Iranian authorities are blocking internationally renowned poet Simin Behbahani from traveling abroad in what many observers see as evidence of an intensifying crackdown against any dissent.
The 82-year-old has twice been nominated for a Nobel Prize and has traveled around the world for decades to share her work.
Known as the “lioness of Iran,” Simin Behbahani has been writing fierce poetry for decades, during the reign of Iran’s Shah, during the Islamic Revolution, during the reign of the ayatollahs, and over the past year’s political turmoil.
Through it all, she was not imprisoned and continued to enjoy the freedom to travel, says Farzaneh Milani, who teaches Persian literature at the University of Virginia and is one of Behbahani’s translators. You can read or listen to the story here!
Haiti has unveiled the first draft of its grand reconstruction plan, saying 11.5 billion dollars would be needed to help the country rebuild after January’s devastating earthquake.
The plan, published online Tuesday, goes far beyond the immediate priorities of post-quake reconstruction and looks at the massive economic and governance challenges Haiti faces if it wants to become a fully functional state.
In the historic 2005 general elections women streamed to the ballots, many despite threats, sending 91 women to parliament. Yet, many Afghans remain unaware of women’s rights to political participation, to earn an income, and to legally defend themselves against discrimination and domestic violence.
What’s it mean to be a woman in Afghanistan? Chances are you can’t read or write, you married before you were 18 years old and have around 6 kids, and you may be working — but you’re getting paid half of what your male counterparts make.
On International Women’s Day, take a look at how women in Afghanistan fare, according to the 2010 report from the United Nations Development Fund for Women.
Maria is a ChangeMaker student (Stage 2) who lives in Kenya. She is engaged with several environmental projects. To work with “own projects” is the main activity for all Stage 2 students. One of the projects that she is working with is “Save Lake Naivasha”. She had been in the area around the lake and made some interviews with people who live there.
She has made some documentary footage from the interviews. A part of her documentary is on courses “ChangeMakerTube”. We try to gather different environmental clips (look at “Spellistor”) and eventually those made of the ChangeMaker students (look at “Uppladdningar”) on this Chanel.
Take a look at them and help us even with your interesting links.
MHealth Alliance and Orange Healthcare team up to develop mobile health solutions for West Africa
At the GSM Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Orange Healthcare announced last week that they will be joining the mHealth Alliance, a partnership which leverages rapid advances in mobile technology to improve public health, health care systems and patient care in the developing world. Orange Healthcare will begin working with the mHealth Alliance on projects focused in West Africa.
The mHealth Alliance was announced by the United Nations Foundation, Vodafone Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation at the February 2009 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and builds off these Foundations’ investments in innovative technologies to support global health goals. It acts as an umbrella organization to complement, draw together and expand upon the mobile health initiatives of multiple organizations around the world.
Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators. With 123 million customers, the Orange brand now covers Internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates.
SharingAwareness workshop in Kumasi Ghana, February 2010. Action methods are used for deeper learning and understanding. In this video the process of SODIS (Solar Water disinfection) method is show…