Eastern Africa

UNICEF: The tragedy of Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak

Priscila Néri — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:59:24 -0800

HARARE, Zimbabwe, 19 December 2008 Deep grief is evident in Nigel Chigudu's eyes. In a tortured voice, he slowly recounts the harrowing tragedy that saw him lose five siblings in five hours to the cholera epidemic that has been sweeping across Zimbabwe.

Rwanda: Genocide Mastermind Sentenced to Life in Jail

Priscila Néri — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:54:53 -0800

After six years of trial, the UN-backed International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has just sentenced Colonel Theoneste Bagosora - a former senior official of the Ministry of Defense - to life in prison for instigating and commanding the slaughter of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus in the 1994 Rwandan genocide (BBC video here).

UDHR60: Mary Robinson

Sameer Padania — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:35:03 -0800

Mary Robinson answers our question, "What image opened your eyes to human rights?" by remembering observing her father at work as a doctor, and images sent by an aunt working abroad. More recently, she recalls images of suffering and injustice that lie "just a few inches below [her] consciousness" from her time as President of Ireland, and as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Mary Robinson is a member of The Elders, and is Founder of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalisation Initiative.

UDHR 60th Anniversary: Febi Yonesta (Mayong)

Ryan Schlief — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:49:59 -0800

For 16 years, WITNESS has harnessed the power of video to advance human rights. In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10th, we're asking our friends and partners to answer the following question:

What image opened your eyes to human rights? Was it an image or video that gave you hope, or did it show you how much further we needed to go and inspire you to take action?

Deepening Drought and Humanitarian Emergency in Buhodle region somalia

camel — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:48:28 -0800

Deepening Drought and Humanitarian Emergency in Buhodle region somalia

Uganda - Child Soldiers story

libby.penn@gmail.com — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:30:33 -0800

Janet's Story - Janet was abducted into the Lords Resistance Army when she was nine years old where she was forced to marry a commander 20 years her senior. Now in her twenties this is an extract of her story of what happened to her and where she is now.

Global Grassroots

GlobalGrassroots — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 16:14:16 -0700

Global Grassroots was founded in 2004 to support conscious social change for women in post-conflict societies in Africa. Through personal transformation work, social entrepreneurship training and seed funding grants, Global Grassroots helps marginalized women and genocide survivors reclaim their lives and discover their value to society through the development of their own ideas for social change. Global Grassroots also engages in creative campaigns to raise awareness of critical women’s issues globally, including genocide and sexual violence during conflict.

Roundup: Highlights this week on the Hub

Priscila Néri — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:44:08 -0700

1) On the week of Global Action for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) watch this interview with Bukeni Waruzi - WITNESS' Program Coordinator for Africa/Middle East and a native of Uvira, Eastern DRC, where the fighting between Rwandan rebels and the Congolese Army first broke out in 1996.

Kenya: Rape Survivors Share Their Testimonies

aljazeeraenglish — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:25:39 -0700

It was an exercise in democracy that went disastrously wrong. The tensions that followed Kenya's presidential elections quickly spiralled into an orgy of murder and rape. Almost a year on, a new generation of victims is being born to women who survived attackers using rape as a political weapon. And as the mothers of the 'rape' babies struggle to care for their children, many of the men who attacked them, remain free. Yvonne Ndege has returned to the home of one woman who survived the violence, but may not live to see her daughter grow up. (October 20, 2008)

Heidi Holland: Dinner with Mugabe

Frontline — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:25:37 -0700

At a time when the world waits anxiously to see what will happen next in Zimbabwe, Heidi Holland talks about her book which gets to grips with the man at the helm of a corrupt regime; the man behind the monster. With Adam Roberts (The Economist)