Uganda
Commonwealth contradictions
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on November 23, 2007 - 10:54am.
A reader wrote us recently about her concerns about the Heads of Commonwealth meeting taking place now in Uganda. She raises some important issues:
Dear Editor,
I have been desperately trying to find media coverage on the Heads of Commonwealth meeting that is being held in Kampala Uganda from 23-25 Nov. Worryingly I have been unable to find any development agencies that are concerned by the devastating human effect that the meetings are having. Read more »
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Darfur – don't turn away
Submitted by ni-radio on August 1, 2007 - 12:07am.
Say ‘Darfur’, and many of us feel we just can’t confront the prolific slaughter and rape that is taking place there, in the African nation of Sudan. Yet those who don’t turn away will see an extreme example of how many of the world’s governments deal with those seeking independence. On the ground, there’s an arrogant government stripping the natural resources from the area without giving the region and its people opportunities to develop. Internationally there are the diplomatic deals that indirectly prop up the violence and a continuing cycle of United Nations impotence. Together with New Internationalist co-editor Jess Worth – who’s just finished editing a magazine about Darfur – today’s program travels to Egypt, Uganda, and China in search of some solutions:
- Nicola Bullard, a senior associate with Focus on the Global South chats with Sara Musa el Saeed from Sudan about how China is supporting a government guilty of killing its own citizens
- Moataz El Fegiery, the Programmes Director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, explains why the Arabs as well as the Christians seem to be keeping clear of the conflict
- Dismas Nkunda, a co-Director of the International Refugee Rights Initiative in Uganda, outlines the initiatives that are being taken in other parts of Africa to stop the violence and
- Darfurians explain what they want you to understand about their plight.
From Sudan, today’s CD – Ceasefire – reflects hope for a peaceful future, as Emmanuel Jal, a Christian rapper from the Sudanese south, gets together with Abdel Gadir Salim, a Moslem musician from the North, to show what colourful and dynamic sounds are produced when two different cultures work side-by-side.
Listen now (click the play button left) or download the program (click this link)
Subscribe to the podcast
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Radio New Internationalist – No refuge
Submitted by ni-radio on July 4, 2007 - 12:00am.
The dictators may be different and the violence may vary but when people flee their homes in fear, they live many common experiences. In this program, refugees from Chile, Rwanda and Uganda share with us intimate details of their life journeys. Facing up to the gruelling resistance of the Rich World to open its borders to those who are asking for just one more chance at finding a peaceful existence. Searching for an identity that’s not connected to country. Dealing both with the fear that stalks their dreams for decades and the deaths of loved ones left behind. And then, there are the children. … Co-host Marisol Salinas – who has herself fled political repression in Latin America and has recently reproduced the experiences of over 40 Latin American refugees on the CD Voices of Exile – helps steer us through the hopes and fears of these brave people.
- Dheepthi Namasivayam travels to Strasbourg, France, to explore how Rwandan refugee Immaculée Cattier has found refuge in a country that helped fuel the genocide in her birthplace.
- Rowenna Davis goes into Yarl’s Wood Immigration Detention and Removal Centre and talks to Ugandan refugee, ‘Doris’, about how she has been treated by British authorities and the effect that this has had on her children.
- Also from Uganda, but this time travelling with those who are displaced within their own country, Rebecca Wearn shows us why Ugandan children continue each day to travel to the safety of night camps even after the need for their protection has passed.
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Queer eye for the WSF
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 25, 2007 - 11:31pm.
For me, one of the real achievements of this WSF has been the wonderful turnout of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex (LGBTI) activists here (particularly from Africa). The Q-Spot, a venue setup by GALCK (the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya), was one of the most popular hangouts in the stadium. Numerous workshops, trainings, debates, film screenings, exhibits, and poetry readings were well attended and there was a real buzz about the place. ‘Sexual rights’ as a concept has really captured people’s imaginations as both straight and gay alike were able to connect with and rally behind the simple yet powerful assertion that all human beings have the fundamental right to express their own sexuality and be free from persecution. Read more »
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Privatization brings the rain?
Submitted by Adam Ma'anit on January 25, 2007 - 6:25am.
Anti-water privatization activists from all over Africa met today at the World Social Forum to launch a new African Water Network aimed at strengthening co-operation and co-ordinating efforts to ‘oppose water privatization in all its forms’; to work for a participatory model of public control over water; and to assert that water is a fundamental human right. Virginia Setshedi from the South African Coalition Against Water Privatization explained the significance of the event: ‘Today we celebrate the birth of this network to resist the theft of our water, tomorrow we will celebrate access to clean water for all!’ Read more »
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