Policy Analysis on Growth and Employment (PAGE) II for Researchers in Developing Countries 2017

Application Deadline: 13th September 2017

Eligible Countries: Developing countries

To Be Taken At (Country): 

About the Award: Building on the success of its Policy Analysis on Growth and Employment (PAGE) program (2012-2015), PEP has been granted funding by the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom (or UK Aid) and the International Development Research Centre(IDRC) of Canada in 2016 to launch a new program supporting high quality research, capacity development, and policy engagement for growth and employment in developing countries: PAGE II.

In accordance to PEP’s core mission, the PAGE II initiative includes an important “capacity building” component. Through this initiative, PEP will allow numerous teams of researchers, based in developing countries, to benefit from the unique and manifold PEP “Grant Plus” support program as they conduct high quality research projects.

One particular feature of PAGE II is that, although proposals are welcome from all developing countries, priority is given to researchers from and based in low-income countries (LICs), fragile and/or conflict states – see list of targeted countries. At least 40% of projects supported by PEP through the PAGE II program will be led by teams of researchers from these countries.

Fields of Research: For this second PAGE II call for proposals, five priority themes are

• Youth employment: supply- and demand-side constraints and related policy options
• Gender and women’s economic empowerment
• Entrepreneurship and financial inclusion
• Productive employment in rural farm and non-farm sectors – increasing labour productivity and reducing factor market imperfections
• Sectoral composition and patterns of economic growth – implications for job-creation, employment and poverty reduction

Type: Contest/Award

Eligibility: Applicant teams must:

• Be gender mixed, with female members representing at least 50% of all members (including the team leader).
• Be composed of at least two (2) junior researchers (aged under 30), all contributing substantively to the proposed research project.
• Have a maximum of four members, except for field experiments (maximum five members; the fifth member needs additional justification)
• Be comprised exclusively of individuals born and living in a developing country.
• Present a sufficient academic and/or professional background in economics research/policy analysis. In particular, having a masters degree/diploma or being currently enrolled in a masters program is considered a minimum requirement (team leaders would normally have a doctoral degree/diploma or be currently enrolled in a doctoral program).

PEP encourages teams with a female leader.

Each team should identify one team member who has the expertise and capacities to replace the team leader if the latter is not able to complete the project for any reason.

Priority is given to low income countries (LICs), fragile and/or conflict states, but proposals are welcomed from all developing countries.

Only the field experiments are contracted with institutions. All other projects are contracted with individual researchers (team leaders).

Selection Criteria: For this call, PEP will support policy analysis projects that use one of the following approaches/methods:
• Field experiments
• Macro-micro policy simulations (using CGE models)
• Microeconomic analysis

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: 

• Basic PAGE II funding is up to $58.5 K, including $22 K in a research (cash) grant and up to $36.5 K in various subsidies, such as for participation in PEP meetings and study visits, for publications in peer-reviewed journals, for presentations in international conferences, and for the organization of national policy conferences, etc.
• Additional financing (US$15 K) will be allocated for projects involving field experiments.
• All selected teams will benefit from mentorship to ensure an effective policy engagement and communication strategy, maximizing the chance that the research will be taken up in policy processes.

How to Apply: Applications must be submitted via the PEP intranet system, before September 13, 2017 (23h59, EST). Here are the steps to follow:

1. ALL members of the applicant teams must register on the PEP website BEFORE submitting a new proposal. To register, click Register (see also the top right corner of the PEP website header, next to “Login”) and follow the instructions.
2. You will receive a username and password by email, normally within minutes, that will allow you to access your PEP intranet file, by clicking on the Login button (also top right corner above). Note that you can change your password yourself, through your personal intranet profile, anytime.
3. ALL members of the applicant team must complete their PEP intranet profile, including their personal CV, a photo, and short professional bio. To do this, each member should Login to the PEP website and then select “Profile” (and then “Upload CV“, “Upload photo”, etc.).
4. To then submit the proposal, the team leader must login, click on “Submit New Proposal” and fill out the required information and upload all required documentation using the proposal templates (to upload when completed) as provided below – see “content of proposals“.
5. Once finished, to make sure that the proposal has been successfully submitted to PEP, simply return to your PEP intranet file and click on “My Projects“.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom (or UK Aid) and the International Development Research Centre(IDRC) of Canada

Market for African Performing Arts (MASA) Festival 2018 – Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Application Deadline: 30th November 2017

Offered Annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: African countries

To Be Taken At (Country): Abidjan, Ivory Coast

About the Award: As part of the celebrations, MASA is calling for applications in the categories of music, dance, storytelling, stand-up comedy and theatre for groups that have not been named in the official selection to perform at the festival. Performance slots will be available in different districts in Abidjan as well as other cities in Ivory Coast.

MASA is a cultural development programme dedicated to the African performing arts. It consists of a market, a festival and a forum for performing arts professionals. In addition to these activities, training programmes have been developed, linked to the development of the performing arts disciplines. The first edition of MASA was held in March 1993 in Abidjan. After a seven-year break between 2002 and 2011 due to the troubled socio-political context of Ivory Coast, the festival reopened in 2014.

Offered Since: 1993

Type: Contest

Eligibility: 

• Artistic works must be less than three years old
• For the dierent categories, the member of each group, including the managerial sta, must not exceed : – 02 members for stand-up comedy – 04 members for storytelling – 08 members for contemporary dance – 10 members for music – 10 members for theater – 15 members for traditional dance Members of each group must leave from the same city to Abidjan and return to that city. Information on the departure city must be disclosed on the application.
• Light and transportable accessories on commercial lights are required

Number of Awards: Over 2000 groups are expected for 2018 Festival

Value of Award: The opportunity is offered to groups that have not yet been selected in the official selection to perform at the MASA Festival.

Duration of Program: 10th to 17th March 2018.

How to Apply: MASA 2018 applicants must send a number of documents to be eligible for selection. Find PDF document attached below for all details. You can also click here for an example of what your application should look like.

Applications can either be sent via e-mail to administration@masa.ci or by post office to Direction Générale du MASA, 17 Boulevard Roume 09 BP 2877, Abidjan 09 – Côte d’Ivoire.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: The Market for African Performing Arts

Important Notes: Selected artists will be announced on 15 December. Selected groups are expected to cater for all expenses such as travel and accommodation.

Newton Fund Researcher Links for Early Career Researchers from Africa and the UK 2017

Application Deadline: 30th August, 2017

Eligible Countries: Kenya, South Africa, UK

To Be Taken At (Country): Kisumu, Kenya

About the Award: Title: Role of small holder agroforestry systems in the arid and semi-arid region in combating climate change.

The main objective of the workshop is to develop a sustainable network of researchers across the three countries to underrated the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of the Agroforestry system in Arid and semi-arid region and evaluate of potential of satellite remote sensing for systematic monitoring of this ecosystem.

The programme, ‘British Council Researcher Links’ provides opportunities for early career researchers from the UK and internationally to interact, learn from each other and explore opportunities for building long-lasting research collaborations.

The workshop will provide a unique opportunity for sharing research expertise and networking. During the workshops, early career researchers will have the opportunity to present their research in the form of a poster/short oral presentation and discuss this with established researchers from the UK and partner countries. There will be a focus on building up links for future collaborations and participants selected on the basis of their research potential and ability to build longer term links.

Type: Call for Papers, Workshops/Conferences

Eligibility: 

• Applications must be submitted using the Researcher Links application form
• Application must be submitted before the above deadline
• Participants must be Early Career Researchers: Early Career Researchers are defined as holding a PhD (or having equivalent research experience – These will include late PhD students and post-doctoral researchers with considerable field research experience in Universities or NGOs and having up to 10 years post-PhD research experience. Or Masters in agroforestry and related fields with relevant field experience in matters of agroforestry. Another group will be environmental communicators working in print and electronic media but with the above minimum academic qualifications. More detailed information is to be included in the application form. They are equivalent to the ‘Recognised Researcher’ and sometimes ‘Experienced Researcher’ categories in the EU framework for researchers’ careers. Participants will be selected using a systematic method through an online application process. Each applicant will be reviewed by the mentors and coordinators and a shortlisting will be agreed.
• Participants must have a research or academic position (a permanent post, research contract, or fellowship etc.) at a recognised research institution either in the UK or in Kenya and South Africa (RSA).
• Please note that participants are expected to attend all sessions of the workshop.

Selection Criteria:

• Experience and relevance of the applicant’s research area to the workshop
• Motivation and contribution to the aims of the workshop
• Description of the long-term impact expected through the participation in the workshop
• Ability to disseminate workshop’s outcomes

Applicants will be notified by email 1 month after the application deadline.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: All travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the Newton Researcher Links programme.

Duration of Program: Monday 18th December 2017 to Thursday 21st December 2017.

How to Apply: Interested candidates should fill and submit the application form and send on or before the deadline of 30th August, 2017 to jobiri@mmust.ac.ke (for Kenyan participants), J.Dash@soton.ac.uk for UK participants and georgeo@vut.ac.za  for South African participants.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers:  Newton Fund Researcher Links

Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Young Professionals Program 2017

Application Deadline: 28th February 2018

Eligible Countries: IDB member countries and Muslim communities in non-member countries

To Be Taken At (Country): Saudi Arabia – Jeddah

About the Award: The Young Professionals Program (YPP) is the strategic talent pipeline for the professional career in the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group.

This Program enables each Young Professional (YP) to receive extensive exposure and experience of the IDB Group’s various activities through job rotations in different departments. Participants will initially spend two weeks Orientation stage in HRMD. Then, 27 months in Foundation stage which will be split into three rotations of 9 months each in IDB Group departments.

Participants will also benefit from a coaching/career counselling arrangement and a wide range of relevant training and developmental opportunities.

Upon successful program completion, the participant will gradually climb up the professional grades in the IDB Group.

Type: Internship/Job

Eligibility: Prospective candidates for the YPP must fulfill the following minimum requirements:

•  Age not more than 32 years at the time of application. May be allowed to attend interviews if they are under the age requirement at the date of application
• Holds a Bachelor degree in development, education, economics, finance, accounting, business administration, engineering, information technology and law or any other specializations relevant to the work of the Bank from highly reputed Universities or international centers of excellence
• Outstanding academic record. The indicators of high grades shall be based on education system of each country or region. The following grades from different education systems shall form a baseline for candidate’s eligibility for the YP program:

1. 1. GPA 3.5 on the scale of 4 or equivalent for any other system
   2. ‘A’ Grade according to regional systems following ABC grading
   3. ‘Excellent’ (ممتاز) in Arab, Russian or any other region’s system following such grading system
   4. Bien in French and Francophone systems
   5. 2nd Class Upper Honors in British system

• Able to work in English as business language
• Shall be a citizen of an IDB member country; applicants from Muslim communities of non-member countries may be admitted
• No working experience is required. However, experience shall be considered favorably.

Applicants in the following categories shall be considered as Priority candidates subject to their meeting entry requirements:

1. Professionals with experience in a field directly related to the IDB Group’s activities particularly experience working in global organizations
2. Under-represented nationalities from IDB member countries
3. Master’s degree or its equivalent or Ph.D
4. Good command of Arabic or French provided he/she is able to work in English

Number of Awards: Not specified

Duration and Value of Program: 

Foundation Stage

• Two weeks Orientation at HRMD
• Three department rotations of 9 months duration each
• The objective of this stage is to develop/strengthen the foundation of YPs with required competencies, knowledge and skills needed in the IDB Group, so that they could succeed professionally

Integration Stage

• YPs shall be confirmed in one of the departments subject to meeting requirements
• Assigned a 3 to 6 months graduation project
• YPs are expected to be in this stage between 1 year to 2 years before considered for graduation
• The integrated YPs shall be exposed to LeadDP (Leadership Development Program)
• YPs to be fully integrated with the IDB’s operations and culture

Graduation

• HRMD shall ensure that the YP is ready for the professional role
• Direct placement on the grade of the position for which he/she was selected
• Successful YPs awarded Certificate of Graduation

During the Program, the participants will also benefit from coaching/career counselling arrangements and a wide range of relevant training and developmental opportunities.

How to Apply: Interested candidates  are to supported their application with all necessary documents/information for a proper evaluation.

It is necessary to go through the application requirements and process on the Program Webpage (See Link below) before applying.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Islamic Development Bank (IDB)

Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Research Scholarships for International Students 2017

Application Deadline: 1st September, 2017

Offered Annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: International

To Be Taken At (Country): International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) at Neuchâtel University, Switzerland

Fields of Research: Law, Economics, Sociology, Ethics, Geography, History and Medicine.

About the Award: The scholarship was set up by former FIFA President, Mr. Joseph S. Blatter, in honour of his predecessor President, Dr. João Havelange, who stepped down from his role in 1998. The CIES manages on behalf of FIFA the evaluation and awarding of scholarships through a Selection Committee composed of academics specialised in the field.

The scholarships are intended to encourage and facilitate the work of researchers who have completed their studies and have been awarded a university diploma, bachelor’s degree, state examination, doctorate or an equivalent degree.
The research shall be conducted in an academic environment (i.e. supervised by a professor, lecturer or academic). Upon request by the candidate, the research may be conducted under the supervision of the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES) at Neuchâtel University

Type: Research

Eligibility: 

• Applications may be made as a group; in such cases, the group of researchers shall designate one person to act as the project leader before the Selection Committee. This person shall assume the responsibility for all the obligations stipulated in these regulations.
• Only one application per person per year may be submitted to the committee.
• Multiple applications per applicant will not be accepted.
• Applicants may apply for the João Havelange Research Scholarship repeatedly; however, applications with identical research topics (which have been refused in the previous year) will not be accepted.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: The maximum possible amount for one scholarship award is USD 30,000

Duration of Program: Duration of degree

How to Apply: The applicant(s) shall fill in the form and return it, duly completed, to CIES with the following documents (in this order, please do not fold or staple the sheets):

• Research plan (maximum 7 pages)
• List of prior publications and research work
• Curriculum vitae
• Copy of passport
• Detailed budget in US Dollars (maximum USD 30’000.-)
• Certified copies of academic qualifications (diploma, degree, doctorate, etc.)
• Recommendation letters from two professors
• Certification of language proficiency (e.g. copies of language course diplomas) if mother tongue is not one of the official FIFA languages (English, French, Spanish or German)

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

Ashinaga Fully-funded Undergraduate Scholarships for Orphans from sub-Saharan Africa 2017

Application Deadline: 7th August 2017 

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Field of Study: courses offered at candidate’s choice higher institution

To be taken at (country): Higher institutions outside of Africa, in countries such as Japan, US, UK etc

Eligible Countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Democratic Republic of Congo , Republic of Congo, Senegal, Togo.

About Scholarship: Ashinaga presents the “Ashinaga Africa Initiative” aiming to provide higher education to 20 brilliant students from Sub-Saharan African countries each year, some of which are among the poorest in the world, and encourage them to become leading professionals in their own countries.

We search and screen for potential candidates: orphaned or bereaved students with academic potential but who cannot afford to apply to university. We provide them with a concentrated study camp for six months at Ashinaga’s facility, Kokorojuku, in Uganda and Senegal, where they are given dedicated support and assistance with their study of various subjects and languages, as they prepare to apply to highly ranked universities around the world. We also provide them with a full scholarship and living expenses for four years during their studies abroad.

We expect to see these young, educated people go back to their own countries and establish democratic and fulfilled societies, bringing people a higher national income and high-quality education. This movement will eventually contribute to the overall wellbeing of Sub-Saharan countries by helping to break the cycle of poverty, even though the effects will not be immediate, as they are when food or equipment is donated.

There is a theory that the African population will expand to more than three billion by the end of this century. We believe if we can create a bright future for Africa, a continent with so much potential, humanity’s global prospects will be bright as well.

Ashinaga is a Japan-based nonprofit organization, which provides educational and emotional support to orphaned students. The organization has supported over 95,000 orphans in the last 45 years, and many of its graduates are actively contributing to society in a variety of fields across the world.

Offered Since: 2014

Type: undergraduate

Eligibility: The application is open to those who:

1. Have lost their father, mother, or both
2. Have completed their education (primary and secondary) in the last 2 years or who have completed it on August 1, 2017 (professional patents are not accepted)
3. Have citizenship and have finished, or will finish high school in one of the following countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Comoros, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Gabon, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Democratic Republic of Congo , Republic of Congo, Senegal, Togo.
4. Were born after 1 October 1994
5. Do not have the financial capacity to study at university
6. Fluent in French
7. Have a remarkable school career
8. Can participate in the two preparatory programs of Ashinaga, during a whole year, before entering the university
9. Want to return home or in sub-Saharan Africa, in order to actively contribute to African society after graduating from university
10. Do not have a dependent who would interfere with further education
11. Are in good health and able to study abroad

Number of Scholarships: 20

Value of Scholarship: The Ashinaga (100-Year Vision) Scholarship provides a full scholarship that covers the cost of tuition, accommodation (during the terms and vacation), insurance, flight, and provides monthly stipend which covers food and necessary academic costs.

Duration of Scholarship: for the period of undergraduate studies

How to Apply: 

1. This Application Form
2. A clear identity photo
3. Copies of school reports / transcripts from the 3 years of high school
4. Proof of enrollment or transcripts of higher education, if applicable
5. A copy of the general baccalaureate or other high school qualification, and the transcript of the examination
6. The two editors:
   1. Writing 1: Please describe your childhood and experience the loss of your parent (s). What challenges did you face after this loss and how did you overcome these difficulties? We want you to focus on what you have done to continue your education. (500 words maximum).
   2. Writing 2: Please write a cover letter describing what you want to study at university abroad and why. In addition, please discuss your future plans and how you want to use the knowledge and experience gained from your future studies. (500 words maximum).
7. A copy of the death certificate of the parent (s) or an alternative official document
8. Copy of birth certificate
9. A copy of the national identity card or passport
10. Copies of certificates for prizes or activities, if applicable

Visit Scholarship Webpage for Details

Important Notes:

• The signature of your tutor is required at the end of this document, please ensure that he / she can be present in order to be able to submit your application. All documents must be submitted in English or French. If the documents are not written in either of these languages, the candidate must have them translated by an official body. Use the Western calendar to complete the application.
• You will not be able to register your responses during the online application process, so you must have all the documents and your tutor near you before you apply.

This application and the selection process are FREE. Any person requesting payment at any stage of the process, does against Ashinaga’s will, and should not be paid.

Sponsors: The 100-Year Vision is sponsored and implemented by Ashinaga.

Filipinos Fight Forced Migration

STU HARRISON

Manila is known as a metropolis of shopping malls — a sign, some would say, of the success of consumer capitalism.

But in the shadow of the sprawling Araneta Center, Migrante International fights against the effects of a labor export policy that forces millions to leave the country looking for work.

It is a policy that led Jennifer Dalquez, like so many other young Filipinos, to leave the Philippines in search of a secure future. Instead, she became a victim of circumstance. Forced to defend herself against an employer who was attempting to rape her knife-point, which led to her place on death row in the UAE.

When I recently visited Migrante’s national office, the parents of Dalquez were living with migrant organisers and gaining assistance from the organisation in their campaign to have their daughter freed.

But after a surprise acquittal on June 19, she now only faces a sentence of a further 2.5 years for allegedly stealing her employer’s cell phone.

The labor export policy, officially denied by the government, was first introduced under President Ferdinand Marcos’s regime. While Martial Law was toppled, the policy continued and has intensified over recent years.

But for the hardworking organisers of Migrante the death penalty acquittal provided an important breakthrough and great moment of relief and celebration.

As Jennifer’s mother, Alicia Dalquez told Gulf News, “I am overwhelmed with joy. The whole family is happy now that she’s acquitted … She called me on Monday night and I told her she has been acquitted. She cried because she was very happy that she can finally come home after two-and-a-half years. I told her to be good and be faithful because Allah will help her.

“When I relayed the good news to her children, Mohajid, 9, and Abdurahim, 6, the latter just cried. I did too, and our tears are not of sorrow but of joy.”

Similarly, Migrante Middle East coordinator Nhel Morona told Gulf News, “We will keep on praying in the spirit of Ramadan, that the UAE government will allow her to join her family in the Philippines at the earliest”.

Dalquez’s story is far from unusual. Migrante International formed in 1996 following the hanging of a Singapore based domestic worker, Flor Contemplacion. The case brought huge outrage against the Philippine government for failing to act to save her life.

Another significant case was Angelo Dela Cruz who was kidnapped and held hostage in Iraq in 2004 before a viral storm of activity from Migrante and others pressured the government to pull Filipino troops out of that country and saving dela Cruz from her captors.

Still ongoing is the case of Mary Jane Veloso who faces the death penalty in Indonesia for allegedly unknowingly becoming a drug trafficker on behalf of her recruiter.

During a family visit in March, a Migrante spokesperson explained that “Mary Jane cheerfully shared her experiences and skills she learned in prison and will use these in the future to help her family. She professed her innocence [of] the charges against her, and that in her heart, she [has] already forgiven her recruiters but fervently wished that the recruiters will admit what they did to her”.

“As she bade goodbye to her family, she wished that she can soon enjoy their company outside the prison walls and without prison guards hovering around them. She longingly told her expectant children that she is praying hard for her to come home by December to celebrate Christmas with them.”

Since its formation, Migrante and its 200 affiliates in 23 countries have handled thousands of welfare and rights cases, including cases of deaths, rape and sex-trafficking, wage cuts and maltreatment, anti-migrant policies and laws, evacuation in times of war and better services and support for overseas workers.

However, Migrante is not simply a legal support or welfare service, it is an organisation that also actively campaigns, holds street protests and combines with other movements of the oppressed to overturn policy and fight for a new Philippines, one truly based on the fight for self-sustaining economy based on national industrialisation, agrarian reform and human rights.

It is on this wider program of change that Migrante hopes it can undo the problems of Philippine society, including forced migration.

As Migrante Middle East coordinator Nhel Morona explained, “Her [Dalquez’s] victory is a victory of each Filipino migrant and their families who are never tired of seeking justice.”

The Pingo Evidence: Global Warming is a Threat to Humanity

Robert Hunziker

Pingos may sound cute, but they are not cute, even though they start out as small, kinda cute, mounds of earth. Rather, they are monsters from the depths. Whether pingos are threatening is a stimulating question that scientists are still trying to figure out. Pingos are suddenly popping up in the darnedest places!

Pingos are one more solid piece of evidence that global warming is a real threat to humanity. Global warming is quintessentially part of the Great Acceleration. Is the world ready?

Already, Russian scientists have identified 7,000 “alternative pingos” in Siberia. According to The Washington Post, “Russian Scientists Find 7,000 Siberian Hills Possibly Filled with Explosive Gas,” March 27, 2017, Vladimir E. Romanovsky, geophysicist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks claims: “This is really a new thing to permafrost science. It has not been reported in the literature before,” Ibid. Romanovsky estimates there could be as many as 100,000 “alternative pingos” (smaller than regular pingos) across the entire Arctic permafrost.

Scientists have little doubt that human-caused global warming is the culprit behind sudden eruptions of pingos, what else could possibly account for the extreme rapid melting of permafrost: “It’s definitely related to warming,” Romanovsky said. If these solid chunks warm up and decompose — and the Arctic region is heating up at a rate double the rest of the planet — the methane gas within the alternative pingo builds up,” Ibid.

The National Academy of Sciences carried an article about pingos Postglacial Response of Arctic Ocean Gas Hydrates to Climatic Amelioration, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 114, No. 24, Pavel Serov.

The referenced National Academy article, upon conversion into plain English, reads as follows: Massive Underwater Domes of Methane Look Set to Blow at Any Moment, ScienceAlert, June 6, 2017.

“… Methane look set to blow at any moment” is a powerful sounding statement. The ultimate risk factor (only guessing because it is too early to know for sure) is obliteration of global agriculture. Then, people starve, get angry, and fight… viciously. But, first they migrate. No surprise there as migration has already started in the Middle East and along the southern coastline of the Mediterranean. Why migration? The Middle East carries the distinction as the “fastest drying region of the world”… global warming at work.

Here are some quips from articles about drying up Middle East nations (350 million people) and northern Africa… Iran’s Lake Urmia is Drying Up Fast… Portions of Iraq Drying Up Completely… NASA Study Shows Alarming Water Loss in the Middle East… Dead Sea Drying… One-Half of the World’s Most Water-Stressed Countries in the Middle East and north Africa region. Global warming is likely the most deadly crisis to ever hit humanity. It could be “lights out.”

Syria’s worst drought in 900-years lasted 5 years just prior to the onset of armed conflict, driving 1.5 million farmers and herders off their parched land into the cities, migrating/searching for sustenance. Ever since war started, they’ve been re-migrating out of the cities to Turkey, Mediterranean states, and all across Europe, except for Poland, Hungary, and Czech Republic, which refuse. Global warming/armed conflicts cause people to do crazy things.

What of pingos? Do they pose a threat to humanity? Maybe yes, maybe no, it’s too early to know for certain. After all, the sudden eruptions of weird perfectly round, smooth craters in the northernmost latitudes has only recently popped-up, exploding upwards from within Earth, forming craters that make people scratch their heads in disbelief whilst reflecting, hmm!

If we did not have anthropogenic (human-caused) global warming, pingos would not suddenly be ubiquitous, and there would be no reason to write this article. However, thousands of earthen hills have been popping-up in the lower Arctic regions. The operative question therefore is whether pingos, by releasing methane, will accelerate global warming, leading to way too much heat, and runaway global warming, resulting in burnout of agriculture. Then, starvation sets in for millions, maybe billions. Thereafter, global warfare reigns supreme. Life turns sour. No Hollywood film has ever captured the essence of the shockingly appalling scenario that unfolds, but the TV series The Walking Dead sure seems close. Do films reflect future society?

Methane (CH4) is much worse than carbon dioxide (CO2). There’s no comparison. CH4 cooks the climate at least 10 times faster (actually much faster during its initial years) than CO2. The fact is that when too much carbon (oil, gas, and coal) is removed from the ground and emitted into the atmosphere, e.g., gasoline-powered cars, the planet turns into an oven, like our sister planet Venus where surface temperatures can hit up to 1300°F. That’s hot! Why so hot? The answer is that 95% of Venus’s atmosphere consists of greenhouse gases which acts like a blanket, trapping heat on the planet, whereas Mercury, which is closer to the sun, is cooler. Its atmosphere is not loaded up with carbon.

Hello Earthlings, you’ve got incipient global warming. It’s not fake!
Alarmingly, it’s probably progressed beyond “incipient” at certain latitudes. Batten down the hatches.

When Will Co-opted Figures And Board Members Of Companies Like Monsanto And Bayer Be Hauled Into Court?

Colin Todhunter

The public is being poisoned, disease rates are spiralling, waterways are contaminated, soil is being degraded, insects, birds, invertebrates and plant diversity are in dramatic decline. Humanity and the planet are being poisoned for profit.

We are experiencing an assault on life by the agrotoxins industry, which is in fact contributing to a sixth mass extinction. Armed with a harmful chemical cocktail of highly profitable agrotoxins, ranging from disease-causing glyphosate to bee-killing neonicotinoid insecticides, biocide manufactures are waging biological and chemical warfare on us all under the guise that they are serving humanity by helping to feed the world.

They promote the message that their products are essential to our survival. They promote a fundamentally ecologically, socially and economically damaging model of agriculture facilitated by Washington, the World Trade Organization, World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

They say that without their agrotoxins and chemical-dependent (GM) seeds, crops would be ravaged by pests or yields would be too low. They use smear campaigns directed towards critics and employ public relations and corporate-funded science in an attempt to mask their sheer ignorance of the real, long-term damage their proprietary inputs are having.

And all the while, research is being shaped to sideline what is really happening. Drugs companies and biocide manufacturers are joined at the hip. They fund research and research institutes and help shape a narrative about disease courtesy of compliant media organisations or media organisations which they actively fund, such as the Science Media Centre.

The integrity of public institutions is comprised due to the political influence and financial clout of corporations like Monsanto and Bayer. They distort science, hijack agencies co-opt or position people in key roles (for example see this and this regarding the Trump administration) and engage in forms of criminality that should in a better world see their CEOs being hauled into court for their part in facilitating crimes against humanity and the natural environment (see this too, which provides some graphic images of the consequences of agrotoxins in South America).

Evaggelos Vallianatos worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency for 25 years and says that morally bankrupt governments and regulatory agencies have allowed companies to destroy honeybees, essential pollinators, for decades. He says that the triumph of the aggressive form of farming promoted by the agrotoxin corporations has meant the sidelining of science and the formal, state-supported addiction of farmers to pesticides. He adds that the petrochemicals industry drafted the pesticide laws in the US and Europe and stated:

“Such blatant power grab infused everything about pesticides with loopholes, secret to the public but crystal clear to the industry and most regulators, politicians, and environmentalists. Testing pesticides for health and ecological effects became a brutal abuse of science. It is a display of concern in a strategy of deception. For example, the massive fraud of the Industrial Bio-test Laboratory made no difference to the corruption engulfing the “registration” of farm sprays. Registration equals government approval with little if any reliable data. From the 1950s to the 1970s, IBT made up most of the results of testing hundreds of pesticides, drugs, and a myriad of other chemicals. Despite the public revelation of the gangster-like behavior of this American lab, and no doubt questionable practices in countless other labs all over the world, nothing happened to eliminate lab corruption.”

Lapdog politicians and prominent agencies and individuals protect the culprits. Some attack critics for fear-mongering, pretending to care for people while their actions expose them as hypocrites. Well-paid people in public office serve these companies, not the public. Equally well-paid career scientists and pseudo-journalists act as corporate mouthpieces.

Little wonder then that on 28 June 2016, the unelected European Commission unilaterally announced that the license for glyphosate was to be extended for 18 months without meaningful restrictions. This was after member states repeatedly could not reach an agreement to renew the approval.

Unfortunately, the biocide industry is a growth industry (which of course neoliberal apologists – regardless of the consequences – will no doubt hail as being good for ‘gowth’ or ‘development’). From the US and Argentina to India, the industry has rolled out its seeds and poisons with devastating impacts on people’s lives and the environment.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food Hilal Elver criticises global agricultural corporations. She concurs with others by saying their pesticides are unnecessary for feeding the world. In response, these companies engage in fear mongering and smears in an attempt to denigrate alternative approaches to agriculture that have no need for such companies and their chemicals.

In a recent report, Elver and Baskut Tuncak were severely critical of the global corporations that manufacture pesticides, accusing them of the “systematic denial of harms”, “aggressive, unethical marketing tactics” and heavy lobbying of governments which has “obstructed reforms and paralysed global pesticide restrictions”.

The authors say pesticides have “catastrophic impacts on the environment, human health and society as a whole”, including an estimated 200,000 deaths a year from acute poisoning.  They conclude: “It is time to create a global process to transition toward safer and healthier food and agricultural production.”

Elver says, “The corporations are not dealing with world hunger, they are dealing with more agricultural activity on large scales.”

In other words, they are not feeding the world but shaping global agriculture to suit their interests, regardless of the impact on world hunger, food security, health and the environment.

Environmental campaigner Dr Rosemary Mason has been compiling evidence about agrotoxins and corporate influence for years. Her numerous documents cite peer-reviewed research, expert opinion and official reports and statistics. Her analyses are based on science and her findings and conclusions are placed into appropriate historical, political, economic and sociological contexts.

Most of her documents comprise open letters to key agencies and officials, and most of the responses she receives – when she does receive a response – are standard soundbite public relations or something that might well have been written by the pesticide industry.

Rosemary Mason writes to Guy Smith of the National Farmers’ Union

In a new 13,000-word open letter to the National Farmers’ Union (containing all relevant supporting evidence), Mason outlines many of the issues discussed above. It would be pointless to attempt to cover everything Mason says in detail. Readers can access the letter themselves to look at the data and the arguments she puts forward to make her case.

She reiterates many of the points she has previously made, not least pertaining to the devastation of her nature reserve in South Wales and the corrupt practices of agencies in the US, UK and Europe that have ignored the science and impacts of glyphosate in order to ensure it remains on the commercial market.

In her letter, she notes that in June 2017 Guy Smith stated that there is no scientific consensus on a three-year study on neonicotinoid insecticides and bees. He quoted the UK Science Media Centre (SMC), an agency that calls upon lobbyists to pose as experts.

In discussing the SMC, Mason quotes Colin Macilwain, a science policy writer, who says:

“The London SMC was set up because UK scientific leaders were upset that environmentalists had successfully fought the introduction of genetically modified food; they felt that the UK media were too susceptible to environmental scare stories about new technologies.  Despite the fears of the SMC founders, the British press — led by the BBC, which treats the Confederation of British Industry with the deference the Vatican gets in Rome — is overwhelmingly conservative and pro-business in its outlook. It is quite unperturbed by the fact that SMC sponsors include AstraZeneca, BP, Coca-Cola, L’Oreal, Monsanto, Syngenta (as well as Nature Publishing Group) but not a single environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) or trade union.”

Mason then proceeds to discuss the disturbing impacts on humans and the environment of endocrine and nervous system disrupting chemicals. She also highlights how numerous scientists and important scientific findings have been ignored or attacked because they offended industry interests.

As with her previous open letters, Mason brings to Guy Smith’s attention the verdict of the Judges of the International Monsanto Tribunal and the worrying findings about loss of biodiversity contained in State of Nature Report 2016 compiled by 50 organisations.

Mason quotes Guy Smith as having said “intensification of farming had ended in the early 1990s.” that farmers “were using less fertiliser and pesticides than ever.”

However, Mason provides evidence to show that pesticide residues on British food are increasing annually. Moreover, pesticide usage statistics show a massive increase in glyphosate between 2012 and 2014.

Mason wrote to NFU President Meurig Raymond on 22 October 2015. In his response, Raymond defended the rights of farmers to use chemicals to protect their crops even though Mason had informed him that they were damaging the brains of children. Mason says that it is though the pesticides industry drafted the reply.

In her letter, Mason highlights the links between Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the agrotoxin sector and how research funding and the narrative about disease has been distorted to protect the industry. She shows how Syngenta, AstraZeneca and the UK government have a mutually beneficial relationship with each other at the expense of the British people: one corporation promotes cancer, the other tries to ‘cure’ it.

Glyphosate and other pesticides earn billions for the industry, while pharmaceutical companies enrich themselves from the sales of statins, anti-hypertensives, antidepressants, diabetic medication, anti-cancer drugs, weight -reducing drugs, vaccines and drugs to treat dementia etc.

Mason a good deal of space to inform Guy Smith about the specific chemicals that cause various diseases. She notes that glyphosate is a carcinogen and refers to Prof Chris Portier of the International Agency for Research into Cancer who wrote to President Juncker to say that EFSA’s studies on glyphosate were flawed.

Mason’s take-home points include:

1) The EU has been brainwashed by industry as have UK farmers due to the industry’s aggressive tactics.

2) Governments are more concerned with protecting industry interests than public health or the environment.

3) Monsanto is in big trouble. It faces many lawsuits in the US about glyphosate causing cancer and false advertising that glyphosate doesn’t affect humans.

4) Monsanto is likely to end up in the International Criminal Court accused of ecocide and possibly genocide.

5) By the time Monsanto has been hauled through the courts, industry shills and agencies might think twice before saying glyphosate doesn’t cause cancer.

The CEOs and board members of companies like Monsanto, Bayer and Syngenta, as well as key co-opted figures in various government and regulatory bodies, should be made to answer for the health- and environment-destroying actions they facilitate (see this on Bayer and this on Monsanto). While capitalism as a system fuels many of the problems outlined by Mason and we must challenge it, when faced with potential long-term jail sentences, certain figures might begin to think twice about the devastating consequences of their actions.