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	Kenyan citizens file complaint against World Bank for its funding of for-profit schools by Sylvain Aubry Global Initiative for Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, agencies   Apr. 2018   Today, the Kenyan-based organisation East African Centre for Human Rights (EACHRights) and eight Kenyan citizens submitted a complaint to the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) via its Compliance Advisor Ombudsman regarding its investments in Bridge International Academies’ operations in Kenya. The complainants demand that the IFC take action to stop the harm caused by the multinational chain of low-cost primary schools.   The complaint comes following repeated efforts to raise concerns about investments in Bridge International Academies. In a press release published today, Linda Oduor-Noah, from EACHRights, stated: “EACHRights and other civil society organisations have met the World Bank and IFC team several times to raise issues regarding Bridge’s operations. To-date, no adequate steps have been taken to address the very concerning practices we have documented. The lack of accountability and transparency in this process, as well as lack of urgency in addressing these ongoing grave problems raises concerns about the IFC’s due diligence with respect to its investments. How can an institution like the Wold Bank, through the IFC, fund illegal private schools that make profit off poor parents?”   The complaint alleges that Bridge, in particular in Kenya, is committing serious violation of international and national law, and that the IFC’s investment is in breach of its own internal investment guidelines – called Performance Standards – related to labour rights, health and safety, and compliance with national laws. The violations of these standards are considered by the complainants to be inherent to Bridge International Academies’ model and incompatible with any IFC investment. The complainants demand that the IFC withdraw its investment and take measures to avoid future similar investments.   In solidarity with the complainants, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Oxfam International, and RESULTS Educational Fund welcome the submission of this complaint as it comes after several attempts by local and international organisations to raise the issue with the IFC. Since 2015 several meetings with World Bank staff were organised, and three joint statements have been sent to the World Bank and other investors in Bridge. The latest letter was sent on 1st March 2018, and in its response, the IFC President declined to take any immediate action.   This is despite the World Bank having been provided with a large amount of cross-checked independent evidence demonstrating, among other grave concerns, that Bridge lacks transparency and attempts to silence critics, has discriminatory impacts, appears to rely on exploitive labour practices, and violates educational, health and safety standards. Bridge International Academies operates 405 schools in Kenya, the first one since 2009, but only a few are legally registered.   Investors have a legal obligation to not violate human rights in their investments. As the complaint to the IFC process proceeds, local and international organisations will continue to support EACHRights and affected right-holders to address the ongoing concerns about Bridge International Academies’ operations.   Mar. 2018   In an open letter published today, 88 civil society organisations have urged investors to cease their support for the multi-national for-profit chain of private schools Bridge International Academies (BIA), which runs over 500 schools in Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, and India.   Feb. 2018   Following the decision of the Government of Uganda to close Bridge International Academies in in the country, after 18 months of investigation and court battles, civil society organizations call on the US-based company to comply with the Government decision and stop undermining the right to education.   In a press release dated 6 February 2018, the Government of Uganda reiterated that Bridge schools “will not be permitted to open/operate this school year (2018). Bridge International Academies, a for-profit company which operates 63 schools in Uganda, had reopened on Monday, at the beginning of the academic year in the country. This was despite a letter of 29th January from the Government of Uganda warning the company that its schools would not be allowed to operate, and a November 2016 court order authorizing the closure of the schools and that Bridge did not appeal.   The schools are being closed for failing to meet the standards regarding the “safety and security of pupils”, to meet the requirements for licensing and failing to submit full documentation for licensing. This Government decision confirms the long-standing independent analysis of researchers, journalists, UN bodies, the African Union, and civil society organisations that has shown that Bridge Academies operate in violation of fundamental laws protecting children and the right to education in Uganda, as well as in Kenya.   http://globalinitiative-escr.org/complaint-against-world-bank-filed/ http://globalinitiative-escr.org/open-letter-88-organisations-urge-investors-to-cease-support-for-bridge-international-academies/ http://globalinitiative-escr.org/bia-non-compliance/ http://globalinitiative-escr.org/advocacy/privatization-in-education-research-initiative/ http://globalinitiative-escr.org/advocacy/privatization-in-education-research-initiative/commercial-schools-and-the-right-to-education/ http://www.actionaid.org/news/bridge-international-academies-must-respect-right-education-and-comply-ugandan-government-order
	''We were anticipated to be a dying race'' by BBC News, National Indigenous Times Australia   Mar. 2018 (BBC News)   Last Tuesday, US magazine National Geographic apologised for what it called decades of past racist coverage.   Among some examples, editor Susan Goldberg cited a photo caption from 1916 that left her "speechless".   Beneath photos of Aboriginal Australians, it read: "South Australian Blackfellows: These savages rank lowest in intelligence of all human beings."   Such a statement reflected entrenched views of the era, indigenous Australian leaders told the BBC this week.   "This was a time when our people were denied access to lands, denied culture, language and were anticipated to be a dying race," said Romlie Mokak, head of the national Lowitja Institute for indigenous health research.   "So the language is not surprising at all - it is completely within the context of that period, as wrong as it is."   Rampant discrimination and denial of rights existed: Aboriginal Australians could not vote until 1962, and they were not counted in the national Census until after 1967. An infamous assimilation policy of removing children from their families persisted until 1970, creating what is now known as the Stolen Generations.   "For us as a nation, 1916 was not very long ago," said Rod Little, co-chair of National Congress of Australia''s First Peoples.   "It''s just unbelievable that people could treat other human beings like that - this indoctrinated belief of one race being superior to another."   The National Geographic example reflected a prevailing ideology, according to Karen Mundine, director of Reconciliation Australia.   "We were seen as somehow less than human, or at least less than European people," she said.   She welcomed the magazine''s acknowledgement of its past wrongdoing, and the role it had had in reinforcing prejudice.   "It''s positive that National Geographic has recognised there are problems with their previous depictions, and they are starting to address how they''ve spoken about people of colour," she said.   While emphasising a clear distinction between the language of past and present eras, the leaders agreed that forms of racism persisted in contemporary media reporting and political discourse.   "It has been so wrong for such a long time that there are still elements of that racism which are very strong in our society," Mr Little said.   He cited recent attempts by conservative legislators to water down racial discrimination laws as an example. According to Mr Little, mainstream media can also paint a simplistic picture of Australia - one that sometimes ignores the hardships of minorities, or sensationalises their difference.   The government''s annual Closing the Gap report has found that indigenous Australians continue to experience greater inequality than non-indigenous Australians.   A 2016 survey by Reconciliation Australia found that more than a third of Australians said their main source of information about indigenous peoples came from the media.   However, according to Ms Mundine, public discussion about disadvantage often lacks sufficient complexity and context.   "There is still a particular tone within reporting, particularly news reporting, that is constantly gauged in the language of disadvantage," Ms Mundine said.   Mr Mokak said Aboriginal Australians continue to be "framed, judged and defined by others" with a main media narrative that revolves around "the five Ds: disparity, deprivation, disadvantage, dysfunction and difference".   "We''re always seen as over-represented on some things like the incarceration rate, or being behind in others like life expectancy and education," he said.   Ms Mundine says the blanket negative coverage can have a disempowering effect.   "If someone constantly tells you that you''re to die of diabetes and health problems, or that you''re ugly, then at some point it''s on your own psyche," she said. "And then you might think, why try? What''s the point of coming up against barrier after barrier?"   She added: "If we think back to what was happening in 1916, opinions have definitely changed, perceptions and attitudes have changed, but we definitely can do more and better."   Mar. 2018   Reconciliation in Australia has become a meaningless term, says respected Yawuru man Peter Yu. (National Indigenous Times)   Mr Yu, from Broome in Western Australia’s Kimberley, told a capacity audience at the Australian National University that reconciliation had become part of Australia’s “lazy dialogue”. Mr Yu was delivering the 2018 ANU Reconciliation Lecture.   “I believe the once laudable concept of a reconciliation whose initial objective was to heal the wounds of our nation’s historic injustices and include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in a modern Australia under the terms of an agreed political settlement no longer exists,” Mr Yu said. “Reconciliation has lost its moral and political gravitas''.   “While I know and believe sections of the general community remain committed to the concept and aspiration of reconciliation, it has become a nebulous and meaningless term and used by anyone as a throwaway concept to apply their interpretation about the relationship between Indigenous people and the Australian State.   “It has become part of Australia’s lazy dialogue concerning Indigenous people dominated by symbolism which has little connection with the realities of people’s lives.”   Mr Yu said he found the first few weeks of the year unsettling as Australia lunged from Australia Day to the anniversary of Prime Minister Rudd’s historic apology to the Stolen Generations through to the annual tabling of the Closing the Gap report in Federal Parliament.   “Throw in recognition of Indigenous people in the Constitution and the potential severing of constitutional links to the British Monarch and what we have in this country is a facile dialogue of disconnected symbols which are supposed to define Australian nationhood,” he said.   “Juxtaposed with the focus on symbolism and rhetoric about doing better to close the gap is the unacceptable reality of increasing imprisonment rates, appalling health outcomes, homelessness and overcrowded houses, family and community violence concerning Indigenous people.   “The list of benchmarks which describes the crisis confronting many Indigenous people, particularly in remote Australia, is depressingly familiar.”   Mr Yu said governments had normalised what should be unacceptable. He said only Indigenous people could close the gap, but it would mean changing the relationship Australia has with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.   Mr Yu said a political settlement to Indigenous constitutional recognition should be tied to a future, independent Australian Republic.   He said the current national Constitution did not enshrine the principles of equality of citizenship.   “I am an optimist by nature and I know Australia is a better nation than the political system that represents us,” he said.   “The failure of successive national governments and parliaments to forge pathways to recognise Indigenous peoples in the nation’s constitution is a failure of Australia’s body politic.   “Constitutional recognition should not be viewed as another contentious issue, accompanied by political cajoling and manoeuvring, to be ticked along the linear trajectory of Australian nation-building.   “It should be understood as fundamental to our moral and ethical national character.”   * Mr Yu is a board Member of the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance Ltd: http://nit.com.au/know-australia-better-nation/   * Guardian Australia: Deaths Inside - An examination of Indigenous deaths in custody over the last 10 years, based on 463 coronial reports:   http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/deaths-inside http://bit.ly/2LvFbIC http://ab.co/2PkUupA Visit the related web page
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