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Shell fights fires over Niger delta oil-spill

Tim Concannon

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/19570

An oil-spill and ongoing fire in the troubled Niger delta region of Nigeria indicates how badly relations between international oil-companies like Shell and oil-producing communities have deteriorated.

Members of the Elikpokwuodu community in Rukpokwu in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, say a rupture in a high-pressure, 28-inch pipeline operated by SPDC (Shell's Nigeria affiliate) in December caused the initial oil-spill. The problem with the pipe dates back to 1963, according to the community.

Rukpokwu is about a 5-10 minute drive from the Port Harcourt airport. The oil-spill is on the fringe of a swampy area, 2km along a dirt road, immediately off the airport road on the outer fringes of the oil-city of Port Harcourt proper. Port Harcourt is Shell's operational base in Rivers State. In other words, the spill is on Shell's doorstep but the company has still to put out the fire and clean up the spill.

According to Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper, Chairman of Elikpokwuodu's Community Development Committee Mr. Clifford Walter said "more than three streams from which we fish are affected. Fishing implements were destroyed and SPDC has not responded to this disaster."

"Our only source of drinking water, fishing stream and farm-lands covering over 300 hectares of land with aquatic lives, fishing nets and traps, farm crops and animals," Nigeria's THISDAY reported the Paramount ruler and Chairman of Mgbuchi Community - Chief Clifford E Enyinda and Azunda Aaron respectively - as saying. "Trees worth several billions of naira are completely destroyed by the spillage and was made worst by the three separate fires that broke out of the spill site."

At the time of Stakeholder Democracy Network's (SDN) visit to the site on January 7th, there was a fire at the centre of the spill that was still burning. This was despite several attempts by Shell staff to put this out. The fire was restricted to an area no larger than approximately 20 metres by 20 metres. Surrounding bush and vegetation was charred and destroyed. No visible measures were in place to prevent the further spread of oil downstream, despite obvious risks from rainfall.

There appears to be a continuing underground fire at the spill-site that is periodically re-igniting on the surface, but the causes of this re-ignition are unclear: it could be that the underground fire is spreading back to the surface, but deliberate sabotage cannot be discounted. Shell has been unwilling - or has felt unable - to post someone at the site to monitor the fire, which would make sabotage less likely.

Shell and the affected community are giving conflicting accounts of what has happened. However, one uncontested fact is that - while the initial spill occurred on December 3rd 2003, and was reported to Shell on December 4th - on January 7th Shell was still negotiating 'relief materials' with the Elikpokwuodu community, i.e.: how many bags of rice and temporary water supplies to supply.

According to members of the community SDN spoke to, when Shell staff and contractors visited, they came with an armed mobile-police escort, firing shots into the air. Shell staff excavated the pipeline, acknowledged that the problem was due to corrosion and sought to place a covering clamp over the pipeline. However, Shell workers found the 'clamp' they had brought was not long enough, so they departed without taking further action.

According to Shell press statements, the community denied Shell access to the site of the spill. Shell alleges that "miscreants" set fire to the spill initially, and have re-lit the fire on several subsequent occasions.

Members of the community seized a Shell vehicle that was being used to fight the fire last week. There are indications the vehicle may be released this week, following three-way discussions between the community, the local authorities and Shell.

Roseline Konya, the Rivers State commissioner for environment, had previously made public criticisms of Shell over the Rukpokwu spill. The government would insist on Shell paying adequate compensation to the community, she said. "We also see negligence, delay and lack of good-will from Shell on this matter," Konya told reporters in Port Harcourt according to Dow Jones on January 9th.

This incident is the latest indication that the 'system' for dealing with spill-response is broken. From the perspective of communities and local human rights groups, this is seen as further evidence of Shell's overall attitude to dealing with these incidents: at their own convenience. There is a perceived double standard. Would Shell respond this way to a spill in Scotland or in Texas?

The incident comes at a time when Nigeria is becoming an increasingly important test of the claims of oil companies like Shell to transparency and Corporate Social Responsibility (or CSR, to give it the acronym favoured by policy wonks in Europe and America.) Shell's senior management is coming under pressure from its shareholders to sort out its Nigerian operations.

Shell announced in mid-January 2004 that 3.9 billion barrels of oil and gas, or one-fifth of its reserves, were no longer 'proved' - meaning they can't be retrieved as quickly as thought - much of which are in Nigeria, which is crucial to Shell's over-all operations. Shell's shares have dropped from 401p to 359p following the announcement.

Shell has so-far failed to explain the sudden re-grading of its reserves to angry shareholders, but shut-downs, spills and community conflicts are likely to be one major factor making it difficult for Shell to guarantee its supplies in the delta. Is this a failure of corporate governance generally, or of Shell's approach to "CSR" and community-relations in places like the Niger delta? Shell investors must wait for a presentation on 5th February for an explanation by chairman Sir Philip Watts, but they had earlier called for the resignation of the man who used to run Shell's Nigeria operations.

The debate on the merits of Shell's CSR claims rages on in developed countries, but in Nigeria the standard responses from all sides - oil companies like Shell, and oil-producer communities - involved in a spill like Rukpokwu seems to be producing the perverse outcome of delaying spill-containment.

There are also good reasons to question whether third-parties to spills, like clean-up operators - the main financial beneficiaries of oil-spills in the short run outside of the affected communities - share an interest with community leaders and activists in minimising the impacts of a spill on the environment, and public health and safety.

For its part, Shell's knee-jerk response to 'sabotage' - which has the effect of delaying spill-responses - is fuelling a lack of trust and sense of general grievance in oil-producing communities.

There is growing concern that the frustration felt by oil-producing communities at the failure of the oil-industry to deal with spills quickly and adequately is combining with general political instability in the region, with possibly calamitous results.

"Ethnic conflicts" rage over land in the oil-producing Warri region - to the north of Port Harcourt - which in reality are also part of a wider war between criminal groups and factions in the army, navy and government for control of black-market oil and a host of other related issues.

Following elections in 2003 that were criticised by international observers as unfair, resentment is simmering in the delta. The oil industry extracts billions of dollars-worth of oil from the impoverished region, but the Nigerian government returns a tiny fraction of this to the producer-communities. Much of this disappears through bribery of government officials. Groups like Transparency International routinely rate Nigeria as one of the world's most corrupt countries.

In the Niger delta, local conflicts are combining with a general sense of political and economic disenfranchisement to make a highly combustible mixture. The oil companies must share part of the blame for creating this volatile situation, through their environmental management. The creeks and inlets of the Niger delta are threaded with a network of pipelines, many of which pre-date Shell and other companies' operations in the 1970s. The age and general state of deterioration of pipelines will become a significant issue in the delta more widely, if oil-producing communities' frustration over continuing spills like Rukpokwu build up.

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* Tim Concannon is with the Stakeholder Democracy Network

* Please send comments on this editorial - and other events in Africa - to editor@pambazuka.org

The Undignified treatment of the Indigenous San

Mandisi Majavu

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/19566

The history and the present life of the San, indigenous people of the southern Africa, is a sad story of a people who after surviving genocide at the hands of other African ethnic groups and European colonialists had to endure slavery and oppression, while in the process losing their land, language, culture, and traditional way of life.

In Botswana, where there is a population of about 60,000 San people, the government refuses to recognise the San as indigenous, claiming that every Motswana is indigenous in Botswana. This self-serving argument is presented to anyone who argues that historical and archaeological evidence has proved that the San people have lived and hunted in the southern Africa for over 35,000 years.

There is no official recognition of the San people as a distinct ethnic group in Botswana, and they are excluded in the country’s house of chiefs (1). A name used to refer to the San is “Basarwa” - a demeaning word suggesting servitude. They are among the poorest, totally marginalised and landless. Title deeds and the 1968 Tribal Land Act which aimed to regulate land allocation and rights (2) left the San people with no land to call their own.

In the name of development - meaning game lodges and safari companies which results in tourists and profits for the wealthy few, the San people have been, since 1997, subjected to forced removal from The Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The game reserve was set up in 1961 while Botswana was still a British Protectorate. The idea was to put all that belonged in the bush in a game reserve; you will remember that the colonialists referred to the San as “Bushmen”.

Before 1997, there were about 3,000 San people who lived in the 52,000 square km reserve (3) and in total there were six villages (4), but today there are only about 500 San people who still live in the reserve (5). A reason given by the government for the removal of the San people is that the game reserve is not for humans rather to preserve wildlife; furthermore, the government claims that it has become too expensive to bring basic services for the San people living in the reserve, hence it is moving them to a better site 60 km away from the reserve.

When the government came up with the idea to remove the San people in 1997, it stressed the point that those who were being removed would be given a “new and modern life”, replete with better clinics, schools, financial assistance for businesses, farm plots and livestock.

The real reason behind the removal of the San people is to create a tourism industry in that country while diversifying the country’s economy at the same time. The International Monetary Fund made it clear to the Botswana government that it must pursue the diversification of its economy and move away from dependence on diamond revenues, continued government spending and expansion of the civil service (6). Diamonds account for three quarters of Botswana export earnings, one third of its GDP and 50 percent of government revenues (7). This is generated by Debswana - a company jointly owned by the government and De Beers, and is the world’s biggest uncut diamond producer in value terms.

Survival International believes that the main reason for the government to remove the San people is that the game reserve which they once considered barren houses one of the world’s richest diamond fields. And according to the United Nations news agency, IRIN, test drilling has already taken place at Gope - a location within the reserve. Clifford Maribe, assistant director of the research and information division in the Government Foreign Affairs Ministry, has been quoted as saying: “The government has made no secret that there is general exploration for minerals throughout the country, including Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR). However, at this point in time, nothing other than the Gope deposit has been found in the CKGR” (8).

Moreover, according to the Survival International, the International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank, has given credibility to the exploration by providing Kalahari Diamonds (part owned by Billiton - an Anglo-Australian multinational) with $ 2-million.

In their struggle to exist, the San’s traditional knowledge is also under threat. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research of South Africa (CSIR) patented in 1997 a plant that the San used to eat to ward off hunger and thirst on long hunting trips. According to tradition, the San did not eat while hunting and the plant helped suppress appetite. The CSIR then licensed the UK- based Phytopharm, which in turn licensed the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to develop the Hoodia cactus into a “miracle slimming drug”. It is reported that Pfizer hopes to have the “dieter’s dream” treatment in pill form by 2007. As for the San, royalties are coming their way; the mainstream media is quick to point out.

Perhaps the most revealing story of the day-to-day struggle of the San people in Botswana is an extract below, taken from a story by Saikuta, a storyteller from old Xade district that used to be in the game reserve.

“Just before the time of the year you call Christmas I went hunting and shot a gemsbok. The same day the Game Warden came around, took my hunting license, and said: don’t you see that this has expired a long time ago? And I said: but you know I can’t read. Never mind, this one is expired. So where is the animal? So I go with the Game Warden, show him the animal, and he takes it all, skin, bones, meat, horn. He takes it to feed his own family. He tells me that this time he will not fine me.

Every time I see him I ask for my new license. Take it easy, this is not the time for hunting. And I say: But this is the time when we San people go hunting. This is when the game is around. Nonsense, old man, you must wait until I tell you. This is the government game, and we decide when you are allowed to hunt.

Many, many days passed and we nearly died from hunger. My son was nearly dying from hunger. I know well enough, he belongs to the government. The government owns all of us, and we own nothing. So it was difficult for me to make this decision: should I leave the government’s son to die, or should I shoot one of the government’s elands. Which of the two had to die? So I went hunting. I shot an eland, butchered it, and went home, but the Game Warden was already there waiting for me: You shot an eland, now you must go to jail. They took me and the eland to Ghanzi district, and once we were there they started to sell the meat. And I asked: is it the meat of the eland that I shot that you are now selling? You are not allowed to sell game meat, that much I know. Now you watch yourself or you will stay in jail for so long that no one will recognize you when you come out.

So I was silent.

Then I came before the magistrate, and I told him the story as I have told you now. You are too old to hunt. You are supposed to live from the mealie meal that the government gives you, the magistrate told me. But I never received any mealie meal. Yes, your name is in the book. Go home and wait, and you will get a bag every month; the magistrate told me. Then he gave me six months suspended sentence. Now it is May, and the mealie meal has been distributed five times already, but my name is not in the book.

So now I again am faced with the same dilemma. Who should die, the eland or the son of the government.” (9)

* This article was first published on http://www.Zmag.org
Reprinted with kind permission of the author.

* Please send comments on this editorial - and other events in Africa -
to editor@pambazuka.org

References:
1.United Nations news agency, IRIN.
2.The Inconvenient Indigenous, by Sidsel Saugestad
3.UN news agency, IRIN
4.The Inconvenient Indigenous, by Sidsel Saugestad
5.African Eye News Service
6.Business Day 25/11/99
7.Financial Times
8.UN news agency, IRIN
9.The Inconvenient Indigenous, by Sidsel Saugestad

WSF 2004: Growing pains

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/19574

For at least one African activist who attended the just-concluded World Social Forum (WSF) in Mumbai, India, enough is enough. After attending the last four WSF meetings, Mohau Pheko, a gender and economic activist from South Africa, says she will not be attending the next event. Speaking to Terraviva (http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_mumbai/viewstory.asp?idn=232) , the official newspaper of the World Social Forum, Pheko said: “Until and unless more grassroots people, especially from Africa, become part of this process I don’t honestly see the need to come and mix with the same people and say the same things to each other.” She makes a valid point, questioning how the neo-liberal order is supposed to be replaced by people-centred, people-oriented development when the “people” are absent from the forum that is supposed to shape that very development. "Besides as NGOs we have been delegitimised by our own governments and it will not only be strategic but logical that we stop analyzing on behalf of other people and bring the voices and make visible those who live the experiences we want changed on board,” she says.

War dominated WSF, with strong statements against the United States, such as when Indian author Arundhati Roy (http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=129&fArticleId=331358) said: "For the first time in history, a single empire with an arsenal of weapons that could obliterate the world in an afternoon, has complete, unipolar, economic and military hegemony…It uses different weapons to break open different markets. There isn't a country on God's earth that is not caught in the cross hairs of the American cruise missile and the IMF (International Monetary Fund) cheque book." From an African point of view, poverty, massive external debt, HIV/AIDS and corruption were some of the key issues placed on the Agenda at the WSF. Although estimates of African attendance at the forum ranged from between 300 and 500 - a small amount out of the total 100 000 delegates and up from only 30 two years ago - WSF organisers say they will examine the possibility of holding the event in Africa in 2006, a decision that will greatly advance Africa's cause within the forum.

The WSF is seen as an important event to enable civil society to form common ground and strategise over common problems related to the global policies that act to the detriment of citizens in the south. But as John Moru - Policy and Research Advocacy Officer with ActionAid, a nongovernmental organisation based in Nigeria's capital city, Abuja, told Terraviva (http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_mumbai/viewstory.asp?idn=269 ): "Recognising the fact that poverty, corruption and ineffective public enterprises pervade the regions that have produced this large Mumbai gathering, it is so sad that going home after this historic event will bring me back to the stark realities of the enormous work to be done towards effecting the various recommendations of this Forum with scanty civil voices that need great amplification.”

Outside of the concerns of the African delegation, debate over the future shape of the World Social Forum is raging. Already, who controls the WSF and how has become a hot topic, as well as what is seen by some as a top-down approach to decision-making and a lack of transparency. This includes a questioning of exactly how open the WSF actually is. As Jai Sen has argued (http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1417.html), instead of being the “open space” that the marketing hype proclaims it to be, it is actually a highly structured and in some cases exclusive gathering, limited to those broadly classified as the 'left'. “In short, we are already witnessing the crystallisation and rise not only of corporatism but also of orthodoxy and dogma, which I suggest constitutes a fundamental challenge to the future of the WSF.”

In an essay on the WSF (http://www.choike.org/documentos/wsf_s502_albert.pdf), Michael Albert points out that in contrast to the localized forums worldwide, the WSF has yet to attain the same level of transparency and accountability. This is not to take away from the value of the WSF, he says, but “there are often sharp and even destructive differences between the WSF's layers of participants”. Albert puts forward eleven thoughts for the future of the WSF, which include emphasizing local forums as the foundation of the worldwide process; Mandating that the decision-making leadership at every level should be at least 50 per cent women; Having the Forums from wealthier parts of the world charge delegates and organisations and attendees a tax on their fees to apply to helping finance the Forums in poorer parts of the world; Feature grassroots activists from movements around the world much more prominently in major events and throughout all Forums to strengthen the WSF and local Forums as vehicles for their activity and counter tendencies toward elitism; Mandating that Forums at every level, including the WSF, welcome people from diverse constituencies.

It is clear from these and other articles written about the WSF, that the rapid growth of the WSF has in itself presented real challenges along the lines of governance and representivity that the WSF will have to overcome if it is to avoid being seen in the same light as the exclusive World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the business only meet that the WSF was first set up to counter. In the meantime, and problems aside, as one activist writes “Participatory? I don't think the WSF processes are really participatory in a democratic sense, but it is open, and it is full of mutual respect (almost everywhere), and that is so valuable you forgive all the other problems.”

* Compiled by Patrick Burnett, Fahamu. Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

* See the Women and Gender, Development, HIV/AIDS and Social Welfare sections of Pambazuka News for more stories from the WSF. Visit http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/eventos/1.html for more Up-to-date information on the WSF.

Stopping child executions

2004-01-22

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGPOL300032004

International law prohibits the use of the death penalty for crimes committed by people younger than 18, yet some countries continue to execute child offenders or sentence them to death. As a step towards the total abolition of the death penalty around the world, Amnesty International has launched an international STOP CHILD EXECUTIONS! campaign, calling for an end to one of the most heinous manifestations of the death penalty - its use against child offenders. Although executions of child offenders are few compared to the total number of executions in the world, they represent a disregard by the executing states of their commitments under international law, and an affront to all notions of morality and decency when it comes to the protection of children - one of the most vulnerable groups in society.

Enough is Enough

David Ng'ang'a

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/19431

It is articles like this inspired editorial that make your newsletter invaluable (Pambazuka News 139: How Africa develops Europe). Whereas most press outside Africa portray doom and gloom in Africa (as aptly pointed out in the editorial), you offer a rich mix of the good and bad on the continent.

Yes indeed, we Africans need to stand up against the 21st century menace to Africa; the economic, social, and political exploitation of the continent by the so-called 'developed' countries. Rather than being sheep being led to the slaughterhouse, we should say enough is enough. In all our daily endeavours wherever we are, we need to channel our efforts towards the betterment of our motherland. For example, President Kibaki correctly pointed out that were Kenyans in the Diaspora to buy Kenyan tea and coffee, the country wouldn't need anyone else to buy it to better their lot in the farms.

A shift in the mindset of the African is needed; to believe in our continent, and to question grants, aid, etc emanating from the West. As sagely pointed out 'not all that glitters...' and 'when the deal is too good...'. Granted, the Western civilisation has its benefits, but the African will always remain in the periphery of such benefits, being in the agenda when there is something to be reaped, aka Iraq (read Gulf of Guinea - Cameroon, Equitorial Guinea, Chad, Sudan and all the other countries between Nigeria and Angola). We need a new Egyptian civilisation, nay, an African civilisation: at least its nemesis. Only then will Africa's posterity judge us leniently.

Letter from Pambazuka News Editors

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/19571

Morning has broken

Fatoumata Toure, Pan African Movement, Kampala

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/19430

Should Africa protect its farmers to revitalize its economy?

Niek Koning, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/19568

A major cause of Africa's problems is trade policies (Pambazuka 139: How Africa develops Europe). Cheap food imports hamper investment by farmers and cause a rural crisis that drags the rest of society with it. In itself, the situation in rural Africa is not so different from that in, say, 18th century Europe, where population growth also necessitated farmer investment in sustainable agricultural intensification. Like African farmers today, European farmers struggled with bad roads, corrupt officials, traditional property rights, and so on and so forth. However, they had one decisive advantage: population growth still raised the prices of agricultural products. This helped farmers to invest in fertilizing and soil/water conservation in spite of these obstacles.

In our time, the industrial revolution has broken the relation between population and prices. Since the late 19th century, the world has been faced with overproduction and recurrent price falls in international agricultural markets. Western countries responded by erecting high tariff walls behind which their farm progress could continue. Countries like South Korea and Taiwan have followed their example, thereby securing green revolutions that became engines of industrialization. Yet in spite of all this, international financial institutions and their advisers keep pressuring African governments not to protect their farmers. As a consequence, the latter are faced with unfavorable price-ratios that prevent them from investing in sustainable land management, so that increase in population pressure on the land leads to vicious cycles of poverty and soil degradation.

The resulting malaise drives young people to the cities, but as poor rural hinterlands do not stimulate industry, they find little employment and are pushed into marginal service activities and political fights for the public jobs that still remain after structural adjustment. This jostling for jobs leads to persistence of overstaffed bureaucracies that are in their turn paid for by overtaxing the farmers, pushing domestic agricultural prices even below world market levels. For many western development experts, this is the prime cause of Africa's troubles. In reality, it is largely a reinforcing feedback effect of a crisis that has it origins in the non-protection of farmers against low international prices.

Should Africa protect its farmers to revitalize its economy? Orthodox economists say no: protection would reduce efficiency, breed rent-seeking pressure groups, and hurt poor food consumers. In reality, higher agricultural prices would encourage innovation, and reduce over-exploitation of soils and under-utilization of labour. Farmers are too far removed from political power to be able to exploit the rest of society. And higher agricultural prices would reduce poverty because they create employment and raise worker incomes.
For a further elaboration of this viewpoint see http://www.iied.org/docs/gatekeep/GK105.pdf

Where was the gender angle?

Hope Chigudu

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/19432

I liked the editorial very much (Pambazuka 137: The way it could have been...). It was very different and interesting but could have benefited from some gender sensitivity and a feminist perspective. Thanks for feeding us intellectually and enriching our lives.
Pambazuka News Reply: Thanks for pulling us up – We will definitely keep your point in mind.

Italian journal to focus on social movements

Call for Papers

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/19451

Afriche e Orienti", the leading Italian journal in African studies, is looking for contributions for a special issue on "social movements Africa" to be published in the second half of 2004. Articles are invited on topics that cover dynamics of mobilization and struggle for social rights, access to resources and social justice in the African continent under neoliberalism. The deadline for the submission of articles (not more than 6,000 words long) is 31 MARCH 2004. Submissions and abstracts should be sent to Franco Barchiesi (f_barchiesi@yahoo.com).

Links

Nuruddin Farah

2004-01-22

http://www.africanreviewofbooks.com/

Jeebleh is a Somalian who returns from the comfort of New York to his homeland of Somalia after an absence of more than 20 years. He has returned to his birthplace to mourn the death of his recently deceased mother. He has left his anxious family behind, and arrives in Mogadiscio as foreigner with a Somali passport. His distance, his separation, from his nuclear family, is a metaphor for the similar distance between the reality of Somalia and his/our notions of family. His journey into his unfamiliar homeland is about the discovery that family is not nuclear, it is clan, and this requires a re-learning of the language that circumscribes our definitions of self.

Media Under Siege

A report by the MMPZ: Reviewed by Patrick Burnett, Fahamu

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/19478

Media Under Siege, a report on media coverage of the 2002 presidential and mayoral elections in Zimbabwe, begins with a paragraph discussing a propaganda manual used in 1994 by Rwandan media, now notorious for inciting genocide. The manual argued for an approach called “accusation in a mirror”, in which the enemy would be accused of carrying out acts that the accusers themselves were planning or executing. It is this “uncanny echo” that Media Under Siege begins with, and with the horror of Rwanda imprinted on the psyche of Africa, it is a chilling comparison. But this report does not set out to warn that Zimbabwe will become another Rwanda. Rather, and as laid out in the conclusion, it is a pointed warning to those working in the public media that their time will come.

The report concludes: “The evidence from the output of Zimpapers and ZBC points overwhelmingly to the existence of a deliberate campaign to disseminate lies with the aims of discrediting the political opposition and inciting violence against the MDC and its supporters…” It does go on to acknowledge that the prospect of journalists being charged is a distant one. “But it is important that the legal obligations and accountability of journalists be clearly understood.”

Media Under Siege is an in depth look at the media context of the 2002 elections and some of the major events covered by the media, including the victimisation of the Amani Trust, the alleged assassination plot against Robert Mugabe and some of the more outlandish conspiracy theories advanced in the public media. It talks through the pre-poll, poll and post-poll context in a format that compares how the public media covered issues in relation to the private media, and visa versa. Some of the statistics are astonishing and clearly indicate the vested interests of the media and the massive dived between the public media on one side and the private media on the other. For example, Radio Zimbabwe quoted a total of 304 official party voices of the contesting parties. Of these, Zanu-PF was quoted 258 times (85 percent), while the MDC was quoted 28 times (nine percent). And out of a total of 14 hours and 41 minutes and 30 seconds that ZBC television news bulletins devoted to the presidential elections campaign between December 2001 and March 2002, Zanu-PF’s candidate was granted a total of 13 hours 50 minutes and 30 seconds, or a little more than 94 percent.

This is not to say that the report is uncritical of the shortcomings in the coverage of events by the Daily News, and this is frequently pointed out. But the difference is that this is constructive criticism of mistakes carried out in the line of duty. In the case of the public media, criticism is more scathing. “Bad journalism was what Zimpapers and the ZBC did in the now distant past, when they at least aspired to practise journalism of some description. In the 2002 election campaign their business was not journalism at all. At its most benign it was to sow confusion; at its worst it was used as a tool to incite hatred and violence.”

This report might not be the glossiest publication you ever lay your hands on, but it is a gritty account of the media environment over the election period and will be of value to anyone with even a passing interest in the media. The report does not cover the subsequent closure of the Daily News, but this does not matter. Its indictment of the public media for its failure to fulfil its most basic journalistic responsibilities during the election period makes clear the huge hole that the closure of the Daily News has left in Zimbabwe.

Media Under Siege is published by the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe, an independent Trust that works to promote responsible journalism in Zimbabwe.
ISBN: 0-7974-2736-8
Contact Details:
15 Duthrie Avenue
Alexandra Park
Harare
Tel/Fax: 263 4 703 702
monitors@mweb.co.zw
monitors@mmpz.org.zw

Review of African Political Economy

New Issue Alert

2004-01-22

http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com

Volume 30 Number 96/June 2003 of Review of African Political Economy is now available.
This issue contains:
* War & the Forgotten Continent by Rita Abrahamsen, Ray Bush;
* Africa: The Next Liberation Struggle? by John S. Saul;
* Land Reform in Southern Africa in World-Historical Perspective by Henry Bernstein.

Twilight In The Morning

Theresa Lungu

2004-01-22

http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-30191-6

This is the story of one young woman’s struggle to regain her life after her entire family is slain during the 1994 genocide of Rwanda. It tells of her pain and triumphs in her relationship with an American doctor whom she meets at the refugee camp where she works as a nurse, and of her quest to seek asylum in the United States.

Africa: Diverting the Flow: A Resource Guide to Gender, Rights and Water Privatisation

2004-01-22

http://www.un-instraw.org/en/news2.phtml?id=785

Women’s Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO) has announced the launching of this publication which highlights the critical issues related to water privatization and women. Among the themes included are: water as a human right; gender roles and inequities; global policy trends; and governance issues. Case studies from Egypt, Kenya, Philippines, South Africa, United States of America, and Uruguay are presented.

Africa: Women's leadership essential to 21st century

2004-01-22

http://www.unifem.org/speeches.php?f_page_pid=77&f_pritem_pid=155

Speaking recently at the Summit of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), pointed to the critical role of women's participation and leadership in enhancing democratic governance. "The nations of the world have committed themselves, through the 2000 Millennium Declaration, to a world free from want and free from fear," she said. "The current debate on how to achieve this however, throws up both the growing realization that conventional development and governance approaches are failing to achieve these desired ends, and that it is becoming increasingly important to examine the ways in which power has been exercised in the management of political and economic processes for development."

Burundi: Reasons for rape 'complex'

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38936

At 24, a single mother, Marie - not her real name - could have expected a better deal in life. But she was given no choice: while working as a housemaid in Kinindo, a residential suburb of the capital, Bujumbura, Marie was raped and subsequently found herself pregnant. Many cases of rape go unreported in Burundi. Lucie Nyamarushwa, a human rights coordinator with the Iteka rights group, attributes this to victims' ignorance of their rights and the procedures available to prosecute perpetrators.

Kenya: Bridging the reproductive health gap for girls in Nairobi slums

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38909

For many young women in Nairobi's crowded Kibera slum, life is fraught with danger in addition to the hardship they share with other residents of one of Africa's poorest neighbourhoods. They live in constant fear of violence, rape, sexual abuse, HIV/AIDS, unequal access to education, and excessive domestic responsibilities.

Liberia: Woman claims control of rebels

2004-01-22

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=515&ncid=723&e=1&u=/ap/20040120/ap_on_re_af/liberia_woman_warlord

The wife of the leader of Liberia's most powerful rebel movement announced Tuesday she was taking charge, backed by dozens of guerrilla commanders in ousting a husband whose ambitions she said were endangering the nation's hard-won peace. In a family feud with West Africa's stability in the balance, warlord Sekou Conneh frantically took to state radio to insist it was only a marital squabble and he was still in command.

WSF: Women take action on international trade agreements

2004-01-22

http://www.infochangeindia.org/infochange_wsf20.jsp?wsf20

Women are always better organised when social issues are at stake - this was the conclusion of the International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN) workshop at the World Social Forum. The IGTN emerged out of the resistance in Seattle, is a strong women's movement unifying organisations from Asia, Africa Latin America and the Caribbean. Women from the IGTN are organising large education campaigns specifically on social spending on water and benefits from water budgets. In Africa, they have organised ‘water tribunals'. The women take on and criticise the WTO as well as regional trade forums from a women's perspective. They openly critique the trade policy and undertake large advocacy campaigns.

WSF: ‘Feminist Dialogues’ affirms women’s solidarity

2004-01-22

http://www.infochangeindia.org/infochange_wsf13.jsp?wsf13

Some 160 women participants from all over the globe recently concluded an historic strategising meeting dubbed ‘Feminist Dialogues: Building Solidarities', in Mumbai, India. The dialogues examined “the interlinkages between feminist movements and other social movements and advocacy groups involved in human rights struggles, including sexual and reproductive rights, social equality, people's development, environmental and economic justice and gender justice”. Held on January 14-15, prior to the opening of the World Social Forum 2004, the meeting represented diverse feminist perspectives from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Europe. Participants discussed the complexity of emergent issues in the light of globalisation and identified collective strategies beyond the forum. They discussed the relationship between neo-liberalism, militarism, neo-conservatism, religious fundamentalism and gender/racial/ethnic inequalities through panel presentations, small group and plenary discussions.

WSF:Wars against women, women against war

2004-01-22

http://www.infochangeindia.org/infochange_wsf18.jsp?wsf18

“We are not poor, we are (being) robbed,” said Nawal el Saddawi, an activist from Egypt , who vehemently criticised the growing imperialism and the concept of Third World and First World countries at the World Social Forum. First World countries are the ones plundering the resources of other countries. Ridiculing the concept of post-colonialism, Saddawi argued that colonialism had never ended. “At present we are witnessing neo-colonialism,” she said. She also criticised the concept of post-modern feminism. Saddawi claimed that the invasion of poor countries in the name of human rights protection and women's liberation was the worst kind of violation of human rights.

Zimbabwe: Tackling gender violence

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39036

Zimbabwe's women are doubly disadvantaged by the country's four-year-old economic crisis. They are not only expected to manage dwindling, inflation-hit household budgets, but many are also victims of a corresponding rise in domestic violence. "We see an average of 10 new clients a day - and of these an average of three are seeking peace orders in matters of domestic violence, and some of the reasons have to do with financial issues," Emilia Muchawa of the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association told IRIN.

Africa: The UN Human Rights Norms For Business: Towards Legal Accountability

2004-01-22

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGIOR420012004

Human rights organisations have addressed concerns to businesses for a number of years. Recognizing that economic globalization has expanded the reach of corporate power, advocates have struggled to ensure that companies, no less than other significant actors, are brought within the framework of international human rights rules. A significant step in this direction was taken in August 2003 by the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights when it approved the UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights. This booklet provides an introduction to the UN Human Rights Norms for Business. It answers a number of questions about the UN Norms and their legal status, and includes an overview of their development, background on the drafting process, and a description of the content and legal status of the UN Norms.

CAR: New human rights aide appointed

2004-01-22

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=136&art_id=qw1074273840508B253&set_id=1

The leader of the Central African Republic has appointed former prime minister Henri Maidou to the newly created post of presidential aide in charge of human rights and good governance, national radio has reported.

Kenya: Are Human Rights Movements The Next Victims of The War on Terrorism?

2004-01-22

http://www.khrc.or.ke/news.asp?ID=9

Human rights movements the world over have a major role to play to guarantee peace and the survival of the world. But, argues Dr. Willy Mutunga, Executive Director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission the dangers that the human rights movements face have to be confronted head on. "This confrontation is only possible if the national, regional and continental human rights movements become powerful, vibrant and acquire a mass following. Such movements will strengthen the international human rights movements that are important pillars in facing the challenges posed by the enemies of human rights. The human rights movements the world over are the only engines for social justice. And it is for these reasons that the movements face mortal danger in the context of the war on terrorism."

Rwanda: Dallaire details military action ahead of genocide

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39042

The former Rwandan army provided weapons and training to militiamen in the months leading up to the 1994 genocide, Gen. Romeo Dallaire, the former commander of UN troops in the country, told the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Tuesday. In his second day of testimony in the "Military Trial I" - for four former Rwandan military officers - Dallaire said an informant told him that weapons in the hands of Interahamwe militiamen were from the army's reserve stocks.

Sierra Leone: Commitments to the Special Court must remain firm and not falter, Amnesty urges

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/19410

Two years after the Government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations (UN) signed an agreement to establish the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Amnesty International is calling on the international community not to waver in its support for the Special Court. "16 January 2002 marked a historic development towards ending impunity for a decade of atrocities against the people of Sierra Leone," Amnesty International said. "The Special Court was established at the initiative of an African state, Sierra Leone, in agreement with the UN, to act on behalf of the entire international community to provide justice to victims of crimes against humanity and war crimes."
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE
AI Index: AFR 51/002/2004 (Public)
16 January 2004

Embargo Date: 16 January 2004 00:01 GMT

Two years after the Government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations (UN)
signed an agreement to establish the Special Court for Sierra Leone,
Amnesty International is calling on the international community not to
waver in its support for the Special Court.

"16 January 2002 marked a historic development towards ending impunity for
a decade of atrocities against the people of Sierra Leone," Amnesty
International said today. "The Special Court was established at the
initiative of an African state, Sierra Leone, in agreement with the UN, to
act on behalf of the entire international community to provide justice to
victims of crimes against humanity and war crimes."

"That unique opportunity and the significant progress made so far cannot
now be squandered because of the failure by some states to cooperate fully
with the Special Court and insufficient funding."

Thirteen people were indicted by the Special Court during 2003 for bearing
the greatest responsibility for crimes against humanity, war crimes and
other serious violations of international law. Nine of those indicted are
currently in the custody of the Special Court and trials are expected to
begin in March or April this year.

One of those indicted is the former President of Liberia, Charles Taylor.
The charges against him relate to killings, mutilations, rape and other
forms of sexual violence, sexual slavery, conscription of children,
abduction and forced labour perpetrated by Sierra Leone armed opposition
forces which Charles Taylor had actively supported.

Despite his indictment and an international arrest warrant, Charles Taylor
was allowed to leave Liberia for Nigeria on 11 August 2003 where he
remains with guarantees from the Nigerian government that he will be
neither surrendered to the Special Court nor brought before Nigeria's own
courts.

"The Nigerian government's action in sheltering a person indicted for
crimes against humanity and war crimes violates international law",
Amnesty International said. "It is under a legal obligation to arrest
Charles Taylor and either surrender him to the Special Court or open an
investigation with a view to determining whether to open criminal or
extradition proceedings in Nigerian courts".

"No one, regardless of their status - including a head of state - has
immunity for the most serious crimes under international law," Amnesty
International added.

"We have again written to President Olusegun Obasanjo, pointing out that,
while it has been argued that allowing Charles Taylor to travel to Nigeria
was in the interests of securing a political settlement to Liberia's armed
conflict, this cannot be at the expense of abiding by international law
and ending impunity," Amnesty International said.

On 17 August 2003, when asked why former President Taylor had been allowed
to leave Liberia for Nigeria, the UN Secretary-General replied that: "the
long arm of the law will still be at work and the indictment still
stands".

Amnesty International has called on all states, including Nigeria, to
cooperate fully with the Special Court by entering into binding legal
agreements with the Special Court to assist it fully in any investigation
and in surrendering individuals who are indicted by the Special Court.

Both the UN Secretary-General and the Security Council have repeatedly
expressed their support for the Special Court and called on all states
both to cooperate fully with the Special Court and provide adequate
funding for the court.

Despite these calls, however, the very existence of the Special Court has
been threatened by a financial crisis. The Special Court must receive its
full budget if it is to continue its work in a way which adheres to the
highest standards of judicial practice and provides a "legacy" to the
Sierra Leone legal and justice systems.

"We are urging all states to make urgent and generous contributions
towards funding the Special Court, both for the outstanding budget for its
current second year of operation and also for the subsequent year,"
Amnesty International said.

While some of the shortfall for the second year has been met by bringing
forward contributions from the third year, this only aggravates the
serious shortfall projected for the third and planned final year. If the
work of the court is not concluded in exactly three years, the problem is
compounded.

"The commitment made by the international community on 16 January 2002 to
address impunity, to encourage reconciliation after more than a decade of
brutal conflict and to reinforce the foundations of a durable peace in
Sierra Leone must remain firm and not falter," Amnesty International
concluded.


For further information, see Open letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo
(AI Index: AFR 44/002/2004)
[http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR440022004], published by
Amnesty International on 16 January 2004.

WSF: Activists Demand Globalization of Justice

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/19553

Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Iranian human rights defender, was due to join hundreds of activists at the World Social Forum to demand universal ratification of the International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty. Ms. Ebadi's presence on a January 20 panel organised by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) was expected to raise the profile of the pro-ICC movement: a global campaign partnering grassroots activists with governments and international organisations in promoting the strengthened rule of law.
PRESS RELEASE

World Social Forum Activists Demand Globalization of Justice:
Nobel Peace Laureate Joins International Criminal Court Advocates

Mumbai, January 16, 2004 - Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
and Iranian human rights defender, will join hundreds of activists at the
World Social Forum beginning here today to demand universal ratification
of the International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty. Ms. Ebadi's presence
on a January 20 panel organized by the International Federation for Human
Rights (FIDH) will raise the profile of the pro-ICC movement: a global
campaign partnering grassroots activists with governments and
international organizations in promoting the strengthened rule of law.

Created in July 2002, the ICC will try individuals - regardless of rank
or power - accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Referred to as the "court of last resort," the ICC will act only when
national courts are unable or unwilling to do so. Currently, 92
countries, representing all regions of the world, accept ICC jurisdiction.

"The ICC is an historic innovation that strengthens the global
enforcement of human rights, and presents a viable alternative to
militarism and pre-emptive war," said Mr. William Pace, convenor of the
2,000 member NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court
(Coalition). "While many social activists have criticized international
institutions as undemocratic and serving elite economic interests, the
ICC is a positive force of globalization: one that enforces human rights
at the international level," Mr. Pace said.

"The ICC enshrines basic standards of accountability, and thus can
strengthen human rights campaigns and law reform processes in India,"
said Ms. Saumya Uma, Coordinator of the Indian Coalition for the ICC, an
informal network of Indian NGOs.

Top Indian and international experts to be featured in the global justice
panel include: Mr. Sidiki Kaba of Senegal, president of the International
Federation of Human Rights (FIDH); Ms. Irene Khan of the UK, secretary-
general of Amnesty International; Ms. Vahida Nainar of India,
representing the Womens' Initiative for Gender Justice; Mr. William Pace
of the United States, representing the international secretariat of the
NGO Coalition for the ICC, and other advocates from the Democratic
Republic of Congo, India and Palestine. The panel will highlight the
ICC's relevance to globalization and the fight against impunity, with a
special focus on advances in gender justice and victim's rights in the
Global South.

# # #

Note to the Editor: The FIDH-organized ICC panel will be held as part of
the World Social Forum on January 20, 2004 from 1 - 4 p.m. in room A2 and
5 - 8 p.m. in room A5 at Nesco Limited on the Western Express Highway in
Goregaon East, Mumbai.

For more information, contact:
Adele Waugaman, Coalition Media Liaison (+ 91) 98 216 82338
Saumya Uma, Indian Coalition Coordinator (+ 91) 98 203 46260

Zimbabwe: Folktakes, dirty hands and constitutional rights

2004-01-22

http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/legal/031101am.asp?sector=LEGAL

There is an old African folktale of the hare and the baboon. The story goes that Hare and his family held a huge feast and invited his uncle Baboon and family. On the morning of the day Hare and family burned the whole surroundings of his homestead. When Baboon and family arrived for the feast Hare advised them to go to the river to wash their hands first for no one with dirty hands could enjoy the feast. Baboon and family returned and upon inspection Hare maintained that their hands were still dirty. Because Baboon could not avoid touching the burnt surroundings, his hands were always dirty each time he returned from the river. Thus he never joined the feast on account of his dirty hands. He got frustrated and left. But the story goes further as, later that year, Baboon and family held an even bigger feast. He invited his nephew Hare and family. But the venue was up in the trees. Hare and family arrived but could not climb trees and so they salivated on the ground as Baboon and company enjoyed their feast. Sadly many of us seem to have forgotten the wisdom in these folk tales. This article is a follow up to a critique of the Supreme Court judgement in the ANZ case that was delivered on the 11/09/2003. In that judgement, the Court refused to hear the application brought by ANZ (Publishers of the Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday) challenging certain sections of the notorious Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA). That unprecedented refusal to hear a constitutional application was based on the ground that ANZ had "unclean hands" because they had failed to comply with a law whose validity they were challenging. In that critique, the author argued, with all due respect, the Supreme Court had erred in applying the doctrine of Clean Hands, a doctrine of equity, in a matter involving the determination of fundamental constitutional rights. Such an application of the doctrine of Clean Hands poses a great hazard to the protection and uninterrupted enjoyment of human rights, says the author.

Angola: Refugees Return to War-Devastated Angola

2004-01-22

http://www.refugees.org/news/press_releases/2004/01142004.cfm

Refugees repatriating to Angola are returning to a skeleton of a country. Nearly 30 years of brutal civil war reduced most of Angola's homes, schools, hospitals, places of worship, markets, roads, bridges, and commercial and government buildings to rubble. The war also rendered useless hundreds of thousands of acres of fertile agricultural land and countless miles of fish-abundant rivers with millions of landmines and unexploded ordnance, nearly all of which remain in place today. The U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) conducted an extensive three-week site visit to Zambia and Angola during November 2003 to examine the repatriation and reintegration of Angolan refugees. As the UN High Commissioner for Refugees pauses for the onset of seasonal rains after phase one of the repatriation program - the agency plans to resume facilitating refugee return in April 2004 - USCR offers timely findings and recommendations on the challenges Angolan refugee returnees face as they attempt to restart their lives in their currently peaceful, but war-devastated homeland.

Burundi: UN agency prepares for possible mass return of refugees

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39057

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has sent an emergency team from Switzerland to Burundi to explore the possibilities of opening up more field offices in preparation for the possible return of hundreds of thousands of refugees now in Tanzania, the agency reported on Tuesday. The agency reported that the team, comprising a head of operations, a finance and operations officer and a telecommunications/information technology officer, would join a field staff safety adviser. They will travel to areas bordering Tanzania "to assess the situation, review the needs on the ground and prepare for the possible deployment of additional staff".

Chad: New influx of Sudanese reported in eastern Chad

2004-01-22

http://tinyurl.com/25kwt

The UN refugee agency has dispatched teams to the border region of Chad to look into reports of some 18,000 new Sudanese refugees fleeing continued violence in western Sudan's Darfur region over the past five days. Local authorities in the border area north of the town of Adre in eastern Chad told a UNHCR team there Tuesday that some 8,000 refugees had arrived in three different sites. The new arrivals had reportedly fled from fighting in Sudan's Djerbira canton since January 16.

Ethiopia/Sudan: 5,000 Anyuak flee instability

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39000

Since a spate of killings in mid-December, about 5,000 Sudanese and Ethiopian Anyuaks, including about 100 unaccompanied children, have fled from western Ethiopia to Pachala in southern Sudan, according to the UN and aid agencies. "Residents say some 100 to 200 people are arriving daily," Ron Redmond, a spokesman for the Office of the United High Commissioner for Refugees, told IRIN. "They report walking for a week or more to reach the border and appear to be in reasonably good health. However, they are arriving with no possessions, not even to carry water [in]," he said, noting that most of them were young men aged between 14 and 25. "Local residents are providing some help to the new arrivals, who are also foraging in the countryside for food," he added.

Rwanda/Uganda: First group of Rwandan refugees return from Uganda

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38997

UNHCR started its voluntary repatriation operation from Uganda to Rwanda this week, kicking off what is expected to be one of the last major movements of Rwandan returnees in the region. The first 242 of some 25,000 Rwandan refugees living in Uganda returned home on Monday, under an agreement signed by the governments of the two countries and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an official told IRIN.

Sudan/Chad: Safe refuge for Sudanese in Chadian site

2004-01-22

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news

Hundreds of Sudanese refugees fleeing fighting in the Darfur region have been relocated away from the volatile Chad-Sudan border to a safer site in eastern Chad. On Monday, a second convoy of some 240 people left Ouendalou border site for the new camp at Farchana, 55 km away. They joined the first group of 148 people who had left on Saturday.

Sudan: Authorities forcibly close IDP camps in southern Darfur

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38962

Authorities in Nyala, southern Darfur, closed two camps housing 10,000 displaced people on Thursday, following a failed attempt to relocate them to new camps without their consent, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The new camps were located about 20 km outside of Nyala "in an area considered unsafe" due to ongoing fighting, difficult to access for humanitarian workers, and where there was neither shelter, food, nor sufficient access to water and latrines, said MSF.

Africa: Good Governance a Key Theme of German Chancellor's Visit

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=22028

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder arrived in South Africa this week for a two-day visit to the country. This forms part of a four-nation African tour - Schroeder's first since he became chancellor in 1998. Observers say the trip has been carefully planned to send a message of encouragement to leaders who are viewed as taking Africa in a positive direction. Shroeder began his visit in Ethiopia on Sunday, and then traveled to Kenya. He will also touch down in Ghana later this week.

Burkina Faso: Defence minister sacked after questioning over coup attempt

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38987

Burkina Faso's Defence Minister, General Kouame Lougue, was sacked at the weekend, a week after the state prosecutor revealed that he had been questioned in connection with a coup plot against President Blaise Campaore. Lougue, who was very popular within the army, was replaced by Yero Boli, the head of Campaore's presidential staff, a trusted civilian aide of the president, who was Minister of the Interior until 2000.

CAR: Electoral calendar released

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39068

A constitutional referendum will be held in November in the Central African Republic, followed by municipal, parliamentary and presidential elections from December 2004 to January 2005, a government minister announced on Wednesday when he released a final electoral calendar.

Guinea: Ailing Conte is sworn in for another term

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39040

Guinea's ailing head of state, General Lansana Conte, was sworn in for another seven-year term on Monday. The swearing-in ceremony took place before a panel of Supreme Court judges. While Conte was able to take his oath of office in a loud, clear voice, the difficulty he experienced in getting from his seat to the rostrum has led to further speculation about the President’s decline and his ability to embark on another seven years in power. Conte, 69, who first came to power through a coup d'etat in 1984, cleared 95.2 percent of the vote in the elections on December 21. But the poll was boycotted by opposition parties (most of whose candidates had already been ruled ineligible to stand by the authorities) and the results were announced amidst accusations of electoral fraud and vote-rigging.

Lesotho: Focus on challenges to multipary democracy

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/19407

Lesotho remains a fragile democracy despite electoral reforms designed to strengthen its political system, a South African political think-tank has argued. A new report by the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) argues that steps towards deepening democracy in the tiny country continued to be undermined by ongoing social and economic problems, which could serve to reverse some of the gains made so far. The report, "The Road to Democratic Consolidation in Lesotho, Reforms and Challenges", noted that the political culture remained adversarial, and problems of political violence and poor accountability should not be regarded as solved.
LESOTHO: Focus on challenges to multipary democracy

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]


JOHANNESBURG, 15 January (IRIN) - Lesotho remains a fragile democracy despite electoral reforms designed to strengthen its political system, a South African political think-tank has argued.

A new report by the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA) argues that steps towards deepening democracy in the tiny country continued to be undermined by ongoing social and economic problems, which could serve to reverse some of the gains made so far.

The report, "The Road to Democratic Consolidation in Lesotho, Reforms and Challenges", noted that the political culture remained adversarial, and problems of political violence and poor accountability should not be regarded as solved.

The 1993 and 1998 polls in Lesotho were marred by political violence and threats of military coups, and while the last general election in 2002 was relatively calm, the losing party still contested the results in court.

Changes to the country's electoral system, from first-past-the-post (FPTP) to mixed member proportional representation (MMP), and restructuring of the armed forces, had substantially reduced the risk of election unrest. But EISA said there was a need for continued vigilance.

The Basotholand Congress Party (BCP) won a landslide victory in 1993, when the FPTP electoral system allowed it to capture every seat in the 65-seat National Assembly, despite the fact that 25 percent of the vote went to other parties.

The BCP took office, but with opposition Basotho National Party (BNP) loyalists entrenched in the army and civil service, the ruling party struggled to impose its authority and clashed with the security forces over a number of issues, including army compensation. In response to these grievances, a faction of the army mutinied in early 1994.

Following efforts by the international community to resolve the crisis, the BCP was restored to power.

The 1998 elections returned similar results, with the Lesotho Congress Party (LCD), a breakaway faction of the BCP, winning 79 of 80 seats. A judicial enquiry into the results later found that election documentation was in disarray and the legitimacy of the results could not be accurately judged. The LCD found itself unable to control the security forces, which were still loyal to the BNP and, pre-empting a possible military coup, called on neighbouring South Africa for help.

South Africa and Botswana, under the banner of the Southern African Development Community, sent troops to disperse protesters and disarm disloyal soldiers. Although they were successful, it was not without resistance from sections of the army, and ensuing looting destroyed much of the capital, Maseru.

After negotiations with the opposition, the government agreed to the MMP electoral system and elections were held in May 2002. Once again, 79 out 80 seats were returned to the LCD, but all 40 proportional representation seats were awarded to the opposition, including 22 to the BNP.

Despite the optimism following electoral reform and the peaceful outcome of these elections, opposition parties have voiced frustration over their effectiveness in parliament and "pessimism about winning elections in the future". EISA noted that this dissatisfaction could erode improvements in tolerance achieved by the transition.

An issue of ongoing concern was the strong position of the ruling party in parliament - the LCD still holds nearly two-thirds of the seats in parliament and can make decisions without consulting the opposition, while parliament has few committees and is frequently not in session at all.

The report observed that the role of opposition parties was seriously constrained by MP's lack of capacity and the abscence of institutional arrangements, such as portfolio committees, required for the effective functioning of parliament.

Another contentious political issue was the introduction of local government structures. The bill has not yet been introduced in parliament, but the authority of these structures would come into direct conflict with that of Lesotho's chiefs, until now the ruling voice at local level.

Political power in Lesotho is most often concentrated in the hands of a few leaders. The lack of intraparty democracy means that party members have little or no control over their leadership,EISA noted.

"Although political parties do hold congresses, these congresses are in most cases mechanisms for entrenching political control over the party, instead of mechanisms for holding leaders accountable and consulting with party membership on matters of national interest, party strategy and tactics. Openness and transparency in the conduct of the party operations ... party financial statements, and available records on sources of income ... are generally absent," the report said.

The lack of intraparty democracy is also reflected in the under-representation of women in the higher echelons of political parties, which directly impacts on the representation of women in parliament. Out of 120 seats, just 13 are occupied by women.

"Lesotho's new leadership must, however, understand that democratisation goes far beyond the essential formal elements of a democracy - elections, multiparty systems and institutions - which are not sufficient to guarantee broad-based participatory democracy," EISA said.

Besides the administrative shortcomings, the report found that the potential for future conflict also lay in the country's economic difficulties. The formal economy employs just 50,000 people, a large portion of them in the bureaucracy, the security forces, or other organs of state. Interviews with civil society representatives found that politics in Lesotho was seen primarily as a competition for jobs.

"Reliance on seats in parliament for employment raises the personal stakes of political competition in Lesotho, contributing to an adversarial political culture and increasing the likelihood of recourse to violence," noted the report.

Moreover, competition over scarce resources had increased the tendency towards factionalism, not only between but within Lesotho's political and governance institutions, the report commented.

To access the report:
http://www.eisa.org.za


[ENDS]

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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2004

Nigeria: Nationwide Strike Suspended

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=22029

The Nigeria Labour Congress announced Wednesday that it was suspending a nationwide stay away that had been called to protest against a fuel price increase. The strike was scheduled to begin on Wednesday. However, a court of appeal in the capital, Abuja, ordered the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to withdraw its call for a stay away. This followed government's appeal of an earlier judgement that the strike could go ahead. In the latest court decision, Justice Ayo Salami said the strike action could not proceed before Jan. 26, the date which has been set aside for hearing the government's appeal.

South Africa: Zulu-based opposition launches election campaign

2004-01-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3408295.stm

South Africa's Zulu-led opposition party has begun its election campaign amidst fears of street violence. About 20,000 supporters joined a rally in Durban to hear the leader of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, speak on Sunday. Inkatha is trying to prevent the ANC - which controls the national government - from taking power in the province of KwaZulu Natal. Thousands died in fighting between the Inkatha and the ANC in the early 1990s.

Zambia: Unionists threaten strike action

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39047

Trade unionists in Zambia have threatened industrial action if the government goes ahead with plans to impose a six-month wage freeze on civil servants' salaries. Earlier this month the authorities said the austerity measure was part of broader economic reforms aimed at reigning in government overspending.

Zimbabwe: Parties unaware of talks

2004-01-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3419403.stm

Zimbabwe's political parties have told the BBC that they are unaware of talks, which South African President Thabo Mbeki says they have agreed to. Mr Mbeki said that President Robert Mugabe had agreed to hold formal talks with the opposition to try to solve the country's political impasse. But a senior official of Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party told BBC News Online he could not confirm this reported change of position. And a leading figure of the opposition MDC also said it was news to him.

Zimbabwe: I was framed, MDC leader tells Harare court

2004-01-22

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=8460

Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told his treason trial on Wednesday that he did, as alleged, discuss "eliminating" President Robert Mugabe but was trapped into using a word he only meant in a political sense. Tsvangirai, who leads the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has denied charges of plotting to kill Mugabe and stage a coup d'etat ahead of the country's controversial 2002 general elections. The state's case against Tsvangirai, who could face a death sentence if convicted, hinges mainly on a videotape of a meeting he held with Canadian-based political consultant Ari Ben-Menashe where prosecutors say Mugabe's "elimination" was discussed.

Angola: Rights group slammed by government

2004-01-22

http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=95417

The Angolan government has reacted strongly to accusations of corruption and mismanagement made by the NGO Human Rights Watch. According to a government response, Human Rights Watch had resumed accusations formerly levelled by some international circles - without any serious base for supporting the allegations - that over 4bn dollars generated from the oil sector between 1997 and 2002 went missing from state coffers.

Cameroon: Anti-corruption committee in place

2004-01-22

http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=95450

An anti-corruption committee was last week installed to check corrupt practices in the Ministry of Employment, Labour and Social Insurance. The installation ceremony was chaired by Minister Robert Nkili at the Yaounde conference centre. Minister Nkili told members of the anti-corruption committee that the ultimate wish of the Cameroonian people of all classes and shades of opinion was to check and possibly eradicate corrupt practices in the public service. According to him, the country has enough resources but lacks honest managers.

Kenya: Why your MP is always broke

2004-01-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200401190009.html

Is your Member of Parliament suddenly proving elusive? And are you at a loss as to why he or she cannot honour pledges for fund-drives, or are you wondering why "call or see me next week" has become his/her perpetual excuse? A survey carried out two months ago, explains just why most of our MPs are becoming desperately dodgy - they are spending far more than they earn. The report, "Paying the Public or Caring for Constituents", explores expenditure patterns by the MPs. The Transparency International-Kenya survey is part of an endeavour to examine aspects of public affairs that impact on corruption.

Mozambique: Defence lawyers rage against bank lawyer

2004-01-22

http://www.u4.no/news/news.cfm?id=404

Lawyers defending the 18 people accused of defrauding Mozambique's largest bank, the BCM, of 144 billion meticais (14 million US dollars at the exchange rates of the time) in 1996, on Monday launched a bitter, and highly personal attack against the BCM's lawyer, Albano Silva, who is handling the bank's private prosecution. Speaking on behalf of all the defence lawyers, Fernanda Lopes accused Silva of "a vile attempt to influence the judges".

South Africa: Jet-setting MPs sign secret IOUs

2004-01-22

http://www.suntimes.co.za/2003/12/14/news/news06.asp

More than 40 MPs have signed secret agreements to pay debts owed to a travel agency implicated in a parliamentary R15-million voucher scam. In terms of the deals, any MPs who fail to pay money owed to ITC Travel Services within a year will have summons issued against them and will face being blacklisted for bad debt.

Zambia: Former Zambian intelligence chief arrested for theft

2004-01-22

http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=95446

Former Zambian intelligence boss Xavier Chungu, facing corruption charges with former president Frederick Chiluba, was arrested late Monday on charges of vehicle theft, a security source said on Tuesday. Chungu, who with Chiluba is accused of stealing more than 40 million dollars (31.5 million euros) from the state during Chiluba's 10-year presidency from 1991, was arrested at his suburban home in the capital and is currently in detention, the source said. "They have picked him up in connection with theft of motor vehicles which is a non-bailable offence," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Africa/Global: Stunted development

2004-01-22

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1127300,00.html

When it comes to saving the planet, the private sector's first official report card can be summarised in just three words: "must try harder". Global business leaders need to triple their efforts if there is any hope of meeting widely agreed development goals, concludes an independent report commissioned by the Davos World Economic Forum, and which provides the first ever attempt at ranking the commitment of the business community to the Millennium Declaration goals. Signed by all 189 UN member states in 2000, the declaration established broad commitments in areas such as health, education, security and human rights, but if any of the world's 104 million unschooled children were able to read the results, they would find little to cheer about.

Africa/Global: Why it matters who runs the IMF and the World Bank

2004-01-22

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000668/index.php

Increasing integration has made the great challenge of reducing poverty and advancing human development more achievable than ever, and more dependent than ever on good global economic governance. This paper from the Global Development Centre sets out the economic logic for why good global economic governance matters for reducing poverty and inequality in the world, and then develops several arguments for how better representation of developing countries in the IMF, the World Bank, and other multilateral institutions would make those institutions more effective in that task.

Africa: New approach to development aid 'not justified'

2004-01-22

http://www.cato.org/pubs/fpbriefs/fpb79.pdf

A paper from the Washington-based CATO Institute critically appraises the 'selective' approach to foreign assistance of the US administration, including the proposed new aid initiative, the Millennium Challenge Account. The selective approach is based on the view that aid directed at countries with good policies is more effective at promoting growth and reducing poverty. The paper concludes that the new aid enthusiasm, though broadly shared, is not justified. It is based on problematic claims about aid's effectiveness and a dubious approach to development.

Malawi: Malawi lobbies for resumption of western aid

2004-01-22

http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#1056

Malawi has sent a delegation to Washington to try and persuade the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to release crucial development aid frozen three years ago, officials said on Wednesday. Last October the IMF said it would soon resume disbursing $47 million outstanding from an aid package earmarked for the impoverished southern African country under its Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) arrangement. Soon afterwards, the European Union (EU) and the Common Approach to Budgetary Support (CABS) - a group of European countries that support Malawi - also announced they would resume aid. But a senior government official said none of the donors which pledged support for Malawi last year had kept their word.

WSF: Cry, the Beloved Third World

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_mumbai/viewstory.asp?idn=269

Invoking the sentiments of Alan Paton in his book ‘Cry, the Beloved Country’, some African delegates to the World Social Forum 2004 have used the meetings and networking events, to address issues close to home. Their main concerns: the imbalance in the world political and social systems, and the continued exploitation of the Third World by the powers that pull the global strings. For delegates like John Moru – Policy and Research Advocacy Officer with ActionAid, a nongovernmental organization based in Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja - the reality, however, is that after Mumbai they return home to face familiar problems. "How fair developed countries have been in their relations with the less developed South, in terms of trade and economic relations, is a sore issue which has sparked debates and demonstrations here in Mumbai," says Moru.

WSF: Delegates Seek Answers to Africa’s Woes

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_mumbai/viewstory.asp?idn=206

The messages on the giant banners were powerful on the first day of the World Social Forum, drawing stares from the thousands who streamed into the meeting’s venue on opening day. ‘Africa is Not for Sale’ and ‘Solution to Africa Problems are in Africa’, carefully printed on the white clothing, conveyed the agenda of African participants who say they want to bring an end to the continent’s problems as they gathered at the African stand here. Initiated four years ago, this year’s WSF has seen an increase in the size of the African delegation from about 200 last year to approximately 500 this year, according to Prof Edward Oyugi, an official of African Social Forum (ASF).

WSF: No more WSF for me, says SA activist

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_mumbai/viewstory.asp?idn=232

The frustrated expression on her face said it all. Mohau Pheko, a gender and economic justice activist from South Africa is up to the neck with World Social Forums. She has attended all four and is definite that she will not be at the next WSF to be held in Brazil about same time next year. "Until and unless more grassroots people, especially from Africa, become part of this process I don’t honestly see the need to come and mix with the same people and say the same things to each other."

WSF: Stop Debt Payments Now

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_mumbai/viewstory.asp?idn=226

“Our African governments must know that we are watching them”. Pressure is mounting on African governments not to repay hefty external debts owed to donor organisations. Activists from the continent say the money should instead be used to develop the agricultural sector which is the backbone of economies of most countries. Statistics show that 70 percent of populations in these nations are employed by the sector. In a fiery WSF session, over 300 delegates from Africa who gathered to deliberate on the continent’s economic policies, said one of the major reasons African nations boycotted the World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks last September, was out of fear for their agriculture.

Africa/Global: Nutrition the foundation of basic health

2004-01-22

http://www.unicef.org/nutrition/index.html

Proper nutrition is a powerful good: people who are well-fed are generally healthy. Healthy women can lead more fulfilling lives; healthy children learn more in school and out. Good nutrition benefits families, their communities and the world as a whole. Malnutrition is, by the same logic, devastating. It plays a part in more than half of all child deaths worldwide. It perpetuates poverty. Malnutrition blunts the intellect and saps the productivity of everyone it touches, says a new report released by Unicef for the World Economic Forum.

Africa: Debunking Aids statistics confusion

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/19437

Recent articles by South African author and journalist Rian Malan arguing that AIDS statistics are grossly exaggerated (http://www.lewrockwell.com/spectator/spec192.html) have caused a stormy debate about the seriousness of HIV/AIDS in Africa. In this article, available in full by clicking on the link below, Nathan Geffen from the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) responds to Malan. "Unfortunately, there is overwhelming evidence that mortality due to HIV in South Africa is immense; it is probably the largest single cause of premature death in South Africa. Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, - some of the countries referred to by Malan - are also experiencing very large HIV epidemics. The number of AIDS cases in South Africa is demonstrably growing but the situation is not hopeless: we can alleviate the epidemic by substantially increasing prevention and treatment efforts as government has recently committed to doing," says Geffen.
Rian Malan Spreads Confusion about AIDS Statistics

By Nathan Geffen (TAC National Manager)



Contents


Main Article Responding to Malan
Appendix One: Some Surveys of HIV Seroprevalence from SADC
Appendix Two: List of Technical Errors in Malan's Articles in Noseweek and The Spectator




Rian Malan's articles in Noseweek and The Spectator, arguing that AIDS statistics are grossly exaggerated, have numerous technical errors. One which appears in Noseweek and upon which most of his case with regard to the South African epidemic rests is so serious and obvious that it raises questions about Malan's basic competence as a research journalist -- or more disturbingly -- about his motives and integrity.

In the December issue of Noseweek, Rian Malan and the magazine's editor, Martin Welz, assert that the AIDS epidemic in South Africa is greatly exaggerated and that too much money is being spent on it. 'Glad Tidings' extols the editorial headline, 'Good news! Hurrah! Much less illness in the pipeline!' exclaims Welz celebrating Malan's `findings'. Well actually, keep the cork on the champagne. Malan's `research', which contains hardly any verifiable references, is shoddy journalism. It is littered with serious errors, one of them highly misleading, as well as obvious upon reading the source he quotes. Certainly Malan is an entertaining read. But unattributed quotes, unnamed science journals, unnamed experts, misrepresentations, leaving out critical evidence and a plethora of incorrect facts have no place in a thesis that purports to be debunking the current orthodox scientific view.

Unfortunately, there is overwhelming evidence that mortality due to HIV in South Africa is immense; it is probably the largest single cause of premature death in South Africa. Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, -- some of the countries referred to in another article by Malan published in the 13-20 December edition of The Spectator -- are also experiencing very large HIV epidemics. The number of AIDS cases in South Africa is demonstrably growing but the situation is not hopeless: we can alleviate the epidemic by substantially increasing prevention and treatment efforts as government has recently committed to doing. This is not a message of doom as Malan and Welz would have their readers believe; it is a warning coupled with a practical plan of action - treat and prevent.





HIV in South Africa
We know that the HIV epidemic in South Africa is large from a variety of sources including HIV tests of pregnant women attending public antenatal clinics, analysis of death certificates and a survey from a number of communities and companies across the country. None of these surveys, even taken together, can give us a precise estimate of the number of infected, dying or dead people, but they do imply a large epidemic. Here are some examples:

The Department of Health annually tests about 16,000 women attending public antenatal clinics. In 2002, 26.5% tested HIV-positive1. The infection rate has increased consistently and dramatically since the antenatal clinic studies started. As a comparison, in 1995 it was about 11%2. These studies allow us to estimate with a great deal of confidence the extent of the epidemic in the approximately one million pregnant women attending public antenatal clinics. Immediately, we can see that HIV is rife in a large sub-group of the South African population. Unfortunately, determining the extent of the epidemic in the general population from these surveys is difficult. For one thing pregnant woman have clearly had at least one unprotected sexual encounter making them more at risk of HIV than the general population.

Researchers from the Medical Research Council (MRC) analysed adult death registration data from 1985 to 1999. They found that death among young people, especially women aged 15 to 44, has increased dramatically during that period and that the only reasonable explanation for this is a steadily worsening HIV epidemic.3

The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) tested over 8,000 people from across South African society in 2002. 11.4% tested HIV-positive and the study consequently extrapolates this result to the entire population. As with any undertaking of this complexity, the study is not without flaws. But it gives an unmistakable sense of the size of the epidemic.

In a particularly important study, Statistics South Africa analysed a sample of death registration certificates from 1997 to 2001. They found that by 2001, TB had become the illness category with the most recorded deaths followed closely by HIV-disease. But the largest illness category recorded as cause of death for women (undifferentiated by age) was HIV. Furthermore, the proportion of deaths due to TB rose dramatically from 1997 to 2001. Since TB is the most commonly associated opportunistic infection with HIV in South Africa, it is certain that much of the proportion of death attributed to TB was also HIV-related. The same trend was observed for influenza and pneumonia, also common opportunistic infections in people with HIV. In younger age groups the same trend can be seen for various other diseases frequently associated with HIV. For example, in women aged 15 to 29, the proportion of deaths ascribed to intestinal infectious diseases doubles between 1997 and 2001. (from 2.1% to 4.4%). While not all deaths due to TB, influenza, pneumonia and other common opportunistic infection are HIV-related, the substantial increase in their proportionate contribution to death suggests that HIV was probably already the largest single cause of death in South Africa by 2001. 4

These certificates state what medical practitioners certifying a death are prepared to avow, on record, as the cause of death. Yet many record TB, pneumonia, influenza or some other opportunistic infection as cause of death instead of HIV because patients dying of these illnesses are often not tested for HIV. Also, despite the apparent confidentiality of the certificates, doctors avoid citing HIV to spare the family the stigma and so that funeral insurance and other benefits are paid to the family5. It is with regard to this study that Malan makes his most serious error described later in this article.

The report shows unambiguously a change in age patterns of death particularly among women, as well as what it calls a `unique racial topology of mortality' (pg. 22). There is a rising proportion of mortality due to TB and other diseases commonly associated with HIV. Furthermore the period of the survey (1997 - 2001) is early in the AIDS epidemic, so it is a hint of what is to come. Government has just released the Towards Ten Years of Freedom report which shows that delivery of social services has improved (e.g. access to clean water, housing and electricity)6. These are major factors in vulnerability to poverty related disease. Yet more people are dying younger. How can Malan, or the South African government, explain this?

Many other smaller studies have been done which show alarming HIV infection rates in migrant workers, youth in Carltonville, truck drivers and patients in major hospitals (see appendix one for a sample of these). Studies from the late 1980s and early 1990s by comparison find relatively low infection rates indicating that the HIV epidemic has dramatically worsened over the last decade.7 The hospital studies are particularly interesting because they show the increased burden on the public health-care system of AIDS. Surveys have also been done in banks and at Old Mutual, with prevalence rates ranging from 3 to 5%. Noseweek flippantly suggests that the prevalence found in South African banks should ease our concerns about the extent of the epidemic, but these prevalence rates are disturbingly high for institutions with predominantly middle-class workforces and should give no cause for relief (as a comparison a 3% epidemic is proportionately five times greater than the US epidemic).

The Department of Health, Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA) and the HSRC have all separately used the results from some of these surveys to estimate the size of the epidemic. This is a difficult task and involves making a number of assumptions. There is quite a large margin for error. The three institutions calculate different epidemic sizes ranging from 4.8 million to 6.6 million for 2002. Clearly the differences are significant, but they all reach the same critical conclusion: the South African HIV epidemic is massive. Even if the epidemic size was as small as one million (which it certainly isn't), there would still be an enormous amount to be done to mitigate its effects.

It is worth noting that the first author of the MRC report discussed above, Rob Dorrington, also leads the ASSA modelling team. The MRC report clearly stated that the ASSA600 model in use at the time of publication was overestimating AIDS deaths. No lack of candour here. Yet Malan somehow manages to paint this as a surreptitious admission of the model's failure and replacement with a new version. In fact the explanation is mundanely benign (though to see this would not suit Malan's breathless purpose) -- the ASSA model, as with any useful software, is upgraded from time to time. And in any event, the percentage overestimate by ASSA600 does not give credence to Malan's central thesis that the epidemic is grossly exaggerated. What is more, at the time nearly all newspapers quoted the Department of Health estimates -- which were lower than ASSA's. ASSA2000 later replaced ASSA600. When a report on the ASSA2000 model was released in late 2002 its developers stated clearly that they suspected there was still overestimation (about 10%) taking place and that over time this would have to be addressed. So where's the conspiracy? Apparently only in the eye of the beholders, in this case Malan and Welz.





HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa
Our knowledge of the size of the Sub-Saharan HIV epidemic outside of South Africa is very imprecise. This is because of the general lack or collapse of health systems in many of these countries, which makes it difficult to collect hard data about any of the numerous diseases that afflict poor people, including HIV. Consequently, organisations such as UNAIDS have to generate estimates, on the basis of significantly less data than may be available in a country like South Africa. Nevertheless, numerous surveys indicate that the epidemic is extremely serious in many countries. A few examples are described here.

The Lesotho Government has recently conducted a survey of over 2,500 women at six sites. The survey found a median HIV prevalence of 28.5%. HIV prevalaence ranged from 17.3% in Mokhotlong (a rural hospital) to 35% in Queen Elizabeth II hospital in Maseru. The 25-39 year age group was the worst affected with prevalence of 39.1%.8

A recently completed general population survey by the Kenyan government backed by the US Centre for Disease Control has found that over 6.7% of Kenyans are HIV-positive, a lower estimate than the UNAIDS one of 9.4%9.

Similar general population studies in Zambia and Mali also indicate smaller epidemics than the UNAIDS estimates. Once more this should not give us comfort. The revised numbers in Kenya and especially Zambia remain disturbingly large. They confirm that UNAIDS estimates should be treated with caution, but they also confirm that there is much to be done and we are way behind schedule.

Appendix one contains a sample of prevalence studies done in some SADC countries. Undoubtedly, some of them are flawed, but together they provide incontrovertible evidence that the challenge of HIV is substantial in these countries and unless programmes are implemented to mitigate the virus's effects or a cure is found, the epidemic will cause misery and hamper development efforts in these countries for the long-term.





Malan's Errors
There are several telling technical errors in Malan's articles in The Spectator andNoseweek. Appendix two lists the ones we found10. Here are two particularly important ones:

The Noseweek article is accompanied by a graph showing different AIDS estimates. The salient feature of the graph is that it purports to show Statistics South Africa's estimates of AIDS deaths at a fraction of the ASSA estimates. The implication is that the estimates by ASSA2000 are way too high and that there is a substantial dispute between the two organisations over the extent of the epidemic.

In the text, Malan explains, `All deaths caused by HIV or any of its euphemisms were counted as AIDS deaths, and there was evidence for only 40,000 such in 1999.'

There is simply no such implication in the Statistics South Africa report to which Malan refers11. All the calculations he attributes to the official statistics body are his own and he has made a mess of it.

A direct quote from page 28 of the Statistics South Africa report helps explain his error, `In cases where HIV or its synonyms (e.g., immunocompromised, immunosuppression, retroviral disease, wasting syndrome) are stated on the certificate, an appropriate code related to HIV is used. ... On the other hand, if HIV or its synonyms are not stated on the certificate, the reported diseases are coded as stated, with no relation to HIV. For example, if a physician certifies the death of a 25-year old urban, educated and employed person as being that of acute tuberculosis, with no mention of HIV, the code for acute tuberculosis is used.' Similar comments are made elsewhere in the report. Yet Malan takes no notice and only counts deaths in the HIV category. He ignores all the other categories in the Statistics South Africa list, many of which will include HIV-related deaths. His error massively underestimates AIDS-related deaths. In a tiny note under the table, Malan describes the estimate as derived from Statistics South Africa's report, but the calculation of the derivation is his alone and it is simply wrong.

As the report makes clear, extricating the HIV-related deaths from the other death categories is where `official statistics stop and research begins.' (pg. 28) Malan has not bothered with such research, which would be a very complex undertaking. From his entertainingly snide comment about `HIV or any of its euphemisms' and his calculations we can ascertain that he must have at least paged carefully through the report, if not read it entirely. It is therefore very difficult to understand how he could have made this obvious gaffe.12

Malan states that demographers estimate that 450,000 of people on medical schemes are HIV-positive and this is grossly exaggerated because only slightly over 20,000 have registered with their HIV disease management programmes. He argues that hundreds of thousands of people would not rather die than risk the possible stigmatisation associated with making their HIV status known to their medical schemes. But this implication does not follow.

It is difficult to determine the source of Malan's numbers. He seems to have calculated them, but at least in this case quite reasonably. The ASSA2000 Interventions Model13 to which he seems to be referring estimates that 6 to 7% of medical scheme members are infected. Of these, about 10% would have experienced AIDS-defining conditions in 200314. When you consider that (1) many people only join disease management programmes when they experience major morbidity events, (2) some medical schemes do not have disease management programmes, (3) many medical schemes only offer HIV benefits on their more expensive options, (4) it is often unclear even to people who are open about their HIV status why they should join a disease management programme before they become sick15 and (5) there is an incentive due to stigma to pay for HIV medicines out-of-pocket rather than through medical schemes16, then the numbers become quite plausible. Make no mistake: we do not know if the medical scheme prevalence estimates are accurate. Much more is known about the prevalence of HIV among South Africa's poor than the middle-classes who have access to medical aid but Malan's analysis is too poor to conclude that current estimates should be ditched just yet.

Malan argues that he does not accept these arguments because surely middle-class South Africans should know their status (which incidentally only addresses one of the arguments above). He says,`Even if you accept against all odds that only 25% are aware of their condition, 112,500 people should have come forth to join the HIV management programmes.' Well, `against all the odds', 25% is actually a pretty good guess. The HSRC study, referred to earlier, extrapolated that 18% of HIV-negative people and 23% of HIV-positive people know their status. Class is a limited predictor: 30% of HIV-positive people with high-school education or more knew their status. Again, the HSRC estimate is just an approximation and we cannot be sure it is correct, but it is the best we have to go on, irrespective of Rian Malan's whims to the contrary.

Curious about Malan's figures, I contacted Aid for AIDS, the biggest HIV disease management scheme in the country. I was informed that two thirds of people who join the programme already need to start treatment17. Furthermore the number of people enrolled in their programme has dramatically increased in the last few months. They have 20,000 current members, which comes to substantially more than the 10% of estimated AIDS cases among the HIV-positive population belonging to the associated medical schemes. However, not all 20,000 require treatment yet (although at least two thirds do) and one of their schemes is believed to have a higher prevalence than average. When all things are considered, the estimate of the ASSA2000 Interventions Model is plausible given currently available information.18





Uncertainty About the Size of the Epidemic
It is worth noting what is obvious to anyone with an interest in the epidemic: we do not know, never have known and probably never will know the exact number of people infected with HIV in any developing country hard-hit by the epidemic. UNAIDS's annually published computer-modelled epidemiological data must be treated with caution. After all they are only estimates as the team of experts who assemble them make clear. Some, maybe many, of their calculations have overestimated the epidemic, but as their website explains19, `The HIV/AIDS epidemic is constantly yielding new information and understandings. As the epidemic evolves and our knowledge improves, we commit to update and share what we have learned.' A similar explanatory note is made about their estimates in the widely circulated AIDS epidemic update20. In any case, estimates made by the Department of Health and ASSA have for many years been considered more definitive for the South African epidemic than the UNAIDS ones.

There are some consultants with little knowledge or experience in epidemiology making wild forecasts about the size of the epidemic, but this is no cause for the smugness or complacency expressed by Malan and Noseweek. Because some estimates are poorly derived, does not mean that all are.





Politicisation of AIDS
Malan states that HIV is quite possibly the most politicised disease in history. However, he then draws the wrong conclusion. He warns us of the 'lobbyists seeking to commandeer a disproportionate amount of pitifully limited health resources to fight a condition ... whose rate of occurrence appears to have been hugely overestimated skewing political, financial and humanitarian agendas.' He also questions spending `$300 dollars a year keeping an individual alive with AIDS drugs' when `that individual's friends and neighbours are dying in much larger numbers of starvation or politically less interesting, but equally fatal, diseases that could be cured for a few cents if medicines were made available, which often aren't.'

However, it is precisely because of the politicisation of the HIV epidemic that there is a growing awareness globally of the inequities in health-care between rich and poor countries that go far beyond AIDS. There have been concrete results of this raised awareness. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria was established in 2001 as a result of the efforts of AIDS activists. The fund means that finally, there is the real prospect of substantial money being invested into alleviating TB and malaria, probably the infectious diseases responsible for the most number of deaths in the developing world after HIV (and frequently associated with HIV), as well as the opportunity to develop health-care infrastructures in poor countries. Malan refers to the Department of Health's Operational Plan for Comprehensive HIV and AIDS Care, Management and Treatment for South Africa (released on 19 November 2003). He should have noticed that much of the funding for the programme will be invested in making lasting improvements to South Africa's health-care system (such as increasing the numbers of doctors and nurses) that will benefit the management of many diseases other than AIDS. Indeed, a primary reason to address the HIV epidemic appropriately in South Africa is that the increased morbidity associated with HIV is crowding out other diseases in the public health system.21 There is no guarantee that the Global Fund or the government's operational plan (and similar programmes in other African countries in various states of progress, including Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Namibia and Cameroun) will be successful, but they are arguably generating the most encouraging attempts yet to improve health-care in Sub-Saharan Africa.

At his most disingenuous, Malan states `spending on AIDS research exceeded spending on TB by a crushing factor of 90 to one. As for pneumonia, cancer, dysentery or diabetes, let them take aspirin or grub in the bush for medicinal herbs.' His sarcasm aside, this real problem he refers to has nothing to do with under- or overestimating HIV prevalence in Africa. Pharmaceutical companies have spent large amounts of money researching new HIV drugs because there are very profitable markets for them in the US and Europe. There are not lucrative markets for treating TB and malaria in these countries. The failure of drug companies to develop enough medicines for high-mortality diseases in developing countries is because the current research and development incentive system does not encourage developing medicines for the poor. This is something that AIDS activists have consistently highlighted, which is why the global pharmaceutical industry is under unprecedented pressure.22 Furthermore, it is partly through the efforts of AIDS activists that drugs such as cotrimoxazole, an antibiotic for preventing and treating pneumonia, and fluconazole, an effective anti-fungal, are now much more widely available to patients in the public health sector.

But the critical rebuttal to Malan's point is that the South African government has had a policy of treating patients in the public sector with `pneumonia, cancer, dysentery or diabetes' as well as most other common diseases. Until the publication of the operational plan in November 2003, it had no such policy for HIV. Unfortunately, the massive growth in AIDS patients in the public sector coupled with a long period of stagnation in per capita public health expenditure 23 has resulted in patients with all diseases being crowded out of the system. Treating HIV offers an opportunity to reverse this by reducing the numbers of patients with AIDS-related opportunistic infections, and by drawing renewed capital investment into the health system.

Incidentally, Malan's proclivity for making the mistake he accuses demographers of is interesting. How does he know that more people are dying of starvation than AIDS in Africa? Could he please name the fatal disease of the next door neighbour that costs only a few cents to treat? The ignorance of these statements betrays how little he knows about health-care and epidemiology.

Malan claims he has travelled Africa extensively in recent years trying in vain to find evidence for a large HIV epidemic. For nurses, doctors, community workers and activists throughout South Africa, the dreadful rise in AIDS morbidity and mortality over the last few years and the consequent strain on our health-care system and community life in general is something we encounter on a daily basis and it is glaringly obvious.

Ultimately though, we should ask Malan does it really matter whether one in eight South Africans or one in twelve is HIV-positive, or whether it is 15 million or 30 million Africans when governments are still so far short of meeting the demands of the epidemic.

It would be an easy task to write an article in a similar vein to Malan's which argues the opposite viewpoint - that there is a conspiracy to underestimate HIV prevalence throughout Africa by epidemiologists. It could be backed up with arguments and seroprevalence studies that on the face of it seem compelling to people without detailed knowledge of AIDS epidemiology and who have not had the time to consult the reports the article refers to. But it would be as misleading as Malan's thesis. No respectable epidemiologist, among whom I include the MRC and Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA) researchers whom Malan attacks, has claimed perfect exactitude about South African HIV prevalence estimates. What can be said, is that they are the best available estimates given current knowledge and that with time and more research they will become more accurate.





Malan's Lack of Credibility
By this stage one has to begin to ask whether Malan wishes to re-brand himself as the whistle-blower on exaggerated epidemiological estimates. Were he simply to argue that we cannot be sure precisely of the size of the epidemic and that AIDS statistics must be treated with caution, I would agree. But his arguments go far further than this. Malan, who seems to have no objection to having become a hit among AIDS denialists24, flirts too suspiciously with pseudo-science. In a Rolling Stone article (22 November 2001), he devotes many paragraphs to questioning the efficacy of HIV tests and consequently South Africa's antenatal clinic results (Studies of various ELISA tests in Sub-Saharan Africa suggest a median specificity of 98.5%, adequate for the purposes of demography.)

In a recent letter to the Cape Times (17 October 2003), he called for a presidential commission to investigate AIDS statistics. What would the commission achieve? The ASSA and Department of Health researchers, whose models are the most widely cited for South Africa are fully cognisant that more studies are needed to generate more confident results. What reasonable conclusion other than this could a commission reach?

We definitely do need more surveys of HIV prevalence and further mortality studies throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, including South Africa. This will help improve estimates and help governments better plan programmes to mitigate the epidemic's effects. But we already have more than enough evidence that the epidemic is costly in human lives and misery - and that in many countries it is getting worse. Only comprehensive treatment and prevention programmes can change this.

[END OF MAIN TEXT]





Appendix One

HIV Seroprevalence in Some SADC Countries
Thank you to Annie Parsons for compiling this list of references and to Claire Kelly for editing it. The list is not comprehensive. For example many of the antenatal surveys conducted are not included. Only studies which directly measured HIV prevalence in a particular group were considered for inclusion. The descriptions underneath each reference are directly quoted, though some descriptions have been lightly edited to maintain simplicity. Notice how articles examining data from the late 1980s and early 1990s generally find low prevalence rates, while as time goes by prevalence rates increase steeply.

It is probable that some of these studies are flawed. Others seem ethically dubious. Nevertheless, examined together they provide incontrovertible evidence of the seriousness of HIV epidemics in many SADC countries.

Readers are encouraged to consult the original articles to assess them.





ANGOLA
Assessment of the Epidemiological Situation, 2002, http://www.plusnews.org/AIDS/angola.asp

Study conducted in Luanda and Cabinda. In Luanda, HIV infection rates among antenatal women attendees tested increased from 0.3% in 1986 to 0.7% in 1992 and 3.4% in 1999; by 2001, HIV prevalence had increased to 8.6%. Outside the major urban area, in Cabinda, HIV prevalence increased from 6.8% in 1992 to 7.4% in 1994 and then 8.5% in 1996. In 1995, 0.5% of antenatal women tested in Namibe province were HIV positive.





BOTSWANA
HIV seroprevalence among pregnant women in Botswana, 1999, SAfAIDS News. 1997 Sep;5(3):9.

Statistical data on HIV prevalence among antenatal clinic attenders in Botswana from 1992-96. Overall, it is noted that serious increases in infection levels are apparent over the period in all sites. The highest level, at over 43%, is recorded in Kweneng and Francistown; and the lowest, just below 22%, is documented in the Southern site.

Tuberculosis and HIV infection in the Kweneng district, Botswana, 1993, Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 1993 Nov 30;113(29):3568-71

Anonymous survey that included 214 cases. 45 of 214 patients (21%) were HIV positive. The HIV seropositivity reached 29% in the age group 15-49 years. 25% of the females (average age 34 years) and 18% of the males (average age 39 years) were HIV positive. 18 (40%) of the 45 HIV positive patients had AIDS.





LESOTHO
Sexually transmitted infections and HIV in a rural community in the Lesotho highlands, 2000, Sex Transm Infect. 2000 Feb;76(1):39-42

Total of 29 villages were randomly selected and a systematic sample of houses within villages was obtained in a community residing in remote, rural Lesotho. Chlamydia was diagnosed in 28.4% of adults, gonorrhoea in 5.9%, syphilis in 11.3%, and HIV infection in 6.3%.

Human immunodeficiency virus seroprevalence in an occupational cohort in a South African community, 1995, Arch Intern Med. 1995 Aug 7-21;155(15):1601-4

HIV seroprevalence among a cohort of workers at the Katse Dam construction site in Bokong, Lesotho. Unlinked, anonymous HIV testing of 486 persons revealed a seroprevalence of 5.3% (26/486; 95% confidence interval, 3.3% to 7.3%). These data contrasted with a 0.8% seroprevalence in a similar age group in nearby villages that surrounded the construction project.

Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Lesotho, Report of the Sentinel HIV/Syphilis Survey 2003, 7 August 2003, unpublished.

An anonymous unlinked survey of 2666 women at six sentinel sites showed a median HIV prevalence of 28.5%. HIV prevalaence ranged from 17.3% in Mokhotlong (a rural hospital in the mountaijns) to 35% in Queen Elizabeth II hospital in Maseru. The 25-39 year age group was the worst affected with prevalence of 39.1%.

(It is also noteworthy that a 2001 Demographic Survey in Lesotho found that 2% of children between 0 to 14 had both parents deceased. This was considered an underestimate as the survey did not include children not living in households. Under five mortality also showed an increase from 82/1000 live births in 1995 to 113/1000 live bitrths in 1999.)





MOCAMBIQUE
Syphilis and HIV infection among displaced pregnant women in rural Mozambique, 1994, Int J STD AIDS. 1994 Mar-Apr;5(2):117-23

1728 consecutive antenatal attendees of 14 rural clinics in Zambezia were interviewed, examined, and tested for HIV and syphilis antibodies. The seroprevalence of syphilis and HIV were 12.2% and 2.9%, respectively.

HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies in pregnant women in the City of Maputo, Mozambique. A comparative study between 1982/1983 and 1990, 1993, Scand J Infect Dis. 1993;25(6):685-8

Researchers used previous serum samples collected for a study of maternal morbidity in Mozambique in 1982/83, including the city of Maputo and new samples collected in 1988 and 1990 in the same city. None of the 432 serum samples collected in 1982/83 was positive for antibodies to HIV. HIV-1 and HIV-2 seroprevalences in 1988 were 0.4% (2/500) and 0.6% (3/500), respectively, and in 1990 0.6% (12/2014) and 0.2% (4/2014), respectively.

HIV seroprevalence among military blood donors in Manica Province, Mozambique, 2001, Int J STD AIDS. 2001 Apr;12(4):225-8

Retrospective analysis of laboratory records for voluntary blood donors at a rural hospital from January 1997 through December 1999. Of the 797 blood donors during this period, 110 (13.8%) were military personnel of whom 39.1% were HIV positive (35.0% in 1997, 33.3% in 1998 and 48.7% in 1999). Among the 687 nonmilitary donors 15.3% were HIV positive (P<0.0001 vs military).

Syphilis and HIV infection among prisoners in Maputo, Mozambique, 1995, Int J STD AIDS. 1995 Jan-Feb;6(1):42-6

Cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the prevalence of and risk factors for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among the 2340 prisoners at Machava, Mutatele, and Hanhane prisons, and Cadeia civil jail between September 1990 and February 1991. 0.6% of men and no woman had antibodies to HIV.





NAMIBIA
HIV in Namibia, 1997, SAfAIDS News. 1997 Sep;5(3):8

HIV prevalence among antenatal clinic attenders. 1854 samples from 10 sites. Results showed that the rate of infected antenatal clinic attenders at the national level had risen to 15.4% from 8.4% in 1994 and 4.2% in 1992. In the Windhoek site, prevalence rose from 4.2% to 16% from 1992 to 1996, and in Swakopmund site from 2.9% to 17.4% over the same period. Age-specific prevalence showed a marked increase in infection at all ages. It has been estimated that 108,325 Namibians aged 15-44 years are infected.

Orofacial manifestations and seroprevalence of HIV infection in Namibian dental patients, 1997, Oral Dis. 1997 May;3 Suppl 1:S51-3

Anonymous study of HIV-I sero-reactivity in dental patients in a Government clinic in Namibia, 29 (7%) out of 405 patients (10 female and 19 male) were confirmed as HIV-infected.

SOUTH AFRICA

The impact of migration on HIV-1 transmission in South Africa: a study of migrant and nonmigrant men and their partners, 2003, Sex Transm Dis. 2003 Feb;30(2):149-56

Cross-sectional study of 196 migrant men and 130 of their rural partners, as well as 64 non-migrant men and 98 rural women whose partners are non-migrant. 25.9% of migrant men and 12.7% of nonmigrant men were infected with HIV ( P= 0.029; odds ratio = 2.4; 95% CI = 1.1-5.3).

HIV infection among youth in a South African mining town is associated with herpes simplex virus-2 seropositivity and sexual behaviour, 2001, AIDS. 2001 May 4;15(7):885-98

A community-based, cross-sectional study was conducted on a random sample of men (n = 723) and women (n = 784) living in a township in the Carletonville district of South Africa. Among men and women the prevalence of HIV infection was 9.4 and 34.4%, respectively, and of positive HSV-2 serology was 17.0 and 53.3%, respectively. Among 24-year-old women the prevalence of HIV was 66.7% [95% confidence interval (CI), 54.6--77.3%].

Prevalence of HIV and HIV-related diseases in the adult medical wards of a tertiary hospital in Durban, South Africa, 2001, Int J STD AIDS. 2001 Jun;12(6):386-9

Consecutive admissions were recruited and a single ELISA assay was used to determine HIV infection. Of 507 patients, 54% were infected with HIV of which 84% had AIDS. HIV-infected patients were significantly younger (34.9 years) than uninfected patients (47.1 years) and had significantly higher risks for oral/oesophageal candidiasis (risk ratio [RR] 18.6), generalized lymphadenopathy (RR 7.1), unexplained fever (RR 7.0), chronic diarrhoea (RR 6.2) and pulmonary tuberculosis (RR 3.1). Pulmonary tuberculosis was present in 56% of HIV cases. Mortality was 22% for HIV cases and 9% (P=0.016) for others.

HIV infection and in-hospital mortality at an academic hospital in South Africa, 2000, Arch Dis Child. 2000 Sep;83(3):227-30

Hospital discharge summaries from January 1992 to the end of 1996 were reviewed. There were 20 733 admissions in the five year period; 7985 (39%) were tested for HIV. In tested admissions above 15 months of age, 4.9% were HIV infected in 1992, increasing to 35% in 1996. Under 15 months of age, 9% of tested admissions were positive in 1992, increasing to 46% in 1996. The proportion of all hospital deaths occurring in children considered HIV infected (ELISA testing together with clinical features if 15 months or younger) increased from 6.7% in 1992 to 46. 1% in 1996 (p < 0.001). In-hospital mortality for all children increased by 21% from 4.3% in 1992 to 5.2% in 1996. Mortality rates declined in uninfected children from 5.4% in 1992 to 4.5% in 1996 (chi(2) trend 3.3; p = 0.06).

Paediatric HIV infection in a rural South African district hospital, 2000, J Trop Pediatr. 2000 Apr;46(2):107-10

Paediatric HIV infection in 281 consecutive children admitted to Hlabisa hospital in rural South Africa between October 1996 and January 1997. In all, 72 (26 per cent) children were HIV infected.

HIV infection among women admitted to the gynaecology service of a district hospital in South Africa, 1999, Int J STD AIDS. 1999 Nov;10(11):735-7

Disease-specific prevalence of HIV infection among 196 gynecologic patients admitted to Hlabisa hospital, South Africa, in 1997. High prevalence of HIV infection and showing a significant association with abortion and its complications

Also see the thirteen antenatal surveys since 1990 published by the Department of Health which demonstrate a consistent rise in HIV infections among pregnant women. Summary Report National HIV and Syphillis Antenatal Sero-Prevalence Survey In South Africa, 1990 through 2002.





ZAMBIA
Studying dynamics of the HIV epidemic: population-based data compared with sentinel surveillance in Zambia, 1998, AIDS. 1998 Jul 9;12(10):1227-34

Survey of antenatal clinic (ANC) attenders in urban Lusaka and rural Mposhi district in 1995-96. In Lusaka, the adjusted overall HIV prevalence among ANC attenders was 24.4%. The rural estimates were 12.5%.

AIDS in a Zambian district, 1992, Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 1992 Dec 5;136(49):2432-5

In 1990, among pregnant women .1% tested positive for HIV antibodies in Amsterdam compared to 24.5% in Lusaka, Zambia. During 1990 and 1991 data were collected from 231 patients fulfilling the WHO clinical criteria for the diagnosis of AIDS in 3 hospitals of Sesheke, a rural Zambian district. 46.3% of the group was male and 53.7% was female, and the mean age of women was significantly lower than that of men (25.2 vs. 31.1 years, p 0.001). A total of 185 patients could be tested for HIV-1 antibodies using ELISA-Welcozyme and HIVCECK-Du Pont. There were 141 (81.6%) positive results, 19 (10.3%) negative results, and in 15 (8.1%) cases the outcome was not clear. Seroprevalence figures for HIV-1 in the same period were 16% for blood donors and 41% for patients attending the clinic for sexually transmitted diseases.

HIV-1 seroprevalence in Zambian patients with acute diarrhea: a community-based study, 1999, J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr Hum Retrovirol. 1999 Feb 1;20(2):160-3

A study of HIV-1 seroprevalence among Zambian patients presenting to George Health Center, a community-based health center northwest of center Lusaka, with acute diarrhea during March-April 1994. 256 patients with diarrhea and 140 apparently healthy controls participated in the study. Overall, 81 of the 256 (32%) patients with diarrhea were HIV-1-seropositive. Excluding results from infants under age 18 months who may have had maternal anti-HIV-1 antibodies, 64 of 172 (37%) patients with diarrhea were HIV-seropositive. Among children aged 18 months to 5 years, 14 of 63 (22%) were HIV-1-seropositive compared with 8 of 62 (13%) without diarrhea. 49 of 95 adults with acute diarrhea were HIV-1-seropositive compared with 10 of 44 healthy adult controls.

Human immunodeficiency virus type-1 infection in Zambian children with tuberculosis: changing seroprevalence and evaluation of a thioacetazone-free regimen, 1994, Tuber Lung Dis. 1994 Apr;75(2):110-5

A prospective cross-sectional study of all consecutive newly diagnosed cases of TB in children from 1 month-15 years of age seen at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) in Lusaka, Zambia between 1 October 1991 and 31 May 1992. 120 children with a clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis and 167 controls were enrolled in the study. The overall HIV type-1 seroprevalence rate in children with tuberculosis was 55.8% (67/120) compared to 9.6% (16/167) amongst the control group (P < 0.0001: odds ratio = 11.50; 95% CI = 5.99-22.7). All the 16 patients who died did so within 60 days of discharge from hospital; all of them were seropositive for HIV. There were no deaths among the HIV-negative group. Despite the exclusion of thioacetazone from the treatment regimen, cutaneous reactions occurring within 8 weeks of commencing treatment were observed in 7 of the 65 (11%) patients, 2 of whom developed fatal Stevens-Johnson syndrome. All 7 patients were seropositive for HIV-1.





ZIMBABWE
HIV infection and HIV-1 clades among pregnant women in Harare, Zimbabwe, 1997, Cent Afr J Med. 1997 Jul;43(7):188-92

Official figures indicate that at least 1 million of Zimbabwe's 11 million population are infected with HIV, while the most recent survey results indicate that about 24% of apparently healthy women in the country are HIV seropositive. 60 (29.1%) of 206 pregnant women attending Edith Opperman and Budiriro clinics in Harare who were screened for infection with HIV were found to be HIV-1 seropositive.

Trends in HIV-1 and HIV-2 prevalence and risk factors in pregnant women in Harare, Zimbabwe, 1996, Cent Afr J Med. 1996 Jan;42(1):14-21

May 1994-June 1995, 1168 pregnant women attending their first prenatal care visit at Harare Maternity Hospital and three Harare-based maternity clinics had blood taken to test for HIV-1 and HIV-2. 30.4% tested positive for HIV-1 (compared to 18% for a similar group in 1990). The HIV-1 prevalence ranged from 23.6% at the lowest density clinic to 33.2% at the referral maternal clinic of the hospital. 7.6% tested positive for HIV-2.

Age and religion selection biases in HIV-1 prevalence data from antenatal clinics in Manicaland, Zimbabwe, 1995, Cent Afr J Med. 1995 Nov;41(11):339-46

(HIV) seroprevalence surveys conducted among pregnant women in rural Zimbabwe (antenatal clinics in Honde Valley and Rusitu Valley, Manicaland), 1993-94. HIV prevalence rates of 24.3% and 14.0%, respectively.

HIV-prevalence in Mutoko, Zimbabwe. A study among pregnant women and patients with sexually transmitted diseases, 1994, Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 1994 Apr 10;114(9):1050-2

In Mutoko district a study was carried out to determine the HIV-prevalence among pregnant women and patients with sexually transmitted diseases. The results show that 25% of the pregnant women were HIV-positive. Of the patients with sexually transmitted diseases, 50% were found to be HIV-positive.

Seroprevalence of HIV infection amongst antenatal women in greater Harare, Zimbabwe, 1991, Cent Afr J Med. 1991 Oct;37(10):322-5

In May-October 1990, microbiologists perform AIDS serodiagnostic tests on blood samples from 1008 pregnant women attending the maternity clinic at Harare Hospital, the Edith Opperman Clinic, or the Glenview Clinic in Greater Harare in Zimbabwe. The overall HIV seroprevalence stood at 18%.

HIV seroprevalence and its associations with the other reproductive tract infections in asymptomatic women in Harare, Zimbabwe, 2001, Int J STD AIDS. 2001 Aug;12(8):524-31

Harare, Zimbabwe. In a cross-sectional study, 393 informed consenting women aged 15--49 years, attending 2 primary healthcare clinics, were interviewed and screened for HIV and RTIs . HIV seroprevalence was 29.3%. Seropositivity was significantly associated with bacterial vaginosis, syphilis, gonorrhoea and/or Chlamydia trachomatis infection, warts and genital ulcers.

A rural HIV epidemic in Zimbabwe? Findings from a population-based survey, 2001, Int J STD AIDS. 2001 Mar;12(3):189-96

Study using population-based data to describe the socio-demographic, behavioural and biomedical correlates of HIV infection and aid identification of effective HIV control strategies in 689 adults in rural Zimbabwe. HIV seroprevalence was 23.3% and was higher in females, divorcees, widows, working men, estate residents, and respondents reporting histories of STD symptoms. Female HIV seroprevalence rises sharply at ages 16-25.

HIV seroconversion among factory workers in Harare: who is getting newly infected?, 1997, Cent Afr J Med. 1997 May;43(5):135-9

40 factories in Harare, Zimbabwe. Cohort established among factory workers with the objectives of estimating HIV incidence, seroprevalence, correlates of infection and subsequently evaluating the impact of prevention interventions. Of 2,992 subjects enrolled there were 129 seroconversions during 1993 to 1996 follow up, yielding a 2.96 per 100 person year (PY) seroconversion incidence (95% CI = 2.47 to 3.52).

Risk factors for prevalent and incident HIV infection in a cohort of volunteer blood donors in Harare, Zimbabwe: implications for blood safety, 1997, AIDS. 1997 Sep;11 Suppl 1:S97-102

Secondary analysis of data from a longitudinal cohort study of voluntary blood donors in Harare, Zimbabwe. Residual risk of HIV contamination of blood due to laboratory false-negatives and donations made during the window period. The HIV prevalence rate among the 1515 blood donors enrolled in the study during 1993-95 was 8.8% (2.1 per 100 person-years). HIV seroprevalence was highest among first-time donors, those 21-45 years of age, married persons, those with more than 1 sexual partner in the preceding year, and those who had paid for sex in the past year. Among the 1142 initially HIV-negative donors who had at least 1 6-month follow-up test, there were 40 seroconversions (2.1 per 100 person-years).

Serostatus surveillance testing of HIV-I infection among Zimbabwean psychiatric inpatients, in Zimbabwe, 1996, Cent Afr J Med. 1996 Sep;42(9):254-7

Blood samples from 87 male and 56 female patients consecutively admitted to Harare Central Hospital's Psychiatric Unit were tested with ELISA and Western blot for infection with HIV. The subjects were 17-70 years old of mean age 32.5 years with a mean 4.21 years of psychiatric illness. 23.8% were infected with HIV and HIV infection was significantly related to high education attainment and being unemployed.

[END OF APPENDIX ONE]





Appendix Two

Errors in Rian Malan's Articles in Noseweek and The Spectator
Thank you to Leigh Johnson for pointing some of these out to me. However, any errors that might appear in the descriptions below remain mine. Thank you to Lindsey Martin for assisting me with this.





Errors in Article by Rian Malan in Noseweek December 2003/ January 2004: Apocalypse When
These are listed in order of seriousness.

The article is accompanied by a graph showing different AIDS estimates. The salient feature of the graph is that it shows what seems to be Statistics South Africa's estimates of AIDS deaths at a fraction of the ASSA estimates. The implication is that the estimates by the actuaries' computer model, ASSA2000, are way too high and that there is a substantial dispute between the two organisations over the extent of the epidemic.

In the text, Malan explains, `All deaths caused by HIV or any of its euphemisms were counted as AIDS deaths, and there was evidence for only 40,000 such in 1999.'

There is no such implication in the Statistics South Africa report to which Malan refers25. All the calculations he describes as derivations from the official statistics body are his own and he has incorrectly calculated them.

A direct quote from page 28 of the Statistics South Africa report helps explain this error, `In cases where HIV or its synonyms (e.g., immunocompromised, immunosuppression, retroviral disease, wasting syndrome) are stated on the certificate, an appropriate code related to HIV is used. ... On the other hand, if HIV or its synonyms are not stated on the certificate, the reported diseases are coded as stated, with no relation to HIV. For example, if a physician certifies the death of a 25-year old urban, educated and employed person as being that of acute tuberculosis, with no mention of HIV, the code for acute tuberculosis is used.'

Similar comments are made elsewhere in the report. Yet Malan only counts deaths in the HIV category. He ignores the HIV-related deaths in the TB, pneumonia and influenza and ill-defined categories, as well as all the other categories in the Statistics South Africa list, many of which probably contain some HIV-related deaths. His error massively underestimates AIDS-related deaths.

There is another problem with Malan's calculation. The report is based on a 12% sample of death certificates that Statistics South has on record. The report also states the absolute size of each sample. Using these facts, Malan has taken the proportion of deaths in the HIV illness category and calculated what 100% of HIV deaths would equal. However, this is invalid because Statistics South Africa does not have all deaths that occurred in South Africa on record. A small but significant number of adult deaths and a large number of child deaths are not reported. Furthermore, the report explains that it is possible that a microfiche of deaths for 2001 might have been missing. All these factors render any calculation of gross numbers of deaths inaccurate, without further research.

Malan states that the ASSA600 model assumes nearly 3% annual reduction in non-AIDS mortality in order to manipulate it to produce high levels of AIDS mortality, but the MRC Report26 was very clear that (a) 2.5-3% improvement was only applied at young adult ages (p.30) and (b) the ASSA600 model was producing too few non-AIDS deaths & too many AIDS deaths (p.30) and therefore that improvement in mortality was probably too great (p.6). At any rate, even assuming no improvement in non-AIDS mortality, the model calculates that AIDS accounted for 17% of all deaths over age 15 in 1999/2000, and about 39% of deaths of persons between the ages 15-49 in 1999/2000. (see bold print on p.6). It was this estimate that was widely publicised in the media, not the estimate that was based on improvements in mortality.

Malan cannot claim that choosing four funeral parlours from Johannesburg's Yellow Pages constitutes a representative sample. The sample size is small and it may be biased towards more affluent funeral parlours that service communities in which HIV prevalence is low.

Malan claims that most medical scheme members probably know their HIV status; but the HSRC Report found that only 23% of HIV+ Africans knew their HIV status and 28% of HIV+ people of other race groups knew. 30% of HIV-positive people with high-school education or more knew their status. He also claims that people would join disease management programmes the moment they know their HIV status, but Aid for AIDS data shows that most people only join when they experience major morbidity events. The ASSA2000 Interventions Model calculates that currently less than 10% of people with HIV are at such an advanced stage of disease that they require HAART. (See the main text of this article for a more detailed explanation.)

Malan quotes a paper by Devon Brewer and others ('Cry beloved Paradigm'; International Journal of STD and AIDS; 2003; Vol. 14: 144 - 147) in which they arrive at an estimate of per sex-contact probability of transmission of 0.34, based on a study conducted by Bertran Auvert and colleagues (AIDS; 2001; Vol. 15: 883 - 898).- Incidentally, it is not clear how this estimate was arrived at. This is presumably the '300x higher' that Malan is quoting, since most empirical studies estimate per-contact transmission probabilities to be roughly 0.001. However, the estimate of 0.34 is an empirically-derived estimate, not a model-derived estimate, so Malan is misinterpreting the Brewer study when he states that models assume HIV transmission probabilities that are too high. Most mathematical models actually assume transmission probabilities to be close to 0.001 per sex contact, in the absence of other STDs.

ASSA2000 has not been retired as he claims-though the ASSA modellers are working on a new version that is likely to produce lower estimates than before.

UNAIDS no longer uses Epimodel, as stated by Malan -they use the Spectrum & EPP models.

Malan states `But small things have a geometric impact in the AIDS models'. Rather opinionated. The ASSA model when run properly (i.e. calibrated, in contrast to how some of its detractors have run it) is reasonably insensitive to changes in its assumptions (as it should be).

The MRC Mortality Report was up-front about the fact the ASSA600 model was probably over-estimating the extent of AIDS mortality (see p.30). Malan implies an unusually quiet admission.





Errors in Article by Rian Malan in Spectator 13-20 December 2003: Africa isn't Dying of AIDS
Some of the errors described above are repeated. The ones below are specific to The Spectator.

Malan seems to suggest that an "all-causes death rate" of 3% is not unusual. In fact, this is very high and it definitely does suggest AIDS is playing an important role in mortality of Malawian teachers.

In Malan's description of the MRC Mortality report he quotes a `boffin' who says that further reference to actual death reports `will be of limited usefulness.' It would be interesting to know who made this unattributed comment. Certainly the MRC and ASSA researchers I have met believe there's a need for much more empirical research on death data. This is made clear in a recommendation of the MRC Report which commented on the `usefulness of establishing a rapid mortality surveillance system' and suggested that this system should become more formalised.

[END OF APPENDIX TWO]

[ENDS]



1 Summary Report National HIV and Syphilis Antenatal Sero-Prevalence Survey in South Africa 2002. Published by the Department of Health.

2 The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Adult Mortality in South Africa. 2001. Published by the MRC.

3 Ibid.

4 Causes of death in South Africa 1997-2001: Advance release of recorded causes of death. PO309.2. 2002. Statistics South Africa.

5I consulted three doctors on this issue , two of whom treat large numbers of people with HIV. They also alerted me to various complexities related to the filling in and potential lack of confidentiality of death certificates. One confidentiality problem is that coroners frequently insist on having a copy of the confidential part of the death certificate, with the implication that family of patients with HIV written on their death certificates lose funeral and other benefits. In 2001 (the end point of the Statistics South Africa data), the three doctors hardly ever recorded HIV (or `any of its euphemisms') on the death certificate for their deceased AIDS patients. There is also an ongoing problem of bad data collection. The Medical Certificates on Death were amended a few years ago, so that they now have a confidential tear-off, which contains private information, and is numerically linked to the public part of the certificate (needed to get an official death certificate etc). However, the form is complex and time-consuming to complete, and there has not been proper training in its use. Consequently it is not properly filled in.

6 http://www.gov.za/reports/2003/10yrbook.pdf

7 Sex Transm Dis. 2003 Feb;30(2):149-56; Sex Transm Dis. 2002 Jan;29(1):44-9; AIDS. 2001 May 4;15(7):885-98; Int J STD AIDS. 2001 Jun;12(6):386-9; Arch Dis Child. 2000 Sep;83(3):227-30; J Trop Pediatr. 2000 Apr;46(2):107-10; AIDS. 1992 Dec;6(12):1535-9.

8 Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Lesotho, Report of the Sentinel HIV/Syphilis Survey 2003, 7 August 2003, unpublished.

9http://www.unaids.org/en/other/functionalities/ViewDocument.asp?href=http%3a%2f%2fgva-doc-owl%2fWEBcontent%2fDocuments%2fpub%2fMedia%2fPress-Statements01%2fPS_Kenyan_Report_13Jan04_en%26%2346%3bpdf

10 Thanks to Leigh Johnson for analysing the technical errors in Malan's articles.

11 Causes of death in South Africa 1997-2001: Advance release of recorded causes of death. 2002. Statistics South Africa.

12 Malan's calculation is actually more problematic than described here. See appendix two for additional details.

13 This is a specialised version of ASSA2000 which examines the impact of antiretroviral therapy and other interventions.

14 Actually the ASSA2000 Interventions Model estimates that less than 10% would have AIDS defining illnesses, but for various technical and practical purposes, we can assume 10% here.

15 Thank you to a TAC colleague who alerted me to this point. He lives openly with HIV and is eligible to join Aid for AIDS but has nevertheless not done so and does not intend to do so until he needs antiretrovirals. If you are still healthy there are limited benefits to joining a disease management programme.

16 Antiretroviral medicine prices have fallen dramatically and are now affordable for most middle-class people especially on the black market, the size of which in my direct experience is probably considerable.

17 Aid for AIDS considers a patient ready for treatment if his or her CD4 count is less than 250.

18 Personal Communication with Collean Pead of Aid for AIDS. To see that 20,000 is higher than the estimated number of AIDS sick, take 6% of 2 million (the number of people on schemes aligned to Aid for AIDS) and take 10% of that to get the number of people sick with AIDS.

19http://www.unaids.org/Unaids/EN/Resources/Questions_Answers.asp

20AIDS epidemic update, December 2003, UNAIDS.

21 See the South African Health Review 2003 published by Health Systems Trust for details on this. Also see some of the South African hospital studies in appendix one.

22 See www.cptech.org and the TAC website, www.tac.org.za, for examples of this.

23This period of stagnation in public health care expenditure has now come to an end hopefully.

24 Malan's articles are given high profile on denialist websites such as virusmyth.net and aliveandwell.org.

25 Causes of death in South Africa 1997-2001: Advance release of recorded causes of death. 2002. Statistics South Africa.

26 The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Adult Mortality in South Africa. 2001. Published by the MRC.

Africa: Third World Still Suffering Healthcare 'Brain Drain'

2004-01-22

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2437137

A United Kingdom government code of practice restricting National Health Service recruitment of nurses from developing countries may not be succeeding in its aim of reversing a potentially dangerous “brain drain”, according to a recent report. Taking the example of South Africa, the OECD found that, after a fall in nurses leaving for the UK from 1,460 in 1999 to 1,086 in 2000, numbers shot up by 45% in 2001 to reach 2,114 – two and a half times as many as in 1998.

Africa: WHO Announces Plan To Fight HIV/TB Co-Infection

2004-01-22

http://www.unwire.org/UNWire/20040121/449_12288.asp

The World Health Organisation has announced a plan to expand collaboration between national tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS programs to curb the growing pandemic of TB/HIV co-infection, focusing mainly on Africa, where 70 percent of the world's 14 million co-infected people live. "TB/HIV is a deadly combination and needs to be tackled with an approach treating the whole person," said WHO Director General Lee Jong-wook. "With effective treatment, TB can be cured, HIV managed, and the health of millions of people preserved."

Burkina Faso: 8,000 clandestine abortions yearly in the capital

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39051

A survey, whose results were made public on Wednesday, shows that 8,000 clandestine abortions are carried out every year in the capital alone, Ouagadougou, on teenage girls between 15 and 19 years old. "These abortions represent a real danger for the women's health because 60 percent of them end up with very serious complications," said Baya Banza, the director of the Unit for the Teaching and Research in Demography (UERD) and coordinator of the survey.

Ethiopia: Organisation Launches Biannual magazine on AIDS

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/19557

'Horn of Africa Journal of AIDS' a biannual magazine was launched in Addis Ababa on Tuesday with a view to fostering health care education in a more organized and systematic fashion to make a difference in the lives of the victims in the region. People to people, an International humanitarian organization has sponsored the journal to be distributed freely to the medical communities and medical schools in Africa.

Organisation Launches Biannual magazine on AIDS
Addis Ababa, Janu.13(ENA)--"Horn of Africa Journal of AIDS" a biannual magazine launched here on Tuesday with a view to fostering health care education in a more organized and systematic fashion to make a difference in the lives of the victims in the region.
People to people, an International humanitarian organization has sponsored the journal to be distributed freely to the medical communities and medical schools in Africa.
Founder of the organization and editor -in -chief of the magazine Dr.Enawgaw Mehari said the magazine maintains a clearly defined mission, an extensive network of experienced and committed HIV/AIDS experts both internationally and locally.
Dr.Enawgaw said the publication of the journal would also give an opportunity to introduce the basic concept of HIV/AIDS in our society where patients with the disease are stigmatized and segregated for just being sick.
The organization has awarded 3,000 birr and certificates for each student with outstanding academic performance in the area of health education from Jimma and Gondar universities.
A panel discussion was also held on Fluconazole and other anti retroviral drugs, Dr.Enawgaw said.
Fluconazole helps prevent people living with HIV/AIDS from sore throat and mental diseases.
Preparations have been finalized to import Fluconazole and distribute freely among the beneficiaries.
(END)

Ethiopia: WHO Fights Back on Issue of Malaria Drugs

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=21993

A World Health Organisation official in Ethiopia has dismissed an article in a respected British medical journal that claimed the United Nations agency was undermining the fight against malaria. "The Lancet" accuses the agency of approving cheap drugs that do not work, and blocking the use of a newer -- albeit more expensive -- treatment to combat the disease. This comes as Ethiopia is experiencing a malaria epidemic. According to a joint report by government and the UN, 46.2 million Ethiopians are living in malaria-prone areas, out of a population of 70 million.

Kenya: Caution urged over HIV/AIDS findings

2004-01-22

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=21694

UNAIDS last Tuesday urged caution in interpreting a recent study that implied that Kenya's HIV prevalence rate has decreased or is overestimated, Agence France-Presse reports. Researchers administering the Kenyan survey interviewed 8,561 Kenyan men and women to collect health information. In addition, 70% of the participants agreed to have blood samples taken for HIV testing. Researchers found that 6.7% of Kenyans are HIV-positive, compared with a previous estimate of 9.4% by the country's Ministry of Health. UNAIDS in a statement said that the study should not be interpreted as a sign that the severity of Kenya's epidemic has been overestimated. Although the statement said that UNAIDS "welcome(s)" household studies, it questioned the dramatic differences in prevalence rates between men and women.

Mozambique: Campaign Aimed at Cholera

2004-01-22

http://www.globalhealth.org/news/article/3978

Existing tools to control cholera may soon be supplemented with something new - mass vaccination with an oral cholera vaccine. The idea is being put to the test in a demonstration project in Mozambique by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), Epicentre and the International Vaccine Institute. The vaccine itself has been available for ten years, but this is the first time it has been used so broadly to minimize the devastation of a cholera outbreak.

Nigeria: 2003 National HIV/AIDS & Reproductive Health Survey (NARHS) Launched

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/19408

A major landmark in the nation's response to HIV/AIDS was recorded in Nigeria as it launched a comprehensive baseline survey that depicts reproductive health and HIV indices in the country. Tagged "2003 National HIV/AIDS & Reproductive Health Survey" (NARHS), the survey was conducted by the Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Society for Family Health (SFH), a non governmental organisation dedicated to the alleviation of suffering and poverty in Nigeria by improving reproductive, maternal and child health) and other development partners.
SOURCE: The Nigeria-AIDS eForum is a project of Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria.
For more information, visit: http://www.nigeria-aids.org
Contact the eForum moderator at: moderator1@nigeria-aids.org

2003 National HIV/AIDS & Reproductive Health Survey (NARHS) Launched

A major landmark in the nation's response to HIV/AIDS was recorded in
Nigeria as it launched a comprehensive baseline survey that depicts
reproductive health and HIV indices in the country.

Tagged "2003 National HIV/AIDS & Reproductive Health Survey" (NARHS), the
survey was conducted by the Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration
with the Society for Family Health (SFH), a non governmental organisation
dedicated to the alleviation of suffering and poverty in Nigeria by
improving reproductive, maternal and child health) and other
development partners.

The launch which was done in Abuja late December last year, brought
together all stakeholders in reproductive health and HIV/AIDS in the
country including all 36 States RH Coordinators, States AIDS Program
Coordinators (SAPC), States Directors of Primary Health Centres & Disease
Control (PHC & DC), State Commissioners for Health, Development/Donor
Agencies, Civil Society Organisation, Faith-Based Organisations,
People Living with HIV/AIDS and the Media.

The survey work organised and analysed by the Federal Ministry of Health
Consultants, Research Department of SFH and other Technical Committee
members sampled Nigerian population in all the 36 states and FCT using
the probability sampling technique. A total of 10,090 persons were
interviewed of which males & females were between the age bracket of
15-64 and 15-49 years old respectively.

The methodology was reviewed by both national and international experts
while questionnaires were based on UNAIDS General Population HIV/AIDS
Indicators, DHS and other RH questionnaires.

Amongst the key findings of the report were:

- In the report, women justify wife beating more than men (34% of women
as against 19% of men)

- Given that an estimated 1, 000 Nigerians die everyday as a result of
AIDS, 95% of Nigerians still believe they stand little chance or no risk
of contracting HIV

- HIV/AIDS awareness is generally high, so also are the misconceptions
about modes of transmission and prevention

- More than half of those surveyed said they would not reject a family
member who contracts AIDS

- Though one-fifth of men have non marital partners, women record
earlier sexual debut (16.9yrs) especially in the North than men (19.8yrs)

- Though condoms are perceived to be cheap and accessible, only one-fifth
of sexually active persons have ever used them

- Testing for HIV status is higher among respondents from the South East
than other regions. It is lowest in the North

- Knowledge about STIs is widespread, in the last 12 months however,
4% of men and 8% of women experienced symptoms of STI

As a fallout of the findings of this survey, it is expected that
policy makers, development agencies and program managers will use it in
the design, implementation and monitoring of programmes that will impact
positively on the lives of Nigerians.

Copies of this report are availably at SFH Home Office on the address
below:

Society for Family Health
Plot 2380, Nanka Close
Off Sultan Abubakar Way (By Heritage House)
Zone 3, Wuse P.M.B. 5116, Abuja, Nigeria
Tel: 234-9-5240831-6
Fax: 234-9-5240830
Email: info@sfhnigeria.org

Nigeria: Dearth of Drugs Hits Public Hospitals, Clinics

2004-01-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200401200608.html

The Minister of Health, Prof Eyitayo Lambo, has stated that the result of the baseline assessment study of Nigeria's pharmaceutical sector indicated that there was inadequate supply of key drugs at public health facilities, a situation which he said demanded radical health reforms. The minister said the results of the study indicated inadequate record keeping, especially at the primary health care level, irrational prescription of drugs, and higher utilisation of private sector facility than the public sector.

Nigeria: HIV/Aids drugs run out

2004-01-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3406173.stm

A government programme in Nigeria to provide anti-retrovirals, the drugs which help people infected with HIV/Aids, has run out of supplies. At least 12,000 people have been receiving the drugs from clinics at about a tenth of market value for more than a year.

Northeast Africa: A regional perspective on managing HIV/AIDS

2004-01-22

http://www.jhpdc.unc.edu/2003_papers/lemmamerid.pdf

This paper identifies several avenues through which cross-infections take place in the Northeast African context. It suggests that supranational (or regional) organisations, such as the Inter-Governmental Agency for Development or the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, gear themselves to address such issues that require the involvement of more than one country. It provides a list of issues with which such regional organisations could start.

South Africa: TAC to campaign for equitable health system

2004-01-22

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=21721

The South African AIDS advocacy group Treatment Action Campaign, which has been nominated for the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize, on Wednesday announced plans for a new campaign in its battle for universal AIDS treatment that would target inequities between the country's public and private health care systems, Reuters reports. South Africa's health care system has retained its apartheid-era structure of "elite" private hospitals, which primarily care for wealthy whites, and public hospitals, which are overburdened in their attempts to care for the majority of blacks, Mark Heywood of TAC said. In its campaign, TAC plans to target private hospitals, which it says are "too expensive," and push for a "people's health service for a people's antiretroviral program," Heywood said.

Swaziland: Prisons Break the Taboo Surrounding AIDS

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.org/africa/interna.asp?idnews=21937

2004 is shaping up as the year of prison reform in Swaziland, and AIDS is the catalyst. "It would be wrong to suggest that prisons are inhumane in Swaziland, but there is much room for improvement to make them safe from HIV infection, inmate abuse and other ills that are more or less endemic to African prisons," said an officer with the Correctional Services, which administers the kingdom's prison system. This person spoke on condition of anonymity.

WSF: AIDS Activists Plan to Counter WTO

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/focus/tv_mumbai/viewstory.asp?idn=249

HIV/AIDS awareness campaigners from developing nations are mobilising themselves to form a strong bloc to confront the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which they claim has made it difficult for people living with the disease to access treatment. They claim that the trade body articulates interests of western nations, which have suppressed developing states, giving way to unfair trade. This, the campaigners say, has made it impossible for poor nations to obtain cheap drugs, especially antiretrovirals (ARVs).

WSF: HIV/AIDS - A global issue or an African problem?

2004-01-22

http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1612.html

A perception that HIV/AIDS is an Africa problem manifested itself clearly at the Mumbai Social Forum by its conspicuous absence from the main events of the international jamboree. Even condoms, a common free handout at most international meetings, were not distributed at the meeting. Neither were they readily available at the hotels where the delegates are booked. "If the social forum shifts to Africa I guess one of the issues they will want is HIV/AIDS. Not many civil society or social movements from this region are taking this as a major issue," Minar Pimple, a member of the Mumbai WSF organising committee, told Terra Viva.

Zimbabwe: More than 1,000 malaria deaths

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/19406

More than a 1,000 people died of malaria in Zimbabwe during 2003, according to a report published by the UN Relief and Recovery unit in the capital, Harare. Confirming the figure, World Health Organisation (WHO) official Jasper Pasipamire said the high number of deaths was a "cause for concern." Pasipamire said one of the major factors influencing malaria mortality rates in the country was the failure to detect malaria cases at primary health care centres. A total of 682,855 cases, with 1,099 deaths, were recorded by the end of the year and confirmed by Zimbabwean health authorities.
ZIMBABWE: More than 1,000 malaria deaths

JOHANNESBURG, 15 January (IRIN) - More than a 1,000 people died of malaria in Zimbabwe during 2003, according to a report published by the UN Relief and Recovery unit in the capital, Harare. Confirming the figure, World Health Organisation (WHO) official Jasper Pasipamire said the high number of deaths was a "cause for concern."

Pasipamire said one of the major factors influencing malaria mortality rates in the country was the failure to detect malaria cases at primary health care centres. A total of 682,855 cases, with 1,099 deaths, were recorded by the end of the year and confirmed by Zimbabwean health authorities.

The situation was exacerbated by the level of HIV infection. With ravaged immune systems, people with HIV and AIDS were more susceptible to contracting diseases. About 27 percent of Zimbabwean adults are HIV positive.

Stanley Midzi, head of Zimbabwe's Malaria control programme at the Ministry of Health said Binga, Hwange, Lupane and Nkayi districts in the southern province of Matabeleland North were the worst hit. "A majority of the communities in these districts are settled in far-flung areas, which are not accessible for spraying insecticides," said Midzi.

People in these areas were too poor to afford preventative measures such as mosquito nets and insect repellents.

The government's spraying programme had been hampered by shortages of chemicals and, in some cases, inadequate fuel, the UN report found. To make the best use of existing resources, provinces had targeted districts with the highest risk of malaria.

WHO would be launching a programme to develop the skills of primary health care personnel and laboratory scientists in Zimbabwe at the end of this month, and take steps to ensure there was an adequate supply of medicines in all primary care centres in four key provinces, said Pasipamire.

In neighbouring Namibia, between 300 and 1,300 people also die of malaria annually, while in Mozambique the disease was the main cause of death last year. Malaria is reponsible for a total of 200,000 deaths each year in Southern Africa.



[ENDS]

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Africa/Global: Education for Rural Development

2004-01-22

http://portal.unesco.org/education/ev.php?URL_ID=27891&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1074691098

Some figures speak for themselves. Like the 1.2 billion poor people in the world. More than two-thirds of them live in rural areas, often with little access to basic services such as education, healthcare and communications because they are isolated. 'Education for Rural Development: Towards New Policy Responses', from UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, reviews the status of rural education from the standpoint of public policies and sheds light on "good practice".

Africa/Global: Two years after Dakar: on the road to EFA?

2004-01-22

http://www.id21.org/education/E1cc1g3.html

Is the world on track to achieve the millennium target of Education for All (EFA) by 2015? Are the six EFA commitments made in April 2000 at the World Education Forum in Dakar being met? How can we plug gaps in knowledge about schooling and improve EFA reporting, monitoring and analysis?

Africa: Tracking school leavers

2004-01-22

http://www.id21.org/education/e3sa1g3.html

What happens when African students finish their education? Is there an excess supply of educated labour? What do school-leavers and graduates think about the relevance and quality of their education in light of their subsequent experiences of employment?

Kenya: The Dons And Their Battle With the State

2004-01-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200401190004.html

The continuing struggle between university lecturers and the State is still smouldering and, therefore, worth revisiting. But, unlike the past strikes by the Kenyan working classes, the academics are not publicly demonstrating or picketing. Most are eager to get back to work, but only after their complaint has been addressed. These people are some of the best-educated individuals in Africa. All along the government and the woolly-headed public have taken them for granted. The government, in particular, has always behaved as if the intellectuals do not exist and has preferred to import white advisers, says this editorial in Kenya's The Nation newspaper.

Kenya: The evolution of special education

2004-01-22

http://www.id21.org/education/e2jm2g1.html

What are the challenges faced by developing countries in providing for children with special educational needs? How should special schools and units relate to the aims of mainstream educational provision? Are attitudes towards special education still shaped by the colonial legacy? Do ministerial directives on special education actually influence provision?

Somalia: Somalis Struggle to Start Private Schools

2004-01-22

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=515&ncid=723&e=3&u=/ap/20040120/ap_on_re_af/somalia_s_schools

In a communal goat stable, children sit under a mango tree, learning to read and write. In this narrow alleyway of Mogadishu, where three or four generations of Somalis share small homes behind high white walls and dark wooden doors, education is getting a second chance. After more than a decade of anarchy, only about one in six children of primary school age attends school, according to a U.N. survey released last week. Peace talks are under way, although the men with guns have failed to reach a power-sharing agreement. Meanwhile, parents, teachers and aid agencies have managed to piece together a private education system ranging from preschool to medical school.

Zambia: Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child?

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.org/africa/interna.asp?idnews=21977

Human rights activists in Zambia scored another victory recently when they got parliament to outlaw corporal punishment in the country. Just six months ago, government also abolished capital punishment and commuted all death sentences to life imprisonment. Legal Affairs Minister George Kunda said corporal punishment could no longer be tolerated, as it went against constitutional provisions that forbade torture and all forms of punishment that were inhuman or degrading. The scrapping of corporal punishment has come as a particular relief to school children who often suffer severe beatings under the guise of regular disciplining. This is despite the fact that school regulations are supposed to control the use of caning.

Africa/Global: Nine Experts Elected to Panel Monitoring UN Anti-racism Treaty

2004-01-22

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=9443&Cr=racism&Cr1=

Elections were held at the United Nations to choose nine members of an expert panel, which monitors implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Those elected to serve four-year terms include Ralph F. Boyd, Jr. of the U.S, a former government official who dealt with civil rights; José Francisco Cali Tzay, the founder of an indigenous rights programme in Guatemala; and Fatimata-Binta Victoire Dah, a career diplomat from Burkina Faso.

Africa: Poor nations take the lead in GM

2004-01-22

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=1198&language=1

Farmers in developing countries are switching to genetically modified (GM) crops at more than twice the rate of farmers in the industrialised world, according to a new survey. Last year, the amount of land planted with GM crops in developing countries grew by 4.4 million hectares, or 28 per cent. In comparison, the rate of growth in industrialised countries was 11 per cent.

Angola: First war, now peace, ravages wildlife

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38983

A large number of animals came close to extinction during the Angolan civil war. The once abundant wildlife is still under severe threat, poaching is common, laws are not enforced and there are just a few areas where the animals are secure. "Angola may lose all of its once rich biodiversity very soon if urgent action is not taken to preserve the protected areas and the endangered species. First, I was worried about the loss as a result of the war, and now as a result of the peace," Tamar Ron, UN Development Programme advisor to the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Environment, told IRIN.

Central Africa: Mountain gorillas escape poachers

2004-01-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3407831.stm

A new census of gorilla populations in the national parks of three countries in Central Africa has shown a surprise increase in numbers. The survey suggests the number of mountain gorillas has risen by 17% since 1989, despite insecurity and the threat from poachers.

Kenya: Maasai strike animal balance

2004-01-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3396423.stm

Kenya's Maasai people, who depend on tourists visiting the Maasai Mara game park, are facing big challenges after a dramatic fall in wildlife numbers. Visitors were already staying away due to fears of terror attacks, poor infrastructure and bad land management. In the last 10 years, poaching, population growth and overgrazing have led to a 43% fall in the amount of wildlife found in the buffer zones. Conservationists say changes are needed, but it is going to take a fundamental shift in the thinking of the local people.

Malawi: Chillies Prompt Elephants to Cool Their Heels

2004-01-22

http://www.ipsnews.org/africa/interna.asp?idnews=21965

Elephants and humans have long found themselves at loggerheads in Africa, and Malawi is no exception to this trend. Communities in the southern Machinga and Balaka districts near Liwonde National Park have seen their crops destroyed by elephants, while some people have been trampled to death. This led to the construction of a perimeter fence around the 538 square kilometre park in the early 1990's. But, villagers are also exploring a more innovative way of keeping the elephants at bay: the planting of chilli pepper plants. Speaking from Liwonde National Park, Mathias Elisa - a Parks and Wildlife Department official who is responsible for education - said: "Observations conducted during chilli production revealed that elephants keep diverting from areas where the...production is being done. Elephants hate the smell of chilli, especially when the stems have been burnt. It appears they...distance themselves from where the chilli is growing,” he added.

Angola: Farm production slowly increases

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39038

Food insecurity is still an issue in post-war Angola, but farmers who have been able to return to their fields are beginning to see results after nearly two years of peace. One success story is the farming association Hua Kinga-mbote Kadissuku ("The one who waits for the good never stumbles" in the local language, Kimbundu) in the northern province of Malanje, led by a charismatic and powerful woman, Maria de Fatima Coimbra. "One year ago we were desperately running toward visitors asking for food. Now we greet them with smiles. We dance and clap our hands," she told IRIN.

South Africa: Land election promises welcomed

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/land/19524

The Landless People's Movement (LPM) - an independent national movement of poor and landless people struggling for land and agrarian reform - has welcomed the announcement that the government plans to return 232,000 hectares of land to the poor and landless through the land restitution programme before the elections expected in April. "The LPM welcomes all moves to speed up the delivery of land reform, and notes that the government's commitment to deliver in four months almost 50 percent of what it has delivered in the past 10 years provides strong proof that land reform in post-apartheid South Africa is possible. Such a dramatic increase in this short space of time also clearly supports the LPM's contention - made to Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza in our meeting with her on 10 January - that the past 10 years of the land reform programme have been an abject failure," said the organisation in a statement.
LANDLESS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT

PRESS STATEMENT



"LPM WELCOMES RESTITUTION ELECTION PROMISES,

BUT STILL TOO LITTLE TOO LATE"

The Landless People's Movement (LPM) - an independent national movement of poor and landless people struggling for land and agrarian reform - welcomes the announcement that the government plans to return 232,000 hectares of land to the poor and landless through the land restitution programme before the elections.

The LPM welcomes all moves to speed up the delivery of land reform, and notes that the government's commitment to deliver in four months almost 50 percent of what it has delivered in the past 10 years provides strong proof that land reform in post-apartheid South Africa is possible. Such a dramatic increase in this short space of time also clearly supports the LPM's contention - made to Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza in our meeting with her on 10 January - that the past 10 years of the land reform programme have been an abject failure.

While the LPM applauds any moves to speed up land reform delivery, we must also note that the pace of this election-road land reform windfall cannot be sustained according to current budgets without a fundamental reorientation of the land reform programme to free us from the proscriptions of the World Bank market-led "willing seller-willing" buyer model. The LPM again calls on the government to host an urgent national and representative Land Summit where these fundamental constraints can be reviewed so the momentum of election-road delivery enthusiasm can lead directly to a sustainable programme of rapid, comprehensive land and agrarian reform.

232,000 hectares is welcome, but it still leaves 22.37-million hectares left to go on the 1994 promise of 30% of agricultural land that was due in 1999, and even more to reach an equitable land distribution in South Africa. In the meantime, even these gains are being eroded as we face ongoing farm evictions and urban forced removals in the absence of the moratorium on forced removals and evictions that we have demanded for several years.

The LPM sincerely hopes that the message of poor and landless people's impatience with the continuing failure of the current programme, which we will deliver through our active abstention from the coming polls through our "No Land! No Vote!" campaign, will be heard and answered by a new government commitment to fundamental land and agrarian reform policy change negotiated with the poor and landless majority at an urgent Land Summit.



ISSUED BY: THE LANDLESS PEOPLE'S MOVEMENT ON 16 JANUARY, 2004

FOR MORE INFO: CONTACT LPM NATIONAL PROJECTS & EDUCATION OFFICER MAUREEN MNISI ON 084-706-1388.

South Africa: Land issue looms in election year

2004-01-22

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-01-16/s_12146.asp

The weather has not been kind to South African maize farmer Tom van Rooyen, but his biggest worry is the political forecast. Standing by a stunted maize crop wilting in the African heat, van Rooyen says farmers are worried about impending land claims by communities evicted under white minority rule. Their concerns centre on a new act which will allow the government to expropriate land for restitution where negotiations on a "willing buyer, willing seller" basis fail.

South Africa: Next trial for Richtersveld set for May

2004-01-22

http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=561&fArticleId=319393

Dates for the land claims court's restitution hearing between the Richtersveld community, state-owned diamond mining firm Alexkor and the government had been set for the three weeks between May 3 and May 21, the community's legal representative says. In October, the constitutional court ruled that the Richtersveld community had a valid claim to the surface and mineral rights of most of the diamond-rich west coast strip along the Orange River from Port Nolloth to Alexander Bay, from which it had been forcibly removed in the 1920s.

WSF: Hunger Takes Centerstage

2004-01-22

http://newstandardnews.net/wsfblog/?action=show_entry&itemid=131

They sat patiently. Thousands of delegates who poured in for the inaugural plenary on “Land, Water and Food Sovereignty” on Jan 17, waited for the star cast to emerge on the stage. In the next four days, food security emerged as one of the hot topics of the WSF. Food activist Devinder Sharma writes: "I was amazed to see that in each and every of the 14 sessions that I chaired or spoke at, the halls were overflowing. At the same time, what was more significant was that the audience was not the same that moved from one session to another. Even if I had continued delivering the same speech session after session, I would have found enough takers for my analysis. It is heartening to find the social movements and the civil society realizing the importance of the growing threat to food sovereignty as the main cause to rally around."

Zambia: Assessing conservation farming

2004-01-22

http://www.ifpri.org/divs/eptd/dp/papers/eptdp108.pdf

This paper from the International Food Policy Research Institute examines the effectiveness of the 'conservation farming (CF) system', a package of agronomic practices for smallholders introduced to Zambia in 1996 and advocated by a range of stakeholders from donors, government and private sector. Evidence suggests that the effectiveness of conservation farming will vary not only across regions but also across crops and over time. Therefore, it will be important to establish long-term monitoring efforts for conservation farming and control plots across a broad range of geographic settings, crops and seasons.

Ethiopia: Government intervention in press association condemned

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/19522

The Ethiopian Ministry of Justice last Sunday appointed a so-called "new Executive Committee" for the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA). "The ministry's action is undemocratic and has no legal basis. We therefore urge international press institutions of which EFJA is a member, press organisations, human rights activists, professional associations, civic associations and concerned individuals to strongly condemn this action which contravenes EFJA members' legitimate rights," said the EFJA.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE/UPDATE - ETHIOPIA

19 January 2004

EFJA condemns Ministry of Justice's appointment of a new executive committee
for the organisation

SOURCE: Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA), Addis Ababa

**Updates IFEX alerts of 5, 4 and 2 December, 12, 10 and 5 November 2003**

(EFJA/IFEX) - The following is an 18 January 2004 EFJA press release:

EFJA condemns Ethiopian Ministry of Justice's so-called appointment of "new
Executive Committee"

EFJA calls on international press institutions to strongly condemn this
action

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Jan. 18 -- On Sunday, 18 January 2004, the Ethiopian
Ministry of Justice appointed a so-called "new Executive Committee" for
EFJA. The ministry's action is undemocratic and has no legal basis. We
therefore urge international press institutions of which EFJA is a member,
press organisations, human rights activists, professional associations,
civic associations and concerned individuals to strongly condemn this action
which contravenes EFJA members' legitimate rights.

In addition, we call on the Ethiopian people, press institutions and
professional associations throughout the world to closely follow the
situation and strongly condemn activities that are being carried out under a
pretence of acting on behalf of the Executive Committee elected by EFJA,
which was bestowed with responsibility for the organisation.

EFJA condemns all actions that result in violations of freedom of
expression, citizens' basic rights and the principles stipulated in
international conventions. The organisation will continue to fight against
these violations. We are convinced that the Ethiopian people, pro-democracy
forces and the international community will support and share our views and
join our struggle.

Kifle Mulat
President, EFJA
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
18 January 2004

For further information, contact Kifle Mulat, President, EFJA, P.O. Box
31317, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, tel/fax: +251 1 55 50 21, mobile: +251 1 (09)
222 939, e-mail: efja@telecom.net.et, efjakifle@hotmail.com

The information contained in this press release/update is the sole
responsibility of EFJA. In citing this material for broadcast or
publication, please credit EFJA.
_________________________________________________________________
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EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
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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/
_________________________________________________________________

Ivory Coast: Ivorian 'did not kill journalist'

2004-01-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3415817.stm

An Ivory Coast policeman has pleaded not guilty to the murder of a French journalist in Abidjan last year. Sergeant Theodore Seri said he had struggled with Jean Helene but said the fatal shots had not come from his gun. Correspondents say the killing was a sign of anti-French feeling in Ivory Coast and fear the trial will again heighten tensions.

Nigeria: Reporter asked to reveal source during interrogation

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/19521

Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) officers interrogated Tony Eluemunor, the "Daily Independent" newspaper's Abuja bureau chief, on 12 January in connection with the newspaper's 8 January lead story. The story alluded to links between the presidency and an alleged plot to unseat Anambra State Governor Chris Ngige. On 9 and 10 January, SSS officers made repeated visits to the newspaper's Abuja offices to inquire as to the whereabouts of Eluemunor. When they were informed that the reporter was out of town, they left strict orders for him to report to the director of special operations (DSO) at the SSS headquarters in Abuja.
La version française suit. The French version follows.

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT - NIGERIA

16 January 2004

Reporter asked to reveal source during interrogation

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

**MISA and the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), as a joint activity,
will henceforth issue alerts, statements and appeals to highlight media
freedom and wider human rights violations in West Africa. See www.misa.org
and www.mediafoundationwa.org for more information**

(MISA/IFEX) - The following is a joint MISA-MFWA alert:

On 12 January 2004, Nigerian State Security Service (SSS) officers
interrogated Tony Eluemunor, the "Daily Independent" newspaper's Abuja
bureau chief, in connection with the newspaper's 8 January lead story. The
story alluded to links between the presidency and an alleged plot to unseat
Anambra State Governor Chris Ngige.

On 9 and 10 January, SSS officers made repeated visits to the newspaper's
Abuja offices to inquire as to the whereabouts of Eluemunor. When they were
informed that the reporter was out of town, they left strict orders for him
to report to the director of special operations (DSO) at the SSS
headquarters in Abuja.

According to MFWA sources in Nigeria, Eluemunor returned to Abuja on 12
January and was accompanied by his legal counsel to the SSS headquarters at
about 3:00 p.m. (local time).

After filling in some forms and waiting, an argument developed when the
security officers insisted that nobody, not even his lawyer, could accompany
Eluemunor during his interrogation. As a result, Eluemunor was escorted
unaccompanied to another office where his interrogators insisted that he
disclose his information source. Eluemunor, however, stoically protested
that his profession's ethics obliged him to protect his sources. He was
finally allowed to go home at 5:00 p.m., with instructions to return to the
SSS headquarters at 1:00 p.m. the following day.

For further information, contact Zoe Titus, Program Coordinator, Media
Freedom Monitoring, MISA, Street Address: 21 Johann Albrecht Street, Mailing
Address; Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61 232 975, fax:
+264 61 248 016, e-mail: research@misa.org, Internet: http://www.misa.org,
or Kwame Karikari, Executive Director, Media Foundation for West Africa, P.
O. Box LG 730, Legon, Ghana, tel: +233 21 24 24 70, fax: +233 21 22 10 84,
e-mail: mfwa@africaonline.com.gh, Internet: http://www.mediafoundationwa.org

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility of MISA.
In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit MISA.
_________________________________________________________________
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/
_________________________________________________________________

Sudan: Editor-in-chief of daily newspaper arrested

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/19519

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has called for the immediate release of "Al-Ayam" editor-in-chief Mahjoub Mohamed Salih. He was imprisoned on 14 January 2004 because of his newspaper's unpaid tax arrears of 90 million Sudanese pounds. Economic security agents went to the daily's offices on 14 January and demanded the immediate payment of tax arrears. Salih was arrested and jailed because he was unable to pay. His paper has been suspended since 3 December 2003.
Les versions française et espagnole suivent.
Las versiones en francés y español se encuentran más abajo.
The French and Spanish versions follow.

IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT - SUDAN

15 January 2004

Editor-in-chief of daily "Al-Ayam" imprisoned

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has called for the immediate release of "Al-Ayam"
editor-in-chief Mahjoub Mohamed Salih. He was imprisoned on 14 January 2004
because of his newspaper's unpaid tax arrears of 90 million Sudanese pounds
(approx. US$348,350; 276,500 euros).

Economic security agents went to the daily's offices on 14 January and demanded
the immediate payment of tax arrears. Salih was arrested and jailed because he
was unable to pay. His paper has been suspended since 3 December 2003.

"While there is no doubt that newspapers should pay their taxes, we condemn the
Economic Security department's methods. They should not have imprisoned the
editor-in-chief of "Al-Ayam", an independent newspaper that has had no regular
income for months because it has been the victim of constant suspensions," said
RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard. "We call on the authorities to release
Salih immediately, demonstrate more flexibility in recovering tax arrears and
allow the reappearance of the daily, which is one of the pillars of the Sudanese
press," Ménard added.

Security forces suspended "Al-Ayam" on 16 November (see IFEX alert of 18
November 2003). The paper was then allowed to reappear on 22 November, only to
be suspended indefinitely again on 3 December. The daily was accused of
"threatening the country's security and stability". On each occasion, the paper
was suspended at dawn, after it had already been printed, entailing considerable
financial losses.

Earlier in the week of 12 January, Salih had been negotiating the payment of his
paper's tax bill with the Finance Ministry's economic services. The ministry had
agreed to reduce the amount of arrears owed by half. A meeting was also
scheduled for 17 January to establish a payment timetable and give the daily a
chance of financial survival. The paper recently marked its 50th anniversary.

For further information, contact Agnès Devictor at RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy Marie,
Paris 75009, France, tel: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51, e-mail:
northernafrica@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

The information contained in this alert 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 e-mail: alerts@ifex.org general e-mail: ifex@ifex.org
Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________
IFEX - Nouvelles de la communauté internationale de défense de la liberté
d'expression
_________________________________________________________________

ALERTE - SOUDAN

Le 15 janvier 2004

Le rédacteur en chef du quotidien "Al-Ayam" en prison

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - Le 14 janvier 2004 au matin, des agents de la Sécurité économique
ont interpellé au siège de son journal Mahjoub Mohamed Salih, rédacteur en chef
du quotidien "Al-Ayam", suspendu depuis le 3 décembre 2003. Ils ont exigé le
paiement immédiat d'arriérés de taxes s'élevant à 90 millions de livres
soudanaises (environ 348 350 $US ; 276 500 euros). Depuis, Salih est en prison.

"Il est tout à fait normal qu'un journal paye ses impôts. En revanche, nous
condamnons les méthodes utilisées par la Sécurité économique, notamment
l'incarcération du rédacteur en chef d'"Al-Ayam", journal indépendant qui n'a
plus aucune rentrée financière régulière depuis des mois, vu qu'il est victime
de suspensions à répétition. Nous demandons aux autorités de libérer
immédiatement Mahjoub Mohamed Salih, de faire preuve de plus souplesse pour le
recouvrement des arriérés d'impôts, et enfin d'autoriser la reparution de ce
quotidien qui est l'un des piliers de la presse au Soudan", a déclaré Robert
Ménard, secrétaire général de RSF.

Le 16 novembre, "Al-Ayam", avait été suspendu par les forces de sécurité
(consulter l'alerte de l'IFEX du 18 novembre 2003). Autorisé à reparaître le 22
novembre, il avait été à nouveau victime d'une suspension le 3 décembre, pour
une durée illimitée. Le quotidien était accusé de "menacer la sécurité et la
stabilité du pays". Chaque fois, ces suspensions sont intervenues à l'aube,
après l'impression du quotidien, entraînant des pertes financières
considérables.

La semaine du 12 janvier, Salih était en cours de négociation avec les services
économiques du ministère des Finances pour échelonner le paiement de ses impôts.
Le ministère avait accepté de réduire de moitié le montant des arriérés et le 17
janvier, une réunion était prévue pour mettre en place un calendrier des
paiements, et donner une chance de survie économique à ce quotidien qui vient de
fêter son 50e anniversaire.

Pour tout renseignement complémentaire, veuillez contacter Agnès Devictor, RSF,
5, rue Geoffroy Marie, Paris 75009, France, tél: +33 1 44 83 84 84, téléc: +33 1
45 23 11 51, courrier électronique: norddelafrique@rsf.org, Internet:
http://www.rsf.org

RSF est responsable de toute information contenue dans cette alerte. En citant
cette information, prière de bien vouloir l'attribuer à RSF.
_______________________________________________________________
DIFFUSÉ(E) PAR LE SECRÉTARIAT DU RÉSEAU IFEX,
L'ÉCHANGE INTERNATIONAL DE LA LIBERTÉ D'EXPRESSION
489, rue College, bureau 403, Toronto (ON) M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 téléc: +1 416 515 7879
courrier électronique: alerts@ifex.org boîte générale: ifex@ifex.org
site Internet: http://www.ifex.org/
_______________________________________________________________
IFEX - Noticias de la comunidad internacional de la libertad de expresión
________________________________________________________________

ALERTA - SUDÁN

el 15 de enero de 2004

Redactor jefe del diario "Al-Ayam" encarcelado

FUENTE: Reporteros Sin Fronteras (RSF), París

(RSF/IFEX) - El 14 de enero de 2004 por la mañana, unos agentes de la Seguridad
Económica detuvieron, en la sede del periódico, a Mahjoub Mohamed Salih,
redactor jefe del diario "Al-Ayam", suspendido desde el 3 de diciembre de 2003.
Le exigieron el pago inmediato de los impuestos atrasados, que se elevan a 90
millones de libras sudanesas (aproximadamente 348,350 USD; 276,500 euros). Desde
entonces, Salih está en la cárcel.

"Es algo normal que un periódico pague sus impuestos. En cambio, condenamos los
métodos utilizados por la Seguridad Económica, especialmente el encarcelamiento
del redactor jefe de "Al-Ayam", periódico independiente que desde hace meses no
tiene ningún ingreso económico regular, visto que es víctima de repetidas
suspensiones. Pedimos a las autoridades que liberen inmediatamente a Mahjoub
Mohamed Salih, que den prueba de mayor comprensión en la recaudación de los
impuestos atrasados, y finalmente que autoricen la reaparición de ese periódico,
que es uno de los pilares de la prensa en Sudán", ha declarado Robert Ménard,
secretario general de RSF.

El 16 de noviembre, las fuerzas de seguridad suspendieron a "Al-Ayam" (ver la
alerta de IFEX del 18 de noviembre de 2003). Autorizado a reaparecer el 22 de
noviembre, fue de nuevo víctima de una suspensión, de duración ilimitada, el 3
de diciembre. El diario está acusado de "amenazar la seguridad y la estabilidad
del país". En todas las ocasiones, las suspensiones se produjeron al alba, tras
la impresión del diario, originando cuantiosas pérdidas económicas.

Durante la semana del 12 de enero, Salih estaba en negociaciones con el
Ministerio de Finanzas, para escalonar el pago de los impuestos. El ministerio
aceptó reducir a la mitad el monto de los atrasos, y estaba prevista una reunión
el 17 de enero para establecer un calendario de los pagos, y dar una opción de
supervivencia económica a este diario, que acaba de celebrar su 50 aniversario.

Para mayor información, comunicarse con Agnès Devictor, RSF, 5, rue Geoffroy
Marie, Paris 75009, Francia, teléf: +33 1 44 83 84 84, fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51,
correo electrónico: norddelafrique@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

Esta información es responsabilidad de RSF. Favor de reconocer a RSF al
difundirla.
_________________________________________________________________
DIFUNDIDO/A POR LA OFICINA DE LA RED IFEX
EL INTERCAMBIO INTERNACIONAL POR LA LIBERTAD DE EXPRESION
489 College Street West, #403, Toronto ON M6G 1A5 CANADA
tel: +1 416 515 9622 fax: +1 416 515 7879
correo electrónico: alerts@ifex.org buzón general: ifex@ifex.org
sitio Internet: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________

The Gambia: Managing editor of private newspaper receives death threats

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/19523

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, says it is "deeply concerned" over the safety of Alagi Yorro Jallow, managing editor of the private, bi-weekly Independent newspaper. According to information before IPI, Yorro Jallow received a letter, dated 13 January 2004, in which a previously unknown group called the "Green Boys" threatened to "eliminate" him if the Independent continued to publish stories about Baba Jobe, majority leader in the National Assembly.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ACTION ALERT - THE GAMBIA

21 January 2004

Managing editor of private newspaper receives death threats

SOURCE: International Press Institute (IPI), Vienna

**For further information on the previous attack on the "Independent"
newspaper, see IFEX alert of 20 October 2003; for information on the arrest
and detention of the paper's editor-in-chief, see alerts of 29, 24 and 23
September 2003**

(IPI/IFEX) - The following is an IPI letter to Gambian President Yahya
A.J.J. Jammeh

H.E. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh
President of the Republic of The Gambia
State House
Banjul
The Gambia

Fax: +220 227 034

Vienna, 21 January 2004

Your Excellency,

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors,
media executives and leading journalists, is deeply concerned over the
safety of Alagi Yorro Jallow, managing editor of the private, bi-weekly
Independent newspaper.

According to information before IPI, Yorro Jallow received a letter, dated
13 January 2004, in which a previously unknown group called the "Green Boys"
threatened to "eliminate" him if the Independent continued to publish
stories about Baba Jobe, majority leader in the National Assembly. "This is
a final warning to you," the letter said. "Stop it now or else you will
never see a newspaper again . . . Stop telling lies and writing about Baba
Jobe or you will regret it."

Baba Jobe was arrested on 25 December 2003 and faces charges of tax evasion
and other related economic crimes in what has become known as the "Babagate"
scandal.

According to IPI's sources, the police said they would investigate the
incident and bring those responsible to justice, but have thus far failed to
act upon their promise.

The threat against Yorro Jallow is not the first case of harassment or
intimidation directed against the Independent in an apparent campaign to
prevent the newspaper's critical reporting.

On 17 October 2003, unidentified assailants attempted to burn down the
newspaper's offices in Banjul. In doing so, they damaged Yorro Jallow's
office and the offices of the newsroom. During the incident a private
security guard was attacked and beaten with an iron bar. The guard, who
managed to call his security firm for assistance and prevent further damage
to the offices, was hospitalised as the result of head injuries suffered
during the attack. Although the police were called at the time of the
incident, they did not arrive on the scene until the following day.

On 19 September 2003, the Independent's editor-in-chief, Abdoulie Sey, was
arrested by plainclothes security agents in front of the newspaper's
offices. He was held incommunicado at the headquarters of the National
Intelligence Agency (NIA) until 22 September. According to Sey, he was
interrogated about an article that was considered critical of the president
and the government.

IPI urges Your Excellency to authorise an immediate and thorough
investigation into this latest incident and to do everything in your power
to ensure that journalists working for the Gambian media in general and the
Independent newspaper in particular are able to carry out their profession
without fear of intimidation.

IPI would also remind Your Excellency that everyone has the right "to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of
frontiers," in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, and that the Gambian authorities should uphold this principle.

We thank you for your attention.

Yours sincerely,

Johann P. Fritz
Director

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Similar appeals can be sent to:

H.E. Yahya A.J.J. Jammeh
President of the Republic of The Gambia
State House
Banjul, The Gambia
Fax: +220 227 034

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact IPI at Spiegelgasse 2/29, A-1010 Vienna,
Austria, tel: +43 1 512 90 11, fax: +43 1 512 90 14, e-mail: Michael Kudlak
at mkudlak@freemedia.at, Diana Orlova at info@freemedia.at, or David Dadge
at ddadge@freemedia.at, Internet site: http://www.freemedia.at

The information contained in this action alert is the sole responsibility of
IPI. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
IPI.
_________________________________________________________________
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EXCHANGE (IFEX) CLEARING HOUSE
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Internet site: http://www.ifex.org/
_________________________________________________________________

Zimbabwe: Daily News back on the street

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/19556

The Daily News, banned since September 12 2003, has reappeared on the streets. The popular daily paper is published by the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ). The reappearance of the paper follows a High Court order on 21 January ordering that the police leave the premises of the media house and also stop interfering with the operations of the newspaper group.
Alert Update
22 January 2004

The Daily News hit the streets



The Daily News, banned since September 12 2003, has reappeared on the streets. The popular daily paper is published by the Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe (ANZ).



The reappearance of the paper follows a High Court order on 21 January ordering that the police leave the premises of the media house. And also stop interfering with the operations of the newspaper group. The government says that paper must remain shut since it is operating without a license.



Samuel Sipepa Nkomo the ANZ Chief Executive Officer said in a statement that that paper was back on the streets.

“We are publishing this issue just to let you know that we are back. We thank you for your support”, said Nkomo.

Nkomo added that the stories in the issue were meant to be published on 20 December. The police however moved in on the paper's premises and stopped its publication.



Background



The Attorney General’s office on 21 January 2004 said police and Media and Information Commission are in defiance of the law. The AG`s Office said the police and the government appointed Media and Information Commission were not taking heed of its advice to vacate the premises of the (ANZ). The AG’s office said this as ANZ was granted a second high court order for the police to vacate its premises. The High court order follows similar rulings by the Administrative court that the police leave the ANZ premises and also return seized equipment.

END



Rashweat Mukundu
Research and Information Officer
MISA-Zimbabwe
84 McChlery Ave
Eastlea
Box HR 8113
Harare
Zimbabwe
Phone 00 263 4 7761 65
Mobile 00 263 11 602 685
E mail misa@mweb.co.zw

Zimbabwe: Financial crisis dominates news

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/19520

The unprecedented turmoil sweeping through the financial services sector following a stringent new monetary policy introduced by new Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono stole the attention of all Zimbabwe's media in the first days of the New Year. Indeed, the public too, impatiently awaited every new instalment of the spectacular scandals that have been tumbling into the public domain almost on a daily basis since Christmas. During the week January 5th to January 11th for example, the Press devoted 75 stories on the extraordinary events affecting the financial services sector, 40 of them in the government-controlled Press, according to research from the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe.
MEDIA MONITORING PROJECT ZIMBABWE
Weekly Media Update No. 01
December 19th 2003 - January 11th 2004

CONTENTS
* General comment- the financial crisis
* While we weren't looking.
* and while we were
* Harassment of the independent media


GENERAL COMMENT - THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

THE unprecedented turmoil sweeping through the financial services sector
following a stringent new monetary policy introduced by new Reserve Bank
Governor Gideon Gono stole the attention of all Zimbabwe's media in the first
days of the New Year.

Indeed, the public too, impatiently awaited every new installment of the
spectacular scandals that have been tumbling into the public domain almost
on a daily basis since Christmas. During the week January 5th to January 11th
for example, the Press devoted 75 stories on the extraordinary events
affecting the financial services sector, 40 of them in the government-controlled
Press. The national public broadcaster however, has provided considerably
less coverage and virtually no real analysis of the developments in this field,
limiting their coverage to bare-bones reports on unfolding events.
The Herald (and sometimes the Chronicle) provided a consistent service in
unearthing new evidence relating to various alleged frauds within a number of
financial institutions. These were evidently brought to light with the extensive
cooperation of the police investigating the cases, but nevertheless,
demonstrates how well the public can be informed when the political
authorities allow the police to provide the media with important public
information.
But a fundamental question that none of the media has managed to answer
was why it had to take the introduction of Gono's monetary policy for the
police to unearth the irregular and criminal activity within the financial services
sector.


WHILE WE WEREN'T LOOKING.

The government media's generally acceptable coverage of the scandals in the
financial services sector was a welcome change from their usual diet of
contrived and gravely distorted news. MMPZ applauds the efforts of all the
media to inform the public of developments in this sector, although the full
political and economic consequences have yet to be properly addressed.
The same however, cannot be said of the government media's coverage of a
number of other events over the Christmas holiday period (while we weren't
looking) where they resorted to their old habits and either failed to report
important stories or published grossly biased and sometimes unsubstantiated
allegations, especially where it was in defence of government intentions and
its blatant abuse of power.

A classic example of this were the reports on ZBC (all stations 19/12) and in
The Herald (20/12) on the Administrative Court ruling ordering that the
Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe be allowed to publish The Daily News
and its Sunday sister paper. Instead of reporting this news fully and fairly, the
government media suffocated the judgment with a long and misleading
statement from Information Minister Jonathan Moyo declaring that the ruling
was "academic" and "of no practical force or effect because it cannot be
lawfully enforced or executed." (The Herald). The ANZ could not enjoy the
benefits of the judgment Moyo is reported as saying, ".because the
judgment has been made by the wrong court."

This arbitrary and defiant opinion of a valid court order followed a similar
declaration from Moyo published in The Herald on the day judgment was due
to be given (19/12) under the headline, 'Government to Resist Backdoor
Approach in ANZ Case - Moyo'. This comment was seen as an attempt by the
minister to intimidate the Administrative Court judge, so it was hardly
surprising that The Herald's Saturday story simply accepted Moyo's
declaration as a government edict. No effort was made to seek independent
expert legal comment to provide a realistic legal context to Moyo's statement.

The next day, The Sunday Mail (21/12/03) was used to regurgitate part of
Moyo's statement and reinforce it with the opinion of the Media and
Information Commission's lawyer. Again no effort was made to provide any
legally balanced context to this story. Worse still, the paper entirely censored
news that armed riot police blockaded The Daily News offices and its printing
plant when ANZ staff attempted to return to work following the Administrative
Court ruling. News of this blatant violation of the rule of law by government
authorities only appeared in The Standard (21/12). The private radio stations
Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa both followed up the story (22/12) with the latter
quoting National Constitutional Assembly chairman, Lovemore Madhuku,
saying the police action against The Daily News was "a blatant example of
the (government's) disregard for the rule of law ."

Indeed, MMPZ condemns government's cynical disregard for laws and
judgments it considers inimical to its campaign to muzzle the country's
independent Press.
The Financial Gazette (24/12) reported ANZ's complaint to the police. It
quoted the company's lawyer, Gugulethu Moyo, as saying: "We asked them
to stop interfering with our staff and property and that they should
uphold the rule of law."
Only later did it emerge that Administrative Court judge, Sello Nare, had
actually received a written death threat minutes before delivering his judgment
(The Weekend Tribune, 03/01/04).

A sinister new twist to The Daily News saga emerged in The Herald on
Christmas Eve that must have spoiled the holiday for Econet's many
thousands of stakeholders and subscribers. The paper published a one-sided,
vaguely sourced and unsubstantiated story claiming that the cell phone
network provider's operating licence was likely to be withdrawn because it was
not repatriating its foreign currency earnings and that these "were being
used to finance subversive activities to undermine the government of
Zimbabwe". Relying on "sources close to the investigation", the story
made reference to an unexplained government directive that Econet was said
to be violating. "This comes amid allegations that Econet
proprietor.Strive Masiyiwa.was using proceeds from the Zimbabwean
company to finance subversive activities." the paper reported. Noting
that Masiyiwa had acquired the Daily News, The Herald listed a number of
activities, including the publication of a special edition of The Daily News at
the recent Commonwealth summit in Abuja, Nigeria that was "meant to
tarnish the image of the Zimbabwean government."

Referring to this event the paper then quoted a "source privy to the
investigations" saying: "It becomes clear that the publisher is using his
mobile phone company to fund the production of subversive material
meant to cause the most damage to Zimbabwe."
But nowhere in the story was there any attempt to obtain any official comment
and nor was Masiyiwa or Econet given an opportunity to rebut these grave
and specious allegations. The rebuttal only emerged in the form of an Econet
advert in The Standard (4/1/04) 11 days later. Studio 7 followed up the story
on Christmas Day.

Other stories illustrating the grossly authoritarian nature of the government
that appeared during the holiday period included the decision by Local
Government Minister Ignatius Chombo to appoint governors and provincial
and district administrators for Harare and Bulawayo. While The Herald's
Christmas Day story simply covered the announcement as an event report, it
failed to seek comment to explain how these appointments would affect the
authority of the MDC-run councils in the two cities.

Studio 7 (29/12) followed up this report - and another one in which Chombo
announced government plans to introduce minimum education levels for
councilors - by accessing comment from Harare's embattled Mayor, Elias
Mudzuri, condemning these measures as an "illegal" attempt to rid councils
in the two cities of the MDC and to erode their authority. ZTV however (26/12,
8pm) justified Chombo's interference, saying it was an "effort to improve
service delivery by local authorities."

On New Year's Day Studio 7 reported the threat by the new armed forces
commander, Constantine Chiwenga, to have striking medical doctors put into
military detention if they didn't call off their industrial action. The radio reported
an unnamed doctor as its source and obtained confirmation from Health
Minister David Parirenyatwa that Chiwenga had attended a meeting the
minister had held with the doctors. The station reported that Chiwenga had
chaired the meeting and asked why he was present. However, it did not seek
comment to support the democratic notion that military interference in the
administration of the country's civic affairs is completely unacceptable and
that this clear demonstration of the armed forces' tendency to take the law
into their own hands represents a gross violation of this principle.

The station reported Parirenyatwa denying that Chiwenga had threatened the
doctors. More details of Chiwenga's threats appeared in the Zimbabwe
Independent the next morning where he was reported telling the doctors that
".we do not respect." a court ruling acquitting the doctors of any
wrongdoing. He reportedly echoed Moyo's earlier comments about another
court ruling, describing the acquittal of the doctors as 'academic'.
"We are the ones.in power and we can choose to ignore that
ruling.We rule the country."
His reported statement on its own provides a terrifying indication of who
Chiwenga thinks is governing the country and his attitude towards authority-
and his lack of respect for judicial decisions.
SW Radio Africa, (05/01) quoted NCA chairman, Lovemore Madhuku,
castigating Chiwenga, saying his threat was irresponsible and unfortunate.
Predictably, none of the government media carried this news.

News of the invasion of a highly productive farm in Odzi by Agriculture
Minister Joseph Made, despite a recent High Court interdict barring
government from interfering in the agricultural operations of the farm also
appeared in the Press during the holiday period (the Zimbabwe Independent,
02/01/04)..An attempt to discredit that story appeared in the government
media as the nation returned to work.


AND WHILE WE WERE.

Once again The Herald (7/1/04) conveniently ignored the High Court ruling
protecting the farming activities at Kondozi Farm in Odzi in its own abusive
and distorted story that gave prominence to a government statement denying
that Minister Made had invaded the farm. The Herald described the original
Independent story as a "malicious" report in a 'white-owned' Zimbabwean
paper. But without explaining which government department had issued the
statement, the paper then quoted without comment, evidently malicious and
racist material contained in the statement itself: "The truth.is that the farm
belonged to a de Klerk for whom Edwin Moyo (the majority shareholder of
the enterprise) is a convenient and shameless front. While government
firmly believes in black empowerment.it will not be duped by Uncle
Toms that make themselves willing tools of former Rhodies."
The story clearly illustrates how, The Herald continues to allow itself to remain
a slavish propagator of abusive, racist and offensive government propaganda.

A more balanced follow-up to the Kondozi saga appeared in The Weekend
Tribune (9/1), which reported that Made's decision to designate the farm on
behalf of the agricultural authority, ARDA, was actually in "defiance of a High
Court order interdicting him from occupying the farm.According to
court documents at the High Court.Justice Antonia Guvava issued a
provisional order against ARDA and the Minister on December 1 against
any interference at the farm."
The paper also quoted Moyo refuting allegations that he was a "front" for de
Klerk and that he was considering legal action against the "malicious
allegations" made against him.
The Herald also distorted the violent clashes between the Kondozi and ARDA
farm workers that resulted from the invasion.
In fact, during the first week that Zimbabweans returned to work (January 5th -
11th) the private media carried 17 reports of political violence and other human
rights abuses for which the State or ruling party supporters were allegedly
responsible. These were all but ignored in the government Press.

Most worrying were reports in the private media of a resurgence of political
violence in which opposition MDC supporters have been the victims.
According to SW Radio Africa (6/1/04), the New Year has already claimed the
lives of two MDC supporters in Shamva. The Zimbabwe Independent (9/1)
reported the police confirming one death in the district, apparently as a result
of a campaign by "suspected Zanu PF hoodlums.to push out opposition
supporters in Shamva." The same story carried three other reports of
political violence in Gweru and Zvishavane, all of which were ignored by the
government media.

And as Zimbabweans celebrated surviving their first week back at work, they
were again reminded of government's determination to muzzle the
independent Press and deprive the nation of alternative sources of
information: Police arrested and detained three Independent journalists,
including its Editor, for a story claiming that President Mugabe had
"commandeered" one of Air Zimbabwe's few remaining aircraft to ferry him
and his family around their holiday destinations in the Far East (The Herald
10/1). The same issue of the paper also suffocated the facts of yet another
High Court ruling ordering the police not to interfere in the activities of the
ANZ, publishers of The Daily News.

Instead, The Herald focused on the acting Attorney-General's intention to
appeal against the ruling and the grossly misleading comments of the lawyer
for the government's Media and Information Commission, which allowed the
paper to headline its story, 'ANZ may not resume publishing: lawyer'. The
story quoted the lawyer as saying: "Nothing in the order says it (ANZ)
should resume operations. It's about the police being asked to vacate
ANZ premises."

While the paper did refer to the earlier Administrative Court ruling allowing the
ANZ to resume publishing, it used Moyo's declaration that that ruling was
"academic and could not be enforced" to dismiss the court order, thereby
thoroughly destroying The Herald's own credibility and exposing the
government's own contempt of the judicial process at the same time. Only
The Sunday Mirror (11/1) gave a fair account of the court hearing under the
headline, 'Police ignore High Court order in ANZ case'.
In the space of just 24 days the government has ignored at least three High
Court orders, which must have serious implications for the integrity of the
judicial process.

The Christmas and New Year period has indeed, proved to be a testing time
for justice and the independent media in Zimbabwe.


HARASSMENT OF THE INDEPENDENT MEDIA

MMPZ condemns in the strongest terms the government's harassment of the
independent media in recent weeks. The unwarranted arrest and two-day
detention of three Zimbabwe Independent journalists and the recent emotional
and abusive criticism of independent media workers by senior government
officials represent blatant efforts by the authorities to intimidate the country's
independent media community.
In view of the government's sustained persecution of the publishers of The
Daily News, there is no doubt that these latest events constitute part of a
systematic campaign by government to silence all critical voices in
Zimbabwean society. Such attacks represent a grave and unacceptable
assault on the people's constitutional rights to freedom of expression and to
be informed.
In addition, the abuse of the media under government's control as tools to
promote and protect the interests of the ruling party constitutes the theft of
public resources that should be fulfilling their mandate to hold government
accountable for its actions and to fairly reflect all shades of opinion within the
country. MMPZ calls on the authorities to allow these media to fulfill this
mandate.
Ends

The Media Update is produced and circulated by the Media Monitoring Project
Zimbabwe (MMPZ). Feel free to respond to MMPZ. Also, please feel free to
circulate this report.

Send comments and queries to the Project Coordinator, MMPZ, 15 Duthie
Avenue, Alexandra Park, Harare, Tel/fax: +263 4 703702, E-mail:
monitors@mweb.co.zw

Zimbabwe: Media Commission Chief threatens independent paper

2004-01-22

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1855

The Chairman of the government appointed Media and Information Commission, Dr Tafataona Mahoso, has threatened to take action against the Zimbabwe Independent and its editor Iden Wetherell over what he calls a “racist” letter to the editor that was published in the paper on January 2, 2004.

Africa: Report shows child soldier use continues unabated

2004-01-22

http://www.child-soldiers.org

Children continued to be used as soldiers, sexual slaves, labourers, porters and spies throughout 2003 in both newly-erupting and longstanding conflicts, according to a report released in the run-up to the United Nations Security Council’s fourth open debate on children and armed conflict. The report, released by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, details evidence of governments and armed groups recruiting and using child soldiers in numerous conflicts worldwide. The Coalition calls for action by the UN Security Council to insist upon – and enforce – an end to child recruitment.

Africa: The State of the World's Children 2004

2004-01-22

http://www.unicef.org/sowc04/index.html

The State of the World's Children 2004 presents girls' education as one of the most crucial issues facing the international development community. The report argues that the theories, policies and practices of development have been marked by gender discrimination and that the standard approach to development has focused on economic growth rather than human welfare. Through The State of the World's Children 2004, UNICEF calls on every nation engaged in development to make the education of all children - with an emphasis on girls - a major focus of investment.

Namibia: Violence against women, children peaked in December

2004-01-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200401190594.html

A police summary of reported violent crimes committed against women and children over the December period last year shows that a total of 27 women were raped countrywide, with an equal number of rapes of minors reported in the same period. The police indicated that primarily ex-boyfriends and a "few strangers" raped women. Relatives, on the other hand, were the main perpetrators in the rape cases involving children.

Nigeria: Nigeria signs new WHO polio pact

2004-01-22

http://www.datelinehealth-africa.net/betav1.0/news/detailnews.asp?news_id=9123

Nigeria has endorsed the new mass immunisation campaigns that aim to vaccinate 250 million children against polio announced after an emergency meeting at the World Health Organisation. Nigeria's Health Minister was the first to sign the declaration followed by Afghanistan, India, Egypt, Niger and Pakistan - the remaining polio endemic countries.

Nigeria: Polio immunisation to remain suspended, says Kano State

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39006

Authorities in northern Nigeria’s Kano State said on Sunday the suspension of polio immunisation in the state would remain in force until their fears about the vaccines used were adequately addressed. Reacting to a declaration signed on Thursday by Nigeria’s Minister of Health Eyitayo Lambo, pledging to immunise all Nigerian children against polio, Kano State spokesman Sule Yau Sule said vaccination could only resume in the state when authorities were convinced that the vaccines were safe. Kano State was among three northern states that halted polio immunisation in October following allegations by Islamic leaders that the vaccine to be administered to thousands of children was contaminated with HIV and anti-fertility agents.

South Africa: Injured dad tells of 57 cents-an-hour job

2004-01-22

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=13&art_id=vn20040121041141238C275537&set_id=1

He works 10 hours a day and gets only R80 a fortnight. Joel Molungu Mashele, who sustained multiple head injuries when a building collapsed, killing three others, at the weekend, on Tuesday related his painful experience to Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana.

WSF: Child rights issues raised

2004-01-22

http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1550.html

For the first time, children's rights issues were raised at the World Social Forum. A number of events ran at the same time at the venue in Mumbai, where a football stadium has been hired for the event. Events included workshops on issues like children in conflict with the law, disability, children's rights, children facing homelessness, trafficking, etc.

WSF: Globalisation begets Insecurity, begets violence

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/welfare/19546

The path of economic globalisation must be changed in order to avoid undermining social security. Otherwise it will continue to exacerbate poverty, and therefore violence, warned a number of panellists Monday that included Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics. "The essence of economic globalisation is that it should bring job security. If there were such a commitment, developing countries could have opened markets by explicitly tying market access to job opportunities," said the U.S. expert who served as the World Bank’s chief economist from 1997 to 2000. Stiglitz was speaking at the seminar on ‘Globalisation, economic and social security’, which drew more than 1,000 of the tens of thousands of WSF participants who came to listen to him give a critique of issues that his former employer, the World Bank, has been known to push.

Zimbabwe: Concern over STI infections among street kids

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39026

Each month as many as 150 children sleeping rough in the capital, Harare, are being treated for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), underlining their extreme vulnerability, according to a local NGO. Streets Ahead, an organisation trying to improve the welfare of Harare's 5,000 street children, said they discovered the STI outbreak when the children visited their offices for counselling and other support programmes.

*News from the Diaspora notice*

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/diaspora/19569

AFFORD, the African Foundation for Development (http://www.afford-uk.org), will be partnering Pambazuka News in producing News from the Diaspora. If you would like to contribute information to this section, email your news to editor@pambazuka.org

African telehealth symposium during MED-e-TEL 2004 in Luxembourg

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/diaspora/19418

Africa Telehealth Group, in close collaboration with MED-e-TEL, will be holding a satellite symposium concurrently with the MED-e-TEL 2004 International Trade Fair (as part of a major African telehealth conference planned for Yaounde, Cameroun, June 12-16, 2004). The theme of the satellite symposium, as captured in its title, is: "The African Diaspora, Telehealth and Telemedicine: A Symposium for Joint Action". While focusing on Africans in the Diaspora, the symposium would, nonetheless, seek to pool the energies of both continental Africans and those Africans born or living outside the African continent who have knowledge, expertise, or a passion to contribute to the effective development of e-health in Africa. As well, organisations/businesses from or outside Africa seeking to exhibit their products or services during the symposium/trade fair are invited to formally express their interest. For more information contact Raymond Micah of the Africa Telehealth Group at micah1731@rogers.com

Announcement and First Call for Papers - 9th Somali Studies International Conference: Diaspora and State Formation in the Horn of Africa

September 3-5, 2004, Research Centre on Development and International relations (DIR), Aalborg University, Denmark

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/diaspora/19438

The point of departure for the 9th conference of SSIA is the dispersal of Somali speaking people beyond the boundaries of the Republic of Somalia that collapsed as a state in 1991. Somali people have always lived beyond the territory of the Republic of Somalia, especially in the neighbouring states of Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. Additionally, the Ogaden war (1977-1979), and the Civil Wars from 1988 and up till today caused millions of Somalis to flee and migrate throughout the region of the Horn of Africa - and further abroad to Europe, North America and other destinations. This dispersal of Somalis and the migrations of people originating from the former Republic of Somalia have been intimately linked to the still ongoing conflicts in the Horn of Africa, and are related to the complex processes of reconciliation and state formation. The scope of the Conference will therefore include all of the Horn of Africa as well as Somalis in the wider Diaspora. It will encourage papers that, from various perspectives, approach cross-cutting issues, relate to the linkages between migration, development and processes of state-formation and identity, and which take a regional (Horn of Africa) view on the emergence of transboundary political formations. Complete program and registration information will be available April 2004. The event organiser can be contacted by e-mail: osman@humsamf.auc.dk

Paper on migrant remittances to Africa

2004-01-22

http://www.worldbank.org/afr/wps/wp64.htm

The World Bank has published a new study looking at how policies can create obstacles to more effective use of remittances: “Migrant Labour Remittances in Africa: Reducing Obstacles to Developmental Contributions”, was authored by Cerstin Sander and Samuel Munzele Maimbo.

Sharp growth in London’s “Black African” population

2004-01-22

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/h.asp

Recent and more detailed analysis of the 2001 British Census data has thrown up a few surprises. Perhaps most striking of all has been the rise of the number of “Black African” (a term used by the Census) people living in London. Currently, at 378,933 people, “Black Africans” make up some 5% of the London population (and have now overtaken “Black Caribbean” people to take position behind Indians as the second largest ethnic minority group in London). The “Black African” group is set to be the fastest growing minority group in London, almost doubling in size between 1991 and 2011. In at least four districts of London, Africans make up more than 10% of the local population. The Greater London Authority (the pan-London body with responsibility for the capital) has noted the significance of these developments and has made moves to explore how it can engage more effectively with African communities in the city.

Survey on African diaspora’s remittances and skills

2004-01-22

http://www.cbc-link.com/africarecruit/downloads/Africarecruit%20survey-%20remittances%20and%20Skills.ppt

The London-based CBCAfricaRecruit has published results of an online survey it conducted into the African diaspora’s resources and skills.

Virtual Conference on Electronic Banking for the Poor

2004-01-22

http://www.microsave-africa.com/SearchResults.asp?cboKeyword=27&ID=20&cmdSubmit=Submit&NumPerPage=10

MicroSave intends to host a virtual conference on Electronic Banking for the Poor between the 16-27th of February 2004. Participants who subscribe to the virtual conference will contribute to an email based discussion of key issues in providing electronic banking services to mass markets. Key questions will be set on a daily basis that will be complemented by an overview and introduction to each day's discussion, which is based on practical experience. The conference will share knowledge and will network individuals and organisations worldwide that are working in this exciting but challenging environment. It will cover all forms of electronic banking from Palm pilots, to mag-stripe, smart card and telephone- based services.

DRC/Rwanda: Hutu militants holding 3,000 hostages

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39027

Hutu militants opposed to the voluntary repatriation of their countrymen are holding at least 3,000 Rwandan civilians and former combatants hostage in a forest in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, the spokesman for the UN Mission in the DRC, Hamadoun Toure, said on Tuesday. "Some hardliners do not want to return to Rwanda and have obstructed former fighters intent on returning home from leaving the forest," he said.

Ethiopia/Eritrea: West tries to cool row

2004-01-22

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=87&art_id=qw107433972144B231&set_id=1

Western powers are stepping up mediation to end a simmering border row between Eritrea and key American ally Ethiopia less than four years after the Horn of Africa neighbours fought a brutal border war. The latest official to ask the former foes to cool months of angry rhetoric is Britain's Minister for Africa Chris Mullin, who met Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa late on Friday after talks in Eritrea and Djibouti.

Liberia: Fighters Rape and Loot in Areas Lacking Peacekeepers

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/19481

Fighters who took part in Liberia's armed conflict have been raping and looting civilians in areas that lack international peacekeepers, despite a ceasefire and peace agreement in the country, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released ahead of a major international donors' conference on Liberia in early February. "Despite the peace accords, civilians in rural Liberia are still being raped, looted and forced to work for fighters from all the warring factions," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Africa division. "More peacekeepers are needed to stem the violence and ensure that the disarmament program is successful."
Liberia: Fighters Rape and Loot in Areas Lacking Peacekeepers

(New York, January 21, 2004) - Fighters who took part in Liberia's
armed conflict have been raping and looting civilians in areas that
lack international peacekeepers, despite a ceasefire and peace
agreement in the country, Human Rights Watch said today in a briefing
paper released ahead of a major international donors' conference on
Liberia in early February.

"Despite the peace accords, civilians in rural Liberia are still being
raped, looted and forced to work for fighters from all the warring
factions," said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of Human Rights
Watch's Africa division. "More peacekeepers are needed to stem the
violence and ensure that the disarmament program is successful."

The briefing paper describes the serious human rights abuses-including
looting, forced labor, rape and other forms of sexual violence-that
have occurred in recent months in areas controlled by former government
forces or by one of the two former rebel movements. Research by Human
Rights Watch revealed a consistent and brutal pattern of sexual
violence against women and girls as well as reprisal attacks by
fighters allied to each of the warring parties.

International donor countries should contribute more troops for the
peacekeeping mission, provide additional support for Liberian civil
society, and insist upon accountability for war crimes and crimes
against humanity committed during Liberia's war, Human Rights Watch
said.

"The international donors need to recognize that there are enormous
challenges ahead. Liberia needs more peacekeepers, reconstruction
money, and a firm stance on accountability-in other words, no amnesty
for past or current abuses." Takirambudde said.

Just over half of the 15,000 peacekeepers authorized by the United
Nations have arrived in Liberia to establish security, and the vast
majority remains concentrated in and around the capital, Monrovia. Less
than ten percent of the international police force has been deployed.

Security remains the primary concern for thousands of civilians in
rural areas, despite the signing of a peace agreement and the
deployment of a U.N. mission in. Human Rights Watch urged the warring
factions to immediately end abuses against civilians.

In the past year, Liberia has experienced dramatic developments. In
June and July, the main Liberian insurgent group, Liberians United for
Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), attempted to capture Monrovia and
indiscriminately shelled the capital, resulting in over 2,000 civilians
wounded and scores killed. The fighting ended only in August with the
intervention of regional West African peacekeepers and the departure of
Liberia's then-president Charles Taylor to Nigeria.

Nigeria has failed to transfer Taylor to Sierra Leone, where in March
he was indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone for war crimes
and crimes against humanity linked to his role in supporting that
country's Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels. The regional
peacekeepers were replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping mission in October,
but the contributing countries have been slow to provide the full
15,000 troops required to maintain security and perform numerous other
tasks in the country.

Human Rights Watch will also release a report on child combatants in
Liberia on February 2 in advance of the international donors'
conference on Liberia, which is due to be co-chaired by U.S. Secretary
of State Colin Powell and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on February
5 and 6.

The briefing paper "The Guns are in the Bushes": Continuing Abuses in
Liberia is available at:http://hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/liberia0104.htm

Libya: Disarmament a Positive Step, but Threat of Proliferation Remains

2004-01-22

http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2004/0401libya.html

In a world seemingly gone mad, it is ironic that one of the most sane and reasonable actions to come out of the Middle East recently has emanated from the government of Muammar Qaddafi, the Libyan dictator long recognized as an international outlaw, says a new commentary from Foreign Policy in Focus. Libya's stunning announcement that it is giving up its nascent biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons programs and accepting international assistance and verification of its disarmament efforts is a small but important positive step in the struggle to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). It would be a big mistake, however, to accept claims by the Bush administration and its supporters that it was the invasion of Iraq and other threatened uses of force against so-called "rogue states" which pursue WMD programs that led to Libya's decision to end its WMD programs.

Nigeria: At least 10 dead as troops clash with delta militants

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/19414

At least 10 people died when ethnic Ijaw militants traded gunfire with government troops in Bomadi, a small town in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger delta, residents said on Friday. The clash occurred last Thursday when soldiers trailing a group of Ijaw militants surrounded the town and engaged the armed youths in a gun battle, the residents told IRIN.
NIGERIA: At least 10 dead as troops clash with delta militants

WARRI, 16 January (IRIN) - At least 10 people died when ethnic Ijaw militants traded gunfire with government troops in Bomadi, a small town in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger delta, residents said on Friday.

The clash occured on Thursday when soldiers trailing a group of Ijaw militants surrounded the town and engaged the armed youths in a gun battle, the residents told IRIN.

"From various accounts no less than 10 of the boys (militants) were shot dead," Wilson Opuebuka, a resident of the Bomadi who fled the fighting to Warri, told IRIN.

Major Said Ahmed, the spokesman for "Operation Restore Hope", a joint campaign by the army and navy to check the region's growing violence, confirmed the incident in Bomadi, which lies 35 km of the oil city of Warri.

"Our soldiers went to Bomadi for a cordon and search operation, part of our efforts to rid the area of weapons, and the local boys started firing at us," he told IRIN.

However, Ahmed gave a lower death toll. The army spokesman said he could only confirm that one militant was killed and one soldier injured.

The army had arrested 31 people in Bomadi and recovered guns, ammunition and a hand grenade, he added.

The delta region around Warri has been a scene of repeated clashes in the past seven years, during which several hundred people have died.

The fighting has mainly pitted armed Ijaw youths against their rivals from the Itsekiri tribe. Gangs of oil thieves who tap crude oil from pipelines have filled the region with guns, fuelling the violence. Many of the skirmishes have been over claims to the ownership of land on which oil companies operate in order to obtain the benefits that these companies confer in terms of jobs and local amenities.

At least 200 people were killed in fighting between the rival ethnic groups last year. Soldiers deployed to quell the violence also died.

The Ijaws, the largest ethnic group in the Niger Delta, have accused successive governments - including the present administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo - of favouring their Itsekiri rivals.

The 3,000 army and navy troops assigned to Operation Restore Hope have tightened security along the waterways of the swampy and heavily forested delta to intercept barges of stolen oil being shipped out to tankers waiting offshore.

Nigeria is thought to lose about 10 percent of its oil through this theft of crude oil known as "bunkering."

The soldiers have alson undertake frequent "cordon and search" operations in villages to try and retrieve weapons already in the hands of militants.


[ENDS]

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Somalia: Peace mediators warn over fighting

2004-01-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3410469.stm

Tension between regional Somali leaders may scuttle the peace talks in Kenya, mediators have warned as fighting continues in central Somalia. Some 13 people were killed and several others injured after inter-clan fighting over land and water in Hiirran region at the weekend.

Southern Africa: Large parts hit by drought

2004-01-22

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=qw1074596760647B213&set_id=1

Large areas of southern Africa, suffering from drought after several years of dry conditions, will likely see farm output slide this year, a regional body said on Tuesday. Regional breadbasket South Africa, which usually exports maize to its neighbours, is due to produce only enough of the staple food for its own population in 2004, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) said. This raises the prospects for extra imports from outside the region. The United Nation's World Food Programme has been providing rations to 6,5 million people in southern Africa, mostly in Zimbabwe where economic decline has exacerbated patchy drought.

Sudan: Prospects for Peace

2004-01-22

http://www.justiceafrica.org/bulletin.htm

As the peace process enters its final stage, the challenge on the Sudanese parties and external mediators is to prepare for a successful interim period. The final peace agreement should contain a clause committing the parties Governement of Sudan and SPLM to peaceful resolution of the conflict in Darfur. Human rights guarantees and accountability for past human rights violations must be addressed in the peace agreement. The Sudanese must rally behind the peace process. The peace agreement will have its short-comings but signing should be regarded as just the beginning of political and civic mobilisation in Sudan. This is according to a December briefing from Justice Africa.

Sudan: Western and eastern rebels forge alliance

2004-01-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=38974

As the peace process enters its final stage, the challenge on the Sudanese parties and external mediators is to prepare for a successful interim period. The final peace agreement should contain a clause committing the Government of Sudan and SPLM to peaceful resolution of the conflict in Darfur. Human rights guarantees and accountability for past human rights violations must be addressed in the peace agreement. The Sudanese must rally behind the peace process. The peace agreement will have its short-comings but signing should be regarded as just the beginning of political and civic mobilisation in Sudan. This is according to a December briefing from Justice Africa.

ADILISHA: FAHAMU'S HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT REACHES FINAL OF STOCKHOLM CHALLENGE AWARD

2004-01-22

http://www.fahamu.org.uk/rights.html

A distance-learning project developed by Fahamu for human rights organisations in Southern Africa has reached the finals of the Stockholm Challenge Award for 2003/2004. It was selected from among 900 applicants from 107 countries to be one of 24 finalists in the education category of the award. The project, 'Adilisha: Human Rights Capacity Building in Africa', was developed by Fahamu to strengthen the campaigning, advocacy and managerial capacity of human rights and advocacy organisations in Africa. This was done by providing distance-learning courses using CDROM based interactive materials that were facilitated by email and combined with regional face-to-face workshops.
PRESS RELEASE

Issued by: Fahamu
Date: 22 January 2003
Embargo: None

FAHAMU'S HUMAN RIGHTS PROJECT REACHES FINAL OF STOCKHOLM CHALLENGE AWARD

A distance-learning project developed by Fahamu for human rights organisations in Southern Africa has reached the finals of the Stockholm Challenge Award for 2003/2004. It was selected from among 900 applicants from 107 countries to be one of 24 finalists in the education category of the award.

The project, 'Adilisha: Human Rights Capacity Building in Africa', was developed by Fahamu to strengthen the campaigning, advocacy and managerial capacity of human rights and advocacy organisations in Africa. This was done by providing distance-learning courses using CDROM based interactive materials that were facilitated by email and combined with regional face-to-face workshops.

The Adilisha Project was selected for the finals by an international jury consisting of senior experts from all corners of the globe. The Stockholm Challenge is intended to highlight the best IT projects from around the world in the fields of e-government, culture, health, education, e-business and environment.

“We are well pleased. It is a tribute to all those involved, including all those who participated in our courses. Making the final round of the Stockholm Challenge is further recognition of the success of the approach,” said Firoze Manji, Director of Fahamu.

The Cambridge-based International Research Foundation for Open Learning’s Director, Dr Terry Allsop, who evaluated the programme, said: “Given all that is known about conventional training approaches, particularly in relation to the ineffectiveness of one-off training events/workshops, it is quite clear that this approach breaks new ground. The evaluators are not aware of any other such comprehensive approach to both personal and organisational professional development.”

The Adilisha distance learning courses consisted of the following courses: Introduction to human rights; Investigating, monitoring and reporting on human rights violations; Campaigning, advocacy and lobbying; Leadership and management for change; Finance for the non-financial manager; Fundraising and resource mobilisation; and Using the internet for advocacy and research. The courses - accredited by Oxford University - have been designed in such a way as to ensure that they can be delivered in a format which responds to the technological capacity of the target audience.

Most of those who took the courses had had no experience of either distance learning or of participating in email discussion lists. Thus students gained confidence and general IT skills from their participation in the courses. By providing students with learning materials in interactive format on CDROMs they are able to develop their understanding of the subject to a sufficient depth to get the very best out of the workshop that they attend as part of their course.

Fahamu, a not-for-profit organisation with offices in South Africa and Oxford, is now in the second stage of rolling out courses developed through the Adilisha Project.

The development of the Adilisha Project was funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre, European Union, and the UK Department for International Development.

The final awards for the Stockholm Challenge will be announced during a ceremony in Stockholm on 13 May 2004.

For more information visit http://www.challenge.stockholm.se/ and http://www.fahamu.org

ABOUT FAHAMU

Fahamu uses information and communication technologies to serve the needs of organisations and social movements that aspire to progressive social change and that promote and protect human rights. Fahamu specialises in making electronic information available to this community by:

- Producing electronic newsletters dissemination news information and debate about social justice in Africa;
- Producing distance learning materials for human rights and humanitarian organisations;
- Providing training through face-to-face workshops;
- Managing websites for our partners;
- Making web-based resources available for offline use;
- Undertaking social policy research on Africa.

Fahamu has a small core of staff and associates located both in UK and Africa. The word 'Fahamu' comes from the Kiswahili word for understanding.

CONTACT DETAILS:
Fahamu
Contact: Dr Firoze Manji
Unit 14, Standingford House,
Cave Street,
Oxford
OX4 1BA,
UK Tel +44 (0)1865 791777
Fax +44 (0)1865 203009
info@fahamu.org
www.fahamu.org

Fahamu SA:
Contact: Adv Anil Naidoo
Southern African Regional Office:
PO Box 70740,
Overport,
Durban,
KwaZulu Natal 4067,
South Africa
Tel.: +27 - (0)31-207-1144
Fax.:+27 - (0)31-207-1194
info@fahamu.org.za
www.fahamu.org.za

[ENDS]

Disaster Recovery Tips - How to Plan for an Unforeseen Disaster

2004-01-22

http://www.wougnet.org/Support/TechTips/techtip_10.html

Disasters can happen anytime and anywhere. From fire and floods, to virus attacks, the only thing you can be sure of is that it will be a complete surprise. The most important thing you can do to minimize the impact is to have an emergency plan already in place so that critical data can quickly be restored and your business can be functional again as soon as possible.

ICTs in rural Ghana: bringing schools and communities together?

2004-01-22

http://www.id21.org/education/e4jp1g1.html

Could information communication technologies (ICTs) improve learning in rural Africa? When exposed to new technology, how do children, adults and teachers use it to represent their lives and opportunities?

IT Governance Forum for South Africa

2004-01-22

http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/business/2004/0401150816.asp?O=E

IT Governance practitioners are scheduled to get together to discuss topical issues at the IT Governance Forum to be held at the VW Conference Centre in Midrand in Johannesburg on 28 and 29 January. An important area of discussion at the forum will deal with the local legislation pertaining to information technology.

Open source: Africa’s Liberating IT Force

2004-01-22

http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/industryinsight/opensource/malabie040114.asp?A=IIN&S=IndustryInsight&T=Columnist&O=C

Open source is smashing the paradigm of how information and communications technology (ICT) benefits are delivered to Africans. In the past 40 years, ICT has made minimal impact on the lives of 90% of the people living in Africa because they didn't fit the Western models of how benefits should be delivered to them. It failed to adapt to support the way of life it found, seeking rather to hope that Africa would 'catch up' to the rest of the world.

Tunisia: Preparations for World Summit on the Information Society examined by cabinet meeting

2004-01-22

http://www.tunisiaonline.com/news/news.html

Preparations for the World Summit on the Information Society to be hosted by Tunisia in the year 2005, was the main topic of a recent special cabinet meeting chaired by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

UNESCO to Sponsor Pilot Satellite Distance Learning Course

2004-01-22

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=13920&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECT

UNESCO is working with WorldSpace Corporation, the operator of the Afristar satellite for digital radio broadcasting in Africa, to demonstrate and test the potential of digital radio to deliver low budget, effective, multimedia based and real time distance education to rural learners in Africa. The project will involve a short course in February 2004 on Community Telecentre Development aimed at African telecentre staff, and at NGOs and decision makers working in the area of application of ICTs for development in Africa.

Global Fund Observer newsletter

2004-01-22

http://www.aidspan.org/gfo

The GFO NEWSLETTER is an independent source of news, analysis and commentary about the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (www.theglobalfund.org). The GFO Newsletter is emailed to subscribers once to twice a month. To receive the GFO NEWSLETTER (if you haven't already subscribed), send an email to receive-gfo-newsletter@aidspan.org Subject line and text can be left blank.

On-line regional consultation on "Globalisation, Gender and Health"

2004-01-22

http://www.ggh-project.info

You are invited to enhance by your participation an on-line regional consultation on "Globalisation, Gender and Health" that will take place from 26 January to 6 February 2004 at the following website: http://www.ggh-project.info This important consultation that will benefit from your expertise and experience is led by UNIFEM. Its main objective is to determine the top priorities for future research and research training at the intersect of "Globalisation, Gender and Health" in the African context.
You are invited to enhance by your participation an on-line regional consultation on "Globalisation, Gender and Health" that will take place from 26 January to 6 February 2004 at the following website:
http://www.ggh-project.info

You are also kindly requested to share this invitation as widely as possible with your networks and other potential participants.

This important consultation that will benefit from your expertise and experience is led by UNIFEM. Its main objective is to determine the top priorities for future research and research training at the intersect of "Globalisation, Gender and Health" in the African context.

This consultation is part of an innovative project called "Globalisation, Gender and Health:
Research-Policy Interface" led by the Institute of Gender and Health, a member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (IGH-CIHR), in collaboration with partner institutions and international collaborators including the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research, the National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center, University of Harvard, University of Yale in the United States, WHO/PAHO, UNIFEM, UNESCO, the Millennium Project and the Global Development Learning Network.

The originality of this project lies in its unique thematic focus on the intersections between globalisation, gender and health and the analysis of their peculiar expressions at the national, regional and global levels. In addition, this project has adopted a methodology which involves the participation of researchers, professionals, policy makers and activists in order to establish a research and training agenda that can guide the definition of appropriate health and gender policies at the national, regional and international levels, thereby offering a valuable opportunity to influence the global health agenda from a gender and people-centered perspective.

The coordination of the project is currently drafting an "Issues Paper" that aims to provide a systematic analysis of relevant information and to identify research priorities addressing gender, health and globalisation. In this regard, this on-line discussion aims to elicit opinions and information for a debate on this "Issues Paper" from an African perspective, and to promote increased participation of African researchers and organisations in future studies and training programs on the impact of globalisation on gender and health.

You may find this Issues Paper at:
http://www.crwh.org/globalization.php The French and English version of this paper will also be posted at http:// www.ggh-project.info, together with all the other background documents and practical information on the on-line consultation process.

At a later stage, the results of this consultation will also be used for the development of diverse projects that will benefit the Africa region. These projects include:

1. A global research agenda on the theme of "Globalisation, Gender and Health" involving North-South collaboration and funded by CIHR. This agenda will be realised in association with Canadian partners (NGOs, academic institutions and the private sector) and institutions/organisations in developing countries, in order to undertake studies on themes of common interest.
2. A training agenda in order to strengthen the institutional capacity of research teams to address the theme of globalisation, gender and health, funded by Fogarty International Center, and NIH. African researchers and professionals will be part of future training programs resulting from this initiative.
3. A policy agenda: the project will be able to sensitise political and opinion leaders on the themes for which there exists sufficient evidence through channels such as the Global Council of Women Leaders, the Economic Forum and the Millennium Project among others.

If you are interested in joining the on-line discussion, please let us know as soon as possible by sending an email to:

Zo Randriamaro
Consultant
razo81@yahoo.com AND/OR zo.ran@club-internet.fr
Tel (33) 1 56 34 02 18
Please also provide a telephone number where you can be reached if the need arises.

We look forward to your positive response, and reiterate our particular interest in your participation in this Regional Consultation that will bring an important added value to the project, owing to your contribution. Should you have any further enquiries, please feel free to contact us.

Warm Regards
Zo Randriamaro

Soulbeat Africa

2004-01-22

http://www.comminit.com/africa

Soul Beat Africa is a web-based initiative focusing specifically on sharing information about using communication for change and development in Africa. It is a space to share experiences, materials, strategic thinking and events, and to engage in discussion and debate. Through Soul Beat Africa, people and organisations are sharing information about how communication is being used to address such issues as HIV/AIDS, economic development, women's issues, youth, health, and the environment, to name only a few.

New software to boost charities

2004-01-22

http://www.apc.org/actionapps/

At a conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the Association of Progressive Communications (APC) launched a pioneering project to help charities tap the potential of the Internet. Called APC-ActionApps, the free computer software aims to boost the advocacy powers of charities across the world. APC says it is designed to rival software sold by computer giants, enabling nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) to regularly update their websites "cheaply, simply and speedily."

SAIF releases fundraising and resource mobilisation training programme - January to March 2004

2004-01-22

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=449

The Southern Africa Institute of Fundraising (SAIF) has released its schedule of fundraising and resource mobilisation programmes and short courses for 2004. Click on the link provided to find out more.

South African Department of Health issues call for proposals

2004-01-22

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=456

The National Department of Health, through the Chief Directorate: HIV, Aids, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STIs) and Tuberculosis (TB), has invited national non-profit organisations (NPOs) working in the field of HIV, Aids and TB to apply for funding. NPOs are considered to be national entities if they provide a service in three or more provinces.

Themba Lesizwe issues call for proposals from South African NPOs

2004-01-22

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=451

Themba Lesizwe, the South African Network of Trauma Service Providers (SANTSEP), has invited proposals from Non Profit Organisations (NPO's) who are members of or in the process of being affiliated to the network and who work in the victim empowerment sector. Themba Lesizwe has identified the following specific geographical priority areas: rural areas in Mpumalanga, Free State, Gauteng and North-West.

Coalition for Peace in Africa: Continental Conflict Transformation Course

10th May 2004 – 11th June 2004, Johannesburg, South Africa

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/19458

Twice a year, COPA holds a 5-week training workshop. This course covers diverse aspects of conflict transformation and peace building, and is aimed at building the capacity of participants, mostly from the African continent, working in related fields. The next course is scheduled for 10th May 2004 to 11th June 2004 and will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa. The purpose of this course is to assist men and women working for development, human rights, peace and justice.
Coalition for Peace in Africa

Continental Conflict Transformation Course 10th May 2004 – 11th June 2004

Twice a year, COPA holds a 5-week training workshop. This course covers
diverse aspects of conflict transformation and peace building, and is aimed
at building the capacity of participants, mostly from the African continent,
working in related fields.

The next course is scheduled for 10th May 2004 to 11th June 2004 and will be
held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Special facilities are available for
participants with young children who cannot be left behind.
The purpose of this course is to assist men and women working for
development, human rights, peace and justice to:

Ø Explore why and how people and organisations organise and to share
strategies for building networks and coordinating the programmes of
different stakeholders
Ø Introduce tools and skills for analysing conflicts that can assist in
identifying intervention strategies to reduce and prevent violence.
Ø Identify the origins and causes of new and ongoing conflicts in Africa and
their links to continental and global factors
Ø Support and strengthen skills for facilitating dialogue, including
communication and facilitation skills, negotiation, mediation and
arbitration.
Ø Explore ways of providing support between practitioners and policy makers
active in the field of Conflict transformation and Development
Ø Develop strategies to train other people working for development, human
rights and reconciliation in methods of transforming conflict and preventing
violence as well as the monitoring and evaluation of these initiatives.
Ø Develop a vision for Africa that reflects African values and capacities
for peace
The course

The course has been designed specifically for people who want to focus on
conflict in Africa. Although it will include an analysis of global events
and their impact on Africa, emphasis will be placed on culturally sensitive
and sustainable responses to regional and community conflicts in Africa.
Participants will be requested to bring to the course case studies and
examples of conflict transformation from their own experience and research.

The course will take place over five weeks. Throughout the course there is a
strong focus on personal development and the need for individuals and
organizations to form networks, coalitions and alliances with others working
in similar fields. By the end of the course each participant is expected to
have designed an action strategy, which is developed further and implemented
on his or her return.

Holding the course in South Africa offers unique opportunities to explore
the history and context of a conflict process that is still unfolding. The
course includes tours to local places of interest as well as opportunities
to make contacts with local organisations.

Participants are encouraged to enrol for full participation. A certificate
in Advanced Conflict Transformation will be issued to all participants who
complete the programme.

Course content

The course will employ a wide variety of participative approaches to
learning.
The following themes will be covered:

Module One: Organising for change
10th May – 14th May 2004

· Observations and Perception
· Bringing about organisational change: Why and how we organise
· Networking, coalitions and alliances
· Perspectives on world peace
· Understanding concepts: Peace, conflict, violence and development
· Developing a relationship model between these concepts

Module Two: The dynamics of conflict
17th May – 28th May 2004

· Why and how we analyse
· Approaches to analysis
· Tools for conflict analysis and solving problems
· Situation analysis
· Developing case studies and intervention opportunities
· Processing trauma
· Faith, values and religion in Africa
· Facilitating dialogue, mediation, negotiation and arbitration
· Advocacy, lobbying and campaigning
· Reconciliation and reintegration

Module Three: Conflict Intervention in Africa
31st May – 4th June 2004

· Changing environments and political systems in Africa
· Demilitarisation
· Culture and tradition
· African renaissance, NEPAD and the AU
· Building an African Vision
· Human rights and African values

Module Four: The way forward for peace
7th June – 11th June 2004

· Conflict and sustainable development
· ‘Do no Harm’
· Impact and effectiveness
· Monitoring and Evaluation
· Developing context specific action strategies

The course staff
Four COPA members from the African continent will facilitate the course.
With experience of living and working on the continent and internationally,
they will develop processes in consultation with the group to fine-tune a
course that meets the participant's needs.

In addition to the full-time tutors, resource specialists, in the field of
conflict transformation, human rights, sustainable development, community
mobilisation, trauma processing, reconciliation and the African Renaissance,
will be invited to offer inputs and conduct sessions related to particular
topics.

Participants
We would like to encourage women and people from Francophone and Lusophone
countries to apply. While the course in conducted in English care will be
taken not to disadvantage any language groups.
The course is aimed particularly at:
· Development and relief workers operating in contexts of conflict and
violence in Africa.
· Religious personnel involved in peace and reconciliation work or planning
to become involved.
· NGOs wanting to develop their programme beyond development and emergency
relief to include advocacy, lobbying, peace building and reconciliation.
· People working for Sustainable Development.
· Human rights workers interested in Conflict Transformation.
· Those wanting to explore African cultural mechanisms for peace making and
reconciliation.
· People working with others for Peace and Justice.

For organisations:
This course is particularly concerned with strengthening people’s capacities
to improve their organisations’ effectiveness in responding to conflicts
they encounter in their work. We would particularly encourage organisations
to send participants whose knowledge and experiences will be easily shared
with the rest of the organisation.

COPA strongly requests organisations wishing to enrol their staff for this
course to prepare the participants in the following ways:

· Identify the organisation’s expectations of the course.
· Identify the participant’s objectives for the course.
· How will the participant use the learning obtained from this course in the
organisation?
· How does the organisation propose to integrate the participant’s learning
and experience?

Location
The course will take place in the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, at the
Elijah Barayi Memorial Training Centre in Yeoville. The venue is 25 km from
Johannesburg International Airport.

If you would like to attend the course but have special needs that you are
worried will affect your participation please let us know. Every effort will
be made to accommodate these needs.

Course Fees
Total fee $3500
Materials and Tuition $1500.00
Accommodation, extra curricular activities and medical insurance $2000.00
Deposit Fees $500.00 (To secure a place upon acceptance, non-refundable if
participant withdraws)

You will need about $300.00 for personal expenses and travel money. It is
the applicants’ responsibility to find all necessary funds: for course fees,
accommodation, travel to and from where they normally live, and spending
money. Many course members are funded by their employers or by an agency
already familiar with their work. Copa members can offer advice to
applicants on how to find alternative sources of funding.

Scholarships
You can, if necessary, apply for support from the programme's scholarship
fund by filling in section 4 of the application form. Applications for
scholarships are normally decided at least three months before the start of
the course. Factors taken into account in awarding scholarships include: the
situation in which the applicant is working, the need to include people with
a wide range of experience on the course, the resources already available to
the applicant, gender (we aim for a balance between men and women which
often means giving preference, where appropriate, to women) and, of course,
the scholarship funds at our disposal.

Numbers on each course are restricted. It is advisable to apply as soon as
possible, and preferably not later than 3 months before the course or module
starts. Late applications are considered only if space allows.

If you would like to attend the course but have special needs that you are
worried will affect your participation please let us know. Every effort will
be made to accommodate these needs.

For further information on COPA, membership and the Continental Course
please contact:


Copa Course Co-ordinator
Postnet Suite #145,
Private Bag X9,Melville 2109
South Africa
Fax: + 27 11 331 0671
Tel: + 27 11 331 2944
Mobile:+27 084 356 8030
Contact Person: Nthabiseng Ngobeni
Email: copa@actionsupport.co.za



P.O. Box 13265,
00100, Nairobi GPO, Kenya
Tel: 254-2-577558
Fax: 254-2-577557
Mobile:+254 (0)73 376 9840
Contact Person: Michael Muragu
E-mail: copa@copafrica.org
Website: www.copafrica.org

Conference on children and war: Impact

2004-01-22

http://www.arts.ualberta.ca/childrenandwar/

The need to protect children from war and to rehabilitate those who become victims of armed conflict will be the central themes of the international conference 'Children and War: Impact', part of a major research project. The conference will be held April 1-3 at the University of Alberta, Edmonton. Anyone interested in attending should contact: Andy Knight at andy.knight@ualberta.ca

Helpscape Nigeria Budding Leaders' Summit (BLS)

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/19457

Helpscape, a youth serving, non-governmental organisation with offices in Ibadan, Oyo State and Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria is pleased to announce the 2004 Budding Leaders' Summit (BLS). The BLS is a quarterly summit that draws participants from Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions. It is a career and educational/counselling programme for youths in the 12-25 years category. In 2004, there will be five summits in five cities across the country namely: Ibadan (January 28), Lagos (March), Jos (June), Uyo (September) and Abuja (December).
Helpscape, a youth serving, non-governmental
organization with offices in Ibadan, Oyo State and
Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria is pleased to announce
the 2004 Budding Leaders' Summit (BLS).

The BLS is a quarterly summit that draws
participants
from Secondary Schools and Tertiatiary Institutions.
It is a career and educational, counseling programme
for youths in the 12-25 years category. The summit
is
designed to provide opportunity for participants to
be
led through interactive sessions on themes such as
career choice, goal setting and goal achievement,
ways
of acquiring and enhancing leadership skills,
tackling
social and economic hinderances to
self-actualization,
sexuality education among others.

Sustained counseling are then conducted by
Helpscape's
personnel in our offices and designated centres. In
2004, there will be five summits iin five cities
across the country namely: Ibadan (January 28),
Lagos
(March), Jos (June), Uyo (September) and Abuja
(December).

Principal Facilitators at the Ibadan Summit include
Emeritus Professor Muyiwa Awe. Professor Awe, 71,
became Africa's first Professor of Physics at 35
in1967. Barrister Oluwakemi Adebo will also address
the summit.

For futher information please contact:

Ndueso Eno,
Helpscape,
Block G Unit 2 Suites 9-10,
Trade Fair Complex,
P.O.Box 22478 University Post Office,
Ibadan.
234 803 709 8615
helpscape@yahoo.com

Master of Arts Degree in Gender and Peace Building

University for Peace

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/19459

The Department for Gender and Peace Studies at the University for Peace is pleased to announce the Master of Arts Degree in Gender and Peace Building, which will take place beginning in September of 2004. The Programme has been designed to address the interaction between Gender and Peace Building when discussing topics such as: The Study of Peace and Nonviolent Transformation of Conflict; Cultures and Cultural Transformation: from a Culture of War to a Culture of Peace; Conditions of Exclusion and Strategies of Inclusion: Diverse Human Groups; Peace Processes: Conflict Analysis, Resolution and Transformation; Human Rights, Democracy and Governance; Economy and Development; The Environment and Sustainable Development; and Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods.
University of Peace

The Department for Gender and Peace Studies at the University for Peace is pleased to announce the Master of Arts Degree in Gender and Peace Building, which will take place beginning in September of 2004.

The Programme has been designed to address the interaction between Gender and Peace Building when discussing topics such as:



The Study of Peace and Nonviolent Transformation of Conflict
Cultures and Cultural Transformation: from a Culture of War to a Culture of Peace
Conditions of Exclusion and Strategies of Inclusion: Diverse Human Groups
Peace Processes: Conflict Analysis, Resolution and Transformation
Human Rights, Democracy and Governance
Economy and Development
The Environment and Sustainable Development
Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods


The Department invites you to visit the UPEACE website at http://www.upeace.org, where more information, including descriptions of 2003-2004 courses and professors, may be found. Additionally, you may contact the Office for Academic Administration directly at acadmin@upeace.org



English will be the language of instruction.

Angola: Health Coordinator

CARE

2004-01-22

http://www.comminit.com/vacancy1702.html

This position will have overall responsibility for the planning, coordination, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of CARE-Angola's health portfolio, which includes polio eradication, maternal-child health, scabies control, and health post rehabilitation projects. Knowledge of Portuguese or French language required.

Nigeria: Country Director

Family Health International

2004-01-22

http://www.comminit.com/vacancy1698.html

The successful candidate will serve as the technical and programme leader for this high profile, $200 million, five-year HIV/AIDS prevention and care programme. MPH/MS/MA and at least 10 years experience managing large-scale health programmes, to include at least five years senior level field management experience in Africa.

South Africa: Administrator

Fahamu

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/19575

Fahamu (http://www.fahamu.org) is looking for a part-time Administrator who will perform duties associated with the production of ourelectronic newsletters and associated websites.

The position involves:
- The transfer of content into new databases;
- The research of relevant material online;
- The writing of summaries for publications;
- Helping with the maintenance and administration of the databases associated with newsletters and websites;
- Assisting with the promotion of newsletters and websites produced by Fahamu;
- Providing such other support to the production of newsletters as may be required from time to time.
 
We envisage that this will be a two and a half day a week position. Applicants must have a high-degree of confidence in using the Internet for communicating, basic research and finding information online.  Ideally the applicant will be based in Cape Town, South Africa and have access to their own computer and internet connection. Please send a CV and a brief covering letter to patrick@fahamu.org.za

Southern Africa: Regional Coordinator

International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW)

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/19455

This will be the first post of its kind for ICW. Located in Southern Africa, wherever the selected candidate is based, this is a senior, full-time paid position. The Regional Coordinator will ensure the development of a strong, dynamic and active ICW network in the region, with the capacity to fully involve members in the work of the wider ICW.
REPOSTED FROM: afro-nets mailing list
afro-nets@healthnet.org
http://list.healthnet.org/mailman/listinfo/afro-nets

The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW)
is looking to appoint a Southern Africa Regional Coordinator
based in Southern Africa

Closing date for applications: February 4, 2004

This will be the first post of its kind for ICW. Located in
Southern Africa, wherever the selected candidate is based, this
is a senior, full-time paid position.

The Regional Coordinator will ensure the development of a
strong, dynamic and active ICW network in the region, with the
capacity to fully involve members in the work of the wider ICW.

This will include: increasing communications with ICW members in
Southern Africa, and with the ICW global network including the
International Support Office based in the UK; increasing the
voice of HIV positive women from the region in support, treat-
ment and advocacy initiatives; developing and piloting a trans-
parent and accountable system of electing HIV positive women as
ICW representatives; and developing strong links with local and
national networks of HIV positive women in the region.

The contract is initially for six months, with the expectation
it will be renewed at the end of the period.

A job description and application form can be downloaded from
the website:
http://www.icw.org
or requested from mailto:jobs@icw.org

Applications should be sent to
Fiona Hale
mailto:fionah@icw.org
and copied to
Lynde Francis
mailto:centre2@africaonline.co.zw
by the closing date, marked ICWSARC for reference.

Uganda: IT Technical Officer

Reflect/ICT Project

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/19454

Applications are invited for an IT Technical Officer position with the Reflect/ICT Project in Fort Portal, funded by DFID-UK and ActionAid Uganda. Deadline for applications is January 30, 2004.
REPOSTED FROM: WOUGNET-L information page and archives: http://lists.wougnet.org/mailman/listinfo/wougnet-l

Applications are invited for an IT Technical Officer position with the
Reflect/ICT Project in Fort Portal. Deadline for applications is January
30, 2004.

REFLECT/ICT PROJECT-FORTPORTAL. FUNDED BY DFID-UK AND ACTIONAID UGANDA.

JOB DESCRIPTION FOR THE IT TECHNICAL OFFICER

Ø Data processing
Ø Daily back up of the system in the Resource centre
Ø Ensuring system security and user creation
Ø System administration, monitoring and uptime
Ø Monitor Network performance and advise on improvement and upgrading
where required.
Ø Supervise network installation
Ø Periodically identifying the IT needs of the resource centre and
advise on the best options to satisfy those needs.
Ø Developing training curriculum on ICTs for the rural poor.



QUALIFICATIONS
Ø A basic degree in IT/Computer science/Electrical Engineering with a
bias in computing
Ø UNIX, NT, & MS exchange qualifications
Ø Certifications (CCNA, MSCE etc) will be an added advantage.
Ø Minimum of three years experience in a similar IT environment.
Ø Three years of community development work



Station: Fort Portal

Apply to:
Director HR/OD
ActionAid Uganda
P.O. Box 676
Kampala, Uganda

OR

Project Manager
Reflect/ICT Project
C/O ActionAid Uganda
P.O. Box 676
Kampala.
Tel: 077662490
e-mail: maiso@actionaiduganda.org

Deadline: 30/01/04

Zimbabwe: Co-ordinator: Country Programmes/Technical Officer: School Without Walls

Southern African AIDS Trust

2004-01-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/19456

SAT is a leading regional initiative that supports community responses to HIV and AIDS and facilitates networking, skills exchange and lesson sharing throughout the region. To increase the scale and impact of our work we are currently recruiting for these two positions based in our regional office in Harare.
REPOSTED FROM: AF-AIDS eForum 2003: af-aids@healthdev.net

JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT SAT (Southern African AIDS Trust), Zimbabwe
- Benneta Mabvira, Zimbabwe
***********************


BELOW ARE JOB ADVERTISEMENTS SUBMITTED BY Elizabeth Francis TO AF-AIDS -
Mod.


JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT SAT (Southern African AIDS Trust), Zimbabwe

(1) Co-ordinator: Country Programmes

(2) Technical Officer: School Without Walls


SAT is a leading regional initiative that supports community responses to
HIV and AIDS and facilitates networking, skills exchange and lesson sharing
throughout the region. To increase the scale and impact of our work we are
currently recruiting for two positions based in our regional office in
Harare:


(1) CO-ORDINATOR: COUNTRY PROGRAMMES

SAT partners with community groups as well as national and regional advocacy
and networking bodies. In the next few years we plan to significantly
increase the number of partners receiving financial and technical support
through School Without Walls (see below). We also hope to expand SWW
activities and opportunities for community groups funded by other resource
providers. To facilitate this we will focus the role of the regional
secretariat and increase the size and autonomy of our decentralised country
operations.

The Co-ordinator for Country Programmes:

- Belongs to the SAT management team, with the Director, Deputy Director,
Finance Co-ordinator and Good Practice Co-ordinator. Significant
organisational management experience is essential.

- Leads the Country Programmes Team and supervises the Team's senior staff
in Harare and in our decentralised offices. Significant project and team
management experience is essential.

- Plays a significant role in the strategic expansion and strengthening of
SAT's country level activities, including proposal development, donor
relations and fundraising. Significant expertise in strategic planning and
resource mobilisation is essential.

(2) TECHNICAL OFFICER: SCHOOL WITHOUT WALLS (SWW)

Established in 1993, SWW is our pioneering initiative of south-to-south
skills training, lesson sharing, mentoring relationships and study visits.
In essence SWW is a network of SAT partners that learn from and teach one
another the practical know-how of community-level HIV and AIDS work.

The Technical Officer for School Without Walls:

- Leads the SWW unit. Significant project and staff management experience is
essential.

- Provides advisory services and technical support to SAT's country
programmes. Significant experience of community HIV and AIDS work is
essential.

- Plays a key role in new partner assessment, M&E and technical scrutiny of
partner proposals/contracts. Strong skills in participatory M&E and contract
vetting are essential.

- Organises and facilitates regional lesson sharing and skills training
workshops. Strong organisational and facilitation skills are essential.

If you are interested in either of these positions, see our website
(www.satregional.org) for more information on our work in the region and
further details of how to apply. Applications that do not take into account
the website information will be disregarded.

Please note that SAT encourages women and people living with HIV to apply.

Closing date: 25 January 2004


Benneta Mabvira
Communications & Publications Assistant
Southern African AIDS Training Programme (SAT)
Web: www.satregional.org
Mail: mabvira@satregional.org

Supporting community responses to HIV & AIDS in Southern Africa

Fahamu