Human Rights

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  hrw.org

• Uzbekistan: Ensure Fair Appeal for Human Rights Defender

  Human Rights Watch

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:32 am

  (New York) - Uzbek authorities should ensure that an appeal hearing that began today for a human rights advocate is fair and independent, Human Rights Watch said. The activist, Farkhad Mukhtarov, was convicted of criminal charges in a trial that appeared to have been politically motivated, and he was denied the right to defend himself fully, Human Rights Watch said.   read more

• France: Inadequate Plan for Migrant Children at Airport

  Human Rights Watch

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:52 am

  (Paris) -The French Immigration Minister's proposals to address the needs of unaccompanied migrant children held at transit zones, especially airports, falls short of bringing France into compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Human Rights Watch said today. The treaty, to which France and most other nations are parties, was adopted 20 years ago today. read more

• Morocco: Reverse Expulsion of Sahrawi Activist

  Human Rights Watch

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:54 am

  (New York) - Morocco must reverse its expulsion of Sahrawi rights activist Aminatou Haidar and allow her to enter her country of nationality, Human Rights Watch said today. Spain must intercede with Morocco to ensure her return, Human Rights Watch added. read more

• US Senate: Reject Abortion Coverage Restrictions

  Human Rights Watch

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:03 am

  read more

• Japan: Press North Korea on Human Rights

  Human Rights Watch

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  (New York) - The new Japanese government should take a leadership role in helping to improve human rights conditions in North Korea, Human Rights Watch and three other nongovernmental organizations said today in a letter to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. read more

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  IRIN

• GLOBAL: Children’s rights not yet a reality

  DAKAR, 20 November 2009 (IRIN) - Children's rights advocates are taking 20 November, the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), to highlight legal advances, but say when it comes to education, healthcare and protection in conflicts and natural disasters, children are often the first to be deprived of their rights.

• DRC-CONGO: New wave of refugees flees fresh fighting

  BRAZZAVILLE, 20 November 2009 (IRIN) - Renewed clashes in northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have led to a further wave of refugees, leaving corpse-littered villages in the affected area deserted, say humanitarian officials.

• BANGLADESH: Two years after Cyclone Sidr, survivors still seeking shelter

  BARGUNA, 20 November 2009 (IRIN) - Two years after Cyclone Sidr hit the southern coastal districts of Bangladesh, many of the survivors are still homeless and at severe risk from further disasters, officials say.

• UGANDA: HIV-positive women need family planning services, study shows

  NAIROBI, 20 November 2009 (IRIN) - HIV-positive women in western Uganda want fewer children than women not living with the virus, but often do not have access to family planning services, a new study reveals.

• GUINEA: Timeline since independence

  DAKAR, 20 November 2009 (IRIN) - Guineans and the international community are watching mediation efforts of Blaise Compaoré, as international investigators begin to probe the 28 September deadly military attack on civilians in the capital Conakry. The latest violence stunned even a nation with a long history of military repression of civilians – an era Guineans had hoped would pass with the death of 24-year leader Lansana Conté and arrival of Moussa Dadis Camara in December 2008. Here is a timeline of some events since independence from France in 1958.

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  ReliefWeb - Headlines

• Palestinian children mark 20th year of UN rights treaty with video testimony

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:33 pm

  Date: 20 Nov 2009Source: UN News Service

• Colombia: La situación de los niños en el marco del conflicto armado

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:11 pm

  Date: 20 Nov 2009Source: UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

• Africa: Humanitarian assistance failing to match growing needs of vulnerable communities - IFRC

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  Date: 20 Nov 2009Source: IFRC

• DR Congo - Congo: New wave of refugees flees fresh fighting

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:14 am

  Date: 20 Nov 2009Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks

• Liberia: 'The new war is rape'

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:11 am

  Date: 20 Nov 2009Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks

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  Global Voices Online » Humanitarian

• China: Death as business

  Oiwan Lam

  11 Nov 2009 | 12:40 am

  ESWN puts together local reports and commentaries on the tragic case of three university students who died while trying save others. The tragedy involves a moral debate over the business of body retrievers.

• China: Protest against government “hook” by chopping little finger off

  Oiwan Lam

  9 Nov 2009 | 7:34 am

  Xujun Eberlein from Inside-out China blogs about a 18-year-old man Sun Zhongjie's act of chopping off his little finger off to protest against the Shanghai Traffic Management Bureau's “hook” on “black taxi driver”.

• Afghanistan: UN withdraws from Kabul?

  Adil Nurmakov

  8 Nov 2009 | 1:57 am

  Sailani says that in response to continuing threats to the foreign staff in Afghanistan, it now appears that a decision has been made to withdraw about six hundred UN international officers from Kabul.

• Afghanistan: Security deteriorates, says report

  Adil Nurmakov

  8 Nov 2009 | 1:41 am

  Nick Fielding reviews the most recent report on the security environment in Afghanistan, which says that the situation has deteriorated since 2005, affecting all aspects of the reconstruction operations.

• Laos: Concert to raise funds for typhoon victims

  Mong Palatino

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:24 pm

  A charity concert will be held in Vientiane, Laos this Friday to raise funds for the typhoon victims in the southern provinces of Saravane, Sekong and Attapeu.

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  ...My heart's in Accra

• From compassion to action, from action to knowledge

  Ethan

  19 Nov 2009 | 1:32 pm

  I’ve opened a lot of lectures lately – presentations about our Media Cloud research at Berkman – by complaining about the New York Times’s Africa coverage. I cite the fact that Japan tends to average roughly 8-10 times as many mentions in the paper of record than Nigeria in any given year, which is odd, given their comparable population size and importance. (I also mention that the Times is not alone – all US media outlets I’ve studied closely show this pattern – and that the Africa stories the Times runs are frequently excellent.) If the Times is…

• Bridging with Brian Lehrer

  Ethan

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:29 am

  Brian Lehrer, the moderator of WNYC’s excellent morning show, has been kind enough to invite me onto his show all month long, appearing every Thursday morning. It’s been a somewhat insane month for me to participate. As Rachel explained on her blog, the last few weeks of her pregnancy have been a little tricky and scary, and I ended up doing one of our interviews from the parking lot of the local hospital. Rachel’s well and home today, and I have high hopes of broadcasting shows with Brian today and this coming Wednesday before she goes into labor! When we discussed what we…

• Samuel Bowles introduces Kudunomics

  Ethan

  17 Nov 2009 | 11:24 am

  Warning! Professor Bowles’s lecture was rich in economic jargon, and I’m not an economist. And it had an unusally high idea density. It’s quite possible that I missed large swaths of what he was saying and misinterpreted what he did say. If something here seems obviously wrong, please use the comments section to gently correct me. Yochai Benkler introduces Samuel Bowles of the Santa Fe Institute as his “intellectual hero” referencing his ability to apply a completely different set of intellectual tools to problems, switching tactics each decade. The target of…

• links for 2009-11-16

  Ethan

  16 Nov 2009 | 8:04 am

  Global Voices Online Japan: In a World with Automatic Translation Wonderful Japanese blogpost on the importance of automatic translation, and the benefits of translating the apparently silly and inconsequential (tags: anguage translation blogging search japan bridgeblogs)

• What if they stop clicking?

  Ethan

  13 Nov 2009 | 3:33 pm

  Who pays for content and services on the internet? My friend Bo Peabody thinks we should be asking not just whether ad-supported journalism is feasible, but whether ad-supported social networks will work. In a Washington Post op-ed titled “Twitter.org?“, Bo leverages his experience founding and running Tripod.com to suggest that social networking sites are misunderstood as content sites, and won’t be profitable as ad-supported properties. He suggests that, because these spaces are critically important digital public spheres, we should consider supporting them as nonprofits…

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  undispatch.com

• Women Will Be Hit Hardest By Climate Change

  Alanna Shaikh

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:49 am

  The poorest billion people on the planet contribute only 3% of the global carbon footprint. Those same billion people will also bear the brunt of climate change. The poorest billion people on the planet contribute only 3% of the global carbon footprint. Those same billion people will also bear the brunt of climate change. Those people tend to be farmers, and they tend to be women.   The UN Population Fund has issued a new state of the world’s population report about the impact of global climate change on women, stating that “Drought and erratic rainfall force women to work…

• U.S. Senate rejects false choice between supporting veterans and UN Funding

  Mark Leon Goldberg

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:30 am

  Yesterday afternoon the Senate defeated an amendment to a funding bill that would have taken money from the U.S. contributions to the UN to pay for extended benefits for U.S. Veterans. Yesterday afternoon the Senate defeated an amendment to the Veterans Affairs funding bill that would have taken money U.S. contributions to UN peacekeeping and other UN programs to offset costs for extended benefits to U.S. Veterans. The amendment, which was sponsored by Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn, was defeated by a 66-32 vote.  Nine Republicans voted to defeat the amendment, and one Democrat (Evan…

• Morning Coffee - 20 November 2009

  Lindsay Beyerstein

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:08 am

  Summary:  Perk up with Morning Coffee: The EU picks a president; Honduran coup leader promises to take a breather; human fat-stealing gangsters busted in Peru. Top Story:  EU PICKS PREZ The European Union selected Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as the EU's first president yesterday. Van Rompuy has pledged to tackle unemployment and the environment during his term, which begins on January 1, 2010. The EU also named Catherine Ashton, the UK's trade commissioner, as its chief of foreign policy. GOLPISTA TAKES FIVE The leader of Honduras's coup regime announced…

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  Violence Against Women

• Haiti: Girls Working as Domestic Help in Haiti are Virtual Slaves, Says Amnesty International

  17 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Tens of thousands of children in Haiti -- most of them girls -- are working as domestic servants in conditions that amount to slavery, Amnesty International said in a briefing Tuesday, ahead of Universal Children?s Day (Friday, Nov. 20). The human rights organization is launching a campaign to press the government of Haiti to protect child workers from abuse and exploitation.

• USA: World's Largest Letter-Writing Event Saves Lives and Frees People Unjustly Imprisoned; Amnesty International Activists to Use Pens to Fight For Global Justice

  15 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

  Since it takes more than a Twitter post to free a prisoner of conscience, tens of thousands of human rights activists around the world will participate in Amnesty International?s eighth annual Global Write-a-thon from December 5-13.

• Afghanistan: Taleban Must Immediately Stop Targeting Civilians in Afghanistan

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Amnesty International has condemned the Taleban's attack on a guesthouse hosting staff from the United Nations in Kabul, that killed at least six civilian UN staff.

• Saudi Arabia: Saudi King Sets Aside Flogging of Journalist Over 'Sex Life' TV Show

  25 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  Amnesty International has welcomed the intervention of Saudi Arabia?s head of state, King ?Abdullah bin ?Abdul ?Aziz, to cancel a flogging sentence against a female journalist.

• Peru: Peru One Step Closer to Legalising Abortion

  22 Oct 2009 | 10:00 pm

  The Peruvian Congress' has decided to stand by its proposal to decriminalize abortion in cases where women and girls become pregnant as a result of rape or incest.

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  Darfur Daily News

• Bashir misses Islamic summit

  14 Nov 2009 | 4:24 am

  Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court, has pulled out of an Islamic summit in Istanbul. The Turkish government had previously welcomed the attendance of President Bashir at the meeting and said that he would not be arrested. But the EU, which Turkey hopes to join, wanted the invitation to be withdrawn. Read more >>>>>>>>>Darfur Daily News

• Expulsions hit Darfur rape victims: Aid groups

  11 Nov 2009 | 2:28 pm

  By Andrew HeavensKHARTOUM (Reuters) - Rape victims in Sudan's Darfur region have lost vital medical and psychological support since Khartoum expelled aid agencies working against sexual violence this year, the United Nations and aid workers said.A Sudanese minister on Wednesday dismissed the reports as "propaganda" saying there was no widespread rape in the region and that foreigners were free to come and investigate.Sudan ousted 13 foreign aid groups and closed three local organisations in March after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar…

• Sudan: Election Crisis Reveals a Country Lurching Toward War

  10 Nov 2009 | 7:40 am

  There is growing awareness that national elections scheduled for April 2010 will fail on many counts, with unpredictable consequences for the Khartoum regime’s ambitions to retain its stranglehold on Sudanese national wealth and power. In turn, the prospect of an aborted or compromised Southern self-determination referendum (January 2011) looms ever closer, with the potential to trigger unfathomable destruction.Eric ReevesNovember 9, 2009 With growing inevitability, Sudan has begun what the evidence suggests is a final lurch toward renewed North-South war—and the likely spread of intense…

• Al-Bashir should be arrested, not invited

  8 Nov 2009 | 2:43 am

  He is back in town. Omar Hassan al-Bashir, president of Sudan, against whom the International Criminal Court, or ICC, has issued an arrest warrant, has been invited to a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, or OIC, in Istanbul. Last year, al-Bashir visited Turkey twice and despite national and international protests the Turkish government seems to have no intention at all of changing its policy on allowing a person into the country that is under strong suspicion of being responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.First the facts. Between 2003 and 2008, according…

• Two Kidnapped Darfur Aid Workers Freed - Official

  18 Oct 2009 | 2:07 am

  KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Two kidnapped aid workers from the Irish agency Goal were released on Sunday in Sudan's troubled Darfur region after more than 100 days in captivity, a government official said."They were released earlier this morning," Sudan's state minister for humanitarian affairs, Abdel Baqi al-Jailani, told Reuters.Sharon Commins, from Dublin, and Hilda Kawuki, from Uganda, were seized in their north Darfur compound by a group of armed men in July.Darfur has seen a wave of kidnappings in the past year, and aid workers working in the hostile region have had to step up security. Mostly…

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  News from Survival International

• Brazilian Indian found dead following attack by gunmen

  17 Nov 2009 | 4:01 am

  Guarani man © João Ripper/Survival The body of a Guarani Indian has been found dead and badly bruised in a river close to his ancestral land in Brazil, following an armed attack on the community of Ypo’i on 30 October. The body of teacher Genivaldo Verá was identified by his relatives on 10 November. Brazilian authorities are examining it to establish the cause of death. The attack happened near the ‘Triunfo’ ranch, built on Guarani land close to the city of Paranhos in Mato Grosso do Sul in south-west Brazil, near the Paraguayan border. Genivaldo’s cousin and fellow teacher…

• Anglo-French company nominated for spoof Friends of the Earth award

  16 Nov 2009 | 2:21 am

  Perenco is exploring for oil inside uncontacted Indians' land.© Survival An Anglo-French company has been nominated for a spoof Friends of the Earth (FoE) award for its billion dollar project in a part of the Amazon inhabited by two of the world’s last uncontacted tribes. The company, Perenco, is one of four nominees in the human rights category for Friends of the Earth France’s ‘Pinocchio Prize 2009’. The prize is intended to raise awareness of, and condemn, French businesses who ‘perpetrate the most serious human rights violations.’ Perenco has been nominated for its…

• Jailed for saying Botswana President ‘looks like a Bushman'

  12 Nov 2009 | 2:16 am

  Botswana's persecution of the Bushmen has continued under President Khama.© Survival A South African woman who said Botswana’s president ‘looks like a Bushman’ was arrested, detained for two days and fined for ‘insulting Botswana’. Dorsey Dube was arrested after commenting on a portrait of President Khama at a control post on the Botswana-South Africa border. She said the President looked like her friend’s father, who has Bushman features. The deeply-entrenched racist attitudes of many people in authority in Botswana towards the Bushmen were starkly revealed, however, when…

• Kenyan tribe to Ban Ki-Moon: 'We condemn Peru repression'

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:32 am

  A spokesman for the Ogiek has condemned the Peruvian government's attempt to disband AIDESEP. © Survival A spokesman from a tribe in Kenya has condemned the Peruvian government’s attempt to destroy Peru’s Amazon indigenous movement. The condemnation comes from Kiplangat Cheruyot from the Ogiek tribe in response to the revelation that Peru’s government plans to disband Peru’s national organisation for indigenous people in the Amazon, known by its Spanish acronym AIDESEP. ‘We, the Ogiek Indigenous people of Kenya, condemn in the strongest possible terms the Peruvian Government…

• Repression of Amazon Indian movement condemned worldwide

  10 Nov 2009 | 2:10 am

  Peru's Amazon Indians have been protesting against the exploitation of their lands by oil and gas companies© David Dudenhoefer The Peruvian government’s unprecedented attempt to destroy Peru’s Amazon Indian movement has been condemned by indigenous leaders around the world. The wave of condemnation comes after it was revealed that the government plans to disband Peru’s national organisation for Amazon Indians, known by its Spanish acronym AIDESEP. ‘We Bushmen of Botswana support the Indians of Peru and think that the government of Peru and the oil companies should not forget the…

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  HUMANITARIAN NEWS - Google News

• Captain Pepper and the humanitarian efforts of the USNS Mercy - Granite Falls Advocate Tribune

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:33 pm

  Captain Pepper and the humanitarian efforts of the USNS MercyGranite Falls Advocate TribunePepper informed the audience of a May through September 2006 humanitarian effort in which US military and medical crew island-hopped to third world

• Rhett Turner to Receive 'Hero Award' from World Chamber - GlobalAtlanta

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:33 pm

  Rhett Turner to Receive 'Hero Award' from World ChamberGlobalAtlanta3, Mr. Turner is to receive from the World Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta an “International Hero's Award” for bringing awareness to humanitarian causes and more »

• Gore to techies: Shake off the lethargy - San Francisco Chronicle

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:14 pm

  Gore to techies: Shake off the lethargySan Francisco ChronicleDuring the Tech Awards in San Jose on Thursday night, Former Vice President and Nobel Prize Winner Al Gore was given the Global Humanitarian Award 2009 for and more »

• Gayle King: 'It Was Oprah's Decision' To Leave Show - Access Hollywood

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:06 pm

  Washington PostGayle King: 'It Was Oprah's Decision' To Leave ShowAccess HollywoodOprah Winfrey takes to the mic as she wins the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, Los Angeles, Sept. Oprah's show to end in 2011Toronto SunOprah's Show to End SoonCMRSenate vote to come...House votes on doctors' fees....Winfrey's plans9&10 NewsThe Epoch Timesall 3,581 news articles »

• UN Pledges Support for Returning Sri Lankans - NTDTV

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:30 am

  BBC NewsUN Pledges Support for Returning Sri LankansNTDTVJohn Holmes, the United Nations Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, was visiting the island nation of Sri Sri Lanka on target in resettling war displaced civiliansXinhuaUN Humanitarian Chief concludes three-day visit to N. Sri Lanka SpecialDigitalJournal.com* Sri Lankan Tamil mps meet UN humanitarian chiefColombo PageAFP -Sri Lanka Guardian (blog) -ISRIAall 200 news articles »

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  The Ushahidi Blog

• Decoding Ushahidi’s Open Source Development

  David Kobia

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:51 pm

  I have to admit that when we began developing Ushahidi as an open source platform, I was a little skeptical about how far that would go driven by the power of volunteer (unpaid) programmers. It’s a little nerve wracking sitting around waiting for interested programmers to start contributing to something driven mostly by passion and intangible rewards. There’s also the question of whether the open source initiative would attract competent people and continue to thrive while keeping everyone as excited as they were when they started – this was definitely a lot to ask for.

• The Next Generation Philanthropy Forum

  juliana

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:16 pm

  It was an honor to represent Ushahidi at The Next Generation Philanthropy Forum in London, where I gave a brief presentation on Ushahidi’s genesis, current activities and future plans. It is very encouraging to meet experts in Social Media, Diplomacy and Technology, who are already aware of the Ushahidi platform and its potential. A recording of the webcast will be available soon on the Legatum Institute website. Meanwhile, you can read a great summary of the talk from Anthony Mayfield of icrossing. (Thank you so much Anthony!) It was a great opportunity to learn about the inner…

• Advocacy Through Mapping: Threatened Voices

  juliana

  11 Nov 2009 | 2:45 pm

  Threatened Voices is an interactive mapping project to build a database of bloggers who have been threatened, arrested or killed for speaking out online and to draw attention to the campaigns to free them. The global voices community is  a champion for free speech and online expression around the world, and this new initiative is a continuation of the work on Global Voices Advocacy (#advox), led by Sami Ben Gharbia. This site was not an easy one to put together. It took a lot of  hard work by Jeremy Clarke, the lead hacker for Global Voices, Dan Braghis from Moldova, Gleb Kanunnikau from…

• Open Question: Mixing Analog & Digital

  Erik Hersman

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:09 am

  QuestionBox is a project that allows offline people in emerging markets to ask questions and get answers. It’s an analog solution for those who don’t have their own digitally connected data devices. Open Question is a free and open source software application used for the purposes of collecting and disseminating information via phone in extreme environments. It’s being launched today, in conjunction with TEDIndia, where founder Rose Shuman is presenting. “The longterm vision is to have it integrate with other open source software and data collection platforms like…

• Getting Better at Design and Crisis Mapping

  Erik Hersman

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:02 pm

  I’m really (REALLY) excited today. Today I get to announce that two amazing individuals who have been long-time Ushahidi community members are joining the team to help with areas that we have a great need for their expertise in. First though, a big thank you to the Cisco Foundation. Through their generous grant, we have been able to focus on developing certain features into the Ushahidi application, many of which require the expertise of Patrick and Caleb (below). The funding of Ushahidi’s core team, which serves to shepherd its growth, community and core architecture, has been a…

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  united-nations « WordPress.com Tag Feed

• Scientology in Amsterdam––Promotes Human Rights Education to Prevent Discrimination and Torture

  Louanne

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:31 pm

  Scientology volunteers in Amsterdam demand full implementation of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  Netherlands must live up to its reputation as human rights champion. Members of the Church of Scientology of Amsterdam participate in petition-signing events throughout the year to educate the community on the importance of full understanding and implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Amsterdam—Scientology volunteers, determined to end blatant disregard for human rights, circulated a petition on the International Day for Tolerance November 16 to…

• U.S. welcomes U.N. human rights resolution on Iran

  sandiegojewishworld

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:57 pm

  WASHINGTON, DC (Press Release)–The following statement was issued Friday by U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood: “The United States welcomes the resolution passed today by the United Nationscalling upon the Government of Iran to respect its human rights obligations fully. In addition to longstanding concerns about the human rights situation in Iran, the resolution expresses deep concern about the brutal response of Iranian authoritiesto peaceful demonstrations in the wake of the June 12 election. “It calls on the Government of Iran to abolish torture and arbitrary…

• Sanctuary

  seaforth

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:55 pm

  Our country was collapsing. Terrorist activity was increasing on every front. Stubbornly, we had held on for three whole years now while Britain, the motherland, convinced the United Nations that we were just too close to fully understand the real problem. They, some six thousand miles away, felt that they had a much clearer picture of what was really going on! The U.N., concurred with Britain’s take on the situation. Ignoring the facts, discounting the evidence – captured armaments, manufactured in China and Soviet Union etc., clearly pointing to who the real enemy was –…

• Hacked: Sensitive Documents Lifted From The Hadley Climate Center

  Steven John Hibbs

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:43 am

  Keith Johnson / The Wall Street Journal – November 20, 2009 Well, this should get interesting. The Hadley Climate Research Unit in Britain was hacked yesterday, apparently by Russian black hats, and thousands of sensitive documents, including emails from climate scientists dating back a decade, were posted online. More here. Officials at Hadley, a leading global-warming research center, have apparently confirmed to an Australian publication that the documents are genuine. The whole affair has much of the blogosphere alight. Blogs skeptical of man-made global warming see blood in the…

• Global Warming Facts Al Gore Doesn't Want You To Know

  lonniewalker

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:02 am

  Wow, this came up out of the blue.  Apparently what has happened is that someone hacked into a couple of pro Global Warming organizations and found some information that Al Gore does not want you to see.  Supposedly, this stuff shows how they have fought to keep information from the Freedom of Information requests that prove Global Warming is not happening.  They have changed temperature data to prove that global warming is a serious problem.  Does this really surprise anyone?  I think that these scientists should really lose all credibility and credentials for being lying pieces of…

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  Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog

• Self-Archiving Guide: Unpublished Papers

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am

  Following on from my earlier post: My next experiment with self-archiving was with the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). This service was established to promote the rapid dissemination of research findings via abstracts and full-text papers. It was recently ranked number one by the "Ranking Web of World Repositories." I post a number of links to SSRN papers on this blog, particularly

• Things to do in December

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 am

  European Migration and Asylum Policies: Coherence or Contradiction? – An Interdisciplinary Evaluation of the EU Summits of Tampere (1999), The Hague (2004) and Stockholm (2009), Scribani International Conference 2010, Madrid, 8-10 September 2010 [info]- Applications and paper proposals due 1 December 2009.Immigrant Legal Resource Center Webinar Trainings [info]- On offer are "Asylum and 'Material

• Legal Items: Asylum/EU, ECHR & Human Trafficking Victims, Gender & Refugee Convention, IDPs & Intl. Law

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:20 am

  Advancing a Gendered Interpretation of the Refugee Convention: Refugee Appeal No. 76044 (New Zealand Refugee Law, Sept. 2009) [text]The Common European Asylum System with particular reference to the Qualification Directive (2004/83/EC) (QD) and the Procedures Directive (2005/85/EC) (PD) (IARLJ, Oct. 2009) [text]Permanent Residency for Human Trafficking Victims in Europe: The Potential Use of

• Publications: Civilian Protection/DRC, Humanitarian IT, Preparing for Future Humanitarian Impacts, Tibetan Diaspora, Women/Colombia

  19 Nov 2009 | 6:38 am

  Applying Technology to Crisis Mapping and Early Warning in Humanitarian Settings (Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Sept. 2009) [text]Colombia: Displaced Women Demand Their Rights (Refugees International, Nov. 2009) [text]DR Congo: Protect Civilians and End Military Operations (Refugees International, Nov. 2009) [text]Humanitarian Horizons Working Papers (Humanitarian Futures Programme, Nov. 2009)

• New Issues of IJRL, J. Afr. Law, JEMS, Migration, Prehosp. & Dis. Med.

  18 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pm

  International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 21, no. 4 (Dec. 2009) [contents]- Includes articles on recognizing socio-economic refugees in South Africa; credibility, proof and refugee law; misidentifying human trafficking victims; and protecting stateless persons. Also included is a book review of "Stormy Weather: The Challenge of Climate Change and Displacement" (see related extract).Journal of

• 
  ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace)

• Moomeo: A perfect site for whistleblowers and anti-corruption initiatives?

  Sanjana Hattotuwa

  13 Nov 2009 | 8:46 pm

  Moomeo is a relatively new site based on a powerful, simple idea. It creates a webpage out of any email sent to post@moomeo.com. This website comes with easy links to share it on Facebook, Twitter and anywhere else on the web. Importantly, it does not show the sender of the email, ensuring that her / his identity is a secret. However, Moomeo does have a clear disclosure policy, which means that your identity can be revealed if you use an email that is tied to your name, or a well known online identity associated with you. So rule of thumb, if you are going to send a potential explosive…

• Journalism, civil society and mobile networks

  Sanjana Hattotuwa

  13 Nov 2009 | 8:16 pm

  Jude Mathurine from Rhodes University has an interesting presentation on the impact of mobile phone based use of social networks in Africa. I’ve not yet come across a comparable study of new media’s use and impact in Sri Lanka, but the points on slides 3 and 7, noting that the Internet is still an elite medium in Africa, holds true here as well. Jude points to traditional media’s inability to grasp the potential of new media. Many examples of this can also be found in Sri Lanka, including for example this recent post of mine and the use of Wikipedia by the Sunday Times.

• The arrest of the ‘blogger’ in Sri Lanka: Crowd-sourcing trumps traditional media follow up

  Sanjana Hattotuwa

  7 Nov 2009 | 1:40 pm

  Ayubowan, a blog I didn’t know of before, helpfully posted a screen grab of a post from Gossip Lanka, a blog I also didn’t know of before, on the recent arrest of a ‘blogger’ in Sri Lanka that had many concerned. Gossip Lanka’s post is in Sinhala and doesn’t render at all on my Mac, which is why Ayubowan’s screen grab is helpful. The post avers in Sinhala that, A few days ago, a derogatory email, also containing five nude photos, were sent to the Secretary of Defense and the President. Resulting CID investigations probed the IP address to ascertain…

• 1000 posts on Groundviews: Bearing witness, shaping peace

  Sanjana Hattotuwa

  6 Nov 2009 | 3:07 am

  Exactly three years after its launch, Groundviews published its 1000th post today. In it Dr. Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu identifies the site with quality debate and asks citizens to use it to canvass their ideas for constitutional reform, governance, human rights and the economy and whatever else they see as constituting essential elements of an agenda for change and reform. Over three years, Groundviews has borne witness to that which traditional print and electronic media did not, and for well-known reasons, could not. Post-war for example, our path-breaking coverage of the situation…

• White House visitor logs and e-gov

  Sanjana Hattotuwa

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am

  The White House website has an interesting post on new disclosure policies that make available on the web, for the first time in history, all White House visitor records. Transparency like you’ve never seen before is a progressive record of transparency made possible by a forward thinking administration, strengthening and complementing existing Right to Information legislation. Compare this with Sri Lanka’s proposed use of ICT at local and national government levels and lack of any Right to Information legislation. Posted in ICTs and other stuff

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  Information Technology and Emergency & Crisis Response

• Presentation av Liveresponse på Security Arena

  11 Nov 2009 | 2:07 am

  Idag så presenterade jag resultat från vårt projekt Liveresponse på en seminarie dag på Security Arena på Lindholmen Science Park. Många goda kommentarer och frågor kom fram i de tre dragningarna som gjordes för personer från svensk krishantering med bland annat Myndigheten för Samhällsskydd och Beredskap, olika räddningstjänster, sektorsmyndighetern med flera.Frågor kring sekretess kom naturligtvis upp och det är ganska tydligt att kunskapen kring hur de olika lagstiftningarna kan och skall tillämpas är varierande hos organisationerna. Det verkar finnas en del förutfattade…

• I väntan på ambulans - I väntan på ökad budget?

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:27 am

  Den senaster tiden har Göteborgs-Posten haft en serie med artiklar med fokus på ambulansverksamheten i Göteborgområdet. Ambulansverksamhetens ansvariga fått förklara hur det kan komma sig att personer som uppfattar sig vara i behov av ambulans inte fått det inom en rimlig tid. Ur SOS-alarms perspektiv kan det kanske vara lite klurigt att besvara frågorna från journalisterna då SOS-alarm av hänsyn till sin kundrelation med VGR inte nödvändigtvis kan eller bör skylla över problemen på sin kund.I gårdagens GP fanns en artikel om hur Räddningstjänsten i Stor-Göteborg utför…

• Spännande studie om När, Hur och Varför ringer vi SOS?

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:47 am

  Idag var jag på ett projektmöte i Stockholm tillsammans med SOS-alarm och MSB där Mats Eriksson (fil.dr) från Örebro Universitet presenterade en kvalitativ studie med fokus på den flerbottnade frågan "När, Hur och Varför ringer vi SOS?". Studien baseras på en serie av fokusgruppsintervjuer där Mats forskarteam försökt gräva djupare kring användningen av det nationella nödnumret 112.Resultaten från studien var mycket intressanta och innehöll även en del överraskningar kring hur "medelsvensson" resonerar kring användningen av 112 och framtida möjligheter.Förutom nämnda…

• CALL FOR PAPERS: ISCRAM2010

  18 Oct 2009 | 10:46 pm

  ISCRAM2010 - 7th International Conference on Information Systems for Crisis Response and ManagementDefining Crisis Management 3.0May 2-5, 2010Crowne Plaza HotelSeattle Washington USALink to: Call For Papers & Submission deadlines

• Euro-Atlantic Stakeholder Conference 2009: Highlights

  18 Oct 2009 | 10:30 pm

  From the Euro-Atlantic Stakeholder Conference EASC2009 presents a few highlights from the conference in Stockholm, Sweden, earlier this month. The following text is copied from the email sent out to the conference participants.HIGHLIGHT KEYNOTES & PRESENTATIONSThere were many memorable keynotes and presentations. In one of the most compelling, physician and epidemiologist, Dr. D. A. Henderson described the international effort he headed during the 1960s to eradicate smallpox, for which he received the Medal of Freedom in 2002.View ClipMr. Sten Tolgfors, Swedish Minister for Defence (also…

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  DARFUR NEWS - Google News

• Darfur peace talks expected in two weeks - Gulf Times

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pm

  Darfur peace talks expected in two weeksGulf TimesDirect peace talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebel groups are expected to start in Doha in two weeks, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs

• Why We Care - America Magazine (subscription)

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:32 am

  Why We CareAmerica Magazine (subscription)Abortion is not like Darfur, still less Ukraine circa 1932, or Auschwitz or Hiroshima. But, those who defend abortion do so on the kind of utilitarian and more »

• Gunmen Kill 11, Wound 4 in Attacks in Sudan's Darfur - Bloomberg

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:52 am

  Gunmen Kill 11, Wound 4 in Attacks in Sudan's DarfurBloomberg19 (Bloomberg) -- Unidentified gunmen, many riding on camels, killed 11 people in attacks on two villages in Sudan's Darfur region, the United Nations and Sudan: 11 dead in Darfur attackeTaiwan Newsall 19 news articles »

• Qatar launches Darfur talks without warring parties - AFP

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:31 am

  AFPQatar launches Darfur talks without warring partiesAFPDOHA — Qatar hosted what it billed as the ceremonial launch of Darfur peace talks on Wednesday but neither Sudanese government nor rebel representatives Qatar launches Darfur talksGulf TimesNegotiations key to end Darfur conflict: PMPeninsula On-lineall 17 news articles »

• Obama Missing Opportunity to Deal with Darfur? » - New York Daily News

  17 Nov 2009 | 3:57 pm

  PRESS TVObama Missing Opportunity to Deal with Darfur? »New York Daily NewsSave Darfur, an organization seeking to bring an end to the mass murders in Sudan, urged President Obama to pressure China to crack AU chief urges active role of Darfur's civil society in peace processXinhuaSudan: Seventh Meeting of Tripartite Mechanism on Darfur Begins on MondayAllAfrica.comSudan will 'conditionally' accept hybrid courts for Darfur crimesSudan TribuneMilwaukee Journal Sentinel -AFP -UN News Centreall 95 news articles »

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  TIBET NEWS - Google News

• Tibet thrown under the bus - Washington Times

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:20 pm

  Boston GlobeTibet thrown under the busWashington Times"We did note that while we recognize that Tibet is part of the People's Republic of China, the United States supports the early Concern for Tibet seems to no longer be US policyGrand Junction SentinelTibetan festival in B'loreDeccan HeraldThe Rome Declaration on Tibet on the 5th World Parliamentarian ConventionUNPOGuardian Weekly -Mauritius Times -Daily News & Analysisall 543 news articles »

• Seventy-eight Tibetans granted residency, 56 denied - Taipei Times

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:31 am

  Seventy-eight Tibetans granted residency, 56 deniedTaipei TimesDawa Tsering, chairman of the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the de factor representative of the Tibetan government in exile

• Tibet: Tibetan Website Founder Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison - UNPO

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:11 am

  Tibet: Tibetan Website Founder Sentenced to 15 Years in PrisonUNPOA Chinese court has sentenced the founder of an influential Tibetan website to 15 years in prison. It comes after a closed-door trial on November 12th. Five years in prison for a Tibetan writer for denouncing environmental degradationAsiaNews.itall 3 news articles »

• Tibet: Trial Detailed - UNPO

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:59 am

  Tibet: Trial DetailedUNPOCourt documents offer a first rare glimpse of a capital trial related to 2008 unrest in Tibet. Court documents relating to one of three Tibetans believed to

• Carol Thornberry: A fabulous adventure to the top of the world - Daily Review Online

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:14 am

  Carol Thornberry: A fabulous adventure to the top of the worldDaily Review OnlineHAYWARD'S Joel Wong and three of his high school mates traveled to Tibet in late September through early October. and more »

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  Phayul Latest News

• Tibet to Tokyo: alan takes flight

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:06 am

  "First of all, I am a Tibetan, 100 percent," says singer Alan Dawa Zhuoma, more commonly known by her stage name alan.

• Dalai Lama says he leanrt a lot from 'Guru' India

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:30 pm

  "India has a culture and tradition of non-violence and brotherhood and this culture is thousands of years old," said His Holiness the Dalai Lama. The 74 year

• Obama asked to move beyond verbal support

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:11 pm

  With right groups, activists, Chinese dissidents and Tibetans expressing their disappointment in unison over President Obama’s remarks in Beijing during his maiden trip to China, the Students for a Free Tibet has urged Obama administrati

• In Obama Interview, Signs of China’s Heavy Hand

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:51 am

  But if the White House expected a hard-hitting article that showcased the United States’ commitment to press freedom, it must have been disappointed when the newspaper hit the stands Thursday morning

• Tibetan writer-photographer sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am

  China has sentenced a Tibetan writer and photographer to five years in prison for “disclosing state secrets”, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy based here said

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  Tibet Will Be Free

• Tibet Activists Call on President Obama to Live Up to His Promise of Change by Making Real Progress on Tibet

  Nick

  19 Nov 2009 | 1:38 pm

  For Immediate Release: November 19th, 2009 Contact:     Tenzin Dorjee, +1 646-724-0748 Kate Woznow, +1 917-601-0069 Tibet Activists Call on President Obama to Live Up to His Promise of Change by Making Real Progress on Tibet New York – In response to U.S. President Obama’s brief reference to Tibet during his visit to Beijing this week, Students for a Free Tibet is calling on the Obama administration and other democratically elected governments to move beyond verbal statements of support to press China for real change on the ground inside Tibet. By calling for the resumption of dialogue…

• An Open Letter to My Favorite President Ever: You Can Do Better- By Josh Schrei

  Nick

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:01 pm

  A must read open letter by Josh Schrei, life long SFT’er and activist for Tibet. Originally written at The SchreiWire. Dear President Obama: In Walt Disney’s 1994 film The Lion King, there is a Kenobi-esque moment in which the deceased head of the pride — Mufasa — appears as an apparition before his reasonably accomplished yet somewhat misguided son Simba and utters the words: “My son, you are more than what you have become.” I write to you today as someone who not only voted for you, but also actively championed you, campaigned for you, and called disgruntled old ladies in…

• Details of Tibetan’s Trial and Death Sentence Emerge

  tendor

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:04 am

  This RFA news article provides a window into some of the details behind the closed-door trial of Lobsang Gyaltsen, who was recently executed by the Chinese government for his involvement in the 2008 Tibetan uprising: http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/execution-11162009094256.html On the morning of his execution, Lobsang expresses his last wish to his mother: “I have nothing to say, except please take good care of my child and send him to school…”

• Will the Next Nation Please Stand Up

  kate

  16 Nov 2009 | 10:15 am

  Read Lhadon and Choeying’s analysis of the Dalai Lama’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh and call to other countries to stand up to China’s bullying. By Lhadon Tethong and Tenzin Choeying An analysis: Indian government brushes off China’s opposition to Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh Tibetans across India and around the world this week applauded the Indian government’s decision to allow the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh in the face of Chinese opposition. But contrary to what people may believe, we did so not just because Tibetan interests are…

• Join the Global Call: Record your own video message calling for the release of Dhondup Wangchen

  kate

  16 Nov 2009 | 9:48 am

  SFT has joined other Tibet organizations to press President Obama to raise Dhondup Wangchen’s case with Chinese President Hu Jintao this week. Add your voice to the international call for his immediate release from Chinese prison at FreeTibetanHeroes.org Record your own video message and upload to the  Gallery of Voices: http://www.freetibetanheroes.org/gallery/submit-your-words-photos-or-videos Watch TenDolkar’s video here:

• 
  hrw.org

• Uzbekistan: Ensure Fair Appeal for Human Rights Defender

  Human Rights Watch

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:32 am

  (New York) - Uzbek authorities should ensure that an appeal hearing that began today for a human rights advocate is fair and independent, Human Rights Watch said. The activist, Farkhad Mukhtarov, was convicted of criminal charges in a trial that appeared to have been politically motivated, and he was denied the right to defend himself fully, Human Rights Watch said.   read more

• France: Inadequate Plan for Migrant Children at Airport

  Human Rights Watch

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:52 am

  (Paris) -The French Immigration Minister's proposals to address the needs of unaccompanied migrant children held at transit zones, especially airports, falls short of bringing France into compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Human Rights Watch said today. The treaty, to which France and most other nations are parties, was adopted 20 years ago today. read more

• Morocco: Reverse Expulsion of Sahrawi Activist

  Human Rights Watch

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:54 am

  (New York) - Morocco must reverse its expulsion of Sahrawi rights activist Aminatou Haidar and allow her to enter her country of nationality, Human Rights Watch said today. Spain must intercede with Morocco to ensure her return, Human Rights Watch added. read more

• US Senate: Reject Abortion Coverage Restrictions

  Human Rights Watch

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:03 am

  read more

• Japan: Press North Korea on Human Rights

  Human Rights Watch

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  (New York) - The new Japanese government should take a leadership role in helping to improve human rights conditions in North Korea, Human Rights Watch and three other nongovernmental organizations said today in a letter to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. read more

• 
  Derechos: Human Rights Listings

• CA & NV: Two positions with anti-death penalty groups

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:23 pm

  Victim Outreach Coordinator for Southern California California Crime Victims for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (CCV) would like to announce a job opening for the position of Victim Outreach Coordinator for Southern California. This will be an independent contractor position requiring approximately 45-60 hours of work per month (12-15 hours/per week). Start date: Jan. 1, 2010. (more below) -- Nevada Coalition Against the Death Penalty Seeks Program Coordinator We seek a motivated, experienced Program Coordinator to inspire, support, and strengthen the network of activists and members…

• DC or SF: Amazon Watch Program Director

  29 Sep 2009 | 10:01 am

  Position Title: Program Director Client: Amazon Watch (www.amazonwatch.org) Location: San Francisco, CA or Washington, DC Founded in 1996, Amazon Watch is a dynamic nonprofit organization that protects the rainforest and advances the rights of indigenous peoples in the Amazon Basin. We partner with indigenous and environmental organizations in campaigns for human rights, corporate accountability and the preservation of the Amazon's ecological systems. Amazon Watch has successfully led the way in a number of groundbreaking victories for indigenous peoples rights and the environment through…

• ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law

  22 Sep 2009 | 11:21 am

  http://www.asil.org/humrts1.cfm This guide provides a useful overview of electronic sources available for international human rights, regardless of the format. It includes general tips for doing research as well as for locating necessary documents and materials. It provides pointers on where to start: Bibliographic Databases and Online Catalogs, Research Guides and Bibliographies and Periodical Indexes. The scope encompasses both primary sources on human rights instruments and jurisprudence, and secondary sources (including documents from non-governmental organizations and country reports)…

• DC - Researcher/Project Officer

  16 Sep 2009 | 2:37 pm

  The International Uyghur Human Rights and Democracy Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based human rights organization that promotes human rights and democracy for the Uyghur people, especially for Uyghur women and children, is seeking an experienced, well-organized self-starter to fill its Researcher/Project Officer position. The Researcher is responsible for conducting research and documentation, managing daily research activities and carrying out timely, accurate production of research reports, project narrative reports and press releases. The Researcher is also responsible for office…

• NY/Cape Town: Health and Human Rights Program Officer - Africa

  16 Sep 2009 | 2:31 pm

  IGLHRC is seeking a skilled and committed individual for a grant-funded position based in either New York or Cape Town. The Health and Human Rights Program Officer’s primary function will be to work with IGLHRC’s national and local partners to: foreground the HIV and health-related rights of LGBT people in Africa (and elsewhere as needed); respond to health-related human rights violations; and confront the homophobic and transphobic policies and social stigma that undermine the health and safety of LGBT people. In particular, the Health and Human Rights Program Officer will work to help…

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  PhD studies in human rights

• Doctoral Studentship in Human Rights and Drug Policy

  13 Nov 2009 | 2:40 am

  The Irish Centre for Human Rights is currently accepting applications for a Doctoral Studentship in Human Rights and Drug Policy. The successful candidate will pursue doctoral research on a subject related to human rights law and drug policy at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The Studentship is part of a new specialist research cluster at the Irish Centre for Human Rights dedicated to developing and promoting innovative and high quality legal and human rights scholarship on issues related to drug laws, policy and enforcement. In addition to the…

• Beltway Sniper is Executed

  10 Nov 2009 | 11:11 pm

  John Allan Muhammed, the so-called ‘Beltway sniper’, was executed last night: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5AA0B620091111.In%202002In 2002, he engaged in a perverse shooting spree with an adolescent accomplice that involved a sniper rifle in the back of a car. The two would shoot people at random. The expression ‘Beltway sniper’ described the fact that the crimes took place in and around the Washington beltway, which separates the federal District of Columbia from the states of Maryland and Virginia.One the aspects of the case that has always fascinated me is the…

• European Court Nixes Crucifixes

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:45 am

  A Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled yesterday that displaying a crucifix in the classroom of a publicly-funded school is a violation of article 2(1) of the first Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights: http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/portal.asp?sessionSimilar=36227362&skin=hudoc-en&action=similar&portal=hbkm&Item=19&similar=frenchjudgement. Article 2(1) states: No person shall be denied the right to education. In the exercise of any functions which it assumes in relation to education and to teaching, the State shall respect the right of…

• Ben Ferencz Interview

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:35 am

  Ben Ferencz was the prosecutor of the famous Einsatzgruppen trial, one of the post-war prosecutions organised by US military tribunals. Here's a recent interview with Ben: http://www.pbs.org/pov/reckoning/interview_ferencz.php. And if you want to read the judgment, and the trial proceedings, see: http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/NT_war-criminals_Vol-IV.pdf. There is a new book on the case: Hilary Earl, The Nuremberg SS-Einsatzgruppen Trial, 1945–1958Atrocity, Law, and History, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009:…

• Karadzic Trial

  3 Nov 2009 | 12:25 am

  Some interesting submissions to the blog on the Karadzic trial. Here's a piece on the legal options open to the Trial Chamber to deal with Karadzic's refusal to attend trial: http://www.internationallawbureau.com/blog/?p=851.And a Newsnight report on the trial questioning whether the proceedings will reveal the advance knowledge of western powers about the attacks on Srebrenica, Zepa and Gorazde. It features interviews with Sir Geoffrey Nice, Mohamed Sacirbey (the former Bosnian foreign Minister), the former Dutch Defence Minister during the fall of the enclaves and an old interview with…

• 
  Business & Human Rights in Vancouver

• AI Film Festival - Vancouver

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:23 pm

  The Amnesty International Film Festival in Vancouver starts with a gala tomorrow night, featuring The Yes Men Fix the World, where a group of men dress up in suits to parody certain corporate executives with no sense of social responsibility. Please find the entire festival schedule here.

• Graham Allen: Bill offers Canada chance to deal with concerns raised by mining abroad

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:15 pm

  Here's an article in the Georgia Straight by fellow Vancouver AI BHR volunteer Graham Allen: The Canadian government, in a March 2009 report, acknowledged it has a problem: “Within the wider community, increasing concerns have been raised about the human rights impacts of the activities of Canadian extractive companies with respect to their operations abroad.”Liberal MP John McKay, on the day which his private member’s bill, Bill C-300, passed second reading, was more specific: “There are examples of Canadian corporations behaving badly in places like the Philippines and Guyana and as…

• AI Press Release: Cote d'Ivoire: Authorities must ensure toxic waste compensation reaches victims

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:04 pm

  From Amnesty International: Amnesty International today urged the authorities in Côte d’Ivoire to ensure that $45 million compensation paid by the oil trading company Trafigura to victims of one of the worst toxic dumping scandals in recent years reaches the people to whom it is owed.The compensation was agreed in the context of a court action brought by some 30,000 people against Trafigura in the High Court of England and Wales.The organization has also written to UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw, urgently asking him to contact his counterpart in the Côte d’Ivoire and press for swift…

• No More Rape in the Congo

  13 Oct 2009 | 9:45 am

  From the Africa-Canada Accountability Coalition:The Africa-Canada Accountability Coalition announces the launch of a new campaign NO MORE RAPE.The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the worst place in the world to be a woman or a girl. Over the last decade, a complex and ongoing series of conflicts, described as the world’s “deadliest crisis since World War II,” has unleashed unprecedented violence on the bodies of women and girls in this region. The brutality is extreme: three-month-old babies to eighty-year-old women have been raped. Women and girls are raped with such…

• Business Ethics Mappng Workshop

  13 Oct 2009 | 9:38 am

  From the Canadian Business Ethics Research Network:CBERN Pacific Region Hub: Business Ethics Mapping Project & Workshop, Vancouver, BCFriday, November 20, 2009Mapping the Business Ethics research interested parties and their areas of interest in British Columbia and the Yukon in natural resources and other sectors.Date: November 20, 2009Location: The Atrium, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour St., Vancouver, BCInformation: pacific@cbern.caOBJECTIVE: Mapping the Business Ethics research interested parties and their areas of interest in British Columbia and the Yukon in natural resources and…

• 
  Chez Rémi

• Expect

  17 Nov 2009 | 5:18 am

  When he is not busy growing giant lemon fruits (photo), the former Director of the European Environment Agency, Domingo Jimenez Beltrán of Spain facilitates stimulating policy dialogues within his country. He's asked me to participate next Thursday in a panel discussion about expectations viz the Copenhagen Climate Summit and the upcoming Spanish EU Presidency, in Madrid's Botanical Garden.As the expectations for Copenhagen are evolving (shrinking?) by the day, I guess I'll have to prepare my speaking notes at the last minute.

• Face up

  12 Nov 2009 | 9:48 am

  I've just spent four days in Bogota, Colombia where Transparency International asked me to give a two-day Advocacy Training course for their Latin American chapters.By pure coincidence the course took place this week when Transparencia por Colombia launched their campaign Ponga la Cara. [I suppose it would best translate as Face up]. Face up for your votes. Until recently, the individual votes of parlamentarians and municipal council members in Colombia were not recorded. I suppose they'd say that this lack of transparency was necessary to protect them. But for Transparencia por Colombia this…

• Wind the clock

  6 Nov 2009 | 11:36 pm

  Conversations in the last two days at the Barcelona Climate Talks were all about the best way to rewind the Copenhagen clock. The clock hasn't stop ticking but it's losing a few seconds every minute or every hour. It's been the case for quite some time of course, but the fact that after Barcelona everyone knows this raises a tactical issue: Will civil society remain politically relevant in the coming weeks with a slogan "fair, ambitious, binding treaty now" which everyone knows can't be achieved in that time frame unless something extraordinary happens? Repetition, repetition, repetition is…

• Yes we can

  4 Nov 2009 | 10:35 am

  As people are pretty pessimistic here as the third day of the Barcelona Climate Talks is ending, I thought I'd cheer up with an encouraging piece of news.The Spanish newspaper El País reports a new milestone in clean energy production: last night, 40% of Spain's electricity was produced by wind.One year after President Obama's election, this is an opportunity to pull out the old slogan again: Yes we can.

• Hate

  3 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pm

  Interesting remark by Yukio Hatoyama, the new Japanese Prime Minister.He's reported as saying "I hate whale meat." [I trust it is not a typographic error and that he did not mean to say he just "ate" whale meat]. It's not really surprising to hear this from a Japanese citizen of his generation. I hear this all the time in Tokyo, because whale meat is associated in the psyche of the Prime Minister's generation to the post WW-II hard times when Japanese people had little else to eat than boiled whale meat in the way of protein. What's interesting, and perhaps a sign of new times, is that for…

• 
  Children

• News…

  Cassandra Clifford

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:19 pm

  UNFPA: Impoverished women bear brunt of climate change The UN Population Fund has found the world’s primary agricultural workers — impoverished women — will bear the brunt of catastrophic climate change resulting from global warming. The UNFPA called for greater equality for women to relieve the disproportionate burden they are bound to experience from weather-related natural disasters, and their consequences for food, water and energy. Food summit finds little financing for global-hunger fight A summit on world hunger at the United Nations Food & Agriculture…

• Trafficking? Not in my town…Yes, in everytown!

  Cassandra Clifford

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:21 pm

  Many of you may have heard on the news about a missing five-year-old Shaniya Davis from Fayetteville, North Carolina, which first broke news this week as news of her disappearance led authorities into a desperate search for her safe return.  The young girl was reportedly taken from the mobile-home of her mother while on a visit, the child lived with her father, Bradley Lockhart, who had full custody of the the child. The story soon took a shocking turn as video was captured of the young girl being carried into a hotel room by a man.  Soon the darker reality of the case began to emerge, and…

• Making Education on Breastfeeding an Essential Part of Emergency Assistance

  Cassandra Clifford

  14 Nov 2009 | 11:07 pm

  Photo: UNICEF A series of natural disasters has his Asia in recent months leading to increased concern for child malnutrition, as food security rises.  There is no question that optimal infant and young child feeding is essential for optimal growth and development.   Optimal feeding includes; breastfeeding exclusively for six months, and providing appropriate complementary foods with continued breastfeeding for up to two years or beyond. However in times of natural disasters, conflict and displacement this is often overlooked.  Often breastfeeding and child health is impeded during…

• News…

  Cassandra Clifford

  11 Nov 2009 | 8:55 pm

  FAO: World ripe for another food crisis More international aid to combat higher food prices and insufficient production in developing countries is needed to stave off another food crisis, warns Jacques Diouf, director general of the Food and Agriculture Organization. “There is a lack of priority in fighting hunger and poverty at the highest political level, not only in developed countries but in developing countries,” Diouf said. WHO: World’s women face unequal health care Unequal health treatment provided to women rooted in gender discrimination is damaging societies across…

• America’s shame: Homeless Children

  Cassandra Clifford

  10 Nov 2009 | 9:38 pm

  According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, one in every 50 American children experiences homelessness.  Homelessness affects children in a multitude of ways, including both their physical and mental health.  Over two million youths, between the ages of 12 and 24, will experience at least one episode of homelessness each year.  More than 100,000 youth sleep on American streets for 6 months or longer, and many of these children and teens will experience violence and a multitude of abuse.  Children on the streets are at increased risk for commercial sexual exploitation,…

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  ICT - UN Declaration

• NCAI endorses UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

  WASHINGTON – The National Congress of American Indians has passed a resolution supporting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and urging its endorsement by state governments and Congress.

• Newcomb: World Conservation Congress endorses Declaration

  On Oct. 13, 2008 (Columbus Day), in Barcelona Spain, the World Conservation Congress (WCC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), voted to endorse and begin implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 13, 2007.

• Letter to all political parties

  Tomorrow, Sept. 13, 2008, we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The declaration was adopted by the UN General Assembly on Sept.13, 2007, after more than two decades of negotiation and debate. Despite having previously played a positive role in building international support for this human rights instrument, Canada was one of only four states to oppose the Declaration.

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  Bahai Faith in Egypt

• Cotton Harvest-Time

  Bilo

  9 Nov 2009 | 5:41 pm

  It is harvest-time for Egyptian cotton, which is considered the finest in the world. Here is a bit of information on how the quality of cotton is assessed: Cotton is classified, not only according to length and strength of fiber, but also according to the condition of the cotton on a basis called "middling". Middling cotton is creamy white, with no evidence of dirt or gin-cuts (fibers matted and cut) and with only a few pieces of leaf and immature seeds. Middling-fair, the best, has a perfect,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• No One Should Ever Go Hungry

  Bilo

  7 Nov 2009 | 7:53 pm

  Survival instinct is clearly illustrated in this example. Click on it to enlarge the interior of the mouth of this hungry fish. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Freedom!

  Bilo

  3 Nov 2009 | 2:27 pm

  A walking grasshopper...free to enjoy living! [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• A Trick of Nature

  Bilo

  1 Nov 2009 | 3:31 pm

  Sunset reflection on a high cloud. Northern New Mexico, USA, late October. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Trial of Iran's Baha'i Leaders Delayed Again

  Bilo

  18 Oct 2009 | 8:40 am

  According to the Baha'i World News Service, the trial of the dissolved ad hoc group of Baha'i leaders in Iran, scheduled for today, has been delayed again. The full story is posted below: Trial of seven Baha'is delayed, no new date set 18 October 2009 GENEVA — Although the trial of seven Baha'i leaders imprisoned in Iran for more than 17 months was scheduled for today, when attorneys and families arrived at the court offices in Tehran they were told it would not take place. No new trial date... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• 
  Change.org's Women's Rights Blog

• For Health or Money: The Motivation Behind New Mammogram Guidelines

  Roxann MtJoy

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:40 pm

  Women and health care professionals are confused and outraged by the mammogram guidelines released by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) on Monday, denouncing the task force for prioritizing economy over health. Regular mammogram screenings have accounted for a 15 percent decrease in the rate of breast cancer. The new guidelines suggest that women start going for regular mammograms at 50 -- ten years later than previously recommended -- and get checked every other year, instead of annually, unless they are at high risk. Critics, such as the American Cancer Society,…

• Servicewomen Need Access to Plan B: Focus on That, Elaine Donnelly

  Brandann Hill-Mann

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:25 am

  Groups like the self-proclaimed experts at the Center for Military Readiness, headed by Elaine Donnelly (yes, that Elaine Donnelly), would have you believe that the possibility of unplanned pregnancies is a good reason to exclude women from combat roles and submarine service.  I have another idea for Ms. Donnelly and her ilk to help them focus their concerns:  Fight like hell to get Plan B included in the TRICARE Formulary (the standard list of drugs that must be stocked) and make it available in all Military Treatment Facilities (MTF). Right now, a servicewoman cannot walk into an MTF…

• Women-Only Travel Company Violates Men's Rights

  Sarah Menkedick

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:22 pm

  At best, women-only policies strike me as band-aid solutions. I see little merit in single-sex gyms, and am downright appalled by the idea of Mexico's women-only taxis --  bubble-gum pink cabs equipped with makeup mirrors -- as a real solution to sexual violence. We can't end sexual harassment and assault simply by carving out spaces where men don't exist. Poof! They're gone! No more worries! Except that eventually you have to leave the gym or get out of the taxi. So I was automatically skeptical when I heard about the proposal for a women-only travel company, Travel Sisters, geared toward…

• UN Operations In Congo: A Dangerous Strategy

  Jen Nedeau

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:06 pm

  Compared with the energy and awareness surrounding the genocide in Darfur, the crisis in Congo is often known as the "forgotten conflict" -- despite the fact that over five million people have been killed since the war began 1998. After a brief flurry of headlines last year, the crisis has received little media attention. Meanwhile, the situation in Congo has only grown worse, especially for women and girls, who are the victims of mass rapes and mutilation This December, the United Nations will be renewing its mandate of the peacekeeping force in Congo -- a joint Rwandan and Congolese…

• Newsweek's "Sexist" Cover Photo Stirs Up False Controversy

  Jen Nedeau

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:50 pm

  The internet has been growling a lot today. And most of the disgruntled tweets and blog posts are over Newsweek's cover, featuring none other than former Alaska governor, Sarah Palin. To coincide with the release of Palin's book, Going Rogue, Newsweek's editors decided to print two essays about the former vice presidential candidate and a photo from a shoot she participated in for Runner's World magazine. The most common critique is that Newsweek has committed the crime of sexism in order to sell magazines. In defense of the image, Newsweek's Editor Jon Meacham said the image chosen was…

• 
  It Dawned On Me

• Stoned to Death for Having Unmarried Sex in Somalia

  Diane Beeler

  8 Nov 2009 | 2:56 pm

  33-year-old Abas Hussein Abdirahman, who confessed to adultery in an Islamic court, was stoned to death on 11/7/09 in Somalia for having sex with his girlfriend. She will be stoned to death after she gives birth to their baby. The BBC reports that an eyewitness…one of 300 to the stoning…said that Abas “…was screaming and blood was pouring from his head during the stoning. After seven minutes he stopped moving.” The BBC reports that this is the third time this year that Al-Shabab, an Islamist insurgency group in Somalia, has stoned a person to death for adultery.

• A Would-Be Robber and The Power of Love to Overcome Fear and Desperation

  Diane Beeler

  24 Oct 2009 | 12:46 pm

  It was October 19, 2009. 23-year-old Greg Smith was out of work, desperate, and needed money. He held Angela Montez at gun point, fully intending to rob a cash advance store, but something miraculous happened. Angela, a mother and grandmother, started crying and began talking to Greg. She told him “‘No, you don’t have to do this. Nothing can be bad enough for you to lower yourself to something so bad.” Even though the cash register was open and Greg could have taken the money and ran, he didn’t. His heart softened and he got down on his knees and prayed with…

• Oak Ridge, TN: Developed the Atomic Bomb and Now Stopping Child Predators

  Diane Beeler

  18 Oct 2009 | 10:43 pm

  What was rolling farm land in east Tennessee, the city now known as Oak Ridge was quickly transformed by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1942 to become one of the four places that worked on the Manhattan Project and birthed the atomic bomb. Because of the plentiful and cheap hydroelectric power provided through the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), Oak Ridge was the place where uranium was enriched. At one point, the Oak Ridge plants consumed one-sixth of the electricity in the entire United States…more than New York City. World War II-era billboard at the Oak Ridge Facility (Photo:…

• I Pray for Grace

  Diane Beeler

  13 Oct 2009 | 3:43 pm

  Do you know someone who thinks about God or religion or spirituality differently from you? How do you feel about that? Are you respectful toward their beliefs? Are they respectful toward yours? Did you pray to Buddha? Someone asked me this today. I was sharing how I have been meditating and doing spiritual work to affirm and attract prosperity. I incorporate various precepts in my spiritual practice. I love the  Buddhist concepts of loving-kindness, that suffering ceases when we let go of our attachment to ideas, people, places, and things, and that we can increase our own peacefulness…

• Does Barack Obama Deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?

  Diane Beeler

  9 Oct 2009 | 5:59 pm

  I was really excited to hear who the Norwegian Nobel Committee would choose today to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Would it be Three Cups of Tea author and Afghanistan and Pakistan builder of schools for girls Greg Mortenson (see my post on Greg here)? Or Dr. Denis Mukwege, the Congolese gynecologist who has repaired the damage done to 21,000 gang raped women and given them hope? Both were incredibly deserving and could certainly put the $1.4 million prize money to good use helping women and girls. President Obama at UN Security Council Meeting in September 2009 (Doug Mills, NY Times) I was as…

• 
  SWOPBlogger

• Court Grants SWOP, CCP Full Attorney's Fees

  George

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:14 am

  State District Court Judge Judith Herrera ruled yesterday that the State of New Mexico must pay $72,000 in attorney fees and costs to the Center for Civic Policy and the Southwest Organizing Project.In 2008, our organizations were forced to seek protection in federal court against Secretary of State Herrera’s decision to require New Mexico Youth Organized and Southwest Organizing Project to register as “political committees.”In August, Judge Herrera issued a decision granting summary judgment in favor of the nonprofits, ruling that the speech of NMYO and SWOP is protected by the First…

• $5 Friday This Friday!

  Marisol

  16 Nov 2009 | 1:19 pm

  Hope you can make it. Contact Marisol with questions: 247-8832 ext. 126; marisol@swop.netCome break bread with SWOP. $5 will buy you a variety of wonderful foods and fantastic company!When: Every 3rd Friday of the month, 12pmWhere: SWOP Main Office; 211 10th St SWWhy: To hang out with SWOPistas and have great food!

• Call for Latina/o Writers

  George

  16 Nov 2009 | 1:16 pm

  Somos un escrito is a new online literary magazine designed to provide exposure to Latino/Hispano writers. They are sending out a call to writers of Chicano, Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban or any other Latino origin to submit their manuscripts.Armando Rendón, the author who is launching the revista, believes that the Latino community in the U.S. needs to excel in literary endeavors as it has in music, sports, the fine arts, business, and science. This online magazine is designed to take advantage of the internet as an outlet for talented Latino authors.Somos un escrito accepts all forms of…

• Come attend our Self Awareness Workshop…

  Youth

  13 Nov 2009 | 3:05 pm

  This November 21st, we are going to have a Self Awareness Workshop at the SWOP youth office. The workshop is from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. and lunch will be provided. The workshop will be about centering and self awareness; anyone can come, bring family and friends. THIS WORKSHOP IS MADATORY FOR ALL COIN YOUTH!!! Don’t miss out on a GREAT OPPORTUNITY!!! We guarantee you will have a lot of fun!!!The Workshop will be held at the SWOP offices at 211 10th St. SW. For more information please contact Emma @ (505)353-2941 office: (505)247-8832 ext.123 or email: Emma@swop.net.

• Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN

  George

  12 Nov 2009 | 9:25 am

  After months of pressure from multiple campaigns trying to oust him, Lou Dobbs is finally leaving CNN. This is a great victory for our communities- not just because we silenced his anti-immigrant rhetoric, but because we came together and demanded that hatespeech be removed from the airways.Congratulations and thank you to everyone that participated to the Basta Dobbs campaign!Search "Basta Dobbs" in this blog to follow our coverage of the campaign.http://www.bastadobbs.com/blog/2009/nov/11/bastadobbscom-announces-victory-lou-dobbs-leave-cn/Dobbs announces that he is stepping down.Roberto…

• 
  UNICEF News

• At launch of flagship report, Lucy Liu and Ann M. Veneman celebrate achievements for children

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:52 am

  NEW YORK, USA, 19 November 2009 – UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu and former child soldier Grace Akallo joined Executive Director Ann M. Veneman today to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). To mark the occasion, UNICEF has released a special edition of its flagship publication, 'The State of the World's Children', outlining progress made on children's rights over the past two decades.

• Lesotho: Cash-grants pilot programme aims to ensure vulnerable children's rights

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:57 am

  LEBAKENG, Lesotho, 18 November 2009 – Mapalesa Sebatanyane, 73, is the primary caregiver for her four grandchildren, but she struggles to feed them with the small income she earns raising chickens in this remote village.

• Child-rights video contest winner focuses on the right to education

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:55 am

  NEW YORK, USA, 20 November 2009 – A young girl in India longs to be in school. She watches through the window and the gracious teacher calls her in. But when she sits down, the boys shift over to one side to be away from her.

• Papua New Guinea: Students take the stage on Global Handwashing Day

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:23 pm

  WESTERN HIGHLANDS PROVINCE, Papua New Guinea, 20 October 2009 – In celebration of Global Handwashing Day, students in four provinces across Papua New Guinea took to the stage to raise their voices and educate their peers.

• UNICEF report highlights violence against children

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:23 pm

  DAMASCUS, Syria, 20 October 2009 – After two year's work, the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs (SCFA) in collaboration with UNICEF has concluded a report on the Situation Analysis of Children (SITAN) in Syria.

• 
  Oxfam International News

• Stop the killing in the Congo - banners

  filip

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:42 am

  You can use the banners below to link to our petition.read more

• Poverty and unemployment fuel the conflict according to 70% of Afghans, new Oxfam research shows

  Geraldine-Clermont

  18 Nov 2009 | 7:41 am

  Seventy per cent of Afghans surveyed see poverty and unemployment as the major cause of the conflict in their country, according to new research by international aid agency Oxfam andread more

• Afghanistan: The cost of war, in pictures

  filip

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:44 am

  The past three decades of war and disorder have had a devastating impact on the Afghan people. read more

• Lackluster food summit offers crumbs

  filip

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:04 am

  Oxfam ranks leaders’ performance a paltry 2 out of ten; much more work needed International agency Oxfam gave the 2009 UN World Food Summit a 20% overall rating as deread more

• The Cost of War

  Joel M Bassuk

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:02 am

  To better understand how Afghans have experienced and understand the devastating conflict of the last thirty years, eight nongovernmental organizations operating in Afghanistan conduread more

• 
  ONE

• Where Do ONE’s T-shirts Come From?

  Aaron Banks

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pm

  We’ve just wrapped up ONE’s Next Top T-shirt Challenge and are very excited about the winning design submitted by ONE member Valerie Strecker. We hope these T-shirts can play a part in spreading the word about ONE and the great work ONE members are doing to fight poverty and disease. A few of you have asked [...]

• “So many positives” in Cape Verde

  Chris Scott

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:31 pm

  The US Ambassador to Cape Verde, Marianne M. Myles, has a piece in the Providence Journal reporting on the many positives coming out of the country. She attributes this to country’s willingness to “put policies and programs in place that deliver for its people and their prosperity” and practicing “good governance with a stable [...]

• Sub-Saharan Africa still faces corruption

  Pooja Gupta

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:30 pm

  On Tuesday, Transparency International (TI) released their 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), revealing that many sub-Saharan African countries remain among the most corrupt world-wide. The annually-released index ranks how corrupt governments are perceived to be, according to international institutions such as the World Economic Forum, the World Bank and the African Development Bank. The 2009 CPI [...]

• World Food Summit Wraps

  Beth Adler

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:30 pm

  Wednesday wrapped up the World Summit on Food Security in Rome. Just to recap in case you missed the last post, the Summit was intended to bring together heads of state and food security institutions, like the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Program (WFP), to further the global agenda on [...]

• The Designer Behind the T-shirt

  Aaron Banks

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:30 am

  Valerie Strecker, the winner of ONE’s Next Top T-shirt Challenge, was nice enough to tell us a little bit more about herself and her design philosophy in the email below. You can also learn more about Valerie’s work on her website: http://www.flyingfishart.com and become a fan on her Facebook page. I grew up in Louisiana enjoying [...]

• 
  BBC World Service Trust blog

• Thinking outside of the box

  worldservicetrust

  9 Nov 2009 | 4:46 am

  Enhancing Nigeria’s Response to HIV and Aids (ENR) is a new Pan-Nigerian, DfID-funded project which will focus on lowering the prevalence of HIV in the country. An aspect of this, which the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) is a part of, is to help capacity building at national and state TV stations. This involves creating a TV training team which will then go out and provide training at local stations, including training on HIV reporting and co-producing with the station for several weeks. Ambika Samarthya, an international trainer based in Abuja reports on the first stages of the three…

• Enhancing Nigeria’s Response to HIV and Aids

  worldservicetrust

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:17 am

  Enhancing Nigeria’s Response to HIV and Aids (ENR) is a new Pan-Nigerian, DFID-funded project which will focus on lowering the prevalence of HIV in the country. An aspect of this, which the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) is a part of, is to help capacity building at national and state TV stations. This involves creating a TV training team which will then go out and provide training at local stations, including training on HIV reporting and co-producing with the station for several weeks. Ambika Samarthya, an international trainer based in Abuja reports on the first stages of the three…

• DFID White Paper: a welcome step forward for development

  worldservicetrust

  8 Jul 2009 | 8:07 am

  By Caroline Nursey, Executive Director Here at the BBC World Service Trust, we welcome DFID’s new White Paper, Eliminating World Poverty, Building our Common Future. There is a clear evidence and research base demonstrating that media in developing countries can constitute among the most effective checks on corruption and abuse of power, and it is gratifying to see this reflected in the White Paper. The commitment to set aside an amount equivalent to 5% of budget support funds to help ‘ensure that citizens groups, local media… and others are able to monitor how governments use these…

• Ringing in change

  Yvonne MacPherson

  15 May 2009 | 11:03 am

  It is my second day at the train halt point in Patna. A number of BBC Hindi Radio listeners have assembled at a modest venue in central Patna to speak to programme makers. Here, I am surrounded by a group of about 10 Bihari men. Should I do it? Should I take out my mobile phone and press the button that starts my ringtone?  I want to make the most of my visit to Bihar and get feedback from people we are trying to reach with our work. I decide to give it a go. I want to know what these men think when they hear my ringtone. I press the button. The ringtone begins to chime. Con… con… con……

• Beyond the ice cream

  Yvonne MacPherson

  11 May 2009 | 12:06 pm

  The BBC Election Train pulled into Patna station in the early hours of the hottest day of the season. It was 42.8 degrees Celsius. Despite the heat, I was looking forward to meeting some of our project partners and understanding what more can be done in Bihar, one of the poorest states in the country.  According to India’s National Family Health Survey, 42% of children nationally are underweight.  However, in Bihar it is even higher at 58%. Fewer than 20% of births are delivered in a health facility in Bihar (again, considerably worse than the national average). There is a lot of scope…

• 
  Darfur: An Unforgivable Hell on Earth

• It’s About the Women

  John

  12 Nov 2009 | 11:05 pm

  The world over, be it outside a Los Angeles School, or in Darfur, it’s all about the women. Check Out Losing the Fight for Darfur Arms embargo violations in Darfur increase Posted in Darfur, Women Tagged: Darfur, Women

• Nov 10th

  John

  9 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pm

  Tuesday, November 10, both Congress and the Administration plan to have another much-needed day for Sudan, marking the first major discussion following the release of the Administration’s Sudan policy. Tomorrow, November 10 at 3:00 p.m. EST Sudan and anti-genocide activists are invited to the White House for a Q&A session where they will ask questions to Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, and Samantha Power, NSC Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs. Watch the live broadcast of this meeting via streaming video at:…

• 
  BBC World Service Trust

• Thinking outside of the box

  worldservicetrust

  9 Nov 2009 | 4:46 am

  Enhancing Nigeria’s Response to HIV and Aids (ENR) is a new Pan-Nigerian, DfID-funded project which will focus on lowering the prevalence of HIV in the country. An aspect of this, which the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) is a part of, is to help capacity building at national and state TV stations. This involves creating a TV training team which will then go out and provide training at local stations, including training on HIV reporting and co-producing with the station for several weeks. Ambika Samarthya, an international trainer based in Abuja reports on the first stages of the three…

• Enhancing Nigeria’s Response to HIV and Aids

  worldservicetrust

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:17 am

  Enhancing Nigeria’s Response to HIV and Aids (ENR) is a new Pan-Nigerian, DFID-funded project which will focus on lowering the prevalence of HIV in the country. An aspect of this, which the BBC World Service Trust (BBC WST) is a part of, is to help capacity building at national and state TV stations. This involves creating a TV training team which will then go out and provide training at local stations, including training on HIV reporting and co-producing with the station for several weeks. Ambika Samarthya, an international trainer based in Abuja reports on the first stages of the three…

• DFID White Paper: a welcome step forward for development

  worldservicetrust

  8 Jul 2009 | 8:07 am

  By Caroline Nursey, Executive Director Here at the BBC World Service Trust, we welcome DFID’s new White Paper, Eliminating World Poverty, Building our Common Future. There is a clear evidence and research base demonstrating that media in developing countries can constitute among the most effective checks on corruption and abuse of power, and it is gratifying to see this reflected in the White Paper. The commitment to set aside an amount equivalent to 5% of budget support funds to help ‘ensure that citizens groups, local media… and others are able to monitor how governments use these…

• Ringing in change

  Yvonne MacPherson

  15 May 2009 | 11:03 am

  It is my second day at the train halt point in Patna. A number of BBC Hindi Radio listeners have assembled at a modest venue in central Patna to speak to programme makers. Here, I am surrounded by a group of about 10 Bihari men. Should I do it? Should I take out my mobile phone and press the button that starts my ringtone?  I want to make the most of my visit to Bihar and get feedback from people we are trying to reach with our work. I decide to give it a go. I want to know what these men think when they hear my ringtone. I press the button. The ringtone begins to chime. Con… con… con……

• Beyond the ice cream

  Yvonne MacPherson

  11 May 2009 | 12:06 pm

  The BBC Election Train pulled into Patna station in the early hours of the hottest day of the season. It was 42.8 degrees Celsius. Despite the heat, I was looking forward to meeting some of our project partners and understanding what more can be done in Bihar, one of the poorest states in the country.  According to India’s National Family Health Survey, 42% of children nationally are underweight.  However, in Bihar it is even higher at 58%. Fewer than 20% of births are delivered in a health facility in Bihar (again, considerably worse than the national average). There is a lot of scope…

• 
  Sponsor Impact

• Steps toward Justice

  sponsorimpact

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:45 pm

  Food for the Hungry partners with a number of different artists who passionately speak about the work that Food for the Hungry does all over the world. Sara Groves is one of these artists. She has travelled to Rwanda a number of times and is very involved in the work that is being done in this war torn country. Recently Christianity Today wrote an article about Sara Groves and her partnership with Food for the Hungry and other non-profit organizations to make a lasting change in our world. Sara is passionate about the injustices that she has seen in Rwanda, check out the article to learn…

• Typhoon Update

  sponsorimpact

  16 Nov 2009 | 12:34 pm

  On Saturday, September 26, 2009 the whole world was shocked to see on TV the devastation caused by Tropical Storm Ketsana, known locally in the Philippines as Typhoon Ondoy. As early as Thursday there was the usual warnings raised of the possibility of flooding and other negative effects of the typhoon. However few people could have actually predicted the amount of devastation that resulted from the flash flooding, the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and the death of almost 100 Filipinos in the various areas affected. Because the warnings did not predict the…

• Inaction is not the answer.

  sponsorimpact

  2 Nov 2009 | 10:50 am

  I am aware that this blog has been unusually quiet these past few weeks. It isn’t that there are not tragedies or emergencies to report or that there are no stories to tell or faces to share. Instead I have found myself overwhelmed with the amount of tragedies and injustices that so many around the world face on a daily basis. It only takes a brief pause on the news channel while surfing the tube, a quick click of a mouse on the CNN home page or the unfolding of the morning newspaper and  scan of the headlines to be reminded of the reality that this world is full of injustice and need.

• Bringing Light to the “least of these”

  sponsorimpact

  14 Oct 2009 | 7:11 am

  As HIV/AIDS and other fatal diseases have struck the continent of Africa and the rest of the world a new kind of family has been created. One that is virtually unheard of in the developing world because we understand the absolute chaos it would be. These families are what we call Child Headed Households meaning that when the parents pass away the oldest child becomes the surrogate parents to the younger children. More often than not though the oldest is still a child themself. Our West Coast Regional Manager of our Advocate Ministry, Wendy McMahan has an incredible passion for bringing light…

• Recovering from the Flood

  sponsorimpact

  30 Sep 2009 | 12:29 pm

  Our staff on the ground in the Philippines have sent us an update of the situation and have included some pictures. ” 100% of the families in Tibag and Curayao were affected on different levels. Some families lost all of their belongings (house and what they own), some have kept their house but there is nothing left inside. Some families kept their houses and belongings but they are no longer useful. Many CDP children neeed new school materials, bags, uniforms and sleepers. Some families have returned to their respective houses but some families continue to stay in relocation sites as…

• 
  Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

• Mining firm provides health care to villages [Philippines]

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:42 am

  After crossing borders to provide assistance to victims of typhoons that hit Northern Luzon recently, OceanaGold...conducted another medical mission[with] a team of doctors, dentists, nurses and social workersin the upland villages of Pina and Langka. Carrying free medicine provided by the mining firm, the mission conducted free medical consultations and dental services to the residents of the two villages who came in truckloads. Diadi Mayor Marivic Padilla lauded what he described as a timely medical undertakingin the impoverished villages

• Les nouveaux proprietaires fonciers - Les societes d'investissement en tete de la course aux terres agricoles a l'etranger

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:40 am

  ...Les investisseurs prives ne se tournent pas vers l'agriculture pour resoudre le probleme de la faim dans le monde ou eliminer la pauvrete rurale. Ce qu'ils veulent, c'est, purement et simplement, faire des benefices...Les investisseurs savent avec certitude que les besoins alimentaires mondiaux vont continuer a croitre, maintenant des prix eleves et fournissant un substantiel retour sur investissement a tous ceux qui ont la mainmise sur les ressources de base necessaires. Et ces ressources de base, en particulier la terre et l'eau, sont plus que jamais soumises a la surexploitation...Un…

• CII launches toll free helpline on HIV/AIDS [India]

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:25 am

  In a bid to spread awareness on HIV/AIDS, the Confederation of Indian Industriy (CII) Friday announced the launch of a toll free helpline in four languagesCII has trained 38,500 people through workshops and infotainment in order to strengthen corporate responsibility...In addition, 463 professionals have been trained on Anti Retroviral Therapy (ART) and 233 corporate members are signatory to the HIV policy for CII, [said Meenakshi Dhanda of the CII]....

• Buenas noticias de mineras y dd.hh. [Colombia]

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:01 am

  El pasado 6 de noviembre, el Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores anuncio...la aceptacion de Colombia como miembro vinculado a los Principios Voluntarios en Seguridad y Derechos Humanos (PV). Se trata de un avance importante y significativo en Derechos Humanos y operaciones empresariales en el sector minero...Los PV son un codigo de conducta empresarial orientado a facilitar el manejo de las mineras de los riesgos que en materia de seguridad y derechos humanos implica operar en zonas...de conflicto...desde 2003...el Comite Minero-Energetico de Derechos Humanos (CME)...toma los PV como un…

• Mindoro residents to push hunger strike vs mining [Philippines]

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:59 pm

  Mindoro residents have decided not to lift their hunger strike even after the Department of Environment and Nature Resourcessuspended for 90 days the controversial environmental compliance certificate (ECC) for large-scale mining in a watershed and ancestral domain area[T]he protestors did not consider the ECC suspension as a complete triumph[Many of the hunger strikers remained in front of DENR offices to demand a complete withdrawal of the ECCIntex must prove the social acceptability of the mining project, [Mindoro] Governor Panaligan [said]

• 
  Change.org's Poverty in America Blog

• Time for a Little Thanks

  Diane Nilan

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:08 am

  With our national holiday of Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, I'd like to offer some therapeutic thoughts to counteract the ongoing bleak economic reality, including this recent and timely report about people suffering from hunger. With health care dominating national news, I was delighted to read a positive story about a hospital administrator's approach to coping with their fiscal crisis. The Boston Globe reported that Paul Levy, the hospital CEO, walked around the hospital and made simple, but critical, observations. He stood at the nurses' stations, watching the transporters, the people…

• Judge Rules Katrina Flooding Government's Fault

  Leigh Graham

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:36 am

  A US District Court in New Orleans has issued an historic ruling that the Army Corps of Engineer's negligence led to Hurricane Katrina's fatal flooding of the Lower 9th Ward, a neighborhood in New Orleans, and St. Bernard Parish*, a neighboring county of NOLA.  It's easy to forget that Katrina's landfall was not what devastated New Orleans to the extent we witnessed, but rather the failure of the levees to hold back the storm's tidal effects.  The intricate system of levees, channels and canals that have protected the city for generations was overcome by the storm, because, as the ruling…

• Women and Children Most Hit By Hunger

  Greg Plotkin

  19 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  By now, many of you have probably heard the news that 49 million people in the United States did not have access to a sufficient amount of food last year, more than any year since the USDA started keeping records in 1995.  Even more disturbing, this represents a 36% increase in hunger between 2007 and 2008. Although there has been both statistical and anecdotal evidence concerning the spread of hunger across the United States recently, a new report released by the USDA paints a more accurate, and unfortunately grim, picture of the true extent of food insecurity in the most powerful nation on…

• Long-term Unemployment Worst Since the Great Depression

  Leigh Graham

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  Record-setting joblessness: it's not just for the elderly. 5.6M Americans have been out of work for at least 6 months; this is the highest proportion of workers out of work for that long since the Great Depression. Joblessness is highest among younger workers. I've written about unemployment and joblessness a lot lately. Here's some other poverty news items I'd love to spend more time on as well: A new documentary, "The End of Poverty" (in limited release), makes a case for capitalism's systematic inequality and hints at a need to resurrect Marxist critiques of our cherished economic system.

• 44% of Congress are millionaires

  Leigh Graham

  16 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  And we wonder why Congress can't pass bills to support low-income households and working people...ok, we don't really wonder, do we? 1% of Americans are millionaires, compared to 44% of Congress (237 elected officials, to be exact). The median income in the Senate is just under $2M, in the House it's just over $600k. Median household income in the US is $50,303. Just because an individual is rich does not preclude them from pursuing pro-poor or equitable policies, nor does it suggest that they cannot relate to poverty or economic inequality. But when the group norm is staggering wealth…

• 
  Change.org's Stop Genocide Blog

• A Courting We Will Go

  Karl Horberg

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:14 am

  The Genocide Convention was nearing completion. The crime, the punishable acts, and the perpetrators had all been defined. It was now necessary to establish the entity responsible for prosecuting the crime. In drafting the articles pertaining to prosecution and jurisdiction the triumvirate of experts took a rather expansive and radical approach. Article VII of the Secretariat draft recognizes universal jurisdiction by requiring states to "punish any offender under this Convention within any territory under their jurisdiction, irrespective of the nationality of the offender or of the place…

• A Holocaust Victim on Facebook: Crude or Compelling?

  Michelle

  19 Nov 2009 | 11:44 am

  Holocaust education is important. Adolf Hitler famously quipped, "After all, who remembers the Armenians?" - education and remembrance are critical for moving the world closer to the still-hollow concept of "Never Again." Devotees of the anti-genocide cause, both educators and advocates alike, constantly search for new ways to engage and expand their audience. But is a Facebook alter-ego of a child victim of the Holocaust going to far? A 22-year-old Polish man created a Facebook page for Henio Zytomirski, a seven year old Jewish boy who perished in a Nazi concentration camp. The page is…

• Presidential Silence in Beijing on Sudan

  Jerry Fowler

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:04 am

  This is a guest post by Jerry Fowler, Save Darfur Coalition president. Less than a month after his Administration proclaimed in its new strategy for Sudan that “American leadership is essential to a more effective multilateral approach,” President Obama left China early this morning without any public reference to having brought up Sudan with his hosts. There were background statements to journalists that it was on a list of things discussed. Such low-key treatment was a huge missed opportunity to enlist the support for the new strategy from a crucial country. It also was a rejection of…

• Adolf Hitler, Soccer Coach?

  Michelle

  18 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  If I told you that one in 20 British schoolchildren think Adolf Hitler was a German soccer coach, would you be a.) appalled, or b.) skeptical? The results of a survey of 2,000 children in the UK revealed that while most students aged 9-15 recognized Hitler's rightful role as one of history's most nefarious mass-murdering war-mongers, 13.5% of them thought he discovered gravity and 7% thought he was Germany's national soccer coach. It gets better: 15% said that Auschwitz was a WWII-era theme park, and 6% though the Holocaust was a celebration of the end of the war. The survey, however, was…

• Darfur: To the Victor Go the Spoils

  Michelle

  17 Nov 2009 | 4:57 am

  Is the genocide in Darfur complete? Michael Gerson's provocative op-ed in the Washington Post last week argues that Khartoum has essentially achieved its "policy aims" in Darfur by "targeting disfavored ethnic groups, destroying their way of life and forcing millions into camps," and is set to seal the deal with a newly-announced plan to close camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Darfur early next year. The troubling report comes despite the fact that numerous international observers, including the African Union's own panel on Darfur, recognize that the security situation remains…

• 
  Survival's Blog

• Doesn’t God care about uncontacted tribes?

  David

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:22 am

  President of Peru Alan Garcia. Peru’s President Garcia has just announced the discovery of oil in the north of the country. According to Garcia, the discovery was made by Canadian oil company Talisman, working in an area called, in oil-speak, Lot 64. ‘God has heard Peru’s need and Talisman has found light oil that can be mixed with heavy oil in the lots run by Perenco and Repsol between 100 and 200 kilometres away,’ Garcia said. In other words, this new discovery will make it easier to exploit oil already discovered elsewhere. But the regions where both Perenco and Repsol-YPF are…

• Ururú Akuntsu: an obituary

  Survival

  14 Oct 2009 | 6:40 am

  Last week we received news of the sad loss of Ururú Akuntsu. She was one of the last remaining members of the Akuntsu tribe who live in a small reserve in Rondônia state, western Brazil. There are now just five of them. They have suffered as their forest home, friends and families were massacred over many years by ruthless ranchers in pursuit of land. Today they live in a territory recognised by the government and protected by FUNAI (government indigenous affairs department). Altair Algayer, head of the nearby FUNAI outpost, remembers Ururú. His brief recollections conjure the image of an…

• Is Botswana’s President an ‘archaic fantasy’?

  Lindsay

  7 Oct 2009 | 4:57 am

  A South African woman recently sparked a minor international incident when she accused Botswana’s president, Ian Khama, of looking ‘like a Bushman’ (according to South African newspaper Sowetan). Botswana President Ian Khama whose government has been criticised for human rights abuses. An official at a Botswana border gate overheard the woman’s comments, and arrested her for ‘insulting the president’ and tried to charge her for ‘insults relating to Botswana’. After a few hours in a police cell, the woman was released and free to return to South Africa. It’s hardly surprising…

• A bad month for oil palm

  David

  30 Sep 2009 | 3:00 am

  Hunter-gatherers in Borneo blockade roads to keep oil palm companies off their land. . . the World Bank freezes loans to oil palm companies. . . and now the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) has banned a ‘misleading’ advert calling oil palm the ‘Green Answer.’ ‘The ad must not appear again in its current form,’ the ASA concluded. Another video shows the objectionable image of palm oil promoted by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council. The advert, placed by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, claimed that accusations against Malaysia’s palm oil industry ‘of rampant…

• ‘Communist excrement’ – moi?

  David

  17 Sep 2009 | 11:24 am

  The author of Survival’s ‘most racist article’ of 2009 now says he was ‘exaggerating’ when he suggested bombing Peru’s indigenous population with napalm. ‘When I wrote that I didn’t mean it literally,’ Andres Bedoya Ugarteche retorts in his column in Peru’s Correo newspaper. ‘When you tell someone that he or she’s f**king you, or that you’re going to ‘beat the shit out of them’, you don’t really mean it.’ Indeed. The question is, when isn’t he exaggerating? It’s difficult to know. After all, he describes ‘all human rights NGOs’ as ‘blood-sucking…

• 
  News from Survival International

• Brazilian Indian found dead following attack by gunmen

  17 Nov 2009 | 4:01 am

  Guarani man © João Ripper/Survival The body of a Guarani Indian has been found dead and badly bruised in a river close to his ancestral land in Brazil, following an armed attack on the community of Ypo’i on 30 October. The body of teacher Genivaldo Verá was identified by his relatives on 10 November. Brazilian authorities are examining it to establish the cause of death. The attack happened near the ‘Triunfo’ ranch, built on Guarani land close to the city of Paranhos in Mato Grosso do Sul in south-west Brazil, near the Paraguayan border. Genivaldo’s cousin and fellow teacher…

• Anglo-French company nominated for spoof Friends of the Earth award

  16 Nov 2009 | 2:21 am

  Perenco is exploring for oil inside uncontacted Indians' land.© Survival An Anglo-French company has been nominated for a spoof Friends of the Earth (FoE) award for its billion dollar project in a part of the Amazon inhabited by two of the world’s last uncontacted tribes. The company, Perenco, is one of four nominees in the human rights category for Friends of the Earth France’s ‘Pinocchio Prize 2009’. The prize is intended to raise awareness of, and condemn, French businesses who ‘perpetrate the most serious human rights violations.’ Perenco has been nominated for its…

• Jailed for saying Botswana President ‘looks like a Bushman'

  12 Nov 2009 | 2:16 am

  Botswana's persecution of the Bushmen has continued under President Khama.© Survival A South African woman who said Botswana’s president ‘looks like a Bushman’ was arrested, detained for two days and fined for ‘insulting Botswana’. Dorsey Dube was arrested after commenting on a portrait of President Khama at a control post on the Botswana-South Africa border. She said the President looked like her friend’s father, who has Bushman features. The deeply-entrenched racist attitudes of many people in authority in Botswana towards the Bushmen were starkly revealed, however, when…

• Kenyan tribe to Ban Ki-Moon: 'We condemn Peru repression'

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:32 am

  A spokesman for the Ogiek has condemned the Peruvian government's attempt to disband AIDESEP. © Survival A spokesman from a tribe in Kenya has condemned the Peruvian government’s attempt to destroy Peru’s Amazon indigenous movement. The condemnation comes from Kiplangat Cheruyot from the Ogiek tribe in response to the revelation that Peru’s government plans to disband Peru’s national organisation for indigenous people in the Amazon, known by its Spanish acronym AIDESEP. ‘We, the Ogiek Indigenous people of Kenya, condemn in the strongest possible terms the Peruvian Government…

• Repression of Amazon Indian movement condemned worldwide

  10 Nov 2009 | 2:10 am

  Peru's Amazon Indians have been protesting against the exploitation of their lands by oil and gas companies© David Dudenhoefer The Peruvian government’s unprecedented attempt to destroy Peru’s Amazon Indian movement has been condemned by indigenous leaders around the world. The wave of condemnation comes after it was revealed that the government plans to disband Peru’s national organisation for Amazon Indians, known by its Spanish acronym AIDESEP. ‘We Bushmen of Botswana support the Indians of Peru and think that the government of Peru and the oil companies should not forget the…

• 
  Change.org's War and Peace Blog

• 'Girl': Is the New MSF Video Good Social Advertising?

  Una Vera

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:03 pm

  Back in August, the humanitarian and international development blogosphere slogged it out over a controversial video from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) UK. The video, titled 'Boy,' featured a stark image of a small, clay house in an unnamed warzone, with audio of a child's pained screams. It was never aired. MSF deliberately released the video online to provoke responses. And provoke it did, from overwhelmed sadness, to outrage, to furious accusations of sensationalism and exploitation, to passionate defenses of MSF's endorsement of the video --and, in the case of one blogger roundtable…

• Take Action: Call on UN to Prevent Civilian Killings in Eastern Congo

  Daniel J Gerstle

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  Our esteemed Humanitarian Relief (now War and Peace) blogger, Michael Kleinman, who's on break, introduced us to Oisteen Thorsen, a humanitarian campaigner with Oxfam. Led by Oxfam, one of the most respected and trusted names in the aid biz, partners are working to advise positive change to policy on Congo at the UN. Ten years of UN peacekeeping so far. Please see the video and sign the petition this week. Here's Oisteen's intro: "...Oxfam with partners are currently running a petition calling on the UN Security Council to stop the killings of civilians in Eastern Congo by the UN-supported…

• Alex de Waal is Wrong on Afghanistan

  Una Vera

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:27 am

  In an essay for Prospect magazine (UK), Africa expert Alex de Waal offers his solution to Afghanistan's governance and security problems: more corruption. "NATO has crippled Karzai’s ability to bargain properly," writes the contrarian researcher best known for his work on Sudan. "Foreign firepower and funds give him the strongest hand in the souk, but western demands to stamp out corruption and defeat the Taliban stop him playing his best cards." It reads like sarcasm, but that is de Waal's actual thesis --the state-building project has failed because it has not involved enough payoffs to…

• Somalia's Judiciary Attacked but Not Defeated

  Daniel J Gerstle

  18 Nov 2009 | 12:48 pm

  Gunmen killed Judge Sheikh Mohamad Abdi Aware outside of his mosque last week in Bossaso, a scorching Aden Gulf port on the northeastern coast of Somalia. Judge Aware, despite whatever debate he may have stoked in Somalia, devoted his life not only to the rule of law but to the pursuit of justice according to the sometimes conflicting state, Islamic, and Somali customary law systems in an incredibly volatile political environment. Back in 2007, a group of local rights workers and I carried out the UN Rule of Law and Security Programme's first child justice survey across the entire…

• Addressing Local Land and Herding Disputes is Pre-Requisite for Peace in Africa

  Daniel J Gerstle

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:49 am

  Twelve killed in violence in Lakes State, Southern Sudan. Eleven killed in a cattle raid in Kenya. Somalia, Ethiopia, Congo DR. There is something beneath the political battles we read about in the news. Feuds between ethnic rivals over land and rural groups over herding routes have rocked Africa's Sahel and Horn for a long time but some believe it has gotten worse recently. As states crumble or leaders manipulate tribal animosity, the coping mechanisms which have held many groups together begin to fray. In fact, a great deal of traditional and Islamic law practiced outside the state…

• 
  Change.org's Global Health Blog

• Climate Change Will Exacerbate Gap Between Rich and Poor

  Mike Smith

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:18 am

  Climate change won't just hit the poorest the hardest, with those in developing countries bearing the brunt of climate change — losing access to crucial water supplies, and feeling the effect of rising sea levels. Climate change will additionally exacerbate gaps between the rich and poor. The effects of climate change is likely to reverse many of the hard earned and costly developments gains of the Millennium Development Goals. Specific setbacks will include increased water scarcity, and changes in the availability of food. Quite simply, climate change is the perfect storm. And oh yeah,…

• Spread the Word about Good Hygiene: World Toilet Day

  Mike Smith

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:24 pm

  World Toilet Day isn't the easiest day of the activist's year to promote. But ensuring good public hygiene is a very effective method of slowing the spread of disease and illness. The problem is that toilets and adequate sanitation just isn't cool, and it isn't much of an aspirational campaign. The people behind World Toilet Day are trying to change that. They explain to Reuters that "It is a sensitive issue, but a serious one that has to be a shared responsibility of the government, companies and people." One method is to keep toilets clean on trains, in return for advertising space, thus…

• Gates Foundation: Celebrating Success and the Importance of Storytelling

  Mike Smith

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:12 am

  This is a guest post by Joe Cerrell, director, global health policy and advocacy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Too often in global health, we zero in on the obstacles and neglect to celebrate the successes. While the health challenges facing the developing world are very real, many poor countries are making real progress against diseases like HIV and malaria, often with support from the American government. That’s the message that Bill and Melinda Gates recently brought to Washington, D.C. In a presentation titled, “Living Proof: Why We Are Impatient Optimists,” they showed…

• What Next as Parasites Become Resistant to Best Malaria Treatment?

  Mike Smith

  15 Nov 2009 | 2:29 pm

  Mosquitoes are becoming resistant to artemisinin, "the only remaining effective drug in the world's arsenal against malaria's most deadly strain"? On the Thai-Cambodia border this is happening due to a rouge strain of malaria. The race is on to eliminate malaria before its too late — before more resistances are established around the world. Artemisinin hasn't been around for long as a purified treatment for malaria, but it has been used to fight the disease in China for thousands of years, and it has been taken across Southeast Asia for 30 years, allowing parasites longer to adapt. So how…

• Afghan Gov Fears Swine Flu: Not Enough Antivirals, Not Enough Graves

  Mike Smith

  13 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  The Afghan government has launched a swine-flu education campaign and declared an emergency after 11 people died of H1N1. You may think the government have more important things to worry about, but in Afghanistan there may not be enough graves to contain all the causalities, (due to the harsh winters, graves must be dug before the coldest weather sets in) and officials fear the effect the virus will have on their armed forces. Although only 11 people have so far died, the toll could rise considerably. The Health Ministry fears that over 6 million people would contract the virus, with 5 per…

• 
  About.com: Civil Liberties

• Stupak is as Stupak Does

  13 Nov 2009 | 8:13 am

  So let me see if I understand you correctly, mainstream Democrats: Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), a longtime opponent of health care reform, has decided out of the goodness of his heart to construct a well-written amendment to the health care bill that would bring pro-choice and pro-life Democrats together and ensure its passage. Am I right?Judging by the words of my About.com colleague Deborah White, guide to U.S. Liberal Politics, that's what many Democrats are thinking right now--which is how they're justifying the biggest restriction on abortion rights since Roe v. Wade. But let's break this…

• A Ban on Private Coverage of Abortions?

  9 Nov 2009 | 2:39 pm

  If you've been following the pro-choice response to the Stupak amendment, and you've also read the darned thing, you may be wondering how we got from point A to point B. How does the stumbling, messy language of this amendment actually produce a ban on private insurance coverage of abortions? Read more...A Ban on Private Coverage of Abortions? originally appeared on About.com Civil Liberties on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 22:39:27.Permalink | Comment | Email this

• Terrorism, Rebellion, and Hate Crimes

  31 Oct 2009 | 5:48 am

  Other than the completely baseless red herring about the Shepard-Byrd Act somehow threatening free speech, one of the most persistent criticisms of hate crime laws is that motivation does not, or should not, matter when it comes to criminal justice--that we should not establish special categories of prosecution for crimes that are motivated by specific factors. As Star Parker argues in the Dallas Morning News: What could it possibly mean that the penalty for the same act of violence - for murder - may be different depending on what might be deemed to be the motivation?Can you imagine a…

• On Medical Marijuana, a Good Suggestion

  23 Oct 2009 | 3:40 am

  Earlier this week, the Obama administration released a memo stating that prosecution of medical marijuana dispensaries and caregivers "is unlikely to be an efficient use of limited federal resources." This is, in effect, a weakened federal version of the "lowest law enforcement priority" statutes adopted in some U.S. cities. While a more strongly-worded memorandum would be ideal (there are far too many loopholes in this one), this will probably reduce, and may eliminate, elective raids on state-legal medical marijuana facilities.But this is, make no mistake, a temporary accommodation--a…

• Obama's LGBT Rights Speech: Promise by Promise

  16 Oct 2009 | 5:45 am

  Last Saturday, President Obama delivered what may have been the first significant presidential speech on gay rights in U.S. history. In it, he made some promises--some of which he can probably keep, some of which he probably can't. Read more...Obama's LGBT Rights Speech: Promise by Promise originally appeared on About.com Civil Liberties on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 12:45:09.Permalink | Comment | Email this

• 
  IPS Inter Press Service

• CLIMATE CHANGE: Health at Risk

  HAVANA, Nov 20 (IPS) - The impacts of climate change on human health will require new approaches to development, based on mitigation and adaptation programmes in line with policies that ensure equal access to health care.

• RIGHTS-MEXICO: State Held Responsible for Three Juárez Killings

  MEXICO CITY, Nov 20 (IPS) - The families of three young women murdered in Ciudad Juárez, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua on the border with the United States, had to wait eight years for justice, which they finally obtained through the inter-American system.

• BOTSWANA-POLITICS: I Lost the Election, But I Am a Winner

  GABORONE, Nov 21 (IPS) - When Kgomotso Mogami threw her name into the hat to contest the Gaborone Central parliamentary seat it was easy for many people to write her off.

• CLIMATE CHANGE: The Danish Example

  COPENHAGEN, Nov 20 (IPS/IFEJ) - Whether a new internationally binding treaty to reduce greenhouse gases and forestall climate change will be signed next month remains to be seen. What is clear though, is that if there is a place in the world that deserves to be the stage where this treaty ought to be signed, it is the Danish capital of Copenhagen.

• CHILE: Mapuche Detainees Say They Were Framed

  TEMUCO, Chile, Nov 20 (IPS) - "This lie has got to end," said a sobbing Luisa Marilef, a 55-year-old Mapuche woman who says her son's arrest and prosecution under Chile's anti-terrorism law was part of a set-up by the police and prosecutors.