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oezcerkesm | Reporter's Log

Will there be a democracy in Uganda?

This week there are national elections in Uganda. Many people I asked about the elections told me that democracy does not work in Uganda. "What we need is a new strong dictator", a woman told me. "The people just make the wrong decisions, they don´t know what is good for the country". I travelled to the countryside near the border to the Congo. Many people in Uganda live in small villages like the one you see in the video above. Many of them are disappointed – they don't have jobs. For the past two years there has also been an extreme drought. The crime rate is rising fast. The people that I asked in the villages hope for a law-and-order president. Many say that Som daid Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator from the 1970s was not so bad. Having the freedom and democracy movements in northern Africa in mind I was kind of shocked and surprised. Are the people expecting demonstrations and riots during the election week? 'Yes', many said. Because they are quite sure that the results of the elections are going to be rigged. I'm wondering: What do they want? Free and democratic elections and a new dictator? What are they going to demonstrate for?

Date

February 14, 2011

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oezcerkesm | Ideas

It is all about climate change

GLOBAL IDEAS Reporter Manuel Özcerkes is filming in Uganda for his new report on climate education. Here he will meet the singer Angella Katatumba and a few more of the British Council Climate Champions.

In Uganda a lot of people are talking about climate change, there are campaigns to equip the people with knowledge. Even in school climate change is a major topic. But sometimes climate change is responsible for things I would never expect. The student in the clip explains that there is a flood in the UK and a man with his bicycle would eventually die in the water. And suddenly she shows the picture of a sad lady in Germany. She is not happy about the snow that is caused by the climate change. That lady with the sad face is the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. 30 Minutes later I asked her if she knows who that sad lady was? She did not. She just did researches in the Internet. Well, sometimes the world wide web is not the right source for researches about the effect of the global warming or the reason why Angela Merkel seem to be so sad, I guess.

Date

February 10, 2011

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Ranty Islam | COP16

“Unanimous agreement on diagnosis of climate change”

At the UN climate conference in Cancun we talked to water expert Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm of the Inter-American Development Bank. The expectations may be low for the present round of climate talks, he told us. But there is something noticeably positive about the COP16 conference: For the first time – and other than only last year at the Copenhagen talks – there's unanimous agreement that climate change is real and that humans are responsible for it, he told us.

Date

December 7, 2010

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Klaus Esterluß | Ideas

New grid to focus on wind power

(Foto: nuon, cc)

Germany and nine other countries agreed to advance the development of an electricity grid in the North Sea to focus on the growing number of offshore wind farms in the region. Together with the EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger the countries declared their cooperation in Brussels, as the Federal Economics Ministry announced in Berlin. At issue is the economic, technical and regulatory coordination.

Date

December 3, 2010

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Ranty Islam | COP16

GI at Cancun climate talks

COP16 LogoGLOBAL IDEAS will be attending the UN climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico. Starting November 28th Sabrina Weber and Ranty Islam of the GI-team will be keeping their ears to the ground. Their mission: to network with imaginative individuals and organizations who have ventured to Cancun to present innovative climate protection projects, share ideas – and make a difference in the fight against global warming. Some of our encounters will be featured on this blog. Watch this space.

For live coverage of the key developments at the Cancun talks and additional background reporting please take a look at our main news site DW-WORLD.de or tune in to DW-TV.

Date

November 24, 2010

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