Stories about Humanitarian Response from September, 2011
Pakistan: Update On Flood Relief
Teeth Maestro posts updates of some ongoing flood relief projects of SARelief in Pakistan. You can track the relief activities by following the hashtag #pkrelief on Twitter.
Bangladesh: Does Anyone Care About The Urban Poor?
Unheard Voice breaks a news that authorities had started evicting the new settlements including the Jaago Foundation school for the underprivileged along the Gulshan lake in Dhaka city. When challenged they could not show any prior notice or proper authorization. The blogger questions: “does anyone really care about the urban...
India: To Be Poor In India
Project Why exposes that there is a serious flaw in determining who is poor in India and who will get social welfare benefit from the government. The blogger asks: “what are we trying to do: show the world that we are not poor?”
North Korea: Kim Jong-il Plans to Solve Famine by Breeding Giant Rabbits
Zimbabwe Metro site posted a list of eccentric acts and plans carried out by North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-il. It includes Kim's plan to solve famine by breeding giant rabbits and revelations that Kim being one of the world’s largest buyer of Hennessy, German cars and Uzbekistani caviar.
Book Review: ‘Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives In North Korea’
Change in Longitude blog posted a thorough review of the book ‘Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives In North Korea’ by Barbara Demick. The book’s title comes from a song that North Korean school children recite, “We have nothing to envy in the world” in spite of chronic malnutrition and famine...
North Korea: Google Earth Reveals Death Camps in Detail
Kyle Wagner from Gizmodo site wrote a post on one of the most detailed images of the North Korean concentration camps taken by Google Earth. It is estimated that over 200,000 North Korean citizens are imprisoned in the camps under unimaginably harsh conditions.
China: “Dog Meat Festival” Cancelled
Fauna from ChinaSMACK translates the Chinese netizen's online campaign to petition against the Dog Meat Festival in Zhejiang province.
Pakistan: Neglected Millions of Sindh Floods
After the devastating 2010 floods in Pakistan the government took no practical steps to tackle the possibility of future floods. The consequence of this gross negligence is that floods are yet again causing havoc. The eye of the storm this year is Sindh where flood waters have razed numerous villages and displaced millions.
Mozambique: Sant'Egidio Community Fights Back Against HIV/AIDS
Lack of access to care for HIV positive people has been well documented on the African continent. Many initiatives strive to show that things could improve with collective effort, and among them is the Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition (DREAM) program.
Turkmenistan: Global Village or Village Behind the Globe?
Foreign presence in Turkmenistan is limited to a few diplomats and branch executives of a couple of large energy or construction companies. So the existence of Americans living and teaching in some rural villages has sparked debate online.
Colombia: Controversy Over New Methodology to Calculate Poverty
Nazih Richani in Cuadernos Colombianos –a NACLA blog– has written two posts (1, 2) on Colombia's new methodology to calculate poverty: “The newly adopted Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) factors in health, housing, living standards, and government subsidies, alongside income. The problem is, regardless of the ‘methodological rigor,’ there are many doubts...
CIVICUS: Reflections on the Power of Civil Society
For three days several civil society representatives met in Montreal for the CIVICUS World Assembly. The subjects were diverse: from civil movements, social equality, and the effects of new technologies, to climate justice. Here are some blog posts that covered the assembly.
Russia: Connecting Neighbors, Saving Lives
The creators of a website that enabled Russians to help each other during wildfires in 2010 have now redesigned the site to enable citizens to assist each other in new ways - including mapping willing blood donors in locations across the country.
Iran: Photos from a Candlelight Vigil for 9/11 Victims
Shabe Haftom has published several photos from 10 years ago of ordinary Iranians holding candles during a vigil in Tehran, Iran to mourn the loss of life in the United States after hijackers crashed two planes into the World Trade Center in New York.
Tanzania: Real-time Information on Zanzibar Boat Accident
You can follow real-time information on the Zanzibar boat accident 10th Sep 2011 or send report by sending a tweet with the hashtag/s #ZanzibarBoatAccident or #Zanzibar or #Pemba.
Sri Lanka: Youth-Led Reconciliation
Dilinika Peiris discusses whether youth-led reconciliation could put Sri Lanka back on the map.
Brazil: Amazon Defender Under Threats Requests Protection
The Brazilian rainforest defender Raimundo Belmiro urges the authorities for protection after death threats “for his activism against the destruction of the Amazon jungle”. The message is spreading in both Brazilian and international blogosphere.
North Korea, Country in a Long Coma
Alex Tabarrok on Marginal Revolution blog wrote about how the dictatorship in North Korea has survived decades despite mass starvation and economic failure. The author, quoting parts from the book Nothing to Envy, commented that the North Korean iron curtain which has been much more impenetrable than that of Eastern...
