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World not adequately prepared for disasters, report says

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2 years ago

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UNITED NATIONS, UNITED STATES — Earthquakes, floods, storms — the world is not adequately prepared to face increasing disasters, said a report published Tuesday calling for a rethink on global risk management.

Since 1990, more than 10,700 disasters have affected over six billion people worldwide, according to data from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.

In 2015, the international community adopted global goals to lower casualties and damage by the year 2030 by investing in risk evaluation and reduction, as well as disaster preparedness, in a declaration known as the “Sendai Framework.”

However it is “highly unlikely we will meet the Sendai Framework goals by 2030 given current trends,” said a report by the International Science Council, which includes dozens of scientific organizations.

Floods and storms, which have been exacerbated by climate change, top the list of disasters and account for 42 per cent of the total.

The cascading disasters are “setting back hard-won development gains in many parts of the world,” the report says.

“Far too little attention and investment is put to long-term planning and prevention, from strengthening building codes to adopting hazard alert systems,” said Peter Gluckman, president of the ISC.

This lack of preparedness comes even as the international community is quick to mobilize after disasters like the recent earthquake in Turkey and Syria, he added.

Mami Mizutori, UN special representative for disaster risk reduction said “the multiple challenges of the last three years have laid bare the fundamental need for greater global readiness for the next disaster.”

“We need to reinforce our infrastructure, communities, and ecosystems now, rather than rebuild them in the aftermath,” she added.

The report additionally drew attention to resource allocation issues. For example, only 5.2 percent of aid for developing countries for disaster response between 2011 and 2022 was dedicated to risk reduction. The rest was allocated to relief and post-disaster reconstruction.

The ISC calls for the widespread deployment of early warning systems, noting that 24 hours’ notice of a storm could reduce damage by 30 per cent.

A report released in late January by the UN General Assembly also noted that countries were not on track to meet goals under the Sendai framework.

Not only is the number of people affected by disasters each year increasing, but so is the direct damage, which reached an average of $330 billion per year during the 2015-2021 period.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore hangs 14th drug convict since last year

Singapore executed Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted of drug trafficking, amid a resumption of executions in 2022. Another woman prisoner, Saridewi Djamani, faces execution.

Amnesty International urged Singapore to halt the executions, questioning the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

Published

1 year ago

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26 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore on Wednesday hanged a local man convicted of drug trafficking, officials said, two days before the scheduled execution of the first woman prisoner in the city-state in nearly 20 years.

Mohd Aziz bin Hussain, convicted and sentenced to death in 2017 for trafficking “not less than 49.98 grams” (1.76 ounces) of heroin, was executed at Changi Prison, the Central Narcotics Bureau said in a statement.

The 57-year-old was the 14th convict sent to the gallows since the government resumed executions in March 2022 after a two-year pause during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hussain’s previous appeals against his conviction and sentence had been dismissed, and a petition for presidential clemency was also denied.

A woman drug convict, 45-year-old Saridewi Djamani, is scheduled to be hanged on Friday, according to the local rights group Transformative Justice Collective (TJC).

She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, Djamani would be the first woman executed in Singapore since 2004, when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, according to TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

Singapore has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws — trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis or over 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the executions, saying there was no evidence the death penalty acted as a deterrent to crime.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

Singapore, however, insists that the death penalty has helped make it one of Asia’s safest countries.

Among those hanged since last year was Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, whose execution sparked a global outcry, including from the United Nations and British tycoon Richard Branson, because he was deemed to have a mental disability.

— AFP

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AFP

Singapore to execute first woman in nearly 20 years: rights groups

Singapore set to execute two drug convicts, including first woman in 20 years, despite rights groups’ calls to stop.

Published

1 year ago

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25 July 2023

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SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE — Singapore is set to hang two drug convicts this week, including the first woman to be sent to the gallows in nearly 20 years, rights groups said Tuesday, while urging the executions be halted.

Local rights organisation Transformative Justice Collective (TJC) said a 56-year-old man convicted of trafficking 50 grams (1.76 ounces) of heroin is scheduled to be hanged on Wednesday at the Southeast Asian city-state’s Changi Prison.

A 45-year-old woman convict who TJC identified as Saridewi Djamani is also set to be sent to the gallows on Friday. She was sentenced to death in 2018 for trafficking around 30 grams of heroin.

If carried out, she would be the first woman to be executed in Singapore since 2004 when 36-year-old hairdresser Yen May Woen was hanged for drug trafficking, said TJC activist Kokila Annamalai.

TJC said the two prisoners are Singaporeans and their families have received notices setting the dates of their executions.

Prison officials have not answered emailed questions from AFP seeking confirmation.

Singapore imposes the death penalty for certain crimes, including murder and some forms of kidnapping.

It also has some of the world’s toughest anti-drug laws: trafficking more than 500 grams of cannabis and 15 grams of heroin can result in the death penalty.

At least 13 people have been hanged so far since the government resumed executions following a two-year hiatus in place during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International on Tuesday urged Singapore to halt the impending executions.

“It is unconscionable that authorities in Singapore continue to cruelly pursue more executions in the name of drug control,” Amnesty’s death penalty expert Chiara Sangiorgio said in a statement.

“There is no evidence that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect or that it has any impact on the use and availability of drugs.

“As countries around the world do away with the death penalty and embrace drug policy reform, Singapore’s authorities are doing neither,” Sangiorgio added.

Singapore insists that the death penalty is an effective crime deterrent.

— AFP

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