Morocco's 21st Century Problem

Morocco’s most challenging task in the 21^st century is their lack of ability to stay on the same page with many different trends across the world, such as social media. Social media has impacted many areas of the world, including the United States for several years now. Social media has created an invisible web that entangles all of us together inside of it. Because of the constant development on this subject, it is becoming more than it has ever been; from a way for political parties to discuss issues and ideas, to a way for trends to populate and spread. Unfortunately, Morocco is just now developing and latching onto this trend. “As Moroccan citizens are just now describing newspapers and traditional newspapers as outdated, they are beginning to share their news online through social media sites. However the main challenge with social media in Morocco versus other countries is the tremendous risk if information shared is incorrect.” (Morocco Social Media, 3)

             

Social Media, (along with most other things) is still ruled by the government in Morocco. They, (the government,) has formulated a specific and strict list of rules applying to what can and cannot be discussed under any media platform in the area.

            “Morocco’s constitution guarantees freedom of expression, but the press law prohibits criticism of the monarchy and Islam, and effectively bars coverage of taboo subjects, including the royal family and the government’s position on the status of Western Sahara. Libel remains a criminal offense that carries potentially exorbitant fines or prison terms, and legal cases are a primary method of repressing critical reporting.” (FreedomHouse)

            Journalists continue to heavily practice the art of self-censorship. If they chose not to, they face large fines, prison time, or even as much as physical violence for telling their stories. Sensitive subjects such as the military, national security, religion, and sexuality, still seem to taunt journalists as matter that they are forbidden to touch. The strict laws and heavy punishments aren’t always enough to keep the journalists away though, as many times we can see the reporters dabbling in touchy subject matter.

 “According to the constitution, the press in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara is free, but this is not the case in practice. There is little in the way of independent Sahrawi media. Moroccan authorities are sensitive to any reporting that is not in line with the state’s official position on Western Sahara, and they continue to expel or detain Sahrawi, Moroccan, and foreign reporters who write critically on the issue.” (FreedomHouse)

Any resources mentioning or linked to alternative viewpoints are not easily accessible to the people of Morocco.

Morocco has a long way to come to be even and globally connected with many larger and more developed countries in the world. The movement towards reporter freedom and social media growth could be a huge start for the region.

Sources

https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-net/2013/morocco#.VIaL0r5AbjQ
http://sites.psu.edu/northafricacomm410/2013/12/11/social-media-is-reshaping-news-in-morocco/

https://subsaharanafricanorthandwest.wordpress.com/2014/12/09/week-25/

The Issue with Aid

Linda Polman, in her novel Crisis Caravan, exposes some of the harsh realities that exist in the developing nations where non-governmental organizations (NGO's) operate. Polman identifies and explores how NGO's are often like double-edged swords. She raises multiple questions concerning NGO's and whether or not they actually benefit the countries and the people that they are working with, or if they are only expounding the harm that led them to help in the first place. Oftentimes, NGO's have to bribe the volatile dictators and militaries to even gain access to the victims and cities of the nation that they're trying to help. In the process, the organizations are also helping the wrong side. The soldiers inflicting the violence and terror upon the people will still food and other resources from the NGO's post, depleting resources and also creating a safety hazard for the workers of the NGO.
NGO's, Polman says, are often like businesses, constantly on the mission of finding new contracts and getting funding. These NGO's are often competing with each other to get such money and contracts, and Polman ponders whether or not the people running these NGO's spend more time chasing money than they do focusing on helping the victims of crises. This is why she says, "Aid organizations are businesses dressed up like Mother Teresa" (p.117). The work that an organization is doing can only be made possible with the necessary resources, and so NGO's are constantly marketing themselves as the most beneficial or as having the most-worthy cause, in order to beat out their "competitors" for funding.
The public, the media, and governments all need to work together in order to address the issues surrounding the effectiveness of NGOs. The public needs to be educated about all the vast types of NGOs that exist and what their causes are, as well as where the money goes to if they were to donate. This is where the media comes in. Journalists have a duty to accurately report on the actions of NGOs in the countries that they're operating in, and not just spit out what the NGO is telling them to say. The media should present a clear picture of the harsh realities surrounding NGOs and inform the public about crises taking place in other nations. Together, this will spread awareness and empathy to help those across the world who need our help. The government can also help by providing standards and guidelines on how NGOs are to allocate the appropriate amount of resources to victims, so that the majority of the money is going towards helping those in need.

Humanitarian aid

Humanitarian aid is conflicting, so many people assume there is nothing happening and that it all good. Peoples intentions are seemingly better than what occurs because when something awful happens, most unite to help. The difficulty in the matter is all the money, food and aid doesn't cure the continually arising problems. Linda Polman digs deep into the false pretenses of the idolization of aid. She points out how, some organizations take a big percentage at times, they aid the warlords and not having the right products required for help. The lack of money each country gives for aid is "peanuts" this lack of money is still plenty for the warlords and for the wheel to continue spinning and no one is willing to break the wheel.

When Polman says  “aid organizations are businesses dressed up like Mother Teresa, but that’s not how reporters see them”she means that reporters are to trusting on NGO officials. They don't ask tough questions about the corruptions or even if the facilities are even necessary. NGO's and the UN keep concentrating on the bad, they have to keep reporting about the human suffering because that is their ploy to keep getting money. They continue to focus on the what needs to still be done and not on all the accomplishments. It is easy for reporters to report about the wars, deaths and all the horror that is occurring there. Only way for the organizations to keep their funding from people thinking they are doing good is by showing the re occurrence of the negativity. "Reinforcing the sense of economic misery, between May and September 2010 the ten most-read US newspaper and magazines carried 245 articles mentioning poverty in Africa, but only five mentioning gross domestic product growth." Reports will continue covering the lack of help, because they are getting paid and getting treated like royalty by the leaders. Money always talks and therefore this pattern will continue and the "aid" will only be helping to continue the problem.

Journalist, the public, government have to make some major changes to humanitarian aid in order for it to be successful. I think one major thing that needs to be done is with all this new technology, there should be a camera recording the actions of these officials. There needs to be a report that doesn't lie about where the efforts are actually going, the NGO's and the UN need to report on where every dollar is going. Creating one organization that does it all, would be a lot more efficient, rather a new foundation opening up for a new crisis. Journalists need to be watchdogs report the truth, not the fluff that sells "Journalist are ignorant of chronic problems caused by poverty and disease." The public needs to research these organizations before they give them aid and know what is really happening and what is needed, not wanted. The government needs to stop using the relief effects to gain votes, popularity, if nothing good is coming out if it, no need to discuss.

Aid or No Aid

                 The main issue in Polman's book is that the lack of selectivity between aid workers and other NGOs often lead to  “the direct prolongment of conflict, by keeping the losing side in the game; the indirect prolongment and exacerbation of conflict, their association with other parties which inevitably damage their claims of neutrality, and nasty situations in which the people they are helping aren’t really victims in the traditional sense.” (Aid Thoughts)
            One of the largest problems raised in her book, especially Chapter 5, is that we are either giving aid to the wrong people, or we are doing it for the wrong reasons.
 “Ms Polman's prose is scorching. But when it comes to solutions, the author admits she has none. She does not argue for “doing nothing at all anymore”, only that the “option of doing nothing must be available” and “that we no longer exempt the [emergency aid] system from criticism”. That skirts the moral question of humanitarian assistance in the crowded 21st century, which is how to resolve the tyranny of the present and ensure the kind of help that will safeguard the future.”’

(The Economist)

            Polman states, “Aid organizations are businesses dressed up like mother Teresa.” She explains that since the Ethiopian famine in 1984, there gas been an alarmingly increasing number of aids that have stepped forward in an attempt to save the day. Most of these groups however, (especially true of religious organizations) seem to assist as a validation instead of to help those who need aid. These “businesses” are almost always looking to tie their name to aid programs.

            In my opinion, to make humanitarianism more successful, we all need to educate ourselves on what good these programs can do for us, and focus ore on the good it can do for others. “We think of humanitarian aid, for example, first of all as a form of philanthropy -- a response to an earthquake in Haiti or a tsunami in Asia, which is obviously a good thing, an effort to relieve human suffering and save lives, an act of international benevolence. But there is a puzzle here, for helping people in desperate need is something that we ought to do; it would be wrong not to do it -- in which case it is more like justice than benevolence.”  (Foreign Affairs) We need to remember that we have a duty to help all other humans.
           

http://www.economist.com/node/17249020

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2011-07-01/humanitarianism
http://aidthoughts.org/?p=2121

Issues with Humanitarian Aid Organizations

 

Haitians wait in line for UN aid after earthquake

               When a country experiences a crisis, many across the world are quick to jump on the help bandwagon. People donate money, food, clothes, or any other goods they believe might help the victims of a crisis, or that they simply don’t need. However, this may not be the best approach to the problem. As Linda Polman points out, there are many issues that can arise with the humanitarian response to crises around the globe. Most aid organizations must cooperate with violent regimes, many of which are causing the crisis, just for access to the area in which the victims reside. Once they are there, the organizations often create issues themselves, whether it is by bringing an overabundance of certain items that aren’t needed as badly as anticipated, like clothes, by bringing items that are entirely useless for the local population, such as winter coats in tropical regions, or even by providing inadequate medical care that causes lingering issues for the recipients. These organizations operate under a belief that any help is worth giving, although a more effective belief might be that any help is worth giving, as long as that help is also needed.

In her book, Linda Polman says “aid organizations are businesses dressed up like Mother Teresa, but that’s not how reporters see them”. When she says this, I believe she means that aid organizations operate just like any other business, but masquerade as these entities who can do no harm. Humanitarian organizations are rarely questioned about their activities, funding, or effectiveness, and are allowed to operate mostly free of regulations. But just because their purpose is to help those who need it most, it doesn’t mean they cannot be corrupt, make mistakes, or cause problems. Linda Polman mentions an experience in her book at what was essentially a resort in Sierra Leone where herself and other humanitarian aid workers were staying where they drank expensive wine and ate steak, at a cost of about two months’ salary for the local employees serving them, with other aid workers. For an organization whose basic business plan is to gather donations from people the world over, and to use that income to help bring relief to those in areas in dire need of it, it seems rather counterintuitive to use those funds to pamper their own workers while they’re staying in the grief stricken country. In any other sector of business, they would face harsh scrutiny of what they use those funds for, yet in the humanitarian aid sector, they face relatively no scrutiny. No one questions their efficacy or efficiency because as a humanitarian aid organization, people automatically assume they can do no harm, only good.

               Humanitarian aid organizations need their actions monitored and scrutinized by the public, the government, and the journalists who cover their operations. They need accountability in their work to keep them on mission. The public needs to ask where their donations are going, and will they actually be helpful there. Governments need to ask if the personnel are qualified to do the work they do. This is especially true for the organizations who travel the world providing medical procedures in regions that lack medical infrastructures. Journalists need to ask the important questions when they visit these aid organizations on site. Instead of reporting on the disasters alone, they should also be investigating the organizations providing aid for those disasters, and finding out whether they are actually improving the situation, if they are spending their funding in an effective and helpful manner, or if they are treating themselves to vacation style amenities. After all, humanitarian aid organizations are ran by human beings, and human beings, especially those raised in western cultures, are prone to look out for themselves first, and all others second.

A refugee camp set up by the UN in Syria

Egypt climate/human rights

Human rights has always been a hard topic to cover. As humans we all have the same rights, but that never applies to everyone. Depending on the country, religion and many other factors people see rights completely different.  Since the stepping down of their president in 2011, the people of Egypt have felt that they have their country back slowly until recent times.

Central Security Forces (CSF) takes aim at a crowd of retreating protesters

Nile Delta sea level rise

   "Since July 2013, more than 3,600 people, including civilians, insurgents, and security forces, have died as a result of the conflict in North Sinai" This is a staggering number and it is only growing. The Egyptian armed force have taken for matters into their hands and the government releases little information about such operations. The armed forces have been destroying homes near the Gaza strip, they are not using technology taught by United sates, in which they were trained for in 2008. This is described as "often-indiscriminate counterinsurgency campaign." This is displacing many citizens out of their homes and lives without much warning. Many Egyptians have many restrictions and never had the freedom to practice their choosing.  "The widespread and systematic nature of these killings, and the evidence Human Rights Watch collected, suggests that the killings were part of a policy to use lethal force against largely unarmed protesters, making them probable crimes against humanity."

Climate has to do a lot with human rights. As proven in the past, when climate gets concerning restrictions typically occur. Recently Egypt has a concern with the Nile River because that is their main source of water and the more people continue to use it, it will continue to get lower. "Low self-sufficiency in basic food supplies in Egypt is another risk posed by climate change to Egypt’s food security." The problem continues as temperatures rise, the waster evaporates more, that not only eliminates water and food sources, not just for Egypt, but for other countries that use the Nile to survive off. Food and water are vital to ones surviving , along with one's human rights. When resources get low, restrictions rise to try to sustain what is left.  Drought, have caused crop failures, increased food costs and migration from parched, rural areas to Middle East urban centers. Climate change has acted as a “threat multiplier” on existing social stressors, especially food instability, leading to civil unrest. Everything is a correlation, when things fall into place everything goes well and when things are out of place, it causes unrest and limitation to ones freedom. Egypt is a time of progress, but they still continue to struggle with some basic human rights that many others have. The changing climate, will cause issues unless they decide to really do something to sustain their one major source of life.

Ethnocentrism is the tendency of the individuals and cultures to view themselves as well as their environment around them from the perspectives of their own culture, values and beliefs. Noor main points about about going beyond Ethnocentrism are the importance of living with cultures that have different fundamentals of human rights and liberties. The importance of not thinking ones culture is better than everyone else. Mainly that no one should get their rights ripped away because of cultural differences. 

Algeria: Human Rights, Climate Change, and Eurocentrism

Algeria has a huge issue of human rights violations that have great influence on overall societal turmoil. From speech and expression restrictions to inhibition of the legal operation of associations, the citizens of Algeria have very few rights and little to no freedom as we do here in the United States. Many rights that citizens of the United States have, such as freedom of speech, right to bear arms, right to peaceful protest, and voting rights are not within the government’s initiative to uphold.  In Algeria, peaceful protest, speaking out about political affairs or political figures negatively or defiantly, forming unions outside of those set in place by the government, and “publishing material that threatens public interest” are only a few violations considered punishable under the national criminal code (Human Rights Watch). These are basic rights that are often taken for granted by those in more developed societies that Algerians are not allowed to have. 

Climate change is a global issue that affects people all over the world. Algeria as a whole is not considered to be a wealthy country and has a very minor and customary agriculture, financial, and infrastructure system. Furthermore, the country is already at a disadvantage economically as well as geographically. Is having clean water a part of human rights? Is the availability of fresh foods and land to farm and grow these foods a human right? Are electricity and accessible power sources a right that all people should have? Many people would argue that these are all basic rights and necessities that people all over the world should not only have but expect. These rights are a part of everyday life. However, in some areas of the world, Algeria included, climate change makes some of these aspects very difficult to maintain. In fact, excessive heat alone can be detrimental to humans as well as the environment. According to an article written by Mahi Tabet-Auol of The Guardian, climate change has a large impact on individual health, agriculture, and water resources: 

“...hot air takes in more water so the air temperature is usually higher since evaporation is always more intense near water surfaces. This has an impact on water reservoirs and dams. The persistence of the heat also dries up any water in the soil, so it affects the crops, leading to a phenomenon known as scalding. Humidity is the only way of evacuating heat from body temperature as long as the air is not saturated with water. If the air is humid and saturated, the human organism cannot get rid of the heat and so we experience unbearable discomfort, which can then lead to serious symptoms. For example: it can worsen chronic pain in those who suffer from cardiovascular or respitory illnesses, like asthma.”

Future Drought Potential in Africa

In Algeria, heat waves are a huge problem and affect the availability of water, which in turn affects the growth of crops and water and irrigation systems. This past summer, the country experienced a 40-day drought during a time of the year when temperatures would normally be starting to drop (Tabet-Auol). With all of this in mind, it becomes clear that environmental and human rights issues is something that we all are affected by and should be working to improve. Water and environmental conditions are issues that affect us all despite geographical location.

Farish Noor addresses the universal nature of human rights from the perspective of “eurocentrism,” which is the idea that global social perspective of European society and culture is as better or more advanced than others. It is held as the acceptable or standard example for the world, and moving away from this idea would mean destroying the comparison between European identity and the systems and beliefs of other nations. For example: the economic financial system of Algeria can be viewed as inferior or ineffective in comparison to the advancement of capitalism in the United States. Algeria does not necessarily have to operate in a way similar to the US in order to be successful. The economy simply needs a system that works and is beneficial to the longevity of the country’s growth overall.

Sources:
Climate Change in Algeria - The Guardian
Human Rights Watch



Blog Post #3 - Lamisha Kelly

Morocco Human/Environmental Issues

            Every region in the world has a different way of dealing with issues that arise in the handing of certain situations. Morocco is no different than all other areas in the world in the sense that they have to use their best judgment to take on these problems. Two of the largest issues the region has to constantly face are environmental and human rights related.

            “Morocco’s major environmental issues include land degradation/desertification (soil erosion resulting from farming of marginal areas, overgrazing, destruction of vegetation,) water supplies contaminated by raw sewage, siltation of reservoirs, and oil pollution of coastal waters.” (Hogan)

35% of all piped water in Morocco is lost because their water resources are poorly managed. Water stocks are being polluted with waste from cities and factories. Soil erosion is affecting the available areas of cultivatable land.

“The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are still the main reference framework for the country’s concerned citizens and civil society organizations. The High Commissioner for Planning claims that with only four years until the 2015 deadline, Morocco’s performance makes it one of the countries that can reach its goals in time. Unfortunately there is little justification for this optimism. The main obstacles are as follows:

-The passage and implementation of environmental protection laws is very slow.

-The impacts of climate change are likely to be serious, and are as yet unpredictable.

-The great pressure on the country’s natural resources.

-Lack of public awareness of these problems and lack of political will to solve them.”
(Social Watch)

Morocco’s 2011 constitutional revisions included updates to laws and standards regarding human rights, but many of these changes were not implemented in the actions of Moroccan law

“Laws that criminalize acts deemed harmful to the king, the monarchy, Islam, or Morocco’s claim over the disputed Western Sahara limited the rights to peaceful expression, assembly, and association. There have been many unfair trials in recent years that have resulted in politically motivated convictions.”

            Climate change and human rights go hand in hand in certain situations. For example, the water problems in Morocco are causing a forced displacement of the residents and impacting their territorial security. CO2 levels are directly related to climate change, and when levels of pollution rise high enough to have a strong effect on the climate, it becomes a human rights issue.

            Eurocentrism is defined as the tendency of individuals and cultures to view themselves as well as their environment around them from the perspectives of their own culture, values and beliefs. This can be extremely damaging to people and cultures that don’t fall into the class they are being grouped into. Noor explains that there are important difference s between each and every group in the world. It is important to remember that all are equal and one cultural perspective is not better than the other. No matter what culture is being discussed, no humans deserve to have their rights taken away because of differences in perspective.

A Thirsty Future. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2015, from http://www.socialwatch.org/node/14006

http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/154688/
https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2014/country-chapters/morocco/western-sahara