The body of Muslim woman, killed in a German courtroom by a man convicted of insulting her religion, has been taken back to her native Egypt for burial.

Read more here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8136500.stm

PeaceNobel Lecture, Oslo, December 10, 2001

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highness's, Excellencies,
Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, in Afghanistan, a girl will be born. Her mother will hold her and feed her, comfort her and care for her – just as any mother would anywhere in the world. In these most basic acts of human nature, humanity knows no divisions. But to be born a girl in today's Afghanistan is to begin life centuries away from the prosperity that one small part of humanity has achieved. It is to live under conditions that many of us in this hall would consider inhuman.

I speak of a girl in Afghanistan, but I might equally well have mentioned a baby boy or girl in Sierra Leone. No one today is unaware of this divide between the world’s rich and poor. No one today can claim ignorance of the cost that this divide imposes on the poor and dispossessed who are no less deserving of human dignity, fundamental freedoms, security, food and education than any of us. The cost, however, is not borne by them alone. Ultimately, it is borne by all of us – North and South, rich and poor, men and women of all races and religions.

Today's real borders are not between nations, but between powerful and powerless, free and fettered, privileged and humiliated. Today, no walls can separate humanitarian or human rights crises in one part of the world from national security crises in another.

Scientists tell us that the world of nature is so small and interdependent that a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon rainforest can generate a violent storm on the other side of the earth. This principle is known as the "Butterfly Effect." Today, we realize, perhaps more than ever, that the world of human activity also has its own "Butterfly Effect" – for better or for worse.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have entered the third millennium through a gate of fire. If today, after the horror of 11 September, we see better, and we see further – we will realize that humanity is indivisible. New threats make no distinction between races, nations or regions. A new insecurity has entered every mind, regardless of wealth or status. A deeper awareness of the bonds that bind us all – in pain as in prosperity – has gripped young and old.

In the early beginnings of the 21st century – a century already violently disabused of any hopes that progress towards global peace and prosperity is inevitable -- this new reality can no longer be ignored. It must be confronted.

The 20th century was perhaps the deadliest in human history, devastated by innumerable conflicts, untold suffering, and unimaginable crimes. Time after time, a group or a nation inflicted extreme violence on another, often driven by irrational hatred and suspicion, or unbounded arrogance and thirst for power and resources. In response to these cataclysms, the leaders of the world came together at mid-century to unite the nations as never before.

A forum was created – the United Nations – where all nations could join forces to affirm the dignity and worth of every person, and to secure peace and development for all peoples. Here States could unite to strengthen the rule of law, recognize and address the needs of the poor, restrain man’s brutality and greed, conserve the resources and beauty of nature, sustain the equal rights of men and women, and provide for the safety of future generations.

We thus inherit from the 20th century the political, as well as the scientific and technological power, which – if only we have the will to use them – give us the chance to vanquish poverty, ignorance and disease.

In the 21st Century I believe the mission of the United Nations will be defined by a new, more profound, awareness of the sanctity and dignity of every human life, regardless of race or religion. This will require us to look beyond the framework of States, and beneath the surface of nations or communities. We must focus, as never before, on improving the conditions of the individual men and women who give the state or nation its richness and character. We must begin with the young Afghan girl, recognizing that saving that one life is to save humanity itself.

Over the past five years, I have often recalled that the United Nations' Charter begins with the words: "We the peoples." What is not always recognized is that "we the peoples" are made up of individuals whose claims to the most fundamental rights have too often been sacrificed in the supposed interests of the state or the nation.

A genocide begins with the killing of one man – not for what he has done, but because of who he is. A campaign of 'ethnic cleansing' begins with one neighbour turning on another. Poverty begins when even one child is denied his or her fundamental right to education. What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life, all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations.

In this new century, we must start from the understanding that peace belongs not only to states or peoples, but to each and every member of those communities. The sovereignty of States must no longer be used as a shield for gross violations of human rights. Peace must be made real and tangible in the daily existence of every individual in need. Peace must be sought, above all, because it is the condition for every member of the human family to live a life of dignity and security.

The rights of the individual are of no less importance to immigrants and minorities in Europe and the Americas than to women in Afghanistan or children in Africa. They are as fundamental to the poor as to the rich; they are as necessary to the security of the developed world as to that of the developing world.

From this vision of the role of the United Nations in the next century flow three key priorities for the future: eradicating poverty, preventing conflict, and promoting democracy. Only in a world that is rid of poverty can all men and women make the most of their abilities. Only where individual rights are respected can differences be channelled politically and resolved peacefully. Only in a democratic environment, based on respect for diversity and dialogue, can individual self-expression and self-government be secured, and freedom of association be upheld.

Throughout my term as Secretary-General, I have sought to place human beings at the centre of everything we do – from conflict prevention to development to human rights. Securing real and lasting improvement in the lives of individual men and women is the measure of all we do at the United Nations.

It is in this spirit that I humbly accept the Centennial Nobel Peace Prize. Forty years ago today, the Prize for 1961 was awarded for the first time to a Secretary-General of the United Nations – posthumously, because Dag Hammarskjöld had already given his life for peace in Central Africa. And on the same day, the Prize for 1960 was awarded for the first time to an African – Albert Luthuli, one of the earliest leaders of the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. For me, as a young African beginning his career in the United Nations a few months later, those two men set a standard that I have sought to follow throughout my working life.

This award belongs not just to me. I do not stand here alone. On behalf of all my colleagues in every part of the United Nations, in every corner of the globe, who have devoted their lives – and in many instances risked or given their lives in the cause of peace – I thank the Members of the Nobel Committee for this high honour. My own path to service at the United Nations was made possible by the sacrifice and commitment of my family and many friends from all continents – some of whom have passed away – who taught me and guided me. To them, I offer my most profound gratitude.

In a world filled with weapons of war and all too often words of war, the Nobel Committee has become a vital agent for peace. Sadly, a prize for peace is a rarity in this world. Most nations have monuments or memorials to war, bronze salutations to heroic battles, archways of triumph. But peace has no parade, no pantheon of victory.

What it does have is the Nobel Prize – a statement of hope and courage with unique resonance and authority. Only by understanding and addressing the needs of individuals for peace, for dignity, and for security can we at the United Nations hope to live up to the honour conferred today, and fulfil the vision of our founders. This is the broad mission of peace that United Nations staff members carry out every day in every part of the world.

A few of them, women and men, are with us in this hall today. Among them, for instance, are a Military Observer from Senegal who is helping to provide basic security in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; a Civilian Police Adviser from the United States who is helping to improve the rule of law in Kosovo; a UNICEF Child Protection Officer from Ecuador who is helping to secure the rights of Colombia's most vulnerable citizens; and a World Food Programme Officer from China who is helping to feed the people of North Korea.

Distinguished guests,

The idea that there is one people in possession of the truth, one answer to the world’s ills, or one solution to humanity’s needs, has done untold harm throughout history – especially in the last century. Today, however, even amidst continuing ethnic conflict around the world, there is a growing understanding that human diversity is both the reality that makes dialogue necessary, and the very basis for that dialogue.

We understand, as never before, that each of us is fully worthy of the respect and dignity essential to our common humanity. We recognize that we are the products of many cultures, traditions and memories; that mutual respect allows us to study and learn from other cultures; and that we gain strength by combining the foreign with the familiar.

In every great faith and tradition one can find the values of tolerance and mutual understanding. The Qur’an, for example, tells us that "We created you from a single pair of male and female and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other." Confucius urged his followers: "when the good way prevails in the state, speak boldly and act boldly. When the state has lost the way, act boldly and speak softly." In the Jewish tradition, the injunction to "love thy neighbour as thyself," is considered to be the very essence of the Torah.

This thought is reflected in the Christian Gospel, which also teaches us to love our enemies and pray for those who wish to persecute us. Hindus are taught that "truth is one, the sages give it various names." And in the Buddhist tradition, individuals are urged to act with compassion in every facet of life.

Each of us has the right to take pride in our particular faith or heritage. But the notion that what is ours is necessarily in conflict with what is theirs is both false and dangerous. It has resulted in endless enmity and conflict, leading men to commit the greatest of crimes in the name of a higher power.

It need not be so. People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.

This will not be possible, however, without freedom of religion, of expression, of assembly, and basic equality under the law. Indeed, the lesson of the past century has been that where the dignity of the individual has been trampled or threatened – where citizens have not enjoyed the basic right to choose their government, or the right to change it regularly – conflict has too often followed, with innocent civilians paying the price, in lives cut short and communities destroyed.

The obstacles to democracy have little to do with culture or religion, and much more to do with the desire of those in power to maintain their position at any cost. This is neither a new phenomenon nor one confined to any particular part of the world. People of all cultures value their freedom of choice, and feel the need to have a say in decisions affecting their lives.

The United Nations, whose membership comprises almost all the States in the world, is founded on the principle of the equal worth of every human being. It is the nearest thing we have to a representative institution that can address the interests of all states, and all peoples. Through this universal, indispensable instrument of human progress, States can serve the interests of their citizens by recognizing common interests and pursuing them in unity. No doubt, that is why the Nobel Committee says that it "wishes, in its centenary year, to proclaim that the only negotiable route to global peace and cooperation goes by way of the United Nations".

I believe the Committee also recognized that this era of global challenges leaves no choice but cooperation at the global level. When States undermine the rule of law and violate the rights of their individual citizens, they become a menace not only to their own people, but also to their neighbours, and indeed the world. What we need today is better governance – legitimate, democratic governance that allows each individual to flourish, and each State to thrive.

Your Majesties,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

You will recall that I began my address with a reference to the girl born in Afghanistan today. Even though her mother will do all in her power to protect and sustain her, there is a one-in-four risk that she will not live to see her fifth birthday. Whether she does is just one test of our common humanity – of our belief in our individual responsibility for our fellow men and women. But it is the only test that matters.

Remember this girl and then our larger aims – to fight poverty, prevent conflict, or cure disease – will not seem distant, or impossible. Indeed, those aims will seem very near, and very achievable – as they should. Because beneath the surface of states and nations, ideas and language, lies the fate of individual human beings in need. Answering their needs will be the mission of the United Nations in the century to come.

Thank you very much.

By Ben Powless

The rhetoric was sharp enough to cut down Amazonian hardwoods. Yesterday, Sunday June 7th, after a number of ministers had been paraded out Saturday and the day before, Peru’s el Señor Presidente, Alan Garcia decided to make it personal. After a joint police-military operation aimed at stopping an Indigenous protest had gone awry, leaving many dead on both sides, Garcia declared the Indigenous elements to be standing in the way of progress, in the path of national development, wrenches in the gears of modernity, and part of an international conspiracy to keep Peru down. In a troubling statement on the resemblance of the Indigenous protesters to the infamous Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) armed insurrection, Garcia seemed to imply the Natives were a band of terrorists as he stood in front of hundreds of military officers in a nationally televised speech. He continued to decry the Indian barbarity and savagery, and called for all police and military to stand against savagery.


Indigenous and non-Indigenous protesters confront the police on the highway outside Bagua PHOTO: Thomas Quirynen


Clearly, the battle lines were being drawn. Garcia demonstrated he is not about to allow anything to get in the way of “our development” of the oil and mineral resources the Amazon has to offer. Especially by a bunch of confused savages (his words) who are pawns to the international market and to Indian elites and therefore have no real reason to be resisting. At this point, it was obvious he thought nothing of the Indigenous cause, and what they actually stood for. There is too much money to be extracted from oil, from minerals, from logging, and from possible agriculture in the Amazon region, the 2nd largest stretch outside of Brazil. All on land with less than 200,000 Indigenous people. All now supposed to be open for business, as a result of a series of laws passed under the auspices of Free Trade Agreements signed with both Canada and the United States.

All those who lost their lives – certainly more than the 30 or so officially cited – have in the end given their lives for these free trade agreements and their domestic implementation. After wresting a concession from Congress – a la Bush – Garcia was able to push through 99 changes to the law of Peru. A number of these were ruled unconstitutional later, one dealing with property law standing out. Indigenous groups disputed from the beginning that these laws threatened the integrity of the Amazon, its cultural and biological diversity. Since the beginning, they were ignored. Living up to their Amazonian warrior mythology, they decided to take action.


Police clearly seen with automatic submachine guns, not fit for use against civilians PHOTO: Thomas Quirynen


Protests have lasted now over 50 days, only recently erupting into bloodshed when Garcia suspended civil liberties, declared a state of emergency, and decided to send in the military to end the dispute. This was all done in the name of Garcia’s idea of ‘democracy,’ which should be farcical to anyone who has the least idea what democracy means. Indigenous groups have maintained they want to be included in this so-called democracy, meaning they have a say over what happens in their lands, and that their rights be respected. This is clearly within international law now, after the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was approved two years ago.

The Declaration lays out provisions that clearly establish the rights to free, prior and informed consent over development projects in Indigenous territories, and the right to be involved in any decision making processes that would impact on Indigenous Peoples’ lands, resources or rights. Repeated demands have called for there to be dialogue with Indigenous groups. Garcia’s response? Yes, there has been dialogue – within the government, by elected officials. Obviously, this hasn’t done enough to safeguard the rights, the lives, and the livelihoods of Amazon peoples, and a number of the new laws have been shown to be unconstitutional. Indigenous leaders quickly condemned the tragic loss of lives as the fault of the government, who was not committed to dialogue, but arms. Even the ex-president has placed the blame on Garcia for not seeking dialogue with Indigenous representatives.


Police take away identified ‘terrorist’ PHOTO: Thomas Quirynen


Lamentably, this whole situation could have easily been prevented, had the government cared enough about its own citizens’ lives and effective dialogue more than getting its own way. Instead, on Friday morning, police and military descended on an Indigenous encampment near the Amazonian towns of Bagua Chica and Bagua Grande. Reports from the ground contradict the government version, in which security forces, reluctant to use force, were ambushed and had to defend themselves with bombs, helicopters, and machine guns. Other reports establish that a private meeting was held between the military, the Indigenous leadership, and a local bishop, among others, the night before the violence. Indigenous groups were reportedly given until 10am to make a decision to leave or stay, and were guaranteed that nothing would happen until then. In response, many decided to go home. But the government apparently lied. The operation started around 6am.

Local sources instead claim they were sleeping, unarmed, when bullets were fired in their direction. When the police finally arrived to physically remove protesters, it was then that many police were disarmed, killed, or taken prisoner by the masses of protesters, probably numbering over 2,000 in days prior, now down to a few hundred. By now, the war had been declared, and wouldn’t stop well into the night as police and military continued in a violent sweep, ending up going into the towns and reportedly searching house by house in vengeance. Police entered with weapons of war against civilians. Now the military has been reported to be wearing civilian clothing to carry out what seems more and more to resemble a civil war. Families decry that they haven’t been allowed to enter the areas to search for missing family, or enter jails to visit and feed prisoners. All this done in a declared state of emergency, with many liberties and human rights withdrawn for local citizens.


Protesters re-converge near the split in the highway PHOTO: Thomas Quirynen


Then came the outrage. But not by locals or Indigenous groups, though that was palpable. By the very same government who initiated the action. Their reports came out throughout the next day – a dozen security forces murdered in cold blood, maybe 3 Indians hurt. Now 24 police and military cruelly assassinated, about 9 Indians dead (no information how). The choice of words is translated from government pronouncements, and reflects their dim view of Indigenous deaths, despite many being civilians, with a few children among those murdered.

On the other side, Indigenous groups reported at least 30 civilians and Natives were killed, but also that government officials had gone through lengths to disappear some of the bodies, a claim documented by Amazon Watch (see link below). Some AIDESEP members in the communities dispute that the number is much higher, closer to 100, including peasants and civilians. Video evidence clearly shows Natives armed only with spears against a tactical unit in one confrontation, and photos show police firing live weapons from the roofs, reportedly into crowds gathered below. A national newspaper even reported that one could clearly find pictures of more than a dozen Natives and civilians dead, online. No matter, the numbers had suddenly taken on a new importance.

This had been the worst episode of violence since the 90’s, so one might think the government might want to cut its losses and signal a shift towards more productive measures. Indeed, both sides could claim that they lost a number of lives, impetus to stop the bloodshed. Except that the war had already been declared, and may only be heating up. Hence the president’s fiery rhetoric, about how dare the savage Indians hurt our humble police, who didn’t want to raise their weapons. With their claim of nearly 30 deaths to the Indians’ 9 pushed them to call it a massacre (matanza, masacre) and seemed to pave the ethical and emotional road towards stronger retaliation, as all news channels were flooded with pictures of the soldiers bodies being flown out. The president of the ministers’ congress today appeared before congress and on national television to decry all the foreign news reports that fail to coincide with official numbers. Not only that, of course, these Natives were getting in the way of our development, of our modernity, denying us our basic human rights. Many of these government claims are thin disguises to misrepresent the Indigenous movement and its positions.


Police seen shooting on crowds below in Bagua, after protesters re-assemble PHOTO: AIDESEP


Take the issue of development. Indigenous communities have repeatedly said they aren’t against development, but it has to be a different kind of development, one more responsible. A reasonable claim, especially considering that the loss of the Amazon rainforest is one of the top drivers of climate change. On the issue of leadership and responsibility, the government has maintained that this was a top-down movement led by Alberto Pizango, president of AIDESEP, the Interethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Rainforest, an Indigenous organization with representation from Amazon communities. This flies in the face of the history of the protest, which has literally involved thousands of communities, and shown itself to be led by local communities in their own decision making structures. The government has instead tried to pin the blame on Pizango as the main instigator, as a political agent of other parties or perhaps other countries, and a criminal mastermind who has tricked his followers into rallying against perfectly good legislation. They have gone so far as to issue a warrant for his arrest now, with many news reports hinting he has fled to Bolivia, and the Indigenous leadership have lost contact with him.


Protesters – many clearly non-Indigenous – attend to a civilian shot dead PHOTO: Thomas Quirynen


The other easily disputed claim is that this is an Indigenous movement uniquely, the implication being that this does not apply to anyone non-Indigenous, and others should repudiate the movement. It is well known in and around the Amazonian towns, however, that there have consistently been Mestizos, those of mixed race who make a slim majority of Peruvians, as part of the movement. In recent days reportedly a number of disenfranchised army reservists also decided to join the Indigenous cause. Looking at the protests in and around Bagua, it can clearly be seen that as many as half the protesters were not Indigenous, but were there in support. Also in the past, it has been a number of labour unions and farmer groups that have participated in national strikes, concerned over the same free trade agreements as Amazon communities. The implications here are critical, though, and seem to seek a precedent in declaring the Indigenous movement to be a criminal, or even terrorist, movement and outlaw their activities, organizations, and politics.


Civilians with bullet wounds attended in Bagua hospital PHOTO: AIDESEP


What comes next? On the Indigenous side, there have been calls for a national strike on Thursday, the 11th. In this case, many labour groups have been involved from the beginning, so it remains to be seen whether this will go farther than strikes in the past, which have shut down vital transportation and oil infrastructure, as well as Machu Picchu, the main tourist destination of Peru. Indigenous leaders have said, however, their protest will continue until they are able to renegotiate the controversial laws. On the government side, we can only wait and hope for the best. If the inflamed words and rallying of the troops are any indication, however, they may be getting ready to try and strike down harder on the Indigenous movement sooner rather than later. Reports have come in that Special Forces have been seen in the area. All this may spell out more bloodshed in the name of democracy. However, they are also acutely aware they are under the international microscope right now, despite the lack of substantial media reporting about the situation here in Peru.

And that may be where hope rests. This is a critical moment, as the government plans its next steps. There needs to be a strong international focus on Peru, to let them know they cannot get away with more human rights abuses. Already, protests are planned across the United States, with more in planning in Canada. Letters have been sent to the government and to representatives at embassies around the world. AIDESEP has called for a national inquiry into the events of Bagua and the deaths. They have also issued a request for an international observer committee to come and be witnesses to the situation. A national strike is planned for this Thursday, with participation from diverse groups, calling for resolution to the situation and the resignation of Alan Garcia. AIDESEP is also collecting funds to aid in its work and support observers to get into the region.

A curfew has been imposed. Amazonian towns have been militarized. AIDESEP officials are in communication with the communities that there are many missing, many presumed dead. The government has begun persecuting and threatening jail for Indigenous leaders, while the leaders have said they are ready to go to jail to defend their rights. The fear is growing that the government is trying to build support to further repress Indigenous groups. This is not a path to peace and reconciliation.


Indigenous leaders of the Peruvian Amazon hold a press conference to talk about the whereabouts of Pizango and their reaction to the violent outbreak, Saturday June 6th. PHOTO: Ben Powless


For now, the protests will continue. If we are serious about safeguarding the human rights of the Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples of the Amazon, we need to act now. The violent repression of Indigenous protests and the loss of civil liberties must come to an end. If we want to protect and preserve the Amazon, and its bio-cultural diversity, especially in the face of climate change, there is no better protection than keeping it under the control of those who have maintained it forever. The free trade laws that open up the Amazon to logging, mining, oil and agroindustry must be suspended. Indigenous Peoples’ rights – to self-determination, to their lands and resources, to their lives - must be protected and guaranteed. If we are to stop other atrocities and bloodshed, the battle line must be withdrawn, immediately, and there must be dialogue.

For up-to-date information and planned actions: http://peruanista.blogspot.com/
So far actions are planned in Canada, the US, Australia, India and more.

Website of AIDESEP: Aidesep, pueblos indígenas amazónicos del Peru | Portada

Donations can be made under "SOLIDARIDAD AIDESEP”, at
Bank Name: Banco de Crédito del Perú
Account number: 193-1070011-1-01
Account name: AIDESEP-VARIOS
Swift Code: BCPLPEPL
Address: Jr. Lampa 499, Cercado de Lima, Peru

Peruvian news network, with many (shocking) videos: http://enlacenacional.com/

Collection of actions to take and media sources: http://beckermanlegal.com/Peru.htm

In depth analysis of the situation: https://nacla.org/node/5879

AmazonWatch investigates disposed bodies: http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=1843

Send a letter to Peruvian officials: http://amazonwatch.org/peru-action-alert.php

Preliminary blog: Calm at the Center of the Storm: Reporting from the Amazonian Peoples' Headquarters in Lima | rabble.ca

More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/powless/sets/72157619320374511/

Democracy Now! Report: http://intercontinentalcry.org/democracy-now-reports-on-bagua-massacre/

He was a Star, and among all Stars we had seen before he was the Cute one , Wasnot He?!!!

He Tackles the 7th Issues in so perfect & so Amazing way Touching your Heart ,Conveincing your Mind,Inspiring Alot of Spirits and Moreover...

Though he didnot provide us with Specific Steps to work out them ,Yet once he entered the Scene & started toTalk he was ...
so Charismatic , Understanding , Transparent , Balanced , Impressive , Unlike Others.......a Man of Purpose who is SO,SO,SO Intelligant.

Anyway,though there are alot of Differant Veiws on him from those Talkative,Analytical Diplomats,that means nothing for Simple ppl who Just started to Dream & see in him their knight or their the waited for Doctor who will help to stop alot of their pain , suffering and provide the suitable Cure for all that Chronic problems even it will serve for the American Dream.

Wishing we all could feel that it is really a start for a Change & that our Leaders make best use of that
Chance To but an end for all of our problems.

Members of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in Paris and London went hungry this World Press Freedom Day - in support of jailed U.S.-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi, who herself started a hunger strike on 21 April.

Thankfully, Saberi, who was protesting an eight-year jail sentence for spying for the U.S., has since started eating again. But the international campaigning for her release goes on. Next week, an Iranian appeals court will hear her case, and a verdict is expected shortly thereafter.

As World Press Freedom Day was commemorated on 3 May, Saberi is just one of about 125 journalists jailed worldwide because of their work - and an example of the threats hundreds of thousands of journalists and others face for exercising their right to free expression.

Of this figure, nearly 700 journalists have been killed since 3 May was first celebrated in 1993, according to U.S. President Barack Obama, who acknowledged World Press Freedom Day in an official statement (see: ) Tragically, the latest fatality to be added to the list was gunned down on World Press Freedom Day: Mexican journalist Carlos Ortega Samper, who just a day before his death wrote that he had been threatened by local government officials.

The numbers are grim, no matter where you are. A global survey published by Freedom House last week shows media freedom has declined for the seventh straight year - with journalists facing more obstacles to their work in every region of the world.

"Restrictions can happen in any type of environment, including democracies," says Karen Karlekar, managing editor of the annual "Freedom of the Press" report. (See the report here: http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=470 )

"We found that only 17 percent of the world's population live in countries that enjoy a fully free press," she added.

World Press Freedom Day serves as an occasion to pay tribute to Saberi, as well as journalists such as Ortega who risked their lives to give us the news. They understand better than anyone that media contributes significantly to processes of dialogue, mutual understanding and reconciliation, the theme of this year's World Press Freedom Day.

It is also a time to remind the world of the countless other press freedom violations across the globe, while also developing initiatives that defend and promote journalists and the right to press freedom. Continuing on from last week, here's an update on how other IFEX members and partners did just that (for the full listing, see: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/archivefeatures/242/ ):

Who imagined that in 2009, the world's governments would be declaring a new War on Pirates? As you read this, the British Royal Navy - backed by the ships of more than two dozen nations, from the US to China - is sailing into Somalian waters to take on men we still picture as parrot-on-the-shoulder pantomime villains. They will soon be fighting Somalian ships and even chasing the pirates onto land, into one of the most broken countries on earth. But behind the arrr-me-hearties oddness of this tale, there is an untold scandal. The people our governments are labeling as "one of the great menace of our times" have an extraordinary story to tell -- and some justice on their side.

Pirates have never been quite who we think they are. In the "golden age of piracy" - from 1650 to 1730 - the idea of the pirate as the senseless, savage thief that lingers today was created by the British government in a great propaganda-heave. Many ordinary people believed it was false: pirates were often rescued from the gallows by supportive crowds. Why? What did they see that we can't? In his book Villains of All nations, the historian Marcus Rediker pores through the evidence to find out. If you became a merchant or navy sailor then - plucked from the docks of London's East End, young and hungry - you ended up in a floating wooden Hell. You worked all hours on a cramped, half-starved ship, and if you slacked off for a second, the all-powerful captain would whip you with the Cat O' Nine Tails. If you slacked consistently, you could be thrown overboard. And at the end of months or years of this, you were often cheated of your wages.

Pirates were the first people to rebel against this world. They mutinied against their tyrannical captains - and created a different way of working on the seas. Once they had a ship, the pirates elected their captains, and made all their decisions collectively. They shared their bounty out in what Rediker calls "one of the most egalitarian plans for the disposition of resources to be found anywhere in the eighteenth century." They even took in escaped African slaves and lived with them as equals. The pirates showed "quite clearly - and subversively - that ships did not have to be run in the brutal and oppressive ways of the merchant service and the Royal navy." This is why they were popular, despite being unproductive thieves.

The words of one pirate from that lost age - a young British man called William Scott - should echo into this new age of piracy. Just before he was hanged in Charleston, South Carolina, he said: "What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirating to live." In 1991, the government of Somalia - in the Horn of Africa - collapsed. Its nine million people have been teetering on starvation ever since - and many of the ugliest forces in the Western world have seen this as a great opportunity to steal the country's food supply and dump our nuclear waste in their seas.

Yes: nuclear waste. As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: "Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury - you name it." Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to "dispose" of cheaply. When I asked Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: "Nothing. There has been no clean-up, no compensation, and no prevention."

At the same time, other European ships have been looting Somalia's seas of their greatest resource: seafood. We have destroyed our own fish-stocks by over-exploitation - and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300m worth of tuna, shrimp, lobster and other sea-life is being stolen every year by vast trawlers illegally sailing into Somalia's unprotected seas. The local fishermen have suddenly lost their livelihoods, and they are starving. Mohammed Hussein, a fisherman in the town of Marka 100km south of Mogadishu, told Reuters: "If nothing is done, there soon won't be much fish left in our coastal waters."

This is the context in which the men we are calling "pirates" have emerged. Everyone agrees they were ordinary Somalian fishermen who at first took speedboats to try to dissuade the dumpers and trawlers, or at least wage a 'tax' on them. They call themselves the Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia - and it's not hard to see why. In a surreal telephone interview, one of the pirate leaders, Sugule Ali, said their motive was "to stop illegal fishing and dumping in our waters... We don't consider ourselves sea bandits. We consider sea bandits [to be] those who illegally fish and dump in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas." William Scott would understand those words.

No, this doesn't make hostage-taking justifiable, and yes, some are clearly just gangsters - especially those who have held up World Food Programme supplies. But the "pirates" have the overwhelming support of the local population for a reason. The independent Somalian news-site WardherNews conducted the best research we have into what ordinary Somalis are thinking - and it found 70 percent "strongly supported the piracy as a form of national defence of the country's territorial waters." During the revolutionary war in America, George Washington and America's founding fathers paid pirates to protect America's territorial waters, because they had no navy or coastguard of their own. Most Americans supported them. Is this so different?

Did we expect starving Somalians to stand passively on their beaches, paddling in our nuclear waste, and watch us snatch their fish to eat in restaurants in London and Paris and Rome? We didn't act on those crimes - but when some of the fishermen responded by disrupting the transit-corridor for 20 percent of the world's oil supply, we begin to shriek about "evil." If we really want to deal with piracy, we need to stop its root cause - our crimes - before we send in the gun-boats to root out Somalia's criminals.

The story of the 2009 war on piracy was best summarised by another pirate, who lived and died in the fourth century BC. He was captured and brought to Alexander the Great, who demanded to know "what he meant by keeping possession of the sea." The pirate smiled, and responded: "What you mean by seizing the whole earth; but because I do it with a petty ship, I am called a robber, while you, who do it with a great fleet, are called emperor." Once again, our great imperial fleets sail in today - but who is the robber?

يفتح أبواب التعلم من خلال السفر
صندوق تجوال الشباب العربي المبادر "سفر"
اعداد نوفل الحمومي بالتنسيق مع المكتب الإقليمي
"ربما تحبين الرسم، أو الشعر.. ربما تشجع القراءة أو تحارب المخدرات... تبحثين في التراث أو في علم الإجتماع، تعمل في الزراعة أو في حكاية القصص، تهوى صناعة الأفلام والتصوير أو تدربين الرقص الشعبي... في كل هذه المجالات وغيرها من مجالات العمل المجتمعي، هناك من يبادر بالعمل، وهناك الكثير من الإلهام في عملهم لأنه ببساطة نابع من داخلهم... هناك تجارب تستحق أن نزورها، و نتعرف على مبدعيها ونتجاور معهم، نعيش، نعمل ونتأمل، لنتعلم من التجربة"
صندوق سفر هو صندوق للتجوال من أجل التعلم يدعم الشباب بشكل مستقل لمجاورة أشخاص لديهم تجربة غنية ومثيرة، وزيارة مبادرات ملهمة، إذ يقوم سفر يدعم الشباب/ات اللذين لديهم الرغبة في أن يسافروا بالوطن العربي للعمل على مشروع (غير هادف للربح) خاص بهم أو بمؤسستهم مع أشخاص أو مؤسسات أخرى أو للتطوع مع مجموعة أو مؤسسة شبابية، لزيارة مبادرات ملهمة، للتجاور مع شخص ذو خبرة أو مبادرة مختلفة أو لحضور فاعلية يغلب عليها الجانب العملي، ويتوجب على الشاب أن يقوم بنفسه بالتواصل مع المؤسسات والجهات التي يرغب بزيارتها في الوطن العربي أو مع الأشخاص الذين يرغب (بالتجاور) معهم أي التعلم منهم عن قرب والإطلاع على تجاربهم تأكيداً لمفهوم الشاب المبادر الذي يسعى دائماً للبحث عن المعرفة والبحث المتواصل لإكتساب خبرات جديدة على الصعيد المهني والشخصي.
فإذا كنت شاباً.. وعمرك ما بين 15- 35 عاماً.. وكنت ناشط و/أو مندمج في مبادرات/أعمال ريادية نابعة من عاطفة وقناعة ذاتيتين مبنيتين على خبرة وتأمل ويسعون نحو تعلم مشترك أو كنت شاباً او شابة متطوعاً و/أو عاملين في مؤسسات شبابية أو تعنى بالشباب (إما منشطين أو مسؤولين عن المبادرات الشبابية.. فبإمكانكم التقدم للحصول على منحة سفر لأي دولة من الدول العربية من خلال صندوق تجوال الشباب العربي المبادر "سفر" www.safarfund.org.
أما عن المجالات التي يغطيها صندوق سفر فلا يشترط مجالاً محدداً، ومعايير الإختيار قائمة على ثقافة المبادرة لدى الشباب بالدرجة الأولى، لذا يشترط أن يكون الشاب/ بة مبادراً في أي المجالات التي ينشط من خلالها، فبامكان الصحافيين الشباب الإستفادة من خلال حصولهم على منح سفر للتنقل في أي البلدان العربية لعمل تغطيات وتحقيقات صحفية أو لتصوير مشاريع يعملون عليها لخدمة المجتمع، كما يوفر فرصة للفنانين والتشكيليين والأدباء للتنقل والتعرف على مبادرات وأنشطة فنية وثقافية وتراثية، ويوفر فرصة للناشطين في مجال حقوق الإنسان للتعرف على المبادرات والمؤسسات والمنظمات الدولية المنتشرة في مختلف دول الوطن العربي.
ثقافة التجاور
أشتق مفهوم التجاور من كلمة "جار" والفكرة في أن يتواصل الشخص مع محيطه بدءأً من جيرانه للتعرف عليهم ومخالطتهم ومعايشتهم عن قرب، وهذا ما يجسده مفهوم التجاور بمعناه الحرفي، إذ يقوم صندوق سفر بتشجيع التجاور ما بين الشباب العربي لتحقيق القائدة ولتشجيع ثقافة التعلم من خلال السفر ومن خلال مجاورة ومعايشة أشخاص ملهمين وذوي تجربةعميقة في الحياة والاستفادة من خبرتهم أو من خلال مساعدتهم والعمل معهم على مشروع مشترك. وأفادت سعاد نوفل منسقة التواصل في سفر أن التجاور عادةً ما يكون لفترة طويلة إذ لا تقل عن شهر في بعض الأحيان، ليتعمق الشاب /بة من خلالها في التجربة إذ أن أسبوعاً واحداً أو عشرة أيام غير كافية لإختمار التجربة، وأشارت نوفل إلى العديد من المجاورات والمعايشات التي جرى تنظيمها بالتعاون مع صندوق سفر شارك بها فنانون ومفكرون مثل محيي الدين اللباد من مصر وخبراء في العمل الشبابي مثل كامل النابلسي من الأردن، كما جرى تنظيم معايشة/ مجاورة في الأردن مع د. منير فاشه وهو أكاديمي تربوي من فلسطين شارك بها 8 من الشباب والشابات من العديد من الدول العربية وكانت بعنوان "استعادة عافيتنا" من خلال انتزاع أنفسنا من استهلاك الكلمات والمعاني، كما قام فريق من مؤسسة دلال للثقافة والفنون بالتجاور مؤخراً مع فرقة الحنونة للرقص الشعبي للإستفادة من خبرات في مجال الرقص الشعبي وفنون الدبكة وكان ثمرة هذا التجاور تنظيم فعاليات سيتم عرضها بعيد عيد الفطر السعيد في عمان.


اللقاءات الإقليمية
كما يقوم صندوق سفر بعقد لقاءات اقليمية في مختلف أقاليم الوطن العربي حيث عقد عدة لقاءات في مصر والبحرين والأردن وتونس، لإتاحة المجال أمام الشباب للحوار حول مفهوم المبادرات الشبابية. بالإضافة إلى إصدار "مورد" حول تأملات الشباب في تجاربهم في المبادرات الشبابية والعمل المجتمعي و توثيق تأملاتهم بعنوان "دعوة للتأمل حول المبادرات الشبابية بالوطن العربي"، شارك في إعداده 23 شابة وشابة خلال لقاء المورد الذي عقد في الأردن في العام 2007.
تجارب لشباب مغاربة استفادوا من منح السفر
في إطار الحراك الشبابي الذي يعرفه المغرب , يصل برنامج سفر إلى المغرب من خلال العديد من مكوناته , و استفد العديد من الشباب المغاربة لتعرف على تجارب مختلفة و حضور فعاليات في العالم العربي و مشاركة في اللقاءات التي ينضمها سفر , كما تعتبر المغرب من الدول المحبذة للعديد من شباب العربي الدين زروها ويزورها من خلال منح سفر , و يعتبر نوفل الحمومي أحد الأعضاء المؤسسين لسفر من المغرب ,
هده بعض نماذج الشباب المغربي لي استفد من منح سفر
 محمد زيد الغيثي من مراكش في المغرب إلى تونس لحضور الدورة الخامسة عشرة لجمعية معرض صفاقس لكتاب الطفل.
 حفيظ الهاشمي من فاس في المغرب إلى مصر للمشاركة في الورشة الختامية لبرنامج "شباب من أجل حقوق الإنسان".
 آمال العلا و محمد المهداوي من مراكش في المغرب بحضور فعالية ورشة شطنا للفنانين العالمية لعام 2008 في الأردن.
 سفيان كنوس من الدار البيضاء في المغرب إلى مصر للتزاور مع أتيليه الاسكندارية.
 عبد العزيز الراشدي من زاكورة في المغرب للتجاور مع الكاتبة منى مرعي من لبنان. و حضور تزور في الأردن
 ابتسام بلقاضي من سلا في المغرب لحضور المعرض العالمي لصور انتهاكات حقوق الإنسان وزيارة عدد من المؤسسات الشبابية في موريتانيا.
 فيصل محجوبي من تيفلت المغرب لحضور الجامعة المفتوحة في تونس , حصل على منحة مشاركة في لقاء المورد الشبابي في الأردن
 أنور الكحل من فاس في المغرب , حضر اللقاء الإقليمي في تونس , و حصل على منحة تزاور إلى ملتقى الإبداع الشبابي في الأردن
 حسناء غيشات من الدار البيضاء في المغرب حصلت على منحة للمشاركة في اللقاء الإقليمي للمبادرات الشبابية في تونس
 يوسف الجملي حصل على منحة لحضور منتدى الشباب العربي للإصلاح في الإسكندرية في جمهورية مصر العربية,
 محمد الهرا من تيفلت في المغرب , حصل على منحة لتزاور مع الجمعية المصرية للمأثورات الشعبية و التجاور مع محمد حسن عبد الحافظ
 يونس نعومي من الدار البيضاء في المغرب حصل على منحة لتزاور مع مؤسسات في بورسعيد و القاهرة في جمهورية مصر
 منى وفيق و محمد سراج من المغرب , حصلوا على منحة لحضور اللقاء الاقليمي للمبادرات الشبابية في العالم العربي في مصر ,
 محمد سراج من تاونات في المغرب حصل على منحة من اجل حضور تدريب مع معهد العربي لتدريب المسرحي ,
 زهير حفصاوي من تيفلت في المغرب , حصل على منحة مجاورة مع كامل النابلسي في الأردن
 اسراء محمد من الدار البيضاء من المغرب حصل على منحة مجاورة مع كامل النابلسي
 حصل الرحالان المغربيان يوسف عبدالنعيم, وعبدالكريم راشق من الجديدة في المغرب في إطار مبادرة رحلة ماشي على الأقدام لمتابعة خطى ابن بطوطة
 يوسف الريحاني وإدريس إكلا. من تطوان في المغرب لحضور فاعلية مهرجان شبرا الخيمية للمسرح في جمهورية مصر العربية
كما استفد العديد من شباب المغربي من منح سفر المختلفة , وكما زار العشرات من الشباب العربي المبادر المغرب من طنجة إلى الكويرة في العديد من الأنشطة , في إطار الحراك الشبابي في مختلف أنحاء المغرب
لتعرف أكثر على تأملات الشباب في تجاربهم عبر الرابط التالي
كما عرفت مدينة الجديدة في المغرب , تنظيم الاجتماع التأسيسي لسفر المغرب بمشاركة مختلف المؤسسات الشبابية , لمشاهدة الصور عبر الربط التالي :
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58009&id=520412110&l=20682a3b17
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=57536&id=520412110&l=4329f0b02c

http://www.safarfund.org/Reflections.aspx
ومن الجدير بالذكر أن صندوق سفر هو احد مشاريع الملتقى التربوي العربي www.almoultaqa.com وهو مبادرة عربية مقرها الإقليمي في الأردن تعمل على تكوين فسح للعمل المجتمعي والبناء الفكري نحو إعادة الاعتبار للتعلم المبني على الخبرات المحلية.
ويمكن التعرف علي كيفية الحصول علي منح للسفر من أجل التعلم من خلال موقع صندوق "سفر" لتجوال الشباب علي الإنترنت وعنوانه : http://www.safarfund.org/index_ar.aspx

Harir Omar Yusuf, about to finish high school, should be choosing a degree course and deciding on a career direction; instead, he spends most of his time planning a perilous escape from his hometown of Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland in the northwest of Somalia, to Europe.

“As soon as I finish high school I will go there, because I have nothing to stay for in Somaliland,” he said, adding that his parents could not afford university fees and he was not assured of a place even if they could.

Yusuf has many friends who have made the journey - first through Ethiopia, then Sudan and Libya and finally to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea - and are now living as illegal immigrants in Italy and other European nations. He also has many friends languishing in Sudanese or Libyan jails, arrested for entering the country illegally, and knows of many who died making the trip, but he remains determined.

Tens of thousands of Somalis also try to cross the Gulf of Aden into Yemen every year aboard small vessels run by people-traffickers operating from Somali ports; according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), one out of every 20 people attempting the journey in 2007 died.

Yusuf says he would rather risk death than live a life of certain poverty in Somaliland.

Unemployment

“The issue of young people running away is very problematic in Somaliland,” said Omer Ali Abdi, the director of the youth department in the Ministry of Youth and Sports. “Year after year, graduates from secondary schools are increasing and our universities just don’t have the capacity to take in all of them - and even when they graduate from university, there is no guarantee they will get a job.”

According to Ahmed Hashi Abdi, vice-minister in the Ministry of Planning and Coordination, only 10-20 percent of people under 35 are employed.

“Because it is unrecognised internationally, Somaliland has no access to bi-lateral funding, which has caused our economy to suffer, especially after the livestock ban of 1999, which destroyed the main source of income of most of our people,” Abdi said. “For the same reason, international scholarships and higher education exchange programmes are not open to our students.”

An outbreak of Rift Valley Fever in Saudi Arabia in 1999 resulted in a regional ban on imported livestock from Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, and Djibouti; the ban on Somalia remains in place and now includes several other Middle Eastern nations.

After the ban, remittances became the main foreign exchange earner; thousands fled the country during an outbreak of war in 1988, and regularly send money to their families. The Ministry of Planning estimates remittances account for US$500 million - or about 80 percent of Somaliland’s economy.

“When people leave the country legally, we are happy that they are able to send back money, but as much as possible we try to discourage young people from leaving illegally - then it becomes a matter of life and death and we cannot encourage that,” Abdi said.

Despite the risks, many families scrimp and save to send their children on these journeys. Over the past year, Amina Rooble (not her real name) has spent more than $6,500 on transport, communication, paying traffickers and bribing prison officers, all in an effort to get her son Hashim to Italy.

Although his boat sank, Hashim survived and is now seeking asylum in Italy. “Even though my son was rescued, two other members of my family died on that boat,” Rooble said.

Incentive to stay

The government and local NGOs have run campaigns to discourage young people from leaving, but according to Yahye Mohamoud Ahmed, head of the Somaliland National Youth Organisation NGO, unless the government can provide some motivation, young people will continue to escape in droves.

“They have no incentive to stay - no jobs and no businesses, so it is fairly futile to tell them to stay,” he said. “They need to be given the capacity to feed themselves here.”

Ahmed added that many young men were now taking swimming lessons and using hi-tech communication equipment - such as satellite telephones to make SOS calls - to make their trips safer.

“When they hear about their friends and relatives in London or Italy, they get encouraged to go; even when their relatives have no jobs there, they still think they have a better life than here,” he added.

According to Ahmed Abdi, the national development plan includes the creation of two vocational training institutes in every region of Somaliland to boost the number of tertiary institutions and the variety of courses available.

“We also intend to set up micro-finance schemes to enable them to be self-supporting,” he added.

He noted that despite the continued livestock ban, a few countries in the Arab world were starting to buy Somaliland’s meat, and the government hoped the Saudi ban would be lifted, restoring the industry.

Youth policy

The Ministry of Youth and Sports, in partnership with the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), is drafting a national youth policy - due to be passed by parliament in 2011 - that hopes to address issues of youth emigration, unemployment, education and political participation.

“What we need more than anything is resources from our international partners focused on development rather than strictly emergencies - resources focusing on education and building the economy would encourage young people to stay and build their own nation,” the Ministry of Youth’s Abdi said.

HARGEISA, 24 March 2009 (PlusNews) - Despite rampant poverty, high levels of illiteracy and limited international support, the self-declared republic of Somaliland in the northwest of Somalia has become an unlikely TB success story.

"We adopted the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Short Course) system for treating TB in 1995, so someone is always present to ensure patients take their medication," said Dr Ismail Adam Abdillahi, coordinator of the national TB programme. "As a result, adherence is very high and treatment success is over 90 percent."

The World Health Organization (WHO) has set a global target of 85 percent treatment success by 2015; Somalia, part of WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region, ranks second in the region's 22 countries in terms of treatment success.

"The majority of the population has access to a health facility with TB services that have at least one doctor able to treat TB," Ismail said. "There is no shortage of drugs, which we get from the Global Fund [to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria] through World Vision International."

Education has ensured that almost all patients have a basic knowledge of TB, while the establishment of a wide network of TB centres implementing close supervision and monitoring means TB treatment continues to make progress. The global target for TB case detection is 70 percent by 2015, but Somaliland has already achieved a case detection rate of 68 percent.

"In 2008 we diagnosed 4,153 cases; we believe these were most of the people who contracted the disease," Ismail said. Although the country does not have the technology to detect multidrug-resistant TB, he noted that there were very few cases of "chronic" or recurring TB.

This progress has been made despite the fact that Somaliland, which has not achieved international recognition as a sovereign state, is extremely poor - a decade-old livestock ban by Saudi Arabia and several other meat-importing countries in the Middle East has devastated its main source of income.

Although the country has been relatively peaceful since its formation in 1991, it continues to experience some insecurity, which hampers access and limits staff movement to certain areas.

Sustaining the response in a difficult environment

"We also have a lot of IDPs [internally displaced persons] and refugees in Somaliland from the south; when people are in such emergency situations, personal health is not a priority and people do not seek treatment," Ismail said.
The war before 1991 also destroyed our health infrastructure, and we still need many more health facilities and staff trained to handle TB." The largest urban centre, Hargeisa city, with a population of more than 500,000, still has only one health centre equipped to treat TB.

"Our regulations are not as strong as they could be, and we do get unlicensed practitioners treating patients and private pharmacies selling TB drugs over the counter, which risks patients getting incorrect information and taking drugs the wrong way," said Dr Abdirashid Hashi Abdi, the Global Fund HIV/AIDS coordinator for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Hargeisa. "There is also no known data for the level of multi- and extensively drug-resistant TB."

Ismail noted that one of the groups still causing his department some concern were the nomads, who roamed the countryside, never settling anywhere long enough for TB education to reach them, and often grazing their herds far from health facilities with TB services.

"Men who chew khat [a mild stimulant widely used in the Horn of Africa] in small, poorly ventilated rooms for hours are also particularly at risk," Ismail said. "This explains the fact that the ratio of men to women infected with TB in Somaliland is two to one."

Somaliland and Somalia combined have an annual TB incidence of about 324 cases per 100,000 people, with more than half aged between 15 and 34. The disease is strongly associated with poverty, and many TB patients also suffer from malnutrition, making treatment more difficult.

HARGEISA, 27 March 2009 (PlusNews) - When three attempts to cure Abdulhakim*, 42, of tuberculosis failed, the father of nine living in Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared republic of Somaliland in northwestern Somalia, took his doctor's advice and tested for HIV - the result came back positive.

His family's reaction was predictable: his brothers stopped grazing their goats and sheep alongside his, and many of his relatives wouldn't touch him. "My wife and children are the only ones who have stood by my side," he told IRIN/PlusNews.

Abdulhakim finds it hard to blame his relatives – after all, until he was diagnosed he held similar misconceptions. "I thought AIDS was a disease for fornicators and immoral people, but I later got more educated."

HIV-positive people in Somalia live with constant stigma, are ostracised and often even thrown out of their homes for fear that they might infect their neighbours.

Islamic religious leaders in Somaliland, some of whom have become involved in HIV prevention efforts, are now stepping in to persuade communities to treat people with HIV more humanely. Islam has an enormous influence on everyday life in Somalia, and religious leaders have the power to sway the population's views on HIV/AIDS.

"As religious leaders we feel it is one of our main duties to be kind and helpful to the less fortunate members of society," said Sheikh Mohamed Haji Mahamoud Hersi, who is part of an organisation of Muslim leaders that travels the country preaching. "Islam is about compassion, and people living with HIV deserve to be treated with kindness. The disease can happen to anyone."
Hersi was one of the first religious leaders to counsel people living with HIV. "I tell them that they have to keep contact with God and to live a normal life," he said. "It really keeps their spirits up; the day religious leaders visit is a very special day for them."

Abdulhakim agreed. "A person needs different types of support - physical, economic, medical and also spiritual; when the Imams talk to us we feel more stable, like things will be okay," he said.

The religious leaders hope to influence communities to become more tolerant of people living with HIV. "They really listen to us, so if the people see that we find no problem talking with their HIV-positive neighbours, then they may also accept them," Hersi said.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UNAIDS have been training religious leaders to teach local communities about behaviour change.

"Religious leaders need training so that they can say the right words, and avoid words that can cause additional problems to people living with HIV," said Gulleid Osman, executive director of Talowadag, a coalition of NGOs that cares for people living with HIV.
Osman said most religious leaders were coming round to the view that they should stand up for the rights of HIV-infected people. "We recently held a meeting with 24 religious leaders, and only one refused to be involved in counselling people living with HIV - he said it [HIV] was something for non-Muslims ... but most of them no longer feel that way."

UNDP is working with the Somaliland AIDS Commission, local NGOs and Muslim scholars to develop a strategy that formally establishes the role of religious leaders in the fight against AIDS, and to harmonise the messages they deliver.

I recently found myself in a room with a group of complete strangers. As each one spoke, I noticed I was making a snap judgement about that person. Sometimes the judgement was warm and appreciative. But more often, it was of the "Geez, what a vacuum tube this guy is" variety. At first I was troubled by this ugly mental reflex. But then I was hit with a flash of insight. As I gazed around the room I realized that if each person was animated by the same energy -- call it God, call it carbon-based, chemical doowhackies -- then each person was essentially life doing the best that it can. Suddenly my judgements were replaced by a pervasive feeling of love. Emboldened by my epiphany, I meditated upon a dealer with whom I'd recently had difficult relations. I visualized this person not as an arrogant prig, but as "life doing the best that it can." Which is when my insight grew deeper. I now believe that the ability to suspend judgement and flow love works really well with complete strangers. Is this the same as od and us human beings?

It also made me think of a prayer. Why do we pray?

The concept of prayer, as I've always understood it, was that one beseeched God for what one wanted. Make me rich, famous, sexy, happy, married, single, whatever -- just improve upon the status quo. In my humble opinion, this is a waste of time. That's not to say that I think prayer is a waste of time. In fact, I now believe that prayer is essential to a happy life -- just not the kind of prayer that asks for stuff. What I now believe is that the true purpose of prayer is for us to get our actions and thoughts into alignment with the universe as it really is, as opposed to how we wish it to be. If we assume an omnipotent God, then God is everything. In other words, God is the universe as it really is. With that in mind, I've been praying a lot lately so that I might properly align myself. The two messages I've received thus far are: "be kind and loving" and "have fun while it lasts". While I find that comforting, it troubles me that the two ideas seem incompatible.

Avec :
Ligue Internationale des Jeunes Journalistes: La LIJJ participera à une table ronde sur les préoccupations de la jeunesse du bassin euro-méditerranéen


C'est dans le cadre du projet italien Open Med, qui s'inscrit dans celui du dialogue euro-méditerranéen, que la Ligue Internationale des Jeunes Journalistes (LIJJ) participera aujourd'hui à une table ronde consacrée pendant deux jours aux préoccupations de la jeunesse du bassin euro-méditerranéen, à l'Université Internationale HECI de Casablanca.

La LIJJ, représentante de la jeunesse active

La LIJJ, créée il y a à peine plus d'un an, en décembre 2007, a d'ores et déjà réussi à faire parler d'elle et a des collaborateurs dans plusieurs pays.

Elle organise des programmes d'échanges culturels, des ateliers de formations et élabore des rapports notamment sur les causes environnementales, sociales, culturelles et politiques.

Forte de son implication pour la jeunesse euro-méditerranéenne, la LIJJ a séduit Open Med.

Aider à la coopération euro-méditerranéenne

Open Med est une initiative italienne qui vise à fournir une assistance financière et technique des projets de coopération entre les deux rives du bassin méditerranéen.

Et l'instance, sensible à la détermination de la LIJJ à devenir la voix de la jeunesse active, a invité la LIJJ.

En ce sens, Naoufal El Hammoumi (secrétaire général de la ligue) et ambassadeur des nouveaux médias au Maroc (Podcasts, Blogs, sites communautaires...), viendra représenter la LIJJ.

Il participe également souvent à des programmes d'échanges culturels (en Jordanie, Liban, Egypte, etc) qui s'intéressent aux nouveaux médias.

La LIJJ est composée d'une vingtaine de membres, et a notamment des collaborateurs en Tunisie, en Egypte, en Italie, en France. Elle bénéficie de partenariats de poids, comme la fondation Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation et l'IFEX (réseau international pour la liberté d'expression).

http://www.lijj.org


MURIEL TANCREZ

source MSN maghreb
http://maghreb.msn.com/Actualites/ViewArticle.aspx?Cat=MediasEtTelecommunication&Id=2009-February-12_10_44_00