World Alliance for Citizen Participation

A Free Weekly Newsletter Promoting Civic Existence, Expression & Engagement Please send contributions, comments and questions to editor@civicus.org

17 July 2009 ISSUE No. 447 PUBLISHER CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Devendra Tak Ingrid Srinath EDITORS Jessica Hume Daniel Gray OCCASIONAL CONTRIBUTORS Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane Carol Baloyi Ciara O'Sullivan Judith Seda Henri Valot Mandeep S. Tiwana Tania Gobena Vicente García-Delgado ABOUT e-CIVICUS  The CIVICUS weekly electronic publication is keeping tens of thousands of people informed of the developments taking place in civil society, the factors that are affecting them and the impact they are having on creating an informed and knowledgeable civil society.  e-CIVICUS WELCOMES CONTRIBUTIONS  e-CIVICUS offers a useful channel through which you and your organisation can share your news, publicise your events and articulate the issues you face. Please send us your contributions by Monday for publication in the coming week to editor@civicus.org. All contributions must focus on civil society issues or have a civil society angle. To read the contribution guidelines, click here.  REPRODUCTION OF e-CIVICUS The content of this newsletter can be translated into another language and reproduced in other publications, as long as due acknowledgment is made to CIVICUS.  e-CIVICUS DISCLAIMER Although CIVICUS makes all reasonable efforts to obtain prima-facie reliable content for  e-CIVICUS, CIVICUS cannot guarantee the accuracy of the reports, views or opinions of third-party content providers, nor does CIVICUS necessarily endorse the views reflected therein.  CONTACT US P.O. Box 933 Southdale, 2135  South Africa  Tel: +27 11 833 5959 Fax:+27 11 833 7997 1112 16th Street NW, Suite 540  Washington D.C.  20036 USA Tel: +202 331-8518 Fax: +202 331-8774 Websites: www.civicus.org www.civicusassembly.org To watch videos and CIVICUS initiatives on Zimbabwe, click here.  To subscribe or unsubscribe: email subscriptions@civicus.org TELL A FRIEND Would you like to share this newsletter with a friend? Please forward their e-mail address to subscriptions@civicus.org Support CIVICUS To make an on-line donation click here. Join CIVICUS Join or renew your CIVICUS Membership on-line now click here.  Civil Society Watch Monthly Bulletin The CIVICUS e-newsletter Civil Society Watch Monthly Bulletin  is an action-oriented newsletter distributed to over 7,400 people, featuring insightful interviews, updates on threats to civil society, and analyses of current situations. Read more at http://www.civicus.org/csw. CIVICUS channel on YouTube: ‘Time 2 Act’ Go to YouTube, click here. CIVICUS' 1 for 1 membership campaign Are you one of the missing 86? One CIVICUS member for every UN member state, that’s the goal of CIVICUS’ 1 for 1 Membership campaign, click here.

FROM THE DESK OF CIVICUS' SECRETARY GENERAL Dear friends and colleagues, Human Rights: Can we still afford them? On 26 May, a civil liberties activist was finally released on bail after 2 years and 12 days in prison without trial. The activist, a doctor serving poor, forest-dwelling communities forgotten by their country, had been accused of aiding and abetting armed insurgent groups that are active in 20% of his country’s districts. His release took 2 years and intervention from the nation’s Supreme Court despite numerous campaigns and appeals by prominent individuals and organisations, both domestic and international. His country is not on any list of fragile states or repressive regimes. It is the world’s most populous democracy, home to a relatively strong and vibrant civil society, an emerging star of the G-20 and an aspirant to a seat on the UN Security Council. It’s also my country - India. To read more, click here. With gratitude, faith and solidarity, Ingrid Srinath New CIVICUS World Assembly website launched CIVICUS’ World Assembly has a new website! The site features information on the next World Assembly that will take place from the 20-23 August 2010 in Montréal, Canada, including information on the programme and how you can get involved. As well, you can access session reports, video footage and more from the 2008 World Assembly in Glasgow. Check it out at www.civicusassembly.org. CIVICUS Poll Question This week’s question: What do you think of the new CIVICUS World Assembly website? (www.civicusassembly.org) a. It looks great – I can’t wait for Montreal! b. It looks good but I want more details. c. It needs improvement – I can’t find what I am looking for! d. I have a long list of suggestions which I will email to info@civicus.org To answer the question, click here. Previous question: What level of impact do you think social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter, are having on social activism and civil society? a. A huge impact – it’s revolutionizing the way we work and our ability to be heard. b. Some impact – It increases our options but doesn’t replace old ways of doing things. c. Minimal impact – It’s all hype, it is still just as hard to get the voices of the disadvantaged heard. Results: a. - 38.1%, b. - 45.2%, c. - 16.7% Become a CIVICUS Facebook fan and get updates on our activities right in your news feed! Join the CIVICUS Facebook group and engage with other CIVICUS supporters! Watch our videos on http://www.youtube.com/user/civicusworldalliance JOIN e-CIVICUS - BECOME A CONTRIBUTOR e-CIVICUS keeps tens of thousands of people and organisations informed of the many developments taking place in civil society around the world. This e-publication seeks to encourage and amplify the voices of those struggling for a more just world. Why don’t you suggest that your friends register for a free subscription? They can send an email to subscriptions@civicus.org or fill out the subscription form here. Alternatively, please forward their email addresses to us and we’ll contact them on your behalf. Please send your contributions by Monday every week to editor@civicus.org. All contributions must be focused on civil society issues or have a civil society angle. CIVIL SOCIETY NEWS Crises of Leadership: G8 must prove its relevance to the world Source: Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) The 2009 G8 risks putting another nail in the coffin of G8 summitry. The lack of energy and momentum by G8 leaders seriously undermine commitments to the millions of people desperately hoping for true leadership to help them in this time of global crisis. The communiqué released yesterday was a collection of repeated assurances that the G8 would meet its promises but without any plan of action or semblance to reality. The G8 urgently needs to show leadership over the next 24 hours to turn this around. For details, click here. G8 Summit reveals rocky road to copenhagen Source: Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) G8 leaders today announced an ‘historic achievement’ in agreeing to keep global temperature rises below 2 degrees, and reduce emissions 80% by 2050 in developed countries. However the Global Call to Action Against Poverty warns G8 leaders history will judge them harshly if they do not set a clear path to achieving these goals with ambitious short-term targets. For details, click here. ECOSOC to discuss an FfD follow-up mechanism in Geneva Source: Google News As you may know, the annual ECOSOC substantive session currently taking place in Geneva (6-31 July, 2009) has as one of its agenda items, the establishment of a follow-up intergovernmental mechanism on financing for development. The mandate for setting up this mechanism comes from paragraph 89 of the 2008 Doha Declaration which had "acknowledged the need for a strengthened and more effective intergovernmental inclusive process to carry out the financing for development follow-up, which would review progress in the implementation of commitments, identify obstacles, challenges and emerging issues and propose concrete recommendations and actions, taking into account various proposals that have been put forward." Member states further requested "the Economic and Social Council to consider this matter during its spring meeting and at its substantive session of 2009, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, with a view to making appropriate and timely recommendations for final action by the General Assembly as early as possible in its sixty-fourth session." For details, click here. The African grantmakers network is launched Source: Trust Africa The African Grantmakers Network will change the face of global philanthropy. And it will happen right here in Africa”, said Sarah Mukasa, Director of Programmes at the African Women’s Development Fund, at a meeting organized to establish a network of African grantmakers. After years of careful planning, preparations, consultations and meetings, the AGN was launched in Accra at a meeting convened by the African Women’s Development Fund, TrustAfrica and the Kenya Community Development Foundation - and attended by key African grantmakers. “The establishment of an African Grantmakers Network is well overdue”, was the opening line of a discussion document circulated at the meeting. For details, click here. Accountability to women could upset business-as-usual Source: Thruthout A public presentation of the "Progress of the World's Women" report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) in Pretoria, South Africa, this week suggests that one of the most powerful constraints on realising women's rights and achieving the Millennium Development Goals is a lack of accountability to women's needs. The report sets out a gender-responsive definition for accountability: the capacity of women to get information and explanations of government actions, initiate investigations or be compensated where necessary, and to see officials sanctioned where women's needs are ignored or women's rights not protected. For details, click here. Bosnia: Not at peace with itself Source: Inter Press Service (IPS) Apart from sporadic civil society initiatives, Bosnia has attempted little by way of inter-ethnic reconciliation. Bosnia is today a federation divided into an overwhelmingly Serbian Republika Srpska (RS) and a Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose ten cantons are mostly divided along ethnic lines between Croats and Bosniaks. The institutional set-up is the result of a civil war from 1992 to 1995, which involved Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, and claimed over 100,000 lives. For decades living in harmony, politicians have now discovered the usefulness of ethnic difference as a way of attracting votes. Ethnic imperatives have dominated state activity since the end of the war. For details, click here. Aid Organisations struggle to operate in post-war Sri Lanka Source: Inter Press Service (IPS) The Sri Lankan government wants the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to scale down its operations in the country, but is sparing other international nongovernmental organisations amid questions over the post-war role for humanitarian workers. Sarasi Wijeratne, ICRC spokesperson in Colombo, this week confirmed that they were shutting down four offices in the eastern region. These offices had 148 local staff and up to 10 expatriates, out of its total strength of 649. "The ICRC is in the process of reviewing its setup and operational priorities in Sri Lanka," said Jacques de Maio, the organization's the head of operations for South Asia, said in a statement last week. For details, click here. Protection of civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Source: Examiner.com The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People will convene a United Nations International Meeting on the Question of Palestine on July 22 and 23, 2009 at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The theme of the meeting is “Responsibility of the international community to uphold international humanitarian law to ensure the protection of civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in the wake of the war in Gaza.” For details, click here. Chorus of blame follows rights worker’s death Source: The New York Times A white minivan carrying Natalya Estemirova’s body rolled slowly down the street on Thursday, followed by mourners. Most were women, shrouded in black head scarves, some with tears running down their faces. One of them carried a sign, hand-lettered in black ink: “Who is next?” They did not get far. After about 200 yards, they were surrounded by a ring of police officers dressed in camouflage, who told them that they needed a permit to march. This is a funeral procession, argued one mourner, but the officer in charge had an answer. Funeral processions, he said, can turn into protests. For details, click here. Church fined for activity "not according to its statute" Source: Forum 18 A registered Protestant congregation in western Belarus has been fined for activity which officials claim was "not according to its statute," local Protestants told Forum 18 News Service. The church held a special prayer service in its registered building, which church members insist was within its statute. Trouble for the New Generation Church began when Baranovichi local Ideology Department officials saw posters in the town advertising the service. One official and two "witnesses" arrived at the church 30 minutes before the service, but left 10 minutes before it began without witnessing it. The official, Sergei Puzikov of the Ideology Department, refused to explain to Forum 18 what activity was outside the church's statute, as did the Department's head. In defiance of international human rights standards, Belarus bans all unregistered religious activity – including both unregistered communities and unregistered activity by registered communities. Religious activity is kept under close surveillance by the KGB secret police, and officials often issue warnings for activity they claim is illegal. Two such warnings can lead to a religious organisation being closed down. For details, click here. GLOBAL INSTITUTIONS UPDATE Killing of UN staffer in Pakistan sparks outcry from top officials Source: UN News Centre Secretary-General General Ban Ki-moon has led a chorus of condemnation over the shooting death of a staff member of the United Nations refugee agency at a camp outside the north-west Pakistani town of Peshawar today. The murder of Zill-e Usman, a 59-year-old Pakistani national who had served with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) since 1984, is the third killing of the agency’s staff in the country in the past six months. For details, click here. High-level segment of ECOSOC opens in Geneva Source: UN Non-Governmental Liaison Service (NGLS) The High-level Segment of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is being held in Geneva from 6-9 July. The 2009 Annual Ministerial Review (AMR), held during the High-level Segment, focuses this year on “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to global public health.” For details, click here. Ghana gets $602 million IMF loan, readies oil production Source: Intrnational Monetary Fund (IMF) The IMF approved a $602.6 million loan to Ghana July 15 to help the West African nation tackle budget imbalances while preparing for the start of oil production. The loan is the largest IMF financing package to date for an African country during the current global financial crisis. For details, click here. BOOKS, REPORTS & RESOURCES Corporate social entrepreneuership Source: Eldis This paper argues that Corporate Social Entrepreneurship (CSE) is a process aimed at enabling business to develop more advanced and powerful forms of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). CSE aims to produce a significant and comprehensive transformation of the way a company For details, click here. Spotlight interview with Khulile Nkushubana (CONSAWU – South Africa) Source: International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) South Africa, as a member of the G20 group, is playing an increasingly important role in world affairs, but the xenophobic riots of May 2008 offered a reminder of how explosive the social situation can be. Khulile Nkushubana, general secretary of CONSAWU, examines the recent developments in the fight against racism and outlines the strategies for a more harmonious future. Seventeen years after the abolition of apartheid, is racism still very present in South Africa? To read more, click here. Millennium Development Goals Report 2009 Source: End Poverty 2015 Nine years ago, world leaders set far-sighted goals to free a major portion of humanity from the shackles of extreme poverty, hunger, illiteracy and disease. They established targets for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women, environmental sustainability and a global partnership for development. In short, they adopted a blueprint for a better world – and pledged to spare no effort in fulfilling that vision. To download the report, click here.  New handbook guides journalists through ethical dilemmas Source: Thomas Reuters Foundation - Reuters Link Thomson Reuters Foundation has produced the “Ethics Handbook for Journalists” in English and Arabic versions, using a legacy from journalist Mona Megalli who died from cancer in February 2007. Born and raised in Egypt, Mona moved to the United States in her mid-teens and later became a reporter covering events around the world for more than 20 years. She was committed to the principles of free and fair journalism and, when she learned that illness would cut her life short, she made provision for a fund to promote journalism ethics, focused on the region of her birth. For details, click here.  CONFERENCES, COURSES & EVENTS Applicants sought for health journalism fellowship in Mozambique Source: International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) The International Center for Journalists is seeking outstanding applicants for its Knight Health Journalism Fellowship in Mozambique. The Fellow will lead projects in partnership with influential local media organizations aimed at improving the coverage of health issues and health policies. Applicants should be senior journalists fluent in Portuguese. The ideal candidate would also have experience as a trainer or manager. For details, click here.  Sub-Regional Methodological Workshops for Social Research in Africa: 2009 Special Session for Nigeria 24 - 28 August, 2009, University of Ibadan, Nigeria One of the major weaknesses of contemporary social research in and about Africa is its lack of careful attention to epistemological and methodological issues. This weakness has made itself manifest at a time when the increasing complexities of the social dynamics that shape livelihood on the continent and the wider global context call for a greater investment of effort in the refinement of the procedures and instruments of investigation and analyses with a view to achieving a more accurate and holistic assessment of rapidly changing realities. But instead of such an investment of effort, we are increasingly witnessing an astonishing neglect or misapplication of theory and method on a scale and with a frequency that calls for intervention. At one level, the neglect that has taken place has comprised a serious trivialisation of basic research protocols and their reduction to a fetishistic evocation of superficial recommendations thinly disguised with ritualistic appeals to rigour that are not reflected in the analyses undertaken. At another level, methodological issues have simply been instrumentalised in ways that ensure that narrow ideological considerations and pre-determined outcomes take precedence over science. For details, click here.  62nd Annual DPI/NGO Conference “For Peace and Development: Disarm Now!” 5 - 9 September 2009, Mexico City Participants from around the world will gather from 9 to 11 September, 2009, to discuss how they can contribute to reducing arms while advancing peace. The current global economic and food crises have necessitated a realignment of the world’s financial resources. This can only be enhanced by effect comprehensive disarmament. For details, click here.  CALL FOR PAPERS, SUBMISSIONS, SURVEYS & NOMINATIONS PlusNews Survey Source: Global Forum on Freedom of Expression PlusNews, the HIV/AIDS news service produced by the UN's Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), would like to invite you to participate in a short survey to evaluate and improve the service. The survey should take no more than 5 minutes to complete and all information provided will be treated confidentially. It's important that you respond openly and honestly to the survey for accurate results. To complete the survey online, click here. APPOINTMENTS This week, new civil society job openings have been added to the CIVICUS website. Please click here. Should you wish to publish a New Vacancy, please click on Add job. Please add an expiry date for applications. JOBS OF THE WEEK Civil Society Index (CSI) Research Intern Application Deadline: 24 July 2009 CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation Johannesburg, South Africa For details, click here. Head of policy and advocacy Application Deadline: 20 July 2009 ACORD (Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development) ACORD Headquarters, Nairobi, Kenya For details, click here. Policy adviser, MDGs, social policy and civil society empowerment Application Deadline: 28 July 2009 United Nations Development Programme Location: Regional Centre Cairo (RBAS RCC), Egypt For details, click here. Communications Officer Application Deadline: 10 August 2009 European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) Location: Brussels, Belgium For details, click here. CONTACT e-CIVICUS e-CIVICUS is a free weekly online publication keeping tens of thousands of people, organisations and programmes informed of the many developments and factors that affect civil society and their impact on creating a more just world. We value your comments and suggestions. Please send these to the Editorial Team at editor@civicus.org. Unsubscribe: To unsubscribe from e-CIVICUS, get a password reminder, or change your subscription options by entering your subscription email address: Click here.