Back Issues

INTRODUCING KABISSA - SPACE FOR CHANGE IN AFRICA

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/205

The Kabissa-fahamu Newsletter has grown rapidly. Along with it, the services provided by Kabissa – space for change in Africa – have also grown. But what are these services? Since we continue to receive requests for information, we thought it might be useful for us to tell you a bit more about Kabissa.

Kabissa is dedicated to strengthening the capacity of African non-profit organisations to use the full potential of the Internet in the interest of building civil society and democracy in Africa. We operate on the principles of inclusiveness and collaboration, and invite all organisations and initiatives that share our goals to join as members and partners.

BACKGROUND
Access to the Internet in Africa has grown substantially over the past few years. According to a recent survey, at the end of 1996 only 11 countries had Internet access, but by November 2000 all 54 countries and territories had permanent connectivity and the presence of local full service dialup ISPs. The total number of computers permanently connected to the Internet in Africa (excluding South Africa) finally broke the 10,000 mark at the beginning of 1999 and in January 2000 it stood at almost 12,000, an increase of 20%. While the cost of establishing local e-mail accounts has fallen recently, the cost of website hosting, Internet domain names and similar services is frequently very high, and frequently out of reach of many non-profit organisations in Africa.

Many of us working in the non-profit sector have been inundated with requests from African NGOs seeking assistance in setting up websites, training in the use of the internet, access to resources on the internet, training in proposal writing, management training, and help with establishment of electronic mailing lists. In our early work with International Alert and the World Organisation Against Torture, we have run workshops and provided technical assistance to human rights organisations to enable them to exploit the potentials of the Internet for their own purposes.

Through this process we became aware of the difficulties such organisations had in establishing websites and accessing resources on the Internet. In response, we decided to invest our own efforts and resources in establishing an entity called "Kabissa" (meaning "complete" in Kiswahili). We set up an Internet server in order, initially, to provide free website and e-mail hosting for non-profit organisations in Africa. Now we are finding that Kabissa has filled other gaps in service, in particular in empowering African non-profits by enabling them to share essential information through this newsletter.

SERVICES PROVIDED BY KABISSA
Interest in the initiative has grown rapidly. Within a year, we had more than 250 user accounts on Kabissa, including 30 separate domain accounts. Our website now has thousands of pages, receives over 400,000 hits per month (averaging over 340 visits per day). We currently register five new members each week.

Kabissa currently provides the following services, all of which are provided free to African non-profit organisations (except domain registration and hosting for which we make a modest charge):

- Web space accounts (ftp)
- E-mail mailbox accounts (pop3/imap4)
- Automated mailing lists (majordomo)
- Web-based access to website files hosted on Kabissa
- Web-based access to any e-mail mailboxes
- Web-based access to Kabissa mailing list administration
- www4mail server enabling users to retrieve web pages via e-mail
- Participation in the largest human-edited directory on the web (dmoz.org), providing access to more than 330,000 websites
- Website promotion (dmoz.org, AfriPromote banner exchange, search engines)
- Web-based domain availability check (whois)
- Domain registration and hosting (low-cost)

We have also developed "Best Practice" documentation designed to demystify the technology and enable African non-profit organisations to develop the confidence to control the resources that they access through Kabissa.

KABISSA-FAHAMU NEWSLETTER
In addition to providing access to the above services, Kabissa also established this electronic newsletter, designed to enable members and others to share up-to-date information about events, news, and resources available of relevance to the non-profit sector in Africa. The growth of the newsletter in terms of content, breadth and reach has been extraordinary. Within months of establishing it, the weekly mailing went to more than 400 subscribers. In December 2000, Kabissa and fahamu merged their respective newsletters, resulting in a subscriber base of more than 700. Today, the Kabissa-fahamu newsletter reaches 2,500 individuals in NGOs, international organisations and networks, funding agencies and foundations, governments, and the private sector. Free advertising space is provided for non-profits. Based on our research and excellent reader feedback, we are constantly innovating the contents of the newsletter, which now has nearly 20 printed pages and has 21 sections for categorizing the information.

INFORMATION SHARING DATABASE
In addition to the Internet Services and the e-mail based Kabissa-fahamu Newsletter, we also maintain a database on our website for the purpose of organising and sharing information relevant for Africa.

Information already in the database includes:

- Member directory of African non-profit organisations, most of which are hosting websites on our Internet Server
- Partner directory of organisations collaborating with Kabissa
- Internet Domains hosted on Kabissa
- Mailing List/eNewsletter directory
- Software Resources

We are working on "portalizing" the information and interfaces provided through the Kabissa website and the Kabissa-fahamu Newsletter. Users of the site will be able to log in to customize their own home page, as seen on many other portals. African non-profits eligible for free Internet accounts and mailing lists will be able to use the portal interface to manage their accounts. We will be able to administrate users, allocate access and posting privileges, and monitor and evaluate the usage of our website. These are standard features on portal websites these days.

What sets Kabissa apart from other typical portals is that we intend to innovate in directions that enable African organisations to share their information using means and media relevant and appropriate for them. For this purpose we are gathering information about useful software that is freely available under "open source" licensing agreements.

Our goal for the Kabissa database is to enable African organisations to take control of information-sharing opportunities provided by the web, e-mail, cdrom and print. All four media are tremendously important for Africa:

- The web is ideal for collaborative maintenance and organising of information amongst organisations that have made the investment to be "information providers".
- E-mail remains by far the most relevant Internet application, used far more than the Web or any other service. For Kabissa users, E-mail is and shall remain for some time the most efficient means for transmitting and receiving current information.
- CDROM provides offline access to the "search and browse" capabilities usually reserved for the web. Thousands of pages of information can be shared in this way, along with large software programs and other files that otherwise would have to be downloaded from the Internet at prohibitive expense.
- Print is a media that is too often overlooked in this age of sexy Internet applications. While the web is ideal for maintaining and organising information, when it comes to getting practical information, the most handy source remains a telephone book or some other printed publication.

We are developing our database so that we can provide access to essential information through a portal website and CDROMs and print publications. At the same time, we have a view to enabling organisations and individuals in Africa to perform the same function for their community. This would require training, but it would also require new software to retrieve, organise and output relevant information using your own computer.

STRENGTHENING THE CAPACITY OF AFRICAN ORGANISATIONS
All of our efforts are intended ultimately to contribute to strengthening the capacity of African organisations to carry out their important work. In this context, we are pleased to be involved in the Adilisha Project, established by Fahamu, which seeks to strengthen the campaigning, advocacy and organisational capacity of human rights organisations in southern Africa through the development of computer and internet based distance learning materials. Kabissa has been involved in providing support for the project’s information and communication technology work, including the development of appropriate databases, hosting and technical maintenance of the project’s websites and mailing lists. Kabissa also assists in sourcing information on human rights in Africa (disseminated through the Kabissa-fahamu Newsletter) and provides expert input, through the Adilisha Advisory Board, to the development of a CDROM-based training course on the 'Use of the Internet for Advocacy and Research'.

COLLABORATE WITH US
As we are working with Adilisha and our other partners, so we also want to work with you. Join us to create an African platform for information sharing and collaboration using the Internet. If your organisation provides services in Africa that contribute to this end, we would love to hear from you.

REGISTER YOUR FREE KABISSA MEMBERSHIP ACCOUNT
www.kabissa.org/cgi-bin/webhome/signup.cgi
Organisations working in the African non-profit sector are eligible for Kabissa Membership. Kabissa Members are listed in our member directory, and are eligible for free standard Internet accounts on the Kabissa Internet server. This provides you with web space and mailboxes for your staff, and support for standard scripts such as forms (see FAQ). If you already have a website, you may choose to place a 'mirror' (or copy) of your website in your Kabissa account.

REGISTER YOUR INTERNET DOMAIN ON KABISSA
www.kabissa.org/domainreq.html>http://www.kabissa.org/domainreq.html
Domain hosting is available on Kabissa at low cost. We can register domains for $70 (we recommend those ending in .org) and host them on Kabissa for a $35 setup fee and $60 annual hosting fee. You can also transfer your domain to Kabissa or host domains you wish to register independently. Hosted websites and mailboxes are linked directly with member Internet accounts.

KABISSA FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
www.kabissa.org/faq.html
The Kabissa Frequently Asked Questions page is your "first port of call" for questions with Kabissa membership and making your start on the Internet. Section headings are:
1. Communicating with colleagues within your country and abroad
2. Accessing Information on the Internet
3. The use of Internet in the African non-profit sector
4. Kabissa Membership
5. Using Kabissa Electronic Mail Accounts
6. Using Kabissa to Make your Organisation’s Information Available
7. Using your Kabissa Website
8. Taking advantage of Kabissa Website features
9. Promoting your Organisation on the Internet
10. Setting up an Internet Domain Name for your Organisation
11. Making payments to Kabissa

Water & Health Advocacy

A practical guide for World Water Day 2001

2001-03-26

http://www.worldwaterday.org/advocacy/index.html

Water is one of the earth's most precious and threatened resources. Health is one of each person's most precious resources. We need to protect and enhance them both.

Web-banner: drop-the-case petition of MSF

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/164

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) asks to support South Africa's efforts to make essential medicines more accessible to its people by signing a global petition by April 15. Under the following page you will find the example of banner to add to your web-site along with corresponding HTML code: nucwww.chem.sunysb.edu/prevges/dropthecase.html

FROM AOUA KONATE, CENTRE D'INFORMATION ET DE DOCUMENTATION DE L'UNION INTERAFRICAINE DES DROITS DE L'HOMME (CID-UIDH)

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/217

After your newsletter N° 11, we failed to open the other numbers we received, I don't know why. Could you please send me again.

Our response: see www.pambazuka.org/

From Hendrei Pirentz Mphathiwa

2001-03-26

http://www.bocongo.bw

Tuija Partonen, GASPP Administrative officer

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/215

Never the Same Again: Zimbabwe's Growth Towards Democracy 1980 - 2000

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/179

We needed a short survey of Zimbabwean political development which is accessible to a wide range of people and this book answers that need. Starting with the premise that genuine democracy depends on the growth of civil society structures, it shows how these were systematicly stifled by ZANU PF in the 1980's. Then, in the 1990's, in response to the effects of structural adjustment, they gradually emerged, with the trade unions leading the way. Demands for a new constitution by the umbrella National Constitutional Assembly awakened the people to the possibilities of protest. The result was ZANU PF's first defeat in the constitutional referendum in February 2000 and the stiff challenge put up by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in the June parliamentary elections.
We needed a short survey of Zimbabwean political development which is accessible to a wide range of people and this book answers that need. Starting with the premise that genuine democracy depends on the growth of civil society structures, it shows how these were systematicly stifled by ZANU PF in the 1980's. Then, in the 1990's, in response to the effects of structural adjustment, they gradually emerged, with the trade unions leading the way. Demands for a new constitution by the umbrella National Constitutional Assembly awakened the people to the possibilities of protest. The result was ZANU PF's first defeat in the constitutional referendum in February 2000 and the stiff challenge put up by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in the June parliamentary elections.



Never the Same Again: Zimbabwe's Growth Towards Democracy 1980 - 2000
by Richard Saunders published by Edwina Spicer Productions Harare 2000


Review by Mary Ndlovu, Legal Resources Foundation, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe



Full review:



This book's hopeful title may appear over-optimistic to Zimbabweans currently despairing of further democratic development. In the six months since this book was written, the ZANU PF government has shown that its fits of violence are not mere episodes but a key tool that they intend to use to retain power. But even a cursory reading does show how far Zimbabwean political life has matured in the twenty years of independence. We have moved a long way from the belief that the simple "one man one vote" of nationalist politics would bring us prosperity and development. We have reached an understanding that prosperity depends on democracy and the building of democracy requires much more from civil society than voting. Furthermore, we have gone a long way toward achieving the organisation that will realise a far more participatory type of democracy.


The book consists of three sections, each with a special theme, but roughly following chronological development. First the non-democratic tendencies of indpendent Zimbabwe in the 1980's are outlined, culminating in the 1987 surrender of the opposition PF ZAPU to the ruling ZANU PF and preparations for a one-party state. During this phase, we see the ruling party trying to monopolise and control all forms of public expression and civic organisation. The next part follows the gradual development of organised civil society from the late 1980's and its blossoming under the economic hardships of structural adjustment in the 1990's. Finally, in the third part, civil society coalesces at the end of the 90's in the creation of the National Constitutional Assembly to push for a new constitution. This bears fruit in the rejection of government's attempt to impose its own constitution, the emergence at last of a significant opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, based on more democratic ideals. . Th
e catchy title refers to the impact the MDC had when it won more than 1/3 of the parliamentary seats in the June 2000 elections.


Saunders' small book was written to accompany the film of the same title, produced by Edwina Spicer. But while the thread is the same, and many of the key quotations in the book are borrowed from the film, the story is told in a more comprehensive way than the film could do. And it stands on its own for reading by those who have never seen the film. The book is a tonic for a beleaguered democratic movement which sometimes seems to have lost its way. The past 18 months have thrown a great deal of light on the behaviour of ZANU PF since 1980, and it was a good time for a small book like this to put the whole of our post-independence experience into perspective. What we see is a continuing theme of brutal suppression of any opposing voice, whether of trade unionists in 1981 or ZAPU from 1982 to 1987, of food rioters in 1998 or journalists in 1999. The difference is that civil society has now developed to the point where it can resist and its voice continues to be heard. The message of the book is a posit
ive one - we have reached a milestone, and we will not go back.


"Never the Same Again" is particularly welcome in that it addresses all of us in a style which is easily readable even though the analysis is sophisticated. The presentation, too, makes the book accessible to the majority of educated people - with headings and subheadings for easy reference, photographs, quotations from some of the players on the stage, and special topics and statistics presented in boxes.


Together with the film this book is not just of academic interest to historians and political scientisit. They were developed together as tools of civic education, and certainly they are destined to go a long way in helping Zimbabweans to understand the nature of participatory democracy, make sense of the events of the past two decades, and chart their way forward.


Given the usefulness ot this book in helping to move us forward on our path to democracy, it is unfortunate that the production is not of better quality. The sepia shade of print makes some of the photographs difficult to decipher. And for a book that cries out to be handed from reader to reader, one would have wanted a binding that holds the book together for more than one reading. There are also numerous typographical and editing errors. Where one knows the events the meaning is clear, but for those who do not, it can be very confusing.


Saunders covers a wide range of events, and deals with various civic groups as they emerged out from under the control of ZANU PF. While everything cannot be tackled in one slender volume, it would have been interesting to read a little more about the undemocratic tendencies within ZANU PF itself, and the struggle of some members to resist autocracy within the party. It may yet be that we are saved from further tyranny by forces within ZANU PF .


The tactics used by ZANU PF to quash any outside challengers could also have been explored more. Before the emergence of the NCA and the MDC at the end of the 90's, the opposition is portrayed as weak and lacking in direction, therefore still-born; little is said about the infanticide committed by ZANU PF using the Central Intelligence Organisation to infiltrate and create splits in all emerging opposition parties. It would have been interesting to see an explanation of why this didn't succeed with MDC.


However, that would doubtless be asking too much. The book is primarily narrative, within an analytic framework. It is inspiring, readable, and hopefully an instrument for the further development of Zimbabwean democracy.


Some books help us to understand our history, others help to influence the direction it takes. This small and unassuming volume has the potential to do both.

Countries With Smaller Gender Gaps Have Less Poverty and Faster Growth

2001-03-26

http://www.worldbank.org/gender/prr/bkgd.htm

Countries that promote women's rights and increase their access to resources and schooling have lower poverty rates, faster economic growth and less corruption than countries that do not, says a recently published World Bank report, EnGendering Development - Through Gender Equality in Rights, Resources and Voice.
Countries with smaller gaps between women and men in areas such as
education, employment, and property rights not only have lower child
malnutrition and mortality, they also have more transparent business and
government and faster economic growth which in turn helps to further narrow
the gender gap.

"Increasing gender equality is central to the idea of development as
freedom, of expanding the choices and control that people have over their
lives," says Nicholas Stern, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice
President for Development Economics. "The evidence in this report shows that
education, health, productivity, credit and governance work better when
women are involved."

Released to coincide with International Women's Day, Thursday, March 8,
EnGendering Development is the most extensive study yet of the links between
gender and economic progress in developing countries. The report's
recommendations reflect extensive research and engagement with women's
groups, as well as a comprehensive on-line consultation of the draft, and a
discussion of the research findings at last year's UN Special Session of the
General Assembly on Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st
Century.

"Gender disparities are very closely associated with poverty," says
Elizabeth King, co-author of the report. "The gap between men and women in
such things as health and education is greater in poor countries than in
rich countries, and within countries it is greatest among the poor.
Experiences from cross-country analysis and case studies show that economic
development and institutional change are both necessary to improve the
status of women."

Gender inequality hurts all members of society, not just girls and women.
The report recommends that societies with high levels of gender inequality
adopt specific measures to improve the status of girls and women. Examples
include ensuring equal rights to land and other property, and designing
infrastructure and services, such as water, transportation, education,
health, and credit, to better meet women's needs. Other steps include
eliminating gender bias in the workplace and increasing women's
participation in politics.

"Societies that discriminate on the basis of gender pay a significant
price - in greater poverty, slower economic growth, weaker governance, and a
lower quality of life," says Andrew Mason, co-author of the report.
"Although income growth and economic development are good for gender
equality in the long run, growth alone cannot deliver the desired results.
Societies progress more rapidly if they also adopt specific measures to
narrow gender gaps."

According to the report, countries that reduce the gender gap in access to
resources and opportunities achieve more rapid economic growth. In Africa,
for example, improving rural women's access to productive resources
including education, land, and fertilizer could increase agricultural
productivity by as much as one-fifth.

Cross-country studies suggest that if the Middle East and North Africa,
South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa had been as successful as East Asia in
narrowing the gender gap in education during 1960-1990, GNP per capita in
those regions would have grown by 0.5 and 0.9 percentage points higher per
year, substantial increases over actual growth rates.

The report also confirms that girls and women have made significant progress
in recent decades. For example, over the past 25 years girls' primary school
enrollment rates doubled in the Middle East, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan
Africa. In the past half century, women's life expectancy has increased by
15-20 years in developing countries, to the point that in the 1990s, for the
first time, women in South Asia began living longer than men.

Despite this progress, women continue to have less control than men over
important resources. In South Asia, women have only about half as many years
of education as men, and female secondary school enrollment rates are only
two-thirds of male rates. Control of land and of other forms of capital is
also highly unequal. In Latin America most female household heads in rural
areas are either landless or own very small, fragmented holdings. The same
is true in Sub-Saharan Africa, where women are the major producers of food
crops. Throughout the developing world, female-managed enterprises are often
undercapitalized, having less access to credit and using fewer inputs and
machinery than male-managed enterprises.

Beyond the direct effects on women's welfare and their ability to generate
income, these factors reduce women's power to allocate family resources and
to shape such basic family decisions as how many children to have. This lack
of power to influence family resource allocations has a negative impact on
children's well being. Lack of control of resources also means that women
are made more vulnerable in the face of personal or family crises.

In politics, women continue to be vastly underrepresented in national and
sub-national assemblies, accounting for less than 10 percent of the seats in
parliament in all but a handful of countries. In Eastern Europe, female
representation has fallen from 25 to 7 percent since the beginning of the
economic and political transition.

Countries that reduce gender inequality can reap significant rewards. Some
benefits, such as falling infant and child mortality, improved nutrition,
and lower fertility rates, are already well known. The report demonstrates
how the positive impacts of reducing gender gaps also include lower AIDS
prevalence, less corruption, higher economic productivity, and faster
growth, outcomes that have not been traditionally linked to gender equality.
Countries where women have greater rights and participate more in public
life tend to have cleaner business and government. The report notes that
several studies have found that as the influence of women in public life
grows, the level of corruption declines. This is true even when comparing
countries with the same civil liberties, education, legal institutions, and
income levels.

Girls Adapt To The New World Of Work While Boys Still Lag Behind

2001-03-26

http://www.esrc.ac.uk/

While girls are focusing more on their futures and are prepared to study
hard, boys are still adopting anti-work 'laddish' attitudes which hold back
their educational development, according to new ESRC-funded research.
FOR RELEASE: 13 MARCH 2001 AT 00:01 ET US
Economic & Social Research Council

Girls adapt to the new world of work while boys still lag behind

While girls are focusing more on their futures and are prepared to study
hard, boys are still adopting anti-work 'laddish' attitudes which hold back
their educational development, according to new ESRC-funded research.

The research, from the University of Greenwich's School of Post Compulsory
Education and Training, involved interviews with 14-year-old to 16-year-old
students at three London comprehensive schools. During the research,
interviews were conducted with 50 boys and 50 girls, and 12 different
classes were observed.

"Girls have recognised that gender discrimination exists in the workplace
and are motivated to perform well at school to equip themselves with the
qualifications they deem necessary for accessing a good job and for
competing effectively with men," says Dr Becky Francis, the author of the
report.

Boys also recognise the need for good qualifications but feel that they will
be ostracised by their friends or ridiculed if they are seen to be too
academic.

"Boys continue to adopt loud and disruptive behaviour to gain status among
their peers at the expense of their academic achievement," says Dr Francis.

The researchers found that:

*girls' view of femininity has changed markedly since the 1980s, making them
more ambitious about future careers

*boys' view of masculine behaviour has tended to remain the same

*'laddish' behaviour still tends to dominate the classroom and impedes all
pupils' learning

*teachers often endorse boys' 'laddish' behaviour even though it may lead to
underachievement

Many boys adopted homophobic, misogynist and violent attitudes to assert
their masculinity and appear 'normal'. This behaviour required disciplinary
attention from teachers and reduced the time teachers spent teaching the
rest of the class. In spite of this, 'laddish' behaviour and the need to
'have a laugh' meant that these boys often provided entertainment for the
class as a whole. Many girls and some teachers seemed to be amused by such
behaviour and even found such boys appealing or attractive. But the
behaviour which made the boys a social success in the classroom had a
negative effect on their own, and others', academic achievements.

"Girls seem to have become far more ambitious and see their future work in
terms of a career rather a stop-gap before marriage or a source of income
after marriage," says Dr Francis. "They are also prepared to work hard to
get the qualifications to succeed in a career," she adds. "In contrast, many
boys appear to be trapped in a way of behaving which gets them short term
attention in the classroom, but which does not equip them for the workplace
and fails them in the long run."

For more information, contact Dr Becky Francis. She is now at the University
of North London. Tel: 0207-753-5055 Or, Lilian El-Doufani or Lesley Lilley
in ESRC External Relations. Tel: 01793-413032

Women Reject Museveni Electoral College System

2001-03-26

http://allafrica.com/stories/200103240044.html

Women rights activists have protested against President Yoweri Museveni's
decision to ask Parliament to restore the electoral college system for
electing district women MPs.

"We strongly support universal adult suffrage and the secret ballot as modes
of electing district women representatives. We therefore object to the
presidential veto against this (electoral colleges) and call upon MPs to re-
affirm the position they adopted in the Parliamentary Elections Bill 2000,"
the Coalition for Political Accountability to Women (COPAW) said yesterday.
New Vision.

Award for Human Rights Defenders

2001-03-26

http://www.digitalsmile.com/mea

The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) - a member of the Martin Ennals Foundation - is pleased to announce that: Peace Brigades International wins 2001 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.
Date: 22 March 2001 PRESS RELEASE Embargo: 16h GMT


The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) - a member of the Martin Ennals Foundation - is pleased to announce that:


Peace Brigades International wins 2001 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders


The international Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders has been awarded to Peace Brigades International (PBI) for its work to provide unarmed protection to human rights defenders under threat. The international recognition received by PBI through the Award helps to exert pressure on the perpetrators of human rights abuses and to provide a higher level of protection for both human rights defenders and PBI volunteers.


PBI Colombia Project, established in 1994, now has 35 volunteers accompanying 20 Colombian human rights organisations and displaced communities in Bogotá, Medellín, Barrancabermeja and Turbo. Escalating violence has been characterised by blatant disregard for human rights and international humanitarian law. Human rights defenders have been subject to a systematic campaign of intimidation, harassment and attacks which has cost some their lives; many defenders live in constant fear for their physical safety. Without exaggerating, it may be said that in some areas of Colombia, human rights organisations would have been virtually wiped out were it not for PBI’s presence. " The death sentences against each and every one of us have not been carried out because we are not alone, we have the accompaniment of Peace Brigades International," states a Colombian human rights defender.


In recent weeks, PBI volunteers in Colombia have been warned that they are now considered a “military objective” by the paramilitary United Self-defence Force of Colombia (AUC).


“PBI’s volunteers literally embody in themselves the expression of international concern and support for human rights defenders on the front line,” said Hans Thoolen, Chair of the Martin Ennals Foundation. “Their courage and selflessness express the highest ideals in the defence of human rights. During the international year of volunteers, those who calmly and knowingly put their lives at risk to protect others should be recognized more than ever”.


PBI, founded in 1981, organises international teams of volunteers to work with human rights organisations committed to non-violent social change. In the 1980s PBI pioneered protective accompaniment in Guatemala. Volunteers accompany threatened individuals and communities up to 24 hours a day. To ensure the effectiveness of accompaniment PBI maintains relations with military and government officials, the diplomatic corps, international NGOs and UN representatives. This provides assurance to local activists that any actions against them will attract an immediate international response. This year PBI marks 20 years of having effectively employed these methods in Guatemala, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Colombia, Haiti, North America and Indonesia/East Timor.


The ceremony, organised in the framework of the North-South Media Festival, will take place in Geneva on Thursday, 29 March 2001, at the Télévision Suisse Romande studio, at 17.30 (local time), as the climax of an all-day program of films and discussions about human rights defenders. This year’s ceremony will be combined with the publication of the annual report of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (a joint programme of FIDH and OMCT), which includes over 350 cases of repression of defenders in 52 countries and which highlights attacks by governments against freedom of association.




Background to the MEA


The Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) was created in 1993 and is granted annually to an individual or an organization who has displayed exceptional courage in combatting human rights violations. The award of 20,000 Swiss Francs is given to further the work of human rights activists.



The Martin Ennals Foundation represents a unique collaboration among nine of the world’s leading non-governmental human rights organizations: Amnesty International, the International Commission of Jurists, Human Rights Watch, International Alert, Diakonia Human Rights Desk, Defence for Children International, World Organisation Against Torture, the International Federation of Human Rights Leagues and HURIDOCS.


Martin Ennals (1927-1991) was instrumental to the development of modern human rights movement. A fiercely devoted activist, he creatively pursued ideas ahead of his time as the first Secretary-General of Amnesty International and the driving force behind the establishment of ten other organisations. His deep desire was to see more cooperation and solidarity among NGOs.


Past recipients of the Martin Ennals Award are: 2000, Immaculée Birhaheka (DRC); 1999, Natasa Kandic (Serbia); 1998, Dr. Eyad Rajab El Sarraj (Palestine); 1997, Samuel Ruiz Garcia (Mexico); 1996, Clement Nwankwo (Nigeria); 1995, Asma Jahangir (Pakistan); 1994, Harry Wu (China).






To arrange for interviews or attendance at the ceremony, the media should contact Laura Fähndrich of the Martin Ennals Foundation in Geneva, Switzerland, on + 41 22 755 52 52, e-mail huridocs@comlink.org
For further information on the Martin Ennals Award visit http://www.digitalsmile.com/mea
For further information on Peace Brigades International visit http://www.peacebrigades.org

BIBLIOGRAPHY ON ICC AND JUSTICE

2001-03-26

http://www.iccnow.org/html/new.html

The following contains a bibliography on international human rights and criminal law, including the ICC and issues related to the ratification and implementation, that could be useful to academics, delegations, and groups working in these fields. Please also note that the Coalition website has a link to an extensive ICC bibliography.
Copyright 2001 International Enforcement Law Reporter


International Enforcement Law Reporter


April, 2001


SECTION: XII. BIBLIOGRAPHY; Vol. 17, No. 4


LENGTH: 264 words


HEADLINE: A. Books


BYLINE: By Bruce Zagaris


BODY:
1. Banking and Money Laundering
G. Stessens , Money Laundering. A New International Law Enforcement Model ,
Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law, Cambridge
University Press (2000).
2. Law of War
Aleksandar Fatic, Reconciliation via the War Crimes Tribunal (2000).
J.R.W.D. Jones, The Practice of the International Criminal Tribunals for
the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, 2 nd ed. Transnational publishers ( 2000).
Paul J. Magnarella, Justice in Africa: Rwanda's Genocide, Its Courts and
the UN Criminal Tribunal (2000).
3. Human Rights and Protection of Victims
The Future of UN Human Rights Treaty Monitoring (2000).
P.R. Beaumont and P.E. Mcleavy, The Hague Convention on International Child
Abduction (1999).
4. International Criminal Court
International Criminal Court: Ratification and National Implementing
Legislation , Int'l Review of Penal Law (2000).
5. Aggression
N. Chomsky, Rogue States; the Rule of Force in World Affairs , South End
Press (2000).
6. Genocide
Protection Against Genocide; Mission Impossible ? Praeger (2000).
H.J. De Nike et al, Genocide In CaMbodia; Documents from the Trial of Pol
Pot and Ieng Sary , U. of Pennsylvania Press (2000).
7. Extradition
The Pinochet Case: A Legal and Constitutional Analysis (2000).
8. Transnational Corruption
E. Buscaglia, Judicial Corruption in Developing Countries; Its Causes and
Economic Consequences . Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace,
Stanford Univ., (1999 ).
9. Comparative
Criminal Code of the Russian Federation , 2d. Ed (1998).


HEADLINE: B. Articles


BYLINE: BY Bruce Zagaris


BODY:
1. Adjective Enforcement
A.I. Sapone, Children as Pawns in their Parents' Fight for Control: The
Failure of the United States to Protect against International Child
Abduction , 21 Women's Rts. L. Rep . 129-38 (2000).
Anne-Marie Slaugher, Judicial Globalization , 40 Va. J. Int'l L . 1103-24
((2000).
2. Banking, Confidentiality, and Money Laundering
T. Hibbert, Dishonesty and Knowledge of Accessories and Recipients , 15 J.
Int'l Banking L . 138-44 (2000).
Bruce Zagaris and Benjamin Hinceman, Uncle Sam Reaches Out: Current United
States Money Laundering Law , 1 Financ. Crime Rev . 37-44 (2000).
3. Evidence Gathering
Robert J. Currie, Human Rights and International Mutual Legal Assistance:
Resolving the Tension , 11 Crim. Law Forum 143-181 (2000).
Bruce Zagaris, U.S. Extends Its Reach for Evidence , 15 Crim. Justice 4
(ABA Sec. of Crim. Just. 2001).


4. Extradition
P. Alexandropoulos, Enforceability of Executive-Congressional Agreements in
Lieu of an Article III Treaty for Purposes of Extradition: Elizaphan
Ntakirutimana v. Janet Reno [184 F.3d 419 (5 th Cir. 19999), 45 Vill. L.
Rev . 107-36 (2000).
M. Byers, The Law and Politics of the Pinochet [R. v. Bow Street
Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Pinochet (No. 3) [1999] 2 All
E.R. 97] Case, 10 Duke J. Comp. & Int'l L. 514-51 (2000).
V.L. Marrero, Evolution of British Jurisprudence in the Extradition of
General Augusto Pinochet: Application of International Human Rights Treaty
Trumps Sovereign Immunity , 8 Int'l L. & Prac . 119-37 (1999).
A.D. Mitchell, Leave Your Hat on ? Head of State Immunity and Pinochet [R.
v. Bow Street Metro. Stipendiary Magistrate, ex parte Pinochet (No. 1.);
[1998] 4 All ER 897, 25 Monash U.L. Rev . 225-56 (1999).
S.R. Nicolas, Negotiating in the Shadow of Outlaws: A Problem-Solving
Paradigm for Unconventional Opponents , 9 J. Transat'l L. & Pol'y 385-418
(2000).
M.S. Podell, Removing Blinders from the Judiciary: In re Artt, Brennan,
Kirby [158 F.3d 462 (9 th Cir. 1997) As An Evolutionary Step in the United
States'96United Kingdom Extradition Scheme , 23 B.C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev.
263-84 (2000).


Y. Zilbershats, Extraditing Israeli Citizens to the United
States'96Extradition and Citizenship Dilemmas , 21 Mich. J. Int'l 297-326
(2000).


5. Extraterritoriality and Jurisdiction
P. Arnell, Criminal Jurisdiction in International Law , 2000 Jurid. Rev.
179-89 (2000).
M.D. Hoffer, A Fistful of Dollars: "Operation Casablanca" and the Impact of
Extraterritorial Enforcement of United States Money Laundering Law , 28 Ga.
J. Int'l & Comp. L . 293-318 (2000).
K.C. Priest-Hamilton, Who Really Should Have Exercised Jurisdiction over
the Military Pilots Implicated in the 1998 Italy Gondola Accident ? 65 J.
Air L. & Com . 605-35 (2000).
Luc Reydams, Universal Criminal Jurisdiction: The Belgian State of Affairs
, 11 Crim. L. Forum 183-216 (2000).


6. Constitutional and Human Rights
W.J. Aceves, Individual Rights Under Vienna Convention on Consular
Relations'96Duty to Inform Detained Foreign nationals of Right to Seek
Consular Assistance'96Protections against Arbitrary Deprivation of
Life'96Advisory Jurisdiction of Inter-American Court of Human Rights , 94
Am. J. Int'l L. 555-62 (2000).
B. Alexander, Convention Against Torture: A Viable Alternative Legal Remedy
for Domestic Violence Victims , 15 Am. U. Int'l L. Rev . 895-939 (3000).
Dianne Marie Amann, Harmonic Convergence? Constitutional Criminal Procedure
in an International Context , 75 Indiana L.J. 810-873 (2000).
I. Bantekas and P. Hodgkinson, Capital Punishment at the United Nations:
Recent Developments , 11 Crim. L.F. 23-34 (2000).
M.S. Blackman, United States v. Balsys [118 S. Ct. 2218 (1998): Setting a
Boundary for the Self-Incrimination Clause , 53 Okla. L. Rev . 127-41
(2000).
J.E. Henry, Overcoming Federalism in Internationalized Death Penalty Cases
, 35 Tex. Int'l L.J. 459-83 (2000).
C. Little, Civil Forfeiture and the Excessive Fines Clause: Does Bajakajian
[United States v. Bajakaijan, 118 S. Ctr. 2028 (1998)] Provide False Hope
for Drug-Related Offenders ? 11 U. Fla. J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 203-24 (2000).
J. Mertus, Reconsidering the Legality of Humanitarian Intervention: Lessons
from Kosovo , 31 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1743-87 (May 2000).
C.S. O'Driscoll, The Execution of Foreign Nations in Arizona: Violations of
the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations , 32 Ariz. St. L.J. 323-43
(2000).
D.A.C. Simmons, Conflicts of Law and Policy in the Caribbean'96Human Rights
and the Enforcement of the Death Penalty'96Between a Rock and a Hard Place
, 9 J. Transnat'l L. & Pol'y 263-87 (2000).


7. Narcotics
J.E. Kramek, Bilateral Maritime Counter-Drug and Immigrant Interdiction
Agreements: Is This the World of the Future , 31 U. Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev
. 121-161 (2000).
K. Raustiala, Law, Liberalization & International Narcotics Trafficking ,
32 N.Y.U. J. Int'l L. & Pol. 89-145 (1999).
M. Williams, Caribbean Shiprider Agreements: Sunk by Banana Trade War ? 31
U. Miami Inter-Am. L. Rev . 163-95 (2000).


8. Terrorism
Y. Alexander, Terrorism in the Twenty-First Century: Threats and Responses,
12 DePaul Bus. L.J. 59-65 (19999-2000).
M.C. Bassiouni, Assessing "Terrorism" into the New Millennium , 12 DePaul
Bus. L.J. 1-20 (1999-2000).
R. Clarke, Threats to U.S. National Security: Proposed Partnership
Indicatives Towards Preventing Cyber Terrorist Attacks , 12 DePaul Bus.L.J.
22-42 (1999-2000).
J.W. Dellapenna, Civil Remedies for International Terrorism , 12 DePaul
Bus. L.J. 169-289 (1999-2000).
G. Rappe, The Role of Insurance in the Battle Against Terrorism , 12 DePaul
Bus. L.J. 351-80 (1999-2000).
M. Sheehan, International Terrorism: Trends and Responses , 12 DePaul Bus.
L.J. 45-58 (1999-2000).
J. Tetzlaff, Risk Management in a Dangerous World: Practical Approaches ,
12 DePaul Bus. L.J. 291-328 (1999-2000).


9. Law of War
I. Arias, Humanitarian Intervention: Could the Security Council Kill the
United States ? 23 Fordham Int'l L.J. 1005-27 (2000).
Michael Bohlander, Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadi '83: Waiting to Exhale, 11
Crim. Law Forum 217-48 (2000).
B.S. Brown, Humanitarian Intervention at a Crossroads, 5 Wm. & Mary L. Rev
. 1683-741 (2000).
W.G. Eckhardt, My Lai: An American Tragedy , 68 UMKC L. Rev . 671-703 (2000).
C.I. Farid, A Primer on Citizenship Revocation for WWII Collaboration: the
1998-1999 Federal Court Term , 38 Atla. L. Rev . 415-57 (2000).
B.A. Fisher, Japan's Postwar Compensation Litigation [Japan, U.S. and World
War II: the Search for Justice. Symposium ], 22 Whittier L. Rev . 35-46
(2000).
G. Ginsbergs, Light Shed on the Story of Wehrmacht Generals in Soviet
Captivity , 11 Crim. L.F. 101-20 (2000).
L.M. Kaye, A Quick Glance at the Schiele Paintings , 10 DePaul LCA J. Art &
Ent. L . 11-26 (1999).
H.T. King, Jr., Robert Jackson's Vision for Justice and Other Reflections
of a Nuremberg Prosecutor , 88 Geo. L.J. 2421-38 (Aug. 2000).
M. Minow, Between Intimates and Between Nations: Can Law Stop the Violence?
50 Case W. Res. L. Rev . 85168 (2000).
M.M. Penrose, Spandau Revisited: The Question of Detention for
International War Crimes , 16 N.Y.L. Sch. J. Hum. Rts. 553-91 (2000).
H.H. Pewrritt, Jr., Policing International Peace and Security:
International Police Forces , 17 Wis. Int'l L.J. 281-324 (1999).
W. Rasch, A Just War? Or Just a War ?: Schmitt, Habermas, and the
Cosmopolitan Orthodoxy , 21 Cardozo L. Rev. 1665-84 (2000).
J. Schultz, The Substance of the Crime Was a State of Mind"'96How a
Mainstream, Middle Class Jury Came to War with Itself , 68 UMKC L. Rev.
637-70 (2000).
B. Sneiderman, Holocaust Bashing: the Profaning of History, 26 Man. L.J.
319-34 (1999).
S. Wheatley, The NATO Action Against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia:
Humanitarian intervention in the Post-Cold War Era , 50 N. Ir. Legal Q.
478-514 (1999).
J.C. Yoo, Kosovo, War Powers, and the Multilateral Future , 138 U. Pa. l.
Rev . 1673-731 (2000).


10. Genocide
M. Flynn, Genocide: It's a Crime Everywhere, But Not in Australia , 29 U.W.
Austl. L. Rev . 59-78 (2000).
S. Rumney, The Khmer Rouge on Trial: Law, Genocide and Impunity , 4
Contemp. Issues L . 169-87 (1999).
A.D. Mitchell, Genocide, Human Rights Implementation and the Relationship
Between International and Domestic Law: Nulyarimma v. Thompson [1999] 165
A.L.R. 621], 24 Melb. U. L. Rev . 15-49 (2000).
W.A. Schabas, International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda'96Genocide'96Length of Detention Pending Indictment and Formal
Appearance Before Tribunal'96Delay in Informing Defendant of Charges
'96Suspension of Proceedings as Remedy for Abuse of Procedure by
Prosecutor'96Review of Prior DecisionAppeals Chamber, 94 Am. J. Int'l L .
563-71 (2000).


11. Comparative Criminal Law
C. Elliott, The French Law of Intent and Its Influence on the Development
of International Criminal Law , 11 Crim. L.F. 35-46 (2000).
E. Grande, Italian Criminal Justice: Borrowing and Resistance , 28 Am. J.
Comp. L. 227-59 (2000).
B.A. Poindexter, The War on Crime Increases the Time: Sentencing Policies
in the United States and South Africa , 22 Loy. L.A. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev
. 375-302 (2000).
S. Sebba, Victims' Rights and Legal Strategies: Israel as a Case Study , 11
Crim. L.R. 47-100 (2000).


12. International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court: Symposium Issue , 8 J. Int'l L. & Prac .
1-271 (1999).
J.R. Bolton, K. Roth, Toward an International Criminal Court? A Debate, 14
Emory Int'l Rev . 159-97 (2000).
L.S. Bickley, U.S. Resistance to the International Criminal Court: Is the
Sword Mightier than the Law , 14 Emory Int'l L. Rev . 159-97 (2000).
G.M. Danilenko, The Statute of the International Criminal Court and Third
States, 21 Mich. J. Int'l L. 445-94 (2000).
G.M. Dawson, Defining Substantive Crimes Within the Subject Matter
Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court: What Is the Crime of
Aggression , 19 N.Y.L. Sch. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 413-52 (2000).
M.E. Eichelman, International Criminal Jurisdiction Issues for the United
States Military , 2000 Army Law. 23-32 (2000).
M.J. Kelly, Case Studies "Ripe" for the International Criminal Court:
Practical Applications for the Pinochet, Ocalan, and Libyan Bomber Trials ,
8 J. Int'l L. & Prac . 21-45 (1999).
R. Lee, W.K. Lietzau, G.P. Fletcher, R. Dicker, P.R. Dubinsky, The
International Criminal Court: Contemporary Perspectives and Prospects for
Ratification, 16 N.Y.L. Sch. J. Hum Rts. 505-52 (2000).
M.K. Marler, The International Criminal Court: Assessing the Jurisdictional
Loopholes in the Rome Statute , 49 Duke L.J. 825-53 (1999).
J.L. Talbee, A Call to Arms Declined: the United States and the
International Criminal Court , 14 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 105-57 (2000 ).
J.D. Van der Vyver, Personal and Territorial jurisdiction of the
International Criminal Court , 14 Emory Int'l L. Rev. 1-103 (2000).
W.F. Wright, Limitations on the Prosecution of International Terrorists by
the International Criminal Court, 8 J. Int'l L. Prac . 139-49 (1999).
Y.S. Kim, The Preconditions to the Exercise of the Jurisdiction of the
International Criminal Court: With Focus on Article 12 of the Rome Statute
, 8 J. Int'l L. & Prac . 47-90 (1999).


13. Organized Crime
A.S. Kanter, S.P. Boylan, Introduction [Symposium on Prosecuting
Transnational Crimes: Cross-Cultural Insights for the Former Soviet Union
], 27 Syracuse J. Int'l L. & Com . 1-4 (2000).
I. Talleyrand, Military Prostitution: How the Authorities Worldwide Aid and
Abet International Trafficking in Women, 27 Syracuse J. Int'l L. & Com.
151-76 (2000).


14. Transnational Corruption
A. Posadas, Combating Corruption under International Law , 10 Duke J. Comp.
& Int'l L. 345-414 (2000).


15. Anti-Trust
I.H. Jung , A Comparative Study on the Question of Extraterritorial
Application of the Competition Law , 18 Dick. J. Int'l L. 305-41 (2000).
16. Economic Sanctions
C. Breckinridge, Sanction First, Ask Questions Later: The Shortsighted
Treatment of Iran under the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996, 88 Geo.
L.J. 2439-71 (2000).
B. T. Gorman, The Massachusetts Burma Law-The First Circuit's Decision to
Stem the Tide of Increasing Sub-National Actor Participation in the Field
of Foreign Relations in National Foreign Trade Council v. Natsios [181 F.3d
38 (lst Cir. 1999), 45 Vill. L. Rev. 137-67 (2000).
A. Packer, Nuclear Proliferation in South Asia . [India, Pakistan], 38
Colum. J. Transnat'l L . 631-67 (2000).
P.J. Thurston, National Foreign Trade Council v. Natsios [181 F.3d 38 (1 st
Cir. 1999)] and the Foreign Relations Effects Test: Searching for a Viable
Approach, 2000 B.Y.U. L. Rev . 749-800 (2000).


17. Production, Possession, Trafficking, and Use of Arms and Weapons
U.A. Cipolat, The New Chemical Weapons Convention and Export Controls:
Towards Greater Multilateralism , 21 Mich. J. Int'l L . 393-444 (2000).
B. Kellman, The Role of Nuclear Weapons in Deterring Chemical and
Biological Weapons Attacks: National and Non-National Threats , 31 Supp.
Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 619-30 (1999).
L.C. Klotz, Means for Protecting U.S. Industry within an Effective
Compliance Regime for the Biological Weapons Convention , 12 DePaul Bus. L.
J. 329-50 (1999)
M. Lacey, Self-Defense or Self-Denial: The Proliferation of Weapons of Mass
Destruction , 10 Ind. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 293-315 (2000).
P.A. Hemesath, Who's Got the Button? Nuclear War Powers Uncertainty in the
Post-Cold War Era , 88 Geo. L.J. 2473-503 (2000).
C. Horner, Nuclear Arms Control, Non-Proliferation and Disarmament in the
Post-Cold War Security Environment: Keynote Address , 31 Supp. Case W. Res.
J. Int'l L . 671-79 (1999).
V. Lalla, The Effectiveness of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty on Nuclear
Weapons Proliferation: A Review of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaties and
the Impact of the Indian and Pakistani Nuclear Tests on the
Non-Proliferation Regime , 8 Cardozo J. Int'l & Comp. L . 103-37 (2000).
P. Mason, The NATO Alliance, No First use, and Nuclear Non-Proliferation ,
21 Supp,. Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 633-45 (1999).
P. Mason,P. Carvalho-Soto, T.E. Graham, Nuclear Arms Control and
Disarmament in the 21 st Century: Prospects and Proposals [ Panel
Discussion], 31 Supp. Case W. Res. J. Int'l L . 597-704 (1999).
M.L. McConnell, Nuclear Weapons, the ICJ and the Limits of Permissible
Violence: the SS Lotus Rises Once Again , 55 Advoc. (B.C.) 365-72 (My.
1997).
J. Mendelsohn, B. Kellman, History and Evaluation of Nuclear Weapons [Panel
Discussion ], 31 Case W. Res. J. Int'l L. 607-30 (1999).
A. Van Lear, Loud Talk About a Quite Issue: the International Atomic Energy
Agency's Struggle to Maintain the Confidentiality of Information Gained in
Nuclear Facility Inspections , 28 Ga. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 349-79 (20000).
18. Export Control
G. Kennedy, Codemakers, Codebreakers and Rulemakers: Dilemmas in Current
Encryption Policies, 16 Computer L. & Secur. Rep. 240-7 (Jl/Ag. 2000).
19. Administration of Justice
F.M. Lorenz, The Rule of Law in Kosovo: Problems and Prospects, 11 Crim.
Law Forum 127-42 (2000).


**********************
SECTION: XII. BIBLIOGRAPHY; Vol. 17, No. 4


HEADLINE: C. Documents



1. Extradition
United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit: Cheung v. United
States , 39 I.L.M. 1246 (2000).
2. Human Rights
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR): Averill v. United Kingdom , 39
I.L.M. 1084 (2000)
[The case adjudicates access to counsel and adverse inference from a
suspects silence when questioned by police under the British Prevention of
Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989].
United States Supreme Court: Crosby v. National Foreign Trade Council , 39
I.L.M. 1234 (2000).
3. Narcotics
U.S. General Accounting Office, Rug Control: International Counterdrug
Sites Being Developed, GAO-01-63BR, Dec. 20, 2000 (33 pp.)
4. Terrorism
International Court of Justice (ICJ): Case Concerning the Aerial Incident
of 10 August 1999 (Pakistan v. India), 39 I.L.M. 1116 (2000).
U.S. General Accounting Office, Combating Terrorism: Federal Response Teams
Provide Varied Capabilities: Opportunities Remain to Improve Coordination,
GAO-01-14, Nov. 30, 2001 (77 pp.).


5. Law of War
International Court of Justice (ICJ): Case Concerning Armed Activities on
the territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda ),
Order on Request for Indication of Provisional Measures, 39 I.L.M. 1100
(2000).
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY): Final
Report to the Prosecutor by the Committee Established to Review the NATO
Bombing Campaign Against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, 39 I.L.M. 1257
(2000).
International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) (Appeals
Chamber): Prosecutor v. Tadi '83 (Judgment in Sentencing Appeals) 39 I.L.M.
635 (2000).
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR): (Appeals Chamber):
Barayagwiza v. Prosecutor , (Decision on Prosecutor's Request for Review or
Reconsideration), 39 I.L.M. 1181 (2000).
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR: Prosecutor v. Ruggiu) ,
39 I.L.M. 1338 (2000).
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR: Prosecutor v. Rutaganda)
, 39 I.L.M. 57 (2000).
United Nations General Assembly: Optional Protocols to the Convention on
the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict
and on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography , 39
I.L.M. 1285 (2000).
United Nations: Report of the Panel on United Peace Operations , 39 I.L.M.
1432 (2000).
United States-Germany: Agreement Concerning the Foundation "Remembrance,
Responsibility and Future, 39 I.L.M. 1298 (2000).
(Settlement on compensation for forced labor during WWII).


6. Permanent International Criminal Court
International Center for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy,
Manual for the Implementation and Ratification of the Rome Statute , 127
'96. ( HYPERLINK "(http://209.217.98.79/pdf/Icc-guide-english%20"
http://209.217.98.79/pdf/Icc-guide-english%20 (PDF%20format).pdf).


7. Production, Manufacture and Dissemination of Arms
Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal: In the Matter of the People of
Enewetak , 39 I.L.M. 1214 (2000).
United Nations Security Council: Resolution 1284 (1999) (On the Situation
Between Iraq and Kuwait), 39 I.L.M. 760 (2000).
The INTERNATIONAL ENFORCEMENT LAW REPORTER is published monthly .
EDITORS: Bruce Zagaris, Editor-in-Chief
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BURUNDI: BETWEEN HOPE AND FEAR

2001-03-26

http://www.amnesty.org

In a report published today, Amnesty International appealed to all parties in Burundi's civil war to immediately halt deliberate killings of unarmed civilians and to act responsibly to prevent a slide into human rights catastrophe.
In a report published today, Amnesty International appealed to
all parties in Burundi's civil war to immediately halt deliberate
killings of unarmed civilians and to act responsibly to prevent a
slide into human rights catastrophe.



* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *


22 March 2001
AFR 16/011/2001
48/01



In a report published today, Amnesty International appealed to
all parties in Burundi's civil war to immediately halt deliberate
killings of unarmed civilians and to act responsibly to prevent a
slide into human rights catastrophe.


Amnesty International's report, Burundi:Between hope and
fear, paints a deeply disturbing picture of the inexorable rise
in killings of unarmed civilians, "disappearances", torture,
arbitrary arrests and massive population displacement. The report
also looks at the legal protection the peace agreement should
provide, and argues that "without justice, there can be no future
accountability, and no long term security."


Since the signing of the Arusha peace agreement on August
28 2000, violence has escalated leaving hundreds of civilians
killed. "Signature of the peace agreement has in no way changed
patterns of human rights abuse in Burundi," the organization
said. "However, whatever its shortcomings, the peace agreement
represents a key moment in Burundi's political history which
could serve as an opportunity to break decades of violence and
impunity."


The peace agreement, which is yet to come into force,
represents the best opportunity in recent years to ensure better
respect for human rights in Burundi. It provides a framework to
acknowledge and investigate past human rights abuses and to
reform and strengthen institutions such as the judiciary and
armed forces.


"The alternative of continued and escalating conflict, of
generalized violence and further human rights crisis, must be
avoided at all costs", said Amnesty International. "The hundreds
of incidents of human rights abuses and violence since August
underline the desperate need to find a solution to Burundi's
precarious situation."



Recommendations
The Amnesty International report calls on all parties in the
conflict to:
take immediate action to prevent further unlawful
killings of unarmed civilians;
investigate allegations of human rights abuses made by
the security forces and armed opposition groups, and bring the
perpetrators to justice;
stop recruiting children or forcing them to perform work
in support of the military or armed opposition operations;
undertake reforms to ensure a functioning and impartial
legal system ;
protect the rights of internally displaced persons and
refugees;
guarantee that employees of humanitarian and human rights
organizations are not threatened, arrested or killed, and can
freely carry out their work.


The report also calls on the international community to
use their political influence and financial resources to support
programs to promote and protect human rights in Burundi. "The
ability of the Government of Burundi and inter-governmental
agencies to implement these recommendations will be seriously
diminished without the support of key donor agencies," Amnesty
International added. "We also urge the international community to
recognize and support the key role which national human rights
groups play in defending human rights."
\ENDS
public document
*************************
Note to editors
The audio-visual media team at Amnesty International has a short
video on Burundi available for broadcast use in English and
French. "Caught in the Crossfire: The Struggle for Human Rights
in Burundi" covers the following issues: population displacement,
prison conditions, deaths in custody, 'disappearances' and
torture.


Please, note that certain copyright conditions apply. To order
copies, please contact World Images:
Tel: 00 44 117 930 4099
Fax:00 44 117 930 4088
e-mail: world.images@worldtelevision.com



****************************************
For more information please call Amnesty International's press
office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566
Amnesty International, 1 Easton St., London WC1X 0DW web :
http://www.amnesty.org



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BUSH TO NOMINATE WAR CRIMES ENVOY

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/110

President Bush said yesterday he intends to nominate an ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, after weeks of speculation that his administration might reduce the Clinton administration's commitment to international institutions of justice.
Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company


The Boston Globe

March 22, 2001, Thursday ,THIRD EDITION


SECTION: NATIONAL/FOREIGN; Pg. A26


LENGTH: 448 words


HEADLINE: BUSH TO NOMINATE WAR CRIMES ENVOY


BYLINE: By Elizabeth Neuffer, GLOBE STAFF


BODY:


UNITED NATIONS - President Bush said yesterday he intends to nominate an
ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues, after weeks of speculation that
his administration might reduce the Clinton administration's commitment to
international institutions of justice.


Pierre-Richard Prosper, a former prosecutor with the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda, was Bush's choice for the post within the US State
Department, the White House said yesterday.


"I am honored to be under consideration," said Prosper, 37, who now
serves as a special counsel in the war crimes office.


In January, US Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was said to be leaning
toward abolishing the war crimes bureau, a top priority of his predecessor,
Madeleine Albright. Albright, who played a pivotal role in creating the two
war crimes tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda while acting as ambassador
to the United Nations, had created the office to ensure attention was paid
to war crimes issues.


David Scheffer, an Albright aide, played a key role in ensuring the
tribunals were adequately funded and that crucial intelligence needed for
indictments reached prosecutors. Powell earlier this year had said such
duties could be overseen by other parts of the State Department, State
Department aides had said.


Yesterday's announcement appears to indicate a change of heart, advocates
say. "It's a very positive signal from the new administration," said Nina
Bang-Jensen, of the Coalition for International Justice in Washington, DC,
a watchdog group on issues of international justice.


The announcement comes at crucial time for the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Serbia has until March 31 to hand over
former leader Slobodan Milosevic to the war crimes tribunal in the Hague or
face losing American aid. The Bush administration must also wrestle with
what to do about a treaty creating an international criminal court.


Prosper, while at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, oversaw
the prosecution of the case of Jean-Paul Akayesu, the first official ever
to be convicted for genocide. The case, which focused on the killings and
rapes in a Rwandan village, made legal history as the first in which judges
ruled that rape was a crime against humanity and an act of genocide.


Prosper, the son of Haitian doctors living in upstate New York, is a
graduate of Boston College and the Pepperdine School of Law.


"It's terrific," said Bang-Jensen of Prosper's appointment, recalling how
Prosper went personally to deliver the verdict in the Akayesu case to the
village involved. "The impressive thing about him is that he clearly hasn't
forgotten the victims."

Civil Society organisations reject changes to constitution

2001-03-26

http://allafrica.com/stories/200103230186.html

The Law Association of Zambia in conjunction with the Church, that is to say
the Zambia Episcopal Conference (ZEC), The Christian Council of Zambia
(CCZ), The Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) and the Non-Governmental
Organisations Coordinating Committee (NGOCC) and the People gathered here,
having deemed it necessary, expedient, imperative and desirable to promote
and conduct a debate in relation to the intimation by the ruling party, the
Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) to amend the Republican
Constitution to provide a third term of office in order to facilitate the
eligibility of the incumbent President FTJ Chiluba in the forthcoming
Presidential and Parliamentary Elections.

Egyptian law, policies encourage torture - rights group

2001-03-26

http://www.woza.co.za/africa/reuters/mar01/egypt20.htm

Egypt's legal, political and social climate encourages the use of torture during detention and leaves victims without adequate means of redress, an Egyptian human rights group said on Monday.
March 20, 2001
Cairo (Reuters) - Egypt's legal, political and social
climate encourages the use of torture during detention
and leaves victims without adequate means of redress,
an Egyptian human rights group said on Monday.


A key reason behind the spread of torture was the
country's emergency law, in force since the
assassination of President Anwar Sadat in 1981, said a
new report by the Human Rights Centre for the
Assistance of Prisoners (HRCAP).


"The report states that the emergency law provides a
fertile climate for the spread of torture, as it
allows for long periods of detention without
guarantees such as visiting rights and contact with
lawyers," the centre said in a news release.


"Ninety-nine percent of the 1 124 cases included in
the report were under the emergency law," it said.


HRCAP director Mohammed Zarei told Reuters that the
report included cases of torture committed between
1981 and 1999, and took two years to compile.


The report said that deficiencies in the prison law
and penal code, as well as political and social
practices also encouraged the use of torture. At the
same time, limited opportunities of redress for
victims meant there was no deterrent for offenders.


"Citizens have no way of taking their torturers to
court, according to the criminal code procedures, as
they are deprived of the right to file direct court
cases against police officers," the press release
said.


While some victims have received government
compensation, the centre said the money was taken from
public funds "while those who commit torture do not
bear any responsibility or obligation".


"HRCAP requests comprehensive political and
constitutional reform starting with the repeal of the
emergency law," the statement said.


"The recommendations also emphasise the need for
establishing a basic climate that guarantees respect
for human rights in democratic societies," it added,
also calling for real political plurality, freedom of
the press, independence of the judiciary, rule of law
and free and fair elections.


Egypt has said in the past that it investigates
reports of torture and prosecutes any perpetrators.


The US State Department said in its annual human
rights report in February that eight people were
reported to have died last year in Egyptian jails
after torture.


International human rights watchdog Amnesty
International said last month that torture remained
widespread in Egyptian police stations and detention
centres.

Election of judges for the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia

2001-03-26

http://www.iccnow.org

Attached is a memo and copies of reports from the Coalition regarding the election of judges for the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Dear Colleagues,

Attached is a memo and copies of reports from the Coalition regarding the
election of judges for the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia
(ICTY). While many excellent candidates were elected and reelected, the
process of nominations and elections as it now exists is a travesty. The
present process cannot assure that the mandates for qualifications, and
gender, regional and legal system representation that are in the ICC
Statute will be honored in the election process for the ICC. The present
process is woefully untransparent.



As with many UN elections the current process is reportedly dominated by
rampant and uncontrolled "election horsetrading." Governments enter into
"deals" where if a government votes for one country's candidate for ICTY,
then they agree to vote for the others' candidates for some other office
(other international judicial appointments, ICJ, Law of Sea Tribunal,
International Law Commission, Security Council, many, many election
positions).



It is very probable, for example, that vote trading occurred between the
ICTY election and the election of members to the International Law
Commissin (ILC) and for the 27 special case judges to be chosen in June has
already occurred. NGOs, national parliamentarians, media and others do not
even know what candidates have been submitted for the ILC or the 27
judgeships! If this continues unchanged, by the time the ICC judges are
elected, many prior agreements for election may have occurred well before
the election and before civil society has any change to influence the process.



As you will see in the attached report on the election, Judge Mumba, the
only woman candidate of 26 nominees, did not get elected until the 7th
ballot. She was not helped by the fact (reportedly) that Zambia made no
efforts to promote her election. Indeed, it is very possible that it was
the Women's Caucus public outcry reported in UN news accounts that helped
prevent a complete disaster for Judge Mumba.



The current process has many tremendous disadvantages for small nations.
But, I was approached by several candidates from larger Western governments
expressing great disgust with what they had had to go through in their
campaigns for the ICTY.



The Coalition will work with its members, sympathetic governments,
sucessful and unsuccessful candidates and other experts in the coming
months to propose ways to prevent or minimize a repeat of this procedure in
the election of the June judges and especially the ICC judges in 2002 or 2003.



But, the attached reports are important and revealing and I encourage all
to read them.



Bill Pace
Convenor CICC



Wednesday March 14 11:36 PM ET



One Woman, 13 Men Elected to UN War Crimes Court
By Evelyn Leopold
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Thirteen men and one woman were elected on
Wednesday as judges for the U.N. war crimes court for the former
Yugoslavia, following protests over the lack of female candidates and
questions about jurists' qualifications.
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba, of Zambia, was the sole woman chosen by
the 189-member U.N. General Assembly but only after the seventh ballot and
following the withdrawal of three other candidates from sub-Sahara Africa.
Eight of the 14 judges elected are current members of the court.
Mumba delivered a landmark verdict last month against three Bosnian Serbs,
thereby establishing rape and sexual enslavement as a crime against
humanity.
Diplomats said the outcome of the vote based less on the qualities of a
jurist than on how much lobbying each nation undertook for its candidate.
In a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites), the
Women's Caucus for Gender Justice, a private group, said it was
''appalling'' that Mumba was the lone woman among the 25 candidates
nominated by their respective countries to vie for the tribunal's 14
positions.
Women's groups for years have stressed the importance of female prosecutors
and judges for the court, especially since American Gabrielle Kirk McDonald
resigned as president of the tribunal in November 1999.
Elected on Wednesday from the United States was Theodor Meron, an
international law expert at New York University. Secretary of State Colin
Powell (news - web sites) earlier withdrew the Clinton administration's
nomination of David Scheffer, the former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war
crimes.
Controversies did not end there. Shortly before the vote Mexico told the
assembly that the tribunal violated the U.N. Charter and Russia called for
its abolition, saying it was anti-Serb and that such courts should be left
to the new Balkan states.
In addition, deputy prosecutor of the court Graham Blewitt last week said
none of the new candidates nominated by their respective countries were
experienced criminal trial judges.
He told the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London it
would be a disaster to have court's chambers dominated by academics or
civil court judges.
The tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, based at The Hague (news - web
sites), was created by the U.N. Security Council in 1993 to try individuals
responsible for atrocities during the Balkan wars.
The four-year terms of its original 11 judges expired in November 1997,
when another election was held. In 1998 the U.N. General Assembly chose
three more jurists for a new, third trial chamber. The terms of all 14
judges expire in November.
An absolute majority of 96 was needed to elect or reelect a judge among the
assembly's 189 members in a secret ballot.
Court's French President Elected On First Ballot
Twelve jurists were chosen on the first ballot including Claude Jorda of
France, the current president of the court, who received 113 votes. Others
were Fausto Pocar of Italy (130); David Hunt of Australia (122), Patrick
Robinson of Jamaica (120); Meron of the United States (119); Carmel Agius
of Malta (118); Wolfgang Schomburg of Germany (118); Liu Daqun of China
(116); Richard May of Britain (115); Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie of the
Netherlands (114); Ogon Kwon of South Korea (109); and Mohammed
Shahabuddeen of Guyana (105).
An Egyptian jurist Mohammed el Abassi Elhahdi was elected on the fourth
ballot with 105 votes and Mumba then filled the 14th slot after seven
ballots and eight hours of voting.
The tribunal was established to try those responsible for a lengthy list of
crimes, including massacres, rapes, expulsions and bombing of civilians in
Bosnia and Croatia following the 1991 breakup of Yugoslavia.
Russian delegate Vladimir Tarabrin said the tribunal was anti-Serb,
operated under sealed indictment and used NATO (news - web sites) forces to
capture suspects, sometimes resulting in the loss of lives. Instead, the
newly independent countries in the Balkans should be permitted to conduct
their own trials, he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




Copyright 2001 M2 Communications Ltd.



M2 PRESSWIRE



March 15, 2001



LENGTH: 3004 words



HEADLINE: UN



ÝÝGeneral Assembly elects 14 judges to tribunal for Former Yugoslavia



BODY:



The General Assembly, in a day-long meeting today, elected 14 judges to
the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in seven
rounds of secret balloting.
The Tribunal was established by the Security Council in 1993 to prosecute
serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the
territory of the former Yugoslavia during the conflict there in the early
1990s. The 11 original judges were elected to four-year terms in 1997.
The following year 3 judges were added for an additional Trial Chamber.
The terms of all 14 judges are due to expire on 16 November.
Twenty-five candidates were nominated by their governments. Those elected
today, who will begin their four-year terms on 17 November, are:
Carmel A. Agius (Malta, born 1945), member of the Permanent Court of
Arbitration in The Hague.
Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt, 1936), President of the Conseil
d'Etat since July 2000 and Head of the Supreme Administrative Court.
David Hunt (Australia, 1935), judge on the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia since 16 November 1998.
Claude Jorda (France, 1938), elected President of the International
Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in 1999, he previously served as a judge
on the Tribunal from 1994.
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea, 1953), Senior Judge in the Taegu High Court
in his country since 2000. From 1999 to 2000, he was Senior Judge in the
Seoul District Court.
Liu Daqun (China, 1950), member of the Tribunal's Trial Chamber II.
Richard George May (United Kingdom, 1938), the presiding judge in the
Tribunal's Appeals Chamber between 1999 and 2000, and elected to the
Tribunal in 1997.
Theodor Meron (United States), Counsellor on International Law to his
country's Department of State and a leading scholar of international
criminal law, international humanitarian law and human rights.
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia, 1948), judge of the Tribunal
since 1997, Vice-President from November 1999.
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands, 1947), a Justice of his
country's Supreme Court.
Fausto Pocar (Italy, 1939), founder of the University of Milan's
Postgraduate School of European Community Law and Economics and its
Director until 2000.
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica), judge on the Tribunal since November
since 1998 and member of the Tribunal's Working Group on Judicial
Practices.
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany, 1948), a judge at the Federal High Court in
Karlsruhe until 2000 and working on behalf of the Council of Europe.
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana, 1931), judge on the Tribunal since June
1997 and its Vice-President from November of that year to November 1999.
For complete curriculae vitae of the elected judges, see document A/55/773.
The judges were elected by an absolute majority of all Member States and
non-member States maintaining permanent observer missions at United Nations
Headquarters (the Holy See and Switzerland), whether or not they voted or
were allowed to vote. The absolute majority, therefore, consisted of 96
votes.
Before the balloting today, the representative of Mexico said his
delegation would not participate in the election of judges, as, in
establishing the Tribunal, the Security Council had gone beyond its powers.
He was convinced that, once it was operational, the International Criminal
Court, the establishment of which followed the rules of international law,
would render unnecessary the creation of new special tribunals.
The Permanent Observer of the Holy See also announced it would not
participate in the voting process.
The representative of the Russian Federation said he was concerned about
the problems facing the Tribunal, particularly the anti-Serbian bias of the
prosecution and its attempts to place collective guilt on the whole nation.
His country would, nevertheless, take part in the vote, hoping that a new
core of judges would help to overcome the Tribunal's bias and to speed up
the conclusion of its work.
The Assembly's President, Harri Holkeri (Finland), informed delegates that
Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Cape Verde, Dominica and Madagascar had
made the necessary payments to reduce their arrears below the amount
specified in Article 19 of the Charter. (Article 19 stipulates that a
Member State whose arrears in the payment of its financial contribution to
the Organization equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from
it for the preceding two full years, shall have no vote in the Assembly.)
He also announced that on Friday, 16 March, at 3 p.m., the Assembly will
meet to consider the Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and
a note by the Secretary-General requesting the inclusion in the agenda of
the current session of election of judges of the International Criminal
Tribunal for Rwanda.
The representatives of Madagascar, Burundi, Cyprus, Tunisia, Sweden,
Colombia, Malaysia and Malawi also spoke.
Background
The fifty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly met this morning
to elect judges of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of
Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian
Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, known
as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
The Assembly had before it a letter from the President of the Security
Council (document A/55/771), dated 1 February, conveying to it a list of 26
nominations for the election of 14 judges. They are: Carmel A. Agius
(Malta), Richard Allen Banda (Malawi), Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi
(Egypt), Mohammed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco), David Hunt (Australia),
Claude Jorda (France), O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea), Liu Daqun (China),
Abderraouf Mahbouli (Tunisia), Richard George May (United Kingdom), Theodor
Meron (United States), Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia), Rafael
Nieto Navia (Colombia), Leopold Ntahompagaze (Burundi), Alphonsus Martinus
Maria Orie (Netherlands), Fausto Pocar (Italy), Jonah Rahetlah
(Madagascar), Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica), Almiro Simes Rodrigues
(Portugal), Miriam Defensor Santiago (Philippines), Wolfgang Schomburg
(Germany), Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana), Demetrakis Stylianides (Cyprus),
Krister Thelin (Sweden), Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine), and Karam Chand
Vohrah (Malaysia).
The Permanent Representative of the Philippines informed the President of
the Assembly on 9 February that his Government had decided to withdraw the
candidature of Miriam Defensor Santiago.
The Assembly also had a memorandum by the Secretary-General (document
A/55/769) regarding the elections, stating that the terms of office of the
11 judges elected in 1997 is due to expire on 16 November. By its
resolution 1168 (1998), the Security Council decided to establish a third
Trial Chamber. Three additional judges were, therefore, elected in 1998 and
their terms are also due to expire on 16 November.
The memorandum further stipulates that in accordance with subparagraph 1
(d) of article 13 of the Statute of the International Tribunal, as amended
by Council resolution 1329 (2000), candidates who receive an absolute
majority of the votes of States Members of the United Nations and of the
non-Member States maintaining permanent observer missions at United Nations
Headquarters (the Holy See and Switzerland), shall be declared elected.
According to consistent practice, "absolute majority" is taken to mean a
majority of all electors, whether or not they vote or are allowed to vote.
For the purpose of the present election, 96 votes constitute an absolute
majority.
Each elector may vote in the first ballot for no more than 14 candidates.
If, in the first ballot, the number of candidates obtaining an absolute
majority is less than 14, a second ballot will be held, and balloting will
continue in the same meeting until 14 candidates have obtained an absolute
majority. In any second or subsequent ballot, each elector may vote for no
more than 14 candidates less the number of candidates who have already
obtained absolute majority.
If, in the first ballot, more than 14 candidates obtain an absolute
majority of votes, a second ballot will be held on all candidates, and
balloting will continue at the same meeting until 14 candidates obtain an
absolute majority.
The Assembly, in documents A/55/773 and Add.1, also had the curricula
vitae of the candidates.
Statements
GUSTAVO ALBIN (Mexico) said his delegation would once again not
participate in the election of judges. His country had always supported
investigating crimes against mankind and bringing to justice those
responsible, but, in establishing the Tribunal, the Security Council had
gone beyond its powers. An explicit provision giving the Council the
authority to create jurisdictional organs of that nature was nowhere to be
found in the Charter of the United Nations. He was convinced that, once it
was operational, the International Criminal Court, the establishment of
which followed the rules of international law, would render unnecessary the
creation of new special tribunals. His country would, however, continue to
pay its assessed financial contribution to the Tribunal.
Election of Judges
HARRI HOLKERI (Finland), Assembly President, said that the Holy See and
Switzerland, observer States, would participate in the election in the same
manner as Member States.
He noted that one of the 26 candidates on the list established by the
Security Council had withdrawn her candidacy.
VLADIMIR TARABRIN (Russian Federation) said the Tribunal had been set up
to operate in very specific circumstances.
Today, despite very positive developments in the Balkan region, the
Assembly was forced for the third time to elect judges and renew the
Tribunal's mandate for a further four years. A temporary body such as the
Tribunal could not be supported either politically or financially in any
way. It could not be justified.
The Russian Federation was concerned about the problems facing the
Tribunal, particularly the prosecution, he said.
Anti-Serbian bias and attempts to place collective guilt on the whole
nation went against the Tribunal's mandate.
Substantial corrections must be made and efforts to hide some facts of the
tragedy must stop.
He stressed the need to end the practice of secret memoranda between the
Tribunal and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to publish
the secret memorandum of 1996 between NATO and the Tribunal, which
sanctioned the prosecution's manhunt that had led to the killing of
suspects and infringed on the rights of sovereign States. A new core of
judges would help to overcome the Tribunal's bias and speed up the
conclusion of its work. The Russian Federation would, therefore, take part
in the vote.
Archbishop RENATO RAFFAELE MARTINO, Observer of the Holy See, said the
Holy See had decided to abstain from casting its vote on the individual
candidates. In doing so, however, it renewed its confidence in the choices
that would be made by the international community and expressed its best
wishes to the judges who would be elected to serve the cause of justice and
peace in the world.
The Assembly then began the voting process. The results of the first round
of balloting were as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 169
Number of invalid ballots: 1
Abstentions: 0
Number of Members voting: 168
Number of votes obtained:
Carmel A. Agius (Malta) 118
Richard Allen Banda (Malawi) 48
Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt) 94
Mohammed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 86
David Hunt (Australia) 122
Claude Jorda (France) 113
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea) 109
Liu Daqun (China) 116
Abderraouf Mahbouli (Tunisia) 62 Richard George May (United Kingdom) 115
Theodor Meron (United States) 119
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 72
Rafael Nieto Navia (Colombia) 88
Leopold Ntahompagaze (Burundi) 12
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands) 114
Fausto Pocar (Italy) 130
Jonah Rahetlah (Madagascar) 32
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica) 120
Almiro Simes Rodrigues (Portugal) 84
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany) 118
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana) 105
Demetrakis Stylianides (Cyprus) 49
Krister Thelin (Sweden) 65
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 94
Karam Chand Vohrah (Malaysia) 84
Having obtained the required majority of 96 votes, the following 12 judges
were elected: Carmel A. Agius (Malta), David Hunt (Australia), Claude Jorda
(France), O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea), Liu Daqun (China), Richard George
May (United Kingdom), Theodor Meron (United States), Alphonsus Martinus
Maria Orie (Netherlands), Fausto Pocar (Italy), Patrick Lipton Robinson
(Jamaica), Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany), and Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana).
Second Ballot
Having elected 12 judges, the Assembly went to a second ballot to fill the
two remaining positions. The second ballot was unrestricted.
Mr. HOLKERI (Finland), Assembly President, then suspended the meeting for
15 minutes as the votes were counted.
The results were as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 169
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Abstentions: 1
Number of Members voting: 168
Number of votes obtained:
Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt) 84
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 68
Almiro Simes Rodrigues (Portugal) 37
Rafael Nieto Navia (Colombia) 34
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 24
Karam Chand Vohrah (Malaysia) 21
Krister Thelin (Sweden) 14
Richard Allen Banda (Malawi) 7
Demetrakis Stylianides (Cyprus) 4
Abderraouf Mahbouli (Tunisia) 3
Leopold Ntahompagaze (Burundi) 3
Jonah Rahetlah (Madagascar) 1
The PRESIDENT said that since the required majority had not been obtained,
the Assembly would undertake another unrestricted ballot.
He then suspended the meeting until 3 p.m.
When the Assembly reconvened, JEAN DELACROIX BAKONIARIVO (Madagascar)
announced that his country withdrew the candidacy of Jonah Rahetlah.
JEAN LUC NDIZEYE (Burundi) withdrew the candidacy of Leopold Ntahompagaze.
DEMETRIS HADJIARGYROU (Cyprus) announced that Demetrakis Stylianides had
decided to withdraw his name.
RADHIA ACHOURI (Tunisia) withdrew the candidacy of Abderraouf Mahbouli.
The results of the third round of balloting, for two seats, were as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 165
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Abstentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 163
Number of votes obtained:
Richard Allen Banda (Malawi) 5
Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt) 88
Mohammed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 22
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 33
Rafael Nieto Navia (Colombia) 28
Almiro Simes Rodrigues (Portugal) 51
Krister Thelin (Sweden) 14
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 64
Karam Chand Vohrah (Malaysia) 12
Since no candidate had obtained the required absolute majority of 96
votes, the Assembly proceeded to a fourth round of balloting.
PER NORSTROeM (Sweden) withdrew the candidacy of Krister Thelin.
ALFONSO VALDIVIESO (Colombia) withdrew the candidacy of Rafael Nieto Navia.
SYED HASRIN TENGKU HUSSIN (Malaysia) withdrew the candidacy of Karam Chand
Vohrah.
Mr. HOLKERI (Finland), Assembly President, then suspended the meeting for
10 minutes.
When the meeting resumed, the Assembly voted a fourth time. The results of
the fourth round of balloting was as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 163
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Abstentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 161
Number of votes obtained:
Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt) 105
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 68
Almiro Simoes Rodrigues (Portugal) 58
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 50
Mohamed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 31
Richard Allen Banda (Malawi) 4
Mr. Elmahdi (Egypt) was thus elected, having obtained a total above the
absolute majority of 96.
Mr. HOLKERI (Finland), Assembly President, then announced there would be a
fifth round of balloting to fill the remaining vacant position.
YUSUF M. JUWAYEYI (Malawi) withdrew the candidacy of Richard Allen Banda.
The results of the fifth round of balloting, for one seat, were as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 161
Number of invalid ballots: 8
Abstentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 151
Number of votes obtained:
Mohammed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 16
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 56
Almiro Simes Rodrigues (Portugal) 29
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 50
Since none of the candidates had acquired the absolute majority of 96
votes, the Assembly proceeded to a sixth round of balloting.
A sixth round of balloting was held, with the following result:
Number of ballot papers: 156
Number of invalid ballots: 3
Absentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 151
Number of votes obtained:
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 75
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 50
Mohamed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 13
Almiro Simoes Rodrigues (Portugal) 13
NUNO BRITO (Portugal) announced that his country withdrew the candidacy of
Almiro Simoes Rodrigues.
The results of the seventh round of balloting, for one seat, were as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 153
Number of invalid ballots: 1
Abstentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 150
Number of votes obtained:
Mohammed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 13
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 103
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 34
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia), having obtained the absolute
majority of 96 votes, was elected as judge of the Tribunal.
((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided
within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further
information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on
the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).

Elements For A Human Rights Activists Course And Curriculum

2001-03-26

http://www.afronets.org/document.htm

Claudio Schuftan's paper "Elements For A Human Rights Activists Course And Curriculum" can be downloaded as WORD f. WINDOWS file (44 kB).

Human Rights and the Police: A Training Manual

2001-03-26

http://erc.hrea.org/Library/law_enforcement/dchr99.html

This manual is being used in basic courses at police academies in Denmark. It offers a course framework and various useful overheads and handouts. The course consists of two parts: "Life, Freedom, and Liberty and Security of Person" (freedom of assembly, use of force, right to life) and "Equal Rights" (rights of refugees, protection against discrimination). The manual includes overheads and handouts on the European and UN systems, methods of investigation, questions concerning detainees' rights, and the "Rockerloven" and "Jersild" cases in Denmark.
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If you haven't done so yet, please let us know what you think of the
Resource Centre and the ERC-L newsletter. You can fill out the
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Many thanks in advance. Your feedback will help us serve you better.



## FEATURE ##


Human Rights and the Police: A Training Manual


This manual is being used in basic courses at police academies in Denmark.
It offers a course framework and various useful overheads and handouts. The
course consists of two parts: "Life, Freedom, and Liberty and Security of
Person" (freedom of assembly, use of force, right to life) and "Equal
Rights" (rights of refugees, protection against discrimination). The manual
includes overheads and handouts on the European and UN systems, methods of
investigation, questions concerning detainees' rights, and the
"Rockerloven" and "Jersild" cases in Denmark.


* Human Rights and the Police: A Training Manual by Anette Faye Jacobsen
and Diego Bang (Danish Centre for Human Rights, 1999). Language(s): English.
Keywords: training manual, police, law enforcement officials, right to
life, security of person, freedom of assembly, rights of refugees,
discrimination, European system of human rights protection, Council of
Europe, European Court of Human Rights, European Convention on Human
Rights, Denmark. URL:
http://erc.hrea.org/Library/law_enforcement/dchr99.html



## HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION LIBRARY ##


New additions in weeks 16-28 February 2001:


* Amnesty International Fair Trials Manual (London: Amnesty
International-International Secretariat, 1998). Language(s): English,
Spanish. Keywords: manual, lawyers, right to a fair trial, monitoring,
Amnesty International. URL:
http://erc.hrea.org/Library/legalprofessions/fairtrial.html


* Gender, HIV and Human Rights: A Training Manual by Madhu Bala Nath (New
York: UNIFEM, 2000). Language(s): English, French, Spanish. Keywords:
training manual, training of trainers, HIV/AIDS, reproductive health,
sexual health, human rights and development, right to development, right to
health, women's rights, UNIFEM. URL:
http://erc.hrea.org/Library/women/unifem00.html


* Human Rights Education Newsletter, Issue Nr. 24, Autumn 1999 (published
by the Education in Human Rights Network/Centre for Global Education,
United Kingdom). Language(s): English. Keywords: HRE programmes, networking,
reviews, events. URL: http://erc.hrea.org/Library/HREnewsletter/index.html


* What is Documentation. Human Rights Monitoring and Documentation Series,
Volume 2 by Manual Guzman and Bert Verstappen (Versoix: HURIDOCS, 2001).
Language(s): English, French. Keywords: manual, monitoring, human rights
monitors, human rights documentation, information handling. URL:
http://erc.hrea.org/Library/monitoring/huridocs01.html



## HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION CALENDAR ##


New courses added:


* XIX Curso Interdisciplinario en Derechos Humanos
Dates: 18-29 June 2001
Level: professional
Focus: The theme of the 19th interdisciplinary course on human rights is
political participation. Working language is Spanish.
Location: San José (Costa Rica)
Deadline of application: 30 April 2001
Organisation: Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos
URL: http://erc.hrea.org/Calendar/140.html


* Intensive Course in Health and Human Rights
Dates: 11-14 June 2001
Level: professional
Focus: This rigorous 4-day program helps a wide range of professionals
acquire the skills and background knowledge they
need to successfully incorporate a human rights framework into their daily
activities. Participants will acquire a basic understanding of both the
history and present status of international human rights and international
humanitarian law as they apply to public health practice.
Location: Boston (USA)
Deadline of application: --
Organisation: Harvard School of Public Health
URL: http://erc.hrea.org/Calendar/222.html


* Seminar on internally displaced persons, refugees, and national minorities
Dates: 6-12 May 2001
Level: professional
Focus: The seminar will concentrate on the plight of internally displaced
persons and refugees, as well as on the situation
of national minorities from the perspective of international human rights
instruments and legislation. The working language will be Russian, with, if
need be, interpretation into and from English.
Location: Tbilisi (Georgia)
Deadline of application: --
Organisation: International Association of Lawyers of the Caucasus,
Netherlands Helsinki Committee
URL: http://erc.hrea.org/Calendar/224.html


* Workshop on the Procedures of the African Human Rights System
Dates: 21-30 May 2001
Level: professional
Focus: Topics covered during this workshop for human rights workers in
southern and Eastern Africa will include an introduction to the
international and comparative law of human rights; the African regional
system for human rights protection; domestic application of international
law; economic and social rights; the state reporting procedure before the
African Commission on Human and
Peoples' Rights; the individual complaints procedure under the African
Charter; special procedures of the African Commission including its
missions and special rapporteurs; the African Court On Human And Peoples'
Rights; and other recent developments in the African regional system.
Location: Johannesburg (South Africa)
Deadline of application: 1 April 2001
Organisation: Institute for Human Rights & Development
URL: http://erc.hrea.org/Calendar/219.html



## HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION LINKS ##


* Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights (Croatia) [in English and
Serbo-Croat]: http://www.zamir.net/~czmos/


* Fazaldad Human Rights Institute (Pakistan) [in English]:
http://www.fazaldad.com/


* Institut International des Droits de l'Homme (IIDH) (France) [in English
and French]:
http://www.iidh.org



## RETRIEVE DOCUMENTS VIA E-MAIL ##


You can access documents and Web pages listed in this newsletter via
e-mail. Send a message to the following e-mail address: getweb@hrea.org
Leave the SUBJECT field BLANK, and copy the URL (Internet address) into
the BODY of the message. For example, if you would like to retrieve the
Human Rights Education Calendar for July 2001, you need to send a message
to: getweb@hrea.org, leave the subject line empty and copy the URL of the
July Calendar into the message, like this:


http://erc.hrea.org/Calendar/july2001.html


You will then receive the Web page via e-mail. For assistance or additional
information about the GetWeb service, please contact: getweb-admin@hrea.org



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(http://www.hrea.org) is maintained by Human Rights Education Associates
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(http://www.minbuza.nl) and the Open Society Institute
(http://www.soros.org).


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We encourage you to distribute and repost this newsletter. However, we
would like to request that you acknowledge the source: "ERC-L Human Rights
Education Newsletter (http://www.hrea.org)"

HURIDOCS MANUAL: WHAT IS DOCUMENTATION?

2001-03-26

http://www.huridocs.org/tools

HURIDOCS gladly announces a new series of brief, practical manuals aimed to help build the capacity of human rights organisations with regard to monitoring and documentation.
HURIDOCS gladly announces a new series of brief, practical manuals aimed to help build the capacity of human rights organisations with regard to monitoring and documentation. The Human Rights Monitoring and Documentation Series consists of two kinds of manuals: a "what is" manual provides an overview of a certain topic, and a "how to" manual is meant to impart specific skills. HURIDOCS will publish and distribute the following in 2001:


What is Monitoring What is Documentation How to Set Up Your Documentation Centre How to Index How to Search for Information How to Record Names of Persons The volumes in this Series are especially designed for small non-governmental human rights organisations which often have limited resources and a small staff who are assigned multiple tasks. The handy size of the manuals make them excellent reference materials. In addition, they are written in a style that facilitates learning and could serve effectively as materials for training, including individualised and self-initiated learning.


The first volume is now available on the HURIDOCS Web site <http://www.huridocs.org/tools>. It is called What is Documentation. This practical manual is intended for documentalists and information workers of human rights organisations. It deals with the following issues: what is documentation, what is a document, why document, seeking information, producing documents, acquiring documents, organising documents and providing user services. This volume has been written by Manuel Guzman and Bert Verstappen.


This volume is available in English and in French. It can be printed in HTML and PDF formats.

MEDIA FOUNDATION DEFENDS LIBERIAN JOURNALISTS

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/120

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), based in Accra, Ghana, is sending a team of human rights lawyers from Ghana and Nigeria to Liberia to assist in the defense of the four journalists detained on the charge of espionage.
PRESS RELEASE

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), based in Accra, Ghana,
is sending a team of human rights lawyers from Ghana and Nigeria to
Liberia to assist in the defense of the four journalists detained on
the charge of espionage.


The lawyers are from the network of human rights lawyers who work with
the Media Foundation to provide legal assistance to journalists who in
the course of their professional functions become victims of state and
other forms of repression.


The Liberian Government arrested the four journalists: Joseph Bartuah,
Abdullai Dukuly, Jerome Dalieh and Bobby Tapson of ‘The News’ on
February 21 for publishing that the government spent US$50,000 to
purchase spare parts for a helicopter when civil servants had not been
paid for four months.


A criminal court that is hearing a jury trial involving six police
officers accused of murder transferred the case from the magisterial
court and indicted the journalists on February 28. This means the
journalists will be lingering in prison since the Liberian justice
system forbids a criminal court from handling two jury trials at the
same time.


Prof. Kwame Karikari
Executive Director
Media Foundation for West Africa
P.O. Box LG 730 Legon
Accra, Ghana
Tel: 233-21-242470
Fax: 233-21- 22-1084

Mugabe rejects International Bar Association report

2001-03-26

http://allafrica.com/stories/200103230226.html

The Zimbabwe government will not accept the report of the International Bar
Association (IBA) following its recent inquiry into the independence of the
judiciary, the Zimbabwe Independent has learnt. A spokesman said whatever
the findings of the IBA, the team had already demonstrated that it was
partial by refusing to consult all stakeholders on the issue of the
judiciary. One of the team's members compared Zimbabwe's fasttrack land grab
to apartheid policies.

New SADC Chief sworn in

2001-03-26

http://allafrica.com/stories/200103230161.html

Newly-appointed SADC Executive Secretary Prega Ramsamy was on Friday sworn
in by Namibia's Chief Justice Johan Strydom in the presence of the current
SADC chairman, Namibian President Sam Nujoma.

PETITION FOR A BETTER NIGERIA

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/128

The following is our petition to the National Assembly, the Attorney General and the Presidency. Please read and join us as signatories to the letter. Please forward your response to ekennyk2001@yahoo.com.
It's becoming increasing clear to us now that the Nigerian military pulled a fast one on us. They are still in power. When Abiola, a civilian won, they refused to hand over to him. They annuled his victory and clung on to power. The insincerity of their various, elongated transition programs were apparent. Mounting pressure, both at home and abroad, coupled with the drying up of international aids forced them to change their "open" dictatorship approach. They went undercover in civilian clothing, and devised a plan to succeed themselves in a way that would be less obvious. Their plan worked and we have an ex-army general as president today. Other Generals are gearing up to succeed him. The more we allow them to continue to succeed themselves, the more they will be able to cover their tracks for past misdeeds. And the irony of it all is that they are using state funds which they embezzled while in office, to continue their dominance of Nigeria's political life. And they continue to bring other people of disreputable character aboard.


It is time for us to practice true democracy in Nigeria. We have had enough of military leadership.It is time to give civilians a chance. If we have had uninterrupted democratic system since independence, Nigeria may have indeed gone along way toward achieving the greater glory once dreamed about on the onset of our independence. In order to make meaningful progress, we also need to combat the culture of corruption that has plagued our nation. To do this we need to vigorously enforce our laws. Law breakers must be prosecuted. Our leaders who stole before must be brought to account for their crimes. This is what other countries like Japan , South Korea and Indonesia did in order to lay a solid foundation that will engender progress and development. Offenders must be punished to encourage respect for the law. We must stop parading as heros, those ex-leaders who looted the Nigerian treasury. It is time for true civilian government in Nigeria. A government that will be accountable and respo
nsible to all Nigerians. To start with, we need a South African type "Truth Commission", that will identify and set a guideline for immediate action that will help in achieving the following proposal. In
the absence of this, we present before the following institutions and officers of the Democratic Republic Of Nigeria the petition below:


The following is our petition to the National Assembly, the Attorney General and the Presidency. Please read and join us as signatories to the letter. Please forward your response to ekennyk2001@yahoo.com .PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR NAME, TITLE (Mr. or Mrs, etc) and your location (city and country). Names of all in support would then be added to this petition and would be forwarded to the proper authorities in Nigeria. We are also working on getting the support of civil right activists in Nigeria.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


APPEAL TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NIGERIA AND TO ALL STATE ATTORNEY GENERALS


We, the undersigned hereby appeal to the Attorney General of Nigeria and all State Attorney Generals to begin enforcing the law of the country. We ask that they investigate and prosecute:
1. Those who previously violated the constitution by overthrowing democratically elected civilian governments and for the untold crimes they have committed.
2. Ex-military rulers and past/current senior government officials who should be made to account for their unexplained wealth.
3. Senseless killings of Nigerians by police, the army and vigilante groups. All cases of police and army brutality and abuse of power must be investigated, and an immediate effort should be made to stop the arrests and summary killings of people by vigilante groups.
4. Any violation of the Nigerian constitution and especially those that undermine the fundamental human rights of the average Nigerian citizen, without any exception given to ethnic, gender, religion or status.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
APPEAL TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT:


1. Show transparent sincerity in enforcing the law.
2. Increase funding for law enforcement agencies/departments, especially the Police and all the attorney generals both at the state and federal levels.
3. Stop appointing people whose integrity have been tainted by virtue of their participation in past corrupt and oppressive governments.
4. Hands off the creation and the growth of Nigerians In Diaspora Organization (NIDO) so as to allow the organization to function with independence.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
APPEAL TO PARTIES CONTESTING ELECTIONS:
1. Do not nominate ex-military dictators as your presidential or gubernatorial candidates.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
APPEAL TO THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY


PROPOSED LAWS, RESOLUTIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS:


1. A resolution that all those involved in the overthrow of elected civilian governments be prosecuted by the Attorney General of the nation.
2. A resolution that past government rulers and senior government officials be investigated for corruption by the attorney general (not by a specially set up body).
3. Increase funding for law enforcement agencies/departments, especially
the police and all the attorney generals both at the state and federal levels.
4. A resolution that parties do not field ex-military dictators as their candidates, especially at the presidential and gubernatorial levels.
5. A resolution asking President Obasanjo to stop appointing people whose integrity have been tainted by virtue of their participation in past corrupt and oppressive governments, especially those of Abacha and Babangida.
6. Pass laws to reform the electoral system and campaign funding. Limit the contributions that individuals can contribute to a candidate’s campaign fund and to the candidate’s party. To force candidates to address the issues affecting voters, and to discourage money politics, pass law limiting the amount individuals can use from their own private wealth to fund their campaign. This measure would also discourage those who are using looted funds to gain undue advantage to control the political process.
7. Pass a law banning those who previously participated in overthrowing constitutionally elected civilian government from contesting presidential, gubernatorial and federal and state legislative positions (at the time of the coup, they knew that that coup was illegal under the constitution).
8. Pass a law banning those who overthrow elected governments in the future and all senior officials who take appointments under such illegal government from all government positions in the future. Pass law to disbar Attorney Generals and Lawyers who take senior appointments from such government.
9. Pass a law assessing criminal and monetary penalty against those who overthrow democratically elected civilian governments in the future.
10. Pass laws removing ex-military dictators and non elected heads of states from the Council of States and the privilege of receiving pensions.
11. Pass a law requiring candidates to list their assets, when and how acquired, source of fund and wealth, etc. Require the police and electoral commission to verify statements given and to disqualify and prosecute those who lie.
12. Pass laws to reform the judiciary and to promote impartial enforcement
of the law. To ensure their independence, consider changing the manner of
appointment and removal of judges and the attorney generals.


We make these suggestions because we believe that it is time for our nation to make a firm and unequivocal commitment to the rule of law. We cannot make significant progress in developing our nation in an atmosphere of lawlessness. We cannot continue to pay lip service to the rule of law.
We must put an end to the 419 culture, not by rhetorics but with sincere efforts. We must not continue to treat as heroes, those who violated the constitution, the supreme law of the land by overthrowing constitutionally elected civilian government. We must address the illegal wealth that many past and present leaders come into. We must make a clean break from the past, from corrupt and insincere leadership, from the wrong approach to politics and governance. To do nothing is to condone lawlessness and continue to reward those who previously have abused the system, through the abuse of their offices, embezzlement and coup d'etat. Public posts are positions of trust and must be earned. We must stop the effect of dirty money on Nigerian politics. We must take significant measures to seriously discourage military coups and embezzlement of public funds. We must resolve to be a nation of law and order, not just by words, but by actions and sincere efforts.


We ask all conscientious Nigerians to join us in signing this petition. Your support makes a difference. Please join and support this cause by signing this petition !!!. To join, simply reply to this email by forwarding your reply to, mailto:ekennyk2001@yahoo.com and INCLUDE YOUR NAME AND LOCATION. After all signatures are collected, a final copy would be posted on the egroups and at other relevant Internet sites. Your suggestions and comments are welcomed. After forwarding your response to us, please help us circulate this petition further to others.


Thank you for your time and cooperation.


Ken Somoye, NJ, USA
Bamidele A. Ojo, NJ, USA
Pete Sofiyea, IL, USA
Andrew Edvebie, MI, USA
Paul Olatoye, MD, USA
Hillary Evbayiro
Omolola Ogunyemi
Richard Olumakin, PA, USA
Sowore Omoyele
W. Akinade







Contact: ekennyk2001@yahoo.com>

Resource book: Socio Economic Rights in South Africa

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/127

The Socio-Economic Rights contained in the South African Constitution are the result of a long struggle against many years of apartheid poverty, discrimination and inequality. But what do these hardwon rights, such as land and health care rights, mean for people in their everyday lives? What laws and institutions are available to assist people in protecting and advancing these rights?
The Socio-Economic Rights Project


Presents Socio Economic Rights in South Africa
A RESOURCE BOOK
Edited by Sandra Liebenberg & Karrisha Pillay


The Socio-Economic Rights contained in the South African Constitution are the result of a long struggle against many years of apartheid poverty, discrimination and inequality. But what do these hardwon rights, such as land and health care rights, mean for people in their everyday lives? What laws and institutions are available to assist people in protecting and advancing these rights?


The first part of the book gives a general introduction to socio-economic rights and their protection in South Africa and internationally. Then the book examines eight specific socio-economic rights in South Africa: environmental, land, housing, health care, food, water, social security and education rights.


The book aims to:
· Provide useful resource materials on socio-economic rights
· Inspire creative action to claim and advance these socio-economic rights, and
· Raise awareness of the strategies you can use to defend and promote these rights.


With its plain language explanations, examples, guidelines, court case summaries, case studies and discussion ideas, the book is a practical tool to help you influence laws and policies, run campaigns, and challenge violations of socio-economic rights.



To order please fill in the following information and send it to the address below.


Name…………………………………………………………………………………………
Organisation/Institution…………………………………………………………………….
Postal Address………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………
Email:……………………………………..Tel:………………Fax:………………………..
Please indicate how many copies you would like next to the category that applies to you.


…….R50 (South Africa - NGO’s) .……R100 (South Africa - Other)
…….R100 (Outside SA – NGO’s) .……R150 (Outside SA – Other)


Make cheques payable to: The Community Law Centre – UWC
*(These prices include postage and handling)

The Director, Community Law Centre, University of the Western Cape,
Private Bag X17, Bellville, 7535. Tel: (+27) 021 959 2950 Fax: (+27) 021 959 2411

Safety fears rise after Nujoma's anti-gay tirade

2001-03-26

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/namibia/20010321.phtml

Namibian President Sam Nujoma's attack on homosexuals this week could lead to violence against innocent citizens, says a local human rights group.

Senegal bars charges against Chad ex-dictator

2001-03-26

http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/03/habre0320.htm

Senegal's highest court yesterday ruled that Chad's exiled former president, Hissène Habré, could not stand trial on torture charges because his alleged crimes were not committed in Senegal.

South Africa: Sexual Violence Rampant in Schools

Harassment South Africa: Sexual Violence Rampant in Schools

2001-03-26

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/safrica

(Johannesburg, March 27, 2001) In schools across South Africa, thousands of girls of every race and economic group are encountering sexual violence and harassment that impede their access to education, Human Rights Watch charged in a report released today.
South Africa: Sexual Violence Rampant in Schools
Harassment and Rape Hampering Girls' Education

(Johannesburg, March 27, 2001) In schools across South Africa, thousands
of girls of every race and economic group are encountering sexual
violence and harassment that impede their access to education, Human
Rights Watch charged in a report released today.

School authorities rarely challenge the perpetrators, and many girls
interrupt their education or leave school altogether because they feel
vulnerable to sexual assault, Human Rights Watch said.

"Girls are learning that sexual violence and abuse are an inescapable
part of going to school every day -- so they don't go," said Erika
George, counsel to the Academic Freedom Program at Human Rights Watch
and the author of the report. "South African
officials say they're committed to educational equality. If they mean
it, they must address the problem of sexual violence in schools, without
delay."

The 138-page report, "Scared at School: Sexual Violence Against Girls in
South African Schools," is based on extensive interviews with victims,
their parents, teachers, and school administrators in KwaZulu-Natal,
Gauteng, and the Western Cape. It documents how girls
are raped, sexually abused, sexually harassed, and assaulted
at school by their male classmates and even by their teachers.

According to the report, girls have been attacked in school toilet
facilities, in empty classrooms and corridors, hostel rooms and
dormitories. Teachers can misuse their authority to sexually abuse
girls, sometimes reinforcing sexual demands with threats of corporal
punishment or promises of better grades, or even money.

Human Rights Watch called on the South African government and its
National Department of Education to develop a national plan of action to
address the problem of school-based sexual violence, in broad
cooperation with students, parents, teachers, and school administrators.


The South African government has acknowledged the problem's severity and
made significant efforts to improve the state response to violence
against women. But the Human Rights Watch report found that school
officials still fail to protect their girl pupils from rape, sexual
assault, and sexual harassment. The government does not even collect
data on the incidence of sexual violence and harassment occurring in
schools, or the number of girls who leave school due to such violence.

While it is mandatory to report child abuse in South Africa, girls who
report sexual abuse generally receive hostile or indifferent responses
from school authorities. According to the report, schools often promise
to handle matters internally, and urge girls' families not to alert
police or draw publicity to problems.

The South African government has constitutional and international legal
obligations to protect women and girls from violence. International
human rights treaties that South Africa has ratified, as well as
national legislation, require the government to provide all children an
education that is free from discrimination on the basis of sex. Failure
to prevent and redress persistent gender-based violence in schools
operates as a discriminatory deprivation of the right to education for
girls.

"South Africa needs a systematic strategy to address the problem,"
George said. "Leadership at every level is vital to create an education
system free of gender bias and sexual violence."

Human Rights Watch urged the government to adopt and disseminate a set
of standard procedural guidelines governing how schools are to address
allegations of sexual violence and explaining how schools should treat
victims, and perpetrators, of violence.

The full report can be found at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/safrica

For more information on academic freedom in Africa, please see:

HRW World Report 2001: Academic Freedom at
http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/special/

Kenya: Spare the Child: Corporal Punishment in Kenyan Schools (HRW
Report, September 1999) at http://www.hrw.org/hrw/reports/1999/kenya/

Sudan government denies atrocities claims

2001-03-26

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/sudan/20010319.phtml

The Sudanese government has denied claims by British development agency Christian Aid that atrocities are being committed by its forces in areas around oil fields.

UK: ICC BILL PASSED

2001-03-26

http://www.oneworldtrust.org/

The UK ICC Bill passed in the Lords last night, 20th March and has been passed to the House of Commons. We have no idea of the timetable but can expect the 1st reading very soon. This is a procedural point only when the Commons notes that the Bill has been passed to it from the Lords.
The substantial debates will start at the 2nd reading in around 10 days time
or so.

The One World Trust - 50 Years Promoting a Greater Sense of World Community.
Room 601, 7 Millbank, London, SW1A 3JA, UK.
T/F. +44 (0) 20 7219 3825, E. buralls@parliament.uk
<mailto:buralls@parliament.uk> , www.oneworldtrust.org
<http://www.oneworldtrust.org/>
Charity No. 210180


Charter 99, The Charter for Global Democracy, www.charter99.org
<http://www.charter99.org/>

UN Angola mission 'alarmed' by rights abuses

2001-03-26

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/angola/20010319.phtml

A United Nations-led inter-agency mission to Angola has reacted with alarm to the numerous allegations of human rights abuses it heard on its six-day visit.

UN human rights chief to step down

2001-03-26

http://www.europaworld.org/issue27/outofofficewillmaryrobinson23301.htm

The United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights this week announced her decision not to stand for a second four-year term in the world's top human rights post. But, once out of office, will she regret it?

UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture

2001-03-26

http://www.irct.org/26june.htm

On 26 June 2001, individuals and organizations worldwide will join the international campaign to commemorate the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. This year, the IRCT is coordinating the fourth consecutive global campaign to support these events in every region of the world. We hope that you will also be a part of this special day.
This year the theme of the campaign is ‘Together against Torture’, reflecting the multi-disciplinary action needed to support victims of torture and to work for the prevention of torture worldwide. The work against torture requires the combined efforts of rehabilitation centres, human rights organizations, the legal profession, governments, the media, and individuals across the globe. This year’s campaign aims to both empower torture survivors and to renew support for our shared responsibility in working for the eradication of torture.



Together Against Torture
The IRCT is a member of the Coalition of International NGOs against Torture (CINAT), together with Amnesty International (AI), The Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT), The International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FiACAT), The World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), and Redress. We therefore ask you to consider joining with local offices of these organizations, where possible, to strengthen the impact of your events.
On 26 June 2000, individuals and organizations held commemorative events in more than 80 countries worldwide. This year, we hope to both increase the number of countries participating in the campaign, and to further strengthen the impact of local events. We encourage human rights organizations, student organizations, rehabilitation centres and others to consider joint events.



How can you participate?
Commemorative events may include media events or press conferences, seminars or workshops, letter writing campaigns and torture victim testimonies aimed at governments and/or local officials, open house events, benefit dinners, cultural events, peaceful street marches, rallies or candle-light vigils.
To support your activities, the IRCT is able to provide you with a limited range of 26 June campaign materials free of charge such as press and campaign kits (in English, French, Spanish, and Russian), T-shirts, and posters. Should you wish to translate the text of the press kit and other background information into other languages, please let us know and we can forward the written materials to you by e-mail or fax. Of course, you may decide to produce your own materials instead of, or to complement, the materials we can provide. Please find enclosed an order form, which we ask you to complete and return to us no later than 25 April 2001, so that your campaign materials will reach you in time!
Keeping you informed
The IRCT will keep you updated on 26 June 2001 activities on our special webpage http://www.irct.org/26june.htm We ask you to please keep us informed of your plans so that we can place your activities on the website. In addition to sharing your plans with rehabilitation centres and organizations worldwide, you can help to raise awareness of the campaign among media, human rights organizations and other professions which may be interested in joining with you or supporting your events on this important day. In fact, many participants in last year’s campaign increased the impact of their activities by identifying and creating local partnerships.
In case you do not have access to the Internet, you can request in the enclosed order form to receive monthly updates on the campaign by mail, e-mail or fax. We look forward to hearing about the results of your activities as part of the 26 June 2001 campaign!



You can make a difference
We recognize that you may have limited resources to organize big events. This is why the IRCT is delighted to be able to support you by providing 26 June campaign materials free of charge and by providing a forum on the IRCT Website through which we can all share our plans for this important day. Please do not hesitate to contact our Campaign Officer, Anja Zuschlag, for any further information, by e-mail anja_zuschlag@irct.org or fax (45) 33 76 05 00.
We look forward to your participation in the global campaign on this year’s 26 June – UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.



Yours sincerely



Jens Modvig, MD PhD
IRCT Secretary General

Suzanne Munro Clark
Director, Advocacy and Information


ORDER FORM
Please return the completed form to Ms. Anja Zuschlag, Campaign Officer, preferably by e-mail: anja_zuschlag@irct.org or by fax +45 33 76 05 00.


DEADLINE: WEDNESDAY 25 APRIL 2001





26 JUNE POSTERS
New design: Green leaves emerging through a black “T” frame, signifying hope and empowerment, against a white background. The 2001 logo builds on the global recognition of previous logos, however represents a more positive and powerful message.
Text: "26 June – United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture" in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese
2 sizes available: Large (70x100 cm) and Small (30x42 cm)


Quantity (maximum 5 posters each)
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PRESS KITS (for media use)
Containing fact sheets, general media release, and background information.
Languages: English, French, Spanish, and Russian.


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CAMPAIGN KITS (for your internal use)
Containing suggestions for how to organize your activities or events.
Languages: English, French, Spanish, and Russian.


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CAPS
New design: White cap with the 26 June 2001 logo on the front. (Green leaves emerging through a black “T” frame, signifying hope and empowerment.)
Size: One-size


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T-SHIRTS
New design: White t-shirt with the 26 June 2001 logo on the front (Green leaves emerging through a black “T” frame, signifying hope and empowerment.)
Text on back: "26 June – United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture" in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, and Chinese
Size: One-size


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PINS AND SMALL PAPER FLAGS
New Design: Green leaves emerging through a black “T” frame, signifying hope and empowerment, against a white background.


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ESSAY COMPETITION KITS
For school students of approx. 15-17 years of age.
Languages: English, French, Spanish


Quantity (maximum 50 in total)
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INFORMATION FROM THE IRCT
ABOUT GLOBAL CAMPAIGN PLANS



Available on Internet: http://www.irct.org/26june.htm
or
How can we send you information? (please mark/tick one)
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WORLD BANK INFORMATION DISCLOSURE POLICY VIOLATES INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

2001-03-26

http://www.article19.org/

One of the world's most powerful international financial institutions is violating international standards on freedom of information. The World Bank's review of its own information disclosure policy singularly fails to guarantee the public's right to know and allows individual countries the right to veto disclosure of information. ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression, demands that the institution substantially revise its proposals.
19 February 2001 - For immediate release



One of the world's most powerful international
financial institutions is violating international
standards on freedom of information. The World Bank's
review of its own information disclosure policy
singularly fails to guarantee the public's right to
know1 and allows individual countries the right to
veto disclosure of information. ARTICLE 19, the Global
Campaign for Free Expression, demands that the
institution substantially revise its proposals.


In a letter submitted to the World Bank's consultation
process, ARTICLE 19 welcomes the Bank's review of its
1993 policy on information disclosure, and the
proposal to disclose more documents to the public.
However, the bid for reform falls short in several key
areas, including the lack of an independent appeals
process; no clear timelines on decision-making; no
necessity for written explanations for a refusal; no
harm tests or public interest tests; no protection for
whistleblowers.


Toby Mendel, Head of ARTICLE 19's Law Programme said:


"The World Bank needs to go much further if it wants
to improve its policy on transparency. The Bank is
being excessively secretive and giving too much power
to individual countries by allowing their governments
to dictate whether a document should be released. This
is information which affects millions of people and
they have a fundamental right to access it."


ARTICLE 19 urges that the World Bank revise its policy
in order to:


Establish an independent body to review refusals by
the Bank to disclose information;



Include strict timelines for the disclosure of
information and a requirement that any refusals be
accompanied with substantive written reasons;



Require that all exceptions are subject to substantial
harm and public interest tests;



Provide protection for whistleblowers;



Review its policy to allow individual countries to
veto information disclosure.


ENDS



For further information contact Ken Bhattarcharjee at
ARTICLE 19 on + 44 20 7278 9292, law@article19.org


Notes for Editors:


1.See The Public's Right to Know: Principles on
Freedom of Information Legislation, ARTICLE 19, 1999.


2.The consultation process continues until 31 March
2001. Full information on the World Bank's review of
its Policy on Information Disclosure can be found
at:http://www.worldbank.org/html/pic/disclosure/


Source:
http://www.article19.org/docimages/945.htm


ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Free Expression


Named after Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, we work worldwide to combat censorship
by promoting freedom of expression and access to
official information.


With partners in over 30 countries, we work to
strengthen local capacity to monitor and protest
institutional and informal censorship.


We monitor, research, publish, lobby, campaign and
litigate on behalf of freedom of expression wherever
it is threatened. We develop standards to advance
media freedom, assist individuals to speak out and
campaign for the free flow of information.


ARTICLE 19 is registered as a charity in the UK
(No.327421).


Visit Article 19:
http://www.article19.org/

Burundi: An Opportunity to Save Lives

2001-03-26

http://www.refugeesinternational.org/bulletins/cg_022801_01.html

The prospects for resolution of the humanitarian and political crisis in Burundi continue to look very bleak. There is an opportunity, however, at this moment for the international community to help save lives in the Northeastern provinces - the most populous region in Burundi. But the Government of Burundi, the United Nations, and international NGOs must act in concert immediately to avert further suffering of the Burundian people.
The prospects for resolution of the humanitarian and
political crisis in Burundi continue to look very
bleak. There is an opportunity, however, at this
moment for the international community to help save
lives in the Northeastern provinces - the most
populous region in Burundi. But the Government of
Burundi, the United Nations, and international NGOs
must act in concert immediately to avert further
suffering of the Burundian people.


Refugees International was in Burundi this past month,
following up on three assessment missions in 2000. On
the current mission, just completed, RI noted three
encouraging developments. First, in December, the
Paris Conference of world donors pledged an
unprecedented $440 million for the development and
reconstruction of Burundi, pledges that were
implicitly linked to continued progress on peace as
outlined in the Arusha Peace Accord of August 2000.
Second, the UN and the government of Burundi signed a
protocol agreement to discuss the plight of the
internally displaced. Third, NGOs and UN humanitarian
agencies have witnessed an increased level of security
in the Northeast.


The Northeast has been afflicted by a two-year
catastrophic cycle of drought followed by heavy rains
as well as an epidemic of malaria. The Burundian
Ministry of Public Health reported 1.8 million cases
of malaria in the last four months of 2000 alone, with
more than three million cases treated during the whole
of 2000. This disease currently affects one out of
every two Burundians, with most of this epidemic
occurring in the Northeast, the same area that is now
suffering from a dramatic increase in malnutrition.


The NGOs operating feeding centers in the Northeast
report that they are facing triple the number of
people compared to 18 months ago, and they do not have
enough capacity to meet the increased need. The 2000
harvest was below normal and the current harvest will
be meager, as the rains have been unusually heavy
during the planting season, washing out seeds and
bringing both flashfloods and erosion. The
consequences of malaria and growing malnutrition take
a large toll on farmers, as they depend upon their
physical health to plant and harvest. And, because of
the civil war, a UN official told Refugees
International, "these people have not been eating well
for seven years."


The government of Burundi needs to highlight this
catastrophe. "The government has a big responsibility
to tell the international community what is
happening," one UN official told RI, "There are things
that foreigners cannot do in the government's place."
In spite of a failed peace process and continuous
fighting, the government should raise a call for help
for the plagued Northeast.


The humanitarian community cannot count on an end to
conflict in Burundi. While the Arusha Peace Accord
signed on August 28, 2000 raised hopes for peace in
Burundi, the war continues today. Current formal talks
in Arusha being mediated by Nelson Mandela are
deadlocked over the issue of who will lead the
transition. Yet, without a cease-fire, all talk of a
transitional government is moot. Furthermore, peace in
Burundi is integrally linked to peace in the
Democratic Republic of Congo. Until the region becomes
more stable with fewer armies and militias, there will
not be much pressure on Burundi to find a solution to
their own civil war. There is a glimmer of hope that
such stability may be achieved in light of recent
agreements on the timetable for withdrawal of foreign
forces from the DRC.


While donors have rightly attached the condition of
peace to their development and reconstruction
packages, emergency assistance is not, and should not
be, so constrained. The humanitarian relief effort in
Burundi is characterized by repeated shortfalls in
donor pledges and lack of access to the beneficiary
population because of insecurity. The UN has shown
that it can respond to this catastrophe when it
supplied Burundi with an emergency supply of free
malarial medication last year. Much more of this kind
of emergency aid will need to be coordinated to
alleviate the humanitarian impact of the current
seasonal disasters.


Many international NGO personnel interviewed by RI
spoke of their confidence in the current security in
the Northeast provinces, although they note that risks
and restrictions still exist. Those interviewed stated
that, unlike several months ago, they can now run
their programs in the Northeast in safety, setting an
example for humanitarian access that might later apply
to the whole country. In order to assure the continued
safety of beneficiaries, NGOs that run feeding centers
should make sure that the distribution of
supplementary food is also cooked and consumed by
malnourished populations on the spot.


The UN humanitarian agencies should continue to
fulfill their obligations to the people of Burundi
with a campaign geared towards educating the
beneficiary population, the Burundian government, and
the rebel groups on international humanitarian
principles. "The ideal is to be able to explain who
you are without armed escort," another UN official
told RI last week. "We are not politicians, we are not
soldiers, and we have a right to come there, as the
beneficiary population has rights and needs that we
are addressing." There are qualified, committed NGOs
in Burundi willing to accept risks in order to deliver
humanitarian aid, and they should be backed by a
strong, clear and consistent UN voice. One way the UN
can facilitate humanitarian access is through the
distribution, disbursement and communication of
international humanitarian principles in the local
language.


In short, the humanitarian community can and should
step forward now to respond to these latest natural
disasters in the Northeast. Responding now would mean
mitigating the effects of both an epidemic and
projected failed crops to be harvested in May.


Recommendations:


The Government of Burundi should launch an immediate
international appeal for the disaster in the
Northeast.


The UN agencies can maximize their efforts and assist
their implementing partners by projecting clear,
consistent communication on humanitarian aid. The UN
needs to distribute humanitarian principles in the
local language as is being done by the humanitarian
aid community in the DRC.


Source: Refugee International
http://www.refugeesinternational.org/bulletins/cg_022801_01.html

KENYA: Corruption bills priority for Kenyan parliament

2001-03-26

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1230000/1230729.stm)

President Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya has said African states must work together to meet the challenges posed by globalisation.
Tuesday, 20 March, 2001, 15:04 GMT
Face globalisation challenge, says Moi

President Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya has said African states must work together to meet the challenges posed by globalisation.

Opening parliament in Nairobi, Mr Moi said African leaders should concentrate on creating a stable political climate for investors rather than wasting time on what he called 'endless wrangles'.

The President said a new anti-corruption bill would be put before parliament, which would address shortcomings in the existing act.

Last year, bills to fight corruption were voted down by a combination of opposition parties and rebel members of the ruling party.

The International Monetary Fund has demanded that Kenya take robust action against corruption before it lifts its suspension of loans to the country.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service

Mozambique's Downward Spiral

2001-03-26

http://allafrica.com/stories/200103220407.html

Some fear that Carlos Cardoso's murder might never be fully investigated as 'many more crimes' would be uncovered. It has been more than three months since the assassination of Mozambique's leading investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso.
Mozambique's Downward Spiral

Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg)

March 23, 2001
Posted to the web March 22, 2001

Rehad Desai
Johannesburg

Some fear that Carlos Cardoso's murder might never be fully investigated as 'many more crimes' would be uncovered. It has been more than three months since the assassination of Mozambique's leading investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso.

Last week the minister of police announced he had captured the hit men responsible. The announcement was followed shortly by the arrest of those suspected to have ordered the killing: brothers Mamade Abdul Satar and Ayob Abdul Satar and Vincent Ramaya.

The three suspects had been named in 1998 by investigating attorney Albana Silva, in connection with a $14-million fraud two years earlier involving the parastatal Banco Commercial of Mozambique (BCM). In 1999 Silva narrowly escaped an attempt on his life when his car was riddled with bullets. It was the same method used in Cardoso's murder.

The case has never come to court. Evidence went missing and essential papers were disorganised.The state attorney's office seems to have botched up the case, with allegations of corruption among some of the attorneys involved, notably Diamantino dos Santos " now on the run, after a warrant was issued for his arrest in January this year.

Now the state attorney's office claims its case against Ramaya, the Satar brothers and their alleged confederates is back on track. It has taken the state a full three years to piece its case together again. In this time Silva has nearly lost his life and the country's leading journalist has been brutally murdered for repeatedly asking why these men had not been arrested.

One wonders why it took a murder investigation to have these arrested.

President Joachim Chissano's son, recently reported as having been arrested for the second time for possession of large amounts of cocaine, is believed to be an acquaintence of the Satar brothers and has regularly been seen at their house in Maputo.

There are many concerned people in Mozambique convinced that Cardoso's death was a result of his unflinching disregard for those politicians who have enriched themselves from their links with organised crime. He and he alone tested the limits of freedom of expression in this respect. No one was spared criticism when it came to the development of Mozambique and the abuse of power.

At the time of his death he was investigating why the BCM was short of $110- million. He suspected huge amounts had been given to leading Frelimo figures as loans. An hour before his death he was set to launch the Movement for Peace and Democracy following the death of 80 Renamo prisoners in Monte Puez. He hoped this would form the beginning of a political alternative to Frelimo and other parties.

Fernando Lima, a leading Mozambican journalist, has written that Cardoso would often state to those close to him that he would not be surprised if he became the victim of a hit.

Mia Couto, a leading writer with former affiliations to Frelimo, argues that Cardoso's murder will not be investigated, as "many more crimes" would be uncovered. For Couto, "Cardoso's murder is part of a pattern that is part of the wider murder of Mozambique and this is something that cannot be investigated".

Mozambique's "miracle economic growth and transition to democracy" is extremely superficial. Its growth rates are, firstly, set on an extremely low base of economic activity. The country has no manufacturing to speak of.

Its democracy is very fragile; the fear of being silenced is very real.

The fear of losing your job by speaking out is widespread. Part of this is the legacy of a one-party state; more worrying is that it continues for other reasons in the free market economy.

Access to business opportunities is circumscribed by one's links to one of the several leading families. Cardoso called this recent trend clannic economic development. Such opportunities for Mozambicans usually involve little more than steering applicants through the corridors of state departments, greasing the machinery of the bureaucracy along the way.

Moreover, democracy does not mean much where the World Bank determines economic policy that has, among other things, led to the destruction of the reemergent cashew industry and the near ruin of the nascent sugar industry through demanding tariffs be decreased. The sugar industry was able to survive because most of its investors were international and the International Monetary Fund therefore backed down on its insistence on removing tariff control.

Corruption is not only limited to the top of the governmental hierarchy.

According to Paul Favet, editor of Mozambique News, parents are often forced to pay teachers to ensure their children pass their exams.

Patients are often forced to pay nurses to ensure that they are serviced adequately in hospital. It is true that government is trying to address this problem through increasing wage levels " but to deal with it at the top would spell the end of Frelimo's rule.

The newly established Mozambican South African Friendship Society, founded with the assistance of Deputy President Jacob Zuma, cannot allow itself to continue to go along with the rest of the international community in turning a blind eye to the erosion of the moral fabric of Mozambican society. To do so indirectly supports the spiral downward into lawlessness akin to the Wild West of America 150 years ago.

It seems the country's rapid reintegration into the Southern African and international economy has led to a scramble of those in power or with access to influence for the crumbs from multimillion-dollar investments that are being made from the sale and privatisation of national assets and services.

Whoever gets in the way, as in America's expansion westward, is likely to face the same fate as Cardoso.

Rehad Desai is currently directing a documentary on Carlos Cardoso

NIGERIA: Anglican church condemns corruption

2001-03-26

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news2/nn816007.html

In a statement by its Primate Peter Akinola and Secretary, Samuel Akinola, the church regarded as the second largest in Nigeria noted that public office holders brazenly display "conspicuous affluence" in contrast to the level of poverty in the country. It said: "Political office holders at federal, state and local government over-provide for themselves, a mass wealth and live in affluence out of public funds".
The Guardian Online - http://ngrguardiannews.com
Wednesday, March 21, 2001
Anglican church condemns corruption, wealth display by office holders

FROM the pulpit came yesterday a hard knock on the present political leadership for their insatiable thirst for wealth and corruption.

And for such leadership's failure to provide the citizenry with basic amenities, the Church of Nigeria believes it is sheer sycophancy for any sane person to want a re-election or re-appointment of such political office holders.

In a statement by its Primate Peter Akinola and Secretary, Samuel Akinola, the church regarded as the second largest in Nigeria noted that public office holders brazenly display "conspicuous affluence" in contrast to the level of poverty in the country.

It said: "Political office holders at federal, state and local government over-provide for themselves, a mass wealth and live in affluence out of public funds".

According to the statement, "the apparent inability of the Federal Government to check this dangerous development casts doubt on the seriousness of its anti-corruption and transparency policies".

All the three tiers of government, it urged, should ensure prompt payment of salaries to civil servants and pensions to retired persons to minimise hardship on their families.

In the statement after its meeting in the Rivers State capital, Port-Harcourt, the church condemned the clamour by some Nigerians for the present leadership to continue in office.

"With dismay, we condemn the recent clamour by some Nigerians for some present political leaders to be given automatic second term in office."

While denouncing the agitation for second term in office, it drew the attention of political leaders to "sizeable" sections of the country that are yet to feel the impact of the present administration on their lives.

The church, therefore, called on all political office holders to concentrate their efforts on making food and other socio-economic amenities available and affordable to all Nigerians, rather than angling to retain their offices.

It also urged politicians to promote justice and security and further create jobs for the growing army of unemployed youths to check the social problems in the country, while appealing to them to shun cheap publicity in all their endeavours.

Besides, it called on the government to devise appropriate strategies to solve irregular fuel supply and its scarcity, as well as give "tangible" reasons to Nigerians on why it wants to deregulate the petroleum industry.

The statement further called on both federal and state governments to without delay, return schools previously owned by missions and other private proprietors to their original owners.

Nigerians' Hopes in Elected Leader Fade

2001-03-26

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A25759-2001Mar19?language=printer

When Nigeria threw off military rule and restored democracy in 1999, the country's newly elected leaders immediately set their sights on eliminating the worst aspects of the old regime. They ended long lines at gasoline stations. They set about shoring up the country's crumbling infrastructure. They went to war on corruption and tried to balance the books.
Nigerians' Hopes in Elected Leader Fade
Gas Shortages, Neglected Infrastructure Hark Back to Years of Military Rule

By Douglas Farah
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, March 21, 2001; Page A23


LAGOS, Nigeria -- When Nigeria threw off military rule and restored democracy in 1999, the country's newly elected leaders immediately set their sights on eliminating the worst aspects of the old regime. They ended long lines at gasoline stations. They set about shoring up the country's crumbling infrastructure. They went to war on corruption and tried to balance the books.

Two years later, the gas lines are back. The infrastructure is still a shambles. The latest government budget includes $330 million for a national soccer stadium -- more than will be spent on health or education. And Nigerians are wondering why the promising future is starting to look so much like the dreary past.

When he took office in May 1999, ending 16 years of corrupt and brutal military rule, President Olusegun Obasanjo, a retired general, raised hopes at home and abroad that he would be able to make the tough choices necessary to revive the economy of Africa's most populous nation. He immediately made funds available to purchase fuel and ended the shortages that, even though Nigeria produces 2 million barrels of oil a day, had forced motorists to wait in long lines and led to massive blackouts, hampering the economy and impeding foreign investment.

But those hopes have faded. Gasoline lines have reappeared in recent weeks, and the electricity supply is dwindling, largely because politicians and former military leaders are siphoning off the fuel to sell at a 400 percent markup on the black market, according to diplomats, government officials and irate motorists.

At the same time, Obasanjo not only included the new stadium in his latest budget but also allocated tens of millions of dollars for new jets for himself, the vice president and other senior government officials, and for new office furniture for the government. The planned expenditures contrast sharply with Obasanjo's rhetoric during his first two years in office, much of which was spent globe-trotting to seek relief from Nigeria's $35 billion foreign debt while promising austerity and poverty reduction at home.

Diplomats and politicians here say Obasanjo and other political leaders are gearing up for elections in 2003. In their efforts to cement political alliances and win over various constituencies, they are allowing this nation of 120 million to slip back to the edge of economic collapse in a budget-busting binge characterized by a refusal to make potentially costly decisions on halting corruption and privatizing the vast, inefficient state-run economy.

"This is what happens when you start running for reelection two years early: You can't make the tough choices," said a diplomat who follows economics. "You try to give everyone something. It stinks politically."

Even Obasanjo's critics acknowledge that he inherited an enormous task, taking office with an empty treasury, billions of dollars of debt and an infrastructure that had suffered from decades of neglect. But there is growing concern at home and abroad that he is committing many of the same mistakes that helped Nigeria's military justify its last takeover, in 1983.

While few say that the now discredited and demoralized military poses a threat to democracy, there is concern that a return to ostentatious government spending and the resulting lack of economic growth will fan the regional, ethnic and religious rivalries that constantly test the strength of the Nigerian federation.

"People generally are disgusted," said Tunji Braithwaite, a lawyer and former presidential candidate known for his opposition to the military. "Things like the stadium are absolutely a white elephant, with no rational thinking. Corruption is surging, not declining. It is criminal to have gas lines in this country, yet they are growing worse.

"It is hard to see where this is going to end."

Nigeria's immense population and prodigious oil production ensure that concern about the country's future extends far beyond its borders. The United States views Nigeria as a vital ally in West Africa, a region beset by conflict in nearby Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea and political instability in Ivory Coast, U.S. officials said. And while the Bush administration has been largely silent on policy toward Africa, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told the House International Relations Committee this month that "I think we can be sort of proud now as to the start that President Obasanjo has made putting his country back on the right path."

But a State Department report released this month said Nigeria's economy is "static, with growth still impeded by grossly inadequate infrastructure, endemic corruption and general economic mismanagement. The country's ports, roads, water and power infrastructure are collapsing."

What economists, analysts and diplomats find especially worrisome is that the government has made so little progress in setting up a viable economic program at a time when oil prices have skyrocketed on the world market, providing millions of dollars in extra revenue.

"The pervasive corruption so cripples the system it makes it impossible for any solution or formula to work," said Mofia Akobo, a former oil minister who now works as an environmentalist. "What is worse is that Obasanjo appears to be totally unable to deal with the situation. It is a very tricky and dangerous situation for the country."

Obasanjo recently joked that the fuel supply was "jinxed" and said he could do little to solve the shortages because the legislature had blocked all moves to deregulate the heavily subsidized price of gasoline, making smuggling inside and outside the country extremely profitable.

Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., said in a report released this week that the fuel crisis was caused by an increase in demand for gasoline coupled with the fact that the nation's four refineries, hobbled by lack of maintenance, were operating at only 31 percent of capacity.

But gasoline is readily available all over the country. Busy intersections and gas stations are lined with young men openly displaying five-gallon plastic jugs full of fuel -- available for four times the official price of 80 cents a gallon.

While most gas stations receive a limited amount of fuel to sell at the official price, tankers arrive at night and unload much larger quantities that are then sold on the black market, according to gasoline sellers.

That is part of what makes people such as Emanuel Seuger so bitter. Waiting in a gasoline line that stretched a least a mile in the southern city of Port Harcourt, Seuger said he blamed the government for the problems.

"I wait in line every day for at least two hours. Sometimes I lose the whole day or spend the night in line," he said, sitting in the cab of his pickup truck, inching ahead one car length every few minutes. "I blame the government for not being able to fix the problem. We have two refineries in Port Harcourt. How can we not have gasoline? I feel like I'm trapped in hell."

[Planned weeklong protests against a proposed 50 percent increase in gas prices started yesterday in some of Nigeria's 36 states, and a major rally is planned today in Lagos, the Reuters news agency reported.]

As for the budget's soccer stadium, Obasanjo has defended building a world-class facility for the nation's premier sport as necessary for the country to host international games. And he has argued that Nigeria's aging fleet of official aircraft endangers the lives of those they transport.

But economists and international analysts here say the new budget is not only wasteful, it jeopardizes a vital $1 billion emergency standby loan authorized by the International Monetary Fund and seen as crucial to easing Nigeria's constant liquidity crisis. This is because the budget spends far more on projects such as the stadium than the government agreed to when it negotiated the loan.

"We have an economy that has almost reached its capacity for inefficiency," said one diplomat. "On a positive note, things can't get much worse. But there is nothing I can point to that this government has done to make things better."

© 2001 The Washington Post Company

Nyanga Declaration

Transparency International launches campaign to repatriate Africa’s stolen wealth

2001-03-26

http://www.transparency.org

The members of the United Nations should adopt an international treaty to expedite the tracing, recovery and repatriation of wealth stolen from developing countries and transferred abroad, declared the representatives of Transparency International from 11 African countries, following a meeting held in Nyanga, Zimbabwe, on 1-4 March 2001.
The Nyanga Declaration, released today (the text follows at the end of the press release), calls for “the sealing of all known loopholes, requiring banks to open their books for inspection where there is reasonable cause to suspect illegal activity, and mandatory liquidation and repatriation of assets known to have been corruptly acquired”.

Last year, Transparency International brought together 11 leading international banks to announce their agreement on the Wolfsberg Anti-Money Laundering Principles. The new guidelines on business conduct in international private banking state: “Bank policy will be to prevent the use of its world-wide operations for criminal purposes. The bank will endeavour to accept only those clients whose source of wealth and funds can be reasonably established to be legitimate.” The principles, signed on October 30, 2000, also deal with the identification and follow-up of unusual or suspicious activities.

The representatives of Transparency International from 11 African countries expressed their support for the Wolfsberg Principles as “a first step towards stopping the movement of illicit wealth”.

The Declaration calls upon the Organisation of African Unity to “take a leadership role in representing the interests of Africa with regard to the return of Africa’s stolen wealth wherever it may be found on the globe and, as a first step, should adopt all reasonable measures to prevent the illegal appropriation and transfer of moneys from Africa’s treasuries”.

The Nyanga Declaration was adopted by representatives of TI from: Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

For further information, please contact:
John Githongo,
Executive Director, TI Kenya
Tel: +254-2 582 841
Fax: +254-2 583 130
Email: tikenya@wananchi.com

Roslyn Hees, Executive Director (Africa)
Transparency International Secretariat
Tel: +49 30 3438 2035
Fax: +49 30 3470 3912
Email: rhees@transparency.org

THE NYANGA DECLARATION ON THE RECOVERY AND REPATRIATION OF AFRICA’S WEALTH ILLEGALLY APPROPRIATED AND BANKED OR INVESTED ABROAD

We, the representatives of Transparency International in 11 African countries, meeting in Nyanga, Zimbabwe, on 1 – 4 March 2001,

Affirming the fundamental human right to development of all African peoples;

Aware of the negative role corruption has played in undermining Africa’s fragile democracies and hindering her people’s efforts to attain sustainable development;

Noting recent initiatives aimed at creating a just global socio-economic order, including the Jubilee 2000 debt cancellation campaign;

Aware that an estimated US$ 20-40 billion has over the decades been illegally and corruptly appropriated from some of the world’s poorest countries , most of them in Africa, by politicians, soldiers, businesspersons and other leaders, and kept abroad in form of cash, stocks and bonds, real estate and other assets;

Persuaded that, with the co-operation of all relevant actors, such illicit wealth is identifiable, traceable and potentially recoverable;

Noting that the Nigerian government has succeeded in recovering an estimated US$ 750 million illegally appropriated and transferred abroad by the Abacha military regime, but that this is just a tiny fraction of the billions of dollars estimated to have been stolen by that regime;

Noting further the success of the Jewish Claims Conference in tracing and recovering assets of the Jewish people stolen by the Nazi regime during the 2nd World War;

Observing that while international law and the laws of many countries provide stringent measures to prevent the laundering of drug money and to trace and recover the proceeds of organised crime, they are completely silent on wealth stolen and illicitly transferred from Africa’s poorest countries;

Recalling Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo’s address to the UN General Assembly in September 1999 calling for the creation of an international convention for the repatriation of Africa’s wealth illicitly appropriated and kept abroad;

Supporting the Wolfsberg Anti-Money Laundering Principles, adopted by 11 major international banks under the auspices of Transparency International on 30 October 2000, as a first step towards stopping the movement of illicit wealth;

Hereby declare

1. That it is not only illegal but blatantly immoral that so much wealth stolen from some of the world’s poorest countries is allowed to circulate freely in the economies of some of the world’s wealthiest nations in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and diverse offshore havens.

2. That while the call for the cancellation of Third World debt is noble and deserving of full support, it is inherently inconsistent to call for the cancellation of Africa’s debts while much of the money originally lent remains illegally invested or banked in privately held accounts abroad.

3. That African Chapters of Transparency International shall spearhead an international campaign for the tracing, recovery and repatriation of Africa’s stolen wealth and the formation of a Global Coalition of individuals, Non-Governmental Organisations, Community Based Organisations and other relevant actors to pursue this end.

4. That the global Transparency International movement should prioritise the recovery of Africa’s stolen wealth in its activities and should show the same leadership it exhibited with regard to the Wolfsberg Principles by calling for and supporting an international legal framework to stop the illegal flow of illicit assets from poor countries and to recover and repatriate corruptly acquired wealth.

5. That the international community, under the auspices of the United Nations, should as a matter of priority, adopt a treaty to expedite the tracing, recovery and repatriation of wealth stolen from developing countries and transferred abroad, including sealing of all known loopholes, requiring banks to open their books for inspection where there is reasonable cause to suspect illegal activity, and mandatory liquidation and repatriation of assets known to have been corruptly acquired.

6. That all countries should tighten their banking laws to ensure that moneys illicitly appropriated from African treasuries are not granted safe havens in banks or non-bank financial institutions operating in those countries.

7. That African representatives of Transparency International should lobby their governments for legislative reform to seal all known loopholes that allow the illegal appropriation of public money from their treasuries and to punish the culprits, as well as to create frameworks for receiving recovered and repatriated moneys.

8. That the Organisation of African Unity should take a leadership role in representing the interests of Africa with regard to the return of Africa’s stolen wealth wherever it may be found on the globe and, as a first step, should adopt all reasonable measures to prevent the illegal appropriation and transfer of moneys from Africa’s treasuries.

9. That all international initiatives aimed at the promulgation of a more just global socio-economic order, including campaigns for debt cancellation, should insert into their campaigns an explicit focus on recovering and repatriating assets stolen from developing countries as a necessary condition to the realisation of a more just and fair global community.

10. That a strategic alliance be formed with all relevant actors from all parts of the world to keep the issue of the recovery and return of illicitly gained wealth at the top of the global agenda.

Adopted at Nyanga, Zimbabwe, this 4th Day of March 2001.

Sikaneta Fails to Clear Zambia's Name

2001-03-26

http://library.northernlight.com/FC20010319390000149.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#doc

Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services permanent secretary Susan Sikaneta on Friday tried in vain to deny the existence of rampant corruption in government.
Title: Sikaneta Fails to Clear Zambia's Corrupt Image

Summary: Lusaka, Mar 19, 2001 (Post of Zambia/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX)-- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services permanent secretary Susan Sikaneta on Friday tried in vain to deny the existence of rampant corruption in government.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: Africa News Service
Date: 03/19/2001 14:21
Price: Free
Document Size: Short (1 or 2 pages)
Document ID: FC20010319390000149
Subject(s): ANS; Bank; Banking; Broadcasting; Community; Crime; Democracy; Executive; Fire; Foundation; Government; Hotel; Housing; Index; Kwacha; Law; Legislation; Media; Money; Nigeria; Politics; Poverty; Property; Salaries; Sales; Supreme Court; University; War; Zambia




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sikaneta Fails to Clear Zambia's Corrupt Image

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Story Filed: Monday, March 19, 2001 2:21 PM EST

Lusaka, Mar 19, 2001 (Post of Zambia/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX)-- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services permanent secretary Susan Sikaneta on Friday tried in vain to deny the existence of rampant corruption in government.

At a discussion organised by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) under the theme Underlying Causes of Corruption in Zambian Society at Lusaka's Taj Pamodzi Hotel, Sikaneta came under fire from University of Pretoria lecturer Professor Michelo Hansungule (in picture) whose presentation she had described as raw and exaggerated. Sikaneta questioned the reliability of Prof. Hansungule's criteria in determining whether or not Zambia was a corrupt country, further accusing him of denting the image of Zambia abroad.

"The problem is that our determination of corruption is not based on concrete and factual data if and where available, but on our own set minds and attitudes, what we think rather than what the reality is on the ground, concretely," Sikaneta said.

She further accused Prof. Hansungule of jumping to false conclusions by suggesting that some Zambians who were banking their money in Swiss secret accounts were corrupt. "I wish to caution here that we should not jump to conclusions that rich people are corrupt," Sikaneta said. "There are those who are rich who have earned their wealth through hard work and honest and decent means." But Sikaneta failed to give convincing reasons when Prof.

Hansungule challenged her on why some Zambians were banking in secret accounts which were usually associated with "dirty" money. Prof. Hansungule reminded Sikaneta that secret accounts were as a result of the World War II when people wanted to "hide" their money from the Nazi government and wondered why Zambians should be "hiding" their money in the same accounts when the country was not even at war.

"When old bones are mentioned, an old man gets affected," Prof. Hansungule said. "People only banked in Swiss secret accounts during the time of war, during World War II. Zambia is not even in a war situation and it's unlikely that Zambia will be at war. How do we explain that some Zambians have become so rich that they can now bank in Swiss secret accounts?" Prof. Hansungule maintained that most rich people from poor countries who banked in these accounts were corrupt.

He further challenged Sikaneta to justify why there were disparities in terms of the currencies in which different permanent secretaries got their salaries when they were all at the same level. Prof. Hansungule said the differences confirmed the existence of institutionalised corruption in government.

"Certain public officials such as permanent secretaries are actually paid for in US dollars while others get their money in Kwacha," Prof. Hansungule said. "This only explains institutional corruption through conditions of service which are clearly corrupt." Prof. Hansungule said it was frightening to note that Zambia featured prominently among the most corrupt countries in Transparency International's corruption index. He said despite Zambia being a poor country, corruption was almost at the same level with Nigeria which is considered to be the world's most corrupt nation.

"Even though it is not Nigeria, the world's number one corrupt country, the fact that a country as poor as Zambia and with such a small population can capture the attention of the international community as a corrupt society speaks volumes of the kind of problem the people in this country are facing," said Prof. Hansungule.

Integrity Foundation secretary general Dr. Stephen Moyo wondered how Sikaneta could be defending government on corruption when it had failed to account for the loss of US $150 million from cobalt sales. Dr. Moyo wondered why Sikaneta believed there was little corruption in government when it was operating illegal entities like the Presidential Housing Initiative as well as the presidential discretionary fund which he said was only used to corrupt people. Dr. Moyo said most unexplained deaths in Zambia were linked to organised crime which was ultimately linked to corruption. Sikaneta got annoyed when Afronet executive director Ngande Mwanajiti suggested that she speaking out of ignorance.

"I would like to end by saying what the old man, Super Ken (Dr. Kenneth Kaunda) used to say: 'Let's fight ignorance'," Mwanajiti said. But Sikaneta maintained whatever she said was based on concrete facts. "Mr. Mwanajiti has accused me of being ignorant.

I would want to say that what I said was from concrete facts," she said. "There must be proof that can be used to benefit all of us." A former ACC employee, Nobert Mumba questioned why certain individuals had property disproportionate to their emoluments. He said as long as such a situation existed, people would be right to believe in the existence of corruption in government.

"The biggest problem is the proportion of property. Some people were walking, they were crawling a few days ago, where have they got all the property from?" Mumba asked.

"It's difficult to understand the disproportion of emoluments to property." Mumba called for the restructuring of the ACC to ensure that more powers were given to them. He suggested the scrapping of search warrants so that officers could pounce on suspects without alert.

Mumba also suggested that ACC director be given more powers so that he could proceed with prosecution without getting clearance from the Director of Public Prosecution who is his junior.

He said the ACC director was a Supreme Court judge and wondered why he should get instructions from the DPP whether or not to prosecute someone. In his paper, Prof.

Hansungule said corruption was as a result of personal greed, poverty, lack of democracy and political commitment while some people were born criminals.

Other causes were blamed on the low rate of success of convictions of cases in the courts of law, complex and discretionary legislation, inadequate procedures and lack of ethical codes of conduct. Prof. Hansungule said corruption had risen because society had patronised it. Sikaneta said corruption would only be fought through fear of the Lord, respecting the law and maintaining order.

She said the fight would also depend on personal integrity of citizens. "If we cannot be involved in corrupt activities for fear of the Lord, then let us fear the law and maintain order," she said. "The solution also lies in personal integrity." She appealed to the media and the Church to take the lead in the fight against corruption.

by Webster Malido

Copyright Post of Zambia. Distributed by All Africa Global Media(AllAfrica.com)


KEYWORD: Zambia


Copyright © 2001, Africa News Service, all rights reserved.


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SOUTH AFRICA: FRAUD AT EASTERN CAPE DEPT TRANSPORT

2001-03-26

http://www.psam.ru.ac.za

The Public Service Accountability Monitor (an independent research and monitoring unit based at Rhodes University) has criticized the Eastern Cape department of Transport for failing to take effective disciplinary action over a five year period against a senior state accountant who was arrested for allegedly attempting to defraud the department of R950000 in 1996.
The Public Service Accountability Monitor (an independent research and monitoring unit based at Rhodes University) has criticized the Eastern Cape
department of Transport for failing to take effective disciplinary action over a five year period against a senior state accountant who was arrested for allegedly attempting to defraud the department of R950000 in 1996.


According to court documents obtained by the PSAM, Ms Nomathansanqa Sokutu
was arrested and charged with fraud in the Zwelitsha Regional Court on 1 June 1996. She was then released on bail of R5000 on 19 August. The case against Ms Sokutu was subsequently withdrawn on 25 November 1996. The case docket could not be located.


Ms Sokutu is still currently employed by the department of Transport in Bisho as a senior state accountant. After 5 years she has yet to be charged with misconduct and to appear before a departmental disciplinary hearing.


In an interview with the head of department, Mr Zola Gebeda, the PSAM has
said that the Transport department can ill afford to allow cases of alleged fraud involving its officials to go uninvestigated given its history of weak financial management. Between 1996 and 1999 the Auditor-General has said that R766, 468 million in funds allocated to the department could not be adequately accounted for by its senior management.


Mr Gebeda has assured the PSAM that he is currently attempting to establish
what happened to
the criminal and internal disciplinary investigations into the case.


The PSAM routinely awards scores to those key officials responsible for
handling cases of
corruption and maladministration in government departments. These scores are
based on their
compliance with prescribed regulations and codes of conduct. The Eastern
Cape MEC for
Transport at the time of this incident was Dr Tertius Delport (the current
Democratic Alliance
spokesperson on Justice). His performance is scored 0 out of 10.


Between the end of 1996 and March 2001 Mrs Mandisa Marasha (the current
deputy Speaker of
the Eastern Cape Legislature), Mr Thobile Mhlahlo and Mr Dennis Neer have
all served as MEC
responsible for Transport in the Eastern Cape. All of the above have been
awarded a score of 0
out of 10.


The head of the department during the above period, Mr Vanguard Mkosana, has
also been
awarded a score of 0 out of 10. The Financial Manager for the department, Mr
Nelson Tom, has
been awarded a score of 1 out of 10 for his handling of the case.


For the full details of this case, including transcripts and audio of the
PSAM's interview with the
head of department, please visit www.psam.ru.ac.za click Current Cases and
then click
Transport.

SOUTH AFRICA: Top cop accused of extortion quits

2001-03-26

http://www.mg.co.za/mg/za/archive/2001mar/features/22mar-cop.html

Top cop accused of extortion quits. One of Durban's top policemen resigned this week after allegedly being caught attempting to extort R10 000 from a city doctor.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


23:16 Sunday 25 March 2001


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March 22, 2001



Top cop accused of extortion quits

One of Durban's top policemen resigned this week after allegedly being caught attempting to extort R10 000 from a city doctor



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PAUL KIRK


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The resignation of Superintendent Christie Marimuthu comes days after he was arrested by members of the police anti-corruption unit and formally charged with extortion.
Marimuthu had allegedly called a Durban doctor into his office and demanded cash in exchange for dropping an investigation into his affairs. The detective, who was given the task of investigating organised crime, had allegedly discovered the doctor had submitted a dodgy insurance claim after household goods had been stolen from his home.

The doctor claimed he needed to withdraw the cash and returned soon after with the money. However, he brought the anti-corruption unit in tow. The unit set up a sting operation and monitored the alleged exchange of cash.

At the time of his arrest Marimuthu was facing several disciplinary charges. Last year police discovered a hijacked car on his property. Questioned by members of the serious and violent crimes unit, Marimuthu claimed the car belonged to his son. He was not charged but it was the second time a missing vehicle had been recovered on his property within six months.

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Police instituted a disciplinary hearing against Marimuthu on charges of misconduct. However, now that he has resigned from the police, the hearing will not be held and Marimuthu will walk away with a considerable pension.

Marimuthu was not available for comment at his palatial home north of Durban. According to men on his property who would not identify themselves, he was "out of town on business".

Over the years Marimuthu has been the subject of several police investigations - all of which have failed. The top detective had allegedly been fingered by police informers for numerous crimes - including the theft and hijacking of shipping containers from Durban harbour.

One investigation focusing on Marimuthu that was handled by the organised crime unit was nicknamed Operation Jamal, after a potent laxative that grows wild in Durban. The former head of the unit, Piet Meyer, is reputed to have chosen the name as he "wanted Marimuthu to shit himself".

Ironically, Meyer was himself in the dock this week. He is accused of having taken a king's ransom in bribes from illegal casino operations in the province, of protecting drug lords and members of biker gangs, and of stealing from the police by falsely claiming reward money for informers who never existed.

This week the Durban Magistrate's Court heard that Meyer paid cash for various large purchases, including a 4x4 that was financed by bundles of cash he took out of a plastic bag.



-- The Mail&Guardian, March 22, 2001.

Material on the Daily Mail&Guardian site may not be republished without permission

DRIVING FORWARD IN REVERSE GEAR

The dilemma of developing Africa!

2001-03-26

http://www.acts.or.ke/sacred/Report%20-%20Driving%20force%20in%20reverse%20gear.htm

One dilemma that continues to puzzle development workers in Africa is how to get rural communities to participate in identifying their collective problems, analyzing them, ranking / prioritizing and generally initiating and managing sustainable projects with a high chance of solving these problems both in the short and long term.
ABSTRACT

One dilemma that continues to puzzle development
workers in Africa is how to get rural communities to
participate in identifying their collective problems,
analyzing them, ranking / prioritizing and generally
initiating and managing sustainable projects with a
high chance of solving these problems both in the
short and long term.


While it is generally agreed that peoples
participation is of paramount importance in
accelerating and facilitating development, it is now
starting to emerge that participation alone cannot
work. There is need to put development in the wider
social-economic and political realities of the
communities involved. It is noteworthy that over 70%
of development workers in Africa either do not bother
to understand this reality, or have no linkages with
the sources of this information. The other difficult
part has been getting rural communities to break with
the age old tradition of dependence on hand-outs which
was created either during or after colonial occupation
ceased.


As we enter into the new century and millennium,
sub-Saharan Africa is rife with poverty, malnutrition,
hunger and starvation, HIV/Aids and unpreceded
environmental degradation. Poverty is today growing
faster than the population and the continent has never
been in short supply of resources. Prospects appear
bleak in a land of abundant promise. The continent is
muddling through, ill prepared to cope with the
awesome task of dealing simultaneously with short-term
problems and laying a foundation for sustainable
development at the same time. Disillusionment has
been growing and is spreading like a plague invading
the spirits of the few struggling development workers.



Participatory Community Development, which has shown
great promise in solving the continents problems,
soon ran out of resources and became an academic
affair. Those who were promoting it did not have the
patience to wait and see what could come out of it.


SACRED-Africa, an NGO whose mission is to work with
rural farmers to build a better Africa by facilitating
increased agricultural production, food security and
income while protecting and enhancing the environment
has been using participatory community training
research and development approaches. In this paper,
Dr. E. J. Mukhwana, the Director of SACRED-Africa
shares his and other organizations experiences about
the opportunities, challenges and the way forward for
sustainably facilitating development in Africa and
integrating the continent into the rest of the world.
This is considered a mission impossible by many
people, but it is arguably the only way in which real
peace and reconciliation will prevail and prosper in
this world.


INTRODUCTION AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE


The primary cause of Africas problems is a complex
web of internal and eternal factors rather than a
single reason such as colonialism, lack of technology,
corruption, exploitative economic policies, poor
leadership, wars, etc.


In the first place, the pieces of land that call
themselves countries in Africa did not decide to be
what they are out of their own choice. Somebody
somewhere (Berlin Conference in 1884) sat down and
decided that different tribes come together to form
Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, etc. In the process, enemies
and friends were herded together and expected to form
a country with a common vision, aspiration and sense
of belonging. Unfortunately before the arrival of
Europeans (over a century ago) in some of these
countries, some tribes had never heard of the other
tribes that they later joined to form a country, leave
alone seeing them.


>From this reality, it became obvious that this
confusion needed a central working force to make
people work and live together, although up to today,
as we enter the new millennium, some tribes have never
accepted their neighbours and inter-tribal fights in
some places are the order of the day. The central
force soon became dictatorship, as the poor fellows
who were being led did not know what to expect out of
a government  they had never seen any of this type in
their lives. We are talking about only 100 years ago.
Africans had just started learning how to read and
write, seeing vehicles and a white man for the first
time and a host of other confusing technologies such
as telephones, roads, electricity, towns, new crops
and livestock varieties usually as a preserve of the
white settlers. And to confuse it all, modern
centralized governments are introduced. The few who
had ready books and had some exposure naturally
admired and wanted to acquire the new technologies.


They soon wanted to be in power, and indeed because of
several pertinent problems, were able to get the
people to demand for Independence. But, what
independence? Anyhow, it was granted in many
situations to people (read Presidents0 who had not
even led a village. However, it soon became clear,
that left on their own, there wasnt much that
Africans could do. They needed information,
technology and some prescriptions from the North.
Indeed most countries, which became independent, only
did so comestically, as they continued relying on the
former colony on everything.


They soon became dependent on it, (the way a child
gets used to the mothers breast) since in a way it
was beneficial. After all, somebody was paying for
these technologies and it never bothered them very
much. Indeed (assuming that the North was higher up
and Africa further down) these things (funds, loans,
prescriptions, technologies etc) were flowing with aid
of the force of gravity. To sum it all, a lot was
poured and people started to see the light and
became Christians, modern farmers, started to speak
English, Germany, French, Portuguese, name it.


Then came, the green revolution, the sure way for
everybody to have enough food. Fertilizer, chemicals,
certified seeds, tractors, combine harvesters etc.
were poured down the same gradient and naturally
things started to improve. As they ate the food,
they got energy to multiply (and the population grew
too fast), and were able to supply the European and
other western markets with the much needed coffee,
tea, cocoa, palm oil and bananas and it was all very
nice especially now that the most dangerous diseases
such as polio, TB etc. had been contained.


And, there were enough government subsidies supporting
importation and use of more of these inputs.
Agricultural research and extension teams were well
funded, well paid and well equipped. Hospitals had
drugs, factories were being put up and it seemed, at
least to everybody that the much needed development
was on its way to Africa and why not. Co-operative
societies were formed to help the farmers market their
produce and government corporations came in handy to
try and maximize the use of the new technologies and
make money for the governments. Nobody complained.
Farmers made some money, although the educated, the
rich and those close to the ruling class made the best
out of the situation.


This led at the local level to economic
differentiation which in turn led to social
differentiation and segregation. Those who had made
enough money out of the situation became wise men and
women and soon became MPs (leaders). These were seen
as development conscious people who had not only
brought themselves and their families out of poverty,
but also seemed to have the greatest potential to help
the communities and countries achieve development,
which was increasingly becoming elusive. There
were promises of water for all by the year 2000,
Health for all by the year 2000, Electricity for all
by the year 2000. Today, in most sub-Saharan
countries, less than 20% of the people have access to
these services, and the situation is only getting
worse. It has been a case of driving forward in
reverse gear for far too long.


There was much song and dance as the local people
drunk their traditional beer, celebrated and enjoyed.
As this was happening, infrastructure in our urban and
rural areas was becoming extinct. Potholes on the
roads were increasing, there were growing mountains of
garbage, rivers of sewage started flowing
continuously, slums were on the increase and so was
unemployment.


The divide between the Soviet Union and the USA was a
good lubricant, efficiently oiling the system and
maintaining the status quo. Nobody had the courage to
question our leaders the way things were going. Donor
funds and loans were flowing and prosperity was
assured. National holidays were celebrated with much
vigor and those outside the ruling class increasingly
fought to come in.


Those who had made enough money and were within the
system often quarreled among themselves. There were
coups and there were numerous changes in the Chairs
of the heads of states. That was their business, as
the masses that were being ruled did not understand
what some of those things meant. Somehow, they always
celebrated the changes, as things mostly got worse,
but what could one do? What all those in power needed
to do was align themselves with America and dollars
would flow. If America questions too much
(theoretically), they move off and support the Soviet
Union, so the Super powers and their associates were
better off closing their eyes and ears to bad things
and in return get support.


Then things came down crumbling, and the Soviet Union
was no more. Soon the reality started to rain on
unprepared Africans. Now prescriptions had to have
strict orders to be followed. It was like a blanket
that you have been covering yourself with on a cold
winter evening has been suddenly taken away after an
electricity blackout. You have to account for this,
and if you need that, you have to pay for it! Good
enough, but we even dont know how to account. We
never knew the prices of some of these technologies
and could never have afforded them anyway! Nobody was
being begged anymore, after all if you do not agree to
the terms and conditions, where else do you go?
Previously, nobody bothered about how aid and loans
were spend in the name of developing Africa.


Then all over the place, there were words like SAPS,
Liberalization, Privatization, Multiparty democracy,
Globalization, Sustainability, peoples participation,
human rights and empowerment which found new meaning
in Africa. Ask my mother, (English which is the
official language, has remained elusive to her just
like the other 40% or so of other Kenyans) what
liberalization is and she will never tell. So she
will never understand what we are talking about in the
name of helping her.


There has been a new awakening; a new challenge and
all these things need time, patience and resources,
which have only been dwindling faster. African
markets were not prepared for the new reality and
naturally, things have only got worse. You cannot
participate on an empty stomach and the confusion of
what all these has brought will never be understood.
All over the place, poverty is on the increase, and
everything is simply getting worse. When multiparty
democracy was introduced close to 10 years ago in much
of sub-Saharan Africa, there was pomp and celebration.
Rural folks were told that all their problems would
be over. But what a lie?!


All these have led to de-humanizing poverty.
Everybody is blaming another and our friends from the
North have taken off. Who is not familiar with the
begging hands of Africans? Those who arrive on the
continent for the first time, treat Africans as human
beings until the reality starts to reign. Begging,
begging all over, until, if you have to stay much
longer, you form a very solid cocoon around yourself
and have nothing to do with these people. Does any of
us understand why these fellows, turn their visitors
into stones at such short notice? The reality is that
some of them will soon be becoming extinct. They are
dying of ailments that would cost US$1. Today,
rampant poverty, misery, disillusionment and aguish
await you in every village in sub-Saharan Africa.
There is retrenchment, rightsizing and downsizing in
every sector from manufacturing to agriculture,
health, social services etc. Nothing really works any
more. We are talking of less than 10% of the
population which is in formal employment (supporting
90%) and these are being laid off. Can there be
peace, reconciliation in the minds of such people?
But, who is prepared to hammer the last nail to the
African coffin?


Luckily, Africans are jovial people and cannot commit
suicide when things get really bad. Already, over 50%
of the population in sub-Saharan Africa live below the
poverty line and as one friend of mine put it, even
if the whole heavens rained down on Africans, things
can only get worse:. Sub-Saharan Africa with only 10%
of the Worlds population has 70% of all HIV/Aids
patients in the world. How else would you describe
such a situation? A HOPELESS CONTINENT INDEED!


2.0 THE WAY FORWARD


Africas dwindling harvests of food crops and the loss
of markets for some of its traditional export crops
represent a tragedy in a land of unlimited
agricultural potential. The continent is full of
hardworking people with a thirst for education,
healthy babies, technologies and a good life like any
other community. Many countries of Africa have good
potential to produce enough food for themselves and
their neighbours and enough cash crops to meet the
demand of a substantial proportion of the globes
population.


But, Africas vast agricultural potential still
remains idle. Taping this potential is the challenge
for all of us. Africa needs information, technology,
investments, political commitment, good policies and
institutional support. Since two thirds of the people
in Africa derive their livelihoods from agriculture,
it follows that effective support to this sector is
the only basis for the way forward. We can airlift
all the emergency food relief to the continent that we
have in our possession. But, by age and large, a way
must be found in which Africa can produce its own
food, to meet its increasing demand. We must strive
to get Agriculture moving in Africa.


Many development models have been experimented in
Africa. For each one of them, we moved 2 steps
forward and 4 steps back. Since the introduction of
Participatory Community Development approaches more
than 10 years ago, there have been many direct and
indirect benefits. There have also been problems.
All these need to be tackled in a systematic and
holistic way  because it is the only way in which
African communities have been made to discover,
analyze and own their problems. To me, this is the
most important thing that has happened in the last
decade. This is the final wake-up call to the human
race to take an interest in what is happening in this
continent  to help restore dignity and enable the
continents population put some food before their
eyes; because this is the beginning of everything
else.

IMF: US$112 Million PRGF for Ethiopia

2001-03-26

http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2001/pr0111.htm

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved in principle a three-year arrangement for Ethiopia under the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF)1 for SDR 87 million (about US$112 million) to support the government's 2000/01-2002/03 economic program.
Press Release No. 01/11
March 20, 2001 International Monetary Fund
700 19th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20431 USA

The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) approved in principle a three-year arrangement
for Ethiopia under the Poverty Reduction and Growth
Facility (PRGF)1 for SDR 87 million (about US$112
million) to support the government's 2000/01-2002/03
economic program.


A final decision by the Executive Board is pending
discussion of Ethiopia's interim Poverty Reduction
Strategy Paper (PRSP) by the World Bank's Executive
Board, which is expected today. A final decision will
enable the release of a first loan under the PRGF
arrangement in an amount equivalent to SDR 17.4
million (about US$22 million) immediately.


In commenting on the Executive Board's discussion,
Shigemitsu Sugisaki, Deputy Managing Director and
Acting Chairman, said:


"The authorities' medium-term framework for
macroeconomic stability within a comprehensive interim
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) provides a
sound basis for development of a full PRSP, for Fund
concessional assistance, and for moving toward a
decision point under the enhanced HIPC Initiative. The
interim PRSP seeks to promote rapid, broad-based, and
equitable growth. Preparations for a full PRSP are
underway and a key challenge is to broaden the policy
dialogue to include all stakeholders.


"The PRGF-supported program for 2000/01 sets
realistic, albeit ambitious, objectives to achieve
higher GDP growth, contain inflation, and rebuild
international reserves. These are essential to foster
sustained poverty reduction over the long term. The
central reforms under the program will focus on public
finances and the financial sector. Most important will
be the reorientation of spending from defense toward
poverty alleviation, and maintaining a durable peace.


"To attain the program objectives, it will be crucial
for the authorities to maintain public finances on a
sustainable path, improve monetary management and the
functioning of financial markets, and carry out
structural reformsnotably to improve governance,
transparency, accountability, and public sector
efficiency.


"Ethiopia's eligibility for debt relief under the
enhanced HIPC Initiative has been endorsed in
principle. A final decision on the timing of the
decision point and the granting of interim relief will
be taken later this year once Ethiopia has established
a performance record under the new PRGF, and made
further progress on the preparation of a full PRSP in
close consultation with social partners," Mr. Sugisaki
said.


ANNEX


Program Summary


Ethiopia's progress with market-oriented reforms
during the 1996/97-98/99 program was notable, although
uneven. However, adverse external circumstances and
the border conflict with Eritrea increasingly hampered
the government's efforts to consolidate stabilization
gains. In 1999/2000, Ethiopia's economic situation
deteriorated sharply as a result of severe drought, a
major worsening of its terms of trade associated with
lower coffee export prices and the steep rise in
petroleum import prices, as well as the impact of the
border conflict.


In the second half of 2000, Ethiopia resumed its
economic reform efforts after considerable progress
had been made toward restoring peaceful conditions
with Eritrea. The government reconfirmed and updated
its development strategy formulated in the mid-1990s
in the second five-year National Development Program
(NDP). Its mid-term economic strategy focuses on
poverty reduction by fostering rural development,
expanding and improving a comprehensive food security
program, and building conditions for high and
sustainable growth. The first annual program envisages
real GDP growth rates of 7-8 percent in
2000/01-2001/02 and seeks to maintain consumer price
inflation close to 5 percent. The external current
account deficit is expected to decline initially only
modestly from 7.5 percent of GDP in 1999/2000 to about
6 percent a year in 2000/01 and 2001/02 before
resuming a downward trend, starting with a deficit of
5 percent of GDP in 2002/03.


In the immediate period ahead, the government's
strategy is to reconcile the country's security needs
with the requirement to finance both the emergency
programs for reconstruction and demobilization and to
improve priority public services, all within a
sustainable fiscal framework. For the next three
years, fiscal policy's two main objectives are to
redirect resources from defense-related expenditures
toward poverty-reducing outlays (while addressing the
country's post-conflict recovery needs), and to lay
the foundation for strong tax revenue mobilization.
The government envisages that a rapid recovery in
nonmilitary core expenditure would accelerate
investment spending. Overall expenditure is targeted
to decline by 5 percentage points of GDP during the
program period to 28 percent in 2002/03. The revenue
strategy calls for an increase in tax revenue of 2.5
percentage points during the three-year period. Tax
policy reforms will focus on streamlining income
taxes, improving the efficiency of the incentive
system, and strengthening indirect taxation. These
actions would culminate in the introduction of a
value-added tax in January 2003.


Monetary policy attaches high priority to keeping
inflation in the low single digits. Progress in fiscal
consolidation, supported by substantial disbursements
of foreign aid, would allow for adequate growth in
domestic credit to the private sector, which, in turn,
would set the stage for private sector-led growth and
facilitate the rebuilding of international reserves.
The net domestic assets of the national bank would be
the key aggregate in steering monetary policy, but
developments in other monetary aggregates would also
be followed closely.


The structural reforms under the program focus on
financial and external sector reforms in addition to
capacity building, and judicial and civil reforms. The
government's plans for comprehensive financial sector
reforms aim at modernizing monetary management;
improving interbank operations; strengthening the
soundness of smaller banks; and upgrading the
management of the largest state-owned bank, the
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. The country's integration
into the global economy will be fostered by taking
mutually reinforcing steps to further liberalize the
foreign trade and exchange regimes, allow market
determination of the exchange rate, and promote export
development. Balance of payments projections assume a
reversal of the recently unfavorable conditions.
Renewed reform policies and the expeditious
post-conflict reconstruction and reintegration efforts
should lead to growing investor confidence and
sustained foreign support.


Any external borrowing during the program period will
be contracted only at highly concessional terms, with
the goal of keeping the external debt burden
manageable. In the immediate post-conflict period, the
debt burden (after traditional relief mechanisms) will
rise by 2002/03 to 266 percent of exports of goods and
nonfactor services (net present value terms) from 243
percent in 1999/2000, because of the immediate large
external borrowing needs. Subsequently, the debt ratio
would decline to 179 percent by 2009/10 and to an
average of 129 percent during 2010/11-2019/20. Given
the highly concessional borrowing terms, the
debt-service ratio (under traditional debt-relief
mechanisms) would fall from 19 percent in 1999/2000 to
15 percent in 2002/03, to 9 percent by 2009/10, and to
an average of 7.5 percent during 2010/11-2019/20. The
program assumes that the interim HIPC Initiative debt
relief would allow a gradual increase in the
government's poverty-targeted spending of US$46
million (0.7 percent of GDP) in the second fiscal year
and US$77 million (1.1 percent of GDP) in the third
fiscal year. HIPC Initiative debt relief is critical
for allowing the needed expansion in poverty-targeted
outlays.


In the Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, the
government outlined the main elements of its existing
poverty reduction strategy, which centers around
promoting economic growth and increasing the
income-earning capacity for the poor. Within one year,
the government is expected to complete the formulation
of a broad overall poverty reduction strategy with the
participation of elected officials, civil society,
nongovernmental organizations, and development
partners.


Ethiopia became a member of the IMF on December 27,
1945. Its quota2 is SDR 133.7 million (about US$172
million), and its outstanding use of IMF credit
currently totals SDR 59.14 million (about US$76
million).
<cut>

Source: Read Ethiopia: Selected Economic and Financial
Indicators, 1995/96-2002/03 1/

UN: HORN OF AFRICA DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSION

2001-03-26

http://www.accnetwork.net/hornofafrica

"It is within the capacity of the countries concerned and the international community to eliminate famine and tackle food insecurity in the Horn of Africa," says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at the start of a meeting of donors on the Horn of Africa initiative.
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS (FAO) REGIONAL
OFFICE FOR AFRICA, ACCRA - TEL. 675000/7010930

PRESS RELEASE NO. 01/12


HORN OF AFRICA DEVELOPMENT DISCUSSED AT FAO MEETING

Rome, 22 March 2001.- "It is within the capacity of the countries
concerned and the international community to eliminate famine and tackle
food insecurity in the Horn of Africa," says the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) at the start of a meeting of donors on the Horn of Africa
initiative.


The FAO is actively participating in a UN inter-agency Task Force
initiative launched by the Secretary General, Kofi Annan, just a year ago to
eliminate food insecurity in the Horn of Africa.


The World Bank has convened this two-day donor meeting, hosted by
FAO, and attended by representatives from other UN agencies, delegates from
OECD countries, the European Union, some African countries and officials
from the African Development Bank and the Intergovernmental Authority on
Development (IGAD). It is chaired by Hans Binswanger, Director of the
Environmental, Rural, and Social Development Department of the African
region at the World Bank.


The purpose of the meeting is to reach agreement on a follow-up
mechanism for the implementation of the Task Force strategy and to obtain
indications of funding. When the Task Force report was presented to the UN
Secretary General, it was agreed that the World Bank should be responsible
for resource mobilisation.


"Both multilateral and bilateral donors need to pledge long-term
funding in support of national efforts to end famine and food insecurity at
a level that is commensurate with the scale of the problem. In addition to
traditional mechanisms such as soft loan or grant-funded projects and sector
programmes, this will require a longer-term commitment on the part of donors
as well as innovative funding mechanisms allowing greater responsiveness to
local-level initiatives," according to the UN inter-agency Task Force.


A final report by the Task Force on what needs to be done to improve
food conditions in this region underlines that "it is essential to secure
the commitment of governments, regional organizations, UN agencies, donors
and civil society, all of whom have key roles in translating common policies
into concrete and concerted action."


At the national level, governments must assume full responsibility
for eliminating food insecurity by ensuring such conditions as good
governance, health and education services and their people's empowerment.


Together with the governments concerned, intergovernmental
organizations should formulate and implement a Regional Food Security
Programme (RFSP), encompassing conflict resolution, technical cooperation,
the promotion of interregional infrastructure development, the fostering of
trade and the liberalization and harmonization of trade policies, economic
integration and an integrated early warning system for the region, the Task
Force report says.


UN agencies are assisting governments in setting priorities for
development programmes and formulating investments aimed at achieving food
security and disaster preparedness and mitigation, in particular in the Horn
of Africa.


Each government will need to formulate a Country Food
Security Programme (CFSP), building on the recommendations of the World Food
Summit Follow-up Strategies, as well as existing national food security
initiatives and Poverty Reduction Strategies. The CFSPs will have two main
thrusts: one to eliminate famine; the other to tackle chronic food
insecurity. At the World Food Summit, convened by FAO in November 1996,
Heads of State and Government from 186 countries pledged to reduce by half
the number of undernourished in the world by 2015.


One of the main elements of each CFSP should be a programme for
disaster preparedness and the elimination of famine. Early warning systems
will need to be restructured so as to give better coverage of pastoral and
agropastoral areas, and also be linked to regional systems. They should be
based on active two-way communication between local communities and national
and international decision-makers. Farmers and pastoralists should be able
to tell decision-makers when and where their food stocks are running low and
their cattle are dying, while international agencies, who have access to
meteorological forecasts, should ensure that this information is delivered
rapidly to local communities.


The immediate focus would be on enhancing the livelihoods of small
resource-poor farmers, through a combination of agricultural technologies
and support services, access to markets and credit, along with rural
enterprises and agroprocessing. Such farmers, as well as pastoralists
inhabiting the arid and semi-arid parts of the region, and the urban food
insecure, are the principal targets of the programme.


For those in the highland areas, for example, this will mean making
better use of water by adopting small-scale irrigation techniques, building
on the experience of FAO's Special Programme for Food Security. In the drier
areas, on the other hand, the focus is likely to be more on the promotion of
drought-resistant crops as well as the conservation of both soil and water.
At the same time farmers should seek to diversify their sources of income,
rearing more short-cycle livestock, taking advantage of non-timber forest
products and, in some places, developing ecotourism.


The CFSPs will need substantial funding. Much of this can come
through conventional channels of bilateral grants and concessional loans but
it will also be necessary to create new, decentralized mechanisms to offer
community-based initiatives more direct and flexible access to funds.


***


For further information, please call FAO media relations branch tel.:
0039.06.57052232.
For an up-date on the work of the Task Force, visit the ACC Network web site
(http://www.accnetwork.net/hornofafrica).

Cape Town surgeon implants South Africa's first artificial heart

2001-03-26

http://www.sabcnews.com/SABCnews/south_africa/health/0,1009,12515,00.html

Willie Koen, head of the transplant unit and the 'Berlin Heart' Surgeons at a Cape Town hospital implanted an artificial heart into the chest of a man who was rushed into their unit after cardiac failure last night.
March 18, 2001

Willie Koen, head of the transplant unit and the 'Berlin Heart'
Surgeons at a Cape Town hospital implanted an artificial heart into
the chest of a man who was rushed into their unit after cardiac fail-
ure last night. The operation, the first of its kind ever to be car-
ried out in South Africa, was performed at the City Park Hospital by
a 10-member team led by Willie Koen, the transplant unit head. Koen
said the patient, a 60-year-old male was "looking fantastic" after
the operation, which started at 10pm yesterday and finished at 8am
this morning.


He said the patient's old heart had been left in place within his
chest and the artificial heart stitched onto it. The man-made heart,
known as the "Berlin Heart" and developed in Germany over the past 25
years, is made from polyurethane and has two ventricles.


"I left the patient's old heart which was almost non-functioning in
place so I had something on to which I could stitch the artificial
heart," Koen said. "Leaving it in place also means there is no space
left in the chest cavity which could fill up with blood."


The Berlin Heart is a "totally artificial heart" and not an assist
pump. There were patients in Germany who were still alive two years
after receiving the artificial heart. However, in these cases, doc-
tors said they would eventually put in a transplant heart from a do-
nor.


Up until quite recently, the technique of implanting an artificial
heart had been experimental, doctors said. Koen said the device is
driven by an external pneumatic compressor, connected to the artifi-
cial heart by means of a tube.


"The patient will be on the main compressor initially but will later
move onto a device, about the size of a car battery, which is mobile
and can be pulled behind on a small cart," Koen said.


The City Park Hospital's Heart Transplant Unit is understood to be
the biggest unit of its kind in South Africa and the only one capable
of carrying out an artificial implant of this kind.

Contributions to Guidelines for Reproductive Health

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/142

The School of Human Genetics and Population Health (SOHGAPH) Kolkata along with Gana Unnayan Parshad (GUP) Kolkata, India is coming up with a new manual called 'Guidelines for Facilitators and Grass Root Workers in Reproductive/Sexual Health Projects of the Third World'.
The School of Human Genetics and Population Health (SOHGAPH) Kolkata
along with Gana Unnayan Parshad (GUP) Kolkata, India is coming up
with a new manual called 'Guidelines for Facilitators and Grass Root
Workers in Reproductive/Sexual Health Projects of the Third World'.
This will be comprised of two volumes. Part-I on 'Suggested steps of
conducting a Reproductive Health project'; Part-II on 'Technical Ca-
pacity Building'.


The methods will quote newer initiatives in community research, which
have made such projects outstandingly successful. We invite contribu-
tions from organizations working in the Third World countries espe-
cially in community research to submit their novel experiences / ini-
tiatives. A directory at the end will acknowledge such contributions.


Any new initiative coming under any of the following components of
reproductive health are welcome:
1. Prevention and Management of Unwanted Pregnancies
2. Safe Motherhood
3. Child Survival
4. Adolescent Health
5. Reproductive Tract Infections and Sexually Transmitted Diseases
(including HIV/AIDS)
6. Gender and Sex Education and Counselling
7. Nutritional Services


Please e-mail all entries with the main text as an attachment to:


Dr. S. Chatterjee
Secretary, SOHGAPH
<subidita@loxinfo.co.th>




<subidita@loxinfo.co.th>

Dateline Health Nigeria No. 12, March 20, 2001

2001-03-26

http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/DatelineHealth-Nigeria

DATELINE HEALTH NIGERIA is a health communication initiative of the Centre for Health Policy and Strategic Studies (CHPSS), Lagos, Nigeria. Critical comments on format, quality and content are welcome.
. NBC bans condom ads.
. The offensive AIDS jingle.
. Aids cure claimants' demand stalls clinical trial of
drugs.
. Nigeria needs divine guidance to tackle poverty,
says Tallen.
. Obasanjo removes tariffs on malaria insecticides.
. Nigerian Society for the Prevention of Thrombosis,
formed.
. African Heart Foundation Network holds conference.
. Embassy repatriates 18 child-trafficking victims
monthly, says envoy.





1. NBC BANS CONDOM ADS


The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has banned
the broadcasting of condom commercials on radio and
television, stating that such advertisements were
offensive to public feeling. In a statement issued
Monday, NBC directed all broadcast stations to stop
the condom commercials as packaged by Society for
Family Health. The statement signed by Mr. Ladan
Salihu, NBC's Assistant Director said: " The adverts
clearly contravenes the code of advertising practice
as well as section 7.2.5 of the broadcasting code
which states clearly that no advertisement should
contain any item likely to be offensive to public
feeling. or disrespectful to human dignity. "After due
consultation with the Advertising Practitioners'
Council of Nigeria (APCON), the commission hereby
directs all broadcast stations to discontinue
forthwith the broadcast of the AIDS prevention and
condom commercials as packaged by the Society for
Family Health."


Source: Vanguard, March 14 2001, Cross-posted from
nigeria-aids@yahoogroups.com Keywords: Nigeria.
Anti-HIV/AIDS campaign. Condom promotion. Reproductive
health.


2. THE OFFENSIVE AIDS JINGLE


A radio jingle on AIDS prevention is currently running
on our radio station in Lagos. Sponsored by the
Federal Ministry of Health and the Society for Family
Health, the jingle encourages free sex amongst youths
rather than preventing them from catching the AIDS
virus. As a concerned parent, I must urge the
authorities to put a stop to this jingle or move it to
late hour broadcast. Let me describe how the jingle is
crafted. Two voices played Angela and Johny who are
clearly intimate boyfriend and girlfriend wanting to
have sex. With seductive voices, both actors discuss
the efficacy of a condom in the act for preventing the
AIDS virus. Listeners are left in no doubt that these
two lovebirds eventually performed the "SAFE" act
after the dialogue - of course, with the use of
condom. This jingle is most immoral, insensitive and
unnecessary. It should be stopped from running
forthwith or moved to a time when only adults are
meant to be listening to radio. In the first instance,
as good friends, these two lovebirds should trust each
other to be totally faithful. Besides this, the fact
that the target audience is youths presupposes that
the campaign should have encouraged total abstinence
rather than encouraging free sex as it does. If we are
serious as parents and concerned about the proper
upbringing of our children, this promotion of
immorality should not be allowed to last the next one
minute on our radio. The jingle is put out in the
morning hours while kinds are getting ready to go to
school or maybe on their way to school - riding in
buses or private vehicle. Given the seductive nature
of the jingle, this is the most insensitive time to
broadcast such lustful campaign as it is capable of
luring innocent youths to sexual escapades with the
hope that the almighty condom provides the needed
protection. This is sickening. No right thinking
parent will feel comfortable having children listen to
this licentious advertisement


Source: The Guardian, Thursday, March 8, 2001, p.14,
By Adeyemi Suleiman. Keywords: Nigeria. HIV/AIDS. AIDS
radio jingle. Condom promotion. Behaviour change
communication. Adolescent reproductive health. Health
advocacy.


3. AIDS CURE CLAIMANTS' DEMAND STALLS CLINICAL TRIAL
OF DRUGS

The House of Representatives Committee on Health has
explained why clinical trials on HIV/AIDS drugs
manufactured in Nigeria are yet to commence, blaming
the delay on the request by the claimants that the
clinical trials should not be conducted by the
National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and
Development (NIPRD) Abuja alone. The claimants want
the trials to be conducted in conjunction with similar
institutes. Chairman of the committee,Mr. Willie
Ogbeide who disclosed this weekend did not however
mention the names of the institutes but said: "I agree
with this thinking." According to him "in the meeting
we had three weeks ago with the claimants and the
institutes that are going to carry out the clinical
trials, it was resolved that the Director-General of
NIPRD should co-ordinate the whole activity and bring
in all those centres which the claimants want to be
brought on board. They believe that they would not
want to put all their eggs in one basket. They
wouldn't want to depend only on NIPRD. And I agree
with this thinking", he stressed.


Source: Vanguard. Monday, March 19, 2001.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200103190392.html By:
Charles Ozoemena. Keywords: Nigeria. HIV/AIDS. Aids
cure claimants. HIV/AIDS clinical trials.


4. NIGERIA NEEDS DIVINE GUIDANCE TO TACKLE POVERTY,
SAYS TALLEN


Mrs. Pauline Tallen is Nigeria's Minister of State for
Science and Technology. Hers is the duty to bring
Nigeria into the technological age for better
development on all fronts. She recently offered
insight into her strategies for attaining her job
objectives: Divine prayers are the answer to ravaging
corruption, poverty, poor health and underdevelopment
in Nigeria today she says. She spoke at the
inauguration of a new church - "Caring Heart
Ministries" - formed to mobilize Nigerian women to
pray for the President, government leaders and peoples
of Nigeria at the Sheraton Hotels and Towers Abuja
recently. Tallen said the major impediment to the
countrys progress was corruption which effective
prayers could solve. "Since this administration has
taken it upon itself to fight corruption with all
seriousness, Nigerians should join hands with the
government. We can succeed in solving this problem
through effective prayers and living exemplary lives,"
she stated. She urged parents especially mothers to
instill the virtues of honesty and transparency in
their children adding, "This will be a formidable step
to stem the tide of corruption in our society." She
also urged religious leaders to work harder at
propagating the virtues of honesty, accountability and
love to drive home the messages against corruption and
moral decadence in the society.


Source: The Comet.
http://nigeriaworld.com/news/source/2001/mar/17/38.html
March 17, 2001. By. From Ese Awhotu. Keywords:
Nigeria. Underdevelopment. Poverty alleviation. Faith
an prayers in poverty alleviation. Advocacy.


5. OBASANJO REMOVES TARRIFS ON MALARIA INSECTICIDES


President Olusegun Obasanjo has granted a waiver on
taxes and tariffs on insecticides for malaria control
to reduce the cost of malaria treatment in the
country. According to a Presidential memo, Pres. 87
dated 02/7/2001 the ministries of Health, Industries,
Commerce and Finance have been duly informed that
presidential waiver on taxes and tariff on
insecticides for malaria control has been granted to
reduce cost of malaria treatment in the country. The
Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and NACCIMA
had at various times pleaded for concessions on
products that positively contribute to poverty
alleviation and better standard of living in the
country. It would be recalled that President Obasanjo
had, late last year, directed the Ministry of Finance
to hands off and transfer to the Presidency, matters
of waiver, concessions and duty exemptions.


Source: Vanguard, Tuesday March 6, 2001 p.9. By Yinka
Olusanya Keywords: Nigeria. Malaria control. Tariffs
on insecticides. Waiver on taxes. Poverty alleviation
programme.


6. NIGERIAN SOCIETY FOR THE PREVENTION OF THROMBOSIS,
FORMED


The Nigerians Society for the Prevention of Thrombosis
was formed in Lagos recently. The newly formed body is
made up of a group of elite doctors from notable
hospitals in the country. Speaking at the inauguration
of the society for the prevention and treatment of
the disease, Mr. Joseph Odumodu, the Managing Director
of May & Baker Nigeria Plc, , said that thrombosis, a
frequently fatal medical condition, is a major threat
to Nigerians. He indicated that the management of
thrombosis had often been difficult to handle in the
country. Thrombosis is a condition that causes blood
clots to block free flow of blood to the heart and
lungs, leading to stroke or sudden death. It is
usually characterized by pain and swelling. Risk
factors for the disease include obesity, prolonged
immobilization (perhaps due to long distance travel),
and major surgery that lasts up to 30 or more minutes.
Other risk factors are pregnancy, cancer, oral
contraceptive pills; heart failure; myocardial
infarction and cigarette smoking. Although no reliable
statistics is available for Nigeria, thrombosis is
believed by medical experts to be responsible for many
deaths in the country.


Source: ThisDay, Friday, March 9, 2001 p. 5 By
Queeneth Opara. Keywords: Nigeria. Thrombosis. Risk
factors for thrombosis. Prevention and treatment of
thrombosis. Medical society. . Health prevention.
Health promotion.


7. AFRICAN HEART FOUNDATION NETWORK HOLDS CONFERENCE


African Heart Foundation Network (AHFN) conference
flagged off in Lagos recently. The theme of the
conference, which lasted three days is: "Promoting
Heart Health in Africa". The conference according to
Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe president of the Nigerian
Heart Care Foundation, is designed to bring together
members of National Heart Foundations in Africa, lay
professionals, scientists, stake-holders and leaders
in cardiovascular health worldwide. They are expected
to share experience in heart health and develop action
agendas towards reducing the burden of heart disease
and stroke in Africa.


Source: The Guardian, Thursday March 8, 2001, p.30.
By:Ben Ukwuoma Keywords: Nigeria. Heart disease.
Conference. Health Advocacy.


8. EMBASSY REPATRIATES 18 CHILD-TRAFFICKING VICTIMS
MONTHLY, SAYS ENVOY


No fewer than 18 children who are victims of child
trafficking, are repatriated to the country every
month from Gabon, according to Nigeria's Ambassador to
the Central African country, Mr. Ihekaire Ajuru. The
envoy expressed concern over the high level of the
illicit trade between Nigeria and Gabon. Ambassador
Ajuru, who spoke in Owerri during a courtesy visit to
Governor Achike Udenwa, expressed dismay over the
problem, adding that majority of the victims, were Imo
indigenes. Based on this development, the ambassador
suggested that the government of Imo State should
establish a transit centre in the state where
repatriated children could be accommodated and
rehabilitated prior to their eventual relocation to
their respective homes. Responding, Governor Udenwa
condemned child trafficking, describing it as man's
inhumanity to man. He regretted that such primitive
trade, most of whose victims are from Imo State, still
persists despite efforts to stamp it out. Udenwa
however, vowed to deal ruthlessly with anybody caught
engaging in the illicit trade. He said government
would investigate the envoy's compliant with a view to
eradicating the menace.


Source:
http://nigeriaworld.com/news/source/2001/mar/7/1.html
By: Psaro Yornamue. Wednesday,March 7, 2001
Keywords: Nigeria. Child trafficking.





DATELINE HEALTH NIGERIA is a health communication
initiative of the Centre for Health Policy and
Strategic Studies (CHPSS), Lagos, Nigeria. Critical
comments on format, quality and content are welcome.


To subscribe or unsubscribe, mailto:
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URL to DATELINEHEALTH-NIGERIA is:
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/DatelineHealth-Nigeria

Euro MPs step into South African AIDS drugs battle

2001-03-26

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/whatnew/press/cutcost-sa5.htm

European parliamentarians have passed an emergency resolution calling on 39 pharmaceuticals firms to drop their lawsuit against the South African government over a law aimed at opening the way for cheaper AIDS drug production.

Global TB Control Report 2001

2001-03-26

http://www.who.int/gtb/publications/globrep01/index.html

The WHO has recently published the Global TB Control Report 2001, showing that only 23% of the world's TB cases are treated in DOTS programmes. The report can be downloaded from our website and is also available in hard copy.

HEALTH INFORMATION FORUM PROCEEDINGS

16 JANUARY 2001, British Medical Association, London

2001-03-26

http://www.inasp.org.uk

THEME: Donation and distribution of physical health information materials: books, journals, newsletters, CD-ROMs...
THEME: Donation and distribution of physical health information materials:
books, journals, newsletters, CD-ROMs...


CHAIR: Anthony Costello, Professor of International Child Health at the
Institute for Child Health, London

PARTICIPANTS: Representatives of: British Medical Association, BMJ
Publishing Group, Book Aid International, Commonwealth Secretariat, Health
Information for Develpment, Health Communications Exchange, Healthlink
Worldwide, INASP, International Centre for Eye Health, International Health
Exchange, John Smith & Son, Nature, Nigerian Medical Forum, Nigerian Medical
Forum, Partnerships in Health Information, Pharmabridge, Healthnet Kenya,
Strategies for Hope, Teaching-Aids at Low Cost, University College London,
Wellcome Trust, WHO.

Email contributions to the meeting:
1. Graham Icke (Principal Scientist, Royal Perth Hospital, Australia)
<graham.icke@health.wa.gov.au> Has produced and distributed thousands of
free CD-ROMs (malaria education project). Postal expenses are often more
than production costs. As many as 25 per cent of CD-ROMs are 'lost in the
post'.
2. Lenny Rhine (Medical Librarian, University of Florida)
<Lenny@library.health.ufl.edu> Asks: (1) How can we inform partnerships
and/or developing country libraries about the resources of potential donors;
(2) How can we tie individual parnterships into larger projects?; (3) Is
there a means of co-ordinating the activities of donor groups?
3. Matko Marusik (Editor, Croatian Medical Journal) <mmarusic@mef.hr> (1)
Offers free subscription of CMJ to developing countries; (2) offers
possibility of publishing HIF proceedings in CMJ.


SPEAKERS
1A: Carolyn Sharples, Book Aid International carolyn.sharples@bookaid.org
1B: Rob Sarjant, Book Aid International - delivered on behalf of Nelly
Williams, nelly.williams@bookaid.org
2: Sallie Nicholas, BMA snicholas@bma.org.uk


The following presentations are summaries. Please contact the individual
speakers if you need further details.


1A: OVERVIEW OF PARTNERSHIPS, CRITERIA AND MODELS OF DISTRIBUTION


What do we mean by partnership?


Book Aid International believes that partnership is based on mutual respect,
common objectives and a long term commitment to delivering successful
programmes


Providing health information is a key objective, therefore we actively seek
partnerships which will help to deliver health information to a large number
of people:


We have three main types of partner:


1. Ongoing large distributing partners who have a role in the local context
to target information to a range of organisations.


2. Ongoing partners, such as health colleges which have a pivotal role in
providing health training or care, and need a continuos supply of specific
information.


3. We also receive a number of requests from organisations which have highly
specialised needs.


So how do we decide where we work and who with?


Book Aid International's work must fit with local development objectives, no
matter how valuable we see our work we will only work where we are invited
to work, either by government or by recognised marginalised groups. We try
to work with the existing infrastructure and why many of our partners are
national bodies.


There are a large number of organisations in countries throughout the world
who ask us to provide books. We cannot possibly work with all of them, nor
would it be appropriate to do so. Our criteria policy, currently under
review, uses indicators such as low HDI, low income countries, language and
local infrastructure.


Our partners need to be committed to the programme. They are responsible for
local decisions and together we work to raise funds and develop the
programme. Partners have to be able to provide information on needs,
monitoring information and evaluation as part of the relationship.


Distribution models


A basic organisational belief which guides the development of our programmes
is the desire to reach the greatest number of people with the information we
send. So whilst we recognise that individuals have specific needs we also
recognise that it is not always practical to meet these needs directly. The
only example where we send books which will be used by individual doctors
and pharmacists is the PHARMAID scheme to send British National Formularies.


In Ghana and Nigeria we have distribution committees. These bring together
key information providers who oversee the distribution of books, monitor and
evaluate the programmes and direct the future development of the programme.


Direct support


In some countries it is not possible, nor practical to develop a
distribution committee approach. In Palestine there are political and
logistical constraints, such as the barriers to travel and specialist needs
which make it impossible to have a the same approach as we do in Ghana. So
in Palestine we send specific cases of books via the British Council, to
specific organisations such as the Medical Relief Society.


I think what all this illustrates is the need to fit with the local context
and not to fit a generic model to all situations.


1B GETTING THE RIGHT BOOK TO THE RIGHT PLACE


BAI is a small organisation and we ship over 700,000 good quality books and
journals a year. About 45,000 of these are medical.


1. Acquiring the right books


Firstly, we need to acquire the right stock. To help achieve this, we have
developed criteria for book donations. Books for donation must be in good
condition, relevant to our partners' needs, and within 10 years of
publication date - and for medical donations, to ensure the information is
up-to-date, we are a little stricter, and reduce this to 5 years. We only
accept journals from the last 2 years. We have an Acquisitions team which,
each year, develops a strategy based on partners' needs so as to target
publishers and other organisations in key subject areas.


Medical books and journals come from a variety of sources including
publishers such as Lipincott, Cambridge University Press and
Heinemann-Butterworth.


Book Buying - we raise money for book purchase in gap areas - especially in
areas such as basic health material where we get very little in the form of
donations. Recently, we have bought titles such as Where there is no Doctor
(one of our most requested books), Where Women have no Doctor, Helping
Health Workers Learn, the Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine, The Aids Handbook, A Book for Midwives, and Community
Health Care published by AMREF in Kenya.


2. Selecting the Right Books


The main selection tool that we use is a subject based requirements form
which BAI's own librarians use to select appropriate books. The form is
detailed to make sure subjects and levels are right, and the medical section
was designed with help from Neil Pakenham-Walsh. Partners also provide
background information on an application form.


3. Making Sure the Right Books were sent


Evaluation forms are sent annually to ongoing partners. Generally, feedback
is very encouraging.. Recent examples include:


Mrs Edna Adan Ismail - Director, Edna Adan Maternity Teaching Hospital,
Hargeisa, Somaliland


'These books have made our teaching programme distinguished because it has
enabled our organisation to become the only organisation that has a
specialised and up-to-date medical library in Somaliland ...... the books
also opened up a whole new world to our
students who had never seen a library in their lives before' She added 'We
have also been able to benefit from your books for the development of
Somaliland curriculum for training nurses and midwives. This will enable us
to carry out training in other locations in Somaliland.'


Whilst the situation in Somaliland may be worse than in many other
countries, as it tries to rebuild itself, the feedback is not untypical. For
example, the College of Health Sciences at the University of Nairobi is
going through difficult times:


'During the 1990's the library has not managed to buy as many titles as it
would have liked. Most of the books supplied by BAI were recent publications
and as such helped us to update our collection'. They added 'The Journals
are extremely useful since we still have not yet managed to revive our
annual journal subscription list. Please keep
this subscription support scheme active'.


Questions


Q: Do you have difficulties with Customs?
A: This is not as difficult as might be expected. Local partners help with
customs issues.


Q: Can students from developing countries while in London go and pick out
books at Book Aid? A: Yes - this sometimes is possible but in general people
need to work specifically with partners of Book Aid.


Q: Do you have opposition from publishers in Developing countries?
A: The issue is seen as important. Support from the South is good and it is
not seen as competition to local market.


THE BMA/BMJ INFORMATION FUND


Both the BMA and BMJ receive many requests from organisations and
individuals in developing countries and other areas of need. Until
recently, both had responded to these on an "ad hoc" basis, but had had no
formal mechanism for doing so, nor any specific funding. There was a clear
need for a more coherent system and support from BMA members for
establishing one. In April 2000, the BMA's Finance and General Purposes
Committee had approved a recommendation from the Journal Committee that a
small sum of money be set aside to provide material for developing countries
and other areas of need. The funds were drawn from the profits of the BMJ
Publishing Group and the BMA International Committee had political
responsibility for the administration of the fund.


The fund was administered on a day-to-day basis by a small steering group,
including Sallie Nicholas and John Hudson of the BMJ Publishing Group. It
had drawn up the following mission statement:


"To provide access to health-related information to appropriate institutions
in developing countries and other regions in need. Information should be
relevant, current and of high quality."


Appropriate institutions might include medical libraries, professional
bodies and healthcare institutions, the aim being to maximise limited
resources by ensuring availability to as wide an audience as possible. For
this reason, it was not possible to respond to requests from individuals.


In feeling its way forward, the group had faced a number of dilemmas -
including how to establish the bona fides of applicants, how to involve
recipients in the choice of materials to ensure their appropriateness and
how to ensure feedback. It had not advertised the fund, but responded to
requests from various quarters. So far it had arranged donations to a
number of Iraqi medical schools, the Nigerian Medical Forum, Hargeisa
University (Somaliland) and a London-based Refugee Doctor Postgraduate
Centre - this last donation being consistent with the BMA's work to help
refugee doctors in re-establishing their careers in the UK. It had also
arranged a special print run of the ABC of AIDS and Sexual Health for
distribution by Book Aid International.


The future approach was likely to be a "two-pronged" one, working with Book
Aid International with its established networks and expertise, but also
allowing scope to respond to individual requests.


SMALL GROUPS: 'IMPROVING THE COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF DONATION-DISTRIBUTION
PROGRAMMES'


Group A: Building partnerships and identifying needs
1. Interactions between donors, distributors and institutions are important
2. Personal communications are a priority
3. Need to register individual organizational needs
4. Health library partnerships are essential
5. Need to acknowledge gap between what is available and what is needed
6. Use of IT for communication


Group B: Working with donors (eg publishers) to get what is needed
1. Importance of working with donors directly
2. Consider donor brokerage so requests don't 'have to make rounds'
3. Might publishers pay for distribution?
4. Should Northern publishers be encouraged to sponsor over-runs in
publication for developing countries?


Group C: Coordinating distribution (N-N, N-S, S-S)
1. Coordination of distribution needs to be improved and requires a
conceptual shift
2. When material is in the South, how do we know it gets to where it needs
to be?
3. Need to strengthen infrastructure for the 'last mile'
4. More knowledge is needed about what works locally.


FINAL DISCUSSION


Donated CD-ROMs often get 'lost in the post'.


If the government is the local distributor for publications, then the
materials are very unlikely to get to where they are needed. There is a
need to mix private and public distributors locally.


Perhaps a common database of available materials should be established among
donor-distributors to make it easier for Southern institutions to identify
what is available.


Perhaps the Millennium Dome in Greenwich could be converted to serve as a
donation-distribution warehouse!



The HEALTH INFORMATION FORUM is run as an activity of the INASP-Health Programme.
Contact Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh Email: INASP_Health@compuserve.com Web: www.inasp.org.uk
The WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION headquarters is based in Geneva,
Switzerland. Email: info@who.int Web: www.who.int

Immunization Focus, March 2001

2001-03-26

http://www.vaccinealliance.org

The March 2001 issue of Immunization Focus, an "e-published" quarterly from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) is now available on the GAVI website.

In this issue:

Special Feature - First, do no harm: mapping the road to injection
safety


Grassroots - Introducing hepatitis B vaccine: a practical guide from
countries that have done it already


The Idea Exchange - a new section for debates on topical issues. In
the first contribution, Catriona Waddington, a health economist for
the UK Department for International Development (one of the donors to
the Global Fund for Children's Vaccines), asks whether GAVI and na-
tional governments have got their priorities right, and Tore Godal,
executive secretary of GAVI, responds.


News - Hard work ahead: the capacity challenge



Feel free to download, print and distribute the entire issue, or spe-
cific articles or excerpts.


If you have any questions about GAVI or Immunization Focus, please
write to us: gavi@unicef.org
or at the e-mail addresses below.


Thanks,


Phyllida Brown, Immunization Focus Editor:pbrown@brixworks.freeserve.co.uk


Lisa Jacobs, GAVI Communication Officer:ljacobs@unicef.org




gavi@unicef.org

Internet access to medical journals

2001-03-26

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/20/health/20JOUR.html?searchpv=nytToday

On 31st January, the New York Times writer Eric Nagourney wrote to 'HIF-net at WHO' for input on how the internet is affecting access to medical journals in developing countries. The resulting article is now available online.

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/140

March 21 headlines include:
* One in Nine South Africans Living With HIV, Government Survey Shows
* Some Catholic Priests Sexually Abuse Nuns, Sometimes to Avoid HIV
Infection, Reports Say
* TAC 'Demands' HIV/AIDS Treatment Plan from South African Government
Wed, 21 Mar 2001



* One in Nine South Africans Living With HIV, Government Survey Shows
* Some Catholic Priests Sexually Abuse Nuns, Sometimes to Avoid HIV
Infection, Reports Say
* TAC 'Demands' HIV/AIDS Treatment Plan from South African Government




--
One in Nine South Africans Living With HIV, Government Survey Shows
One in nine South Africans is HIV-positive, up from the previous es-
timate of one in ten, according to a new survey released yesterday by
the South African government, the Associated Press reports. The
study, based on a sampling of 16,000 women at 400 antenatal clinics
nationwide, estimates that 4.7 million South Africans were HIV-
positive at the end of 2000, compared to the previous estimate of 4.2
million.
The rate of infection rose among women ages 20 to 34 and declined
slightly among women under 20 and those over 35 since 1999. For women
ages 20 to 24, the rate of infection increased from 25.6% to 29.1%.
The rate of infection increased among women ages 25 to 29 from 26.4%
to 30.6% and among women ages 30 to 34 from 21.7% to 23.3%. Infection
rates among women under 20 years old decreased from 16.5% to 16.1%, a
finding that was "consistent" with a previous survey that found con-
dom use is higher among teenagers than among other age groups (Asso-
ciated Press, 3/20).
Although the survey reflected a decrease in infection rates among the
youngest survey group, officials point out that the rates are still
high and "indicat[e] [prevention] programs have not reached extremely
effective levels," Dr. Bernhard Scwartlander, a senior epidemiologist
with UNAIDS, said. The increases in infections among those in their
twenties demonstrates that "[t]he positive behavior that women start
adapting in teenaged years is not sustained," Dr. Rose Mulumba, dep-
uty director of the public health service, said. Health officials be-
lieve women in their twenties may have a "false sense of security"
about their infection risk because they are married or in long term
relationships.
Reason for Optimism?
Although some infection rates increased, government officials said
they were "optimistic that the epidemic might be reaching its peak"
(Swarns, New York Times, 3/21). "We are no longer seeing the exponen-
tial increases of earlier years and the flattening of the curve over
three years begins to suggest that the prevalence of HIV in the popu-
lation may be stabilizing," Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang
said (Swindells, Reuters Health, 3/20).
But the announcement of the figures "dashed the hopes" of AIDS ex-
perts, who said that the numbers imply that officials were "failing
to dissuade thousands of young people from engaging in risky sexual
behavior" (New York Times, 3/21). Demographic experts predict that as
many as six million South African will die from AIDS-related compli-
cations by the end of the decade, a toll that threatens to cut the
country's gross domestic product by 17% and "wipe US$ 22 billion off
the national economy," Reuters Health reports (Reuters Health, 3/20).
The percentage of infected adults rose "sharply" in the KwaZulu/Natal
and Gauteng provinces (New York Times, 3/21).
--
Some Catholic Priests Sexually Abuse Nuns, Sometimes to Avoid HIV
Infection, Reports Say
Nuns around the world have suffered sexual abuse by priests, some-
times resulting in pregnancy and abortion, but church leaders have
"fail[ed] ... to discipline" the clerics involved, the New York Times
reports. According to five reports written by senior members of
women's religious orders and a priest, cases of sexual abuse against
nuns have been reported in at least 23 countries.
In one report, Sister Maura O'Donohue, a physician and a member of
the Medical Missionaries of Mary, wrote that women were "forced" by
priests into sexual liaisons in order to obtain certificates or rec-
ommendations needed for work in a diocese. O'Donohue also recorded
cases where nuns were "recommend[ed]" by priests to take contracep-
tion, sometimes being told that oral contraceptives would prevent the
transmission of HIV.
The report included "disturbing" accounts of nuns impregnated by
priests, including one case in Malawi where 29 sisters in one congre-
gation became pregnant by priests in the diocese. Another example ex-
plained the case of a nun who became pregnant by a priest and was
brought by that priest to a Catholic health institution to undergo an
abortion. After the nun died during the procedure, the priest per-
formed her funeral mass, O'Donohue wrote (Hedges, New York Times,
3/21). The National Catholic Reporter said that "no comprehensive
statistics" exist on the sexual abuse of nuns, but the "frequency and
consistency of the reports ... point to a problem that needs to be
addressed" (AP/Washington Times, 3/21).
AIDS and Africa
While the reports documented incidents of abuse in a number of coun-
tries, much of the abuse was linked to Africa and the continent's
AIDS epidemic, the New York Times reports. The priests in Africa of-
ten live in "isolated" areas, and fear contracting HIV from prosti-
tutes and "other high-risk groups." Many perceive nuns as "safe sex-
ual partners" who do not carry the virus, the New York Times reports
(New York Times, 3/21).
African attitudes toward celibacy and the "tradition of female sub-
servience" in Africa also contribute to the spread of abuse, the
AP/Washington Times reports (AP/Washington Times, 3/21). O'Donohue
said that in some African countries, "priests have a liberal inter-
pretation of celibacy," adding that one priest once said that celi-
bacy "in the African context" barred priests from getting married,
but not from having children (New York Times, 3/21). In Africa,
priests are often "better educated than the nuns," and sometimes use
"false theological arguments to persuade them [to have sex], suggest-
ing, for example, that sex between two celibate religious [people]
does not violate their vows of celibacy," a report by Sister Marie
McDonald, superior general of the Missionaries of Our Lady of Africa,
stated (Willan, London Guardian, 3/21).
Vatican Response
The authors of the reports noted that church leaders often failed to
punish or reprimand priests for incidents of abuse. In her report,
O'Donohue wrote that while the priests involved in sexual incidents
were "usually given mild reprimands," the nuns were often "forced out
of the order." And when one superior general "complained" to an
archbishop about incidents of sexual abuse, she was replaced.
Rev. Robert Vitillo, executive director of the United States Bishops
Campaign for Human Development, wrote in a 1994 report, "I myself
have heard the tragic stories of religious women who were forced to
have sex with the local priest or with a spiritual counselor who in-
sisted that this activity was 'good' for the both of them. Fre-
quently, attempts to raise these issues with local and international
church authorities have met with deaf ears" (New York Times, 3/21).
The Vatican yesterday "acknowledged" the reports, but added that the
incidents of sexual abuse are "restricted to a certain geographic
area," without clarification (Reuters/Washington Post, 3/21). Vatican
spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls said, "Work is being done both on
the training of people and the resolution of individual cases" (New
York Times, 3/21). He added, however, that "[s]ome negative cases
cannot let us forget the often heroic faith expressed by the large
majority of those men and women in religious orders and of the
clergy" (Mangan, New York Post, 3/21).
--
DRUG ACCESS
TAC 'Demands' HIV/AIDS Treatment Plan from South African Government
The Treatment Action Campaign, a South African AIDS activist group,
intends to "pressure" the nation's government into creating an
HIV/AIDS treatment plan this year, TAC Chair Zackie Achmat told SABC
radio on Monday (WOZA Internet, 3/19). The organization wants the
government to publish a "comprehensive plan" for providing treatment,
including a strategy for raising funds from international sources,
such as the Group of Seven nations, and a "timetable for bringing the
drugs to public clinics and ensuring they are administered properly"
(Schoofs, Wall Street Journal, 3/21).
Achmat's announcement comes a day after the opening of TAC's first
National Congress in Soweto on Sunday, with 169 organizations regis-
tered as participants. According to TAC's Web site, "Over the last
two years, the TAC has built the foundations for a formidable mass
movement to fight for access to treatment. ... With political will
and a united front the obstacles to treatment access and decent
health care for all people can be overcome. The TAC's first National
Congress will provide an opportunity for civil society to pave the
way forward to affordable treatment for all."
Speaking about TAC's application to be a Friend of the Court at the
side of the government in the lawsuit filed by 39 pharmaceutical com-
panies against the country over drug patent rights, Achmat said, "Our
role is a supportive one, but also one of advocacy. We support gov-
ernment for wanting to create a framework that will address the unac-
countability of the pharmaceutical industry" (Harvey, WOZA Internet,
3/19). Before TAC was formed, "few if any" organizations in South Af-
rica "championed treating the country's HIV patients with the anti-
retroviral drugs" that have significantly reduced mortality rates
from AIDS in developing nations. TAC is also currently working with
the government on implementing a "treatment literacy campaign" to
help educate patients about drug therapies (Wall Street Journal,
3/21).
--
The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org,
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National
Journal Group Inc. c 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report: Editorials Address Need for Assistance

Editorials Address Need for Assistance from Developed World to Fight

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/136

Several newspaper editorials this week have addressed the price reductions and patent relaxations on AIDS drugs by Merck & Co. and Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as the need for developed nations of the world to offer more humanitarian aid to African nations in order to assure the purchase, distribution andmonitoring of such drugs.
Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report: Editorials Address Need for Assistance
Editorials Address Need for Assistance from Developed World to Fight
AIDS in Africa


Several newspaper editorials this week have addressed the price re-
ductions and patent relaxations on AIDS drugs by Merck & Co. and
Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as the need for developed nations of
the world to offer more humanitarian aid to African nations in order
to assure the purchase, distribution and monitoring of such drugs.
Excerpts of several of the editorials follow:


* Philadelphia Inquirer:
"[T]he world community (with the United States leading the way) must
bring other weapons [in the fight against AIDS] to bear: money and
expertise," a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial states. The "maddening
aspect" of the current situation is that the drug discounts recently
offered are "still beyond the reach of impoverished African govern-
ments and individuals," the editorial continues, adding that what is
needed now is money to fund the purchase of the drugs in order to
stem the "humanitarian crisis" in Africa. The editorial calls on
President Bush to allocate more money for the issue when he presents
his federal budget proposal next month. The budget "ought to reflect
Americans' humane and generous spirit," the editorial continues. The
budget "ought to be bold in dedicating additional foreign aid to buy-
ing AIDS drugs and developing health care systems that can administer
them," the editorial concludes (Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/21).


* Boston Globe:
"[T]he solid front of pharmaceutical companies against allowing
cheap, generic versions of their AIDS drugs into Africa is cracking.
This is a welcome development, but genuine hope ... requires more
help from industrialized countries and a greater leadership role by
local governments," an editorial in the Boston Globe states. The edi-
torial singles out Brazil as an example of how the use of low-cost
generic drugs works to save money and reduce the death rate from
AIDS-related complications. Brazil has benefitted not only from its
better economic status and its ability to create or buy generic
drugs, but also from the "crucial" leadership of its current leader
and his predecessor, the editorial states. For Africa to have the
same success, it needs "financial assistance" from the industrialized
world. Donors should also "require" recipients to establish protocols
to "ensure" that the drugs are properly distributed and administered.
With such an effort, the "world finally has a chance to curb the epi-
demic in Africa," the editorial concludes (Boston Globe, 3/22).


* Providence Journal:
"AIDS is a special case," a Providence Journal editorial states, add-
ing that the disease's "devastation demands a broad humanitarian re-
sponse." And although drug discounts and cheaper generic drug offer-
ings sound "very promising," the lower prices are "still beyond the
means of most Africans." Therefore, financial support from govern-
ments, donors and charities is "essential" to buy drugs and train
people how to use them. Otherwise, the crisis some have labeled "an
international health scandal ... [equivalent to] mass murder" will
continue, the editorial concludes (Providence Journal, 3/22).


* Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
AIDS is "not just a humanitarian disaster, nor is it an African prob-
lem alone," an editorial in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel states.
According to a January 2000 National Intelligence Estimate, AIDS and
other infectious diseases "will complicate U.S. and global security
over the next 20 years. These diseases will endanger U.S. citizens at
home and abroad, threaten U.S. armed forces deployed overseas and ex-
acerbate social and political instability in key countries and re-
gions in which the United States has significant interests." Based on
this information, "[f]or reasons of self-interest, as well as for
compelling moral ones, the United States and other countries should
pitch in and help," the editorial concludes (Milwaukee Journal Senti-
nel, 3/18).


* New Haven Register:
"The rest of the world has largely stood by as AIDS has decimated Af-
rican nations," a New Haven Register editorial states, adding, "But
the immediacy of Africa's plight was brought home recently because of
drug companies' refusal to yield patent rights on AIDS drugs." The
editorial continues, "The scope of poverty and government dysfunction
in Africa is so vast that even humanitarian acts like [the recent
discounts] of Bristol-Myers and Merck will have little impact." Advo-
cacy groups and charities must continue to "turn the spotlight of
public attention" on AIDS, as a group of Yale University law students
and Doctors Without Borders have done. Otherwise, a "generation in
Africa is doomed," the editorial concludes (New Haven Register,
3/21).



--
The Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report is published for kaisernetwork.org,
a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, by National
Journal Group Inc. c 2001 by National Journal Group Inc. and Kaiser
Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Cecilia Snyder
<csnyder@ccmc.org>

MSF PROTEST PETITION

2001-03-26

http://www.msf.org

The Access Campaign is implementing an initiative consisting in gathering as many signatures as possible to protest the lawsuit lodged by 39 pharmaceutical companies against the Government of South Africa's recently approved legislation to render essential drugs affordable.
The Access Campaign is implementing an initiative consisting in
gathering as many signatures as possible to protest the lawsuit lodged by 39 pharmaceutical companies against the Government of South Africa's recently approved legislation to render essential drugs affordable.


Signatures are gathered through the MSF websites. The Communication
Department has decided to send e-mails to friends, colleagues, institutions, organisations and others, to let people know the problem South Africa is facing and gather as many signatures a possible thus condemning the lawsuit lodged by the companies.


Here below, you will find the text included in the e-mails being sent,
explaining the problem as well as the Campaign.
Support the Campaign by sending this text to all your contacts thus enabling us to gather more signatures.


Log into www.msf.es (MSF Spain) or www.msf.org (MSF International) to cast your vote.


Thank you all for your collaboration.


Communications Department TEXT:
In South Africa, one out of five adults is infected with HIV/AIDS.
Currently, over 4 million people live with this disease. In the meantime, 39 pharmaceutical companies have sued the South African Government for having passed a legislation favouring the access of its population to more affordable essential drugs.


The case will be heard on April 18th next.


Please, HELP US TO BLOCK THIS LAWSUIT BY LOGGING INTO OUR WEBSITE (
WWW.MSF.ES)AND SIGNING THE PROTEST PETITION.

Vision is needed to address problem of global health

2001-03-26

http://www.cma.ca/cmaj/vol-162/issue-4/0517.htm

On 4th January this year, Peter Singer posted an article on 'HIF-net at WHO' on the subject of 'Global Alliance for Health Information'. The following letter is from this week's BMJ (17 March) under the title 'Vision is needed to address problem of global health information'.
On 4th January this year, Peter Singer posted an
article on 'HIF-net at WHO' on the subject of 'Global Alliance for Health Information'. The following letter is from this week's BMJ (17 March) under the title 'Vision is needed to address problem of global health information'


If the problem were a new opera house for Sydney, we would hold a competition for architects to show their designs. These designs are visions of the future. Similarly, vision is what we need now to address the problem of global health information.


Pakenham-Walsh notes that international agencies, non-governmental organisations, publishers, libraries, training schools, and others all are seeking to improve access to information for healthcare workers.[1]
Collectively they bring a wealth of skills, but their overall effectiveness has been limited by, ironically, lack of communication. Tan-Torres Edejer observes that the long list of initiatives is impressive but asks whether
any effort has been been made to get them to work synergistically.[2] That role, she says, is most appropriate for the nations themselves with the
cooperation of international organisations and donor agencies. We now need a vision for how these organisations might work together, and to what end. The
global health information problem is so complex and formidable - far more so than the Sydney opera housethat providing a focused, realistic vision would
make a useful contribution. Without a vision, effective action will be impossible. As the saying goes, "If you don't know where you are going, any wind will take you there." A coherent vision would provide focus for debate,
and motivate subsequent concerted action on the part of key players.


Godlee et al identify two key criteria by which such a vision should be judged sustainability and multidirectionality of information flow (for
example, flow not only from developed to developing countries but also from developing to developed countries and perhaps most importantly among developing countries themselves).[3] They are also right to suggest that the
global inequities of health information are part of the problem of global inequities in health, arguably the most important ethical problem in the world. [4] The next step towards a solution is to provide a vision of a global alliance for health information.


Peter A Singer, director.
University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, Toronto, Canada M5G-1L4
peter.singer@utoronto.ca
Competing interests: PS is the author of an article containing a vision of a
global alliance for health information.


1. Pakenham-Walsh N. Improving access to reliable information in developing
countries. BMJ 2000; 321: 831 (30 September.)
2. Tan-Torres Edejer T. Disseminating health information to developing
countries: the role of the internet. BMJ 2000; 321: 797-800 (30 September.)
3. Godlee F, Horton R, Smith R. Global information flow. BMJ 2000; 321:
776-777 (30 September.)
4. Singer PA. Medical ethics. BMJ 2000; 321: 282-285


[HIF-net at WHO profile: Peter Singer is Sun Life Chair and Director of the
University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics; Professor of Medicine,
University of Toronto; Canadian Institutes of Health Research Investigator;
and Associate Editor of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. He is a
leading proponent of free access to biomedical information. Examples of his
work in this area include http://www.cma.ca/cmaj/vol-162/issue-4/0517.htm
and http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/singer-ed.asp
<peter.singer@utoronto.ca>']


Contact: <peter.singer@utoronto.ca>

COSATU: PEOPLE'S HISTORY IN SCHOOLS

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/education/149

COSATU welcomes the launch of the South African Democracy Education Trust. We believe that this initiative is an important step toward recording the history of our people's history struggle for freedom. It must form part of an urgent process to ensure that our country's real history is taught in the schools.
COSATU Calls for the Urgent Introduction of People's History in
the Schools


COSATU welcomes the launch of the South African Democracy
Education
Trust. We believe that this initiative is an important step toward
recording the history of our people's history struggle for freedom.
It
must form part of an urgent process to ensure that our country's
real
history is taught in the schools.


The way we pass on our history must make a connection
between our
future generations and the heroes who wrote the Freedom
Charter,
endured the Treason and Rivonia trials, led the 1972 Durban
strikes,
who led the 1976 Uprising and suffered the state terror from the
mid-1980s to the early 1990s. Only this continuity can ensure the
maintenance of our ideals as the basis for transforming our
society to
benefit the majority of our people.


Unfortunately, there has not been a decisive change in the
schools
history curriculum. Until 1994, the history taught our children
glorified the invasion and exploitation of our country. It denied and
denigrated the struggle of the liberation movement for freedom for
all
South Africans.


We cannot continue to wait until the full overhaul of the
curriculum
before we transform the way we teach history to our children.
Rather,
we must accelerate the development and introduction of new
textbooks
and teacher training to give a balanced and truthful account of our
history.


The history taught in the past glorified the apartheid values of
division and oppression. The current Zulu programme playing on
SABC 3
typifies this. Our new curriculum must, instead, build solidarity
among our youth. It must free our understanding of the past from
prejudice and distortion. Only by retelling our long and arduous
historic journey to freedom and seeing ourselves in terms of that
inheritance, can we come to understand who we are and what
we should
do for ourselves. This must help us realise our dream of a non
racial,
non sexist democratic and a free South Africa.



Siphiwe Mgcina (Publicity Officer)
Congress of South African Trade Unions


Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24
Fax: +27 11 339-2281/5080/6940
Cell: 082 821 7456
E-mail: siphiwe@cosatu.org.za





siphiwe@cosatu.org.za

Speakeasy Stuttering Association of South Africa (Speakeasy SA)

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/education/241

Holds regular monthly self-help group meetings, in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth & Potchefstroom. If you stutter or have a family member or friend who stutters and would like to join a self-help group near you, please contact the Speakeasy National Office for details on 011 883 0292 or email.

RACIAL VIOLENCE IN UK ON THE INCREASE

Institute of Race Relations publishes new report

2001-03-26

http://www.irr.org.uk

Two years after Macpherson reported into the handling of the Stephen Lawrence case, the Institute of Race Relations reports that racial violence is becoming more serious and prevalent. Nineteen people have lost their lives in the UK in racially motivated attacks since February 1999. Increasingly, serious racial violence is being perpetrated against members of newly-arrived and asylum- seeker communities. Despite the fact that half of Macpherson's recommendations were about racial violence, especially how the police and Crown Prosecution Service should act over such cases, families of victims remain dissatisfied with the lack of will to take such racism seriously. Commissioned for London Boroughs Grants - a funder for London's voluntary sector - this report, Counting the cost, suggests that, although most voluntary groups are beginning to tackle the ways their personnel and structures contribute to an inadvertent racism, in line with Macpherson's definition of 'institutional racism', they have yet to meet the challenge of racial violence. Advocacy and support from community groups, concludes the report can, "transform a case into an issue. And the issue, in turn, can influence the policy agenda."

UN calls for new efforts in anti-racism fight

2001-03-26

http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/mar01/18_32_065.html

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has called on the World Conference Against Racism - to be held in South Africa later this year - to come-up with practical ways to make a "seminal difference" in the fight against racism and xenophobia around the world.

UN recruitment clouded by race bias claims

2001-03-26

http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/mar01/23_10_084.html

Most United Nations staff from Europe and North America were offered higher-level jobs at the time of their recruitment than their counterparts from Asia, Africa and Latin America, says a new report by a UN working group.

FOOT AND MOUTH CRISIS

Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania (in French)

2001-03-26

http://www.woya.com/news/french/pana/articles/2001/03/08/FRE095.shtml

Fresh outcry over West African pipeline

2001-03-26

http://www.foei.org/whatsnew/19_march_pipeline.htm

The World Bank has admitted providing technical support for a controversial West African gas pipeline prompting an outcry from local environmentalists over its backing of potentially damaging energy projects.

Greenpeace International founder dies in car crash

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/201

David McTaggart, the founder of Greenpeace International, was killed Friday
in a head-on car crash on a country road in central Italy. He was 68.
Friday, March 23, 2001 (AP)
Greenpeace International founder dies in car crash



(03-23) 12:27 PST ROME (AP) -- David McTaggart, the
founder of Greenpeace International, was killed Friday
in a head-on car crash on a country road in central
Italy. He was 68.
Police said McTaggart was alone in his car. The
driver of the other car also died and his wife was
injured, police said. The accident happened in
Umbria, about 20 miles from Perugia.
McTaggart had lived in Italy for many years.
He galvanized the international environmental
movement in 1972 when he sailed his small boat into a
French nuclear-testing site at Mururoa atoll in the
South Pacific.
He went on to stir up support throughout Europe for
Greenpeace, forging an alliance in 1979 among separate
factions of the organization and uniting them under
his chairmanship as Greenpeace International. He was
chairman until 1991.
"He was the last medieval knight, capable of great
symbolic acts for the environmental cause," said
Gianfranco Bologna, a spokesman in Italy for the World
Wildlife Fund.
Grazia Francescato, president of the Italian Green
Party, called McTaggart "a figure of extraordinary
force" and "an example for all of us."
McTaggart, sometimes dubbed "the shadow warrior,"
was "a very difficult person because he was extremely
stubborn, extremely tough," said David Newmann,
ex-director of Greenpeace Italy, adding he was "a
person of enormous courage and determination."
Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, McTaggart
worked in the construction business for 20 years, then
moved to the United States in the 1960s where
he became a successful contractor and developer.
He retired after an explosion destroyed a resort
his firm had built and sailed the Pacific for
pleasure. In 1971 he became outraged with the
French government's decision to cordon off a vast
swath of international waters in the Pacific for
nuclear tests.
McTaggart was also a driving force behind
Greenpeace campaigns to save the whales, to stop the
dumping of nuclear waste in the ocean, to block the
production of toxic wastes, to end nuclear testing,
and to protect the Antarctic continent from oil and
mineral exploitation.
There was no immediate information on survivors or
funeral arrangements.


CANDICE HUGHES, Associated Press Writer
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2001 AP

Integrated Water Resource Management Workshop

2001-03-26

http://www.usbr.gov/international/trn_integrated.htm

In recent years, interest in integrated water resource management (IWRM) has risen significantly throughout the world due to the increasing demands placed on such a limited natural resource. Integrated Water Resource Management Workshop October 15-19, 2001 Denver, Colorado, USA
Integrated Water Resource Management Workshop
October 15-19, 2001
Denver, Colorado, USA


In recent years, interest in integrated water resource
management (IWRM) has risen significantly throughout
the world due to the increasing demands placed on such
a limited natural resource.


This Workshop will review and analyze recent
developments in integrated water resource management
and tools. The speakers* will be experts from the U.S.
Bureau of Reclamation and specialists from other water
resource management entities who will provide a
comprehensive overview of IWRM theory and techniques
with discussion on policies and practical management
issues -- from river basin level to individual water
resource projects.


Discussion will focus on assessing and dealing with
competing demands imposed on a limited water resource
and, at the project level, means to better promote
their efficient operation, maintenance, and management
for multiple purposes including irrigated agriculture,
flood control, hydropower, water supply and
environmental purposes. Specific sessions in the
Workshop will be devoted to a wide array of topics
including IWRM theory, data collection, water quality,
water conservation, drought management, adaptive
management, decision support systems, and conflict
management.


The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of
Reclamation is responsible for the proper operation,
maintenance and structural safety of more than 300
dams and distribution systems throughout the western
United States. Reclamation has trained over 10,000
technical and administrative officials from other
domestic and international agencies. Reclamation is
regarded throughout the world as a preeminent water
resource management agency.


Practical application of integrated water resource
management will be emphasized. Open discussions will
be encouraged.


Workshop Objectives:


. To provide an overview of system-wide planning
and managementpractices.
. To evaluate inter-organizational cooperation and


to demonstrate actual procedures, facilities and


techniques used in integrated water resource
management.


Who Should Attend:
The Workshop is designed for policy-makers, managers,
and administrators who will be or are now working in
the planning, operation, maintenance, and management
of water distribution systems. The Workshop will be
beneficial for experienced managers, as well as new
managers who are involved in the operation,
maintenance, and management of water systems.


All presentations, discussions and printed materials
will be in the English language. Participants should
have a good command of general and technical English
usage.


Costs and Registration:
The registration fee is US$1500 for each participant.
Registration fee payment should accompany the
registration form. Checks should be in U.S. dollars
and made payable to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Wire transfer payments are acceptable. If paying by
wire transfer, the following information must
accompany your payment:


Bank: Treasury New York City
ABA: 021030004
ALC: 14060905
Reference: A1R-1465-8530-002-01-0-0
A"Second Integrated Water Resource Management
Workshop"@


Registration forms should be received by September 20,
2001. Registrations received after that date will be
accepted on a space-available basis only. If a
participant withdraws from the Workshop, Reclamation
must be advised of the cancellation no later than
September 20. If this date is met, all funds will be
returned. After September 20, 2001, a $200
cancellation fee will be charged.


Visit the Workshop site for more info:
http://www.usbr.gov/international/trn_integrated.htm

Kenya: State ignores directive on forests

2001-03-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/159

Surveyors were busy demarcating Hombe Forest in Mt Kenya despite a ruling by the High Court stopping the government from excising 167,000 acres of forest land.



Source: Wild Forests: WILD_FORESTS@ecoterra.net


By MUCHEMI WACHIRA


Surveyors were busy demarcating Hombe Forest in Mt
Kenya yesterday (18 March) despite a ruling by the High Court
stopping the government from excising 167,000 acres of
forest land.


The High Court sitting in Eldoret ordered Mr Nyenze
last Thursday to stop hiving off forest land in Rift
Valley and Central provinces.


Yesterday, however, surveyors continued to survey the
Hombe Forest at the foot of Mount Kenya, with armed
police from Kiamariga Police Station keeping guard.


All the beacons marking the boundaries that residents
of the neighbouring Sagana Settlement Scheme uprooted
have been re-erected. They replaced them with branches
of cedar trees.


Lady Justice Roselyne Nambuye suspended the minister's
legal notices in the Kenya Gazette of February 16
following an application filed under a certificate of
urgency by environmental advocate Nixon Sifuna.


Police also arrested the chairman of Sagana Wildlife
Protection Self Help Group, Mr Gerald Ngatia, who led
the residents in uprooting the beacons and chasing
surveyors out of the forest. He was arrested on Friday
and released after two hours of interrogation at
Kiganjo Police Station. He also recorded a statement
and was ordered to report to the station today.


The surveyors arrived in three government vehicles
yesterday: two Land Rovers and a Suzuki.


Following Mr Sifuna's application, the Eastern Mau,
South Western Mau, Western Mau Nakuru, Nabkoi, Mt
Kenya, Marmanet, Northern Tinderet, Mt Londian, South
Nandi, Molo and Kapsaret Forests will remain the
property of the State until a case to be filed in two
weeks time is determined by the same court in
Eldoret.


Meanwhile, tension has gripped Hombe Forest as more
than 600 squatters have threatened to silence those
opposing the allocations. Squatter families that have
been residing by the roadside after the government
evicted them from Mt Kenya and Aberdare forests in
1989 said those demanding a halt to the surveying of
the forests are insensitive to their plight.


Led by Mr James Maina, the squatters threatened to
unleash terror on farmers at Sagana Settlement Scheme
who are opposed to the allocation. They staged a
demonstration in Karatina Town recently. When we
lived in the forest, there was no logging and the
forest was safe from environmental destruction, the
squatters argued. We know where the water catchment
areas are and no one can tamper with them.


At the same time, Green Belt Movement Coordinator
Wangari Maathai has vowed to continue collecting
signatures for her petition seeking to stop
Environment Minister Francis Nyenze carrying out the
excision of forests in Rift Valley and Central
provinces. She has collected 32,000 signatures so far.
She was speaking at St Luke's Anglican Church in
Nairobi yesterday.


On Saturday, the Catholic Church challenged the
government to name the squatters it proposes to settle
on forest land. Archbishop Ndingi Mwana aNzeki said
the State had a responsibility to protect citizens and
provide services to them in a transparent manner.


The High Court in Eldoret last week stopped
Environment Minister Francis Nyenze from excising
forests in Rift Valley and Central Provinces.


The Eastern Mau, South Western Mau, Western Mau,
Nakuru, Nabkoi, Mt Kenya Marmanet, Northern Tinderet,
Mt Londiani, South Nandi, Molo and Kapsaret forests
will remain state property until a case to be filed
in two weeks time is determined.




Contact: WILD_FORESTS@ecoterra.net

Kenya: Who favours and who destroys forest biodiversity?

2001-03-26

http://www.globalresponse.org/gra_index/2000.html

Governments should be directly responsible for the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of their respective countries and people. Nevertheless, what frequently happens in the South is that the authorities act in collusion with powerful internal and external interests, and to the detriment of the country's biodiversity, and thus against the welfare of the population they are supposed to protect. This is what is going on in Kenya.
Governments should be directly responsible for the
conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of
their respective countries and people. Nevertheless,
what frequently happens in the South is that the
authorities act in collusion with powerful internal
and external interests, and to the detriment of the
country's biodiversity, and thus against the welfare
of the population they are supposed to protect. This
is what is going on in Kenya.


Located in the east coast of Central Africa, Kenya
holds a variety of landscapes: from tropical
rainforests in the coastal plains to arid areas in the
dry west plateau. Such diversity in nature goes
together with the existence of different ethnic
groups. Deforestation and desertification are two
environmental problems severely affecting the country.
Logging --both legally granted by concessions and
illegal-- an inadequate policy towards protected
areas, megaprojects like dams and mining, are all
putting at risk the rich biodiversity of Kenya. In the
meantime, the government has not only proved to be
unable to stop the process, but has also been active
in promoting it.


The case of the highland Tinet forest area, inhabited
from ancestral times by the Ogiek, is a paradigmatic
example of environmental destruction and disregard to
indigenous peoples' rights. In spite of having managed


these forests in a sustainable way, they have been
forced to defend themselves against the arbitrariness
of both colonial and post-colonial governments, who
have ignored them and menaced them to get hold of
their lands arguing that they are within the
boundaries of a protected area included in the
country's Forest Act. Nonetheless it is not a
preservationist interest what moves the authorities.
In Kenya there is a logging ban in force but three
powerful companies --Pan African Paper Mills, Raiply
Timber, and Timsales Ltd.-- are exempted from it, and
prepared to enter the Tinet Forests once the Ogiek are
expelled. Regarding protected areas it seems that the
authorities have not learnt from past mistakes. In the


mid-1970s, Massai residents of southern Kenya were
abruptly relocated from land that was subsequently
enclosed within the Amboseli National Park, one of the
continent's most visited wildlife reserves. Deprived
of their lands and as a desperate way of showing their
protest, the Massai reacted by killing many of
Amboseli's most prized tourist attractions, including
dozens of leopards, elephants, and rhinos. Both the
fauna and indigenous people suffered as a consequence
of a mistaken approach with regard to biodiversity
conservation.


The announcement made by the government last February
according to which many areas of forest reserves
spread all over the country --totalling 67,150
hectares-- will be left without legal protection
confirms that there is no clear policy for forest
biodiversity conservation in Kenya.


National environmental NGOs gathered in the Greenbelt
have expressed their intention to present a formal
objection to the proposed forest excisions, and the
Kenya Forests Working Group is organizing an
international campaign to oppose it. Severe droughts
have affected the Kenyan territory in the last two
years. Considering the connection existing between
deforestation and the fall in rainfall patterns, the
destruction of these forests would aggravate the
problem and at the same time be detrimental
to the flora and fauna they are home to.


Megaprojects constitute another pending menace on the
country's biodiversity. For example the dam project on
the Sondu Miriu River, one of the major rivers in the
Lake Victoria Basin, is threatening local
biodiversity. Even though the power station is
scheduled to be operational in 2003, the diversion of
the river will cause the disruption of the whole
hydrological basin, with negative consequences on
wildlife. Rare species, like the Colobus monkeys and
hippopotamus, which depend on the river for their
survival will be forced to seek a source of water at
the lower populous Nyakwere plains disturbing their
habitat. The government is backing the project and the
Japan Bank for International Cooperation, together
with a Norvegian and a South African company are
giving financial and technical support to it. The NGO
coalition Africa Waters Network has denounced this
danger, and at the same time local villagers are
resisting the project, which would mean the forced
abandonment of their agricultural lands.


Last but not least, mangroves situated in the coast
near Mombasa on the Indian Ocean are in danger because
of a titanium mining project by a Canadian firm.
Kenyan organizations gathered in the Coast Mining
Rights Forum have recently launched an international
letter campaign, targetting the government and
financial partners --the World Bank included--
denouncing the expected effects of mine exploitation
in the area and demanding its suspension until a
serious environmental impact assessment is performed.



In sum: the answer to the question we have posed
regarding biodiversity conservation in Kenya is clear.
On one side there are local communities and
environmental NGOs trying to protect the country's
biodiversity. On the opposite site there are the
authorities, transnational companies, international
banks and "developers", whose actions result in its
destruction.


Article based on information from:
http://www.globalresponse.org/gra_index/2000.html ;
Lynette Obare, Forest Action Network, 6/3/2001,
e-mail: lobare@hotmail.com ; Nabil El-Khodari,
27/2/2001, e-mail: khodari@yahoo.com ; Paula Palmer,
23/2/2001, e-mail: paulap@globalresponse.org ;
WildNet, 17/2/2001, e-mail: wildnet@ecoterra.net


Source: World Rainforest Movement, [wrmfriends] WRM
Bulletin # 44, March 19, 2001 wrmfriends@chasque.apc.org

Kenyan herders protest foot and mouth slaughter

2001-03-26

http://europe.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/africa/03/23/kenya.foot.and.mouth.ap/index.html

Cows are central to the lives of the nomadic herdsmen who have been deeply disturbed by news that hundreds of thousands of livestock have been killed in faraway Britain in a bid to stamp out an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

Population-Environment Resources Web Page

2001-03-26

http://www.jhuccp.org/popenviro/

Save the Kenyan forests Petition

2001-03-26

http://www.PetitionOnline.com

The Save the Kenyan forests Petition to The Kenyan Government was created by The Nile Basin Society and written by Nabil El-Khodari. The petition is hosted at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service.
The Save the Kenyan forests Petition to The Kenyan
Government was created by The Nile Basin Society and
written by Nabil El-Khodari. The petition is hosted at
www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is
no express or implied endorsement of this petition by
Artifice, Inc. or their sponsors.


Petition posted: March 19, 2001
Will close: April 9, 2001.
-----------------
To: The Kenyan Government
H.E. Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, President of Kenya
H.E. Francis Nyenze, Environment Minister


We are shocked at the media reports that some 68,000
hectares of remaining indigenous forests, including
those in part of the Mount Kenya forest reserve, may
be cleared to settle landless people.
http://www.nilebasin.com/discus/messages/670/86.html?985002484#POST610


This is to request that the Kenyan Government obey the
court orders issued in relation to the Eastern Mau,
South Western Mau, Western Mau Nakuru, Nabkoi, Mt
Kenya, Marmanet, Northern Tinderet, Mt Londian, South
Nandi, Molo and Kapsaret Forests.
http://www.nilebasin.com/discus/messages/670/86.html?985002484#POST921



We are dismayed at the reported news that the
government is ignoring the court orders.


http://www.nilebasin.com/discus/messages/670/86.html?985002484#POST923


We also implore you to consider Klaus Toepfers,
Executive Director of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), concerns about the risk of
increasing deforestation in Kenya.
http://www.nilebasin.com/discus/messages/670/86.html?985002484#POST661


As Mr. Klaus Toepfer has stated "Forests are the
earth's green lungs, helping to remove carbon dioxide
and other pollutants from the atmosphere. They also
stabilize soils, reducing the risks of erosion and run
off into rivers, and are in many cases home to a rich
variety of wildlife and indigenous, forests dwelling,
peoples. Forests also provide food, shelter and
medicines and are a rich source of therapeutic
compounds from which companies can derive new,
potential, cures for diseases from Aids to cancer."


We also request that the Kenyan Government cooperate
with (rather than intimidate) the local NGOs in
preserving these national and global treasures.
http://www.nilebasin.com/discus/messages/670/86.html?985002484#POST922

Special report on the foot and mouth disease in Europe

2001-03-26

http://www.guardian.co.uk/footandmouth/

Trade policies need green angle, say officials

2001-03-26

http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/mar01/21_57_084.html

Trade policies need green angle, say officials Government ministers and high-level officials from over 70 countries this week declared that environmental issues should be taken into account during negotiations on new trade agreements.

WORLD WATER DAY

2001-03-26

http://www.worldwaterday.org/

Concrete efforts are necessary to provide clean drinking water and improve health as well as to increase awareness world-wide of the problems and of the solutions. 22 March is a unique occasion to remind everybody that solutions are possible. Use the resources on this WHO site to help turn words into political commitment and action.
WORLD WATER DAY: MARCH 22 2001
http://www.worldwaterday.org/
Concrete efforts are necessary to provide clean drinking water and improve health as well as to increase awareness world-wide of the problems and of the solutions. 22 March is a unique occasion to remind everybody that solutions are possible. Use the resources on this WHO site to help turn words into political commitment and action.


WATER, HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS
http://www.worldwaterday.org/thematic/hmnrights.html
Around one sixth of the 6.1 billion people in the world lack access to improved sources of water, while 40% are without access to improved sanitation services (WHO 2000). This theme article explores the human right to water.


'IN 25 YEARS, HALF THE WORLD WILL BE SHORT OF WATER'
http://allafrica.com/stories/200103220003.html
The World Resources Institute in Washington DC has warned that the world's freshwater systems are in peril. It predicts that "by 2025, at least 3.5 billion people or nearly 50 percent of the world's population will face water scarcity."


IRC: INTERNATIONAL WATER AND SANITATION CENTRE
http://www.irc.nl/
News and information, advice, research and training, on low-cost water supply and sanitation in developing countries

24 journalists killed in 2000

2001-03-26

http://www.cpj.org/attacks00/pages_att00/news_release.html

Two dozen journalists were killed in the line of duty last year and 81 serving stiff jail sentences at the end of the year were the apparent victims of retaliation by governments which found their work too inflammatory or embarrassing, according to latest figures from a global press watchdog.

Government Slaps Advertising Ban On "The Namibian" Newspaper

2001-03-26

http://www.misanet.org/alerts/20010323.namibia.0.html

Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)report that the Namibian government
has slapped an advertising boycott on "The Namibian" newspaper, claiming the
newspaper is too critical of its policies, the paper reported on Friday 23
March 2001.

MEDIA CHANNEL UPDATES

2001-03-26

http://www.mediachannel.org/links/links-frameset.html

Find newspapers and news sites worldwide with quick links to over 600 news sources sorted by region and country.
MARCH 21, 2001, NEW FEATURES:

MEDIACHANNEL AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT: YOUTH MAKING MEDIA
In the first of our new series profiling our affiliates we take a look
at groups that support youth in making their own creative media.
http://www.mediachannel.org/affiliates/spotlight/01-front.shtml


NEWS DISSECTOR:
ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN, MEDIA COARSENESS
As markets misfire and recession threatens, Danny Schechter finds a
synergy between media's callousness and the U.S. economic downturn.
http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/slowdown.shtml


DAILY MEDIA NEWS
Breaking news stories about the media internationally,
from mainstream and alternative sources.
http://www.mediachannel.org/news/today/



JOURNALISTS' TOOLKIT
Bookmark this! Research tools, interview tips, Web writing guides and
more. Essential resources for the working journalist.
http://www.mediachannel.org/getinvolved/journo/
WEBMASTERS: YOU CAN ADD THIS ICON:
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**FROM OUR AFFILIATES**


MEDIA READER
The best media on the media…
* Suing The U.K. Press
* A Journalist's Murder
* Lies In The Congo
And much, much more...
http://www.mediachannel.org/news/mediareader/front.shtml


THE IT FACTOR
In failing to verify primary sources the media set off a worldwide
frenzy over a new invention without knowing what it was or did.
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#brills


COLOMBIA ON THE MEDIA MAP
While U.S. newspapers are stepping up their presence in Colombia
they’re ignoring what’s really going on in this war-torn
South American nation.
http://www.mediachannel.org/front.shtml#colombia



MEDIACHANNNEL'S BOOK CORNER
* excerpts * reviews * interviews *


FEATURED THIS MONTH:
"Primetime Blues," by Donald Bogle.
"Real Majority, Media Minority," Laura Flanders.
"Daily News, Eternal Stories," Jack Lule.
…and many more!


*Book purchases help support MediaChannel!*


http://www.mediachannel.org/bookcorner



HOT STORIES
MediaChannel affiliates offer the latest news and opinion on the
world's top media stories. This week: Pacifica Radio, U.S. Election
Coverage, Israel/Palestine Media Bias, Serbian Media and the
AOL-Time Warner merger
http://www.mediachannel.org/news/hotstories


MediaChannel welcomes our new affiliates:
*Radio Rookies - a project of WNYC Radio*
*Refugees Online*
*Radio in London*
*Petition-them.com*
*Ontario Independent Media Center*
*Strategic Forecasting, LLC*
http://www.mediachannel.org/



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GLOBAL NEWS INDEX
*Bookmark This!*
Find newspapers and news sites worldwide with quick links to over
600 news sources sorted by region and country.
http://www.mediachannel.org/links/links-frameset.html


MEDIACHANNEL SEEKS INTERNS!
MediaChannel is seeking interns with a background in media studies,
media activism, or with Web publishing, programming, and multimedia
skills.
Contact catherine@mediachannel.org




AS THE MEDIA WATCH THE WORLD, WE WATCH THE MEDIA.


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MediaChannel explores areas such as freedom of expression, citizen
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World Newspaper Congress, Hong Kong, June 2001

2001-03-26

http://www.wan-press.org

Newspapers that take their classified advertising onto the web do not lose
print revenues. That is just one of the findings in a major new study of on-line classifieds that will be presented to participants at the 54th World Newspaper Congress and 8th World Editors Forum, the global meetings of the world's press that will be held in Hong Kong from 3 to 6 June.
Newspapers that take their classified advertising onto the web do not lose
print revenues.


That is just one of the findings in a major new study of on-line classifieds
that will be presented to participants at the 54th World Newspaper Congress
and 8th World Editors Forum, the global meetings of the world's press that
will be held in Hong Kong from 3 to 6 June.


The study undertaken by the Innovation International Media Consulting Group
for the World Association of Newspapers also predicts that, for the
foreseeable future, print classified will remain a mainstay of the
newspapers' business and should not be neglected as management attention
shifts to the internet.


"This report is based on the experience of newspapers in10 countries
operating in a wide variety of markets. All of them sell classified
advertising on the web, and none of them reports that the print business has
suffered as a result," said Timothy Balding, the Director General of the
Paris-based WAN.


"These experiences contradict some predictions that newspapers would have to
'kiss their classifieds goodbye,'" said Mr Balding. "Newspapers are
optimistic about the future of web and print classifieds -- they believe the
combination clearly produces added value for customers." The report explores
how they are managing their web sites, selling web classifieds and other key
strategic issues.


The on-line classified study is part of "Innovations in Newspapers," the
global report prepared for WAN each year by Innovations International that
has become a standard reference for developments in the newspaper industry.
Topics in this year's edition include media convergence; the growth of
"popular" newspapers that are avoiding stories about sex and violence; news
agencies in the digital world; and many others.


The book will be the subject of a major presentation at the WAN Congress and
Forum, which is expected to draw more than 1,000 publishers, managing
directors, editors and other senior executives to Hong Kong (Editors note:
Further information on the Hong Kong events, together with the full
programmes, the participation list and the registration options, can be
found on the WAN web-site at www.wan-press.org or by contacting
jhewkin@wan.asso.fr).


The Innovations report is produced with the help of the WAN READY project,
which is dedicated to shaping the future of the newspaper and is supported
by PubliGoupe, WRH Marketing, TELIA, MAN Roland, UPM-Kymmene and Unisys.


Other Congress highlights include:


-- A presentation by McKinsey and co, the renowned management consultants,
on opportunities available to newspaper companies to grow revenues and
stabilise costs. They will explore a range of issues including leveraging
intangible assets like customer relations, marketing power and brand name
into business opportunities.


-- Mathias Döpfner, who at 37 was recently designated Chairman of the Board
of the giant Axel Springer Group from 1 January 2002, will give his vision
of how newspaper companies must 'reinvent' themselves in the multiple media
age. The Springer Group publishes Bild Zeitung, one of the world's largest
selling dailies.


-- Tony Ridder, the Chairman and CEO of the Knight Ridder newspaper group,
the second largest in the United States, will give his insights into the
group's strategies, three years after moving its corporate headquarters from
Miami to Silicon Valley to take advantage of the technological revolution.


-- The annual WAN survey of world trends in the newspaper industry,
including the latest information on global developments in newspaper
circulation and advertising sales.


-- A presentation on the experiences of the Prisa group, one of Spain's
leading media companies, which publishes the country's biggest selling
daily, El País and owns pay TV, radio and digital publishing operations.
Juan Luis Cebrian, Managing Director of Grupo Prisa, will explain why the
newspaper El País will continue to drive the success of the group.

-- Case studies on 'reinventing' the newspaper business by Takuhiko Tsuruta,
President & CEO of Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the giant Japanese financial daily;
and Eugene Abov, Deputy Director General of the Prof Media group in Russia,
which controls more than 50 media companies all over the country.


Members of the Host Committee for the Congress and Forum are: Joy-Shan Lam,
Managing Director, Hong Kong Economic Journal; Kin-ming Liu, General
Manager, Apple Daily; Andrew Lynch, Editor, Hong Kong iMail; Nigel Oakins,
Publisher and Executive Director, Hong Kong iMail; Cyril D. Pereira,
Director, Newspaper Operations, South China Morning Post; Philip Revzin,
Publisher, Asian Wall Street Journal; Francis K.C. Tiong, Executive
Director, Ming Pao Enterprise Corporation; and Randy Weddle, Acting Managing
Director, Asia/Pacific, International Herald Tribune.


The Congress and Forum will enjoy the sponsorship of: Apple Daily, The Hong
Kong SAR Government, The Hong Kong Tourist Association, The Hong Kong
Economic Journal, The Hong Kong iMail, International Herald Tribune, Ming
Pao Enterprise Corporation, Sing Tao Holdings, the South China Morning Post
and Swire & Sons. The events are supported by The Society of Publishers in
Asia and the partners of the WAN READY Project: PubliGoupe, WRH Marketing,
TELIA, MAN Roland, UPM-Kymmene and Unisys.


The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry,
defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 17,000
newspapers; its membership includes 67 national newspaper associations,
individual newspaper executives in 93 countries, 17 news agencies and eight
regional and world-wide press groups.


Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 25 rue
d'Astorg, 75008 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49
48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr


---
Larry Kilman
Director of Communications
World Association of Newspapers
25, rue d'Astorg
75008 Paris France
Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00
Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48
E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr
Visit our web site at www.wan-press.org
lkilman@wan.asso.fr

Conflict tops agenda of EU-ACP talks

2001-03-26

http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/mar01/22_24_069.html

Staving off conflict and finding paths to peace are top of the agenda at a meeting of lawmakers from the European Parliament and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

CONGO'S NEW PRESIDENT MEETS THE WORLD

2001-03-26

http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=532762

Joseph Kabila is making a good impression in western capitals. But the issues at the heart of Congo's war remain unresolved.

Ethiopian troops found inside UN buffer zone

2001-03-26

http://www.newafrica.com/news/articlepg1.asp?ID=17672

Ethiopian troops have been found inside a buffer zone intended to keep apart the once-warring armies of Horn of Africa neighbors Ethiopia and Eritrea, the United Nations said on Thursday.

Landmines & Aid

2001-03-26

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NileRiver/files/Countries/Egypt/landmines.doc

Egypt has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Speaking at the UN, an Egyptian representative stated that the treaty "did not take into consideration the legitimate right of States for self-defense, including the use of landmines in certain conditions."
Egypt has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Speaking
at the UN, an Egyptian representative stated that the
treaty "did not take into consideration the legitimate
right of States for self-defense, including the use of
landmines in certain conditions."91 Egypt has objected
to the treaty because it does not provide a legally
binding obligation on states to remove mines they laid
in other states. Egypt also believes that AP mines
play an important role in self-defense, protection of
borders, defense from terrorist attacks, and in
deterring drug smuggling. Egypt states that
alternatives to landmines must be in place before
consideration of a ban; moreover, it believes that at
present alternatives are restricted to those states
with advanced military capabilities, thus creating an
imbalance in the security requirements of states.92


Egypt was one of twenty countries to abstain on the
vote on UN General Assembly Resolution 54/54B calling
for the universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty on 1
December 1999. It had abstained on similar resolutions
in 1997 and 1998. Egypt's opposition to the Mine Ban
Treaty surfaced again when it blocked pro-treaty
wording contained in the final declaration of the
Africa-Europe Summit held in Cairo, 3-4 April 2000.
Egypt insisted on the removal of a recommendation for
states to join the Mine Ban Treaty and introduced
weaker language urging efforts within the framework of
the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), though
it is not a state party.93 A German official told
Landmine Monitor, "Germany, like other EU member
states, regrets very much the Egyptian stance of
denying any form of open dialogue on the subject."94


The Egypt's anti-Mine Ban Treaty position continued at
the Arab Regional Seminar on Landmines held at the
Arab League Headquarters in Cairo 9-11 April 2000.
Egypt was successful in insuring that the conference
recommendations did not include mention of the Mine
Ban Treaty but did include endorsement of the
Conference on Disarmament (CD) as the appropriate
forum to negotiate a comprehensive approach to the
landmine problem. Members of the ICBL attending this
conference were concerned that the views of pro-treaty
mine-affected Arab countries like Yemen and regional
NGOs in attendance were not recognized in the
concluding statement. In a press report of this event,
an unnamed Egyptian Foreign Ministry official stated
that government had played no part in organizing the
conference.95


Egypt did not participate as an observer in the First
Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in
Maputo in May 1999. Egypt attended one of the ban
treaty intersessional meetings on Technologies for
Mine Action in May 2000 in Geneva.


Despite repeated requests, however, there is no
official written policy statement by Egypt declaring
that AP mine production and export has ceased.


At the IDEX99 defense fair in the United Arab
Emirates, a marketing brochure from the state-run
Heliopolis Company for Chemical Industries listed
several types of mines for sale, including T/78 and
T/79 antipersonnel mines. The T/78 and T/79 plastic
blast mines were offered in boxes of 100 and 60
respectively.102 While marketing brochures are not
evidence of new production or continued transfer,
advertising mines at an international defense fair
would appear to represent intention to export the
weapon.


Egypt is assumed to have a large stockpile of
antipersonnel mines, but details are not available. An
Egyptian official stated that any such information was
classified for reasons of military security.103


The UK government has provided some assistance to
Egypt for mine clearance. In 1996, the Department for
International Development (DFID) provided $850,000 for
the purchase of mine clearance equipment and in 1998 a
further $166,000 was provided.126 The UK has also,
upon the request of the Egyptian government, provided
all available maps and historical records, as well as
technical documents on mine clearance and military
doctrine to help identify the location and nature of
UK deployed mines.127 Royal Engineer experts from the
Ministry of Defense have conducted visits in 1981,
1984 and 1994 to offer technical advice and
assistance. All relevant historical records were also
made available to the UNMAS mission and the UK Army
Historical Branch is currently in the process of
putting all relevant information onto CD-ROM.128 The
UK government admits that historical records on this
issue are extremely patchy.


When asked whether the UK would give substantial new
funds to mine clearance efforts in the future, the
view expressed was that it was unlikely that the UK
would wish to provide additional financial assistance
on the basis of an Egyptian estimate for the removal
of mines. That said, however, it was felt that funds
could be available for mine awareness and victim
assistance, but that Egypt had not presented any
proposals in this area.129


The German government has similarly provided maps and
historical records, initially in 1982. In 1998,
Germany sent mine experts to Egypt for technical
assistance and donated 110 Foerter Minex 2 mine
detectors, with an estimated value of $411,000.130 In
1994, Italy provided training for twenty Egyptian
deminers.131


Egypt has received $1.432 million in U.S. demining
assistance to date. Egypt requested U.S. assistance to
supplement its national demining efforts in 1997 and
was accepted into the U.S. program on 2 September
1998. The U.S. government body that makes demining
policy has limited the amount of U.S. funds available
to Egypt in light of the $1.3 billion in military aid
Egypt receives from the U.S. each year. There is an
apparent reluctance on the part of the Egyptians to
support its own demining effort with this form of
assistance.132


Egypt does not appear to have developed an integrated
humanitarian mine action strategy. Observers have
noted that Egypt has not benefited from the recent
experiences of the mine clearance community, which has
stressed the need to develop mine clearance as a
comprehensive strategy involving clearance, mine
awareness and victim assistance. A symptom of this may
be manifest in Egypt's perception that expensive high
technology detection equipment will greatly assist
mine clearance operations in the Western Desert and
elsewhere.136


In February 2000, the Army Engineering Corps announced
that its demining operations would be stopped because
of insufficient funds.141 Up to 1981, the Egyptian
government reports that 11 million mines and UXO were
cleared. Between then and 1999, an additional 1.2
million were cleared, 800,000 in the west and 400,000
in the east.142 Clearance efforts have suffered from
financial constraints and have resulted in periodic
suspensions of activity. For example, the Army did not
demine between 1991-1998.143

Rwanda says Congo enemies flout pullback plan

2001-03-26

http://europe.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/africa/03/24/congo.rwanda.reut/index.html

Rwanda has accused its opponents in the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo of not withdrawing in line with a U.N. disengagement plan, dismissing U.N. statements that withdrawals are on schedule.

Security crises plague Africa

2001-03-26

http://www.una-uk.org/Comment/africa.html

Stalemate in the Western Sahara. Stand-off in Sierra Leone. The headlines go on. What hope is there that conflict-torn parts of Africa will pull themselves out of a vicious cycle of poverty, human rights abuse and violence? A United Nations watchdog attempts to point the way for the international community.

Torture in Kenya Prisons continues

2001-03-26

http://allafrica.com/stories/200103240096.html

More than a year after the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, Sir Nigel
Rodley, visited the country to assess the condition of police cells, the
situation seems the same, if not worse.

UN troops capture key Sierra Leonean town

2001-03-26

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/wa/countrystories/sierraleone/20010316.phtml

United Nations peacekeeping troops last week took control of the strategic Sierra Leonean town of Lunsar, marking a major step in the UN's effort to occupy territory held by the anti-government Revolutionary United Front.

'MADDOG' TO HEADLINE LINUX AFRICA 2001

2001-03-26

http://www.aitecafrica.com/events2/linuxprog

Followers of the Linux and Opensource movements will not want to miss the appearance of the legendary John 'Maddog' Hall at the Linux Africa 2001 conference, hosted by AITEC and the Linux Professional's Association of South Africa, from 24 to 26 April 2001 at the Kyalami Exhibition and Conference Centre, Johannesburg.
Followers of the Linux and Opensource movements will not want to miss the appearance of the legendary John 'Maddog' Hall at the Linux Africa 2001 conference, hosted by AITEC and the Linux Professional's Association of South Africa, from 24 to 26 April 2001 at the Kyalami Exhibition and Conference Centre, Johannesburg.
Linux Africa will be the first major conference and exhibition event in South Africa to promote the use of Linux and Opensource. The event is aimed at both the business and technical communities, and will showcase the state of the art in Linux and Opensource, both in Southern Africa and in Africa as a whole.
Maddog's appearance will be a highlight of Linux Africa. As Executive
Director of Linux International John Hall carries with him an impressive
reputation as prophet of the overwhelming possibilities of Opensource
software. Hall has a long history in the Opensource movement prior to his
position as Executive Director of Linux International, which he has held for
the last five years.
Before taking up his position at VA Linux Systems, John was employed by
Compaq Computer Corporation in the Digital UNIX Marketing group and Bell
Laboratories, and has been a very vocal advocate of Linux both inside and
outside of Digital Equipment Corporation since 1994. In his earlier days
Hall was Department Head of Computer Science at Hartford State Technical
College, where his students gave him the nickname 'Maddog' due to his
flamboyant approach to the world and his subject, as well as in recognition
of his impressive, and constantly evolving, facial hair.
The Opensource movement is helping to return control of enterprise
infrastructure from the vendor back to the enterprise itself. Paul Kotschy,
Chairman of the Linux Professional's Association of South Africa, believes
that the greatest benefit for a commercial enterprise is, "To use Linux
and Opensource technology to reduce its dependency on proprietary
monopolistic software vendors, and in so doing to reduce the enterprise's
risk of failure."
"The LPA is working very closely with AITEC to facilitate what will surely
be the premier Linux-related event on the continent," Kotschy says. "I would
encourage IT players at all levels to attend, and especially to hear Maddog
speak. John Hall is one of the leading International Linux and Opensource
celebrities, and one of the forerunners of the Opensource movement. I've no
doubt his appearance will be both informative and entertaining for everyone
who experiences it."
In his presentation, John 'Maddog' Hall will be addressing the ways in which
Linux embraces the various operating systems in the IT industry (such as:
Mainframes, Servers, Workstations, Client/Server and Embedded Systems), and
he will also deal with the prospects Linux holds for the future, in an
industry still dominated by proprietary software giants. The full conference
programme and registration form can be found at
www.aitecafrica.com/events2/linuxprog Or contact shireen@aitecafrica.com or
your local AITEC office for full details.





shireen@aitecafrica.com

African Internet Connectivity

2001-03-26

http://www3.sn.apc.org/africa/

At this Web site you'll find information about Internet access
on the African continent. The details range from information on Internet,
telecommunications to related IT Infrastructure in Africa.
Description: At this Web site you'll find information about Internet access
on the African continent. The details range from information on Internet,
telecommunications to related IT Infrastructure in Africa.


SpectraLinks quick clicks:


Internet Projects in Africa:
<http://www3.sn.apc.org/africa/projects.htm>


Pan African Telecommunications Union (PATU):
<http://www3.sn.apc.org/africa/projects.htm#PATU>


Resources, Articles and Data on Connectivity and Access to the Internet:
<http://www3.sn.apc.org/africa/resources.html>


African Internet Topology (Semret):
<http://comet.ctr.columbia.edu/~nemo/netmap/>
____________________________________________________________
To SUBSCRIBE send E-mail to: <LISTSERV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
In the E-mail body place: Subscribe SpectraLinks Your FULL Name
____________________________________________________________



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Title : DigAfrica – “Your ICT gateway to Africa”
Description : E-group at Yahoo. DigAfrica analyzes, informs and updates on
Internet activities and progress in Africa as-they-unfold.
URL : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigAfrica
Subscribe : DigAfrica-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

IBSA and ECI to Collaborate on WebStream Project in Nigeria

2001-03-26

http://www.CallECI.com

African American nonprofit will team up with global US teleconferencing firm to bring the 6th African African American Summit to the world via Internet Rev. Leon H. Sullivan will convene the 6th African African American Summit in Abuja, Nigeria on May 21 - 25, 2001. The 'Summit of Hope' hosted by the President Olusegun Obasanjo: Federal Republic of Nigeria will bring together ten thousand delegates from across the United States, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean in the spirit of purpose to help forge a new Africa. In partnership with executive Conference, Inc., (ECI) a leader in providing global teleconferencing services and International Black Student Alliance, Inc. (IBSA) an international nonprofit organization, the 'Summit of Hope' will finally be bought to the world stage using the advanced technology of 'Web Streaming' donated by ECI as friends of Africa.
African American nonprofit will team up with global US teleconferencing firm to bring the 6th African African American Summit to the world via Internet
Rev. Leon H. Sullivan will convene the 6th African African American Summit in Abuja, Nigeria on May 21 - 25, 2001. The 'Summit of Hope' hosted by the President Olusegun Obasanjo: Federal Republic of Nigeria will bring together ten thousand delegates from across the United States, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean in the spirit of purpose to help forge a new Africa. In partnership with Executive Conference, Inc., (ECI) a leader in providing global teleconferencing services and International Black Student Alliance, Inc. (IBSA) an international nonprofit organization, the 'Summit of Hope' will finally be bought to the world stage using the advanced technology of 'Web Streaming' donated by ECI as friends of Africa.


It is expected that 25 African presidents and heads of state, as well as many CEOs and senior business executive of the largest corporations in America and the world will be in attendance. The Summit of Hope is expected to be the largest Summit of Africans, African Americans, and friends of Africa ever assembled on African soil. Present will be youth leaders, religious leaders and leaders from women's groups in Africa, America and throughout the Diaspora. The esteemed African Diplomatic Corps, which is comprised of Africa Ambassadors and government officials; all of which have played a large role in planning the Summit.


Summit workshops and group meetings will focus on:


Business, Trade and Investment
Education
HIV/AIDS (Health)
Democracy and Governance
Agriculture
Abuja, Nigeria is the capitol city of Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa.


At ECI, their only business is providing the highest quality teleconferencing services to a broad range of America's foremost corporations, associations, and agencies. Our clientele covers a wide range of industries, including Business, Finance, Government, Law, Education, and Medicine. ECI is a recognized leader in worldwide teleconferencing services, providing exceptional value for our customers. Our focus on customer service has allowed us to build strong relationships with some of America's most prominent businesses, associations, and government agencies. ECI's client list includes IBM, the American Bar Association, the American Cancer Society, Columbia Records, the Federal Reserve Bank, and thousands more... The unique ECI experience has been widely recognized by customers, the press, and financial observers. For example, ECI has been named one of New Jersey's Finest Companies four years running (1996-99). Mass Mutual Insurance honored ECI with its 1998 Blue Chip Enterprise Award. Inc. Magazine has name
d ECI to its Inc. 500 list in 1997 and 1998.

A primary mission of IBSA is to create a comprehensive network of African, African American and Friends of IBSA among students, organizations and businesses throughout the Diaspora. IBSA provides economic development programs and activities that assists in raising the needed financial revenue for entrepreneurial ngo's and youth students interested in business and career development. IBSA is culturally integrated, meaning all races, ethnicity's and culturally unique individuals are welcome to join and support our cause. IBSA is a membership-based organization with a growing base of members and partners spanning the full spectrum of the African Diaspora. The organization has been recognized both nationally for community service and leadership and internationally for their work with youth and business development, as well as being a leader in providing innovative telecommunication support service to phoneless low income job seekers on welfare in the US. IBSA to its credit was a member of the Million Man March N
ational Youth Organizing Committee, a US delegate to the 4th African African American Summit held in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1997, member of the National Organizing Committee for the Million Youth Movement held in Atlanta, Georgia in 1998 & Denver, CO in 1999, Co-sponsor of the 4th National African Amrican Student Leadership Summit held in Arlington, VA Sept. 2000, a sponsor GOREE 2000 Global African Futures Summit World Planning Conference held in Dakar, Senegal and hosted by the African Futures Forum and the PanAfrican Federation of OAU Associations & Clubs, and a member of the www.dogonvillage.com 'Digital Hit Squad' which conducted the first ever street-level online voting opportunities in the United States during the the Arizona primary election. Voter participation increased over 1000 percent.


For more information of streaming dates and times call Lazone Grays with IBSA office at 785-232-5888 xt1101. To request a local location for streaming to your school, university or community center call Keith Peters with ECI at 1-800-788-1885, xt 8218 to obtain information and/or signup. There will be opportunities for interactive participation from designated locations throughout the world and the deadline for signing up a location is April 22, 2001

Daily Web streams will be daily, with special coverage being focused on the Business, Trade & Investment workshops and extended coverage of the special Young People's Summit Assembly on May 22, 2001.

ECI: www.CallECI.com
IBSA: www.ibsa-inc.org


AAAS: www.thesummit.org


Additional questions should be directed to the African African American Summit Office at 1 800 835-3530



Register here to receive date/time by email: ibsa@networksplus.net




ibsa@networksplus.net

l'internet au Bénin

2001-03-26

http://www.iafric.net/forum.htm

Dans le cadre de l'organisation de la fête de l'internet au Bénin édition 2001, les associations ORIDEV et ISOC Bénin organisent un Forum de discussion thématique sur l'internet au Bénin. Ce Forum appelé Forum I-Bénin, durera 45 jours et aura lieu à partir du 03 mars. Trois thémes seront discutées pendant ce forum : 1/ Amélioration de la connectivité au Bénin 2/ Mise en oeuvre d'un NIC au Bénin 3/ Promotion de contenu béninois sur Internet Chaque théme sera discuté durant deux semaines. Chacun de ces thémes sera introduit par un texte rédigé par un spécialiste de la question. Toute personne s'intéressant aux Nouvelles Technologies, étudiant(e), professionnel(le) de l'informatique ou de l'internet, fournisseurs d'accès, et particulier, peut s'abonner au Forum.



Pour ce faire, vous pouvez:
a/ soit envoyer un message à l'adresse majordomo@iafric.net avec comme
contenu du message subscribe forum-oridev-isoc. Tous les messages adressés
à cette adresse doivent être en texte simple (pas de format html).
b/ soit aller à la page www.iafric.net/forum.htm
<http://www.iafric.net/forum.htm> pour une inscription en ligne. Un message
de confirmation vous sera envoyé.

New SANGONet website

2001-03-26

http://www.sn.apc.org/

SANGONeT is a facilitator in the effective and empowering use of information communication technology (ICT) tools by development and social justice actors in Africa. We aim to share information, build capacity and link people and organisations through the use of ICTs. We have over a decade's experience in servicing civil society organisations in Africa.

ONLINE FORUM ON TECHNOLOGY PLANNING FOR NON-PROFITS

2001-03-26

http://www.techsoup.org/lists.cfm?file=board&mb=8454413979466597

How can technology planning support your organization's communications
goals? Where can you find support in developing a plan? How does technology
planning fit into your overall organizational planning? This discussion
with technology experts and nonprofit colleagues will help you determine
when and how it makes sense for your organization to develop a technology
plan. Pose your questions to tech experts, share your own experiences and
find out, for example, how other nonprofits are using technology plans to
advocate for funding.

TechSoup.org <http://www.techsoup.org/lists.cfm> and Helping.org
<http://www.helping.org/nonprofit> invite you to participate in a national
online event this week, "Technology and Communications Planning."

Join us March 26-30 in TechSoup's Community at
http://www.techsoup.org/lists.cfm?file=board&mb=8454413979466597

This event at
http://www.techsoup.org/lists.cfm?file=board&mb=8454413979466597 will be
managed by the Benton Foundation (editors of Helping.org) and facilitated by
technology planning expert, Marc Osten of Summit Collaborative
<http://www.summitcollaborative.com/>.

Following the week-long event, TechSoup will also host and archive the
ongoing discussion on its message boards. This is the second in a series of
nonprofit technology events, co-sponsored by TechSoup.org and Helping.org.

Tanzania Telecoms goes to MSI Cellular

2001-03-26

http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/telecoms/2001/0103151249.asp]

MSI Cellular has taken management control of the Tanzania Telecommunications Company after a first payment of $60 million for a stake in the company. The deal may leave four other operators, including Vodacom, out in the cold. [15 March 2001]

TUAC, ICFTU concerns related to the work of the DOT Force

2001-03-26

http://www.tuac.org

With regard to the current work of the DOT Force and the related debate on bridging the digital divide, the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) have made the following observations.
With regard to the current work of the DOT Force and the related debate on bridging the digital divide, the Trade Union Advisory Committee to the OECD (TUAC) and the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) have made the following observations.


Introduction


1. We are confident that the members of the DOT Force will agree with us that as the pace of the digital revolution has accelerated, the "digital divide" within and between countries has widened. We are also sure that they will join us in stressing that in order to bridge the Digital Divide, fresh thinking and attitudes will be required from all sides, and that governments will have to enhance their ability to co-operate with components of society, which we understand to include business, trade unions, other non-profit organisations, and local communities. The private sector will also have to accept a broader share of moral and social responsibilities in its efforts to build a seamless global business environment.


2. We are concerned that the DOT Force up till now has not met the challenge set in the Okinawa charter with regard to the integration of all major stakeholders in the process. The DOT Force has not achieved a balance between business and other stakeholders. This applies in particular to the representation of trade unions in the DOT Force, as well as to representatives of other civil society groups. This will lay the DOT Force report and action plan open to criticism when it is published and runs the risk of alienating stakeholders from precisely those constituencies whose participation will eventually be needed to help build the success of the activities of the DOT Force. We urge DOT Force members to see trade unions as natural partners in building the matrix of possible approaches and actors to tackling core issues associated with the digital divide.


Trade unions are appropriate and reliable partners


3. Many initiatives in recent years aimed at promoting information and communication technologies (ICT) in developing countries have proved unsustainable. This phenomenon can be attributed in part to the lack of institutional "staying power", and partly to a lack of representativeness on the part of the organisations chosen as partners in such projects. With no membership, and with no income besides that provided by donor organisations, and usually without any support from the private sector, such projects have often unsurprisingly turned out to be "lame ducks".


4. In contrast, it should be noted that trade unions are independent mass membership organisations, with a strong interest in human rights and social and economic development. They enjoy an institutional longevity without a dependence on external financial support.


5. We are confident that the DOT Force will share the commitment of the international trade union movement and its national member organisations to the empowerment and self-improvement of working people in developing countries (in particular young workers and women workers).


6. If the DOT Force is to take a systemic approach, partnership will be required with stakeholders with global coverage, from the international to the community level. The international trade union movement is therefore an appropriate partner.


Workers and education


7. Education, and in particular, vocational training, has been identified as one of the most important tools in bridging the digital divide. Vocational training initiatives, in order to be effective, require input from representatives of the workforce. Trade union organisations have long been committed and have proven to be successful in supporting and promoting vocational training as well as the acquisition of new skills by the workforce. This was confirmed in a OECD study in 1999 which linked unionisation to better results in vocational training programmes.


8. Trade unions all over the world support public as well as employer-supported training, and often unions run their own training courses to improve the skills base of their members. Many examples of trade union-sponsored IT training schemes exist around the world, from the range of programmes the ICFTU is running to promote Internet use among its affiliates, through to basic IT skills training initiatives undertaken locally by trade unions across the globe. These initiatives are complemented by the international residential information technology and distance education training programmes run by the Programme for Workers' Activities in the Turin training centre of the International Labour Organization.


Workers and access to ICT


9. Practical lessons can also be learned from the range of experiences of trade unions on computer-purchasing schemes. In Sweden, Australia, Singapore and United States, partnerships have been set up between national trade union centres and the private sector (primarily internet service providers and vendors of computer equipment) and in some cases governments (where tax incentives have been negotiated in relation to the purchase of computer equipment for union members). The Swedish trade union PC-buying scheme, for example, boosted the Swedish retail market for PCs by around 50% in 1997 over a six month period. Although it is clear that many variables differ between developing countries and industrialised countries (in particular purchasing power), we believe that there are many elements of this targeted approach to spreading use of ICT which are relevant, and which could be reproduced in initiatives to bridge the digital divide.


Workers are major stakeholders


10. We are concerned that, if the DOT Force fails to include stakeholders representative of global civil society, its action plan will lack a realistic vision of how to bridge the digital divide between rich and poor countries. We are concerned that the lack of inclusion may lead to a lack of sustainability. In addition, we are concerned that DOT Force members may fail to take into account several years of experience of pilot projects and efforts of trade unions and other key civil society actors to introduce effective use of ICTs around the world. If such an omission is made, there is a strong chance that mistakes of the past will be needlessly revisited. It should be noted that trade unions can play a special role as stakeholders, because they are part of both global civil society, and of global industry.


11. It is important that the DOT Force argues against any undue fascination with new technologies and new economy business models. We would advise against a "more of the same" approach which will eventually mainly focus on network readiness, connectivity, and imaginative, well-hyped, but ultimately unsustainable pilot projects.


12. Representatives of the DOT Force have stated that it's work will be "demand-driven", in order to identify priority targets for concerted action. It is important that the DOT Force not fail in identifying correctly the societal stakeholders and partners so vital to the eventual success of the DOT Force initiatives. We are concerned that demand may come mainly from ICT manufacturers and vendors, and, as a result, may be less related to the urgent needs of the poor. Deregulated and liberalised markets for telecommunication services, continuing price-decreases of IT-devices and private sector initiatives alone are not a panacea for narrowing the divide. A comprehensive and effective approach is needed, including a broad set of policies and actions embedded in an overall framework of promoting sustainable development.



Globalisation, the digital revolution and workers


13. The chances of a backlash against globalisation, targeting the digital revolution are likely to grow, if workers in developed and developing countries cannot experience any positive impact on standards of living and quality of life. Moreover, workers in developing countries (particularly in Africa) are marginalised from the increasingly intensive informational collaboration between workers at the international level. Thus the digital revolution, if allowed to continue unchecked, will contribute to reduced information flow between poorer and richer countries, and will intensify the backlash.


14. We propose that trade unions be more closely associated with regional information society initiatives, such as the African Information Society Initiative, as well as in global initiatives, such as the DOT Force and the UN's ICT Task Force.


15. We welcome the G8's initiative to mobilise international attention around the challenge of bridging the digital divide. The international trade union movement is not only interested in the success of this initiative, but convinced that its participation as a core stakeholder will contribute significantly towards its success.



TUAC's affiliates consist of over 55 national trade union centres in the 29 OECD industrialised countries which together represent some 70 million workers. (http://www.tuac.org)


The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), was set up in 1949 and has 221 affiliated organisations in 148 countries and territories on all five continents, with a membership of 155 million. (http://www.icftu.org)




Link: http://www.dotforce.org

DISCOVERY-NETWORK UPDATE

MARCH 19, 2001

2001-03-26

http://www.kabissa.org/lists/ihrhl-l

A daily update on human rights and democratic development of the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law based in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
RIGHTS ACTIVIST BERATES OBASANJO’S POLICIES

Radical lawyer and forthright human rights activist, Chief Gani Fawehinmi
has decried the leadership style of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Fawehinmi
who is nursing presidential ambitions against 2003 elections has opposed
strongly the president’s stance on fuel price deregulation, stressing that
he was rather loyal to foreigners than Nigerians. Fuel price deregulation is
believed to be on the prompting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Chief Fawehinmi also criticised Obasanjo’s frequent travelling abroad, and
advised that the president should realise his journeys are at the expense of
the people. The president is noted to have travelled 56 times since coming
into office in 1999.

Chief Fawehinmi has touched on major issues bothering the majority of
Nigerians. President Obasanjo has been urged to cut short his globetrotting
and stop presiding over the affairs of the country from outside but it seems
the president is not prepared to do this. He has almost made the foreign
minister redundant and really it is doubtful if he is acquainted with what
Nigerians want and need. If he did, he would not be insistent on
deregulating the price of petroleum products. It appears that the president
and his colleagues do not have the interest of the country at heart. Every
step, the government is embarking on points at one thing – poverty and
austerity in harsher measures for Nigerians.

GROUP ADVOCATES BAN OF OLD POLITICIANS

An Islamic group in the country has called for the ban of old politicians,
including present active ones from participating in politics. The group said
that the dubious character of the politicians was enough reason to excuse
them from government. Especially, the use of public office to loot funds and
amass wealth for themselves were noted by the group.

That the Obasnjo government is decked with sycophants and cronies is not a
farce. The present administration, despite calls and opinions from well
meaning Nigerians has gone ahead to fix into key positions, people who are
neither popular with democracy nor the public. It is a shame to think that
some of the members of the president’s cabinet were those who served under
military dictatorships. They did not only serve but as well nominated the
late Gen. Sani Abacha as sole presidential aspirant to continue to keep
Nigerians under bondage. That era having passed, it would have been expected
that the present administration would shun such people in government and
give credit-worthy Nigerians a chance at making policies and controlling key
positions in government. Albeit technocrats and people who could really make
a difference have been pushed to the background.

AKURE RESIDENTS LOSE HOMES TO FLOOD

From Akure in Ondo State come reports that hundreds of people have been
rendered homeless by the flooding of the Ala River in the state capital. The
flood displaced residents in five communities.

DISCOVERY learnt that the situation could have been avoided if the state
government had acted when it was informed of an impending flood occasioned
by the Ala River. The displaced people were at the Ondo State Government
House to protest the government’ negligence and indifference before and
after the incidence.

The damage has been done but governor Adebayo Adefarati should realise that
he must pay for his non-chalant attitude to the people he is governing.
Having not been able to live up to the expectations of the people, he should
not add to it as he has done by depriving them shelter. A government that
can afford to shun its people in the period of dire need and such
consequential circumstance is not fit to be the custodian of the people.

GOVT. SCRAPS PAP TO INTRODUCE YES

The federal government gave indications last week of cancelling the Poverty
Alleviation Programme (PAP) and replacing it with another, Youth Empowerment
Scheme (YES). The scrapping of PAP is borne out of inadequate fund to
support it. Unemployed youths were supposed to be earning N3, 500 monthly
from PAP. Though PAP did not record success with members of the public due
to its being hijacked by government officials and their cronies, a
development which saw the monthly N3, 500 for unemployed youths being
appropriated by greedy officials. Still under PAP, the federal government
could not effect the payment of N7,500 monthly allowance for graduates
serving in the National Youth Service Corps.

With such background, it is doubtful if government will be able to hold the
fort for YES. If there are no funds to finance PAP, where will the funding
for YES come from? Besides, the federal government knows money will be
involved at the launching of its intended YES. Rather than waste public fund
launching a scheme that will neither see the light of day nor benefit
Nigerians, government had better reconsider its plans.

ELEME YOUTHS SPOIL FOR WAR WITH JULIUS BERGER AS SECURITY AGENTS SHOT INTO
FARMERS

Youths from the Eleme Community in Eleme Local Government Council of Rivers
State are spoiling to disrupt the activities of Julius Berger, a German
multinational construction company handling the construction of railway
lines that run across the community.

The youths are protesting against their non-inclusion in the company’s
workforce as provided in the federal government guidelines that employment
opportunities into the grade levels 1-6 should be allotted to the host
communities of the projects.

DISCOVERY source said that instead of abiding by the federal government’s
order, Julius Berger opted to hire the services of army and Mobile Policemen
(MOPOL) to harass the indigenes of the communities.

The security personnel who were paid N50, 000 by Julius Berger were
allegedly accused to have shot into some women who were going to farm where
the pipelines project ran across. Julius Berger was also allegedly indicted
of refusing to recognise and work with community liaison officers elected by
the community.

It can be recalled that railway project which would run across Onne, Alode,
Alesa and Aleto communities in Eleme Local Government was commissioned by
the Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar administration in 1999.

While the youths are protesting for Julius Berger’s refusal to employ them,
the company was also accused of not coming up with the Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) of the project.

Thought the railway line was geared towards bringing development to the
community, it must not be done at the expense of the community whose
economic, social and cultural rights are being violated with impunity.

In the same vein, traditional rulers in the area were crying that Julius
Berger did not consult them before embarking on the project. DISCOVERY
learnt that royal fathers were strongly behind the youths in their action to
seek redress to the perceived neglect.

It can also be recalled that on April 11, 2000 one Ogoni youth was shot to
death when youths in the area went to challenge the construction of roads in
the area, after perceived neglect and abandonment.

We call on all civil society organisations in the country to pressurise the
federal and Rivers State governments to take precautionary measures before
the Eleme issue escalates.

March 20, 2001



EPCL WORKERS PROTEST AGAINST INHUMAN TREATMENTS

Over 462 contract workers of Eleme Petrochemicals Limited (EPCL) Rivers
State have down tool in protest of their total neglect by management of the
company and the Nigerian government.



Inherited from Choda, JJC, Kobe and Spil Bite, the companies that built
EPCL, the workers were promised by the management of EPCL of being converted
to permanent staff after putting six months.



"We have been working with EPCL from 1995 to 2001 as casual workers without
being converted to permanent staff", one of them told DISCOVERY.



They argued that while EPCL place cranes machines on two months routine
services, they themselves are being subjected to subhuman treatments such as
no leave, no adequate medical attention, no allowances and substandard
salaries.



The workers allegedly claimed that in spite of carrying out the company’s
major jobs, they were paid meagre salaries while their counterparts who sit
in air conditioned offices doing nothing receive fat salaries.



Contrary to the provision of the Nigerian Labour Law that states that
employers of Labour should either confirm or dismiss their employees after
three months probation, there have been recorded cases of employees being
sacked after working for a company for over 30 years as casual workers. Many
of them end up without terminal benefits and allowances and each time they
embark on peaceful demonstration in protest of perceived ill treatment, the
companies invite security agents. So many workers have lost their lives
through these constant confrontations with security agents.



FUEL SCARCITY: FOUR DIE IN FUEL FIRE



Four people were burnt to death in a house at Umo Orok area of Calabar in
Cross River State, last week. The four were victims of a fire outbreak
precipitated by storage of fuel in the house. One of the deceased was said
to have always stored jerrycans of fuel in his room despite warnings by
neighbours. How the fire started has not been ascertained but it is believed
that a match must have been lit near the stored fuel to have caused an
inferno.



Earlier in the month, similar incidents had occurred. In one of such
incidence, a man and his family were burnt to death. In another development,
a cyclist carrying a passenger with a jerrycan of fuel was burnt to death.
The motorbike had collided with another vehicle and caught fire as a result
of the jerrycan of fuel. The passenger escaped the inferno.



This pathetic situation nonetheless paints the picture of what the Nigerian
government has done to its citizens. The persistent fuel scarcity in the
country has made motorists and black marketers turn their residents or
workshops into filling stations of sort. In order to spend less time at
filling stations, some motorists buy in jerrycans (though illegal) and fill
their vehicles as well. Fuel in jerrycans are kept in their residence for
‘safe keeping’. And there are those who after buying into their vehicles
still drive home to empty it into jerrycans so that fuel thieves won’t help
themselves to it. The consequence has been devastating. All this is
happening because there is a government that does not care to know the
plight of the citizens. Rather than see to the availability of fuel,
government is compounding the problem by insisting on fuel price
deregulation. Observers are strongly suspicious of government’s insistence
on deregulation and the continued scarcity of fuel. Some think the federal
government is the brain behind the scarcity and not perceived saboteurs.
Government, they have posited, is maintaining the scarcity so that it can
justify its reason for fuel price deregulation.



RAINSTORM RENDERS OVER 100 HOMELESS



A rainstorm at Ogbolo-Isiokpo in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers
State destroyed about 60 buildings in the village, leaving more than hundred
people homeless, last week. Described as the worst in the history of the
community, the storm destroyed farmlands, including economic trees and food
crops.



DISCOVERY learnt that the Rivers State Government has donated N2.5 million
to help the rehabilitation of the victims.



STRICTER PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLATORS OF WOMEN’S RIGHTS ADVOCATED



The National Coalition on Violence Against Women (NCVAW), a Non-Governmental
Organisation is in the vanguard for seeking stricter measures for violators
of women’s rights in the country. The organisation has maintained that some
sentences for such violators are not commensurate with their offence. It
noted the two-year jail term for convicts of such attacks as rape and acid
bath, positing that it was "ridiculous". According to the organisation,
debasing treatments of women like rape, genital mutilation, battering and
acid attacks require very strict and specific laws.



Meanwhile, state Houses of Assembly are receiving proposals to enact laws
that will stop obnoxious traditional practices against women. Last year, the
Bayelsa State House of Assembly passed a bill outlawing female genital
mutilation. Earlier this month, the Enugu State House of Assembly passed a
bill outlawing the practice of making women undergo harmful traditional
rites. And in a separate development, the Ebonyi State House of Assembly
gave indication that it would soon do same.



While civil society groups are looking out for more bills in this regard, it
is but pertinent to dwell on the campaign of NCVAW. Many women or wife
batterers have escaped the arm of the law. Recently, a man, Mr. Emeka Ani,
killed his wife in the course of severe beating and assault. Though
apprehended by the police, information reaching DISCOVERY is that he may
stop the course of justice by buying his freedom and escaping out of the
country. Unfortunately, much has not been heard about Mr. Ani. Civil society
groups cannot afford to let him get away even if the police or government
can.


MARCH 21, 2001



FG PROMISE PROMPT PAYMENT OF SALARIES



T he federal government has promised civil servants in the country prompt
payment of their salaries, taking effect from this month. Government, making
the announcement on Monday 19th, March 2001 stressed that officials in the
ministries or parastatals caught trying to stifle the federal government’s
objective would be dealt with. The federal government said it has asked the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to confer with other financial institutions
involved in the payment of salaries of civil servants in the country to
address the causes of delay in payment of the salaries. Though on its own,
it has partly attributed the delay to the staff audit exercise aimed at
fishing out ghost workers.



It is certain that the federal government would not have acted had civil
servants not conducted rounds of protests and strikes because of their
delayed salaries. Civil servants in the country, especially those on the
lower grade levels, have more often than not, remained unpaid for as long as
3 months. The situation, sometimes being caused by senior officials who
hijack the salaries and sometimes force junior workers to sign pay vouchers
without receiving their salaries. In the same vein, public office holders
continue to receive their salaries with fringe benefits regularly and
without delay while their colleagues in lower positions remain unpaid.



Having announced its good intentions, the federal government should keep to
its promises. Federal government should recall that the N7, 500 monthly
allowance promised graduates serving in the National Youth Service Corps is
yet to be implemented 3 months into when the promise was made.



LABOUR ACCUSE STATE GOVT. OF VICTIMISATION



In Lagos State, the Council of Industrial Unions (COIU) has accused the
state government of victimising workers because of their stance on the new
minimum wage. The allegation came on the heels of the retrenchment exercise
currently going on in the state’s civil service. The crux of the matter is
that people who are not up to retirement age are getting sack letters,
workers between ages 35 and 50 and who are still in their productive years.
The union identified two of such workers who were active during the protest
for the implementation of the new minimum wage. However, the union, which
sensed some foul play, absolved governor Ahmed Tinubu from the issue on
grounds that he had personally assured the union that only retirable people
would be affected in the retrenchment exercise. This notwithstanding, there
is cause for alarm. There were reports that the Lagos State government
slated about 10, 000 workers for retrenchment. Though the government has
debunked this, the economic and social effects of the exercise need to be
considered. Retrenching workers means making an alternative means of income
readily available for them. Having placed retrenched workers automatically
on the pensions list, the government need understand that funding for the
pension should not be delayed, else it would mean placing those retiredones
from a bad situation to a worse one.



LAWYERS MAKE CASE FOR PUBLIC OFFICE HOLDERS



In Ogun State, lawyers have joined the band wagon advocating for a new and
healthy lease of life for the people in the state. the Ijebu-Ode branch of
the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) last week lashed out at the Local Council
Chairmen in the state for their perceived negligence of duty. Particularly,
the NBA noted the deplorable condition of roads in the state and wondered
why it was so when there were elected council chairmen.



The situation in Ogun State is a picture of what is obtained in other parts
of the country. Office holders have continued to advertise their
achievements even when there is really nothing to show for it. Local
government chairmen and their state governor counterparts have been telling
the world a lot of lies.



A NEED TO CAUTION MASSOB



Reports reaching DISCOVERY from Imo State say that the activities of members
of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra
(MASSOB) are growing to an alarming rate. DISCOVERY gathered that MASSOB, in
its wake of trying to enforce normalcy in the prices of petroleum products
in the state, has been harassing residents, carrying out unlawful arrests
and demanding bail fees before releasing those arrested and torturing people
held captive. Oil marketers who are the main targets of MASSOB were on a
protest march at the Imo State Police Command recently to report MASSOB to
the authorities and seek for protection against threats to their lives and
freedom. they claimed that about 10 of them who were arrested and detained
by the militant group for selling fuel above the pump price were made to pay
between N20, 000 and N30, 000 bail fee before being released. In another
development, MASSOB members invaded a filling station, attacked the
attendant on duty and helped themselves to the money for the sales of the
day. Only the timely intervention of motorists who were on queue to buy fuel
saved the situation as they angrily accosted the MASSOB members on their
behaviour.



Whether or not the people involved in these actions are MASSOB members
notwithstanding, there could be nothing wrong with trying to sanitise a
dwindling economic situation but there is something wrong when there is no
legal backing of such actions. It would be recalled that earlier this year,
the Imo State Police Command had apprehended some members of MASSOB on
alleged harassment of residents and disturbance of public peace. From the
reports, it is obvious that MASSOB is going against the law - extorting
money from people, harassing and torturing innocent citizens - actions that
are far from crusaders of human rights and advocates of fair play and
justice.



despite the ban by the federal government on such militant groups as MASSOB,
it is appalling to find that the federal government itself is helpless as to
helping the situation. But government has to do something this, especially
ensuring the safety of citizens and solving the economic problems, such as
the fuel scarcity, which are giving some undesirable elements the basis for
sprouting up.





MARCH 22,2001



NDDC GETS TROUBLE SIGNAL



The controversial Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) may be
confirming the misgivings some observers and civil society groups in the
Niger Delta region had of its necessity to the region. More than 7 months
after being endorsed by the National House of Assembly, the NDDC is yet to
be active. Funding has turned out now to be a handicap. Managing Director of
the commission, Mr. Godwin Omene said in Warri recently that the
multinational oil companies in the Niger Delta states have failed to release
their share of funding to the commission. The federal government, which
spearheaded the commission has also not released funds. And the NDDC which
is meant to address the problems of the Niger Delta people, especially oil
producing communities, cannot act.



For all civil society groups and concerned Niger Deltans know, the NDDC is a
replica of the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission
(OMPADEC) which was manned by cronies of the government of the day. OMPADEC
achieved nothing for the Niger Delta people and it is doubtful if the NDDC
would going by its poor start.



Yet again, oil companies operating in the region have showed their
indifference to the plight of their host communities by failing, after 3
months of the inauguration of the commission, to contribute to its funding
as earlier agreed.



Government on its part should be drawn to this development. President
Olusegun Obasanjo who initiated the NDDC Bill against oppositions from the
House of Assembly and critics ought to justify his reason for setting up the
commission. The Niger Delta people are not prepared to tolerate another
‘white elephant’ project.



Meanwhile, arrangements have been concluded for NDDC to move from the former
OMPADEC office in Port Harcourt to an eight-storey building erected by the
late Gen. Sani Abacha. The land on which the building was built was
forcefully appropriated by the late head of state. A Port Harcourt High
Court had ruled, in a suit on the land, in favour of the owner, Dr. Eke
Spiff. Dr. Spiff sold the building to the Rivers State Government to the sum
of N200, 000, 000.00 (two hundred million naira).



NIGERIANS JOIN PROTEST AGAINST DEREGULATION



As the federal government of Nigeria reinstates its resolve to increase
prices of petroleum products, the Nigerian populace have made themselves
battle ready to oppose the actualisation of the plan. For a period of eight
days (having begun on Tuesday 20th March, 2001), Nigerian masses will join
civil unions in the country on a nation-wide programmed protest of President
Obasanjo’s coined ‘deregulation’ of the petroleum sector. Having slated two
national rallies for Lagos, former capital of the country and Abuja, the
current capital, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) held the first protest
rally yesterday Wednesday 21 in Lagos. The protest rallies are peaceful and
the NLC which is co-ordinating other unions like the NANS and ASUU (both
academic) has instructed the state branches to be wary of any form of
violence in their rallies.



The protest rallies of the NLC and other unions have been borne out of the
federal government’s refusal to reason through dialogue and threats with and
from the bodies, including Nigerians. The Nigerian government has failed in
this test of the spirit of democracy. The fact that the majority of
Nigerians are against the increase in prices of petroleum products has not
been enough reason for the federal government to stop its plan. It has
forgotten too soon that the voice of the majority always counts in
democracy. Rather, President Obasanjo and his Information Minister, Prof.
Jerry Gana and other of his sycophants are choosing to shun the voice of
Nigerians to please themselves, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and
the World Bank. The federal government has insisted that Nigerians are being
‘pampered’ in their own homeland! The loans Obasanjo wants from these world
financial bodies - are they for the good of Nigerians or for the self
aggrandisement of himself and his political class?



ANOTHER COLD-HEARTED PRESIDENT



Last week, the 14th and 15th of March, 2001 President Olusegun Obasanjo was
in Bayelsa State, incidentally where Odi community, the 1999 devastated
village is. However, against expectations of Bayelsans, especially the
people of Odi, the president evaded to dwell on issues nearest the hearts of
the people. For the people of Odi, though Obasanjo announced the federal
government’s construction of prefabricated houses for those displaced during
the soldiers’ attack, he however did not see reason to justify the N25
billion compensation the community has requested for.



It would be recalled that many indigenes of Odi community in Bayelsa State
were killed, raped, their houses burnt by soldiers of the Nigerian Army in
November 1999 who were deployed on the orders of President Obasanjo to deal
with some miscreants. The people of Odi have been crying for justice since
the ill and unlawful treatment meted out to them by the federal government.



Really, civil society groups ought to re-awake to the plight of Odi people
and ensure that Obasanjo pays his dues to the community. He cannot just give
comfort in lip service and fail to alleviate the people’s sufferings.



IHRHL CONDEMNS KILLING OF WOMEN RIGHTS ACTIVIST



The Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (IHRHL), Port Harcourt,
Rivers State has condemned the brutal killing of Kuwaiti woman journalist
and women rights activist, Hedayet Sultan Al-Salem. Al-Salem who was shot
while sitting at the back of her car by unidentified gunmen was, until her
sudden death, active in campaigns aimed at securing full political rights
for Kuwaiti women, including the right to vote and to be voted for.



IHRHL is calling on all national and international Non-Governmental
Organisations and other civil rights groups to prevail on the Kuwaiti
government to order a thorough and proper investigation into Al-Salem’s
killing.



RIVERS STATE WORKERS TAKE TO THE STREETS



In continuation of its nation-wide anti-deregulation protest against prices
of petroleum products by the federal government, the Rivers State branch of
the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) today March 22, 2001 took to the streets
in a peaceful demonstration.



The rally started with the convergence of workers at the NLC secretariat, No
24 Benin Street, Port Harcourt where they took off to the Civic Centre.



addressing the workers at the Civic Centre, the state NLC Chairman, Comrade
Sam Jaja charged on the government not to go ahead with the plan on the
deregulation exercise. Jaja said that government’s plan was against the
wishes of the Nigerian workers and the masses, adding that as elected
officers, those who pilot the affairs of government should abide by the
wishes of the electorates.



The workers went round the city of Port Harcourt in a convoy of over 30
buses.



Meanwhile, criticisms have continued to trail the workers’ rally. DISCOVERY
reporter who monitored the rally was told by some workers that by choosing
to go round the city in a convoy of buses, the objective of the rally was
defeated. They argued that that the impact of the rally would have been felt
much if the workers had marched the streets.



Today’s rally was slated to take place in seven states of the federation,
which include Sokoto, Anambra, Osun, Rivers, Benue, Adamawa and Yobe.





DISCOVERY-NETWORK is a daily update on human rights and democratic development of the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law based in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.


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EANMAT NEWSLETTER

The East African Network for Monitoring Antimalarial Treatment

2001-03-26

http://www.kmis.org

The 8th edition of the EANMAT newsletter can be viewed on the Kenya
Malaria Information Service site at: www.kmis.org.

EQUINET-l Newsletter No 5, 26 March 2001

2001-03-26

http://www.equinet.org.zw

Newsletter of the Network for Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET)
EQUINET-l Newsletter No 5, 26 March 2001

Newsletter of the Network for Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET)

1. Editorial
2. Equity and health general
3. Resource allocation
4. Public-private subsidies
5. Household poverty
6. WTO, economic and social policy
7. Human resources
8. Human rights and health
9. Research and Policy
10. Popular participation / governance and health
11. SADC News
12. Letters and comments
13. Useful Resources
14. Jobs and announcements

This and previous issues of the newsletter available at
http://www.equinet.org.zw/news.html

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1. Editorial: Facets of the global health divide

Editor's Choice, BMJ 2001; 322 ( 17 March )
http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/322/7287/0
"Global inequities in health is the number one ethical issue of our age,
argues Peter Singer, the Canadian bioethicist. Most of the sickness in the
world is in the developing world, but most of the health care is in the
developed world. This week's BMJ illustrates four facets of the divide.

Pharmaceutical companies are under increasing pressure to make their drugs
affordable in the developing world and to produce drugs for the conditions
that are unique to the developing world. Drugs for treating HIV infection
are, for example, unaffordable to most of the world's poor, and yet they can
stop the disease from killing. Countries like South Africa, Brazil, and
India are responding by producing generic versions of patented drugs.
Pharmaceutical companies take action against them, and the rich and poor
worlds collide. David Taylor calls for "mutual respect and a pragmatic
willingness to work together," but argues that commercial companies can't
solve the health divide alone.

Poor countries are deprived not only of drugs but also of scientific
information. Research libraries in rich countries have had to pay more for
less information as publishers have increased their prices, and libraries in
the poor world have lost all access. The digital divide (measured by access
to information on the internet) is more extreme than any financial or health
divide. This is especially sad because increasing access to information
increases its value for everybody (because people add new insights) and the
marginal cost of electronic information is zero. Publishers, like
pharmaceutical companies, need to find ways to provide their goods cheaply
in the developing world, and an increasing number are doing so.

Even more fundamental than access to drugs or information is access to clean
water, and it is only in the poor world that people do not have such access.
Rhona MacDonald describes the terrible problem faced by Bangladesh, where
people are being slowly poisoned by arsenic in their water. Wells were sunk
to supply biologically clean water, but the geology of the rock means that
the water contains arsenic. The problem is also seen in China, Mexico,
Argentina, and Chile, and the solution is far from clear. Arsenic or
dysentery is a poor choice.

About 98% of the 3.43 million adult deaths related to poor reproductive
health occur in the developing world. Many international agencies have thus
worked hard to try and reduce this dreadful toll, but their work has been
severely disrupted by President Bush prohibiting the use of US funds by any
agency offering abortion related services. The family planning organisations
want the prohibition reversed.

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2. Equity and health general

WORLD WATER DAY: MARCH 22 2001
http://www.worldwaterday.org/
Concrete efforts are necessary to provide clean drinking water and improve
health as well as to increase awareness world-wide of the problems and of
the solutions. 22 March is a unique occasion to remind everybody that
solutions are possible. Use the resources on this WHO site to help turn
words into political commitment and action.

WATER, HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS
http://www.worldwaterday.org/thematic/hmnrights.html
Around one sixth of the 6.1 billion people in the world lack access to
improved sources of water, while 40% are without access to improved
sanitation services (WHO 2000). This theme article explores the human right
to water.

'IN 25 YEARS, HALF THE WORLD WILL BE SHORT OF WATER'
http://allafrica.com/stories/200103220003.html
The World Resources Institute in Washington DC has warned that the world's
freshwater systems are in peril. It predicts that "by 2025, at least 3.5
billion people or nearly 50 percent of the world's population will face
water scarcity."

IRC: INTERNATIONAL WATER AND SANITATION CENTRE
http://www.irc.nl/
News and information, advice, research and training, on low-cost water
supply and sanitation in developing countries

AIDS DRUGS FIRMS PRACTICE 'NEW GLOBAL RACISM'
http://www.afrol.com/News2001/sa013_medicine_racism.htm
13 March - Human rights demonstrators all over the world this week accused
American pharmaceutical companies of 'new global apartheid' for denying
cheap anti-AIDS drugs to the Third World. Protestors from the Gray Panthers,
Doctors-Without-Borders and Oxfam America made the accusation while
picketing the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
offices in Washington DC on Monday in support of the South African
government's court challenge against 40 drug firms.

CUBA OFFERS HELP ON CHEAPER AIDS DRUGS
http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,814701-6078-0,00.html
President Fidel Castro has announced that Cuba has developed world-class
AIDS drugs and wants to help SA and Brazil circumvent patent laws to produce
cheap generic drugs for AIDS sufferers in their countries.
"Cuba is producing those famous cocktails," Castro told Cuban television on
Sunday before challenging multinational pharmaceutical companies to protest.
"I would like to hear a protest so I could grin from ear to ear," he said.

DRUGS ON G8 AGENDA
http://www.news24.com/News24/Health/Aids_Focus/0,1113,2-14-659_999672,00.htm
l
Leaders of the rich industrial world will study ways to help developing
countries access Aids drugs and other life-saving medicines at their July
summit in Genoa, Italy, a British official said on Wednesday. Pressure is
growing for action, particularly in Africa where a high-profile court case
brought by pharmaceutical companies against the South African government has
highlighted the problem of high-cost treatments which are out of reach of
the poor.

DEMAND FOR NEW AIDS DRUG
http://www.news24.com/News24/Health/Aids_Focus/0,1113,2-14-659_999256,00.htm
l
Aids activists demanded on Tuesday that two companies improve access to a
revolutionary new Aids drug, T-20, which could save the lives of thousands
of people who fail to respond to conventional therapy.

'10M AIDS DEATHS IN SA BY 2015'
http://www.news24.com/News24/Health/Aids_Focus/0,1113,2-14-659_998615,00.htm
l
Aids could claim more than 10.5 million lives in South Africa by 2015, and
leave one million children motherless by 2005, according to a report
released on Monday.

TAC DEMANDS GOVT HIV/AIDS TREATMENT PLAN FOR 2001
http://www.iclinic.co.za/mar01/tacconf19.htm
Leading AIDS activist group the Treatment Action Campaign plans to pressure
the SA government into developing an HIV/AIDS treatment plan this year, TAC
Chair Zackie Achmat told SABC radio on Monday.
His statement follows the opening of the TAC's first National Congress held
in Soweto, south of Johannesburg, on Sunday. "Over the last two years the
TAC has built the foundations for a formidable mass movement to fight for
access to treatment," the TAC says on their website.

WHO: ONE BILLION NEW TB CASES BY 2020 UNLESS CONTROL INTENSIFIED
http://www.iclinic.co.za/mar01/tb16.htm
The opening of Tyger Trade and Training Centre near Cape Town on Friday
became an international curtain raiser for World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, to
be held on March 24. It is estimated that between 2000 and 2020, nearly one
billion people will be newly infected, 200 million people will get sick, and
35 million will die from TB - if control is not further strengthened.

TRADITIONAL HEALERS TO PRACTICE IN SWAZI HOSPITALS
http://www.iclinic.co.za/mar01/tradheal22b.htm
Traditional healers in Swaziland will now work hand-in-hand with hospitals
and clinics in the fight against HIV/AIDS, the five-year Strategic Plan by
the HIV/AIDS Crisis Management and Technical Committee said.

SOUTH AFRICAN HEALTH REVIEW 2000
http://www.hst.org.za/sahr/2000/
The Health Systems Trust launched the South African Health Review 2000 on
the 1st of March 2001. This is an annual publication that provides an annual
and longer-term review of health policy developments in South Africa.

WHO: HUMAN HEALTH SEVERELY AFFECTED BY DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT
http://www.unccd.int
Increased desertification and drought represent a serious threat to human
health. The World Health Organization (WHO) expressed this concern at the
fourth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) which was held in Bonn, Germany
(11-22 December 2000). For more information Rajeb Boulharouf
<rboulharouf@unccd.int> or Sonia Filippazzi <sfilippazzi@unccd.int>.

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Equinet Policy Series
Can Research Fill the Equity Gap in Southern Africa? Dr. Rene Loewenson.
Available from:TARSC, 47, Van Praagh Avenue, Milton Park, Harare, Zimbabwe.
US$5.00 info@equinet.org.zw

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3. Resource allocation

SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEMS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
By Charles Crothers. Paper to the ISA RC 19 Annual Conference 2000: Social
Protection in the New Era: What Future for Welfare?
http://cwis.kub.nl/~fsw_2/home/worschot/rc19/papers/croth.htm
"In their opening sentence, Amhad et al note that 'In the literature on
development issues, it has often been assumed (explicitly or by implication)
that developing countries are too poor to be able to ‘afford’ social
security systems. There are good reasons, however, to question this
assumption'. This paper is a brief exploration of this issue, using Southern
Africa as a case example."

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Equinet Policy Series
Equity in Health in Southern Africa: Overview and Issues from annotated
bibliography Equinet Steering Committee. Available from:TARSC, 47, Van
Praagh Avenue, Milton Park, Harare, Zimbabwe. US$5.00 info@equinet.org.zw

This paper examines the key issues arising out of the annotated bibliography
on health and equity compiled by a network of institutions who came together
at the 1997 meeting on Equity in Health, held at Kasane, Botswana.

In discussing of the concept of equity, the paper shows how these can differ
depending on the political philosophy concepts 'equity' relates to and is
derived from. However, much of the material under discussion stresses that
inequity referes to differences in health care that are unecessary,
avoidable and unfair, and that equity goals in health care would seek to
identify and remove such differences - however subjective and socially
defined they may be. In a region ridden by gross inequalities in health,
differential inputs in those whose needs are greatest - or vertical equity -
seems the most important principle to pursue. However, a focus on vertical
equity, it is argued, requires an emphasis on a wide range of social and
economic areas - such as public housing or childhood poverty for example -
if it is to be adequately addressed within the health sector. It also
requires an emphasis on the active involvement of people to make choices
over goods, and to direct resources to themselves.

In constitutional terms, while most Southern African countries endorse
distribution of health resources based on need, the practical difficulties
associated with this has led countries to adopt an approach where equity in
health is seen as a social obligation rather than a right. Moreover, where a
right to health does exists (as in South Africa for example), this may in
fact be exercised only by those with greater access to and familarity with
legal recourse. There has been little focus on how to legally enshrine a
commitment to equity in health in the region - an area that needs further
monitoring and debate.

Much of the research discussed in this paper notes the relationship between
wider social and economic inequalities and health. It also outlines positive
features of health care that reduce health inequalities and improves the
health status of high risk groups, and those features of the health system
that exacerbate inequity. These are all areas that need further
investigation if research is to motivate changes in health systems. Ensuring
that health care resources are allocated progressively is also a key concern
in health equity research, and many papers cited here explore how resource
allocation needs to be improved at both household and state levels. Cost
recovery objectives, and their impact on equity is also a central subject of
ongoing debate. It is also clear that if health resources are to be directed
towards poorer groups, there is a need for further research on how
demythologising the medical profession and vesting greater authority in the
community itself leads to greater health benefits for those communities.

The variety of methodologies for monitoring equity are discussed, and it is
concluded that at present, there are no commonly agreed equity indicators in
the SADC region. Monitoring equity needs to become a tool for development
rather than a tool for measurment. If it is to play this role, it is also
important to define the triggers for change in policy and practice.

The report concludes that critical future areas of research include: the
definition and extent of differences in health status that are unecessary,
avoidable and unfair; the determinants of those inequalities in health; the
specific differences in the distribution of health inputs to people whose
health needs are different, and how vertical equity is to be addressed. The
most important areas of need are identified as: a focus on the social
dimensions of equity; a focus on the equity impact of resource allocation in
health; an exploration of human resource development in relation to equity
and identifying triggers for equity oriented decsion making within and
beyond the health sector; to inform debates on wider relationships between
non health sector inputs and health outcomes and to assess the equity
impacts of minumum health care packages and decentralisation of health care
systems. The report also notes the importance of taking these issues forward
at a regional level, of informing policy dialogue and of improving
professional-stakeholder interaction.

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4. Public-private subsidies

PUBLIC HEALTH LAW: POWER, DUTY, RESTRAINT
http://www.milbank.org/books_quar.html
by Lawrence O. Gostin. The California/Milbank Series on Health and the
Public, 3 January 2001. 518 pages. Co-published with and distributed by the
University of California Press.
This book offers the first systematic definition and theory of public health
law. Gostin demonstrates that while regulation achieves powerful public
good, it often does so at the expense of private rights. Consequently, in
thinking about public health regulation, he takes a hard look at the
tradeoffs—between the common welfare on the one hand and the personal
burdens and economic interests of individuals and businesses on the other.
Public Health Law creates an intellectual framework for the field of public
health—as distinct from related fields that center on personal health care
delivery and regulation—and supports that framework with rich material
illustrating the intellectual, scientific, political, and ethical issues
involved. It provides the basis for cross-disciplinary exchange between law
and the various allied public health disciplines and complements texts in
the fields of AIDS, human rights, health care, and health law. In proposing
innovative solutions for the future of public health, Gostin's essential
study provides a blueprint for future public and political debates on the
questions this vital and burgeoning field engenders.

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Equinet Policy Series
A review of experience concerning household ability to cope with the
resource demands of ill health and health care utilisisation Jane Goudge and
Veloshnee Govender. Available from:TARSC, 47, Van Praagh Avenue, Milton
Park, Harare, Zimbabwe. US$5.00 info@equinet.org.zw


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5. Household poverty

UNDP REPORT: CHOICES FOR THE POOR
http://www.undp.org/dpa/publications/choicesforpoor/ENGLISH/index.html
March, 2001. "Choices for the Poor presents the results of a a comprehensive
external evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the Poverty
Strategies Initiative that was launched in 1996 by the United Nations
Development Programme, together with the Government of Norway and other
bilateral donors. Part I draws on the findings from a literature review
based on poverty assessments and surveys, national human development reports
and poverty reduction strategies prepared in some 50 countries around the
world. Part II is based on an assessment of the activities sponsored by the
programme in 18 countries visited by the evaluation team in early 2000:
Angola, Bulgaria, Guatemala, India, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, the
Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Palestine, São Tomé e Principe,
Tajikistan, Uganda, Uruguay and Zambia. The book demonstrates that despite
comparable objectives, there is wide variation and contrast from one country
to another. Most of the lessons, therefore, apply to specific national
circumstances. There are, however, some general lessons that could be of
great value for donors engaged in a process of stimulating policy change in
their partner countries.

BREADLINE EUROPE: THE MEASUREMENT OF POVERTY
For further details, a full list of contents and to view the press release,
please visit The Policy Press web site at: http://www.policypress.org.uk
Edited by David Gordon, School for Policy Studies, University of Bristol and
Peter Townsend, London School of Economics Published by The Policy Press,
March 2001. 'Breadline Europe' examine poverty in Europe within the
international framework agreed at the 1995 World Summit on Social
Development. Its aim is to provide a scientific and international basis for
the analysis and reduction of poverty. With contributions from leading
European poverty researchers, it demonstrates that there is far more
important research into the problem of poverty going on in many European
countries than international agencies and national goverments admit or even
realise. Main themes are: the need for a scientific poverty line; the need
for better theories distinguishing between poverty and social exclusion; the
need for better international social policy and for better policy-related
analyses of poverty.

MEDICAL OUT-OF-POCKET SPENDING IN POVERTY THRESHOLDS
Richard Bavier, Poverty Measurement Working Papers, U.S. Census Bureau,
October 2000.
Available online at:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/poverty/povmeas/papers/altmoop.html
"Of all the recommendations and suggestions in the National Research
Council's report, Measuring Poverty, A New Approach, probably the most
controversial has been the proposal that medical needs not be included in
the "basic bundle" of food, clothing, shelter, and "a little more" making up
the recommended poverty budget. Rather, medical needs were to be the subject
of a "medical care risk" index to be developed separately. Because medical
needs were not to be included in the poverty budget, the panel also
recommended that spending out-of-pocket on such needs be subtracted before
each family's resources were tested against the thresholds.

CHILD LABOUR AND ITS EFFECT ON HEALTH: EVIDENCE FROM BRAZIL
HEALTH POLICY AND PLANNING; 16(1): 21–28 © Oxford University Press 2001
Available as PDF file at:
http://heapol.oupjournals.org/cgi/reprint/16/1/21.pdf
Ana Lucia Kassouf, Economics Department, ESALQ, University of São Paulo,
Brazil, Martin Mckee, European Centre on Health of Societies in Transition,
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Elias Mossialos, London
School of Economics and Political Science, UK
"The debate about the appropriate policy response to child labour is
complex, requiring a balance between protecting the health of the child and
safeguarding the income of the family. These findings indicate the need for
more research on the long-term sequelae of beginning work at an early age."

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Equinet Policy Series
World Trade Organisation Agreements: implications for equity and health in
Southern Africa
G. Munot and V. Tyson. Available from:TARSC, 47, Van Praagh Avenue, Milton
Park, Harare, Zimbabwe. US$5.00 info@equinet.org.zw

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6. WTO, economic and social policy

WTO TRIPS AGREEMENT: HINDERING ACCESS TO MEDICINES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES?
Watal, J., Center for International Development (CID), Harvard University,
(2000)
http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidbiotech/dp/index.htm
"Expenditures on medicines can represent up to 66% of total health spending
in developing countries and could be a major cause of household
impoverishment, as 50-90% of such expenditures are out-of-pocket expenses.
Today, over one-third of the world’s population and over one-half of the
poorest in Asia and Africa still lack access to essential drugs. However,
policy instruments available under TRIPS, such as compulsory licenses or
government use, parallel imports and price controls, if designed with care,
could attenuate such adverse effects on the affordable access to medicines
considered essential."

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Equinet Policy Series
Health and Human Rights in the SADC Region Barbara Klugman and Nana
Kgosidintsi. Available from:TARSC, 47, Van Praagh Avenue, Milton Park,
Harare, Zimbabwe. US$5.00 info@equinet.org.zw

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7. Human resources

CANADIAN JOURNAL OF POLICY RESEARCH: ISSUE ON SOCIAL CAPITAL
Available online at: http://www.isuma.net/v02n01/index.htm
"Several of the articles in this issue are based on papers that were
presented at a recent symposium on “The Contribution of Human and Social
Capital to Sustained Economic Growth and Well-being,” organized by the
Applied Research Branch of Human Resources Development Canada, in
conjunction with OECD. Social Capital is a key concept in the growing
recognition of the interconnections between social and economic outcomes.
Social capital is generally defined as the relationships, networks and norms
that facilitate collective action. Some include trust in the definition but
others, like Michael Woolcock, argue for keeping what social capital is
distinct from what it does. Another fundamental distinction is often made
between “bonding” and “bridging” social capital. Bonding social capital
refers to those relationships and norms that strengthen ties within groups.
Bridging refers to linking across groups. Social capital is closely related
to both social cohesion and human capital, two other very important concepts
in policy and policy research circles. As Tom Schuller says in his paper,
“social capital is both a consequence and a producer of social cohesion.”
Whereas social cohesion emphasizes processes and outcomes, social capital
emphasizes the notion of investments and assets that bring benefits,
benefits that are not fully appropriated by the individuals making the
investments. And while human capital focuses on the individual agents who
invest in education and training, social capital emphasizes the
relationships and norms that link those individuals."

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Equinet Policy Series
Public Participation in Health Systems. Rene Loewenson.
Available from:TARSC, 47, Van Praagh Avenue, Milton Park, Harare, Zimbabwe.
US$5.00 info@equinet.org.zw

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8. Human rights and health

INTENSIVE COURSE IN HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS
http://erc.hrea.org/Calendar/222.html
Organisation: Harvard School of Public Health. Dates: 11-14 June 2001.
Level: professional. Focus: This rigorous 4-day program helps a wide range
of professionals acquire the skills and background knowledge they need to
successfully incorporate a human rights framework into their daily
activities. Participants will acquire a basic understanding of both the
history and present status of international human rights and international
humanitarian law as they apply to public health practice. Location: Boston
(USA).

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Equinet Policy Series
Equity in Health in Southern Africa: Turning Values into Practice. Equinet
Steering Committe.
Available from:TARSC, 47, Van Praagh Avenue, Milton Park, Harare, Zimbabwe
US$5.00 info@equinet.org.zw

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9. Research and Policy

ETHICAL ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL HEALTH RESEARCH
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ccpe/programs/ETHICS.shtml
June 11-15, 2001 Boston, Massachusetts. As More research is conducted in
developing countries, ethical issues that reflect differences in cultures,
politics, wealth, standards of care, individual and group rights, and
priorities are surfacing with increasing frequency. The present ethical
codes are not always sufficient for the broad new set of problems faced by
funders of international health research, members of Ethical Review Boards,
government agencies, and researchers themselves.

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10. Popular participation / governance and health

CASE REPORT: BENEFICIARY ASSESSMENT ON PERCEPTIONS OF HEALTH: A STUDY OF
FOUR
PROVINCES IN MOZAMBIQUE
http://www.case.org.za/htm/health.htm
Commissioned by the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development
(SDC-Mozambique) and the Mozambican Ministry of Health, this is the first
study to provide baseline data on health perceptions, by beneficiaries and
service providers, at the primary health care level. A total of 1,200
households were interviewed in four provinces, namely Maputo Cidade,
Nampula, Tete and Inhambane. Specifically, the study seeks to identify the
attitudinal, geographical and financial barriers to access, assess the
impact of user fees on access to health care, assess the use of traditional
and modern health care and the relationship between the two, as well as
identify mechanisms to allow communities to voice concerns and ensure
accountability at local level.

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11. SADC News

SADC CHANGES WILL BRING EFFICIENCY
http://allafrica.com/stories/200103160446.html
A new managerial structure adopted at the Southern African Development
Community's (SADC) extraordinary summit in Windhoek last week would go a
long way towards furthering regional coordination and cooperation, experts
told IRIN on Tuesday.

MUGABE LOSES CONTROL OF REGIONAL DEFENCE BODY
http://allafrica.com/stories/200103160447.html
Southern African leaders have announced measures to rein in a controversial
regional defence body chaired by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who had
battled to keep it under his control.

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Equinet Policy Series
Public sector subsidies to the private health sector in Zimbabwe Oliver
Mudyarabikwa. Available from:TARSC, 47, Van Praagh Avenue, Milton Park,
Harare, Zimbabwe. US$5.00 info@equinet.org.zw

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12. Letters and comments
Give us your feedback on this newsletter! Send in information and articles
on the work of your organisation, and on equity and health issues in
Southern Africa. Send all letters and submissions to <editor@equinet.org.zw>

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13. Useful Resources
STUDY MEDICINE ONLINE IN AFRICA
http://www.stlukesom.edu.hosting.pacbell.net
St. Luke School of Medicine, Ghana and Liberia, West Africa, is now
accepting applications for students wishing to study medicine online. The
Basic Science curriculum (the first two years of medical school) will be
presented online starting with Human Anatomy. This course is scheduled to
begin May 14, 2001, leading to a Doctor of Medicine degree (M.D.). St. Luke
SOM is only one of a few schools in the world to present this curriculum.
St. Luke SOM is developing this curriculum to meet the needs of its African
constituency. We are trying to develop ways to educate African peoples using
the latest in modern technology. The curriculum is rigorous and
comprehensive. Some scheduled onsite visits to our campuses in Africa are
required. After successful completion of the online basic science program,
the medical students must complete at least two years of clinical training
in approved hospitals. For further information, please contact Dr. Jerroll
Dolphin at
<scommand@pacbell.net> or link to the St. Luke School of Medicine website.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE
For full information and access to sample articles from the
encyclopedia, go to:
http://wiley.com/reference/cgi-bin/trackthrough.cgi?urlcode=wm000015
The first major reference work in this multi-disciplinary field presenting
over 200 articles, 50 bibliographies, 50 definitions and 50 acronyms. Taking
a thematic approach rather than simply alphabetical, the encyclopedia
includes theory, empirical studies and applications emphasising the inter
relationship between various disciplines and systems. The structure reflects
the current development of environmental research and will make the product
useful for research and an advanced level teaching tool.

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH PROJECT WEB SITE: UPDATE
http://www.ehproject.org/
What's New at EHP? http://www.ehproject.org/live/Whtsnew.htm
Knowledge sharing forum in Nicaragua. Integrated baseline surveys in
Madagascar. Strengthening vector control programs in Africa. Cost comparison
of DDT and alternative insecticides for malaria control. Sanitation in small
towns in Latin America and the Caribbean.
EHP Spanish Page: http://www.ehproject.org/live/Spanish.htm
EHP Activities Page: http://www.ehproject.org/live/ehp_activities.htm
Information services: http://www.ehproject.org/live/Infoser.html
EHP Publications: http://www.ehproject.org/live/Rptspub.html

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14. JOBS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

HIV/AIDS ADVISOR, SAVE THE CHILDREN
Location: Blantyre, Malawi. Save the Children, a leading international
child-centered relief and
development agency is searching for an HIV/AIDS Advisor to be responsible
for providing technical assistance to Umoyo Network NGO sub-grantees and PVO
partners on HIV/AIDS. The incumbent will work directly with staff of
sub-grantees, PVO partners and their staff to build their capacity to
implement quality HIV/AIDS prevention. Technical assistance will occur at
all program stages including program design, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation. Additionally, the incumbent will serve as a member of Umoyo's
Senior Management Team. Qualifications: Masters Degree in Public Health
(MPH, DrPH, PhD, MD); 3-5 years professional experience in HIV/AIDS program
design and management, preferably in Sub-Saharan Africa; 2-3 years
experience in community-based health programming; strong monitoring and
evaluation skills, English fluency.To apply, please e-mail CV to Joanne
Derwallis <jderwallis@savechildren.org>

POSTS IN POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Liverpool School of Tropical
Medicine, Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory and Centre for Medical
Parasitology, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Senior lecturer/lecturer in postgraduate education, London School of Hygiene
& Tropical Medicine, (Ref: BG-LDN). Senior lecturer/lecturer in postgraduate
education with interest/expertise in the development of web-based/multimedia
teaching material, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, (Ref: BG-LIV).
Senior lecturer/senior adviser in medical education, Danish Bilharziasis
Laboratory and Centre for Medical Parasitology, Copenhagen, Denmark, (Ref:
BG-CPN).
The holders of these positions will jointly be responsible for establishing
and supporting a programme of postgraduate training on research and control
of malaria in collaboration with overseas centres in Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania
and The Gambia as a component of a research and training programme on
malaria supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The training
programme will involve both conventional course work and distance-based
learning. An appointment of 3 to 5 years will be offered dependent upon
previous experience. Annual salaries for positions in the UK will be in the
range of GBP 18,731 - GBP 39,241, monthly salaries in Denmark will be in the
range 30,000 - 33,000 DKr. For further information on the institutions see:
<http://www.lshtm.ac.uk> for the London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine, <http://www.liv.ac.uk/lstm> for the Liverpool School of Tropical
Medicine, <http://www.bilharziasis.dk> for the Danish Bilharziasis
Laboratory, Copenhagen and <http://www.cmp.dk> for the Centre for Medical
Parasitology, Copenhagen. Further details relating to the jobs may be
obtained from Brian Greenwood <brian.greenwood@lshtm.ac.uk> Marcel Hommel
<mhommel@liv.ac.uk> or Niels Oernbjerg <noc@bilharziasis.dk> Further
particulars on how to apply for all three of these positions can be obtained
from: The Personnel Officer, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
<personnel@lshtm.ac.uk> quoting the appropriate reference. The closing date
for applications is 27 April 2001.

SECOND WELLCOME TRUST WORKSHOP ON HIV/AIDS AND TB
November 27th December 5th 2001, Cape Town, South Africa
HIV/AIDS and TB present an enormous challenge to the public health of
sub-Saharan Africa. An 8-day workshop, which aims to highlight the research
issues around these diseases, will be held at the University of Cape Town
from November 27th to December 5th 2001. This will include overviews on
epidemiology, immunology and pathogenesis, virology and bacteriology as well
as treatment issues and prospects for vaccination. In addition there will be
sessions on how to write a grant application, how to prepare a manuscript
for publication as well as updates on the latest techniques and information
technology. It will also be an excellent opportunity to meet other
researchers in the field. A number of prominent international and local
speakers have been invited.

The Workshop is supported by a Grant from the Wellcome Trust and sponsored
by the South African Medical Research Council. All travel, accommodation and
subsistence costs will be covered. Applicants must be currently and actively
involved in laboratory-based research into HIV/AIDS or TB. Preference will
be given to applications from Africa and from those involved in projects in
Africa. The workshop is aimed at pre-doctoral students and recent
post-doctoral fellows and is limited to 30 participants. Please send a copy
of your CV including publications, a motivation for why you wish to
participate in the Workshop, a brief account of your research as well as 2
sealed referees reports to: Carole Roberts, Medical Research Council, PO Box
19070, 7505 TYGERBERG, South Africa. <carole.roberts@mrc.ac.za> Tel 21-938
0359 Fax 21-938 0368. Closing date for application is 31 May 2001. Note:
Should you not receive a reply from me within five working days of sending
your mail, please contact: Ms Heidi Josephs at <heidi.josephs@mrc.ac.za>
Tel:+27-21-938-0234,
Fax:+27-21-938-0356.

INAUGURAL GLOBAL HEALTH PHILANTHROPY SUMMIT
9-11 May 2001, London, England. World leaders in health philanthropy will
convene in London for an
Inaugural Global Health Philanthropy Summit, to be held at the Royal College
of Physicians from 9-11 May 2001. The Academy for International Health
Philanthropy's Summit will address how philanthropists can make a greater
and lasting impact on world health by pooling knowledge and by more
effective targetting of their support. Registrations applications are
available at the AIHP website <http://www.healthphilanthropy.org> or e-mail
<aihp-uk@healthphilanthropy.org>

NORDIC CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Bergen, Norway 17 - 19 August 2001
http://www.uib.no/isf/social/conf2001/
The main theme of the conference is social inequality and inequity in
health. The 16th Nordic Conference in Social Medicine & Public Health is
arranged on behalf of the national associations of social medicine and
public health in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden by the Section
for Social Medicine at the Department of Public Health and Primary Health
Care, University of Bergen.

IMMUNIZATION FOCUS, MARCH 2001
http://www.vaccinealliance.org
The March 2001 issue of Immunization Focus, an "e-published" quarterly from
the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) is now available on
the GAVI website. In this issue: Special Feature - First, do no harm:
mapping the road to injection safety. Grassroots - Introducing hepatitis B
vaccine: a practical guide from countries that have done it already.The Idea
Exchange - a new section for debates on topical issues. In the first
contribution, Catriona Waddington, a health economist for the UK Department
for International Development (one of the donors to the Global Fund for
Children's Vaccines), asks whether GAVI and na-
tional governments have got their priorities right, and Tore Godal,
executive secretary of GAVI, responds.Feel free to download, print and
distribute the entire issue, or specific articles or excerpts. If you have
any questions about GAVI or Immunization Focus, please write to
us:<gavi@unicef.org>
or <pbrown@brixworks.freeserve.co.uk>

IT CONFERENCE: COMPUTER LITERACY, DISTANCE EDUCATION & HEALTH AND MEDICINE
http://www.ghaclad.org
Call for abstracts, papers, organizers, volunteers. Join the GhaCLAD List
and help with planning and organizing the upcoming 3rd International
Conference on Computer Literacy, Distance Education & Health/Medicine in
Africa [Aided by Info Technology].

HIV/AIDS IN MUSIC: REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
There is an initiative in Namibia to create music and songs about HIV and
AIDS. We are trying to find African groups and persons who already have done
some (positive) music and songs about HIV and AIDS for co-operation and
sharing ideas. Please contact Mr. Sakari Loytty <ps.loytt@mweb.com.na> in
Namibia
for further details and sharing of ideas.

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This newsletter reaches individuals in NGOs, international organizations and
networks, funding agencies and foundations, governments, and the private
sector. We can provide free advertising space for non-profits, although
space is limited. Contact us for details.

The Network on Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET) is a network of
research, civil society and health sector organisations seeking to influence
policy on health in southern Africa. EQUINET aims to build alliances leading
to positive policies on health both at local and regional levels. We do this
by disseminating information and stimulating an informed debate on equity in
health in Southern Africa. Further details about EQUINET are available at
http://www.equinet.org.zw/

Equinet-l is an electronic newsletter produced for the Network for Equity in
Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET) by fahamu (http://www.fahamu.org/)

The views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily represent those of
Equinet or fahamu.

(c) fahamu & Equinet, 2001

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