Index July 2011
Written on July 31st, 2011 in Index by heidi
2011-07-01: Urban farming more profitable than white-collar jobs for many Congolese;
2011-07-01: Lutte contre les violences faites aux femmes, les leaders religieux s'engagent;
2011-07-02: Petition: End child sex trafficking in Wyndham hotels, San Diego;
2011-07-02: L'Afrique se mobilise pour bannir les MGF;
2011-07-03: Africa moves to ban female genital mutilation;
2011-07-03: LUTTE CONTRE LE SIDA ET LES MGF;
2011-07-03: Land investment deals in Africa: Say no way;
2011-07-04: Is microfinance working in South Africa?
2011-07-05: Sell only what we don't need;
2011-07-06: EASTERN AFRICA: Severe food crisis hits region;
2011-07-06: Mamou: Comment amener les communautés à la prévention et à l'abandon de l'excision;
2011-07-07: Hunger Looms Amid Drought In Horn Of Africa;
2011-07-08: Call for Applications for the Women's Human Rights Training Institute WHRTI, 2011-2013;
2011-07-08: Jeunesse, emploi, éducation, Le Premier ministre présente le modèle sénégalais à MALABO;
2011-07-09: Burkina Faso after the recent socio-political shocks;
2011-07-10: South Sudan Independence – Celebrations, but challenges ahead;
2011-07-11: In Sudan's breadbasket, a revolution is waiting to happen;
2011-07-11: MFG: 28 % de femmes sont touchées au Sénégal;
2011-07-12: African transformation: Only in our hands;
2011-07-13: UN: Somalia is worst humanitarian disaster;
2011-07-14: The great billion dollar drug scam;
2011-07-15: WFP mulls resuming S.Somalia food aid;
2011-07-16: Becoming trapped in Psychiatryland;
2011-07-17: How much does poverty cost B.C.?
2011-07-18: What are we afraid of?
2011-07-19: UNICEF recognises UK schools for teaching human rights;
2011-07-20: Formation sur les mecanismes regionaux et internationaux des droits humains a l'intention des acteurs de la societe civile en Afrique;
2011-07-20: Training on Human Rights Mechanisms for Civil Society Actors in Africa;
2011-07-21: Beyond the genocidal concept of tribal homelands;
2011-07-22: In Verhovna Rada of Ukraine was registered the project of the law on Land Market;
2011-07-22: VIOLENCES FAITES AUX FEMMES – LA FRANCE SOUTIEN POUR 162 MILLIONS FCFA;
2011-07-23: Greek Bailout Leaves Larger Issues Unresolved;
2011-07-24: Tunisians discover secret archive in Paris;
2011-07-24: Droits des femmes: Un guide pour faciliter l'utilisation du Protocole africain;
2011-07-25: Can Saudi women deliver your signature?
2011-07-25: Droits de la Femme: Dikhil au diapason;
2011-07-26: Confronting female genital mutilation MGF;
2011-07-26: La Guinée interdit la mutilation génitale féminine;
2011-07-27: Participatory Course on Democracy and Human Rights;
2011-07-28: The last of the anti-apartheid heroes;
2011-07-29: Nourishing the Planet Agricultural Innovation Tour in Vietnam;
2011-07-30: State planning to own at least 30% of Ukraine's farmland;
2011-07-31: UAE investors urged to start developing farmland in Sudan.
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UAE investors urged to start developing farmland in Sudan
Written on July 31st, 2011 in Human Rights, Development, Peace, Democracy, Health, Food and Hunger by heidi
Published on Food Crisis and the Global Land Grab, by Rebecca Bundhun, July 27, 2011.
Sudan is urging the UAE to begin developing the vast expanses of farmland it has acquired in the country, as the north loses the majority of its oil revenues following the independence of South Sudan.
The country, ravaged by years of conflict, is now turning its focus to its agricultural sector, as it desperately tries to generate cash.
Investors from the UAE, including the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, have been given a total of 600,000 feddans of farmland in Sudan, either for free or at nominal rent costs, on condition they will invest in the land, said Salih Ibrahim Salih Mohammed, a senior researcher at the Sudan Economic Advisor's Office, a division of the country's embassy in Abu Dhabi. Continue Reading…
State planning to own at least 30% of Ukraine's farmland
Written on July 30th, 2011 in Economy and Politic by heidi
Published on Food Crisis and the Global Land Grab, Source: Kyiv Post, July 26, 2011.
The state does not want to see mass sales of land plots by famers and wants to buy up at least 30% of the country's farmland, Deputy Head of the State Agency for Land Resources of Ukraine, Mykola Kaliuzhny, has said.
"It's important to inform people that the pecuniary assessment methods will be revised, and the price of land plots will grow. The price of a hectare of farmland will grow to Hr 20,000. The state plans to buy up at least 30% of the farmland," the press service of Kaliuzhny reported.
He added that the position of the agency regarding the restricted circle of people who will be able to buy land in Ukraine, as stipulated in the draft law on the land market, is still the same … // Continue Reading…
Nourishing the Planet Agricultural Innovation Tour in Vietnam
Written on July 29th, 2011 in Human Rights, Development, Peace, Democracy, Health, Food and Hunger, upcoming events, local concerns by heidi
Event Date: September 4, 2011, Location: Vietnam.
Linked on our blogs with Fairer deals needed to ensure opportunity for locals.
The Worldwatch Institute's Nourishing the Planet will be touring Vietnam, looking for agricultural innovations that are helping to alleviate hunger and poverty.
Contact .
The last of the anti-apartheid heroes
Written on July 28th, 2011 in African concerns, Human Rights, Development, Peace, Democracy, Health, Food and Hunger by heidi
Published on Pambazuka News, by Elizabeth Barad, July 21, 2011.
On the occasion of Nelson Mandela's 93rd birthday, Elizabeth Barad reflects on the lives of anti-apartheid heroes, the late Walter and Albertina Sisulu and Helen Suzman.
I love each and every one of you,' said Nelson Mandela who celebrated his 93rd birthday on 18 July. 'If my pockets were big enough, I would take you all back home with me,' he added at a dinner I attended, hosted by then-President Bill Clinton. Mandela, known as 'Madiba' (an honoured name of the Xhosa tribe) is the last, most revered and important heroe of the anti-apartheid movement. Continue Reading…
Participatory Course on Democracy and Human Rights
Lahore /Pakistan, September 09-18, 2011 – Deadline for Application: August 15, 2011 – Received by e-mail, From: Samson Salamat, Date: 25/07/2011.
The Centre for Human Rights Education (CHRE) – Pakistan is pleased to announce and invite the applications for the 2nd Annual "Participatory Course on Democracy and Human Rights (PCDHR)" to be held in Lahore on September 09-18, 2011. The candidates are encouraged to send their complete applications immediately to avoid the last moment tribulations. If you are interested the application forms in Urdu and English can be downloaded from the Centre for Human Rights Education, Pakistan.
[Moderator's note: If you are interested in this course, or want to make inquiries, please DO NOT reply to this message as it will be sent back to the list address and you will not receive an answer; instead, please contact the organisers via the contact information provided below. Thank you] Continue Reading…
La Guinée interdit la mutilation génitale féminine MGF
Written on July 26th, 2011 in African concerns by heidi
Publié dans AGORAFRICA, le 20 juillet 2011.
Les élus guinéens ont voté contre les pratiques de mutilation génitale féminine MGF. Les contrevenants à cette décision s'exposent aux rigueurs de la loi, notamment cinq ans de prison ferme et le versement d'une amende de 7.600 euros.
Confronting female genital mutilation MGF
The role of youth and ICTs in changing Africa – Published on Pambazuka News, by Marie-Hélène Mottin-Sylla and Joëlle Palmieri, July 21, 2011.
Confronting Female Genital Mutilation: The Role of Youth and ICTs in Changing Africa, by Marie-Hélène Mottin-Sylla and Joëlle Palmieri is a new title from Pambazuka Press. For 25 years campaigners from within and outside Africa have worked on eradicating female genital mutilation. This fascinating short book reports succinctly but in depth on an innovative research and action project among girls and boys in francophone West Africa that explored whether young people's use of information and communication technology could contribute to the abandonment of female genital mutilation … //
… 25 YEARS FOR THE ABANDONMENT OF FGM Continue Reading…
Droits de la Femme: Dikhil au diapason
Publié dans La Nation, Djib, le 15 juillet 2011.
… Un atelier de sensibilisation sur les droits de la femme et les mutilations génitales féminines s'est ouvert hier à Dikhil. L'initiative émane du Ministère des Affaires Musulmanes et des Biens Waqfs qui a bénéficié du FNUAP.
Le lancement des travaux de ce séminaire s'est déroulé en présence du directeur des bureaux régionaux du ministère organisateur, Ali Youssouf, et de plusieurs élus locaux au Conseil régional de Dikhil.
Citons notamment le président Houmed Gaditto et le secrétaire exécutif Abdourahman Yonis de cette instance représentative dikhiloise. Outre ce rappel, le séminaire a regroupé sur place un public essentiellement féminin. Continue Reading…
Can Saudi women deliver your signature?
Written on July 25th, 2011 in Human Rights, Development, Peace, Democracy, Health, Food and Hunger by heidi
Here another, a new petition, linked on our blogs with Saudi woman arrested for simply driving a car is set free. – Received by e-mail, From: Weldon Kennedy, Change.org, Date: 22/07/2011.
This week, a group of Saudi women are once again defying the driving ban – this time to drive to Saudi Subaru and hand-deliver their Change.org petition asking the company to stop selling cars in a country where women are forbidden to drive. The effort will expose these brave women to tremendous personal risk: Since Saudi women launched their right-to-drive campaign on June 17, threats against women activists – in mosques, on the street, and in the media – have been growing at a scary pace. But it's a cause they believe in.
More than 50,000 people around the world have already signed the petition to reinforce Saudi women's resolve and courage – and remind Saudi Arabia and Subaru that the world is watching. Add your name to Saudi Women for Driving's remarkable Subaru petition in time for their petition delivery. Stop Selling Cars Where Women Can't Drive: /about this petition; /petition activity; /sign this new petition.
Droits des femmes: Un guide pour faciliter l'utilisation du Protocole africain
Publié dans Afrique en ligne, par Pana, le 16 juillet 2011.
Protocole africain sur les femmes – L'organisation internationale chargée des droits humains 'Egalité Maintenant' , en collaboration avec 'Solidarité pour les Droits des Femmes Africaines' (SOAWR), a publié un Guide d'utilisation du protocole sur les droits de la femme en Afrique, destiné à l'action juridique aux niveaux local, national et régional, cinq ans après que le Protocole est entré en vigueur. 'Nous espérons que les avocats africains et les défenseurs des droits des femmes vont trouver ce manuel utile et qu'il leur fournira des conseils pratiques sur la meilleure façon d'appliquer les normes remarquables du protocole en cas de violations des droits des femmes', a déclaré dans un communiqué transmis à la PANA vendredi, Faiza Jama Mohamed, directeur du bureau de 'Egalité Maintenant' à Nairobi. Continue Reading…
Tunisians discover secret archive in Paris
Homeless migrants sheltering in former Tunisian government building discover thousands of documents from ousted regime – Published on AlJazeera, by Yasmine Ryan, June 27, 2011.
… One particular group of recent migrants turned to what they thought would be a legitimate sleeping place. On May 31, around 30 Tunisians took up camp in an abandoned building that had been officially known as the Tunisian Cultural Centre.
They quickly discovered that the site at 36, rue Botzaris, in a northeastern neighbourhood of Paris, had in fact belonged to Ben Ali's now disbanded political party, the Rally for Constitutional Democracy (RCD).
They had stumbled across thousands of pages of archives from the former ruling party. Continue Reading…
Greek Bailout Leaves Larger Issues Unresolved
Written on July 23rd, 2011 in Economy and Politic by heidi
Published on Think Progress.org, by Matthew Yglesias, July 21, 2011.
I'm still trying to fully understand what's happening in the latest European debt plan, but at first glance it seems to be almost entirely besides the point—a plan to address insolvency in Greece at a time when as Megan McArdle says "[t]he spreads on Spanish, Italian, Irish, and Portuguese bonds are not widening because investors think that Greece needs a debt swap, or because the solons of Brussels haven't made enough announcements about the virtues of budget-cutting." Right, the spreads on PII[G]S' bonds are going up because of concerns about those specific countries. An uncontrolled Greek default would make the situation worse, but merely avoiding such a scenario doesn't address the issues there. Continue Reading…
VIOLENCES FAITES AUX FEMMES :LA FRANCE SOUTIEN POUR 162 MILLIONS FCFA
Written on July 22nd, 2011 in African concerns, Human Rights, Development, Peace, Democracy, Health, Food and Hunger by heidi
Publié dans Nouvelle Expression, Cameroun Actu, par Lindovi Nfjio, 15 juillet 2011.
Aucun pays n'en est exempt». Bruno Gain, l'ambassadeur de la France au Cameroun l'a reconnu mardi dernier. Ce qui explique la préoccupation de son pays dans la lutte contre ce phénomène qui semble plus criard dans les pays du sud. Et cela est d'autant plus important qu'«au Cameroun, la violence faite aux femmes est une réalité, elle touche toutes les femmes, quelque soit leur statut social», appuie Djessi Ndine, la présidente de l'association camerounaise des femmes juristes (Acafej). A propos, l'Acafej met dans ce registre, les violences domestiques (un peu plus de 92 % des victimes), les violences conjugales, les décès dus aux complications liées à sa grossesse, à l'accouchement ou à des suites de couche, les pressions psychologiques, les atteintes à l'intégrité physique, les mutilations génitales féminines, les viols, l'inceste, les mariages précoces, les mariages forcés, la préférence pour les garçons et ses incidences sur le statut des filles, les grossesses précoces, l'exploitation économique et sexuelle des filles … Continue Reading…
In Verhovna Rada of Ukraine was registered the project of the law on Land Market
Written on July 22nd, 2011 in Economy and Politic by heidi
Published on Food Crisis and the Global Land Grab /Ukraine, Source: Land Union of Ukraine LUU, July 20, 2011.
In July, 19 in Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was registered the project of Law "On Land Market". It was brought in by Nikolay Azarov, the head of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
The aim of this bill is a legal settlement of the questions related to organization and functioning of land market in Ukraine. This law will determine the legal and economic principles of land market, establish the order of sale of lot lands and rights on lease, establish legal limitations in relation to the agricultural lands, setting the purpose to prevent speculative operations and monopolization of land market. Continue Reading…
Beyond the genocidal concept of tribal homelands
Written on July 21st, 2011 in African concerns by heidi
Published on Pambazuka News, by Mahmood Mamdani, July 14, 2011.
'East Africa has two post-colonial traditions of citizenship', writes Mahmood Mamdani: territorial and ethnic. If the region is to have a political federation, it will need to be based on a common citizenship, he argues: 'Which one will it be?'
I became interested in the question of why the old community collapsed after I returned to Uganda from the University of Dar es Salaam in 1979. I spent months reading community files in government ministries in Kampala. I was struck that the debate on the Community unfolded as a debate between states only. I could not locate an independent discussion that cut across state lines. Continue Reading…
Training on Human Rights Mechanisms for Civil Society Actors in Africa
Published on HURIDOCS, July 18, 2011.
The African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) have worked closely together over the years in the building of capacities of NGOs in the form of supporting participation in the NGOs Forums preceding the Ordinary Sessions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights ACHPR.
As the building of capacity and sharing of knowledge and skills is a crucial component of both organisation's work, the African Centre in collaboration with the OHCHR will organise training programme on international and regional human rights mechanism.
Objective: Continue Reading…
Formation sur les mecanismes regionaux et internationaux des droits humains a l'intention des acteurs de la societe civile en Afrique
Publié dans HURIDOCS (en français voir en bas de la page), le 18 juillet 2011.
Le Centre Africain pour la Démocratie et les Etudes des Droits de l'Homme et le Bureau du Haut Commissaire pour les Droits de l'Homme (HCDH) ont œuvré ensemble au cours des dernières années au renforcement des capacités des ONG en soutenant leur participation au Forum des ONG préparatif aux Sessions Ordinaires de la Commission Africaine des Droits de l'Homme et des Peuples (CADHP).Etant donné que le renforcement des capacités et le partage des expériences et des compétences constituent une composante essentielle du travail de l'organisation, le Centre en collaboration avec le HCDH, se propose d'organiser un programme de formation sur les mécanismes internationaux et régionaux des droits humains. Continue Reading…
UNICEF recognises UK schools for teaching human rights
Written on July 19th, 2011 in Human Rights, Development, Peace, Democracy, Health, Food and Hunger, with & around the United Nations by heidi
Received by e-mail, From: Global HRE List Moderator, Date: 14/07/2011
UNICEF recognises schools in Dorset for teaching human rights, on Dorset ECHO, by Catherine Bolado, 13th July 2011.
DORSET schools are leading the way in teaching pupils about their rights and respecting others. More than 140 schools across Dorset have been highlighted by children's charity UNICEF for their work teaching students about human rights. The schools are all working towards or have achieved UNICEF UK's Rights Respecting Schools status.
The award is a nationwide scheme aimed at promoting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. It teaches pupils about their rights and encourages them to respect the rights of others. Wool First School was recently given an advanced award as part of the Rights Respecting School scheme. Pupils at the school are now acting as ambassadors for the project by helping more schools to sign up. Wool First School pupil, Emma, aged 9, said: "I had a dream that everyone in the whole universe – even aliens – was part of a rights-respecting community. If everyone believes in it, it really could happen." Continue Reading…
What are we afraid of?
Published on Le Monde Diplo, by Alain Gresh, July 2011.
… Egyptians often evoke the "Turkish model", which reserves a special place for the military, forgetting that the Turks themselves are trying to get rid of it. Fear of an Islamic tsunami – and "uncontrolled" social movements – makes them see the armed forces as the ultimate guarantors of order and stability. It is this kind of short-sighted vision that has led people in the past to support authoritarian regimes as the best defence against the Islamists, and the most likely to open up the markets.
The political arena is undergoing a major transformation. The Muslim Brotherhood, the only movement with any real organisation, is emerging from the shadows and has for the first time established a political party, Liberty and Justice. It has repeatedly declared itself in favour of democracy and has undertaken not to field candidates in more than half of all electoral wards. Continue Reading…
How much does poverty cost B.C.?
Published on rabble.ca, by Iglika Ivanova, July 15, 2011.
We've known for a long time that we all pay for poverty. We just didn't know how much.
This is the question I investigate in my latest CCPA report The Cost of Poverty in B.C. If you're not in the mood for reading the report, you can watch a short video that summarizes the findings here.
Study after study has linked poverty to poorer health, lower literacy, more crime, poor school performance for children, and greater stress. In this report, I use the statistical association between poverty and these negative outcomes documented in the research literature, and combine this information with estimates of the costs these outcomes impose on government finances and on society at large. Continue Reading…
Becoming trapped in Psychiatryland
Published on Intrepid Report, by Martha Rosenberg, July 14, 2011.
Phillip Sinaikin, MD, is a Florida psychiatrist who has been in practice for 25 years. Author of Get Smart About Weight Control and co-author of Fat Madness: How to Stop the Diet Cycle and Achieve Permanent Well-Being. his new book, Psychiatryland, focuses on excesses and industry influence in the field of psychiatry.
Rosenberg: Your new book, Psychiatryland, traces how deception, conflicts of interest, medical enabling and direct-to-consumer advertising have resulted in millions being on psychiatric drugs they don't need. One patient you describe has legitimate mourning and grief work to do after his wife leaves him for his own cousin. But his grief is pathologized into "bipolar disorder" by the system, including his own mother. Continue Reading…
WFP mulls resuming S.Somalia food aid
Written on July 15th, 2011 in African concerns, with & around the United Nations by heidi
Published on AlertNet, by Megan Rowling, July 13, 2011.
LONDON (AlertNet) – The World Food Programme WFP is looking at whether it can restart aid operations in southern Somalia, after the hardline Islamist rebels who control the drought-hit region said relief agencies could resume assistance there.
The U.N. food aid agency withdrew from areas under al Shabaab control in southern Somalia at the beginning of 2010 because of threats to its employees, the imposition of informal taxes and a move to keep out female staff. It has continued to work in Mogadishu and central and northern Somalia, providing food assistance to 1.5 million people … //
… SAFETY GUARANTEES: Continue Reading…
The great billion dollar drug scam
Written on July 14th, 2011 in Economy and Politic, Human Rights, Development, Peace, Democracy, Health, Food and Hunger by heidi
Published on Pambazuka News, by Khadija Sharife, July 7, 2011.
The pharmaceutical industry uses dirty tricks to maximise profits at any cost, hurting sick people and taxpayers. Khadija Sharife examines the methods used by multinational drug corporations to control markets – and lives …
… The US Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) revealed: "The net cost of every dollar spent on research must be reduced by the amount of tax avoided by that expenditure." The authors used data from official sources such as the Tax Policy Center, to reveal additional tax savings of 39 per cent. Cumulatively, taxpayer subsidies and credits reduced the overall costs from $403 million to $201 million.
TAX SECRECY: Continue Reading…
UN: Somalia is worst humanitarian disaster
Head of UNHCR appeals for "massive support" over drought affecting about 10 million people in the Horn of Africa
Published on AlJazeera, Source: Al Jazeera and agencies, July 11, 2011.
Head of UNHCR appeals for "massive support" over drought affecting about 10 million people in the Horn of Africa. The head of the United Nations refugee agency has described the situation in drought-hit Somalia as the "worst humanitarian disaster" in the world, after meeting with those affected at the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. The camp, located in the northeast and the world's largest in the world, is overflowing with tens of thousands of refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia and within Kenya. Continue Reading…
African transformation: Only in our hands
Written on July 12th, 2011 in African concerns, Economy and Politic by heidi
Published on Pambazuka News, by Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe, July 7, 2011.
Social progress and transformation in Africa will be driven by the continent's people themselves, writes Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe. Africa remains a net exporter of capital to the Western world, just as the remittances provided by Africans abroad far outweigh the 'aid' the continent receives, Ekwe-Ekwe underlines.
Africa has uninterruptedly been a net-exporter of capital to the Western world since 1981. The thundering sum of US$400 billion is the total figure that Africa has transferred to the West in this manner to date. These are legitimate, accountable transfers, largely covering the ever-increasing interest payments for the 'debts' the West claims African regimes owe it, beginning from the 1970s. A 2010 study by Global Financial Integrity, a Washington-based research organisation, states that Africa may have also transferred the additional sum of US$854 billion since the 1970s ('this figure might be more than double, at [US]$1.8 trillion,' the study cautions), through illegitimate exports by the 'leaderships' of corrupt African regimes, with Nigeria topping this league of felons at US$240.7 billion. In effect, the state in Africa no longer pretends that it exists to serve its peoples. Continue Reading…
MFG: 28 % de femmes sont touchées au Sénégal
Publié dans Senegal FACE.com.
… Au Sénégal la pratique des mutilations génitales féminines affecte la vie de 28 % des femmes interrogées lors des enquêtes démographiques et santé de 2005. Toutefois, cette prévalence cache des disparités régionales et ethniques. En effet, il est établi que c'est dans les zones du Nord, du Sud, de l'Est que la proportion des femmes déclarant être excisées est la plus importante avec des taux qui varient entre région. C'est le cas, par exemple, à Kolda où 94 % des femmes sont victimes de mutilations génitales féminines, 93 % à Matam et 44 % des femmes de la région de Saint-Louis.
Quant aux ethnies pratiquantes, l'ethnie Soninké se singularise avec 78,2 % de femmes excisées, suivie par l'ethnie mandingue, elle-même dépassée par les ethnies Pular avec 62,1 %, Diola ( 59,7 %), Sérère (1,8 %) et Wolof (1,6 %). Continue Reading…
In Sudan's breadbasket, a revolution is waiting to happen
Published on Food Crisis and the Global Land Grab, by Somon Martelli, July 5, 2011.
Standing in a green field near the banks of the Nile, Al-Hajil Maamun says he struggles to make a profit from his farm despite the potential of Sudan's fertile heartland and the high hopes of the government … //
… The jewel in the crown of the once-prosperous industry is known as the Gezira scheme, the vast but neglected farming project with its network of irrigation canals spanning 840,000 hectares (two million acres) between the two Niles.
"Cotton, sorghum, wheat and ground nuts are the Gezira scheme's four main crops. We hope to increase sugar, fruit and meat production," the project's general director, Osman Simsaa, told AFP. Continue Reading…
South Sudan Independence – Celebrations, but challenges ahead
Flurry of pre-independence activity in the capital of South Sudan, as workers clean up and dignitaries arrive – Published on AlJazeera, by Gregg Carlstrom, July 8, 2011.
… Many of the symbols of statehood have already been decided upon. There is a new national anthem, which will be sung in public for the first time at Saturday's independence ceremony. The six-coloured flag already flies from buildings around the capital, sometimes alongside the Sudanese flag; the latter will be retired after Saturday. A new constitution was approved on Wednesday night.
New policy for a new country: Continue Reading…
Burkina Faso after the recent socio-political shocks
Written on July 9th, 2011 in African concerns, Economy and Politic by heidi
Published on Pambazuka News, by Paul Kéré, July 7, 2011.
The recent political upheaval in Burkina Faso demonstrates the fragility of peace, writes Paul Kéré, with the country facing numerous challenges around ensuring affordable staple foods, public health, its economy and the handover of power … //
… THE ECONOMY
The economy is, par excellence, the foundation for all policy actions. To 'compete', you need competitive businesses and a domestic market that can carry its own weight. Burkina Faso is the main provider of meat to Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire and a good number of other countries in the region. More than ever, the challenge consists of further strengthening an economy mainly orientated towards our own strengths. To the envy of many other countries, we have significant human resources to achieve this, not only intellectual but rural, agricultural, pastoral and artisanal. We need to actively upgrade these different sectors through our local authorities. It is from them and their upgrading that we must begin step by step towards the recovery of a sustainable development in our country. Continue Reading…
Jeunesse, emploi, éducation, Le Premier ministre présente le modèle sénégalais à MALABO
Written on July 8th, 2011 in Human Rights, Development, Peace, Democracy, Health, Food and Hunger by heidi
Publié dans Le Soleil online, par Doudou Sarr NIANG, le 2 juillet 2011.
Profitant de son séjour à Malabo, le Premier ministre qui conduit la délégation a vanté le modèle sénégalais en matière de jeunesse. Il s'agit des projets du chef de l'Etat que sont le Fonds national de promotion de la jeunesse, l'Agence nationale pour l'emploi des jeunes, le fort taux de scolarisation, les 40 % du budget de fonctionnement de l'Etat alloués à l'éducation, etc. … //
… La promotion et la protection des jeunes:
A ce titre, le Premier ministre a tenu à rappeler que « mon pays est également convaincu que l'accélération de l'autonomisation des jeunes pour le développement durable passe nécessairement par la promotion et la protection de leurs droits; de tous leurs droits : droit à l'éducation, droit à la formation, droit à un emploi décent conformément à la Charte des droits et du bien-être de l'enfant ». Continue Reading…
Call for Applications for the Women's Human Rights Training Institute WHRTI, 2011-2013
Published on HURIDOCS, July 5, 2011.
The Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation BGRF, in cooperation with its partners, the Center for Reproductive Rights CRR and the Network of East-West Women NEWW, and in cooperation with representatives of the Euroregional Center for Public Initiatives ECPI are announcing their Call for Applications for the Fourth Round of the Women's Human Rights Training Institute WHRTI, 2011-2013.
The Institute is a unique initiative founded by the three partners in 2004 as a first-of-its-kind programme aimed at building the capacity of young lawyers from Central and Eastern European and the Newly Independent States (CEE/NIS) for litigation on women's rights issues, including: Continue Reading…
Hunger Looms Amid Drought In Horn Of Africa
Written on July 7th, 2011 in African concerns, with & around the United Nations by heidi
Published on World Food Programme WFP, June 29, 2011.
Around 9 million people in the Horn of Africa need humanitarian assistance as severe drought combines with high food prices and conflict to push the poorest and weakest close to the edge of survival. WFP aims to reach two thirds of these with food assistance.
ROME – Nearly 9 million people in the Horn of Africa need humanitarian assistance as a result of a severe drought, whose effects are being worsened by high food prices and conflict.
The people needing aid include 6 million that WFP aims to reach with food assistance, mainly in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya. Continue Reading…
Mamou: Comment amener les communautés à la prévention et à l'abandon de l'excision
Written on July 6th, 2011 in African concerns by heidi
Publié dans Barkere, par M. Sory, le 30 juin 2011.
A l'initiative du Ministère d'Etat à la Promotion Féminine et à l'Enfance, avec l'appui financier de la coopération allemande, il s'est tenu récemment, dans la ville carrefour Mamou, un atelier sur les mutilations génitales féminines.
La rencontre avait pour objectifs, l'accroissement de la participation des communautés dans la prévention et l'abandon de l'excision. Une trentaine de spécialistes de santé, d'ONG et de leaders religieux ont pris part à l'atelier.
Pour mémoire et selon des statistiques d'une étude effectuée en 1999, 99% des femmes guinéennes sont excisées. En 2005, ce taux était de 96% d'où une faible réduction annuelle de 0,5%. Selon la même source, 980 femmes sur 100 000 meurent à l'accouchement. Continue Reading…
EASTERN AFRICA: Severe food crisis hits region
Published on IRINnews, by aw-ah-jk/js/cb, 28 June 2011.
NAIROBI – Eastern Africa is experiencing what has been described as the "most severe food crisis in the world today", with at least 10 million people affected in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Uganda, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Somalia is one of the hardest-hit countries in the region, with deaths reported in some areas amid alarming malnutrition levels.
"We are no longer on the verge of a humanitarian disaster; we are in the middle of it now. It is happening and no one is helping," Isaq Ahmed, the chairman of the Mubarak Relief and Development Organization (MURDO), a local NGO working in the Lower Shabelle region of Somalia, told IRIN on 28 June. Continue Reading…
Sell only what we don't need
Published on Food Crisis and the Global Land Grab (first on The Australian), by Jock Laurie, July 4, 2011.
READING recent commentary on the debate over foreign investment, it has become clear the topic has become muddied with the mining v agriculture debate. Both issues are complex, but they are also distinct.
The concerns about mining on agricultural lands have little to do with the source of investment. Whether the funds come from home or abroad, mining on prime agricultural land is an issue of extreme concern for farmers due to the impact on the sustainability of the land's vital resources: soil and water. The issue of foreign investment is a whole different ball game. Continue Reading…
Is microfinance working in South Africa?
Published on Pambazuka News, by Khadija Sharife, June 30, 2011.
Is microfinance is helping families out of poverty or merely plunging them into debt? Khadija Sharife speaks with one recipient about her experience.
Poverty at home when she was growing up caused Thandi Dlamini* to drop out of school in Grade 11 – two years prior to matriculation. Her lack of education prevented her from obtaining formal sector work. She married, and moved to a small village in the semi-rural community of Acornhoek, Limpopo, with her husband and four children, but the family struggled to survive on her husband's meager income as a driver and before long they were begging for hand-outs from neighbours and relatives as the house around them fell apart. Continue Reading…
Land investment deals in Africa: Say no way
Written on July 3rd, 2011 in with & around the United Nations by heidi
Published on Pambazuka News, by Anuradha Mittal, Jeff Furman and Frederic Mousseau, June 30, 2011.
Food insecurity, loss of food sovereignty, the displacement of small farmers, conflict, environmental devastation, water loss, and the further impoverishment and political instability of African nations – these are among the consequences of large-scale investments in land in Africa, a special investigation by the Oakland Institute has revealed. Pambazuka News spoke to Anuradha Mittal, Jeff Furman and Frederic Mousseau about what prompted their research and what they discovered … //
… PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The reports state that major African rivers, including the Nile, the Niger and the Zambezi, are tapped by these land grabs. Hence, the land grabs are actually often 'water grabs' intended to stabilise not only food supplies but also water access in other countries. What can be done to protect watersheds and ecosystems that often cross national boundaries and jurisdictions from this assault? Continue Reading…
LUTTE CONTRE LE SIDA ET LES MGF
Written on July 3rd, 2011 in African concerns by heidi
Publié dans Le Matin d'Afrique, par Ibrahima NDIAYE, le 30 juin 2011.
L'Inspection d'Académie de Thiès et le GEEP engagent les enseignants dans le combat à travers les clubs EVF:
« Qui gagne la bataille de la communication, gagne le combat contre le sida », cette conviction est celle de l'inspecteur d'Académie adjoint de Thiès, M. Ibrahima Bar. Suffisant pour que l'inspection d'académie de Thiès, avec la complicité du groupe pour l'étude et l'enseignement de la population (GEEP), engage les enseignants dans le combat contre le sida et les mutilations génitales féminines à travers les clubs EVF (éducation à la vie familiale). En effet, un atelier de deux jours a été organisé à l'intention des enseignants des établissements de l'inspection d'académie de Thiès pour leur recapacitation afin de redynamiser les clubs EVF dans les écoles. Selon M. Bar, le fait d'introduire dans les écoles la lutte contre le sida est une bonne chose puisque selon lui, gagner la bataille de la communication dans la lutte contre le sida est une étape nécessaire pour la victoire dans ce combat contre le sida … // Continue Reading…
Africa moves to ban female genital mutilation
Published on panapress, par PANA IZ/CJB/SSB/JEN/SEG, le 26 juin 2011.
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (PANA) – Prohibiting Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is part of the agenda of the 19th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Executive Council which opened here Sunday.
The item on FGM was proposed by Burkina Faso, to educate African States on the need to fully support the draft resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations to ban FGM in the world, because it is considered harmful to women's health … //
… In Malabo, the AU foreign ministers will, among other things, consider setting up a common front and harmonised fight against FGM. Continue Reading…
L'Afrique se mobilise pour bannir les MGF
Written on July 2nd, 2011 in African concerns by heidi
Publié dans Afrique en ligne, par Pana, le 27 juin 2011.
Société – L'interdiction de la Mutilation génitale féminine (MGF) fait partie de l'agenda des travaux de la 19ème session ordinaire du Conseil exécutif (CE) de l'Union africaine (UA), qui commencent ce dimanche, à Malabo, en Guinée équatoriale. Le point relatif à MGF a été proposé par le Burkina Faso, afin de sensibiliser les Etats africains à appuyer pleinement le projet de Résolution de l'Assemblée générale des Nations Unies visant à interdire la MGF dans le monde, en tant que pratique "nocive pour la santé des femmes". Le projet de Résolution en question est le résultat d'une campagne menée notamment par le Burkina Faso et l'Egypte, parmi d'autres pays, après qu'il a été révélé que 91,5 millions de victimes de ce phénomène dans le monde, sont essentiellement des enfants de moins de neuf ans … // Continue Reading…
Petition: End child sex trafficking in Wyndham hotels, San Diego
Written on July 2nd, 2011 in Human Rights, Development, Peace, Democracy, Health, Food and Hunger by heidi
Received by e-mail, From: Patrick Schmitt, Change.org, Date: 28/06/2011.
From 2006 to 2011, Crips gang members in San Diego (California /USA) ran a child sex trafficking ring out of area hotels that destroyed the lives of at least 16 girls.
An 18-month FBI investigation discovered that the gang was able to use two Wyndham-owned hotels (Travelodge and Howard Johnson) regularly for child prostitution with the knowledge and even assistance of staff.
After hearing about these cases, San Diego native Tim Rosner started a petition urging the Wyndham Hotel Group to sign an international child protection agreement for travel and tourism companies, which could have saved those 16 girls from sexual exploitation. Continue Reading…
Lutte contre les violences faites aux femmes, les leaders religieux s'engagent
Written on July 1st, 2011 in African concerns by heidi
Publié dans iciLome, le 29 juin 2011.
Un atelier de formation des leaders religieux et traditionnels sur la lutte contre les violences basées sur le genre a été ouvert hier au Relais de la caisse à Lomé. Organisé par le ministère de la promotion de la femme, en partenariat avec l'UNFPA, cet atelier vise le renforcement de capacité de ces leaders sur les questions relatives aux violences faites aux femmes. Le séminaire outillera les participants en matière de prise en compte systématique de la lutte contre les violences basées sur le genre dans toutes les interventions relevant de leurs organisations respectives.
Deux modules sont proposés à savoir: violences basées sur le genre, et prise en charge psychologique des victimes basées sur le genre … (texte entier).
Urban farming more profitable than white-collar jobs for many Congolese
Linked on our blogs with Global Urbanist GU. – Published on The Global Urbanist Environment, Source IRINnews, June 28, 2011.
Green space throughout Kinshasa and other Congolese cities are being transformed into lucrative small urban farming enterprises that are doing a lot to raise incomes and lower malnutrition for urban residents.
Urban farming in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is providing a livelihood for thousands of city dwellers, with vegetables bringing in good money for small growers and helping to alleviate high levels of malnutrition nationally, say agricultural officials. Continue Reading…