Water:Sustaining Lives, Sustaining Development

Being part of a world where according to statistics from the World Health Organization at least 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking-water and 2.4 billion persons live without access to sanitation systems with 5000 children dieing everyday from avoidable water-related diseases, and at the heart of a continent(Africa) where only 5% of its rural area dwellers(the majority of its population) have access to safe drinking water (http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/en/), Cameroon is one of those countries in which this year’s world water day’s theme: Water and Food security has a particular meaning.

CHOLERA IS THE MOST VISIBLE TIP OF THIS ICE BERG

In the last 3 years, Cameroon has experienced a series of acute cholera outbreaks which have affected thousands and killed more than a thousand others(http://www.ifrc.org/en/news-and-media/news-stories/africa/cameroon/cameroon-cholera-continues-to-claim-lives/).The recurrence of Cholera outbreaks in a given place is indication that basic hygiene and sanitation facilities and practices are absent and when this happens in a country like Cameroon where according to official statistics more than 50% of consultations and 60% of admissions in health units is related to diseases caused by poor sanitary conditions and by water-borne, water-related, water -based and water-scarce diseases such as cholera, typhoid, malaria, yellow fever, river blindness, guinea worm, trachoma, scabies, and diarrhoea, the resulting effect could not but be felt on all spheres of the society.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in its report titled: Strengthening interventions to reduce helminth infections: an entry point for the develop-ment of health-promoting schools, the incidence of water-borne diseases and related infections is highest among the poor, especially school-aged children and more than 2.2 million people from developing countries die each year from preventable diseases caused by inadequate access to safe drinking water and poor hygienic conditions.

Conscious of the fact that a significant portion of children in Cameroon’s rural communities do not go to school because they have contracted a water-related disease, and having witnessed the numerous cases of child deaths linked to water-related diseases in my community, instead of sitting comfortably and waiting for the government to come and salvage my community from the cholera outbreak, I decided to act for my people.

WE CAN ALL DO SOMETHING HOWEVER SMALL

Convinced that for any fight to be effective those most affected by the ill against which the fight is directed should play a key role and conscious of the fact that only a few of my community’s inhabitant had knowledge of the MDGs, I set out in September 2010 to change people’s mentalities and perception about sanitary conditions ,community development and nation building. I started a one-on-one outreach which consisted of personal discussions with various community stakeholders during which I sensitized them on things to do to avoid being victims of cholera.

After realising how fundamental Water, Sanitation, and Health(WASH) were to the achievement of all the MDGs, I started an initiative called: the MDGs Participative Achievement Program, which sensitized pupils and students on how they-as individuals-could effectively combat Cholera in their various schools, communities, and families by observing simple hygiene rules and by so doing contribute to the achievement of all the other MDGs.
After reaching out to more than 1000 pupils and students, this program came to an end in March 2011( after last year’s world water day) due to lack of resources. But our fight for our people’s right to water,their right to live in a safe environment, and in a comfortable house should be recognised by policy makers has just begun and nothing, not even the lack of resources will stop us.

WHEN THE SEARCH FOR WATER BECOMES DANGEROUS

Where I come from in Cameroon and like in most developing countries, rural women produce between 60–80 per cent of food for household consumption(www.fao.org/SD/FSdirect/FBdirect/FSP001.htm) and it is a tradition that, men fetch fire wood(generally tree branches used for cooking) and women fetch water which they use to cook, do laundry, and water crops they have planted. This tradition is fast becoming a burden too heavy for my people-especially the women to bear. This is because water sources are drying up and the distance separating my people from the few sources of potable water is widening and the number of rapes of girls who have to move long distances using very dangerous paths through a thick bush to fetch water. These young girls are not only exposed to repeated rapes, but also have to miss classes because they at times have to walk for an hour or two to fetch water for household use. Those among these girls that are most determined to go to school thus have to leave home as early as 5A.M to walk to and from these water sources and then cook food(that will serve as breakfast for a family) before they go to school.

The above, all negatively affects the education of the girl child in my village and are amongst the first causes of the high rate of school drop outs among the female student population in this rural community.

WATER IS INDISPENSABLE TO MAKE POVERTY HISTORY

There is therefore no doubt as to the fact that water plays a fundamental role in worsening or improving the quality of life of people in any community. Thus to effectively tackle ills plaguing rural communities such as illiteracy conditions, poverty, rape, violence against women, and hunger, every single soul should easily access water which is safe and affordable.

Making water available safe drinking to rural community dwellers in a place closer to where they live and work(most rural area dwellers in Cameroon have agriculture as a means of subsistence), will have a great impact on its present and future generations. Girls will substitute the time they spend in walking to far away places to fetch water with studies, rapes will be reduced(since water sources will be closer to their homes), and community efforts to sustainably manage their water source will be enhanced.

As we celebrate world water day today, policy makers should know that if they prefer tarring a road to making water safe, accessible, and affordable, all the policies they will formulate and implement will backfire and the achievement of MDGs will forever remain a dream.
Water needs to be given the place it deserves in policy. World leaders must move beyond the much talk at international conferences to taking concrete actions that will not only lead to the achievement of the MDGs but above all save the lives of more than a billion persons. Water is indispensable for Live, Water is indispensable for development.

You can also read this blog at:
http://www.amplifyyourvoice.org/u/Gastonkwa/2012/3/22/Water-Sustaining-Lives-Sustaining--Development

Vanessa,Her Solen Baby and the Plight of Women In Cameroon

« Those women that are marching pass [the first lady] at this moment should know that the best way to celebrate the 8th of March is boycott the parade to force the authorities not to necessarily give back my baby, but to put an end to the traffic of babies in public hospitals». This the outcry of an inconsolable mother to press men last march 8th as women celebrated International Women’s Day in pump and pageantry the world over.

For more than half a year, she has been deprived of her baby-a baby which she has never had the time to hold in her arms-because stolen from her a few hours after she came into to the world.Its been 7 months of anguish, anger, and grief that Vanessa Tchatchou, has gone through and her ordeal seems not getting closer to an end any soon.

Vanessa Tchatchou is this 17 years old Cameroonian girl whose baby was stolen from her on the 20th August 2011 at 2:15 PM,a few hours after been delivered of a healthy and beautiful baby girl at the Yaounde Gyneco-Obstetric and pediatric hospital in Cameroon-she was delivered of her baby at 7h43 minutes on the same day.

A Silence Too Long to Be Innocent.

6 months later and after much speculation on what might had really happened at that hospital, the government finally reacted on this issue on the 2nd of February through its spokesperson; the minister of communication. At this press conference held in Cameroon’s captal city, the minister declared that the culprits had been apprehended and confessed of having buried the child in a Yaounde neighborhood after her sudden death.

The above version of what might have caused the disappearance of Vanessa’s baby was widely seen by Cameroonians as been fake, given that an influential female magistrate was found with a baby girl(which was not visibly hers)-the age of vanessa’s baby- which she claimed was her baby. Suspicion that this magistrate might be the thief of the baby grew because she made so many contradictory statements concerning the baby found in her home in Yaounde. She first claimed she had given birth to the baby and when NGOs and Civil Society Organizations(CSOs) mounted pressure on her for a DNA test to be conducted on the baby she claimed was hers, she first refused and later on said she had adopted the baby a week after she was born.

A DNA test was finally conducted on the baby found at the magistrate’s home and there have been recent claims that the DNA does not correspond with that of the mother whose baby was stolen. This claim is also viewed by Cameroonians as been unfounded as questions concerning the respect of the formalities for the adoption of a child in Cameroon by the magistrate are still been posed . We live in a country were it could take from between a month to one year for permission to adopt a child to be issued by the competent authorities. But, that this magistrate took just a few days to obtain permission to adopt this child raises a lot of questions.

Vanessa:Courageous to the End

The courage demonstrated by Vanessa and her family in the past months, despite the fact that they had been threatened and bundled out of the hospital yet she decided not to leave until her child is found and returned to her, the indifference of the hospital staff and government officials to the suffering of Vanessa and the arrogance of the magistrate has revolted many Cameroonians who have staged a series of activities to demand that Vanessa’s baby be found and returned to her. Students, politicians, Civil Society Organizations(CSOs), and anonymous persons have initiated and/taken part in activities which were all violently dispersed by the government-with arrest of participants been made.

Women support groups and other associations who planned to demonstrate on International Women’s Day to demand that justice be made in this case during the traditional women’s march pass(Mentioned by Vanessa at the beginning of this article) organized all over the country on this day were threatened and taken away from ceremonial grounds. And so ended another March 8th with nothing; nothing at all being done to find and return Vanessa’s baby.

Reactions:Putting the Cart before the Horse

Reacting to this situation last month, the minister of Public Health Dr Mama Fouda issued a decree limiting the number of people who are authorized to accompany a woman to the maternity and putting in place other security measures in hospitals and then on the 9th of March 2009, the director of the hospital Pr Dooh Anderson was sacked and replaced. This in my opinion is not enough. Justice should be done to Vanessa!

Vanessa with support from a number of civil society organizations have sued the Minister of Social affairs Catherine Mbakang Mbock, the director of the hospital Pr Dooh Anderson, and the female magistrate(Caroline Mejang). But given that all these people are very influential and powerful, can justice follow its real course without being distorted by the colleagues, friends, tribesmen, and political friends of these people? Time will tell.

Wake Up Cameroon, Stand Up for your Children’s Plight!

The ‘stolen baby affair’, as this is refered to by the media in Cameroon is a wake up call to the Cameroonian judiciary system which must be exemplary in ruling on this issue as this girl has been unjustly deprived of the fruit of her womb for more half a year now. A human rights abuse has been committed by persons in the highest spheres of this country.

In a country for which the achievement of Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) is seen as key to its emergence, issues that have to do with human rights, the safety of health institutions, the security of goods and persons, and the credibility of its judiciary system are treated as a matter of urgency, with the highest diligence.
Cameroon belongs to Cameroonians and every single Cameroonian deserves to have justice done. Wake up Cameroon!

GIRL OR BOY, WE ARE ALL HUMAN!

March 8 is celebrated the world over as International Women’s day.  I will like to share with you a speech which depicts the reality of being a girl in today’s world, especially in developing countries. In his Nobel lecture in 2001, Koffi Annan insists on the necessity for a global partnership to effectively fight against poverty, gender based violence, hunger,hatred, and all forms of discriminations.  Read this its great and inspiring!

Today, in Afghanistan, a girl will be born. Her mother will hold her and feed her, comfort her and care for her – just as any mother would anywhere in the world. In these most basic acts of human nature, humanity knows no divisions. But to be born a girl in today's Afghanistan is to begin life centuries away from the prosperity that one small part of humanity has achieved. It is to live under conditions that many of us in this hall would consider inhuman.

I speak of a girl in Afghanistan, but I might equally well have mentioned a baby boy or girl in Sierra Leone. No one today is unaware of this divide between the world’s rich and poor. No one today can claim ignorance of the cost that this divide imposes on the poor and dispossessed who are no less deserving of human dignity, fundamental freedoms, security, food and education than any of us. The cost, however, is not borne by them alone. Ultimately, it is borne by all of us – North and South, rich and poor, men and women of all races and religions.

Today's real borders are not between nations, but between powerful and powerless, free and fettered, privileged and humiliated. Today, no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another.

Scientists tell us that the world of nature is so small and interdependent that a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon rainforest can generate a violent storm on the other side of the earth. This principle is known as the "Butterfly Effect." Today, we realize, perhaps more than ever, that the world of human activity also has its own "Butterfly Effect" – for better or for worse.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have entered the third millennium through a gate of fire. If today, after the horror of 11 September, we see better, and we see further – we will realize that humanity is indivisible. New threats make no distinction between races, nations or regions. A new insecurity has entered every mind, regardless of wealth or status. A deeper awareness of the bonds that bind us all – in pain as in prosperity – has gripped young and old.

In the early beginnings of the 21st century – a century already violently disabused of any hopes that progress towards global peace and prosperity is inevitable -- this new reality can no longer be ignored. It must be confronted.

The 20th century was perhaps the deadliest in human history, devastated by innumerable conflicts, untold suffering, and unimaginable crimes. Time after time, a group or a nation inflicted extreme violence on another, often driven by irrational hatred and suspicion, or unbounded arrogance and thirst for power and resources. In response to these cataclysms, the leaders of the world came together at mid-century to unite the nations as never before.

A forum was created – the United Nations – where all nations could join forces to affirm the dignity and worth of every person, and to secure peace and development for all peoples. Here States could unite to strengthen the rule of law, recognize and address the needs of the poor, restrain man’s brutality and greed, conserve the resources and beauty of nature, sustain the equal rights of men and women, and provide for the safety of future generations.

We thus inherit from the 20th century the political, as well as the scientific and technological power, which – if only we have the will to use them – give us the chance to vanquish poverty, ignorance and disease.

In the 21st Century I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound, awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion. This will require us to look beyond the framework of States, and beneath the surface of nations or communities. We must focus, as never before, on improving the conditions of the individual men and women who give the state or nation its richness and character. We must begin with the young Afghan girl, recognizing that saving that one life is to save humanity itself.

Over the past five years, I have often recalled that the United Nations' Charter begins with the words: "We the peoples." What is not always recognized is that "we the peoples" are made up of individuals whose claims to the most fundamental rights have too often been sacrificed in the supposed interests of the state or the nation.

A genocide begins with the killing of one man – not for what he has done, but because of who he is. A campaign of 'ethnic cleansing' begins with one neighbour turning on another. Poverty begins when even one child is denied his or her fundamental right to education. What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life, all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations.

In this new century, we must start from the understanding that peace belongs not only to states or peoples, but to each and every member of those communities. The sovereignty of States must no longer be used as a shield for gross violations of human rights. Peace must be made real and tangible in the daily existence of every individual in need. Peace must be sought, above all, because it is the condition for every member of the human family to live a life of dignity and security.

The rights of the individual are of no less importance to immigrants and minorities in Europe and the Americas than to women in Afghanistan or children in Africa. They are as fundamental to the poor as to the rich; they are as necessary to the security of the developed world as to that of the developing world.

From this vision of the role of the United Nations in the next century flow three key priorities for the future: eradicating poverty, preventing conflict, and promoting democracy. Only in a world that is rid of poverty can all men and women make the most of their abilities. Only where individual rights are respected can differences be channelled politically and resolved peacefully. Only in a democratic environment, based on respect for diversity and dialogue, can individual self-expression and self-government be secured, and freedom of association be upheld.

Throughout my term as Secretary-General, I have sought to place human beings at the centre of everything we do – from conflict prevention to development to human rights. Securing real and lasting improvement in the lives of individual men and women is the measure of all we do at the United Nations.

It is in this spirit that I humbly accept the Centennial Nobel Peace Prize. Forty years ago today, the Prize for 1961 was awarded for the first time to a Secretary-General of the United Nations – posthumously, because Dag Hammarskjöld had already given his life for peace in Central Africa. And on the same day, the Prize for 1960 was awarded for the first time to an African – Albert Luthuli, one of the earliest leaders of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. For me, as a young African beginning his career in the United Nations a few months later, those two men set a standard that I have sought to follow throughout my working life.

This award belongs not just to me. I do not stand here alone. On behalf of all my colleagues in every part of the United Nations, in every corner of the globe, who have devoted their lives – and in many instances risked or given their lives in the cause of peace – I thank the Members of the Nobel Committee for this high honour. My own path to service at the United Nations was made possible by the sacrifice and commitment of my family and many friends from all continents – some of whom have passed away – who taught me and guided me. To them, I offer my most profound gratitude.

In a world filled with weapons of war and all too often words of war, the Nobel Committee has become a vital agent for peace. Sadly, a prize for peace is a rarity in this world. Most nations have monuments or memorials to war, bronze salutations to heroic battles, archways of triumph. But peace has no parade, no pantheon of victory.

What it does have is the Nobel Prize – a statement of hope and courage with unique resonance and authority. Only by understanding and addressing the needs of individuals for peace, for dignity, and for security can we at the United Nations hope to live up to the honour conferred today, and fulfil the vision of our founders. This is the broad mission of peace that United Nations staff members carry out every day in every part of the world.

A few of them, women and men, are with us in this hall today. Among them, for instance, are a Military Observer from Senegal who is helping to provide basic security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; a Civilian Police Adviser from the United States who is helping to improve the rule of law in Kosovo; a UNICEF Child Protection Officer from Ecuador who is helping to secure the rights of Colombia's most vulnerable citizens; and a World Food Programme Officer from China who is helping to feed the people of North Korea.

Distinguished guests,

The idea that there is one people in possession of the truth, one answer to the world’s ills, or one solution to humanity’s needs, has done untold harm throughout history – especially in the last century. Today, however, even amidst continuing ethnic conflict around the world, there is a growing understanding that human diversity is both the reality that makes dialogue necessary, and the very basis for that dialogue.

We understand, as never before, that each of us is fully worthy of the respect and dignity essential to our common humanity. We recognize that we are the products of many cultures, traditions and memories; that mutual respect allows us to study and learn from other cultures; and that we gain strength by combining the foreign with the familiar.

In every great faith and tradition one can find the values of tolerance and mutual understanding. The Qur’an, for example, tells us that "We created you from a single pair of male and female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other." Confucius urged his followers: "when the good way prevails in the state, speak boldly and act boldly. When the state has lost the way, act boldly and speak softly." In the Jewish tradition, the injunction to "love thy neighbour as thyself," is considered to be the very essence of the Torah.

This thought is reflected in the Christian Gospel, which also teaches us to love our enemies and pray for those who wish to persecute us. Hindus are taught that "truth is one, the sages give it various names." And in the Buddhist tradition, individuals are urged to act with compassion in every facet of life.

Each of us has the right to take pride in our particular faith or heritage. But the notion that what is ours is necessarily in conflict with what is theirs is both false and dangerous. It has resulted in endless enmity and conflict, leading men to commit the greatest of crimes in the name of a higher power.

It need not be so. People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.

This will not be possible, however, without freedom of religion, of expression, of assembly, and basic equality under the law. Indeed, the lesson of the past century has been that where the dignity of the individual has been trampled or threatened – where citizens have not enjoyed the basic right to choose their government, or the right to change it regularly – conflict has too often followed, with innocent civilians paying the price, in lives cut short and communities destroyed.

The obstacles to democracy have little to do with culture or religion, and much more to do with the desire of those in power to maintain their position at any cost. This is neither a new phenomenon nor one confined to any particular part of the world. People of all cultures value their freedom of choice, and feel the need to have a say in decisions affecting their lives.

The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the States in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being. It is the nearest thing we have to a representative institution that can address the interests of all states, and all peoples. Through this universal, indispensable instrument of human progress, States can serve the interests of their citizens by recognizing common interests and pursuing them in unity. No doubt, that is why the Nobel Committee says that it "wishes, in its centenary year, to proclaim that the only negotiable route to global peace and cooperation goes by way of the United Nations".

I believe the Committee also recognized that this era of global challenges leaves no choice but cooperation at the global level. When States undermine the rule of law and violate the rights of their individual citizens, they become a menace not only to their own people, but also to their neighbours, and indeed the world. What we need today is better governance – legitimate, democratic governance that allows each individual to flourish, and each State to thrive.

Your Majesties,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

You will recall that I began my address with a reference to the girl born in Afghanistan today. Even though her mother will do all in her power to protect and sustain her, there is a one-in-four risk that she will not live to see her fifth birthday. Whether she does is just one test of our common humanity – of our belief in our individual responsibility for our fellow men and women. But it is the only test that matters.

Remember this girl and then our larger aims – to fight poverty, prevent conflict, or cure disease – will not seem distant, or impossible. Indeed, those aims will seem very near, and very achievable – as they should. Because beneath the surface of states and nations, ideas and language, lies the fate of individual human beings in need. Answering their needs will be the mission of the United Nations in the century to come.

Thank you very much.