· October, 2009

Stories about Citizen Media from October, 2009

Uruguay: Two Plebiscites Fail to Pass

  29 October 2009

On the same day as the Presidential elections in Uruguay, voters did not pass two plebiscites that would have given Uruguayans abroad the right to vote and the annulment of the Law of Expiration.

China's Dark Satanic Mills

  28 October 2009

On Oct. 14th, Chinese photographer Lu Guang won this year's $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his photos on China’s environment. The Fund’s website posts the following paragraph describing Lu Guang’s project: Lu Guang has been documenting the ecological disasters in China resulting from the rapid growth...

Disaster Management and the role of ICTs

  27 October 2009

In a first post of the series, we explore the role of ICTs in Disaster Management and the paradigm shift in Disaster Management strategies that came about post the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004.

Nepal's Dalit Women: Fighting For Dignity

  27 October 2009

The constitution of Nepal guarantees equality for the dalits or the 'untouchables'. But in the real world, outside long winding provisions of the constitution and legalese, the dalits are still openly treated as less than human.

Pregnancy and Prisons: Women's Health and Rights Behind Bars

  24 October 2009

It is still a struggle to ensure human rights for pregnant women worldwide, and it seems that in the process, pregnant women in prison are many times overlooked. What have been some of the steps made to ensure that they are also treated humanely, with respect to the life they carry?

Africa: Predators of Art, Entrepreneurship and Poet Ramblings

  23 October 2009

There are predators and there are art predators and Gwendolyn Alley is one such predator. It is not often that you hear that one is an art predator, an enthusiast or aficionado maybe but not predator and this is what made me become very curious about Alley’s blog where she confesses her love for art.

Inheritance tax and children in limbo: adoption in Japan.

  21 October 2009

Adoption in Japan is a statistically under-represented, multi-dimensional issue. Young families seeking children, inheritance tax-evading grandchild adoptions, conservative opposition to confusing family blood-lines, and loosely regulated groups illegally netting profit from international adoptions out of Japan.

Uganda: Bloggers discuss anti-gay bill

  20 October 2009

A Ugandan bill that would make homosexuality officially illegal and punishable with death sentence or life in prison has been tabled in parliament and now only awaits president Yoweri Museveni's signature. Gay bloggers in Uganda discuss.

Africa discusses Climate Change

  19 October 2009

Blog Action Day 2009 was an online event organized by Change.org. It was a virtual gathering of voices discussing climate change. Bloggers from a sampling of countries in Sub Saharan Africa were among those who posted their thoughts, and in this post, we get to listen to their voices. Kenya...

Reading the world on Blog Action Day

  15 October 2009

More than 9000 bloggers are devoting a post to climate change today as part of Blog Action Day, an annual initiative started by Change.org to unite the world's bloggers in reaching their millions of readers.