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16 December 2008
This Week from Washington — December 12
Podcast on anti-piracy efforts and land ownership
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This week, we discuss the growing international effort to deal with piracy off Africa’s eastern coast and how two international organizations are teaming up to use property rights as an effective development tool.
The United States is cooperating with other nations and international organizations to find new ways to stop piracy off the coast of East Africa.
The United Nations, the Arab League, the European Union and NATO have joined with America to address a growing problem. On December 9th, the Bush administration introduced a draft U.N. Security Council resolution that would allow foreign countries to follow pirates onshore in Somalia, with the prior notification of Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government. Such action would help stop the planning or facilitating of pirate acts. The resolution would also allow access to Somalia’s airspace. Together, these measures would offer a major expansion of the tools available to those now fighting piracy at sea.
The International Maritime Bureau reports that 40 ships were seized in 2008. Pirates currently hold hundreds of crew members. The cargos of the captured ships sometimes can be very dangerous. Ships from the U.S. Navy and other countries have quarantined a Ukrainian ship called the MV Faina. Pirates recently seized the vessel and discovered a cargo of 30 Soviet-era tanks, weapons and ammunition. The naval quarantine seeks to prevent the cargo from reaching African shores while ransom negotiations proceed.
This month, the members of NATO highlighted their commitment to fighting piracy off the Horn of Africa. NATO ships, from members such as Italy, Turkey and the United Kingdom recently escorted World Food Programme relief supplies to Somalia. NATO officially calls the escort missions Operation Allied Provider, after it became too dangerous for chartered ships to sail through the Gulf of Aden. The mission has enabled the World Food Programme to deliver tons of humanitarian aid.
Although less than 1 percent of ships passing through the Gulf of Aden have been upset by pirate actions, specialists predict a worsening problem. The U.S. Navy already had ships in the area to deter terrorism and train with African navies. But experts say that commercial vessels need to realize that navies cannot fully protect more than 1 million square kilometers of open water. Plus, as international organizations move toward more aggressive and coordinated action in pirate-infested waters, the pirates have figured out gaps in naval capabilities.
But in the end, the real solutions to piracy will be found on land. All pirates have to go ashore, and the lack of laws and social order in places like Somalia allow pirates to thrive. This is the root of the problem and must be addressed.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is visiting the United Nations this week to press for passage of a resolution to establish cooperation between the international community and the Somali government. The agreement would allow foreign countries and organizations to take “all necessary measures” against pirates in the air, on land and at sea. Access would be limited to a 12-month period, but all experts agree that it will take a long-term commitment from the international community to restore the rule of law and provide a safe and secure environment in the region.
The worldwide link between secure land rights and poverty reduction is an often overlooked issue, but one that deserves more attention as a key part of development efforts. America’s Millennium Challenge Corporation and the international nonprofit group Habitat for Humanity say that the lack of property rights by many of the world's poor is a crisis too often ignored.
Adults and children worldwide are affected by disasters and are vulnerable to barriers to secure property rights. Such barriers include insufficient legal and regulatory systems, corruption and inadequate land registration systems, among other causes.
Land security can encourage business development as farmers make more productive use of land they own, invest in improvements or higher-value crops, and safeguard it from environmental damage. The idea of ownership leads to the practice of stewardship, where the land can be cultivated and passed down to younger generations.
Habitat for Humanity recently released Shelter Report 2008, its document highlighting the importance of property rights and poverty reduction. The organization's long-standing goal is providing access to decent housing for all people. That goes hand in hand with the Millennium Challenge Corporation's focus on helping countries promote effective property rights.
The Millennium Challenge Corporation has already committed more than $278 million to projects in poor countries to help address the issue. Every country has different needs, depending on local customs and priorities.
Mongolia is using $23 million of its grant to improve property rights in lower-income areas, and to urbanize areas where rural people have migrated over time. It plans to register household land plots and expand access to mortgage finance. And for the first time in Mongolia, a leasing system will be created to provide incentives for better rangeland management to produce higher incomes for nomadic herders. Mali is using a $4.2 million grant to allocate new land parcels and help family farmers grow enough food to increase household incomes. Farmers are cooperating with traditional herding families that use the area to help maintain corridors for use by livestock.
This podcast is produced by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Information Programs. Links to other Internet sites or opinions expressed should not be considered an endorsement of other content and views.
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