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The Palestine Papers

Al Jazeera has obtained more than 1,600 internal documents from a decade of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Glossary
We've compiled a list of the most frequently-used terms from The Palestine Papers.
Frequently asked questions
What are these papers? Why are they in English? We answer the most common questions.

Qurei to Livni: "I'd vote for you"

The Palestine Papers reveal that Kadima's leaders refused to compromise on even the most basic issues.

Meeting Minutes: Trilateral - United States, Israel and Palestine
July 16, 2008
Meeting Minutes: Bilateral Post-Annapolis Plenary Session
June 21, 2008
Meeting Minutes: Ahmed Qurei, Saeb Erekat and Tzipi Livni
January 27, 2008
Meeting Minutes: Saeb Erekat and Karel de Gucht
March 23, 2007
Meeting Summary: Saeb Erekat and George Mitchell
October 1, 2009

"We can't refer to the past"

Israel refuses to take responsibility for creating the Palestinian refugee crisis.

"The biggest Yerushalayim"

PA offered to concede almost all of East Jerusalem, an historic concession for which Israel offered nothing in return.

Erekat's solution for the Haram

The PA's chief negotiator suggested unprecedented compromises on the division of Jerusalem and its holy sites.

Livni: A lawyer 'against law'?

In 2007, Israel's then-foreign minister proclaimed herself "against law, international law in particular".

Misunderstanding Israeli motives

Alistair Crooke 24 Jan 2011 19:42 GMT

Why is there no Palestinian state? Because the Israeli government's objective is not a Jewish state, but a Zionist one.

A dangerous shift on 1967 lines

Ali Abunimah 24 Jan 2011 19:42 GMT

US position on borders perhaps opens the door to dangerous Israeli ambitions to transfer non-Jewish citizens

Rashid Khalidi: Leaked "Palestine Papers" Underscore Weakness of Palestinian Authority, Rejectionism of Israel and U.S.
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/1/24/rashid_khalidi_leaked_palestine_papers_underscore
Palestinian Authority officials have challenged the documents’ veracity. Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat called their contents, quote, "a pack of lies."
The revelations are quite striking. The most important, I think, is the degree to which not only Palestinian negotiators were forthcoming, but the degree to which the Israelis were unwilling to accept concessions. It seriously casts into doubt the idea that Israel would accept anything but complete capitulation by the Palestinians to absolutely everything they’re demanding on every front.
Another thing that comes out very strikingly from these documents is the degree to which the United States is twisting the arm of the Palestinians, the degree to which American diplomats, whether Hillary Rodham Clinton or Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during the previous administration, are unsympathetic to the Palestinians and are in cahoots

Two decades of secret Israeli-Palestinian accords leaked to media worldwide
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/two-decades-of-secret-israeli-palestinian-accords-leaked-to-media-worldwide-1.338768

VOA on The Daily Show (Updated)
http://mountainrunner.us
Briefly, opening with “I got a hold of your show on the web and I was so impressed with the heart of it,” Jon Stewart began his interview with Kambiz Hosseini and Saman Arbabi, two U.S. Government employees – and U.S. public diplomats – behind “Parazit”, a Voice of America program aimed at Iran.
Under current law, amended from its original form, if The Daily Show had requested permission from the U.S. Government to broadcast the clip it would have been denied.
Two comments. First, kudos to VOA’s Persian News Network’s “Parazit” for the recognition. Jon Stewart said to Hosseini and Arbabi, “you’re like our show but with real guts” and “I’m proud to be considered in the fraternity of humorists that you guys are in.”
Second, Jon Stewart once again went to where little media has gone before: an examination of U.S. Government broadcasting – in this case, with high compliments – for the purpose of increasing American awareness in the same. This right of review, to become aware of what we’re doing abroad and why, to allow media within the borders of the United States access and permission to comment and rebroadcast or reuse material as they – in this case The Daily Show – see fit was the intent of Congress over six decades ago when the law was originally debated and passed. Today, however, it was against the law for VOA to make the material available to The Daily Show under the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, as amended. At one time, the material the Act covers was deemed as exempt from requests under the Freedom of Information Act.

Yes, there is No Smith-Mundt Act in India, nor anywhere else (except Japan?)

it is important to understand the law applied only to certain activities of the State Department, and later the USIA. Many erroneously believe the Act applies, specifically the limitation on the government on domestic dissemination, applies to the entire government. It does not and does not even apply to the whole of the State Department. Second, the information was never intended to be off-limits. Indeed, it was the intent of the Congress that it would be accessed, monitored and even distributed by the media and the Congress as they deemed fit. It was the Government that was not to distribute the material. This is a material and not insignificant difference.

There were three restrictions, of which people only remember one. The first two dealt directly with preventing “Nazi-style” propaganda which was based on the elimination of alternative voices, and the Free Press movement of the mid-1940’s (which was largely based on preventing the conditions in which Nazi and Fascist propaganda could take over the minds of people) as well as concerns about unfair competitive advantages of a government-financed news agency. These two, which remain on the books today, untouched from their original form. These two are a prevention of a monopoly and the requirement to maximize use of private media whenever possible.

One can only say that the Zorinsky Amendment of 1985 “reaffirmed” something if the original intent was found lacking. This was the contemporary opinion, but it was based largely on the “closing the loophole” by Senator Fulbright in 1972 who tried to kill off both USIA and the Radios (RFE, RL, VOA) because the contemporary environment was substantially different from the environment for which they were created two-three decades earlier. The context of the Zorinsky Amendment is essential, but almost never included let alone understood. Zorinsky was objecting to a USIA (and “public diplomacy”) that far different than that of the 1950s and of the information services authorized in the 1940s (and of the information activities of today)
By law, the USIA cannot engage in domestic propaganda. This distinguishes us, as a free society, from the Soviet Union where domestic propaganda is a principal government activity.

There is considerable discussion within USIA about using the Agency's so-called second mandate to engage in domestic propaganda. The second mandate -- "telling America about the world" -- has never been implemented. It should not now be implemented as part of a USIA strategy to propagandize the American people on foreign policy issues.
.....In legal terms, the past prohibition against domestic distribution has been de facto rather than de jure. There is nothing in the statutes specifically forbidding making USIA materials available to American audiences. Rather, what began as caution has hardened into policy. But the law notwithstanding, so hoary a precedent is not lightly discarded. The sense of Congress was accessory to its creation, and the sense of Congress is essential to its demise.

Science Daily - News Daily

Mindfulness Meditation Training Changes Brain Structure in Eight Weeks

Participating in an 8-week mindfulness meditation program appears to make measurable changes in brain regions associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.

U.S. power unbeatable for decades: China policy planner
http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre70n16k-us-china-usa-news
Le Yucheng, director-general of policy planning for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, made the remarks before Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States last week, but they reflect the thinking behind Hu's four-day effort to both reassure Washington while pressing Beijing's own complaints.

New markers for allergic disorders thanks to analysis of medical databases

Children who displayed greater levels of self-control were more likely to have better health, greater financial success and more.

Those children whose self-control improved as they aged had better outcomes than those whose did not.

Everyone could benefit from improving self-control, not just at-risk groups.

http://news.discovery.com/human/children-self-control-success-110124.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Sleep Helps Reinforce Memory

When the brain is triggered to recall a memory during sleep, memories are made stronger.

http://news.discovery.com/human/sleep-memory-brain-110124.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Human Rights

Most Topular Stories
COTE D'IVOIRE: Local UN staff easy targets in the crisis

IRIN

ABIDJAN, 24 January 2011 (IRIN) - While the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) faces a climate of orchestrated and growing hostility, local UN employees, even those working with agencies completely separate from UNOCI, are living in fear.
ZIMBABWE: Elizabeth Matambanadzo, "I was shocked at the HIV-positive result because I had never had sex"

IRIN

NYANGA, 24 January 2011 (IRIN) - At first Elizabeth Matambanadzo, 18, did not think she was cut out to be part of a group of young people helping to take care of the sick and elderly. Now, months after joining Family Caring Trust (FACT) in Nyanga in Manicaland Province, she says helping others living with HIV has helped her to come to terms with her own HIV-positive status.
Vietnam: Intensifying Repression of Human Rights

hrw.org
Human Rights Watch
25 Jan 2011 | 3:16 pm

(New York) - The Vietnam government intensified its repression of activists and dissidents during 2010, and cracked down harshly on freedom of expression, association, and assembly, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2011. read more
OPT: Flotilla aid fails to deliver in Gaza, most aid damaged or not distributed

ReliefWeb - Headlines
24 Jan 2011 | 6:11 pm

Date: 25 Jan 2011Source: Christian Science Monitor
Mexico: The Passing of Indigenous Rights Supporter Bishop Samuel Ruiz

Global Voices in English » Humanitarian
Silvia Viñas
24 Jan 2011 | 11:38 am

Written by Silvia Viñas Bishop Samuel Ruiz passed away this morning. Tim Johnson explains: “Ruiz […] started the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center out of his diocese, and played an instrumental role in keeping the Zapatista uprising that erupted in 1994 from flaring into broader violence. Ruiz’s work on behalf of indigenous peoples caused his renown to spread around the hemisphere.”

hrw.org
Vietnam: Intensifying Repression of Human Rights

Human Rights Watch
25 Jan 2011 | 3:16 pm

(New York) - The Vietnam government intensified its repression of activists and dissidents during 2010, and cracked down harshly on freedom of expression, association, and assembly, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2011. read more
Singapore: Hocus Pocus Hides Rights Abuses

Human Rights Watch
25 Jan 2011 | 2:57 pm

(New York) - Singapore's stated goal of updating its political system in time for the 2011 elections should include revamping laws, policies, and practices that fail to comply with international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its World Report 2011. read more
Philippines: More Talk Than Action on Human Rights

Human Rights Watch
24 Jan 2011 | 9:00 pm

(New York) - President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines took office in June 2010 promising to promote justice for rights violations, but his government has taken insufficient steps to hold perpetrators of killings and other abuses accountable, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2011. read more
Thailand: Serious Setbacks in Respecting Rights

Human Rights Watch
24 Jan 2011 | 9:00 pm

(New York) - The government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand failed to fulfill its pledges to hold human rights abusers accountable in 2010, a turbulent year for the country, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2011. At least 90 people died and 2,000 were injured in street battles in Bangkok between March and May. read more
Malaysia: Action to Improve Rights Falls Far Short

Human Rights Watch
24 Jan 2011 | 4:01 pm

(New York) - Repressive practices by Malaysia's government show that Prime Minister Seri Najib Tun Razak's pledge to "uphold civil liberties" was little more than an empty promise, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2011. read more

IRIN
ZIMBABWE: Elizabeth Matambanadzo, "I was shocked at the HIV-positive result because I had never had sex"

NYANGA, 24 January 2011 (IRIN) - At first Elizabeth Matambanadzo, 18, did not think she was cut out to be part of a group of young people helping to take care of the sick and elderly. Now, months after joining Family Caring Trust (FACT) in Nyanga in Manicaland Province, she says helping others living with HIV has helped her to come to terms with her own HIV-positive status.
COTE D'IVOIRE: Climate of fear around “Republic of Golf”

ABIDJAN, 24 January 2011 (IRIN) - More than a month after clashes between forces loyal to Côte d'Ivoire's rival claimants to the presidency, the sound of gunfire still echoes loudly in the memories of those living around the Golf Hotel, where Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized winner of a 28 November election, and his associates, are holed up under UN protection.
OPT: Gaza’s blogging boom

GAZA CITY, 24 January 2011 (IRIN) - Sharif Al Sharif, 27, launched his blog in 2006 when there were only a handful of bloggers in the Gaza Strip. Now, he says, there are more than 50. The past year has seen a boom in social media in Gaza as young women, and men like Sharif, take to the web to join a global community they are otherwise unable to access. A growing international audience is logging on to read them.
SRI LANKA: Food security and livelihoods hit in flood-affected east

MANAMPITIYA, 24 January 2011 (IRIN) - Food security and livelihoods have been severely hit in Sri Lanka, specialists say, after heavy rains caused widespread flooding and drove hundreds of thousands from their homes, left 43 people dead, and damaged or destroyed close to 30,000 homes.
COTE D'IVOIRE: Local UN staff easy targets in the crisis

ABIDJAN, 24 January 2011 (IRIN) - While the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) faces a climate of orchestrated and growing hostility, local UN employees, even those working with agencies completely separate from UNOCI, are living in fear.

ReliefWeb - Headlines
OPT: Flotilla aid fails to deliver in Gaza, most aid damaged or not distributed

24 Jan 2011 | 6:11 pm

Date: 25 Jan 2011Source: Christian Science Monitor
Sudan: Study demands justice for survivors of gender-based violence

24 Jan 2011 | 11:41 am

Date: 24 Jan 2011Source: Enough Project
Killer year caps deadly decade; reducing disaster impact “critical” - UN

24 Jan 2011 | 9:03 am

Date: 24 Jan 2011Source: Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
Yemen: Ongoing clashes in Lahj and Dhale trigger large displacement

24 Jan 2011 | 5:47 am

Date: 24 Jan 2011Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Sri Lanka: Food security and livelihoods hit in flood-affected east

24 Jan 2011 | 4:05 am

Date: 24 Jan 2011Source: Integrated Regional Information Networks

Global Voices in English » Humanitarian
Mexico: The Passing of Indigenous Rights Supporter Bishop Samuel Ruiz

Silvia Viñas
24 Jan 2011 | 11:38 am

Written by Silvia Viñas Bishop Samuel Ruiz passed away this morning. Tim Johnson explains: “Ruiz […] started the Fray Bartolome de las Casas Human Rights Center out of his diocese, and played an instrumental role in keeping the Zapatista uprising that erupted in 1994 from flaring into broader violence. Ruiz’s work on behalf of indigenous peoples caused his renown to spread around the hemisphere.”
Morocco: Social Protests Continue

Amira Al Hussaini
23 Jan 2011 | 2:21 pm

Written by Amira Al Hussaini Moroccan blog Alwandida (Ar) zooms in on 'social' protests in Morocco. Here, he posts a video showing a woman speaking out against housing problems.
Haiti: Aid From Slovakia Blocked by Customs for Ten Months

Tibor Blazko
21 Jan 2011 | 8:42 am

Written by Tibor Blazko The Department of Home Affairs has confirmed (SLO) that a container with the second shipment of humanitarian aid from Slovakia has been blocked by the customs in Haiti for nearly ten months. This problem, however, concerns not only Slovakia's shipment. As Vladimir Krčméry, Rector of the Bratislava-based St. Elisabeth University College of Health and Social Work, reports, hundreds of containers from other countries have also been detained by the Haiti customs - because “things that take a week to arrange [elsewhere], require a year” there. NGOs are…
Tunisia: Serbian Tourists Refuse to Return Home

Sasa Milosevic
20 Jan 2011 | 1:03 pm

Written by Sasa Milosevic Last week, eleven Serbian tourists spending their holidays in Tunisian resort towns of Sousse and Hammamet categorically refused to leave this North African country before Thursday, Jan. 20, which was supposed to be the final day of their tour. Because of the emergency situation, they had been offered to return to Belgrade with the last Jat Airways flight last week, but after they refused, the Serbian Embassy representatives told them they would be staying at their own risk, as the Embassy could not guarantee any flights out of Tunisia on the day of their scheduled…
Panama: Fire in Youth Prison Sparks Controversy

Stephen Cairns
18 Jan 2011 | 8:38 pm

Written by Ariel Moreno · Translated by Stephen Cairns · View original post [es]The Panama national police have written another controversial chapter in the administration of the current government of Ricardo Martinelli. The site Kaosenlared [es] reports what has happened: 7 menores recluidos en el Centro de Cumplimiento de Menores resultaron seriamente quemados, 5 de ellos de gravedad, en un incidente ocurrido este domingo 9 de Enero. Los menores reclamaban que tenían más de 8 días sin agua, producto de la crisis del suministro de agua potable en la ciudad capital. Más de 8…

...My heart's in Accra
links for 2011-01-21

Ethan
21 Jan 2011 | 3:03 pm

Food for Thinkers: The Rise of White People Food – Food – GOOD Critique of the NYTimes for overfocusing on a small subset of NYC restaurants, missing more authentic cuisine in outer boroughs. Interesting to think about in the context of serendipity, discovery. (tags: cities urban exploration nyc food serendipity)
links for 2011-01-17

Ethan
17 Jan 2011 | 3:01 pm

?! Mission-based game platform that encourages kids/teens to explore the real world and find answers to complex questions through experimentation. Team includes the SF0 guys… (tags: games education learning collaboration ARGs SF0 seriousgames serendipity) What Future Does Facebook Have? – Grasping Reality with Both Hands The Facebook approach to search: "You need to know what your friends and your friends of friends already know that you do not." Brad DeLong looks at the idea that Facebook could displace Google and takes an early glance at the idea of friend-informed…
Rewire: Rethinking Globalization in an Age of Connection

Ethan
17 Jan 2011 | 2:28 pm

I’m happy to announce that W. W. Norton & Company has agreed to publish my first book, Rewire: Rethinking Globalization in an Age of Connection. Should all go well, I hope to turn in the manuscript late this year for publication some time in 2012. I’m very grateful to my agent, David Miller of The Garamond Agency, for his hard work in helping me bring this book to the world. And I’m greatly looking forward to working with Brendan Curry at Norton. My book asks whether the internet is leading towards more contact across boundaries of language, nation and culture and, if…
A reflection on Tunisia

Ethan
14 Jan 2011 | 7:41 pm

This week started for me with a huge event in my family’s life – after six years of study, my wife was ordained with a rabbi, and our family celebrated with her in Colorado. It ended joyfully as well, as I watched in awe as Tunisians took to the streets and kicked out a widely despised dictator. I’ve had the honor to work with Sami ben Gharbia, a passionate Tunisian activist, for the past five years, and I’m excited for him, for all my other Tunisian friends, and for everyone brave enough to take to the streets and demand change. This was going to be the week I stopped…
Brock’s insights on the Tunisia media attention disparity

Ethan
14 Jan 2011 | 9:15 am

George Brock (Professor and Head of Journalism at City University London, long time writer and editor for the Times of London) has a thoughtful and helpful response to my previous post on the protests in Tunisia and my perception that they’re getting far less media attention than the “green revolution” protests in Iran. Before addressing his helpful intervention, a quick update: Protests are continuing throughout Tunisia. President Ben Ali is looking increasingly desperate. In a speech yesterday, he promised to cut prices on some major foodstuffs, remove restrictions on the…

UN Dispatch
Russia Boming, UN Women, Flotilla Update and More from UN Direct

UN Insider
24 Jan 2011 | 3:08 pm

Russia bombing: Today both the SG and the Security Council issued statements condemning the bombing at Moscow’s Airport and sending sympathies to the victims and their families, as well as expressing their solidarity with the Government of Russia. UN Women: the first UN Women Executive Board session opened today, which will run through the 26th. Speaking at the meeting, ED Bachelet presented UN Women’s 100 Day Action Plan, which will guide the entity’s work through the first few months. UN Women’s primary objective is to build national capacity and ownership, which it will do…
Why the USA Should Stay on the Human Rights Council

Mark Leon Goldberg
24 Jan 2011 | 10:57 am

The new chair of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs is convening a big hearing tomorrow on the U.S. contributions to the United Nations. The hearing is titled United Nations: Urgent Problems that Require Congressional Action. This article from The Hill suggests that chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen’s first target among these so-called “urgent problems” is the UN Human Rights Council. She wants the Obama administration to pull out of the Council and to de-fund it. Here is why that is a bad idea: 1) The HRC is a reality. It is not going away and the United States does…
Natural Disasters Cost the World the Equivalent of Bangladesh’s GDP Last Year

Mark Leon Goldberg
24 Jan 2011 | 9:35 am

The UN is out with a new report showing that natural disasters cost about $109 billion in economic damage in 2010. That’s compared to about $35 billion in 2009. Surprisingly, the two mega disasters of 2010–the Haiti earthquake and Pakistan floods–were not the costliest disasters in terms of overall economic damage. According to data from the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters the Haiti quake inflicted about $8 billion of damage; the Pakistan floods, about $9.5 billion. That’s bad. But not as bad as the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile in…
Central African Republic Votes Amid Fighting

Daniel J Gerstle
24 Jan 2011 | 8:08 am

The Central African Republic is a culturally and environmentally-diverse country with incredible natural resources holding new presidential and general elections this week. But hope is cautious amid widespread poverty and three distinct violent conflicts, including an armed intervention by neighboring Chad. What is at stake in the election? And what are these three conflicts undermining national unity? First of all, the election, despite its fears of corruption, is somewhat good news. Two of the three rivals for the presidency are former enemies. President Francois Bozize came to power…
Huge Bombing at Moscow Airport

Mark Leon Goldberg
24 Jan 2011 | 6:31 am

Reuters is reporting that several people were killed in a suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. Twitter sources say that as many as 10 people were killed in the bombing. This is very much breaking news. I will post updates throughout the day as information becomes available. In the meantime, it is worth noting that this is not the first time that Russia has experienced this kind of terrorist violence. Last March, 38 people were killed in a double suicide bombings of the Moscow metro. In 2004, two separate suicide attacks on the Moscow metro killed 50 people. As far as I…

Violence Against Women
Dominican Republic must stop forcible deportation of Haitians

6 Jan 2011 | 9:00 pm

Amnesty International today urged authorities in the Dominican Republic to immediately halt the mass deportation of Haitian migrants amid claims by the authorities that the move is necessary to prevent the spread of cholera.
Dominican Republic must stop forcible deportation of Haitians

6 Jan 2011 | 9:00 pm

Amnesty International today urged authorities in the Dominical Republic to immediately halt the mass deportation of Haitian migrants amid claims by the authorities that the move is necessary to prevent the spread of cholera
Human rights warning ahead of South Sudan referendum

6 Jan 2011 | 9:00 pm

Amnesty International urges the governments of unity and of south Sudan to respect and protect human rights as the vote on southern independence takes place this weekend.
Haiti: Sexual violence against women increasing

5 Jan 2011 | 9:00 pm

Women and girls living in Haiti's makeshift camps face an increasing risk of rape and sexual violence, according to a new Amnesty International report.
Haiti: Sexual violence against women increasing

5 Jan 2011 | 9:00 pm

Women and girls living in Haiti’s makeshift camps face an increasing risk of rape and sexual violence, Amnesty International said in a new report released today

News from Survival International
Derisory sentences for torture video soldiers

24 Jan 2011 | 8:27 am

Footage of the torture was released on the internet in October.© Survival Three Indonesian soldiers who were captured on video torturing two Papuan villagers last May, were sentenced on Monday to between eight and ten months in prison. Human rights organizations have condemned the short sentences that were handed out in the closed military court, citing this as evidence that the Indonesian military is not serious about improving its human rights record. The disturbing and graphic video, released by Survival and others on the internet last October, showed an elderly man stripped naked, a…
One year after extinction of Bo, Andaman tribe in danger

24 Jan 2011 | 1:50 am

Boa Sr was the last member of the Bo tribe. © Alok Das One year after the death of the last member of the Bo tribe of the Andaman Islands (January 26), Survival has warned that the neighbouring Jarawa tribe is also in danger. Boa Sr, the last of the Bo, died last January aged around 85. The Jarawa tribe number 365 people, and fiercely resisted contact with outsiders until 1998. Now an illegal road cuts through the Jarawa’s rainforest, and poachers and tourists invade their land. Poachers steal the animals the Jarawa need to survive and, like the tourists, risk introducing diseases to which…
Palm oil expansion threatens Palawan tribe

23 Jan 2011 | 12:00 am

Palm oil plantation, Peru. Much of the land used to grow biofuels such as palm oil is the ancestral land of tribal peoples. © Thomas Quirynen/Survival The Philippine government’s push to expand palm oil plantations is threatening the members of the Palawan tribe living in the lowlands of Palawan Island. In the last few years nickel mining has ravaged valuable areas of rainforest, destroying sacred sites and causing the siltation of rivers and farmland. It is threatening the Palawan tribe’s watersheds, which provide water for the lowland communities. Now, the lowland Palawan and their…
Survival protestors target international tourism fair in Madrid

22 Jan 2011 | 3:45 am

Demonstrators protest against tourism to Botswana at FITUR.© Iñaki Luis/Survival Visitors to the international tourism fair in Madrid were today met with Survival protestors calling for a boycott of tourism to Botswana. The protestors, angry at the Botswana government’s treatment of the Kalahari Bushmen, stood beside the Botswana Tourism Organization’s stand inside the fair, holding placards that read, ‘boycott Botswana tourism’ and ‘save the Bushmen’.   Survival has called for a boycott of Botswana tourism and diamonds until the Bushmen are able to live on their ancestral…
India Supreme Court judge condemns 'historic injustice' of tribal peoples

21 Jan 2011 | 3:45 am

Bhil girl, India. The Supreme Court has condemned the 'terrible oppression and atrocities' of India's tribal people.© Sunil Janah/Survival Two of India’s Supreme Court judges have passed a groundbreaking judgement recognising India’s tribal people as the nation’s ‘original inhabitants’ and strongly condemning their ‘historic injustice’. Judges Gyan Sudha Misra and Markandey Katju were hearing an appeal case regarding the stripping, beating and parading naked of a Bhil tribal woman for having had a relationship with a man of ‘higher’ caste. The judges proclaimed that the…

HUMANITARIAN NEWS - Google News
UN: Number of cholera deaths in Haiti shows signs of falling or stabilizing - UN News Centre

24 Jan 2011 | 2:26 pm

UN News CentreUN: Number of cholera deaths in Haiti shows signs of falling or stabilizingUN News CentreHowever, it remains unclear whether the epidemic has reached its peak, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in an update. Haiti Part 2 – Cholera UpdateExaminer.comall 4 news articles »
Somalia: As Somalia Marks 20 Years of Conflict UN Calls for More Humanitarian Aid - AllAfrica.com

24 Jan 2011 | 12:50 pm

Middle East OnlineSomalia: As Somalia Marks 20 Years of Conflict UN Calls for More Humanitarian AidAllAfrica.com"Progress is possible even in these difficult circumstances," the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden said. UN calls on world to step up support for SomaliaXinhuaUN urges Somalia solidarityMiddle East Online'Don't Abandon Somalia'IDN InDepthNews | Analysis That Mattersall 10 news articles »
Sarah McLachlan to receive Allan Slaight award - National Post (blog)

24 Jan 2011 | 12:11 pm

CBC.caSarah McLachlan to receive Allan Slaight awardNational Post (blog)Grammy award-winning songwriter Sarah McLachlan will receive the Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award at the 2011 Canadian Music Sarah McLachlan To Receive Humanitarian AwardCityNewsSarah McLachlan honoured for philanthropyCBC.caACCLAIMED SONGSTRESS SARAH MCLACHLAN RECEIVES ALLAN SLAIGHT HUMANITARIAN eJazzNewsall 5 news articles »
* China sends emergency flood aid to Sri Lanka - Colombo Page

24 Jan 2011 | 11:41 am

The Hindu* China sends emergency flood aid to Sri LankaColombo PageA Chinese place carrying the emergency humanitarian aid left Beijing on Monday at 8:00 pm local time, Chinese news agency, Xinhua reported. Sri Lanka: deputy UN humanitarian chief urges increased help for returneesMalaysia SunChina sends emergency relief materials to flood-ravaged Sri LankaPeople's Daily OnlinePlan to develop Sri Lanka's northThe HinduMinistry of Defence (press release) -ISRIA (registration)all 11 news articles »
Emergency Response Associate - Reuters AlertNet

24 Jan 2011 | 11:21 am

Emergency Response AssociateReuters AlertNetRelief International, a humanitarian non-profit agency with the vision and commitment to save lives and sustain livelihoods, currently seeks an Emergency and more »

The Ushahidi Blog
Auto-Detection of Location with Swift

Jon Gosier
24 Jan 2011 | 10:20 am

The following post was written by a volunteer developer, Vladimir G. Ermakov a Master’s student at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pennsylvania. Over the past few months he took on an ambitious project: to contribute code that would allow us to parse news articles and attempt to auto-detect the primary location that is the subject of any given text. Cross-posted from blog.swiftly.org Localizing News by Vladimir Ermakov The amount of information available in electronic format is rapidly increasing. It is becoming possible to find out real-time about the current events in a particular part…
Gallery of Interface Designs for the Ushahidi Platform

patrick
24 Jan 2011 | 6:32 am

Here are some interesting user-interface designs that show the diverse looks possible for Ushahidi deployments. The first is the original Ushahidi platform launched in January, 2008. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Queensland and the Ushahidi Ecosystem

Jon Gosier
17 Jan 2011 | 12:18 pm

The work of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in the recent floods in Queensland has been nothing short of remarkable. ABC was in the middle of piloting some of our new products internally when a true disaster struck in the form of sever flooding in the north eastern Australian state. In a matter of hours their trial of our products escalated to an actual emergency deployment, with their staff, and our own racing to assist the victims of the flood, as best as our technology allows. They’ve done a great recap of their experience here, which I encourage you to read for details. What…
Russia: Using The Ushahidi Platform To Reach Rural Areas

juliana
17 Jan 2011 | 3:22 am

[This is a guest blog post by Gregory Asmolov, an intern at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, contributing editor to “Runet Echo” and a Russian language blogger. He and Alexey Sidorenko deployed the Ushahidi platform Russian Fires.ru. This deployment is the second for the Help Map Team] The emergency situation that was caused by unprecedented wildfires in the Western Russia and was followed by the first Russian Ushahidi deployment “Help Map” is far behind. However in Russia, a state of emergency is a common situation, especially, when it’s winter. During Russian winter…
Ushahidi Video: Creating a New Narrative

Erik Hersman
5 Jan 2011 | 9:34 pm

Ushahidi: Creating a New Narrative from Ushahidi on Vimeo. The Ushahidi Platform allows everyone to create the narrative. In this video, the Ushahidi founders and others discuss the origins of, and rational behind, the Ushahidi platform. —- Produced by Jon Shuler & Sarah George Directed and Shot by Jon Shuler Motion Graphics by Mancel Lindsey Photography by Boniface Mwangi Music by Saregama – saregama-music.blogspot.com

united-nations « WordPress.com Tag Feed
Declare Global Climate Emergency! Green Business Leaders & NGOs plead in a letter to President Obama.

Neal Thomas
21 Jan 2011 | 7:04 am

Click Presidents Obama, Hu: Declare Global Climate Emergency, say Green Business Leaders, NGOs to read. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands of NGO’s, Non-Government Organizations, that are cobbled together to advance the UN’s sustainability agenda known as Agenda 21. ICLEI is an Accredited NGO for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development that has already brought 25% of the US population under their authority. How? Because 600 towns, cities, or counties have become members of ICLEI without the consent of State or US Congress…
Study demonstrates that "reduced vehicle ownership, increased bicycle ownership, and policy interventions, are important positive determinants of weekend physical activity participation levels.

Neal Thomas
21 Jan 2011 | 4:55 am

ICLEI/STAR Guidelines state in the Health and Safety/Active Living section: “Sustainable Communities create opportunities for and promote the integration of recreation and physical activity into people’s daily routines and the built environment“ A study from the Southwest Region University Transportation Center confirms that if there are fewer cars, people will be more “active”. Well I bet so! Let me guess what the next $100,000 study will show…that if we drastically reduce food production, the population will decrease. Click 161020-1 Report Abstract…
Blair hits back over legal advice

joejolly
21 Jan 2011 | 4:28 am

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair says he disregarded Lord Goldsmith’s warning on the legality of war in a statement to the Iraq inquiry as his second evidence session gets underway. BBC News 21 January 2011 Iraq legal advice was ‘provisional’ – Tony Blair Tony Blair has said he disregarded Lord Goldsmith’s warning that attacking Iraq would be illegal without further UN backing because it was “provisional”. The ex-PM said he believed his top legal officer would change his position on whether a second UN resolution was needed when he knew the full details. His…
Wake County, North Carolina loves the United Nations!

Neal Thomas
21 Jan 2011 | 4:22 am

UN-USA-Wake County Home Page And as we now know, so does the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources! Click here to see. Did you know your county can join the United Nations USA club? From their website: “The chapter provides information and materials about the United Nations to social studies teachers in public and private schools and provides a speakers bureau, making speakers about the UN available to civic clubs, senior groups and school classes. The chapter also provides financial support to…
United Nations for Women

Lauren S
21 Jan 2011 | 4:07 am

Highly interested in the condition and position of women all over the world at the global, regional and local levels, I have decided to create a blog dedicated to women. I look forward to learning more about the rights and priorities of the world’s women. Nowadays, many organizations already exist to fight for women’s rights; unfortunately these international organizations seem to be insignificant in some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, where women have not got the right to vote yet, or Afghanistan and Yemen where women do not have a lot of respect or recognition from men. These are only…

Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog
Events, after the fact

EEM
24 Jan 2011 | 7:15 am

Australian National University YouTube Channel [access]- Select "politics" from the playlists located on the right, then scroll through to find the following presentations: "Australia's Role in Refugee Protection," "Australia's Treatment of Refugees and Asylum Seekers," and "Beyond the Spin 2010 election forum: Asylum seekers, immigration and citizenship."Dynamics of Conflict and Forced Migration in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Oxford, 30 Nov.-1 Dec. 2010 [workshop report]"Haiti: One Year After the Earthquake," Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, Washington, DC, 20 Jan.
Human Rights Watch World Report 2011

EEM
24 Jan 2011 | 7:00 am

Human Rights Watch issued its 21st World Report today. The report is an "annual review of human rights practices around the globe, [and] summarizes major human rights issues in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide, reflecting the extensive investigative work carried out in 2010 by Human Rights Watch staff."Readers can download the full report or browse by country chapter. Also available are photos and audio reports on human rights issues in specific countries.Previous editions are available here.Tagged Publications.
Publications: Env. Degrad., Irreg. Movements/Africa, Microfinance/Ethiopia, Peace Glossary, Returns/Cote d'Ivoire

EEM
21 Jan 2011 | 11:00 am

Environmental Degradation, Climate Change, Migration and Development (International Network on Migration and Development, 2010) [access]- Available in .doc; select title from list of working papers.In Harms Way: The Irregular Movement of Migrants to Southern Africa from the Horn and Great Lakes Regions, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 200 (UNHCR, Jan. 2011) [text]Linking Poor Rural Households to Microfinance and Markets in Ethiopia (Feinstein International Center, Nov. 2010) [text]Peace Terms: Glossary of Terms for Conflict Management and Peacebuilding (USIP, 2011) [text]UNHCR Position on…
ECHR Judgment: M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece

EEM
21 Jan 2011 | 9:45 am

I reported last year on a case heard before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) called M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece. The case involved the expulsion of an Afghan from Belgium to Greece. The court has now issued its decision, sparking numerous reactions from legal analysts and commentators. Here are a few of them:- Decision from Grand Chamber of ECtHR: Returning Asylum Seekers to Greece Violates European Conv. on Human Rights (Migrants at Sea Blog, Jan. 2011) [text]- Dublin II Grand Chamber Judgment - Expulsion within EU (ECHR Blog, Jan. 2011) [text]- The European…
Opportunities: Express your views on humanitarian assistance

EEM
20 Jan 2011 | 8:15 am

Are Masters degrees valid qualifications for humanitarian workers? [access]- ALNAP Forum topic.Survey of Perceptions of Accountability in Humanitarian Action [info] [access]- The survey closes on 21 Jan. 2011.World Conference on Humanitarian Studies, Tufts University, 2-5 June 2011 [info]- Looks like the CFP will be coming out soon... .Tagged Events & Opportunities

Aid Worker Daily
Al Jazeera – Sudan: History of a Broken Land

Jon Thompson
8 Jan 2011 | 11:52 pm

Al Jazeera has created a very well made video covering the history of Sudan and the reason for the conflict between north and south. I’ll let you judge the content and how balanced the reporting is but overall it is a nice piece of work. I worked there back in 2002 and it looks like it has come a long way since then although the needs are still significant according to the aid agencies currently working there. The BBC has a great interactive map while CNN has a decent infographic.
Logistician > Add to Cart > Checkout

Jon Thompson
8 Jan 2011 | 8:50 am

Copyright: MSF-Canada/Olivier Asselin Here is a very creative way to raise some money. The MSF warehouse in Canada has decided to sell field support staff online. You can now buy a logistician and send him/her off on a trip to a guaranteed austere environment. Here is what you get: Logisticians make sure that a medical project has a well-functioning infrastructure and everyone has what they need to do their work. As hands-on problem solvers, logisticians will process orders, purchase supplies on the local market, obtain permits, supervise local staff and take care of transport, safety and…
Ivory Coast Update

Jon Thompson
2 Jan 2011 | 11:20 pm

Photo courtesy: AFP/Al Jazeera Bloomberg News is reporting that Liberia and Ghana are preparing for an influx of refugees. To understand how we got here read the Guardian’s “Ivory Coast’s descent into madness“. Karnplay Town and Saclepea look like the main catchment points in Nimba County, Liberia. MSF has been there for quite some time handling Liberian refugees returning from Ivory Coast. The IRC is also in Nimba and the World Food Programme recently airlifted high energy biscuits into Saclepea. Open Street Map has woefully little regional data while Google Maps cuts…
Interlude – “Empire State of Mind” Jay-Z | Alicia Keys [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

Jon Thompson
29 May 2010 | 5:45 pm
Interlude – We Are Here: The Pale Blue Dot

Jon Thompson
12 Apr 2010 | 10:43 am

ICT for Peacebuilding (ICT4Peace)
Unique archives of post-war testimony and reporting on reconciliation in Sri Lanka

Sanjana Hattotuwa
18 Jan 2011 | 7:13 am

Yesterday I launched two archives on Groundviews that are unique in Sri Lanka. The blog post below, first published on Groundviews, explains the archives but what I wanted to simply ask here is why the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) itself, or mainstream media in Sri Lanka, don’t have the imagination to do this themselves? It’s not rocket science, and in fact, was proposed to the LLRC by former LMD Sri Lanka of the year Chandra Jayaratne as far back as September 2010. Groundviews is pleased to announce the launch of two archives covering media reports on and…
How much of dopamine did the coverage of Sri Lankan floods release?

Sanjana Hattotuwa
18 Jan 2011 | 6:46 am

Long before the recent devastating flooding in Sri Lanka, I have been interested in how media, including new media able to sustain an empathetic interest over the long-term on complex humanitarian emergencies. However multi-faceted and in-depth it may appear to be at first, local and international media approach disasters as episodes, concentrating coverage when it is at its peak, moving on after relief and aid work has stabilised, returning only for yearly anniversaries through critiques and reports on the divide between how things were done, and how they should have been done. One of the…
Introducing Long Reads on Groundviews | Long-form journalism in Sri Lanka

Sanjana Hattotuwa
13 Jan 2011 | 6:17 pm

I formally launched the Long Reads section on Groundviews today. This section brings to the site long-form journalism found in publications such as the Economist’s fantastic Intelligent Life quarterly, Foreign Policy, The New Yorker and the New York Times. Inspired by the Longreads blog, these articles offer more in-depth deliberation on key issues covered on Groundviews. Articles currently published include: Some reflections on reading Dayan Jayatilleka and Dharmeratnam Sivaram (Taraki), Anapayan Red Lines and Historical Realism, Dayan Jayatilleka Lanka’s Left, the State and…
New media and investigative journalism

Sanjana Hattotuwa
13 Jan 2011 | 6:12 pm

Kick-started my mid-career lectures at the Sri Lanka College of Journalism for 2011 on an appropriate topic – investigative journalism and new media. In 2008, Lasantha Wickremetunge, was the senior most journalist in Sri Lanka to be murdered. He and his soi disant paper, the Sunday Leader, pretty much defined English language investigative reporting in Sri Lanka. His killers are still at large. Close colleagues of Lasantha tell me that he did not use new media at all, and perhaps didn’t believe in it either. I wonder what he would think of the way journalism as a profession is…
Sri Lanka inside-out: Cyberspace and the mediated geographies of political engagement

Sanjana Hattotuwa
12 Jan 2011 | 8:32 am

Save for the treatment of Tamilnet in Mark Whitaker’s book on Sivaram, I know of no other Sri Lankan website other than Groundviews that has inspired rigorous academic study. From as early as 2007, content on Groundviews has been studied and quoted in academic journals, books and media reports. Today I was forwarded Sri Lanka inside-out: Cyberspace and the mediated geographies of political engagement, the most recent serious consideration of the site’s content. I know of two other post-grad students – at Fletcher and Columbia – who are basing their thesis in large…

Information Technology in Emergency & Crisis Response
Dags att organisera ett CrisisCamp

21 Jan 2011 | 12:42 am

Mot bakgrund av de utmaningar som Svensk krishantering står inför på lokal, regional och nationell-nivå så är det dags att organisera ett CrisisCamp.Syftet med ett CrisisCamp är att genom extremt fokuserat arbete, tillsammans i större team med olika kompetenser, dra nytta av informationsteknologi för att skapa bättre förutsättningar till effektiv hantering av krissituationer eller större händelser.Ett CrisisCamp är öppet för alla som vill vara med och bidra med sina erfarenheter och kompetens. Planen är att köra ett 24 timmars CrisisCamp under senare delen av våren 2011…
FEMA’s social media strategy

20 Jan 2011 | 6:54 am

Learn more about FEMA´s thinking on how to leverage social media to better respond to major emergencies and disasters. FEMA chief Craig Fugate is interviewed by Wired about the use of social media in emergency and disaster response. In the interview, Carig underline the importance that governments must adapt their official websites to also fit a mobile context as well as see social media as a core and important technology. Further, two-way communication between the public and government officials are discussed. It seems as Craig has listen to the research results provided by Leysia Palens…
Tekniskt ledningsstöd: I framtiden är en mobiltelefon det enda som behövs.

18 Jan 2011 | 1:19 am

Jag har i många år argumenterat för att mobiltelefonen är ett fundamentalt och centralt verktyg vid ledning av räddningsinsatser och vid krishantering. En av orsakerna till denna starka övertygelse är de empiriska resultat som forskningen visat. Radio är bra på många sätt, men den är inte personlig. Radiokommunikation är mycket bra för snabb kommunikation mellan flera individer i dynamiska situationer. Radio är sämre vid längre resonemang. Med detta sagt menar jag inte att RAKEL är fel. Inte alls. Rakel är en utmärkt idé för talad-kommunikation för stora operativa…
Crowd-sourcing reporting in large-scale events

18 Jan 2011 | 12:12 am

Once again has Ushahidi proven to be a successful platform for crowdsourcing information gathering in large-scale events. Have a look at http://queenslandfloods.crowdmap.com and see how collecting and visualizing reports from different communities form powerful visualizations. The amount of reports presents an interesting problem when all reports is expected to be positioned on a map. Too often, when the designers are not aware of the massive report volumes, all interesting geographical data becomes covered by "dots" representing single reports. In Ushahidi, they use aggregated numbers to…
Extreme citizen reporting from Tunis

17 Jan 2011 | 1:47 pm

The recent events in Tunisia have been very violent with many sad events taking place. In these and similar events, blogging and other use of social media has become important in order to tell the world about what is going on.The blog www.atunisiangirl.blogspot.com provided by Lina Ben Mhenni is a good example of extreme citizen reporting with detailed and horrific reports. This is one of several similar blogs showing the power of social media.

DARFUR NEWS - Google News
Robbery on Omdurman-Darfur road - Radio Dabanga

24 Jan 2011 | 3:57 pm

Robbery on Omdurman-Darfur roadRadio DabangaAn armed group in Darfur looted a commercial vehicle coming from the Omdurman area. The robbery took place between Abu Gamra and Al Sarif Beni Hussein in
Darfur man shot near Zalingei, dies - Radio Dabanga

24 Jan 2011 | 3:06 pm

Darfur man shot near Zalingei, diesRadio DabangaA Darfuri man was mortally wounded in a shooting by gunmen inside his home on Saturday. The man, Adam Ibrahim Ismail, was transferred from his village
North Sudan could quadruple oil output: minister - AFP

24 Jan 2011 | 12:15 pm

North Sudan could quadruple oil output: ministerAFPHe said most of the new production would come from Block 6, a block mostly located in the northern state of South Kordofan but which straddles South Darfur and more »
UN worried about upsurge of fighting in Darfur - Toronto Sun

24 Jan 2011 | 11:17 am

Times LIVEUN worried about upsurge of fighting in DarfurToronto SunJEM rejoined fitful Darfur peace talks in December, seven months after walking out of the negotiations. Although UNAMID is nearing deployment of its Sudanese Troops Arrest 37 in Darfur CampVoice of AmericaUNAMID edgy in Darfur refugee campsUPI.comUN mission: Sudanese troops arrest 37 after search in Darfur camp for The Canadian PressAfrique en Ligue -Radio Dabanga -Sudan Tribuneall 73 news articles »
UN evacuates CRS workers from Western Darfur after threats reported - Catholic News Service

24 Jan 2011 | 11:11 am

UN evacuates CRS workers from Western Darfur after threats reportedCatholic News ServiceWASHINGTON (CNS) -- More than a dozen Catholic Relief Services aid workers were evacuated from a remote area of Western Darfur to the

TIBET NEWS - Google News
Vancouver's Tibetan Community Demanding an End to the Looting of Tibet - The Media Co-op

24 Jan 2011 | 6:19 pm

Vancouver's Tibetan Community Demanding an End to the Looting of TibetThe Media Co-opToday a colourful group of 40 to 50 Tibet protestors gathered outside the Convention Centre which was hosting the
Japanese Holistic Healer in NYC to Build School for Tibetan Orphans in India - Huffington Post

24 Jan 2011 | 4:12 pm

Washington PostJapanese Holistic Healer in NYC to Build School for Tibetan Orphans in IndiaHuffington PostI first met Kazuko Tatsumura, OMD at a Christie's benefit for Tibet House at Rockefeller Center. We began to chat about Japan, where I had once studied, St. Joseph College Gears up for His Holiness the Dalai Lama's VisitTibet Post InternationalGlobal Voices: Meeting the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, IndiaToronto StarThe forging of a holy manWashington Postall 10 news articles »
Tibet Pharma Closes IPO; To Begin Trading Under Ticker Symbol "TBET" - RTT News

24 Jan 2011 | 2:17 pm

Tibet Pharma Closes IPO; To Begin Trading Under Ticker Symbol "TBET"RTT News(RTTNews) - Tibet Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (TBET: News ) Monday said it closed its initial public offering of 3 million shares of common stock at a public Tibet Pharmaceuticals Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering on NASDAQPR Newswire (press release)all 12 news articles »
Ajai Shukla: Er? by the way, Tibet! - Business Standard

24 Jan 2011 | 7:30 am

Ajai Shukla: Er? by the way, Tibet!Business StandardIt is time for India to recalibrate its Tibet policy based on a harder-nosed appreciation of happenings in the Land of the Snows. That New Delhi is already DAMMING TIBET TO SAVE CHINA: HYDROPOWER'S COMING GOLDEN DECADEPhayulall 3 news articles »
Flaming Lips Added To Tibet House US Benefit Concert - 411mania.com

24 Jan 2011 | 6:13 am

Brooklyn VeganFlaming Lips Added To Tibet House US Benefit Concert411mania.comThe Flaming Lips and Taj Mahal have joined the bill of the 21st Annual Tibet House US Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall on March 3rd, curated by artistic Flaming Lips, Taj Mahal Added To Tibet House BenefitGlide MagazineFlaming Lips & Michael Stipe playing Tibet Benefit, Deerhoof playing Europa Brooklyn Veganall 7 news articles »

Phayul Latest News
Global Voices: Meeting the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala

24 Jan 2011 | 2:32 am

His Holiness the Dalai Lama calls Dharamsala home. It isn’t the “rooftop of the world” that Tibet is. But, you could’ve fooled me. Dharamsala is like a mountain stronghold against Beijing’s oppression of Tibetan culture
China's Internet Spying

23 Jan 2011 | 10:10 pm

Last June, at about the time of the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989, several members of the internal investigation unit of a US company assembled at an inter
Photo shows Hu's Welcomers were Paid

22 Jan 2011 | 10:34 pm

The embassy put the word out to its network of front groups to mobilize: thousands of students and others would descend on the capital, their transportation and food would be covered, and they would be paid between $20 and $80
Swiss bank whistleblower Elmer represented by Tibetan lawyer

22 Jan 2011 | 4:16 am

Swiss bank laws by providing 2,000 offshore bank accounts to Julian Assange of Wikileaks, is a client of a lawyer of Tibetan origin, Ganden Teth
Unbowed China leader warns US

21 Jan 2011 | 4:42 am

Chinese President Hu Jintao, unbowed by pressure on a state visit, warned the United States on Thursday not to press on Taiwan and Tibet as he insisted that the rising Asian power sought cooperation

Tibet Will Be Free
Tibet News Roundup during President Hu’s US Visit

kate
24 Jan 2011 | 4:41 pm

Photo of SFT's skeleton dancers courtesy of Reuters The world’s media was on hand last week to cover the historic state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Washington, D.C. Human rights was a hot topic and Tibet was a central theme in the media’s coverage of China’s human rights failures. Tibetan and their supporter also gave the media lots to cover with 7 protests over 3-days, including a coffin march around the White House and giant skeleton puppets symbolizing how Tibet is a skeleton in Hu Jintao’s closet. News roundup of the protests in Washington, D.C:…
Tibet Haunts President Hu in Washington, D.C.

kate
24 Jan 2011 | 4:34 pm

Last week, Chinese President Hu Jintao was confronted by the skeletons in his closet. Tibetans and their supporters dogged the Chinese leader everywhere he went during his 3-day visit to Washington, D.C. Giant skeleton puppets representing Hu’s failed leadership and decades of repressive policies in Tibet haunted him in the streets of the U.S. capital.  Watch a video roundup and view photos of the colorful protests. From implementing martial law in Tibet in 1989 to his ongoing crackdown against pro-Tibet protesters, Hu Jintao has pursued policies that brutalize and marginalize the Tibetan…
Tsampa Eaters and Sweet Tea Drinkers: Tibetan Identity Assertion Through Food

High Peaks Pure Earth
19 Jan 2011 | 7:49 am

High Peaks Pure Earth is thrilled to be taking part in GOOD’s Food for Thinkers - a week-long, distributed, online conversation looking at food writing from as wide and unusual a variety of perspectives as possible taking place between January 18 and January 23, 2011.Tibet may not exactly be renowned as a home for exotic cuisine but food makes an interesting lens through which to examine Tibetan identity, particularly after the protests of 2008 and the subsequent political and military crackdown. This High Peaks Pure Earth contribution to GOOD’s online festival hopes to provoke discussion…
"One Year On": Dolkar’s Blogpost Following Her Second Prison Visit

High Peaks Pure Earth
17 Jan 2011 | 11:04 am

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a blogpost by Dolkar, wife of Karma Samdrup, that was written and posted on her blog on January 3, 2011. The blogpost was re-posted the same day on Woeser's blog and the introduction below is written by Woeser, who is friends with both Karma Samdrup and Dolkar, see Woeser's earlier blogpost "Remembering the First Time I Met Karma Samdrup".To read earlier High Peaks Pure Earth translations of blogposts by Dolkar, follow this link: http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/search/label/Dolkar%20TsoScreenshot of Dolkar's Fifth Blog"One Year On": Dolkar’s…
Coalition Urges President Obama to Raise Tibet During US-China Summit

kate
13 Jan 2011 | 6:26 pm

STUDENTS FOR A FREE TIBET January 13, 2011 For Immediate Release Contacts: Tenzin Dorjee, Executive Director, +1 646-724-0748 Kate Woznow, Deputy Director, +1 917-601-0069 Coalition Urges President Obama to Raise Tibet During US-China Summit New York – A coalition of 39 Tibetan organizations and Tibet support groups across the United States sent a letter today to President Barack Obama asking that Tibet be a substantive part of the agenda during his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on January 19th. “President Obama and his administration must publicly and vigorously raise Tibet…

hrw.org
Vietnam: Intensifying Repression of Human Rights

Human Rights Watch
25 Jan 2011 | 3:16 pm

(New York) - The Vietnam government intensified its repression of activists and dissidents during 2010, and cracked down harshly on freedom of expression, association, and assembly, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2011. read more
Singapore: Hocus Pocus Hides Rights Abuses

Human Rights Watch
25 Jan 2011 | 2:57 pm

(New York) - Singapore's stated goal of updating its political system in time for the 2011 elections should include revamping laws, policies, and practices that fail to comply with international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said today in releasing its World Report 2011. read more
Philippines: More Talk Than Action on Human Rights

Human Rights Watch
24 Jan 2011 | 9:00 pm

(New York) - President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines took office in June 2010 promising to promote justice for rights violations, but his government has taken insufficient steps to hold perpetrators of killings and other abuses accountable, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2011. read more
Thailand: Serious Setbacks in Respecting Rights

Human Rights Watch
24 Jan 2011 | 9:00 pm

(New York) - The government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand failed to fulfill its pledges to hold human rights abusers accountable in 2010, a turbulent year for the country, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2011. At least 90 people died and 2,000 were injured in street battles in Bangkok between March and May. read more
Malaysia: Action to Improve Rights Falls Far Short

Human Rights Watch
24 Jan 2011 | 4:01 pm

(New York) - Repressive practices by Malaysia's government show that Prime Minister Seri Najib Tun Razak's pledge to "uphold civil liberties" was little more than an empty promise, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2011. read more

UUSC Blog
Bittersweet Recovery for Afghan Refugees in Pakistan

Gretchen Alther
20 Jan 2011 | 7:21 am
The Jasmine Revolution: One-Time Wonder or Portent of Things Yet to Come?

Bill Schulz
15 Jan 2011 | 7:41 pm
Fault Lines of Inequity in Haiti Disaster Response

Martha Thompson
14 Jan 2011 | 12:12 pm
Commission Makes Recommendations to Address Gender-Based Violence in Camps

Kara Smith
13 Jan 2011 | 6:44 am
Haiti One Year Later: What Can You Do?

Kara Smith
10 Jan 2011 | 11:24 am

PhD studies in human rights
Rwanda Genocide Trial in Germany

19 Jan 2011 | 2:15 am

A Rwandan charged with genocide relating to the 1994 events is now on trial in Germany. See one of the accounts. This is the latest in a number of examples of universal jurisdiction being exercised with respect to Rwandan genocide cases.Thanks to Hilde Laeremans.
The Minotaur

18 Jan 2011 | 12:12 pm

This may first have been disclosed through Wikileaks. It describes the labyrinthine philosophy of the Bush administration. Click here.Thanks to Guy Goodwin-Gill.
Analysis of Death Penalty Vote in General Assembly

15 Jan 2011 | 8:55 am

On 21 December, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the third resolution in four years calling for a moratorium on the death penalty, with a greater number of states in favour than previously. The vote sheet is now available. It shows the following changes in position by comparison with the results of the previous vote, in 2008:Two states that were opposed to the resolution in 2008 voted in favour in 2010: Maldives, Mongolia.Five states that had abstained in 2008 voted in favour of the resolution in 2010: Bhutan, Gambia, Guatemala, Togo.Two states that had voted in favour in 2008 did…
EU Ratifies Convention on Disabilities

11 Jan 2011 | 6:19 am

The European Union has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is the first time that the EU has ratified a human rights treaty. The EU signed the Convention in 2007. Article 42 of the Convention says: 'The present Convention shall be open for signature by all States and by regional integration organizations at United Nations Headquarters in New York as of 30 March 2007.' Article 43 says: 'The present Convention shall be subject to ratification by signatory States and to formal confirmation by signatory regional integration…
War Don Don Now Available on DVD

10 Jan 2011 | 1:03 am

Still from the film shows defence counsel Wayne Jordash and Prosecutor Steve Rapp doing a radio interview following judgment in the Sesay case.Rebecca Richman Cohen's award winning film on the work of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, War Don Don, can now be purchased on DVD.

Business & Human Rights in Vancouver
Amnesty criticizes UN Framework on CSR

20 Jan 2011 | 3:52 pm

I've been following the debate between John Ruggie, the UN Special Representative for Business and Human Rights, and Amnesty International regarding the proposed principles for a UN framework on corporate social responsibility. Below is a letter Ruggie submitted to the Financial Times, followed by a response from Amnesty.Sir, Hugh Williamson reports that Amnesty International and some other pressure groups fear that adoption of a proposed set of guiding principles for implementing the United Nations “protect, respect and remedy” framework in the area of business and human rights “risks…
DRC article in The Guardian

12 Jun 2010 | 10:28 pm

I came across an article about the DRC today in The Guardian. Very interesting article by the way, written by a woman battling cancer, and her determination to heal herself mentally and physcially at least partly by advocating for people living in the DRC. Anyway, I came across a comment that i just had to respond to, stating that there is no corporate complicity in the atrocities committed there. I've pasted below my response. I'm glad I stumbled across this thread. As a volunteer with Amnesty International's Business & Human Rights Campaign, I can assure you that there is a ton of…
Introducing CSR Tube

4 May 2010 | 3:21 pm

You've heard of You Tube. Well, here's CSR Tube. From their 'About' page: CSRtube is the first global media platform dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues. CSRtube is an initiative of the Dutch MVO Platform (CSR Platform) and lokaalmondiaal. To inspire and discuss.The aim of CSRtube is to increase the impact of the work of civil society organizations, research institutions, governments, and companies dealing with CSR issues. CSRtube intends to contribute to the debate around CSR, and to inform people about its developments. Citizens and civil society organizations from all…
assorted links related to Bill C-300

25 Jan 2010 | 5:56 pm

Here are a few links I've gathered over the last couple of weeks.Canadian Lawyer's Magazine supports Bill C-300Toronto Star on the Canadian government's weak CSR plan, which critics refer to as 'insufficient.'Vancouver Sun covers the debate on Bill C-300.Embassy: Tanzanian foreign minister wants Bill C-300 adopted. Peace, Earth, Justice News examines Bill C-300 and how it relates to what's going on in the ground in other countries.Similarly, Toward Freedom describes our 'Long Road to Mining Reform.'
Georgia Straight article on Bill C-300

11 Dec 2009 | 5:38 pm

From the Straight:Simon Child has never been to Africa, but that hasn't stopped the Grade 11 student at Semiahmoo secondary school from trying to improve the human-rights situation on the continent. Child, director of outreach and advocacy with the nonprofit Africa Canada Accountability Coalition, says one way to accomplish this is to force Canadian corporations to act more responsibly in Africa. In a phone interview with theGeorgia Straight, Child said this is particularly true in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo where several Canadian mining companies operate.Human-rights groups…

Chez Rémi
Coming next: underwater nuclear plants

20 Jan 2011 | 9:53 am

There seems to be between the Russian and French nuclear establishments a race to see who will design and operate the most absurd and perhaps most dangerous new type of nuclear reactor.Regular readers of this blog are familiar with the emerging issue of the floating nuclear reactors the Russian Federation is currently building to tug, lease and/or sell in various parts of the world, in order to produce electricity in remote regions and facilitate the development of subseabed mining, water desalination and other energy-hungry activities. (For more information on this Russian…
Chez Rémi español

11 Jan 2011 | 9:57 am

While I'm in New York at the UN intersessional meeting for the Rio+20 conference, the Spanish news agency EFE has launched my new blog in español "Vuelta a Rio" (Back to Rio). The idea is to follow in a lively manner, on a weekly basis or more, the process leading up to next year's "Rio+20" conference (2012). My first post is up, an adaptation in Spanish of this week-end's piece here Chez Rémi.Desde la reunión intersesional de la ONU para la conferencia Rio+20 aquí en Nueva York, hemos lanzado hoy mi nuevo blog publicado por la Agencia EFE en castellano. La idea es seguir…
Eco Generation 3.0

9 Jan 2011 | 3:06 pm

I arrived last night in New York where I'll attend, tomorrow and Tuesday at the UN, the first intersessional meeting to start preparing the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD). Also known among policy wonks as the Rio+20 conference, this event in Rio de Janeiro will mark the 20th anniversary of the Earth Summit of 1992. According to the United Nations General Assembly, the objective is "to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assessing the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the…
Fish in the sky

1 Jan 2011 | 4:30 am

Oh my Gaia! Ten percent of the 21st century has passed already. And we continue to live in a mess!I like this photo I took this week in Barcelona. End-of-year street ligtening in the Barceloneta district. Plenty of fish, plenty of tuna, plenty of bluefins in the sky. I wish it'd help people passing by realize that there is less fish in the sea than when the 21st century began. According to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), over 70% percent of the world's fisheries resources are now either overexploited, fully exploited, significantly depleted or…
Race for the future

28 Dec 2010 | 3:17 pm

I've just finished a 36 slides presentation for my 40 minute lecture on 30 December, for the departure of the Barcelona World Race. I wonder whether my lecture will prompt the racers to sail away faster than usual (maybe I should sing!).If you're in Barcelona this week, come over to my lecture. I want it to be a dialogue.

Children
News…

Cassandra Clifford
24 Jan 2011 | 8:52 am

MALAWI: Better pediatric HIV services reduce infections More mothers and pregnant women in Malawi are attending antenatal clinics since the increased training of health workers in pediatric HIV care improved services to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, and pediatric HIV testing and treatment. Today, 45 percent of HIV-positive pregnant women use PMTCT services, putting Malawi on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal of reduced infant mortality by 2015. Providing antiretroviral (ARV) drugs like nevirapine as part of PMTCT services can lower the baby’s chances…
The Continuance of Rape Warfare

Cassandra Clifford
23 Jan 2011 | 9:46 am

In modern combat the atrocities of rape and mutilation, have become all too common strategic tools of warfare.The use of rape as a weapon is one of the most violent and humiliating offenses inflicted on the enemy, the brutalization of rape permanently scars the victim’s mind, soul and often body. The World Health Organization (WHO) claims that violence against females is the cause of more death or disability, for girls and women aged 15 to 44, than that of cancer, malaria, traffic injuries and general warfare combined. The continued use of rape to terrorize women and girls in many…
Do Your Part to Have an Untainted Valentine’s

Cassandra Clifford
21 Jan 2011 | 10:28 pm

As the new year is falls into place the next big spending holiday lies right around the corner, Valentines Day, the day which is to give symbolic measure to love. Millions of couples are looking for that perfect token to show how they feel for their special someone. While the day may not be exchanging gifts which symbolize their love and affection for each other. While the commercialization of this day looks to leave many emptying their pockets, while others remain trapped in the dark world of modern slavery as one of the biggest symbols of ones affection, chocolate is produced by…
A Repeal Against Healthcare for Children?

Cassandra Clifford
20 Jan 2011 | 7:11 pm

The United States House of Representatives is back in full swing and with that renewed and new debates are brewing. One such debate that the House will soon vote on is a bill to repeal the health care reform, which was signed into law last March by President Obama. The repeal of the Affordable Care Act has many asking what it would mean for children and their rights to access healthcare. The key impacts that children will feel if the bill is revoked include; 1) Allowing insurers to go back to denying coverage for children with pre-existing conditions. Parents of children with cancer,…
News…

Cassandra Clifford
18 Jan 2011 | 7:00 am

Getting U.S. teens to “girl up” The UN Foundation has launched a new campaign to raise awareness among teenage girls in the United States about the lives of teenage girls in developing countries. The program, Girl Up, asks American girls to “high five” their less empowered peers by learning facts (one in seven is married before she is 15, while many walk 15 hours a day for water and fuel) and donating $5 toward school supplies, clean water and health care. Urgent relief is sought for Sri Lanka floods as victims seethe The United Nations is requesting an emergency…

MEC blog
How to Wax Skis

Mike B
24 Jan 2011 | 5:19 pm

An iron, waxes, scraper, p-tex, buffer, cloths – waxing skis can be tricky business. It can seem like more of a ritual than a chore if you’re brand new to it. At the other extreme, for ski bums and our ilk, it can turn into a ritual. The smell and the wax shavings on our floor signal the start of a new season; a return to gliding on snow, one of the best feelings out there. Being able to properly wax your skis makes your gliding experience even better, regardless of whether you’re cruising fresh corduroy groomers, out in the backcountry, or kicking laps on the local club’s…
Upcoming Outdoor Events

Mike B
21 Jan 2011 | 2:32 pm

We’re well into full winter swing here at MEC, and to keep you sliding and striding in style we’ve got some great in-store events over the next couple of weeks. Get sorted when it comes to glide and grip with our waxing clinics for cross country / Nordic skiers. In Montréal there are waxing clinics on the 22nd and 23rd, and in Edmonton we’ve got waxing clinics on the 26th, 30th, and February 2nd and 6th. Outside of our store events there are lots of great things happening across Canada. British Columbia It’s time to pull on plastic! On Saturday the 22nd hit up the Edge Climbing…
The Coolness of a Camper Van

Nora
20 Jan 2011 | 9:39 am

Hello dear friends of nature and the open road. Let us take a moment to consider life’s more important questions, like: Why do bears hibernate? What is spelunking? Where did I leave my fleece gloves? And, (think extra hard about this one now) What makes a camper van cool? Is it ridiculous, yet gnarly flaming red and orange decals? The luxe of an en suite shower and kitchen sink? How you kit it out? Or, maybe the biggest thing that makes your camper van cool is the fact that all your friends have one too. But then again, I’m thinking that what’s on your van, in your van, or who also…
Guiding and Backcountry Skiing : An Interview with FX Gagnon Part 2

Mike B
19 Jan 2011 | 9:32 am

This article was originally published by Ariane on our French Blogue. This is part two of our interview with FX Gagnon, on avalanche safety, guiding, and loving life in the backcountry. You can find part one here. What’s in your pack? I’m pretty pragmatic, so there’s not much “just in case” stuff in there. Twenty pounds of lightweight gear is still twenty pounds too much if you don’t need it. I keep trying to find really versatile stuff, like a snow probe with a ruler, and my saw with a g3 grid and snow crystals stamped on the blade. I bring all the safety essentials, shovel,…
The Emotional Message Behind The Big Wild

Theo
18 Jan 2011 | 8:54 am

The Big Wild is Mountain Equipment Co-op’s conservation amplifier and it’s gearing up for another year of campaigns and Canadian content. MEC is one of the founding partners of The Big Wild, an online organization dedicated to working toward at least 50% protection of Canada’s public wilderness. It does this by championing conservation campaigns from across the country that need help gathering public input in order to protect a wild place. That’s why we call is an amplifier. In a way, The Big Wild helps turn the volume up on a particular issue. In 2010, The Big Wild worked on…

Indian Country Today Media Network.com
Yukon Health Goes Digital

Theresa Braine
24 Jan 2011 | 12:44 pm

The next time someone breaks a limb in remote Yukon, a diagnosis from Whitehorse General Hospital will be just a click away. That’s because every community health center in the province is now wired for computed radiology, Yukon’s government announced recently. Computerized radiology units and clinical workstations have been installed in 12 rural health centers and Watson Lake Hospital, and all staff has been trained how to use it. “This is a huge help for our primary health care nurses in the communities and will tremendously benefit patients in rural Yukon,” Health and Social…
Hastings Announces Indian Subcommittee Members

Josh Robertson
24 Jan 2011 | 12:38 pm

WASHINGTON – House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., today announced committee assignments for the Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs. Don Young, R-Alaska, will serve chairman over the following GOP House members: Jeff Denham, of California; Daniel Benishek, of Michigan; Paul Gosar, of Arizona; Raúl Labrador, of Idaho; Kristi Lynn Noem, of South Dakota. Hastings will serve ex officio. “The Natural Resources Committee has broad jurisdiction that allows our Members to use their individual talents and expertise to work on policies and issues that will…
Department of Justice Announces Violence Against Women Task Force and Public Safety Funding for Tribes

Josh Robertson
24 Jan 2011 | 12:34 pm

WASHINGTON – Two key announcements came at the close of last week in Washington as the Department of Justice and Attorney General Eric Holder shared news looking to help with Indian country’s issues of violence. Holder announced Friday, Jan. 21, the formation and inaugural meeting of the Violence Against Women Federal and Tribal Prosecution Task Force, fulfilling a pledge made at the department’s Tribal Nations Listening Session in October 2009. United States Attorney Deborah Gilg of the District of Nebraska, six Assistant United States Attorneys working in Indian country, and six…
Miwok Tribe Settles Lengthy Sovereignty Dispute

Josh Robertson
24 Jan 2011 | 11:44 am

STOCKTON, Calif.—Although the tribal nation currently has a small membership—of five people, to be precise—and tribal headquarters are in a leafy residential neighborhood rather than on vast trust lands, the future looks promising for some Natives living in the San Joaquin Valley. The California Valley Miwok Tribe fought a lengthy battle with the BIA, state government, various factions and, some say, criminal elements to retain or recover sovereignty-related rights the federally-recognized tribe never actually lost in the first place. Then in December the U.S. government reaffirmed its…
Rehabilitation Through Native Healing and Traditional AA Methods

Kristin Butler
24 Jan 2011 | 11:19 am

Native American Choices takes an innovative approach to drug and alcohol rehabilitation, merging the traditional methods of Alcoholics Anonymous with fundamental principles of Native American culture. “I found a new purpose, a new healing and a community of my own understanding,” said a Native American man who restored his life with the help of Native American Choices in a video on the program’s Web site. Native American Choices has grown to become one of the largest residential/outpatient Native American treatment and rehabilitation programs nationwide, according to a…

Bahai Faith in Egypt
Memorandum to Egypt's Prime Minister from HRO

Bilo
23 Jan 2011 | 4:47 am

The following press release is in regards to a memorandum submitted by a forum of independent human rights organizations in Egypt to the Prime Minister, Ahmed Nazif, requesting constitutional guarantees for equality in Egypt. 19 January 2011 Memo to the Prime Minister Strengthening the pillars of the civil state and achieving equality requires the formation of a commission to include representatives from social sectors denied equality Press Release Yesterday the Forum for Independent... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Is religious designation on ID cards really necessary?

Bilo
17 Jan 2011 | 5:39 pm

Egypt's Al Masry Al Youm newspaper has recently reported on a prominent Egyptian poet who is leading a campaign to abolish religious designations on ID cards. Since the introduction of official ID cards in Egypt in 1960, holders of these cards have always been required to state their religion on these documents. A number of excuses for this practice have been propagated by the enforcers of the law, but none of them could be construed as legitimate, particularly in today's society. To make... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Egyptians Against Religious Discrimination

Bilo
4 Jan 2011 | 5:26 pm

Dr. Muhhamad Munir Mugahed, the Executive Director of a registered NGO in Egypt, called Egyptians [Misryioun] Against Religious Discrimination, has recently posted a rebuttal of an article published on 22 December 2010 in Egypt's semi-official newspaper "Al-Ahram" that was intended to belittle the Egyptian Baha'is in their quest for their rights. The rebuttal was published on 31 December 2010 in an independent daily Arabic news site, promoting equality, justice and progressive human values,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Proposed Egyptian law allowing marriage certification for Baha'is

Bilo
27 Dec 2010 | 5:00 pm

Egypt's Al-Shorouq newspaper reported today that a law is being put forward by Egypt's government-sponsored National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) that would allow the official registration of Baha'i marriages in the State's Authority that deals with certifying all official transactions and registrations. The Authority is named "al-Shahr al-Aqqary." This proposed law was just announced by Counselor Muqbel Shaker, Deputy President of the NCHR. The law will require an amendment to Article-V... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
In Egypt: yes you can have an ID Card, but!

Bilo
17 Dec 2010 | 7:24 pm

As posted previously, the US State Department's annual report on religious freedom in Egypt stated: According to Baha'i community members, throughout the first half of 2010 the government implemented the order and reportedly issued more than 180 birth certificates and 50 to 60 national identification cards to Baha'is, all with dashes in the religious identification field. The government, because it does not recognize Baha'i marriage, and there is no civil mechanism for marriage, refused to... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Change.org's Women's Rights Blog
New Hampshire: Steer Clear of Anti-Abortion Laws

Alex DiBranco
24 Jan 2011 | 3:58 pm

Up in New Hampshire where I attended college, the thermometer's been dipping down below zero degrees. Yeah, that's Fahrenheit. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it. But while I would consider this way below freezing weather bad news enough for the winter, there's something else to be concerned about: Republican plans to ice abortion rights. Republicans in the state legislature want to ban abortion for minors without parental notification — and they actually might "have a shot," according to NARAL Pro-Choice New Hampshire Executive Director Pilar Olivo. Women's eNews points out that…
Study Shows GWU Is Failing Sexual Assault Victims

Mandy Van Deven
24 Jan 2011 | 6:00 am

Three years ago Shannon Lynberg started working with the Washington, D.C., chapter of the Younger Women's Task Force (YWTF) on the issue of sexual assault in the nation's capital. After finding out about an incident where a young woman was denied a rape kit by two university hospitals, the group researched federal legislation and learned about the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, which went into effect in January 2009 and requires states to "ensure that victims have access to an exam free of charge or with full reimbursement, even if the victim…
Cop Gets One Year Sentence After Two Rape Charges

Alex DiBranco
22 Jan 2011 | 6:00 am

It seemed like a pretty solid case against San Antonio, TX, Officer Craig Nash. The rape kit turned up his DNA, and GPS put his squad car where his accuser said she was taken captive and then raped. Gotta love technology. The victim went to the police station immediately to report the attack. Not only that, there was yet another rape charge against Nash in 2008. Yet in a shocking plea deal, Nash was given only one year for "official oppression" (having sex with somebody in custody, consensual or not) and both rape charges were dropped. As Criminal Justice blogger Elizabeth Renter points out,…
Nebraska: No Health Insurance for Abortion

Aimee Sea
21 Jan 2011 | 3:35 pm

Today on Blog for Choice Day, NARAL Pro-Choice America is asking, "Given the anti-choice gains in the states and Congress, are you concerned about choice in 2011?" I think little Michelle from Full House speaks for all of us when she says, "Duh!" This weekend is the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, so the crazy anti-choicers are sure to be out in force, but in case you needed reminding that reproductive rights are in jeopardy every day of the year, meet Nebraska State Senator Beau McCoy. He got a jump on the issue earlier this month by introducing legislation that would prevent health insurance…
LAPD Frees Wrongfully Arrested Sex Trafficking Victims

Alex DiBranco
21 Jan 2011 | 8:58 am

Last month, the Los Angeles Police Department decided to conduct an illegal de facto immigration raid, swooping up 78 women who displayed clear markers of human trafficking victims and treating them like criminals, while Club 907, the exploiter, faced no charges. Now, Lauren Markham reports on Immigrant Rights that the women arrested for undocumented status have finally been released, thanks in large part to the efforts of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), the Raids Response Network of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, Ms. Magazine, and the over…

It Dawned On Me
A Year of Living Carless

Barbara Diane Beeler
5 Jan 2011 | 9:08 pm

Have you ever thought of giving up your car? Does the thought make you break out in a cold sweat? Does it sound impossible? It’s not. I’ve managed for over a year now without a car. I must admit that when I first thought of selling my car and going without one, I felt fearful. I was living in Austin, Texas…a really hard place to get around without a car. I made the decision to move out to the Berkeley/Albany area (East Bay) in San Francisco to live near one of my daughters and baby grandson. They moved out here and have gone carless. I saw that it was possible and decided to…
Multigenerational Connectedness

Barbara Diane Beeler
29 Dec 2010 | 9:36 pm

We’re all one, right? Brothers and sisters, connected souls, timeless, pure energy, love, and light. So how many of us actually spend time with people outside our age group…give or take 20 years or so? And why don’t we? Is it because it’s uncomfortable? Inconvenient? We feel we have nothing in common with people so outside our age range? How can we truly feel the connectedness with all others if we shun or exclude people much younger or much older than ourselves? I had the pleasure of spending Christmas with four generations…my 16-month-old grandson, both my…
Letting Go of Obesity and Regaining a Life

Barbara Diane Beeler
10 Dec 2010 | 2:28 pm

Tuesday was a landmark day. I moved out of the 200s and my BMI was 30.08…just .08 above the point where I’m no longer obese. There was no group of fellow Biggest Loser biggies to clap and cheer wildly and to say “Way to go!” There was just me and the scale. I squinted and thought perhaps I was still asleep and wasn’t seeing the numbers correctly, but there it was…197.8. WOW. For almost two decades I’ve wondered if that day would ever come and if I’d ever see the 100′s again, but kept holding faith that it would happen. And it has. WOW.
It’s OK to Beat Your Wife or Children in UAE – Just Don’t Leave a Mark

Barbara Diane Beeler
26 Oct 2010 | 9:04 pm

The highest judicial body in the United Arab Emirates, which has the seventh largest oil reserves in the world, borders on Saudi Arabia, and includes Dubai, says it’s okay to beat your wife and young children…just don’t leave a mark. Here’s the short article about it from the Huffington Post: Dubai in the UAE - Credit: Neil Emmerson/Getty Images ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — The UAE’s highest judicial body says a man can beat his wife and young children as long as the beating leaves no physical marks. The decision by the Federal Supreme Court shows the…
Could You Survive the Worst Thing Imaginable?

Barbara Diane Beeler
25 Oct 2010 | 9:01 pm

Emma, Katie, and Kyle Coble - Credit: Chriscoble.com Imagine the worst thing that could possibly happen to you. The worst did happen to Lori and Chris (her husband) who were on today’s Oprah show. A truck driver coming around a blind curve on a freeway slammed into the back of Lori’s car, which was stopped in traffic on the freeway. Lori was in the car with her mother and her three children…Kyle aged 5, Emma aged 4, and Katie, aged 2. All three children were killed in that crash and Lori and her mother survived. Somehow…with the support of family and friends and by…

UNICEF News
UNICEF works with communities to improve key family practices in Niger

23 Jan 2011 | 4:00 pm

GARIN BAWA, Niger, 24 January 2011 – In the courtyard of her family's compound, Zuliah Baba, 32, goes through her nightly chores under a full moon. The familiar sounds of similar household routines echo through this rural village – chores that are being influenced by an innovative new UNICEF programme, Key Family Practices, which is having a dramatic impact on child health in Niger.
Help for Côte d'Ivoire's displaced families in the midst of a national crisis

23 Jan 2011 | 4:00 pm

DUÉKOUÉ, Côte d'Ivoire, 19 January 2011 – In a region of this West African nation that has a history of heightened ethnic tensions, an estimated 15,000 people, most of them children and women, are seeking safety here in a vastly overcrowded Catholic mission.
After floods and conflict, schools in Pakistan's Swat Valley welcome children back

23 Jan 2011 | 4:00 pm

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA, Pakistan, 21 January 2011 – As farmers busily work in their fields in the beautiful Swat Valley village of Sheen Patay – located in Pakistan's troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, where both conflict and floods have taken a toll – students excitedly rush to the newly renovated Government Girls' Primary School.
UNICEF and 'Viet Nam's Next Top Model' form a unique partnership for children

20 Jan 2011 | 4:00 pm

HO CHI MINH CITY, Viet Nam, 21 January 2011 – Finalists of the popular television show 'Viet Nam's Next Top Model' recently paid a visit to a very special pagoda where children affected by HIV and their families are receiving support and counselling from Buddhist monks and nuns. It was their first stop on a tour of UNICEF-supported projects in Viet Nam.
One year on, UNICEF revisits two young Haitian quake survivors and best friends

20 Jan 2011 | 4:00 pm

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, 14 January 2011 – About a month after the earthquake in Haiti, a UNICEF communications team met and interviewed two best friends who survived the disaster: Miratson Guerrier, now 14, and his neighbour Ricardo Rocourt, 13. We recently revisited the boys to see how they and their families were faring.

Oxfam International News
Climate change investment through the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience in Tajikistan

Joel M Bassuk
24 Jan 2011 | 6:10 am

In the mountains and valleys of Tajikistan, a landlocked country in central Asia, poor and marginalized communities are struggling to cope with the impacts of climate change. Unseasonal rains, rising temperatures and climate extremes are hitting poor people hardest, and eroding their livelihoods. As part of an ongoing climate change campaign, Oxfam conducted research into how the Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) funds have been allocated in Tajikistan, linking to a global initiative intended to hold to account those organizations mandated to manage climate investment funds.The PPCR…
Malawi: The difference a goat makes

Laurent Le Gouanvic
21 Jan 2011 | 6:42 am

Since 2005, over 3,000 families have received a goat from an Oxfam-funded program in Malawi – a simple initiative that helps vulnerable people to improve their incomes and make their lives better. Since 2005, over 3,000 families have received a goat from an Oxfam-funded program in Malawi – a simple initiative that helps vulnerable people to improve their incomes and make their lives better. Agnes Nangwiri, 8, has been an orphan since she was 4; her older sister Annie, 15, takes care of her. "It was important to my parents that we all went to school," said Annie, who is head of…
Malawi: Bee-keeping reaps a double benefit for the people of Chibalo

Joel M Bassuk
20 Jan 2011 | 6:51 am

Oxfam's program in Malawi, through our partner, Circle for Integrated Community Development (CICOD), brings a double benefit to the community: a bee keeping project not only generates income from selling honey but also helps protect the forests. Oxfam's Program in Malawi, through our partner, Circle for Integrated Community Development (CICOD) is supporting people of Chibalo Village in Traditional Authority Thomas in Thyolo District with bee keeping as an income generating activity.Village Headman Chibalo said people in the area have no access to gainful employment because there are no…
Oxfam calls on donors to fund UN appeal for Sri Lanka floods

Joel M Bassuk
20 Jan 2011 | 5:18 am

International agency Oxfam today urged donors to contribute generously to the aid efforts in Sri Lanka. The UN Flash Appeal, to be officially launched later today, will support the Government’s response to the massive floods that have affected the eastern and central parts of the country. International agency Oxfam today urged donors to contribute generously to the aid efforts in Sri Lanka. The UN Flash Appeal, to be officially launched later today, will support the Government’s response to the massive floods that have affected the eastern and central parts of the country. Significant…
Legal vacuum shows need for robust global arms trade agreement

Joel M Bassuk
19 Jan 2011 | 4:01 pm

Arms traffickers can too easily navigate the patchwork of national arms regulations, fuelling conflict while avoiding arrest and extradition, because of the lack of global regulation of the arms trade. Viktor Bout pre-trial opens in New York Viktor Bout was able to operate freely for decades because of lack of any internationally-binding rules New York: Arms traffickers can too easily navigate the patchwork of national arms regulations, fuelling conflict while avoiding arrest and extradition, because of the lack of global regulation of the arms trade, says international agency Oxfam The…

ONE
The Global Fund: Zero tolerance for corruption and misuse of funds

Todd Summers
24 Jan 2011 | 2:42 pm

This post is also featured at the Huffington Post. Over the weekend, the Associated Press filed a story about corruption involving a small number of grants made by the Global Fund, an international partnership that channels funds to fight AIDS, TB and malaria from donors, like the United States, to some of the poorest countries in the world. It’s always interesting to me when stories create news with misused facts and salacious headlines. So I thought it might be useful to have a little background and perspective from someone who’s spent a lot of time with the Global Fund. The AP…
Gov. Pawlenty rides through Texas

Field
24 Jan 2011 | 11:53 am

Last week, I was fortunate to join ONE members Cory Loebsak and Vanissa Plata and meet former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty as he passed through Houston, Texas on a tour for his new book, “Courage to Stand.” Vanissa, Christopher, Gov. Pawlenty and Cory in Houston Instantly recognizing us, Gov. Pawlenty greeted us warmly and took a moment to talk with us about ONE. We gave him an op-ed by former President George W. Bush in the Washington Post that talks about the importance of US programs that are fighting HIV/AIDS and saving lives in the developing world. Gov. Pawlenty thanked us…
All eyes on agriculture

Kelly Hauser
24 Jan 2011 | 9:30 am

On Wednesday, I attended Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2011 Symposium, where Worldwatch launched their annual State of the World report, Innovations that Nourish the Planet. For the first time ever, the report focuses solely on agriculture. The authors looked for innovations that are working on the ground to alleviate hunger and raise incomes, while protecting the environment. I’m a huge fan of Worldwatch’s agriculture blog, Nourishing the Planet, so, needless to say, I had been looking forward to this launch for some time. Sara Scherr of EcoAgriculture Partners, had a…
What We’re Reading: China’s next buying spree

Robyn Mitchell
24 Jan 2011 | 8:25 am

Rajiv Shah has got USAID’s back: USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah emphasized that development and foreign aid programs are crucial to the country’s national security and slammed the proposal by some 170 House Republicans to defund the agency in a bid to save 1.39 billion annually. The cuts “would have massive negative implications for our fundamental security,” said Shah, who is expected to unveil the agency’s first-ever policy on combating violent extremism and implementing counterinsurgency in volatile nations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan and parts of sub-Saharan Africa.
True story: I caught cholera in Haiti

Kelly Hauser
24 Jan 2011 | 7:09 am

Last week, ONE’s agriculture expert Kelly Hauser visited Haiti to work with another nonprofit, From Gainesville with Love. Little did she know that she would catch cholera on her trip… My friend Dave and I talking with a displaced family at Port-au-Prince Cathedral, a few hours before I got sick. I caught cholera in Haiti. I lived. And, because I had immediate access to the incredibly simple treatment for cholera, it wasn’t so bad. Because of how simple the treatment is, I am astounded that nearly 4,000 people in Haiti have died from Vibrio Cholerae in less than three months.

Darfur: An Unforgivable Hell on Earth
Helping to Fix a Fixer

olivia
23 Jan 2011 | 9:59 pm

Via the Committee to Protect Journalists‘ blog, Pastor Marrion, a Congolese fixer, needs your help A group of international journalists is seeking donations to pay the costs of a kidney transplant for Marrion P’udongo, a Congolese fixer who has worked tirelessly with reporters from around the world to make sure his country’s story is told. This CPJ post is referenced in Aid Watch’s Don’t forget the Congolese who helped tell the Congo story in which Nick Kristof was interviewed on this story by professor William Easterly. The The Pastor Marrion Fund Filed under:…
New York Times Mistranslates Testimony Sudanese Woman?

olivia
21 Jan 2011 | 12:15 pm

Via UN Dispatch. The New York Times Mistranslates the Testimony of a Sudanese Woman, by Penelope Chester The New York Times, where the prices of sugar have gone up, and it’s making it hard … you’re asking me about making a living, right? everything is so expensive, customers don’t even come anymore. Besides you guys, nobody’s been sitting in those chairs…’ becomes The clashes (between Dinka and Misseriya) have made it very dangerous here. They killed my son and burned our home. I am very angry over the death of my son.’” Filed under: get educated, Media, News and Info, Other…

Sponsor Impact
Beginning Child Sponsorship in Indonesia

kmayward
21 Jan 2011 | 10:53 am

We just opened the country of Indonesia for Child Sponsorship. As I have been reading about this country and seeing photos of these children I have been so excited. Today I was reading about one of the staff we have working in the community of Sendayan, here is her heart for the children of her country: “We realize that the children are the future hope for our nation and should be given correct understanding and education. In the future children can be the agents of change in their family, environment, school and nation. Children have an important role so it is necessary to discover the…
Children healing in safety

kmayward
13 Jan 2011 | 5:52 am

Thousands of Haitian children witnessed family members die, homes crumble and neighborhoods destroyed during the January 12,2010 earthquake. Food for the Hungry responded to help children by creating child-friendly spaces (CFS). With 62 spaces set up throughout Haiti, these child zones provide safe environments with trained staff to assist children in working through trauma and sharing the message of Christ’s love. From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., Haitian children come to these safe places for snacks, games, songs, teachings and art activities. In three communities, FH created these spaces to…
Haiti One Year Later

kmayward
12 Jan 2011 | 4:40 am

Time seems to fly by the older that I get. Now that I have a son, time only seems to go by faster. Unfortunately, time does not fly for everyone. The last year in Haiti has not flown for those who were victims of the Haiti earthquake one year ago. Every day is still a reminder of the day that forever changed their life. To remember and honor those that are still fighting to survive and begin their life again, I wanted to share some stories and photos that have recently come from Food for the Hungry’s work in Haiti. Over the next few days I will share these brief snapshots into the…
Merry Christmas!

kmayward
24 Dec 2010 | 7:00 am

Merry Christmas from the Food for the Hungry Child Sponsorship Department! We hope that you have a great day celebrating with your families and remembering Christ’s gift to all of us and all the blessings we have been given.
World AIDS Day 2010

kmayward
1 Dec 2010 | 4:32 am

For those of us that are very far removed from the reality of AIDS, today, December 1st, is a day just like any other day. But for 33 million people (2 million of them being children) around the world, today is to bring light to the injustice that they face. Our HIV/AIDS Program Coordinator, Kim Buttonow shared the following about the work that Food for the Hungry has been doing in this area of injustice. “In the past five years, FH has reached over 1.5 million youth and adults with the messages of prevention; provided for over 5,000 orphans and vulnerable children. We have started…

Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
Woman Sues Over Halliburton's 'Anti-Procreation Policy'

28 Jan 2011 | 4:00 pm

Does everybody's favorite energy contractor, Halliburton, hate procreation? A former Halliburton employee is suing the company for wrongful termination and sex discrimination because, in the words of her lawyer, "she apparently violated the company's policy against procreation." Halliburton said it fired the pregnant administrative associate as part of general lay-offs, but the canned worker points out no one else in her department was fired, including people with less experience.
Proposal on disabled individuals puts Labor Ministry in hot seat [Turkey]

24 Jan 2011 | 4:00 pm

A proposed change regarding the employment rights of disabled workers...has led to much outrage among the disabled...According to current regulations, workplaces with more than 50 workers should allocate 3 percent of their positions to disabled people...the "sack law" indicates that if employers have a difficult time finding disabled workers or if their positions are not suitable for disabled persons they can fulfill the requirement in other ways...But human right defenders...underline that the requirement to hire disabled workers is not only intended to increase [their] employment…
Anti-mining radio commentator shot dead in Palawan [Philippines]

24 Jan 2011 | 4:00 pm

A radio commentator who was a staunch critic of mining operations and local officials in Palawan was shot dead yesterday morning in Puerto Princesa City. Radio Mindanao Network (RMN) commentator Gerardo Ortega was shot in the head and died on the spot...An environmental advocate, Ortega had strongly opposed mining in Palawan...
Villages protest forest acquisition [India]

23 Jan 2011 | 4:00 pm

More than 2,000 people from five villages of Odisha’s Angul district formed a human chain on January 5 to protest acquisition of Jamuda forest land by the Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL)…villagers shouted slogans against the steel major, accusing it of not compensating them for community property, including forest, grazing land and village ponds, acquired…the company was served a showcause notice on November 22, 2010, as it started construction work even before the land was acquired. JSPL will submit its response to the environment and forests ministry on January 10, the…
Asian investors warming to ESG principles, says Tokio Marine

23 Jan 2011 | 4:00 pm

Investing according to environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria is on the rise in Japan and the rest of Asia, but remains a niche area for now....The call by Japanese unions on members to adopt ESG criteria, the set-up of an ESG committee by the Ministry of Environment and the disclosure of ESG data on Bloomberg have led to ESG becoming more and more popular in Japan...Since the revision of Chinese corporate law in 2006, more Chinese companies have started to release corporate social responsibility (CSR) information, while several Korean investors have signed the UN Principles for…

Change.org's Poverty in America Blog
Wage Theft Prevention Act Passed in NY, What Now?

Lauren Kelley
24 Jan 2011 | 11:26 am

First the good news, as we reported pressure from you and other labor activists encouraged the New York state legislature to pass the historic Wage Theft Prevention Act, which will help protect workers from the shockingly common practice of employer wage theft. This terrifying story illustrates just how horrendous wage-theft cases can be: The state fair isn't the first place you'd expect to hear about horrid violations of human dignity, but that's exactly what happened at New York's event, according to an investigation by In These Times. Immigrant workers (in the U.S. and working legally)…
Danny Glover, Sodexo, and Workers Rights

Taylor Leake
24 Jan 2011 | 5:00 am

What does famed actor Danny Glover have in common with multinational food service giant Sodexo? Well for one, Glover was arrested outside Sodexo's US headquarters during a labor protest last year. The other connection? Glover is the chairman of TransAfrica Forum, a nonprofit that just released a report about Sodexo's human and labor rights abuses. The report, titled Voices for Change: Sodexo Workers From Five Countries Speak Out (download the PDF here), was released with another report from Human Rights Watch titled A Strange Case: Violations of Workers’ Freedom of Association in the United…
Here Come The Counters Again

Steven Samra
23 Jan 2011 | 5:00 am

Each year during the last week in January, "the counters" gather in cities and towns around the country. A makeshift army of volunteers and service providers descend on shelters, libraries and empty parking lots during the wee hours of the morning to count the citizens of their community who are enduring homelessness. Most of these counters, having worked all day, are by now bleary-eyed and tired, bodies and mind grappling with the odd request to be awake, alert and energized at a time when they're usually asleep in the comfort of a real bed. Between yawns, they strike out into that cold dark…
How the Homeless Community of Boulder is Driving Change

Benjamin Joffe-Walt
22 Jan 2011 | 5:00 am

Sometimes advocacy has results, and boy, is it gratifying when it does. But to keep it coming, the leaders that have been able to change should be recognized. There were a number of articles on Change.org last year about Boulder's camping ticket law, and how silly it is to arrest people when they have no legal alternative. The law is, I'm sorry to say, still on the books. But things are improving for Boulder's homeless, with the help of local government and a truly energized and empowered group of homeless people. Boulder Outreach for Homeless Overflow has expanded the number of nights that…
Aerospace Giant Makes Concession, But Still Quashes Workers' Job-Saving Plan

Lauren Kelley
21 Jan 2011 | 2:30 pm

I wish I had better news about the outcome of the UE Local 204's efforts to save workers' jobs in Taunton, Massachusetts. But the unfortunate truth is that Esterline, the parent company of Taunton's Haskon manufacturing plant, has ultimately quashed the efforts of the UE and its workers to buy the plant's equipment so they could run the operation themselves and keep their jobs. Esterline closed the Haskon plant recently, doing away with about 100 local jobs - 85 of them union positions - by moving them to a low-wage plant in Mexico and a non-union location in California. As I wrote last week,…

Aid Worker Daily
Al Jazeera – Sudan: History of a Broken Land

Jon Thompson
8 Jan 2011 | 11:52 pm

Al Jazeera has created a very well made video covering the history of Sudan and the reason for the conflict between north and south. I’ll let you judge the content and how balanced the reporting is but overall it is a nice piece of work. I worked there back in 2002 and it looks like it has come a long way since then although the needs are still significant according to the aid agencies currently working there. The BBC has a great interactive map while CNN has a decent infographic.
Logistician > Add to Cart > Checkout

Jon Thompson
8 Jan 2011 | 8:50 am

Copyright: MSF-Canada/Olivier Asselin Here is a very creative way to raise some money. The MSF warehouse in Canada has decided to sell field support staff online. You can now buy a logistician and send him/her off on a trip to a guaranteed austere environment. Here is what you get: Logisticians make sure that a medical project has a well-functioning infrastructure and everyone has what they need to do their work. As hands-on problem solvers, logisticians will process orders, purchase supplies on the local market, obtain permits, supervise local staff and take care of transport, safety and…
Ivory Coast Update

Jon Thompson
2 Jan 2011 | 11:20 pm

Photo courtesy: AFP/Al Jazeera Bloomberg News is reporting that Liberia and Ghana are preparing for an influx of refugees. To understand how we got here read the Guardian’s “Ivory Coast’s descent into madness“. Karnplay Town and Saclepea look like the main catchment points in Nimba County, Liberia. MSF has been there for quite some time handling Liberian refugees returning from Ivory Coast. The IRC is also in Nimba and the World Food Programme recently airlifted high energy biscuits into Saclepea. Open Street Map has woefully little regional data while Google Maps cuts…
Interlude – “Empire State of Mind” Jay-Z | Alicia Keys [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

Jon Thompson
29 May 2010 | 5:45 pm
Interlude – We Are Here: The Pale Blue Dot

Jon Thompson
12 Apr 2010 | 10:43 am

Survival's Blog
An ad to Change Your Mind

Ghislain
18 Jan 2011 | 9:44 am

Survival has launched a new advertising campaign, ‘Change Your Mind’, to raise awareness of tribal peoples. Created by copywriter Ben Jolliffe and designed by Bonfire Creative Intelligence the advert has appeared in many magazines already this year including Conde Nast Traveller, Tatler, Wired, and Geographical Magazine. The photograph comes courtesy of Claudia Andujar. The creative, image and all advertising space were donated.
BBC Human Planet and Survival’s ‘We are One’ tell similar stories

Joanna Eede
13 Jan 2011 | 9:28 am

BBC 1’s landmark series Human Planet begins tonight (UK only), which shows mankind’s relationship with nature. Survival International’s illustrated book We are One – a celebration of tribal peoples’ contains similar stories and images of the ingenious ways in which humans have adapted to, and survived in, some of the harshest environments in the world – from the Amazon basin to the African savannah and the icy reaches of the Arctic. Survival works to raise worldwide awareness of the beauty and diversity of tribal lives, believing that the more their ways of life, skills,…
A Christmas plea for peace for isolated tribal peoples

Joanna Eede
24 Dec 2010 | 4:20 am

Imagine spending Christmas entirely on your own, with no family or friends. No neighbours for miles; no gifts or laughter or conversation. A Christmas in total silence. Then also imagine spending it on the run, frightened. Constantly alert for signs or sounds of gunmen. Fearful for your life, moving from place to place, hiding your tracks, constantly aware that this day could be the last day of freedom, or your last day alive. This Christmas, one solitary man deep in the Brazilian rainforest does not need to imagine such an existence – this is the reality of his daily life. He is known…
Giving thanks to tribal peoples

Survival
24 Nov 2010 | 9:38 am

As people across the US prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, we invite you to reflect upon the contributions that tribal peoples have made to all of our diets. From turkeys, thought to have been first domesticated by the Aztecs in Mexico; to potatoes, and peanuts, which are native to Peru; to cinnamon and nutmeg, which were first cultivated by tribal peoples in Sri Lanka and Indonesia; there is bound to be something on your dinner plate this Thanksgiving that has its origins in indigenous agriculture. A Papuan Yali boy handling seeds. Other food items that originate with tribal…
Alaskans bring mine fight to London

Survival
25 Oct 2010 | 8:40 am

London-based Anglo-American has a 50% stake in the operation. See the Alaska-London connection on the campaign website. A party of Alaskans comes to London this November to make the case against an enormous mine planned for Bristol Bay, Alaska. The region is home to Yupiq indigenous peoples as well as being a world-renowned salmon breeding territory. “The risks are absolutely too great for this precious place we all call home,” says Yupiq leader Lydia Olympic. “Our traditional Native culture is already threatened and this mine would destroy our subsistence way of life and our spiritual…

News from Survival International
Derisory sentences for torture video soldiers

24 Jan 2011 | 8:27 am

Footage of the torture was released on the internet in October.© Survival Three Indonesian soldiers who were captured on video torturing two Papuan villagers last May, were sentenced on Monday to between eight and ten months in prison. Human rights organizations have condemned the short sentences that were handed out in the closed military court, citing this as evidence that the Indonesian military is not serious about improving its human rights record. The disturbing and graphic video, released by Survival and others on the internet last October, showed an elderly man stripped naked, a…
One year after extinction of Bo, Andaman tribe in danger

24 Jan 2011 | 1:50 am

Boa Sr was the last member of the Bo tribe. © Alok Das One year after the death of the last member of the Bo tribe of the Andaman Islands (January 26), Survival has warned that the neighbouring Jarawa tribe is also in danger. Boa Sr, the last of the Bo, died last January aged around 85. The Jarawa tribe number 365 people, and fiercely resisted contact with outsiders until 1998. Now an illegal road cuts through the Jarawa’s rainforest, and poachers and tourists invade their land. Poachers steal the animals the Jarawa need to survive and, like the tourists, risk introducing diseases to which…
Palm oil expansion threatens Palawan tribe

23 Jan 2011 | 12:00 am

Palm oil plantation, Peru. Much of the land used to grow biofuels such as palm oil is the ancestral land of tribal peoples. © Thomas Quirynen/Survival The Philippine government’s push to expand palm oil plantations is threatening the members of the Palawan tribe living in the lowlands of Palawan Island. In the last few years nickel mining has ravaged valuable areas of rainforest, destroying sacred sites and causing the siltation of rivers and farmland. It is threatening the Palawan tribe’s watersheds, which provide water for the lowland communities. Now, the lowland Palawan and their…
Survival protestors target international tourism fair in Madrid

22 Jan 2011 | 3:45 am

Demonstrators protest against tourism to Botswana at FITUR.© Iñaki Luis/Survival Visitors to the international tourism fair in Madrid were today met with Survival protestors calling for a boycott of tourism to Botswana. The protestors, angry at the Botswana government’s treatment of the Kalahari Bushmen, stood beside the Botswana Tourism Organization’s stand inside the fair, holding placards that read, ‘boycott Botswana tourism’ and ‘save the Bushmen’.   Survival has called for a boycott of Botswana tourism and diamonds until the Bushmen are able to live on their ancestral…
India Supreme Court judge condemns 'historic injustice' of tribal peoples

21 Jan 2011 | 3:45 am

Bhil girl, India. The Supreme Court has condemned the 'terrible oppression and atrocities' of India's tribal people.© Sunil Janah/Survival Two of India’s Supreme Court judges have passed a groundbreaking judgement recognising India’s tribal people as the nation’s ‘original inhabitants’ and strongly condemning their ‘historic injustice’. Judges Gyan Sudha Misra and Markandey Katju were hearing an appeal case regarding the stripping, beating and parading naked of a Bhil tribal woman for having had a relationship with a man of ‘higher’ caste. The judges proclaimed that the…

Change.org's Human Rights Blog: Humanitarian Relief
Women Start Building an Independent Southern Sudan

Laura Heaton
24 Jan 2011 | 10:00 am

As the frenetic excitement about southern Sudan's recent referendum wears off, the challenges of building up a new country from scratch loom. For some segments of southern Sudan’s society, the obstacles are even greater. “The women of southern Sudan are ‘the marginalized of the marginalized,’ as Dr. John Garang used to say,” said Anyieth D’Awol, quoting the late rebel leader who saw many of the problems in Sudan originating from the Khartoum government’s negligence. As one stark example, literacy in southern Sudan stands at 24 percent, but only 12 percent of women can read and…
Pakistan Still Needs Our Help, and We Can Make a Difference

Meredith Slater
16 Nov 2010 | 3:18 pm

It's been over 100 days since monsoon rains caused some of the worst flooding in Pakistan's history. Sweeping away buildings, people, and precious commodities, the floods left the entire country in a state of catastrophe. Now, more than three months later, much of Pakistan still remains submerged. In the worst-affected regions, families anxiously await the arrival of boats and aircraft to bring their next meal. According to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), many districts may remain under water for up to six months more. The Pakistan flooding affected more people than the tsunami,…
Your Chance to Tell The IASC What You Think

Michael Bear
16 Oct 2009 | 4:02 am

Or, at least, to tell the Inter-Agency Standing Committee -- or, as I like to think of it, the Bilderberg group of the humanitarian world -- what you think about their various publications. IASC has just launched a survey to determine how many people within the humanitarian community know about their various policy statements, guidelines and manuals, whether they're useful, and how they can be made more accessible. (Because, admit it, you loved reading the IASC report on humanitarian action and older persons.) The survey takes about five minutes, and is available here in English, French and…
Blog Action Day: How Climate Change Causes Conflict

Michael Bear
15 Oct 2009 | 7:24 pm

[A video from the Environmental Change and Security Program] In an excellent post over at Stop Genocide, my co-blogger Michelle looks at Conflict in the Age of Climate Change. As Michelle points out, climate change effects access to natural resources -- desertification and drought, for instance, reduce the amount of usable land available -- which in turn exacerbates conflict, a situation made even worse when not-so-nice regimes "play favorites" or manipulate these conflicts to serve political ends. (Hello, Darfur.) All of which got me wondering about the broader, historical connection…
One Disarmed Rebel for Every Seven Women Raped

Michael Bear
14 Oct 2009 | 10:05 pm

[Sexual violence in the DRC - video from Human Rights Watch] Earlier this week, the Congo Action Coalition released a statement highlighting the "unacceptable cost for the civilian population" of the ongoing Congolese army offensive against rebels in North and South Kivu provinces. The UN-supported offensive is aimed at neutralizing the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (French-acronymized to FDLR), a particularly vicious rebel group operating in eastern Congo. According to the Congo Action Coalition -- comprising 84 international and Congolese NGOs -- things haven't gone exactly…

About.com: Civil Liberties
Don't Mess with the Filibuster

20 Jan 2011 | 9:34 am

Now that word has spread that Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is stepping down, the Connecticut 2012 Democratic Senate primary is getting competitive. And Chris Murphy, a promising young prospective replacement, ...Read Full Post
How We Failed

10 Jan 2011 | 11:57 pm

There's a reason no sitting member of Congress has been assassinated since 1978, and it's not because our culture has gotten less violent. It's because most people, no matter how violent they are, are usually more practical than that. Loughner, for whatever reason, was not....Read Full Post
The Political Price of Complacency

4 Jan 2011 | 9:41 am

Deborah White of About.com: U.S. Liberal Politics has identified a serious potential liability, I believe, for Democrats in 2012: diminishing support from Latino voters who are unlikely to continue to stand behind candidates who refuse to stand behind Latinos....Read Full Post
Good News for the Holidays: Death Penalty Use is Down

26 Dec 2010 | 10:58 am

According to the ACLU, death penalty abolitionists have something to celebrate this year:Earlier this week, the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) released its annual year-end report finding a 12 percent decrease in executions in 2010 compared to last year: 46 people were executed this year, compared to 52 in 2009. Most of the executions were carried out in the South. In addition, the report calculates that the number of death sentences in 2010 would continue to be over 50 percent lower than in the 1990s....Read Full Post
ACLU: Espionage Act Should Not Be Used Against WikiLeaks

17 Dec 2010 | 10:42 am

The most fundamental freedom articulated in the Bill of Rights is the right to free speech--which, at the time, essentially meant newspapers and pamphlets.Now some opponents of WikiLeaks would like ...Read Full Post

INTER PRESS SERVICE
Report Condemns Widespread Tolerance for Torturers

24 Jan 2011 | 9:58 am

The international community - from Western authorities to Southern powers - lacks courage and hides behind "soft diplomacy" in confronting human rights abusers, a leading rights group accuses in a 649-page world report released Monday.
Palestine Papers Cause More Heartburn in Washington

24 Jan 2011 | 9:30 am

The exposure by Al Jazeera and London's Guardian newspaper of a huge cache of documents detailing Palestinian accounts of a decade of peace negotiations with Israel could deal a lethal blow to U.S. efforts to get a credible process back on track, according to experts here.
Cracking the Donor Discourse on Haiti

24 Jan 2011 | 8:55 am

In her remarks last week to the president of the U.N. Security Council on the first anniversary of Haiti's earthquake, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice called for a free and fair election that reflected the views of Haitian voters, applauded the work of the U.N. Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and declared that the "prospects for rebuilding Haiti depend upon maintaining a secure environment and creating jobs for Haitians".
ECUADOR: Migrants Uprooted Twice

24 Jan 2011 | 7:46 am

Ecuadorean immigrants have been put in an even more vulnerable position by the lingering economic crisis in the industrialised world, especially in Spain and the United States, the main destinations for migrants from Latin America.
COTE D'IVOIRE: Protecting Public Health Despite Political Impasse

24 Jan 2011 | 7:43 am

The political stand-off between Alassane Ouattara, certified by the United Nations as winner of Nov. 28 elections, and the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, who has refused to step down, is stretching into its eighth week.

EarthRights International
Oklahoma's "Sharia Ban" and Other Misguided Assaults on Centuries of U.S. Legal Tradition

Marco Simons
20 Jan 2011 | 2:01 pm

Back in November, we blogged twice about Oklahoma's new constitutional amendment forbidding courts from considering international law or foreign law, especially Sharia. The American Constitutional Society has since published a short paper, Oklahoma State Question 755 and An Analysis of Anti-International Law Initiatives, in which Martha Davis and Johanna Kalb discuss the amendment and other similar proposals. The analysis of the Oklahoma law is worth reading, but what's more eye-opening is the review of what's been proposed elsewhere. A 2004 federal bill would have allowed…
Spain's New Criminal Code Applies to Corporations for the First Time

Jonathan Kaufman
11 Jan 2011 | 10:02 am

I recently had the chance to learn a bit more about the recent reforms in the Spanish Penal Code, which establish corporate criminality for a number of acts for the first time ever. Until now, Spain has been one of a dwindling number of countries (along with Germany, Italy, and Russia) that has resisted subjecting corporations to criminal law. The list of crimes covered includes environmental crimes, corruption, terrorism, human trafficking, drug trafficking, and money laundering, as well as wide variety of economic crimes. Businesses are criminally liable for the acts of their directors,…
Banks Deny Links to Kleptocrats Again ... and Again

Matthew Smith
11 Jan 2011 | 7:35 am

Oil-rich Southern Sudan is voting this week for its long-awaited independence from the North in a referendum that began Sunday. This comes amidst fresh allegations that the North's controversial President Omar al-Bashir stole an estimated $9 billion of his country's oil wealth, storing it in “illegal accounts.” The source of the corruption claim is Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, who's been working on the ICC indictment against Bashir for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. It appeared in a 2009 U.S. cable released last month…
Mekong Students Complete Their Field Research and Celebrate Graduation

10 Jan 2011 | 1:36 pm

The EarthRights School Mekong (ERSM) Class of 2010 recently completed their field research and celebrated their graduation. The thirteen students hail from the six countries of the Mekong region – Burma, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam – and represent a variety of disciplines, including human rights law, public health, engineering, disaster relief, and environmental science. Their graduation marks the culmination of seven months of intensive study and research on issues facing communities in the Mekong region. Fieldwork As part of the ERSM program, students receive financial…
Mexico Must Provide Justice to Tortured Environmental Defenders, Says Inter-American Court

Jonathan Kaufman
22 Dec 2010 | 10:36 am

I’m pleased to report that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) ruled on November 26 that Mexico is responsible for the arbitrary detention and torture of Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cabrera García, two environmental activists who were falsely imprisoned and subjected to horrific physical and psychological abuse by Mexican military forces in 1999-2000. This legal victory comes after nearly a decade during which Mexico obstructed investigations and blocked the victims and their advocates from seeking justice. At the request of the Centro Prodh, the Mexican NGO…