NYATIKE, 7 February 2012 (IRIN) - Inside a smoky makeshift kiosk, Julie*, 16, can hardly cope with the demand from her clients for a cup of tea and a snack - the men are parched from their work as gold miners in the western Kenyan district of Nyatike.
Human Rights
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Most Topular Stories
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KENYA: Tackling underage sex work in Nyanza's gold mines
IRIN6 Feb 2012 | 8:02 pm -
A Week for the Record Books
Brain Off24 Jan 2012 | 7:09 amThat was a week where I really was truly and completely welcomed to DC. Some great things, some other things, and some things I can’t talk about yet. Social Technologies at the GWU Humanitarian Mapping Workshop View more presentations from mikel_maron Was invited to fill for Kate Chapman at the Mapping the World of Humanitarianism workshop (not the geo kind of mapping). Talked about the challenges with community centered social technologies, within the humanitarian system. Most difficult question “Do you consider yourself a humanitarian?” Open Mapping and Community… -
Tips For Finding A Job With A Humanitarian Aid Organization
Aid Worker Daily23 Jun 2011 | 1:31 pmCopyright: MSF Canada/Olivier Asselin I’ll update this post with more thoughts but, for now, please ask questions in the comments section. Be sure to take a look at my Humanitarian Job Info page for links to organizations. Don’t overlook the importance of an internship/volunteer position Internships and volunteer positions may not pay a lot but they are worth their weight in gold. Spending time inside an organization and getting to know the different units, people, acronyms puts in a great position to land a permanent gig. By being present you odds of permanent employment increase… -
"¡La gente inteligente, defiende el medio ambiente!" Thousands march for the right to water in Peru
EarthRights International31 Jan 2012 | 11:09 amToday, thousands of Peruvians are now participating in a "Grand National March for the Right to Water and Life." Many of the marchers are setting off from the lagoons of Cajamarca, or from the Amazonian jungle, or from the Southern Andes, marching hundreds of miles to arrive in the capital, Lima during the second week of February. The march seeks to broadly respond to a public policy in Peru of valuing a particular model of economic development over the health and wellbeing of communities adversely affected by that "development" — particularly when large resource-extraction projects… -
Nigeria: Child Lead Poisoning Crisis
hrw.org7 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amTweet Widget Facebook Like Thousands of children in northern Nigeria need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history, Human Rights Watch said today while releasing a video on the issue. Four hundred children have died, according to official estimates, yet environmental cleanup efforts have not even begun in numerous affected villages. (Lagos) – Thousands of children in northern Nigeria need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead…
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hrw.org
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Russia: Government Shuts HIV-Prevention Group’s Website
8 Feb 2012 | 5:08 pmTweet Widget Facebook Like The Russian government’s anti-drugs agency has ordered the blocking of the website of a public health organization, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation, for discussing the addiction medicine methadone, human rights groups said today. The move is an assault on freedom of expression in the midst of pro-democracy protests, the groups said. (Moscow) – The Russian government’s anti-drugs agency has ordered the blocking of the website of a public health organization, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation, for discussing the addiction medicine methadone, human rights groups… -
US: 9th Circuit Decision a Victory for Rights
7 Feb 2012 | 5:30 pmTweet Widget Facebook Like The February 7 decision by a federal appeals court to declare unconstitutional California’s Proposition 8, a successful ballot measure which banned same-sex marriage in 2008, is an important victory for human rights. The February 7, 2012 decision by a federal appeals court to declare unconstitutional California’s Proposition 8, a successful ballot measure which banned same-sex marriage in 2008, is an important victory for human rights.read more -
Nigeria: Child Lead Poisoning Crisis
7 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amTweet Widget Facebook Like Thousands of children in northern Nigeria need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history, Human Rights Watch said today while releasing a video on the issue. Four hundred children have died, according to official estimates, yet environmental cleanup efforts have not even begun in numerous affected villages. (Lagos) – Thousands of children in northern Nigeria need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead… -
Iran: Arrest Sweeps Target Arab Minority
6 Feb 2012 | 11:00 pmTweet Widget Facebook Like Iranian security forces arrested more than 65 Arab residents during security sweeps in Iran’s Arab-majority Khuzestan province since late 2011 according to local activists. The Iranian government should immediately charge or release those arrested. Authorities should also investigate reports by local activists that two detainees have died in Intelligence Ministry detention facilities in the past week. (New York) – Iranian security forces arrested more than 65 Arab residents during security sweeps in Iran’s Arab-majority Khuzestan province since late… -
Bosnia: European Court Halts Syria Deportation
6 Feb 2012 | 11:00 pmTweet Widget Facebook Like The decision by the European Court of Human Rights on February 7, 2012, to block Bosnia’s deportation of a Syrian terrorism suspect highlights Bosnia’s problematic counterterrorism policy. (London) – The decision by the European Court of Human Rights on February 7, 2012, to block Bosnia’s deportation of a Syrian terrorism suspect highlights Bosnia’s problematic counterterrorism policy, Human Rights Watch said today.read more
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IRIN
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COTE D'IVOIRE: Leprosy fight still flagging
7 Feb 2012 | 8:02 pmDIMBOKRO/TOUMODI, 8 February 2012 (IRIN) - Côte d'Ivoire's leprosy programme was consistently under-funded during the civil war (2002-2007) and last year's political turmoil, say health practitioners, leading to a loss of expertise in terms of detecting or treating the disease. -
SUDAN-SOUTH SUDAN: Pressgangs "still operating in Khartoum"
7 Feb 2012 | 8:02 pmJUBA-KHARTOUM, 8 February 2012 (IRIN) - Rebel groups fighting South Sudan's government have bolstered their ranks through the forced recruitment of southerners living in Khartoum, according to a senior official in Juba, a self-styled rebel leader, and a man who escaped a pressgang in Sudan's capital. -
KENYA: Tackling underage sex work in Nyanza's gold mines
6 Feb 2012 | 8:02 pmNYATIKE, 7 February 2012 (IRIN) - Inside a smoky makeshift kiosk, Julie*, 16, can hardly cope with the demand from her clients for a cup of tea and a snack - the men are parched from their work as gold miners in the western Kenyan district of Nyatike. -
UGANDA: Charcoal boom a bust for forests
6 Feb 2012 | 8:02 pmGULU, 7 February 2012 (IRIN) - Once a fortnight, Moses Sserwada travels from the capital, Kampala, to northern Uganda to pick up a truckload of charcoal destined for the popular Owino market in the city. -
PAKISTAN: Quetta's Hazara community living in fear
6 Feb 2012 | 8:02 pmQUETTA, 7 February 2012 (IRIN) - Widespread fear of harassment, discrimination and killings has prompted some Hazara community members living in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan Province in southwestern Pakistan, to consider leaving the country, even by illegal means.
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Global Voices » Humanitarian Response
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Bulgaria: Severe Flooding Emergency
7 Feb 2012 | 6:57 amGV Author Ruslan Trad is tweeting - here, here, here, and here - about the severe flooding in southern Bulgaria, which was caused by heavy rainfall of the past few days and has killed at least eight people in the village of Bisser. The latest tweet came about an hour ago: “Breaking: Maritsa River’s dike broke close to the village of Generalovo, municipality of Svilenhrad, huge wave.” More photos from the disaster in the village of Bisser - at the Facebook page [bg] of the Bulgarian National TV's fundraising effort to help the victims. Written by Veronica Khokhlova ·… -
China: Veto of UN Security Council Draft Resolution on Syria Draws Praise and Grief
5 Feb 2012 | 10:24 amThis post is part of our special coverage Syria Protests 2011/12. Russia and China seem to have voted with their own interests in mind yesterday in their controversial opposition to a draft resolution at the UN Security Council which calls on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to stop the killings in his country, a revision of an earlier draft calling on Assad to relinquish power. China justified its decision to veto the draft resolution, saying it wants to promote peace in Syria, and Russia claims to hope for a diplomatic approach to resolving the conflict in the country. As FireDogLake writer… -
Saudi Arabia: A Family Living in a Cemetery
29 Jan 2012 | 9:52 amAway from the political scene and on a more human level, a short movie shot by young Saudi filmmaker Bader AlHomoud named “Almagbarah,” which translates to cemetery in Arabic, has changed the life of a Saudi family. Bader describes the montage phase in his tweet [ar]: #ma8barah اليوم أصبت باكتئاب وانا اعمل مونتاج لفلم سيصيبكم بالكابة سترونه قريبا Today I got depressed while editing a movie that will make you all depressed too The three-minute movie, posted below from YouTube, shows a Saudi family living in a cemetery. It… -
South Sudan: Urgent Steps Needed to Counter Inter-Communal Violence
28 Jan 2012 | 5:38 amUrgent steps are needed to counter inter-communal violence in South Sudan: “Inter-communal violence in Jonglei and throughout South Sudan, while traditionally cyclical in nature, is not inevitable. The causes of this violence go beyond the retaliatory nature of cattle raiding and touch upon broader issues of accountability, reconciliation, political inclusion, state effectiveness, development, and the proliferation of arms among the civilian population.” Written by Ndesanjo Macha · comments (0) Share: Donate · facebook · twitter · reddit ·… -
Myanmar (Burma): Betwixt and Between
27 Jan 2012 | 6:27 amThe United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees considers the situation of between 110-150,000 Burmese refugees located in camps on the border with Thailand as one of 29 protracted refugee situations globally. And, according to East Asia Forum, there are also an additional 1.5-2 million refugees in Thailand and represent the ‘visible side of human rights abuse.' Ruled by a military junta from 1962 to 2011, Burma, known locally and by the United Nations as Myanmar, has often been accused of violating human rights and the forcible relocation of civilians. Although an ostensibly…
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...My heart's in Accra
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News in the Age of Participatory Media
2 Feb 2012 | 2:28 pmI’m teaching my first class at MIT this spring, a “special topics” class at the Media Lab. (This is evidently how new classes get launched at MIT -they’re “special” the first year before they become official. All that means, I think, is that you need my permission to take it.) If you’re a student at MIT, or another Boston/Cambridge institution, hope you’ll consider joining us. The class is my attempt to bring a “journalism” class to the Media Lab while avoiding the journalist/citizen media distinction. (This certainly isn’t a… -
David Weinberger: Too Big To Know
25 Jan 2012 | 10:02 pmDavid Weinberger‘s new book “Too Big To Know” (#2B2K – be sure to pick book titles that make good hash tags…) launched last night at Harvard Law School with a talk entitled “Unsettling Knowledge”. If you know David’s work, it’s obvious that the title is a pun. And David’s new book is a wonderfully unsettling piece – it challenges our notion of what knowledge is, and introduces the uncomfortable question of how we navigate this new space. Knowledge as we know it is coming apart, David tells us. The bastions of knowledge, the… -
Beth Kolko: “Hackademia – Leveraging the conflict between expertise and innovation to create disruptive technologies”
25 Jan 2012 | 9:42 amBeth Kolko is the sort of academic who follows her muse from one fascinating topic to another. Colin Maclay traces some of her past work from a doctorate in English through research on use of technology in the developing world, through her current research on human-centered design and engineering at the University of Washington. For the past couple of years, Beth has been focused on research for a book on hackers and makers. This is a project that comes from her daily life, where she’s spent the last six years participating in hacking and making events in the Seattle area –… -
MIT Media Lab opposes SOPA, PIPA
15 Jan 2012 | 1:31 amI’ve been working with friend (and boss) Joi Ito to help the Media Lab put up a statement about our collective opposition to SOPA and PIPA. Joi and I are both posting this piece on our personal blogs, and a shorter piece from the Media Lab site leads to both these posts. As we get ready to post, it seems like the tide in the battle is turning, and major concessions are being offered by bill sponsors. That’s good news, but SOPA and PIPA are still worth our close attention – there are powerful forces advocating for their passage, and as we try to document below, the harms of… -
More notes from Microsoft Research Social Computing Symposium
13 Jan 2012 | 4:07 pmSome notes from day 2 of the Microsoft Research Social Media Symposium: My attempts to transcribe Wael Abbas’s talk about media and protest in Egypt prior to the Arab Spring. Becky Hurwitz has been active in the Occupy movement in New York City, and offered reflections on how Occupy is developing and testing technology for protest. She invites us to use the people’s mic, a technology created to ensure that participants in Occupy General Assemblies can hear speakers, despite police bans on amplification. We dutifully echo her in a mic check and in repeating a few words of her talk,…
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UN Dispatch
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Top of the Morning: Sudan Preps to Expell Hundres of Thousands of Southerners; Refugee Crisis along Burma/China Border
8 Feb 2012 | 8:08 amTop stories from the Development and Aid World News Service — DAWNS Digest. Sudan Readies to Expel Hundreds of Thousands of Southerners There is yet another humanitarian disaster in the making in Sudan. This time, it’s the governments decree that all southern Sudanese will be treated as foreign nationals and forcibly deported. “The proposal would take effect on April 9, Khartoum’s stated deadline for these individuals to either acquire a new nationality or leave the country. It would affect roughly 700,000 people who previously held Sudanese citizenship, but were… -
UNCTAD Report; Syria; Libya; UN Refugee Agency; DR Congo
7 Feb 2012 | 5:15 pmUNCTAD report: The world needs “a global new deal” to break the mold of economic thought that led to the international financial crisis, the head of the UN agency tasked with promoting trade and development says today. In a newly released report entitled Development-led globalization: Towards sustainable and inclusive development paths, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) urges the international community to take decisive steps towards reforming global finance into a system allowing for more stable and inclusive economic progress. In an effort to counter the growing… -
What is Agenda 21?
7 Feb 2012 | 12:21 pmBy now, you have probably heard of that nefarious UN plot to install bicycle lanes in your neighborhood and smart meters in your home. Last week, the New York Times clued us on to the fact that a certain cadre of American voters seem to believe that the United Nations is imposing an agenda of environmental sustainability in their own communities — and these voters are fighting this intrusion in Town Halls across the country. Certain political parties are even egging this on. The Republican National Committee resolution, passed without fanfare on Jan. 13, declared, “The United Nations… -
Burned in the Kitchen. Cooking Shouldn’t Kill
7 Feb 2012 | 8:41 amEd note. This is a special guest post from Radha Muthiah, Executive Director, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves — a project of the UN Foundation. A few days ago, I visited the Burns Department at Lok Nayak Hospital in New Delhi. This is only one of two major treatment centers for burn victims in Delhi that serves people from five states in Northern India. One of my objectives for this visit was to gain a better understanding of the root causes of burn injuries in India and to hear first-hand from medical experts that confront this reality every day. With over 30 years of… -
Top of the Morning: Turkey Poised to take the Lead on Syria
7 Feb 2012 | 7:55 amTop stories from the Development and Aid World News Service. After ‘Fiasco’ Turkey Takes the Lead on Syria Turkey already hosts the exiled leaders of the Syrian opposition. It is also the country most directly affected by refugee flows and instability in Syria. After a failed bid and the UN and ongoing violence, it looks like Turkey will assume a more robust role in the international response to bloodshed in Syria. “Turkey is preparing a new initiative with those countries who oppose the Syrian government, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday, describing a veto by China and…
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Human Rights Now - Amnesty International USA Blog » Women’s Rights
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I Stand With…the Right to Health
3 Feb 2012 | 9:29 amBy Lisa Schechtman, Amnesty USA’s Women’s Human Rights Coordination Group Before you keep reading, let’s be clear: this blog is about the universal human right to the highest attainable standard of health, the package of services it takes to be well—and the ability to afford it. It’s also about the implications of the Susan G. Komen Foundation’s decision to stop providing grants to the Planned Parenthood Federation of America for breast cancer screening. Because too often, women’s health falls victim to agendas that prevent women from exercising their human rights. -
Faxes Jammed! Guatemalan Government Responds to Our Actions for Norma Cruz
27 Jan 2012 | 3:18 pmNorma Cruz Earlier this week, we started an exciting new faxjam action – calling on our members and Facebook and Twitter supporters around the world to send a fax to the Attorney General of Guatemala on behalf of human rights defender Norma Cruz. Last night we spoke to Norma, the leader of the women’s rights organization Fundación Sobrevivientes, who has received repeated death threats because of her work supporting victims of violence against women and calling for those responsible to be prosecuted. And the news is good – the authorities are really taking notice. Norma told us… -
Stop the Death Threats. Defend Norma Cruz.
23 Jan 2012 | 9:17 amGuatemalan human rights defender Norma Cruz is the director of Fundación Sobrevivientes (c) Amnesty International Norma Cruz is a Guatemalan human rights defender who has been repeatedly threatened with death because of her work documenting cases of violence against women and fighting for justice. Some of her relatives have even suffered threats and attacks because of her work. It’s time someone defended Norma. Through our new Faxjam campaign you can help stand up for Norma and other activists in Guatemala who face constant danger. Norma Cruz leads an organization called ‘Survivors… -
Egyptian Court Ruling on “Virginity Tests” a Win For Women
17 Jan 2012 | 3:26 pmWomen protestors in Cairo. Photo by Sarah Carr By now, almost everyone has heard the about the 18 women protestors in Egypt’s Tahrir Square who this past spring were detained, beaten, given electric shocks, strip searched and forced to submit to “virginity tests.” But courageous action by two Egyptian women has led to a landmark ruling on these “tests” by an Egyptian court. In July 2011 Samira Ibrahim and Maha Mohamed stood up for their rights and filed a case before the Egyptian administrative court to end “virginity tests” against female detainees. Ibrahim was subjected to… -
The Year of Rebellion
9 Jan 2012 | 8:24 amDemonstrators' resilience in 2011 has changed the regional context for human rights © AP Photo / Tarek Fawzy This week, we approach the first major anniversary of the popular uprisings that began to sweep through the Middle East and North Africa last year. On January 14, 2011, Tunisia’s long time president, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, fled the country to Saudi Arabia. Since December Ben Ali has been on trial – in absentia – along with about 40 other senior officials, for the killing of protesters. The following weeks will be marked by the anniversaries of uprisings and the…
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OurPledge
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Sudanese Government Is Holding the UN Hostage (Again)
12 Jan 2012 | 10:19 amFrom the AFP: The United Nations said Wednesday that the Sudanese government is “severely” restricting movements by peacekeepers in Darfur where fresh clashes have broken out and peace talks are deadlocked. The Khartoum authorities are also holding up hundreds of visa applications for military, police and civilian personnel for the UN mission in Darfur, UNAMID, peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told a UN Security Council meeting on the Sudanese region where there has been conflict since 2003. Clashes between government forces and rebel groups have increased in various parts of… -
The New Bystanders?
9 Jan 2012 | 9:15 amA must-read from Act for Sudan Co-Founder Susan Morgan in The Huffington Post: “Still, in spite of this dedicated activism, the Obama administration seems blind and deaf to the ongoing genocide in Sudan. In Mohamed’s words, “It is morally wrong to keep millions of Darfuris in the IDP camps for almost a decade, Nuba Mountain people trapped in the caves, Blue Nile people refugees in another country (Ethiopia) away from their homes. We see clearly this administration has made its choice. Yet history is taking notice.” -
More Media Attention for Sudan, Please
19 Oct 2011 | 1:34 pmGood for Congressmen Frank Wolf. (Hope he has followed through on his promise below.) From the Enough Project blog: Visibly frustrated by the lack of tangible U.S. action as human rights crimes unfold in Sudan, Congressman Wolf noted that part of the challenge of mobilizing the political will for the U.S. government to act is that the atrocities unfolding in Sudan are largely taking place without any media spotlight. Wolf said he would send all of the panelists’ testimonies to the main media networks, including ABC, FOX, NBC, and CNN, to stir up some needed media attention. -
Article: How Many Internally Displaced Persons Are There in Darfur?
2 May 2011 | 7:24 amFrom Eric Reeves: The simple answer to the question, “How many internally displaced persons are there in Darfur?” is easy: we don’t know, and we don’t know the margin of error for various figures that have been promulgated by the UN in the past. But we are not without data, and the data raise troubling questions about the integrity of the current UN estimate of 1.9 million IDPs, very quietly first published in July 2010. When precisely this consequential revision—down from a previous UN figure of 2.7 million IDPs—took place is unclear, as is the decision-making process itself. As… -
Quote of the Moment
1 Mar 2011 | 10:03 pm“It is not Gration’s responsibility as U.S. special envoy to Sudan to play the role of the UN Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs in Darfur. But his role must certainly include speaking honestly about humanitarian realities as they exist, not as is convenient for obtaining a diplomatic post. In responding to the acute suffering of innocent civilians, he falls well short of what we have a right to expect of our representatives abroad. Gration’s consistent missteps, miscalculations, and disingenuousness make him unfit to be ambassador to Kenya. The Obama administration should…
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The Ushahidi Blog
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We’re Moving to Git Issues!
8 Feb 2012 | 7:04 amWe’re moving technical ticketing, bugs and feature requests to Git Issues using github. RedMine was a good Ushahidi Development (http://dev.ushahidi.com/) home, but Git Issues functionality meets our community needs to commit, plan, collect and comment. Really, having technical tickets (issues, bugs, features and pull requests) and commits in the same place will help with the two big things: transparency and collaboration. We want to make it easier for you to see what we are working on, submit a ticket and lend a hand when you can. If you are busy creating great code, we’d like to… -
Badges by Ushahidi
7 Feb 2012 | 9:35 amToday we are announcing Ushahidi’s Open Source Badges initiative. This project makes it easy for developers to find badge image resources to include in their projects and Ushahidi deployers to create cool badges to award their users. These are badge images in a variety of categories which can be used in Ushahidi or Crowdmap deployments or other services. These badges are broken down into “badge packs”. For example, the Locations pack is a simple grouping of badges that follow a travel theme, with badges highlighting landmarks from countries around the world. The Ushahidi… -
Map it, Change it for RIO+20
6 Feb 2012 | 6:37 pm“Kids don’t know where their food is coming from.” We are a society often disconnected from ourselves and our world. Yet, we are more and more connected online. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), Rio+20 (June 20-22, 2012) plans to renew political commitment to sustainable development and address new and emerging challenges. The Conference will focus on two themes: (a) a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and (b) the institutional framework for sustainable development. Okay, so what does that mean to… -
Somalia Speaks: Lessons From Novel Journalism
1 Feb 2012 | 8:56 am[This blog post was officially co-authored with Al-jazeera] The first 72 hours of the SomaliaSpeaks deployment were particularly intense. The purpose of this joint write-up with Al Jazeera and partners is to share some of our early lessons learned in this novel collaboration. Every deployment teaches us a multitude of lessons, so our partners at Al Jazeera, Souktel and Crowdflower joined us in this effort to share these. We look forward to future collaborations with them as we share this story with you. This purpose of this pilot project was to let Somalis speak for themselves. For the… -
Using Ushahidi to Monitor the Egyptian Transition
31 Jan 2012 | 9:00 am[Guest blog post by Alex Mayyasi, a graduate of Stanford University's International Relations program, class of 2011, living in Cairo, Egypt. Alex interned with the Development and Institutionalization Support Center during Egypt's 2011-2012 parliamentary elections] On November 28, 2011, elections began in Egypt as part of the political transition plan overseen by Egypt’s Supreme Council of Armed Forces. The full plan calls for elections for the People’s Assembly, followed by elections for the Shura Council, a more consultative body that along with the People’s Assembly comprises the…
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united-nations « WordPress.com Tag Feed
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Mali violence forces 20,000 into exile, UN says
7 Feb 2012 | 11:25 amvancouversun.com Malian refugees are pictured on February 4, 2012 at a Malian refugees camp in Chinegodar, western Niger, close to the Malian border. The UN says violence in the country has forced 20,000 to flee. Photograph by: Boureima Hama, AFP/Getty Images GENEVA – The UN refugee agency said Tuesday it has sent emergency teams to countries surrounding Mali to help them deal with an influx of more than 20,000 people who have the fled fighting there. Clashes between rebel Tuareg groups and governmental forces in the Azawad region of northern Mali broke out in mid-January. In the… -
Barack Obama, Jimmy Carter All Over Again
7 Feb 2012 | 10:30 amThe Egyptian Government has released the names of nineteen American citizens that it intends to pros -
Screw CAIR - Islam - What the West Needs to Know (full length)
7 Feb 2012 | 10:16 amISLAM – What the West Needs to Know. An examination of Islam, violence, and the fate of the no -
Health is a human right?
7 Feb 2012 | 9:38 amFollowing on from our new President’s assertion that we all have a basic right to material com -
پوستر: دستبند سبز محمد خیابان از آواز سبز تو خالی نخواهد ماند. دستبندت را من خواهم بست… بیست و پنج بهمن: حضور سبز انسان
7 Feb 2012 | 9:33 amخیابان از آواز سبز تو خالی نخواهد ماند. دستبندت را من خواهم بست… بیست و پنج بهمن: حضور سبز انسان کبک آگاه استhttps://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/395971_354313004593668_198272726864364_1239198_1064063708_n.jpg
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Forced Migration Current Awareness
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Displacement from Protected Areas
7 Feb 2012 | 1:15 pmIn an earlier post, I listed a newly published thesis entitled "A Critique of the Global Literature on the Conservation Refugee Problem" (Victoria University of Wellington, 2011). Here are a few other (relatively recent!) resources that provide a more general overview of this category of displaced persons:Conservation & Society (two issues that focus on displacement), - vol. 4, no. 2 (July-Sept. 2006) [open access]; see esp. "Eviction for Conservation: A Global Overview."- vol. 7, no. 1 (Jan.-March 2009) [open access]; see esp. "Conservation and Displacement: An Overview."Conservation… -
Integration, Resettlement Items
6 Feb 2012 | 2:15 pmAsylee Eligibility for Resettlement Assistance: A Short Guide (CLINIC, Jan. 2012) [text]Australia's Refugee and Humanitarian Program 2012-13: Community Views on Current Challenges and Future Directions (Refugee Council of Australia, Jan. 2012) [text]"I just want to study": Access to Higher Education for Young Refugees and Asylum Seekers (Refugee Support Network, Jan. 2012) [text]Operation Integration: The Making of New Citizens (Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum, Feb. 2012) [access]- See also related videos.Refugee Integration: Key Concerns and Areas for Further Research (Canadian Council… -
Publications relating to Assistance
6 Feb 2012 | 12:15 pmA Catalyst and a Bridge: An Evaluation of UNHCR's Community Empowerment Projects in Sierra Leone, PDES/2012/01 (UNHCR, Jan. 2012) [text]The Future of Aid? (humanitarian.info, Feb. 2012) [text]HRI 2011 Field Research: Colombia, Somalia, Sudan (DARA, 2011) [info]- Research carried out in preparation for the next Humanitarian Response Index (HRI).IASC Evaluation of the Humanitarian Response in South Central Somalia 2005-2010 (DARA & IASC, Dec. 2011) [text via ReliefWeb]Local to Global Protection in Myanmar (Burma), Sudan, South Sudan and Zimbabwe (Humanitarian Practice Network, Feb. 2012)… -
Asylum-related Items
6 Feb 2012 | 11:30 amAsylum and Migration Glossary 2.0 (European Migration Network, Jan. 2012) [access]- Updated edition; online interactive version also available.Asylum Seeking: Seeing the Positive (ICMHD Blog, Feb. 2012) [text]Domestic Violence & Asylum: A Comparative Analysis Among Immigrant-Welcoming Countries (Birdsong's Law Blog, Feb. 2012) [text]France: European Court of Human Rights Condemns Faulty Asylum Procedure (Human Rights Watch, Feb. 2012) [text]- News story on I.M. v. France case.The Trouble with TRIG (Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Jan. 2012) [text]- TRIG = Terrorist-related… -
Focus on Iraqis, Palestinians
3 Feb 2012 | 12:45 pmPublications:Camp New Iraq (formerly Camp Ashraf) Residents and the Determination of their Refugee Status Claims (UNHCR, Feb. 2012) [text]- See also related article.The Challenges of Repatriation for Iraqi Refugees (Jurist, Jan. 2012) [text]Implementing a Negotiated Settlement on the Palestinian Refugee Question: The International Dimensions, Middle East and North Africa Programme Paper MENA PP 2012/01 (Chatham House, Jan. 2012) [text]IOM Emergency Needs Assessments - Update: Displacement of Christians to the North of Iraq (IOM, Jan. 2012) [text via ReliefWeb]The Middle East's "Invisible…
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Brain Off
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Only Possible With Open Data
2 Feb 2012 | 1:35 pmArguments about the importance of Open Data often come down to a principled stance, or a licensing discussion … that kind of argument doesn’t make much impression on folks who aren’t way in the weeds. And it’s more than just licensing … there are equal parts issues of legality, technical freedom, and community. Clear examples of what you can do only with OpenStreetMap, and not with say, Google Map Maker, makes this stuff real. Here are just a few, among many. Mapping of Jalabad and surrounding countryside is unique to OSM. They collect data with GPS and Smart… -
A Week for the Record Books
24 Jan 2012 | 7:09 amThat was a week where I really was truly and completely welcomed to DC. Some great things, some other things, and some things I can’t talk about yet. Social Technologies at the GWU Humanitarian Mapping Workshop View more presentations from mikel_maron Was invited to fill for Kate Chapman at the Mapping the World of Humanitarianism workshop (not the geo kind of mapping). Talked about the challenges with community centered social technologies, within the humanitarian system. Most difficult question “Do you consider yourself a humanitarian?” Open Mapping and Community… -
Thanks to the 2012 OpenStreetMap Foundation Board. This is going to be the year.
11 Nov 2011 | 8:32 pmLast weekend in Seattle, the OSM Foundation Board met “face-to-face”. We get together because no matter how much you try otherwise, there’s way more done in person in a couple intensive days. It cost about 4 or 5k USD this time, and it’s worth the cost. But, I think we’ve always done a terrible job explaining what happens at the Board meetings, and a middling job following up, and those two things are totally related. I want this meeting to be different. It must be different. This is my fifth year on the Board and final year on the Board (I was elected again this… -
Opening Data in Kenya. My Method is to Hack.
9 Aug 2011 | 1:03 pmThere’s good reason to join the excitement about Open Data in Kenya. As Tariq says on the World Bank blog Open data in Kenya is special: it comes at a time of national change; it’s got a head start on tools and expertise from the global open data community and it’s happening in a country where the information ecosystem is still maturing. I’m proud that our work with Map Kibera has any relation to this at all. And it’s certainly due to the hard work of passionate people, in a tough environment, especially Dr. Bitange Ndemo (if you have the time, Dr. Ndemo’s talk at… -
Jerusalem, Moving the Ladder
31 Jul 2011 | 11:19 am(x-posted from GroundTruth Initiative) After 4 weeks, we’re leaving Jerusalem. The finest puzzle of human passion, and passion beyond, resting solidly and unsteadily on 5000 years or so of accumulated white stone and dirt. The most complicated and absurd and somehow, sometimes wonderful city. Our host Micha Kurz of Grassroots Jerusalem warned us that 4 weeks would be just enough to just begin understanding Jerusalem. In fact, it’s only enough time for the city to get a healthy grip on you so that you really don’t want to leave. And it’s definitely not enough time to…
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ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace)
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How to bypass Twitter’s censorship in-country
28 Jan 2012 | 12:01 amTwitter’s recent announcement that it had implemented a system which would let it withhold particular tweets from specific countries has caused a storm, with many decrying the move as one that aids repressive regimes more easily control information flows within the country. As the Guardian notes, The company has insisted that it will not use the gagging system in a blanket fashion, but would apply it on a case-by-case basis, as already happens when governments or organisations complain about individual tweets. The new system, which can filter tweets on a country-by-country basis and has… -
International Network of Crisis Mappers (ICCM) 2011 keynote address
11 Jan 2012 | 1:52 amI was privileged to deliver a keynote address at the 2011 International Network of Crisis Mappers, held in Geneva from 14-15 November, 2011. The ICCM network has now kindly put a video of my keynote on YouTube. -
Speech at the Awards Ceremony of Agenda 14’s Short Film Festival 2011
11 Dec 2011 | 9:06 pmDelivered this speech in Sinhala at the Awards Ceremony of Agenda 14’s Short Film Festival 2011, held at the National Film Corporation Cinema. A PDF of the Sinhala version can be downloaded from here. Good evening. In the time I have for this speech, which is around 10 minutes, over 6,000 new videos would have been uploaded to YouTube. That’s over 10 days of video content. Over 600 videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute, or around a day’s worth of video a minute. A minute. Let’s pause for a moment and think about that. On 24th July 2010, YouTube asked its millions of… -
On photography
4 Dec 2011 | 7:59 pmGranularity of many vs. the vantage of the few: Photography and activism today was the title of a lecture I delivered recently at the American Centre, and in a slightly revised form, at the Fulbright Commission. The preparation for the lectures reminded me of my experience with photography. I first handled Thaththa’s Minolta when I was a small child, shooting all manner of domestic drama without any film in it. However, we weren’t a family that celebrated or used photography to any great degree. Happy events that I now see other families have captured on film – a party, the first day at… -
Crisis mapping, disasters and aid: A new paradigm
19 Nov 2011 | 8:52 amPrezi presentation on ICCM 2011 by Geeks Without Borders Last week I delivered a keynote address at the 3rd International Conference of Crisis Mappers held in Geneva, an annual meeting of the practitioners, academics and some of the best minds in the world involved in shaping the future of humanitarian aid and post-disaster relief work. My involvement and enduring interest in this field is accidental. At the time of the Boxing Day tsunami, I used a programme called Groove Virtual Office to support a political initiative called One Text that brought together actors in, what at the time was…
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Phayul Latest News
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Breaking News: Tibet is burning - Another self-immolation
7 Feb 2012 | 8:16 pmReports coming out of Tibet confirm that another Tibetan set himself on fire today. The self-immolation took place in the besieged Ngaba town of eastern Tibet at the No. 2 primary school at around 6.30 pm local time. -
Protests continue in Tibet: Chinese flag pulled down, Independence slogans raised
7 Feb 2012 | 4:27 amTibetans pulled down the Chinese national flag from a school building in Wonpo town, Dzachukha region of eastern Tibet and hoisted the banned Tibetan national flag on Saturday. -
Festival of Tibet in Australia highlights Tibet self-immolations
7 Feb 2012 | 3:01 amAfter months of hard work and preparation, the five-day ‘Festival of Tibet in Australia’ concluded with a sold out musical dramatic monologue titled ‘Exile King’ -
Face off before worldwide vigil, China vows to ‘resolutely crackdown’ on Tibet unrest
7 Feb 2012 | 12:20 amA day ahead of the worldwide vigil for Tibet announced by the democratically elected Tibetan leadership in exile, China on Tuesday vowed to “resolutely crackdown” on unrest in Tibetan areas. Dr Lobsang Sangay had urged Tibetans and supporters to take part in a global vigil on Wednesday -
'Self-immolation - an inspiration' says cycling students
7 Feb 2012 | 12:01 amThe three cycling students who have been on the road for the last 20 days, covering more than a thousand kilometres told Phayul that they are inspired by the fiery wave of self-immolations in Tibet. The students reached the tourist destination of Panjim, the capital of Goa state in the evening today
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Tibet Will Be Free
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Rare Photos of Chinese Crackdown in Tibet Emerge from Scene of Recent Shooting
2 Feb 2012 | 3:43 pmFor Immediate Release February 2, 2012 Contacts: Tenzin Dorjee, +1 707 836 3677 Lhadon Tethong +1 347 829 9059 Full series of low resolution images are available for download here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-7SKamBgdrhMWRhODY2MzYtMjcwNS00ZTExLWFmYmEtZDMzM2Q2OTU2ZjRj High resolution images are available for download here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-7SKamBgdrhMjE5MGZkNDEtMmVlZC00ZjQ0LWI1YTgtOGU2ZTQwYzVjMWYz Rare Photos of Chinese Crackdown in Tibet Emerge from Scene of Recent Shooting New York/Dharamsala – Rare photos have emerged from Tibet, piercing China’s media… -
Press release: Tibetan Lama Urges Unity, Nationhood Before Self-immolating
2 Feb 2012 | 11:55 amFor Immediate Release February 1, 2012 Contact: Tenzin Dorjee, +1 707-836-3677 Kate Woznow, +1 917 300 9491 TIBETAN LAMA URGES UNITY, NATIONHOOD BEFORE SELF-IMMOLATING Final Words of Lama Soepa Recorded in Audio Message to Tibetans New York – An audio recording with the final words of a Tibetan lama who set himself on fire in Tibet on January 8, 2012, in protest of Chinese rule has surfaced from sources in Tibet. Lama Soepa, a spiritual teacher and community leader from Golok in the Kham region of eastern Tibet (Ch: Guoluo Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province),… -
2011: What we’ve achieved together for Tibet
14 Dec 2011 | 5:56 pmThis has been a year of epic change around the world. In spite of the Chinese government’s refusal to acknowledge the inevitable forces for freedom that are steadily building, Tibetans in Tibet are challenging China’s control at every turn. At SFT, we’re working around the clock to maximize the impact of their actions while pushing the movement forward and achieving milestones for Tibetan freedom. Thank you for supporting our campaigns and programs. Together, we are giving Tibetans in Tibet a reason to hope. Please make a holiday gift to SFT to support our work into 2012:… -
Breaking Point: Understanding the Tibetan self-immolations
25 Nov 2011 | 7:43 pmThis week SFT released rare footage smuggled from Tibet to the international media. The extraordinary video shows Palden Choetso’s self-immolation and the overwhelming reaction by the Tibetan community in response to her ultimate act of nonviolent protest; over 10,000 Tibetans attended a candlelight vigil on the morning of her funeral. View the footage (Warning: video contains graphic and disturbing images): http://sft.convio.net/site/R?i=ecBKyh… The images have shocked tens of thousands of people around the world this week. As a method of protest that is unthinkable for the… -
Rare Footage of Tibetan Nun’s Self-Immolation Smuggled out of Tibet
21 Nov 2011 | 9:45 amStudents for a Free Tibet For Immediate Release November 21, 2011 Contact: Tenzin Jigdal, Program Director – India, +91 9736 660 451 Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director, +1 646-724-0748 Kate Woznow, Deputy Director, +1 917-601-0069 ***Compilation of footage can be viewed here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6955112/Tawu%20Footage.mp4 High resolution footage can be downloaded here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6955112/Tawu%20Footage.dv Rare Footage of Tibetan Nun’s Self-Immolation Smuggled out of Tibet 10,000 Tibetans converge in Tawu for funeral, Chinese Forces Seen Entering Monastery…
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hrw.org
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Russia: Government Shuts HIV-Prevention Group’s Website
8 Feb 2012 | 5:08 pmTweet Widget Facebook Like The Russian government’s anti-drugs agency has ordered the blocking of the website of a public health organization, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation, for discussing the addiction medicine methadone, human rights groups said today. The move is an assault on freedom of expression in the midst of pro-democracy protests, the groups said. (Moscow) – The Russian government’s anti-drugs agency has ordered the blocking of the website of a public health organization, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation, for discussing the addiction medicine methadone, human rights groups… -
US: 9th Circuit Decision a Victory for Rights
7 Feb 2012 | 5:30 pmTweet Widget Facebook Like The February 7 decision by a federal appeals court to declare unconstitutional California’s Proposition 8, a successful ballot measure which banned same-sex marriage in 2008, is an important victory for human rights. The February 7, 2012 decision by a federal appeals court to declare unconstitutional California’s Proposition 8, a successful ballot measure which banned same-sex marriage in 2008, is an important victory for human rights.read more -
Nigeria: Child Lead Poisoning Crisis
7 Feb 2012 | 3:00 amTweet Widget Facebook Like Thousands of children in northern Nigeria need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead poisoning epidemic in modern history, Human Rights Watch said today while releasing a video on the issue. Four hundred children have died, according to official estimates, yet environmental cleanup efforts have not even begun in numerous affected villages. (Lagos) – Thousands of children in northern Nigeria need immediate medical treatment and dozens of villages remain contaminated two years into the worst lead… -
Iran: Arrest Sweeps Target Arab Minority
6 Feb 2012 | 11:00 pmTweet Widget Facebook Like Iranian security forces arrested more than 65 Arab residents during security sweeps in Iran’s Arab-majority Khuzestan province since late 2011 according to local activists. The Iranian government should immediately charge or release those arrested. Authorities should also investigate reports by local activists that two detainees have died in Intelligence Ministry detention facilities in the past week. (New York) – Iranian security forces arrested more than 65 Arab residents during security sweeps in Iran’s Arab-majority Khuzestan province since late… -
Bosnia: European Court Halts Syria Deportation
6 Feb 2012 | 11:00 pmTweet Widget Facebook Like The decision by the European Court of Human Rights on February 7, 2012, to block Bosnia’s deportation of a Syrian terrorism suspect highlights Bosnia’s problematic counterterrorism policy. (London) – The decision by the European Court of Human Rights on February 7, 2012, to block Bosnia’s deportation of a Syrian terrorism suspect highlights Bosnia’s problematic counterterrorism policy, Human Rights Watch said today.read more
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UUSC Blog
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A Work Day at the Eco-Village in Haiti
31 Jan 2012 | 12:52 pm -
Hundreds of Ways to Help People Live With Dignity
27 Jan 2012 | 9:16 am -
We Are One: Crossing Borders as Unitarian Universalists
23 Jan 2012 | 3:46 pm -
Standing Shoulder to Shoulder with Partners in Haiti
18 Jan 2012 | 3:26 pm -
Two Years Later, Haitians' Pride and Resilience Support Earthquake Recovery
12 Jan 2012 | 8:58 am
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PhD studies in human rights
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Theatre and Human Rights
5 Feb 2012 | 2:06 pmThis afternoon, we managed to get from our home in snowbound London to the National Theatre for a wonderful Abbey Theatre production of Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock. Browsing in the bookshop before the production, Penelope stumbled upon Theatre and Human Rights, by Paul Rae, who is assistant professor on the theatre studies programme at the University of Singapore.Rae’s book is a short introduction to the subject (less than 100 pages). The study focuses on a limited number of plays, notably Sophocles Antigone and Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden (which we saw in… -
Immunities Decision from International Court of Justice
3 Feb 2012 | 9:54 amToday we have a fascinating decision from the International Court of Justice concerning State immunities and serious violations of international humanitarian law. The case, styled Jurisdiction Immunities of the State(Germany v. Italy: Greece Intervening), was taken by Germany against Italy in response to judicial action relating to second world war claims. Some of these originated in Greece, although they led to enforcement measures in Italy, which explains the Greek intervention.Germany prevailed, by twelve votes to three (judges Cançado, Yusef and Gaja (ad hoc) dissenting). The judgment… -
Iraq Becoming Worst Death Penalty State
2 Feb 2012 | 12:01 amIraq executed 51 people in the month of January, including 17 in one single day. This makes Iraq the worst place on earth for capital punishment.At that rate, Iraq is now averaging 19 executions per million population per annum. By comparison, in the most recent report of the United Nations Secretary General on the status of the death penalty, the highest rates were 3.34 for Saudi Arabia and 3.29 for Iran (see UN Doc. E/2010/10, p. 9). In that report, issued two years ago, Iraq was at 0.92.Virtually everywhere else in the world, including notably the United States and China, the death penalty… -
Does the Prosecutor Only Investigate Incriminating Evidence?
1 Feb 2012 | 8:54 amIn preparation for a talk I am delivering at Regent’s University in London on the Arab Spring and the International Criminal Court, I have been reviewing statements by the Office of the Prosecutor concerning the Situation in Libya. In the presentation by Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo to the Security Council, on 2 November 2011, he said:The current focus of the investigations is twofold. First, it continues the collection of evidence against Saif Al-Islam Al-Qadhafi and Abdullah Al-Senussi in preparation for their eventual trial… (See S/PV.6647, p 3). The Prosecutor's claim that he is… -
Mugesera is Now in Rwanda
30 Jan 2012 | 6:30 amLeon Mugesera has been returned to Rwanda where he can be expected to stand trial for incitement to genocide. His final procedural gasps succeeded on very temporarily in resisting transfer from Canada.This is the third important recent development regarding transfer or return of genocide suspects to Rwanda to stand trial. In earlier postings on this blog, reference has been made to recent rulings of the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and of the European Court of Human Rights, both of them favourable to such transfers.Now, Rwanda faces a great challenge. It…
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Chez Rémi
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Give me a triple expresso in Rio
29 Jan 2012 | 9:52 amI've spent the last week in New York, mainly to attend what is called in UN jargon "informal informals", a process to facilitate the negotiation by Member States of "The Future we Want", the outcome document of the Rio+20 conference scheduled to take place June 20-22, 2012 for the twentieth anniversary of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit to (according to the UN General Assembly)"secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address… -
Yes we want?
11 Jan 2012 | 7:54 amThe Secretariat of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) has uploaded last night the long awaited “zero draft” of the conference's outcome document. Also known as the Rio+20 conference, the UNCSD will take place in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit of 1992. The Zero Draft forms the basis for further negotiations. I'll be at what the UN jargon calls an informal informal this month, 25-27 January in New York (there will be several more before everyone meets in Rio in June). The most immediate question is… -
Snapshot
20 Nov 2011 | 10:14 amIt is too early to say whether the next UN "Earth Summit" in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro (Rio+20) will be a success. But the official Rio+20 website now offers an interesting and useful snapshot of the expectations, perspectives, hopes and proposals of large segments of the international community.In March, 2011, the second session of the Preparatory Committee of the Rio+20 Conference decided that governments, international agencies and "majors groups" (organizations representing all walks of "civil society") would have until 1st November to send to the UN their proposals for Rio+20. These… -
McFish
6 Oct 2011 | 4:55 amI've just read on the BBC website that McDonald's restaurants have announced that they will be "serving" MSC-certified fish in Europe.This reminds me of a dinner I was at in Geneva about 12 years ago, organized by the World Economic Forum (WEF). Fish was the main dish on the menu, and, sitted on my left a Vice-President of McDonald's asked me "How is this fish called? It's very tasty." Half-jokingly only, I responded: "I won't tell you, because otherwise there won't be any left within a few months!" The man did not seem to catch what I was telling him. -
Golden rule for a planet
27 Sep 2011 | 4:59 pmToday is Earth Overshoot Day according to calculations by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) and the Global Footprint Network (GFN). This means that in the first nine months of this year Humanity has surpassed its natural budget for the year (well, those who like me, and probably you also have access to abundance) . From today and for the rest of the year we will now operate in overdraft, borrowing (stealing) resources from the future.I can't help wondering what future generations will think of us when they hear of the sharp contrast between the lightness with which we spend…
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Foreign Policy BlogsForeign Policy Blogs | The FPA Global Affairs Blog Network
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IMF recommends Japan triple consumption tax
7 Feb 2012 | 6:12 pmNaoyuki Shinohara, IMF deputy managing director (Asahi Shimbun) The International Monetary Fund said Japan should triple its consumption tax in order to cut the country’s massive public debt. At 5 percent, Japan’s consumption tax rate is one of the lowest in the world. Anoop Singh, IMF chief for Asia, said “It has been our sense… that raising the consumption tax gradually, not immediately, beyond 2015 to say 15 percent, could be more in line with the tax rate in other countries.” According to a 2010 CIA estimate, Japan’s public debt is 197.5 percent of the… -
Sarkozy in Perspective
7 Feb 2012 | 4:53 pmS&P finally downgraded France’s credit rating several weeks ago along with some other EU Member States. Such decision by S&P could undeniably cost Sarkozy’s reelection in May 2012. Many see the downgrade of France’s credit rating as Sarkozy’s sole responsibility. But May 2012 is still very far away from a political standpoint. Since his election in 2007 Sarkozy has been a very polarizing political figure in France as proven by the large variety of nicknames given by the media such as President Bling-Bling, Sarko l’Américain, and so on. This blog will put into perspective… -
US Congressional Hearing May Spell Trouble for Pakistan
6 Feb 2012 | 11:22 pmThe United States (US) Committee on Foreign Affairs is set to convene a congressional hearing on Wednesday (February 8), for an exclusive discussion on Balochistan. The extraordinary event has generated great interest among followers of Pakistan-US relations, as the allies’ mutual relationship seems to be deteriorating. The powerful House of Representatives committee oversees America’s foreign assistance programs and experts believe it can recommend halting US assistance to Pakistan over human rights violation in Balochistan. Calls for ‘independence’ While Islamabad has strictly… -
Secret North Korean Nuke Test?
6 Feb 2012 | 3:09 pmThe North Koreans allegedly conducted secret, nearly undetected nuclear tests in 2010. And they almost got away with it. That is, until Lars-Erik De Geer, an atmospheric scientist at the Swedish Defence Research Agency in Stockholm, took a closer look at the monitoring data from Russian and Japanese stations close to North Korea. Reporting in Nature, Geoff Brunfiel explains that, in May of that year, detectors in South Korean picked up some radioactive xenon which became the topic of discussion three months later at a gathering at the CTBTO. At the time, no one could figure out where the… -
News…
6 Feb 2012 | 11:04 amNigeria polio campaign gains momentum Dozens of governors across Nigeria have signed up to support the Nigeria Immunization Challenge started by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to combat polio. The immunization initiative is part of the foundation’s efforts to support Nigeria’s fight against top priority public health concerns, such as HIV/AIDS prevention and providing safe drinking water. Indian student helps others resist child marriage Anjali Burman, a 21-year-old resident of the remote Indian village of Malda, has taken up the fight against child marriage, forming a…
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MEC blog
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National Sweater Day
8 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amDo you have a favourite sweater, a wacky sweater, a cozy sweater your granny made for you, or a “first-knitting-project-ever” sweater that you never wear but can’t bear to get rid of? Whatever warm and wooly treasures you might have stashed in that sweater drawer of yours, make sure you choose one and wear it tomorrow in support of National Sweater Day. The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) is asking Canadians to think about how much energy we use and how we can make an impact on climate change. So, on February 9, organisations and individuals all across Canada are… -
Make love in a canoe?
6 Feb 2012 | 8:00 amNow that the party hats, noise makers and confetti have been swept up and recycled, it’s time to prepare for the next major holiday on the calendar. Hunt down a mushy card, visit the local chocolatier and (gulp) maybe even the lingerie store. It’s Valentine’s Day. Are you and your honey tired of the old gift clichés? Maybe it’s time to try something new on for size. Every year that you’ve been with your partner, it is more difficult to top the celebrations of the year before. Well I’ve got the perfect solution. Don’t go bigger, go better. It’s my go-to gift for every… -
Drawn to the Wild with Sarah Harmer
3 Feb 2012 | 5:00 amAre there any Sarah Harmer fans in the house? [Cue wild, Canadian cheering.] This is your chance to contribute to a new video featuring her music that Canadians across the country are working on, together. The Big Wild has launched Drawn to the Wild and, so far, the reaction from MEC members has been fantastic. Drawn to the Wild is an interactive online project in partnership with Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah Harmer, Mountain Equipment Co-op, and The Big Wild. This project invites Canadians to contribute to a new version of a Sarah Harmer music video and support the protection of part of… -
Don’t Buy New Clothes
1 Feb 2012 | 7:02 amWhat Not To Wear tracked me down the other day and urged me to retire my Little Mermaid skirt and industrial après surf boots. Clinton: “Hey Nora, if Ariel knew this is what would happen to her on land, she would’ve stayed underwater.” Stacy: “And lady, those boots were not made for walking. They were made for burning.” <snaps fingers> Wah. That cuts to the core, guys. I mean, sure, I’d love to go on a shopping spree, but my ski bill is already pretty deep, so I can’t really justify blowing my extra Kaballa dollas on new threads. But lucky for me, I’ve devised a… -
Going with the Dogs: Pets in the Outdoors
30 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amOne of the best ways to enjoy nature is to share it with those you love, two-footed or four-footed. We’ve been sharing the wilds with Scotia, our sheltie, for every one of her six and half years. Or maybe she’s been sharing them with us. Truth be told, she gets us out of the house in weather that might otherwise make us develop an all-consuming interest in the Kardashians’ latest antics. Happily, Scotia is an all-season dog. Winter on the west coast, summer in the semi-desert around Cache Creek, shoulder seasons wherever – it’s all good to her. But bringing Fido into the forest…
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Change.org News / Women's Rights
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Super Bowl Sexism? #NotBuyingIt!
5 Feb 2012 | 7:17 amEvery Super Bowl has those one or two ads that everyone is talking about around the watercooler the next day. Remember last year’s Chrysler commercial starring Detroit and Eminem? And that adorable (and notably genderless) kid in the Darth Vader costumewho magically started the family car?It’s no wonder companies spend big ad bucks on the big game. $3.5 million for a 30 second spot buys access to over 110 million viewers, many of whom tune in as much for the ads as for the game. In fact, 66 percent of female viewers say they watch as much or more for the ads, compared to 46 percent of… -
How Facebook Can Really Help Women Connect
31 Jan 2012 | 2:41 pmFacebook recently launched a "Women Connect" app, calling it "an online platform for organizations and causes to connect and share information with supporters about issues of gender equality and women’s empowerment.” Apparently, it's a part of Facebook's "Diversity campaign." Taking action to further gender justice is admirable, but some people see Facebook's internal actions as out of step with this stated mission. The top comment to greet me on the Women Connect page, ranked up through users hitting the "Like" button, reads: "I'm glad that FB is supporting this but they also need to get… -
Why Is the UFC Paying Fighters for Making Rape Jokes?
26 Jan 2012 | 2:02 pmIn these modern times, athletes are considered heroes and icons to thousands, sometimes millions, of people. Even compared to the idols we make of celebrities and musicians, athletes remain our anointed heroes. They often come with backstories that are the stuff of movies (sometimes literally) with tales of overcoming poverty, racism, broken homes, and a variety of other hard knocks. And most of all, athletes remind us of the human potential. They show us the human form in perfection. They dazzle us with their almost superhuman abilities. And it’s thrilling drama. These characteristics make… -
San Francisco Threatens to Tear Down Pro-Choice Posters, Block Walk
17 Jan 2012 | 11:20 pmVictory! After 100 people signed the petition in just a few hours, the Department of Public Works quickly came to an agreement to allow the Walk for Choice to take place Friday and the banners to remain up until Saturday evening. Anti-choicers rip down posters for a "Trust Women" event. Women's rights advocates complain about the vandalism. What does the city do? Threaten to tear down the rest of the banners. Somer Loen, an organizer for the Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights (BACORR), has launched a petition on Change.org calling on the San Francisco Department of Public Works… -
Knocking Out Sexism in Boxing
17 Jan 2012 | 2:25 amThere is nothing pretty about boxing. It’s strenuous, fatiguing, and comes with its share of aches, pains, hits and unanticipated smacks. My body still refuses to forgive me for the aftermath of my first fight. The visceral pain in my joints made typing a four letter word on a keyboard so painful I cringed. As a grad student and self-proclaimed twitter addict, it was, to say the least, somewhat debilitating! Nevertheless, there is a particular kind of beauty in roughness. Boxing invigorates and animates every muscle and fragment of flesh in my body. I still remember the astonishment of my…
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UNICEF News
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Alarming outbreak of cholera in the Central African Republic begins to subside
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmBANGUI and NDIMBA, Central African Republic, 3 February 2012 – Véronique Yassambatendji was awakened late one night in October when her husband began experiencing severe diarrhoea and vomiting. The 30-year-old mother of four brought him directly to the local health centre in Ndimba, where he was treated with oral rehydration salts. -
Improving water and sanitation in Haiti’s schools
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmPORT-AU –PRINCE, Haiti, 7 February 2012 – Eighteen-year-old Yves Nolly Lindor is teaching students at Pétion-ville National School about the importance of improved sanitation. -
Food shortages force children to drop out of school in Niger
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmNIAMEY, Niger, 6 February 2012 – The effect of food insecurity on children’s health is obvious; children, particularly those under age 5, are vulnerable to life-threatening malnutrition. -
UNICEF Executive Board opens with highlight on innovation
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmNEW YORK, USA, 7 February 2012 – The UNICEF Executive Board opened its first regular session of the year at United Nations Headquarters in New York, with an emphasis on the role of innovation in strengthening UNICEF’s ability to carry out its work under tight financial constraints. -
Buddhist monks and UNICEF join to improve the lives of vulnerable families
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmPHNOM PENH, Cambodia, 6 February 2012 – Cheng Sophea dropped to the ground with her son and bowed in a gesture of respect as Khun Khat arrived at her home in Kampong Speu Province, several hours outside Phnom Penh.
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Oxfam International RSS main feed
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International humanitarian system will not cope with increased case load without going local
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmThe international humanitarian response system will fail to cope with the expected rise in the number of people exposed to crises unless there are more resources closer to where disasters happen and there is more investment in preventing and reducing the risk of disasters, warns Oxfam. The international humanitarian response system will fail to cope with the expected rise in the number of people exposed to crises unless there are more resources closer to where disasters happen and there is more investment in preventing and reducing the risk of disasters, warned international agency Oxfam… -
Crises in a new world order
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmChallenging the humanitarian project Author: Edmund Cairns, Senior Policy Adviser In 2010, vast humanitarian crises from Haiti to Pakistan almost overwhelmed the international system’s ability to respond. Despite years of reform, UN agencies, donors and international NGOs (INGOs) struggled to cope. In 2011, Somalia yet again saw a response too little and too late, driven by media attention, not a timely, impartial assessment of human needs. At the same time, humanitarian action is needed now more than ever. The growing number of vulnerable people, the rise in disasters, and the… -
Oxfam reaction to FSNAU announcement that the famine status in Somalia has ended
3 Feb 2012 | 4:31 amThe FSNAU has announced that the famine status in Somalia has ended. What does Oxfam think of this? “125,000 children no longer face severe malnutrition – thanks largely to the efforts of the Somalis themselves and the humanitarian aid they’ve received. That can only be excellent news, but we must not be complacent,” said Senait Gebregziabher, Oxfam Country Director. “The situation in Somalia is still in the throes of its worst humanitarian crisis in decades. Insecurity is already disrupting the supply of aid to tens of thousands of people at a critical time in the crisis. The gains… -
Risk of epidemic in Mozambique after the recent floods
2 Feb 2012 | 9:19 amTropical storm Dando and cyclone Funso affected more than 117,000 people and left 40 dead in Mozambique last week. Oxfam and local partners are providing water and sanitation in Zambezia, to help reduce the risk of cholera and other sanitation-related disease. Tropical storm Dando and cyclone Funso affected more than 117,000 people and left 40 dead in Mozambique last week There is a high risk of water-related epidemics such as cholera in urban areas due to flooding of latrines, population displacement and the lack of evacuation centers with adequate water and sanitation facilities More than… -
Turkana by night: New beginnings in Kenya (photo gallery)
2 Feb 2012 | 7:18 amPhotographer Alejandro Chaskielberg traveled to Turkana, Kenya with Oxfam to take photographs using moonlight supplemented with artificial lighting, showing snapshots of everyday life of communities who try to cope with drought. Photographer Alejandro Chaskielberg traveled to Turkana, Kenya with Oxfam to take photographs using moonlight supplemented with artificial lighting, showing snapshots of everyday life of communities who try to cope with drought. Oxfam has initiated a gardening project in 3 villages in the northern areas of Turkana, Riokomor, Karebur, and Nayenaeemeyan. The aim is to…
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ONE
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Football and secret oil deals
7 Feb 2012 | 1:19 pmThis article is republished from the Mail & Guardian with permission from the author. This is part of a larger blog series on transparency in the extractives industry. Stay tuned for more updates on this topic. Twelve years ago, Equatorial Guinea made world sports headlines in the Sydney Olympics when Eric Moussambani posted the slowest record for swimming the 100m freestyle at an Olympic competition. Eric had trained in the pool of a hotel in Malabo, the capital city, because there were no Olympic-size pools in the country. Now, as the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) kicked-off this week… -
What We’re Reading: Horn of Africa six months later
7 Feb 2012 | 12:08 pmHorn of Africa Famine Six Months Later – In a recent briefing about the famine in the Horn of Africa, the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Diplomacy for the Bureau of African Affairs, Bruce Wharton, explained that we need to “work with regional governments and others to establish longer-term food security assurance,” and fill the “fundamental need for stable, secure, and citizen-focused governance in Somalia.” The U.S. has been the largest humanitarian donor to the region. (VOA) Malaria death toll falling – A recent study by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation… -
Caring about the ‘very poor’
7 Feb 2012 | 10:37 amThere was a bit of a media firestorm around comments Governor Mitt Romney made during a CNN interview last week, in which he claimed “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” Regardless of your political affiliation or opinions about Governor Romney’s comments, Mark Moore, founder and CEO of MANA Nutrition, an organization that helps provide solutions for global malnutrition, has a unique take I wanted to share with you…. To be honest, I don’t have any personal feelings about Governor Romney or about any of the prospective candidates. But I think our attitudes… -
Support maternal and child health — donate your old cell phone!
7 Feb 2012 | 9:29 amChristy Turlington Burns, ONE member and founder of Every Mother Counts, shares a resourceful way you can help the world’s poorest today. When was the last time your cell phone saved your life? In the world’s poorest countries, this happens every day. Cell phones help mothers get the medicine they need, babies receive life-saving vaccines and families stay healthy and strong. As a ONE member and founder of Every Mother Counts, the advocacy and mobilization campaign I started to increase education and support for maternal mortality reduction globally, I’ve seen these programs in… -
FAQ: The World Bank’s proposed Global Partnership for Enhanced Social Accountability
7 Feb 2012 | 8:27 amAn introductory look at the World Bank’s Global Partnership for Enhanced Social Accountability, currently under construction and inviting comments on how it can help civil society organizations hold their governments to account for more effective development. What is the Global Partnership for Enhanced Social Accountability? In April 2011, World Bank President Robert Zoellick addressed the Peterson Institute for International Economics about the implications of the political revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa on how we should think about development. He focused specifically on…
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Business & Human Rights Resource Centre: Latest News
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Inclusive Business: Beyond Philanthropy
7 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmMichael Porter...described in “From Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to Creating Shared Value (CSV)”, the reasons why the private sector must consider social impact as a strategic element and source of potential competitive advantage...To create social impact, there are two options for companies: i) Community Investment and Corporate Philanthropy within the broader CSR concept, and ii) Creating Shared Value strategies...In the first category, philanthropic and charitable activities include actions, which are not connected to the core business or the value chain of the company, and… -
Google Removes Content in India Deemed Objectionable After Civil Lawsuit
7 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmGoogle Inc. removed content from its India domains that was deemed objectionable by a New Delhi district court after a civil lawsuit against the owner of the world’s largest search engine...The other companies named in the complaint -- Facebook Inc., Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and Microsoft Corp. -- have taken the position that they don’t have control over the content found objectionable...The court yesterday gave the companies 15 days to submit compliance reports. The next hearing will take place on March 1...Google’s deletions are in accordance with company policy of disabling illegal content… -
Chinese company 'sacked worker after sex harassment complaint'
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmChinese-owned mobile handset manufacturer ZTE threatened to send an employee from its Melbourne offices back to China after she complained about sexual harassment, according to an unfair-dismissal claim lodged with the Federal Court in Victoria. The claim says the company later sacked her and evicted her from an apartment...ZTE's chief country representative declined to comment, but confirmed that a former employee had instituted proceedings. -
Minor forced into bonded labour: 3 held [India]
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmThree people have been arrested...for forcing a minor boy into bonded labour at a snack factory in Odisha, police said...Madurai Superintendent of Police Asra Garg has formed a special team to leave for Odisha to rescue the boys. -
Afghan child labor fears grow as aid dries up
6 Feb 2012 | 6:00 pmDwindling development aid…in Afghanistan means child labor…is at risk of becoming more widespread, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) warned…[Herve] Berger [ILO’s representative to Kabul] cited a report by the UN agency detailing one of the worst forms of child labor – brickmaking…where children work in a slavish cycle of debt that is almost impossible to escape…children as young as five churn out hundreds of bricks a week for a few dollars to pay off family debts which swell the longer they work there. Poor health from harsh working conditions, reliance on shelter and…
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Change.org News / Economic Justice
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Sallie Mae Blinks!
2 Feb 2012 | 6:43 pmHey everyone! It's William from Change.org. I wanted to pass on this message from Stef Gray about the amazing progress her campaign against Sallie Mae's "unemployment penalty" is making. Read on: Whoa! Sallie Mae just blinked! Today, only a couple of hours after I delivered 77,000 petition signatures from Change.org users to Sallie Mae’s front door, the company issued a statement saying that it would start applying its $50 per loan forbearance fee to customers’ loan balances instead of simply pocketing the cash. They’re obviously hearing your voices loud and clear! I want to recognize… -
Victory! Video Game Industry Drops Support for SOPA
23 Jan 2012 | 5:44 pmWhile the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) were both put on hold on Friday, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) became the first major industry association to drop its support for SOPA. The ESA is the main trade association for video game companies and was one of the main business associations pushing for the bills that critics say would result in internet censorship. The ESA spent $190,000 lobbying the Senate to pass PIPA in just six months in 2011. In a statement, the ESA said: "Although the need to address this pervasive threat to our… -
Two Cities, Two Victories Against 'Corporate Personhood'
19 Jan 2012 | 2:53 pmA couple of weeks ago we took note of the exciting role Change.org is playing in the fight against corporate personhood, as more than a dozen regular folks from around the country have started petitions demanding that their municipal governments get behind a constitutional amendment declaring that corporations don't have the same rights as people and that political contributions aren't speech. Well hold on to your hats, because we've got some exciting news -- two of these campaigns were victorious this month! Change.org member Erin Madden's petition to the Portland, Oregon City Council… -
How to Take a Stand Against Corporate Personhood
10 Jan 2012 | 10:06 amThere's a exciting, new front in the battle for economic justice on Change.org: real citizens vs. Citizens United. You probably know that in January 2010 the United States Supreme Court, led by a conservative majority, overturned decades of legal precedent in ruling that corporations had the same First Amendment protections as flesh-and-blood people, and that contributions to political campaigns by corporations can be considered protected speech. The decision was handed down in the court case Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission. Americans of all political stripes were outraged by… -
More ways to hold banks accountable to homeowners
6 Dec 2011 | 4:21 pmWith today's "Occupy Our Homes" kickoff, the Occupy movement has gone from inhabiting the most public of spaces to the most private. They're not taking over just any home, though -- organizers are defending homeowners around the country facing imminent foreclosure. It's a natural next step for the young but increasingly influential movement. The effort has already been met with great media coverage, and will likely be critical in once again refocusing public conversation on the plight of the 99%. Besides that, there's little question Occupy Our Homes will be successful in saving some homes…
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Aid Worker Daily
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MSF (Live Online Event) – At Any Price? Negotiating Access to Crisis Zones
20 Jan 2012 | 4:46 pmCopyright: MSF/H.J. Burkard If you want to know how hard it is to save a life you should definitely tune in for this event on January 31, 2012. From the site: Humanitarian negotiations are life-and-death issues for people in need, but they also raise troubling political and ethical dilemmas for the organizations that are engaged in them. In the forthcoming book Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: The MSF Experience, published by Columbia University Press, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) takes a critical look at how its teams have negotiated to gain access to people… -
Photo Adventure in Vietnam with William Thompson
22 Dec 2011 | 2:23 pmFor over 40 years my uncle, William Thompson, has been shooting photos for in some of the world’s most remote locations. He has shot throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, North South and Central America. He is well know for his work with National Geographic, the Marlboro cowboy and Wells Fargo. He even shot Bill Gates in his early 20′s when Microsoft was still a small company. Bill will lead a small group of individuals through northern Vietnam for 14 days where he will teach them the art of fine photography. If you would like to join this adventure, stay in the mountaintop Topas… -
Slowy App – A Great New App For Testing Your Sites In Low Bandwidth / High Latency Environments
2 Dec 2011 | 11:42 amI just came across this great little app on Y Combinator’s Hacker News site. Slowy markets itself as a “real-world connection simulator and bandwidth limiter” and it seems to work quite well. I am running it on a Mac and it was easy to install and switch on and off. I can test my sites in 56K and LTE network (mobile) environments. The folks over at Aptivate have spend a lot of time on the low bandwidth/ high latency issue and have created tools like Loband. Loband is fantastic but I still want to see all those images and video. Slowy provides a reality check for those of us… -
Tips For Finding A Job With A Humanitarian Aid Organization
23 Jun 2011 | 1:31 pmCopyright: MSF Canada/Olivier Asselin I’ll update this post with more thoughts but, for now, please ask questions in the comments section. Be sure to take a look at my Humanitarian Job Info page for links to organizations. Don’t overlook the importance of an internship/volunteer position Internships and volunteer positions may not pay a lot but they are worth their weight in gold. Spending time inside an organization and getting to know the different units, people, acronyms puts in a great position to land a permanent gig. By being present you odds of permanent employment increase… -
WSJ – Scientists Find an Achilles’ Heel in AIDS Virus
20 Jun 2011 | 5:01 pmCopyright: Wall Street Journal/Nature The Wall Street Journal has an article detailing the efforts of researchers at the Ragon Institute, a joint enterprise of Massachusetts General Hospital, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University: Scientists using a powerful mathematical tool previously applied to the stock market have identified an Achilles heel in HIV that could be a prime target for AIDS vaccines or drugs. The research adds weight to a provocative theory—that an HIV vaccine should avoid a broadside attack and instead home in on a few targets. Indeed, there is a…
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Survival International Blog
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Hello, my name is Hendric and I'am 15 years old. I have to say, I love your work and what you do. I'am reading your newsletter everytime I get it. My question is; Why dont you create an App for survivalinternational? It would be a good publicity and it would be better for news etc. That would be wunderfull!
27 Jan 2012 | 3:39 amHi Hendric, We’re working on some ideas for apps that can help people campaign for tribal peoples in ways which are different from what we can do on the web. We think apps that work with film, animation and interactives are really interesting, and we should have something ready to launch by the summer. But we also love the open web, and we think the best way to get news and take action is by joining the millions of people who visit our site. Thanks for your support! Nothing we do is possible without it. -
What is Survival's view on television coverage - and thereby contact - with indigenous groups? I ask because I recently read a 2009 article questioning the BBC's need to revisit Anuta for South Pacific, and for Alice Roberts to walk straight into a Nyangatom village in The Incredible Human Journey, despite sensitive and equally acceptable footage already existing from Bruce Parry's Tribe programme. There seemed to be no need for repeated exposure to television crews.
27 Jan 2012 | 3:31 amTV coverage can make millions of people aware of the problems facing tribal peoples, and sometimes lead directly to action to protect their lands and lives. Many TV programmes focusing on tribal peoples don’t even attempt to do this, of course, and some are downright harmful. Film crews can introduce diseases (such as when a TV research team allegedly introduced flu that killed four Matsigenka Indians in Peru), and the resulting programs can be racist, abusive or distorted (such as the program that eventually resulted from that research trip, which portrayed the Matsigenka quite falsely as… -
The land is… A history of the world’s tribal lands...
18 Jan 2012 | 5:39 amThe land is… A history of the world’s tribal lands in under 60 seconds. -
Wounaan children from the Pacific rainforest in Southwest...
4 Jan 2012 | 6:46 amWounaan children from the Pacific rainforest in Southwest Colombia play in the river. A DVD of Mine, Survival’s film about the Dongria Kondh people’s fight to save their sacred mountain in India, has reached the Wounaan tribe of Colombia. They have sent a message of support to the Dongria. The Wounaan people send a joyful message to the Dongria, and all the peoples fighting against the powers that destroy life. It is always possible to defeat them. Always. With you we celebrate your victory against the multinational Vedanta. Dongria brothers and sisters, we know that your sacred… -
Jorge, a Murunahua man who lost his eye when he was shot by...
28 Dec 2011 | 6:17 amJorge, a Murunahua man who lost his eye when he was shot by loggers during first contact, recalls the tragedy that followed.
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News from Survival International
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Illegal loggers seized days after photos of uncontacted Indians released
8 Feb 2012 | 4:13 amIllegal logging threatens Peru's uncontacted Mashco-Piro. © D.Cortijo/uncontactedtribes.org Peru has raided an illegal logging site in the Manú National Park, just days after the world caught its first detailed glimpse of the uncontacted Mashco-Piro tribe. The discovery followed Survival’s release of close-up pictures of the tribe to raise awareness of the threats illegal logging poses to their survival. In an operation led by SERNANP, Peru’s Department for Protected Areas, park guards and police uncovered more than 3,000 feet of illegally harvested timber. SERNANP’s two-day… -
UK MPs call for end to ‘human safaris’ as new video proves police link
6 Feb 2012 | 3:47 amJarawa girls. Newly released videos show Jarawa women being ordered to dance.© Survival The ‘human safaris’ scandal in the Andaman Islands has reached the British Parliament, with MPs tabling a motion calling on India to close the illegal road that cuts through the Jarawa tribe’s reserve. Presented to the House of Commons by MP Mike Crockart, and supported by a growing number of MPs, it calls for an end to recently contacted Jarawa being treated like attractions in a ‘human safari park’. It also appeals to the Indian government ‘to take immediate action to close the Andaman Trunk… -
Brazilian Indians fear imminent eviction from ancestral land
3 Feb 2012 | 7:44 amGuarani man. © Joaó Ripper/Survival A community of Guarani Indians in Brazil has spoken of its ‘fear, despair and deep pain’, after being served with an eviction order requiring it to leave its land. The Guarani of Laranjeira Nanderu community have been living on a small patch of their ancestral land since May 2011. The Indians had previously spent one and a half years living in makeshift huts on the side of a main road, with little access to clean water and health care. At least three Guarani were run over and killed by passing cars. The land of Laranjeira Nanderu was stolen from the… -
Up close one year later: startling new photos of uncontacted Indians released
31 Jan 2012 | 3:37 amToday's photos are the closest sightings of uncontacted Indians ever recorded on camera© D.Cortijo/uncontactedtribes.org Survival International has released close-up pictures of uncontacted Indians, exactly a year after aerial photos from Brazil astonished the world. The new photographs taken in south-east Peru show an uncontacted family from the Mashco-Piro tribe. The Mashco-Piro are known to inhabit the Manú National Park, but sightings of them have increased in recent months. Many blame illegal logging in and around the park and low flying helicopters from nearby oil and gas… -
Two years after Andaman tribe dies, another 'faces extinction'
26 Jan 2012 | 4:27 amBoa Sr died exactly two years ago. She was the last member of the Bo tribe.© Anvita Abbi/Survival Two years after India’s Andaman Islands lost the last speaker of ‘Bo’, a leading linguist has warned the Jarawa could face a similar fate unless the road running through their reserve is closed. Professor Anvita Abbi specializes in endangered languages, and has recently published a dictionary documenting four of the oldest ones in the world. She said, ‘unless we develop alternative sea routes, we cannot safeguard the life, culture, language and identity of one of the oldest civilizations…
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Streetlight USA
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Romantic getaways to avoid for Valentine’s Day: Tourism that becomes a trap
7 Feb 2012 | 1:11 amRomantic destination vacations are perfect Valentine's excursions with your spouse. Credits: Photobucket/camanda87 Fiji. Bahamas. Fort Lauderdale. Las Vegas. Thailand. Port au Prince. San Francisco. Honolulu. These are all romantic place names that stir up images of walking hand in hand down the beach or watching great entertainment with your special someone. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, travel plans for holiday get-aways are being solicited with all the fervor of last minute ticket sales to the Super Bowl. While these destinations offer great vacations for the… -
For Those Without a Voice: Centennial High dance performance to benefit StreetLight
5 Feb 2012 | 4:57 pmCentennial Dance Production: For Those Without a Voice Credits: Michael--A-Z Print and Ship When a group of high school students asked, “How can we be a voice for children caught in sex trafficking?”, their answer was be a voice through dance. This Thursday night, seven Peoria high school dance teams will come together to perform in “For Those Without a Voice”. The students will represent eight Peoria High schools: Centennial, Cactus, Ironwood, Liberty, Peoria, Raymond 5, Kellis and Sunrise Mountain High School. The performance will also include 8th graders from the Foothills… -
Terror of ongoing paid rapes impels 13 year old to pound on wrong door to get help
2 Feb 2012 | 1:51 pmCharged with sex trafficking, rape, kidnapping and more: Kendale Judge and Shanique Davis Credits: Brooklyn DA's office Consider this scenario. An adolescent girl, age 13, is in foster care, presumably because she was abused or neglected sufficiently in her home to warrant placement. The foster family may have been very loving and mature (or not), but the girl’s pain is so intense that she can’t handle what is offered to her. She runs away. Prince Charming finds her on the streets, likely within 48 hours. He convinces her that he will take care of her, but employs brute force… -
Adopt-a-Cottage project for engaging small groups
25 Jan 2012 | 3:38 pmAdopt-a-Cottage Projects for small groups Three of the six StreetLight cottages are ready for residents. Credits: Holly Craw StreetLightUSA is ready to make a big push so that all the cottages will be completed and furnished by the end of March. The sooner we are ready, the sooner we will be able to take in our full capacity of 48 girls. Each girl we can have under our roof represents a minimum of 10 sex crimes and rapes against that child that will be prevented every single night. In the interest of keeping the girls’ furnishings within each house the same, we would love for groups… -
Does youth mentoring work as a deterrent to sex trafficking?
25 Jan 2012 | 3:26 pmMy mom is a role model because she went from being on the streets and an addic [sic] to sobriaty [sic] and raising 3 kids on her own starting from nothing. Krysta*A StreetLightUSA residentSM President Obama championed National Mentor Month with a proclamation. Credits: Photobucket/emilysusan76 January has again been designated by President Obama1 as the National Mentoring Month. There is a lot of talk about mentoring these days. Young professionals in many fields link up with a more experienced colleague to gain valuable tips for the sector and to work through issues that may arise.
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About.com Civil Liberties
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Civil Liberties and Anamnesis
31 Jan 2012 | 11:26 amI've expanded my coverage of the history of ...Read Full Post -
Ron Paul is a Serious Candidate
31 Dec 2011 | 2:34 pmLike many people who have written about Ron Paul's presidential candidacy over the past two election cycles, I've been so impressed with the consistency and uniqueness of his paleoconservative philosophy ...Read Full Post -
Understanding the 2012 NDAA
26 Dec 2011 | 4:24 amBenjamin Wittes' excellent article "NDAA: A Guide for the Perplexed" begins: "The volume of sheer, unadulterated nonsense zipping around the internet about the NDAA boggles the mind." It does. (Wittes' article is, I think, a necessary antidote.) But the question of why it's so hard for the blogosphere to get the basic details right cuts to the heart of why civil liberties is becoming an issue in the 2012 election, and in several distinct ways:...Read Full Post -
Six New Historical Timelines
30 Nov 2011 | 5:58 pmI've added six new historical timelines exploring the history of specific civil liberties issues:The Death PenaltyFreedom of SpeechIndecency and the FCCMarijuana LawsObscenity>Sodomy LawsFor more timelines, check out my timelines update from last month. -
40th Anniversary of the Stanford Prison Experiment
20 Nov 2011 | 6:16 pmOctober 25, 2011 marks 40 years since Philip Zimbardo reported the results of his Stanford Prison Experiment to the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary. While the ethical and scientific ...Read Full Post
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INTER PRESS SERVICE
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Sierra Leone Makes a Development Plan for the Next 50 Years
8 Feb 2012 | 1:32 amFifty years ago when Sierra Leone gained independence after 150 years of colonial rule, with it came a feeling of optimism that along with a newfound control of its governance, the country would profit from its ample endowment of natural resources, like timber, fish, minerals and oil. Instead, in the last 50 years, the country has had 13 military coups and an 11-year civil war that left the economy in ruins and the country heavily reliant on foreign donor funding. -
ZIMBABAWE: Not Prepared for Floods Amid Conflicting Weather Forecasts
8 Feb 2012 | 1:19 amSibongile Dube knows the devastation heavy rain can leave in its wake. A villager in the lowveld area of Mberengwa in Zimbabwe's Midlands province, Dube's home is one of many that were washed away by flash floods last year. -
'Besieged' Homs Endures Tank Assault
8 Feb 2012 | 1:02 amThe Syrian military is reportedly moving deeper into residential areas in the city of Homs, a day after the Russian foreign minister said President Bashar al-Assad was "fully committed" to ending the bloodshed. -
ARGENTINA: Progress in River Clean-Up Praised - With Reservations
7 Feb 2012 | 9:16 pmFor the first time in over 200 years, visible progress is being made in cleaning up the Matanza-Riachuelo River basin, the most highly polluted in Argentina, although improvements remain largely superficial so far. -
EU Pledges Strong Support for Earth Summit
7 Feb 2012 | 8:06 pmEuropean leaders have mapped out a bold agenda ahead of the Rio summit, vowing to transform development aid, help provide renewable electricity to the world's neediest people, and bulk up the United Nations environment body.
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EarthRights International
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Nigerian Groups Ask Norway to Divest from Shell Over Oil Spills
2 Feb 2012 | 8:04 pmThe Norwegian Government has been given a second chance to put its money where its ethical mouth is. Earlier this week, a coalition of scientists, environmentalists, and Nigerian community representatives petitioned Norway’s Government Pension Fund to divest from Royal Dutch Petroleum, claiming that the company is violating the Fund’s Ethical Guidelines by causing severe environmental damage through oil spills in the Niger Delta. Norway should accept the complaint and divest, or risk undermining its public commitment to responsible investment and breaching its own Ethical… -
"¡La gente inteligente, defiende el medio ambiente!" Thousands march for the right to water in Peru
31 Jan 2012 | 11:09 amToday, thousands of Peruvians are now participating in a "Grand National March for the Right to Water and Life." Many of the marchers are setting off from the lagoons of Cajamarca, or from the Amazonian jungle, or from the Southern Andes, marching hundreds of miles to arrive in the capital, Lima during the second week of February. The march seeks to broadly respond to a public policy in Peru of valuing a particular model of economic development over the health and wellbeing of communities adversely affected by that "development" — particularly when large resource-extraction projects… -
US appeals court rejects Chevron's attempt to avoid $18bn pollution judgment in Ecuador
26 Jan 2012 | 9:02 pmA couple of weeks ago, I blogged about an Ecuadorean appeals court upholding an $18 billion dollar judgment against Chevron for massive oil pollution in the Amazon rainforest. The Court rejected Chevron’s arguments that the judgment was procured by fraud. Today, a decision by a federal appeals court in New York makes it more likely that this judgment can be enforced. Last year, fearing that it was going to lose in Ecuador, Chevron sued the plaintiffs in New York seeking a court order that would prevent the plaintiffs from trying to enforce any Ecuadorean judgment outside of Ecuador. -
Keystone XL rejection is a victory for environmental and human rights advocates
20 Jan 2012 | 5:39 pmThis guest post was contributed by Emily Ponder, a legal intern in our US office. Emily is a first-year law student at the University of Virginia School of Law. Everyone knows that oil is a dirty business, but tar sands oil may be the dirtiest. That is why environmentalists, indigenous groups, and small-town Nebraska famers alike are celebrating President Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline Jan. 18. The tar sand oil extraction process and its transport poses serious health and environmental hazards, and the Keystone XL pipeline would have made 2,000 miles of land—and… -
Downstream from Lago Agrio, Ecuador continues to put megaprojects before people and their land
17 Jan 2012 | 4:18 pmWhen an Ecuadorean appeals court in Sucumbíos upheld an $18 billion judgment against Chevron earlier this month, I happened to be passing through Lago Agrio—the famed location of the oil contamination at issue in the case. As we took the highway out of town, we followed the path of the oil-pipeline that snakes its way southwest, towards Quito. “The government does more to protect the pipeline than it does to protect drivers,” my guide informed me as we headed east. I wasn’t surprised. In fact, the purpose of my trip southeast of Lago Agrio was to visit another project that is wholly…
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Peace and Justice from YES! magazine
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Vandana Shiva: Teachers for a Living World
28 Jan 2012 | 5:20 pmWhile Ivy League schools marvel at India’s economic growth, Vandana Shiva’s University of the Seed looks to the earth—and Gandhi—for guidance.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yes/peace-justice/~4/c1qdB4tB3cY" height="1" width="1"/> -
Beyond “Free” or “Fair” Trade: Mexican Farmers Go Local
25 Jan 2012 | 6:41 pmWe usually think of the demand for local, organic foods as coming from the North. But in southern Mexico, the growing localist movement is a strategy for survival.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yes/peace-justice/~4/Ecc_bGcoZvc" height="1" width="1"/> -
The (Remote-Controlled) War at Home
18 Jan 2012 | 7:48 pmOne in three military aircraft is now a drone. How activists are trying to bring the moral implications of drone warfare to light.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yes/peace-justice/~4/y2milVfFDWA" height="1" width="1"/> -
Deepak Bhargava: A Voice for the Grassroots Inside the Beltway
17 Jan 2012 | 1:37 pmThe YES! Breakthrough 15: Expanding the American Dream to include people left behind by economic inequality.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yes/peace-justice/~4/fkdSPhzAcQA" height="1" width="1"/> -
After the Quake: Haiti's Slow Road to Healing
17 Jan 2012 | 12:51 pmPhoto Essay: Two years later, poverty, corruption, and health crises persist. But so does hope.<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/yes/peace-justice/~4/-A1FyKxyzbI" height="1" width="1"/>
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Women News Network
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Ghana to recognize cohabitation as marriage
8 Feb 2012 | 5:57 amAkuamoah Boateng – My Joy - Wednesday, 08 February 2012 (originally published 4 Feb) Men who have failed to formalize their relationships with their companions could soon see their properties shared with such women even if they failed to perform the necessary marriage rites. Currently, two new bills before Parliament, Property Rites of Spouses Bill [...] -
Israeli and Palestinian youth use Facebook to help find ‘virtual’ peace
8 Feb 2012 | 2:00 amRuth Eglash - WNN Opinion (WNN/CGN) JERUSALEM: Just days after long-time Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiators Yitzhak Molcho and Saeb Erekat clashed yet again at a meeting in Jordan, thousands of young people from across the Middle East gathered together online for an event which set a new standard for mutual understanding and partnership. Conferences bringing together Jews [...] -
NIGER, AFRICA: Islamic leaders play key role in curbing population
8 Feb 2012 | 1:30 amEmma Batha - WNN MDG Stories (WNN/Trustlaw) Naimey, Niger, AFRICA: Religious leaders in Niger have a key role to play in curbing its soaring population growth – a subject which until recently was taboo there, the European Union’s top aid official has said following a trip to the country where hunger is looming for millions. When [...] -
INDIA: Girl infants face ‘pre-meditated’ murder under femicide
8 Feb 2012 | 12:20 amRita Banerji – WNN Opinion (WNN) INDIA: In 1976, Dr. Diana Russell first testified about a crime she called ‘Femicide’ at the first International Tribunal on Crimes Against Women held in Brussels, Belgium. She defined it as “the killing of women and girls” only because of their gender and said that it was no different from [...] -
CARE offers sustained relief for victims of Cyclone Thane India
7 Feb 2012 | 11:31 pmWNN Breaking (WNN) Chennai, INDIA: Working with marginalized communities in rural areas over 60 years CARE India, a prominent humanitarian NGO, plans to reach out to 20,000 most vulnerable families in Tamil Nadu’s coastal district of Cuddalore, which was ravaged by the December 30 ‘Cyclone Thane’. “Our aim is to reach out to 20,000 most [...]
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New Internationalist - The people, the ideas, the action in the fight for global justice
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A last chance for peace in Western Sahara?
8 Feb 2012 | 7:33 amOn the eve of a ninth round of UN-sponsored negotiations, Stefan Simanowitz assesses the prospects for a resolution of the conflict in Western Sahara. -
Rape at the border: how immigration officials are abusing women in Zimbabwe
8 Feb 2012 | 2:50 amCross-border trade is a risky business for women, as Mgcini Nyoni witnesses. -
Rich London, poor London – a tale of two cities
7 Feb 2012 | 4:12 amWhat would Charles Dickens, born 200 years ago this week, make of Britain’s inequality in the 21st century? wonders David Hewitt. -
A bride burnt every hour: the horror of dowry deaths
7 Feb 2012 | 2:29 amSo why aren’t Indians up in arms about it? Time to name and shame, says Mari Marcel Thekaekara. -
A fair economy is not radical – it’s common sense!
6 Feb 2012 | 5:31 am...and a new podcast from the Tax Justice Network is set to explain why.
