Darfur Progress Report #3

I have been looking up multiple resources trying to find the most accurate history on Darfur-genocide. I am apart of the history portion of our group project. I believe I have come up with some credible sources such as the United Nations, darfur action campaign groups, and sudan tribune. I have found current information on  what is going on in darfur, as well as, history going back to the first issues that occured in the 1970's. We are going to establish a time line so I have been trying to find key turning points in the issues of Darfur. The one thing I found interesting when reading the articles was that China and Russia were supplying ammunition and weapons to the Sudan government knowing what they were doing with the equipment.


Here are the sources I have found thus far:

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article11445

http://www.savedarfur.org/pages/primer

http://www.the-ethic.org/darfurbackground.htm

http://www.un.org/News/dh/dev/scripts/darfur_formatted.htm

http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide-in-sudan.htm

And videos that I have watched which we might incorporate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjkKwQU6ERI 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kiz7d1t34Go&feature=related 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie2jyPEJmss&feature=related 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPOyl7BLO10&feature=related 

Progress Report 3

Jacques Poirier
            
             I have gathered information from a few articles which I found to be very unique. One of which I used for a project last year in my I-100 class during a Darfur discussion in my lecture hall. MY focus for my part in the action campaign group, is to find and put together history of the Darfur crisis so that we can connect the past to modern situations and applicably fix the regions cultural, social, and violent issues. This first article that I have posted is called, "Timeline, Darfur Crisis." IT gives a very general "points to facts" view of the Darfur crisis. IT gives a summary between 2003- 2010 of the culturally dividing issues tearing Northern and Southern Sudan apart. Everything from major rebel attacks to Janjaweed skirmishes are listed. In the second source I have listed, it is a book called "A Short History of  a Long War." I read this book several years ago, and just recently re-read it to refresh my memory. It was published in 2006, so it is not completely up to date, but gives valid points on not only the political and cultural biases for each sides motivation for fighting the war and involving themselves with genocide, but also a personal perspective from a soldier working under the government of Sudan and a Journalist who go side by side documenting everything they see. It is from a ground level up perspective of the real situation from two individuals directly in the cross fire of the genocide. The third article was called, "A New History of a Long War." It sections out different categories of the crisis into the Political structure, the cultural structure and the 30 year struggle over control for the now split nation into two separate states of Northern and Southern Sudan.

Progress Report #3

Corporate Environmental Destruction

I204

Progress Report #3

Solai Meyappan

For this portion of our project I will be discussing Roles of Corporations and the impact they leave on Environmental Destruction.  Unfortunately corporations have their priority set on maximum revenue, and they tend to put environmental concerns on the backburner.  They leave a huge impact on Deforestation, Agriculture, and Resources.  Corporations are supposed to follow the Free Prior Informed Consent when it comes to Environmental Destruction, but they tend to disregard the situation.  If corporations do not start to change their views on running a successful company, then rapidly we will see a decline in our Environment.    

Emma Venard

My contribution is on the role of governments and individuals in corporate environmental degradation. I have done research on the actions governments have taken in either fighting or encouraging such corporate actions. Governments should be the strongest protectors of the land but this is not always the case. I have researched various ways they react to corporate environmental destruction. I will be further examining the influence of individuals on extractive industries and what tools they used to combat it, whether through legal venues or illegal actions.

Victoria Tudor

Case Study of the effects of Extraction Industries:

La Oroya, Peru is one of the most polluted place in the world due to the mining and processing of heavy metals. The emissions and wastes from the plant expose the residents to toxic lead, copper, zinc, and sulfur dioxide. Studies have shown the lead content in children of the town are 3 times higher than the WHO safety limit. Studies have also shown lead, arsenic, and cadmium soil contamination.

            The plant is owned by the Doe Run Company, an affiliate of Renco Group, whose CEO is the American billionaire Ira Rennert. Initially, Doe Run bought the plant for an extremely low cost on the condition that they would improve the living conditions in the town. Although Doe Run claims that emissions have reduced, conditions have not measurably improved, and there are no plans to cleanup the preexisting toxicity.

This video shows images of the situation:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY6WXa9aKrM

Lori Probasco

I have watched a documentary and read several articles on the Yala Swamp in Kenya. A piece of land in this swamp has been taken over by Dominion Farms. Dominion Farms sees itself as doing something good for the people by bringing in new technology and what they project will be a steep increase in the development in this area. However, the local people say that the things this group is doing is changing the whole landscape, and affecting their careers. Dominion Farms responds by saying that the people can adapt, and take on new careers, such as fishing, instead of raising animals. I have good information on what the local political group is doing, what human rights groups are doing, and what the corporation is doing, so that all sides of the matter are presented to the class. I just started putting together some slides for our collective powerpoint.

Sam Alig

What I have contributed to my action campaign group is I have found a case study of an example of indigenous people that are currently fighting a battle for their rights and the rights to protect their land. The study is on indigenous tribes in Brazil that are going to be displaced if the 3^rd worlds largest dam will be built. If construction continues, which it currently is, 25,000 people will lose their homes and way of life. I have also found an article pertaining to what they are currently doing to try and fight for their rights.

Marjorie Richards

I have identified organizations that are concerned with extractive industries and human rights violations that pertain to the environment. One of the leading organizations is Oxfam. A few of the major issues about which Oxfam is concerned is natural resources, land, and agriculture in developing countries. Their leading platform on the issues is that they “empower farmers, fishers, and others to defend their right to life-sustaining resources.” Oxfam lobbies for rural communities and offers hands on help. Another important organization is Friends of the Earth International.  They “campaign on today’s most urgent environmental and social issue. [They] challenge the current model of economic and corporate globalization, and promote solution that will help to create environmentally sustainable and socially just societies.” Friends of the Earth International raises awareness about human rights violations concerning land, agriculture and extractive industries while also leading protests and lobbying for the rights of rural communities. Both of these organizations try to help the communities be heard and inform the communities of their rights. Oxfam and Friends of the Earth International are two main nonprofit organizations that deal with human rights violations and the environment. When I have been informed of the individual case studies, I will also add NGOs that worked primarily with those incidents and add them to the presentation.

http://www.oxfam.org/en/about/issues/natural-resources

http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do

Emily Metallic

 I am assigned to the general information segment of the presentation. Essentially, I am responsible for introducing the presentation and topic to the class. Because this is a broad and relatively cursory assignment, I will also compile the presentation and take on a sort of project manager role. So far I have made my portion of the presentation, beginning with laying out the organization of the presentation in the following order: introduction; case studies; roles of corporations, governments and individuals; and solutions. In the introduction section, I have defined the terms: corporation, environmental destruction and indigenous communities. I also explain why the topic is important. I found a video that links consumer dollars with government corruption and  community benefits. I am looking for better videos and graphics to accompany my portion of the presentation. Below are the links I've used with brief annotations.
http://www.fwrgroup.com.au/environmental-degradation.html - definition of environmental destruction
http://www.duhaime.org/LegalDictionary/C/Corporation.aspx - definition of corporation
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/workshop_data_background.doc - definition of indigenous people

• most cited descriptions of the concept of the indigenous was given by Jose R. Martinez Cobo, the Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, in his famous Study on the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations
• http://www.globaled.org/curriculum/indigenous.html - indigenous peoples facts

Progress Report #3

As I have continued my research on Human Trafficking and its presence in the United States, I have come across a speech by President Obama and how it claims it has become "the modern form of slavery."  He also discusses how trafficking is more prevalent in certain countries and how consuming products from these countries can even be supporting it.  I have also found research on what the United States government has tried to do to control and end human trafficking.


http://www.examiner.com/article/an-unconscionable-attack-on-the-world-s-most-vulnerable-says-richardson

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0912/81655.html

slaveryfootprint.org

Progress Report #3

I have already finished making a video for our group that involved interviewing students all around campus and editting their repsonses together. Now I am working on a powerpoint presentation to explain the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Progress Report #3

So far for our group I have been researching different programs and organizations that have been formed together to fight modern day human trafficking. I have found a couple non-government groups that are working world-wide to spread the information needed to prevent/stop human trafficking. I have also found a few organizations such as the Polaris Project who use major social media networks and political figures such as President Obama as ways to help draw attention to the issue to hopefully get it resolved.

Progress Report #3

So far, I have looked up lots of information on human trafficking on a global level. I have a couple of books checked out from the library and I have been reading lots of article online about it. This issue is so much of a larger issue than I would have ever expected, so I am really enjoying reading about it.