Archive for
November 10th, 2006
Stories
Uganda Update: peace talks, reconciliation, and a frustrated president
It's been an excellent week for big news and sharp writing in Uganda. The peace talks in Juba continue to dominate the agenda. Last week, a renewed ceasefire gave LRA rebels until Dec. 1 to assemble at the two meeting points in Southern Sudan. The Government lead at the talks, Internal Affairs Minister Rugunda, remained confident in the success of the talks, and nearly all major donors pledged funds to support the talks.
One conspicuously absent donor was the United States. Uganda-CAN asks why:
At this point, we cannot help but wonder what interests the Bush Administration is worried about hurting or losing if it shows any support for this historic peace initiative. Is it worried that it could hurt its alliance with President Museveni, whom has been a strategic ally in the war on terror? Is it worried that it could hurt the working relationship between the UPDF and the U.S. Combined Joint Task Force in the Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA)? Is the it worried that it could lose the U.S. military's air base at Entebbe Airport? Is the it worried it could hurt foreign military sales to Uganda? Is it worried that it could hurt its business interests in the country at a time with China's influence on the continent is growing? Whatever it is, it appears that the White House is putting perceived geopolitical, military or economic interests before the interests of northern Ugandans in peace after 20 years of brutal war.
Corporate Social Responsibility: The blogosphere reacts
If you missed the live webcast of Reuters' Corporate Social Responsible panel yesterday, you can click here to view the full-length archived video. Stephen Frost live-blogged it on the CSR Asia blog. We had a sizeable group of bloggers from a range of countries on the live IRC chat - you can click here for the full chat transcript.
The panel at Reuters' New York facility was distinguished but not exactly diverse: Doug Bauer from Rockefeller Philanthrophy Advisers, Clive Cook from the Atlantic Media Co., John Demsey, group president of Estee Lauder, Samuel DiPiazza, CEO of PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Reuters Chairman Niall FitzGerald. (click here for the full list of names and bios). All men, all North American or Western European, all white, all executives. Writing from Trinidad & Tobago, Atillah Springer commented in the live chat: “the more I think about it, the more insane it seems that they can be having a conversation about whose business CSR is and not have any stakeholders, not to mention women on the panel.”
A lot of laudable statements were made. Mr. FitzGerald made the impassioned point that corporations must be good citizens or large numbers of people on this planet will lose faith in the value of free markets. Business must find a strategic advantage to being responsible, DiPiazza believes. Knight predicted that sustainability - environmental and social - will be the key business innovation of the future. Panelists agreed that quarterly earnings pressures make it difficult for companies to act in a manner that is most socially responsible because social responsibility pays off more over the long term than the short term. Bloggers on the live chat found all these things encouraging. However many found the discussion to be divorced from the realities on the ground in their countries. There was also considerable cynicism about the ultimate motives of CSR, despite the lofty rhetoric. Atillah concluded from Trinidad & Tobago: (more…)
Two weeks in Costa Rica's blogs
These weeks the most talked-about political issues in Costa Rica have been: the aftermath of the anti-Cafta marches, the desire for a referendum to decide if signing the free trade agreement would be best or not, the unsatisfactory resolution to the Tinoco sexual harassment case, where a council elected to decide if the case should proceed came out with a tepid we're-not-sure.
On the cultural front we've had the masquerades: parades created to divert attention from Halloween and it's cultural alienation, and the concerts for “Japanese Week.” What follows are excerpts from some blogs where authors write about these or other issues.
Víctor Alba de la Vega comments in a lengthy post in his blog Pez en Seco on his view on the blogosphere and some media outlets, where Oscar Arias is considered an evil overlord puppeteer and CAFTA is to blame for all evil, past and present. He also touches on the polarization of Costa Rican society where the good guys are against CAFTA and the “Miamization” of Costa Rica and the bad guys are those who believe that CAFTA could help them or don't really care. He concludes:
Hungary: Paprika in Szentes
“Some like it hot” - Photo by Kris of Little Town in Hungary, a blog featuring daily photos “from Szentes, a small town located on the southern Great Plain of Hungary.”
Kris writes about this photo:
I saw this scene yesterday. Does the owner of this flat like paprika so much? or it is a way to gain additional income? Whatever it is, the sure thing is, these wonderfully garland paprika (paprikafuzer) will ended up as the “ultimate spice” for many kitchens in Szentes.
The photo reminds one reader, Lachezar Karadjov, of his native Bulgaria:
A beautiful image of a very old tradition.
Reminds me of my own country. In autumn they would be all over windows and balconies in big cities, small towns and villages. People would pride themselves of who's paprika (in Bulgarian “liuti chushleta) is the hottest. Mostly they would use them at home but some will sell…
Kris also provides a link to one of her favorite paprika recipes - Hungarian Mushroom Chicken (Gombes Csirke), which is posted at her other blog - Kitchen at no. Nineteen: food junkie finally gets cooking:
Eating out for us means fast food, pizzas, burgers, chinese, Indonesian, Indian […], etc. We hardly try-out Hungarian food in restaurants. Reason being, we get to eat home-made Hungarian dishes cooked by B's (my partner) parents. Most of them are quite tasty and suit to my taste. […]
Blogging for the Cause in Honduras
Nelly, a Honduran entreprenuer who received a small business loan from Kiva
Honduran bloggers La Gringa, Matthew, Ruthy, and Jill are blogging for a good cause. Though media attention on world hunger is often focused on Africa, Honduras - a small Central American country with a population of about 7 million - recently achieved the dubious distinction of the country with the highest rate of “chronic hunger” in the Western Hemisphere. Four bloggers based in Honduras and the US have seen this hunger first-hand and want to do something to help.
La Gringa, a former Texan living in La Ceiba, Honduras, writes:
Honduras now rates number one in the category of ‘chronic hunger,' with almost one quarter of the population falling into that category. Honduras has now surpassed Haiti where the hunger rate is 18 percent.
Searching on the Internet for some way to help, La Gringa discovered the Kiva organization. Kiva makes “micro loans” to small business people in Honduras and 12 other countries. From the Kiva website:
Kiva is a microfinance organization that facilitates the lending of money to poor people in several countries around the world. Microfinance has been in the news recently-Muhammad Yunus, who created the Grameen Bank and the idea of microfinance, was just awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006. Kiva is a Swahili word meaning “agreement” or “unity”.
Voices from Central Asia and the Caucasus
Club in Almaty/Kazakhstan - (c) Christopher Herwig - www.herwigphoto.com
Welcome to the latest roundup of the Central Asian and Caucasian blogospheres. A lot has happened over the past two weeks - so let's get down to business straightaway.
Political crisis in Kyrgyzstan…
The stalemate between opposition and the Bakiyev/Kulov administration in Bishkek continues, with analysts looking at a new proposed constitution brought forward by President Bakiyev yesterday. Kyrgyz Report, a new blog set up by young people from Bishkek, is constantly updated and provides great insights from the ground, including frequent photos. Edil Baisalov, prominent opposition figure and active LJ blogger, is also a good place to start if you read Russian. neweurasia's Russian Kyrgyzstan blog has had many posts over the last couple of days, with opinions ranging across the board and featuring a lot of eye-witness accounts. Nathan on The Registan combines media roundups with great commentary, and as usual, interesting discussions arise in the comment sections. Sean Roberts, the Georgetown Central Asian Affairs fellow turned blogger, is also weighing in with daily posts on the opposition protests in Kyrgyzstan. Be sure to check out Theodore Kaye's Flickr Photostream for some visual context of the protests.
…and wider repercussions
Kamron (RUS) reports that Kazakh President Nazarbayev met with his Uzbek counterpart Karimov, allegedly to discuss the ramifications of the events across the border in Kyrgyzstan. On neweurasia, Leila took up the same topic and said that images of the perpetual crisis in Kyrgyzstan had previously been used on Kazakh television:
In a disguised election campaign, Kazakh television showed the riots in Paris, the Kyrgyz revolution, followed by peaceful pictures of Kazakhstan reality. Maybe it helped really.
Links for Fri, 2006-11
Barbados Free Press pays a visit to an online art gallery featuring work by Caribbean artists.
Sean Roberts explains the sequence of events that led to Kyrgyzstan's recent protests and new constitution.
KZ Blog notes reports of violence and robbery against Filipino workers in Tengiz, Kazakhstan that have been overshadowed by the violence between Turkish and Kazakh workers there.
Was Kyrgyzstan's constitution adopted too quickly? Yulia appears unhappy with the fast pace of the constitution's drafting and adoption while Kyrgyz Report notes that some in Kyrgyzstan are already noticing problems with the new fundamental document.
Onnik Krikorian publishes a letter explaining how official corruption damages Armenia's natural environment.
Notes From Hareinik reviews a reinterpretation of Armenian music that stands out from the rest of the crowd.
Looking ahead to the publication of election results, UDPS Liege publishes a BanaCongo declaration stating (Fr): “Pressure group BanaCongo asks the Congolese people to remain vigilent and ready to vigorously protest the election results that the Western media are generally publishing to put the people to sleep.”
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