Archive for the ‘Progress’ Category
African Media Barometer Created
[From Mmegi Online and written by Ephraim Keoreng]
October 12, 2009 – Gaborone. Civil society leaders have said that in Botswana there is no freedom of expression. At the launch of the African Media Barometer (AMB) in Botswana booklet in Gaborone last Friday, the leaders said that people are not free to express themselves.
Botswana Council of Non-Government Organisations (BOCONGO) executive secretary, Reverend Mosweu Simane said that nowadays people are not free to critique government and its leadership. This he said, is borne out of fear that in workshops and conferences, people are afraid those close to the leadership will finger them, something which they say would bring retribution from those in power. He cited an incident in Francistown where they were discussing the National Development Plan 10, whereupon one presenter, who was on the floor presenting a point, which faulted government and all of a sudden “the man panicked, mumbled and later in his discussion changed his subject. (more…)
Sudan media slightly more free? Sudan’s President orders “End to State Censorship”
Last week, as reported in Al-Jazeera, Sudan’s president Omar al-Bashir (who has been indicted for war crimes by the UN’s International Criminal Court)
ordered an end to state censorship to increase validity for the country’s upcoming elections. Many editors, however, retain serious doubts about their ability to publish any content related to the Darfur conflict and other potentially “sensitive” issues.
Please see the full article in Al-Jazeera for details.
Dr. Ayittey discusses “Radio Free Africa” with Secretary Clinton
Secretary Clinton with Professor Ayittey
George Ayittey
August 1, 2009
Crossposted with “Ghanadot”
Next week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be visiting 7 African countries in 11 days: Cape Verde Islands, Liberia, Nigeria, Congo DR (Goma, in particular), Kenya, South Africa and Angola. Part of the purpose of the trip is to smooth over ruffled feathers. Recall that Kenyans were miffed over the fact the President Obama skipped his fatherland and visited Ghana instead. And Nigerians felt his trip to Ghana was an insidious plot to destabilize their country. So Hillary is being dispatched to soothe frayed nerves and douse the flames. There are also genuine concerns in the Obama administration about Nigeria’s stability and China’s forays into Africa. (more…)
Arid Lands Information Network improves communities with communication.
From their site:
“ALIN, Community Information Volunteers Program was born in 2006 with to increase documentation and improve the quality of development content generated by the local communities.”
Checkout more here:
Radio Free Swat Valley
Strategic communications can promote non-extremist views along the Afghan-Pakistan border. A former defense secretary and policy researcher explain in the New York Times:
“Radio-Free Swat Valley
By DOUGLAS J. FEITH and JUSTIN POLIN
The New York Times, March 29, 2009; p.A27
ON March 5, in the outskirts of Peshawar, Pakistan, forces believed to be affiliated with the Taliban bombed the shrine of Rahman Baba (born around 1650), the most revered Pashtun poet. The attack evokes one of the grosser Taliban outrages from the pre-9/11 era: the dynamiting in 2001 of the enormous stone Buddhas in Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley.
This use of bombs as cultural commentary is especially notable in that the shrine was sacred to other Muslims. It reminds the world, and especially complacent Muslims, that the Islamist extremists’ war is a civil war within Islam — and not just a “holy war” against other religions and the United States. It should show American policymakers the wisdom of working to persuade Pashtuns to reject the Taliban.” continue reading…
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