Hiya from the Make It Happen crew,We're currently recruiting mentors for the e-course!For those of you who are unfamiliar with the structure of the course,we've divided the prospective participants into tiny working groups of 5people. For each of these groups, we want to have a mentor; someone whocan give the participants individual and constructive advice on theirprojects and serve as a role model. The role really enriches andpersonalizes the experience of taking the e-course and is therefore superimportant!I know you all have super networks of wonderful people who manageprojects. If you know of anyone who would be suitable for this kind ofrole, let me know and send their contact info my way. I can send you moreinformation about the roles and responsibilities that are required.If you have any questions, let me know :)Peas,Emily BriggsMake IT HappenPearson E-Course CoordinatorTakingITGlobalemilyb@takingitglobal.orgwww.takingitglobal.org+1 416 977 9363
Please spreed the news around
Thursday 31 July 2008
How Long?
How long will it take?
The resident of the Niger Delta region have been crying for development for several years, a lot of commissions have been set up. OMPADEC, NDDC e.t.c but the truth is that how long will it take to developing the region? After the decision to make Abuja the federal capital territory how long id it take the then federal government to develop Abuja.
How long will it really takes for the Niger Delta region to be developed.
This is a question that everyone concerned need to answers and with recent happenings am afraid “the young ones” seems not to be able to wait any longer. The only way to stop then is DEVELOP THE REGION.It is amazing that in some regions people still sit on the floor to learn in the 21st Century, Some of the villages cannot be accessed by cars and farm produce have to be conveyed by bicycles e.t.c to the market for sales. How long with the bulk of money Nigeria has will it take to provide infrastructures for its people
The resident of the Niger Delta region have been crying for development for several years, a lot of commissions have been set up. OMPADEC, NDDC e.t.c but the truth is that how long will it take to developing the region? After the decision to make Abuja the federal capital territory how long id it take the then federal government to develop Abuja.
How long will it really takes for the Niger Delta region to be developed.
This is a question that everyone concerned need to answers and with recent happenings am afraid “the young ones” seems not to be able to wait any longer. The only way to stop then is DEVELOP THE REGION.It is amazing that in some regions people still sit on the floor to learn in the 21st Century, Some of the villages cannot be accessed by cars and farm produce have to be conveyed by bicycles e.t.c to the market for sales. How long with the bulk of money Nigeria has will it take to provide infrastructures for its people
Tuesday 29 July 2008
02
July 2008 1/4
YOUTH PARTNERSHIPS ALERTS!
02 July 2008
2/4 YOUTH PARTNERSHIPS ALERTS!EDITORIAL
Welcome to the second edition of the Youth
Partnerships Alerts! In this edition you will find up-to-date information on the upcoming International AIDS
Conference, key youth events and more.
If you have information on upcoming events or
opportunities that are relevant to youth and HIV campaigners, let us know. To make sure that you are getting the information you need, let us know how to improve these alerts. All you have to do is write to: youthalert@worldaidscampaign.org.
IN THIS EDITION:
1. Focus Event: XVII International AIDS Conference
A. How to get involved
B. Who will be there?
C. How to connect
2. Campaign resources and tools
3. Young people are leaders –article by Saunsuray Govere, Kijana
4. Fundraising opportunities
UPCOMING EVENT: XVII
INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE
From 3 – 8 August 2008, the XVII International AIDS Conference will be held
in Mexico City, marking the first time that the conference has been held in Latin America. The AIDS Conference is the largest AIDS forum, bringing together over 20,000 participants. For more information on the conference, visit http://www.aids2008.org/
This meeting will be the last International AIDS Conference to be held before 2010, the year by which governments, donors and the United Nations have committed to achieving universal access for all. As such, it represents a unique opportunity to come together in an expression of leadership and commitment, emphasising the urgency of achieving universal access by 2010.
The conference is also a great opportunity for youth to come together and highlight the specific needs of young people, highlight youth leadership, and share specific recommendations for actions to address the challenges and gaps that remain to be able to achieve the youth-related universal access targets by 2010.
02
July 2008
3/4
Key youth events to be on the look out for during AIDS 2008 include, but are not limited to:
Youth Pre-Conference: To be held from 31 July to 2 July, the Youth
Pre-Conference, will bring together over 300 young delegates from around the world. The pre-conference will include a variety of informative and skills-building workshops in English and Spanish, providing youth delegates with an opportunity to work together before the main conference and plan their participation together. Applications to the youth pre-conference are now closed, but if you will be at the conference and have not registered for the youth pre-conference, you can find out about what happened and connect with participants at the Youth Pavilion (see section "How can we connect?" for further information)
Media workshop for young people living with HIV: On 30 July, in the build-up to the conference, this media workshop will support participants in developing knowledge on their specific rights, as well as skills to interact with the media. The workshop is being organised by the World AIDS Campaign, United Nations Population Fund, Young Positives and the Global Network of People living with HIV/AIDS, with Global Media AIDS Initiative as a supporting partner. If you will be arriving in Mexico in time to participate in the workshop, you are still in time to send in your application! Check if you fit the selection criteria and complete the application by visiting http://youthaids2008.org/en/informed/opportunities.html
Youth Reception: To celebrate
youth leadership in the AIDS response, the Mexico YouthForce will be hosting a youth reception on the evening of 2 August, from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. The reception will be held in Museo José Luis Cuevas, where guests will be treated to an evening of key note speakers and performers, including Mexican artist Julieta Venegas. R.S.V.P. is required to
http://youthaids2008.org/en/rsvp.html
Youth Partnership Initiative: In partnership with the Mexico YouthForce, the World AIDS Campaign, with the support of UNFPA and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will implement this initiative throughout the International AIDS Conference. The YPI will pair youth leaders with established leaders of a wide-range of constituencies, in order to support youth in developing practical leadership skills experientially, as well as for the constituencies to learn from youth leaders and develop partnerships with youth as a constituency. Through a two-way learning process, the YPI will promote mutual understanding, facilitate networking, and enable a transfer of knowledge and skills between participants.
Youth-Adults Commitments Desk: The Commitments Desk, housed at the Youth Pavilion in the Global Village, is an initiative where delegates can make time-bound commitments to prioritise youth issues and youth involvement in their research, funding, policies, and programs. In order to hold these delegates accountable, these commitments will be tracked after the conference by young people. This initiative was successfully undertaken in Toronto at the previous IAC, when 102 out of 344 commitments to youth from 63 countries were honoured.
* HOW CAN WE
CONNECT?
There will be many opportunities throughout the conference to connect with youth delegates. The AIDS 2008 Youth Pavilion, which will be located in the Global Village, will be the main venue for youth to connect with one another.
The Youth Pavilion is a youth-focused space where meetings, workshops, skills-building sessions, cultural events, forums, evening sessions and more will take place. Activities will highlight youth achievements, and provide opportunities for networking with other delegates. Be sure to check it out!
In addition to the youth pavilion, there will be many other spaces where youth delegates will have the opportunity to connect with others, such as in the main conference session and other zones of the Global Village, such as the human rights networking zone.
Campaigning tools or resources
Key resources in the build up to the International AIDS Conference include, but are not limited to:
Youth Pocket Guide to Navigating International AIDS Conference, an initiative of the Mexico Youth Force, Plan International, International AIDS Society and United Nations Association in Canada, http://youthaids2008.org/en/index.html
Mexico Youth Force E-consultation Report; Mexico Youth Force http://worldywca.info/index.php/ywca/world_ywca/events/iac_mexico_2008/youthforce_e_consultation_report
Towards the Finish Line: Youth and universal access 2010; World AIDS Campaign, United Nations Population Fund, Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights http://www.worldaidscampaign.info/index.php/en/campaigns/key_constituencies/youth/youth_and_universal_access_2010
The Criminalisation of HIV; International Planned Parenthood Federation, World AIDS Campaign, United Nations Population Fund, Living Positively http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Constituencies/Youth/Resources/What-is-Criminalisation-of-HIV
Injection Drug Use - HIV and AIDS - Young People: Recognising the linkages; Youth RISE, World AIDS Campaign http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Constituencies/Youth/Resources/Fact-Sheets-for-Youth
Young People and HIV related Stigma and Discrimination; Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights http://www.youthcoalition.org
* WHO WILL BE THERE?
The AIDS Conference is the largest international gathering on a health-related issue, bringing together tens of thousands of delegates from around the world. Delegates come from a diversity of backgrounds and constituencies, included but not limited to: youth, people living with HIV, children, women, men who have sex with men, trade unionists, faith, activists, injecting drug users, sex workers, parliamentarians, academia, donors, business, media, non-governmental organisations, and more. It is expected that approximately 1,000 of the delegates will be young people.
02
July 2008
4/4
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE LEADERS!
Young people all over the world are leading and participating in amazing initiatives all around the world to halt and reverse the spread of HIV. The leadership of young people is key to the achievement of universal access by 2010. To celebrate and foster such leadership, each issue of the Youth Partnerships Alert, features one youth leader who is a living example of just this.
For this issue, meet Saunsuray Govere. Seventeen-year-old Saunsuray Muis d’Entremont Govere is co-founder and current Chairperson of Kijana, an organisation that assists youth impacted by HIV and educates youth around the world about HIV. At the ages of nine and eleven Saunsuray and her sister founded Kijana in response to the numbers of children affected by HIV in their village in Zimbabwe. In time Kijana turned into an international youth helping youth project. Kijana has now educated millions of youth around the world and has helped thousands of HIV affected/infected youth in Africa.
Saunsuray attended her first International AIDS Conference in 2006 where she and her sister had a poster presentation on Kijana in the ‘adult’ section of the conference, and in the youth pavilion Kijana was honored by being selected as an African youth best practice model.
At the 2008 IAC Saunsuray will be part of the Youth Partnership Initiative (YPI), organised by the World AIDS Campaign and the Mexico YouthForce. Through her participation in this initiative, Saunsuray hopes to learn from her adult partner and other YPI participants to develop skills that will help her take Kijana into the future. She also hopes that the partnership will increase adults’ sensitivity towards youth and their ability to make a difference in their community. Saunsuray is looking forward to networking with other youth at the conference and learning from their ideas, creativity, and experience and at the same time learn about HIV related issues in the main part of the conference.
Here is what Saunsuray has to say about youth and HIV in Zimbabwe:
"In Zimbabwe we have some youth leaders that are proactive, for example, Wilbert Majoni, Tapiwa Molife, and Tawanda Chisango, but unfortunately I don’t think most youth in Zimbabwe think so much about HIV. Go to any high school or local night spot and see how despite the AIDS epidemic, one of the worst in the world, youth continue to ‘hook up’ with little thought such consequences as pregnancy and HIV and other STI infections. I have heard of students that have sex right at school, the same place where school nurses will not even provide condoms to the "A" Level (Form 5 and
6) students who are usually 17 -19 years old because the Ministry of Education and Culture does not allow secondary schools to hand out condoms.
There are Zimbabwe youth who are very concerned about HIV but denied the right to an HIV test unless they are at least 16-years-old. Young Zimbabweans have no access to treatment of STI services or family planning. However, one third of Zimbabweans who get an HIV infection HIV acquire it during adolescents. This is not surprising because only 36% of young women and only 40% of young men indicated on a survey in 2007 that they had correct knowledge on HIV transmission.
What is very scary in Zimbabwe is that youth ages between 15-24 consist of 13.1% of all people living with HIV such laws create a barrier to HIV testing and reproductive services because how many young people want their parents to know they are sexually active. Because of this many youth in Zimbabwe, and really youth around the world have unprotected sex. Youth in Zimbabwe, and from around the world need to speak up, have their voice heard, and demand that they can access HIV testing and reproductive services."
Bibliography
Zimbabwe National Guidelines on Testing and Counselling (2005)
Zimbabwe National Youth Shadow Report (2008)
UNGASS (2008). Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS: midway to Millenium Development Goals.
National AIDS Council et al (2004) The HIV and AIDS Epidemic in Zimbabwe: Background Projections, Impacts and Future Response, National AIDS Council , Ministry of Health and USAID, Harare, Zimbabwe
FUNDRAISING
OPPORTUNITIES
Staying Alive Foundation call for proposals: From 15th of July until 15th of September the Staying Alive Foundation is accepting proposals for its next round of funding. Application documents can be found on their website: www.staying-alive.org/foundation New grants will be announced on World AIDS Day 2008. If you have any questions, you can contact them by e-mail:
foundation@staying-alive.org
Stop TB Partnership’s Challenge Facility for Civil Society: Applications focusing on all aspects of TB – multidrug-resistant TB, TB/HIV, and neglected populations, for example – are welcome. The Challenge Facility aims to make the voices of vulnerable communities, including those affected by tuberculosis, heard by local and national policy makers. This facility will support civil society activities designed to attract greater attention from governments to the prevention, treatment and control of this often lethal yet curable disease. For more information please visit http://www.stoptb.org/bi/cfcs/whocanapply.asp
Next edition
The next edition of the Youth Partnerships Alert will be issued on September 15th. If you have any additions or contributions to make, please send an email to youthalert@worldaidscampaign.org. Contributions should be received by no later than September 5th 2008.
Design: horspistes.co.uk
July 2008 1/4
YOUTH PARTNERSHIPS ALERTS!
02 July 2008
2/4 YOUTH PARTNERSHIPS ALERTS!EDITORIAL
Welcome to the second edition of the Youth
Partnerships Alerts! In this edition you will find up-to-date information on the upcoming International AIDS
Conference, key youth events and more.
If you have information on upcoming events or
opportunities that are relevant to youth and HIV campaigners, let us know. To make sure that you are getting the information you need, let us know how to improve these alerts. All you have to do is write to: youthalert@worldaidscampaign.org.
IN THIS EDITION:
1. Focus Event: XVII International AIDS Conference
A. How to get involved
B. Who will be there?
C. How to connect
2. Campaign resources and tools
3. Young people are leaders –article by Saunsuray Govere, Kijana
4. Fundraising opportunities
UPCOMING EVENT: XVII
INTERNATIONAL AIDS CONFERENCE
From 3 – 8 August 2008, the XVII International AIDS Conference will be held
in Mexico City, marking the first time that the conference has been held in Latin America. The AIDS Conference is the largest AIDS forum, bringing together over 20,000 participants. For more information on the conference, visit http://www.aids2008.org/
This meeting will be the last International AIDS Conference to be held before 2010, the year by which governments, donors and the United Nations have committed to achieving universal access for all. As such, it represents a unique opportunity to come together in an expression of leadership and commitment, emphasising the urgency of achieving universal access by 2010.
The conference is also a great opportunity for youth to come together and highlight the specific needs of young people, highlight youth leadership, and share specific recommendations for actions to address the challenges and gaps that remain to be able to achieve the youth-related universal access targets by 2010.
02
July 2008
3/4
Key youth events to be on the look out for during AIDS 2008 include, but are not limited to:
Youth Pre-Conference: To be held from 31 July to 2 July, the Youth
Pre-Conference, will bring together over 300 young delegates from around the world. The pre-conference will include a variety of informative and skills-building workshops in English and Spanish, providing youth delegates with an opportunity to work together before the main conference and plan their participation together. Applications to the youth pre-conference are now closed, but if you will be at the conference and have not registered for the youth pre-conference, you can find out about what happened and connect with participants at the Youth Pavilion (see section "How can we connect?" for further information)
Media workshop for young people living with HIV: On 30 July, in the build-up to the conference, this media workshop will support participants in developing knowledge on their specific rights, as well as skills to interact with the media. The workshop is being organised by the World AIDS Campaign, United Nations Population Fund, Young Positives and the Global Network of People living with HIV/AIDS, with Global Media AIDS Initiative as a supporting partner. If you will be arriving in Mexico in time to participate in the workshop, you are still in time to send in your application! Check if you fit the selection criteria and complete the application by visiting http://youthaids2008.org/en/informed/opportunities.html
Youth Reception: To celebrate
youth leadership in the AIDS response, the Mexico YouthForce will be hosting a youth reception on the evening of 2 August, from 8:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. The reception will be held in Museo José Luis Cuevas, where guests will be treated to an evening of key note speakers and performers, including Mexican artist Julieta Venegas. R.S.V.P. is required to
http://youthaids2008.org/en/rsvp.html
Youth Partnership Initiative: In partnership with the Mexico YouthForce, the World AIDS Campaign, with the support of UNFPA and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will implement this initiative throughout the International AIDS Conference. The YPI will pair youth leaders with established leaders of a wide-range of constituencies, in order to support youth in developing practical leadership skills experientially, as well as for the constituencies to learn from youth leaders and develop partnerships with youth as a constituency. Through a two-way learning process, the YPI will promote mutual understanding, facilitate networking, and enable a transfer of knowledge and skills between participants.
Youth-Adults Commitments Desk: The Commitments Desk, housed at the Youth Pavilion in the Global Village, is an initiative where delegates can make time-bound commitments to prioritise youth issues and youth involvement in their research, funding, policies, and programs. In order to hold these delegates accountable, these commitments will be tracked after the conference by young people. This initiative was successfully undertaken in Toronto at the previous IAC, when 102 out of 344 commitments to youth from 63 countries were honoured.
* HOW CAN WE
CONNECT?
There will be many opportunities throughout the conference to connect with youth delegates. The AIDS 2008 Youth Pavilion, which will be located in the Global Village, will be the main venue for youth to connect with one another.
The Youth Pavilion is a youth-focused space where meetings, workshops, skills-building sessions, cultural events, forums, evening sessions and more will take place. Activities will highlight youth achievements, and provide opportunities for networking with other delegates. Be sure to check it out!
In addition to the youth pavilion, there will be many other spaces where youth delegates will have the opportunity to connect with others, such as in the main conference session and other zones of the Global Village, such as the human rights networking zone.
Campaigning tools or resources
Key resources in the build up to the International AIDS Conference include, but are not limited to:
Youth Pocket Guide to Navigating International AIDS Conference, an initiative of the Mexico Youth Force, Plan International, International AIDS Society and United Nations Association in Canada, http://youthaids2008.org/en/index.html
Mexico Youth Force E-consultation Report; Mexico Youth Force http://worldywca.info/index.php/ywca/world_ywca/events/iac_mexico_2008/youthforce_e_consultation_report
Towards the Finish Line: Youth and universal access 2010; World AIDS Campaign, United Nations Population Fund, Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights http://www.worldaidscampaign.info/index.php/en/campaigns/key_constituencies/youth/youth_and_universal_access_2010
The Criminalisation of HIV; International Planned Parenthood Federation, World AIDS Campaign, United Nations Population Fund, Living Positively http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Constituencies/Youth/Resources/What-is-Criminalisation-of-HIV
Injection Drug Use - HIV and AIDS - Young People: Recognising the linkages; Youth RISE, World AIDS Campaign http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/en/Constituencies/Youth/Resources/Fact-Sheets-for-Youth
Young People and HIV related Stigma and Discrimination; Youth Coalition for Sexual and Reproductive Rights http://www.youthcoalition.org
* WHO WILL BE THERE?
The AIDS Conference is the largest international gathering on a health-related issue, bringing together tens of thousands of delegates from around the world. Delegates come from a diversity of backgrounds and constituencies, included but not limited to: youth, people living with HIV, children, women, men who have sex with men, trade unionists, faith, activists, injecting drug users, sex workers, parliamentarians, academia, donors, business, media, non-governmental organisations, and more. It is expected that approximately 1,000 of the delegates will be young people.
02
July 2008
4/4
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE LEADERS!
Young people all over the world are leading and participating in amazing initiatives all around the world to halt and reverse the spread of HIV. The leadership of young people is key to the achievement of universal access by 2010. To celebrate and foster such leadership, each issue of the Youth Partnerships Alert, features one youth leader who is a living example of just this.
For this issue, meet Saunsuray Govere. Seventeen-year-old Saunsuray Muis d’Entremont Govere is co-founder and current Chairperson of Kijana, an organisation that assists youth impacted by HIV and educates youth around the world about HIV. At the ages of nine and eleven Saunsuray and her sister founded Kijana in response to the numbers of children affected by HIV in their village in Zimbabwe. In time Kijana turned into an international youth helping youth project. Kijana has now educated millions of youth around the world and has helped thousands of HIV affected/infected youth in Africa.
Saunsuray attended her first International AIDS Conference in 2006 where she and her sister had a poster presentation on Kijana in the ‘adult’ section of the conference, and in the youth pavilion Kijana was honored by being selected as an African youth best practice model.
At the 2008 IAC Saunsuray will be part of the Youth Partnership Initiative (YPI), organised by the World AIDS Campaign and the Mexico YouthForce. Through her participation in this initiative, Saunsuray hopes to learn from her adult partner and other YPI participants to develop skills that will help her take Kijana into the future. She also hopes that the partnership will increase adults’ sensitivity towards youth and their ability to make a difference in their community. Saunsuray is looking forward to networking with other youth at the conference and learning from their ideas, creativity, and experience and at the same time learn about HIV related issues in the main part of the conference.
Here is what Saunsuray has to say about youth and HIV in Zimbabwe:
"In Zimbabwe we have some youth leaders that are proactive, for example, Wilbert Majoni, Tapiwa Molife, and Tawanda Chisango, but unfortunately I don’t think most youth in Zimbabwe think so much about HIV. Go to any high school or local night spot and see how despite the AIDS epidemic, one of the worst in the world, youth continue to ‘hook up’ with little thought such consequences as pregnancy and HIV and other STI infections. I have heard of students that have sex right at school, the same place where school nurses will not even provide condoms to the "A" Level (Form 5 and
6) students who are usually 17 -19 years old because the Ministry of Education and Culture does not allow secondary schools to hand out condoms.
There are Zimbabwe youth who are very concerned about HIV but denied the right to an HIV test unless they are at least 16-years-old. Young Zimbabweans have no access to treatment of STI services or family planning. However, one third of Zimbabweans who get an HIV infection HIV acquire it during adolescents. This is not surprising because only 36% of young women and only 40% of young men indicated on a survey in 2007 that they had correct knowledge on HIV transmission.
What is very scary in Zimbabwe is that youth ages between 15-24 consist of 13.1% of all people living with HIV such laws create a barrier to HIV testing and reproductive services because how many young people want their parents to know they are sexually active. Because of this many youth in Zimbabwe, and really youth around the world have unprotected sex. Youth in Zimbabwe, and from around the world need to speak up, have their voice heard, and demand that they can access HIV testing and reproductive services."
Bibliography
Zimbabwe National Guidelines on Testing and Counselling (2005)
Zimbabwe National Youth Shadow Report (2008)
UNGASS (2008). Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS: midway to Millenium Development Goals.
National AIDS Council et al (2004) The HIV and AIDS Epidemic in Zimbabwe: Background Projections, Impacts and Future Response, National AIDS Council , Ministry of Health and USAID, Harare, Zimbabwe
FUNDRAISING
OPPORTUNITIES
Staying Alive Foundation call for proposals: From 15th of July until 15th of September the Staying Alive Foundation is accepting proposals for its next round of funding. Application documents can be found on their website: www.staying-alive.org/foundation New grants will be announced on World AIDS Day 2008. If you have any questions, you can contact them by e-mail:
foundation@staying-alive.org
Stop TB Partnership’s Challenge Facility for Civil Society: Applications focusing on all aspects of TB – multidrug-resistant TB, TB/HIV, and neglected populations, for example – are welcome. The Challenge Facility aims to make the voices of vulnerable communities, including those affected by tuberculosis, heard by local and national policy makers. This facility will support civil society activities designed to attract greater attention from governments to the prevention, treatment and control of this often lethal yet curable disease. For more information please visit http://www.stoptb.org/bi/cfcs/whocanapply.asp
Next edition
The next edition of the Youth Partnerships Alert will be issued on September 15th. If you have any additions or contributions to make, please send an email to youthalert@worldaidscampaign.org. Contributions should be received by no later than September 5th 2008.
Design: horspistes.co.uk
Regeneration Newsletter
Newsletter #6 – July 17th 2008We can’t wait to meet you!With less than a month to go, the Congress organizers are fully ready to host the event. Everybody that’s involved with organizing the event couldn’t possibly be more excited to meet the young participants in August.We do know that some participants worked awfully hard to be able to come to Quebec City this summer, some with no avail. We can assure you that your efforts won’t be wasted, as we have prepared both an amazing programme for those who can attend the event and a very useful platform for those who couldn’t make it with the Virtual Congress. (For more information about the Virtual Congress, see below)If you are still working to attend the event, please know that delays are getting thinner and thinner. We are in the last period and the last confirmations are about to come in. We want to greet as many delegates as we can.Don’t miss this chance to take part in Quebec City’s biggest international youth event of its 400th anniversary celebrations!August 12th: the World Youth WalkOn August 12th 2008, the International Day of the Youth of the United Nations Organisation (UNO) will be celebrated everywhere around the world. This summer, the United Nations system will meet in Quebec City for the World Youth Walk!The main theme for this summer is:"YOUTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE: TIME FOR ACTION"Presented by the Uniterra international cooperation program, this walk will be an important meeting of the committed young people who care about the sustainable development of their communities. It will be a great opportunity to meet the 500 young people of 120 countries from around the world who will participate to ReGeneration 2008. The participants of the 5th edition of the summer School of the Institut du Nouveau-Monde will also participate to this event.Be part of the biggest and the most inspirational gathering of its kind for young people during the events of the 400th anniversary of the City of Quebec.Get all the details at this page: www.wyc2008.qc.ca/marcheOf course, we also invite you to join the event created on Facebook, at this adress: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=69597945496&ref=tsSign the Great Declaration!August 12th won’t be only about the International Youth Day or even the World Youth Walk. Right after the WYW, our friends at the Institut du Nouveau Monde (INM) will unveil the Great Declaration.Here are the project’s goals:"The Great Declaration proclaims the principles and values they wish to promote on a global scale. Its aim is to install the desire for change and to stimulate involvement among citizens. Although primarily proposed by young people, its message is addressed to all generations."The INM organizers are working really hard to gain hundreds of signatures for the Great Declaration. We cheerfully invite you to personally commit to concrete action at the following address: http://www.nowisign.org/.Have your Say!The world’s definitive scientific authority on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that the “warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level.”[1] The impacts are discernable on every continent and the IPCC predicts that unless we take decisive action now to reduce our emissions, the world will warm a further 1.1-6.4˚C within this century. With rising sea levels, shifting precipitation patterns, widening ranges of disease and more frequent and violent storms, this will have a harrowing impact on human and natural systems, especially the world’s most vulnerable. As UNICEF has pointed out, it is the world’s young and poor who stand to suffer the worst effects of climate change. Is this the world that we want to inherit?The good news is that we have a choice. We can avoid the worst impacts of climate change if we take action now. Youth around the world are standing up and calling for action from their governments, their peers and themselves. We are becoming the solution.Questions:- What roles can you play in creating just and sustainable solutions to the climate challenge?- What resources and support do you need to realize these solutions? - What can we do together at the World Youth Congress to build on this?- What do you feel are the tools that youth need to efficiently battle the environmental challenge that humanity is currently faced with?- If you were to start a climate change-oriented action or project, what would it entail?We will be very happy to have your opinions and stories on the Congress Discussion Board at this address : http://www.wyc2008.qc.ca/virtual/. You will a week to answer to those questions starting from the moment you will receive this newsletter. We will ask some questions each week until the beginning of the World Youth Congress. Don’t forget to specify your age and the country you are coming from!Welcome to the dialogue!For more information, take a look on TakingITGlobal’s page about climate change: http://issues.takingitglobal.org/climateVirtual CongressThe 4th World Youth Congress will take place in Quebec City, Canada during the month of August and even if you cannot attend the Congress in person you can still be an active participant in Congress activities! The Virtual Congress is now online at http://www.wyc2008.qc.ca/virtual/. This space is a place where youth can watch video clips, interact with other people and workshop facilitators, share their thoughts, write articles for the Congress Daily Newspaper, and much more!Check it out![1] Source: IPCC AR4 Synthesis Report, SPM, 2008. Note: range given is an aggregate of all scenarios modelled, based on 1989-1999 to 2089-2099 averages. For pre-industrial temperature increases, add 0.5˚C.
Posted by Emyeyo at 11:31 AM 0 comments
wAi Africa Newsletter
What is CookingImmortalizing Women's Response to Slave TradeWomen were very significant in resting against the slave trade and protecting their families during the slave trade. wAi Africa is interested in erecting a statue in Cape Coast in order to immortalize women's responses to the slave trade. This project is visualization of history and it tells the women's stories. wAi is accepting partnership from around the world to implement this project. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6Training Liberian Women in the ArtsThe opportunity to be trained in the arts will be extended to the Liberian women at the Liberian camp in the Central Region of Ghana. WAi Africa and Foundation for Female Photojournalists (FFP) aims to train approximately 20 women in the areas of photography, theater, and video editing. Support such as donations of materials like professional cameras and computers will give women a starting point in live after years civil war. This is a call to support the reconstruction of Liberia. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=14Ghana-Liberia Community Harmonization and Reconciliation Arts FestivalWAi Africa and other partners hope to create a festival that involves group dancing, poetry recital, and painting. Want to give your support or attend? http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=14Artistically Promoting BiodiversityUsing art to save the environment is a new initiative program by wAi-Africa. Recycling widely used materials such as wood, clay, and rocks will lessen the destruction of rivers, plants, and animal ecology. wAi-Africa is committed to establishing multi-purpose furnaces and studios in order to facilitate the use of waste materials and secondary products such as wood dust, glass, etc. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=34Want to Follow your Dreams? wAi-Africa can help!Interested in the professional arts? wAi Africa will support you in your country with administrative set-up and program implementation skills. You can create groups focused on women in photography, filmmaking, graphic designing, and much more! http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=33Entrenching Women in the Arts Economic EmpowermentIn efforts to sustain the environment, wAi-Africa hopes to manufacture paper from all materials that can produce paper products. The goal is to use common agricultural products like saw dust and sugar cane chaff to create paper while still advocating for tree planting and paper recycling. Interested in supporting an environment-friendly project? http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=35Fulfilling the Dreams of HIV/AIDS Patients in AfricaWAi-Africa pledges to fulfill the dreams of select HIV/AIDS patients within communities that have stigmatized perceptions of HIV/AIDS. The project titled "HIV/AIDS Millionaire Club- the Attraction" will photo document and film AIDS patients in their best dreams to reduce the discrimination and stigmatization of HIV/AIDS patients. Help improve the lives of HIV/AIDS patients by funding this project. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=36From the Policies to the People: Reducing Carbon EmissionswAi-Africa intends to reduce carbon emissions by 30% within 5 years in West Africa. To ensure low carbon technologies in energy driven machineries, one phase of the program aims to draft policies and enact laws to legally compel. Through research, media coverage, and legislator engagement. The next phase involves the establishment of functional bio or wind energy stations in communities. The final phase will focus on changing lifestyles by advocating to individuals about lessening carbon emissions. Click on the heading for more information today! Put your money where your heart is. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=37Is ICT Sexist?ICT, or Information and Communication Technology, is programmed to exclude women. Software developers have created programs in order to reject offensive information from external sources. Unfortunately, this offensive information includes terminology associated with women, females, sexual harassment, etc. wAi-Africa seeks to conduct research and propose strategies to make all aspects of ICT inclusive of women. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=38Call for Proposal- TV Comedy SeriesThe Women's Arts Institute Africa (wAi Africa) is calling on all women writers to script a comedy that will use women as main characters. Chosen scripts will be developed into full scripts by 30th September 2008. All submissions are due by 20th July 2008. http://www.waiafrica.org/news.php?nid=25Please you may unsubscribe should that be a need by emailing http://us.mc563.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=info@waiafrica.org-- Chinyere K. Ojini Communications and Fundraising Women's Arts Institute Africa(wAi Africa) P.O. Box OS 1826 , Osu - Accra, Ghana Tel : +233-21-253845 Cell : +233-24-895- 3063Fax: +233-21-253845 E-mail: http://us.mc563.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=chinyere@waiafrica.org Website: http://www.waiafrica.org/HIV/AIDS CONFERENCE IN MEXICO CITYGYCA UPDATEAs the International AIDS Conference approaches (AIDS 2008), I would like to inform of you of a service that the Kaiser Family Foundation is offering, allowing you to access online coverage of the conference. Kaisernetwork. org's extensive conference coverage will include live and tape-delayed webcasts of select session; podcasts available in Spanish and English; interviews with newsmakers and journalists; and daily narrated video highlights of major conference developments and much more.I would like to point out that everyday from August 3-8, we will be sending out a daily update email featuring highlights from the conference. We hope you will consider forwarding the daily update email to members of your listserv for that week, to help extend the reach of the conference. This is a highly useful service for members on your listserv because the information presented in this conference will be relevant to the public, researchers, scientists, advocates and policymakers alike. Sign up for the email at http://www.kaiserne/ twork.org/ aids2008 . In addition to the daily conference update email, we also have a variety of syndication options, including an online widget, that allow organizations and individuals to feature content on their Web sites, blogs and social networking pages. For more information and to see examples of partners' sites that syndicated content from the 2006 International AIDS Conference, visit http://www.kaiserne/ twork.org/ aids2008/ syndication. cfm.Emilia Eyoemyeyo@yahoo.com
Posted by Emyeyo at 11:24 AM 0 comments
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Regeneration Newsletter
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About Me
Emilia Eyo
My name is a Emilia Eyo, I am a 25 year old female living in NIgeria. I had undergone a 3-year training on sexuality, Leadership and Life Management Skills organized by Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI),Nigeria where I graduated as a Peer Health Educator on Sexuality, Gender, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Conflict and Life management and personal empowerment issues. Presently I work with Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI), Nigeria as a Youth facilitator where I facilitate sessions on Life Management issues including Conflict Management. I am a graduate of computer science and have excellent computer skills; I am open to new ideas and learning new skills. I love to add creativity and entertainment to my work/events as I believe young people are drawn to the media more in recent times. I am a Virtual Volunteer for International Young professionals (IYPS), a Virtual Projects Editor for Taking IT Global View my complete profile
Newsletter #6 – July 17th 2008We can’t wait to meet you!With less than a month to go, the Congress organizers are fully ready to host the event. Everybody that’s involved with organizing the event couldn’t possibly be more excited to meet the young participants in August.We do know that some participants worked awfully hard to be able to come to Quebec City this summer, some with no avail. We can assure you that your efforts won’t be wasted, as we have prepared both an amazing programme for those who can attend the event and a very useful platform for those who couldn’t make it with the Virtual Congress. (For more information about the Virtual Congress, see below)If you are still working to attend the event, please know that delays are getting thinner and thinner. We are in the last period and the last confirmations are about to come in. We want to greet as many delegates as we can.Don’t miss this chance to take part in Quebec City’s biggest international youth event of its 400th anniversary celebrations!August 12th: the World Youth WalkOn August 12th 2008, the International Day of the Youth of the United Nations Organisation (UNO) will be celebrated everywhere around the world. This summer, the United Nations system will meet in Quebec City for the World Youth Walk!The main theme for this summer is:"YOUTH AND CLIMATE CHANGE: TIME FOR ACTION"Presented by the Uniterra international cooperation program, this walk will be an important meeting of the committed young people who care about the sustainable development of their communities. It will be a great opportunity to meet the 500 young people of 120 countries from around the world who will participate to ReGeneration 2008. The participants of the 5th edition of the summer School of the Institut du Nouveau-Monde will also participate to this event.Be part of the biggest and the most inspirational gathering of its kind for young people during the events of the 400th anniversary of the City of Quebec.Get all the details at this page: www.wyc2008.qc.ca/marcheOf course, we also invite you to join the event created on Facebook, at this adress: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=69597945496&ref=tsSign the Great Declaration!August 12th won’t be only about the International Youth Day or even the World Youth Walk. Right after the WYW, our friends at the Institut du Nouveau Monde (INM) will unveil the Great Declaration.Here are the project’s goals:"The Great Declaration proclaims the principles and values they wish to promote on a global scale. Its aim is to install the desire for change and to stimulate involvement among citizens. Although primarily proposed by young people, its message is addressed to all generations."The INM organizers are working really hard to gain hundreds of signatures for the Great Declaration. We cheerfully invite you to personally commit to concrete action at the following address: http://www.nowisign.org/.Have your Say!The world’s definitive scientific authority on climate change, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that the “warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level.”[1] The impacts are discernable on every continent and the IPCC predicts that unless we take decisive action now to reduce our emissions, the world will warm a further 1.1-6.4˚C within this century. With rising sea levels, shifting precipitation patterns, widening ranges of disease and more frequent and violent storms, this will have a harrowing impact on human and natural systems, especially the world’s most vulnerable. As UNICEF has pointed out, it is the world’s young and poor who stand to suffer the worst effects of climate change. Is this the world that we want to inherit?The good news is that we have a choice. We can avoid the worst impacts of climate change if we take action now. Youth around the world are standing up and calling for action from their governments, their peers and themselves. We are becoming the solution.Questions:- What roles can you play in creating just and sustainable solutions to the climate challenge?- What resources and support do you need to realize these solutions? - What can we do together at the World Youth Congress to build on this?- What do you feel are the tools that youth need to efficiently battle the environmental challenge that humanity is currently faced with?- If you were to start a climate change-oriented action or project, what would it entail?We will be very happy to have your opinions and stories on the Congress Discussion Board at this address : http://www.wyc2008.qc.ca/virtual/. You will a week to answer to those questions starting from the moment you will receive this newsletter. We will ask some questions each week until the beginning of the World Youth Congress. Don’t forget to specify your age and the country you are coming from!Welcome to the dialogue!For more information, take a look on TakingITGlobal’s page about climate change: http://issues.takingitglobal.org/climateVirtual CongressThe 4th World Youth Congress will take place in Quebec City, Canada during the month of August and even if you cannot attend the Congress in person you can still be an active participant in Congress activities! The Virtual Congress is now online at http://www.wyc2008.qc.ca/virtual/. This space is a place where youth can watch video clips, interact with other people and workshop facilitators, share their thoughts, write articles for the Congress Daily Newspaper, and much more!Check it out![1] Source: IPCC AR4 Synthesis Report, SPM, 2008. Note: range given is an aggregate of all scenarios modelled, based on 1989-1999 to 2089-2099 averages. For pre-industrial temperature increases, add 0.5˚C.
Posted by Emyeyo at 11:31 AM 0 comments
wAi Africa Newsletter
What is CookingImmortalizing Women's Response to Slave TradeWomen were very significant in resting against the slave trade and protecting their families during the slave trade. wAi Africa is interested in erecting a statue in Cape Coast in order to immortalize women's responses to the slave trade. This project is visualization of history and it tells the women's stories. wAi is accepting partnership from around the world to implement this project. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6Training Liberian Women in the ArtsThe opportunity to be trained in the arts will be extended to the Liberian women at the Liberian camp in the Central Region of Ghana. WAi Africa and Foundation for Female Photojournalists (FFP) aims to train approximately 20 women in the areas of photography, theater, and video editing. Support such as donations of materials like professional cameras and computers will give women a starting point in live after years civil war. This is a call to support the reconstruction of Liberia. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=14Ghana-Liberia Community Harmonization and Reconciliation Arts FestivalWAi Africa and other partners hope to create a festival that involves group dancing, poetry recital, and painting. Want to give your support or attend? http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=14Artistically Promoting BiodiversityUsing art to save the environment is a new initiative program by wAi-Africa. Recycling widely used materials such as wood, clay, and rocks will lessen the destruction of rivers, plants, and animal ecology. wAi-Africa is committed to establishing multi-purpose furnaces and studios in order to facilitate the use of waste materials and secondary products such as wood dust, glass, etc. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=34Want to Follow your Dreams? wAi-Africa can help!Interested in the professional arts? wAi Africa will support you in your country with administrative set-up and program implementation skills. You can create groups focused on women in photography, filmmaking, graphic designing, and much more! http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=33Entrenching Women in the Arts Economic EmpowermentIn efforts to sustain the environment, wAi-Africa hopes to manufacture paper from all materials that can produce paper products. The goal is to use common agricultural products like saw dust and sugar cane chaff to create paper while still advocating for tree planting and paper recycling. Interested in supporting an environment-friendly project? http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=35Fulfilling the Dreams of HIV/AIDS Patients in AfricaWAi-Africa pledges to fulfill the dreams of select HIV/AIDS patients within communities that have stigmatized perceptions of HIV/AIDS. The project titled "HIV/AIDS Millionaire Club- the Attraction" will photo document and film AIDS patients in their best dreams to reduce the discrimination and stigmatization of HIV/AIDS patients. Help improve the lives of HIV/AIDS patients by funding this project. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=36From the Policies to the People: Reducing Carbon EmissionswAi-Africa intends to reduce carbon emissions by 30% within 5 years in West Africa. To ensure low carbon technologies in energy driven machineries, one phase of the program aims to draft policies and enact laws to legally compel. Through research, media coverage, and legislator engagement. The next phase involves the establishment of functional bio or wind energy stations in communities. The final phase will focus on changing lifestyles by advocating to individuals about lessening carbon emissions. Click on the heading for more information today! Put your money where your heart is. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=37Is ICT Sexist?ICT, or Information and Communication Technology, is programmed to exclude women. Software developers have created programs in order to reject offensive information from external sources. Unfortunately, this offensive information includes terminology associated with women, females, sexual harassment, etc. wAi-Africa seeks to conduct research and propose strategies to make all aspects of ICT inclusive of women. http://www.waiafrica.org/page.php?ppid=6&pid=38Call for Proposal- TV Comedy SeriesThe Women's Arts Institute Africa (wAi Africa) is calling on all women writers to script a comedy that will use women as main characters. Chosen scripts will be developed into full scripts by 30th September 2008. All submissions are due by 20th July 2008. http://www.waiafrica.org/news.php?nid=25Please you may unsubscribe should that be a need by emailing http://us.mc563.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=info@waiafrica.org-- Chinyere K. Ojini Communications and Fundraising Women's Arts Institute Africa(wAi Africa) P.O. Box OS 1826 , Osu - Accra, Ghana Tel : +233-21-253845 Cell : +233-24-895- 3063Fax: +233-21-253845 E-mail: http://us.mc563.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=chinyere@waiafrica.org Website: http://www.waiafrica.org/HIV/AIDS CONFERENCE IN MEXICO CITYGYCA UPDATEAs the International AIDS Conference approaches (AIDS 2008), I would like to inform of you of a service that the Kaiser Family Foundation is offering, allowing you to access online coverage of the conference. Kaisernetwork. org's extensive conference coverage will include live and tape-delayed webcasts of select session; podcasts available in Spanish and English; interviews with newsmakers and journalists; and daily narrated video highlights of major conference developments and much more.I would like to point out that everyday from August 3-8, we will be sending out a daily update email featuring highlights from the conference. We hope you will consider forwarding the daily update email to members of your listserv for that week, to help extend the reach of the conference. This is a highly useful service for members on your listserv because the information presented in this conference will be relevant to the public, researchers, scientists, advocates and policymakers alike. Sign up for the email at http://www.kaiserne/ twork.org/ aids2008 . In addition to the daily conference update email, we also have a variety of syndication options, including an online widget, that allow organizations and individuals to feature content on their Web sites, blogs and social networking pages. For more information and to see examples of partners' sites that syndicated content from the 2006 International AIDS Conference, visit http://www.kaiserne/ twork.org/ aids2008/ syndication. cfm.Emilia Eyoemyeyo@yahoo.com
Posted by Emyeyo at 11:24 AM 0 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Blog Archive
▼ 2008 (2)
▼ July (2)
Regeneration Newsletter
wAi Africa Newsletter
About Me
Emilia Eyo
My name is a Emilia Eyo, I am a 25 year old female living in NIgeria. I had undergone a 3-year training on sexuality, Leadership and Life Management Skills organized by Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI),Nigeria where I graduated as a Peer Health Educator on Sexuality, Gender, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Conflict and Life management and personal empowerment issues. Presently I work with Girls’ Power Initiative (GPI), Nigeria as a Youth facilitator where I facilitate sessions on Life Management issues including Conflict Management. I am a graduate of computer science and have excellent computer skills; I am open to new ideas and learning new skills. I love to add creativity and entertainment to my work/events as I believe young people are drawn to the media more in recent times. I am a Virtual Volunteer for International Young professionals (IYPS), a Virtual Projects Editor for Taking IT Global View my complete profile
Friday 25 July 2008
Niger Delta bears brunt after 50 years of oil spills
Up to 1.5 million tons of oil, 50 times the pollution unleashed in the Exxon Valdez tanker disaster, has been spilt in the ecologically precious Niger Delta over the past 50 years, it was revealed yesterday.
A panel of independent experts who travelled to the increasingly tense and lawless region said damage to the fragile mangrove forests over the past 50 years was tantamount to a catastrophic oil spill occurring every 12 months in what is one of the world's most important ecosystems.
As well as threatening rare species including primates, fish, turtles and birds, the pollution is destroying the livelihoods of many of the 20 million people living there, damaging crops and fuelling the upsurge in violence, it was claimed.
The Delta is home to 7,000sq km of the continent's remaining 9,000sq km of mangrove and scientists believe some 60 per cent of West Africa's fish stocks breed in the rivers and swamps along the coast.
The report, compiled by WWF UK, the World Conservation Union and representatives from the federal ministry of Abuja and the Nigeria Conservation Foundation, concluded that the delta was now one of the five most polluted spots on the planet. Far from benefiting local people, rural communities have borne the brunt of the environmental and social costs of development, experts said.
In Oloibori, the first oil village where drilling began in 1958, youth unemployment is now running at 50 per cent.
The cost of the leaking crude, much of it from outdated equipment and pipes, is estimated to be costing Nigeria $10m (£5.3m) a day.
The report concluded that the impact of oil and gas drilling was a "significant contributor to the current violence, sabotage of pipelines/installations and instability in the region."
Yesterday villagers protesting against oil production in the region stormed and seized three Shell oil platforms, forcing the closure of each pumping station. This week, four Scottish oil workers returned to Britain after being seized from an Exxon Mobil compound by local gunmen seeking a £21m ransom.
And earlier this year 17 people were killed when local militants stormed a Royal Dutch Shell facility, prompting the oil giant to pull out hundreds of workers and close down wells.
Shell is one of the biggest players in the region and one of the most heavily criticised. Its role came under the international spotlight following the execution of the playwright turned minority rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995 by the then military dictatorship. Last year the company, which boasted profits of $22.94bn (£13.12bn), extracted 900,000 barrels of crude oil a day from its activities in the Niger Delta.
Environmentalists accuse the company of failing to meet promises to replace ageing pipes and swamp flowlines that, it is claimed, are steadily leaking oil into the once pristine waters of the delta. Shell estimates that 95 per cent of discharges over the past five years have been caused by sabotage.
But a spokeswoman for the company insisted that the oil giant was meeting its commitments and continuously monitoring equipment, although continuing violence meant it could not meet all its targets.
"We have a programme in place to replace flowlines and pipelines in swamp areas and on land and we continue to make good progress.
"Unfortunately, we have little or no access to some land areas, such as Ogoni, and therefore are unable so far to complete the programme of replacement in such areas," she said.
The authors found sites at Kidaro Creek and Rivers State where oil products had been buried. Old drilling equipment in other areas, officially thought to have been cleared up, was discovered to be still leaching oil into the environment.
The report accused the oil companies of "double standards" by using technologies not in line with more advanced practices carried out elsewhere in the world.
It called for international action to implement an immediate rescue plan, backed by the oil and gas industries which have exploited the region for up to half a century.
In my research on the Niger Delta state of poulltuion i stumbled on this article on this web http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/niger-delta-bears-brunt-after-50-years-of-oil-spills-421634.html i thought to post it so others can read it..more to come
A panel of independent experts who travelled to the increasingly tense and lawless region said damage to the fragile mangrove forests over the past 50 years was tantamount to a catastrophic oil spill occurring every 12 months in what is one of the world's most important ecosystems.
As well as threatening rare species including primates, fish, turtles and birds, the pollution is destroying the livelihoods of many of the 20 million people living there, damaging crops and fuelling the upsurge in violence, it was claimed.
The Delta is home to 7,000sq km of the continent's remaining 9,000sq km of mangrove and scientists believe some 60 per cent of West Africa's fish stocks breed in the rivers and swamps along the coast.
The report, compiled by WWF UK, the World Conservation Union and representatives from the federal ministry of Abuja and the Nigeria Conservation Foundation, concluded that the delta was now one of the five most polluted spots on the planet. Far from benefiting local people, rural communities have borne the brunt of the environmental and social costs of development, experts said.
In Oloibori, the first oil village where drilling began in 1958, youth unemployment is now running at 50 per cent.
The cost of the leaking crude, much of it from outdated equipment and pipes, is estimated to be costing Nigeria $10m (£5.3m) a day.
The report concluded that the impact of oil and gas drilling was a "significant contributor to the current violence, sabotage of pipelines/installations and instability in the region."
Yesterday villagers protesting against oil production in the region stormed and seized three Shell oil platforms, forcing the closure of each pumping station. This week, four Scottish oil workers returned to Britain after being seized from an Exxon Mobil compound by local gunmen seeking a £21m ransom.
And earlier this year 17 people were killed when local militants stormed a Royal Dutch Shell facility, prompting the oil giant to pull out hundreds of workers and close down wells.
Shell is one of the biggest players in the region and one of the most heavily criticised. Its role came under the international spotlight following the execution of the playwright turned minority rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995 by the then military dictatorship. Last year the company, which boasted profits of $22.94bn (£13.12bn), extracted 900,000 barrels of crude oil a day from its activities in the Niger Delta.
Environmentalists accuse the company of failing to meet promises to replace ageing pipes and swamp flowlines that, it is claimed, are steadily leaking oil into the once pristine waters of the delta. Shell estimates that 95 per cent of discharges over the past five years have been caused by sabotage.
But a spokeswoman for the company insisted that the oil giant was meeting its commitments and continuously monitoring equipment, although continuing violence meant it could not meet all its targets.
"We have a programme in place to replace flowlines and pipelines in swamp areas and on land and we continue to make good progress.
"Unfortunately, we have little or no access to some land areas, such as Ogoni, and therefore are unable so far to complete the programme of replacement in such areas," she said.
The authors found sites at Kidaro Creek and Rivers State where oil products had been buried. Old drilling equipment in other areas, officially thought to have been cleared up, was discovered to be still leaching oil into the environment.
The report accused the oil companies of "double standards" by using technologies not in line with more advanced practices carried out elsewhere in the world.
It called for international action to implement an immediate rescue plan, backed by the oil and gas industries which have exploited the region for up to half a century.
In my research on the Niger Delta state of poulltuion i stumbled on this article on this web http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/niger-delta-bears-brunt-after-50-years-of-oil-spills-421634.html i thought to post it so others can read it..more to come
Monday 7 July 2008
1st Brandsarise Youth Empowerment Seminar Storms Calabar
On the 30th of June 2008,the Main Auditorium of the Cultural Centre Complex was filled with over 1000 youths. The event’s theme which was personal branding for self actualization featured a presentation on the theme by the event’s facilitator, Charles O’Tudor.
Other presentations were by The Wife of the Governor of Cross River State Mrs Obioma Liyel Imoke. Motivational speeches were also presented by Nigeria’s most successful artistes namely Weird MC, Ali Baba, Teju Baby Face and Temitayo George.
Temitayo George on Stage making her presentation
Charles O’Tudor Presenting on Personal Branding for Self Actualization-“Brand Thyself-Originality is Optimality
(L-R)The SA to Gov. Wife, The Wife of the CRS Governor, Mrs Obioma Imoke and the Wife of the Deputy Governor Mrs Gloria Cobham.
Teju Baby Face saying “ opportunity + Preparation =Luck”- “To make it in life you need skills more than talents so go and build your skills”
A cross Section of Participants, Weird MC and Ali Baba in front row
Weird MC bringing down the roof with “Ijoya”
Still the Weird One
(L-R) Charles O’Tudor, Temitayo George, Weird MC, Ali Baba and Teju Baby Face on stage receiving a standing ovation from participants.
My personal evaluation of this event it was a successful event at least I had the opportunity to watch my baby girl(Weird One) on close contact doing her IJOYA ; however the lapses I observed were that there was no registration list to gather participants contact thereby making follow up and impact assessment difficult.
On the 30th of June 2008,the Main Auditorium of the Cultural Centre Complex was filled with over 1000 youths. The event’s theme which was personal branding for self actualization featured a presentation on the theme by the event’s facilitator, Charles O’Tudor.
Other presentations were by The Wife of the Governor of Cross River State Mrs Obioma Liyel Imoke. Motivational speeches were also presented by Nigeria’s most successful artistes namely Weird MC, Ali Baba, Teju Baby Face and Temitayo George.
Temitayo George on Stage making her presentation
Charles O’Tudor Presenting on Personal Branding for Self Actualization-“Brand Thyself-Originality is Optimality
(L-R)The SA to Gov. Wife, The Wife of the CRS Governor, Mrs Obioma Imoke and the Wife of the Deputy Governor Mrs Gloria Cobham.
Teju Baby Face saying “ opportunity + Preparation =Luck”- “To make it in life you need skills more than talents so go and build your skills”
A cross Section of Participants, Weird MC and Ali Baba in front row
Weird MC bringing down the roof with “Ijoya”
Still the Weird One
(L-R) Charles O’Tudor, Temitayo George, Weird MC, Ali Baba and Teju Baby Face on stage receiving a standing ovation from participants.
My personal evaluation of this event it was a successful event at least I had the opportunity to watch my baby girl(Weird One) on close contact doing her IJOYA ; however the lapses I observed were that there was no registration list to gather participants contact thereby making follow up and impact assessment difficult.
Friday 4 July 2008
who knew Niger Delta?
The Niger Delta region in recent times has been notorious for conflict. But a question I would lie to ask is this, was it today the problem of the Niger Delta started or we are just noticing it?
From my observations the Niger Delta issues is a situation of a people who for a log time have been crying but have been ignored and they do not know which other way to cause attending than through a violent means, after all the whole world is turning to them now.
Who ever knew there was a Niger Delta region? Who knew that where the oil was coming from have been neglected to such extent.
I do not support the violence, but I am saying now that the world is hearing about Niger Delta region, trey should ask the right questions and no one has the right to call them a violent region and blacklist the region.
I was born band brought up in the region and I have never fought because of the level of accurate information and education n I got, but a lot of the young people in that region do not have access to good roads, water, and basic infrastructural facilities e.t.c.
From my observations the Niger Delta issues is a situation of a people who for a log time have been crying but have been ignored and they do not know which other way to cause attending than through a violent means, after all the whole world is turning to them now.
Who ever knew there was a Niger Delta region? Who knew that where the oil was coming from have been neglected to such extent.
I do not support the violence, but I am saying now that the world is hearing about Niger Delta region, trey should ask the right questions and no one has the right to call them a violent region and blacklist the region.
I was born band brought up in the region and I have never fought because of the level of accurate information and education n I got, but a lot of the young people in that region do not have access to good roads, water, and basic infrastructural facilities e.t.c.
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