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	2022 World Press Freedom Index : a new era of polarisation by UN News, Reporters Without Borders   Sep. 2022   “Civic space is shrinking. Distrust and disinformation are growing. And polarization is undermining democratic institutions,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his message marking International Day of Democracy.   “Now is the time” to raise the alarm, and “reaffirm that democracy, development, and human rights are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Now is the time to stand up for the democratic principles of equality, inclusion, and solidarity”.   The UN chief said it was important to stand with those who strive to secure the rule of law and promote full participation in decision-making.   Mr. Guterres drew attention to this year’s focus, which is on free, independent, and pluralistic media, which he described as the “cornerstone of democratic societies”.   He warned that from verbal assault to online surveillance and legal harassment, attempts to silence journalists are “growing more brazen by the day” - especially against women journalists.   As media workers face censorship, detention, physical violence, and even killings – often with impunity – the UN chief reminded that “such dark paths inevitably lead to instability, injustice and worse”.   “Without a free press, democracy cannot survive. Without freedom of expression, there is no freedom,” underscored the Secretary-General, urging the world to join forces “to secure freedom and protect the rights of all people, everywhere”.   According to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), over the past five years, 85 per cent of the world’s population has experienced a decline in press freedom. The UN agency elaborated that in attempts to hamper their work, the media globally are increasingly facing attacks, online and offline.   They are being targeted with increasing detention; the use of defamation laws; cybersecurity or hate speech laws to curb online expression; and growing surveillance technologies.   The COVID-19 crisis has also shown how it has become more critical than ever for media to gather and evaluate facts and fight disinformation. Equally critical is ensuring online safety and security.   Women journalists are particularly impacted. UNESCO and the International Center for Journalists found that 73 per cent of 714 women journalists from 125 countries have reported experiencing online violence in the course of their work.   Attempts to silence journalists are growing more brazen by the day and they often pay the ultimate price. From 2016 to the end of 2021, UNESCO recorded the killings of 455 journalists, who either died for their work or while on the job.   “On this International Day of Democracy, we are celebrating more than a simple principle of political organization: We are celebrating an ideal whose foundations are “the dignity, equality and mutual respect” of people – the very foundations of the Constitution of UNESCO,” said Director-General Audrey Azoulay.   Protecting press freedom protects democracy.   UN Women, the agency for gender equality and women’s empowerment, encouraged women to “participate in political processes and to support their aspirations for freedom, equality, autonomy and self-determination”.   The UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA, used the day to “thank journalists who play an essential role for democracy,” while stressing the need to “fight mis- and disinformation and protect the press, including those covering conflicts and humanitarian crises, who are increasingly targeted with threats and violence”. The UN human rights office, OHCHR, said simply: “Protecting press freedom protects democracy”.   http://www.un.org/en/observances/democracy-day   May 2022 (UN News)   Journalists and media workers are facing “increasing politicization” of their work and threats to their freedom to simply do their jobs, that are “growing by the day”, said the UN chief, marking World Press Freedom Day.   The day shines a spotlight on the essential work they do, bringing those in power to account, with transparency, “often at great person risk”, said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.   “Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many media workers have been on the frontlines, providing accurate, science-based reporting to inform decision-makers and save lives”, he said.   “At the same time, journalists who cover climate, biodiversity and pollution have succeeded in bringing global attention to this triple planetary crisis.”   But the threats to their freedom to go about their reporting and story-telling fairly and accurately, are multiplying daily.   “From global health to the climate crisis, corruption, and human rights abuses, they face increased politicization of their work and attempts to silence them from many sides.   “Digital technology has democratized access to information. But it has also created serious challenges.”   Feeding on outrage, lies   The UN chief noted that many social media platforms make their money not through increasing access to fact-based reporting, but on boosting engagement, “which often means provoking outrage, and spreading lies.”   “Media workers in war zones are threatened not only by bombs and bullets, but by the weapons of falsification and disinformation that accompany modern warfare. They may be attacked as the enemy, accused of espionage, detained, or killed, simply for doing their jobs.”   Mr. Guterres said that digital technology, was also making censorship easier for authoritarian governments and others, seeking to suppress the truth, with many journalists and editors facing the prospect of their work being taken offline on a daily basis.   Digital technology is also creating new “channels for oppression and abuse”, with women journalists “at particular risk” of online harassment and violence.   The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, has found that nearly three-quarters of women respondents, had experienced online violence. Hacking and illegal surveillance also prevent journalists from doing their jobs.   “The methods and tools change, but the goal of discrediting the media and covering up the truth remains the same as ever”, said the UN chief, leading to citizens who live in societies without free media, being “manipulated in horrifying ways.”   No democracy   “Without freedom of the press, there are no real democratic societies. Without freedom of the press, there is no freedom”, he said.   UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet has paid tribute to courageous journalists who continue to risk their lives for their work. Many reporters have “little choice but to work amidst ever-increasing harassment, intimidation, surveillance and risk to their lives and livelihoods”, Ms. Bachelet said.   “They do so for the sake of all of us. So that we have access to free, accurate and independent information. So that we can live in just and peaceful societies".   "Their work helps build the foundation for some of the fundamental human rights we should all enjoy: freedom of opinion, information and expression.”   It is crucial that journalists continue to expose atrocities, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted, her comments following her condemnation of deadly communal violence in Sudan’s Darfur, and reported summary executions of civilians in Bucha in Ukraine.   Despite the crucial role of journalists in society, Ms. Bachelet warned that they continue face “grave threats”, even in supposedly safe and democratic places, before noting that 293 media professionals were killed worldwide last year.   Three heads of UN agencies underlined the “paramount importance” of ensuring journalists can work freely, independently and safety.   The Presidents of the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and the UN’s educational agency UNESCO, highlighted:   “Too many challenges prevail, including high levels of impunity for crimes against journalists, a rise in the number of journalists detained and an increased legal harassment against them, online violence, the use of surveillance tools to hinder the journalist’s work, increased attacks on women journalists, and the rise of killings in non-conflict environments,” they said.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/05/1117362 http://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000380618 http://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2022/07/un-expert-warns-dangerous-decline-media-freedom http://www.ifj.org/media-centre/news/detail/category/press-releases/article/67-journalists-killed-so-far-in-2022-ifj-demands-immediate-action.html   Belarusian Association of Journalists awarded World Press Freedom Prize. (UN News)   The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) was named on Tuesday as the winner of this year‘s UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, following the international jury‘s recommendation.   The BAJ was formed in 1995 as a non-governmental association of media workers with the objective of promoting freedom of expression and indepenent journalism in Belarus.   It brings together over 1,300 associated journalists, and is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ).   Crackdown and violations   Since the disputed presidential election in Belarus in August 2020, which drew millions onto the streets in protest during the ensuing months, basic human rights have been in the crosshairs.   In March this year, the UN human rights office produced a Human Rights Council-mandated report on the situation in the European nation, which said the Government’s continuing crackdown had violated the rights of hundreds of thousands.   “The examination not only lays bare the violations inflicted on people trying to exercise their fundamental human rights, but highlights the inability of victims to access justice”, said UN rights chief, Michelle Bachelet.   In August 2021, following a police raid on the office of the BAJ, the Supreme Court of Belarus ordered the dissolution of the organization, at the request of the country’s Ministry of Justice.   “By awarding the prize to the BAJ, we are standing by all journalists around the world who criticize, oppose and expose authoritarian politicians and regimes, by transmitting truthful information and promoting freedom of expression”, said Alfred Lela, Chair of the Prize‘s international jury, and founder and director of an Albanian media organization.   “Today we salute and praise them; we find a way to say: we are with you, and we value your courage”.   The head of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, noted that for 25 years, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Prize “has been calling the world’s attention to the bravery of journalists around the world who sacrifice so much in the pursuit of truth and accountability.   “Once again, we are inspired by their example and reminded of the importance of ensuring the right of journalists everywhere to report freely and safely”.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/04/1117102 http://www.unesco.org/en/articles/belarusian-association-journalists-awarded-unescoguillermo-cano-world-press-freedom-prize   May 2022   2022 World Press Freedom Index : a new era of polarisation - Reporters Without Borders   The 2022 edition of the World Press Freedom Index, which assesses the state of journalism in 180 countries and territories, highlights the disastrous effects of news and information chaos – the effects of a globalised and unregulated online information space that encourages fake news and propaganda.   Within democratic societies, divisions are growing as a result of the spread of opinion media following the “Fox News model” and the spread of disinformation circuits that are amplified by the way social media functions. At the international level, democracies are being weakened by the asymmetry between open societies and despotic regimes that control their media and online platforms while waging propaganda wars against democracies.   Polarisation on these two levels is fuelling increased tension.   The invasion of Ukraine (106th) by Russia (155th) at the end of February reflects this process, as the physical conflict was preceded by a propaganda war. China (175th), one of the world’s most repressive autocratic regimes, uses its legislative arsenal to confine its population and cut it off from the rest of the world, especially the population of Hong Kong (148th), which has plummeted in the Index. Confrontation between “blocs” is growing, as seen between nationalist Narendra Modi’s India (150th) and Pakistan (157th). The lack of press freedom in the Middle East continues to impact the conflict between Israel (86th), Palestine (170th) and the Arab states.   Media polarisation is feeding and reinforcing internal social divisions in democratic societies such as the United States (42nd), despite president Joe Biden’s election. The increase in social and political tension is being fuelled by social media and new opinion media, especially in France (26th). The suppression of independent media is contributing to a sharp polarisation in “illiberal democracies” such as Poland (66th), where the authorities have consolidated their control over public broadcasting and their strategy of “re-Polonising” the privately-owned media.   The trio of Nordic countries at the top of the Index – Norway, Denmark and Sweden – continues to serve as a democratic model where freedom of expression flourishes, while Moldova (40th) and Bulgaria (91st) stand out this year thanks to a government change and the hope it has brought for improvement in the situation for journalists even if oligarchs still own or control the media.   The situation is classified as “very bad” in a record number of 28 countries in this year’s Index, while 12 countries, including Belarus (153rd) and Russia (155th), are on the Index’s red list (indicating “very bad” press freedom situations) on the map. The world’s 10 worst countries for press freedom include Myanmar (176th), where the February 2021 coup d’état set press freedom back by 10 years, as well as China, Turkmenistan (177th), Iran (178th), Eritrea (179th) and North Korea (180th).   RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire said: “Margarita Simonyan, the Editor in Chief of RT (the former Russia Today), revealed what she really thinks in a Russia One TV broadcast when she said, ‘no great nation can exist without control over information.’ The creation of media weaponry in authoritarian countries eliminates their citizens’ right to information but is also linked to the rise in international tension, which can lead to the worst kind of wars.   Domestically, the ‘Fox News-isation’ of the media poses a fatal danger for democracies because it undermines the basis of civil harmony and tolerant public debate. Urgent decisions are needed in response to these issues, promoting a New Deal for Journalism, as proposed by the Forum on Information and Democracy, and adopting an appropriate legal framework, with a system to protect democratic online information spaces.”   New way of compiling the Index   Working with a committee of seven experts* from the academic and media sectors, RSF developed a new methodology to compile the 20th World Press Freedom Index.   The new methodology defines press freedom as “the effective possibility for journalists, as individuals and as groups, to select, produce and disseminate news and information in the public interest, independently from political, economic, legal and social interference, and without threats to their physical and mental safety.” In order to reflect press freedom’s complexity, five new indicators are now used to compile the Index: the political context, legal framework, economic context, sociocultural context, and security.   http://rsf.org/en/index http://rsf.org/en/rsfs-2022-world-press-freedom-index-new-era-polarisation http://informationdemocracy.org/ http://www.article19.org/resources/joint-declaration-on-freedom-of-expression-and-gender-justice/ Visit the related web page
	Sri Lanka: Families struggling to cope in midst of economic distress by Amnesty, ICJ, Crisis Group, agencies   July 2023   Government must ensure access to adequate nutrition for all pregnant and breastfeeding women. (Amnesty International)   The Government of Sri Lanka must ensure access to adequate nutrition for all pregnant and breastfeeding women amid the ongoing economic crisis in the country, Amnesty International said today in a new research briefing.   The briefing, ‘Foregoing Meals to Make-Do’, examines the impact of the economic crisis on access to nutrition for pregnant and breastfeeding women, with a particular focus on women living below the poverty line in Colombo. Falling incomes, loss of livelihoods and inflation have reduced women’s purchasing power while government-funded programs aimed at increasing maternal nutrition have also been affected by the crisis.   “Due to the severity of the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, health and nutrition have taken a back seat. The situation has taken a grave toll on the health and well-being of pregnant and breastfeeding women. These individuals have also been disproportionately impacted by the crisis, which has seen poverty rates double in the space of a year due to the crisis,” said Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for South Asia.   In almost all households Amnesty International spoke to, consumption of meat, vegetables, fruit and milk had drastically reduced. Such deprivation increases the risk of nutrient deficiencies, which can affect the development of the foetus. Families that previously consumed meat or fish on a weekly basis now consume them just once a month or only when money is available.   Most pregnant and breastfeeding women Amnesty International spoke to said that they were unemployed and their husbands did not have a regular income amid the economic crisis.   In February 2023, pregnant and breastfeeding told Amnesty International that government food vouchers, which are usually offered to pregnant and breastfeeding women, could not be redeemed due to a lack of state funds.   Amnesty International wrote to the Ministry of Women, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Public Administration to raise these concerns, but did not receive a response at the time of publication.   Sri Lanka’s public health system has also been affected by shortages of medicine and equipment. Health workers providing maternal care told Amnesty International that they had to stop, delay or postpone non-essential surgeries and procedures. One doctor, who said they have to ration drugs for emergency cases because future supplies are uncertain, told Amnesty: “We have to see patients suffering and we cannot do anything.”   Sri Lanka has ratified several international accords requiring it to ensure that pregnant and breastfeeding women have access to adequate healthcare and food, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).   “Prolonged food insecurity and inadequate nutrition can lead to serious long-term consequences for mothers and their children if left unaddressed. The Government of Sri Lanka must urgently meet its international human rights obligations, including by ensuring access to adequate, affordable and good quality nutrition for pregnant and breastfeeding women.   The international community must also play a role in supporting the government to ensure pregnant and breastfeeding women are able to access adequate food and nutrition,” said Dinushika Dissanayake.   http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/07/sri-lanka-government-must-ensure-access-to-adequate-nutrition-for-all-pregnant-and-breastfeeding-women/ http://www.hrw.org/news/2023/08/07/sri-lanka-chaotic-social-security-reform-denies-peoples-rights   Mar. 2023   Sri Lanka: half of families reducing children’s food intake as the country slips further into hunger crisis – Save the Children   Half of families in Sri Lanka are forced to reduce the amount they feed their children, according to a survey by Save the Children, as the country’s economic downturn spirals further into a full-blown hunger crisis nearly a year after the government defaulted on its debt.   The government and international community must act now to prevent the country’s children from becoming a lost generation, the child rights organisation said.   Since the Sri Lankan government defaulted on its debt nearly a year ago, soaring inflation and food, medicine and fuel shortages as well as a lack of stable employment have left families unable to cope. The country has the seventh highest nominal food inflation rate in the world, according to the World Bank, with year-on-year inflation in the country more than 50%.   Save the Children’s latest survey of 2,308 households across nine districts in Sri Lanka found that due to this inflation, average household expenditure increased by 18% between June and December last year. During this time there was a 23% increase in households unable to meet most or all of their general basic needs, Save the Children said.   Because of this, over the past six months, more families have had to resort to desperate measures to survive, with a 24% increase in households saying they had resorted to borrowing money in order to cover household expenses; a 24% increase in households saying they had to purchase food on credit; and a 28% increase in households selling household items for cash. Female-headed households are particularly vulnerable, Save the Children said.   While half of households said they are cutting their children’s food intake, 27% reported adults skipping meals to feed their children. Nine out of ten households said they cannot guarantee nutritious food for their children..   http://reliefweb.int/report/sri-lanka/sri-lanka-half-families-reducing-childrens-food-intake-country-slips-further-hunger-crisis-save-children   Sep. 2022   How can Sri Lanka escape crisis with IMF’s $2.9bn, by Dr Stephen Kidd and Dr Nayha Mansoor. (Development Pathways)   IMF last week announced a provisional $2.9bn loan to Sri Lanka for recovery from an economic crisis which has caused extreme inflation, shortages and protests. But once the loan is approved, the country has decisions to make on how best to spend the funds. Recent evidence shows that universal social protection could be critical to getting the country back on track.   Lessons from the COVID response   Sri Lanka’s current crisis requires a large-scale emergency response. The COVID-19 pandemic caused significant damage to family wellbeing as well as the economy. The response put in place was nowhere near large enough to offer families adequate income support and trigger economic recovery.   Back in 2020, UNICEF recommended a large-scale, 6-month expansion of social protection, which would have cost a total of 1.5% of GDP and generated significant demand within the economy, while reaching 86% of the population with essential income support. Unfortunately, the absence of an adequate fiscal response to the COVID-19 emergency meant that the economy has been unable to return to a strong footing, which has contributed to the current crisis. Subsequent policy decisions by the government made an already bad situation much worse.   It is essential that the Sri Lankan government and the international community learn the lessons from the limited response to the COVID-19 crisis. This means implementing, as soon as possible, an ambitious programme of emergency income support to families.   If families do not receive this support, social unrest is likely to worsen, which could lead to a collapse of the political system, with far-reaching consequences. Further, the economic situation could continue to deteriorate, exacerbating a volatile situation, while families across the country struggle to feed themselves and access public services.   This short note proposes an ambitious emergency package which, if implemented, should help stablise the political situation, reduce the level of social unrest, offer vulnerable families – who now comprise most of the population – immediate financial support, and stimulate economic recovery.   Emergency support for children, persons with disabilities and older people   Across the country, the majority of families are suffering. Even among those who were previously secure, many have fallen into deep poverty and the crisis has left almost no one untouched. The greatest challenges are felt by households that include children, persons with disabilities and older people.   Therefore, given that not everyone can be reached, support should be focused on these vulnerable categories of the population, which will also help those who live with them in the same households.   As the crisis is universal, it makes little sense to target the poorest members of society. Even before COVID, it was impossible to identify the poorest households in Sri Lanka. For that reason, back in 2016, more than half (58%) of people who were meant to receive the Samurdhi cash transfer – directed at ‘the poor’ – did not receive it.   Further, targeting the poorest could exacerbate the current political crisis, given that most of the population would feel that the government is abandoning them, while the targeting errors would create widespread resentment and generate further social unrest. Indeed, one of the causes of the civil war in Syria was the introduction of a poverty-targeted cash transfer to compensate for the removal of a universal fuel subsidy.   An emergency programme of income support should, therefore, offer transfers to children, persons with disabilities and older people for a period of six months. While this programme could be designed in various ways, one option is to provide transfers to every child aged 0-17 years (with the cash being given to the female caregiver, or a male if a female is not present), all persons with disabilities aged 0-59 years and everyone aged 60 years and above.   The total package would require US$1.06 billion. While this may appear to be a high cost over a short period of time, it is an investment that will have rapid impact and pave the way for long-term recovery – at the cost of little more than a third of the IMF’s loan (36.6%).   If the emergency package is not put in place, the real cost to Sri Lanka, through further hardship, losses in child development, social unrest, and reduced economic growth will be much higher and, in some cases – especially the losses in human capital among children – unrecoverable..   http://www.developmentpathways.co.uk/blog/sri-lanka-crisis-imf/ http://www.ituc-csi.org/sri-lanka-an-urgent-need-for-debt-relief http://reliefweb.int/report/sri-lanka/wfp-sri-lanka-situation-report-05-december-2022 http://reliefweb.int/disaster/ce-2022-000199-lka http://reliefweb.int/report/sri-lanka/sri-lanka-multi-dimensional-crisis-situation-report-no-4-2-september-2022 http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/09/sri-lanka-critical-juncture-un-report-urges-progress-accountability http://reliefweb.int/report/sri-lanka/we-are-near-total-breakdown-protecting-rights-health-food-and-social-security-sri-lankas-economic-crisis http://reliefweb.int/report/sri-lanka/sri-lanka-multi-dimensional-crisis-situation-report-no-6-30-september-2022 http://reliefweb.int/disaster/ce-2022-000199-lka http://www.acaps.org/country/sri-lanka/crisis/socio-economic-crisis   July 2022   6 million Sri Lankans food insecure. (UN News)   In the face of record food price inflation, skyrocketing fuel costs and widespread commodity shortages, some 6.26 million Sri Lankans, or three in 10 households, are unsure of where their next meal is coming from, according to the latest food insecurity assessment from the World Food Programme (WFP).   As prices keep healthy meals out of reach, some 61 per cent of households are regularly using coping strategies to cut down on costs, such as reducing the amount they eat and consuming increasingly less nutritious meals.   And with opportunities to make enough income in the medium to long-term decreasing for an estimated 200,000 families, the UN food relief agency anticipates that even more people will turn to these coping strategies as the crisis deepens.   WFP is warning that a lack of nutrition has grave consequences for pregnant women, putting both their own and their children’s health at risk.   “Pregnant mothers need to eat nutritious meals every day, but the poorest find it harder and harder to afford the basics,” WFP Deputy Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific Anthea Webb said last month. She told a local television station that by skipping meals, pregnant women were putting themselves and their children’s health at risk in a way that “carries throughout your life”.   To combat the food crisis and its effect on malnutrition, WFP has been distributing monthly food vouchers to pregnant women in some of the poorest neighbourhoods, alongside antenatal care provided by the local government.   Amidst a staggering 57.4 per cent inflation rate, steeply increasing food prices have crippled the population’s ability to put sufficient and nutritious meals on the table, rendering two in five households without adequate diets.   The food security situation is worst among people working in the farming estates sector, where more than half of households are food insecure, according to WFP.   In all measures of food insecurity and coping strategies, these households have consistently poorer outcomes than urban and rural populations.   “Poor families in cities and those who work on estates have seen their incomes plummet while market prices have soared,” the WFP official said.   Sri Lanka is suffering its worst economic crisis since gaining independence in 1948. A current oil supply shortage has forced schools and government offices to close until further notice.   Reduced domestic agricultural production, a lack of foreign exchange reserves, and local currency depreciation, have fuelled the shortages. The economic crisis will push families into hunger and poverty.   Last month WFP launched an emergency appeal for food and nutrition to assist three million of the most at-risk Sri Lankans. “We must act now before this becomes a humanitarian catastrophe,” warned WFP chief David Beasley.   As prices keep healthy meals out of reach, some 61 per cent of households are regularly using food-based coping strategies, such as reducing the amount they eat and consuming increasingly less nutritious food. The UN food relief agency anticipates that even more people will turn to these coping strategies as the crisis deepens.   http://news.un.org/en/story/2022/07/1122042 http://www.savethechildren.net/news/sri-lanka-more-two-thirds-families-struggling-feed-themselves-economic-crisis-wipes-out-incomes   13 July 2022   Sri Lanka’s president flees, but leaves a deepening crisis.   Following months of protests calling for his resignation, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled Sri Lanka on 13 July, sending an official resignation a day later. The country has faced a growing humanitarian crisis for months, after years of severe economic mismanagement. While Sri Lankans celebrated Rajapaksa’s self-exile – he is the final member of the powerful dynasty to step down – acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe warned that the economy has “completely collapsed”. Spiralling sovereign debt has led to rampant inflation and a shortage of fuel so severe that the country has gone under virtual lockdown. With the price of food skyrocketing, Sri Lankans are increasingly hungry, while a shortage of medical supplies has left a once-strong healthcare system in dire straits.   The most recent estimates by the World Food Programme suggest that nearly a quarter of the population is in need of food aid, while 86 percent has adjusted its eating habits by consuming less nutritious food, or missing meals altogether.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2022/07/sri-lanka-un-experts-sound-alarm-economic-crisis http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/09/sri-lanka-authorities-crackdown-on-protest-rights-must-end/   10 July 2002   Months of Protests lead to President and PM vowing to step down. (BBC News, agencies)   Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has announced he will step down after protesters stormed his official residence and set the prime minister's house on fire. Neither the PM nor the president were in the buildings at the time.   Hundreds of thousands of people had descended on the capital Colombo, calling for Mr Rajapaksa to resign after months of protests over economic mismanagement.   Mr Rajapaksa said he will step down on 13 July. PM Wickremesing has also agreed to resign. However, protestors who have lost all trust in their leadership are demanding they resign immediately and not delay the process of establishing a new administration.   One protester, Fiona Sirmana, who was demonstrating at the president's house, said it was time "to get rid of the president and the prime minister and to have a new era for Sri Lanka".. "I feel very sad that they didn't go earlier because had they gone earlier there wouldn't have been any destruction," she told Reuters.   Sri Lanka is suffering rampant inflation and is struggling to import food, fuel and medicine. It has run out of foreign currency and has imposed a ban on sales of petrol and diesel for private vehicles, leading to days-long queues for fuel. There have also been constant power outages and shortages of cooking gas.   Many blame the Government led by the dynastic and powerful Rajapaksa family for the mismanagement, alleging they used the country's wealth for personal gain.   The extraordinary events of Saturday were the culmination of months of mainly peaceful protests in Sri Lanka. Huge crowds converged on the official residence of President Rajapaksa, chanting slogans and waving the national flag before breaking through the barricades and entering the property. The contrast between the luxury of the palace and the months of hardship endured by the country's 22 million people was not lost on the protesters.   "When you see the luxuries in this house it is obvious that they don't have time to work for the country," Chanuka Jayasuriya told Reuters.   "Just two resignations alone will not satisfy the demands, the demand of a system change, but at least this is a start if the president and the prime minister depart," said Bhavani Fonseka, a prominent human rights lawyer in Colombo.   Sri Lanka's opposition parties are expected to form an "all-party government" when the President resigns, with speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena stepping in as interim president until an election among MPs to elect a leader.   But a number of experts say the country needs to have a new election for people to be able trust the next government. "The most important thing is that you need the political legitimacy and I'm afraid that the government and the political elites that we have at the moment do not have legitimacy," one commentator noted.   May 2022   Many of Sri Lanka's 22 million people are facing acute shortages of food, fuel and medicine as the island nation battles its worst economic crises since it became independent in 1948.   Sri Lanka is facing a balance of payment crisis and a severe foreign exchange shortage compounded by Covid-19 lockdowns, pre-pandemic tax cuts and loss of access to international capital markets. As it stands, foreign exchange reserves are critically low, making the import of essential medicines, food items, cooking gas and fuel, immensely difficult. This is affecting all major sectors including education, health and livelihoods.   The economy got battered by the COVID pandemic which wrecked the tourism industry — a key revenue generator for the country — and hit other major sectors as well as foreign remittances.   The deeply unpopular Rajapaksa government is accused of gross economic mismanagement in creating a mountain of debt by borrowing heavily from foreign investors and countries.   The heavy debt burden and eroding foreign exchange reserves have triggered a balance of payments crisis, making it difficult to finance essential imports like medicines.   Skyrocketing inflation, ongoing food price rises, shortages of essential items and lengthy power blackouts have stoked public fury at the government led by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his family members and allies. Inflation hit 29.8 percent in April with food prices up 46.6 percent year-on-year.   Clashes broke out between government supporters and opponents this week, killing several people and injuring hundreds.   After the violence erupted, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa — the president's elder brother — resigned. The government has imposed a state of emergency and curfews, in addition to granting sweeping powers to the military and the police, including orders to shoot looters on sight. Security forces are patrolling the streets in armored personnel carriers, but the situation remains tense across the country.   President Gotabaya continues to defy popular calls to resign, pledging instead to form a unity government, a proposal rejected by the majority of the country. The opposition refuses to join any unity government and has called for curtailing the powers of the presidency.   14 May 2022   Sri Lankan president ‘Gota’ clings on to power despite ongoing widespread protests demanding he resign. (Guardian News)   They have called it “Gota Go Village”. Here, on what was once an empty stretch of lawn outside the office of the Sri Lankan prime minister, on Colombo’s seafront Galle Face promenade, a thriving community has sprung up. There are tents, food stalls, a library, a memorial, art installations, stages for music and speeches, and even the beginnings of a small farm growing vegetables and fruit from recently planted trees. Nearby, a patch has been set aside to cultivate rice.   It began as the focal point of the anti-government protests that have engulfed Sri Lanka for months as the country goes through the worst economic crisis since independence. As fuel, food and medicine have run short, the blame has been placed firmly at the feet of one man, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, widely known as Gota, who stands accused of economic mismanagement and corruption pushing the country to the brink of bankruptcy. The calls from the majority of the population have been clear: Gota must step down.   But as it has become evident that Gotabaya Rajapaksa will not give in to public demands, the protesters, too, have made it clear they are not going anywhere. What began as a few temporary marquees grew into a full tent village occupied by hundreds.   “We will not stop the protest until Gota goes home. We are staying here and we are ready to stay permanently,” said AM Fernando.   But last week, the protest village also became the target of the worst violence the country has seen since the demonstrations began earlier this year. On Monday, pro-government supporters, many of whom had been bussed in from outside the city, attacked the Gota Go Village site. Armed with iron rods and sticks, they beat protesters and set tents alight. Police then fired tear gas and water cannons at the camp.   Among the injured was a Buddhist monk, Welimada Upananda Thero, who is now receiving treatment for a leg so badly bruised that he needs crutches. “They just came started beating us. They beat everything we had in our tent, even my sandals,” he said.   The incident triggered violence elsewhere. Mahinda Rajapaksa, the brother of the president, who resigned as prime minister on Monday after mounting public pressure, had to be evacuated at dawn on Tuesday from his official residence in Colombo after protesters tried to storm the building. Houses belonging to the Rajapaksas and their supporters were attacked and set alight across the country, and the military was brought on to Colombo’s streets with orders to shoot looters.   Yet despite a curfew and the imposition of a state of emergency, protesters at Gota Go Village turned out in their droves, rebuilding structures pulled down by the pro-government attacks.   Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s appointment on Thursday of a new prime minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has served as PM five times before, did little to appease the anger of many at the camp, and a spinoff site, “Ranil Go Home”, was set up by Friday.   Wickremesinghe, who has been in politics for more than four decades, last served as PM between 2015 and 2019 in a regime that toppled the Rajapaksa family’s previous decade-long hold on power but ultimately descended into dysfunction and infighting. He suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2020 parliamentary election, with his United National Party (UNP) winning just a single seat.   While he is regarded by some as a safe pair of hands for the economy, Wickremesinghe is also seen by many as the quintessential insider politician who will continue the status quo. He is long accused of protecting the interests of both the Rajapaksa family and corrupt figures in his own earlier government, maintaining his political career through back-door scheming.   “The real problem for Ranil is he is being seen as prop, albeit a very weak one, for a widely discredited and now even reviled leader,” said Harim Peiris, a political analyst.   Wickremesinghe said he was taking on the role in order to guide the country through the worst of the economic crisis and put food back on to people’s plates, and said he still supported the protesters’ call for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to step down.   But Alan Keenan, International Crisis Group senior consultant on Sri Lanka, said that by accepting the position, Wickremesinghe was inevitably helping to prop up the Rajapaksa regime. “His appointment breathes new life into the desperate Rajapaksa family, and seems likely to undercut chances of achieving the protesters’ central demand – backed by 90% of the public – that Gotabaya Rajapaksa resign as president.”   Asanka Abeyrathna, a former university lecturer who has been at the protest camp since it was set up, was among those who said they were not happy with the decision to appoint Wickremesinghe as prime minister.   “In 2015, Ranil was in charge of a government that promised us justice – but this did not happen, so what is the point of having Ranil again?” said Abeyrathna. “Maybe he can bring in dollars to get us gas, electricity and fuel but this will not ensure justice for past atrocities or relief for the people. Until Gota goes there will be no change.”   Many in the protest camp called for Wickremesinghe to prove his political neutrality by taking action against the Rajapaksa family and to arrest Mahinda Rajapaksa for his role in instigating Monday’s violence. “The first thing Ranil has to do is to send Gota home and also punish him for the wrongs he has done,” said Fernando.   Wickremesinghe’s ability to govern as prime minister remains to be seen. He is the only lawmaker from his UNP in parliament and so will be reliant on pro-Rajapaksa MPs and a few independents to form a majority coalition. He claimed to have the numbers but his majority will be put to the test in coming days, as parliament is due to vote on a motion of no confidence in the president and he will also have to get a budget passed.   While Wickremesinghe’s appointment is likely to be welcomed by foreign governments and international creditors, many are sceptical he will bring about the systemic change being demanded by those on the streets or provide long-term political stability.   “As long as there is a state of emergency, and the current president continues to function, the country’s economic recovery will be devastatingly slow,” said Gehan Gunatilleke, a human rights lawyer and former adviser to the Sri Lankan foreign ministry.   Senior opposition lawmaker and economist Harsha de Silva publicly rejected an offer to take over the finance ministry in Wickremesinghe’s cabinet. “People are not asking for political games and deals – they want a new system that will safeguard their future,” he said.   http://reliefweb.int/report/sri-lanka/sri-lanka-food-security-crisis-humanitarian-needs-and-priorities-2022-june-sept-2022-ensita http://www.ifrc.org/press-release/sri-lankas-economic-crisis-spiralling-food-crisis http://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/14/sri-lankan-president-gota-clings-on-to-power-gotabaya-rajapaksa http://www.dw.com/en/sri-lankans-running-out-of-food-fuel-and-medicine/a-61773302 http://www.icj.org/sri-lanka-government-must-ensure-availability-of-essential-medicines-to-protect-lives/ http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/05/sri-lanka-rights-under-attack-during-economic-crisis/ http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/05/sri-lanka-new-emergency-regulations-and-shooting-orders-threaten-human-rights/ http://lens.civicus.org/sri-lanka-economic-meltdown-sparks-mass-protests/ http://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/sri-lankas-economic-meltdown-triggers-popular-uprising-and-political-turmoil http://www.ipsnews.net/2022/05/sri-lanka-debt-crisis-neocolonialism-geopolitical-rivalry/
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