The Drum Beat - 128 - Communication News and Trends
---------------------------------------------------

This Drum Beat pulls together compelling stories from The C. I. Home
Page - http://www.comminit.com - from Nov 16 2001 to Jan 18 2002.
This includes 3 sections - Development News, Communication News and
Base Line. We find relevant information, usually from sources that
you won't see in the mainstream media. Links are provided for more
information. Stories change every Tuesday and Friday.

Please take a look, let us know what you think and send us your sto-
ries and information. Contact

***

COMMUNICATION NEWS
Archived and searchable
http://www.comminit.com/commnews.html

1. Telecentres for Refugees
http://allafrica.com/stories/200111150030.html

Nov 15 2001 allafrica.com. Refugees in camps in Tanzania will soon be
able to communicate with their far-flung relatives from purpose-built
telecommunications centres installed in or near their camps. The In-
ternational Telecommunications Union in partnership with UNHCR and
UNESCO, will provide basic voice, fax and internet connections from 3
community telecentres in and around refugee camps along northwestern
border of Tanzania.

2. Peace Journalism in Rural Colombia
http://www.idrc.ca/reports/read_article_english.cfm?article_num=1029

Nov 16, 2001 IDRC. In response to guerrilla campaigns, military coun-
terstrikes, and the war on the drug trade, Colombian social organisa-
tions and community radio stations have united to form SIPAZ- Sistema
Nacional de Comunicación para la Paz. SIPAZ encourages the exchange
of news fostering peace, tolerance and respect for nature. It pro-
duces a news programme from a hub of 10 centres linked via Internet
to 42 community radio stations and 2 local television stations.
http://www.sipaz.net/

3. Promoting Sustainable Development and Southern Voices Online
http://www.iconnect-online.org/base/show_template_art?template=1&article...

Nov 1 2001 iConnect online. OneWorld International has launched a
daily news service on Yahoo! News. The sources for the stories and
links are NGOs. OneWorld aims to increase the visibility of its 1000
partner organizations, particularly those from the South. It is the
first daily non-profit world news syndication on a major corporate
Web portal. The news service focuses on events relating to human
rights, world poverty, social justice, the environment and sustain-
able development. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wl/oneworld/

4. Tough Times Ahead for Telecommunications in African Countries
http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act_88.html#money

Dec 2 2001 Balancing Act. African countries preparing to sell tele-
communication licenses could struggle to find anyone interested in
the opportunity, says the International Telecommunication Union.
Given the global recession in the telecoms industry the chance of at-
tracting investors for more cellular networks is bleak and even worse
for countries offering fixed line licenses. "Most African countries
probably could not give away, let alone sell, fixed-line licenses,"
it said.

5. Computers for the People in Brazil
http://www.benton.org/News/010802.html

Jan 8 2002 Benton Communication Related Headlines. Brazilian televi-
sion personality and tycoon Silvio Santos is helping to bridge the
digital divide by promoting a subsidised computer industry package
which includes a PC, printer and software. Despite such programmes,
the biggest obstacle to rising computer sales in Brazil is still
household income where 15 million households interested in owning a
computer can only afford to pay $25 per month for the computer and
Internet connection.

***

'DB Classifieds - Training, Books, Events, Consultants' will be is-
sued Feb 6, 2002. For information about advertising your Publica-
tions, Training Events, Courses, Conferences and Consultancy ser-
vices, please contact Janice Innes

***

DEVELOPMENT NEWS
Archived and searchable
http://www.comminit.com/devnews.html

6. NGO's Claim 37 Laws and Billions of Rupees Fail to Protect Chil-
dren in India
http://www.globalmarch.org/clns/clns-nov-15.htm#3

Nov 15 2001 Child Labour News Service. There are over 100 million
child labourers and 450,000 child prostitutes in India despite 37
child rights laws and annual expenditures of 10 billion rupees to
help disadvantaged children. Representatives of NGO's and government
agencies see this as proof of 'no visible progress' on child rights
while the government counters that child labour is declining and a
survey of hazardous industries did not reveal a single case of child
labour.

7. Biopiracy Project Stopped by Chiapas Indigenous Peoples
http://www.rafi.org/article.asp?newsid=279

Nov 9 2001 ETC News Release. After 2 years of opposition from indige-
nous organisations in Chiapas, Mexico, a project aimed at 'bio-
prospecting' Mayan medicinal plants and traditional knowledge, has
been cancelled. The Council of Traditional Indigenous Doctors and
Midwives said that 'indigenous communities are asking for a morato-
rium on all 'biopiracy' projects in Mexico, so that we can discuss,
understand and propose our own alternative approaches to using our
resources and knowledge.' Contact: COMPITCH [email protected]

8. International Network of Young Activists to Fight AIDS in Africa
http://www.yaids.org/otrseries.htm

Nov 28 2001 The Advocacy Project. Youth Against AIDS (YAA) has
launched a network for young people who they feel are 'sidelined by
governments and the international community, though they bear the
brunt of the disease and have much to contribute.' YAA has associates
in 30 African nations and is supported by chapters at universities in
Europe and the US. To subscribe to YAA's newsletter e-mail yaa-
[email protected] with the word 'subscribe' in the body of
the message.

9. Grameen Bank Plagued by Debt Problems
http://www.infochangeindia.org/PovertyItop.jsp?section_idv=7#348

Dec 12 2001 Infochange. The Grameen Bank has a formidable reputation
in microcredit but recent years have seen set backs. Its loan portfo-
lio increased in the early 1990s, but has shrunk to 1996 levels,
profits have declined 85% and nearly 19% of loans are overdue. A for-
mer director says: 'borrower groups have become lobbying groups... An
entire group would say, unless you pay this person 5,000 taka we will
all stop paying.'

10. Exchanging Guns for Radios in Niger
http://www.freeplayfoundation.org/News/NewsItems/NigerRCP.htm

Dec 28 2001 Freeplay Foundation. The Freeplay Foundation along with
the UNDP and the government of Niger have donated over 12,000 wind-
up, battery free radios that will be used to encourage Nigerienes to
hand in illicit guns. The radios will be given to rural communities
as they return illegal guns to the government for decommissioning.
The programme is also designed to promote community radio and train
youth in radio repair.

***

BASE LINE
Archived and searchable
http://www.comminit.com/baseline.html

11. Trading Diamonds for Guns
http://www.idrc.ca/reports/read_article_english.cfm?article_num=1025
Source: IDRC Reports

* In 2000, the international diamond industry produced more than 120
million carats of rough diamonds with a market value of US $7.5 bil-
lion.

* This converts into 70 million pieces of jewellery worth close to US
$58 billion.

* Rebel armies in Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of
Congo, are conservatively estimated by De Beers to traffic in about
4% of world production.

* 4% of $7.5 billion is $525 million - enough to buy a lot of weap-
ons.

12. Poverty in the Commonwealth of Independent States Since 1989
http://www.unicef-icdc.org/publications/pdf/monee8/eng/executive.pdf
Source: A Decade of Transition, Report by the Monee Project UNICEF

* 410 million people live in the 27 countries of the CIS.

* On average income fell by 30% between 1989 and 1999.

* Nearly 18 million children live in households with incomes lower
than $2.15 per person per day.

* There were 3.2 million 'excess deaths' - deaths over what would
have been expected using 1989 mortality rates - between 1990 and
1999.

* Graduation from lower secondary school fell from 96% in 1989 to 83%
in 1997.

13. Maternal Mortality
http://www.unicef.org/media/sowc02presskit/goal-two.htm
Source: UNICEF: The State of the World's Children 2002

* 515,000 women die every year because of pregnancy and childbirth.

* In 2000, there were 400 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

* Lifetime chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth:
Sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 13
Least Developed Countries, 1 in 16
World, 1 in 75
CEE/CIS & Baltic States, 1 in 797
Industrialized countries, 1 in 4,085

***

This issue compiled by
Chris Morry