| LIFE-NET NEWS |
| by Ret Z. |
| Covering Poverty Widely in a Net of Many Voices |
| 2006 January 25 | No Profit; No Proceeds |
| Volume 9 Number 20 | All-Volunteer |
| "Give a family a fish, and they'll eat a meal; give them a Net, and they'll have fish for Life." |
| South Asia Human Rights 'Worsen' |
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The US-based rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report on the results of looking at 70 countries
in 2005:
The human rights situation has worsened across South Asia in the past year, apart from some improvements in India. Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal all violated human rights in efforts to put down rebellions. Afghanistan faces an "increasingly violent" insurgency which is hampering development. Violence against women remains a serious issue in the region. Delhi played a "constructive role" by suspending most military aid to Nepal following King Gyanendra's seizure of absolute power last February. India's government also set up a committee to review sweeping powers given to the army and paramilitary to combat militants. However, it created legislation which protects police and security forces from prosecution and allows the torture of suspects. Security forces in Pakistan committed "serious violations of human rights" while pursuing the US-led war on terror. Military operations in Pakistan's tribal areas bordering Afghanistan involved "collective punishment, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions and limited access to prisoners". President Pervez Musharraf's government has shown a "dismissive attitude" to violence against women, as seen in the case of gang rape victim Mukhtar Mai. Afghanistan has seen a "sharp increase in violence" over the past year, particularly in southern and south-eastern areas -- a worrying sign that the Taleban is regrouping. Regional military commanders, or warlords, are strengthening their hold on power by subverting the political process and controlling the drug trade. US and coalition forces in Afghanistan arbitrarily detained civilians and used excessive force when making arrests. Severe discrimination continues to affect Afghan women and girls, with domestic violence, sexual violence and forced marriage "rampant". The human rights situation in Sri Lanka has worsened since the Indian Ocean tsunami. Sectarian interests hijacked aid distribution mechanisms and so undermined recovery efforts. Tamil Tiger rebels have recruited child soldiers and murdered opponents including former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. Sri Lankan police also stand accused of torturing suspects. In Bangladesh, a bombing campaign by extremists in 2005 contributed to the worsening of an already strained human rights record. "Bangladesh's security forces continue to commit numerous abuses, including extrajudicial killings, excessive use of force and custodial torture." Source: BBC |
| Affordable Rent Crisis Declared in NJ |
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After releasing a report yesterday labeling New Jersey the fourth-most expensive state in the nation for renters,
affordable housing advocates declared a rental crisis for low-income families in New Jersey and expressed their desire to see Gov. Jon S. Corzine make good on his campaign promise to make such costs more affordable.
"You have heard a lot about the affordable housing crisis caused by the skyrocketing cost of homeownership," said Susan Holman James, board president of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey (HCDNNJ). "However, just as important is the housing crisis for renters, who make up a third of all households in New Jersey." New Jersey ranks behind only Hawaii, California and Massachusetts when it comes to the income needed to rent a typical two-bedroom apartment, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition. A New Jersey resident must earn $20.87 per hour, or $43,419 per year, to rent that typical apartment, the report found. (In Hawaii the figure is $22.30 per hour.) Housing advocates are worried about those who earn less. "For very low-income residents, affordable housing in New Jersey is still very much out of reach," said Staci Berger, director of advocacy for the HCDNNJ. "Very low-income folks -- those earning between 0% and 30% of the median income, or between $18,000 and $27,000 for a family of four -- are still unable to access affordable housing through the state programs." Berger said workers such as security guards, teaching assistants, child-care workers, cashiers, gas station attendants, nursing aides and retail workers don't come close to earning what's needed. "Over half the workers in New Jersey cannot afford to rent a modest two-bedroom apartment on their salary," James said. Advocates are urging Corzine and Susan Bass Levin, his nominee to head the state Department of Community Affairs, to revise state housing regulations to specifically address "very-low-income" New Jerseyans. Corzine is committed to making housing more affordable, according to his spokesman Anthony Coley. Corzine wants to create or preserve 100,000 units of housing affordable to low- and middle-income families in the next 10 years, he said. Corzine's plan involves expanding first-time homebuyer programs, doubling state rental assistance funding, using $90 million in unspent municipal developer fees to build new affordable housing, and using existing bond money to provide more housing for those with mental illness and the disabled. "Moreover, a key part of Gov. Corzine's property tax plan will provide additional direct property tax relief to renters, as well as homeowners," Coley said, referring to Corzine's plan to increase property tax rebates 10%. Advocates are also hopeful about a bill sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-Ewing, that would require 25% of the housing built to address state affordable-housing mandates designated for very low-income households. Also causing optimism among advocates is a $25 million rental assistance program established last year by the state to help 2,200 families with housing costs. An increased minimum wage is another good sign in the eyes of advocates. The state boosted the minimum wage from $5.15 an hour to $6.15 an hour last year. It will increase to $7.15 an hour in the fall. Donna Rose, executive director of the Monmouth Housing Alliance, said for "a good portion" of people who work in the retail and service trades, "If you don't have two or three incomes or two or three jobs, it's tough to make ends meet." [By my rough reckoning, it takes about $10.50 an hour full time just to comfortably afford the rent on a single furnished room. --RZ] Source: Gannett NJ Bureau Source: Trenton Times |
| Saudi Foundation Sees Bigger Need for Housing |
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Saudi Arabia needs at least one million housing units immediately in order to provide decent housing for its poor, says Dr. Yousuf Al-Othaimeen, secretary-general of the King Abdullah Charitable Housing Foundation. Custodian
of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah established the foundation to build low-cost housing units for the poor in
various parts of the Kingdom. The foundation, which was established three years ago, has already completed a large
number of low-cost housing projects for the poor in various parts of the country. The housing units are provided with all facilities including heath care and education.
Othaimeen said the foundation would build 13,000 housing units in various parts of the country within a few years to meet the needs of the poor. "Studies conducted by the foundation suggests that the demand for housing units is more than anybody imagines," Asharq Al-Awsat Arabic daily quoted Othaimeen as saying. He said the government, in cooperation with the private sector and charitable organizations, was making strong efforts to solve the housing problem in the country. Othaimeen said those deserving of charitable housing units were chosen either by visiting areas lived in by the poor or by applying strict criteria. "There are four criteria: First, the person should be a Saudi; second, he should not have received any loan from the Real Estate Development Fund; third, his monthly income should not exceed SR2,500; and four, there should not be any workers under his sponsorship." Referring to emergency housing units, he said the foundation would build 2,200 houses immediately. The foundation is now building 135 housing units in the southern township of Mekhwat. According to Wahid Subhi, director of the project, the units will be ready for occupation within a few months. Each house contains three bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, three bathrooms and a small storeroom. The project also includes a girls school, a mosque and a center for vocational training. Othaimeen said the king had donated land worth SR2 billion in Madinah to the foundation. He estimated the total area of the land at five million square meters. It is located between the Prophet’s Mosque and the Madinah airport. King Abdullah ordered a national strategy to fight poverty in the country after visiting a Riyadh slum three years ago when he was crown prince. He set aside SR2 billion from the budget surplus for the low-cost housing scheme. Source: Arab News |
| Corporate Strategy Against Activists Revealed |
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As long as the environmental community remains fractured and disorganized, its opposition will keep using firms such as Mongoven, Biscoe and Duchin (MBD). Founded in 1988, MBD "specializes in the resolution of public policy conflicts
between corporations and activist groups" by "helping clients prepare comprehensive strategic plans to counter organizations which seek policy changes in opposition to
[their] clients interests." MBD also "maintains extensive files on organizations and their leadership."
In a 1991 speech to the National Cattlemans Association convention, MBD co-founder and vice president Ronald Duchin disclosed a key strategy. Under the heading, "Take an Activist Apart and What Do You Have?" Duchin said that in his world there are four kinds of activists: opportunists, idealists, realists, and radicals.
Does any of this sound familiar? Source: Green Delaware |
| Insufficiently Discussed: Population |
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Solving the Earth's environmental problems means addressing the size of its human population, says the head of the UK's
Antarctic research agency, Professor Chris Rapley, who argues that the current global population of six billion is unsustainably high. Writing for the BBC News website, he says that unless population is addressed, the welfare and quality of life of future generations will suffer.
"If we believe that the size of the human [ecological] 'footprint' is a serious problem, and there is much evidence for this," he writes, "then a rational view would be that along with a raft of measures to reduce the footprint per person, the issue of population management must be addressed." A number of studies suggest that humankind is consuming the Earth's resources at an unsustainably fast rate. Even so, the issue of population is hardly ever discussed at environmental summits or raised by green lobby groups. Professor Rapley, Director of the British Antarctic Survey, acknowledges it is a thorny question, invoking the specter of forced population control and even eugenics. He does not make suggestions about how the current upward trend, from the current six billion towards eight or nine billion by 2050, can be reversed. He says population is one of a number of issues leading to environmental degradation of various forms, and needs a higher priority than it currently receives. "Unless and until this changes, summits such as [the recent climate change meeting] in Montreal which address only part of the problem will be limited to at best very modest success, with the welfare and quality of life of future generations the ineluctable casualty." Source: BBC |
| US Prescription Plan Not Reaching the Neediest |
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Low-income seniors without Medicaid or prescription coverage are signing up for a new Medicare drug benefit at a far slower rate than others, a sign the program isn't
reaching many of those who need it most. Fewer than 300,000 of the 3.6 million people who have voluntarily enrolled in the drug program were approved for a low-income subsidy. That's just 4% of the 8.2 million people the Bush administration has estimated could qualify for the subsidy.
By contrast, more than 3.3 million people have signed up for coverage without qualifying for the subsidy. That's nearly 25% of an estimated 14 million people without full prescription drug coverage who are not low-income. The six-month signup period ends May 15. The program's benefits began Jan. 1. Historically, only one-third to two-thirds of people eligible for low-income programs take advantage of them. And in this case, the two-step process of qualifying for the subsidy and enrolling in a plan is complex, experts say. "This is a problem," says former senator John Breaux, chairman of the Medicare Rx Education Network. "This is a very difficult population to get to." Gary Karr, spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, says the program likely is reaching more low-income people. "There are going to be people who are in the program who haven't applied for the low-income subsidy." Another 6.2 million low-income Americans were automatically enrolled because they had received prescription drugs through Medicaid. Thousands were denied drugs or were overcharged at pharmacies this month because of glitches in the process, leading more than 20 states to offer emergency coverage. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said yesterday that the states will be reimbursed. The low-income subsidy is available to individuals with annual incomes below about $15,000 and assets below about $11,500, not including their homes. Many will pay no premiums or deductibles, and no more than $2 monthly for each generic drug and $5 for each brand-name drug. Last year, the Social Security Administration sent letters to about 19 million people advising them of the subsidy, then followed up with 65,000 public events. To date, 1.2 million people have qualified for the subsidy. Those who don't sign up with an insurance plan will be automatically enrolled in May. Source: USA Today |
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| US Food Aid in Iraq |
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Before the 2003 conflict, many Iraqis depended heavily on monthly food rations, a system that collapsed with the fall of Saddam. USAID, working with the UN World Food Program (WFP) and Coalition Forces, reestablished the Public Distribution System (PDS)in fewer than 30 days, avoiding a humanitarian food crisis and providing food security throughout the country. USAID contributed more than $425 million in food and cash to keep the food aid flowing in post-conflict Iraq.
USAID advisors still help to improve the management and distribution of food rations through PDS for all Iraqis. Prior to 2003, PDS rationed out food commodities through the UN Oil-for-Food program. Today, USAID and WFP still support the Ministry of Trade in managing the countrywide network of storage warehouses, grain silos, trucking contractors, food distributors/agents, and a centralized database and ration card system designed to provide rations among all 26 million Iraqis. More things done by USAID:
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| Most material here is adapted, not quoted. Views expressed do not |
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