World Alliance for Citizen Participation

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

21 November 2007 ISSUE No. 366 PUBLISHER CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kumi Naidoo COPY EDITOR Margaret Fish MANAGING EDITOR Eric Muragana OCCASIONAL CONTRIBUTORS Ama Giddens Associated Press Brenda Vongova Caitlin Blaser Carol Baloyi Julie Middleton Julia Sestier Marianne Buenaventura Mary Shaw Nikisha Smith Roshani Kothari Shulamith Koenig 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 OF CIVIL SOCIETY NEWS 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 no later than Tuesday 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, please visit www.civicus.org/new/media/ e-civicuseditorialguidelines-finalDraft.doc REPRODUCTION OF e-CIVICUS Readers are welcome to reproduce, in part or in full, all sections of this newsletter, however please request permission to do so first. When reproducing or retransmitting content, please credit sources and authors. 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. Similarly, links provided in e-CIVICUS may point to Internet sites that may be of interest to our readers; however CIVICUS does not take responsibility for, nor necessarily endorse their content. Stories are provided for information purposes only, and readers who intend to rely on information provided through such stories are strongly recommended to double-check its accuracy by reference to other sources first. Opinions expressed by contributors to e-CIVICUS are solely those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CIVICUS, its Board of Directors, managers or staff, or any CIVICUS members or partners. Please do send your comments and suggestions to editor@civicus.org.  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.civilsocietywatch.org www.civicusassembly.org To subscribe or unsubscribe: email subscriptions@civicus.org TELL A FRIEND Do you have a friend who works for a more just world? Would you like to share this newsletter with them? Please forward their e-mail address to subscriptions@civicus.org We value your comments, suggestions and contributions. Speak to us at editor@civicus.org Support CIVICUS You can make an on-line donation at www.civicus.org/new/donatev2.html Join CIVICUS Join or renew your CIVICUS Membership on-line now at www.civicus.org/new/joinv2.html 2008 CIVICUS World Assembly  The World Assembly will take place between 18-21 June 2008, Glasgow , Scotland . Building on and continuing the success of past World Assemblies, the overall theme for this event is Acting Together for a Just World. This overall theme will be explored through the focus theme of People, Participation and Power. 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 around the world, featuring insightful interviews, updates on threats to civil society, and analyses of current situations. Read more at www.civilsocietywatch.org CIVICUS blog What do you think? Have your say on the CIVICUS Blog! CIVICUS seeks to amplify the voices and opinions of ordinary people and give expression to the enormous creative energy within civil society. Our recently launched blog gives you the opportunity to use your voice and engage with the rest of civil society. Have your say by visiting http://civicus.civiblog.org

FROM THE DESK OF CIVICUS' SECRETARY-GENERAL Send your comments and contributions to editor@civicus.org. Civil society acting together against gender violence By Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS Secretary-General Dear e-CIVICUS Subscriber, As we move towards the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence from 25 November (the International Day against Violence against Women) to 10 December (International Human Rights Day), I would like to reflect on the past and look towards the future. It was exactly 10 years ago that I was involved with the South African National Men’s March against Violence on Women and Children that sought to raise awareness and build a movement of men against violence. During the march, Nelson Mandela challenged men to look internally to end violence. It saddens me to say that 10 years later violence still remains and in many countries is more prevalent. Now more than ever the 16 Days of Activism are important for taking concrete steps to end violence and I would like to send a personal plea to all male subscribers of e-CIVICUS to recognise that we are either part of the problem or part of the solution. In this week’s column, I have asked my colleague Marianne Buenaventura, CIVICUS’ Membership Manager, to reflect on the importance of linking violence against women and human rights and to emphasise the importance of the forthcoming 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence. In solidarity, Kumi Naidoo. 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence By Marianne Buenaventura, CIVICUS Membership Manager As we approach the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence, it is worth reflecting how the 16 Days came about and how civil society celebrates this important time globally. The Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL), a CIVICUS Member based in the U.S.A., plays the main coordinating role in the delivery of the 16 Days Campaign. CWGL explains that the 16 Days originated from the first Women's Global Leadership Institute sponsored by CWGL in 1991. Participants chose the dates of 25 November (International Day against Violence against Women) and 10 December (International Human Rights Day) in order to symbolically link violence against women and human rights and to emphasise that such violence is a violation of human rights. To read more on this week’s column, click here. The Issues: Violence against women Global Fund for Women perspective Women's struggle for freedom from violence in the home, on the streets and in the workplace has existed throughout history. Violence against women and girls is a measure of women's vulnerability in society and serves to perpetuate inequality. As long as women live in fear, they will never be able to fully engage in the social, political and economic development of their communities. Violence against women is a unique challenge because women cannot seek safety in their homes. Indeed, most violence against women occurs at the hands of an intimate acquaintance or family member. Such violence includes sexual harassment, domestic violence, incest, rape, "honour" killings, dowry murders, acid disfigurement and the mutilation of a woman's genitals. For more information, click here. Gender Affairs to launch crisis centre By Nikisha Smith In commemoration of the 16 Days of Activism campaign against gender-based violence, the Directorate of Gender Affairs will be launching a crisis centre initiative to better mobilise help for women, and men, who have been victimised through rape. The 16 Days is a global initiative, which is recognised as an organising strategy to mobilise support for the elimination of all forms of violence against women. The campaign runs from 25 November, International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women to 10 Decembner, International Human Rights Day. It also includes 1 December, World AIDS Day and 3 December, International Day of Disabled Persons. For more information, click here. CIVICUS Poll Question This week’s question: Are the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence helping to end gender violence in your country? To answer the question, click here. Previous question: Should civil society lobby for a United Nations special session on Pakistan? Results: Yes - 20%, No - 76%, Don’t Know - 3% Build Alliances: Changing the World one Gift at a Time This week we would like to draw your attention to another donation to CIVICUS available on ChangingThePresent.org: “Build Alliances: One year of Membership”. Civil society organisations often require support to establish their goals, act collectively and make their voices heard in public. CIVICUS is a global alliance and our members are able to access solidarity and support from a wide range of organisations based around the world. Every year, we receive requests from both individuals and organisations located in developing countries that could benefit from membership but need a sponsor. Your gift will enable a civil society activist or organisation based in a developing country to become a member of CIVICUS for a year. They will be able to participate in, and benefit from, a global network of civil society organisations. All members support CIVICUS' vision and mission of strengthening civil society around the world and building a community of informed, inspired and committed citizens engaged in confronting the challenges facing humanity. Help to build a strong global alliance and show support for civil society workers around the world by sponsoring a membership. To Build Alliances, click here. Commonwealth must no longer condone human rights abuse CIVICUS at the Commonwealth People’s Space, Kampala, Uganda (19-23 November) Kumi Naidoo , CIVICUS’ Secretary-General, highlighted the need for the Commonwealth to take action regarding attacks on civil society. “The Commonwealth must adhere to its human rights commitment by sufficiently addressing the current crisis in Pakistan , where human rights defenders, lawyers and opposition activists are detained. Likewise, we would like to draw attention to the damage done by Western countries claiming to “promote” democracy by fighting the “war on terror”; it needs to be acknowledged that their actions are used by less democratic nations to justify their crackdown on civil society,” said Naidoo. e-CIVICUS will publish a reflection article in the next edition of e-CIVICUS 367. For more information, click here. Verdict to be passed on Ethiopian activists on treason charges CIVICUS Civil Society Watch programme Anti-poverty activists Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie are due to hear their verdict on treason related charges on Thursday 22 November, after numerous judicial delays. If found guilty, they could face life imprisonment or death sentences. Daniel and Netsanet, coordinators of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) in Ethiopia, are the last two accused in the high profile Ethiopian treason trial that originally charged 131 politicians, journalists, organisations and civil society leaders. Daniel and Netsanet assisted in monitoring the May 2005 election - peaceful and legitimate civil society work for which they have been detained since November 2005 on allegations of conspiracy to overthrow the government. For more information, click here. TELL A FRIEND ABOUT e-CIVICUS The e-CIVICUS newsletter keeps tens of thousands of people and organisations informed of the many developments taking place in civil society around the world. As a subscriber you know the value e-CIVICUS can bring to your work. So why keep it to yourself? Do you have a friend who works for a more just world? Would you like to share this newsletter with them? Why don’t you tell them to register for a free subscription? They can send us an e-mail to subscriptions@civicus.org or fill out the subscription form at www.civicus.org/new/content/ecivicussubscription.htm. Alternatively, you can forward their e-mail address to KumiNaidoo.e-civicus@civicus.org and we’ll contact them on your behalf. e-CIVICUS DIALOGUES The U.S.  vs. the World in the Death Penalty Debate By Mary Shaw On November 15, a human rights committee of the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for a global "moratorium on executions with a view toward abolishing the death penalty.” The vote was 99 in favour and 53 against, with 33 abstentions. Want to guess who voted against the resolution? Yep, the good old’ United States of America, along with Afghanistan, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe and a handful of other countries known for their systematic violations of human rights. For more information, click here. Uganda: What the Kampala club talks should aim to achieve? By Don Mackinnon The 53 Commonwealth nations meet in Kampala, Uganda, from 19-23 November. In the wake of meetings of foreign ministers, youth, businesses and civil society organisations, Heads of Government have spent the weekend in retreat on the shores of Lake Victoria. No officials accompany them into their talks at Munyonyo; there are no television cameras either. They are free to talk as they please, and to address what concerns them. The decisions they take will touch the lives of many. For more information, click here. Globalisation is changing the nature of national sovereignty By Brenda Vongova, A&E Editor On 25 October 2007, the day after the birthday of the United Nations (24 October 1945), His Excellency Dr. Srgjan Kerim, the President of the 62nd Session of the UN General Assembly and a prominent diplomat on the world stage, addressed the Harvard Business School community on globalisation and national sovereignty. According to H.E. Kerim, "The United Nations was created to end wars between nations by replacing bombs and bullets with cooperation and compromise. It represented the burning hope of a generation for a better world." For more information, click here. CIVIL SOCIETY NEWS ASEAN 'people's charter' to advance civil society Early this month, Southeast Asian civil society leaders met at the Third ASEAN and Civil Society Conference (ACSC) in Singapore. There, civil society leaders, composed mainly of representatives from non-governmental organisations, trade unions, grassroot organisations and the academic community, called for the launch of an ASEAN People's Charter. The campaign for the People's Charter launched the actual ASEAN Charter, agreed and signed by ASEAN Heads of States at the Thirteenth ASEAN Summit, to address the aspirations of civil society. For more information, click here. Civil society to lead watchdog group for WB road projects Senator Manuel “Mar" Roxas said the World Bank’s decision to defer its $232-million infrastructure loan package to the Philippines was “a huge national embarrassment." Roxas, in a statement, said he supported the bank’s suggestion of creating a “road watch" group that would be led by members of civil society. He said the group would assure transparency and integrity in the bidding for the bank's infrastructure projects in the country. “Sadly, however, this is also an indication of the need for independent monitors just to ensure that government does its job in an honest and professional manner," he added. For more information, click here. NGOs in the Balkans: Too much of a good thing Written by Risto Karajkov The start of transition in the Balkans saw the exponential rise of NGOs. The public space previously reserved for several government created and supported organisations, such as those of youth, women or the disabled, got filled with a myriad groups pursuing a great diversity of causes ranging from relief and economic development to democracy, human rights, anti-corruption and a lot more. The context was one of challenge. The tasks were to tackle relief and reconstruction; democratisation and the goals of opening democratic space and fighting authoritarian tendencies; and economic and social transformation. One thing should be taken as given - there were many tasks in this complex process of multiple and turbulent transition that were and could only be undertaken by NGOs. For more information, click here. Civil society versus Kurdish separatism in Turkey By Mehmet Kal Yoncu The long-awaited meeting between US President George W. Bush and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan took place on 5 November in Washington. The meeting Erdoğan attended, with a parliamentary mandate to carry out a military incursion into northern Iraq, marked a turning point in Ankara’s plans after President Bush declared the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) an enemy of the United States as well as of Iraq and Turkey, and accordingly pledged his full support to Turkey in fighting PKK terrorism. For more information, click here Civil society cries out against insecurity in Cameroon Civil Society in Bamenda has expressed concern over the alarming rate of insecurity in the town. “Insecurity,” says Simon Nkwenti, Coordinator of a Bamenda Civil Society organisation, "is now having a serious toll on the social and economic activities of the town". In a two-page document convening a conference on insecurity in Bamenda, Nkwenti regrets that financial institutions and churches are being attacked and robbed in broad daylight. For more information, click here. Towards a more democratic society in Yemen Yemen Times Opinion Current efforts to modernise the law governing civil society are facing stiff opposition from the government. The government claims that this law, at its inception in 2001, was the most progressive civil society law in the region and that the government has ratified numerous international treaties which regulate the operation of civil society. Activists involved in democratic development and human rights claim that the current law does not provide an empowering legal framework that allows them to pursue their activities. Apparently, when the current law was conceptualised, emphasis was given to associations, cooperatives and charities, with little understanding of the legal demands of human rights organisations. For more information, click here. Students calling for rebirth of democratic power in Pakistan University   Thousands of students have come out in Islam abad to protest curbs on the media and the imposition of a state of emergency. Not only were many local colleges involved in this demonstration at Aabpara, but students of the Quaid-e-Azam University also staged a demonstration inside the university premises. For more information, click here. Zimbabwean civil society pressures opposition leader Tsvangirai Sources among civil society activists report that there is growing discontentment with the leadership provided by opposition political leader Morgan Tsvangirai, founder of the Movement for Democratic Change and head of one of its two factions. Tsvangirai has been put on the defensive in his own party by the extremely negative response at the grass roots level to last month's dismissal of Lucia Matibenga as the chairwoman of his opposition formation's women's assembly and her replacement with Theresa Makone, wife of the faction's director of elections, Ian Makone. For more information, click here. ACCOUNTABILITY Views and analyses: Corporate accountability Choike is a project of the Third World Institute supported by Hivos Globalisation and trade and investment designs and structures reinforce a model of development centred on free trade, hyper economic growth and export-oriented production which is inherently unsustainable in ecological and social terms. They also destroy viable localised and regional systems that may have the greatest long-term promise for future sustainability. Consequently there is increasing global concern about the broader issue of corporate accountability and pressures seem to be mounting from diverse political and intellectual quarters for greater corporate responsibility. The Global Compact is the United Nations' response to this demand. For more information, click here. AccountAbility's Global Leadership Network lands in China The Global Leadership Network (GLN) M ana ging Director Joe Sellwood and AccountAbility Chief Executive Simon Zadek welcomed GLN’s newest partner - the Chinese Federation for Corporate Social Responsibility (CFCSR) - at one of China’s most high-profile Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Conferences. CFCSR companies became GLN members, entitled to receive strategic guidance as well as support with strengthening contacts with the international CSR community. For more information, click here. GET INVOLVED! SMS Campaign: Speak out! Stand out! Commit to preventing Violence against Women Join us to Speak Out, Stand Out and Commit to preventing Violence against Women during the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. With your participation, WOUGNET, in collaboration with Womensnet South Africa and Association for Progressive Communications (APC) -Africa-Women, will be conducting an SMS-based campaign. The idea is to send out an SMS on each of the 16 Days of Activism that will allow individuals and organisations to Speak Out, Stand Out, and Commit to preventing Violence against Women. For more information, click here. Stop the death penalty: Worldwide abolition now Three men who escaped the death penalty joined forces in New York to campaign for a global abolition of this irreversible punishment. Each was sentenced to death for a crime they did not commit - and each shares the brutal experience of living on death row. Together, they lived under the shadow of execution for a combined 54 years. In Uganda , Mpagi Edward Edmary spent 20 years in prison, 18 of those on death row. He flew for 18 hours to continue his fight for abolition at the UN headquarters in New York . Mr Menda, now 81, traveled from Japan . A fervent campaigner, he is one of only four people in Japan who have ever been found innocent on retrial and therefore released from death row. For more information, click here. MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS & GLOBAL CALL TO ACTION AGAINST POVERTY GCAP condemns Philippines bombing and mourns death of anti-poverty activist Niki Hayudini News that the fourth fatality of the November 13 bomb attack on the Philippines House of Representatives was local GCAP Philippines activist Julasiri "Niki" Hayudini, has been met with shock and condemnation worldwide. Niki, 49, was Vice President of the Assalam Bangsamoro People's Association, a local non-governmental organisation active in the GCAP -Philippines coalition. He was an aide and close friend of Representative Wahab Akbar, who was also killed in the blast. Fellow GCAP members in the Philippines condemned the bombing saying that Niki’s decision to be part of the congressional staff was part of his dedication to do his utmost to make a real difference in his hometown of Basilan. For more information, click here. Cyclone in Bangladesh and GCAP coalition involvement Tropical Cyclone ‘SIDR’ has left harrowing tales in more than 28 districts (almost half of Bangladesh) affecting at least 3.1 million people. The cyclone traumatised the people caught in its wake. As per official estimate more than two thousand people have died and many are still missing. According to international agencies like the Red Crescent Society, the figure is likely to exceed 10,000. Crops which would have been harvested in a couple of weeks have been washed away by the tidal surge. People who survived the cyclone are now fighting just to stay alive with hardly any food or shelter. Most houses have been razed to the ground and livestock washed away. Thousands of people are spending nights under the open sky. For more information, click here. GCAP Liberian coalition welcome steps to end country’s debt and vow to pressure on IMF “We want to thank the IMF for the steps announced this week, though far overdue, towards the cancellation of our country’s debt. Together with other Liberian activists, we in the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) have been calling for immediate and unconditional debt cancellation for years so we are pleased our lobbying efforts are showing the first concrete signs of success. Every day that passes, scores of Liberians die because they lack safe drinking water, medical care, decent road networks, access to communications services, electricity, shelter, good food and clothing. Despite the progress being made in recent years, conditions for the majority of the population are still horrendous.” For more information, click here. CIVIL SOCIETY ACTIVISM ON GLOBAL INSTITUTIONS UN rights envoy vows to return home to Pakistan, despite house arrest threat Associated Press Interview. Hina Jilani, the United Nations special representative on human rights defenders, told Associated Press in an interview she plans to return to her home country of Pakistan despite word that she faces house arrest there because of her criticism of President Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Jilani said that before going home she will try to muster support among lawyers and others around the world to pressure Musharraf to end his state of emergency and release political prisoners. For more information, click here. How the World Bank and IMF stand against people: Breaking the Cycle of Neo-liberal hegemony By Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, Executive Director of Voice In a follow-up to the Group of Twenty (G-20) meeting with the heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank which took place at Kleinmond, near Cape Town, South Africa from November 17-18, e-CIVICUS asked Ahmed Swapan Mahmud, Executive Director of Voice, a non-governmental organisation based in Bangladesh, to write a short reflection on the outcome of the meeting. “For more than six decades the Bretton Woods giants like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have aggressively performed a lot of misdeeds in the world which affect people’s lives and livelihoods. Though there remains a huge critique on the WB and IMF, there is hardly any profound response from the Bank and the Fund”, says Ahmed Swapan Mahmud. For more information, click here. Islands of Peace: Hope for World Stability By Charles Mercieca, President of International Association of Educators for World Peace When Pope John Paul II visited Mexico during the ‘eighties he was asked whether or not he thought world peace was possible. Without hesitation he answered in the affirmative but he added: “World peace will eventually come but only after two of the greatest evils of the 20th century are gone. These are communism and capitalism because both try to achieve their objectives through the exploitation of people.” Following the fall of communism, capitalism emerged to show its true face which, until then, always posed as the champion of democracy and freedom. Capitalist nations, headed by the United States, embarked on an endless expansion of their military ventures. For more information, click here. Middle East Talks in Annapolis:  Photo-Op or Talk-Fest By Phyllis Bennis, a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies who serves on the steering committee of the U.S. Campaign to End Israeli Occupation Phyllis Bennis is author of Understanding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Primer. To sign up to receive these talking points and other occasional posts directly, go to (www.ips-dc.org) and click on the "Stay Connected" button on the right-hand side - then select the New Internationalism Project (and any others you find interesting.) For more information, click here. CIVIL SOCIETY AND CLIMATE CHANGE: THE ROAD TO BALI The Road to Bali: Climate change is a human rights issue e-CIVICUS Editorial, Micha Hollestelle, CIVICUS Communications and Media Manager Although climate change will hit us all, it will not hit us all equally. The fortunate will hide behind dykes and fortify their houses against tornados while millions of already vulnerable people are bearing the brunt of pollution elsewhere – a drought or a flood affects whether or not people eat today. The research already shows that poor countries will be hit harder by global warming: 95% of natural disasters and deaths will be in developing countries. And we’re told it will cause mass migration too – potentially one billion people could be uprooted because of climate change between now and 2050. That will be because they can no longer harvest their crops, feed their families or access something fundamental like clean drinking water and so die from hunger and easily treatable conditions like diarrhoea. For more information, click here. In our hands: human rights as a way of life Human Rights Cities - a personal view By Shulamith Koenig To overcome social and economic disintegration around the world we need to promote, organise and implement human rights learning for social and economic transformation at all levels of society. We have no other option. And, to be allegorical: human rights are the banks of the river in which life flows freely - and when the floods come the knowledge about human rights empowers people to strengthen the banks of the river and be protected from harm. For more information, click here. Climate change and human rights - Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalisation Initiative By Mary Robinson, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights "We can no longer think of climate change as an issue where we the rich give charity to the poor to help them cope. Rather, this has now become an issue of global injustice that will need a radically different approach...Climate change has already begun to affect the fulfilment of human rights, and our shared human rights framework entitles and empowers developing countries and impoverished communities to claim protection of these rights." For more information, click here. A women's rights-based approach to climate change What do women's human rights have to do with global warming? MADRE’s position on climate change Women living in poverty are the most threatened by the dangers that stem from global warming. They are also key actors in ensuring their communities' ability to cope with and adapt to climate change. When we approach climate change from the perspective of women, we see the ways that women are made vulnerable to threats associated with climate change, and that women's skills and leadership are crucial for people's survival and recovery. For more information, click here. Climate change: CIEL representing Inuit in human rights case (global warming) Donald M. Goldberg and Martin Wagner, "Petitioning for Adverse Impacts of Global Warming in the Inter-American Human Rights System", Climate Change Five Years after Kyoto "According to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, the impacts described on the 'Artic Impacts' page may only be a foretaste of the destructive effects of climate change that will be inflicted on the Arctic peoples. If global warming continues unchecked it threatens to destroy their culture, render their land uninhabitable and rob them of their means of subsistence. The harm caused to their way of life, largely by the United States, as the biggest global contributor of carbon dioxide emissions, is already serious enough so as to violate some fundamental internationally recognised human rights." For more information, click here. Human Rights and Environment Resources Source: AAAS Science and Human Rights Programme This article describes a framework of twelve major features of sustainable community development. It provides examples of the quantitative and qualitative social, economic and environmental benefits of implementing these features and provides questions that can be used to help determine to what extent they are being incorporated in development plans. For more information, click here. Human Rights and the Environment Making Global Warming a Matter of Justice By Randy Walden "Protecting the environment shouldn't be treated like a noble pipe-dream, but a fundamental human rights concern. Protecting the environment shouldn't be treated like a noble pipe-dream, but a fundamental human rights concern." Environmental issues are often brushed off as a matter of taste: some people relish a thriving economy, while others prefer protecting obscure little animals on inconsequential wetlands. For more information, click here. CAPACITY BUILDING Gender and Change in the Organisational Culture: Tools to Construct a Gender Sensitive Organisation German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) How do you change the gender culture of an organisation? Emerging out of a gender equality project of co-operation between government departments of Columbia and Germany, this manual aims to provide some answers. These tools include how to carry out gender ana lysis in an organisation, how to guide and support collective change and how to facilitate a process of personal change. For more information, click here. PROFILES DONOR - Tides Foundation The Tides Foundation partners with donors to increase and organise resources for positive social change. They facilitate effective grantmaking programmes, create opportunities for learning and build community among donors and grantees. The foundation works to accomplish these goals by providing an innovative and cost-effective framework for philanthropy, and by bringing together people, resources and vision through the Tides Donor Advised Funds, the Tides Initiatives, funding collaboratives, gatherings and much more. For more information, click here. MEMBER - The Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) The Center for Women's Global Leadership develops and facilitates women's leadership for women's human rights and social justice worldwide. CWGL was founded as a project of Douglass College in the U.S. in 1989 and is a unit of the Institute for Women's Leadership (IWL) -a consortium of seven women's programmes at Rutgers University. CWGL's programmes promote the leadership of women and advance feminist perspectives in policy-making processes in local, national and international arenas. Since 1990, CWGL has fostered women's leadership in the area of human rights through women's global leadership institutes, strategic planning activities, international mobilisation campaigns, UN monitoring, global education endeavours, publications and a resource centre. CWGL works from a human rights perspective with an emphasis on violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and socio-economic well-being. For more information, click here. BOOKS, REPORTS & RESOURCES Global Review: Aid for trade can turn possibility into reality First Global Aid for Trade Review The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is about making trade possible. The core business is to create trade opportunities through multilateral trade opening and the building of multilateral rules to ensure a level playing field. Removing obstacles to trade is often not enough for countries to reap the benefits of trade opening, including the ones that will come as a result of a successful conclusion of the on-going negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda, whose conclusion is now in sight for 2008. For more information on the global review on aid, click here. Newly revised fundraising handbook Designed especially for first-time fundraisers, the Global Fund’s updated handbook presents some key ideas about raising money to fund women's rights work in today's global political and economic context. If you know or work with women's groups struggling for resources, please read, and pass on this manual. For more information, click here. Report: Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) reveals CO2 pollution from power plants and firms While no society will escape the effects of climate change, the five billion people living in poor nations will be affected first and worst. Poor people in the developing world cannot afford to wait for the world's politicians to reach an agreement on the steep reductions in greenhouse gas pollution necessary to avert a climate crisis. The Centre for Global Development (CGD)'s new Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA) website reveals the carbon emissions of more than 50,000 power plants and 4,000 power companies in every country on Earth, providing investors, insurers, cr editor s, consumers and environmental advocates the information they need to act now to begin to reduce emissions. For more information, click here. Rethinking Monitoring and Evaluation: Challenges and Prospects in the Changing Global Aid Environment By Esther Mebrahtu, Brian Pratt and Linda Lönnqvist Rethinking M&E provides insights into several aspects of M&E as it relates to advocacy, NGOs as donors, humanitarian work and the role of the media. In emphasising Southern perspectives, it covers a rich variety of experiences, focusing on implications for poverty-focused, innovative, participatory M&E. For more information, click here. African Development Indicators - Spreading and sustaining growth Household welfare A central lesson of Africa ’s growth experience is that “policy and governance matter a great deal” (Ndulu and others 2007, p. 42). Africa today enjoys better growth prospects because its leaders have undertaken major reforms over the past 10 years. In 2006 Africa ’s best Country Policy and Institutional Assessment (CPIA) ratings were in macroeconomic m ana gement and trade policy. Recent data from the Global Monitoring Report 2007 (World Bank 2007b) provide some evidence of better governance. Measures of bureaucratic capabilities and the quality of checks and balances institutions improved in six African countries (The Gambia, Gh ana, Kenya, Madagascar, Senegal and Tanzania). For more information, click here. CONFERENCES & EVENTS Register now for the 8th CIVICUS World Assembly Deadline for Early Bird Registration: 1 February 2008 CIVICUS is inviting all members of civil society, donors, government, business and media to register to attend the 8th CIVICUS World Assembly, to be held on 18-21 June 2008, Glasgow, Scotland. The programme promises to be dynamic and exciting and will analyse major issues confronting civil society and jointly seek solutions through cross sectoral collaboration to promote sustainable change. Registration for the World Assembly has officially opened and participants who register early to attend the World Assembly will receive reduced rates. For more information, click here. International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women 25 November 2007, Global Involvement Violence against women persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality. Such violence is unacceptable, whether perpetrated by the State and its agents or by family members or strangers, in the public or private sphere, in peacetime or in times of conflict. ... [A]s long as violence against women continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equality, development and peace. For more information, click here. HRIA Conference 2007 29-30 November 2007, The Netherlands The aim of this Human Rights Impact Assessment in Practice conference is to bring people and organisations interested in HRIA and related issues together so as to strengthen the mutual exchange of knowledge and experiences with various types of HRIA. At the conference, key note speakers are invited to introduce a variety of thematic areas, laying the foundation for discussions and interaction among the participants during several workshops that are being offered on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. For more information, click here. Helsinki Process Conference: Inclusive Governance - Bridging Global Divides 27-29 November 2007, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania The Review Conference of the Second Phase of the Helsinki Process will bring together facilitators of Road Maps, hosts of Roundtables, Consultative Network members, as well as other partners and key external reference groups to discuss what has been done and what still needs to be done. The conference will make recommendations for the future regarding which issues to pursue and how to organise multi-stakeholder cooperation in different contexts. At this conference, CIVICUS will be represented by Katsuji Imata, Senior Advisor-Programmes. For more information, click here. FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES Action Alert: Winner of the 2007 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award the Chairman of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy announced the winner of the 2007 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award, Dr. Cynthia Maung. Dr. Cynthia Maung was eventually selected by the Final Review Board for her tenacious and long-term commitment to the thousands of Burmese refugees and migrant workers who seek refuge from oppression and violence by the Burmese military junta that governs the country; and for her dedication to training and educating those refugees in order to build a community based on respect for life and human rights. For more information, click here. 2008 Freedom Awards Application Deadline: 31 December 2007 Free the Slaves is pleased to announce nominations for the 2008 Freedom Awards. These awards are open to organisations and individuals who are working to eradicate human trafficking and modern-day slavery. The Freedom Awards celebrate the vision and courage of community-based organisations, survivors of slavery, individual leaders and young adult anti-slavery activists who are showing the way to a world without slavery. The Awards also honour past heroes who inspire the anti-slavery movement today. For more information, click here.  Susie Smith Memorial Prize Application Deadline: 31 January 2008 Oxfam Great Britain has established a prize to honour the life and work of Susie Smith who died in June 2006. Susie touched the lives of many people around the world in her 30-year career with Oxfam. In her later years with Oxfam, Susie championed the cause of HIV and AIDS and pioneered new approaches to tackling the pandemic. The Susie Smith memorial prize of £3000 will be awarded to an already published piece of work on HIV and AIDS from sub-Saharan Africa. Any type of piece - (e.g. poetry, fiction, article, chapter of a book) of up to 10,000 words, in English, and published since January 2006, will be eligible. The prize will be awarded in May 2008. A shortlist of five candidates will be published on Oxfam's website in early April 2008 and the winner will be announced at the end of April 2008. For more information, click here. COURSES & WORKSHOPS Sixth Heads of National Networks Meeting 26-28 November 2007, Cairo, Egypt The meeting will be represented by the coordinators of the Anna Lindh Foundation national networks to prepare the next phase of the Foundation (2008 - 2010) especially in light of the launch of the Foundation’s Euro-Med Cultural Campaign: 1001 Actions for Dialogue, celebrating the European Year for Intercultural Dialogue. The Anna Lindh Foundation is the first common institution jointly established and financed by all 37 governments of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, with the support of the European Commission. For more information, click here. Gender Analysis and Planning 16-18 January 2008, London, UK Development planners and NGOs are becoming increasingly committed to incorporating a gender perspective into their work. They face many challenges, however, in its practical application. In this course you benefit from how to analyse, plan and operationalise this perspective into effective development practice. The course is geared towards people active in the field of development, enabling them to better apply ana lytical tools and strategies to ensure that gender is prioritised on project and programme agendas. Practitioners who wish to improve their basic gender ana lytical skills and participatory training methodology will also benefit from this course. For more information, click here. CALL FOR PAPERS, SUBMISSIONS & NOMINATIONS The CIVICUS Nelson Mandela Graca Machel Innovation Awards Call for proposals Application Deadline: 30 November 2007 The CIVICUS Nelson Mandela Graca Machel Innovation Awards are aimed at providing seed funding for innovative ideas emerging from organisations or groups of participants at the CIVICUS World Assembly. The broad idea is to support community based and grassroots initiatives with an emphasis on the overall WA theme: Acting Together for a Just World. For more information on the Innovation Awards call for proposals in English, French and Spanish, click here. APPOINTMENTS This week 22 new civil society job openings have been added to the CIVICUS website. Please click here.   JOB OF THE WEEK Civil Society Index Programme Manager  Deadline extended: 26 November 2007 CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation Johannesburg, South Africa For more information, click here. CONTACT e-CIVICUS We value your comments, suggestions and contributions. Please send these to Editorial Team at editor@civicus.org.  e-CIVICUS is a free weekly online publication keeping tens of thousands of people, organisations and programmes informed of the many developments that are taking place in civil society organisations around the world, the many factors that are affecting the impact of civil society on creating a more just world. Unsubscribe: To unsubscribe from e-CIVICUS, get a password reminder,