Tag: TerroristAttack

Energy and Power

The Gates Letter, 2015

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The release of an annual letter from Bill and Melinda Gates has become an event akin to the State of the Union Address for the international development and health crowd. The big highlights from this year: The Gates’ predict what life will be like in 2030, including worldwide child deaths halved; diseases like, polio, guinea worm and river blindness will be eradicated; and a cure for malaria. Also, the Gates’ announce an ambitious plan to organize “global citizens” and are ambitiously backing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Read the letter. Read a news story about the letter from Reuters.

Why Obama’s India visit is such a big deal…President Obama is heading to India this weekend. This is the first time that a president will visit India twice while in office. Tanvi Madan of Brookings explains the significance of this trip, what can be expected on the climate change front and why this trip could have profound historic consequences. (Global Dispatches Podcast http://bit.ly/1yVcGMR)

Saudi Arabia’s long King Abdullah has died at the age of 90. He was best described as a cautious reformer.  The transition to Prince Salman seems to be smooth, at least on the surface. NYT http://nyti.ms/1yVchKk

Is private equity really hot for sub-saharan Africa? The Economist thinks so. http://econ.st/1CHO2wo

Ebola

Sierra Leone said on Thursday it would reopen schools across the country in March, with the deadly Ebola epidemic slowing throughout west Africa. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1E6B6V3)

Even though the Ebola outbreak in West Africa continues, the U.N. says it’s time to plan for the recovery of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. A joint mission has just completed its assessment in Sierra Leone. (VOA http://bit.ly/1t2AaNp)

Recent news reports indicate a drop in the number of new cases the three countries hardest hit by the Ebola: Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.  Some treatment centers built with foreign aid are operating at a fraction of their capacity.  Health care specialists say now’s the time to focus on revitalizing weakened health care systems. (VOA http://bit.ly/1t2AjAp)

Africa

The Democratic Republic of Congo‘s Senate has announced a one-day delay for its vote on a proposed electoral law that has sparked days of violent protests. Senators now say they will vote Friday on the bill, which would require completion of a national census before a presidential election can be held. (VOA http://bit.ly/1t2AcVr)

Nigeria should delay next month’s elections to give organisers more time to distribute millions of biometric ID cards to voters, the country’s top security official said on Thursday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1CGddPT)

Madagascar’s opposition is to challenge the appointment of Prime Minister Jean Ravelonarivo in the constitutional court after the administrative court said it would not hear the case, extending uncertainty in a country struggling to repair its economy. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1yJMCTa)

A new report by Human Rights Watch accuses the Ethiopia’s government of systematically cracking down on media ahead of the May 2015 elections. The report, released Thursday, details how Ethiopia has restricted independent reporting since 2010. (VOA http://bit.ly/1y3sq9r)

In Kenya, the rise of drug resistant bacteria could reverse the gains made by medical science over diseases that were once treatable. Kenyans could be at risk of fatalities as a result if the power in antibiotics is not preserved. (VOA http://bit.ly/1y3sB4K)

An outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in Nigeria has spread to 21 commercial farms in seven different states, with more than 140,000 birds having been exposed to the virus, the agriculture minister said on Thursday. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1y3uXAC)

The slaughter of rhinos in South Africa hit a new record in 2014, with poachers killing 1,215 of the iconic savannah animals as Asian-led demand for their horn showed no sign of abating, authorities said Thursday. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1E6B8fC)

Chad’s President Idriss Deby has secured control of regional operations against deadly Boko Haram Islamists, riding roughshod over his supposed allies in a week-long diplomatic and military offensive. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1E6Ba78)

MENA

The Yemeni government has offered its resignation to President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, a source close to Prime Minister Khaled Bahah said on Thursday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1CjcwhD)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on world leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum on Thursday to unite against the global threat of terrorism. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1y3uRci)

Rights group Amnesty International said Thursday that Saudi Arabia would postpone the flogging of blogger Raef Badawi, whose case has sparked international criticism, for a second week on medical grounds. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1y3xLxK)

The U.N. agency in charge of aiding Palestinians will run out of money by the end of January to repair homes in Gaza damaged in the 2014 war with Israel, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation, an agency spokesman said on Thursday. (TRF http://yhoo.it/1Bi67lg)

It is an unlikely friendship that ties the fates of war correspondent Kenji Goto and troubled loner Haruna Yukawa, the two Japanese hostages for whom Islamic State militants demanded a $200 million ransom this week. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1ClB3CO)

It costs thousands of euros for a false passport and place on a boat to Turkey, but Syrian refugees stranded in Cyprus are ready to try anything. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1Bi6E6B)

Asia

Thirteen Vietnamese social activists say they were attacked by police and taken into custody after visiting recently freed dissident Tran Anh Kim. (VOA http://bit.ly/1y3rUZ4)

Pakistan says it wants an early repatriation of Afghan refugees in the country but does not intend to forcefully evict them. Meanwhile, Afghan officials are warning that unwarranted pressure on the refugee population as part of Islamabad’s increased counterterrorism measures could hinder bilateral ties. (VOA http://bit.ly/1t2zE20)

Cambodia has managed to reduce poverty in many parts of the country but admits it is still falling behind on many of its United Nations development targets as a deadline to reach such goals approaches. (VOA http://bit.ly/1y3rVMM)

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said Wednesday that China’s slowing economy reflected the broader, global situation and promised that he would forge ahead with major reforms to boost growth prospects. (VOA http://bit.ly/1y3rW3p)

The disclosure by a key United Nations witness, that parts of his testimony about his life in North Korean prison camps were untrue, is raising questions about the credibility of the U.N. report on human rights abuses in that country. (VOA http://bit.ly/1t2zHL9)

“We cannot be counted as citizens of the 21st century” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a hard-hitting message to the country during the launch of a nationwide campaign to save and educate girls. (VOA http://bit.ly/1t2Afkn)

Pakistan has outlawed two militant groups accused of plotting terrorist attacks in neighboring India and Afghanistan. The announcement comes before President Barack Obama’s trip to New Delhi this week. (VOA http://bit.ly/1yJLMWL)

Thailand’s former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra strongly defended herself in parliament before a vote by members on whether to impeach her for her role in a controversial rice subsidy scheme. (VOA http://bit.ly/1CGcC0C)

India will look to the United States for more private sector partnerships and technology to support a drive to expand its use of clean energy, as Washington looks to secure political support for a global climate change deal in 2015. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1Cjdjiu)

Myanmar’s government has accused ethnic rebels of trying to scuttle a nationwide peace deal, as tensions soar in the northern state of Kachin, where an activist said sporadic clashes between the army and insurgents have trapped more than 1,800 villagers. (AP http://yhoo.it/15vNQ8U)

The Americas

Amnesty International is calling on the Mexican government to investigate the army in the disappearance of 43 students in southern Mexico on September 26. (AP http://yhoo.it/1E7biIl)

A bill that would prohibit using federal money to pay for “any abortion” or for “health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion” has been approved by the US House of Representatives. (NPR http://n.pr/1Bit9IN)

Opinion/Blogs

Bill and Melinda Gates Want the UN to Get Real (Businessweek http://buswk.co/1E6Voxw)

Africa’s Economy Is Rising. Now What Happens to Its Food? (Upshot http://nyti.ms/1JdYD6r)

Microfinance not a quick escape from poverty, studies show (Humanosphere http://bit.ly/1JdYAHV)

Nigerians Don’t Need More Boko Haram Coverage, They Need Action (Vanity Fair http://vnty.fr/186mg3E)

Is USAID Helping Haiti to Recover, or US Contractors to Make Millions? (The Nation http://bit.ly/1yKfKbw)

Why Boko Haram Has Stepped Up Attacks in Nigeria (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/15tX5GK)

Double standards of celebrity humanitarianism (WhyDev http://bit.ly/1yOavHT)

Every movie rewrites history. What American Sniper did is much, much worse. (Vox http://bit.ly/1CGBeX9)

Heartfelt and provocative on Boko Haram (Storify http://bit.ly/1yOaseY)

Research/Reports

The United Nations asked governments on Thursday to submit plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions as the building blocks of a deal due in Paris in December to limit global warming, after scientists said 2014 was the hottest year on record. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1y3xAlQ)

Countries are divided on how a new global plan to reduce the risk of disasters should measure progress, with some governments opposed to setting numerical targets for cutting deaths and economic losses and protecting infrastructure. (TRF http://yhoo.it/1y3xHOi)

Discussion

comments…

Domestic Affairs

Mali Not Clear of Ebola

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Ebola in Mali…Mali is racing to control a fresh Ebola outbreak after confirming its second death from the disease, just when it appeared the country would be given the all clear. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1pQWJn8)

Getting serious about indoor air pollution…The WHO is issuing new guidelines aimed at reducing health-damaging household pollutants in order to reduce the number of people killed by indoor air pollution. (VOA http://bit.ly/1xOhhvp )

On the Docket for Thursday…USAID Admin Shah will deliver keynote remarks at the third Global Conference on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Human Rights and Inclusive Development on Friday at 11AM EST. And…The WHO will release new data on global progress against measles later today.

Ebola

More than 400 health workers at the only Ebola treatment centre in southern Sierra Leone went on strike on Wednesday over unpaid risk allowances the government is meant to fund, officials said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1pR0hFZ)

The U.N. peacekeeping chief is urging the Security Council to extend the mandate of its 7,000-member peacekeeping force in Liberia, as the Ebola crisis continues to strain national institutions and threaten gains made since that country’s civil war ended in 2003. (VOA http://bit.ly/1unMpCD)

Britain’s foreign secretary announced plans for 700 Ebola treatment beds in Sierra Leone within weeks, admitting the global response had been too slow as he visited the former colony. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1xOiToW)

The Ebola epidemic is still outstripping efforts to contain it, according to doctors from Médecins Sans Frontières who have mounted most of the early response in west Africa. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1EBoCm4)

Sierra Leone will make a one-off payment of $5,000 to the family of any health worker who dies as a result of treating an Ebola patient, authorities said, as a sixth doctor in the country tested positive for the virus. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1EBycoU)

Critical gaps in “behind-the-scenes” infrastructure are hampering Ebola response times and containment efforts in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, aid agencies and health workers say. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1pQWwQI)

Africa

South Sudan: Young boys dream of carrying kalashnikovs not books as arms airdrops and night raids for child soldiers make peace in the world’s newest nation ever distant. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1EBtQ11)

H&M, the world’s second-biggest fashion retailer, said that it made every effort to ensure its cotton did not come from appropriated land in Ethiopia but could not provide an absolute guarantee. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1pR1EnQ)

For subsistence farmers in rain-scarce Kenya, drip irrigation can mean the difference between hand-to-mouth survival and being able to grow an agricultural business. (TRF http://bit.ly/1EBzikH)

Medical experts say cervical cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer related deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa. A majority die of ignorance. Less than one percent of women are scanned for the disease. Free vaccination campaigns for 9 to 13 years old girls are ongoing. (VOA http://bit.ly/1EBzW1y)

A protester was killed and two others badly wounded after angry crowds accused UN troops of shooting a man in the head in the troubled east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, rights groups said. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1umJdHq)

Sudan’s government and rebels from South Kordofan and Blue Nile launched their latest round of peace talks Wednesday, as mediators called for an “urgent” end to over three years of war. (Yahoo http://yhoo.it/1xOhYF1)

Kenyan law provides for life imprisonment when a girl dies from FGM/C, which in addition to excruciating pain, can cause hemorrhage, shock and complications in childbirth. Officials are optimistic they can force a change in attitude but still worry that the practice is too ingrained for legal threats to have an impact. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1unMSVp)

MENA

Amnesty International on Wednesday criticised “woefully insufficient” steps taken by Qatar so far to end abuses of migrant workers building facilities for the controversial 2022 World Cup. (AFP http://yhoo.it/1xMMYVZ)

The U.N. World Food Program has begun distributing food vouchers to Iraqis displaced by war. The WFP gave out the first vouchers in Erbil to about 500 Iraqis last week. (VOA http://bit.ly/1EBwxzV)

Air strikes by U.S.-led forces in Syria have killed 865 people, including 50 civilians, since the start of the campaign in late September against Islamic State militants, a group monitoring the war said on Wednesday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1EBEFQH)

Asia

Myanmar’s transition from military rule has not been as fast as hoped and the government is “backsliding” on some reforms, U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview published on Wednesday. (Reuters http://yhoo.it/1EBFGbJ)

Furious protesters took to the streets in central India on Wednesday, smashing up cars and demanding the chief minister resign, as the death toll from a mass government-run sterilisation programme rose to 13. (AP http://yhoo.it/1pR6v8x)

A team of doctors rushed to central India on Wednesday after at least 13 women died and dozens of others fell ill following sterilization surgeries in a free, nationwide program aimed at limiting births in the world’s second-most populous nation, officials said. (AP http://yhoo.it/1EBEkxs)

Cambodia’s mainly agricultural society is changing fast, driven by urbanization and falling fertility rates. As young workers move to the cities, older people are staying back in the villages, where they have little support. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pQYL6z)

Seven Cambodian housing and land rights activists have been sentenced to a year in prison, just one day after they were arrested during a protest. The activists, who were protesting poor flood management in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak neighborhood. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pQZcOm)

Cambodia on Wednesday raised the controversial monthly minimum wage for garment workers by 28 percent, a decision likely to infuriate unions seeking a higher increase and revive calls for strike action. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pR2eC6)

The U.S. has expressed reservations about the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, but some experts say opposing the newly established bank may not a wise choice for Washington. (VOA http://bit.ly/1xOh0Zw)

The Americas

The number of Americans struggling to afford food has remained stuck near recession-era highs. But a recent Gallup poll suggests things may be starting to get back on track for some. (NPR http://n.pr/1pR2Ibm)

Colombia’s largest left-wing rebel group, the Farc, says it is sorry for killing two members of the Nasa indigenous group last week. (BBC http://bbc.in/1pR2tx5)

Cuba clearly is on the minds of the editors of the New York Times. In the last month the paper has published five weekend editorials in English and in Spanish asking the US administration to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba. (BBC http://bbc.in/1EBtwPQ)

The presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador will present the United States with a proposed plan to stem child migration from their countries. (AP http://yhoo.it/1unMrdU)

Opinion/Blogs

Militarizing Global Health (Boston Review http://bit.ly/1xhHs0D)

Obstacles to Development Arising from the International System (IPS http://bit.ly/1EBx8By)

Should NGOs jump on board the Payment by Results bandwagon? New research suggests proceed with caution (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/1xhH6Y0)

Sterilization deaths show India’s health care ills (AP http://yhoo.it/1EBFQzF)

When being on the fence is a good thing:  GMOs and loss of autonomy for African farmers (HURDL Blog http://bit.ly/1xhH1Uf)

ICAI report slams DFID’s anticorruption efforts, aid experts slam report (Dev Policy http://bit.ly/1xNeBht)

Why it’s time for Band Aid to disband… (Development Truths http://bit.ly/1xhGUIj)

Justice in Syria: If not the ICC, then What? (Justice in Conflict http://bit.ly/1xhHmpY)

Most Money for Health Is Subnational, But What Will Donors Do About It? (CGD http://bit.ly/1xOgsTe)

Research/Reports
Death rates of young children have dropped to record lows in developing countries. Experts say there are two main reasons for the decrease: improved government action and simple protective health measures. (VOA http://bit.ly/1pQYUXO)

Domestic Affairs

Will the USA Target ISIS in Syria?

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The Obama administration is sending strong signals that it may expand its air assault against ISIS to Syria, despite the fact that such a move would probably contravene international law. First, National Security Council advisor Ben Rhodes tells NPR that the USA is not ruling out hitting ISIS in Syria. Then, the Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey says this: “This is an organization that has an apocalyptic end-of-days strategic vision that will eventually have to be defeated. Can they be defeated without addressing that part of the organization that resides in Syria? The answer is no.” (NYT http://nyti.ms/1roTeo3)

Navi Pillay’s Parting Shot to the Security Council…Outgoing U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Navi Pillay  gave her final briefing to the UN Security Council. Her tenure ends at the end of the month, where she will be replaced by Prince Zeid of Jordan–who just happens to currently serve on the Council. Pillay was rather unsparing in her criticism of the ways in which divisions in the council prevented adequete responses to urgent human rights catastrophes. Money quote: “I firmly believe that greater responsiveness by this council would have saved hundreds of thousands of lives” (VOA http://bit.ly/1s5wZiA)

Ebola

The two U.S. patients who were treated for Ebola have been discharged from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, where they had been in an isolation ward since returning from Liberia early this month. They are the first patients treated for Ebola on American soil. (NPR http://n.pr/1wdDjLp)

South Africa said on Thursday that due to fears over the spread of the Ebola virus it was banning travellers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone from entering the country, apart from its own citizens. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1s4VFrr

Up to 30,000 people could have used experimental treatments or vaccines so far in the world’s worst outbreak of Ebola currently plaguing West Africa, British scientists said. (Reuters http://bit.ly/1s4W4u4)

While the Ebola epidemic continues to claim lives in West Africa, information technology specialists, together with radio and TV reporters, are battling misinformation and prejudice about the disease – using social media to educate the public about the deadly virus. (VOA http://bit.ly/1wdHWF4)

Hundreds of residents of a Liberian slum lined up to receive rice and water from government officials Thursday in their neighborhood which was sealed off from the rest of the capital in an attempt to halt the spread of Ebola. (AP http://yhoo.it/1we7vWy)

An emergency research call has been launched to help fight the world’s worst Ebola outbreak in West Africa, with the British government and the Wellcome Trust medical charity pledging a combined $10.8 million. (VOA http://bit.ly/1wdIlaI)

Africa

Children accused of being members of armed groups in the conflict in Mali are languishing in adult jails while human rights abuses continue, said Amnesty International. (ReliefWeb http://bit.ly/1wdC5jc)

A cash transfer scheme in Zambia provides a bi-monthly cash allowance of $25 and $50 respectively for vulnerable households and households where there are people with disabilities, to help people deal with shocks created by climate. (IPS http://bit.ly/1wdDTZq)

Uganda has been hailed as a success story in fighting HIV/AIDS, with prevalence rates dropping from 18 percent in 1992 to 6.4 percent in 2005. But activists fear a new HIV Bill will lead to lead to people shunning testing and treatment. (IPS http://bit.ly/1s4URmz)

The 40,000 people sheltering from South Sudan’s civil war in a flooded and crowded UN camp are enduring conditions “barely compatible with life and incompatible with human dignity”, and must be helped before disease and danger force them back into the conflict zone, MSF has warned. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1s4X0yA)

Fighting erupted in the Central African Republic capital Bangui, killing a humanitarian worker and injuring dozens of civilians hours after the UN said it would dispatch thousands of peacekeepers to quell religious violence. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1wdH2sh)

Human Rights Watch says South Sudan’s army used child soldiers during recent fighting against opposition forces in violation of international law. (VOA http://bit.ly/1wdIdI7)

The UN refugee agency called for East African countries hosting Somali refugees to make voluntary repatriation possible and sustainable. (VOA http://bit.ly/1wdIw5L)

West Africa must openly confront its political and governance weaknesses to curb the growing drug trade in the region, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said. http://yhoo.it/1wdIYkq

Former child soldiers in war-torn Somalia are being held in prison conditions in foreign-funded camps, “punishing” rather than rehabilitating them, the top UN children’s envoy said Thursday. http://yhoo.it/1s5wcOw

MENA

America has returned to war, of a sort, in Iraq with airstrikes that have intensified in recent days against Islamic State militants. But details about the execution of this limited campaign, which so far includes no reported U.S. ground combat, are thin. (AP http://yhoo.it/1we896t)

About 10,000 mourners on Thursday buried three senior commanders of the armed wing of Hamas who were killed in a predawn airstrike by Israel, the most significant blow to the group’s leadership since Israel’s operation in Gaza began more than six weeks ago.(NYT  http://nyti.ms/1roUoQi)

Asia

Sri Lanka’s government is scrambling to ease the impact of record harvest losses on millions of farmers as the country enters its tenth month of an acute dry spell. (IRIN http://bit.ly/1s4SLTu)

Thousands of rescuers combed through the wreckage of homes engulfed by landslides in western Japan on Thursday in the slim hope of finding survivors, a day after a wall of mud claimed at least 39 lives. http://yhoo.it/1wdJuyZ

Flooding in Cambodia has killed at least 45 people since last month, officials said Thursday. (AP http://yhoo.it/1we7lyA)

The Americas

Brazil expands labor rights for domestic workers through new legislation. (AP http://yhoo.it/1s50Jfy)

Police on Mexico’s Caribbean coast arrested 13 activists during a demonstration by Maya Indians against water rate hikes. (NYT http://nyti.ms/1roUtna)

Opinion/Blogs

South Sudan’s Looming Famine (UN Dispatch http://bit.ly/1nfAQq7)

How Uganda Stopped Previous Ebola Outbreaks (DW http://bit.ly/1s5yayk)

Microfinance in Jordan isn’t helping to empower women (Guardian http://bit.ly/1s5yvRI)

Can alternative economic indicators ever be any good if they are devised solely by experts? (From Poverty to Power http://bit.ly/1piMipH)

Shouldn’t “anti-poverty” and “pro-middle class” be synonyms? (Campaign for Boring Development http://bit.ly/1piMG7Q)

There always needs to be a product: ‘Self-reflection’, volunteering & the emerging development entertainment industrial complex (Aidnography http://bit.ly/1nfB7tn)

150 million bank accounts – is that enough? (IPA http://bit.ly/1piN32i)

Research/Reports

A new study finds cancer affects even simple, ancient multicellular organisms — which means the disease and the deaths it causes may simply be a part of life. (NPR http://n.pr/1wdDd6u)

The international community needs to stop looking at neglected tropical diseases as a sub-Saharan African problem and realize that the G20 countries are now home to the “lion’s share” of the dangerous, debilitating, yet low-profile illnesses, a US expert has warned. (Guardian http://bit.ly/1s4Yf0v)

Domestic Affairs

Canada Strengthens Ties with ASEAN: A Foreign Policy Priority

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August 9, 2014 – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today co-chaired with his Singapore counterpart, Foreign Minister Shanmugam, his fourth consecutive Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-Canada Post-Ministerial Conference.

During the conference, Baird announced the expansion of Canada’s diplomatic footprint in the region to include resident representation in Cambodia and Laos, bringing a Canadian presence to all 10 ASEAN member states. Baird had earlier announced a new, dedicated Canadian ambassador to ASEAN.

“Canada’s relationship with ASEAN is one of our key foreign policy priorities,” said Baird. “With the establishment of these new diplomatic resources, Canada is well placed to build upon this important relationship in the long term.”

Canada has been a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN for 37 years. The relationship has grown to become a comprehensive partnership, which through political, security, economic and socio-cultural cooperation is fostering job creation for Canadians as well as for our Southeast Asian partners.

“Canada’s commitment to ASEAN and the Southeast Asian region is clear,” said Baird. “We look forward to this relationship reaching its full potential, including at the Leaders’ level in the ASEAN-centred East Asia Summit.”

Baird also announced additional Canadian funding toward projects aimed at helping address security issues of shared concern in Southeast Asia and to enhance the ASEAN connectivity agenda.

“We continue to expand our regional engagement in areas that support ASEAN’s community-building objectives and that contribute to fostering peace, security and prosperity,” said Baird. “Economies flourish and people prosper in regions that are secure, stable, and where the rule of law is respected, both within and between states.”

For more information on Canada’s engagement with ASEAN, please visit Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). For more information on Baird’s visit, please consult Baird to Travel to East Asia to Talk Security and Prosperity. See also Address by Minister Baird at the Opening of the ASEAN-Canada Post-Ministerial Conference.

A backgrounder on some of the newly announced projects follows.

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Backgrounder – Security Projects

Baird announced additional Canadian funding in the amount of $14 million to help address security issues of shared concern in Southeast Asia and to enhance the ASEAN connectivity agenda. The projects include those to mitigate biological and nuclear threats; disrupt illicit flows while protecting legitimate trade; combat human smuggling activities; improve regional cyber-security tools; and work with our ASEAN partners to address the “foreign fighter” phenomenon and radicalization.

Another key focus of new Canadian programming will be bolstering border management capacities, particularly in ASEAN’s CMLV (Cambodia, Burma, Laos and Vietnam) states. Together, these projects will complement those of ASEAN to improve regional connectivity through information technology and the safe and secure movement of people and goods across borders, by sea, air or land.

Mitigate biological, chemical, and nuclear threats – $2.6 million

Several projects will be implemented to address the threat of biological, chemical and nuclear threats in the ASEAN region. These projects will provide chemical detection training and equipment, expertise to respond to biological threats and emerging diseases, as well as training in and development of specialized measures to mitigate the illicit trafficking of nuclear/radioactive materials and dual-use items. As a result of these initiatives, national capacities will be bolstered to prevent, detect and respond to a range of WMD threats in Southeast Asia.

Disrupt illicit flows while protecting legitimate trade – $4.4 million

Illicit flows must be prevented to facilitate and promote the free movement of people and goods. To this end, Canada will help to secure national and regional borders to ensure the legitimate flow of people, goods and services while mitigating the threats that can arise with more open borders. Air travel and the shipment of goods represent a target for terrorists and an avenue for exploitation by international criminal networks. Only a fraction of the over 500 million containers in transit globally by sea are inspected to detect illicit trafficking, and people are often smuggled aboard to bypass national border controls. These projects will serve to minimize an important barrier to foreign investment and economic development by strengthening border security and export control measures in the region.

Borders Initiative – $2 million

Canada will work to secure the borders between ASEAN’s CMLV member states to ensure the legitimate flow of people, goods and services, while mitigating the threats that can arise with more open borders, including the trans-boundary spread of diseases. The projects will focus on enhancing capacities to detect and combat human smuggling rings, drug trafficking and other activities by organized criminal networks; improving border controls to reduce the ability of criminal and terrorist groups to cross borders; and preventing, detecting and responding to serious threats to regional and international health and security posed by the spread of trans-boundary diseases.

Combat human smuggling activities – $1.6 million

Canada has been an active partner in the fight against human smuggling in Southeast Asia. Canadian expertise has been deployed to build the capacity of local authorities to disrupt, interdict and deter human smuggling ventures destined for Canada. The additional funding will continue the existing successful partnership with the International Organization for Migration to strengthen border security and management and train front-line law enforcement officials to combat the illicit movement of people.

Address the “foreign fighter” phenomenon and radicalization – $2.3 million

Similar to Canada, countries in Southeast Asia may be confronted with foreign fighters returning to their home countries further radicalized and with the training and experience to undertake terrorist attacks. Canada will foster greater cooperation with key transit states to improve information sharing about foreign fighters in transit and to strengthen the ability of source, transit and destination states to detect and disrupt the travel of these individuals.

Southeast Asia also faces significant challenges related to the detention and release of violent extremist offenders. Since violent extremist offenders are often mixed in with the general prison population while incarcerated, some detainees have been able to radicalize other prisoners. Through the provision of specialized training and equipment, Canada will work to help mitigate the threat of radicalization by denying recruitment opportunities for terrorist networks operating in Southeast Asia.