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Showing posts from April 27, 2011

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

On December 10, 1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights the full text of which appears in the following pages. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicize the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories." Other language versions (search by language of translation) Human Rights Day 10 December 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights PREAMBLE Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of

Feature: Konadu - Empowering a generation & a nation, one woman at a time

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Former First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, is on a mission to empower a generation, one woman at a time. As the founder and President of the 31st December Women’s Movement, a grassroots NGO, Nana Rawlings is a firm believer that women hold the key to breaking the cycle of poverty. For nearly three decades, she has been at the forefront of women empowerment. During her tenure as Ghana’s First Lady (1981 – 2001), Mrs. Rawlings crisscrossed the globe raising a new level of awareness on gender issues in Africa. Through her skillful ability to achieve concrete, measurable results and convey them on platforms, globally, she gained international prominence as a leading activist for African women. Mobilising more than two million women across Ghana—from small-scale, village level, economic projects to standing for parliamentary elections—her organization, the 31st December Women’s Movement (DWM) became one of Ghana’s earliest and most successful examples of a progressive grassroots women

UK and Malawi in tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions

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Last Updated: Wednesday, 27 April 2011, 20:20 Bingu wa Mutharika recently purchased a presidential jet The UK has ordered Malawi's high commissioner to leave the country over the "unacceptable" expulsion of Britain's envoy to Lilongwe. Fergus Cochrane-Dyet was told to leave Malawi after he was quoted in a leaked cable as saying the president does not tolerate criticism. A British diplomat warned of "serious consequences", according to an internal memo seen by the BBC. Some 40% of Malawi's budget comes from abroad. The UK is the largest donor. An invitation to the Malawian government to a party at the high commission to celebrate the royal wedding on Friday has been withdrawn. According to the diplomatic cable published by the local Weekend Nation newspaper last week, Mr Cochrane-Dyet described Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika as "becoming ever more autocratic and intolerant of criticism". He said local civil society activists were

Nigerian Robbers Busted

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Six out of twelve foreigners including an ex-Nigerian soldier and a policeman, who are alleged to be behind various robberies at filling stations within Accra, Tema and Kasoa areas, have been arrested. They are Merlin Joseph aka Bright- 23, Eric Uda Madusbuchi aka No One Is God- 20, Okechukwu aka Joseph Oti- 22, Ihedi Kenneth aka Fella- 29 and their ammunition keepers Hope and Charles. Those at large are Obina, leader of the gang, Okosisi, an ex-Nigerian soldier and a police officer who is yet to be identified, Sonny Good and Bad, and Big Obina aka Wabinu. Items retrieved from the robbers include a fully-loaded pump action gun, a foreign pistol with five rounds of ammunitions, two locally-made pistols, three hammers, sellotapes, hacksaw blade, twenty cartridges, three garden gun cartridges and seven assorted mobile phones. Briefing the media, the Accra Regional Police Commander, DCOP Rose Bio Atingah, together with her deputy, ACP C.T. Yohuno and Superintendent Frank Adufati, the Regi

POLICE SCREEN LEGON BOYS

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The Legon Police say they are currently screening a number of students of the University of Ghana suspected to have been involved in molesting Amina Haruna, an alleged thief who the police said had earlier been arrested twice for the same offence on the Legon campus. The university has also indicated in a press release issued on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, that a fact-finding committee set up by the school had since Tuesday, April 12, completed its work and submitted a report to the Vice-Chancellor, who is the Head of the Disciplinary Committee. “The fact-finding committee appointed by the executive committee of the university to look into the circumstances leading to the mentioned event has completed its work and submitted a report on its findings to the Dean of Students and the Vice-Chancellor on Tuesday, 12th April 2011. The committee identified a number of students who were present during the molestation as seen in the video clips produced and also from credible eye-witness accounts

‘Make human rights awards national policy’

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Two human rights advocates have asked the government to make the award of those who defend human rights a national policy. The two are the acting Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Ms Anna Bossman and the acting British High Commissioner, Mr Matthew Johnson. They raised this issue in Accra at the first "Human -Rights Defenders' Awards", initiated by CHRAJ with the support of the British High Commission. Ms Bossman in her remarks, said, "as a nation we need to ensure that we recognise and institutionalise awarding the work of rights activists and defenders," while Mr Johnson was of the view that doing that would raise the level of ambition for the promotion and protection of human rights in Ghana and beyond its borders. The awards night was programmed to focus primarily on the award winners. Four defenders of human rights, Ms Betty Ayagibah, the founder of the Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM), Mrs. Ethel Mac-Harris

DFID supports Ghana to fight malaria

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The Ghana Health Service (GHS) in Western Region today received 1,350,000 long lasting insecticide nets (LLINs) from the UK government and UNICEF. Along with 1,000,000 nets handed over to GHS in the Central Region, these bed nets are expected to reach over 4.7 million people including 940,000 children under the age of 5. Ms Sally Taylor, the UK Department for International Development’s (DFID) Country Director for Ghana, said, “the UK government is committed to support the Government of Ghana in its fight against malaria which takes the lives of so many children below the age of five.” DFID, UNICEF and the Ghana Health Service are partnering to ensure that Ghana’s target of reducing the burden of malaria by 75% by 2015 is achieved. Using funds from DFID, UNICEF has purchased 2,350,000 bed nets, which will be distributed by the Ghana Health Service to beneficiaries in July. Over 800,000 families in the Western and Central regions will benefit from the supply of these nets. Malaria r