The Drum Beat 128 - Communication News, Development News, Base Line 11/16 /01 - 01/18/02

This Drum Beat pulls together compelling stories from The C. I. Home Page - from Nov 16 2001 to Jan 18 2002. This 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

***

COMMUNICATION NEWS

1. Telecentres for Refugees

Nov 15 2001 allafrica.com. Refugees in camps in Tanzania will soon be able to communicate with their far-flung relatives from purpose-built telecommunications centres installed in or near their camps. The International Telecommunications Union in partnership with UNHCR and UNESCO, will provide basic voice, fax and internet connections from 3 community telecentres in and around refugee camps along northwestern border of Tanzania.

2. Peace Journalism in Rural Colombia

Nov 16, 2001 IDRC. In response to guerrilla campaigns, military counterstrikes, and the war on the drug trade, Colombian social organisations and community radio stations have united to form SIPAZ - Sistema Nacional de Comunicación para la Paz. SIPAZ encourages the exchange of news fostering peace, tolerance and respect for nature. It produces a news programme from a hub of 10 centres linked via Internet to 42 community radio stations and 2 local television stations.

3. Promoting Sustainable Development and Southern Voices Online

Nov 1 2001 iConnect online. OneWorld International has launched a daily news service on Yahoo! News. The sources for the stories and links are NGOs. OneWorld aims to increase the visibility of its 1000 partner organizations, particularly those from the South. It is the first daily non-profit world news syndication on a major corporate Web portal. The news service focuses on events relating to human rights, world poverty, social justice, the environment and sustainable development.

4. Tough Times Ahead for Telecommunications in African Countries

Dec 2 2001 Balancing Act. African countries preparing to sell telecommunication licenses could struggle to find anyone interested in the opportunity, says the International Telecommunication Union. Given the global recession in the telecoms industry the chance of attracting investors for more cellular networks is bleak and even worse for countries offering fixed line licenses. "Most African countries probably could not give away, let alone sell, fixed-line licenses," it said.

5. Computers for the People in Brazil

Jan 8 2002 Benton Communication Related Headlines. Brazilian television personality and tycoon Silvio Santos is helping to bridge the digital divide by promoting a subsidised computer industry package which includes a PC, printer and software. Despite such programmes, the hey feel are 'sidelined by governments and the international community, though they bear the brunt of the disease and have much to contribute.' YAA has associates in 30 African nations and is supported by chapters at universities in Europe and the US. To subscribe to YAA?s newsletter e-mail yaa-newsletter-request@yaids.org with the word 'subscribe' in the body of the message.

9. Grameen Bank Plagued by Debt Problems

Dec 12 2001 Infochange. The Grameen Bank has a formidable reputation in microcredit but recent years have seen set backs. Its loan portfolio increased in the early 1990s, but has shrunk to 1996 levels, profits have declined 85% and nearly 19% of loans are overdue. A former director says: ?borrower groups have become lobbying groups... An entire group would say, unless you pay this person 5,000 taka we will all stop paying.?

10. Exchanging Guns for Radios in Niger

Dec 28 2001 Freeplay Foundation. The Freeplay Foundation along with the UNDP and the government of Niger have donated over 12,000 wind-up, battery free radios that will be used to encourage Nigerienes to hand in illicit guns. The radios will be given to rural communities as they return illegal guns to the government for decommissioning. The programme is also designed to promote community radio and train youth in radio repair.

***>

BASE LINE

11. Trading Diamonds for Guns

Source: IDRC Reports

• In 2000, the international diamond industry produced more than 120 million carats of rough diamonds with a market value of US $7.5 billion.
• This converts into 70 million pieces of jewellery worth close to US $58 billion.
• Rebel armies in Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, are conservatively estimated by De Beers to traffic in about 4% of world production.
• 4% of $7.5 billion is $525 million - enough to buy a lot of weapons.

12. Poverty in the Commonwealth of Independent States Since 1989 (PDF file)

Source: A Decade of Transition, Report by the Monee Project UNICEF

• 410 million people live in the 27 countries of the CIS.
• On average income fell by 30% between 1989 and 1999.
• Nearly 18 million children live in households with incomes lower than $2.15 per person per day.
• There were 3.2 million 'excess deaths' - deaths over what would have been expected using 1989 mortality rates - between 1990 and 1999.
• Graduation from lower secondary school fell from 96% in 1989 to 83% in 1997.

13. Maternal Mortality

Source: UNICEF: The State of the World's Children 2002

• 515,000 women die every year because of pregnancy and childbirth.
• In 2000, there were 400 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
• Lifetime chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth:
  
  Sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 13
  
  Least Developed Countries, 1 in 16
  
  World, 1 in 75
  
  CEE/CIS & Baltic States, 1 in 797
  
  Industrialized countries, 1 in 4,085

***

This issue compiled by Chris Morry cmorry@comminit.com

***

The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.


Please send material for The Drum Beat to the Editor - Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com


To reproduce any portion of The Drum Beat, see our policy.


To subscribe, click here.