New Canadian NGO partnerships with the mining industry, Nomadic Massive in the DRC and a look a recent news

Canadian NGOs become partners with large mining corporations
Last week, the Canadian Minister for International Cooperation Bev Oda announced new partnerships between certain Canadian NGOs and mining companies. In an interview with Catherine Coumans of Mining Watch Canada Gwen Schulman and Roberto Nieto look at the implications of this new twist in foreign aid.

Hip-Hop in the DRC
Nantali Indongo, member of Montreal’s Nomadic Massive ensemble talks to Amandla’s Afrah Aden about her recent trip to the Democratic Republic of the Congo where she facilitated workshops looking at how Hip Hop is a great tool for social engagement. Nantali also talks about the constant challenges faced by the DRCs Hip Hop artists.

Doug’s view
Doug Miller comments on the Gay Pride Parade last weekend in Johannesburg and how its great success stood in marked contrast to the Victorian-age repression still on the books in most countries of Africa. Kaleidoscope, a new group formed in the UK with the support of all the 3 main political parties is dedicated to combatting homophobia in Africa and the Middle East. A look at a piece from the Guardian Weekly about how Kenya has made Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) illegal and a criticism of the energy that local homophobes put into denouncing and abusing the gay community versus to lack of interest in abolishing FGM.