Day: December 25, 2022

Situation Analysis

Across the region, millions of people are living in poverty and facing multiple daily threats to their food security. An estimated 146 million people are facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa. Climatic shocks, such as prolonged drought and recurrent flooding, conflict, desert locusts, and economic downturns, exacerbated by the effects of COVID-19, have combined to hit communities hard. The impact of global drivers is compounding the effect of pre-existing deep-rooted local drivers such as poverty and marginalisation.

The crisis has spread across all of Africa – from East Africa with the fourth consecutive failed rains in the Horn of Africa and extreme flooding for four successive years in South Sudan, to the Sahel region of West Africa plagued by insecurity and political instability, to Southern Africa where countries, such as Zimbabwe, are experiencing surging inflation. Unfortunately, this is not new and in 2010–2011, in spite of early warning signs that failed rains in East Africa would result in acute food insecurity and a loss of lives, the humanitarian response was too little and too late. History almost repeated itself in 2016–2017, but governments and humanitarian organisations mobilised a response sufficient enough to head off mass mortality.

Warnings of the current situation were given as early as 12 months ago when African Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies started to launch hunger crisis emergency appeals. So far, 17 African National Societies have responded to the hunger crisis across the region with the limited resources they have. However, to respond to the rapidly escalating humanitarian needs and scale up, for the National Society response, funding for the crisis needs to be urgently increased. The IFRC, in turn, must quickly and massively scale-up life-saving assistance to millions of people facing crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity, of which hundreds of thousands are at immediate risk of or experiencing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, but also to decisively address the root causes of this crisis through longer-term commitments.

The report details how the African Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies plan to scale up life-saving assistance to millions of people and the response efforts since the launch of the emergency appeal. At the same time, through longer-term programming, African National Societies will address the root causes of food insecurity. IFRC will build on our previous successes and work in support of government plans and frameworks to improve the resilience of the most impoverished communities, including displaced populations.

Source: International Federation of Red Cross And Red Crescent Societies

For some people, this Christmas won’t be a jolly jaunt of family gatherings, gift-giving and an exercise in overindulgence.

A cost of living crisis, soaring inflation and eye-watering energy bills are enough to knock the stuffing out of a Christmas turkey.

But the festive season is designed to forget our troubles, hail the Cyprus Church’s new leader and ignore that the future is jam-packed with nasty surprises.

If you read the small print, this is also a time of forgiveness and circumspect.

Although this is not in the gift set of the Cyprus justice system that has got itself in a twisted muddle over the prosecution of a British pensioner who killed his terminally-ill wife.

The only Christmas dinner 75-year-old David Hunter has tasted is courtesy of Nicosia Central Prisons, where he is held until his trial concludes.

And after recent events, he may never get to spend another Christmas at home with his family because he faces a life sentence for his crime.

He insists the deed to end his wife’s life was a mercy killing to cut her suffering short, in agreement with her wishes.

It was hoped that a plea bargain could be struck for David to accept a manslaughter charge after pleading not guilty to premeditated murder.

As there is no law for assisted suicide or euthanasia, the prosecution was worried about setting a precedent of leniency.

While a plea was expected to be made, it fell through after both sides blamed the other for changing the terms of what was agreed.

The prosecution felt uneasy that David insisted his wife had requested he end her life as the pain was insufferable.

Defence lawyers were confident that prosecutors would see there was no mileage in pursuing a murder case.

They were wrong. The Attorney-general believes it is in the public interest for David Hunter’s nightmare to be relived and prolonged.

Arguably, he was put in an impossible position to prevent a loved one from unbearable pain before inevitable death.

He was ready to admit to killing his childhood sweetheart but not her callous murder.

Some will disagree on ethical/religious grounds, but does a prolonged murder trial really serve the justice system?

Is it in the public interest that this man is sentenced to life behind bars, equivalent to the death penalty, due to his age?

The state prosecution is quite happy to attract unsympathetic international media and punish a man from an expat community uneasy about his plight.

Justice Abroad

UK-based legal aid advocates Justice Abroad have championed the case as an injustice as they did the infamous Ayia Napa rape case, which the authorities also bungled.

A red-faced attorney general had to eat humble pie after throwing the full weight of a loaded justice system against a teenage girl who was badgered into retracting her gang rape claim.

Now Cyprus is determined to make another perilous journey down legal potholes.

Hunter is accused of murdering his wife Janice, who died on 18 December last year at their home in Paphos.

It was hoped a plea bargain could lead to a suspended prison term and get him out of jail before Christmas; now, his trial will drag on.

A faithful husband is in the dock as a brutal murderer – something that would break anybody’s mental strength.

David had tried to take his own life after his wife’s death.

His UK lawyer Michael Polak, a barrister for Justice Abroad, said: “It’s very disappointing. And it seems like they’re treating this criminal case like a game.

“It’s not a game, and it’s a very serious case.

Mr and Mrs Hunter had been together for 56 years and moved from Ashington in Northumberland to Cyprus 20 years ago.

Janice was diagnosed with terminal leukaemia in 2016.

Euthanasia is a taboo subject, but maybe it is about time we confront the issue in a grown-up manner.

Is it time to let terminally ill people choose a dignified death to depart on their terms within boundaries?

And maybe the justice system should put the government on trial for how it treats cancer patients and the lack of good hospice care.

What is being done to make the final days of cancer patients more comfortable? Are we doing everything we can to ensure better outcomes?

I’m sure if you dig beneath the Christmas tree, the truth will unsettle you, but that’s a truth nobody is willing to divulge.

Source: The Financial Mirror

Despite the election rhetoric about energy being a catalyst towards resolving the Cyprus problem, recent developments, especially during the past year, suggest that perhaps it is the only key to finding a solution.

There is some frustration in Brussels regarding replacing energy supplies provided by Russia before Moscow’s invasion and war in Ukraine.

On the one hand, new sources are being sought, but there is a sense of tolerating human rights abuses from many of these supplier states.

The recent announcement of delight that Azerbaijan will build a subsea electricity cable passing under the Black Sea, which will provide the EU with alternative sources, ignores the fact that future contracts for Russian gas will remain unsold in the current order of affairs.

Some are happy that Turkey’s controversial Akkuyu power station will see its first unit in commission by the end of 2023.

With the entire plant fully operational by 2026 and providing 10% of the country’s electricity needs, it will probably be exported at a higher price to EU consumers.

The fact that the Russian-built power station will be overlooked as the EU tries to detach itself further from direct Russian energy supplies.

That Akkuyu will prolong Turkey’s dependence on Russian energy is not being discussed; for now, neither is the environmental impact of managing nuclear waste and the damage to the eastern Mediterranean seabed from toxic water that will flow out of the power station.

Cyprus has been steadily discovering additional natural gas reserves in its offshore blocks, with a new announcement from the Total-Eni consortium this week of an additional 2-3 trillion cubic feet in Block 6.

Solar parks feeding into the island’s national grid are increasing. In addition, the EuroAsia interconnector will provide Cyprus’ outlet to export electricity to clean energy-hungry consumers in the EU.

Suppose Cyprus’ EU partners are serious about wanting to find alternative energy resources to break away from Russia’s domination.

In that case, they should help fast-track the safe utilisation of the island’s offshore natgas reserves, unhindered by Turkey’s military and naval bullying in the region.

Whoever takes office in February should also place the energy-for-peace plan at the top of the new administration’s agenda, perhaps acting as a beacon for other neighbours, such as Lebanon, Israel and Egypt, to speed their energy exploration and output plans.

However, a firm policy should also be set in stone, clearly stating that all Cypriot nationals, conditional to a solution, will share all the wealth from Cyprus’ offshore gas fields and other natural resources.

A model that could also help calm the explosive situation in most neighbours and act as a carrot-and-stick, luring Turkish Cypriots back to the peace talks.

Source: The Financial Mirror