I strongly believe that there is a correlation in the societies that take care of their environments and how they are sensitive in addressing gender issues. The reverse is true for societies that are not keen in conserving thier surrounds.

I have posted this article for the sake of my argument:

Let women ‘turn on’ the computer
Published on September 15, 2007, 12:00 am
By Dennitah Ghati
During the past decade, global communications have changed dramatically.
Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are now vital components of life. For the first time, there is an opportunity for those outside the centre of power to have a say in decision-making.
Now, people living in remote villages can bring their perspectives, viewpoints, and experience to the global marketplace of ideas and knowledge.
The most prominent and revolutionary feature of ICTs is their ability to eliminate the barriers of time and space, which have effectively silenced millions of people.
However, if Africans, and especially women and girls are to become fully integrated into the global communication revolution, they require basic level of technical knowledge. More dauntingly, they need full commitment to their development.
Given the capacity of ICTs to access, transfer and apply knowledge and information to almost every aspect of human engagement, women are increasingly being recognised for their potential to carry new global knowledge base economy. The continuous growth of new technologies and their application to social, economic and political processes is creating new opportunities that could enhance quality of life. These days there is e-learning, e-commerce, e-governance and e-everything! These are new concepts that are revolutionising the continent. Unfortunately it is becoming apparent that the benefits of these new developments are not evenly distributed within countries, and between genders.
Women who form a large chunk of the rural poor and illiterate in a developing country like Kenya, face more restrictions than men in the use of ICTs.
Domestic obligations and various social barriers often prevent women from grasping opportunities of new technologies, particularly if the activity involves leaving home, spending household income, or interacting with men in socially complex situations.
With the high poverty levels, women are busy looking for their families’ next bread, and have no time for technologies. There is also lack of interest in investing resources directed at meeting the needs of women. The great potential of ICTs therefore, remains inaccessible to many women and girls.
Similarly, the ICT profession around the world is predominantly male. In schools, the number of girls who take keen interest in ‘tough’ subjects like maths, chemistry or physics is also low.
A research, "Gender Digital Divide in Francophone Africa", indicates that the girl youth has one chance in three less than boys to benefit from the African Information Society. It is even daunting for the girl child in war torn countries.
The forthcoming UN Global Forum on Youth and ICT4D in Geneva, Switzerland, will focus on actively engaging youth in debates and discussions with policy makers.
Many hope girls and ICT will be one of the agendas.
The African Network for Health Knowledge Management & Communication (AfriAfya) in Kenya has incorporated deliberate efforts to promote equal gender representation in all its ICT related programming.
Among the most important approaches to overcome women’s access and use of ICTs is to ensure a gender perspective in ICT based projects.
In addition, technologies sensitive to women’s needs should be designed. Deeper research is needed to determine the status of women in the ICT sector and the gender impact of ICT policy development, among others.
Special efforts must be made for over 85 per cent of youth in Africa to establish connectivity. Given the rapid developments in wireless technology that has helped overcome distance and topography, at a reasonable cost.
Though there is no consensus that ICTs have an immediate role in African development, the gender divide is a key facet. Hence policy-makers and ICT stakeholders should take the lead and consider cultural aspects of each community.
It is unfortunate even as many countries develop their information and technology policies a gender perspective is largely absent.
Lastly, the UN, policy makers, development partners and other stakeholders should put pressure on African governments to engender their ICT policies if Africa is to develop and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The writer, a Ford Foundation IFP Kenya alumni works for the African Network for Health Knowledge Management & Communication, Nairobi.
Adapted from Standard Newspaper

-- http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143974533

Reiterating The Message: DONT HURT THE ENVIRONMENTS

Nobel laureate, Prof Wangari Maathai, has cautioned political aspirants against using the environment for personal ends.

She said politicians should not encourage encroachment on forests and wetlands to win votes.

"The long term common good should not be sacrificed for the convenience of short term political gains," she said.


Mr Peter Slinn from the United Kingdom follows proceedings at the close of the 15th Commonwealth Law Conference at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. Picture by Martin Mukangu

Maathai was speaking at the closure of the 15th Commonwealth Law Conference at Kenyatta International Conference Centre yesterday.

She said Africa should be more wary of climate change since most of its people still depend on natural resources.

Maathai called on African governments to help conservation efforts in the face of increasing climate change.

She said big companies should not be allowed to degrade the environment of poor nations in exchange for jobs.

"It is the responsibility of the Government to protect its citizens. A government not willing to protect the environment is committing its future generations to misery and death," she said.

Maathai said that she would not quit politics since it gave her an opportunity to fight for the environment from Parliament.

"I can do more for the environment from inside instead of complaining from outside," she said.

She thanked the UK Government for donating 50 million pounds towards the protection of the Congo forest for which she is a goodwill ambassador.

Congo forest is second largest in the world after the Amazon.

She said the forest played a crucial role in cleaning the air.

Maathai told the delegates to "I thank every green tree, they encountered, amid applause.

"Do not just walk by when you see a plant, stop and say thank you," she said.

Maathai also called on the Government to make manufacturers of thin plastics pay for degrading the environment.

"The Government has not bothered to make manufacturers of thin plastics bags clean up the environment," she said.

She told the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to make use of the law that curbs degradation of the environment.


Article adapted from: http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143974519

Of Ozono Layer

Smoke billows from a factory on the outskirts of Shenyang in China’s Liaoning province. A big challenge for governments meeting in Montreal is how the treaty can contribute even more to combating climate change.

14-September-2007: It was 1987. The Soviet Union launched the Mir Space Station, the world population reached five billion, Oscar Arias Sanchez won the Nobel Peace Prize and Paul Simon’s Graceland was named record of the year. But perhaps the key event occurred in Canada, when the world’s nations agreed to the Montreal Protocol to repair and protect the Earth’s protective ozone layer.

The treaty is perhaps the single most successful international environmental agreement ever made. It generates science and deploys funds to assist developing countries to phase out ozone damaging chemicals, like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons. But its impact stretches beyond safeguarding public health from excessive ultra violet rays from the sun.

It is now clear that — as ozone depleting substances are also often powerful greenhouse gases — the treaty has also spared the planet and its people much global warming. Above all, it is a symbol of how, when faced with a serious international threat, nations can set aside differences and make common cause under the United Nations.

Later this month, governments will meet in Montreal and mark the Protocol’s 20th anniversary and the past, present — and also perhaps future —achievements of those who have made it a success. Future because — though 95 per cent of the substances it controls have been phased out — the remaining five per cent may prove troublesome.

Getting rid of them is necessary for the ozone layer’s full recovery.Meanwhile, some ozone depleting chemicals are also being increasingly employed in ways that fall outside the treaty’s provisions. An example is methyl bromide, being used not as a controlled pesticide but as an uncontrolled fumigant on wooden pallets in international shipments. UNEP’s involvement in the issue began in 1977, following rising disquiet over links between CFCs— once common in products like hairs prays — and damage to the Earth’s protective ozone layer.

The big catalyst for action came when the British Antarctic Survey found an ozone hole over Antarctica in 1985. Remarkably, governments acted swiftly to agree on the treaty once the science was accepted. Just as important, industry — once provided with incontrovertible evidence — also moved fast to provide and use alternatives. The Multilateral Fund — which has provided well over $1.3 billion in funding for developing country phase outs — is another key to success.

This summer China shut down five plants, putting it two and a half years ahead of the developing countries’ 2010 deadline for phasing out CFCs and halons. A big challenge for governments meeting in Montreal is how the treaty can contribute even more to combating climate change. Scientists from the Netherlands and the United States estimate that, by 2010, phasing out CFCs and other ozone depleting substances will save the equivalent of 11 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

This compares to a cut of just one gigatonne over 1990 levels mandated under the Kyoto Protocol, or two gigatonnes from what the 2010 levels would be if emissions have been allowed to grow unchecked. New assessments indicate that the Protocol could achieve even more since some of the alternative chemicals to CFCs, such as HCFCs also have climate change impacts.

These suggest that a combination of accelerated freeze and phase-out, the introduction of more climate-friendly products and relatively small changes in industrial practices could cumulatively cut the equivalent of between around 18 gigatonnes to 25 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide over the coming decades.A new set of calculations, just produced by the Montreal Protocol’s Technology and Economic Assessment Panel, suggests perhaps even bigger benefits with cumulative reductions equivalent to close to 40 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide. A raft of proposals to accelerate a freeze and bring forward a phase out of HCFCs by around a decade are being submitted to the 19th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol for approval.

Interestingly, they represent the determination of both developed and developing countries to maximize the climate combating potential of the ozone treaty countries from Africa, Latin America, Europe and North America among the proponents.

These developments come amid an increasing political momentum in 2007 to realise ever deeper cuts in greenhouse gases. It follows a series of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that have put a full stop behind the science — climate change is happening, it is unequivocal, say the more than 2,000 scientists. The IPCC has also spotlighted the likely and sobering impacts from the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas to more frequent and more intense floods from Bangladesh to New York.The IPCC has also sounded a note of cautious optimism — it will not cost the Earth to save it, perhaps 0.1 per cent of global GDP annually for 30 years.Some of the “quickest wins” include accelerating energy efficiency in buildings in rapidly developing regions such as Asia and a global phase out of old energy guzzling light bulbs in favour of compact fluorescent ones.

An accelerated freeze and phase out of HCFCs now represents another of those “quick wins” which needs to be more widely understood and supported. It is certainly a message that UNEP will be taking on from Montreal to New York only days later. Here Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary General, is hosting a High Level Event on climate change with Heads of State.


The climate achievements and the future climate benefits of the ozone protection treaty offers a clear illustration to world leaders that action on climate change is do-able and possible on a far wider front than may be commonly perceived.It is the kind of confidence building across continents and across varying economic and national interests, which can also assist in delivering a successful outcome at the crucial climate convention negotiations in Bali in December.

So the story of the Montreal Protocol has not yet reached its final chapter. There is much more to do and wider benefits to be harvested. But it has already achieved much to celebrate, putting the ozone layer on the road to recovery and helping to slow the pace of climate change.Experts calculate that - without the decisions taken 20 years ago – atmospheric levels of ozone depleting substances would have increased tenfold by 2050, leading to up to 20 million more cases of skin cancer and 130 million more cases of eye cataracts, not to speak of damage to human immune systems, wildlife and agriculture.

Its continued success, politically and financially, must be assured.Steiner is the UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UNEP.

Story adapted from : Kenya's Business Daily Africa ( http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3026&Itemid=5821)

How Wangare Mathai Sees It

In this article, which appeared in the Kenya's Business Daily Africa -Sep. 14th 2007, the first Kenyan Nobel Price winner had this to say .........


Good governance means justice and equity for all

Written by Prof. Wangari Maathai
Prof. Wangari Maathai
14-September-2007: When the Norwegian Nobel Committee honoured me with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, it intended to send a new and historic message to the world: to rethink peace and security.

It wanted to challenge the world to discover the close linkage between good governance, sustainable management of resources, and peace. In managing our resources, we need to realise that they are limited and need to be managed more sustainably, responsibly, and accountably. Sustainable management of the resources is only possible if we practice good governance, which calls for respect for the rule of law, respect for human rights, a willingness to give space and a voice to the weak and the more vulnerablein our societies; that we respect the voice of the minority, even while accepting the decision of the majority, and respect diversity.


Good governance seeks justice and equity for all irrespective of race, religion, gender, and any other parameters, which man uses to discriminate and exclude. Good governance is indeed inclusive and seeks participatory democracy.


We call for the strengthening of institutions, such as the United Nations and its many organs, to restrain strong nations so that they do not walk all over the weak ones. Security of nations at the global level is as important as security of individuals within the national boundaries. And for individuals, as well for the nations, if they are not secure, no one is secure.


This is true whether the threat comes from nuclear power or an AK-47. When we manage our resources sustainably and practice good governance we deliberately and consciously promote cultures of peace, which include the willingness to dialogue and make genuine efforts for healing and reconciliation, especially where there has been misunderstanding, loss of trust, and even conflict. Whenever we fail to nurture these three themes, conflict becomes inevitable.


We continue to have problems in the Darfur region of Sudan, Somalia, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, and many other corners of the African continent. All of the conflicts can be traced to failure in governance and responsible and accountable management of resources, and the failure to cultivate cultures of peace, especially engaging in dialogue and reconciliation.


Inequities, both national and international, are largely responsible for poverty and all its manifestations. Below the thin layer of racial and ethnic chauvinism, religion, and politics, the real reason for many conflicts is the struggle for the access to and control of the limited resources on our planet.


Prof Maathai is a 2004 Nobel Prize winner, environmentalist and politician.


A good number of African leaders have recognized the need for good governance in Africa. This is because, despite all the resources in Africa, development continues to lag behind due to lack of peace and sustainable management of resources. Corruption and mismanagement of resources frustrate development and exacerbate poverty.


At the African Union leaders are encouraging each other to deliberately and consciously promote good governance and peace and give development a chance. I have also been requested by the African Union to preside over the mobilization of theAfrican Civil Society in order to form a forum, which will advise the Union on how to manage African affairs more justly and responsibly.



We all know that weak civil societies are unable to hold their leaders responsible and accountable. Therefore, strengthening civil society would also strengthen the democratization process.

LINKS: http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3025&Itemid=5821

POLITICS POSE DANGER TO OUR ENVIORNMENT

The word politics conjures, perhaps to many Kenyans like me, one very specific thing: politicians who are MPs/or Ministers, can't make any meaningful debates in the tall house in Nairobi with a clock, driving huge fuel guzzlers with money that has been stolen from the Kenyan coffers etc.

Politics, thus, is majorly associated to politicians.

I will give a limited definition found from the internet for this word, politics, as being, "In the broad sense of the word politics regards power relationships, while in the narrow sense of the word it means electoral politics and the processes by which groups of people make decisions."1

Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia adds that, politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. Corporate, academic, and religious groups qualify as groups. And they do make certain decisions aimed at improving their activities; hence they are also political institutions in that sense - in that sense.

Having said that, I am interested in pointing out that, I fear that, virtually all around the world, politics have been the major cause of environmental damage.

For example, in Kenya, politicians have had a love lust for grabbing forest lands converting them to commercial residential estates.

The forest cover has, therefore, plummeted alarming levels. More land surfaces are bare and exposed to agents of soil erosion which lead to ugly looking landscapes, looked at literally, but grossly, filled up streams and rivers, and changes in rain patterns have long term effects!

For driving big fuel guzzles which emits poisonous co2 into the atmosphere, our politicians are for sure contributing to global warming. (I will draft a cycle to this effect in my other coming articles).

I would like to judge the politicians for hurting the environment. Help me raise the points.

I am waiting to hear from you, hoo!




Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics

Animals and plants, which would you keep?

When I was about six years old, my grandpa had a very large heard of cattle - about 500 cows.

Leading a normadic and substance farming in what used to be vast planes of Kuria land, in Kenya bordering Maasai Mara, he would roam with his heard far-away in search of greener and fresh pastures.

Substance crops such as cassava, Katumani maize, and groundnut, he would later tell, used to act as a hindrance to his free mobilty of his healthy and fattened animals.

As years progressed, keeping a huge animal population became a nightmare, not only to him but also many other kins and tribes men Kuria and Ikwabe Re Kuria (near Maasai Mara Park). Lifelihood and somone's wealth devepened and was tied to these four- legged creatures.

Gradually, human populations increased gradually. Many structures - homesteads were build.

VEGETATION covers were mercilessly and wantonly "destroyed" for various reasons. For many trees, they were fell down to make posts for contructing traditional food storage granaries, houses and semi-houses.

Open, vast green fields were devoured by ox-ploughs, moulded into farmlands producing foodstuffs.

This was not long ago. Just a while ago. What I would call the infamous "Nyayo Era".

Unfortunately, forests are intermittendly being destroyed and hurt in what is currently "percerved as "grabbing the forests".

I am emancipated with anger that, the beautiful green lands I grew up seeing in the villages are no longer "alive". I am saddened that there are no more vast, open grasslands.

Everywhere I go, there are fences, structures and what not what. The once siren environments are a mess with chimming noises from flour mills, hooting cars - looking for passengers, dust from untarmacked roads.Chaos! it is chaos! It is pollution everywhere. Water, land and air pollution. Modern ways of live, tools and other accessories used by mankind are ensuring the planet earth is choked "sawa sawa" ( properly).

This is the ICT generation in the "green lands of Africa". "Things fall a part"! They are so apart in politics, poverty, diseases, hunger and civial wars. Secular is more sweet than holy.

Animals and plants, which shall we keep?