Stories about Humanitarian Response from July, 2011
Gambia: Peace Corps Volunteer Visits Gambia After 38 Years
“The first black US Peace Corps volunteer to come to The Gambia, in 1970, nine years after the founding of Peace Corps by former US President John F Kennedy in 1961, has arrived in The Gambia with his family, to share his experience as a peace corps volunteer,” Shout-Africa reports.
Denmark: Starvation Day
The severe drought in Africa's Horn is echoing in many online corners of the world. But not only established organizations are raising funds for food. Here's a Danish Facebooker introducing an alternative event – Starvation Monday [en]: “Starve yourself on August 1 and donate the money you would have spent...
Angola: Bloggers Meet Rappers for a Socially Responsible Soccer Match
Dino Cross, from the blog Hip Hop Angola, announces [pt] a soccer match between Angolan bloggers and rappers that will take place on the 30th of July. All the attendees are invited to bring goods to the stadium which the organization will take care of donating to social institutions afterwards.
Iran: Campaign to Free Last Two Jailed American Hikers
Sarah Shourd spent 410 days in solitary confinement in Tehran, Iran, on charges of "espionage". She now calls on the world to speak up for her two friends, Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who are still in prison in Iran since all three were arrested while hiking in July 2009.
Africa: Africa Cartoon Stirs Famine Pornography Debate
Natasha Elkington looks at satirical newspaper cartoon commenting on media priorities around the Murdoch scandal and the East Africa famine which has sparked debate about pornography: “The image, labelled “Priorities”, depicts three naked, emaciated children holding empty bowls, with swollen bellies, ribs sticking out and flies swarming above them.”
Iran: Global Day of Action for Dr. Arash Alaei
Physicians for Human Rights launched a global action day and an oline petition to Dr. Arash Alaei who is in jail in Iran. Arash and his brother, Kamyar, two Aids physicians were arrested in 2008. Kamyar was released recently and moved to the USA.
Colombia: Challenges of the Victims’ Law
Paula Delgado-King writes about some of the challenges the recently approved Victims’ Law faces: “the process needs to provide loans and credits, guidance for which crops and animals are most suitable where, and access to markets,” and that “the law has no accompanying truth commission to create a national conscience...
Barbados: Legal Battle over Wetlands
Barbados Free Press recounts the falling out between a Canadian philanthropist and the government over the latter's alleged action of “dumping raw sewerage into the Graeme Hall wetlands and other violations of various treaties and agreements”, saying: “The truth is that Peter Allard has been a better friend to ordinary...
Afghanistan: Taliban killing civilians with IEDs
Nick Fielding reports that civilian deaths in Afghanistan increased by 15 per cent in 2011, pointing out that the dramatic growth was mainly due to the use of landmine-like improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by the Taliban.
Egypt: Building a Nation in a Square
Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey wrote how the sit-in in Tahrir square turned out to become exercise in building a small nation from scratch within the boundaries of the square.
Bangladesh: The Link Between Aid Work And Islamic Extremism
Shawn Ahmed at Uncultured.com writes about the link between aid work and Islamic extremism in developing countries providing examples from Bangladesh.
Senegal-Chad: Hissène Habré won't be expelled anymore
In a post published on July 11th, leboytownshow.com blog states the following [fr] :”Senegalese authorities finally announced that they suspend the deportation order against Hissène Habré (editor's note: Chad former president) “.
Somalia: Al-Shabaab Calls For International Aid
On Afrik.com, Michelle Nougoum reveals [fr] that: “The Horn of Africa is experiencing one of the worst droughts of its history, so much so that al shabaab, an islamist insurgent group of Somalian rebels, has called for international aid on Wednesday, July 6th. Two years ago, this group had forced...
Russia: Infamous ‘Vanishing’ Charity Foundation Resurfaces
The heartwarming performance of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin playing the piano and singing the song "Blueberry Hill" at a charity concert, was darkened by the scandal surrounding the 'Federaciya' (Federation) foundation that allegedly tried to disappear with the money raised by the event. The charity has recently resurfaced, with plans for another concert underway.
The North Korea Food Aid Dilemma
On July 4, the European Commission pledged USD 14.5 million in emergency food aid to help impoverished North Koreans. The Opening Up North Korea blog posted an analysis on the timeless dilemma in aiding North Korea.
Togo: $200,000 aid for Japan
On 24th June 2011 the Togolese blogger, Sylvio Combey, denounced on his blog [fr]: “[The president] Faure Gnassingbé has given $200,000 (about 92 million CFA francs) to a country [Japan] which is suffering great losses and paying the consequences of its nuclear policy. You just have to look at...
