Who pays for our impulsive consumption?

A tradition of disposable clothing has existed in the fashion industry for many years — clothing that falls apart easily, garments that you wear twice and then give away. However, we rarely consider what effect this impulsive consumption of goods has. Perhaps we know at one level that the fashion industry has quite a lot to do with poverty?

Recently I walked into a 'disposable clothes shop' in Sydney and viewed it through a different lens. As I looked at a beautifully embroidered shirt and a pair of trousers, I started to picture the women who worked to assemble its pieces.

Remembering lines of women in Cambodia walking along Phnom Penh’s roads with pink scarves around their heads, long sleeved shirts and simple black pants, my conscience was pricked. These women were on their way to work in garment factories, yet rarely did I remember seeing on the labels of my clothing 'Made in Cambodia'.

While these Cambodian women work in comparatively good conditions, it is impossible for Cambodia to continue on this path as it can no longer compete in the world market. The franchise that China has on the garment industry is preventing countries like Cambodia from working their way out of poverty.

On the other side of the world the situation is similar. The United States subsidises its cotton farmers, which prevents African countries such as Mali from being able to export good quality cotton to a world market. Peru is in a similar situation with its alpaca wool.

This situation was considered in The Dollar a Day Dress, a documentary made by the BBC's Panorama in 2005. The documentary travelled to Peru, Mali, Uganda and Cambodia to source material from people who lived on less than a dollar a day. The dress was then created by London School of Fashion students and paraded during fashion week, 2005. However, despite advocacy efforts like this, two years later, the situation has not improved.

In July 2007, the world will reach the halfway point of the UN Millennium Development Goals. These development goals aim to alleviate extreme poverty and hunger, providing universal primary education and addressing gender inequality. So let’s look at the facts. Australia is a signatory to these UN promises, and by signing on to them Prime Minister John Howard signed onto a pledge which states:

"We will spare no effort to free our fellow men, women and children from the abject and dehumanising conditions of extreme poverty, to which more than a billion of them are currently subjected. We are committed to making the right to development a reality for everyone and to freeing the entire human race from want."

Australia currently ranks 19th out of 22 OECD countries in its contribution to overseas aid spending. In last week’s Budget, whilst the Federal Government increased the aid budget, it failed to increase aid funding from its current level of 0.3 per cent of GNI. The budget did however decrease its governance funding on a percentage basis, and increased infrastructure, health and education spending by $1.6 billion over four years. This is promising, in that less aid dollars are being spent on security operations in places such as the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste, and more is being spent on sustainable development. Nonetheless, our signing of free trade agreements with the United States is the very thing which keeps developing countries from working their way out of poverty.

One answer to these complex problems is for Australia to show some leadership, and start providing more and better aid; to focus its aid dollars on development projects with a mandate of building peace and alleviating poverty, and investing in fair trade initiatives. One of the Millennium Development Goals is to create a global partnership for human development. It is not possible to eradicate extreme poverty without working together. Working together using principles of fair trade is a challenge that governments need to be made aware of. Programs need to be firmly grounded in good development principles, encouraging a mentality of doing with rather than doing for.

Another more personal response is to consider our buying habits. Our awareness of the working and living conditions of garment workers rarely plays out in our own lives. Christian Kemp-Griffin, the Chief Executive Office of Edun Apparel — an ethical clothing company founded by U2’s Bono and his wife Ali Hewson — says that socially conscious clothing sells. "The ethical image has value. A company doesn't have to sacrifice its margins to sell its product because it's doing it ethically. It actually adds value for the consumer."

A fundamental shift needs to happen in the minds of Western governments. It takes specific action and focussed aid and development dollars to alleviate poverty, and the need is more urgent than ever. Read more!

Australia to increase aid to Cambodia in 2008

The Australian government has decided to increase aid to Cambodia by 11 percent in the coming year, but the actual amount is not specified, local media reported on Wednesday.

Australian Ambassador to Cambodia Margaret Adamson told Prime Minister Hun Sen here on Tuesday that the aid will target agriculture, health and scholarships for Cambodian students, reported Cambodian daily newspaper the Kampuchea Thmey.

Australia will continue to help Cambodia in order to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperation, Eng Sophallet, personal assistant to the premier, was quoted by another Cambodian daily newspaper the Koh Santepheap as saying.

Hun Sen said that the Australian aid is well-suited to Cambodia 's rural development and poverty reduction strategies and thanked the Australian government for its continuous assistance to Cambodia, reported the Koh Santepheap.

Hun Sen also requested the Australian government to assist Cambodia for its 2008 national election, reported the Kampuchea Thmey.

Hun Sen paid a six-day official visit to Australia in October 2006.

As the visit was wrapped up, Minister of Commerce Cham Prasidh told reporters that the Australian government is to offer to Cambodia over 123 million Australian dollars (around 92 million U. S. dollars) of aid in the next 5 years.

Among it, 48.5 million Australian dollars (some 36 million U.S. dollars) goes for comprehensive projects from 2006 to 2007, and 45 million Australian dollars (some 34 million U.S. dollars) for agricultural projects and 30 million Australian dollars (some 22 million U.S. dollars) for justice and penal affairs in the next 5 years.

From 1996 to 2006, Australia has offered a total of 424 billion Australian dollars (around 318 billion U.S. dollars) of aid to Cambodia.

Australia is the kingdom's third largest donor, trailing Japan and the United States. Read more!

Rare soft-shell turtle found in Cambodia

16 May 2007

Phnom Penh, Cambodia – One of the world’s largest and least studied freshwater turtles has been found in Cambodia’s Mekong River, raising hopes that the threatened species can be saved from extinction.

Scientists from WWF, Conservation International, the Cambodian Fisheries Administration and the Cambodian Turtle Conservation Team captured an 11-kilogramme (24.2-pound) female Cantor’s giant soft-shell turtle during a recent river survey.

“This incredible discovery means that a unique turtle can be saved from disappearing from our planet,” said David Emmett, a wildlife biologist at Conservation International.

“We thought it might be almost gone, but found a number of them on this one pristine stretch of the Mekong, making the area the world’s most important site for saving this particular species.”

Stuck in the mud
Instead of an exterior shell commonly associated with turtles, the Cantor’s giant soft-shell turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) has a rubbery skin with ribs fused together to form a protective layer over the internal organs. To protect itself from predators, it spends 95 per cent of its life hidden in sand or mud with only its eyes and nose showing.

The turtle can grow up to 2 metres (6 feet) in length and weigh more than 50 kilogrammes (110 pounds). It also possesses long claws and can extend its neck with lightning speed to bite with jaws powerful enough to crush bone.

“It has the fastest strike of any animal I’ve ever seen, including cobras,” Emmett added.

The researchers also found a nesting ground for the species and brought back eggs that have since hatched. The hatchlings were released into the wild on 8 May, together with another adult turtle and additional hatchlings captured by fishermen.

Last observed by scientists in the wild in Cambodia in 2003, only a few records of the species exist for Laos, and it appears to have disappeared across much of its former range in Vietnam and Thailand.

It is currently classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the same status as tigers and pandas. Threats to its existence include over-harvesting by hunters for its meat and eggs, as well as habitat destruction from dams, irrigation and dredging.

River survey
The stretch of Mekong River where the turtles were found is an area that had been closed for many years to scientific exploration because it was one the last strongholds of Cambodia's former Khmer Rouge regime. The river survey was the first detailed study of the area since security restrictions were relaxed in the late 1990s.

“Our survey work to date has documented some of the highest freshwater biodiversity values in the entire Lower Mekong Basin,” said Mark Bezuijen of WWF’s Mekong Programme, who led the team.

“During our survey we also discovered an entirely new plant species, Amorphophallus Sp., along with populations of such threatened species as terns, fish eagles, green peafowl, otters and silvered leaf-monkeys. More than 180 fish species were recorded, including one identified as a new species of spiny eel.

Bezuijen described the area where the turtle was discovered as “a near pristine region of tall riverine forest, waterways and island archipelagos where further exciting biological discoveries will almost certainly be made.”

A further survey of the area by an international team of flora and fauna experts is planned for July 2007.

END NOTES:

• For the future protection of the species, Conservation International, WWF and the Cambodian Turtle Conservation Team plan to employ local community members to protect nesting beaches for the turtles and to conduct patrols during the dry season to prevent illegal fishing of the species prized as an expensive delicacy in neighboring Vietnam. The organizations will also provide the communities with financial incentives to offset the potential loss of revenue from illegal trade in the turtles.

• The turtle survey team consisted of Cambodian Fisheries Administration staff and the Cambodian Turtle Conservation Team, a group of early career conservationists who have received long-term mentoring from Conservation International (with funding from the British energy company BP). During the survey, they worked also worked closely with WWF staff and local fishing communities.

For further information:
Chris Greenwood, Communications Advisor
WWF Cambodia
Tel: + 855 092 916 454
E-mail: chris.greenwood@wwfgreatermekong.org

Read more!