Pambazuka News 494: Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Time for sanity and healing
Pambazuka News 494: Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Time for sanity and healing
In conflicts and natural disasters around the world, young people, at a crucial stage of their development, are faced with profound challenges. Emergencies often steal their adolescence and force them to undertake adult responsibilities. The structures and institutions that should guarantee their secure, peaceful development – schools, family, community and health centres – have often broken down, leaving them with little, if any, support. Access to basic sexual and reproductive health services, including information on sexually transmitted infections and HIV, is often impossible.
On behalf of the Board of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), and our local partners Coletivo de Feministas Lésbicas, Grupo Dignidade, Grupo Arco-Íris, and Instituto Edson Néris, it is our pleasure to invite you to attend the XXV ILGA World Conference to be held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, between the 4 and 9 December 2010. As you may remember, Rio de Janeiro was the city voted for hosting the 2010 conference at the last world conference held in Vienna in 2008. However due to logistical problems the Executive Board of ILGA and the Brazilian organizers agreed on moving the conference location from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for immediate and unconditional release of Thierry Ndayishimiye, Director and Publisher of the private weekly magazine Arc-en-ciel, who was arrested on Tuesday, August 10th, 2010 and detained at the central prison of Mpimba in Bujumbura, capital of Burundi. “It is unacceptable to imprison a journalist for slander which in this case is not even proven”, said Gabriel Baglo, Director of IFJ Africa Office. “After the cas of Kavumbagu who is awaiting life imprisonment, this arrest manifestly shows the authorities are determined to muzzle the media in Burundi”.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on the Senegalese authorities to put an end to the legal proceedings against Abdou Latif Coulibaly, investigative journalist and Director of Publication of the weekly magazine, La Gazette, who was charged on July 10, 2010 for “concealment of administrative and private documents pertaining to the Senegalese National Lottery (LONASE)” following a complaint of its Managing Director Mr. Baila Wane.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that Madagascar is at risk of a crop-eating locust plague, potentially jeopardizing the livelihoods of 460,000 rural families. An unknown number of immature swarms of Malagasy Migratory Locust have moved out of the country’s south-western corner, where they are usually contained, and have spread to the east and north.
The Indian Ocean archipelago of Seychelles has become the latest country to ratify the pact establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is tasked with trying people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Seychelles ratified the 1998 Rome Statute yesterday, which means it will enter into force for that country on 1 November, according to a press release issued by the court in The Hague, the Dutch city where it is headquartered
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun a major round of feeding for 670,000 children under the age of two and their families in drought-stricken Niger, where as many as eight million people need assistance. People in the West African nation are experiencing severe food shortages as a result of a prolonged drought that has caused crop failure and livestock deaths.
Five United Nations humanitarian agencies are rushing medical supplies and other materials to northern Cameroon, where the country’s worst outbreak of cholera in six years has already claimed at least 155 lives. Cholera drugs, oral rehydration salts, hygiene kits, surgical gloves, family water kits and educational materials are among the items that have been dispatched, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported today from Yaoundé, the capital.
Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika has said Malawi cannot afford life ministers. Swearing in new ministers, some of them returnees into his cabinet, he said nobody should think ministerial posts are for life. He also defended his inclusion of his wife, First Lady, Callista Mutharika, on the cabinet list. "As President, I am in the saddle where I have the opportunity to look at the whole Malawi and the world to correct things. You need to understand that the posts are not your personal possessions," he said at Sanjika Palace in the commercial city of Blantyre.
President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria has been told by his party chairman that he has the right to contest the upcoming January primaries. Okwesilieze Nwodo of the ruling People's Democratic Party however stopped short of giving the president his full backing
While some senior politicians in the coalition government bury their heads in the sand, professing ignorance about incidents of violence, it is the ordinary villagers in remote areas who are facing the reality of ongoing ZANU PF sponsored political violence. After a recent attack by ZANU PF supporters in Chipinge two MDC activists, Perpetua Pedzisai and Tsvakai Muzhambi, were said to be battling for their lives at clinics in Murambi and Sasu. According to a statement released by the MDC the attacks were an attempt to bar the activists from participating in outreach meetings, taking place to try shape the content of a new constitution.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame won 93 percent of the vote in an election that opponents said was marred by repression and violence. The bush war veteran won 4,638,560 votes from a total of 5,178,492 registered voters in the central African country, the National Electoral Commission (NEC) said.
Intensifying their search for a vaccine to prevent HIV infection, scientists are planning to run an improved version of the successful Thai HIV vaccine trial in South Africa next year. News from Thailand late last year that a vaccine trial conducted among 16 000 Thais gave a 31% protection rate against HIV infection has given scientists hope that their quest to find a vaccine to prevent HIV infection is on the horizon. But further tests are needed and South Africa is an obvious place for these to be run, given our high HIV rate.
The Kennedy Road shack settlement burnt once again at about 10 pm on Sunday, 08 August 2010 - two hours before women’s day. As of today thousands of residents in Kennedy are homeless in this cold winter weather. If the municipality had given them houses or provided them with basic services, such as electricity, refuse collection, road access and water they would have been safe from fire.
Google Uganda has launched two local language operations enabling about five million people access services in native languages. The launch of the Runyakitara and Luo languages at Makerere University in Kampala brings to five the number of local languages available on the Google Uganda domain.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) expects to bring down all trade tariffs under the Free Trade Area (FTA) by 2012, by which time all countries in the region are expected to have liberalised their trade regimes, SADC trade officials have said. The regional bloc says it has liberalised about 85 percent of trade and is now phasing down tariffs for trade in sensitive products, which are expected to be completely removed by 2012.
Horticulture stakeholders are looking to negotiate a trade protocol with the European Union (EU) to graduate from the current Lome Convention. Kenya Flower Council Chief Executive Officer Jane Ngige says they want to amend the Lome Convention – under which the EU provides aid and extends trade and tariff preference to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries – in order to secure market access.
The International Council of the World Social Forum and the African Social Forum and the Senegalese Organizing Committee launch a public consultation until September 10th to finalize the thematic axes of the centralized edition of the WSF, to be held in Dakar, Senegal, on February 06-11 2011. This methodological proposal was defined after Mumbai (Maharashtra, India), five years ago.
This research reveals that Low Income Countries such as Ghana remain under the influence of the Bank, especially regarding the management of their primary industries and natural resources and in relation to the design of sensitive policy areas such as fiscal policy and public sector reform. August 2010.
The women who grow more than half the world's agricultural produce have gained international recognition and aid since the start of the global food crisis in 2007. Instead of being seen as a minor, vulnerable group, international aid agencies have begun keeping sex-specific data and reaching out to them as development partners, said Jeannette Gurung, director of the Washington-based Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and National Resource Management.
This policy note argues that the effectiveness of monetary policy relies on a viable domestic market for trading public securities, and a commercial banking sector willing and able to lend to the private sector. However, the paper deems that with the exception of South Africa, no country in the sub-Saharan region has these necessary conditions.
The future of Thulani Rudd, a Swaziland lesbian arrested in 2009 following a mysterious death of her girlfriend Pitseng Vilakati, looks bleak since she has been in custody for more than a year now, has no legal representation and it is still unclear when her case will resume. It is alleged that some gay rights groups that earlier assisted Rudd with legal representation have had to withdraw since when she was arrested she made a voluntary statement that implicated her to the murder.
Kivulini was established in 1999 by six women who felt compelled to respond to the needs of women experiencing domestic violence in the city of Mwanza in Tanzania. The organisation seeks to address the root causes of domestic violence by working closely with community members and leaders to change attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate violence against women. In Swahili, Kivulini means "in the shade/shelter" and is intended to imply a safe place where women, men, and children feel supported.
This eight-page report details the outcomes of the Parliamentarians for Women's Health project, which was spearheaded by the International Centre for Research on Women (ICRW) in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, and Tanzania. The project sought to form networks between HIV-positive women, their communities, and members of parliament (MPs). Although the report states that results varied by country, researchers found that, overall, the project gave MPs a better understanding of women's barriers to HIV/AIDS treatment and care, and that networking strengthened women's ability to advocate on issues that affect them.
The Refugee Law Project (RLP), Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda is working with Northern Uganda Transitional Initiative (NUTI) to create a war archive and museum in Kitgum District. This archive will serve as a resource centre for studies in extremism, violence and displacement can be studied. The RLP is currently gathering materials for the museum-like archive and is looking for two volunteers to work alongside the Programme Manager.
Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) seeks a consultant to conduct an external evaluation of its Project “Promoting and Improving Access to Agricultural Information using ICTs in Northern Uganda.” The duration of the assignment is 20 days including travel to the project area and desk review. The consultant should have strong skills in both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, good practice of participatory methodologies and experience in working with/in diverse cultural settings. In addition, he/she should have a proven track record in conducting evaluations of ICTs for development projects and in assessing gender concerns.
Eliminating malaria, especially from its hotspots in Africa, will be impossible without new types of intervention, a newly published model has confirmed. To eliminate malaria in Africa, current interventions would need to reach far more people than health and transport infrastructures permit, according to Prof Azra Ghani, an infectious disease epidemiologist, and colleagues at Imperial College, London.
On an improvised stage “Bombón de chocolate” (Chocolate Candy) is being performed. The play, which narrates the story of an African-Colombian girl who feels rejected because of the colour of her skin, is one of the events at a special day on drug addiction and violence organised in the city of Villa Paz, in South-West Colombia. Villa Paz has a population of 4000 inhabitants, of which 54% are are women and most of whom are African descendants and whose agricultural activities are mainly related to the sugar cane.
In Senegal many women refuse to take mentally disabled children on public transport; families hide children with mental or neurological disorders, and some parents disown them outright. Such is the stigma of having a child with these widely misunderstood illnesses. "In Senegal people simply regard children with such conditions as 'abnormal', whatever the disability - mental or physical," said Ngor Ndour, a psychologist specializing in mental disorders in children.
Five years after a local charity opened a university to offer this bullet-scarred city’s youth an alternative to militia life and emigration, the first degrees have been awarded. "I want our people to know that education is the ladder of life and that every step of development that a community makes depends on the level of the community's education," one of the 27 new graduates, Qoole Qowden*, recounted.
Months before Southern Sudan holds a referendum on possible secession from the north, officials have warned that feeding the influx of expected returnees will pose a problem. “A lot of people came just before the census, more came just before the elections,” said Matthew Abujin, Southern Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (SSRRC) secretary in charge of Central Equatoria. "With the referendum, we are expecting a very big number. Nobody wants to stay on the wrong side of the border.”
A Ugandan journalist has been accused of sedition after writing two articles that speculated whether the Ugandan government was involved in July bomb attacks in Kampala, report the Human Rights Network of Journalists-Uganda (HRNJ-Uganda) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The sedition law is routinely used against dissident journalists. More than a dozen Ugandan journalists are currently being prosecuted under the law.
Offering a bold example for the possibilities for press freedom, the Liberian government has passed a freedom of information law, report the Center for Media Studies and Peace Building (CEMESP) and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA). The House of Representatives of Liberia unanimously voted to pass the Liberia Freedom of Information Law on 22 July, thereby making information accessible to all Liberians. The law has been forwarded to the Senate and is expected to be signed into law by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf by the end of August.
‘Social Justice and Neoliberalism’, edited by Adrian Smith, Alison Stenning and Katie Willis, is a book that strives to ‘shift the focus from stock exchanges and politicians to the damage neoliberalism inflicts on real people and their communities’, writes Jamie Pitman and Adzowa Kwabla Oklikah. Pitman and Oklikah commend the book’s acknowledgment of human tales, though disagree with the authors’ claims that neoliberalism comes in many varied forms, and insist that looking at neoliberalism through different lenses does not invalidate its homogeneity.
As the Pakistani people face up to the effects of terrible flooding, Yash Tandon expresses solidarity and stresses that if nature is cruel, a civilisation which puts ‘profits before humanity, and military security before food security’ is surely crueller.
This Women’s Day the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (LGEP) would like to commemorate not only the women's march to the Union Buildings on the 9th of August but also the consistent and varied struggles that women in this country have fought. Women in South Africa have asserted their independence and challenged racism and patriarchy in many ways that are often forgotten or ignored. For example it was black women, often single, who fought against imposed municipal beer halls and led struggles in the locations. Between 1920 and 1950 it was women who formed the core of the most successful unions and often served as their leadership. This history for survival and independence in addition to the protests around passes being extended to black women are only snippets of consistent and varied struggles.
This social experiment was carried out using hidden cameras in a townhouse complex in Johannesburg. Don't condone violence by doing nothing. If you or anyone around you is experiencing domestic abuse please call the POWA helpline on 083 765 1235 or visit Counseling services and support is available.
As African leaders prepare to meet at the SADC Summit in Windhoek this month from 15 to 17, they must draw concrete plans to prevent state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe’s elections planned for 2011. Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition calls upon SADC and AU leaders, as guarantors of Zimbabwe’s Global Political Agreement (GPA), which created a transitional power-sharing government to, among other things, ensure that Zimbabwe fully complies with SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections – including impartiality of electoral institutions.
The referendum result ‘puts beyond doubt the wishes of Kenyans to bring about fundamental social and political changes’, writes Yash Ghai. Although the new constitution sets both a framework and a timetable for its implementation, Ghai says it’s crucial that Kenyans are not sidetracked by talk of ‘reconciliation through further negotiations on “contentious issues”’ from elites ‘determined to sabotage reform agendas’. ‘The whole point of a referendum is to see which side has greater support, and to bring the debate to closure,’ says Ghai.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/494/66650_swiss_bank_tmb.jpgRudolf Elmer, whistleblower and former CEO of Swiss bank Julius Baer’s Cayman Island operations, reveals the secrets of the murky world of offshore banking to Khadija Sharife. ‘Mauritius is in many ways the Switzerland of Africa,’ says Elmer, but there is another African nation vying to be the ‘golden’ financial gateway: Ghana.
The UN is rapidly becoming a breeding ground for corruption and impunity, writes Rasna Warah. Warah, a former UN staff member, investigates how voices raised against wrongdoings in the organisation are hastily muted, and often met with severe reprisals.
It is 65 years this August since the US dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands of unarmed Japanese civilians, writes Horace Campbell. Although US history books say that thousands of servicemen were saved as a result of those two bombings, the reality, says Campbell, was different.
Responses to the results of Kenya’s referendum, Haitian musician Wyclef Jean’s decision to run for president and the dangers of Bill Gates and his foundation dabbling in Africa’s development are among the topics discussed in this week’s roundup of the African blogosphere, brought to you by Sokari Ekine.
Trinidadians are becoming increasingly alarmed by the murders and a flourishing trade in cocaine and guns, writes Raoul Pantin.
Let’s give credit for the overwhelming decision for ‘Yes’ where it belongs – to ordinary Kenyans of all walks of life, writes Ngunjiri Wambugu.
Professor Ernest Wamba-dia-Wamba’s work in the political reconstruction of Congolese society, characterised by ‘remarkable self-sacrifice and humility’, is worthy of support, writes Jacques Depelchin. Let’s show solidarity for ‘one of the most committed intellectuals for another Africa, for another humanity and for another world’, Depelchin urges, to ensure that Wamba-dia-Wamba is not faced with ‘destitution and isolation’ as a result of his singular path.
Zambia’s new draft constitution, created by the National Constitution Conference, discriminates against members of the LGBT community, depriving them of their rights to live freely and equitably, writes Mwila Agatha Zaza. The inclusion of unspecified Christian values into the constitution, vaguely defined laws on family and a woman’s right to marital freedom, and a prohibition of abortion except under already defined circumstances means this new constitution does little to progress sexual equality in Zambia, Zaza argues.
Following the approval of Kenya’s new constitution, L. Muthoni Wanyeki discusses the constitutional referendum voting process, the road to the new constitution, and what must happen next to ensure the new constitution is observed.
Given the negative impact of the fast food industry on food sovereignty and security, isn't it a little odd that the World Food Programme has teamed up with KFC to fund its hunger relief efforts, asks Alex Free. Fast food's methods of production and perpetual drive to lower costs work to undermine ‘environments, biodiversity and local people’s access to land’, says Free, while tackling world hunger demands the exact opposite: ‘Working towards sustainable access to food; recognising local expertise; promoting biodiversity; and putting people before profits.’
Kenya is awakening with the realisation of a new constitution. Jill Cottrell Ghai and Yash Pal Ghai warn that Kenyan society must not now allow the silence of complacency to take hold and obstruct the path to democratic and transparent governance. The commitment of the nation’s civil society organisations and movements able to secure the universal implementation of the constitution will ensure its survival, and the upholding of the rights and responsibilities it enshrines for the benefit of Kenyans, write the authors.
In conversation with Pambazuka News, Executive Director Franck Kamunga of the Kinshasa-based Droits Humains Sans Frontières discusses the struggle for justice for murdered civil society activists in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) and the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
‘Given the fact that Iran will not give an inch to the demands of the United States and Israel, which have already mobilised several of the means of warfare to their disposal, they will have to launch the attack as soon as the date agreed by the Security Council on June 9, 2010 – with the established rules and requirements – expires. There is a limit to all what man hopes to achieve, which he cannot surpass. In this critical case, President Barack Obama is the one who would give the order to start the so much announced and publicised attack, following the rules of the gigantic empire,' proclaims Fidel Castro.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/494/angola_tmb.jpgAs communities in Angola’s municipality of Matala and Quipungo face up to demolitions as part of the government’s ‘Operation Combat and Demolition of Shacks and Anarchic Constructions in the Municipality of Lubango’, civil society work by local groups has proven crucial in enabling families to prepare adequately and begin to organise, writes Sylvia Croese.
‘Women should refuse to die or live in abject poverty or endure violence: They should be angry, mobilising and taking to the streets to demand concrete actions which will improve their lives and the wellbeing of their children.’ Marie-Claire Faray, vice president of UK WILPF (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom) speaks to Pambazuka News about the African Women’s Decade and what women – and men – can do to help fulfil its promise to defend women's rights and reduce gender inequality.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/494/pok_group_tmb.jpgPillars of Kibera is a theatre-for-social-change group based in Kibera, Nairobi. Comprised of 25 passionate young people, this theatre group creates their own performance pieces using dance, drama, music and poetry to address the social issues faced by Kibera residents. is made up of photographs from the group’s rehearsals and performances, along with interviews from group members about Pillars of Kibera discussing how it brings change to the community and how it has changed themselves.
For all it cost. For all we've lost. For all who persisted, decade upon decade, in the face of every defeat. For the invisible heroes of four generations, who brought it to fruition. For those taken by the struggle, whose spirits we carry with us. For those who laboured for this and did not live to see it realised. For the bereaved, displaced, dispossessed, raped, whose blood and suffering have watered this moment. If victory means anything, it must mean the beginning of restitution…
Pambazuka News is taking an extended break for the next three weeks (from 16 August to 5 September). This is to allow staff to focus attention on the development of the new Pambazuka News website, which we hope to launch later this year. The next issue of the English edition of Pambazuka News will therefore be published on 9 September, while the French edition will appear on 6 September. We thank you for your patience.
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In an interview about ICT (information and communication technology) and its social effects on women, GenderIT.org writer Mavic Cabrera-Balleza speaks with Sylvie Niombo and Francoise Mukuku, activists from Congo-Brazzaville and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) respectively.
As ‘Africa’s top kleptocrats … gathered at their annual summit’ in Kampala, US Attorney General Eric Holder and US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Johnnie Carson told those assembled that the US Justice Department has established the Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative (KARI) to recover criminally acquired funds, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam. Corruption and the misappropriation of funds have a devastating impact, Mariam stresses, and in developing an initiative to combat elite impunity, it seems that ‘President Obama … has finally found the silver bullet to deal with Africa’s corrupt thugs.’
The fight to stop violence against women in Africa must diverge from the dominant Western feminism that implants alien perspectives and methods into an African struggle, writes Jenn Jagire. Jagire urges Africa’s feminists to regain agency and ‘deEuropeanise’ African feminism, avoiding perpetuating neo-colonial mentalities and development models that see Africa's women as victims rather than the drivers of their own destiny.
Pambazuka News 493: Kenyan constitution: History in the making
Pambazuka News 493: Kenyan constitution: History in the making
The Resource Kit provides ideas and arguments that can be used to advocate for equality and justice in Muslim family laws and practices. The local context and people’s needs will determine which argument works best in that environment. The Kit examines various aspects of family laws and practices. For each aspect, the Kit provides support for the idea of equality and justice from the four different approaches. The Kit also shares examples of different countries that have addressed these areas of family life in more equitable and just ways.
Sifwe-speaking villagers in Namibia’s Caprivi Region live in fear of renewed persecution by members of the Namibian Police (NamPol) assigned to the marathon Caprivi High Treason Trial (CHTT) saga. Most of the said NamPol officers have been accused of systematically committing acts of torture and or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (TCIDT) or punishment against the alleged Caprivi secessionist rebels.
AfricaAdapt is launching its second Knowledge Sharing Innovation Fund. The Fund offers support to African researchers, local and civil society organisations, cooperatives and community networks that create new ways of sharing knowledge between African communities. These poor and vulnerable communities rarely get the opportunity to share their valuable experience and learn from others in formal exchanges of knowledge on climate change adaptation.
The Refugees Self Reliance Initiative a branch of Ezra Ministries of Tanzania has received credible reports that there are a lot of refugees from DR Congo, Rwanda and Burundi etc who are forced to return home against their will. We have spoken directly to the team of those refugees and register some mistreatment in the new camp of Nyarugusu.
For two hours Osman Rasul perched on railings surrounding the seventh floor balcony of a Nottingham tower block. He blanked out police officers attempting to talk him down and at 7pm last Sunday, placing his hand on his heart, he looked up to the sky and leapt. The 27-year-old Iraqi Kurd, classified by the local refugee centre as a "destitute asylum-seeker" and in a fraying relationship with the mother of his two children, had lost the legal aid he needed to pursue his application to remain in the UK. A trip south to confront Home Office immigration officers in Croydon saw him being turned away and told to find a solicitor.
The leader of a major rebel group in Sudan’s Western region of Darfur warned the embattled African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) that it will bear the consequences if they allow Sudanese authorities to enter the IDP camps in the wake of deadly clashes that took place this week.
In this book, Patrick Beate and Daminan Platt write about AfroReggae, a movement that uses music and culture to provide hope and opportunity to young people, and is taking Brazil's favelas back - one song at a time. Powerful and moving, this is an unforgettable look at Rio, its people and this extraordinary group. What emerges is a colourful portrait of resistance, ethnic diversity, social inequality, and the timeless power of music in a society of fascinating, often heartrending extremes
Following the incredible feeling of African unity experienced during the World Cup, most of us were alarmed by rumours of the targeting of migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers in some pockets of our communities post the final. It stood in stark contrast to the Pan-African spirit we demonstrated when we collectively switched our loyalty to Ghana after Bafana-Bafana was eliminated from the tournament.
On the 23rd July 2010 in an auspicious gala dinner in Johannesburg Salman Khan, founder and chairman of SAKAG (South African Kashmiri Action Group) was awarded in recognition of is work for the Kashmir cause in South Africa by the Human Rights Foundation of South Africa. Salman Khan founded SAKAG in South Africa in 1999 and have relentlessly worked on the raising of issue of Kashmir on all level in South Africa for last 11 years, he has since delivered hundreds of speeches, over 200 radio interviews, 50 TV interviews, several presentations in universities and schools, and had written many articles on Kashmir human rights issues in national news papers.
Fifty years ago, the former Belgian Congo received its independence under the democratically elected government of former prime minister Patrice Lumumba. Less than seven months later, Lumumba and two colleagues were, in the contemporary idiom, "rendered" to their Belgian-backed secessionist enemies, who tortured them before putting them before a firing squad. The Congo would not hold another democratic election for 46 years. In 2002, following an extensive parliamentary inquiry, the Belgian government assumed a portion of responsibility for Lumumba's murder.
Of the 1,200 children of migrant workers slated for deportation in 2009, the Israeli Cabinet on 1 August granted legal status to 800 and said 400 would be deported with their families to their parents’ country of origin within 21 days. To win legal status, the children had to have enrolled in the Israeli school system, resided in Israel at least five years, entered Israel before the age of 13 or be born there, and speak fluent Hebrew.
The Africa Peace & Conflict Journal, published by the UN Mandated University for Peace, is now accepting abstracts and full length articles for its upcoming December 2010 publication. Submissions on all topics related to African peace and conflict studies are welcome. The deadline for receipt of full-articles is September 1st 2010. The Africa Peace & Conflict Journal is a biannual publication.
The Second World Conference of Humanitarian Studies (WCHS), organized by the International Humanitarian Studies Associational (IHSA) and hosted by Tufts University, Medford, USA (in collaboration with Harvard University, Columbia University and the Social Science Research Council) will take place 2 - 5 June 2011. The conference marks a major step in ratcheting up the quality of our understanding of the dynamics of societies in crisis, the resultant greater use of evidence based humanitarian programming and an increased professional approach to humanitarian work. As with other professional fields, having a forum where cutting edge research can be presented and critiqued is a vital tool in moving the profession forward.
The Refugee Law Project (RLP), Faculty of Law, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, in collaboration with the African Transitional Justice Research Network (ATJRN) has established an Institute for African Transitional Justice (IATJ). The institute is pleased to announce its first short course on African Transitional Justice. The course will take place in Kampala, Uganda from 21 – 27 November 2010. This week-long residential course will consist of a series of interactive lectures, workshops, and round table discussions focusing the theme “Addressing Transitional Justice in the Context of African Challenges”.
The United Nations spokesperson has said that the restrictions recently announced by the Sudanese government on the movement of personnel from the African Union-United Nations mission in Darfur (UNAMID) violates previous accords signed between both sides. Last week, a senior Sudanese official told Reuters that UNAMID travel would be monitored going forward and that their bags will be searched. They will have to inform the government before moving on roads even within South Darfur’s capital Nyala, he said.
The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) is a pan-African non-governmental organisation headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya with a network of 33 National Chapters throughout Africa. FAWE is the pioneer and leading NGO on the promotion of girls’ and women’s education in Africa. FAWE is seeking to recruit a bilingual, results-oriented individual to join its dynamic, professional team as Deputy Director.
The Refugee Law Project seeks a Gender Researcher to lead in Gender Research component of the Beyond Juba Project. S/he should be able to demonstrate field research experience as well as group facilitation skills, and be conversant with concepts of gender, masculinities, sexual & gender based violence. A Masters degree in a related field is desirable.
The Refugee Law Project seeks a Child Rights Lawyer to coordinate the Child Rights and Protection Programme. S/he should be an advocate of the High court of Uganda and must be conversant with the international, regional and national mechanism for the protection of children. Masters Degree in Human Rights is desirable.
The Refugee Law Project seeks a Child Rights Officer to be responsible for the psychosocial component of the Child Rights and Protection Programme. S/he must be a trained social worker or counsellor with considerable experience working with Children.
In a nondescript room on the 14th floor of a Nairobi office block, the words “hate speech” appear on a computer screen next to the name of a prominent politician, with location, a telephone number and buttons marked “Not verified” and “Follow-up”. Another message reads: “If you think peace is expensive, try violence!” Yet another says: “Plz help us. A certain community is threatening other communities to vacate the area in case YES wins.”
Information for Change 2010: a free workshop in Nairobi linked to the Nairobi Book Fair
Title: Digital Publishing in Africa: The Next Steps
Date: 21 September 2010: 09.00 - 16.30
Location: Jacaranda Conference Centre, Jacaranda Hotel, Westlands, Nairobi
In July 2009 the first undersea cable to bring high-speed internet access to East Africa went live, opening up new opportunities for digital publishing in the region.
Information for Change 2010 will examine emerging digital publishing models in East Africa. Speakers will present first-hand experience of the realities of working in the region, and will showcase and share innovative approaches to the creation and delivery of information. The programme will include a keynote address, a speaker-led panel session, two World Café sharing sessions, case studies presentations, a venue for participants to display materials, and a moderated interactive session that will involve all participants.
A buffet lunch is included in the programme.
To register, go to click on Registration on the left hand navigation, and complete the form.
Information for Change 2010: a free workshop in Nairobi linked to the Nairobi Book Fair
Title: Digital Publishing in Africa: The Next Steps
Date: 21 September 2010: 09.00 - 16.30
Location: Jacaranda Conference Centre, Jacaranda Hotel, Westlands, Nairobi
In July 2009 the first undersea cable to bring high-speed internet access to East Africa went live, opening up new opportunities for digital publishing in the region.
Information for Change 2010 will examine emerging digital publishing models in East Africa. Speakers will present first-hand experience of the realities of working in the region, and will showcase and share innovative approaches to the creation and delivery of information. The programme will include a keynote address, a speaker-led panel session, two World Café sharing sessions, case studies presentations, a venue for participants to display materials, and a moderated interactive session that will involve all participants.
A buffet lunch is included in the programme.
To register, go to click on Registration on the left hand navigation, and complete the form.
In this week's roundup of merging powers news, the new Silk Road built by China connects Asia to Latin America, more SA businesses want a piece of BRIC, Ecobank Ghana signs pact with Bank Of China, and Durban to host Africa diaspora conference.
Unlike schools and offices in South Africa, the criminal gangs along the border between the World Cup hosts and Zimbabwe did not take a break because of a sports tournament. As thousands of foreign fans flocked to the football stadiums and hundreds of journalists arrived to cover the first African World Cup, along the border another influx of foreigners received a different sort of welcome. They were not met with bright green and yellow flags and vuvuzelas, instead, these foreigners faced armed attacks and a pattern of sexual violence employed systematically to traumatise already vulnerable people.
AMwA will be holding a Sierra Leone National African Women’s Leadership Institute (AWLI) on the theme, “Reclaiming Our bodies: Women’s Leadership and Movement Building on Gender Based Violence and Sexual and Reproductive Rights in Conflict and Post Conflict Africa”, that is scheduled to take place from 3rd – 16th October, 2010 in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Wellcome Trust is accepting applications for the International Engagement Awards for global health research. A wide range of people including media professionals, educators, science communicators, health professionals and researchers in bioscience, health, bioethics and history can apply for these awards, which offer grants of up to £30,000 for a period of maximum three years.
Researchers from the University of California Berkeley’s Human Rights Center canvassed nearly 2,000 households in the Central African Republic to document the impact of violence in the country and gather opinions about the best way forward. The results present a stark picture of a population traumatized by decades of political strife, military coups and poverty; leading the researchers to conclude the country is one of the worst cases of a humanitarian crisis in the world.
Some inmates at Campsfield House immigration removal centre in Oxfordshire are continuing to refuse meals. Detainees said the demonstration, which began on Monday, was due to people being detained for long periods. About 80 detainees decided not to take food on Tuesday evening, the UK Border Agency said.
Sokwanele is launching an online Constitution survey that aims to gather views from Zimbabweans everywhere, including the millions of Zimbabweans who live in the Diaspora and who have been largely excluded from the constitution-making process. he constitution survey features a mix of questions. Some questions directly address content usually included in a constitution, while others seek to survey opinions on issues of concern to Zimbabweans. These issues, and Zimbabwean opinions on them, should guide those who are tasked to draft the new document and our views should be honoured in the detail making up a new constitution.
Assaults on MDC officials and supporters intensified in the Chipinge area of Manicaland on Wednesday and Thursday, as ZANU PF continued its campaign of violence linked to the Constitutional outreach program. Provincial spokesperson and Makoni South MP, Pishayi Muchauraya, told SW Radio Africa that two MDC officials sustained broken limbs and MDC vehicles were attacked and vandalized by youth militia and CIO agents in separate attacks.
International Relations and co-operation department director of Nepad, Harvey Short, says more than R770 million of South African state funds have been used to prop up states with human rights abuse records. These include Zimbabwe and Guinea, and no attempt was made to monitor the use of funds, nor evaluate what the effect of the cash windfalls were.
Foreign land barons are using millions of shillings to hire elite law firms for advice on how to protect their property should Kenyans pass the proposed Constitution — that bars them from owning land — in Wednesday’s vote. Commercial lawyers said the number of clients seeking land ownership advice under a new constitution has risen steadily in the past three months to peak at the end of July as the referendum drew closer.
As Kenyans go to the polls to vote on a new constitution, Dibussi Tande reviews reactions across the African blogosphere. Tande also looks at lessons for Kenya from Ghana, and humorous calls for a new Malawian flag.
Kenyans have overwhelmingly voted in a new constitution, which would redefine the political landscape and make it easy to send a sitting President to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to face trial for crimes, including genocide, as part of the East African nation's range of law reforms. Kenya's draft constitution easily sailed through during the 4 August vote, with the provisional poll results Thursday showing at least 67.9 percent of the voters had given it their approval, against 33 percent of the voters who opposed the draft law.
South African telcommunications company MTN has been warned by the Swaziland Solidarity Network (SSN), an opposition group close to the South African trade union federation Cosatu, that it could face a mass boycott from Africans concerned about its bowing to demands from the Swazi royal family to investigate phone calls to South African journalists from inside the country.
The impact of unfavourable weather on crops in recent weeks has led the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to cut its global wheat production forecast for 2010 to 651 million tonnes, from 676 million tonnes reported in June. However, despite production problems in some leading exporting countries, the world wheat market remains far more balanced than at the time of the world food crisis in 2007/08 and fears of a new global food crisis are not justified at this point, FAO said.
The Non-Governmental Organisation Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued Nigeria's federal government for allegedly maltreating pensioners in the country. In the suit, filed at the Federal High Court in Lagos, SERAP said 'owing to the government’s failure to faithfully implement the Pensions Reform Act, several pensioners continue to have their internationally recognized human rights to life, to an adequate standard of living, to equality and non-discrimination, and to humane treatment violated, with impunity.”
We are now in August, that special month set aside to celebrate the achievements of women in South Africa. But I'm not so sure we should be pouring champagne just yet. It is also during this month that we commemorate the day on which 20,000 women marched on the Pretoria Union Buildings 54 years ago to protest the extension of passes restricting freedom of movement during the apartheid government.
As we commemorate South Africa National Women's Day, Gender Links spoke to ordinary women about the challenges they face every day. In an accompanying story, Doreen Gaura writes that the link between many women's organisations and the realities of women's every day lived experience has become tenous. She spoke to women from informal settlements about the issues that matter to them. This photo essay documents their conversation.