Our weekly roundup of must-read stories you might have missed. In focus this week: Enough Project hosted an advocacy, media, and development training in Washington, D.C., Reporters Without Borders sends an open letter to the authorities in Tunisia, International Women’s Day commemoration in New York, and Kenya‘s election results.
Sudan Activists, Diaspora Team Up for Advocacy Training – March 05, 2013
With a newly confirmed U.S. secretary of state in place, the anticipation that the Obama administration will name a new Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan in the coming weeks, and an international campaign underway to highlight the 10th anniversary of the start of the Darfur conflict, activist voices will play an increasingly important role in the coming months to set the priorities of the U.S. government and international actors related to Sudan. In early February, Enough hosted an advocacy, media, and development training in Washington, D.C., in coordination with Voices for Sudan, a network of U.S. diaspora representing marginalized regions of Sudan and South Sudan. The workshop sessions focused on providing the participants with the skills and tools to become more effective advocates for peace in Sudan. Enough Project staff members were joined by Paulette Lee, a media consultant, and a representative from Humanity United to focus on principles of fundraising and development…
Death threats and attacks on freedom of expression intensify in Tunisia – March 6, 2013
The following is an open letter to the authorities in Tunisia, initiated by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA), Norwegian PEN, PEN International WiPC and Index on Censorship and signed by 20 other IFEX members: ‘Death threats, physical attacks, an emergence of hate speech and accusations of official censorship of critical media have escalated the perilous situation for freedom of expression in Tunisia. As the political crisis deepens following the assassination of outspoken left-wing political leader Chokri Belaïd, and the resignation on Tuesday 26 February of Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, attacks against journalists and writers have intensified. The undersigned members of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) call on the Tunisian government to condemn such attacks, guarantee the safety of journalists, writers and media workers reporting on the on-going crisis, and implement legislation available to them that better protects freedom of expression…’
“A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women” – March 8, 2013
At the International Women’s Day commemoration at the United Nations in New York today, UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet made a rallying call to the international community to move forward on gender equality and women’s rights. At the packed event “A promise is a promise: Time for action to end violence against women” organized under the umbrella of the UNiTE Campaign, and attended by the UN Secretary- General Ban Ki- moon, H.E. Mr. Gérard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the UN, Member States, representatives of civil society and the private sector, Ms. Bachelet highlighted the progress that has been made in the last century but called for more robust action and commitments to ensure the protection of the rights of women and girls to live in dignity, free of violence and discrimination…
Zimbabwe: What Kenyatta’s Win Might Mean to Zimbabweans – March 9, 2013
‘An election in Kenya – thousands of miles away – would ordinarily not concern Zimbabweans. But in March 2013, our blogger finds just the opposite to be true. As I pen this piece, Kenya’s election results are trickling in, with growing indications that Prime Minister Raila Odinga will be defeated by its deputy prime minister, Uhuru Kenyatta. This is sad news to many Zimbabweans who oppose President Robert Mugabe’s iron-fisted rule and who, by extension, dreamt of an Odinga victory. Why is that? A win by Odinga might have been viewed by Zimbabweans as an example of the kind of political trajectory that we might follow when our elections take place later this year. Many Zimbabweans view our prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, as the legitimate winner of the 2008 presidential election that saw Mugabe, his main opponent, manipulate the poll to stay in power. Mugabe lost the first round of the Zimbabwean poll, but bounced back in a very violent run-off poll three months later. In Kenya, Odinga was widely viewed as winner of the 2007 poll, but was denied his chance to rule by the incumbent Mwai Kibaki…’
