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Water justice & climate solutions: Policy makers urged to listen to voices of minority and indigenous people
Policy makers have been urged to listen to the voices of the minority and indigenous people as they have the key to unlock water justice and climate solutions.
Speaking at the launch of a report by the Minority Rights Group (MRG), the Co-Executive Director at Minority Rights Group, Madam Claire Thomas added that mostly it was the minority who felt the brunt of water crisis.
The report titled ‘Minority and indigenous trends report 2023: People- Process- Planet; sheds light on the effect of the situation on minority communities and how systematic discrimination had left many minority and indigenous communities with precarious access to safe drinking water.
It brings together voices and knowledge systems of over 35 indigenous and minority wisdom keepers at plenatary level, for real and effective action against water crisis.
It again revealed human activities that had led to disruptions in the global water cycle, leading to enormous consequences to millions of people and also takes an indebt look at the linkage of the situation to colonialism, which led to the global commercialization and predation of water and exposes how it was being used as a weapon for the marginalization of minority groups.
It again focused on the ongoing global water crisis which had become critical challenges that is facing humanity, like climate change, biodiversity loss and food insecurity and explores human rights implications of collapsing water systems.
The report contain three in-depth chapters, 35 case studies detailing the 10 most pressing intersectional aspects of the global water crisis, like access, sanitation, pollution, floods, drought, infrastructure, conflict, usage, governance and culture.
It highlights how systemic discrimination has left many minority and indigenous communities with precarious access to safe drinking water as governments and private water companies fail to invest enough resources in the areas where they live, even when they often face displacement by these water infrastructure projects that do not benefit them.
It further highlights that many minority and indigenous populations bear the brunt of water-related disasters, such as floods and drought, while facing exclusion in the emergency relief efforts that follow. And also touched on the indigenous peoples’ deep spiritual connections to the waters on their traditional lands and their centuries’ long experience of managing water sources render them especially vulnerable when these interlink ages are disrupted.
Madam Thomas stated that listening to minorities and learning from them was part of the solution to water crisis.
For his part, Nicholas Salazar Sutil, Commissioning Editor at MRG said “the solution are right before our noses.
Indigenous peoples and minority groups are offering water conservancy and water regeneration systems of knowledge that will help restore water cycles if adopted , which based on thousands of years of practices are evidence of achieving climate cooling, mitigation of extreme water events.
For instance she said there were terrible reports from floods in Pakistan of minorities being left without emergency relief, as well as similar reports from other parts of the world.
She said major concern in the report was an abuse of the rights of those who lived closest to water and often furthest away from infrastructure –minorities and indigenous peoples arguing that not only is it not enough to say that these people hold the key to climate solutions, but that water justice must also focus on the position and responsibility of majority groups.
For her recommendation she called on governments and corporations to uphold the fundamental right of every person to safe drinking water and sanitation, regardless of their status, vis-à-vis race, ethnicity, religion, language, caste, descent.
BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH FOLLEY
News
NPP condems arrest of Okatakyie Afrifa Mensah
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) has condemned the arrest and detention of Okatakyie Afrifa Mensah by operatives of the National Security.
In a statement signed by the General Secretary, Justin Kodua noted that “This unlawful action by the marauding operatives of the National Security is the latest installment of the ongoing series of state-sponsored attacks on the media by the NDC government, in their desperate attempt to silence the media and curtail press freedom.”
According to the him, “The Party condemns in no uncertain terms this state-sponsored lawlessness and commends the many well-meaning Ghanaians who spoke loudly against this shameful conduct by the National Security. We also commend the young people and the team of lawyers who stormed the National Security Secretariat this evening to see to the release of the abducted journalist.”
“The NPP wishes to remind President Mahama and his government that the Ghana that was bequeathed to them on January 7, 2025, was a free country. It was the bastion of democracy, underpinned not only by the existence of functioning democratic institutions but also by our unflinching commitment to upholding press freedom as enshrined in Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution,” they added.
Read the full statement below
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 19, 2025
*NEW PATRIOTIC PARTY CONDEMNS THE UNLAWFUL ARREST OF VETERAN JOURNALIST, OKATAKYIE AFRIFA MENSAH BY NATIONAL SECURITY OPERATIVES*
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) condemns the unlawful arrest and detention by operatives of the National Security, of Okatakyie Afrifa Mensah, a veteran journalist, who has been critical of the John Mahama administration.
This unlawful action by the marauding operatives of the National Security is the latest installment of the ongoing series of state-sponsored attacks on the media by the NDC government, in their desperate attempt to silence the media and curtail press freedom.
The Party condemns in no uncertain terms this state-sponsored lawlessness and commends the many well-meaning Ghanaians who spoke loudly against this shameful conduct by the National Security. We also commend the young people and the team of lawyers who stormed the National Security Secretariat this evening to see to the release of the abducted journalist.
The NPP wishes to remind President Mahama and his government that the Ghana that was bequeathed to them on January 7, 2025, was a free country. It was the bastion of democracy, underpinned not only by the existence of functioning democratic institutions but also by our unflinching commitment to upholding press freedom as enshrined in Chapter 12 of the 1992 Constitution.
In line with this commitment, the country also went through the painstaking process of repealing the Criminal and Seditious Libel Law in 2001, a process that was spearheaded by the immediate past President, H.E Nana Addo Akufo-Addo, who was then the Attorney General of the Republic.
It is therefore completely repugnant and unacceptable for the John Mahama administration to be using State Security to intimidate political opponents as well as media personnel in a bid to silence all critical voices This, in fact, is an egregious affront to our democratic and constitutional tenets.
We call on the Ghana Journalist Association, the Media Foundation of West Africa, Civil Society Organizations, and all stakeholders to join us in demanding an immediate cessation of this tyranny and growing culture of state-sponsored attacks on the media.
Enough is enough.
…Signed…
JUSTIN KODUA FRIMPONG
GENERAL SECRETARY
News
We have built enough buffers to pay all DDEP obligations – Finance Minister Ato Forson
Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has assured banks that the government has built sufficient financial buffers to meet all Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) obligations this year.
Speaking at a high-level meeting with over 22 Managing Directors of banks, he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to fiscal responsibility and restoring confidence in the financial sector.
“We do not intend to default,” Dr. Forson declared.
“All outstanding holdouts have been paid, and we have put in place the necessary buffers to ensure that every single DDEP obligation for this year will be met.”
The Minister explained that these buffers were created through fiscal discipline, strategic investment cuts, and prudent resource allocation.
As part of this approach, the government has reset goods and services expenditure to 2023 levels and is working to achieve a primary surplus of 1.5% to sustain economic stability.
He also announced plans to submit a fiscal responsibility rule to Parliament, which will set a debt ceiling that the Ministry of Finance cannot exceed.
This measure aims to prevent excessive borrowing and reinforce financial discipline.
Beyond ensuring timely DDEP payments, Dr Forson revealed that the government is taking deliberate steps to reduce reliance on the Treasury bill market.
By improving coordination between fiscal and monetary policies, the government aims to stabilize interest rates and ease liquidity pressures on the banking sector.
Source: Myjoyonline.com
