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the-desilittle-bird · 1 year

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Author's Note- I don't know where it came from. Also a bit slow phased and a bit lengthy. But I hope you all like it. Also, my first time writing for T'Challa. Also for those who are not aware, I also write on requests so you can send me requests for anything.

Thank you and Enjoy your reading!

Something New

T'Challa Udaku x Stark!Reader

Summary- Things go better than (Y/N) expected when she meets the royals of Wakanda...

Warnings- Obscene words 😅 nothing else

GIF Credits to @nicolyyyyy

The stress levels were peaking for the Avengers in the recent times. With an inner fallout and an external takeover of their authority was making every single one anxious.

(Y/N) Stark, the adopted daughter of Howard and Maria Stark and sister of Tony Stark, was allotted the work of being the diplomat on the Avengers' behalf and receive the King of Wakanda and his group.

Perhaps it was because of the accident in Lagos, Nigeria where Wanda had unintentionally killed their citizens, that she was chosen to do the job, instead of the UN workers. (Y/N) knew how it felt to lose control of their powers. The helplessness and the anxiety were the worst. And having similar powers like Wanda, she could clearly understand the girl.

As she stood in the airport, waiting for the royalty to show up, she reflected on her life in the last few months. For her, personally, it had been difficult after Ultron.

She was in a serious relationship with Steve Rogers, much to Tony's dismay. But the keyword was: was. After she found out about his "closeness" with Sharon Carter, (Y/N) just couldn't continue. For Steve, it was always Peggy or Sharon, never her.

Their strained relationship's thread finally broke when the Sokovia Accords came, dividing the entire team into two. While (Y/N) had decided that it was for the best to sign them, Steve had disagreed.

"They are here, Ms. Stark," one of her assigned assistants said meekly, making her look up to find a group of well dressed people walking towards them. A silent power and authority mixed with comfort and gentleness surrounding them.

A dangerous aura, (Y/N) had come to notice in her times and experiences as both, a SHIELD agent and an Avenger.

She greeted them with a bow of her head, "King T'Chaka." The older man smiled, a polite and a genuine smile unlike the fabricated one most people wear. "Our deepest condolences for what happened in Lagos. Our teammate is new and not proficient yet. She never intended to do so," (Y/N) spoke as she had practiced.

The King of Wakanda only smiled, nodding his head politely. "What happened is behind us, Ms. Stark. But the future lies ahead of us," T'Chaka said with a wisdom very few possessed. "Indeed, Your Majesty."

Perhaps her work won't be so hard, especially since the King was humble, unlike most of the men in power she has ever handled.

"I am sure this must feel like you are back in your days in business," T'Chaka said, making (Y/N) nod. "Yes," she replied, feeling the nostalgia surround her. Though (Y/N) of the present times hated how she behaved when she was younger. She was extremely arrogant and a narcissist woman who cared only for the dollars paid to her family business after a deal.

"Meet my son, T'Challa, Ms. Stark. He is the future of Wakanda, just as you and your brother are of Stark Industries," T'Chaka said proudly, placing a hand on his son's shoulder. (Y/N) glanced to the man beside the king, feeling her heart skip a beat as she noticed the handsome prince by the King's side.

"Your Majesty," she greeted, respectfully, as she was taught in the mannerism classes she had to take before this day. "Ms. Stark, it is a pleasure to meet you at last," T'Challa said, extending his hand. (Y/N) placed her significantly smaller hand in his, shaking it politely.

"Please, we can continue the formalities in our way," (Y/N) said, gesturing to the cars lined up for the party. (Y/N) eyed the women lined behind the king and his son, feeling a tad bit intimidated by the way they seem to access her.

T'Chaka noticed the way (Y/N) was looking at the Dora Milaje, chuckling, he spoke, "They are the Dora Milaje. An all women's elite group of warriors, bodyguards to the crown." (Y/N) nodded understandingly, smiling a bit.

"Must be interesting," she commented, making T'Chaka laugh. "I have heard that you yourself are proficient in combats," he said, as they walked towards the black cars. "Not much, Your Majesty. Only much to fit in as a SHIELD agent," (Y/N) said, feeling shy out of a sudden as she felt a pair of eyes on her back.

At last, with a bit of small argument, three Dora Milaje warriors, whose name (Y/N) was yet to know, settled in the first car; while (Y/N), her trusted driver, the King and T'Challa sat in the second Range Rover. The rest settled into the third car.

The atmosphere in the car remained between awkward and comfortable. (Y/N) was constantly keeping an eye on the outside world, watching for any security breach in the plan.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her coat, making her sigh, knowing way too well who it was. Accepting the call, she placed one earbud in her ear, keeping her voice below whisper, "What do you need?"

"Cool up, dear sister," she heard her brother's voice from the Bluetooth device, making her scoff rather loudly. She watched as all the pair of eyes in the car was on her. "Hang up, if you have no work, Tony," she hissed under her breath.

Tony was having the moment of his life as (Y/N) was getting frustrated rather too quickly. "Why are you getting riled up so quickly, sister. Is your company too hot?" (Y/N) could hear the smirk in his voice. "Shut up, Tony freaking Stark," she hissed.

Tony left out a heartfelt laugh, making (Y/N) even more irritated. "Oh come on, (Y/N). You can tell me," he said. "Shut the fucking up and hang up!" She exclaimed loudly.

(Y/N)'s eyes widened as she met the driver's eyes, suddenly feeling embarrassed as she felt T'Chaka and T'Challa's eyes on her. "Get lost, you bastard," (Y/N) hissed, hanging up before letting her head fall in defeat. "I am extremely sorry for my obscene words, Your Majesties," she apologized, biting down on her lip.

T'Chaka laughed while T'Challa's serious mask of expression changed into a beautiful smile. "These are normal in siblings, Ms. Stark. I hear them all the time from my youngest," T'Chaka assured, making (Y/N) smile.

Her advanced phone vibrated again, making her groan. Accepting the call without glancing at the caller ID, she threatened, "If you called me again, I am going to cut your precious jewel off you." "Someone sounds angry," Rhodey said sarcastically, ending with a chuckle.

"Rhodes? I am sorry," (Y/N) sighed, rubbing her face. "I am informed to tell you to take T'Chaka and T'Challa to the UN Headquarters directly," Rhodey said. "Directly? The meeting is supposed to be tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, but I guess, they have some work and tonight, there's a formal party. Inform them and find yourself a presentable dress," Rhodey hung up, making her sigh. "Is anything the issue?" T'Challa asked.

"I am supposed to escort you to the UN Headquarters and there is a formal party tonight," (Y/N) said, also letting the drivers of the other two cars know of the change in the plan.

Even before (Y/N) could process, it was already the time for the formal UN party. The entire day had been a whirlwind for her; tackling both the royals of Wakanda and her always bickering brother was a tough work.

She stood in front of the full mirror in her penthouse, looking at her reflection. The purple dress with plunging neckline with thin straps fitted her in the perfect places, bringing out the best in her. The dress was accompanied by her hair pulled back in a sleek ponytail; and a light makeup with no jewelry except the pearl earrings which once belonged to her mother.

"Are you ready?" Tony yelled from the living room, making (Y/N) smile as she grabbed her purse and walked out of her room. "Yes, Tones," she smiled as Tony looked her up and down. A smirk broke on his face, "So, the royalty is actually hot." (Y/N) rolled her eyes, walking to the entrance. "Shut up and let's go."

After a short drive of not more than 15 minutes, the Stark siblings were entering the hotel which held the party. The room was beautifully decorated in a subtle and formal way. The room buzzed of conversations and laughter.

While Tony left (Y/N) to go and speak to someone, it was T'Challa who approached her. "A beautiful lady such as yourself shouldn't be standing here, alone," he said, making her turn around with a smile. "My brother just went off to speak to some... I don't know," she replied with a nervous chuckle.

A silence fell between them as they side-glanced each other from time to time. To them, it felt like playing a game of hide and seek; trying to hide something (Y/N) was trying not to name.

The orchestral music filled the room as (Y/N) watched a few representatives join the dance floor. She wished that the man beside her ask her for a dance as well, but the chances to that were a few.

"Perhaps, a dance?" T'Challa asked, extending his hand and bowing a bit, smiling at the younger Stark. "I am not a good dancer, Your Majesty," (Y/N) said shyly as she placed her hand in his.

"Just follow the lead, Ms. Stark," he whispered into her ear as he led her to the dance floor. (Y/N)'s breath hitched as she bit into her lip. "(Y/N) would suffice, Your Majesty," she said, following his lead and let him move her as he wished. "T'Challa it is, (Y/N)."

(Y/N) felt like she would burn in the fire of his touch and words. Something strong bubbling in her chest for him, stronger feelings than she had for Steve or any of her previous ones.

Perhaps, it was something new. Something permanent.

#t'challa #t'chaka #t'challa x reader #tchalla #tchalla x reader #black panther #black panther x reader #marvel imagine #mcu imagine #tony stark x reader #stark!reader

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maaarine · 1 year

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India overtakes China to become world’s most populous country (Hannah Ellis-Petersen, The Guardian, April 24 2023)

“It is also the first time since 1950, when the UN first began keeping global population records, that China has been knocked off the top spot.

China’s population decline follows decades of strict laws to bring the country’s booming birthrate under control, including the introduction of a one-child policy in the 1980s.

This included fines for having extra children, forced abortions and sterilisations.

While initially highly effective in controlling the population, these policies became a victim of their own success, and the country is now grappling with an ageing population in steep decline, which could have severe economic implications.

Part of the problem is that because of a traditional preference for boys, the one-child policy led to a massive gender imbalance.

Men now outnumber women by about 32 million. “How can the country now shore up birth rates, with millions of missing women?” asks Mei Fong, the author of One Child, a book about the impact of the policy.

Recent policies introduced in China trying to incentivise women to have more children have done little to stimulate population growth.

Women still have only 1.2 children and the population is expected to fall by almost 10% in the next two decades.

According to projections, the size of the Chinese population could drop below 1 billion before the end of the century.

In India, the population has grown by more than a billion since 1950. Though growth has now slowed, the number of people in the country is still expected to continue to rise for the next few decades, hitting its peak of 1.7 billion by 2064. (…)

India’s demography is far from uniform across the country.

One third of predicted population growth over the next decade will come from just two states, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, in the north of the country, which are some of India’s poorest and most agricultural states.

Uttar Pradesh alone already has a population of about 235 million, bigger than Nigeria or Brazil.

Meanwhile states in India’s south, which is more prosperous and has far higher rates of literacy, population rates have already stabilised and have begun to fall.

In the next decade, states in the southern states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu are likely to start grappling with an ageing population, and by 2025, one in five people in Kerala will be over 60.

The divide in population growth between India’s north and south could also have political implications.

After 2026, India’s electoral lines are due to be revised and redrawn based on census data, in particular relating to the number of people in constituencies.

Many politicians in southern states have expressed concern that their successes in bringing down population numbers, through education programmes, family planning and high literacy, could result in a reduction in their political representation in parliament, and a further political domination of the northern states that continue to have a population boom.

Currently the average age in India is just 29, and the country will continue to have a largely youthful population for the next two decades.

A similar “demographic dividend” proved highly useful in China, leading to an economic boom, particularly in manufacturing.

While India has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies in the world, and recently overtook the UK as the fifth-largest, experts have stressed that the country needs more investment in education and employment to seize the opportunity presented by a young population over the next few decades.

India continues to struggle with high youth unemployment and less than 50% of working-age Indians are in the workforce.

The figure for women is even lower, with just 20% of women participating in the formal labour market, a figure that is decreasing as India develops.”

#article #politics #weaker sex

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beardedmrbean · 2 years

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Sweden's new foreign minister has ditched its pioneering "feminist foreign policy", saying the label has become more important than its content.

But Tobias Billstrom said "we will always stand for gender equality".

The previous left-wing government launched the policy in 2014, becoming the first in the world to put gender equality at the heart of its dealings with other nations.

The self-labelled "feminist government" had ruffled feathers globally.

Mr Billstrom announced the radical policy shift moments after Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristerrson, presented his new government appointments on Tuesday.

"Gender equality is a core value for Sweden and this government, but we will not conduct a feminist foreign policy," he said.

"Because labels on things have a tendency to cover up the content", he said.

The online web page for the government's former policy was no longer available.

A former foreign minister, Margot Wallstrom, launched the policy emphasising the importance of the three 'R's: "rights, representation and resources".

Rights to political participation in civil society, economic emancipation and sexual and reproductive rights were just some of the flagship points of the foreign policy.

But the Swedish Gender Equality Minister Paulina Brandberg, from the Liberal party which has previously supported a "feminist foreign policy", said that "so long" as she remains in post she will "make sure the government's policies are feminist".

The radical foreign policy has resulted in diplomatic disputes around the world.

In 2015, Ms Wallstrom's, remarks about Saudi Arabia's record on women's right and democracy led to the Kingdom to recall its ambassador to Stockholm.

Sweden then swiftly ended a longstanding weapons deal with Saudi Arabia after it blocked a speech by the former foreign minister. Saudi Arabia called the remarks "offensive" and a "blatant interference in its internal affairs".

During Sweden's time on the UN security council in 2017, it worked to include a resolution that sexual and gender-based violence could be grounds for sanctions.

Swedish membership also encouraged women's rights advocates from Somalia and Nigeria to speak at the council.

Sweden also claimed that it helped to contribute to new policies on female political representation in Moldova and Somalia, the inclusion of gender equality issues in Colombia's 2016 peace deal, and also contributed to new legislation in some 20 countries, often related to gender-based violence, female genital mutilation and child marriage.

However the policy was not without its critics. Swedish civil society organisation criticised the former government's arms exports to authoritarian regimes with a record of human rights abuses.

The new government, backed by a far-right party, also named a 26-year-old climate minister, in the home country of teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg.

The new appointments come more than a month after Swedes headed to the polls.

On Friday, the country's minority coalition government was announced after Mr Kristersson reached a deal with two smaller parties, the Christian Democrats and the Liberals, despite the Social Democrats gaining the largest share of votes. However, the left-wing coalition that the Social Democrats formed with other parties was three seats smaller than the right's.

The biggest winners in the 11 September election were the far-right Sweden Democrats who emerged as the second-largest party behind the Social Democrats - who have dominated Swedish politics since the 1930s - taking around one-in-five votes. Born out of a neo-Nazi movement at the end of the 1980s, the anti-immigration party entered parliament with 5.7% of the vote in 2010, increasing this to 17.5% in 2018.

While the Sweden Democrats will remain outside the government, they have pledged to back it in parliament to give it a majority in exchange for policy commitments, notably on immigration and crime.

#nunyas news #this is gonna upset some people

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hardynwa · 2 months

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IWD 2024: Invest in women, quicken Nigeria’s progress

AS the global community celebrates the 2024 International Women’s Day themed, “Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress,” today, Nigeria needs to push for reforms, investing in the social, economic, cultural, and political potential of women. Beyond the need for inclusion, the progress of the country lies in its action to foster equal opportunities for women in every sector of society. Officially observed from 1975, the IWD is commemorated annually to raise awareness about women’s oppression and inequality and function, as a call to action for women to actively campaign for change. The IWD theme this year aligns with the priority theme for the UN’s 68th Commission of the Status of Women and examines pathways to greater economic inclusion for women and girls everywhere. “The world is facing many crises, ranging from geopolitical conflicts to soaring poverty levels and the escalating impacts of climate change,” says the UN. “These challenges can only be addressed by solutions that empower women. By investing in women, we can spark change and speed the transition towards a healthier, safer, and more equal world for all.” A 2023 survey by UN Women and UNDP shows that no country has achieved full gender parity. The report added that less than 1.0 per cent of women and girls live in a country with high women’s empowerment and a small gender gap. A 2022 survey published by the World Bank Gender Data Portal shows that the labour force participation among Nigerian females is 52.1 per cent, while for males it is 65.5 per cent. Data compiled between 2016 and 2020 shows that while male Nigerian business owners are 66 per cent, female business owners are 34 per cent. A 2018 survey by the same source showed that adult literacy is lower among women (52.7 per cent) than among men (71.2 per cent) in Nigeria. Politically, Nigerian women hold the short end of the stick. Women’s representation in the country has been on a downward slide since 2011 down to 2023. The number of women in the 10th National Assembly has fallen by 19 per cent, compared to the last NASS with women now occupying 3.0 per cent of seats in the Senate and 4.7 per cent in the House of Representatives, per the Independent National Electoral Commission. “In the cut-throat, zero-sum game of Nigerian politics, novice aspirants lack political capital and a more competitive advantage in more competitive parties and positions,” says the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace charity. Experts have noted that women who became prime ministers in countries such as the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Iceland, Italy, France, Denmark, and New Zealand, have demonstrated innovative and effective leadership and offered unique and fresh perspectives on the challenges faced by their countries. Objective analyses have shown that countries where women have equal opportunities and rights in terms of education, economic empowerment, policies, social welfare, and healthcare, are usually more progressive than otherwise. A 2022 World Bank report says that at present, just 14 countries – all high-income economies – have laws that give women the same rights as men. The report also indicated that nearly 2.4 billion women of working age still lack the same rights as men. Governments in Nigeria need to institute reforms that would ensure that women are invested in to quicken the country’s progress. Certain cultural or religious norms that oppress and repress women should be jettisoned. There should be deliberate policies to address poverty by empowering women and girls and enabling them equal access to education, politics and financial opportunities. Read the full article

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southsouthcooperationday · 8 months

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Highlight South-South cooperation’s role in tackling global challenges.

UNCTAD and its partners have kicked off a three-year global project to help developing countries use a common framework to measure and give more visibility to South-South cooperation.

The project’s first event, organized with Brazil from 11 to 13 July, brought together representatives from 16 countries across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Participants also included economists, statisticians and development experts from over 10 international organizations, including four UN Regional Commissions.

South-South cooperation – when developing countries pool resources or share knowledge, skills and expertise – is a powerful tool that can take many forms.

For instance, Mexico allocated $62 million from 2020 to 2022 for programmes in Honduras and El Salvador that helped improve food security and create jobs for young people, benefitting more than 40,000 people.

Other examples include Brazil and India’s collaboration on satellite technology to monitor deforestation and boost agricultural production, and Colombia and the African Union’s joint projects to empower women through aquaculture in Nigeria, Tanzania and South Africa.

“South-South cooperation is key to achieving the 2030 Agenda and became particularly pronounced during the pandemic when countries came together in solidarity,” said Sumeeta Banerji, a policy specialist at the UN’s Office for South-South Cooperation, who participated in the July event, held in Brasilia and online.

An incomplete picture

But historically global development discussions have leaned exclusively on data from cooperation that also involves developed countries or multilateral organizations – or both.

Without reliable data on South-South cooperation, the picture of international development cooperation remains incomplete.

In March 2022, the UN Statistical Commission introduced a new SDG indicator (17.3.1) to measure “additional financial resources mobilized for developing countries from multiple sources.”

It also welcomed a voluntary common framework designed by developing countries to measure South-South cooperation and provide data for the new indicator.

“Now we have a framework that is made by the South for the South,” Brazilian Ambassador Luiza Lopes of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency said.

“This truly is a historic milestone for South-South cooperation,” added Luciana Mendes Santos Servo, president of Brazil’s Institute of Applied Economic Research.

The UN Statistical Commission asked UNCTAD, as a co-custodian of the new SDG indicator, to coordinate with developing countries further work on the framework, including on reporting and capacity-building.

More than a tool

The framework was developed through a sub-group under the UN’s Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators.

The process was inclusive and interactive, and the result reflects the actual practices of the global South – not in the traditional set-up of donor and recipient countries but as equal partners.

“It’s more than just a tool for measurement,” said Ms. Anu Peltola who leads UNCTAD Statistics. “It gives voice for the hope and solidarity of developing countries.”

Mr. Sukhbir Singh, chair of the sub-group that developed the framework, agreed: “For the first time, this framework enables developing countries to tell the story of their development cooperation in numbers and inform South-South cooperation policies with solid data.”

A shared responsibility

Moving ahead, it will be important for participating countries to secure political will and ensure efficient collaboration between government agencies, as data on South-South collaboration will come from many areas, such as health, energy, food security, education and environment.

Also, the scarce resources in many developing countries mean international and regional support will be crucial. Acquiring the national capabilities to consistently collect accurate data is a big task, requiring support from specialized, regional and international organizations.

“The journey ahead may be filled with challenges,” Ms. Peltola said, “but when countries come together with a shared vision, important results can be achieved.”

“It is now the shared responsibility of the UN and the developing countries to make this framework work and tell the story of the global South.”

The United Nations celebrates South-South cooperation every year on September 12th . This year, the day falls just a week before the highly anticipated SDG Summit, offering an opportunity to highlight South-South cooperation’s role in tackling global challenges – and the need to collect more and better data.

The UNCTAD helps countries measure #SouthSouth cooperation. Learn more:

#UNCTAD #south-south cooperation #triangular cooperation #sustainable development #development cooperation #globalchallenges

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newsweb1 · 1 year

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Women Roles relegated to Women Mobilization only in Nigeria Political Parties - Research has shown

Women Roles relegated to Women Mobilization only in Nigeria Political Parties – Research has shown

By Uangbaoje Alex, Kaduna A research on women participation in politics in Nigeria, has shown that the roles assigned to women by political parties is only tailored to women mobilization. A preliminary findings of “Capacity Assessment of Women’s Wings of Political Parties in Nigeria, conducted in Kaduna State by Dinidari Foundation with support from UN Women under their Women Participation in…

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lexzycom1 · 1 year

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Women Roles relegated to Women Mobilization only in Nigeria Political Parties - Research has shown

Women Roles relegated to Women Mobilization only in Nigeria Political Parties – Research has shown

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toiletday · 3 years

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''The absence of a toilet, is in many ways indicative of the inequalities in our world."

H.E. Mr. Burhan Gafoor, Permanent Representative of Singapore to the UN, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for the opportunity to be here, and to help mark World Toilet Day 2020.

My sincere appreciation to the Permanent Missions of Singapore, India, and Nigeria, as well as to UN agencies, for their organization of this event, and of course for their continued commitment, to push for access to improved sanitation and clean water.

While it may seem like such a simple thing, the absence of a toilet, is in many ways indicative of the inequalities in our world.

Consider a young child or teenage girl, whose access to education is hindered, because of a lack of sanitation facilities. Or the women, who fear sexual violence, as they trek out of their homes at night. Consider the untold numbers, who have suffered or perished from diseases, that are spread by poor sanitation – cholera, typhoid, dysentery, or polio.

And these are not a few people… - 4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation; - 2 billion people don't have a decent toilet of their own, of which 673 million still practice open defecation; - and 3 billion lack basic handwashing facilities at home.

The fact that, nearly half the world's population, doesn't have basic handwashing facilities in the midst of a global pandemic, should alarm us all.

Unfortunately, progress towards universal sanitation, is off track and uneven in its coverage. At the current rate of progress, it will be well into the next century, before 'sanitation for all' is a reality.

Clearly we have to scale up our efforts, rapidly and exponentially.

We have to see the bigger picture, and the interconnected nature of sustainable development. Improved access to sanitation and clean water, can improve access to education; empower women and girls; boost jobs and livelihoods; and protect biodiversity, while fighting climate change.

On these latter, environmental points, it is worth noting that 80% of waste water, goes back into ecosystems untreated. And carbon emissions, from poor or absent sanitation facilities, contribute to climate change.

So how do we close this century long gap?

We do this, by scaling up our investments in water and sanitation, at home and abroad. We do this, by partnering with the private sector, both for financial investments, but also for innovation in new, more affordable and perhaps more efficient systems. And we do this, by raising awareness, and informing people about the impacts, direct and indirect, as we are doing here today.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have long stated that, the UN and its Member States must own up to its resolutions and deliver upon them. These cannot be words on paper.

In this regard, I am pleased to note that, as President of the General Assembly, I am mandated to convene a High-Level meeting on the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda in 2021.

Through this high-level meeting, we will share lessons and experiences, mobilize actions and resources, provide the space for different sectors, to engage, generate high-level political support, raise global awareness of SDG6, and attract youth participation.

Excellencies, in closing, allow me to reiterate: this is not only a matter of convenience. Unfortunately billions are lacking access to these basic needs, which has also impacted, basic human rights and freedoms – such as health and education. And as COVID-19 has made sure to remind us, all problems are global problems.

So, let us work together, to support each other, to raise each other up, and to meet this most basic need.

Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th session of the UNGA.

#World Toilet Day #19 november #Statement #General Assembly president #safely managed sanitation #Decent toilet #open defecation #sanitation facilities #handwashing facilities

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coochiequeens · 2 years

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Internal displacement, regional instability, and climate change have created a refugee crisis in Niger, but an initiative in the town of Ouallam is showing how different communities can work together to survive, and improve the local environment.

In the dusty plains outside Ouallam, a town some 100 kilometres north of Niger’s capital Niamey, verdant rows of vegetables sprout from the soil in neat plots. Adding further contrast to the parched surroundings, women in bright shawls walk among the rows, checking irrigation pipes and adding a splash of water to any thirsty-looking specimens.

‘We are very happy to work together’

The 450 or so women who work this land are drawn from three distinct communities: some are locals, others were displaced by conflict and insecurity elsewhere in Niger, and the rest are refugees from neighbouring Mali.

“We did this all together with the different communities: the refugees, the displaced, and the local community of Ouallam. We are very happy to work together,” says 35-year-old Rabi Saley, who settled in the area after fleeing armed attacks in her hometown Menaka, 100 kilometres further north across the border in Mali.

The produce she grows – including potatoes, onions, cabbages, bell peppers and watermelons – helps to feed her seven children and provide an income by selling the surplus at a local market. Since its creation, the market garden project has also helped smooth the arrival of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people to the town.

“When we learned that they were going to settle here, we were afraid and unhappy,” recalls Katima Adamou, a 48-year-old woman from Ouallam who has her own plot nearby. “We thought that they were going to make our life impossible, but instead it’s been the opposite.”

Adapting to the changing climate

Political unrest and frequent attacks by armed groups in Mali and Nigeria have pushed 250,000 refugees, most from Mali and Nigeria, to seek safety in Niger, whilst violence within the country’s own borders has forced a further 264,000 internally displaced people from their homes.

Meanwhile, climate change is pushing up temperatures in the Sahel at 1.5 times the global average, and the 4.4 million people forcibly displaced across the region are among the most exposed to the devastating impacts of drought, flooding and dwindling resources.

In Ouallam’s market garden – an initiative launched in April 2020 by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency – the women have learned to nourish their plants using drip irrigation to minimize evaporation and preserve scarce water resources.

An added benefit of the project is its role in helping Nigeriens adapt to the changing climate. By cultivating a large swathe of formerly degraded land near the town and planting trees, they are helping to stave off the desertification that threatens large parts of the country.

Building blocks of sustainable development

In another part of Ouallam, a further boost to community integration and environmental protection comes from a less likely source. The town brickyard employs 200 men and women – refugees, internally displaced and locals – in the manufacture of stabilized soil bricks.

Made by combining soil with small amounts of sand, cement and water before compacting and drying in the sun, the interlocking bricks reduce the need for cement mortar during construction. Crucially, they also eliminate the need to burn large amounts of scarce wood or other fuel used in the firing of traditional clay bricks.

“After, these bricks are used to build houses for the people supported by UNHCR – the refugees, the internally displaced, as well as a part of the vulnerable host community,” explained Elvis Benge, a UNHCR shelter officer in Niger.

“Ultimately, the refugees and the populations who host them are the engines of change and can support themselves and ensure the resilience of their communities,” Benge added.

Back in the market garden, having worked with her new neighbours to meet the challenge of daily survival as well as era-defining crises beyond their control, Ms. Saley stands surrounded by the fruits of her labour and reflects on a job well done.

“We have become one community – I even got married here!” she says. “The woman blossoms, just like the plants!”

This story is part of multimedia UN News series featuring women leading initiatives for a more sustainable, equitable future, published ahead of this year’s International Women’s Day on 08 March.

#Niger #Mali #women and the refugee crisis #Women and climate change #Women and sustainable community building

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aelaer · 3 years

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☕ The fact that Wakanda was presented as an advanced country looking down on others from it's comfortable vibranium armchair but had a monarchist system that could place a ruler with 100% muscles and 0% brains at the head, along with other bothersome stuff like that, like Shuri being the head of the government's science department while she is a part of the royal family, or really, every single part of Wakanda that looks good on paper - a king with a council of people leading the different tribes - but that history has shown us very often ends up creating a dictatorship, which is really what happened in the movie and I'm surprised no one sees it.

Like, the movie literally shows us this country that's supposedly so advanced, with spies and people placed around the world, most likely putting their fingers in as many pies as possible, and an incredibly developed technology - which is frightening on many levels considering that UN or no Wakanda could blow up everything outside of its borders and people wouldn't know it until it happened -, but with a monarchist - and whatever other words could define it - governmental system that has revealed a lot of problems in its configuration. The tribes leader were literally being choked in the throne room and no one was doing anything, there was a destruction of a historical, scientific and cultural heritage being condoned by the new religious ceremony leader(???) just because the king ordered it. They would've literally tried taking over the entire non-black population (and where does that leave all the metis people? All the ones that are not white, but not black? Of middle eastern descendance? Of Asian one? Etc?) if the ex-monarch hadn't done something.

What I'm trying to ask if, what do you think of Wakanda being a good idea on paper but terrible in practice? True! Untrue? Something else?

Holy shit lady, you ask the tough questions. This is a difficult subject to cover - you’re asking me to look at the political structure of a fictional society within a disenfranchised continent - and I’m uncertain if it’s possible to do a decent analysis without addressing heavy topics. Basically, I don’t want to sound like a privileged dickwad. So I guess what I can say is - this comes from someone with a (mostly decent) American-based education, and no formal study of pre-colonial customs and political structures in Africa. I apologise for any misconstrued ideas and more than welcome any corrections to those who know more about these subjects!

I like Wakanda on paper, mostly due to the fact that the majority of Africa got completely screwed in terms of historical treatment and I’m rooting for the continent’s people to gain their own voices again. Wakanda being such a huge thing in international popular culture might serve as an inspiration for someone who ends up being important to at least one country there. In that sense, I really like Wakanda - the idea that it can potentially inspire historically disenfranchised cultures in the real world. How practical that thought is, I’m not sure - I might just be too idealistic.

Dictatorships can happen in non-monarchies as well, which you know -- as the most famous examples in 20th century history are not monarchies. The issue that can appear in monarchies -- or dictatorships -- is the lack of checks and balances to help keep those in power from going overboard (or the populace not having enough manpower/arms to get a dictator-like-coup out, but that’s an entirely different discussion!)

From what we got in the movie, Wakanda does seem to lack those checks and balances and no ability to overrule a king’s command. It seemed that they never had any sort of Magna Carta in their history (which is far from a perfect document, but did start the precedent of limiting monarchical power), and it doesn’t seem there’s anything resembling a representative government with veto power over the leader that you see in, what, 2/3rds of the world these days? (I legit have no idea, but I do know it’s wide-spread.)

But why wouldn’t they have such a document limiting monarchical power or some sort of democratic process? The modern mindset across many countries around the world leans towards democracy and elected, representative governments. But it can’t be denied that colonialism helped spread this, as -- at least, according to wiki -- representative democracy/liberal democracy/Western democracy all originate in Europe. So, in some way it makes sense that they didn’t transition yet because they were never colonized, and they were completely self-contained so didn’t have any of the outside world conflicts to force them to make changes. France helped fund the barons who pushed for the Magna Carta. France was also responsible for helping fund/arm the US in their fight to gain independence (lol France vs England history, it’s so great). External conflicts with other regions/countries caused *changes* to happen in those societies, at least from what I know of European history. Possibly happened in other continents, but I’m just not knowledgeable enough about their histories to give specific examples.

Wakanda had no outside conflict, and with no outside conflict, you get one major source of problems eliminated. Civil wars happen for a multitude of reasons, but perhaps one of their solutions historically for kingship changing without civil war was the fight of a representative of a tribe to try and win it over. Who knows? But when you’re enclosed like Wakanda was, there’s a lot less chance of things changing.

(On that note - their selection of a new leader is also incredibly disproportionately unfair to women. The average man is physiologically stronger and faster than the average woman. It’s just--biology. But who knows, maybe Wakanda was the same as much of the rest of the world in terms of their thoughts of women leading in politics. There’s comic canon that could be different, but the MCU did a lot of changes from comic canon.)

A *lot* of things changed across the world in the 20th century, making the world much smaller. Before the 20th century, it was likely considered completely useless and nonviable to make war on other nations because, though they were more technologically advanced, it’s incredibly unlikely they had something akin to nuclear bombs in the 19th century. They had to have their own steps of progression. And if they were only *a bit* better, they couldn’t stop the entire world if they started attacking and word spread. It’s only in the late 20th, early 21st century that things like destroying the rest of the world with Wakandan weaponry was likely actually feasible. Though honestly? I don’t think that shield could withstand a nuke. I just don’t see it. If Erik’s plan went through, he may have doomed Wakanda's capital city to being utterly annihilated because too many countries do have the ultimate kill button, and there are some who would not hesitate to use it.

It also could be cultural. Wakanda didn’t go conquering their neighbors left and right. They were happy with five tribes and it seemed to remain five tribes. That speaks of something deeply cultural, deep within the roots of how they’re raised and taught. Erik came from an entirely different culture with a violent childhood and background, and because they were in the 21st century, other Wakandans could *learn* of the rest of the world, and get new ideas - and get the same anger that stirs war and revolutions, and ultimately can affect a country’s culture.

So perhaps before the 21st century, limited power with the king wasn’t needed simply due to their isolation. Now, though that they are much more connected with the world, maybe they need something more like Botswana or Nigeria, only tied in with a monarchy (according to wiki -- Elsewhere, in Botswana, the kgosis (or chieftains) of the various tribes are constitutionally empowered to serve as advisors within the national legislature as members of the Ntlo ya Dikgosi. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the various traditional polities that currently exist are politically defined by way of the ceding of definite authority from the provincial governments, which in turn receive their powers to do so from a series of chieftaincy laws that have been legislatively created.)

So basically what I’m trying to say is, while I’m personally super gung ho about representative democracies and individual liberties, that’s not necessarily the culture of Wakanda and it may not fit for them. But *what* the culture of Wakanda evolves into, being more open to the rest of the world -- and thus, the rest of the world’s ideas and cultures, remains to be seen. They may find that they do need to reform their political structure after the civil war we saw in the first film, though, and perhaps they do so.

#mdcbd #wakanda #erik killmonger #meta #mcu #ask #answered

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korusalka · 3 years

Note

just a heads up, according to shinigami eyes the post about nigeria's 'baby factories' was shared by terfs

I received this ask a few weeks ago and initially ignored it, but I have no idea whether this was sent to me by a passing anon or by a friend/mutual who genuinely wanted to give me a heads up because they have the Shinigami Eyes extension and I don’t. In this case, I’ve received asks like that before and then deleted the post in question because I felt that was the morally correct thing to do. In this case, I want to acknowledge your heads up and would like to give you my current stance on it.

There are obvious parts of TERF rhetorics I disagree with (i.e. that trans women aren’t women). There might be some parts where we might have an overlap (i.e. that cis women face a different kind of discrimination and obstacles that trans women don’t, and vice versa). There are, still, undoubtedly specific topics that we will agree on in the framework of feminism.

One of those topics is the referenced article about Nigeria’s baby factories. While TERFs and I certainly have different takes on what feminism is to us, we will agree on men exploiting women’s bodies for profit is a horrible crime and needs to be eradicated, and TERFS and I both are likely to share information on it. I would likely reblog it again if it crossed my dash, now in the full knowledge that TERFs have shared it too, because I agree with the points that the article made.

So ... that’s it specifically. I feel that the perceived problem in general is that people who don’t identify as TERFS (un)knowingly share stuff that TERFs like and that’s why the Shinigami Eyes extension exists in the first place, to warn us To Not Cross this line, to keep our politics nice and clean and completely separate, so we won’t sully ourselves with anything that the TERFs touched.

The thing is, this “line” doesn’t exist in the eyes of the outer world, mostly doesn’t in the eyes of the people who aren’t neckdeep in Twitter/Tumblr feminism discourse. To them, we’re all feminists, maaaybe of different flavours. And we might feel very strongly about that because we don’t want to be in the same boat, don’t even want to touch elbows, but it won’t change the fact that we have several overlaps in our politics. After all, we all have our roots in very specific main goals of modern feminism. And that’s not likely to change.

2021 ‘enlightened” feminism isn’t feminism that 100% revolves around trans issues only that TERFS and us would typically clash over, it still deals with general women’s issues that are thousands of years old and won’t belong to the past even though we want them to. Therefore, we will have argumentative overlap sometimes. And it’s useless to argue that and even more useless to distance ourselves from that just because we don’t want to agree with TERFs on stuff.

That’s a mindset that has a strong grip on the Internet - not ever to associate with people we disagree with or maybe even personally hate. It’s the root of all this “drop your identity, pronouns, ethnicity, age, sexuality/gender, politics info in your bio” crap. Forget for a moment about how dangerous this is, it’s also what enables this type of discussion. Because if you already have all of that information, you can go ahead and avoid someone or disagree with them on everything out of principle because you perceive them as Other. It doesn’t matter what is said, only who said it. And that doesn’t work on reblogs unless you check every single user’s bio or use the Shinigami Eyes extension. You’re forced to read the argument and (dis)agree before you know about supporters of the argument, and you have to take it at face value.

This is very unusual for, say, face-to-face communication. For written discussions and arguments, for reblogged posts, it really ... isn’t. It’s pretty normal even, to value the argument made over the person who made it.

Yeah, I’ll admit it, I’m not completely free of personal bias. I know that a person’s identity can and will frame their take on everything, that context matters and informs, and that will decide over whether I’ll wholeheatedly applaud someone’s argument or begrudgingly agree with them. For a single argument on a specific topic though, it’s rather unlikely that me learning about their identity or politics will completely upend whether I agreed or disagreed with them in the first place. That’s because in the context of a discussion, I care more about the points made than the people who made them. Some of my friends have a few terrible positions while “the worst person you know just made a great point”.

I could probably make a separate post about how dangerous it is to avoid entire topics because ew, the worst person ever touched it before (see the whole queer discourse), but it’s late and I don’t want to. I also don’t want to methodically check people’s URLs in fear of accidentally agreeing with them on something, because this is my personal blog and not my official campaign for congress, where someone paid for it would do that for me anyway. I’ve made my point why I don’t ideologically see any point in that and therefore won’t get the Shinigami Eyes extension either.

#long post #this isn't meant as an attack on you anon. you happened to send an ask i've seen multiple times before and my views on it have changed and #that's why you got a long answer #anon #ask #womanhood #(<- which is my usual tag for anything related to women_obviously)

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eeattherich · 4 years

Text

99 Reasons to Vote Donald Trump out of Office

(from femislay)

1) referred to Nazis as “very fine people”

2) separated 4,500 children from their migrant parents at the border

3) lied over 15,000 times since coming into office

4) has yet to release his tax returns

5) referred to countries like Haiti and Africa as “shit-holes”

6) withdrew from Mercury Effluent Rule, which regulated safe use and disposal of mercury in dental offices

7) presidential negligence resulted in 3,000 deaths in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria

8) cut all funding for the UN Family Planning agency

9) dropped bombs on Syria without congressional approval

10) Advanced construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline

11) barred individuals from 7 majority Muslim countries from entering the US, including Syrian refugees

12) signed a bill allowing states to withhold funding for Planned Parenthood

13) Put Betsy DeVos in charge of education

14) Increased gov spending by half a trillion dollars

15) 20,000 reports of abuse in detention centers

16) a government shutdown that cost 11 billion

17) blacklisted the term ‘climate change’

18) halted a directive that allowed transgender students to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender identity

19) renewed contracts with for-profit prisons

20) anti-Semitic attacks increased by 87% in the six months after Trump’s election

21) cut the number of refugees allowed to resettle in the US abt almost 100,000

22) considered courting funding from TSA and the Coast Guard to fund his border wall

23) 140,000 covid deaths and counting

24) lied under oath

25) continuously profited from events held at Trump International Hotel

26) demonized journalists and the press

27) sent federal troops across the country to violently respond to protests

28) Ukraine

30) appointed a VP who used his personal email for state affairs

31) considered cutting funding from TSA an the Coast Guard to fund his border wall

32) expanded the CIA’s power, allowing them to conduct drone strikes on suspected terrorists

33) removed catergories related to sexual orientation and gender identity on the US Census

34) called journalists “the enemy of the people”

35) said Andrew Jackson had a “big heart”

36) been accused of sexual assault by dozens of women

37) fired James Comey in the middle of an investigations into Russia meddling in the 2016 election

38) under his leadership, the EPA withdrew mining restrictions on Alaska’s headwaters

39) shares highly classified information with the Russian foreign minister

40) hosted QAnon supporters at the White House

41) required all visa applicants to share their social media handles

42) withdrew from the Paris Agreement

43) blocked a veterans group on Twitter that was critical of him

44) reversed an opening of diplomatic ties with Cuba

45) appointed Rick Perry, who does not believe Carbon Dioxide causes climate change, as Secretary of Energy

46) cut 1200 jobs from the EPA

47) rolled back regulations that ensured drinking water was safe for consumption

48) the US military paid over 2 million dollars to rent space in Trump Tower claiming it was needed to protect Trump, despite Trump not spending a single night there

49) choose a white nationalist, William Johnson, as a California delegate

50) refused to rebuke white nationalists in Charlottesville

51) rolled back emission standards for automobiles

52) called confederate statues “beautiful”

53) 6 migrant children died in ICE custody in 2019

54) costs taxpayers 3 million dollars per visit to Mar-a-Lago, a resort he owns

55) signed a directive preventing transgender people from joining the military

56) pardoned an Arizona sheriff found guilty of racially profiling Latinx individuals

57) threatened to totally destroy North Korea

58) scrapped healthcare subsidies for low income Americans

59) forgot the name of a fallen soldier when he called the soldier’s widow to offer his condolences

60) ended temporary protected status for 59,000 Haitians

61) retweeted anti-Muslim video on twitter

62) endorsed Ray Moore, an alleged pedophile, for Senate

63) prevented the CDC from using the terms transgender, fetus, science based, and evidence based in documents

64) dissolved his own comission on voter fraud

65) cheated on his wife just four months after the birth of his child then paid the woman 130,000 dollars in hush money

66) recieved praise from white supremisist, David Duke

67) appointed 30 people with tied to the coal industry to positions in the Enviormemtal Protection Agency

68) advocated for the execution of drug dealers

69) ended funding for NASA’s Carbon Monitoring System

70) withdrew from Iran nuclear deal

71) detained nearly 13,000 migrant children without access to education of legal services

72) mocked a sexual assault survivor

73) declared a national emergency at the Southern border in an attempt to get 5.7 billion for a border wall

74) made it easier for gas and oil companies to lay pipelines without beif blocked by states citing the Clean Water Act

75) encouraged supporters to attack political opponents

76) demanded his son-in-law be granted security clearance

77) withdrew from the Arms Trade Treaty

78) tried to withhold congressionally appropriated disaster relief money from going to Puerto Rico

79) rolled back power plant regulations

80) weakened the Endangered Species Act

81) tried to limit benefits such as food stamps, housing support, and Medicaid to immigrants

82) updated policy allowing US to detain migrant families with children indefinitely

83)misused over 2 million in charitable funds

84) diverted 3.6 billion from Defense spending to the construction of his border wall

85) places immigration restrictions on Nigeria, Sudan, Tanzania, Eritrea, Myanmar, and Kyrgyzstan

86) appointed Mike Pence to lead the COVID-19 response

87) made it legal for law enforcement authorities to obtain DNA information from detained immigrants

88) cut off payments to the World Health Organization

89) set up sham corporations to avoid paying taxes on 413 million inherited from his parents

90) called peaceful protestors in Minnesota “thugs”

91) threaded protestors in Minnesota with “vicious dogs”

92) had protestors outside the White House tear gassed by federal agents so he could hold a Bible for a photo op

93) eliminated healthcare protections for transgender patients

94) did nothing to punish or condemn Russia after discovering that Russia was paying bounties to the Taliban to kill American Soldiers

95) retweeted a video of a supporter yelling “white power”

96) helped Saudi Arabia drop bombs on Yemen

97) advocated against mail in voting, despite using this method of voting himself

98) relaxed regulations to allow offshore drilling off the coast of Florida

99) mocked people with disabilities

#donald trump #vote him out #trump

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just-dreaming-marvel · 4 years

Text

FIFTY THREE - THE UNITED NATIONS

LEGACY: A Tony Stark Daughter Story

MASTERLIST

< previous

Word Count: 2,000ish

Summary: Bailey joins Natasha for the signing of the Accords.

When I woke up in the morning, my phone was buzzing off the hook. With my eyes still closed, I reached over at answered it.

“Hello?” My sleepy voice said.

“We’re going to be late,” Natasha’s voice rang through the phone.

I quickly sat up. “Oh, shit.”

“Language,” Tony muttered sleepily.

I rushed out of bed and out of Tony’s room, jumping over the furniture on the way to my own room. “I’ll be down in ten.”

“Make it five,” Nat said before she hung up.

I hurried and put on my black pants suit before tying up my hair in a professional looking pony tail. I hopped out of my room, heading for the door, as I was putting on my shoes.

“I’m heading to the signing with Nat!” I yelled to Tony, who was still in his bed half asleep.

“Have fun!” He yelled back.

“You know it!”

Natasha was waiting in a town car when I arrived outside. I slid into the backseat beside her.

“I’m sorry,” I immediately apologized once the driver began going. “It was a long night.”

“I’m sure it was,” Nat teased, wiggling her eyebrows at me.

“Not like that!” I playfully smacked her.

“I know,” she chuckled. “How was the date?”

“Really good.” I couldn’t help the goofy grin that formed on my face.

“I’m glad. I only wish that you two were comfortable enough to come out to everyone.”

“Me too,” I sighed as I looked out the window. “How comfortable are you with signing this?”

Natasha sighed. “Like I told Steve, staying together is more important than how we stay together.”

“That sounds like the slogan for this whole thing, not your actual opinion.” I eyed her knowingly.

“This is my family. I don’t like the idea of the government tearing it apart. I know you feel the same.” The car came to a stop in front of the UN and the driver came around to open our doors.

“I’ve never been out in public like this without Tony or Pepper,” I nervously whispered as Nat and I were escorted into the building.

“Don’t worry. It’ll just be a bunch of politicians signing a piece of paper. There’s nothing to be worried about.”

But for some reason I really was worried. There was something in the air, something weird, I could sense it. We were escorted to one of the top floors of one of the highest buildings in the complex. Politicians were chatting and assistants were rushing around preparing for the meeting. I followed Natasha around, blending right behind her as an assistant would.

“Excuse me, Miss Romanoff?” A UN staff member came up to us.

“Yes?” She replied.

“These need your signature,” the staff member said, holding the papers and a pen out to her.

I glanced around, surveying the room. I could feel eyes on me. I looking around until I met some curious brown eyes. A young African man was staring at Nat and I, he couldn’t have been much older than I was. I could sense his discomfort with being around so many politicians. He made his way over to were Nat and I were standing, he eyes never leaving mine until he was closer to Natasha.

“I suppose neither of us is used to the spotlight,” he said to Natasha, but some how I felt it aimed towards me.

“Oh, well, it’s not always so flattering,” Natasha responded.

“Who is he?” I mentally asked Nat.

“Prince T’Challa,” she answered, “of Wakanda. A few of his people died in Lagos.”

“You seem to be doing alright so far. Considering your last trip to Capitol Hill… I wouldn’t think you would be particularly comfortable in this company.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“That alone makes me glad you’re here, Miss Romanoff.” I felt that he genuinely meant what he had just stated.

“Why?” I quickly asked, causing the two to look at me. “You don’t approve of all this?”

“The Accords, yes. The politics, not really. Two people in a room can get more done than a hundred.”

“Unless you need to move a piano,” an older man joined in.

“Father,” T’Challa greeted.

“Son. Miss Romanoff,” the man greeted. “And you are?”

“Miss Bailey,” I answered, holding my hand out to shake his. He tenderly took it.

“King T’Chaka,” Nat greeted. “Please, allow me to apologize for what happened in Nigeria.”

“Thank you. Thank you for agreeing to all this. I’m sad to hear that Captain Rogers will not be joining us today.”

“Yes, so am I.”

“If everyone could please be seated,” a man called over the speakers. “This assembly is now in session.”

“That is the future calling,” T’Challa stated. “Such a pleasure.” He nodded to the both of us.

“Thank you,” Natasha said before she linked arms with me and guided us to our seats. “That wasn’t smart,” she whispered when we sat down.

“What wasn’t?” I questioned.

“Telling them your name.”

“They don’t know my last name. For all they could know is that Bailey is it.”

Natasha simply rolled her eyes, looking up at the podium. King T’Chaka was heading up to speak. I surveyed the room once more, my worry from before growing as I continued to feel that something was off.

“When stolen Wakandan vibranium was used to make a terrible weapon,” the King began, “we in Wakanda were forced to question our legacy. Those men and women killed in Nigeria, were part of a goodwill mission from a country too long in the shadows. We will not, however, let misfortune drive us back. We will fight to improve the world we wish to join. I am grateful to the Avengers for supporting this initiative.” Out of the corner of my eye, I could see T’Challa tense up, noticing something outside. “Wakanda is proud to extend its hand in peace.

“Everybody get down!” T’Challa shouted right before an enormous explosion went off between two of the buildings, destroying the conference halls windows and part of the room.

Natasha grabbed me, forcing us under the table. An overwhelming amount of grief flooded me, forcing tears to prick my eyes. I peaked over the table to see who’s emotion I could possibly feeling. T’Challa was rocking his dead father in his arms.

Once we were sure that no other bombs were going to explode, a task for entered the room and began escorting everyone out.

“Dad’s never going to let me out of his sight again,” I stated as Nat and I headed down the stairs.

Once we reached outside, medics checked us out. Soon after, Nat and I found a bench to sit on. A buzzing sounded in Nat’s pocket. She took it out to see that it was Tony. She gave me a sad look, before turning to the edge of the bench to answer it. People were running around every which way. Whispers that the bombing was caused by the Winter Soldier were being said. And for some reason, I couldn’t fully believe them. I could feel the grief again, suddenly. I looked to the side to see a stunned T’Challa sitting on the bench next to us. There was a cut on his head. I slowly got up and moved to sit next to him.

“I’m very sorry,” I said to him, sadly.

He glanced me as he played with a silver ring between his fingers. “In my culture, death is not the end. It’s more of a… stepping-off point. You reach out with both hands and Bast and Sekhmet, they lead you into the green veldt where… you can run forever.”

“That sounds very peaceful.”

“My father thought so.” T’Challa slid his ring onto his finger, his grief turning into anger. “I am not my father.”

“T’Challa. Task force will decide who brings in Barnes.”

T’Challa clenched his fist. “Don’t bother, Miss Bailey.” He stood up, his anger now fully overpowering his grief. “I’ll kill him myself.”

And with that, he walked away. I stared at him until he disappeared into the crowd. I couldn’t help but wonder how I would feel in his shoes. Would my grief turn into anger? Would I be able to run a country? And why was I feeling that Barnes was not the cause of this? That he was not the answer. Someone had to be setting him up. But who? And why? I was absentmindedly staring in the direction, when Natasha set her hand on my back.

“You’re father’s sending a car to come get you,” she stated as I turned to look at her.

“Is he not coming to get me himself?” I asked.

“He says he’s going to stay at the hotel and answer phone calls. There’s too many questions he has to answer before he could be of any help here.”

Before either of us said anything, my phone began buzzing. We looked at it then looked at each other. It was Steve. We huddled together, surveying the area before answering the phone and putting it on speaker.

“Steve?” I was relieved that he called.

“You alright?” I could feel his worry. But not through the phone. He was nearby.

“Yes.” I looked around to find him standing across the street, a cap and dark sunglasses on. “We both are.”

“We got lucky,” Natasha stated, frowning as she stood up. I stood up with her, my eyes never leaving Steve’s figure. “I know how much Barnes means to you. I really do. Stay home. You’ll only make this worse. For all of us. Please.”

“Are you saying you’ll arrest me?”

“No,” I quickly said in place of Nat.

“Someone will,” Nat continued. “If you interfere. That’s how it works now.”

“If he’s this far gone, Nat, I should be the one to bring him in.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m the one least likely to die trying,” Steve stated as he hung up.

“Please don’t do this,” I begged Steve.

“I have to, B. He’s my best friend… Did you sign them?”

“We never got to that. And you know I wasn’t there to do that. I can’t pick a side. Please don’t make me.”

“I’m afraid that’s where it’s going to end up, B.”

“Miss Bailey,” an agent pulled me out of my head as he approached. “I have a car ready to take you back to Mr. Stark.”

“Okay, thanks,” I replied.

The agent turned around, guiding me to the car. I looked around one last time for Steve but he was gone. Natasha had disappeared as well, probably in search of Steve. I sighed as I followed the agent to the car. I got in it to find Tony there waiting.

“Nat said that you were staying at the hotel, answering phone calls.”

“Change of plans,” Tony stated, a regretful look in his eyes. “I’m sending you home. You can’t be involved in this more than you already have.”

“Dad, no. I’m more of use here. I don’t need to take sides on the Accords to help with the clean up.”

“No!” He yelled. I flinched. “I almost lost you today…” He looked at me sadly. “I promised to keep your family together and, honey, I’m trying. But I can’t worry about you getting in the crossfires here at the same time. You’re going to take the jet to the compound, where you’ll be safe. Wanda and Vision are there still.”

“So, I’ll be a prisoner then? We’re back to that?”

“I’m trying to keep you safe!”

“I don’t need your protection!”

“You’re going home! End of discussion.”

Then, before I knew what was happening, Tony pulled his hand out of his pocket, revealing a syringe in it. He quickly stabbed it into my neck and released what was in it . My world went black.

next >

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hardynwa · 2 months

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IWD 2024: Invest in women, quicken Nigeria’s progress

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gtvistas2020 · 3 years

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#EndSARS

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was a Nigerian Police Force unit created in the late 1992 to deal with crimes associated with robbery, motor vehicle theft, kidnapping, cattle rustling, and firearms. It was part of the Force Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (FCIID), headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police Anthony Ogbizi.

SARS has been highly controversial for its links to extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, extortion, torture, framing, blackmail, kidnapping, illegal organ trade, armed robbery, home invasions, rape of men and women, child arrests, the invasion of privacy, and polluting bodies of water by illegally disposing off human remains.

Amnesty International investigation has accused SARS officers of using “torture and other ill-treatment to execute, punish and extract information from suspects”. It documented at least 82 cases between January 2017 and May 2020.

Protests which began in opposition to the Nigerian government’s widely unpopular SARS have morphed into a widespread, leaderless movement against police brutality, economic mismanagement, rampant corruption and arbitrary state power. Many protesters described the calls to disband SARS as just the beginning of police reform in Nigeria. “First it’s SARS and then it’s the whole police system, because even with ordinary policemen and women we are not safe.”

After widespread protests in Nigeria and worldwide under the motto “#EndSARS”, the unit was disbanded on 11 October 2020 through a statement by the office of the president, Muhammadu Buhari. Inspector General of Police M.A. Adamu said that a new unit, the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), would replace SARS. Within hours of the announcement, some Nigerians took to Twitter with the hashtag “#EndSWAT”, and demonstrations continued amid fears that police reform would not materialize.

Several videos posted on social media appeared to show officers firing live rounds and using teargas and water cannon at fleeing demonstrators, many of whom reported injuries. One demonstrator said she had seen a group of six officers beating a woman with batons and sticks, confirming video posted online. Amnesty International said in a report that Nigeria’s security forces fired upon two large gatherings of peaceful protesters in Lagos, killing 12 people.

The Nigerian government is under growing pressure to deliver reforms amid the mass civil unrest, but analysts are concerned that the planned fiscally conservative policies, which may have aided the economic recovery, will become increasingly difficult to implement. The heavy-handed nature of the government’s response to protests has damaged its standing both domestically and internationally, heightening political uncertainty as the country looks to emerge from the crisis.

The #EndSARS protest movement is taking place against the backdrop of the country’s worst economic recession in over 30 years, with inflation rising above 13% and GDP contracting by 6.1% in the second quarter. As such, the hit to the oil sector, combined with the economic disruption from the pandemic and falling remittance payments from abroad, is expected further constrain the government’s ability to deliver social programs and address the grievances of protesters, exacerbating tensions.

Task in Hand

You are the Crisis Management Committee appointed by the President, responsible for handling the situation of political uncertainty in Nigeria. The task is to defund SARS entirely and redistribute its funds to the development of other departments, as well as rebrand and revamp SWAT as an organisation; in order to restore peace in the country and economy as well as improve Nigeria’s image on an international platform.

Deliverables

- Immediate action plan of crisis management and negotiation plan to stop protests and strikes

- Strategies to reform Nigeria’s oil sector – and resurge production, distribution and export of oil

- Phase wise implementation of Strategies to increase sources of revenue for Nigeria government and reduce dependency on oil sector – detailed list of industries and sectors to develop

- Plan to defund SARS and detailed use of its funds for development of SWAT and other departments

- Revamp model for SWAT

- Legislative bill stating legal requirements and new standards of accountability for SWAT and Nigerian police force

- Strategies to gain public trust – locally and globally, also you are answerable for your actions regarding the protests to Amnesty International and the UN

- Prepare a Press Release

- Contingency strategy for protests against SWAT

- Marketing and Rebranding strategies for SWAT

- Course of action against corrupt SARS officers

- Recruitment and selection plan of SWAT officers

- Detailed phase wise Training and development of SWAT

- Detailed organisation structure of SWAT and police system in Nigeria

- Conflict resolution and grievance redressal system

- Compensation structure for the victims harassed and/or killed by SARS and during protests over several years

- Financial Plans –

* Capital requirement and capital structure

* Detailed redistribution of funds to SWAT and other departments

* Projected and detailed Cost break-up

* HR and PR budget

* Contingency Plan Budget

* Financial and economic reforms to Nigeria

Provide any other information/creative you deem necessary.

Submission Guidelines

Prepare a report of not less than 25 pages and a PPT of not more than 15 slides.

Email your deliverables to [email protected] by 5:00 am sharp.

Presentations for this round will begin at 9:00 am sharp.

For any doubts, contact Sonia - 9819281419 or Pranavi - 8008009453

P.S. Good luck sleeping tonight!

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mywholelove · 4 years

Text

Understandably, my great uncle, Marcus Garvey was misled by satan into endorsing the #slavetrade facility, created by pagans called #panafricanism.

I was also panafricanism as a profferred ideology, until I independently went to Africa in the 90s, and amongst other discoveries, saw that it was a prettily packaged, concept of malintent, created to apply human trafficking, or slave trading, and is similar to such things and phrases as " new world order ", a concept to promote mass murder, to the agenda of a league. Like santa claus, which actually is a satanic entity from east of Germany, it still sounds kind of attractive, from a distance, due to the imagery imbued in it!

panafricanism is a way to expand slave trade, without checks or account.

It's no surprise then, that in a eu state this week, ( romania ), someone was recently tried for trafficking over 1,000 vulnerable children, with intent to rob and burgle across all eu and other possible countries.

There are various reports of other activities against communities in United States of America and other places, which have received greater exposure, since the USElection2016 of United States President Donald John Trump, and his attention to the more effective protection and security of USA by improving US Military, and US Secret Service.

The eu is defined as a #paneuropean operation. #panamerican is operated across America by nafta, #panasian across Asia and Australia by asean, and panafrican across Africa by ecowas.

From the evidence, facts and truths I have witnessed, asean, ecowas, eu and nafta are the regional panafrican, panamerican, panasian and paneuropean entities, to manage the their activities under united nations holdings.

When you look beyond aesthetics, the Holy Bible, and other scriptures, reveal these in clues. This explains to me why the serpents, ( most main stream media and other plagiarist entities such as politics, religions, showbiz, sports and such ), are used to manipulate the ways of masses, in order to flatter and trick to the agenda of the league or cabal.

Watched closely, most main stream media and aid agencies promote projects which cause #familybreakdown, and war, diseases and distresses.

The Holy Bible refers to and defines the system called by such names as telnet, vax, superhighway, world wide web, internet, etcetera, as ' the backbone of the beast '.

Family breakdown is explained all through the Holy Scriptures including in the books of #Genesis, #Exodus, #Leviticus, #Deuteronomy, #Proverbs and #Revelations, and in spite of the multiple edits and obfuscations by those who support satanic or sat-un-ic agendas, ( most often those in politics and showbiz, the largest industries in this world over the millenias ), the references to Ethiopia, Ghana and Jamaica can be found. It was during my trips in Africa, that I discovered that many of the prophets and lands mentioned are in truth what are now called 'African'.

By cunning manipulation by organized crime entities, such as created by sat-un and its use of family breakdown, manipulation of the health, history and security of communities, panafricanism, as diesel being presented as ' clean ' in 2000, is presented, offered then enforced on compliant communities prepared to prostitute or embrace the sat-un-ic entities. They force people to focus on micro aspects, while they're being distracted from the greater agendas.

I was shocked when I overheard on multiple occasions, a relation reply to a question when she was asked ' what good she was achieving by dating a racist European', by her friends, that he maintained her house, bought her things and took her on expensive foreign holidays. Approval by society?

This may also explain why aid agencies operate plots and plans to encourage division of family, and therefore phrases such as " it takes a village to raise a child ".

It sounds pretty at glance, but then ask them,

" how many of your kids were raised by villages; or is that a facility to only be applied to those you consider as live stock for your exploitation? "

Due to #familybreakdown, most people, in spite of the abundance of evidences, still believe that there were no Negast, Akhan and other people from Africa in America, before the 1400s!

A combination of lessons from my daddy, my own observations and my research led me to discover that Negast or Nigga people have been established in America since at least the second century ' before christ ', about 2,200 years ago, long before Gama, Vespucci and Columbus, but family breakdown is designed by sat-un to hide knowledge and cause confusion, and the desire for social approval.

I see panafricanism as abject racism, to facilitate human trafficking, prostitution and slave trading, in support of the ' new world order ' agendas.

This also explains why, a un general secretary, the late Kofi annan, though born in, raised and very familiar with Africa and african cultures, never addressed the proliferate slave or barbaric, abominable, infidel, pagan practices across the whole world, and other matters. It took the babies nursed by western white women and islamic cultures to identify, and bring to world attention and action, the slave trade, and child slavery, then to develop and implement the system we now call #FairTrade.

During and following the severe droughts in Somalia, Ethiopia, and such, brought to our attention by pop stars like Midge Ure, Boy George, Michael Jackson, Bob Geldof, and many others pop music superstars, after some rains during dry season months in the 90s, the un administrators were at very first trying to figure a way to secure their continued funding. They'd rather flies, swollen bellied kids, than lose their funding. That's beyond sadastic politics.

As a result, in 1995, on an Indian Ocean or such island, I heard that they convened meetings. From those meetings, ( I figure ), they developed the ' jihadi ' and ' climate change ' narratives.

I discovered that the united nations pays up to $120,000.00 for a slave in the eu, while serpents ( main stream media entities ) distract the public with prejudices, pecuniary and other means. There hasn't been a war in Nigeria since the 1970s, so how come so many refugees claiming asylum in Europe, America and so on?

Iraq is further away from Nigeria than Nigeria is from France. People seeking social approval, never question obvious things.

Do you remember when many billions of US dollars, UK pounds, etcetera, were used to justify the mass slaughter of, ( say ), native Americans?

It was, until very recently, acceptable, encouraged and taught to children!

As a young kid of 5, 6, 7, etcetera, ( being Crazy ), I used to wonder

"why?

Couldn't they find a way to be friends, and ' make things better? '.

There is and always will be enough for everyone and more.

🤣🤣🤣😂😂

Never forget; God Jah is Greatest. Those who have a sat-un-ic agendas will try and countermand that position by many means.

Ras Tafari is the way of love, which brings peace and prosperity, irrespective of whether this is subsequently claimed by sat-un and or its serpents. The Most High God Jah states specifically that it is a vanity and a sin to work for nought. Where ever the counsel of Rastafarians is heeded, respected and adhered to, results in meaningful peace and prosperity.

Our Creator God Jah is truly greatest.

We give praises, glory, blessings and thanks to the Creator of the Universes, the Most High God Jah.

http://mywholelove.tumblr.com

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