Data from the World Resources Institute suggests these countries are regularly using 80% of their water supplies each year.

WRI’s Aqueduct water risk map reveals demand for water is increasing around the world and has more than doubled since 1960.

While demand for water has plateaued in Europe and the US, it is soaring in Africa. By 2050, water demand around the world is projected to increase by between 20% and 25%.

The 25 countries under the most water stress include Saudi Arabia Chile, San Marino, Belgium and Greece. The five facing the highest water stress are Bahrain, Cyprus, Kuwait, Lebanon and Oman.

Globally, about 4 billion people, or half the world’s population, are exposed to extremely high water stress at least one month a year, according to the Aqueduct analysis. By 2050 the number could be closer to 60%.

“Living with this level of water stress jeopardises people’s lives, jobs, food and energy security. Water is central to growing crops and raising livestock, producing electricity, maintaining human health, fostering equitable societies and meeting the world’s climate goals. Without better water management, population growth, economic development and climate change are poised to worsen water stress,” the report’s authors say.

According to data from Aqueduct, 31% of global GDP – worth $70tn – will be exposed to high water stress by 2050, up from 24% ($15tn) in 2010. Four countries – India, Mexico, Egypt and Turkey – will account for more than half of the exposed GDP in 2050.

The water risk research says increased water stress threatens countries’ economic growth. It also affects food production. The research says 60% of the world’s irrigated agriculture faces extremely high water stress, particularly sugarcane, wheat, rice and maize. By 2050 the world will need to produce 56% more food calories than in 2010 to feed a projected 10 billion people.

In India, a lack of water to cool thermal power plants between 2017 and 2021 resulted in 8.2 terawatt-hours in lost energy– enough electricity to power 1.5m Indian households for five years.

The report says interventions can stop water stress leading to water crises. Singapore and Las Vegas have been able to thrive even under the most water-scarce conditions, the report notes. Authorities there have saved water using desalination and other techniques such as wastewater treatment and reuse.

Political will is needed to introduce water efficiency and reduce water stress, the report’s authors argue.

The 25 most water stressed countries are: Bahrain, Cyprus, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Botswana, Iran, Jordan, Chile, San Marino, Belgium, Greece, Tunisia, Namibia, South Africa, Iraq, India and Syria.

The bill, named SB 49, commissions California’s Department of Transportation to establish clear guidelines for companies and public agencies to develop highway-side renewable energy.

SB 49 gives the department until the end of 2025 to collaborate with the state’s utilities and energy agencies to “evaluate the suitability” of the empty land along the state’s highways for renewable energy production and storage sites.

According to the state’s Department of Transportation, California has 250 state highways containing more than 15,000 miles of road.

The empty land alongside those roads could be used to generate one gigawatt of potential solar energy, which could power over 270,000 California homes, according to a joint report from Environment California, a nonprofit backer of SB 49, and highway solar advocate The Ray.

The bill will also require the interagency analysis to assess inhibiting factors like existing laws or safety issues, along with helping “establish a process for entities interested in leasing” the highway’s land for renewable energy development.

State legislators passed SB 49 in September and had since been awaiting the governor’s signature.

State Sen. Josh Becker, the original author of the bill, called it a “win-win-win.” SB 49, he said in a statement, will help California develop more renewable energy, all while creating new green jobs and extra state revenue.

California would join several other states in developing roadside renewables.

In 2008, Oregon became the first state to develop a solar highway project, which now has nearly 600 solar panels. Since then, 36 states and 15 countries have contacted Oregon to explore creating similar programs, according to the state’s website.

Using empty space along highways to install clean energy sites would help alleviate pressure on the state’s deserts where many solar panels are currently housed.

SB 49 was among a flurry of climate bills that received Gov. Newsom’s signature over the weekend, including two high-profile corporate disclosure bills that, starting in 2026, will require companies to annually report their carbon emissions and the financial impact of climate change on their business.

A woman lifted a child from the back of an SUV and walked into the store. A dog barked from a black pickup truck before its owner returned with cases of soda. Another woman checked her hair in a convertible's rearview mirror before shopping.

Without a passing glance , each went right by a sign exclaiming "Quick, Easy Health Visits," with an image of a mobile clinic.

Just after 10 a.m., registered nurse Kimberly French arrived to work at the DocGo mobile clinic parked in the store's lot. She checked her schedule.

"We don't have any appointments so far today, but that could change," French says. "Last night we didn't have any appointments and three or four people showed up all at one time."

Dollar General, the nation's largest retailer by number of stores, with more than 19,000 locations, partnered with a New York-based mobile medical services company called DocGo to test whether it could draw more customers and tackle persistent health inequities.

Deploying mobile clinics to fill care gaps in underserved areas isn't a new idea. But pairing them with Dollar General's ubiquitous small-town presence has been heralded by investment analysts and some rural health experts as a way to ease the rural health care drought.

Where doctors are scarce

Dollar General's latest annual report notes that about 80% of the company's stores are in towns with populations of fewer than 20,000 — precisely where medical professionals are scarce.

Inside the DocGo mobile clinic, registered nurse Kimberly French works 10-hour shifts. She says the operation needs to gain the trust of the community.

Sarah Jane Tribble/KFF Health News

Catering to those who want urgent or primary care, the mobile clinics take private insurance as well as Medicaid and Medicare. The company's website says DocGo's self-pay rates start at $69 for patients without insurance or who are out of network. DocGo officials said Tennessee patients may be charged different rates but declined to provide details.

On the ground in Tennessee, primary care doctors and patients are skeptical.

"Honestly, they don't really grasp, I don't think, what they're getting into," says Brent Staton, a family medicine doctor and the leader of the Cumberland Center for Healthcare Innovation, a statewide organization that helps small-town family care doctors coordinate care and negotiate with insurers, including Medicare.

Michelle Green manages the popular Sweet Charlotte grill about 10 miles south of Dollar General's most rural test site. Green, who was handing out hamburgers and hand-cut fries during a Saturday rush, said she hadn't heard of the mobile clinic. She said with a shrug that Dollar General and health care clinics "don't go together."

"I wouldn't want to go to a health care clinic in a parking lot; that's just me," Green said, adding that someone might go if "you're sick and you can't go anywhere else."

Bumps in the road

The Clarksville-area pilot, which launched last fall, is in a federally designated primary care shortage area for low-income residents.

About 1,000 patients have been seen in the company's clinics, either at Dollar General sites or community pop-up events, and some became repeat visitors, according to DocGo. Payment is taken outside on a mobile device and, once inside, patients meet with an on-site staff member, like French, and connect via telehealth on an iPad screen with a physician assistant or nurse practitioner.

The clinic rotates between three Dollar General pilot sites each week. The stores are in the Clarksville area and, early this summer, the van stopped going to the most rural site, near Cumberland Furnace, because of low utilization, according to company leaders. DocGo moved that location's time slot to busy Fort Campbell Boulevard in Clarksville.

"We do try for months in a given area to see where it makes sense and where it doesn't," former DocGo CEO Anthony Capone said in a July interview. "Our goal is to align the supply we have with the demand of the local community."

Capone, though, said he thought the pilot would work in rural areas when insurers are signed on to refer their members to the mobile clinic. DocGo recently announced a deal with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee.

Capone abruptly resigned on Sept. 15 after the Albany Times Union reported he lied about having a graduate degree. In a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said Capone resigned "for personal reasons.

'Democratize' access to health care

Dollar General stores have a "tremendous opportunity" to have "a major impact on health there and really bond themselves as a member of the community," says Tom Campanella, the healthcare executive-in-residence at Baldwin Wallace University, who has managed mobile clinics in rural places.

Near tiny Cumberland Furnace, south of Clarksville, William "Bubba" Murphy stops on his way into a Dollar General, pauses to wave and holler hello to friends getting out of their cars, and shares that multiple family members — his sister-in-law, nephew, and niece's boyfriend — used and liked "the little clinic on wheels."

"We don't have to go to town and fight all that traffic," he says. "They come to us. That's a wonderful thing. It helps a lot of people."

Over on busy Fort Campbell Boulevard in Clarksville, Marina Woolever, a mother of three, says she might use the clinic if she didn't have insurance. Natural health professional Nichole Clemmer glanced toward the clinic and called it a "ploy" to make more money.

Dollar General is the nation's largest retailer by number of stores, with more than 19,000, many of them in rural America. The DocGo mobile clinic experiment is in the Clarksville, Tennessee, area.

Sarah Jane Tribble/KFF Health News

Jefferies lead equity analyst Corey Tarlowe, who follows discount retailers, says the clinics will help "democratize" access to health care and simultaneously boost traffic to Dollar General stores.

With its rapid growth in recent years, Dollar General has faced accusations that its stores kill off local grocery stores and other businesses, reduce employment, and contribute to the creation of food deserts. More recently, the U.S. Labor Department said the chain "continues to discount safety" for employees as it has piled up more than $21 million in federal fines.

Crystal Luce, senior director of public relations for Dollar General, writes in a statement that the company believes each new store provides "positive economic benefits," including new jobs, low-cost products, and its literacy foundation. On the federal fines, Luce writes Dollar General is "committed to providing a safe work environment for its associates and shopping experience for its customers." The company declined to provide an interview.

The DocGo pilot, she writes, is intended to "complement" the DG Wellbeing initiative, which is a corporatewide push. Dollar General wants to increase "access to basic health care products and, ultimately, services over time, particularly in rural America," Luce wrote.

Government contracts

States away, DocGo is under fire for a no-bid contract to provide housing, busing, and other services for asylum-seekers in New York. State Attorney General Letitia James is investigating complaints levied by migrants under the company's care. In August, DocGo officials said claims aired by sources in a New York Times article that first reported the problems were "not reflective of the overall scope and quality" of the services the company has provided.

The company's pilot with Dollar General is "supported with funding from the state of Tennessee," DocGo's Capone said during the company's first-quarter earnings call. The Dollar General partnership is cited in quarterly grant reports DocGo's Rapid Reliable Testing LLC submitted to the state, according to records KFF Health News obtained through public information requests.

In the grant filing, DocGo listed Dollar General along with other organizations as "trusted messengers" in building vaccine awareness.

Dollar General declined to respond to a question about its involvement in the grant. Instead, Luce writes "We continue to test and learn through the DocGo pilot."

The goal of the $2.4 million grant, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and distributed by the Tennessee Department of Health, is to administer covid-19 vaccines. In a written response provided by DocGo's marketing director, Amanda Shell Jennings, the company said, "Dollar General has no involvement with the TN Department of Health grant funding or allocations."

The grant covers storage and maintenance of covid-19 vaccines on the DocGo mobile clinics, Jennings' statement said, adding that, as of September, DocGo has held 41 vaccine events and provided 66 vaccines to rural Tennesseans.

The right 'connotation'?

Lulu West, 72, was visiting a friend at the Historic Cumberland Furnace Iron Museum when she stopped to consider the mobile clinic. West says she would rather go to her primary care doctor.

"When you say mobile clinic outside a Dollar General it just kind of has a connotation that you may not be comfortable with. You know what I mean?" she says.

That kind of response doesn't surprise Carlo Pike, a doctor who for years has practiced family medicine in Clarksville. He says he's not worried about the competition because providing primary care is about developing relationships.

"If I can do this relationship right," Pike says, "maybe we can keep you from getting a [blood] sugar of 500 [mg/dL] or from Grandpa climbing up a ladder and trying to fix something he has no business with and falling off and breaking his leg."

Staton says the Cumberland Center for Healthcare Innovation, his accountable care organization, has saved Medicare and Medicare Advantage companies more than $100 million by focusing on preventive care and reducing hospitalizations and emergency visits for patients.

"We're just small rural primary care docs doing our jobs with a process that works," Staton says. In another interview, Staton calls it "relational care."

DocGo surveyed its patients and found that 19% of them did not have a primary care physician or hadn't seen theirs in more than a year. In the written responses Jennings provided, DocGo said it follows up with every patient after the initial visit, offers telemedicine support between visits, and provides ongoing preventive care on a regular schedule.

'Get her to the hospital'

Lottie Stokes, the president of the community center in Cumberland Furnace, says DocGo's team had "called and asked to come down here." Stokes says she would rather use the local emergency medical technicians and firefighters, who she says are "legit."

Bobby Stokes had a good experience at the DocGo mobile clinic parked at the Dollar General near Cumberland Furnace, Tennessee.

Sarah Jane Tribble/KFF Health News

Her father-in-law, Bobby Stokes, who's nearly 80 years old, says he used the mobile clinic before it moved locations.

His wife couldn't breathe. They pulled into the parking lot and climbed onto the van.

"We wasn't in there five minutes," he says. "They done the blood pressure test and what they need to do and put her in the car and said, 'Get her to the hospital, to the emergency room.'"

The DocGo staff, he says, did not ask for payment: "Nothing."

"They were more concerned with her than they were with I guess getting their money," he says, adding that his wife is doing well now. "They told me to get there, and I took them at their word. My car runs fast."

Despite its outreach, DocGo struggled to get a foothold in rural Cumberland Furnace. The mobile clinic no longer parks at the Dollar General location where Bobby Stokes' wife was treated.

They stressed that the proposed parliamentary Bill to Support the Family by Promoting the Culture of Chastity and Hijab and existing de facto restrictions are inherently discriminatory and may amount to gender persecution.

“The draft law imposes severe punishments on women and girls for non-compliance which may lead to its violent enforcement,” the experts warned.

It also violates fundamental rights such as the right to take part in cultural life, freedom of opinion and expression, the right to peaceful protest, and the right to access social, educational, and health services, they added.

Mahsa Amini death

“After months of nationwide protests over the death of Jina Mahsa Amini and against restrictive veiling laws, the authorities have introduced a tiered system of punishments targeting women and girls,” the experts said.

The 22-year-old was arrested in Tehran and taken into custody nearly a year ago by the so-called morality police for her alleged failure to comply with the already strict hijab laws.

She reportedly fell ill at a police station with witnesses testifying that she had first been severely beaten, and later died in hospital. Iranian authorities denied that she had been assaulted.

Culture war

The UN-appointed added the proposed new punishments under the draft legislation would “disproportionately affect economically marginalised women”.

The use of culture by the Iranian government as a tool to restrict the rights of women and girls is misplaced, the experts warned, noting that “culture is formed and evolves with the participation of all”.

By using terms such as “nudity, lack of chastity, lack of hijab, bad dressing and acts against public decency leading to disturbance of peace”, the draft law seeks to authorise public institutions to deny essential services and opportunities to those who will not comply.

Directors and managers of organisations who fail to implement the law could also be punished; the independent experts warned.

‘Weaponizing’ morality

“The weaponization of “public morals” to deny women and girls their freedom of expression is deeply disempowering and will entrench and expand gender discrimination and marginalisation, with wider negative consequences for children and society as a whole,” the experts said.

They note that the so-called morality police have also been reportedly redeployed in some areas since early July, potentially to enforce compulsory veiling strictures.

The bill was submitted to parliament by the Government and the judiciary on 21 May. Since then, it has been amended several times, with the latest draft significantly increasing the number of punishments for non-compliance.

“We urge authorities to reconsider the compulsory hijab legislation in compliance with international human rights law, and to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights for all women and girls in Iran,” the experts said.

Experts’ mandate

Special Rapporteurs and other independent human rights experts are appointed to monitor and report on specific country situations or thematic issues.

They serve in their individual capacity, are not UN staff and do not receive payment for their work.

Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights, expressed deep shock over the horrific attacks launched by Palestinian armed groups on Saturday and the ensuing full-blown conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  “Civilians on both sides bear an intolerable brunt,” he said, urgently calling on all parties to pull back from total warfare and the vicious cycle of vengeance and its disastrous and possibly irreparable long-term effects on peace and security across the region and beyond.

He then painted a grim picture of the staggering number of civilian casualties in conflicts worldwide, the rise of racism and gender-based discrimination – notably against women and girls - as well as the surge in hate speech, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.  Additionally, abject poverty and skyrocketing inequalities constitute tragic failures of the world’s commitment to human rights.  This sobering landscape of ills is further aggravated by harsh restrictions of the civic space which undercut institutions of justice and media freedoms, and by ungoverned digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous weaponry.

Spotlighting his Office’s work in addressing human rights violations, he drew attention to the situation in Afghanistan:  in light of pervasive human rights violations in that country, it is essential to sustain support for the UN's human rights presence. Similarly, in Colombia, the High Commissioner’s office has played a key role in the peace process.  However, the Office needs a level of core financing to implement all mandated activities, he emphasized.

The central focus of the broad human rights dialogue that followed was the resurgence of violence in the Middle East.

“How many murdered Jews does it take for you to support Israel’s right to self-defence?” asked Israel’s delegate, noting that the High Commissioner’s role is not one of a “bystander expressing his emotions” and the Human Rights Council has “lost its moral compass”.

The observer for the State of Palestine, stressing that over 850 Palestinians have already been killed, said:  “[Israel] is telling you that killing more Palestinians, including children, is the answer.”  Israel’s war minister has ordered a complete siege of the Gaza Strip, he said, calling on States to reject such collective punishment.

The representative of the United States condemned the unjustified attacks on Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas, supporting the country’s right to self-defence.  Echoing his stance, Canada’s delegate underscored that support for Palestinian self-determination or empathy for Palestinians must not obscure the fact that Hamas is an anti-Semitic terrorist group that wants “to wipe Israel off the map”.

Syria’s delegate, meanwhile, said that many Western countries “are shocked with what is happening lately”.  However, he added that “we are shocked that none of them were shocked by all the atrocities and killings […] committed by the occupation authorities against the Palestinian people for the last 75 years”, noting that “the last day of occupation is the first day of peace”.

On another note, delegates shed light on specific human rights situations in their respective countries, with Myanmar’s delegate emphasizing that “every moment that the international community sits idly and watches, the suffering of the Myanmar people continues”.

Adding to that, the representative of Bangladesh elaborated on the protracted presence of Rohingya refugees in her country, noting that no Human Rights Council mechanism has managed to engage with Myanmar or even visit the Rakhine State.  The United Nations might need to recalibrate its strategies vis-à-vis Myanmar, she added.

For his part, Afghanistan’s delegate spotlighted systematic violations of women and girls’ rights by the Taliban, the arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings of former security forces and systematic collective punishment of minorities, including the Hazara communities.

Turning to unilateral coercive measures, Iran’s delegate expressed dismay that the High Commissioner’s report did not devote any consideration to their impact on human rights.  Along similar lines, Venezuela’s delegate, speaking on behalf of the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, stressed that the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights must carry out its work in a non-politicized, non-selective manner and voiced concern over the effects of unilateral coercive measures on the guarantee of universal health coverage.

Interactive Dialogue - High Commissioner for Human Rights

In the morning, the Committee elaborated on the theme “Promotion and protection of human rights”, with an interactive dialogue featuring a presentation by Volker Türk, High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mr. TÜRK expressed deep shock over the horrific attacks launched by Palestinian armed groups on Saturday and the ensuing full-blown conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Civilians on both sides bear an intolerable brunt, he said, urgently appealing to all parties to pull back from total warfare and the vicious cycles of vengeance, which decades of experience have shown will have disastrous and possibly irreparable long-term effects on peace and security for everyone - in Israel, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, across the region and beyond.  Presenting his report (document A/78/36), he said human rights measures are the only way to make development inclusive, participatory and sustainable; the only way to shape laws that are just and to ensure accountability, promote reconciliation and a path away from conflict.

However, he continued, one quarter of humanity lives in places affected by conflict – places such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, and now again, Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  Last year, the number of civilians killed in war operations worldwide rose by over 50 per cent – the first increase since the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) began compiling this data, in 2015. Racism and gender-based discrimination – notably against women and girls – are also rising, with concerted pushbacks against the important progress made in recent decades.  Social media platforms, when unchecked, have also become delivery systems for vicious hate speech against women and girls, people of African descent, LGBTIQ+ people and many other minority groups.  He voiced particular concern about the rise in anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

Moreover, abject poverty and skyrocketing inequalities constitute tragic failures of the world’s commitment to the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and human rights, he stressed, pointing to harsh restrictions on civic space, which have undercut institutions of justice, media freedoms, and the space for fundamental freedoms.  Ungoverned digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous weaponry and surveillance techniques, profoundly threaten human rights.  All these trends compound the accelerating menace of the triple planetary crisis – “the defining human rights threat of our generation”.  “What can be done to repair this sobering landscape of ills?” he asked, describing the 75^th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as “a lighthouse of stability” whose values “connect all of humanity”.

“Our work to monitor and address human rights violations is crucial to the establishment and maintenance of peaceful, secure societies,” he said, spotlighting the situation in Afghanistan, the dismantling of national human rights bodies, and pervasive violations – including unprecedented discrimination against women – which make it crucial to sustain support for the UN's human rights presence.  The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) provides the country's only independent monitoring and has been granted formal access to prisons in numerous provinces. In Colombia, human rights work has been essential in the peace process; the High Commissioner’s office has served as a key bridge between all actors, and as an advocate for transitional justice and the rights of victims, Indigenous Peoples and civil society – especially women and girls.

He further outlined his Office’s efforts to foster economies that are grounded in human rights, underscoring the need for meaningful civic participation in decision-making – particularly for women, and others who have long been side-lined.  The human rights economy can address root causes of inequalities and grievances; ensure greater trust in government, and target policies more effectively to areas of need.  Globally, human rights guardrails are also sorely needed for international financial and development institutions, so that Governments are not forced to undercut their investments in human rights to repay foreign debt.  In this context, the Declaration on the Right to Development promises an international order that can better fulfil human rights:  It is time to act on it," he asserted. For the Office to deliver on its mandate, it needs a level of core financing that guarantees the capacity to implement all mandated activities, he said, noting that, in 2023, it appears likely that it will receive only 60 per cent of the extra-budgetary funding it has requested.

In the ensuing interactive dialogue, delegates expressed grave concern and condemnation of renewed conflict in Israel as well as support for the OHCHR’s work and its required funding, while others underscored the importance of adhering to the principles of non-selectivity and neutrality in carrying out the Office’s mandate.

The representative of Venezuela, speaking on behalf of the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, voiced concern over the effects of unilateral coercive measures on the guarantee of universal health coverage, specifically on timely vaccine delivery and efforts to fight against tuberculosis and other endemic diseases. Worse, the topic remained unaddressed at the recent high-level meeting on public health, he stressed, inviting the High Commissioner to comment on the situation.  He underscored the importance of the OHCHR carrying out its work in a non-politicized, non-selective manner.

The representative of the United States condemned the attacks on Israel by the terrorist organization Hamas, noting that Israel has a right to defend itself.  Calling the attack unjustified, he said that such attacks prevent the fulfillment of human rights.  Either there is the path of dialogue and conflict resolution or the path of terrorism, he said, noting that Hamas destroys lives, including Palestinian lives.  Further, the United States is concerned about countries such as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Afghanistan as well as the violations of human rights in Ukraine by the Russian Federation.  He voiced further concern over the human rights in China of the Uyghur population.

The representative of Mexico underscored his country’s openness to international scrutiny as well as to integrate the recommendations of the treaty body system.  The anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an opportunity to reaffirm a commitment to human rights, essential for the work of the UN, he said.  He asked what the main challenges to full implementation of the Universal Declaration as well as other human rights instruments are.

The representative of Colombia said that human rights work has been integral to achieve peace in her country, underscoring the importance of continued cooperation with Mr. Türk’s office and the openness with which the country received his recommendations. For the first time, the country will be a candidate to the Human Rights Council, she said, adding that Columbia has proposed to host the Third International Conference on Human Rights, calling for the international community’s Support.

The representative of Canada condemned Hamas’ multifront terror attack against Israelis citizens. Support for Palestinian self-determination or empathy for Palestinians must not obscure the fact that Hamas is an anti-Semitic terrorist group that wants to wipe Israel off the map, he said. The litany of intensifying abuses should concern all States, he added.  The independence and integrity of the Commissioner’s office are important, he said, expressing Canada’s support.  He asked what has surprised Mr. Türk in his work that the international community can appreciate and also what difficulties the Commissioner has encountered in his work.

The representative of Pakistan highlighted the Human Rights 75 Initiative of the OHCHR, noting that it should end double standards and selectivity in UN work.  He also pointed to India’s illegal occupation of Jumma and Kashmir, lamenting  international community’s failure to hold India accountable, which erodes credibility in the High Commissioner’s Office.  He then asked about the next report to be released on the subject.  Further, the prevalence of Islamophobia such as Qur’an burning is concerning, given that it is outlawed by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  He urged the High Commissioner to regularly report on Islamophobia.

The representative of France, aligning with the European Union, underscored the important role the OHCHR and the treaty body system play in monitoring human rights situations and issuing recommendations leading to reform.  The OHCHR can only fulfil its mandate if it has the necessary resources, however.  To that end, France has doubled its contribution to the Office, which now totals more than 10 million euros, she said, noting that the Office could count on France’s commitment during budget negotiations.  A candidate for the Human Rights Council, France will continue its action against the death penalty and discrimination, defending the rights of LGBTQ people and human rights defenders, she said.

The representative of the European Union, in its capacity as observer, echoed France’s delegate in his call for adequate resources for the Office, condemning any attempt to weaken its work, including reprisals, and called on all countries to protect human rights defenders.  She asked Mr. Türk to provide an example of when the realization of one human right led to the realization of others.

The representative of Malaysia said that human rights are universal, inalienable, indivisible and interdependent.  It is imperative that the international community treat them in a fair manner, he continued, stressing that civil and political rights are prioritized, while social and economic rights are not given due attention.  He underscored the importance of the universal periodic review mechanism, noting that Malaysia will welcome the Office’s feedback to improve its national human rights framework.  He asked what the Office can do to address gaps in funding in programmes of economic, social and cultural rights, including in the capacity-building of Member States.

The representative of Rwanda, speaking on behalf of the Countries of Central Africa, noted that, at the request of his bloc, the Subregional Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa was established in 2001.  General Assembly resolution A/RES/76/171 asked the Centre to step up its activities in social and cultural rights, but the bloc is concerned about the limited capacity to carry out its mandate due to an increased demand as well as lack of funding.  Resolutions over the past six years have asked the High Comissioner’s Office to provide more resources to the Centre, she noted, asking by how much the Centre’s budget will be increased and what budgetary space can be explored within the Office’s existing budget.

The representative of the United Kingdom highlighted the tragic events in Israel, condemning Hamas’ terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens and called for an end to such attacks. Hamas’ indiscriminate use of violence is horrific and taking more than 100 hostages is heinous.  The United Kingdom stands by Israel’s right to self-defense, noting that Hamas does not represent the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, and that their acts have resulted in the deaths of 687 Palestinians in Gaza, adding to their suffering.  He asked how  the international community can best support a de-escalation of hostilities.

The representative of Belarus, aligning with the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter, said that human rights problems indeed require comprehensive solutions and international cooperation, but the practical work of the OHCHR often does the opposite, creating a breakdown in trust.  He called for total compliance with the principles of constructiveness, transparency, non-selectivity, impartiality and a lack of bias in the Office.  A short report cannot provide a full picture of events. He asked what the request for “political support” in the budget of the office meant, as it seemed “dubious”.

The representative of Iraq, recalling that his country has sought to implement the OHCHR’s recommendations to improve its legislative framework relating to human rights, reiterated that the High Commissioner and all treaty bodies have an open invitation to visit his country.  He then asked the High Commissioner to evaluate his last visit to Iraq in August.

The representative of Iran expressed dismay that the High Commissioner’s report did not devote any consideration to the impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights.  He also encouraged OHCHR to prioritize discrimination against Muslims and Islamophobia.  Spotlighting that 2024 will mark the thirtieth anniversary of the International Year of the Family, he asked the High Commissioner to elaborate on OHCHR’s activities regarding the protection of the family.

The representative of Italy, reiterating her commitment against the death penalty, pointed to the increase of international support – from 104 to 125 Member States - for the first General Assembly resolution on the universal moratorium presented by her country in 2007. She further asked how States can strengthen cross-regional dialogue and enhance civil society’s involvement on this topic.

The representative of Armenia asked how the OHCHR will address the violations of the right to life and the use  of torture - prohibited in international and humanitarian law - committed by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The representative of Israel, addressing the High Commissioner, asked:  “How many murdered Jews does it take for you to support Israel’s right to self-defence?” Emphasizing that the High Commissioner’s role is not to be a “bystander expressing his emotions”, he stressed: “We need you to take action.”  He further questioned:  “How do you expect Israel to ensure that these genocidal jihadists never commit these atrocities again?  Should we invite them to our living room for a civilized chat?” Emphasizing that the Human Rights Council has “lost its moral compass”, he said that the world cannot accept a “distorted moral standard” that guarantees that such atrocities will continue. “Israel will obliterate [the] Hamas terror infrastructure,” he asserted.

The representative of China pointed out that people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang live in harmony; the economy and society in Tibet “continue to […] progress”; and the people of Hong-Kong enjoy a wide range of rights and freedoms.  “Any lies about China will self-destruct in the face of facts,” he stressed.

The representative of Bangladesh, pointing to the protracted presence of Rohingya refugees in her country, said that no Human Rights Council mechanism has managed to engage with Myanmar or even visit the Rakhine State.  Recognizing that “nothing seems to be working”, she asked what can be done to eradicate the suffering of the Rohingya minorities.  She also asked whether the United Nations might need to recalibrate its strategies vis-à-vis Myanmar, while also questioning how human rights mechanisms can identify challenges of developing countries.

The representative of Saudi Arabia asked how the OHCHR can assist in dealing with the escalating trends of exclusion, hatred and racism.

The representative of Egypt, turning to the concept of the “human rights economy”, asked about the proposed intersectionality between international financial architecture reforms and the promotion of human rights in relation to foreign debt, including the repatriation of illicit funds to their countries of origin.  She also asked how the OHCHR can counter hate speech.

The representative of Myanmar, pointing out that “every moment that the international community sits idly and watches, the suffering of the Myanmar people continues”, urged Member States to ensure that the United Nations does not fail the Myanmar people or leave them alone.  He asked what the next step is to save the lives of these people in a timely manner.

The observer for the State of Palestine said that Israel’s war minister has ordered a complete siege of the Gaza Strip, calling on Member States to reject such collective punishment.  Spotlighting that over 850 Palestinians have been killed, he stressed:  “We regret that some still have difficulties to acknowledge Palestinian victims killed by Israel.”  Recalling that Israel has imposed a 17-year blockade, he added:  “Now it is telling you that killing more Palestinians, including children, is the answer.”  Also noting that his country “could have chosen war” yet it decided to “strive for peace”, he stressed:  “We could have found many reasons [during] 75 years of accumulated grievances to absolve ourselves from the rule of international law, [yet] we decided to submit to it.”

The representative of Syria, spotlighting that many Western countries “are shocked with what is happening lately”, stressed:  “We are shocked that none of them were shocked by all the atrocities and killings […] committed by the occupation authorities against the Palestinian people for the last 75 years.”  Emphasizing that “the last day of occupation is the first day of peace”, he asked the High Representative:  “Do you concur?”

The representative of Afghanistan, spotlighting systematic violations of women and girls’ rights by the Taliban, asked the High Commissioner to comment on this issue.  He also asked about his views on the arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings of former security forces and systematic collective punishment of minorities, including the Hazara communities.

The representative of India, noting that Pakistan has “again” misused the forum to distract the international community’s attention from “its own” abuse of human rights, pointed to the “largest scale brutality” against a Christian community in Gujranwala in 2023.  She also emphasized that the conditions of women belonging to monitories remain deplorable.

Mr. TÜRK responded by underscoring the importance of equality, dignity and justice for all.  Expressing dismay and profound shock over the attacks that were perpetrated by the Palestinian armed forces against Israeli citizens, he also recognized the legitimate grievances of the Palestinian people.  “It is absolutely clear that nothing justifies acts of terror,” he added, calling for the urgent and unconditional release of those who are held hostage.  “It is my duty and my responsibility to point out that military operations must be conducted with strict compliance with international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” he said, sounding alarm over the impact of the conflict on both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.  It is essential that a solution is found to the 56-year-long conflict – a way out of this vicious cycle of bloodshed, he emphasized.

He went on to underscore that geopolitical tensions and increased polarization are not going to advance the cause of human rights. Human rights - the force of transformation of societies – “could become collateral damage”, he warned.  He highlighted the incredible potential of the OHCHR to make a difference on the ground, working with human rights defenders and civil rights society, as well as contribute to prevention.  Instead, the failure to address accountability perpetuates the cycle of war and polarization.  On the issue of funding, he said that his Office must prepare 99 reports on a wide range of topics, some of which are not covered from the regular budget.

Turning to the deteriorating situation in Myanmar, he said his Office has outlined a clear roadmap on how to address the human rights issue of minorities; however, nothing has happened on that front.  In light of systemic gender persecution in Afghanistan, he stressed the need to ensure continued support for  UNAMA.  He also elaborated, inter alia, on the situation in Armenia and Iraq. Further, he underlined the importance of analysing the impact of unilateral coercive measures - especially when they are sectoral - on the enjoyment of human rights and humanitarian issues.  On the death penalty, he spotlighted positive developments in Sub-Saharan Africa.  He also noted that the dehumanization of the “other” is the main reason for conflicts.

DISAPPEARANCES OF LUKASHENKA’S POLITICAL OPPONENTS Between May and September 1999, in Minsk, several leading figures of the opposition disappeared: Yury Zakharenka, former Minister of Interior; Viktar Hanchar, former Deputy Prime Minister during the early years of Lukashenka’s presidency, and Anatoly Krasouski, a businessman and close friend of Hanchar. The families of the victims made numerous attempts to obtain information on the whereabouts of their relatives. However, law enforcement authorities in Belarus systematically refused to prosecute perpetrators and to hold them accountable.                              

UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION COUNTERACTS YEARS OF FRUITLESS ATTEMPTS TO OBTAIN JUSTICE “This case marks a decisive step forward in the fight against impunity for the crimes committed in Belarus,” said Severin Walz, the attorney at law representing the victims’ relatives. “My clients’ greatest hope is to obtain certainty about the fate of their fathers through a judgment delivered by a due judicial proceeding.” “This trial will be historic. It further paves the way to universal jurisdiction as a concrete reality,” said Vony Rambolamanana, Senior Legal Advisor at TRIAL International. “This case will set a precedent. The prosecution of such crimes in Switzerland will serve as an example worldwide.”                                                                                                                                                                           A TURNING POINT FOR BELARUS? In Belarus, political opponents, human rights activists, lawyers, journalists and other ordinary citizens are arrested, detained on political grounds and deprived of their fundamental rights. The recent conviction of Viasna human rights defenders, including 2022 Peace Nobel Prize Laureate Alès Bialiatski, comes in retaliation for 25 years of their human rights work in Belarus. “This could be a watershed moment for international justice for the Belarusian regime’s crimes,” added Ilya Nuzov, head of FIDH’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. “Hurauski’s trial might not only secure a conviction for one of the perpetrators of these heinous crimes; it could also establish facts which could later be used to go after those who had ordered the commission of the crime, including Lukashenka himself.”

Source:

https://trialinternational.org/latest-post/belarus-accountability-for-enforced-disappearances-before-swiss-court/

But she sees little of that at her school in Fort Moore, Ga.

The students who solve algebra equations and hone essays at Faith Middle School attend one of the highest-performing school systems in the country.

It is run not by a local school board or charter network, but by the Defense Department.

With about 66,000 students — more than the public school enrollment in Boston or Seattle — the Pentagon’s schools for children of military members and civilian employees quietly achieve results most educators can only dream of.

"Humans are inextricably dependent on biodiversity for survival," said Justin Nowakowski, SERC conservation biologist and lead author of the study. "It provides food, fuel, fiber and other ecosystem services that we depend on for life."

Class Struggles

Nowakowski's team captured data for over 1,000 species spanning every continent except Antarctica. They gathered their information from two databases: Living Planet and BioTIME, which contain biodiversity studies compiled from all over the world. The authors examined how 2,239 vertebrate populations fared over time, both inside and outside protected areas. To control for confounding variables, the authors took care that protected versus unprotected sites were as similar as possible in other respects.

On average, vertebrates declined 0.4% per year inside protected areas -- nearly five times more slowly than vertebrates outside protected areas (1.8% per year).

"Protected areas take us from a situation in which biodiversity is not-so-slowly ebbing away, to one where populations are at least close to stable," said Luke Frishkoff, coauthor and assistant professor of biology at the University of Texas at Arlington. "They buy us much-needed time to figure out how to reverse the biodiversity crisis." At these rates, Frishkoff added, populations outside protected areas could see their numbers cut in half in just 40 years. Meanwhile, it would take 170 years for a population in a protected area to undergo the same fate.

Some vertebrate classes benefited more than others. Amphibians and birds inside protected lands enjoyed the biggest reprieves. The authors suspect this is because those classes face some of the biggest threats on the outside. For example, wetland birds are frequent victims of habitat loss. Amphibians, meanwhile, are dying in droves from the chytrid fungus while battling habitat loss and climate change. Their smaller sizes may contribute as well.

"Amphibians typically have fairly small home ranges, and they're also really sensitive to small changes in the environment," said coauthor Jessica Deichmann, an ecologist with the Liz Claiborne & Art Ortenberg Foundation. "So, with amphibians living within protected areas, you're really able to protect more of the habitat that they're utilizing than you are with, say, a mammal that has a really large home range."

However, conversion of land nearby to agriculture or development diminished the benefits of protected areas, and climate change is compounding the problem. Reptiles were found to be especially vulnerable to climate change, even within protected areas. Amphibians suffered more from nearby land conversion. This makes connections between protected areas even more critical to conservation, the authors pointed out -- especially as climate change continues to take its toll.

"Protected areas are tied to a specific place," Nowakowski said. "But species are on the move….We need to design protected areas that are connected and account for this reality."

Protectionist Politics

This study validates the importance of the United Nations' work to protect biodiversity. At the United Nations Biodiversity Conference last December, nearly 200 nations pledged to counter rapid extinctions by protecting 30% of Earth's land and water by 2030. The "30 by 30" commitment created a rush to establish more protected areas. But merely addressing the amount of protected land is not enough according to many conservation experts. It is vital to confirm that protected areas are meeting their primary goal: conserving biodiversity within those areas.

Countries can comply with 30 by 30 by creating 'paper parks' [parks that exist on maps but are largely ineffective]," Deichmann said. "But that will not achieve the desired outcomes of 30 by 30. This study helps us better understand how we can actually achieve 30 by 30, through the creation of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures."

To work well, the data show that protected areas need one more crucial ingredient: a stable, effective government. When the authors ran their analyses, good governance had just as powerful an impact for vertebrates as living in a protected area.

Nations with effective governments often see better enforcement of environmental laws. Corruption-free governments are also less likely to misappropriate conservation money -- and are therefore more likely to get international conservation money in the first place. Government transparency can help with community empowerment as well, according to coauthor Carlos Muñoz Brenes, a social scientist with Conservation International. When local communities have a voice in conservation laws, including about protected lands, those protections frequently work better.

But protected areas alone are not enough. Conservation scientists increasingly recognize that Earth needs a portfolio of approaches to safeguard biodiversity, especially in the face of rapid environmental changes.

"There are mechanisms that are more flexible, that could contribute to protecting those biodiversity values and ecosystem values outside protected areas," Muñoz Brenes said.

As an example, Muñoz Brenes pointed to "payment for ecosystem services" programs. Costa Rica, where Muñoz Brenes was born, has run such a program since 1996. Under the program, funded by a national gas tax, landowners near protected areas receive a payment from the government to preserve forests on their property.

"We have been able to reverse deforestation in Costa Rica, and a great deal thanks to this program," Muñoz Brenes said. "But not only that, we have been able to increase forest cover through this mechanism outside protected areas." Other flexible measures include biological corridors and Indigenous-led protected areas that limit but do not entirely restrict human activity.

The dominance of parking has devastated once-vibrant downtowns by turning large areas into uninviting paved spaces that contribute to urban heating and stormwater runoff. It has driven up housing costs, since developers pass on the cost of providing parking to tenants and homebuyers. And it has perpetuated people’s reliance on driving by making walking, biking and public transit far less attractive, even for the shortest trips.

Why, then, does the U.S. have so much of it?

For decades, cities have required developers to provide a set number of parking spaces for their tenants or customers. And while many people still rely on parking, the amount required is typically far more than most buildings need.

Columbus, Ohio, pioneered this strategy 100 years ago, and by the middle of the 20th century minimum parking requirements were the norm nationwide. The thinking was straightforward: As driving became more common, buildings without enough parking would clog up the streets and wreak havoc on surrounding communities.

Today, however, more urban planners and policymakers acknowledge that this policy is narrowly focused and shortsighted. As a data scientist who studies urban transportation, I focused my earliest research on this topic, and it shaped how I think about cities and towns today.

It’s encouraging to see cities rethinking minimum parking requirements – but while this is an important reform, urban leaders can do even more to loosen parking’s grip on our downtowns.

Eliminating parking requirements

Despite research and guidance from the Institute of Transportation Engineers, it is extremely difficult to predict parking demand, especially in downtown areas. As a result, for years many cities set the highest possible targets. This led to excess parking that is vastly underused, even in areas with perceived shortages.

In 2017, Buffalo, New York, became the first large U.S. city to eliminate its minimum parking requirement as part of its first major overhaul of zoning laws in more than 60 years. This shift has breathed new life into downtown Buffalo by spurring redevelopment of vacant lots and storefronts. Researchers estimate that more than two-thirds of newly built homes there would have been illegal before the policy change because they would not have met the earlier standards.

In the same year, Hartford, Connecticut, followed Buffalo’s lead and eliminated mandatory parking minimums citywide. Communities including Minneapolis; Raleigh, North Carolina; and San Jose, California, have since taken similar steps.

Tony Jordan, president of the nonprofit Parking Reform Network, has argued that once cities stop mandating specific levels of private parking, leaders need to be more thoughtful about how they manage public curbside parking and spend the revenues that it generates. Some communities have implemented maximum parking allowances to ensure that developers and their investors don’t add to the glut.

Reducing reliance on cars

Parking mandates aren’t the only lever that city officials can use to make their downtowns less car-centric. Some local governments are now asking developers to help reduce overall traffic levels by investing in improvements like sidewalks, bike storage and transit passes.

This approach is typically called transportation demand management, or modern mitigation. It still leverages private investment to serve the public good but without a singular focus on parking.

And unlike parking requirements, this strategy helps connect buildings to their surrounding communities. As urban planning scholar Kristina Currans explained to me in an interview, traditional parking requirements ask developers to fend for themselves. In contrast, transportation demand management policies require them to consider the surrounding context, integrate their projects into it and help cities function more efficiently.

This approach dates back at least to 1998, when Cambridge, Massachusetts, introduced a policy requiring developers to produce a transportation demand management plan whenever they add new parking. That policy has now outlived the city’s minimum parking requirements, which Cambridge eliminated for all residential uses in 2022.

Newer policies tend to incorporate point systems or calculators that link different strategies directly to their potential impact on car use. These tools are common in cities across California, where state law now requires city planners to evaluate how much new car use each new development will generate and take steps to limit the impact. Policies such as charging users directly for parking spots or offering employees cash in exchange for giving up their spot are among the most effective.

Lessons from Madison

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s State Smart Transportation Initiative, which I direct, along with UW’s Mayors Innovation Project, has outlined policies like these in a guidebased on our earlier work with the city of Los Angeles. We recently collaborated on a new transportation demand management program in Madison.

This program initially faced some pushback from developers, but their input ultimately made it better. It passed the city’s Common Council unanimously in December 2022.

For their projects to be approved, developers now must earn a certain number of traffic mitigation points based on how large their project is and how many parking stalls they propose to include with it. For example, providing information to visitors and tenants about different travel options earns one point; providing secure bike storage earns two points; offering on-site child care earns four points; and charging market-rate parking fees is worth 10 points. Scaling back planned parking can reduce the number of points they need to earn in the first place.

While parking is no longer required in many parts of Madison, this new policy adds a layer of accountability to ensure that developers provide access to multiple transportation options in environmentally responsible ways. As urban leaders look for meaningful opportunities to reduce their cities’ contributions to climate change, we may soon see other cities following suit.

In 2022, the African region accounted for the highest level of hunger as described by Global Hunger Index. According to the World Health Organization, over 340 million Africans were undernourished and severely food insecure between 2014 and 2020.

Low agricultural productivity and post-harvest losses are some of the reasons.

Evidence from the past two decades suggests that genetically modified (GM) crops could resolve low agricultural productivity, nutrition and food insecurity on the continents. 

But the technology is controversial. In Africa, only Nigeria, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Malawi, Sudan, South Africa and Kenya allow commercial production and importation of GM products. Other African countries oppose them, largely because of the European Union (EU) stance on GM products, limited scientific capacity and the high cost of regulation.

The EU’s strict regulations on GM products have affected its trade partners, including countries in Africa. Egypt and Burkina Faso, which had commercialised GM maize and cotton in 2008, backtracked on GM partly because of their trade relationship with the EU.

In 2013 I led the largest study in the history of GM agriculture in Africa. It provided new perspectives on the status, development and regulation of GM crops, through the views of 305 stakeholders in six African countries.

In the study, my team and I developed a framework for adopting GM crops which we called fibre-feed-food (F-3). The F-3 framework adopts GM cotton (fibre) first, followed by GM feed for livestock, then GM food. It ensures that all necessary risk assessments are carried out between GM cotton and GM feed before producing GM food for human consumption. And it helps familiarise farmers and the public with new technology and allay their concerns about safety.

The framework has helped more than 30 African countries conduct GM crop field trials. GM products undergoing research and development include vitamin A-fortified cassava and potatoes, bacterial wilt-resistant banana and water-efficient maize, among others.

Based on my research in this area I believe that agricultural innovations such as GM crops or organisms have the potential to address food insecurity in Africa.

The promise of GM crops

The technology is already contributing to global food security. A report by the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications credits GM technology for the global production of 330 million tonnes of soybean and 595 million tonnes of maize over the past 25 years. The adoption of GM technology among cotton producing households in India reduced food insecurity by 15%-20% between 2004 and 2008.

Research into the value gained from planting GM crops has shown that 65% of the gain came from higher yield and production and 35% from lower costs.

Farmers in developing countries have enjoyed over half of the global value gain of US$186.1 billion since the mid-1990s. In 2019, Brazil, Argentina, India, Paraguay and China were among the 10 countries that planted the most GM crops in the world.

GM technology also offers higher nutrient content in crops. For example, a trial of sweet potato bio-fortified with pro-vitamin A succeeded in Mozambique and the product was accepted by young children. This potentially improves child health.

GM crops showed environmental benefits by reducing greenhouse gases and pesticide use in developed countries. For example, a 2020 study suggested that GM technology worldwide prevented the emission of 23.6 billion kilograms of carbon dioxide. It means that the technology can help tackle global warming.

Obstacles to GM crops in Africa

In spite of these benefits, GM crops have not been widely adopted in Africa. Efforts to create and commercialise GM products still face stiff opposition. Uganda and Nigeria, for example, face strict regulation, limited research capacity and safety concerns.

In Uganda, a biosafety regulatory logjam, lack of awareness and politics undermine the application of GM technology. Different national biosafety policies have emerged over the past decade.

Potential risks of GM crops have led to the review and amendment of GM laws. The risks include gene flow (genes being transferred to another population), biodiversity loss and health related concerns. In 2018, a bill to regulate GM organisms in Uganda failed to be passed into law. The failure derived from disagreement between the Ugandan parliament and the president. The overwhelming majority of parliament cited risks as the reason for outlawing GM organisms in the country.

The scientific community, led by the Ugandan National Agricultural Research Organisation, argues that regulations would facilitate research and development. Then there would be information to base decisions on. A decision to adopt organisms such as GM banana, for example, might reduce malnutrition and poverty.

In Nigeria, a national biosafety bill was passed into law and approved by the former president, Goodluck Jonathan, in 2019. Nigeria then commercialised GM cotton. This was followed by GM cowpea to control pod borer insects, which account for a 70%-80% loss of cowpea yield annually.

Cowpea is a major source of protein and energy, especially for rural dwellers. Yet some scientists, environmentalists and consumers in Nigeria are still wary of GM cowpea. They argue that it could eradicate the use of traditional cowpea and farmers might not be able to afford the price of GM cowpea varieties.

Other scientists and agro-biotech companies believe that GM cowpea can reduce food scarcity and offer nutritional benefits. Acceptance depends a lot on local evidence. And that requires scientific capacity and partnerships with private research institutes.

What must be done

Resilient food systems require a wide range of existing and new agricultural technologies, including GM organisms. There are several ways to encourage uptake:

• increase investment in research and innovation for agricultural biotechnology

• educate and train scientists

• get local scientists involved in setting the research agenda and providing evidence to inform national decision making

• exchange ideas and information across different levels of government

• create awareness through science communication informed by local evidence of benefits and concerns.

Policy, research and science communication must align. The goal is to ensure GM foods are safe to eat, and help end hunger and malnutrition.