African COVID-19 lockdowns will split public opinion

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
South African ◽  
Health Risks ◽  
Virus Spread ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Approval Ratings ◽  
Vulnerable Communities ◽  
Restrictive Measures

Subject African COVID-19-related lockdowns. Significance There has been considerable civil society resistance to restrictive COVID-19-related lockdowns in Africa on both poverty and human rights grounds. Academics and journalists have also questioned their sustainability given the limited savings of most households and the reliance of many communities on the informal sector. However, both public opinion and civil society itself are deeply divided. Governments that acted quickly and firmly appear to have gained higher approval ratings for their handling of the pandemic, while organisations that represent vulnerable communities have welcomed restrictive measures intended to prevent the virus' spread. Impacts Governments failing to control COVID-19's spread risk being branded health risks by neighbours who have imposed stricter measures. Popular support for restrictive measures is likely to remain high so long as governments can demonstrate they are working. Clashing and problematic statements by ministers on restrictions could be an ongoing challenge for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

South African government’s GBV plans may disappoint

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
South African ◽  
Foreign Investment ◽  
Gender Based Violence ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Structure ◽  
National Strategic Plan ◽  
The Government ◽  
Gender Based

Significance Although President Cyril Ramaphosa has publicly committed to increase funding to combat what he calls South Africa’s “second pandemic”, there is a lack of transparency in how the government disburses funds linked to its National Strategic Plan (NSP) on Gender-based Violence and Femicide. Impacts Civil society groups will increase pressure on the government to make expenditure on GBV programmes more transparent. A new private-sector fund to contribute to the NSP has received strong early support, but its management structure is opaque. High levels of GBV will not only have significant humanitarian and social costs but may deter much-needed foreign investment.

scholarly journals The effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups: A reflection on South African informal urban settlements

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bethuel Ngcamu ◽  
Evangelos Mantzaris
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
South African ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Humanitarian Assistance ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
The South ◽  
Response Strategies ◽  
Vulnerable Communities ◽  
Negative Effect

Background: The economically vulnerable population, mostly black, especially those who are residing in precarious informal settlements are most susceptible to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Aim: To determine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the socio-economic condition of the vulnerable groups in South Africa. It also attempts to reflect the government’s response strategies to provide help and services for the vulnerable communities who are considered to be most susceptible to the existing pandemic. Lastly, the response strategies of civil society groups and the challenges they are encountering in providing humanitarian assistance to indigent communities are explored.Setting: This is a reflective study where secondary data has been analysed and intertwined with the researchers’ experiences and insights of the South African informal settlements’ welfare.Methods: This article followed a reflective approach where the experiences of the vulnerable communities are strategically reflected upon.Results: This fascinating study unearthed the effects of the coronavirus disease on the socio-economic conditions of vulnerable communities, the economy of the informal sector, the brutal enforcement agencies during the lockdown period, criminality, the fragmented government response and the marginalisation and frustration of civil society groups in providing humanitarian assistance to those in need.Conclusion: The South African government’s fragmentations, bureaucratic, maladministration and corruption in public departments have adversely impacted the welfare of the vulnerable groups who are living in the informal settlements. The human rights violations by the security agencies which are directed to the indigent people, and the centralisation of the humanitarian efforts by government had a negative effect on their wellbeing.

Kazakhstan will silence dissenting voices amid crisis

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
The West ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lower House ◽  
International Image ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Government

Subject Prosecutions for questioning Kazakhstan's statehood. Significance Two civil society activists in Kazakhstan, Yermek Narymbayev and Serikjan Mambetalin, were jailed on January 22 after being found guilty of 'inciting ethnic discord' for comments they posted on Facebook. The verdict, condemned by domestic and international human rights groups, came shortly before the authorities announced that elections to the lower house of parliament originally scheduled for January 2017 had been brought forward to March 20. Impacts Nazarbayev's Nur Otan party will win a majority in the March polls and other parties that gain seats will have tacit government approval. Crackdowns on freedom of expression will tarnish efforts to maintain good relations with the West. The government will continue to fund costly lobbying campaigns to improve its international image.

Cambodian rapprochement to continue uneasily, for now

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Content Type ◽  
People's Party ◽  
Deputy Prime Minister ◽  
Official Corruption

Subject Cambodia's 'culture of dialogue'. Significance Interior minister and deputy prime minister Sar Kheng, of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), will meet opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) co-leader Sam Rainsy on October 1 after a similar September 23 meeting. Publicly, such meetings, notionally to discuss forthcoming legislation, characterise the 'culture of dialogue' between the CPP and CNRP. However, the July imprisonment of opposition-linked activists, passage of a controversial civil society law and the August arrest of an opposition senator, raise concerns about the robustness of the rapprochement. Impacts The opposition will focus on sensitive popular issues to gain support, including official corruption and judiciary politicisation. The CPP will use the security forces and judicial apparatus to constrain its opponents. Limitations to civil society freedoms could stoke local unrest over land and human rights.

South African electoral reform may prove a sideshow

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
South African ◽  
Public Funding ◽  
National Level ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Electoral Reform ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Private Donations ◽  
Substantial Control ◽  
Party Funding

Significance The defiance of the party whip by party members implicitly goes against South Africa’s proportional representation (PR) list electoral system, where party bosses have substantial control over candidate selection. With lawmakers at national level not dependent on constituencies, many opposition parties and civil society groups believe ANC MPs do not adequately represent the electorate, while opaque party funding rules mean parties could be beholden to unseen private backers. Impacts Civil society fears over the institutional independence of the independent electoral commission (IEC) will grow ahead of the 2019 poll. Overhaul of public funding for parties, without concomitant regulation of private donations, could potentially hurt smaller parties. Growing voter apathy may undermine broader civil society attempts at a mass grassroots electoral reform campaign.

Expansion of Mexico’s CJNG poses regional risks

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Approval Ratings ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Military

Significance Police believe the cargo, worth some USD18.6mn, belonged to Mexico’s New Generation Jalisco Cartel (CJNG), a group that has expanded rapidly in the last decade to become one of Mexico’s most powerful criminal organisations. Impacts AMLO remains popular but increasing violence and perceptions of impunity will weigh on his approval ratings. Any increased use of the military would undermine AMLO’s image as a human rights defender and could raise government-military tensions. CJNG expansion will reach a limit, hastened by arrests, killings and asset confiscation, but for now it benefits from rivals’ weaknesses.

West Africa's Fulanis face mounting pressures

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Burkina Faso ◽  
Ethnic Group ◽  
The South ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Civil Society Organisation ◽  
The North ◽  
Southern Nigeria

Subject Problems facing Fulani communities in the Sahel. Significance In July, the Northern Elders' Forum of Nigeria, a prominent civil society organisation, called for Fulani herders to leave southern Nigeria and return to their historical homelands in the north, reflecting a sense among some northerners that the south has become too dangerous for the Fulani ethnic group. Amid a marked increase in jihadist violence in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Nigeria since the early 2010s, the Fulani have found themselves targets of widespread ethnic profiling and even collective punishment. Impacts Tensions surrounding the Fulani in Mali are spreading into Burkina Faso and Niger as community members feel stigmatised more generally. Government will find it difficult to disarm former partner militias, such as the ethnic Dogon militia Dan Na Ambassagou in Mali. Respect for human rights would help stem radical recruitment among young Fulanis.

scholarly journals Stop accounting myopia: – think globally: a polemic

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Hopper
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Environmental Accounting ◽  
Social Implications ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Institutions ◽  
Development Goals

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to cover issues raised in the author’s plenary address to the Journal of Accounting and Organizational Network Conference held in Melbourne in November 2017. This called for accountants, whether professionals in practice or in academia, to broaden their vision of accounting and accountability beyond the financial accountability of organisations, and serving corporate and capital market interests, to consider how it can help achieve sustainable development goals.Design/methodology/approachThe discussion is based on personal experience, cognate literature and policies of major global institutions.FindingsWhilst the need for financial reporting will remain, there is a pressing need for reporting to measure, monitor and make accountable organisations’ obligations to help achieve sustainable development goals established by global institutions such as the United Nations. Areas of importance discussed are accounting for human rights, mitigation of climate change, securing decent work, increasing accountability – especially civil society democratic participation – and a greater and more equal partnership with stakeholders and developing countries to address their needs.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is a personal polemic intended to provoke reflection and reform amongst accountants.Practical implicationsThe paper outlines the areas where accounting could and has addressed human rights and sustainability issues.Social implicationsThe social implications are vast, for they extend to major issues concerning the preserving the planet, its species, humankind and enhanced democratic processes for civil society and developing countries.Originality/valueThe paper reinforces the need for policy reforms advocated by social and environmental accounting researchers.

Egypt will resist pressure to improve rights record

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Political Prisoners ◽  
Content Type ◽  
State Security ◽  
Personal Rights ◽  
High Level ◽  
Near Future

Significance Three members of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) were arrested between November 15 and 19, after meeting top European diplomats two weeks earlier to discuss the country’s human rights situation. The men were released on December 3 following an international outcry, but their assets remain frozen. On December 10, Italian prosecutors formally charged four senior Egyptian state security officials with the 2016 kidnapping and murder of Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni, contributing to mounting pressure on Cairo for its human rights record. Impacts Egypt’s civil society community is under existential threat. Large-scale campaigns by international actors will be reserved for Egyptian organisations and individuals with high-level connections. No dramatic developments concerning Egypt’s tens of thousands of political prisoners are expected in the near future.

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