Mois : janvier 2007

Linked with Virginia/Ginny Shrivastava – India.

ASTHA is an organization with ‘Faith in the People’. Astha is a Hindi word, which means “deep faith or conviction”. We have “faith in the people” – faith that people have abilities, strengths and knowledge to solve the problems they face. Poor people are marginalized, exploited, deprived, and usually do not recognize their strength – but Astha does!

The Mission of Astha is to help People to organize, expand their capacities and equip themselves for the struggles they must wage to overcome the various deprivations under which they live.

Astha works for Structural Change:

• Bringing into being new structures of the poor (organized and aware), which changes the “structure of society” – before, there was no organization of the poor that society had to deal with, now there is.
• Bringing changes in some of the laws and policies, rules and regulations, that form part of the root causes of injustice, deprivation, exploitation and marginalization. And so Astha’s work includes research, documentation and networking to prepare for the advocacy work it does, along with others, to bring changes in those laws and policies in need of change.

Contact: Astha, 39 Kharol Colony, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. 313 004 – Phone 91 294 245 1348, Fax 91 294 2451391, write astha39 atsancharnet dotin.

Continuer la lecture de « ASHTA SANSTHAN »

IFG is a North-South research and educational institution composed of sixty leading activists, economists, scholars, and researchers providing analyses and critiques on the cultural, social, political, and environmental impacts of economic globalization.

Formed in 1994, the IFG came together out of shared concern that the world’s corporate and political leadership was rapidly restructuring global politics and economics on a level that was as historically significant as any period since the Industrial Revolution. Yet there was almost no discussion or even recognition of this new « free market, » or « neoliberal » model, or of the institutions and agreements enforcing this system—the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other such bureaucracies. In response, the IFG began to stimulate new thinking, joint activity and public education about this rapidly rising economic paradigm.

Continuer la lecture de « The International Forum on Globalization IFG »

Linked with George Monbiot – England, and with Other Economies are Possible!

Read first the Field Report on Al Gore’s Climate Project, and this project presented on the WorldChanging-website.

about: WorldChanging.com works from a simple premise: that the tools, models and ideas for building a better future lie all around us. That plenty of people are working on tools for change, but the fields in which they work remain unconnected. That the motive, means and opportunity for profound positive change are already present. That another world is not just possible, it’s here. We only need to put the pieces together.

Continuer la lecture de « World Changing.com »

Linked with Azra Hasanbegovic – Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hopes Betrayed, and with Trafficking Women and Children.

The Association “ŽENA BIH”, Mostar works to combat trafficking through research and the reintegration of women who have been trafficked from Bosnia and Herzegovina to places abroad.

Excerpt: … The next day we drove in warm sunny weather through isolated mountainous country to Mostar. There, in a bombed-out building, we visited the office of the women’sproject Zena BIH. The project leader, Azra Hasanbegovic, and her colleagues gave us a detailed account of their work, which encompasses mainly legal counseling, AIDS-prevention, information on trafficking in women, mediation and conciliation programs. We then drove to a day center which they run for senior women citizens, visited their women’s center (boutique, café, hairdresser and massage), and then went to the new women’s refuge Marguerite, which was inaugurated on December 8. Fadila regrets that for our Project only 3 candidates from Bosnia-Herzegovina are planned, as so many women there are engaged in peace work worthy of recognition.

Udruženje Âssociation ŽENA B&H WOMAN.

Small grants make large contributions in trafficking prevention.

Linked with Erika Lesser – USA, see there more about.

Slow Food USA is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America. From the spice of Cajun cooking to the purity of the organic movement; from animal breeds and heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables to handcrafted wine and beer, farmhouse cheeses and other artisanal products; these foods are a part of our cultural identity. They reflect generations of commitment to the land and devotion to the processes that yield the greatest achievements in taste. These foods, and the communities that produce and depend on them, are constantly at risk of succumbing to the effects of the fast life, which manifests itself through the industrialization and standardization of our food supply and degradation of our farmland. By reviving the pleasures of the table, and using our tastebuds as our guides, Slow Food U.S.A. believes that our food heritage can be saved.

Continuer la lecture de « Slow Food USA »