Civil Rights Matter » Africa

Housing is a Social Necessity Not Just a Social Good

Sonj — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:36:34 +0000

Nepali News: “Housing provision is so central to social and economic development that policymakers need to act on this rather than continue to treat the activity as a mere social good, the author of a new book on the subject said.”

“Building prosperity: housing and economic development” a book by Dr Anna Tibaijuka covers the subject of housing as it relates to economic development. Tibaijuka is head of UN-HABITAT, an organization dedicated to “promoting sustainable urban development and adequate shelter for all.”

A blog post at Zunia.org has short commentary on the book.

Dr. Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT). Tibaijuka is the first African woman to hold this post.

African Success has a biography of Tibaijuka.

The Ogiek: Forest People of Africa

Sonj — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:03:04 +0000

International / Africa

Forest People May Lose Home in Kenyan Plan

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

Published: November 15, 2009

Officials are gearing up to evict tens of thousands from the Mau Forest, in a government conservation effort that has raised suspicion.

The Ogiek are a hunter-gatherer tribe who live in parts of Kenya and Tanzania. The Ogiek are forest dwellers who face the possibility of being driven from their homes. The Kenyan governments says that it wants to redevelop the forest, but many believe that they wish to continue logging efforts in the region known as Mau Forest replacing the harvested trees with those the Ogiek consider to be of lesser quality. Survival International hosts a page with more information about the Ogiek along with a link to write to the Kenyan government in order to urge them to not dislocate this long-settled tribe.