Full Coverage: Asia and the Pacific

09/30/2007 PAHELI (People’s Audit of Health, Education and Livelihoods) takes MDGs to the local level so that ordinary residents can understand how far they have fared on their social goals. This exercise has been carried out by the NGO Pratham with support from UNDP and UNICEF in 11 of the poorest districts in India.

09/29/2007 I For India uses the home movies and reel-to-reel tape recordings sent to his family in India by Dr Yash Pal Suri, following his migration to Darlington in 1965.

09/29/2007 The recently concluded Manthan Awards 2007 brought together India’s E-content stakeholders from across the ICT arena, government, civil society, NGOs and industry to discuss the role of e-content for development to empower rural India. The high-profile event was held from September 21- 22 at the India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi.

09/29/2007 India’s first Local Area Portal (LAP) on a parliamentary constituency has been launched by Digital Empowerment Foundation. The idea is to make all data – social, cultural, historical – available to its citizens, including announcements from the local MPs and MLAs. The LAP project plans to represent every electorate cluster in the country.

09/29/2007 The southern state of Karnataka in India has set up E-Halli centres – an e-governance initiative to provide important information and services in rural areas. The centres will operate from the panchayat premises and will charge a small annual fee.

09/29/2007 India’s first Local Area Portal (LAP) on a parliamentary constituency has been launched by Digital Empowerment Foundation. The idea is to make all data – social, cultural, historical – available to its citizens, including announcements from the local MPs and MLAs. The LAP project plans to represent every electorate cluster in the country.

09/29/2007 A recent report on Afghanistan reveals that social and economic progress is still a distant dream for its people as they struggle amidst military conflict. Over six million Afghans remain hungry while 60,000 children are addicted to drugs, the Human Development Report 2007 claimed.

09/29/2007 Fleeing violence, drought, and unemployment, a growing number of Somali and Ethiopian immigrants are attempting to escape across dangerous waters, often encountering death at the hands of smugglers, the sea, or Yemeni forces, reports the UN.

09/28/2007 Le manifestazioni di questi giorni in Birmania e la dura repressione del regime - che ieri ha fatto nove morti tra dimostranti e reporter - ha posto all'attenzione dei media mondiali la situazione delle violazioni dei diritti umani ad opera del regime militare comandato dal generale Than Shwe. La giusta e necessaria solidarietà internazionale alla popolazione e ai dimostranti che oggi si è manifestata anche con il "fiocco rosso" da indossare e, in Italia, con sit-in a Roma e a Milano, non deve però far dimenticare che da vari anni diverse campagne denunciano le violazioni e chiedono di praticare il boicottaggio, di porre fine al turismo, all'importazione di materie e all'esportazione di armi, anche europee, verso la Birmania/Myanmar. La lista delle ditte è pubblica e ce ne sono molte di conosciute anche in Italia.

09/28/2007 Press freedom groups said Friday that Burma's military junta has stepped up its strategy of isolating the country, trying to reproduce the scenario of the 1988 massacres when witness accounts of the bloodshed only reached the outside world after it was over.
From: Reporters Without Borders, Burma Media Association

09/28/2007 "The role of the sons of Lord Buddha" by Maung Zarni; "Burma's hour of need" by Sholto Byrnes; "The world must act for Burma" by Zoya Phan; "Burma: the history behind the protests" by Michael Charney; "The way I see it" by Htein Lin.
From: New Statesman

09/28/2007 Boliviassa vieraileva Iranin presidentti Mahmud Ahmadineyad ja Bolivian presidentti Evo Morales solmivat liittosopimuksen, joka tähtää "maailman moninapaistamiseen" ja takaa Iranille Bolivian tuen, mikäli Yhdysvallat ryhtyy sotilaallisiin toimiin maata vastaan. Samassa yhteydessä Iran ja Bolivia solmivat laajamittaisen apu- ja kauppasopimuksen.

09/28/2007 Maan ystävien adressissa vedotaan Israelin päättäjiin, jotta ihmisoikeusrikkomukset palestiinalaisia vastaan loppuisivat.

09/28/2007 Burman kommunikaatioyhteydet ulkomaailmaan on katkaistu perjantaina. Hajanaiset raportit maasta kertovat protestien jatkumisesta ja armeijan rivien rakoilusta.

09/28/2007 Rageh Omaar travels through the city of Tehran, showing the lives of average Iranian citizens through video clips.

09/28/2007 Registration of births and a crackdown on diagnostic centres have resulted in more girls being born than boys in the southern city of Hyderabad. Its success in reversing its decade-long sex-ratio is now being considered for replication in other states by the government.

09/28/2007 Anthropologist William Beeman delves into the complexity of sexuality in Iran, revealing, for example, that it is socially acceptable for a man to have sexual relations with another man if he plays the "active" or "masculine" role in the relationship.
From: New America Media

09/28/2007 Liian monen tyttölapsen kohtalona on kuolema, ennen kuin elämä on päässyt alkuun, kirjoittaa Säde Jokivuori. Hän työskentelee tasa-arvoasioiden neuvonantajana Fida Internationalin Intian-ohjelmassa.

09/28/2007 Perinteisen länsimaisen uutiskäsityksen mukaan huono uutinen on hyvä uutinen, koska se kiinnostaa ja myy. Maailman suurimmassa muslimimaassa Indonesiassa uskalletaan kääntää asia toisinpäin ja sanoa suoraan: huono uutinen on sananmukaisesti huono – varsinkin, jos se kärjistää yhteiskunnan sisäisiä jännitteitä.

09/28/2007 The recent decision by Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka to grant citizenship to three million people who have no official identity has been hailed by the UN Refugee Agency as a ‘major breakthrough.’