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AFRICA: Civil Society to AU: Investment Must Address Marginalisation
By Diletta Varlese, Terna Gyuse and Joyce Mulama
Sirte, LIBYA, CAPE TOWN and NAIROBI - No gathering hosted by Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is ever dull, and the Thirteenth Ordinary Session of the African Union, concluding in Sirte, Libya today has not disappointed.
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KENYA: A Role For Men in Gender Equality
By Joyce Mulama
NAIROBI - The recent Gender Festival in Kenya has underlined the important role that male activism can play in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment.
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IRAN: Picnicking Outside Evin Prison
By Sara Farhang
TEHRAN - Outside the gates of Tehran's notorious Evin prison, hundreds wait impatiently – some with blankets spread out in the parking lot on the street below, making time for dinner.
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ENVIRONMENT: Scientists Study the Riches of the Mexican Pacific
By Emilio Godoy*
MEXICO CITY - Mexico’s Pacific coast, one of the world's richest seaboards in terms of biodiversity, has been the focus of very few scientific studies. A new observatory aims to fill that void.
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MEDIA-CHINA: Government Attempts to Block "Harmful Content" Thwarted
By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - Beijing’s last minute climb-down on its latest Internet-censorship effort this week highlights the possibility that Chinese communist mandarins’ main challenge in the future lies not in quelling political dissent, but reigning in its tech-savvy educated elite.
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EAST TIMOR: Prime Minister Embroiled in Contract Scandal
By Matt Crook
DILI, EAST TIMOR - Pressure to resign is mounting on East Timor’s Prime Minster, Xanana Gusamo, amid claims that he misused authority when he signed-off on a multi-million dollar government contract last year to a company his daughter has ties with.
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IRAN: Rights Group Seeks Release of Mistreated and Ill Detainee
By Katie Mattern
WASHINGTON - Iranian authorities should release a prominent reformist detained during recent post-election unrest to a medical facility because he has suffered harsh interrogations and inadequate medical care that could have life-threatening consequences, said a prominent human rights group Wednesday.
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RIGHTS-MALAYSIA: An Uphill Battle Against Abuse And Torture
By Baradan Kuppusamy
KUALA LUMPUR - Domestic helper Siti Hajar, 33, from Garut district, Indonesia is a picture of calm as she leans against the wall at a shelter for abused maids and dreams of returning to her village.
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PARAGUAY: President and Congress Face Off Over Agrochemicals
By Natalia Ruiz Díaz
ASUNCIÓN - "Silvino was riding his bike on a dirt road near our home when he was poisoned by toxic agrochemicals, sprayed on a nearby field of soybeans. He died soon afterwards. He was 11," said his mother, Petrona Villasboa, a rural activist in southern Paraguay.
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AUSTRALIA: Attacks Expose Ills Of A Much-Touted Education System
By Neena Bhandari
SYDNEY - The modern façade of its cities, cost-effectiveness and its high standards of education make Australia an attractive destination for foreign students. But the recent spate of attacks on Indian students has exposed the many ills afflicting the Australian education system, threatening its lucrative markets.
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IRAN: Anger and Despair Linger After Govt Confirms Poll
By Sara Farhang
TEHRAN - On Monday, after a televised counting of the 10 percent of the ballot boxes, the body that oversees Iranian elections upheld the results of the disputed presidential elections.
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COLOMBIA: Jaime Garzón’s Murder; No Digging Allowed – Part 2
By Constanza Vieira*
BOGOTÁ - It’s always the same: the TV audience is grief-stricken and indignant that he is no longer with us, but they continue to laugh along with him. Beloved Colombian comic Jaime Garzón was assassinated on Aug. 13, 1999, but he is still alive on the small screen.
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ENVIRONMENT: 'Slow Down Living'
By Blake Evans-Pritchard
PISTOIA, Italy - A group of Christian environmentalists met in Pistoia in central Italy over the weekend to call for an end to mass consumption and a return to family values.
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SRI LANKA: Journalists Laying Aside Pens Once Again
By Feizal Samath
COLOMBO - Sri Lankan journalists are laying aside their pens once again and bracing for renewed confrontation with President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government after the revival of the repressive Press Council and fresh attacks on the media.
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POLITICS: U.N. Plan for Financial Crisis Derided as Weak
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS - When the General Assembly adopted a proposed plan of action aimed at overcoming the global financial crisis, one of the political surprises was that all 192 member states gave their blessings to the wide range of proposals spelled out in an "outcome document".
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SOUTHEAST ASIA: Regional Rights Body Dismissed as "Toothless"
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - Southeast Asia is weeks away from getting its own regional human rights body, but not everyone is cheering the birth of this new mechanism due to be approved at a foreign ministers’ meeting here. Least of all the region’s vibrant human rights community, spread across the 10 countries that belong to the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN).
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NGOs participation
social movements trade unions grassroots advocacy charity faith-based MOBILISATION groups COLLECTIVE ACTION social capital democratic expression dissent INNOVATION

RELIGION-BRAZIL: Intolerance Denounced at UN

DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Fears Over New Land Deal

PERU: Petroleum Sullies the Amazon

AGRICULTURE: Biotechnology: Africa Must Not Be Left Behind

EUROPE: Croatia on Uncertain Course for EU Membership

RIGHTS-AFRICA: AU Heeds Perpetrators Not Victims

RUSSIA: Hoping for Much, Expecting Little

POLITICS-BOTSWANA: Parties Block Women Candidates for Upcoming Elections

CUBA-US: Frosty Relations No Bar to Communication

RIGHTS-INDIA: India's Historic Gay Ruling

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CIVIL SOCIETY UNDER THREAT IN RUSSIA
By Kumi Naidoo and Tanzilya Salimdjanova
With Russia's presidential elections -- notoriously a time of clampdown on dissent -- looming, it is important to ask whether non-governmental organisations there will be able to freely go about their legitimate activities, whether providing services, election monitoring, or holding the government to account, ask Kumi Naidoo, secretary general of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen participation, and Tanzilya Salimdjanova, associate at CIVICUS - Civil Society Watch programme.

"THE WORLD COULD BE VERY DIFFERENT FROM HOW IT IS TODAY"
By Candido Grzybowski
"The World Social Forum didn’t produce the progressive wave in Latin America by itself; nevertheless, it would be difficult to imagine it without the presence of the WSF", says Cândido Grzybowski, director of Ibase (Brazil) and member of the WSF International Committee, in this interview with IPS's Alejandro Kirk.

CIVIL SOCIETY UNDER ATTACK
By Kumi Naidoo
In the last 12 months we have seen civil society organisations challenged by political threats to civil society's right to exist, by the need to improve its internal governance, and by the threats that face humankind, from climate change crisis to poverty and inequality, writes Kumi Naidoo, secretary general of CIVICUS: A World Alliance for Citizen Participation.

World Social Forum

Int'l NGO Accountability Charter

Choike.org - Portal on Southern Civil Societies

CIVICUS - World Alliance for Citizen Participation

CONGO - Conf. of NGOs at UN

Ubuntu - World Forum of Civil Society Networks

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