Thursday, September 25, 2014

OCTOBER 6th 2014

World Habitat Day: 6 Oct 2014

Land: The Key to Ending Poverty

Since 1986, when the United Nations established World Habitat Day to reflect on global housing conditions, Habitat for Humanity International has grown from 14 to more than 70 countries, built or repaired nearly 1 million houses and served more than 4 million people. While we celebrate that progress, we also recognize that one in three people in the world still lack adequate housing. Poor housing leads to poor health, poor education, lack of physical security and myriad other challenges. Extensive research supports what we at Habitat for Humanity have seen first-hand: improving housing breaks the cycle of poverty.

But “improving housing” involves more than building. It requires more than a sturdy roof to protect from rain or walls to shelter from sun and wind. It is more than a door that locks out potential danger or a solid floor to guard against disease. Better housing also requires something even more foundational: land.

A lack of access to land lies at the heart of poverty housing in four major ways: tenure, gender, slums and disaster resilience. In countries without a strong system of land documentation, hundreds of thousands of people live in fear of being evicted – tossed out of their homes with no legal remedy. Even where there is a system in place, laws and customs often fail to protect women or ensure that women have the education and resources needed to assert their rights. Further, as the world continues to urbanize, affordable space becomes increasingly scarce, forcing many individuals and families in cities to locate in slums. Finally, conflict and natural disasters displace millions of people every year, often leaving them without a clean, decent place to live.

Land issues create formidable obstacles to ending poverty housing. If we want to see a world without poverty, we must first create a world where everyone has a decent place to live. That is why we are grateful for the opportunity on this World Habitat Day to share with you that, in 2015, Habitat for Humanity will launch a global advocacy campaign to address these vital issues surrounding land. Seeing the connection between access to land and economic growth – both for individuals and countries – Habitat for Humanity will promote smart policies addressing land. For example, we will support sufficient legal and regulatory systems to address tenure in the wake of man-made and natural disasters, laws that end gender discrimination in land ownership, and efforts to address corruption around land issues.

Throughout 2015, the campaign will grow to include dozens of countries around the globe, and will provide opportunities for citizens of every nation to be involved. We look forward to removing unnecessary obstacles to adequate housing in the years ahead. And we invite you to join us in creating a world where everyone has a decent place to live.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

TRINIDAD and TOBAGO

Geography

Trinidad and Tobago lie in the Caribbean Sea off the northeast coast of Venezuela. Trinidad, the larger at 1,864 sq mi (4,828 sq km), is mainly flat and rolling, with mountains in the north that reach a height of 3,085 ft (940 m) at Mount Aripo. Tobago, at just 116 sq mi (300 sq km), is heavily forested with hardwood trees.

Government

Parliamentary democracy.

History

When Trinidad was explored by Columbus in 1498, it was inhabited by the Arawaks; Carib Indians inhabited Tobago. Trinidad remained in Spanish possession, despite raids by other European nations, until it was ceded to Britain in 1802. Tobago passed between Britain and France several times, but it was ultimately given to Britain in 1814. Slavery was abolished in 1834. Between 1845 and 1917, thousands of indentured workers were brought from India to work on sugarcane plantations. In 1889 Trinidad and Tobago were made a single colony.

Partial self-government was instituted in 1925, and from 1958 to 1962 the nation was part of the West Indies Federation. On Aug. 31, 1962, it gained independence and on Aug. 1, 1976, Trinidad and Tobago became a republic, remaining within the Commonwealth. While the country is a stable democracy and enjoys the highest living standards in the Caribbean thanks to oil revenue, tension between East Indians and blacks has underlined much of political life. In 1970 the tension was the underlying cause of riots, protests, and an army mutiny for the end of foreign influence over the economy. These events prompted a state of emergency which lasted for two years.

Eric Williams, “Father of the Nation” and leader of the People's National Movement (PNM), which is largely supported by blacks, governed from 1956 until his death in 1981. In Dec. 1986 the multiracial National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR), based in Tobago, won a parliamentary majority, promising to sell most state-owned companies, reorganize the civil service, and reduce dependence on oil.

In 1990, to protest the NAR government, some 100 radical black Muslims blew up the police station in an attempted coup, in which the prime minister and other officials were held hostage for six days. The NAR was defeated in 1991, and the PNM returned to power. In 1995, the East Indian–based party, the United National Congress (UNC), led by Basdeo Panday, formed a coalition government with the NAR. In 2000, Panday narrowly won another term.

In Dec. 2001 elections, the governing UNC Party and the PNM Party gained 18 seats each. The two parties agreed to allow President Robinson to select the prime minister to end the impasse. But when Robinson chose Patrick Manning of the PNM because of his “moral and spiritual values,” the opposition angrily called for new elections. In the Oct. 2002 elections, Manning's party declared victory. Maxwell Richards, a university dean, was selected president by parliament in 2003.

In April 2006, former prime minister Panday was sentenced to two years in prison for committing fraud in public office. Richards, running unopposed, was reelected in February 2008.