Good news – an independent process has been announced to resolve complaints from communities in Uganda, where people claim they were kicked off their land as a result of a land grab.
Thousands of GROW campaigners have been pushing since October for justice on this issue, which involves the UK-based New Forests Company (NFC) – and this is an important first step in making sure people’s voices are heard. Oxfam welcomes NFC’s agreement to participate. Their sustained engagement will be crucial for the process to work.
What the process means
Towards the end of 2011, communities in Uganda, along with Oxfam, wrote to the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (or CAO) about the impacts of the land grab.
Why the CAO? Well, they handle complaints from communities affected by investments made by the International Finance Corporation (or IFC) – the World Bank’s private sector arm. And the IFC invests in a fund which has a stake in NFC.
This means that an impartial, independent body will now spend time reviewing the situation in detail, before proposing an agreed way forward.
And that’s an important first step towards justice for thousands of people in Uganda.
What happens now
As soon as more details emerge about the results of this process that we are able to share, we’ll post them here.
Because land grabs are one of the major issues GROW campaigners around the globe are determined to tackle.
On the eve of the 2012 African Cup of Nations, more than 25 footballers including Seydou Keita from Mali, Charles Kaboré from Burkina Faso, Demba Bâ from Sénégal and Lawali Idrissafrom Niger have spoken out in solidarity with millions of people facing hunger across their region. They are appealing to the international community to work together so that “We CAN avert a major food crisis”.
Mali and Barcelona football star Seydou Keita added: “If we act now we could save the lives of women and children who are always the first victims of food crises. If we act urgently, millions of children will be saved from malnutrition and will have the chance to grow healthily and to succeed at school.”
The new head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, José Graziano Da Silva, previously led Brazil’s successful Fome Zero (Zero Hunger) programme. To find out more about this and other Brazilian initiatives, have a read of this Oxfam case study from 2010.
For a discussion on the new appointment, watch this Aljazeera clip, which features contributions from Oxfam’s Duncan Green:
Just days after the conclusion of the Durban Climate Conference, attention has fallen on Canada following the announcement this week by Environment Minister Peter Kent that Canada will formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.
Minister Kent explained that the decision to do so will save the government an estimated $14 billion in penalties under the terms of the treaty for not cutting emissions by the required amount by 2012.Canada was one of the first countries to sign the Kyoto Protocol but was not on track to meet its legally binding targets.
Canada’s exit from the one existing agreement that legally binds some countries to emission cuts targets is seen as an affront to the nearly one billion people who struggle every day to feed their families in the face of increasingly severe droughts, floods, heat waves and storms.
Canada’s Environment Minister Peter Kent has announced to the press that Canada will formally withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.
As the world celebrates International Human Rights Day, the effects of climate change are undermining the most basic rights of women and vulnerable people in the developing world.
Through the stories featured in Enough to Eat, some exceptional women show us some of the impacts of a changing climate in the Western Cape of South Africa.
It’s here – the last day of the climate negotiations in Durban.
Regardless of the direction things turn, a spin operation from negotiators will be in full force to try to frame the outcome. The finger-pointing has already begun and many are doing whatever they can to avoid the blame-game if a workable agreement looks in doubt.
The hastily organized press conference from the US delegation is an early indication that their team is working hard to push back on the narrative that they have not been constructive parties to the negotiations. Mr. Stern’s vague signals in the direction of support for the EU roadmap yesterday were quickly parsed and promptly rolled-back suggesting nothing has changed in their obstructive stance. But the press coverage last night and this morning suggests that the US efforts served their purpose, at least for a little while.
The climate negotiations in Durban are stuttering and there’s only 48 hours left.
There is little progress on agreement on the emission reductions needed to keep warming below 2 degrees. There is also a rumbling debate about how to fill the Green Climate Fund.
We need you to urge our leaders along the path to a sustainable planet. Together with Oxfam members across the world you can tweet at a range of the key players at the Durban UN Climate Summit.
Oxfam’s Conor Costello reports from Durban as the second week of climate negotiations continue:
Saturday 3 December was not a normal day for the population of Durban, South Africa. A climate march wound around the streets of the centre as somewhere between 10, 000 to 15000 people called for – in fact demanded – action on climate change. They brought the city to a colourful, vibrant and peaceful standstill.
Walking with, and sometimes carrying our gorgeous puppets – Mama Mhlaba (Zulu for Mother Earth) & Baba Manzi (Father Water) – I saw groups as diverse as the Rural Women’s Assembly and the Airport Workers Union marching side-by-side. All for the same ultimate goal – climate justice through urgent, fair and effective action on climate change.
As the climate negotiations in Durban approach the weekend, check out this video showing how women in South Africa are already adapting to the effects of climate change:
