Development Talk

 

July 13, 2011

Masande Drama Group entetained at the celebration: Photo: Development Works

Catholic Welfare and Development (CDW) has re-launched its Bonne Esperance Refugee Shelter for Woman and Children. They recently celebrated this momentous occasion with a special post –Refugee Day gathering.

The celebration kicked off with CDW Director, Lungisa Huna giving a brief history of Bonne Esperance and linked the work they have done to the Cape Townbased development organization’s mission of unleashing the ability of individuals and supporting community independence.  Representatives Vanessa Coulson and Chae Li Diong from United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) grabbed the audience’s attention as they spoke of the international lawful situation, relating to refugee and why the role of amenities like Bonne Esperance are vital to the local refugee response.

There was an especially memorable moment when a Home Affairs representative addressed the serious challenges asylum seekers face during the application process and how Bonne Esperance has assisted with addressing backlogs.  It was mentioned that Bonne Esperance made sure that “no stones are left unturned” when it comes to helping foreigners in need.  Survivors of conflict, trauma and dislocation from their home countries and former Bonne Esperance residents, also made appearances at the launch to testify to the Shelter staff’s commitment.

According to a press release for the event, through Bonne Esperance, vulnerable women are supported and the cycle of violence is breached and young people are guided towards heartwarming lives. The Shelter also encourages local integration that includes getting South Africans to understand reasons behind refugee migration intoSouth Africaby facilitating educational training in response to the racism, xenophobic attacks that surfaced in May 2008. To date Bonne Esperance has assisted approximately 20 000 people; opened its doors to the defenseless and helped them transition into a reconstruction and healing phase ; as well as assisted over 60 families with rehabilitation and reintegration  into communities around Cape Town.

 

To learn more about the Bonne Esperance Shelter please visit their website by clicking here.

 

 

 

Filed under: arts,children,civil society,community,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,development,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,education,Environment,History,Hope,identity,initiative,inspire,men,NGOs,power,Refugees,rights,Safety and Security,South Africa,spatial poverty,violence,women,xenophobia,youth — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 5:19 pm

Kader Asmal (8 October 1934 – 22 June 2011)

 

June 23, 2011

Click for photo source

Creative Consulting and Development Works would like to extend our sympathy to the Asmal family as we join the rest of South Africa in celebrating Kader Asmal and his life as an activist academic and politician.  His ANC comrades hail him as a “selfless man of honour” and that “his death must be a reminder for all of us of the non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous South Africa we committed to build”.  Kader represented the anti-Apartheid movement as a committed ANC member from the United Kingdom during his early professional life after being exiled by the Apartheid government.  In exile he was awarded the Prix UNESCO award for his work in human rights, founded the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, and served as Chairperson for the Irish Apartheid movement.  When he returned to South Africa he became a professor of human rights at University of the Western Cape before he was tapped by the first democratic government to be the Minister of Water and Forestry and later as Minister of Education (a position for which he was appointed personally by President Nelson Mandela).  He was also involved in many other anti-racism and human rights commissions and movements throughout his life. 

Professor Asmal’s memoir will be released in August, and the official launch for the book will be in September at the Open Book Festival in Cape Town.

Full story

Filed under: Africa,Awareness,basic human right,better life for all,Breaking New Ground,civil society,community,Constitution,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,democracy,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,education,election,ethical leadership,ethics,Family,Fatherhood,forgiveness,Government,History,Hope,identity,Inequality,legislation,nationhood,Parliament,Policy,politics,power,race,reconciliation,rights,social transformation,South Africa,TRC,Uncategorized — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 3:39 pm

Cape Town Celebrates Human Rights Day

 

March 23, 2011

March 21st marked Human Rights Day on the South African calendar — a day where people commemorate the struggles suffered by those fighting for equality and justice. It also marks the anniversary of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in 1996, an organisation dedicated to continuously fighting for human rights.

We rejoice this day by appreciating the rights we have, which include the right to dignity, equality, education, and expression.

This year’s Human Rights Day brought a large number of people to participate in events hosted by the Equal Education (EE). The event’s main intention was to hand over a memorandum to the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, requesting her to ensure the Minimum Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure is signed into law, as promised in last year’s policy gazette. The memorandum is also similar to the National Policy for the Equitable Provision of an Enabling School Teaching and Learning Environment (NPEP).

Unfortunately, Motshekga wasn’t present to take the memorandum, but Dingani Ngobeni, the Chief of Staff in the Basic Education Ministry, accepted it on her behalf. There was a great turn-out at the event, including a number of youth who were also advocating for advancing their education.

According to the Cape Times, Yoliswa Dwane, Equal Education spokeswoman, was quoted as saying, “Young people in the province showed today that they have an interest in their education. They came in numbers and wanted their voices to be heard.”

(Note: A similar march is planned for March 31, to the Union Buildings in Pretoria)

Aside from Parliament, other areas in Cape Town were also celebrating Human Rights Day, but this time in the form of arts and performance. Gugulethu residents and surrounding areas enjoyed the rhythm of the Cape, as the Amy Biehl Foundation, in association with the City of Cape Town, Western Cape Musicians Association and the Department Cultural Affairs and Sports presented the Cape Township Jazz Festival.

The likes of Amy Biehl Youth Bands, Yolanda Yawa, Mtika, The Tribe of Benjamin and the Milton Academy Jazz Band played at the event. The admission was only R5, giving an opportunity for people of all areas to attend the event.

Through political lobbying, speeches, and performances, it was clear that Cape Town made a statement in the on-going fight for human rights. Though we celebrate our achievements, it’s equally important to focus on the future and continue paving the way for justice and fairness.

Human Rights Day is incredibly important in reminding us that despite our differences, we are at the end of the day, all human.

Filed under: basic human right,campaign,children,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,education,Government,Parliament,rights,South Africa,youth — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 10:59 am

Why are our children violent?

 

November 17, 2010

Children need to be loved and protected from violence to stop them from becoming perpetrators of violence themselves. Photo: Thetravellinged via Flickr

Children need to be loved and protected from violence to stop them from becoming perpetrators of violence themselves. Photo: Thetravellinged via Flickr

South Africa was recently shocked by the gang-rape of a school girl by three of her fellow pupils. The girl was drugged and raped while other pupils watched and filmed it on their cellphones. Why are some children in South Africa so violent and what can be done about it?

Some people have spoken about a “culture of violence” in South Africa, but implying that violence is inherently South African is not helpful. The cause of the problem needs to be found and addressed.

South Africa is not the only country that struggles with violent and dysfunctional youth. Safe Families Safe Children, an international group of renowned child rights organisations, including ACER Brasil, The International Children’s Trust, JUCONI Ecuador, JUCONI Mexico, New Life (South Africa) and Railway Children (UK, India and East Africa) “promote access for highly excluded children from violent homes around the world to the support and services they require to recover from their traumatic life experiences and gain sustainable access to their rights”.

In this organisation’s “Manifesto of Change” they site the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study which “found a clear link between the adverse experiences in childhood (including physical, emotional or sexual abuse and living in households with domestic violence) and a range of physical, emotional and social problems, including: heart disease, obesity, depression, alcoholism, sexual promiscuity, substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, rape and poor job performance”. (more…)

Filed under: access to health care,children,community,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,crime,development,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,education,Family,healthcare,HIV/AIDS,Homeless,poverty,rights,violence,youth — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 9:16 am

Khoikhoi and San want rights to be recognised

 

September 13, 2010

Dispossessed, unrecognised and facing a ‘cultural genocide’, South Africa’s Khoikhoi and San community are petitioning the government for full recognition of their rights as indigenous people.

They claim that their history of oppression and dispossession has long been overlooked, with government preferring to focus on rectifying the evils of apartheid’s land policies.

Indeed, South Africa’s indigenous population have lived in the region of the Cape for thousands of years, but lost their and land and water to the first settlers who arrived in 1652. The current Land Restitution Act however, only considers claims for land that was dispossessed after the 1913 Native Land Act came into effect.

Zenzile Khoisan, a spokesman for the Khoi and Boesman National Assembly argues “In 1913 most of our land had already been usurped by various entities including the colonial authorities. Under the Land Restitution Act it is impossible for us to claim because we were the first in opposition of colonialism.”

Their grievances came to the fore in a march on Cape Town’s Parliament Buildings on Saturday 4th September, as reported by the U.K Guardian. They have issued a memorandum to President Jacob Zuma outlining their demands for recognition as the original inhabitants of South Africa. (more…)

Filed under: civil society,Communications,community,Constitution,CREATIVE CONSULTING & DEVELOPMENT WORKS,cultural issues,democracy,DEVELOPMENT WORKS,donors,Film,Government,identity,Inequality,legislation,marginalised,media,NGOs,Parliament,Policy,politics,poverty,rights,South Africa,Videos — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 12:30 pm
Older Posts »