the drop » Human Rights

The (RED) ALERT for AIDS. Keep the Promise.

More than twenty-five million human beings have died of AIDS since the first case of HIV was reported in 1981: on average, over a million people a year every year for the past two and a half decades. So far in 2006, according to UNAIDS and the World Health Organization, 2.9 million people died of AIDS and 4.3 million more were infected with HIV. As of today, December 1, 2006 — the nineteenth annual WORLD AIDS DAY — there are 39.5 million men, women and children in the world living with HIV, of whom 63% (around 25 million) live in Africa south of the Sahara.
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Outsourcing Migrant Processing

New proposed rules for those seeking refuge in Australia

Last month, when Australian opposition leader Kim Beazley proposed that migrants and visitors sign an agreement to respect Australian values, a volley of debate ensued. Today, the Australian government released a discussion paper on refugee admission policy changes, which include an English-language course for refugees before they reach Australia’s shores. The discussion paper is currently up for community feedback.
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Abortion Ban Debate

The Fall issue of Ms. features the cover story â��We Had Abortions.

On November 7th, South Dakotans will vote on whether to ban abortion or not. The choice is whether to approve a sweeping ban on all abortions or not, an intentional provocation meant to set up a direct legal challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 United States Supreme Court decision that made abortion legal. The law makes it a felony to perform any abortion except in a case of a pregnant woman’s life being in jeopardy.
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The Shock Effect and Public Awareness

Parody of an AIDS campaign

Finding new ways to keep media attention on pressing yet unchanging topics is not an easy task. As more public awareness campaigns seek to be controversial, more critique is dished out. In recent news, critics have decried the tastelessness in the blackface cover of The Independent and the I am an African ads.

The controversy used to elbow for the public’s attention can obscure the original intent. One LA Times journalist confused a Doctors Without Borders campaign in Paris, which distributed tents to homeless people, with tourists camping out.

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Violence Against Women Is A Violation Of Human Rights

WHO Multi-country Study on Women's Health and Domestic Violence against Women

The United Nations released a report late last week officially classifying violence against women as a human rights violation. From the Human Rights Watch press release:

“Human Rights Watch and the Center for Women’s Global Leadership welcomes the report that classifies abuse against women - whether it happens in the home or elsewhere - as a human rights violation. As such, states are obliged by international human rights standards to hold perpetrators accountable.”
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Ban on Child Labour in India Comes Into Force Today

Thousands of children work in roadside food stalls (bbc)

A new law that bans the employment of children under 14 in residences and the hospitality sectors comes into force today in India. It also prevents children from working in teashops, restaurants, spas, hotels, resorts and other recreational centres. Officials say the ban on employing children in homes and roadside food stalls will affect 255,000 children. But activists say these numbers could be as high as 20 million and point out that the most widespread forms of child labour in India continue to be allowed.
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Death of a Journalist: Anna Politkovskaya

Time Europe 2003 Hero: Anna Politkovskaya © Time Magazine

Since the death of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, bloggers have been positing possible theories of her murder. At Global Voices, there’s a translation of one of the most popular posts in the Russian blogosphere, which discusses the journalist’s murder and her investigative work in Chechnya. The Diplomatic Times Review provides a good number of related links on the news of her death.
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Upgrading International Development, Part II

A Talk with Ethan Zuckerman, Global Voices Online Co-founder, Fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law

In part two of the interview, Ethan shares his views on conquering digital divides, activism and technology, and how improvements in technology might affect us in the future. You can read the first part of the interview here.
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How can we use technology to turn apathy into action?

I think the only force that combats apathy is empathy. Until you care about a situation in another part of the world, it’s very hard to decide to pay attention to that situation and even harder to decide to act.

To get people to care across cultural, language and geographic barriers requires some sort of exposure. I knew very little about Africa and cared very little until I lived in Ghana as a student in 1993. Coming back to the US, I was suddenly interested in African politics because there were a lot of people in Ghana I cared deeply for. This discovery is what led me to form Geekcorps - I wanted to give other geeks the chance to get exposed to different parts of the world, build interpersonal ties and work on solutions to tough technical problems.

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A Look Behind the Prison Walls

Award-winning photojournalist Jane Evelyn Atwood ’s work reflects a deep involvement with her subjects over long periods of time. Atwood penetrates worlds that most of us do not know, or choose to ignore. Her project Too Much Time documents the lives of incarcerated women in the US, France, Russia, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Switzerland, India and Israel. Initially spurred by curiosity, the project went on to inspire the outrage that kept Atwood going with the subject for nine years.
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The Homeless World Cup 2006

The Homeless World Cup soccer tournament kicked off this Sunday in Cape Town, South Africa. The idea for the games was conceived in 2001 after a conference of the International Network of Street Papers sold by the homeless. The first tournament took place in Graz in 2003. “We really can help change the world, end poverty and homelessness,” said organizer Mel Young in an interview with Associated Press writer Clare Nullis. “All we have to do is take a little round ball and start kicking it around.”
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NGO ACTION: Human Rights Watch calls on Swiss voters to reject asylum restrictions

Swiss referendum today on changes to asylum law (LaSi), Photo:Freefoto.com

In an e-mail bulletin sent yesterday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on voters to reject changes to the Swiss asylum law (LaSi) in today’s referendum. HRW released an analysis of the proposed amendments in an open letter, detailing the failure to comply with international standards.

Elisa Mason provides a quick overview of pro and con links at the Forced Migration Current Awareness blog, including a post at the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees (ICAR).
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Migrant Crisis Continues in Spain

Spain signed a repatriation agreement with Senegal, Photo: BBC News
You had promised me that I would never be hungry
You had promised me of true activities and a future
Really up to here I still see nothing
That’s why I decided to flee

The lyrics are from DJ Awadi, a Senegalese rapper and producer, who is promoting awareness of the migrant crisis with his song Sunugaal and an online slideshow.
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The Politics of ‘Water’

Director Deepa Mehta

In February 2000 Deepa Mehta was to direct the film Water in India. It was the third of a trilogy of films for this Indian-born woman who now resides in Canada. The first was Fire, a story of two women drawn together in search of the warmth that their loveless marriages lacked. The onscreen lesbian relationship between the women angered many in India. Extreme protesters went as far as burning the cinema that first screened Fire to the ground, and Deepa Mehta was shunned by her country of birth for showing the world what was considered bad images of India.
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Arundhati Roy asks herself: What form of resistance is effective and acceptable?

Be sure to take a close look at Arundhati Roy’s provocative question about the future of non-violent resistance and armed struggle. “What is effective?,” she wonders. “What is the right thing to do?”
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Ghana Bans Gay and Lesbian Conference

Information Minister Kwamena Bartels: 'Unnatural carnal knowledge is illegal'

The Ghanaian government has banned a gay conference due to take place in the capital Accra later this month, claiming that homosexuality was illegal in Ghana. Information Minister Kwamena Bartels warned that disciplinary action would be taken if anyone was found to have contravened the law. “Government does not condone any such activity which violently offends the culture, morality and heritage of the entire people of Ghana,” he said.
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Right-Wing Bigotry

Pat Buchanan only want to allow white immigrants into America

Think Progress takes a look at Pat Buchanan’s new book state of emergency where he argues for “an immediate moratorium on all immigration.” Why? To preserve the dominance of the white race in America. Using racist arguments of ‘genetic superiority’, Buchanan explains that:

“America faces an existential crisis. If we do not get control of our borders, by 2050 Americans of European descent will be a minority in the nation their ancestors created and built. No nation has ever undergone so radical a demographic transformation and survived.”
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112 Free Voices: Sydney Possuelo & the Quixotic Life of a Sertanista

“I have been called Don Quixote due to my absolute conviction that one man alone can change the world. A chain of men who partake similar conviction can do it faster and permanently. I believe this unprecedented event can be the first step towards a future we’ve dreamed about.”
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People Need People

How do you prevent social exclusion? © The Belonging Initiative 2006

Reader Brian Smith emailed us about The Belonging Initiative, “a group of people exploring the ways by which we can end isolation and loneliness for persons with disabilities”. They’re an offshoot of PLAN, a Canadian charity which helps the relatives of those with a disability to answer the question, “What will happen to my child when I die?” The aim is to secure their financial and physical safety in the future, while also building a network of helpers and friends to support and love them.
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ASK YOURSELF: “Must We Fight For Peace?”

Today we’re inaugurating a new module-series on ‘the drop’ which asks you to engage with and donate your answers to a select few of the questions dropping knowledge has received from the global public… In the wake of last week’s film chronicling Stop The War’s 100,000-person peace protest in London, we want you to ask yourself: Must we fight for peace?
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Wireless in the Himalayas

A solar panel powering the mesh network soaks up sun on top of a Hindu shrine. Photo: Xeni Jardin

An article published in Wired Magazine on August 17 describes how western “hacktivists” and Tibetan refugees in Dharmsala, India built a mesh network in the Himalayas using junk parts and free software to communicate with organizations in Chinese-occupied Tibet. Shortly after the publication of the article the project’s website was attacked.

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A New Era for Women in Rwanda

Staff at the Rwanda Women's Network © Rwanda Women Network 2006

Feministing find reasons to be cheerful in this article from the Seattle Times about the changing status of women in Rwanda. Since the devastating genocide which left the country with a 70% female population, Rwanda has out-paced Sweden and Norway as the nation with the highest percentage of female legislators in the world. 48% of MPs are women, as are 50% of the judges in the legal system, the head of the supreme court and half of Rwanda’s college graduates.

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“What are the lessons from this war?” Bianca Jagger’s Call for Peace

“I believe in the right of Israel to exist… However, it is important that we send a clear message to Israel that they have to adhere to international law and that they can no longer commit and violate and be in breach of humanitarian law… We call for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire right now!”
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A dropping knowledge production, a Copyleft FILM: ‘CeaseFire Now: a day with bianca jagger’

On Saturday, August 5, 2006, over 100,000 people took to the streets of central London to demand an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Lebanon. The largest emergency demonstration in British history was organized by the Stop the War Coalition and led by renowned peace advocate Bianca Jagger, who had invited dropping knowledge to join her on the march. Now you can see the results in CeaseFire Now: a day with bianca jagger.
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Corruption in Humanitarian Aid: “Double Disaster”

TI: Developing comprehensive anti-corruption policy

Transparency International recently published a report entitled Mapping Risks of Corruption in Humanitarian Action. The report is a first step in identifying corruption risks and then designing analysis tools and prevention measures for the humanitarian aid community. The mapping report divides the relief project cycle into 8 stages, associating risks with each stage:
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Managing the World’s Water Resources

(Photo: Stockholm International Water Institute)

The successful WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Initiative dramatized the global water crisis by adapting a familiar nursery rhyme.

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water:
After a drink of the water,
Jack died of cholera
and Jill from amoebic dysentery.

The problems of managing the world’s water resources and providing clean water will be revisited from August 20-26 during the World Water Week 2006 conference in Stockholm, Sweden.
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features

Upgrading International Development, Part II

Upgrading International Development

Fighting Corruption: Bribe Payers Index 2006

Recycle Your Cell-Phone, Save a Gorilla

A Look Behind the Prison Walls

The Homeless World Cup 2006

Reach Out and Finance Someone

Arundhati Roy asks herself: What form of resistance is effective and acceptable?

Iranian Bloggers Joined by President Ahmadinejad

Creating A New Universe

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Human Rights

The (RED) ALERT for AIDS. Keep the Promise.

Outsourcing Migrant Processing

Abortion Ban Debate

The Shock Effect and Public Awareness

Violence Against Women Is A Violation Of Human Rights

Ban on Child Labour in India Comes Into Force Today

Death of a Journalist: Anna Politkovskaya

Upgrading International Development, Part II

A Look Behind the Prison Walls

The Homeless World Cup 2006

NGO ACTION: Human Rights Watch calls on Swiss voters to reject asylum restrictions

Migrant Crisis Continues in Spain

The Politics of ‘Water’

Arundhati Roy asks herself: What form of resistance is effective and acceptable?

Ghana Bans Gay and Lesbian Conference

Right-Wing Bigotry

112 Free Voices: Sydney Possuelo & the Quixotic Life of a Sertanista

People Need People

ASK YOURSELF: “Must We Fight For Peace?”

Wireless in the Himalayas

A New Era for Women in Rwanda

“What are the lessons from this war?” Bianca Jagger’s Call for Peace

A dropping knowledge production, a Copyleft FILM: ‘CeaseFire Now: a day with bianca jagger’

Corruption in Humanitarian Aid: “Double Disaster”

Managing the World’s Water Resources