Malnutrition is define to ignorance

ALIBORI DEPARTMENT, Benin, 14 April 2010 – More than one in three Beninese children under the age of five show signs of chronic malnutrition. In the drier, northernmost part of the country, most families harvest crops for both income and their own consumption, feeding their children whatever is available from this yield.

"A young child is weighed at Gomparou Health Clinic in Benin’s northern Alibori Department. More than one in three Beninese children under the age of five show signs of chronic malnutrition."

“The main cause of malnutrition is ignorance,” said Linata Gbadamassi, a nurse working in the Gomparou Health Clinic in Benin’s northern Alibori Department.“There is not a shortage of food but, rather, mothers don’t use the right ingredients,” she added. “They tend to always give the child plain porridge made of just maize or millet instead of enriching it with soya or other nutritious foods.”

Now this is a  problem of child survival’

The problem is intensified by local myths about food, according to Ms. Gbadamassi. For example, many people believe that if their children eat eggs, they will become thieves. Much discussion and counselling will be needed to change these deep-seated beliefs.
Child malnutrition is also rooted in the unequal power relationship between men and women.
“It is the men who buy the meat and will often eat their share first, leaving whatever is left over for the wife and children,” said Ms. Gbadamassi.
“Malnutrition is a phenomenon that starts very early in life, in the womb, and its consequences are irreversible,” noted UNICEF Benin Nutrition Officer Anne-Sophie Le Dain. “What we have here in Benin is a problem of child survival.”

 

First UN envoy for sexual violence in war says rape must stop

Rape in wartime is a scar on modern society that must be stamped out by ending impunity and changing men's attitudes towards women, says Margot Wallstrom, the United Nations' first special representative on sexual violence in conflict.

Wallstrom, a 55-year-old Swede and the former European Commissioner for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy, took the job because she sees it as an irresistible opportunity to make a difference.

"The whole world should stand up and say this must come to an end," she told AlertNet in a telephone interview.

Wallstrom officially starts the new role in April, but has already assumed many of the responsibilities that come with it. She plans to travel to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) later this month on her first assignment.

A five-year war in DRC officially ended in 2003 but violence lingers on. Millions have died and tens of thousands of women and young girls have been raped. The mineral-rich African state is regularly listed as one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.

Rape has followed conflict for generations across the globe. But Wallstrom says the atrocities committed in recent wars - where rape has been used as a weapon to spread fear and ethnically cleanse populations, particularly in Africa - have shocked people and were a driving reason for creating a U.N. special representative for sexual violence in conflict zones.

"We've seen some conflicts that have become more and more brutal and this has shocked the world," she said. "But this doesn't only happen in Africa, it happens everywhere."

Nonetheless, most of her travel will be to Africa, she added.

WOMEN BLAMED

Christian Mukosa from Amnesty International has been tracking cases of rape in Chad, now home to hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighbouring African countries blighted by war.

Armed bandits and gangs roam the borders and violence is common.

"In east Chad, woman are subject to rape and other violence," he said. "Not only when they leave the compound to collect water or firewood but also inside the camps."

Women who report rape are often told it is their fault for putting themselves in vulnerable situations. They are stigmatised, treated as outcasts, and their husbands demand new wives.

"There is a culture of impunity for rapists," Mukosa said. "When you talk to people in Chad they think that rape is normal."

Wallstrom will report directly to the U.N. Security Council during her two-year mission. Her brief is to concentrate on sexual violence in conflict zones, but she told AlertNet she had also received reports from Haiti of rape in the massive camps that have sprung up since January's devastating earthquake.

The earthquake killed about 250,000 people and made hundreds of thousands homeless. Many of the survivors are living in makeshift camps where security and privacy are minimal.

Anna Neistat from Human Rights Watch, the New York-based advocacy group, travelled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti's destroyed capital, to investigate rape in the camps.

"Women have to bathe in public or wander to remote areas of the camps, usually after dark, and that is unsafe," she said. "One woman was gang-raped when she was returning."

Neistat said the HRW team uncovered a handful of rapes in the camps but many more are probably hidden by women who are too afraid or ashamed to come forward.

For Wallstrom, her new job is not only a mission to reduce violence against women but an opportunity to work towards a more humane world where conflict does not justify rape.

"What type of society would tolerate it?" she said.

For more humanitarian news and analysis, please visit www.alertnet.org
With the exception of public UN sources, reproduction or redistribution of the above text, in whole, part or in any form, requires the prior consent of the original source. The opinions expressed in the documents carried by this site are those of the authors and are not necessarily shared by UN OCHA or ReliefWeb.

Save the Children and UNICEF are doing well. But we should regard in Houman Rights of people which are still in uncertainity of this globalization.

Two million affected

A full assessment of earthquake damage to Haiti’s education infrastructure has yet to be completed, but an estimated 90 per cent of schools in the Port-au-Prince area – and 40 per cent of schools in the southern port city of Jacmel and other stricken localities – were damaged or destroyed. This could mean that as many as 2 million children are being deprived of their right to education.

Working with the Haitian Ministry of Education, UNICEF is setting up 150 school tents for earthquake-affected children. The goal is to get all children back to school by early April.

“The temporary learning spaces will be used until the schools are rebuilt,” said UNICEF Education Specialist Andrea Berther. “In addition, UNICEF and the ministry are working to identify and quickly train teaching personnel.”


© UNICEF Haiti/2010/Khadivi
UNICEF Emergency Specialist, Arnaud Conchon is co-ordinating distribution of more than 3,000 Early Childhood Development kits to Haitian children, particularly those living in displacement camps. Each kit serves 50 children up to six years of age.
These efforts are critical because education provides children with a sense of safety and normalcy in times of chaos and crisis. Besides tent classrooms, UNICEF has started the distribution of 390 School-in-a-Box kits and 410 recreation kits in 10 rural departments where displaced quake survivors are now living. Each School-in-a-Box kit provides as many as 40 children with exercise books, pens, pencils and other learning materials.

Safe spaces for children

UNICEF is also establishing ‘child-friendly’ early-childhood and primary learning centres equipped with education supplies and learning materials, as well as access to safe drinking water and latrines.

“We will do an accelerated learning programme so the students do not lose the school year. This will be challenging in terms of coordination, but everyone is on board,” said Ms. Berther.

UNICEF and Save the Children, in support of the Ministry of Education, are now leading an education working group in Haiti. In addition to opening all primary schools, the goals for the next three months are to:

Ensure availability of temporary spaces for children and youth
Support national education authorities and administrators tasked with the coordination of the crisis response and eventual reconstruction of the system
Complete assessments and analyses to gain a fuller picture of educational needs in post-earthquake Haiti.


© UNICEF/NYHQ2010-0176/Noorani
A UNICEF worker inventories Early Childhood Development kits and other supplies at a UNICEF warehouse in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The kits are destined for residential child care centres and UNICEF-supported child-friendly spaces.
Community mobilization

In addition to its support for the Ministry of Education, UNICEF will encourage community mobilization to ensure that parent-teacher associations in affected areas are involved in the management and revitalization of the learning spaces.

The focus on education reflects the fact that the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti is a children’s emergency. Nearly 40 per cent of all Haitians are below 15 years of age, and recovery must start with children.

Moreover, UNICEF believes the unprecedented international commitment, support and funding seen since the earthquake struck must be used to build back better for all young Haitians. In the education sector, this means getting all children in school in a country where enrolment and attendance were poor even before disaster struck.

Back in Mount Jacquot, Yolanda continued to write and draw in her notebook. Her teacher, Onickel Paul, noted that the opening of the tent school had helped build trust, among the children and their parents, that things are getting better in Haiti.

Stop Global Warming

Stop Global Warming
China at Fault for Copenhagen Clusterfail, But Everyone Blames the WestThe U.N's top climate official Yvo De Boer has told countries to stop arguing about who is to blame for Copenhagen's clusterfail, and to get on with the job in hand. Though many blame America, people who were there are suggesting it was in fact China who blocked an ambitious deal from passing...

Arguing with climate skeptics isn't easy: the science is complicated and ignorance is easy. Every "the sun is getting hotter" or "it is a natural cycle" requires a comprehensive rebuttal that needs to be longer than than a five word allegation. But scientists and the media are getting better at quickly dispatching these ignorant claims. And governments pay little attention to incoherent ramblings.

Al Gore recently explained "the special pleading of the carbon polluters and the existence of ideological deniers is probably an example of the so-called sunset phenomenon, where we have a spectacular display just before the subsiding."

The New Scientists has little trouble debunking all of the deniers' spectacular claims, going through the first 50 of them quite swiftly. The first might just be the best:

There is "no real scientific proof" that the current warming is caused by the rise of greenhouse gases from man's activity.

Technically, proof exists only in mathematics, not in science. Whatever terminology you choose to use, however, there is overwhelming evidence that the current warming is caused by the rise in greenhouse gases due to human activities.

Seriously though, most worrying is that for many this is becoming an issue of politics. Increasingly Republican don't believe in climate change. Why are conservatives ignoring the science? And where are the conservative solutions to climate change? Despite this turn, I'm optimistic. Governments are smart enough to trust the science and trust the vast majority of scientists, rather than give any time to a few noisy skeptics.


Marky Lynas wrote a piece for the Guardian entitled “How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room,” which is a fascinating read. It gives an insider’s view of the closed-door Head of State negotiations that took place on that final, fateful day of negotiations. But its critical flaw is in wanting to solely blame China.

Lynas writes: “To those who would blame Obama and rich countries in general, know this: it was China's representative who insisted that industrialised country targets, previously agreed as an 80% cut by 2050, be taken out of the deal. "Why can't we even mention our own targets?" demanded a furious Angela Merkel.”

It’s very interesting indeed to speculate on what China was actually trying to achieve. The country has actually been quite aggressive in developing renewable technologies. Did China object to even rich countries setting their own emissions targets so as not to lock itself into the same at a future date?

One point I vigorously disagree with Lynas on, however, is his assertion that, ““China's strategy was simple: block the open negotiations for two weeks, and then ensure that the closed-door deal made it look as if the west had failed the world's poor once again. And sure enough, the aid agencies, civil society movements and environmental groups all took the bait.”


categories: Arctic & Antarctic, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate science, Climate Security, Environmental Justice, Greenhouse Gas, Science

Sometimes it's a little hard to sort out exactly why we should care about climate change. People always fall back on flooding cities but to my mind that's not really the biggest worry. In fact, it didn't even make my list of top worries. Here are some of the other things that will change the rest of our century.

10: Increased Disease - As a strong young man, I don't worry much about malaria or West Nile virus. There will be slight rises in disease during the century, but there will also be better vaccines in the developed world, where I live. Thank goodness. Sorry, Africa.

9: Disappearing Coral Reefs - I guess this isn't as worrying as some things. But the double whammy of more acid and warmer water (especially in shallow water) will obliterate our reefs. Humanity will soldier on but it will be a sadder, less colorful ocean. Sorry, unborn children.

8: Open Season on the Arctic - It seems clear that very soon we will be shipping across the Arctic Circle. Now I'm not against commerce - God knows I needs my Chinese-made trinkets. But a melting Arctic may open up new drilling opportunities. Feeding our oil addiction is not what we need. It's like telling a drug addict that you've hidden a bag of heroin under a pile of cocaine.

7: Strong weather - Again, no one knows if this has happened yet, but one of the hallmarks of climate change is the rising ocean temps. Unlike land temps, these are slow and do not turn on a dime. And as those who track hurricanes and El Nino know, warm water means strong weather.

6: Permafrost Melting - The great thing about PERMA-frost is that it never melts. That way, all the carbon in the peat underneath Siberia stays happily locked in. Unless of course it starts melting (which it is). Once that box is open, it doesn't really close.

5: Less Fruit - Even at three and a half degrees Fahrenheit higher (what most scientists agree is unavoidable at this point), we are going to see a big change in crop diversity. It's not the higher day temperatures that scuttle things like peaches, cherries, and grapes, it's the higher night temps. Without a certain number of chilly evenings, these fruits are in real trouble.

4: Melting of the Himalaya - Scientists are still not sure how and to what extent the top of the world is melting. But if it is as bad as the worst predictions say (God forbid) there will be trouble. Even moderate melting means that Asia will have to turn off the taps just as it develops. Free Tibet? Forget it if China is still thirsty.

3: Drought - Few people outside of California and Texas think much about drought. But they should because it affects wildfires, bark beetles and snow pack - all very expensive problems. Thankfully I have a solution. Turn off the taps for Caesar's in Las Vegas.

2: Extinction - Everyone loves polar bears, except those who are being eaten by them. But they are not the only (or even the most important) wildlife imperiled by climate change. Most of the real worries are little frogs or invertebrates that are very sensitive to changes and make up the basis for the food chain.

And the number one thing that keeps me up at night ...

1: Positive Feedback Loops - This is the big question mark in our atmosphere and the thing that scientists say privately (read: once they get a couple drinks in them) say really scares them. Positive feedbacks are anything where warming begets more carbon release and thus more warming. This could be anything from decreased reflectivity of the ice caps to wildfires in drought areas. Scientists now say it will be these feedbacks that determine how strong climate change will be.

As another year comes to an end, many are pessimistic about mankind's hopes to mitigate the effects of climate change. Today, we're reminded it's the fifth anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquake that killed 250,000.

Soon, 500,000 people a year will be dying due to climate change. The number is already 300,000, killing people all around the globe. That's 300,000 reasons to pressure leaders to take action, and there are 6 billion other reasons to continue the fight. This year, it hasn't been all bad news though, and we've had a few victories in the fight against climate change, despite dismally slow progress. Over the next five days I'll present five reasons to be optimistic, reasons to keep up the pressure and believe we can make progress:

Reason #5: Copenhagen wasn't a complete failure. Though there was no ambitious international agreement, or any binding targets agreed, China and the United States were engaged in talks, and countries agreed to limit temperature rises to 2 degrees in the Copenhagen Accord. Even better, Brazil, India and South Africa were all engaged at the highest level — developing nations have a voice, and are an increasingly powerful force, as the small island states like the Maldives and Tuvalu demonstrates.

The result of Copenhagen was far from a win, but more ambitious targets will be coming, and some groundwork has been laid for more successes in the future. Even the the Prime Minister of Bangladesh — a country many contend to be the country worst hit by climate change — considered the conference to have reached a "reasonable conclusion." Taking advice of experts on how to move forwards is an essential next step to ensure Copenhagen's "reasonable conclusion" is only preface to a fair, ambitious, and binding (FAB) deal being made in Mexico City at COP16. Of course, we don't need to rely solely on optimism. And we must not be passive. Join us here at Change.org as we spend the next 12 months taking meaningful direct action to make our voices heard.


Climate negotiations don't need to be restarted, or rebooted. And we don't need to rip up progress made and start again. Instead, we can maintain momentum, and "steer into the skid."

Since Bali, the politics and progress has gone in a backward direction. The authors of the paper explain that the likelihood of comprehensive deal emerging in Mexico is low following Hopenhagen not becoming a reality. But they suggest that rather than hitting the brakes (and completely rebooting) "deal makers need to steer into the skid by building on unprecedented engagement by heads of states." They suggest this can happen by demanding the United States pass legislation, and change how developing countries are engaged. Their specific recommendations are particularly compelling:

categories: Clean Energy, Copenhagen Climate Summit, Energy Effeciency, energy independence, energyefficiency, Fossil Energy, International Action, Policy & Legislation, Renewable Energy, Solar energy, wind energy

"Universal energy access" is a shorter and more official way of saying "don't leave the poor behind as we rich nations ride off into a clean-energy future." It's more than a matter of fairness. UN officials stated in one of the sessions at the Copenhagen conference that any agreement the world comes to on climate change will only work if the poor are given access to the technology they need to get with the program, and soon, according to SciDevNet.

Sha Zukang, under-secretary general for economic and social affairs, said that excluding people from clean technology because of expense or intellectual property restrictions will only serve to complicate the dynamics of reaching a solution that will work.

Billions of people in the developing world will be left behind and plunged deeper into poverty if they are shut out, which will serve not only to stall progress on clean energy use but will stir resentment among those who are losing out on development opportunities.

categories: Activism, Policy & Legislation, Politics

By now you’ve surely heard that, to anyone concerned about putting the planet over profits and politics, the UN climate summit in Copenhagen was a massive failure. But I just want to point out that there’s plenty of reason to be hopeful about the future of the planet.

For a couple reactions to the farce that was the outcome of these climate negotiations, check out George Monbiot’s take, as well as this scathing op-ed in The Independent by my colleague at Greenpeace UK, Joss Garman.

I titled this post “Keep Hopenhagen Alive” for two reasons. The first being not because “Hopenhagen” was a touchy-feely “campaign” paid for by Coca-Cola and Siemens – two companies who would like, apparently, to cash in on the clean, green future we’re trying to build – but despite that fact.

인터넷와 사회 운동 수업을 듣고

인터넷와 사회 운동 수업을 시작한지 벌써 3개월이 되었습니다. 사실은 이 수업에서는 공부하기 보다 수업받는 것이 더 재미있었다고 생각합니다. 왜냐하면, 수업마다 새로운 정보 및 최근 나온 이슈를 가지고 발표하면서 교수님의 요약은 이 수업을 너무 재밌게 만들었습니다. 특히 블로그를 만들고 참여하는것이 제일 도움이 되었습니다. 저는 작년부터 불로그을 이용하고 있지만 그 동안 블로그에 대해서 자세히 모르고 퍼 온것을 이제 깨달았습니다.

그리고 textcube, twitter 의 참여한 것은 이 수업 부터 시작이 되었습니다.이 수업에서 이런 다양한 정보들은 공부하면서 이 수업을 듣었던 것이 앞으로 일반 생활에 정말 도움이 될것 같아요.

Last decade was a decade of violence, crusade and erosion.

Watch to last decade within 7 minute...

Swine Flu: So Hot Right Now! H1N1

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