NGOs – we & others

2006-04-02: SACEDA YOUTH LEAD ASIA PACIFIC LEADERSHIP;
2006-04-03: Good-to-great nonprofit leadership;
2006-04-04: Human Rights Defenders Project – Bangladesh;
2006-04-06: Business Women Association BWA -Uzbekistan;
2006-04-06: Microfinance in Uzbekistan;
2006-04-09: Womens International League for Peace and Freedom;
2006-04-10: PROGYNIST;
2006-04-11: Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development APWLD – Malaysia;
2006-04-12: DEPDC – Thailand;
2006-04-13: Global Connections;
2006-04-15: The Development Gateway Communities;
2006-04-16: The MEMRI TV Monitor Project;
2006-04-17: The Communication Initiative Aïna – Afghanistan;
2006-04-18: The Pacific Institute in California;
2006-04-19: Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg;
2006-04-21: Hunger strikers at the University of Miami;
2006-04-21: The Andalus Publishing House;
2006-04-22: The ‘Pastoral’ of the Child / Pastoral da Criança – Brazil;
2006-04-23: Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society;
2006-04-24: The Virtual & Global Social Democratic Party;
2006-04-25: The Rural Agency for Social & and Technological Advancement RASTA – India;
2006-04-26: Youth Express Network;
2006-04-26: Rights Action.org;
2006-04-27: NGO Support Toolkit CD-ROM ;
2006-04-29: Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship;
2006-04-30: Transparency International Switzerland.

An anonymous hotline for white-collar “whistleblowers” is being set up by Transparency International Switzerland, an anti-corruption organisation. The move comes a week after the Swiss Senate demanded better protection for whistleblowers against unfair dismissal and other forms of discrimination. The hotline had taken its first calls on Wednesday (March 03, 2006) and will advise whistleblowers on what action to take.

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Linked with our presentation of Faith Bandler – Australia.

The Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship, and the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI), were both formed in 1957.

As general secretary of FCAATSI,Faith Bandler led the campaign for a constitutional referendum to remove discriminatory provisions from the Constitution of Australia. The campaign, which included several massive petitions and hundreds of public meetings arranged by Bandler, resulted in the 1967 referendum being put to the people by the Holt government.

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Full of practical information, tools and guidance, this toolkit covers a range of subject areas about supporting NGOs and CBOs working in HIV/AIDS. More than 500 resources have been collated and updated from different organisations, with detailed guidance and suggestions based on the experiences of the Alliance. This CD-ROM brings together resources for people who are establishing, managing or studying support programmes or systems for supporting NGOs and CBOs. While the toolkit is primarily designed for programmes that aim to deliver both funding and technical support to local NGOs and CBOs, many of its resources will also be of interest to organisations that provide only funding or only training. (Read the rest on this site).

Order here the CD.

link:

‘Who we are‘;

Alliance NGO support net.

They say about themselves: Rights Action (tax-charitable, non-profit organization in USA and Canada) funds community-controlled development, environmental, human rights and emergency projects in the global south, particularly Guatemala, Chiapas (Mexico), Honduras and Haiti. We do education and activism work with North Americans and help form north-south alliances to address and remedy global exploitation, repression, enviro-destruction and racism.

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International Events: exchange of good practice in youth work between Europe and Africa, the Caribbean, Pacific (ACP), Asia, Latin America – This Call aims at supporting projects which promote an exchange of experience and good practice in the field of youth between the European Union, candidate countries and EFTA/EEA on the one hand, and countries of Africa, the Caribbean, Pacific (ACP), Asia and Latin America on the other hand.

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Linked to our presentation of Thakaraprambil Kochukuttan Omana – India.

From the arid land of Rajasthan to the hilly and forested climes of Wayanad. So varied has been the fields that T. K Omana has covered in her nearly three decades of activities as a social worker.

Omana who is among the 92 women from India nominated for the Nobel peace prize for 2005, is a full-time social worker and Director of the Rural Agency for Social and Technological Advancement (Rasta), in Wayanad.

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The Virtual & Global Social Democratic Party – Worldwide Political Exchange & Education Project (See here their website).

You’ll find there:

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Linked with our presentation of Ibn Warraq – another Muslim with a Fatwa, also with When Ibn Warraq met Edward Said, and linked with our presentation of Statement by IBN WARRAQ on the World Trade Center Atrocity.

The Institute for the Secularisation of the Islamic Society, ISIS Publishes on its Homepage:

Our Mission: We believe that Islamic society has been held back by an unwillingness to subject its beliefs, laws and practices to critical examination, by a lack of respect for the rights of the individual, and by an unwillingness to tolerate alternative viewpoints or to engage in constructive dialogue.

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Linked with our presentation of Zilda Arns Neumann – Brazil.

And linked with our presentation on Improving Children’s Environmental Health.

The Pastoral da Criança is regarded as one of the most important community organizations all over the world working with health, nutrition, and children education, since antenatal and to six years of age. It also works stopping preventing violence in the family environment, where the participation of families and communities is a requirement.

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Linked with our presentation of Yael Lerer – Israel.

And linked with our presentation on The Word in Times of Crisis.

Homepage of the editor, publishing Arabic literature, translated in Hebrew:

Bridging over the Conflict … by Hannah Amit-Kochavi, she writes: Arabic literature has been translated into Hebrew by Jews, Arabs and Druze for over a century. However, Hebrew target culture, which has always welcomed translations from a variety of foreign languages that enriched it and provided models for its development, has assigned Arabic literature a minor position. This is mainly due to political circumstances – the ongoing century-old conflict between Jews and Arabs as well as between Israel and several Arab countries has been but partially resolved through peace contracts. Arabs and their culture have been perceived by Western-oriented Israeli culture as either arch-enemies or as abstract figures representing attractive oriental images and even as the Biblical forefathers of the Jewish people. Arabic language and culture are little known to most Israeli Jews, with the exception of those many Israeli Jews who are natives of such Arab countries as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Yemen and those relatively few who have studied Arabic at the high school and university level.

Translations from Arabic into Hebrew, then, have been relatively few and they have failed to exert any long term influence on Israeli Hebrew literature and culture. And yet, since the advent of Zionism and up to the present, there have been attempts by Jewish individuals and groups to reconcile Jews and Arabs and in the process mastered and cherished the Arabic language and culture. Translations of Arabic literature into Hebrew have been incessantly made, disseminated and used in an attempt to bring about Jewish-Arab mutual understanding and coexistence in the naive belief that literary translation could help bring about peace between Jews and Arabs on an individual basis as well as between Israel and the Arab neighboring countries. (Read the rest ofthis long article here).

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Please go to Labourstart

(http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=87)

and read their demand for help.

Linked with our presentation of Ella-Maria Polyakova – Russian Federation.

Its Goal: to provide practical assistance to recruits, soldiers and their families in protecting their legal rights.Information and legal help to recruits and their parents.

Presentation: “Soldier’s Mothers of Saint-Petersburg” is human rights and non-governmental organization protecting the rights of the conscripts, soldiers of the active army and their families. The situation in the russian army is serious and important problem which is symbolizes the state of affairs in modern Russia. Our organization is engaged in educational and legal work. We teach to protect the right to the life, to the health and to the self-respect by themselves. The mission of the organization is formation of the legal culture, relations governed by law. But first of all it is alteration of the human mind, as only people having the new recognition, could make Russia the democratic state.

The NGO is member of Pax Christi International.

The „Civil Rights Organisation Soldatskiye Matieri Sankt-Pietierburga / in english Soldiers’ Mothers of St. Petersburg“, founded in 1991, has been awarded the Aachen Peace Award 2004 for its courageous actions and efforts for more than 100,000 Russian conscientious objectors and deserters, as well as for its resistance against the dirty war in Chechnya.

The organisation of St. Petersburg has so far provided legal advice to more than 150,000 individuals. Thanks to the aid provided by the organisation, more than 100,000 conscripts were able to assert their legally chartered right not to do any military service, and thanks to the support provided by the organisation, more than 5,000 deserters were prematurely dismissed from the army.

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Linked with our presentation of Jason Morrison – USA.

And linked with our presentation of Economic Globalization and the Environment.

The Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Economic Globalisation studies the effects of the increasingly integrated global economy on the environment and society.

The explosive growth of the global economy threatens the natural systems that sustain life on Earth. Despite some significant successes in reducing industrial pollution and increasing efficiency, globalization is devastating natural habitats, speeding global warming, and increasing air and water pollution. At the same time, due to the increasingly global nature of trade and business, traditional national environmental protection techniques have become less effective.

The Economic Globalization and the Environment (EGE) Program studies the local, national, and international impacts of globalization while developing solutions to support healthy economic growth, protect the environment, and create a more equitable world. (Read more on Pacific Institute).

The International NGO Network on ISO (INNI) is a project of the Pacific Institute’s Economic Globalization and the Environment (EGE) program and has its own website. The INNI website provides timely information on the activities of ISO to network organizations so that they can activate their members, provide guidance to decision-makers, and shape public opinion. (See on International NGO Network on ISO).

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AINA = Education, training and information for the development of independent media and cultural expression in Afghanistan.

AINAworld.org was founded on August 2, 2001 by renowned photojournalist Reza. The non-governmental organization Aïna is working to build and develop a thriving civil society through independent media and culture projects.

Over the last three years, within the emerging democratic process and the reconstruction of a national identity in Afghanistan, Aïna has developed far-reaching projects throughout the country: 8 media and culture centers in eight provinces that provide support for the leading news publications of the country as well as video production and training; the first educational mobile cinema; the first Afghan school of photojournalism, Afghanistan’s first women’s radio station; and the first Afghan advertising and communications agency.

To reach our objectives, Aïna brings together a dedicated team of volunteers, media professionals and Afghans, of whom one third are women and a large number are experienced journalists. The training offered by Aïna has thus far benefited nearly 1000 journalists and students. Through our supported publications, over 400 000 readers have been exposed to Aina’s work. Close to one million spectators have taken part in Aïna’s film screenings, and over 3 million listeners have tuned in to Aïna’s radio programs.

Aïna offers specialized audiovisual training to women in Afghanistan (filming, photography, journalism, etc.), encouraging women to speak out, and keeping them informed through national information campaigns about important issues such as health, labour rights and the democratic process to name a few.

Aïna also places an emphasis on children’s education through its bi-monthly magazine Parvaz. This publication acts as a window to the world for Afghan children, teaching diversity and cooperation to those who will become the next generation of Afghan leaders.

Aina is providing the tools of freedom through a Multimedia Training Institute, and offering Afghans access to the latest in technology and multimedia equipment.

The Communication Initiative – Experiences – Aïna – Afghanistan – Summary:

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Linked with our presentation of One of many Muslim Voices.

First of all: I do not agree with all the speaches shown on MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute TV Monitor Project website. More, there are presentations for me out of any understanding. During the Middle Age we Christians believed that Jewish are eating our babies, today’s Muslim beliefs of our western world are not so hard, but still strange in some way.

But here you have a good place to follow Muslim Voices speaking out what they really think. Some are progressist, even very courageous, many others are not. For any possible dialogue we could have, let’s read and listen to what our Muslim Fellows are telling … speaches coming out of a strange world I was not able to imagine before I had listened to it (Heidi).

The peoples of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) write about themselves: we explore the Middle East through the region’s media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the West and the Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic and Farsi media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East. Founded in February 1998 to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East, MEMRI is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501 (c)3 organization. MEMRI’s headquarters is located in Washington, DC with branch offices in Berlin, London, Jerusalem, and Baghdad, and has a project active in Sweden. MEMRI research is translated to English, German, Hebrew, Italian, French, Spanish, and occasionally Turkish and Russian.

The MEMRI TV Monitor Project: MEMRI’s TV monitoring center operates 16 hours per day, overseeing every major Arab channel. The center has the in-house capability to translate, subtitle and distribute the segments from Arab TV in real time to Western news channels across the world, effectively “Bridging the Language Gap Between the Middle East and the West.”

MEMRI’s TV monitoring center focuses on political, cultural, religious, and other developments and debates in the Arab and Muslim world and in Iran.

To search any text or speach, go to http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S2.

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They say about themselves: The Development Gateway puts the Internet to work for developing countries. We provide innovative Internet solutions for effective aid and e-government – increasing access to critical information, building local capacity and bringing partners together for positive change.

More than one billion people worldwide now use the Internet. Half of these people are in developing countries and we expect their number to triple in the next five years. So the Internet is no longer just a tool for the rich. It is enabling unprecedented interaction within and across borders in developing regions, unleashing productivity and facilitating new solutions to old problems. The Development Gateway is helping capture this momentum to ensure that the benefits extend to as many people as possible.

They started a discussion about ‘What Events Will Make the Most Difference in Changing the Aid Industry?’ – Almost everyone–from aid donors to recipients–seems to agree that changes are needed in delivering overseas development assistance to make it more effective in reducing poverty. What events of the next year might make the most difference in making the system more effective? Please add your comments in the box on the right. Thanks for participating in this important discussion.

The Newsletter about Foundraising of the Resource Alliance. To suscribe go here.

Issue 22 just came out.

Linked with our presentation of Sompop Jantraka – Thailand.

Project: Development and Education Program for Daughters & Community Center DEPDC.

Location: Mae Sai,Thailand and Mekong sub-region (including Laos, Burma and the Yunnan Province of China). Across Asia, tens of thousands of children are being sold into prostitution or hard labor.

Sompop Jantraka has put his life on the line to save young women sold into prostitution by poor farming families. He is also proving that these women can be far more valuable to Thailand as educated members of the work force than as sex slaves.

Jantraka offers the poor families of young women between the ages of 8 and 18 (who are often desperate for income and easily deceived by brothel owners) an alternative to sending their daughters into prostitution by providing the girls with education, job training and employment assistance. Eight different projects focus on children at risk, children’s rights, child sexual abuse and forced labor.

Since 1989 when he founded the Daughters Education Program, Jantraka’s work has directly affected more than 1,000 children. Starting with an initial group of 19 students, the program is now supporting more than 360 girls and boys.

Jantraka considers education and training the keys to allow these girls to find alternative employment, improve their communities and reach their full potential.

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Linked with our presentatio of Irene Fernandez – Malaysia.

Linked also with our presentation of Petition of Complaint to the National Human Rights Commission SUHAKAM.

The Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and Development APWLD is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit organization. It is committed to enabling women to use law as an instrument of social change for equality, justice and development. It has a consultative status at the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC).

Objectives: To enable women in the region to use law as an instrument of change for the empowerment of women in their struggle for justice, peace, equality and development. To promote basic concepts of human rights in the region as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discriminations Against Women (CEDAW) and other relevant international human rights instruments.

We of APWLD believe that the concept of law includes the legal system as well as the customary practices. Law plays a critical role as it can promote or inhibit women’s access to resources as well as their participation in development processes. Legally sanctioned hierarchical gender structures, production modes and socio-cultural relations need to be seriously addressed by all stakeholders. New social structures require new legal instruments. Knowledge of the law, legal processes and one’s rights is a process of empowerment. (Read more on this page).

See also Network & Links.

linked with our presentation of Netsanet Mengistu – Ethiopia.

And linked with our presentation of towards helping women to fulfill their responsibilities.

PROGYNIST, Women Empowerment Indigenous NGO:

Mission: PROGYNIST is an indigenous non political, non religious and not-for- profit NGO established to promote the welfare and contribution of Ethiopian women to the political, socio-economic and environmental development and management of their country.

PROGYNIST believes that empowering women is strengthening civil society and acknowledging its role in sustainable development.

To ensure such sustainability, PROGYNIST focuses on projects uplifting women’s economic status by employing gender-fair and environment friendly technology.

Fields of Intervention:

Assisting women to gain access to credit, Business Development facilities, and other institutional support mechanisms through Meklit Micro Finance Institution (the establishment was initiated by Progynist for this purpose)

Conducting non-formal education on a variety of syllabus for women and access to primary education for children who could not get the opportunity to go to school.

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First of all: Please read the 2006 May 24 Action Pack.

Linked with our presentations of Annelise Ebbe, and of War on Iraq,

The Programme of the WILPF, Womens International League for Peace and Freedom, is Economic and Social Justice, Respect for the Environment – and the Foundation of Peace.

WILPF PROGRAM AND PLAN OF ACTION 2004 -2007

Building a Culture of Peace: The heart of WILPF’s work from its founding almost 90 years ago to the present is to study and make known the roots of conflicts and wars and to strive for their eradication. It is to help build a society without war, one in which there will be economic and social justice, respect of all human rights of women, men, children and the rights of every living thing; a society in which every person participates fully in decision-making. Our task is to help construct this necessary foundation upon which a durable peace can be achieved.

We remain united in achieving that goal in spite of the turbulent times history has brought us through and today challenges us in unprecedented ways. We are challenged by the violence in our societies and the increasing number and the intensity of national and regional conflicts in all parts of the world. We are challenged by the erosion of human values that gave birth to the United Nations Charter and to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international standards and laws. We are challenged by the marginalization of the United Nations and the return to unilateralism where a powerful state and a few allies impose their economic and political doctrines and military rule on others, by force if needed. We are challenged by the powerful transnational corporations’ control of resources and the economic and social policies of nations to amass profits for their shareholders at the cost of meeting citizens’ needs. We are challenged by the dangers the new weaponry and military strategies represent to all humanity and the environment.

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Linked with our presentation Sakhibakhon Irgasheva – Uzbekistan.

UNDP efforts on developing microfinance in Uzbekistan: UNDP efforts on developing microfinance in Uzbekistan
The United Nations proclaimed 2005 the International Year of Microcredit. The year offers to scale up efforts for making financial services more accessible to poor and low-income people. It will aim to raise public awareness about microcredit and microfinance, and promote innovative partnerships among governments, donors, international organizations, non-governmental organizations the private sector, academia, and microfinance clients.

UNDP, as one of the important development programs in the world actively involved in supporting successful achieving goals of International year of microcredit.

UNDP Uzbekistan has developed a national participation Strategy and action plan for the Year of Microcredit. The strategy includes conducting number of events and activities aimed at strengthening capacity of government of Uzbekistan in building sustainable microfinance sector.

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Linked with our presentation of Sakhibakhon Irgasheva – Uzbekistan.

Women Economic Empowerment – Presentation of the partners: The Business Women Association (BWA) of Uzbekistan is one of the first Non-Governmental Organizations in Uzbekistan which was founded in 1991 by 12 women entrepreneurs that had their own business activity.

During the first years of its activity, BWA faced a lot of problems, such as the lack of understanding of what a non-governmental organization is and the negative attitude towards entrepreneurship. In 1991-1992 there were absolutely no woman organizations where women could address their problems and ideas. That was a very complicated instable time (transition period, USSR collapse, all economic links broke-up, industry development problems, etc.). All those problems had an impact mostly on women. They were fired in case of staff reduction. BWA felt that women needed assistance and it had to undertake some measures.

Thus, BWA started providing vocational education towards women entrepreneurs, with its own resources. Women were taught the basics of market economy, marketing, accounting and taxation. There was no other place, where women could learn about these topics, since in the former USSR there was no knowledge about private entrepreneurship. For three years BWA used only its own resources to train women on entrepreneurship. BWA’s Chairperson published her first book “Learning to pay taxes”.

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Linked with our presentation of Probir Sikdar – Bangladesh.

Despite pledges by authorities to uphold the freedom of the press, journalists are frequently targets of attacks, intimidation and harassment. Dozens of journalists have been assaulted with impunity either by the police when covering demonstrations or by armed gangs affiliated to various political parties. In addition, several journalists have been arrested and accused of a range of politically motivated charges including sedition. They have been taken into custody for weeks or sometimes months and many of them have been tortured or ill-treated whilst being held.

Amnesty International has started the Human Rights Defenders Project aiming to increase protection and seeking justice for Human Rights Defenders (HRDs) in Bangladesh. The twelve month project hopes to initiate systemic change in the treatment of violence against Human Rights Defenders and public appeals will be a mechanism to help this process by raising international scrutiny and making the Government of Bangladesh more accountable to ensuring justice for these abuses. We will keep updating the project monthly, so stay tuned. Below is the case of Tipu Sultan and AI’s recommendations. Take Action Now to ensure his safety! (To read more, especially on the cases, go to this page of Amnesty International).

‘Legislative’ leadership distinguishes nonprofits from businesses, author says.

March 8, 2006

Nonprofits operate differently from businesses and so must be led differently, says Jim Collins, author of “Good to Great”.

An interview with Collins in the February issue of Bridgestar’s “Leadership Matters” publication focused on his recently-published booklet, “Good to Great and the Social Sectors.”

The booklet discusses distinctions between the types of leadership needed in the business and social sectors.

While businesses have more “executive” leadership, with decision-making power held by one or a few individuals, the social sector has “legislative” leadership, Collins says.

“In the social sectors, composed of a much more complicated governance and power structure,” he says, “rarely do we find a single individual…with enough concentrated power to make the big decisions by himself or herself.”

He says nonprofit leaders must use tools such as language, coalitions and persuasion to cultivate conditions for the right decisions to happen.

A factor the business and social sectors share, he says, is the importance of collaboration and the resulting development of discipline among leaders.

In both types of organizations, “under the right conditions and with the right mechanisms,” he says, “collaboration increases discipline, as you will be held accountable for high standards by your peers and colleagues.”

While businesses can easily measure their success in terms of profit, nonprofits must measure their success using other standards, Collins says.

He says nonprofits might measure success in terms of time donated by volunteers or board members, sustained cash flow, and the organization’s ability to cultivate emotional good will and shared ideas among supporters.

Collins also says nonprofits should be able to identify strong individuals as potential leaders and study leaders of successful nonprofits to better understand what it takes to be led well in the social sectors.
(Read more on Philanthropy Journal).

On April 19-29, 2006 in the Philippines – Mabuhay! My name is Dave G. Saceda, Chair and Founder of the Saceda Youth Lead, A Youth Serving Institution of the Philippines under the auspices of the National Youth Commission of the Philippines. Saceda Youth Lead, registered as a foundation under the Securities Exchange Commission, member of the Philippine Society for Training and Development, awaiting consultative status with the United Nations and awarded as 2004 Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations of the Philippines for Visayas, builds leadership through education and action.

It continues empowering elementary, high school and college students and even professionals to become most effective citizens of my country by providing them opportunities in leadership, community service and exchange. I am purposely writing to ask for your solidarity and support. May I invite outstanding youth of your community (youth ranging from 10-25 years old) to come to the Philippines to participate in the 2006 Asia Pacific Summer Leadership Camp which will be held on April 19-29, 2006 at Avila Kiosk, Balugo, Dumaguete City, Philippines.

Here, delegates will have fun discovering their own leadership talents. They meet, question and interact
with outstanding leaders in business, education, government and the professions. This is a way of putting Asia Pacific region forward with the help of our regional brothers and sisters. It is essential that we look into our neighbors for mutual understanding and peace, and it is just well that our young people will start forging strong relations and friendships as we go through many challenges under One People, One Geographical Division of the World- the Asians

Registration fee is P4,000 per participant includes food and accommodation, uniforms, seminar kits, Island Escapade, and other related expense. Domestic tickets from your place to the Summer Camp 2006 venue and back shall be borne by the participants.

Please take note that there will be a cultural presentation. Kindly inform your delegates to bring national costumes, brochure and souvenir items for exchange. This is a camp, and everyone will be sleeping on tents. Your representation will truly mean a lot to the future of our young people and our nations. Attached is the official program of the Summer Camp 2006. I truly hope that you will be able to send delegates to the program.

I am looking forward to your most favorable response. Thank you very much. Very truly yours, Dave G. Saceda, Chair, Saceda Youth Lead. (Read more about this event on this site).