Children seized from South Sudan school not released yet

 Scores of children seized by armed men from a village in northern South Sudan two weeks ago remain forcibly recruited as child soldiers, despite intensive efforts to locate and free them.
One week ago UNICEF reported that 89 children preparing for exams were forcibly recruited as child soldiers, but the organization now believes the number of children may be in the hundreds. In addition, adult males were also forcibly recruited during the February 15 and 16 raid.
Following information provided to a team of staff from UNICEF and UN Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism partners, UNICEF is confident that the armed group which took the children was a Shilluk Militia under the control of Johnson Oloni. This militia is aligned with the Government’s SPLA forces.

In an intensive information gathering exercise, both in Juba and in Upper Nile State (where the seizures took place), UNICEF and MRM partners have tried to piece together what happened during and after the raid and to discover the location of the children. A formal UN Monitoring Report of a grave violation of child rights is being prepared. One of the challenges hampering evidence gathering has been a heavy militia presence remaining in Wau Shilluk, thus making it impossible to receive first-hand information.
However, from reports received so far it is becoming clear the children are not together in a single group. UNICEF understands some of the children - including some of the school boys - were allowed back into their village to eat with their parents and in some instances some children were allowed to go to school. They were then taken away again at night.
In discussions with the SPLA in Melut it was confirmed the forced recruitment of the children took place and many of the children were being sent to Melut. Witnesses also stated many children have been seen in a training camp near Wau Shilluk and that in Melut children as young as 12 years old were seen carrying guns but not in uniform.

The SPLA stated that the Johnson Oloni militia was outside its control.
UNICEF Representative in South Sudan, Jonathan Veitch said when you put all these different witness reports together a strong picture emerged that the children may have been about to be dispatched to fight at Kaka, about forty five minutes north of Melut by boat.
“We fear they are going from the classroom to the front line,” said UNICEF’s Representative in South Sudan, Jonathan Veitch. “UNICEF appeals to Johnson Oloni to let those children go back to school and be with their families, immediately.”
Veitch also urged the Government of South Sudan to use whatever influence it had to secure the children’s release.

About UNICEF
UNICEF promotes the rights and wellbeing of every child, in everything we do.  Together with our partners, we work in 190 countries and territories to translate that commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to the benefit of all children, everywhere. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org

A Camp Becomes a Village


As hopes fade for peace back home, many survivors opt to settle for good in Katanga Province. The host community responds with open arms.

The sun is setting at Lukwangulo camp in Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo, as women return from the fields and wells. On their lips is a traditional and joyful song. On their heads are cassava leaves. Tonight, they will sleep soundly – far from the sound of the bullets.
Sakina, a 50-year-old mother of eight, is one of the women leaders at the camp, which was set up in October 2010 to host people fleeing violence and conflict in South Kivu’s Fizi territory. It is now home to nearly 3,500 displaced people, many of whom hope to stay.
“We have no desire to go back,” Sakina tells me. “Women, girls and children who are here have been raped. They can’t forget and they are scared to go back. People have lost their life there. Some women are widows. These are the reasons why we cannot go back home.”
“Women, girls and children who are here have been raped. They can’t forget and they are scared to go back.”
Rashidi Mahonga heads the committee of internally displaced people, or IDPs, in Lukwangulo. He knows that the volatile situation back home leaves many people here with little choice.
“The war is not finished,” he says, explaining that some who tried to return to their villages and fields saw that armed groups were still controlling the area. “We are hunters. We know when people are passing. We see the traces of their boots.”  
In an effort to assist those who wish to stay in Lukwangulo, UNHCR opened discussions with the local authorities. Like the displaced, they support the idea.
“I welcomed them; I gave them land for agriculture,” says Kabwa Asumani, the 84-year-old chief of Lukwangulo village. “You see that they have constructed houses on the land I gave them. I have not yet had any problem with them. As long as they are gentle, I have no problem with them. If they want to stay, they can stay here in peace. I don’t see any problem.”
“If they want to stay, they can stay here in peace. I don’t see any problem.”
Chief Rashidi says the IDPs feel very welcome in the area. “We have been very well received here by the chief of locality. We feel well and we want to stay here.”
Having received the green light for their local integration by the chief and the local authorities, residents of the Lukwangulo IDP site will now start converting it into a village. The first step is to transform their plastic-sheeting shelters into traditional houses made of mud and straw. UNHCR will provide iron sheets for the doors and the windows.
However, constructing more permanent shelters is not the only thing that IDPs will need in order to settle in Lukwangulo. They also require access to education for their children, health care, a clean water supply, and the ability to be self-sufficient.
Back in South Kivu, many children missed out on an education. “Children could not walk to go to school because of insecurity,” recalls Rashidi. “It was dangerous.”
“Pregnant women who go to the health centre for the deliveries sometimes give birth on the road.”
UNHCR is now working with the National Commission for Refugees and has asked local authorities to accredit the school at the Lukwangulo site with the Ministry of Education. This would officially recognise the teachers, allowing them to be paid by the State.
But other basic services are still missing.
“The health centre is five kilometres away,” says Sakina. “Pregnant women who go to the health centre for the deliveries sometimes give birth on the road. If we fall sick at night, it is a big problem. We also don’t have enough money to pay even for the reference booklet, which costs 2,800 francs [approximately USD 3 and used by the health personal to keep track of the consultations]. We would like to ask for the construction of a health post in Lukwangulo.”

To help the displaced people become more self-sufficient and less dependent on humanitarian assistance, UNHCR distributes agricultural tools, such as spades, so they can cultivate land allocated by the local chief.
Agnes Ntambwe is a 52-year-old teacher. “We cannot continue to reach out our hand to be assisted,” she tells me. “We have hands to work, but we need seeds and agricultural tools. The land has been given to us. The chief of the village gave to each of us a piece of land according to his strength to cultivate. But in addition, we also would like support to develop other income-generating activities, such as bakery and selling clothes.”
Sakina continues: “In order to take care of our families, we buy vegetables and sell them at the market, which is 12 kilometres away. We are asking whether it would be possible to set up a market here. For now, we are selling bananas on the land of someone.”
“We cannot continue to reach out our hand to be assisted. We have hands to work, but we need seeds and agricultural tools.”
Access to water and sanitation can also be challenging. “We have only one well, even if we are many,” Sakina says. “During the dry season, there is a shortage of water. We would like to ask whether there is a possibility to dig one or two more wells.”
Rashidi adds that although they can dig latrines, they do not have the material to cover them.  
Despite these many challenges, the residents of the Lukwangulo site are unanimous: they want to stay. And theirs is not the only IDP site to opt for local integration. Five others in northern Katanga have expressed similar wishes. Two of them, like Lukwangulo, have already received approval from the local authorities.
“Even if we live in difficult conditions, we continue to live,” says Sakina. “Here we are able to sleep at night. There [in Fizi], we could not sleep because of insecurity.”
Nearby, a group of almost 50 IDPs agree. “We will stay here,” one of them says, “for the rest of our life.”
by Celine Schmitt UNHCR  - Photo Brian Sokor

Aazat, 10, a refugee from Deraa, Syria, works shining shoes in the Hamra district of Beirut

The 'Abu Sultan' family sits amid their few remaining possessions beneath a traffic overpass in the Cola area of Beirut, where they have been staying since fleeing their home in a town just outside Damascus, Syria. Cola is a busy intersection that also serves as one of the city's main bus terminals.

Khaled, 12, a refugee from Idlib, Syria, takes a break walking home, after begging outside the bars on Armenia Street, Beirut.

Amal, 6, Sharhour a refugee from Damascus, Syria, sells chewing gum in Beirut. Amal said if she didn't sell her daily quota of LL10,00 ($6.5) she wouldn't be allowed to return home.

Syrian refugee Eissa, 9, from Hajjar al-Asswad, sells roses at the seafront.

Nirmeen, 6 years old, from Aleppo, takes a break from selling roses on the Beirut seafront. Nirmeen was working with her brother and her father, and said that she would stay out until all her flowers were sold, often until the early hours of the morning.

There are over 1 million Syrian refugees registered in Lebanon, around half of which are children. The Syrian conflict has caused some 3.8 million Syrians to flee to other countries and forced over 7.5 million to flee their homes.

Khaled, 12, a refugee from Idlib, Syria, sits in the bus station in which he regularly sleeps.

Syrian refugee children work to live in Lebanon



Of the more than 1 million Syrian refugees registered in Lebanon, more than half are children. Ongoing clashes between the Islamic State militant group and Syria's Kurdish Democratic Union Party have forced nearly 4 million Syrians to flee to other countries and caused over 7.5 million to flee their homes.
The refugee families bring their children but because many adults cannot find work themselves, the children are forced to work too, struggling to survive in poverty. by Elizabeth Pierson. Images Sam Tarling/Corbis

The Brothels of Bangladesh

 

Bangladeshi sex workers are beginning to organize in a bid to improve their harsh, abusive working conditions. By Miguel Candela and Zigor Aldama

Prostitution in Bangladesh has been legal since 2000, although discouraged. Child prostitution is widespread. Bangladesh is predominantly Islamic, but despite strict restrictions, severe poverty has forced many women into sex work.
Female sex workers are often abused. Now, however, they have begun to organize. One group, the Prostitute Association of Faridpur, was founded in Faridpur district, near the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka. These associations were formed to establish a “union” among sex workers and protect themselves from abuse.
Meanwhile, Islamic conservatives openly condemn the women. In 2010, radicals burned a brothel to the ground, injuring two women and leaving all of the tenants destitute.
One sex worker called Hasina remembers the day. “We lost everything and had  to jump into the river,” she recalls. “We even didn’t have clothes to wear and we were forced to live for a month and a half out in the streets.” No arrests have been made.
The associations, together with countless protest actions demanding equal rights, are beginning to make their presence felt. At least now, sex workers are finally allowed a proper burial in a cemetery, albeit in a separate lot. - From The Diplomat
Still, progress is slow. Thirty-seven-year-old Ahya Begum, president of the Prostitute Association of Faridpur, laments, “Society uses us to fulfill their human needs, but treats us like animals.”

Zigor Aldama is the Far East correspondent for Vocento, the largest media group in Spain, and a contributor to El País newspaper, and is based in Shanghai. Miguel Candela is an award-winning Spanish photographer based in Hong Kong. Follow him on Twitter @miguelcandela_.

Rebuilding Gaza could take 100 years if Israel keeps blockade, says Oxfam


Aid agency urges Israel to allow more steel and concrete into the Palestinian territory - and for Hamas to use this material to build homes not tunnels


Rebuilding the Gaza Strip after last summer's war with Israel will take at least a century at the current rate of progress, Oxfam warned on Thursday.
Israel restricts the flow of steel and concrete into the Palestinian territory because Hamas, the radical Islamist movement, has diverted material of this kind to build tunnels and bunkers.
Only 1,677 lorries carrying construction material were allowed to enter Gaza between November and January. The territory needs about 800,000 lorry-loads to repair the physical damage inflicted during the 50-day war between Hamas and Israel last year. At the current rate, this would take about 119 years.
Oxfam urged Israel to allow the unrestricted inflow of building material.
"Only an end to the blockade of Gaza will ensure that people can rebuild their lives. Families have been living in homes without roofs, walls or windows for the past six months,” said Catherine Essoyan, Oxfam's Regional Director. “Many have just six hours of electricity a day and are without running water.”
The last war in Gaza was longer and bloodier than any previous clash between Israel and Hamas. In total, 16,000 homes across the territory were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. The bloodshed claimed the lives of 2,200 Palestinians and 73 Israelis.
In response to Hamas rocket attacks on its territory, Israel sent troops and tanks deep into Gaza. Densely populated areas were engulfed by fighting, notably the suburb of Shejaiya on the eastern edge of Gaza City.
Today, large areas of Shejaiya still lie in ruins. The international community promised $5.4 billion (£3.5 billion) to rebuild Gaza, but only about 5 per cent of this sum has actually been delivered.
However, Oxfam’s initial statement did not make any explicit demands on Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2007 and used the territory as a base for launching rockets at Israel.
In response to questions, an Oxfam spokesman said: “We would certainly call on Hamas and all parties to make sure that any materials that are allowed through are used for construction and not for tunnels.”  By David Blair published in Telegraph.co.uk

Little survivor recalls......


This is how a little survivor recalls the drowning of their ship at the Mediterranean Sea.  UNHCR Central Europe

Call for Domestic Violence Leave

Unions are pushing to give millions of Australian workers the right to access domestic violence leave. ACTU President Ged Kearney said paid domestic violence leave is designed to support victims of domestic violence and help them to keep their job.

“Having a job is critical if women are to leave a violent relationship. Domestic violence is not - and should not - be a private matter that is dealt with behind closed doors.” Ms Kearney said.

The ACTU is making a claim to the Fair Work Commission for 10 days paid domestic violence leave for permanent staff and 10 days unpaid leave for casuals to be included in all Awards.

Ms Kearney said one in three Australian women experience physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner.

“It is a systemic issue involving a wide range of social, economic and cultural factors that must be addressed in the public sphere – including workplaces,” Ms Kearney said.

“Having access to domestic violence leave means victims have time to attend court appearances and related appointments, seek legal advice and make relocation arrangements.

“Evidence shows having an income gives women choice, stops them becoming trapped and isolated in violent and abusive relationships, and enables them to care for their children and provide them with a safe home environment.”

ABS figures show that two thirds of the 400,000 plus people who experience domestic violence each year are in paid employment.

“Paid domestic violence leave recognises that employees experiencing domestic violence often have a history of broken employment, are in casual and part-time jobs and can least afford to take unpaid leave at a time when financial security is critical,” said Ms Kearney.

The ACTU claim also includes the right to request a change in working arrangements, such as start and finish times.

“Stalking is one of the risk factors that can lead to a domestic violence victim being killed, and almost all women with violent partners who stalk them also experience harassment at their workplace,” said Ms Kearney.

“Providing flexibility around working hours will help make the workplace safer for everyone.”

Over 1.6 million employees now have access to paid domestic violence leave in union negotiated workplace agreements.

Ms Kearney said extending this to all modern awards will provide a safety net for millions of workers.

The decline in unionization in recent decades has fed the rise in incomes at the top





Inequality has risen in many advanced economies since the 1980s, largely because of the concentration of incomes at the top of the distribution. Measures of inequality have increased substantially, but the most striking development is the large and continuous increase in the share of total income garnered by the 10 percent of the population that earns the most—which is only partially captured by the more traditional measure of inequality, the Gini coefficient (see Chart 1).
The Gini is a summary statistic that gauges the average difference in income between any two individuals from the income distribution. It takes the value zero if all income is equally shared within a country and 100 (or 1) if one person has all the income.
While some inequality can increase efficiency by strengthening incentives to work and invest, recent research suggests that higher inequality is associated with lower and less sustainable growth in the medium run (Berg and Ostry, 2011; Berg, Ostry, and Zettelmeyer, 2012), even in advanced economies (OECD, 2014). Moreover, a rising concentration of income at the top of the distribution can reduce a population’s welfare if it allows top earners to manipulate the economic and political system in their favor (Stiglitz, 2012).
Traditional explanations for the rise of inequality in advanced economies are skill-biased technological change and globalization, which have increased the relative demand for skilled workers, benefiting top earners relative to average earners. But technology and globalization foster economic growth, and there is little policymakers can or are willing to do to reverse these trends. Moreover, while high-income countries have been similarly affected by technological change and globalization, inequality in these economies has risen at different speeds and magnitudes.
As a consequence, economic research has recently focused on the effects of institutional changes, with financial deregulation and the decline in top marginal personal income tax rates often cited as important contributors to the rise of inequality. By contrast, the role played by labor market institutions—such as the decline in the share of workers affiliated with trade unions and the fall in the minimum wage relative to the median income—has featured less prominently in recent debates. In a forthcoming paper, we look at this side of the equation.
We examine the causes of the rise in inequality and focus on the relationship between labor market institutions and the distribution of incomes, by analyzing the experience of advanced economies since the early 1980s. The widely held view is that changes in unionization or the minimum wage affect low- and middle-wage workers but are unlikely to have a direct impact on top income earners.
While our findings are consistent with prior views about the effects of the minimum wage, we find strong evidence that lower unionization is associated with an increase in top income shares in advanced economies during the period 1980–2010 (for example, see Chart 2), thus challenging preconceptions about the channels through which union density affects income distribution. This is the most novel aspect of our analysis, which sets the stage for further research on the link between the erosion of unions and the rise of inequality at the top.

Changes at the top

Economic research has highlighted various channels through which unions and the minimum wage can affect the distribution of incomes at the bottom and middle, such as the dispersion of wages, unemployment, and redistribution. In our study, however, we also consider the possibility that weaker unions can lead to higher top income shares, and formulate hypotheses for why this may be the case.
So the main channels through which labor market institutions affect income inequality are the following:
Wage dispersion: Unionization and minimum wages are usually thought to reduce inequality by helping equalize the distribution of wages, and economic research confirms this.
Unemployment: Some economists argue that while stronger unions and a higher minimum wage reduce wage inequality, they may also increase unemployment by maintaining wages above “market-clearing” levels, leading to higher gross income inequality. But the empirical support for this hypothesis is not very strong, at least within the range of institutional arrangements observed in advanced economies (see Betcherman, 2012; Baker and others, 2004; Freeman, 2000; Howell and others, 2007; OECD, 2006). For instance, in an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development review of 17 studies, only 3 found a robust association between union density (or bargaining coverage) and higher overall unemployment.
Redistribution: Strong unions can induce policymakers to engage in more redistribution by mobilizing workers to vote for parties that promise to redistribute income or by leading all political parties to do so. Historically, unions have played an important role in the introduction of fundamental social and labor rights. Conversely, the weakening of unions can lead to less redistribution and higher net income inequality (that is, inequality of income after taxes and transfers).
Bargaining power of workers and top income shares: Lower union density can increase top income shares by reducing the bargaining power of workers. Naturally, top income shares are mechanically influenced by what happens in the lower part of the income distribution. If deunionization weakens earnings for middle- and low-income workers, this necessarily increases the income share of corporate managers’ pay and shareholder returns. Intuitively, the weakening of unions reduces the bargaining power of workers relative to capital owners, increasing the share of capital income—which is more concentrated at the top than wages and salaries. Moreover, weaker unions can reduce workers’ influence on corporate decisions that benefit top earners, such as the size and structure of top executive compensation.
To study the role of unionization and the minimum wage in the rise of inequality, we use econometric techniques over a sample including all advanced economies for which data are available and the years 1980 to 2010. We examine the relationship between various inequality measures (top 10 percent income share, Gini of gross income, Gini of net income) and labor market institutions, as well as a number of control variables. These controls include other important determinants of inequality identified by economists, such as technology, globalization (competition from low-cost foreign workers), financial liberalization, and top marginal personal income tax rates, as well as controls for common global trends in these variables. Our results confirm that the decline in unionization is strongly associated with the rise of income shares at the top.
While causality is difficult to establish, the decline in unionization appears to be a key contributor to the rise of top income shares. This finding holds even after accounting for shifts in political power, changes in social norms regarding inequality, sectoral employment shifts (such as deindustrialization and the growing role of the financial sector), and increases in education levels. The relationship between union density and the Gini of gross income is also negative but somewhat weaker. This could be because the Gini underestimates increases in inequality at the top of the income distribution.
We also find that deunionization is associated with less redistribution of income and that reductions in minimum wages increase overall inequality considerably.
On average, the decline in unionization explains about half of the 5 percentage point rise in the top 10 percent income share. Similarly, about half of the increase in the Gini of net income is driven by deunionization.

Future research

Our study focuses on unionization as a measure of the bargaining power of workers. Beyond this simple measure, more research is needed to investigate which aspects of unionization (for example, collective bargaining, arbitration) are most successful and whether some aspects may be more disruptive to productivity and economic growth.
Whether the rise of inequality brought about by the weakening of unions is good or bad for society remains unclear. While the rise in top earners’ income share could reflect a relative increase in their productivity (good inequality), top earners’ compensation may be larger than what is justified by their contribution to the economy’s output, reflecting what economists call rent extraction (bad inequality). Inequality could also hurt society by allowing top earners to manipulate the economic and political system.
In such cases, there would be grounds for governments to take policy action. Such action could include corporate governance reforms that give all stakeholders—workers, managers, and shareholders—a say in executive pay decisions; improved design of performance-related pay contracts, especially in the risk-happy financial sector; and reaffirmation of labor standards that allow willing workers to bargain collectively. ■  From IMF
Florence Jaumotte is a Senior Economist and Carolina Osorio Buitron is an Economist, both in the IMF’s Research Department.

Sweden – Unpaid job trials are exploitative and akin to slavery, says Union



Asking people to participate in unpaid job trials before they are offered employment is a ruthless way to exploit them and the practice should be banned, according to Leif Håkansson of Swedish labour union IF Metall, reports The Gothenburg Post.
Mr Håkansson, in his article, lamented the fact that job trials are becoming more common: “Unscrupulous employment agencies send out trial staff to their clients, so they can see what newcomers have to offer. A job appointment is a business deal. An employer pays money to employees who work. Voluntary, free work for good causes is OK. Involuntary free work that makes someone money is slavery.”
“The less scrupulous employers may argue that free work is voluntary. You choose if you want to take it. But this approach does not work when unemployment is high. When people will do almost anything to be considered for any job.”
He continued: “We should not allow some employers to avoid paying insurance because those who work for free are given no insurance coverage at all. Free trial work is a ruthless way to exploit people. Many of those who accept these kind of decisions are desperate to find work. They are prepared to work for a week without pay or insurance in a small garage, in a café, in a cleaning firm, or for an employment agency.”
“In companies with collective agreements there is always a minimum wage and free work is not possible. In other Swedish firms there is no statutory minimum wage and it's not a crime in Sweden to have staff working for free.”
For Mr Håkansson transparency is key to putting an end to the exploitation: “Perhaps there is a need to change the law to stop this kind of 'employment' or at least to improve communication so that all 'offers' of trial jobs are more visible and transparent. What employers are doing in terms of free labour should be fully in the spotlight. We should refuse to allow them to offer bad conditions for ‘workers’.”
- See more at: http://www.staffingindustry.com/eng/Research-Publications/Daily-News/Sweden-Unpaid-job-trials-are-exploitative-and-akin-to-slavery-says-Union-33154?cookies=disabled#sthash.YTh73SgV.dpuf

Frontex, poison or antidote to the tragedies in the Mediterranean?

As Malta receives millions of Euros to fund maritime border control operations in collaboration with Frontex, members of the FRONTEXIT campaign denounce the security obsession blinding Europe and leading to increasing numbers of deaths.
On 4 February, the European Union announced that more than 12 million Euros had been granted to the Maltese armed forces in order to finance the purchase of equipment to be used for operations coordinated by Frontex (the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders). This grant comes from the EU Internal Security Fund, established to fight crime and deal with threats to EU security, and comes in addition to the 114 million Euros allocated to Frontex in 2015.
This decision illustrates once again the gulf between the urgency of the situation at Europe’s maritime borders and the focus of the EU’s priorities in this area. Following a macabre record of more than 3,500 deaths in 2014, the slaughter continues in the Mediterranean, with several hundred deaths since the beginning of the year, in particular off the coast of Lampedusa.
In this context it is shameful that the EU’s reactions focus on strengthening mechanisms which, contrary to claims, do not aim to save human lives but to intercept and control (Frontex, Eurosur, cooperation on migration with neighbouring states).
“Controlling is not saving lives”
The Frontexit campaign underlines that Frontex is a border surveillance agency, not a maritime rescue body. Operation Triton, coordinated by Frontex in Italy, is not the continuation of the Italian military and humanitarian operation Mare Nostrum. It is yet another border control operation to prevent migrants reaching Europe’s shores. Yet, under international maritime law, the boats participating in Frontex’s activities have the same obligations as any other vessel, to provide assistance to persons in distress.
The EU and its member states claim to be powerless in the face of these human tragedies, as if they were inevitable. This is a fallacy. Such tragedies are the consequence of security-based migration policies which make regular access to EU territory almost impossible and leave persons in exile no solution other than to embark on perilous boats and risk their lives.
The organisations of the FRONTEXIT campaign, which calls for the suppression of the Frontex agency, demand immediate measures to be taken to interrupt Frontex’s maritime operations, which share responsibility for the repeated tragedies in the Mediterranean. In order to stop the slaughter, the rationale must be reversed and measures must be taken to allow international mobility and access to EU territory and to guarantee international protection obligations.
Europe is at war against an imaginary enemy
www.frontexit.org

Pascal

Nana

Stateless in West Africa
Ten million people around the world have no nationality. In West Africa, at least 750,000 face a lifetime of broken dreams.


Lisette, 20, was born and raised in Côte d’Ivoire. To make a living, she sells grains of millet at the local market in Zuenoula. But without ID documents to prove her birthplace, or her ancestral ties to Burkina Faso, she might as well be invisible. Bereft of a nationality and many fundamental human rights, life is a constant battle.
At least 750,000 people are stateless or at risk of statelessness in West Africa. But that is just an estimate. UNHCR believes the true figure may run far higher.
Daily life for stateless people can be lonely and harrowing, and littered with obstacles. Having no ID documents means that you cannot register to go to school, open a bank account, buy property, access health services or legally marry. Being stateless means that you are more exposed to discrimination, exploitation and seclusion. In the eyes of the law, you do not exist.
A conference organised by UNHCR and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’s economic capital, aims to prevent, reduce and ultimately eliminate statelessness in the region. The event is part of an ambitious 10-year global campaign to end statelessness.
Meet a few of the many stateless people in West Africa who have endured a lifetime of obstacles and disappointment.

Pascal
Pascal, 72, is stateless in Côte d’Ivoire. “I may be a great farmer of coffee, cocoa and rice, but not having a nationality has confined me to my village and my fields.” UNHCR/Hélène Caux
Pascal, 72, stares out over the fields of okra that he cultivates with two of his 15 children, near Saria, in central Côte d’Ivoire.
Born in Burkina Faso, he moved to Côte d’Ivoire shortly after both countries gained independence in 1960, part of the first wave of migrant labourers to work in the cocoa fields. Having never possessed a birth certificate or any form of national documentation, his only piece of identification at the time was a card from the colonial empire of French West Africa. He tried to apply for a Burkinabé consular card with it, but was told that he needed official ID.
Decades later, Pascal still has no proof of his identity and is scared to leave his village, fearing that he could be stopped and arrested. “I may be a great farmer of coffee, cocoa and rice,” he says, “but not having a nationality has confined me to my village and my fields.”


Nana
Nana, 79, was stateless for decades after moving to what is now Côte d’Ivoire in the 1940s but recently acquired a consular card from Burkina Faso. She holds a photo of her late husband.

Nana, 79, stares lovingly at the portrait of her late husband El Haj Kabré Boureima, who died in 2013. The pair moved from Burkina Faso to Saria, in central Côte d’Ivoire, in the 1940s, part of the first wave of forced labour to work in the region’s cocoa fields.
Today, over 90 per cent of Saria’s inhabitants have Burkinabé origins. Most hold either consular cards from Burkina Faso or Ivoirian documents. But this is a recent development. Until not so long ago, most people had no proof of national documentation and relied on their birth certificates, if they had one, to get around.
Without papers, many people endured discrimination during the successive political crises that rocked Côte d’Ivoire. Nana and her late husband can never reclaim those years.
Mohamed
Mohamed, 17, is afraid to leave his village because he fears being arrested or fined.

Mohamed, 17, sits in front on his house in the small village of Saria, central Côte d’Ivoire. He was born in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, to Burkinabé parents who passed away when he was very young. His mother’s older brother brought him to Côte d’Ivoire shortly after their death, and he has never returned to his birth village since settling in Saria.
He was not declared at birth and has no papers to prove his parents’ Burkinabé nationality. Now, he has resigned himself to never leaving Saria because of lack of papers.
“When I tried to travel to neighbouring towns to sell my cocoa or coffee harvests,” he says, “policemen or military stopped me and sometimes forced me to pay 10,000 West African francs [around US$ 20], which is half of my annual wages.”

Rakiata
Rakiata and her family are unable to prove their nationality. “It has been so difficult. It just feels as if we do not exist.”    
Rakiata, in her mid-50s, sits with her son, daughter and grandson outside their home in Zuenoula, in central Côte d’Ivoire. Neither she nor her children have any national documentation proving their ancestral ties to Burkina Faso. As a result, they are at high risk of statelessness.
Their lack of ID has made life very difficult. Rakiata has little choice but to work as a subsistence rice farmer, because without papers she cannot join an agricultural cooperative and scale up her production. Her son, too, has repeatedly been arrested at checkpoints, detained and even beaten because he was unable to prove his nationality.
“It has been so difficult,” Rakiata says. “It just feels as if we do not exist.”

Adama
Adama, 32, says he has been arrested, detained and even beaten because he lacks papers proving his nationality.
Due to his lack of papers, Rakiata’s son, Adama, 32, has been arrested and detained on multiple occasions. He remembers one particularly memorable incident when he was traveling from Zuenoula, in central Côte d’Ivoire, to the country’s administrative capital of Yamoussoukro.
“In 2003 I was stopped at a roadblock,” he recalls. “Because I was unable to prove my identity, I had to pay 2,000 CFA [or US$ 4] and was then taken to a military camp nearby, where I was forced to clean the yard and its surroundings.”
Soldiers became impatient when they found out that Adama did not have papers proving that he was born in Côte d’Ivoire. He says they beat him before finally releasing him in exchange for some money. Even today, he is still stopped repeatedly at checkpoints on his way to the market and often forced to pay between 500 to 1,000 West Africa francs – between US$ 1 and US$ 2.

Oumarou
It took years for Oumarou, now 50, to obtain Ivoirian nationality. “I am very lucky now,” he says. “But I will not forget the years when I was recognised nowhere.”
Oumarou, 50, was born in Tenkodogo, in central Côte d’Ivoire, to Burkinabé parents. After graduating from elementary school in 1984, he tried to enrol in high school but was told he would not be accepted without a national identity card.
He went to Burkina Faso with the hope that his Burkinabé consular card would serve as sufficient proof of his nationality. There, too, he was rejected. It was not until a friend intervened on his behalf that he was able to obtain a certificate of Burkinabé nationality and continue his education.
Upon his return to Côte d’Ivoire in 1990, Oumarou applied for Ivorian citizenship, which he finally obtained five years later.
“I am very lucky now, and having Ivorian citizenship here in Côte d’Ivoire has made my life much easier,” he says. “But I will not forget the years when I was recognised nowhere.”

Abou
About, 24, is a former street child who acquired a birth certificate with help from an aid agency. UNHCR/Hélène Caux
A former street child, Abou, 24, proudly shows his Senegalese ID card. “It has been a long way for me to finally feel more at peace and safe,” he says.
Having never been declared at birth, Abou was just six years old when his family sent him to a daara [Koranic school] near Saint-Louis, in northern Senegal. But after years of mistreatment and exhausting work in agricultural fields, Abou finally escaped. He then spent years on the streets of Dakar, sleeping in the open at night and begging for money during daytime.
“I almost died of tuberculosis,” he says. “After years in the streets, I was lucky to be found by an aid agency who took care of me. They also helped me to get a late birth certificate and then ID papers.” A talented artist, Abou now gives pottery classes to young street boys.
WRITTEN BY Hélène Caux
UNHCR/Hélène Caux

Right to Strike Re-affirmed at ILO

A breakthrough has been made at the International Labour Organization following two years during which employers at the International Labour Organization brought the UN body’s global supervisory system to a standstill, in an attempt to eliminate decades of ILO jurisprudence supporting the right to strike.

Union and employer representatives have now reached an understanding at a special ILO meeting this week to end the impasse, based on recognition of the right to take industrial action, backed by explicit recognition from governments of the right to strike, linked to ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association.
The agreement comes on the back of a hugely successful international union mobilisation on 18 February, which involved more than 100 actions in over 60 countries in support of the right to strike.
Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said, “Having created the crisis, employer groups and some governments were refusing to allow the issue to be taken to the International Court of Justice even though the ILO Constitution says it should be. We’ve now managed to negotiate a solution which protects the fundamental right of workers to take strike action, and allows the ILO to resume fully its work to supervise how governments respect their international labour standards obligations.”

Only  70 years ago Europeans were uprooted and seeking shelter from war and poverty

 'Our Sea'....Europe seem to have forgotten 
           -   by Eugenio Ambrosi - IOM Regional Director Brussels

Eugenio Ambrosi IOM Regional Director, RO Brussels

Europe seems to have forgotten that it was only 70 years ago that Europeans were uprooted and seeking shelter from war and poverty. Then in the blink of an eye, Europe went from a continent of emigration to one of destination and yet our welcome leaves much to be desired.  We have drawn up the bridge and entered into “crisis” mode as if Europe were under siege by migrants.
Let’s put this in perspective.  The European Union is a political and economic “continent” of 500 million people with vast resources.  Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are far smaller but are dealing with millions of migrants and displaced people. While there are undoubtedly more pressures on some southern EU states, even these increased flows are manageable for Europe as a whole.
By the year 2050, European Union member states will require tens of millions of labour migrants. Getting to that point will mean a rethink of our approach towards how we manage our labour market programmes and how migration could contribute to it. This is why it is time for a serious refocus of our approach towards cooperation with countries of origin and transit, the “third countries” from where the mixed flows of migrants are leaving or passing through.
The current European approach tends to view migration as a “problem” shipped from third counties and deposited on the shores of Europe.
“Cooperation” loses its meaning when it takes the lopsided form of Europe asking third countries to help solve what it perceives as its unique problem. Let’s not forget that the number of people moving between developing countries – “South to South” migration – is essentially equal to that of migration from South to North.  Countries in Africa, for example, face their own challenges in managing migration from other African countries and the Arabian Peninsula.
Europe must acknowledge and appreciate that sending countries are dealing with migration concerns and pressures of their own, often much greater than those Europe itself faces. In Somalia, for example, what can be done to support the authorities dealing with the 63,000 Somalis and over 160,000 Ethiopians who have been forcibly returned from various countries?  In northern Nigeria, there are hundreds of thousands of displaced people; their situation and fate must be a concern for the international community as a whole.
There is a better way to frame cooperation with third countries: one based on mutual recognition of shared, interlinked challenges and responsibilities.
Just as we need more solidarity among countries in Europe, we need to improve solidarity with non-European countries experiencing much greater crises in managing migration and displacement. This, in our view, will lead to a more balanced, effective and trustworthy relationship. What’s more, helping third countries to manage their own migration will contribute to reducing pressures on the European Union by improving governance of migration globally, rather than just at our borders.
Finally, we need greater international cooperation in our efforts to counter people smuggling and trafficking.
Smugglers – capitalizing on Europe’s “under siege” mentality which has predictably forced more people to take desperate measures and dangerous routes – have stepped in to facilitate audacious and deadly sea crossings to meet the demand from migrants and asylum seekers, which remains high given the extraordinarily desperate outlook in neighboring countries and regions and the need for better, regular ways to reach Europe.
In January, cargo ships were sent by smugglers on a crash course with the coast of Italy, risking the lives of the thousands on board.  On Monday (9/2), 29 migrants died from hypothermia after being rescued by the Italian Coast Guard, and on Wednesday (11/2) tragedy repeated itself on a massive scale in a related incident where over 300 missing migrants from Africa are feared drowned after their rubber dinghies – courtesy of smugglers who forced them to board – capsized in rough winter seas.  Over 3,800 migrants have been rescued since Friday (13/2).
Shutting down this deadly cycle means pulling the rug out from under the smugglers’ feet by getting accurate information to would be migrants and those in transit about the false wares of smugglers. It means undermining their business through the adequate provision of improved safe, legal ways to get to Europe. It means intensified, focused multinational cooperation and law enforcement against these criminal organizations.
Whereas we all face a crisis generated by the unconscionable numbers of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, the main migration challenge is not the number of arrivals. Rather, this is a crisis of memory and perspective, of balance and political will that if corrected will allow us to better see the contours of how migration can be managed more effectively in Europe and beyond.
A crisis footing is not conducive to constructive, long-term policy improvements and it is certainly not saving lives.  We need to move from defensive quick fixes to a united,politically courageous vision grounded in the overwhelming evidence that migration, managed in the right way, benefits all of us.
The Mediterranean sea holds eminence as a body that enabled the maritime migration of civilization and progress, the advancement of culture, science and legal systems across the continents it unites. Throughout recorded history, great civilizations have afforded recognition and respect to the Mediterranean’s central role in the synthesis of differences and as a facilitator of development.
The Romans renamed it “Our Sea”, Mare Nostrum.

Europe seems to have forgotten that it was only 70 years ago that Europeans were uprooted and seeking shelter from war and poverty. Then in the blink of an eye, Europe went from a continent of emigration to one of destination and yet our welcome leaves much to be desired.  We have drawn up the bridge and entered into “crisis” mode as if Europe were under siege by migrants.
Let’s put this in perspective.  The European Union is a political and economic “continent” of 500 million people with vast resources.  Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are far smaller but are dealing with millions of migrants and displaced people. While there are undoubtedly more pressures on some southern EU states, even these increased flows are manageable for Europe as a whole.
By the year 2050, European Union member states will require tens of millions of labour migrants. Getting to that point will mean a rethink of our approach towards how we manage our labour market programmes and how migration could contribute to it. This is why it is time for a serious refocus of our approach towards cooperation with countries of origin and transit, the “third countries” from where the mixed flows of migrants are leaving or passing through.
The current European approach tends to view migration as a “problem” shipped from third counties and deposited on the shores of Europe.
“Cooperation” loses its meaning when it takes the lopsided form of Europe asking third countries to help solve what it perceives as its unique problem. Let’s not forget that the number of people moving between developing countries – “South to South” migration – is essentially equal to that of migration from South to North.  Countries in Africa, for example, face their own challenges in managing migration from other African countries and the Arabian Peninsula.
Europe must acknowledge and appreciate that sending countries are dealing with migration concerns and pressures of their own, often much greater than those Europe itself faces. In Somalia, for example, what can be done to support the authorities dealing with the 63,000 Somalis and over 160,000 Ethiopians who have been forcibly returned from various countries?  In northern Nigeria, there are hundreds of thousands of displaced people; their situation and fate must be a concern for the international community as a whole.
There is a better way to frame cooperation with third countries: one based on mutual recognition of shared, interlinked challenges and responsibilities.
Just as we need more solidarity among countries in Europe, we need to improve solidarity with non-European countries experiencing much greater crises in managing migration and displacement. This, in our view, will lead to a more balanced, effective and trustworthy relationship. What’s more, helping third countries to manage their own migration will contribute to reducing pressures on the European Union by improving governance of migration globally, rather than just at our borders.
Finally, we need greater international cooperation in our efforts to counter people smuggling and trafficking.
Smugglers – capitalizing on Europe’s “under siege” mentality which has predictably forced more people to take desperate measures and dangerous routes – have stepped in to facilitate audacious and deadly sea crossings to meet the demand from migrants and asylum seekers, which remains high given the extraordinarily desperate outlook in neighboring countries and regions and the need for better, regular ways to reach Europe.
In January, cargo ships were sent by smugglers on a crash course with the coast of Italy, risking the lives of the thousands on board.  On Monday (9/2), 29 migrants died from hypothermia after being rescued by the Italian Coast Guard, and on Wednesday (11/2) tragedy repeated itself on a massive scale in a related incident where over 300 missing migrants from Africa are feared drowned after their rubber dinghies – courtesy of smugglers who forced them to board – capsized in rough winter seas.  Over 3,800 migrants have been rescued since Friday (13/2).
Shutting down this deadly cycle means pulling the rug out from under the smugglers’ feet by getting accurate information to would be migrants and those in transit about the false wares of smugglers. It means undermining their business through the adequate provision of improved safe, legal ways to get to Europe. It means intensified, focused multinational cooperation and law enforcement against these criminal organizations.
Whereas we all face a crisis generated by the unconscionable numbers of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, the main migration challenge is not the number of arrivals. Rather, this is a crisis of memory and perspective, of balance and political will that if corrected will allow us to better see the contours of how migration can be managed more effectively in Europe and beyond.
A crisis footing is not conducive to constructive, long-term policy improvements and it is certainly not saving lives.  We need to move from defensive quick fixes to a united,politically courageous vision grounded in the overwhelming evidence that migration, managed in the right way, benefits all of us.
The Mediterranean sea holds eminence as a body that enabled the maritime migration of civilization and progress, the advancement of culture, science and legal systems across the continents it unites. Throughout recorded history, great civilizations have afforded recognition and respect to the Mediterranean’s central role in the synthesis of differences and as a facilitator of development.
The Romans renamed it “Our Sea”, Mare Nostrum.
- See more at: http://weblog.iom.int/our-sea#sthash.BYvm5a9t.dpuf

Europe seems to have forgotten that it was only 70 years ago that Europeans were uprooted and seeking shelter from war and poverty. Then in the blink of an eye, Europe went from a continent of emigration to one of destination and yet our welcome leaves much to be desired.  We have drawn up the bridge and entered into “crisis” mode as if Europe were under siege by migrants.
Let’s put this in perspective.  The European Union is a political and economic “continent” of 500 million people with vast resources.  Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are far smaller but are dealing with millions of migrants and displaced people. While there are undoubtedly more pressures on some southern EU states, even these increased flows are manageable for Europe as a whole.
By the year 2050, European Union member states will require tens of millions of labour migrants. Getting to that point will mean a rethink of our approach towards how we manage our labour market programmes and how migration could contribute to it. This is why it is time for a serious refocus of our approach towards cooperation with countries of origin and transit, the “third countries” from where the mixed flows of migrants are leaving or passing through.
The current European approach tends to view migration as a “problem” shipped from third counties and deposited on the shores of Europe.
“Cooperation” loses its meaning when it takes the lopsided form of Europe asking third countries to help solve what it perceives as its unique problem. Let’s not forget that the number of people moving between developing countries – “South to South” migration – is essentially equal to that of migration from South to North.  Countries in Africa, for example, face their own challenges in managing migration from other African countries and the Arabian Peninsula.
Europe must acknowledge and appreciate that sending countries are dealing with migration concerns and pressures of their own, often much greater than those Europe itself faces. In Somalia, for example, what can be done to support the authorities dealing with the 63,000 Somalis and over 160,000 Ethiopians who have been forcibly returned from various countries?  In northern Nigeria, there are hundreds of thousands of displaced people; their situation and fate must be a concern for the international community as a whole.
There is a better way to frame cooperation with third countries: one based on mutual recognition of shared, interlinked challenges and responsibilities.
Just as we need more solidarity among countries in Europe, we need to improve solidarity with non-European countries experiencing much greater crises in managing migration and displacement. This, in our view, will lead to a more balanced, effective and trustworthy relationship. What’s more, helping third countries to manage their own migration will contribute to reducing pressures on the European Union by improving governance of migration globally, rather than just at our borders.
Finally, we need greater international cooperation in our efforts to counter people smuggling and trafficking.
Smugglers – capitalizing on Europe’s “under siege” mentality which has predictably forced more people to take desperate measures and dangerous routes – have stepped in to facilitate audacious and deadly sea crossings to meet the demand from migrants and asylum seekers, which remains high given the extraordinarily desperate outlook in neighboring countries and regions and the need for better, regular ways to reach Europe.
In January, cargo ships were sent by smugglers on a crash course with the coast of Italy, risking the lives of the thousands on board.  On Monday (9/2), 29 migrants died from hypothermia after being rescued by the Italian Coast Guard, and on Wednesday (11/2) tragedy repeated itself on a massive scale in a related incident where over 300 missing migrants from Africa are feared drowned after their rubber dinghies – courtesy of smugglers who forced them to board – capsized in rough winter seas.  Over 3,800 migrants have been rescued since Friday (13/2).
Shutting down this deadly cycle means pulling the rug out from under the smugglers’ feet by getting accurate information to would be migrants and those in transit about the false wares of smugglers. It means undermining their business through the adequate provision of improved safe, legal ways to get to Europe. It means intensified, focused multinational cooperation and law enforcement against these criminal organizations.
Whereas we all face a crisis generated by the unconscionable numbers of migrant deaths in the Mediterranean, the main migration challenge is not the number of arrivals. Rather, this is a crisis of memory and perspective, of balance and political will that if corrected will allow us to better see the contours of how migration can be managed more effectively in Europe and beyond.
A crisis footing is not conducive to constructive, long-term policy improvements and it is certainly not saving lives.  We need to move from defensive quick fixes to a united,politically courageous vision grounded in the overwhelming evidence that migration, managed in the right way, benefits all of us.
The Mediterranean sea holds eminence as a body that enabled the maritime migration of civilization and progress, the advancement of culture, science and legal systems across the continents it unites. Throughout recorded history, great civilizations have afforded recognition and respect to the Mediterranean’s central role in the synthesis of differences and as a facilitator of development.
The Romans renamed it “Our Sea”, Mare Nostrum.
- See more at: http://weblog.iom.int/our-sea#sthash.BYvm5a9t.dpuf

Meet the Irish-Kenyan clothing label competing with fast fashion


The African Shirt Company is the brainchild of Joan Hughes and Lindi Campbell-Clause - two friends from Ireland and Kenya who met at university and share a passion for conservation and sustainability
KENYA AND ME:
LINDI CAMPBELL CLAUSE
I was born in Kenya in 1987 and brought up on the shores of lake Naivasha in the Rift Valley. My father was an artist painting pictures of some of Kenya’s wildest and most beautiful places and animals.
As children my brother and I were lucky enough to spend most of our growing years on safari, living in tents, eating from campfires and building dens in the back of our ever moving toyota pick-up. My earliest memories are of having bucket baths on the shores of muddy rivers watching hippos and climbing trees above our camp to make way for herds of elephants to pass through.
I attended primary school in Gilgil until the age of 13 and then went to Ireland for secondary school and tertiary studies. Dublin and the Wicklow mountains took a bit of getting used to and wearing trousers and shoes was always slightly awkward but I was never lonely thanks to the open-heartedness and warmth of the people I met in Ireland.
When I graduated from NCAD in 2010 with a BA in fine print I spent almost two years cruising the high seas working on board super yachts hosting charters in the Med and Caribbean.
As much as I appreciated the views of Caribbean sunsets and endless oceans, I longed for African skies and warm sandy river beds under acacia trees. I couldn’t deny the grip Africa had on my free spirit, its wildness was truly rooted in my bones and I knew it was my home.
A lot had changed in Kenya since my childhood, or maybe it was just my peachy tinted kids glasses that had painted over the harsh realities of so many people struggling to put food on their plates every day while I had been running free with elephants. I think it’s safe to say it was a bit of both. Life was getting harder in rural Kenya with more pressure on the land and wildlife and thousands more people competing for water, fertile soil and an income. I wanted to try and increase some people’s chances for a decent living in these harsh areas, and as a designer I also liked the thought of having my own brand.
The idea for The African Shirt Company came about when I introduced Joan to Kenya. We felt that we could create a platform for fair trade clothing made in Kenya which could make an impact on the local community.
The African Shirt Company teaches local people how to pattern, cut and sew. This gives them new skills and provides them with an alternative way to create an income. First we partnered with a tailor named Clara, in Kiteghe village in the remote and dry area of Kasigau near Tsavo West national park. She started making tailored shirts out of traditional East African fabrics using a non-electric foot pedal sewing machine. Her work proved so successful that the project grew and now employs four women in the same village who have all learned how to use sewing machines. It provides an income for these women and their families. They share and improve their skills and it has brought meaningful employment to the area. As the project grows, we hope to employ more people and expand to surrounding villages, and make a greater positive impact in the region.

KENYA AND ME:
JOAN HUGHES
I was born and raised in the West of Ireland and in hindsight I think I had quite an easy childhood, always so sheltered from the harsh realities of the lives of many young women around the world.
Growing up I was immersed in the complexity of production and the clothing industry due to my family business - Portwest, a protective clothing company. The business has been in my family for over a hundred years, and yet, I never had the ambition to set up my own label until I visited Kenya for the first time in 2009. While on that unforgettable trip to Kenya I had a shirt made in the traditional African fabric. It was so vibrant I felt I wanted to have that energy in my life every day. After all, “life’s too short for boring clothes”.
As a designer I believe colour is one of the most important tools to make someone smile. When I returned from Kenya, I felt that with my design degree and experience in the rag trade I might be able to contribute to something more than the mass production and fast fashion that I knew, and so two years ago The African Shirt Company was born. It’s been flourishing ever since from the idea of producing simple but lovable product in a fair and sustainable way.
Through the African Shirt Company Lindi and I set about creating a sustainable production initiative based in Kenya called The Village Workshops. It creates alternative forms of income for people from a disadvantaged rural area of Kenya. The company's ethos is based on the motto "Trade not aid". So our goal is to promote sustainable business over aid dependency. The brand enables marginalised artisans to increase their skills and enter the international fashion chain in a fair way. The people working with us in our workshop used to depend on traditional farming methods but due to crops continuously failing over the past years due to severe drought (global warming) they now live each day as it comes.
The only way people in this area have been able to support themselves and survive is through cutting down trees, which has horrendous consequences, leaving the community and environment in a worse state in the long run. Local farmers continue to clear forested areas in order to produce charcoal to sell as firewood or to build their own homes. However, this practice leaves the soil unsuitable for farming, and when the rains do come, the topsoil gets washed away, leaving the earth barren with little chance of recovery. So in conjunction with job creation we also support a local tree nursery and conservation project. From every shirt sold we donate a percentage to reforestation in the local community.
Currently our shirts are made without electricity, without running water and we iron them with a charcoal iron (sustainable charcoal of course!). It is the beautiful, colourful designs which make our shirts one-of-a-kind. The kanga is a traditional East African fabric which dates back to the 19th century. The kangas used by The African Shirt Company are one of a kind, meaning there will be no more made from the same pattern. This means that each shirt is truly a unique work of art. Each shirt is sold with a price tag that ensures that the people who made it receive a fair wage for their work. This is the heart of what we believe in. Fairness.
For more see theafricanshirtcompany.com

Tabit and sexual violence in Darfur

Darfur has practically been closed off to journalists, politicians and independent civil society organizations, and sexual violence and rape have now become a reality in women’s day-to-day lives.

In nine months, our neighborhood will be full of new born Arab infants… They came to drink Maresa and ended up using us all. They had guns; we could not say anything to stop them.
Bitterly but sarcastically, Mariam told a women’s rights activist about what had happened to her while they were chatting over tea in Nyala. That was two years ago.
Sexual violence and rape have now become a reality of women’s lives and part of their everyday encounters in Darfur.
Over the past few years, and after the ICC arrest warrant for Omar Albashirand other government officials, Darfur has practically been closed off to journalists, politicians and independent civil society organizations.
Last year Sara, a 16 year-old girl from Zamzam IDP camp was hospitalized for ten days after being gang raped by two young men. One of them was an officer with the National Reserve Forces (Abu Taira).
She proceeded with her case and reported it to the police. However, the officer was never charged. The other rapist was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years, yet after a very quick appeal, was found not guilty and released.
Sara was grieving; she wanted and needed for her story to be heard and travelled long distances in order to meet with the activist who recorded her case, as the displacement camp remains inaccessible to journalists and activists from Khartoum.
Under the current oppressive and highly monitored situation in Darfur, Radio Dabanga, a very popular community radio with a huge network of local reporters – working with an extremely low profile – remains the only outspoken media outlet that regularly documents and reports rape cases. This has given it the reputation of being “The Rape Radio” among Sudanese activists.
Radio Dabanga has been broadcasting in shortwave since 2008 to inform the people in Darfur of social, political as well as other events around them. It was initially broadcasting from Khartoum but, due to government interference, it is now broadcast from the Netherlands by Free Press Unlimited.
On 5 November 2014 Darfur was in the international headlines, including the BBC, as UNAMID had issued a statement after being denied access to Tabit village to investigate rape allegations. Radio Dabanga was the first to broadcast that military forces had invaded Tabit and raped 200 women. However, four days later the UNAMID mission reported that they had been allowed access and that no evidence of rape was found.
Hildebrand Bijleveld, the Director of Radio Dabanga and Free Press Unlimited chronicled these events in Tabit as follows:
On 31 October 2014, we were informed that a young lady from Tabit, engaged to a soldier, got pregnant. Her family went to the military barracks to complain and told the soldier that they would have to deal with him if he came back for their daughter. In the afternoon, her brothers were arrested and the village was surrounded by military forces because a soldier went missing. It was 4-5 pm Sudan time on Friday and we could not verify the information, thus we did not publish the same day.
On November 2 we got information from another source that the military forces had raped a large number of women in Tabit. Alarm bells were ringing. We got hold of two rape survivors who reported their cases, but they were still in the village. So, for their own safety, another person from the village testified on their behalf.
Early morning on Monday one of the victims disappeared. We had four recorded testimonies but were only able to release one, because we had to make sure that the survivors were safe.
On November 4, a UNAMID convoy moved from Shigil Tobai, located to the South of Tabit, to investigate the incident. To our surprise and according to UNAMID’s statement, they were stopped by a military road blockade. (Even though they had come from the south and should have already passed Tabit before reaching the blockade).
People reported that they had already spoken to UNAMID. This is why I think UNAMID was purposefully seeking military verification over the investigation of rape. UNAMID also mentioned that no one had arrived from Tabit to the Zamzam IDP camp even though we had sent our reporters to Zamzam to meet with some of the women who had fled Tabit. Those women were not even approached by UNAMID.
On November 7, a popular committee was formed to document the rape cases. They had to work through the night, going from door to door. They were able to document 57 rape cases of which 8 were minors.
On November 8, the military forces came to Tabit and threatened people who talked. The following day, UNAMID sent a delegation accompanied by the police and military to investigate rape incidents. The people were scared.
UNAMID claimed they talked to 8-9 students; however there aren’t any secondary schools or universities in Tabit.
UNAMID’s public statement offended the people; even the UN Security Council dismissed it.
All they said is that there was no evidence.
Mr. Bijleveld on Radio Dabanga’s reputation as “The Rape Radio”:
Radio Dabanga was started by Darfurians with the mission of reporting current affairs. We cover all issues of the peace process, rule of law, sports and social events. Our team works with some of the best Sudanese journalists. Its 100% independent and committed to the highest professional standards.
Journalists are on the front lines when violations happen. Our commitment is to report and inform the people… We are not a lobbying or advocacy organization.
Regarding the high prevalence of sexual violence in Sudan and mainly in Darfur, Mr. Bijleveld commented:
I have lived in Sudan for almost two decades, while rape is a miserable crime, society and authorities would never tolerate a rapist and he would be punished regardless of his affiliations. It was against the ethical and moral values of society. Now rape is being used as a tool to suppress and terrify the people and perpetrators are not being punished.
The recent incidents in Tabit outraged Sudanese social media users. After UNAMID’s statement, the discussion was shifted from anger at the prevalence of sexual violence in Darfur to Radio Dabanga and their stand versus UNAMID’s credibility.
The latter has a reputation for covering up government violations and under-reporting incidents, as stated by Aisha Elbasiri, a former UNAMID spokesperson who resigned because her access to information was blocked. Having a discussion over whether or not Tabit ‘happened’ reflects a major misunderstanding of sexual violence. During the Tabit outrage, Radio Dabanga reported the rape of two women in central Darfur and the abduction and rape of another in West Darfur. The two incidents went unnoticed. No demands for investigation or for the support of the survivors were made. Questioning the occurrence, or even the blatant denial, of such heinous crimes based on the argument that the military base near Tabit is small, composed of only one hundred soldiers, is invalid. Such an argument reflects the fact that rape and sexual violence are perceived as consensual sexual acts, not the violent crimes they are in reality.
The truth is that sexual violence is a weapon of war that has been normalized as part of everyday life in Darfur. No support is being provided to the survivors and no perpetrators are being brought to justice. The government of Sudan will continue to use its propaganda machine to deny the existence of these heinous crimes as the list of survivors and victims of sexual violence gets longer and longer.

Yosra Akasha is a Sudanese blogger & activist. As an advocate for the rights of women, refugees & displaced communities, Yosra has been selected as a correspondent for Voices of Our Future 2013 by World Pulse. She blogs in English/Arabic here and tweets @sudanesedream

Reazzjonijiet għal estensjoni ta' Triton u aktar flus lit-Taljani…

'Assolutament xejn mill-Kummissjoni Ewropea'
biex tissolva l-kriżi ta' salvataġġ ta' immigranti"
       - John Dalhuisen, Direttur Amnesty International


Diversi rappreżentanti ta' organizazzjonijiet umanitarji ma naqsux li fl-aħħar sigħat jikkummentaw dwar id-dikjarazzjoni li nħarġet mill-Kummissjoni Ewropea dwar is-salvataġġi ta' immigranti, f'liema dikjarazzjoni intqal li l-Kummissjoni Ewropea se tagħti €13.7 miljun f'fondi ta' emerġenza lill-Italja, waqt li l-operazzjoni ta' 'Triton' li hi mmexxija mill-Frontex se tkun estiża sal-aħħar tas-sena.  Għal diversi rappreżentanti fosthom id-Direttur ta' Amnesty International għal Ewropa u l-Asja Ċentrali, John Dalhuisen, dak imħabbar mill-Kummissjoni Ewropea mhi se tfisser xejn għas-salvataġġi ta' immigranti. Hu jiddeskrivi dak imħabbar bħala 'assolutament xejn'.
Minn naħa tiegħu, il-Professur Steve Peers, li jispeċjalizza fuq id-drittijiet tal-bniedem fl-Università ta' Exeter, jistaqsi kemm dak imħabbar mill-Kummissjoni Ewropea se jkun biżżejjed biex ma jintilfux aktar ħajjiet ta' immigranti fil-baħar.
Matteo de Bellis, magħruf għal ħidma tiegħu fost l-immigranti f'Lampedusa  f'messaġġ li ħareġ lill-Kummissjoni Ewropea jgħid li "rridu soluzzjonijiet u mhux kliem".
Intant il-Kummissjoni Ewropea f'dikjarazzjoni li ħarġet nhar il-Ħamis ħabbret li l-operazzjoni Triton ġiet estiża sal-aħħar tas-sena.  Il-Kummissjoni Ewropea qalet ukoll li r-rakkomandazzjonijiet tat-task force għall-Mediterran se jkunu implimentati b'aktar ħeffa.  Il-Kummissjoni Ewropea qalet qed tagħti €13.7 miljun lill-Italja mill-fond ta' emerġenza għaż-żieda fl-immigranti.
Ta' min jgħid li l-operazzjoni Triton li ħadet post dik mit-Taljani bl-isem ta' Mare Nostrum, għandha ħafna inqas riżorsi. Waqt li t-Taljani b'Mare Nostrum kienu jaslu sa l-ibħra Libjani f'dak li hu salvataġġ, 'Triton' se tkun ibbażata f'Lampedusa u f'Empedocle u r-rondi se jsiru sa 30 mil l-bogħod mill-kosta bejn Sqallija u l-Kalabrija. Din għamlet  il-missjoni waħda ta' kontroll tal-fruntieri aktar milli ta' salvataġġ għall-immigranti, għalkemm tgħid li s-salvataġġ ta' persuni hu prijorità.
Ħafna pajjiżi Ewropej qed jaħslu idejhom jew ikunu indifferenti u sa  ma kkonfermawx li se jieħdu sehem fi 'Triton'. Dan kein wassal għal kritika qawwija fosthom mill-Professur u rapporteur tal-Ġnus Magħquda għad-Drittijiet Umani, Francois Crepeau. Hu kien qal li 'l-attitudni ta' ċerti pajjiżi Ewropej hi dik ta' ħallihom  jegħrqu għax dak hu deterrent'.  Crepeau, f'dikjarazzjoni li għamel f'Ġinevra qal li l-fatt li jitħallew immigranti imutu fil-fruntieri mal-Ewropa minħabba l-istatus amminsitrattiv tagħhom, ikun ifisser li huma jkunu qed iwarrbu għal kollox il-valur tal-ħajja umana. Waqt li appella lill-Gvern Ingliż biex jirrikonsidra d-deċiżjoni tiegħu li ma jieħux sehem f'operazzjonijiet ta' salvataġġ fil-Mediterran, Crepeau għamilha ċara li gvernijiet li ma jappoġġjawx sforzi ta' salvataġġ ikunu qed jirriduċu lilhom infushom għall-istess livell tat-traffikanti tan-nies.  Dawn qegħdin jilagħbu bil-ħajja tan-nies", sostna Crepeau.