United Nations Educational

Concerned Over China’s Growing Clout, US to Rejoin UNESCO After Five-Year Gap

The US formally quit UNESCO in 2017 over the latter’s decision to induct Palestine as a member state. Even before it quit, the US had stopped its contributions to the UN body from 2011.

New Delhi: The United States has announced its decision to rejoin United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) after it had formally severed ties with the UN body in 2017 under the Trump administration.

Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, made the announcement in the presence of representatives of its 193 member states on Monday, June 13, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. She said that a concrete financing plan has been agreed upon by the US, according to which it will pay $ 600 million in back dues to UNESCO. The US was UNESCO’s largest financier until 2011, contributing around 22% of UNESCO’s annual budget every year.

The United States, along with its ally Israel, cut off its financing to UNESCO in 2011 after it made Palestine its member. In the following years, the US distanced itself from the UN body progressively before snapping its ties completely in 2017. The Trump administration had cited long-running alleged anti-Israel bias and the management problems within UNESCO as the reasons for the pullout. According to US national law, UN agencies which recognise Palestine as their member will not receive funds.

While the Palestine issue had prompted the US to walk out from UNESCO, the decision of the US to rejoin the institution has been prompted by concerns over China influencing policy-making in its absence, especially with regard to artificial intelligence and technology education around the world.

According to Associated Press, undersecretary of state for management, John Brass, had said in March this year that the US’s absence from UNESCO had strengthened China, and “undercuts our ability to be as effective in promoting our vision of a free world”. He had also said UNESCO was key in setting and shaping standards for technology and science teaching around the world, “so if we’re really serious about the digital-age competition with China … we can’t afford to be absent any longer”.

Even US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, had echoed the same views in March, stating that the US absence allowed China to write the rules on artificial intelligence. “I very much believe we should be back in UNESCO – again, not as a gift to UNESCO, but because things that are happening at UNESCO actually matter,” Blinken told a Senate committee when he presented the budget, according to DW News. “They are working on rules, norms and standards for artificial intelligence. We want to be there.”

Against this backdrop, the decision from the US to rejoin UNESCO assumes geopolitical significance. In the coming weeks, member states of UNESCO will participate in a vote to formalise the reinduction of the US, which is mostly a mere formality given that not even a single country has raised objection so far.

Last week, US deputy secretary of state for management and resources Richard Verma submitted a letter to Azoulay formalising the plan to rejoin. He noted progress in “depoliticizing debate about the Middle East and reforming the agency’s management”, according to the hand-delivered letter, the Associated Press reported.

Azoulay described the development as a reflection of faith being reposed by the world in UNESCO’s “multilateralism”. “This is a strong act of confidence, in UNESCO and in multilateralism. Not only in the centrality of the Organization’s mandate – culture, education, science, information – but also in the way this mandate is being implemented today,” she said, according to a press release issued by UNESCO.

It further added, “The return of the United States was made possible by the agreement reached by Congress in December 2022 authorizing financial contributions to UNESCO. The U.S. had suspended its contributions in 2011 due to domestic legislation, before notifying UNESCO of its decision to legally withdraw on 12 October 2017.”

The US has stayed clear of mentioning the Palestine issue in any of its explanations provided for rejoining UNESCO. Neither has the Palestinian ambassador to UNESCO commented on the re-induction of the US.

Meanwhile, China has commented on the development, saying it hopes that the US is “serious” about multilateralism. “Being a member of an international organisation is a serious issue, and we hope that the return of the US this time means it acknowledges the mission and the goals of the organisation,” the Chinese ambassador to UNESCO said.

This is not the first time when the US will rejoin UNESCO, for it left the UN body in 1983 under Ronald Reagan’s presidency and rejoined it later in 2003 under the Bush administration. It had quit UNESCO in 1983 citing mismanagement, corruption and advancement of Soviet interests by UNESCO. When it had rejoined in 2003, the US said it was rejoining to “emphasize a message of international cooperation” as the US launched its war on Iraq.

India’s Groundwater Crisis: Well Water Levels Fall 65% In A Decade

India can tackle the crisis by making groundwater a common resource managed by the community rather than giving licences to individuals, which makes it impossible to track usage.

Madhavan Ramadas, 42, a banana and coconut farmer in district Thrissur, Kerala faced hardship every summer as his home open well would dry up. Across India, barely 3% wells registered a rise in water level exceeding 4 metres in the year ending January 2016. Only 35% of wells showed any rise in water level, indicating the scale of the problem. Credit: IndiaSpend

The year 2014 marked the end of water woes for 56-year-old Mahaveer Singh, a fruit and vegetable farmer from Thumbo ka Golia, a village in Jalore district, in southwest Rajasthan. In 2015, Singh’s income grew by 40% over his 2013 income as he switched to growing vegetables and fruits from castor oil, helped by the bountiful monsoon which raised the water level in his well by 9.14 ft, almost double the rise in 2014 – 4.57 ft.

Singh’s well bucked a nationwide trend – across India, barely 3% wells registered a rise in water level exceeding 4 metres in the year ending January 2016, according to the 2016 Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) report. Only 35% of wells showed any rise in water level, which declined in 64% of wells. Average water levels in January 2016 were lower than the average water level between 2006 and 2015.

Behind the trend of falling water levels is India’s 251 cubic kilometer (cu km) annual groundwater extraction rate – equivalent to 26 times the water stored in the Bhakra Dam – making India the world’s biggest consumer of groundwater, according to a 2012 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation report. With annual extraction rates of 112 cu km, China and the US tie at a distant second.

Over nine-tenths of groundwater is extracted for irrigation, according to the Ground Water Year Book for 2014-15 released by the CGWB, underscoring India’s dependence on groundwater for irrigation – it provides water for 60% of the irrigated area, as IndiaSpend reported in October 2016. Over the last four decades — when India commissioned roughly half of its 50 biggest dams — around 84% of the total addition to the net irrigated area has come from groundwater, according to this July 2016 report by a government committee.

Just like the rest of India, Singh depended on his well to irrigate his 15 bighas of farmed land. But unlike Singh, major farming states — Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana — are seeing water levels in wells fall instead of rise.

A well-recharging project implemented by the Jal Bhagirathi Foundation (JBF), a Jodhpur-based not-for-profit, enabled Singh to switch from growing only castor oil to chilies, vegetables and, of late, Thai apple ber; his income grew by 40% and could increase by 250% if the berries yield their return, Singh expects. “Now my well yields the same water flow even in the summer months,” Singh told IndiaSpend over the phone. “Now the water is sweet, earlier it was salty,” he added, referring to the improved quality of water.

In 2015, Mahaveer Singh (left), 56, of Thumbo ka Goliya, southwest Rajasthan, saw water levels rise over 4 metres in his well when only 3% wells across India saw such a rise. A rainwater harvesting well recharging project implemented within 2 km of Singh’s 15 bighas of irrigated agricultural land has increased the availability of water in his well as well as improved the quality of water–earlier it was salty, now it is sweet. Switching from growing castor oil to vegetables increased farmer Singh’s income by 40%. With Thai variety apple ber (right), his latest crop, Singh expects to see his income grow 250%. Credit: IndiaSpend

In contrast, the average farmer in Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana faces the prospect of having no groundwater left for irrigation by 2025.

Too easily accessible groundwater is being exploited

The problem – and the advantage – with groundwater is its decentralised access. A licence is all you need to sink a well on owned land and extract water. Consequently, India has an estimated 30 million groundwater structures, according to the July 2016 government report.

In Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana, groundwater abstraction exceeds the rate at which it is being replenished through rainfall, back flows from irrigation and seepage from canals, other water bodies and conservation structures. A licence does not prevent groundwater exploitation, and instead breeds corruption within the system, said Rajendra Singh, a water conservationist from Alwar, in Rajasthan.

“We cannot police 30 million groundwater structures through a licence quota-permit raj,” said the July 2016 government report, instead suggesting that groundwater be recognised as a “common pool resource”, which means that it be considered a community resource and not a resource belonging to the owner of the land. The report also suggested that the government promote “community-driven decentralised water management”.

Why should communities manage groundwater?

Local stakeholders are best positioned to police the use of water and they are more likely to do so honestly because their lives depend on its availability.

“Community-driven decentralised water management was the norm in India until about 100 years ago, prior to the development of the modern canal-based flood irrigation system and extraction technology,” said Singh, the water conservationist.

Wells have also been inextricably entwined in the Indian cultural ethos for being more than a source of water, often with separate wells earmarked for the upper classes and for Dalits — a gruesome reality even today.

Between 700 and 1900 CE, west India saw the creation of 3,000 wells, so complex that they came to be known as underground water buildings, or popularly, stepwells, according to the book Steps to Water: The Ancient Stepwells of India. Stepwells around Hampi, in Karnataka, in Delhi, and in Haryana also date back to this period. Without more community-driven initiatives to protect wells, this heritage of India might become “a past glory”, said Jos Raphael, director of Mazhapolima, a well-recharging initiative of the District RainWater Harvesting Mission in Thrissur, a district in Kerala.

Through his non-governmental organisation Tarun Bharat Sangh, Singh, the water conservationist, has actively promoted community-driven decentralised management of natural resources, including wells around the river Arvari in Rajasthan.

“We have created Neer Nari Panchayats to monitor well withdrawals. They don’t allow the water table to fall beyond a certain level, so that even the poorest people who rely on shallow wells are not disadvantaged,” he explained.

Harvesting rainwater could recharge India’s wells en masse

Mazhapolima, a community-driven project to recharge wells in Thrissur, has made life easier for thousands, including the family of Madhavan Ramadas, 42, a banana and coconut farmer.

Ramadas’s family – like 75% of Thrissur’s population – depends on about 4.5 lakh open wells for their water needs. Till 2008, summers were a nightmare for the Ramadas family.

“Water shortages were the norm as our well used to run dry by April,” Ramadas told IndiaSpend over the phone. “Seventy percent of wells in Thrissur would dry up during summer.”

In 2008, Ramadas signed up for Mazhapolima, which involved setting up a system to harvest and channel rainwater to recharge his family’s open well. As a result, in 2009, the family had sufficient water to last through April. A year later, the well water lasted until May, and by 2010, summer water shortages were a thing of the past.

In Kerala, rooftop rainwater harvesting systems involving a pipe and gutter are being used to to recharge home open wells, under a community-driven project, Mazhapolima, which has increased the utilisable groundwater potential in a sample 7.6 sq km coastal area by 43.35 million litres as well as improved the quality of water. Credit: IndiaSpend

Well-recharging has worked successfully, especially for coastal communities in the district of Thrissur, but hasn’t been as effective for those living in the mountains or in the plains, said Raphael.

Mazhapolima has increased the groundwater potential in a coastal area covering 7.6 sq km by 43.35 million litres, as well as improved the quality of water, he added.

Singh, the farmer in arid Rajasthan, has also benefited from water harvesting and well-recharging.

With the aid of non-governmental organisations and funds raised from the community, the JBF constructed a sand dam — a structure which slows down the flow of water thus increasing the amount that percolates underground — on the dry bed of a nala (stormwater drain), flowing 1.5 km away from Singh’s fields. The dam increased the water level of 103 wells, within a 4 km radius of the dam, according to Kanupriya Harish, executive director of the JBF.

The JBF plans to scale the sand dam water harvesting technology — an African invention — to six more districts in Rajasthan, with support from HSBC Bank, Excellent Development, a British not-for-profit, and local communities.

“In Thumbo ka Golia, the community contributed 18% of the Rs 17 lakh project cost,” said Harish. “Seeing the success, more communities are asking for help, and [are] ready to pay their share.”

Charu Bahri is a freelance writer and editor based in Mount Abu, Rajasthan.

This article was originally published in IndiaSpend.com.

Immunity to International Finance Corporation Dilutes the Right of Indians to Seek Justice

The International Finance Corporation has funded projects in India that have caused large scale violation of environmental and social laws.

A fisherman casts his net into the Kathajodi River in Cuttack district, about 25 km (15 miles) from Bhubaneswar December 8, 2012. Credit:Reuters/Stringer/Files

In a recent move, India has extended the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947 (46 of 1947), which confers legal immunity akin to the kind enjoyed by foreign missions and diplomats, to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector lending arm of the World Bank Group.

The United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act, 1947 (46 of 1947) gives effect to the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations in India. Some of the few organisations the Act provides protection to are the International Civil Aviation Organisation, World Health Organisation, International Labour Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Universal Postal Union, International Telecommunication Union and World Meteorological Organisation.

This list of organisations is not exhaustive and has been extended to more organisations over the years through government notification.

The Act provides jurisdictional personality to the institution that it is granted to. It also provides immunity to the officials of the organisation in case of any disputes of a private nature and disputes involving any official of the organisation. This will provide immunity to the organisation and its officials against legal action in India.

The problem of an abuse of the immunities by the United Nations or specialised agencies is addressed not by municipal legal action, but through consultation, arbitration or in the case of failure of such process, by the International Court of Justice.

Past projects funded by World Bank Group

The Sardar Sarovar Project was conceived as the first in a series of some 30 projects that were designed to develop the Narmada basin in the 1980s and was supported by the World Bank’s government lending arm – the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).

The bank’s support for the scheme took the form of a 10-year Dam and Power Project and a companion three-year Water Delivery and Drainage Project. Both projects were processed in parallel and were approved in 1985, two years before India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change cleared the project.

In 1991, massive protests against the project led to an unprecedented independent review by the World Bank. The Morse Commission, appointed in June 1991 at the recommendation of the World Bank, conducted its first independent review of a World Bank project. This independent review stated that the “performance under these projects has fallen short of what is called for under bank policies and guidelines and the policies of the government of India”.

It further strongly criticised the bank and the borrower for paying inadequate attention to resettlement and rehabilitation, and to environmental protection. In order to save face, the World Bank put conditions for improving the state of rehabilitation. A day before the deadline, having failed to meet the conditions, the Indian government pulled out of its loan agreement with the World Bank. The World Bank’s participation in these projects was cancelled in 1995.

Since then, the World Bank has funded a number of problematic projects in India. The IFC has in the recent past been involved with some of the most environmentally and socially damaging projects.

The Tata Mundra Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) sponsored by Coastal Gujarat Power Limited in the coastal region of the state has been under the scanner for displacing fish workers and impacting their source of livelihood.

In June 2011, a complaint, representing the various potentially affected fishing communities, was filed with the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), the grievance redressal body of the IFC. The complaint raised issues related to the project’s social and environmental impact on fishing communities, specifically: deterioration of water quality and fish populations, blocked access to fishing and drying sites, forced displacement of fishermen, community health impacts due to air emissions and destruction of natural habitats, particularly mangroves.

The complainants also believe that the impact to their fishing communities were not adequately identified and mitigated, and the cumulative impact of the project was not adequately assessed.

The CAO audit report validated the concerns raised by the community and an inadequate action plan was formulated, which was rejected by the community and is being monitored right now.

The Tata Mundra UMPP is not the first instance where the IFC has funded projects in India that have caused large scale violation of environmental and social laws, even by IFC’s standards. In Orissa, the GMR power project, which is funded by the IFC through a financial intermediary – Infrastructure Development Finance Company – has been responsible for a grave environmental and social disaster. A complaint regarding this was filed with the CAO, raising concerns about the disclosure of project information, environmental and social risks and human rights violations.

In Tata’s tea plantations in Assam and West Bengal, where the IFC investment comprises an equity investment of $7.8 million, there have been serious issues regarding labour law violations. A complaint was filed with the CAO by concerned NGO’s on behalf of tea workers raising concerns about the labour and working conditions at three different plantations.

In their complaint they specifically cited long working hours, unpaid compensation, poor hygiene and health conditions, and a lack of freedom to associate among plantation workers. Furthermore, the complainants have questioned the worker share-buying programme, contending that workers have been pressured into buying shares, often without proper information about the risks of such an investment. In all the above cases the CAO has gone ahead and given an audit report reinforcing the contentions of the complainants.

A complaint on IFC’s technical assistance to Vizhinjam port in Kerala is pending with the CAO.

Sabotaging the interests of its people

Immunity is oddly being granted to the IFC at a time when the people in India have, for the first time, taken a major step towards holding large financial institutions accountable.

The local fishing and farming community members from the villages affected by the Tata Mundra UMPP, filed a class action lawsuit in a US court holding the IFC responsible for causing the loss of their livelihoods, destroying their land and water and for creating a threat to their health by funding the coal-fired power plant in Gujarat.

Though the appeal was dismissed in the lower court, for the people it was a chance at seeking justice. A new appeal has been recently filed in a higher court in the US. This is the first time that a case is filed against a member of the World Bank Group anywhere in the world.

Immunity to the IFC in India has snatched away a medium to seek justice from the people who are affected by IFC funding within the Indian jurisdiction. Also, the move to extend the United Nations (Privileges and Immunities) Act to an institution like IFC, which funds only private sector projects, seems not without a motive. By making this move, the government of India has opened a new door to lowering the environmental and social safeguard implementations, by taking away the rights of the affected people for holding IFC answerable for its investments.

Also, this underhanded way of bringing financial institutions under the Act is of serious concern. For any citizen, the judicial system of a nation is the most reverent space for seeking justice. By making this move, the government of India has gone ahead and compromised with the constitutional rights of its own citizens to seek justice in their own land and has made it easier for international financial institutions like the IFC to get an easy pass for the devastation that their projects have caused.

How can any institution be above the law of the land?