Guatemala Considers Legalizing Community Radio

WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (OneWorld.net) - After a protracted pressure campaign led by some of the country's most marginalized groups, the Guatemalan legislature is considering a bill to protect community radio stations, which are often the only local-language source of information but have been raided and closed in regions where indigenous people are resisting infringements on their rights. link..

Aid Worker Killings Spiking

WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (OneWorld.net) - The people who spend their days and nights handing out food, treating the sick, counseling traumatized refugees, and educating at-risk children are facing greater personal risks than ever before.

Pakistani aid worker Zill-e Usman was shot dead at a camp in northwest Pakistan. He is the third United Nations refugee agency staff member to be killed in the country in the last six months. © UN News CenterWhat's the Story?

Some 260 aid workers were killed, kidnapped, or seriously injured during the past year, the highest yearly toll ever recorded.

"Our ability to assist those who need it most is being severely tested....The nature of conflict is changing, with a multiplicity of armed groups -- some of whom view humanitarians as legitimate targets," wrote António Guterres, head of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in a statement marking World Humanitarian Day, being celebrated for the first time today.

Over the last decade, 700 humanitarian workers have lost their lives. But the frequency of attacks has increased dramatically over the past few years -- the number of attacks during only the past three years was triple the level of the previous nine years.

Today, Aug. 19, commemorates the day in 2003 when the UN office in Baghdad was bombed, killing 22 people including Sergio Vieira de Mello, the top UN envoy for Iraq. Increasing violence against humanitarian workers is causing many groups to rethink the level of risk to which staff is exposed -- a factor that could limit vital aid to people in conflict zones.

Just yesterday, two more UN staff died during a suicide bombing in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. And at least 95 people were killed and over 500 wounded in attacks across Baghdad today -- the bloodiest day in the city all year.

"World Humanitarian Day is an opportunity both to remember those who have been killed or injured and to honor those continuing to carry out their humanitarian work despite the danger, link...

Gunman Attacks Women's Village in Kenya

WASHINGTON, Aug 20 (OneWorld.net) - A gunman attacked a women's village Tuesday in northern Kenya, threatening and chasing women from their homes, an advocacy group reported. The police have yet to take any action to stop the man, the former husband of the village's founder.

Women living in Umoja Uaso, an all-female village in Kenya. © The Advocacy ProjectWhat's the Story?

The gunman, Fabiano David Lolosoli, allegedly came to the village looking for his former wife. Rebecca Lolosoli founded the village of Umoja Uaso in 1990 as a refuge for Samburu women abused by their husbands. Witnesses say he was threatening to kill her, but she was not at home.

When Ms. Lolosoli founded the village, the deed for the land was in the name of Umoja Uaso. Her ex-husband, a highly connected local businessman, has since succeeded in having the deed changed into Ms. Lolosoli's name, so he now stands a better chance of inheriting the land.

The 48 women living in Umoja Uaso have fled the village, and sources say Mr. Lolosoli is still lurking in the area with his gun. Groups like the Advocacy Project, which supports women's organizations in the region and worldwide, are urging police to protect the women there from further violence, but authorities have yet to take any action.

Sources close to the Advocacy Project say local officials told Ms. Lolosoli that the attack is considered a domestic issue and police would not intervene.

Until now, the village has been a peaceful haven for abused women. The women work together to raise livestock and support themselves by selling hand-made, beaded jewelry. [See the full story from The Advocacy Project below.]

Women's Rights Limited in Kenya

The reaction of Rebecca Lolosoli's former husband is not unusual in Kenya, where sexist attitudes are widespread. In 2002 Human Rights Watch conductedinterviews of Kenyan men, who typically said women were "untrustworthy, incapable of handling property, and in need of male protection."

Patriarchal customs in the country dictate that men inherit and control land, leaving women with very few property rights. In Kenya, a woman's access to property usually hinges on her relationship to a man. This helps explain Mr. Lolosoli's threatening reaction to his ex-wife and the village she founded -- the traditional view is that women do not deserve to own or manage land.

Even though Kenya's constitution prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, this protection is widely undermined by local customs. The government and local leaders often ignore women's property claims, saying they do not want to interfere with culture.

Women seeking to assert their rights are often ignored, and may be beaten, raped, or ostracized from society. "A woman is nothing in our community," said Ms. Lolosoli.

Denying women the right to own land is hindering Kenya's development. International organizations have identified women's insecure property rights as contributing to low agricultural production, food shortages, underemployment, and poverty.

Fighting for Change in Kenya

The Umoja Uaso women's group is a pioneering village helping to fight the many inequalities faced by women in Kenya. Besides limited property rights, women are plagued by sexual harassment, forced marriage, genital mutilation, and rape.

"You aren't able to answer men or speak in front of them whether you are right or wrong," said Ms. Lolosoli. "That has to change. Women have to demand rights, and then respect will come. But if you remain silent, no one thinks you have anything to say. Then again, I was not popular for what I was saying."

Many residents of the all-female village said they had been raped and, as a result, abandoned by their husbands. Umoja Uaso was founded as a refuge for these ostracized women -- Umoja means unity in Swahili. What started as a group of homeless women has now become a successful and happy village. The women also run a cultural center and camp site for tourists visiting the nearby Samburu National Reserve.

The village has attracted attention, locally and internationally. In 2005, Ms. Lolosoli was invited by the United Nations to attend a conference on gender empowerment in New York City. She told the Washington Post that local men threatened to kill her just before her trip to the United States. link..

Asian Americans Mobilize for Immigration Reform

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 21 (New America Media) - For the first time in the nation's history, Asian American and Pacific Islander (API) groups came together this week to call for comprehensive immigration reform.

A dozen API organizations hosted activities in cities with high Asian American populations, including the Asian American Justice Center in Washington, D.C., the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles and national chapters of the Organization of Chinese Americans.

In San Francisco's Chinatown. © centinel (flickr)"Immigration is often Latino-focused," said Tuyet Duong, senior staff attorney of Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), "but Asian Americans also want to activate their network and become involved."

Although Latino immigrant rights groups have been more vocal about immigration concerns, the needs within the API community are just as urgent. The API community is one of the fastest growing immigrant populations, with more than 15 million Asian Americans living in the United States. Family reunification remains the most pressing issue for many Asian immigrants.

Duong noted that according to the Department of Homeland Security, 90 percent of green cards issued to Asian immigrants are through family-based immigration.

Due to the huge backlogs, these immigrants often face an intolerably long wait time, with Indian immigrants waiting an average of 11 years and Filipinos 23 years to join their siblings in the United States according to the Asian American Justice Center.

"Asian Americans want family reunification as much as Latinos want legalization," said Duong.

However, many Asian groups also tout the need for legalization of the 1.2 million undocumented Asian immigrants in this country.

"Since Obama took office, three dozen Vietnamese and Cambodians have been deported," noted Bill Ong Hing, immigration law professor at the UC Davis School of Law.

Unlike Latinos, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans lacked a general consent on legalization in the past, with some worrying that legalization would create further backlogs. This week, API immigrants are calling for immigration reform that would both speed up the backlogs and legalize the undocumented.

"In the Korean-American community alone, one in five is undocumented," said Dae Joong Yoon, executive director of the Korean Resource Center in Los Angeles. "Many of them are under the age of 18."

Michael, a 21-year-old undocumented Chinese immigrant from Hong Kong, who is currently studying computer engineering, said students like himself would benefit greatly from the DREAM Act that would give undocumented students a path to citizenship. link..

Peru's Rural Communities Coming Online

CUZCO, Aug 27 (IPS) - Little by little, rural communities in southern Peru are beginning to take advantage of the Internet to acquire new knowledge and increase their income. But the use of computers in rural areas faces numerous challenges, from illiteracy to fear of the unknown or questions about the sustainability of these new communications initiatives once they are left in local hands.

In Cuzco, Peru. © abmiller99 (flickr)"I used to be scared to touch the computer, I thought I would break it. But now I check my e-mail three times a week," Teófila Anchahua told IPS. She lives in the town of Pucyura, where an Internet facility known as a Commercial Information Centre (CIC) was set up a year ago.

In Pucyura, a half hour drive from the city of Cuzco, the Internet has provided farmers of pigs and Guinea pigs – which are native to the Andean region and used as a source of food – with opportunities to expand their business operations, through information on new breeding techniques developed in other areas, recipes to promote their products at fairs, and contacts with potential buyers.

The dozen computers in this town of 4,500 people were installed by the government-run Puno-Cuzco Operations Unit, which among other initiatives is promoting the use of information and communications technologies (ICTs) as tools for development in rural highlands communities.

Up until now, Internet facilities have been installed in 24 districts in the provinces of Arequipa, Cuzco, Moquegua, Puno and Tacna as part of the former Puno-Cuzco Corridor and Sierra Sur initiative, another government programme supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

This initiative, which received funding from IFAD until the end of 2008, was considered by the U.N. agency to be one of the most successful experiences undertaken around the world, since it made it possible for more than 80,000 families to develop value-added agricultural production activities through the use of the Internet.

The successes and limitations of these initiatives and others implemented in different areas of Peru and Bolivia were presented at an IFAD-sponsored workshop held Aug. 14 in Cuzco, attended by 50 participants from organisations that use ICTs for development, government authorities, local community members and experts.

"In rural areas there are many challenges, because you have to deal with illiteracy, with guaranteeing the sustainability of the project through a commitment from the local authorities, and with a lack of capacity for maintaining the service," explained Luis Andrade of the Sierra Sur project.

Sierra Sur has approved 20 projects submitted by mayors of rural villages and towns, 18 of which involve the establishment of Internet facilities.

This particular project has placed emphasis on providing Internet connectivity, although the representatives of Sierra Sur recognise that access to the Internet alone is not enough. Campesinos (peasant farmers) are not going to improve their livelihoods simply by sitting in front of a computer.

It is essential for complementary initiatives to be undertaken alongside these projects, particularly because of the high rates of illiteracy in rural areas, Andrade stressed.

The administrator of the CIC in Pucyura, Margot Huamán, explained to IPS that when non-literate community members take part in the computer courses offered as part of the project, she first uses the computer to teach them to read, and then moves on to basic computer skills.

Huamán, who is both a teacher and computer technician, is able to combine her two professions to teach both basic literacy and computer literacy. "I teach them the alphabet using the computer keyboard, and then teach them to join the letters together to make words, and then have them transcribe texts on the computer. It's not easy, but we're slowly making progress," she said.

Sergio Toro, the executive coordinator of the TICBolivia (ICTBolivia) Network, stressed that initiatives like these "must go beyond the use of a Web site."

In numerous rural areas of this neighbouring country, the use of modern ICTs like computers and the Internet has been linked with community radio stations, the most widespread communications medium in these communities. For example, the Internet is used to look up the latest market prices for farm products like soybeans, corn and potatoes, and the prices are broadcast over the radio to local farmers, who are thus able to negotiate fairer prices when they sell their goods. link..

On Women's Equality Day in U.S., a Global Focus

WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (OneWorld.net) - Eighty-nine years after U.S. women finally won the right to vote, advocacy groups are pressing the Obama administration to promote women's equality worldwide and paying tribute to an "indefatigable" champion of women's rights, Senator Edward M. Kennedy.

What's the Story?

The U.S. government currently has "no official standing to speak out against international violators of women's rights," said Citizens for Global Solutions in an email to supporters this morning. The Washington, DC-based advocacy group is encouraging its members to tell their senators to ratify an international treaty on women's rights that most other countries in the world have already signed.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, who died late Tuesday night, was a champion of women's rights issues, including raising the minimum wage, which improved life for millions of American women and their families. © Sen. Edward M. KennedyThe Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) came into force in 1981 and has been called the international bill of rights for women. It has been approved by every democratic country in the world except the United States.

Every nation that has joined the treaty is required to file a report every four years, demonstrating how it is ensuring that women have equal rights and opportunities.

The treaty has improved the quality of life for women in many countries, say its advocates, who point to an increase in literacy rates in Nicaragua, Jordan, Egypt, and Guinea after those countries improved access to education for girls and women.

"U.S. ratification would legitimize CEDAW and encourage other state parties to uphold their obligations to the Convention," says Citizens for Global Solutions. [The full text of the group's email is below.]

Women's Focus Urged for Sudan

The Obama administration is also being urged to use its month as president of the UN Security Council to move forward a comprehensive peace plan for Sudan that brings women into the process and makes women's rights a central point of discussions.

"In any conflict around the world, women are usually the disproportionate victims and rarely are afforded justice," said Gerald LeMelle, executive director of the Washington, DC-based advocacy group Africa Action. "President Obama should seize the moment as President of the UN Security Council, build upon what the [United Nations peacekeeping force in Sudan] is doing effectively, and enable it to fulfill its mandate."

The United States will assume the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council for the month of September.

Africa Action believes U.S. officials should press for another 5,000 troops to be deployed to the Darfur region of Sudan to bring the UN force up to full strength. In a statement released today, Le Melle also called for more money to be authorized by the countries taking part in the mission, to provide training for women peacekeepers and much-needed helicopters and other equipment. link..

Sri Lankan Scouts Trek 600 Km for Peace

COLOMBO, Sep 3 (IPS) - It is a walk that no one has taken in the last quarter of a century. The nation having been beset by a bloody sectarian war, who would have thought of travelling the length of Sri Lanka south to north, let alone walk the distance, in the name of peace?

On Aug. 25, three men from the deep south of the country, all from the majority Sinhala community, began their 600-kilometre walk from the southern end of the island. The walk would later stretch through the vast swath of land called Vanni in the north central parts of Sri Lanka and formerly held by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), otherwise known as the Tigers, and across other parts of Sri Lanka.

Internally displaced girl in Sri Lanka.© trokilinochchi (flickr)"Our aim is to take the message of peace to these areas that were devastated by war," said Kasun Chanaka, one of three scouts belonging to the Boy Scout Core, who are taking the gruelling journey.

The Core was started in the country by Lord Robert Baden Powell, founder of the Boy Scout and Girl Guide movements, in 1912. Extremely popular in Sri Lanka, these movements are a great unifying force in this multi-racial nation.

The Vanni region, which has been reclaimed by government forces since May, has remained largely inaccessible since the military victory over the Tamil Tigers. Its over 280,000 civilian population, almost all of them from the minority Tamil community, initially ran deep into the Tiger heartland and then out of it, in fear for their lives, at the height of the conflict between the government troops and the LTTE fighters.

The sprawling welfare centres set up for the internally displaced people (IDPs), located in districts adjoining the Vanni, have since become their home. The government has pledged to commence the resettlement of at least 60 percent of the displaced families before the end of year. Until then, it needs to address the reported horrible living condition inside the camps.

Founded in 1976, LTTE, also known as Tamil Tigers, waged a violent secessionist war in 1983 to create an independent Tamil state in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, which is inhabited by two ethnic groups, the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The decades-long ethnic conflict finally ended four months ago after the LTTE was defeated by the military.

The Tamil people comprise a majority in north Sri Lanka and a significant number on the eastern side. Elsewhere on this island state in South Asia, they are considered a minority. Their history, traditions, culture and language are distinct from the majority Sinhalese people, who make up about 71 percent of the country’s population.

Since the militant group’s defeat, government has signalled the total destruction of their military and political structures following the annihilation of their leader, Velupillai Prabhakaran, shot dead on May 19 in the last phase of the fighting.

Due to difficulties of access into the IDP camps, reports on the living conditions there have been hard to come by. The United Nations said that the situation has improved over the last four months but a lot more needs to be done. The state of the camps worsened after flash floods struck in mid-August.

Government also announced the need to screen the IDPs based on reports that former Tiger operatives could be hiding there. Considered the biggest impediment to resettlement has been the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance in the former conflict areas.

All this shows normalcy has proved elusive for the displaced civilians. Chanaka and his two other companions know this full well. Hence, they said, they want to do their bit to help hasten its return to the war-ravaged Vanni. By making a peace march, that is. link..

Africa Builds United Position on Climate Change

ADDIS ABABA, Aug 25 (IPS) - An African Union proposal demanding billions of dollars in compensation for the impacts of climate change is taking shape.

It is time for Africa to aggressively engage with climate change negotiations to ensure its interests are met in the designing of global responses, said African Union (AU) Commission chair Jean Ping. AU officials say the lack of a coordinated stance on global warming by African governments has placed serious limitations on Africa's ability to negotiate in the past. To put this right, a meeting to formulate a common stand ahead of the Copenhagen meeting has just concluded in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Unless immediate action is taken, climate change could reverse 50 years of progress in the fight against global poverty, warned Oxfam Inernational earlier this year.© Argaw Ashine, oxfam international (flickr)African experts on climate change and high-level representatives of AU member states have recommended Africa demand between $67 billion and $200 billion annually in compensation.

Details of the plan have not been released, so it is not yet known how CAHOSCC intends to calculate how much each developed country would be expected to pay, or for how long; or how the plan proposes money should be allocated to various parts of the continent. Or who will oversee its expenditure and accountability.

More information is expected once the proposal is approved by African heads of states, who are expected to consider the plan at a meeting in Tripoli, Libya on Aug. 31. Ethiopia has been nominated to lead a united position as the head of the recently-formed continental delegation -- the Conference of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) -- to spearhead climate change-related negotiations.

CAHOSCC comprises chairpersons of the AU and the AU Commission, representatives of Ethiopia, Algeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, Chairpersons of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment, and Technical Negotiators on climate change from all member states.

"Trillions of dollars might not be enough in compensation. Thus there must be an assessment of the impact before the figure," said Dr. Abebe Hailegabriel, acting director of the AU's rural economy and agriculture department.

Impacts on Africa

Experts say Africa contributes little to the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for warming, but the continent is likely to be hit hardest by the droughts, floods, heat waves and rising sea levels forecast if climate change is not checked.

"Africa's development aspirations are at stake unless urgent steps are taken to address the problems of climate change," Ping told the participants. "Climate change will fundamentally affect productivity, increase the prevalence of disease and poverty...and trigger conflict and war."

Ethiopia's team at the Addis Ababa meeting, headed by Neway Gebreab, chief economic advisor to Prime Minster Meles Zenawi, proposed their country lead the negotiations by CAHOSCC.

"Ethiopia has proposed itself because it has very much been interested on issues surrounding climate change in relation to Africa; it has had some links with authorities and experts in this field, and believes (the country) can put these valuable insights at the service of the continent," Neway told IPS.

AU officials seem to share this view.

"Ethiopia is key because its leadership understands the issues of climate change and is interested," Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, AU commissioner for rural economy and agriculture told journalists.

Earlier this year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Zenawi called on rich countries to compensate Africa for climate change, arguing that pollution in the northern hemisphere may have caused his country's ruinous famines in the 1980s.

A study commissioned by the Geneva-based Global Humanitarian Forum that was released in May said poor nations bear more than nine-tenths of the human and economic burden of climate change.

The 50 poorest countries, however, contribute less than 1 percent of the carbon dioxide emissions that scientists say are threatening the planet.

Africa is the region most at risk from global warming and is home to 15 of the 20 most vulnerable countries, the study indicated. Other areas also facing massive disruptions include South Asia and small island states. link..

Army Suspected in Colombia Massacre

WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (OneWorld.net) - A woman who accused the Colombian Army of executing her husband was killed in her home Wednesday along with 10 others, including four children and three teenagers, according to human rights monitors in the region.

What's the Story?

Military march, Medellin, Colombia, August 2007. © vonbergen.net (flickr)Tulia García was murdered early Wednesday morning when armed men in camouflage broke into her home and began shooting.

The attack came three days after the killing of García's husband, Gonzalo Rodríguez. García reportedly said she saw armed men detain her husband on Sunday and later found his dead body on the side of a road, with his head riddled with bullets. Colombian officials had accused Rodríguez of being a member of the FARC rebel group and said they killed him while he was trying to escape.

But independent monitors think the mass killing -- just three days later -- of those who witnessed Rodríguez's abduction, casts serious aspersion on the government's actions and explanation.

The 10 people killed along with García on Wednesday morning were believed to be relatives and friends, including her two children, a 6-year-old girl and a 5-year-old boy.

"Initial reports suggest that members of the Army may have massacred these people, with the purpose of eliminating and intimidating witnesses of atrocities," said a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch, a nonprofit group that monitors and reports on atrocities against civilians worldwide.

The group called on the Colombian government to conduct a legitimate investigation "of this horrific crime," but noted the government's repeated failure to prevent attacks against civilians and adequately investigate reports of abuses, despite the alarms raised by human rights monitors on a regular basis in recent months and years. [Read the full report from Human Rights Watch below.]

Murder Victims All from Awa Indigenous Group

García, Rodríguez, and the other 10 people killed this week were all members of the Awa indigenous group. A group of Awa leaders has traveled to the site of the shooting to conduct their own investigation, reported Survival International, an organization that supports the rights of indigenous communities worldwide to live free from intimidation.

At least 27 other Awa community members were attacked and killed in two separate incidents earlier this year, said Survival and ONIC, the national indigenous peoples' organization in Colombia.

"The Awa, like many of Colombia's indigenous peoples, have suffered for years as a result of violent conflict between the Colombian army, guerrillas, and paramilitary groups encroaching on and destroying their land," said Survival in a statement this week. [Click here for more from Survival International.]

Millions of Colombians Displaced by Ongoing Conflict

Between 3 and 4 million people in Colombia have been displaced by 40 years of armed conflict, and in 2008 alone, nearly 400,000 people were driven from their homes by the violence, according to a report released last month by Amnesty International, another global human rights watchdog group. The 2008 displacements represented a 24 percent increase over the previous year.

"Guerrilla groups, paramilitaries, and the security forces have targeted many [civilians] deliberately," said the Amnesty report. "Often, the aim is to remove whole communities from areas of military, strategic, or economic importance."

The vast majority of those affected are indigenous people, Afro-Colombians -- the descendants of African slaves who are one of the largest minority groups in the country -- and rural farmers. Most live in what Amnesty called "areas of interest to the parties to the conflict." [Click here for the full statement from Amnesty.]

Peace Communities Under Attack

Amnesty also reported in February that Colombian civilians who refuse to take part in the conflict are being attacked by guerrilla groups, paramilitaries, and the Colombian security forces for maintaining their stance as "communities in resistance." link..