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Index July 2009

Written on July 31st, 2009 in Monthly Index by Heidi

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U.N. Denies Status to Christian Charity After China Objects

Written on July 31st, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Linked with Dynamic Christian World Mission Foundation, USA, with UN Watch, and with ECOSOC for AEHRF and the NGO world.

(First my comment: this is not a new story. Many NGOs are rejected with the help of so-called enemy states, as India-Pakistan-India (as one exemple: watch our blog ECOSOC for AEHRF and the NGO world, affair still not resolved). The main problem: the UN finally is unable – by its structure – to force governements to apply their rules of human rights and social justice).

Received by mail:
From: UN Watch
Date: 27/07/2009

GENEVA, July 27, 2009 — UN Watch, the Geneva-based human rights monitoring group, condemned the U.N.’s decision today to reject an international Christian charity as a non-governmental organization (NGO), a form of observer status, after it refused Beijing demands to disclose the addresses of its Chinese members, and “concerns” by Russia, Egypt, Cuba, Pakistan, and Sudan about its “ability to contribute” to the world body.   Continue Reading…

Draft Declaration

Written on July 31st, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Marrakech seminar on the draft Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training

Received by e-mail:
From: Felisa Tibbitts
Date: 27/07/2009

Dear Colleagues, I would like to provide a brief update on the expert seminar on the draft UN declaration on human rights education and training, which took place in Marrakech (Morocco) on 16-17 July 2009. This seminar was organised by the Platform for Human Rights Education and Training in the Human Rights Council, which is comprised of six governments – Costa Rica, Italy, Morocco, Philippines, Slovenia and Switzerland. Those selected and invited (approximately 80 persons) included member states, members of the Drafting Group of the Advisory Committee of the Human Rights Council, specific Special Rapporteurs and members of human rights treaty bodies, and representations of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN agencies, regional and international organisations, academics, national human rights institutions and NGOs.   Continue Reading…

Flu is not the Biggest Danger, it’s the Vaccine

Written on July 30th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Linked with The Worldwide H1N1 Flu Vaccination Program (appears on July 31).

Published on Pakistan Daily Press News Agency, July 26, 2009.

These are challenging times and we need to stay calm and think things through – not just panic and react. Fear, panic and emotional reaction got us into this mess and it is certainly not going to get us out of it.

We also need to realise – here, now – that we have long crossed the line into a fully-fledged fascist dictatorship. It has hidden itself to most people this far, but it is about to lift the veil.

It is no longer an option to do nothing or passively acquiesce to authority out of fear or apathy. Or, at least, it’s not if we care about our freedoms and, most importantly, those of our children and grandchildren who will have to live almost their entire lives under a global jackboot of sheer, undiluted evil.  Continue Reading…

Health Care Debate in US

Written on July 30th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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How Corporate Media, Sellouts in Congress and Industry Bigs Have Hijacked the Health Care Debate

Published on AlterNet, by Joshua Holland, July 29, 2009.

If we let these powerful interests get their way, we’ll see more outlandish increases in premiums, and millions more people being denied care …

… Finally, there’s a sad irony to this whole discussion – one that few commenters have bothered to note. It is true that the potential savings contained in the proposals currently on the table are limited, but it is also true that the reason for that shortcoming is that Congressional leaders have ushered through a series of bills that are far less expansive than progressive reformers have long advocated, and that’s only been done to mollify the very same Dems and Republicans – those ideologically opposed to the effort and/or especially cozy with the “disease-care” industry – who are now complaining about the limited potential for savings (It’s enough to make your head spin). Continue Reading…

6th Internat. Conference on Teacher Education and Social Justice

Written on July 30th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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University of Illinois UIC at Chicago/USA, 5-6 December 2009

Linked with Center for Anti-Oppressive Education CAOE.

Call for papers: PROPOSALS DUE SEPTEMBER 15th, 2009.

Center for Anti-Oppresive Education:

… Conference Theme: Reframing Race, Gender, and Teacher-Education Policy: The Conference will highlight cutting-edge research and theory on race, gender, and teacher-education policy, particularly regarding new and innovative ways to conceptualize policy and politics of teacher preparation at the intersections of race and gender … (full long text for all informations).

Evaluating Decisions and the Long Term Perspective

Written on July 29th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on Dissident Voice, by Jim Brumm, July 28, 2009.

Here are three major considerations that we must keep in mind when we evaluate a decision with a long term perspective.

The first is sustainability. The best plans and ideas, no matter how profitable, or altruistic, or wonderful they may be, are doomed to eventual failure if the processes driving them are not sustainable over time. Long-term thinking and sustainability inexorably go hand in hand; they are the two sides of the same coin, and it’s the coin we should be using to fund our future. In practice, however, the question of sustainability rarely comes up when making decisions. Governments and elected officials rush into new policies and pass laws that will temporarily please their constituents and earn them some votes, or will give momentary upper hand in some political situation. Continue Reading…

contre la brevetabilité des êtres vivants

Written on July 29th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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APPEL contre la brevetabilité des êtres vivants et la monopolisation des ressources génétiques

Publié sur Severino /Homepage, article non daté (sans doute vieux, mais le thème vaut toujours un rappel).

La brevetabilité des êtres vivants et de leurs gènes constitue un bouleversement des valeurs sans précédent. Elle instaure la marchandisation de la vie elle-même. Aux USA, les entreprises peuvent demander des brevets sur des organismes vivants, génétiquement modifiés ou non, ainsi que sur des gènes, notamment humains, même sans en avoir identifié la fonction. La simple description d’un gène suffit à se l’approprier.  Continue Reading…

On-line course The Human Right to Adequate Food

Written on July 28th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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The dates for the 3rd Trimester of 2009 are: 7 September – 27 November, 2009,
Applications will be accepted until September 3, 2009.

An online course on the human right to adequate food will be offered September 7-November 27, 2009 by Professor George Kent of the University of Hawai’i. Its premise is that solving the problem of widespread malnutrition is not simply a matter of correcting deficiencies among those who are hungry. Ending hunger requires respect for human rights, and it may require reconfiguration of the social order, locally, nationally, and globally.

The course will be conducted entirely online through Transcend Peace University. The basic cost is 225 Euro for residents of non-OECD states and 450 Euro for residents of OECD states. The syllabus and details regarding registration may be obtained through the TRANSCEND PEACE UNIVERSITY.

HREA’s upcoming distance e-learning courses

Written on July 28th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on HREA, the Global Human Rights Education Network:

1): Third trimester 2009 (14 September-24 November): The application deadline for courses in the third trimester (September-November 2009) was 15 June 2009. Please be aware that for some courses the deadline has been extended until 1 September 2009 … (find courses on HREA);

2): First trimester 2010 (1 February-20 April): The application deadline is 1st December 2009 … (find courses on HREA).

More information about HREA’s Distance Learning Programme.

Frequently asked questions about the courses.

Tomgram: The Face in the Mirro

Written on July 27th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Borrowed Time, The world at 65

Published on TomDispatch.com, by Tom Engelhardt, July 19, 2009.

… (scroll down) Conspiracies Large and Small:

As in the original meaning of the word “conspire” – to breathe the same air – we conspire in the realities we breathe in. No wonder we so often can’t see them for what they turn out to be.

Until recently, our world looked so easy, so stable. A two-party world. No one imagined that the world my father and mother lived through, that of the Great Depression, could sneak back on stage for another bow. A year ago, had I told you that a former Clinton-era secretary of labor was going to write a piece headlined “When Will the Economic Recovery Begin? Never.,” you would have laughed.   Continue Reading…

New GEM Manifesto – Against Silence

Written on July 27th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on OneWorld.org, by , July 14, 2009.

The Initiative “Citizens for European Macedonia” (GEM) http://www.gem.org.mk/ published its second manifesto – Against Silence, result of the series of debates all over Macedonia and the dramatic meetings with the citizens, aiming to call on the intellectuals, free-thinking citizens and those who refuse to be apologetics of the Government to speak up about the situation in the country.

The initiators of the GEM raise their voice against the silence of intelligentsia, business community, academia, medical profession, writers, journalists, architects, artists, commanders, bishops, asking who will define the responsibility of the those who hide the robbery behind the cloak of patriotism and their accomplices?

… (full text).

Requests for Information: 13 – 19 July 2009

Written on July 26th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Received by mail:
From: Global HRE List Moderator
Date: 24/07/2009

Dear members, Below is a compilation of requests for information sent to the Global Human Rights Education listserv during the past week. At the bottom of each request you will find an e-mail address, so that you can respond to the request directly.

1. SEEKING PARTNERS TO CONDUCT INFORMATION CAMPAIGN ON NEW CHILD RIGHTS ACT IN NIGERIA

Dear comrades, I bring you all greetings from Edem Children Foundation (ECF) in Nigeria. Late last month, the Cross River State signed into law the Child Rights Act.
By this act children in the state are to enjoy their fundamental human rights. The challenge now is how to raise both parent/adult and child awareness on the existence of the Child Rights Act. Thus the reason for this call by our organisation.
ECF is now seeking potential partners to implement a project called Campaign for Child Rights and Survival, This project is aimed at educating and rasing the level of awareness of children and adults on the new Child Rights Act, in order to gurantee their protection.
If you know of any organisations that can support this project, please contact us at: Edem Children Foundation (ECF), 23/25 Etinyin Abasi Street, Off Atamunu Street, Calabar, Cross River State. Nigeria, Phone+234 8077 20 5323, E-mail.

*****     Continue Reading…

Let’s Bring Love and Revolution Together

Written on July 26th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on AlterNet, by Grace Lee Boggs, Boggs Center. Posted July 24, 2009.

Being revolutionary meant being tough as nails, committed to agitating and mobilizing angry and oppressed masses to overthrow the government and seize state power by any means necessary in order to reconstruct society from the top down.

In the last 50 years this topdown view of revolution has been discredited by the demise of the Soviet Union. At the same time our approach to revolution has been humanized by:  Continue Reading…

QUINZAINE pour la PAIX et la NON-VIOLENCE

Written on July 25th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Lisez la dernière newsletter de Graines de Paix:

Lié avec Graines de Paix.

Un riche programme d’événements et d’activités vous est proposé pour marquer et célébrer la Journée mondiale de la paix (21.9.09) et la Journée mondiale de la non-violence (2.10.09).

Ce programme est le fruit d’une collaboration de plus d’une vingtaine d’ONG réunies depuis octobre 2008 en un Collectif pour la paix et la non-violence.

Cette année, l’essentiel des activités se dérouleront à Genève, et certains aussi sur Lausanne … (voir le texte entier sur leur site).

Visitez la page Programme Quinzaine Paix-NV-2009.pdf et cliquez sur Programme.

East-central Europe to Barack Obama: an open letter

Written on July 25th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on openDemocracy, as open letter, July 22, 2009.

A group of politicians and scholars from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia expresses concern to the United States president about the consequences of Washington’s inattention to a vital region, and makes six proposals for a new era …

… We must also recognise that America’s popularity and influence have fallen in many of our countries as well. Public-opinion polls, including the German Marshall Fund’s own Transatlantic Trends survey,
show that our region has not been immune to the wave of criticism and anti-Americanism that has swept Europe in recent years and which led to a collapse in sympathy and support for the United States during the George W Bush years.  Continue Reading…

9/11: The most popular French comedian ridicules the U.S. gov

Written on July 25th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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The internet buzz!

Published on Voltairenet.org, by Thierry Meyssan, July 22, 2009.

Whereas the corporate media in NATO countries have sanctified the Kean-Hamilton report of the government-appointed commission on the attacks of September 11, 2001, French comedian Jean-Marie Bigard’s mockery of this preposterous tale is a resounding success. Indeed, it is no longer possible to sustain the government’s account of those events without provoking hilarity.  Continue Reading…

The South Can Also Be Consumers of Fair Trade Products

Written on July 24th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on IPS, July 21, 2009.

Sybrandus Adema interviews BOUDEWIJN GOOSSENS, the executive director of Fairtrade Label South Africa FLSA:

Fair trade could be compared to the free-range chicken of global trade. Yes, the consumer – usually in the North – pays slightly more, but then at least the producers – more often than not in the South – are better off.

The fair trade movement aims to enhance trading conditions for small-scale businesses, improve labour conditions for employees and empower communities through ethical and sustainable trade. Historically the South produced fair trade products and the North consumed them.   Continue Reading…

Uganda: Seven Local Girls Sold Into Slavery Missing

Written on July 24th, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on allAfrica.com, by Andrew Pacutho, July 22, 2009.

Kampala — Seven girls who were lured into a slave racket in Iraq are missing, officials from the National Organisations for Trade Unions (NOTU) have revealed. NOTU boss Mr Wilson Owere says he received a phone call from a Ugandan called Jessica, who is one of the nine Ugandans rescued by American forces currently residing at the Victoria Base Camp in Baghdad.

Ms Jessica, whose second name could not be established, says she is among a group of over 16 girls who were recruited by The Ugandan Veterans Association to go work in Iraq as secretaries and supermarket attendants but when they arrived they were sold to different people who rushed to ‘buy’ them like ‘goats in a market’ …

… There are thousands of Ugandans working as security guards at American institutions in Iraq, but their wages have been falling each year.

Two years ago, they were earning between $900-1200 (Shs2m to Shs2.8m) per month, but the figure fell to $600 or Shs1.2m last year. Last month, the Ministry of Labour endorsed further cuts to $450 or Shs1m per month. Minister of State for Labour Dr Emmanuel Otaala, in a letter to the recruitment agencies blamed the salary reduction to a ‘dip in the employment market’.

“Many employers are choosing to respond to the economic crisis by taking measures to reduce their labour costs, which include reducing wages or working hours. Others are terminating employees,” the letter said. “It is on this basis that the Government has decided to revise the minimum wage. The reduction is to help Uganda remain competitive in the market.”

Kenyans are reportedly ready to earn $400 per month and took the latest batch of jobs in Camp Echo and Camp Summers in Baghdad.

There over 12,000 Ugandan guards in Iraq. They are recruited through several agencies, including the Uganda Veterans Association. (full text).

Aiding the Future

Written on July 23rd, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Does U.S. foreign assistance really work?

Published on Foreign Policy FP, by MICHAEL WILKERSON, JULY 20, 2009.

… In a recent interview with AllAfrica.com, U.S. President Barack Obama said he hoped to amend U.S. foreign-aid policies that mean “Western consultants and administrative costs end up gobbling huge percentages of our aid overall.” On July 10, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review intended to look at improving the effectiveness of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Several reform-minded bills have also been introduced in Congress.  Continue Reading…

Pakistan, Captain America’s On the Phone

Written on July 23rd, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on Miller MxCune, by Ken Stier, July 21, 2009.

Reconstituting trust is tricky enough between two individuals. In the case of star-crossed “frenemies” the United States and Pakistan, it’s complicated because the U.S. will simultaneously try to apply benchmarks to Pakistan’s internal counter-insurgency cooperation …

… The U.S. Has a Role:

With hotheads like these stirring the cauldron it seems unlikely there will be any improvements in “security perceptions” any time soon. And it is at this juncture in considering the bedeviled region that U.S. analysts reach for a longer-term tonic by advocating that the U.S. help train mid-career up-and-comers in the Pakistan military, and train intelligence services to be more modern-minded.  Continue Reading…

The Medium and the Message – Séance on Wall Street

Written on July 22nd, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on Counterpunch, by DEAN BAKER, July 21, 2009.

There is a long history of mediums who claim to communicate with the dead. They sell their services to people anxious to talk to relatives or great figures of the past. Such exercises can be dismissed as harmless entertainment – people spend a few dollars to be treated to tall tales.

There is a Wall Street equivalent to these séances. People who claim to be knowledgeable about financial markets tell policy makers and reporters what the financial markets are thinking about current policy. These Wall Street seers claim to interpret events in financial markets for those of use who are less familiar with the mysteries of market movements … Continue Reading…

Popular Power in Latin America

Written on July 22nd, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Inventing in order to not make errors

Published on ZCommunications.org, by Marta Harnecker, July 11, 2009.

(I Introduction 1. to 4.) …
… II. Latin America today

Latin America – pioneer in the rejection of neoliberalism

5. Latin America was the first region where neoliberal policies were imposed. Chile, my country, served as a testing ground before the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher applied them in the United Kingdom. But it was also the first region in the world where a process of rejection of these policies emerged; a rejection of policies which had only served to increase poverty, deepen social inequalities, destroy the environment and weaken the working class and popular movements in general.   Continue Reading…

The Ripples of the Pulse

Written on July 21st, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on World Pulse.com, by Araceli, July 14, 2009.

Even if we are not aware of the phenomenon, the World Pulse is causing rings of ripples that get bigger and bigger as they move away. I have been a witness of this phenomenon and I would like to share it with all of you.

From the US, I went to Uganda and Kenya granted by the Center For Global Health at the university where I teach. The grant was meant for me to work with the prestigious organization Reproductive Health Uganda in Kampala and on female genital cutting for my own project “I am not Cut” in Kenya.

Once I had the details of my trips more or less set up, I decided to contact some of the World Pulse sisters who live in these two countries. It was at that moment when the Pulse started to send tiny ripples of hope, love, and sisterhood, crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and from thousands of miles away. Continue Reading…

Five Foods You Shouldn’t Eat Raw

Written on July 21st, 2009 in Humanitarian Concerns by Heidi

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Published on AlterNet, by Greg A. Miller, July 18, 2009.

… here’s my hysteria-inducing list:

… 3. Sprouts:  Alfalfa, bean, and other sprouts carry Salmonella, E. coli, and Bacillus bacteria due to the warm, humid environments in which they’re grown.  Washing the surface of the sprouts does not eliminate the chance of illness, as the bacteria can live internally.  Raw sprouts are not recommended for children, the elderly, or people with weakened immune systems.

4. Beef and pork: Avoiding raw meat is a no-brainer, until you see it on the menu with an appetizing name like tartare or carpaccio.  There’s a long list of diseases you could get from raw meat, so I’ll mention only one: neurocysticercosis, a parasite from undercooked pork that crawls from your intestine up to your brain, where it can live for years and cause seizures.  Continue Reading…

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