Civil Society
Great TED talk by Peter Eigen, founder of Transparency International
BY: Tobias Eigen DATE: 9 February, 2010 - 11:52I was pleased to learn via @afrinomad today that my father, Peter Eigen, has been included in the TED Riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world. In his talk at TEDxBerlin, he talks about his anti-corruption work, for which I am of course very proud. I am grateful that he is on the Kabissa board as well.
CIVICUS and IPS collaborate on online database to connect CSOs to the Media
BY: Tobias Eigen DATE: 14 December, 2009 - 08:38
CIVICUS - World Alliance for Citizen Participation - has partnered with IPS to create an online database to make civil society worldwide more accessible to the media. I learned about this today in a special mailing (pasted below) from eCivicus. This new database is a great idea and I recommend Kabissa members explore it and sign up. I do wonder, though - this means yet another online profile for CSOs to maintain. How does it add value beyond what is already provided for civil society organizations by services like Kabissa, Idealist and Wiser Earth, not to mention Wikipedia and Facebook Fan pages?
This weekend, Germany is celebrating the 20 year anniversary of German reunification. A big 4-day event is kicking off today with 7.5 meter tall giant marionettes at the Berlin town hall. Meanwhile, a huge group of German social media enthusiasts and NGOs are marking the anniversity in Berlin with Social Camp 2009, a two-day "un-conference" where the agenda will be set only at the start of the first day. I will be participating, and am greatly looking forward to the experience. It will be great to connect with all the amazing participants and to learn how Germans do barcamps!
I am also looking forward to seeing how Kabissa fits into this German social media "scene", and to inviting people here interested in using social media to "Connect for Africa" to join and help shape the Connect Deutschland group on Kabissa. If you are in Germany and interested in Kabissa, please contact me! Also, you are most welcome to join Kabissa (membership is free) and consider following @kabissa on twitter and joining the Facebook Kabissa Page.
So far the event and website appears to be very German language oriented, so I will do my best to share the learnings here for the benefit of the broader Kabissa community. Some useful links are below to get started:
- Very compelling and well produced video of Social Camp Berlin 2008 on vimeo
- Follow along on Twitter @socialcamp09
- Participants list for Saturday and Sunday
- NGOs participants list for Saturday and Sunday
Save the Date: Africa Policy Forum, 1:00pm-5:00pm, Feb 19 (Washington DC)
Africa Action
In collaboration with
Howard University
African Studies Department
Presents:
U.S.-AFRICA POLICY
"Projecting Change and Continuity Under the Obama Administration"
In collaboration with
Howard University
African Studies Department
Presents:
U.S.-AFRICA POLICY
"Projecting Change and Continuity Under the Obama Administration"
Today is Blog Action Day - One Issue, Thousands of Voices
If you have not yet blogged, today is the day to take the plunge! It's BLOG ACTION DAY today, October 15th, and today around world 10,000 bloggers are speaking with one voice on an important topic to Africa - Poverty.
Please join in and tell the world your story about how poverty affects you and what YOU and your organisation are doing everyday to alleviate poverty in your life and in your community.
One Issue, Thousands of Voices
Global issues like poverty are extremely complex. There is no simple, clear answer. By asking thousands of different people to give their viewpoints and opinions, Blog Action Day creates an extraordinary lens through which to view these issues. Each blogger brings their own perspective and ideas. Each blogger posts relating to their own blog topic. And each blogger engages their audience differently.
Kabissa Members! Please send in your post by email to blog@kabissa.org or log in now and click here to add your post.
New tech iniatives for Africa
Three excellent ICT initiatives from Africa are the Paradigm Initiative Nigeria; the Open Cafe based in Potchefstroom, South Africa and online; and the TrainersPod which is a three country project in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.
Messages from Kenya
NABUUR is an online volunteering site that connects people in the Global South with volunteers who support small scale projects in towns and villages. I was browsing through the site when I clicked on Kenya and discovered messages sent by members either through email or by SMS to their supporting volunteers. It is good to know that people on the ground are getting their stories out to each other and the wider world. Here are some of the messages:
Orphan children and youth displaced in Kenya
The WIDES Development Group based in Nyakach constituency of Nyanza province and Kibera slums in Nairobi Kenya have reported that many of the orphan children being cared for are now scattered without food, clothing or shelter. WIDES workers, themselves displaced, are no longer able to run their projects due to the unrest and general chaos.
Tags:
Kenya Elections
Technology for Advocacy in Kenyan Crisis
Two weeks into the Kenyan post election crisis has seen a range of technological initiatives being applied by advocacy groups, Kenyan bloggers and human rights organisations.
