Daily Archives: October 23, 2011

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No Hope for Free and Fair Elections

By Zukiswa Zimela

JOHANNESBURG, Oct 21, 2011 (IPS) – With six weeks to go before the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, civil society organisations say the elections will not be fair, as many doubt the ability of the country’s electoral authorities to ensure transparency.  The DRC is set to go to the polls on Nov. 28, in the country’s second democratic elections since 2006.   The Central African country of 71 million people was the scene of what has been called Africa’s World War conflict that saw the death of approximately five million people between 1998 and 2003. Continue reading →

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“Vulnerable land users must be protected by international guidelines” – UN expert urges Rome summit

Food Crisis and the Global Land Grab

 GENEVA – “Land rights are the first building block on the road to achieving food security, and without international consensus on how land should be governed, the interests of vulnerable land users will continue to be swept aside.”  This was the warning from Olivier De Schutter, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, only days before final negotiations on land governance open in Rome. “The threat of ‘land grabbing’ has reminded us how vital access to land is for 500 million food-insecure households around the world,” he said. Continue reading →

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“Boomerang aid”: billions of development aid diverted to companies in rich countries.

 EURODAD

Investigation reveals major reasons for ineffective aid

BRUSSELS, 2 September, 2011: A decade since donor governments agreed to stop tying development aid to lucrative contracts for their domestic companies, a major new study reveals that most aid contracts worth billions of dollars continue to be awarded to firms in rich developed nations.   “It’s a scandal that more than 60 percent of all contracts funded by bilateral aid go to rich country companies and consultants.” says Bodo Ellmers, author of the report.   “This is boomerang aid, that goes right back to rich countries rather than fully benefiting the world’s poorest,” adds Ellmers, who produced the report for Eurodad, the European Network on Debt and Development. Continue reading →

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Secularism, a new papal contender and Catholic humor

National Catholic Reporter

by John L Allen Jr on Oct. 21, 2011

Two-thirds of the world’s Catholic population today is in the southern hemisphere, a share that should reach three-quarters by mid-century. To discern where the church is headed, it’s critical to keep an eye on what’s bubbling down south, and two recent stories thus deserve to be on the global Catholic radar screen. Continue reading →

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What does Gaddafi’s death mean for Africa?

BBC

By Farouk Chothia BBC Africa

With his image of a revolutionary, Col Gaddafi inspired South Africans to fight for their liberation, funding and arming the anti-apartheid movement as it fought white minority rule.  However, he also backed notorious rebel groups in Liberia and Sierra Leone and his demise could serve as a warning to the continent’s other “big-man” rulers. Continue reading →