· January, 2010

Stories about Governance from January, 2010

Iran: Two Bloggers in Danger of Death

  31 January 2010

Two Iranian bloggers, who are also human rights defendants, are behind bars under serious charges. Mehrdad Rahimi and Kouhyar Goudarzi have been accused of wanting to wage “a war against God,” and charged as being “Mohareb” (enemies of God). Their charges are similar to those against the two men who were executed this week in Tehran.

Global Voices in Haiti: Talking to Volunteer Régine Zamor

  31 January 2010

Alice Backer, on assignment for Global Voices in Port-au-Prince, interviews Régine Zamor, a Haitian-American who travelled to Haiti after the 12 January earthquake and has helped dozens of people as an independent volunteer. "Many Haitians and others willing to help took matters into their own hands during the first-response period."

Global Voices in Haiti: On Reconstruction

  30 January 2010

With scattered clean-up efforts under way in Haiti, debates have begun about how best to rebuild houses and other structures destroyed in the 12 January earthquake. Georgia Popplewell reports from Port-au-Prince on "the critical matter of shelter for those who have lost their homes".

Pakistan: Depleting Water Resources

  30 January 2010

Owais Mughal at All Things Pakistan discusses about the depleting water resources of Pakistan and urges the decision makers to “invest in Pakistan’s Water Resources for the stability of the country and the region.”

Ukraine: “Bring Your Skates”

  30 January 2010

Greetings from Kyiv posts an update on the situation on Kyiv's sidewalks: “This year, Kyiv City Services decided not to clean up the snow so the snow on the sidewalks turns into a very slippery ice rink. The fact that cars use the sidewalks as parking lots adds to the...

Russia: CJR Piece on the Media

  29 January 2010

Robert Amsterdam recommends Adam Federman's article on the Russian media, published in Columbia Journalism Review: “[…] Federman focuses on the remaining mechanisms and political dynamics for freedom of press and the conditions in which genuinely good investigative journalism can still occur in today's harshly repressive media environment in Russia.”

Azerbaijan: Democracy is…

  29 January 2010

Önər Blog [AZ] posts a video [EN] made by the OL! Azerbaijani Youth Movement for the Democracy Video Challenge. OL! has been exemplary in its use of new media in the region and was co-founded by now imprisoned video blogging youth activist Adnan Hajizade.

Eritrea: Remove current regime quickly

  29 January 2010

According to Mohammed Hagos, democracy project in Eritrea has to start with the removal of the current regime: “The hurdle preventing the Eritrean people from having their say is the Issayas regime. The path to democracy thus starts with removing the Issayas regime as quickly as possible…”