1. Inyun Choi 2. Somali rebels order UN to stop food imports 3. As Collier mentioned about the cons of aid to the poor in African countries, giving aid is not the only way to help the poor. What’s more, when you consider the circumstances of the world, it won’t work permanently. In the case of Somali which shows us various dimensions of aid from out-side, the UN’s WFP couldn’t wait and look at the poor without any actions. On the other hand, if the situation maintains, Somali will not be able to stand itself as the Islamist insurgents addressed. However, I think the real problem may be unsustainable governance of Somali. At this moment, the Islamic power is leading in some parts of Somali. Its perspective is very political but not for common Somalis. As it looks this, saving African people from poverty is fairy complicated as well as very hard. -------------------------------------------------- Islamist insurgents who control large parts of southern Somalia have told the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) to stop importing goods into the country. The al-Shabab group issued a statement saying the WFP must start buying from Somali farmers, saying mass importing had devastated local agriculture. In response the WFP said Somalia was not able to feed its population. Drought and war has left more than 109,000 young children dependent on the feeding centres run by the WFP. "The WFP is working in Somalia because the country cannot currently support the food needs of its population," Peter Smerdon, the WFP spokesman in Nairobi, told the BBC. The UN estimates half of the people living in central and southern Somalia - areas largely controlled by Islamist militants - are now in need of food aid. Al-Shabab, which the US believes has links to al-Qaeda, controls large swathes of southern Somalia. They have imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law, which has been unpopular with many Somalis. Analysts say al-Shabab is hoping to boost its support in farming areas by warning the WFP. Ships attacked The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan, in the capital Mogadishu, says the WFP is a major player in the international response to the humanitarian emergency. But the WFP itself has come under attack several times from insurgents - its food trucks, warehouses and ships have all been raided. And the programme has also been forced to shut feeding centres because of a lack of funding which has been blamed on strict US sanctions. A statement from al-Shabab said the WFP must empty all of its storage warehouses by the end of the year, and warned local businesses they must end contracts with the WFP. "The bringing of immense quantities of free food rations, and specifically during the harvest season, has been devastating to the agriculture industry in Somalia," the statement said. "It has been decided that the WFP must immediately refrain from bringing food rations from outside of Somalia and rather purchase food from Somali farmers, and then that food will be distributed to the needy in Somalia." At a recent conference in Italy the prime minister in Somalia's weak UN-backed government, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, mentioned the need to empower the country's farmers. He called for more funding from the UN and developed nations to buy seeds and fertiliser. Somalia has been in turmoil since 1991 when its central government collapsed. The transitional government, helped by an African Union peacekeeping force, runs only parts of Mogadishu. ----------------- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8378446.stm
Weary of Political Crisis, Honduras Holds Election
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Some weeks ago I posted a link to 'The real news', in which the crisis in Honduras was and still is very much on their minds. Unfortunately, things have not changed much and now Hondurans must go to election five months after the last coup d'etat. It would be safe to say, that Honduras is firmly trapped, as Collier would put it. It truly is a vicious circle the country is in, and from my point of view only help from other countries (military or not) can prevent yet another coup.
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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Rony Gómez will stay home when Hondurans go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president, five months after the military and Congress ousted the last one. “I won’t vote,” he said. “It would be endorsing the coup.”
The ousted leader is in Brazil's embassy in Tegucigalpa. The question is how many Hondurans feel like Mr. Gómez, a 40-year-old street vendor and former soldier. Manuel Zelaya, the deposed president, condemns the elections as illegal, and predicts a low turnout that will show that he still enjoys popular support.
But the de facto government that has run the country since the coup last summer argues that the elections — scheduled long before the country’s turmoil began — are the only way to end the political crisis and move on. A large turnout would prove that most Hondurans agree.
Many people here, weary of what they refer to as “the situation,” and worried as the economy spirals downward, say they do plan to vote. “That’s how the transition starts,” said Moisés Bados Castellano, 67, a retired accountant and farmer. “We need democracy in this country.”
In the final days before the vote, the streets here were calm. Campaigning stopped at the end of last week and there was barely an election poster visible by this weekend. The flags and bunting that usually wrap the city’s buildings and cars in the colors of the two leading parties before elections were also absent.
The two leading candidates began running months before Mr. Zelaya was ejected and exiled, but their platforms promising to deal with the global recession, the country’s stubborn poverty, mounting crime and dysfunctional schools instantly were overshadowed by the coup.
Porfirio Lobo, who lost the last election four years ago to Mr. Zelaya, had a double-digit lead in the last polls. Mr. Lobo, 61, a wealthy conservative with a long political career, has danced rhetorical circles around the question of Mr. Zelaya’s future.
“I think it’s fundamental to have a dialogue with all the actors,” Mr. Lobo told foreign reporters Friday. “I know that at some point I will have to talk to Zelaya.”
But he refused to say what might happen to the multiple legal charges, including treason, that Mr. Zelaya faces.
His opponent, Elvín Santos, who had been Mr. Zelaya’s vice president before resigning to run for president, has been a more outspoken supporter of the coup.
A very down to earth* kind of guy. I'm an environmental sociologist interested in establishing material and organizational sustainability worldwide. I'm always looking for interesting materials/technologies, inspiring ideas, or institutional examples of sustainability to inspire others to recognize their choices now. To be fatalistic about an unsustainable world is a sign of a captive mind, given all our options.
*(If "earth" is defined in a planetary sense, concerning comparative historical knowledge and interest in the past 10,000 years or so anywhere...) See both blogs.
1. Inyun Choi
ReplyDelete2. Somali rebels order UN to stop food imports
3. As Collier mentioned about the cons of aid to the poor in African countries, giving aid is not the only way to help the poor. What’s more, when you consider the circumstances of the world, it won’t work permanently. In the case of Somali which shows us various dimensions of aid from out-side, the UN’s WFP couldn’t wait and look at the poor without any actions. On the other hand, if the situation maintains, Somali will not be able to stand itself as the Islamist insurgents addressed. However, I think the real problem may be unsustainable governance of Somali. At this moment, the Islamic power is leading in some parts of Somali. Its perspective is very political but not for common Somalis. As it looks this, saving African people from poverty is fairy complicated as well as very hard.
--------------------------------------------------
Islamist insurgents who control large parts of southern Somalia have told the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) to stop importing goods into the country.
The al-Shabab group issued a statement saying the WFP must start buying from Somali farmers, saying mass importing had devastated local agriculture.
In response the WFP said Somalia was not able to feed its population.
Drought and war has left more than 109,000 young children dependent on the feeding centres run by the WFP.
"The WFP is working in Somalia because the country cannot currently support the food needs of its population," Peter Smerdon, the WFP spokesman in Nairobi, told the BBC.
The UN estimates half of the people living in central and southern Somalia - areas largely controlled by Islamist militants - are now in need of food aid.
Al-Shabab, which the US believes has links to al-Qaeda, controls large swathes of southern Somalia.
They have imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law, which has been unpopular with many Somalis.
Analysts say al-Shabab is hoping to boost its support in farming areas by warning the WFP.
Ships attacked
The BBC's Mohammed Olad Hassan, in the capital Mogadishu, says the WFP is a major player in the international response to the humanitarian emergency.
But the WFP itself has come under attack several times from insurgents - its food trucks, warehouses and ships have all been raided.
And the programme has also been forced to shut feeding centres because of a lack of funding which has been blamed on strict US sanctions.
A statement from al-Shabab said the WFP must empty all of its storage warehouses by the end of the year, and warned local businesses they must end contracts with the WFP.
"The bringing of immense quantities of free food rations, and specifically during the harvest season, has been devastating to the agriculture industry in Somalia," the statement said.
"It has been decided that the WFP must immediately refrain from bringing food rations from outside of Somalia and rather purchase food from Somali farmers, and then that food will be distributed to the needy in Somalia."
At a recent conference in Italy the prime minister in Somalia's weak UN-backed government, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, mentioned the need to empower the country's farmers.
He called for more funding from the UN and developed nations to buy seeds and fertiliser.
Somalia has been in turmoil since 1991 when its central government collapsed.
The transitional government, helped by an African Union peacekeeping force, runs only parts of Mogadishu.
-----------------
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8378446.stm
Christoffer Grønlund
ReplyDeleteWeary of Political Crisis, Honduras Holds Election
-----------
Some weeks ago I posted a link to 'The real news', in which the crisis in Honduras was and still is very much on their minds. Unfortunately, things have not changed much and now Hondurans must go to election five months after the last coup d'etat. It would be safe to say, that Honduras is firmly trapped, as Collier would put it. It truly is a vicious circle the country is in, and from my point of view only help from other countries (military or not) can prevent yet another coup.
------
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Rony Gómez will stay home when Hondurans go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president, five months after the military and Congress ousted the last one. “I won’t vote,” he said. “It would be endorsing the coup.”
The ousted leader is in Brazil's embassy in Tegucigalpa.
The question is how many Hondurans feel like Mr. Gómez, a 40-year-old street vendor and former soldier. Manuel Zelaya, the deposed president, condemns the elections as illegal, and predicts a low turnout that will show that he still enjoys popular support.
But the de facto government that has run the country since the coup last summer argues that the elections — scheduled long before the country’s turmoil began — are the only way to end the political crisis and move on. A large turnout would prove that most Hondurans agree.
Many people here, weary of what they refer to as “the situation,” and worried as the economy spirals downward, say they do plan to vote. “That’s how the transition starts,” said Moisés Bados Castellano, 67, a retired accountant and farmer. “We need democracy in this country.”
In the final days before the vote, the streets here were calm. Campaigning stopped at the end of last week and there was barely an election poster visible by this weekend. The flags and bunting that usually wrap the city’s buildings and cars in the colors of the two leading parties before elections were also absent.
The two leading candidates began running months before Mr. Zelaya was ejected and exiled, but their platforms promising to deal with the global recession, the country’s stubborn poverty, mounting crime and dysfunctional schools instantly were overshadowed by the coup.
Porfirio Lobo, who lost the last election four years ago to Mr. Zelaya, had a double-digit lead in the last polls. Mr. Lobo, 61, a wealthy conservative with a long political career, has danced rhetorical circles around the question of Mr. Zelaya’s future.
“I think it’s fundamental to have a dialogue with all the actors,” Mr. Lobo told foreign reporters Friday. “I know that at some point I will have to talk to Zelaya.”
But he refused to say what might happen to the multiple legal charges, including treason, that Mr. Zelaya faces.
His opponent, Elvín Santos, who had been Mr. Zelaya’s vice president before resigning to run for president, has been a more outspoken supporter of the coup.
---
Whole article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/world/americas/29honduras.html?_r=1&ref=world