The Virtual Activism has a “WebWorks Program” that “has helped place over 68 nonprofit organizations and campaigns on the Web, even as they operate without funding and only through volunteers. Services are provided free of charge to eligible NGOs.â€
You may like to click here to read eligibility requirements.
Great service! Ainashe.net urges low budget Somali NGOs to apply for this free service.
Eliminating the distinction between the information-rich and information-poor countries is critical to eliminating other inequalities between North and South.
Nelson Mandela
The Father of the “Rainbow Nation”- The New South Africa
Human Rights Activist
Courtesy of “Virtual Activism“.
The Danish Institute for International Studies published recently a paper titled “Opportunities and Pitfalls in the Migration-Development Nexus: Somaliland and Beyond.â€
The paper outlines current discussions around the links between migration, development and conflict. It also considers the complex nature of ‘mixed flows’, the difficulties in distinguishing between forced/political and voluntary/economic migration, and the links to development from these various – and often overlapping – types of flows. The paper uses migration from Somalia/Somaliland as the main example. This case – like the cases of most other sending countries - is of course specific. Still lessons can be drawn that are useful in other contexts, and may provide a basis for constructive discussion of potential opportunities in the current migration and international cooperation regimes.
The paper is bit old (2004) but it will certainty be useful to those who want to get greater understanding of the “push†and “pull†factors of Somali migration to Denmark.
Click here to view or download the paper in its entirety.
While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas.
The Star Tribune reports:
Somalia is a priority for the U.S. State Department, which is engaged in “quiet diplomacy” to help buttress its fragile transitional government, a key state department leader said Wednesday night at the University of Minnesota. Somalia is strategic to the U.S. war on terror, Jendayi Frazer, assistant secretary for African Affairs, told more than 500 Minnesota Somalis
Click here to view the article on the Star Tribune newspaper
The Khaleej Times reports:
Universities, contrary to the belief, are no longer a male bastion, with girls far outstripping boys in the race for higher education. A study has revealed that national girls constitute 61 per cent of the student’s community in the three government-run universities — UAE University, Higher Colleges of Technology and Zayed University.
Boys are keen on jumping on to a job in the police or army without spending long years in the classrooms while girls go through the rigours of long years in education, said the study. A report released by Price House Coopers and presented at the Young Arab Leaders Forum, held recently in Dubai, disclosed that the UAE topped the list of countries with high rate of enrollment by girls in higher education.
The report titled “Manpower Development and Labour Market Demand in the Arab Countries” said the rate of girls in high education in the mid 90’s varied from 13 per cent in Yemen to well over 70 per cent in Qatar and the UAE.
The great legacy of Sheikh Zayid continues!
Click here for the full article on Khaleej Times.
According to the Guardian newspaper:
Evidence that may have been obtained by torture cannot be used against terror suspects in British courts, the House of Lords ruled today. A panel of seven Law Lords voted unanimously to allow an appeal by eight detainees who are being held without charge on suspicion of being involved in terrorism, against a controversial Court of Appeal judgment passed in August 2004. The appeal court voted last year that if evidence was obtained under torture by agents of another country with no involvement by the UK, it was usable and there was no obligation by the government to inquire about its origins.
But today’s ruling means such evidence is inadmissible under British law. It also means the home secretary must re-examine all cases where evidence obtained by torture has been used against suspects.
This is great victory for the rule of law and human rights. The madness to throw aside the rule of law and human rights in the name of security must stop. We must not allow headless politicians to cages us in the name of fighting terrorism. Terrorism wins if we loose our freedom and moral high ground.
The Arab News Reports:
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday urged Muslim countries to open a new era of unity, strength and glory by setting aside their differences and working together for their overall progress. He also wanted to see an end to extremism, projecting the beauty of Islamic tolerance. Opening the third extraordinary OIC summit here, King Abdullah also urged all member states of the Organization of the Islamic Conference to join the global fight against terrorism without sitting as helpless observers. He stressed the need for developing educational curricula and overhauling the Islamic Fiqh Academy to combat extremist ideologies and thoughts.
In his keynote speech, Abdullah was trying his best to instill confidence in Muslim leaders and urged them to carry out comprehensive development programs to eradicate poverty. “Revival begins with a hope, which turns into an idea and then becomes an objective,†he explained.
Click here to view the full report on the Arab News Online. You may like to click here for information by the International Islamic News Agency.
Kathryn Kramer has some biographic information about the top personnel working for the “Top Cat Marine Securityâ€; the firm the Somali Transitional Federal Government hired to police the Somali coast. Click here to view the article. The liberal blog; DailyKos has this to say about the contract with the “Top Cat Marine Security” and the Somali Government. Matt Armstrong has this to say too.
I do not know all the contractual details; however, I think the Somali government did the right thing to ask for external security forces to protect the Somali coast from the piracy activities that is paralyzing international maritime in the region as well as protecting Somali marine resources from illegal fishing.
Ninkii ballankaaga qaaday
Ka baaqday xilkaad u dhiibtay
Ka baydhay ujeedadaada
Ku boobay adoo sabool ah
Ku wiirsaday baaba’aaga
Adoo bogan waayey taada
Ninkii u buseelay raaxo
Huwaday bulbushii libaaxa
Buruudkiyo shaashka qaatay
U booday cirkaa dusheenna
Bilkeeday laboontidiisa
Buurtuu koray waarin mayso
Heddiisana baajin mayso
Kub iyo bawduu ka jabi.Extracts taken from Hadraawi’s Gabay; “Bulsho”.
Here is a link to a very interesting paper written by Prof. Timo Kivimäki of the Conflict Transformation Service and the University of Helsinki. The paper was a product of a project financed by the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The paper is bit “old†but it will certainly be very useful to those who want to get a deeper understanding about the tragic Somali political conflict.
You may also like to click here to view or download Dr. Timo Kivimäki’s other published papers.
According to the UN News Wire, the World Health Organization (WHO):
…will no longer hire smokers in compliance with its campaign to curb tobacco use, which currently causes 5 million mainly preventable deaths and a net loss of $200 billion in treatment and lost productivity every year. The decision by the World Health Organization (WHO) has been motivated by matters of principle, since the Agency cannot ask its Member States to respect the International Anti-Tobacco Treaty and not apply it to its own personnel, spokesperson Fadela Chaib told a news briefing in Geneva today. Current employees who are smokers are encouraged to stop smoking. The WHO application form includes a question as to whether the applicant is a smoker and whether they will stop smoking. The WHO will not, however, investigate its employees to discover whether they are smokers, Ms. Chaib said.The Agency’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) requires Parties to restrict tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion, set new labelling and indoor air standards, and strengthen laws against tobacco smuggling.
Well, it is just about time that WHO lives up to what it preaches! Having said that, as a “die-hard†libertarian who cherishes individual freedom, I am skeptical about the notion of regulating human behavior by bureaucratic intervention. In any case, banning smoking in the WHO headquarters will have very little effect, if any, about the serious health problems caused by smoking, especially in the development countries. In short, WHO should be concentrating educating the general public about the damaging health risks associated with smoking rather than wasting time and money on trivial things such as this one.
I am unable to upload the audio file I recorded last night. Apparently, the file is too large (4.15Mb) as a result the host server rejected it. I believe the server configuration has to be changed. This is something my host has to do. Hopefully, it will be done by early next week. Apologies for any inconvenience caused!
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
A Somali reporter has been jailed since Monday following his recent online story claiming that a faction known as the Jubba Valley Alliance has been importing arms in violation of the 2004 peace agreement and a United Nations arms embargo, the National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) reported. The faction, which controls the southern city of Kismayo, is holding reporter Ahmed Mohammed Aden and has accused him of posting “false information” in an article on the Gedonet Online Web site, NUSOJ reported. Aden also works for private radio station Jubba FM in Kismayo and is a prominent member of NUSOJ.
Click here to view the full article by the Committee to Protect Journalists.