Black Immigrant Daily News

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Scaling up climate resilience across food systems is among the actions needed to counter rising hunger and malnutrition, UN General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid said on Monday, at a special meeting to address the global food crisis.

Factors including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and ongoing conflicts resulted in nearly a billion people going hungry last year, he said.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has warned that the conflict in Ukraine will plunge an additional 95 million people into extreme poverty, and 50 million into severe hunger, this year.

Already falling short

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“Frankly, we were already falling short of meeting our food-security targets, prior to 2020. However, the situation is now critical,” said Mr. Shahid.

“The shocks of multiple global crises have weakened our institutions, our economies, and challenged our ability to effectively respond.”

He stressed that despite this bleak picture, countries cannot lose hope. They must collectively mobilize to alleviate global hunger and malnutrition, and also address the factors that cause them.

Mr. Shahid also highlighted the need to prioritize food security in the world’s least developed countries, landlocked developing nations, and small island developing states, whose citizens “are typically forced to spend a larger share of their income on basic necessities, including food, and are thus disproportionately affected by rising food prices.”

Interconnectedness, not isolation

These countries also must receive help in achieving sustainable transformation of their food systems, in line with recommendations from the UN Food Systems Summit held last year.

Mr. Shahid said as countries implement more sustainable and environmentally responsible food-practices, they must also approach food security as part of a broader multilateral agenda that both recognizes the interconnectedness of today’s challenges, and the futility of trying to solve them unilaterally or in isolation.

Food systems must be able to provide affordable healthy diets that are sustainable and inclusive. They must also become a powerful driving force towards ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition.

“Among the actions that we must immediately take include scaling up climate resilience across food systems, strengthening food environments and changing consumer behaviour to promote dietary patterns with positive impacts on human health and the environment,” he said.

“Solving food security also requires us to stop conflicts and pandemics that disrupt supply chains; to repair our relationship with nature, and secure sustainable agriculture; and to strengthen the global institutions working to alleviate poverty and hunger.”

A ‘critical moment’

Mr. Shahid convened the high-level special event alongside the Committee on World Food Security, and the UN Secretary General’s Global Crisis Response Group on Food, Energy and Finance.

In a video message to the meeting, UN chief António Guterres commended the partners for joining forces at what he called “this critical moment”, noting that the number of people who are severely food insecure has doubled in the last two years.

“We face a real risk of multiple famines this year. And next year could be even worse. But we can avoid this catastrophe if we act now,” said Mr. Guterres.

The Secretary-General underscored the need to immediately reintegrate Ukraine’s food production, and Russia’s food and fertilizer, into world markets, and keeping global trade open.

He also called for tackling the finance crisis in the developing world, and urgently unlocking resources to enhance social protection and support smallholder farmers to increase productivity and self-reliance.

Countries must also transform food systems at every level, in order to put affordable, healthy and sustainable diets within reach of everyone, everywhere.

Source: UN News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The National Bank of Dominica (NBD) and First Caribbean International Bank (Barbados) announce that they will not proceed with the sale and purchase of CIBC First Caribbean’s assets in Dominica.

In a statement, NBD says in October 2021, a consortium of commercial banks in the Eastern Caribbean announced that it had entered into an agreement with CIBC First Caribbean to acquire its branches and banking operations in Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts, and Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.

After several rounds of discussion between the CIBC First Caribbean, NBD, and the regulator, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB), NBD decided to change its strategic direction and will no longer be pursuing the purchase of the Dominica branch and operations of CIBC First Caribbean.

Chairperson of the NBD board, Urania Williams, stated “The National Bank of Dominica Ltd has decided to take its operations in a different strategic direction and consequently will no longer be pursuing the purchase of the Dominica branch and operations of CIBC First Caribbean. However, NBD remains open to pursuing other mutually beneficial opportunities together with CIBC First Caribbean in the future.” 

Williams thanked CIBC First Caribbean and the member banks of the Consortium for the opportunity to bid and for their “tremendous support during the process.”

She stated that NBD remains “ever conscious of, and sensitive to, its unique importance to Dominica’s banking industry and the entire economy and added that the Bank will continue to strive to respond successfully to the responsibility to which it is entrusted.”

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Black Immigrant Daily News

Dear Editor,

Alleged GuySuCo employee, Mr Francis McGowan, in the July 15, 2022 Kaieteur News, sought to express criticism of the GAWU and by extension sugar workers for actions taken in standing-up to defend their rights and conditions. The accusations utilised by the ‘GuySuCo employee’ are certainly not new and have been used time and again by enemies of GAWU and the sugar workers.

As in the past, the actions of sugar workers to demand that their conditions-of-work be respected; the stance against the perpetuation of injustices, and their call for the industry to managed in a proper manner have gotten under the not-too-thick skin of the GuySuCo ‘specialists and professionals’. Despite their linguistic gymnastics and contrary to their hopes, sugar workers are not fooled by hollow propaganda. They are there on the ground and the truth cannot escape them.

Mr McGowan, who may well be a pseudo-writer, charged that GAWU’s approach is ‘outdated’. We wonder how did the ‘employee’ reach such conclusions? Our approach is grounded in the principle that workers’ rights and conditions must be upheld, what is so outdated about that? All over the world, workers are struggling as they heighten calls for respect and justice.

Such struggles are taking place in societies far more advanced than ours yet when the Guyanese sugar workers raise their voices, their and their organisation’s calls are suddenly outdated. What really is outdated is those who still believe that workers must remain meek while the certain untouchables perpetuate assaults on their rights and conditions. Indeed, for the GAWU it is saddening that workers must protest to get their annual leave payments. These matters have long been settled yet the modern-day ‘maharajas’ want to ignore their rights.

The ‘employee’ charged we are not being honest with sugar workers. Were we dishonest when we said the first crop 2022 production was the lowest in GuySuCo history? Were we dishonest to say that large areas of the cultivations at Albion and Blairmont estates were abandoned? Was it dishonest to point out that tillage tractor utilisation was not being maximised?

Is it dishonest to express the view that GuySuCo management requires strengthening? Or is it dishonest to express concern that despite substantial investments, the leadership of the sugar company has little to show? Could it be dishonest to hold that rather than attempting to pursue repairs to the gear at the Uitvlugt factory it would have been more prudent to order a new one? Where was the dishonesty that is spoken about?

Mr McGowan, in his misinformed propaganda, said, ‘we have uncovered’. Who is this ‘we’ he speaks of? Is it really ‘we’? Or is it a certain ‘he’? Whatever may be the case we wish to tell him or them, that the union’s finances are audited up to the end of 2020 and work is advancing in respect of 2021. Can the same be said of GuySuCo? We are also treated to further distortion regarding our recent attendance to the WFTU Congress, an organisation that has stood by GAWU in all times. Nonetheless, his unfamiliarity stands nakedly exposed as our union received support to participate in this important working-class activity. Did GuySuCo receive similar support during recent overseas jaunts?

We are told about the Government’s support to the workers of Uitvlugt estate. Certainly, the workers are most appreciative and grateful, contrary to the beliefs of a certain ‘chief’. However, does that support give GuySuCo the right to cheat workers out of their legitimately earned benefits? Does it give it permission to allow the Corporation to ignore the sincere calls of the workers? We would want to believe Mr McGowan would not want to be denied what he is entitled to, so why should the sugar workers be chastised for seeking fairness?

The union vehicles and renovations also attracted attention. Is it that those of Mr McGowan’s ilk would wish for union officials to utilise donkey and horse carts or bicycles? Or maybe their desire is for union buildings to appear in a poor state? Such expressions, in our view, demonstrate that the old colonial mentality has returned. While expressing criticism, Mr McGowan may want to find out whether it is true that certain exquisite, top-of-the-line European automobile was being procured for the Corporation until reportedly a sudden halt was placed? Also, he may wish to enquire what has happened to the reported down payment?

Similarly, he should let us know about the massive renovations at a certain company house which reportedly went over budget and variations approved contrary to the company’s policy? Or could he tell us about a reported ostentatious private get-together that is said to have had several sugar workers engaged in various activities? Of course, all of this is reportedly happening when it is said workers should not express any resentment to their rights being trampled.

GAWU is said to be problematic but the real problem is that our union is not ignoring the real challenges in the industry and those who are responsible. We are not cowed by propaganda and false narratives. The GAWU and the sugar workers have had a proud history of standing up and raising their voices. We will not be deterred in our calls for the workers to be respected.

Yours faithfully,Seepaul NarinePresidentGAWU

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