Posts Tagged ‘un’

ICT helps advance humanitarian goals

January 24th, 2012
Post by Senior Director, Juliette Terzieff:

Technology has emerged as an integral element of humanitarian response efforts around the world in recent years—put to use in both emergency situations and in efforts to address chronic issues. Almost gone are the days when aid groups and disaster responders operating in hostile or remote environments had to wait days or weeks for information transfers that could save lives. Not only are ICT tools and the Internet changing how aid organizations and the public respond to crises, but they are also helping the global humanitarian community better predict and pre-plan accelerated response efforts.

The potential reach of technology is near limitless and can be applied to any issue. Around the world development experts and organizations are using technology to drive initiatives on education, health care and poverty reduction. The information and capacity that these efforts create feeds directly into the humanitarian community’s ability to manage crises.

The United Nations’ World Food Programme is employing electronic vouchers to fight malnutrition in Zimbabwe for HIV-positive patients and their families. The electronic food voucher, introduced by the WFP, and implemented by Zimbabwean authorities and NGOs, identifies malnourished patients and gives them vouchers they can use to purchase food at designated shops. Zimbabwe’s economic woes of the last decade have left many HIV/AIDS patients undergoing antiretroviral treatment unable to feed themselves and their families, and the program has helped around 570,000 Zimbabweans since it began.

WFP is also using technology more broadly, expanding the organization’s 2005 video game Food Force to fight against hunger by teaming up with Konami Digital. Released 30 November 2011, the game’s most recent version can be found on the social networking website Facebook in both English and Japanese.

Global positioning systems (GPS) provide early weather warnings for areas like Nepal to map health facilities and plan disaster response in the event of a major earthquake. Mobile operator Airtel in Bangladesh “has teamed up with the Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods,” as well as three other organizations—Oxfam, CARE, and the Center for Global Change—providing fisherman at sea with the early weather warnings using GPS.

In India, scientists are developing a handheld, battery-powered device that can take a sample of urine, blood, or sputum, process it, and alert a health worker whether a feverish child has malaria, dengue or a bacterial infection. Projects such as these can help eliminate some of the logistical challenges with accessing care for impoverish or rural communities.

Text messaging is being used to raise awareness on human rights issues. The Burkina Faso Red Cross, for example, uses text messages to remind government officials, employers, traditional leaders, business owners and others about rights abuses associated with the “exploitation of domestic workers.”

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Geographic Information System (GIS) software is used to “map artisanal mining sites, transportation routes, and mineral trading points” as part of efforts to reform the mining sector. Security and human rights issues on the ground are also monitored using the software. The DRC has been the center of a global battle against the trade in “conflict minerals”—tin, tantalum, gold and others—that has been used to finance massive human rights abuses and bloody conflict.

A major component of how technology is being adapted for humanitarian purposes efforts is ways in which it can be used to streamline information rapidly and unify the efforts of various organizations and individuals.

When the crisis broke in Libya, humanitarian workers and decision-makers realized they didn’t have real time information regarding the events happening within the country. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) teamed up with the Ushahidi initiative, a project that ultimately set new standards to map crises and aid response plans through the use of social and traditional media information. The effort, which relied on 150 volunteers skilled on crisis mapping to manage data coming from within Libya, resulted in the LibyaCrisisMap.net.

“Given that the UN had virtually no access to the country, we now had situational awareness,” Andrej Verity, information management officer at OCHA in Geneva, said. “And, within 48 hours, we had 100-plus response activities collected and compiled – the same amount of data [that] took about four weeks in the Philippines, two weeks in Haiti, and two weeks in Pakistan to be made available.”

Technology has also changed the way caring members of the public around the world are able to help when disaster strikes. As massive natural disasters struck with little warning in 2010 and 2011, aid groups and people around the world turned to social media and other technological tools to help people in Haiti, Pakistan and Japan find missing relatives, and to identify emergency needs and raise funds for relief efforts. In Kenya, an initiative using mobile phones to facilitate cash transfer services—“Kenyans for Kenya”—raised over US $7 million during a period of drought that affected northern and eastern parts of the country.

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Using digital data to better protect vulnerable populations

December 19th, 2011
Posted by Senior Director, Juliette Terzieff:

The United Nations and current Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have emerged as some of the most vocal supporters of Internet & Communications Technology tools as a powerful force for change and development.  Beyond endorsing efforts to affirm access to the Internet as a basic human right, the UN has initiated—or joined forces with NGOs, aid groups and/or the private sector—to field test applications for technology to promote development, domecracy and the protection of human rights.

Global Pulse, the United Nation’s digital data project, is a prime example of those efforts. The project, that aims to streamline the retrieval of information to protect the world’s vulnerable populations and facilitate access, was created by the UN Secretary-General in 2009 to help “better understand the way we live and how global crises impact people” in real-time. Global Pulse brings together governments, UN agencies, academia, and private sector players for an innovation laboratory to research and develop new tools for capturing real-time data to specifically help humanitarian crises and stop human rights crimes.

The Fall 2011 Global Pulse report discusses closing the information gap by using digital data to better plan humanitarian disaster and crises response efforts. With today’s hyper-connected world, policymakers “are grappling with a volatile environment in which crises in one part of the world emerge suddenly, reverberate around the globe, and amplify the effects of crises already underway.” With private sector companies already analyzing collected real-time data to better understand their customers, “the time has come to learn how to use this new data to understand when households are struggling to make ends meet.”

Remote sensing via satellite has given physical science fields like ecology, atmospheric physics, geosciences, and chemistry valuable insights for decades. It is just in recent years that the UN and other stakeholders have realized what a powerful tool satellite remote sensing can be in the realm of human and socioeconomic processes. Measuring the growth of cities, crop health, slum development, transportation networks, and soil moisture by visible and multispectral imagery, and studies of human behavior have been made via proxy with remote sensing. Events such as earthquakes, floods, landslides, and civil unrest can be monitored successfully via high spatial resolution remote sensing. Such data can be used to immense effect to accurately map a developing situation on the ground as we saw in the aftermath of the January 2010 Haiti earthquake where volunteer users of OpenStreetMap updated the maps using GeoEye imagery to help Search & Rescue and Relief teams. High resolution commercial imagery can potentially bear witness to humanitarian crises and human rights violations as well.

According to Zazie Schafer, Deputy Director of UN Global Pulse, the information people share across the Internet can help provide better information during global crises, such as when a population is experiencing an extremely stressful time. “So what we are looking at in this new age of data as people go about their daily lives. They generate a lot of data. They make calls on mobile phones, they search on the internet, the call agriculture hotline, they interact with their friends on Twitter on Facebook…so this generates a lot of data and we are looking at how to harness that data to provide better information on when populations are experiencing stress.”

On the Global Pulse blog, Lela Prashad, Chief Technology Officer for NiJeL, writes that “The NASA/NOAA image of Earth’s “Lights at Night” is routinely used to estimate economic development and population density.” Prashad is also the Director of the 100 Cities Project at Arizona State University. One of the ways in which this type of remote sensing is used is in humanitarian-related projects like the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET) and the UNITAR’s Operational Satellite Applications Program (UNIOSAT)—humanitarian and disaster relief projects. Prashad states that even with these applications, “we’ve just begun to scratch the surface of what remotely sensed data can provide for prevention, mitigation and response to acute and chronic human crises.”

Global Pulse focuses on three interdependent areas of activity:

  • Data Research
  • Technology Toolkit
  • Pulse Lab Network

The research conducted tracks the use of digital data—mobile phones, online behavior on websites such as Twitter or Facebook—and provides real-time data on global situations. With each passing day, the digital data trail expands and gives “a fuller picture of the changes, stressors, and shifts in the daily living of a community.” When these changes are compared to wages, gas or food prices, especially during times of global shocks, the more immediate picture provided by the ever-changing digital data can give governments and agencies the knowledge they need to prepare and act.

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Internet controls still a global battle

November 1st, 2011
Posted by Senior Director, Juliette Terzieff:

Internet censorship in China has gained the spotlight again recently in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings. China’s ability to forestall the use of Internet-based tools to drive public protests, and to successfully block searches for events like the Egyptian protests in January 2011 that dominated the global airwaves are both a demonstration of the government’s continued strength and an admission by authorities that the potential power of technology worries them.

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UN sets broadband targets

October 31st, 2011
Posted by Juliette Terzieff

In an effort to bring at least 60 percent of the population in developed countries into cyberspace by 2015, the United Nations’ Commission for Digital Development has set goals to make it happen, calling the plan ‘The Broadband Challenge’. “Communication—a human need and a right,” says the Broadband Challenge report, issued on Tuesday, October 25, 2011. The goals have been called ‘ambitious but achievable’ by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the commission, which is composed of policy-makers, executives, academics, and government officials, hopes for a lower cost—around 5 percent of the monthly average incomes—for these developed countries. The UN commission is looking to the private sector and governments to help meet the goal, which would require a large amount of cooperation and commitment from both, if they wish to reach their targets within the estimated time.

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Companies, stakeholders move on climate change

September 22nd, 2011
Posted by Juliette Terzieff

United Nations backed negotiations to forge an international treaty to fight global warming may be stumbling, but that hasn’t prevented companies around the world from taking steps to address climate change risks on their own and with the help of stakeholders. For the first time in the ten years since Carbon Disclosure Project began its annual Global 500 report, results show a majority of companies including climate change concerns and actions in their business planning.

The CDP report, Accelerating low carbon growth, found 68 percent of the 396 companies analyzed have climate change strategies, up from 48 percent a year ago. The percentage of companies reporting on greenhouse gas emission reductions also jumped from 19 percent to 45 percent over the same period.

Seventy four percent of respondents reported having a carbon reduction target in place, with Consumer Staples as the industry with the highest percentage and Energy with the lowest proportion.

CDP also looked at indications of financial benefits of corporate climate change efforts and found companies that have climate change strategies earned nearly twice the return for their investors than those that do not between 2005 and 2011.

“The improved financial performance of companies with high carbon performance is a clear indicator that it makes good business sense to manage and reduce carbon emissions. This is a win win for business – the short ROIs many emissions reducing activities have, can help increase profitability,” CDP CEP Paul Simpson said. “Companies yet to take action on climate change will have to work hard to remain competitive as we head towards an increasingly resourced constrained, low carbon economy.”

The top ten performers in terms of performance and disclosure according to the report are (in alphabetical order) Bank of America, Bayer, BMW, Cisco, Honda Motor Company, Philips Electronics, SAP, Sony Corporation, Tesco and Westpac Banking Corporation.

Measures taken by corporations surveyed in the report range from monetary incentives to employees to reduce their own environmental impact, energy efficient changes to working spaces and production processes, product design and low carbon energy installations. Changes in practice, such as minimizing business travel through the use of new technological capabilities like telepresence, have exploded across the globe.

The CDP’s S&P 500 annual report on American corporations found similar results, with the percentage of companies reporting climate change strategy as policy jumping from 35 percent in 2010 to 65 percent in 2011.

United Nations authorities are also moving forward with climate change battle plans, working to leverage the power of technology to help countries mitigate and adapt to the effects of global warming.

The world body’s Technology Executive Committee held its’ first working meeting this month to begin examining how it will manage policy and technical issues related to technology transfer as the policy arm of the Technology Mechanism. The process was established at the last climate summit in Cancun as a means to aid developing countries protect vulnerable populations and work towards the creation of sustainable futures.

“The goal of the Technology Mechanism can only be achieved through a wider and deeper collaboration among all countries with the active engagement of relevant stakeholders, including the research

community, academia and, importantly, the private sector,” Christiana Figueres, head of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, said after the meeting.

The Committee will be looking at ways to increase information sharing on emerging technologies and engaging stakeholders to advance the process.

Continued action from the private sector and its’ stakeholders remains crucial as governments struggle to align around a binding international climate treaty. Climate negotiators from around the world are looking to minimize expectations for progress at the next UN sponsored climate summit beginning at the end of November in Durban, South Africa, and few expect a successor agreement to the Kyoto Treaty to be part of the meeting’s outcome.

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Cutting Criticism of Forest Protection Effort

July 26th, 2011
Posted by Juliette Terzieff

Environmental and human rights watchdogs often levy criticism against governments and corporations for failing to live up to socially responsibility commitments. But this week Global Witness released a report on the World Wildlife Fund’s Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) initiative highly critical of failures to adequately screen participating companies for illegal timber and habitat destruction activities.

Global Witness’ report Pandering to the Loggers claims that companies associated the GFTN are using WFF association to bolster environmental credibility while continuing to contribute to the destruction of forests and trade in illegally sourced timber. The report names Malaysian logging company Ta Ann Holdings Berhad, British building supplier Jewson and the Swiss-German timber company Danzer Group as GFTN members involved in human rights abuses or environmental degradation of forests.

“WWF should publicly disassociate itself from any company using timber from illegal or unethical sources. It’s shocking that one of the world’s most trusted conservation groups deems it acceptable to take money from such companies. This investigation raises bigger questions about the underlying strategy and efficacy of such voluntary schemes,” Global Witness Forest Campaign Leader Tom Picken said.

The report’s authors noted that producing a report so critical of another NGO stakeholder that is involved in promoting solutions to some of the world’s most pressing environmental and human rights issues was a difficult decision. But because the GFTN receives public funds and current strategies to combat deforestation are insufficient, publication of the report went ahead.

The GFTN works to link environmentally responsible producers, suppliers and buyers committed to forest protection through sustainable forest management, supply chain transparency, and product certifications. Over 270 entities – including major international brands Avon, Hewlett-Packard, Kimberly-Clark and Marks & Spencer — representing annual trade in wood and forest-sourced products worth $45.2 billion participate in the 20-year old program.

Global Witness said the network lacks transparency, a system for independent evaluations, and monitoring or enforcement mechanisms, and that membership rules are simply inadequate to prevent abuses. The organization has called for an independent assessment of GFTN rules and effects on the world’s forests.

GFTN officials were quick to respond to the Global Witness allegations by highlighting the network’s contribution to creating a multi-sector standard for responsible purchasing and credible product certification.

“GFTN creates market conditions that help conserve the world’s forests, while providing social and economic benefits for the businesses and people that depend on them,” GFTN head George White said in response to the Global Witness report.

“Of course, some GFTN partners have a way to go on their journey to sustainability. But these are precisely the companies that should be in GFTN, and we applaud their commitments to improving their environmental performance. Companies caught flouting the rules and spirit of GFTN will be removed from the network.”

Destruction of the world’s forests and the long-term environmental implications have united a broad array of stakeholders in efforts to slow the pace of deforestation. The United Nations General Assembly declared 2001 the International Year of Forests noting that 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihoods and that 80% of the world’s biodiversity is housed in forests.

The overall rates of annual global deforestation dropped from 16 million hectares in the 1990s to 13 million between 200 and 2010 according to the UN Food & Agriculture Organization, but the amount of primary forest – areas untouched by human activity – continues to decline.

Efforts to build on forest protection efforts will ultimately be most successful with the inclusion of private sector actors who help manage local, national and global marketplaces’ demand for forest products. The reality that not all companies are able or willing to shift over to sustainable practices should not erode support for efforts such as the GFTN.

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UN highlights Internet access as basic right

June 7th, 2011

Posted by Senior Director, Juliette Terzieff

 
Access to the Internet is a basic human right associated with the rights to a free opinion and expression, and any government entity that seeks to block or restrict use is committing a violation, United Nations Special Rapporteur Frank La Rue says in a new report.

La Rue, who heads the office on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, believes the Internet possesses transformative power that not only enables individuals to exercise their rights but contributes to the progress of society over all. As a broad-based communication medium, the special rapporteur argues, the Internet enjoys the same protections provided through standard international norms, such as the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, as other forms of mass communication and media.

“The Internet is one of the most powerful instruments of the 21st century for increasing transparency in the conduct of the powerful, access to information, and for facilitating active citizen participation in building democratic societies. Indeed, the recent wave of demonstrations in countries across the Middle East and North African region has shown the key role that the Internet can play in mobilizing the population to call for justice, equality, accountability and better respect for human rights,” La Rue said in a report presented to the UN Human Rights Council. “As such, facilitating access to the Internet for all individuals, with as little restriction to online content as possible, should be a priority for all States.”

While governments may legitimately restrict the dissemination of some kinds of information –like child pornography or data that encourages violence or genocide –many governments have been censoring the Internet or blocking access illegally. In some cases, like China, authorities have set up a sophisticated, permanent system to censor available Internet content, while in other places such as Egypt authorities have sought to restrict access as pivotal political moments.

The Center for Democracy & Technology released the latest version of its report “Regardless of Frontiers” as a multi-stakeholder discussion draft in April 2011 looking at increased efforts by governments to control the Internet and putting forth arguments based in international agreements to support access as a guaranteed right. CDT sees the Internet as simultaneously creating great opportunities for individual expression and for governments to seek greater control over the populations.

In 2010, Reports Without Borders noted the growing trend of government attempts to control Internet access with authorities in 60 countries –twice the number of 2009 –imposing some form of censorship. Saudi Arabia, Burma, China, North Korea, Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Uzbekistan, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam were named by the group as “Enemies of the Internet.” The explosion of the use of ICT tools by the general public, and not just long-time campaigning dissidents, was one of the prime reasons behind the increase, according to the group –a trend that is unlikely to have dissipated given events over the last year in the Middle East and North Africa.

As Reporters Without Borders noted, while some countries like Finland and Estonia have passed legislation guaranteeing Internet access as a basic right, others –such as North Korea, Vietnam and Iran –either block the Internet or routinely harass netizens.

The UN rapporteur’s report broadly commends the private sector for facilitating the transfer of information over networks, continuously developing ICT tools that enable users to access the Internet and for helping to protect the integrity of their services from State interference. The Rapporteur does warn that private companies do, in some cases, face extreme pressure from national authorities and may in the interest of business operations find themselves complicit in violations. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! are recognized in the report for their participation in the multi-stakeholder Global Network Initiative.

In addition to access as a right, the UN also sees the Internet and ICT tools as pivotal elements in economic and social development. As we discussed previously,  the world body is supporting multi-stakeholder efforts to achieve universal broadband access for youth around the world to drive positive change and meet education, poverty, health and human rights goals.

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Ruggie’s gonna “know and show”

March 5th, 2010
From Juliette Terzieff, Senior Director, Global Stakeholder Initiatives:

Interaction with United Nations Special Representative John Ruggie is an eye-opener. Well, I guess he’d say “a game changer,” but however you want to phrase it, Ruggie’s work to define roles and recommend parameters for his 3 pillar approach to business and human rights is going to change the way corporations and their stakeholders view human rights.

It’s about time.

For the last couple decades environmental and human rights activists groups have increasingly targeted corporate behavior in their campaigns – there have been some noticeable campaign “victories” and positive changes.

But broadly speaking the systemic problems at the root of issues like child labor, freedom of expression remain. Figuring out the role corporations and their stakeholders can play in addressing them remains a time-intensive conundrum.

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