SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE DEMAND AN END TO IMPUNITY IN CONGO

15 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Head of the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo said of the country’s conflict, “It is more dangerous now to be a woman than to be a soldier in the DRC.” But this week, women are coming together to publicly share their stories for the first time. In a daylong program organized by V-Day, the international movement founded by activist and playwright Eve Ensler, and the United Nations, women told their stories and declared to the Congolese government that the violence must end. Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues, first visited the war-torn region last year. Though she had worked previously with survivors of mass sexual violence in Bosnia, Haiti, and Afghanistan, she said, “Nothing I ever experienced felt as ghastly, terrifying and complete as the sexual torture and attempted destruction of the female species here.” The fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo has raged on for over a decade, and – by conservative estimates – 200,000 women have been raped, most sustaining lasting and debilitating physical trauma such as fistula. The United Nations Development Fund for Women’s Governance, Peace, and Security Program Associate Letitia Anderson told MediaGlobal, “Far from being the random acts of a few renegade soldiers, sexual violence today is employed as a strategic means of achieving political and military ends.” But the women speaking out are hoping their testimonies, collectively a brutal indictment of the forces that have stood by as the violence persists, will put an end to a decade of fear.

NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS CALL FOR INCREASED AID FOR CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION IN LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

14 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Among recent reports on progress toward reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Tearfund and WaterAid released a report focusing on the lack of progress made in increasing water and sanitation access in sub-Saharan Africa. The report, entitled “Sanitation and Water – Why We Need a Global Framework for Action” claims that, if the current rates of progress continue, the target to halve the proportion of people without access to water and sanitation by 2015 will not be met in sub-Saharan Africa; in fact, it says the water target will not be met until 2035 and the sanitation target will not be met until 2100. Tearfund Senior Policy Adviser Mari Williams told MediaGlobal, “This is because it is a highly neglected issue.” The findings are significant because, according to the report, progress in health and education depends on access to clean water and sanitation. The report further shows that although many Middle Income Countries, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and China, received a large share of sanitation and water aid between 2002 and 2006, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) received less than a quarter of aid provided. In LDCs that have received funds, investment tends to go towards maintenance of existing networks, meaning it helps people who already have some access to water and sanitation and neglects those who need aid most. Williams said, “In the report we’re calling for a global framework for action on sanitation and water to tackle this lack of financial and political priority given to water and sanitation. This includes: an annual review of the sector, an annual High-Level Meeting, and a commitment that no credible national plan to meet the water and sanitation MDG targets should fail for lack of finance.”

NIGERIAN SPEED-DATING PROGRAM COMBATS SPREAD OF HIV/AIDS

14 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The government of a northern Nigerian state has come up with a new way to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS: speed-dating. The programme works confidentially; suitors who have both tested positively are introduced to one another, with the opportunity to say yes or no to each potential partner. Coupling on the basis of HIV status – sometimes known as sero-sorting – is a strategy first employed by the gay community in developed nations, where studies have shown it to be extremely effective in reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS. Nigerian officials are touting the program as a way to curb the spread of the disease as well as its intense isolation. But some from UNAIDS have criticized the program, saying couples could infect each other with different strains of the virus. Warren Naamara of UNAIDS said the couples should still use condoms. But many point to such criticisms as unrealistic and out of touch with the realities of people’s lives. Elizabeth Pisani, an epidemiologist and expert in HIV/AIDS, told MediaGlobal that the benefits of not having to use a condom with one’s life partner far outweigh the risks of super-infection: “If people want to be matched up with others from whom they don’t need to hide their infection and with whom they can have intimate, condom-free sex without worrying all the time that they are putting their partner at risk, why the hell not?”

NATIONAL CLEANER PRODUCTION CENTERS CREATED TO HELP DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

14 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The United Nations University (UNU), in collaboration with the United Nations Environmental Project (UNEP) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), presented information in a meeting Wednesday on experiences in cleaner production and specifically mentioned the work of National Cleaner Productions Centers (NCPCs) in developing countries. There are currently 24 NCPCs worldwide, supported by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and UNEP, and they are active participants in the Marrakech Process, a global effort to support the implementation of projects on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP). The most recent centers became operational in 2002/2003 in Lebanon and South Africa. UNEP Programme Officer Adriana Zacarias Farah told MediaGlobal, “UNEP has been promoting the involvement of NCPCs in the Marrakech Process at the national and regional level. This has shown significant progress in Africa and Latin America. In countries like Egypt, Mozambique and Tanzania, the centers are serving as the principal technical institutions for the development and implementation of NCPC programs at national and local levels.” The objectives of the NCPCs are to help spread the message about sustainable consumption and production techniques, train local experts and build local capacity, support development of project proposals for cleaner development, circulate technical information, and provide policy support to governments in developing countries. Farah said, “Most of the centers have been holding and participating in workshops outside industrial plants and some of the centers have managed to facilitate the inclusion and mainstreaming of cleaner production in policy documents and university programs.” A key area where NCPCs are able to help developing countries is in cooperation to procure information about cleaner production because they are all connected and are partners of the Marrakech Process. They are useful in training national experts, who are then able to use their learned practices to offer ways to find the best solutions for given problems, rather than provide ready-made solutions that may not work everywhere.

WHO, UNICEF, AND IRAQI GOVERNMENT RESPOND TO CHOLERA OUTBREAK

11 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Diarrheal diseases are endemic in Iraq, especially in the summer months, and have been identified as one of the top three causes of childhood mortality. Last year, Iraq reported 4,696 cholera cases and 24 resulting deaths. Cholera resurfaced in the state three weeks ago. “According to the latest report released by the WHO, the number [of children affected by diarrheal diseases] is 39, and 10 children have died, 5 of them from cholera. The demographic of those affected is 64 percent under 15 years old,” Ruba Hikmat, spokesperson for the WHO, told MediaGlobal. Those affected, a total estimated population of 9.6 million, live in rural communities in Missan and Babil. Hikmat explained that the cause of the recurring cholera epidemic is based on communities’ dependence on heavily contaminated stagnant water for drinking, as well as lacking sanitation infrastructures or efficient power supplies. “The current outbreak, and that of last year, are attributed to the poor quality of water purification, pumping, and distribution services which is due to many factors of long neglect and lack of investment in social services, obsolete and cracked down distribution network, lack of electricity necessary for running water treatment plants, and of course, poor hygiene conditions in the rural communities,” Ban Dhayi, Communications Specialist at UNICEF Iraq, also told MediaGlobal. In response, the WHO is strengthening Iraq’s disease surveillance system to identify new cases, and providing emergency supplies to laboratories to improve cholera testing. Additionally, UNICEF is delivering water tankers, Oral Rehydration Salts and water purification tablets to affected areas to prevent further infection. It is also providing cholera-prevention information through NGO partners. The government has also reacted, ensuring the availability of medical supplies and chlorine, sending safe drinking water to infected areas, increasing power for water treatment plants, and launching public information campaigns.

AFGHANISTAN IS A COUNTRY OF GREAT PRIDE AND GREAT HOPE, SAYS LAW

11 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: While peace remains elusive in some parts of the world, it will have a full day’s universal victory on the 21st of September. This day is recognized as Peace Day and the Peace One Day campaign intends to take full advantage of it. Jeremy Gilley, a film director, founded the campaign. He was joined by British actor and Peace One Day envoy Jude Law in his trip to Afghanistan last week, where both urged all those involved in the Afghan conflict to observe the coming Peace Day. Violence continues to place a heavy toll on Afghanistan’s people, especially as violence has increased this year. “Even in areas where there is no substantial fighting, the presence of insurgents has increased,” Anthony Cordesman, security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said recently. Opium is helping to keep the Taliban in business. “The Taliban are making some money out of it,” Fabrice Pothier, Director of Carnegie Europe at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told MediaGlobal. But Peace One Day’s new documentary, ‘The Day after Peace,’ which was screened in Afghanistan, does not include the Taliban. Instead, it shows the peaceful side of Afghanistan. In this place, Afghans support peace. The film “is a tool that enables us to show the world that this country is more than a war-torn country and a country of violence, but instead, a country of great pride and great hope,” Law said. Last year, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) supported the anti-polio immunization of 1.4 million children.

POOR COUNTRIES LOSE AS FINANCIAL MARKETS TUMBLE GLOBALLY, SAYS NEW UN REPORT

11 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: ‘Speculation’ was the word in vogue at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in May of this year. Oil prices were being driven by speculation, OPEC said. But Michael J. Corke, Senior Vice President of the Dubai office at international energy consultant firm Purvin and Gertz, is wary of the word. “The word ‘speculation’ implies crazy people are doing crazy things,” he told MediaGlobal. “One of the issues is the difficulty in processing heavy crude oil,” he added. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in their Report also used the term ‘speculation’ to describe trade and development issues. Speculation in financial markets has pushed up commodity prices, authors of the report said. But speculation can pose a threat as well, and the report looks at a very unpleasant scenario: speculation could “amplify the downward movement” if “forecasts for global growth need to be adjusted downwards as a result of further turmoil in financial markets.” A “downward movement” in commodity prices would bode ill for developing countries heavily dependent on commodity exports. For instance, Africa’s high growth rate can give much of the credit to the commodity boom. “At about 7 percent, sub-Saharan Africa is even expected to achieve its highest annual growth rate in more than three decades. However, this acceleration of growth is largely due to higher income from exports of primary commodities, particularly oil,” the UNCTAD report noted.

BEGINNING OF MILLENIUM VILLAGE IN LIBERIA TO HELP POOREST OF THE POOR

9 September 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The UNDP cultivated the Millennium Village (MV) Project to achieve the objective of reducing extreme poverty and addressing endemic malaria, inadequate health and educational facilities, lack of basic transport, electricity, communications, safe drinking water, and sanitation facilities in developing countries. This project allocates resources and technical assistance from the UN to help rural communities lift themselves out of poverty in order to achieve the Millennium Developing Goals (MDGs) by 2015. To achieve its purpose, the MV Project will work with the poorest of the poor, village by village, throughout Africa, in partnership with governments and donors to provide affordable and science-based solutions. Thus far, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Liberia are cooperatives of the Project. The most recent functional MV is Kokoyah, Liberia. “The MV project in Liberia became operational this year (2008). The preparatory process for this MV began in 2006. The project has an initial funding of about 5 million dollars. The agricultural component, which is the first major activity in the village, has already begun with the distribution of seed rice, tools, and fertilizer. The government of Liberia is providing technical support at this time with the assignment of an agriculture extension expert from the Agriculture Ministry. The FAO is also supporting the project,” Anthony Selmah, National Information Officer for UNDP in Liberia, told MediaGlobal. Selmah continued, “The government through the Ministry of Internal Affairs has mobilized community participation and the process is community driven. UNDP has put in place a project coordinator and a Community development Officer to work with the local community. A project office is being renovated where the community can have direct access to the project staff.” The village is a collaborative effort with the Government of Liberia with co-funding from the Government of Norway. The Liberian government is negotiating the possibility of having a second Millennium Village, besides Kokoyah, in the south east to expand the scope and activity of the project in Liberia.