Category: Uncategorized
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Cultural Fund Aims to Support Arts Sector in Malawi
In June, Hivos Southern Africa in partnership with the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Malawi launched the Cultural Fund of Malawi (CFM) aimed at contributing to a dynamic, free and diverse cultural sector for improved living standards, economic growth and poverty reduction in Malawi. The CFM, which has a total budget of Euro 481,313, will run…
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Sex Rights Africa Network Joins #90DaysofCONSENT Campaign
The high age of consent on average 16-18 years for adolescents and youth to access sexual reproductive health services (SRHS) has proven a barrier to timely interventions in countries across Sub- Saharan Africa. Although a high age of consent is meant to protect adolescents, the data and evidence shows that vulnerability of adolescents and youth to…
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ZEIC Project Seeks to Enhance Electoral Process in Zambia
The Zambia Elections Information Centre (ZEIC), a project co-funded by Hivos Southern Africa and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), has been monitoring the electoral process in Zambia. The overall goal of the project is to facilitate effective information management for a credible, peaceful, free and fair 2016 general election in Zambia, taking place…
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A lab for social change in Latin America
What happens when people from the private sector, academia, journalism and activism join forces to pitch ideas for solving a social problem? Although we cannot claim that they always find an answer, what we do know is that these encounters, called “civic laboratories”, address a collective need to change society for the better. This month,…
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New measurement tool to quantify health hazards of cooking with firewood
Household air pollution caused by using firewood and charcoal for cooking is a silent but pervasive killer. Inhaling harmful particles causes premature deaths and serious illnesses, such as lung cancer and child pneumonia. The WHO estimates that this results in 4.3 million premature deaths annually, mainly in low and middle-income countries. Now, thanks to a…
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Citizen Participation Lacking in Budgeting Processes
A new study by the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) reveals a lack of citizen participation in the budgeting process by the Bulawayo City Council. The study, “A Social Surgery of the Budget Making Process at Local Government Level: Bulawayo City Council in Perspective,” shows that citizens are not involved in the stages of budget…
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Hivos, Norway Launch Malawi Cultural Fund
Hivos Southern Africa has partnered with the Embassy of Norway to launch the Cultural Fund of Malawi aimed at stimulating the arts and culture sector in Malawi. The launch of the Euro 481,313 cultural fund, which has already attracted many actors in Malawi’s cultural sector, marks the beginning of a new era in the funding…
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Hivos Southern Africa Conducts MFS Reflection Event
Hivos Southern Africa recently conducted a one day workshop to reflect and learn from five years of implementing the second phase of the Dutch government funded co-financing system known as “Medefinancieringsstelsel”, or ‘MFS’, between 2011-2015. Twenty Alliances of Dutch co-funding agencies (CFAs) were awarded €1.9 billion by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (NL MoFA)…
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Citizen Media Clubs Empowering Rural Communities
A Hivos Southern Africa-supported citizen media project run by Plumtree Development Trust (PDT) is empowering communities in rural Plumtree to set their own development agendas and influence positive change concerning issues of community interest. Anchored on citizen journalism, citizen media clubs, off-air radio and Bulk SmS platforms, the innovative project has empowered 20 wards from…
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New ways to protect the world’s most valuable ecosystem
From 2010 to 2015, Hivos was involved in CoCooN (Conflict and Cooperation over Natural Resources in Developing Countries), a WOTRO-financed programme dedicated to finding new ways to end the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. CoCoon brought together scientists, indigenous leaders and environmental activists from several Amazonian countries to conduct research. Participants investigated the legal possibilities…
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Bridges regional campaigns for migrant domestic workers
On June 16, International Domestic Worker’s Day, Hivos is focussing attention on the range of abuses domestic workers from Southeast Asia face in the Gulf Region every day: non-payment of salaries, forced confinement, food deprivation, excessive workloads, and instances of severe psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. Especially now in the month of Ramadan, their working…
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Royal Quinoa: Unique and Sustainable
Walking into a room in Uyuni Bolivia and not feeling cold is an unusual experience. With an average June temperature below zero degrees Celsius, the air feels chilly even at massive events. Nevertheless, this 2nd of June, during the forum “Royal Quinoa: Towards a Participative Agenda in Bolivia”, a wave of warmth spread throughout the…
