"GISWatch 2013 shows that gains in women’s rights made online are not always certain or stable. While access to the internet for women has increased their participation in the social, economic and governance spheres, there is another side to these opportunities: online harassment, cyberstalking, a
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nd violence against women online all of which are on the increase globally." (www.giswatch.org, July 6, 2014)
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"Out of the twelve countries surveyed, only four have specific access to information laws. These countries are: Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe. However, a significant indication of the shifting tide on the continent is that six of the countries surveyed have some form of specific access to
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information in a Bill or parliamentary process. These countries are: Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Malawi, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia." (Page 5)
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"From the massacre of the Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee to the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, from famine in China to apartheid in South Africa, Picturing Atrocity examines a broad spectrum of photographs. Each of the essays focuses specifically on an iconic image, offering a distinct approach
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and context, in order to enable us to look again; and this time more closely at the picture. In addition, four photo-essays showcase the work of photographers involved in the making of photographs of brutality as well as the artists' own reflections on these images. Together these essays cover the historical and geographical range of atrocity photographs and respond to current concerns about such disturbing images; they probe why we as viewers feel compelled to look even when our instinct might be to look away." (Publisher description)
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"GISWatch 2012 explores how the internet is being used to ensure transparency and accountability, the challenges that civil society activists face in fighting corruption, and when the internet fails as an enabler of a transparent and fair society. The eight thematic reports and 48 country reports pu
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blished ask provocative questions such as: Is a surveillance society necessarily a bad thing if it fights corruption? And how successful have e-government programmes been in fighting corruption? They explore options for activism by youth and musicians online, as well as the art of using visual evidence to expose delusions of power. By focusing on individual cases or stories of corruption, the country reports take a practical look at the role of the internet in combating corruption at all levels." (Back cover)
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"Today, the DRC tops the African charts in the number of registered media outlets, be they print media, radio or television. In 2008, 638 publications were registered country-wide; there were 341 radio stations and 82 television stations, although TV is still an essentially urban phenomenon, given t
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he lack of access to electricity. Despite this hugely diverse media landscape, citizens in the provinces are often deprived of access to information, as the media are most concentrated in the capital city, Kinshasa. Congolese media outlets are characterized by poor content, a severe shortage of material and technical capacity, and significant sustainability problems. Journalists work in an unsafe environment, lack regular salaries and protection, and regularly struggle with threats to press freedom. The legal and regulatory framework does not provide sufficient guarantees and basic regulations to ensure that media outlets abandon their “informal” practices. The advertising market is still undeveloped and disorganized, providing little financial backing to media companies. The supposedly “public” broadcaster is the mouthpiece of the government, and the only “public service broadcaster” is Radio Okapi, a UN-based station. In such an unfavorable context, the involvement of donors has become increasingly important over the last 20 years. The reasons why donors have intervened and continue to support the media sector are tied to the country’s political situation. The media have thus been supported for a variety of reasons: from 1990 to 1997: to encourage new democratic media freedoms; from 2000 to 2004: to promote a return to peace and reconstruction during negotiations to solve the conflict; from 2004 to 2007: to enable the media to play their part during the electoral process, as the first democratic elections during the last 40 years took place in 2006; from 2007 to 2011: to establish a solid and responsible press likely to take part in the consolidation of democracy. Reaching $80 million over the past ten years, media support by donors and operators has varied, essentially covering five types of activities: the creation of “neutral” and “apolitical” media and content (a recurring strategy in post-conflict countries); direct support (funds or equipment) for a number of outlets; media staff training; strengthening of the sector’s professional organizations and associations; consolidation of public institutions to organize the sector (including regulation and legal reform). Each of these types of interventions has generated both positive impacts and negative effects on individual journalists, newsrooms, media outlets and local organizations in the media sector. Beneficiaries, donors, and INGOs have all advanced their own critiques regarding the ways in which media support initiatives have been designed, implemented and assessed so far. They also make suggestions about how to improve media support in the future, to make it more consistent with the needs of the local Congolese media." (Executive summary, page 6-7
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"missio setzt sich im Rahmen der Aktion Schutzengel „Für Familien in Not. Weltweit“ mit einer Unterschriftenaktion für saubere Handys dafür ein, dass führende Handyhersteller sicherstellen, dass ihre Handys kein Coltan aus Konfliktregionen der Demokratischen Republik Kongo verwenden, mit dem
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der Krieg finanziert wird. In diesem Hintergrundpapier wird die Bedeutung des Erzes Coltan bzw. Tantal beschrieben, der Zusammenhang mit dem Bürgerkrieg in diesem Land verdeutlicht und vor allem politische Rahmenbedingungen für sichere Herkunftsnachweise vorgestellt. Ziel aller Aktionen darf keinesfalls der Boykott des Rohstoffes sein. Es geht um den kontrollierbar zu machenden Nachweis der Handyunternehmen, dass vom Verkauf von Coltan keine Milizen, Rebellengruppen etc. profitieren. Um dies zu erreichen, bedarf es einer engen Kooperation aller am Abbau, an der Zulieferung, der Verarbeitung und des Verkaufs beteiligten Akteure." (Einführung)
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"This article pinpoints the various obstacles that prevent the emergence of genuine media pluralism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and aims to clarify the sense and/or senselessness of journalistic practices across the Congolese media landscape. The contrast between norms and actual practi
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ces constitutes a ‘crisis’ of Congolese journalism. It is argued that these practices are essentially ‘transgressive’, in that that they violate conventional, professional ethical norms. ‘Transgressive’ journalism practices are seen as a more or less regulated means of contravening the profession's official canons. This article identifies the principles and values that intervene in the moral decision-making process of journalists." (Abstract)
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"In this report, Marie-Soleil Frère surveys the news landscapes of DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda. Marshaling an impressive range of data, she examines patterns of production and consumption, the often grim realities of law and regulation, the embryonic state of media policy, the role of donors, and the
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positive impact of online platforms. Most media outlets now have an online presence. SMS has become a basic tool for reporters. Interactivity gives voice to increasing numbers of listeners. The ease of digital archiving makes it possible to create a collective media “memory” for the first time. Chinese businesses are winning tenders for infrastructure projects. Above all, the unstoppable flow of digitized information enables ever more people to learn about current events and available services. “The average news consumer in Central Africa will soon leap to new opportunities,” Frère predicts, “without having to pass through the intermediate stages of a personal computer and a fixed telephone line.” The report ends with a set of practical recommendations relating to infrastructure, strategies to reduce access costs for journalists and the public, education and professionalization, donor activity, governance, regulation, and media management." (Page 2)
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"Considerable attention has been focused on the opportunities presented by new information and communication technologies for development (“ICT4D”) and for government (“ICT4GOV”). The purpose of this report is to analyze their impact on human rights (“ICT4HR”). As Philip Alston, the form
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er Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, explained in a report to the General Assembly: “New technologies offer a great many potential solutions to some of [the] problems [in human rights fact-inding], and offer signiicant improvements in existing factinding methodologies.” He notes, however, that there has been “[l]ittle sustained work . . . by the human rights community as a whole to apply existing technologies or to study their potential uses and problems.” This report aims to remedy that gap. Using case studies largely from three countries, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Dominican Republic, the report considers both the opportunities and risks presented by new technologies for human rights. The report concludes there are beneits that can be realized through the deployment of new technologies in human rights projects. New technologies offer the potential to reduce the cost of collecting information about human rights issues and to increase participation in human rights advocacy efforts. Each of these possible beneits, however, gives rise to new risks and challenges. Although new technologies can reduce the cost of information gathering, it can be dificult to ensure the accuracy of the information generated, and the associated volume can make it challenging and expensive to identify relevant data. There is also no guarantee that increased participation or information will be translated into action or concrete outcomes for the community." (Executive summary)
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"In Niger and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the rate at which listeners’ clubs are being formed and the fact that the approach is now being reproduced in various settings are indications of the success of this strategy and the extent to which it is proving sustainable. In South Kivu, for
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example, a new formula has been tested with excellent results: the introduction of Farmer Field and Life Schools has been supported by existing community listeners’ clubs. In addition, a process for evaluating the impact of the clubs has revealed an unexpected but promising factor: the improved capacity of club members to engage in more formal rural structures. In this sense, the clubs are paving the way for greater participation of women in producers’ organizations and rural cooperatives. The success of the clubs has led to the setting up of new projects in Burundi, Senegal, Mauritania and the DRC (Oriental Province). At the request of various organizations and agencies, FAO-Dimitra is helping to implement these projects based on gender sensitive participatory methodologies that are flexible and well adapted, with a goal that remains unchanged: the empowerment of men and women in a rural environment." (Editorial, page 2)
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"Cette publication fait le récit de l’expérience unique des clubs d’écoute communautaires mis en place au Niger et en République démocratique du Congo par la FAO-Dimitra et ses partenaires. Mécanismes d’information et de communication centrés sur l’action, ces clubs ont remporté un s
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uccès tel que Dimitra a souhaité partager l’expérience. Le premier chapitre présente de façon succincte les clubs d’écoute communautaires, leur finalité, leur fonctionnement interne et les résultats obtenus. Le deuxième chapitre inscrit son récit au plus proche des initiatives des communautés, en donnant la parole aux protagonistes et en racontant la création des clubs d’écoute dans les deux pays. Le troisième chapitre fournit des orientations plus pratiques sur les étapes de création des clubs d’écoute communautaires." (Dos de couverture)
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"This publication is particularly relevant for radio stations intending to establish listeners' clubs. It presents the experience of community listeners' clubs established in the mid-2000s in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger by the FAO and its partners, and the results that these initiativ
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es produced. It shows that listeners' clubs proved to be an effective means for isolated rural communities to access information and engage in participatory communication. The clubs especially enabled women to assume a pro-active role in the development of their community and to receive recognition for doing so. The last chapter of the publication presents guidelines for creating and maintaining community listeners' clubs, and the main success factors to be considered." (CAMECO Update 1-2012)
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"In the year of the Arab uprisings Global Information Society Watch 2011 investigates how governments and internet and mobile phone companies are trying to restrict freedom online – and how citizens are responding to this using the very same technologies. Everyone is familiar with the stories of E
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gypt and Tunisia. GISWatch authors tell these and other lesser-known stories from more than 60 countries. Stories about: Prison conditions in Argentina - prisoners are using the internet to protest living conditions and demand respect for their rights; Torture in Indonesia - the torture of two West Papuan farmers was recorded on a mobile phone and leaked to the internet, the video spread to well-known human rights sites sparking public outrage and a formal investigation by the authorities; The tsunami in Japan - citizens used social media to share actionable information during the devastating tsunami, and in the aftermath online discussions contradicted misleading reports coming from state authorities. GISWatch also includes thematic reports and an introduction from Frank La Rue, Un special rapporteur." (Back cover)
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