Kurdistan

Context:

• Turkey has removed three elected pro-Kurdish mayors from office over terrorism-related charges and replaced them with state-appointed officials

About Kurdistan:

• It broadly defined geographic region traditionally inhabited mainly by Kurds.
• It consists of an extensive plateau and mountain area, spread over large parts of what are now eastern Turkey, northern Iraq, and western Iran and smaller parts of northern Syria and Armenia.
• The Kurdistan (“Land of the Kurds”) designation refers to an area of Kurdish settlement that roughly includes the mountain systems of the Zagros and the eastern extension of the Taurus.

Kurd:

• Kurd, any member of an ethnic and linguistic group concentrated in the Taurus Mountains of southeastern Anatolia, the Zagros Mountains of western Iran, portions of northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, and western Armenia, and other, adjacent areas.
• Most Kurds live in contiguous areas of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey – a somewhat loosely defined geographic region generally referred to as Kurdistan (“Land of the Kurds”).
• A sizable noncontiguous Kurdish population exists in the Khorāsān region, situated in Iran’s northeast.

OPEC+

Context:

• Geopolitical uncertainty will probably garner the lion’s share of the blame for OPEC+’s decision to once again delay raising crude oil output, but weak demand, especially in Asia, is more significant.

About OPEC+:

• The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, also known as OPEC, was formed in 1960 by Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
• The organization has since expanded to 12 members.
• OPEC regularly meets to set oil production targets and coordinate output to help manage global oil prices for the entire group.
• In 2016, largely in response to dramatically falling oil prices driven by significant increases in U.S. shale oil output, OPEC signed an agreement with 10 other oil-producing countries to create what is now known as OPEC+.
• Among these 10 countries was the world’s third-largest oil producer in 2022, Russia, which produced 13% of the world total (10.3 million barrels per day [b/d]).
• OPEC’s stated objective is to “co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries” to secure pricing for producers, supply for consumers, and return on capital for investors, although the group is best known for its effect on global crude oil prices.
• OPEC produced an estimated 28.7 million b/d of crude oil in 2022, which was 38% of total world oil production that year.
• The largest producer and most influential member of OPEC is Saudi Arabia, which was the world’s second-largest oil producer in 2022, after the United States.
• Oil production in Russia remained above 10 million b/d in 2022 despite sanctions in response to its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• Russia’s oil output and effect on the market is significantly greater than that of other OPEC+ countries, such as Mexico and Kazakhstan, so the actions of the OPEC+ agreement are largely driven by coordination between OPEC and Russia.
• OPEC meetings and coordinated production targets have always affected global oil prices, and market participants closely follow them.
• OPEC and OPEC+ countries combined produced about 59% of global oil production, 48 million b/d in 2022, and so influence global oil market balances and oil prices now more than ever.
• More recent production agreements have exempted Iran and Libya because of sanctions and other instability in crude oil output.
• Over the past few years, OPEC+ meetings have focused on reducing oil production to help stabilize oil prices after the COVID-19 pandemic, which dramatically reduced demand and led to significantly lower oil prices.
• More recently, in 2023, OPEC+ members agreed to cut oil production by 1.2 million b/d until the end of 2023, which is in addition to production cuts already in place.
• This agreement means production targets will be 3.66 million b/d lower each month relative to actual August 2022 production through the end of 2023.
• Although these cuts are significant, expect that growth in non-OPEC oil supply over the next two years will help balance markets and limit any significant increases in oil prices, according to Short-Term Energy Outlook.

OPEC Countries:

• Algeria, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

OPEC+ Countries:

• OPEC members plus other oil-producing countries, such as Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Bahrain, Brunei, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, South Sudan, and Sudan.

A decade of India’s transformative sanitation mission

Introduction:

• Ten years of the Swachh Bharat Mission, or SBM (launched on October 2, 2014), have been transformational for the people of India in more ways than one.
• When we think about sanitation, it is easy to reduce the conversation to just building toilets.
• But India’s journey toward improving sanitation has been about survival, dignity, empowerment, and prosperity.
• It has created a ripple effect that will impact the health and well-being of generations to come.
• Led by the Prime Minister of India, the phenomenal SBM journey has transformed the lives of nearly 500 million people, nearly half of India’s population, helping them achieve Open Defecation Free status by providing access to safe toilets at home in less than a decade.
• As the Prime Minister of India said recently, “Swachh Bharat is the world’s largest and most successful people-led and people-driven public movement of this century.”
• It is a good practice model that India has shared with the world.

Children as agents of change:

• As a key partner of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission, UNICEF continues to be proud to be a part of the drive, reshaping lives in India and beyond.
• There are three key achievements of the SBM.
• First, safe sanitation has saved lives.
• For children, having access to clean, safe toilets is not just a convenience.
• It directly impacts their health and their future.
• In an open defecation-free (ODF) environment, for example, there are fewer episodes of diarrhoea, which is still a leading cause of death in children under five, globally.
• A cleaner environment also brings down malnutrition among children.
• Beyond survival, safe sanitation and hygiene practices have helped children thrive and develop.
• When children are healthier, they go to school regularly, focus on learning, and have a better chance to grow up to their best potential.
• It is a virtuous cycle: Healthier children mean a thriving, more educated and productive population, and that means a brighter future for children and the country at large.
• What makes India’s SBM even more compelling is that children often are the strongest advocates for change.
• When children are taught the importance of washing their hands, using toilets, and managing waste, they do not keep this knowledge to themselves.
• They bring it home. They teach their parents and family members, friends and neighbours, helping to shift behaviours across generations.
• In many ways, children are the driving force behind this cultural shift, showing that behavioural change, starting at a young age, can create a lasting impact.

It has empowered women:

• Second, for women, particularly in rural areas, the lack of safe sanitation has always been more than just an inconvenience.
• It has been about safety, dignity, better health and the freedom to live without fear.
• Before the SBM, many women had no choice but to relieve themselves in the open, often in isolated areas, making them vulnerable.
• The construction of toilets has, for many, meant the end of that fear and the beginning of a life lived with dignity.
• Women are not just passive beneficiaries of safe sanitation.
• They are also active leaders in promoting safe sanitation as they have themselves experienced its benefits.
• The SBM also brought programmes such as the ‘Rani Mistris’, where women are trained as masons, building the very toilets their communities need.
• This is not just about gaining a skill but also about gaining confidence, leadership, and the ability to transform the future of their communities.
• These women have moved on to take leadership roles in local governance, some even becoming village heads.
• The movement has again proved that when you empower women to lead, the entire community benefits.
• These women are no longer on the sidelines.
• They are partners in the fight for better sanitation, better health, and a better life for everyone around them.
• The empowerment of women extends beyond toilets.
• It gives women the tools and the skills to build sustainable futures for themselves and their families.

It has led to sustainable practices:

• And third, when the conversation about sanitation expands, the story does not end with becoming ODF.
• Rather it is just the beginning of what is turning out to be a much larger, ongoing movement.
• India is now focusing on ODF Plus villages, which go beyond maintaining their open defecation-free status to address issues such as solid and liquid waste management.
• This includes everything from collecting and composting organic waste to managing plastic waste, which is a growing concern as India continues to urbanise. It is a major challenge.
• But it is also a huge opportunity to create sustainable practices that could serve as a model for the world.
• It is about changing behaviours, bringing a psychological shift in the minds of people that has also given millions of sanitation workers a sense of pride and dignity in the work they do, as well as empowering people for building a healthier, more sustainable future for a cleaner, safer, healthier and prosperous future for citizens.
• Political will and leadership matter here too.
• At the national level, under the Prime Minister, and at the local level, with village heads, sustained leadership commitment has played a key role.
• It is also a people’s movement – communities are taking ownership of their own safe sanitation needs.
• For 75 years, UNICEF has been a crucial partner in India’s progress, especially in the sanitation journey.
• This stretches from supporting the government with Mark II handpumps, to a focus on handwashing, to the SBM and Jal Jeevan Mission, to, today, supporting the shift toward environmental sustainability through technical expertise, advocacy, and community-driven approaches.
• All these ensure that rural populations and children everywhere gain benefits.

Conclusion:

• India’s sanitation revolution is not just India’s achievement, it is a global one.
• It contributes to the progress in the global Sustainable Development Goals and the lessons learned here can be shared with the world.
• The country has made incredible progress, but the journey is far from over.
• As India grows, so do the challenges surrounding sanitation, especially in the context of environmental sustainability.
• With the sustained commitment of the political leadership and its people, India could once again lead the way.
• UNICEF’s support to the Indian government and the people of India remains steadfast for achieving these goals #foreverychild, the UNICEF term for focussing on initiatives linked to children’s programmes.