By Paul Ndiho
February 24 ,2012
Ethiopia is often lauded for its economic development and for its role in the fight against Al Shabaab militants in Somalia. Yet, like many countries with a strong ruling party and ethnic factions, multi-party democracy in Ethiopia has stalled.
In 2005, hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians protested the disputed elections that resulted in the street violence that killed more than 200 civilians. The government's repression of the protests, along with internal party leadership disputes, fragmented Ethiopia’s political opposition and left it unable to deliver democratic reforms.
But Birtukan Midekssa, a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy, says the time to engage Ethiopia's government is now.
“I think democratization is the only way we are left with and if Ethiopia is to democratize obviously opposition political parties would have an indispensable role to play.”
Birtukan Midekssa is a former federal judge and leader of the pro-democracy opposition in Ethiopia. Often hailed as the Aung San Suu Kyi of her country, she was among those sentenced to life in prison in 2005 after her party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, won an unprecedented number of seats in parliamentary elections.
After eighteen months in prison, she was pardoned in 2007, but rearrested in 2008. Midekssa says that she’s still committed to fighting for democracy. She also notes that Ethiopians in the Diaspora need to keep pushing for major reforms in the horn of African nation.
“The Diaspora has been playing a very significant role. But those efforts and activities have been very episodic for example in 2005 the Ethiopian Diaspora even managed to get a bill introduction in the congress of United States to support democracy in Ethiopia. But currently we may not see that kind of enthusiasm and influence but we should try to maximize that kind of influence from the diaspora because the local population is very constrained.
Ethiopia's opposition parties have routinely accused the government of harassment since the violent post-election protests of 2005. Adrienne LeBas, a professor at American University, says that Ethiopia is yet another African country dealing with a protracted democratic transition.
“I think what Ethiopia really highlights are the challenges of organizing opposition actually building opposition parties are much more severe in these kinds of closed political systems. Democratization is going to take a lot longer, it’s going to take a lot more protests and confrontation and it’s just going to be a protracted process.”
Analysts say that over the past ten years, Ethiopia's opposition has focused on building institutions from the top down. But the opposition has been weakened by the imprisonment of many its top figures. In 2010, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's ruling party won landslide victories which extend his term in office to nearly 25 years. Opposition parties cried foul and observers say the elections did not meet international standards.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Rice Farming In Ivory Coast
By Paul Ndiho
February 14, 2012
A new rice variety is transforming agriculture in Ivory Coast, benefiting hundreds of farmers - mostly women. Its harvest time in Ivory Coast, but this rice is not destined for the dinner table. It's a new, more hardy breed of rice, and this woman’s cooperative is producing high quality seeds for sale to a seed bank. In a country reeling from civil war, these farmers are helping to reduce poverty, according to Gnandia Fofana, president of Boundiali’s Women's Cooperative.
“Before it was only suffering, suffering, suffering we couldn’t find any food to eat. But now selling these rice seeds we can buy food and we are doing well.”
Some 800 farmers in Ivory Coast have been trained to grow a more productive and pest resilient breed of rice, and with it have almost doubled their yield and profits. Gnandia is a widow with three children, and her group is growing Wita 9 rice. She says the new rice has meant more earnings and independence in a country where women grow over half the food but rely on men for access to land.
“Thanks to this rice I can build a house, rent a tractor and can do what men can do. Now we are the same as men.”
To ensure the seeds are of high quality, Gnandia needs a government certificate and must adhere to strict regulations, from the choice of terrain to the correct way of drying the seeds.
At least 30 rice producers attended an intensive training course and had the opportunity to share experiences with fellow rice growers. All seeds are sent to a government warehouse. Here, machines separate the good grains from the bad.
After a final quality check they are stored until next planting season, when they will be distributed to thousands of farmers.
“For almost 10 years now bad quality seeds have been used. This training has enabled farmers to get good quality seeds and has meant that their yield has increased greatly.”
It is not only rice; maize, yams and cassava cultivations are all being improved through this project financed by the European Union and managed by the UN's agency dedicated to rural development.
Analysts say that for Ivorian rice farmers to reach their full potential political stability must continue in the country and the government should continue to invest in agriculture research.
February 14, 2012
A new rice variety is transforming agriculture in Ivory Coast, benefiting hundreds of farmers - mostly women. Its harvest time in Ivory Coast, but this rice is not destined for the dinner table. It's a new, more hardy breed of rice, and this woman’s cooperative is producing high quality seeds for sale to a seed bank. In a country reeling from civil war, these farmers are helping to reduce poverty, according to Gnandia Fofana, president of Boundiali’s Women's Cooperative.
“Before it was only suffering, suffering, suffering we couldn’t find any food to eat. But now selling these rice seeds we can buy food and we are doing well.”
Some 800 farmers in Ivory Coast have been trained to grow a more productive and pest resilient breed of rice, and with it have almost doubled their yield and profits. Gnandia is a widow with three children, and her group is growing Wita 9 rice. She says the new rice has meant more earnings and independence in a country where women grow over half the food but rely on men for access to land.
“Thanks to this rice I can build a house, rent a tractor and can do what men can do. Now we are the same as men.”
To ensure the seeds are of high quality, Gnandia needs a government certificate and must adhere to strict regulations, from the choice of terrain to the correct way of drying the seeds.
At least 30 rice producers attended an intensive training course and had the opportunity to share experiences with fellow rice growers. All seeds are sent to a government warehouse. Here, machines separate the good grains from the bad.
After a final quality check they are stored until next planting season, when they will be distributed to thousands of farmers.
“For almost 10 years now bad quality seeds have been used. This training has enabled farmers to get good quality seeds and has meant that their yield has increased greatly.”
It is not only rice; maize, yams and cassava cultivations are all being improved through this project financed by the European Union and managed by the UN's agency dedicated to rural development.
Analysts say that for Ivorian rice farmers to reach their full potential political stability must continue in the country and the government should continue to invest in agriculture research.
IVORY COAST'S VOLUNTARY DISARMAMENT
By Paul Ndiho
February 14, 2012
A United Nations voluntary campaign in Cote D’lvoire is calling on civilians with illegal weapons still in circulation to hand them over. The West African nation is still recovering from the post-election turmoil that killed more than 1,000 people and rekindled the country's 2002 civil war.
Ivory Coast is still emerging from the violence that sprang from the 2010 election dispute between former president Laurent Gbagbo and current President Alassane Ouattara.
The U.N. weapons return operation is part of a wider national campaign that began in June of last year.
Last week in a suburb of Abidjan, those who brought in their weapons stressed that they no longer need them now that violence has ended.
“We have deposited weapons because it was becoming cumbersome. The war is over. We fought for a cause that has been acquired.”
“Not every call has to be for the military life. We must deposit the arms to return to our civil life.”
Ivorians say that their nation now has more pressing concerns than political infighting.
“We had taken up arms for a cause: freedom, justice and equality. All of that has been restored, so we decided to disarm. Yet, I ask the Government to think of us. We need to eat.”
Since the weapons collection program began in Ivory Coast, more than 1,000 arms have been turned in. The program is supported by the Ivorian police in cooperation with the United Nations Operation in Cote D'Ivoire.
February 14, 2012
A United Nations voluntary campaign in Cote D’lvoire is calling on civilians with illegal weapons still in circulation to hand them over. The West African nation is still recovering from the post-election turmoil that killed more than 1,000 people and rekindled the country's 2002 civil war.
Ivory Coast is still emerging from the violence that sprang from the 2010 election dispute between former president Laurent Gbagbo and current President Alassane Ouattara.
The U.N. weapons return operation is part of a wider national campaign that began in June of last year.
Last week in a suburb of Abidjan, those who brought in their weapons stressed that they no longer need them now that violence has ended.
“We have deposited weapons because it was becoming cumbersome. The war is over. We fought for a cause that has been acquired.”
“Not every call has to be for the military life. We must deposit the arms to return to our civil life.”
Ivorians say that their nation now has more pressing concerns than political infighting.
“We had taken up arms for a cause: freedom, justice and equality. All of that has been restored, so we decided to disarm. Yet, I ask the Government to think of us. We need to eat.”
Since the weapons collection program began in Ivory Coast, more than 1,000 arms have been turned in. The program is supported by the Ivorian police in cooperation with the United Nations Operation in Cote D'Ivoire.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
NEW STRATEGY FOR FIGHTING AL SHABAAB ISLAMISTS GROUP IN SOMALIA
By Paul Ndiho
February 7, 2012
In January, the Africa Union expanded its peacekeeping force in Somalia and called on the U.N. Security Council to endorse a force of close to 18,000 troops to fight al Shabaab rebels. Analysts say that the AU should focus more on development and job creation for the country.
Since Dictator Siad Barre was ousted in 1991, Somalia has descended into chaos, civil war, famine, and piracy off its coast.
In this environment, a hardline Islamist group with links to al Qaida has risen from obscurity to international prominence in less than two years. Mwangi Kimenyi of the Brookings Institution suggests that the militants will continue to pose a threat in the region if the international community does not change its focus for Somalia.
“There needs to be a development program. We cannot just focus on military options. There has to be a strategy and this is where even African countries need to get together and say, you know, we are talking about terrorism but let's think about economic programs, let's think about opportunities for the young people. If these young people don't get opportunities, Al Shabaab is very attractive option and they will continue joining.”
The African Union extended the mandate of Amisom, the U.N.-backed force supporting the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia. Kenya and Ethiopia have joined Amisom forces in the fight against al Shabaab. Last month, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki thanked Uganda and Burundi for providing troops for the AU Mission in Somalia.
"The success of our community is directly related to peace and stability in our neighboring states, our engagement in bringing law and order in Somalia is driven by the desire to bring about peace and development in this region,"
The new mandate allows Burundi and Uganda to deploy additional troops; Djibouti will also send a contingent, while Kenyan soldiers are already battling al Shabaab in the south of Somalia. Mr. Kimenyi says that Amisom forces in Somalia should not be seen as invaders:
“I think Somalis hate, or they resent intervention from outside. You have seen what has happened even when the U.S. has been involved in Somalia. First of all, there is no aid strategy in Somalia. What we have seen donors doing is responding to the crisis. If there is a famine, you start getting a lot of people, you know, involved in food and dealing with the refugees and so on. That's not a development strategy. It's a crisis, dealing with a crisis. And we tend to waste a lot of time just dealing with the crisis."
Mr. Kimenyi says that the international community should work for the empowerment of the Somali people.
“we need to go beyond just focusing on the crisis, and looking at what we can do that is longer term, so that it's attractive for the youth to be in school, to be working, rather than going for the piracy, which is a very attractive undertaking, or joining Al Shabab, or any other war groups.”
Somali has not had an effective central government for two decades, and experts say that events in Somalia are difficult to predict. But they say one thing is sure: Al-Shabaab is losing momentum.
Meanwhile in Nigeria, the government continues to battle against violent attacks and killings by the radical Islamic group, Nigerians are expressing concern about the state of the nation's security. Mwangi Kimenyi, a senior fellow and director, Africa Growth Initiative,at the Brookings Institution, says Boko Haram needs to be taken seriously because its influence is expanding.
February 7, 2012
In January, the Africa Union expanded its peacekeeping force in Somalia and called on the U.N. Security Council to endorse a force of close to 18,000 troops to fight al Shabaab rebels. Analysts say that the AU should focus more on development and job creation for the country.
Since Dictator Siad Barre was ousted in 1991, Somalia has descended into chaos, civil war, famine, and piracy off its coast.
In this environment, a hardline Islamist group with links to al Qaida has risen from obscurity to international prominence in less than two years. Mwangi Kimenyi of the Brookings Institution suggests that the militants will continue to pose a threat in the region if the international community does not change its focus for Somalia.
“There needs to be a development program. We cannot just focus on military options. There has to be a strategy and this is where even African countries need to get together and say, you know, we are talking about terrorism but let's think about economic programs, let's think about opportunities for the young people. If these young people don't get opportunities, Al Shabaab is very attractive option and they will continue joining.”
The African Union extended the mandate of Amisom, the U.N.-backed force supporting the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Somalia. Kenya and Ethiopia have joined Amisom forces in the fight against al Shabaab. Last month, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki thanked Uganda and Burundi for providing troops for the AU Mission in Somalia.
"The success of our community is directly related to peace and stability in our neighboring states, our engagement in bringing law and order in Somalia is driven by the desire to bring about peace and development in this region,"
The new mandate allows Burundi and Uganda to deploy additional troops; Djibouti will also send a contingent, while Kenyan soldiers are already battling al Shabaab in the south of Somalia. Mr. Kimenyi says that Amisom forces in Somalia should not be seen as invaders:
“I think Somalis hate, or they resent intervention from outside. You have seen what has happened even when the U.S. has been involved in Somalia. First of all, there is no aid strategy in Somalia. What we have seen donors doing is responding to the crisis. If there is a famine, you start getting a lot of people, you know, involved in food and dealing with the refugees and so on. That's not a development strategy. It's a crisis, dealing with a crisis. And we tend to waste a lot of time just dealing with the crisis."
Mr. Kimenyi says that the international community should work for the empowerment of the Somali people.
“we need to go beyond just focusing on the crisis, and looking at what we can do that is longer term, so that it's attractive for the youth to be in school, to be working, rather than going for the piracy, which is a very attractive undertaking, or joining Al Shabab, or any other war groups.”
Somali has not had an effective central government for two decades, and experts say that events in Somalia are difficult to predict. But they say one thing is sure: Al-Shabaab is losing momentum.
Meanwhile in Nigeria, the government continues to battle against violent attacks and killings by the radical Islamic group, Nigerians are expressing concern about the state of the nation's security. Mwangi Kimenyi, a senior fellow and director, Africa Growth Initiative,at the Brookings Institution, says Boko Haram needs to be taken seriously because its influence is expanding.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Using Music And Dance To Inspire Hope in Congo - DRC
By Paul Ndiho
February 1, 2012
Amid the violence, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the National Ballet of Congo is using music and dance to inspire hope.
In a large open theatre, a dance group is determined to spread a message of peace and tolerance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s just a few days before the premiere.
This production fuses traditional African rhythms with modern choreography. Its movement, music and story are designed to express the harsh reality of sexual violence in the DRC. Carmen Smith is a US State Department Cultural Ambassador.
“Dance is a strong vehicle for relaying messages like this because there’s something about movement that is older than language.”
Carmen Smith spent a month in Kinshasa learning about the culture of the DRC and creating a new ballet.
“I started reading some history and tried to learn about what kinds of issues were facing women there. We hear a lot about civil war and you hear a lot about the rapes in the Congo.”
The United Nations estimates that since 1998, more than 5 million people have died from fighting, disease and starvation in the DRC. Rape has been used as weapon of war. Margot Wallström is the U.N. Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
“I think it has to do with the attitudes that this is inevitable as one of the weapons or tactics of war.”
Mugolomi Solange is one of the dancers with the National Ballet.
“The gender violence that’s inflicted on women disturbs us because before we never spoke about this in Kinshasa. So it was kept in…”
Solange and dancer Akim Tsimba say there are painful inequalities between men and women in their country.
“Here in the DRC, women don’t have the same status as men. Women are people who have nothing. Their role is in the home. They don’t have the right to speak.”
This dancer, Kititoi Assina, says the ballet is a way to encourage women in the DRC to see themselves as equal and important.
“What we would really like to portray with this show is that the woman complements the man and that she is not his slave, not his inferior.”
“I asked the National Ballet dancers - I just talked to them for the first two days. No dancing, no rehearsal, just talking. It was these kinds of personal conversations and…hearing women talk about their lives that helped me direct the project.”
On the night of the premiere at the Hall de la Gombe in Kinshasa - as people arrive, the audience is not quite sure what to expect.
The storyline centers on a village where the men rule - and the women do as their told - at least in the beginning. But eventually the relationship between men and women begin to change, as the village women learn to stand up for themselves and gain the respect of the village.
February 1, 2012
Amid the violence, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the National Ballet of Congo is using music and dance to inspire hope.
In a large open theatre, a dance group is determined to spread a message of peace and tolerance in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s just a few days before the premiere.
This production fuses traditional African rhythms with modern choreography. Its movement, music and story are designed to express the harsh reality of sexual violence in the DRC. Carmen Smith is a US State Department Cultural Ambassador.
“Dance is a strong vehicle for relaying messages like this because there’s something about movement that is older than language.”
Carmen Smith spent a month in Kinshasa learning about the culture of the DRC and creating a new ballet.
“I started reading some history and tried to learn about what kinds of issues were facing women there. We hear a lot about civil war and you hear a lot about the rapes in the Congo.”
The United Nations estimates that since 1998, more than 5 million people have died from fighting, disease and starvation in the DRC. Rape has been used as weapon of war. Margot Wallström is the U.N. Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict.
“I think it has to do with the attitudes that this is inevitable as one of the weapons or tactics of war.”
Mugolomi Solange is one of the dancers with the National Ballet.
“The gender violence that’s inflicted on women disturbs us because before we never spoke about this in Kinshasa. So it was kept in…”
Solange and dancer Akim Tsimba say there are painful inequalities between men and women in their country.
“Here in the DRC, women don’t have the same status as men. Women are people who have nothing. Their role is in the home. They don’t have the right to speak.”
This dancer, Kititoi Assina, says the ballet is a way to encourage women in the DRC to see themselves as equal and important.
“What we would really like to portray with this show is that the woman complements the man and that she is not his slave, not his inferior.”
“I asked the National Ballet dancers - I just talked to them for the first two days. No dancing, no rehearsal, just talking. It was these kinds of personal conversations and…hearing women talk about their lives that helped me direct the project.”
On the night of the premiere at the Hall de la Gombe in Kinshasa - as people arrive, the audience is not quite sure what to expect.
The storyline centers on a village where the men rule - and the women do as their told - at least in the beginning. But eventually the relationship between men and women begin to change, as the village women learn to stand up for themselves and gain the respect of the village.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Kenya ICC Ruling What Are The Political Implications
By Paul Ndiho
January 26, 2012
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ruled that four prominent Kenyans are to stand trial for the inciting the violence that followed general elections there. The International Criminal Court says that Kenyan presidential contenders Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto should face trial, along with Francis Muthaura, the head of the civil service, and radio journalist Joshua Sang. The men are suspected of orchestrating Kenya's post-election violence of 2007 and 2008.
Two others, the former Police Commissioner and an opposition politician were found not guilty of charges.
Mwangi Kimenyi of the Brookings Institution says the ICC's decision is a milestone for Kenya.
“All of them are going to appeal which means it will be a long process before we go to the full trial. So we have key people particularly politicians whose charges were confirmed and that's significant for the country's politics and as we move forward it will be important.”
The ICC's top prosecutor says that he is considering whether the four Kenyans should be tried together or in separate cases, an idea that would have to be approved by the judges.
"We are discussing in my office if we put together the two cases or not, so is it better to have one case together with four suspects, or have two different parallel cases."
More than 11-hundred people were killed, thousands injured, and many more forcibly displaced in the violence that followed Kenya's December 2007 elections. There were also hundreds of rapes, and many properties were destroyed.
The two cases involving the politicians are split between the ethnic Kalenjin and Kikuyu camps, as Ruto is a Kalenjin and Kenyatta is a Kikuyu:
“To me what I'd have liked to see is that we move fast with whether it's a trial or the appeals process get the issues done. Then if there are implicated then they don't run for office or serve in public office. But at this point, I think it’s tricky because you have these coalitions and people think that there communities are being targeted and that's where like I have said before, the president or the Prime Minister must go above these tribal or ethnic royalties and look at what is important for the country to focus on.”
The decision by the court - whose proceedings have been closely followed in Kenya - is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the biggest economy in east Africa. Mr. Kimenyi says that President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga must go above ethnic royalties and look at what’s important for the country.
“We are not talking about issues yet; we're talking about which tribe, which people to join. I'd have liked somebody to come and talk about the youth unemployment, talk about issues of agriculture, talk about our infrastructure issues but we haven't seen those issues."
Analysts say both Uhuru Kenyatta, who is the son of the country's founding president, and William Ruto, a former higher education minister, want to run for president next year. The ICC's decision that they must face trial will no doubt affect those plans.
January 26, 2012
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ruled that four prominent Kenyans are to stand trial for the inciting the violence that followed general elections there. The International Criminal Court says that Kenyan presidential contenders Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto should face trial, along with Francis Muthaura, the head of the civil service, and radio journalist Joshua Sang. The men are suspected of orchestrating Kenya's post-election violence of 2007 and 2008.
Two others, the former Police Commissioner and an opposition politician were found not guilty of charges.
Mwangi Kimenyi of the Brookings Institution says the ICC's decision is a milestone for Kenya.
“All of them are going to appeal which means it will be a long process before we go to the full trial. So we have key people particularly politicians whose charges were confirmed and that's significant for the country's politics and as we move forward it will be important.”
The ICC's top prosecutor says that he is considering whether the four Kenyans should be tried together or in separate cases, an idea that would have to be approved by the judges.
"We are discussing in my office if we put together the two cases or not, so is it better to have one case together with four suspects, or have two different parallel cases."
More than 11-hundred people were killed, thousands injured, and many more forcibly displaced in the violence that followed Kenya's December 2007 elections. There were also hundreds of rapes, and many properties were destroyed.
The two cases involving the politicians are split between the ethnic Kalenjin and Kikuyu camps, as Ruto is a Kalenjin and Kenyatta is a Kikuyu:
“To me what I'd have liked to see is that we move fast with whether it's a trial or the appeals process get the issues done. Then if there are implicated then they don't run for office or serve in public office. But at this point, I think it’s tricky because you have these coalitions and people think that there communities are being targeted and that's where like I have said before, the president or the Prime Minister must go above these tribal or ethnic royalties and look at what is important for the country to focus on.”
The decision by the court - whose proceedings have been closely followed in Kenya - is likely to have far-reaching consequences for the biggest economy in east Africa. Mr. Kimenyi says that President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga must go above ethnic royalties and look at what’s important for the country.
“We are not talking about issues yet; we're talking about which tribe, which people to join. I'd have liked somebody to come and talk about the youth unemployment, talk about issues of agriculture, talk about our infrastructure issues but we haven't seen those issues."
Analysts say both Uhuru Kenyatta, who is the son of the country's founding president, and William Ruto, a former higher education minister, want to run for president next year. The ICC's decision that they must face trial will no doubt affect those plans.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
World Bank says developing countries should be prepared for more slowing in the global economy
By Paul Ndiho
January 26, 2012
A new report released by the World Bank last week says global prices of farm commodities like wheat and rice may decline by more than 10 percent this year. In its new report, World Bank researchers say developing countries should be prepared for more slowing in the global economy as a result of Europe's debt problems, and weakening growth in some big emerging economies.
“We have seen capital flows to developing countries decline by almost 50 percent and we are really beginning to see some of these effects in terms of activity. We have developing countries, the major developing countries offering slower growth now than they were earlier and that happening at the same time as Europe enters into a recession offers a pretty worrisome conjuncture."
The World Bank is lowering its growth forecast for 2012 to about 5 and a half percent for developing countries and 1 and a half percent for high-income countries. Global growth is now projected at about 2 and a half percent for this year and next.
"Obviously if what is happening in Europe were to deteriorate significantly is going to have important impacts for developing countries. We ran some scenarios here: were that crisis to become more serious, growth in developing countries could decline by almost some 4 percentage points, GDP be lower by 4 percentage points; that is a very significant slowdown.”
Slower growth is already visible in weakening prices. Global exports of goods and services are projected to rise by about 2 percent less than they did last year. Meanwhile, global prices of energy, metals, minerals, and agricultural products are off as much as 25 percent from their peaks of 2011.
"Developing countries really have to prepare for the unexpected, if you wish. What we are really suggesting to do is take a look at their current situation, take a look at their current spending, and take a cold hard look at what might happen and plan ahead a little bit."
Declining commodity prices have contributed to an easing of inflation in most developing countries. Although international food prices eased in recent months, down 14 percent from their peak in February 2011, food security for the poorest, including in the Horn of Africa, remains a central concern.
"We see oil prices potentially declining by as much as 20 percent that is going to have important impacts for the fiscal balances of oil exporting countries; it is going to have important impacts also for countries that are important exporters of metals and minerals. On the other hand it is going to be a positive for importers of those commodities."
Developing countries may have less fiscal and monetary space for remedial measures than they did in the global economic downturn that began in 2008. As a result, say economists like those at the World Bank, their ability to respond to another downturn may be constrained if global conditions deteriorate sharply again this year.
January 26, 2012
A new report released by the World Bank last week says global prices of farm commodities like wheat and rice may decline by more than 10 percent this year. In its new report, World Bank researchers say developing countries should be prepared for more slowing in the global economy as a result of Europe's debt problems, and weakening growth in some big emerging economies.
“We have seen capital flows to developing countries decline by almost 50 percent and we are really beginning to see some of these effects in terms of activity. We have developing countries, the major developing countries offering slower growth now than they were earlier and that happening at the same time as Europe enters into a recession offers a pretty worrisome conjuncture."
The World Bank is lowering its growth forecast for 2012 to about 5 and a half percent for developing countries and 1 and a half percent for high-income countries. Global growth is now projected at about 2 and a half percent for this year and next.
"Obviously if what is happening in Europe were to deteriorate significantly is going to have important impacts for developing countries. We ran some scenarios here: were that crisis to become more serious, growth in developing countries could decline by almost some 4 percentage points, GDP be lower by 4 percentage points; that is a very significant slowdown.”
Slower growth is already visible in weakening prices. Global exports of goods and services are projected to rise by about 2 percent less than they did last year. Meanwhile, global prices of energy, metals, minerals, and agricultural products are off as much as 25 percent from their peaks of 2011.
"Developing countries really have to prepare for the unexpected, if you wish. What we are really suggesting to do is take a look at their current situation, take a look at their current spending, and take a cold hard look at what might happen and plan ahead a little bit."
Declining commodity prices have contributed to an easing of inflation in most developing countries. Although international food prices eased in recent months, down 14 percent from their peak in February 2011, food security for the poorest, including in the Horn of Africa, remains a central concern.
"We see oil prices potentially declining by as much as 20 percent that is going to have important impacts for the fiscal balances of oil exporting countries; it is going to have important impacts also for countries that are important exporters of metals and minerals. On the other hand it is going to be a positive for importers of those commodities."
Developing countries may have less fiscal and monetary space for remedial measures than they did in the global economic downturn that began in 2008. As a result, say economists like those at the World Bank, their ability to respond to another downturn may be constrained if global conditions deteriorate sharply again this year.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Somalia Schools Population Survey
By Paul Ndiho
January 18, 2012
Thousands of teachers conducted an unprecedented primary school census in northern Somalia, helping produce the first comprehensive government-led survey on the state of schools in that region.
In an effort to rehabilitate the education system in the semi - autonomous states of Puntland and Somaliland, the centralized government launched a massive population survey of all the school-going children in a country torn apart by conflict.
Hassan Suleiman leads the census.
“This information is very important for planning; the resources are very limited in Somaliland in terms of school construction, in terms of teachers, in terms of textbooks. The resources are very inadequate. These small resources, we need to plan very effectively in order to increase the quality of education, for example we are now taking enrolment rate so when we want to decide to construct new class for new schools, we have to analyze this information and determine the ratio of teacher to students, the ratio of textbooks to the pupils.”
Hassan grew up in the United Kingdom and is one of ten advisors hired under a program to bring professional Somalis living abroad back home to work alongside senior education ministry staff. The program is designed to improve planning and policy, human resources and financial management for the goal of higher education standards.
“We think that by contributing to improve the capacities of those ministries of Education, we will help the delivery in all other program that we can carry out in Somaliland and Puntland. So if you have a ministry of education that is able to design the policy for primary education for example and have the capacity for implementing to have management systems on resources on teachers that means that the problems that you have on primary education will deliver better.”
Sohar Koshin is a technical advisor with the Education Ministry’s Gender Unit who grew up in Holland. She explains how new media such as Facebook and Twitter are connecting with Somalis living abroad to raise funds for girl’s education.
“We saw the importance of having a different department or unit that is entirely responsible for encouraging girls to go to school and also doing research about what we are the issues and looking for room of avenues for potential solutions and how we can implement those solutions.”
Koshin comes to this school often to chat with the girls who are enjoying a newly-built ‘girl friendly space.’ The facility has toilets with running water and a communal space where the girls can study. It reflects the effort by some of Somalia’s civil war refugees, who are returning to help to reconstruct a national education system.
January 18, 2012
Thousands of teachers conducted an unprecedented primary school census in northern Somalia, helping produce the first comprehensive government-led survey on the state of schools in that region.
In an effort to rehabilitate the education system in the semi - autonomous states of Puntland and Somaliland, the centralized government launched a massive population survey of all the school-going children in a country torn apart by conflict.
Hassan Suleiman leads the census.
“This information is very important for planning; the resources are very limited in Somaliland in terms of school construction, in terms of teachers, in terms of textbooks. The resources are very inadequate. These small resources, we need to plan very effectively in order to increase the quality of education, for example we are now taking enrolment rate so when we want to decide to construct new class for new schools, we have to analyze this information and determine the ratio of teacher to students, the ratio of textbooks to the pupils.”
Hassan grew up in the United Kingdom and is one of ten advisors hired under a program to bring professional Somalis living abroad back home to work alongside senior education ministry staff. The program is designed to improve planning and policy, human resources and financial management for the goal of higher education standards.
“We think that by contributing to improve the capacities of those ministries of Education, we will help the delivery in all other program that we can carry out in Somaliland and Puntland. So if you have a ministry of education that is able to design the policy for primary education for example and have the capacity for implementing to have management systems on resources on teachers that means that the problems that you have on primary education will deliver better.”
Sohar Koshin is a technical advisor with the Education Ministry’s Gender Unit who grew up in Holland. She explains how new media such as Facebook and Twitter are connecting with Somalis living abroad to raise funds for girl’s education.
“We saw the importance of having a different department or unit that is entirely responsible for encouraging girls to go to school and also doing research about what we are the issues and looking for room of avenues for potential solutions and how we can implement those solutions.”
Koshin comes to this school often to chat with the girls who are enjoying a newly-built ‘girl friendly space.’ The facility has toilets with running water and a communal space where the girls can study. It reflects the effort by some of Somalia’s civil war refugees, who are returning to help to reconstruct a national education system.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
3D Animated Film Showcases Mountain Gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi National Park Speaking Luganda
By Paul Ndiho
January 12, 2012
A Ugandan independent graphic artist and animator Solomon Jagwe, has produced 3D animated Mountain Gorilla movie called Galiwango. The film’s goal is to raise awareness about the plight of mountain Gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC. It also showcases mountain gorillas speaking in Luganda, a language widely spoken in Uganda.
Bwindi National Park in southwestern Uganda is home to almost one-third of the world’s last 700 wild mountain gorillas. The rest are in nearby areas of Rwanda and Congo. World Wildlife conservationists say that Mountain Gorillas are facing pressures that could drive them into extinction.
Galiwango film producer, Solomon Jagwe, who is based in the U.S., has teamed up with Uganda Wild life Authority to work on a new movie about conserving Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Park.
“What I’m trying to do is raise awareness to the plight of mountain Gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo. And one thing that I've noticed is that when I’ve watched the discovery channel, the national geographic all the real good programs geared towards raising awareness of all those mountain gorillas are written in English and yet the areas where these gorillas are endangered most people hardly speak or write English. So what I'm trying to do is to create a film, an animated film that is written in our native language that is Luganda.”
The film is based on a comic book about a Game Ranger, and focuses on why Mountain Gorillas are important, and their role in ecotourism, which can improve local livelihoods.
“The comic book is written around the story of a Game Ranger - who used to be a game ranger but then becomes a rebel and also a poacher because he's trying to survive and raise his family but he's poor… so he's drowned into that illegal trade. And that is a danger that is actually affecting the game rangers. So I’m trying to raise awareness to the hard work that these game rangers put into protecting mountain gorillas every single day.”
Bwindi’s fertile volcanic soils and high rainfall make it one of the most densely populated areas on earth, where people rely heavily on the forest for wood and charcoal. Mr. Jagwe says that protecting gorillas in this region is one of the smartest investments Ugandans can make.
“My expectations are that as Ugandans, as Rwandese, as Congolese that we actually become aware of these rare gift that we have… Because gorillas only exist in those three countries and no were else in the World and there are only about 720 mountain gorillas left in the entire world. So if the locals can take part in protecting and not selling these gorillas on the local black market or kill them for bush meat then we'd have made a big difference.”
Conservationists say the vast forest covering southwestern Uganda's vast forest is in decline due to population growth, expanding farmlands and the burning of trees for fuel. The poaching of wildlife in the region has intensified recently to the point where the wildlife has been driven from their natural habitats. And over the last 10 years, some 130 park rangers have been killed while cracking down on poachers, illegal miners and rebels in the region.
January 12, 2012
A Ugandan independent graphic artist and animator Solomon Jagwe, has produced 3D animated Mountain Gorilla movie called Galiwango. The film’s goal is to raise awareness about the plight of mountain Gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and the DRC. It also showcases mountain gorillas speaking in Luganda, a language widely spoken in Uganda.
Bwindi National Park in southwestern Uganda is home to almost one-third of the world’s last 700 wild mountain gorillas. The rest are in nearby areas of Rwanda and Congo. World Wildlife conservationists say that Mountain Gorillas are facing pressures that could drive them into extinction.
Galiwango film producer, Solomon Jagwe, who is based in the U.S., has teamed up with Uganda Wild life Authority to work on a new movie about conserving Mountain Gorillas in Bwindi Park.
“What I’m trying to do is raise awareness to the plight of mountain Gorillas in Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo. And one thing that I've noticed is that when I’ve watched the discovery channel, the national geographic all the real good programs geared towards raising awareness of all those mountain gorillas are written in English and yet the areas where these gorillas are endangered most people hardly speak or write English. So what I'm trying to do is to create a film, an animated film that is written in our native language that is Luganda.”
The film is based on a comic book about a Game Ranger, and focuses on why Mountain Gorillas are important, and their role in ecotourism, which can improve local livelihoods.
“The comic book is written around the story of a Game Ranger - who used to be a game ranger but then becomes a rebel and also a poacher because he's trying to survive and raise his family but he's poor… so he's drowned into that illegal trade. And that is a danger that is actually affecting the game rangers. So I’m trying to raise awareness to the hard work that these game rangers put into protecting mountain gorillas every single day.”
Bwindi’s fertile volcanic soils and high rainfall make it one of the most densely populated areas on earth, where people rely heavily on the forest for wood and charcoal. Mr. Jagwe says that protecting gorillas in this region is one of the smartest investments Ugandans can make.
“My expectations are that as Ugandans, as Rwandese, as Congolese that we actually become aware of these rare gift that we have… Because gorillas only exist in those three countries and no were else in the World and there are only about 720 mountain gorillas left in the entire world. So if the locals can take part in protecting and not selling these gorillas on the local black market or kill them for bush meat then we'd have made a big difference.”
Conservationists say the vast forest covering southwestern Uganda's vast forest is in decline due to population growth, expanding farmlands and the burning of trees for fuel. The poaching of wildlife in the region has intensified recently to the point where the wildlife has been driven from their natural habitats. And over the last 10 years, some 130 park rangers have been killed while cracking down on poachers, illegal miners and rebels in the region.
Friday, January 6, 2012
EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT OF A MASSACRE IN CONGO
By Paul Ndiho,
January 16, 2011
A trial is underway at the International Criminal Court looking into a massacre that left hundreds of Hema and Lendu dead in eastern Congo in 2003. More than ten years ago, Voice Of America's Paul Ndiho was a reporter embedded with rebel groups supported by Uganda, and he recorded killings that took place in Bogoro and Nyekunde villages Bunia, Ituri province. Please be advised that this video is very graphic and viewer discretion is advised.
Two Congolese warlords are on trial at the International Criminal Court on charges they instructed their subordinates to attack civilians, rape women and enlist child soldiers in what has been called "the greatest armed conflict" since World War II. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo are charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes. Prosecutors say they led mobs of child soldiers and militiamen to destroy the village of Bogoro in Congo's mineral-rich Ituri province on Feb. 24, 2003, hacking to death many of their victims with machetes. Similar attacks between other ethnic groups in Congo had been taking place for several years.
From 1999 - 2001, I was embedded with rebel factions in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. But nothing prepared me for the violence I witnessed there in 2001.
One morning I was caught in the middle of the Lendu militia attacks against the Hema in Nyekunde, in a village south of Bunia. In this and other villages, scores of people were killed and thousands were driven from their homes.
What started as a land dispute between two normally peaceful groups grew into a larger clash when Ugandan forces entered the region? The Ugandan forces sided with
The Hema, and this favoritism caused a backlash from the Lendu, leading to the widespread killing.
According to eyewitness accounts, the Lendu attacked the Hema in Nyekunde at dawn, killing everyone they encountered, including women and children. A cloud of heavy smoke covered the village. The stench from the burning bodies was unbearable. That same night, the Lendu militia also invaded Nyekunde hospital, where hundreds of people were hiding and cut them into pieces. Scores of other nearby villages were burned to the ground. I saw several mass graves where a hundreds of people were being buried, and the Hema was armed with bow and arrows, ready to defend their village.
It was this kind of carnage in 2001 for which Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo are now facing charges at the International Criminal Court. It was some of the worst violence between the Hema and Lendu in recent decades in eastern Congo.
Please Note: This is a slighted edited version of the original story that was published in January 2011
January 16, 2011
A trial is underway at the International Criminal Court looking into a massacre that left hundreds of Hema and Lendu dead in eastern Congo in 2003. More than ten years ago, Voice Of America's Paul Ndiho was a reporter embedded with rebel groups supported by Uganda, and he recorded killings that took place in Bogoro and Nyekunde villages Bunia, Ituri province. Please be advised that this video is very graphic and viewer discretion is advised.
Two Congolese warlords are on trial at the International Criminal Court on charges they instructed their subordinates to attack civilians, rape women and enlist child soldiers in what has been called "the greatest armed conflict" since World War II. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo are charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes. Prosecutors say they led mobs of child soldiers and militiamen to destroy the village of Bogoro in Congo's mineral-rich Ituri province on Feb. 24, 2003, hacking to death many of their victims with machetes. Similar attacks between other ethnic groups in Congo had been taking place for several years.
From 1999 - 2001, I was embedded with rebel factions in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. But nothing prepared me for the violence I witnessed there in 2001.
One morning I was caught in the middle of the Lendu militia attacks against the Hema in Nyekunde, in a village south of Bunia. In this and other villages, scores of people were killed and thousands were driven from their homes.
What started as a land dispute between two normally peaceful groups grew into a larger clash when Ugandan forces entered the region? The Ugandan forces sided with
The Hema, and this favoritism caused a backlash from the Lendu, leading to the widespread killing.
According to eyewitness accounts, the Lendu attacked the Hema in Nyekunde at dawn, killing everyone they encountered, including women and children. A cloud of heavy smoke covered the village. The stench from the burning bodies was unbearable. That same night, the Lendu militia also invaded Nyekunde hospital, where hundreds of people were hiding and cut them into pieces. Scores of other nearby villages were burned to the ground. I saw several mass graves where a hundreds of people were being buried, and the Hema was armed with bow and arrows, ready to defend their village.
It was this kind of carnage in 2001 for which Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo are now facing charges at the International Criminal Court. It was some of the worst violence between the Hema and Lendu in recent decades in eastern Congo.
Please Note: This is a slighted edited version of the original story that was published in January 2011
Egyptian Doctor Saving Lives in Somalia
By Paul Ndiho
January 6, 2012
For more than two decades, Somalia has been in turmoil - civil war has killed and injured millions of people and left the country with little infrastructure and nearly no health care. But one man is striving to make a difference by putting his own life on the line to save others.
With bullets ricocheting off nearby walls, World Health Organization trauma surgeon Dr. Omar Saleh, is on the frontlines struggling to save lives.
"I should be where I’m needed, and this is where I’m needed. I’m a trauma surgeon.
This is a conflict; trauma is every day, I must be there.”
Hundreds of thousands have fled the violence in Somalia that has killed so many people.
“When you watch the news, you see, for example, five injured, twenty injured…three killed. Those people, they are fathers, they are mothers, they are children, they are brothers, they are sons. I get to know that.”
When Dr. Saleh first arrived in Somalia in 2007, having already worked in some of the world's bloodiest conflict zones, he thought he would stay only for six months. But as one of only 10 trauma surgeons in a country of nine million people, he knows he is desperately needed.
“My dad, he was a trauma surgeon, and even before, when I was a student, he told me “Be anything-but not a trauma surgeon!” But if I’m not going to stay here, if I’m not going to do it, who will? Nobody. Any human being has the right to have an access to health care, irrespective of sex, gender, color, clan, whatever. You have bullets, shellings, burns, mainly, pressure injuries, blast injuries, those are the main causes. Facilities are very, very much basic."
Dr. Saleh says that when he first arrived in Somalia there were hardly any working hospitals, and many of the country's health workers lack training in trauma management.
“When we talk about hospitals, people think that “hospitals,” is like something in the Movies it’s not. It's like it was since like 50 years or so. You feel like your hands are tied, particularly when you know that the cure is simple and easy, but you don’t have it.
I care about people, and I have enough morals and thoughts and ideas and ideals to follow that, and to do my best to help them. That's like an obligation, as a human being, with knowledge, that I should pass this knowledge to somebody else. My worst fear is to go to my grave with my knowledge-I need to make sure that I have passed it before I go.”
Now, Dr. Saleh has trained nearly 100 Somali doctors in trauma surgery. And he’s helped set up more hospitals. But he believes that this is only part of the solution.
If I could stop one thing in the world it would be war, because I find it a stupid thing-I mean big-time stupid. People are dying because of what? Land? Who's more precious, the land or the people?"
January 6, 2012
For more than two decades, Somalia has been in turmoil - civil war has killed and injured millions of people and left the country with little infrastructure and nearly no health care. But one man is striving to make a difference by putting his own life on the line to save others.
With bullets ricocheting off nearby walls, World Health Organization trauma surgeon Dr. Omar Saleh, is on the frontlines struggling to save lives.
"I should be where I’m needed, and this is where I’m needed. I’m a trauma surgeon.
This is a conflict; trauma is every day, I must be there.”
Hundreds of thousands have fled the violence in Somalia that has killed so many people.
“When you watch the news, you see, for example, five injured, twenty injured…three killed. Those people, they are fathers, they are mothers, they are children, they are brothers, they are sons. I get to know that.”
When Dr. Saleh first arrived in Somalia in 2007, having already worked in some of the world's bloodiest conflict zones, he thought he would stay only for six months. But as one of only 10 trauma surgeons in a country of nine million people, he knows he is desperately needed.
“My dad, he was a trauma surgeon, and even before, when I was a student, he told me “Be anything-but not a trauma surgeon!” But if I’m not going to stay here, if I’m not going to do it, who will? Nobody. Any human being has the right to have an access to health care, irrespective of sex, gender, color, clan, whatever. You have bullets, shellings, burns, mainly, pressure injuries, blast injuries, those are the main causes. Facilities are very, very much basic."
Dr. Saleh says that when he first arrived in Somalia there were hardly any working hospitals, and many of the country's health workers lack training in trauma management.
“When we talk about hospitals, people think that “hospitals,” is like something in the Movies it’s not. It's like it was since like 50 years or so. You feel like your hands are tied, particularly when you know that the cure is simple and easy, but you don’t have it.
I care about people, and I have enough morals and thoughts and ideas and ideals to follow that, and to do my best to help them. That's like an obligation, as a human being, with knowledge, that I should pass this knowledge to somebody else. My worst fear is to go to my grave with my knowledge-I need to make sure that I have passed it before I go.”
Now, Dr. Saleh has trained nearly 100 Somali doctors in trauma surgery. And he’s helped set up more hospitals. But he believes that this is only part of the solution.
If I could stop one thing in the world it would be war, because I find it a stupid thing-I mean big-time stupid. People are dying because of what? Land? Who's more precious, the land or the people?"
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Mali Women Turning Shea Butter into Wealth
By Paul Ndiho
January 3,2012
Mali has recently taken steps to its shea trees into wealth that will benefit millions. The fruit from these trees can be used to make soaps and other cosmetic products that are popular in foreign markets
Mamou Coulibaly and Fatumata Tangara know all about the benefits of the shea tree. Like thousands of other women in Mali they’ve been gathering its fruit for years, in order to produce soaps and other products. The Shea tree grows wild throughout this vast country but, here in Kimeni, it remains a source of natural wealth that is not being utilized to the fullest.
Women in Mali face many challenges in transporting the shea fruit to a place where it can be stored and processed.
Mamou is fortunate because she can borrow her husband’s cart, but others aren’t so lucky.
“If we could change anything, it would be the transport. Buying carts would be a great help.”
“One of our biggest constraints is we have nowhere to store the fruit at home.”
The challenges remain even after the Shea tree has been delivered to a processing center. Néné Traoré works in Segou in southern Mali at the “Sibulon Ba” co-operative.
This center uses 800 liters of water per day. And it all has to be pumped from the ground, 10 liters at a time, and carried to where the women work. It’s an energy sapping process and often leaves women too tired for the remaining labor intensive tasks.
“The two problems we are confronted with here are the water situation and the fact we have to mix everything by hand.”
A new project is seeking to help women become more productive, so they will be able to make the business more profitable. It’s run by the governments of Mali and Luxembourg in conjunction with UNIDO, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. The center employs 20 women who process the Shea fruit gathered by more than 2500 women spread across 32 area villages. Just a year ago, the center could only produce 100 kilos of soap per day – now it can produce 600. And the emphasis is on quality as well as quantity: a better product means a better life for the workers.
“The soap has changed greatly. Before we didn’t know what was in it. Now we make soap that is purely vegetable, and we know that it is good for our health so we know what is going into it.”
Higher productivity means higher wages for the workers, allowing the women to spend more of their money where it matters most.
“Since taking this job my life has changed. When I wasn’t earning, my life depended on others. Now I earn my living I can organize and I am in control of my life.”
At this local school in Dioila the classes are full. More children are able to attend class if their parents are able to pay the required fees and don’t need to call on the young to work and assist the family financially.
“They no longer take their children out of school for domestic work. The family income has increased. They use all sorts of means so that they have enough money to live. Girls used to be withdrawn from school to produce the mill by hand. Now, with the mill machines, girls are no longer made to do it. They can study normally in class. In fact, they’re the best performers.”
The support given to the women outside the capital is part of a government policy to combat poverty in rural areas of the country.
“Women work with shea in all forms, from the north to the south and from the east to the west. Nowadays there’s a question of quality with shea that we are trying to improve that with the new techniques. “
The co-operative based in Dioila produces goods that are sold at this shop in Bamako. And it’s not just domestic consumers the project is targeting but they also have new client in France. Analysts are hoping that the more value the women of Mali can add to their product, the more profit they’ll be able to make. And if the improvements here can be duplicated across the country, many other women in Mali may have something in the future.
January 3,2012
Mali has recently taken steps to its shea trees into wealth that will benefit millions. The fruit from these trees can be used to make soaps and other cosmetic products that are popular in foreign markets
Mamou Coulibaly and Fatumata Tangara know all about the benefits of the shea tree. Like thousands of other women in Mali they’ve been gathering its fruit for years, in order to produce soaps and other products. The Shea tree grows wild throughout this vast country but, here in Kimeni, it remains a source of natural wealth that is not being utilized to the fullest.
Women in Mali face many challenges in transporting the shea fruit to a place where it can be stored and processed.
Mamou is fortunate because she can borrow her husband’s cart, but others aren’t so lucky.
“If we could change anything, it would be the transport. Buying carts would be a great help.”
“One of our biggest constraints is we have nowhere to store the fruit at home.”
The challenges remain even after the Shea tree has been delivered to a processing center. Néné Traoré works in Segou in southern Mali at the “Sibulon Ba” co-operative.
This center uses 800 liters of water per day. And it all has to be pumped from the ground, 10 liters at a time, and carried to where the women work. It’s an energy sapping process and often leaves women too tired for the remaining labor intensive tasks.
“The two problems we are confronted with here are the water situation and the fact we have to mix everything by hand.”
A new project is seeking to help women become more productive, so they will be able to make the business more profitable. It’s run by the governments of Mali and Luxembourg in conjunction with UNIDO, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. The center employs 20 women who process the Shea fruit gathered by more than 2500 women spread across 32 area villages. Just a year ago, the center could only produce 100 kilos of soap per day – now it can produce 600. And the emphasis is on quality as well as quantity: a better product means a better life for the workers.
“The soap has changed greatly. Before we didn’t know what was in it. Now we make soap that is purely vegetable, and we know that it is good for our health so we know what is going into it.”
Higher productivity means higher wages for the workers, allowing the women to spend more of their money where it matters most.
“Since taking this job my life has changed. When I wasn’t earning, my life depended on others. Now I earn my living I can organize and I am in control of my life.”
At this local school in Dioila the classes are full. More children are able to attend class if their parents are able to pay the required fees and don’t need to call on the young to work and assist the family financially.
“They no longer take their children out of school for domestic work. The family income has increased. They use all sorts of means so that they have enough money to live. Girls used to be withdrawn from school to produce the mill by hand. Now, with the mill machines, girls are no longer made to do it. They can study normally in class. In fact, they’re the best performers.”
The support given to the women outside the capital is part of a government policy to combat poverty in rural areas of the country.
“Women work with shea in all forms, from the north to the south and from the east to the west. Nowadays there’s a question of quality with shea that we are trying to improve that with the new techniques. “
The co-operative based in Dioila produces goods that are sold at this shop in Bamako. And it’s not just domestic consumers the project is targeting but they also have new client in France. Analysts are hoping that the more value the women of Mali can add to their product, the more profit they’ll be able to make. And if the improvements here can be duplicated across the country, many other women in Mali may have something in the future.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
A Hard-hitting movie depicts rape, murder and mutilation in the Congo
By Paul Ndiho
December 22, 2011
According to the United Nations, the Democratic Republic of Congo has the highest incident of domestic rape of any country in the world. A recent study finds that nearly two million women currently living in DRC have been raped. Now, a hard-hitting short film depicts rape, murder and mutilation in the Congo, but transposed to a white European setting, in order to shock people into taking a stance against conflict minerals in Africa.
The movie "Unwatchable" starts with a young blonde girl in a white dress, picking flowers next to a large country manor somewhere in rural England.
In the film, the characters are white and its plot - a gang of soldiers break into a posh country mansion, and proceed to rape, murder and mutilate.
It was made on behalf of the charity Save the Congo to illustrate the effects of the illegal minerals trade in DRC, and its associated horrors of war and violence.
"Essentially what Unwatchable does is that it brings the issues happening in the Congo into our homes and sitting rooms in Britain and across the world. It makes it much more personal. It kind of bridges the difference between, Africa, the Congo is seen as this distant place and this far away land. Issues happening in the Congo Africa simply doesn't matter to people in Britain.”
Since its release, the film has prompted both complaints about its graphic content and praise for its uncompromising approach. Co-director Marc Hawker says that the scenes were so horrific, even the actors found them hard to film.
"It was a really hard film to make I mean the teenage girl was traumatized by what happened. I mean the whole crew when we filmed the rape scene, we filmed the rape scene in just one cut because that was all that anybody could take and we had a support group for the teenage girl, for the mother afterwards because we knew they would be pretty upset by what was going on. But the soldiers, the actors that played the soldiers as well were extremely upset.”
Hawker is quick to point out that the scenes played out in the film are a reality for hundreds of men, women and children who live in fear of the conflict engulfing their homeland.
More than eight years after the formal end of a war that killed millions and drew in six other African countries, rebel groups and the Congolese army continue to battle for control of mine sites deep in the hills of eastern Congo.
Tampa says he hopes people who watch the film will support global efforts to stop conflict minerals, cutting off money to rebel groups and helping bring peace to the region.
"If we can stop the blood mineral market, if Europe can essentially take measures that stop blood minerals from Congo entering in to the market that would affect the financial means of rebel leaders to buy weapons and other equipment to carry out their campaigns”.
In 2010, U.S. lawmakers took steps to force companies to disclose whether they use minerals such as gold or tungsten coming from places like the DRC. Electronics firms such as Apple and Hewlett Packard are not waiting to see the fine print in the law, and say they are no longer sourcing from the region, having launched their own industry drive against such conflict minerals.
December 22, 2011
According to the United Nations, the Democratic Republic of Congo has the highest incident of domestic rape of any country in the world. A recent study finds that nearly two million women currently living in DRC have been raped. Now, a hard-hitting short film depicts rape, murder and mutilation in the Congo, but transposed to a white European setting, in order to shock people into taking a stance against conflict minerals in Africa.
The movie "Unwatchable" starts with a young blonde girl in a white dress, picking flowers next to a large country manor somewhere in rural England.
In the film, the characters are white and its plot - a gang of soldiers break into a posh country mansion, and proceed to rape, murder and mutilate.
It was made on behalf of the charity Save the Congo to illustrate the effects of the illegal minerals trade in DRC, and its associated horrors of war and violence.
"Essentially what Unwatchable does is that it brings the issues happening in the Congo into our homes and sitting rooms in Britain and across the world. It makes it much more personal. It kind of bridges the difference between, Africa, the Congo is seen as this distant place and this far away land. Issues happening in the Congo Africa simply doesn't matter to people in Britain.”
Since its release, the film has prompted both complaints about its graphic content and praise for its uncompromising approach. Co-director Marc Hawker says that the scenes were so horrific, even the actors found them hard to film.
"It was a really hard film to make I mean the teenage girl was traumatized by what happened. I mean the whole crew when we filmed the rape scene, we filmed the rape scene in just one cut because that was all that anybody could take and we had a support group for the teenage girl, for the mother afterwards because we knew they would be pretty upset by what was going on. But the soldiers, the actors that played the soldiers as well were extremely upset.”
Hawker is quick to point out that the scenes played out in the film are a reality for hundreds of men, women and children who live in fear of the conflict engulfing their homeland.
More than eight years after the formal end of a war that killed millions and drew in six other African countries, rebel groups and the Congolese army continue to battle for control of mine sites deep in the hills of eastern Congo.
Tampa says he hopes people who watch the film will support global efforts to stop conflict minerals, cutting off money to rebel groups and helping bring peace to the region.
"If we can stop the blood mineral market, if Europe can essentially take measures that stop blood minerals from Congo entering in to the market that would affect the financial means of rebel leaders to buy weapons and other equipment to carry out their campaigns”.
In 2010, U.S. lawmakers took steps to force companies to disclose whether they use minerals such as gold or tungsten coming from places like the DRC. Electronics firms such as Apple and Hewlett Packard are not waiting to see the fine print in the law, and say they are no longer sourcing from the region, having launched their own industry drive against such conflict minerals.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
A Ugandan Company Oribags Innovations is Turning Agricultural Waste into Eco Bags
By Paul Ndiho
December 14, 2011
A Ugandan company is turning what otherwise might end up in the trash into some very useful products, and quickly becoming the leading producer of environmentally-friendly products in the region.
For the conservation-minded, plastic bags are a blight on the environment causing waste in landfills and harmful pollution in the oceans. But ORIBAGS INNOVATIONS offers an eco-friendly alternative to the polythene bag. It manufactures a type of biodegradable paper bag, and other products from agricultural waste. Rusia Orikiriza is the CEO of Oribags Innovations.
“We are Liability Company meant for profit and we are into recycling of agricultural waste, such as banana fiber, pineapple waste, and everything that is regarded as waste as long as it's not metal and aluminum. We do produce paper, its handmade paper and we craft the products like, eco bags, visitor’s books, art paper, every kind of cards and also being a social enterprise, we do community programs geared at helping women in the community.”
Orikiriza says her company turns agricultural by-products and other paper waste into decorative and professional paper stationery, manufactured in harmony with nature and personalized to the client's needs.
“If we are making a paper bag, after drying the paper, we have to smoothen it because if it dries under normal sun, the paper will be very hard and strong and so we use rollers to smoothen it and make our paper smooth. Then after that we do the measurement according to the standard size of a client. And then after we've done that we do the printing because they must be personalized according to the clients address, logo, or a specific trendy word that you need on the Eco bag.”
Oribags have been recognized as eco-friendly by the United Nations Environmental Program and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. And its future in the competitive marketplace looks promising. Since its founding in 2008, the company has already substantially expanded its presence outside the local community.
“Currently we supply supermarkets and embassies which have already embraced the utilization of the Eco bags.”
Rusia Orikiriza's innovative products are not only helping the environment, her company is helping empower women through skills development programs for entrepreneurs.
December 14, 2011
A Ugandan company is turning what otherwise might end up in the trash into some very useful products, and quickly becoming the leading producer of environmentally-friendly products in the region.
For the conservation-minded, plastic bags are a blight on the environment causing waste in landfills and harmful pollution in the oceans. But ORIBAGS INNOVATIONS offers an eco-friendly alternative to the polythene bag. It manufactures a type of biodegradable paper bag, and other products from agricultural waste. Rusia Orikiriza is the CEO of Oribags Innovations.
“We are Liability Company meant for profit and we are into recycling of agricultural waste, such as banana fiber, pineapple waste, and everything that is regarded as waste as long as it's not metal and aluminum. We do produce paper, its handmade paper and we craft the products like, eco bags, visitor’s books, art paper, every kind of cards and also being a social enterprise, we do community programs geared at helping women in the community.”
Orikiriza says her company turns agricultural by-products and other paper waste into decorative and professional paper stationery, manufactured in harmony with nature and personalized to the client's needs.
“If we are making a paper bag, after drying the paper, we have to smoothen it because if it dries under normal sun, the paper will be very hard and strong and so we use rollers to smoothen it and make our paper smooth. Then after that we do the measurement according to the standard size of a client. And then after we've done that we do the printing because they must be personalized according to the clients address, logo, or a specific trendy word that you need on the Eco bag.”
Oribags have been recognized as eco-friendly by the United Nations Environmental Program and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. And its future in the competitive marketplace looks promising. Since its founding in 2008, the company has already substantially expanded its presence outside the local community.
“Currently we supply supermarkets and embassies which have already embraced the utilization of the Eco bags.”
Rusia Orikiriza's innovative products are not only helping the environment, her company is helping empower women through skills development programs for entrepreneurs.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Emmanuel Tumusiime - Mutebile says Uganda’s economy is Sound and Resilient
By Paul Ndiho
December 7, 2011
Uganda's inflation rate has soared from single digits to more than 30 percent over the last few months, its highest level in years. Voice of America's Paul Ndiho recently spoke with the central bank governor of Uganda, and asked him how the government is coping with the problem.
The International Monetary Fund had predicted solid economic growth for Sub-Saharan Africa this year. The IMF said Africa's prospects were high, but a slowing global economy poses some risks. Analysts say that if the economic situation in high income countries continues to deteriorate significantly, sub-Saharan countries might be at risk. The Governor Central Bank of Uganda, Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, attributes his country's soaring inflation to external events but says there is little he can do to tackle inflation.
“Inflation for the last seven months has been unusually high. We have not had this kind of inflation for fifteen years but it's largely attributed to external shocks, in particular the sudden steep rise in world oil prices, as well as world food prices. These prices have caused inflation to rise to almost 20% which has not happened before. Because this inflation is external, so-called due to "supply shock," central bank instruments cannot do anything about it.
Mutebile is regarded as an official who gives foreign investors confidence in Uganda. Appointed in 2001, he spearheaded reforms in Uganda's troubled banking sector. He was recognized at this year’s “African Banker Awards” for being the architect of Uganda's economic revival.
“They told me that I was Central Governor of the year, because of what I have done as the governor, for what I have done for the banking sector in general. It is the best news that has happened to Uganda's banking system for a long time, in this award and I'm sure it will create a lot of confidence in the system.”
Tumusiime Mutebile has lived an eventful life in Uganda. In 1972, he was forced to flee the country after he gave a speech, publicly criticizing the expulsion of Asians from the country. His childhood friend and former schoolmate, Shaka Ssali, host of VOA’s flagship live TV Talk Show, Straight Talk Africa, describes Governor Mutebile as disciplined and hard working.
“What I can say frankly is that, if I can walk back in memory lane and see us sit in Kigezi High School Primary in Kabale. I’m not surprised when I look back, and I see him now as the Governor of the Ugandan Central Bank, the reason being very simple. Because, clearly even at that time, he was one of those kids that you would have said, he was most likely to succeed.”
Mr. Ssali says that he expected that Mr. Mutebile would become a top civil servant in Uganda.
“The only thing that surprises me about Mutebile frankly is that I should have expected him perhaps to be the President of the Republic of Uganda. Short of that, to be a Politician, Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs and ending up really serving people rather than being a civil servant.”
Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebil is serving his third term as the Governor of Bank of Uganda. In June 2011, he was quoted by the Financial Times News paper in a rare critic of President Museveni, saying Mr. Museveni continued embrace of “elements of Marxism” was undermining the economy. He says that the Ugandan government’s spending remains a serious problem.
“The biggest challenge is government spending. It's not easy to keep the government's spending in check, especially when you have every ministry wanting to spend left, right and center.”
Mutebile is cautiously optimistic about the discovery of oil in western Uganda, and says the resource could bring a relief to the struggling economy.
“When revenues start flowing, it will be a welcomed break from this period of no money. However, I must warn you that I don't see this coming soon. The first oil in large quantities will not start flowing until about three years from now so we have three years to wait.
Mr. Mutebile has his critics in Uganda, some of whom are demanding his resignation following revelations that he authorized President Museveni to withdraw 744 million dollars to buy fighter jets and other hardware from Russia. Opposition lawmakers say the procurement required parliamentary approval.
December 7, 2011
Uganda's inflation rate has soared from single digits to more than 30 percent over the last few months, its highest level in years. Voice of America's Paul Ndiho recently spoke with the central bank governor of Uganda, and asked him how the government is coping with the problem.
The International Monetary Fund had predicted solid economic growth for Sub-Saharan Africa this year. The IMF said Africa's prospects were high, but a slowing global economy poses some risks. Analysts say that if the economic situation in high income countries continues to deteriorate significantly, sub-Saharan countries might be at risk. The Governor Central Bank of Uganda, Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, attributes his country's soaring inflation to external events but says there is little he can do to tackle inflation.
“Inflation for the last seven months has been unusually high. We have not had this kind of inflation for fifteen years but it's largely attributed to external shocks, in particular the sudden steep rise in world oil prices, as well as world food prices. These prices have caused inflation to rise to almost 20% which has not happened before. Because this inflation is external, so-called due to "supply shock," central bank instruments cannot do anything about it.
Mutebile is regarded as an official who gives foreign investors confidence in Uganda. Appointed in 2001, he spearheaded reforms in Uganda's troubled banking sector. He was recognized at this year’s “African Banker Awards” for being the architect of Uganda's economic revival.
“They told me that I was Central Governor of the year, because of what I have done as the governor, for what I have done for the banking sector in general. It is the best news that has happened to Uganda's banking system for a long time, in this award and I'm sure it will create a lot of confidence in the system.”
Tumusiime Mutebile has lived an eventful life in Uganda. In 1972, he was forced to flee the country after he gave a speech, publicly criticizing the expulsion of Asians from the country. His childhood friend and former schoolmate, Shaka Ssali, host of VOA’s flagship live TV Talk Show, Straight Talk Africa, describes Governor Mutebile as disciplined and hard working.
“What I can say frankly is that, if I can walk back in memory lane and see us sit in Kigezi High School Primary in Kabale. I’m not surprised when I look back, and I see him now as the Governor of the Ugandan Central Bank, the reason being very simple. Because, clearly even at that time, he was one of those kids that you would have said, he was most likely to succeed.”
Mr. Ssali says that he expected that Mr. Mutebile would become a top civil servant in Uganda.
“The only thing that surprises me about Mutebile frankly is that I should have expected him perhaps to be the President of the Republic of Uganda. Short of that, to be a Politician, Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs and ending up really serving people rather than being a civil servant.”
Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebil is serving his third term as the Governor of Bank of Uganda. In June 2011, he was quoted by the Financial Times News paper in a rare critic of President Museveni, saying Mr. Museveni continued embrace of “elements of Marxism” was undermining the economy. He says that the Ugandan government’s spending remains a serious problem.
“The biggest challenge is government spending. It's not easy to keep the government's spending in check, especially when you have every ministry wanting to spend left, right and center.”
Mutebile is cautiously optimistic about the discovery of oil in western Uganda, and says the resource could bring a relief to the struggling economy.
“When revenues start flowing, it will be a welcomed break from this period of no money. However, I must warn you that I don't see this coming soon. The first oil in large quantities will not start flowing until about three years from now so we have three years to wait.
Mr. Mutebile has his critics in Uganda, some of whom are demanding his resignation following revelations that he authorized President Museveni to withdraw 744 million dollars to buy fighter jets and other hardware from Russia. Opposition lawmakers say the procurement required parliamentary approval.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
An African Perspective on Climate Change
By Paul Ndiho
November 30, 2011
Environmentalists say the African continent has warmed about half a degree Celsius over the last century. And some argue that Climate change is a key development issue for Sub-Saharan Africa given the region’s widespread poverty and unique geography. Earlier this year, The World Bank and other partners launched Connect 4 Climate (C4C) campaign, using the social media to reach out a community that cares about climate change. The goal is to raise awareness about climate change with a special focus on Africa. I recently talked to Teddy Ruge, Social Media strategist, connect 4 climate campaign.
November 30, 2011
Environmentalists say the African continent has warmed about half a degree Celsius over the last century. And some argue that Climate change is a key development issue for Sub-Saharan Africa given the region’s widespread poverty and unique geography. Earlier this year, The World Bank and other partners launched Connect 4 Climate (C4C) campaign, using the social media to reach out a community that cares about climate change. The goal is to raise awareness about climate change with a special focus on Africa. I recently talked to Teddy Ruge, Social Media strategist, connect 4 climate campaign.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Opportunity International providing small loans to businesses in DRC
By Paul Ndiho
November 16, 2011
Opportunity International provides financial products and strategies to millions who are working their way out of poverty.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo there are providing small loans to emerging entrepreneurs to start or expand small businesses. And over the years, the microfinance sector has expanded its financial service offerings to better meet client needs.
I recently talked with Gilbert Lagaillarde, Chief Executive Officer of Opportunity International - DRC.
November 16, 2011
Opportunity International provides financial products and strategies to millions who are working their way out of poverty.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo there are providing small loans to emerging entrepreneurs to start or expand small businesses. And over the years, the microfinance sector has expanded its financial service offerings to better meet client needs.
I recently talked with Gilbert Lagaillarde, Chief Executive Officer of Opportunity International - DRC.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Hotel Rwanda Hero Awarded The Tom Lantos 2011 Human Rights Prize
By Paul Ndiho
November 16, 2011
The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice today awarded its 2011 prize for human rights. It was established in 2009 to honor heroes of the human rights movement. It is awarded annually to an individual or organization that best exemplifies the Foundation’s mission for the world.
Throughout his tenure in Congress, Tom Lantos was the leading advocate for human rights, calling attention to thousands of individual cases of torture, denial of rights, and abuse. Founder and Co-Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Lantos was a voice for the rights of persecuted racial, religious, and ethnic minorities worldwide. He died in 2008 at age 80. This year, the Lantos Foundation is honoring Paul Rusesabagina, widely hailed as a hero of the Rwandan genocide. An estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in 1994 after extremists in the majority Hutu population turned on the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus. A luxury hotel manager, Rusesabagina provided shelter to more than 12-hundred Hutus and Tutsis, saving them from certain death. His efforts are chronicled in the 2004 award winning film, "Hotel Rwanda," and his autobiography, “An Ordinary Man.”
In 2005, then-U.S. President George W. Bush awarded to Rusesabagina the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civil award.
“He was a hotel manager in his native Rwanda when the horror began to unfold in 1994. The hotel soon became heaven amidst carnage, with Paul, his family and more than 1000 other men women and children inside the compound. Without that shelter every one of them would almost surely been killed during those weeks and months of merciless terror.”
I spoke to Paul Rusesabagina recently, and he said he fears for his life because of threats from President Paul Kigame's government. Rusesabagina and Kagame don't have kind words for each other, and they challenge each other's actions during the genocide:
“I never told you anything for ins-tense threats from the Rwandan Government... I noticed that from the very day Hotel Rwanda came out, that was in September 2004. President Kagame, the president of Rwanda himself was the only person who felt very much threatened... Because he thought that Rwanda had one person and only he was supposed to be called a hero. Because he had talked to the international community, he had friends all over the world, he had made each and every one of them understand that he was the savior of the Rwandan nation, he had stopped the genocide and this was his message.”
In 2006, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in a VOA press conference, played down Rusesabagina’s heroism. Kagame said that Rusesabagina’s story of saving hundreds of people is misleading.
“He claims to have saved people in hotel Millcoline. One he had no possibility of saving them in the first place and secondly including our prime minister of Rwanda who was also there, including the lady here Senator Ordate - she was there in fact and she is the only one who can maybe say she was saved by Rusesabagina’s on the basis that they knew each other. Because while others were freeing going to the hotel to seek refuge, he contacted her and brought her to the hotel to seek refugee with others who were there.”
Paul Rusesabagina, dubbed by some as the "Oskar Schindler of Africa,” questions Paul Kagame's claims that Kagame stopped genocidal killing in Rwanda.
Oskar Schindler was a German Industrialist who outwitted Hitler and the Nazis to save more than 1200 Jews from the gas chambers by employing them to work for him in his factories during World War II.
“My whole question is this... Is President Kagame apart of the genocide solution or the genocide problem? Kagame has been a part of the genocide problem.”
Paul Rusesabagina, winner of the Lantos Foundation's 2011 award for Human Rights, the annual prize that commemorates the late Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress. Former recipients of the Lantos Prize include another Holocaust survivor, Nobel Laureate and writer Elie Wiesel, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who has dedicated his life to fighting for equality and basic human rights in Tibet.
November 16, 2011
The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice today awarded its 2011 prize for human rights. It was established in 2009 to honor heroes of the human rights movement. It is awarded annually to an individual or organization that best exemplifies the Foundation’s mission for the world.
Throughout his tenure in Congress, Tom Lantos was the leading advocate for human rights, calling attention to thousands of individual cases of torture, denial of rights, and abuse. Founder and Co-Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus, Lantos was a voice for the rights of persecuted racial, religious, and ethnic minorities worldwide. He died in 2008 at age 80. This year, the Lantos Foundation is honoring Paul Rusesabagina, widely hailed as a hero of the Rwandan genocide. An estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in 1994 after extremists in the majority Hutu population turned on the Tutsi minority and moderate Hutus. A luxury hotel manager, Rusesabagina provided shelter to more than 12-hundred Hutus and Tutsis, saving them from certain death. His efforts are chronicled in the 2004 award winning film, "Hotel Rwanda," and his autobiography, “An Ordinary Man.”
In 2005, then-U.S. President George W. Bush awarded to Rusesabagina the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civil award.
“He was a hotel manager in his native Rwanda when the horror began to unfold in 1994. The hotel soon became heaven amidst carnage, with Paul, his family and more than 1000 other men women and children inside the compound. Without that shelter every one of them would almost surely been killed during those weeks and months of merciless terror.”
I spoke to Paul Rusesabagina recently, and he said he fears for his life because of threats from President Paul Kigame's government. Rusesabagina and Kagame don't have kind words for each other, and they challenge each other's actions during the genocide:
“I never told you anything for ins-tense threats from the Rwandan Government... I noticed that from the very day Hotel Rwanda came out, that was in September 2004. President Kagame, the president of Rwanda himself was the only person who felt very much threatened... Because he thought that Rwanda had one person and only he was supposed to be called a hero. Because he had talked to the international community, he had friends all over the world, he had made each and every one of them understand that he was the savior of the Rwandan nation, he had stopped the genocide and this was his message.”
In 2006, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in a VOA press conference, played down Rusesabagina’s heroism. Kagame said that Rusesabagina’s story of saving hundreds of people is misleading.
“He claims to have saved people in hotel Millcoline. One he had no possibility of saving them in the first place and secondly including our prime minister of Rwanda who was also there, including the lady here Senator Ordate - she was there in fact and she is the only one who can maybe say she was saved by Rusesabagina’s on the basis that they knew each other. Because while others were freeing going to the hotel to seek refuge, he contacted her and brought her to the hotel to seek refugee with others who were there.”
Paul Rusesabagina, dubbed by some as the "Oskar Schindler of Africa,” questions Paul Kagame's claims that Kagame stopped genocidal killing in Rwanda.
Oskar Schindler was a German Industrialist who outwitted Hitler and the Nazis to save more than 1200 Jews from the gas chambers by employing them to work for him in his factories during World War II.
“My whole question is this... Is President Kagame apart of the genocide solution or the genocide problem? Kagame has been a part of the genocide problem.”
Paul Rusesabagina, winner of the Lantos Foundation's 2011 award for Human Rights, the annual prize that commemorates the late Congressman Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the U.S. Congress. Former recipients of the Lantos Prize include another Holocaust survivor, Nobel Laureate and writer Elie Wiesel, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who has dedicated his life to fighting for equality and basic human rights in Tibet.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Rights Activists warn that poll in DRC could spark off new violence
By Paul Ndiho
November 16, 2011
Tensions are high in the Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of this month's presidential election, with several people injured after supporters of the main opposition party clashed with supporters of incumbent President Joseph Kabila, during a rally earlier this month.
The national elections are due to be held on 28 November 2011 and will mark only the second time since its independence in 1960 that the DRC will be holding democratic elections. But human rights activists warn that the poll could spark off new violence. Ravina Shamdasani, is the Spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“We are very worried about security in the upcoming election and this is why we are sounding an alarm bell at this point. To try and prevent the kind of violence that accompanied the previous election in 2006.”
Incumbent president Joseph Kabila is favored to be re-elected. But Kabila facing stiff competition from tweleve other candidates Human rights activist Yussa Bunzigiye Prosper, says the opposition is prepared to take their political struggle to the streets.
“This time around the guy who is the leading opponent of Kabila has no blood, has no crime on his hands, he has never used army, he has never been a rebel, this guy he has been an advocate of people's rights and good governors for the past 30 years… he did it during Mobutu time. The only difference is that during Mobutu’s time is he was only advocating. But this time around the world environment is different; he has been given the chance to go to the battle… So what does that mean? It means that when the elections are over and it’s clear that Kabila has rigged the election, Tshisekedi Is going to run a parallel administration from the street.”
The human rights report released this week notes that the situation in the East of the country is of particular concern. Political parties have reportedly been targeted and their members detained, ill-treated and threatened. Most of the violations committed are said to involve elements of the Congolese National Police, or the National Intelligence Services.
“We've seen people destroy voting cards of citizens of the DRC so that they will not be able to vote. We've seen police prevent demonstrations from taking place; prevent press conferences from taking place from opposition political leaders. This has to stop and the Government has to send a clear message that there will be accountability for such violations. According to Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Violations have targeted the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) and the Union pour la Nation Congolaise (UNC) parties.
President Kabila faces a struggle to hold onto the eastern provinces that sealed his victory in 2006, where voters now blame Kabila for failing to provide peace and security.
The Human Rights report calls upon the international community to step up efforts to train security forces and judicial officers, and to promote monitored, free and fair elections.
In Katanga Province, Governor Moise Katumbi supports the Kabila government, which he says has made great strides in the troubled east in just one term.
"In my view, we need to start a system of rotation. What has ruined Africa today are presidents who want to stay in power indefinitely or politicians or governors who want to stay in office for life. Thankfully, our constitution here only allows for two terms in office."
But human rights activists say that President Kabila has failed to deliver for Congo.
"There is no peace in the Kivu region I come from there … One of the biggest challenges Kabila has, is that he has failed to live up to the standards of his father."
Kabila promises that he will improve road infrastructure and higher education. The president's support base is in the east of the country, where he was born, and an area rich in minerals. Congo has about 4 percent of the world's copper reserves, about half its cobalt and is the largest supplier of tin ore in Africa.
November 16, 2011
Tensions are high in the Democratic Republic of Congo ahead of this month's presidential election, with several people injured after supporters of the main opposition party clashed with supporters of incumbent President Joseph Kabila, during a rally earlier this month.
The national elections are due to be held on 28 November 2011 and will mark only the second time since its independence in 1960 that the DRC will be holding democratic elections. But human rights activists warn that the poll could spark off new violence. Ravina Shamdasani, is the Spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
“We are very worried about security in the upcoming election and this is why we are sounding an alarm bell at this point. To try and prevent the kind of violence that accompanied the previous election in 2006.”
Incumbent president Joseph Kabila is favored to be re-elected. But Kabila facing stiff competition from tweleve other candidates Human rights activist Yussa Bunzigiye Prosper, says the opposition is prepared to take their political struggle to the streets.
“This time around the guy who is the leading opponent of Kabila has no blood, has no crime on his hands, he has never used army, he has never been a rebel, this guy he has been an advocate of people's rights and good governors for the past 30 years… he did it during Mobutu time. The only difference is that during Mobutu’s time is he was only advocating. But this time around the world environment is different; he has been given the chance to go to the battle… So what does that mean? It means that when the elections are over and it’s clear that Kabila has rigged the election, Tshisekedi Is going to run a parallel administration from the street.”
The human rights report released this week notes that the situation in the East of the country is of particular concern. Political parties have reportedly been targeted and their members detained, ill-treated and threatened. Most of the violations committed are said to involve elements of the Congolese National Police, or the National Intelligence Services.
“We've seen people destroy voting cards of citizens of the DRC so that they will not be able to vote. We've seen police prevent demonstrations from taking place; prevent press conferences from taking place from opposition political leaders. This has to stop and the Government has to send a clear message that there will be accountability for such violations. According to Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Violations have targeted the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) and the Union pour la Nation Congolaise (UNC) parties.
President Kabila faces a struggle to hold onto the eastern provinces that sealed his victory in 2006, where voters now blame Kabila for failing to provide peace and security.
The Human Rights report calls upon the international community to step up efforts to train security forces and judicial officers, and to promote monitored, free and fair elections.
In Katanga Province, Governor Moise Katumbi supports the Kabila government, which he says has made great strides in the troubled east in just one term.
"In my view, we need to start a system of rotation. What has ruined Africa today are presidents who want to stay in power indefinitely or politicians or governors who want to stay in office for life. Thankfully, our constitution here only allows for two terms in office."
But human rights activists say that President Kabila has failed to deliver for Congo.
"There is no peace in the Kivu region I come from there … One of the biggest challenges Kabila has, is that he has failed to live up to the standards of his father."
Kabila promises that he will improve road infrastructure and higher education. The president's support base is in the east of the country, where he was born, and an area rich in minerals. Congo has about 4 percent of the world's copper reserves, about half its cobalt and is the largest supplier of tin ore in Africa.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Empowering the next generation of Women leaders
By Paul Ndiho
November 15, 2010
Earlier this year the U.S. Government, in partnership with Century Entrepreneurship Development Agency or CEDA a Ugandan based NGO launched the “Rising Stars Mentoring Program.” The program seeks to empower girls and women to become economically independent and socially responsible. The program enables girls to focus and re-frame their thinking, transform their lives, take charge of their destiny, and improve their communities. VOA’s Paul Ndiho recently spoke to Rehmah Kasule founder of CEDA International. She says Women in Uganda lack confidence, self-belief, negotiating skills, and have limited access to mentors and role models to inspire them.
November 15, 2010
Earlier this year the U.S. Government, in partnership with Century Entrepreneurship Development Agency or CEDA a Ugandan based NGO launched the “Rising Stars Mentoring Program.” The program seeks to empower girls and women to become economically independent and socially responsible. The program enables girls to focus and re-frame their thinking, transform their lives, take charge of their destiny, and improve their communities. VOA’s Paul Ndiho recently spoke to Rehmah Kasule founder of CEDA International. She says Women in Uganda lack confidence, self-belief, negotiating skills, and have limited access to mentors and role models to inspire them.
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