arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

BAOBABCONNECTIONS Newsletter 6
September 11th 2002
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http://www.baobabconnections.org
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About Baobabconnections
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Baobabconnections wants to grow into a platform for internet journalism.
We are working hard to make the website a place where people can find
information on globalisation from different perspectives. From Amsterdam
to Cape Town… We have coordinators in 7 African countries, we produce our
own content and publish it directly online. It is good to see that our
online community keeps on growing. We now have 390 subscribed members from
42 countries. And still we feel that this is only the beginning…
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Dear people,

This is our sixth Baobabconnections Newsletter.
In this update we would like to inform everybody about 8 things:

Online magazine: Moving from the WSSD in Johannesburg to the global issue of refugees

Online magazine excerpt 1: Article: Words of wisdom about from Rigoberta Menchu

Online magazine excerpt 2: Audio track: Words of resistance from Manu Chao

Baobabconnections wins bronze medal at Highway Africa Awards

Baobabconnections organises third online competition about young people and HIV/AIDS

The results of Johannesburg…?: Baobabconnections co-hosts public debate in Amsterdam

Stop the stoning in Nigeria

What can you do to help Baobabconnections grow?

If you want to be excluded from this list in the future, just send a blankemail to: idontwanttoknow@baobabconnections.org

If you want to subscribe to this newsletter, send a blank email to
subscribe@baobabconnections.org.

We hope you like what you read,

Vrede,

Baobabconnections Team

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1. Online magazine: Moving from the WSSD in Johannesburg to the global issue
of refugees

Well, they came, they talked, and they went home without any binding agreements on
the most pressing environmental and development issues of the day. The World
Summit on Sustainable Development has just wound up in Johannesburg – a complete
failure by all intents and purposes. The issues were there – enormous and fatal. The
delegates turned up in their thousands. The heads of state were there. And indeed the
solutions too were there – within their mortal reach. Yet all that was missing was the
political will to make it happen. You can read more about this failure of political will and
the decade of corporate sabotage behind it, in "It's a corporate world: Hello Johanna"

And for a first hand, behind the scenes look at the Earth summit read the reports from
Gilbert and Chris the bright young Baobabconnections competition winners who were in
Johannesburg and served us the scoop in a series of incisive diary entries.

And so, while the failure of the Earth Summit ensures that the world of renewable
energy, common access to natural resources and environmental protections is not yet
at hand, the indecision in Jo'burg does ensure that the ranks of global refugees and
displaced persons – already estimated to be about 45 million people – will continue to
grow and grow. Because, so long as summits like this one fail, and inequity and social
disasters prevail, there will be refugees. So in our upcoming online magazine
Baobabconnections turns the spotlight on the issues of refugees.... we consider the
causes of refugee-ism, we document the real-life story of one ‘alien' in Holland, we lead
you to sites of action, we offer you poetry from celebrated Nigerian writer Segun
Akinlolu and more. So go check it out, and don't forget to post those replies!!

Keep running comrades, until the old world is far behind!
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2. Online magazine excerpt 1:
Article: Words of wisdom about from Rigoberta Menchu

Rigoberta Menchu is the leader of the indigenous movement and she is a Nobel Peace
Prize winner. She gave a speech in Johannesburg about the Rio agreements, the
future of humanity and the demands of indigenous peoples. Thanks to the dedication
and translation of our Mexican correspondent Martha E. Gutierrez we can present you
the English version of the speech.
Read the speech here: http://www.baobabconnections.org/artikel.php?id=212
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3. Online magazine excerpt 2:
Audio track: Words of resistance from Manu Chao

Manu Chao, a musician and superstar in many parts of the world, is also an anti-
globalisation hero. Listen to these words of protest from Manu Chao:
http://www.baobabconnections.org/music/manuchao.ram
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4. Baobabconnections wins bronze medal at Highway Africa Awards

On August 21st 2002 Baobabconnections reached the third place at the Highway
Africa
Awards for Innovative Use of New Media in Africa. The jury report said: ‘Issues related
to globalisation, culture, education and economics are raised and explored at
Baobabconnections in a unique way.'

Highway Africa, the leading conference on New Media for journalists in Africa, is an
annual event organised by the Department of Journalism and Media Studies, Rhodes
University, Grahamstown, South Africa. Read full jury verdict here :
http://www.highwayafrica.org.za/awards.html
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5. Baobabconnections organises third online competition about young people
and HIV/AIDS

We are encouraging young people from Holland and Africa to get together on our
website
and exchange ideas about globalisation. To stimulate the interaction on the website,
and to raise awareness about issues of globalisation, Baobabconnections organises a
third online competition.

In association with the Royal Tropical Institute and Africaserver in the Netherlands,
Baobabconnections is organising an online competition for performing members on the
theme of youth and HIV / AIDS. The winning team will be invited as performers at the
Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on December 1st 2002. The
performance will be part of the theatre program "Young people and HIV/"AIDS" held
between November 29 en December 3 2002 at the Royal Tropical Institute in
Amsterdam.

The deadline for this competition is October 15th 2002.

Please forward this message to relevant organisations and individuals.

For more information about the competition, follow this direct link:
http://www.baobabconnections.org/competition.php

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6. The results of Johannesburg…?: Baobabconnections co-hosts public debate
in Amsterdam

Baobabconnections is a project of the Dutch North-South Association Inzet
(http://www.inzet.nl). Following the World Summit on Sustainable Development, the 10th
anniversary of INZET offers an opportunity to look back and analyse its outcome – or
lack of outcome. We invite everybody for a public debate on
Saturday, September 14th in Amsterdam from 14.00 – 17.00 h.

Issues:
- "Fair trade, not just aid", good access to EU market for products and services.
- Equal rights for all citizens to use global commons within sustainable levels.
- "fair emission trade, not neo-colonial grandfathering", like the Kyoto Protocol
giving rights to use the atmosphere only to rich countries.
- The WTO is necessary, but free trade must respect the public interests and
limits put by societies to safeguard social, environmental and human rights.
- The recognition that "access to water, energy,etc. "can only be realised
sustainably by arranging access to income and capital, e.g. by monetising the
individual's unused user rights on global commons.
- Capacity building and rights for NGOs in developing countries as countervailing
power for the short term interests of selfish elites.

We will have a panel with video-impressions from Baobabconnections in Johannesburg
and the following participants and experts:

* Prof. Hans Opschoor, rector of Institute for Social Studies in Den Haag and
co-chair of the Dutch NGO-coalition for the WSSD,
* Wolfgang Sachs, editor of the Johannesburg Memo of Boell Foundation,
* Gilbert Ndahayo, coordinator of the INZET-project Baobabconnections in
Rwanda, participant at the WSSD,
* Rajendre Khargi, Seiko Nederland, board member of the NCDO,
* Paul Metz, staff of INZET

The entrance is free, so come and share your views with us. The Dutch
Baobabconnections Team
will be present with T-shirts for sale…)

Address:

Vakbondsmuseum,
Henri Polaklaan 9
1018 CP Amsterdam
Phone: ++31-20 6241166

next to Artis Zoo in Amsterdam
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7. Stop the stoning in Nigeria

On 19 August, a Sharia court of appeal in Funtua, Katsina State, Nigeria, took the
decision to uphold the sentence of death by stoning imposed on Amina Lawal. She is
currently waiting for an appeal. If her life is saved it will be related to the numbers of
people around the world who have taken the time to protest the unimaginable and
barbaric sentence she has recieved. So, if you haven't already, please take action now
by following the link below and sending an email to the President of Nigeria.
Take Action http://web.amnesty.org/web/content.nsf/pages/gbr_nigeria
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8. What can you do to help Baobabconnections stay alive and grow?

Become a member
Join the online competition
Write a reaction to an article
Send us a link to relevant information about globalisation (websites, audio, video,
images, art…)
Tell your friends about this website
Wear our T-shirt (if you have one) and smile!
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