Arcadia Foundation

The Ugandan Government is to set up call centres across the country to employ over 3,000 youth. The call centre initiative is part of the Job Stimulus Programme that the Government designed to create jobs for the youth, mainly through the use of the growing computing and information technology (ICT) sector.

New Vision reports that Arcadia Foundation co-founder Betty Bigombe, the National Information Technology Authority chairperson, additionally noted that the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) programme had grown to phenomenal market levels estimated to be over $1.1 trillion per annum.

Under these initiatives, Ugandans will be in position to work for local and multi-national firms and organisations online, ICT minister Aggrey Awori said yesterday.

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We as an international community have a duty in newfound opportunity: we must pay close attention to the booms in present-day Zimbabwe in order for them to respectively blossom in to sustainable pillars of development. We must also accept and address certain realities hindering our ‘getting on-board’.

The Zimbabwean mining sector is expected to grow by 44 percent this year alone, buoyed by an increase in platinum, diamond, coal and ferrochrome output, according to a recent report by Frost & Sullivan.

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In conjunction with former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo’s arrest on Monday, the United Nations has launched an investigation into hundreds of reported human rights violations within the country under rule of the old regime.

According to M&C, The UN Security Council on Wednesday called for the new government of President Alassane Ouattara to investigate the killings of hundreds of people and human rights abuses committed by all sides in the recent conflict.

The council president, Colombia’s UN Ambassador Nestor Osorio, said following a session reviewing the situation in Ivory Coast that the parties must refrain from ‘reprisals, revenge and provocation’ and aim at national reconciliation.

Osorio said the council welcomed Ouattara’s commitment to investigate alleged human rights abuses on both sides of the conflict and ‘reaffirmed that those responsible for such abuses, regardless of their affiliations, must be held accountable.’ Read Full Paper

Justin Moro from Uganda New Vision reports that the Chief of Defence Forces,Gen. Aronda Nyakairima has commended the people of Northern Uganda, specifically Acholi, for cooperating with the army to uproot the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels from the region and restoring security. Nyakairima was in Lamogi on a visit coordinated by Betty Bigombe, Arcadia Foundation head and MP for the region.

He assured the Acholi that LRA leader Joseph Kony and his rebels will never come back to terrorise the people of the north.

Addressing the residents of Lamogi sub-county in Kilak county in Amuru district on Saturday, Nyakairima said: “I thank you the people of Acholi and the north for working with the army and the Government to remove Kony from the region. I want to assure you that Kony will never come back here.”
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In a bold yet controversial move, Kimberley Process Chairman Mathieu Yamba of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has authorized Zimbabwe to resume exports of its rough diamonds, including back stock, IDEX Online reports.

In a recent letter to Kimberley Process members, Yamba said that all unresolved issues surrounding Zimbabwe’s diamonds (which unfortunately are many) would be addressed at a Working Group on Monitoring meeting scheduled to take place this November.

Yamba also wrote that any decision by the Kimberley Process to stop a country’s diamond exports must be subject to a “more credible mechanism that includes verification of allegations and due process.”

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Arcadia Foundation founder and former chief negotiator between the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels and the government, Betty Bigombe, has been named one of 100 most inspiring people globally.

The Ugandan Daily Monitor reports that Ms Bigombe was recognised by Women Deliver, a global advocacy organisation working to improve the lives and health of women. Together with 99 other people, Ms Bigombe’s recognition is part of celebrations to mark the 100th anniversary of the International Women’s Day.

Other prominent people on the list are Hillary Clinton, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Laura Bush and Wangari Maathai. According to a statement from Women Deliver, the 100 people recognised are those who have delivered for girls and women globally.

“This list recognises women and men, both prominent and lesser known, who have committed themselves to improving the lives of girls and women around the world,” the statement reads.

Honorees are derived from the fields of health, human rights, politics, economics, education, journalism, and philanthropy, and represent a great diversity of geographic and cultural backgrounds.

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We at the Arcadia Foundation wish Co-Founder Betty Bigombe the best  in her elections today for MP of the Amaru District, Uganda.

Betty has run a campaign based on the pillars of good governance; infrastructural progression, healthcare, education and empowerment have been critical facets of her platform and what she looks to further instill in Ugandans domestically and around the world.

Good luck Betty!

Amnesty International and a conglomeration of human rights activists have stated that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union have betrayed the people of Zimbabwe by ignoring human rights abuses by President Robert Mugabe’s supporters while paying lip service to implementation of political reforms.

Amnesty International Africa director Erwin van der Borght said the current violence and human rights violations in Zimbabwe are a direct result of the weak oversight mechanism put in place by SADC and the AU, the guarantors to the agreement that led to the setting up of the unity government.

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Xinhua reports that the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) office cautioned the Ugandan media on Wednesday to avoid inciting the public during the general elections slated to begin on February 18th.

Birgit Gerstenberg, UNHCHR representative in Uganda, told reporters here that although the media should fully exercise the right of freedom of expression, it should rightfully exercise it responsibly following the ethical and normative limits that accompany it.

There is a fine line between expression and incitement that the Ugandan media has to diligently walk; we understand the importance of the era of information but one must consider the ethical obligation as paramount when the beacon of political instability first shines.

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Amidst rampant protests over the weekend crying out for freedom in the heart of Egypt, European editorial writers were in full agreement today: time is beginning to run out for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The sun rises in Tunisia without ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and Egypt will function without Mubarak, Hungary’s Magyar Nemzet comments. The daily also takes a closer look at possible successors. “The Muslim Brotherhood would love to take over from the worn-out dictator, but it looks like they aren’t in this game. Should Mubarak have to resign, [Mohamed] ElBaradei is a much more likely successor.” The next Egyptian leader, the paper concludes, would then have to organize democratic elections and use democratic means to weaken the Islamist opposition.

But, as Poland’s Gazeta Wyborcza points out, he who controls the secret services and the army is in power in the Arab world – and in Egypt, that is still Mubarak. Appointing intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as vice president was a smart move to secure the military’s loyalty, the Polish paper writes: “The military can save Mubarak’s neck in return for allowing one of [their own] to take power.”

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