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Current AffairsCzech Republic launches campaign to ship drinking water to Liberia
After Charles Taylor, accused of gun-running, war crimes and leading an
army of child soldiers, was forced to resign as president of Liberia last
year, the world media paid little attention to the West African country.
Its citizens have yet to recover from years of civil war, social unrest,
and poverty. A Prague-based organisation now hopes to come to their aid.
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MailboxMailbox
Topics discussed in this week's Mailbox: speed limits in the Czech Republic
and Czech charitable organisations active abroad. We quote from letters
from Ashik Eqbal Tokon from Bangladesh, Mick Horsefield from England and
Muhammad Shamim from India.
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Current AffairsCzech civic organisation BERKAT awarded Prix Irene 2004 for their help to Chechens
"We condemn terrorism in all forms including the monstrosity we
witnessed in Beslan. The world has found itself in a situation where it is
very difficult to answer the question why something like that has happened
and who could have even thought of it in the first place." This is
only a short extract from the reaction to the recent tragedy in the
Russian town of Beslan by Berkat, a Czech organisation which was on Friday
awarded the Irene Prix 2004.
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Current AffairsCzech NGOs active in Beslan
Following the tragedy in Beslan, where more than 300 people died in a
school that had been occupied by terrorists, the Czech Foreign Minister
Cyril Svoboda met the Russian ambassador to Prague, Alexey Fedotov this
week. He reiterated the Czech Republic's offer to provide rehabilitation
stays for the Russian children in this country, complete with
post-traumatic counselling and care. The largest Czech health insurance
company has already begun setting up stays by the sea for 180 children
from Beslan. More
Current AffairsNew book in aid of UNICEF projects
A new book called "Can You Hear Us?" is about to hit book shelves
in the Czech Republic. Its author Pavla Gomba, head of the Czech branch of
UNICEF, has lent her voice to those who have trouble making themselves
heard: victims of famine, AIDS and poverty in Africa and Asia. In the book
Mrs. Gomba tells the life stories of 3 people whom she encountered during
her working visits to this part of the world. It is a book that portrays
not only the suffering but also the hope and courage of those for whom
life is a daily fight for survival. At the book launch last week I asked
Mrs. Gomba what led her to write it:
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Current AffairsCzech foreign development aid improving but could be more effective
As the Czech Republic gears up for EU accession, there has been much
discussion in the media regarding the structural funds the country hopes
to receive from the European Union. As a result, many people might be
surprised to learn that the Czech Republic is also itself an active donor
of foreign aid for less developed countries. This week, the Czech
Association for International Affairs held a public discussion in Prague
on whether this development aid has been effective.
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Current AffairsCzech Humanist Movement boasts with long-distance adoption programme
Many of you, especially our listeners in Africa and Asia, have most
probably heard of the international Humanist Movement. Its aim is to bring
together people from all corners of the earth and of different ages,
nationalities, culture, and religion to make the world a more humane place
to live in. The Czech branch has been active for about a decade,
increasing contributions to world peace as the years go by. Its most
popular activities are currently in West Africa. Dita Asiedu spoke to Tana
Bednarova, a volunteer who has just returned from Guinea-Conacry. Dita
started off by asking her how the Czech branch of the Humanist Movement
has been involved in Africa:
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Current AffairsPeople in Need Foundation runs humanitarian aid programmes in Afghanistan
The recent shooting incident at the Czech military field hospital in Basra,
Iraq, attracted media attention again to the Czech humanitarian mission in
that particular country. But Czech humanitarian workers are also helping to
restore civilian infrastructure in other areas of conflict around the
world - places which over the past months have been somewhat overshadowed
by the events in Iraq. Since November 2001, the People in Need Foundation
(Clovek v tisni) has been running a humanitarian mission in Afghanistan.
Pavla Horakova contacted the People in Need's office in the Afghan city of
Mazar-e Sharif over satellite phone and spoke to humanitarian worker
Pavel Vesely about the current activities of the Czech mission.
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WitnessCzech rescue worker in Algiers
The earthquake which hit northern Algiers in May of this year killed over
1,000 people and injured over 7,000. The Czech Republic was one of many
states which sent a rescue team to the site of the disaster. Pavel Peceny
recalls how they arrived in a town close to Bumirdis, near the epicenter
of the quake, 28 hours after the tragedy struck.
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Talking PointCzech humanitarian aid to Iraq
As the war in Iraq continues, there are growing concerns over the
humanitarian consequences. Public opinion about the war remains deeply
divided here in the Czech Republic, but there is consensus over the need
to help alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people once the conflict
ends. In a more or less symbolic gesture, the government has offered
humanitarian assistance in the form of tents and blankets to Turkey in the
event of a refugee crisis. The Czech Republic is not part of the US-led
coalition that is invading Iraq and the government has stressed that the
presence of Czech anti-chemical-weapon troops in Kuwait is itself part of
the humanitarian rather than the military operation - dealing with the
consequences of a possible chemical or biological weapons attack.
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