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3%, is due not only to its small size but also to the exhaustion of water resources and delays in implementing a plan to reduce the amount of land devoted to khat. At the moment some 25% of agricultural land is sown with this crop and it consumes 30% of water in this sector, and the target is to reduce its share to 10% of the land and water. The National Water Strategy administration has calculated that to meet the country’s needs the water sector will require investment of around 4,430 million dollars over the next ten years. The Government has tried to raise these funds from donors like the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), but this body has made a series of conditions including improving administrative capability to process the aid, implementing good practices, and that water reserves must be managed in a rational way. According to the Fourth Economic and Social Development Plan for the Reduction of Poverty 2011-215, cited in the United Nations (September 2011) 5 draft for a programme for Yemen (2012- 2015), the water sector is in serious difficulties caused by lack of finance, and if it is to reach its targets it will need an enormous injection of funds. The main problems are that fresh water is in short supply, pollution levels are rising, there are floods, the dry season is getting longer, drought is affecting more areas, there is increasing competition for water from all sectors of society, access to potable water and sewage services is limited, and the institutions that organize and administer this resource are feeble and fragmented. This bleak scenario is further aggravated by a lack of coordination and 5 See: . cooperation among the various parties involved in managing the water sector, whose responsibilities are unclear and often overlap. 6 The above-mentioned report also shows that at the end of 2010 only around 60% of city dwellers had access to potable water and only 30% had sewage facilities. The amount of water produced in 2010 for the main and secondary cities was estimated at 148 million cubic metres, which was an increase of 21 million cubic metres over the 2005 total, but an estimated 104 million cubic metres were consumed, which was an increase of 20 million cubic metres. This difference between production and consumption means that up to 30% of what was produced was lost. 7 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. THE MINUSCULE ROLE OF WOMEN Several studies show that women make up more than half the population of the country but less than 20% of the workforce. Half the women who work are in agriculture, and in Yemen’s public administration and services sectors less than 0.9% of the employees are female. Women are also seriously under-represented in the other sectors of the economy and there are several reasons for this including social custom - the idea of women working is not completely accepted - and the fact that a high proportion of women, some 79.2%, are illiterate, as against a rate of 36% among men. A mere 17.3% of primary school teachers are women and 82.7% are men, and in secondary education the figures are only slightly better at 22.8% and 77.2% respectively. In the field of education administration only 11.5% of employees are female. In the legal sector there are very few women indeed, only 0.06% of the total, and in all the branches of the communications industry put together only a paltry 16.7% of the workers are women. Social Watch 189 Yemen At the end of 2010, some 50% of the rural population had potable water and only 25% had sewage services. The country’s renewable water resources have been estimated at 2,500 million cubic metres per year, of which 1,500 million are underground and 1,000 million are surface water. But an estimated 3,400 million cubic metres a year are being consumed, which means there is a shortfall of around 900 million cubic metres. It is believed that the excessive pumping out of underground reserves is contributing to the country’s water scarcity. Levels in the various aquifers differ but some of them are being over-exploited by an estimated 250 to 400%. There are also around 45,000 privately owned wells in Yemen and some 200 drilling platforms. n
ZamBia Deforestation and sustainable development Women for Change Lumba Siyanga Lucy Muyoyeta From 2000 onwards Zambia experienced strong economic growth at an average rate of 5% per annum. 1 Poverty levels decreased from 68% in 2004 to 64% in 2006, but 53% of the population remained in extreme poverty, which is most common in female-headed households. The rural population is predominantly poor, with an overall poverty rate of 78%. 2 Levels of extreme poverty are also high in rural areas (where two thirds of the extremely poor live) and in households with the least formal education. In fact, households headed by those with no formal education have a poverty incidence of 81%, and of these 70% are extremely poor. 3 Providing access to education is still a challenge for the country, particularly at higher and tertiary levels. In 2004, only 11% of the population managed to complete their senior secondary education. This problem is more acute for women and girls; in 2006 only 8.6% of females had finished senior secondary level. 4 Moreover, although tertiary education is crucial for long-term economic development as well as strengthening democracy and achieving social cohesion, only 2% of the population had completed a Bachelor’s degree or above. 5 The attainment of good health among the population, an essential factor for social and economic prosperity, faces a number of challenges despite the Government’s introduction of various measures and programmes to improve the quality of life. There is a high prevalence of infectious 1 Imani Development International Ltd, 2007 Update Survey of Non Tariff Barriers to Trade: Zambia, (Regional Trade Facilitation Programme, July 2007), 5. 2 allAfrica.com, Zambia: Poverty Levels Go Down, (20 November 2009), . 3 Ibid. 4 R. Siaciwena and F. Lubinda, The Role of Open and Distance Learning in the Implementation of the Right to Education in Zambia, (The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, February 2008), . 5 Ibid. The country’s economy has been growing since 2000, but poverty continues to be a pressing issue while life expectancy remains very low. Although the Government has shown some concern regarding environmental challenges, the plans put in place lack coordination and have failed to create public awareness about soil erosion, loss of biomass, climate change and deforestation. The country has lost 6.3% of its forests in the last 20 years. High poverty levels and lack of alternative sources of livelihoods exacerbate environmental degradation resulting from the dependence of poor people on natural resources. It is time for the Government to establish more adequate policies and strengthen coordination in the environment sector. Basic Capabilities Index (BCI) BCI = 70 Births attended 46 100 0 67 Children reaching 5th grade National reports 190 Social Watch Surviving under-5 diseases, including an HIV rate of 13.5% among adults, and life expectancy at birth is 52.36 years. 6 Sustainable development and environmental issues The Government’s goal since 2006 has been to ensure environmental sustainability by reversing environmental damage, maintaining essential biological processes and ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources. However a number of factors continue to constrain the achievement of this goal, including: • Coordination problems. • Lack of comprehensive policies on environmental issues. • Limited public awareness about environmental issues. • An inadequate legal framework and lack of implementation of the Forest Act of 1999. • Inadequate budget allocations and investment. • Poor maintenance of biological diversity and limited local participation. • Inadequate mainstreaming of environmental and climate change issues into other sector policies and programmes. • Slow implementation of the National Policy on Environment to reduce conflicts related to land use (including those between humans and animals). The issue of climate change also needs to be addressed. The main local indicator of climate change is the 6 CIA, The World Factbook: Zambia, (May 2011), . 86 100 100 Gender Equity Index (GEI) GEI = 49 Education 100 18 0 Empowerment 49 100 78 100 Economic activity modification of temperature and rainfall patterns. The consistent warming trend shown by mean annual temperatures for 1961–2000, for example, has had several negative effects, including limited crop yields and increased risk of malaria transmission at higher altitudes. The latter is especially important in Zambia, where malaria accounts for 47% of all deaths annually. 7 The impact of higher temperatures on rainfall is not easy to assess, especially since the country is affected by the periodic El Niño phenomenon, the complexity of which is beyond the scope of current climate models. Nevertheless, the Government’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) reported that drought and floods had increased in frequency, intensity and magnitude over the previous two decades. 8 In terms of biodiversity, Zambia has 1,234 known species of amphibians, birds, mammals and reptiles according to figures from the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Of these, 1.5% are endemic and 1.9% are threatened. The country is also home to at least 4,747 species of vascular plants, of which 4.4% are endemic. 9 7 IRIN, “Zambia: Decreasing Cases Cause for Optimism”, in In Depth: Killer Number One – The Fight Against Malaria, (January 2006), . 8 Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Natural Resources, Formulation of the National Adaptation Programme of Action on Climate Change, Government of Zambia, UNDP Zambia and Global Environment Facility, (September 2007), . 9 Mongabay.com, Zambia Forest Information and Data, (2010), .
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SOCIAL WATCH R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 SU
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SOCIAL WATCH REPORT 2012 The right
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Social Watch in the world SW Nation
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• GUATEMALA: CONGCOOP - Coordinac
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Española de la Educación; Movimie
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Social Watch: promoting accountabil
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Global Assembly The Global Assembly
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Table of contents The right to a fu
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The right to a future An overview o
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has similarly led to population dis
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In the current international trade
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Rio+20 and beyond: no future withou
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ated into many other international
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• Emphasizing progressive taxatio
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A compensation scheme to pay off cl
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Rio+20: implementation is the key A
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Sustainable development and a renew
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policies that have only exacerbated
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neoliberal model, it gained even mo
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Thus, the advances of the sustainab
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Networking cities that use new indi
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Green and equal: financing for sust
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fROM AID EffECTIvENESS TO TAx jUSTI
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casions, often reaching agreement.
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The indignados are asking the right
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Green jobs but no justice From the
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Human right to adequate housing and
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have its most negative impacts and
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BASIC CAPABILITIES INDEx 2011 The b
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TeChnICal noTes 1 The following are
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surviving under-5 Birth atended Chi
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education malawi 89 57 32 59 malays
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Achievement Possibility Frontiers (
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promoTIng eConomIC and soCIal rIghT
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Core Country serf Index Country Cor
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From the grassroots: NATIONAL REPOR
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Education and gender equality Accor
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- have gradually put sustainable de
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FIGURE 1 GDP - Real growth rate (%)
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diversified manner and underscored
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was re-opened shortly afterwards wi
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waste water is often polluted by hu
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“Europe is alone with its unilate
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into the atmosphere, with emissions
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The Kyoto Protocol includes an anti
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However, the Government has not tak
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One egregious example is the offici
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The grim face of militarized develo
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Cooperation Agency study stated dur
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Unemployment According to a 2009 st
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and experience their status in the
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vere reduction in productivity in t
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However, discussions about reform d
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harmful impact on the environment.
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FIGURE 1 Unemployment in Croatia me
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the Ministry of Education and Cultu
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have been more women in the judicia
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liable to arbitrary detention and c
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companies acquired State concession
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Taking a broad view, even though in
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a government which does not hesitat
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Indigenous peoples’ rights A conf
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WORLD LEVEL COMMITMENTS The world h
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A study by Diakonie, the Protestant
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TABLE 1 Trends in Forest Cover in G
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union and research groups and other
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underlying factors that generate la
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Energy consumption declining In the
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te Mitigation Action Plan for low c
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nance of an exclusionary culture in
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In terms of development cooperation
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State shall (…) ensure sustainabl
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trial effluents have caused water p
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has been a high priority, efforts a
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ment protection agency. There have
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