CLIMATE NEWS NETWORK AFRICA

The International Year of Sanitation (IYS) has officially been launched, and the need to accelerate progress on global sanitation is more urgent than ever. As part of its ongoing efforts to address the growing sanitation crisis, WSSCC is launching a new WASH campaign. The key message of the 2003 campaign, "Hurry up! 2.4 billion people want to use the toilet.”, (referring to the number of people who lack access to adequate sanitation), remains the core of the new WASH materials. Sadly, the number of people without adequate sanitation has increased. If 2.4 billion people were “waiting to use the toilet” in 2003, that number stands at 2.6 billion today. The new set of WASH advocacy materials supports the broader goal of the IYS of raising awareness about the global sanitation crisis. The posters, postcards and stickers are designed to support WASH advocacy initiatives carried out by WSSCC's national coordinators, members and partners at the global level and at the country level. ...

Internet Governance A) Background. 2 B) The meaning of “Internet Governance”. 2 C) Issues at stake. 3 D) UNESCO’s mandate and principles and their link to Internet Governance. 3 E) UNESCO’s role in the debate over Internet Governance. 3 Preamble The Internet is a major opportunity to improve free flow of information and ideas throughout the world. Internet governance mechanisms should be based on the principle of “openness”, encompassing interoperability, freedom of expression in Knowledge Societies and measures to resist any attempt to censor content. There should be no changes in Internet governance mechanisms that impede the free flow of information and ideas on the Internet. The effect of these mechanisms should be to enable greater use of the Internet by citizens with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. A) Background 1. At the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva in December 2003, Governments requested the UN Secretary...

From November 25 to December 10th, the Women's International Network of the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC-WIN) will highlight the 16 days of activism against gender violence with a second Annual Internet campaign. This year, the theme of the broadcast will be: *Demanding Implementation, Challenging Obstacles: End Violence against Women*. The campaign will be broadcasted at www.amarc.org/16days http://www.amarc.org/16days ** International human rights treaties and declarations created within the United Nations that address violence against women and require States to take action include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW, 1979), Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW, 1993), Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995), Statute of the International Criminal Court (Rome Statute, 1998), Millennium Declaration (2000) and Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and secur...

Reuters and Nokia Research Center have teamed up to advance the usage of mobile journalism with the release of a new mobile toolkit and reporting try-out. Although the initiative is currently aimed at professional reporters, the project has implications for citizen journalists around the world. In a trial that began over the summer, Reuters journalists were given a lightweight " mobile toolkit " that included a Nokia N95 mobile phone, a tripod, a folding bluetooth keyboard, a Sony microphone, and Power Monkeys. The Power Monkey Explorer was used in Senegal and allowed the phone to be charged using solar power. The toolkit also includes text editing and multimedia capabilities. According to Nokia, "metadata facilities" combine everything that the phone already knows about the story, such as GPS location, time, date and other information. The toolkit allows journalists to write and publish stories from the field to deliver up-to-date news and instant reporting. The...

More than 200 organisations from 56 countries are calling on the World Bank and other international financial institutions to end subsidies to the oil industry. In a statement released today, the groups refer to 'oil aid' as one of the most glaring barriers to fighting climate change and addressing energy access in developing countries. As the heads of the World Bank gather in Washington this week to discuss their energy lending and climate change strategy, the latest annual report of the International Finance Corporation indicates that little has changed in the institution's approach. In 2007, the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank provided more than $645 million to oil and gas companies. This is an increase of at least 40 per cent from 2006. "The World Bank's approach to climate change and energy is inconsistent and contradictory," said Jennifer Kalafut of NGO Oil Change International. "Despite commitments to cut global greenhouse gas emission...

The International Institute of ICT Journalism (PenPlusBytes), is collaboration with the Ghana Journalist Association,with support of the French Embassy is organising a two day workshop for twenty(20) editors in Accra The workshop which runs from 10th to 1th October is being held under the theme "Improving the quality of journalism using web 2.0" for Editors, Senior Journalists and Journalism Educators at the Accra International Press Centre. The face of journalism is changing as well as the rules of the game and ICT especially digital media is playing a major transformational role. It is being held in recognition of the fact that achieving excellence in Journalism demands a new approach to working with ICT tools. The practical workshop will among others things, take participants through ICT tools for journalis-a journey through the past,present and future and video blogging. Practical web 2.0 tools for journalism workshop will takt the participants through editing for th...

The Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) and the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) are co-sponsoring the second edition of the WASH Media Award competition, to be held between July 2007 and April 2008. This competition is open to journalists in developing countries who publish or broadcast original investigative reports on issues relating to water supply, sanitation or hygiene in their countries. Journalists can each submit up to two pieces of work, which can include articles from traditional print or recognized online newspapers, magazines, or journals; radio broadcasts; television documentaries or reports. The entry form with further instructions is available at www.wsscc.org/en/media/wash-media-awards . Eligible works must be published or broadcast between 1 July 2007 and 30 April 2008. Articles or broadcasts can be submitted in French, English or Spanish. Works not originally published or broadcast in one of these languages must be translated into ...

Your Excellency, as members of the Kenya Online Journalists’ Association –KOJA, we join our voices with those who have already gone public in protest while pleading that you do not append your signature to the controversial Media Bill. While we appreciate the role of parliament in enacting laws, we totally feel that this legislation will erode all the gains our country has made in the path of democracy. Your Excellency , as someone who has stood up against oppression, tyranny and excesses of those in authorities, it is our belief that you will once again demonstrate these virtues by sending back this bill to parliament so as to be debated afresh with a view to expunging the offending part. While the spirit of the bill is good, we are dismayed by the amendment moved by the Honorable Muriuki Karue, the MP for Ol Kalou which we feel will deal a mortal blow to the practice of journalism in our beloved nation. The part we take exceptional issue with reads thus: “When a story includes unnam...

The KOJA Strategic Plan 2007-2010 outlines the key programme areas. This plan, apart from being the main fulcrum of strategic guidance and future direction, will give KOJA the much anticipated impetus, optimism and commitment to meeting the future challenges of governance and development through the media in Kenya. It also serves as our template of development within a growing, dynamic and difficult competitive environment. The Plan is currently under review to respond to new challenges. The new Plan will cover the period 2007-2011.The salient KOJA programmatic areas are outlined in the Strategic Plan (2007-2011) as follows: CAPACITY BUILDING FOR ONLINE MEDIA Objectives; • To promote decision making among membership • To improve quality service delivery to readers/communities. • To raise awareness among Journalists of their journalistic duties, and • To mainstream journalistic participation in online Journalism and ICTs development. Activities • Training of Trainers (ToT) • Developmen...

1. NATIONAL CORDINATOR: Charles O. Ogallo- , News Correspondent based in Mombasa. Email; kogallo2002@yahoo.ca. 2. ASSISTANT CORDINATOR - Waweru Mugo - Freelance writer based in ,Nairobi . 3. SECRETARY -Miano Kihu--Freelance based in Mombasa 4. ASSISTANT SECRETARY - Clement Njoroge based in Nairobi. 5.TREASURER - Beatrice Hongo News Correspondent based in Nairobi 6. ORGANIZATION SECRETARY- Justus Wanzala News Producer based in Nairobi. 7.TWELVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS FROM KENYAN MEDIA HOUSES.

PREAMBLE Whereas Kenyans have long desired the freedom of the media, democratic and vibrant media that are constitutionally protected and provided for; Whereas we, the members of the Kenya online Journalists Association - KOJA: - Are committed to the creation of a vibrant, sustainable and democratic online media that is constitutionally protected; - Have taken seriously the challenge to peacefully strive for this ideal; - Are determined to unite in order to succeed in this endeavors; - Desire to promote this ideal among Kenyan journalists and other peoples of all races, colours, creeds, and gender; now therefore, we the Kenya Online Journalists Association- KOJA accept and adopt this Constitution as the fundamental law of the Association. Article 1: Description of document This Constitution is the Constitution of the Kenya Online Journalists Association,hereinafter referred to as KOJA . Article 2: Description of KOJA (1) KOJA is a voluntary membership...

The Kenya On-line Journalists Association is a professional association for working journalists in Kenya. Journalists in Kenya have much in common but their circumstances vary. In many areas the media lacks resources, comes under pressure from government and commercial interests - and under threats from criminals and even terrorists. Access to high quality training is difficult among many Kenyan journalists and in most there may be no machinery for working journalists to get together and discuss their common problems, the changes to their profession and the new threats from security efforts and manipulation. The KOJA exists to remedy this situation, to bring online Journalists, particularly ICT- journalists closer together whether they are working in print, broadcasting, or on-line journalism, and to help raise their status and quality. The KOJA will have several branches, and members spread across the country. The KOJA mission The Kenya Online Journalists Association is an associ...