{"id":221816,"date":"2022-10-17T12:00:39","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T11:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=221816"},"modified":"2022-10-11T04:39:55","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T03:39:55","slug":"africa-the-looted-continent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2022\/10\/africa-the-looted-continent\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa, the Looted Continent"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>10 Oct 2022 &#8211; <\/em><span class=\"meta\"><span class=\"st_email\"><span class=\"stButton\"><span class=\"chicklets email\">Africa. The birthplace of <i>\u201cHomo Sapiens.<\/i>\u201d The land of plenty. The origin of farming. The richest region in terms of natural resources. And human capital. Home to over 1.3 billion humans, continues to be looted.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"featimg\" align=\"center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-storypage_img  wp-post-image aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ipsnews.net\/Library\/2022\/10\/miners-640-629x416-629x416.jpg\" alt=\"Mineral supply chains are often linked to child abuse, human trafficking, forced labour and other human rights violations. Credit: Tommy Trenchard\/IPS\" width=\"387\" height=\"256\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>Mineral supply chains are often linked to child abuse, human trafficking, forced labour and other human rights violations. Credit: Tommy Trenchard\/IPS<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>With 500 million plus people living in extreme poverty, Africa has also been transformed in a sort of graveyard for half of the world\u2019s victims of terror. The continent is also the land with the highest suicide rate on Earth. Why?<span id=\"more-230433\"><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><em><b>Gold, diamonds, lithium\u2026<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p>\u201cThe evidence is there that the illegal exploitation of precious metals and minerals such as gold, silver and diamonds, are fuelling the extremists with significant sources of income, and benefiting the groups that control extraction, and trafficking routes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This is what the Head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unodc.org\/\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UNODC<\/a>) on 6 October 2002 stated, informing that the vast Sahel region in particular has become \u201chome to some of the most active and deadly terrorist groups.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>See some of the major facts <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unodc.org\/unodc\/en\/eds-corner\/biography.html\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ghada Waly<\/a> submitted to the UN Security Council:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Illegally mined gold and other precious metals are being fed into the legitimate market, providing huge profits for traffickers;<\/li>\n<li>Wildlife trafficking has also been reported as a possible source of funding for militias, with the illegal trade in ivory alone generating 400 million US dollars in illicit income each year;<\/li>\n<li>Around 3,500 victims of terrorist acts in sub-Saharan Africa last year, nearly half of those recorded worldwide;<\/li>\n<li>Such criminal exploitation strips the people of Africa of a significant source of revenue. It robs the millions of people who depend on these natural resources for their livelihoods. And it fuels conflicts and exacerbates instability;<\/li>\n<li>Mineral supply chains are often linked to child abuse, human trafficking, forced labour and other human rights violations\u2026 With 60% of Africa\u2019s population under 25 years of age, young people are both the future of the continent but also its most vulnerable citizens.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Ambassadors sitting in the UN Security Council heard these words. Five of them represent the world\u2019s biggest arms producers \u2013those used by terrorist groups\u2013 and their markets are the top beneficiaries of the business of exploiting precious minerals.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><strong>The illegal exploitation of precious metals and minerals such as gold, silver and diamonds, are fuelling the extremists with significant sources of income, and benefiting the groups that control extraction, and trafficking routes\u2026 \u2013 The vast Sahel region in particular has become \u201chome to some of the most active and deadly terrorist groups\u201d, says the Head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3><em><strong>The highest suicide rate<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<p>But there is much more to tell. The very same day, 6 October, the World Health Organization (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.who.int\/en\/\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">WHO<\/a>) launching another horrifying data: Africa has the highest suicide rate in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/campaigns\/world-mental-health-day\"  target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">World Mental Health Day<\/a> on 10 October, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO\u2019s Regional Director for Africa, called for \u201csignificant investment\u2026to tackle Africa\u2019s growing burden of chronic diseases and non-infectious conditions \u2013 such as mental disorders \u2013 that can contribute to suicide\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>A couple of specific facts presented by the world specialised body:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Mental health problems affect 116 million people in the African region, up from 53 million in 1990.<\/li>\n<li>The continent also has six of the top 10 countries for suicide in the world, while for each suicide in Africa, there are an estimated 20 suicide attempts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><em><strong>Mental health deserves less than half a dollar<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<p>Despite the urgency of the problem, African governments allocate less than 50 US cents per person to treat mental health problems, says WHO. This is five times more than in 2017, but it is still well below the recommended 2 US dollars per person for low-income countries.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, mental health care is generally not included in national health insurance schemes, WHO said, noting that in Africa, there is only one psychiatrist for every 500,000 inhabitants.<\/p>\n<p>This is 100 times below the WHO recommendation.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, mental health workers mostly work in urban areas, often leaving rural communities without any support. \u201cMental health is integral to wholesome health and well-being yet far too many people in our region who need help for mental health conditions do not receive it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><em><strong>\u2018Old\u2019 and \u2018modern\u2019 robbery<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<p>The robbery of Africa is not new. European merchants in the early years of 16th century initiated the known as the Transatlantic slave trade. Tens of thousands of Africans were hunted mostly in West Africa, loaded in the holds of ships, chained, minimally fed to keep them alive, surrounded by rats, and shipped for European colonies in the Americas.<\/p>\n<p>Then, in the 1880s, in what became known as the \u201cScramble for Africa,\u201d European countries raced to occupy the continent, seeking economic, commercial, and strategic profits.<\/p>\n<p>Once the European empires\u2019 military and economic powers were diminished following two World Wars, their African colonies started accessing independence in the early 1960s.<\/p>\n<p>But such independence did not last long.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Western-based private corporations have soon replaced the European-State colonisation, extracting oil, gold, diamonds and all sorts of precious metals and mineral resources, including highly demanded coltan and lithium, just to mention some.<\/p>\n<h3><em><strong>Climate catastrophes, migration\u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<p>The world scientific community has repeatedly informed that while Africa produces between 2% and 3% of all gas emissions, the continent carries the burden of over 80% of all climate catastrophes, majorly generated by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.<\/p>\n<p>As a consequence of its impoverishment and the unbearable load of external debts, the abuses of world\u2019s trade, the continued exploitation, the induced corruption, and the severe droughts and floods, Africa is now home to 1 in 2 humans living in extreme poverty, and hunger.<\/p>\n<p>No wonder then that thousands of Africans continue to attempt to escape poverty and hunger, fleeing to Europe in search of jobs that allows them and their families to survive.<\/p>\n<p>Hundreds of them have drowned in the sea, and those who have managed to survive continue to be prey to human smugglers and traffickers who force them into \u2018modern\u2019 slavery, sexual exploitation, trade in vital organs, etcetera.<\/p>\n<p>And anyway, those who finally reach European lands are now being pushed back, shipped to other countries in exchange for money, and swept away to States with high records of human rights abuses.<\/p>\n<p>The looting of a whole continues unabated.<\/p>\n<p><em>_____________________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/baher-kamal-e1454666328650.jpg\" ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-67245\" src=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/baher-kamal-e1454666328650.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"100\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a> Baher Kamal, <\/em><em>a member of the <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/\" >TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a><em>, <\/em><em>is an Egyptian-born, Spanish national, secular journalist, with over 45 years of professional experience \u2014 from reporter to special envoy to chief editor of national dailies and an international news agency. Baher is former <\/em><em><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ipsnews.net\/author\/baher-kamal\/\" >Senior Advisor<\/a> <\/em><em>to the Director General of the international news agency <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ipsnews.net\/\" >IPS (Inter Press Service)<\/a> and he also contributed to prestigious magazines such as <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/\" >TRANSCEND Media Service<\/a>, GEO, Muy Interesante, <em>and<\/em> Natura, <em>Spain<\/em>. <em>He is also publisher and editor of<\/em> Human Wrongs Watch.<\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/human-wrongs-watch.net\/2022\/10\/10\/africa-the-looted-continent\/\" >Go to Original \u2013 human-wrongs-watch.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>10 Oct 2022 &#8211; Africa. The birthplace of \u201cHomo Sapiens.\u201d The land of plenty. The home of over 1.3 billion humans, with 500 million plus living in extreme poverty, continues to be looted. It is a sort of graveyard for half of the world\u2019s victims of terror and the land with the highest suicide rate on Earth. Why?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":221817,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[237,131,532,405,550],"class_list":["post-221816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-africa","tag-africa","tag-africom","tag-colonialism","tag-colonization","tag-corruption"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}