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Announcement: Pambazuka News database goes online

2003-07-17

http://www.pambazuka.org/

NEPAD AND ENERGY: TURNING OUT THE LIGHTS

Akong Charles Ndika

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/16453

Couched in a new framework of interaction between Africa, industrialised countries, and multilateral organisations like the World Bank, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) has been promoted at all major world economic gatherings since its launch in October 2001. At corporate globalisation forums like the G8 meetings, its advocates have likened Nepad to the Marshal Plan that resurrected Europe after World War Two, claiming that Africa's present development status is as a result of insufficient globalisation, and the therapy is to integrate Africa further into the global economy. By this strategy, can Africa truly claim this millennium? Nowhere is an answer more obvious than in the energy sector, the cornerstone of Nepad.

Energy is of premier importance for economic development in Africa. With global business opportunities totalling trillions of dollars, energy is one of the biggest businesses in the world. In particular, energy consumption in developed countries is expected to swell significantly in the years ahead. With these rosy business prospects, Nepad intends to use energy as a launch pad for Africa into the global economy. Against this, and despite the rich and diverse sources of energy on the continent, per capita consumption of energy in Africa is the least in the world, fronting energy poverty at the root cause of underdevelopment. With about 40 to 45% of the 730 million people in Africa living on less than a dollar a day, access, affordability, and efficiency are the tenets on which any strategy that will align Africa's energy economy on a path to sustainable development must be judged.

Although Nepad makes a token reference to the need to guarantee a sustainable supply of affordable energy as the cornerstone for poverty alleviation, projects envisaged to operationalise the goal run opposite to the energy needs of the majority of Africa's inhabitants. The short-term action plan to dually anchor sustainable energy development and serve as building blocks to the realisation of medium to long-term goals are power systems, and oil and gas transmission projects. The power projects include the Mepanda Uncua Hydro Power Plant, Ethiopia-Sudan Interconnection, West Africa Power Pool (WAAP) Program, Algeria-Morocco-Spain Interconnection, Algeria-Spain Interconnection, Algeria Gas-fired Power Station, and the Mozambique-Malawi Interconnection. The gas and oil transmission projects include: the Kenya-Uganda Oil Pipeline, West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP), and the Libya-Tunisia Gas Pipeline. Firmed on the profiteering devotion of multinational corporations, are these projects really relevant to Africa's development aspirations? Alternatively, will they actually meet the energy needs and aspirations of present and future generations? This article attempts an answer by calibrating the projects on the following sustainability scales:

AFFORDABILITY: PUTTING PROFITS AHEAD OF PEOPLE

The power projects mentioned highlight an unbowed agenda to centralise the supply of electricity in the continent. The seed capital for these projects is the sweeping wave of privatisation of State Owned Enterprises (SOE's) across Africa. Through policy-based lending, most African countries are subscribing to the dictates of international institutions like the World Bank to open the energy sector to foreign investment through privatisation and deregulation. In these circumstances, electricity is treated as a commodity rather than a public service. Hence, the hallmarks of SOE's such as universal service, non-discriminatory pricing between industrial and residential users, and cross-subsidies to urban poor and rural populations are substituted for full cost recovery, the credo of privatised utilities.

At the same time, and in order to maximise profits, multinational corporations are exploring opportunities to transcend geographical barriers. Anchored in neo-liberalism, the Nepad action plan facilitates the lifting of geographical restrictions on electricity trade across Africa. It is worth noting that this is inimical to the livelihoods of the majority of Africans living below two dollars a day. Besides paying the real cost for electricity, unreliable consumers will be priced out of the grid. In sum, markets and customers in the Nepad action plan take precedence over citizenship.

ACCESSIBILITY: NO ROOM FOR RURAL ELECTRIFICATION

Access to electricity services is a clear marker of the difference between the rich and the poor, between men and women. In fact, 80% of the 500 million Africans without access to electricity live in rural areas. In particular, the rural electrification rate of 16.9% in Africa is the least in the world. The lack of electricity correlates with many indicators of poverty such as poor education, inadequate health care, and hardships imposed on women and children. Electricity services can indeed enhance the quality of life of rural populations in countless ways. For instance: electric light extends the day, providing extra hours for reading and improving exam results in rural areas; refrigeration allows rural clinics to keep needed medicines such as vaccines; and solar dryers can lead to lower post-harvest losses and enable rural farmers to market their produce when prices are higher.

Because of the rates of poverty and low population density in rural areas, relying on grid solutions for lights on is a sure course for lights off. In fact, the energy needs of rural Africa are decentralised. Meeting the energy needs of rural populations requires the exploration of renewable energy sources. In contrast, the Nepad action plan prioritises the centralisation of power supply, the opposite of the decentralised energy needs of rural masses. Driven by profits, privatised utilities have no incentive to extend networks to rural areas, unless government subsidies make up for the financial loses and provide an attractive margin of profit. It is worth noting that the neo-liberal fountain from which Nepad draws its viability is at odds with subsidies. In fact, governments are compelled to shirk their social responsibilities thereby leaving rural populations permanently unconnected to the grid.

EFFICIENCY: PRIVATISATION OF BENEFITS AND SOCIALISATION OF RISKS

The Nepad action plan is based on a resource-led development approach which prioritises the extractive industry sector, paving the way for criss-crossing oil and gas transmission pipelines. The capital intensive nature of these projects is beyond the purse of African states; and the action plan intends to facilitate the establishment of policies and institutional framework favourable for multinational corporations to invest. This could include favourable contractual risk guarantees that profits are placed ahead of public concerns and generous tax exoneration provisions. But the fact is that oil mining does not equate with the prosperity the international financial institutions give it credit for. Even though Nigeria ranks seventh in terms of world oil production, she tailed the human development report in 2002. Another point that cannot escape attention, particularly in the context of the present US-led war against terrorism, is the potential millitarisation of pipeline routes and the inevitable impact on the human rights of nearby communities. Envisaged power projects will significantly impact on the livelihood development of communities. For example, the Mepanda Uncua Hydropower Project will lead to the construction of a 100 square kilometre reservoir that is going to displace 1400 people, while floods are expected to impact on further thousands.

I wouldn't like to conclude without resuscitating the focus of this article: Is Nepad worth its value in sustainable development? Calibrated on the aforementioned points, it is hard to answer in the affirmative. In addition, credence for this pessimism roots in Nepad's engagement with civil society organisations in Africa, international social labour, and environmental movements. In obviating the contributions of these actors, who in their struggle for socio-environmental and economic justice have been able to bring about a modicum of progressive global change, Nepad fails to differ from other multinational corporations' designs to mine Africa's resources and maim its people. Is this the price to be paid in order for Africa to claim this millennium?

* Akong Charles Ndika is an Energy Policy Analyst with Global Village Cameroon. http://www.globalvillagecam.org

* Please send comments for publication in the Letters and Comments section of Pambazuka News to editor@pambazuka.org

SAPS: A National Malady

Karim F. Hirji

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/16347

SAPS: A National Malady

Karim F. Hirji
April 19, 2003

Air travelers are perhaps unduly worried about SARS, the severe acute respiratory syndrome. The world at large, however, stands petrified at the virulence of SAPS, the supremely arrogant patriotic syndrome. The climax of the recent upsurge of its U.S. genetic variant was too shocking and awful.

The two syndromes have distinct pathogenic features. SARS affects the lungs. SAPS invades the brain tissue, perturbs neurotransmitter levels, and disrupts neural link s. Relatively few have contracted SARS thus far. SAPS has engulfed virtually a whole nation. SARS can be rapidly lethal. Curiously, SAPS threatens the well being and lives of unfortunate outsiders who come under the intense gaze of the infected nation. The mode of transmission of SARS has not been precisely delineated. SAPS, however, is known to spread electronically, principally through the television screen. The education system and other social institutions also play a role in its propagation.

A person harboring the SAPS virus manifests a host of psychological abnormalities. Perception of reality is distorted; for example, war appears like a basketball game in which one waves the flag and cheers on the home team. Curious rules of reasoning take hold. Preparing for war is accepted as adept diplomacy; the usage of forgeries, innuendoes and rank deception, a sign of statesmanship; repeated allegations about weapons of destruction and terror links, an incontrovertible proof of their existence; and wanton destruction of a society, a distinctive form of liberation. A schizophrenic morality grips the conscience; tears are shed for some lives but a blithe indifference prevails at the greater suffering and death among the outsiders. One contributes a few dollars to ameliorate the humanitarian tragedy. But then one studiously avoids asking whose actions led to the disruption of electricity, water, and food distribution, looting of hospitals, and the obliteration of a priceless part of the cultural heritage of humanity. If posed, such questions rapidly evaporate, since the ability and inclination to think critically are significantly curtailed by SAPS.

And while prophylaxis against and therapy for SARS are under development, SAPS can be controlled by vaccination. The vaccine can be safely manufactured at home, and has antigenic components that promote moral decency, consistent application of rules of logic, resp ect for truth and evidence, the primacy of one's membership in the human family and an absolutely unapologetic love for all life. Unlike many other bio--vaccines, the protection afforded by the anti--SAPS vaccine is magnified over time if one lives a life consistent with its components. It does have side effects, though. It may invite unfriendly stares, verbal or physical abuse from strangers and unpleasant attention from the authorities. To date, relatively few have volunteered to take the vaccine.

The U.S. variant of SAPS deserves special attention due to its enhanced toxicity and power to cause widespread mayhem. It is not a recent affliction; its existence was confirmed during World War II by psychiatrists when they observed how easily the American people accepted the wonderful claim that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were military targets. Since then the causative agent has mutated further, gained a firmer and broader foothold and acquired resistance to known antidotes. Over th e past fifty years, it has been continuously present at the surface, at times in a dormant form, and now and then flaring up with disastrous consequences for the people of Africa, Asia, and South and Central America. The prevalence rate was high in the 1990s. Among the symptoms were the readiness with which the American public cheered or was indifferent towards Bill Clinton's war on Iraq, the impact of economic sanctions, and his decimation of the medicinal factory in Sudan. He was openly branded by many as an immoral liar for his sexual misdeeds and deceptions. Yet, his popularity and credibility surged whenever he attacked those pesky outsiders. Indicative of the moral muddle induced by SAPS, his patently hollow reasons were rarely questioned by most of those who have now come to oppose Mr. Bush's invasion of Iraq.

An article in the Journal of Calamitous Contagions has demonstrated statistically significant (p < 0.05) positive correlations between reduction of pub lic health expenditures and increase of military funding on the one hand and infectivity, resilience and virulence of the SAPS virus, on the other. Higher unemployment and deterioration of social benefits tend to drive people from disadvantaged groups to the institutions that epitomize the violent ethic of SAPS. This study indicated possible existence of an emotion tranferrence effect as well. That is, are those brutalized by a system transferring their frustrations on more harshly brutalized victims abroad? This hypothesis needs further study. The moral bankruptcy of serving the instruments of massive violence and then turning around to demand respect and reparations is, however, undeniable.

The triumphalist jubilations on the heels of the victory in Iraq symbolize a disturbing mutative enhancement of the pathogenicity of the U.S. SAPS virus. As soon as the guns started blazing, a big majority fell in line. But there was one positive outcome; a a small, significant , dedicated and growing minority showed signs of antibodies able to resist SAPS. They spoke out, marched and engaged in civil disobedience. Some had been previously inoculated while others had acquired immunity through social activism. However, these circulating antibodies provided limited protection against SAPS. Consequently, the peace activists adopted the language of charity and not that of justice and accountability. They competed to `support the troops.' Would they say, for example, that they opposed the death penalty but supported the executioners? It would sound absurd, but that was the kind of logic they reserved for the outsiders. Their declarations of moral outrage were distinctly muted. The efficacy of the current vaccine needs to be improved. Unless that is done, and the mechanisms of social acquisition of immunity creatively reinforced, the virus will continue to ensure that a genuine vision of global citizenship is a foreign concept to most Americans.

Overall, this latest cruise missile driven spasm of SAPS has made otherwise decent people firmly and finally accept the principle that the end justifies the means, that violence is the preferred and effective way to resolve conflicts, and that might does make right. The leader is now the Great, Respected and Beloved Leader who will defend the nation besieged and terrified by color coded alerts against its enemies. The list of enemies grows by the day; new targets added and given a tacit nod by a mostly indifferent populace. Typical bickering continues on the domestic front. But against the outsiders, the new rules of engagement are firmly ensconced.

Recent laboratory tests have pointed to a distinctively novel mutant form, abbreviated SAPS II. Virologists are divided whether to call it the Singularly Assertive Patriotic Syndrome, or more especially, the Special Atomic Preemption Strategy virus. Also it is unclear if it emerged from a governmental bio--weapons laboratory. But the main question is what it behooves for humanity: Will SAPS II incline the American people to go along with nuclear preemption as a viable strategy for international affairs? Or will the tenacious few among them who have developed a degree of immunity to SAPS succeed in inoculating or otherwise protecting their fellow citizens and enable them to control paranoia, temper jingoism, renounce violence and terrorism, reduce the greed for oil and other resources, and accept the fundamental humanity of the outsiders? Such are the grave questions people across the planet are posing at the moment.

Copyright Karim F. Hirji, 19 April 2003.
E-mail: kfhirji@aol.com

Open Letter Campaign for the drc

2003-07-17

http://www.dwcw.org/cgi/wwwbbs.cgi?Africa&109

The humanitarian crisis continues in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. While the recent formation of an interim government and arrival of a multinational protection force in the province of Ituri have brought a new level of security and opportunity to the country, they have not ended fighting among rival militia groups or prevented violence against civilians and human rights violations in the eastern territories. The undersigned in the letter available by clicking on the link provided call on their governments to support, each to the limit of its capacity, an expanded and strengthened effort in the DRC, that matches the extent of the emergency.

petition aims to boost women's participation in malawi

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1331

A petition from the NGO Gender Co-ordination Network to State President Bakili Muluzi calls for greater women's participation in political and decision-making structures. By signing the petition, you will participate in a chance-of-a-lifetime opportunity to actively support in the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development.

a letter from senegal

dear friends

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/16401

African woman's report on Bush visit



Dearest friends,

As you probably know, this week George Bush is visiting Africa. Starting with Senegal, he arrived this morning at 7.20 PM and left at 1.30 PM. Let me share with you what we have been through since last week: More than 1,500 persons have been arrested and put in jail between Thursday and Monday. Hopefully they will be released now that the Big Man is gone; The US Army's planes flying day and night over Dakar; The noise they make is so loud that one hardly sleeps at night; About 700 security people from the US for Bush's security in Senegal, with their dogs, and their cars. Senegalese security forces were not allowed to come near the US president; All trees in places where Bush will pass have been cut. Some of them have been there for more than 100 years; All roads going down town (were hospitals, businesses, schools are located) were closed from Monday night to Tuesday at 3 PM. This means that we could not go to our offices or schools. Sick people were also obliged to stay at home; National exams for high schools that started on Monday are postponed until Wednesday.

Bush's visit to the Goree Island is another story. As you may know Goree is a small island facing Dakar where from the 15th to the 19th century, the African slaves to be shipped to America were parked in special houses called slave houses. One of these houses has become a Museum to remind humanity about this dark period and has been visited by kings, queens and presidents. Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, and before them, Nelson Mandela, the Pope, and many other distinguished guests or ordinary tourists visited it without bothering the islanders. But for "security reasons" this time, the local population was chased out of their houses from 5 to 12 AM. They were forced by American security to leave their houses and leave everything open, including their wardrobes, to be searched by special dogs brought from the US. The ferry that links the island to Dakar was stopped and offices and businesses closed for the day.

According to an economist who was interviewed by a private radio, Senegal is a very poor country that has lost huge amounts of money in this visit, because workers have been prevented from walking out of their homes.

In addition to us being prevented from going out, other humiliating things happened also. Bush brought his own arm-
chairs, and of course his own cars, and meals and drinks. He came with his own journalists and ours were forbidden inside the airport and in places he was visiting.

Our president was not allowed to make a speech. Only Bush spoke when he was in Goree. He spoke about slavery. It seems that he needs the vote of the African American to be elected in the next elections, and wanted to please them. That's why he visited Goree.

Several protest marches against American politics have been organized yesterday and even when Bush was here, but we think he does not care.

We have the feeling that everything has been done to convince us that we are nothing, and that America can behave the way it wants, everywhere, even in our country.

Believe me friends, it is a terrible feeling. But according to a Ugandan friend of mine, I should not complain because in Uganda Bush does not intend to go out of the airport. He will receive the Ugandan President in the airport lounge.

Nevertheless, I think I am lucky, because I have such wonderful American friends. But there are now thousands of Senegalese who believe that for all Americans the world is their territory.

Love to you all Codou

Africa Union Press Freedom and Freedom of Expression Campaign Petition still open

CREDO & FAHAMU

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/16465

Doreen Lwanga

Uganda

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/16340

Justin Scott

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/16400

Michael Carmichael

The Oxford Centre for Public Affairs, UK

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/16339

Artist in Residency: Fred Kato Mutebi

www.africancolours.com

2003-07-17

http://www.africancolours.com/?content/fredkatomutebi.html

Visit www.africancolours.com for a display of work by Ugandan graphic artist Fred Mutebi, whose motivations are the African people and their environment, the colours and the splendour of Uganda (the pearl of Africa), and the rural people of Africa.

Bearing Witness

Fiona C. Ross

2003-07-17

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?endeca=1&ean=9780745318912

People who witness acts of terror and violence are often called after the event to bear witness to what they saw. In cases where this violence is inflicted by the state upon its own people, the process of bearing witness is both politically complex and traumatic for the individual involved. Fiona Ross's fascinating study of the process of bearing witness is the first book to examine the gendered dimensions of this topic from an anthropological and ethnographic viewpoint. Taking as a key example the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, Ross explores women's relationships to testimony, particularly the extent to which women avoid talking about or are silent about certain forms of violence and suffering.

JOURNAL OF PEACE BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT

CALL FOR PAPERS: VOLUME I NUMBER 2 – Peace building And Development Challenges And Opportunities In Africa

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/16348

Journal of Peace building and Development, a new tri-annual refereed journal providing a forum for the sharing of critical thinking and constructive action on issues at the intersections of conflict, development, and peace, is calling for papers for its first issue. This volume IV will endeavour to capture and examine critical peace building and development topics and questions that challenge our era in the African context. Please click on the link for more information.
Journal of Peacebuilding and Development

CALL FOR PAPERS: VOLUME I NUMBER 2 –
Peacebuilding and Development Challenges and Opportunities in Africa

The Journal of Peacebuilding and Development, a new tri-annual refereed journal providing a forum for the sharing of critical thinking and constructive action on issues at the intersections of conflict, development, and peace, is calling for papers for its first issue. This volume IV will endeavor to capture and examine critical peacebuilding and development topics and questions that challenge our era in the African context, including:

o Development policies, processes and outcomes: implications for conflict and peace
o Social and economic policy: conflicts and possible resolutions
o Identities and relationships in conflict and development
o People-centred development in divided societies
o Governance, human rights and human security
o Building peace through health and education
o Globalization: impacts, trends and agency
o Reconciliation and justice
o The economics of war and peace
o Actors and partnerships for action
o Development assistance, humanitarian disasters and peacebuilding
o Poverty elimination, violence prevention and building a structure of peace
o Strategic approaches to building peace and sustainable human development
o Cross-cutting themes: power and empowerment; the role of culture,
women, minorities and other marginalized groups; theory, rhetoric, policy and practice;

Articles submitted to the Journal should be original contributions. Please clearly indicate if article is under consideration by another publisher at the time of submission. Articles are read by 2-3 outside reviewers, and the editors. Briefings are also read by one reviewer. Articles covering the following categories will be considered:

Critical Themes and Case Analysis – critical case studies and/or thematic discussion and analysis of topical peacebuilding and development themes. 7,000 word maximum, including references and endnotes.
Briefings – discussions of 1) training, peacebuilding and intervention strategies and impact, 2) policy review/analysis, or 3) Country briefings. 1,600 word maximum.
Book reviews—1,600 word maximum.
Resources – notices of new books, reports, upcoming conferences, videos, e-communications and websites. 150 word max.
Documents –Declarations, communiqués, and other relevant NGO or multilateral organisation statements.1,000 word max.

Each manuscript may be submitted either by email, if possible, and in Word format. If submitting by regular mail, document should be typewritten, single-spaced, and on PC-compatible high-density 3 ½ inch diskettes, with each diskette labeled with the author(s)’s name(s) and title of article. Any diagrams and maps should be submitted in eps or jpeg format. Tables may appear in the text, but do not apply frames or tints. Copyright of articles published in the Journal rests with the publisher. Abstract Deadline: August 15 (the earlier the better, given September 30 full article due date); late submissions may be considered given our need, or for our fifth issue. Please send abstracts to: Erin McCandless: emccand@jpd.org.zw; Mohammed Abu-Nimer: abunim@american.edu; and cc: jpd@africaonline.co.zw and one hard copy of articles to PO Box HG 358, Highlands, Harare, Zimbabwe. For subscription enquiries, contact: Betty Sitka: salima@american.edu, or call: +1-202-885-5989.

Kenyan wins 2003 Caine Prize for literature

Congratulations: Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor

2003-07-17

http://www.eastandard.net/headlines/new16072003003.htm

Kenyan writer Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor is this year's winner of the 2003 Caine Prize for African Writing. She was awarded for her short story Weight of Whispers, published in Kwani? magazine in 2003. Yvonne beat five other African writers drawn from Zimbabwe, Congo and two from South Africa who were all highly commended by the panel of judges, led by Abdulrazak Gurnah. The prize that is awarded annually for African creative writing is named after the late Sir Michael Caine, former chairman of Booker Plc and chairman of the Booker Prize management committee for nearly 25 years.

Nkrumah and Ghana

Kofi Buenor Hadjor

2003-07-17

http://store.yahoo.com/africanworld/0865430004.html

This study of Nkrumah provides a compelling account of one of the most significant politicians in post-colonial Africa. Hadjor argues that although Nkrumah's experiment failed, it continues to have relevance for Africa today. He also illustrates how certain mistakes were unavoidable during Nkrumah's time. He writes of the clarity of Nkrumah's vision, which helps throw light on the problems many Africans face today. In this important way, Hadjor's reworking of the essential themes of Nkrumah's presidency contributes to the debate on the political future of Africa and promises to give focus to the recent revival of interest in Nkrumah.

South Africa / Dutch Contemporary Dance Collaboration

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1335

Comprising of six dancers, the work ‘Ludic Liminality’, will be showcased to a South African audience before moving to the Netherlands for a series of performances there in November and December.

South Africa: Timbila poetry manifesto

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1341

“We, poets of South Africa, declare for all the country and the world to know that a country that does not appreciate poetry is a doomed country. This means that our poetry, just like our music and dance, contributed a great deal to South Africa’s present dispensation. Another reason is that new South African poetry is hardly ever studied in schools and universities; and that our public libraries do not carry sufficient poetry resources. Although there are policies and institutions to support the arts, there has been very little support for poetry and poets. We therefore commit ourselves to building a conscious society that appreciates poetry from primary to higher levels.”

The Geopolitics of Hunger 2000-2001: Hunger and Power

edited by Action Against Hunger

2003-07-17

http://www.du.edu/gsis/hrhw/booknotes/2003/bn-munoz-2003.htm

In 2001, Action Against Hunger celebrated its 22nd birthday with a growing awareness that the eradication of hunger requires much more than simply ensuring that global production of foodstuffs maintains pace with growing populations. In that year, AAH published The Geopolitics of Hunger, 2000-2001: Hunger and Power, an edited volume that presents an overview of contemporary food security issues. Indeed, the argument made by AAH is more complicated than supply and demand: control of food supplies is a tool wielded by authorities in power and those seeking to contest that power. Famine is more often a result of human action than environmental drought or disaster. The Geopolitics of Hunger describes the places and ways in which chronic malnutrition and the threat of starvation result from political manipulation of food supplies, despite international legal prohibitions against the use of food as weapon of war.

africa/global: Women, water and transport: making planners listen to women's needs

2003-07-17

http://www.id21.org/society/s6apb1g1.html

What are the links between women's access to water and to transport? How can transport services be reshaped to better meet women's needs? In societies with deeply-rooted gender roles, how can women be helped to participate more actively in decision-making processes affecting water and transport?

africa: UN RIGHTS OFFICIAL WELCOMES NEW PROVISIONS TO STRENGTHEN WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN africa

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/16335

The Acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has welcomed the decision taken at the recently concluded African Union Summit in Mozambique to strengthen women's rights by adding gender specific provisions to an existing charter. "The adoption by the African Union of a specific treaty on the rights of women reinforces the message that women's rights require priority attention in the protection of universal and inalienable rights," Bertrand Ramcharan said in a statement from Geneva.
UN RIGHTS OFFICIAL WELCOMES NEW PROVISIONS TO STRENGTHEN WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN
AFRICA
New York, Jul 14 2003 4:00PM

The Acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights today welcomed
the decision taken at the recently concluded African Union Summit in
Mozambique to strengthen women's rights by adding gender specific
provisions to an existing charter.

"The adoption by the African Union of a specific treaty on the rights of
women reinforces the message that women's rights require priority attention
in the protection of universal and inalienable rights," Bertrand Ramcharan
said in a statement from Geneva.

The adoption Saturday of the new protocol to the African Charter on Human
and Peoples Rights reflects the growing commitment to address the
widespread discrimination and rights violations suffered by women, Mr.
Ramcharan said, speaking upon his return from the Summit of African leaders
held last week. It recognizes the key role women play in sustainable
development and conflict prevention, he added.

"The women of Africa have demonstrated their strength and resilience; they
deserve and are entitled to full recognition as equal partners - both in
private and family life and in their participation in economic, social and
political activities," he said.

Mr. Ramcharan urged the early ratification of the Protocol to the African
Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, so
it could enter into force as speedily as possible.

UN News Service

africa: WTO Decisions Aggravate Women's Poverty

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307140725.html

The Head of the Gender and Economic Reform in Africa (GERA) section of the Third World Network (TWN) Zo Randrianamaro has said women have a larger stake in the upcoming 5th ministrial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Cancun Mexico in September. This is because most WTO rules have had a greater negative impact on women than on men. Randrianamaro said the majority of people in Ghana and Africa at large who have been excluded from benefiting from the proceeds of WTO rules are women.

somalia: Quest to nurture Somalia

2003-07-17

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=17086

When Asha Ahmed Abdalla was a teenager in her native country of Somalia, she used to daydream about what it would be like to be Somalia’s first lady, and decided to set her sights on achieving that goal. But Abdalla grew up and her dream evolved. After years of humanitarian and political activity, the 45-year-old mother of three has set her eyes on the ultimate prize: to become Africa’s first woman president.

SOMALIA: Women slowly making political inroads

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35364

In the past, Somali women have not had a significant role in politics, but there are now signs that the trend is slowly changing. Although they only make up a small minority at the peace talks currently underway in Kenya - with 35 women out of 362 official delegates - this tiny step is seen as progress.

south africa: Men in crisis

2003-07-17

http://www.health-e.org.za/view.php3?id=20030707

The South African man’s reputation is in crisis. He is held responsible for one of the world’s highest rape rates, including the rape of children and babies. He perpetrates domestic violence, which is commonplace. And womanisers who prefer condom-less sex are driving the HIV/AIDS epidemic, experts tell us. A range of researchers grappling with what has, and is, framing this male identity have identified economic circumstances, the new political order and HIV/AIDS as important factors.

Swaziland: Gender focused responses to HIV/Aids

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1345

This report looks at the gendered impact of HIV/Aids in Swaziland, and advocates the promotion of shared responsibilities for the prevention and care and to address the power relations and inequalities between men and women.

tanzania: Activists Challenge Gender Inequality As Women Marry Women

2003-07-17

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19234

Tanzania still has a long way to go in achieving gender equality and cultures in some communities continue to force women to “marry” another woman in order to bear a son for inheritance purposes. This culture exists among the Kurya tribe in the country's North Western region of Mara bordering Kenya.

uganda: Women Live With Fear of Rape

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307160489.html

Women in northern Uganda live under fear of rape. The women and girls are victims of the long-running war between government troops and Mr Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army rebels. A new human rights report jointly released in Uganda and Canada appeals to the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, to appoint a special envoy on the conflict. The report cites rape as a major concern amongst the women.

africa: splits over Mugabe

2003-07-17

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l2_ca.asp?sa=49

Sharp divisions between member states of the African Union (AU) attending the grouping’s second summit led to Zimbabwe being left out of the agenda as the organisers tried to avoid anything that could further divide the 53-member body already riven by serious disagreements.

drc: Genocide court sets sights on Congo conflict

2003-07-17

http://www.guardian.co.uk/congo/story/0,12292,999634,00.html

The international criminal court is likely to investigate war crimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo, its chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has said. Mr Moreno Ocampo said that he was "closely following" the situation in Ituri, the north-eastern province where thousands of civilians have been killed in tribal conflicts since last year.

drc: rebels gather in capital

2003-07-17

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3070507.stm

The leader of the second largest rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jean Pierre Bemba, has arrived in Kinshasa, ahead of Thursday's inauguration of the vice-presidents in the new transitional government.
Related Link:
* "No turning back" as vice-presidents sworn in
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35455

liberia: large scale human rights abuses, U.S. congress hears

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/16315

Both the government of Liberia and Liberian rebel forces are responsible for violations of international humanitarian law amounting to war crimes and other serious human rights abuses, according to a briefing before the U.S. Congressional Human Rights Caucus. "Tens of thousands of Liberians have been forcibly displaced and hundreds if not thousands of civilians have been killed, either deliberately or in crossfire. Recent human rights abuses committed by both sides include the forced recruitment of children in displaced and refugee camps, forced labour, assault, and sexual violence against civilians, as well as attacks on humanitarian workers," said Washington Director for Africa of Human Rights Watch Janet Fleischman.
Testimony of Janet Fleischman
Washington Director for Africa of Human Rights Watch
On the Human Rights Situation in Liberia
Before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus
July 9, 2003
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding these important hearings and for inviting me to testify. My name is Janet Fleischman, and I am the Washington Director for Africa of Human Rights Watch. Human Rights Watch has monitored the human rights situation in Liberia and in the West African sub region for more than a decade, through regular missions as well as a field presence for over three years in Sierra Leone. We recently completed a field investigation in Côte d’Ivoire and neighboring countries. Based on our information, we would like to offer the following analysis of the human rights situation in Liberia and recommendations for U.S. policy.

President Bush’s current trip to Africa provides an important moment to assess the challenges and opportunities for U.S. policy in Liberia and in the West African sub-region. Developments in the past year in Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire highlight the serious potential for a constant regional cycle of conflict and destabilization as armed groups produce new cycles of human rights abuses, internally displaced persons and refugees, and child soldiers. Protection of civilians and accountability for abuses are two key issues in the region, both of which must be addressed through political and financial efforts.

While the Special Court for Sierra Leone represents an important attempt to end the cycle of violence and impunity by holding accountable those who bear the greatest responsibility for gross abuses of human rights, more efforts are needed to investigate and document the ways in which human rights abuses continue to fuel conflicts throughout the region, and to hold perpetrators accountable. In particular, the indictment of President Charles Taylor by the Special Court for Sierra Leone should be built upon to ensure accountability for all those responsible for war crimes and other serious violations of human rights in Liberia.

The United States has a critical role to play in consistently condemning all perpetrators of human rights abuses, whether they are state or non-state actors; limiting their ability to carry out abuses by cutting off supplies of weapons and financing; and supporting effective mechanisms to increase the accountability of regional and local authorities to their populations.

The Human Rights Situation in Liberia

Over the past few months, Liberia has returned to full-scale armed conflict. The main rebel group, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), operates from bases in Lofa county in Liberia and from Guinea, where it has that government’s support. A second rebel group called the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), which has recently split from the LURD and is reportedly receiving support from the Ivorian government, has also made territorial gains and captured Greenville in late April. Many of the members of these rebel groups were part of other warring factions in Liberia’s first brutal war. With the support of neighboring governments, they have now re-grouped and re-armed, and have initiated a new phase of war in Liberia.

Both the government of Liberia and Liberian rebel forces are responsible for violations of international humanitarian law amounting to war crimes and other serious human rights abuses. Tens of thousands of Liberians have been forcibly displaced and hundreds if not thousands of civilians have been killed, either deliberately or in crossfire. Recent human rights abuses committed by both sides include the forced recruitment of children in displaced and refugee camps, forced labor, assault, and sexual violence against civilians, as well as attacks on humanitarian workers. The inflow of arms in breach of the U.N. embargo (see below) contributes to such abuses. The Liberian government has continued its intolerance of dissent, and civil society actors – especially human rights activists and independent journalists -- face harassment, intimidation, and imprisonment.

Fighting between the Liberian government and rebel groups spread to all three neighboring borders in 2003. As of March 2003, incidents at Bo Waterside, on the Sierra Leonean border, Ganta on the Guinean border, and Toe town and Zwedru, near the Ivorian border, reflected the increasing regional involvement in the Liberian war, with attacks taking place both along and across borders. Due to the fighting and the lack of security guarantees for aid workers, parts of the country have been inaccessible to humanitarian agencies since the resurgence of fighting in March 2003. Many civilians are in territory under the control of Liberian rebel groups, the LURD and MODEL.

The peace talks being held in Ghana produced a ceasefire agreement on June 17, 2003. The ceasefire has been broken by several serious bouts of fighting between the Liberian government and rebel forces in and around Monrovia. The recent conflict has displaced thousands of civilians and exacerbated the already dire humanitarian situation in the country. In late June, troops from the LURD entered and then retreated to the outskirts of Monrovia, prompting mass displacement and reports of numerous deaths of civilians in and around the town. According to credible sources in Monrovia, several hundred civilians have died in the capital in the past few weeks from the fighting, from reprisal killings, and from the increasing toll taken by disease.


The U.S. is currently considering sending troops to Liberia, and a team of military experts arrived in Monrovia on Monday to assess the humanitarian and security situation. Human Rights Watch believes that the deployment of a peacekeeping force with U.N. authorization to protect civilians would make an important contribution to stabilizing the situation in Liberia and that the U.S. has an important role to play in such a force, given its historical links to the country. We consider it of utmost importance that any military action be undertaken with full respect for international human rights and humanitarian law. The force should have a robust mandate to ensure the maintenance of law and order, to protect civilians, and help ensure that humanitarian assistance can reach civilian populations in need.

The indictment of Charles Taylor

Elected president of Liberia in 1997 after a seven-year war ousted former president Samuel Doe, Charles Taylor gained international notoriety for the brutal abuses of civilians perpetrated by his forces in Liberia, and for his use of child soldiers organized in “Small Boy Units.” Taylor’s support for the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone contributed to the deaths, rape and mutilations of thousands of civilians, and led to United Nations sanctions on his regime. Taylor’s forces have also been implicated in conflicts in neighboring Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.

On June 4, the Special Court for Sierra Leone “unsealed” its indictment against Charles Taylor as one of those “bearing the greatest responsibility” for war crimes (including murder and taking hostages); crimes against humanity (rape, murder, extermination, sexual slavery); and other serious violations of international humanitarian law (use of child soldiers) committed in Sierra Leone. The indictment charges that Taylor actively supported the RUF in Sierra Leone’s ten-year civil war, providing training and helping finance the RUF, in preparation for RUF armed action in Sierra Leone and during the subsequent armed conflict in Sierra Leone. It also alleges that Taylor acted in concert with members of the RUF/Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) rebel alliance who are accused of horrific crimes.

The Special Court was established by agreement between the United Nations and Sierra Leone and is designed to function for three years. The Special Court has power to prosecute those “who bear the greatest responsibility” for serious violations of international humanitarian law and certain violations of Sierra Leone law committed in Sierra Leone since November 30, 1996. The Special Court’s Statute and implementing legislation specifically provide that official capacity is no defense to arrest or prosecution, i.e., there is no immunity for a head of state. The statutes for the Rwanda and Yugoslav Tribunals and the International Criminal Court similarly bar immunity based on official position, reflecting the increasing trend by international courts to bring officials to justice for war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of international humanitarian law, even while they are still in office.

The future of President Charles Taylor is uncertain. After initially stating that he would step down in favor of a transitional government, he has recently wavered on that point, and now says that he will not leave until U.S. peacekeeping troops have arrived. His past record of broken agreements and commitments give little grounds for hope that he will fulfill the most recent accords, or that providing him immunity would bring stability.

President Bush has explicitly called for Taylor to step down. Meanwhile, President John Kufuor of Ghana has urged that Taylor be given immunity from prosecution in exchange for leaving office, and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria has offered him a “safe haven” in Nigeria.

Suggestions of withdrawing the indictment or providing immunity from prosecution to Charles Taylor should be rejected in light of the lessons learned in the region. In 1999, the Lomé peace accord in Sierra Leone purportedly granted an amnesty for crimes committed by all combatants during the civil war on the basis that this was necessary to achieve peace. But once granted amnesty, the rebels resumed military operations, plunging Sierra Leone into two more years of war. The Special Court for Sierra Leone, which has a mandate to bring those who bear the greatest responsibilities for atrocities to justice, is one of the key mechanisms that are now contributing to the restoration of peace in that country.

The United States should support Charles Taylor’s indictment and state clearly that no safe haven should be provided to Taylor, and that every government should implement the international arrest warrant of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and hand him over to the Court for prosecution. If U.S. troops are sent to Liberia, they should not make any deals that involve a withdrawal of the indictment of President Taylor by the Special Court for Sierra Leone or any explicit or implicit understanding that a government will not implement the Court’s warrant. At the same time, the U.S. should support plans for strengthening the ceasefire, stabilizing the country, and commit U.S. resources to rebuild post-war Liberia.

Guinea

Efforts to resolve the Liberian crisis cannot succeed without addressing Liberia’s neighbors, who have both suffered from and contributed to the cycle of conflict. Guinea is both the principal regional recipient of large numbers of refugees and a key supporter of the Liberian rebel group, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). While Guinea is clearly in a fragile position—holding elections later this year, with an unstable economy, and with over 100,000 Sierra Leonean, Ivorian and Liberian refugees remaining on its territory —the government has an obligation to respect international human rights and humanitarian norms, and to respect the U.N. arms embargo on Liberia.

The U.S. has an important role to play vis-à-vis Guinea’s support for the LURD, because of a recent U.S. army training program for the Guinean military. A battalion of 800 soldiers was trained over a six month period, from May 2002. The training, which had a budget of U.S.$3 million, included a mid-term review, but there were no plans to set up mechanisms to monitor the conduct of the troops or their respect for human rights after their deployment.

The U.S. has called on “all parties in the region to cease supporting any group that seeks political change through violence and to respect their neighbor’s borders.” But although the U.S. has expressed concern about the human rights situation in Guinea and states that it has also privately raised issues of refugee protection with the Guinean government, Human Rights Watch is not aware that the U.S. has made any public statements expressing concern about Guinea’s role in supporting the LURD or in colluding with human rights abuses against Liberian refugees.

Guinea should be warned by the United States to cease its support to LURD or face the possibility of sanctions. In addition, it is essential that refugees are able to seek refuge in Guinea and that refugee camps retain a truly humanitarian character.

Côte d’Ivoire

The past eight months of armed conflict in Côte d’Ivoire and, in particular, the patterns of human rights abuses in the western part of the country, are a renewed reminder of the need to address the underlying causes of an ever-shifting regional crisis. The eight-month-old war in the Côte d’Ivoire has revealed deep divisions in Ivorian society and produced numerous serious abuses against civilians, some of which amount to war crimes. Western Côte d’Ivoire has been the site of a virtual proxy war by Liberian forces, demonstrating the easy spillover potential of the Liberian conflict. The recent ceasefire in the west, and the formation of the government of reconciliation, are steps in the right direction, but the Ivorian peace process remains extremely fragile. There is an urgent need to reinforce these positive steps with further concrete action, both within Côte d’Ivoire and in neighboring Liberia. Impunity—both past and present, Ivorian and regional—remains a key concern that must be addressed if a stable Côte d’Ivoire is to emerge from the past months of conflict.

Circulation of arms

The inflow and circulation of arms, particularly small arms and light weapons, in the region has clearly contributed to the increased conflict and abuses against civilians by governments and armed groups. It also has facilitated the formation of new armed groups and the use of ill disciplined fighters and unaccountable mercenaries.

The recent report of the U.N. Panel of Experts on Liberia documented continuing violations of the arms embargo on Liberia and noted that the support of regional governments such as Guinea to Liberian insurgent groups constitutes a violation of the sanctions regime. The Liberian government recently acknowledged importing huge quantities of small arms and light weapons, and the list of imported weapons it provided the Panel closely match those documented to have been illegally delivered from Serbia and Montenegro in six shipments in 2002; the Liberian government did not admit to earlier illicit arms purchases, which have also been documented. The Panel also described numerous suspected actual or attempted arms shipments to Liberia in recent months, including a possible ongoing scheme to export weapons to Liberia on the basis of a Democratic Republic of Congo end-user certificate.

In addition, abusive insurgents throughout West Africa have been able to obtain arms and other military support with apparent ease. The Panel describes Guinea as a supply route for arms to the LURD, as noted, and points out that it has some evidence Côte d’Ivoire is supporting an armed Liberian militia and MODEL. The use of unaccountable mercenaries and untrained civilian militias, including in Côte d’Ivoire, is also troubling, particularly as many of those recruited, including ex-RUF, are known to have an atrocious human rights record. Human Rights Watch urges the United States to consistently condemn all regional governments that violate the sanctions regime on Liberia and/or support abusive forces. The U.S. should also monitor arms flows using its own technology and presence in the region, and report on its observations to the U.N. Panel.

Recommendations

Human Rights Watch urges the United States to:

· Call on all parties in Liberia to respect international human rights and humanitarian law, particularly regarding treatment of civilians and other non-combatants, and recruitment of child soldiers, and to hold those members of their forces responsible for abuses accountable.

· Call on all parties in the Liberian conflict to respect humanitarian aid workers and guarantee their security and access to civilian populations in need of assistance and protection.

· Actively explore and support mechanisms to ensure accountability for abuses committed by all parties to the conflict.

· Support the establishment of a peacekeeping force in Liberia and ensure that any military action be undertaken with full respect for international human rights and humanitarian law. The force should have U.N. authorization to ensure the maintenance of law and order, to protect civilians, and help ensure that humanitarian assistance can reach civilian populations in need.

· In the event that U.S. troops are sent to Liberia, ensure that the U.S. does not make any deals that involve a withdrawal of the indictment of President Charles Taylor or any explicit or implicit understanding that a government will not implement the Special Court for Sierra Leone’s arrest warrant.

· Call on all states to support the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and to hand over any additional individuals indicted by the Special Court of Sierra Leone who flee into their territories, to assist in their apprehension, and to otherwise cooperate with the Special Court.

· Condemn regional governments for their support to abusive insurgent groups and violations of existing sanctions on Liberia, and consider imposing secondary sanctions on regional governments found to be involved in the Liberian war.

malawi: Election Campaign Promises to be Ugly and Brutal

2003-07-17

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19228

Malawi's presidential and parliamentary general elections in 2004 promise to be ugly and brutal. Last week in Blantyre, the militant “Young Democrats” - a wing of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) - brutally beat up a local newspaper journalist and robbed him of his two cameras and a cellular phone.

Malawi: Ten months and counting down: Are we sure that there will be a level playing field?

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1333

With 10 months to go until elections, the author of this article says it is time to ask some important questions: Has Malawi really enjoyed progress as a democracy or have we stalled between real democracy and the freedoms that come from that, or authoritarianism with its limited political freedoms.? Has our politics become dysfunctional and irrelevant? Has our political polarised position encouraged a breeding ground for extremists and sycophants who are keen on creating violent conflict?

mozambique: au summit draws to a close

2003-07-17

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=24357

The second African Union (AU) summit in Maputo was drawing to a close on Saturday after two days of deliberation where heads of state elected new leaders responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation.

Nigeria: Police use of lethal force against demonstrators must be investigated, says amnesty

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/16459

Amnesty International is urging Nigerian authorities to launch an independent public inquiry into the death of at least four people reported to have been killed in Lagos in clashes involving the police and civilians during demonstrations against an increase in the price of fuel. More than seven days after the people were announced dead, no investigation has been carried out.
News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International

AI INDEX: AFR 44/021/2003 15 July 2003

Nigeria: Police use of lethal force against demonstrators must be
investigated


Amnesty International is urging Nigerian authorities to launch an
independent public inquiry into the death of at least four people reported
to have been killed in Lagos in clashes involving the police and civilians
during demonstrations against an increase in the price of fuel. More than
seven days after the people were announced dead, no investigation has been
carried out.

A 27 year-old man, Obot Akpan Etim was among the people shot dead in what
appeared to be a peaceful protest. In statements made on 7 July 2003, the
police commissioner and the public relations officer of Lagos denied any
wrongdoing by the police. They rather accused other demonstrators of
fomenting the killing.

A 25-year-old woman who witnessed the police brutality told Amnesty
International how, on her way to work on that Monday 7 morning, in Oshodi,
a suburb of Lagos, she got caught up in the events which took place that
day. "I could see hundreds of people who were peacefully protesting in the
street. They were chanting and shouting slogans. Suddenly and without
warning, the police charged at us, throwing teargas in our direction. In
the confusion, people were running in all directions; some were falling
down. I lost consciousness for a while. When I woke up, I noticed that the
explosions had affected my voice."

In a report published in December 2002 (view the full report online at
http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabfZnaaZcJFbb0iygb/ ), Amnesty
International expressed its concerns about the police brutality in the
three years following the return to civilian rule in Nigeria. The police
attempts to curb crime has been marred by the deaths of hundreds of
people. Police violence sometimes appears to have been unleashed amid
government complacency.

"The government should ensure that law enforcement officers do not exert
any excessive use of lethal force in peaceful demonstrations," Amnesty
International said.

Wherever a person sustains injuries or dies as a result of public unrest,
especially when police or security forces are involved, there should be an
immediate investigation.

"People should not be shot at for protesting peacefully and all those
found responsible for such violations must be investigated and brought to
justice according to international standards of fair trial," the
organization said.


Background

A wave of protests led by the National Labour Congress (NLC) swept through
many Nigerian towns, including Abuja and Lagos, following the government's
decision in June 2003 to dramatically increase the price of fuel. The
strikes which took place from 30 June to 9 July resulted in an excessive
use of force by the police. They reportedly used live ammunition and tear
gas against peaceful demonstrators in their attempt to end the strikes.


****************************************************************

Political violence in Nigeria: Elections marred by an upsurge in human
rights abuses, take action, visit:
http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabfZnaaZcJGbb0iygb/

How Much More Suffering under Sharia Penal Legislation? Take action,
visit: http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabfZnaaZcJHbb0iygb/

Security forces in Nigeria: Serving to protect and respect human rights?
Take action, visit: http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabfZnaaZcJIbb0iygb/

View all documents on Nigeria at
http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabfZnaaZcJJbb0iygb/

RWANDA: Government registers eight political parties ahead of polls

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35399

The Rwandan government has registered eight political parties ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 August and 29 September respectively, a government minister told IRIN on Monday. The minister for local government and social welfare, Christopher Bazivamo, said the registered parties were free to operate.

Swaziland: King, unions strike deal in run-up to summit

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1340

A spirit of compromise is at work in Swaziland between the royal government and pro-democracy forces agitating for political reform, as both parties return to the old Swazi values of dialogue and consensus.

Uganda: Sharp Decline in Human Rights

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/16305

Abductions, torture, recruitment of child soldiers, and other abuses have sharply increased in the past year in northern Uganda due to renewed fighting between Ugandan government forces and rebels, a coalition of national and international organisations said in a report released this week.
Embargoed for Release:
Tuesday, July 15, 2003
At 08:00 GMT (10:00 in Kampala)
(For Wednesday’s newspapers)
Uganda: Sharp Decline in Human Rights

(Kampala, July 15, 2003) — Abductions, torture, recruitment of child soldiers, and other abuses have sharply increased in the past year in northern Uganda due to renewed fighting between Ugandan government forces and rebels, a coalition of national and international organizations said in a report released today.

The 73-page report, “Abducted and Abused: Renewed War in Northern Uganda,” details how a slew of human rights abuses have resulted in a humanitarian crisis. Since June 2002, the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has abducted nearly 8,400 children and thousands more adults, a sharp rise from 2001. The LRA has also escalated the seventeen-year war against northern Uganda’s civilians by targeting religious leaders, aid providers, and those living in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps.

“Child abduction, murder, and mutilation are the signatures of the LRA in this war,” said Lloyd Axworthy, former Canadian minister for external affairs. “This is a war that has been fought primarily against the children and people of northern Uganda.” Axworthy is CEO and executive director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues in Vancouver, which issued the report together with the Peace and Human Rights Center in Kampala, Human Rights Focus in Gulu, and Human Rights Watch in New York, of which Axworthy is a board member.

The seventeen-year conflict between the LRA and the Ugandan government intensified in March 2002, when the government army, the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), launched a military offensive, “Operation Iron Fist,” against LRA bases in southern Sudan. The offensive failed to accomplish its aim of destroying the LRA, which evaded the UPDF and in June 2002 returned to northern Uganda. The renewed conflict is taking its highest toll ever:

· Since June 2002, the LRA abducted 8,400 children, the highest rate of abductions ever in seventeen years of war.
· Fear of LRA abduction has driven approximately 20,000 children to escape nightly into Gulu and other towns. These children sleep on verandas, on church grounds and at local hospitals, returning home each morning, becoming locally known as “night commuters.”
· An estimated 800,000 northern Ugandans are internally displaced due to LRA attacks and government orders-approximately 70 percent of the entire population of the three war-affected districts in northern Uganda.
· Respective Mortality Rate (for three months in 2003) for children under five in two IDP camps near Gulu was 5.67/1,000, where 4/1,000 is considered an emergency. This rate was the highest recorded in five years, yet it was not caused by any outbreak of disease, leading the agency conducting the survey to raise the possibility that the children had simply “died of hunger.”
· Although overall HIV prevalence in Uganda has reportedly declined substantially in recent years, there is lingering high prevalence in the north: Gulu reportedly has the second highest rate of HIV prevalence after Kampala, attributed among other things to the higher rate of HIV among combatants. Among expectant mothers tested at one of two hospitals in Gulu, the rates of HIV prevalence were 11-12 percent, where 5 percent is the national rate.

The report draws on interviews with recently abducted children who escaped from the LRA. It gives voice to internally displaced persons living in the IDP camps that have been attacked by the LRA, and the aid workers attempting to reach these victims despite frequent LRA ambushes on relief convoys.

While the Ugandan government is obligated to intervene to stop these violations, its own forces have committed gross abuses, including torture, rape, underage recruitment, and arbitrary detention. The government has also increased the suffering of northern Uganda’s population through the forced displacement of civilians into IDP camps, which have little or no protection. But UPDF soldiers and other government forces accused by civilians of serious crimes such as murder, torture, or rape often escape trial or sanction, creating the public perception of impunity.

“Not only has the Ugandan government failed to protect its citizens adequately,” said Samuel B. Tindifa, director of the Human Rights and Peace Centre. “They have also actively violated their rights, detained them for long periods without showing cause, and recruited children into the army and home guards.”

The UPDF in northern Uganda arrests civilians on suspicion of rebel collaboration with little or no evidence, often holding them for rough interrogation or torture before turning them over to the police for prosecution. The prosecutors then charge the suspects with treason or terrorism, which allows the government to hold them for up to 360 days without bail and without having to present any evidence.

“The United Nations and members of the international community need to take a more active role to end this desperate state of affairs in northern Uganda,” said Jemera Rone, counsel for the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. “The government and LRA peace talks have ended and the war is continuing at a heightened pace, with worse impact than ever on the entire population of Acholiland.”

The organizations urged the U.N. Secretary-General to appoint a special representative for northern Uganda to secure the release of abducted children by conducting “shuttle diplomacy” between the LRA and the Ugandan government. They also called upon the Sudanese government to end its support of the LRA and upon donor countries to monitor military assistance to Uganda to ensure that the government observes human rights standards.

The four organizations called on the LRA to end its attacks on civilians, to stop abducting children and adults, and to release the abductees. The organizations also urged the government of Uganda to:
· End impunity for human rights violations by government security and armed forces;
· Review all cases of treason and terrorism suspects to ensure that sufficient evidence exists to justify detention;
· Cease using treason or terrorism charges as a holding charge for those arbitrarily detained in areas in which rebels are active;
· Take effective measures to protect civilians; and
· Permit those living in internally displaced persons camps to move wherever they wish, except for extreme circumstances of insecurity.

During the embargo period, the report is available at http://docs.hrw.org/embargo/uganda0703 with the user name: ‘uganda’ and the access code: ‘conflicts2k3’.

After the embargo it will be available at: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/uganda0703/

For more information, please contact:
In Kampala, Samuel Tindifa (HURIPEC): +(256)-41-532954
Martin Komakech (HURIFO): + (256)-47-132259
In Ottawa, Lloyd Axworthy (Liu Institute/ HRW): +(1)-604-822-9957
Jemera Rone (Human Rights Watch): +(1)-202-368-5414
In Washington, Colin Relihan (Human Rights Watch): +(1)-202-612-4347

--
Africa Division
Human Rights Watch
1630 Connecticut Ave. NW
Suite 500
Washington, DC 20009
tel 202-612-4347
fax 202-612-4333
http://www.hrw.org/africa/

zimbabwe: Mixed reaction to Mugabe's new AU post

2003-07-17

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=129&fArticleId=187575

The African Union's new ambassador for Southern Africa is none other than Robert Mugabe. The AU summit held in Mozambique at the weekend provided an opportunity for Africa to show a commitment to its noble ideals. But it ended on an anticlimax, some observed, with no discussion on the political situation in strife-torn Zimbabwe. While some opposition politicians were "galled" by the election of Mugabe as one of the AU's five vice-chairpersons, others declared themselves "content".

Zimbabwe: Moving towards a negotiated transition?

2003-07-17

http://www.idasa.org.za/

Political and economic decay in Zimbabwe has become one of the major problems confronting post-apartheid Southern Africa and seriously threatens Africa's resolve to address democratic issues and re-invent its international image. According to Africa's critics and many of its Northern supporters, the lack of assertive action towards Zimbabwe is indicative of the fact that NEPAD and the African Union will be unable to amount to anything more than rhetoric. Despite humanitarian crises and overwhelming pressure for reform, Mr. Mugabe remains in power and apparently continues to enjoy the support of influential regional players. Increasing internal pressure and political dissent from pro-democracy forces have not compelled Mugabe's regime to concede that a crisis exists. How has this regime, which shows increasingly little regard for democratic principles, human rights, rule of law and political pluralism managed to cling to power even when change appears inevitable? asks this report from the Political Information & Monitoring Service of Idasa.

zimbabwe: Tsvangirai must answer treason charges-prosecutors

2003-07-17

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L16645024.htm

State prosecutors argued on Wednesday against calls for the treason case against Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to be dropped, saying he must answer charges he plotted to kill President Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai and two senior colleagues in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) could face death sentences if convicted of plotting to assassinate Mugabe in 2001 amid Zimbabwe's worst political and economic crisis in decades.

africa/global: education 'imperitive' for refugees

2003-07-17

http://www.aed.org/news/news_release_EducationImperative.html

The Education Imperative, a new publication co-published by the Academy for Educational Development (AED) and the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children, documents the scope of the educational problem facing refugees and internally displaced persons and explains why education in emergency situations is essential. According to the report, education promotes a sense of normalcy that helps children cope with the effects of crisis and supports redevelopment of civil society. In addition, safe learning environments can shield children and teens from exposure to landmines, recruitment into militias and gangs, and sexual violence.

africa: UNHCR launches special appeal for refugees in Africa

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/16333

The UN refugee agency has said it planned to launch a special appeal for funds to cover unforeseen needs in seven different African countries, none of which has received much international attention.
GENEVA, July 11 (UNHCR) -The UN refugee agency said today it planned to
launch a special appeal for funds to cover unforeseen needs in seven
different African countries, none of which has received much international
attention.

UNHCR's 'All Africa Special Appeal', totaling just over US$ 14 million, is
designed to address a number of new situations involving the displacement
or relocation of more than 100,000 people. All these situations have
developed since the beginning of the year and are therefore not covered by
the agency's current annual budget for Africa.

Almost half the required sum (US$ 6.7 million) is to provide emergency
assistance to 41,000 refugees who have fled to Chad from the Central
African Republic. The influx began in April, when fighting broke out
between government and rebel forces in the north of the country. A recent
joint assessment by UNHCR and the World Food Programme revealed that many
of the refugees, who are located in extremely remote parts of southern
Chad, are in dire need of aid. They need food, water and proper shelter,
despite the provision of 5,000 tents by UNHCR and Médecins Sans Frontières
(Belgium).

The money will be used to set up organized camp structures, including
health, sanitation and educational facilities in the two main areas where
the refugees have settled, taking some of the burden off the local
authorities and communities.

In Kenya, an extra US$ 2.1 million is needed to pay for major repairs and
reconstruction in the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in the northeast of
the country. Both camps were badly damaged by April's heavy rains and
subsequent serious flooding, which completely destroyed around 1,000
refugee shelters and badly damaged a further 2,500 others. In addition,
parts of a key access road to Dadaab were swept away, 200 latrines
collapsed, some food stocks were lost and water supplies were contaminated.

In addition to repairing the damaged infrastructure and providing emergency
relief supplies, UNHCR plans to relocate 16,800 refugees living in the most
floodprone area of the Kakuma camp to higher ground, before the next rains
arrive in October. This will also mean setting up a new hospital and
secondary school, since the existing ones were both badly damaged in the
April floods and are unlikely to survive another flood, even a relatively
minor one.

In neighbouring Uganda, an extra US$ 850,000 is needed to cope with 9,000
new refugees who have fled recent interethnic fighting and atrocities in
the Bunia region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The refugees
have settled in the western Ugandan border areas around Lake Albert and the
Semeliki River, and are currently sleeping out in the open or sheltering
under local villagers' verandas. In some villages, refugees outnumber local
inhabitants, placing considerable strain on existing health, sanitation and
educational facilities.

UNHCR is requesting a further US$ 890,000 to relocate 15,000 Sudanese
refugees who were forced to flee their camp in northern Uganda late last
year by the repeated predations of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels.
Several refugees were killed and injured during the most severe attack on
refugees by the LRA, in August 2002, and as a result the entire population
of 24,000 refugees living in Acholpii camp fled southwards. Since then, the
refugees have been living in very overcrowded conditions in the Kiryandongo
settlement. Although 8,000 have already been relocated from Kiryandongo,
overcrowding remains a serious problem, contributing to two cholera and
three measles outbreaks. A third cholera outbreak is now affecting the
settlement.

The rest of the funds are needed for a variety of situations, including
unexpected repatriations from the Central African Republic to the
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and from Gabon to the Republic of
the Congo (ROC). In Ethiopia, the UN refugee agency is planning to relocate
around 5,300 Eritrean refugees from the disputed border between the two
countries. And in Rwanda, UNHCR is trying to consolidate two existing camps
into one.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, has introduced the appeal
at the African Union Summit currently under way in the Mozambique capital,
Maputo. The appeal will be formally presented to donors next week in Geneva.

Prior to the new appeal, UNHCR's annual programme budget for Africa stood
at just under US$ 330 million, with an additional US$ 65 million requested
for four special programmes in Liberia, Côte D'Ivoire Angola and Zambia.
The latest appeal thus takes the overall total amount required by UNHCR for
its protection and assistance programmes in Africa to more than US$ 400
million.

Story date: 11 Jul 2003
UNHCR News Stories

car: UN refugee agency to assist 2,000 returnees

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35329

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the Central African Republic (CAR) has set aside 10 million francs CFA (US $17,988) to assist some 2,000 people who have returned home since June, the agency's country representative, Emile Segbor, told IRIN on Thursday.

CONGO/DRC: UNHCR repatriates 197 refugees from Kinshasa to Brazzaville

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35347

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repatriated last Thursday 197 Republic of Congo refugees from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), following assurances from Brazzaville authorities that their safety would be guaranteed.

CONGO: UN agency repatriates 334 more refugees

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35358

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) repatriated 334 more refugees from neighbouring Gabon to the Republic of Congo, the agency's refugee protection officer in Brazzaville told IRIN last Friday.

guinea: Too Little to Run

2003-07-17

http://www.refugees.org/news/press_releases/2003/toolittletorun.cfm

The 50 or so laughing children playing in the mud on a hot, rainy day deep in Guinea’s remote Forest Region are mostly younger than 12 years old, and, although small for their age, seem reasonably healthy. The mud, their youth, and giggles are not the only things they share in common, however. Each are abandoned children that were forced to flee the orphanage they called home when the northeastern Liberian border town of Ganta turned into a war zone earlier this year. They also have another commonality that bonds them; each child is now a refugee in a foreign land, attempting to again restart their already broken lives.

Sierra Leone: Refugees Head Home

2003-07-17

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19225

"Thank God for arriving home safely,” says 20-year-old Emerson Fowai, who was among 360 Sierra Leoneans evacuated from war-torn Liberia last week. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) commenced the repatriation of Sierra Leonean refugees from Liberia last week. And, so far, close to 700 have been transported in two batches.

South Africa: Anti-Eviction Campaign hit with spate of unlawful arrests

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1328

The Anti-Eviction Campaign, a group that campaigns against the forced removal of people from their homes, says it is “saddened and disturbed” by recent events, including a spate of arrests, to hit the community of Mandela Park in the Western Cape, which comprises thousands of old people who are all facing eviction.

car: battling corruption

2003-07-17

http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=70078

The Central African Republic is trying to ditch its reputation as a smuggler's den and has taken a key step towards cleaning up its diamond industry. This week at an international conference in Bangui, CAR joined the Kimberley Process, a global initiative aimed at ending trade in so-called "blood diamonds" by establishing that exported gems have not come from conflict areas.

Chad: country joins oil club amid corruption, environment concerns

2003-07-17

http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=70095

Chad, one of the world's poorest countries, is set to join the elite club of oil-producing nations Tuesday as black gold begins flowing into a pipeline towards a terminal in the Atlantic Ocean off Cameroon. The multi-billion dollar project, co-funded by the World Bank and a consortium of oil companies led by ExxonMobil, is expected to generate up to 250,000 barrels of oil a day when it reaches full operating capacity. But promises of riches for the landlocked desert country of eight million, where per capita income is well under a dollar a day, have met with scepticism among environmental and human rights groups, as well as opposition groups who fear that little of the newfound oil wealth will trickle down to the poor.

drc: Warlords and adventurers in scramble for riches

2003-07-17

http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=70112

Ituri, the province where the peace process in Congo now faces its stiffest challenge and where French-led peacekeepers are attempting to halt the bloodshed, has remained a frontier of unbridled capitalism ever since King Leopold of Belgium sent in two Australian gold prospectors 100 years ago. Warlords and adventurers have thrived on the trade in gold, diamonds and timber, receiving arms in exchange from godfathers in Kinshasa, Uganda and Rwanda, all of which have been battling for control of the province through proxies.

kenya: Kenya Investigating Dozens of AIDS NGO's in Fake Charity Crackdown

2003-07-17

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18727

Kenya's National AIDS Control Council, the agency that coordinates the country's response to the AIDS epidemic, has recently cut off funding to four fraudulent nongovernmental AIDS organisations and is investigating another 10 organisations, the New York Times reports.

kenya: Unite Against Graft, Says Kibaki

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307130148.html

President Mwai Kibaki has called on African countries to unite against corruption, tribalism and poverty, which he termed enemies of unity in the continent. The President said most of Africa's problems were caused by poor governance.

kenya: Why war on graft may soon fizzle out

2003-07-17

http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/Comment/Comment160720032.html

When he took over the reins of power on December 30, President Kibaki promised Kenyans that the days of corruption as a national pastime were over and that his administration was committed to a policy of zero-tolerance to corruption. And because he made this declaration in the presence of his predecessor, whose regime is blamed for runaway corruption in the public sector, Kenyans were convinced that things would change for the better. But have they? Is the Government’s war on corruption losing steam? Although it has demonstrated an impressive commitment to erasing the sad legacy of corruption from the public domain, the goals it set for itself may, after all, have been too ambitious, says this commentary from the Daily Nation newspaper.

africa: Bush in Africa

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/16314

The petro-military-commerce safari that George Bush embarked upon last week may well succeed in the areas that progressive critics fear most, writes Johannesburg-based academic and activist Patrick Bond. First, the imperial-subimperial nexus in South Africa and Nigeria will tighten. Second, the possibility of increased US military activity on the continent will increase in some areas with bases in West Africa and the Horn of Africa to guard oil fields and lesson in others.
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Bush in Africa

by Patrick Bond

The petro-military-commerce safari that George Bush embarked upon this week may well succeed in the areas that progressive critics fear most. Those critics, ranged in protest in several African cities, are not shy about what's wrong with Washington's agenda.

First, the imperial-subimperial nexus in South Africa and Nigeria will tighten. Presidents Thabo Mbeki and Olusegon Obasanjo are pro-western in terms of obeying the logic of multinational corporate privilege, and sufficiently undemocratic as to coddle dictators like Robert Mugabe. Mbeki and Obasanjo are the key boosters of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad), that neoliberal manifesto considered by the Bush regime as 'philosophically spot-on', as chief Africa diplomat Walter Kansteiner told Institutional Investor magazine last month.

Second, the possibility of increased US military activity on the continent will increase in some areas (bases in West Africa and the Horn of Africa to guard oil fields) and lesson in others (potential peace-keeping activities). South Africa will pick up the latter duty, even in places such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Burundi, both of which have seen recent 'peace' agreements -- in reality, elite deals with no durable means of addressing long-standing local grievances -- followed immediately by intense fighting and bloodshed.

Third, US trading corporations are increasingly profitable because of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and an even further-reaching free trade deal with pliant Southern African leaders is also making progress. This trend leaves less revenue for states like Namibia and Lesotho which used to count on larger import tariff funds, and leaves all of Africa more susceptible to Washington's arm-twisting. The Bush regime is already notorious for linkage of its geopolitical agenda with trade preferences and debt relief. Other AGOA conditionalities include adopting neoliberal policies, privatising state assets, removing subsidies and price controls, and ending incentives for local companies.

Fourth, Bush needs the trip to project a more compassionate public image (especially to African-Americans in advance of the 2004 elections). That entails promoting the very slight rise in highly-conditional donations to Africa, as well as the miseleadingly advertised HIV/AIDS fund. The US piece of the AIDS fund will be run by a pharmaceutical corporate executive, and coincides with US government advisory support that makes import or local production of generic AIDS medicines much more difficult. That, of course, is the point of the new spending, which in any case is likely to be half or less than the $15 billion in coming years that Bush has bragged about.

There are always a few complications, of course, and these were on display in Pretoria, where Bush spent 18 hours after his opening gambit at Senegal's slave-trading site on Tuesday. For example, South Africa did not join the 'coalition of the willing' against Saddam Hussein, and Nelson Mandela remains a staunch opponent of Bush (hence no meeting?a symbolic slapdown of the US leader).

On the other hand, Pretoria seems to have profited nicely from the hostilities by selling arms and also hyping somewhat ludicrous security concerns to play to the local anti-imperialist audience. Thus just before the war broke out, at a February 19 demonstration at the US embassy in Pretoria, African National Congress general secretary Kgalema Motlanthe pronounced, 'Because we are endowed with several rich minerals, if we don't stop this unilateral action against Iraq today, tomorrow they will come for us.' Likewise, health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was reported by the Guardian to have said, 'South Africa cannot afford drugs to fight HIV/AIDS partly because it needs submarines to deter attacks from nations such as the US.'

The high tech weaponry Tshabala-Msimang referred to will cost South Africa $5 billion, and make it possible to engage in fighting across the subcontinent. Meanwhile, Pretoria ignored widespread calls to withdraw permission for three Iraq-bound warships to dock and refuel in Durban harbor, and to halt sales of sophisticated armaments to the US/UK regimes. The state-owned arms manufacturer Denel often stated its vision of being 'an acknowledged global player.' In the months before the war, it contracted to deliver $29 million in ammunition shell-casing, $169 million in artillery propellants, and 326 hand-held laser range finders to the British army. Denel also sold the US Marines 125 laser-guidance sights.

If anti-war tensions were largely a 'talk-left, act-right' dance of the sort we are so accustomed to, another tension -- over Bush's desired non-extradition treaty aimed at circumventing the International Criminal Court where US citizens are wanted -- at least gave Mbeki the chance to look principled. Losing roughly $7 million in military aid from Bush was not a terribly high cost, and kept alive the fiction that Pretoria can stand firm against Washington.

It has often been remarked, including by Mbeki, that the most striking component of US international economic policy is hypocrisy. Treasury undersecretary John Taylor has explained the protection of steel and agriculture quite casually: 'You take steps forward and move back. That's always the case.'

Another example of the Washington's imposition of unsustainable development on Africa is the genetically-modified (GM) food controversy. The EU, Australia, Japan, China, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia have banned GM trade and production, so Bush is clearly desperate for new markets in Africa, as he revealed to the US Africa Business Summit shortly before his trip: 'To help Africa become more self sufficient in the production of food, I have proposed the initiative to end hunger in Africa. This initiative will help African countries to use new high yield bio tech crops and unleash the power of markets to dramatically increase agricultural productivity. But there's a problem. There's a problem. At present, some governments are blocking the import of crops grown with biotechnology, which discourages African countries from producing and exporting these crops. The ban of these countries is unfounded; it is unscientific; it is undermining the agricultural future of Africa. And I urge them to stop this ban.'

The Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference replied, 'We do not believe that agro companies or gene technologies will help our farmers to produce the food that is needed in the 21st century. On the contrary, we think it will destroy the diversity, the local knowledge and the sustainable agricultural systems that our farmers have developed for millennia and that it will thus undermine our capacity to feed ourselves.' Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, interprets: 'The Bush administration is not straightforward. It is not poverty in Africa that is the most important issue for the administration but business considerations on behalf of the US technology and agricultural sector.'

As InterPress Service reports, 'Zambia, citing health concerns, rejected GM corn in both grain and milled forms. One year later, President Levy Mwanawasa announced last week that this year Zambia will nearly double the 600,000 tonnes of grain it harvested last season, providing new fuel to the argument that GM technology is not necessary for reducing hunger in Africa.'

Again, as in the case of resistance to local AIDS drugs, Bush's underlying concern is the penetration of capital into all areas of African life where it can make a profit. That requires the protection of patents as fundamental property rights, so as to protect profits in other parts of the world in circumstances where Africans are simply too poor to buy medicines or import non-GM food.

These and many other insults to Africans have generated a healthy backlash. South Africa was one of the key sites of protest during the war and in recent days, notwithstanding the worsening divide between the major civil society groups and the independent left. The latter continues to mobilise as the Anti-War Coalition, and drew many thousands to marches in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban that called for Bush to leave Africa. The major trade unions, Communist Party, and ANC itself mustered numbers only in the hundreds, and issued a confusing message calling on Bush to listen to Mbeki, but not to cancel his visit. (Only in the Eastern Cape province has unity between the two groups been somewhat successful.)

After Bush's talk with Mbeki on Wednesday, proponents of democracy in Zimbabwe were deeply embittered, for as opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai put it, the South African issued a 'false and mischievous' statement that talks had already begun with Mugabe's regime. Hastily, South African and Zimbabwe government mediators sent a delegation to request Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change to enter discussions. In any event, Bush made clear he would take the lead from Mbeki. Once again, it demonstrated to Zimbabwean progressives that 'none but ourselves' will liberate the country. Whether imperial Washington or subimperial Pretoria attempts to mediate, the result will no doubt favor the worst features of the status quo.

The same sentiment appears rife in Nigeria, where Obasanjo ran an extremely dirty election a few weeks ago, and where trade unions had a successful national strike against a gasoline price hike last week.

But perhaps due merely to my proximity, the last word should go to the largest collection of anti-capitalist groups in South Africa: the Social Movements Indaba (SMI), which gathered at least 20,000 last August to protest the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development. In their communique from the Maputo site of the African Union's second annual conference, chaired by Mozambican president Joachim Chissano beginning Thursday morning, the SMI announced that it:

'rejects the dominance of the United States and the other G8 countries and calls for the shutting down of their instruments of domination, including the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organisation (WTO). The SMI also opposes those leaders and governments in Africa that are complicit in imposing this neoliberal global order... It is no small surprise that the G8 has refused to fill the begging bowl. It chooses only to support military intervention in the continent. George Bush is visiting Africa to secure oil resources, in other words to take what he wants whether Nepad is there or not. The African Union (AU) has been formed on the basis of Nepad as its fundamental policy. It thus compels us to stand up to the AU and demand that it jettisons Nepad before we give consideration to engaging with its structures.'

Not all African social movements are as tough, but the more they see of the Bush agenda, the greater the distance will grow between those perpetuating international minority rule (even Mbeki has used the phrase 'global apartheid') and its African victims. The leaders of African nations who chose to play the comprador role for Bush this week are not unaware of the US president's agenda, and they remain on notice that their legitimacy will also continue to suffer.


(Patrick Bond is a Johannesburg-based academic and activist.)

africa: Bush Trip Leaves Key Africa Policy Issues Unresolved

2003-07-17

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=655&ncid=655&e=1&u=/oneworld/20030714/wl_oneworld/4536634251058189169

On his first week back from his whirlwind trip across Africa, President George W. Bush will have a lot of explaining to do. Visiting UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will want to know what the U.S. president is prepared to do in war-torn Liberia. Annan and many in Congress, as well as AIDS activists both here and in Africa, also want to know whether Bush is prepared to push Congress to approve the full US$3 billion dollars for fiscal year 2004 as the first instalment of his $15 billion emergency program to fight AIDS in Africa.

africa: Bush’s tour and US imperialism’s designs on Africa

2003-07-17

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/jul2003/afri-j15.shtml

A fraudulent aids policy aimed at advancing a neo-colonial agenda was championed, U.S. corporate interests were advanced through the touting of a free trade agreement and the primacy of access to oil over democratic rights was made clear - these were the core issues of the recent visit to Africa by U.S president George W. Bush, according to the World Socialist Web Site.

africa: Taking a firm stance against NEPAD

Paper presented at the African Civil Society Meeting on the Occasion of the II Conference of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/16447

"Even though some of NEPAD's stated goals may be well intentioned, the development vision and economic measures that it puts across for the realizations of these goals are either flawed in that they do not reflect the problems affecting Africans in general and workers in particular or makes heavy reliance on past discredited IMF, World Bank programmes. As a result, NEPAD in its present form does not and will not contribute to making Africa a better place for the average worker. It does not explicitly recognize the role of the worker in development; neither does it explicitly uphold the rights of the worker throughout its deliberations. It relies on the assumption that NEPAD's benefit to the worker can only come through indirect "trickle down" effects. This has not worked in the past (under IMF, World Bank programmes) and there is no reason to expect that it will work now."
Taking a firm stance against NEPAD







By Thomas DEVE



Paper presented at the African Civil Society Meeting on the Occasion of the II Conference of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union

Maputo - Mozambique

27 June - 2 July 2003






























Context

The ascendancy of neo-liberalism through globalisation triggered unprecedented interest within Civil Society in development models that African governments have adopted in their respective states and also others they have endorsed in regional and continental bodies. But the greatest challenge on the continental level has been around the New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), a programme that was nurtured within the framework of the African Union, a pan African body whose vision is rooted in the 1960s anti colonial-struggles and quest for African Unity.



NEPAD Outline

Conceived and developed by a core group of African leaders, NEPAD describes itself as a 'comprehensive integrated development plan that addresses key social, economic and political priorities for the continent'. The Final programme integrated the New African Initiative which was a merger of the Millennium recovery Plan (MAP) and the OMEGA plan for Africa's economic recovery.



NEPAD argues that globalisation will provide Africa with opportunities to grow economically and achieve unprecedented poverty reduction.



African heads of state committed to NEPAD see it as a pledge based on a common vision and a firm and shared conviction, that they have a pressing duty to eradicate poverty and to place their countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustainable growth and development, and at the same time to participate actively in the world economy and body politic.



The Programme document further notes that NEPAD is anchored on the determination of Africans to extricate themselves and the continent from the malaise of underdevelopment and exclusion in a globalising world.



It includes a commitment by African leaders to African people and the international community to place Africa on a path of sustainable growth, accelerating the integration of the continent into the global economy.



It calls on the rest of the world to partner Africa in its development based on Africa's own agenda and programme of action.



Ownership of NEPAD

The launch of the African Union in South Africa (July 2003) raised a lot of questions around the ownership of NEPAD and the exact meaning of what the heads of State thought of it as a concrete expression of Africa's desire to develop in a new environment that seeks new partnerships with peoples of Africa and western powers that have traditionally provided Africa with development assistance mainly in the form of loans and grants.







Civil society and NEPAD

African civil society which historically has been marginalised by the African states in the arena of policy formulation found itself engaging the programme at a moment when governments were seeking the sector's support in endorsing it as a truly African initiative that could be marketed to donors outside the continent. This gesture by African heads of state prompted civil society to give a very impressive response on a Pan-African level, but with little or no grounding in the various nation states.



This was achieved through professional network discussions in workshops and seminars resulting in a plethora of statements and publications too numerous to recount for this presentation but suffice it to say that, all expressed disgust with the lack of broad-based consultation and NEPAD's top-down, one-size-fits-all approach.



This argument was to reverberate throughout Africa.



Unfortunately, this led to a situation where most citizens found themselves digesting the articulate critiques of NEPAD that left them with no intention to familiarise themselves with the actual pronouncements made in the document.



An on-going MWENGO-initiated survey on the state of NEPAD in Eastern and Southern Africa notes that the lack of consultation has remained a thorny issue that has forced civil society to pursue the programme largely in negative terms.



Civil society ideologues have repeatedly harped on NEPAD's admission that it will be successful "...only if it is owned by the African peoples united in their diversity," (paragraph 51, page 13).



A number in Zambia for example, hailed its spirit of appealing to the African people for support, but still stressed that no one from their Government has gone out of their way to challenge their critical engagement of NEPAD, let alone mobilise them to support sections they agree with.



This action and failure by African leaders and their representatives to move on this front, has its roots in the fact that while some sections of the document allude to the importance of popular participation, others try to justify the top-down approach taken, contending that: "...We believe that while African leaders derive their mandates from their people, it is their role to articulate these plans and lead the processes of implementation on behalf of their people," (paragraph 47, page 11).



Thus, NEPAD reduces the role of civil society as follows: "We are, therefore, asking the African peoples to take up the challenge of mobilising in support of the implementation of this initiative by setting up, at all levels, structures for organisation, mobilisation and action," (paragraph 56, page 13).



The role of civil society is reduced to one of merely supporting the initiative. In this regard, NEPAD takes a highly (and discredited) paternalistic approach to its people.

By choosing this top-down approach, NEPAD ignores lessons from past strategies. Even the World Bank and IMF, masters of the top-down Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), have come around to accept that ownership of development strategies by people is critical to their success, and hence late in 1999, they adopted the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), which are supposed to be government-led, but people-driven. (The PRSPs do have their own shortcomings, but that is not the subject of our current discussion, suffice to say they are there because of the realisation by the IMF and World Bank of the inadequacies of top-down, one-size-fits-all approaches.)



This position and critique is well developed in South Africa, Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, Kenya and Uganda.



Its proponents spelt out that the African governments adopted the African Charter on Popular Participation at Arusha (Tanzania) in 1990 as the continent's operational framework. It is therefore unfortunate that NEPAD violates a key principle of popular participation, adopted by African governments themselves.



On the continental level, this view was reiterated in the Addis Ababa, January 2003 African Social Forum and popularised at the global level during the Porto Alegre, World Social summit where the African delegates stated that NEPAD is based on the discredited neo-liberal approach which promotes free markets and free trade.



NEPAD seeks to integrate Africa into the global world on the basis of free markets and free trade. NEPAD enjoins African countries to implement '...far reaching reforms and programmes,' (paragraph 23, page 6), without elaborating on what these entail. In development discourse, such a reference refers to SAPs.



This is confirmed in the following paragraph (24) which argues that the SAPs implemented in the 1980s provided only a partial solution: "...they promoted reforms that tended to remove serious price distortions, but gave inadequate attention to the provision of social services," (page 6). The analytical part of NEPAD observed that the current phase of globalisation undermines African recovery and development, and yet the proposed solution is steeped in further integrating Africa into a faulty world economy, without addressing its inequalities and injustices.



Civil society points out repeatedly that African governments are short-changing citizens whenever they talk of partnership in NEPAD. They argue that the concept of 'Partnership', a cornerstone of NEPAD, is outward rather than inward oriented.



The new partnership is with the Northern development partners, and not African civil society.



NEPAD states clearly that the programme is "...a call for a new relationship between Africa and the international community, especially the highly industrialised countries, to overcome the development chasm that has widened over centuries of unequal relations," (paragraph 8, page 2). It makes it plain that: "...the programme is a new framework of interaction with the rest of the world, including the industrialised countries and multilateral organisations," (paragraph 48, page 11).



While African leaders have been at the forefront in criticising the World Bank and IMF for promoting top-down, one-size-fits-all SAPs, they are guilty of the same sin in developing and promoting a top-down, one-size-fits-all NEPAD.



A meeting which was held recently in Arusha, Tanzania and attended by more than twenty people from Eastern and Southern Africa, which sought to sensitize participants on the importance of the East African Community, found itself debating the issue of partnership.



The participants felt that the EAC was promoting a vision rooted in the controversial neo-liberal approach and had not articulated the role of civil society except that of the private sector which they felt was being touted as an engine of the growth. One irate participant equated the EAC to a little NEPAD secretariat as he could not comprehend the complimentarily of the institution's visions after it had been pointed out that these organs had not met officially to see how they could work together. This coincidence of vision is an issue East Africans will have to interrogate when they discuss the role of regional economic blocs in the promotion of continental economic programmes espoused under NEPAD.



The meeting also highlighted the need to harmonise visions in the areas of peace and security as it was pointed out that the East African region and the horn of Africa were using IGAD to pursue peace initiatives in that area.



One other initiative worth noting for the NEPAD engagement was the Kenya series of public talks held in March under the theme "Our World Is not for Sale" and "Another Africa is possible". Showcasing Yash Tandon, a Zimbabwean-based anti-globalisation activist as the lead discussant, Kenyans from all walks of life debated the various themes arising out of NEPAD and most of the remarks from this town and gown format of meeting pointed to another rejection of NEPAD.



The Ugandans who also engaged Yash Tandon as one of the lead discussants took the Kenya line, but the levels of enthusiasm were not the same.



In the course of the year 2002, Deniva a network of indigenous voluntary associations well known for their advocacy around home grown and people centred paradigms, policies and strategies pledged to mount a series of activities to ensure that Ugandans understand NEPAD.



As late as December 2002, participants at a Consumer Education Trust of Uganda meeting still lamented the lack of knowledge on NEPAD among the country's citizens. At this meeting, participants felt that the government had directed civil society's energy into PRSPs leaving very little room for a more concerted effort to understand the dynamics of NEPAD.



As we speak, another initiative has been put in place in Uganda to raise the challenges posed by NEPAD, but the modus operandi for the implementation is still yet to be availed.



In past civil society engagements, the efforts were directed at critiquing rather than adopting NEPAD. These were largely led by academia or fairly radical sections of civil society who see NEPAD as a subtle continuation of the neo-liberal agenda but seemingly giving the initiative to the African elite to take forward.



The government has been challenged to embark on a vigorous and coherent public campaign to educate the public on the objectives of NEPAD and solicit their participation



Moreover, there hasn't been an identified champion with the necessary resources within civil society to take the expanded public dialogue forward. The NGO Forum has been sighted and currently seems the best placed to carry this agenda forward.



It has been argued that infact there may be need for a two-track approach where at one level we are taking to the public the minimum agenda where it may be easy to have consensus and actually make some discernable progress including trying to attain greater transparency and accountability between policy makers (particularly those involved in NEPAD) and the public. At the other level, a more restricted discussion on conceptual issues, developing a vision and reaching a consensus on how the continent can be actually transformed and the implications of NEPAD on the broader development agenda i.e. another track should focus on the more fundamental issues that NEPAD and other approaches raise about Africa's development.



Ugandan Civil society is proposing that broad based public dialogue between the citizenry, civil society, politicians and government technocrats and legislators could more profitably focus on the minimum agenda. And that if these aspects are not separated, public meetings, dialogue on NEPAD end up generating more heat than light.



Mauritian civil society has stuck to its March 2002 position tabulated in the Common Declaration adopted by NGOs, CBOs, trade unions, women's, youth, planters, fishermen, education & research organisations which was structured as a twelve point document.

They noted that NEPAD has not been subjected to any democratic debate neither in Mauritius nor in any African countries.



1. NEPAD is rather a project being steered through by an African elite in conjunction with the World Bank, the World Economic Forum and the G8.

2. NEPAD is based on the assumption that the present corporate-led globalisation represents progress for humanity. This is not the case at all.

3. NEPAD contains many of the contested conditionalities of the IMF/WB; such as the Structural Adjustment Program, the neo-liberal economic policies and the cuts on social spending that have largely contributed to aggravate poverty in Africa.

4. NEPAD is proposing a development strategy that threatens the economic and social rights of the African people and may lead to the re-colonisation of Africa by multinational companies.

5. NEPAD is making an economic projection of 7% growth, which seems unrealistic under the present context of globalisation.

They concluded by calling on all African organisations, whether trade unions, social, women's, youth or peasants' organisations, as well as academics, to take a firm stand against the NEPAD.



The government was told that "Given that there has not been any democratic debate on NEPAD and given that the NEPAD contains serious threats to our people, we call on the Mauritian government NOT to go ahead with the presentation of NEPAD in the coming G8 meeting and its launch in July 2002."



Indicators in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland point to a very underdeveloped discourse on NEPAD. While the exact cause has not been established, it is important to note some sections of civil society in these respective countries have engaged NEPAD via the Johannesburg Earth Summit procedures and parallel meetings which were put in place last year during the preparations for the launch of the African Union.



The position that was dominant during the processes highlighted that members of civil society who met all over Africa prior to the launch of the African Union and subsequently, in Port Shepstone on the eve of the launch, clearly rejected NEPAD after analysing it in the context of the struggles for development and emancipation.



That was a very bold position when one considered the fact that in terms of publicity, African media and conventional wisdom had led many to believe that NEPAD was going to be the issue in Durban, notwithstanding the fact that the legitimacy of this programme was inextricably fused with the successful transformation of the OAU to the African Union.



In the African civil society declaration on NEPAD whose clarion call was "We do not accept NEPAD!! Africa is not for sale", social movements, trade unions, youth and women's organisations, faith based organisations, academics, NGOs and other popular civil society organisations unequivocally stated that they will continue to build popular movements at national, continental and international levels against neo-liberal economic globalisation, and against the world trade Organisation as the main institutional force driving globalisation.



What was ignored?

The NEPAD document was seen as having ignored the thinking embodied in The 1980 Lagos Plan of Action, 1991 Abuja Treaty, the 1989 alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes (AAF-SAAP), the African charter for popular participation and development (Arusha charter, 1990) and the 1994 Cairo Agenda.

These constituted efforts by Africans to resolve the continent's crises without placing emphasis on resources from the west.



Strategic thinking and agenda setting

This was a very important gesture in terms of strategic thinking and agenda setting.

But most importantly, they highlighted the fact that NEPAD seemed to ignore the fact that African states have been undermined as social providers and vehicles of development particularly under the tutelage of the World Bank.



Their position was a declaration of war on NEPAD as they called on the African people to mobilise for a developmental participatory state responsive to people's needs and aspirations.



It was also reiterated that there was need to build popular and democratic movements that can hold African states accountable to their responsibilities.



In short, Africa needed a very strong state whose capacity in terms of delivering social services would remain unwavering and perhaps be stronger than what has remained in the aftermath of the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs).



Who endorsed NEPAD?

Heads of states were not unanimous in their endorsement of NEPAD.

Some ridiculed its assumed dependency on western mobilized financial resources which they strongly resented because of the conditionalities that they impose on the recipient states with the most stringent being applied by the IMF and the World Bank. Bilateral financial arrangements have often benefited the donor and only strengthened the capacity of the recipient to efficiently deliver goods and services deemed strategic for the donor nation or organisation. As a result, it was very difficult for Presidents Mbeki, Obassanjo and Wade, the triumvirate often associated with NEPAD to go back home and proudly pronounce that NEPAD was as purely home grown as was the other institution the African Union they had just launched.



Point of Engagement

NEPAD had serious weaknesses and it is these that we should use to push for further democratisation of the African state and an increased role for civil society to shape and influence any policies that are deemed a panacea for developing Africa and eradicating the ever increasing poverty levels the majority of the continent's citizens face and are subjected to.



There is the issue of NEPAD accepting the fundamentals of the neo-liberal project and gender-blind SAPs paradigm which has been largely responsible for the deepening of the African crises, including the feminisation of poverty.



Arguments vs NEPAD

It is interesting to note that some of the states that questioned the NEPAD philosophy used the arguments that had been refined in civil society forums.

This gesture in turn confused many activists who were to be seen in the corridors of the Durban African Union summit rubbing shoulders with government bureaucrats and promising to go out and popularise NEPAD.



There is nothing wrong with entertaining state officials and promising to work with them.



The challenge for us is to impress upon them that NEPAD will not create the kind of partnerships envisaged by the masses in whose name civil society is calling on governments to consult, act and then be held accountable.



The AU

Those who are not yet familiar with AU structures will find it instructive that some of the organs the new organisation seeks to operationalise are directly associated with NEPAD proposals.



These relate to peace and security, gender equity and equality and the controversial peer review system, an instrument that will hopefully constitute a barometer for measuring a state's adherence to democracy, human rights and adherence to the rule of law.

These core values have been ignored by many governments in the past but at this stage it is not easy to evade them as Africa is busy exploring ways and means of achieving meaningful peace and security which goes beyond the absence of conflict as a common denominator for all to prosper.



The AU was marked by unprecedented political will and civil society has new and unlimited opportunities to engage their governments on the basis of the rhetoric and relative openness that characterised Durban.



With or without NEPAD, these expectations are not out of place because in the constitutive Act of the AU, sections of Article 3 binds the union to promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance; promote and protect human and people's rights in accordance with the African charter on Human and Peoples' rights and other human rights instruments.



Where does that leave Civil Society?

Be that as it may, civil society should not the miss the AU omnibus in carving out more space to discourse on Africa's development path.



It is out of this realisation that we are currently initiating and participating in a regional initiative to build capacity within civil society organisations to engage once again with the African Union and revisit our views and articulations of NEPAD that have developed in the past year.



We are arguing that the official launch of the African Union (AU) in July 2002 has provided African civil society with unlimited opportunities to engage national governments on the controversial aspects surrounding the much talked about New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).



Guided by the MWENGO Economic Policy Project mission statement:

To contribute to people-cantered policy changes for the economic transformation of Africa through social mobilization and a vision rooted in the quest for an economic order founded on justice equity and sustainable development, we seek to build a critical mass of civil society organisations in the region to advocate for people-centred economic policies and programmes, and to foster collaboration between NGOs, the media, academics, faith-based organisations, unions and various social movements to reverse the marginalisation of citizens from policy and decision making in the different areas of economic policy and governance in the region.



To effectively do this, a country's citizens should be availed with knowledge and information which when accessed can help them make informed choices.



We propose to consolidate our campaign aimed at equipping society with basic knowledge of the Constitutive Act of the African Union in general and focus more on why civil society has repeatedly affirmed that NEPAD was a neo-liberal sell-out programme.



It is also proposed that advocacy and lobbying opportunities that might arise during the implementation of the campaign must be undertaken, bearing in mind that some civil society organizations agreed to engage with the issues raised in NEPAD as part of their broad struggles against the neo-liberal agenda imposed by the IFIs and the WTO.



Our discourse located in the AU discussions will be about understanding the national, regional and global economy and Africa's places within it.



Armed with a common tool for engendering broad public participation in debating and setting economic policy, the campaign should promote a framework for revealing the structural causes of economic and social problems.



We will seek to challenge destructive myths, to create positive policy alternatives, and to enhance community/neighbourhood alternatives.



Given the abundance of primary and secondary material in existence on NEPAD so far, the campaign should be a process of sharing specific economic, political and social analysis and information with various groups in accessible, participatory ways.



Beyond the seminar and workshops and even this meeting, the campaign must be designed in such a way that it will develop tools to make complex ideas understandable and to uncover systemic issues behind what we observe.



Civil Society and social movements all over Africa should recommit themselves to

- starting a process of public information and debate on NEPAD, by explaining the programme and presenting the responses from different quarters on the programme

- dialogue between citizens, civil society, government officials, politicians and legislators about NEPAD

- greater accountability between policy makers (particularly those involved in the NEPAD process) and the public

- clarity at the country level about the implications of NEPAD and development of a broader national position



We have one product "Grappling with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD): The Debate in Namibia" prepared by Barney Karuuombe, of the Labour resource and research Institute (LaRRI), that can be circulated to those who are interested in the above initiative.



Conclusions

Our intentions are also shared by other civic organisations and we see it fit to conclude using some of their words.



The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions argues that the major issues that civil society organizations, workers and trade unions alike, are grappling with or are trying to understand include the issue of whether the NEPAD project can be "made to work for the poor in light of such inherent inconsistencies.



The intentions of NEPAD are noble only in so far as they claim to be an initiative in which African leaders have played a part. It however falls far short from rescuing the African masses from the poverty grip.

Even though some of NEPAD's stated goals may be well intentioned, the development vision and economic measures that it puts across for the realizations of these goals are either flawed in that they do not reflect the problems affecting Africans in general and workers in particular or makes heavy reliance on past discredited IMF, World Bank programmes. As a result, NEPAD in its present form does not and will not contribute to making Africa a better place for the average worker. It does not explicitly recognize the role of the worker in development; neither does it explicitly uphold the rights of the worker throughout its deliberations. It relies on the assumption that NEPAD's benefit to the worker can only come through indirect "trickle down" effects. This has not worked in the past (under IMF, World Bank programmes) and there is no reason to expect that it will work now.
The assumptions of NEPAD and other policy initiatives therefore need to be challenged, in order to adopt a more people-cantered, transformative framework. The elements of this people-cantered vision to development are located within the context of the workers and civil society's experience with globalization in Africa and elsewhere. The way forward then, is for NEPAD to turn to these people, understand the lessons learnt and then move.



Our World is not for Sale!!

Another Africa is Possible!!

Thomas Deve (Thomas@mwengo.org.zw) is the EPP Project manager at MWENGO.

GRC Exchange - a new website presenting recent thinking in governance for development

2003-07-17

http://www.grc-exchange.org/

Hosted by the Governance Resource Centre (GRC) of the UK Department for International Development, and compiled by leading international experts, the GRC Exchange provides a focal point for sharing ideas and experience in governance. Information services include: Governance Theme pages – key texts and resources exploring the key governance themes and cross-cutting issues; Information Database – summaries of and access to the best writing in governance.

South Africa: Nelson Mandela Bridge finally opened

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1360

Over the celebration of the birthday of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, which begun on Friday 18th July 2003, and after the bash that took place on the 19th, the symbolic opening of the Nelson Mandela Bridge on Sunday was like putting a cherry on top of the cream. If you could ask a child from the street of Soweto, what is happening this weekend; he or she would have told you that it was the Madiba week. The atmosphere was registered in almost everyone's eyes you came across.

southern africa: The Millennium Development Goals: Towards a Civil Society Perspective on Reframing Poverty Reduction Strategies

Presented at the UNDP MDGs Forum, Johannesburg, 2 - 4 July 2003

2003-07-17

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000416/index.php

Especially since the mid-1990s, Southern African civil society organisations have consistently campaigned against poverty and for policy and governance transformation towards defined social development objectives. The Millennium Development Goals correspond directly with the objectives of civil society organisations that have been active in social and economic justice advocacy work in the region. However, Southern African civil society organisations have either ignored or been slow in taking up the Millennium Development Goals framework in their research, service provision, community organisation, and advocacy work. Meanwhile, there is increasing coordinated research, education, and advocacy work beginning to happen among Southern African civil society organisations in regard to the New Partnership for Africa's Development and the African Union.

africa: BILL GATES: KILLING AFRICANS FOR PROFIT AND P.R

2003-07-17

http://www.gregpalast.com/printerfriendly.cfm?artid=232

The generosity of computer magnate Bill Gates in giving money to African Aids victims isn't as simple as you might think, says this article. Gate’s demi-trillionaire status is based on a nasty little monopoly-protecting trade treaty called “TRIPS” – the Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights rules of the World Trade Organisation. TRIPS gives Gates a hammerlock on computer operating systems worldwide, legally granting him the kind of monopoly the Robber Barons of yore could only dream of. But TRIPS, the rule which helps Gates rule, also bars African governments from buying AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis medicine at cheap market prices.

africa: Global Aids Fund Faces Serious Shortfall

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307160457.html

The cash-strapped Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria fell under the spotlight on Wednesday, when ministers from 14 countries met in Paris, France, to address the fund's financial woes. The fund, which has committed US $1.5 billion to programmes in 92 countries in the last 18 months, faces a lack of money for proposals waiting to be funded in October.

Africa: HIV/Aids and ageing: A Briefing Paper

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1344

The purpose of this article is to explore the main ways in which HIV and Aids impact on older women and men in developing countries. It also reviews the research, programme and policy implications of including older people in current and future interventions to halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015 and links them to national and international development targets.

africa: malaria vaccine inches closer

2003-07-17

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=655&ncid=655&e=7&u=/oneworld/20030709/wl_oneworld/4536631811057778148

The development of a vaccine against malaria could be five to eight years away, a leading researcher says. "We will try to shorten that, but it is not going to be easy,” Prof. Adrian Hill, a Wellcome Trust research fellow at the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford told media representatives.

africa: Resistance to Aids virus is growing, say scientists

2003-07-17

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=425092

The Aids virus is becoming increasingly resistant to the drugs used to treat it, researchers say. These findings, presented at the conference of the International Aids Society in Paris, show that the resistance appears to be attributable to HIV-positive patients who were taking the medication infecting others with a drug-resistant strain.

africa: Tuberculosis, public health and the need for ARVs

2003-07-17

http://www.aidsmap.com/news/newsdisplay2.asp?newsId=2188

Tuberculosis remains the single greatest public health challenge associated with HIV worldwide. Despite widespread recognition of this fact, and clinical trials showing that interventions can help few programmes exist to implement such measures, according to a view presented at the International Aids Society Conference in Paris this week.

africa: who calls for free anti-tb drugs

2003-07-17

http://kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18832

The World Health Organisation, in a report released at the International AIDS Society's 2nd Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment in Paris, called for free anti-tuberculosis drugs and improved health care for HIV-positive people, Reuters reports. About 33% of the 42 million HIV-positive people worldwide also have TB, and 90% of them will die within a few months without treatment, which typically costs about $10 per person.

EAST/SOUTHERN AFRICA: NEARLY 19 MILLION PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV, SAYS WHO

2003-07-17

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18786

Approximately 18.6 million people in East and Southern Africa were HIV-positive at the end of 2002, according to World Health Organisation statistics presented last week at a WHO workshop in Harare, Zimbabwe, Xinhua News Agency reports.

kenya: Government to Employ 100 More Doctors

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307150115.html

The Government will employ 100 more doctors next month to ease the current shortage, Health Assistant Minister Gideon Konchella has said. At the same time, Konchella expressed disappointment that some health personnel have disobeyed a directive to prescribe treatment free of charge on certain ailments.

MOZAMBIQUE: AU summit focuses on fight against HIV/AIDS

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35342

African leaders meeting in Mozambique last week for the second African Union (AU) summit said the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis (TB) was a priority for the continent, and a new regional effort which would demand greater financial support from the international community was needed.

nigeria: activists charge Bush to back commitment with action

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/16318

Nigerian HIV/AIDS activists under the aegis of the Treatment Action Movement (TAM), a coalition of civil society groups working in the area of HIV/AIDS treatment and care, have called on U.S. President George W. Bush to ensure that his AIDS policies are not merely rhetoric, but focus on improving the quality of lives of the continent's 30 million people living with HIV/AIDS.
PRESS ALERT

Nigeria activists charge Bush to back commitment with action

JULY 10, 2003: As Nigeria prepares to play host to President George Bush on
Friday, Nigerian HIV/AIDS activists under the aegis of the Treatment Action
Movement (TAM) a coalition of civil society groups working in the area of
HIV/AIDS treatment and care have called on the American leader to ensure
that his AIDS policies are not merely rhetoric, but focus on improving the
quality of lives of the continent's 30 million People living with HIV/AIDS.

In a statement issued by the group on Thursday, TAM urged the American
President to match his pronouncements on expanding access to treatment for
PLWHA in Africa with corresponding action.

We commend the President's pronouncements made in his State of the Union
address of a comprehensive plan that will prevent 7 million new HIV
infections, and treat 2 million people living with HIV/AIDS on our continent
as well as his pledge to commit $15 billion over the next five years, to
turn the tide against AIDS in the most afflicted nations of Africa and the
Caribbean.

However, the Bush Administration needs to live up to that commitment by
providing the commensurate resources starting from the 2004 fiscal year.
True commitment will be demonstrated on the part of the Bush Administration
when $3 billion is allotted for HIV/AIDS interventions for Africa and
sustained over the next five years.

Apart from sustained support from Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the group
also called on the Bush administration to release the full amount pledged to
the Global Fund.

"In its short existence, The Global Fund has proved itself as a veritable
tool for addressing the continent's AIDS situation. Yet, it is still under
funded. Prompt support for the Fund is much needed and will be a step in
the right direction", the group said.

The group also stressed the need to strengthen and expand access to
prevention of mother-to child initiatives and treatment. We wish to remind
the President of his promise which he made in 2002 "to treat one million
women annually, and reduce mother-to-child transmission by 40 percent within
five years or less in target countries. ".

"We believe these are not just empty promises. There is very little we can
do as positive women if we're denied the opportunity to have children
because we're afraid we'll have what our doctors call AIDS babies. The
only way this can be challenged is if we have access to affordable
life-saving drugs to treat opportunistic infections and prevent mother to
child transmission.

For as long as we allow the pharmaceutical companies to put their profits
ahead of our lives, everything we say and do would be all rhetoric,
beautiful nonsense. We've lost our friends, husbands, sisters and babies to
AIDS. We cannot afford to purchase our lives at the price the
Pharmaceutical companies are charging", TAM's focal person Ms. Rolake Nwagwu
stated.

The group also expressed concern over the United States rigid stance on
trade policies that could likely limit the continued access to generic
versions of drugs for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and a host of
other diseases plaguing the continent.

" U.S. trade representatives continue to block implementation of the 2001
Doha Declaration on trade which calls for looser patent rules in order to
give African countries greater access to essential anti-AIDS drugs.
Enactment of trade policies that will ensure that public health benefits are
placed ahead of the profit motives of the U.S' pharmaceutical industries
will be the litmus test of President Bush's commitment to an expanded access
to treatment programme.

"Access to ARVs under Nigeria's treatment programme has given about 8,000
people hope. This treatment still comes at a great cost to many. Expanding
access to generic antiretrovirals, and anti-TB drugs amongst others the
programme will make many more PLWHA dreams of living normal healthy lives a
reality", said Olayide Akanni, of Journalists of Against AIDS (JAAIDS),
Nigeria

For further information, please contact:

Rolake Nwagwu (Treatment Action Movement): 0803 3035 895
Dr. Emeka Anyamele ( Centre for the Right to Health) 0803 333 6645
Olayide Akanni (Journalists Against AIDS Nigeria): 0802 3037 998

Rolake Nwagwu
Treatment Action Movement
Email: rolakenwagwu@yahoo.co.uk

South Africa: Sefularo hands over wheels for quality primary health service

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1347

Mafikeng, The North West Provincial department of health is on track with its pursued to improve the provision of primary health care service to rural and farming communities. The MEC for Health Dr Molefi Sefularo has today handed out a fleet of 25 state of the art mobile clinics to the 4 regions in the province to be used in remote areas especially in farms and rural sites. &#8220; Today marks our practical commitment to turn the tide further in our quest to broaden access to quality and decent primary health care for all,&#8221; said MEC Sefularo.

south africa: Will secret Aids report get a state response?

2003-07-17

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=125&art_id=vn20030714004210817C175657&set_id=1

An "angry and disappointed" Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) on Sunday leaked the key findings of a secret government report, kept under wraps for months, which says that 1,7 million lives can be saved by 2010 if Aids drugs are given to everyone needing them. This comes after months of frustration among health care workers and activists, who say they have lost patience with the government's apparent ambivalence over anti-retroviral drug programmes.

uganda: Aids activists question Bush's motives

2003-07-17

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=565&fArticleId=186318

Aids activists have questioned U.S. President George W. Bush's purported commitment to fighting the pandemic, asking whether his policies were aimed more at helping leading drugs companies. "Is the pharmaceutical industry running your Aids programme? And does it want to run ours too?" the Ugandan Access to Essential Medicines Coalition asked in an open letter to the US leader, a day ahead of his trip to the east African country.

uganda: wailing women and a weeping bush

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/16316

In African tradition an important visitor is welcomed with drums, dancing and singing. But, says this press release from Health Rights Action Group in Uganda, the arrival of U.S. President George W. Bush in Uganda was more likely to be received with mothers wailing for the loss of their children. In this context - and with tears rolling down his cheeks - President Bush should leave Africa with the $3 billion cheque for 2004 to fight AIDS signed and an immediate plan to put more money into the Global Fund to fight Aids, TB and Malaria.
FROM: The Nigeria-AIDS eForum is a project of Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria.
For more information about us, visit our website: http://www.nigeria-aids.org
Contact the eForum moderator at: moderator1@nigeria-aids.org


SPARE OUR DRUMS: BUSH TOUCHES DOWN AMIDST WAILING NOT
DANCING

Today, July 11, 2003 President Bush, leader of the United
States of America the wealthiest nation in the world, steps
foot at Entebbe International Airport. On this day when
President Bush arrives, 18,000 people are estimated to die
from AIDS in Africa alone.

In African tradition an important visitor is welcomed with
drums, dancing and singing. However President Bush, arrival
will be received with mothers wailing for the loss of their
children: adults and infants to AIDS and toddlers to
Malaria.

Hence, President Bush's visit is the only opportunity
through which USA has to deliver on the AIDS Emergency Plan
which is now over 6 months old and no single life is known
to have been saved by it.

We call upon President Museveni to take his counterpart to
some graveyards of children who have died of AIDS. These
have died because we are so poor to give them life saving
drugs, which cost less than $1 per day. No cover up this
time. President Bush has come to see for himself the
disaster a preventable terror has caused to Uganda, a
country with the largest number of AIDS orphans in the
whole world.

We also request President Museveni to use this opportunity
to indeed lead the way by advising President Bush that the
struggle against AIDS is a concerted, one which calls for
all tools to be drawn at the same time, not only abstinence
as it portrayed as the cause of the so called Uganda's
success story.

With his tears rolling, President Bush should leave Africa
with the $3 billion cheque for 2004 to fight AIDS signed,
with an immediate plan to put more money into the Kofi
Annan Global Fund. The Fund now lacks only $600 million to
meet the financing obligation of an estimated 100 programs
from about 60 countries from all over the world to respond
to AIDS, TB and malaria.. Nothing is beyond the authority
of President Bush in the world.

The President by a phone call can ask Congress for even a
billion dollars for the Global Fund in emergency funding.
The Global Fund has proved itself to be the most economical
and demand driven process of getting hope to the lives of
individuals and families who have been rendered helpless by
diseases.

Using the WHO estimates, 3 million of the 42 million people
living with HIV/AIDS in the world need treatment in the
next three years. In Uganda, with an estimated 1.5m people
living with HIV/AIDS, approximately 105,000 Ugandans living
with HIV/AIDS will need treatment in the next 3-4 years.

Using the offer of CIPLA Company of an annual cost of $600
for treating one person, President Museveni needs $63
million per year to treat his nationals living with
HIV/AIDS and save them from preventable deaths. Therefore,
if President Museveni got a cheque, or a firm promissory
note of $315 million, he would be able to disable the
"mustard seed" that is just ready to grow into another
"beautiful green" AIDS epidemic in a country that is
celebrated for having conquered AIDS.

This is not a visit of looking good, but displaying the
evil disease has caused to Uganda and Africa in general. It
is a visit of acting good and bringing smiles to the cheeks
of youngsters whose lives will be spared from AIDS through
sustainable prevention and educational efforts. It is visit
of bringing hope to the aging who will look forward to
their children to put them to rest not vice versa. To
frontline workers, it is a visit for transforming the AIDS
response in Africa.

Milly Katana
Lobbying and Advocacy Officer (HAG)
Health Rights Action Group, Uganda

Forwarded by:
Asia Russell
Health GAP
Email: asia@healthgap.org

zimbabwe: hiv crisis not a political problem, activists tell bush

Statement by Zimbabwean activists about HIV/AIDS and Bush's Africa visit

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/16317

"Whilst we applaud President Bush's visit to this part of the world, his stance and commitment to HIV/AIDS treatment, as well as his US$15 billion financial package to help with treatment in Africa and the Caribbean, we are also painfully aware that Zimbabwe is not listed as a recipient of the President's philanthropy. We are in no doubt of the fact that the exclusion of this country is linked to the relentless and persistent human rights abuses in this country, and the explicit demands by Washington that democracy and good governance be restored."
STATEMENT OF ZIMBABWE ACTIVISTS ON HIV & AIDS ON PRESIDENT
BUSH'S VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA

9 July 2003

Zimbabwe Activists on HIV & AIDS is an activist
organisation formed in January 2003, and its vision is the
attainment of universal HIV/AIDS treatment in Zimbabwe. The
formation of ZAHA was in response to the grim realities of
the dire situation in Zimbabwe where the pandemic has now
reached disaster proportions, and is now the leading cause
of death in the country.

Whilst we applaud President Bush's visit to this part of
the world, his stance and commitment to HIV/AIDS treatment,
as well as his US$15 billion financial package to help with
treatment in Africa and the Caribbean, we are also
painfully aware that Zimbabwe is not listed as a recipient
of the President's philanthropy. We are in no doubt of the
fact that the exclusion of this country is linked to the
relentless and persistent human rights abuses in this
country, and the explicit demands by Washington that
democracy and good governance be restored.

It is apparent that the President's mission to South Africa
has a heavy bias on engaging President Thabo Mbeki to
commit himself to Washington's agenda vis-à­¶is Zimbabwe's
political situation, but apparently nothing on helping
Zimbabwe combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

We want President Bush to know that, as much as we have a
political problem, we have a bigger HIV/AIDS problem in
Zimbabwe. We have an infection rate of 34% of the adult
population; we have a death rate of at least 500 deaths per
day from AIDS-related illnesses, and our life expectancy is
now perilously low at less than 40 years. An estimated 2,3
million people are infected, including about 240 000
orphans, and about 600 000 of these are in need of
antiretroviral therapy. Only 1% of these are on the
therapy. For the rest, the cost of the therapy is simply
beyond their reach and is therefore not an option.

We also want President Bush to know that, as much as
Zimbabweans have had to endure the current economic and
political challenges, people infected and affected by
HIV/AIDS have borne the brunt of this terrible situation.
The current drought has worsened their plight and robbed
them of the nutrition that they desperately need to boost
their immune systems. The political situation, which the
President is most concerned about, has severely affected
them as they are in no way to defend them in this violent
atmosphere. The Zimbabwean Government, currently facing
severe economic challenges, has not taken concrete steps to
enable PWA's to access treatment, and this situation is
likely to persist for as long as the necessary resources
are outside of its reach. If no immediate intervention
programs are launched to target the 99% who are not on
antiretroviral therapy, the death rate will certainly reach
genocide proportions.

Finally, we want President Bush to know that the people
infected by HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe are not the authors of the
status quo, and ought not to be excluded from any treatment
initiatives meant to alleviate the plight of other PWA's in
Africa and the Caribbean merely because of
Government-to-Government hostilities. Whilst he has made
his position on our President clear, he certainly has no
beef with the hundreds of thousands who are suffering and
who urgently need help. There is no reason why they should
not be included in the US$15 billion facility, which will
enable them to access treatment and restore their lives,
their dignity and their hopes.

It must be noted that other non-governmental organisations
have taken steps to introduce HIV/AIDS treatment, including
antiretroviral therapy, in Zimbabwe, despite the adverse
conditions. SAfAIDS has launched a crusade aimed at ARV
awareness in Zimbabwe, and several mission hospitals like
Luisa Guidotti in Mutoko have started dispensing the
therapy. Private companies like De Beers and Delta
Corporation are giving the drugs to their employees. Family
Aids Caring Trust, the largest Aids Service Organisation in
Zimbabwe, has launched an access to treatment project
called LIFE Project, which will also be dispensing ARV
drugs in and around Mutare. However, given the absence of
substantial funding and long-term sustainability, these
projects are likely to benefit a few out of the hundreds of
thousands in need.

We trust that the President will put Zimbabwe on his map on
HIV/AIDS intervention, and make a difference in the lives
of countless infected and affected Zimbabweans.

Tapiwanashe Kujinga (Spokesperson)
Zimbabwe Activists on HIV & AIDS
Phone: 263 20 67874
Cell: 263 11 413 487
Email: tapiwa68@hotmail.com

NIGERIA: Muslim groups urge resistance of polio vaccination

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35390

Two influential Islamic groups in Nigeria have urged Muslims to resist the government’s immunisation programme aimed at eradicating the polio virus. They alleged the immunisation is dangerous. The Supreme Council for Shari’ah in Nigeria (SCSN) and the Kaduna State Council of Imams and Ulama said in a communiqué issued at the end of a joint meeting in the northern city of Kaduna on Sunday they considered government motives for the programme suspicious.

africa/global: Tackling the poverty-trafficking link: can the sexual abuse of children be ended?

2003-07-17

http://www.id21.org/society/s6au1g1.html

The child sex trade is a multibillion-dollar industry. Girls and boys are bought and sold like commodities and sexually exploited for commercial gain. What is the international community doing to end this inhumane trade? Can it succeed? A paper from UNICEF reports from the front line of the fight to give vulnerable children the right to protection from abuse, as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Drawing on testimonies from children and leading figures in the child protection movement, it debunks myths, calls for zero tolerance of traffickers and suggests how international agencies, police forces, legislators, judges and educators can do more to end the scourge.

africa: UNICEF Calls for Total Ban of Child Soldiers

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307110442.html

There are too many hands of African children holding guns instead of pencils or books, United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) executive director Carol Bellamy has said. Briefing journalists at the African Union (AU) summit in Maputo on the involvement of children in African conflicts, Bellamy said the situation was intolerable because the future of the continent lies in the hands of its children.

ETHIOPIA: Child prostitution on the rise, report says

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35392

Child prostitution in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is “increasing at an alarming rate”, according to a study by Save the Children-Denmark (SCD). The NGO revealed that the lure of work brought many child prostitutes – some as young as 13 - to the city. The report, compiled with government officials and a local child rights organisation, urged immediate action to tackle the magnitude of the problem.

Lesotho: YOUTH ON THE MOVE – TAKING MEASURES TO ALLEVIATE POVERTY

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1346

Against the backdrop of rampant hunger and famine in Lesotho, especially in the rural villages, youth volunteers have taken it upon themselves to help communities with projects aimed at curbing abject poverty and HIV/Aids. Youth volunteers from the Lesotho Work Camps Association have embarked on work camps to help people in the villages with irrigation schemes during dry seasons, water supply, construction of houses and roads as well as soil and water conservation.

LIBERIA: UNICEF vaccinates children and women despite war

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35357

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Liberia has ended a campaign to vaccinate 128,000 children under five years old and 230,000 women of child-bearing age around the capital, Monrovia, despite the recent escalation in fighting between government troops and rebels.

MOZAMBIQUE: New malaria vaccine trials could save children

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35409

Doctors in Mozambique are hoping that a new malaria vaccine will provide a breakthrough in lowering the toll the disease is taking. Trials starting on Thursday are expected to test the efficacy and safety of the vaccine, known as RTS,S/AS02A, on 2,000 children.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A PERSPECTIVE ON SOCIAL POLICY WITH RESPECT TO CARE

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1339

This article looks at Africa's traditional practices of care for infants. It also focuses on children and the elderly, and at how people and policy are struggling to cope with massive change.

Tanzania: Call to focus on youth in fight against HIV/Aids

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1338

Radical changes in approach to the youth are needed if Tanzania is to curb the spread of HIV/Aids and sexually transmitted infections, an official of the international NGO Africa Medical and Relief Foundation told IRIN.

zambia: Let's Combat Child Trafficking, Says Minister

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307160151.html

Government has called on the police to work closely with non governmental organisations (NGOs) dealing in child abuse to combat child trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation. Youth, Sport and Child Development Deputy Minister Gunston Chola said the problem of child trafficking required concerted efforts as it was a problem affecting many countries.

zimbabwe: Hardships Saddle Children's Homes

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307140160.html

Children's homes in Zimbabwe are failing to cope with the increasing number of children that require care as the current economic meltdown and the Aids pandemic continue to cause social disintegration and impoverishment. An investigation by The Standard has established that most children's homes in Harare are overwhelmed by the number of children that need shelter, food and education as the political, social and economic crisis worsens.

africa: 'Never Again,' Now in the Congo

2003-07-17

http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.07.18/oped2.html

'A Sept. 11 toll, every day, for 666 days," headlined a June 25 article in a Johannesburg newspaper, The Star, on the five-year-old conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. How odd. The death of at least 3.3 million Africans - exceeding the numbers killed in either the Korean or Vietnam wars - seems comprehensible to the newspaper's predominantly white readership only in terms of a catastrophe that has so profoundly affected the West. After the Holocaust, the world said "never again." And yet, less than a decade ago, the international community turned away from genocide in Rwanda. Now it seems willing to allow a replay in the Congo. To many in Africa, white as well as black, the West is prone to a sort of blindness when it comes to the fate of Africans.

the new your times' racist reporting on africa

2003-07-17

http://www.blackcommentator.org/49/49_nyt.html

More than 10 years ago, I brought to the attention of editors at The New York Times my expose of cases of journalistic concoctions by reporters and editors during the newspaper’s African news coverage. I was virtually ignored. So you can imagine how I felt when Jayson Blair’s plagiarism and fakery came back to haunt Times editors. Times editors have known for years that reporters and editors committed ugly transgressions in the past. Blair’s only mistake was being caught.

africa/global: Landmark report urges governance reforms to arrest decline of world’s environment

2003-07-17

http://newsroom.wri.org/newsrelease_text.cfm?NewsReleaseID=252

A landmark report released last week calls for fundamental changes in how decisions are made concerning the world’s natural resources. The report, World Resources 2002-2004: Decisions for the Earth – Balance, Voice, and Power, stresses the urgent need for such changes to arrest the accelerating deterioration of the world’s environment and to address the crisis of global poverty.

africa/global: Other Fish in the Sea, But For How Long?

2003-07-17

http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update25.htm

A recent review of marine fisheries concluded that a startling 90 percent of the world's large predatory fish, including tuna, swordfish, cod, halibut, and flounder, have disappeared in the past 50 years. This 10-year study by Ransom Myers and Boris Worm at Canada's Dalhousie University attributes the decline to a growing demand for seafood, coupled with an expanding global fleet of technologically efficient boats.

africa: Activists sue to stop the U.S. from importing African elephants

2003-07-17

http://www.enn.com/news/2003-07-11/s_6496.asp

An animal rights coalition filed a lawsuit last Thursday aimed at stopping the import of 11 African elephants to two U.S. zoos. The Save Wild Elephants Coalition, which has been fighting for months to keep the elephants in their natural habitat in Africa, filed suit in federal court in Washington, D.C., challenging permits issued this week by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

africa: Solar power needs viable business models

2003-07-17

http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2003/july/15july03/index.html

Solar power holds great potential as a source of clean, renewable energy for Africa, but turning that potential into reality requires effective marketing and financing of solar photovoltaic (PV) — solar panel — installations, combined with viable business models. Experts from 15 solar programmes in 13 countries took part in a workshop in Pretoria, South Africa, recently that focused on these elements for success.

Africa: Sustainability science focuses on the dynamic interactions between nature and society

2003-07-17

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/short/100/14/8059

The last decade has witnessed the emergence of an array of increasingly vibrant movements to harness science and technology in the quest for a transition toward sustainability. These movements take as their point of departure a widely shared view that the challenge of sustainable development is the reconciliation of society's development goals with the planet's environmental limits over the long term.

africa: UNESCO calls for radical reform of water education programmes

2003-07-17

http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php@URL_ID=13603&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

In the face of looming water shortages, which threaten to affect billions of the earth’s inhabitants by mid-century, UNESCO is calling for a radical review and reform of water education programmes and for a speedy doubling in the number of water professionals around the world. This call is contained in a speech that the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, will deliver on Thursday July 17.

kenya: Empowering women results in smaller populations that preserve biodiversity

2003-07-17

http://www.enn.com/news/2003-07-16/s_4776.asp

In and around the Kiunga National Marine Reserve on Kenya's northern coast, basic services are hard to come by. Pushed by poverty and the decline of marine ecosystems the use of resources is intensifying. In Kiunga, the World Wildlife Fund is supporting a small number of girls' scholarships. These are paired with environmental education, including in-school activities and a week-long conservation camp.

mozambique: Environmentalists Demonstrate Against Incineration

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307150544.html

Activists from the Mozambican environmentalist NGO "Livaningo" staged a demonstration on Monday in front of the World Bank offices in Maputo, to protest against the bank's support for the building of incinerators to burn toxic waste in developing countries, reports Tuesday's issue of the daily paper "Noticias".

nigeria: Fuel Price Hike Spells Doom for Nigeria’s Forest

2003-07-17

http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2003/2003-07-15-01.asp

Inhabitants of an oil rich country, Nigerians have had to resort to using wood for fuel due to the increase in price of petroleum products. When the Nigerian government on June 20 suddenly increased the prices of petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and the commonly used kerosene by about 50 percent, it was a decision with far reaching effects. Nigerian environmental groups say that massive deforestation of the nation’s severely depleted forest may follow if the fuel price increase is not reversed.

africa: press freedom fails to feature at au summit

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/16411

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), on the eve of the Assembly of Heads of State at the African Union (AU) summit in Maputo, Mozambique, expressed "deep concern" over the state of press freedom in Africa. "We are dismayed that the issue of press freedom does not appear on the conference agenda. As long as journalists' rights are suppressed, and they are not free to report on official injustices, such as corruption and other hindrances to development, the AU will not be able to fulfil its mandate," said the CPJ.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ACTION ALERT UPDATE- AFRICA

10 July 2003

CPJ dismayed that issue of press freedom does not appear on conference
agenda of African Union's Assembly of Heads of State

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

**Updates IFEX alert of 8 July 2003**

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is an 8 July 2003 letter to African Union General
Secretary Amara Essy:

July 8, 2003

His Excellency Amara Essy
Secretary General
African Union
African Union Headquarters
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Via facsimile: 251-1-51-2622/3036

Your Excellency,

On the eve of the Assembly of Heads of State at the African Union (AU)
summit in Maputo, Mozambique, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is
writing to express deep concern over the state of press freedom in Africa.

We are dismayed that the issue of press freedom does not appear on the
conference agenda. Outgoing AU chairperson, South African president Thabo
Mbeki, recently stated that a principal responsibility of the organization
is "to ensure that the entirety of our continent enjoys peace, stability and
democracy." But as long as journalists' rights are suppressed, and they are
not free to report on official injustices, such as corruption and other
hindrances to development, the AU will not be able to fulfill its mandate.

We hope that Your Excellency will use your authority to ensure that the
issue of press freedom in Africa is addressed at this conference, and that
it remains on the AU agenda in the future. We also hope that you will use
the occasion of the Maputo summit to encourage AU members to improve
conditions for the media in their respective countries.

Since CPJ last wrote Your Excellency in August 2002, AU member governments'
have done little to improve their treatment of journalists. Reporters in
several countries are routinely harassed, while media outlets are censored
in reprisal for their work. Governments in many African countries continue
to use repressive legislation to restrict coverage and imprison journalists.
Currently, 25 are imprisoned in AU member states because of their work,
according to CPJ research.

CPJ is particularly disturbed by the press freedom records of the following
countries:

* Eritrea: Since September 2001, when the government shut down the country's
entire independent press and began arresting journalists, Eritrea has had
the continent's most appalling press freedom record. Seventeen journalists
currently languish in prison there, nearly all of them held incommunicado in
unknown locations. Many other journalists have fled the country to avoid
persecution. Eritrean authorities have called the journalists "mercenaries"
and "spies" and have accused them of spreading disinformation and creating
division in the country.

* Ethiopia: The Ethiopian government continues to use its repressive Press
Proclamation No. 34/1992 to criminally prosecute and imprison journalists.
Two journalists are currently in jail there, one of whom has been in prison
for more than a year. Though the Ethiopian Parliament passed a new
broadcasting law in 1999, the government has still not fulfilled its promise
to grant broadcasting licenses to private operators. Meanwhile, Ethiopian
authorities are preparing to introduce a new press bill to Parliament, early
drafts of which include harsh criminal penalties for press offenses, place
severe restrictions on media ownership, and allow the government broad
powers of censorship.

* Togo: CPJ recently named Togo one of the world's 10 Worst Places to be a
Journalist. Togolese authorities have shuttered independent broadcasters,
blocked news Web sites, seized entire editions of critical newspapers, and
arrested journalists in reprisal for their work. Three journalists are
currently in prison in Togo, all charged with "publishing false information
and disturbing public order" for electronically scanning photographs of
alleged disturbances during the recent presidential elections. In September
2002, the Togolese Parliament passed an amendment to the Press Code that
compounded its already harsh punishments. Togolese journalists can now be
imprisoned for up to five years for "insulting the Head of State."

* Zimbabwe: The government of Zimbabwe has continued its crackdown on
independent journalists, using repressive legislation passed in early 2002
to prosecute those who criticize the ruling ZANU-PF regime. Though the
country's Supreme Court struck down a section of the infamous Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act in early May, authorities have
used other means to harass reporters; ruling-party supporters attack
journalists with impunity and seize copies of critical newspapers from
vendors. In mid-May, immigration officials forcibly removed independent
reporter Andrew Meldrum from the country, despite court rulings ordering his
release, after Meldrum penned several articles on the economic and political
crises in the country.

While CPJ believes that these countries are the most egregious violators of
journalists' rights, the trends of harassment, intimidation, and
imprisonment of reporters, as well as legal restrictions and censorship, are
common across the continent. Authorities in many African countries continue
to deny reporters access to government information, and to use criminal laws
to stifle dissent and punish journalists who criticize ruling regimes.

According to the AU's "Constitutive Act," the union is designed to "promote
democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good
governance" and to "promote sustainable development at the economic, social
and cultural levels." As an organization of journalists dedicated to
defending our colleagues worldwide, we believe that a free press is
essential to attaining these goals. Journalists play a vital role in
ensuring that citizens of African nations are informed about issues of
public concern.

Moreover, we respectfully remind Your Excellency that AU member states are
committed to upholding the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights, including
the right to freedom of expression.

AU member states must uphold their commitments and allow the media in their
countries to operate freely, without fear of reprisal. The AU should also
promote the decriminalization of press offenses in all African countries. By
guaranteeing freedom of expression and freedom of the press, the AU can help
ensure democracy and stability across the continent.

Sincerely,

Ann Cooper
Executive Director

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Similar appeals can be sent to:

His Excellency Amara Essy
Secretary General
African Union
African Union Headquarters
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Fax: +251 1 51 2622 / 3036

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact Adam Posluns (ext. 107) at CPJ, 330 Seventh
Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 1004, fax: +1 212 465
9568, e-mail: africa@cpj.org, aposluns@cpj.org, Internet:
http://www.cpj.org/

The information contained in this action alert update is the sole
responsibility of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication,
please credit CPJ.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Suite 403,Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts e-mail: alerts@ifex.org general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________

car: Journalist released, another faces legal harassment

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/16416

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has protested the arrest of Ferdinand Samba, publication director of the independent daily "Le Démocrate", who was detained for four days, beyond the legal time limit for detentions in police custody. The organisation has expressed concern about the deteriorating press freedom situation in the Central African Republic (CAR). "This latest incarceration of a CAR journalist is all the more dismaying in that General François Bozizé's new regime had made specific commitments regarding media freedom and had earlier announced the decriminalisation of press law violations," RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT AND UPDATE - CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

15 July 2003

Journalist released, another faces legal harassment

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

**New case and update to previous IFEX alert of 15 July 2003**

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has protested the arrest of Ferdinand Samba, publication director of the independent daily "Le Démocrate", who was detained for four days, beyond the legal time limit for detentions in police custody.

The organisation has expressed concern about the deteriorating press freedom situation in the Central African Republic (CAR). "This latest incarceration of a CAR journalist is all the more dismaying in that General François Bozizé's new regime had made specific commitments regarding media freedom and had earlier announced the decriminalisation of press law violations," RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said. "The new CAR authorities even contacted our organisation in order to assure us of their goodwill. We can only deplore that their promises have not been respected," he added.

Samba was arrested on 11 July 2003 at 3:45 p.m. (local time) at the headquarters of the CAR Private and Independent Press Publishers' Association (Groupement des éditeurs de la presse privée indépendante de Centrafrique, GEPPIC). He was placed in detention and interrogated at the police station in Bangui's port. The journalist was finally released on 15 July at 2:00 p.m. and was not charged with any offence.

Samba had written an article, published on 8 July, about the armed conflict in the country's north. He was accused of causing panic among local citizens in the region by disseminating "alarming and incorrect information". He had reported that supporters of former president Ange-Félix Patassé had launched an attack on the city of Kaga Bandoro and that 30 people had died in the fighting.

In addition, Faustin Bambou, publication director of the twice-weekly "Les Collines du Bas-Oubangui", was threatened and sought by the authorities after publishing an article on 3 July in which he criticised the privileges reportedly granted to Mahamat Youssouf, a Chadian national close to General Bozizé. He was summoned to the police station on 7 and 8 July and interrogated at length. His case file has since been sent to the state prosecutor.

Finally, on 3 July, a court in M'Baiki, in southern CAR, sentenced Michel Ngokpele, publication director of "Le quotidien de Bangui" newspaper, to six months' imprisonment with no parole for "defamation by means of the press" and "incitement to ethnic hatred" (see IFEX alert of 7 July 2003). He wrote an article in mid-May in which he implicated a doctor in the deaths of several patients at a local hospital. Police arrested Ngokpele on 18 May and transferred him to M'Baiki prison.

For further information, contact Jean-François Julliard at RSF, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail: afrique@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

The information contained in this alert and update is the sole responsibility of RSF. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit RSF.
_________________________________________________________________
DISTRIBUTED BY THE INTERNATIONAL FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
489 College Street, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
alerts email: alerts@ifex.org general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________

Djibouti: Jailed outspoken opposition leader must be released, says amnesty

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/16415

Amnesty International has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Daher Ahmed Farah, an opposition party leader and director of his party's newspaper. Daher Ahmed Farah, a prisoner of conscience, has been repeatedly arrested because of his peacefully-held political opinions.
News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International
AI Index: AFR 23/001/2003
14 July 2003

Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional
release of Daher Ahmed Farah, an opposition party leader and director of
his party's newspaper.

Daher Ahmed Farah, a prisoner of conscience, has been repeatedly arrested
because of his peacefully-held political opinions. He started a three-month
prison sentence in Gabode prison in Djibouti-ville on 9 July 2003 after the
prosecutor won an appeal against his acquittal on a charge of libel
(diffamation) against the army's Chief of Staff and an army women's
folklore group. The appeal court imposed a six-month prison sentence (with
three months suspended), heavy damages and a fine, and banned the party's
newspaper for six months.

"Public officials who consider themselves defamed have the right of reply
and if that is insufficient they can legitimately resort to legal actions
to defend their reputation," Amnesty International said. "But this should
not involve, as it has done in Daher Ahmed Farah's case, detention by the
police, arbitrary refusal of bail (liberté provisoire), state prosecution
and prison sentences."

Djibouti's constitution guarantees freedom of the press, and just last year
Djibouti ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
which protects the right to freedom of expression.

"Criminal legislation contravening the right to freedom of expression,
which the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights has called 'a
cornerstone of democracy', has been used to stifle media criticism of the
authorities and silence a prominent peaceful opponent," said Amnesty
International

Background

Daher Ahmed Farah is the president of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Renewal and Development (Mouvement pour le renouveau
démocratique et le développement, MRD) and director of its newspaper,
Djibouti Renewal (Le Renouveau djiboutien).

He was detained in March 2003 on account of an article he published,
summarily convicted the next day for "undermining army morale" and
"publishing false information". He was given a six-month prison sentence
and fine. The following month he received a second six-month suspended
sentence, which was reduced on appeal.

Days later, he was re-arrested on the basis of a complaint by the army's
Chief of Staff. He was detained for over a month before being granted bail,
rearrested two days later, and tried and acquitted on 23 June. The
acquittal was reversed on 9 July when Daher Ahmed Farah was returned to prison.

View all documents on Djibouti
http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabfLDaaZbbybdTYAHb/


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eritrea: Voice of America correspondent arrested

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/16414

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the arrest and conscription into the Eritrean army of the local correspondent of the radio station Voice of America (VOA) and called for the immediate release of him and 18 other jailed media workers in the country, which it said was "Africa's biggest prison for journalists."
**We apologise for any cross-posting - The following is being forwarded exactly
as received**

To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), afrique@rsf.org

Press freedom
15 July 2003

ERITREA

Voice of America correspondent arrested

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the arrest and conscription into the
Eritrean army of the local correspondent of the radio station Voice of America
(VOA) and called for the immediate release of him and 18 other jailed media
workers in the country, which it said was "Africa's biggest prison for
journalists."

The journalist, Akhilu Solomon, 32, was arrested at his home on 8 July and taken
to an army camp to do his compulsory military service. However, VOA said he had
already done part of it and been exempted from the rest on medical grounds.

"After persecuting the local media, the government is now going after those
working for foreign media," said Reporters Without Borders secretary-general
Robert Ménard. "The latest arrest means 19 journalists are now in prison, making
Eritrea by far the most repressive country in Africa in this respect."

The government shut down all privately-owned newspapers in September 2001 and
arrested several journalists, leaving only the official press operating. Three
foreign media - the BBC, Agence France-Presse and Deutsche Welle - have
stringers in the country. The US embassy in Asmara said it had contacted the
government about Solomon's arrest.

All Eritreans over 18 have been obliged since 1994 to do 18 months military
service, including six months training at a military camp in the western town of
Sawa.

**************************************
Liberté de la presse
15 juillet 2003

ERYTHRÉE

Le correspondant de VOA arrêté

Le correspondant en Erythrée de la radio américaine Voice of America (VOA) a été
arrêté par la police et conduit dans un camp militaire pour faire son service
national.

Reporters sans frontières demande sa libération et rappelle que l'Erythrée est
la plus grande prison du continent africain pour les journalistes. Avec cette
nouvelle arrestation, cela porte à dix-neuf le nombre de journalistes
emprisonnés dans le pays. "Après s'en être prises à la presse locale, les
autorités se tournent maintenant vers les correspondants de la presse étrangère.
L'Erythrée est, de loin, le pays le plus répressif du continent en matière de
liberté de la presse", a écrit Reporters sans frontières dans un communiqué. En
septembre 2001, les autorités avaient suspendu tous les journaux privés et
arrêté plusieurs journalistes. Aujourd'hui, seule la presse officielle continue
d'exister.

Akhlilu Solomon, 32 ans, correspondant local de VOA, a été interpellé à son
domicile le 8 juillet. Des officiels ont ensuite annoncé qu'il avait été conduit
dans un camp militaire pour faire son service national obligatoire. Selon VOA,
le journaliste avait déjà effectué une partie de son service national et était
exempté de la suite pour raisons médicales. L'ambassade des Etats-Unis à Asmara
a affirmé avoir pris contact avec le gouvernement érythréen à ce sujet.

Trois médias étrangers disposent désormais de correspondants dans le pays : la
BBC, l'AFP et la Deutsche Welle.

Depuis 1994, tous les Erythréens de plus de dix-huit ans sont obligés
d'accomplir un service national de dix-huit mois, dont six de formation dans un
camp militaire, à Sawa, dans l'ouest du pays.
--
Reporters sans frontières
Bureau Afrique - Africa desk
afrique@rsf.org, africa@rsf.org
www.rsf.org
Tel : 33 1 44 83 84 84
Fax : 33 1 45 23 11 51
5, rue Geoffroy-Marie
75009 Paris
FRANCE


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Malawi: Editors meet on violence against journalists

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1329

Editors from private media houses have met to discuss political violence against journalists. The meeting held under the auspices of the media watchdog the National Media Institute of Southern Africa was convened to review the state of the media environment in the wake of the beating up of "The Nation" journalist, Daniel Nyirenda.

Malawi: Editors meet on violence against journalists

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1351

Editors from private media houses met in Blantyre, to discuss political violence against journalists. The meeting held under the auspices of the media watchdog the National Media Institute of Southern Africa was convened to review the state of media environment in the wake of the beating up of "The Nation"journalist, Daniel Nyirenda, and other journalists who were harassed during the UDF mini-convention

malawi: President non-committal on violence against journalist

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/16413

In what could pass as a face-saving move, President Bakili Muluzi has condemned as "unfortunate" the beating of Daniel Nyirenda, a photojournalist with "The Nation" newspaper, by youths belonging to Muluzi's ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) party.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT UPDATE - MALAWI

10 July 2003

President non-committal on violence against journalist

SOURCE: Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Windhoek

**Updates IFEX alert of 8 July 2003**

(MISA/IFEX) - In what could pass as a face-saving move, President Bakili
Muluzi has condemned as "unfortunate" the beating of Daniel Nyirenda, a
photojournalist with "The Nation" newspaper, by youths belonging to Muluzi's
ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) party. The incident took place on 7
July 2003, at the opening of the UDF mini-convention in Blantyre. In the
statement, President Muluzi avoided the issue, claiming that "opposition
elements" assaulted the photojournalist. "The incident was very unfortunate
and was definitely carried out by people who were assigned by enemies of the
ruling party," he said. Ironically, President Muluzi pledged to ensure the
protection of journalists as the nation prepares for general elections in
2004.

Denis Mzembe, chairperson of MISA's Malawi chapter (NAMISA), dismissed the
president's statement as unacceptable. "We do not see any commitment at all.
There is no way Mr. Muluzi can say that these were not UDF members," Mzembe
said.

In an interview, UDF Deputy Publicity Secretary and Presidential Affairs
Minister Ken Lipenga said Nyirenda was a victim of a "conspiracy philosophy"
within the party. "We must admit that there are some people within the party
that, for reasons best known to themselves, wanted to sabotage the
convention," said Lipenga, who is a former editor-in-chief of "The Nation".

Alfred Ntonga, current editor-in-chief of "The Nation", also dismissed
President Muluzi's statement, describing it as "business as usual." "He has
made similar statements before. In the past, he even ordered the inspector
general [of police] to arrest such people, but acts of violence continue to
happen," said Ntonga.

BACKGROUND:
Nyirenda was beaten up by UDF youth wing members, who stole his two cameras
and a cell phone. UDF youths are on record as having torched vehicles
belonging to opposition leaders and harassed journalists and opposition
politicians, but no arrests have been made. Police are still investigating
cases that date back as far as five years.

For further information, contact Zoe Titus or Kaitira Kandjii, Regional
Information Coordinator, MISA, Street Address: 21 Johann Albrecht Street,
Mailing Address; Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61 232975,
fax: +264 61 248016, e-mail: research@misa.org or kkandjii@misa.org,
Internet: http://www.misa.org/

The information contained in this alert update is the sole responsibility of
MISA. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
MISA.
_________________________________________________________________
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Namibia: Swanu bemoans 'media censorship'

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1330

Namibia's oldest political party, the South West Africa National Union, has bemoaned what it says is a rise in censorship and sectarianism in the local media, particularly those controlled by the State. Launching its website in Windhoek, the party accused the media of practising "prostituted journalism", aimed at the ideological indoctrination of the Namibian masses.

west africa: PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE ON MEDIA AND PEACE needed

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/16454

The needs and challenges imposed by the evolving conflicts in West Africa call for the collaborative commitment of organisations active in the region working on media and peace and the mobilisation and deployment of intervention strategies along a common, coordinated and comprehensive platform. In addition, the raging conflict situations in Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire required urgent and particular attention. This is according to recommendations from a three-day regional media and peace programme planning meeting in Accra, Ghana, held from July 8 -10, 2003. The meeting examined the current situation, role and fate of the media within the context of the protracted civil strifes and violent conflicts that, directly or indirectly, afflict all of the countries in West Africa.
PARTNERSHIP INITIATIVE ON MEDIA AND PEACE IN WEST AFRICA

Introduction
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and the International Media Support (IMS) of Copenhagen, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and UNESCO, held a three-day regional Media and Peace programme planning meeting in Accra, Ghana, from July 8 – 10, 2003. The meeting examined the current situation, role and fate of the media within the context of the protracted civil strifes and violent conflicts that, directly or indirectly, afflict all of the countries in West Africa today. The meeting also reviewed initiatives and programmes that exist in the region, and proposed new directions and strategies for a regional programme for improving the capacity and role of the media to promote peace.

The meeting was attended by 26 representatives of 19 national, regional and international media and human rights organizations. The diverse backgrounds and experiences of participants enabled the deliberations of the meeting to be informed by the different situational needs and realities, and provided the basis for a number of decisions and recommendations for short-, medium- and long-term interventions.

The other organisations participating in the meeting included:
The Media Rights Agenda, Lagos;
The Panos Institute West Africa, Dakar;
The Press Union of Liberia;
The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists;
The Guinea Association of Independent Press Editors, Conakry;
The Association of Journalists for Peace in Cote d’Ivoire;
The National Press Commission, Abidjan;
The Media Ethics Observatory of Cote d’Ivoire;
The Media Action International, Geneva;
The International Federation of Journalists, Brussels.

Issues:
Among the broad issues discussed include:
· The needs and challenges imposed by the evolving conflicts call for the collaborative commitment of organisations active in the region working on media and peace; the mobilisation and deployment of intervention strategies along a common, coordinated and comprehensive platform;
· Some conflict situations have abated or ended (e.g., Sierra Leone); some are sporadic or occasional (e.g., Nigeria). But the raging conflict situations in Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire require urgent and particular attention. Therefore, although intervention strategies must have wider regional implications and applicability, Liberia and Cote d’Ivoire deserve focussed attention;
· Programmes of intervention and support must be based on an appreciation and acknowledgment of the potential of national and regional media institutions, as well as the rights and obligations of journalists, to promote peace and help reduce the conditions for violent conflict;
· While maintaining and encouraging the particular initiatives of individual organizations, to define clearly areas and strategies for common actions and coordination;
· Encouragement of and determination of strategies and program of collaboration with UN agencies in peace building programmes;
· Strategies for fundraising; definition of roles; plans for managing the collaborative processes without instituting new and unnecessary organisational structures.

Needs and recommendations:
Among the needs identified for both short- and long- term interventions are:
Short-term:
· The general protection, safety and rehabilitation of traumatised and war-affected journalists;
· Media infrastructure rehabilitation and capacity-building (through training workshops and seminars as well as institutional strengthening support systems);
· Mechanism for safe havens for journalists fleeing reprisals;
· Empowerment and capacity-building:(through logistic support and provision of basic functional equipment; including recorders, tapes; mobile phones, laptops, stationery, etc);
· Training and workshops for journalists in improved coverage of peace building, national reconciliation, the transitional processes, and elections coverage;

Medium-to-long-term:
Medium and medium-to-long term needs of the media in the conflict zones and the sub-region generally include:
· Continuous training and orientation programmes for journalists on how to cover conflict situations and promote peace;
· Development of safe havens and legal defence funds for media practitioners and journalist victims of war and/or other violent political conflicts;
· Baseline needs assessment studies to identify practical needs and recommend intervention strategies;
· Legislative and institutional reforms to promote media freedom and independence as a necessary condition for efficient media coverage for peace;
· Encouraging media pluralism through legislative reform, institutional rehabilitation and capacity building of media enterprises;
· Mid-career training support for journalists (in professional ethics, human rights and investigative reporting) and editors and proprietors (in the development of media as professional and independent enterprises).

The MFWA and the IMS are working to complete the draft of the envisaged proposal document for the regional programme on Media and Peace. The final document, to be approved by all the participants, will be a basis for the UN agencies to develop their policies and programs for Media and Peace making in the region.



Kwame Karikari
MFWA
Accra.

zimbabwe: Broadcasting authority selling the public a dummy

Sizani Weza

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/16417

The outreach campaign being conducted by the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) represents yet another attempt by the authorities to frustrate aspiring broadcasters through delays. The questionnaire's results are obvious-they will either justify ZBC's unfair monopoly in the sector or give good reason for the need for an alternative government run broadcaster.
Broadcasting authority selling the public a dummy

By Sizani Weza

The outreach campaign being conducted by the Broadcasting Authority of
Zimbabwe (BAZ) represents yet another attempt by the authorities to
frustrate aspiring broadcasters through delays. The questionnaire's results
are obvious-they will either justify ZBC's unfair monopoly in the sector or
give good reason for the need for an alternative government run broadcaster.

The endless planning conducted by the authorities through BAZ and the
Department of Information and Publicity has been done at the expense of
truly liberalizing the airwaves. This is what the public expected after
Capital Radio's successful court challenge on ZBC's monopoly on the airwaves
in 2000.

The most nauseating aspect about the BAZ survey is that it is the second
similar survey being conducted by the same institution within two years. The
first survey, which consisted of open-ended questions, had a deadline of
31st August 2001. Neither the frequency allotment plans nor new players in
the broadcasting arena were realized after its conclusion. Instead, the past
two years have seen the shutting down of the only alternative broadcaster,
Joy Television, in the broadcasting sector and an increasing intimidation of
aspiring and existing independent broadcasters through bombing, harassment
of their workers and threats.

The latest survey, whose deadline is 5th September 2003, comes hardly a
month after the Minster of Information and Publicity in the Office of the
President and Cabinet promised Zimbabweans that administrative policies and
technical instruments for licensing new players would be put in place before
the end of July. Given the survey would be used for determining the
frequency allotment plan, it means that these technicalities are not
possible before September. If experience from the previous survey is
anything to go by, then Zimbabweans may as well wait for two more years for
new players to enter the sector.

In terms of the BSA, the BAZ is the sole manager of the frequency spectrum
of Zimbabwe, and the licensing and regulatory authority for all broadcasting
services of Zimbabwe. It plays an advisory role to the Minister who is the
final licensing authority. This arrangement renders the whole management of
the frequency spectrum prone to political interference and cannot be
described as democratic.

The BAZ has argued in the past that it intends to use the surveys to
determine frequency allotment and licence area plans. Any responsible
Government truly committed to the liberalization of the airwaves should have
engaged in this process soon after the colonial era. The 1957 Broadcasting
Act, drafted by a Government that did not want alternative players in the
scene, protected ZBC's monopoly. The Zanu PF government kept this
legislation for the same purpose, if not worse. Its successor, the
Broadcasting Service Act (Chapter 2:06), has failed to stamp out the
objectives of the colonial law.

The questionnaire circulated for the purpose of determining the frequency
allotment plans gives away the intentions of those conducting the survey.
These include the efforts to undermine short-wave broadcasts through
limiting the number of options for frequency bands accessed by the public.

Questions such as "to what extent do available radio/television stations
support the promotion of Zimbabwean arts and cultural values" will give a
distorted picture of the existing situation, which has led to the
exploitation of independent film producers and musicians. Media consumers
may watch programmes from local independent producers on television. But the
fact that they are not paid adequate royalties to eke a living out of their
work is obscure to them.
The question can best be addressed to local independent producers who are
important stakeholders in the broadcasting industry the BAZ purports to
regulate. It is noteworthy that this category has been ignored in the
questionnaire, which is conspicuous for its agrarian orientation- it lists
three categories of farmers as options, that is, farmer, full time farmer
and part time farmer (question 19).
The resultant distortions may deny the public additional radio and
television stations on the basis of fostering of Zimbabwean national
identity and values (Section 3.3.j of the BSA).

And does the BAZ necessarily need the opinion of viewers and listeners to
determine whether certain radio frequencies are received in certain areas or
not? Surely, Transmedia Private Limited should know the capacities of their
transmission equipment and can provide this information to the BAZ.
Similarly, the Posts and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (POTRAZ)
should by now have informed the BAZ of the available bands in the frequency
spectrum it regulates. This is purely technical work that can be resolved
before consultations with the public.

Transmedia, a signal carrier service provider that is the sole transmitter
for all broadcasters in the country, has not made public its proposed
solution to the information drought experienced by Zimbabweans in other
parts of the country such as Hwange and Chimanimani who have reported
difficulties accessing local television and radio transmission. The only
consolation for these people is that they are spared from the daily tidal
wave of Rambai makashinga jingles, Jonathan Moyo's latest propaganda
campaign.
At one time, Hwange residents petitioned the ZBC over poor reception of FM
frequencies in the area. Transmedia was tasked with managing the
broadcasting frequencies and ensuring that Zimbabweans, wherever they are,
access local radio and television. The only development the company has
publicly announced is its acquisition of shares in Multi-Choice. Far too few
Zimbabweans have access to DSTV. Why go for projects that will benefit few
people leaving most Zimbabweans starved of information?

What Zimbabweans need is their right to choose an alternative to ZBC on the
FM band. This certainly cannot be achieved through endless planning, but
through licensing of new players in both radio and television broadcasting.
Even more, is the desire to have a broadcasting station that will present
more balanced news and current affairs than the politically-soiled content
of ZBC's programmes.

Meanwhile, the public can take advantage of the BAZ outreach and survey to
demonstrate their desires for a truly liberalized broadcasting sector.
Public action can range from simple letters of demand accompanying the
flawed questionnaires to public protests during the BAZ outreach meetings.
Although the BAZ may not be the appropriate to take up such submissions,
this will put pressure on Government to consider its policy position on the
liberalization of the broadcasting sector. But above all, it will make sure
that the BAZ does not sell the public another dummy as happened in 2001.

Sizani Weza, 8th July 2003
About the author: Sizani Weza is Advocacy Officer with the Media Monitoring
Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) and a member of the Public Information Rights Forum
(PIRF).
Contact details: 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: + 263 4
703702, Mobile: +263 23 414036, E-mail: Sizani@mmpz.org.zw

zimbabwe: journalists have 'normalised' hardship, says MMPZ

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/16412

The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) has noted with concern the manner in which journalists controlling Zimbabwe’s media have apparently normalised the grinding socio-economic hardships in the country to the extent that they no longer consider these stories of great news value. As a result, investigative news about the real effects of inflation on the public; transport problems; the alarming collapse of the health delivery system; and rampant corruption in all sectors of Zimbabwean society have either been given scant attention or ignored altogether, says the organisation.
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
Monday June 30th – Sunday July 6th 2003
Weekly update 2003-26


CONTENTS

1. GENERAL COMMENT
2. MEDIA OVERWHELMED BY CRISIS
3. BUSH SAFARI ENRAGES GOVT MEDIA


1. General comment

MMPZ notes with concern the manner in which journalists controlling Zimbabwe’s media have apparently normalized the grinding socio-economic hardships in the country to the extent that they no longer consider these stories of great news value. As a result, investigative news about the real effects of inflation on the public; transport problems; the alarming collapse of the health delivery system; and rampant corruption in all sectors of Zimbabwean society have either been given scant attention or ignored altogether.
For example, besides The Financial Gazette and The Daily News (3/7) no other media reported that 43 people had died in Bulawayo between April and May this year because of malnutrition. Even then, the two papers merely reported the Bulawayo City Council’s health report revealing this disturbing piece of news and to make matters worse treated it as a minor incident on their inside pages. If this sort of thing is happening in Zimbabwe’s second city, what is happening in the rest of the country – and even in the capital itself? Why have we not heard about the hard facts of starvation nationwide? What is the real inflation rate for the average family? And why has the media made no apparent effort to seek, independently, these indices of decline and collapse? Where is the human perspective of the crisis afflicting this country? In such a tragic economic and social climate, it is extraordinary that the media wait for official statements on such calamities as deaths from starvation; in this case mostly children. It seems the details will not emerge regarding the scale of suffering by the Zimbabwean nation unless it is delivered into the hands of the media – the private Press included.

The media’s preoccupation with political stories at the expense of investigative reports on the socio-economic crisis during the week under review was well illustrated by the placement by The Daily News of a speculative political feature article, Is Mbeki buying time for Mugabe’s embattled regime? on its prime news page, page three, while the hard news story of starvation in Binga was buried on page seven.

But if the Press’ coverage of the socio-economic crises afflicting Zimbabweans was questionable, ZBC’s reporting of these issues was deplorable. Its coverage demonstrated a woeful failure to fulfill its duty of providing news, giving incisive commentary and analysis of the extent in the decline of the living standards of the public. For example, amidst fuel, cash and commodity shortages in an environment characterized by hyperinflation officially pegged at over 300 percent, ZTV preferred allocating one hour 34 minutes and 50 seconds or 44 percent of the total time (excluding business, weather and sport segments) allocated to its 8pm main news bulletins to the national soccer team’s campaign for a slot in the Africa Cup of Nations tournament scheduled for Tunisia next year. In addition, ZTV’s 30-minute long Behind the Camera and its one-hour long Face the nation programmes were devoted to soccer. A song composed by Information Minister Jonathan Moyo for the team was also allocated time within ZTV’s 8pm bulletins before and a day after the match. In fact, the song, Go Warriors, was incessantly played on all ZBC stations, and even eclipsed the saturation airing of the government’s land reform programme jingle, Rambai Makashinga.
While some newspapers described this as putting politics aside to follow something the public could cheer about, MMPZ would say this government-led campaign for the national football team was more a case of politicians interfering in the sports arena in order to distract the public from the hardships inflicted by a government bereft of ideas about restoring the economic prosperity of the country.


2. Crisis overwhelms media

THE media’s obsession with political rivalry between ZANU-PF and the MDC appears to have resulted in other fundamental issues, such as the country’s deteriorating socio-economic crisis receiving superficial attention. Nowhere was this more evident than in coverage of the current transport problems and cash shortages. The private media were the main culprits. For example, they lacked clear information on how the recently introduced fuel coupon system for commuter transport, ostensibly to stop leakages of fuel to the black market, would be implemented. Neither did they discuss the practicability of such a move by government.

Although the government-controlled media faired better, with regard to information on where to access the coupons and the necessary documents required for one to get coupons (The Herald and ZTV 2/7, 7am), they generally reported the socio-economic problems in isolation of the country’s general economic collapse, and indeed, how Zimbabweans are coping with it. For example, ZTV (1/07, 7am) merely announced that the Rural Passenger Transport Organization had hiked its fares for “rural and long distance” journeys “by at least 33% with effect from today” due to viability problems. ZTV provided no analysis of the effects of the fare increases on the public nor explain whether such a move would help alleviate transport shortages. Instead, the station (2/07, 6pm) trivialized the commuter transport problem and presented it as if it was an issue confined to three Harare suburbs. It reported that residents of Budiriro, Glen View and Mufakose had called on government “to introduce a weekend commuter train service to ease transport problems being experienced in the areas”. Although the report noted that the transport situation had worsened “due to the continued fuel shortage” and that some operators had been “forced to withdraw vehicles from the roads after failing to secure foreign currency to import spare parts”, ZBC failed to go beyond such simplistic statements to explain the gravity of the situation in the country in general.
The Herald (2/7 & 3/7) however, gave a different explanation to the transport blues. It pointed out that most commuter transport operators had pulled out because about three-quarters of them did not have the requisite papers needed to acquire fuel coupons.
The Daily News (3/7) put the figure at 60 percent but attributed the reduction in the number of commuter transport vehicles to high operational costs and exorbitant fuel prices on the black market. It further reported that the few operators who remained on the road had taken advantage of the situation and had increased their fares by 150 percent in Harare and Bulawayo. The Herald (3/7) concurred saying commuter fares had been increased to between $500 and $1000.
However, both papers failed to translate their percentages of vehicles now out of commission in actual figures. Nor has any section of the media attempted to establish how commuter operators arrive at the fares they set and compare them with an independent assessment of running costs.
The Manica Post (4/7) revealed that the problem was not only confined to the two major cities but – not surprisingly – to Mutare as well. It reported that a new fuel arrangement where buses are required to queue for fuel at designated service stations during peak hours had left commuters stranded in that city. Reportedly, the problem was compounded by a blitz on the omnibuses by the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID), which was impounding and penalizing “unroadworthy” vehicles. The paper noted that 75 percent of public vehicles in Mutare do not have certificates of fitness or route permits. Like the two dailies, the paper did not explain what 75 percent represented in figures.

Despite their tenacity in pin-pointing some of the causes of the transport crisis, the government-controlled media in general, failed to question government’s stop-gap measures to solve the fuel shortages and the resultant transport crisis. Rather, The Herald (3/7) tried to blame the multinational oil companies for the fuel shortage, saying they had yet to import fuel in response to government’s deregulation of the fuel procurement sector. Also, the paper (2/7) attempted to give Zimbabweans some false sense of hope saying fuel supplies would resume in the “near future following the reviving of a trade deal between Zimbabwe and Libya,” without clarifying when exactly supplies would arrive and how long they would last. This sense of hope evaporated when The Daily News (6/7) revealed that President Robert Mugabe had only managed to secure US$30 million worth of fuel from Libya, an amount that would last the country a mere three weeks.

The long fuel queues were by no means the only queues that dotted the country as Zimbabwe’s fast dwindling workforce continued to struggle at the banks to convert a portion of the salaries into cash. All the media reported the issue and for once agreed that the Reserve Bank’s decision to print $4billion dollars worth of bank notes was not the solution. The Chronicle and The Herald (1/7) observed that although the injection was welcome, they urged the central bank to guarantee a steady money supply by printing more notes of higher denominations. However, they remained blind to the underlying implications of such a move on the country’s inflation.
Studio 7 (30/06) quoted economic analyst, Tony Hawkins, as saying more efforts were needed to alleviate the shortages and “not just printing bank notes” adding that the move, among other issues, would fuel inflation to “500% by December”. Similarly, The Financial Gazette (3/7) columnist, Witness Chinyama, pointed out that Zimbabwe was already at the “stagflation” stage and warned that the cash injections without other measures to resuscitate the economy would only fan inflation. The Sunday News (6/7) made similar observations and called on the central bank to “tackle inflation first…to satisfy the demand for cash”.


3. Bush safari enrages government media

Regional and international efforts to resolve Zimbabwe’s worsening economic and political crises assumed greater prominence in the media as the scheduled visit to Africa by US President George Bush, particularly to South Africa, drew closer. In a typical replay of the previous week, the government-controlled media dismissed the trip as insignificant and narrowly interpreted the US’s calls for the restoration of democracy and the formation of a transitional government in Zimbabwe to mean that Bush’s visit was a neo-colonial expedition to oust President Mugabe from power.
The private media was less emotional in their coverage. Although they welcomed and apparently celebrated Bush’s stance on Zimbabwe, they also tried to analyze whether he would be able to successfully sell his approach to his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki.

At the beginning of the week, ZBC (1/07,8pm) reported that, “Some of Zimbabwe’s neighbours have refused to be used as launch pads for the US and Britain’s plans to effect regime change in Zimbabwe”. Zambia and Botswana were named as the two neighbours that had refused to cooperate with the US but there was no official comment from the two countries. In the same report, the government-controlled broadcaster echoed Mugabe’s earlier unsubstantiated allegations that the US and Britain had helped to fund the MDC mass stayaways and that they were lobbying “Zimbabwe’s neighbours, especially South Africa, SADC member states and the African continent … to isolate Zimbabwe on the international scene and put pressure on the government for the removal of President Robert Mugabe …”.
This myopic view of Bush’s visit resulted in the government-controlled media delivering vitriolic and racist attacks against the US leadership. The Herald (1 & 2/7) is a case in point. The paper carried two opinion pieces attacking the US State Secretary, Colin Powell, for his call to restore democracy in Zimbabwe with fresh internationally supervised elections via a transitional government. In its article on July 2nd, the paper castigated Powell for allegedly having “chosen money and conservative political thinking over his black history” and wanting Zimbabweans to do the same. The paper’s relentless racial slurs were also repeated in its article (5/7), Zimbabwe does not need a transitional government. Not to be outdone, The Sunday Mail’s Munyaradzi Huni (6/7) described Bush as a “Texan gunslinger” who “stole” the American presidential election, and accused him of “dangling the carrot in billions of American dollars to buy out the African leaders so that they can allow him to spread his stinking imperialistic wings”. Huni then observed - without a shred of evidence - that Bush had cancelled his trip early this year and rescheduled it so that it coincided with the African Union summit in Mozambique in order “to whip them (African leaders) into line using one stick.”

Besides introducing a racist angle to Bush’s trip, the government-controlled media tried to downplay the significance of his visit following Mugabe’s address during the 54th Session of the ZANU-PF Central Committee. ZBC (3/07, 8pm) quoted him as saying, “When Bush visits here, it shouldn’t send tremors to your spines [because] Africa is united with us in opposing them”. There was no effort to investigate why Mugabe had to calm the nerves of his colleagues if Bush’s visit was indeed a non-event. Neither did The Herald or Chronicle (4/7) explore this in their report of the same event. As if taking a cue from Mugabe’s speech, The Sunday News (6/7), Bush’s Africa tour bound to fail - analysts, quoted government-controlled media’s favourite analysts dismissing Bush’s tour.

The private media avoided personal attacks on either government or US authorities and instead examined the US and South African approaches to the Zimbabwean crisis. For example, while The Standard (6/7) comment, Bush visit: What’s in it for Zimbabwe?, agreed with the Bush Administration that Zimbabwe needed a return to democracy but was opposed to the US calls for ‘regime change’ wherever it desired. “Our advice to the US is that acting in this high-handed manner can only alienate people and needlessly lose the goodwill of its friends in Africa. Powell’s dramatic language ran the risk of being interpreted as war-mongering and parallels being drawn with the Iraq war,” it stated. The Daily News (3/7) pointed out that despite the US’s call to Thabo Mbeki to take a more proactive role on Zimbabwe, the South African President was unlikely to change his approach. It quoted Mbeki as saying, “It’s incorrect really to be saying that we should stand outside the borders of Zimbabwe and decide what the Zimbabweans should do about their own country.”

In fact, ZBC (3/07, 7am) conveniently used Mbeki’s statements to buttress the impression that Mbeki and African leaders were behind Zimbabwe. However, while ZBC viewed Mbeki’s comments as a positive development, The Daily News (4/7) did not. In its article, Is Mbeki buying time for Mugabe’s embattled regime? the paper charged that Mbeki had become an obstacle in efforts to force Mugabe to relinquish power. MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube also criticized South Africa’s stance on Zimbabwe saying it reflected that country’s diplomatic immaturity, Sunday Mirror (6/7).

While the government-controlled media generally gave the impression that South Africa would not relent in its apparently sympathetic stance on Zimbabwe, The Daily News (1/7) and Studio 7 (2/7) revealed that it was willing to discuss with the US and reach common ground on how to deal with Zimbabwe. They both quoted a South African official, Aziz Pahad, as having said South Africa wanted more clarity on American plans to bankroll the economic revival of Zimbabwe once Mugabe stepped down.

Meanwhile, Studio 7 (2/7), The Zimbabwe Independent (4/7), The Standard (6/7), The Daily News on Sunday (6/7) and Sunday Mirror (6/7) reported that the MDC would send delegations to South Africa and Mozambique to lobby Bush and African leaders respectively, to pressure ZANU PF to engage the opposition in dialogue. The government-controlled media ignored the news, although that did not stop the Sunday News (6/7) maligning the MDC as “stooges” and “puppets of imperialism,” for wanting to meet Bush.
Ends.

The MEDIA UPDATE was produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, 15 Duthie Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: 263 4 703702, E-mail: monitors@mmpz.org.zw; monitors@mweb.co.zw

Feel free to write to MMPZ. We may not able to respond to everything but we will look at each message. For previous MMPZ reports, and more information about the Project, please visit our website at http://www.mmpz.org.zw

africa: Conflicts Dominate AU Discussions

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307130036.html

Much of last Friday's proceedings at the Maputo heads of state summit of the African Union (AU) was dominated by discussions, behind closed doors, of the conflicts that have raged in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Ivory Coast and others.

Burundi: peace under threat

2003-07-17

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=24383

Renewed fighting between rebels and government forces in Burundi erupted in the capital Bujumbura this week, leaving streets littered with bodies and doubts about a peace process intended to end almost 10 years of civil war.
Related Link:
* Zuma arrives in Bujumbura as UN withdraws nonessential staff
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35449

DRC: EU calls for stronger peacekeeping mandate

2003-07-17

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1342

The EU has called for a stronger mandate for the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, similar to that of the multinational peace force mission deployed to the north-eastern town of Bunia.

drc: rebels lay down their arms

2003-07-17

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=24380

The head of the main rebel group in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has officially announced the end of his movement's five-year war against the Kinshasa-based government, the rebel group said on Saturday.

east africa: Plans Underway to Create Peaceful Region

2003-07-17

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19258

Countries of the Great Lakes region, the African Union and United Nations, have come together to work out a long-term strategy to promote peace in the region. Representatives of the two organisations, together with those from the Great Lakes countries comprising Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), met here recently and pledged to work towards quelling wars that have engulfed the region. The meeting, called the International Conference For Peace, Security, Democracy and Development for the Great Lakes Region, was the first of its kind.

ivory coast: Peacekeepers say 2,000 gunmen still roam the Wild West

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35419

About 2,000 gunmen who formerly fought for both government and rebel forces in the west of Cote d'Ivoire are still at large, preying off the civilian population and preventing relief agencies from operating freely in the lawless region close to the Liberian border, according to a source in the French peacekeeping force.

LIBERIA: How Washington set the stage for war

2003-07-17

http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,297

The more involved the U.S. becomes in the crisis-wracked continent of Africa, the clearer it is that Washington isn't the solution - but instead bears responsibility for the civil wars and social catastrophes across Africa. Exhibit A is Liberia.
Related Link:
* Liberia: Ending the Horror
http://www.fpif.org/outside/commentary/2003/0307liberia.html

LIBERIA: LURD warns against deployment of ECOWAS troops

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35355

The main Liberian rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), has warned against the planned deployment of 1,500 ECOWAS peacekeepers in the war-torn country prior to the departure of President Charles Taylor into exile.

nigeria: GROUPS OPPOSE US TROOPS DEPLOYMENT TO NIGER DELTA

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/16319

Nigerian civil society groups have called for a review of the United States government's foreign and oil policy. In an open letter to the visiting United States President George W. Bush, the groups said America's foreign and oil policy currently served only the interests of powerful corporations. The groups specifically opposed plans by the U.S. to deploy troops to guard Nigerian oil installations. For four decades Western oil companies operating in Nigeria had reduced the once balanced and life-sustaining Niger Delta to a "veritable nightmare".
> ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION/ FRIENDS OF THE EARTH, NIGERIA; #214,
> USELU-LAGOS ROAD, UGBOWO, BENIN CITY; NIGERIA TEL /FAX: +234-52-600165
> EMAIL: ERACTION@INFOWEB.ABS.NET
>
> July 11, 2003
>
> PRESS STATEMENT
>
> GROUPS OPPOSE US TROOPS DEPLOYMENT TO NIGER DELTA
>
> Nigerian civil society groups have called for a review of United States
> government's foreign and oil policy.
>
> The environmental and human rights groups in an open letter to the
visiting
> United States President, Mr. George Bush, said America's foreign and oil
> policy currently serve only the interest of powerful corporations. The
> groups specifically opposed plan by the US to deploy troops to guard
> Nigerian oil installations.
>
> They lamented that for four decades Western oil companies operating in
> Nigeria have reduced the once balanced and life-sustaining Niger Delta to
a
> veritable nightmare.
>
> "The corporations have been flaring death-dispensing gas into the
atmosphere
> of local communities, mangling fishing waters and farmlands with oil from
> old and broken pipelines they have refused to maintain and repair, cutting
> down forests and abolishing fresh water sources", the groups observed. "We
> have seen them march alongside Nigerian soldiers they pay with blood
money,
> into villages and hamlets killing, maiming and raping young men and women
> whose only crime is that they dared raise their voice to protest the
wanton
> destruction of their lives and sources of livelihood".
>
> The petitioners pointed out that the resolution of the Niger Delta crisis
> can neither be found in militarism nor legalism but in political dialogue
> with the local people who matter the most.
>
> The environmental and human rights groups similarly called on the US
> government to:
>
>
> . rethink its oil and foreign policy because it is driven by
>
> the interests of powerful corporations;
> . stop playing politics with hunger and promoting
>
> Genetically Modified (GM) products;
> . halt its plan to deploy United States troops to the Niger
>
> Delta;
> . with hold further support for the West Africa Gas
>
> Pipeline Project until the concerns of the local communities have
>
> been democratically resolved and
> . support democracy in Nigeria as matter of principle, not out of
> convenience.
>
> The letter was endorsed by leading civil society groups, including:
> Environmental Rights Action (Nnimmo Bassey), Centre for Constitutional
> Governance (Dr. Beko Ransome- Kuti), Ethnic Minority and Indigenous Rights
> Organisation of Africa (Alfred Ilenre), Journalists for Democratic Rights
> (Adewale Adeoye).
>
>
>
> DOIFIE OLA
> Head, Lagos Office
>
> (Please see full text of the letter below)
>
> DEAR PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH
>
> You are visiting our country at a time of profound economic and political
> crises. The neo-conservative agenda which you so powerfully represent,
> putting profits before living people, is wasting lives, aborting liberties
> and destroying livelihoods.
> For four decades and more, we have watched the Western oil companies
> operating in our country reduce the once ecologically-balanced and
> life-sustaining Niger Delta to a veritable nightmare, flaring
> death-dispensing gas into the atmosphere of local communities, mangling
> fishing waters and farmlands with oil from old and broken pipelines they
> have refused to maintain and repair, cutting down forests and abolishing
> fresh water sources. We have seen them march alongside Nigerian soldiers
> they pay with blood money, into villages and hamlets killing, maiming and
> raping young men and women whose only crime is that they dared raise their
> voice to protest the wanton destruction of their lives and sources of
> livelihood. When people and their habitat die, Mr. President, the world
dies
> too.
> We would like to state our total opposition to your plan to further
> militarise Africa by setting up new military bases in Ghana, Senegal,
Mali,
> Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe and Kenya as well as expanding
> America military presence in Djibouti. Reports in the international media,
> including the Wall Street Journal and The Guardian of London say the
target
> of this massive military
> deployment is to protect oil fields in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. We
insist
> that the resolution of the Niger Delta crisis can neither be found in
> militarism nor legalism but in political dialogue with the local people
who
> matter the most.
>
> We call on the US government to:
>
> . rethink its oil and foreign policy because it is driven by
>
> the interests of powerful corporations;
> . stop playing politics with hunger and promoting
>
> Genetically Modified (GM) products;
> . halt its plan to deploy United States troops to the Niger
>
> Delta;
> . with hold further support for the West Africa Gas
>
> Pipeline Project until the concerns of the local communities have been
> democratically resolved and
>
> . Support democracy in Nigeria as matter of principle, not out of
> convenience.
>
> SIGNED:
>
> Nnimmo Bassey, ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS ACTION (ERA)
>
> Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti, CENTRE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNANCE (CCG)
>
> Alfred Ilenre, ETHNIC MINORITY AND INDIGENOUS RIGHTS ORGANISATION OF
AFRICA
>
> Abiye Kuromiema, RIVERS STUDY GROUP
>
> Kingsley Kpea, CHIKOKO MOVEMENT
>
>
> Felix Tuodolo, OGELE CLUB
>
> Asume Osuoka, OILWATCH AFRICA NETWORK
>
> Chilos Godsent, PAN AFRICAN YOUTH MOVEMENT
>
> Comrade Che Ibegwura, RIVERS COALITION
>
> Kingsley Chinda, PUBLIC INTEREST LAWYERS LEAGUE (PILL)
>
> Chief (Mrs.) Ekaette Ebong Okon
> ITAM WOMEN ASSOCIATION, Itu, Akwa Ibom State
>
> Steyv Obodoekwe, JOURNALISTS COMMITTEE FOR MEDIA RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY
> (JOCMERID)
>
> Dimieari von Kemedi, OUR NIGER DELTA
>
> Emem Okon, NIGER DELTA WOMEN FOR JUSTICE (NDWJ)
>
>
> Adewale Adeoye, JOURNALISTS FOR DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS (JODER)
>
> Patterson Ogon, IJAW COUNCIL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (ICHR)
>
> Popoola Ajayi, GREENPEOPLES ENVIRONMENTAL NETWORK

nigeria: peacekeepers ready to deploy to Liberia

2003-07-17

http://www.africaonline.com/site/Articles/1,3,53535.jsp

The Nigerian army says its contingent of a West African peacekeeping operation pledged for war-ravaged Liberia is ready for deployment. Nigeria has pledged to send 750 soldiers for the operation. West African nations last week agreed to form the force for war-torn Liberia and send a first contingent of around one thousand within two weeks. The move is aimed at arresting the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country.

sao tome: Military coup in Sao Tome

2003-07-17

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3070355.stm

Efforts are under way to hold talks with the leaders of the coup which toppled the government of the West African island state of Sao Tome and Principe on Wednesday. Rebel army officers in the tiny former Portuguese colony seized the prime minister and other cabinet members in the dawn coup, which appears to have been largely bloodless. Sao Tome and Principe, one of the world's poorest states, has offshore oilfields which are due to begin producing within the next four years.

SOMALIA: Faction leader rejects "flawed" agreement

2003-07-17

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35416

Mogadishu-based faction leader Muse Sudi Yalahow rejected a peace agreement signed earlier this month by delegates to the peace talks in Nairobi, saying it was "flawed".

sudan: human rights must be at core of peace agreement, says amnesty

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/16458

As Sudanese mark the first anniversary of the signing of the Machakos Protocol, which paved the way for the current peace process, Amnesty International is calling for human rights to be made a full component of any forthcoming peace agreement. "Unless human rights for all become a full component of a forthcoming agreement crucial for the future of Sudan, peace will not be sustainable," Amnesty International says in a new report entitled 'Sudan: Empty promises? Human rights violations in government-controlled areas'.
News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International

AI INDEX: AFR 54/058/2003 16 July 2003

Sudan : Empty promises - human rights violations in government-controlled
areas


As Sudanese mark the first anniversary of the signing of the Machakos
Protocol, which paved the way for the current peace process, Amnesty
International is calling for human rights to be made a full component of
any forthcoming peace agreement.

"Unless human rights for all become a full component of a forthcoming
agreement crucial for the future of Sudan, peace will not be sustainable,"
Amnesty International said today in a new report entitled Sudan: Empty
promises? Human rights violations in government-controlled areas (full
report online at http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabgaKaaZekHbb0iygb/ ).

The report, earlier submitted as a Memorandum to the government, details
the continuing human rights violations committed by the Sudanese security
forces in areas outside the south.

"While the world's attention has focused on supporting initiatives to end
the conflict between the government and the armed opposition Sudan
People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), people in
government-controlled areas continue to suffer violations of their human
rights, rooted in the same issues of discrimination and injustice that
fuelled the war in the south."

"The government of Sudan has made many gestures hinting at greater
openness and promotion of human rights in areas it controls. But too often
positive rhetoric has not been converted into concrete action in favour of
human rights," Amnesty International said.

An emerging conflict in Darfur, western Sudan, where a group of sedentary
farmers took up arms against the government in February 2003 because of
what they perceive as the lack of government protection of their people
and the marginalisation of the region, further illustrates the effects of
the government's willingness to violate human rights when facing problems.

Darfur has been the scene of attacks by armed groups on sedentary people
and the government has reacted to the situation by detaining incommunicado
community leaders and perceived government critics. In 2001, it
established Special Courts in Darfur to deal with murders, armed attacks
and banditry. These courts have handed down death sentences and cruel,
inhuman and degrading punishments after grossly unfair trials.

In other areas of Sudan, including in the capital Khartoum, incommunicado
detention of political opponents, students and ordinary citizens as well
as torture by the security forces remain common. Journalists are subjected
to restrictions imposed by the security forces and civil society activists
are routinely arrested, arbitrarily detained and harassed. Students and
internally displaced persons have been injured or killed as a result of
the use of excessive force by the police and security forces. Above all,
the lack of judicial accountability of the security forces for any action
they take, including acts of torture, is maintained in laws which are
inconsistent with international human rights principles.

"While the focus is on the horrendous abuses committed by both sides of
the armed conflict in the south, human rights violations committed by
government forces in areas it controls are being ignored. The Sudanese
government has failed to stop or investigate not only war-related abuses
by its armed forces and allied militia groups in the south, but also
abuses by its security forces outside the context of the conflict. This is
why human rights violations in Sudan continue unabated," Amnesty
International said.

Amnesty International is urging the Sudanese government to implement its
recommendations and now fulfil the promises it made to respect and protect
international human rights law, in particular to:

- abolish Articles 31 and 33 of the National Security Forces Act, which
allow the security forces to detain people incommunicado without charge
and give them immunity from prosecution;

- abolish provisions of the Special and Specialized Criminal Courts in
Darfur which contravene international standards of fairness;

- end harsh restrictions by the security forces on the Sudanese press;

- immediately stop arresting, detaining or harassing civil society
activists, including political opponents, human rights defenders and
women's rights activists;

- investigate impartially and independently reports of killings and
torture by the security forces and bring the suspected perpetrators to
justice;

- allow an independent and impartial Commission of Inquiry to investigate
the worsening situation in Darfur and human rights monitors into the
region.

The organization calls on international mediators of the Sudan peace
process, donor countries and other interested parties in the talks to put
the human rights of all Sudanese at the core of their efforts.

"A final peace agreement should not only put an end to the war in the
south, but also guarantee in law and in practice the basic human rights of
all Sudanese people," Amnesty International said.


Background

The Machakos Protocol was signed on 20 July 2002 in Machakos, eastern
Kenya, as a first step to end the 20-years old armed conflict in southern
Sudan. Since then, peace talks between both parties to the conflict have
continued, under the auspices of the regional body Inter-Governmental
Authority on Development (IGAD) and international mediators - including
Kenya, the United States, the United Kingdom and Norway.

The mediators are hoping for a final agreement to be signed at the end of
August 2003. Negotiations have been mainly about security, wealth-sharing
and power-sharing arrangements; although human rights were mentioned in
the Machakos Protocol, they are not addressed adequately in the peace
talks. The situation outside the southern war zones of Sudan is not
covered in the IGAD-sponsored peace process and civil society groups are
not allowed at the negotiating table.


****************************************************************

For a full copy of the report "Sudan: Empty promises? Human rights
violations in government-controlled areas", please see:
http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabgaKaaZekHbb0iygb/

View all documents on Sudan at
http://amnesty-news.c.tclk.net/maabgaKaaZekIbb0iygb/

sudan: Kenyan mediator says Sudan peace accord may be signed in August

2003-07-17

http://www.panapress.com/freenews.asp?code=eng004325&dte=16/07/2003

The Sudan peace process may be concluded in mid-August if the latest round of talks - adjourned in a stalemate Saturday over a power-sharing disagreement - resumes next week, Kenyan mediator Lazarus Sumbeiywo said in Nairobi Wednesday.

Free and Open Source Software database

2003-07-17

http://fossfa.org/database/

The FOSSFA database is a repository of information about people, projects and organisations working on Free and Open Source Software in Africa.

NGO Knowledge Map

2003-07-17

http://ngomap.blogspot.com/

This blog collects knowledge on the world of non-government organisations (NGOs). A specific theme is to improve the world by mapping the NGO world.

Simputer: computers for the poor or an idealistic dream?

2003-07-17

http://www.scidev.net/Features/index.cfm?fuseaction=readFeatures&itemid=182&language=1

The Simputer - a cheap, pocket-sized computing device designed for use by rural populations in India - has been hailed as a breakthrough in bringing the world of computing to the poor. But with delays in production, escalating development costs and a dearth of buyers, can this idealistic project ever be pulled off?

SNA ENEWSSchoolNetAfrica E-News

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/16410

SNA ENEWSSchoolNetAfrica E-News is an e-mail service aimed at people interested in education through information and communication technologies (ICTs) in African schools. The latest edition contains information on a project called 'From Guns to Computers', an executive summary of ICT's in African Schools, information about a regional workshop on teacher training and more.
> SNA ENEWSSchoolNetAfrica E-News is an e-mail service aimed at people
> interested in education through information and communication
> technologies (ICTs) in African schools
>
>
>
>
>
> You can find the archived and latest editions of SNA Update on our
> website:
>
> www.schoolnetafrica.net
>
>
>
> ***********************************************************
>
> What’s the buzz with SchoolNet Africa
>
> ***********************************************************
>
> From Guns to Computers
>
> As the first African led organization on ICTs in African education,
> SchoolNet Africa believes that ICTs are tools to catalyse educational
> opportunities for African youth and holds immense potential in meeting
> Education for All objectives. This document outlines a pilot
> initiative to introduce an ICT-enabled education program for child
> ex-combatants in three African countries: Angola, Liberia and
> Rwanda. The project seeks to establish an ICT multimedia and skill
> training centre for child ex-combatants in three African cities in
> Angola, Liberia and Rwanda.
>
> Project Objectives
>
> This project seeks to:
>
> 1. Deploy multimedia computer access to child ex-combatants in
> three citiesinAngola,LiberiaandRwanda;
>
> 2. Provide computer skills to 100 child ex-combatants in each of
> the three countries by the end of 2004;
>
> 3. Provide psychological counselling programmes for the trained
> child ex-combatants;
>
> 4. Assist in the rehabilitation of child ex-combatants into main
> stream society of family, education and job opportunities;
>
> 5. Highlight implications for a national program on a larger scale.
>
>
>
> Project Outputs and Outcomes
>
> At the end of the one year period of the project
>
> 1. Three cities ofAngola,LiberiaandRwandawould have been equipped
> with 40 multimedia computer systems;
> 2. Over a hundred ex-child combatants would have been trained in
> generic and technical computer skills;
> 3. 300 child ex-combatants in each of the countries would have been
> trained and rehabilitated into main stream society;
> 4. A structure, network and equipment would have been available to the
> three countries to train, counsel and rehabilitate other child
> ex-combatants;
> 5. An evaluation report and mechanism would be available to replicate
> the project in other countries.
>
>
>
> Conclusion
>
> As the issue of ex-child combatants continue to limit education for
> all goals in Africa SchoolNet Africa calls on all stakeholders in
> education inAngola,LiberiaandRwanda, non government organisations
> (NGOs) and the international donor community to support this project.
> combatants in other war-torn countries such asSierra
> Leone,Burundi,Sudan,Somaliaand theDemocratic Republic of the Congo.It
> is hoped that the success of this pilot project would lead to an
> extension of education opportunities through ICTs for child
> ex-combatants in other war-torn countries such asSierra
> Leone,Burundi,Sudan,Somaliaand theDemocratic Republic of the Congo.
>
>
>
> ***********************************************************************
> ****
>
>
>
> ICTsin African Schools: Executive Summary
>
>
>
> The ICTsin African Schools Workshop brought together representatives
> of schoolnet-related organizations and ministries of education from 25
> African countries and a sizeable number of representatives from the
> major international education and ICT partners inAfrica, including
> several United Nations agencies. Professor Peter Kinyanjui represented
> the New Partnership forAfrica’s Development (NEPAD) eSchools Program
> for the eAfrica Commission, whose patron His Excellency President Wade
> ofSenegalwas unable to attend in person, but sent a message of support
> by fax, noting the importance of ICTs in education forAfrica’s
> development.
>
> To download this document, go to
> http://www.schoolnetafrica.net/docs/knowledgeWarehouse/
> IAS%202003%20Executive%20Summary.pdf
>
>
>
> ***********************************************************************
> *
>
> SchoolNetAfrica ATN Exchange Program
>
>
>
> SchoolNetMaliWestern CapeSchoolNetwork
>
>
>
> Inspired by the noble ideals of connecting African schools to
> facilitate access to knowledge and experiences sharing among educators
> and learners in order to enhance education inAfrica, schoolNetAfrica
> initiate a teacher Exchange through its flagship program ATN(African
> Teacher Network). The object was to give an opportunity to a schoolNet
> Mali at its setting up phase to learn from Western cape school Network
> which have more than ten years experiences in school Networking.
>
>
>
> In fact, from my arrival Monday the 6th May to my departureTuesday the
> 13th May 2003I learnt how they are managing the network and acquired
> some technical skills on computer network management. In addition I
> had the privilege to take part to their committee meeting dealing with
> the daily issues. I had also the opportunity to visit some of the
> schools. In the different schools, I discussed with teachers and
> computer lab managers about the challenges in ICTs use for educational
> purposes and the actions they undertake to overcome those challenges.
>
>
>
> Socially speaking they make me feel home and that remember me a saying
> fromMali: “wherever you go try to find a mother, father, brothers and
> sisters”.
>
> I did find all these in Western Cape Town Schools’ Network. Jenny king
> as a mother introduced me to schools’ Networking life by both sharing
> her experience with me and introducing me toWestern Capeschools
> Network team
>
>
>
> Besides, I had the pleasure and the privilege to be accompanied by
> Sibongile from SchoolNet SouthAfricato visitMukululiSchool, to
> exchange with them about their success and challenges. I also
> participate at a workshop facilitate by Reza Bardien and organize by
> Direq learn on integrating Activate into School System. The courses
> are broadcast by MindsetNetwork.
>
>
>
> As the way forward I suggest a strategic partnership between
> SchoolNetAfrica andWestern CapeSchools’ Network in the setting of
> Schools’Network throughoutAfricabecause I think they are the right
> partner and have the right skill especially with their Help Desk.
>
>
>
>
>
> The lesson I draw from this exchange is the reinforcement of mybelieve
> in hard work to go step by step but surely. In conclude I would like
> to share with you this quote from Nelson Mandela, Madiba: “Even the
> most fantastic dream can becomes a reality if you are ready to face
> the difficulties of life”. Thanks toSchoolNetAfrica,Western
> CapeSchools’Network and a special thanks to Angel Shafika, I
> meanShafika Isaacs, the executive Dirtector of SchoolNetafrica.
>
>
>
> SounkaloDembele
>
> SchoolNetMaliCoordinator
>
>
>
> ***********************************************************************
> *********
>
>
>
> SchoolNetAfrica’s Executive Director is Finalist for the 2003 World
> Technology Awards
>
>
> The World Technology Network (WTN) announced today that MsShafika
> Isaacs, Executive Director for SchoolNet Africa, has been selected as
> a Finalist for the 2003 World Technology Award for Policy. The Awards
> were presented by the WTN in association with Nasdaq, Accenture,
> Microsoft, Genencor International, Dupont Textiles and Interiors, TIME
> magazine, Technology Review magazine, Science magazine, and Business
> 2.0 magazine. Selection as a finalist also means thatShafika
> Isaacshas been elected as a Fellow of the World Technology Network.
>
> The new Fellows were announced onJune 25, 2003inSan Francisco, at the
> World Technology Awards gala ceremony in the conclusion of the World
> Technology Summit. The World Technology Awards honour individuals and
> corporations from twenty technology-related sectors selected by their
> peers as being the innovators doing work of the greatest likely
> long-term significance. Award categories range from biotechnology,
> space and energy to ethics, design and entertainment.
>
> Upon presentation of the Award, Ms Isaacs said:
>
> "I am delighted to have been selected by my peers as a Finalist for
> the 2003 World Technology Awards in the Policy. It is encouraging that
> the WTN pays attention to ICT for Development Initiatives and realizes
> the important enabling role that policy plays in this regard. I see
> this award as an accolade for SchoolNet Africa who has really led the
> awareness raising and advocacy process on the advantages of ICTs for
> education inAfrica. Through exposure of this nature, Schoolnet
> Africa’s campaigns such as its call for 1 million computers for
> African schools will make significant headway”.
>
>
>
> Nominees for the 2003 World Technology Awards were identified through
> an intensive, global process in which current WTN members (primarily
> winners and finalists of previous Awards cycles) made their
> nominations and then voted their preferences based on who they think
> are most innovative and impactful within their particular field.
>
> James P. Clark, founder and Chairman of the World Technology Network,
> added:
>
> ”The World Technology Awards program was created to recognize truly
> extraordinary innovation on a global scale, the sort of work that
> could be described as creating our collective future and changing our
> world. Ms Isaacs and SchoolNet Africa’s contribution in the field of
> policy has been outstanding, and their selection as a new WTN Fellow
> is public acknowledgement of that fact.”
>
> *********************************************************
>
> What’s Happening?
>
> *********************************************************
>
>
>
> Regional Workshop on Teacher Training
>
> During the first week of September, SNA in partnership withCoLand
> Imfundo and all the SchoolNets in the East African region
> (Kenya,Tanzania,Rwanda,UgandaandEthiopia), will be hosting its first
> regional workshop on teacher professional development and ICTs for the
> East African Region inNairobi, Kenay. This workshop will work towards
> an appropriate strategy on teacher training in the sub-region. For
> more information please email Hillar at: H.addo@schoolnetafrica.org
>
>
>
> ******************************************************
>
>
>
> SchoolNetMozambique
>
>
>
> SchoolNetMozambiquein partnership with SchoolNet Africa, will host its
> first business plan workshop inMaputoon21 July 2003.
>
> ***********************************************************
>
>
>
> ThinkQuestAfrica Internet Challenge Rules
>
> ThinkQuestAfrica (TQA) Internet Challenge is the first regional
> programme Internet contest managed by SchoolNet Africa to encourage
> and support learners to form teams from different African countries.
> It is a new style of learning that encourages learners to collaborate
> across geographical borders to develop educational web sites.
>
> TQA is an annual African/international contest open to school
> learners, aged 12-19. The purpose of the contest is to promote the
> Internet Style of Learning - an interactive, participatory approach
> that encourages learners to take advantage of the Internet as a source
> of information and a powerful collaborative tool. Learners are
> encouraged to work in teams of two or three - from different schools
> and even different countries - to build web sites used as learning
> tools by other learners.
>
> Team Makeup and Eligibility
> In order to participate in the TQA, a learner must be a member of a
> team. A team may consist of two, three or four learners, and one, or
> two coaches. No more than one learner member may be living
> outsideAfricaat the time of registration.
>
> Learner members do not have to be the same age, be enrolled at the
> same school, or be from the same country. In fact, learners are
> encouraged to form teams and collaborate (via the Internet) with other
> learners who have different levels of experience with, and access to,
> technology resources, as well as with learners from different
> countries, of different genders, and with different interests, skills,
> and backgrounds. Each learner team member must make significant
> contributions to the success of the team and be a full participant in
> the development of its entry. Coaches may help with team formation,
> provide guidance and encouragement, and help learners locate human,
> technical and information resources in support of their efforts.
> Coaches and others who are not learner team members may not work
> directly on the entry. At least one coach and one learner team member
> must have an active e-mail address that can be used for communication
> with the TQA staff.
>
> For more information, visit: http://www.schoolnetafrica.net
>
> *****************************
>
> Talk to us!
>
> ***********************
>
>
>
> We value your comments and suggestions, please email Hillar or Lebo
> at: H.Addo@schoolnetafrica.org or l.marishane@schoolnetafrica.org if
> you would like to make any contributions on this newsletter.
>
>
>
> SchoolNetAfrica
>
> Phone: +27-11-3392300
> Fax: +27-11-3395912
> http://www.schoolnetafrica.net
>
>
>
> P.OBox 31866
> Braamfontein, 2017
>
> ***********************************************************************
> **************************
>
> To subscribe, please email: l.marishane@schoolnetafrica.org .If you do
> not wish
>
> toreceive this mail anymore and want your name deleted from the
> mailing list,
>
> sendan e-mail to: c.motta@schoolnetafrica.org
>
>
>
> For further information about SchoolNet Africa please go to
> www.schoolnetafrica.net
>
>
>
>
>
> ***********************************************************************
> ***************************
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Sna-enews mailing list
> Sna-enews@schoolnetafrica.org
> http://lists.schoolnetafrica.org/mailman/listinfo/sna-enews

The Basics of Nonprofit Email: Essential Papers and Resources

2003-07-17

http://gilbert.forms.soceco.org/15863/48796/20dbe452b7d9/56376

This report is the first in a new series of research publications by The Gilbert Centre. It contains previously unpublished material, including: 59 selected and annotated email related online resources; and "Twelve Ways To Fail at Email", the 12 fundamental Dos and Donts.

UN SEEKS TO BRIDGE THE DIGITAL DIVIDE

2003-07-17

http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/Comment/Comment030620037.html

The remarkable information technology advances have created vast new opportunities, yet they have also generated 'new divides' between rich and poor," UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said last week at a meeting of information and broadcasting ministers in Bangkok. The widening digital divide has led the UN to call the first-ever World Summit on the Information Society this December, bringing together political, private sector, civil society and media leaders to spread the benefits of the digital revolution and promote "inclusive digitalization."

using PDAs and cellphones: the right devices at the right price?

2003-07-17

http://www.balancingact-africa.com

The cost of a computing device is one of the significant barriers holding back the use of ICT uptake in Africa, whether for personal, corporate or government use. Devices like the simputer have yet to make a significant dent on this barrier. However there are a number of experiments with PDAs that offer tantalising clues to ways in which it might be broken. Visit the Balancing Act web site for the full story.

Artists for Human Rights' newsletter

2003-07-17

http://www.ahr.org.za/news072003/index.html

This issue includes:
-Human Rights Art Student Exchange
- Visiting Artist: Anthony Nkotsi
- Exhibition: South African Bill of Rights in Massachusetts
- Burma in Need for Support
- Human Rights Film Festival
- Coming Up: Images Portfolio in Constitutional Court.

BOOKLINKS

2003-07-17

http://www.bookaid.org/resources/downloads/BookLinks_3.pdf

Produced twice a year by Book Aid International, this newsletter aims to help strengthen links between librarians, publishers and booksellers. It provides a forum for debating relevant topics and includes regular features on key ICT issues, as well as showcasing relevant websites and e-mail addresses. To join the mailing list, please contact the Editor at booklinks@bookaid.org

e-CIVICUS 204

4-17 July 2003

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/16312

In the latest issue, CIVICUS looks into education and civil society, including: Universal Primary Education in Uganda and Pakistan; Save the Children refurbishes schools in Zimbabwe; Gender disparity in education. To subscribe email miranda@civicus.org

ICONNECT GHANA

2003-07-17

http://www.iconnectghana.org

ICONNECT GHANA is a quarterly online, offline and e-mail knowledge service designed to enable the use of ICTs as a tool for Ghana's development.

new human rights search tool

2003-07-17

http://www.hurisearch.org

HURIDOCS has announced a new tool for searching human rights information on the Web, http://www.hurisearch.org HURISEARCH allows searching sites of non-governmental human rights organisations in 58 different languages. HURISEARCH is a pilot project, and at the moment over 600 sites of human rights NGOs are included. Suggestions to include additional sites are welcome. HURISEARCH has been established in cooperation with Human Rights Education Associates.

Fundraising from Europe

Chris Carnie

2003-07-17

http://www.chapel-york.com/

Fundraising from Europe is much more than just obtaining funds from the European Union. It also means fundraising from the 370+ million individuals, thousands of companies and trusts and foundations. This book will help you fund raise from the latter three sources. The European fundraising market turns over £200 billion each year. It includes some of the world’s largest foundations, headquarters of many of the world’s leading businesses and one-third of the wealth held by the world’s high net worth individuals. This book shows you how to successfully access these funds using case studies and providing facts and figures from the extensive and valuable European scene.

South Africa: DiData helps AIDS centre

2003-07-17

http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2003/0307151028.asp?A=SCR&S=Social%20Responsibility&T=Section&O=SL

Global technology group Dimension Data has announced that it will help Grahamstown's St Raphael Centre for the care of people with HIV/AIDS to achieve its goal of raising R1 million.

South Africa: Mandela remains committed to fundraising despite age

2003-07-17

http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1390451-6078-0,00.html

Nelson Mandela, two days before his 85th birthday, says he will continue to seek funding for schools projects and programmes geared at fighting HIV/Aids. "I will spend the rest of my days trying to help secure a more educated and healthier South Africa," Mandela said on Wednesday.

South Africa: Mpumalanga Municipalities Receive R4m From USAID

2003-07-17

http://allafrica.com/stories/200307150557.html

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has signed an agreement with Ehlanzeni Municipality aimed at building the capacity of councillors in the area. Ehlanzeni comprises four municipalities - Mbombela, Nkomazi, Umjindi and Thaba Chweu. The partnership programme will see direct financial assistance, about R4 million from the USAID, flowing into Ehlanzeni, which amongst others, will be used to develop and implement an efficient ward system.

South Africa: R225M provided TO fund MINDSET NETWORK

2003-07-17

http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1390444-6078-0,00.html

Mindset Network, a multimedia satellite TV network, has been launched in Johannesburg with corporate support valued at R225 million. Mindset Network is a non-profit organisation which will address the education challenges which face South Africa, including schooling, health and entrepreneurship.

Development Law and Social Justice Programme

Institute of Social Studies, The Netherlands, 17 May – 2 July 2004; 24 May – 8 July 2005

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/16383

The Development Law and Social Justice Programme is an academic programme aimed at strengthening capacity for lobbying, advocacy and networking on human rights issues. It brings together experienced human rights activists, legal practitioners, jurists, academics and human rights policy makers and facilitates their sharing of experiences and strategies. The Development Law and Social Justice Programme covers core issues in human rights. These include legal resources and political instruments of an international and regional nature and the role of various state and non-state actors in shaping international and regional human rights policies. They also include collective rights such as those of women, children, minorities and indigenous peoples and state responsibility for protecting them, and various strategies for strengthening human rights advocacy, education, communication and resource mobilisation.
Development, Law and Social Justice
17 May – 2 July 2004
24 May – 8 July 2005

The Development Law and Social Justice Programme is an academic programme aimed at strengthening capacity for lobbying, advocacy and networking on human rights issues. It brings together experienced human rights activists, legal practitioners, jurists, academics and human rights policy makers and facilitates their sharing of experiences and strategies.

Target group
The DLJS programme offers mid-career and senior human rights activists an opportunity to exchange experiences and introduces them to new tools and strategies for making human rights work better.

Learning objectives
By the end of the programme, participants should:
1. have more critical insights into the origins, transformations and implementation of human rights instruments;
2. have updated their skills on lobbying, networking, advocacy and human rights education;
3. be familiar with alternative ways of maximising results on social policies and policies providing for the rights of special groups such as women, children, minorities, and indigenous and physically challenged people.

Programme structure
The Development Law and Social Justice Programme covers core issues in human rights. These include legal resources and political instruments of an international and regional nature and the role of various state and non-state actors in shaping international and regional human rights policies. They also include collective rights such as those of women, children, minorities and indigenous peoples and state responsibility for protecting them, and various strategies for strengthening human rights advocacy, education, communication and resource mobilisation.

Staff members: Karin Arts (PhD, International Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), James J. Busuttil (JD, DPhil, International Law, University of Oxford), Gerrie ter Haar (PhD, Study of Religion, University of Utrecht), Rachel Kurian (PhD, Economics, University of Amsterdam), Paschal Mihyo (PhD, Law, University of Dar es Salaam), Mohamed Salih (PhD, Economic and Social Studies, University of Manchester), Thanh-Dam Truong (PhD, Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam)

More information
Web:
http://www.iss.nl/navFrame/frame1.html?content=/tprogrs/ilsd.html
e-mail:
For info. on application procedures
Student.office@iss.nl
For info. on the contents of the program
mihyo@iss.nl
Postal address:
P.O. Box 29776
2502 LT The Hague
The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 70 426 0460
Fax: +31 70 426 0799

Highway Africa new media conference

8 - 10 September 2003, Grahamstown, South Africa

2003-07-17

http://www.highwayafrica.org.za

The annual Highway Africa new media conference will run this year in Grahamstown from 8 - 10 September 2003. This year's theme is Mainstreaming Media in the Information Society and the three-day conference will include discussions, debates, training workshops and evening entertainment. Please visit www.highwayafrica.org.za for more details.

Reporting HIV/AIDS on Radio

Institute for the Advancement of Journalism, 11 - 15 August 2003, Johannesburg

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/16380

The course is aimed at HIV/AIDS journalists and producers working for public and commercial radio stations. Case studies, assignments, role-plays and group exercises will characterise training methodologies and proceedings of the workshop. These will take participants through vigorous discussion and debate on creating and compiling a marketable and developmental programming on HIV/AIDS.
INSTITUTE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF JOURNALISM


Reporting HIV/AIDS on Radio
11 - 15 August 2003, Johannesburg


The course is aimed at
HIV/AIDS Journalists and Producers working for public and commercial Radio
Stations

Case studies, assignments, role-plays and group exercises will characterise
training methodologies and proceedings of the workshop. These will take
participants through vigorous discussion and debate on creating and
compiling a marketable and developmental programming on HIV/AIDS.

Course Content

* Portrayal of HIV/AIDS by commercial media.
* Sensitising and balancing of content
* How do HIV negative journalists cover HIV/AIDS?
* Dealing with stigma
* Media ethics on covering HIV/AIDS issues
* The political policies around HIV/AIDS
* HIV/AIDS and Pharmaceutical companies
* The race and gender question

Course fee is R850-00 a day, inclusive of course material and catering
during the day.

While recognising the experience of participants, the course will help
participants to understand the role of direct and indirect stakeholders -
fellow staff, sources of news and the general public regarding the HIV/AIDS
issues in South Africa.

Application forms for the course are available at the IAJ offices. To
acquire forms and apply for this course please contact Mosotho Stone or
Nonhlanhla Mbonani on Tel: 011 484 1765, Fax: 011 484 2282, e-mail:
stone@iaj.org.za
The deadline for submission of applications is Thursday 31 July 2003. The
course will be limited to only 15 participants

Professional Media Training Since 1992

****************************************

The Human Rights Diploma Programme

Institute For Social Studies, The Netherlands, 14 January – 26 March 2004; 12 January – 24 March 2005

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/16382

The Human Rights Diploma Programme is an academic programme aimed at strengthening capacity for the promotion, protection and advancement of human rights activities to meet a specific need in human rights advocacy and activism. It builds upon existing theoretical and practical experiences and equips the participants with the capabilities for protecting, enforcing and evaluating the impact of human rights. The Human Rights diploma programme covers a number of substantive fields. These include international human rights law and organisations, where the evolution of international human rights law and practice as well as its current implementations are covered. It also includes domestic instruments for the protection and promotion of human rights which seek to analyse and compare the ways and mechanisms used by various countries to protect human rights. It further analyses the role of state and non-state actors in the enforcement, promotion and protection of human rights, and the use of information and communication technologies in human rights work.
Human Rights
14 January – 26 March 2004
12 January – 24 March 2005

The Human Rights Diploma Programme is an academic programme aimed at strengthening capacity for the promotion, protection and advancement of human rights activities to meet a specific need in human rights advocacy and activism. It builds upon existing theoretical and practical experiences and equips the participants with the capabilities for protecting, enforcing and evaluating the impact of human rights.

Target group
The diploma programme targets human rights workers involved in human rights advocacy, education, mobilisation and poverty eradication who want to expand their theoretical knowledge.

Learning objectives
By the end of the programme, participants should:
1. be more aware of and conversant with the international, regional and national mechanisms for the protection and promotion of human rights;
2. be more knowledgeable about comparative strategies for making human rights happen through among other things advocacy, legal aid, public interest litigation, etc.;
3.be aware of the institutions that support human rights work and their relative strengths and limitations.

Programme structure
The Human Rights diploma programme covers a number of substantive fields. These include international human rights law and organisations, where the evolution of international human rights law and practice as well as its current implementations are covered. It also includes domestic instruments for the protection and promotion of human rights which seek to analyse and compare the ways and mechanisms used by various countries to protect human rights. It further analyses the role of state and non-state actors in the enforcement, promotion and protection of human rights, and the use of information and communication technologies in human rights work.

Staff members: Karin Arts (PhD, International Law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), James J. Busuttil (JD, DPhil, International Law, University of Oxford), Cees Flinterman (PhD, Law, University of Leiden), Gerrie ter Haar (PhD, Study of Religion, University of Utrecht), Paschal Mihyo (PhD, Law, University of Dar es Salaam), Thanh-Dam Truong (PhD, Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam)

More information
Web:
http://www.iss.nl/navFrame/frame1.html?content=/tprogrs/hur.html
e-mail:
For info. on application procedures
Student.office@iss.nl
For info. on the contents of the program
mihyo@iss.nl
Postal address:
P.O. Box 29776
2502 LT The Hague
The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 70 426 0460
Fax: +31 70 426 0799

Eastern Africa: Recruitment of short-term senior consultants

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/16375

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation focuses on strengthening middle level organisations in local government, private sector and civil society. “Building Advisory Practice” (BAP) is a new initiative by the SNV country programmes in Eastern Africa to examine the ways we assist our partners and clients to become stronger institutions and better at reaching their goals and objectives. Countries involved in the initiative are Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia. Based on preliminary case studies developed during the BAP start-up phase, the initiative will now focus on developing knowledge products that will guide efforts to improve the quality of services. SNV will engage several experts/writers to execute this process. Their main task will be to produce three booklets, involving assessment of current materials, further research and consultations. They may also contribute to production of other materials as needed. The assignment will involve travel to the different countries.
SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Eastern Africa cluster
Building Advisory Practice
Recruitment of short-term senior consultants
(in organisational/institutional development, private sector development, and local governance)

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation focuses on strengthening middle level organisations in local government, private sector and civil society. “Building Advisory Practice” (BAP) is a new initiative by the SNV country programmes in Eastern Africa to examine the ways we assist our partners and clients to become stronger institutions and better at reaching their goals and objectives. Countries involved in the initiative are Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia.

Based on preliminary case studies developed during the BAP start-up phase, the initiative will now focus on developing knowledge products that will guide efforts to improve the quality of services. SNV will engage several experts/writers to execute this process. Their main task will be to produce three booklets, involving assessment of current materials, further research and consultations. They may also contribute to production of other materials as needed. The assignment will involve travel to the different countries.

Selection and implementation schedule:
Interested experts (individuals or consulting firms) who meet the qualifications listed below should submit a c-v/profile by e-mail no later than 31 July 2003, to SNV Kenya. Following pre-screening, highly qualified candidates will be provided with further information on the assignment and requested to submit a tender proposal by 15 August. Final interviews will be conducted in Nairobi. The selected writing team will attend a three-day orientation and planning workshop in mid-September. The main publications are to be completed by December 2003. The duration of the contract for each expert is estimated at 45 working days.






General qualifications:
§ Sensitivity to gender and rights issues in relation to the expertise area.
§ Proven analytical and writing skills in English with significant publications record in the expertise area; ability to work in French an asset.
§ Ability to work in a team-working environment.
§ 10 years’ experience in provision of consulting or advisory services related to the expertise area in a variety of settings and countries.
§ Proven skills in contextual diagnosis, strategic positioning, monitoring and evaluation of capacity building interventions and advisory service.
§ Proven skills in development communication techniques, interviewing (in open-ended enquiry approach) and social research.

Specific qualifications:
1. Expert on organisational development, inter-organisational collaboration, institutional development and process facilitation
§ Expertise and practical experience strengthening institutions in public, private or civil society sectors in rural/under-serviced areas in Africa.
§ Technical expertise in organisational capacity assessment, process facilitation, change management, strategic planning, participatory monitoring and evaluation, and inter-organisational collaboration.
§ Extensive experience in human resource management of knowledge intensive organisations especially regarding staff quality and competency management.

2. Expert on private sector development
§ Expertise and practical experience in policies and practices of strengthening small and medium-sized private sector enterprise in rural and under-serviced areas in Africa.
§ Experience in provision of private sector support in the areas of business development services, market analysis and linkages, micro-finance advocacy, public-private partnerships, and non-conventional financial services.

3. Expert on local governance
§ Expertise and practical experience in policies and practices of strengthening governance in rural and under-serviced areas in Africa.
§ Technical expertise in multi-stakeholder governance mechanisms, democratisation, decentralisation and local authority strengthening, participatory planning, and strengthening participation in policy formulation and planning.

Please submit c-v no later than 31 July by e-mail to Susan Onyango at: snvkenya@africaonline.co.ke
For further information contact:
PR & Communications Officer, SNV Kenya
P. O. Box 30776, Nairobi
Tel: +254 2 573656; fax: +254 2 573650

kenya: Human Resource Manager

Acord

2003-07-17

http://www.comminit.com/vacancy1403.html

ACORD is working in alliance with others to promote social justice and development. With an income of £8 million p.a. it implements long-term development programmes in 18 African countries that unites practical work with advocacy, research and social action. As a result of the relocation to Nairobi and the restructuring of our Head Office, ACORD is looking for an experienced English and French or Portuguese speaking Human Resource Manager to be based in our Nairobi office.

kenya: Research trainee

African Population and Health Research Centre

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/16376

The Africa Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) invites applications from qualified candidates for the position of Research Trainee. The description of the position is available through the link provided. For more information about APHRC, please visit the website: http://www.aphrc.org

Research trainee position at African Population and Health Research Center
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear all,

The Africa Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) invites ap-
plications from qualified candidates for the position of Research
Trainee. The description of the position is given below. For more in-
formation about APHRC, please visit our website: http://www.aphrc.org

The center is accepting applications until the close of 23rd July
2003. Applicants should ensure that they send copies of their tran-
scripts/certificates either by fax, post or e-mail (scanned); and
letters of two referees. Applications should be addressed to:
Daniel Njaga dnjaga@aphrc.org

Research Trainees

Functional responsibility: Within relatively detailed guidelines on
objectives and priorities, participate in the design and implementa-
tion of research projects, data analysis, dissemination of research
findings, and training activities on various research projects to ad-
dress contemporary population, health and poverty issues affecting
African countries. This position falls under the transitory research
traineeship program in which the incumbent works under close guidance
and supervision of one or more of the Center's research staff to de-
velop practical understanding of social and health sciences research,
and to better prepare them for further academic training. Research
Trainees are expected to proceed for their doctoral training upon
completion of their fixed two-year fellowship.

Specifically, charged with:

* Under the guidance of a research staff, the trainee participates in
the design, implementation and dissemination of the Center's research
projects
* Assists research staff with the management and coordination of
field activities, data management, analysis and report writing
* May be responsible for supervision of field and data processing
staff
* Other duties as assigned by the immediate supervisor and Executive
Director of the Center.

Qualification/Experience:

* Masters Degree in a relevant discipline (generally, demography,
economics, public health or sociology/anthropology);
* Familiarity and experience with social science/health research pro-
tocol, willingness to learn, taking initiative, and strong motivation
for research excellence;
* Demonstrated promise and willingness to pursue doctoral studies in
the field of population, health and poverty following the tenure of
the fellowship;
* Ability and willingness to work within a collaborative framework,
both with individuals and institutions and within a multidiscipli-
nary, multicultural setting;
* Good computer literacy with experience using a variety of quantita-
tive and qualitative software packages; Knowledge of basic statisti-
cal concepts is desirable;
* Fluency in written and spoken English; a knowledge of French is de-
sirable;
* Position should be taken up not later than three years upon comple-
tion of the Masters degree.
* Age -30 and below

Organizational impact: Impact is generally limited to the projects
assigned and other members of the project team, although this may in-
clude staff of partner institutions and thus affect the organiza-
tion's external image to some extent. May supervise a limited number
of scientific support staff.

Dr. Frederick Mugisha,
African Population and Health Research Center
Shelter Afrique Center, 2rd Floor
Longonot Road, Upper Hill
P.O.Box 10787, 00100-GPO
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254-2-2720-400/1-2
Fax: +254-2-2720-380
mailto:fmugisha@aphrc.org
http://www.aphrc.org

south africa: local Government Programme Officer

The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA)

2003-07-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/16378

EISA is a not-for-profit section 21 company located in Johannesburg. EISA's mission is to strengthen electoral processes, good governance, human rights and democratic values through research, capacity building, advocacy and other targeted interventions. EISA services governments, electoral commissions, political parties, civil society organisations and other institutions. EISA has a vacancy for local Government Programme Officer. The post requires the following qualifications: A minimum 3 years qualification in Social Science; A postgraduate qualification is an advantage; Familiarity with and experience in local government environment in South Africa including an understanding of relevant legislation; Good computer skills; Willingness to travel; Support and work within EISA vision; Self-motivated and able to work under pressure; and Facilitation and training experience.
The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA)

EISA is not for profit section 21 company located in Johannesburg, EISA's
mission is to strengthen electoral processes, good governance, human rights
and democratic values through research, capacity building, advocacy and
other targeted interventions. EISA services governments, electoral
commissions, political parties, civil society organisations and other
institutions.

EISA has a vacancy for local Government Programme Officer

The post requires the following qualifications

- A minimum 3 years qualification in Social Science. A postgraduate
qualification is an advantage
- Familiarity with and experience in local government environment
in South Africa including an understanding of relevant legislation
- Good computer skills
- Willingness to travel
- Support and work within EISA vision
- Self-motivated and able to work under pressure
- Facilitation and training expirience

Responsibilities include

- Overall co-ordination and supervision of projects
- Conduct needs analysis for community organisation that are part of ward
communities
- Identify and prioritise needs areas for capacity building
- Oversee development and implementation of capacity building programmes
- Identify and train teams of local facilitators
- Research and writing local government related issues
- General administration
- Preparation of reports

Closing Date for submission of applications is Thursday, 31 July 2003

Applicants, including a resume with three references (email and telephone
number required), should be sent for attention of Zahira Seedat to fax: +27
11 482 6163, email zahira@eisa.org.za or P.O.Box 740, Auckland Park, 2006,
Johannesburg, South Africa.

If you have not received feedback from within three weeks of the closing
date, you may consider your application as being unsuccessful.

Fahamu