The Drum Beat 114 - Communication News, Development News, Base Line (8/2 - 9/27)

Join the Email Debate on HIV/AIDS Communication & Evaluation

You are invited to participate in an online debate on the future of HIV/AIDS Communication, and particularly the challenges of evaluation in this field. The debate is designed particularly to help inform the agenda and discussions of a forthcoming meeting of the Communication for Development Roundtable, being organised by UNFPA in association with UNESCO and the Rockefeller Foundation and facilitated by the Panos Institute. This debate will be held over a period of five weeks and is hosted by The Communication Initiative.

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This Drum Beat pulls together compelling stories from The C. I. Home Page from Aug 2 to Sept 27 2001. The Home Page includes 3 sections - Development News, Communication News and Base Line. We find relevant information, usually from sources that you won’t see in the mainstream media. Links are provided for more information. Stories change every Tuesday and Friday.

Please take a look, let us know what you think and send us your stories and information. Contact cmorry@comminit.com

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COMMUNICATION NEWS

1. Do Environmental Films Help the Environment? - July 27 2001 MediaRights.org. Karen Hirsch writes about how environmentalists are making video and film to stimulate activism for a cleaner planet. Using portraits of impassioned activist-producers, she demonstrates how independent film and video can galvanize public opinion on the environment. Whether made by citizens shooting wobbly VHS footage or award-winning filmmakers, Hirsch argues video and film are essential tools for the environmental movement.

2. Young Men & HIV: Culture, Poverty & Sexual Risk - Aug 2 2001 Panos. This new report, jointly published by Panos and UNAIDS, argues for the need to target young men in the ongoing battle against HIV/AIDS. The Report is now available online at http://www.panos.org.uk and can be downloaded as a PDF file. Printed copies are available free to the media and to resource-poor NGO's - contact kellyh@panoslondon.org.uk to order free copies. Copies otherwise available for £5.00 - contact colletteb@panoslondon.org.uk

3. 'Diaries' Sought to Share the Impacts of the Attacks on the US on People Around the World - Sept 17 2001 Out There News. 'Whether you're in NYC trying to come to terms with the attack, an Afghan farmer terrified that retaliation will wipe you out, a Palestinian worried about what the Israelis will do while diplomatic backs are turned, or a Muslim living in a Western country fearing a new wave of prejudice' - Out There News would like you to keep and share your thoughts in a diary about how the attacks have and will effect you. E-mail contributions to diaryroom@outtherenews.com

4. Interview with the American Public - Sept 19 2001 Foreign Policy magasine has prepared an 'interview' with the American public that looks at how they view foreign policy, the UN, global trade, foreign aid and threats to the US. They found that American opinion defies easy categorisation because ‘they refuse to submit to simplistic choices’. Work is currently underway on a report covering the public's attitudes toward terrorism over the last decade and its reaction to the current crisis.

5. Talking With Kids About the News - Talking With Kids. As adults 'The News' is a primary source for information about the world. Regardless of its format - newspaper, TV, radio, or Web site, graphic footage and accounts of the world are delivered 24 hours a day. This constant barrage can be overwhelming for adults, but it can be especially confusing and frightening for young children. Talking with Kids About the News - presents ideas on how to discuss difficult news with children and help them to understand it in context.

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DEVELOPMENT NEWS

6. Chocolate Industry Prepares to Fight 'Slave-free' Labels - Aug 1 2001 Child Labour News Service. The chocolate industry and its allies are mounting an intense lobbying campaign to fight off U.S. legislation that would lead to 'slave free' labels for their products. The proposed legislation is a response to a Knight Ridder investigation that found that some boys as young as 11 are sold or tricked into slavery to harvest cocoa beans in Ivory Coast, which supplies 43% of U.S. cocoa.

7. China's 'Vast' Blood Donor AIDS Crisis Deepens - Aug 9 2001 CBC News. Half the populations of some villages in China's central provinces are said to be dead or dying from AIDS. While the government has finally admitted the problem exists, critics say the move is cosmetic. Up to 500,000 people were infected with HIV in the mid-to-late 1990s by selling their plasma to government run blood banks which pooled donated blood, removed the plasma, then injected the blood back into the donors. See also Development News Archives

8. A World of Overlapping Communities of Fate - Sept 14 2001 Opendemocracy. David Held, a leading theorist of globalisation looks at the new century’s first defining moment. Instead of further arbitrary violence, he calls for an International Commission on global terrorism modelled on the Nuremberg and Tokyo war tribunals and working under the authority of a revitalised UN. Held believes that we need to 'reframe human activity and entrench it in law, rights and responsibilities'. Comments on his views are welcome at Open Democracy

9. Landmark Victory for Indians in International Human Rights Case Against Nicaragua - Sept 17 2001 Indian Law Resource Centre. The Mayagna Indian community of Awas Tingni has won a major legal battle against the Government of Nicaragua. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has declared that Nicaragua violated the human rights of the Awas Tingni Community and ordered the government to recognize and protect the community’s legal rights to its traditional lands, natural resources, and environment. The court’s decision has far-reaching implications and could spark many similar disputes across the Americas.

10. Sept 11: Global Views from Women - Sept 25 2001 Women's GlobalNet. This newsletter contains quotes from women around the world commenting on 'the need for immediate and long-term solutions in an unequal world capable of producing such violent acts of rage'. They also 'reflect the growing determination of women to be part of the decision-making processes that will shape our next steps'. Another source of reflective women's voices on Sept 11 and its aftermath can be found at Peace Women

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BASE LINE

11. Afghanistan - Source: Relief Web Deutsche Presse Agentur - U.N's. food agency says 5 million Afghanis at risk of starvation

• 5 million Afghanis (about 20% of the population) are at risk of starvation this winter and no food aid is now getting into the country with the pull out of UN World Food Programme personnel.
   
• There are 1.5 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan and a further 1.5 million in Iran.
   
• About 600,000 Afghanis are displaced within their own country.
   
• 85% of the population depend on agriculture for their livelihood.
   
• 70% are regarded as malnourished.
   
• As many as 20% of children in certain drought-affected districts die before they are 5 and the average life expectancy is 40.

12. Small Arms - Key Facts
Source: IWTC Women's GlobalNet #174

• 500 million small arms and light weapons exist in the world.
   
• 40% of these are illegal. 
   
• 500,000 - 700,000 people are killed each year by small arms and light weapons - more than the number who died in of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 
   
• There are no global laws to control the flow of weapons to drug dealers, terrorists or areas of conflict.

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This issue compiled by Chris Morry cmorry@comminit.com

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