position:assistant director

  • Lessons from Tanzania’s Historic Bid to Turn Refugees to Citizens

    Tanzania was lauded for offering citizenship to 200,000 Burundians, the largest-ever mass naturalization of refugees. But a political stalemate emerged between humanitarians and the government, leaving refugees stuck in the middle, explains researcher Amelia Kuch.

    During Europe’s so-called migrant crisis of 2015, the Tanzanian government gave over 200,000 Burundian refugees a choice between repatriation – returning to Burundi – and naturalization – obtaining Tanzanian citizenship.

    Given the choice, 79 percent of the refugees – 171,600 people – opted for Tanzanian citizenship. It is understood to be the first time in history any state has naturalized such a large group of refugees under the protection of the U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) in a single move.

    This group of refugees had fled Burundi following ethnic violence and killings in 1972 and now live in three rural settlements in Tanzania: Katumba, Mishamo and Ulyankulu. Since the 1970s, these settlements had transformed into towns: People made improvements to their homes, electricity poles were laid out and the local markets began to expand.

    Research has shown that access to citizenship is an important means of resolving long-term displacement. Yet in most countries, granting citizenship to refugees is still politically unthinkable.

    Tanzania has long been held up as a safe haven for refugees in the region, giving shelter to some 315,000 mainly Burundian and Congolese refugees. The naturalization of Burundian refugees was hailed as a model for progressive solutions to displacement. Yet it has led to a political stalemate between humanitarian organizations and the government, with the “refugees-turned-citizens” stuck in the middle.

    Last month, the Tanzanian government halted the naturalization of another group of more recently arrived Burundian refugees and has since pulled out of the U.N.’s Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework, citing lack of international funding.

    During my research in the former Burundian refugee camps in Western Tanzania since 2014, I have spoken with many former refugees about the naturalization process, as well as NGO employees and government officials.

    The difficulties in Tanzania are important to understanding the challenges of mass naturalization. It is not easy to turn a camp of refugees into a settlement of citizens. They also demonstrate how important it is for refugees to be able to hold both governments and humanitarian organizations accountable when things go wrong.
    A Progressive Solution is Born

    Negotiations around Tanzania’s naturalization policy began in 2007. They resulted in the Tanzania Comprehensive Solution Strategy (TANCOSS), which was adopted that year by the governments of Tanzania and Burundi in partnership with UNHCR. The agreement had three pillars: repatriation to Burundi, granting citizenship to those who opted to pursue naturalization and relocation of naturalized refugees from the settlements to other regions of Tanzania.

    Major investments were promised to facilitate the process. Some $103 million was earmarked for relocation and integration of naturalized refugees in the 2011-15 United Nations Development Assistant Plan (UNDAP).

    Eventually, the resettlement pillar was abandoned because of logistical problems and local resistance to resettling refugees. As a result, the new citizens were permitted to remain in the areas of the settlements in which they had lived for the past four decades. They can now vote in national elections and join political parties.

    “Obtaining citizenship and being allowed to stay here brought peace into my heart. Before I lived in fear,” said one former refugee named Daniel.
    Left in Limbo

    Yet the initial TANCOSS agreement did not include any detailed plans for the refugee settlements after the naturalization of their residents. As a consequence, today the area remains in a governance limbo.

    Every refugee camp had a settlement officer who represented the Ministry of Home Affairs and was responsible for governing the area. Settlement officers remain in power in all three settlements, and they continue to act as the highest authority and arbiters of conflicts.

    “Naturalization certificates are important because they allow us to move, but opening of this space is crucial and still needs to happen,” said one church leader in Ulyankulu, referring to the full integration of the settlements. “As long as we still have a settlement officer and a closed space, the process is not complete.”

    It remains unclear when and how a transition to local governance will take place and what rights to the land the new citizens have. The Tanzania Strategy for Local Integration Program for the New Citizens (TANSPLI), drafted in 2016, stipulates the creation of a master land use plan for the settlements and the surrounding areas, followed by the registration of villages in each settlement and provision of documentation for land rights.

    However, the timeline for implementation is unclear. It “hinges on the availability of funding for the planned development projects,” according to Suleiman Mziray, who is assistant director of refugee services at Ministry of Home Affairs.

    “People here don’t have ownership, you can be taken off your land at any time,” said one elderly man from Kaswa village in Ulyankulu settlement. “It’s like a marriage with no certificate.”
    Lack of Accountability

    Some of these challenges have led to a political stalemate between humanitarian organizations and the government, with each claiming the other has not kept its promises. Meanwhile, residents of the settlements suffer the consequences, as they wait for citizenship documents and investment in infrastructure like access to clean water.

    Due to major delays in the distribution of citizenship certificates by the government, international funding for the promised development projects was redirected to other emergencies. Some of the aid was initially meant for resettlement, so once the refugees were allowed to stay in the former camps, funds were reallocated. Now that they are no longer refugees but citizens, they fall into a responsibility gap. “We have done our part,” a UNHCR official told me on condition of anonymity.

    On the other side is the Tanzanian government: frustrated and disillusioned. They say they were promised that major investments will follow the distribution of citizenship but they never arrived. “We kept our part of the deal and distributed citizenship. But none of the promises materialized,” said an official at the Ministry of Home Affairs.

    The government says it does not intend to invest in the settlements for now, as they are still hoping that international funding might come through eventually.

    Earlier agreements left it ambiguous who would be responsible for implementing the administrative, developmental and social programs that were designed to turn former refugee settlements into properly integrated towns and villages. Without accountability mechanisms, it is hard for former refugees to hold humanitarian organizations or the government to their initial promises.
    Three Lessons from Tanzania

    Clearly, the design and implementation of the naturalization policy was far from perfect. The experience of Tanzania offers a few important lessons.

    First, if similar mass naturalization policies are to be implemented elsewhere, it is key that they are drafted as binding documents, where the parties dedicated to the process (both national governments and international organizations) can be held accountable if they do not deliver on the promises and commitments made within an agreed timeline.

    Second, such policies should be more carefully drafted, incorporating provisions on post-naturalization arrangements regarding local governance and land ownership.

    Finally, despite the pitfalls and unforeseen challenges, my interviews with former refugees shows that naturalization is very important to them. They are acutely aware that citizenship is not a panacea, but firmly maintain that access to legal status provides them with a sense of security and the right to remain in the country, allaying fears of forced repatriation and deportation.

    https://www.newsdeeply.com/refugees/community/2018/02/22/lessons-from-tanzanias-historic-bid-to-turn-refugees-to-citizens?platfor
    #naturalisation #citoyenneté #nationalité #modèle_tanzanien #Tanzanie #asile #migrations #réfugiés #réfugiés_burundais

    v. aussi le #modèle_ougandais qui donne un lopin de terre aux réfugiés

  • Taking Tiger Mountain (1983)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnBiGsbTiFI


    Trouvé par hasard :

    Militant feminist scientists brainwash research subject to assassinate the Welsh Minister of Prostitution. Meanwhile World War III is being fought and the USA has been invaded.

    C’est assez proche du niveau de folie qui règne dans la monde actuellement.

    Disponible aussi sur Vimeo

    https://vimeo.com/38704605

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086409
    Directed by Tom Huckabee, Kent Smith,

    Writing Credits (in alphabetical order)
    William S. Burroughs ... (story “Bladerunner”)
    Paul Cullum ... (writer)
    Tom Huckabee ... (writer)
    Kent Smith ... (writer)

    Cast (in credits order)
    Bill Paxton ...
    Billy Hampton
    Barry Wooller Barry Wooller
    David Guthrie David Guthrie
    Mrs. Davis Mrs. Davis
    Paul Paul
    Judy Church Judy Church
    Io. Church Io. Church
    Cosmo Meemo Chiefo Cosmo Meemo Chiefo
    Barbara Clifton Barbara Clifton
    Minnie Dimple Minnie Dimple
    Ernie Dimple Ernie Dimple
    Lou Montgomery Lou Montgomery
    June Allen June Allen ...
    (voice)
    Loren Bivens Loren Bivens ...
    (voice)

    Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
    Courtenay Anderson Courtenay Anderson ...
    Feminist scientist
    Margaret Nesbitt Margaret Nesbitt ...
    (voice)
    Scott Pitcock Scott Pitcock ...
    (voice)
    Sally Stevens ...
    (voice)
    B.J. Turner ...
    (voice)
    Kenneth Webster Kenneth Webster ...
    (voice)
    Sandra S. Wilkison Sandra S. Wilkison ...
    Feminist scientist
    Chris Winfield Chris Winfield ...
    (voice)
    Create a character page for:
    ?
    Produced by
    Cecil Craft ... producer
    Tom Huckabee ... producer
    John Paxton ... producer (as John Lane)
    Kent Smith ... producer
    Music by
    David Boone
    Radio Free Europe
    Randy Kelleher
    Cinematography by
    Kent Smith
    Film Editing by Tom Huckabee
    Production Design by Bill Paxton
    Second Unit Director or Assistant Director Lorie O’Shatz ... assistant director (as Lorraine Oshatz)
    Visual Effects by Larry Arpin ... optical effects
    Camera and Electrical Department
    Will van Overbeek ... still photographer
    Editorial Department
    Lorie O’Shatz ... associate editor (as Lorraine Oshatz)
    Other crew
    John Buttery ... photographic consultant
    Barbara Cohen ... caterer
    Ray Layton ... story consultant
    Lorie O’Shatz ... story consultant (as Lorraine Oshatz)
    Thomas Schatz ... story consultant (as Thomas G. Schatz)

    #film

  • TEAM WILD - Ô my broken heart - version 2012 ( Keep It Simple Stupid EP ) on Vimeo
    https://vimeo.com/98085610

    Director : Mathieu Drouet
    Video Editor : Matthieu Clement
    Stylism : Xavier Brisoux
    Assistant Director : Virginie Lefèvre
    Make up & Band Logo : Cerise Heurteur
    Band Management : Maxime Ternois - Ah Bon ? Productions
    Guitar Strap: House of Vice

    Production by Takeasip (takeasip.net) & Ah Bon ? Productions
    listen Team Wild here: teamwild.bandcamp.com

    © 2014 Mathieu Drouet - mathieu-drouet.com

  • The Ugly Revolution
    Michael Rogin
    http://www.lrb.co.uk/v23/n09/michael-rogin/the-ugly-revolution

    A falsification that held more universal sway among whites than did any Stalinist rewriting of history in the Soviet Union transformed black Americans in the post-bellum South from victims of re-subjugation into political and sexual predators.

    It is now a commonplace that, instead of protecting Southern civil rights workers, the FBI (with the collusion of the Kennedy brothers) conducted a campaign to discredit King. The organisation’s assistant director, William Sullivan, compiled from the Bureau’s wiretaps and bugs a tape of the noises of the civil rights leader’s extramarital activities. He sent it to King with a letter threatening to expose him; purporting to be a ‘Negro’, the letter-writer proposed suicide as King’s only way out.

    Elevating King to the pantheon of founding fathers, however, has served as a ritual of national self-congratulation that obliterates the radical movement in which King lived, breathed and died.

    (...)

    Ronald Reagan, who had opposed not only the civil rights movement but also the national legislation ending legal discrimination and guaranteeing the black right to vote, was the President who signed the Bill declaring King’s birthday a national holiday. There were two reasons for this historical irony. First, King was being celebrated as ‘poster boy’ (Dyson’s term) for the achievement of formal legal equality by those claiming that the struggle for racial justice had been won. Second, Reagan was paying back the debt he owed King, since the entry of racial conflict into national politics overthrew the FDR/Johnson New Deal coalition and put the former actor in the White House.

  • AARP and AARP Foundation Fraudulent Profile of Director Barbara O’Connor of California Emerging Technology Fund (TLR Note:AARP, CETF, McPeak, English, O’Connor, Lucas and others mislead by intentionally withholding O’Connor part of Lucas Public Affairs)

    AARP Home » Foundation » About Us »Barbara O’Connor
    Barbara O’Connor
    AARP Affiliated Foundation board member

    from: AARP Foundation | June 6, 2012

    Barbara O’Connor, Ph.D., of Sacramento, Calif., was elected to the AARP Board in 2010. She serves on the Audit and Finance Committee and is on the Insurance Trust.

    She is a former professor of communication studies and director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media, California State University, Sacramento. Previously, she was assistant director of debate, University of Southern California, a summer debate instructor, Georgetown University, and a design consultant, Cablevision Systems, New Jersey. She has been chairperson and founding board member of the Alliance for Public Technology; a board member and officer, California Emerging Technology Fund; a member of the Bellcore Advisory Board; and a member of the Federal Communication Commission’s Network Reliability Council. She chaired the California Educational Technology Commission, the California Public Broadcasting Commission, the CEO Task Force on Digital Literacy and the International Council on Information Communication Technology.

    Source: http://www.aarp.org/aarp-foundation/about-us/info-06-2012/barbara-oconnor-board-member.html

    AARP Leadership Profile:

    Life Perspectives

    "I grew up in West Texas, raised by a single mother. I was a first-generation college graduate. So I’ve lived through lots of what our members are living through.

    "Communications and politics have really been my longstanding interests, including technology access and equity, disabled rights, communication strategies and social movement building. I have a political background, and I started a public radio station in Sacramento and ran it for a while. We now have six radio stations there, the Capital Public Radio Network.

    "I have taught mostly technology policy and technology evolution — the hardware stuff. I also teach political communications and the impact of messaging on social movement formation.

    "I was fortunate enough to go to the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California, which is very geeky, so I was able to keep up with technology as it evolved. I chaired the California Public Broadcasting Commission, and I’m now an officer and director of the California Emerging Technology Fund.

    “AARP provides me an opportunity to do tele-health, to deal with issues of getting the 50-plus generation online. I get to help people who are unemployed at 50, using the Web. So being part of the AARP board is really a wonderful synergy of my interests and the organization’s interests….”

    "It’s getting more and more difficult to find a center in American politics. Part of it is the media’s fault. The news hole, in both broadcast and in print, has really been reduced. The downsizing and the mergers and acquisitions that have gone on in the media world have really done a disservice to public policy discussion. It’s made the media more event- and scandal-chasing — the lowest common denominator.

    "In political campaigns, it’s 30-second spots. So it’s no surprise that the public has fatigue about dealing with politicians. Every poll in America shows that they are held in very low esteem.

    "We can’t return to retail politics because we have the technology and everyone is used to using it. But longer formats, discussions, call-ins, coherent talk would be welcome. Certainly, AARP’s members would welcome that to address their concerns about big things such as Social Security.

    "AARP is nonpartisan, and ours is a trusted voice. We have to provide the voice of reason in these debates, so that it’s not a partisan political discussion, but really a rational, practical discussion.

    "People really do care about the issues that we work on. They’re central to their lives. We have to find a coherent solution to intractable problems.

    "We need to be very heavily data-driven. I think we do that, by the way. I think staff and our board are the best. And our volunteers are terrific. So I’m optimistic, actually.

    "A big part of our job as board members is to listen. You don’t let your own biases govern what you do. I have to listen to what the data says and to what members are telling me.

    “So if you’re data-driven and you really do listen to the members tell you what their issues are — and we have very good organs of information that help us with that, by the way, in the organization — then you can find consensus.”

    Expertise

    Politics, communications, debate, telecommunications policy, digital divide, senior health, tele-health, digital literacy, education technology.

    Education

    Ph.D., communications, University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communications; M.A., communications, California State University, Northridge; B.A., communications, California State University, Northridge; A.A., history, Los Angeles Valley College.

    Experience

    Currently, professor of communication and director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media, California State University, Sacramento. Previously, assistant director of debate, University of Southern California; summer debate instructor, Georgetown University; design consultant, Cablevision Systems, New Jersey.

    Volunteer experience

    Boards: Serves on AARP Board’s Audit and Finance Committee and the AARP Insurance Trust. Formerly, chairperson and founding board member, The Alliance for Public Technology; board member and officer, California Emerging Technology Fund; member, Bellcore Advisory Board.

    Other: Formerly, presidential debate judge, Washington Bureau, Associated Press; chair and commission member, California Public Broadcasting Commission (governor’s appointee); commission member, Federal Communication Commission, Network Reliability Council; chair, California Educational technology commission; chair, CEO Task Force on Digital Literacy; chair, International Council on Information Communication Technology; among many others.

    Honors

    Received a Lifetime Community Service Award, an outstanding teaching award, and the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Professor Award from California State University, Sacramento. Received a Technology Pioneer Award from the Alliance for Public Technology; a Technology Leadership Award from Computer Using Educators. Named among 50 for the Future by Newsweek magazine.

    Source: http://www.aarp.org/about-aarp/leadership/info-2010/barbara_oconnor.html

    –---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Lucas Public Affairs is a California-based strategic consulting, public relations, and communications firm. Located in Sacramento, C.A., Lucas Public Affairs was founded in 2006 by Donna Lucas, who is the firm’s CEO and President. The firm’s clients come from a myriad of industries including energy, sports and entertainment, transportation, natural resources, health care, business and finance, tourism and education.[2] The firm also offers services in the following practice areas: Strategic Communications, Crisis Communications, Issue & Reputation Management, Government Relations, Media, and Social Media

    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Public_Affairs

    –---------------------------------------------------------------------
    June 15, 2011
    Barbara O’Connor joins Lucas Public Affairs as senior counsel

    Barbara O’Connor, a longtime Sacramento college professor and expert in political communications, has joined Lucas Public Affairs, the firm announced today.

    O’Connor will provide strategic guidance for the Sacramento-based public relations firm, which serves clients in the fields of energy, sports, entertainment, insurance, local government, education, health care and other fields. Her title will be senior counsel.

    “Barbara’s ongoing relationships with the California press corps, academic community, and national and statewide opinion leaders and policymakers make her a major asset to our team,” said Donna Lucas, president and chief executive officer, in a written statement.

    O’Connor also released a statement, saying, “I’m excited about partnering with everyone at Lucas Public Affairs. The issues are interesting and challenging. I’m looking forward to adding to the mix. I know I’m going to learn a lot.”

    Source: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/06/barbara-oconnor-joins-lucas-pu.html

    –---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    SACRAMENTO, CA - Lucas Public Affairs, one of California’s top strategic communications firms, today announced the addition of Dr. Barbara O’Connor, Emeritus Professor at Sacramento State University, to its growing team.

    "Dr. O’Connor will be serving as senior counsel to the firm, offering her experience and expertise on some of the firm’s top clients.

    A nationally recognized expert in the field of political communications, Dr. O’Connor will provide strategic guidance on some of the most complex issues that Lucas Public Affairs’ clients face.

    “I am thrilled that Barbara is joining our team. She is results-based and has a respected reputation – qualities that make her a perfect addition to the firm,” said Donna Lucas, CEO and President of Lucas Public Affairs. “Her years of experience and knowledge of California and her continued role in providing strategic counsel to many national organizations and media outlets will be of tremendous value as we help our clients navigate through challenges and achieve their business goals.”

    O’Connor — formerly a professor at Sacramento State University and director of the university’s Institute for the Study of Politics and Media — has over 43 years of experience teaching and in research.

    Besides Sacramento State, she has taught at Georgetown and USC where she was the assistant director of debate. She currently sits on the National Board of the American Association of Retired Persons. O’Connor has previously served as a consultant to McClatchy Newspapers, the Boston Globe Media Properties, the Tribune Company, the Washington Bureau of the Associated Press, the California Legislature, the United States Congress and the Federal Communications Commission.

    “I’m excited about partnering with everyone at Lucas Public Affairs. The issues are interesting and challenging,” O’Connor said. “I’m looking forward to adding to the mix. I know I’m going to learn a lot.”

    “Barbara’s ongoing relationships with the California press corps, academic community and national and statewide opinion leaders and policymakers make her a major asset to our team,” said Lucas.

    Last year, the firm announced the promotions of Justin Knighten, Rachel Huberman and Annie Han and the addition of seasoned media strategist Beth Willon.

    Led by Lucas, founder of the firm and one of the nation’s foremost public affairs strategists, Lucas Public Affairs’ existing team includes: public affairs experts Julie Marengo, Senior Vice President, and Jessica Spitz Biller, Vice President—who together have a combined 30+ years of experience managing complex and multi-faceted communications programs for a host of clients and issues; Beth Willon, Senior Account Supervisor & Media Specialist; Justin Knighten, Account Executive; Emilie Cameron, Account Coordinator; Rachel Huberman, Account Coordinator; and Annie Han, Executive Assistant.

    Source: http://www.lucaspublicaffairs.com/lpa/index.cfm/news/dr-barbara-oe28099connor-joins-lucas-public-affairs

    Read more here: http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/06/barbara-oconnor-joins-lucas-pu.html#storylink=cpy

  • The Kingdom and the Towers | Politics | Vanity Fair
    http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/08/9-11-2011-201108

    Late on the night of the 13th, Prince Bandar’s assistant called the F.B.I.’s assistant director for counterterrorism, Dale Watson. He needed help, the assistant said, in getting bin Laden “family members” out of the country. Watson said Saudi officials should call the White House or the State Department. The request found its way to counterterrorism coordinator Richard Clarke, who has acknowledged that he gave the go-ahead for the flights. He has said he has “no recollection” of having cleared it with anyone more senior in the administration.

    An F.B.I. memo written two years after the exodus appears to acknowledge that some of the departing Saudis may have had information pertinent to the investigation. Asked on CNN the same year whether he could say unequivocally that no one on the evacuation flights had been involved in 9/11, Saudi Embassy information officer Nail al-Jubeir responded by saying he was sure of only two things, that “there is the existence of God, and then we will die at the end of the world. Everything else, we don’t know.”

    L’Arabie séoudite et le 11 septembre : en France, on a tellement appris à aboyer contre les complotistes et conspirationnistes de tous poils, qu’on est très surpris de lire un tel article dans Vanity Fair.