Archive for April 25th, 2005
Botswana Demonstrate Just How Democratic It Is
Botswana is generally considered one of the more democratic African nations. Now if you’re a generally democratic nation how do you go about demonstrating your devotion to democratic principles? Well, of course you try to deport a college professor critical of your country.
In February, Botswana President Festus Mogae declared University of Botswana lecturer Kenneth Good to be an “prohibited immigrant” and ordered him deported to his native Australia. Good is being allowed to remain in Botswana while he appeals the deportation order.
The irony here is what Good said that set Mogae off. Good gave a lecture in which he claimed that rather than being democratic, Botswana is run by a secret elite with a few people making all of the decisions. Specifically, he alleged that presidential succession in Botswana is managed by backdoor wheeling and dealing. Obviously having the president initiate a deportation order against Good really disproved that!
Good, for his part, has a habit of being booted out of African countries. According to Reuters, the minority white government of what was then called Rhodesia also deported him in 1973 after he criticized government policies.
Sources:
Prof. Good Allowed to Stay in Botswana Until Deportation Case is Discussed. Network for Education and Academic Rights, March 7, 2005.
Botswana lecturer wins reprieve. The BBC, February 28, 2005.
Tags: Botswana, Free Speech
UNICEF Report Says 211 Million Children Worldwide Work Full-Time
In February, UNICEF UK released a report on the current status of child labor across the globe. According to the UNICEF report, worldwide about 211 million children ages 5-14 work full-time. UNICEF estimates that 1 in 12 children work in an industry that is hazardous to their health.
Not surprisingly, the area with the highest rate of childhood labor is Africa, where 41 percent of children aged 5 to 14 work. That compares to just 21 percent of 5 to 14-year olds working in Asia and 17 percent in Latin America and the Caribbean. Due to the difference in total population however, 60 percent of all child laborers are working in Asia.
Worldwide UNICEF estimates that eight million children work in what the International Labor Organization terms “unconditional worst forms” of labor — six million bonded labor (essentially slaves); about 300,000 as soldiers in various armed conflicts around the world; and 1.8 million in the sex industry as prostitutes or the production of pornography.
Most child labor occurs in developing countries, but UNICEF estimates that about 2.4 million children 5 to 14-years old work full-time in the developed world. For example, in the United States anywhere between 300,000 to 800,000 children of Spanish-speaking immigrants are believed to work full-time in farm-related occupations. Similarly in Portugal UNICEF estimates that up to 47,000 school-aged children work full-time in industries such as shoe production rather than attend school.
Sources:
UN urges action on child labor. The BBC, February 21, 2005.
End Child Exploitation: Child Labour Today. (PDF) UNICEF, 2005.
Tags: Portugal, UNICEF, United States
Worldwide Demand Sends Iron Ore, Steel Prices Upward
Worldwide demand for steel is driving iron ore and steel prices to new heights.
China’s economic expansion, which has helped drive oil upward, has also put strains on worldwide supplies of iron ore and steel sending prices through the roof. According to the BBC, for example, the cost of steel jumped 8 percent in January 2005 alone and in China the price of steel jumped 24 percent in the same month.
The demand for steel has led iron ore producers to boost their prices. In February, for example, mining companies Rio Tinot and Cia. Vale Do Rio Dolce reached an agreement with Japanese steelmaker Nippon that raised the price Nippon paid for iron ore by 72 percent. Other iron ore producers are expected to seek similar increases.
Steelmakers, meanwhile, have to pass on those costs to someone and the result is companies looking to boost steel prices 20 to 30 percent, which in turn would cause a ripple effect of price increases in goods that use steel (and/or encourage exploration and use of steel alternatives).
Sources:
Ore costs hit global steel firms. The BBC, February 23, 2005.
European can makers fear knock-on effect of steel prices. FoodProductionDaily.Com, October 14, 2004.