Weekending Sunday, 27 January 2008

FAO SEEKS TO LAUNCH FOOD SECURITY PROJECT IN FIVE OF AFRICA’S POOREST NATIONS

21 JANUARY 2007[MEDIAGLOBAL]: This week the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) announced a plan to revive the agricultural output of five of the poorest nations in the world. The Italian government has contributed US$10 million to the project, which will target Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone. Approximately 70 percent of these countries’ populations live below the poverty line and many have suffered years of civil war and economic turmoil. “Hungry people will not be able to play a full part in any future prosperity,” WFP Cote d’Ivoire Country Director Abdou Dieng told MediaGlobal. “These projects target food insecurity, taking into account the complex nature of its causes and offering a variety of options for overcoming it,” said FAO Assistant Director-General Jose Maria Sumpsi. The project will focus on agriculture as the main tool for combating poverty and increasing food security. The FAO will also strive to improve the commercialization and marketing of these nations’ products. The FAO Trust Fund for Food Security has already received US$100 million from the Italian Government and will focus on training and apprenticeship activities for local producers. “Farmers will learn more efficient agricultural practices and ways of setting up small enterprises,” said Kevin Gallagher, a senior FAO expert on program development.

FIRST IDP CAMP OPENS IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

22 JANUARY 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: A new wave of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Central African Republic’s northern region has led to the opening of the first IDP camp in the country, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported. “At a time when dialogue between all political parties is being prepared and tensions between militant groups and the government appear to have eased, it is deeply troubling that the people of the Central African Republic continue to flee their homes,” said John Holmes, United Nations Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Since the beginning of January, 900 people have arrived in the northern city of Kabo from surrounding rural areas. This new wave brings the number of displaced people seeking refuge in the city to 4,300. “[The IDPs] have fled their villages of origin and have been hiding in the bush, close to their villages but away from the main roads,” Nancy Snauwaert, OCHA’s Information Officer, told MediaGlobal. “Some of them, including in the case of the Kabo site, have left their temporary shelters in the bush or their villages under the increasing pressure of armed bandits, to seek refuge in the perceived safety of towns. Since the influx of displaced people has now surpassed the capacity of Kabo inhabitants to accommodate them, local authorities have assigned a site for the 4,300 displaced in this area,” she added. Currently, there are about 197,000 IDPs in the Central African Republic, or close to 5 percent of the total population. In fact, in the northern regions the displaced account for almost 14 percent of the total population, reports OCHA. Another 98,000 people have left the country to seek refuge in neighboring Chad and Cameroon.

SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN KENYA INCREASES AMID POST-ELECTION CRISIS

22 JANUARY 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The violence that erupted in Kenya after December’s disputed presidential election has caused an increase in sexual violence against displaced women, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) reported. “Once again, women and girls are not just caught in the crossfire. They are on the battlefield,” said UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis. “Time and time again we have seen women and girls targeted for rape and sexual abuse during periods of conflict. It is time for the global community to recognize this problem for what it is – an affront to basic human rights and human dignity.” Hospitals in Nairobi saw the number of rape cases double within days after the crisis began, and many medical professionals say that for each new case they treat, there are many other victims who fail to seek help. “We know from our experience in other crises that the reported cases of rape often represent the tip of the iceberg,” Jehane Sedky of UNDP told MediaGlobal. “Women are afraid of reporting rape, often because of the stigma attached to sexual violence as well as knowledge that the perpetrators will not be held accountable.” UNDP states that not only must everything be done to prevent such attacks, but that the perpetrators must be punished. “What’s important is that the message goes out that rape will not be tolerated, that perpetrators will be brought to justice and that victims will receive assistance,” Sedky told MediaGlobal. “Rape is a crime and must be treated as such.”

MEDIA OUTREACH CAMPAIGN IN SIERRA LEONE IS CRITICAL COMPONENT OF TAYLOR TRIAL

22 JANUARY 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Charles Taylor’s trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone is being held in the Hague, thousands of miles away from the West African country where the most gruesome of the atrocities he is accused of took place. The former president of Liberia faces a lengthy trial before the Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the abetting of mass amputations and the forced recruitment of child soldiers, committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war that ended in 2003. Because of the distance of the trial and the profound effect of the war on the stability of the region, the Court is placing special emphasis on a rigorous outreach program in Sierra Leone, Steven Rapp, Prosecutor for the Special Court of Sierra Leone, told reporters at UN Headquarters on Tuesday. “Both prosecution and defense, which participate in the outreach program, recognize that it’s very important for the success of the court, in the sense that it encourages people to participate in the process when this information is out there and the importance of it is understood,” Rapp told MediaGlobal. He added that, while press coverage of the trial has been more comprehensive in Liberia than in Sierra Leone, awareness of the proceedings and the work of the Court is high. “Last year the outreach program sponsored an independent poll of 10,000 residents of Sierra Leone, and I think 90 percent had heard of the Special Court, and of that 90 percent, about 90 percent, that’s [about] 80 percent of the total, believed that the Court was a force for stability and peace in the country,” Rapp said. The presentation of evidence began this month, and is expected to be completed within 12 to 18 months, with a verdict rendered in 2010.

MILITARY ATTACKS ON SCHOOLS IN NEPAL HAVE CEASED

23 JANUARY 2008 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Until recently, Nepal was considered one of the most dangerous places on earth to go to school. A 2007 UNESCO study on violence against education reported that more than 30,000 Nepali students and teachers were abducted between 2002 and 2006, and many more were beaten, arrested, or simply disappeared. But those attacks have almost entirely ceased, Ian Martin, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative in Nepal, told MediaGlobal. Martin spoke at a press conference at UN Headquarters on Wednesday, after the Security Council adopted a resolution to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) for another six months, in order to see twice-postponed elections through their scheduled date in April. Nepal, one of the world’s least developed countries, endured a decade of bloody civil war as opposing political factions vied for power. But a ceasefire in 2006 has remained intact, despite enduring political disagreements. “What we do easily take for granted is the fact that in over a year and a half, since May 2006, there hasn’t been a shot fired between the two armies,” Martin told MediaGlobal. “That’s very much thanks to the discipline of the two armies. It also owes quite a lot to the mechanism by which UNMIN chairs a joint monitoring coordination committee to address any possible issues between the two armies.” Martin added that the protection of children remains an issue, and UNMIN is working to ensure that all underage soldiers are discharged from the armed forces.

IFAD PROGRAM TO PROVIDE ECONOMIC BOOST FOR MALAWI’S RURAL POOR

23 JANUARY 2007[MEDIAGLOBAL]: As Malawi continues to surge toward a vast liberalization of its economic sector, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has pledged US$19.2 million to create new opportunities for its rural poor. The nation as a whole has experienced beneficial growth, yet IFAD has raised the concern that rural Malawians could fall behind. The solution may come in the form of IFAD’s Rural Livelihoods and Economic Enhancement Programme, which seeks to link livestock and fish producers to relevant buyers in the private sector. The hope is that rural Malawians will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to take full advantage of a capitalist marketplace. Firmino Mucavele, Chief Executive of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) told MediaGlobal that importance should be placed on developing entrepreneurs in these parts of Africa. Around 24,000 households are expected to participate in this new program. “Involving the private sector to drive agricultural commercialization is a new approach in Malawi,” said Miriam Okongo, IFAD’s country program manager for Malawi. Initially, the program will focus on growing Irish potatoes and groundnuts, but the main objective is to help the nation transition from subsistence to small-scale commercial farming. “We believe there will be many opportunities to expand and replicate the initiative, both in Malawi and surrounding countries,” Okongo added.

SOLVING DEVELOPMENT ISSUES IS CRITICAL BEFORE CITIES CAN ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE

23 JANUARY 2007[MEDIAGLOBAL]: ]: Adapting the cities of the developing world to new the challenges posed by climate change cannot be achieved without first addressing the poverty and poor living conditions of many urban populations, said Dr. David Satterthwaite, Senior Fellow of the Human Settlements Group of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and former member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In an exclusive interview with MediaGlobal, Satterthwaite pointed out that, despite recent concerns about the effects of climate change, the events climate change causes are not new. “Most of what climate change is doing is increasing existing risk. It isn’t introducing new risk,” he said. Despite this, many governments and development agencies alike appear to treat climate change as a separate entity, an approach Satterthwaite strongly advocates against. “People want to identify the specific risks associated with climate change. I think that’s a mistake. You want to look at the environmental risks to which populations are already exposed, with climate change changing the intensity and the frequency of those risks.” For the urban poor in developing countries, who live in informal or illegal settlements, increased vulnerability to environmental risk is the product of living without basic services such as piped water, sewers or drainage; and living on land that is exposed to storm surges, flooding and landslides. To adapt to climate change, “You need to put in the infrastructure that they need independent of climate change,” Satterthwaite said.