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President Kikwete inaugurates UN-Habitat water project
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

17/01/2008
Muleba, Tanzania



President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania on Wednesday inaugurated a project to improve access to clean water for the residents of Muleba town, some 600 kiometers north east of Dar es Salaam.

President Kikwete was accompanied by senior government officials as he joined members of the public and a UN-HABITAT mission led by Mr. Bert Diphoorn, Acting Director of the Human Settlements and Finance Division in a colourful ceremony during which the President lauded the work of the agency in supporting his government’s efforts to improve access to clean drinking water for underserved communities.

“This intervention by UN-HABITAT is crucial as it will make clean water available to more residents of Muleba, and we want to thank them for their support. It is our aim to promote such partnerships as a way of supplementing our efforts in improving the provision of basic services,” the head of state said.

Noting that the UN-HABITAT project dovetails into the overall vision of the Tanzanian government to make portable water available within 400 meters of all households by 2017, the President reiterated his government’s commitment to the water and sanitation targets of the Millennium Development Goals.

“Our aim is to achieve this vision within the context of the Millennium Development Goals which we have committed ourselves to,” he said. Emphasising the need to ensure sustainability of the project through local ownership and accountability, President Kikwete appealed to local leaders and the beneficiary communities to be at the forefront of protecting the water facilities from vandalism and deterioration through neglect as they stand to be the losers if it failed.

“Regular maintenance is the only way the project can continue to benefit you. I believe that rehabilitation is deferred maintenance, so let us not wait for the project to deteriorate and then embark on costly rehabilitation as the funds used in such an endeavour could be used in starting other projects,” he said.

On behalf of UN-HABITAT, Bert Diphoorn revealed that following the success of the first phase, the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Initiative, currently being implemented in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, would soon embark on its second phase which is set to expand to include Rwanda and Burundi.

The inauguration of the water project was a fitting New Year present to the people of Muleba who have been suffering from a severe shortage of safe drinking water for a long time. Surveys carried out by UN-HABITAT showed that over 88 percent of the people in the town had no access to safe drinking water and that more than 50 percent of the town residents have been relying on water vendors who provide limited quantities of unsafe water at high cost.

The Nyamwala spring, which has been the main source of water for the town had deteriorated over time and the gravity pipeline from the spring to the town was in such poor condition that very little water was actually reaching the town.

It was in this situation that UN-HABITAT agreed with the Government of Tanzania to include Muleba as one of the six towns for the first phase of the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation Programme.

January 28, 2008 | 6:54 PM Comments  0 comments

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Echoing OSPP call
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic


I support your call as i did notice that most of the young people are very clever in accessing information but find it very difficult to share the information gaine dto their fellow peers for them to be the best always.

To be a good example could you suggest what initiatives we could discuss.

As for me i love talking about voluneerism especially among the young people. In your own words and experience could you tell me what volunteering meens and what it entails?


January 23, 2008 | 8:45 AM Comments  0 comments

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New housing for the vulnerable in Serbia
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

16/01/2008
Belgrade



It was a fitting New Year present for the residents of Pancevo in Serbia when UN-HABITAT through the Settlement and Integration of Refugees Programme (SIRP) unveiled a housing block of 76 units on Tuesday.

At the ceremony, the Vice Prime Minister of Serbia Bozidar Djelic together with the Ambassador of Italy Alessandro Merola officially opened the housing block. SIRP is delivering 670 sustainable housing solutions for refugees and other vulnerable groups and supports the development of national and local capacities in social housing and local development.

In his speech, Ambassador Merola announced the decision of the Government of Italy to further support a regional programme based on concepts developed through SIRP that are relevant for countries with economies in transition.

The Settlement and Integration of Refugees Programme (SIRP) is rooted in the 2001 pledge of the Government of Italy to support the sustainable settlement and integration of refugees and vulnerable households in Serbia.

The Government of Italy signed a Memorandum of Understanding with UN-HABITAT in September 2002 for the formulation and implementation of the fifteen million Euro project.

At central level, SIRP is executed in cooperation with the Ministry for Capital Investments while at local level it is implemented in seven Municipalities/Cities, jointly selected by the Governments of Serbia and Italy: Municipality of Èacak, City of Kragujevac, Municipality of Kraljevo, City of Niš, Municipality of Panèevo, Municipality of Stara Pazova, Municipality of Valjevo.

January 22, 2008 | 7:44 PM Comments  0 comments

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FACT WHY KBC IS NOT SHOWING CUP OF NATIONS............
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Multichoice Kenya is jointly owned by Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and Multichoice Africa.
This is a bid to drive kenyans to subscribe to DSTV due to the recent loss of revenue from the onslaught of GTV.

This info is freely available on the net and registrar of companies:
MultiChoice Kenya is a joint venture established in September 1995 between MultiChoice Africa and the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation. In 2004, MultiChoice Kenya improved customer service with new telephone and billing systems and the expansion of its agent and installer network to nine. These are linked to Nairobi via internet. In addition to serving as collection points for subscriptions, these agents are also MultiChoice accredited installers. The following DStv bouquets are offered from the following satellites: W4 - Ku Band: DStv Premium English, DStv Premium French, DStv French, DStv Indian; PAS 10 - C Band: DStv Premium English.


Again the national broadcaster seems to be serving a few business interest at the expense of kenyans...

UKWELI na HAKI

January 21, 2008 | 1:13 PM Comments  0 comments

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Press Conference by Young Kenyan Democrats
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Monday, 09 August 2004

On behalf of the Young Kenyans for the Restoration of Democracy, a movement bringing together several youth organizations including we would like to invite you to a press conference on the current political situation in Kenya.

A press conference will be held on 10th January 2008 at the Intercontinental Hotel, Samburu Room beginning 11a.m. by the Young Kenyans for the Restoration of Democracy. The issues to be addressed by representatives of the above organizations will include:

That the ongoing political impass and violence whose victims and perpetrators are mainly the youth is not a tribal issue but an issue of dishonest leaders who hide under the tribal cocoon. We urge the young Kenyans to dissociate from this culture and point the finger at the true culprits irrespective of their tribal or political party affiliation;
That the violence witnessed is an indicator of failed social institutions where the leaders have not addressed the huge disparities between the poor and the rich. The poor live in inhuman conditions such the Nairobi slums making them vulnerable to abuse by politicians;
The movement of Young Kenyans for the Restoration of Democracy has organized a series of activities aimed at uniting the youths in Kenya irrespective of their tribal or political grouping against violence, social injustice and dishonest leaders. These include healing, reconciliation and reconstruction initiatives such blood donation drive, mobilizing work camps for shelter reconstruction and launching of silent protests named ‘black Tuesday’ to be held next week on 15th Jan 08.

Members of the Young Kenyan Democratic Movement Include:

NEFPAK; YES Kenya;
Youth Agenda; Social Development Network;
National Convention Executive Convention (NCEC);
Egerton Youth for Peace Initiative;
Young Patriots for Change;Stay Alive Youth Support Group
African Youth Trust; Nairobi Young People for Peace;
DTA Youth Group; Taking IT Global; CLARION; CREAW;
PeaceNet Trust; Mars Group Kenya; Elimu Impact;
United Democrats; Nairobi Red Cross Branch;
Vijanaa for Peace Initiative; World Corps Kenya.