global info

Shen Peilan (left), Mao Hengfeng (middle) and Jin Yuehua (right)

"Better city - better life" is the theme of Expo 2010, which begins in the Chinese city of Shanghai on Saturday. Yet it is a hollow slogan for more than 18,000 families who were evicted from their homes to pave the way for China's global technology and innovation showpiece.

International Meeting of Rambouillet (France) - March 23—25, 2009

In March 2009, the Ford Foundation and the Institute for Research and Debate on Governance (IRG) invited members from eleven different self-help networks and community-based/grassroots organizations, to participate in a joint seminar.

A woman stands outside her home at Gunhill informal settlement on the outskirts of Harare, Zimbabwe, 24 March 2010

The government of Zimbabwe must take action to protect hundreds of thousands of people left to survive in substandard settlements five years after a program of mass forced evictions, Amnesty International and the Coalition Against Forced Evictions are calling on the government to provide adequate alternative accommodation or compensation to those left homeless and jobless.

A timely, comprehensive practical guide for combating corruption in relief and reconstruction has been published today by Transparency International (TI), the global anti-corruption organisation, in collaboration with seven major humanitarian agencies.

Han van Putten

Pioneer of the right to the habitat with no frontiers

Han van Putten born May 28, 1922, died October 25, 2009 at his home in The Hague (Netherlands). Han was married to the late Anneke van Putten-Torensma, Father of Sietske, Frank, Marc, Willem (dec.) and Rebecca and dear Friend of Lidie Luursema.

The displaced in Bulo Hawo, near the Kenyan border

KAMPALA, 22 October 2009 (IRIN) - Civil society and government officials are gathered in the Ugandan capital of Kampala to discuss the Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Africa and a declaration on refugees, returnees and IDPs.

Les personnes déplacées trouvent souvent refuge dans des camps de fortune tels que celui-ci

NAIROBI, 19 octobre 2009 (IRIN) - Quarante ans après la signature d’une convention historique sur les droits des réfugiés africains, les dirigeants du continent sont appelés à marquer une nouvelle étape juridique décisive, en adoptant un instrument de protection des personnes déplacées à l’intérieur de leur propre pays.

13 October 2009
Nigeria: Security forces use violence against demonstrators

Amnesty International condemns the excessive use of force by some members of the security forces in Bundu waterfront community, Port Harcourt, Rivers State on 12 October. At least three people were killed and eleven seriously injured when combined troops of the Joint Task Force (JTF) and police used firearms to disperse a crowd.

l-r: Mr. Shaun Donovan, Ms. Jan Peterson and Mrs. Anna Tibaijuka on the occassion of World Habitat day 2009

UN-HABITAT has signed a milestone agreement with the Huairou Commission to strengthen the involvement of grassroots women in projects and programmes for better housing and sustainable urban development. The agreement signed Monday on World Habitat Day strengthens areas of existing work, and also ventures into newer areas, such as information technology.

Raquel Rolnik é urbanista, professora da Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo e relatora especial da Organização das Nações Unidas para o direito à moradia adequada.
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