This document reveals a pattern of beatings and ill-treatment of captured al-Gaddafi soldiers, suspected loyalists and alleged mercenaries in western Libya. In some cases there is clear evidence of torture in order to extract confessions or as a punishment. Approximately 300 prisoners were interviewed by Amnesty International in August and September. None had been shown any kind of arrest warrant and many were effectively abducted from their homes by unidentified captors carrying out raids of suspected al-Gaddafi fighters or loyalists. In meetings with Amnesty International in September, NTC officials acknowledged concerns over arbitrary detention and ill-treatment, and vowed to do more to get a grip on armed militias and ensure that all those detained enjoy equal protection of the law.
Friday, 14 October 2011
ILO's Microinsurance Innovation Facility: A business case for microinsurance
Is there a business case for microinsurance? Under what circumstances can insurance companies generate profits from microinsurance? These are important questions because insurers are increasingly interested to expand into the low-income market. To encourage this expansion, microinsurance initiatives need to demonstrate that they are commercially viable and sustainable over time. This note assesses the business case for microinsurance through case studies of five microinsurance initiatives.
Read the Briefing Note here: www.ilo.org/public/
Read the full paper here: www.ilo.org/public/
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Read the Briefing Note here: www.ilo.org/public/
Read the full paper here: www.ilo.org/public/
The Effect of Interventions to Reduce Fertility on Economic Growth
The goal in this research is to quantitatively analyze the economic effects of interventions that reduce fertility in a developing country. Concretely, the authors ask how economic measures such as GDP per capita would compare in the case where some exogenous change reduces fertility to the case where no such exogenous change takes place. The answer to this question will be very different from simply observing the natural co-evolution of fertility and economic development.
How to monitor and evaluate anti-corruption agencies: Guidelines for agencies, donors, and evaluators
This report provides technical, methodological, and practical guidance to assist staff of Anti-corruption agencies (ACAs) in undertaking monitoring and evaluation and shows how the outcomes and impact of the work of ACAs can be evaluated in an objective, evidence-based manner.
Review of literature and international practice in policy dialogue
This review of literature and international practice, commissioned by ODE, introduces key concepts relating to policy dialogue between donors and recipient governments to inform the wider analytical framework for the evaluation.
Museveni is no better than Iddil Amin or Obote
Museveni is no better than Iddil Amin or Obote
Dear Ugandans,
Ugandan leaders have all been the same with minor differences. If you trace carefully and critically, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni( YKM) is no different from Iddil Amin Dada and all the other past leaders he always despises. I expect the usual suspects to argue that YKM is miles ahead of the ruling class. Wapi. They have been a bunch of mediocre who failed to create long lasting stability in Uganda. Uganda today is no more stable than it was at the time of independence. Kingdoms were abolished but what did it achieve? Some could argue that it gave Uganda YKM.
Idil Amin was president of Uanda( 1971-79)See how his admirers measure transformation; YKM is supposed to be better because UPDF is more people friendly. Or he has allowed this or that or that people can at least sleep.
But if Ugandans were to be honest there is no social, political, economic transformation in Uganda. The people are again worried about the future. As The late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga famously wrote” it is not yet Uhuru” in Uganda. I dare anyone in Ugandans At HEART (UAH) to come forward and make the case that Uganda has undergone positive transformation since independence.
The national education system ended with Amin. Up to 1979, it did not matter much where one went to school. They had a fare shot at success. Things went downhill since then.
All past leaders and YKM shine from time to time in the eyes of their admirers because those who came after/before them set the bar so low. Look at YKM on corruption; it would be a real idiot who would not be better on his record. YKM is also the most tribalistic leader EVER in the history of Uganda and has no shame about it. He has screwed that country like never before, but because in some areas he is yet to reach the lows set by his predecessors, Ugandans still give him the benefit of the doubt, and YKM also goes chest thumping about it. The sad part is that Ugandans tolerate and even worship mediocrity in all spheres.
Yes, the Kingdoms can play a positive role in society. Why is it that the golden days in Buganda when Ugandans from all over the country could settle in Buganda without any problems was before or shortly after independence? Look at Ghana where cultural institutions are accepted and actually respected. No Ghanaian president can talk such nonsense you hear from YKM about kingdoms or traditional chiefs. A Ghanaian friend told me last week that his brother’s funeral is on hold in Accra because under the Gaa-the original ethnic groups around Accra-traditions, funerals cannot place there for some time. They are celebrating their traditions. There are Ugandans here in UAH forum that live in Ghana and can testify to that.
Now to the question some people wanted to ask: suppose Uganda was to embrace federalism how would Kingdoms fit in? Actually the question was settled in 1955 by what is famously known as the Namirembe Agreement of October 1955, which made it clear that Kingdom rulers would be Constitutional Monarchs like the Queen of England is today. I will not abuse the intelligence of UAH folks by explaining what a constitutional monarch is. So when you read Monday’s editorial in the New vision, you begin to understand what we are talking about: mediocrity all over. And by the way, the Namirembe agreement of 1955 applied to all kingdoms not just Buganda. The media in Uganda seems to be ignorant of this famous Agreement based on what they continue to spew out in their pages or editorials whenever YKM speaks out.
So people, ask yourself this question: why is it the case that in Uganda you see people-will not call them leaders-pretending to have what it takes to lead DP, UPC and other opposition parties. Some of the people in those political parties who offered to lead them should never have been in the race in the first place, but because mediocrity is now more or less the norm in Uganda, they offered themselves, and managed to cause chaos in opposition parties.
I am not going to get into the business of naming names here but take a critical look at the pretenders who threaten the identities of their respective parties? Are those the calibre of leaders to take down their traditional parties or to fight and die for? Put differently is the current NEC line up in political parties, particularly DP, in Uganda ,are they there on merit and have something to offer the country in terms of leadership.
W.B.Kyijomanyi
UAH forumist in NewYork
Ugandan leaders have all been the same with minor differences. If you trace carefully and critically, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni( YKM) is no different from Iddil Amin Dada and all the other past leaders he always despises. I expect the usual suspects to argue that YKM is miles ahead of the ruling class. Wapi. They have been a bunch of mediocre who failed to create long lasting stability in Uganda. Uganda today is no more stable than it was at the time of independence. Kingdoms were abolished but what did it achieve? Some could argue that it gave Uganda YKM.
Idil Amin was president of Uanda( 1971-79)But if Ugandans were to be honest there is no social, political, economic transformation in Uganda. The people are again worried about the future. As The late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga famously wrote” it is not yet Uhuru” in Uganda. I dare anyone in Ugandans At HEART (UAH) to come forward and make the case that Uganda has undergone positive transformation since independence.
The national education system ended with Amin. Up to 1979, it did not matter much where one went to school. They had a fare shot at success. Things went downhill since then.
All past leaders and YKM shine from time to time in the eyes of their admirers because those who came after/before them set the bar so low. Look at YKM on corruption; it would be a real idiot who would not be better on his record. YKM is also the most tribalistic leader EVER in the history of Uganda and has no shame about it. He has screwed that country like never before, but because in some areas he is yet to reach the lows set by his predecessors, Ugandans still give him the benefit of the doubt, and YKM also goes chest thumping about it. The sad part is that Ugandans tolerate and even worship mediocrity in all spheres.
Yes, the Kingdoms can play a positive role in society. Why is it that the golden days in Buganda when Ugandans from all over the country could settle in Buganda without any problems was before or shortly after independence? Look at Ghana where cultural institutions are accepted and actually respected. No Ghanaian president can talk such nonsense you hear from YKM about kingdoms or traditional chiefs. A Ghanaian friend told me last week that his brother’s funeral is on hold in Accra because under the Gaa-the original ethnic groups around Accra-traditions, funerals cannot place there for some time. They are celebrating their traditions. There are Ugandans here in UAH forum that live in Ghana and can testify to that.
Now to the question some people wanted to ask: suppose Uganda was to embrace federalism how would Kingdoms fit in? Actually the question was settled in 1955 by what is famously known as the Namirembe Agreement of October 1955, which made it clear that Kingdom rulers would be Constitutional Monarchs like the Queen of England is today. I will not abuse the intelligence of UAH folks by explaining what a constitutional monarch is. So when you read Monday’s editorial in the New vision, you begin to understand what we are talking about: mediocrity all over. And by the way, the Namirembe agreement of 1955 applied to all kingdoms not just Buganda. The media in Uganda seems to be ignorant of this famous Agreement based on what they continue to spew out in their pages or editorials whenever YKM speaks out.
So people, ask yourself this question: why is it the case that in Uganda you see people-will not call them leaders-pretending to have what it takes to lead DP, UPC and other opposition parties. Some of the people in those political parties who offered to lead them should never have been in the race in the first place, but because mediocrity is now more or less the norm in Uganda, they offered themselves, and managed to cause chaos in opposition parties.
I am not going to get into the business of naming names here but take a critical look at the pretenders who threaten the identities of their respective parties? Are those the calibre of leaders to take down their traditional parties or to fight and die for? Put differently is the current NEC line up in political parties, particularly DP, in Uganda ,are they there on merit and have something to offer the country in terms of leadership.
W.B.Kyijomanyi
UAH forumist in NewYork
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Uganda Radios on Internet In case U are bored
Here are some quick links to listen to your favourite Uganda FM Stations.
CBS Radio Buganda - 89.2
http://radiouganda.net/
http://radiouganda.net/
Radio Simba
http://radiouganda.net/
http://radiouganda.net/
Akaboozi Ku Bbiri
http://radiouganda.net/
http://radiouganda.net/
Radio Sapientia
http://radiouganda.net/
Bukedde Radiohttp://radiouganda.net/
http://radiouganda.net/
Ngoma Radio
http://www.ngomaradio.com/
Logistics & supply chain Industry agenda council: Final Report 2010-2011
The World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils and Industry Agenda Councils are unique multistakeholder groups that convene relevant thought leaders from academia, government, business and other fields to capture the best knowledge on key issues and integrate them into global collaboration and decision-making processes.
For 2010-2011, the Forum’s Logistics & Supply Chain Industry Agenda Council discussed many issues facing the logistics industry and global supply chains. Council Members also participated in cross-Council discussions on trade, climate change, catastrophic risk and consumer trends. This was conducted through bimonthly conference calls and at the three-day Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai in November 2010.
This report includes a summary of the Council’s key insights and recommendations as well as contributions from various Council Members on some of the topics that the Logistics & Supply Chain Industry Agenda Council discussed throughout the 2010-2011 term. One of the main focuses of the Council’s discussions during the year was on supply chain risk, especially in the wake of massive disruptions to transport networks and supply chains due to natural disasters. This includes not only the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011, but also the volcanic ash cloud in Europe and such terror threats as parcel bombs in Yemen and piracy off the coast of Somalia.
For 2010-2011, the Forum’s Logistics & Supply Chain Industry Agenda Council discussed many issues facing the logistics industry and global supply chains. Council Members also participated in cross-Council discussions on trade, climate change, catastrophic risk and consumer trends. This was conducted through bimonthly conference calls and at the three-day Summit on the Global Agenda in Dubai in November 2010.
This report includes a summary of the Council’s key insights and recommendations as well as contributions from various Council Members on some of the topics that the Logistics & Supply Chain Industry Agenda Council discussed throughout the 2010-2011 term. One of the main focuses of the Council’s discussions during the year was on supply chain risk, especially in the wake of massive disruptions to transport networks and supply chains due to natural disasters. This includes not only the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March 2011, but also the volcanic ash cloud in Europe and such terror threats as parcel bombs in Yemen and piracy off the coast of Somalia.
Use of hormonal contraceptives and risk of HIV-1 transmission: A prospective cohort study
Among 1314 couples in which the HIV-1-seronegative partner was female (median follow-up 18•0 [IQR 12•6—24•2] months), rates of HIV-1 acquisition were 6•61 per 100 person-years in women who used hormonal contraception and 3•78 per 100 person-years in those who did not (adjusted hazard ratio 1•98, 95% CI 1•06—3•68, p=0•03). Among 2476 couples in which the HIV-1-seronegative partner was male (median follow-up 18•7 [IQR 12•8—24•2] months), rates of HIV-1 transmission from women to men were 2•61 per 100 person-years in couples in which women used hormonal contraception and 1•51 per 100 person-years in couples in which women did not use hormonal contraception (adjusted hazard ratio 1•97, 95% CI 1•12—3•45, p=0•02). Marginal structural model analyses generated much the same results to the Cox proportional hazards regression.
Progress of the World’s Women 2011 - 2012
The EU allocated no funds to justice programmes in which gender equality was a primary aim in 2009.
For most of the world’s women, the laws that exist on paper do not translate to equality and justice. Some 600 million women, more than half the world’s working women, are in vulnerable employment, trapped in insecure jobs, often outside the purview of labour legislation. Despite major progress on legal frameworks, millions of women report experiencing violence in their lifetimes, usually at the hands of an intimate partner. Meanwhile, the systematic targeting of women for brutal sexual violence is a hallmark of modern conflicts.
Although equality between women and men is guaranteed in the Constitutions of 139 countries and territories, inadequate laws and implementation gaps make these guarantees hollow promises.
In the largest gender discrimination class action ever to go to trial in the United States of America, 12 female employees of the pharmaceutical company Novartis alleged they were discriminated against on pay and promotions. The jury found unanimously in their favour and Novartis agreed to pay US$175 million to settle the matter, including $22.5 million for improvements to policies and programmes to promote equality in the workplace.
http://progress.unwomen.org/
For most of the world’s women, the laws that exist on paper do not translate to equality and justice. Some 600 million women, more than half the world’s working women, are in vulnerable employment, trapped in insecure jobs, often outside the purview of labour legislation. Despite major progress on legal frameworks, millions of women report experiencing violence in their lifetimes, usually at the hands of an intimate partner. Meanwhile, the systematic targeting of women for brutal sexual violence is a hallmark of modern conflicts.
Although equality between women and men is guaranteed in the Constitutions of 139 countries and territories, inadequate laws and implementation gaps make these guarantees hollow promises.
In the largest gender discrimination class action ever to go to trial in the United States of America, 12 female employees of the pharmaceutical company Novartis alleged they were discriminated against on pay and promotions. The jury found unanimously in their favour and Novartis agreed to pay US$175 million to settle the matter, including $22.5 million for improvements to policies and programmes to promote equality in the workplace.
http://progress.unwomen.org/
Thematic report: The global campaign for the health MDGs 2011
Only about 50% of women in low-income countries complete the recommended series of four antenatal care visits with a doctor or nurse to detect risk factors and manage problems. About 40% of women in developing countries give birth without a skilled attendant, such as a midwife, on hand. And although most maternal and newborn deaths occur during childbirth or in the immediate postnatal period, fewer than 40% of women have a postnatal visit by a skilled health worker.
More than 350 000 women die each year in the developing world from complications of childbirth and pregnancy. As many as 2.6 million babies are stillborn annually, and 3 million of the more than 8 million children under five who die each year succumb in the first month of life. Most of these deaths are avoidable, but preventive measures and treatments simply do not reach poor and rural populations or are not designed in a way that makes them easy to use in underserved communities.
http://www.norad.no/en/_
More than 350 000 women die each year in the developing world from complications of childbirth and pregnancy. As many as 2.6 million babies are stillborn annually, and 3 million of the more than 8 million children under five who die each year succumb in the first month of life. Most of these deaths are avoidable, but preventive measures and treatments simply do not reach poor and rural populations or are not designed in a way that makes them easy to use in underserved communities.
http://www.norad.no/en/_
United Nations Public Service Awards 2012
The 2012 United Nations Public Service Awards (UNPSA) Programme is accepting nominations from 15 September 2011 to 31 December 2011. The UNPSA is the most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service and rewards the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide and seeks to disseminate the initiatives for replication.
The award is open to all public organizations including Governments and public-private partnerships involved in delivering services to citizens around the globe. Your institution is welcome to nominate projects that have improved delivery of public services for the 2012 Public Service Awards, which will mark the tenth anniversary of the programme.
Please be advised that the nomination form must be completed online on the UNPAN portal at: www.unpan.org/applyunpsa2012 where a thorough explanation of the nomination process and the online application form are available. For more information on UNPSA, including previous winners, guidelines and frequently asked questions, please click here www.unpan.org/unpsa . The winners of the 2012 UNPSA will be recognized on 23 June 2012 during the celebration of the United Nations Public Service Day.
The Awards for 2012 will be bestowed in the following five categories:
1. Preventing and fighting corruption in the public service
2. Improving the delivery of public services
3. Fostering participation in policy-making decisions through innovative mechanisms
4. Advancing knowledge management in government
5. Promoting gender sensitive public service delivery
http://www.unpan.org/DPADM/
The award is open to all public organizations including Governments and public-private partnerships involved in delivering services to citizens around the globe. Your institution is welcome to nominate projects that have improved delivery of public services for the 2012 Public Service Awards, which will mark the tenth anniversary of the programme.
Please be advised that the nomination form must be completed online on the UNPAN portal at: www.unpan.org/applyunpsa2012 where a thorough explanation of the nomination process and the online application form are available. For more information on UNPSA, including previous winners, guidelines and frequently asked questions, please click here www.unpan.org/unpsa . The winners of the 2012 UNPSA will be recognized on 23 June 2012 during the celebration of the United Nations Public Service Day.
The Awards for 2012 will be bestowed in the following five categories:
1. Preventing and fighting corruption in the public service
2. Improving the delivery of public services
3. Fostering participation in policy-making decisions through innovative mechanisms
4. Advancing knowledge management in government
5. Promoting gender sensitive public service delivery
http://www.unpan.org/DPADM/
Mainstreaming ICTs in development: The case against
Mainstreaming ICTs means they should be understood as one among a number of tools seeking to achieve other development goals – poverty alleviation, health, education – of the MDG variety. Subsuming the technology into individual development goal silos means learning about ICTs becomes trapped by mainstreaming. The specialist knowledge that successful ICT4D deployment requires – about design, development, implementation, evaluation, etc. – does not flow across the silos, causing wheels to be continuously and wastefully reinvented.
Mainstreaming of ICTs has been driven alongside an info-centric view that conceives them as tools for handling the information and communication that development requires. This is ICTs’ “intensive” role of improving existing activities. It ignores ICTs’ “extensive” role of creating new development processes and livelihoods. As a result, for example, ICTs’ productive role gets ignored. Yet we know from the 2010 UN Information Economy Report that ICTs are creating millions of new jobs and micro-enterprises in developing countries. Which donor agency, which government, which development organisation has its eye on that ball?
http://ict4dblog.wordpress.
Mainstreaming of ICTs has been driven alongside an info-centric view that conceives them as tools for handling the information and communication that development requires. This is ICTs’ “intensive” role of improving existing activities. It ignores ICTs’ “extensive” role of creating new development processes and livelihoods. As a result, for example, ICTs’ productive role gets ignored. Yet we know from the 2010 UN Information Economy Report that ICTs are creating millions of new jobs and micro-enterprises in developing countries. Which donor agency, which government, which development organisation has its eye on that ball?
http://ict4dblog.wordpress.
The value of networked journalism
Not many citizens want to be journalists for much of their time. But the principles of networking are increasingly practiced in all forms of news media. The TV debates were the big ‘new’ media story of the UK 2010 campaign. They reminded us that television is still the dominant channel for political information and the biggest media platform in general.
Live event television is probably the media format that delivers most impact as it happens. However, the TV election debates in 2010 had appeal partly because of their novelty and also because they were different to conventional broadcast news: they were a direct channel to the voter, in comparison with the spin, packaging and partisan bias of so much traditional political media. Those debates were just the tip of an iceberg of networked journalism which helped create a vastly increased space of political conversation between voters, often reacting to and with mainstream media.
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/media@
Live event television is probably the media format that delivers most impact as it happens. However, the TV election debates in 2010 had appeal partly because of their novelty and also because they were different to conventional broadcast news: they were a direct channel to the voter, in comparison with the spin, packaging and partisan bias of so much traditional political media. Those debates were just the tip of an iceberg of networked journalism which helped create a vastly increased space of political conversation between voters, often reacting to and with mainstream media.
http://www2.lse.ac.uk/media@
UNESCO: Obiang Prize Saga
UNESCO: Obiang Prize Suspended Again
At a meeting of the 58-member board of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the government delegations decided to continue the suspension of the $3 million UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences and to form a committee to try to reach consensus on a way forward. African countries on the board had attempted to resurrect the stalled prize at Equatorial Guinea’s request. The issue is now due to be decided at the board’s next meeting, in spring 2012.
“Concerned diplomats prevented this latest effort to grant President Obiang the undeserved distinction of an international prize in his name,” said Tutu Alicante, executive director of the nongovernmental group EG Justice and an exile of Equatorial Guinea. “But the UNESCO Board needs to end this debate once and for all by rejecting this prize outright. UNESCO delegates should not let themselves be bullied into backing a public relations campaign by President Obiang.”
The groups calling for the prize’s cancelation, in addition to EG Justice, are Association SHERPA, Committee to Protect Journalists, Global Witness, Human Rights Watch, and Open Society Justice Initiative.
The prize was created by a decision of the board in October 2008 but has never been awarded. In the wake of a global campaign against the prize, in June 2010 the director-general of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, asked the organization’s board to take up the matter again. She expressed her “alarm and anxiety” at the grave risk awarding such a prize would pose to UNESCO’s reputation. UNESCO’s mission includes the promotion of human rights and press freedom. In October 2010, the executive board suspended the prize indefinitely, citing a lack of consensus.
Obiang nevertheless has pushed vigorously to reinstate the prize. A May 2011 effort by the government of Equatorial Guinea to proceed with the award did not make it onto the agenda of the following board meeting. But Obiang had hoped to prevail this time with the nominal support of African countries represented on UNESCO’s board. Obiang secured a resolution in favor of the UNESCO prize at an African Union summit in June 2011, which he hosted in Malabo as that organization’s rotating chair.
Yet opposition to the prize surged from governments, civil society, and leading public figures. In just the past week alone, human rights groups issued a statement opposing the prize, free-expression groups sent a letter to Bokova, and several groups called on the board to refrain from taking any action on the prize until questions about the suspicious nature of the prize’s funding could be resolved.
On September 30, UNESCO director-general Bokova called on delegations to resolve the heated controversy and warned that proceeding with the prize could put the organization at “war against the scientific community.”
“The stakes are very high here,” she was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. “I believe that sometimes we have to take courageous decisions.”
Bokova also appealed to Obiang to withdraw the prize. In a statement on October 3, the government of Equatorial Guinea said that it would continue to press for the UNESCO-Obiang award to be issued.
On October 3, 36 prominent scientists, authors, journalists, and other public figures made an additional appeal to UNESCO not to honor Obiang, now Africa’s longest-serving ruler. The signatories, who include the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Nobel Literature Prize Laureate Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, the celebrated Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, and the poet and former ambassador from Mexico to UNESCO Homero Aridjis, said in the letter that they were “deeply troubled by the well-documented record of human rights abuse, repression of press freedom, and official corruption that have marked [Obiang’s] rule.” The signatories also called for the prize to be cancelled permanently.
Obiang suffered two other setbacks in the past week in Paris. The police seized 11 of his eldest son’s luxury cars outside Obiang’s posh residence on Avenue Foch as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into properties Obiang and his family and close associates hold.
Separately, a French court ruled against Obiang’s claims of defamation against the French nongovernmental organization CCFD-Terre Solidaire for a 2009 report it published that detailed the ill-gotten gains of public officials, including Obiang. In its decision in the defamation case, the court said that, “A politician of the highest level, and particularly a head of state, must learn to suffer criticism.”
“UNESCO made a major mistake in 2008 when it first agreed to this prize,” Alicante said. “Now that the organization has been put on notice about Obiang’s record of misrule, it would be unthinkable for the organization to proceed with this award, especially in light of recent events, and especially given that President Obiang’s Paris estate is at the center of a major French anticorruption inquiry.”
The civil society organizations call on UNESCO to halt any action that would make use of the funding for the prize, given ongoing criminal investigations in France and Spain, until it can provide credible assurances that the funds are not tainted by corruption. They also urge UNESCO to establish rigorous prize and donation policies to provide for thorough review of all past and future prizes.
Equatorial Guinea Seeks to Resurrect UNESCO-Obiang Science Award
(New York) – The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization should reject a new bid to honor Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea and now Africa's longest serving ruler, with a prize in his name, a group of nine human rights organizations said today.
The executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is meeting in Paris until October 6, 2011, will consider a proposal for a $3 million UNESCO life sciences prize, to be funded by the “Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Foundation for the Preservation of Life.” The prize was suspended last year after an outcry from concerned Equatoguineans, human rights groups, anti-corruption campaigners, and prominent literary, scientific, and cultural figures.
An effort by the Obiang government to reinstate the prize in May failed to make it onto the agenda. But the current initiative has the nominal support of other African countries following an African Union (AU) resolution at its summit meeting in Equatorial Guinea in July, which Obiang hosted as this year’s AU chairman.
“UNESCO should not honor President Obiang,” said Tutu Alicante, executive director of EG Justice, an organization based in Washington, DC. “If he wishes to fund science and education around the world, he should start with his own country, where many still lack basic services such as electricity and clean water, while the president and his family flaunt an extravagant lifestyle that is the subject of legal investigations around the world.”
According to evidence produced in 2004 and 2010 investigations by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Obiang and close family members have diverted tens of millions of dollars from their country's natural resource earnings to their private benefit.
The executive board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is meeting in Paris until October 6, 2011, will consider a proposal for a $3 million UNESCO life sciences prize, to be funded by the “Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Foundation for the Preservation of Life.” The prize was suspended last year after an outcry from concerned Equatoguineans, human rights groups, anti-corruption campaigners, and prominent literary, scientific, and cultural figures.
An effort by the Obiang government to reinstate the prize in May failed to make it onto the agenda. But the current initiative has the nominal support of other African countries following an African Union (AU) resolution at its summit meeting in Equatorial Guinea in July, which Obiang hosted as this year’s AU chairman.
“UNESCO should not honor President Obiang,” said Tutu Alicante, executive director of EG Justice, an organization based in Washington, DC. “If he wishes to fund science and education around the world, he should start with his own country, where many still lack basic services such as electricity and clean water, while the president and his family flaunt an extravagant lifestyle that is the subject of legal investigations around the world.”
According to evidence produced in 2004 and 2010 investigations by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Obiang and close family members have diverted tens of millions of dollars from their country's natural resource earnings to their private benefit.
The 2010 US State Department human rights report decried “official corruption at all levels of government” and noted that “[t]he president and members of his inner circle continued to amass personal profits from the oil windfall.” Equatorial Guinea is consistently ranked among the most corrupt countries on the globe by Transparency International.
The $3 million UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences was set up in 2008 but has never been awarded. Implementation of the prize was frozen pending further discussion in June 2010. In October, the UNESCO executive board voted to suspend it until a consensus on the matter could be reached by member states.
That action came about after prominent African figures, Latin American writers, Nobel laureates, scientists and public health professionals, press freedom groups, Cano prize winners, and rights organizations from around the world came together in an unprecedented effort to challenge the prize, citing serious concerns about Obiang’s record of corruption and abuse.
Public figures involved in the campaign against the prize have included: Nobel laureates Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Wole Soyinka, Mario Vargas Llosa, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, and John Polanyi; author Chinua Achebe; human rights advocate Graça Machel; and over 60 professionals from Equatorial Guinea.
Critics of the prize have highlighted the contrast between the mandate of UNESCO to promote human rights along with its work to defend free expression, and the record of severe repression and official corruption that have marked Obiang’s 32-year rule. Severe restrictions on press freedom, together with self-censorship, make it difficult for citizens of Equatorial Guinea to challenge the government from inside the country over sensitive topics such as ongoing foreign investigations into the alleged corruption of Obiang and his close associates. The government has been repeatedly condemned by UN and other human rights monitors for its systematic use of torture. Recent elections have been criticized as neither free nor fair.
Oil and gas exploitation has made Equatorial Guinea the wealthiest country in sub-Saharan Africa in per capita income, yet the International Monetary Fund and others have expressed concern that government spending on social needs is low in light of its high levels of poverty. According to an analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Equatorial Guinea spends less on education as a percentage of GDP than neighboring countries such as Cameroon and Gabon.
In August 2010 Obiang's government shocked the world when it executed four dissident exiles within an hour after a summary military proceeding found them guilty of treason and attempted assassination.
The nine organizations that are calling for the prize to be revoked are:
The $3 million UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences was set up in 2008 but has never been awarded. Implementation of the prize was frozen pending further discussion in June 2010. In October, the UNESCO executive board voted to suspend it until a consensus on the matter could be reached by member states.
That action came about after prominent African figures, Latin American writers, Nobel laureates, scientists and public health professionals, press freedom groups, Cano prize winners, and rights organizations from around the world came together in an unprecedented effort to challenge the prize, citing serious concerns about Obiang’s record of corruption and abuse.
Public figures involved in the campaign against the prize have included: Nobel laureates Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, Wole Soyinka, Mario Vargas Llosa, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, and John Polanyi; author Chinua Achebe; human rights advocate Graça Machel; and over 60 professionals from Equatorial Guinea.
Critics of the prize have highlighted the contrast between the mandate of UNESCO to promote human rights along with its work to defend free expression, and the record of severe repression and official corruption that have marked Obiang’s 32-year rule. Severe restrictions on press freedom, together with self-censorship, make it difficult for citizens of Equatorial Guinea to challenge the government from inside the country over sensitive topics such as ongoing foreign investigations into the alleged corruption of Obiang and his close associates. The government has been repeatedly condemned by UN and other human rights monitors for its systematic use of torture. Recent elections have been criticized as neither free nor fair.
Oil and gas exploitation has made Equatorial Guinea the wealthiest country in sub-Saharan Africa in per capita income, yet the International Monetary Fund and others have expressed concern that government spending on social needs is low in light of its high levels of poverty. According to an analysis by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Equatorial Guinea spends less on education as a percentage of GDP than neighboring countries such as Cameroon and Gabon.
In August 2010 Obiang's government shocked the world when it executed four dissident exiles within an hour after a summary military proceeding found them guilty of treason and attempted assassination.
The nine organizations that are calling for the prize to be revoked are:
Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de España
Association Sherpa
Center for Economic and Social Rights
Committee to Protect journalists
EG Justice
Global Witness
Human Rights Watch
Media Legal Defence Initiative
Open Society Justice Initiative
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