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	World mourns anti-apartheid crusader Archbishop Desmond Tutu by Mail & Guardian, The Elders, ICC, agencies South Africa   26 Dec. 2022   Dubbed "the moral compass" of South Africa, tributes have poured in from across the globe on the passing of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.   Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and veteran of South Africa's struggle against white minority rule, has died at the age of 90.   In 1984 he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent opposition to apartheid.   When Neslon Mandela became president after South Africa’s first free elections in 1994, Tutu coined the term “Rainbow Nation” to describe his homeland and then led the truth and reconciliation commission, which revealed the horrors of apartheid.   The outspoken Archbishop Tutu was considered the nation's conscience by both black and white, an enduring testament to his faith and spirit of reconciliation in a divided nation.   "The passing of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa," President Cyril Ramaphosa said.   “From the pavements of resistance in South Africa to the pulpits of the world’s great cathedrals and places of worship, and the prestigious setting of the Nobel peace prize ceremony, the Arch distinguished himself as a non-sectarian, inclusive champion of universal human rights.”   Archbishop Tutu preached against the tyranny of the white minority and even after its end, he never wavered in his fight for a fairer South Africa. On occassions he challenged his allies at the ruling African National Congress party over their failures to address the poverty and inequalities that they promised to eradicate.   Dubbed "the moral compass of the nation", his courage in defending social justice, even at great cost to himself, always shone through - and not just during apartheid.   Just five feet five inches tall and with an infectious laugh, he helped rouse grassroots campaigns around the world that fought for an end to apartheid through economic and cultural boycotts.   Talking and travelling tirelessly throughout the 1980s, Archbishop Tutu became the face of the anti-apartheid movement abroad while many of the leaders of the rebel ANC, such as Nelson Mandela, were behind bars.   Tributes poured in from around the world.   United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called Tutu "a towering global figure for peace and an inspiration to generations across the world".   "During the darkest days of apartheid, he was a shining beacon for social justice, freedom and non-violent resistance," Guterres said in a statement.   The Vatican said in a statement that Pope Francis was saddened and offered "heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones".   "Mindful of his service to the gospel through the promotion of racial equality and reconciliation in his native South Africa, his holiness commends his soul to the loving mercy of almighty God."   The archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, said: “Desmond Tutu’s legacy is moral strength, moral courage and clarity. He felt with the people. In public and alone, he cried because he felt people’s pain. And he laughed – no, not just laughed, he cackled with delight when he shared their joy.”   The Nelson Mandela Foundation said: “His contributions to struggles against injustice, locally and globally, are matched only by the depth of his thinking about the making of liberatory futures for human societies. He was an extraordinary human being. A thinker. A leader. A shepherd.”   Former US president Barack Obama, the nation's first Black leader, called Tutu "a mentor, a friend, and a moral compass" who could "find humanity in his adversaries".. "A universal spirit, Archbishop Tutu was grounded in the struggle for liberation and justice in his own country, but also concerned with injustice everywhere," he said.   US President Joe Biden said he was "heartbroken" to learn of the archbishop's death. "Desmond Tutu followed his spiritual calling to create a better, freer, and more equal world," Biden and First Lady Jill Biden said in a statement that praised Tutu's "courage and moral clarity".   Friends remembered Tutu as a man of deep faith whose charm, warmth and intelligence few could resist, and who was happiest when active on behalf of others.   The World Council of Churches said: “His contagious sense of humour and laughter has helped to resolve many critical situations in South Africa’s political and church life. He was able to break almost any deadlock. He shared with us the laughter and grace of God many a time.”   The Dalai Lama said: “The friendship and the spiritual bond between us was something we cherished. Archbishop Desmond Tutu was entirely dedicated to serving his brothers and sisters for the greater common good.”   Norway’s minister of foreign affairs, Anniken Huitfeldt, said: “Desmond Tutu combined the struggle against apartheid with important contributions to reconciliation between people. He contributed to a better world with his work against racial segregation policy, and in his later days he became a leading figure in the fight for gay rights.”   Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, said: “I’m saddened to learn of the death of global sage, human rights leader, and powerful pilgrim on Earth … we are better because he was here.”   Archbishop Desmond Tutu was a long-time friend of former South African President Nelson Mandela, and the pair lived for a time on the same street in the South African township of Soweto, making Vilakazi Street the only one in the world to host two Nobel Peace Prize winners.   "His most characteristic quality is his readiness to take unpopular positions without fear," Mr Mandela once said of Archbishop Tutu. "Such independence of mind is vital to a thriving democracy.. “Desmond Tutu’s voice will always be the voice of the voiceless,” he added.   Despite suffering from prostate cancer in his latter years, Desmond Tutu remained engaged in world affairs and determined to use his moral prestige to make a difference. In 2015, he launched a petition urging global leaders to create a world run on renewable energies within 35 years, which was backed by more than 300,000 people globally. It described climate change as “one of the greatest moral challenges of our time”.   Tutu took aim at exploiters and autocrats anywhere he found them. Justly lauded as an icon of nonviolent activism, he enraged those who prefer less pacific means to effect change or hold on to power. Robert Mugabe, the former dictatorial leader of Zimbabwe, resorted to insults to counter Tutu’s cutting words, calling their author “an angry, evil and embittered little bishop”.   Such sentiments did not bother the smiling, chuckling, charismatic cleric – though Tutu confessed to one interviewer that he “loved to be loved”. Even in the Anglican church, an institution to which he dedicated much of his life, Tutu’s liberal understanding of faith riled many. No one doubted his faith or commitment to the institution but not every cleric enjoyed hearing about a God who had a “soft spot for sinners” and fewer still on a continent riven by visceral homophobia appreciated his vocal, consistent support for LGBT rights.   “I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this,” he said in 2013. “I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say, ‘Sorry, I would much rather go to the other place.’” He also supported the right to assisted death, another controversial position within the church. Other interventions argued for urgent action against climate change and a change in US policy on Israel.   Right to the end Tutu was “on the side of the angels”, as one resident of a township not far from where the archbishop lived and died said on Sunday.   In one of his last public appearances, aged 89, he received a Covid vaccine, an important statement in a country that has lost up to 250,000 lives to the pandemic out of a population of 59m, according to excess mortality figures, and suffers from widespread vaccine hesitancy.   Archbishop Tutu led numerous marches and campaigns to end apartheid from St George's front steps, which became known as the "People's Cathedral" and a powerful symbol of democracy.   Members of all communities have stopped by St George’s cathedral since the news of Tutu’s death broke, many laying flowers under a portrait of the cleric fixed to a wall of remembrance alongside a South African flag, or signing a book of condolence.   Among them was Miriam Mokwadi, a 67-year-old retired nurse, who said the Nobel laureate “was a hero to us, he fought for us”.. “We are liberated due to him. If it was not for him, probably we would have been lost as a country. He was just good,” said Mokwadi, clutching the hand of her granddaughter.   Amnesty International pays tribute to Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu   Amnesty International paid tribute today to one of the world’s dedicated human rights champions, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu. Tutu passed away on 26 December 2021 at the age of 90.   The death of Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu leaves a big void in the struggle for human rights and freedom around the world. He dedicated his entire life to the fight to create a world where people could be free to claim and exercise their freedoms, without being prejudiced or persecuted for who they are.   He will be remembered for standing up for the oppressed people of South Africa during the apartheid government’s segregation and oppression of black people, denying them basic human rights such as freedom of association, movement and assembly.   "The world has lost a dedicated human rights champion. Archbishop Desmond Tutu refused to sit and watch injustice meted out against the people of South Africa by the apartheid government at the time when it was costly to stand up against the regime. He also stood up for the oppressed people elsewhere around the world, ensuring that he spoke out for their freedom". - Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.   Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been a fervent supporter of Amnesty International’s human rights work. He supported the organization’s Arms Trade Treaty campaign, an international treaty that sets out robust global rules to stop the flow of weapons, munitions and related items to countries when it is known they would be used to commit or facilitate genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and serious human rights violations.   He also worked with the organization to campaign to free political prisoners in Burma in August 2012, including Aung San Suu Kyi.   “Archbishop Desmond Tutu devoted his entire life to ensuring justice for all. He wanted to see a world where all co-existed in peace and harmony, without any prejudice. He is a true example of a selfless human rights fighter”.   He also worked with Amnesty International to champion the rights of LGBTI people. He also supported the organization’s campaign against death penalty, putting pressure on countries still using it as punishment for crime to bring an end to the cruel and inhuman practice.   “Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu leaves a remarkable human rights legacy. It is for us to continue where he left off, to demand better from our governments and to create human rights respecting societies.”   http://www.un.org/sg/en/node/261333 http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/12/amnesty-international-pays-tribute-to-archbishop-desmond-mpilo-tutu/ http://www.icc-cpi.int/Pages/item.aspx?name=211230-tfv-dt http://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/entry/foundation-saddened-by-passing-of-archbishop-desmond-tutu http://theelders.org/news/marking-mandela-day-2022-mary-robinson-reflects-global-state-hope http://theelders.org/news/remembering-archbishop-desmond-tutu http://theelders.org/news-insight http://mg.co.za/pdfviewer/desmond-tutu-commemorative-edition/ http://www.theguardian.com/world/desmond-tutu http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/archbishop-emeritus-desmond-mpilo-tutu http://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1984/tutu/lecture/
	For the love of the children of the world – let’s feed them all by David Beasley World Food Programme   June 2022 (WFP)   The world is grappling with catastrophic food insecurity and unprecedented humanitarian needs, fueled by conflict, climate shocks, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The increasing costs of food, fuel, and fertilizer have driven millions of people closer to starvation and triggered a wave of hunger.   In 2022, up to 345 million people are estimated to be acutely food insecure or at high risk across 82 countries with WFP operational presence and where data is available, an increase of almost 200 million people compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic.   Hunger has also grown more deeply entrenched, with up to 50 million people facing Emergency or worse levels of acute food insecurity (IPC/CH Phase 4 and above or equivalent) across 45 countries. This number includes 401,000 people facing catastrophic food insecurity (IPC/CH Phase 5) in Ethiopia, 213,000 people in Somalia, 161,000 people in Yemen, 87,000 people in South Sudan, and 20,000 people in Afghanistan. Together, these figures tell an alarming story: the world is amid a global food crisis, the largest in recent history.   WFP is targeting to support a record 151.6 million people in 2022. Operational requirements are also at an all-time high: as of June 2022, WFP’s total annual operational requirement is US$ 22.2 billion, but the global funding forecast only provides for less than half this requirement.   WFP calls for coordinated action to address its funding gap, build an all-inclusive multi- stakeholder approach in partnership with governments and food systems actors, ensure trade is open, invest in strategic development solutions, and commit to political solutions to secure stability and peace. We are at a critical crossroads: either we rise to the challenge, or we will be forced to face the consequences in the future.   http://www.wfp.org/publications/wfp-global-operational-response-plan-update-5-june-2022 http://www.wfp.org/publications/wfp-global-operational-response-plan-update-7-february-2023   Dec. 2021   (Nobel Peace Prize lecture delivered by David Beasley, Executive Director of WFP, the Nobel Peace Prize 2020 laureate, in Oslo today 10 December 2021)   On April 10th, 1815, 6,000 miles away from here, on an island in Indonesia, a volcano erupted. It sent a massive plume of ash into the air that eventually encircled the globe. A year later, 1816 became “the year without a summer.”   Incessant rains fell here in Norway, Britain, China and the US. It snowed 20 inches in July in Boston. Crops failed. Livestock died. People starved. Food riots. Looting. Burning of cities. Floods of refugees. Epidemics of typhus. And it took decades to recover. Millions died in places just like this — the worst famine of the 19th century.   No one saw it coming. With famine, no one ever does, until it’s too late. I’m here to say: This time we see it coming, as clear as day, and it will affect us all. Unless we act.   Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and friends around the world, thank you. As you said in your announcement, we do ‘combat hunger’. We do improve “conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas”. And most of all, we are “a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.” That’s the World Food Programme: saving lives, changing lives.   Please imagine if you would, that standing with me on this platform are the 20,000 peacemakers of the World Food Programme, who lay down their lives every day for this mission. We remember in our hearts at this moment all those who have died for the mission of making peace with food. On the behalf of all of us, and all of our UN partners, thank you, Norwegian Nobel Committee, for this great honour.   Together we believe food is the pathway to peace. What is the greatest problem facing humankind? What is our greatest threat to peace?   Working with 115 million people in 80 countries, day-in and day-out, the women and men of WFP have gained a unique perspective. We have learned that there is great richness in those who are seen, in the eyes of the world, as 'the poor'. And many of us who are considered “rich” are actually poor in the things that matter most.   Division is the greatest problem. It is known by many names: brokenness; polarization; alienation; discrimination; hatred; and war.   Division’s most stark expression right now is the divide between the wealth of billionaires, who earned an additional US$1.8 trillion during this pandemic, and the hundreds of millions of people who go to bed hungry every night.   Allow me to break down the facts of hunger as they stand right now. 811 million people are chronically hungry. 283 million are in hunger crises – they are marching toward starvation.   And within that, 45 million in 43 countries across the globe are in hunger emergencies – in other words, famine is knocking on their door.   Places like Afghanistan. Madagascar. Myanmar. Guatemala. Ethiopia. Sudan. South Sudan. Mozambique. Niger. Syria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Somalia, Haiti and on and on and on. The world has often experienced famine. But when has it ever been so widespread, in so many places, at the same time?   Why? Three reasons. First, man-made conflict. Dozens of civil wars and regional conflicts are raging, and hunger has been weaponized to achieve military and political objectives.   Second, climate shocks/climate change. Floods, droughts, locusts and rapidly changing weather patterns have created severe crop failures around the world.   Third, COVID-19. The viral pandemic has created a secondary hunger pandemic, which is far worse than the first. Shutdowns destroyed livelihoods. Shutdowns stopped the movement of food. Shutdowns inflated prices. The net result is the poor of the world are priced out of survival.   The ripple effect of COVID has been devastating on the global economy. During the pandemic, US$3.7 trillion in incomes – mostly among the poor – have been wiped out, while food prices are spiking. The cost of shipping food, for example, has increased 300-400 per cent. But in places of conflict and low-income countries, it is even worse.   For example, in Aleppo, Syria – a war zone, where I just returned from – food is now seven times more expensive than it was two years ago.   The combined effect of these three – conflict, climate and COVID – has created an unprecedented perfect storm.   What do we do about it? The first thing we need to do is restore our moral compass. The highest standard of humanity has always been the Golden Rule. It is part of all religions and cultures – and it is the foundation of the culture of the World Food Programme every day.   I learned it growing up as a child as it was articulated by Jesus of Nazareth: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” or “Love your neighbor as yourself.”   I have learned that a more accurate way to translate that from the ancient Hebrew would be: “Love your neighbour as your equal.” Seeing my neighbour as my equal changes everything.   If I love my neighbour as my equal, racism, sexism and every other divisive “ism” disappears. And to my way of thinking, we are equals because we are all created in the image of God. Each and every one of us is very special and yet we are equals.   Regardless of your religious views or your views of creation, we can all agree on the practical significance of every single person being equal and most importantly: being treated equally.   It had been a very long day in the rubble of war-stricken Yemen. We were visiting a children’s hospital. In one room, I spotted a pair of little feet, sticking out from under the covers. And I thought about my two daughters when they were little and I said to myself, “I’m going to tickle those little feet.”   I did. But she didn’t giggle, she didn’t smile, she didn’t even move. She just stared with empty eyes. It was like tickling a ghost.   I went out of the room and I wept. Too late. We got there too late.   Our failure to see this little girl as our neighbour, our sister, our equal has created all the consequences of her tragic life: war, starvation and … those empty eyes. On her behalf, I must express the urgency of this hour: the global threat of famine for millions and millions of our brothers and sisters, our neighbours, our equals.   You heard this fact from me earlier: 45 million people in 43 countries, knocking on famine’s door – and it is within our power to save them.   They are already desperately hungry and are just one weather system, one military manouevre, one price spike or one supply chain blockage away from being plunged into catastrophe.   This is why I have made a one-time, emergency appeal for $6.6 billion from the billionaires of the world. Is that too much to ask from those who reaped $1.8 trillion more during the pandemic?   The good news is that we have proven systems in place at the World Food Programme to feed them. Last year we reached 115 million children, women and men and we averted famine.   But the bad news now is with COVID recycling, with devastating ripple effects, we are over US$6 billion short of the funds we need to reach everyone who is knocking on famine’s door. We just need the funds to scale up our programs to meet this greater need.   If you won’t help your neighbour, your equal, out of the goodness of your heart, then do it out of your national security interest and your financial self-interest.   Case in point: we can support the hungry in Syria with food for less than 50 cents a day. The total support cost of that same person in Germany is around U$70 a day. The five-year cost of supporting one million Syrian refugees in Germany has been U$125 billion; U$70 dollars a day versus 50 cents. Which makes better sense?   If we don’t avert famine now, there will be destabilization of nations, and mass migration, and it will cost us a thousand times more.   On this platform 42 years ago, Mother Teresa said, “The poor are very wonderful people… The poor are very great people. They can teach us so many beautiful things… The poor give us much more than we give them… They’re such strong people, living day to day with no food…We have much to learn from them.”   That is why our motivation to help the poor should go much deeper than self-interest. The poor can teach those of us who live in the wealthy world things that we can’t learn any other way.   A couple years ago, I was being interviewed for a television programme and after we finished, the reporter said, “You’ve the greatest job in the world, saving the lives of those millions of people.”   I said, “I do. I really do. But I’m going to tell you something that you haven’t thought of, that is going to bother you. I don’t go to bed thinking about the children we saved. I go to bed weeping over the children that we could not save. And, when we don’t have enough money and the access we need, we have to decide which children eat and which children do not eat – which children live, and which children die? How would you like that job?”   Please don’t ask us to choose who eats and who doesn’t eat, who lives who and who dies. So, let me close with four Golden Rule action steps on how we can love our neighbours.   1. Leaders of the world, in America, in China, in Russia, in India, the Gulf states, the EU, the UK and elsewhere: We need you to assert your power and stop all these horrible wars.   The global cost of violence and conflict is $15 trillion every year. We could solve every problem on earth with that money.   2. Billionaires of the world, give us the $6.6 billion we need to prevent famine now and save 45 million lives now.   3. And then, billionaires, give us your skills and resources to reinvent food security all over the world. Charity is important, but it will never be enough. You know how to revolutionize phones, cars, rockets, and retail. Help us revolutionize how the planet eats.   4. Let’s break down all the divisions of the world the old-fashioned way – by sitting down together and breaking bread. If you’re black, with a white person. If you’re white with a black person, or an Asian or a Latino. If you’re rich, with a poor person. If you’re a liberal, with a conservative. You get my point.   That’s the very best way to learn how to be equals and to realize how special and wonderful and beautiful everybody on this planet is.   In the spirit of Alfred Nobel, as inscribed on this medal… “Peace and Brotherhood.” For the love of the children of the world – let’s feed them all.   http://www.wfp.org/stories/world-food-programme-nobel-peace-prize-lecture http://hungermap.wfp.org/ http://dataviz.vam.wfp.org/version2/ Visit the related web page
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