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ajonesn

Egypt- Worst country for women in all 22 Arab Nations - 0 views

www.bbc.com/...world-middle-east-24908109

shared by ajonesn on 20 Nov 14 - No Cached
  • Egypt 'worst for women' out of 22 countries in Arab world
  • There are whole villages on the outskirts of Cairo and elsewhere where the bulk of economic activity is based on trafficking in women and forced marriages
  • high rates of female genital mutilation and a growth in conservative Islamist groups contributed to the low ranking.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Iraq ranked second-worst after Egypt, followed by Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen.
  • Egypt is now the worst country for women's rights in the Arab world, according to a poll of gender experts
  • sexual harassment was cited as the main factor.
  • A UN report in April said 99.3% of women and girls in Egypt had been subjected to sexual harassment.
  • Iraq was now more dangerous for women than under Saddam Hussein, with women disproportionately affected by the violence of the past decade.
  • diamond03 on 20 Nov 14
     
    A study found that 99.3% of women were subjected to sexual harassment in Egypt. Forced marriages and human trafficking were also stated to highly affect the women.
  • yperez2 on 28 Jan 15
     
    Egypt is said to be one of the worst places for women. Women experience everyday harassment including sexual harassment.
  • ajonesn on 09 Feb 15
     
    Egypt is now the worst country for women's rights in the Arab world, according to a poll of experts on gender issues in 22 Arab states.
wmulnea

The new economics of oil: Sheikhs v shale | The Economist - 0 views

www.economist.com/...es-will-go-bust-market-will-be

shared by wmulnea on 23 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • The contest between the shalemen and the sheikhs has tipped the world from a shortage of oil to a surplus.
  • Big importing countries such as the euro area, India, Japan and Turkey are enjoying especially big windfalls. Since this money is likely to be spent rather than stashed in a sovereign-wealth fund, global GDP should rise.
  • There will, of course, be losers (see article). Oil-producing countries whose budgets depend on high prices are in particular trouble. The rouble tumbled this week as Russia’s prospects darkened further. Nigeria has been forced to raise interest rates and devalue the naira. Venezuela looks ever closer to defaulting on its debt
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  • But Saudi Arabia, in particular, seems mindful of the experience of the 1970s, when a big leap in the price prompted huge investments in new fields, leading to a decade-long glut.
  • wmulnea on 23 Feb 15
     
    This article suggests that increased shale oil production is changing the economy of oil, but at the same time Saudi Arabia is reluctant to slow OPEC production.
fcastro2

A daring plan to rebuild Syria - no matter who wins the war - Ideas - The Boston Globe - 0 views

www.bostonglobe.com/...story.html

syria plan war politics china russia the west

shared by fcastro2 on 23 Feb 15 - No Cached
  • The first year of Syria’s uprising, 2011, largely spared Aleppo, the country’s economic engine, largest city, and home of its most prized heritage sites. Fighting engulfed Aleppo in 2012 and has never let up since, making the city a symbol of the civil war’s grinding destruction
  • Rebels captured the eastern side of the city while the government held the wes
  • , residents say the city is virtually uninhabitable; most who remain have nowhere else to go
  • ...28 more annotations...
  • In terms of sheer devastation, Syria today is worse off than Germany at the end of World War II
  • ven as the fighting continues, a movement is brewing among planners, activists and bureaucrats—some still in Aleppo, others in Damascus, Turkey, and Lebanon—to prepare, right now, for the reconstruction effort that will come whenever peace finally arrives.
  • In a glass tower belonging to the United Nations’ Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, a project called the National Agenda for the Future of Syria has brought together teams of engineers, architects, water experts, conservationists, and development experts to grapple with seemingly impossible technical problems
  • It is good to do the planning now, because on day one we will be ready,”
  • The team planning the country’s future is a diverse one. Some are employed by the government of Syria, others by the rebels’ rival provisional government. Still others work for the UN, private construction companies, or nongovernmental organizations involved in conservation, like the World Monuments Fund
  • As the group’s members outline a path toward renewal, they’re considering everything from corruption and constitutional reform to power grids, antiquities, and health care systems.
  • Aleppo is split between a regime side with vestiges of basic services, and a mostly depopulated rebel-controlled zone, into which the Islamic State and the Al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front have made inroads over the last year
  • The population exodus has claimed most of the city’s craftsmen, medical personnel, academics, and industrialists
  • It took decades to clear the moonscapes of rubble and to rebuild, in famous targets like Dresden and Hiroshima but in countless other places as well, from Coventry to Nanking. Some places never recovered their vitality.
  • Of course, Syrian planners cannot help but pay attention to the model closest to home: Beirut, a city almost synonymous with civil war and flawed reconstructio
  • We don’t want to end up like Beirut,” one of the Syrian planners says, referring to the physical problems but also to a postwar process in which militia leaders turned to corrupt reconstruction ventures as a new source of funds and power
  • Syria’s national recovery will depend in large part on whether its industrial powerhouse Aleppo can bounce back
  • The city’s workshops, famed above all for their fine textiles, export millions of dollars’ worth of goods every week even now, and the economy has expanded to include modern industry as well.
  • Today, however, the city’s water and power supply are under the control of the Islamic State
  • Across Syria, more than one-third of the population is displaced.
  • A river of rubble marks the no-man’s land separating the two sides. The only way to cross is to leave the city, follow a wide arc, and reenter from the far side.
  • Parts of the old city won’t be inhabitable for years, he told me by Skype, because the ground has literally shifted as a result of bombing and shelling
  • The first and more obvious is creating realistic options to fix the country after the war—in some cases literal plans for building infrastructure systems and positioning construction equipment, in other cases guidelines for shaping governanc
  • They’re familiar with global “best practices,” but also with how things work in Syria, so they’re not going to propose pie-in-the-sky idea
  • If some version of the current regime remains in charge, it will probably direct massive contracts toward patrons in Russia, China, or Iran. The opposition, by contrast, would lean toward firms from the West, Turkey, and the Gulf.
  • At the current level of destruction, the project planners estimate the reconstruction will cost at least $100 billion
  • Recently a panel of architects and heritage experts from Sweden, Bosnia, Syria, and Lebanon convened in Beirut to discuss lessons for Syria’s reconstruction—one of the many distinct initiatives parallel to the Future of Syria project.
  • “You should never rebuild the way it was,” said Arna Mackic, an architect from Mostar. That Bosnian city was divided during the 1990s civil war into Muslim and Catholic sides, destroying the city center and the famous Stari Most bridge over the Neretva River. “The war changes us. You should show that in rebuilding.”
  • Instead, Mackik says, the sectarian communities keep to their own enclaves. Bereft of any common symbols, the city took a poll to figure out what kind of statue to erect in the city center. All the local figures were too polarizing. In the end they settled on a gold-colored statue of the martial arts star Bruce Lee
  • “It belongs to no one,” Mackic says. “What does Bruce Lee mean to me?
  • is that it could offer the city’s people a form of participatory democracy that has so far eluded the Syrian regime and sadly, the opposition as well.
  • “You are being democratic without the consequences of all the hullabaloo of formal democratization
  • A great deal of money has been invested in Syria’s destruction— by the regime, the local parties to the conflict, and many foreign powers. A great deal of money will be made in the aftermath, in a reconstruction project that stands to dwarf anything seen since after World War II.
  • fcastro2 on 23 Feb 15
     
    While it is still unclear as to who will win the Syrian conflict, there are people who are already looking towards the future and a better Syria. Plans are being made but, of course, these plans will entirely depend on who wins the war. 
nicolet1189

Al-Qaida and ISIS Use Twitter Differently. Here's How and Why. - NationalJournal.com - 1 views

www.nationaljournal.com/...ly-here-s-how-and-why-20141009

Al-Qaida ISIS social media Twitter facebook communication

shared by nicolet1189 on 27 Oct 14 - No Cached
  • Al-Qaida has an Internet presence nearly two decades old
  • their separate techniques not only reveal key divisions between the two terrorist groups, but also illustrate the depths of extremism that ISIS will plumb—and that al-Qaida won't.
  • Social media's public and instantaneous nature is ideal for reaching ISIS's target audience—young, disillusioned Westerners who are ripe for radicalization—and it gives them a sense of community.
  • ...12 more annotations...
    • nicolet1189
      nicolet1189 on 27 Oct 14
       
      Wait, seriously? 
  • while ISIS focuses on fighting a nearby enemy to defend the Islamic State, al-Qaida focuses on fighting an external enemy, i.e. the United States.,
  • e group still relies heavily on "older" platforms, like websites and forums, according to Weimann.
  • ecause al-Qaida is more focused on fighting Western influence, it is much more concerned with currying favor with the wider Muslim community.
  • ISIS glorifies violence
  • ISIS, all attention is good attention
  • ISIS's propaganda documentary Flames of War is produced in a Hollywood-esque fashion, complete with pyrotechnics and voice
  • appeal to a younger audience
  • al-Qaida's online magazine, Inspire,
  • al-Qaida leader Anwar al-Awlaki, which numbered over a thousand at one point before Google took them down. Al-Awlaki preaching directly into the camera for close to an hour is in stark contrast to ISIS's sophisticated and sensational production.
  • Weimann predicts al-Qaida will outlast ISIS. I
  • l-Qaida's network is much wider and more deeply rooted than that of ISIS.
  • nicolet1189 on 27 Oct 14
     
    This article contrasts communication techniques of Al-Qaida and ISIS. It outlines how ISIS communication strategy uses more dominant forms of social media such as facebook, youtube, and twitter while Al-Qaida still uses web pages, forums, and their own magazine they publish to speak to their audience.
mkulach

State repression in Egypt worst in decades, says activist - 0 views

www.theguardian.com/...er-seen-activist-hossam-bahgat

Egypt Revolution anniversary Freedoms Sisi

shared by mkulach on 27 Jan 16 - No Cached
  • mkulach on 27 Jan 16
     
    State repression is greater than it has been in years actually, even after the revolution. Journalists and human rights activists are trying to speak out but anti protests laws have been created in Egypt since the Revolution, and imprisonment of journalists are the highest in the world bar China. Preachers are told to say that protesting is a sin, and common places such as cafes and cultural institutions are constantly being surveil-lanced under Sisi to prevent uprisings.
mcooka

Education is becoming an extremist battleground in Pakistan - The Washington Post - 0 views

www.washingtonpost.com/...emist-battleground-in-pakistan

education pakistan program extremist

shared by mcooka on 10 Feb 16 - No Cached
  • The one year anniversary commemorations of the heinous attack on a Peshawar public school were barely over when gunmen once again went from classroom to classroom killing students and staff at a Pakistani university nearby.
  • n doing so, they are attacking the one area of Pakistani society where there is clear reason for optimism, as the growth of low-cost private schools in recent decades has given more and more young people, particularly girls, access to education.
  • aw revenge is clearly a motive as the Taliban protest against military bombings of their hideouts in the tribal areas.
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  • The Taliban has already been successful with this approach on other fronts. Their attacks on polio aid workers have proven effective in disrupting the country’s entire public health system
  • Together with Jishnu Das of the World Bank, we have been researching Pakistan’s education sector for nearly 20 years.
  • Girls in particular have benefited from this school boom: more are in school than ever.
  • Research shows that the education debate in Pakistan is similar to the education debate in any other country: parents grapple with a choice of schools based on the usual set of considerations: Which of the schools nearby is best? How much should we pay? Is our child getting the best quality education?
  • But education is a unique service – not only because it involves a country’s most precious resource, its children – but also because, by increasing human capital, it strengthens the state not only in the present, but in the future.
  • As we speak, many schools are announcing temporary closure of facilities in the aftermath of the latest attack
sambofoster

Gender and Equity in Access to Health Care Services in the Middle East and North Africa - 0 views

www.prb.org/...eMiddleEastandNorthAfrica.aspx

women health middle east

shared by sambofoster on 17 Feb 16 - No Cached
  • sambofoster on 17 Feb 16
     
    The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has experienced major improvements in health over the past few decades. 1 Today, on average, a girl born in Egypt is expected to live for 72 years-nearly 20 years longer than if she had been born in the early 1970s-owing in large part to a 70 percent improvement in infant mortality rates over the same time period.
mcooka

News & Broadcast - Education: Improving access and quality of education in Yemen - 0 views

web.worldbank.org/...K:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

yemen education improving access quality girls

shared by mcooka on 02 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • For almost three decades, the International Development Association (IDA) has actively helped increase access to, and the quality of, educational services in Yemen. The main achievements are the expansion of the education system at all levels, which helped halve the illiteracy rate to 45 percent from 90 percent
  • This is particularly challenging given the country’s significant population growth and deep poverty
  • Fewer girls than boys enrol in school (particularly in rural areas), many tend to be over-age and most drop out before completing basic education.
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • lack of female teachers is one of the factors resulting in low enrolment and retention of girls in schools, particularly in higher grades when parents tend to object to male teachers
  • The sector also suffers from a lack of efficiency and effectiveness in using limited financial resources and weak management capacity.
  • DA has provided assistance for development of all education system sub-sector
  • both building on the success of the Basic Education Expansion Project of 2001-2007
  • The Secondary Education Development and Girls Access Project provides a platform to address broader sector governance and management issues by bringing together the Ministries of Planning, Finance, Civil Service and Insurance and Local Officials to jointly sign a Protocol of Participation in this Project.
  • men is also part of the Education For All Fast Track Initiative (EFA-FTI). FTI focuses on increasing access of children to primary education in line with the MDG target of achieving universal primary education, and its interventions target the most remote areas in the country where no other IDA project, government intervention or donor project has gone before
  • Increase in enrolment in primary education to 87 percent in 2008-09 from 68 percent in 1998-99.Gains in girls’ enrolment were even higher with an increase to 78% in 2008-09 from 49% in 1998-99, reducing by half the gap with male enrolment
  • The Education sector in Yemen is one of oldest and largest sectors of IDA investment in Yemen.
  • otal Bank financing for the five projects amounts to US$133 million, comprising Basic Education Development Project (US$68.66 million), Secondary Education Development and Girls Access project (US$20 million), Fast Track Initiative – Phase III (US$20 million), Second Vocational Training Project (US$ 15 million), and Second Higher Education Project (US$13 million).
  • he basic education sector in Yemen is characterized by a high degree of donor harmonization. Education receives a large share of the comparatively small amount of Official Development Assistance per capita recipient (just US$13 in 2006).
  • The Yemen Country Status Report set the stage for the development of a national vision for education. The national vision is to be developed in coordination with line ministries and aims to develop the foundations for a national education system that is linked to the labor market
  • mcooka on 02 Mar 16
     
    This article is about the improvement of education in Yemen. Yemen is a very poor country with a large population growth. These programs have created platforms and finances to attract teachers, advocates for girls groups, advocates for education, and have pushed the literacy rate up towards 90%
mcooka

In Yemen, Breaking Barriers to Girls' Education - 0 views

www.worldbank.org/...ng-barriers-to-girls-education

yemen education improving girls quality

shared by mcooka on 02 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • The gender gap among teachers in Yemen is wide, and serves as a deterrent to girls’ school attendance when traditionally-minded male family members will not allow daughters, sisters or nieces to be taught by men.
  • n 2010-2011, only 28% of teachers in government basic and secondary schools were female. The Ministry of Education estimates 4,500 female teachers are needed to remedy the acute shortage of female teachers in rural areas.
  • e corresponding rate for boys has remained at least 20% highe
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Though girls’ enrollment and primary education completion rates in Yemen have increased substantially over the last decade, the gender disparity remains severe
  • To address the disparity, in 2007 the Yemeni government, with funding from the World Bank’s Fund for the Poorest Countries (IDA), launched a rural female teacher contracting scheme and has since trained 550 teachers, 525 of which have become certified.  Under an additional project, funded by the Global Partnership for Education, 490 teachers have completed the training program.
  • A conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, designed to help girls in grades 4-9 in disadvantaged communities in selected governorates, has been effective in encouraging parents to allow girls to attend school.
  • he cash stipends are conditional on maintaining no less than 80% attendance and a passing grade, with an allowance to repeat the grade only once
  • Under Yemen’s second basic education development project, approved under a $66 million IDA grant in February, the government  will recruit, train and deploy an additional 700 female teachers in rural areas and continue its conditional cash transfer program for girls’ education, to extend service to an additional 25,000 students.
  • mcooka on 02 Mar 16
     
    This article discusses the large gap amongst girls and boys in Yemen. There are fewer women in the population, not as many teachers, the literacy rate is 15% lower for girls as compared to boys. This project will deploy 700 teachers to rural areas of Yemen, hoping to attract 25,000 more students, and it will increase cash stiphens to encourage families to let their daughters go to school
aacosta8

Social Media Sparked, Accelerated Egypt's Revolutionary Fire - 0 views

www.wired.com/...egypts-revolutionary-fire

Egypt social media revolutions

shared by aacosta8 on 04 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • aacosta8 on 04 Mar 16
     
    If three decades of violent repression and despotic rule were kindling for the Egyptian revolution, social media was both a spark and an accelerant for the movement. Did social media like Facebook and Twitter cause the revolution? No. But these tools did speed up the process by helping to organize the revolutionaries, transmit their message...
jherna2a

Reducing Yemen's Houthis to 'Iranian proxies' is a mistake (+video) - 0 views

www.csmonitor.com/...ian-proxies-is-a-mistake-video

Yemen Houthi proxy Iran

shared by jherna2a on 09 Mar 16 - No Cached
  • jherna2a on 09 Mar 16
     
    This article covers Yemen's civil war and rejects the notion that the Houthis are 'Iran-backed.' According to the author, the Houthis are not merely Iran's pawns and, labeling them as such, diminishes the decades of conflict that led to the rebellion.
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