Daily Archives: June 14, 2013

Kenya, land

Kenyans seeking land justice, 50 years later

Daily Nation

By PAUL MAINA MWANGI

Land lost through past injustices should be restored, the tenure system reformed to provide security for ownership as well as use for the disadvantaged”

Two important events in the past few weeks have re-ignited debate on land justice from the embers of this year’s election.

First was the release of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Committee report, and then last week’s acknowledgment by the British Government of torture and ill-treatment of Mau Mau freedom fighters.

The British colonial and protectorate administrations failed to recognise customary land tenure systems. By 1914, nearly two million hectares had been taken away from Africans. By 1960, European settlers occupied some three million hectares. Continue reading Kenyans seeking land justice, 50 years later →

Nicaragua

Nicaragua Takes Decisive Step Towards Chinese Construction of Canal

By José Adán Silva

One of the projected routes for Nicaragua’s interoceanic canal. Credit: National Assembly
One of the projected routes for Nicaragua’s interoceanic canal. Credit: National Assembly

MANAGUA, Jun 13 2013 (IPS) – A five-century wait could come to an end when the Nicaraguan government grants a concession this year to a Chinese company to build a canal between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, despite local protests and international scepticism. Continue reading Nicaragua Takes Decisive Step Towards Chinese Construction of Canal →

Economic Justice, Zimbabwe

Jubilee Campaign: ‘Zimbabwe needs a debt audit, not IMF conditions’

Independent Catholic News
zimThe International Monetary Fund has announced that it has agreed a Staff Monitored Programme with the Zimbabwean government. The programme means the Zimbabwean government has to implement conditions as set by the IMF, but no money is lent. Completing the programme is the first of many steps Zimbabwe would need to take to qualify for some debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative.

The IMF has not yet revealed the detailed conditions of the programme. However, conditions discussed in 2012 included a freeze in public sector pay. The programme runs from April-December 2013, despite having only just been announced, and despite the fact elections are due to take place in Zimbabwe in coming months, effectively tying the hands of a future parliament. Continue reading Jubilee Campaign: ‘Zimbabwe needs a debt audit, not IMF conditions’ →

Church, Environment

Pope Francis on Care for Creation

JPIC Formation

Fr. Seán McDonagh, SSC
Even though concerns about what was happening to our environment began to appear in Church documents as early as 1971, I have argued that the Catholic Church’s teaching on ecology was certainly not a central element in its preaching of the Gospel of Jesus.  This might be about to change during the Petrine ministry of  Pope Francis.

During the Mass to mark his inauguration as Bishop of Rome on March 19th 2013, he focused on the role of Joseph as ‘protector “of Jesus and his mother.”  But he expanded the notion of ‘protector’ to include concern for creation.  “The vocation of being a “protector”, however, is not just something involving us Christians alone; it also has a prior dimension which is simply human (task), involving everyone. It means protecting all creation, the beauty of the created world, as the Book of Genesis tells us and as Saint Francis of Assisi showed us.  In the end, everything has been entrusted to our protection, and all of us are responsible for it. Be protectors of God’s gifts!” Continue reading Pope Francis on Care for Creation →

Congo

How Internet and Mobile Help Journalists in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Open Society Foundations

Better and wider access to Internet and mobile is changing how journalists work in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), bringing more access but also sometimes greater risk. Internet and mobile devices allow journalists to contact multiple sources on a single day, something that was difficult until now in a country where fixed phone lines are almost nonexistent. Internet and mobile also mean citizens are better able to contribute to media content and make their voices heard interactively.

But they also create new opportunities for intimidating or silencing journalists. There are many in positions of authority and power whose status is shaken by the greater circulation of information made possible by connectivity. At the same time, alerting others when a journalist is under threat and rallying support has never been quicker. More information also means increased requirements for verification and fact checking—procedures that Congolese journalists have not always been inclined and trained to do. Continue reading How Internet and Mobile Help Journalists in the Democratic Republic of Congo →

Food Security, USA

Reforming U.S. Food Aid Would Eliminate 7,000-Mile Food Chain

By Cydney Hargis

Food aid from the United States often travels thousands of miles before reaching its final destination. Credit: Ephraim Nsingo/IPS
Food aid from the United States often travels thousands of miles before reaching its final destination. Credit: Ephraim Nsingo/IPS

WASHINGTON, Jun 12 2013 (IPS) – Lawmakers attempted Wednesday to push along an ongoing effort to modernise U.S. international food aid policy amid mounting bipartisan support for the use of more locally grown food products over the long-standing practise of shipping U.S.-grown commodities.

The Food Aid Reform Act, introduced by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Representative Ed Royce and Africa Subcommittee Ranking Member Representative Karen Bass, would eliminate previous requirements that food assistance be grown in the United States and transported on U.S.-flagged ships. Advocates say the changes would deliver aid up to 14 weeks faster and reach an estimated two to four million more people. Continue reading Reforming U.S. Food Aid Would Eliminate 7,000-Mile Food Chain →