News

Haiti’s Long Road

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013 In Opinion

On the eve of the third anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January 2010, the country remains in a fragile state. Billions of dollars in aid and lofty promises to “build back better” have brought it only so far. A recent article by Deborah Sontag of The Times showed, in disheartening detail, the distance between hope and reality.

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Rebuilding in Haiti Lags After Billions in Post-Quake Aid

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013 In In the media

There is a marked deflation of the lofty ambitions that followed the disaster, when the world aspired not only to repair Haiti but to remake it completely. The new pragmatism signals an acknowledgment that despite billions of dollars spent — and billions more allocated for Haiti but unspent — rebuilding has barely begun and 357,785 Haitians still languish in 496 tent camps.

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Displaced Zam Zam face harsh conditions in Darfur

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013 In News

Around 1200 newly displaced families in Zam Zam camp in East Jebel Marra and another 500 newly displaced families from Shawa area are facing harsh living conditions; no humanitarian aid and no sheets or blankets during the cold winter days in Darfur. A camp activist from Zam Zam camp told Radio Dabanga on Friday, 28 December, that his family is without food or non-food aid, despite promises made by organizations to provide emergency support immediately after completing the registration process. He stressed that despite the crisis the families are facing; new displaced families are arriving daily from East Jebel Marra.

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10,000 Displaced Persons May Get Agricultural Land in Kenya

Published in Wednesday January 2nd, 2013 In In the media

The Cabinet will decide how to resettle more than 10,000 IDP families and other evictees before the elections. With only two months to the polls, Head of Civil Service Francis Kimemia has said the government will make a decision on how to get land for their resettlement. The government is considering to use part of its land owned by ministries and parastatals to resettle the families which include those evicted from Mau and Embobut forests.

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Shitanda launches slum upgrading programme in Nairobi

Published in Friday December 21st, 2012 In In the media

Housing Minister Soita Shitanda has asked slum dwellers to be ready for the upcoming slum upgrading programme in Nairobi. Speaking in Kibera Soweto Slums yesterday during the groundbreaking ceremony of Seefar Apartments located within Highrise Estate in the area, the minister noted that it will take collective responsibility to see Kenya’s Vision 2030 dream of having cheap and decent affordable housing for all achieved.

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UNHCR attacks on Hungarian homeless law

Published in Friday December 21st, 2012 In In the media

Two rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations called on the Hungarian government this week to respect the ruling of the country’s Constitutional Court and refrain from criminalising homelessness. In November the Constitutional Court found as unconstitutional the law adopted last year that set fines or prison sentences on those sleeping rough in public areas for the second time in six months. The UN Special Rapporteurs on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda, and on adequate housing, Raquel Rolnik, stressed that Hungary is required to align its national legislation with its international human rights obligations.

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Kenya’s decision to confine refugees and asylum-seekers in camps is unlawful

Published in Friday December 21st, 2012 In Social movement news

Kenya’s decision to place refugees and asylum seekers in camps away from urban centres is a discriminatory and unlawful restriction on freedom of movement, Amnesty International said. The government stated the policy is a reaction to security concerns in the country.
“This restriction on freedom of movement is likely to lead to other serious human rights abuses in already overcrowded, insecure refugee camps,” said Kathryn Achilles, Amnesty International’s East Africa expert.

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Curbing Tanzania’s “Land Grabbing Race”

Published in Thursday December 20th, 2012 In In the media

From January 2013, Tanzania will start restricting the size of land that single large-scale foreign and local investors can “lease” for agricultural use. The decision follows both local and international criticism that major investors are grabbing large chunks of land here, often displacing small-scale farmers and local communities.
The Permanent Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office Peniel Lyimo confirmed that the government would limit the amount of land leased to investors in this East African nation. Previously, there were no limits.

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Slow delivery of title deeds to housing subsidy beneficiaries is cause for Concern

Published in Thursday December 20th, 2012 In In the media

Just over one million housing subsidy beneficiaries in South Africa have not received the title deeds to their properties, and the situation is worsening. As a result, poor households cannot fully benefit from the ownership of a property and use it properly as an asset and to improve their financial circumstances. A recent study by Urban LandMark reveals that the registration of title to subsidy properties in favour of beneficiaries is not happening in approximately one third of cases. The study estimates that just over one third (35%) of all houses delivered through the housing subsidy scheme have not been provided with a title deed.

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Lagos Condemns Rise in Forging of Land Documents in Nigeria

Published in Wednesday December 19th, 2012 In In the media

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has given detailed insight into the reasons behind the promulgation of the State’s Land Use Act (Title Document Registration) 2012, saying that it was to improve service in the administration of land in the state.
Fashola, who spoke at the stakeholders’ meeting on Land Use Act (Title Documentation) 2012, said the process of land administration in the state would be greatly enhanced by the operation of the Act, pointing out that it would also empower citizens of the state.