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 <title>Ashoka Peace: Social Entrepreneurs and Peace-Building</title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/rss/releases</link>
 <description></description>
 <language>en</language>
<item>
 <title>Interview with Paul van Zyl</title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/paul_ictj</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Next up in our interview series is &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.monitortalent.com/talent/Paul-vanZyl-Profile.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Paul van Zyl&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;, a recipient of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.skollfoundation.org/grantees/f-q.asp&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Skoll&amp;nbsp;Award for Social Entrepreneurship&lt;/a&gt; for&amp;nbsp;co-founding&amp;nbsp;the &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ictj.org/en/index.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;, an award-winning organization which assists countries pursuing accountability for past mass atrocity or human rights abuse.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;float: left; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px;&quot; src=&quot;sites/peace/files/paulvanzyl2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;151&quot; height=&quot;250&quot; /&gt;1. What is the innovation you have pioneered? What are you doing that nobody else is doing and why?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The innovation behind ICTJ was recognizing that there are lessons available globally about how societies confront a violent past, and that there is a need for an institution that facilitates access to this information and helps societies&amp;nbsp;adopt best practices and strategies.&amp;nbsp;Once those strategies are adopted, it is critical to get the same actors (victim groups, civil society groups, actors responsible for the transitional justice policies, etc) to help implement and execute those policies in their societies. Prior to the creation of the ICTJ, there wasn&#039;t a clearinghouse or mechanism for this.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2. What has been the biggest obstacle that you have overcome so far, and how did you go about doing so? What did you learn in the process?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;However effective your organization is, you want to seek to multiply your effort to empower others to do what you have done. Building the field is absolutely essential for long-term success.&amp;nbsp;At the ICTJ, we did this through fellowship courses and short courses on the essentials of transitional justice, which trained key people so that they themselves could become better and more effective at doing this work. We measured our impact through the number of people who attended the courses who went back and developed transitional justice programs in their home countries and communities. This is how we went about building the transitional justice field.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3.&amp;nbsp;At what point in your life did you realize that you simply had to do this? What was your personal turning point?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I’m not really sure I had a choice. My parents raised me to believe that we were living in an unjust society and it was my responsibility to seek to remedy this. As soon as I began to think about the world in a serious way, I just knew that I had to become involved.&amp;nbsp; After getting involved in the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa and serving as the executive secretary of the &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_(South_Africa)&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Truth and Reconciliation Commission&lt;/a&gt;, I received requests for assistance from actors around the world who were trying to put transitional justice institutions and processes in place.&amp;nbsp; There were a lot of people out there with valuable information on how to do these things, but no central place to access and share information.&amp;nbsp; We became more and more convinced that it was critically important to fill that learning gap, which is where the ICTJ was born.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Watch Paul van Zyl’s &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://vimeo.com/7397295&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Pop! Tech Talk here&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://peace.ashoka.org/paul_ictj#comments</comments>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/404">civil society</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/400">international justice</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/444">interview series</category>
 <enclosure url="http://peace.ashoka.org/sites/peace/files/paulvanzyl2.jpg" length="7409" type="image/jpeg" />
 <pubDate>Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:31:07 -0500</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Roshan Paul</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">4265 at http://peace.ashoka.org</guid>
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<item>
 <title>A comprehensive analysis of human rights conditions around the world</title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/human_rights_watch_report_2010</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/bloggers#rominal&quot;&gt;Romina&lt;/a&gt; joined Ashoka in 2005 and works for Ashoka’s Youth Venture, primarily supporting and creating a strong global movement of young changemakers around the world. Read all of her posts &lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/front/69&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hrw.org/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Human Rights Watch (HRW)&lt;/a&gt; recently published their &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2010&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;World Report 2010&lt;/a&gt; on how well governments are doing (or not doing) in protecting their citizens’ rights. “Every government is at times tempted to violate human rights,” says Kenneth Roth, the Executive Director of HRW and from his Report it seems like many governments have in 2009.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Human Rights Today&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While over the last few years, human rights activists have been able to expose abuses almost anywhere in the world the attacks on human rights defenders, organizations, and institutions have not diminished. On the contrary, what’s interesting is that many governments have been able to adapt themselves into new “silencing” techniques that have instead “grown in subtlety and sophistication”.&amp;nbsp; The Report specifically states “murders are committed deniably. Politically motivated prosecutions are disguised by common criminal charges. Censorship is accomplished through seemingly neutral regulatory regimes. Funding streams are blocked.”&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Not surprisingly, the government of Russia is at the top of this year’s Report with countless of retaliations against human rights activists, journalists and anti-corruption activists. Among them are Zarema Sadylayeva and her husband Alik Dzhabrailov, who lost their lives working for a charity that helps children affected by the conflict in Chechnya. But Russia isn’t the only country in the world that has retaliated against human rights supporters and their organizations. Similarly in Kenya, Oscar Kamau Kinara and John Paul Oulu of the Oscar Foundation were murdered just right after providing a briefing on police executions. In Malaysia, Finardo Cabilao lost his life for his work in combating human trafficking and in Sri Lanka Stephen Sunatharaj, a human rights worker, is still missing after being abducted. These types of stories seem to be endless and happening all around the world in 2009, no matter what region. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Governments such as North Korea, Eritrea, and Somalia are so oppressive that a human rights movement can’t even exist. Local organizations have an extremely challenging time raising the funds they need and international organizations are banned from entering countries (such as Burma and Iran). In Indonesia the International Committee of the Red Cross is still not allowed to visit Papua and Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam continue to refuse access to UN special procedures. Other governments choose to use harassment and fear to silence human rights workers. In Cambodia more than 60 community activists were imprisoned in 2009, while peace activists in Colombia, Nicaragua, and Saudi Arabia have faced multiple threats, harassments, and criminal investigations. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;European countries have also faced challenges and criticism this year. Italy and Greece still remain among the worse offenders in the treatment of asylum seekers and immigrants, the Netherlands, the UK and Spain have faced multiple allegations against their problematic counterterrorism measures, while France and Germany continue to face problems of racism, xenophobia and discrimination against their migrant populations. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The United States is also not in the clear this year especially when it comes to its criminal justice, immigration and counterterrorism law and policy. The US still has the world’s largest incarcerated population with a disproportionate share of the population being black men and other racial/ethnic minorities. It is also the only country in the world to have prisoners serving sentences of life without the possibility of parole for crimes committed as children (in May 2009 that number was 2,574). Moreover, the US is still facing harsh criticism for its violations of the rights of non-citizens, the country’s rendition policy as well as delays in deciding the fate of hundreds of detainees that are being held indefinitely without trial.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Changing Patterns&amp;nbsp;in the Way Rights are violated&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The fact is that most countries around the world either violate or fail to protect human rights. However, what is most interesting about the Report is to see how governments now resort to less obvious techniques such as the adoption of intrusive laws and regulations that restrict activities, laws that “bar” foreign organizations from entering their countries (Ethiopia), prohibiting foreign investment, requiring political bodies to approve NGOs (Libya), and/or requiring a government agency to supervise NGO’s (Peru). There are also multiple examples of disbarring lawyers who defend human rights and multiple cases of governments raising criminal charges against human rights workers. Attacks on human rights institutions have also increased the past few years. In mid-summer last year the African Union urged African leaders not to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) after it had issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President al-Bashir. UN as well as European Institutions such as the European Court of Human Rights has also faced various attacks this year. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So why then after all of the progress the human rights movement has made, are abuses like these are still happening? And why do people who work towards peace continue to become the objects of such attacks? The Report itself offers no clear answer other than to state that we need a more vigorous government defense system and to stand up more firmly against those governments that are violating human rights. The Report ends by saying “Governments try to silence the messenger because they do not want the message heard. The surest way to reverse that censorship is to redouble efforts to redress the very abuses that these governments are seeking to hide from scrutiny”.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;What Does this Mean for Us?&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The Report does not necessarily fail its cause. What the Report does well is provide us with the information and data needed to make informed decisions and to pressure our governments to prioritize human rights issues. HRW successfully reports on the human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. Now it’s our turn for action! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What are you doing to support, promote, and defend human rights efforts? I for one will take the next 5 minutes in silence to honor all the people that lost their lives, faced threats, harassment, and prosecution this past year due to their commitment to peace, justice, human rights and tolerance. Then, I will return even more committed to my daily work in supporting young people around the world to better their communities.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;If you want to get more involved check out some engagement opportunities with some of our &lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/peacefellows?filter0=afghanistan&quot;&gt;Fellows’ Organizations&lt;/a&gt; such as the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.genocideintervention.net/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Genocide Intervention Network&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.landminesurvivors.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=313&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Survivor Corps&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.iccnow.org/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Coalition for an International Criminal Court&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.aja-online.org/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Peace Counts&lt;/a&gt; and countless others. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Click here to read more about the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.hrw.org/world-report-2010&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Human Rights Watch World Report 2010&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://peace.ashoka.org/human_rights_watch_report_2010#comments</comments>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/437">op-eds</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:49:07 -0500</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Romina Laouri</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">4264 at http://peace.ashoka.org</guid>
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 <title>David Miliband on Afghanistan: Peace and Agriculture</title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/afghan_agriculture</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/bloggers#priyap&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Priya Parker&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt; has worked in India, Africa and the US on peace-building and social-innovation.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary spoke at MIT this week on “&lt;a href=&quot;http://amps-webflash.amps.ms.mit.edu/public/MIT/2009-2010/Miliband/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;The War in Afghanistan: How to End it&lt;/a&gt;.” In his speech, he outlined what he saw as the necessary political and economic steps to end the war and rebuild Afghanistan.&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;The Washington Post&lt;/em&gt; covers Miliband’s speech &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/10/AR2010031003888.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&amp;nbsp; But as these things go, some of the more interesting comments came out during the Q&amp;amp;A portion of the talk.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I was &lt;a href=&quot;http://twitter.com/priyaparker&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;tweeting from the talk&lt;/a&gt; and the tweet that elicited the most response was regarding Afghanistan and agriculture.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;One MIT undergrad asked, “What can engineers like us do in Afghanistan?”&amp;nbsp; David Miliband’s response? &lt;em&gt;Focus on agriculture&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Later in the session, Miliband again re-iterated his point, “the alternative to drugs is agriculture.” He emphasized both the importance of security and prices in creating a strong agricultural sector.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;@naannkerrie asked, “Did he mention specifics on what kind of ag? large scale crops for export or small scale farming to feed afghans?” (He didn’t, but part of his recommendations was to make “economics a lubricant” for the region.)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;@bamyanmedia pointed me to a &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSISL13086720080901&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;reality TV show&lt;/a&gt; that’s “stirring business spirit”&amp;nbsp; in Afghanistan and says that most of the contestants on the show were in the agricultural sector.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;As the military, the political establishment and civil society move forward in the next year, it will be important to think about how to generate employment through agriculture.&amp;nbsp; Not only would developing a thriving non-drug agricultural sector potentially increase security, but it also decreases the opportunity cost of either joining the Taliban or the drug trade.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Afterthoughts&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;•&amp;nbsp;Should the government and international aid organizations focus on developing large-scale crops for export or small-scale farming? Or both?&lt;br /&gt;•&amp;nbsp;What kind of agro-business currently exists in Afghanistan?&lt;br /&gt;•&amp;nbsp;What experiences can we draw from other conflict-areas that have developed robust agricultural sectors? &lt;br /&gt;•&amp;nbsp;Would it be possible to create a &lt;a href=&quot;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution_in_India&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Green Revolution&lt;/a&gt; in Afghanistan?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://peace.ashoka.org/afghan_agriculture#comments</comments>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/446">Afghanistan</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/419">economic development</category>
 <pubDate>Tue, 16 Mar 2010 09:16:54 -0500</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Priya Parker</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">4263 at http://peace.ashoka.org</guid>
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<item>
 <title>Maintaining peace after natural disasters</title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/natural_disasters_peace</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ashoka Peace contributor Rebecca Sargent recently wrote a post on &lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/rebuilding_disaster_zones&quot;&gt;rebuilding efforts in disaster zones&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;. &lt;/em&gt;In her post she makes the important connection between reconstruction efforts and building peace throughout the affected communities: &quot;&lt;em&gt;Without proper rebuilding, the potential for violence in the region grows, as people are forced into alternative choices to feed, shelter and support themselves and their families. Peace can only truly begin to be built when people have access to their basic needs.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Both the aftermath of the Haiti and Chile earthquakes revealed the instable and volatile environment that arises immediately after a natural disaster; in these cases, with people looting and turning to violence on the streets. Without the necessary immediate (and continuous) resources and support, natural disaster have the potential to wreak long-term conflict in the affected region. Luckily, in the case of Chile, Ashoka Fellows are well-positioned as social entrepreneurs to bring forward effective solutions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Ashoka Fellows in Chile, now accounted for and safe, have geared up to respond to the region&#039;s immediate needs. We encourage you to read more about how Ashoka Fellows are mobilizing efforts and resources in the aftermath of the Chilean earthquakes in &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ashoka.org/node/6699&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;this press release&lt;/a&gt; and to think about how their efforts contribute to maintaining peaceful coexistence throughout the region.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Although Ashoka does not presently support social entrepreneurs in Haiti, various Ashoka Fellows, including &lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/rebuilding_disaster_zones&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Elizabeth Hausler&lt;/a&gt;, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ashoka.org/ecahn&quot;&gt;Edgar Cahn&lt;/a&gt; and Bernard Amadei are beginning discussions with Ashoka around longer-term recovery efforts in Haiti.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://peace.ashoka.org/natural_disasters_peace#comments</comments>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/286">Ashoka Fellows</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:35:02 -0600</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Sarah Jefferson</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">4261 at http://peace.ashoka.org</guid>
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 <title>Timizwaq&#039;s Story</title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/timizwaq</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;float: left; border: 0; margin: 5px;&quot; src=&quot; http://peace.ashoka.org/sites/peace/files/Ibrahim_ag_Ibdaltanant_forweb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;300&quot; height=&quot;225&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ashoka.org/iagidbaltanat&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Ibrahim Ag Idbaltanant&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;nbsp;is a recently-elected Ashoka Fellow who is working to stamp out slavery, one of the oldest scourges of humankind. Slavery still exists in many overlooked, often remote, corners of the world, embedded deep within the fabric of societies. Social entrepreneurs like Ibrahim are an essential force in the slow, daily grind of progress that will eventually eradicate this dark side of our natures. But when you are facing problems that are so deeply embedded in our cultures, success can be fleeting and often incremental. That is precisely why it must be celebrated.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;Please find below the moving story of a woman named Timizwaq who, until very recently, was a slave in Northern Mali.&amp;nbsp; Thanks to the work of Ibrahim’s organization, TEMEDT, and his network of allies, she escaped from a lifetime of slavery and asked that we translate this story and share it with as many people as possible.&amp;nbsp; She is so grateful to everyone who has helped her. As she declares here, for the first time in her life, she feels loved.&amp;nbsp; At Ashoka Peace, we are delighted to join in her celebration by sharing her story.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I am Timizwaq, and I was born around 1976 in Tassiriste. I have not known my father. My mother’s name is Timamat. My owners are from the faction of Idoguiritane (the town of Menaka).&amp;nbsp; Since my birth, I was, with my mother, slave of Mr. Adim Ag Kilitane. When I was about 5 years old, my mother escaped from her owner, and her owner’s daughter, Talhanta Walet Adim, received me. When she died, I was given to her brother, Hama-Hama Ag Adim Mon in whose service I had been for 15 years. I have not heard from my mother since her flight, and I do not know where she came from and how she became slave of Adim Ag Kilitane. I was only told that she was his slave. No one has ever told me that they knew my mothers’ parents, and I have never known my father as well.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I was assigned to the care of animals in the bush and to their watering at the wells, a total life of a shepherdess. I never returned to the camp before 7:00 pm. I never wore new clothes, just rags discarded by my owner’s wife or her relatives. I never owned shoes except in rare cases. Neither pregnancy nor breastfeeding, the first month after childbirth, or even illness could dispense me guarding animals in the bush. During my life as a slave, I have had three children (the eldest is a girl and then there are two boys) as a result of successive rapes by two different men.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My children’s names are as follows:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;ul&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Tidounane Wt Aklinine: She is my eldest daughter, and she was born in 2000 in Inbougaretane. She has been taken from me in 2004 at the age of 4 to be given as a slave to one of El Haj Ag Adim’s brothers.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Ezagagh Ag Assimaqate: He was born in 2005 in Inbougaretane. He is barely 5 years old and is serving my owner Hama-Hama Ag Adim doing housework.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;li&gt;Bilal Ag Assimaqate: He was born in 2009 in Tintoussane. In my flight for freedom from January 20 to 22, 2010, I carried him on my back to Menaka in order to be with TEMDT. Note that the little Bilal was always tied to a pillar of the tent all day until I returned at 9:00 pm with the animals. His older sister and brother had been treated in the same way when they were his age.&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My owner did not allow me to visit camps of blacks in the area where we lived because he was afraid that I would rebel against the way I was treated. However, I acknowledge having been approached several times by people of different ethnicities (Ichidenharen and Daoussahacs who belong to my owner’s ethnicity, and Kel Talmen of Menaka) asking me to escape from the situation in which I was living.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I thought deeply about my suffering (physical and emotional violence, lack of affection, lack of care for my health and for my children’s, difficulties in getting food despite all the work that I was doing) and then, on January 20, 2010, when my owner traveled to Tinfadimata’s market, I decided to escape from that humiliating situation.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave with my son Ezagagh because I was running away without any means of transportation. Mr. Assolah Ag Kouney helped me in my flight, and I spent the night in his house. As my owner, he belongs to the fraction of Daoussahac. He showed me where to find Adima Ag Soudha. When I found him in Inagar his wife gave me her clothes and I took off the rags that I wore. These people welcomed me very well; they gave me food, and I was full. For the first time of my life and despite the fear of being overtaken by Hamahama, I felt surrounded by love. I had a thought for my son Ezagagh that I had left in my owner’s house. Mr. Adima brought a car from Maneka in which I went to Mr. Ibrahim Ag Idbaltanat’s home. He had a brief conversation with me, and then he told me that I would go to Mr. Ingatane Ag Bada’s house.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When I attended TEMDT’s meeting, I realized that all people that helped me in my flight were members of TEMDT. I am thankful to all of them. I am also thankful to Mr. Assolah Ag Kouney who eased my pain by showing me the right direction in Inagar (Zambouroutene’s village) where I think I have experienced affection for the first time.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://peace.ashoka.org/timizwaq#comments</comments>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/199">Africa</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/417">women</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:12:51 -0600</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Roshan Paul</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">4257 at http://peace.ashoka.org</guid>
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<item>
 <title>Demining with music: Juanes gets it right</title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/juanes_mi_sangre_fundacion</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;float: left; border: 0; margin: 5px;&quot; src=&quot; http://peace.ashoka.org/sites/peace/files/juanes-fundacion-mi-sangre_fromweb.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;256&quot; height=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Yesterday &lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/bloggers#roshanp&quot;&gt;Roshan Paul&lt;/a&gt; and I had the wonderful opportunity of attending an event with the singer Juanes (full name Juan Esteban Aristizábal). Not only did I learn that he is a winner of 17 Latin Grammy awards, but he is deeply engaged in humanitarian work for victims of landmines in Colombia, his home country. The story of how he became an advocate for this issue is pretty amazing. Personally affected by the conflict in Colombia (his best friend and cousin were both killed), and after a phone conversation with his mother about how landmines continue to kill and maim citizens, Juanes wrote a song about landmines, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzrWvuGhFSc&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&quot;Fijate Bien&quot;&lt;/a&gt; (Take a Good Look), in 1999. He had no idea it would transform his life. But, almost overnight, it became a hit single, and landmine victims, soldiers and foundations began to reach out to Juanes with their stories, experiences and ideas for collaboration. This is when he began to understand that music is an influential tool for peace and social change. As Representative Jim McGovern, who introduced Juanes, put it “Juanes has shown how music can alter the logic of violence”.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Propelled by the energy and action he witnessed after &quot;Fijate Bien&quot; was produced, in 2005 Juanes established the &lt;a href=&quot;http://fundacionmisangre.org/sitio/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Mi Sangre Foundation&lt;/a&gt; (which is now run by &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ashoka.org/fellow/3459&quot;&gt;Ashoka Fellow Catalina Cock Duque&lt;/a&gt;) to help rehabilitate victims of anti-personnel mines. Anti-personnel mines are landmines specifically used against humans (as opposed to anti-tank mines, which are designed for use against vehicles.) Beyond psychological rehabiliation to victims, a major part of Mi Sangre&#039;s work is providing education to landmine victims, of which 65% are soldiers, and 35% are civilians, half of them children. For the youngest, Mi Sangre provides access to free preschool education, which does not presently exist in Colombia. &lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;Hearing Juanes speak at last night&#039;s event was powerful. He has added fire to the campaign to end landmines (&lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/innovating_landmines&quot;&gt;which Ashoka Fellows are also an integral part of fueling&lt;/a&gt;). He has also given a voice to the landmine epidemic in Colombia, where there are still thousands of landmines, and where over 800 children become injured or worse by landmines every single year.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;PHOTO CREDIT: &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://zulaysifontes.blogspot.com/2009/08/el-canto-por-la-paz-de-juanes-en-cuba.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;http://zulaysifontes.blogspot.com/2009/08/el-canto-por-la-paz-de-juanes-en-cuba.html&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://peace.ashoka.org/juanes_mi_sangre_fundacion#comments</comments>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/445">arts</category>
 <pubDate>Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:23:07 -0600</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Sarah Jefferson</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">4259 at http://peace.ashoka.org</guid>
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 <title>Interview with Daniel Lubetzky</title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/daniel_lubetzky</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Continuing &lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/444&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;our interview series&lt;/a&gt;, Ashoka Peace interviews &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.peaceworks.com/aboutUs/teamDanielLubetzky.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Daniel Lubetzky&lt;/a&gt;, serial peace entrepreneur who is creating new models for bridging the for-profit and non-profit worlds, and showing our peacebuilding can be financially sustainable.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;float: left; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 5px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 2px;&quot; src=&quot;sites/peace/files/Daniel Lubetzky2.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;202&quot; height=&quot;152&quot; /&gt;1.&amp;nbsp;What is the innovation you are pioneering? What are you doing that nobody else is doing and why?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What we like to do is to build models where business and social interests are totally aligned and reinforce one another. It is not easy to do.&amp;nbsp; A lot of the area of “corporate social responsibility” is structured around perceived sacrifices to the bottom line in order to address other important societal objectives.&amp;nbsp; The fun stuff comes when you are able to innovate through ventures whose financial and social objectives reinforce one another.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;At &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.PeaceWorks.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;PeaceWorks Foods&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;a “not-ONLY-for-profit” company, for 15 years now we have been fostering peace through business.&amp;nbsp; The more our venture partners sell and make money, the more they cement and deepen relations.&amp;nbsp; At &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.KindSnacks.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;KIND Healthy Snacks&lt;/a&gt;, we aim to inspire “not so random” acts of kindness, building a brand while doing kind acts for others.&amp;nbsp; Instead of spending money on ads, we invest in doing nice things for others, including giving them KIND bars, and asking them to pass it on. At &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.OneVoiceMovement.org&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;OneVoice&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;we use business practices and mechanisms to deepen our impact and better develop the human infrastructure of this civic movement designed to empower Palestinians and Israelis who want to end the conflict.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2.&amp;nbsp;What has been the biggest obstacle that you have overcome so far, and how did you go about doing so?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Getting started is always the hardest part in every venture; first you need to convince yourself that you can make things work; you need to be skeptical and do thorough research; then if you are sure you can do it, then you need to switch to an evangelist mode and be doggedly determined to turn your ideas in to a reality, no matter the challenges or the naysayers.&amp;nbsp; With each venture I have started, looking back it all makes sense, but when it didn’t exist a lot of people wondered if it made sense or if people would ever be a part of it.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3. At what point in your life did you realize that you simply had to do this? What was your personal turning point?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When I was a kid and I learned about how my father went through the Holocaust, I felt the weight and responsibility of fighting to ensure that nothing like that happens to other human beings again.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;In addition to the above links, read more about Dan&#039;s work with the&amp;nbsp;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.KindMovement.com&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;KIND Movement here&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;, and the &lt;/em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.peaceworks.net&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;&lt;em&gt;Peaceworks blog here&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;em&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://peace.ashoka.org/daniel_lubetzky#comments</comments>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/442">Middle East</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/405">business</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/404">civil society</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/444">interview series</category>
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 <pubDate>Wed, 10 Mar 2010 09:26:26 -0600</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Roshan Paul</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">4258 at http://peace.ashoka.org</guid>
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 <title>Innovating to end landmines</title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/innovating_landmines</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/sites/peace/files/DSC_7947_credit_Xavier_Rossi_0.jpg&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;img src=&quot; 	 http://peace.ashoka.org/sites/peace/files/05d0619tanza57_forweb_credit_Sylvain_Piraux_0.jpg &quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Landmines continue to take human lives far after a war has ended. For example, when war in Monzambique ended there were thought to be 3 million unexploded landmines. After wars end, innocent citizens are the most affected by strategically placed landmines.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/bart_weetjens&quot;&gt;Ashoka Fellow Bart Weetjens&lt;/a&gt; (who is also a Buddhist monk) has a unique solution to the problem of unexploded landmines. It involves local resources...rats! Bart&#039;s landmine detection business, &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.herorat.org/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;APOPO&lt;/a&gt;,  trains African Giant Pounched rats, who are highly resourceable, adaptable and intelligent creatures with a great sense of smell. These qualities make rats, who have been conditioned to associate the smell of the chemical explosive with a food reward, the best positioned to sniff out the TNT in landmines. In 2009 alone, APOPO made safe 700,000 square meters of land (about 127 football fields). Bart&#039;s work not only gets rid of landmines, but also reduces fear towards landmines among local populations. Check out how APOPO&#039;s landmine detection model works in the video below.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
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&lt;p&gt;Bart Weetjens is not the only Ashoka Fellow dealing with the issue of landmines and war victims. After stepping on a landmine on a camping trip in Israel and losing his leg, &lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/jerrry_white&quot;&gt;Ashoka Fellow Jerry White&lt;/a&gt; has devoted his life to creating a victim-free world by transforming passive victims into active survivors and leaders.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Since 80% of war victims are civilians, it is essential that civilians stand up in the effort to end war. With the belief that those who survive war are most invested in building peace, Jerry created the &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.landminesurvivors.org&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Survivor Corps network&lt;/a&gt;, which shows survivors how they can rebuild their lives and communities in order to break free of the cycle of victimization. According to the philosophy of Survivor Corps, landmines and legs are ‘things’; Survivor Corps rejects the importance of them in relation to people and survival in an effort to systemically break down the concept of the “victim”. Jerry’s work has been instrumental in organizing the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), for which Jerry was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;PHOTO CREDITS: Xavier Rossi and Sylvain Piraux&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://peace.ashoka.org/innovating_landmines#comments</comments>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/286">Ashoka Fellows</category>
 <pubDate>Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:54:07 -0600</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Sarah Jefferson</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">4256 at http://peace.ashoka.org</guid>
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 <title>Ending extremism </title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/suicide_bombing_Pakistan</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Kulsoom Khan works in Ashoka&#039;s global headquarters, helping to select Ashoka Fellows throughout Asia and coordinating with Ashoka&#039;s Asia country offices. She received her degree in Human Rights Law at American University.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;float: left; border: 0; margin: 5px;&quot; src=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/sites/peace/files/Raziq_Fahim_peaceblog.JPG&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;150&quot; height=&quot;240&quot; /&gt;For a country barely sixty three years old, Pakistan has seen its fair share of wars, separatist movements, leader assassinations and sectarian violence. Today again Pakistan is in the midst of, what the public perceives as, a foreign war. A recent post on the Partnership for a Secure America blog, titled &lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://blog.psaonline.org/2010/01/27/time-to-get-the-pakistani-public-on-board/&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;Time to Get the Pakistani Public on Board &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;(and, we are happy to say, written by a former Ashoka employee Brian Vogt) discusses U.S. government strategy towards Pakistan and Afghanistan and the importance of moving beyond military tactics to development efforts on ground.&amp;nbsp; Bringing the public on board is crucial to having a positive trust-based relationship and peace efforts. With billions in aid money pouring into Pakistan there are many international organizations starting development projects, but with little input from, or rapport with, the populations that will be most affected.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;An effective long term solution is, as Brian argues, investing in social entrepreneurs. &lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/raziq_fahim&quot;&gt;Raziq Fahim&lt;/a&gt;, elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2009, is working in the impoverished Pakistani province of Baluchistan. Through his organization, College of Youth Advocacy and Development (CYAD), Raziq reaches out to at-risk, angry, disempowered youth who have felt ignored and overlooked by the traditional social structure long enough and have been, or are being, inducted by extremist madrassas (religious schools). Raziq gives them a way out of a cycle of violence by educating them, training them with skills that will address their communal needs, and providing financial and moral support to implement projects that they have identified as critical to their development. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;One such young person came to Raziq’s earlier forums prepared to carry out a suicide bombing. After listening to the forum, he came up to Raziq and told him he had arrived prepared to detonate a bomb strapped to his body. However, he said, after listening to Raziq and the solutions-based approach of the forum he changed his mind. This youth saw hope beyond the money that was promised to his family as a result of his mission and later became one of the most active participants in the forum. Today nearly 850 young people trained and educated by CYAD are passing on the torch of empowerment and peace in a region of the world that is desperate for such hope. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Where drone attacks tear down homes, kill innocent civilians and increase the frustration and anger at the West thereby helping extremist factions recruit disillusioned young people, social entrepreneurs like Raziq build their capacity to become individual agents of change, provide them with opportunities and support for their development ventures and establish an enduring structure for peace. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://peace.ashoka.org/suicide_bombing_Pakistan#comments</comments>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/286">Ashoka Fellows</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/261">Youth</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/408">education</category>
 <pubDate>Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:32:33 -0600</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Sarah Jefferson</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">4254 at http://peace.ashoka.org</guid>
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 <title>Can Sugar Palm Prevent Conflict?</title>
 <link>http://peace.ashoka.org/Willie_Smits</link>
 <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/bloggers#rominal&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Romina&lt;/a&gt; joined Ashoka in 2005 and works for Ashoka’s Youth Venture, primarily supporting and creating a strong global movement of young changemakers around the world. Read all of her posts &lt;a href=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/front/69&quot;&gt;here&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img style=&quot;border: 0; vertical-align: top; margin: 0px;&quot; src=&quot; http://peace.ashoka.org/sites/peace/files/willie_smits_1_forweb.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; width=&quot;418&quot; height=&quot;313&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Senior Ashoka Fellow Willie Smits says yes! Last Thursday, Wille Smits talked at the Ashoka office in Washington, DC about how his palm sugar factory in Indonesia can use sugar palm to generate energy, create sugar and protect the rainforests. To many he is known as the “guy who is saving orangutans”, and while that is true, his work is much more complicated than that. Having worked for years in the forests and trying to rebuild orangutan populations across Indonesia, Willie now is focusing not only on rebuilding the natural habitat of orangutans but also helping local people find better options to survive. In 2007 he opened the first palm-sugar factory that uses thermal energy to turn sugar palms into sugar and ethanol. At the same time, he is providing local communities alternatives and incentives to protect the forests by processing sugar palm juice. Local migrants join a cooperative and sign a declaration that in return for the processing of their palm juice they will no longer take timber from protected forests and will instead protect the local wildlife. Using a local justice system within the cooperative, Willie has achieved both economic and political legitimacy. Villagers participating have a 2.5 times higher salary than their average peers and the democratic process within the cooperative is building trust throughout the community thus reducing violence and corruption. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By returning cash, control and power to local villagers, Willie has found a way to create more stable communities, reduce corruption and restore ecosystems around the world. Colombia is now one of the top new countries interested in adapting Willie&#039;s model. If you want to find out more about how Willie Smits is saving our planet watch &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/willie_smits_restores_a_rainforest.html&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;his Ted Talk&lt;/a&gt; or read &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.ashoka.org/willie_smits&quot; target=&quot;_blank&quot;&gt;his profile&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;http://peace.ashoka.org/sites/peace/files/willie_smits_2_forweb.png&quot; alt=&quot;&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;PHOTO CREDITS: http://www.savetheorangutan.org.uk/&lt;/p&gt;</description>
 <comments>http://peace.ashoka.org/Willie_Smits#comments</comments>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/286">Ashoka Fellows</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/419">economic development</category>
 <category domain="http://peace.ashoka.org/taxonomy/term/406">environment</category>
 <pubDate>Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:15:24 -0600</pubDate>
 <dc:creator>Romina Laouri</dc:creator>
 <guid isPermaLink="false">4251 at http://peace.ashoka.org</guid>
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