[IRP] Problem of abject poverty and hunger (was Re: Call notes...)

Wed Aug 17 12:10:51 EEST 2011

Dear all

Here is a link to an Oxfam report on the food security crisis in the Horn.

http://us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za/assets/articles/attachments/34475_briefing-hornofafrica-drought-climatechange-foodsecurity-020811.pdf

One of APC's members in Kenya, Arid Lands Information Network has been
working in dry lands in the region for many years. Their executive
director, James Nguo, will be at the IGF. If IRP members want to meet up
with him to talk more about the issues in the region we can organise this.

Anriette

On 12/08/11 12:00, M.I.Franklin wrote:
> Hi all
> 
> Thanks Dixie for the update and summary of this current discussion;
> 
> Obviously I'm all for members of/.in the coalition showing some palpable
> support for a crisis situation on the doorstep of the IGF this year by
> way of donations; as long as there is a clear consensus here.
> 
> Also, happy to help with some sort of statement; perhaps Robert, Mike G,
> Graciela and I could see what we come up with and then post for
> conferral (the usual approach to date); have been doing some homework
> re. the actually situation and links between IG issues and the current -
> and longer-term situation. It would be great to have some input from
> anyone of the list with experience/knowledge about ICT and refugee camps
> to help here. I do know from a research student of mine that here this
> is a disconnect; or rather a silence in the literature....
> 
> As its the summer holidays for many and we have some time before the
> actually IGF, I would also support waiting to hear from more coalition
> members....
> 
> cheers
> MF
> 
> --On Thursday, August 11, 2011 14:13 -0300 Graciela Selaimen
> <graciela at nupef.org.br> wrote:
> 
>> Totally agree.
>> I'm keen to helping formulate the statement.
>>
>> best
>> Graciela
>>
>> Em 8/11/11 1:27 PM, michael gurstein escreveu:
>>> I won't be (financially) able to attend in Nairobi but I think that the
>>> IRP (and the overall IGC) should take the opportunity to make the
>>> connection between Internet governance, Internet Rights and Principles,
>>> economic and social development and Internet practice on the ground
>>> (including in response to emergency relief issues and practices in Kenya
>>> and the region and longer term developmental initiatives).
>>>
>>> My thought is that the best intervention that can be made is to raise
>>> and
>>> pursue the issue of the connection between all of thsese within the
>>> context of the IGF including vigourously making these connections in all
>>> appropriate venues.
>>>
>>> Developing and circulating an appropriate sign-on statement concerning
>>> these matters would seem to me to be the most potentially useful form
>>> that our interest and commitment could take and I would be prepared to
>>> spend a bit of time with others formulating such a statement if that was
>>> the will of this group.
>>>
>>> Best to all,
>>>
>>> Mike
>>>
>>> Michael Gurstein, Ph.D.
>>> Director: Centre for Community Informatics Research, Development and
>>> Training (CCIRDT)
>>> Vancouver, CANADA
>>> http://www.communityinformatics.net
>>>
>>> Now blogging at http://gurstein.wordpress.com/
>>> Tweating at @michaelgurstein
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: irp-bounces at lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org
>>> [mailto:irp-bounces at lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org] On Behalf Of
>>> Tapani Tarvainen
>>> Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2011 2:46 AM
>>> To: irp at lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org
>>> Subject: Re: [IRP] Problem of abject poverty and hunger (was Re: Call
>>> notes...)
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 10:36:06AM +0200, Norbert Bollow (nb at bollow.ch)
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Tapani Tarvainen<tapani.tarvainen at effi.org>  wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I thought this list was about Internet Rights and Principles, where
>>>>> development agenda of any kind is not primary at all, certainly not
>>>>> more so than many other IG issues.
>>>> Hmm... I would argue that internet rights and principles are not
>>>> important in and of themselves in some ideological way, but they're
>>>> important because of their importance for fundamental human rights and
>>>> needs.
>>> Of course, I agree with that 100%.
>>>
>>> But "development" has a rather different meaning or at
>>> least connotation in this context, it is not equivalent
>>> with human rights and their improvement, even though
>>> there is overlap.
>>>
>>>> We cannot engage with every specific local and temporary situation, as
>>>> it's impossible to achieve anything unless there is focus on
>>>> something, and this coalition has chosen to focus on the "big picture"
>>>> aspect of rights and principles.
>>> Well, rights and especially principles kind of are the big picture.
>>> Also,
>>> the group (as its name implies) is concerned with _Internet_ rights and
>>> principles, not all human rights&c.
>>>
>>>> That is good. But in our focus on this, I believe we still need to be
>>>> informed by actually engaging, in some genuine way, with the important
>>>> problems that internet rights and principles can contribute to
>>>> solving.
>>> Agreed, again. But they can't necessarily contribute to all important
>>> problems - Internet is not directly involved in every crisis, even if it
>>> can be used as a tool in them, and all practical applications of the
>>> Internet do not have specific relevance to rights and principles.
>>>
>>> We should keep our focus narrow enough to keep the work manageable.
>>> If we
>>> move from evaluating the rights and principles, considering their
>>> applicability and relevance&c, to actually doing everything where they
>>> matter, we'll have all the worlds problems in our hands, and the group
>>> could be renamed "do everything good -group".
>>>
>>>> ICT can potentially be used to make some of those who are rich and
>>>> powerful today even more rich and powerful, while exploiting everyone
>>>> else and increasing poverty and hunger as a side effect. On the other
>>>> hand, ICT can also potentially be used to empower those who today live
>>>> in unacceptable conditions to truly satisfactory economic and
>>>> spiritual development. How can humanity choose the latter path of
>>>> development over the former? By means of wisely choosing and
>>>> establishing the right Internet Rights and Principles!
>>> Yes. We should indeed analyze our rights and principles in
>>> that light, all the way down to recommending courses of action in
>>> various
>>> practical situations, but actually engaging in them should be left to
>>> other organizations, which hopefully will adopt our work as their
>>> principles (and indeed which may be composed of partly same people as
>>> this group).
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> http://lists.internetrightsandprinciples.org/listinfo.cgi/irp-internetrig
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> 
> 
> 
> Dr Marianne Franklin
> Reader/Convener of the Transnational Communications & Global Media Program
> Media & Communications
> Goldsmiths, University of London
> New Cross
> London SE14 6NW
> United Kingdom
> Tel (direct): #44 (0)207 919-7072
> Fax: #44 (0) 207 919-7616
> email: m.i.franklin at gold.ac.uk
> http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/media-communications/staff/franklin.php
> http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/pg/ma-transnational-communications-global-media.php
> 
> 
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> 

-- 
------------------------------------------------------
anriette esterhuysen anriette at apc.org
executive director, association for progressive communications
www.apc.org
po box 29755, melville 2109
south africa
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