Zarganar Blog, Human rights in Burma - Development & capacity buildingZarganar is the most famous artist of Burma, and a former political prisoner.2013-04-22T12:08:22+02:00Amnesty International Paris Jauresurn:md5:445c2f22c3bee8330477b1515ec480c1DotclearBurma not ready for rights-compliant investmenturn:md5:12988321ccad4b84fca813284230aa6c2013-03-04T20:38:00+01:00..Development & capacity building
<p>The current legal, political, and economic context in Burma does not enable foreign investment that complies with key international norms and standards.</p>
<p>In spite of the recent reforms, FIDH and Altsean-Burma believe that Burma continues to lack the legal and institutional framework necessary in order to allow responsible investment and guarantee the effective implementation of the rights of individuals and communities affected by business operations in Burma.</p>
<p>Foremost, the country remains plagued by widespread corruption and impunity, which prevents
the effective implementation of the rights of individuals and communities affected by business
operations in Burma/Myanmar. In addition, ongoing human rights abuses related to land, labour,
access to justice, and freedom of expression and assembly continue. Such abuses have been
recently linked to business activities. While the Government of Myanmar has made some
selective legal reforms in these areas, those reforms remain shallow and often fail to comply with
international standards. In addition, the implementation of reforms remains limited and
inconsistent throughout the country.</p>
<p>For instance, civil society groups throughout Burma/Myanmar continue to report that farmers and
entire communities are being evicted from their land to make way for infrastructure and
commercial projects.</p>
<p>New forced labour cases are still being reported, particularly in ethnic areas. The practice
appears to continue to be a tool used by the authorities, including the military, in connection with
infrastructure projects. Poor labour conditions including excessive working hours, low wages,
poor health and safety conditions, child labour, and arbitrary penalties on workers are prevalent in
many industries, such as in the garment and electronics sector, as local labour laws are not
sufficient and being properly implemented.</p>
<p>Last, the economy of Burma/Myanmar is still largely dominated by State-owned enterprises
(SOEs) and private companies owned by so-called “cronies”, i.e. individuals closely connected to
highly-placed members of the executive. These SOEs and the“cronies” stand to benefit the most from new investments rather than the Burmese people.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.fidh.org/Burma-not-ready-for-rights-12969">2013.03.04 FIDH.org </a></p> Cambodia : Human rights monitoring with online mapsurn:md5:52e21d5426b869665c4da163f19071402012-12-03T23:07:00+01:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopment
<p>Human rights advocates in Cambodia have been using online maps to document, monitor, and expose human rights violations across the country. Sithi or the Cambodia Human Rights Portal has a Violation Map which provides an overview of the extent of rights violations in Cambodia.</p>
<p>The map below shows different human rights violations occurring throughout Cambodia. The map on the page when you first enter this section shows the most recently recorded human rights violations on Sithi, represented by the red icons. You can search the violation section by human right, victim, alleged perpetrator, case status, location and date</p>
<p>Land conflicts have been rising in the past years and many of them are related to development projects which have displaced hundreds of thousands of residents.</p>
<p>Global Voices has already featured the prison mapping of Licadho, also a human rights group. Below is the group’s freedom of expression mapping.</p>
<p>Last month, a map of the power cut schedule in Phnom Penh was also made public.</p>
<p><a href="http://globalvoicesonline.org/2012/03/31/human-rights-mapping-in-cambodia/">2012.03.31 Global Voices</a></p>
<p><a href="http://sithi.org/tem.php?url=violation.php&">2012 Sithi.org violations map</a></p> Complaints Choirs : Moaners of all nations, unite in song !urn:md5:ea33686bbf25825e7233bbee1fb45ed12012-12-01T17:54:00+01:00..Development & capacity buildingArtistsDevelopment
<p><em>Your neighbor is learning to play drums? Her boss decided to pick on her clothes? And politicians, what do you think ?</em></p>
<p>Moaners of all nations, unite in song !
If you have something to complain about, join a Complain Choir ! Send your complaints by e-mail or regular mail, any topic is allowed. Participation is free and no need for prior knowledge about singing.</p>
<p>A complaints choir is doing exactly what the name suggests - it is a choir that sings complaints. What is special about the complaints choir, that anybody can take part - the only criteria is that people need to have something to complain about.</p>
<p>The political complaint is only representing a small margin of the wonderful world of complaints. Why should such important issues as broken underpants, boring dreams or spying neighbors be excluded? On the other hand the private, the personal, can be very political at the same time.</p>
<p>At the first meeting the freshly formed choir decides democratically on the content of the song. A local musician composes a tune for the text which is then rehearsed in 4 or 5 meetings. In the end the choir performs their collective grumbles at different locations in the city</p>
<p>The project started in Birmingham in 2005. The concept is "open source" and encourage people to organize their own choirs. Today there are Complaints Choirs in 70 cities from Alaska to Tasmania, in Singapore, Tokyo and Hong Kong. You can follow the "9 Easy Steps Method" from our website www.complaintschoir.org or find your own interpretation of the idea.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.complaintschoir.org/">complaintschoir.org</a></p>
<p><em>THE COMPLAINTS CHOIR OF SINGAPORE - LYRICS</em></p>
<p>We get fined for almost everything / Drivers won’t ‘give chance’ when you want to ‘change lane’/
The indoors are cold, the outdoors are hot;/
And the humid air, it wrecks my hair /
Those answering machines always make you hold /
Only to hang up on you /</p>
<p>When a pregnant lady gets on the train /
Everyone pretends to be asleep /
I’m stuck with my parents till I’m 35 /
Cause I can’t apply for HDB /
We don’t recycle any plastic bags /
But we purify our pee /</p>
<p>What’s wrong with Singapore? /
Losing always makes me feel so sore /
Cause if you’re not the best /
Then you’re just one of the rest /</p>
<p>My oh my Singapore /
What exactly are we voting for? /
What’s not expressly permitted /
is prohibited /</p>
<p>When I’m hungry at the food court, I see /
People ‘chope’ seats with their tissue paper /
To the aunty staying upstairs: /
Your laundry’s dripping on my bed sheets /
Please don’t squat on the toilet seats /
And don’t clip your nails on MRT /</p>
<p>Stray cats get into noisy affairs /
At night my neighbor makes weird animal sounds /
People put on fake accents to sound posh /
And queue up 3 hours for donuts /
Will I ever live till eighty five /
to collect my CPF? /</p>
<p>Singaporeans too kiasu! (so scared to lose) /
Singaporeans too kiasi! (so scared o die) /
Singaporeans too kiabor!(scared of their wives) /
Maybe we’re just too stressed out! (even the kids) /</p>
<p>Old National Library was replaced by an ugly tunnel /
Singaporean men can’t take independent women /
People blow their nose into the swimming pool /
And fall asleep on my shoulder in the train /</p>
<p>Singapore’s national bird is the crane (the one with yellow steel girders) /
Real estate agents’ leaflets clogging up my mailbox /
Why can’t we be buried when we die? /
No one wants to climb Bukit Timah with me /</p>
<p>There are not enough public holidays /
My neighbor sings KTV all night /
Wedding dinners never start on time /
My hair is always cut shorter than I want /
Channel 5 commercials are way too long /
Why do men turn bad? /</p>
<p>At first it was to speak more mandarin /
Then it was to speak proper English /
What’s wrong with my powderful Singlish? /</p>
<p>People sit down during rock concerts /
We have to pay for tap water at restaurants /
ERP gantries are everywhere /
But I can still see traffic jams on the road /
All the bus stops have tilted benches to keep you off balance /</p>
<p><a href="http://www.complaintschoir.org/singapore/complaintschoir_about_sing.html">complaintschoir.org/singapore</a></p> Good Vibrations for prisonersurn:md5:3faaa8b9a4a4f5714d6bc67d12150a7e2012-12-01T17:54:00+01:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopment
<p>Good Vibrations is a UK registered charity that helps prisoners, patients in secure hospitals, ex-prisoners and others in the community to develop crucial life and work skills through participating in intensive Gamelan (Indonesian bronze percussion) courses.
The focus of the project was on assessing gamelan's effectiveness in helping prisoners develop key skills such as team-working, communication and concentration.</p>
<p>Creative activities provide a vital bridge to learning more conventional skills like numeracy and literacy that help inmates cope when they get out of prison and also persuaded many prisoners to engage with further learning and education.</p>
<p>The Good Vibrations workshops were successful in attracting prisoners with low levels of educational achievement, who had never done anything musical before and who had not previously taken part in prison education. Prison education staff judged the workshops to be extremely effective at developing participants' team-working, communication and listening skills. They also judged them to be more effective in building participants' self-confidence and self-esteem than other types of arts project.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.good-vibrations.org.uk/">good-vibrations.org</a></p> Time is money : participate on an equal footingurn:md5:68a19b0e2b5a8e7a0e89f9a64147723a2012-12-01T17:04:00+01:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopment
<p>In the villages of Bali (Indonesia), there are two currencies: the official national currency (rupiah), and a second currency, based on time and exclusively created by the community. It is about 3 hours.
When the community needs to organize a festival or to build a school for example, two budgets are planned: one in national currency and the other in "money time."
The poorest people in the village can invest more time into the project and less money, while the more rich members of the group will inject more cash.
This form of cooperation between individuals and the dual system of currency is the cement of Balinese society. It allows people to participate on an equal footing in the financing of joint projects and may, within the limits of do no harm to their community, to participate in the financing of other projects in other communities.</p>
<p><a href="http://imaginationforpeople.org/fr/project/monnaie-temps-balinaise/">imaginationforpeople.org</a></p> Music as an agent of social development,urn:md5:aa499b3645fbb327b4208d37489449512012-12-01T16:53:00+01:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopment
<p>"Music has to be recognized as an agent of social development, in the highest sense because it transmits the highest values - solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community, and to express sublime feelings"</p>
<p>The program is known for rescuing young people in extremely impoverished circumstances from the environment of drug abuse and crime into which they would likely otherwise be drawn.
As "El Sistema", its goal is to use music for the protection of childhood through training, rehabilitation and prevention of criminal behaviour.</p>
<p>On 6 June 2007, the Inter-American Development Bank announced the granting of a US$150 million loan for the construction of seven regional centers of El Sistema throughout Venezuela. Many bankers within the IDB originally objected to the loan on the grounds that classical music is for the elite. In fact, the bank has conducted studies on the more than two million young people who have been educated in El Sistema which link participation in the program to improvements in school attendance and declines in juvenile delinquency. Weighing such benefits as a falloff in school drop-out rates and a decline in crime, the bank calculated that every dollar invested in El Sistema was reaping about $1.68 in social dividends.</p>
<p>Supported by the government, El Sistema has started to introduce its music program into the public-school curriculum, aiming to be in every school and to support 500,000 children by 2015.</p>
<p>The project has been extended to the penal system. The plan to humanize jails through music began eleven months ago under the tutelage of the Ministry of the Interior and Justice.</p>
<p>El Sistema is now a state foundation which watches over Venezuela's 125 youth orchestras and the instrumental training programmes which make them possible. The organization has 31 symphony orchestras, and between 310,000 to 370,000 children attend its music schools around the country.70 to 90 percent of the students come from poor socio-economic backgrounds.</p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Sistema">Wikipedia</a></p> WTO for a clean, affordable and sustainable sanitation.urn:md5:51dfa179657cf450fe61db1210eebfc22012-12-01T16:31:00+01:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopment
<p>World Toilet Organization (WTO) is a global non-profit organization committed to improving toilet and sanitation conditions worldwide. WTO is also one of the few organizations to focus on toilets instead of water, which receives more attention and resources under the common subject of sanitation.</p>
<p>The lack of adequate sanitation facilities account for much of the world’s social and health problems. WTO’s vision is to attain clean, safe, affordable, ecologically sound, and sustainable sanitation for everyone. Sanitation brings benefits of health and dignity to humanity especially to the slums, and rural areas. Promotion of ecological sanitation through recycling of excreta helps prevent environmental pollution into water ways.</p>
<p>Launched in Singapore, it now has 235 member organizations in 58 countries working towards eliminating the toilet taboo and delivering sustainable sanitation. WTO was created as a global network and service platform wherein all sanitation organizations can learn from one another and leverage on media and global support that in turn can influence governments to promote sound sanitation and public health policies.</p>
<p>WTO values :</p>
<ul>
<li>We don’t believe in charity or handouts, instead we strongly believe in self help, social entrepreneurship and private market solutions. SaniShop provides marketing and sales training courses to local suppliers focusing on improving their businesses. Our practical training sessions train suppliers on how to provide services as well as build, maintain and repair facilities.</li>
<li>WTC’s courses professionalize the sanitation and restroom industry by providing relevant courses in a comprehensive manner</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://worldtoilet.org/wto/">worldtoilet.org</a></p> Bamboo Bikes: high quality, good priceurn:md5:83981c0d173614ec02e2c9c512cb1cba2012-12-01T16:16:00+01:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopment
<p>Bicycle remains an affordable transport, allowing people to travel with a high degree of autonomy. Bicyle allows patients to go to hospital, transporting women in labor for deliveries in remote medical centers, giving youth access to education when school is not in their village,</p>
<p>Since 2008, Zambikes has been producing high quality bamboo bicycle frames. The bamboo bike building techniques and technology has been in development for over a decade, and Zambikes has been able to harness that development, add value to it, and produce some of the best bamboo frames in the world. Zambikes has sent over 300 frames to more than 20 different countries worldwide.</p>
<p>Zambikes is a social business that manufactures, assembles and distributes high quality bicycles, bicycle ambulances and cargo bicycle trailers to the underprivileged, empowering individuals to fight the mindset of poverty and address the economic and social needs of Zambia (Africa).</p>
<p>Zambikes values :</p>
<ul>
<li>Building grassroots relationships that lead to the empowerment of Zambians through job creation, skills training, and providing bicycles and bicycle accessories as tools.</li>
<li>Aiding in sustainable economic development throughout Zambia by providing high quality bicycles and bicycle trailers that are manufactured, assembled and serviced by Zambians.</li>
<li>Improving the quality of products imported into and products being exported from Zambia.</li>
</ul>
<p>Zambulances had transported more than 40 mothers to rural health clinics to give birth. They have a great system where the women get a prenatal check up and get assigned a delivery week. The Zambulance will then pick them up on the desired week. Then they will stay at the clinic until they deliver the baby.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.zambikes.org/testimonials/">zambikes.org</a></p> Solar energy for farms, rural villages, small businessesurn:md5:e84e9537c3ce3ee4998044557d51ebd92012-12-01T15:54:00+01:00..Development & capacity building
<p>One way to diffuse rapidly and massively solar energy technology around the world is to create a solar technology that is cost-effective in the short term and readily accessible.</p>
<p>Solarfire.org principles are :</p>
<ul>
<li>Concentrate on the uses and applications of Solar Fire that are most needed for people, especially in poor countries rich in sunlight.</li>
<li>Striving to develop the most accessible and ecological building methods.</li>
<li>Striving not to create dependence on us as providers of the technology.</li>
<li>Try to publish as much as possible in Open Source,</li>
<li>Minimizes material cost using local wood or bamboo allowing businesses and communities to bootstrap new activity, and developers to test new applications.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://www.solarfire.org/Open-business-model">Solarfire.org</a></p> Prevent child mortality at low costurn:md5:44c9101128c06ed2df2663f506f373d22012-12-01T15:36:00+01:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopment
<p>Pesinet's mission is to reduce sustainabily child mortality by facilitating access to existing healthcare systems through the design and deployment of community-based health services for mothers and their children.</p>
<p>Pesinet provides a prevention and early care system for children under 5 in Mali, a country where one child out of five does not reach this age. Once a week Pesinet agents visit children and collect medical data they enter into their mobile phones via a customized Java applet, and which are sent to a central server. Doctors of the local healthcare centers can access these data through a web interface, and when one of them detects a potentially ill child, he can call his mother in for an examination. First necessity medications for the most current pathologies are given to subscribers for half of their normal price.</p>
<p>Pesinet is a paying service designed to be financially viable. It costs 500 CFA francs per child per month. This fee allows to cover a great part of the operational costs (weighing agents wages, monthly fee reimbursed to the partnering centers, operating expenses, 50 % of the cost of the medication provided) when the project reaches 1,500 subscribers. However, this monthly fee does not exceed one day of salary which make it affordable even for the poor families.It costs the equivalent of a kilo of onions or tomatoes.</p>
<p>It is estimated that Pesinet can prevent 80% of mortality causes from benign diseases, hence a reduction of more than half of child mortality in the populations covered by the service. Moreover, because of its focus on prevention, Pesinet contributes to reducing the health spending on benign illnesses.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.pesinet.org/wp/">Pesinet.org</a></p>
<p><a href="http://imaginationforpeople.org/en/project/pesinet/">Imaginationforpeople.org - project Pesinet</a></p> The ASEAN Science Film Festival : Knowledge + funurn:md5:1a02a6be3763ce1023822bc004b04a402012-12-01T14:00:00+01:00..Development & capacity building
<p>The ASEAN Science Film Festival kicked off in Kuala Lumpur on October 15 and will be taking place in Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam this year until December 10.</p>
<p>The vast majority of the festival audience are young pupils and students and a core aim of the festival is to demonstrate that curiosity and learning are not only life enriching but put quite simply: equally fun ! The Science Film Festival sees access to knowledge as a fundamental human right</p>
<p>The theme for the ASEAN Science Film Festival 2012 is: WATER
And yet water, as one of our most important natural resources, presents one of the most pressing ecological and social challenges of the 21st Century with growing constraints on the availability, quality, and use of freshwater resources, which account for only 3% of the world’s supply of water.</p>
<p>The United Nations states that each year more than 1 billion of our fellow human beings have little choice but to resort to using potentially harmful sources of water and up to 1.8 billion people may be living with absolute water scarcity by 2025 with two thirds of the world population potentially subject to water stress. With recent events such as the devastating floods here in Southeast Asia, it has become acutely clear what severe impact water has amidst our changing global climate patterns. It is therefore of timely importance to highlight this compound as a fascinating natural substance as well as a fundamental natural resource.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.goethe.de/sciencefilmfestival">ASEAN Science Film Festival</a></p> 1 minute + 1 mobile = 1 filmurn:md5:eef66b8e91ec76e876ac84a367f9234a2012-11-24T15:22:00+01:00..Development & capacity buildingArtistsDevelopment
<p>The competition awards the best short film shot with a mobile phone.</p>
<p>The contest offers everyone to show its talents as a filmmaker, without any financial need. "The idea has always been to give a voice to filmmakers from all over the country" said organizers.</p>
<p>The film must have a maximum duration of one minute, be shot by using a mobile phone. Using a software is allowed.
Mobile users have to upload their short film on the festival website or Dailymotion,</p>
<p>The pre-selection committee decides which movies are published online, and selects the 50 best for the official selection. These are submitted to a vote of the jury, which awards five awards: best film, best screenplay, best actress, best actor, best director.
Mobile users vote on Facebook for the Public Award. (voting is open from January 16 to February 6).</p>
<p>The best movie receives € 15,000 (funded by a sponsor).
The reputation of the director allows him to participate in other art projects, festivals ...Former winner Benjamin Busnel is currently completing a new short film, an urban comedy about the relationship of couples around a presidential election.</p>
<p>Press comment (in english) on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5k-BStBfOtE">Youtube</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5szOw_mhgwA">Best scenario Award</a> ;
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V0I6KjRZA9Y">Best public Award</a></p>
<p><a href="http://fr.mobilefilmfestival.com/videos/les-pieds-sur-terre-1764.html">Mobile Festival France</a> ; <a href="http://mobilefilmfestival.com/01-UK/Page_UK.html">Mobile Festival UK</a> ; <a href="http://www.yallahfilmfestival.com/ali-pyramids-guide.html">Mobile Festival Arabic</a>
Mobile Festival on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MobileFilmFestival?fref=ts">Facebook</a></p> Intermediate education to avoid rural exodusurn:md5:bff5b14090afd4b67abdfd5fd8513b1a2012-11-05T19:43:00+01:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopment
<p>One of the most cost effective and efficient ways the US creates a young, entry-level labor force is not found in the traditional universities that offer four-year degrees.
It is the ubiquitous community colleges or junior college systemlocated all over the country, in every county and in every state.
They produce an incredible work force of twenty to thirty year olds. It's a two-year diploma course with the opportunity to go on to a four-year college degree if the student makes the grades.</p>
<p>Burma should look at this intermediate US education system, because Burma already has a wide network of regional colleges across the nation and many of them are under used yet piling up expenses.</p>
<p>If some of the underused schools can be converted into a modified version of the community college system and add some vocational training components,Burma, in a short time,could soon have a viable young labor force all over the country.</p>
<p>Courses in these American community colleges run from basic education like English, math, science, biology, etc., but what is most effective is that the colleges have also offer excellent vocational training course such as carpentry, auto mechanics, small machinery and engine repair, agricultural, animal husbandry, forestry, plumbing, how to start a small business, book keeping, accounting and so on.</p>
<p>Many graduates can find entry-level jobs right away because they have already apprenticed with local businesses during the training.</p>
<p>The teachers are university graduates with teaching credentials. These are state-funded colleges and students can also apply for student loans in the US, which they repay with interest when they are employed. Grants from local businesses and scholarships also help students to stay in school.
Burma already has a many regional colleges, which should be able to accommodate two-year diploma courses and develop vocational training courses. The latter will be the most cost effective, as the colleges will serve the lower middle class and young rural population.</p>
<p>To encourage domestic small-scale industries, courses could offer weaving, sewing, food preserving and, homemaking courses for young women. And when the micro financing is in place in most districts these graduates can learn how to set up their own business. Micro financing in some countries also create cooperatives for women and young men to set up business. The Thai Girl Guides Association has projects in the rural areas helping women set up cooperatives in sewing, food preservations, etc. The same can be done for young people through NGOs in the rural areas. Linking NGOs and the community colleges could facilitate micro economic growth for the rural population.</p>
<p>The planning for such aventure should start now before the young rural population begins a massive exodus to the mega-industrial zones that are being planned in large cities, which can lead to massive overcrowding and major urbanization problems.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mizzima.com/edop/commentary/8332-intermediate-education-a-way-to-create-a-young-workforce-in-burma-.html">2012.11.01 Mizzima intermediate-education-a-way-to-create-a-young-workforce</a></p> The International Year of Cooperatives Short Film Festivalurn:md5:c0630188437401586f36f150de2b01582012-10-20T19:45:00+02:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopment
<p>The International Year of Cooperatives (IYC) Short Film Festival will take place on 19 November 2012 at the United Nations Headquarters during the closing ceremony of the Year.</p>
<p>The theme is "Cooperative Enterprises Build a Better World".</p>
<p>We are looking for films that raise awareness about cooperatives – what they are, and what they do – and encourage support and development of cooperative enterprises by individuals and their communities.</p>
<p>The films should also highlight at least one of the 10 key messages of the International Year of Cooperatives:</p>
<ul>
<li>Cooperative enterprises build a better world</li>
<li>Cooperative enterprises are member owned, member serving and member driven</li>
<li>Cooperatives empower people</li>
<li>Cooperatives improve livelihoods and strengthen the economy</li>
<li>Cooperatives enable sustainable development</li>
<li>Cooperatives promote rural development</li>
<li>Cooperatives balance both social and economic demands</li>
<li>Cooperatives promote democratic principles</li>
<li>Cooperatives and gender: a pathway out of poverty</li>
<li>Cooperatives: a sustainable business model for youth</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://social.un.org/coopsyear/film-festival.html">IYC Short Film Festival</a></p> 2012, UN International Year of Cooperativesurn:md5:0829ce56f991aece7811b00d073007462012-10-20T19:43:00+02:00..Development & capacity building
<p><a href="http://social.un.org/coopsyear/">The International Year of Cooperatives 2012</a> intended to raise public awareness of the invaluable contributions of cooperative enterprises to poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration. The Year will also highlight the strengths of <strong>the cooperative business model as an alternative means of doing business and furthering socioeconomic development</strong>.</p>
<p>Cooperatives are business enterprises owned and controlled by the very members that they serve. Their member-driven nature is one of the most clearly differentiating factors of cooperative enterprises. This fact means that decisions made in cooperatives are balanced by the pursuit of profit, and the needs and interests of members and their communities.
Cooperatives take many forms and operate in all sectors of society.</p>
<p>Together with the ILO International Training Centre in Turin, COOPAfrica has published a <a href="http://www.ilo.org/empent/units/cooperatives/WCMS_159819/lang--en/index.htm">Project Design Manual</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.copa-cogeca.be/Menu.aspx">Copa-Cogeca</a> is the united voice of farmers and agri-cooperatives in the EU. Together, they ensure that EU agriculture is sustainable, innovative and competitive, guaranteeing food security to half a billion people throughout Europe. Copa represents over 13 million farmers and their families whilst Cogeca represents the interests of 38,000 agricultural cooperatives.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.oromiacoffeeunion.org/aboutUs.php">Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union (Ethiopia)</a> is a small holder coffee growers owned cooperative union established in June 1, 1999 by 34 cooperatives with 22,691 farmers. Today there are 217 cooperatives with over 200,000 Members.
OCFCU is a democratic member’s owned business. Members are the growers, processors and suppliers of high quality, organic Arabica coffee for the direct export.</p> Children are to be familiar with democratic practicesurn:md5:acd58eeb28112b7209ab5beaee2338632012-10-14T13:55:00+02:00..Development & capacity building
<p>”It is absolutely required that children who will have to live in a democratic society are to be familiar with democractics since their schooldays,” said Chairman of Union Election Commission U Tin Aye.</p>
<p>The State is endeavouring for sticking to the democratic path founded on the national interests for future socio-economic development of the people. In so doing, it is building democracy of its own based on geography, culture, tradition and custom of the nation rather than copying particular democracy system from abroad.</p>
<p>The global political phenomenon implies that the rule of law, socioeconomic development and massive intellectual capital are deciding factors in building up a new democratic nation and intellectual capital is of paramount importance as it helps bring about rationality in citizens, equal protection of the law and regulatory qualities. Along with the rule of law, socio-economic life of the State and national people would develop as the result of competitiveness of the citizens.</p>
<p>The commission chairman described longexisted practices of the formation of groups at each class and school council and competition for outstanding student award as a form of exercising democracy. He suggested that re-practice of outstanding student award competition and organization of overseas study trip will help turn out personal educational heroes to schoolchildren, encouraging their industry.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.myanmar.com/newspaper/nlm/index.html">2010.10.13 New Light of Myanmar - Children are to be familiar with democratic practices </a></p> Humor and Politics Awardurn:md5:2fb59dce17d34abe1e9e387072be7a5f2012-10-08T23:44:00+02:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopment
<p>15 puns and jokes were in competition for the 10th Prize, awarded by the Press Club.</p>
<p>Every year, journalists and media professionals select the mous funny sentence (voluntary or not) made by a political figure during the last twelve months.</p>
<p><em>My nomination makes me happy, because humor is perhaps the most effective weapon in the political world,</em> said politician Thierry Mariani.</p>
<p>Awards.</p>
<ul>
<li>2012. " Being a former minister, is to sit in the back of a car and realize that it does not start. ".</li>
<li>2011. "(former president) Mitterrand is revered today, but it was the most hated man in France. This gives lot of hope for many of us"</li>
<li>2010. "I know Dominique Strass-Khan (politician), I charged him with offenses" said by Eva Joly (politician, former judge).</li>
</ul> Literacy contest attracts hundreds of peopleurn:md5:797d1a0604def3e1c93363542de31aac2012-09-16T00:50:00+02:00..Development & capacity building
<p>Lima (Peru). A writing contest attracts hundreds of people. Writers, wearing masks, compete : they have five minutes to write a story.</p>
<p>Every Monday, sitting in front of a computer, wearing masks, a few writers compete anonymously. The jury is merciless and the fascinated public applauds his favorites.</p>
<p>Participants have five minutes to write a story, including three facts selected by the organizers. They win the admiration of the people and the publication of a book.</p>
<p>Early August 2012, the contest began. About 200 people came every Monday. 32 writers will compete, 8 each week. The contest will end on October 1st.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.courrierinternational.com/article/2012/09/14/duels-litteraires-sur-le-ring">2012.09.14 Courrier International</a></p> Human rights plead competitionsurn:md5:5d32f0e9b19a7c9789fd98dba68584442012-09-10T15:02:00+02:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopmentNGOs
<ul>
<li>For lawyers.</li>
</ul>
<p>For decades, the Mémorial de Caen has been inviting lawyers from all around the world to defend genuine and individual cases of victims whose fundamental rights have been violated. Ten lawyers plead their cases in front of a jury of key players from legal, political, cultural and artistic backgrounds, who are all committed to defending Human Rights, as well as to a large audience.
The competition has built up a solid reputation thanks to the numerous influential people who have agreed to chair its jury: Boutros Boutros-Ghali in 2002, Abdou Diouf in 2005, Barbara Hendricks in 2006, Edwy Plenel in 2009, Stéphane Hessel in 2010, Jorge Semprún in 2011 and Abderrazak Kilani in 2012. With the support of the National Council of French Bar Associations, the International Union of Lawyers</p>
<ul>
<li>For lawyer students.</li>
</ul>
<p>The competition offers to future lawyers the opportunity to advocate for the first time, pleading a cause they have chosen to defend. An opportunity to test their ability to convince a jury and audience.</p>
<ul>
<li>For students.</li>
</ul>
<p>For 15 years, thousands of young people expressed have become advocates for an important cause to their heart. The contest shows the talent of teenagers while making the choice of their commitment. It is part of a process in improving their civic Peace Education. The Memorial contest is a great platform for expression and freedom.
With the support of the competition partners, Amnesty International, Reporters without Borders, Play Bac School Editor.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.memorial-caen.fr/avocatsgb/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=986&Itemid=1777">Memorial Caen</a></p> Tools & experiences : human rights educationurn:md5:952d4d6755e278f3f57a5cc41f5de8ab2012-09-03T16:50:00+02:00..Development & capacity buildingDevelopmentNGOs
<p><em>After dozen years of dictatorship, Burmese people and leaders want a better life for their country. Wealth is not (only) in exploring mines and gas, but in well-educated burmese people, working for their people.</em><br /></p>
<p><em>Laptops better than kalachnikovs</em></p>
<p><strong>PEACE</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Disarmament,Demobilization, Reintegration (DDR) programs <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/UN-OSAA_Disarmament_Demobilization_Reintegration_Stability_Kinshasa_Final.pdf">UN-OSAA_DDR.pdf</a></li>
<li>Durable peace. <a href="https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1927833">COE.int Post-war justice and durable peace</a> <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/COE_durablepeace_Yugoslaviacase.pdf">COE_durablepeace_Yugoslaviacase.pdf</a></li>
<li>Children soldiers reintegration <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/ILO.org_110B09_242_engl_Soldiers_Children_reintegration.pdf">ILO.org_110B09_242_engl_Soldiers_Children_reintegration.pdf</a></li>
<li>HR for armed forces COE.int <a href="http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/standardsetting/hrpolicy/publications/default_EN.asp?">HR for armed forces</a> <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/COE_HR_armedforces.pdf">COE_HR_armedforces.pdf</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>PRESS and MEDIA</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Human Rights and media <a href="http://www.coe.int/t/commissioner/Publications_en.asp">COE.int pubications</a> <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/COE_Humanrights_and_Media.pdf">COE_Humanrights_and_Media.pdf</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>PRISONS</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Manual on Human Rights Training for Prison Officials <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/penalreform.org_man-2005-humanrightsandprisons-en.pdf">penalreform.org_man-2005-humanrightsandprisons-en.pdf</a></li>
<li>Pocket Guide for prison officials <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/penareform.org_man-2005-humanrightsandprisons-pocketguide-en_0.pdf">penareform.org_man-2005-humanrightsandprisons-pocketguide-en_0.pdf</a></li>
<li>Prison farm management <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/penalreform.org_rep-2002-prison-farm-management-en_0.pdf">penalreform.org_rep-2002-prison-farm-management-en_0.pdf</a></li>
<li>Maintaining files <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/penalreform.org_man-2008-maintaining-files.pdf">penalreform.org_man-2008-maintaining-files.pdf</a></li>
<li>Reduicing Pre trial detention <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/penalreform.org_man-2005-index-pre-trial-v7-en_0.pdf">penalreform.org_man-2005-index-pre-trial-v7-en_0.pdf</a></li>
<li>A self-made radio, 1 weekly hour by prisoners from Equador. A link between prisoners and their children and their villages... ready to go out ? <a href="http://atelier.rfi.fr/profiles/blogs/vos-questions-sur-ces-2?xg_source=activity">2010.01 13 RFI</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>RACISM and DISCRIMINATION</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Racism <a href="http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/research/publications/studies_discussion_papers/studies_racismruralareas_en.htm">Racism in rural areas</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>PLATFORMS</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Humanrights.ch (Swizterland) http://www.humanrights.ch/en/Links/Human-Rights-Education/index.html</li>
</ul>
<p>see <a href="http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/">UN Cyberschoolbus</a>http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/</p>
<p><strong>OTHERS</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Documenting the human rights violations, a training manual, which is available in both Burmese and English. <a href="http://www.bur.nd-burma.org/component/content/article/25-nd-burma/853-2012-08-03-02-21-33.html">2012.08.01 ND-Burma</a> Dowload <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/ND-Burma_Inside_Training_Manual___Burmese.pdf">ND-Burma_Inside_Training_Manual___Burmese.pdf</a></li>
<li>Starting human rights <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/Amnesty.org_pol320022002eng_starting_HR_education.pdf">Amnesty.org_pol320022002eng_starting_HR_education.pdf</a></li>
<li>Human rights culture <a href="http://zarganar.blog.free.fr/public/Capacity_building/Amnesty.org_afr010031999en_HR_culture.pdf">Amnesty.org_afr010031999en_HR_culture.pdf</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.coe.int/t/commissioner/Publications_en.asp">Human rights : no grounds for complacency</a></li>
</ul>