Friday, February 25, 2011

Women Make the News 2011


Source: UNESCO
Launched annually on the occasion of International Women’s Day (8 March), Women Make the News (WMN) is a global initiative aimed at promoting gender equality in the media. This year’s theme, Media and Information Literacy (MIL) and Gender, seeks to highlight good practices in this area and emphasize the importance of fostering media and information literate societies as a way to improve the understanding of women and men about gender perspectives in media and information systems.
UNESCO believes that this year’s theme is equally important to national and international media organizations, and to civil society organizations concerned with gender issues. Together with its partners, UNESCO invites such organizations, as well as professional associations, journalists’ unions, women and men working in the media to share their thoughts on how MIL can help women and men understand gender equality and to challenge the media to address this issue.
Are you promoting MIL in your media organization? How are you doing this? Do you think MIL can help to address gender equality? What programmes have you implemented in your countries and communities? What were your challenges? How did you involve the media, women and men? What are the creative ways in which you have used MIL to mainstream gender issues? Through these and other questions, share your experience, good practices and recommendations in considering gender equality, and media and information literacy.
You can submit your contribution to UNESCO by 30 March 2011 via the Women Make the News website using Join the campaign box (top right). It will contribute to inform UNESCO’s decision to support MIL initiatives and will be featured on the website. Editors-in-chief of print and broadcast media are also invited to join this UNESCO initiative by producing special programmes on the topic, and by entrusting women journalists and reporters with editorial responsibility for the newsroom during the WMN campaign.
Participants in the campaign will receive pins bearing the Women Make the News logo. They can further promote the initiative by downloading its banners and logo from the Women Make the News website.

For many years stakeholders globally have focused on the media development to address issues surrounding gender equality and women’s empowerment. MIL is necessary for users of media and information systems and can promote gender responsive media behaviour. Through MIL, audiences (readers, viewers and listeners) are equipped with the necessary competencies to assess the gender sensitive performances of media and information systems, and to participate in them.

In 2009 UNESCO partnered with the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association to produce the Guidelines for Broadcasters on Promoting User-generated Content and Media and Information Literacy, which offer simple and practical suggestions to media organizations and their audiences.

UNESCO intends to promote the inclusion of MIL in formal and non-formal education systems through its Model Media and Information Literacy Curriculum for Teacher Education.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Climate Change Conference 2009


Un artiste met en place la femme obèse avec le symbole national danois «La Petite Sirène» durant le COP15, la conférence climatique.

La sculpture de bronze de trios mètres de haut ’Survival of the fattest’ est mise en place dans l´eau près de la sirène. Installée par l´artiste danois Jens Galschiot. L´érrection de la sculpture est une partie de l´événement d´art SevenMeters.net. En confrontant la gentille sirène irréaliste avec la figurine double-standard Justitia du monde réel, Galschiot veut mettre l´accent sur l´hypocrisie dans le débat sur le climat.

Jusqu´au lendemain de la conférence (COP15) la sculpture restera en place afin de confronter et d´instaurer un dialogue avec les nombreux touristes et participants de la conférence qui passeront par «La Petite Sirène» durant cette période. Cela leur apportera de qoui penser.
La sculpture ’Survival of the Fattest’ représente une figurine Justitia en surpoids, qui est assise sur le dos d´un home africain mince et usé, qui a de l´eau des hanches aux pieds.
C´est le symbole du double standard et du pharisaïsme du monde riche. Avec sa balance dans la main, elle est assise sur le dos de l´homme affamé (Tiers Monde), et en même temps elle fait semblant d´exercer la justice et de faire ce qui est le meilleur pour lui.
L´artiste fait dire à la dame obèse: “Je suis assise sur le dos d´un homme. Il croule sous le fardeau. Je ferais n´importe quoi pour l´aider. Sauf descendre de son dos”. Justitia (déesse occidentale de la justice)
Le Monde Occidental et les danois sont assis comme la Petite Sirène sur un rocher ou come la dame obèse, à une distance de sécurité de la montée des eaux. Nous sommes heureux et sûrs, d´avoir l´économie et les resources nécessaire pour nous prévenir des changements climatiques. Pendant ce temps les états des iles sont balayés par des inondations, tandis que des ouragans, des sécheresses et des famines frappent le reste du monde – notamment l´Afrique et l´Asie.
« Les changements climatiques sont causés par la grande consommation des ressources dans le Monde Occidental. Les changements climatiques peuvent seulement être stoppés si le Monde Occidental commence à investir massivement dans une production d´énergie sans CO2 et dans une production durable. En dépit de ce fait nous ne changerons pas notre manière de vivre et nous ne ferons pas vraiment de différence. Au contraire, tout les gouvernements du Monde Occidental appellant leurs citoyens à commencer une nouvelle orgie de consommation afin de sortir de la crise financière.
Les Nations Unies envisagent 200 millions de réfugiés climatiques dans les 40 prochaines années. Cela va entraîner de grands changements démographiques dans le monde entier, de sorte que de nombreuses sociétés risquent de s´effondrer, incluant des guerres civiles et des instabilités, ce qui causera encore plus de réfugiés et de ce fait encore plus de problèmes sociétaux.Ce cercle vicieux peut seulement être évité en stoppant le réchauffement climatique et en s´organisant massivement pour aider les pays déjà touchés par la crise climatique,” conclut Galschiot.
Evénement d´art SevenMeters (peut être vue du 13 novembre au 19 décembre)
Survival of the Fattest est une partie de SevenMeters.net. Installations d´art par Jens Galschiot qui mettent en lumière la question du climat sous different angles, en coopération avec différents acteurs parmi peoplesclimateaction.dk et Illumenarts.dk. L´accent est mis en particulier sur les conséquences pour les peuples de la Terre et sur le sens des changements démographiques pour nos sociétés.
- Le pouls de la Terre (à la station de métro du Bella Centre, à l´entrée du COP15). La sculpture « le Messager » de 4½ mètres de haut, compte les nouveaux réfugiés climatiques sur un écran, tandis que les fossés sous le métro remplis de sculpture représentant des « enfants affamés » de taille humaine. L´installation entière et l´actuel métro sont éclairés de rouge, par la pulsation de lumières DEL, qui suit le “pouls” géologique de la Terre et qui est longue de plus de 300 mètres.
- ’Freedom to Pollute’ (La Liberté de Polluer) (La grande colline à Amager Fælled). Une copie de la Statue de la Liberté de 6 mètres de haut, qui envoie de la fumée par la torche.
- Les Réfugiés Errant (par le Bella centre) sont 3 sculptures aux visages en cuivre, de 10 mètres de haut, qui représentent des femmes africaines portant de longues robes de couleurs criardes. Elles sont mises en place dans une zone ressemblant à la savane, rappelant les réfugiées soudanaises.
- ‘Survival of the Fattest’ ( La Survie du plus Gros ) (dans l´eau près de la Petite Sirène). La sculpture confronte ‘La Petite Sirène‘ et l´auto-perception danoise avec la déesse de la justice du monde réel.
- ‘Balancing Act’ (au parc du palace Christiansborg et autres lieux) sont 10 statues, chacune en équilibre sur des poteaux de 7 à 15 mètres de haut. Elles ont été faites à l´occasion de la Décennie des Nations Unies pour l'éducation au service du développement durable (DEDD, 2005-2014) en collaboration avec Eco-net.dk.
- La ligne 7 meters à Copenhague (seulement du 6 au 18 décembre) est une visualisation de l´augmentation du niveau des mers de 7 mètres, si toute la glace du Groenland fond. Sur une distance de 24 kilomètres à Copenhague des milliers de lumières clignotantes rouges marquent le nouveau niveau potentiel de l´eau d´une hauteur de 7 mètres.
Le sculpteur Jens Galschiot (DK) est l´initiateur de SevenMeters.net. Galschiot est réputé pour plusieurs manifestations d´art internationales provoquant une réflexion, axées sur des questions mondiales.
Contactez. www.aidoh.dk , tél +45 6618 4058 / +45 4044 7058, aidoh@aidoh.dk
Contacts pour www.SevenMeters.net: Tél +45 6618 4058 / +45 6170 3083, Fax +45 6618 4158, e-mail: mail@SevenMeters.net,
Photos (gratuites) de le dame obèse ( www.SevenMeters.net). www.SevenMeters.net/bigerection, http://SevenMeters.net/links/6/
Videos (gratuites) de la ré-érection. www.aidoh.dk/Up-again, www.osrtv.dk
Contact pour Jens Galschiot, tél. +45 6618 4058, mobile +45 4044 7058
Mail: aidoh@aidoh.dk, info: www.aidoh.dk
Plus d´informations: infos: SevenMeters.net
Photos: http://SevenMeters.net/links/6/ tél. +45 6170 3083 / +45 6618 4058
Documents des photos professionnelles de la mise en place de la Sirène:
Niels Madsen, mobile: 40 215 415, nillermadsen@mail.tele.dk, www.osrtv.dk

Saturday, October 31, 2009

CAMLINK Farmers Club


Partner of producers and consumers of the agricultural sector
By James Achanyi-Fontem
WHO IS CAMLINK?
CAMLINK is a not-for-profit and non governmental organization for empowering the farmers and consumers to bring about a mutually benefiting relationship and to protect their interests and rights. The head office of CAMLINK is in Grand Hangar – Bonaberi, Douala City neighbourhood, Littoral Region of Cameroon.

OBJECTIVE
CAMLINK strives to achieve Millennium Development Goals No. 1, 3, 7 and 8 by researching on the problems faced by farmers and consumers in Cameroon, and seeking durable solutions to overcome the regularly occurring difficulties.

METHOLODY
It uses Joint Community Effort, Information and Communication Technologies (World Wide Web and SMS) to mitigate and eradicate difficulties faced by farmers.

WHAT ARE THE PROBLEMS?

“The Farmers' Plight” is a problem. This is wangled with exploitation from middlemen, illiteracy, hostile climatic conditions, inaccessible farm to market roads, high cost of transportation, pest attacks, lack of transformation machinery, poor farming techniques, ill health, inadequate finance, lack of preservation facilities, insecure and unstable market trends, large price fluctuations and having to deal directly with fewer consumers amongst others.
Women constitute a majority of the farmers in rural areas, where the problems of gender inequalities are very visible in the distribution of gains. CAMLINK Farmer Club believes that the missing piece in the puzzle can be found in information made available to farmers and consumers through the use of Joint Community Effort and the ICT (World Wide Web and SMS).

MISSION
The mission is to connect, coordinate, and inform stakeholders in the agriculture sector (farmers, consumers, civil society, government authorities, etc.) with the use of ICT (World Wide Web and SMS) to seek solutions to food shortages, poverty and gender inequalities.

OUR VISION
CAMLINK Challenges the ideas that underadvantaged people should continually depend on aid packages. It buys the idea of the Chinese proverb, "Give a man fish, and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". It also buys Farm Radio International policy of sharing ideas and finding solutions. CAMLINK seeks to replicate this idea within farming communities. The organization strives to achieve by giving rural peasant farmers simple tools that inform and empower stakeholders in agriculture.
It recognizes that the government has done a lot already and is still willing to do more to help combat “The Farmers' Plight”, and this project aims at giving the government a phase lift by making:
Cameroon a major exporter of farm produce,
Farm produce are regarded with such high esteem as their counterparts in the fashion industry,
Create supermarkets for farm produce,
Eliminate waste in the agricultural sector, etc.
Promote Gender Equality through information, education and communication

PROJECT OUTCOME:

The project outcomes are enormous and exhaustive:
Promote and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) n° 1, 3, 7 and 8
Expand Cameroon's Agricultural Markets
Reduce Scamming in Cameroon and Secure the Markets
Foster price stability in the Markets
Reduce Waste in the agricultural sector
Enforce food safety
Enhance Food Preservation
Educate Farmers
Inform stakeholders
Provide financial Assistance
Producers and Consumers time savings
Foster Just-In-Time Harvesting
Reduce Transportation costs
Foster Exchange of ideas amongst farmers
Enforce Coordination in the Agricultural sector
Encourage local consumption
Provide new employment opportunities
Encourage agricultural Livelihood
Promote efficient use of existing infrastructure
Reduce Rural-Urban migration
Develop a global partnership for development
AGRICULTURAL MARKET INFORMATION SERVICES PROJECT
CAMLINK is a not-for-profit and non governmental organisation working with farmers and consumers for the protection of their rights. The organisation’s objective falls in line with Millennium Development Goals No. 1, 3, 7, 8. CAMLINK researches on the problems faced by farmers and consumers in the rural communities of Cameroon and seek durable solutions together for overcoming regular occurring difficulties. In some parts, seasonal roads make it impossible for agricultural field workers to make frequent trips to monitor farmers' activities, while in other parts it is the hostile climatic and environmental conditions that hinder good yields. The use of ICT is relevant for circulation of frequent alerts on the positive and adverse situations throughout the country at all moments, to up date farmers before, during and after the planting season.
This project is hinged on the premise that the lack of access to immediate information is the reason why farmers and consumers alike fall short of satisfying their quests. African farmers on the one hand strive to increase the continent’s food production and make economic gains for themselves through farming in the expectation that consumers would just “stumble” upon their products “with pockets full of money”. Unfortunately this has not been the case, as farmers work hard and end up either destroying their ecosystem through uninformed farming practices thereby unwittingly destroying their dreams to prosperity on the one hand, and on the other hand depriving consumers “with pockets full of money” the opportunity to avail themselves of these products, stay clear of famine and contribute towards fulfilling the farmers’ quest to economic posterity.
Project Overview
This project is about delivering educative and informative SMS messages to farmers and consumers that would enable them connect directly and do business. It is intended to seek funds and expertise that will enable the team fulfill the wishes of the rural populations within some enclave isolated English speaking communities in Cameroon.
The rural communities in question are dominantly peasant farmers and consumers within localities close to South West and North West region. Information and education on the use of pesticides has been found to be lacking and this is vital for the health of their crops and up grading the soil. These farmers also need information about available markets and consumers demanding their products.
This approach aims at improving their economic situation, reducing the poverty level and promoting responsible farming practices in areas not readily accessible by agricultural field workers.
The strategies and approach applied in CAMLINK has been used in the banking and transport sectors in Cameroon with great success,  and there is no doubt that it will be productive to replicate it. Associating the strategy with existing infrastructures of mobile communication, the simple tools of Information and Communication Technologies would positively affect farmers and consumers as well.
The advent of the internet, websites and satellite technologies though very effective as tools of modern communications  fall out of the range of these actors for two reasons: either farmers and consumers do not know how to exploit them, or that they cannot afford the cost of getting connected and finding the information they need. The proliferation of websites that document information about farm products and consumers therefore does little or nothing to remedy this situation. Therefore, this proposal reposes entirely on SMS messaging to all actors involved because it is more instantaneous than other applications in use.
Outreach Field Research
CAMLINK has already undertaken an intensive field research on in puts. The results point to the need for a Market Information Service for Cameroon’s rural populations with low income earning power. Exchange working sessions have been organized with authorities of the agriculture public sector and leaders of other partner NGOs involved in the collection of useful data to be provided to farmers and consumers.
CAMLINK interviewed the petit traders interested and willing to collaborate once the service becomes operational. These middle men are mostly those who look for market outlets that farmers scout on permanent basis..
Before take off of this service link with farmers, workshops have to be organised to capacitate staff and stakeholders of the project. To lay the foundation, CAMLINK already discussed with experts in mushroom and snail farming. These experts have accepted to share their knowledge with us and farmers during planned workshops. These partners are only waiting the announcement of take off dates for the training.
The data collected so far shows the extent at which CAMLIK Farmers Club project would serve as a potential employer of many school leavers to serve as relay and community education agents at different levels. The out come will be the reduction of rural exodus and the current massive rural-urban migration. 
GENESIS OF CAMLINK Farmers Club Project
It all started with a keen observation of what is happening around us.
Scenario 1 
If you go to the urban towns and cities, where a majority of inhabitants are employed by some industry or state-run corporation, you are likely to see a handful of individuals who practice farming as a hobby. Every week-end, they go behind their houses, and tend after their small gardens of assorted vegetables, etc. In case some pests or fungi attack their farm, they walk down the street to a cybercafé and Google out information about this unusual occurrence that threatens their gardens. Sometimes they receive information that enables them solve the problem .Yet they do not depend on those small gardens behind the house for subsistence. It is just a hobby. So when they receive their salaries, they go to nearby markets to buy food from farmers whose agricultural activities provide food for them all year round. 
Scenario 2
A majority of inhabitants in the rural areas practice agriculture as their only profession to earn a living. Cut off from daily information by bad roads, and the absence of modern tools of communication, they blindly work their way through dense forests, turning them into farmlands, and rely on the whims of nature for a good harvest. A majority of these farmers are ignorant of existing opportunities, lack the knowledge of good planning and do not receive information that enables them contain pest outbreaks. They are not even familiar with sustainable farming methods. Training workshops to boost food production hardly take place in the villages. These peasants invest their energy and money on vast acres of farmland with the expectation that a bountiful harvest will enable them sell their produce to city dwellers, enrich themselves, send their children to school, or pay for a visit to the doctor when they fall sick. When disaster that could have been averted through information strikes their farms, everyone in the family and community is affected directly or indirectly. Children drop out of school; the city dwellers do not receive their regular supplies and suffer through price hikes brought about by food shortages and scarcity. Life becomes difficult for everybody and the stage is set for new idle farmers' families and hungry city dwellers to engage in whatever activity it takes to make provisions for them. 
A Hungry Man is an Angry Man 
 Today it is fishermen turned pirates off the coast of the Indian Ocean. They wreck havoc, take hostages and demand huge ransoms. These criminal acts undermine the authority of their state and destabilize the socio-political institutions. They disrupt the peace and harmony not only of Somali People, as the impact of their lawless pursuits is attracting and having global impact. This is not right. Tomorrow, it might be the farmer anywhere in rural Africa, Asia or Eastern Europe resorting to lawless acts because their once cherished profession no longer yields them the benefits expected. To have hundreds of thousands of disenchanted farmers and consumers taking the easy way to riches through lootings and other criminal acts paints a very grim picture of our world. Yet these hard working men and women would not engage in deviant behaviour if they were not hungry. Yes, angry consumers will not become lawless in these times of economic recession if they received information about sources of abundant food supply that would make them spend less and live better. Farmers or consumers become angry when they can no longer satisfy their basic needs. Something needs to be done about the current situation for us to live in peace.  
VISION OF CAMLINK
CAMLINK Challenges the ideas that under advantaged people should continually depend on aid packages. It buys the idea of the Chinese proverb, "Give a man fish, and you feed him for a day, but teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime". CAMLINK seeks to replicate this idea within farming communities. This, the organisation strives to achieve by giving rural peasant farmers simple tools that inform and empower them. CAMLINK is conscious of the fact that access to internet offers a broad range of opportunities though it is not ignorant about the huge costs involved in procuring these computer jewels that facilitate Information and Communication exchange. It is for this reason that CAMLINK proposes direct instant SMS messaging to the mobile phones of farmers because these are the very tools the farmers themselves possess.
OBJECTIVE
Develop a global partnership for development - Develop an open trading and financial system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory, including a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction-nationally and internationally.
Description
The project team is going to be dealing with people who are advanced in age in most cases and are parents. We need all the subtlety the situation demands as we strive to meet the needs of the different farming communities.
We shall also need to learn public relation techniques that enable people to meet the different stake holders within Government and Civil society in Cameroon.
Sustainability Model
The farmers will subscribe for a token to receive SMS and this shall be used for a start to buy SMS credits to sustain the project. As other farmers and stakeholders get the impact of the initiative, there is no doubt many will respond to the invitation to subscribe to the service and benefit from SMS information and education system. If the project receives small financial support, the information to the farmers will be free of any charge.
Potential obstacles
Obtaining funding for community based projects has been a major obstacle to the expansion of the work of Cameroon Link. Getting the institutions that represent agriculture, trade and industry to cooperate with CAMLINK has also been a challenge. We believe that the recognition and endorsement of our idea as reflective of efforts to eradicate poverty and reduce dependence shall enable the Cameroon government and international funding institutions to give us the needed support.
Project Milestones
There was a field study in Melong, a typical farming community to discuss this project.
CAMLINK acquired SMS credits online to send messages to farmers, and this warmed the hearts of the project team to continue research for sustainability. Now as a team the ambition is to expand the SMS coverage to reach at least 5000 farmers weekly. For this to happen, we need funds to purchase SMS credit and also to create a feedback data base through internet networking. Funds are needed to remain connected by internet permanently. CFA 25.000 is needed every month to remain connected 24/24.
Project Assessment Staff
Agricultural Technicians
These are people with knowledge of farming and agriculture. They will provide the farmers with necessary modern farming techniques and teach them best farming practices. There are quite a number of trained agricultural technicians and CAMLINK only needs to allocate a small allowance to compensate them for service rendered.

Food Processing Engineers and Experts

These are people with knowledge in food processing. They will provide information on effective food handling, processing and conservation methods. They will also carry out quality control of the food put on sale in the markets or for exportation. Quite a good number of trained food and nutrition experts exist in Cameroon and CAMLINK needs only to compensate them for service rendered with the allocation of an allowance.

Software Developers

People in this category will take care of ICT channels and facilities. They will be required to develop Soft wares, websites, etc. to be used by the various operational task force of the CAMLINK Farmers Club Project. Soft ware Developers exist already and CAMLINK needs only an technical allowance to compensate them for service rendered.
Internet Connection
From day one of execution of the CAMLINK project, permanent internet connection at various sites and offices of the project is needed. The internet links will serve to connect sites, villages, towns and cities within Cameroon first and also connect the CAMLINK project to markets in countries abroad. Internet connection will enable web access to the CAMLINK Project website to serve as the main advertising task force of the Project. The importance of a web site presence cannot be over emphasized. To start, funds have to be scouted to get connections operational linking a few key offices of the CAMLINK Project.

Communication Credit

The CAMLINK project will be unable to guarantee that every participant will have net access and computer. But most participants already possess mobile telephone sets. The project therefore takes advantage of this to provide instant messaging service to participants-farmers especially - informing them on possible disaster outbreaks, possible market outlets, buyers/sellers at home and abroad with updates on project activities. CAMLINK is scouting for funds to purchase more appropriate ICT computer servers and communication credit for the computer room in its Douala office.

Digital Cameras
To effectively market the project idea and its produce (farm produce), the project will need digital cameras for uploading samples, adverts, shows, documentary, etc. CAMLINK needs the best cameras and cost effective tools for this service.

Community Offices in Villages, Towns and Cities

For permanent presence and impact, the project needs to set up offices at various sites around the country. To get the peasant farmers more involved, CAMLINK is depending on community farmers’ cooperatives and local radio stations as the focal points in the villages. To enhance this partnership, CAMLINK will assist population during election of their farmers cooperative peer leaders and motivate them with small allowances during training for their installation. This will mean organizing peer education training on the functioning of the system.

Farm Produce Distribution Points in Villages, Towns and Cities

The project will set up distribution points around the country to ease exchange and distribution of produce from the farms in the farmers’ cooperatives. This will facilitate safety and handling. Here is the McDonald idea! If this is the case, we depend on the community, rents, subsidies, and grants to make this possible.

Financial Houses

The project will not need to set up financial houses, but use the farmers’ cooperatives as the Peasant Farmers’ Financial House. This will ease money transfer processes and prepare the farmers for project activities ownership. This will mean selecting members of the community for training on project management and accounting. This system will promote gender and equal opportunities with sharing of tasks between the men and the women. It will encourage peace and unity and consolidate marriages within communities.
The farmers’ cooperative unions or organizations will hold meetings regularly to evaluate progress and farmers can start reducing small loans to expand their activities.

Cybercafés

Consumers have four (4) different ways of placing their orders: Use of internet website, phone calls, Mobile phone SMS and visit at the distribution point. Individuals not using private web access will have to turn to the cybercafés. Cybercafés will be installed in villages with large populations and farm out puts.

Transport Services/Facilities

The project is in need of the services of transporters and transport vehicles to move farmers’ produce from their farms to the cooperatives for those who require this service when the roads are accessible. The produce will later be moved from warehouses to distribution points, from distribution points to consumer homes, from warehouse to warehouse, distribution point to distribution point, warehouse to exportation points. We can make use of the existing cooperative transport system but to avoid regular vehicle break downs and maintenance and delivery problems the project needs vehicles and transport services dedicated for its use alone.

Computers and Accessories
The project will require computers for each office or distribution point to collect data. For the beginning not all points will be computerized. Small holder schemes will be treated manually and processing at the offices and sales points would be centralized. However, computers will greatly facilitate communication and processing of order, requests for supply, registration and book keeping.

Furniture and Equipments
The offices, sales and distribution points will be equipped with furniture. These will include tables, chairs, cupboards, fans, etc. Weighing equipment, balances, loading cranes, trolleys, etc. will be placed in warehouses.

Warehouses around areas of mass production

Warehouses will be located in areas of mass production. These will serve as areas for early preservation and temporal food storage location. Farmers will deposit food items for sale in the ware houses to reduce their transportation problems. The community will provide space for the ware house in each locality as their moral contribution to the project. But the project will construct specialized warehouses where there will be need.

Storage Facilities
Like warehouses and distribution points, the project will construct or rent good storage facilities to handle delicate and perishable food items, without which handling becomes a serious problem.

Initial Funds
For an effective take off of the project activities, funds are needed for community awareness and installation of the initial facilities. For sustainability we require community support, grants, and subsidies including profit derived from the services provided by the project, charity and personal sacrifices.

Legal Advisor
There is a need for a legal advisor to backup the project activities to make sure each phase is guaranteed and covered by law. A lawyer will be hired for rendering legal advice and legal procedures services. The project will make payments for service is rendered by legal advisor.

Administration & Good Governance

The project will employ a good governance administrator to check cheating, stealing, etc. at all levels of the project. The good governance administrator will work in partnership with the required government services for processing transit documents.

Management and Staff

The project will recruit staff based on merit and equal opportunities will be accorded both sexes. Project descriptions will be made public and advertized before selection through tests and interviews.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Maternal and Child Mortality Reduction

Bringing Men on Board to Reduce Maternal and Child Mortality
By Mantoe Phakathi
Swazi men have very little involvement in caring for newborns and mothers, yet they are critical partners in ensuring their well being. "Getting men involved in maternal and child health care is a serious challenge because of cultural dynamics and practices," said Rejoice Nkambule, the health department’s deputy director of public health services. For example, custom prohibits a Swazi man from physical contact with his newborn baby and its mother for a minimum of six months.

A major grant from the Japan Social Development Fund (JDSF) is now trying to change this. In July,2009 the Japanese government awarded Swaziland $2.57 million over three years to improve maternal and child healthcare programmes in the country. The programme, which is expected to start later in 2009, will be chiefly rolled out in the poverty-stricken Lubombo region in the eastern part of the country.
A key part of the grant will be spent on community mobilisation initiatives aimed at getting men involved in caring for the health of their wives and children. Research has shown that lack of male involvement in maternal and child healthcare slows down the mother’s healing process after giving birth and hinders the development of the baby.
According to Zanele Dlamini, director of the Swaziland Infant Nutrition Action Network (SINAN), a non-governmental organisation that promotes maternal and infant health through breastfeeding, mothers need their partners’ assistance after giving birth because they are usually too weak to handle the baby on their own, and many mothers experience mood swings, hormonal imbalances, insecurity and emotional depression after giving birth.
"When the man shows his partner affection, her stress level goes down and, most importantly, the womb heals faster, reducing chances of developing cervical cancer," said Dlamini. She further explained that fathers also benefit from a close relationship with mother and baby. "For instance, when the father massages her when she is breastfeeding, love circulates among the three people, and the baby will have a strong bond with both parents," said Dlamini. She points out that because Swazi men generally do not participate in antenatal or postnatal care, women become vulnerable to pressure from in-laws to follow traditional practices that are often against health workers’ medical advice.
"What we’ve discovered is that, while we promote exclusive breastfeeding for six months, in-laws force mothers to give their babies traditional medicines and food against the doctor’s advice," said Dlamini. "Men fail to give the women support because they are ignorant about maternal and child health issues."
According to Nkambule, lack of male involvement in maternal and child healthcare contributes to the fact that Swaziland has one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world.
The other main reason for the high mortality rate is HIV/AIDS, as 26 percent of the reproductive age group of 15 to 49 years is HIV-positive, she explains.
A 2009 State of the Swaziland Population report estimates maternal mortality at 589 deaths per 100,000 live births, far beyond the World Health Organisation’s target of 146 deaths per 100,000 live births. The report further puts infant mortality at 85 deaths per 1,000 live births. This is a dramatic increase from 1991 maternal mortality rates, which stood at 229 deaths per 100,000 live births, and 1997 child mortality rates of 78 deaths per 1,000 live births.
What further perpetuates the high numbers of maternal and child mortality – in addition to gender roles and HIV - is the lack of well-trained staff and modern equipment at public health institutions.
"Health issues are very dynamic, which is why we need a vigorous training of health personnel and also update our equipment," said Nkambule.
Health experts criticise the Swazi government for failing to fulfil the Abuja Declaration, signed by African leaders in 2001 in Nigeria, which demands countries to allocate 15 percent of their national budgets to health. Swaziland has currently only allocated 11.5 percent. Family Life Association of Swaziland (FLAS) director, Dudu Simelane, noted that many women, especially in rural areas, die during childbirth because of the absence of emergency obstetric care. "Training of nurses and midwives should include the management of (emergencies)," she said.
Simelane hopes the Japanese grant money, which will also be used to increase the capacity and effectiveness of community health workers with regard to maternal and child healthcare, will help to change the situation. A number of mobile clinics will provide family planning, HIV counselling and testing, sexually transmitted infections care and treatment in rural area

Getting Men On Board

Maternal and Child Mortality
By Mantoe Phakathi, Swaziland
Swazi men have very little involvement in caring for newborns and mothers, yet they are critical partners in ensuring their well being. "Getting men involved in maternal and child health care is a serious challenge because of cultural dynamics and practices," said Rejoice Nkambule, the health department’s deputy director of public health services. For example, custom prohibits a Swazi man from physical contact with his newborn baby and its mother for a minimum of six months.
A major grant from the Japan Social Development Fund (JDSF) is now trying to change this. In July,2009 the Japanese government awarded Swaziland $2.57 million over three years to improve maternal and child healthcare programmes in the country. The programme, which is expected to start later in 2009, will be chiefly rolled out in the poverty-stricken Lubombo region in the eastern part of the country.
A key part of the grant will be spent on community mobilisation initiatives aimed at getting men involved in caring for the health of their wives and children. Research has shown that lack of male involvement in maternal and child healthcare slows down the mother’s healing process after giving birth and hinders the development of the baby.
According to Zanele Dlamini, director of the Swaziland Infant Nutrition Action Network (SINAN), a non-governmental organisation that promotes maternal and infant health through breastfeeding, mothers need their partners’ assistance after giving birth because they are usually too weak to handle the baby on their own, and many mothers experience mood swings, hormonal imbalances, insecurity and emotional depression after giving birth.
"When the man shows his partner affection, her stress level goes down and, most importantly, the womb heals faster, reducing chances of developing cervical cancer," said Dlamini. She further explained that fathers also benefit from a close relationship with mother and baby. "For instance, when the father massages her when she is breastfeeding, love circulates among the three people, and the baby will have a strong bond with both parents," said Dlamini. She points out that because Swazi men generally do not participate in antenatal or postnatal care, women become vulnerable to pressure from in-laws to follow traditional practices that are often against health workers’ medical advice.
"What we’ve discovered is that, while we promote exclusive breastfeeding for six months, in-laws force mothers to give their babies traditional medicines and food against the doctor’s advice," said Dlamini. "Men fail to give the women support because they are ignorant about maternal and child health issues."
According to Nkambule, lack of male involvement in maternal and child healthcare contributes to the fact that Swaziland has one of the highest maternal and child mortality rates in the world.
The other main reason for the high mortality rate is HIV/AIDS, as 26 percent of the reproductive age group of 15 to 49 years is HIV-positive, she explains.
A 2009 State of the Swaziland Population report estimates maternal mortality at 589 deaths per 100,000 live births, far beyond the World Health Organisation’s target of 146 deaths per 100,000 live births. The report further puts infant mortality at 85 deaths per 1,000 live births. This is a dramatic increase from 1991 maternal mortality rates, which stood at 229 deaths per 100,000 live births, and 1997 child mortality rates of 78 deaths per 1,000 live births.
What further perpetuates the high numbers of maternal and child mortality – in addition to gender roles and HIV - is the lack of well-trained staff and modern equipment at public health institutions.
"Health issues are very dynamic, which is why we need a vigorous training of health personnel and also update our equipment," said Nkambule.
Health experts criticise the Swazi government for failing to fulfil the Abuja Declaration, signed by African leaders in 2001 in Nigeria, which demands countries to allocate 15 percent of their national budgets to health. Swaziland has currently only allocated 11.5 percent. Family Life Association of Swaziland (FLAS) director, Dudu Simelane, noted that many women, especially in rural areas, die during childbirth because of the absence of emergency obstetric care. "Training of nurses and midwives should include the management of (emergencies)," she said.
Simelane hopes the Japanese grant money, which will also be used to increase the capacity and effectiveness of community health workers with regard to maternal and child healthcare, will help to change the situation. A number of mobile clinics will provide family planning, HIV counselling and testing, sexually transmitted infections care and treatment in rural area

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Breastfeeding with Men’s Involvement



Rationale of Gender & Breastfeeding
By James Achanyi-Fontem, Cameroon Link
Introducing the issue of gender during the training in Delhi, India last July 2009, Renu khanna, talked about the rationale observing that it is increasingly being recognised that a gender perspective on social issues helps refine action strategies to bring about desired results for social change and equity.
The platform for action resulting from the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing(1995) and the programme of action of the International Conference for Population and Development (Cairo 1994) legitimised the concerns of women’s movements world over that a woman’s perspective as well as gender perspective is essential in social sector policies and programmes.
Renu Khanna said, a gender approach takes full account of gender differences and responds appropriately to them in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of services in any sector. As such, the training was designed to help breastfeeding advocates to build strategies on gender and breastfeeding in their respective constituencies.
To better understand issues, it was revealed that gender is not sex and vice versa. Sex refers to the biological differences between men and women, while gender refers to roles (behavioural norms) that men and women play and the relations that arise out of these roles. These roles, it should be noted, are socially constructed, not physically determined.
Gender characteristics are relational, change over time, are institutional, vary with ethnicity, class, culture and so on. Gender sensitisation calls for male responsibilities and participation. It aims at promoting gender equality in all spheres of life, including family and community life, and to encourage and enable men to take responsibility for their sexual and reproductive behaviour and their social and family roles.
The importance of male involvement was further reaffirmed in the platform for action adopted at the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995, because gender issues are not the concern of women alone. Helping men understand hoe gender equality benefits them can help them become key allies in creating a more gender-equitable world.
This means that the achievement of gender equality will not be possible without the active involvement and support of men. Gender sensitisation for men is necessary so that interventions for women and girls are not derailed by male resistance.
It is important to make it clear in this contribution that promoting gender equality is not about granting privileges to women while disempowering men. It is all about creating integrated approaches that benefit all. It is about creating a gender equitable and just world.
The gender gap in many countries are so wide that a vast majority of women are poor, illiterate and suffer ill health and poor nutrition, with inadequate education and poor job opportunities. Their low social and economic status hampers their political participation and decision-making.
Very often, the current patterns of domination and inequality are so deeply embedded in cultures and institutions that we do not recognise them and thereby even accept them as the norm. Good examples are violence against women, giving boys more food than girls in a family, unequal pay for women, child care and housework being women’s responsibilities. Women will be empowered only when they enjoy equal treatment and have access to education, economic resources and enjoy good health.
The enhance men’s awareness, Paul Sinnapen emphasised that men have to be sensitised about the existing gender gaps and help them understand gender roles and their impact on social and economic disparity among women. Change in patriarchal mind set and attitudes of men are crucial in bringing about gender justice.
Addressing participants in Delhi, India as breastfeeding advocates, Sarah Amin, Co-Director of WABA, outlined that for a long time breastfeeding promotion has focused on the child, often to the absence of the mother, the woman. She added that breastfeeding is a symbiotic relationship between the mother and the child, and thus any analysis and response or interventions should take into account both persons involved in the act.
According to Sarah Amin, gender inequalities, including the inequalities in health status and access to and use of health services, not only make women’s lives more difficult, they also often make breastfeeding and other tasks, such as child care and nurturing very challenging. Breastfeeding advocates can better support women to breastfed when they understand the causes of gender inequality and know how to analyse and address such unequal conditions.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

SCANDINAVIAN GENDER ROLES


By Yvonne Bekeny in Finland
Gender equality in the Scandinavian countries is a given and manifest reality in almost all aspects of socio-political and economic life in that part of Europe. Family policies are gender sensitive oriented and parenthood policies are instituted such that gender relations are significant at least on the symbolic level. The extent to which this happens in actual sharing of tasks between mothers and fathers is still a question to be researched? Child rights including the rights to provision and care by both parents have been instituted. Scandinavian policies have undergone changes over the years to ensure fathers opportunities to take care of their families (Eydal, B. 2008). Although the mother is ‘the primary parent…the father can be a visiting care assistant’ (Lammi-Taskula in Ellingsater & Leira, 2006). Transferring part of parental leave is negotiated by the parents with no explicit suggestion to change the status-quo of gender relations. The mother’s primacy in childcare remains unchanged. Norway, Sweden and Iceland, have a more clear-cut orientation in promoting father care and roles sharing between women and men in infant care. Lammi-Taskula states tht ‘Finland and Denmark on the other hand have vague positions in striving for gender equality in promoting father care’ (Lammi-Taskula in Ellingsater & Leira, 2006). Fathers take only a small portion of the whole parental leave period in all Scandinavian countries. Nonetheless, these gender balanced duties seem to be conditioned by socio-economic factors in the countries rather than by policy claims. There is a variation within the countries themselves and within the nature of employees; white-collar, blue-collar, minority, well-educated parents all have different views about sharing of duties equally over childcare. Lammi-Taskula maintains that “for large numbers of Nordic parents, unverified assumptions…about economic consequences of equal sharing of parental leave as well as cultural conceptions of gender and parenthood, especially motherhood, hamper negotiations both in the family and in the work place. Unreflected, unequal gender relations are naturalised and remain unchallenged” (Lammi-Taskalu in Ellingsater 2006).
These observations raise questions of the nature and limits to gender equality that the Scandinavian countries can declare. This idea is even more illustrated in the Norwegian context where parental leave arrangements are usually classified as policies enhancing gender equality. However, parental leave can be ambiguous with regard to gender equality objective, both regarding policy rationale and policy impact (Ellingsater in Ellingsater & Leira 2006). National variations of parental leave arrangements actually reflect different purposes, and generally are geared towards encouraging women to stay at home and promoting gender equality by supporting mother’s employment rather than shared responsibility in childcare. This idea is further substantiated by Boje (2006) who posits that even if mothers in all Scandinavian countries have taken up employment in large numbers, the traditionally gendered pattern of responsibility for child care remains in the large majority of families. In his article, he observes that although Denmark and Sweden seem to have the most equal division of caring responsibilities, even ‘the strong political commitment to equality has not fundamentally changed the gendered division of childcare. ‘Progressive and women friendly policies concerning work and family might modify the prevailing gender order but more profound changes can only be accomplished through comprehensive changes in norms and values concerning gender roles ( Boje in Ellingsater & Leira, 2006). Hence, looking at the above analysis it can be said that the question of gender roles in childcare in the Scandinavia is almost still a myth and in as much as the state would want to achieve gender equality in almost all spheres of life, the issue of gender equality in childcare is still a challenge to these states. Eydal (2008) remarks that if this myth could become a reality pretty soon, the new generation of children born in the family where both parents take care of children, will be the ones to break the vicious cycle of gender inequality.