Trying to leave opium production behind, Sychan Vakongxiong tries grapes

by api

Photo: Natalie Bailey/IRIN

Trying to leave opium production behind, Sychan Vakongxiong tries grapes

MOONMEUANG,  – Training in how to prune peach trees may not be at the top of most drug and crime interventions, but perhaps they should be when it comes to opium, experts say.

Opium production was rising in Laos, formerly the third-largest producer in the world after Afghanistan and Myanmar, until the government slashed poppy plots from 26,800ha to 1,500ha between 1998 and 2006.

But since 2007 opium farming has doubled to 3,000ha and the upward trend is still continuing, according to the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC). 

The increase has led some to characterize the previous reduction in poppy growing as a fragile success as some poverty-stricken farmers may yet relapse when left with few livelihood options.

“With no assistance people will grow [poppies]. If they have no regular work or livelihood, then it’s opium, because this is what they know how to do,” said Edna Legaspi, project manager for UNODC in the country’s northern province, Oudomxay.

Most vulnerable are the country’s poorest regions easily accessible from neighbouring countries. Oudomxay, at the regional crossroads of the Laos opium trade and only hours by road to China, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, is among the most at-risk communities, according to UNODC.

“Opium is causing problems in this district because people do not have alternatives and because of a remoteness due to a lack of road access,” said Khamen Phomally, deputy district governor of Xay District in Oudomxay and chairman of the local committee on drug control. “But those who have access to other options and roads forget opium.”

New cash crops such as fruit, corn and rice have helped turn most farmers away from poppy cultivation. But the struggle is constant. From pests to pruning techniques, these crops, which take well to the region’s rugged mountainous terrain but typically earn less, demand different skills and knowledge than opium.

Alternatives

Sychan Vakongxiong, a secondary-school mathematics teacher, who struggled to feed a family of six, turned to poppy cultivation in 1993. After nearly a decade of perfecting the practice, the government told her to stop growing the illegal crop.

“I did not know opium was used for making drugs, I thought it was for medication,” she said, adding the same was true for many fellow Hmong farmers.

At first the peach trees she turned to did well, but she quickly realized she did not know the orchard business like she knew opium.

While Vakongxiong later benefited from training by UNODC, and the Thai government-backed Royal Project Foundation and Highland Research and Development Institute in vegetable gardening and new crops, including grapes, she said her income was still not enough to support her family.

Her peach trees initially earned as much as 2ha of poppies had (about US$125) but pests destroyed her crop. Limes, vegetables, peaches and fish now fill her farm – but so far no business has lasted as long or been as steady as opium, she said.

Demand

A farmer now earns up to $3,200 per kilogramme of poppies versus corn, which brings in $150, said Houmphanh Bouphakham, director of the Oudomxay Provincial Department on Drug Control.

Before government crackdowns on poppy cultivation over the past decade, farmers earned only $80 per kilogramme of opium in 2000.

Opium cultivation has been on the decline in the region, but heroin is still the drug of choice in places like Laos, Singapore and Vietnam, according to UNODC’s 2011 World Drug Report.

Half the farmers who quit poppy production during the decade-long crackdown could return, warns the government’s National Drug Control Master Plan for 2009 to 2013.

And if the relapse is due to failed promises of other income opportunities, farmers could distrust eradication efforts, making it harder to wipe out opium crops a second time. 

UNODC is working with the government to expand irrigation and introduce new rice varieties in 30 villages in Oudomxay, including Moonmeuang.

Before UNODC programming in 2009 the average annual household income in these villages was $572. In 2010 this increased to $1,400, according to the agency’s calculations. Some residents attribute the boost to bigger and more frequent harvests of cash crops, especially rice.

nb/pt/mw
source www.irinnews.org

Norway strengthens cooperation with Greece in the asylum field

by api

Norway will provide NOK 160 million to help Greece deal with its large number of asylum seekers and migrants. This funding will be provided under the EEA and Norway Grants.

Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre commented, “Migration is a major challenge for Europe, and not least for Greece. Through the EEA and Norway Grants, Norway is helping to strengthen cooperation in Europe on dealing with migrants and asylum seekers in the region. Priority will be given to the reception facilities for unaccompanied minors who are seeking asylum.”

The MoU on this funding was signed in Athens today. The measures will be implemented in cooperation between various Greek partners and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (UDI).

The Norwegian Directorate of Immigration will help the Greek authorities to enhance the quality and capacity of reception centres. This work will include improving health services for recent arrivals, and there will be opportunities for supporting NGOs that run reception centres and provide medical assistance to migrants.

Funding for developing capacity in the Greek immigration authorities will be channelled through the UN.

The International Organisation for Migration will receive funding for assisting asylum seekers who wish to return to their country.

Norwegian Minister of Justice and the Police Knut Storberget commented, “It is right and important for Norway to assist the Greek authorities in enhancing the administration of applications for asylum and improving reception centres for asylum seekers. This will also help the European immigration system to function optimally.”

In addition to the cooperation in the asylum field, funds have also been allocated to projects on the environment, renewable energy and research. A separate fund for NGOs will also be established.

The funding provided via the EEA and Norway Grants is Norway’s contribution to reducing social and economic disparities in Europe. The Grants are also intended to strengthen cooperation between Norway and the beneficiary state. Around NOK 500 million has been allocated for projects in Greece in the period up to 2014. Norway provides 97% of the EEA and Norway Grants. The rest is provided by Iceland and Liechtenstein.

 end

Residents rush to protect their homes ahead of a predicted tidal surge

by api

Photo: Shermaine Ho/IRIN

Residents rush to protect their homes ahead of a predicted tidal surge

BANGKOK,) – Weeks of flood threats during one of Thailand’s most destructive monsoon seasons on record have given residents in the capital of more than eight million people time to prepare for the worst.

But that extra time also allows for uncertainty, mixed messages, and “warning fatigue”, complicating how well people prepare and, ultimately, how many lives and livelihoods are spared, say disaster workers and researchers.

“It’s partially denial, it’s partially the information, it’s partially not knowing what information to believe,” said Jerry Velasquez, senior regional coordinator for the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) Asia Pacific. He likened the run-off from flooding in the north winding southwards to a “slow tsunami”.

When the government first reported potential flooding in parts of Bangkok in early October, some residents built flood walls. Others did little more than stock up on bottled water. When warnings escalated to include all 50 city districts, thousands packed bus terminals to leave the city, while others ignored the evacuation calls.

How people decide whether, how and when they prepare for a disaster is complicated, and in a slowly unfolding one such as in Bangkok, it is often made amid uncertainty and conflicting messages, said Douglas Paton, a psychology professor at Australia’s University of Tasmania.

“Nobody can say a flood with this amount of water will reach this suburb at 3:47pm and at a height of 1.2m,” he said. “Things are much more vague.”

Anxiety fatigue

Warnings generally stoke anxiety that cause people to act, Paton said. But weeks of alarm-raising without any calamity can cause distrust. “That anxiety means we take an instant dislike to the people who have created this bad feeling,” he explained.

People tend to give more weight to positive messages, particularly when predictions prove inaccurate and their personal experiences do not give them reason to fear, Paton said.

Residents in Bangkok have received numerous warnings from the national government through its flood relief operation centre and the city’s metropolitan authority, which have each issued varying predictions of flood damage.

Central Bangkok was mostly dry during the recent high-risk period, but surrounding areas have been submerged in run-off water from the north that is testing the city’s dams and waterways. Most of Thailand has been affected in this year’s monsoon, with 26 of the country’s 76 provinces still flooded, and more than 100,000 people displaced.

Saranya Sonthiratana, 44, lives 25km north of central Bangkok in Nonthaburi Province, where stretches of homes sit in 1m of water. The threat had been abstract – until her pipes burst.

Photo: Shermaine Ho/IRIN

Panic buying empties shelves amidst flood warnings

“I do not live near a canal or the [Chao Phraya] river, so when we got the government order to evacuate, I had one day’s notice to get out,” she said. “I did not know my pipes could burst from the pressure.”

Ensuring people remain vigilant under a drawn-out threat is a challenge, said Matthew Cochrane, communications and advocacy manager for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Asia Pacific region.

Officials risk creating undue panic or becoming “the boy who cried wolf”, Cochrane said. With rapid-onset disasters, by comparison, officials can be more declarative about what needs to be done, he said.

“It’s a fine line between keeping people aware, and agitated to an extent, but not so overwhelmed or underwhelmed that you create confusion or prove yourself worthless,” he said. “It’s a very difficult balance, and it’s very difficult to get it right.”

One message

Agencies should reduce conflicting messages, especially when there is more time to sow confusion, said crisis communication practitioners and researchers.

But warnings alone are not enough to get people to act. “People don’t really need to have the information,” said Cochrane from IFRC. “They need to have the ability to act on the information.”

Approaches that ask people to consider how a risk might personally affect them are important for increasing levels of preparedness, Paton said. Not only does this process help people better understand otherwise abstract warnings, but it also allows for a shared understanding to form so that communities can work together to prepare.

Such engagement ideally happens ahead of an existing threat, but even without much time, “risk communication should be a partnership between experts and the people”, he said.

“We start with people themselves,” Paton said, “rather than making assumptions that telling people about a threat will get them to take action.”

es/pt/mw
source www.irinnews.org

Norway voted for Palestinian membership of UNESCO

by api

Monday, the UNESCO General Conferance admitted Palestine as a Member of the Organisation. Norway voted for Palestinian membership.

A total of 107 countries voted for, 14 voted against, and 52 abstained.

Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre commented, “Our vote reflects our view that the Palestinian expectations and needs regarding protection of their national cultural heritage are legitimate.

It is important that the international community and the Palestinian authorities work together to strengthen control over the cultural heritage in the Palestinian Territory that is at risk due to unclear borders. Membership of UNESCO is an important step forward in this regard.”

Norway’s vote does not imply a formal recognition of the state of Palestine. This question is currently being deliberated in the UN in New York, and Norway will await the outcome of these deliberations.

 End

Strategy implementation and change management

By Phelix Ochieng | Customer Relations Officer | SLC International, pochieng @slcinternational.com

*“How to Get Your Strategy Implemented throughout Your Organization”*

Is your organizational strategy being implemented successfully? To move an organization forward, you need a strategy. Most organizations are skilled at defining strategies. However, they often have problems in executing their strategy because the current approach to business does not satisfactorily address the missing link – which is the *implementation.
 
Without effective implementation and aligning people within a company
to the strategy, it is not possible for companies to achieve their business objectives.
 
In this executive 1 day seminar the focus is on five key areas for effective implementation of strategy: To provide managers with insights, practical tools and skills for leading change and strategy implementation, and with functional and cross-functional capabilities they need to measurably improve performance.
 
For your teams of managers, SLC International also has the capability to design and implement company-specific programs to support your strategy implementation and change management. 
 
The seminar will be held on the 18th of November 2011 at the Southern Sun Mayfair Hotel Nairobi Kenya.

End