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South African shack-dwellers' movement fights for urban land reform
Five years ago people were evicted from their shacks in Durban to make way for housing for members of the African National Congress
DURBAN, South Africa - Five years ago Ndabo Mzimela was evicted from a cramped backyard shack in Durban to make way for the construction of subsidised government housing.
Those houses, he and other residents said, were allocated exclusively to paying members of the African National Congress (ANC), the South African ruling party that has been beset in recent years by allegations of widespread corruption.
Colombia: Dying of thirst, Wayuu blame mine, dam, drought for water woes
- The struggle for access to safe and sufficient water for drinking and irrigation defines life for the indigenous Wayuu of La Guajira, Colombia’s northernmost department.
- Activists have described the Wayuu as being in the throes of a humanitarian crisis, with Wayuu children suffering high rates of malnutrition and death as a result of water and food scarcity.
In Ecuador, landmark court cases challenge mining projects
LOS CEDROS, Ecuador (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Ecuador is facing a lawsuit this week for giving mining companies exploration rights to a protected forest in one of the country’s most biodiverse regions without local consultation.
Brought by the local Cotacachi government, the lawsuit requests the regional court place an injunction on all mining activity within Los Cedros in the Intag Valley, a lush area of rivers and Andean tropical forest.
Prosecution of Paraguay judges over peasant ‘massacre’ ruling could undermine rule of law: UN expert
The planned prosecution of Supreme Court judges who acquitted 11 peasant farmers jailed over the death of police officers during a violent land eviction in 2012, known as the Curuguaty Massacre”, could undermine the rule of law, a UN expert said on Monday.
“These are fundamental elements in the full enjoyment of human rights,” UN Special Rapporteur on independence of judges and lawyers, Diego García-Sayán, said in a press release.
State govt to table Bill to hand over land rights papers to thousands of enclave dwellers
Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government will introduce a Bill in the state Assembly to ensure land rights to the residents of enclaves (Chitmahal) in Cooch Behar.
It may be mentioned that 14,854 people had become Indian citizens with 51 enclaves of Chitmahal coming within the country's jurisdiction in July 2015. But still, land rights issues have not been settled yet for thousands of enclave dwellers.
Now, in a bid to give relief to them, the state government is going to table the Bill in the forthcoming Assembly session.
Recognising Sarawak natives’ land rights more important than funds for survey, says Baru
KUCHING, Nov 5 — Works Minister Baru Bian today defended the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government against criticisms for not giving a specific allocation in the federal Budget 2019 for the perimeter survey of native customary rights (NCR) land in Sarawak.
He said the critics were implying that the PH government is not concerned about NCR land and not treating it as an important issue.
Baru pointed out that land matters are not under the purview of the federal government and nor does it have any say in state land matters.
Indigenous advancement funding redirected to cattlemen and fishing groups
Nigel Scullion gave almost half a million dollars to groups to argue how they might be negatively impacted by land rights claims
Brick by brick: green homes build cohesion between Syrian refugees and Jordanians
For some low-income Jordanians the attention and funds directed towards refugees from Syria are a source of tension
DHLAIL, Jordan - Syrian refugee Umm Mohammed fidgeted in her chair in a breezy office in Dhlail city, northern Jordan, before joking: "We don't know how to sit still."
Along with others who fled conflict in neighbouring Syria, she works with low-income Jordanians in this industrial town famed for its dairy and textile factories.
But their work is different: retrofitting homes to make them green.
Bolsonaro’s election is catastrophic news for Brazil’s indigenous tribes
During his campaign, he pledged to take away their territory. His victory will embolden the brutal mining and logging gangs
With a feast of grubs, a tribe makes its case for forest stewardship
BOVEN DIGOEL, Indonesia — It’s a hot and humid morning, and birds and insects are chirping deep in a lush rainforest in the eastern Indonesian province of Papua.
All of a sudden, the sounds are drowned out by tribal chanting and the thunder of dozens of people marching, echoing through the forest like a mild earthquake. Brandishing bows and arrows, they sing and dance their way toward the village of Uni in Boven Digoel district.