Hivos news

On 4 March I attended a lively and rich discussion on some of the latest findings that are part of the larger multiple-year AWID research on Resisting and Challenging Fundamentalisms. AWID has undertaken eighteen in depth case studies to grasp how religious fundamentalisms, in different contexts and different religions, operate, how they appeal or not to women, how they impact on women’s rights and women’s activism.

Climate change and sustainable energy production are high on the political agenda, public debate generally focusing on how the use of fossil fuels can be reduced. Much less attention is given to the lack of access to energy of people living in poverty in developing countries. Remarkably, the solution to both issues is the same: renewable energy.

Kenyan human rights defenders are holding their breath. Since last weekend various gay people have been attacked and arrested in Mtwapa, a village near Mombasa. After rumours of a gay marriage, demonstrations were held during which both Christian and Islam leaders encouraged an outbreak of homophobia. Hivos partner GALCK (Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya) is trying to ensure the safety of LGBT-activists and the people who were arrested.

Do you want to know everything about The Theory of Change? Read the new guide entitled Teoría de Cambio: Un enfoque de pensamiento-acción para navegar en la complejidad de los procesos de cambio social The guide has been jointly published by Hivos and UNDP, and is aimed at the rich constellation of actors linked to processes of social development and change: bilateral donors, community leaders, political and social leaders, NGO’s representatives, community-based organizations, social movements, public decision makers, and other actors related to social change processes.

EuropeAid/128651/D/SUP/TZ:

HIVOS and TaTEDO intend to award a supply contract for Multi Functional Platform’s (MFPs), consisting of a vegetable oil driven combustion engine driving an alternator / oil seed press c/w filters / maize mill / maize dehusker and/or water pump as well as Productive Use Containers (PUCs), equipped with battery power or solar panels.

Iran has banned its citizens from having contact with 60 international organisations including Hivos. Iran’s Intelligence Ministry accuses the organizations on the list of being involved in a “soft war” against the Islamic Republic.

I have been working for some months for the Africa Biogas Partnership Programme now, and only recently I got the opportunity to see my first two biogas digesters. The digesters, located in Mukono, close to Ugandan capital Kampala, just started to produce gas and the owners were very happy with it.

Hivos believes that world leaders should be ashamed about the outcome of the climate negotiations in Copenhagen. After years of preparation, weeks of meeting and a summit attended by all world leaders, the UN members have still not signed a treaty on tackling climate change. The only decision taken by the UN countries is to recognise the so-called Copenhagen Accord. This identifies and recognises the need to combat climate change, but does not draw the necessary conclusions or impose binding commitments. At the very last minute even the agreement that a binding treaty should be in place at next year’s summit in Mexico had disappeared.

Walter Tróchez was shot and killed last Sunday when walking in the streets of Tegucigalpa. Walter was a prominent member of an LGBT /HIV activist group supported by Hivos, and part of the Popular Resistance Movement.His commitment to justice touched many, and will continue to resound in Honduras.

For the second time Arab bloggers gather to exchange knowledge, get training and support each other in their quest for freedom of expression in the Arab region.