Population of the world today...And Still Counting

THE POPULATION of the world today is about 200,000 people larger than yesterday. 
The world population clock LIVE shows you in real time how fast it’s actually going. 
This development will put enormous pressure on Earth’s resources and we’ll need to 
find more sustainable ways of living. 

And fast! 

A growing population
By 2025, world population will be over 8 billion people. 
Around 2040 it could hit 9 billion and by 2100 it could reach a massive 11 billion people.

And a much bigger world economy
The world economy could grow a massive 26 times in this century. This will put enormous pressure on Earth’s resources. And we are already overusing at 160 percent…

Something must change
If we don’t start radically changing the way we consume the planet, we will be heading for a complete collapse of our consumer society. At current trends, the planet cannot sustain twice as many people and a 26 times larger economy.

A new industrial revolution
There is a need for a new industrial revolution where economic wealth goes hand-in-hand with environmental and social sustainability. And fast. We are reaching critical tipping points beyond which it will be too late to reverse negative trends. 

Culled from:
http://www.theworldcounts.com/counters/shocking_environmental_facts_and_statistics/world_population_clock_live

Africa: 70percent Working Age Population Unemployed

Image by: SokoDirectory

INDUSTRIALISING Africa in a socially inclusive and environmentally 

sustainable manner was a major concern for African leaders, United Nations (UN) 

officials and representatives of international finance institutions and the private 

sector who all met on Thursday at the UN headquarters.

Their confab was to reaffirm their commitment to a broad-based international 

partnership. According to a UN Information Service, Vienna (UNIS) press 

statement, unemployment and poverty are very serious concerns for the continent.

The leaders noted that where over 70 percent of the working-age population is 

unemployed or has no job security in Africa, the situation has prompted the UN to 

declare 2016-2025 as the 'Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa 

(IDDA III)'. 

Both African leaders and development partners therefore

reiterated the importance of industrialization towards

eradicating poverty and ensuring that the continent’s fast-growing

population yields its demographic dividend. 

Describing lack of skills as the major problem in Africa, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn suggested that with an integrated industrial strategy, 

African states will hopefully mobilize funds, build the capacity of local employment 

and promote small, medium enterprises with domestic development projects.

African Union’s Commissioner for Trade and Industry, Albert M. Muchanga, noted: 

“Let me stress that, in line with the theme of this event -from political commitment 

to action on the ground - and the underlying principle of inclusiveness, it is my 

expectation that resources mobilized under the IDDA III will be deployed so as to significantly show benefits accruing to the ordinary Africans on the ground 

through decent employment, and access to high-quality, safe and affordable 

manufactured goods that are made in Africa, among other direct and tangible benefits.

“It is high time to move the IDDA III agenda steadily forward in order to foster inclusive

 and sustainable industrial development in Africa. Today’s presence of high-level participants from the public and private sectors, development financial institutions, 

the UN system, and bilateral and multilateral institutions confirms that Africa’s industrialization is of global importance,” said the UNIDO Director General LI Yong, 

whose agency is tasked with leading the implementation of IDDA III as well as implementing its new innovative approach to bring about the necessary 

structural transformation.

The IDDA III approach is based on a country-owned model known as the Programme 

for Country Partnership (PCP) that leverages financial and non-financial 

resources, promotes regional integration and mobilizes co-operation among 

Africa’s development partners according to a joint communique signed by 

the African leaders and UNIDO. 

World Environmental Health Day -September 26-27, 2017

THE THEME for this year's World Health Day (WHD), “Indoor & Outdoor Air Quality”; is with a focus on the effects of poor air quality, including both indoor and outdoor air pollution to the population, particularly children under five years.

Health experts says all these put the population at risk of developing lifetime 
respiratory complications from exposure to poor air quality. 

Holding at the Umfolozi Hotel & Resort, KwaZulu Natal Province, members of the Media are invited to cover the event on the slated dates of 26th and 27th September 2017 which is to kick-start from 9:00am. 

This year's WHD will be hosted in honour of the memory of the late Alfred Nzo, a ‘Health Inspector’ in Alexander, who’s experiences of poor living conditions of people in the Alexander township, forged much of the understanding of the lives of millions of South Africans in the 1950s.

Given this, the National Department of Health will present Alfred Nzo Environmental Health Excellence Awards to deserving municipalities, points of entry and environmental health students under the listed: categories:

• Best Performing Environmental Health Student
• Best performing Point of Entry in terms of Environmental health norms and standards
• Best compliant point of entry in terms of the international health regulations 2005
• Best performing municipality in terms of Environmental health norms and standards
• Best Improved Municipality in terms of Environmental health norms and standards
• Best Innovative Municipality in environmental health
• Best practice municipality in environmental health

While urging all South Africans to live a healthy life by keeping the environment clean and prevent the spread of diseases; key messages to be presented on the WHD as arranged by the Department of Health, include:

• Protect the air we breathe, protect the future
• Making all places safe for our children
• Know how poor air pollution affects your health

New Global Estimates on the Prevalence of Human Trafficking in 2017

YESTERDAY, THE  International Labor Organization (ILO) and Walk Free Foundation released their newest report estimating the number of victims of modern slavery across the globe: 24.9 million victims worldwide. This estimate, last calculated in 2012, looks at all types of human trafficking across sectors, economies, and geographical regions. It’s a critical number for anti-human trafficking advocates who depend on this estimate to communicate the growth and pervasiveness of this crime and to develop strategies to combat it.

Over the past three years, the ILO and Walk Free Foundation have worked to pilot a new methodology for measuring the number of people living in modern slavery. It draws on information from in-person interviews, surveys such as the Gallup Poll, and data from the International Organization for Migration on trafficking victims who have received assistance through their programs. The data for the report is based on random sampling from 54 surveys in 48 countries, and the final estimations are a combination of survey responses, secondary sources, and extrapolation based on the country’s vulnerability to modern slavery and total population.

The report breaks the number of enslaved persons into two categories: those who were forced into labor at some point during the last five years, and those who have been exploited for forced labor for the entire five years. This distinction between variability represents how many people are affected by modern slavery and for how long, important data when policy makers are making strategic decisions on the best ways to combat these crimes. This data will paint the clearest estimate of modern slavery to date, both globally and regionally.

According to the new estimate, human traffickers enslave approximately 24.9 million victims worldwide. Due to the new methodology, it is hard to definitively say that this number represents an increase from the 2012 figure of 20.9 million. However, whether this number is the result of an increase in prevalence or an increase in our ability to recognize enslaved populations, it still represents a rapidly growing and egregious human rights violation.

This report rebuffs the belief that most trafficked persons are primarily held for sexual exploitation. It estimates that 64 percent of all enslaved persons are trafficked into forced labor, 19 percent for commercial sexual exploitation, and 16 percent as part of state sponsored slavery. Breaking down these numbers by industry, domestic work, construction, manufacturing, and agriculture are among the most common.

Additionally, the report claims that more than 50 percent of men and women in forced labor exploitation are held using debt bondage, with that number increasing to 70 percent in the most pervasive industries listed above. The 2014 report, which focused on the profits from human trafficking, shows that although a majority of victims are trafficked for labor exploitation, that industry earned about $42 billion annually, while sexual exploitation earned traffickers a whopping $99 billion.

The global statistics in this report also dispel the idea that modern slavery is not an issue at home. While calculations in the report show that modern slavery is the most prominent in Asia and Pacific region, in the Americas is estimates that 1.3 of every 1,000 people are enslaved, representing five percent of the total enslaved population worldwide.

How to boost regional food security and prosperity

East and Southern Africa fertilizer and agribusiness leaders come to Maputo to discuss how to boost regional food security and prosperity

"We are pleased that the conference also has the commercial support of 

organisations like Ma’aden, OCP Africa, Cornelder and Bagtech who are 

sponsoring the conference"

LEADERS of fertilizer production and trade from across the region participated in discussions. 

In two weeks over 300 visitors from 28 different countries will join senior government figures 

and leading industry executives in Maputo, Mozambique. They will all gather to discuss 

the technical and commercial challenges facing the fertilizer and agribusiness industries in the region. 

The event is a three-day conference, including a gala reception hosted by OCP Africa, and is 

organized by CRU (www.CRUgroup.com) (a leading, independent, global fertilizers analysis, 

consultancy and events business) and The African Fertilizer Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP) 

AFAP-Partnership.org.

The conference opens with keynote addresses from the Government of Mozambique, a former 

commissioner of the African Union, the Secretary General of COMESA and a representative of Ma’aden, 

a leading global producer of fertilizers. 

The event continues with over 40 speakers from across the fertilizer agribusiness supply chain including 

leaders of Mozambique’s leading institutions, such as the country’s Ministry of Trade and Investment, the 

Association for Fertilizers (AMOFERT), the Confederation of Economic Associations (CTA) and the Agency 

for Investment and Export Promotion (APIEX).

The leaders of fertilizer production and trade from across the region will all be participating in discussions, 

including OCP Africa, ICL, Indorama, ETG, Farmers World and Chemplex. They will be joined by representatives 

of the development and investment community such as the African Development Bank, AGRA, One Acre Fund 

and the Alliance for Commodity Trade in East and Southern Africa (ACTESA). 

“With sessions on critical issues such as how the cost of fertilizer for the regions farmers, how supply chains of 

agricultural inputs can be improved and how local government and international suppliers of fertilizer can work 

in partnership to build strong agribusiness, the event will be invaluable” said Nicola Coslett, CEO of CRU Events.

“We are pleased that the conference also has the commercial support of organisations like Ma’aden, OCP Africa, 

Cornelder and Bagtech who are sponsoring the conference. 

With a sold-out exhibition featuring EMT, Biera Logistics, euragglo, Mediterranean Fertilizers, Yargus, 
Nectar Group and Tessenderlo, this event will be unmissable for everybody involved in the regions fertilizer 
and agribusiness sectors,” she continued. 

The East and Southern Africa Agribusiness Conference will be held on 9-11 October 2017 and full details of 
the conference can be found at AfricaFertilizerConference.com.

Historic media law changes deliver regional enhancements

NEW REFORMS passed the federal Senate last week to deliver a package of 

measures aimed at modernising Australia’s media laws to deal with major 

business disruption caused by internet publishing.

Changes include moves to improve regional media coverage and enhance 

diversity but also to formally increase the ABC’s focus on rural based reporting 

and stronger accountability measures.

Labour and the Greens opposed the historic reforms but the Coalition 

government secured a deal at the last minute, with the support of the 

Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) and One Nation, in the negotiations led by 

Communications Minister Mitch Fifield.

The NXT component of the reform package will see a $50 million Regional and 

Small Publishers Innovation fund created; a regional and small publishers 

program to support 200 cadetships; and 60 regional journalism scholarships.

An Australian Competition and Consumer Commission inquiry into the impact 

of the new digital environment on media will also be conducted.

The deal with One Nation - with leader and Queensland Senator Pauline Hanson 

and other party members highly critical of the $1 billion per year public 

broadcaster’s perceived bias - will see reforms implemented, as put forward by 

Victorian Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie, to enhance the ABC's focus on 

rural and regional Australia.

The One Nation component of the deal will also deliver a competitive neutrality 

review of the ABC and SBS and a $12m community radio package.

Regional Australia Institute CEO Jack Archer said the media reforms 

“had to happen”.

But said he couldn’t see how the mergers to now follow would give any certainty 

for the availability of quality local media in regional areas, in the long term.

“The investment that Xenophon secured will be useful in the short term for some 

small media companies but there’s no way it’s a game changer,” he said.

“In reality no-one knows what the regional media landscape is going to look like in 

five to 10 years.

“We can get information about local sporting results and community events on 

Facebook but can we rely on these platforms for scrutiny of local decision makers 

or to tell the local stories about life for people in the bush?

“Once the coming wave of mergers and restructures in corporate media are finished, government will need to take a hard look at whether regional people have good 

access to independent, quality sources of local news and information.”

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the changes would bring Australia’s media 

laws into the 21st century.

“This is all about protecting Australian jobs - this is all about ensuring that our 

media industry is able to compete effectively with the global online giants,” 

he said.

“The laws restricting ownership in the Australian media were written in a day, 

not just before the internet, but before pay television.

“They were written in another era, in another age and they should have been 

changed a long time ago, but for various reasons they haven't been, but now they 

have.

“My government has delivered reforms that are long overdue in media and 

we’ve done it - this is going to secure the future of the Australian industry.”

Senator Fifield said Australian media companies had been “lumbering” under 

the shackles of media laws designed in the 1980s when Kylie Minogue was still 

singing the ‘Locomotion’.

“They didn't reflect the world that we lived in and they were constraining our 

Australian media businesses from configuring themselves in ways to best 

support

their viability,” he said.

“Thanks to my Coalition colleagues, thanks to the support of the Prime Minister and 

can I particularly single out Senator Bridget McKenzie from the Nationals and 

Senator Dean Smith from my party, who have been great stewards of this 

endeavour with me and with my crossbench colleagues.

“What this package represents is a shot in the arm for Australian media 

organisations; it will give them a fighting chance.”

A major component of the government’s reform package will abolish redundant 

media ownership rules that shackle local media companies and inhibit their ability 

to achieve the scale necessary to compete with foreign tech giants.

Broadcast licence fees have also been abolished and replaced with a more modest 

spectrum charge, while there will also be a substantial reduction in gambling 

advertising during live sport on all platforms.

But diversity protections have been retained to ensure multiple controllers of 

television and radio licences and minimum numbers of media voices in all 

markets including a minimum of four independent media voices in regional markets.

The reforms will also see higher minimum local content requirements for 

regional television following trigger events, including introducing minimum 

requirements in markets across Victoria, SA, NSW, WA and the NT.

Fairfax Media CEO Greg Hywood welcomed the government’s changes to 

modernise media laws, while acknowledging the industry’s unified position 

on the legislation and thanking Malcolm Turnbull, Senator Fifield and 

cross-bench Senators.

Xenophon: reforms to address internet driven media “crisis”

NXT leader and SA Senator Nick Xenophon said the legislation dealt with the 

regulation of Australia's commercial media companies “which are in crisis thanks 

to the internet's disruption of established business models for journalism and 

publishing”.

“Broadcasters and publishers are operating in rapid technological change 

and intense competition for audiences and advertising revenue; not only 

from other media companies, but perhaps most fundamentally from 

foreign technology companies - Google and Facebook - which have aggregated 

news and content while separating publishers from digital revenue streams,” 

he said.

“Fewer and fewer journalists are churning out more and more digital product, 

but more and more of that is churnalism: recycled and repackaged PR handouts 

and celebrity trivia.

“The production of one form or another of click-bait appears to be an increasingly 

favoured business model in an environment of declining revenue, constant churn 

but ever more shallow content. 

“In this environment increasing PR manipulation, spin and fake news are i

ndicators of a deep malaise.”

But Senator Xenophon said the NXT supported the government's legislation to 

modernise media regulation and help the Australian industry to deal more 

effectively with the challenges they face.

“Many of us have long presumed that a free and vibrant media is essential for 

a well-informed citizenry and a vibrant democracy,” he said.

“But it can't be assumed that current media business models, especially in a 

market increasingly dominated by foreign technology companies, will necessarily 

serve that important democratic role.

“I don't think anyone could say our media industries are healthy today, and with 

that our democracy is not healthy either.”

Senator Xenophon said the NXT and government’s agreement would establish a 

one-off regional and small publishers innovation fund involving $18m worth of 

grants a year over three years, from the 2018/19 financial year.

He said the government would set up the fund so that the first round of grants 

could be announced no later than June 1 next year.

“The purpose of the fund is to assist small publishers to transition, compete 

and innovate more successfully in a changing media environment,” he said.

“The grants will be able to be used by publishers for initiatives that support 

the continuation, development, growth and innovation of Australian civic journalism, including initiatives that explore and expand the journalism funding model.

“In the context of this agreement 'civic journalism’ is defined as journalism that 

has the primary purpose of investigating and explaining public policy and issues of 

public interest or significance with the aim of engaging citizens in public debate and informing democratic decision making.

“Grants could be allocated, for example, to programs and initiatives such as the 

purchasing or upgrading of equipment and software, development of apps, and 

training, all of which will assist in extending civic and regional journalism.

“The criteria should be broad and flexible, but will not extend to the payment of 

salaries or costs directly associated with a particular journalistic initiative.”

Publishers with an annual turnover of not less than $300,000 in revenue and 

not more than $30 million in revenue will be eligible.

Large publishers such as News Corporation and Fairfax will be ineligible and 

public broadcasters, while funding grants would be capped at a maximum of 

$1m per year for any media group.

In addition, NXT and the Government have agreed to funding that can 

provide opportunities for students, including graduates, in regional areas 

to access journalism training.

Culled from: 

http://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/4938074/historic-media-law-changes-deliver-regional-enhancements/?cs=4698

WISH Supports Qatar-Based Participants on U.S. Mental Health Journalism Program

QATAR-base Journalists selected by the World Innovation Summit 

for Health (WISH) have received expert training in mental health journalism 

at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S., as part of the Rosalynn Carter 
Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism (RCJF) program. 

Journalists who formed the inaugural cohort of participants from Qatar in 
September 2016 were invited back to the Carter Center for this year’s RCJF 
gathering, which ran from September 11-13. They were joined by one of two new 
Qatar-based program participants who will spend the coming year developing a 
range of stories that highlight issues relating to mental health.

The RCJF program was established by former U.S. First Lady Rosalynn Carter 
in 1996. Since then, it has provided journalists around the world with valuable 
insights into mental health, offering a unique opportunity for participants to 
improve public understanding of mental health issues and help reduce the 
discrimination faced by people with mental illnesses.

The year-long program was brought to Qatar in 2016 as a result of a partnership 
between WISH and The Carter Center. WISH’s involvement with The Carter Center 
was first discussed in March 2015, when former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and 
former First Lady Rosalynn Carter traveled to Doha and met with representatives 
from WISH. During the meeting, areas of potential collaboration to achieve the 
shared goal of advancing mental health policy were explored. 
The Carter Center subsequently invited WISH to select a number of journalists to 
take part in the program.

Commenting on the collaboration with WISH, former First Lady Rosalynn Carter said: 
“We are delighted to work with the World Innovation Summit for Health to provide 
training and support for journalists in Qatar who seek to produce in-depth and 
accurate reporting of mental health issues and who share our desire to 
destigmatize mental illnesses.

“Too often we only hear about mental health in the news following a crisis or a 
tragic event. Yet, every day millions of people around the world living with 
mental illnesses go to work, care for their children, and contribute to their 
communities. They are valuable members of society, and their stories 
deserve to be told.”

The first cohort of fellows from Qatar – Tarek Bazely, Buthaina Al Janahi, 
Aney Mathew, and Kathy Hearn – traveled to Atlanta in September 2016, 
where they received advice and training from experts in the field and gave 
details of mental health journalism projects they planned to undertake during 
the year of their fellowships. They returned to Atlanta this month to give 
presentations to the former U.S. First Lady on the work they’d undertaken to 
highlight mental health issues since joining the program, as well as to the 
program’s task force members, and advisory board. 

Speaking about his year taking part in the program, Tarek Bazley, Science and 
Technology editor, Al Jazeera English, said: “The fellowship with the Carter 
Center and our engagement with WISH has enriched and added depth to our 
global coverage of the universal issue of mental health.”

Buthaina Al Janahi, columnist at Al Arab newspaper, added: “This program helps 
journalists become the catalysts for reform around mental health policies.”

The two new fellows who have joined the 2017-18 program are Jawahir 
Al-Naimi, Assistant Producer at Al Jazeera English, and Samira Barre, a freelance 
writer and filmmaker who is also co-founder of Hersare Foundation, a Somali 
NGO supporting vulnerable and neglected people in Somalia and 
the Horn of Africa.

Barre was able to travel to this year’s gathering in Atlanta despite Hurricane 
Irma, which curtailed the plans of many of those from around the world 
planning to attend. Over the coming year, she aims to explore the need for and 
benefit of the existence of a strong support system for people living with mental 
illness and the impact that mental illness has on families. Al-Naimi did not 
travel to Atlanta but joined the meeting via video conference and spoke of her 
plans to use her fellowship year to raise awareness in Qatar about post-partum 
depression and in particular to identify the social factors that prevent mothers 
from seeking help.

Sultana Afdhal, acting Chief Executive Officer of WISH, accompanied the 
Qatar-based fellows to Atlanta. She said: “At WISH we have a long-standing 
commitment to raising awareness on mental health, and we believe that the 
media plays a crucial role in shaping public perception. Our partnership with 
The Carter Center offers an excellent opportunity to develop the highest standards 
of mental health reporting in Qatar. We are delighted to continue our partnership 
for the second year running, especially after seeing the positive impact of the work 
done by last year’s fellows.”

Since the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism were 
established, fellows have produced more than 1,500 stories, documentaries, 
books, and other works during and after their fellowship year. Their projects 
have garnered Emmy Awards, nominations for the Pulitzer Prize, and a range 
of other prestigious awards.

WISH is an initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and 
Community Development. Its partnership with the Carter Center 
underscores its longstanding commitment to raising awareness of issues 
around mental health, and developing evidence-based research to address 
related policy challenges, such as those facing dementia and autism. 

Culled from: https://www.albawaba.com/business/pr/wish-supports-qatar-based-participants-us-mental-health-journalism-program-1024106