Bedi to pay back excess amount: Abhyas Mandal
Abhyas Mandal, a local social organization, received a call from the office of Team Anna's core group member Kiran Bedi's NGO on Monday evening. It was about repaying the fare difference, overcharged during the Magsaysay winner's visit to the city on May 13 in 2009.
"We received a call today from Kiran Bedi-run NGO, Vision India Foundation, asking the organisation's permanent postal address to send a cheque of air fare difference," Shivaji Mohite, secretary, Abhyas Mandal, said, adding that a day before, the organization had informed through email that Bedi had agreed to pay us the difference.
Abhyas Mandal had invited Bedi to deliver a lecture as part of golden jubilee lecture series on May 13 in 2009. For this, the Magsaysay award recipient had sent a bill for business class air fare of Rs 38,871 through a travel agent. Incidentally, the same day, Kiran Bedi had three other programmes in Indore-the IIM-Indore, Punjabi Mahila Sanghathan and the Lions Club. However, on November 27, the Mandal had received an e-mail from Bedi seeking opinion from the social organization. She wrote in the mail- that she has been collecting money for the NGO by travelling in economy and charging business class fare and the difference goes to the NGO. Through email, she asked the Mandal what it thought of the issue.
In his reply, a Mandal office-bearer pointed out the organization is small and carries out activities with the help of collection. "We have been inviting dignitaries and eminent persons for years to run programmes and pay them actual expenses they incur on travelling," Mohite said. He said it was not possible for them to give donations to other organizations in this manner. The Mandal requested Bedi to return the fare difference she had charged from them.
The air fare difference is in the region of Rs 20,000 and 22,000. Social activist Anna Hazare himself had taken up the issue as he was closely associated with the activities of the Mandal.
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NGO: PA doesn’t meet UNESCO statehood guidelines
The Palestinian Authority does not meet the UNESCO recommendations for becoming a full member in the international organization, according to a study published on Monday by IMPACT-SE – the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education.
IMPACT-SE is a research organization that monitors and analyzes schoolbooks and curricula across the Middle East with an eye toward determining their compliance with international standards on peace and tolerance, a goal derived directly from UNESCO declarations and resolutions.
“The monitoring of the Palestinian schoolbooks in use for the school year 2011 shows that the fundamentals against Israel and the Jews are upheld,” the study concluded.
It said that the fundamentals included negating both Israel and the Jews.
Israel, for example, is not mentioned among the states of the Levant (which presently consists of the states of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as the Palestinian territories) and Jewish holy places are never mentioned as such. For instance, Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem is presented as the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.
According to the study, the Jewish and Hebrew identity of Palestine under the British Mandate is stricken out. One illustration twists a stamp of Palestine under the British Mandate by erasing the Hebrew term ERETZ ISRAEL PALESTINA.
The study also found that there was continued demonization of both Israel and the Jews in the books. Jews are described, among others, as violating treaties, getting rich unduly, deceitful, murdering children, disemboweling women and invading snakes. They are never presented in neutral or positive terms.
The study quotes the following examples from the Palestinian schoolbooks: “The Messenger of God [Muhammad] ordered Zayd Ibn Thabit to learn the language of the Jews in order to be safe from their cheating,” History of the Arabs and Muslims, Grade 6, (2009), page 133; “Your enemies killed your children, split open your women’s bellies, held your revered elderly men by the beard, and led them to the death pits,” Reading and Texts, Grade 8, Part 2, [2003] (reprinted 2007), page 16; and “By your life! How come snakes invade us and we [still] observe a protection covenant [dhimma] which respects commitments?” Arabic Language– Linguistic Sciences, Grade 12, (2010), page 61.
“The Oslo accords and the Declaration of Principles are mentioned and even quoted, but they are not praised and a peacefully negotiated settlement is not advocated or supported,” said the authors of the study.
“In contrast, there is a lot of praise for jihad and martyrdom to free Palestine without defining clearly the territory to be liberated, hence implying that Israel’s territory is also to be liberated.”
The study quotes the following paragraph from a Grade 8 book: “Today the Muslim countries need urgently jihad and jihad fighters in order to liberate the robbed lands and to get rid of the robbing Jews from the robbed lands in Palestine and in the Levant.”
The Shoah is not mentioned at all, though one ambiguous passage reads as follows: “The Jewish question is first and foremost a European problem.”
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Team Anna got Rs 2.94 crore in donations over six months
Team Anna collected Rs 2.94 crore in donations in the last six months of which Rs 1.16 crore was collected in 12 days while the Ramlila Maidan agitation was on. Over 25,000 people made donations during the Ramlila Maidan agitation of which 23,138 people donated less than Rs 1,000 - an indication of the mass movement that the August agitation became. About 400 people donated above Rs 10,000.
Donations ranging between Rs 5 and Rs 25 lakh poured into the NGOs coffers as Anna Hazare's anti-corruption brigade took on the government. Audited accounts accessed by TOI revealed that Public Cause Research Foundation (PCRF) received over Rs 2.94 crore between April 1-September 30, 2011. However, the NGO plans to return Rs 42 lakh which came from "unknown sources".
The audited accounts come following allegations made by former Team Anna member Swami Agnivesh who claimed that the Arvind Kejriwal-run NGO had kept the funds collected by India Against Corruption (IAC) movement. He had also alleged that Hazare was upset with members over the delay in audit.
Team Anna core committee members passed a resolution recently condemning these allegations adding that PCRF was always designated as a secretariat for the IAC movement. The NGO - that employs 10 people and has five volunteers - has spent over Rs 52 lakh in public meetings including those held in Ramlila Maidan, Jantar Mantar and other smaller meetings and Rs 26 lakh in printing of pamphlets and booklets. The NGO is not taking any more donations and is returning cheques.
Among other expenses are Rs 9.8 lakh for travel and conveyance and Rs 45 lakh in sending over 30 crore SMSes and missed calls. The largest donor to PCRF is Sitaram Jindal who gave Rs 25 lakh at Jantar Mantar while the smallest amount donated was Rs 5.
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NGO accuses state of forcing Palestinians out of e.J'lem
Israel is forcing Palestinians out of east Jerusalem as part of a deliberate policy that might constitute a war crime, an NGO against housing demolitions said on Monday.
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) presented the United Nations with its findings and demanded an inquiry, saying Israel targeted Palestinians by demolishing homes, revoking residency and eroding quality of life.
"We are witnessing a process of ethnic displacement," said Michael Sfard, a lawyer who helped draw up a 73-page report into the issue. "Israel is manifestly and seriously violating international law ... and the motivation is demographic."
There was no immediate comment from authorities in Jerusalem on the report other than a statement from the mayor's office which said that while east Jerusalem had suffered from a lack of investment in the past that had now changed.
"Jerusalem, under the leadership of Mayor Nir Barkat, has invested an unprecedented amount of resources and efforts to improve the quality of life of Muslim residents of Jerusalem after decades of neglect by previous administrations," it said.
ICAHD said it was virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits to house their growing families.
"They have no other option than to leave east Jerusalem, build illegally or live in appalling, cramped conditions," said Emily Schaeffer, who authored the report.
Those who leave lose residency rights if they are gone for seven or more years and cannot return. Some 14,000 Palestinians lost their residency between 1967 and 2010, with half of those revocations taking place after 2006, ICAHD said.
"Palestinians will de facto be deported from east Jerusalem, not by using guns or trucks, but by not allowing them to live a decent, normal life," Sfard said.
"Because the annexation of east Jerusalem was not recognized, Palestinians living there should be considered as a people under occupation," ICAHD said. As such, Israel had no right to strip them of residency or demolish their homes.
"There is a suspicion that a war crime is taking place and that is why an investigation should take place," said Sfard.
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14 Delhi govt schools fail to comply with CIC order
Fourteen Delhi government schools on Monday refused to abide by the Central Information Commission's (CIC) July, 2011 order of allowing inspection of school records under the RTI Act on the last working day of the month. Around 65 people, along with Delhi Right to Education Forum (DREF) activists, visited schools in different areas, right from Shastri Park to Chirag Dilli, for inspection, but were denied entry citing a circular by the Directorate of Education (DoE). It stated that no such inspection has been ordered by any authority.
Following a complaint filed by NGO Josh under the RTI Act, the CIC passed an order on July 29, 2011, in which it allowed inspection of school records, including documents on admission, attendance, budget allocations and disbursement of scholarships, from the last working day of September 2011 by the public.
But the DREF activists and community members who approached the schools on Monday were denied access to records, and in many cases, even entry to the schools.
"The schools cited a circular (a copy of which is with TOI) issued by additional director of education (schools), DoE, Sunita Kaushik on October 28, 2011, which stated that the heads of all government schools are directed to ensure discipline and security on the school premises and that no outsider be allowed entry without permission of the principal to enter the school
. It also clarified that no inspection of the infrastructural facilities has been ordered by any authority. and any NGO or any person is not to be allowed to carry out any inspection or interaction without prior authorization of the department.
But the CIC order specifically stated that all schools of the department will have the stated documents/ registers available for inspection by citizens on the last working day of each month - from 8am to 10am and 2pm to 4pm for the first and second shift schools respectively," said Saurabh Sharma, a DREF activist.
Ironically, the public information officer of DoE, Prabhjot Singh, on September 15 wrote to the CIC stating that all the principals and heads of schools have been directed to make available the documents/ registers and that all deputy directors of education of the districts
have been asked to ensure compliance with the circular and collection compliance reports from their schools. It further said the compliance reports from all districts have been received and made available for inspection by citizens as directed by the CIC
and information regarding inspection timing has been put up on the notice boards of the schools.
The schools visited by the group included Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Vijay Inclave, Najafgarh, Shastri Park, Kalyanpuri, East Vinod Nagar, Block 27, Trilokpuri, Pocket 2, Mayur Vihar, Phase I, Jorbagh, Bella Road, Jama Masjid, Sarai Kale Khan, and Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Jama Masjid, Chirag Dilli and Lal Kuan. Despite repeated calls the education minister, Arvinder Singh Lovely could not be contacted.
Defying the Central Information Commission's July, 2011 order of allowing inspection of school records on the last working day of the month under the Right to Information Act, as many as 14 Delhi Government schools refused to abide by the ruling on Monday.
Around 65 common citizens accompanied by activists of Delhi Right to Education Forum (DREF) who visited schools in different regions of Delhi right from Shastri Park to Chirag Dilli for inspections were denied entry citing a circular by the Directorate of Education (DoE) which stated that no inspection of the infrastructure facilities has been ordered by any authority.
Following an order passed by the CIC on July 29, 2011 based on a complaint filed under the RTI Act by an NGO, Josh, the information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi in his order allowed inspection of school records such as documents on admission, attendance, budget allocations, disbursement of scholarships and circulars among others from the last working day of September 2011 by the general public.
"The schools cited a circular (a copy of which is with The Times of India) issued by additional director of education (schools), DoE, Sunita Kaushik on October 28, 2011, which stated that heads of all the government schools are directed to ensure proper discipline and security on the school premises and that no outsider be allowed without the permission of the principal to enter the school. It also clarified that no inspection of the infrastructure facilities has been ordered by any authority and any NGO or any person is not to be allowed to carry out any inspection or interaction without prior authorization of the department. But the CIC order specifically stated that all schools of the department will have the stated documents/ registers available for inspection by citizens on last working day of each month, from 8 am to 10 am and 2 pm to 4 pm for the first and second shift schools respectively," said Saurabh Sharma, a DREF activist.
nterestingly, the public information officer of DoE, Prabhjot Singh, on September 15 wrote to the CIC stating that all the principals and heads of schools has been directed to make available the documents/ registers as mentioned in the decision and that all deputy directors of education of the districts have been asked to ensure the compliance of the circular and collect compliance reports from their schools. It further said that the compliance reports from all districts have been received and has been made available for inspection by citizens as directed by the CIC and the information regarding inspection timing has been put up on the notice boards of the schools.
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NGO to give free lifejackets to Puri tourists
Swimming in the sea in Puri could be safer now. Rattled by a spurt of drowning incidents in the Bay of Bengal in the last few weeks, the district administration has engaged a voluntary organization to provide lifejackets to tourists free of cost.
Initially Swati, the Khurda-based NGO, has pressed into service 200 jackets on the beach near Swargadwar. Minister Maheswar Mohanty inaugurated the service on the beach on Sunday.
"The free lifesaving jacket service would certainly check drowning mishaps in the sea. We have asked the service provider to extend the service in other patches of the beach soon," Bijay Kumar Jena, Puri tourist officer said.
"Since it will be a free service, we have urged the district administration to provide us some trained lifeguards, who could be paid by the government. Besides, the administration should spread awareness about the free service on beach," said Krushna Chandra Nisanka, a functionary of Swati.
Three persons, including two students, drowned in the sea in the last one week. Santanu Mukherjee, a second year hospital management student of Durgapur Paramedical College, was sucked into the sea on October 23. He was part of a 44-member team from the West Bengal college.
Giant waves claimed the lives of Alok Mohapatra, a trader, and Kumar Gaurav, an engineering student, on the occasion of Diwali on October 26. Body of an unidentified person was found on the beach on Saturday. Police suspect he too drowned in the sea.
Police said as many as 20 persons have so far drowned in the sea this year while fishermen claimed the casualty figure would touch forty-one.
"The government should identify bathing and no-bathing zones on the beach. Skilled lifeguards should be engaged and paid well by the government," said Srimanta Kumar Dash, MD of Hotel Santana.
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Attack Near UN Offices in Southern Afghanistan Kills 4
Afghan officials say a suicide attack near United Nations offices in southern Afghanistan has killed at least four people.
Authorities say one attacker detonated a vehicle full of explosives near buildings used by the United Nations refugee agency and the U.S.-based International Relief and Development organization.
After the blast early Monday, at least two gunmen rushed into the area and seized control of an animal clinic. Afghan officials say security forces exchanged gunfire with the men for at least two hours before the attackers were killed.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. A Taliban spokesman said a U.N. agency was the insurgent group's target.
At least four people were killed in the attack, including a security guard. More than four others were wounded.
United Nations spokesman Dan McNorton told reporters that all U.N. staff had been accounted for.
Monday's attack comes two days after a suicide car bombing in the Afghan capital killed 17 people, including five NATO service members, eight civilian contractors, and four Afghans.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack. But a Western diplomat (who did not want to be named) told news agencies that it was "very possible" that the attack on a NATO convoy in Kabul was the work of the Haqqani network.
The al-Qaida-linked militant network has carried out a number of attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. The Haqqani network is believed to be based in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region.
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SEOF, BfA commence distribution of $7m study materials
The Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, SEOF, has commenced the second phase of the donation of study materials to schools in Nigeria, cutting across primary, secondary, polytechnic and universities.
The education materials are courtesy of the United States non-governmental organisation, NGO, Books for Africa, BfA, and are being shipped into the country and distributed to beneficiary schools by SEOF.
Receiving a delegation of Books for Africa, BFA, at the Chrome Group Headquarters in Abuja for the signing of Memorandum of Understanding, MoU recently, the Chairman of thee oil and gas group, Sir Emeka Offor, said SEOF and BFA will collaborate with the NGO to distribute the education materials within the next 24 months.
According to him, “This second phase of the distribution of the education materials, which include books, computers and a host of other equipment, is mainly for the South-South region. In the third phase we will go to another region and even beyond Nigeria to other neighbouring countries because education is key to national development.”
He recalled that the first donations were made in June, and promised that the books will not be sold and will get to the target beneficiaries.
The Project Manager, SEOF, Mr. Inno Anoliefo, who introduced the guests, said that SEOF will be the major partner of BFA in Nigeria and the West African region, as the foundation will be responsible for the distribution of the study materials and other facilities in the sub-region.
He said the intension of the partners is to enhance the quality of education in its entirety in Nigeria as well as the sub-region, adding that if a long term improvement is to be achieved in the education sector, then there has to be access to study materials.
As he put it, “If we make books and other study materials available to pupils across all education cadre, then the quality and standard of education will rise. All schools will be equipped with enough study materials to relieve government of some of the burden of education development.”
He also explained that the BFA team is on a fact finding and consolidation mission with a view to identifying other areas of need in the education sector and easing supply issues.”
He said that education is at the heart of the foundation’s corporate social responsibility, adding that SEOF has made educational donations to many tertiary institutions worth hundreds of millions of naira.
Also speaking, the Coordinator, SEOF, Honorable Tony Obi, who revealed that the value of the expected materials to be distributed in this phase is about $7million, also said that by the end of next year, the partners would have distributed materials worth $21million.
The Executive Director, BFA, Mr. Pat Plonski, who led a five-man team, with representatives from the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help, IFESH, said, said the goal of the American NGO is to provide Africa with as many book as possible to help the education system in the continent.
He noted that given Nigeria’s huge population, BFA expected the country to get more books, but pointed out that this can only be facilitated with the support of local partners like SEOF.
Plonski said, “Nigeria is getting the single largest donation this time around, as SEOF has agreed to pay for the shipment and freight of the educational materials. Hitherto, Ghana and Ethiopia used to get the largest donations. We have already sent one consignment of eight containers and we are planning to send a second consignment of 16 containers.”
He revealed that the BFA team will also meet with the US ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence McCulley, to intimate him the NGO’s activities in Nigeria, adding that the organization is a grassroots one and that book and materials donated are from individuals, schools, libraries, corporations and publishers.
He said that BFA partnership with SEOF will last for as long as there was an education need and partners continue to cooperate, adding that the mission of the latter “is to end the books famine in Africa and we will continue until this is achieved.”
Commenting, Dr. Mike Essien, also from BFA, commended the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation for accepting the responsibility of shipping the books to Nigeria, noting that the country has produced excellent students who have been able to hold their forte in various fields of endeavour.
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NGO works to improve women’s rights across Asia and world
Women have long been considered second-class citizens in many societies, especially in those where the traditional culture is still strong. In some countries, they are deprived of the right to an education, while in others, they are the ones who have to stay at home and take care of the children. Even if women have a chance to work outside the home and hold the same jobs as men, their salaries are often lower than their male counterparts’. In other places, women are prohibited from driving and running for public office.
Fortunately, after tireless efforts of women’s organizations, countries have changed their ways and are beginning to treat women more fairly. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud announced Sept. 25 that women would have the right to vote and run for municipal elections in the future, while a report released by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation Sept. 26 showed Taiwan as the only nation in the Asia-Pacific region that provides parental leave for both parents, meaning the nation has achieved greater gender equality than all other countries and territories in the region.
“In general, the status of women has greatly improved, but no progress is ever enough,” said Teresa A. Hintzke, vice president of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the U.N. “You have to push for it, lobby for it and work for it; like anything in life, nothing happens by itself. We have now also organization groups that appeal to the government and to the U.N.”
In fact, the advancement in the status of women worldwide would not have been possible without the efforts of women’s organizations. Prominent among these groups is the Pan-Pacific and South-East Asia Women’s Association, which has worked continuously over many decades to promote awareness of women’s rights.
Established in 1928, with the ROC as one of its 13 founding countries, PPSEAWA aims to “identify the needs and problems of today’s women and children,” to “protect the status of women and children and promote family and child welfare,” as well as to “further education, training and literacy programs for all ages.” In an exclusive interview with Taiwan Today Oct. 5, while attending PPSEAWA’s 2011 Mid-Term Council Meeting and Workshop in Taipei City, Hintzke, who doubles as president of PPSEAWA International, talked about some of the achievements by the association’s international chapters and her work in promoting awareness of women’s rights.
Hintzke visited PPSEAWA chapters in March and April 2011. Among them, PPSEAWA Thailand made a huge impression on her. “Thai members built schools for children of the trash collectors,” Hintzke recalled. “These children don’t know how to read and write. Their parents would never send them to school because the children have to work, collecting things and sorting the trash. So the members came up with this idea of building the school in the trash places. The children are basically almost at home, but it’s among the trash.
“You don’t have this in Taiwan,” Hintzke said, adding that Taiwanese women have “great education, tremendous self-confidence, which is very noticeable,” and they appear to be “quite independent and sure of themselves.”
In collaboration with the Thai Catholic Women Association, the Thai chapter of PPESAWA is also involved in helping female prisoners make a living on their own after they have served their terms. “The 250 women prisoners, with over 70 percent of them between the ages 18 to 25, were drug dealers and users,” Hintzke pointed out. “The chapter and the religious organization tried to bring comfort to the prisoners and introduced teachers to them so they could learn a trade such as [weaving] baskets. Once they are let out of prison, they would have some kind of trade to go and earn money.”
Similarly, PPSEAWA Indonesia helped women and children in almost the same way as the Thailand branch did, but went a step further because it also taught the children how to make products out of trash, Hintzke said. “One of the PPSEAWA members started schools for the trash collectors. The school not only taught the children how to read and write, but also taught them how to make little things out of trash that they could sell, so they wouldn’t have to spend their lives as trash collectors.”
Setting up schools and educating women and children are not enough to promote the women’s status in society. Hintzke said women must also prove their work abilities and stand up for themselves to ensure their rights are protected, adding that governments also need to set up relevant laws and “listen to voices from NGOs.”
Speaking from her own experience of working with the conference, traditionally considered a male domain, Hintzke said, “Women have to be able to prove they can perform the task. If they’re going into a men’s field, they have to be a little bit better than the men to succeed. It’s not fair, but it’s what it is. They have to have that little edge, little extra to it.
“From my own experience, it’s not easy to conquer the challenges, but they have to have the determination. They have to ignore a lot of things and grow a thick skin, because there will be a lot of resentment from men. They have to think: ‘Well, OK, this is how men feel. I’m not going to take it personally. I’m going to do my job and show them that I can do it.’”
Hintzke further stressed that women have to draw lines and should avoid getting too familiar with male workers, because “once they do that, they’re going to lose their edge, their competition. Whenever they get a promotion, they will always be accused of not getting it on the basis of their abilities.”
Regarding the issue of not getting equal pay as men for the same job, Hintzke said, “Some [of these problems] can be repaired with [action from the] Legislature, but if women are capable, they have to fight their own battle, such as putting pressure on the employers and documenting their cases. Show the boss the law and tell them: This is not according to the law, you’re breaking the law.
“If they fire the woman, she really is in a better position because if she documented her case, she has nothing to lose, and she will have a case against her employers and can take them to court or labor unions,” Hintzke explained.
In the private sector, Hintzke noted that PPSEAWA is also very concerned about violence against women and children. Taking Bibi Aisha, an Afghanistan girl whose nose was cut off after she ran away from her husband’s family, as an example, Hintzke said the case involves cultural influences. “Some countries do have laws that protect women, but these laws are ignored. This is where the U.N. has to be firm and say that the act is a violation of human rights. Women’s rights are human rights. This is one thing we’re working on.
“It is difficult for the people inside that society to do it [respect women’s rights] because they’re so used to [violating] it,” Hintzke said, adding that work is needed “to educate the society that this is not the norm.”
According to Hintzke, it is always a challenge to bring awareness of women’s rights. “This is why when you are at the U.N., you have to get involved in committees. You can’t do it by yourself. It has to be organized groups to bring it in, in a good process of putting it forward, and then, pressure on government agencies,” she stressed. “For instance, there are lots of laws on the books that you have to pressure the government to enact and enforce, saying, ‘Yes, the fact that men and women are equal doesn’t mean anything unless you enact it.’
“Promoting awareness for women’s rights is a continuous thing,” Hintzke said. “Whatever we can, we’re doing it.” (HZW)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw
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NGO contradicts Jairam's claim, says didn't complain against Mayawati govt
Union Minister Jairam Ramesh's letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati slamming the alleged irregularities in implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme in her state has snowballed into a major controversy. First, Ms Mayawati called the letter "politically motivated", and now, an NGO mentioned by Jairam in his letter has contradicted his claim, saying it never complained against the BSP chief's government.
In the letter written earlier this week, Mr Ramesh accused the Mayawati government of "continuing inaction" in instances of "grave irregularities" in the implementation of the scheme. "I write to you in great anguish regarding the implementation of MG-NREGA in the state of Uttar Pradesh," Mr Ramesh said, adding, "It is true that a network of civil society organizations working through Nari Sanghs has been able to bring about a greater awareness of the rights of MG-NREGA workers. I have myself interacted with one such organization called Vanangana which is active in Chitrakoot and Banda. But the overall feedback that we have so far reveals that the implementation of MG-NREGA in Uttar Pradesh has been far from satisfactory."
But the NGO named by Mr Ramesh has now sought to distance itself from the "political battle" saying it never filed any complaint against the state government for irregularities. Speaking to NDTV, Madhvi Kuckreja, the founder member of Vananagana, said, "It was completely unnecessary for Jairam Ramesh to name a single NGO in his letter to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister."
"It's a waste of time to bring a social organisation into a political battle. We would like to distance ourselves from any demand for a CBI probe. We are doing our work quietly. The scheme should not get caught in a political crossfire like this as it affects the people who it is benefiting,"
In his letter, Mr Ramesh pointed out that as many as 22 reports of National Level Monitors (NLMs), which brought out serious violations of funds, were pending for action from the state government. But the Chief Minister has rejected theses allegations. In a letter written to the Prime Minister on Friday, Ms Mayawati also accused Mr Ramesh of having a pre-conceived agenda and arriving at conclusions without taking cognisance of steps taken by her government.
"The minister, through his letter, attempted to score political points by alleging misuse of funds by the UP. The letter was released to the media much before it was received here confirming the intentions of the minister," she wrote.
"It would be appropriate, if the minister is apprised of the Centre-state fiscal arrangements provided in our Constitution. It is obvious that Ramesh has a pre-conceived agenda and has arrived at the conclusions without taking any cognisance of the steps taken by state government," she added.
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Terror victims’ NGO to publish terrorist database
The Almagor Victims of Terror Association plans to launch an online database of the terrorists with descriptions of their crimes in an effort to prevent future prisoner swaps, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
The head of Almagor, Meir Indor, believes by connecting the names of the terrorists to the specific terror attacks they committed, the public will be less likely to support prisoner swaps in the future.
“We are taking the law into our own hands so that terror victims can get updates on the terrorists who are responsible for specific attacks,” said Indor.
The database, called “Justice for Terror Victims,” will collect information that is available to the public, such as arrests and court transcripts, and compile it in a searchable database.
The Foreign Ministry and some private bloggers have partial lists, but this is the first initiative to have a comprehensive center of information.
More than a dozen volunteers working around the clock in shifts of three have already compiled full entries for 270 terrorists released as part of the Gilad Schalit deal.
It will be uploaded later this week onto the organization’s website, al-magor.com.
The prisoner list released ahead of the Schalit swap by the Prisons Service had dry descriptions for each of those released such as “involvement in unknown terror organization” and “assisted in murder.”
Indor believes that more specific descriptions, such as “the driver who brought the suicide bomber to Sbarro,” will resonate with the public on a deeper level and encourage more of an outcry against future swaps, which was fairly muted in the Schalit deal.
“Personalization works,” said Indor, noting that one reason the Schalit campaign was so successful was that it created an image of Schalit the average Israeli could relate to as a son and a soldier.
He added that the database, which will start with the terrorists released as part of the Schalit swap, will be updated if there are future swaps or if a terrorist is rearrested for committing similar crimes.
Indor said there was an incident during the Schalit affair when the media, using unauthorized lists from Arab media, incorrectly reported the planned release of some terrorists, creating unneeded turmoil for the families of the victims. A centralized database could minimize such occurrences in the future.
“The worst is to sit and not know. Terror victims want to know if their murderer got out or not,” said Indor.
He acknowledged that funds were a serious obstacle for keeping an updated database, or for translating the database into English.
Part of Almagor’s strategy is to inspire public pressure both on the government not to release terrorists, as well as other governments to issue international arrest warrants through Interpol for released terrorists.
Almagor was founded in 1986 as a response to the “Jibril Deal,” when 1,150 terrorists were released in exchange for three soldiers kidnapped during the First Lebanon War.
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Many children go unregistered in West Africa: NGO
Some 66 percent of births still go unregistered in parts of Africa, children’s rights group Plan International said Monday as the world marked the world’s population hitting the seven billion mark.
“Who’s counting the unregistered children in West Africa?” the organisation said in a statement.
Plan warned of the need for children to have their births registered in these countries where populations are doubling every 20 years, and authorities are unable to keep up with the growing demand for schools, health clinics and housing.
“Many children are going without access to quality education and, with no birth registration, they are almost invisible with no access to their basic human rights,” the rights group said in their statement.
According to the United Nations State of the Population 2011 report, the population of Africa will more than triple in the 21st century and is expected to add another billion people to the globe in just 35 years.
Proof of identity is needed to sit national exams at primary school and is a key to prove children’s real age and origin in cases of trafficking and child labor.
“If we want later on to have good citizens in our cities, they must be counted from birth so that their opinion will be taken into account, their voice will be heard and they will be able to make a difference in their society.” said Adama Coulibaly, Plan’s regional director in West Africa.
According to the NGO, in Liberia, only 16 percent of children are registered, in Niger 32 percent.
Abhyas Mandal, a local social organization, received a call from the office of Team Anna's core group member Kiran Bedi's NGO on Monday evening. It was about repaying the fare difference, overcharged during the Magsaysay winner's visit to the city on May 13 in 2009.
"We received a call today from Kiran Bedi-run NGO, Vision India Foundation, asking the organisation's permanent postal address to send a cheque of air fare difference," Shivaji Mohite, secretary, Abhyas Mandal, said, adding that a day before, the organization had informed through email that Bedi had agreed to pay us the difference.
Abhyas Mandal had invited Bedi to deliver a lecture as part of golden jubilee lecture series on May 13 in 2009. For this, the Magsaysay award recipient had sent a bill for business class air fare of Rs 38,871 through a travel agent. Incidentally, the same day, Kiran Bedi had three other programmes in Indore-the IIM-Indore, Punjabi Mahila Sanghathan and the Lions Club. However, on November 27, the Mandal had received an e-mail from Bedi seeking opinion from the social organization. She wrote in the mail- that she has been collecting money for the NGO by travelling in economy and charging business class fare and the difference goes to the NGO. Through email, she asked the Mandal what it thought of the issue.
In his reply, a Mandal office-bearer pointed out the organization is small and carries out activities with the help of collection. "We have been inviting dignitaries and eminent persons for years to run programmes and pay them actual expenses they incur on travelling," Mohite said. He said it was not possible for them to give donations to other organizations in this manner. The Mandal requested Bedi to return the fare difference she had charged from them.
The air fare difference is in the region of Rs 20,000 and 22,000. Social activist Anna Hazare himself had taken up the issue as he was closely associated with the activities of the Mandal.
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NGO: PA doesn’t meet UNESCO statehood guidelines
The Palestinian Authority does not meet the UNESCO recommendations for becoming a full member in the international organization, according to a study published on Monday by IMPACT-SE – the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education.
IMPACT-SE is a research organization that monitors and analyzes schoolbooks and curricula across the Middle East with an eye toward determining their compliance with international standards on peace and tolerance, a goal derived directly from UNESCO declarations and resolutions.
“The monitoring of the Palestinian schoolbooks in use for the school year 2011 shows that the fundamentals against Israel and the Jews are upheld,” the study concluded.
It said that the fundamentals included negating both Israel and the Jews.
Israel, for example, is not mentioned among the states of the Levant (which presently consists of the states of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria as well as the Palestinian territories) and Jewish holy places are never mentioned as such. For instance, Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem is presented as the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.
According to the study, the Jewish and Hebrew identity of Palestine under the British Mandate is stricken out. One illustration twists a stamp of Palestine under the British Mandate by erasing the Hebrew term ERETZ ISRAEL PALESTINA.
The study also found that there was continued demonization of both Israel and the Jews in the books. Jews are described, among others, as violating treaties, getting rich unduly, deceitful, murdering children, disemboweling women and invading snakes. They are never presented in neutral or positive terms.
The study quotes the following examples from the Palestinian schoolbooks: “The Messenger of God [Muhammad] ordered Zayd Ibn Thabit to learn the language of the Jews in order to be safe from their cheating,” History of the Arabs and Muslims, Grade 6, (2009), page 133; “Your enemies killed your children, split open your women’s bellies, held your revered elderly men by the beard, and led them to the death pits,” Reading and Texts, Grade 8, Part 2, [2003] (reprinted 2007), page 16; and “By your life! How come snakes invade us and we [still] observe a protection covenant [dhimma] which respects commitments?” Arabic Language– Linguistic Sciences, Grade 12, (2010), page 61.
“The Oslo accords and the Declaration of Principles are mentioned and even quoted, but they are not praised and a peacefully negotiated settlement is not advocated or supported,” said the authors of the study.
“In contrast, there is a lot of praise for jihad and martyrdom to free Palestine without defining clearly the territory to be liberated, hence implying that Israel’s territory is also to be liberated.”
The study quotes the following paragraph from a Grade 8 book: “Today the Muslim countries need urgently jihad and jihad fighters in order to liberate the robbed lands and to get rid of the robbing Jews from the robbed lands in Palestine and in the Levant.”
The Shoah is not mentioned at all, though one ambiguous passage reads as follows: “The Jewish question is first and foremost a European problem.”
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Team Anna got Rs 2.94 crore in donations over six months
Team Anna collected Rs 2.94 crore in donations in the last six months of which Rs 1.16 crore was collected in 12 days while the Ramlila Maidan agitation was on. Over 25,000 people made donations during the Ramlila Maidan agitation of which 23,138 people donated less than Rs 1,000 - an indication of the mass movement that the August agitation became. About 400 people donated above Rs 10,000.
Donations ranging between Rs 5 and Rs 25 lakh poured into the NGOs coffers as Anna Hazare's anti-corruption brigade took on the government. Audited accounts accessed by TOI revealed that Public Cause Research Foundation (PCRF) received over Rs 2.94 crore between April 1-September 30, 2011. However, the NGO plans to return Rs 42 lakh which came from "unknown sources".
The audited accounts come following allegations made by former Team Anna member Swami Agnivesh who claimed that the Arvind Kejriwal-run NGO had kept the funds collected by India Against Corruption (IAC) movement. He had also alleged that Hazare was upset with members over the delay in audit.
Team Anna core committee members passed a resolution recently condemning these allegations adding that PCRF was always designated as a secretariat for the IAC movement. The NGO - that employs 10 people and has five volunteers - has spent over Rs 52 lakh in public meetings including those held in Ramlila Maidan, Jantar Mantar and other smaller meetings and Rs 26 lakh in printing of pamphlets and booklets. The NGO is not taking any more donations and is returning cheques.
Among other expenses are Rs 9.8 lakh for travel and conveyance and Rs 45 lakh in sending over 30 crore SMSes and missed calls. The largest donor to PCRF is Sitaram Jindal who gave Rs 25 lakh at Jantar Mantar while the smallest amount donated was Rs 5.
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NGO accuses state of forcing Palestinians out of e.J'lem
Israel is forcing Palestinians out of east Jerusalem as part of a deliberate policy that might constitute a war crime, an NGO against housing demolitions said on Monday.
The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) presented the United Nations with its findings and demanded an inquiry, saying Israel targeted Palestinians by demolishing homes, revoking residency and eroding quality of life.
"We are witnessing a process of ethnic displacement," said Michael Sfard, a lawyer who helped draw up a 73-page report into the issue. "Israel is manifestly and seriously violating international law ... and the motivation is demographic."
There was no immediate comment from authorities in Jerusalem on the report other than a statement from the mayor's office which said that while east Jerusalem had suffered from a lack of investment in the past that had now changed.
"Jerusalem, under the leadership of Mayor Nir Barkat, has invested an unprecedented amount of resources and efforts to improve the quality of life of Muslim residents of Jerusalem after decades of neglect by previous administrations," it said.
ICAHD said it was virtually impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits to house their growing families.
"They have no other option than to leave east Jerusalem, build illegally or live in appalling, cramped conditions," said Emily Schaeffer, who authored the report.
Those who leave lose residency rights if they are gone for seven or more years and cannot return. Some 14,000 Palestinians lost their residency between 1967 and 2010, with half of those revocations taking place after 2006, ICAHD said.
"Palestinians will de facto be deported from east Jerusalem, not by using guns or trucks, but by not allowing them to live a decent, normal life," Sfard said.
"Because the annexation of east Jerusalem was not recognized, Palestinians living there should be considered as a people under occupation," ICAHD said. As such, Israel had no right to strip them of residency or demolish their homes.
"There is a suspicion that a war crime is taking place and that is why an investigation should take place," said Sfard.
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14 Delhi govt schools fail to comply with CIC order
Fourteen Delhi government schools on Monday refused to abide by the Central Information Commission's (CIC) July, 2011 order of allowing inspection of school records under the RTI Act on the last working day of the month. Around 65 people, along with Delhi Right to Education Forum (DREF) activists, visited schools in different areas, right from Shastri Park to Chirag Dilli, for inspection, but were denied entry citing a circular by the Directorate of Education (DoE). It stated that no such inspection has been ordered by any authority.
Following a complaint filed by NGO Josh under the RTI Act, the CIC passed an order on July 29, 2011, in which it allowed inspection of school records, including documents on admission, attendance, budget allocations and disbursement of scholarships, from the last working day of September 2011 by the public.
But the DREF activists and community members who approached the schools on Monday were denied access to records, and in many cases, even entry to the schools.
"The schools cited a circular (a copy of which is with TOI) issued by additional director of education (schools), DoE, Sunita Kaushik on October 28, 2011, which stated that the heads of all government schools are directed to ensure discipline and security on the school premises and that no outsider be allowed entry without permission of the principal to enter the school
. It also clarified that no inspection of the infrastructural facilities has been ordered by any authority. and any NGO or any person is not to be allowed to carry out any inspection or interaction without prior authorization of the department.
But the CIC order specifically stated that all schools of the department will have the stated documents/ registers available for inspection by citizens on the last working day of each month - from 8am to 10am and 2pm to 4pm for the first and second shift schools respectively," said Saurabh Sharma, a DREF activist.
Ironically, the public information officer of DoE, Prabhjot Singh, on September 15 wrote to the CIC stating that all the principals and heads of schools have been directed to make available the documents/ registers and that all deputy directors of education of the districts
have been asked to ensure compliance with the circular and collection compliance reports from their schools. It further said the compliance reports from all districts have been received and made available for inspection by citizens as directed by the CIC
and information regarding inspection timing has been put up on the notice boards of the schools.
The schools visited by the group included Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Vijay Inclave, Najafgarh, Shastri Park, Kalyanpuri, East Vinod Nagar, Block 27, Trilokpuri, Pocket 2, Mayur Vihar, Phase I, Jorbagh, Bella Road, Jama Masjid, Sarai Kale Khan, and Rajkiya Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Jama Masjid, Chirag Dilli and Lal Kuan. Despite repeated calls the education minister, Arvinder Singh Lovely could not be contacted.
Defying the Central Information Commission's July, 2011 order of allowing inspection of school records on the last working day of the month under the Right to Information Act, as many as 14 Delhi Government schools refused to abide by the ruling on Monday.
Around 65 common citizens accompanied by activists of Delhi Right to Education Forum (DREF) who visited schools in different regions of Delhi right from Shastri Park to Chirag Dilli for inspections were denied entry citing a circular by the Directorate of Education (DoE) which stated that no inspection of the infrastructure facilities has been ordered by any authority.
Following an order passed by the CIC on July 29, 2011 based on a complaint filed under the RTI Act by an NGO, Josh, the information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi in his order allowed inspection of school records such as documents on admission, attendance, budget allocations, disbursement of scholarships and circulars among others from the last working day of September 2011 by the general public.
"The schools cited a circular (a copy of which is with The Times of India) issued by additional director of education (schools), DoE, Sunita Kaushik on October 28, 2011, which stated that heads of all the government schools are directed to ensure proper discipline and security on the school premises and that no outsider be allowed without the permission of the principal to enter the school. It also clarified that no inspection of the infrastructure facilities has been ordered by any authority and any NGO or any person is not to be allowed to carry out any inspection or interaction without prior authorization of the department. But the CIC order specifically stated that all schools of the department will have the stated documents/ registers available for inspection by citizens on last working day of each month, from 8 am to 10 am and 2 pm to 4 pm for the first and second shift schools respectively," said Saurabh Sharma, a DREF activist.
nterestingly, the public information officer of DoE, Prabhjot Singh, on September 15 wrote to the CIC stating that all the principals and heads of schools has been directed to make available the documents/ registers as mentioned in the decision and that all deputy directors of education of the districts have been asked to ensure the compliance of the circular and collect compliance reports from their schools. It further said that the compliance reports from all districts have been received and has been made available for inspection by citizens as directed by the CIC and the information regarding inspection timing has been put up on the notice boards of the schools.
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NGO to give free lifejackets to Puri tourists
Swimming in the sea in Puri could be safer now. Rattled by a spurt of drowning incidents in the Bay of Bengal in the last few weeks, the district administration has engaged a voluntary organization to provide lifejackets to tourists free of cost.
Initially Swati, the Khurda-based NGO, has pressed into service 200 jackets on the beach near Swargadwar. Minister Maheswar Mohanty inaugurated the service on the beach on Sunday.
"The free lifesaving jacket service would certainly check drowning mishaps in the sea. We have asked the service provider to extend the service in other patches of the beach soon," Bijay Kumar Jena, Puri tourist officer said.
"Since it will be a free service, we have urged the district administration to provide us some trained lifeguards, who could be paid by the government. Besides, the administration should spread awareness about the free service on beach," said Krushna Chandra Nisanka, a functionary of Swati.
Three persons, including two students, drowned in the sea in the last one week. Santanu Mukherjee, a second year hospital management student of Durgapur Paramedical College, was sucked into the sea on October 23. He was part of a 44-member team from the West Bengal college.
Giant waves claimed the lives of Alok Mohapatra, a trader, and Kumar Gaurav, an engineering student, on the occasion of Diwali on October 26. Body of an unidentified person was found on the beach on Saturday. Police suspect he too drowned in the sea.
Police said as many as 20 persons have so far drowned in the sea this year while fishermen claimed the casualty figure would touch forty-one.
"The government should identify bathing and no-bathing zones on the beach. Skilled lifeguards should be engaged and paid well by the government," said Srimanta Kumar Dash, MD of Hotel Santana.
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Attack Near UN Offices in Southern Afghanistan Kills 4
Afghan officials say a suicide attack near United Nations offices in southern Afghanistan has killed at least four people.
Authorities say one attacker detonated a vehicle full of explosives near buildings used by the United Nations refugee agency and the U.S.-based International Relief and Development organization.
After the blast early Monday, at least two gunmen rushed into the area and seized control of an animal clinic. Afghan officials say security forces exchanged gunfire with the men for at least two hours before the attackers were killed.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. A Taliban spokesman said a U.N. agency was the insurgent group's target.
At least four people were killed in the attack, including a security guard. More than four others were wounded.
United Nations spokesman Dan McNorton told reporters that all U.N. staff had been accounted for.
Monday's attack comes two days after a suicide car bombing in the Afghan capital killed 17 people, including five NATO service members, eight civilian contractors, and four Afghans.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack. But a Western diplomat (who did not want to be named) told news agencies that it was "very possible" that the attack on a NATO convoy in Kabul was the work of the Haqqani network.
The al-Qaida-linked militant network has carried out a number of attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. The Haqqani network is believed to be based in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region.
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SEOF, BfA commence distribution of $7m study materials
The Sir Emeka Offor Foundation, SEOF, has commenced the second phase of the donation of study materials to schools in Nigeria, cutting across primary, secondary, polytechnic and universities.
The education materials are courtesy of the United States non-governmental organisation, NGO, Books for Africa, BfA, and are being shipped into the country and distributed to beneficiary schools by SEOF.
Receiving a delegation of Books for Africa, BFA, at the Chrome Group Headquarters in Abuja for the signing of Memorandum of Understanding, MoU recently, the Chairman of thee oil and gas group, Sir Emeka Offor, said SEOF and BFA will collaborate with the NGO to distribute the education materials within the next 24 months.
According to him, “This second phase of the distribution of the education materials, which include books, computers and a host of other equipment, is mainly for the South-South region. In the third phase we will go to another region and even beyond Nigeria to other neighbouring countries because education is key to national development.”
He recalled that the first donations were made in June, and promised that the books will not be sold and will get to the target beneficiaries.
The Project Manager, SEOF, Mr. Inno Anoliefo, who introduced the guests, said that SEOF will be the major partner of BFA in Nigeria and the West African region, as the foundation will be responsible for the distribution of the study materials and other facilities in the sub-region.
He said the intension of the partners is to enhance the quality of education in its entirety in Nigeria as well as the sub-region, adding that if a long term improvement is to be achieved in the education sector, then there has to be access to study materials.
As he put it, “If we make books and other study materials available to pupils across all education cadre, then the quality and standard of education will rise. All schools will be equipped with enough study materials to relieve government of some of the burden of education development.”
He also explained that the BFA team is on a fact finding and consolidation mission with a view to identifying other areas of need in the education sector and easing supply issues.”
He said that education is at the heart of the foundation’s corporate social responsibility, adding that SEOF has made educational donations to many tertiary institutions worth hundreds of millions of naira.
Also speaking, the Coordinator, SEOF, Honorable Tony Obi, who revealed that the value of the expected materials to be distributed in this phase is about $7million, also said that by the end of next year, the partners would have distributed materials worth $21million.
The Executive Director, BFA, Mr. Pat Plonski, who led a five-man team, with representatives from the International Foundation for Education and Self-Help, IFESH, said, said the goal of the American NGO is to provide Africa with as many book as possible to help the education system in the continent.
He noted that given Nigeria’s huge population, BFA expected the country to get more books, but pointed out that this can only be facilitated with the support of local partners like SEOF.
Plonski said, “Nigeria is getting the single largest donation this time around, as SEOF has agreed to pay for the shipment and freight of the educational materials. Hitherto, Ghana and Ethiopia used to get the largest donations. We have already sent one consignment of eight containers and we are planning to send a second consignment of 16 containers.”
He revealed that the BFA team will also meet with the US ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Terence McCulley, to intimate him the NGO’s activities in Nigeria, adding that the organization is a grassroots one and that book and materials donated are from individuals, schools, libraries, corporations and publishers.
He said that BFA partnership with SEOF will last for as long as there was an education need and partners continue to cooperate, adding that the mission of the latter “is to end the books famine in Africa and we will continue until this is achieved.”
Commenting, Dr. Mike Essien, also from BFA, commended the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation for accepting the responsibility of shipping the books to Nigeria, noting that the country has produced excellent students who have been able to hold their forte in various fields of endeavour.
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NGO works to improve women’s rights across Asia and world
Women have long been considered second-class citizens in many societies, especially in those where the traditional culture is still strong. In some countries, they are deprived of the right to an education, while in others, they are the ones who have to stay at home and take care of the children. Even if women have a chance to work outside the home and hold the same jobs as men, their salaries are often lower than their male counterparts’. In other places, women are prohibited from driving and running for public office.
Fortunately, after tireless efforts of women’s organizations, countries have changed their ways and are beginning to treat women more fairly. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud announced Sept. 25 that women would have the right to vote and run for municipal elections in the future, while a report released by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation Sept. 26 showed Taiwan as the only nation in the Asia-Pacific region that provides parental leave for both parents, meaning the nation has achieved greater gender equality than all other countries and territories in the region.
“In general, the status of women has greatly improved, but no progress is ever enough,” said Teresa A. Hintzke, vice president of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the U.N. “You have to push for it, lobby for it and work for it; like anything in life, nothing happens by itself. We have now also organization groups that appeal to the government and to the U.N.”
In fact, the advancement in the status of women worldwide would not have been possible without the efforts of women’s organizations. Prominent among these groups is the Pan-Pacific and South-East Asia Women’s Association, which has worked continuously over many decades to promote awareness of women’s rights.
Established in 1928, with the ROC as one of its 13 founding countries, PPSEAWA aims to “identify the needs and problems of today’s women and children,” to “protect the status of women and children and promote family and child welfare,” as well as to “further education, training and literacy programs for all ages.” In an exclusive interview with Taiwan Today Oct. 5, while attending PPSEAWA’s 2011 Mid-Term Council Meeting and Workshop in Taipei City, Hintzke, who doubles as president of PPSEAWA International, talked about some of the achievements by the association’s international chapters and her work in promoting awareness of women’s rights.
Hintzke visited PPSEAWA chapters in March and April 2011. Among them, PPSEAWA Thailand made a huge impression on her. “Thai members built schools for children of the trash collectors,” Hintzke recalled. “These children don’t know how to read and write. Their parents would never send them to school because the children have to work, collecting things and sorting the trash. So the members came up with this idea of building the school in the trash places. The children are basically almost at home, but it’s among the trash.
“You don’t have this in Taiwan,” Hintzke said, adding that Taiwanese women have “great education, tremendous self-confidence, which is very noticeable,” and they appear to be “quite independent and sure of themselves.”
In collaboration with the Thai Catholic Women Association, the Thai chapter of PPESAWA is also involved in helping female prisoners make a living on their own after they have served their terms. “The 250 women prisoners, with over 70 percent of them between the ages 18 to 25, were drug dealers and users,” Hintzke pointed out. “The chapter and the religious organization tried to bring comfort to the prisoners and introduced teachers to them so they could learn a trade such as [weaving] baskets. Once they are let out of prison, they would have some kind of trade to go and earn money.”
Similarly, PPSEAWA Indonesia helped women and children in almost the same way as the Thailand branch did, but went a step further because it also taught the children how to make products out of trash, Hintzke said. “One of the PPSEAWA members started schools for the trash collectors. The school not only taught the children how to read and write, but also taught them how to make little things out of trash that they could sell, so they wouldn’t have to spend their lives as trash collectors.”
Setting up schools and educating women and children are not enough to promote the women’s status in society. Hintzke said women must also prove their work abilities and stand up for themselves to ensure their rights are protected, adding that governments also need to set up relevant laws and “listen to voices from NGOs.”
Speaking from her own experience of working with the conference, traditionally considered a male domain, Hintzke said, “Women have to be able to prove they can perform the task. If they’re going into a men’s field, they have to be a little bit better than the men to succeed. It’s not fair, but it’s what it is. They have to have that little edge, little extra to it.
“From my own experience, it’s not easy to conquer the challenges, but they have to have the determination. They have to ignore a lot of things and grow a thick skin, because there will be a lot of resentment from men. They have to think: ‘Well, OK, this is how men feel. I’m not going to take it personally. I’m going to do my job and show them that I can do it.’”
Hintzke further stressed that women have to draw lines and should avoid getting too familiar with male workers, because “once they do that, they’re going to lose their edge, their competition. Whenever they get a promotion, they will always be accused of not getting it on the basis of their abilities.”
Regarding the issue of not getting equal pay as men for the same job, Hintzke said, “Some [of these problems] can be repaired with [action from the] Legislature, but if women are capable, they have to fight their own battle, such as putting pressure on the employers and documenting their cases. Show the boss the law and tell them: This is not according to the law, you’re breaking the law.
“If they fire the woman, she really is in a better position because if she documented her case, she has nothing to lose, and she will have a case against her employers and can take them to court or labor unions,” Hintzke explained.
In the private sector, Hintzke noted that PPSEAWA is also very concerned about violence against women and children. Taking Bibi Aisha, an Afghanistan girl whose nose was cut off after she ran away from her husband’s family, as an example, Hintzke said the case involves cultural influences. “Some countries do have laws that protect women, but these laws are ignored. This is where the U.N. has to be firm and say that the act is a violation of human rights. Women’s rights are human rights. This is one thing we’re working on.
“It is difficult for the people inside that society to do it [respect women’s rights] because they’re so used to [violating] it,” Hintzke said, adding that work is needed “to educate the society that this is not the norm.”
According to Hintzke, it is always a challenge to bring awareness of women’s rights. “This is why when you are at the U.N., you have to get involved in committees. You can’t do it by yourself. It has to be organized groups to bring it in, in a good process of putting it forward, and then, pressure on government agencies,” she stressed. “For instance, there are lots of laws on the books that you have to pressure the government to enact and enforce, saying, ‘Yes, the fact that men and women are equal doesn’t mean anything unless you enact it.’
“Promoting awareness for women’s rights is a continuous thing,” Hintzke said. “Whatever we can, we’re doing it.” (HZW)
Write to Grace Kuo at morningk@mail.gio.gov.tw
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NGO contradicts Jairam's claim, says didn't complain against Mayawati govt
Union Minister Jairam Ramesh's letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati slamming the alleged irregularities in implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) scheme in her state has snowballed into a major controversy. First, Ms Mayawati called the letter "politically motivated", and now, an NGO mentioned by Jairam in his letter has contradicted his claim, saying it never complained against the BSP chief's government.
In the letter written earlier this week, Mr Ramesh accused the Mayawati government of "continuing inaction" in instances of "grave irregularities" in the implementation of the scheme. "I write to you in great anguish regarding the implementation of MG-NREGA in the state of Uttar Pradesh," Mr Ramesh said, adding, "It is true that a network of civil society organizations working through Nari Sanghs has been able to bring about a greater awareness of the rights of MG-NREGA workers. I have myself interacted with one such organization called Vanangana which is active in Chitrakoot and Banda. But the overall feedback that we have so far reveals that the implementation of MG-NREGA in Uttar Pradesh has been far from satisfactory."
But the NGO named by Mr Ramesh has now sought to distance itself from the "political battle" saying it never filed any complaint against the state government for irregularities. Speaking to NDTV, Madhvi Kuckreja, the founder member of Vananagana, said, "It was completely unnecessary for Jairam Ramesh to name a single NGO in his letter to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister."
"It's a waste of time to bring a social organisation into a political battle. We would like to distance ourselves from any demand for a CBI probe. We are doing our work quietly. The scheme should not get caught in a political crossfire like this as it affects the people who it is benefiting,"
In his letter, Mr Ramesh pointed out that as many as 22 reports of National Level Monitors (NLMs), which brought out serious violations of funds, were pending for action from the state government. But the Chief Minister has rejected theses allegations. In a letter written to the Prime Minister on Friday, Ms Mayawati also accused Mr Ramesh of having a pre-conceived agenda and arriving at conclusions without taking cognisance of steps taken by her government.
"The minister, through his letter, attempted to score political points by alleging misuse of funds by the UP. The letter was released to the media much before it was received here confirming the intentions of the minister," she wrote.
"It would be appropriate, if the minister is apprised of the Centre-state fiscal arrangements provided in our Constitution. It is obvious that Ramesh has a pre-conceived agenda and has arrived at the conclusions without taking any cognisance of the steps taken by state government," she added.
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Terror victims’ NGO to publish terrorist database
The Almagor Victims of Terror Association plans to launch an online database of the terrorists with descriptions of their crimes in an effort to prevent future prisoner swaps, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
The head of Almagor, Meir Indor, believes by connecting the names of the terrorists to the specific terror attacks they committed, the public will be less likely to support prisoner swaps in the future.
“We are taking the law into our own hands so that terror victims can get updates on the terrorists who are responsible for specific attacks,” said Indor.
The database, called “Justice for Terror Victims,” will collect information that is available to the public, such as arrests and court transcripts, and compile it in a searchable database.
The Foreign Ministry and some private bloggers have partial lists, but this is the first initiative to have a comprehensive center of information.
More than a dozen volunteers working around the clock in shifts of three have already compiled full entries for 270 terrorists released as part of the Gilad Schalit deal.
It will be uploaded later this week onto the organization’s website, al-magor.com.
The prisoner list released ahead of the Schalit swap by the Prisons Service had dry descriptions for each of those released such as “involvement in unknown terror organization” and “assisted in murder.”
Indor believes that more specific descriptions, such as “the driver who brought the suicide bomber to Sbarro,” will resonate with the public on a deeper level and encourage more of an outcry against future swaps, which was fairly muted in the Schalit deal.
“Personalization works,” said Indor, noting that one reason the Schalit campaign was so successful was that it created an image of Schalit the average Israeli could relate to as a son and a soldier.
He added that the database, which will start with the terrorists released as part of the Schalit swap, will be updated if there are future swaps or if a terrorist is rearrested for committing similar crimes.
Indor said there was an incident during the Schalit affair when the media, using unauthorized lists from Arab media, incorrectly reported the planned release of some terrorists, creating unneeded turmoil for the families of the victims. A centralized database could minimize such occurrences in the future.
“The worst is to sit and not know. Terror victims want to know if their murderer got out or not,” said Indor.
He acknowledged that funds were a serious obstacle for keeping an updated database, or for translating the database into English.
Part of Almagor’s strategy is to inspire public pressure both on the government not to release terrorists, as well as other governments to issue international arrest warrants through Interpol for released terrorists.
Almagor was founded in 1986 as a response to the “Jibril Deal,” when 1,150 terrorists were released in exchange for three soldiers kidnapped during the First Lebanon War.
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Many children go unregistered in West Africa: NGO
Some 66 percent of births still go unregistered in parts of Africa, children’s rights group Plan International said Monday as the world marked the world’s population hitting the seven billion mark.
“Who’s counting the unregistered children in West Africa?” the organisation said in a statement.
Plan warned of the need for children to have their births registered in these countries where populations are doubling every 20 years, and authorities are unable to keep up with the growing demand for schools, health clinics and housing.
“Many children are going without access to quality education and, with no birth registration, they are almost invisible with no access to their basic human rights,” the rights group said in their statement.
According to the United Nations State of the Population 2011 report, the population of Africa will more than triple in the 21st century and is expected to add another billion people to the globe in just 35 years.
Proof of identity is needed to sit national exams at primary school and is a key to prove children’s real age and origin in cases of trafficking and child labor.
“If we want later on to have good citizens in our cities, they must be counted from birth so that their opinion will be taken into account, their voice will be heard and they will be able to make a difference in their society.” said Adama Coulibaly, Plan’s regional director in West Africa.
According to the NGO, in Liberia, only 16 percent of children are registered, in Niger 32 percent.
