengagement. The idea that corruption is inseparable from certain cultural values —  hence it must not be policed — is an abandonment of responsibility to prevent and eradicate corruption. People who  find it difficult to grasp the destructive essence of corruption will likely be more tolerant of, or even justify corrupt behaviour. There is always an element of fakeness and its harmful consequences in social interactions. In nations such as India and  Indonesia which are considered more forgiving of corruption, tolerance will make it more difficult to eliminate the problem. Society could benefit if we recognised and  rejected all institutionalised forms of fakeness. This is important because institutionalised corruption which is assumed as ‘customary and imperative’ for development actually ignores the unfairness it creates.  The more sophisticated forms of corruption are a process of dehumanisation — an aspect of moral disengagement — despite seeming to produce a greater good as measured by development. How we quantify corruption so far may be deceptive, concealing the reality of corruption that actually is far more complex and goes deeper. As a result, it does not drive the radical changes needed to  prevent and tackle corruption. By being better at identifying fake behaviours, we may tackle all forms of corruption. Maybe, soon enough, our pop songs will be relating how capable we are of recognising and dealing with fakeness. Juneman Abraham is the Leader of Consumer Behaviour and Digital Ethics (CBDE) Research Interest Group and Associate Professor of Social Psychology at the Faculty of Humanities, BINUS University, as well as Executive Committee Member of the Indonesian Psychological Association (HIMPSI). He provides anti-corruption education and consultancy both theoretically and practically. He declares he has no conflict of interest and receives no specific funding. Twitter: @keincaled Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 9, 2022

Families in homes a step toward a better economy - 360 Paul Dalziel Published on June 7, 2023 A growing economy does not always mean a nation is doing well. Measuring wellbeing, and implementing policies to address that, fills that gap. The New Zealand economy has been booming. Economic growth was 6.0 percent in 2021 and 2.4 per cent in 2022. Its employment rate among 15-64 year-olds is 80 percent, the third highest of the  38 OECD countries. Despite this, times don’t feel great for Sarah. * Sarah is a young person living in Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island. She is one of 315 children whose families are living in the city’s emergency housing. Her family has been living in a motel room for more than a month after rising prices meant they could not keep up with rent payments. Sarah’s family wants to move into transitional housing as a step towards having their own home again, but there is a long queue in Christchurch. Families are staying in the city’s transitional houses for about six months on average. It is supposed to be no more than 12 weeks. The Child Poverty Action Group monitors the experience of youngsters like Sarah for all of New Zealand. In May 2023, it published a report on how families who receive social security benefits are doing. It showed that couples with two children, living in a private rental, face an income deficit to the tune of NZD$300 a week. When children do not have enough economic resources to develop their potential, there are long-term impacts. Not just for themselves, but for the country. The Dunedin Longitudinal Study, for example, has shown how adverse experiences and certain attributes in childhood can predict poor health outcomes and socially damaging behaviour in later life. Sarah’s story is a challenge to the old-style thinking that economic policies should be judged simply by how fast the economy is growing. Economies can grow in ways that leave large numbers of families unable to access good housing or decent work. A focus on economic growth for its own sake is creating other damage. Scientists have been warning for a long time that human economic activities are changing the earth’s climate and New Zealand is not immune, experiencing two ‘unprecedented’ extreme weather events — record-breaking floods in Auckland and Cyclone Gabrielle — within a few days of each other in February 2023. The combined damages bill is estimated to be up to NZD$14.5 billion. Countries are thinking more carefully about what a wellbeing economy looks like. The New Zealand government accepts this principle. Since 2019, its Minister of Finance has prepared what he calls wellbeing budgets. The Fifth Wellbeing Budget was presented to Parliament on 18 May 2023. A wellbeing budget begins by selecting priority objectives based on an analysis of wellbeing needs. There are five in the 2023 Budget. The first priority is the climate crisis. The budget aims to support New Zealanders transition to a climate-resilient, sustainable and low-emissions economy. Another objective is to improve health outcomes, with a focus on the mental wellbeing of young people. A third priority focuses on preparing people and businesses for the future of work, while the fourth objective aims to lift incomes, skills and opportunities of Māori and Pacific peoples. The fifth priority is to reduce child poverty and improve child wellbeing. This includes better access to affordable, safe and stable housing. Sarah’s story has been heard. The government aims to halve child poverty by 2027/28 compared to 10  years earlier — an ambitious target. Official data record there have been improvements. Increases in income support and the statutory minimum wage have made a difference. However, more work is needed if we want to meet the ten-year targets. Housing remains a pressing issue. The Housing Register is a waiting list for public housing. There were 24,080 applicants on the register in March 2023, with 92 percent having a severe and persistent housing need. New Zealand is not the only country pursuing a wellbeing economy. WEGo is a partnership of Scotland, Iceland, Wales, Finland, Canada and New Zealand, whose leaders have committed to sharing their expertise and policy lessons as they grapple with the challenge of expanding wellbeing for people and planet. The New Zealand experience shows that countries can design economic policies to focus on important wellbeing issues, such as climate change and child poverty. New Zealand’s Wellbeing Budgets illustrate how the government’s targets and policies can be open to public scrutiny. The New Zealand experience also shows there are no simple answers to the big economic challenges facing our wellbeing and the wellbeing of future generations. New Zealand’s Wellbeing Budgets are important steps in a new direction, but there will be more to discover as countries journey towards a wellbeing economy. * Sarah is a composite character based on several persons engaged with community housing providers in Christchurch, New Zealand Paul Dalziel is professor of economics and director of the Agribusiness and Economics research unit at Lincoln University, New Zealand. He is also a member of the convening team for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) Aotearoa Hub. The author declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “WELLBEING ECONOMY” sent at: 05/06/2023 07:00. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on June 7, 2023

Fan-first cooling to combat climate change - 360 Ollie Jay, Arunima Malik, Tony Capon Published on November 7, 2022 COP27 might be criticised by some as a lot of hot air, but when it comes to coping with hot weather, that might be a good thing. There’s a hum reverberating through the vast halls of Sharm El-Sheikh International Conference Center in Egypt. It’s not the sound of 90 or so heads of state negotiating the latest international agreements on climate change. Nor is it the 30,000 or so delegates, strategically influencing their way to a better deal. Beneath those sounds, very quietly, is the drone of the air conditioning units keeping the attendees at a comfortable temperature. Egypt’s electricity is mostly generated by oil and gas. Running air-conditioners causes tonnes of carbon dioxide to belch into the atmosphere, aggravating global heating and creating a vicious cycle by increasing demand for air-conditioning. Although Egypt is aiming for 42 percent renewable energy by 2035, globally, greenhouse gas emissions from global air-conditioning are set to soar over the coming decades. Climate change and rising household incomes will create the desire and the opportunity for more air-conditioner use. Reducing dependence on air-conditioners to cope with hot weather will require a radical change of mindset – using fundamental principles of human physiology and thermodynamics. Across the developed world, cooling people is entrenched in the notion that the air that surrounds a hot person must be cooled and kept still. To maintain comfort, the typical air temperature target is between 20 to 23˚C. This ensures the temperature difference between the skin and the surrounding air is sufficient to transfer heat from the body without breaking a sweat. But heat transfer can also be strongly influenced by the speed at which air passes across the body. Moving warmer air faster can produce the same level of cooling – and thermal comfort – as still, but cooler air. In experiments, people with fans on them have judged air temperature to be 3 to 4˚C cooler than it was. Fans require less than 5 percent of the electricity required by air-conditioners. If air is moved using fans, the thermostat of air-conditioning units in buildings can be set at a higher temperature without sacrificing the thermal comfort of the occupants. This simple technique means air-conditioners can be used for shorter durations, turning on later and turning off earlier in the day. On some days, fan-use alone may be sufficient to maintain thermal comfort and air-conditioners may not be needed at all. Current cooling practices might have them running for hours. In a first investigation of its kind, an Australian case study found that ‘fan-first’ cooling could reduce annual electricity demand from air-conditioning by more than 70 percent. The cost of implementing fan-first cooling relative to the volume of greenhouse gas emissions would yield a net benefit better than the government-supported switch from incandescent to LED home lighting. Fan-first cooling is also relevant to people trying to keep cool during summer in countries facing energy insecurity due to recent geopolitical events. During the 2022 summer, governments in Italy, Greece, and Spain all mandated minimum thermostat set-point temperatures of around 27˚C to conserve energy and reduce reliance on Russian gas. Combined with greater air-flow the equivalent to a typical pedestal fan on medium, this temperature is still within a comfortable thermal range. Electric fans offer an affordable and accessible cooling solution for the most vulnerable during extreme heat events, who typically cannot afford air-conditioning. Using more fans and fewer air-conditioners during heatwaves could also help reduce stress on overwhelmed power grids and lower the risk of wide-scale power outages. Yet, the effectiveness of fans in extreme heat conditions has been contentious. Major public health agencies including the World Health Organization, the US Centers for Disease Control and the UK National Health Service, currently advise that fans should not be used above 35˚C because they can supposedly “speed the onset” of heat exhaustion. This notion probably arises from the understanding that, when hot, human skin temperature stabilises at around 35˚C. So, when air temperatures rise above this level fans may force more heat into the body. This is the same science behind fan-forced ovens. However, unlike a roasting turkey, humans sweat. Fans greatly enhance the evaporation of sweat, producing a cooling effect. Body heating will only be accelerated when extra dry heat gain from the fan exceeds extra cooling from sweat evaporation. There is no evidence that the ‘tipping point’ for this is 35˚C. Human physiologists conducting studies in climate chambers that replicate heatwave conditions have observed the protective effect of fans up to 42˚C in young healthy adults. There is a definite limit, beyond which fans can worsen heat stress, especially when humidity is low and most sweat freely evaporates even in still air. In very hot (47˚C) and dry (less than 15 percent relative humidity) conditions, fans worsen physiological heat strain, with body temperatures rising faster, dehydration accelerated, and the cardiovascular system needing to do more work to prevent blood pressure dropping rapidly. As people age beyond 65 years, their ability to sweat declines. Since the benefits of fans depend on sweating, the temperatures at which fans are effective become lower with age. The actual temperature at which fans should be turned off because they are harmful depends on humidity. But recent work proposes a simplified fan-use temperature guide irrespective of humidity to enable effective public health messaging: 39˚C for young adults, 38˚C for older adults, and 37˚C for people on specific kinds of medication (anticholinergics). Twelve countries have the greatest potential for increased use of air-conditioners, based on increasing temperatures and income: India, China, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Philippines, the USA, Vietnam, Thailand, and Mexico, with a combined population of 4.5 billion. If these countries used these temperatures as a guide for recommending fans, on more than 19 of every 20 hot weather days since 2007 they could have recommended fans first and air-conditioners second. The benefits of moving air more and chilling it less are clear. While many on-lookers may be wary of empty promises at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, blowing a lot of hot air may not be such a bad thing after all. Ollie Jay is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health, and director of the Heat and Health Research Incubator at the University of Sydney. Arunima Malik is a senior lecturer in the Integrated Sustainability Analysis group at the School of Physics and in the Discipline of Accounting, Business School at the University of Sydney. Tony Capon is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, and director of the Sustainable Development Institute at Monash University. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “COP 27” sent at: 31/10/2022 09:51. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on November 7, 2022

Fans care about trophies, not how they’re won - 360 Robin Roslender Published on August 9, 2023 Fans care about their clubs’ accomplishments more and if new owners can pour in big money to achieve this, then all is good. When new owners take over a football club, fan excitement grows. An influx of new money, new management, new ideas and new players bring the promise of new success. Roman Abramovich achieved this when he took over perennial English Premier League underachievers Chelsea in 2003. Over the next 19 years, the Russian oligarch’s money helped bring in the talent that won the London club 18 trophies. In recent years, investors from the Middle East have taken ownership of some of Europe’s biggest football clubs. Owners from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have poured millions of dollars into these clubs and achieved success. There is a theory these investors are throwing large amounts at clubs to assist in sportswashing, a practice designed to deflect attention from poor behaviour. One side effect is the idea supporters become less important to these investors. At the time of writing Manchester United seems set to be sold to a Qatari banker Sheikh Jassim for around £5 billion while Newcastle United was purchased in October 2021 by a Saudi consortium. In 2008, the Abu Dhabi United Group purchased Manchester City. Deloitte identifies Manchester City as the richest club with Newcastle United sitting at number 20. Also in the top 10 is French club Paris St-Germain (in sixth place) just below Manchester United, widely touted as the game’s most famous club. The Qatar Sports Investment organisation, a sovereign wealth fund, has owned Paris St-Germain since 2011, Qatar also being the venue for the 2022 World Cup late last year. This does not exhaust the list of involvement in top-flight football, although it does highlight what might be achieved in terms of success. Although such investments can be relied upon to deliver attractive income streams, the sums involved would seem relatively insignificant in relation to the wealth of those involved. A more feasible explanation relates to pursuit of long-term capital growth – again the sums involved appear to lack significance. A third explanation is that investing in football clubs opens the door to a much wider and more lucrative investment portfolio which also brings the possibility of reinforcing the investors’ acceptability to local communities, including supporters. In addition, it is asserted that many in the region’s population are enthralled by the world’s game. In recent years a different explanation of the motivations of Arab investors in top-flight football, alongside many other popular sports, has been advanced – the pursuit of ‘sportswashing’. Combining the terms sports and washing, sportswashing identifies practices designed to create a favourable public impression at odds with what is widely regarded as unacceptable behaviours by people and governments in other parts of the world. Why these new investors are attracted to big clubs is clear cut: it isn’t about wealth streams or long-term capital growth – football clubs are notoriously expensive to run  – but about the soft power football can bring. The enduring commitment of football supporters to their clubs may fast be becoming unimportant for those contemplating engaging in further sportswashing-based investments in the upper echelons of the game. The traditional supporter may be enthused by the prospect of new money being invested in their club but most understand that they are unlikely to be the beneficiaries of multimillion-pound investments. They also recognise that money cannot guarantee the levels of success previously enjoyed by the few. Being a supporter means staying loyal to your club, attending every match, being prepared to travel long distances to desolate stadia to cheer on their club and to safeguard the legacy they remain custodians of and who take pride in any accomplishments delivered. While it might be imagined that supporter communities are likely to be the most exercised by sportswashing, unfortunately, their voices are unlikely to be widely heard. Electing not to renew your season ticket, assuming you haven’t already for financial reasons, is futile. In the modern game successful clubs usually have waiting lists of fans, whose commitment to clubs is more tenuous, seeking season tickets and ready to pay the asking price. For those less able or interested in attending every game, clubs have created the matchday package concept, facilitating participation in the spectacle as required. This can be regarded as a further stage of the gentrification of the English game, which began in the 1980s with a government-supported initiative to expel the ‘English disease’ of hooliganism from the game. Or perhaps its traditional working-class provenance constituted the real target? In the case of top-flight football, sportswashing entails ‘washing’ (or laundering) unacceptable behaviours in the glamour associated with the world’s most popular game. The behaviours in question are principally those designated human rights abuses, which are known to continue within nation-states, including those associated with recent investment in top-flight football. Sportswashing is not designed to deny nor conceal the continuation of these abuses. In the 21st century, this is not possible. Instead sportswashing can be understood as the process of diverting or deflecting attention away from abuses, thereby facilitating their perpetuation. In this regard the 2022 World Cup proved a great success with most people acknowledging Qatar’s capacity to stage the event, the absence of trouble at matches and beyond and the evidence of a sincere interest in the sport in the region. This coupled with the realisation that Qatar may indeed be a great place to live, work and possibly holiday. Qatar’s project is a textbook exercise in deploying soft power to persuade rather than coerce while embedding its preferred agenda in the mindset of the outside world. Professor Robin Roslender is a faculty member at Aalborg University Business School in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Aalborg, Denmark. He declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on August 9, 2023

Farming smarter: tackling the decline in Indonesian farming - 360 Suryo Wiyono Published on April 4, 2022 Indonesia is in danger of losing most of its farmers within a generation. Government support and improved farming technology can arrest the trend. By 2063 there will be no professional farmers in Indonesia, according to the country’s National Development Planning Agency. Young people are not joining the industry, farming is becoming more expensive, and farmers are not being treated fairly in food production’s long supply chain. More than a third (37 percent according to one study) of Indonesian farmers are more than 54 years old. By contrast, only 10 percent of farmers are aged between 25 and 34. As farmers retire, fewer and fewer young farmers are taking their place. In 1976, 65.8 percent of workers were employed in the agricultural sector, but by 2019 that number had dropped to only 28 percent. Declining worker numbers have not been compensated for by sufficient technology and quality improvements in the sector. This labour shortage will have a direct impact on the agricultural production process and in turn will affect the volume and quality of agricultural products. The difficulty of finding workers, especially for food agriculture, results in higher labour costs. As farming becomes more expensive, more and more farmers will sell their land and a trend of land conversion will emerge. Food sufficiency is the greatest concern amid this growing problem. A country’s domestic production supports its food sufficiency so that it does not depend on supplies from other countries. When the number of farmers is drastically reduced, the country must turn to external producers, which have their own priorities and may not be reliable. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic many food-producing countries were reluctant to export their food because their focus was their own domestic supply. According to 2015 research by the People’s Coalition for Food Sovereignty and IPB University, young people think being a farmer is not profitable. They also believe the challenges of farming are increasing and the risk of failure is growing. The government has an important role here as policymaker. One reason for farmers’ low income is lack of fair trade in agriculture. Farmers bear a high risk for a long time, but they receive the least profit compared to others in the distribution chain to consumers. Government policies that provide special incentives to young farmers will help change young people’s perception of farming. Improving access to agricultural land and credit, expanding networks and information, and strengthening the capacity of young farmers will demonstrate that farming can be a profitable and interesting agribusiness. Young people also consider that working in the agricultural sector is physically demanding. Technology is the best chance of addressing the problem, so agricultural universities and research institutions are well advised to make the development of agricultural technology a high priority. On the production side, this technology would facilitate the physical work carried out on the land and improve efficiency, cutting production costs and increasing profit margins. The agricultural-development paradigm treats farmers as objects. Policies are results oriented and do not consider the impact on farmers. Farmers play a key role in food production, so their empowerment is vital. Empowerment of farmers that includes building and increasing technical competence, participation and access to resources is a crucial aspect of agricultural development. If farmers do not have sufficient capacity to use technology, then technology is worthless, regardless of how sophisticated it is. Empowered farmers will become agile farmers, able to adapt to rapid changes in climate as well as changes in social, trade and political life. Civil society and farmers associations do important work to empower farmers, but they need the support of the government to have a big impact. A workforce shift from agriculture to other sectors will not endanger food security if it is compensated for by two factors: significant improvement of farmers’ skills and application of appropriate technology. Developed countries that have a low percentage of farmers and produce enough food for their population show what can be achieved. The government can support the food management system to become more resilient amid changing circumstances so farmers get a fair reward for their work. Government policy can also ensure agricultural industry players collaborate with farmers. It can support a system for the utilisation and development of technology that promotes the health of the industry and farmers’ welfare. Farmers’ knowledge is the backbone of agricultural development in Indonesia. With government support, enhanced technology and the assistance of farmer organisations, coming generations of Indonesian farmers can become fully empowered to navigate future challenges. Suryo Wiyono is head of Gerakan Petani Nusantara, a nation-wide farmers organisation in Indonesia, and Vice Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at IPB University, Bogor, Indonesia. Dr Wiyono’s work focuses on integrated pest management and farmers’ empowerment. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 4, 2022

Fear and loathing rule Australia’s 'angry' media landscape - 360 Victoria Fielding Published on March 4, 2024 As we muddle through the complexities of the 21st century, progress appears to be stifled by a media keen on angering its audience, rather than informing them. Australia has a problem with illegal migration. Well, no, not a collapse of Operation Sovereign Borders, or the offshore processing laws that will cost the taxpayer AUD$485 million this year, but with how it reacts to a group of asylum seekers arriving by boat on a West Australian beach. Australia’s law hasn’t changed in more than a decade. If you arrive in a way that the Federal Government perceives as “illegal”, you won’t settle in Australia, a fact lost on some. From behind his microphone in Sydney, top-rating radio talkback host Ray Hadley claimed the arrival of these asylum seekers was illustrative of a government not up to the task. “Labor governments are no good at protecting our borders,” Hadley claimed, going on to explain why. “They love illegal refugees because once they’ve let them in, they’re voters for life. They’ve got the unions and illegal refugees making sure they stay in government.” Hadley called the PM names and ended with: “Absolutely everything this mob touch they completely and utterly f*** up”. Regardless of policy nuance, the tactics employed by Hadley are nothing new for Australia’s increasingly aggressive media landscape. A form of “anger-tainment” has become a staple as the hard work of reasoned debate makes way for emotional reactions to the complex nature of modern life. Conservative opposition to progress in the form of political narratives of fear, anger and division are amplified by news media working by the dictum “if it bleeds, it leads”. Psychological studies have shown the scarier the news item, the more the audience is gripped. Journalists also presume information is more newsworthy when it is conflict-driven. During Australia’s Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum in 2023, a campaigner for the No vote was revealed to be using a strategy of “fear and doubt” to win over voters. One of Australia’s leading media publishers, Nine newspapers, reported that volunteers making phone calls for the No campaign were being directed to raise suspicions about the Voice by telling voters:  “The people who helped design the Voice proposal are campaigning to abolish Australia Day and want to use the Voice to push for compensation and reparations through a treaty.” Explaining this fear campaign against the Voice, the campaigner quoted US psychology professor, Drew Westen, saying “when reason and emotion collide, emotion always wins”. This anti-Voice campaign was premised on one particularly powerful emotion: fear. It is curious to see conservative campaigners channeling the insights of Westen, a Democrat who dedicated his 2007 book The Political Brain to party campaigners. In that book, Westen schools Democrats on using emotion to win over hearts and minds, rather than relying only on reason. Westen implores Democrats to evoke positive emotions more effectively with their communication strategies, encouraging them to appeal to voters’ “better angels”. This positive strategy is juxtaposed with some conservative political strategies which tend to harness more negative emotions like fear. Westen says that a “fear of mortality” can shift people’s ideology to become more conservative. This idea is backed up by other studies which find conservatives react more strongly than progressives to negative emotions like fear. Once people are afraid, he says, they become angry, and then tend to focus their anger on a particular group. Anger is divisive. The No campaign did not threaten voters with the spectre of death, but their strategy methodically pushed a negative spiral of emotions. First, they created fear that there was more to the Voice than an Indigenous advisory body, threatening that it would lead to compensation and reparations. This fear was designed to make voters angry because they believed they stood to lose something if the Voice was successful. Threats of compensation and reparations were also tied to manipulative underground campaigning through conspiracy theories and fake campaign materials, alleging that non-Indigenous people might lose their property rights if the Voice was successful. Analysis of News Corp’s coverage of the referendum, research showed how these threatening, fear inducing narratives were used by its outlets as a form of “anger-tainment” to the benefit of No campaign. This mixture of fear, anger and division — even hatred — towards Voice advocates and the Indigenous community was likely a large factor in the referendum result; 60 percent voted No. This is despite an Australian National University survey finding 87 percent of voters supported the concept of an Aboriginal Voice to Parliament. Where the researchers who conducted this survey suggested this contradiction could be explained by Australian voters perhaps rejecting the Voice model, another explanation is that the No campaign evoked negative emotions towards the Voice which had a powerful impact on the result. Political campaigns win people over by creating a narrative, made up of heroes, villains, and victims. Predominantly, conservative campaigners have used these characterisations to tell fear-based stories where the voter is the victim, the progressive is the villain and the conservative is the protective hero. The Labor Party too has used the same technique with telling impact. During the 2016 election campaign 75 percent of Labor’s advertising was assessed as negative, giving rise to the infamous “Mediscare” campaign against the government of Malcolm Turnbull. A narrative of fear was used by the No campaign during the Voice referendum. They told voters they were victims that had much to lose if the villainous Yes campaign were successful. Phone callers were told to warn of negative consequences such as division and compensation. A key slogan of the No campaign evoked fear of the unknown, urging “if you don’t know, vote no”. The heroic No campaign then framed themselves as saving Australians from this supposedly scary fate. Australia’s Liberal and National parties have successfully deployed this tactic in the past to whip up fear, anger and division. In 2010, their campaign against the mining tax villainised the governing Labor Party for supposedly hurting Australian economic interests and costing jobs by taxing the super-profits of mining companies, sold as heroes of the story. The Liberal-National Party coalition won the next federal election in 2013 and repealed the mining tax the year after. In that same election, the Liberals and Nationals again fell back on a fear campaign, this time over a carbon price proposed by Labor to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Then-Opposition leader Tony Abbott won the 2013 election claiming the “carbon tax” would cost households $550 a year. Abbott painted himself as the hero who would ‘axe the tax’, saving victimised Australian households. This type of story-telling spills beyond conservative politicians and is used by employers and their allies during industrial disputes also premised on fear of union collective activity. During Victoria’s 2016 Country Fire Authority dispute, the firefighters and their union — the Victorian United Firefighters Union — were accused by the employer, the Victorian Opposition and News Corp media outlets of using its bargaining agreement to ‘take over’ the fire authority. The anti-union fear campaign twisted a negotiation point from firefighters, a want for more firefighters to be sent to house fires for safety reasons. Then-Victorian Liberal Party leader Matthew Guy claimed that the union’s demand would mean volunteer firefighters would have to “stand and watch a house burn” until unionised professional firefighters arrived, a scary claim which was demonstrably false. Narratives of fear are used by political campaigners and amplified in the media to oppose progressive policies relating to taxation, climate, immigration, industrial relations, health, education, or wider social and cultural change. Anger and fear are regularly shown to be a potent strategy to grab and hold attention, and to persuade voters to oppose progress. These fear-based strategies are divisive and polarising, and do nothing to further constructive responses to society’s problems. The evidence of what benefits the community derives from them will only be marked by time, which even the most well-funded political campaign can not stop. Dr Victoria Fielding is a Lecturer in Strategic Communication at The University of Adelaide. Victoria studies media representation of political contestation and the influence of media on democracy. Victoria leads a team of three researchers from the University of Adelaide on the Murdoch Referendum Accountability Project, funded by Australians for a Murdoch Royal Commission. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on March 4, 2024

Fear of love and loving in India - 360 Sarasu Esther Thomas Published on April 11, 2024 The sanctity of a marriage provides no protection to interfaith couples and those in live-in relationships are even more vulnerable Marriage is supposed to offer a couple legal and social protection. However, the sanctity of a marriage gives no protection to couples in interfaith and inter-caste marriages in India. Live-in relationships are increasingly fraught with danger. Those in interfaith marriages and live-in relationships, therefore, commit to each other with one eye necessarily on security – fearing not only social sanctions but, increasingly, also the state. A slew of ‘anti conversion’ legislations in different states have restricted the rights of interfaith couples to marry and now, some even seek to regulate live-in relationships. This is publicly perceived as preventing inter-faith marriages and live-in relationships. The case of Shafin Jahan, popularly referred to as Hadiya’s case, shows how the imaginary bogey of ‘love jihad’ was raised to take away the agency of an adult woman to make choices relating to intimate decisions like marriage. The case had to go all the way to the Supreme Court to get justice. Most couples do not have the resources or resilience to fight such a public and prolonged battle. While the state of Uttarakhand has already introduced a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) to control live in relationships,  the central government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has for long promised national legislation to usher in a similar national uniform law although its content is unknown for now. The Uttarakhand UCC, however, is unclear about interfaith marriages. Although it claims to be uniform, it is not clear how marriages will actually be conducted under it. Uttarakhand’s anti conversion law of 2018, however, is clear. It penalises ‘conversion by marriage’. This law allows a Family Court to declare such marriages void, even if the couple wish to live together. Forced physical separation of couples with the young woman being forced to marry someone else is not a difficult scenario to imagine. India is clearly leaning heavily towards prohibiting interfaith marriages – an ominous sign in a secular nation. The sanctity of a marriage, therefore, gives no protection to interfaith couples. If those in marriages are not safe, what of the unmarried, in live-in relationships? The Uttarkhand UCC seeks to regulate and penalise even these. It mandates that live-in relationships must be compulsorily registered. Failure to do so attracts potential jail sentences.  Adults aged under 21 are especially targeted; they are outed to their parents and the police are also informed. The term ‘live-in relationships’ in India became popular with the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which was the result of a prolonged campaign by women’s organisations. It allows women to claim a wide range of reliefs including from domestic violence.  To extend protection to all women, the legislation covers all women in a ‘domestic relationship’. A domestic relationship could include relationship by blood, adoption, family, marriage or ‘a relationship in the nature of marriage’, such as a ‘live-in relationship’.  It is distinguished from other short term relationships such as casual sexual encounters and long term relationships like bigamous marriages. Live-in relationships have been discouraged in family law by privileging marriage for rights such as succession, not just to the parties in the relationship, but children born in such relationships. The provisions regulating live-in relationships in the Uttarakhand UCC allow the Marriage Registrar, police, parents and society to harass and oppress the young couple. Their right to privacy is violated and they become vulnerable to vigilante attention and harm. Earlier, the law did not criminalise live-in relationships if they were consensual, did not amount to statutory rape (where the adolescent was below16) and was not a homosexual one. This changed with two developments: one dealing with LGBTQIA+ rights and the other, raising the age of consent. Cases from Naz Foundation and finally Navtej Singh Johar decriminalised adult same sex relationships and read down the criminalising provision in Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code. In between there was the blip — Suresh Kumar Koushal — which did not find anything unconstitutional about Section 377 and felt that decriminalising homosexuality would be the legislature’s domain. Although the law has now changed, LGBTQIA+ live-in relationships continue to be denied the protection of family law, leaving couples without any rights that married couples have. There is also no formal recognition of such live-in relationships. The other issue that impacted live-in relationships is the regulation of child-marriages by raising the age of consent. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act was meant to save children up to the age of 18 from sexual offences. Anyone who indulges in sexual activity of any nature with a child under 18 is punishable under the heavy provisions of this law. This gender neutral legislation, however, had two significant consequences: it resulted in effectively raising the age of consent to 18 years and it led to children being treated as offenders/victims under the Act. Both led to increasing parental control over children. It is no surprise then that most prosecutions of child marriages are in ‘romantic cases’ where children exercise agency and not of forced child marriages by parents which are more numerous. There is now a proposal to increase the age of marriage for women to 21 years – possibly, the highest in the world. This would mean further increasing parental control over choice of marriage, as many women in the country are married by this age. It is unthinkable that marriages and live-in relationships between adults should become so regimented by the state. This is a violation of constitutional and human rights to have adult agency appropriated by the state and non-state actors. This insidious creeping of the paternalistic state into romantic and intimate relationships of consenting adults does not show any signs of ebbing. It reflects increased polarisation and merges moral policing with the law. Sarasu Esther Thomas is Professor at the National Law School University of India, Bengaluru. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 11, 2024

Feeding Australians priced out of their own cities - 360 Rebecca Lindberg Published on April 4, 2022 A growing group of social entrepreneurs are helping Australians doing it tough to move beyond food handouts. Australia’s cafe culture, sourdough obsession and rise of organic food stores hide a harsh reality: some city-dwellers are being priced out of daily staples. Social enterprises offering affordable essential items such as bread, fruit and vegetables are popping up to serve students, single parents and other people on low incomes. They take an entrepreneurial approach to help ensure everyone can eat well. An estimated 13 percent of households experience food insecurity in Australia. In 2017–19, seven percent of households in high-income countries were estimated to be food insecure, and this figure is likely to have doubled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For more than 200 years in Australia, free food and ‘alms for the poor’ have been provided by charities and community agencies. But the growth of the sector, and its corporatisation – major partners include Australian supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths and food and drink multinational Nestlé – haven’t necessarily led to reduced numbers of food-insecure people. The sector has tripled in size over a decade, but the volume of food shifted between warehouses and charities across the country averages out at less than one kilogram, or approximately two meals, per food-insecure household per week. This sector has famously been characterised by Professor Corrina Hawkes as providing ‘too much and too little’: it redistributes food that would otherwise have been wasted, but it is unable to sufficiently meet needs or address root causes. Many people who use food charities say they would prefer alternative options, feel judged and embarrassed because they need a free meal or a food parcel, and at times hide their use of these programs from their family or friends. But the rising cost of living and the gentrification of their neighbourhood (which tends to drive up local prices) means people need these charities to cope. One food social enterprise in Melbourne called The Community Grocer is on average 40 percent cheaper than retailers, tailors options to the cultural and dietary preferences of its customers, and provides spaces where people can connect. Another in South Australia, The Food Centre, is being used to trial the concept of a social supermarket. The idea is to tackle food insecurity by providing low-cost groceries and simultaneously deliver social services and support. Social supermarkets “…attempt to bridge the gap between charitable food donation and food retail, providing a stepping-stone between reliance on food relief handouts and self-sufficiency”. FoodLab Detroit, a nonprofit, partnered with the University of Sydney in 2019 to launch a food business incubator in the inner-Sydney suburb of Redfern. It aims to help the 17,000-plus residents of Sydney who are food insecure, but it also offers training and support for those considering starting their own food business. Food insecurity will only become more pervasive after COVID. Entrepreneurial and disruptive projects like these are tackling this age-old problem in new ways. They are going beyond food banks and charitable giving to create the possibility of sustainable change. Rebecca is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), Deakin University and a Director of The Community Grocer. Rebecca has  undertaken paid and unpaid projects with not for profit food organisations. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: Rebecca Lindberg

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 4, 2022

Fewer women in parliament spells trouble - 360 Hurriyah Published on December 18, 2023 Changes to Indonesia’s gender quota rules are set to result in fewer women running for office in 2024. It could set Indonesia’s democracy into deeper backslide. Women’s political representation in Indonesia may fall for the first time since the 1999 election, even before the voting starts. The threat arose when Indonesia’s electoral commission tweaked policy around the country’s 30 percent gender quota on party lists, changing a previous rule that rounded up decimal figures in service of meeting the requirements. Affirmative action policies that boost the representation of women work, even applied improperly. In Indonesia, affirmative action policies have played a critical role in boosting the electoral fortunes of women. Without such policies, the challenge to close the political gender gap becomes even harder: it’s tougher to get more women into politics and promote a gender-sensitive environment when one gender has no legal obligation to bring the other into the fold. Since the establishment of Indonesia’s quota policy in 2004, the number of women in the national parliament has increased steadily, jumping from 17.32 percent at the 2014 election to 20.52 percent in 2019. At the provincial level, the number has climbed from 16.4 percent to 18 percent, while it has edged up slightly from 14 percent to 15.2 percent at the municipal level. The proportion of women in the Regional Representative Council (Dewan Perwakilan Daerah Republik Indonesia, DPD RI) has increased by over 20 percent from 2014 to 2019 (from 25.76 percent to 30.88 percent). That 2019 election marked a watershed milestone in Indonesian history, with women’s political representation in the legislature reaching an all-time high. On the other hand, women’s political representation in Indonesia is progressing somewhat slowly compared to neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia. According to Indonesian research institute Puskapol UI, the main driver behind this is the reluctance within political parties to promote women candidates. Most political parties perceive affirmative action as an administrative hurdle to clear. To meet the quotas, parties tend to nominate women as candidates who come from their nearest circles, such as family, friends of party elites, or popular figures. As a result, a substantial percentage of elected female candidates hail from political dynasties, as was seen in the 2019 national election. The electoral commission’s new policy is a setback for affirmative action, amid public encouragement from Indonesians to strengthen female representation in the 2024 elections. Despite widespread public opposition and a Supreme Court decision ordering the regulation be cancelled, the electoral commission has insisted on retaining it. The policy looks set to significantly decrease the number of female candidates standing in the 2024 election. In November 2023, the electoral commission ratified the ‘Permanent Party List’ for the upcoming election. Of the 84 electoral districts and 18 parties participating, only one party met the minimum quota of 30 percent female candidates on their nomination list. This has ramifications beyond the representation of women. Indonesia’s electoral organisers have worked incrementally to lift the country’s democracy score, based on International IDEA assessments, but recent malpractice from the electoral commission has jeopardised the progress. Ratifying a party list that fails to meet the gender quota, ignoring the Supreme Court and allowing parties to influence the commission’s regulations will lead to Indonesia taking a hit in the democracy index, especially in electoral democracy. Indeed, Indonesia’s democracy index has begun to decline in recent years, influencing changes in Indonesia’s status as a country no longer seen by all as truly democratic. The Economist Intelligence Unit, for instance, classifies Indonesia as a ‘flawed democracy’, while Freedom House categorises it as a ‘partly free’ country. Hurriyah is a Lecturer and the Director of the Centre for Political Studies, Universitas Indonesia. Hurriyah can be contacted at [email protected]. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 18, 2023

Fighting back as misinformation ramps up - 360 Reece Hooker Published on November 20, 2023 Misinformation is nothing new, but AI, social media and eroding trust in institutions are making the threat stronger than ever. In research published this week, Australian researchers leveraged artificial intelligence to produce over 100 blog posts containing disinformation about health, vaccines and vaping. It took just over an hour to generate and included convincing images, fake stories from patients and doctors, and fabricated references. Misinformation and disinformation are not new problems. In the United States, for example, misinformation is part of the political landscape. Former president Donald Trump is rightfully credited with ratcheting up the misinformation, but his predecessors each have signature lies on their record. Barack Obama’s administration manipulated numbers on drone strikes ordered under his watch, Bill Clinton’s presidency almost ended over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky, and George W. Bush presided over an invasion of Iraq deemed illegal by the UN, searching for weapons of mass destruction that were never found. Elsewhere in the West, Australia is dealing with its own misinformation reckoning. The failed Indigenous Voice referendum was derailed by misinformation, from far-flung conspiracy theories involving the United Nations to inaccuracies spread by prominent politicians. But Australia’s misinformation issue didn’t spring up in the 2020s, either. Prime Minister John Howard’s 2001 claim that seafaring asylum seekers were throwing their children overboard to lure rescue boats was disproved by a Senate enquiry. Previously, these sorts of lies from politicians had a cat-and-mouse quality to them: when a public figure was dishonest, the media and the public would work to smoke out the truth. That’s not so simple in the post-truth era, in which conspiracy theories are mainstreamed and fundamental facts are up for dispute. The game has changed on many levels. The proliferation of technology and digital platforms makes the amplification of false information easier — anyone can speak to the world, anyone can knowingly or unknowingly share misinformation, and content moderation practices on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok are notoriously pared back. Trust in conventional institutions like the mainstream media has also been eroded. Some of this has been self-inflicted, but the media, experts and institutions have also been under concerted attack by bad-faith actors, epitomised by Trump, who benefit from undermining the credibility of outlets tasked with discerning fact from fiction. The end result is a decentralised spread of misinformation. The enemy of truth is not a single saboteur, but a network of people spreading false information, blurring the lines between the misinformed, ill-intentioned and people with different world views and values. Misinformation is difficult to combat, but the stakes are high. A functioning democracy relies on robust debate, which can only happen when all sides are starting from some shared truth. Some may suggest the fight ahead is no longer about preserving the world’s standard for democracy, but battling to get it back. New thinking about how to address misinformation is needed more than ever. 360info explores the issue with expert thinkers who look at emerging strategies to counter misinformation and disinformation. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on November 20, 2023

Finding a balance on AI regulation - 360 Reece Hooker Published on August 2, 2023 Innovation in AI poses a challenge for lawmakers who seek to protect users without limiting the technology’s immense potential. As the bidding war for the future of AI rages on, regulators are scrambling to catch up to the pace of innovation in the nascent technology. The European Union’s AI Act — one of the most all-encompassing regulations of its kind — is making steady progress to come into force by 2024. China already has tight controls over the use of AI as part of its suite of digital restrictions governing social media and open access. The EU’s law will likely be the first major test from liberal democracies trying to comprehensively legislate on AI, pursuing the right mix of freedom to pioneer with appropriate safeguards. As Monash University Indonesia’s Arif Perdana says:  “Whether the law succeeds hinges on whether it can adapt to advancing technology and find a balance between robust regulation and promoting innovation. If managed carefully, this is attainable.” The AI Act has been touted by some experts as the blueprint for future regulatory action, but others see vulnerabilities to be addressed. Monash University’s Chris Marsden and University of Warwick’s George Christou question whether the more influential regulation might be written nearby in Strasbourg at the Council of Europe, rather than the Brussels-based EU. “When the rush starts, there is more likely to be a Strasbourg Effect of nations copying the [Council of Europe] Convention than any Brussels Effect,” they say. The EU’s regulatory response has been comprehensively prepared, first proposed in April 2021, but this can present its own disadvantages. As Marsden and Christou point out, regulation written in 2023 “can better address the foundational Large Language Models that emerged in early 2023, such as ChatGPT, Bard and others”. Indian Institute of Technology Bombay’s Anurag Mehra suggests countries such as India wait and see before adopting domestic versions of the EU’s AI Act. “It may be prudent for India to see how the regulatory ethos evolves in Europe and US rather than rush in with a “comprehensive” law that might become outdated quickly.” Getting AI regulation right is not an easy task, but doing so could unlock a new era of innovation. In 360info’s Special Report on Regulating AI, the experts weigh in on how we may get it right. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Regulating AI” sent at: 31/07/2023 07:25. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on August 2, 2023

Finding a fix for Indonesia’s data protection problems - 360 Arif Perdana, Saru Arifin Published on December 13, 2023 Addressing data breaches and government surveillance misuse requires a balanced approach that respects national security and individual privacy. The increasing incidence of data breaches across government and private sectors in Indonesia has underscored the need for stringent data protection protocols. In 2022, more than 21,000 companies in Indonesia experienced data breaches. The incidents affected critical sectors, including healthcare, finance, e-commerce and utilities, and highlighted widespread cybersecurity challenges for the country’s business operations. In one notable incident, the healthcare sector encountered significant security breaches due to unauthorised access to the electronic health alert card (e-HAC) system and the Social Health Insurance Administration Body. In addition to data breaches, the government’s potential misuse of data for surveillance and its risks to privacy have become serious issues. The most pressing concern is use of the data for illegal or unethical purposes (such as suppressing legitimate political opposition or targeting vulnerable communities). The worry is about more than just losing privacy. It is about the dangers that arise when strong governments control a huge amount of surveillance data, which can lead to abuse of power and erosion of individual freedoms. Addressing the risks of data breaches and government surveillance misuse requires a balanced approach that respects national security and individual privacy. This means legal reforms,  community vigilance, privacy-centric technologies, alignment with international standards, and promoting ethical practices in government and tech companies. The active participation of civil society, media and technology companies is critical. By adopting these measures, Indonesia can forge a more transparent and accountable surveillance framework that better respects individual privacy. The Personal Data Protection Law, or Act No. 27 of 2022 (UU PDP), is a significant advancement in this respect. There are still uncertainties, however, surrounding its execution, particularly with regard to the legal classification of data breaches. Despite this, the law provides a broad provision stating that individuals whose data has been compromised have the right to take legal action against the data processor and seek compensation. It is not yet clear whether this law aligns with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) approach, which is mainly civil and allows individuals to assert their rights in civil court. The GDPR, which took effect in May 2018, is a comprehensive data privacy law that has significant implications worldwide. It sets stringent requirements and threatens substantial penalties for non-compliance. The UU PDP does not measure up to the GDPR concerning penal measures for intentionally unlawful data processing and failure to adhere to directions from supervisory authorities. These aspects of the law require clarification to evaluate its overall effectiveness and scope. Additionally, the UU PDP has expressed reservations regarding the practicality of implementing the required authority (namely, the Personal Data Protection Authority/PDPA), putting forth the notion of intensive governmental supervision and prioritisation. The PDPA will be established within the President’s office and report directly to the President. According to this interpretation, the President has the authority to obstruct the PDPA’s responsibilities in the functioning of the state on the grounds of serving public welfare. These doubts are dispelled when considering the limited authorities conferred upon the PDPA. These authorities encompass the formulation of crucial policies aimed at enhancing the protection of personal data, oversight of personal data protection practices, implementation of administrative regulations, and facilitation of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms. Consequently, the PDPA predominantly wields administrative authority, further reinforced by its distinct law-enforcement competencies. Undoubtedly, it is not nearly as far-reaching as the all-encompassing, independent and resilient personal data protection authority established by the GDPR. The implementation and enforcement of robust privacy laws similar to the GDPR is critical in Indonesia, so it is important to learn from the GDPR experience and to understand that data protection laws can be complicated and may have both positive and negative implications for innovation. Legal flexibility is essential, such as adopting a risk-based approach that customises data protection techniques according to the level of risk, from minimal to unacceptable. This flexibility also involves recognising legitimate interests which permit organisations to process personal data without obtaining explicit consent, provided they have a valid business justification that supersedes the individual’s right to privacy. Furthermore, exceptions for ‘statistical’ processing, which allows for the growth of big data and artificial intelligence, is also crucial. However, the use of sensitive labels requires rigorous justification, as the processing must be absolutely necessary for the benefit of a significant public interest, rather than merely beneficial for narrow interests. Furthermore, these laws are crucial in delineating the boundaries of government surveillance. Establishing independent oversight bodies is necessary to complement these laws to monitor government surveillance activities. Without independent oversight bodies, there is a greater risk of unchecked, unaccountable government surveillance. Furthermore, the lack of transparency leaves the public uninformed about the motives and outcomes of surveillance, potentially eroding trust in government actions. Consequently, surveillance initiatives may face increased skepticism and resistance from the public. Preventing data breaches and mitigating the risks of data misuse also require community involvement. Educating citizens on their digital rights is essential. Public awareness campaigns can effectively convey the extent of these rights and protect privacy. Additionally, establishing community-based surveillance watch groups can be a vital link between the public and government, overseeing and reporting potential abuse. Equally important is implementing robust protection for whistleblowers who reveal illegal or unethical surveillance practices, as this promotes internal accountability within government agencies. The role of civil society and the media cannot be overstated in this context. Non-governmental organisations and civil society groups are instrumental in monitoring government actions and advocating for citizen rights. Free and independent media is crucial for exposing any misuse of surveillance powers and holding the government accountable. Public protests and advocacy campaigns can effectively push for policy change and increase accountability. Technology also offers solutions for enhancing privacy. Promoting privacy-enhancing technologies, such as encryption and anonymising tools, can protect individual communication and data. Other technologies that can play a significant role in preventing data breaches include multi-factor authentication, firewall systems to block unauthorised intrusions, intrusion detection systems to monitor network traffic, secure cloud storage solutions, and regular software updates to address security vulnerabilities. Collectively, these tools enhance cybersecurity and reduce the risk of unauthorised data access. Moreover, government agencies should be encouraged or mandated to adhere to data minimisation principles, collecting only the data essential for a defined purpose and retaining data no longer than necessary. International collaboration and alignment with global standards are equally important. Indonesia should align its national surveillance laws with international human rights standards, as set forth by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Participation in international dialogue (with United Nations bodies, regional forums, bilateral engagements and relevant international conferences and summits) can offer the opportunity to learn from the experiences and challenges of other countries. Technology companies and data controllers are also responsible for this. Companies handling significant amounts of data should adhere to ethical practices and resist unjust requests for government data. Companies can also collaborate with civil society to develop and promote tools that protect individual privacy. Arif Perdana is an Associate Professor at Monash University Indonesia, specializing in digital strategy, sustainable digital transformation, and data science and analytics. He is the director of Action Lab, Indonesia. Saru Arifin has been a tenured lecturer in the Faculty of Law, Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia. He is primarily interested in researching Public International Law, Human Rights Law, Constitutional Law, Law & Technology, and Legislation. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 13, 2023

Finding certainty in an uncertain Indonesian death penalty - 360 Anugerah Rizki Akbari Published on September 5, 2022 Indonesia is changing its approach to the death penalty, but half-measures won’t be enough to stop capital punishment outright. Indonesia’s new criminal code will ink a new chapter in the country’s judicial history, but it won’t stop the long-standing debate around the death penalty. As conservatives and religious groups push for a stronger death penalty, civil societies and academics make the case for its abolition, achieving a moratorium in recent years. The proposed way forward is shaping up as a compromise that may please nobody. The draft of Indonesia’s new criminal code outlines a reformulated sentencing approach to the death penalty, reserving it as a ‘special punishment’ for ‘serious offences’ such as treason, premeditated murder, major drug-related crimes, terrorism, corruption, and grave violations of human rights. This approach looks to be aiming for some kind of compromise between death penalty retentionists and abolitionists. Introducing a ten year probational period gives some sentenced to death ten years to demonstrate good behaviour. After the probation elapses, the President has the option to commute their death sentence to life imprisonment. However, not everyone sentenced to death qualifies for the probationary period. To be eligible, the court considers three factors: whether the defendant shows remorse and signs of being able to be rehabilitated; whether there were mitigating factors around their crime; and what role they played in the crime that was committed (that is, whether they were a leader or an accessory). This system is closer to international standards for human rights, but will not sate calls to abolish the death penalty from activists. A ten year probationary period will not insulate inmates from the destructive psychological effects of living on death row, which results directly in suicides. And this mechanism isn’t necessary to reform behaviour: where long-term prison inmates have been managed with a focus towards rehabilitation, general positive behavioural changes are detected in less than a decade. Despite the current moratorium, total abolition of the death penalty in Indonesia appears to be a distant prospect for activists and critics. However, within the confines of mainstream Indonesian politics, there is room to present a version of capital punishment that is more in line with international law. EMBED START Image {id: "editor_9"} EMBED END Image {id: "editor_9"} Indonesia has ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This United Nations agreement does not support capital punishment but nonetheless outlines indicators and guidelines to determine when such a serious sentence is imposed: it can’t be arbitrary. The death penalty is the most extreme sanction possible, and the law is expected to properly reflect that, for instance, limiting capital punishment to offences of “extreme gravity, involving intentional killing”, as is required by the ICCPR. To comply with the ICCPR, Indonesia would have to forbid its courts from imposing capital punishment for crimes that do not intentionally and directly result in death. This means crimes such as corruption, political offences, sex crimes, armed robbery, and — most notably — drug offences could not attract the death penalty. This change would be transformative. In the last three years alone, 516 defendants were either prosecuted or sentenced to death. Indonesia’s death row inmates are consistently increasing, too: from 165 people in 2017 to 404 in 2021. Some 266 inmates are there for drugs-related convictions. There appears to be some appetite for change, even within the highest ranks of government. Following a 2017 review of the country’s use of the death penalty from civil society groups, Indonesia accepted two recommendations, placing a moratorium on executions and strengthening monitoring to ensure defendants received their right to a fair trial. Although the pause on executions is a crucial step towards abolition of capital punishment, the uptick in death row sentences over the same period limits some of the momentum. If the government chose to do so, it could quickly provide far better protections for those facing the courts and those already on death row without overreaching on the judiciary. The government could mandate that the ten year probationary period be automatically given to every offender sentenced to death. The new criminal code could apply these provisions retrospectively to the hundreds on death row. This would at least provide more certainty over the so-called ‘Indonesian way of the death penalty’, rather than leaving the courts unfettered discretion to play with someone’s life. Anugerah Rizki Akbari is a non-permanent lecturer at the Department of Criminology, Faculty of Social and Political Science, University of Indonesia. Akbari is actively advocating the amendment of the new Criminal Code in Indonesia. His research interests are crime, criminal law, and criminal justice. A.R. Akbari declares no conflict of interest and did not receive special funding in any form. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on September 5, 2022

Finding the right tool to predict when hospitals need resourcing - 360 Neville Calleja Published on March 28, 2022 Knowing when the hospital system could be overwhelmed is key to managing a pandemic. Finding the right predictor can save lives. As countries grappled with COVID-19, one piece of information remained key: when would the hospital systems be overwhelmed? Using European Centre for Disease Control data, two public health researchers at the University of Malta found that of two commonly used predictive measures, one was able to accurately predict hospitalisation further in advance than the other. The work could help hospital systems still managing COVID and may help planning for future pandemics. To estimate the coming caseload, hospitals tend to use either the ‘incidence rate’ – the officially reported number of COVID cases — or the ‘total positivity rate’ — the percentage of tests that were positive. Both total positivity and incidence rates correlated with hospitalisation, intensive care admittance, and mortality. Both predicted a spike in intensive care admittance two weeks in advance, according to data from the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) for mid-March of 2020 and mid-April of 2021. However, total positivity predicted a peak in COVID-19 hospitalisation and in COVID-19-associated mortality accurately one week further out than the incidence rate. This means total positivity rate is a better indicator for health administrators to maximise the time to prepare for a spike in demand for hospital beds for the care of COVID-19 patients. Total positivity rate was also correlated with COVID-related mortality and excess mortality two weeks later. Excess mortality is used by epidemiologists to judge the impact of an emerging disease. It is the additional number of deaths over what is expected in any specific week of the year, based on the average number of deaths observed in previous years. The cause of death is not a factor in its calculation, as this is too dependent on the physicians accurately diagnosing and filling out death certificates – something that’s difficult when a new disease emerges. Total positivity rate for COVID correlated with excess deaths, further cementing the value of total positivity rate as the most useful predictor of the burden of a pandemic on the health of a population. The research also evaluated introducing a minimum testing requirement of 300 tests per 100,000 people weekly across European Union member states. This greatly improved accuracy of the total positivity rate in predicting a spike in mortality, making it clear that these epidemiological indicators perform best when a minimum testing rate is in place. This finding raises concern, as it comes as several countries are restricting access to free testing as part of their ‘living with COVID’ strategies, rather than ensuring that a minimum level of testing is kept in place for surveillance purposes. The incidence rate is more readily available than total positivity rate, but it is  limited by the amount of testing carried out in a population, especially with an infection which is known to cause little to no symptoms in many of those infected. The total positivity rate requires the incidence rate and the testing rate in a specific population or country, to be calculated.  The only outstanding variation would then be in testing strategy, which could also have some influence on comparability, but, alas, it can’t be adjusted for. Over the last two years, epidemiologists have scrambled to predict upcoming epidemic waves. Researchers have not only looked into case numbers or related indicators, but also other sources such as social media data, with many holding huge potential for implementation by health policy makers. But few, if any, of these methods allow for a direct reliable comparison of pandemic burden in different populations, where testing capacity and strategy for a condition varies heavily. The task is made even harder by a disease that may present few or no symptoms and would therefore be undetectable if testing was not done. Due to its built-in adjustment to testing rate, total positivity rate is among the best monitoring tools available for comparison of pandemic burden in different populations. It is only susceptible to variations in testing strategy. Its comparator, incidence rate, is susceptible to variations in testing strategy and to variation in testing numbers. Total positivity rate holds great potential for large countries, or a bloc such as the European Union, to implement or ease lockdown measures and mobilise resources across regions or countries to respond to the threat in time. Such indicators can be used to forecast hospital beds, ICU beds and number of ventilators required up to two weeks in advance. Public health responders can then be given advance notice to mobilise the workforce, increasing the number of case managers and contact tracers available to deal with cases and ultimately saving lives. Professor Neville Calleja is head of the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine & Surgery at the University of Malta. The author declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Pandemic warning systems” sent at: 20/03/2022 22:07. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on March 28, 2022

Firefighters face mental health threats as bushfires worsen - 360 Graham Dwyer Published on April 24, 2024 Bushfire seasons are beginning earlier and lasting longer – and that’s taking a toll on firefighters’ health. Bushfires are getting more frequent and more intense — and it’s exposing firefighters to increasing health risks. From prolonged drought to extended heatwaves, extreme dry and storm force winds, climate change is worsening the effects of bushfires. As a result, firefighters now face a higher likelihood of being injured (or worse still, death) from tree strikes, smoke inhalation, heat-related illness, burns, burnovers, flame, entrapment, chainsaw mishaps, road and aviation accidents, engines fumes, and exposure to harmful fire retardant chemicals. There are also psychological dangers associated with these worsening bushfires, and they carry their own mental loads. Despite their best efforts to prepare for bushfires, firefighters are all too aware that climate change will continue to spark multiple firestorms spontaneously on days of high fire danger, which are difficult to predict and track. This all means damages and losses cannot be prevented within communities. Recently, we have even seen firestorms become a rolling conflagration with damages we couldn’t prepare for. Often, communities see firefighters and fire authorities as responsible for protecting their safety. Such has been the scale of fires in recent times that firefighters have found themselves in life-threatening circumstances on the fireground before then being called before quasi-judicial inquiries where they have often been blamed and vilified for the damages and losses suffered by the community. Many firefighters — both voluntary and career — live and work in the communities they seek to protect. Invariably, they and their families suffer the anger of the community when bushfires have resulted in damages and losses, even when they themselves have been impacted by the fires. Firefighters also know they run the risk of losing their homes, or loved ones, while deployed to fires which have lasted for weeks. The effects of this work means many firefighters suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) coupled with a sense of disconnection and isolation — both during their time off, and when they return from working with close colleagues over the course of a campaign fire. We often forget that firefighters are human and will struggle to return to home life after being away. Some are contract or seasonal firefighters and must find employment to avoid economic hardship, while volunteers may have seen their career or business suffer while away fighting fires. When fire seasons are quieter the same firefighters will usually be called to support responses to hazards (while still being required to fulfill regular duties which are also demanding and dangerous) which means less time to recover through debriefing and less opportunity to seek peer support. Bushfires are no longer considered a regional or rural phenomenon. Climate change means firefighters are being called to peri-urbanand residential bush/scrubland areas to fight fires. In an era of climate change, the creation of new suburbs in these areas means homes come under direct and ember attack from bushfires. While developing communities closer to bush, park and scrublands does not trigger bushfires, it does put more people in harm’s way, creating occupational stresses for firefighters. Climate change also means that firefighters have less time between fire events to perform burn offs to reduce fuel loads. Now, with a political and social expectation that planned burning will reduce the severity of bushfires, firefighters are coming under extraordinary pressure to burn as often as possible. Again, climate change means that fuel loads are often tinder dry and conditions can change quickly meaning a burn-off can turn into a fullscale bushfire. Bushfires (forest fire, grassfire) are a global phenomenon which means firefighters are spending more time supporting each other across borders as they collectively seek to respond to megafires. There are important pathways to helping protect the health and well-being of firefighters. Government and emergency management agencies can bring the risks of living with bushfire to the attention of the broader community. They could highlight how the public can take responsibility for their safety in an era where climate-driven bushfires are stretching the resilience of firefighters more than ever. The message needs to be clear: that community safety is everyone’s responsibility, not just firefighters’. This can be achieved by working directly with community organisations to understand their requirements, so when they are affected by bushfires they are as prepared as they can be. Households can prepare by having bushfire plans ready, and being clear on whether they will leave early before they are in harm’s way or stay and defend their home. Firefighters remain highly motivated to meet the challenges of climate change. But they need the support of everyone — government, the community and their own agency — so they cope while continuing to do all they can to plan for and respond to the bushfires of the future. Dr Graham Dwyer is the author of Making Sense of Natural Disasters. His research focuses on understanding emergency management organization challenges associated with hazard events that manifest consecutively, have concurrent impacts, are complex to understand and are compounded by multiple challenges arising at once. The research was undertaken with financial assistance from the Country Fire Authority, Natural Hazards Research Australia and Australian Research Council. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 24, 2024

First in, first served as Moon-mining gains legality - 360 Rossana Deplano Published on April 12, 2022 International law was rocked by the introduction of the Artemis Accords, an agreement that allows mining on the Moon in support of scientific missions. Richer nations stand to gain the most from access to space, with a recent international agreement allowing them to lawfully mine the Moon and other objects in space in support of scientific missions. The United States announced a plan to return humans to the Moon in 2020, half a century after the Apollo missions. Named after the twin sister of Apollo, the Artemis plan aims at establishing a permanent human presence on the Moon and a lunar orbiting station called the Gateway. The Artemis missions on the Moon will serve as a testing ground for the first human missions to Mars and beyond, effectively marking a new era in human spaceflight. To ensure the sustainability of long-term human missions, the Artemis plan envisions the use of space resources. For example, mining the rocks and soil of the Moon for oxygen and hydrogen. Oxygen can provide breathing air, and combining oxygen and hydrogen can serve as drinking water as well as a radiation shield on the lunar camp. Oxygen and hydrogen are also the basic elements of propellant, which is essential for space travel. Current outer space treaties do not regulate the use of space resources. Nor do they prohibit it. The most widely adopted space law is the United Nations’ 1967 Outer Space Treaty. It says that countries can’t claim ownership of parts of the Moon or other objects in space. “Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.” The Artemis plan clarifies the legal basis for using space resources in support of the Artemis missions in an agreement called the Artemis Accords. Legally speaking, the Accords are not a treaty: they do not create binding obligations under international law. They only apply to the United States and the other countries that intend to take part in the Artemis missions. However, the Artemis Accords have legal significance. They are presented as “implement[ing] the provisions of the Outer Space Treaty”. As such, they represent a blueprint of conduct that other nations may follow for their own purposes. Some provisions in the Artemis Accords add detail and interpretation to the Outer Space Treaty. This is where the issue of fairness comes into play. The Artemis Accords clarify that “the extraction of space resources does not inherently constitute national appropriation”, provided that “contracts and other legal instruments relating to space resources should be consistent with the [Outer Space] Treaty”. In other words, nations mining the resources of the Moon do not acquire any property rights over those resources; they do not own them. In this sense, the Artemis Accords remain within the Outer Space Treaty’s provision on national appropriation. In practice, the absence of any regulatory framework determining who has access to space resources and under what circumstances, mean the Artemis Accords support the use of space resources on a first come, first served basis. As a result, states with the financial and technological means to get there first will gain the most. Less developed or emerging spacefaring states will not profit from space resource utilisation, at least not directly. Another provision of the Artemis Accords, adding detail to the text of the Outer Space Treaty, requires nations conducting activities on the Moon to create a ‘safety zone’ to avoid harmful interference with the activities of other nations. A safety zone is a temporary exclusion zone of limited size. The Outer Space Treaty does not mention safety zones. It only requires nations to conduct their activities in outer space “with due regard” to others operating in space. But the Artemis Accords also introduce new concepts. For example, Section 9 aims at preserving outer space heritage through the creation of a safety zone. While protection of historic sites on Earth is uncontroversial, determining an historic site in outer space has no precedent. If a nation unilaterally declared an area of the Moon a place of historic value, it could violate the principle of non-appropriation. For example, the United States may declare the Apollo 11 landing site and Neil Armstrong’s boot prints a site of historic value and create a safety zone around it. Such action could amount to a de facto appropriation of an area of the Moon. The Artemis Accords appear to anticipate this pitfall by requiring nations to engage in multilateral efforts to develop rules aimed at preserving outer space heritage. One way international law develops and evolves is through practices that become so ingrained that states consider them to have the value of law. As of April 2022, 18 countries have signed the Artemis Accords. As many signed the 1979 Moon Agreement, the least ratified among the outer space treaties. If the number of nations supporting the Artemis Accords keeps increasing, it will create a widely shared standard of conduct. A growing number of nations relying on the Artemis Accords to carry out space activities will reinforce the belief that they are the applicable law for space mining, safety zones and heritage protection. The Artemis Accords are not international law, but they have the potential to become the next customary practice in international law. Rossana Deplano is Associate Professor and Co-Director of the Centre for European Law and Internationalisation, University of Leicester, UK. She has no conflicts to declare. This article has been republished to align with the US National Space Council meeting of September 9. It was first published on April 11, 2022. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 12, 2022

Fishermen never had a say in Fukushima water release - 360 Leslie Mabon Published on April 14, 2023 Fukushima’s fishers have constantly been the last to know about decisions which directly impact their livelihoods and way of life. That needs to change. The port of Onahama, in southern Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, exudes a quiet busy-ness on a warm spring day. Fishers come and go in tiny white trucks, unloading their catches in blue plastic crates. White, blue and red flags, emblazoned with a stylised tuna logo, flutter in the wind outside the new red brick fish market. In the food hall across the road, vendors twist skewers of grilled shellfish and keep a watchful eye on deep vats of steamed clams. A sign above a plastic model of the day’s special proudly declares that the deep-fried oysters come from a port only 20km up the coast. Just over a decade ago, Onahama’s port buildings stood battered and empty. The Fukushima coast was badly damaged by the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami. The few coastal fishing boats that survived the tsunami sat tied to the quayside, facing an uncertain future under the voluntary suspension of coastal fisheries in the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima Dai’ichi nuclear accident. Since then, Fukushima’s coastal fisheries have been on a long and slow process of rehabilitation. Reaching the point where Fukushima fish can once again be sold freely in shops and restaurants has required the prefecture’s fisheries cooperatives and governors to not only understand the science, but crucially also reassure the public that Fukushima fish are safe and delicious. However, the Fukushima nuclear accident is not over. Just a short drive up the coast at the Fukushima Dai’ichi site sit dozens and dozens of light blue tanks, each filled with water containing radioactive substances that plant operator TEPCO and the Japanese Government plan to release into the Pacific Ocean. Despite fishing within sight of these tanks, fishers in Fukushima feel they are the last to know every time TEPCO or the Japanese Government make a decision about the next step in their management plans for this water. Scores of experts have come to Fukushima to advise the Japanese Government on the technical process of releasing the treated water. Fukushima’s fishing communities feel overlooked and sidelined in these discussions too. Now, with only the final details to be confirmed before the first gallons of treated water are pumped into the Pacific, Fukushima’s fishers fear it may be too late to stop their hard work in building trust and getting local fish back on menus and shopping lists from being undone. Although Fukushima’s fishers would rather the releases didn’t happen at all, local fisheries cooperatives acknowledge the complexity of the situation at the nuclear plant and realise that doing nothing may not be an option. Rather, their main concern is the manner in which the decision-making process has proceeded. The decision to release treated water into the sea was made by an expert technical committee in Japan. Formal consultations with Fukushima’s fisheries cooperatives did not begin until most details about the proposed releases were firmed up, leaving little room for dialogue on how the release process could be designed around local fishing activities. It may be too late to revisit the decision to release the treated water into the sea. But going forward, involving Fukushima’s fishers in deciding when treated water should be released, studies that should be done to track the movement of radioactive particles and protocols for monitoring fish and other marine species, will give them a sense that the importance of the sea to their livelihoods is respected. The international community of expertise on environmental radioactivity can also do more to listen to Fukushima’s fishers. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is providing support with the releases at the request of the Japanese Government. The IAEA has established a taskforce on Fukushima treated water and made multiple visits to the plant site. However, to date much of the IAEA’s focus has been on technical processes at the Fukushima Dai’ichi site itself, and on the physical scientific basis for confirming safety. If future IAEA delegations were able to get out and meet with the fisheries cooperatives and coastal stakeholders while they were in Fukushima, it would give the international science-policy community a richer picture of why Fukushima’s fishers are concerned and of what might be done to allay those concerns. Including people who have global experience in the social and cultural aspects of long-term environmental radioactivity in technical committees and taskforces, such as social scientists and even citizens from affected areas in other countries, could give the Japanese Government and indeed the fisheries cooperatives new insights into how to manage this challenging situation. Fukushima’s fishers have very legitimate concerns about what the treated water releases may mean for their livelihoods. But it’s important not to jump to conclusions about how consumers will respond to the treated water releases. Public surveys and social media analysis have shown that consumers in north-east Japan — where a large proportion of Fukushima fish is consumed — are very well-informed on marine radioactivity, and may be prepared to continue to eat Fukushima fish after releases start. But  a clear plan from the Japanese Government and TEPCO for how they intend to track any effects of the treated water releases on the uptake of Fukushima fish, and how they will support Fukushima’s fishers if there are any down-turns in the prices or consumption of Fukushima fish, will again give reassurance that fishers’ lives are not being overlooked in the rush to avoid running out of space for treated water at the Fukushima Dai’ichi site. If fishers are to feel valued and respected, any plans for compensation or countermeasures ought to recognise that fishing isn’t just a source of revenue for fishers. It’s a whole way of life, and a key marker of identity and pride for fishers and for coastal communities in Fukushima. The fish market at Onahama quickly sells out of local fish on most days. Office workers, travelling business people, tourists and school parties gobble up the fresh produce. But it wasn’t down to luck that Fukushima fisheries bounced back so well just a decade after a major nuclear accident. It has taken a lot of scientific effort, risk communication and investment in infrastructure to get this far. This was driven by the pride Fukushima’s fishers have in their sea and their work. It’s vital science-policy communities within Japan and internationally recognise this and give Fukushima’s fishers a fuller voice in the management of treated water. Dr Leslie Mabon is a Lecturer in Environmental Systems in the School of Engineering and Innovation at the Open University in the United Kingdom. He is an environmental social scientist, with expertise in understanding how coastal communities respond to environmental change. His research into the revitalisation of Fukushima’s fisheries and coastal societies has been funded by the Japan Foundation, the UK Economic and Social Research Council and the Royal Society of Edinburgh among others. You can read more about his research at resilientcoastal.zone or on Twitter @ljmabon This article has been republished ahead of Japan’s plan to release nuclear wastewater from August 24, 2023. It originally appeared on April 14, 2023. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Fukushima water” sent at: 12/07/2023 13:00. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 14, 2023

Fishing for the demographic dividend - 360 Nawawi Nawawi Published on November 21, 2022 To catch the potential demographic bonus, Indonesia should use its biggest asset: fishing nets. Time is running out. In only five years, the window of opportunity to make the most of Indonesia’s current demographic profile will start to close. Short-term policies to harness available resources can reap the rewards of this opportunity. And the best thing Indonesia can do is go fishing. As a country made up of 17,508 islands, Indonesia has huge economic potential in fisheries. The ocean under Indonesian control constitutes four times its land area. However, even though Indonesia has always been a proud maritime nation, the level of development of Indonesia’s marine economy is estimated to be only around 25 percent of its total potential. In the next five years, Indonesia needs improvement in human capital, creating good employment opportunities, and increasing women’s involvement in the labour market. Such steps would allow Indonesia to capitalise on its young work force and achieve what is known as the ‘demographic dividend’ — the economic boost afforded by a large number of young workers with few dependents. EMBED START Video {id: "editor_7"} EMBED END Video {id: "editor_7"} Globally, the maritime sector is worth around US$1.33 trillion a year or 1.3 times Indonesia's current gross domestic product. The domestic fisheries sector contributes to the creation of around 45 million Indonesian jobs or equivalent of 35 percent of its labour force. Fishing, processing, trading fish and fish-based products, trading tools to support fishing, and shipbuilding and ship repair services all generate economic activity. This sector provides food and creates many opportunities for small and medium entrepreneurs — the backbone of the Indonesian economy. Developing this sector faces many challenges. Workers with low levels of education, a lack of support for skills training and the problem of bringing young people, especially from fishing families, to work in the industry among them.  Older fishermen dominate as young people are not interested in the work. Low pay and hard, dangerous work make it unattractive. One-third of fishery workers have only elementary-equivalent education. A quarter haven't had formal education at all. Only 1.1 percent of fishery workers have a diploma or undergraduate level of education. Research in Tegal Central Java and Makassar of South Sulawesi in 2020 found fishermen with little education faced issues with their financial planning so were vulnerable to loan sharks. By relying on punggawa (renter), they stay trapped in poverty. Fishing is also a male-dominated industry, although some women are involved in processing fishing products. To maximise opportunities from Indonesia’s young demographic profile, policies could focus on increasing investment in human capital development, especially for young people and women. So far, efforts have mainly come from the central government, which has set up industrial fisheries zones, mostly in western Indonesia. But local government and the community also have crucial roles to play.  Java, the seat of the national government, and areas outside Java have different needs. Fisheries infrastructure — ports, cold storage facilities and processing plants — are more developed in Java. More needs to be done to develop these facilities away from Java; eastern Indonesia espcially requires special intervention. EMBED START Video {id: "editor_12"} EMBED END Video {id: "editor_12"} Reforms in vocational education and skills training can help to narrow the skills gap. Of the 140.5 million people of working age in 2021, 54.66 percent had only lower secondary education. The unemployed numbered 10.9 million and, worrtingly, many of these were young people with secondary education (high school and vocational school). Job insecurity is rife, affecting 59.4 percent of the workforce. Young people and women are key to Indonesia's devlopment as the nation pushes for its 2045 Vision. But in 2021, 44.6 per cent of the total unemployed were between 18-30 years old. This level of youth unemployment will harm Indonesia's productivity. The participation rate of women in the labour market is still only 54.2 percent compared to 83.6 percent for men. Whether Indonesia in 2045 benefits from the window of opportunity offered by its demographic profile, or walks through a door to disaster is still far from certain. With huge challenges ahead and the clock ticking, Indonesia needs to find a strategy for human resource investment and economic development that focuses on the strength of its economic potential. Nawawi is a researcher at the Research Center for Population BRIN. His research focuses on employment issues in Indonesia, particularly related to Indonesian Migrant Workers in Japan and South Korea and the implementation of social security programs in Indonesia. Since April 2022, he is also Head of Research Center for Population BRIN. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on November 21, 2022

Five ways Indonesia is tackling under-nutrition in children - 360 Valid Hasyimi, Utomo Sarjono Putro, Agung Hendriadi Published on March 1, 2024 Stunting is a major problem in Indonesia, but one municipality is hoping to eliminate it in 2024. Faced with global crises and rising food prices people on low incomes are reducing or skipping meals. As the problem grows, it’s likely many will suffer deficiencies in macronutrients, including energy and protein. For countries with a young population like Indonesia, the flow-on effects could deliver a heavy burden. Children are one of the most vulnerable groups; malnutrition poses a significant threat to their growth size, intellectual ability, economic productivity, reproductive performance, and sometimes survival. The irreversible educational and economic losses this could cause are motivating leaders to come up with better strategies and monitoring systems. While there are several types of undernutrition found in Indonesia, the government has targeted a reduction of stunting – low height for age – to 14 percent by 2024.The city of Surakarta wants to go further with the ambition of reducing stunting to 0 percent in 2024. Women are likely to play a key role in Surakarta’s pilot programme. There are several risk factors in antenatal care that can affect the incidence of stunting in children, including the age of pregnant women, anemia and depression during pregnancy, nutritional status of pregnant women and health literacy. The government and health department also have an important role in orchestrating the program which extends to planning, financing, logistics and condition monitoring of toddler nutrition. To pursue its goal of eliminating stunting, Surakarta is focusing efforts in five areas. First, it plans to raise awareness and knowledge about stunting, seeking to change people’s behavior by encouraging stunting prevention efforts. It’s doing this through health facilities and health workers who can provide accurate information regarding stunting. Second, Indonesia’s Ministry of Health is monitoring the development of the fetus during pregnancy at the household level. If pregnancy problems occur, appropriate early action can then be taken. During pregnancy, many mothers in Indonesia are unaware or unable to access adequate nutrition due to poor education or poor access. Also, for families with a poor education level, dealing with administrative procedures can sometimes be intimidating and take too much work. Personal assistance from health cadres could help expectant women access healthcare facilities (e.g. Posyandu – integrated health care and Puskesmas – public health center). Third, Surakarta has a focus on adequate pregnancy nutrition. This can be aided by Indonesia’s Pemberian Makanan Tambahan (PMT) Program to help optimise a child’s development process. The PMT program distributes several nutritious foods, such as fish, milk, yogurt, nuts, fruit and vegetables. To prove effective, the availability and distribution of the PMT programme must be stable both in terms of quality and quantity. Fourth, it is encouraging exclusive breastfeeding. The high nutritional content of breast milk can prevent babies from developing various diseases and can help support the baby’s brain and physical development. Health workers actively provide education about nutrition and support mothers with breastfeeding including by monitoring the nutritional adequacy rate. Fifth, it’s promoting a clean and healthy lifestyle. Stunting can also be caused by poor environmental conditions so efforts from parents and family members to always maintain hand cleanliness by washing with soap, before touching food and after eating can help. Reducing the prevalence of undernutrition is not only the responsibility of the mother, but the whole community. Addressing the problem has the potential to influence the physical and intellectual quality of a generation. Valid Hasyimi is pursuing his PhD (Cand) in School of Business Management in Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) Indonesia. Prof. Utomo Sarjono Putro is a Professor of Decision Making in the Research Group of Decision Making and Strategic Negotiation, School of Business Management – ITB, Indonesia Dr. Agung Hendriadi is a former Head of National Food Security Agency. Currently, he is a senior researcher at Agroindustry Research Center in National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Indonesia. All authors declare no conflict of interest and are not receiving specific funding in any forms. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on March 1, 2024

Fixing India's deadly roads - 360 Geetam Tiwari Published on December 6, 2022 Lack of institutional capacity and poor road design increases road accidents in India. Road traffic deaths in India, down during the pandemic, are back with a vengeance. In 2021 traffic mishaps claimed an average 421 lives a day, back on the steady upwards trajectory seen before COVID-19 lockdowns. It’s a cruel irony in India that the states with better road infrastructure, including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Maharashtra, have higher rates of fatalities. India has much work to do if it is to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal of reducing road accident deaths by 50 percent by 2030. Starting with road improvements based on evidence relevant to India. Traffic accident patterns in India are substantially different from those of North America and Western Europe. A majority (70 percent) of those killed on highways in India comprise vulnerable road users (pedestrians, cyclists and motorised two-wheeler riders). This is similar to urban areas where the vulnerable road users comprise about 80 percent of the total fatalities. In North America, just 10 percent of the fatal crashes on highways involve pedestrians. The presence of motorcycles is negligible and long stretches of roads pass through wilderness. A large proportion of the highways are access controlled and designed for four-wheeled motorised traffic. In India, the highest rates of fatal crashes are on national highways, nearly twice that of state highways. Despite the efforts of the national and state governments in the last few decades, the number of road traffic fatalities has continued to increase. The rate of traffic deaths of 12 per 100,000 population has remained nearly unchanged since 2016. It has not come down unlike many other countries. More than two thirds (68 percent) of road deaths take place in rural areas, versus 32 percent in urban areas Though the motor vehicle occupant fatalities are higher on highways than in the urban areas, as would be expected, the victim profile of road traffic accidents in the urban and rural areas are similar. This is very different from high-income countries. The proportion of vulnerable road deaths on rural highways continues to be high in India because many sections of its national and state highways pass through densely-populated areas where local residents have to walk along these roads, cross them, or wait on the shoulders for public transport. Roads have become relatively safe in many high-income countries mostly due to improved standards. Appropriate legislation regarding seat-belt use, speed limits and alcohol control have helped. Many high-income countries have accepted the principle of designing ‘forgiving’ roads: drivers who make mistakes should not get into fatal or serious injury crashes. These design standards are also applicable to India’s high-speed roads, but safety audits of many recently built highways and expressways have found major shortcomings in the installation of appropriate crash barriers, median designs, inadequate signage and markings. This has resulted in increased risk for cars, buses and trucks even on India’s newly constructed highways. The road standards that have evolved to make access-controlled highways safe for motorised vehicles in many countries don’t really apply in India because of the presence of pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles on Indian highways. Road standards set by Indian Roads Congress are based on committees where the membership includes practicing and retired professionals and academics. The Congress does not have a rigorous process of synthesising results of systematic reviews and scientific studies to propose or modify standards and monitor the impact of new standards. Legislation changes made in 2019, such as increased penalties for driving offences and increased compensation for road victims, seem to be based on common sense rather than scientific evidence, and therefore are not likely to have a serious impact on reducing crashes. For example, there is no hard evidence of the impact of increased fines on compliance. Experts have known for a long time that the chances of survival of a pedestrian at an impact speed of 30km/h is 90 percent, whereas it is 10 percent at 60km/h. Speed limits on roads where pedestrians and other vulnerable road users are present of below 30km/h would save lives. Separate lanes could be created for vulnerable road users if the speed limit is higher than 30 km/h. At present India has weak institutional capacity and weak enforcement of legislation. Therefore, speed control by changing the road surface texture, audible markers, rumble strips, lowering speeds at intersections by introducing roundabouts, raised stop lines and speed humps on minor roads are likely to be more successful in speed compliance by all road users. Road safety issues in India could be addressed at two levels. First, the known standards for high-speed roads could be implemented correctly to ensure reduced risk for four-wheeled vehicles. This requires careful installation of crash barriers, removing roadside hazards and appropriate median design in divided roads. On rural roads, extensive implementation of traffic calming measures could aid speed control. Second, road standards to ensure the safety of vulnerable road users on highways could evolve through continuous monitoring and evaluation of traffic crash patterns. Many new technologies installed by the National Highway Authority of India — for example, speed cameras — are yet to be evaluated for their effectiveness in Indian traffic. Most importantly, road safety could be understood as a science and, therefore, the policies, standards and adoption of new technologies could be based on hard evidence and informed by a road safety/traffic safety board with permanent road safety experts and a dedicated budget. Professor Geetam Tiwari is the TRIPP Chair Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 6, 2022

Fixing Jakarta's commuter pollution problem - 360 Driejana Driejana Published on August 12, 2022 The Indonesian capital’s air quality is already bad. Emissions from vehicles commuting from its fringes worsens the situation. Jakarta is well known for its smog. A large urban city with over 10 million people, health costs due to air pollution in Jakarta  were estimated at 38.5 billion rupiah or US$4.3 million in 2010. But not all the air pollution comes from within the city limits. Much of the air pollution drifts from surrounding areas,  or is ferried in as commuters descend on the capital daily. It’s a situation that makes managing pollution even more challenging. There are no coal-fired power plants within Jakarta’s city boundary;  Muara Karang power plant in North Jakarta has been converted to gas fuel as part of carbon neutrality plan but there are stillsome power plants within 20 kilometres  to the east and 55 kilometres  to the west of the borders. These emission sources might contribute around 6 – 13 percent of sulphu as transboundary air pollution in Jakarta. Air pollution is already estimated to cause123,000 premature deaths in Indonesia annually, putting it in the top 10 worst countries for air-pollution deaths. Air pollution related illness and diesease, including asthma, pneumonia and coronary artery disease affected 57.8 percent  of Jakarta’s population in 2010; and could cause Jakartans to die 2.3 years early On bright sunny days, photochemical smog is common in Jakarta. The hazy grey-brown sky is the result of air pollutants reacting with sunlight. In the polluted atmosphere of Jakarta, with abundant sunshine all year around, Jakarta’s people voiced their concerns. A citizen lawsuit on air pollution was filed against the government, demanding strong emissions standards. They won in 2021. Air pollution severity is recorded in Jakarta’s many monitoring stations. Ozone, as well as coarse (PM10) and fine (PM 2.5) soot particles are the measures most frequently in violation of the ambient air quality standards. These are also the pollutants that are commonly found in photochemical smog. Jakarta has work to do on managing emissions within its boundaries, particularly from the transport sector. Eighty five percent of its area has been built up and packed by residential development and dense road networks. In addition to exposure outside, the proximity of roads and houses could increase the health risks of air pollution due tointrusion of outdoor air pollutants to indoors. Eighty five percent of Jakarta’s motorised transport is private vehicles; public transport is less than 10 percent. Statistics from 2020 showed the number ofmotorised vehicles registered in Jakarta is more than 20 million, and it’s increasing. On average, that’s two vehicles per person. Apart from vehicles registered in Jakarta, the emissions from commuters also contribute to emissions in Jakarta. Around 2.2 million people from nearby West Java and Banten Province cities commute to work in Jakarta; 72 percent of them in private vehicles. To develop a more effective strategy within Jakarta, coordination for emission reduction policies with the neighbouring jurisdictions is being explored. Over 90 percent  of the tested vehicles complied with emission standards, but  the root of the problem is that the sheer number of vehicles is just too huge. The Metropolitan Greater Jakarta Traffic Directorate reports 22 million vehicle trips within the area daily. As with so many cities globally, a shift to public transport, backed by transit-based spatial planning is the way to eliminate the bulk of air pollution. This planning cannot be done separately from the seven cities in the neighbouring provinces. The relevant agency plans to  finalise public transport infrastructures by 2024 for a target of shifting 60 percent of private vehicles to public transport by 2030. But promoting public transport will mean pushing people from their comfort zone of door-to-door transportation, particularly by motorcycles. Public education campaigns and othersoft intervention such as gamification could increase consciousness of air pollution and provide motivation for public-transport use and non-motorised transport. The Jakarta air pollution control strategy also emphasises the use of much less polluted fuels, for example natural gas and electric in the entire fleets of public vehicles. Taking lessons from the pandemic by promoting working from home to private sectors could further reduce trips; air quality data shows it effectively reduced air pollution levels during the pandemic. Driejana is an associate professor in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Bandung, Indonesia. Her research interest is in air quality management and policy; air quality monitoring; air quality and health. Dr. Driejana is the leading expert for Jakarta’s Grand Design in Air Pollution Control. The study was funded by Jakarta Province Environment Agency. This article has been republished to align with the International Day of Clean Air. It was first published on August 8, 2022. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on August 12, 2022

Flexible working in Malaysia does not benefit women - 360 Syaza Shukri Published on March 8, 2022 Flexible workplace policies may help improve gender gaps in employment but they might weaken women’s position in the labour market. Despite decades of progress, women still find household responsibilities are not equally shared. In late 2021, the Malaysian government made plans to amend its Employment Act introducing paternity leave, extending maternity leave and allowing flexible working hours. It did so to comply with standards required by the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, the Malaysia-United States Labour Consistency Plan and the International Labour Organization. The proposed bill introduces just three days of paternity leave, presupposing that husbands will not be fully immersed in the responsibilities — and joy — of caring for a newborn. By comparison, in 109 countries with a national policy on paid paternity leave, fathers received an average of 16 weeks of leave. A month after the bill was presented in parliament, the deputy human resource minister, Awang Hashim, said ”the government is concerned for women employees in arranging their work schedules to harmonise their lives” and welcomed flexible working arrangements. Indeed it is women, more likely than men, who will apply for flexible work arrangements. This is because they are more likely to perform the “second shift”, a term coined by Arlie Hochschild in 1989 describing the unpaid domestic labour that falls on women. The latest proposed amendments to the Employment Act allow employees to apply for flexible working hours, with employers having to accept or refuse the application within 60 days. But the bill only mentions that employees may request such arrangements with no guarantee that their application will be approved. According to a report by Malaysia’s Khazanah Research Institute, a discrepancy between men and women exists when it comes to time spent on unpaid care work. While both genders spent relatively equal time on paid labour — 6.9 hours for men and 6.6 hours for women — female respondents were found to spend an average of 3.6 hours on unpaid care work compared to 2.2 hours spent by men. This unpaid labour includes food preparation, household chores and childcare. The amendments do not address the larger issue of the gender pay gap in Malaysia. Malaysia’s median monthly income for men in 2020 was RM2,093 (US$501), whereas it is at RM2,019 (US$483.25) for women. In other words, for every RM100 a male employee makes, a female employee makes an average of RM96.46. This may not sound too bad, but when the RM3.54 is compounded over time, women are at a long-term disadvantage. The Malaysian government has been attempting to improve gender equality across industries in Malaysia since 2008. For example, in 2012, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development introduced a policy for women to hold at least 30 percent of decision making positions in the corporate sector by 2016. Through a non-discriminatory approach towards education, women in Malaysia make up almost half of all researchers in the country, including in STEM. According to the Malaysian Gender Gap Index, women outnumber men in tertiary education. In 2020, the number of females enrolled in public universities was 357,087 which constituted 61 percent of the overall student enrolment. Yet public universities have only 34 percent female professors. While Malaysia proposed a Gender Equality Act to protect women from discrimination in 2016, it has yet to pass through parliament. Female participation in the workforce is a function of the ways people think about gender norms. Unless more efforts can be made to normalise and celebrate the idea of husbands and fathers spending more time at home, women will always be left behind. Focusing on how a wife and mother can divide her limited 24 hours between paid and unpaid labour ignores how partners can share responsibilities.Historically, it is thought gender equality of labour existed some 12,000 years ago before the agricultural revolution. Gender inequality is not written in our DNA but a by-product of human societies. In more recent times, researchers have observed changing trends where men are increasingly engaged with household chores. A future-looking Employment Act would consider policies such as extending paid paternity leave, introducing flexible working irrespective of gender and finding a more holistic approach and strategies to gender roles. Suggesting female employees take advantage of flexible working arrangements will further entrench gender norms when it comes to the division of labour. Husbands would be expected to continue working long hours at the office while wives work remotely from home. Syaza Shukri is an assistant professor at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), specialising in comparative politics, democratization, and Muslim politics. She is also a non-resident research fellow at the European Centre for Populism Studies. The author declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on March 8, 2022

Floating reactors ready to set sail but regulations need to catch up - 360 Alvin Chew Published on April 15, 2024 Russia’s experience has shown that the technology can help in reducing carbon emissions but making it widely available will take time. Nuclear energy has proven to be an energy source that helps in the deep decarbonisation of a country’s economy. No doubt about that. It is a viable solution that can resolve the twin dilemmas of energy security as well as climate change. In 2022, the International Atomic Energy Agency projected that global nuclear adoption for electricity generation could reach up to 890 gigawatts in 2050 from 413 gigawatts today. The high estimate is driven primarily by climate change. Many nations are including nuclear energy in their electricity mix in order to meet their carbon emission goals. Advancements in reactor technologies and developments of novel platforms offer potential wider applications of nuclear energy. A floating nuclear power plant carrying a small modular reactor is one promising development but there are questions if it will be a game-changer or not. The concept of a floating reactor is not new with the first prototype being developed by the US Army and operated in the Panama Canal zone from 1968 to 1975.  Russia, in 2000, embarked on a project to mass-produce them. Based on its experiences in operating nuclear-powered ice-breaking ships, Russia adapted one class of reactors, the KLT-40, used onboard its icebreakers and down-blended its fuel to a level of less than 20 percent of enriched uranium. The resulting reactor is the KLT-40S, which was then placed onboard the world’s first floating reactor, the Akademik Lomonosov. This has since been deployed to the town of Pevek, in the far eastern region of Russia. When connected to the grid in 2020, the two reactors ‘lit up’ this small town with electricity and heating, replacing fossil fuel plants. The switch to nuclear energy in the region has resulted in shaving off approximately 80,000 tonnes of Russian carbon emissions annually. The launch of the Akademik Lomonosov has opened up a new platform of mobile reactors, debunking the conventional mindset that nuclear power plants need to be built stationary on land. The main objective of a floating reactor hinges not on the altruistic feature of zero-carbon emissions, but rather on its ability to supply affordable baseload energy to remote and inaccessible places. The deployment of a floating reactor is certainly attractive for coastal states such as Indonesia and the Philippines in Southeast Asia. Access to reliable energy supply in their remote areas will be the key issue that floating reactors can help to resolve. The region can also capitalise on the mobility feature of floating reactors for humanitarian and disaster relief purposes, i.e. the portable supply of electricity to areas in the region struck by natural catastrophes. The Akademik Lomonosov and future Russian floating reactors are deployed to supply nuclear power, either in electricity or heating, to places which currently have limited access to reliable power. Some of these will function as co-generation facilities for water desalination. Similarly, the joint venture between America’s NuScale and Canada-based Prodigy intends to develop transportable small modular reactors to replace coal-fired plants in coastal regions with the aim of decarbonising the transport and shipping sectors. However, international regulations are a stumbling block. There are strict guidelines for transporting nuclear materials but nothing in the aspects of safety and security has been developed for the transportation of a fully-assembled reactor onboard a barge or ship. The mechanism for IAEA safeguards has not yet been fully developed. The Akademik Lomonosov is currently operating only within Russian territory and certainly more robust methods of safeguards will need to be incorporated if future floating reactors are to be deployed around the world. Russia is working with the IAEA not only to push for the international deployment of its floating reactors but also on regulations with regard to their transportation in international waters. This will come under the purview of the International Maritime Organisation. While the Akademik Lomonosov will need to overcome the regulatory hurdles, it will not have any issues with regard to its reactor technology. The KLT-40S are small-scale pressurised water reactors, a technology that has been in operation for decades. The use of high-assay low-enriched uranium for its reactors is clear proof the Russians are targeting the international market by conforming to the threshold level of enrichment allowed by the IAEA. The KLT-40S had set the baseline for the development of its future floating reactors which will use the much more powerful and efficient RITM-200 which can operate for up to 10 years before refuelling. The prospect of floating reactor deployment has also attracted the possibility of other advanced reactor technologies being placed on a barge. CorePower is looking at developing a class of Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) to be placed on barges. Samsung Heavy Industries is also lending its name as a shipbuilder to partner with Seaborg in developing a floating reactor that runs on MSR technology. But running advanced Generation IV reactor technology, such as an MSR, poses another hurdle. In addition to establishing regulations for mobile reactors, stakeholders will also need to convince the IAEA to develop safety and security standards for such reactors and that will take time. The IAEA has no capabilities to safeguard the fissile materials of such reactors and must realistically develop safeguard mechanisms for such proposed floating reactors. Fissile materials in the wrong hands can have disastrous consequences. The science involved in a future advanced nuclear reactor cannot be harmonised easily with existing technologies. It will certainly take some time for the IAEA to come up with safety and security parameters for such advanced technology considering that it only began preliminary studies in 2013. Even when such parameters are developed, it will be for land-based reactors first. The Akademik Lomonosov has shown that floating reactors can work in providing reliable access to clean energy. The world can capitalise on existing technology but on a novel platform, to help decarbonisation. Efforts should be channelled towards developing common regulations and international standards for the wider adoption of floating nuclear reactors. While innovative platforms for nuclear applications are welcomed, the advancement in reactor technology needs to be moderated in accordance with existing safeguards. Almost every nation is bound by the clauses in the Non-Proliferation Treaty and the safeguarding of fissile materials becomes even more crucial as reactor technology develops. The clock is ticking towards the net zero carbon emissions target of 2050. The nuclear industry’s mission rests with the ubiquitous deployment of nuclear energy in the near term. There is enough data on the potential benefits of small modular reactors and floating reactors. Now we need them out of the drawing board into reality to help save our planet. Alvin Chew is a Senior Fellow from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 15, 2024

Flood warnings that don't break the banks - 360 Linda Speight Published on October 10, 2022 Affordable and accurate, flood warnings have advanced to be a great tool to prevent disaster. But that’s proving to be only half the battle. Globally, only extreme storms like hurricanes cause more damage than floods. Over the last 50 years, the global number of weather disasters has increased by five times, but thanks to improved early warnings and disaster management, the number of deaths from such events has decreased almost three-fold. Flood warning systems are a cost-efficient way to prevent floods from destroying lives and livelihoods. While warnings don’t prevent flooding, they give advance notice of an impending flood to allow communities to prepare: bringing in extra emergency personnel, establishing temporary flood defences, securing clean drinking water, moving valuables or — for the most extreme events — evacuating. Getting the jump on an incoming flood also allows for the mobilisation of resources to accelerate the clean-up after a flood, reaching people in need sooner and reducing the impact. Flood warnings are one part of a larger flood forecasting system. Warnings are used to communicate the flood forecast to individuals, businesses, and emergency responders. The best flood warnings don’t just provide information on the river level (which is often meaningless to users), they combine this information with an explanation of the potential impacts, for example: “River levels will rise rapidly causing widespread flooding. Damage to roads and property is expected.” A flood forecasting system only becomes useful when the flood warning leads to effective action. The aim of flood forecasting systems is to provide as much lead-time as possible. The difficulty is that the longer the lead-time, the more uncertain the forecast can be. The accuracy of weather forecasts is continually improving. Today, the forecast for six days ahead is as good as the forecast for five days ahead from 10 years ago. Flood forecasting models cover all of the major rivers in the world. However, forecasting the most extreme events, such as the intense rainfall in Zhengzhou, China in 2021, or the rapid intensification of Typhoon Nuro in the Philippines, remains a challenge. In these situations, are emerging that seek to help decision-makers understand the inherent uncertainty or use new methods like machine learning to improve lead-time. Increasingly, the effectiveness of flood forecasting systems is constrained by poor communication rather than forecast skill. Scientists were shocked that more than 200 people died in the western European floods of 2021. While the forecasts for this event were considered “quite good”, when surveyed, 35 percent of people in one of the affected regions in Germany said they had not been warned. In other cases, the flood warnings were received but they the severity of the impending event. Communicating extreme events is difficult. An individual’s response to flood warnings is often influenced by their previous experience. Without having seen a river in full flood, it is very difficult to comprehend the destructive power of water or appreciate the urgency of preparation. This communication challenge requires new and imaginative thinking and ongoing work. Some of the innovative graphics and clear communication for Hurricane Ian in Florida shows that progress is being made. Uncertainty remains a challenge for decision-makers. Actions have costs and no one wants to take them unnecessarily. Flood forecasters need to strike a balance between uncertainty and lead-time. The best way to achieve this balance is to design flood forecasting systems in collaboration with decision-makers to tailor warnings to their needs. Scientists often forget that decision makers have to balance multiple and often competing considerations around economic, political and societal pressures. But even a reliable and well-communicated flood warning is useless if the recipient does not have the ability to take action. Lead-time is important, but more critically, large parts of society lack the resources to take action. Studies of major events, such the devastating monsoon flooding in Pakistan in 2022, or the repeated tropical cyclones that hit Madagascar earlier in the year, highlight that alongside the effects of climate change, many people are unable to bounce back from extreme events. The Red Cross Climate Centre is pioneering the use of forecasts to release funding in advance of floods occurring. This means that vulnerable communities can be supported financially to evacuate, or immediate needs such as clean water and sanitation supplies can be provided. The increasing use of flood forecasts is also helping humanitarian organisations to target their resources to the areas most at risk. The climate is changing. Extreme weather is occurring more frequently and there is an urgent need to increase flood resilience. To live successfully in a changing climate, all aspects of society need to be ready to adapt when warnings are issued. Warning systems fail when they are not believed or trusted, something that was evident in the response to the forecast summer 2022 heatwave in the UK. Warnings are not issued lightly, they are based on the best possible forecasting science and understanding of the impacts on people and infrastructure. They are issued in advance of events and aim to provide enough time to take preventative action before impacts occur. They should not be ignored. Linda Speight is a hydrometeorologist at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford whose research seeks to develop early warning systems to improve disaster risk management, particularly for flooding. She is interested in global flood forecasting, surface water flood forecasting, ensemble forecasts, impact-based forecasts, risk communication, decision making and climate resilience. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Flood ready” sent at: 03/10/2022 11:55. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on October 10, 2022

Floods hit every continent in 2022: what can be done to limit the damage? - 360 Reece Hooker Published on December 30, 2022 Communities are being pushed into a reckoning onset by climate change — adapt their way of living to mitigate flood damage or face a cycle of destruction. As shell shocked Congolese sift through rubble, looking for bodies and belongings in flood-ravaged Kinshasa, it feels like an eerie repeat of the deadly floods that brought Pakistan to its knees just months ago. The DRC is not alone in this struggle. Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon and surrounding African states have suffered deadly floods in 2022, with a report from World Weather Attribution finding that climate change made the torrential rains and floods 80 times more likely. Other continents are grappling with flood emergencies, too: parts of Australia are receiving summertime flood warnings, shortly after a spate of destructive rainfall in New South Wales and Victoria. The United States is still reeling from a “summer of floods” which saw at least four flooding events cascade across an 11-day span from late July to early August. While the fight against climate change rages on, periods of intensified rainfall is something all corners of the globe seem stuck contending with. Researchers have continued to develop and refine all facets of flood-related responses, devising a comprehensive suite of investments that governments can make to safeguard their nation. From preventative measures limiting a flood’s impact to educational responses to smarter rebuilding, states have options to limit the damage. Investing in flood warning systems Flood warning systems are tools that can provide regions advance notice of an impending weather event. At its most effective, a flood warning system can advise users of an expected rise in river levels and the damage that might come without action. When it works effectively, a flood warning system gives communities the inside track to prepare themselves. Linda Speight, hydrometeorologist at the University of Oxford, says flood warning systems are a “great tool to prevent disaster”. “Flood warning systems are a cost-efficient way to prevent floods from destroying lives and livelihoods.” “While warnings don’t prevent flooding, they give advance notice of an impending flood to allow communities to prepare: bringing in extra emergency personnel, establishing temporary flood defences, securing clean drinking water, moving valuables or — for the most extreme events — evacuating.” The United Nations has tasked all countries with implementing early warning systems by 2027, a goal that half the world is yet to meet. Teaching communities how to be disaster-ready Floods become exponentially more costly and destructive when they strike on a floodplain that houses many people. Some states have turned to voluntary property acquisitions — buying housing on at-risk floodplains, driving down the population directly exposed when heavy rain falls. But where that’s not feasible, disaster mitigation initiatives can save lives, says Wahyu Wilopo, lecturer at Universitas Gadjah Mada. Wilopo suggests a two-fold approach to mitigation: adapting infrastructure and educating residents on best practice. The construction of reservoirs to trap run-off, for instance, is a structural change that could help slow the speed of water flow. “Another structural solution to reduce flooding is building infiltration wells around new buildings to reduce surface runoff and increase groundwater recharge – this would require legislative changes to building permits.” But construction changes only go so far, and Wilopo points out that communities need to also be taught how to respond when flood events occur. “Disaster education is crucial to achieving community resilience in facing disasters, and should be introduced from an early age both in the family and school environment in order to turn knowledge into culture – a process that requires a long time and continuous effort.” Spend big on disaster-proof public infrastructure The devastation wrought by floods are indicative of longer-term big picture planning challenges in the view of experts Sotiris Vardoulakis of Australian National University, and Ross Bailie and Veronica Matthews of the University of Sydney. They explain: “The converging hazards of climate change (and disasters that result), rising obesity, and the COVID-19 pandemic are ripping open the cracks that are exposed by socio-economic inequalities, an ageing population, and unchecked urban sprawl.” “To rein in this trend, the government will have to ramp up their focus in many areas: planning land use through the lens of climate and flood resilience, lifting housing conditions, providing high-value health care, strengthening public health surveillance and emergency warning systems, and fostering a circular economy that will enable the transition towards net zero.” The New South Wales state government in Australia has unveiled an AUD$800 million (USD$534.9 million) resilience fund for the Northern Rivers region, where more than 6,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by floods in 2022. Make use of nature-based solutions Some regions are better placed than others to adapt their environments for flood risk. Areas that have capacity to install or expand parkland, urban forestry or green roofs can better fortify themselves against the damage of heavy rainfalls as a complement to “grey infrastructure”, hard structures like drainage channels and floodways. Dwita Sutjiningsih, professor of civil engineering at Universitas Indonesia, says sole reliance on grey infrastructure “cannot solve a problem as multi-dimensional as flood disasters”. “Nature-based solutions utilise water elements, such as retention/detention basins and wetlands, and green elements, like parks, urban forest and green roofs, to build strong environmental resilience against extreme weather.” “The solutions are, it seems, out there — it is now just a matter of implementing them in time to prevent more unnecessary tragedy.” Read and republish the articles covered in this report: Flood warnings that don’t break the banksLinda Speight, University of Oxford Building a disaster-ready culture in IndonesiaWahyu Wilopo, Universitas Gadjah Mada Indonesia had almost 10,000 floods last decade, and flood incidents keep rising. To turn the tide, new cultural and infrastructural solutions may be needed. Disaster proofing healthcare key to flood resilienceSotiris Vardoulakis, Australian National University, Veronica Matthews and Ross Bailie, University of Sydney Building back smarter from floods is about more than infrastructure. As Australia is finding out, improvements to healthcare are key to the solution. Jakarta’s floods are devastating — they don’t have to beDwita Sutjiningsih, Universitas Indonesia Jakarta’s severe flooding is happening more often and with more intensity. A new approach might hold the key to moving forward. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 30, 2022

Food aid can be food wasted - 360 Pushpa Dhami Published on September 27, 2022 Modifying traditional foods for disaster-prone states in India can ensure adequate nutrition for people most in need. Food is a crucial part of humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of any disaster. It provides immediate relief to victims and helps in their recovery from injuries, illness and distress. But providing food to survivors is not enough, ensuring they receive sufficient nutrition is equally important. Researchers in India have been working on alternatives that offer lessons for other disaster-prone areas. Emergency meals which are culturally accepted are more palatable and can also bring some relief from psychological trauma — an aspect often overlooked. The key is to significantly increase the nutritional content of existing dishes for people who need protein and energy to recover from illness, injury and shock. Relief agencies aim for food-aid rations to be both affordable and nutritious. But it’s not common for such rations to be local, familiar and tasty. Unappealing foods can lead to undesirable wastage with knock-on effects. An incorrect estimation of required quantities could leave some without food and using imported ingredients makes aid susceptible to rising costs. Those tailoring food requirements during an emergency need to consider the size, values, attitudes and beliefs of the population. India has a wide variety of food and eating habits across its 1.3 billion residents. The staples of cereal and wheat are most commonly used in North Indian and West Indian dishes. Southern and northeastern diets more commonly include rice. The uses of spices and other herbs in food also vary from region to region.But food assistance during emergencies in India is neither culturally competent nor geographically targeted. Researchers at Punjab Agricultural University, in Ludhiana, India modified traditional meals to improve emergency relief foods and increase their nutritional value as well as extend their shelf life. They chose cereal-based meals across seven disaster-prone states across India — Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Odisha and Gujarat. The cereal in the dishes was substituted with pulses and millets. The meals are no longer just high in carbohydrates but now consist mainly of protein, fat, minerals like iron and calcium, along with an appropriate amino acid balance. The pulse and millets used were all locally grown and traded. The foods were girda bread and lyde for people in Jammu and Kashmir; roat and cookies for those in Uttarakhand; gujiya and kachori for Uttar Pradesh; thekua, sattu and cookies for Bihar; sandah guri for Assam, arisa pitha for Orissa, and puranpoli and khakhra for Gujarat. Researchers also created aready-to-use traditional food sandah guri (toasted rice flour) mix which can be added to existing emergency meals. The mix is high in protein, energy and micronutrients from roasted wheat flours, skimmed milk powder, jaggery powder, groundnut powder and raisins. Due to their low cost and high nutritive value, these products are also suitable for welfare programs run by state governments and other food aid organisations. There were limitations to the study. Researchers were not able to test how well accepted the modified emergency foods are in all seven states due to time constraints and restricted funds. Instead, they developed a training module for nutritionists and stakeholders to better assess the cultural competency of aid food available during emergencies. A step towards deeper cultural considerations for people who are already vulnerable and in need. India, like many countries, is vulnerable to climate change, and both man-made and natural disasters. Almost 57 percent of its land is susceptible to earthquakes, 68 percent to drought, 12 percent to floods, and 8 percent to cyclones. With the growing likelihood of disasters, it’s crucial to have adequate measures and resources in place. Large-scale development and storage of emergency food products can open up jobs  — directly from growing local crops and indirectly from cooking and processing. It can also address food security issues, from the immediate availability of food to the accessibility of safe and nutritious meals. Dr Pushpa Dhami is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Final International University in North Cyprus. Her expertise is in nutrition during Emergencies. She obtained her Ph.D. in Food and Nutrition from Punjab Agricultural University, India. The study was funded by INSPIRE fellowship by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. The author declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on September 27, 2022

Food for profit: India’s food giants consolidate power - 360 Pritam Singh Published on April 4, 2022 Agribusiness corporations have been on the rise in India since the 1970s. Unless there is a change in government policy smaller farms face a bleak future. A qualitative change took place in Indian agriculture in the 1970s: the government said not only that the country had achieved domestic food self-sufficiency but also that it had surplus food for export. This sparked the rise of agribusiness corporations, whose dominance now threatens India’s traditional variety of trading networks, food markets and small family farms. The food surplus was illusory: it existed because the extremely poor in urban and rural areas did not have the purchasing power to buy enough food to meet their needs. Nevertheless, the link between India’s food markets and the international marketing of food emerged from this ‘surplus’. The ‘surplus’ gave birth to a new class of large-scale traders who networked with global agri-business corporations to export food. The food export sector has grown so substantially that India has become the world’s leading rice exporter, with exports valued at US$7.1 billion in 2019–20. The neoliberal policy paradigm introduced in India in July 1991 was instrumental in boosting food export businesses. It also contributed to accelerating the diversification of large corporate houses into procuring, transporting, storing, processing and distributing food. The three farm laws introduced by the government in June 2020 represented the interests of the global agribusiness corporations aligned with Indian corporations that had diversified into agribusiness. The most dramatic of the three laws, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020, removed all limits on the storage of food that had been introduced in the 1955 version of the Act. The 1955 Act made hoarding of ‘essential’ commodities (cereals and sugar) legally punishable, but the amended Act invited large-scale speculative hoarding of food. The farmers’ movement, which arose out of farmers’ fear that their livelihoods and ecological sustainability would be taken over by large agribusiness corporations, forced the government to repeal the three laws in November 2021. Though the farmers’ movement succeeded, at least temporarily, in resisting the monopolisation of the food trade by agribusiness interests, the trend towards monopoly control of agrifood chains that has been going on for a few decades has not been reversed. The infrastructure that has been built over the years for this monopoly control remains intact and is expanding. Since the mid-2000s, subsidiaries of major Indian industrial conglomerates have entered the fresh-food supply chain: Reliance Fresh, Adani Agri Fresh, Bharti’s Field Fresh and others. In parallel, Adani Agri Logistics has built and operated grain silos for the central government’s Food Corporation of India (FCI) in an ongoing public–private partnership. The latter activity has accelerated since 2017, with new private railway lines, automated grain-processing plants and other infrastructure built around these outsourced FCI silos in Punjab and Haryana (the two major food-producing states) as part of a wider process of capturing logistical chains. The public sector, at central and state levels, has been subsidising corporate expansion. The state has facilitated the creation of a private security force by the Adani Group to protect its infrastructure of private railway lines, silos and grain-processing plants. Nearly 900 Adani-controlled silos have been set up all over India to facilitate grain storage and interstate as well as international food trade. A new threat, potentially even greater than monopolisation of grain storage, to small-scale and family farming is now emerging from high-tech agribusiness corporations that aim to digitise all agricultural activities to create a business in big data. Potential for data mining is huge. Agricultural research data in India is currently split across multiple state and central institutions. Proposed apps can get real-time information on soil, weather, pests and other factors directly from farmers, who will likely be required to provide data in order to use platforms. Futures trading also requires large datasets of price information. There are moves to create a nationwide AgriStack database to enable rapid data modelling rather than spending disproportionate time and effort on data collection. One of the key purposes of digitising data will be to facilitate automation through the introduction of drones, sensors and robots that will displace human labour. The food sovereignty of small and family farmers will be wiped out by such large, high-tech farms. Agribusiness corporations producing food through such farms will contribute further to the consolidation of food storage. The growing evidence of collaboration of domestic agribusinesses such as Adani and Ambani with international agribusiness entities such as Cargill is an indication of the growing scale of consolidated monopoly power in agrifood chains. The enormous power of such large corporations increases income vulnerability for small farmers and food insecurity for rural and urban consumers. To challenge this power, the organisations of Indian farmers and rural workers will have to build even stronger solidarity networks with urban workers and consumers than they did during their successful struggle in 2021. Pritam Singh is Professor Emeritus at Oxford Brookes Business School, Oxford, UK Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: Prof. Pritam Singh

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 4, 2022

Food tourism can help regenerate our planet - 360 Francesc Fusté-Forné Published on September 7, 2022 Regenerative tourism is the next step in sustainable travel and food can play a major role in it. The coronavirus pandemic showed us we were on the wrong track to developing sustainable tourism. Reduced mobility and border closures stopped the world, pushing many to think about the present and future of tourism. The visitor economy can rely on regenerative tourism to ensure it’s resilient to future crises. Regenerative tourism creates a meaningful balance between local culture, natural ecosystems, hosts and guests. It aims to improve the community holistically, rather than minimising the impact of tourism. The idea is to leave the place better than you found it. Food plays a major role in this.Every destination has a distinct culinary heritage behind unique gastronomic experiences. Food tourism allows travellers to discover a place through their cuisines while building meaningful connections and a deeper understanding of local culture. As tourism is shaped by the values of the people who work in it, a conscious supply of these elements will lead to a conscious demand. New Zealand has largely promoted regenerative tourism based on indigenous values focused on the Tiaki Promise where both locals and visitors are urged “to act as a guardian, protecting and preserving our home”. For example, local tour groups like The Seventh Generation, develop experiences based on the Maori principles of respect for culture and nature. If businesses are committed to the environment, visitors will also build lasting ties to the destination by learning from local practices. There are few places in the world that almost wholly focus on food-based regenerative tourism.Furanchos, for example, are private homes in Galicia, Spain, used as food establishments for only three months a year. It began with the idea of sharing local wine and food with friends, family and visitors. Agricultural activity remains the central element of the local economy but the furancho’s are where winemakers sell surplus artisanal wine and traditional dishes. Strict legal regulations only allow it to open and serve a limited number of dishes, making it naturally sustainable. Farm-to-table eating experiences are an important element in regenerative tourism. Relying on local resources contributes to the local economy and fosters shorter supply chains — helping local farmers, growers and fishermen instead of relying on large industries. It significantly reduces the amount of waste and contributes to less greenhouse gases. Regenerative food tourism experiences engage people with local cultures, for example, by learning how to cook indigenous recipes, and with nature, including picking their own ingredients from a forest. Many restaurants, such as Les Cols, look to nature as the source of culinary inspiration with menus that are seasonal and locations that are culturally significant. Climate change has impacted local agriculture and diets. We can adapt better by consuming seasonal local products. Local chefs play a significant role in this shift from a reliance on imported goods. Ecuadorian chef Rodrigo Pacheco’s forest-based restaurant, for example, aims to increase awareness of the biodiversity of the local environment. Gastronomic tourism can be limited. It can be inaccessible due to being in a remote area, or expensive, such as a luxury Michelin-starred restaurant. But there are a wide range of food experiences where each of us can contribute to the foundations of regenerative tourism. Buying at a farmers’ market or tasting street food can also result in tangible (economic and environmental) and intangible (cultural and social) impacts. The development of sustainable food production and consumption all contribute to regenerative tourism and our planet’s future. Food plays a pivotal role in destination management and marketing, and as part of people’s travel decisions. After all, food remains at the core of humanity’s identity and survival, so it’s time more tourism destinations catch up with this notion. Francesc Fusté-Forné is a professor and researcher at the Department of Business at the University of Girona, and his research is focused on the relationships between food, marketing and tourism. The author declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on September 7, 2022

For migrant sex workers, choice matters - 360 Neetu Pokharel Published on June 20, 2022 Nepal’s approach to protecting migrant workers lacks the nuance needed to seriously address abuse. The devastating Nepal earthquake of 2015 and later the Covid-19 pandemic had something in common: both likely saw an increase in the migration of Nepalese sex workers. Some did so as a result of trafficking or forced migration, others chose sex work or the entertainment industry on a voluntary basis – there’s no data to tell us the extent of this migration. That policymakers don’t know the difference means both groups will continue to face harassment, torture, exploitation and discrimination. Without accurate data, the government is unable to protect them. Many desperate Nepalese women seek a global market for their labour to enable them to send money back to financially struggling family members, in what has been dubbed the “feminization of poverty”. Of the more than 200,000 labour approval permits issued to women migrant workers in Nepal at July 2020, an overwhelming number – about 80 percent — were for migration to Malaysia and the Gulf region. There is no exact data about women who migrate to India – it has an open border with Nepal, requiring neither a visa nor a passport for entry. The government also lacks proper data on women workers who migrate informally or unofficially to the other countries, especially the Gulf countries. Concerned about trafficking, abuse and sexual exploitation, the Nepalese government has gradually imposed several restrictive measures on women labour migrants. Up until 1997, Nepalese law required women to get the consent of their parents, husbands or other close relatives to seek foreign employment. Women could then make their own decisions to travel for work, but it was short lived: in 1998 the Nepal government banned all foreign employment for women after the death of a Nepalese women migrant in Qatar, killed after a sexual assault. Instead of pushing Qatar to investigate the murder, the government created the narrative that women needed to be prevented from employment abroad as they were vulnerable to sexual exploitation. The ban on women seeking employment abroad was lifted in November 2000, except in the Gulf countries. In the face of criticism from civil rights organisations pointing out women were travelling to the Gulf countries using illegal and unofficial routes, the government removed the ban in 2003. From 2000-2003 then, women’s mobility for foreign employment was completely restricted. In 2005, the government restricted women’s migration to Malaysia by imposing various conditions which were later lifted in 2007. Again in 2015 and 2017, women migrant workers under the age of 24 years were restricted from seeking employment in the Gulf countries. All of this has proven ineffective in controlling trafficking and protecting women from exploitation. In fact, the protectionist restrictions and regulations imposed have tended to push women to migrate through unofficial channels — undocumented and with greater vulnerability. They have become more susceptible to coercion, fraud and abuse. Policymakers and civil society organisations continue to perceive sex workers as victims of trafficking, and the legal framework of human trafficking is mostly focused on sexual exploitation and prostitution. In the case of trafficking, victims prefer not to lodge complaints or come forward as witnesses because they are dependent on their traffickers for work and housing. Some are pushed into sex work after being forced to migrate to cities because of chronic poverty and unemployment. They fall for false work promises by relatives and friends but are eventually forced to take up sex work for survival. These victims of trafficking are reluctant to disclose their identity or seek justice because they fear social stigma. But for women who choose sex work, the response remains focused on rescue and providing alternative employment. The refusal to accept the sex worker’s profession as labour means they are limited in accessing justice and claiming violation of labour rights or seeking redressal for abuse and exploitation.The police do not believe a sex worker can be raped and treat them as criminals. Which is why sex workers seek decriminalisation of sex work and argue they should be free to choose their profession. The Nepal government’s restrictions to women migrant workers follows a protectionist approach, violates their rights as workers and constrains their right to mobility. It raises questions about the government’s commitment to the Constitution of Nepal, regognising the right to employment and the right to live with dignity as well as to international human rights commitments such as for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also shows the patriarchal mindset of the government and Nepalese society in treating women differently and as a vulnerable group through control mechanisms, rather than empowering them and opening the way for them to seek justice and equality. A strategic and coordinated effort is necessary to protect the labour rights of women migrant sex workers and to prevent their trafficking. Neetu Pokharel is as a Women Rights Activist in Nepal. She is a fellow of Calcutta Research Group (CRG). Under CRG fellowship, Neetu conducted research on ‘Statelessness and the plight of women in Nepal’. Neetu is affiliated with an NGO, Inclusive Step for Change in Nepal. She has been engaged in policy advocacy, campaigns and research related to access to justice, statelessness, migration with a particular focus on women and marginalized groups in Nepal. Neetu holds her Masters in Conflict, Peace and Development Studies (CPDS) from University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka. The author declared no conflicts of interest in relation to this article. This article is part of a Special Report on the ‘Changing face of migration’,  produced in collaboration with the Calcutta Research Group. It was first published in June 2022. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on June 20, 2022

Foreign women bear the brunt of Malaysia’s harsh drug laws - 360 Lucy Harry Published on September 5, 2022 Malaysia’s strict drug trafficking laws see foreign women disproportionately put on death row. A video of a 55-year-old single mother crying uncontrollably after being sentenced to death last year for possessing 113.9 grams of methamphetamine ignited heated online discussions about women’s rights and capital punishment in Malaysia. Under Malaysia’s Dangerous Drugs Act, those found guilty of possessing over 50 grams of methamphetamine face a largely mandatory death sentence. Critics note that the impact of the harsh penalty is often borne by the marginalised, especially vulnerable women. Of the 1,342 inmates on death row in Malaysia, women make up nearly 10 percent (129 female inmates), nearly twice the global rate of women sentenced to death. In 2019, 95 percent of women on death row had been sentenced to death for drug-related crimes, compared to 70 percent of male inmates. A  higher percentage of women facing execution are foreign nationals (86 percent) relative to men (39 percent). The high ratio of foreign nationals facing death is an established trend. Between 1983 and 2019, 90 percent of the women sentenced to death for drug trafficking in Malaysia were foreign nationals — typically from less affluent countries in Southeast Asia or other states in the global south, such as Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, China, and Iran. Another pattern: the foreign national women sentenced to death are generally economically precarious, in positions where they were vulnerable to being duped or coerced. They are not major profiteers in the drug market and do not fit the profile of the ‘worst of the worst’ offenders. Many claimed to have been duped into smuggling drugs. Indeed, 65 percent of the women who were arrested at the international border said they were paid or asked to courier items internationally at someone else’s request or were transporting supplies for their own small businesses, and unbeknownst to them, drugs were concealed among the packages. The transnational informal trade of goods is known as ‘suitcase trading’ and is dominated by women from the global south who may be excluded from the mainstream economy, leading them to seek informal and entrepreneurial income-generating activities. In other instances, women were caught drug smuggling while they were travelling abroad for work in a female-dominated industry – such as  domestic workers or masseuses. Drug syndicates seem to be capitalising on the ‘feminisation of migration’ in the region and exploiting women as unwitting drug couriers. Women are also subjected to deplorable conditions while incarcerated on death row in Malaysia. They are held in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours per day and without access to programmes or work opportunities in prison. Foreign national inmates may not speak the language of the prison officers and may struggle to receive assistance from their consulate. There is also no access to gender-specific healthcare while on death row. The Malaysian government confirmed in June 2022 that it would abolish the mandatory death penalty, including for drug trafficking. In other jurisdictions that have abolished the death penalty, it has been replaced with a term of imprisonment. It is recommended that the prison sentence be assessed on a case-by-case basis and proportional to the crime; sentencing guidelines minimise the risk of arbitrary sentencing. Gender-sensitive drug policy reform would take into account the socio-economic factors that precipitate women’s involvement in drug trafficking, such as any history of gender-based violence, if they were coerced or influenced, possible drug dependence and/or mental illness, and whether they engaged in drug trafficking to fulfill their responsibilities as a sole breadwinner. Dr Lucy Harry is a post-doctoral researcher at the Death Penalty Research Unit (DPRU), University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the death penalty for drug trafficking in Southeast Asia, with a particular interest in gender-based perspectives. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Death penalty” sent at: 29/08/2022 11:20. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on September 5, 2022

Forest protection relies on more than just protected areas - 360 Payal Shah, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Published on March 7, 2022 Protected areas are effective at preventing forest clearing. But where they are and how strict the protection also matters. Forests on Earth are shrinking at an alarming rate. Around 100,000 square kilometers, roughly the size of South Korea, are cleared annually. In response, governments around the world often designate ecologically significant areas as ‘protected’. More than 15 percent of land across the globe is under some form of protection and there is a push to increase this coverage to 30 percent by 2030. But not all protection is effective. Despite the protection order, forest loss and degradation still occur. Research published in the journal Environmental Research Letters found that where the protected forest was located, and how strict the protection measures were, influenced how successfully the forest was safeguarded. The researchers used high resolution, satellite images of 81 countries to track changes in forest cover between 2000 and 2012. During that time, 3.2 million square kilometers of land were placed inside new protected areas. For an apples-to-apples comparison on what could have happened to forest cover in the absence of this new protection, the researchers matched protected areas with similar unprotected areas. The new protected areas reduced deforestation by 72 percent compared with matched unprotected areas. The researchers estimate this equated to 86,062 square kilometers of forest saved. Protected forests in areas that face the greatest threat from clearing were the most effective at saving the forests because in the comparison areas land clearing was more prevalent. For example, protected areas in Brazil, Cambodia, Guatemala, Latvia and Estonia had the highest protected area effectiveness. These countries also faced higher incidence of country-level deforestation. How rich a country was didn’t seem to affect how effective its forest protection was. But countries with high GDP growth rates tended to do better. Countries with less dependence on agriculture, and better governance generally fared better in avoiding deforestation. Geographic location didn’t have an effect. In fact, even in geographic regions that face similar levels of deforestation threats, some countries’ protected areas fared much better than other countries in the same region. The top performing countries in each region were South Africa, Cambodia, Latvia, Guatemala, Uruguay or Brazil and New Zealand. Given that countries within the same geographic region face similar deforestation threats, the study provided insight into how much more deforestation could have been avoided had every country’s protected areas performed as well as the best-performing country in the region. If each country had done as well as their neighbors, it would have increased the area of deforestation avoided by 38 percent, saving a further 33,000 square kilometers of forests. How strict the level of protection was did have an effect. The protected areas belong to one of six categories established by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The researchers grouped the six categories into strict protection (IUCN categories I and II), aligning with what most people imagine to be ‘wilderness’ areas and national parks; and less strict protection (IUCN categories III – VI) which allow more human uses of the areas. The results were patchy, but on average, strict protection was more effective at reducing forest loss. Strictly protected areas reduced forest loss by 81 percent whereas less strictly protected areas reduced forest loss by 67 percent. But more research would be needed to guide policymakers in the choice of protected area management categories. Evaluation of the impact of protected areas is a growing area of research. In addition to setting area-based targets for forest protection, conservation policy needs to consider how effective the protection is. More research will provide a more nuanced understanding of which kind of protection works best in different situations. This will contribute to making existing protected areas more effective. Payal Shah is a research scientist at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology. She uses economic theory and statistical methods, combined with tools from ecology and biogeography, to evaluate the impact of conservation policies. This research has been partially supported by Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on March 7, 2022

Forget China, the real Voice influencers are in Australia - 360 Greg Austin Published on October 12, 2023 Analysts have suggested there’s a secret Chinese government campaign trying to influence the referendum. Here’s why that’s highly unlikely. The barrage of disinformation hitting voters ahead of Australia’s Indigenous Voice referendum has reached such a scale that a world-leading intelligence company is analysing the effort to deceive voters. That led to reports China might be trying to interfere in the referendum. There are good reasons why Chinese-sanctioned interference is unlikely but  — even if true — they’ve failed to make a mark. There are far more serious social media disinformation threats coming from closer to home. The claims on China gained prominence when Recorded Future, a firm with a reputation for accuracy and dispassionate analysis, identified many Australia-based disinformation threats pushing bad-faith agendas, including conspiracy theorists, political activists, neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and white supremacist groups. But it also made a passing mention of commentary made by two analysts at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), published in July, which alleged interference in the referendum debate by a secret Chinese government social media campaign. A month after ASPI’s report, the claims appeared in The Daily Telegraph, the largest-selling newspaper in Sydney. Typically, such campaigns by foreign governments are hard to trace. The most serious form is a trolling campaign, where the perpetrators set up elaborately organised ‘’troll farms’’. These farms produce false or misleading reports, then feed the reports to social media platforms for automated delivery and maximum damage against their targets, usually political leaders. At a lower level, campaigns can have a ‘nuisance effect’, sowing confusion over key political issues. It’s a form of harassment from an unfriendly country. According to Australian Strategic Policy Institute researchers, this is what could be happening with Chinese interference in the referendum.  They say the aim is to add confusion. The tactics included experiments with pushing negative media stories, often intertwined with disinformation. They also said the Chinese campaign narratives support claims that “Australia is a racist and sexist society that suffers from systemic discrimination”. The analysts did not claim that China was taking sides in the referendum. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute has been accused of spreading its own disinformation in some of their reporting on China, with one researcher calling it the ‘tabloid think tank’. Australian scholars take issue with some of the think tank’s alarmist coverage of China and its sources of funding, which include the Australian defence department, allied governments and, to a small extent, arms manufacturers. However, it also has many defenders, evidenced by the support of leading governments and its many partners worldwide. Its record in some areas of China research, such as the suppression of Uighurs in Xinjiang, is world class. Its story about Chinese interference in the Australian referendum was mentioned in the Record Future report. Recorded Future offered no endorsement or critique of the Australian think tank’s commentary, but its reference on the reputable platform lent it credibility. But, just like the policy institute’s commentary, Recorded Future didn’t assess the effect Chinese interference could have, beyond saying the alleged perpetrators might have been content simply sowing confusion. The policy institute’s report acknowledged that most of the covert Chinese social media accounts in the referendum campaign have only attracted minimal engagement at best. This is likely the case, but it raises the question of whether the low-level, ineffective activity was worth the attention. China is an intelligence state: if there is a covert way to operate, it will do so. China has been increasingly active in its covert social media operations, but there’s little evidence to suggest such campaigns have helped China achieve its policy goals. As recently as 2021, China’s ability to exert influence abroad through covert social media campaigns was assessed as “relatively rudimentary“. Instead, China relies on its rich set of diplomatic and political tools — propaganda, traditional and economic coercion and legal powers, among others. If China wanted to harm Australia’s interests internally or externally, it wouldn’t rely too heavily on social media. It would use more direct and powerful ways to inflict hurt, like its recent trade restrictions. China’s expanded covert influence efforts in Australia have hurt its reputation in Australia more than it has helped. According to Lowy Institute data, positive views of China in Australia plunged on the measure of Australia’s ‘’best friend in Asia’’ from 29 percent in 2014 (of 1150 surveyed) to 7 percent (of 2077) in 2023. China’s reduced reputation has been mirrored around the Western world. China’s covert influence campaigns do not appear to help its foreign policy. It is more likely that the alleged interference noted by the Australian think tank and Recorded Future comes from trolls and hackers who occasionally take on work from the Chinese government. But it is highly unlikely the Chinese government ordered the actions of these particular trolls in the referendum campaign. The referendum is barely on the radar of Chinese leaders. Even China’s hardline and hostile news outlet, the Global Times, used an on 7 September to praise the “more pragmatic adjustment by the Labor Party government” in bilateral relations. If China deploys its trolls on Australia, it would be to undermine the growing military alliance between the United States and Australia. As the Australian Strategic Policy Institute points out, Australia is often a target of such campaigns because it is seen as a leader of the ‘war with China’ debate. If Chinese-linked trolls and hackers are behind any referendum interference, they are more likely to be acting independently from government direction. Efforts to manipulate social media from abroad will have almost zero effect on the referendum outcome. There are too many other actors domestically who will be far more successful — the effect of someone like the potential interference of neo-nazis and white supremacist groups flagged by Recorded Future outweighs any foreign interference. Over the past decade, China’s record of influencing Australia through covert social media campaigns has been poor. That doesn’t mean Australia is immune to foreign influence campaigns. A 2022 federal election foreign influence campaign was foiled by ASIO, while Russia’s IRA troll factory infiltrated Australian discourse around the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH 17, which killed 298 passengers  — including 38 Australians. Disinformation campaigns on social media can be a grave threat. In September, the Australian Electoral Commission expressed concerns over the time it takes social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to take down misleading content. China’s strategic interest in Australia’s Indigenous community has transformed over the past 60 years. In 1972, just before Australia’s diplomatic recognition of China and amid its Cultural Revolution, China hosted and paid for nine Aboriginal activists to visit the country. It aligned with China’s long-standing policy of supporting ‘radical movements’ and championing anti-colonialist groups globally. In 2022 China attacked Australia for its record of human rights abuses against Aboriginal people. It called for the UN to investigate and bring perpetrators to justice. In a period of cautious rapprochement with Australia after years of deep freeze, it is hard to imagine that the Chinese government would endorse attempts to destabilise the referendum. The most concerning element of referendum disinformation  is the sheer scale of the tactics being deployed across online communities by  groups of Australian origin. Greg Austin is an Adjunct Professor at the Australian China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney. He has led research programs for international think tanks on cyber policy and published several books on China’s cyber power. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on October 12, 2023

Four amazing sights to see in the night sky this year - 360 Jonti Horner Published on May 5, 2024 The  Aurora Australis isn’t the only amazing astronomical event spicing up our night sky this year. Here are some others to watch for. Here are four great celestial highlights to mark on your calendar for May and the months ahead. Whether you’re a fan of comets — dirty snowballs made of a mixture of ices and dust — or meteors — grains of dust shed by comets that ablate (essentially burn up, but without fire being involved) around 80 kilometres above Earth’s surface — you’ll find something to watch below. Peak date: The pre-dawn hours of May 6 Best view: Southern hemisphere For observers south of the equator, the Eta Aquariid meteor shower is an annual highlight — the second best meteor shower of the year from southern shores (after the incredible Geminids in mid-December). It reaches its peak this coming weekend — with the best rates expected in the early morning hours of Monday May 6. The Eta Aquariids are best seen in the two hours before sunrise — with the radiant (the part of the sky from which the meteors appear to radiate) rising, for most locations, at between 1:30 and 2am. To get the best view, set your alarm 90 minutes before sunrise, and look to the east. As the morning passes, towards dawn, you will see Saturn, Mars, the crescent Moon, and the planet Mercury in a line, above the eastern horizon — with the odd flash and streak of an Eta Aquariid meteor passing through your field of view. Observers south of the equator can expect to see up to 20 or 30 meteors in that final hour before the sky brightens. But be warned, meteors are like buses. You can wait ten minutes and see nothing, then three will come along at once. Best seen: First two weeks of May Best view: Southern hemisphere Much has been said and written about this Halley-type comet, which has been the source of much excitement and spectacular photographs over the past couple of months. While the comet is now impossible to view from locations in the northern hemisphere, in a case of better the devil you know, the southern hemisphere is getting its turn to gaze at this celestial visitor. So now is the time to catch a glimpse, and maybe take a picture or two, before the comet disappears back to the icy depths of the outer solar system. Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks is currently best seen with binoculars, or photographed with a long exposure using a DSLR camera. It is an evening object, low in the western sky after sunset — but is gradually climbing higher into the sky with each evening that passes. The best time to catch the comet is in the first two weeks of May, when it will be between the horizon and the constellation Orion. Those with good eyesight and dark skies might still glimpse the comet with the unaided eye for another month or so. After that, the comet will fade from view, and will not return for another 71 years. Peak date: August 11 and 12 Best view: Northern hemisphere Where the Eta Aquariids are a show for southern eyes, the opposite is true of the annual Perseid meteor shower. For observers in the northern hemisphere, this is a regular summertime treat – and this year, conditions should allow the shower to put on a great spectacle. Peaking on the nights of August 11 and 12, the Perseids are best seen in the hours after midnight — but for locations in northern Europe, meteors from the shower can be seen at any time once the Sun has set and the skies have darkened. Perseid meteors are fast and often spectacularly bright — and in the early hours of the morning, observers in mid-northern latitudes could easily see as many as sixty meteors per hour. Simply lay back, relax, and enjoy the show. Best seen: Second week of October Best view: Everywhere Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) caused great excitement among astronomers when it was discovered in January 2023. It was immediately obvious that it had the potential to be something spectacular — though astronomers were careful and cautious in their excitement, as comets are notoriously fickle and prone to misbehave. So far, things are looking good, however, and it seems likely that comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) will be a spectacular sight in late September and through October. This is definitely one to keep an eye on — there is always the possibility that it might fade or crumble — but should it continue to behave as expected, then it should be visible with the unaided eye to observers across the globe in the morning sky in late September. It will then dive between the Earth and the Sun, potentially even becoming visible in broad daylight (though this is unlikely), before becoming a spectacular object in the evening sky in the second week in October. If everything goes as astronomers hope, it may well be that comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) will be the highlight of the astronomical year — and potentially the next truly great comet. Fingers crossed! Professor Jonti Horner is an astronomer and astrobiologist based at the University of Southern Queensland, in Toowoomba. He has a particular interest in the solar system, and especially the comets, asteroids and meteors therein. In recent years, his research focus has expanded to include the search for, and study of, exoplanets. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on May 5, 2024

Four simple lessons for effective online schooling - 360 Thomas Chiu Published on December 20, 2021 By Thomas Chiu, Chinese University of Hong Kong Almost three quarters of the world’s students — more than one billion people — were affected by COVID-related school closures in 2020. The end result: the way teachers work changed so profoundly it’s difficult to believe schooling might ever go back to the way it was. Some are optimistic a digital shift has occurred, one that will not disappear once normality returns. But the pandemic has also highlighted a need to rethink education with digital technologies. A survey of 1,200 school students, 18 teachers, and 20 parents/guardians in Hong Kong has found students struggle to have meaningful digital learning without emotional support from teachers. Online education needs to be humanised to provide connection and establish a warm, friendly rapport to optimise learning. “I joined because I was told to. I just played videos without paying much attention,” said one student. Students themselves expressed a need to connect on an emotional, human level with teachers, to have their circumstances recognised, and feel supported in their efforts to learn. One of the top three worries students nominated was their inability to meet and interact with peers (60 percent of respondents) and teachers (75 percent). The basic psychological needs of students are the same, regardless of whether learning is in-school or virtual. In challenging scenarios, such as school closures, social distancing and lockdown, providing ample emotional support and connection through digital media is even more important for students. Digital education needs to actively build in opportunities for students to connect with their classmates and teachers. Timetables designed with space for teachers-and-students and students-and-students to interact socially in a safe and casual online environment can foster a stronger sense of student belonging and connection. Although teachers tried to deliver curricula online, feedback from students showed their efforts did not go as planned. Around 80 percent of students felt they could not understand subject content solely by watching video lessons. Teachers need support to produce multimedia learning materials. These could be mobile-friendly (optimised for smaller screens and lower bandwidths) so students can more readily access them, and presented in different formats (video, infographics, text) to cater for students with different learning styles. Contemporary teachers need professional development activities to address personal privacy and data issues, and sustain teacher growth and student wellbeing. Education policy should also evolve: curriculum guidelines could incorporate ‘connect more, support more’ instructional approaches and ‘learn more, evaluate less’ assessment strategies. “My favourite teacher is not good at teaching on Zoom. She is effective and lovely in the classroom, but noisy and boring online,” was the feedback from one student. Equipping teachers with tailored techniques and resources can enhance their digital communication skills. These can be simple, such as sending warm, friendly audio messages, and using appropriate emojis for feedback and comments on student work. Effective communication involves both parties, and students too need training. Other than for learning and teaching, improving digital communications skills can help boost feelings of wellbeing and enhance social function both inside and outside the classroom. Parents also struggled to redefine their role, adjust their expectations, and communicate effectively with their children. Parents provided feedback such as: “I want my kids to attend all the lessons and pass all the tests.” “I didn’t know how to help with my child’s digital learning.” “My kid finds my text communications long and boring” “I don’t understand the online slang and abbreviations my kids use online.” With in-school learning, the role of the parent or guardian involves showing support for, and interest in, their child’s education, providing as conducive an environment as possible for learning and, as appropriate, providing support on homework tasks. The same rules apply for the digital learning environment, the role of parents even more vital. Parents need to understand the expectations on their children, foster feelings of enthusiasm and positivity, familiarise themselves with digital jargon, and protect the general and emotional wellbeing of their kids in digital learning. The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting school closures were unprecedented. But the lessons we can take from this rapid pivot to digital education will be valuable as education becomes increasingly digital. The transformation was already underway; COVID has provided signposts to a better online future. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. is Assistant Professor of Digital Education at the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, and Associate Director of the Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has a strong academic background in mathematics, engineering, and technology, with extensive teaching and leadership experience in schools. The author declared no conflicts of interest in relation to this article.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 20, 2021

Four ways Southeast Asian journalists are under digital attack - 360 Gayathry Venkiteswaran Published on May 3, 2022 Authoritarian governments have weaponised online tools and platforms to control journalists and stifle freedom of expression. As the internet sector and mobile penetration increase in Southeast Asia, restrictions on online speech and expression are also on the rise. Journalists across the region face digital threats as governments resort to authoritarian measures and tactics to stifle independent media and free speech. UNESCO’s theme for World Press Freedom Day 2022, ‘Journalism Under Digital Siege’, highlights the ways digital technologies have allowed state and non-state actors to impose increasing levels of control over journalists. This control is manifested through disinformation and surveillance, disruptions to the integrity of information, weak protection of sources, and threats to journalists’ safety. The weaponisation of digital technology and social media has a serious impact on political and social life, weakening attempts at democracy building. Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, a 2021 Nobel laureate, warned that authoritarian regimes and global technology companies have disrupted democratic processes such as elections and other political events by deliberately allowing the spread of disinformation and lies. NGO Digital Reach, which focuses on Southeast Asia, said in its 2021 report that emerging threats against digital rights included the use of spyware by some governments to surveil targeted individuals and organisations. The dominant narrative is that the media are responsible for spreading misinformation and disinformation, but studies show the main purveyors of false information are politicians. In the Philippines, 2018 research found that key players in the spread of what they termed “networked disinformation” were public relations professionals who worked with ‘buzzers’ (digital influencers) to circulate dangerous and divisive messages online in support of President Duterte. One of the main challenges when technology is manipulated or abused is maintaining integrity of public information. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are a common strategy by state-sponsored groups or bots to disrupt news websites as well as pages owned by human rights organisations. News outlets seen as critical of the governments of the day have faced recent DDoS attacks in the Philippines and Indonesia. Three Philippines media outlets – Rappler, ABS-CBN and VERA Files – weathered a series of DDoS attacks in December 2021. Several of these attacks prevented  the sites from functioning and providing information to the public. All three outlets have been critical of the government of President Duterte. Other governments have used network disruptions and regulated online content, particularly when the work of journalists and human rights defenders is seen as challenging state and national security, religious institutions, and other powerful institutions such as the royal family and the head of government. The tactic results in lower public trust. According to the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, trust in the news media in 2021 was between 32 percent and 50 percent in several Southeast Asian countries as a result of media controls, the use of buzzers and cyber troopers to spread disinformation, and the use of repressive laws to control the Internet. Protections for whistleblowers and sources are generally weak or absent from legal frameworks across the region, making it risky for many people to speak to the media or express themselves online. Instead, laws are used to crack down on online commentators or critics as well as online media that report on politically sensitive issues. Against the backdrop of COVID-19 management, governments have issued new regulations to stem what they consider ‘fake news’ and disinformation. These regulations have resulted in numerous arrests and convictions of online users. Migrant communities in Malaysia came under serious scrutiny by the authorities during the pandemic, but online broadcaster Al Jazeera faced repercussions when it reported on the arrests of migrants and refugees in Kuala Lumpur. The broadcaster was investigated , and one of its interviewees, Bangladeshi national Mohammad Rayhan Kabir, was subjected to online harassment and immediately deported. Threats to journalists now include online harassment such as bullying, doxxing (publicly revealing a person’s private details with malicious intent) and sending death threats over chat apps. Sometimes the apps are hijacked to spread hateful messages, as some Indonesian journalists have experienced. Following a survey of 400 women journalists in 50 countries, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), one of the largest networks of journalist associations and unions, reported that women journalists faced multiple forms of online harassment, including doxxing. Such abuse has forced many women journalists to withdraw from the public conversation, close their accounts or remain silent. The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression has said that a strong human rights framework is key to informing policies and actions to counter the threats posed by the harmful effects of technology use. As key stakeholders, governments and political actors need to be made more accountable and transparent in relation to information governance. They have a responsibility to ensure protections for the media and the public’s right to freedom of expression. Private companies and individuals, whether they are technology platforms or professionals involved in political communication, also need to commit to higher standards of human rights compliance so their work does not cause harm to the people and their democratic rights. At a societal level, there needs to be greater emphasis on the ethics of information use. Sharing information about others without their explicit consent cannot be tolerated and laws on data protection need to be more rigorous to prevent misuse and abuse of data. It is also important for journalists and human rights workers to adopt digital security measures, as these can go a long way towards shielding them against some of the more obvious threats. Digital security also helps protect whistleblowers and sources. Finally, the importance of media literacy cannot be overemphasised. Serious investment is required to continuously investigate and explain the information ecosystem as part of public awareness and empowerment. A digitally informed and literate society is a bulwark against the harms of technology abuse and misuse. Gayathry Venkiteswaran is an Assistant Professor at the School of Media, Languages and Cultures at the University of Nottingham Malaysia. She teaches media, gender and politics. Professor Gayathry has declared no conflict of interest in relation to this article. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on May 3, 2022

'Frankenstein' meat or food future: farmers tell - 360 John Dooley Published on August 4, 2023 Lab-grown meat could have a huge impact on farmers so researchers are asking them what they think about it. “Toxicity” and “Frankenstein” are among the words UK farmers have used to describe their many concerns over lab-grown meat, but researchers have found there are a few who also see its opportunities. A research team led by the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, is investigating how farmers could be affected by lab-grown meat, also known as cultured meat, cultivated or cell-based meat. The research’s focus is in the UK but many of the findings will be relevant to farmers around the world. The research is being done at a time when agriculture, especially animal production, is recognised as a major contributor to climate change. Tackling and adapting to climate change while feeding a growing population will require changes to food production and consumption. This is likely to mean eating less meat in high-consuming countries such as the UK — cutting back on beef or chicken, substituting meat alternatives in processed foods or producing meat differently. Time will reveal the winners and losers in the race to develop meat alternatives but cultured meat is a substitute gaining traction, with companies attracting $896 million in investment in 2022 alone. It has attracted interest from investors because of its potential to have the same taste and texture as conventional meat and still appeal to committed carnivores. There has been significant research into the ethics, health, climate and economic impacts of cultured meat but less focus on how adopting it will affect farm businesses and rural communities. As well as being vital to farmers, this is important in understanding the overall environmental, social and economic impact of these technologies. An initial series of focus groups involved about 80 livestock, crop and mixed crop and animal farmers from across the UK and explored their understanding and attitudes towards cultured meat. The focus groups also looked at how the farmers imagined its development would affect them. Findings from these focus groups identified several recurring themes around the threats to food and farming, and some possible opportunities too. Cultured meat was perceived as highly processed food and the farmers questioned its safety, nutritional content and the bioavailability of nutrients along with its impact on human health. It was compared with naturally produced farm animals, which were regarded as the “gold standard”. Farmers used words and phrases like “toxicity” and “Frankenstein’s stuff” — reminiscent of phrases used in the early days of genetically modified foods by UK consumers — to describe their fears around cultured meat products. Many of the farmers were concerned about the “Americanisation” of food systems, worrying that the cultured meat sector would ultimately be controlled by a small number of global conglomerates. They discussed the social impact of this, highlighting the potential loss of connections between consumers and food production, animals and the countryside. Many livestock farmers expressed worries about the possible need for a mass cull of livestock. They were concerned about the impact on abandoned grasslands, the countryside and the rural economy if grazing animals were replaced by factory-produced food. They also raised concerns of a reduction in animal welfare as surviving livestock farmers tried to compete with low-cost cultured meat. However, some farmers felt food and agriculture needed big game-changers to meet climate, nature and public health challenges. Whether cultured meat is a game-changer or ratchets up existing trends in the food and farming industries towards industrial consolidation and food processing remains to be seen. Opportunities for farm businesses to diversify, either to produce materials for cultured meat production or to develop on-farm cultured meat production units were identified by several farmers. Interestingly, some of the livestock farmers identified opportunities for strengthening the unique selling proposition of natural, grass-fed meat products and selling these at a premium compared with cheap, mass-produced cultured meat products. Alongside the focus groups, the team is investigating farmers’ social media discussions around cultured meat and have completed a literature review of potential sources of ingredients for cultured meat production. This will feed into the next stage of the study, which aims to complete an in-depth investigation into the potential for cultured meat production on eight case study farms, selected to broadly represent the farming sector. Environmental, economic and social changes for each business and their associated supply chains will be mapped over 10 years following three divergent pathways and four scenarios to identify the winners and losers. The plan is that findings from this work will allow farmers, policymakers and investors to better understand, shape and prepare for cultured meat. And much is happening around this rapidly developing technology. The US recently joined Singapore in allowing sales of cultured meat while the Netherlands has agreed on rules for controlled tasting. Cultured meat producers are looking to other legislative bodies, including Australia and Switzerland, for permission to market their products. Legislative approval, coupled with lower cultured meat production costs should reveal the true impact of the technology on farmers, rural communities and the climate. Dr John Dooley is the project manager for the Cultured Meat and Farmers research project at the Royal Agricultural University in the UK. Prior to joining the university in 2014, he worked as an R&D scientist and project manager in the food and drink industry, where he developed and validated DNA-based assays to confirm the authenticity of meat, fish and other food products. The author’s research referred to in this article is sponsored by the Transforming UK Food Systems Strategic Priorities Fund and consists of researchers, cultured meat producers, policy advisors and farmers from 19 institutions across the globe. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on August 4, 2023

Fraudulent elections ensure the army’s status quo - 360 Claude Rakisits Published on February 12, 2024 Former PM Imran Khan’s stunning win in the Pakistan election is swept aside as Nawaz Sharif claims power with the military’s backing. By anyone’s standard, the elections held in Pakistan on February 8 were neither free nor fair. Under the leadership of General Asim Munir, the military ‘massaged’ three-time leader Nawaz Sharif’s return to power. Sharif, a convicted corrupt politician, has had an ambivalent relationship with the army for the last 40 years. Prior to polling day, the military and the judiciary had ensured that the highly popular former prime minister Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party would not be able to participate in the poll. Imran was pursued by the courts, barred from politics and sent to jail. However, despite the PTI being disbanded, its electoral symbol (the cricket bat) outlawed and its members banned from running as PTI members — along with blatantly fraudulent ballot stuffing on polling day — Nawaz’s party, the PML(N), was unable to win the most  seats. Instead, the former PTI members — now independents — won the largest number of seats and they are contesting the result of over a dozen of others which they claim have been stolen from them. Nevertheless, Nawaz declared victory, and is trying to form a coalition government with the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, son of the late Benazir Bhutto. The only bond between the PML(N) and the PPP is that their hatred of each other is slightly less than their hatred of the PTI. Assuming that Nawaz returns to power — the most likely scenario — what would this mean for some of Pakistan’s most critical relationships? Since a terrorist attack in Kashmir in February 2019, India-Pakistan relations have deteriorated seriously, including no ambassadorial representation in each other’s capitals since. However, it hasn’t always been like that, and certainly during Nawaz’s third stint (2013-2018), the personal dynamics between Nawaz and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi were good. For example, Nawaz attended Modi’s 2014 inauguration and Modi visited Nawaz in Lahore in December 2015 — the first by an Indian leader in more than a decade. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (Nawaz’s brother, who was prime minister after the ouster of Imran in 2022) expressed interest in “serious and sincere talks” with India. There have been suggestions that the two sides could perhaps freeze the Kashmir issue for 20 years and build upon non-contentious bilateral issues, such as trade and the movement of people. And while Nawaz is on the record of recognising that such poor relations, including virtually no bilateral trade, is bad for the two countries’ economies, he also knows that Kashmir is a “red line” for the military. It was his keen interest in improving relations with Delhi which critically contributed to his downfall in 2017. He’s unlikely to make the same mistake. Relations with China under Nawaz will continue on a positive note as they have for years and possibly even improve slightly. Beijing would be pleased to see Nawaz’s return to power. It was after all under his previous watch that the USD$60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) — the jewel in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, started. However, Nawaz will have to manage, as much as possible, the political fallout of the frequent terrorist attacks against Chinese workers and officials working on CPEC projects. Even though Pakistan already has some 10,000 security personnel dedicated solely to the protection of Chinese interests in Pakistan, Beijing regularly puts pressure on Islamabad to do more to prevent these terrorist attacks, most of which are conducted by the Afghanistan-based Pakistan Taliban, known as the TTP. EMBED START Image {id: "editor_9"} EMBED END Image {id: "editor_9"} Afghanistan’s continued public support for the TTP, contrary to Islamabad’s repeated requests that the Taliban cease to do so, is the major stumbling block in any improvement in bilateral relations. The Taliban isn’t about to turn on the TTP, an organisation with which it has deep ideological, operational, historical and tribal links. However, Kabul also knows that the Pakistani military doesn’t want to escalate this issue by pursuing the TTP into Afghan territory. Accordingly, Pakistan-Afghan relations will probably continue to be frozen. One mustn’t forget that following the breakdown of negotiations with the TTP under Nawaz’s previous government, the TTP executed the worst massacre of civilians, overwhelmingly school children of military officers, in 2014. Under this fourth Nawaz administration, the security forces will likely continue the status quo, hoping to contain the terrorist menace. The persistent scourge of terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan continuing to harbour terrorists since US troops left Kabul in August 2021 confirm in Washington the importance of maintaining good relations with Pakistan — a unique window on developments in Kabul. And despite Washington’s public criticism of Pakistan’s seriously flawed election process, the Biden administration is committed to “strengthening its security cooperation” with Islamabad regardless as to who eventually becomes prime minister. So while Washington may not be pleased with the electoral process, it will absolutely not miss Imran Khan, who repeatedly accused the US of having orchestrated, with the help of the military, his downfall in April 2022. Importantly, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Munir — the man who effectively runs Pakistan, in Washington only a few weeks before the elections. So, all in all, we shouldn’t expect much change in Pakistan’s foreign relations under a Nawaz premiership, if any, possibly a light improvement in relations with India and the US, two critical relationships for Islamabad. Dr Claude Rakisits is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Brussels-based Centre for Security, Defence and Strategy (CSDS). He has been following Pakistan politics for 40 years. His X call is @ClaudeRakisits Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: Post-election analysis to come Feb 12

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on February 12, 2024

Free and fearless journalism in a fight for survival - 360 Bharat Bhushan Published on May 3, 2024 Freedom of the press, a cornerstone of democracy, is under attack around the world, just when we need it more than ever. A free press is a cornerstone of democracy, crucial for holding elected politicians accountable and fostering informed public discourse. As we mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3, this freedom and the independent media crucial to safeguarding democracy are increasingly coming under threat. Journalists across the world are being intimidated, harassed and attacked. They are being put under surveillance, subjected to physical violence and online abuse and increasingly put behind bars by misusing the law and the judicial process. This is apart from information being controlled by the state through regulatory laws. Journalists’ attempts to foster public accountability from elected representatives is increasingly pitting them against the power of the state which is threatened by such truth telling. A prison census conducted by the Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) estimated that as of December 1, 2023 there were 320 journalists behind bars for their reporting. This was the second highest recorded since the CPJ census began in 1992. The top ten countries to jail journalists were China, Myanmar, Belarus, Russia, Vietnam, Iran and Israel (tied for the sixth position), Eritrea, Egypt and Turkey. According to the CPJ, “At least 94 of the 320 journalists in the 2023 census – almost 30 percent – are known to have health problems. Many cannot get medications or access to doctors but their families are often reluctant to speak out for fear of reprisal against their relatives.” While authoritarian states routinely repress journalists, one would expect democratic societies to create and nurture a safe environment for the media. However, a media environment free from violence and obstruction seems to be shrinking even in some democratic societies. Two critical arenas where threat to journalism and journalists are playing out dramatically are Israel and India, both self-proclaimed democracies which profess a commitment to uphold freedom of the press. Seventeen of the 320 journalists in jail are in Israel and seven in India. But prison is not the only threat that journalists face in these two countries. The Israel-Gaza war is proving the most deadly for the practice of journalism. It is estimated that since October 7, 2023 at least 97 journalists and media workers were among the more than 34,000 killed in Gaza and the West Bank and 1200 dead in Israel. Journalists in Gaza are particularly vulnerable as they have to report in the midst of Israeli ground assaults and airstrikes with disrupted communication, power outages and supply shortages. In India, grave threats have emerged to the media with journalists being silenced and imprisoned for critical reporting. The Indian state has been using strong-arm tactics to subdue critical reportage as the regime in power tries to reverse India’s constitutional commitment to secularism as well as cultural and religious diversity. Such is the power of the state to control the media space by denying access and government advertisements that many news organisations in India have succumbed – and offer uncritical support to the government. The legal process is used wantonly to file police charges against journalists to criminalise their work and stigmatise them as “terrorists” or “anti-national” elements using a whole host of laws ranging from counter-terrorism laws to preventive detention provisions without any charges being filed while journalists suffer in jail with routine denial of bail. The state’s desire to control the media has become even more intense as India enters into a prolonged period of voting in a general election. Foreign news entities like the BBC have been forced to virtually shut shop and restructure some operations in India, while foreign correspondents are being constrained in their reporting using a variety of strategies. These range from restrictions on visas, cancelling the Overseas Citizen of India card (a lifetime residency permit) given to those born of Indian-origin parents or with Indian spouse and denying them permission to report on elections to accusing them of journalistic activities “inimical to the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India.” At least two foreign correspondents – one from France another from Australia – have been forced to leave the country recently. Those within, have been forced to write an open letter to the government criticising it for pushing out foreign correspondents on the eve of an election that it describes as the “largest democratic exercise in the world.” While the spread of social media has made it a powerful alternative tool for the dissemination of news and views, states have responded by asserting their right to control these platforms. Big Tech is willingly cooperating with authoritarian regimes or those tendencies towards authoritarianism – from China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to India — to control the social media platforms. The regimes themselves are introducing new laws which allow them shut down digital sites and force the platforms to cooperate with them in taking down critical content.In addition, big social media companies are also deprioritising content moderation, including policies to check hate speech, which is often promoted by some regimes. The challenges and obstacles are many and the solutions, few. Yet, despite this, journalism remains indispensable, especially in confronting global crises. Video: Journalism is the oxygen of democracyVibodh Parthasarthi, Jamia Millia Islamia Editors Note: In the story “Press Freedom” sent at: 02/05/2024 09:02. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on May 3, 2024

From Cape Town to Santa Cruz: urban drought lessons - 360 Gina Ziervogel Published on June 22, 2022 As cities move to secure their water supplies in the backdrop of extreme drought, two cities in two continents provide blueprints for solutions. Drought is becoming an ever-growing stress to cities. More people are moving to cities at the same time as rainfall is becoming more variable and droughts growing in intensity and frequency. Although dams and reservoirs are critical, soft infrastructure is just as important. Cape Town in South Africa and Santa Cruz in the USA are two cities who stared drought in the face and turned to external help to solve their problems. In 2018, the South African city of Cape Town was gripped with fear of ‘Day Zero’ — the day in which the taps were potentially going to be turned off, following three years of anaemic rainfall. At the height of the Day Zero restrictions, residents were limited to 50 litres of water use per day — about the equivalent of a five minute shower. In their bid to avert a water disaster, the City of Cape Town convened the Water Resilience Advisory Committee (WRAC) in 2017, bringing in external experts to help address the crisis. Co-opted committee members were water experts or major stakeholders, who showed “genuine generosity of spirit,” according to one of the Department of Water and Sanitation City officials, in providing expertise and perspective. The WRAC pressured officials to share more information with the public. City officials created a dashboard, which transparently shared updates on dam levels and mapped areas of high water use. One of the clearest long-term benefits emerging from the WRAC was improved lines of communication between officials and external stakeholders. While the decision-making arrangement didn’t go as far as a collaborative mode of governance, the WRAC process brought in more expertise to drought management and adaptation. Drought governance improved, both during the crisis and after, helping Cape Town develop a more resilient urban water system. Cape Town’s WRAC offers a blueprint for cities looking to open their water governance up to the wider water community. And they are not the only city pursuing this model. Santa Cruz, a city just south of San Francisco, USA, understands Cape Town’s water struggles. It has similar climate conditions to Cape Town, with winter rainfall and reservoirs (known as dams in South Africa) being the main source of water for the city. Its water supply has also been under extreme threat due to drought. The Santa Cruz Water Supply Advisory Committee (WSAC), convened by the City of Santa Cruz in 2014, is a form of governance that goes further than Cape Town, handing over planning for the city’s water supply to a group of citizens. The city nominated 14 people, largely from outside government. They were mostly interested representatives from organisations with a stake in environmental and business issues, and concerned citizens. This committee was supported by the Santa Cruz Water Department; the head of the Water Department, Rosemary Menard, was an ex-officio non-voting member. At the end of their 18-month tenure, there was unanimous agreement over their recommendations. Essentially, they decided to prioritise using ‘excess’ water from north coast streams and the San Lorenzo river to recharge bore water reserves or send it across to adjacent water districts who either use it in lieu of their borewater or store it in their reserves (‘water transfers’). If surface water can top up underground reserves – aquifers – then in drought years there is more water available. Adjacent districts with full aquifers could then send water back to Santa Cruz when needed (‘water exchanges’). This approach means that water is not running out to sea, but rather being used instead of draining precious aquifer supplies. It hopefully helps to prevent sea water seeping into depleted aquifers, which is a growing concern. And because the water is stored underground, there is less evaporation which is important given climate change and rising temperatures. As the groundwater levels are restored, stream flows may improve which is important for the fish and ecosystem. In establishing their committee, the City of Santa Cruz took two extraordinary steps – not only did the council hand over water planning to people outside of the city government, but it did so to people who were not necessarily experts on the subject matter. The committee was supported by a panel of four experts, as well as a technical team who provided input on topics from geology to water modelling to law and econometrics, but decisions on final recommendations lay with the committee. According to some committee members, the expert facilitation of the process was key to its success. Professional facilitators spent a lot of time developing a shared vocabulary and helping the group to hear one another. A lot of input was also provided by a ‘convention’ that solicited over 50 community-generated ideas for addressing water supply. The committee met monthly, in the evenings, with food provided, which helped to provide a conducive atmosphere. The meetings were open to the public, who could also put forward ideas around water supply. What was clear initially was the committee agreed they wanted the city to be more water resilient but disagreed on how to get there. So they set about exploring water-related issues and different strategies. Historically, governments have borne the responsibility for drought management. However, as the scale of the challenge increases and as more attention has shifted to collaborative governance in managing natural resources, the ways of governing are changing. As more cities fall under water stress, the approaches in Cape Town and Santa Cruz demonstrate the value in engaging citizens and diverse stakeholders in environmental governance. Soliciting the viewpoints of people who live and invest in the community, in consultation with experts, has the potential to improve the robustness of urban drought governance. It helps to build trust between citizens and local government as well as provide the opportunity to hear multiple perspectives and co-develop resilient responses. Gina Ziervogel (ORCID) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She served on the  City of Cape Town Water Resilience Advisory Committee from 2017 to 2021. Prof Ziervogel’s Cape Town work was funded by AXA Research Fund, and research time in California was part of a Fulbright scholarship. No conflicts of interest were declared in relation to this article. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on June 22, 2022

From littered Bali beaches to sustainable tourism - 360 Sri Hastjarjo, Rutiana D. Wahyunengseh Published on September 7, 2022 Villagers in the island of Java set the rules for tourists visiting their area, working with the local government to help protect popular sites. At the foot of Mount Sindoro, a popular tourist site in Indonesia’s Central Java, locals set the rules for visitors. Break the rules and a fine of up to 1 million rupiah (US$67) applies, but if you can’t pay you might instead be asked to plant tree seeds. The Sindoro Mountain area is one of a growing number of the 1734 ‘desa wisata’ or rural tourist villages seeking to ensure sustainability for future generations of Indonesians. While initially aimed at increasing cross-sectoral income, promoting the local economy using local resources, desa wisata in Kebumen Regency and Temanggung Regency in Central Java are vulnerable to environmental damage from tourism. The Karangsembung Karangbolong Geopark Area (GKK) in Kebumen Regency is a large nature reserve area covering 117 villages. It has 41 geological sites, 10 cultural sites, and 8 biological sites. In 2017, the Government of Kebumen Regency issued a master plan for tourism development in the region with a focus on collaborative governance, and invited others to get involved. Since then they have brought many stakeholders together to help ensure sustainability. In one case Padjadjaran University conducted a summer programme bringing students from 12 countries to explore the GKK Area in 2019. In Temanggung Regency the  residents of Ngadimulyo Village set up the  Papringan Market in a disused bamboo forest. In this unique market, not only are all the buildings and ornaments made of bamboo, visitors are also required to use bamboo coins to shop there. The initiative aims to improve the welfare of local communities, boosting the local economy as well as delivering a tourist destination that is free of solid waste — especially plastic. Having attracted the attention of Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism, the location is now home to an  annual event bringing more economic benefit to the region.The event called Java Tantara is made up of three main cultural and historical-travelling activities: the Mountain Festival, the Daendels Run, and the Rally Truck Festival. These activities are held with the support of numerous regencies and cities in South, Central, and North Java. Tourism contributes around 4.1 percent to Indonesia’s annual GDP, but the Indonesian government is seeking to push this to 10-12 percent in the next 5-10 years. Tourism has multiplier effects for the Indonesian economy, increasing the income of local residents through culinary businesses, souvenirs, accommodation, transportation, and tour guiding. Tourism also generates spill-over effects into other sectors. But when the primary aim of tourism development is increased income, the end result can be overexploitation. Solid waste problems and environmental damage from industrial development in tourist destinations are real, but problems can also extend beyond the environment to issues such as theft, changes to the lifestyle of local residents and soaring property prices, as evidenced by one study in Yogyakarta. In Sumatra, Bukittinggi City has seen traffic congestion problems, increased CO2 emissions, and negative impacts on the biotic environment, such as extensive graffiti on trees and plants and visitors who give food carelessly to animals. And Bali, one of Indonesia’s leading destinations, was forced to declare  a “garbage emergency” on some of the most popular beaches for tourists after they became littered with plastic. As a result, responsible and sustainable tourism are gaining ground in Indonesia. Responsible tourism emphasises the role of tourists behaving according to the ethics and social norms that apply in the tourist destinations they visit. Sustainable tourism, according to the UN, “takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities”. It places more emphasis on the roles of policymakers and community leaders. Ultimately, sustainable tourism development must involve market regulation, but also factor in the behaviour of tourists and tourism industry players. Without the market there is no tourism sector, but without regulatory frameworks setting certain limits on growth there can be no sustainable tourism. Strong regulations and institutionalised rules will ring hollow if people are not sincerely willing to act and behave in responsible ways. Sri Hastjarjo is a researcher in the Journalism and Public Communication Research Group, the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Sebelas Maret University, Indonesia. His research interests are in journalism and community development, public communication, and impacts of new media to society. Rutiana D. Wahyunengeseh is a researcher in the Center for Regional Information and Development, the Institute for Research and Community Services, Sebelas Maret University, Indonesia. Her research interests are public policy, local government planning and budget, and issues related to SDGs in Indonesia. Both authors declare no conflict of interest and do not receive special funds in any form. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on September 7, 2022

Fungi could be the source of our next pandemic - 360 Oladele A. Ogunseitan Published on April 7, 2022 A focus on viruses as our next pandemic source may divert attention from other serious microbial threats. We know a lot about the benefits of fungi, including brewer’s yeast, mushrooms, Roquefort cheese and the production of antibiotics such as penicillin. But we know a lot less about the threats to global health posed by fungi, such as those that emerged or re-emerged during the current pandemic. COVID-19 raised international awareness of the threats posed by zoonotic viruses, which jump from animals to humans. But a singular focus on viruses risks diverting attention and resources away from other microbial threats, particularly pathogenic fungi. In mid-2021 reports emerged of serious fungal infections in patients with severe cases of COVID-19 and those recovering from the virus. Patients were diagnosed with respiratory infections from a mould called aspergillosis; invasive yeast infections; and, particularly in India, a serious but rare fungal infection, mucormycosis, which leads to prolonged severe illness and death. Fungi are among the most diverse and versatile organisms on our mouldy planet earth. In the southwestern United States, and in Central and South America, the fungal pathogen that causes Valley fever, coccidioidomycosis, has long been recognised as a threat to animals and people because it is very commonly found in soil. Cases of Valley fever have increased steadily in the southwestern United States, where it has been considered endemic for more than a decade. But the geographical scale of vulnerable populations is expanding as climate change enlarges the sandy desert zones where the fungus, Coccidioides immitis, grows. People develop Valley fever after they breathe in dust from soil that contains fungal spores. Climate change causes increasingly frequent droughts, which create more dust, and earthquakes building construction cause the dust to circulate more widely. Together, these factors increase people’s vulnerability to Valley fever. Ensuring people understand how climate change can impact their health is a key strategy in raising public awareness and motivating political action. The US state of California has been  a leading case study in investigating the pandemic threats posed by fungal pathogens, particularly the fungus that causes Valley Fever and its response to climate change. The availability of epidemiologic and climate data, and an understanding of the population’s social vulnerabilities to it, have helped raise public awareness and target at-risk groups. Candida auris, a multidrug-resistant yeast that causes invasive infection and death, poses one of the most urgent threats of a new pathogen-driven pandemic. It may be the first example of a new deadly pathogen emerging from human-induced climate change First identified in 2009, Candida auris is not known to be directly transmissible from person to person. But its persistence in environmental settings, on surfaces and on everyday objects shows that it is capable of spreading rapidly in hospital settings and natural ecosystems. Candida auris is an emerging poster pathogen for the One Health approach, which considers the influence of environments shared between humans and animals, and better coordination of local and international strategies for pandemic prevention and response. Strongly enforced restrictions on the use of antimicrobials (agents that kill microorganisms), such as antifungal treatments in agriculture; integrative surveillance of animal populations, human populations, and environmental systems; and a global health education that begins at community level can help break away from a cycle of fungal zoonotic diseases – particularly as human populations continue to grow against the backdrop of climate change. Oladele A. Ogunseitan is the UC Presidential Chair and Professor of Population Health and Disease Prevention at the University of California, Irvine. The author declares no conflict of interest. This article has been republished for World Zoonoses Day. It first appeared in our Changing climate, changing diseases package. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on April 7, 2022

Future food depends on the cutting edge - 360 Caitlin Byrt Published on October 31, 2022 This week, Australians across three states are mopping up after widespread flooding inundated vast areas. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has warned the impact might yet be felt by those farther afield: food prices, already suffering a series of shocks this year, are likely to climb. “There’s no doubt …the impact will feed into higher prices, most unfortunately at a time when inflation has already been rising,” he said. Climate change is causing temperature and rainfall conditions to become increasingly extreme, and this poses a significant threat to crop productivity and to all life as we know it. Droughts have increased by nearly a third in a generation and floods have increased four-fold since the 2000s. In just the last few months, flooding has hit the USA, Italy, Nigeria, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Increasingly hazardous storm events are occurring and this is predicted to worsen in the future. A two-degree increase in temperature has been associated with an 11 percent reduction in global wheat yield. Humans have been selectively breeding crop plants to improve productivity for around 10,000 years. This enabled creation of crops that produce greater yields, more nutritious and better-quality foods relative to wild ancestral plants. The selection of desirable plant characteristics that led to these types of improvements happened at a time when the climate was relatively moderate and stable compared to the conditions likely to be experienced in agricultural areas in the future. The current generation and many generations to come will face the extraordinary challenge of having to work out how to adapt food production systems to extreme climatic conditions, such as increasingly frequent and severe heatwaves, droughts, floods and storms. Science and innovation can contribute to buffering food systems from catastrophic losses. Protected agriculture, where crops are grown inside giant glasshouses, is one strategy to protect food production from extreme weather. But investment in these large and expensive systems is not always possible, and extreme storm events can destroy glasshouse facilities. Growing broadacre crop plants such as wheat and sorghum in protected systems would require extraordinarily large and prohibitively expensive facilities. Crop plants grown in the field will need to adapt to future climates. Some plants have evolved to withstand harsh conditions like hot dry deserts, salty oceans and frozen environments. Plants that can withstand extreme conditions or weather events contain genetic and physiological information that point to how plants could be designed and tailor engineered to better withstand extreme weather events. Across the globe there are plant science research teams working on finding and describing how plant genetics and physiology influence environmental stress tolerance. Editing of crop genomes can enable target genes to be optimised to adapt crops to challenging environments. Developing food crops that are resilient and productive in the face of extreme weather and assessing the social licence to test them requires expertise. People with these types of skills will be needed. Examples of cutting-edge tools and techniques include: genome engineering and gene-editing using CRISPR/Cas9 ; optimising creation of new plants using cutting-edge regeneration techniques or nanoparticles and using spray-on RNA to influence field-crop adaptation to stress. The next generation of crop biotechnologists require access to training that will enable them to develop more climate-resilient crops. Biotechnologists will need to assess how to adapt existing crops for future climates, and how to build new crops designed for the climatic conditions of the future. Demand for skilled biotechnologists is growing as biotechnology job growth outpaces other sectors. Simple life forms have been built synthetically revealing that in the future it may be possible to design and create more complex organisms, like plants. Plants are a critical resource. Ultimately, all life forms rely on plants as a source of food, water, medicine, air quality, habitat and for their positive influence on Earth’s environment. A modern understanding of the botanical world and working with the best available technology to improve it, in the same manner as humans for generations past, will be essential if we are to ensure humans’ welfare on this planet. Caitlin Byrt is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow at the Australian National University. She is the Deputy Director of Research with the Australian Research Council Training Centre for Future Crops Development. She is also is a director of Membrane Transporter Engineers Pty Ltd, a company who engineer technological solutions to membrane separation challenges. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on October 31, 2022

Futureproofing tourism via digitalisation - 360 Saidatulakmal Mohd Published on September 7, 2022 While traditional tourism has been the mainstay for many economies, smart tourism is the way forward post-COVID. COVID-19 is an opportunity to rethink tourism for the future — a shift from traditional tourism to adopting futuristic trends in the industry to ensure it’s resilient in future crises. The pandemic saw a 60 percent decline in international tourism in 2020, affecting millions of jobs, primarily those held by women and those in the informal economy. Global GDP also took a significant hit. The way forward may be through adopting smart tourism and smart destination strategies. Smart tourism is the evolution of traditional tourism and e-tourism, involving technology-driven innovation and extensive adoption of information and communication technology (ICT) and the internet of things (IoT). For example smart ticketing, smart security services, virtual reality tours and robot city guides. Nine European cities — Gothenburg, Malaga, Breda, Ljubljana, Karlsruhe, Helsinki, Lyon, Copenhagen and Linz — have been designated ‘smart tourism destinations’. Their smart tourism initiatives have improved these cities in ways that include access to infrastructure, transport, facilities and information. They have also focused on sustainability such as sustainable mobility, responsible usage of water and energy, urban planning, better data management for residents and visitors, and innovative local tourism development. Should large-scale travel and mobility be restricted again, augmented or virtual reality may offer tourists an alternative memorable and unique tourism experience. Greater investment in such digital technologies could have spillover effects on the economic development of these destinations. Augmented reality (AR) enables information to be superimposed via an interface onto the real world, integrating physical and virtual objects to create enhanced experiences. AR has been used in visitor attractions such as museums, art galleries, theme parks, and UNESCO sites. One example is the Archeoguide in Olympia, Greece, which has adopted AR to digitally reconstruct Greek heritage ruins. Digital technologies also allow for human capital development, upgrading the mostly low-skilled jobs that dominate the traditional tourism industry to higher-end jobs. Technological development enhances the innovation and competitiveness of tourism destinations for a more resilient and sustainable future. Importantly, designing and aligning tourism for digitisation ensures that the tourism destination is sustainable and resilient. Smart solutions and technologies such as IoT, artificial intelligence, big data, AR and blockchain technology allow cities to be more responsive in handling disasters and risks and also mitigate those risks to the tourism sector. For example, with free WiFi and big data, social networking platforms can provide up-to-date information on areas affected by disaster, disease and risks can flag to the authorities where to direct their resources, and flag to tourists where to avoid. Tourism is a driving force for local economic development and poverty reduction in both developed and developing economies. In 2019, the travel and tourism sector grew by 3.5 percent, outpacing the global economy’s 2.5 percent growth. For every job created in tourism, nearly 1.5 additional jobs are created elsewhere to support and sustain the industry. The industry can ill-afford any upheaval. Despite this, the tourism industry has long been recognised as one of the most vulnerable sectors to crises. Economic shocks, the environmental effects of climate change, political unrest, acts of terrorism, and epidemics are all detrimental to the industry. For example, the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak heavily impacted tourism in Asia. Approximately three million people in the tourism industries in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Singapore lost their jobs, resulting in GDP losses of over US$20 billion. Full recovery of the industry post-COVID is expected to be a lengthy process, with trends possibly returning to pre-pandemic levels only after 2024. Saidatulakmal Mohd is associate professor at the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia. She declares no conflict of interest with the above article. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on September 7, 2022

Gap years: Learning loss and COVID - 360 Tasha Wibawa Published on January 27, 2023 The class of 2020-2022 will forever be defined by COVID-19. The impact of the pandemic students and teachers continue to this day. The worst of the global pandemic may feel like it’s over for many, but for teachers, students and parents the disruption to children’s education systems has lingered. Teachers in Lebanon have been on strike over pay and working conditions since January 9, according to Save the Children, an international non-government organisation. All public schools across the country are reportedly closed, compounding the education crisis that is leaving an estimated one million children without education, said Save the Children. “I was heartbroken when our teachers told us the school will close due to the strike. It reminded me of the COVID-19 days and those weren’t fun times. Just like before, my days pass with nothing to do,” 11-year-old Jana (not her real name), from northern Lebanon told the charity. In Australia, government data released last month found national school attendance has progressively declined since the pandemic. The Australian federal education department estimates there will be a deficit of 4,000 high school teachers by 2025. It has committed AUD$328 million to stem the issue. The class of 2020-2022 will forever be defined by COVID-19 — a moment transforming a generation. Cracks in education systems widened into chasms as COVID-19 exposed the many inadequacies and inequities in our education systems. Learners in developing economies or in the most marginalised groups without access to digital learning resources or infrastructure are the most at risk of continuing to fall behind. As students around the world suffered from learning loss due to COVID-19, disadvantaged children in Australian schools bucked the trend, according to new figures from the University of Newcastle. Jennifer Gore, Director of the Teachers and Teaching Research Centre at the University, said it could be attributed to government-funded COVID-intensive learning support programs. “Positive academic results for Australian students during the pandemic could also be attributed to the strict focus on literacy and numeracy in primary schools when students returned after periods of remote learning,” she said. However, “this ‘back to basics’ focus to the exclusion of sports, assemblies, excursions and other extracurricular activities had detrimental effects on student and teacher wellbeing.” In the United States, researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio found the role of school principals to be crucial to students’ emotional wellbeing. “Over 80 percent of American schools report ongoing problems with students’ social-emotional wellbeing, including increased misconduct, disrespect to staff and use of prohibited electronic devices,” associate professor Nathern Okilwa and professor emeritus Bruce Barnett, said. “There is chronic absenteeism and heightened anxiety, depression and social withdrawal observed in students of all ages.” They said re-engaging students and families was critical to get them back to school. This includes providing adequate counselling support, loaning technical resources and even motivational parades to keep spirits up. Millions of children in India may never return to school following the severe disruptions of rolling COVID-19 lockdowns. Online teaching was not a viable option across a country with a significant digital divide. Research showed parents tended to prioritise older children over younger children in access to resources for learning when they were limited by the number of available devices and bandwidth caps,” assistant professor Dipanjan Chakraborty from BITS Pilani said. “Policy needs to work towards ‘digital welfarism’ which improves quality of access to the extent of making it a basic necessity and improving human capabilities to use digital platforms.” But it can never replace face-to-face schooling, he added. Editors Note: In the story “Gap years: Learning loss and COVID” sent at: 23/01/2023 09:31. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on January 27, 2023

Garbage went up as homes were locked down - 360 Gabriel Andari Kristanto Published on June 15, 2022 As locked-down citizens plodded through COVID with their home-delivered meals, a new waste stream was created. It’s time to start cleaning it up Netflix and takeaway food became the go-to in many countries during the pandemic. Faced with extended lockdowns, people hunkered down with a good series and some chow. But the effect of all that takeaway was felt in landfills around the world. In the United States, waste-management association SWANA estimated the volume of residential waste had increased by 20 percent, in part due to online delivery services. In Japan, the city of Tokyo experienced a 3.1 percent increase in household waste. Waste from food production – agriculture, processing and distribution – tends to be regulated. Packaging regulations aim for food protection or increased storage times. Food producers weigh up economic and commercial considerations to avoid excessive use of materials. But packaging in the online delivery system has no standards, especially in developing economies. As takeaway apps grow increasingly common, many countries face new environmental challenges. Online food orders generate waste at the restaurant from the original packaging. Then during delivery, vendors often pack the food with extra layers to ensure consumers receive their order with consistent quality and quantity. These extra layers can be cardboard boxes, styrofoam, plastic bags, bubble wrap, plastic boxes, and tape. They may or may not be recyclable. Despite the media excitement about electric vehicles, these represent less than 5 percentof the global vehicle fleet. As a result, home delivery often depends on fossil-fuel-powered vehicles. The greater the distance between consumer and vendor, the greater the carbon footprint of food delivery. Food and packaging waste consists of organic components – mostly food scraps – and inorganic components. The inorganic part is plastic in various sizes and types, often with colours, stickers, adhesives or other labels. Despite being an organic material, cardboard is often categorised as inorganic. People with traditional lifestyles in remote areas are more likely to produce organic waste than those in urban areas living on higher incomes. Waste from urban areas tends to have more inorganic content. The complexity of plastic waste often causes problems in recycling and waste processing. Identifying and separating the various kinds of plastic and managing their different recyclabilities is challenging. The easiest solution in many parts of the world is to send it straight to landfill. Integrated waste management is the vital lesson for food waste and its packaging: waste must be managed from source to landfill. Various waste-treatment technologies are available, but waste avoidance or reduction is the best choice. For example, reducing food packaging for online deliveries can be done by implementing standards and education for food producers and packaging companies. The discovery of new materials can also help reduce food and packaging waste. Recycling is critical because the waste in the food production and delivery system is mostly plastic and paper. Cooperation between residents and various franchises, delivery services and food vendors will encourage waste to be separated appropriately. Waste-collection points can be an effective solution. At collection points the plastic and paper waste has less contamination from the food, which remains at home. Separating waste improves options for waste processing further down the line. In developing economies, informal kinds of work can become essential. Garbage pickers in Indonesia, for example, can recycle nearly 50 kilograms of waste per day, making a monthly income of US$92. Studies suggest garbage pickers should be part of the formal waste-management system to increase recycling, minimise environmental impact, and improve social welfare. Reducing food loss, food waste and packaging can alleviate the global food imbalance, feed hungry people, and reduce disposal expenses, energy costs, and food production and labour costs. As the world emerges from the pandemic, these are issues that need to be tackled. Gabriel Andari Kristanto is a lecturer in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Indonesia, and teaches on air pollution, waste to energy, emissions control and environmental chemistry. Her research interests are in air pollution and solid-waste management.  She declares no conflict of interest and is not receiving specific funding in any form. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “The wrap on food waste” sent at: 13/06/2022 11:34. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on June 15, 2022

Gaslighting doctors make it harder for women with long COVID - 360 Gülcan Garip Published on February 21, 2024 Medical misogyny and gaslighting is having an impact on women seeking medical support for long COVID symptoms. For middle-aged women, long COVID is a difficult enough condition to endure as it is without having to put up with gaslighting — having their symptoms diminished or dismissed — by doctors when they seek treatment. One study of women seeking medical attention for long COVID revealed the impact of medical misogyny and gaslighting on middle-aged women’s confidence and wellbeing as they accessed medical support for their long COVID symptoms. “GPs weren’t helpful at all, not at all and said: ‘Are you sure it’s not anxiety?'” one woman in her late 50s told researchers. “I’ve never suffered from anxiety, and I still don’t.” Another woman, aged 50, found doctor appointments to be invalidating: “The doctors cannot help you. They actually make you worse because they make your stress worse by saying it’s in your head.” Long COVID usually develops three months after the initial infection. Symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, cognitive dysfunction and around 200 others, last at least two months. There are no specific treatments or vaccines. Up to 20 percent of people infected with COVID-19 may develop long COVID. The research came about because there was a gap in knowledge of how women who developed long COVID during the first wave of COVID — from March 2020 — were managing their symptoms. Nine women, eight from England and one from Poland, discussed their medical care, which they reported as mostly being negative. Medical gaslighting is the process of diminishing or dismissing the physical or mental health symptoms of a patient by a healthcare provider. A patient may be told their symptoms are in their head or given a vague explanation leaving them without a treatment plan or diagnosis. The women reported being mistreated when attempting to ask for medical support for their long COVID symptoms. They also felt  their health concerns were not being prioritised or taken seriously. One woman who had attended a long COVID clinic, said she noticed sexist, ageist and discriminatory assumptions were made about her being a woman over 40 — with healthcare providers assuming her symptoms were due to menopause. Her experience is an example of gaslighting — which can involve doctors telling a patient their symptoms are in their head, giving a vague explanation, and leaving them without a treatment plan or diagnosis. Gaslighting can also lead to genuine symptoms and diagnoses being overlooked because medical staff dismiss women as emotional, dramatic and “hysterical”. There is a long history of women’s health care being classified as hysteria – although the diagnosis has now been replaced with “medically unexplained symptoms”. This label has been applied to unexplainable and chronic health conditions in women’s health care such as chronic fatigue syndrome and long COVID. Some research papers point to medical misogyny as they highlight the many ways in which women who experience pain are often viewed by the medical establishment as hysterical, malingerers, not helping themselves to get better or fabricating the pain. One woman in the study pointed to language used in scientific research as an example of these sexist assumptions. “You have some people who are studying long COVID, usually, unfortunately from the psychological side, will start talking about things like neurasthenia or hysteria,” said the woman, in her late 40s. “This is very misogynist language.” Eliminating medical misogyny and medical gaslighting is no small feat, but there are some obvious places to start. As medical research is mostly based on male biology in clinical studies, researchers can play a key role by including more women in their studies. Offering mindfulness interventions may support women with long COVID. While not a cure, mindfulness can play a role in helping sufferers manage debilitating symptoms including fatigue and unrefreshing sleep. Crucially, doctors can also commit to listening to female patients. Women know their own bodies and when something feels off. It can be empowering for a woman to trust their instinct and to advocate for their health and to ask for a second opinion when necessary. This research suggests all healthcare providers need to validate women’s health concerns when they are trying to access care for long COVID. This would reduce discrimination and misogynistic practices, as well as helping women access the support they need. Additional reporting and contributions by Disa Collier, a telephone and online counsellor, qualitative researcher with interests in long COVID, the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health, and chronic health conditions, and an alumnus of the University of Derby’s MSc Psychology programme. The research was conducted as part of Disa’s MSc psychology degree. Dr Gülcan Garip is a Health and Care Professions Council registered health psychologist, chartered psychologist with the British Psychological Society and the programme co-lead for the MSc Psychology programme at the University of Derby. Dr Garip is a senior fellow of the Higher Education Academy and supervised Disa’s MSc Psychology research project. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on February 21, 2024

Gates, Fauci and the NWO: inside Australia’s far-right silos - 360 Mario Peucker Published on February 14, 2022 Misinformation has found a home with conspiracy theorists, some exploiting political divisions and others convinced of its truth. A global cabal of elites seek to ‘depopulate and control the world’, breaking down Western (or white) civilisation: so goes the long-lasting New World Order conspiracy theory proving resilient in the face of COVID-19. Misinformation helps such conspiracy theories to thrive. What’s less clear is why people spend time and effort over an extended period posting conspiracy-related content to communities that agree. People spread misinformation for a range of reasons. Some intentionally mislead, while others are driven by their genuine belief in what they consider to be the truth. Sharing misinformation may be an attempt to convert others to their ‘truth’, while for others it’s to reassure their sense of belonging to a like-minded community, characterised by much broader ideological worldviews. This analysis came from an extensive analysis of the political fringe actors in Australia and their online messaging. The study, undertaken by Victoria University in partnership with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, explored both radical-left and far-right online mobilisation (and the interplay between both). But this article focuses only on the far-right, for one reason: the analysis did not uncover examples of misinformation from the far-left. The analysis encompassed around 19,000 posts on 50 far-right Facebook pages and groups between January and July 2020; 142,000 tweets posted between January 2016 and May 2021 on 57 far-right Twitter accounts; and 45,000 posts from 40 accounts on the fringe platform Gab from January to September 2020. Topics related to COVID-19 — such as vaccinations and lockdown restrictions — dominated posting across all three platforms. Around 13 percent of the posts on Gab were about COVID-19, with a further 4 percent related to lockdown measures in Australia — far-right messaging across Facebook and Twitter were dominated by the same issues during the period. Misinformation was a common element of these far-right online posts, especially in calls to agitate against public health orders. But in these online environments, a dissenting voice was rare. In these digital silos, converting others or providing enlightenment does not appear to be the aim. Rather, misinformation about COVID-19 is often incorporated into a more comprehensive far-right ideological narrative. Online messaging weaponises misinformation and distortions of the truth, as reported by mainstream media or hyper-partisan fringe sources. The weaponised information conveys and promotes far-right messages of nativism or ethno-nationalism, racism and alleged conspiracies. Misinformation about public health measures is often used to highlight the threat of the alleged New World Order plot — arguing, for example, that lockdown restrictions have been established to usher in a totalitarian tyrannic regime or that vaccines would kill. References to tech magnate Bill Gates, US Chief Medical Advisor Anthony Fauci, the World Economic Forum or the World Health Organization as powerful players are offered up as proof for such conspiracies. The following Gab posts illustrate this: “Coronavirus is an obvious scam to anyone paying attention”, or “The only reasons to keep this fear…going are political. They want to turn the west into a satanic Marxist hellhole and inject everyone with Gates swamp juice.” In many instances, misinformation related to COVID-19 was shared to racially attack minority groups, most commonly Chinese and Muslim communities, and international students. Here, the purpose of misinformation appeared primarily driven by the prevalent racist and Islamophobic agenda within these far-right online communities. A secondary purpose motivates sharing misinformation regarding COVID-19 and other events (such as Black Lives Matter and climate change) in a larger far-right ideological message. Since the audience of their posts in these far-right environments do not need to be converted to their version of the “truth”, their message instead becomes a statement of group identity — a claim of belonging to the community that has not fallen for “brainwashing” of the “evil” globalist forces. Factually incorrect information and conspiracies becomes the glue that holds this counter-hegemonic community together, providing them with a sense of superiority, belonging and respect among themselves. These far-right online spaces sometimes spill into mainstream discussion, as seen with COVID-19 misinformation. They can also create and deepen social polarisation, resulting in what sociologist Mark Davis called “anti-publics” — where there is no interest in deliberation or rational exchange of different views or opinions. Tackling socially harmful conspiratorial misinformation requires a solid understanding of the psychological and social factors that make alternative truths appealing. Only then, can nuanced strategies be developed to prevent more people falling down misinformation rabbit-holes — and, possibly, restoring a space where robust public debate can replace ideologically parallel communities. Dr. Mario Peucker is a senior research fellow at the Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities at Victoria University. He is also an Executive Member of the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies. He has published five books, and numerous reports, book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals, such as Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Politics and Religion, Ethnic and Racial Studies and Australian Journal of Political Science. Dr. Peucker disclosed no conflicts of interest. Dr. Peucker’s research has received funding by the Victorian state government, through its funding of the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies (RIS). This article was first published on February 14, 2022. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on February 14, 2022

Gaza's invisible massacre: aid workers killed in record numbers - 360 Sophia Dawkins, Michael Spagat Published on May 15, 2024 The vast majority of humanitarians killed are national staff, but as in most conflicts, little is heard about them. On April 1, 2024, an Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen. Six of the seven were foreigners — Australian, British, Polish and Canadian-US citizens. One was Palestinian. Their deaths sparked a media barrage and diplomatic outrage around the world. The victims were named and profiled in news stories. World leaders made statements condemning the attack and demanding better protection of humanitarian workers. Three months earlier, two observers — and nobody else the authors could find — posted on X that the Israeli military had killed seven Palestinians who were distributing flour: Today at the Nabulsi roundabout on the sea, the occupation killed 7 police officers who were on the mission of securing flour trucks distributed to shelter schools in Gaza. Israeli military gunned down 7 civil servants at Nabulsi junction on the coastal road who were on the mission of securing flour trucks designed to be distributed to schools where IDP [internally displaced people] are sheltering in the city. Monitoring group Insecurity Insight entered this event into its Aid in Danger database, which tracks violent incidents affecting aid workers. Yet it seems that no media outlet set out to verify and elaborate on this story — not a trace of it could be found on either Google or the Nexis Uni database. Which raises a simple and important question: Who were these seven anonymous people who were killed? These two examples reveal the sharp disparity in the treatment of national versus international aid workers. Although both groups were working to provide aid under similar circumstances in the same conflict, the response to these killings could not be more different. The rules of war require fighting forces to respect and protect humanitarian aid workers. Despite the long-standing conventions of international humanitarian law, aid workers continue to be killed and injured in conflict zones, either by misfortune or because they are directly targeted by fighting forces. Those who bear the brunt of protection failures are national aid workers — people providing emergency relief to their own communities and compatriots. National aid staff are killed at 10 times the rate of their international counterparts, wounded nine times more often and kidnapped five times more frequently. Media reports of aid workers killed in a conflict can send a clear signal to the world that observance of the laws of war is crumbling. Yet such reports are rare — especially when those killed are exclusively national workers. The war in Gaza has no 21st-century precedent that can approach the sheer carnage it has brought on humanitarians. More than 200 aid workers have been killed in seven months — exceeding the total number killed in the entire world in any year in the past two decades. But in two other crucial respects, it fits the patterns that have been established across recent conflict settings, from Afghanistan to South Sudan. First, according to the two leading datasets in the field — compiled by the Aid Worker Security Database and Insecurity Insight — the numbers of national aid workers killed and injured are more than 10 times the corresponding numbers for international aid workers. Second, media attention focuses overwhelmingly on the killings of international aid workers. Aid worker killings generally receive little media attention. The Aid Worker Security Database has recorded 23 precisely dated events since 1996 in which belligerents killed seven or more aid workers. Nexis Uni yielded just zero to four media mentions for 14 of them — a miniscule level of attention. Six incidents were found with somewhat higher media coverage of 9-13 reports. The targets and scale of these attacks suggest why they received greater coverage: six French citizens killed (Niger); a UN facility attacked (Nigeria); 17 nationals massacred while working for a French NGO (Sri Lanka); a death toll of 10, plus 16 injuries, for a charity closely associated with Princess Diana (Afghanistan); and an attack on a Czech NGO. Attacks on hospitals run by Médecins Sans Frontières in Afghanistan (14 deaths) and Syria (9 deaths) drew more than 20 and 50 media reports, respectively. The 2003 bombing of the UN headquarters in the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, killing 22 people — including UN Special Representative Sergio Vieira de Mello and many Iraqi and international UN staff — generated dozens of media reports. And the date, August 19, came to be commemorated as World Humanitarian Day. But nothing can compare to the several thousand media reports around the World Central Kitchen incident. It seems that most media coverage of attacks on aid workers is only likely to extend beyond the trivial if those targeted work either for the UN — which means the attack violates diplomatic protocols — or for a Western NGO that loudly condemns the incident. The killing of international staff amplifies a story. On occasion, determined NGOs and the UN have been able to break through the media barrier, at least to some extent, following attacks in Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Syria and Afghanistan (three separate attacks) without any deaths of international workers. But the question remains: Why did the attack that killed the World Central Kitchen workers generate such enormous coverage? After all, internationals have died in equal or greater numbers on other occasions, with far less attention. Perhaps the relentless tally of civilian deaths in Gaza, including humanitarians, pushed Western publics to a tipping point. But what of the Palestinians distributing flour? And what of the many other humanitarian workers who die anonymously? News is a competitive business. For most media houses, profit models demand that journalists report on what they believe the public will read or watch. But lest we forget, national aid workers bear great — if rarely newsworthy — risks in the line of fire, and maybe it’s time to demand more news of their fates. [Data underlying this article can be accessed here.] Dr Sophia Dawkins is Associate Fellow with the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation, King’s College London, and Fellow at the Centre on Armed Groups. With a PhD in Political Science from Yale University, she has worked for 14 years in humanitarian practice. Dr Michael Spagat is a professor of economics at Royal Holloway University of London, the Chair of Every Casualty Counts and former Chair of Action on Armed Violence. He has written widely on the quantitative analysis of war. Dr Spagat is the chair of Every Casualty Counts and Insecurity Insight, which provided data that we used in the article, is a member of ECC’s Casualty Recorders Network. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Gaza conflict” sent at: 13/05/2024 09:00. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on May 15, 2024

Gene editing has arrived - 360 Merlin Crossley Published on December 20, 2023 The UK and US have both approved a gene editing therapy to overcome the genetic mutation that causes sickle cell disease, but the treatment is expensive. A new gene therapy has just been approved as a treatment for the inherited blood disease, sickle cell disease, in the UK and the US. What makes this therapy unique is that it uses a gene-editing technology known as CRISPR, which allows for precise and efficient editing of the genetic code. But this doesn’t mean human gene modification is about to go viral. Rather, this is a safe and sensible technology that has the power to help the 300,000 babies born with sickle cell disease each year and the nearly 10 million people estimated to suffer from this genetic disorder globally. That’s if patients can access the treatment and if ways are found to cover the high up-front costs of more than USD$2 million per patient. CRISPR is one of the latest big things in DNA research, since it emerged just over a decade ago. Scientists realised that DNA was a double helix in the 1950s, they could read or sequence genes by the 1970s, and now we are using CRISPR to actually write the genetic code. However, don’t expect designer babies or an attack of the clones anytime soon. Sickle cell disease is caused by a single letter misspelling — think of it like a critical typo — in the gene encoding adult globin, a component of hemoglobin, a molecule found in red blood cells that is important for carrying oxygen to the muscles and tissues throughout your body. This genetic mutation or misspelling affects the configuration of the adult globin molecules, causing them to stick together and form long chains that can change the shape of red blood cells — making them look like sickles. The cells block narrow blood vessels and damage tissues — virtually every tissue. Patients suffer from pain and eventual organ failure. While the symptoms of sickle cell disease can be managed in part through various medications, via blood transfusions, and in some cases by bone marrow transplants from matched siblings, limitations in the feasibility and efficacy of these treatments meant that scientists have continued to search for a proper cure. First generation CRISPR technologies — and this is the first — allow us to cut the double helix DNA molecule in whatever location, in any gene or in regions between genes, that we choose. Then natural DNA repair processes in the cell stitch the ends together, usually making a small deletion, just as tying a knot in a piece of string might. First generation techniques cannot efficiently correct spelling mistakes, they just make deletions and in effect rub out words. While this technique couldn’t correct the genetic typo causing sickle cell disease, it addressed the root cause of the disease in another way. Researchers — and I’m one of them — who had been investigating the biology of globin genes for decades had noted that some people with the sickle cell disease mutation were virtually free of symptoms, because another gene saved them. They were expressing a ‘super’ globin, fetal globin that binds oxygen tightly and allows babies to draw oxygen from their mother’s blood when in utero. Usually this gene is turned off at birth but a few people keep it on. It can stand in for the mutant adult globin gene. Remarkably, these people are just fine. They are walking around, living normal lives. They just have a second mutation that stops the ‘super globin’ fetal globin gene from being turned off. The new therapy mimics the mutations in these people. It involves cutting and destroying one key DNA sequence to keep fetal globin on. So fetal globin does its job and the symptoms of sickle cell disease go away. If that sounds complicated, that’s because it is. Instead of correcting the mutation, researchers have knocked out the off-switch of a different gene to turn that gene on, and that super globin is curing the disease. It’s a double negative. Researchers took this convoluted route for two reasons. First, sickle cell disease is just one of a hundred or more highly related disorders caused by different mutations that affect the production or function of adult globin. This approach represents a universal cure — researchers don’t have to design CRISPR strategies to correct all the different mutations. Second, while, as you may have heard, CRISPR can correct mutations efficiently in the lab, it turns out that making corrections with first generation CRISPR is not very efficient in blood stem cells. Newer gene-editing approaches are also being developed. For example, base editing enables some misspellings of the four DNA bases — the chemical building blocks of DNA, adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine, commonly represented as A, C, G and T respectively — to be corrected but the chemistry of DNA is such that one cannot yet change every letter into every other letter. Another technique, called prime editing, should be like ‘find and replace’ in a word processing program, but we don’t know if it is efficient enough for gene therapy yet. Even if it is, that doesn’t mean people will start building brand new people or superhuman soldiers. The human genome is like a city. Think of the sickle cell disease mutation as a pothole that blocks a road. At present we are fixing the road block by just knocking down a gate, so traffic can get round via an alternative track — the fetal globin route. Even if base editing and prime editing work, all we’ll be doing is repairing a road here and there. This therapy involves taking blood stem cells from patients, modifying them, and putting them back. It’s complicated, that’s why it is an expensive treatment. But families are not changed genetically, there are no mothers carrying mutant embryos. It is ‘opt in’ for the patient. It will occur one patient at a time and cannot ‘go viral’. Perhaps one day we will have to sit down to discuss human modification, but for now we are fixing potholes that affect the blood of some people. A small thing for humanity perhaps, but a huge change for those with this lifelong genetic disease. Professor Merlin Crossley is Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Quality and a professor of molecular biology at UNSW. His lab works on CRISPR gene editing to treat inherited blood diseases. Professor Crossley’s research on sickle cell disease and gene editing were funded by grants from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Professor Crossley also receives funding via an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with CSL Behring. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 20, 2023

Generational change and ageing populations - 360 Shahirah Hamid Published on October 1, 2023 Countries worldwide are grappling with the challenges of an ageing population. So how do we come up with solutions and measures to address this age-old problem? People are living longer, well beyond 60. In less than seven years, one in six people will be 60 or older. By 2050, this will double, leaving 2.1 billion over 60, with 426 million aged 80 and above. Countries worldwide grapple with the challenges of ageing populations. Japan and Italy, though geographically distant, share this trend, emphasising evolving welfare systems. Japan leads with over one in ten aged 80 or older and nearly 29 percent aged 65 or older. Singapore, recognised for proactive governance, faces the dual challenge of ageing demographics and declining fertility rates, despite progressive policies. Hong Kong focuses on reintegrating secluded youth into society, fostering a sense of belonging among disengaged young individuals for its ageing population. India confronts an ageing population and the demand for quality elderly care, witnessing a rise in elderly care homes and assisted living spaces. Australia embarks on an innovative journey to reform its aged care sector, enhancing the lives of older people while redefining retirement. In an evolving workforce, older employees embrace online learning to remain relevant in a digital era. As technology advances, intelligent virtual human companions emerge as potential caregivers for the elderly, presenting a new frontier in elderly care, accompanied by ethical and practical challenges. On the 75th anniversary of the proclamation of the International Day of Older Persons, celebrated on 1 October, 360info is looking at how nations are preparing for their growing ageing populations, addressing age-friendly solutions, its implications and how to best serve their elderly citizens. Editors Note: In the story “Generational change” sent at: 28/09/2023 07:17. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on October 1, 2023

Genetic discrimination and the ghost of the future past - 360 Yann Joly Published on February 28, 2023 Unless people are brought into conversations about genetic discrimination dystopian scenarios may come to pass. In 1981, Marvel Comics released a storyline in the Uncanny X-Men series, entitled Days of the Future Past. In its dystopian future, a race called mutants, carriers of unique genetic variations, are hunted by giant robots and incarcerated in concentration camps. It was an extravagant tale of science fiction — later made into a Hollywood blockbuster — that kids all over the world read with delight. But in 2023, we are entering an era where sequencing individuals’ genomes for health or identification purposes is becoming routine. The benefits are numerous, from public health to disease prevention and personalised medicine. But can genetic information also be used to discriminate between individuals and oppress vulnerable population groups as in Days of the Future Past? Interestingly, the first genetic discrimination predates Days of the Future Past. In the late 1970s mandatory genetic screening programmes for sickle cell disease (a group of inherited blood disorders) in the US adversely impacted members of the Black population who were not able to gain employment or medical insurance following a positive test result. While given a high profile in the media, such incidents and related ones involving rare genetic conditions have been relatively uncommon due to technological limitations and poor knowledge of the genome. The structure of the DNA molecule was revealed 70 years ago this week. The first outline of the human genome was published 23 years ago, and details filled continually. Now, genome science and technologies are offering up terabytes of data and, revisiting Days of the Future Past, it is difficult to prevent a feeling of discomfort from surfacing. Existing surveys on genetic discrimination are too disparate and limited in scope to enable any meaningful assessment of its prevalence. But the available evidence does show that genetic discrimination exists and that it mostly occurs to people with a mutation on a single gene, predisposing them to late onset, serious disorders (for example, Huntington’s disease). Laws have been adopted in North America, western Europe and in some other countries to prevent such discrimination. However these laws are struggling to keep pace with technological advances in the study of genes and DNA. Because of the exponential growth of research databases and direct-to-consumer genetic services, a major challenge is that genomic data has become increasingly accessible and easier to link to individuals. Indeed, genetic information from most individuals, or a relative, of European ancestry is already available somewhere in a genetic database. Genomics is becoming increasingly useful for healthcare in areas such as pandemic prevention, development of precision therapeutics and complex diseases that involve the interaction of multiple genes and environmental factors. These are new uses and it is uncertain whether these are covered by the non-discrimination laws that were adopted decades before genomic medicine became omnipresent. Genetic discrimination, like other types of discrimination, also remains hard to prevent in practice. For example, most laws focus on preventing discrimination are based on genetic test results. So some insurance companies will instead ask whether a person has been advised to see a clinical geneticist or a genetic counsellor, which is not illegal. They use this as a go-around for underwriting purposes. The case law in at least one country, Denmark, has recognised the validity of such enquiries, casting a large shadow on the extent of protection provided by existing genetic non-discrimination laws. Another sensitive area, overlooked until recently, is the use of genetic information by national governments and their agencies. A person’s DNA profile is a rich source of information on individuals’ ancestry, identity and health. Governments are increasingly seeking to use it in areas such as national security, crime prevention, immigration, and the provision of public health services. In many of these circumstances, governments’ use of genetic information will be conducive to the public good. But only if it is regulated by transparent and robust governance frameworks respectful of human rights and medical ethics. In several countries, including the US, Canada and Germany, government agencies have tried to use genetic data for public good and it led to incidents of discrimination and stigmatisation. Such incidents, if they continue, could have the effect of stigmatising genetic information and weakening public trust in genomic research. Particularly worrisome is that several governments, including Kuwait and China, have envisioned a national database that would include the genetic profile of all citizens of the country, or whole population groups, to facilitate surveillance and crime prevention. Such scenarios open the door to the dystopian societies such as the one described in Days of the future past. Given the current national approaches at stopping genetic discrimination have largely been ineffective, an international Genetic Discrimination Observatory was established in 2018 to identify and prevent genetic discrimination worldwide through multidisciplinary collaborative research, policymaking, tool development and advocacy. More efficient and affordable genetic screening carries the potential for significant improvements in healthcare. However improvements will only be achieved if individuals across the world have sufficient confidence that their information will not be abused. is the research director of the Centre of Genomics and Policy (CGP). He is a full professor at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Department of Human Genetics at McGill University. He created the world’s first international Genetic Discrimination Observatory (GDO) in 2018. The research for this article was undertaken with financial assistance from Genome Canada. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on February 28, 2023

Georgia protests mark Russia's new frontline with the west - 360 Nick Baigent Published on May 14, 2024 Georgians are flooding the street night after night to protest Russian power over its politics as hopes of a European future begin to fade. Protests against the Georgian government are occurring nightly in the capital Tbilisi. The protests are in response to the government attempting to railroad the “Transparency of Foreign Influence” bill through parliament directed at increasing transparency within NGOs. The law would see Georgia increasingly move away from a path towards European Union membership and instead towards an allegiance with Russia. In protest, the bill is often referred to as “the Russian Law”. The bill, also known as ‘The Foreign Agents Law’, was first tabled in 2023, but was meet with large protests that suspended law-makers’ efforts. On its surface the ambitions of the bill may sound positive, but there are significant fears about what it signals for Georgia as a society and nation moving forward. The bill mirrors a similar law change in Russia in July 2022 which allowed the Kremlin to further crack down on civil society and NGOs critical of the government. In Georgia this would be especially significant given the amount of funding that NGOs receive from abroad. The prospect of the government adopting this law has sparked controversy because the law signals that the country’s ruling party “Georgian Dream” and the billionaire oligarch who founded it and is widely considered to still control it, Bidzina Ivanishvili, is changing the course of Georgia. However, it is important to understand that the protests against the bill are not occurring in a vacuum. They are part of an ongoing struggle between the government and what can broadly be described as the urban population ,specifically in the capital Tbilisi. There is also a clear youth element to the protests, youth that predominately resides in urban areas. Protests are common and have a potent history in Georgian society. Protest is not uncommon and success is not infrequent. Georgia’s history of protest dates back to the heyday of the Soviet Union. In 1978 there were mass protests against attempts by the USSR to drop Georgian as the national language. The government backed down. In the late 1980s nationalist mobilisation became increasingly prominent in Georgia. In 2003 protests started that would ultimately bring about the Rose Revolution and the emergence of Mikheil Saakashvili as the country’s new liberal president. In 2009 Saakashvili faced large protests that took the form of tent encampments along Tblisi’s main street Rustaveli Avenue due to accusations from TV personalities that he was becoming increasingly authoritarian. These current protests have their roots in events in 2019. People took to the streets after a Russian Member of parliament ,Sergi Gavrilov, addressed a gathering of Orthodox priests in Parliament from the Parliamentary Speakers chair. People were outraged with a Russian MP speaking from such a symbolic position of power. Reports of Gavrilov’s involvement in the Abkhazian conflict in the 1990s compounded anger, although Gavrilove denies involvement . The Abkhazia conflict led to a de-facto state that exists within, but separated from, Georgia that is supported and protected by Russia. Gavrilov’s actions saw thousands take to the streets and events eventually turning violent with police firing rubber bullets, tear gas, and beating protesters. protests, similar to now, became nightly. While Russian presence in the Georgian government sparked these protests, efforts eventually turned towards ensuring democratic reform within Georgia. Some protester demands were met. The most prominent was a promise to switch to a fully proportional electoral system. Months after this the government backtracked on the timeline for implementation of the reforms. This restarted protests of a similar scale. Again, protests saw confrontation with police and violence. In October this year, the first election that will be held under this electoral system takes place. However, between the promise of reforms and this election many other protests have emerged in the country challenging the legitimacy and vision of the government. In 2021 the anti-Namakhvani hydropower plant movement captured national attention and saw massive protests in Tbilisi and Kutaisi challenging the economic and environmental vision of the current government. These protests soon gave way to a planned LGBTQ+ march that resulted in the conservative nation seeing counter protests emerge that resulted in the storming of Pride HQ and the beating of a cameraman. This in turn gave rise to solidarity rallies emerging in front of the government once more. The first attempt to get the foreign agents law passed in 2023 resulted in backtracking from the government and suspension of attempts to get the bill passed. However, now the government appears primed to push the bill through no matter the level of protest. The question becomes what will this anti-government sentiment do to impact the upcoming elections, or before While this current movement may yet render a unified front of opposition to the Georgian Dream party, it is yet to do so. Georgian opposition is fragmented as is its society. While there is widespread dissatisfaction with the government there is lack of unity in agreement as to what the future should look like. It is important to also note that the goal of the current protests are aimed at getting the bill implementation process stopped, not to change the government. The events around the LGBTQ+ march in July 2021 are indicative of this split. Prior to this significant solidarity had been displayed by the LGBTQ+ community and the anti-Namakhvani HPP movement. However, when focus flipped some members of the anti-Namakhvani HPP movement were instrumental in organising the anti-pride march that resulted in the storming and destruction of Pride HQ. Most in each movement are dissatisfied with the government, yet the visions of the future remain splintered. This is an extreme example but speaks to a more widespread distance that exists amongst the population across the country, not just within the urban circles of Tbilisi. As it stands there are myriad political parties that draw low levels of support across the nation, splintering opposition and paving the way for Georgian Dream success. Reports of election tampering over the years have been minimal and Georgian elections have been deemed to be free and fair. Whether or not this continues is yet to be seen but as it stands today less interference might be necessary than on lookers may assume. Nick Baigent is a PhD candidate in the Global Political Studies Department of Malmo University, his work is focused on how local populations resist international development. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on May 14, 2024

Giving rights to nature will not stop environmental damage - 360 Peter Burdon Published on January 6, 2023 In November 2022 the Irish Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss recommended to government that protecting the environment should be recognised in the constitution. If successful, Ireland will follow Ecuador in recognising rights for nature at the highest level. Meanwhile in the United States, dozens of communities have ratified rights of nature at local government level and New Zealand recognises the Whanganui River as a “indivisible and living whole” with its own personhood. It is not difficult to understand the appeal of rights of nature. For many advocates it is an “idea whose time has come” and it inspires us to think about what form a radical shift in our legal relationship to nature may take. The best example is from Christopher Stone whose 1972 article “Should Trees Have Standing?”  was almost single handedly responsible for planting the seed of the idea. According to Stone, it first came to him in the final moments of a lecture on property law. He noted that, like human culture, property law is evolving and has progressed through different stages of development. Some humans were once considered property; the types of things that can be owned and what ownership means has changed over time. As students were packing up and getting ready to go to their next class, Stone threw out an idea: “So, what would a radically different law-driven consciousness look like? … One in which nature had rights … Yes, rivers, lakes … trees … animals … How would such a posture in law affect a community’s view of itself?” As Stone tells the story, this thought bubble caused an uproar and he left the lecture hall asking himself “What did you just say in there? How could trees have rights?” The power of rights of nature is that it forces us to ask these questions and imagine a future where the environment is not seen as a lifeless object, or property, or a canvas upon which human will is exerted. EMBED START Image {id: "editor_6"} EMBED END Image {id: "editor_6"} Yet while rights of nature appear radical, they also contain limitations. Fundamentally, rights are a legalistic tool that offers the prospect of protection through the courts — an adversarial system where competing interests are weighed. The extension of rights to human beings demonstrates the potential problems. Even with human rights now covering women or people of colour, they are not always treated equally to white men. In fact, the first questions one must ask during any extension of rights are: who is going to be excluded? Whose interests will count less than others? Corporations also have legal personhood. And you could be forgiven for being sceptical that the environment will be given the same respect as a corporate person in a court case. Ecuador has had rights of nature since 2008. This constitutional reform was motivated by well-organised, indigenous-led movements in response to decades of environmental harm. The demands of this movement have changed over the decades but there has been a consistent thread of sovereignty and greater level of decision-making authority over indigenous lands. Seen in this light, rights of nature might be considered a conservative response that has pacified the more radical demand for sovereignty. Unless an indigenous community has time, resources and expertise to bring a case in Ecuador’s Constitutional Court, the rights do not have the teeth to challenge oil extraction. Since 2008 not a single case has challenged an existing oil project or led to greater compensation for communities impacted by pollution. The most hopeful case is the 2021 decision of the Constitutional Court to cancel permits in the Los Cedros reserve. However, this decision is limited to permits to mine copper and gold in an internationally protected reserve. This is a high standard and does not touch oil extraction which is at the heart of the Ecuadorian economy. EMBED START Image {id: "editor_8"} EMBED END Image {id: "editor_8"} In 2021 Ecuador’s national oil corporation generated US$12 billion in revenue from oil – an increase of 22 percent from 2020. This accounts for a significant portion of Ecuador’s national income and the state-owned company has plans to double production over the next five years. What substantive impact can rights of nature legislation have in the context of such extraction? Similarly, Bolivia has struggled to reconcile legislation for rights of nature with its desire to exploit the 5.4 million tonnes of lithium that sits below the Salar de Uyuni salt flat. Given the world’s hunger for lithium to power the renewable revolution, how long can this part of the environment remain protected? Rights of nature advocates often draw an analogy between their movement and the granting of rights to slaves. The comparison is apt but not in the sense they intend. Just as emancipated slaves remained in bondage and subject to the powers of racism that coursed through society, the current examples of rights of nature may do nothing more than affirm a different form of subjugation. Rights of nature is not a substantive or transformative legal alternative. They are not about displacing growth economics or building democracy in a way that empowers communities or builds resilience. Rather, rights of nature represent a minimalist alternative and seek to mitigate environmental damage from firmly within the coordinates of the current system. And, to date, it is difficult to find examples where they have meaningfully protected the environment. Peter Burdon is Associate Professor, Adelaide law School, University of Adelaide. He declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Rights of nature” sent at: 03/01/2023 12:13. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on January 6, 2023

Giving transport the spark it needs - 360 Suzannah Lyons Published on November 22, 2023 Making the switch to more electric vehicles on our roads is a key part of decarbonising transport and reaching net zero emissions. Transport is the second most carbon intensive sector globally behind electricity and heating, with tailpipe emissions from four-wheeled vehicles making up approximately 21 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions in 2020. According to the International Energy Agency, the transport sector is not on track to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050. While sales of EVs continue to increase, adoption rates across the world are patchy. For electric cars the three big markets of China, Europe and the US accounted for 95 percent of sales in 2022, and half of the world’s electric cars — some 13.8 million — can be found on Chinese roads. However, promising signs are emerging in other parts of the world too. In the first quarter of 2023, electric car sales in India were double what they were at the same time in 2022, albeit from a low base. In April 2023, Australia launched its first National Electric Vehicle Strategy. Investment in EVs in Indonesia is continuing, although the lack of supporting infrastructure is hindering uptake. And in Southeast Asia more broadly, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam are leading the charge towards producing more EVs and EV components locally. What can countries in the Indo Pacific learn from the success of the big players to turbocharge their own EV markets? How is technology and infrastructure keeping pace with the transition to more electrified transport, and allaying fears about range and charging your vehicle? And are government policies incentivising EVs actually working? Read what the experts have to say in 360info’s special report on The EV charge. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on November 22, 2023

Global crypto regulations focus at G20 summit - 360 Nafis Alam Published on September 8, 2023 A paper proposing globally enforceable regulations for the crypto market is expected to be presented at the world’s premier economic meeting. Ongoing crypto market instability has prompted a call for global coordination on regulation to fend off attempts to ban or restrict digital currencies in some countries. The cascade of crypto events in 2022, highlighted by the bankruptcy of crypto exchange firm FTX and its effect on trading and lending firms, underscored the inherent instability and weaknesses in crypto assets. These incidents also showed a significant service provider collapsing can swiftly spread risks across the crypto-asset framework, making the ecosystem vulnerable. This in turn affects the wider economy as investments lost in the crypto market are still tied to money circulating in the financial system. Under the leadership of India’s presidency, the G20 countries are poised to introduce what could be recognised as the first-of-their-kind regulations governing cryptocurrencies and crypto assets worldwide. Crypto assets use the internet to operate independently from a central bank, central authority or government. They include cryptocurrency, utility tokens, security tokens and Non-Fungible Tokens. The regulations are being drawn up with the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB), a body that monitors and makes recommendations on the global financial system. Regulations are expected to help investors harness the potential benefits of crypto-assets while mitigating associated risks by addressing security, consumer protection, financial stability and international cooperation issues. Among these is ‘cryptoisation’: when cryptocurrencies and assets are substituted for a country’s domestic currency and assets, circumventing exchange and capital control restrictions. The newly-drafted framework for the regulations is guided by the ‘same activity, same risk, same regulation’ principle. It is designed to guarantee proper protection of client assets, manage risks linked to conflicts of interest and enhance collaboration across international borders. Regulators want more robust regulations to make the crypto economy less vulnerable. The FSB’s framework is a path towards this aspiration. The framework will provide input for a ‘synthesis paper’, with the IMF to support a coordinated and comprehensive policy approach to crypto-assets. The synthesis paper’s main focus is expected to be on cryptocurrency’s worldwide macro implications, that is how it may affect state and national economies with broader international consequences. It will do this by combining the policy findings from IMF work on macroeconomic and monetary issues and FSB work on supervisory and regulatory issues. The coordinated effort will lead to rules that countries can follow to ensure digital currencies are used safely and don’t cause big problems for the economy. The paper, to be tabled at the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September, is expected to highlight concerns that include regulatory compliance and ensuring the companies handling digital currencies are doing it securely and responsibly. The policy paper’s recommendations could chart the way for mitigating risks associated with crypto-assets. Among the provisions expected in the paper are some aiming to ensure the security of crypto-asset custody and address consumer protection and market integrity issues. It could also suggest that countries work together to prevent money laundering and other illegal activities involving digital currencies. The policy paper will help the wider community understand crypto-assets better and highlight their benefits while recognising the risks and challenges their volatile, decentralised nature poses. The paper is expected to encompass suggestions from India’s presidency document as well as insights from regulatory bodies beyond the FSB and IMF. India will use the G20 summit to try to showcase its efforts advocating for a universally acceptable framework for cryptocurrency regulations. An assembled comprehensive paper would serve as a testament to these efforts. There is even a possibility that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi might proudly highlight the establishment of these proposed global cryptocurrency regulations under India’s leadership during his opening speech at the G20 leaders’ summit. India has already positioned itself as a global leader in crypto regulations. It has established anti-money laundering obligations for crypto operators, where they have to register with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit and voluntarily report any suspicious activities. India also wants to give users the ability to digitally sign documents using a crypto token, bolstering secure transactions and digital interactions and supporting Web3, another big boost for crypto usage. In its 2022 budget, the Indian government classified cryptocurrencies as Virtual Digital Assets (VDAs) and introduced a taxation framework for them, which defined cryptocurrency selling, swapping or spending regardless of any amount or term limits. India will use its G20 presidency and work with the FSB and IMF on the synthesis paper to validate some of its national regulations. It hopes those policies can be converted to global regulations for crypto assets, promoting India as a leader in crypto regulations. If it can achieve its regulatory aims, India might find itself as a pioneer in bringing order to the evolving world of crypto-assets. Nafis Alam is a finance professor and the Head of the School of Business at Monash University Malaysia. His research mainly focuses on financial regulation, FinTech and RegTech. He tweets at @nafisalam. He declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: Crypto regulations

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on September 8, 2023

Global power shift with the prick of a needle - 360 Hannah Elyse Sworn Published on December 8, 2021 Where once the US dominated global trade negotiations, COVID has revealed its grip on intellectual property regulation may be weakening. By Hannah Elyse Sworn, Nanyang Technological University Twenty years  after the HIV/AIDS crisis, the world faces a new pandemic, but a familiar problem. Technology needed to produce life-saving drugs remains fiercely guarded by the Western pharmaceutical companies who developed it. But there are signs their tight grip may be loosening. In the mid 1990s, a course of anti-retroviral drugs (ARTs) was priced at US$10,000. This was an impossible sum in Southeast Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa where more than 90 percent of new HIV infections in 1995 were recorded. Meanwhile, governments of developing countries were blocked from supplying their HIV-affected citizens with affordable, generic alternatives by strict global intellectual property (IP) regulations. Established at the behest of the US and EU, these rules protected patented products developed by Western pharmaceutical companies. The US administration even threatened South Africa with sanctions for attempting to bypass patents on essential medicines. Eventually recognising that HIV/AIDS could destabilise entire regions of the globe, the US and EU backed the 2001 World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Declaration that allowed governments to overrule IP regulations in the interest of public health. Facing competition from generic versions, the price of patented ARTs dropped to US$700 a year. In 2021, most IP related to COVID-19 vaccines is owned by pharmaceutical giants based in the US and EU who have reaped tens of billions of dollars in sales. Struggling to access immunisations, only three percent of people in low-income countries are fully vaccinated compared with 67 percent in high-income nations, an inequality that is prolonging the pandemic. Once again, developing countries are beseeching the WTO to waive IP protections. But the review process has been hamstrung for more than a year. In the negotiation of IP regulations, the world’s most powerful states use their economic clout to establish rules that disproportionately benefit them. But in the latest discussions over COVID-19 vaccinations, evidence is emerging that US-EU regulatory hegemony may not be as robust as was presumed. Western governments reverted to their old ways after the Doha Declaration. Unable to work through the WTO, these powers shifted to narrow trade agreements and threats of sanctions to extinguish IP flexibilities. Drafted in 2015, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was a twelve-member mega-regional free-trade agreement that would have required many less-developed signatories to increase IP protections — including for pharmaceuticals — beyond what was already mandated by the WTO. These rules once again bestowed advantages on Western pharmaceutical companies, while generic drug manufacturers based in countries like India, Brazil and Thailand were restricted in what they could produce. Fearing the loss of precious access to the US and EU’s enormous markets, developing countries were prepared to capitulate to these IP regulations, all the while arguing that open access to knowledge was necessary for education, public health and economic development in their countries. But since the 1990s, a tiger has joined the table. China has now overtaken both the US and the EU in GDP, positioning it to influence global IP regulations. While China has been reluctant to directly challenge the economic system that enabled its rise, it has endorsed flexible IP regulations advocated by the developing countries who are its most important economic partners. Beijing has placed the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the centre of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a mega-regional trade agreement rivalling the TPP that does not include the US and EU. The agreement, which will enter into force on 1st January 2022, has emerged with flexible, development-friendly IP provisions that contrast starkly with the TPP. When in 2017, Donald Trump withdrew the US from the TPP,  RCEP became the world’s biggest free-trade agreement. Left to pick up the pieces, the remaining TPP members unveiled the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) a year later, eliminating all but one of the original IP chapters — including those related to pharmaceuticals — while leaving the rest of the agreement intact. Suddenly, the global landscape of IP regulation appeared very different. Even without an IP waiver from the WTO, vaccine competition is heating up as Asia’s pharmaceutical companies leverage high demand and an injection of funds into R&D to put alternative immunisations on the market. With the second and third highest number of COVID-19 vaccine developers in the world, China and India respectively are leading the challenge to the West’s vaccine monopoly. While Chinese vaccines suffered bad publicity from questionable efficacy, generics giant India has Baharat Biotech’s Covaxin recently obtained WHO emergency approval with another immunisation hot on its tail from Zydus Cadila. South Korea and Japan are investing billions of dollars in local vaccine development, with multiple candidates in clinical trials in both countries. Another high profile generics manufacturer, Thailand, has two promising and cheaper vaccines in the pipeline—one mRNA and another protein-based—as well as two nasal sprays beginning human trials. Asia’s home-grown vaccines could drive down prices globally by increasing supply. They could also produce valuable spillover effects for the development of other innovative drugs, rendering Asian firms more competitive against their Western counterparts in the long run. Thailand has now expressed interest in joining the CPTPP, citing a reduced threat to access to medicines, and China formally filed a bid to join in September 2021. If the CPTPP advances in its current form, global IP regulations will be even further cemented away from the US and EU’s preferences, giving generics manufacturers greater scope to produce affordable medicines. The West’s IP dominance has not only been weakened by the changing balance of global power, but also from within. The US and EU’s powerful partnership came under strain as the latter found it increasingly difficult to achieve agreement between the European Commission and European Parliament on IP issues. In 2012, the European Parliament rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), sealing its political death. ACTA was an ambitious US-driven arrangement that would have allowed countries to seize in-transit shipments of generic drugs suspected of IP infringements. Even the US’s special partner, the UK, has begun negotiations to join the CPTPP, further indicating the pact’s viability with countries who have traditionally been firmly in the US and EU’s IP camp. But the trajectory of IP regulations is far from settled. Property protections are considered key for encouraging innovation, especially given the high R&D costs for pharmaceuticals. As countries develop and produce more innovations, they are likely to demand higher IP standards. China is shifting from a dependence on trade in goods and natural resources toward high-technology sectors that benefit from more stringent IP regulations. If history repeats itself, developing countries may once again find themselves at the mercy of great power interests. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Hannah Elyse Sworn is a Senior Analyst at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her research interests include US-China relations, the political economy of intellectual property and International Relations theory. Hannah holds an MSc in International Relations from RSIS and previously worked as a research and evaluation consultant in Cambodia. The author declared no coinflicts of interest in relation to this article.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 8, 2021

Global recession a risk as Gaza war rages on - 360 M Niaz Asadullah Published on December 18, 2023 So far, Israel’s war in Gaza hasn’t greatly disrupted global supply chains. But the situation could quickly shift along many fault lines Contrary to some projections, the world dodged a major recession in 2023. Still, the global economy is facing issues – external shocks like extreme weather and geopolitical upheaval are combining to make a full recovery slow, uneven and uncertain. The ongoing Ukraine-Russia war has put a strain on supply chains around the world, especially on food security. Now, another violent conflict has broken out in Gaza. Prolonged conflicts polarise societies as economic and political grievances grow. This can create unintended ripple effects, which reinforce anxieties over economic downturn. War is destructive: people die, communities are displaced, infrastructure is destroyed and food insecurity takes hold. And the costs of war are felt well beyond the front lines. In case of a new energy price crisis, there is a risk that commodity prices will rise again, particularly grain and vegetable oils. Memories of the food price crisis prompted by the Ukraine war are still fresh. This has fuelled social tensions amid rising cost of living around the world. This time around, supply-chain disruptions should be less pronounced. Unlike Ukraine and Russia, neither Israel nor Palestine is a major exporter of food staples or oil. Israel doesn’t control a significant part of any global commodity supply chain. But all governments should be wary of the indirect fallout. Exactly 50 years ago, a similar conflict in the Middle East sent oil prices skyrocketing and created major shocks to the world economy. The OPEC oil embargo in October 1973 targeted Western nations that lent support to Israel during the Yom Kippur War, leading to a major global recession. The legacy of the 1973 event lives on: Middle Eastern countries have been left with an uncertain future and the spectre of war, while countries beyond the region remain vulnerable. Crude oil prices did rise after Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel, though the extent has been muted and temporary. Any new war or conflict is bad news. Geopolitical uncertainty can prompt excessive speculation in the world crude oil market, increasing prices well beyond the forces of supply. Speculation over a sustained conflict in the Middle East may reinforce such behaviour in the commodity markets. Concerns persist over market manipulation by big food-trading companies. The British NGO Oxfam estimated that 18 food and beverage corporations alone made on average about $14 billion a year in windfall profits in 2021 and 2022. Another media report claimed the top 10 hedge funds profited to the tune of nearly USD$2 billion from Ukraine war food-price spikes through early trade in grains and soya beans. In Europe, profiteering allegedly accounted for up to 20 percent of food inflation. In other words, the food-trading industry and financial institutions engaged in financial speculation and profiteering to exploit recent commodity market volatilities. Despite such anxieties and pessimism, the Gaza conflict is yet to have a sustained impact on global commodity price trends. While gold prices soared within weeks of the start of the conflict, fears of a sustained triple-digit dollar price of crude oil per barrel have been short-lived. Globally, wholesale food and energy prices are also falling. The recent downward trend in oil prices suggests that the extent of systematic market speculation may have been overestimated. The conflict may also have ramifications for non-oil producing economies in the Asia-Pacific, which rely significantly on the global market for both food grains and energy supplies. Millions of young people in cities across the region – Dhaka, Lahore, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur – are closely following the conflict, and there’s a risk of rising anti-Western sentiments and boycott campaigns against Western brands. A lot depends on how the conflict unfolds and whether it leads to Western economic sanctions affecting non-Western trade partners of Asian countries. The situation may change quickly if other natural resources-rich Middle Eastern countries (such as Iran) become involved. Any restrictions on air and sea transport routes can drastically lift prices because of higher shipment costs. For instance, the Suez Canal blockage alone can reduce global trade by approximately 12 percent. The war in Gaza has already lasted months. There are few signs of de-escalation. The Ukraine war has run for nearly two years. It reminds us of the precarious nature of geopolitical conflicts. Tens of thousands of civilians have died in this conflict. But many more have been killed in Gaza and Israel in less than two months. Israel has also launched attacks on targets in Syria and Lebanon. There are genuine concerns over a wider conflict in the region as citizen protests intensify and social unrest grows, including renewed calls for mass boycott of Israeli and Western products. According to the most pessimistic estimates, the outbreak of direct war involving other countries in the region could increase global inflation by 1.2 percentage points and decrease world GDP by 1 percentage point. For trade-dependent economies in Asia, and countries not directly affected by wars in Ukraine and Gaza, governments must develop economic resilience by beefing up safety-net provisions. This means that social strife over rising prices and cost of living is better managed. Other priorities include trade diversification and increased investment in green alternatives to petroleum oil. What happens in Gaza will shape everything ahead, and supply chains are not immune. Even if the immediate impact has not mirrored that of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, such an all-encompassing, violent and polarising conflict will shift the global economy in 2024. M Niaz Asadullah is Professor of Development Economics at Monash University Malaysia and Global Labor Organization Southeast Asia Lead. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on December 18, 2023

Global statelessness crisis keeps growing - 360 Samir Kumar Das Published on June 20, 2022 With refugee populations growing, the spotlight is intensifying on nations that cast out the stateless – people who do not have citizenship to any country. The world’s refugee population has more than doubled over the past decade. Statelessness is on the rise. As the first group of stateless refugees emerges from Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, countries around the world will once again be forced to reckon with their policies about refugees.A ‘stateless person’ is defined by the United Nations as someone who is not recognised as ‘a national’ by any state under ‘the operation of its law’. The recent growth in statelessness is rooted in the way people are rendered stateless: refugees are less often being stopped at borders, so governments are using this to justify policies that cast out refugees – leaving them without a safe home to return to and no destination to welcome them. Statelessness is the destiny of many refugees. Conferred in the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to a state is an ironclad human right that cannot be taken away or changed ‘arbitrarily’. However, the declaration is silent about those who, from the beginning, have stayed in a country where they are not considered to be one its lawful citizens, and who are not considered a lawful citizen of any other country. There are many examples of legal changes depriving citizens of their right to a state en masse.The spectre of losing citizenship haunts more than 1.9 million people whose names were struck off the National Register of Citizens (the Register) in Assam, India, in August 2019. Most of them were, until then, treated as citizens for all practical purposes, and many even voted in elections. The exercise marked a radical change in the way citizenship was understood and implemented in India. Soon afterwards, in December 2019, India’s Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Bill. The Bill and the Register are closely interconnected: the Bill aims to ‘re-citizenise’ immigrants belonging to certain minority groups and communities on the basis of their religion who had been struck off the Register and were facing deportation. These ‘minority’ refugees are restricted to six communities: the Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Parsis and Buddhists who migrated to India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before 31 December 2014. The absence of Muslims – India’s largest minority — is a glaring omission. India’s policy has been accused of being discriminatory and cutting into the secular principle of India’s nationhood. Bangladesh maintains that not a single Bangladeshi national has been resettled in India. Pushing immigrants back to their countries of origin has never been easy, logistically or politically. Instead, they are sent to various detention centres as long as the issue is not settled. With no easy solution in sight, all the concerned parties are playing a waiting game. The problem with statelessness lies in its circularity: since the legality of statelessness is established by ‘the operation of the law’ of the land, legal recourse on the part of a stateless person is impossible. It is, to say the least, a human problem. While today’s world is built on the binary between citizens and the stateless, particular groups and communities of citizens are known to suffer from what may be called ‘de facto statelessness’ – a condition that implies even so-called citizens are unwilling or unable to avail themselves of the ‘protection’ of their country. In 2020, marginalised groups, including members of the queer community, trafficked women and sex workers, staged a peaceful demonstration in New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. They had left behind the documents necessary to get their names included in the Register, and were not allowed to return home and access them. Their protracted statelessness makes them vulnerable to many other kinds of disability and bondage. Many stateless people are made to serve literally as bonded and slave labour, suffer discrimination, face hate attacks and are mistreated by police. It is difficult to say if the condition of statelessness adds to other vulnerabilities or if people are subject to statelessness because they suffer from other vulnerabilities. The Chakmas, a tribal group from India’s easternmost regions, fled to the state now known as Arunachal Pradesh in 1962 after they were evicted from their homes by the construction of the Kaptai hydroelectric dam in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts. The construction submerged 50,000 acres of cultivable land and displaced over 100,000 people. Once they become stateless, many people are pushed into what psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva calls ‘abjection’ – a condition that takes away the right to articulate their rights claims ‘under the operation of the existing law’ and therefore ‘beseeches a discharge, a convulsion, a crying out’. While sincere state-level discussions may help end the problem, third-country asylum – though effective – is usually only granted in cases where the number of stateless parties is too small. For instance, about 100,000 Lhotshampas displaced from Bhutan as a result of the government’s policy of ‘Bhutanisation’ have been given asylum across Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States since 2007. Legal and diplomatic solutions have their limits, but a series of humanitarian experiments have taken place in different parts of the world. Several solidarity groups in Greece, for instance, turned abandoned spaces into squats for housing refugees on an antiracial, non-hierarchical and self-management basis. The government evicted the occupants of many of these squats in 2019 because it considered them illegal settlements. Statelessness is a human problem with no easy end in sight. Power rests with the nations that make policy dictating whether a refugee has a nation they can call home. Communal approaches – such as the squatting seen in Greece – can only provide temporary relief for a much larger issue. Dr Samir Kumar Das is Professor of Political Science and the Director Institute of Foreign Policy Studies at the University of Calcutta. He was formerly Vice-Chancellor of the University of North Bengal, Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Calcutta, and Adjunct Professor of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. No conflicts of interest were delcared in relation to this article. This article is part of a Special Report on the ‘Changing face of migration’,  produced in collaboration with the Calcutta Research Group. It was first published in June 2022. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on June 20, 2022

Gloves off in Malaysia’s modern slavery struggle - 360 Priya Sharma Published on November 21, 2022 Malaysia has touted its employment law reform as a crackdown on modern slavery, but it could all unravel without a few fixes. When global demand for surgical gloves surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, one manufacturer was hiding a dark reality: its workers living in squalid conditions a government minister said was akin to “modern slavery”. Prior to the discovery, three reports conducted by a private auditing firm revealed numerous ethical violations including 50 violations of Malaysian labour laws. Each report stated: “There is no forced, bonded or involuntary prison labour hired in this facility.” The presence of forced labour indicators in the Malaysian medical glove industry demonstrates a need for legislation to effectively address forced labour in the supply chain. However, Malaysia’s laws don’t provide comprehensive solutions to combat forced labour in supply chains. Forced labour is a multi-faceted problem that involves all sectors of society and therefore requires a multi-stakeholder approach. Long-term partnerships across sectors and stakeholders would help. In 2022, the Malaysia government beefed up employment laws, adding a section that gives courts the power to fine employers up to 100,000 ringgit (US$ 21533.17) and imprison people for up to two years for employers who “deceive or threaten” workers from leaving the premises of their job. This amendment, which gives a legal definition to ‘forced labour’, is a welcome move. But the definition leaves a bit to be desired, leaving prosecution of forced labour a difficult task. The law prohibiting forced labour appears to be limited to formal employment relationships. If so, it’s at odds with international norms — the International Labour Organization considers “all work or service” done under the threat of punishment or non-voluntarily to be forced labour. The ILO’s Convention applies to “any person”,  including undocumented migrant workers, adults and children, regardless of their nationality. Workers in sectors that are untaxed and unregulated are among the most vulnerable and where labour inspections struggle to reach. Limiting the definition to a formal employer-employee relationship leaves them vulnerable. The law also doesn’t reach workers who can move freely within and beyond work premises, but suffer mistreatment when on the job. The choice to emphasise freedom of movement, without considering other less obvious indicators of forced labour, means the issue is likely to persist. By requiring physical restraint of movement and without specifically laying down the ILO’s 11 indicators, the understanding of forced labour may be restricted to extreme cases, disregarding the significance of non-visible indicators of forced labour and psychological coercion. Some of the indicators highlighted by ILO include withholding passports and wages, abusive working and deplorable living conditions and physical and sexual assault. Even if the law caught all cases of forced labour, the penalties imposed fall well short of international standards and are unlikely to be strong deterrents.  Evidence of physical restraint of movement to prove forced labour fails to include the eleven indicators of forced labour as specified by the ILO convention, which Malaysia has ratified. But where domestic law fails, market forces might be stepping in.Buyers and investors are becoming increasingly aware of global supply chains and in many cases, demand fair treatment for workers. Companies operating in Australia, the UK, the EU and some states in the US are subject to regulations that address forced labour in supply chains. Californian law requires companies to make certain disclosures and provide consumers with information regarding their efforts to eliminate slavery and human trafficking from their supply chains so consumers can make better and more informed purchasing choices. In the UK, commercial organisations are required by law to prepare a slavery and human trafficking statement for each financial year, detailing the steps the organisation has taken to prevent slavery and human trafficking in any of its supply chains or its own business. In 2020, the US Customs and Border Protection imposed import bans on eight of Malaysia’s leading glove makers and palm oil producers for alleged labour abuses. Among the companies were Top Glove Corp Berhad, Sime Darby Plantation Berhad, Supermax Corp Berhad and FGV Holdings Berhad. These orders were based on an allegation and evidence of forced labour in the manufacturing process, which revealed acts of debt bondage, high recruitment fees, excessive overtime, retention of identification documents and abusive working and living conditions. Since then, Top Glove Corporation Berhad has addressed identified problems and the US authorities have declared its gloves are no longer produced with forced labour. Others remain active on a list of US Customs Withholding Release Orders. Malaysia  wants to take steps to improve its reputation for human trafficking and forced labour. But whether the shortcomings with the law are intentional or negligent, the legislative framework for eradicating modern slavery is far from finished. Priya Sharma is the Director of PRME, lecturer at the Department of Business Law & Taxation, and PhD candidate at the School of Business, Monash University Malaysia. Her area of research is in humanity and law. The title of her PhD is “Trafficking of Migrant Workers for Forced Labour: The Malaysian Legislative Framework.” She tweets at @PriyaSh24461309. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Modern slavery” sent at: 14/11/2022 09:18. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on November 21, 2022

Going back to the future for AI regulation - 360 Arif Perdana Published on August 2, 2023 New regulations that can adapt fast will help countries deal with evolving AI technologies, but strategic use of laws already in place will also be key. The European Union’s proposed AI Act will be game-changing when it comes into force, governing the emerging technology across Europe and beyond. But as details of the law become clearer, so too do the obstacles that could challenge it reaching its full potential. The legislation classifies AI systems based on risk levels (unacceptable, high, limited and minimal), then establishes protocols for developers, traders and users to keep it transparent, accountable, fair and robust. While countries like China have already made AI-specific laws, the EU’s proposal might be the most strongly defined and all-encompassing regulation yet. It elevates standards of responsibility, builds in protections for users and emphasises human rights principles. But the AI Act is intricate, which could present obstacles when trying to enforce it. Its onerous obligations on developers and users may have safety in mind, but it could also slow technological progress and may not catch all the risks associated with AI. Whether the law succeeds hinges on whether it can adapt to advancing technology and find a balance between robust regulation and promoting innovation. If managed carefully, this is attainable. While the AI Act is a gamechanging proposition for Europeans, its ability to translate elsewhere is both promising and challenging. A country like Indonesia has a well-established set of laws on digital technology that policy on AI could fit alongside, but it might possibly require some disruptive reforms to get there. It might be a necessary disruption. Indonesian companies that have affiliations or engage in business activities with entities from the EU would be required to adhere to these regulations. This encompasses data processing that involves individuals who are citizens or residents of the EU, indirectly bringing the regulations into operation within Indonesia. The challenge would be implementing EU’s AI law with Indonesia’s specific local factors to create something that works in context. Indonesia is a large country with a diverse population spread widely — it will be essential that these groups are spoken with to ensure the country’s own approach to AI places the proposed EU law in the context of Indonesia’s specific conditions. Change is often slow moving and complicated. When Indonesia tried to bring in data protection laws in 2022, it had already taken a decade for the idea to go from concept to legal reality. Then, it was followed by a two-year transition period to allow the development of the necessary enforcement infrastructure. AI regulators can learn valuable lessons from the cybersecurity field which has effectively navigated swift advancements. A globally recognised benchmark for the field was introduced in 2015 and continues to be iterated and improved. The benchmark has since been integrated widely in industries vulnerable to cyber attacks, such as the financial sector. Its adoption shows the value of regulations that are tailored and specific to the sectors they govern, something that AI regulations and governance could replicate. A global benchmark for AI would allow the field to fall back on a bedrock of well-established laws. In Indonesia, laws are already in place to govern a range of digital endeavours which could be used to bolster enforcement of new AI norms. Key to this is framing AI regulation in a way that brings under the remit of existing legislation, which encompasses electronic systems and transactions, information access, data privacy and risk management. As lawmakers try to take the first meaningful steps in governing AI, it’s immensely valuable to already have existing provisions in place to fill the gap in the meantime. Implementing comprehensive AI laws in Indonesia goes beyond necessity; it presents a tough task that demands a diverse and nuanced strategy. By leveraging pre-existing legal provisions, Indonesia can guarantee a smoother, more streamlined progression towards strong AI regulation. Although it presents a daunting challenge, the necessity of establishing a robust regulatory structure for AI validates the substantial endeavour involved. Ari Perdana is an Associate Professor at Monash University Indonesia, specialising in digital strategy, sustainable digital transformation, data science and analytics, and information systems management. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on August 2, 2023

Going beyond fact-checking to tackle conspiracies - 360 Mario Peucker Published on November 20, 2023 Traditional methods of myth busting remain important for slowing misinformation, but to properly stop it democracies will have to do much more. Sometimes, truth can be a matter of perspective and interpretation. It has become normal to see basic truth claims contested in the public arena — from the recently defeated Voice referendum in Australia to the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. But many still wonder how and why it seems more people question or deny solidly and scientifically established truths, from human influence on climate change to the effectiveness of vaccines or the world being a rotating globe (yes, flat-earther communities deny this). Given the easy availability of overwhelming evidence, it can be hard to imagine those who believe and spread falsehoods are simply ill-informed. Instead, most of them appear to share a deep-seated mistrust in mainstream institutions that generate or communicate facts, such as governments, international agencies, academia or the news media. More often than not, this mistrust is tied to conspiratorial allegations against institutions, accusing them of involvement in a secretive, nefarious plot against ordinary people. As the logic typically goes: why else would institutions hide the ‘real truth’ and spread narratives that allegedly serve their supposedly hidden agenda? Here, mis- and disinformation strongly overlap with conspiracy beliefs. As research on conspiratorial thinking has expanded, it is increasingly clear that conspiracy theories reflect more than personal cognitive biases or a lack of rationality. Their appeal seems to lie partially in the fact that they can offer people a much-sought opportunity to meet epistemic, existential and social needs for respect, control, social connectedness and recognition. Victoria University research found that those who subscribed to conspiracy theories felt they had found what they considered the ‘real truth’, despite the alleged efforts of powerful institutions to hide it from them. This built their sense of “pride and epistemic superiority, which created a sense of meaning, urgency, and purpose, as well as social recognition within their group”. Acknowledging these psychological layers is crucial to understanding and addressing the seemingly unprecedented rise in conspiratorial misinformation (and its deliberate variant, disinformation), which has been accelerated by social media. Against this backdrop, objective and reason-based strategies, such as fact-checking or identifying and shutting down misinformation, don’t counter the appeal of conspiratorial mis- and disinformation. While these strategies can help curb the spread of misinformation, those who subscribe to conspiratorial misinformation tend to be largely immune to it — they instead apply selective rationality, such as referring to fringe sources or cherry-picking the information they believe. Given the ‘self-sealing quality’ of such alternative beliefs, attempts to counter may be taken by believers as evidence that the conspiracy claims are actually true. This risk is particularly prevalent when the very institutions accused of conspiring against the people — governments, academia, mainstream media or social media companies — are the ones trying to fact-check or ‘correct’ misinformation. It’s more vital to prevent the emergence of conspiracy-based counter-publics and communities. There’s no single fix to achieving this. A promising prevention strategy is ‘cognitive inoculation’, a series of approaches to strengthen digital literacy and train critical thinking skills through means such as providing practical tools to spot online manipulation and untrustworthy sources. An October 2023 study of Canadian high school students found, for example, that ‘lateral reading’ techniques, in which they evaluated online claims by simultaneously using quick internet searches on the claim’s source, can improve their ability to identify misinformation. Another way to stop hard-to-reach conspiracy-based groups from developing is by exploring alternative mechanisms to deal with community dissent and political opposition – before polarisation escalates into unyielding opposition and individuals abandon the ground of democratic debate. This could involve, for example, more tailored and targeted engagement formats where those who hold differing views find a platform to directly discuss their objections with political decision-makers and possibly other members of the community. This can often be challenging, as it forces all sides involved to listen to and engage with positions many may find incomprehensible, outrageous or socially harmful, such as rejecting public health measures during a pandemic or peddling Islamophobia during a local mosque controversy. It is a fine line to firmly but respectfully engage with dissenting counter-voices without endorsing, legitimating or amplifying those views, while also not aggravating their sense of being silenced and disenfranchised. If that goes poorly, it only adds to the appeal of conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns, potentially pushing a susceptible person into ideologically closed community spaces on the political fringes where they (falsely) feel their concerns are heard and taken seriously. There are powerful precedents where this can be effective, even under seemingly extreme and unlikely circumstances. In 1971, a fierce community conflict erupted in Durham, North Carolina between Ku Klux Klan members and the local African-American community around school integration of Black students. Despite hardened opposition, the conflict was resolved through an intensive 10-day community charrette, set up by external facilitator Bill Riddick, in which members of the opposing camps came together in a workshop to jointly develop a solution. Not only did the initiative result in a democratic majority decision to desegregate Durham’s schools, but the local KKK leader ended up publicly denouncing his membership in the group. The workshop offered unprecedented opportunities for the different segments of the community to work together, which urged them to listen to the ‘other’ side and to get to know each other, instead of the local authorities having to impose a decision on a divisive issue. The fight to sustainably diminish mis- and disinformation raises fundamental questions about how to rebuild trust in public institutions, including parliaments and governments on all levels, the courts, the media and the police. It is part of getting to a more cohesive, equitable and less polarised society. Australia and many other liberal democracies are facing these major challenges. To understand and counter the spread of conspiratorial misinformation, there is no alternative to starting to explore how best to tackle these big questions. And at the same time, strategies like fact-checking and building cognitive and psychological resilience should continue, as should courageously engaging with dissenting perspectives in a tradition of robust democratic deliberation. Dr. Mario Peuckeris an associate professor at the Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities at Victoria University. He is also an Executive Member of the Centre for Resilient and Inclusive Societies. He has undertaken research and published on community activism, inclusion-exclusion dynamics and radical political movements since 2003 in Europe and since 2010 in Australia. Dr. Peucker discloses that the article mentions Victoria University research that was funded by the Victorian State Department of Justices and Community Safety. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on November 20, 2023

Good intentions alone will not ensure a free and fair election - 360 Nakib Muhammad Nasrullah Published on January 4, 2024 Although Bangladesh’s election commission has a plan to meet the challenges to holding free and fair elections, its implementation seems patchy. There is unprecedented indifference from Bangladesh civil society to the general election scheduled for January 7. Civil society organisations such as Shushasoner Jonno Nagorik and the Bangladesh Studies Forum do not see the election as inclusive. Of the 44 registered political parties only 29 are competing. The rest, led by the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), are boycotting the polls, demanding the election be held under a neutral caretaker government. Among those contesting the polls, the party in power, Bangladesh Awami League (AL) is the largest with a nationwide structure and presence. The others, such as the Bangladesh Jatiyo Party either have limited regional appeal or are far too small to influence the outcome. Some have been launched recently with no tested public support. A unique feature of the election is the large number of independent candidates. According to the election commission, 436 independent candidates are in the fray. They are believed to be dummy candidates put up by the AL — they are mostly ex-AL MPs and local leaders who failed to secure the party’s nomination — to suggest a robust contest. The record of national elections in Bangladesh under the AL government has been tainted with allegations of a lack of fairness and transparency. Even the election commission has been accused of bias in the past. The same goes with the current election commission as it is also facing a credibility crisis. The present election commission, however, has affirmed its commitment to hold the poll in a free and fair manner. It has identified several challenges and proposed actions to overcome them. However, it seems it’s already been hobbled by inadequate implementation. Following a meeting of the Chief Election Commissioner with the Chief Justice of Bangladesh on 1 November 2023, the Ministry of Law and Justice issued a notification to establish an electoral inquiry committee in each of the 300 parliamentary constituencies. Each committee, comprising district judges from each constituency, will be empowered to investigate election-related offences, violations of the Election Code of Conduct, obstructions to a free and fair polling process and other irregularities. These committees will report directly to the commission. The commission, under the powers accorded by the Article 91 of the Representation of People Order 1972, also adopted rules for the observation of election by the registered local observers called “Nirbachon Porjobekkhon Nitimala (Election Observation Rules) 2023”. The aim is to let election observers see if there are any shortcomings in the polling process and submit their reports to the commission. However, closer scrutiny shows these rules have restricted the power of election observers – disallowing observation inside polling booths and restricting time they can spend at an election centre. Around 180 election observers from 35 countries have reportedly applied for permission to the commission. The commission has provided guidelines for international election observers and foreign media governing their visits to election centres subject to a written approval from the election commission. However, to enter a particular centre/polling station/booth they require the permission of the presiding officer of that polling centre. Individuals working with international organisations and diplomatic missions based in Bangladesh will be considered on a par with local observers and do not need to register themselves with the election commission. Media will be provided support in collecting information and broadcasting/ publishing it. They have been allowed to enter election centres with local and foreign journalists being treated equally. The commission has also formulated a plan for the recovery of illegal arms and issued orders for the surrender of even licensed weapons before the election. It has proposed setting up CCTV cameras in every election booth, the deployment of a sufficient number of police, a mobile election monitoring force with executive magistrates after the declaration of election schedule and the appointment of returning officers mostly from the election commission staff. However, the implementation of the plan has been patchy. For example, no measures have been taken to recover illegal arms or ensure the surrender of legal arms before the election. This in itself constitutes a big threat to holding a free and fair election. Similarly, while campaign finance and electoral expenses are sought to be regulated, no notice or promulgation has yet been issued to prescribe an upper limit. As for controlling any misconduct by the candidates, the election commission has only reiterated the rules governing the conduct for political parties and candidates under the Representation of Peoples’ Act. Their violation will be considered a punishable offence. It remains to be seen how it will be implemented in practice. Nakib Muhammad Nasrullah is Professor in the Department of Law, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on January 4, 2024

Governing a world of 250 million robots - 360 Seng Boon Lim Published on November 7, 2022 The lines of ethical principles are often blurred when it comes to embracing ubiquitous machines. Robots will shape the cities of the future — from educating children, to cleaning streets, to protecting borders from military threats and much more. While the ubiquity of robots isn’t arriving tomorrow, it’s closer than many realise — by 2030, humanoid robots (such as personal assistant bots) are slated to exceed 244 million worldwide, soaring from 220 million in 2020. Examples of some cities with existing robotic infrastructures are Masdar City’s Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) and The Line, a future city in Neom, Saudi Arabia, South Korea’s Songdo Waste Management system, Denmark’s Odense City collaborative robots or cobots, and Japan’s traffic navigating robots at Takeshiba District. But the rise of robotics poses thorny ethical questions about how we govern entities that sit between the conscience of humanity and the mechanical nature of machines like a dishwasher or a lawnmower. Getting on the front foot with governance could make a huge difference by the end of the decade. Robots can be designed to mimic humans (like humanoids or androids) and used in practically every sector: healthcare, manufacturing, logistics, space exploration, military, entertainment, hospitality and even in the home. Robots are designed to address human limitations, being repetitively precise, long-lasting, and unswayed by emotions. They are not designed to topple the executive and seize power, contrary to what films like The Terminator might posit. In dangerous jobs or tasks that require intensive manual labour, robots can complement or be a substitute for the human workforce. In the agriculture sector, drones have huge potential in assisting farming activities. In early education, robots are accompanying children to learn and play. ‘Little Sophia’, a ‘robot friend’, aims to inspire children to learn about coding, AI, science, technology, engineering and maths through a safe, interactive, human-robot experience. The rising trend of ubiquitous humanoid robots living together with humans has raised the issue of responsible tech and robot ethics. Debates on ethical robotics that started in the early 2000s still centre on the same key issues: privacy and security, opacity/ transparency, and algorithms biases. To overcome such issues, researchers have also proposed five ethical principles, together with seven high-level messages for responsible robotics. The principles include: Researchers also suggest robot city designers rethink how ethical principles like the above can be respected during the design process, such as providing off-switches. For example, having an effective control system such as actuator mechanisms and algorithms to automatically switch off the robots. Without agreed principles, robots could present a real threat to humans. For example, the cyber threats of ransomware and DDoS attacks, the physical threats of increasingly autonomous devices and robots, and the emotional threats of being over-attached to robots, ignoring real human relationships such as depicted in the 2013 movie, ‘Her’. Other negative environmental impact of robotics include excessive energy consumption, accelerated resource depletion, and uncontrolled electronic waste. Cities and lawmakers will also face the emergent threat of Artificial Intelligence (AI) terrorism. From expanding autonomous drones and introducing robotic swarms, to remote attacks or disease delivery through nanorobots, law enforcement and defence organisations face a new frontier of potential threats. To prepare, future robotics, AI law and ethics research geared towards developing policy is advised. Robots should make life better. In the face of rapid innovation, banning or stifling development are not feasible responses. The onus then falls on governments to cultivate more robot-aware citizens and responsible (licensed) robot creators. This, coupled with a proactive approach to legislation, offers cities the chance to usher in a new era of robotics with more harmony and haste. Dr Seng Boon LIM is a smart city researcher and senior lecturer at the College of Built Environment, Perak Branch, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Malaysia. He declares no conflict of interest. He tweets at @Sengboon_LIM. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on November 7, 2022

Governing space for the benefit of humanity - 360 Steven Freeland Published on January 31, 2022 Where space begins is more than billionaires brawling over bragging rights. It will have ramifications for governments, economies and humanity. By Steven Freeland, Western Sydney University As a species, we are transfixed by the wonders of space. From the Australian Aboriginal astronomers, dating back 65,000 years, to Galileo and his telescopes. In the past 60-plus years, we have also explored and used space. Since the launch of Sputnik I by the Soviet Union in 1957, our fascination with space has morphed from scientific, spiritual or cultural to multi-faceted. Space-related technologies have transformed our lives, revolutionising communications, medicine, navigation, finance, agriculture and computing. Space now encompasses critical infrastructure to support the future of humankind through science, the world economy, international trade and investment, strategic thinking, military undertakings, and national security. The essential role that space plays for humanity means it must be managed in a way that preserves its safety, stability, and sustainability for current and future generations. As wealthy entrepreneurs vye to be “space tourists”, we are moving into an era where space exploration involves not just governments but also the private sector. These new actors will clamour for ‘enabling’ rules of the space road. They’ll want strong government support but minimal government interference. From a legal perspective, outer space is an area beyond national jurisdiction. This means claims of sovereignty do not apply. Under international air law, every country controls the airspace above its territory including who enters its airspace and for what purpose. But these laws do not extend to outer space. The precise point at which airspace becomes outer space is still the subject of debate. The United Nations Outer Space Treaty does not currently define the lower limits of outer space and air law does not designate its upper limits. Despite many years of multilateral discussion about the “definition and delimitation of outer space”, the question has evolved into a much more political issue than a legal one. Failure to clarify ‘which law applies where’ may be due in part to the major space-faring countries not wanting to agree to an altitude below which they would be violating the sovereignty of other countries. The ‘grey area’ provides them with greater freedoms to engage in activities in ‘space’ without being called out for infringing international law. Those same countries also see no benefit in legally defining a boundary that would create an upper limit of their own sovereignty. The space tourist entrepreneurs have styled their own definitions, but these are a minor distraction in a much broader context. Since 1967, human activity in space has been guided by the universally accepted principles embedded in the Outer Space Treaty, which has ensured we have had no military conflict in space and requires that the exploration and use of space be “for the benefit and in the interests of all countries”. This legal foundation continues to serve us well, even as space becomes increasingly complex. But a ‘business as usual’ approach to space may soon be insufficient. Increasing proliferation of ‘space junkposes an immediate threat. Other significant challenges include the militarisation of space, geopolitical tensions, the lack of a global space traffic management system, the difficulties in establishing a viable business case for complex space activities, and even the physical limitations of the human body. Meanwhile, the private sector of space is booming. The value of the commercial space sector has exceeded the government space sector since 1998 – something that took less than a decade. The global commercial space economy in 2021 was estimated to be US$370 billion, representing an annualised growth of approximately six percent in 2020, and that was despite COVID. By 2040, the value of commercial space is anticipated to grow to between US$1 trillion and 3 trillion. Many countries continue to develop their sovereign space capabilities through partnerships with the private sector. The public-private relationship in space for those countries is an essential two-way street. The absence of appropriate guidelines and regulations for new proposed activities in space would heighten the risk of irresponsible behaviour in space, which could lead to irreversible adverse consequences for all of humanity. The foundational principles of space are not necessarily always squarely in sync with the needs of commercial actors, who mostly calculate risk versus reward when determining their investment into space. More – rather than less – governance of space activities will be needed. That regulation needs to be carefully thought through. Space is a unique environment and although lessons might be gained from other ‘frontier areas’ such as Antarctica and the deep sea bed, regulations for space must suit its own specific characteristics. Governments might be bound by the global principles of international space law, but some will also wish to encourage private and commercial involvement in space, for their own benefit, and for the growth of their industry, domestic economy, inward and outward foreign direct investment, and the enhancement of their strategic technological competitiveness. Governments will be carefully balancing these competing factors when crafting their national space regulations. This will involve consideration of difficult questions. How should the societal, community and human impacts of our march into space be measured? What legal and regulatory regimes best protect the broader interests of society without unduly restricting the development of space activities in the future? What are ‘appropriate’ space activities? Adherence to the principles that promote peaceful uses of space is essential if we are to avoid a ‘tragedy of the commons’ in space. Law will continue to play a crucial role. But lawyers cannot do this on their own. As countries enhance their sovereign space capabilities, an interesting opportunity for increased transfer of technology emerges. If we increase the exchange of capital and know-how, we enhance understanding of the need to act responsibly in space, creating further benefits for the global community. This also creates benefits for the civil and commercial sectors, which require a stable space environment. Finding a common path forward will be challenging, but the existing international regulatory framework, whilst remaining of crucial importance, will need further augmentation to meet the complexities of the ever-increasing range of space activities. Governments, industry, scientists, entrepreneurs and civil society need to work together. By focussing our underlying thinking and the language of space towards activities that enhance capabilities and promote peace and sustainability, we will be taking the most equitable trajectory for all. Steven Freeland is Emeritus Professor at Western Sydney University and Professorial Fellow at Bond University. He also has professorial appoinments at, iCourts Centre of Excellence for International Courts, University of Copenhagen, University of Vienna, Universite Toulouse1 Capitole, and University of Hong Kong Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on January 31, 2022

Government debt: you’re a part of it. Is it a problem? - 360 Gigi Foster Published on February 27, 2023 Eye-watering government debt makes for good headlines, but how much is too much is far less clear. In March 2020, governments around the world, panicked by COVID-19 ordered lockdowns, sharply pulling the handbrake of their economies. To tide their populations over while normal business was suspended they needed trillions of dollars, pounds and euros they didn’t have. Those trillions were manufactured with the magic of government debt creation and then pumped into the economy to prop up household incomes, spending and confidence, to keep businesses afloat (at least the big ones) and financial markets booming. Now governments have to service a higher level of debt with a smaller GDP than they otherwise would have had, and those debt repayments will crowd out expenditures on everything else in years to come. Egged on by economists who opined confidently that it was a great time to go into debt because interest rates were low as far as the eye could see, governments spent like drunken sailors. Largesse was distributed through stimulus cheques, income support schemes, industry bailouts and vast transfers and subsidies for the newborn industry of masks, gowns, shower caps, sanitisers and vaccines. National debt in many countries flourished at an unprecedented rate. In the United States, it rose by 38 percent in the space of three years, from approximately USD$22.7 trillion at the end of 2019 to a dizzying USD$31.4 trillion at the end of 2022. But more important than the raw magnitude of debt is its level relative to the size of the economy, as this ratio indicates a country’s ability to service its debt. (The same basic principle holds for households: it’s how much of your income it takes to pay your mortgage, not absolute mortgage payments, that banks notionally care about.) In the US, national debt climbed from 107 percent of GDP in 2019 to 132 percent in March 2021, before trailing off to 123 percent currently. In the United Kingdom, debt was 83 percent of GDP before COVID, rising to just over 100 percent at the end of 2022. Australia’s debt rose from 47 percent of GDP to 57 percent. The European Union’s rose from 84 percent to approximately 93 percent. As high as some of these numbers are, they are still modest compared to, say, Japan, which has a debt-to-GDP burden of 226 percent. No wonder Japan is often used as an example by modern monetary theorists, who point out that since national debt levels that high can apparently be sustained, governments should have no qualms about big debts. Nonetheless, there are downsides to having spent so much to maintain lockdowns and deliver on other COVID-era promises. We accumulated debt not to pay for investments in productivity and growth, but merely to tread water. Imagine what public investments could have been made with the trillions that went instead to staunching the wounds delivered by lockdowns and other COVID policies. This cost is hidden – it’s called an opportunity cost – but it represents the extra health, productivity, and equality that nations could have had from a better use of these funds. Another downside of debt is essentially political. Politicians sometimes make it difficult for countries to pay their own bills, which impairs confidence and interferes with the smooth functioning of the financial system. (They also get in the way in the first place by spending irresponsibly, leaving a mess to be cleaned up by successors who often have no incentive to do so – see the first point.) The US is an unfortunate poster child for this political issue. To meet its financial obligations, the US government must periodically raise its ‘statutory debt ceiling’. This is an artificial threshold and is subject to political game-playing. If that debt ceiling isn’t raised, then by law the government can’t meet its financial obligations and the Treasury has to resort to ‘extraordinary measures’ to keep the government running. In the latest chapter of this saga, extraordinary measures kicked in on about 19 January 2023. These measures might work until mid-year, maybe plus a few months at most. Eventually though, a political solution needs to be reached, or the US government defaults. The consequences of that would be serious, including a fall in confidence in the US currency and higher future government borrowing costs, since interest rates on US government debt will rise to reflect the greater risk perceived by market players. Who exactly are these ‘market players’? Most US government debt takes the form of Treasury bills, notes, bonds and other fixed-term obligations held by individuals, companies, and foreign governments. The smaller portion (currently USD$6.9 trillion) is what’s called intragovernmental debt, consisting of IOUs that the Social Security Trust Fund and other governmental agencies are holding because they lent money to various other branches of government: in essence, this is money that the government owes itself. This is why, in the event of a default, the US might not be able to meet obligations such as Social Security payments and military personnel salaries. Public debt is a much larger sum — USD$24.5 trillion — consisting of obligations held by foreign governments, investors, banks, pension funds, and so on. Accumulating and managing debt responsibly is, more than anything, a political problem. In a democracy, this means the person on the street has more of a role to play than she may think. First, if ‘the people’ deem their leadership to be doing the wrong thing in their spending decisions or anything else, that leadership can be shown the door. Arguably, this happened recently in the UK with Liz Truss, the 44-day prime minister. It happened in Australia with the demise of the Scott Morrison government in 2022, and more recently in New Zealand with Jacinda Ardern. Second, the person on the street is often a government creditor. If you have a retirement fund, chances are a government somewhere (maybe even your own!) owes you something. You have the power to stop lending to it by altering your investment mix – and together with the choices of many others, this can matter. A leading reason why countries sometimes get in big financial trouble (recall the PIIGS crisis in 2010-2012, or Argentina in the 1980s) is the emergence of a belief that their governments may be unable to pay their debts, often after politicians have over-spent or over-borrowed – a belief that a huge number of people, from the uber-rich to the guy with $20,000 in a mutual fund, have a role in forming and then displaying via their investment choices. People often feel they are powerless in the face of high finance organised by the well-connected elite classes, a problem made worse by a political monoculture in which the major parties promote nearly indistinguishable policies. Yet while the elites back-slap each other in Davos and central banks chatter to one another night and day, regular people still hold the power to put their money, their voice and their vote behind more sensible spending programmes and more accountable leadership for their country. Gigi Foster is a professor at the UNSW School of Economics. One of Australia’s leading economics communicators, she was named 2019 Young Economist of the Year by the Economic Society of Australia.  Her latest books are The Great Covid Panic (Brownstone Institute 2021, with Paul Frijters and Michael Baker) and Do Lockdowns and Border Closures Serve the “Greater Good”? (Connor Court 2022, with Sanjeev Sabhlok). She declares no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Editors Note: In the story “Governments in the red” sent at: 24/02/2023 10:05. This is a corrected repeat.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on February 27, 2023

Governments and Big Tech in playoff for world power - 360 Cecilia Rikap, Bengt-Åke Lundvall Published on May 16, 2022 Big Tech companies and the Chinese and US governments are embroiled in a complex relationship of harmony and conflict. We are all at the mercy of the outcome. “Simply put, they have too much power,” US Congressman David Cicilline said of American Big Tech in a 2020 congressional hearing. That same year the Chinese government announced new regulations forcing Chinese company Alibaba to cancel its affiliate Ant Group’s listing on the stock market. China later ordered Ant Group’s financial activities to be terminated, leaving only its e-payments business intact. These tussles between states and corporations represent a complex interplay between the world’s most powerful actors. Tech giants help define their home countries’ mix of nationalism and globalism. They are bishops in their states’ strategic and long-term chess game for world power. However, tech giants also challenge their states’ power and contribute to polarisation in their home countries. The battle rages not only between corporations and their home states. The US denied some Chinese enterprises access to the US market – a well-known example is its ban of Huawei, to block its development of 5G technology. Meanwhile, the US put pressure on other countries to follow suit and exclude Chinese businesses from their markets. Google, proving its support of the US and mindful of the threat Chinese technology posed to its own business, restricted Huawei’s access to essential smartphone apps, forcing Huawei to use or develop new ones. Beyond that, the US attempted to prevent international scientific collaboration with scholars based in China. The US presents these measures as responses to China competing unfairly. Accusations of Chinese disrespect for intellectual property, state subsidies and protectionism reinforce a generalised criticism of China’s political system. China’s Great Firewall, which limits foreigners’ digital operations, is seen as especially provoking given the importance of data harvesting in the AI race. Certainly, the Firewall has been instrumental in Alibaba and Tencent catching up in that race. China has also developed advanced telecommunications infrastructure, encouraged its tech companies to drive AI adoption and innovation, and fostered collaboration between industry and public universities. As China catches up in AI, Chinese tech giants are emerging. This has rung alarm bells for both US tech giants and the US government. An ad hoc group dubbed the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) is chaired by Eric Schmidt, Google’s former chairman, and includes senior managers from Google, Microsoft and Amazon. In 2021, the group released a report commissioned by the US government that made a strong case for techno-nationalism. The NSCAI wrote: “[f]or the first time since World War II, America’s technological predominance – the backbone of its economic and military power – is under threat. China possesses the might, talent, and ambition to surpass the United States as the world’s leader in AI in the next decade if current trends do not change”. The report said that most AI research and development, while financed by the state, should be done by firms and universities. It also called for more stringent intellectual property rights for AI, data and biotechnology, arguing that insufficient protection has led inventors to prefer trade secrecy. This approach would benefit the tech giants: while the US government makes colossal R&D investments, Big Tech would keep and strengthen the gains. “The American Jobs Plan”, launched by US president Joe Biden in 2021, is fully in line with this diagnosis of US weakness. To defeat what is perceived as the Chinese threat, it includes US$180 billion for R&D in AI and biotechnology. Likewise, the NSCAI report suggests: “[t]he United States should commit to a strategy to stay at least two generations ahead of China in state-of-the-art microelectronics and commit the funding and incentives to maintain multiple sources of cutting-edge microelectronics fabrication in the United States”. Biden’s plan has a US$300 billion subsidy devoted to manufacturing, including help for chipmakers producing in the US. The interdependency between the US and Chinese states and digital corporations is apparent in the case of surveillance. Relaxed US data governance has enabled tech giants to harvest data without restriction. In return, Google, Apple and Facebook feed US institutions such as the US National Security Agency with data. Chinese giants do the same with their government. Tech giants also absorb financial wealth and technological capabilities from the rest of the world that is partly channelled to their home countries. However, tech giants’ techno-globalism sometimes collides with the techno-nationalist aims of their home statesResearch shows that these companies establish collaborations with academic institutions and enterprises around the world. For instance, Chinese universities are among Microsoft’s and Amazon’s most frequent collaborators in AI science, and Tencent and Alibaba conduct much of their AI research in US hotspots such as Silicon Valley and Seattle. More generally,the tech giants’ size and mode of operation threaten the sovereignty of the state even in superpowers such as the US and China. The fact that Facebook could block US president Donald Trump from its platform, which has almost monopoly status, exemplifies this problem. Alibaba and Tencent taking over part of state-owned commercial banks in China is another example. While the US and Chinese states increasingly move towards new and more extreme forms of techno-nationalism, tech giants continue to operate globally and collaborate with organisations from the competing country. But this plays into the nations’ respective global ambitions. Tech giants remain either Chinese or US citizens. Big Tech’s global outreach reinforces US world dominance and supports China’s ambition to challenge it. When it comes to policy recommendations, tech giants become ‘techno-nationalist’. They depend on the state’s backing and their autonomy is under constant negotiation. Global development and use of AI need to be understood in the light of that interplay – one of both harmony and conflict between tech giants, and the US and Chinese states. These leading digital players constitute and shape each other and affect the rest of the world. Tech giants privatise, monopolise, and turn important elements of technology into private assets while their respective states build new barriers to the international flow of knowledge. This undermines the global knowledge commons and open science. It curtails innovation possibilities for other organisations and for the rest of the world. A consequence is growing income inequality and a growing global divide between AI producers and users. In light of urgent global challenges, there is a need for new forms of global governance and knowledge-sharing beyond market regulations. Cecilia Rikap is lecturer in International Political Economy at City, University of London, CONICET researcher and associate researcher at COSTECH, Université de Technologie de Compiègne. Her research deals with the global political economy of science, technology and innovation, focusing on power relations within innovation and production processes, looking at the asymmetries between actors, regions and agendas. Bengt-Åke Lundvall is professor emeritus in economics at the Department of Business Studies at Aalborg University and Professor emeritus at the Department of Economic History at Lund University. His research is organised around a broad set of issues related to innovation systems and learning economies. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on May 16, 2022

Governments need to hit the right note with megastar concerts - 360 Yusuf Reza Kurniawan, Mohammad Dian Revindo, Calista Endrina Dewi Published on March 8, 2024 Concerts by acts like Taylor Swift and Coldplay can boost local economies raising questions over how authorities help pay. When Coldplay played in Jakarta last November, it is estimated to have boosted the Indonesian economy by approximately USD$53.5 million. Organising mega-concerts by international superstars is seen as an effective way to boost the economy and enhance the national image. It’s understandable, then, that there is some envy around Southeast Asia over Singapore signing an exclusive deal for six concerts by Taylor Swift this week. According to an estimate by LPEM Universitas Indonesia, the cascading effect on the national economy of the Coldplay concert was another USD$27.6 million added to the country’s GDP, primarily benefiting the entertainment industry, transport and hospitality. Like Swift, Coldplay played six concerts in Singapore. The potential impact of multi-day concerts by both artists on Singapore’s economy is considerable. The British band’s gigs were estimated to have added approximately USD$296.1 million to the Singaporean economy, while Swift’s concerts are expected to bring in around USD$416.4 million, mainly due to higher ticket prices. These are welcome numbers after the hard years of the COVID pandemic, where the live music industry declined by about USD$30 billion globally. Since the pandemic, figures will continue to improve due to pent-up demand for live music events.  In Indonesia, for example, there has been an increase in live music events since 2022 with numerous music festivals and the number of concerts featuring both foreign and domestic musical acts steadily increasing. Southeast Asia has become one of the most popular destinations for megastars, with rich rewards from a massive fan base. While there is huge potential benefit in terms of economic activities in holding these mega concerts, there are also several risks for host countries to consider. The verbal spat between officials from Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines has highlighted the potential impact of these mega-concerts on regional cohesion. The Thai Prime Minister was not happy about the Singaporean government offering subsidies of USD$2-3 million for each Taylor Swift show, provided the American singer did not play in any neighbouring country. This move irritated the Thais, while a Philippine senator urged the Department of Foreign Affairs to seek an explanation from the Singaporean Embassy in Manila. If Singapore’s practice of offering government subsidies to attract global stars proves effective, other countries may follow suit. This raises the question about whether subsidising foreign artists is a wise use of taxpayer money, The allocation of public funds for these incentives comes at the expense of other government spending, which could potentially be more beneficial. The use of public funds for mega-concerts certainly merits greater scrutiny regarding the benefits and drawbacks for the host country. Then there is the question of how these mega-concerts can benefit the local music industry. While these events generate significant economic activity, the broader implications for the local music industry and cultural landscape must be carefully considered. The influx of international artists as well as global audiences can provide local talents with a platform to showcase their abilities alongside established names. This exposure can elevate the profile of local musicians and foster collaborations and learning opportunities. That way, the hosting of global mega-concerts can deliver advantages beyond mere economic gains. Ultimately, while mega-concerts offer considerable benefits, they also require a balanced approach, considering the economic incentives and the potential risks involved. Countries should strategise carefully on not only how to attract and host these large-scale events but also to leverage them in ways that support local industries, foster cultural exchange, and ensure sustainable development in the broader creative economy. Yusuf Reza Kurniawan is a Research Associate at the Institute for Economic and Social Research, Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Indonesia. Mohamad Dian Revindo is the head of the Business Climate and Global Value Chain Research Group at the Institute for Economic and Social Research, (LPEM) in the Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Indonesia. Calista Endrina Dewi is a research assistant at the Institute for Economic and Social Research (LPEM) in Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Indonesia Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.

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2024-05-27T18:22:32.821463

Published on March 8, 2024