Wednesday, September 19, 2012

THE UNRIGHTEOUS CAN FIGHT FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS


If we heeded the words of our political leaders, that religious leaders are as guilty as everybody else and therefore have no moral authority to seek accountability from the politicians, then we would have to wait for a long time before we cleanse the rot in our churches, mosques and temples before we take on the bigger and fatal situation in our political sphere.
Kenya has undergone tremendous challenges over the last few years and it is the resilience of the people of Kenya that has kept this nation on its feet. Let us for a moment celebrate the real heroes of Kenya; the men, women, boys and girls who in spite of the difficult predicament they have been put, they have risen and fought.
In the wake of hunger, caused by commission or omission, you will see Kenyans doing what they can to put food on the table, even if it means the food is roots and leaves from the bush. They have shared the little they have among themselves; thousands of people have gone into shops and supermarkets to buy food for the starving. In places like Kibera and Korogocho people get to buy sugar, cooking oil and flour in quantities they can afford: some buy a glass of flour or a quarter of a kilogram of sugar.
When the government and the economy failed to provide jobs for the hundreds of thousands of the unemployed, they have risen to innovate ways and means of winning the proverbial bread: Jua Kali artisanship, innovative business ideas, running errands, creative use of talents and artistic abilities as well as technologies has resulted in a good number of Kenyans earning a living, albeit with great amount of struggles thanks to weak on inexistent support systems.
Since the end of single-party politics in Kenya, every general election has been accompanied by violence and wanton destruction of property and livelihood, a situation which has been attributed variously to political manipulation. Kenyans has indeed risen ultimately to dealing with this challenge and living together in harmony, only to be manipulated into anarchy once again when the next electioneering season begins. Even under these circumstances, like in the case of the Post Elections Violence in 2008, Kenyans have given out of their poverty to support the displaced; they gave food and clothes, opened their homes to host the displaced.
There are many more examples, from the humanitarian response to the bomb attack in Nairobi in 1998, the Nyamakima building collapse in 2006. Nakumatt and Sach Ang’wan fire disasters to the recent grenade attacks in our country. In all these cases, Kenyans showed unshaken resilience and diligence in assisting their follow citizens.
Unfortunately, this power of the Kenyan people is hardly appreciated. Those who know this power have chosen to manipulate it instead of harnessing it for the good of the land. It has been said, and it should be said again: the biggest and the ugliest spot in Kenya’s fabric is the stain of poor accountability in governance. The government is often a huge monster with enormous economic and political might, but lacking in a social agenda.
It does seem the governors of Kenya do not know exactly what to do for Kenyans, yet they have mastered the art of getting Kenyans to do things for them. Did it ever occur to Kenyans that the power that our political elite have is something they get from the citizens? They get the money and other forms of economic power from taxes; they get the political power from the votes; and they get a following and support – even sycophancy from the masses.
If they get all these from the people, how then can they be more powerful than the sources of their mandate, legitimacy and authority? Maybe that is where change must begin. Let the ‘owners’ of power and authority determine how it is used and by whom. Let the Kenyan citizens determine what their taxes are used for and what the political posts must achieve. Let the political master remove his royal robe and wear a garment of service. 
When a politician tells off religious leaders for condemning a rot that has pervaded the whole country, it is an indication of something having terribly gone wrong. Let the religious leaders do their best to sort out their challenges; but let them do it as the Heroes of Faith they truly are. For the restoration and the good of the nation however, do not wait to be righteous before you fight for righteousness.
The citizens of Kenya must heed the call to recognize that there are only two tribes in Kenya: the poor and the rich – to be precise those who are starving right now and those who are not. Justice and healing will come into this country only when the citizens harness their power and in unity participate actively in the process of restoration.
Do not wait to be righteous before you fight for righteousness. Wake up now!
Ends 
BY COMMUNICATION OFFICER IVY RONOH.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

AFRICA MUST ADOPT TO CHANGING CLIMATE OR PERISH

Increasingly people in countries such as Kenya are beginning to experience the effects of climate change at very basic level and in very significant ways: they lack food and water and other very basic needs have been compromised by what can be directly and indirectly attributed to the changing climate.
The climate scientists and panel of experts under the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will tell you that climate change is the long-term changes of the average weather pattern of a specific region as a result of rising temperatures, attributed to emission of Greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
To the Kenyan farmer and cattle keeper in Baringo climate change is the lack of rains, the dying of livestock and the drying of rivers and withering of crops. And this is how climate change must be defined in Kenya, of we stand a chance to categorically deal with it – it must be defined and described in livelihood terms rather than abstract scientific lingo.
Having defined the phenomenon in livelihood terms, we need to move further and find practical solution that will address the livelihood issues. The facts are clear about who has caused and is continuing to exacerbate climate change and global warming: the developed countries that emit tons of Greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in their bid to quench their greed for affluent lifestyles! And since we as Kenyans and people in developing countries did not because the mess in the first place, we need to demand that the rich industrialized countries take action to mitigate climate change by cutting their emissions.
But what can Kenyans do to save us from the imminent extinction. If you think I am exaggerating, imagine how bad it will be when it stops raining completely, lakes and rivers dry, crops fail, and people in their millions are unable to get food to eat or water to drink or any economic activity. You don’t even have to imagine – this is already happening to more than 10 million Kenyans!
The solution lies is adapting to the serious ‘new climatic conditions’. We either do this, or we face the fate of the dinosaur and the dodo! Those two species are no longer with us because they did not adapt to the changing world for whatever reasons.
Adapting in practical terms means farmers have to change their crops to those that can survive lack of rain and higher temperatures, other farmers have to practice inter cropping to try and meet their own food needs; irrigation and altering time for production. Rainwater harvesting, sand dams have to be new strategies to deal with the increasing water stress.
These adaptive strategies are useful, but insufficient because communities affected cannot afford them. Furthermore, our government and other institutions seem to be weak and ill prepared both in terms of capacity and funds to meet their adaptation needs of Kenyans. As such, for Kenya and other poor regions of the world to adapt to climate change, they must be supported by the countries that caused climate change. Our government on the other hand must proactively begin to ‘climate-proof’ our planning and put on some climate lenses as it plans and implements development programmes.
The Bali action plan envisions action on adaptation as an integral part of a post Kyoto deal.  There must be a vision to develop coherency in adaptation action under the UNFCCC, which includes identifying adequate and predictable funding mechanisms that can be operationalised effectively and rapidly. But most importantly; it must reach the poor and vulnerable so that they are guaranteed a future. 
The best way for Kenya to adapt to climate change is development. Does the much popularized Vision 2030 have plans for dealing with climate change? Did our fiscal budget in June reflect the need to adapt to the changing climate? It would be a terrible thing if as Kenyans we bury our collective heads in the sand and hope that climate change is a myth that will go away.
At the political level, Kenya as a signatory of the climate convention must play its role as the leader of this region, to present a very strong position at the 19th Conference of Parties (COP 19)  Such a position must demand for a fair and equitable deal, and prioritize adaptation needs developing countries as well as demand for deeper cuts of emissions by the rich industrialized countries.

BY IVY  RONOH

Friday, September 14, 2012

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

ICT for democracy and freedom of expression

Published: Monday, September 10, 2012
Changed: Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Sida invites civic organisations and other relevant actors to apply for funding for initiatives where ICT is being used to support democracy and freedom of expression.
The specific objective of this call is to provide support to initiatives and activities in which the Internet and new technologies are used to strengthen actors who work for democratisation and freedom of expression, mainly in challenging and repressive environments.
This call for proposals refers to the Swedish Special Initiative for Democratisation and Freedom of Expression, to be implemented by Sida during the period 2012–2014.
Only Full Project Applications should be submitted for evaluation. Applicants must use the Full Application Form  and its annexes 1, 2, 3 and  . Also, it is most important to read the guidelines carefully, where information about how to submit the application is described in detail. (See green boxes to the right for all related documents).
Deadline for submission of applications is October 18, 2012.
Only applications for projects to be implemented starting year 2012 or 2013 and ending no later than 31 December 2014 will be considered.
Questions not answereddemocracy@sida.se after having read the guidelines  can be sent to democracy@sida.se.
Posted By  Ann Bulimu

Grand Prize Awards

OVERVIEW

Teams entering the 2013 Dell Social Innovation Challenge (“DSIC”) Grand Prize Awards will need to be able to prove that their projects offer positive social impacts significant enough to advance them to compete at Finalist Week in Austin, Texas USA in May 2013, where they will show the world their  innovation and represent their country/region on the world stage.
If you choose to compete in this Competition, then you agree that your participation is subject to the following:
  • DSIC Grand Prize Award Rules and Regulations
  • The DSIC Official Rules
If there are any inconsistencies between the DSIC Official Rules, the DSIC Terms of Use, the DSIC Code of Conduct and/or these Competition Details, the DSIC Official Rules will govern.

PRIZES

Our Grand Prize Awards are chosen by judges, offering five cash prizes totaling $105,000.
Five Finalists will be flown to Austin, Texas, for a Finalists Week full of networking and mentoring with social innovation leaders. They’ll pitch live in front of our judges for these Grand Prize Awards:
  •  $50,000 Grand Prize
  •  $20,000 Second Prize
  •  $10,000 Third Prize
Two Expertise Award winners (selected by judges) will also attend Finalists Weekend:
  • $15,000 Tomberg Prize in Environmental Sustainability
  • $10,000 Best Innovation Leveraging Technology presented by Dell
200+ Semi-Finalists (selected by judges) will receive:
  • 1:1 Mentoring from DSIC-Certified Mentor to refine their project page and required Finals  materials (video pitch and project roadmap)

START AND END DATES

This competition ends at 23:59 GMT on May 14, 2013 (“Entry Period”).
The Entry Period consists of three (3) separate Rounds as described below. Each round has unique entry requirements. All required entry deliverables must be received within the designated Round in order for your entry to be eligible for judging.

ROUND

START DATE


END DATE

(all times 23:59 GMT)
Entry Round – Project Page
OPEN
January 28, 2013
Semi-Final Round
(Video Pitch + Project Roadmap)
February 18, 2013
March 18, 2013
Final Round
(In-Person Pitch at Finalists Week)
April 8, 2013
May 14, 2013

ENTRY ELIGIBILITY

You are eligible to enter this Competition if you meet the Eligibility Requirements set forth in the “Eligibility Criteria” section of the DSIC Official Competition Rules.
Additionally, in order to be eligible to compete in the Grand Prize Awards, you and all of your Team members must be registered as Competitors by completing profiles on DellChallenge.org and complete your Project Page by the closing date of the Entry Round.

HOW TO ENTER

If you wish to enter this Competition, you must sign up as instructed during the Competition sign up period. The Competition sign up period's closing date of the Entry Round is on January 28, 2013. Each Grand Prize Award competitor, no matter which country/region they reside in, must submit the required Entry Round Requirements at DellChallenge.org.
Additionally, all competitors advancing to compete in the Semi-Final Round must submit the required Semi-Final Round Entry Requirements at DellChallenge.org to be able to be considered a Grand Prize Award Semi-Finalist. Exceptions to this rule will not be made.
A Team may consist of as many eligible students as competitors determine are needed for a successful project. Your Team does not need to consist of members who are legal residents of the same country/region, or students at the same academic institution. To qualify as a valid Team member, each individual must register and form or join a Team no later than the closing date of the Semi-Final Round. We will not accept changes to a Team beyond this date.
For additional important details regarding signing up for a competition, please see the requirements set forth in the “Team v. Individual Competitions” section of the DSIC Official Rules.

ENTRY MATERIALS

During each designated round, your Team must submit the Entry Materials described below. The details of the specific submission components are defined below. Important: for the Semi-Finals and Finals, once you sign up as part of a Team, you cannot change Teams, add Team members or yourself to a Team, or otherwise remove yourself or anyone else from your Team after the closing date of Round 1.

Entry Round – Project Page

To have an eligible Entry Round entry, you or your Team must submit the following entry material by the closing date of Round 1:
One (1) Project Page
You or your Team must create a Project Page at DellChallenge.org and complete all required fields by the closing date of the Entry Round.

Semi-Final Round

To have an eligible Semi-Final Round entry, you or your Team must submit the following entry material(s) by the closing date of the Semi-Final Round:
1. One (1) Video Pitch
This video must be no longer than two (2) minutes and length and be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo and then embedded on your Project Page by the closing date of the Semi-Final Round. It must be in a file format supported by YouTube or Vimeo as outlined be each organization's website.
2. One (1) Project Roadmap
The Road Map for Success is a tool to help teams refine their projects and to help judges score their projects once submitted. It includes a checklist of 10 basic elements every team or individual can address to improve their project’s probability of success. DSIC judges will review each Semi-Finalist’s Road Maps to assess project capacity and readiness to advance to the Final Round of the Grand Prize Awards.

Final Round

To be eligible to compete in Round 3, you or your Team must have advanced to the Final Round via the Semi-Finals. The Final Round will be a live presentation round at the Finalist Week in Austin, Texas USA. If your Team advances to compete at Finalist Week, your Team must fulfill the competition requirement described below:
Live Presentations: Live presentations of your Team’s innovation to a panel of international judges, along with a question-and-answer period per presentation.
If your Team advances to compete at Finalist Weekend, instructions regarding the Finals competition experience will be provided your Team via e-mail.
Posted By
Ann Bulimu