VICTORY!
"Facing pressure from universities and student groups, the apparel maker Nike announced on Monday that it would pay $1.54 million to help 1,800 workers in Honduras who lost their jobs when two subcontractors closed their factories.
Nike agreed to the payment after several universities and a nationwide group, United Students Against Sweatshops, pressed it to pay some $2 million in severance that the two subcontractors had failed to pay.
The University of Wisconsin, Madison terminated its licensing agreement with Nike over the Honduran dispute, and Cornell warned that it would do the same unless Nike resolved the matter. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/27/business/global/27nike.html?ref=us
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
JVA in the news
My organization mentioned in a NYT article about the recent bombings in Uganda: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/22/world/africa/22uganda.html?ref=africa
Friday, July 16, 2010
Ruling for Women's Rights & Asylum Law
A United States federal court ruling this week could unleash a wave of political asylum claims from applicants who say being a woman from Central America is reason enough to fear for their lives.
The ruling concerns an application by a Guatemalan woman, but activists say hundreds of thousands of women from throughout the region could use it to argue that the United States should let them immigrate.
In the ruling on Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ordered immigration judges to reconsider whether Guatemalan women constituted a “particular social group” that might be persecuted. Courts have granted such status to women who fear genital cutting and to victims of domestic abuse, but two lower courts have said that Guatemalan women constituted too broad a category.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/world/americas/16guatemala.html?_r=1&ref=world
The ruling concerns an application by a Guatemalan woman, but activists say hundreds of thousands of women from throughout the region could use it to argue that the United States should let them immigrate.
In the ruling on Monday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco ordered immigration judges to reconsider whether Guatemalan women constituted a “particular social group” that might be persecuted. Courts have granted such status to women who fear genital cutting and to victims of domestic abuse, but two lower courts have said that Guatemalan women constituted too broad a category.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/world/americas/16guatemala.html?_r=1&ref=world
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Reporting From The Field: Dadaab Refugee Camps
For the past 2 months I have been working at the UNHCR compound in Dadaab town to do resettlement processing for refugees from Hagadera, Dagahaley, and Ifo Refugee Camps. There have been a mixture of uplifting and heartbreaking experiences. Here are a few...
Malnutrition
Every now and then I get a reminder of how difficult life can be in the refugee camps. Having worked in the field for 2 years now, I tend to become cynical about the reality of refugee life. It amazes people when I explain that there are very "wealthy" refugees living in the camps: refugees who have remittances from abroad, who own real estate businesses, who employ people from the local communities for domestic housework...but their are also those who are vulnerable, and yesterday I got a reminder: I father came into my office in the late-afternoon complaining that his baby was sick. It had been a hot day and the refugees wait for their interviews outside, so I suspected dehydration. I took the father and the baby to see an IOM nurse working on a medical mission at the work site. The nurse said that the baby was dehydrated and needed to be breastfed. After speaking with the mother, the father returned and said "I need permission to leave the compound: My wife has not had enough to eat today and cannot breastfeed. I need to go outside to buy her tea". I was so stunned I simply shook my head to say yes....
According to the World Food Program, last year there was a 22% malnutrition rate among refugees in the 3 camps comprising Dadaab: Hagadera, Dagahaley, and Ifo Refugee Camps. Since the beginning of 2010, the malnutrition rate in Dadaab has dropped to 13%, just below the "critical danger" level of 15% (http://www.wfp.org/node/265)
Despair & Violence
There was a murder yesterday in Hagadera Refugee Camp: the body of a Somali youth was found mutilated and dumped in front of the Sudanese community accomodations block. When the body was discovered, a mass of 1,500-2,000 Somalis gathered and began attacking the Sudanese community. Over the course of a few hours, over 500 homes were burned down and over 50 people injured. UNHCR eventually brought in trucks to restore calm and order. The murdered youth is believed to be a a recent arrival to the camp: a 17 year old Somali boy who was not registered with UNHCR.
Reasons behind the murder are unknown. However, officials speculate that the body was dumped in front of the Sudanese community to stir unrest and create violence between the Sudanese and Somali communities living in Hagadera Refugee Camp. Officials believe that this was done in an attempt by community members to "create space" for Somali refugees living in the overcrowded camp....
(http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89830)
Malnutrition
Every now and then I get a reminder of how difficult life can be in the refugee camps. Having worked in the field for 2 years now, I tend to become cynical about the reality of refugee life. It amazes people when I explain that there are very "wealthy" refugees living in the camps: refugees who have remittances from abroad, who own real estate businesses, who employ people from the local communities for domestic housework...but their are also those who are vulnerable, and yesterday I got a reminder: I father came into my office in the late-afternoon complaining that his baby was sick. It had been a hot day and the refugees wait for their interviews outside, so I suspected dehydration. I took the father and the baby to see an IOM nurse working on a medical mission at the work site. The nurse said that the baby was dehydrated and needed to be breastfed. After speaking with the mother, the father returned and said "I need permission to leave the compound: My wife has not had enough to eat today and cannot breastfeed. I need to go outside to buy her tea". I was so stunned I simply shook my head to say yes....
According to the World Food Program, last year there was a 22% malnutrition rate among refugees in the 3 camps comprising Dadaab: Hagadera, Dagahaley, and Ifo Refugee Camps. Since the beginning of 2010, the malnutrition rate in Dadaab has dropped to 13%, just below the "critical danger" level of 15% (http://www.wfp.org/node/265)
Despair & Violence
There was a murder yesterday in Hagadera Refugee Camp: the body of a Somali youth was found mutilated and dumped in front of the Sudanese community accomodations block. When the body was discovered, a mass of 1,500-2,000 Somalis gathered and began attacking the Sudanese community. Over the course of a few hours, over 500 homes were burned down and over 50 people injured. UNHCR eventually brought in trucks to restore calm and order. The murdered youth is believed to be a a recent arrival to the camp: a 17 year old Somali boy who was not registered with UNHCR.
Reasons behind the murder are unknown. However, officials speculate that the body was dumped in front of the Sudanese community to stir unrest and create violence between the Sudanese and Somali communities living in Hagadera Refugee Camp. Officials believe that this was done in an attempt by community members to "create space" for Somali refugees living in the overcrowded camp....
(http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89830)
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