Jun 2011
If you’re a father
30/06/11 10:38 Filed in: Dispatches
The UNODC, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, has issued the World Drug Report 2011.
The global situation is largely stable: “opiates on a downward trend, increases in the use of cocaine and synthetic drugs” it writes, just like a financial statement.
South East Asia is bucking the trend, however. In Burma opium growing and production have risen (580 metric tonnes in 2010).
“A toxic mix of problems” is how Gary Lewis, UNODC representative for East Asia and the Pacific, puts it. “In Myanmar many people live in a war zone. The problem is getting money. Either to survive or to fight...The situation with food shortages in the Shan states is terrible. If you’re a father you do what you can for your family".
Aside from any consideration about the results and the efficacy of the UN agencies, men like him provide some hope. Because they don’t speak in abstract terms, they don’t judge; they try to act. In spite of everything. “We can’t talk of eradication”, he said, referring both to plantations and to the issue in general. “We are trying to work towards containment”. That’s a lesson in reality and in moral honesty.
(Click here to download the summary of the report)
The global situation is largely stable: “opiates on a downward trend, increases in the use of cocaine and synthetic drugs” it writes, just like a financial statement.
South East Asia is bucking the trend, however. In Burma opium growing and production have risen (580 metric tonnes in 2010).
“A toxic mix of problems” is how Gary Lewis, UNODC representative for East Asia and the Pacific, puts it. “In Myanmar many people live in a war zone. The problem is getting money. Either to survive or to fight...The situation with food shortages in the Shan states is terrible. If you’re a father you do what you can for your family".
Aside from any consideration about the results and the efficacy of the UN agencies, men like him provide some hope. Because they don’t speak in abstract terms, they don’t judge; they try to act. In spite of everything. “We can’t talk of eradication”, he said, referring both to plantations and to the issue in general. “We are trying to work towards containment”. That’s a lesson in reality and in moral honesty.
(Click here to download the summary of the report)0 Comments
Emotional times
20/06/11 11:06 Filed in: Logbook
I few days ago I spoke with Aung San Suu Kyi. It was her birthday. We had just a few words on a very bad phone line. The interference was probably due to someone listening in. The time we had, though short, was very emotional for me. The voice of Daw, an honorific name given to the lady, is beautiful clear and strong (article published in Il Sole 24 Ore. In Italian only).
The next morning I worked on a different story. I went in search of the last glimpses of the old Bangkok harbour. I walked along a very long and rickety wooden jetty over a muddy canal. And I came upon a wharf where an old tramp steamer was moored. It was just the place I was looking for. Once again, it had an emotional impact.
If you keep looking for them, you will feel and see stories. Then they have to be told.
But that’s another story.
The next morning I worked on a different story. I went in search of the last glimpses of the old Bangkok harbour. I walked along a very long and rickety wooden jetty over a muddy canal. And I came upon a wharf where an old tramp steamer was moored. It was just the place I was looking for. Once again, it had an emotional impact.
If you keep looking for them, you will feel and see stories. Then they have to be told.
But that’s another story.