Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Mauritania: Health And Sanitation Next Obstacle After Flooding
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708141061.html
West Africa: A Hope "To Link the Efforts of All the Actors" in Fighting Desertification
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708140024.html
Friday, August 10, 2007
Flash Flood Displaces Thousands in Mauritania
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73664
Heavy rainfall in the southeastern town of Titane in Mauritania has killed a few (so far), damaged houses and displaced thousands of people. Starting Aug 7, the country received 81.5mm of rain in a 24-hour period. Just a few days ago, the country was still facing the fear of drought, and President Abdullahi urged its religious leaders to pray for rain (http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73534). Their prayers were definitely answered- way too much indeed. It's rare for this country to get so much rainfall in one day. The damages of such natural disaster are intensified when the mountain chain in the region have no trees to hold the rainfall, accelerating the rate of the water traveling to the town in the lowlands; the soil in the region is impermeable, lowering the rate of the dissipation of water; and many houses are made of dried mud, which collapsed easily when confront such heavy downpour.
No matter how developed a country is, it becomes vulnerable when confronted with natural phenomenons, which are out of its control. Even strong nations like the U.S. can be defeated when faced with a disaster like Hurricane Katrina. This article reminds me of how important it is for a country to consider natural disasters when making development plans. If the infrastructure, houses, and other projects cannot withstand the challenges of natural disasters, which can come anytime, then not only will it be a waste of resources and money, it will also devastate the lives of its people (or even make their lives worse than before). For example, the article mentions that the rain has knocked down more than 1000 date palm trees. I posted an entry at the end of July about Qatar's donation to a project to plant 50 hectares of trees as an effort to combat desertification. If such a project was implemented in this region, the rainfall would have destroyed the planted trees, then all the resources would have been wasted. Also, the country should have emergency management plans for natural disasters in order to expedite the process of helping, saving, delivering food to and providing shelter for the people affected and minimize the damages.
Heavy rainfall in the southeastern town of Titane in Mauritania has killed a few (so far), damaged houses and displaced thousands of people. Starting Aug 7, the country received 81.5mm of rain in a 24-hour period. Just a few days ago, the country was still facing the fear of drought, and President Abdullahi urged its religious leaders to pray for rain (http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73534). Their prayers were definitely answered- way too much indeed. It's rare for this country to get so much rainfall in one day. The damages of such natural disaster are intensified when the mountain chain in the region have no trees to hold the rainfall, accelerating the rate of the water traveling to the town in the lowlands; the soil in the region is impermeable, lowering the rate of the dissipation of water; and many houses are made of dried mud, which collapsed easily when confront such heavy downpour.
No matter how developed a country is, it becomes vulnerable when confronted with natural phenomenons, which are out of its control. Even strong nations like the U.S. can be defeated when faced with a disaster like Hurricane Katrina. This article reminds me of how important it is for a country to consider natural disasters when making development plans. If the infrastructure, houses, and other projects cannot withstand the challenges of natural disasters, which can come anytime, then not only will it be a waste of resources and money, it will also devastate the lives of its people (or even make their lives worse than before). For example, the article mentions that the rain has knocked down more than 1000 date palm trees. I posted an entry at the end of July about Qatar's donation to a project to plant 50 hectares of trees as an effort to combat desertification. If such a project was implemented in this region, the rainfall would have destroyed the planted trees, then all the resources would have been wasted. Also, the country should have emergency management plans for natural disasters in order to expedite the process of helping, saving, delivering food to and providing shelter for the people affected and minimize the damages.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Mauritanian MPs Pass Slavery Law
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6938032.stm
Good news for Mauritania! Its Parliament just passed a legislation that punishes the practice of slavery with up to 10 years in prison, and the promotion of such practice with two years. Even though slavery was banned in 1981, it remains a serious problem in Mauritania. According to the article, up to 20% of the population are slaves. I hope that the government will actually enforce the legislation and put more resources into hunting down people involved in the practice of slavery. After all, if you don't go and catch those people, they will just ignore the law. Also, I think the punishment for both the practice and the promotion should be more severe. Two years is really not that long; by the time they are released, the only lesson that they will have learnt is to be more careful, and then will will be back into the lucrative business. Moreover, if the Mauritanian government is serious about eradicating slavery, they should come up with a better and more concrete definition of what constitutes the practice of slavery and the promotion of the the practice of slavery. Having that said, I do want to say "Bravo!" to Mauritania for taking the first step. The passing of the legislation has definitely brought hope for future dialogues and actions to combat slavery!
Good news for Mauritania! Its Parliament just passed a legislation that punishes the practice of slavery with up to 10 years in prison, and the promotion of such practice with two years. Even though slavery was banned in 1981, it remains a serious problem in Mauritania. According to the article, up to 20% of the population are slaves. I hope that the government will actually enforce the legislation and put more resources into hunting down people involved in the practice of slavery. After all, if you don't go and catch those people, they will just ignore the law. Also, I think the punishment for both the practice and the promotion should be more severe. Two years is really not that long; by the time they are released, the only lesson that they will have learnt is to be more careful, and then will will be back into the lucrative business. Moreover, if the Mauritanian government is serious about eradicating slavery, they should come up with a better and more concrete definition of what constitutes the practice of slavery and the promotion of the the practice of slavery. Having that said, I do want to say "Bravo!" to Mauritania for taking the first step. The passing of the legislation has definitely brought hope for future dialogues and actions to combat slavery!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Film to be Made about the 6 Bulgairan Medics
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6934903.stm
What does Hollywood NOT turn into a movie? Does it really take a Hollywood movie to get the world to care about injustices and issues that are happening all over the world? Sam Feuer, president of Sixth Sense Productions (which also produced Hotel Rwanda), justifies the making of the movie about the 6 Bulgarian medics by saying:
'...the story of The Benghazi Six would be "inspirational".
What does Hollywood NOT turn into a movie? Does it really take a Hollywood movie to get the world to care about injustices and issues that are happening all over the world? Sam Feuer, president of Sixth Sense Productions (which also produced Hotel Rwanda), justifies the making of the movie about the 6 Bulgarian medics by saying:
'...the story of The Benghazi Six would be "inspirational".
Speaking to Reuters, he said: "The world needs to learn about this injustice. It's not just a Bulgarian story, it's a human story that the world will relate to and learn from."
Mr Feuer confirmed his company is approaching some Hollywood stars.
"Our job is to develop the best script possible that will attract them," he said.'
While I appreciate his intention of educating the world about injustices, if he really means it, I do not think making a Hollywood movie will achieve that purpose. Think about Hotel Rwanda. How many people actually still continued FEELING something AFTER the movie was over? How many of them tried to educate themselves about the complexities of the issue? Then think about how many people said "it's horrible" then continued eating their dinner as if nothing ever happened? It gets more dangerous when Hollywood stars are playing the roles, because the media have rendered ordinary people incapable of distinguishing the fabulous celebrity lifestyle from reality. Having Hollywood stars play these roles will only undermine the message of the event. What I find the most ridiculous about what he said was that their job is "to develop the best script possible that will attract them." Isn't he a bit self-contradictory by saying that? If the event is significant enough, as he claims, shouldn't that already attract the stars? It seems like he thinks that the event is not important enough that they need to change the script, distort some facts, stray from the truth so make it a more important issue to attract the stars. Well I bet (some of) these stars that they are going to find have no Bulgarian origins at all!
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Mauritania: President Calls On Nation to Pray for Rain
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708010754.html
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