If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
It's clear that the biggest priority of all with regards to Uzbekistan is securing the safe passage of UK military equipment from Afghanistan back through Uzbek territory. In February the UK agreed to gift £450,000 of military kit to the country to secure such passage. Defence minister Philip Hammond said he was confident the kit would not be used for 'internal repression'. But even if this supposed confidence is not misguided, what message does it send that a government which just a few years ago was under strict arms embargoes from the EU and US on human rights grounds (for massacring hundreds of its own citizens in Andijan in 2005) is now enjoying military gifts from the UK?
In 2011 the Centre for Social Justice conducted a telephone poll, the largest of its kind, of single occupants aged 75 and over. We found that nearly a quarter of a million people - a city the size of Brighton - were to spend Christmas day alone.
Under the new rules asylum seekers will have a medical and psychological assessment as soon as possible, will be provided with decent detention and living conditions and have the right to apply for work nine months after lodging an asylum application.
This is Romania. This is modern-day prejudice. This is the life of Europe's Roma community. Today, Amnesty International publishes a new report called 'Pushed to the margins: Five stories of Roma forced evictions in Romania'... It paints a very bleak picture.
Victims of domestic abuse frequently drop legal cases if the perpetrator promises to change, suggesting emotional attachment drives unhelpful decisions. As many as 80 percent of victims 'recant', meaning they drop the charges, or deny the crime occurred.
Perhaps post-recession, policymakers shall have greater empathy and understanding of the compounded problems faced by developing countries. As for migrants and diasporas, the awful stench of poverty and deprivation continues to occupy their senses as they manage their new lives.
To me, it's simple. If a man assaults you, you walk. If he lays one finger on your kids, you walk. Of course, I'm saying that as a strong woman, and I understand many women will find themselves undermined and emotionally abused by their partners to the point where they no longer feel able to fight.
As the plane touched down in Freetown, my thoughts turned to my baby son, at home. I'd come to a country where one in five children dies before the age of five. I'd read that fact over and over again and - as I stepped onto the dusty tarmac in Sierra Leone - a mixture of guilt and relief mingled inside, knowing my own flesh and blood was healthy and safe.
In India, a country heavily influenced by deep-rooted beliefs of social hierarchy, there's an incredibly strong country-wide movement lobbying to gain land rights for poor, vulnerable, and socially excluded communities such as dalits and tribals, seeking action from the government to make rights and opportunities fair.
Six hours after setting off from Barcelona Team 6 reached a very sunny Cannes in the south of France. However, not everyone on the Cash and Rocket tour arrived in such good time... One team made it to Cannes swiftly, only it was the Cannes in the north of the country. It was when they started to see signs for Paris that they realised they might have gone awry.
This summit offers the Prime Minister a chance to show Britain at its best, and the test for its success will be reaching agreement on some of the most challenging issues facing the international community. We hope he seizes that opportunity with both hands.
The announcement that David Cameron has been able to negotiate an agreement with all of our overseas territories and Crown territories which will mean that they sign up to a 'clampdown' on tax avoidance should be good news.
One company I work with is a digital brand film content outfit called Coast. They were commissioned by Prostate Cancer UK to deliver a film called Father's Day, and I wrote the script. The film is about a bunch of gangsters arranging a meeting to plan a heist. It stars A list British actors Ray Winstone.
I explained to them that I actually understand and agree that many of the people on whose behalf Amnesty work are probably guilty. Guilty of insulting the president, guilty of being gay, guilty of standing up for women's rights. I explained that it's often repressive laws that puts many of the people on whose behalf Amnesty work behind bars.
Money and power can afford you many luxuries, and one of those luxuries is being able to take four days out of your schedule to raise awareness and fundraise. And when these women (the Cash and Rocket tour), led by the super-organised Julie Brangstrup, fundraise they do it in a big way.
A new report from Action Against Hunger shows that investments in proven nutrition interventions are falling far short of what is needed to address global hunger and raises serious concerns about the reactive and short-term nature of funding for nutrition programmes.
