A Liberian, a Liberian and a Yemen – Women – Walk into a Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony…..

Nobel Peace Prize winners Tawakkol Karman of Yemen, left; Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, center; Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, right take the stage at City Hall in Oslo, Norway, December 10, 2011. (PHOTO: TimesofMalta, John McConnico)(HN, December 10, 2011) - ...And take home the 2011 Nobel Prize for Peace.  On Saturday December 10, the traditionally sanctioned date on which the Nobel Committee awards the world’s highest peacemaking honor, three proud women – from Africa and the Middle Eastern – strode onto the stage at Stockholm’s `Concert Hall’ to take their place in history.

The women - Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni activist Tawakkol Karman - won the coveted prize for their efforts to peacefully bring change to their countries.

But President Sirleaf who called the prize a “wonderful recognition” said it really belongs to many more oppressed women around the world who have “suffered inequalities”.  

"This award belongs to the people whose aspirations and expectations for a better world we have the privilege to represent and whose rights we have the obligation to defend," said Sirleaf.  She went on, "History will judge us not by what we say in this moment in time, but what we do next to lift the lives of our countrymen and women who face a lack of access to those basic things that allow the comfort of life".

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf became Liberia's first elected female president in 2006.  Fellow Liberian Leymah Gbowee is an activist recognized for uniting women against the country's warlords. 

Leymah Gbowee, who led a group of women in white t-shirts who stared down warlords to help turn the tide of her country's civil war, also spoke about the millions of others who were on stage Saturday.

"I believe that the prize this year recognizes not only our struggle in Liberia and Yemen, it is in recognition of the struggle of grass-roots women in Egypt, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote D'Ivoire, Tunisia, Palestine and Israel and in every troubled corner of the world," said Gbowee.  Adding, "victory is still afar...there is no time to rest."

Royal trumpeters heralded the beginning of the annual ceremony, as Norway's royal family and this year's Nobel laureates entered the hall.

Both Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee become the seventh and eighth African recipients of the Nobel prize – following successively Albert John Lutuli, South Africa, 1960; Desmond Tutu, South Africa, 1984; Nelson Mandela and Frederik Willem de Klerk, 1993; Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan of Ghana, along with the UN itself in 2001; sustainability advocate Wangari Maathai, Kenya, 2004 (deceased in September 2011 from a long battle with cancer). 

Co-recipient of this year’s Peace Prize Yemeni activist and journalist Tawakkol Karman becomes the first Arab woman and youngest person ever to win the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting for her country’s freedoms earlier this year in Sana'a's Tahrir Square.  On the Nobel stage she said, “The prize will lift the spirits and support the aspirations of Arabs who are struggling peacefully to improve their lives. This year's Arab revolutions confronted tyrants who went too far in depriving their people of freedom and justice. The international community must do more to fulfill its pledges and resolutions for peace, freedom and women's rights.”

The three Nobel Peace Prize winners each received a medal and a diploma, and will share the $1.5 million US prize. The Nobel Prizes in medicine, chemistry, physics, literature - and the related prize in economics - were presented later Saturday in Stockholm as well.

These awards for 2011 were given in Physics, jointly to Saul Perlmutter,  Brian P. Schmidt and Adam G. Riess of the US and Australia; the Prize for Chemistry to Dan Shechtman of Israel; the Prize for Medicine jointly to Bruce A. Beutler, Ralph M. Steinman and Jules A. Hoffmann respectively of the US and Luxembourg; the Prize for Literature to Tomas Tranströmer of Sweden; and the Prize for Economics to Thomas J. Sargent and Christopher A. Sims of the US.

Since the Nobel Peace Prize was first annually awarded in 1901, a total of 15 women have received it. The first was Austrian writer and peace activist Bertha von Suttner in 1905.  Later the late Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun won in 1979 for her humanitarian work.  1991's recipient was Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.  Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi won in 2003.  The most recent woman to receive the prize was Wangari Maathai in 2004.

Women have also won Nobel Prizes in the sciences and literature, with one woman, radiation researcher Marie Curie, honored twice, first in physics and years later in chemistry.

Norwegian Nobel panel chairman Thorbjoern Jagland says women are critical to peace.  "We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society," said Jagland.

IN A RELATED EVENT:

China’s Alternative Nobel Prize Honours Russia’s Vladimir Putin as Thousands Take to Streets to Protest Recent Elections

In Beijing on Friday, two exchange students accepted a Chinese peace prize on behalf of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. The Confucius Peace Prize was hastily launched last year as an alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize which in 2010 honored imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.  A group of five Nobel Peace Prize winners including Desmond Tutu, Shirin Ebadi, Jody Williams, Mairead Maguire and Betty Williams as well as former Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel, Reporters Without Borders and others have urged China to release Liu Xiaobo, who is now serving an 11-year prison sentence for subverting state power in China by co-authoring an appeal for political reform.  The International Committee of Support to Liu Xiaobo said in an email that Liu is the only Nobel laureate currently in prison, following the release of Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi’s release in November 2010. 

The Confucius Prize sponsors are professors and academics who say they are independent of China’s government.  Organisers of the Confucius Peace Prize went ahead with this year's awards against the wishes of the Ministry of Culture who ordered the group to shut down saying they did not have official permission to run the awards.  Undeterred, the original masterminds of the award set up a new organisation called China International Peace Research Centre before quickly announcing this year's winner.

(Two Russian Exchange students recieve 2011 Confucious Award on behalf of Vladimir Putin. PHOTO: weibo/littleoslo)Lien Chan, former chairman of the Kuomintang, ruling party of Taiwan, was the winner of the first Confucius Peace Prize in 2010. He did not attend the award ceremony, so a little girl was selected by organisers to accept the award in his place.  Similarly, Putin, was honored for `enhancing Russia’s status and crushing anti-government forces in Chechnya’ organizers said because during his 2000-2008 term as president Putin “brought remarkable enhancement to the military might and political status of Russia”.  The 2011 prize ceremony took place one day before this year’s annual Nobel Prize ceremony in Oslo, and two Russian female exchange students were selected to stand in for Putin where they accepted a statue of the Zhou Dynasty sage on his behalf.  

The Prize came as thousands of people have taken to Russian streets for a week protesting authoritarian trends in Putin’s policies, his reputation for jailing political rivals and cracking down on government critics. Demonstrations in Moscow over last week’s parliamentary elections which were believed to be tainted by fraud have raised the biggest ever challenge to Putin who is seeking to return to the presidency next year; currently serving as the country’s Prime Minister, having spent two terms as the country’s former President.

Putin, who recently led the United Russia party to its worst ever showing at the polls, beat seven other nominees -- Gyaltsen Norbu (the "Chinese Panchen Lama"), Bill Gates, South African President Jacob Zuma, former UN chief Kofi Annan, Yuan Longping a Chinese agricultural scientist known as the "father of hybrid rice", German chancellor Angela Merkel, and Taiwanese politician James Soong -- to clinch the highly-uncoveted title of Confucious Prize winner.

IN RUSSIA, MEANWHILE PROTESTORS CHANT, `PUTIN OUT’

In the largest public display of mass discontent in post-Soviet Russia, an anti-government demonstration brought tens of thousands of Moscow citizens out to the packed streets near the Kremlin to protest alleged electoral fraud by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his party `United Russia’ on Saturday. Protestors gathered in other cities across this huge country with clashes reported in St. Petersburg, the Pacific city of Vladivostok, the Siberian city of Perm and the Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk among others.

(Video, Al Jazeera)  City officials in Moscow had given unusual permission for a rally of up to 30,000 people, and by the time the rally started, with periodic wind-blown snow, police said there were at least 25,000 while protest organizers claimed 40,000.

In smaller gatherings earlier in the week hundreds of people were arrested or hospitalized after violence broke out, including prominent opposition leaders Alexei Navalny, and Sergei Udaltsov.

On Saturday people chanted, “Putin Out”; saying things such as "Everyone is sick of living under this regime which forbids freedom of expression” and holding signs with "Putin's a louse" and banners such with the United Russia party emblem, reading "The rats must go".  The protests come three months before Putin, who was president in 2000-2008 and who has been Prime Minister under current President Dmitry Medvedev’s government, will seek a third term as President in nationwide elections on March 4, 2012.

Putin’s power however was undercut by last Sunday's parliamentary elections, during which his United Party narrowly retained a majority of seats, but lost the two-thirds majority it held in the previous parliament. Protestors allege that even that showing was inflated by massive vote fraud, citing reports by local and international monitors of widespread violations. Earlier in the week Russian President Medvedev conceded that election law may have been breached and Putin suggested "dialogue with the opposition-minded".  It is known that on Election Day, the websites of a main independent radio station and the country's only independent election-monitoring group fell victim to denial-of-service hacker attacks.

The Kremlin has come under strong international pressure which called the vote unfair, urging an investigation into fraud; Putin has specifically said that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the US are intentionally fomenting protests and trying to undermine Russia. Recently, U.S. Sen. John McCain tweeted to Putin that "the Arab Spring is coming to a neighborhood near you".

---HUMNEWS staff, with contributors

Is Burma Really Changing? (PERSPECTIVE)

By Iqbal Ahmed

The notoriously powerful military junta of Burma is loosening its grip. In an uncharacteristic move, former army general Thein Sein, who came to power in March, thwarted the Chinese-funded $3.6-billion Myitsone dam project in the state of Kachin, relenting to continuous pressure from the Burmese citizens in that region. The Burmese government has recently released more than 6,000 political prisoners. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is currently paying a historic visit to a country that has been closed to outside world for more than 50 years.

These events indicate that Burma may be inching toward democratic reform.

But much more needs to be accomplished, tested, and proved. Burma’s political structure is still ruled unilaterally by the military, which also controls its economy. Its opposition parties are weak. Although the opposition parties are strengthening their voices with chief opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi out of house arrest, it is still too early to predict the impact of the opposition on Burma’s current political structure.

The Junta

For the last 50 years, the military junta has ruled Burma with an iron fist. Despite economic sanctions, the outside world has had little impact on the sovereignty of the regime. Burma is rich in natural resources like hydropower, natural gas, petroleum, and precious stones.

The United States renewed its financial and travel sanctions against Burma in 2007. Earlier this year, the European Union (EU) also extended its own economic sanctions. But the military junta strategically circumvented these sanctions by exploiting the country’s natural resources. According to a report, in 2010 the Burmese junta netted an estimated 1 billion euro from the sale of precious stones. Showcasing its resources at trade fairs, the junta generated as much as 400-500 million euro the same year.

The human rights violations of the military junta are beyond question. To cite but one example, instead of helping the victims of cyclone Nargis, the military government continued to spend money generated from the proceeds of the sale of natural resources to build up its military power.

Regional Alliances

India’s relationship with Burma is complicated by geographical proximity, Chinese influence, and a tension between mistrust and collaboration. Despite political and philosophical differences, India has shown its support for democratic changes in Burma. According to one report, India openly criticized Burma’s autocratic suppression when a massive anti-government rally broke out in 2007 to protest an increase in fuel prices.

But India has also attempted to engage with Burma politically and has pressured the United States and other Western nations to ease the economic sanctions against Burma. The economic ties between India and Burma, after all, are very close. According to the South Asia Analysis Group, in 2007 and 2008 bilateral trade between the two countries reached nearly $1 billion, while exports from Burma to India reached $810 million. This economic relationship has extended to building infrastructure projects, establishing border trade, and brokering energy deals.  

The prospects of Burma assuming the chairmanship of ASEAN in 2014 look promising. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa recently commentedthat this opportunity would be a testament to the country’s path to democratic reform. The ASEAN chairmanship is important to Burma for securing international recognition and validating the country's new democratic credentials. With rising human capital, savings rates, foreign investment, and GDP growth, the ASEAN nations continue to assert their economic and political strengths in global markets. For Burma, this would be a big opportunity to translate its political changes into economic investments.

Because of the economic sanctions from the West and “disassociation” with the ASEAN countries, China has remained a reliable trading ally for Burma. A sustained political and diplomatic relationship between Burma and China is essential to economic growth in Burma, but it may not be easy to achieve. Although China’s relationship with ASEAN countries has improved over the last decades, its growing military power poses a concern for its Southeast Asian neighbors, including Burma.

The Reforms

Even before her house arrest in 1989, Aung San Suu Kyi had been actively advocating for democratic reform in Burma. Today she is preparing to run for a seat in the Senate. She met Secretary of State Clinton on her trip to the country and endorsed closer ties between the United States and Burma.

Suu Kyi’s political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), has registered to run in the upcoming elections. The party has pressed for a variety of political changes, including a constitutional amendment that would allow prisoners to vote. There have been other positive signs in terms of human rights. Zargana, a famous comedian in Burma, was jailed for speaking out against the government’s inaction for the victims of Hurricane Nargis in 2008. Sentenced to 59 years in prison, Zargana is free now. His release, along with the unbanning of public protests, points to the possibility of a new climate of free speech.

The Burmese government has also reversed a labor law so that unions can now strike under certain conditions, a practice that had been banned since 1962. The new legislation will likely improve transparency in Burmese labor practices.

The cancellation of the Myitsone dam project is another indication that the reforms are serious. For one thing, it acknowledges the government response to the plight of the villagers who have been displaced to make way for the project. It reflects years of public discontent against the military regime in the Kachin region. And it also underscores Burma’s firmness against China’s manipulation of its natural resources.

These changes illustrate how far the Burmese government has come in terms of democratic reform after more than 50 years of military rule. Burma’s road to reform has many potential obstacles. The government continues to persecute opposition party members, and the junta’s treatment of insurgents in states like Kachin remains objectionable. Despite these indications of a government reluctant to give up its political control, Burma is clearly on a different path. Where that path leads, however, is still not certain.

Iqbal Ahmed is a public policy graduate student at George Mason University and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus. He has written for Foreign Policy Journal, Journal of Foreign Relations, Global Politician, and NPR’s “This I Believe.”

Originally published by the Institute for Policy Studies licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

If the Corporate-Political Nexus Cannot Deal with Climate Change, the People Will (PERSPECTIVE)

By Glenn Ashton 

The World Revs its Heat Engine - photo: NASA Marshall Space Flight Center CollectionThere is deep scepticism as to whether the COP 17 meeting in Durban will achieve much at all. Why is it that such an urgent matter has taken so long to achieve so little at such great cost? Despite constant refrains from the global public, backed by scientific experts, there appears neither inclination nor momentum to solve this problem.

The biggest reason that resolution of this essentially straightforward problem is stalled is because the economic forces of private capital have usurped and over-ridden democratic political structures and power. In short, politics has been trumped by the capital markets.

This has been exacerbated by the polarised dynamic at play between the developed and developing world, which are gradually becoming better defined. On the one side, the developed world is broadly represented by political and business interests within the US and other western, industrialised nations; on the other are Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) and the G77 developing nations. The North/ South, developed/developing polarisation has made it extremely difficult to reach consensus around climate change.

The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro was the first time the issue of human damage to the environment was broadly acknowledged and that action was resolved by political leadership. The Earth Summit was so successful because concerns were openly articulated and reinforced by scientific opinion. Because the message was unambiguously communicated to political decision makers, without negative lobbying by vested interests, it was taken on board.

Several important environmental initiatives arose out of the Earth Summit, run under the auspices of the United Nations. Among these was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, of which the Durban meeting is the 17th, hence COP 17.

What is remarkable is that 19 years of negotiations since the Earth Summit have failed to deliver any meaningful commitment to address the urgent risks of climate change.

The primary reason for this is the constant doubt cast on the realities of climate change debate by industry, at popular media level, but more instrumentally at the political level. That the world’s major historical polluter, the USA, has failed to come to the party has fundamentally undermined the entire process.

The only compromise agreement in this whole, drawn-out process, the Kyoto Protocol, agreed in 1997, was itself fundamentally flawed and will expire in 2012. This agreement has utterly failed to slow greenhouse gas emissions. Its associated carbon trading mechanisms, dismissed by many as a scam, are approaching collapse.

The COP 17 meeting sits in parallel with the CMP 7, which is the 7th meeting to the parties to the Kyoto Protocol. In light of the protocol’s expiry, there is urgent need for an upgrade and replacement. This appears to have fallen victim to the fossil fuel industry and its political fellow travellers, again misled by the USA, which never adopted the Kyoto protocol in the first place. It is perhaps unsurprising that for each elected politician in Washington, there are four fossil fuel lobbyists.

The influence of industry over international policy and agendas has shifted significantly since the time of the Earth Summit. Increased wealth concentration among a smaller, richer elite, who benefit from environmentally exploitative practices, has increased the influence of these forces on national and international policies.

Just as corporations are profit obsessed, equally GDP is the touchstone of desirable policy outcomes in capitalist-driven economies. A financially compromised nation is judged as harshly as a failing company by rating agencies, those ruthless gods of the financial markets. The implication, that failure to achieve will increase capital costs, further restricts an already rigid market model.

The impacts of this fiscally and politically conservative financial/political concord were felt long before the COP17 meeting, with Japan and Russia indicating reluctance to renew or renegotiate the Kyoto Accord. Canada now echoes this sentiment, driven by the promise of riches from the dirtiest fuel on earth, the tar sands which underlie huge swaths of its territory. Canada’s conservative government effectively holds equity in this filthy fuel.

The failure to arrive at any negotiated global agreements is the direct result of the lack of political will to rock the boat. The real question is whether securing a firm agreement is really the sort of economic threat it is projected to be. There are certainly huge opportunities for growth in the sustainable energy field but the fossil fuel industry prefers the certainty of business as usual.

The projection is that economically viable oil will disappear by mid-century. Yet instead of co-operation with the rest of the world, the fossil fools prefer to stick to their dirty but extremely profitable tricks.

This is why we are stuck with sideshows like carbon trading markets and offsets. These displace the costs and impacts of pollution onto poor and developing people and regions.

False solutions like REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) instead of reducing the destruction of forests, reward those planting massive monoculture plantations of oil palms and eucalyptus, destroying biodiversity. Each purported solution to increasing emissions instead benefit the elite at the collective cost of the majority.

Because energy companies are the most profitable sector of the global economy, they benefit directly from actively undermining meaningful action against climate change, while constantly attacking any perception that climate change is either real or a threat.

The fossil fuel industry works both directly and indirectly through various front groups, waging a virtual war. Besides organisations like the American Petroleum Institute, with obvious agendas, there are literally dozens of false front organisations with misleading names like the International Climate Science Coalition, the American Council on Science and Health and the Environmental Conservation Organisation. Funded heavily by big oil, the aim of these groups is to consistently muddy the waters around environmental conservation and climate change policy.

Big Oil has uncompromisingly pursued its business as usual agenda. Their success is obvious. Global greenhouse gas emissions have risen, year on year, to record levels. In 2010, CO2 emissions hit a new record of 30.6 billion metric tonnes. Other greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise equally rapidly. The results are evident in examples like the shrinking of Arctic sea ice to record levels in 2010.

Two decades have been wasted in attempting to deal with this pressing matter. We cannot afford the luxury of endlessly placating the richest, most powerful corporate interests. The time has come for negotiations to be wrested from the control of the dirty fuel, dirty tricks-led corporate-political nexus.

There are political tools to rectify this apparently hopeless situation. Just as the Arab Spring inspired Occupy Wall Street protests across the world, there are equal incentives to re-occupy the moral high ground in the international fight for environmental and climate justice. The need for direct action to protect the global commons has never been as great or as urgent.

This does not preclude simultaneously operating within the existing system to maintain pressure. Both inside and outside approaches are required to implement a participatory democracy. This can include involvement with NGO’s active in the field, as well as with voluntary and educational work to not only inform leadership but to involve all levels of society to demand social and environmental justice against the tyranny of the few.

The time has come to urgently reassert the democratic imperative. People must push demands for climate justice, including both historical and future impacts of this exploitation. Just as the overthrow of slavery was once considered impossible, it is equally possible and critical that the people of the world overthrow the tyrannical exploitation of our collective life support system by the few.

Ashton is a writer and researcher working in civil society. Some of his work can be viewed at www.ekogaia.org.

Originally published by The South African Civil Society Information Service (sacsis.org.za) under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 South Africa License.

DRC Elections: Time To Ask Questions (BLOG/REPORT)

By Yvonne Ndege in Africa 

DRC - photo courtesy of AlJazeera As people across the Democratic Republic of Congo wait for the country's election commission to announce the final results from presidential elections, there is a real sense of fear in the capital, Kinshasa.

After 16 nights here, it is not difficult to understand people's anxiety. 

At least 18 have been killed in election-related violence and the situation has raised many questions.

Can this vast country deepen its democracy or democratise successfully given the conditions here, such as very poor infrastructure, tribalism, corruption, poor standards of education and insecurity?

Then, there is its history to consider.

When ordinary Congolese flocked to the polls on November 28, it was only the third democratic election to take place after some 51 years of independence from Belgium.

Chaos expected?

The question must be asked: do we expect too much from countries like the DRC in terms of their ability to conduct free, fair and transparent polls? 

Should we expect logistical chaos, rigging, ballot box snatching, clashes between police and opposition party supporters as part of the path to democracy? 

And when one looks at the world's most developed and stable democracies, one has to ask whether they experienced such challenges on the path towards building their democracy.

There is no doubt that holding this election is a positive step towards empowering the Congolese people, but there is still a very long way to go.

For starters, the manner in which elections are organised here needs to be overhauled.

Hundreds of thousands have missed out on casting their ballots, simply because ballot papers failed to arrive in many parts of the country, and the process of compiling results has been chaotic and confused.

There is not doubt that this will lead to some candidates losing their rightful place and some candidates wrongly assuming power.

Impact on the region

The poll needs to be decentralised and it is unreasonable for such a vast country to have one just one nerve center based in Kinshasa.

Political parties need to be strengthened so that those with the true ability get a chance to run for public office, and not just candidates who are wealthy.

Overhauling the elections and decentralizing the manner in which the polls are conducted will do much to improve the legitimacy of future elections. 

Finally, there is a huge role to be played by members of the international community, remembering that this country borders nine others. 

Its political maturity and its stability has ramifications for millions in Africa, beyond its borders. Much more needs to be done, in terms of training and funding projects, individuals and organisations, who are all working towards trying to improve democracy in the heart of Africa.

But above all, the country’s key political actors will have to learn to respect the will of the people at the ballot box, and put aside any personal interests in their quest for power.

Originally published by AlJazeera under Creative Commons Licensing 

Greened for Takeoff (REPORT)

By John Terrett in America 

I'm standing on the concourse watching an Alaska Airlines 737 jet landing in poor weather at Washington DC's Reagan National Airport.

Flight four from Seattle is "greener" than others that touch down here.

It's engines are powered, in part, by a sustainable biofuel. Twenty per cent is used cooking oil, 80 per cent traditional aviation fuel.

Alaska's CEO Bill Ayer, says: "The engine operates exactly the same. All of the parameters, everything that we measure technically about engine performance is identical."

Alaska Airlines says if all its aircraft were powered this way for one year it'd be like taking 64,000 cars off the road.

Other carriers are testing green fuels too.

Earlier this month United Airlines flew the first US commercial flight from Houston to Chicago on a biofuel made from algae.

In June the giant US plane maker Boeing flew a commercial jet plane across the Atlantic using a plant-based biofuel.

So, airlines are giving green fuel a go but it can be expensive: The biofuel made from used cooking oil costs Alaska Airlines six times more than normal jet fuel. After three weeks flight four will go back to using regular aviation fuel and a company spokesperson says there are no immediate plans to try again.

Meanwhile, the European Union is forcing Europe's airlines to go green.

There's no such mandate in the US - though obviously airlines wishing to fly to Europe will have to fall in line.

In the US, the military has taken a lead in pushing for greener aviation, but high costs and insufficient supplies are a drag.

Joanne Ivancic advocates for biofuel technology through her website Advanced Biofuels USA.

"First we need to bring down the cost of the technology and the feed stock so that these airlines can afford to buy this fuel. The second thing is we need the policy to say this is really important."

Aviation analysts like Washington DC-based Peter Goelz say a perception among many Americans that global warming isn't real also holds back green aviation development.

"The global warming deniers, of which there are a significant portion particularly in the Republican party, are going to have to accept the fact that the rest of the world already accepts that global warming is occurring and that we can do something about it."

Were that to change, he says, significant investment in green aviation from the US government would most likely follow - even in these dark economic times.

Until then initiatives like Alaska's are likely to generate good publicity, but make only a fraction of a difference to the environment.

Originally published by AlJazeera under Creative Commons Licensing 

Child Labour Widespread in Ukrainian Mines (REPORT)

(HN, December 3, 2011) - Children in their early teens have been observed and filmed working in coal mines in Ukraine and the Ukrainian Government is ignoring the problem, activists say.

There are at least 800 illegal coal mines in Ukraine, where children work alongside adults, according to a video released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2005. However, sources say today the conditions are much worse, with the number of mines at well over 2,000.

The ILO has described the illegal coal mines, or kopankas (копанки), as "one of the most dangerous workplaces in the modern world." One American journalist called the conditions "medieval."

The front line of the situation appears to be in the eastern oblast of Donetsk (Донецьк) and the surrounding Donbas region. Ukraine's richest oligarch, Rinat Akhmetov (Рінат Ахметов), who owns the Ukrainian football club, Shakhtar Donetsk, comes from Donetsk.

The Donetsk region is also where the elected President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, spent his troubled childhood and where he started his political career.

Children working in the mines are reported to be as young as 12 and receive as little as $1-a-day. (The Ukrainian Labour Code sets a minimum working age of 16). Children as young as 12 are said to work in illegal Ukrainian coal mines. CREDIT: Дзеркало тижня

Many of the pits where children have been seen working are extremely rudimentary, with small entrance ways located under homes and fences, deep in wooded forests - even in vegetable gardens. In some villages in Donetsk Oblast, the holes are so numerous that it causes a risk to children, who could fall as deep as 50 meters.

A documentary produced by a Baltic company called "Pit Number Eight" shows teenage children collecting coal deep underground with the most minimal of safety equipment and no adult supervision. 

The ILO documentary (above) says working children have no fixed hours and work in unsafe working conditions using primitive, hand-made instruments. It says that even the simplest of safety measures - emergency exits, ventilation, gas detectors and ceiling reinforcements - are missing.

Rights activists say the industry is so lucrative that the oligarchs and senior politicians - right up to the President's Administration and his circle - profit handsomely from it and have little inclination to stop the use of child labour.

The previous administrations of Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor Yushchenko were successful in closing many of these illegal mining operations, but over 2000 kopanka’s reopened just as soon as Yanukowych and the Party of Regions came to power in March 2010, activists say.

In fact, earlier this year, a Ukrainian government working commission was set up in Donbas, to explore ways of legalizing kopanka’s instead of eliminating them.

Ukrainian activist Lyubov Maksymovich confirmed recently that Kopanka’s are an “open secret” in Ukraine. "Everyone knows about this abuse, but everyone including many journalists are too scared to talk about it publicly, fearing repercussions from the mafia and or the government."

Activists say there is a direct link from the kopankas to the top captains of industry.

Said one: "The business model that kopanka coal pits employ is simple. The illegally-produced coal using child labour. is delivered to the local trading site –or coal bazaar (usually by the truck loads), where it is bought, usually for cash, hand-to-hand by the representatives of conditioning and refinement factories. No paper trail. Afterwards, this illegal coal undergoes conditioning and refinement, where it becomes fully “legal” and a standardized product of these factories, which is then sold for metallurgy, power generation, or is exported."

The profitability of kopanka operations was estimated by the Segodnya newspaper at $125,000 per month per mine, a “backyard cottage” industry that produces 100 tons of coal per day.

Activists and volunteers in Canada and Ukraine say they have sifted through thousands of Russian documents, stories, videos  and TV news items looking for facts (the smoking gun) that could link illegal child labor practices in Kopanka’s directly to the Ukrainian State Coal Mining companies in Donbas. They allege that, through the transaction process, coal and money are laundered to create the appearance of legality.

One critical op-ed on the kopankas penned for the Kyiv Post was reportedly removed from the newspaper's website after it hit a nerve with Akhmetov. In an email dated November 1, 2011, and shared with HUMNEWS, Brian Bonner, a senior editor at the Kyiv Post, is quoted as saying to the writer: "Your opinion piece has created a stir with Rinat Akhmetov's people, so we have deactivated the article until we investigate."

In a July 2011 Kyiv Post article on illegal mines in Donetsk, the newspaper actually praised Akhmetov's mining companies - Pavlogradvuhilia mines, owned by Ukraine’s largest energy holding DTEK, a part of the oligarch's System Capital Management group. The Post reported: "It offers miners a salary of almost Hr 8,000 per month, stringent safety conditions and some social benefits, such as cheap holidays."

The problem of child labour in Ukraine is so widespread that a Ukrainian newspaper, Дзеркало Tижня, called it a "tradition" - estimating as many as 350,000 under-age workers in the country.

In a joint statement in 2009 with the Ombudsman of Ukraine, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said: "More often Ukrainian children become victims of worst forms of child labour, human trafficking, prostitution and pornography." It also called for more stringent enforcement and changes in legislation.

The ILO says  it is working together with trade unions and the government to put an end to child labour and create new jobs.

 - HUMNEWS staff

Landmine Treaty Progress as Somalia and Finland Join (REPORT)

(HN, December 2, 2011) – The international treaty banning antipersonnel landmines is making strong progress toward its objective of a mine-free world, with Finland and Somalia agreeing to join in the next few months.Cambodian deminers, with tools used for landmine detection and clearance, during a field visit in Phnom Penh. CREDIT: Mary Wareham/Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch praised the progress as a major meeting on landmines wrapped up in Phnom Penh. However, the United States’ review of its policy has regrettably entered its third year without conclusion, Human Rights Watch said.

“We’ve largely succeeded in stigmatizing this coward’s weapon, but antipersonnel mines continue to claim too many lives and limbs in Cambodia and elsewhere years after they were laid,” said Steve Goose, arms division director at Human Rights Watch. “It is very encouraging that more and more countries continue to embrace the movement to ban landmines, and that impressive progress is being made in landmine clearance and stockpile destruction.”

The Mine Ban Treaty comprehensively prohibits antipersonnel mines and requires their clearance and assistance to victims. A total of 158 nations are party to the treaty, which entered into force on March 1, 1999, and another two states have signed, but not yet ratified.

A total of 97 countries participated in the Mine Ban Treaty’s Eleventh Meeting of States Parties, held in Phnom Penh from November 27 to December 2, 2011 – 82 states parties to the Mine Ban Treaty and 15 countries that have not yet joined. Observer delegations participated from China, India, Burma, Singapore, the US, and Vietnam.

The meeting reviewed progress and challenges in implementation and universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty. Major developments included the following:

• Finland’s minister of international development, Heidi Hautala, announced that her government will join the treaty in the coming weeks;
• Somalia declared that it would join in the next few months, if not sooner;
• The two newest treaty members – South Sudan, the world’s newest nation, and Tuvalu – actively participated in the meeting;
• Turkey announced it has completed the destruction of its stockpile of 2.9 million antipersonnel landmines, a very significant achievement since it had missed its treaty-mandated deadline of March 1, 2008;
• Belarus, which also missed its stockpile destruction deadline of March 1, 2008, said it would complete the job in May 2013;
• Burundi and Nigeria declared the completion of their mine clearance obligations, bringing the total of mine-free states parties to 18.

Cambodia is one of the most heavily-mined countries in the world. Credit: UNICEF“The United States needs to stop sitting in the back row as an observer in Mine Ban Treaty talks,” Goose said. “The US needs to conclude its landmine policy review, join the rest of the international community that has rejected this weapon, and play a positive leadership role.”

In late 2009, the US began a comprehensive landmine policy review “initiated at the direction of President Obama.” The Clinton administration, in 1998, set the objective of joining the Mine Ban Treaty in 2006, but the Bush administration reversed course in February 2004, and announced that it did not intend to join.

The US and nearly all of the 38 other states that remain outside the ban treaty are in de facto compliance with most of the treaty’s provisions. Every NATO member has foresworn the use of antipersonnel mines except for the US, as have other key allies, including Afghanistan and Iraq.

The United States has not used antipersonnel mines since 1991, in the first Gulf War, has not exported them since 1992, has not produced them since 1997, and is the biggest donor to mine clearance programs around the world. But it still stockpiles millions of antipersonnel mines for potential use.

Cambodia, the host of the meeting, is one of the most mine-affected countries in the world. According to Landmine Monitor, Cambodia has approximately 44,000 survivors of landmines and explosive remnants of war.

An extensive mine action program established in 1992 has resulted in a dramatic decline in the number of new mine victims, but lives continue to be lost. There were at least 286 Cambodian casualties in 2010 from mines, explosive remnants of war, and cluster munitions.

Landmines and explosive remnants also place thousands of hectares of agricultural land off-limits in affected countries such as Laos and Cambodia.

- Human Rights Watch, HUMNEWS staff

Exploiting our National Treasures for Private Profit (PERSPECTIVE)

By Charlene Houston

(HN, December 2, 2011) - In at number seven, Table Mountain was announced one of the“New 7 Wonders of Nature” on 11 November 2011 - but what does this really mean? The iconic Table Mountain in Cape Town. CREDIT: Michael Bociurkiw

The hype South Africans experienced during the campaign is bizarre considering the value and status of this top seven list. The “Vote for Table Mountain” website explains that the competition was about “officially recognising seven of the most beautiful and prolific icons of nature from all over the world.”

The “New 7 Wonders of Nature” is a competition run by a private company, so it’s unclear what  “official” status is conferred onto the competition. The nomination criteria are rather simple with none of the scientific criteria that are usually relevant when applying for world heritage status: “A clearly defined natural site or natural monument that was not created or significantly altered by humans for aesthetic reasons.”

The “New 7 Wonders of Nature” is not even a popularity contest in that the number of cellular text votes per person is unlimited. So becoming one of the top seven cannot automatically be a measure of a site’s popularity. It should actually be regarded simply as a statement of how many votes the location received from those in the online community.  

The New 7 Wonders Foundation ran its first competition (Seven Wonders of the World) in 2001. Many South Africans are surprised to realize that the competition is run by a private organisation that has nothing to do with world heritage status. Indeed, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) disassociated itself from the competition back in 2007. In a press statement the world heritage custodian said:

“There is no comparison between Mr Weber's mediatised campaign and the scientific and educational work resulting from the inscription of sites on UNESCO's World Heritage List. The list of the "7 New Wonders of the World" will be the result of a private undertaking, reflecting only the opinions of those with access to the internet and not the entire world.”

Nevertheless, the Vote for Table Mountain website confidently states that by being listed:

“Table Mountain will have cemented its iconic, worldwide status. There will also be a major economic benefit - should our mountain win it will generate R1.4 billion annually to tourism and will create 11 000 much needed jobs.”

But the site gives no clarity on how these benefits will be realized for South Africans merely by being part of the top seven in this competition. This, when South Africa’s unemployment rate has increased in 2010 despite having hosted the world’s greatest and most viewed sporting event, the FIFA World Cup. Hopefully, any increase in tourism if that is even possible in the midst of a global recession will at least ensure that we maintain current jobs, which is also a valid consideration.

But how many more “big bang” events do we need to be part of for jobs to be created? Who really benefits from more exposure to the mountain as a tourist destination?

So far, only the company running the competition has reaped material benefits. Voting by text message cost the voter R2.00. For every text message sent (voters could send as many messages as they liked) 50% of the cost went to the service provider, and the other half to the company, which says it puts the money into the New7Wonders Foundation for “memory projects”. The company would also have made profits from the sale of broadcast rights for the announcement of the top seven new wonders.

In all likelihood, an increase in the number of tourists on the mountain is likely to have an adverse effect on its preservation, as it will compromise the Table Mountain National Park’s conservation efforts. 

It is no surprise that the company that runs the cableway is behind the nomination of Table Mountain. The trip via cable car is too expensive for the majority of Cape Town’s people who are further discouraged from enjoying the facility by the lack of public transport to get there. It is generally only the privileged of Cape Town and the tourists who enjoy the scenic cable car ride up the mountain, yet the general public was being urged to vote. 

It would be refreshing to see the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway put some of the profits from that increase in tourism towards an initiative that makes the experience more accessible to the city’s less privileged majority. For a start, there should be different prices for locals and tourists, over and above the company’s current corporate social responsibility driven donations of tickets.   

From time to time, various organisations have issued lists of “The Seven Wonders of the Modern World”, “Seven Natural Wonders of the World” and so on. The very first list was “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.” It is said to have been initiated by the Greeks and was limited to parts of the world that they knew.  

Thus the idea of “New 7 Wonders” is old fashioned and problematic in that it smacks of the colonial discourse of discovery. Perhaps it is no accident that the image of Table Mountain used in the “Vote for Table Mountain” campaign is a throwback to colonial times. It is the way Table Mountain was seen or “discovered” when approaching by sea and became a well-circulated image in the heyday of colonial rule.

These well-circulated images of the discovered Table Mountain, promoted within the discourse of discovery have contributed to a tourist gaze or a particular way of seeing this site. In Cape Town one of they key components of the dominant tourist gaze is the idea of the conquered natural environment. The gaze is still being constructed to appeal to a European audience. Terms such as “discover” and “explore” encourage the tourist to approach a visit to Table Mountain (and Cape Town) with a particular orientation, similar to that of the early colonisers.

To what benefit is all this?

This kind of tourism is too focused on the colonial discourse of discovery and this particular campaign was centred on the idea that more people will come and discover Table Mountain, thereby increasing revenue from tourism in South Africa, or, more specifically from tourism at the cableway, which is run by a private company with limited benefits for the people of Cape Town.

Houston is an activist, storyteller and public history scholar based in Cape Town. This commentary originally appeared on the website of the South African Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS)

World AIDS Day: Crisis in Ukraine (NEWS BRIEF)

(HN, December 1, 2011) - Today is World AIDS Day and the symbolic thirtieth anniversary of the epidemic. Former Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko speaking about the growing rates of HIV infection in his country. CREDIT: Ukrainians.ca

Ukraine has the highest HIV infection prevalence rate of any country in Europe. It also has a synergistic high prevalence of tuberculosis. HIV spreads tuberculosis and tuberculosis kills HIV/AIDS patients. According to the 2011 UNAIDS annual report, Ukraine's HIV infection rate, 1.3% of over-15s, is the worst in Europe. Ukraine and Russia account for 90% of all HIV cases in the region.

UNICEF Ukraine says street children are among the most vulnerable groups.

While the incidence of new infections is going down around the world, Ukraine is still bucking that trend.

According to the WHO, only twenty percent of Ukraine's HIV infected population is receiving adequate retroviral therapy. 

That puts Ukraine in the company of countries such as Iran and Pakistan. The therapy rate is much lower than in sub-Saharan Africa.

The HIV prevalence rate in Ukraine is indicative of broadly bad health care and demographic statistics in Ukraine. Ukraine has the worst demographic statistics of any major country in the world save for a few isolated island nations in the Pacific. Ukraine's population is heading to a population of thirty million by 2050. Independence has not been kind to Ukraine. 

Despite the crisis, the response by the current and past leadership in Kyiv has been abysmal, analysts and aid workers say. "There's a line in the national AIDS programme budget for prevention," Andriy Klepikov, head of AIDS Alliance Ukraine, was quoted as saying in The Economist. "But its value is set at zero."

UNAIDS is clear on what needs to be done in Ukraine: "Ukraine needs to double its prevention budget and make it available for people, who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and sex workers."

- HUMNEWS staff, USA Programe Friends

A New Low in Pakistan-US Relations (BLOG/REPORT)

By Kamal Hyder in Asia 

Pakistanis have staged anti-NATO protests across the country in recent days.The attack took place in the dead of the night, and for more than two hours, American helicopterspounded a well-known and marked Pakistani post.

The Pakistani army frantically tried to convey to NATO, ISAF and the US high command in Afghanistan to stop the attack, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. By the time it was over, more than 24 soldiers lay dead, including officers, and over a dozen wounded.

The Pakistani post, known as Volcano, was where the two sides held their flag meetings. As such it was no secret, and under rules of engagement along this tricky frontier, the Pakistani side had ensured that all its posts were carefully marked in order to avoid being hit by mistake.

I myself spent several nights in the lonely posts where for the last 10 years Pakistani soldiers have manned a difficult border.

As far as I could see, small fires kept the troops warm, and also gave out their positions dotting the boundary line that separated Pakistani troops from US-led multinational forces operating on the Afghan side of the border.

Ironically it was the Americans who asked Pakistan to deploy troops on this border when they launched their invasion of Afghanistan almost ten years ago.

Hundreds rounded up

The main purpose of the deployment was to deny al-Qaeda fighters a chance to escape the bombardment in Tora Bora.

Pakistan rounded up hundreds of those fighters as they crossed the border into its territory. But while many were arrested, many others managed to filter into Pakistan. It was physically impossible for anyone to seal this border.

As the battles raged in Afghanistan and the Taliban made a dramatic comeback, the Americans were confronted with the prospect of a defeat or a protracted conflict, one they could ill afford given the poor state of their declining economy.

Whatever the arguments for or against the Afghan war, some debated that the end game was already in sight; but others warned that  the end itself could prove to be more elusive.

Unable to find a quick solution to the Afghan quagmire, the US started looking for scapegoats. The "blame game" was now targeted against Pakistan.

After the operation to kill Osama bin Laden caught everyone by surprise, tensions started to mount on other fronts.

The Americans now wanted Pakistan to go after the Haqqani network and launch an assault in North Waziristan.

The Pakistani military was already battling the Pakistani Taliban in several areas, and was in mood to be sucked into yet another conflict.

Legitimate concerns

The military had legitimate concerns about the country’s eastern border, where the bulk of the Pakistani army was deployed after the Mumbai attacks, when India deployed her troops on its border with Pakistan.

No one was sure how long the uneasy relationship between the US and Pakistan would last, until things came to a head in the first week of May. The attack against bin Laden embarrassed the army, and despite quick congratulatory messages from the Pakistani prime minister, it rattled a paranoid government in Islamabad.

That government sent a letter to the US, a memo which became known as the "Memogate" scandal. It whipped up a storm in Pakistan and threatened the Pakistan People's Party-led government. The opposition shouted treason, and wanted a proper enquiry.

But while relations with Washington dipped, the Pakistani government chose a pro-American Pakistani journalist turned politician, Sherry Rehman, as the new ambassador to Washington.

The Americans were pleased, it seemed, in spite of the turbulence of the recent past, including wild accusations by senior US military commanders who blamed the Pakistani military for colluding with the enemy and playing a "double game."

But if the Americans thought the Pakistani civilian leadership, said to be the most corrupt in the country’s history and without any moral authority, was going to rein in the military establishment, then they were wrong.

The attack on the post in Mohmand agency proved beyond doubt that the people of Pakistan stood behind their proud army and were willing to go to battle with anyone who dared to strike across her borders.

Constant insult

The constant insult of the CIA-led drone strikes had already encouraged the anti-US sentiment, and a chain of events reinforced the opinion that the US was not to be trusted and that the country should reconsider the controversial alliance in the so called war on terror which brought death and destruction on Pakistan.

Even though the people wanted a swift retaliation after the strike, the country’s establishment was of the opinion that diplomatic means were the best option.

To begin with they closed the logistical route through Pakistan and asked for the closure of the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan, from where the US drones carried out strikes inside Pakistan.

The base was provided to the UAE, and the UAE then passed it on to the US under what was a verbal agreement sanctioned by the military government of Pervez Musharraf.

That led many to question the competence of a so-called democratic government which, according to senior US sources, even sanctioned [also by verbal agreement] the continued strikes inside FATA.

How on earth was it possible that a second country could give away to a third country a leased base, without consent from the first country?

Pakistan was alarmed by the ferocity of the strike on Volcano, but the country’s president sent out his own message fearing for democracy and asking his supporters to beware of the threat to democracy.

The people of Pakistan and its its military forces, however, wanted to protect their country and their sovereignty first.

Originally published by AlJazeera under Creative Commons Licensing 

Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (NEWS BRIEF)

(HN, November 30, 2011) This week approximately 3,000 delegates are in Busan, South Korea for the opening of the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness

Representatives of NGO’s, the private sector and philanthropic organizations are among the delegates as are officials such as U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Britain’s International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The purpose of this forum is to evaluate the state of development aid and negotiate measures to improve the quality and management of that support by partner countries. In addition to emerging donors, including Brazil, India, China, South Africa and Russia, the delegates will try to achieve a consensus on the delivery of aid.

Over the past decade, three international meetings on development assistance have convened by the OECD, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The targets set at those meetings, in Rome, Paris and Accra, were aimed at improving the results of aid. Delegates in Busan will focus their discussions on whether and how to stick to them.

The so-called Paris Declaration principles is a commitment by donors to harmonize their development plans in an effort to cut costs and avoid duplication.

To maintain a level of accountability recipient nations have agreed to improve their financial management and procurement systems. Donors and their national partners also agreed to adopt a system to measure results and hold each other accountable.

Approximately $129 billion of aid is given yearly to the developing world, of this about on third is estimated to be tied to the purchase of goods and services in donor countries. A network of NGOs from nineteen European countries, the European Network on Debt and Development, estimates that tied aid reduces the purchasing power of aid by 40%.

The European Union, Japan, and the United States as well as several other OECD members continue to support tying aid to development. Supporters say ensuring the involvement of businesses from donor countries in development projects makes it easier to earn public support for foreign aid.

Delegates to the Forth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness will be looking at the adoption of a system to improve the tracking of aid flows and monitor impact, called the International Aid Transparency Initiative. Countries including France and Japan, prefer the current system, which activists say is insufficient; saying that the failure to adopt the new system will be a blow to donor support for greater transparency.

Climate Change: The North Must Pay for Mitigation Strategies (PERSPECTIVE)

By Imraan Baccus

(HN, November 29, 2011) - As Durban welcomes the world for the COP 17 meeting, the air is filled with some of the excitement that we all felt during the World Cup last year.

But the debates around environmentalism and the need to take serious action against climate change are often tending to the superficial. There is a lot of self-righteousness and Hallmark style sentimentality around, when what we need is a clear look at the realities of the situation.

Climate change is a reality and for a low-lying country like Bangladesh, it could be a very serious problem. There is no doubt that serious action needs to be taken and that it needs to be taken quickly. But when the debate slips, as it often does, into a sort of 'We are the World' sentimentality it forgets some essential facts. One of these facts is that it is North America and Western Europe that have caused this problem. They industrialised first and they became rich countries. 

Here in Durban this morning, a debate around the North, civil society and who should be paying for clean energy alternatives emerged in a civil society discussion. What is clear is that the current crisis was caused by the North's industrialisation over the last two hundred years and they are therefore the ones with the moral responsibility to sort it out. They are also the ones with the resources to be able to afford clean alternatives to fossil fuels. When it is suggested that we must all sacrifice in the fight against climate change there is a slippage into the assumption that we are all equally responsible when that is clearly not the case. We are not all equally responsible and the industrialised North needs to pay climate reparations along with reparations for colonialism and slavery.

When green technologies and energy sources are more expensive, countries in the global South must not be forced to use them. Venezuela has a right to use its oil to meet the needs of its people. The rich countries in the North can afford to shift to clean energy and if it is necessary for the global South to follow suit, then this must be subsidised by the North. Some governments in Latin America have made this point very strongly and the logic of their argument is clear. But countries in the South cannot allow themselves to be bullied into shifting towards technologies that they cannot afford when the masses of their people remain in poverty.

There is also a longstanding colonial tendency to assume that modern civilisation rightly belongs in the white West but should not corrupt the rest of the world. This romantic nonsense is just a ploy to keep the people in the global South in their place, and their countries attractive playgrounds for the global elite. All countries have the same right to modernise and to meet their people's needs.

When environmentalists in the global South echo this colonial language that says that the natives are best left to their traditional ways they are often feted in the North. The Indian environmentalist Vandana Shiva is a good example of this. But we should not forget that many progressive Indian academics and activists are extremely critical of her romantic anti-modernism, which they see as being deeply complicit with colonial ideas about the noble savage. Marxists, who are committed to modern forms of economic development, are often appalled by her ideas.

The fact that China and India are now rapidly industrialising is sending all kinds of shock waves through the West, which is rapidly losing its position of dominance over the rest of the world. When the language of environmentalism is used in the North to question the rapid advance of India and China it often masks a desire to reserve industrialisation, and the economic power it brings, to the West.

But the discomfort that many of us feel with the green agenda on the global scale is also replicated at home.

Many black South Africans are deeply suspicious of the green agenda and there is good reason for this. Conservation was historically used to evict Africans from their land and the practise of evicting people in the name of 'eco-tourism' has continued after apartheid. So called 'eco-estates', in rural areas and in cities', are very often nothing other than zones in which the more extreme edge of white privilege uses a green language to make its exclusionary privilege seem like some sort of ethical commitment. 

It's not unusual for middle class environmentalists that want to get rid of unsightly pollution, rubbish dumps or industrialisation in their areas to also want to get rid of poor African people from these areas. There is often a clear connection between environmentalism and racism in South Africa and its quite unusual for the green agenda to take questions of social justice seriously. In fact its quite clear that for many white people, and some wealthy black people too, the language of environmentalism is attractive because its gives its users the appearance of holding the ethical high ground without them having to question their own privilege with regard to other South Africans – most of whom are black and poor.

Of course there are some real attempts to link environmental questions to social questions. Here in Durban the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance and the work of people like Des D'sa and Bobby Peek is deservedly famous. The struggle against pollution in South Durban is a struggle lead by working class black people and it demands a clean environment for the people of Wentworth, Merebank and the Bluff. It does not see poor or working class black people as 'pollution', which is often a key assumption in much white environmentalism and much middle class black environmentalism.

If the green agenda is to have a future in South Africa it must face up to the historical responsibility of the North when it comes to climate change and it must find ways to, as has been done in South Durban, link environmental questions to social questions. In Latin America mass movements have been built that successfully link environmental questions to social questions but there in South Africa it remains a field that is dominated by white and middle class interests and often carries a deep hostility to poor black people.

Buccus is Research Fellow in the School of Politics and at the Democracy Development Programme. The views expressed are his own and should not be attributed to any of his institutional affiliations. This commentary first appeared on the website of the South African Civil Society Information Service (SACSIS).

Google & Mercy Corps Partner to Help Young Palestinian Entrepreneurs (NEWS BRIEF)

(HN, November 29, 2011) - Google and Mercy Corps have formed a partnership to spark technological entrepreneurship among young Palestinians.

In an innovative venture called the Arab Developer Network Initiative (ADNI), the global private sector entity and NGO have come together to tap the "brain trust" of the vast numbers of young people in Gaza and the West Bank.

Says Mercy Corps: "Through a combination of training in technical and business essentials, peer-to-peer learning, mentorship, and an initial seed fund for high potential startups, capitalized at $500,000, ADNI will help build a critical mass of Palestinian youth who are competent in multiple programming platforms and able to create and run successful web-based businesses."

As in much of the Middle East and North Africa, the Palestinian population is young, well-educated, and chronically unemployed. The World Bank reports that at the end of 2010, unemployment among those between the ages of 15-29 was an estimated 26 percent in the West Bank and 53 percent in Gaza - though some reputable sources cite much higher figures of unemployment.

The potential is not lost on Google, which has commited $2 million so far to the territory.

"Palestinians have such a unique position," Gisel Kordestani, Google's director of new business development, told Fast Company. "They're well educated. They have strong English-language skills. With 88 million people in the [Middle East and North African] region getting online, they have the opportunity to build something for the Arab world."

Says Mercy Corps CEO Neal Keny-Guyer: "One of the biggest challenges to economic growth in Gaza and the West Bank is that people can't move freely or easily cross borders. But there's an incredible brain trust of educated young people in the region. Unlike most other industries, web-based businesses are not limited by the physical movement of goods or people. Fuelled by young talent, the tech sector here is just waiting to take off."

The Source of Hope Foundation and Google.org are the main backers of the project.

- HUMNEWS staff, Mercy Corps

Egypt's Bitter Taste of Change (BLOG/REPORT)

By Alan Fisher

Celebrations in Tahrir Square after Omar Soliman's statement that concerns Mubarak's resignation. February 11, 2011/ photo credit: Jonathan Rashad/Wikimedia CommonsWhen the wind whips up the dust around Cairo's Tahrir Square it's still possible to taste the tear gas in the air.

The acrid smell and the bitter taste catches in the nose and the back of the throat making people sneeze and cough.

On the edge of Tahrir, the heartbeat of February's uprising in Egypt, the ropes are back. These are the temporary checkpoints, manned by self-appointed stewards, blocking the way to the latest protest. Everyone coming in is patted down. A young man with the dirty sweatshirt and crooked teeth motions me forward.  He holds his hands up and repeats the same phrase in Arabic. "He says he's sorry" says my friend "but says it's for everyone's safety".

The check is cursory and quick and I'm waved on with a smile.

In Tahrir, small groups gather listening to the debates which are loud, but to the untrained ear, sound angry and dangerous. The discussion is what should happen with the election, now just days away. Some argue that there is no point as the military will never step down; others insist the only way to make the change is to vote.

The revolution returned to Tahrir just over a week ago. Thousands gathered, angry as the military failed to keep its promise to hand over power to a civilian government within 6 months of February's uprising. Police tried to break it up with tear gas and rubber bullets. People in the square said they also fired real bullets. The injuries of some of those from the square suggest they may be telling the truth.

As news of the trouble spread through Cairo's suburbs, thousands more turned up to support the people in the square. The battles went on for days, and not just in Cairo but in Suez and Alexandria and elsewhere. Across the country, more than forty people have died. Thousands have been injured.

The ruling military council facing a re-run of the scenes which dragged down Mubarak had to act. It promised it would hold presidential elections by June. It has also backed away from the idea that it would exercise "political guardianship" over any new government which would give generals a final say on major policies and allow it to dominate the writing of a new constitution. At the same time it wanted immunity from public oversight even when a new president was put in place. It made Kamal el-Ganzouri the new prime minister. He served in the same role under Mubarak so it's an appointment not widely welcomed

The crisis has undoubtedly been the biggest challenge to Egypt's new rulers and overshadowed the start of the country's first parliamentary elections since Mubarak was replaced.

In the square there are mixed feelings about the elections going ahead. Sameer Hassan says he's been to Tahrir many times. When he speaks his voice booms and he waves his hands to emphasis each and every point. He tells me: "We will have no elections. We will have no government except one that is chosen from Tahrir Square."

People around him nod and a few applaud. But just a few steps away Hanan Abdullah has a different view. She believes people have to vote to get the chance they want: "It's been the bloodiest time in Egypt. The past nine months have been chaotic and full of thugs. We want to move forward, and we want the youth to the fore. If people stand their ground they'll get what they want which is a new government."

In the streets around Tahrir, living in Cairo for millions of residents goes on as normal. The shops are open, traffic is moving. And the military is keen to draw attention to that; insisting that while the people in Tahrir have a voice, they do not speak for the majority of people in Egypt.

Shadi Hamid is an analyst with the Brookings Institute think tank based in Doha. He's aware of the importance of the next day days for Egypt, but says it's important the results are conducted in the right way: "Are the elections going to be peaceful and orderly, or is there going to be considerable violence and chaos and uncertainty? Because if that happens, if there is violence, that will cast doubt on the legitimacy of the results."

The military will, of course, monitor the results of the voting very closely, and the people will closely monitor the military for its reaction. The latter was widely regarded as the saviour of the revolution, the guarantors of change from a despised and discredited regime. Now many people see them as the biggest obstacle on the road to a new democratic Egypt.

Follow Alan Fisher on Twitter @alanfisher 

Originally published on AlJazeera under Creative Commons License 

GLOBAL HEADLINES FROM THE GEOGRAPHIC GAP - 11/27/11

(PHOTO: Farouk Batiche) Algeria

Algeria law seen as blow to women's rights

American Samoa

Glory days for soccer in tiny American Samoa

Angola

2011 a year of success for Angolan women

Anguilla

Anguilla turns to TVET for more job skills

Antarctica

British adventurer sets out to become first woman to make solo crossing of Antarctica

(PHOTO: Disaster coordinators, Antigua & Barbuda, CARABARENA)Antigua & Barbuda

Disaster Co-ordinators Recognised

Armenia

Women’s role issues discussed in Armenian government

The Bahamas

Promote Youth Empowerment to Reduce Brain Drain (Opinion)  

Barbados

Marcus Samuelsson in Barbados Gives Lessons on Eating Well

(PHOTO: Cynthia Williams, Womens Department, BELIZE7) Belize

Women Launch 16 Days Of Activism

Benin

West Africa Plans “Electricity Interconnection” 

Bhutan

Where are the snows of yesterday?

Botswana

The prime heritage trails of Botswana

(PHOTO: Brunei Times) Brunei Darussalam 

WWF says 40% of Borneo's forests can be managed by firms

Burkina Faso

Forest Communities in Burkina Faso, Ghana and DRC to Benefit From Dedicated CIF Grant (AfDB)

Cameroon

Cameroon Sentences Three ‘Effeminate Men’ to Maximum Prison Time

(PHOTO: Surfer Today) Cape Verde

Cape Verdean kitesurfers challenge home waves

Cayman Islands

'Crazy Idea' guys start their run

(PHOTO: Chad former dictator Hissene Habre)Chad

Africa's ousted dictators live high on the hog while nations bicker over trials

Christmas Island

Australia to release 100 boatpeople a month

Cocos Islands

Cocos base under review

Comoros

Satellite Survey Sheds Light on Species' Extinction Risk

Cook Islands

Cooks signs deal with China for exploratory fishing

(PHOTO: Djibouti, WHO) Djibouti

Djibouti Diarrhea Outbreak Has Affected Thousands

(PHOTO: East Timor Fishooks, Susan O'Connor) East Timor

20,000-year-old fishhooks found in East Timor

Eritrea

Eritrean diplomat defects to Canada

Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands hope for tourism boost after news of Prince William's tour of duty

Faroe Islands

Two suspected murder cases in the Faroe Islands

French Guiana

In Latin America, Effective Regulations Bolster Energy Boom

The Gambia

Jammeh re-elected Gambian president in polls, ECOWAS alleges intimidation

Ghana

IBM opens Ghana centre to grow business in 17 African countries

Greenland

Polar ways of life 'disappearing'

Guam

Ways to improve Guam's public schools

Guinea-Bissau

France pardons Guinea Bissau’s debt

Guyana

Living and struggling in Guyana

Iceland

Women’s Empowerment Event in Reykjavík

Kiribati

Pair adrift in Pacific for over a month

Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan moves to stop ‘bride’ kidnappings

Laos

Laos Human Rights Advocate Dies

Lesotho

Film about friendship hopes to inspire

Liberia

Ellen Declares 16-Days Action Against Gender Violence

Madagascar

Air France’s commitment in Madagascar

Malawi

Malawi study reveals climate adaptation costs

The Maldives

Women's contribution possible only by eliminating gender disparity: President

Mali

Climate Investment Fund Board approves Mali’s $40m plan to scale up renewable energy

Marshall Islands

New cases of dengue fever in Marshall Islands confirmed

Mauritania

Maghreb youths chase paradise

Micronesia

108 Countries Support HFC Curbs under Montreal Protocol

Moldova

Moldova issues stamp to mark 60th anniversary of refugee convention

(PHOTO: Mongolia, Vogue India)Mongolia

Vogue India: Art or Exploitation?

Montenegro

Montenegro: IMF requesting reforms in the labour market

Mozambique

Mozambique launches US$2bn power project

Namibia

More Needed to Access Higher Education

Palau

The shark, a predator turned prey

Papua New Guinea

WHO warns of untreatable tuberculosis

(PHOTO: Morocco's King Mohammed VI 2nd right hosts a luncheon in honor of Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani 2nd left.)Qatar 

Emir of Qatar visits Morocco

Seychelles

Seychelles proposes a new energy bill to revolutionize electricity provision

Solomon Islands

I will not resign: Solomon Islands PM Lilo

Suriname

Citizens of Suriname Celebrate Their Independence Day

Swaziland

Calling all men, calling all leaders

Togo

HIV group N case detected outside Cameroon for the first time

Tonga

Maori party takes a hit

Trinidad and Tobago

Governments plan for HIV/Aids insurance can hit snag

Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan begins supplying gas to southern China

Tuvalu

Western nations 'used bullying tactics' at climate talks

United Arab Emirates

Regional issues to personal drama in Arabian Nights Film Festival

Vanuatu

Vanuatu’s WTO membership vote further delayed

Wallis and Futuna

Hundreds Protest Living Costs in Wallis and Futuna

Western Sahara

Concerns over cost to EU and Morocco occupation of Western Sahara