BAOBABCONNECTIONS Newsletter 6
September 11th 2002
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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:

1. Online magazine: Moving from the WSSD in Johannesburg to the global
issue of refugees 2. Online magazine excerpt 1: Article: Words of wisdom
about from Rigoberta Menchu 3. Online magazine excerpt 2: Audio track:
Words of resistance from Manu Chao 4. Baobabconnections wins bronze medal
at Highway Africa Awards 5. Baobabconnections organises third online
competition about young people and HIV/AIDS 6. The results of
Johannesburg…?: Baobabconnections co-hosts public debate in Amsterdam 7.
Stop the stoning in Nigeria 8. 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
(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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