As republics go, Kalakuta wasn’t very large. Only 100 or so people lived there. But the immensely popular musician Fela Anikulapo-Kuti had created this compound, in the Nigerian capital of Lagos, as a joyful and democratic space in an otherwise corrupt and dictatorial country. The sovereignty of Fela’s republic was always under threat. And even though the invaders threw his mother from the second floor on that day in 1977, and even though the soldiers cracked his skull, and even though the government jailed him for trying to defend himself, Fela continued to fight back. He used his Afrobeat music and biting lyrics as his weapon.

Police have long tried to shush and isolate potential activists, usually starting with a low-key warning, perhaps over a meal or a cup of tea. Now, the country’s troublemakers are openly blogging and tweeting their stories about “drinking tea” with the cops, allowing the targeted citizens to bond and diluting the intimidation they feel.

“The whole process is expected to be over by the end of March,” Denis Bikesha, an official at the gacaca department, told AFP.

The Legal Services Society has cut service areas, cut staff and in the very near future will close offices everywhere but in Vancouver. There has also been an attempt to shift the form of legal aid delivery from a lawyer model to a “self-help” model. The results of “self-help” are being felt in courtrooms across the province. They are being clogged with unrepresented litigants…

It’s time to get the public involved in a real and meaningful discussion about Legal Aid in our province – what the framework should be, what should be covered, who should deliver it and how it should be funded. Last spring, a group of justice system stakeholders passed a resolution (which was adopted by the British Columbia Branch) calling on the government to hold an inquiry into the state of Legal Aid in British Columbia…

We have begun discussions with other justice system stakeholders to establish a Public Forum on Legal Aid in British Columbia. While it is still in the planning stages, this Public Forum would travel the province and hear from members of the public and others who understand the problems of the current Legal Aid system.

Peacemakers Trust has received an invitation from The Sharing Way, a Canadian faith-based development agency, and its Rwandan partner, the Association des Églises Baptistes au Rwanda (AEBR), to work with them to develop a three year plan of action that responds to emerging needs and challenges in post-genocide Rwanda. The participatory planning process will involve consultation and planning meetings with a number of Rwandan church leaders from around Rwanda, including women and youth leaders.

You can become a partner in raising the costs of this initiative with a tax-deductable donation to Peacemakers Trust, a Canadian charity focused on conflict transformation and peacebuilding.

This initiative follows a 2008 visit to Rwanda by Catherine Morris, managing director of Peacemakers Trust. Her visits with local organizations and church leaders resulted in an invitation to return to Rwanda in 2010 to work with AEBR leaders to assist with planning of initiatives in conflict resolution, peace building and reconciliation. Catherine is currently working with Rwandan and Canadian partners to design a participatory planning process to take place in March, 2010. Catherine is working with Rev. Gato Munyamasoko, the Reconciliation and Peacebuilding Specialist for The Sharing Way in Rwanda, to co-facilitate AEBR’s planning process.

Other resources on Rwanda

>> RWANDA: links to organizations fostering conflict transformation and reconciliation in Rwanda
>> A Selected Bibliography: Peacebuilding and Reconciliation in Rwanda

• Peacemakers Trust: Current project with colleagues in Rwanda. http://bit.ly/dp43Zy less than a minute ago
• RT @womenadvocates Avega Agahozo is HELPING the women of RWANDA http://bit.ly/aD4kLl 2 minutes ago
• Rwanda’s ‘miracle’ of forgiveness http://bit.ly/9gupl2 2 days ago

In his message for the Day, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed that “the third Millennium Development Goal – to achieve gender equality and women’s empowerment – is central to all the rest. When women are denied the opportunity to better themselves and their societies, we all lose.

– Rosemary Brown, 1930-2003, Canadian politician

It is important on International Women’s Day we mark the progress made by so many women the world over.

Today provides an opportunity for all of us to celebrate the accomplishments of women, past and present, who fought for women’s rights, who pushed their way into old boys clubs to become members of government or doctors or astronauts.

Only Korea, Japan and Germany rank higher than Canada in paying men more than women. Canada is in fourth place along with the United Kingdom, according to Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development statistics.

In Canada, like most modern industrialized countries, there are many achievements to celebrate this past century, even as there is still much work to be done: Women can vote, they work outside the home, they wear what they want in public and they speak up with impunity about injustice and inequity, the universal goal that of rectifying the social, economic and sexual prejudices of the past.

The executive European Commission set out its plans to address the pay gap between men and women at a news conference to coincide with International Women’s Day, saying women were on average earning only 82 percent of male rates in the EU.

European Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship Commissioner Viviane Reding said the Commission would work with member states to raise awareness and did not rule out using legislative measures to promote wage equality.

With 51% of the electorate yet only 19% of MPs in the UK Parliament female, it seemed like a worthwhile exploration.

It is true, of course, that criticizing Israel does not make one an anti-Semite anymore than criticizing the government of France makes one anti-French. But it’s one thing to criticize France, and something else to declare the French nation illegitimate and to advocate its destruction…

The call follows the announcement last week by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen of the formation of 42 official partnerships between private businesses and Cambodian military units.

Many people are wondering why.

Numerous scientists have been interviewed in recent days laboring to explain “subduction zones” and “tectonic plates.” But in a commentary for CNN, Dr. Colin Stark of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University demonstrated he grasps another, more significant reason for the shocking number of deaths in Haiti.

“Poverty is what ultimately kills most people during an earthquake,” he writes. “Poverty means that little or no evaluation is made of seismic risk in constructing buildings and no zoning takes place. It means that building codes are not written, and even if they do exist they are difficult, or impossible, to enforce … Haiti is a tragic illustration of this.”