3,700 people are said to have fled Jau, which lies across the border from Southern Kordofan, since the attacks (AFP/HO Stuart Price)
Over the past week violence in Sudan’s South Kordofan state has escalated. The fighting between Northern government army and rebels from the Nuba Mountains began earlier this month and the UN has accused the Sudanese government of conducting an “intensive bombing campaign” in state, which has led to “huge suffering” for civilians. The African Union says thousands have already been displaced due to the fighting. Both the AU and President Obama have called for an immediate ceasefire. President Obama issued a warning to Sudan’s leaders, singling out the Khartoum government, saying it “must prevent a further escalation of this crisis by ceasing its military actions immediately, including aerial bombardments, forced displacements and campaigns of intimidation.” read more…
Along the road to Huye (Amelia Hight)
By Amelia Hight
Yesterday I had my first trip out of Kigali since arriving here to serve as a program-learning intern for SFCG-Rwanda a month ago. The M&E Coordinator Mugisha and I traveled to the university town of Huye to conduct an interview with a radio journalist at Salus Radio as part of a follow-up to a March journalist training session for our project, Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development Actions.
This is my second time in Rwanda, having spent three months in the country as a research fellow in 2006, and I remember well the road to Huye (which was then called Butare). At that time it was the nicest road in Rwanda and a matter of some pride to most Rwandans. Today, however, given all the newly paved roads in and leading from Kigali to the provinces, the road to Huye is somewhat unremarkable. There has been a good deal of economic development in Rwanda since I was here last, most of it taking place in the capital. In addition to newly surfaced roads, there are new buildings and businesses through Kigali, including western-style coffee shops and even a mall with a large and well stocked grocery store. read more…
Ma’an Network launches first live TV news program with partnership from SFCG
Inside the studio control room at Ma'an Network during a rehearsal for the upcoming live news program
Ma’an Network will broadcast its first live news program tomorrow! The broadcast will be the first of its kind in the Palestinian Territory. The live news program will be broadcast five days a week — Saturday thru Wednesday — beginning at 8:00pm.
Ma’an will broadcast program from their Bethlehem studio and it will be anchored by a team of young female and male journalists.
Ma’an, which means ‘together’ in Arabic, was founded in 2002 as a non-profit media organization, with the aim of strengthening independent Palestinian media. The network serves to build the capacity of Palestinian media and lead the way to developing it as a force for change. Ma’an has news bureaus in Ramallah, Nablus, Gaza and Haifa that are fiber-linked and delivers news in Arabic, English and Hebrew.
Search for Common Ground has been Ma’an’s lead partner, working with the network for the past nine years, helping to develop an independent news network in the Palestinian Territory.
Bahrain sentences 8 activists to life in prison
A Bahraini woman holds a scarf reading "I love my country" as thousands take part in a rally in Sitra (Adam Jan, AFP, Getty Images)
Earlier this month, we presented our interview with Ahlam, a Bahraini activist and former SFCG intern. Ahlam gave us a first-hand account of the recent pro-democracy protests in her country. Although martial law was lifted in early June, the crackdown on protesters continues. Yesterday, the Bahraini government sentenced eight activists to life in prison on charges of plotting to overthrow the monarchy. Three other dissidents were sentenced to jail terms ranging in length from two to fifteen years.
The sentences indicate that the ruling Sunni-Muslim family will not tolerate unrest among the Shia-majority population, which is demanding an end to discrimination. Several of the arrested are respected dissidents and their arrests are likely to spur fresh protests. The sentences came just one week before Bahraini government leaders were expected to meet with Shiite leaders at the urging of the US to end abuses against protesters who were inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. Since the protests began in February, thirty-two people have been killed and hundreds have been arrested.
Those sentenced include Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, Abdul Jalil Singace and Hassan Mushaima, a prominent Shia political leader, who like many Bahrainis, returned home from self-exile after the royal family gave assurances that activists would not be persecuted.
The Bahrain Center for Human Rights issued a statement saying: “When the sentence was read out, Abdulhadi Alkhawaja spoke loudly and said the people will continue their struggle for their rights. He was beaten and removed from court, his family fears for his health as he was already suffering from the fractures on his face.”
President Obama met this month with Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman ibn Hamed Khalifa, who is more moderate than the king, to press for a national dialogue. However, Wednesday’s arrests and the upcoming trials of doctors and nurses who aided wounded protesters indicate that the chances of a successful dialogue are slim.
Peace through Poetry: Rwandan Youth Poetry Slam
The hosts of Urungano speak about the upcoming poetry slam.
To celebrate the International Day of the African Child, SFCG Rwanda is bringing together some of Nyanza District’s most talented young poets for a Youth Poetry Slam Contest. The top 20 youth slam poets will meet on the grounds of the College St. Esprit in Nyanza on Saturday, June 25, 2011 to perform in a final head-to-head competition. Each of the selected poets, ages 14 to 19, will be given a chance to perform their work before a live audience and judged by an esteemed jury of Rwandan artists and radio talents. Prizes will be awarded to the top five contestants.
Poets from seven different secondary schools will be competing to create a 50 line poem promoting the culture of peace among youth. Dozens of submissions have already been judged for this Grand Slam final round by Rwandan poets and educators who will select the poems that best speak to the theme of youth-lead peace movements. SFCG is promoting a diverse group of Rwandan youth in Nyanza to express themselves through poetry with their contest, Imbaraga z’urubyiruko ni inkingi y’amahoro (Together Young People are a Force for Peace). We hope this festival will encourage students in secondary school to work together to bring about peace in their own communities. By promoting peaceful personal expression Rwandan youth can then work for peaceful collaboration with others.
The event will be covered by SFCG’s popular radio program Urungano which is the first youth radio program in Rwanda hosted entirely by girls under the age of 18. Designed to ensure that girls get their fair share of time on air, the team represents the diversity of youth in the capital, with a range of backgrounds and life experiences.
Urungano is broadcast on both Kigali’s Contact FM and Radio Salus in Butare on Saturdays at 5pm (GMT+2), and can be heard online at the same time on: www.contactfm.rw.
We’ll be following up with highlights from the event next week!
Are you part of positive change in the Arab world? Share your story!
A photo from the 1001 Stories of Common Ground contest showing Lebanese children overcoming sectarianism through football (Rasmus B. Larsen)
By Laurna Strikwerda— Program Coordinator, Partners in Humanity
What do you think of when you hear “Arab world” or “Middle East and North Africa”? All too often, the first images that come to mind are “politicians gathering to talk about the economy, employment rates or education; or an analyst breaking down headline news stories,” writes Lulua Asaad in an article for the Common Ground News Service. But there are many other images and stories that are part of this region – maybe even 1001 of them. It was for this reason that Search for Common Ground recently launched a new website, 1001 Stories of Common Ground, designed for individuals in the Middle East and North Africa to highlight stories of positive change through writings, photos and videos. “These stories,” continues Asaad, “deserve to be heard and can serve as a powerful reality check, dispelling popular stereotypes about a country, a culture or a religion.” read more…
