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	Iran clamps down on teachers demanding fair pay by DW, UN Office for Human Rights   26 Oct. 2022 (UN News, OHCHR, agencies)   Amid ongoing protests sparked by the death in custody last month of Mahsa Amini following her arrest by so-called “morality police”, UN Special Rapporteur on Iran Javaid Rehman, told journalists in New York that since then, many in the UN human rights sphere had made “very strong calls for independent, impartial investigations”, with no response from Iran, other than escalation.   “I would stress the international community has a responsibility to take action, to address impunity for rights violations”, he said, saying it was “really important” the UN and other international bodies, “take concrete action”.   “Iran is in turmoil” he told reporters, with news reports on Thursday broadcasting video showing security forces attacking mourners at the gravesite of teenager Nika Shakarami, after mass protests across the country on Wednesday, to mark 40 days after the death of Ms. Amini.   Predominantly young men and women have led the protest movement, demanding change, justice and accountability.   Mr. Rehman said that not only had the State ignored calls for any impartial and prompt investigation into the crackdown which has left at least 250 dead, including 27 children, but it has increased the violence, asserting no wrongdoing on the part of the authorities.   ‘Women, life and freedom’   He said Iran’s own investigations have “failed the minimum standards of impartiality and independence”, while the call for change on the streets under the slogan, “women, life and freedom”, grows.   The independent expert said Ms. Amini was “not the first woman to face these brutal consequences” of the morality police enforcement of strict dress codes, and will not be the last one.   Just a day earlier, a large group of UN rights experts signed a statement condemning the killings and the crackdown, which include alleged arbitrary arrests and detentions, gender-based and sexual violence, excessive use of force, torture, and enforced disappearances.   “We are deeply troubled by continued reports of deliberate and unlawful use by the Iranian security forces of live ammunition, metal pellets and buckshot against peaceful unarmed protesters in breach of the principles of legality, precaution, necessity, non-discrimination and proportionality, applicable to the use of force,” the experts said.   “An alarming number of protesters have already been detained and killed, many of whom are children, women and older persons. The Government must instruct police to immediately cease any use of excessive and lethal force and exercise restraint.”   They said reports of physical and sexual violence against women and girls during protests and in public spaces, and the denial of other women’s and girl’s rights while in detention, or when active in public, were frightening.   “We see such violations as a continuum of long-standing, pervasive, gender-based discrimination embedded in legislation, policies and societal structures. All of which have been devastating for women and girls in the country for the past four decades.”   Internet communications have been disrupted since the protests started, preventing access and sharing of information.   Reports of acts of intimidation and harassment against protesters’ families by authorities have also emerged. They indicate that family members are being interrogated unlawfully, with a view to extracting false information attributing responsibility for the killing of relatives to “rioters” or individuals working for “enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.   Mr. Rehman, said current investigations and domestic accountability channels had failed to meet the minimum standards of transparency, objectivity and impartiality.   “Chronic impunity and lack of redress for previous violations have culminated in today’s events as we see protests throughout the country calling for justice and accountability for Amini’s death but also demanding respect for fundamental socio-economic and political rights and particularly freedom of expression,” the expert stressed.   “Today’s movement is ushered by different social classes in different regions with women and youth at the forefront. Amini’s death has directly affected women who have, for many years, been subjected to discriminatory laws especially those concerning dress codes,” he said.   “With the dress code laws being enforced through recent decrees, and implemented through the morality police, women are monitored, harassed and sometimes beaten on a daily basis for simply wearing their Hijab inappropriately. This is meant to instil an atmosphere of fear. We have seen, however, the courage of many women who defied security forces by cutting their hair in public and actively participating in protests.”   Rehman expressed alarm at the situation of children who have been disproportionately affected by the latest protests. “More than 27 children have been killed so far, some of them by live ammunition while others were beaten to death. It is clear evidence that excessive, lethal and indiscriminate use of force is the response by security forces.”   The Special Rapporteur also said he was extremely concerned at reports that schools have been raided and children arrested for their alleged participation in protests. “Some principals have also reportedly been arrested for not cooperating with security forces. This instils an atmosphere of fear in these schools with grave consequences on the well-being and education of these children.”   http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129937 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/10/iran-crackdown-peaceful-protests-death-jina-mahsa-amini-needs-independent http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/10/iran-special-rapporteur-calls-effective-accountability-deaths-recent   18 Oct. 2022   Guardian News reports fresh protests across Iran ignited by 16-year-old Asra Panahi’s death after schoolgirls assaulted by security forces in raid on high school.   According to the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations, 16-year-old Asra Panahi died after security forces raided the Shahed girls high school in Ardabil on 13 October and demanded a group of girls sing an anthem that praises Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.   When they refused, security forces beat the pupils, leading to a number of girls being taken to hospital and others arrested. On Friday, Panahi reportedly died in hospital of injuries sustained at the school.   Iranian officials denied that its security forces were responsible, after her death sparked outrage across the country.   Iranian authorities have responded to schoolgirls protests by launching a series of raids on schools across the country, with reports of officers forcing their way into classrooms, violently arresting schoolgirls and pushing them into waiting cars, and firing teargas into school buildings.   In a statement, Iran’s teachers’ union condemned the “brutal and inhumane” raids and called for the resignation of the education minister, Yousef Nouri.   News of Panahi’s death has further mobilised schoolgirls across the country to organise and join protests over the weekend. Among them was 16-year-old Naznin*, whose parents had kept her at home for fear that she would be arrested for protesting at her school.   “I haven’t been allowed to go to the school because my parents fear for my life. But what has it changed? The regime continues to kill and arrest schoolgirls,” says Naznin.   19-year-old Nergis also joined the protests, and was hit by rubber bullets in her back and legs. She says Panahi’s death has motivated her and her friends to continue to protest, despite the danger.   She says what happened to Panahi – as well as the deaths of two other schoolgirls, 17-year-old Nika Shahkarami and 16-year-old Sarina Esmailzadeh, both at the hands of the Iranian security forces – has united young people across Iran under a common cause.   “I don’t have a single relative in Ardabil, but with this brutal crackdown on our sisters, who were just 16 years old, they’ve awakened the whole nation,” she says.   http://www.dw.com/en/iran-deaths-of-schoolgirls-further-stoke-public-fury/a-63494532 http://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/12/iran-schoolgirls-leading-protests-freedom http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/10/iran-at-least-23-children-killed-with-impunity-during-brutal-crackdown-on-youthful-protests/ http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-briefing-notes/2022/10/iran-protests-reports-child-deaths-detentions-are-deeply-worrying   17 Oct. 2022   Iran: End killings and detentions of children immediately, UN Child Rights Committee   As at least 23 children were reportedly killed by Iranian security forces and hundreds more were injured, detained and tortured during recent peaceful protests, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child condemned the grave violations of children's rights in the country and urged the authorities to stop all violence against children. The Committee issued the following statement today.   “The Committee on the Rights of the Child strongly condemns the grave violations of the rights of the child that are taking place in Iran in the context of peaceful protests following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini on 16 September 2022.   The Committee is alarmed by the killings by security forces of at least 23 children, including an 11-year-old boy. According to reliable reports, some children were shot with live ammunition, while others died as a result of beatings. Many families reported that, despite grieving for the loss of a child, they were pressured to absolve security forces by declaring that their children had committed suicide and making false confessions.   The Committee is also deeply concerned at reports that children have been arrested in schools and detained together with adults, and that some have been subjected to acts of torture. The announcement made by the Ministry of Education on 12 October that children arrested were being transferred to psychological centres for correction and education to prevent them from becoming anti-social characters and numerous reports of retaliatory expulsions of many high school students are also matters of concern to the Committee.   We strongly urge Iran to comply with its international human rights obligations, particularly those under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This begins with the fundamental obligation to protect children’s right to life under any circumstances.   The Committee reaffirms the obligation incumbent on the Islamic Republic of Iran to respect and protect children’s rights to freedom of expression and peaceful protest.   Many children, including many girls, are protesting to make their opinions known on issues that matter to them. Their right to be heard should not be stifled by any level of force. The Committee strongly urges Iran to cease the use of force against peaceful protests and protect the children participating in peaceful demonstrations.   Grave violations of children’s rights in Iran need to be thoroughly investigated by competent, independent and impartial authorities and those responsible prosecuted.   The Committee on the Rights of the Child will continue to closely monitor the situation in Iran and liaise with other relevant human rights bodies to bring an end to the grave violations of the rights of Iranian children.”   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2022/10/iran-end-killings-and-detentions-children-immediately-un-child   10 Oct. 2022   UNICEF calls for the protection of children and adolescents amid public unrest in Iran   Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell:   “We are extremely concerned by continuing reports of children and adolescents being killed, injured and detained amid the ongoing public unrest in Iran. Our thoughts are with the families of those who have been killed and injured, and we share their grief.   "In addition to the reported casualties, many children have witnessed violence either on the streets or through media broadcasts, which could leave a long-lasting impact on their wellbeing.   “UNICEF calls for the protection of all children from all forms of violence and harm, including during conflict and political events. Violence against children – by anyone and in any context – is indefensible.   “We echo the Secretary-General’s call to the authorities to ‘refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force.’ Children and adolescents must be able to exercise their rights in a safe and peaceful manner at all times.”   http://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unicef-calls-protection-children-and-adolescents-amid-public-unrest-iran   22 Sep. 2022   Iran: UN experts demand accountability for death of Mahsa Amini, call for end to violence against women.   UN experts today strongly condemned the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after her arrest for allegedly failing to comply with Iran’s strict rules on women’s dress by wearing an “improper hijab”.   The experts also denounced the violence directed against peaceful protesters and human rights defenders demanding accountability for Amini’s death in cities across the country by Iranian security forces. They urged the Iranian authorities to avoid further unnecessary violence and to immediately stop the use of lethal force in policing peaceful assemblies.   “We are shocked and deeply saddened by the death of Ms Amini. She is another victim of Iran’s sustained repression and systematic discrimination against women and the imposition of discriminatory dress codes that deprive women of bodily autonomy and the freedoms of opinion, expression and belief,” the experts said.   Amini was arrested by the Iran’s morality police on 13 September for being perceived as wearing “improper hijab”. Reports indicate she was severely beaten by members of the morality police during her arrest and transfer to the Vozara Detention Centre.   Amini fell into a coma at the detention centre and died in hospital on 16 September. Iranian authorities said she died of a heart attack, and claimed her death was from natural causes. However, some reports suggested that Amini’s death was a result of alleged torture and ill-treatment, the experts said.   “We strongly condemn the use of physical violence against women and the denial of fundamental human dignity when enforcing compulsory hijab policies ordained by State authorities,” the experts said. “We call on the Iranian authorities to hold an independent, impartial, and prompt investigation into Ms Amini’s death, make the findings of the investigation public and hold all perpetrators accountable.”   Since 16 September, thousands have taken to the streets in many cities, including Tehran, Ilam, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Mahabad, Saqez, Sanandaj, Sari and Tabriz to demand accountability for the death of Amini and to put an end to violence and discrimination against women in Iran, particularly compulsory veiling for women.   The peaceful protests have been met with excessive use of force, including birdshot and other metal pellets by Iranian security forces, the experts said. According to reports, at least eight individuals, including a woman and a 16-year-old child, have been killed, dozens more injured and arrested.   Following the protests, prolonged internet disruptions have been reported in Tehran, Kurdistan provinces, and other parts of the country since 19 September. This is the third widespread internet shutdown recorded over the past 12 months in Iran.   “Disruptions to the internet are usually part of a larger effort to stifle the free expression and association of the Iranian population, and to curtail ongoing protests. State mandated internet disruptions cannot be justified under any circumstances,” the experts said, warning against a further escalation of crackdown against civil society, human rights defenders and peaceful protesters.   “Over the past four decades, Iranian women have continued to peacefully protest against the compulsory hijab rules and the violations of their fundamental human rights,” the experts said, urging authorities in the country to heed the legitimate demands of women who want their fundamental human rights respected.   As previously reiterated, “Iran must repeal all legislation and policies that discriminate on the grounds of sex and gender, in line with international human rights standards,” the experts said.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/09/iran-un-experts-demand-accountability-death-mahsa-amini-call-end-violence   Oct. 2021   Iran clamps down on teachers demanding fair pay. (DW)   Iran's teachers are protesting poor salaries and working conditions in the face of runaway inflation. The government, however, is treating them like criminals. A number of teachers have been arrested for protesting in Iran.   Aziz Ghasemzadeh is a spokesman for the teachers' union in Iran's northern province of Gilan. Last week, he was arrested while he was doing an interview on his phone with a Persian-language broadcaster. The phone's camera was still on and captured footage of the arrest at his parents' home; you can hear his mother's voice pleading with the officers not to take her son away. However, Ghasemzadeh's hands were tied, and he was blindfolded before being whisked away.   "Union activists like Aziz Ghasemzadeh are accused of 'endangering national security.' The authorities are cracking down on them," human rights lawyer Saeid Dehghan told DW. "Ghasemzadeh is a teacher and a respected musician and singer. He is an educated and cultured person who is peacefully campaigning for more social justice and better working conditions. That is not forbidden under our constitution."   Deghan, who is from the capital, Tehran, defends political prisoners in Iran. Deghan is concerned about the arbitrary arrest of activists. He says the intention is to intimidate them before they can organize themselves.   "The general discontent in Iran is very high, and any protest action has the potential to mobilize many people against the political system.  That's why, from the government's point of view, any protest must be nipped in the bud."   The day before his arrest, Aziz Ghasemzadeh had addressed a protest rally just before the start of the new school year in Iran. Similar demonstrations took place in more than 40 cities. The activists were campaigning for better working conditions and higher wages for teachers who are employees of the Ministry of Education.   Many of them have not received their salary in months. It was only in March 2021 that the previous government under President Rouhani, after long negotiations, agreed to adjust teachers' salaries in light of the country's deteriorating economic situation.   The teachers' wages were meant to be hiked by between 20% and 27%. However, the inflation rate in Iran in 2020 was 36.5% compared with the previous year. This year, it's expected to skyrocket to nearly 40%.   According to Iran's statistics agency, the average cost of living increased by more than 30% last year alone. "We are asking for our rights," Aziz Ghasemzadeh had stressed in his speech, which quickly circulated on the internet. The activists demanded not only fair pay but also urgent investment in modernizing dilapidated school buildings and hiring more staff.   "Political leaders believe they can solve the problem by arresting union activists. They are wrong. We will not give up," Ghasemzadeh said in his speech. Now he himself is among at least 15 Iranian teachers who have been put behind bars for their work in the union.   One of the best-known prisoners is math teacher Esmail Abdi. Abdi, an executive board member of the Iranian Teachers' Trade Association, has been in jail since November 2016. He's been slapped with the regime's standard charge of "gathering information with the aim of endangering national security" and "propaganda against the political system."   The labor union Education International has repeatedly called for the release of Esmail Abdi and campaigned for global solidarity with him and other teachers imprisoned in Iran.   Iran is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The treaties guarantee the right of every person to form and join trade unions of their own free will for the promotion and protection of their economic and social interests.   In other words, those in power in Iran are violating their international human rights obligations.   "That's because they don't have to fear any serious consequences," Raha Bahreini, an Iran expert at Amnesty International, told DW. Bahreini pointed out that the UN had appointed a special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, who documents human rights violations in the country.   "We're calling for an international mechanism to identify those responsible for human rights violations in Iran and to have the files opened so that those concerned can eventually be brought to justice," Bahreini said.   http://www.dw.com/en/iran-clamps-down-on-teachers-demanding-fair-pay/a-59401317 http://www.ei-ie.org/en/workarea/1317:trade-union-rights-are-human-rights   July 2021   UN urges Iran to focus on addressing water crisis in Khuzestan rather than crushing protests   The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Friday called on the Iranian authorities to concentrate on taking urgent action to address the chronic water shortage in the province of Khuzestan, rather than using excessive force and widespread arrests to crush the protests about the situation.   “The impact of the devastating water crisis on life, health and prosperity of the people of Khuzestan should be the focus of the Government’s attention, not the protests carried out by people driven to desperation by years of neglect,” said Bachelet. “I am extremely concerned about the deaths and injuries that have occurred over the past week, as well as the widespread arrests and detention.”   Khuzestan Province – where a large number of the 5 million inhabitants belong to Iran’s Arab minority – used to be the country’s main and most reliable source of water. However alleged mismanagement over many years, including the diversion of water to other parts of the country, coupled with nationwide droughts, has drained the province of its precious life-saving resource in a manner that has proved to be unsustainable. In recent months, the Karkheh and Zohreh riverbeds in western Khuzestan have dried up, as has the Hoor-al-Azim wetlands (or Hawizeh Marshes).   As a result, protests over the water shortage and mismanagement erupted on 15 July in several cities across the province, with protesters including children chanting, “I am thirsty, Water is my right,” along with other calls clearly related to the current crisis.   In response, state security forces appear to have reacted with disproportionate force against unarmed and peaceful protesters, leading to the killing of at least four individuals, including one minor, and injuries to several others.   In addition, state media has reported that one police officer has been killed. Unconfirmed reports suggest there may have been a higher number of killings, as protests have spread over the past week to at least 20 major towns and cities in Khuzestan, with further protests breaking out in support elsewhere in Iran, including in Tehran and Lorestan province.   “Water is indeed a right*,” the UN Human Rights Chief said. “But instead of heeding the legitimate calls by its citizens for that right to be upheld, the authorities have for the most part concentrated on oppressing those making those calls. The situation is catastrophic, and has been building up for many years. The authorities need to recognize that and act accordingly. Shooting and arresting people will simply add to the anger and desperation.”   “When you hear reports that injured protesters are avoiding hospitals for fear of being arrested, it is an indication of just how bad the situation is,” Bachelet said, stressing that the authorities have an obligation under international human rights law to ensure that any use of force in response to protests is a last resort, strictly necessary and proportionate.”   While noting that the outgoing President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, recently stated that citizens have a right to express themselves and protest “within the framework of the regulations,” Bachelet pointed out that Iran in general lacks effective channels for people to raise their grievances in any way other than through protests.   Severely restricted civic space, lack of participatory processes and lack of a free media make it impossible for people to bring attention to dire situations such as this through any other means. The internet and other forms of communication have been disrupted during the current crisis, and Government officials have been labelling protesters as rioters and secessionists.   “It is never too late to change tack,” she added. “And the Government of Iran desperately needs to change tack, beginning with issuing clear instructions to security forces to abide by international standards on the use of force. It should also take immediate steps to first of all mitigate the impact of the crisis and to put in place policies that can ensure the right to water in Khuzestan in the long term.   These policies must be based on consultations with affected populations and take the already deplorable socio-economic situation of Khuzestan province – which extends far beyond the water shortage.”
	Struggling to put food on the table during Covid-19 by New Internationalist, Scroll India, agencies   July 2021   Nigeria: Covid-19 Impact Worsens Hunger in Lagos   The economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the plight of families living in poverty in Lagos State, Nigeria and left many people struggling to afford food and meet other basic needs, Human Rights Watch and Justice & Empowerment Initiatives (JEI) said in a report released this week. The number of Nigerians experiencing hunger doubled during the pandemic.   The 87-page report, “‘Between Hunger and the Virus,’ The Economic Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on People Living in Poverty in Lagos, Nigeria,” documents how a five-week lockdown, rising food prices, and a prolonged economic downturn have had a devastating impact on informal workers, slum dwellers, and other urban poor families in Lagos. The absence of a functioning social security system meant that government assistance, including cash transfers and food handouts, reached only a fraction of people going hungry.   “The troubling reality of the Covid-19 crisis for many families in Lagos has been hunger and deprivation,” said Anietie Ewang, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch. “With people still battling every day for survival, the pandemic has highlighted the critical need for a functioning social security system that will allow all Nigerians to achieve an adequate standard of living.”   The World Bank forecasted in January 2021 that the Covid-19 crisis will result in an additional 10.9 million Nigerians entering poverty by 2022, defined as people living below the national poverty line of around $1 a day. In Lagos State, high levels of urban poverty – most of the state’s more than 20 million residents live in slums or informal settlements – left people vulnerable to the economic impact of the pandemic.   Between May 2020 and March 2021, Human Rights Watch spoke with more than 60 people from 13 communities in Lagos State, conducting multiple rounds of interviews to document the evolution of the pandemic. Human Rights Watch also analyzed surveys by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and by JEI and the Nigerian Slum/Informal Settlements Federation, an advocacy group for people living in poverty.   Lagos residents said the Covid-19 crisis devastated their already fragile access to food and livelihoods.   Margaret Okuomo, a mother of seven in Ago Egun Bariga, lost her job as a cleaner in March 2020. She quickly exhausted her meager savings and was unable to feed her children.   “We [have] our fill in the morning, and sometimes at night we just soak two handfuls of garri [a staple made from cassava] and sleep,” she said.   Human Rights Watch’s analysis of NBS data found that half of households surveyed nationwide in May, August, and November 2020 had run out of food in the preceding 30 days, compared with a quarter of households surveyed in 2018 and 2019.   NBS data shows that nearly one third of people surveyed in August 2020 had taken on debt during the Covid-19 crisis. More than half of households used these loans to purchase food.   The economic impact of the pandemic has underscored the importance of the right to social security, which requires states to use a range of measures, such as unemployment benefits, cash transfers, and food assistance, to ensure people can obtain an adequate standard of living.   http://www.hrw.org/news/2021/07/28/nigeria-covid-19-impact-worsens-hunger-lagos http://socialprotection.org/voices-africans-affected-covid-19-crisis-experiences-impacts-covid-19-incomes-livelihoods-and   June 2021   Brazil: Breaking records – for the rich and the hungry, by Leonardo Sakamoto. (New Internationalist)   A worker with Covid-19 was rescued from slave labour in a sugar cane plantation in São Paulo, Brazil’s wealthiest state. He had fever, was coughing and aching, and had difficulty walking. But he kept on working nonetheless.   He was part of a group of 22 people freed earlier this year by specialized government teams that have been investigating reports of modern slavery since 1995. He and his colleagues had been ‘sold’ to their employer and they were starving. But slave labour is also a result of abject poverty, which has increased during the pandemic.   Research released by the Brazilian Network for Research on Sovereignty and Food and Nutritional Security revealed that in 2020, 19 million people went hungry in the country – out of 116.8 million who had some degree of food insecurity. Hunger affected nine per cent of Brazilians – the highest rate since 2004.   These figures were released in early April. On the same day, the Brazilian government, responding to pressure from Congress, resumed payment of the pandemic emergency benefit to unemployed workers that it had suspended several months earlier.   This programme had provided monthly instalments of between $116 and $232 per family at the beginning of last year. It was then reduced to between $58 and $116 a month, to be cut further to between $28 and $72 today.   With $28 a month, a single person living in São Paulo can buy only 23 per cent of the food they need, according to a survey by the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies. But our leader Jair Bolsonaro believes that the best way to fight Covid-19 is to push workers out onto the streets and that the sooner the population becomes infected the sooner the pandemic will end. The problem is that people will die as a side effect; in Brazil, on a massive scale so far.   The research on hunger was carried out in the last quarter of 2020, when reduced emergency aid was still in place. So the figures for 2021 are likely to be even worse, as Bolsonaro suspended payments at the end of 2020 and only resumed them 96 days later.   Also in April, Brazil learned that it had 20 more billionaires than last year, up from 45 to 65 according Forbes magazine, with a 72-per-cent increase in their total assets from $127 to $219 billion.   The fact that a small group of Brazilians lives in a ‘premium category’ that concentrates wealth while 116.8 million do not know whether they will eat each day is ‘an aberration’, says Oxfam Brazil’s director Katia Maia.   Referring to the paucity of the new benefit, she says: ‘This new emergency aid shows that human life is not a priority.’ Opposition and even government allies in Congress are calling for an increase.   Meanwhile, a new scandal has erupted: the government spent $440,730 on Jair Bolsonaro’s holiday, including security, accommodation and transport. This is enough to provide a monthly $116 aid payment to at least 3,800 Brazilians.   In Brazil, the idea of taxing the super-rich is taboo and tax reform is constantly postponed. The country’s super-rich pay far less tax than the middle class.   Such inequality confirms the view that the government exists to serve the most affluent and control the poorest. Over time, inequality leads to lack of faith in institutions – which helps to explain the state of Brazil today.   A recent study suggests that as many as six in ten Brazilians are struggling to put food on the table, reports Beatriz Miranda.   The Covid-19 pandemic has deepened Brazil’s ongoing hunger crisis, according to a recent study. Meagre welfare assistance has meant that around 60 per cent of the country’s population – 125 million people – are now unable to get three square meals per day. This is a major jump from 35 per cent who were food insecure in 2004, and amounts to a major reversal of the gains made in 2014, when the UN removed Brazil from the World Hunger Map.   According to research published by the Brazilian Research Network on Food, Nutritional Sovereignty and Security in April, the quality of meals has sharply declined for six in ten households. Less people can afford to buy quality food and the consumption of fruit has diminished by 40 per cent, vegetables by 36 per cent.   Many look to the government’s failure to effectively address the economic impacts of the pandemic. Unemployment, lack of support for informal workers forced to stay home and self-employed people having to shut businesses have all contributed to this deterioration.   ‘In December, the federal emergency cash was modest, but it still existed. After January, the population was left without this assistance for months. What we see now is that the demand has grown immensely,’ says social historian Adriana Salay Leme, a hunger researcher at Sao Paulo University who is volunteering in Quebrada Alimentada, a food assistance movement in Sao Paulo.   Despite the federal cash transfer programme, emergency welfare has been inconsistent (no allowance was paid from January to March 2021); insufficient (it currently consists of four installments of around US$28, and is expected to last until July 2021), and unable to assist those most in need (around 46 million people don’t have a bank account, internet access, or a taxpayer ID).   Many argue that the pandemic has simply prised open a long-worn crack in Brazilian statecraft. Leme identifies the root of the problem as a key moment in 2016, ‘when social assistance initiatives started to dismantle’.   She cites the now closed PNAE (National School Feeding Programme), CONAF (National Confederation of Family Agriculture), and Bolsa Família (Family Allowance – the world’s largest conditional cash transfer scheme), as examples.   Not coincidentally, 2016 also marked the return of neoliberal governance in Brazil, with the tenure of President Michel Temer, who came to power after the controversial impeachment process of social democrat President Dilma Rousseff. Marked by strong pro-privatization rhetoric – a kind that remains under current president, Jair Bolsonaro – Temer’s rule enacted an austerity package that, according to the UN, represented an ‘attack on poor people’. Since then, the welfare state system that prevailed in Brazil from 2003 to 2016 has been increasingly under threat.   According to Renato Maluf, a former President at Brazil’s National Council of Food and Nutritional Security (also dismantled by Bolsonaro), such a fallout was expected: ‘There has been an economic crisis since 2015, which has only worsened after Temer took office. (…). When you dismantle social programmes in a context where the economic conditions are getting worse, we know the result will be bad. And the pandemic has only made things more critical,’ he told media outlet O Joio e O Trigo in October last year.   The scale of the crisis has also meant that NGOs and grassroots campaigns have had to fill the gap. Dozens, if not hundreds, of food campaigns across the country right now are distributing millions of meals, including Panela Cheia Salva, Tem Gente Com Fome, and Cozinhas Solidarias.   The demand, however, is much bigger than the donations have been able to cover and some food campaigns are even working with waiting lists:   ‘The number of requests for basic food items is very high. Our main challenge is to get more donations. We are still figuring out how to deal with the waiting list. Lots of people are calling us asking for food, but donations have decreased,’ René Silva, founder of NGO Voz das Comunidades, in Rio de Janeiro, told media outlet G1 in March.   http://newint.org/features/2021/06/08/view-brazil http://newint.org/features/2021/06/17/pandemic-has-worsened-brazil-hunger-crisis-fjf http://newint.org/immersive/2020/09/29/death-covid-19-or-hunger http://newint.org/special/food-justice-files   June 2021   Not only are India’s poor eating less, they are eating less nutritious food - Indians need more relief measures during the second Covid-19 wave, writes Shoaib Daniyal for Scroll India.   Even before the pandemic hit, India was one of the world’s most malnourished countries. As could be expected for such a country with such poor development indicators, Covid-19 hit India’s poor hard. To compound the problem, the Indian government put in place what was the world’s harshest lockdown with little planning.   A new paper by economists Jean Dreze and Anmol Somanchi has now analysed survey data (collated here) to look at the impact of India’s first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 on food deprivation. Their conclusion is grim: “the lockdown and the economic recession that followed led to a severe nutrition crisis”.   Income crash   The first impact of the lockdown was obviously on incomes and employment as India put in place the world’s harshest restrictions which shut down almost all economic activity.   Across the board, surveys showed a drastic drop in incomes compared to pre-lockdown levels.   A survey by IDinsight, a data analytics organisation that focuses on the social sector, found that the average weekly income of non-agricultural respondents crashed from Rs 6,858 in March 2020 to Rs 1,929 in May, and was still around that level in September.   The proportion of non-agricultural respondents who reported zero days of work shot up from 7.3% in early March to 23.6% in the first week of May and was still as high as 16.2% in the first week of September.   Another survey by consulting firm Dalberg found that primary income earners of 52% of households were unemployed in May despite having a job before the lockdown and another 20% were still employed but earning less than before.   Dreze and Somanchi argue that this hit was not temporary and it was “doubtful that income and employment ever regained their pre-lockdown levels before a second wave of the Covid-19 epidemic hit the country in early 2021”.   Like with incomes, surveys across the board pointed an alarming rise in food insecurity. Depending on the survey, between 53%-77% respondents argued that they were eating less after the pandemic hit than before. Even more alarmingly, lifting the lockdown had a rather small effect.   A survey by the Centre for Sustainable Employment at the Azim Premji University, for example, found that even in the September-November period, the proportion of people eating less than what they did before the start of the pandemic was as high as 60%. (It was 77% during the lockdown).   The situation was even worse amongst poorer groups. The non-profit organisation ActionAid found that 35% of surveyed informal, mainly migrant workers were eating fewer than two meals a day in May.   Similarly, a survey by Pradan, another non-profit, covering informal sector workers in rural areas of 13 states found that half of them were eating fewer meals than before.   The quantity of food was not the only red flag – so was its nutritional value. Data from the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy shows that while expenditure on cereals remains almost constant, there was a drastic decline in money spent on nutrient and protein-heavy food such as eggs, meat, fish and fruits. And this holds across income groups. On meat and fish, in fact, the expenditure of the top 25% income group drops to levels below that for the middle 50% pre-lockdown.   The silver lining in this was the performance of India’s public distribution system, which supplies either free or highly subsidised foodgrains to Indians. During the lockdown, both state governments as well as the Union government announced relief measures such as free and increased rations. Dalberg, for example, notes that as many as 89% of Indians received PDS grain during lockdown. Moreover, a similar number also received free grain as per temporary lockdown schemes.   Given that a second Covid-19 wave in India this summer had led to most of the country going under state-implemented lockdowns, the paper recommends that a “second, stronger wave of relief measures is essential to avoid a repeat of last year’s tragic humanitarian crisis”.   One of the paper’s co-authors, Jean Dreze, has also recommended cash transfers as a way to help Indians hit hard by the pandemic lockdowns.   Unfortunately, far from better relief measures, Indians are finding that even a repeat of last year’s assistance is running into trouble. The Hindu reported that almost a third of ration card holders have been unable to access free rations allocated by the Union government due to distribution issues at the state level.   http://scroll.in/article/996600/the-pandemic-in-data-not-only-are-indias-poor-eating-less-they-are-eating-less-nutritious-food http://www.socialscienceinaction.org/resources/key-considerations-indias-deadly-second-covid-19-wave-addressing-impacts-and-building-preparedness-against-future-waves/ http://www.socialscienceinaction.org/blogs-and-news/urgent-call-for-basic-human-rights-and-services-to-be-protected-for-indias-poorest-during-covid/ http://scroll.in/topic/56473/a-tsunami-of-suffering http://scroll.in/article/994378/harsh-mander-a-lesson-in-how-to-end-the-mass-suffering-unleashed-by-indias-first-lockdown http://blogs.bmj.com/bmjgh/2021/09/04/lessons-from-covid-19-strengthening-the-public-health-system-in-india-or-accelerating-privatisation/ http://www.dw.com/en/india-why-are-female-community-health-workers-on-strike/av-61164184 http://www.ipsnews.net/2022/02/inequality-pro-rich-policies-buoy-billionaires-rise-india/ http://owsa.in/the-precarity-of-urban-households-demand-of-livelihood-safety-nets/ http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-61091336 Visit the related web page
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