[alternet-l] THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE # 91

[Joanne Doyle]

THE ALTERNET NEWS - ISSUE # 91

This issue:

WOMEN WITH MEGABYTE/
HOT SITES/
DIARY FROM IRAQ/
EU ACCESSION/
GN MEMBER UPDATES/
ISM ACTIVISTS DEMAND INQUIRY/
CHILD ABDUCTION/
FOREST MONITOR TERMINATED/
WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY/
INTERNET IMPACTS/
QUOTE/UNQUOTE/
JOBS/
FUNDING/
DIARY/

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Changing the format a little this issue, GreenNet would like to be first to 
annouce a conference we are organising entitled:
WOMEN WITH MEGABYTES

Women with MegaBYTE is a national Conference on Women's Organisations and ICT
20th - 21st May
London School of Economics
9.30am - 5.30pm

The GreenNet Educational Trust (GET) and WomenConnect present a two-day 
workshop for women and women's organizations in the UK.  The event will 
look at how women's organizations in the UK were using, are using and could 
be using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to sustain their 
work, challenge inequality and bring about social change. The event is open 
to those working in the UK women's voluntary sector and promises to be an 
exciting learning experience.

Themes covered in the two-day multimedia programme will include:
· A display of how women's organisations are using ICT in their work
· An introduction to 'blogging' as a tool for women to publish their 
experiences and stories on the Internet
· A review of ICT policy developments and their impact on the women's 
voluntary sector
· An update on the World Summit on the Information Society
· A debate on how to use the Internet creatively to promote a stronger, 
more united voice for women's issues in the UK

Please send expressions of interest with the following details to 
joanne at gn.apc.org by 9 May. The event aims to draw together existing 
expertise and knowledge and to build a strong network to guide future work.

More about GreenNet Educational Trust's Internet Rights project:
--> www.internetrights.org.uk

More about WomenConnect here:
--> www.womenconnect.org.uk

Please see section 'Diary' for other upcoming events.

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HOT SITES

The APC members BlueLink Information Network (Bulgaria) and StrawberryNet 
(Romania) have newly launched a regional South Eastern Europe (SEE) content 
sharing platform.
Through this platform 8 environmental NGOs networks from the SEE share
information from their web sites and publish special materials on a 
regional level. The
initiative aims at strengthening the environmental information exchange in 
the SEE region through online content sharing and joint information flow. 
The content sharing platform allows the NGOs to find news, campaigns and 
announcements and aids their distributing information through their local 
electronic network.

The content exchange process is possible due to the methodology, developed 
by APC. The content exchange automatically pulls information from various 
web sites using ActionApps.
--> www.see-environment.info

More about APC Content Management Systems (at GreenNet) here:
--> www.gn.apc.org/services/webdesign.html#actionapps

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DIARY FROM IRAQ

Former voices delegate Jo Wilding has just returned from a six-and-a-half
week stint in Iraq - including 12 days under US/UK bombardment.

Jo is eager to speak to groups around the country about her recent
experiences in Iraq, where she was able to collect witness statements from
many ordinary Iraqis who have been wounded - or had friends and relatives
killed - by the bombing. Her passionate eyewitness testimony might be just
what your local group needs to energise it at this time when the 'Coalition'
has all but declared 'victory', and the true horror of the war has receded
even further from public view.

Jo is willing to travel the length and breadth of the country provided folk
can cover her train / coach fare! If you would like to try and organise a
speaker meeting with her please contact me here at the voices office on 0845
458 2564 (local rate call) or voices at viwuk.freeserve.co.uk.

Extracts from Jo's Iraq diary - a sample of which is reproduced below - have
been widely circulated on e-mail, have appeared on the Guardian's web-site
and can be viewed on-line at:

--> www.bristolfoe.org.uk/wildfire/iraq/index.htm

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EU ACCESSION

The 10 countries due to join the European Union next year must turn their 
attention from adopting EU environment laws to implementing them, 
Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom ordered. She was addressing the 
ninth and last annual informal meeting with accession country environment 
ministers. Wallstrom, together with Enlargement Commissioner, Guenther 
Verheugen, and Vasso Papandreou, Greek Environment Minister and Chair of 
the Environment Council met environment ministers from the 13 candidate 
countries in January 2003. Ten countries will sign up to join the European 
Union in April 2003. When their accession process is complete in 2004, the 
bloc will expand to 25 countries, and three more have begun the accession 
process. The 10 countries joining the EU in 2004 are: Cyprus, Czech 
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and 
Slovenia. Wallstrom said, "We are now entering a critical phase. The rules 
must be fully applied on the ground and important nature sites safeguarded. 
This is paramount to ensuring sustainable development in an enlarged EU." 
The Commission estimates that the 10 countries have already transposed 
around 80 percent of the EU's 149 environmental laws. But observing them in 
practice would be a ""tougher nut to crack," Wallstrom said. "It isn't 
enough to have the laws on your books, you have to implement them."

Upon accession the level of EU cash for environmental projects will rise 
three-fold as the 10 new member states become eligible for cohesion and 
structural funds, the commissioner explained. But this would still fall 
well short of the total needed, which the Commission puts at two to three 
percent of the accession countries' Gross Domestic Product. Six months 
before they officially join the EU, the Commission will report on how well 
the accession states are implementing the bloc's environmental laws. 
Wallstrom underlined the importance of this assessment, hinting that the 
Commission might even launch legal action against new member states if this 
were warranted. Source, "A Larger Europe Will Be a Greener Europe," 
Environment News Service (ENS), Brussels, Belgium, January 21, 2003.

See the full story at:
http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2003/2003-01-21-01.asp

If anyone is looking at the impact of legislative changes in accession 
countries on the environment and, or ICTs (information communication 
technologies) in relation to civil rights, please get in contact with us at 
GreenNet. We are interested in starting up a discussion around this area.

Please email: joanne at gn.apc.org

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GN MEMBER UPDATES

*

SGR BRIEFING
'Why the war on Iraq is a warning for the planet' is a new briefing/
discussion document from Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR). Its aim
is to present some of the underlying policies and strategies that appear to
have led to the war on Iraq, and to provide a preliminary assessment of
their wider implications.

The briefing argues that the stated justifications for the war (namely the
prevention of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction through
terrorism, and the protection of human rights) are not entirely credible,
and that the war has more to do with extending US political, economic and
military influence, including increasing its control of the planet's limited
oil resources. The briefing also summarises the likely impacts of the war,
in both human and environmental terms. It concludes with a suggestion for
political alternatives to the current US strategy, advocating much greater
support for poverty alleviation measures and renewable energy development.

The briefing is available from:
--> www.sgr.org.uk/ArmsControl/Iraq_planet_warning.htm

*

DTE FACTSHEETS

DOWN TO EARTH the International Campaign for Ecological Justice in 
Indonesia has produced a factsheet on Water privatisation.

According to the UN declaration of November 2002, access to clean water is 
a fundamental human right. Therefore the 145 countries that have signed 
this international agreement, including Indonesia, should guarantee every 
citizen access to clean water.

In practice, around 1 billion of the world's inhabitants do not have access 
to clean water, 2 billion do not have adequate sanitation, and every year 3 
million people die of water-borne diseases. During the Stockholm Water 
Symposium in August 2000, which discussed the world water crisis, there was 
concern that by 2025 two-thirds of the world's population would suffer from 
a shortage of water.

In response to this water crisis, the World Bank formulated a water 
privatisation policy which was included in a paper entitled "Improving 
Water Resource Management" issued in 1992. This paper argued for a pricing 
policy as an incentive for consumers to be more efficient in their water 
use. The price paid for water by the public must cover the operational 
costs of the water company so that the government no longer has to provide 
subsidies.

NGO concerns centre on the fact that privatisation - which, in effect, 
means treating water as a commodity - together with the commercialisation 
of water, will result in ever-higher water costs for the poor. How can the 
principles of privatisation be in accordance with increased access to water 
resources for the poor?

More information from Down to Earth:
--> http://dte.gn.apc.org/

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ISM ACTIVISTS DEMAND INQUIRY

International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists met the foreign office to 
demand full inquiry into Gaza shooting of Tom Hurndall. Tom Hurndall, an 
unarmed British peace activist in Gaza, was shot in the head by an Israeli 
sniper as he attempted to escort three children to safety. Prior to this a 
number of British peace activists and humanitarian workers have been 
injured by Israeli troops and settlers, and have
contacted the Foreign Office. In April 2002 alone, four Britons from ISM 
were injured by shrapnel in Bethlehem after being fired upon by soldiers in 
an Israeli tank. In November 2002, Iain Hook, a British UN volunteer, was 
shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in Jenin. However none of these 
instances have yet resulted in a formal condemnation by the Foreign Office 
to the Israeli government.

The Foreign Office has been contacted several times to ask that warnings be
given to travellers concerning danger from Israeli soldiers and settlers,
but to date there has been no such recognition. The FO website implies that 
the only threat to British citizens is from Palestinian terrorism and 
violent incidents at checkpoints but this does not give fair warning of the 
threat from soldiers and settlers. We consider that there is direct and 
deliberate violence being perpetrated against international peace 
activists. This is a deliberate policy on the part of some military units, 
and certainly on the part of the settlers, to deter (scare off) 
internationals from witnessing crimes against Palestinians in the occupied 
territories.

ISM have urged for a full inquiry into the shooting and demanded that the
Foreign Office assume their full responsibilities towards British Citizens 
in the Occupied Territories by condemning all instances of injury to 
British citizens by Israeli soldiers and settlers.

For more details contact:

Leonie Nimmo        07732 087 546
Karen Blake     email: 117502 at soas.ac.uk
Joy Green           07734 050 721
Mortaza Sahibzada  07946 351 319, email: m.sahibzada at imperial.ac.uk

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CHILD ABDUCTION

Children are being abducted in record numbers
in northern Uganda by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Human
Rights Watch said in a recent report. The children are
subjected to brutal treatment as soldiers, laborers and sexual slaves.

Since June of 2002, an estimated 5,000 children have been abducted—a
striking increase from 2001, when fewer than 100 children were abducted.
In total, an estimated 20,000 children have been abducted during the
16-year conflict between the LRA and the Ugandan government.

“The increase in abductions is dramatic and alarming,” said Jo Becker of
the Children’s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. “More children
have been taken in the last 10 months than in any previous year of the
conflict.”

The surge in abductions followed the return of the LRA to Uganda after
the Ugandan government launched a military offensive, “Operation Iron
Fist,” against the LRA’s bases in southern Sudan in March of last year.
The LRA uses brutal tactics to demand obedience from abducted children.
Children are forced to beat or trample to death other children who
attempt to escape, and are repeatedly told they will be killed if they
try to run away.

The 31-page report, “Stolen Children: Abduction and Recruitment in
Northern Uganda” draws on interviews with children who have recently
escaped from LRA captivity. The majority of those interviewed were
abducted after the escalation of the conflict last year.

Uganda’s government also recruits children. Human Rights Watch
documented the recruitment of children as young as 12 into Local Defense
Units, also known as home guards. These children are trained, and
sometimes fight, with the Ugandan army. Boys who manage to escape from
LRA captivity, particularly those with combat experience, are also
pressured to join the UPDF while in UPDF custody for debriefing.

The full report is online at:
http://hrw.org/reports/2003/uganda0303/

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FOREST MONITOR TERMINATED

The Cambodian Government has, with effect from today, terminated Global
Witness' role as the official Independent Monitor of the forest sector in
Cambodia.  Meanwhile the Cambodian government seeks to convince 
international donors that it is managing its forests responsibly.  It cites 
the existence of an
independent monitor as the basis for this claim, while simultaneously doing
whatever it can to prevent the monitor from actually operating.

"The decision to dispense with independent monitoring leaves the Government,
the international donor community and, most importantly, the public without
any credible source of information regarding illegal logging in Cambodia,"
said Jon Buckrell of Global Witness.

Chan Sarun, the Cambodian Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
wrote in a letter to Global Witness on 22 January that the organisation's
role as official independent monitor would be terminated in three months.
Neither the Minister nor any other Government official has communicated with
Global Witness since this letter.  The Minister's letter followed threats of
expulsion and legal action by the Government, after Global Witness reported
on police violence against peaceful demonstrators on 5 December 2002.  In
March the Government filed a criminal complaint against Global Witness's
Cambodia Co-ordinator on baseless charges relating to this incident.  The
complaint was only withdrawn after intense pressure from international donor
countries.

"Global Witness' most vocal critics tend to be the same individuals who
organise and profit most from illegal logging.  These individuals at the
heart of government and the public administration no doubt see the
termination of Global Witness' official role as the surest way to maintain
their illicit revenue streams and thereby their power," said Buckrell.

Full story at the Global Witness website:
--> /www.globalwitness.org/press_releases/display2.php?id=190

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WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY - report by Katharine Mieszkowski

The computing world mourns the passing of technologist Anita Borg who dies 
earlier this month. A Silicon Valley computer scientist, Borg was an
influential advocate for the involvement of women in technology.

The founder of the Systers mailing list, the Grace Hopper Celebration of
Women in Computing and the Institute for Women and Technology, Borg was
just 54 years old.

"She was the first woman who really said that women should create the
tools of society, not only technology, but machinery, every kind of
tool, because the people that design those tools determine how they
should be used, and ultimately control society," said Sylvia Paull, the
founder of GraceNet, an organization for women in technology.

"What if only 30-year-old women developed technology?" Borg told me in
an interview in 1999. "All of it -- and that technology was geared
mainly for 13-year-old-girls? Technology would be out of whack, out of
balance. But that's the world we live in: Men hold the power, and boys
drive the market.

"Technology is not neutral," she added. "Every invention reflects the
values, perspective, background, and needs of its inventor. The variety
and impact of new digital technologies will depend on the extent to
which women are involved and their needs are taken into account.
Technology is going to change our political, economic, social and
personal lives. Women need to be there saying: 'This is how we want
things to change.'"

In the late '90s, when it seemed as if everyone in Silicon Valley was
fixated on stock option millions and dazzling IPOs, Anita Borg went to
Xerox PARC, the venerable research facility, to found a nonprofit -- the
Institute for Women and Technology. There, she strove to change how new
technological ideas were created, not just by encouraging women to
become computer scientists, but also by finding novel ways for the
"nontechnical" to influence technological development.

"Being a visionary is kind of easy, but to be a visionary and execute
that vision is very rare, and she was one of those rare people," said
John Seely Brown, then director of Xerox PARC.

"She believed that anything was possible, and she created environments
where that was true," says Denise Brosseau, co-founder of the Forum for
Women Entrepreneurs.

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INTERNET IMPACTS

Again and again we hear about the potential environmental benefits
of information technology with respect to the substitution of motorways
by data highways, about dematerialisation etc...

But in reality we observe an increase of transportation of goods and
persons, we have mountains of poisonous electronic waste. Why is there
such a difference between theory and reality?

A more realistic assessment of the chances and the environmental,
social, economic and cultural problems related to the new technologies
is necessary. In a new study an effort was done to identify the main
risks.

This study "The Sustainable Information Society" can be downloaded in
the "background" section of the website:
--> www.global-society-dialogue.org

There are also paper copies available which can be ordered free of
charge via: info at faw.uni-ulm.de

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'INJUSTICE' CENSORED
9.00 pm THURSDAY 1st MAY 2003

Venue: Channel Four Television, 124 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P.

Injustice is a feature length documentary film about the struggles for 
justice by the families of black people that have died in police custody in 
the UK. On its release two years ago the police tried to censor the film by 
threatening cinemas. Months of fighting, by the film makers & families in 
the film, ended in victory with the police backing off and the film on 
release in cinemas across the UK & internationally.

Injustice is an award winning film that has been critically acclaimed and 
has been seen across the world. But Channel Four still refuse to broadcast 
the film because they won't take on the Police Federation. C4 are not only 
banning the film they are telling the police 'It's ok to kill, we won't 
turn our cameras on you'. Injustice exposes a number of human rights abuses 
that have taken place in the UK over the past 30 years and which successive 
governments, including the present one, have been responsible for. It is a 
matter of public interest that Injustice is broadcast in this country.

Protest against the ban - since C4 won't screen Injustice then we are going 
to screen it on C4.
Injustice will be projected onto the Channel Four building on: 9.00 pm 
THURSDAY 1st MAY 2003
Venue: Channel Four Television, 124 Horseferry Road, London, SW1P.
Tube: St.James Park.

If you can't make the protest then the telephone number for Channel Four is
020 7396 4444 or 020 7306 8333

More information here:
--> www.injusticefilm.co.uk

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QUOTE/UNQUOTE

Learning is finding out what you already know. Doing is demonstrating that 
you know it.
  - Richard Bach

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DIARY DATES

*INTRAC*
The International NGO Training and Research Centre have just released their 
new training programme, for the period April 2003 to March 2004.
See their website for a full listing:
--> www.intrac.org

*Setting Standards for Peace and Conflict Work*
co-hosted by RedR and Peaceworkers UK
Wednesday, 30 April 2003, 4.30pm

A UK Civilian Peace Service will be managing the recruitment, training and 
assessment of civlian personnel for mission in conflict areas and 
Peaceworkers UK is involvedin developing appropriate training and 
assessment criteria for this purpose. This seminar will look at the skill 
requirements for staff on international missions and will discuss ways of 
defining standards and assessing competence for different types of peace 
and conflict work.

Spaces are limited so please RSVP to Peaceworkers UK by Friday 25 April 2003
--> Email: seminars at peaceworkers.org.uk

*WILD at HEART: the philosophy and psychology of wild places*
Glenmore Lodge, Aviemore, Scotland May 3 and 4, 2003
Keynote speaker: DOUG SCOTT mountaineer, author and community activist

Workshops by: COLIN MORTLOCK, KAYE RICHARDS (adventure therapist)  WILL
BOYD-WALLIS (John Muir Trust) BRENDAN HILL (ecopsychologist)
ROBBIE NICOL(outdoor eco-educator) JO ROBERTS (Wilderness Trust)  ANNIE HART
(expressive artist & group facilitator) ALASTAIR MCINTOSH (activist and
author of Soil and Soul) ANNE-MARIE CULHANE (dancer/performance artist)
MARY-JAYNE RUST (Jungian therapist and ecopsychologist) DAVID KEY (outdoor
eco-educator and tgo columnist)
BOOK NOW on 01479 861256 (£105 residential, £45 non-residential)
Email: enquiries at glenmorelodge.org.uk

*The CMA festival 2003*
May 8th -10th in Sheffield. This will be the biggest and (hopefully) the 
best yet to help
celebrate CMA's 20th birthday.

Planned events include:
*3 days of screenings of work produced with support from the Commedia 
Millennium Awards scheme
*Workshops and training sessions
*Debate on hot topics in the sector
*lots of opportunities for socialising and networking
*exhibition of up to date equipment and services to the sector

Further information from: nicky at commedia.org.uk
*Spring Awakening 2003 @ Eridge, East Sussex*
22-26 May 2003
Earth Spirit is a family orientated friendly festival, there is always a 
large children's area
and many people spend quite a lot of their time sitting round campfires 
chatting and making music. Earth Spirit welcomes all wood nymphs, pixies 
and fairies that like dressing up and wandering around the woods 
entertaining people.
--> www.earthspirit.me.uk

*The second Day of Action Against Depleted Uranium*
29th May.

Last year saw the First International Day of Action Against Depleted 
Uranium, with
actions taking place in six different countries. This year the day is 
expected to be even bigger after the outrageous recent use of depleted 
uranium by Britain and the US in Iraq.

CADU can provide information on targets and leaflets for you. By working 
together we can ensure that the British and US governments are held 
responsible for the suffering they have inflicted.

For more details please contact CADU via email:
info at cadu.org.uk or through their website: www.cadu.org.uk

*Introduction to Renewable Energy Weekend Course*
4 - 6 July 2003
Centre of Continuing Education, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

The course will give an overview of the technology of renewable energy and 
outline the basic principles of solar electricity, small-scale wind power 
and microhydro-power and their applications for homes, businesses and farms.

Visit the Green Dragon website at
--> www.greendragonenergy.co.uk/

*DRUID PEACE SYMPOSIUM*
CONCURRENT TO THE 2003 WELSH EISTEDDFODD
WEDNESDAY 6 AUGUST - HIROSHIMA DAY - 10AM - 6PM - WELSHPOOL, POWYS

This special gathering is chance for all those interested in Druidry 
throughout the British Isles to gather and discuss their ideas and faith 
traditions. Druids were the original Priests and Priestess of the ancient 
British Isles before the Romans arrived; after the Roman conquest they 
lived on in Ireland the Mountain wildernesses of Wales and Scotland. As 
part of the Celtic revival, interest in Druidry has blossomed over the past 
100 years, and several flourishing Druid Orders are alive and well in 
today's British Isles.

More information via email: iipsgp at educationaid.net

*More Diary Dates on GreenNet*
--> www.gn.apc.org/calendar/calindex.shtml

Please add your events to the calendar here:
--> www.gn.apc.org/calendar/add.shtml

****************************************************************

The AlterNet News is edited by Joanne Doyle for GreenNet:
---> www.gn.apc.org

Please note that opinions expressed in AlterNet are those of the 
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