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Issue No. 91 – February 2009
In this issue:
• Message from Hans Blix, President
• Who's Who at the UN
• What's Happening at the UN
• UN Partnerships in Action: The Three Tiers
• WFUNA Highlights
• WFUNA-youth News
• Model UN News
• Making Commitments Matter Highlights
• Millennium Project Highlights
• UNA of the month: UNA-USA
Topic people are talking about:
• Overview
• UN Perspectives: Roland Rich
• UNAs and Democracy
• NGOs on the Move
• Book Recommendations
• Film Recommendations
 “Participatory democracy is recognized by practically all as the best political system even though it is obviously not practiced by all”
Excerpt from the statement delivered by Hans Blix at the Danish Institute for International Studies, 17 November 2008
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 Ambassador Sylvie Lucas of Luxembourg was elected as the 65th President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council making her the second woman to lead the UN’s principal organ responsible for coordinating work in these critical fields.
Ms. Lucas will be assisted by four Vice-Presidents who were also elected at the same time:
 Carmen Maria Gallardo Hernandez of El Salvador,
Tiina Intelmann of Estonia, 
 Hamidon Ali of Malaysia
 and Somduth Soborun of Mauritius.
This is the first time in the history of the 54- member Council that its Bureau will be led by three women Ambassadors.
 Ms. Karin Landgren of Sweden and Joseph Mutaboba of Rwanda are being appointed as the top UN envoys to Nepal and Guinea-Bissau, respectively.
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Conference on Disarmament, first part
21 January – 28 March, Geneva
Commission for Social Development, forty-seventh session
4-13 February, New York
Committee against Torture, Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, seventh session
9-13 February, Geneva
Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, pre-sessional working group for the forty-fifth session
9-13 February, Geneva
Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, seventy-fourth session
16 February-6 March, Geneva
Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization
17-25 February, New York
World Day of Social Justice
20 February
International Mother Language Day
21 February
Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
23-27 February, Geneva
Commission on the Status of Women, fifty-third session
2-13 March, New York
International Women's Day
8 March
Committee for Development Policy, eleventh session
9-13 March, New York
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
21 March
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Global Leaders against Nuclear Weapons
 Global Zero is a new initiative launched in Paris in December 2008 by 100 political, military, business, faith and civic leaders from across political lines. It is in response to the growing chorus of world leaders calling for the elimination of all nuclear weapons, including Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama. Global Zero will support these leaders in this endeavor by combining high-level policy work with global public outreach to achieve a comprehensive agreement to eliminate all nuclear weapons worldwide through phased and verified reductions. Global Zero is committed to building broad-based public support for this through worldwide media, online communications and grassroots organizing. A Global Zero World Summit is planned for early 2010.
www.globalzero.org
Video Contest on Peace
 The Peace Support Network is sponsoring a YouTube video contest. Create a short film based on the theme, "Create Peace". Show us your creativity and you could be given the grand prize of $1000 or three runner-up prizes. All ages, school classrooms, not-for-profit groups, as well as individuals are urged to participate!
http://celebratingpeace.org/videos.cfm
United Nations Conference on the Global Financial and Economic Crisis and its impacts on Development, 26 - 29 May 2009 UN, New York.
 On 28 January a draft resolution was issued by the President of the General Assembly, setting out the arrangements for the Conference on the Global Financial and Economic Crisis and its impacts on Development. This conference was envisaged in the Declaration of the Doha conference on Financing for Development (paragraph 79). It will be convened from 26 - 29 May 2009, at UN Headquarters in NY. During the conference, four interactive multi-stakeholder round tables will be organized. Civil society organizations accredited to the Doha Conference will be invited. www.un.org/ga/president/63/letters/ffd28109.pdf
The April meeting of ECOSOC and the Bretton Woods Institutions will provide recommendations on the preparatory process of the Conference. A website has been set-up by NGLS to enable interested organizations and the public at large to register their opinions and recommendations. To follow up that consultation, a thematic dialogue will be held from 25 to 27 March. www.un-ngls.org/cfr
Civil Society at the Commission on Social Development
 The Commission on Social Development’s 47th session on the priority theme of “Social Integration” is currently in progress at UN Headquarters in New York. A civil society forum, “Social Integration: Building a Society for All” took place on 3 February, one day before the opening of the Commission. Read the outcome of the forum, presented as a declaration, here: www.un.org/esa/socdev/csd/2009_csf.html
Briefing: “Policy responses to unfettered finance”
In the context of the current crises, the North-South Institute has initiated a project to develop policy responses beneficial to developing countries and focused on the reform of the financial sector. Over the course of the next year the project will include three high-level expert workshops:
1. On Systemic Policy and Institutional Reforms: February 12th and 13th, 2009 at Columbia University (New York City)
2. On New Actors, and the Global Financial Crisis and Trade Linkages: June/July, 2009, Geneva, Switzerland (details to be confirmed)
3. On Financial Innovations, Regulatory and Policy Challenges: in the first quarter of 2010, in New Delhi, India (tentative)
South-South Cooperation
 The UN and member states are recommending that mechanisms be set-up to facilitate North-South, North-North, and South-South dialogues. One example is South Centre, a south intergovernmental policy think-tank: www.southcentre.org. Another is the e-Intellectual Network for the South (INSouth), which provides several interactive services including a network of eminent intellectuals, exhaustive Google-map embedded list of intergovernmental organizations and think-tanks, a history of South-South cooperation since 1940 to the present, new initiatives, commentaries and publications emerging from the global South. www.insouth.org
WFUNA Human Rights Website
Take a look at WFUNA’s new human rights website at www.humanrightsnexus.org
Available in all six UN languages, this website is intended to facilitate access to educational materials on human rights, enhance interaction and information sharing between UNAs, and support closer engagement of UNAs with the work of the UN Human Rights Council and human rights treaty bodies. The website is sponsored by the Russian Friends of WFUNA and UNA-Russia.
View the side events calendar for the upcoming Commission on the Status of Women at: www.ngocsw.org/en/events/csw53/parallel-events
”Protecting Human Rights: The United Nations – Our Schools”
The Committee for Teaching About the UN (CTAUN) brought teachers from different elementary and high schools in USA to a conference at the UN on 30 January. WFUNA was represented by Omar Hernandez from Venezuela. Speakers included Mr. Craig Mokhiber, from the Office of the high Commissioner for human rights in New York and Mr. William Pace from the World Federalists. There were statements from the recipients of the “Best Practices Awards” (on teaching about the UN) and there was a live video-conference with teachers and students in Canada, Cameroon and Pakistan. A highlight of the day was the announcement of the Department of Public information’s initiative “UN Academic Impact”.
Human Rights Education
The NGO Working Group on Human Rights Education and Learning of the Conference of NGOs will hold a series of parallel events on Human Rights Education during the 10th session of the Human Rights Council (02/03/09 to 27/03/09). For more information email rosemin@wfuna.org
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The 196th WFUNA Executive Committee meeting will be hosted by UNA-Canada in Ottawa from 5-7 March 2008.
The WFUNA Secretary-General sent out a notice to all UNAs about the preparations for the 39th Plenary Assembly that will be hosted by UNA-ROK, in Seoul, Republic of Korea from 9 – 12 August 2009. Information about the Plenary Assembly and hotel/ hostel recommendations are available in the members section of the WFUNA website. The deadline for submission to the Secretary-General of amendments to the WFUNA Constitution is 9 February, and the deadline for submission of applications/nominations for the position of WFUNA Secretary-General is 2 March.
The report of the European UNA meeting held from 4-5 December 2008 is available: click here>>
In March, UNA-Venezuela is organizing three events: a conference on Human Rights and Citizenship, a conference on World Citizenship and Peace Culture, and a forum on Environmental Degradation. In addition, UNA-Venezuela is going to participate in the Committee of Regional Coordination of the Interamerican Platform of Human Rights, Democracy and Development (The UNA is currently in charge of the Technical Secretariat for this platform).
On 28 November 2008 UNA-Cyprus organized a special event in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights and Human Rights Day. Dr. Christos A. Theodoulou, President of UNA-Cyprus, and Mr. Petros Clerides, Attorney-General of the Republic of Cyprus, spoke about the significance of the protection of human rights and of the anniversary. After the speeches, the Cyprus State Orchestra gave a concert, which was greatly appreciated and applauded by the audience in the Strovolos Municipal Theatre, which was packed by diplomats, officials, members of the UNA-Cyprus and others.
 UNA-USA joined a group of organizations related to human rights and the UN, in encouraging the new Obama administration to re-establish the United States as a “leader on human rights in the international community”. Read the letter sent to the new US President prior to Inauguration Day: click here>>
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 The Coordinating Committee of WFUNA-youth is organizing several training sessions and other activities for 2009, including two MDG Project Workshops. Recently, the Coordinating Committee issued a call to collect information on the UN Youth Delegate Program in different countries. This information will be useful to provide guidelines for countries where it still hasn’t been established, and the possibility to share best practices and strengthen the existing network. If you wish to contact the Coordinating Committee, please write to: coordinating.committee@gmail.com
 UNYA-Australia recently organized the Australian Schools National Model Security Council Competition. Over a 1000 teams competed across the country and 15 teams were in Sydney to debate a range of resolutions around the theme: Universal Rights - Global Responsibilities. UNYA-Australia celebrated Human Rights Day on 10 December by coordinating 'Write4Rights' - a project that encouraged young people across Australia to send their thoughts about the 60th Anniversary of the UDHR by text message. The messages were displayed in the Great Hall of Sydney University and can now be viewed at: www.unya.asn.au
In 2009, UNYA-Australia is planning to participate in the National Consultation on Human Rights, and facilitating youth forums on the topic. It will continue to foster the Youth Delegate program by reaching out to remote areas and disadvantaged youth. It plans to hold a National Youth Conference on Multilateralism: Working Together to Solve Problems in July in Brisbane. UNYA-Australia will be sending a delegation to the Harvard Model UN, and visiting the WFUNA New York office in mid-February.
The Third Edition of UNYA-Australia’s journal, Perspective, was published:
www.unya.asn.au/expression/perspective/
 UNYA-Azerbaijan has recently contributed to raising awareness on World AIDS Day in a very simple and easy-to-implement way. On the eve of World AIDS Day, UNYA-Azerbaijan, in partnership with Y-Peer Azerbaijan, held two movie screenings of "Transit", the first ever MTV-produced full length feature film on the global struggle against the spread of HIV/AIDS. UNYA-Azerbaijan presented to the 40 participants the recently launched www.4uth.az website developed within the UNFPA "Reproductive Health Initiative for Youth in South Caucasus" project. The event was featured in the national Azerbaijani ECHO newspaper:
www.echo-az.com/kultura03.shtml
On the occasion of the World Day of Tolerance, UNYA- Bulgaria organized the photo exhibition “Look at the Tolerance!” in the Ministry of Foreign affairs of Bulgaria. For 2009, UNYA-Bulgaria is planning an open discussion entitled “Hate speech and discrimination”, and 3 National Model UN conferences. The Youth Delegate Program is in its preparation phase and it is due to start in March with a promotional tour and the selection of delegates. UNYA Bulgaria is planning to host UNYA Netherland as a follow-up project to their cooperation in 2008, and to plan more joint activities.
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First Global Model UN under UN Auspices will be on the MDGs
The UN Department of Public Information, in partnership with WFUNA, is organizing the first annual Global Model UN (GMUN) conference at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, from 5 – 7 August 2009. Held for the first time under UN auspices, the theme for this University-level Model UN conference will be “The Millennium Developments Goals -- Lifting the bottom billion out of poverty”. GMUN is inviting the most outstanding delegates from Model UN conferences around the world, as selected by their peers – it aims to be the first truly global Model UN. www.un.org/gmun
There is now a call for applications for General Assembly positions, more information is available at www.un.org/gmun/applications.html . Please distribute the information below to your Model UN network and interested individuals.
2009 WFUNA Model UN Schedule
5-8 March
The UNA-Serbia will hold its sixth Belgrade International Model UN (BIMUN) in Belgrade with University students. For more details, go to: www.unaserbia.rs
3-4 April
The UNA-USA will hold his 4th annual Middle School Model UN conference in NYC. Topics to be discussed include freshwater resources, trafficking of wild animals, access to education, and food security and distribution.
13-17 April
The UNA-Russia will hold the Moscow International Model UN conference at MGIMO-University both in Russian and English.
22-24 April (the dates could change)
The UNA-Finland will hold its National Model UN conferences with lower and upper secondary level students.
29 April – 2 May
The UNA-Spain will hold the 4th International Model United Nations of Catalonia in Barcelona.
5-8 May
The UNA-Ivory Coast (ANU-CI) will hold the West African UNAs summit for the Millennium Development Goals.
14-16 May
The UNA-USA will hold his 10th annual Model UN conference in New York. The conference will have over 2,300 students and 18 committees, covering diverse and pressing international issues such as separatist state movements, the economic effects of HIV/AIDS, micro-loans, biofuels, and the situation in Myanmar.
2-6 August
The UNYSA-Austria (United Nations Youth and Student Association of Austria) and the Academic Forum for Foreign Affairs will hold the Vienna International Model United Nations (VIMUN) with students and young graduates from all education levels from 18 to 35 years. For more details go to: www.vimun.at
Please send information about your UNAs upcoming Model UN conferences for inclusion in our Model UN calendar to stendahl@wfuna.org
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 Therese Stendahl is the new Model UN coordinator in the New York office. She is from Sweden where she got a Bachelor in Political Science and this fall she will begin to study in the Master Programme in Global Studies. She likes to visit new countries, go to concerts and meet new people. stendahl@wfuna.org
 Omar Hernández from Venezuela is the Human Rights Coordinator in the New York office. He has a Bachelors in International Studies and has a graduate-level diploma in Freedom of Expression. Besides being Counselor of UNA-Venezuela, Omar is Professor of International Public Law and Human Rights at the Andrés Bello Catholic University and researcher on counter-terrorism and human rights. He speaks Spanish, English and French. ohernandez@wfuna.org
 Roberto Gonzalez from Spain, the new Communications Assistant in the New York office, studied Journalism in Madrid and Paris, and is specialized in corporate communications. Prior to his internship, he worked for the media in Spain and in communications in France.
Gonzalez@wfuna.org
 Maria Joy Rosemin, a new Human Rights Coordinator in the Geneva office, recently graduated from the University of London in European Studies in Italian. She is half French, half British but has lived in Spain most of her life. She speak fluent Spanish, French, English and Italian, and is in the process of learning Portuguese. Just before starting her internship in Geneva, she was interning at the UNWTO in Madrid. Next year she would like to do a Masters in International Affairs. rosemin@wfuna.org
 Daniela Rivadeneira from Ecuador, a new Membership Coordinator in the Geneva office, has been living in France since she was 18. She is a student of Foreign Languages, and specialised in International Business at the University of Savoie, France. Prior to her internship, she worked as a Spanish teacher at the International School at Saint Germain en Laye, Paris. She enjoys sports like basketball and jogging. Next year she will begin a Master in Intercultural Negotiation at the University of Savoie. rivadeneira@wfuna.org
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 The MCM initiative is preparing its next international meeting, to be held in Budapest, Hungary, in early March. The meeting aims to develop an initial visualization of the database that the Initiative has set out to develop. Based on preliminary research on malaria, the members will now start to create different samples for a database skeleton, using the concrete research outcomes. In addition, efforts are being made in fundraising. In addition, MCM is currently developing a new web appearance, introducing a new corporate design identity and new introduction texts. The website is planned to go live in March under the domain www.un-informed.org. Until then, information on the project is still available under www.makingcommitmentsmatter.org
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 The Millennium Project’s Global Millennium Prize Award Ceremony will take place on 20 February 2009 at the National Anthropology Museum in Mexico City. The Global Millennium Project was created to stimulate futures prospective awareness among youth around the world to imagine new alternatives for addressing the 15 Global Challenges from the 2007 State of the Future; and hence, help achieve the 8 UN Millennium Development Goals;
Jerome Glenn gave a briefing on the 2008 State of the Future to ECOSOC for about 100 people. The session covered accelerating rates and complexity of change, methods to improve the UN's global strategic processes with Member States and UN organizations, new institutional concepts like "transinstitutions" to help address the Millennium Development Goals, how advances in ubiquitous computing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and cognitive science are changing our policy options, and updates on 15 Global Challenges.
The Rockefeller Foundation (one of the Millennium Project's sponsors) would like to know how the financial crisis will affect foreign aid in developing countries over the short term and longer term in general and in different sectors (agriculture, healthcare, education, and housing). You can share your views and discuss this issue by first joining the Millennium Project public listserv by sending a message to mp_public-on@mppublic.talklist.com with no subject and only the following in the message: SUBSCRIBE your e-mail your name and then add you comments.
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 For more than six decades UNA-USA has worked to improve understanding among Americans about the United Nations’ goals and initiatives. Fostering direct interaction between US citizens and the UN, UNA-USA helps people have a direct impact in their local community, their country and around the globe.
President Obama and his top officials have pledged to strengthen America’s global leadership through a renewed emphasis on international cooperation, diplomacy, and active participation at the United Nations. UNA-USA set up a online platform to show the new President that Americans support his efforts to strengthen American leadership in the world and at the United Nations by giving the possibility to the public to edit and send letters to President Obama through their website.
To read the entire article, click here>>
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On the first International Day of Democracy, 15 September 2008, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his statement to the General Assembly that support of democracy is a central mission of the UN because “the experience has taught us, time and again, that democracy is essential to achieving our fundamental goals of peace, human rights and development”.
The UN Charter is an elaborate manifestation of the common will and mission of “We the Peoples”. The underlying principle of democracy is at work in any effort made for human development – whether it is human rights, gender equality, universal education, or mediation for peace, eradication of poverty and diseases, promotion of e-Governance, or even environmental protection. All these processes lead, directly or indirectly, to a more equal and more responsible process of decision-making on political, economic and social issues.
The UN’s democratization efforts are needed more than ever these days. According to the 2008 State of the Future Report: 36% of the world’s population in 43 countries lives in an authoritarian regime; by mid-2008 there were 14 wars around the world, only one fewer than in 2007; 46 countries were identified to be at high risk of armed conflict; and 37 countries struggled with food shortages - to mention just a few of the “undemocratic” issues of our time. People who are lucky enough to not be facing any of these calamities, are nevertheless likely to be affected by the global financial crisis. That too, curtails democracy and it did so long before it came to the surface. Responsible citizenship and responsible governance seems to be overdue in so many areas of human existence.
To read the entire article, click here>>
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 Mr. Roland Rich is the Executive Head of the UN Democracy Fund (UNDEF - www.un.org/democracyfund ). He brings to the job over 30 years of experience as a diplomat, a scholar and a democracy promotion practitioner. Prior to his appointment to UNDEF, Mr. Rich was a member of the directing staff at the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies of the Australian Defence College. In 2005 Mr. Rich was a research Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington DC. Between 1998 and 2005, Mr. Rich was the Foundation Director of the Centre for Democratic Institutions at the Australian National University during which time he published the book (with Ted Newman) entitled The UN Role in Promoting Democracy: Between Ideals and Reality with UNU Press. About his current appointment, Mr. Rich said “having worked with the UN and written about the UN, I thought it was about time to roll up my sleeves and work for the UN”.
1) As the first substantive head of UNDEF, what have been the biggest challenges you have faced?
UNDEF got off to a great start under its interim Head Mr. Magdy Martinez-Soliman. When I arrived in 2007 the main challenges were to give UNDEF a sharper focus and to establish a more systematic methodology. The UN already works very closely with the governments of its Member States so it seemed clear that UNDEF, as a new actor, should try to complement this role by focusing its efforts on strengthening civil society.
To read the entire interview, click here>>
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UNA-DRC has been actively involved in the democratic issues of the country, for example it conducts seminars in local communities regarding tolerance and reconciliation, consulted with the national media to provide information on the importance of free and open elections, prepared dialogue and advocacy kits which were used as part of the reconciliation and non-violent mediation sessions that were held following the election, and trained regional election observers on the ethics and behavior required of monitors.
UNA-Australia runs campaign on refugees and asylum seekers, many of whom are political victims of authoritarian governments. UNAA has been working with other NGOs to uphold the rights of these people. UNAA has gathered evidence of abuses of human rights, presented them to UNHCR and to the Australian Government. UNAA members have assisted detainees and refugees practically.
The UNA-IRAN, in cooperation with the Organization for Defending Victims of Violence, held a two-day workshop entitled, "Fair Trial - the Role of the Prosecutor in Fair Trial" which took place 23 - 24 November 2008. The objective of the workshop was to establish a definition of fair trial in Iranian and European laws, and international law, make a comparison of national laws with international law and to make a comparative review of the fair trial process in the justice system in Iran and a number of European countries.
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 Conectas Human Rights is an international NGO with the mission of strengthening the individual and collective impact of human rights activists and scholars working throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia by forging connections among them and increasing their interaction with the United Nations’ international human rights system. Through its Global South Program, Conectas builds the capacity of local and regional human rights advocates, shares knowledge among and between academics and practitioners, promotes alliances and south-south cooperation, and equips human rights activists to interact with the UN. www.conectas.org/en
 The International Centre for Democratic Transition based in Budapest, Hungary collects the experiences of recent democratic transitions and shares them with those who are determined to follow that same path. Instead of promoting democracy in general, the ICDT sets pragmatic goals. The Centre strives to show how dozens of young democracies have made, and are making, the transition, so that those who set off on this difficult journey from dictatorship to democracy in the future may learn from the successes as well as from the failures. www.icdt.hu
 The International Peacebuilding Alliance, Interpeace, is a Geneva-based international non-governmental organization that works with local partners in divided societies to build lasting peace. Interpeace and its partners promote national dialogue by bringing together key actors across a broad cross section of society to analyze their country’s problems, find home-grown solutions, and define a common vision for long-term development. The Democracy Fund supports current efforts of Interpeace to foster dialogue and reconciliation in Guinea-Bissau and Rwanda. www.interpeace.org
 IDEA has a mandate to support sustainable democracy worldwide. IDEA operates at the interface between those who analyze and monitor trends in democracy and those who engage directly in political reform or act in support of democracy at home and abroad. IDEA works with both new and long-established democracies, helping to develop and strengthen the institutions and culture of democracy. IDEA is one of the "eminent partners" of the UN Democracy Fund, which is supporting IDEA's political and constitutional reform work in Chile and Bolivia. www.idea.int
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 The Global Commonwealth of Citizens
By. Prof. Daniele Archibugi, Princeton, 2009
Prof. Archibugi is one of the world's best-known thinkers on global governance and "cosmopolitan democracy." His book considers how democracy can be built - from the local to the global - in today's world. Archibugi argues for the "central importance of the United Nations" and sets out ways the UN can be strengthened and made more accountable. He tackles many interesting questions, such as self-determination, war, multilingualism, and humanitarian intervention.
 Electoral Assistance Implementation Guide
UN Development Programme, 2007
This publication provides the ‘how to’ fundamentals of planning and implementing electoral assistance using the concept of the electoral cycle, as well as specific guidance on project design, resources, partnerships, procurement, evaluation and other areas. Electoral assistance is about more than supporting an election event. Ideally, such support should be embedded in a democratic governance strategy and provided throughout the ‘electoral cycle’.
www.undp.org/governance/docs/UNDP-Electoral-Assistance-Implementation-Guide.pdf
 Building Party Systems in Developing Democracies
By Allen Hicken, Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2009
This book addresses the question of why a party system, with a modest number of nationally oriented political parties, emerges in some democracies but not others. The number of parties are the product of coordination between voters, candidates, and party leaders within local electoral districts and coordination among candidates and elites across districts. Candidates and voters can and do coordinate locally in response to electoral incentives, but coordination across districts, or aggregation, often fails in developing democracies. A key contribution of this book is the development and testing of a theory of aggregation incentives that focuses on the payoff to being a large party and the probability of capturing that payoff.
www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521885348
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 Hacking Democracy
HBO, 2007
The documentary Hacking Democracy highlights the political challenges of an increasingly “digitizing” age by looking at the controversial topic of computer voting. In addition to analyzing how computer-assisted voting has been problematic in some elections, the filmmakers follow activist Bev Harris as she attempts to make Diebold, a company that creates the voting machines, accountable for errors.
www.hackingdemocracy.com
The creators of Hacking Democracy just released a new film, Protecting Democracy.
Coming of Age Kenya
Ruby Kangethe, 2005
This coming of age story depicts three ages and stages of the democratization process in Kenya as seen through the eyes of a girl growing up. The Kenyatta era, a time of great optimism and post-independence euphoria is reflected in the innocence and naivety of the young girl. As Kenya enters its next era, of dictatorship under Daniel Arap Moi, the gloom of oppression and confusion is reflected by teenage turmoil, and finally, all grown up, we find ourselves in Kenya’s third stage of democracy under Mwai Kibaki and wondering if democracy, with all its free speech and openness can ever really come of age. To view the film, please visit, www.whydemocracy.net/film/27
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