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

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.

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!

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".

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!

Amnesty in China Olympics warning

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6934295.stm

Mauritania: President Calls On Nation to Pray for Rain

http://allafrica.com/stories/200708010754.html

'Our Sea And Lagoon Are Not for Sale'

http://allafrica.com/stories/200708010794.html

Officials Fear Drug Activities Increasing in Mauritania

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-02-voa19.cfm?rss=africa

Analysts Debate Mauritanian Anti-Slavery Proposal

http://www.voanews.com/english/2007-08-01-voa40.cfm?rss=human%20rights%20and%20law

The article talks about a proposed anti-slavery legislation that aims to make the practice of slavery punishable. The legislation has been criticized for not severe enough (10 years of imprisonment and fines for practicing slavery) and only something to show human rights organization. Hadouma, a former slave, shared her story of being a slave. She became a slave since her childhood, working for her master and his neighbors. Her parent were also slaves, and her four children (whose father, as she/ the article implied, might be her master) were taken away from her to become slaves. Basically, if she did not escape seven years ago, she would not have the chance to find her daughters right now, and their children will possibly be enslaved by their masters too. So is 10 years of imprisonment enough for not only enslaving someone for a big part of her life, but also the generations before and after her? NO! Also, the legislation will have no effect on people if it is not enforced, like the law passed in 1981 that bans the practice of slavery which has FAILED COMPLETELY to stop slavery. I see light in such legislation, but I hope that the government is serious about it, not just using it to silence human rights groups. I also hope that the legislation will be amended to make it more severe. No matter what, I do hope that the legislation will be passed because at least it is a form of action to combat slavery (despite its true intention), instead of constantly debating and talking but not taking actions!

Sudan, China to Build $630 mln Mauritania Railway

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article23140

Sudan's Danfodio Holding and China's Transtech Engineering have recently signed an agreement with private Mauritania investors to build a railway in Mauritania that would link its capital Nouakchott to Bofal, where phosphate deposits are located. The purpose of the building of the railway was announced in a matter-of-factly way as the exploitation of resources. The article quotes Mauritanian Transport Minister saying:

"This line will allow the exploitation of the Bofal deposits and open up isolated areas of Mauritania with considerable animal, agricultural and mineral resources."

I am skeptical about the benefits that a railway owned by TNCs would bring to the PEOPLE of Mauritania. Is it really going to help the development of the country? I doubt it. As the Transport Minister said (and how could he do this to his country?), the purpose of the railway is to extract resources out, most of which will most likely go to the TNCs instead of its people. If the agreement were signed by the governments of Sudan and China, there might still be a chance that they signed it with a true intention of helping Mauritania. But it was signed by corporations, whose sole purpose is to make more and more profits, and who will not invest money in anything that will not bring them more profits. I wonder how the PEOPLE of Mauritania feel about their fate being decided by these TNCs?

Child Soldiers "Need Mental Help"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6925384.stm

I think reports like the one mentioned in the article is just irresponsible. The report claims that child soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress, rendering them less likely to consider reconciliation, hence contributing to cycle of violence in war-torn regions where they are employed. The rhetoric of the report (or it could just be the rhetoric of BBC) seems to shift the blame to the "mental illness" of these children as the cause of the continuous violence in war zones. According to BBC, the report says,

"Their mental distress could 'impose barriers to sustainable and long-term peace building...'"

I agree that wars have psychological effects on children, but I don't think we focusing on giving them mental help is going to solve the problem. Are they going to feel better if, after they talk to a shrink and are treated for their illness, they still live in war zones or are recruited by force and violence as soldiers again? These children are not the reason why wars started in the first place- they are just the victims of wars (and victims should not be blamed for what victimizes them). Their "mental illness" (if they have any) does not perpetuate wars- the people who started the wars do. What they need for us to do is to give them LOVE, PROTECT them, STOP VIOLENCE against them, provide them with SHELTERS where they can enjoy their RIGHTS to be CHILDREN, and most importantly, STOP the wars; they do not need mental help. Why don't the researchers go ask those children what they want and see if they'll answer "mental help"?

Mauritania Gets Aid to Combat Desertification

http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=164139&version=1&template_id=36&parent_id=16

This article talks about Qatar's commitment to help Mauritania combat desertification. Mauritania is mostly made up of desert, and desertification is a big problem for the country, hindering development and fight against poverty. Qatar's donation will be dedicated to helping Qasram village (with 600 families) by planting trees native to the region on 50 hectares of land.The trees will help hold down the soil, halt the spread of deserts, change the climate and make the land suitable for agriculture, which is a major source of living for the population, again. It seems like it's not the first time Qatar is helping Mauritania with its environmental problems. Qatar also helped Mauritania a few years ago with an invasion of locusts. I hope that its efforts to help Mauritania will continue, because planting trees is just the first step in a long journey. It seems like a lot of maintenance work is needed for trees to grow healthily in such harsh weather, such as ensuring a source of water. Also, planting trees do not target the root of the problem- human activities. Desertification is caused primarily by human activities, such as over-exploitation, inefficient water irrigation system, grazing of livestock, etc. I hope that more will be done to target the causes of desertification!

I wonder whether there are other countries helping Mauritania, especially the "leaders" of the world? What do you think about planting trees as a method to stop desertification?

Mauritania: An Introduction

For a few days now, I've been talking about Mauritania because it's my assigned country. But through talking to my friends, I realized how little people know about it- if they'd heard of Mauritania at all. So I found this article from LexisNexis- I'm posting the full article here to save you the troubling of logging into the Library website, then LexisNexis. It offers a nice and brief introduction to Mauritania.


Copyright 2007 Quest Information Limited
All Rights Reserved
Quest Economics Database
World of Information Africa Review World of Information

July 31, 2007 Tuesday Mauritania is a country of contrasts. While its territory consists mainly of vast Sahelian and Saharan plains, where vegetation in parts is even insufficient to graze the camel, the vegetation in the south supports sheep, goats, cattle and cultivation based mainly on the seasonally flooded alluvial zone along the river Senegal and its tributaries. And while the population of 2.8 million is bound by a common Muslim attachment to the Malekite sect, 75 per cent are Moors, heterogeneous groups of Arabo-Berber stock, speaking dialects of Hassaniya, and 25 per cent are Negroes (Toucouleurs, Sarakoles, Wolofs) and light skinned nomads (Peulh or Fulani). The Moors themselves are divided on social and descent criteria rather than skin colour into a superior group, the Bidan or 'white' moors (55 per cent of the population) and an inferior group, the Harattin or 'black' moors, who were once slaves (slavery was finally banned in Mauritania in 1981). Both of these groups are nearly all nomadic pastoralists, living a patriarchal life similar to the Arab Bedouins, while the Negroes are sedentary cultivators. These wide cultural and ethnic differences have led to racial clashes, a problem that is found right across Africa where the Saharan peoples adjoin Africa peoples in the same country.

1800s France gained control of Mauritania, ruling it from Senegal.
1957 Limited self-government was granted under the Loi cadre.
1960 Mauritania gained full independence from France under the regime of the Mauritanian People's Party. Mokhtar Ould Daddah became president.
1974 Mauritania withdrew from the CFAf currency zone and introduced the ouguiya.
1975 An agreement between Mauritania, Morocco and Spain led to the division of the Spanish Sahara (a Spanish colony and the present-day Sahrawi Arab Republic (Western Sahara)) between Mauritania and Morocco.
1978 After fighting a largely unsuccessful war against rebels of the Western Sahara, President Daddah was overthrown.
1979 The government of President Haidallah agreed to renounce all territorial claims to Western Sahara.
1981 Slavery was banned in Mauritania.
1984 Haidallah was removed from office by Colonel Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya.
1992 Multi-party elections were held in which President Taya was returned to office.
1996 The governing Parti Républicain Démocratique et Social (PRDS) (Social and Democratic Republican Party) won the elections.
1997 President Taya was re-elected.
1999 Full diplomatic relations were established with Israel. After criticism by Iraq, the foreign ministry announced that Mauritania had severed its relations with Iraq.
2001 The PRDS was re-elected.
2002 Famine increased due to three years of drought.
2003 The OPEC Fund for International Development donated US$300,000 to support an emergency operation by the World Food Programme (WFP). A coup attempt by rebels in Nouakchott was foiled by the President's troops on 9 June. On 6 July, President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya named Sghair Ould M'Bareck as the new prime minister. Incumbent Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya was re-elected president in the 7 November elections. On 12 November, Prime Minister Sghair Ould M'Bareck was re-appointed.
2004 In January, a team of US military experts began training the Mauritanian army.
2005 Mauritania lost its crop production, which had been attacked by the locust swarms in 2004. The UN called for food aid. On 3 August, while President Taya was out of the country, a military coup overthrew his regime. Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall (leader of the military Junta) was declared president and head of the Military Council for Justice and Democracy. 2006 A referendum was held on 24 June 2006, which approved limitations on future presidential powers. Parliamentary and municipal elections took place on 19 November and 3 December.
2007 In presidential elections Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdellahi won 24.8 per cent of the vote and Ahmed Ould Daddah won 20.7 per cent. A runoff is scheduled to be held 25 March.

Copyright: World of Information. All rights reserved World of Information and Quest Information Ltd assume no liability for the consequence of reliance upon any opinion or statement