Back Issues

Selected headlines from Pambazuka News 168

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/23699

* SMS FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS: Use your mobile phone to sign the petition in support of the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Send a message to: +27832933934, with the word ‘petition’ and your name in the message. You will only be charged the cost set by your network provider for sending an international SMS. More information http://www.pambazuka.org/petition/smssocial.php

* Comment and Analysis: Nation, Race and History in Zimbabwean politics
* Letters: Debating the fair use of Africa’s resources
* Pan-African Postcard: Mobilising the Diaspora
* Conflicts and Emergencies: Why the Darfur tragedy will likely occur again
* Human Rights: Zimbabwe NGO bill dangerous for human rights defenders
* Development: Liberalisation taking away people’s rights
* Health: Discouraging the brain drain
* Education: Teacher supply and demand and the EFA’s
* Media&FXI: Waking up to state-owned newspapers in Zimbabwe

Child soldiers: Challenging sensational stereotypes

Christina Clark

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/23696

Since the 1990s, increasing attention has been drawn to child soldiering in Africa. While greater awareness is important in responding to the use of children as soldiers, popular images have too often sensationalized the issue, with counter-productive consequences. Ubiquitous media images of boys with guns as the epitome of child soldiering and girl sex slaves as 'victims' of conflict obscure the fact that many other children and young people, both male and female, play a variety of different, and often simultaneous, roles in conflict.

In recognition of these multiple roles, and concerned that some of the less visible child soldiers were being ignored and hence overlooked in demobilisation programmes, a group of agencies working with children in conflict met in Cape Town in 1997 to establish a working definition:

"A child soldier is any person under 18 years of age who is part of any kind of regular or irregular armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to cooks, porters, messengers, and those accompanying such groups, other than purely as family members."

By casting the net wide, this definition challenges the predominant narrow conceptualisation of child soldiers and takes into account less visible roles, often played by girls and young women. In order to adequately 'see' both girls and boys in fighting forces, we need to sharpen our insight into differential patterns of recruitment, experiences in conflict and demobilisation in different contexts, taking into account factors such as sex, age, ethnicity and socio-economic status.

Recruitment

While it is often assumed that children are forcibly recruited into armed forces and groups, conscription, abduction and gang-pressing of children are relatively rare, although highest in Africa. Despite the ambiguity of 'voluntary' recruitment in contexts of severely constrained choices, we must seek to understand the complex rationale in young people's decision to join out of ideological commitment, self-defence, economic survival or increased opportunities.

In eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, for example, ethnic dimensions of the conflict and deliberate targeting of civilians have provoked military reaction by young people to defend their communities and/or avenge deaths. Viewing defence as a collective responsibility for communities in conflict areas, boys and young men have historically joined local militias and defence units, such as the gardiens de la paix in Burundi.

In the face of widespread sexual violence and gender inequality, girls in different contexts have joined armed forces and groups seeking protection or social mobility. Finally, both male and female children and young people have seen armed forces and groups as one of the only means of employment, and hence survival, in contexts of widespread socio-economic deprivation.

Roles and experiences

Monolithic stereotypes of boys with guns and girls as 'simply' 'bush wives', 'sex slaves' or 'camp followers' belie the multiple roles and experiences of young people in fighting forces. While girls have historically played support roles within armed forces and groups, acting as domestic workers, cooks and porters, many others actively engage in hostilities as combatants, suicide bombers and commanders.

For example, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) has a women's auxiliary corps, in which many girls have participated. Children may also act as spies, undertaking fact-finding and reconnaissance missions because they are less conspicuous and therefore less likely to be regarded with suspicion. These roles are not mutually exclusive; in many contexts, children undertake both combatant, as well as non-combatant reproductive and productive labour. For example, Mazurana and McKay (2004) report that girls in Angola were often simultaneously fighters and 'wives'.

Although child soldiers - both boys and girls - are often more at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation than their adult counterparts (Alfredson 2001), it should not be assumed that all children and young people have had these experiences. As Brett (2002) argues, to do so is to deny their individual experiences, treat them as actual or potential sexual objects and contribute to their further stigmatisation and discrimination.

Demobilisation and reintegration

In many situations, the erroneous equation of 'child soldier' with 'combatant' has meant that children and young people playing less visible roles in armed forces and groups have been neglected in disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programmes. For example, in March 2000, the UN Security Council noted that the DDR process in Angola had inadvertently excluded some children, particularly girls, by making the surrender of weapons the criterion for eligibility in the programmes. Some girls and young women face additional barriers to participation in demobilisation programmes, particularly if they have been sexually involved with members of armed forces or groups. These men may consider them their 'wives' or 'property' and block their demobilisation (McConnan and Uppard 2001). The shame of pre-marital sex in many cultures may prevent girls and young women from returning to communities, fearing social stigma and rejection (McKay and Mazurana 2000).

DDR policy and programming also often fail to address the causes, including gendered dimensions, of children's recruitment in the first place. For children and young people who have gained a sense of power and belonging within armed forces and groups, peace may come as a 'disappointment' (Barth 2003), if they are expected to return to traditional roles in hierarchical societies segregated by age and sex (La Fontaine 1985).

Demobilised young people may not stay in their former communities because they have experienced many identity and personal changes. For girls, this may result in gender role discontinuity at all levels of daily life. "Because they changed as a result of their experiences, they challenge traditional roles that they cannot accept, hence the notion of 'troublesome girls' who do not adhere to normal gender roles." (McKay and Mazurana 2004)

Reintegration approaches must therefore involve entire communities, taking into account shifting social, political, economic and gender contexts. This dynamic process entails not only young people adapting to often “disjointed, displaced, reconfigured” communities, but also communities recognising and accepting how girls and boys have changed because of their experiences (McKay and Mazurana 2004).

Towards an alternative approach: Engaging with children as actors in conflict

Moving away from monolithic assumptions about 'boys with guns' and 'girls as sex slaves' requires a recognition of children and young people as actors in the context of conflict. Taking into account the multiplicity of roles and experiences of girls and boys involved in fighting forces means analysing patterns of individual experiences against the backdrop of specific, gendered, localised contexts. In other words, we need to ensure that the general categorization of 'child soldiers' does not essentialize particular groups of children, masking their individual differences. The challenge is to render visible all of the so-called 'invisible soldiers' (Brett and McCallin 1998) - male and female; combatant and non-combatant; in government forces and armed opposition groups - and to seek to understand their experiences as human beings, rather than objectified stereotypes.

* Christina Clark volunteers for Fahamu and is currently undertaking doctoral research on the political roles of displaced young people at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford. Previously, she was Africa programme coordinator at the Child Soldiers Coalition and has worked in various capacities at the Canadian International Development Agency. Click on the link for references.

* International Youth Day takes place on August 12. Visit http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/iyouthday/ for more information.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org
References Alfredson, Lisa. 2001. Sexual Exploitation of Child Soldiers: An Exploration and Analysis of Global Dimensions and Trends. Child Soldiers Newsletter.
Barth, Elise. 2003. Peace as Disappointment: The Reintegration of Female Soldiers in Post-Conflict Societies: A Comparative Study from Africa. Oslo: Peace Research Institute.
Brett, Rachel. 2002. Girl Soldiers: Challenging the Assumptions. Child Soldiers Newsletter.
Brett, Rachel, and Margaret McCallin. 1998. Children: The Invisible Soldiers. Stockholm: Save the Children Sweden.
Brett, Rachel, and Irma Specht. 2004. Young Soldiers: Why They Choose to Fight. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
Clark, Christina. 2002. Girls in War: Public Health and Social and Economic Reintegration. Paper read at International Conference on Children in War, 1 Oct., 2002, at Brussels.
La Fontaine, Jean. 1985. Initiation: Ritual, Drama and Secret Knowledge Across the World. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.
McConnan, Isobel, and Sarah Uppard. 2001. Children, Not Soldiers. London: Save the Children Fund - UK.
McKay, Susan, and Dyan Mazurana. 2000. Girls in Militaries, Paramilitaries and Armed Opposition Groups. Winnipeg: Conference on War-Affected Children.
McKay, Susan, and Dyan Mazurana. 2004. Where Are the Girls? Girls in Fighting Forces in Northern Uganda, Sierra Leone and Mozambique: Their Lives During and After War. Montreal: Rights and Democracy.
Quaker United Nations Office. 2002. The Voices of Girl Child Soldiers. New York: QUNO.

Nation, Race and History in Zimbabwean politics

Brian Raftopoulos

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/23675

Introduction

One of the central features of the Zimbabwean crisis, as it has unfolded since 2000, has been the emergence of a revived nationalism delivered in a particularly virulent form, with race as a key trope within the discourse, and a selective rendition of the liberation history deployed as a an ideological policing agent in the public debate. A great deal of commentary has been deployed to describe this process, much of it concentrating on the undoubted coercive aspects of the politics of state consolidation in Zimbabwe […]

However the manner in which the ideological battle has been fought by ZANU PF as a party and a state is of particular importance in trying to understand the ways in which a beleaguered state is attempting not only to extend its dominant economic and political objectives, but also its "intellectual and moral unity, posing all questions around which the struggle rages not on a corporate level but on a 'universal' plane, and thus creating the hegemony of a fundamental group over a series of subordinate groups." (Gramsci 1971: 182.)

For the manner in which Mugabe has articulated the Zimbabwean crisis has impacted not only on the social forces in the country but also on the African continent and in the Diaspora. Such an ambitious political outreach demands that we view the Zimbabwean state as more than a 'simple, dominative or instrumental model of state power,' but as a state with a more complex and multi-dimensional political strategy. (Hall 1996:429; and Hall 1980.)

In this multi-dimensional strategy, the state has monopolised the national media to develop an intellectual and cultural strategy that has resulted in a persistent bombardment of the populace with a regular and repeated series of messages. Moreover this strategy has been located within a particular historical discourse around national liberation and redemption, which has also sought to capture a broader Pan Africanist and anti-imperialist audience […]

Moreover in articulating this ideological strategy the ruling party has drawn on deep historical reservoirs of antipathy to colonial and racial subjugation in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa and Africa more generally, and on its complex inflections in the Diaspora. Thus the Mugabe message is no mere case of peddling a particular form of false consciousness, but it carries a broader and often visceral resonance, even as it draws criticisms for the coercive forms of its mobilisation. […]

Nation and Race.

In Zimbabwe the state has a monopoly control over the electronic media through such laws as the Broadcasting Services Act and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Through such instruments the ruling party has been able to saturate the public sphere with its particularist message and importantly to monopolise the flow of information to the majority rural population […]

Thus, as a report on the ways in which Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) delivered views on the nation in 2002, concluded: “ZBC's conceptualisation on "nation" was simplistic. It was based on race:

The White and Black race. Based on those terms, the world was reduced to two nations - the white nation and the black nation and these stood as mortal rivals. The black nation was called Africa. Whites were presented as Europeans who could only belong to Europe just as Africa was for Africans and Zimbabwe for Zimbabweans. (Gandhi and Jambaya 2002: 4.) […]

For the Mugabe regime the emergence of the opposition MDC in 1999, was a manifestation of foreign British and White influence in Zimbabwean politics. This construction of the opposition thus placed them outside of a legitimate national narrative, and thrust it into the territory of an alien, Un-African and treasonous force that 'justified' the coercive use of the state in order to contain and destroy such a force […]

Having discursively located the opposition as an alien political force, the full coercive force of the state was brought to bear on those regarded as 'unpatriotic' and 'puppets of the West'. Deploying elements of the police, intelligence service, army, the war veterans, party supporters and the youth militia, the ruling party has inflicted enormous damage on the personnel and structures of the opposition […]

Nation, History and Culture.

Scholars have observed that the writing of history has often been used to 'legitimate' the nation- state, both in an attempt to 'naturalise' it as the central principle of political organisation, and to make it the 'subject and object of historical development.(Berger, Donovan and Passmore 1999:xv) In Zimbabwe there has been clear evidence of this process since 2000 in particular […]

As part of the attempts to revive ZANU PF's political fortunes in the 2000 general election and the 2002 Presidential election, the ruling party placed a strong emphasis on reviving the narrative of the liberation struggle in general and the heroic roles of ZANU PF and Mugabe in particular […]

In this narrative of liberation, a common African history and Pan Africanist solidarity, the land has played a determining role as the key marker of a common struggle. It has formed the centrepiece of the ruling party's construction of belonging, exclusion and history. The official discourse on the liberation struggle has been marked by the translation of a multi-faceted anti-colonial struggle into a singular discourse designed to legitimate the authoritarian nationalism that has emerged around the land question since 2000. (Hammar, Raftopoulos and Jensen 2003.) […]

During the 2002 Presidential election this liberation rhetoric was accompanied by a cultural programme that saturated the public with liberation war films, documentaries and dramas, promoting ZANU PF generally and Robert Mugabe in particular, while also carrying strong messages against whites. […]

Amongst the most damaging aspects of the telling of this national narrative through a series of dualisms (black/white, British/Zimbabwean), and compressions of the various aspects of the anti-colonial struggle into a single field of force, has been the enormous loss of complexity of the colonial encounter. The complexity of the settler-colonial period (not least of which included the changing relations between the black elite and different settler regimes) has been flattened into a Mugabe/Blair colonial encounter. (White 2003:97.) While the demonisation of Whites has served the needs of authoritarian nationalist politics in Zimbabwe, it has prevented a more creative, tolerant and difficult dialogue on the European influences in the making of Zimbabwean identities […]

The On-Going National Question.

The Mugabe government has worked hard to generalise its model of resolving the national question, based largely on the model of land reform through violent land occupations, articulated through a Pan Africanist and anti-imperialist discourse. Moreover in this model the human rights question and the democratic demands of civic groups are dismissed as an extension of Western intervention, with little relevance to the 'real issues' of economic empowerment […]

In South Africa the Zimbabwean debate has taken on a particular resonance, not least because of the apparent popularity of Mugabe amongst many South Africans. On a broader level there are many aspects of the history and politics of Zimbabwe that resonate in the current South African context. (Phimister and Raftopoulos 2004: forthcoming; Southall 2003; Melber 2003.) Zimbabwean commentators close to the ruling party have not hesitated to 'shame' the South African government into taking more Africanist political positions […]

Moreover the 'spell' of anti-imperialism and the resonance of the race debate in Zimbabwe, has found a broader canvas for its articulation in the diaspora. In addition to cementing the support of other liberation movements in Southern Africa, ZANU PF has actively cultivated linkages with a few black civic groups in the US, UK and Australia in an attempt to build Pan Africanist solidarity around the Mugabe project. […]

Conclusion

A decade ago I wrote an article on 'Race and Nationalism' in Zimbabwe. In re-reading the piece in recent weeks what strikes me most about the analysis, apart from an underestimation of the potential for a revived nationalist project by the ruling party, was its strictly national focus, which even then was a limitation of the article. In 2004 it is impossible to confront this subject meaningfully without addressing the broader reach of its effects at both regional and international levels. Mugabe has not only defined the national project around a selective reading of nationalist history and an exclusivist construction of the nation, he has also sought to ensure that this message resonates in other black struggles both regionally and internationally […]

ZANU PF has set itself the task of establishing a hegemonic project in which the party's narrow definition of the nation is deployed against all other forms of identification and affiliation. In this project the media and selected intellectuals have been used to provide a continuous and repetitive ideological message, in order to set the parameters of a stable national identity conducive to the consolidation of the ruling party. As Zimbabweans listen to the radio, watch television and read the daily newspapers, all controlled by the ruling party, they are being 'informed' about what it means to be a 'good Zimbabwean,' and a 'genuine African'. They are also being told who is the 'enemy' within and without and advised to confront such 'enemies' with ruthless exclusion if necessary. For the present this political assault has seriously closed down the spaces for alternative debates around citizenship and national belonging.

* These are excerpts from a paper by Brian Raftopoulos, Associate Professor, Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe entitled Nation, Race and History in Zimbabwean Politics, presented at the University of Edinburgh's Centre of African Studies International Conference on 'States, Borders and Nations: Negotiating Citizenship in Africa' in May 2004. A complete version of the paper will be published in a forthcoming volume. Please see www.cas.ed.ac.uk for further information. For a list of references please click on the link below.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org
References.

Berger, S, M. Donovan and K. Passmore (Eds.) 1999. Writing National
Histories: Western Europe since 1800. Routledge, London and New York.

Brickhill, J. 1999. A brief history of socialist politics in Zimbabwe.
Southern Africa Political and Economic Monthly 12/9 pp.31-37.

Eley, G. and G. Suny (Eds.) 1996. Becoming National: A Reader. Oxford
University Press, New York and Oxford.

Fletcher. B. et al. 2003. The Debate on Zimbabwe Will Not be Throttled. The
Black Commentator. Issue 51.

Gandhi. D. and L. Jambaya. 2002. Towards a national agenda on ZBC: Vision 30
Revisited. Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe, Harare.

Gramsci. A. 1982. Selection from Prison Notebooks. Lawrence and Wishart,
London.

Hall.S. 1990. Thatcherism and the Crisis of the Left: The Hard Road to
Renewal. Verso, London and New York.

Hall.S. 1980. Race, articulation and societies structured in the in
dominance. UNESCO Sociological Theories: Race and Colonialism. Unesco,
Paris.

Hammar. A. B. Raftopoulos and S. Jensen. (Eds.) 2003. Zimbabwe's Unfinished
Business: Rethinking Land, State and Nation in the Context of Crisis. Weaver
Press, Harare.

Jordan. P. 2003. Review of N. Alexander. An Ordinary Country. African
Sociological Review. 7/1 pp. 166-174.

Mafeje. A. 2000. Africanity: A Combative Ontology. CODESRIA Bulletin. No.1.
pp66-71.

Melber.H. (Ed.) 2003. Limits to Liberation in Southern Africa: The
Unfinished Business of Democratic Consolidation. HSRC, Cape Town.

Morley. D. and K. Chen. (Eds.) 1996 Stuart Hall: Critical Dialogue in
Cultural Studies. Routledge, London and New York.

Mugabe. R. 2001. Inside the Third Chimurenga. Government of Zimbabwe,
Harare.

Nzimande. B. 2004. Towards an alternative Southern African development path:
Notes for input to Policy Workshop on Zimbabwe- An SACP perspective. Paper
presented at the launch of the Zimbabwe Institute, in Joburg on 27.02.04.

Phimister. I and B. Raftopoulos. (Forthcoming) Mugabe, Mbeki and the
Politics of Anti-Imperialism.

Pillay. D. 2003. Zimbabwe: Silence of the Left. South African Labour
Bulletin. 27/6. pp 61-62

Raftopoulos. B and T. Yoshikuni. (Eds). 1999. Sites of Struggle: Essays in
Zimbabwe's Urban History. Weaver Press, Harare.

Raftopoulos. B. 1999. Problematising Nationalism in Zimbabwe. Zambezia.
26/ii. Pp.115-134.

Raftopoulos. B. 1994. Zimbabwe: Race and Nationalism in a Post-Colonial
State. Kaarsholm, B and J. Hultin. Inventions and Boundaries: Historical and
Anthropological approaches to the study of ethnicity and nationalism.
Roskilde University, Denmark.

Raftopoulos B and I. Phimister. Forthcoming 2004. Zimbabwe Now: Confronting
the political economy of crisis and coercion. Historical Materialism.

Ranger. T. (Forthcoming 2004.) Historiography, Patriotic History and the
History of the Nation: The struggle over the past in Zimbabwe. Journal of
Southern African Studies.

Shivji. I. 2003. The Life and Times of Babu: The Age of Liberation and
Revolution. Review of African Political Economy. 95. pp. 109-118.

Shivji. I. 2004. The rise, the fall, and the insurrection of nationalism in
Africa. Centre for Civil Society, Durban.

Southall. R. 2003. Democracy in Southern Africa: Moving a difficult legacy.
Review of African Political Economy. 96. pp255-272.

White. L. 2003. The Assassination of Herbert Chitepo: Texts and Politics in
Zimbabwe. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis.

ZANU PF 2003. Central Committee Report. Masvingo, 2003.

Zimbabwe Institute. 2004. Playing with Fire: Personal accounts of human
rights abuses experienced by 50 opposition Members of Parliament in
Zimbabwe, and 28 opposition candidates. ZI, Joburg.

Mobilising the Diaspora

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/23576

Last week, along with a group of about 40 (mostly Africans in Britain) I was a guest at a very beautiful stately guest house, Cumberland Lodge, amidst the luscious green of the picturesque English country side near the Windsor Castle, one of the many palaces of the English crown dotted across the United Kingdom. It is not far from London, if the Lagos -like traffic congestion allows you, but it is a very different and serene place, away from the concrete jungle and human automatons that London is fast becoming.

We were joking among ourselves with some of the other Africans in our group that these Basungus really do not know what a village is. There is electricity, pipe borne water, telephone (though the mobile connection was epileptic, maybe deliberately so to preserve the quiet atmosphere), good tarred roads, some of them connecting just fields or a few houses. There is even internet service for God's sake. With all these in Africa it qualifies to be the nation's capital! Anyway wealth and poverty like urban and rural divide, are merely relative.

But our purpose for invading the tranquil 'village' was not tourism but a consultative meeting of Africans in Britain under the auspices of the Royal Africa Society (RAS). The aim was to find ways and means of making Africans living in the United Kingdom to dialogue among themselves, build some consensus and devise strategies to make themselves more effective players in the affairs of their host community, Britain. People came from different walks of life and originally from different regions of Africa: business, academia, media, NGO and others.

The immediate background to the meeting (and sponsors of the gathering) is the Blair Commission for Africa. It was part of its consultation with different African constituencies. However both the RAS (under its new Africaphile Director, Richard Dowden ) and Africans working with it were clear that the meeting was about wider issues of Africans in Britain. To the extent that the Blair Commission came into it, it is merely as a strategic entry point for Africans in Britain to influence British policy towards Africa.

If the sole object of the meeting was about Blair's commission I doubt if many of the Africans there would have bothered at all. I know I wouldn't have. This because my view of the commission has been clear from the start. I do not think that we need another report on Africa's condition, we have enough gory details around. What Africa needs is not another bonanza for consultants and bureaucrats to feed off our misery but action to remedy the situation. Africa does not need new promises but fulfilment of old ones both those we made to ourselves and the ones others made to us.

I do not think that the Blair commission will make any difference to Africa in spite of the plenty of good will that it may generate because of Blair's presidency of both the European Union and the G8 in 2005. It is clear that Blair wants to showcase Africa but at a time when his international credibility (as a result of his reactionary cheering of Bush and amoral lack of remorse) is in tatters. Who will listen to him? Even if they do how many will believe him?

But in spite of my reservations I see the British joint presidency of these key multilateral institutions as providing opportunity for engagement by a number of civil society activists in Britain. The first beneficiaries of this will be the big British international NGOs in the broad development, humanitarian and conflict resolution lobbies. Their activities and priorities are often shaped by humanitarian emergencies (on which they feed) and the policies of the day so they will make extra miles from Blair's showcasing of Africa.

Another set of actors will be African organisations who are a bit visible in Britain and could engage in more guilt tripping of their fellow middle class liberals and thereby gain more resources and/or recognition as a result of the Africa euphoria during Blair's dual presidency. Even African journalists and British journalists with a focus on Africa will find that they are in more demand.

But if thoughtfully and strategically worked out the greatest potential of the Blair Commission could be to renew the so far untapped (beyond individual remittances) potential of the huge African Diaspora in the United Kingdom to become effective players at various policy levels. They have been around for a long time. They are in Britain but many do not feel part of it. Consequently the British government makes policies about Africa with little or no input from this constituency. And worse still African governments relate to the British government as if they do not have people in Britain.

The way some of these Diaspora organisations behave may also make one doubt where their feet are, whether in Africa and Britain. Some of them think because they are in the Diaspora they know best, the same arrogant attitudes they criticise Europeans about. Others think they should have the first and last say on any thing related to Africa and Africans without any mandate to do so from anybody. Still many take British government or NGO money and proclaim their independence! Another miserable lot proclaim revolution in Africa without the slightest idea of the conditions our peoples live in and are confronting. These kinds of posturing must stop.

Imagine the insult of Blair calling African leaders to advise him on Africa. Would an African leader set up a commission on Europe and ask European Presidents and Prime Ministers to serve in it? In the unlikely event that they say yes would you imagine such European leaders arriving in such an African capital without previous briefings from his or her own nationals and the EU intelligence, business , media, diplomatic, NGO and other sources. Would they be in Africa without meeting their nationals who are in that country? Yet this is what is happening with the Blair commission.

To the best of my knowledge Bob Geldof , with all his outbursts and outlandish ways, has been the only commissioner actively seeking engagement of Africans in the work of the commission. He has a track record of speaking truth to power internationally on global poverty, debt and suffering of the third world but Africa in particular. He often robs people the wrong way and sometimes comes across as crying more than the bereaved. He is also too hopeful about the Commission but at least he offers an entry point.

Africans in the Diaspora must learn not to throw the baby away with the birth water. They must engage as British residents and citizens, but more than that work in concert with African groups in Africa to engage the African leaders and others participating in the commission. If they wish to shave our head it should not be behind our backs.

* Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is General-Secretary of the Pan African Movement, Kampala (Uganda) and Co-Director of Justice Africa (Tajudeen28@yahoo.com or Tajudeen@padeap.net)

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Sign-on against Refugee Warehousing

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/23587

Did you know that of the world's 12 million refugees, more than 7 million have been "warehoused"-confined to camps or segregated settlements or otherwise deprived of basic rights-in situations lasting 10 years or more? Check it out at http://www.refugees.org/warehousing Refugee protection and assistance does not have to involve spatial confinement and enforced idleness.
Did you know that of the world's 12 million refugees, more than 7 million have been "warehoused"-confined to camps or segregated settlements or otherwise deprived of basic rights-in situations lasting 10 years or more?



Check it out at http://www.refugees.org/warehousing Refugee protection and assistance does not have to involve spatial confinement and enforced idleness. The 1951 Refugee Convention recognizes refugees right to work and freedom of movement but it's not being applied. So we're mounting a campaign to change that.



Want to join? Attached please find for your wide circulation and endorsement the U.S. Committee for Refugees' organizational "sign-on" Statement against refugee warehousing. Representatives of national and international organizations wishing to endorse the statement should contact Merrill Smith at msmith@irsa-uscr.org by September 7. The statement was first released in Washington to the U.S. Senate in June and in Geneva to the UNHCR in July and will be released again-with your group's endorsement?-at the UN NGO Conference in New York, September 8-10.



Thanks,



Merrill Smith

U.S. Committee for Refugees

1717 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 200

Washington DC 20036

202/347-3507

202/347-3418 fax

www.refugees.org





STATEMENT CALLING FOR SOLUTIONS TO END THE WAREHOUSING OF REFUGEES



The 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees provide that persons fleeing persecution across borders deserve international protection, including freedom from forcible return (refoulement) and basic rights necessary for refugees to live a free, dignified, and self-reliant life even while they remain refugees. These rights include the rights to earn a livelihood-to engage in wage-employment, self-employment, the practice of professions, and the ownership of property-freedom of movement and residence, and the issuance of travel documents. These rights are applicable to refugees independently of whether a durable solution, such as voluntary repatriation, third-country resettlement, or naturalization in the country of first asylum, is available. They are part of the protection mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).



Of the nearly 12 million refugees in the world today, more than 7 million are warehoused, confined to camps or segregated settlements or otherwise deprived of these basic rights, in situations lasting 10 years or more. Warehousing refugees not only violates their rights but also often reduces refugees to enforced idleness, dependency, and despair.



In light of the foregoing, the undersigned:



1. denounce the practice of warehousing refugees as a denial of rights in violation of the letter and spirit of the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol and call upon the international community, including donor countries, host countries and members of the Executive Committee of UNHCR to do the same;



2. call upon the international community to develop and implement strategies to end the practice of warehousing, including examining how refugee assistance can enable the greater enjoyment of Convention rights;



3. call upon UNHCR to monitor refugee situations more effectively for the realization of all the rights of refugees under the Convention, including those related to freedom of movement and the right to earn a livelihood;



4. call upon those countries that have not yet ratified the Convention or the Protocol to do so;



5. call upon those countries that have ratified the Convention and/or the Protocol but have done so with reservations on key articles pertaining to the right to work and freedom of movement to remove those reservations; and



6. call upon all countries to pass legislation, promulgate policies, and implement programs providing for the full enjoyment of the basic rights of refugees as set forth in the Convention.





Organizations



Action Réfugiés Montréal

American Immigration Lawyers Association

American Refugee Committee International

Amnesty International

Association of Human Rights Activists Bhutan

Boaz Trust (UK)

British Refugee Council

Canadian Council for Refugees

Caritas Sweden

Center for International Policy

Church World Service, Immigration and Refugee Program

Committee in Defence of Democracy and Human Rights

Darfur Organization for Human Rights and Development

Episcopal Migration Ministries

Ethiopian Community Development Council

European Council on Refugees and Exiles

Freedom House

Genocide Watch

Hmong National Development

Hodi (Zambia)

Human Rights First

Human Rights Watch

Immigration and Refugee Services of America

International Catholic Migration Commission

International Journal of Refugee Law

International Refugee Research Institute

International Refugee Rights Initiative

International Rescue Committee

Irish Refugee Council

Jesuit Refugee Service

Kurdish Human Rights Watch

Legal Resources Foundation (Zambia)

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

Lutheran World Relief

Mercy Corps

Organization for Aid to Refugees (Czech Republic)

Physicians for Human Rights

Refugee Consortium of Kenya

Refugee Law Project, Makerere University

Representatives of the Massaleit Community in Exile

RESPECT Refugees Ghana

Self-help Initiative for Sustainable Development (Ghana)

South Asia Human Rights Documentation Center

Southeast Asia Resource Action Center

Sudan Emancipation & Preservation Network

U.S. Committee for Refugees

Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children





Notable individuals (affiliations listed for identification only)



Jagdish Bhagwati

Columbia University

The Wind of the Hundred Days: How Washington Mismanaged Globalization

Copenhagen Consensus participant



Rosemary Byrne

Director, International Process and Justice Project

Trinity College Dublin

The Reader in Refugee Law: Cases, Documents and Materials (editor)



Stephen Castles

Director, Refugee Studies Centre

University of Oxford

The Age of Migration: International Population Movements in the Modern World



Guy S. Goodwin-Gill

All Souls College, University of Oxford

The Refugee in International Law



Barbara E. Harrell-Bond

Forced Migration and Refugee Studies

American University in Cairo

Rights in Exile: Janus-Faced Humanitarianism (forthcoming)



James C. Hathaway

Director, Program in Refugee and Asylum Law

University of Michigan Law School

The Rights of Refugees under International Law



Karen Jacobsen

Director, Refugees & Forced Migration Project

Fletcher School and Feinstein International Famine Center, Tufts University



Tamar Jacoby

Manhattan Institute

Reinventing the Melting Pot: The New Immigrants and What it Means to Be American



Gilbert Loescher

International Institute for Strategic Studies

The UNHCR and World Politics: A Perilous Path



Stephen Moore

President, Club for Growth
The Economic Consequences of Immigration, 2nd edition (revisor)



Douglass C. North

Washington University in St. Louis

Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance

Nobel Laureate in economics

Copenhagen Consensus participant



Philip Peters

Vice President, Lexington Institute



Eric Reeves

Smith College



Bonaventure Rutinwa

Centre for the Study of Forced Migration

University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania



Vernon L. Smith

George Mason University

Nobel laureate in economics, Copenhagen Consensus participant

Using online advocacy

Published by Groundspring.org

2004-08-05

http://www.groundspring.org/learningcenter/groundspring-advocacy-guide.pdf

Online advocacy has been evolving into a comprehensive, systemic approach to growing membership, identifying prospective donors, developing donor relations, building communities, and mobilizing constituencies. Organizations increasingly integrate online and offline efforts, from culture jamming to facilitating gatherings and demonstrations. Now more than ever, a strong Internet presence is vital for small- to medium-sized nonprofits to meet their goals.

Debating the Niger Delta Region

Joseph Peter

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/23671

I read the article written by Joel Bisina (Pambazuka News 167) and it is an interesting and thought provoking insight on the very ugly, sad and degenerating condition of the Nigeria's Niger Delta Region.

There is a marriage of convenience between the Nigerian state and multinational oil companies operating in the Delta areas of the country. This relationship is unhealthy and inimical to the well being of the Delta people and the entire Nigerian people. It is a case of conspiracy with the majority ethnic power elites and a few Niger Delta elites in league with these oil companies to continue to accumulate petrol dollars from the region to the detriment of the people.

Much as this is the pathetic situation of the Niger Delta, several social and economic contradictions are arising which will slow the processes of positive change in the area. The Niger Delta people seem to be very hostile to people from other parts of the country especially other minorities residing and trying to eke a living in the Niger Delta. Niger Deltans need the support of these people and their peers across Nigeria to achieve social justice. It is not a struggle the Deltans can fight to win alone. They must proactively engage other minority groups in the country to push the agenda further.

The conflict in the Niger Delta is not different from those of the Middle Belt region as they both have to do with so called majority ethnic hegemony dominance of minority groups. While majority ethnic groups in Nigeria have aggressively closed their space against the minorities, they are increasingly encroaching on the space of the minority groups. Central to these problems is the law that gives the Federal government complete ownership of the land of Nigeria. With Federal power being controlled by majority ethnic groups, the struggle will be difficult. However, concerted efforts from the minority groups can change the tide. The problem is land ownership; if we can constitutionally wrestle it from the government, nearly all the conflicts in Nigeria would be solved.

Decolonizing the mind

Kioi wa Mbugua

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/23670

The British ambassador has no right to abuse an elected Kenyan government whatsoever (Pambazuka News 167). Britain as a former colonial master continues to exploit Kenyans unprecedently. The purported UK foreign aid to Kenya is less than ten per cent of UK profits repatriated from Kenya every year. No sane journalist will dare to expose these statistics. Instead a lie is perpetuated about a caring and benevolent master at the expense of African dignity.

If UK is such a caring development partner why have the atrocities committed against the people in the war of independence not been acknowledged and reparations made? Are Jews special human beings to have been compensated for the Nazi genocide as Africans wallow in self-hating indignities? Does Kay thinks Kenyans have forgotten about the Hola massacre? Where was Kay when Moi looted the nation's coffers clean? Where was Kay when Moi closed Kikuyu ran banks so that UK banks could flourish?

When Kibaki tries to return the economy to the people, the exploiters jump with 'clean shovels' to the amusement of the 'fickle minded African journalists'. It takes only the courage of a few to change the world. Without the sacrifice of Mau Mau, many of Kay supporters would still be licking the boots of their masters. Thank God Kenyans no longer need to read what their journalists write to be informed. Lets learn to access and analyse information on our own initiative. Politics of ethnic divide and rule will continue to be used to divide 'less informed' Africans. Remember the British propped up KADU at independence so that they could have their way in Kenya.

Jonathan Moyo the bully

Sibanze Simuchoba, Zambia

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/23669

Moyo is an impressive trinket (Pambazuka News 166). He's adept at making light the tribulations of the ordinary Zimbabwean. He denies there is starvation in his country only because that is not the reality in his dining room in his house.

ZANU PF is right on the land policy. But this is no excuse for the criminal excesses being perpetrated by government elements in the name of land redistribution.

Moyo, redeem yourself before the wrath of the people extinguishes you.

Using Africa's resources for Africa

Enock Kanyanya, Kenya

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/23672

Your article on the wise use of resources (Pambazuka News 167) reminds me of what is happening in East Africa.

The British have continued to mine soda ash in Kenya without certification. Now the local community is advocating for revision of the agreements to ensure that their interests are taken care of but government is going against the community. A similar thing is happening in Tanzania where mining of several minerals is now in the hands of South Africans with no agreements with the people who have sacrificed to keep the minerals. Now they are relocated with poorly negotiated agreements that favour multinationals at the expense of local community.

I would like to commend you for the article and advocate for NEPAD to ensure that we do not encourage taking advantage of the local communities because of their lack of negotiation power.

I am a natural resource manager in Kenya and I am worried with the trends taking shape in Africa. There is a need to build the capacities of the local communities for them to be able to renegotiate and come up with resource use arrangements that are morally right and that can contribute to the development of the rural populations and African countries at large.

African Agenda: Regional Integration - Whose Interest?

Vol 7 No 2

2004-08-05

http://twnafrica.org/

In this issue
-IMF, WB wrongly take credit for poverty drop
-Differences remain on TRIPS/Health issue
-Workers in Kenya's EPZ under threat

Ecoviolence and the law

Laura Westra

2004-08-05

http://www.transnationalpubs.com/showbook.cfm?bookid=10259

It is generally accepted that humans should be assured of the basic human rights of security and subsistence. Therefore, access to clean air and water, land capable of growing uncontaminated food, and a climate that fosters growth are inherent human rights. In this provocative book the author states that the current thrust in both ethics and the law, to a separation between human rights and environmental rights, is profoundly misguided.

Fighting the Slave Trade

Ed Sylviane A. Diouf

2004-08-05

http://www.ekmpowershop.com/ekmps/shops/africanreview/index.asp?function=DISPLAYPRODUCT&productid=289

This collection of thirteen case studies by international scholars examines the strategies whole societies adopted to slavery over a period of five centuries.

New Women's Writing in African Literature

Ed Ernest N. Emenyonu

2004-08-05

http://www.ekmpowershop.com/ekmps/shops/africanreview/index.asp?function=DISPLAYPRODUCT&productid=1077

African women writers in this series redefine images of womanhood, provide new visions and reshape the erstwhile distorted characterisation of African women in fiction. The rapid upsurge of writing by African women has been one of the most dynamic, phenomenal trends of African Literature at the end of the twentieth century.

Rights and the Politics of Recognition in Africa

Harri Englund, Francis Nyamnjoh

2004-08-05

http://www.palgrave-usa.com/Catalog/product.aspx?isbn=1842772821

This timely volume shows that, despite the global spread of neo-liberal economic ideology, the need remains to understand variations in cultural values and political institutions. Are human rights claims prompted by similar values and aspirations? And even if human rights are universal, what are the consequences of claiming them in different historical, cultural and material realities? How does liberal individualism suit different traditions that value sociability, negotiation and conviviality? The contributors to this book address such questions with original research in a variety of African countries whose diversity compels careful thought about the meaning of universal values such as democracy and rights.

The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality

Cheikh Anta Diop

2004-08-05

http://www.africanreviewofbooks.com/100best/100bestsamples/diop.html

"According to the unanimous testimony of the Ancients, first the Ethiopians and then the Egyptians created and raised to an extraordinary stage of development all the elements of civilization, while other peoples especially the eurasians, were still deep in barbarism. The explanation for this must be sought in the material conditions in which the accident of geography had placed them at the beginning of time. For man to adapt, these conditions required the invention of sciences complemented by the creation of arts and religion."

Tinabantu - Journal of African Affairs

Volume 2; Number 1, May 2004

2004-08-05

http://www.casas.co.za/tinabantu.htm

This issue includes:
- The Evils of Globalization
- African Studies in China
- Sudanese Issues

Africa/Global: Working with Men to End Gender-Based Violence

2004-08-05

http://www.un-instraw.org/en/index.php?option=content&task=blogcategory&id=72&Itemid=104

The papers in this volume explore the different kinds of partnerships for ending gender-based violence, and men's roles and responsibilities within these. These roles in and responsibilities for change range across the spectrum, from men changing their relationships with their intimate partners to male-dominated institutions changing the way they function in order to better confront issues of gender and violence.

Africa: Women's property and inheritance rights in the context of HIV/AIDS

2004-08-05

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000864/index.php

Gender inequality, power dynamics in sexual relations, and women’s lack of economic empowerment relate directly to patterns of poverty and are key factors in the spread of HIV/AIDS. At the same time, the epidemic leads to new social and economic burdens – often borne by women and girls – among households affected by HIV/AIDS that can stretch household safety nets to the breaking point. Defusing this self-reinforcing relationship between poverty and HIV/AIDS requires understanding how individuals and communities might best employ their resources and assets to prevent infection and to mitigate the consequences of HIV/AIDS.

Morocco: Divorce divides Morocco and W Sahara

2004-08-05

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3532612.stm

A new family code in Morocco, known as the Mudawana, is having differing effects on women's rights in the Islamic kingdom and the disputed territory of Western Sahara, which falls under Moroccan rule. Earlier this year, Moroccan King Mohammed VI pushed the Mudawana through parliament. As of February 2004, Moroccan women no longer have to obey their husbands by law, something many Moroccan men saw as enshrining their right to use their fists on disobedient wives.

South Africa: Abortion amendments under fire

2004-08-05

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=125&art_id=vn20040804054658451C713229

If proposed amendments to the country's abortion legislation are passed, nurses will be allowed to conduct complicated abortion procedures, a provision the country's largest nursing organisation has warned against. The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill was debated before parliament's portfolio committee on health by a range of religious and medical organisations.

Southern Africa: Female-headed households most vulnerable to food insecurity

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42410

Female-headed households continue to bear the brunt of poverty and ongoing food shortages in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi, according to recent surveys. The Consortium for Southern Africa's Food Emergency (C-SAFE) and the World Food Programme (WFP) released their latest Community and Household Surveillance (CHS) reports, based on information gathered in October 2003 and March 2004, analysing the livelihood and food security status of households and vulnerable groups in the three southern African countries.

Uganda: The New Face of AIDS

2004-08-05

http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=24874

They meet every week at a small, government-funded health clinic in Kawempe, the poorest and most crowded suburb of the Ugandan capital. They vary in age, but nearly all are married or widowed. Most contracted HIV from a husband or long-term partner. They are members of the Kawempe Positive Women’s Union (KPWU).

Zimbabwe: Where are the voices of women in the media?

2004-08-05

http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/media/040723famwz3.asp?sector=MEDIA

Zimbabwean media has consistently ignored the voices of women in issues of national interest and continuously marginalised women as both newsmakers and as sources of news, a study has confirmed. While gender activists in Zimbabwe and in Southern Africa in general have continuously called upon the media to be gender inclusive, a recent study by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and a South Africa based non-governmental organisation Gender Links, has shown that not much progress in terms of gender-inclusiveness has been made by most mainstream media in general.

Algeria: Newly Discovered Mass Grave Must Be Fully Investigated, Amnesty says

2004-08-05

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE280102004

Following the discovery of another mass grave last Thursday, Amnesty International has called upon the Algerian authorities to fully investigate the site and to treat previously unearthed graves similarly. According to Algerian security sources, the grave contains more than a dozen bodies of victims of killings committed by an armed group during the mid-1990s. In recent months, Amnesty International has repeatedly expressed concern about the failure of the Algerian authorities to investigate mass grave sites in line with international standards, raising fears that evidence of grave human rights abuses has been lost.

Cote D'Ivoire: UN finds 99 Bodies in Mass Graves After Rebel Clashes

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42501

UN human rights experts have uncovered three mass graves packed with at least 99 bodies in the northern town of Korhogo, where heavy clashed between rival rebel factions took place in June. In a statement released by the UN mission in the country (ONUCI) it was reported that 'some of these people were killed by bullets and, according to reliable and consistent witness accounts, others suffocated to death.'

Namibia: UNHRC Warns Namibia Over Prison Abuse

2004-08-05

http://www.namibian.com.na/

In a recent report, the United Nations has called upon Namibia to consider establishing an independent body which would have access to all places of detention and conduct investigations into violations of rights and abuses in prison. Other areas of concern noted by the report were the high number of customary marriages that continued to be unregistered, depriving women and children of their rights as a consequence, and the fact that torture was still considered a common law offence to be charged as assult or criminal injury and was not defined in domestic criminal law.

Nigeria: Civil Society Group Condemns Police Brutality

2004-08-05

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article16

The Centre for the Victims of Extra-Judicial Killings and Torture (CUEKT AFRICA) has deplored the rising rate of policy brutality and exploitation of innocent citizens in the Enugu region. The group this week accused the police of 'deliberately framing and arresting residents to extort money from them before they are set free.'

Somalia: Calls Made To Rein In Warlords

2004-08-05

http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=24888

Local Somalian campaigners, backed by Amnesty International, have demanded that Somalia's new government, which is expected to be set up in weeks, formulate measures to ensure that warlords who have violated human rights since the fall of the Siad Barre in 1991 are brought to justice. One proposed measure is the formation of a South Africa-like truth commission.

Swaziland: King's Government Violates Human Rights

2004-08-05

http://web.amnesty.org/library/index/engafr550042004

In a newly published report entitled, 'Swaziland: human rights at risk in a climate of political and legal uncertainty' Amnesty International has called upon the Government of King Mswati III to resolve the constitutional and human rights crisis that has left the country without a Court of Appeal since 2002 and undermines the Government's new international human rights obligations. Amongst the abuses alleged in the report are a failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible for torture and deaths in custody and a denial of the rights of freedom of association and peaceful assembly to those perceived as government critics.

Uganda: ICC Opens War Crimes Probe

2004-08-05

http://www.unwire.org/News/328_426_26293.asp

Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court have opened an investigation into war crimes in northern Uganda, where government forces have been battling an 18-year rebellion by the shadowy Lord's Resistance Army. The LRA is notorious for raiding villages, stealing food and abducting children for use as soldiers, workers and sex slaves (Associated Press, July 29). In February the group struck the Barloonyo camp for internally displaced persons, killing more than 200 people, many of whom were burned alive in their huts.

Uganda: ICC's Uganda Probe Must Protect Witnesses

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/23685

In its investigation in Northern Uganda, the International Criminal Court must ensure protection for witnesses and victims, Human Rights Watch has said. The court needs to investigate serious crimes committed by all sides to the conflict in order to ensure justice and promote sustainable peace. This follows an announcement by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor that it will initiate an investigation in Uganda. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had referred the situation in Northern Uganda to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in January.
ICC's Uganda Probe Must Protect Witnesses
Court Needs to Investigate Crimes by All Sides in Northern Uganda's Conflict

(New York, July 29, 2004) - In its investigation in Northern Uganda, the
International Criminal Court must ensure protection for witnesses and victims,
Human Rights Watch said today. The court needs to investigate serious crimes
committed by all sides to the conflict in order to ensure justice and promote
sustainable peace.

Today, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor has announced that it will initiate an
investigation in Uganda. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni had referred the
situation in Northern Uganda to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in
January.

According to Human Rights Watch research, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA)
has engaged in the abduction, execution, torture, mutilation, rape, and sexual
assault of thousands of Ugandan civilians, including children. In the past two
years, the rebel group has kidnapped approximately 12,000 children for use as
soldiers, laborers, and sexual slaves. Abductees are typically threatened with
death should they refuse to follow orders that can include killing civilians and
abducting other children.

"It is essential that the ICC take measures to guard witnesses and victims from
reprisals," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice program at
Human Rights Watch. "This is a necessary step to protect those that are willing to
step forward."

Human Rights Watch urged the ICC to provide adequate protection for witnesses
and victims. Specifically, the investigation should be undertaken in a way that
does not imperil the lives of those children still held captive by rebel forces. The
deployment of additional child-protection personnel and human rights monitors in
Northern Uganda is of utmost importance.

In addition to crimes committed by the LRA, Human Rights Watch has also
reported abuses by Ugandan government forces. As they prepare to deploy for
their investigation in Northern Uganda, ICC investigators should be prepared to
act appropriately on any credible allegation of crimes committed by either side.

"It is imperative that the ICC conducts an impartial investigation in Uganda," said
Richard Dicker. "The ICC has the authority to investigate crimes committed by
all sides in the conflict, not just the Lord's Resistance Army."
The Ugandan parliament ratified the ICC treaty in June 2002. In so doing, Uganda
has committed itself to cooperating with the ICC to investigate crimes, provide
evidence and arrest and hand over individuals sought by the court.

"We expect the Ugandan government to cooperate with the ICC investigation and
help provide for the safety of both victims and witnesses," Dicker said.

For Human Rights Watch's reports on abuses linked to the conflict in Northern
Uganda, please see "Abducted and Abused: Renewed Conflict in Northern
Uganda" at http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/uganda0703/, and "Stolen Children:
Abduction and Recruitment in Northern Uganda" at
http://hrw.org/reports/2003/uganda0303/

Zimbabwe: Minister 'poorly prepared' or 'misleading'

Statement by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum on the Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights in June 2002

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/23684

"The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, (the Human Rights Forum) takes grave exception to the behavior of the Zimbabwe Government at the recent meeting of the Executive Council of the African Union [AU], as well as the plethora of comments by the state-controlled media concerning this meeting. At this meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs conveyed the impression that his Government was ignorant of the report on human rights observance submitted to the Executive Council by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights. At least, the Minister had been poorly prepared for this meeting, and, at worst, the Minister was misleading his august colleagues."
Statement by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum on the Report of the Fact-Finding Mission to Zimbabwe by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights in June 2002.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, (the Human Rights Forum) takes grave exception to the behavior of the Zimbabwe Government at the recent meeting of the Executive Council of the African Union [AU], as well as the plethora of comments by the state-controlled media concerning this meeting. At this meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs conveyed the impression that his Government was ignorant of the report on human rights observance submitted to the Executive Council by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. At least, the Minister had been poorly prepared for this meeting, and, at worst, the Minister was misleading his august colleagues.
The Human Rights Forum therefore wishes to set the record straight on the facts surrounding the tabling of this report before the Executive Council of the AU.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) was instituted in 1987 under the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights which was originally promulgated in 1981 by the Eighteenth Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organisation of African Unity. Zimbabwe is a signatory to the Charter.
In July 2000, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was superceded by the establishment of the African Union, through the promulgation of the Constitutive Act of the African Union. Following the passing of this Act, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights no longer reported to the OAU, but to the Assembly of the African Union through the Executive Council of Ministers of the African Union (AU).
One of the main functions of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is to attend to Communications submitted by individuals, NGOs and States Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which allege violations of human rights by the states that are signatories to the African Charter. This is usually done through the submission of a Communication, which must follow the formal procedure laid down in the African Charter.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights was seized with a Communication submitted by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum at the 31st Ordinary Session in Pretoria, South Africa, in May 2002. The Communication remains sub-judice with the African Commission and therefore the Forum will not comment on the Communication.
For some years prior to the submission of the Forum’s Communication, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights requested to undertake a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe, and this was acceded to by the Zimbabwe Government at the 31st Ordinary Session of the Commission, in South Africa in May 2002. Article 46 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights gives the African Commission wide powers in its methods of investigation, and the Commission had previously undertaken missions to Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Namibia, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
Accordingly, a mission comprised of two Commissioners visited Zimbabwe in June 2002. The mission met with Government officials, agencies, political parties, farmers and with a wide range of representatives from Zimbabwean civil society. At the meeting with Zimbabwean civil society organisations, the Commissioners were provided with the opportunity to meet with victims of alleged gross human rights violations, as well as being provided with a large number of reports and other documents by the members attending.
The report compiled by the mission was, therefore, based on a broad range of information available to the Commissioners, and, of course, included their professional observations. The report was finally submitted to the Commission for consideration at its 34th Ordinary Session held in Banjul, Gambia, in November, 2003. The report was adopted by the Commission at this meeting. It is both incorrect and also insulting to the Commissioners to suggest that the report was compiled by any member of civil society in Zimbabwe. Some public statements have been made to this effect presumably to discredit both the Commission and Civil Society in Zimbabwe in general.
The protocol involved in dealing with such reports is straight forward, and would be well-known to the Zimbabwe Government. Following the adoption of a report, the Secretariat of the Commission would then forward this to the Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, as specified in Article 54 of the Charter.
It is pertinent to note that, in January 2004, the Human Rights Forum wrote to the Secretary of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, requesting information about the status of the report, and was informed on 5 February 2004 that the report had been forwarded to the Zimbabwe Government, which would be given the opportunity to make its comments and that the report would be published together with the comments of the Government when the relevant processes had been gone through.
Thus, it is very difficult to believe that the Zimbabwe Government could possibly have been ignorant of the report and of the procedures following a fact-finding mission of the Commission to a member state. It is also difficult to believe that the Zimbabwe Government was ignorant of the possible findings, especially in the light of the enormous number of adverse reports on human rights violations in Zimbabwe over the past few years.
At the recent AU Executive Council Meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs is reported to have said that the report of the fact-finding mission had not been properly presented to the Government of Zimbabwe in terms of protocol and that the Government had still to respond to it. Could this have been construed as an attempt to delay consideration of the report until the next AU Summit, by which time its impact and effect might have been eroded, particularly in the context of the critically important General Elections in March 2005 and the strong positive relationship between organized violence and torture and elections?
Here we would emphasis one of the conclusions of the Johannesburg Symposium of members of Zimbabwean civil society held in August 2003: “From 2000 onwards, there have been increasing levels of violence resulting in pervasive human rights abuses. All available evidence indicates that the Government has engaged in a widespread, systematic, and planned campaign of organised violence and torture to suppress normal democratic activities, and to unlawfully influence the electoral process. The Government has also created, and the law enforcement agencies have vigorously applied, highly repressive legislation. These measures were directed at ensuring that the Government retained power rather than at overcoming resistance to achieving equitable land redistribution and correcting historical iniquities.”

As the high-lighted section indicates, the Zimbabwean attendees to the Johannesburg Symposium clearly agree that crimes against humanity have been perpetrated since 2000, and this is one of the very few reasons for the AU to consider direct action against a member state of the AU.

In the light of the seriousness of the Zimbabwe situation, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum makes a number of calls.

To the African Union:
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum thus calls upon the AU to ensure that this report receives the fullest possible attention as soon as possible.

To the Member States of the African Union:
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum calls upon the member States of the AU to request an extra-ordinary meeting of the Executive Council in order to consider both reports of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the general situation in Zimbabwe.

To the Government of Zimbabwe:
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum repeats its call of the Johannesburg Symposium:
1. That there be an immediate end to political violence and intimidation, an immediate disbanding of the militia, and an immediate return to non-partisan police, army and intelligence services and non-selective application of the law;
2. that there be an immediate repeal of all repressive legislation and unjust laws such as the Public Order and Security Act, the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, and the Broadcasting Services Act; and that charges brought before the repeal of these laws should be withdrawn and sentences previously imposed be annulled;
3. that there be an immediate opening up of political space, including the immediate and complete overhaul of electoral laws and institutions to enable all elections to be held under free and fair conditions;
4. that the economic and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe must be immediately addressed.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum also wishes to place on record its repugnance at the vilification of AU member states, the ACHPR, and Commissioners of the ACHPR by the state-controlled media of Zimbabwe.

(The Government of Zimbabwe is also requested not to pass the potentially controversial Non-Governmental Organisations Act)

To African civil society organizations:
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum calls upon all African civil society organizations to publicly express solidarity with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the decision of the Executive Council of the African Union to keep the report of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the agenda.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum also calls upon African civil society organizations to exert pressure on their own Governments to ensure that an extra-ordinary meeting of the Executive Council of the African Union takes place as soon as possible to discuss the Zimbabwe situation and the report of the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ Rights.


26 July 2004

Zimbabwe: NGO bill dangerous for human rights defenders

2004-08-05

http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,450

The government of Zimbabwe is on the verge of promulgating a bill titled Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Bill into law to provide for the "operations, monitoring and regulation of all non-governmental organisations." The government argues that the proposed law is meant to protect public interest by ensuring that NGOs are governed and administered properly and use donor and public funds for the objects for which they were established. An analysis of the draft bill will show on the contrary that this is a political gimmick that is meant to administratively create criminals out of human rights defenders and NGOs so as to provide excuses for intrusion, clamp down and closures of NGOs.

Angola/South Africa: Angolan refugees in South Africa urged to return home

2004-08-05

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=410f49e110&page=news

The UN refugee agency is reaching out to some 13,000 Angolans living in South Africa, many of whom are highly educated, to offer help for them to return home, a spokeswoman said Monday. Contrary to other countries in the region where hundreds of thousands of Angolans took refuge during the 27-year civil war, South Africa does not have refugee camps for the Angolans, most of whom live in Cape Town, said Melita Sunjic, spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

Angola: Refugees face food shortages after leaving Zambia

2004-08-05

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=4108c85ea&page=news

Thousands of Angolan refugees returning home from Zambia face food shortages and get only half rations, a United Nations official said Wednesday. The World Food Programme, which has been feeding refugees in camps and handing out supplies to those returning home, said rations were small especially on the Angolan side, WFP spokesman Mike Huggins told AFP. "Resources for this exercise are extremely tight, especially on the Angolan side where rations have had to be reduced by up to 50 percent," said Huggins.

DRC/Rwanda: Congolese granted asylum

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42477

The Rwandan government granted asylum on Friday to 283 people of Rwandan descent whom officials in Kigali have classified as refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The group - 172 children, 62 women and 49 men - were expelled from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo earlier in the week. Local military and civilian officials in the Congo had accused them of being Rwandans.

DRC/Rwanda: UNHCR repatriates second-generation immigrants

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42390

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has repatriated 283 people to Rwanda in a case involving second-generation Rwandan immigrants living in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo town of Kalehe, a UNHCR official told IRIN on Tuesday. The refugees claimed that Congolese military and local officials had rounded them up from their homes in Kalehe and detained them in a military camp in Bunyakiri, before forcefully expelling them into neighbouring Rwanda, said Mussa Fazil Harerimana, the governor of Cyagungu, a Rwandan town that shares the border with the Congolese town of Bukavu.

Libya: Eritrean refugees in danger of deportation from Libya

Letter to Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi

2004-08-05

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/07/22/libya9127.htm

“Human Rights Watch has learned that your government may be in the process of forcibly returning Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers in Libya to Eritrea, where they face unlawful detention and probable torture. We have received reports that Eritreans are currently being held in Kufra, Misurath, and Tripoli in anticipation of mass deportation to Eritrea.”

Sudan: Darfur IDPs fear to go home due to insecurity and abuses - Deng

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42494

Contrary to Sudanese government assertions that the security situation in the troubled western Darfur region has improved, civilians displaced by the conflict insist that violence perpetrated by Janjawid militias is continuing, a United Nations official said. Francis Deng, the UN Secretary-General’s representative on internally displaced persons (IDPs), visited Darfur last week accompanied by Sudanese officials. He said the IDPs talked of "persistent insecurity and human rights violations", including "many accounts" of rape of women outside their camps.

Zimbabwe: Humanitarian access denied to increasingly vulnerable former farm workers

2004-08-05

http://www.refintl.org/content/article/detail/3048

In Zimbabwe economic disruption and political intimidation and harassment have caused 150,000 former farm workers to become internally displaced. As conditions for the former farm workers deteriorate, the Government of Zimbabwe is imposing restrictions and preventing humanitarian agencies from providing them assistance, resulting in a hidden crisis of internal displacement in the country.

Angola: UNITA demands arrest of attackers

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42520

Angola's main opposition party, UNITA, on Wednesday called for the immediate arrest of those responsible for attacks against its supporters in recent months. After 27 years of civil conflict between UNITA and the government, a peace treaty was signed in April 2002. The country is now moving towards its first post-war national election, although a definite date for the poll is yet to be announced.

Burundi: Cabinet nominates five to electoral commission

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42519

In a bid to prepare for Burundi's upcoming general elections, the cabinet has nominated five members to form the National Independent Electoral Commission, government spokesman Onésime Nduwimana said on Tuesday. Their names will be sent to the national assembly for endorsement and then to the head of state for promulgation, he said.

Mozambique: Opposition Parties Call For Fair Elections

2004-08-05

http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/southern_africa/0,2172,84774,00.html

Opposition parties in Mozambique have called on Southern African leaders to deal with what they call the violation of democracy in that country. The comment follows the Mozambican electoral commission's decision to allow Mozambicans living abroad to register. There are over 200,000 Mozambicans in other African states and Europe and the opposition claim that it will open the election process to more election fraud. Mozambicans will be going to presidential and parliamentary elections in December.

Somalia: Inauguration of proposed interim parliament postponed

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42457

The inauguration of Somalia's proposed transitional parliament has been postponed because some clans had not completed the process of nominating members, sources close to the Somali reconciliation conference said on Friday. The inauguration of the parliament has now been tentatively scheduled for 4 August, when it is hoped that all the clans would have handed in their lists of nominated MPs to the foreign ministers, who make up the IGAD Facilitation Committee steering the peace process.

Uganda: Third Term, Donor Stand Disappoints Opposition

2004-08-05

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408030906.html

Hopes within Uganda's opposition that donors will press President Yoweri Museveni not to amend the 1995 constitution to allow him to run for the 2006 presidential election were shattered last week when Western diplomats said they will not interfere with the country's transitional process. However, the diplomats warned that economic and political gains that the country had achieved in the past decade might be lost unless the government handled the transition to the 2006 presidential election well.

Zimbabwe: NCA to campaign for election boycott

2004-08-05

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=9806

The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) has begun a rural outreach programme to campaign for a boycott of parliamentary elections set for March next year, the organisation has said. Earnest Mudzengi, the NCA information and advocacy officer told the Daily News Online that the coalition group wanted the public to boycott next year’s legislative polls unless the government made “meaningful” and sweeping changes to the constitution.

Kenya: Graft Boss Is Suspended

2004-08-05

http://www.eastandard.net/headlines/news04080417.htm

Ms Jane Kiragu, Director of the National Anti-Corruption Steering Committee, has been suspended following a marathon meeting on Monday with the Committee's chairman, Rev Mutava Musyimi. Her appointment, ten days earlier, had provoked spirited protests from a section of the 34-member strong committee, who viewed it as unilateral and a Government scheme to infiltrate and influence its work.

Kenya: Sack the Corrupt, Japan Tells Kibaki

2004-08-05

http://www.tikenya.org/viewnews.asp?ID=397

Japan, Kenya's third largest bilateral donor, has joined calls for President Kibaki to sack government officials linked to corruption. The Deputy Chief of Mission, Mr Takuji Hanatani said that he believed 'President Kibaki should demonstrate his political determination by asking those ministers implicated to step aside until investigations are completed.'

Malawi: Mutharika Acts on Corruption Promise

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42480

Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika's administration has made its first arrest for fraud and corruption since coming to office in May of this year. The deputy research director of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF), Humphreys Mvula, was arrested on Friday in Blantyre. Mvula, chief executive of the state-run Shire Bus Lone, Malawi's biggest bus company, is being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Bureau after allegations of dubious purchases of a new fleet of buses and spare parts.

Nigeria: House of Representatives Slams Obasanjo's Anti-Corruption Crusade

2004-08-05

http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f104082004.html

President Obasanjo's fight against corruption came under a re-assessment this week from the country's House of Representatives who said that the government was not showing sufficient seriousness in the battle. The House has now resolved to amend the law establishing the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to make it more effective.

South Africa: Probe into Education Tender Leads to 26 Arrests

2004-08-05

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=114583&src=dcn

Twenty-six people, including a senior manager of the Free State department of education appeared in the Bloemfontein Magistrate's Court on charges including fraud and corruption. The court appearances follow a joint investigation by the South African Police Service and the anti corruption unit of the Free State education department into allegations of corruption over the awarding of tenders during a three year period.

Tanzania: Magistrate Arrested on Bribery Charges

2004-08-05

http://www.bcstimes.com/dailytimes/viewnews.php?category=1&newsID=526

The Prevention of Corruption Bureau (PCB) has brought the Mbulu District Mangistrate, Mr Wallace Manolo, to court for allegedly soliciting and receiving bribes from an individual due to appear in his court on trial.

Zambia: Stiffer Corruption Penalties Coming

2004-08-05

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408040722.html

The Zambian Government has announced that it is reviewing the Anti-Corruption Act to introduce stiffer penalties and catch private sector offenders. Speaking to reporters, President Mwanawasa also revealed that the Government was in the process of formulating a comprehensive corruption-prevention strategy and he urged other SADC countries to support the proposed protocol against corruption.

Africa: International Groups Denounce World Trade Pact

2004-08-05

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/91015/1/

While negotiators from the United States and the European Union (EU) declared victory in rescuing global trade talks in the early hours on Sunday at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) denounced the results as a sell-out of poor countries and the environment. "After days of closed-door negotiations, rich countries have delivered a deeply unbalanced text as a take-it-or-leave-it option," said Celine Charveriat, head of Oxfam International's Geneva office. "This puts developing countries in the unfair position of having to accept a bad deal or reject and get blamed by the U.S. and the EU for failure."

Africa: Liberalisation taking away people's rights

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/23641

"We, the trade and economic justice activists from various civil society organisations in Zimbabwe, including the media, representatives of the business sector, academics, farmers and peasant movements, labour, students, consumer movements met in Nyanga to review post-Cancun developments especially negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU. We note that these have got far-reaching implications on national economies, people's livelihoods and the role of the state as a provider of basic social services: health, education, water, transport, food etc."
Liberalisation taking away people's rights



Statement by civil society organisations in the country who met in Nyanga,
27-30 July to discuss globalisation, bilateral and multilateral trade issues



We, the trade and economic justice activists from various civil society
organisations in Zimbabwe, including the media, representatives of the
business sector, academics, farmers and peasant movements, labour, students,
consumer movements met in Nyanga to review post-Cancun developments
especially negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the
Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU. We note that these have got
far-reaching implications on national economies, people's livelihoods and
the role of the state as a provider of basic social services: health,
education, water, transport, food etc.



We observed that Africa is under siege and experiencing re-colonisation
through corporate-led globalisation being championed by economic and
financial institutions: The World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and the WTO.



The WTO has emerged as one of the most powerful and influential
international institutions since its establishment in 1995 and has set the
legal framework for multilateral rules not only on strictly trade issues but
also with regard to other dimensions like services, intellectual property
and agriculture. The interests of the WTO does not only lie on its
regulation and monitoring of trade agreements between and amongst member
countries, but also on the fact that its agenda extends into domestic policy
forcing national policies to be WTO compliant.



These developments plus the current Economic Partnership Agreements
negotiations between the EU and Africa have negative implications on
national economies.



For Africa and Zimbabwe in particular, the notion that "people first before
profits" should be the basis on which the country must negotiate.



What are the implications of trade agreements on the ordinary people?



The meeting noted that for Zimbabwe Agriculture (which is one of the issues
at the centre of controversy at the WTO negotiations) contributes 17% to the
country's GDP, employs 26% of the total labour force and contributes 33% to
the foreign currency earnings.



· Further more, agriculture is unique in that it touches on the very
roots of the existence of people. It provides for food security and
sovereignty of the people

· because agriculture is the source of livelihoods for the people,
the issue of the decline in commodity prices means that the survival of the
people is actually threatened hence the need to address this issue

· agriculture is the means to industrialisation. There is a need to
develop the agro-processing sector in order to realise the full potential of
the agriculture sector

· Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are being promoted by the
North to extract greater profits from the agricultural sector in the South,
consequently driving people from the south out of the production chain hence
there is need to employ the precautionary principle



In the context of the on-going land reform programme, it was strongly felt
that a discourse on supply-side constraints should be initiated. This would
determine whether this was an adequate response to corporate driven
globalisation and kick-starting a developmental strategy that meets the
needs of the local market first as opposed to export led growth.



The meeting reaffirmed its opposition to:

· further liberalisation of the services sector in a manner that is
tantamount to surrendering sovereignty in policy formulation. Zimbabwe has
made commitments in the tourism, communications and financial services
sectors

· Negotiations on the New Issues (Competition Policy, Investment
Policy, Government Procurement and Trade Facilitation). In Geneva most
members now agree that the first three issues be dropped from the Doha work
programme. However, on Trade Facilitation it was agreed to work on the
modalities before negotiations can begin on the basis of explicit consensus.

· further commitments on the liberalisation of industrial goods (Non
Agricultural Market Access). Already the domestic industry sector of the
country has suffered under the trade liberalisation policies prescribed by
the IMF and the World Bank in the early 1990s.

· fast track negotiations on the Economic partnership Agreements with
the EU. There is need to slow down the EPA negotiations process. CSOs have
been campaigning for a NO TO EPAs strategy and this workshop has reaffirmed
this position.



Way forward



On the question "What is the way forward?" it was agreed that the
determining factor in the whole process is national self-determination. This
should be the main strategy of fighting the unequal system and it will
involve:



· the need to deconstruct the dominant ideology of neo-liberalism
which holds that the free market principles are fundamental to development.
This ideology is promoted by the World Bank, IMF and the WTO. We should
centre our development options whose foundation should be a domestic demand
driven strategy

· There is a need to strengthen trade negotiators' capacity to fully
analyse the implications of regional and multilateral trade agreements and
work out holistic negotiating strategies. This must include all stakeholders
including the private sector, civil society organisations, government
officials, the media and workers representatives (a process that is already
in motion)

· There is need to protect local infant industries and all other
established industries from unfair competition brought about by
liberalisation

· There is need to strengthen local industries first. The government
should give incentives to local producers and manufacturers especially in
the agro-processing industries for value added goods. There should also be a
beneficiation mechanism for the mineral and natural resources the countries
are endowed with.

· Regional integration to fight empire-led integration and
fragmentation of Africa. In that sense Southern African countries should
engage in building a regional strategy in all sectors e.g. Regional
industrial strategy, agricultural strategy, rural development strategy etc.

· Policy on science and technology, based on indigenous resources and
knowledge systems

· The government and relevant stakeholders should look at the
deprived and marginalised sections of the society not just from a welfare
perspective but from an empowering one. This means building on the
creativity and energy of the people. Concretely, it means putting effective
resources (knowledge, money, institutions, infrastructure, etc,) in the
hands of small farmers, small and medium scale enterprises, indigenous
business-people that produce for the domestic market, indigenous scientists
and technicians, and so on.

· There should be simplified trade terminology so that information is
easily understood and absorbed by a wider audience.



The Workshop Participants were:



Dewa Mavhinga
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development

Dumisani Gandhi
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe

Tendai Makwavarara
Labour and Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe

Nkululeko Sibanda
Zimbabwe Youth Democracy Trust

Didymus Maramwidze
Zimbabwe National Association of Students Unions

Rutendo Kambarami
MWENGO

Juliet Sithole
General Agriculture and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe

Chiedza Musakambeva
Zimbabwe Women's Resources Centre Network

Tanyaradzwa Furusa
Zimbabwe Regional Environment Organisation

Paul Nyakazeya
Zimbabwe Union of Journalists

Ndamu Sandu
Zimbabwe Independent

Walter Muchinguri
The Herald

Collen Gwiyo
Zimbabwe Bankers Association Workers Union

Dennis Madzete
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries

Lovegot Tendengu
Farm Development Trust

Charity Manyeruke
Institute of Development Studies

Thomas Deve
Mwengo

Joy Mabenge
Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development

Irene Sithole
Women's Action Group

Naome Chakanya
Labour and Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe

Riaz Tayob
Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations
Institute

Farirai Mafemba
Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations
Institute

Rangarirai Machemedze
Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations
Institute

Ludwig Chizarura
Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations
Institute

Elijah Munyuki
Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations
Institute

Jean Kanengoni
Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations
Institute

Sibusiso Sibanda
Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations
Institute

Richard Kamidza
Southern and Eastern African Trade, Information and Negotiations
Institute

Dr. M. Masiiwa
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

Tendai Tapfumaneyi
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung

Mthulisi Mathuthu
Ecumenical Documentation and Information Centre in Southern Africa

Ibrahima Aidara
Consumers International

Nessie Golakai
Consumers International

Africa: South Africa in Africa

2004-08-05

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000870/index.php

South Africa’s presence in the rest of Africa has to be seen in the dual context of its relative economic size and sophistication, together with the insulation the country endured through the apartheid years. The South African economy contributes 19% to the total African economy, one-third of sub-Saharan Africa’s and nearly two-thirds of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) gross domestic product (GDP). This is according to an Occasional Paper from the South African Foundation.

Africa: The reality of aid

2004-08-05

http://www.afrodad.org/archive/Reality%20of%20AID%20Africa%20Edition.pdf

The Reality of Aid is an independent assessment of the nature and performance of development aid. The project aims to contribute to more effective strategies to eliminate poverty, based on principles of solidarity and equity, by analysing international aid and development cooperation and lobbying for changes in north/south systemic relationships in aid practices.

Africa: World Bank misses historic opportunity

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/23643

The World Bank Group has refused to improve the way it operates, says a media advisory from Friends of the Earth International. The Bank's Board decided to act upon only very few among many concrete steps recommended by a key report. The Extractive Industries Review (EIR), commissioned by World Bank President James Wolfensohn, recently concluded that financial support for projects in the oil, mining and gas sectors have not led to direct poverty alleviation. The EIR made specific recommendations to improve the World Bank's policies and practices. However, in a Board meeting, World Bank Management and its Board failed to respond with concrete commitments to change the way the Bank operates and ensure poverty reduction results from its investments.
MEDIA ADVISORY

Friends of the Earth International

WORLD BANK MISSES HISTORIC OPPORTUNITY

WASHINGTON, DC, August 3, 2004 -- The World Bank Group today refused to
improve the way it operates. The Bank's Board decided to act upon only
very few among many concrete steps recommended by a key report.

The Extractive Industries Review (EIR), commissioned by World Bank
President James Wolfensohn, recently concluded that financial support for
projects in the oil, mining and gas sectors have not led to direct poverty
alleviation. The EIR made specific recommendations to improve the World
Bank's policies and practices. [1]

However, in a Board meeting today, World Bank Management and its Board
failed to respond with concrete commitments to change the way the Bank
operates and ensure poverty reduction results from its investments.

"The World Bank has ignored the EIR recommendations and endorsed business
as usual," said Jon Sohn of Friends of the Earth US. "The EIR called for
an 'extreme energy makeover,' and the World Bank opted for a cheap
pedicure. It has missed a historic opportunity to bring its lending more
in line with its mission to alleviate poverty."

The EIR report is a result of three years of investigation paid for by the
World Bank, and initiated after Friends of the Earth addressed Mr
Wolfensohn at the institution's annual meetings in 2000.

The report made many recommendations which had the broad support of civil
society organizations as well as many in industry. These included
respecting human rights, establishing a consent mechanism for affected
communities, protecting areas of high biodiversity and ending financing
for oil and coal projects. The World Bank only took some small steps in
response, such as requiring revenue transparency and disclosure of
information.

"The World Bank's response is a deep insult for those affected by its
projects." said Samuel Nguiffo of Friends of the Earth Cameroon. "The
Bank's Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline shows why the EIR recommendations are so
fundamental. The project is pregnant with as many undisclosed scandals as
there is sand on the beach".

The World Bank refers to the Chad-Cameroon Oil Pipeline as a model for
poverty alleviation, although it is quickly becoming a model for misery.
The Chadian government spent a portion of the first proceeds on military
expenditures, worker's rights have been violated, people lost their
livelihoods as a result of pollution, and impact mitigation plans lack
proper implementation.

"Oil projects like the Chad-Cameroon pipeline generate more tears than
smiles. The Bank's response to the EIR means they have not learned a
single lesson from such tragedies", added Mr Nguiffo.

"The EIR provided a historic opportunity to do things better, but the
World Bank dramatically failed to grab it," said Janneke Bruil in
Amsterdam. "Billions of misspent public dollars and sixty years of
outcries by people around the world have not been enough. What more does
it take?"

Friends of the Earth International --the world's largest grassroots
environmental federation with 68 national member groups in as many
countries and more than one million individual members-- is strongly
committed to non-violence.


FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT

In Washington, DC:
Jon Sohn +1-720-308-7482 or jsohn@foe.org

In Europe:
Janneke Bruil, Coordinator International Financial Institutions Programme,
Amsterdam, +31 6 52 118 998 or janneke@foei.org

In Cameroon:
Samuel Nguiffo of Friends of the Earth Cameroon + 237-222 38 57 or
snguiffo@cedcameroun.org



NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] For more information on the The Extractive Industries Review see

http://www.worldbank.org/ogmc/
http://www.foei.org/ifi
http://www.eireview.info

Africa: “Development Round” Betrays the World’s Poor

2004-08-05

http://www.focusweb.org/main/html/Article389.html?POSTNUKESID=867d1b7f25ff1b768179a52e191c0900

The trade liberalization framework presented to the WTO General Council is a betrayal of the world’s poor, according to the Asian trade policy research NGO, Focus o­n the Global South. Speaking in Geneva, their senior trade analyst Aileen Kwa said that the current negotiations are being used by the rich industrialized countries – especially the US and the EU – to force open developing country markets and to hide their own massive agricultural subsidies. "If the proposed framework is implemented, the inevitable result will be deindustrialization of the developing world and the end of small-scale farming," said Kwa. "Millions of workers will lose their jobs and millions of farmers will lose their livelihoods."

Africa/Global: African Governments Fighting HIV/AIDS Face Inadequate Health Infrastructure

2004-08-05

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=25019

Inadequate health infrastructures and "insufficient" involvement of people living with HIV/AIDS pose challenges to African governments in the fight against the epidemic, officials said at the close of the U.N. Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa conference on Tuesday, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. The two-day conference, which was held in Botswana, was the second of five that aim to provide Africa with an opportunity to examine all aspects of the continent's HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Africa/Global: Breastfeeding can save over 1 million lives yearly

2004-08-05

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_22646.html

On the eve of World Breastfeeding Week UNICEF said that by expanding the number of women who exclusively breastfeed during their child’s first six months, at least 1.3 million infant lives could be saved this year. UNICEF also called for greater global commitment to protect, and promote breastfeeding. Every year more than 10 million children die from mainly preventable causes, including diarrhoea, pneumonia, measles and malaria. If every baby were exclusively breastfed from birth to six months, an estimated 3,500 children’s lives could be saved each day, UNICEF said.

Africa: Discouraging the brain drain

2004-08-05

http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/82/8/en/616.pdf

Building health research expertise in developing countries often requires personnel to receive training beyond national borders. For research funding agencies that sponsor this type of training, a major goal is to ensure that trainees return to their country of origin: attaining this objective requires the use of proactive strategies. This paper describes the strategies employed to discourage brain drain.

Africa: Global report on AIDS epidemic

2004-08-05

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC15184

An estimated 25 million people are living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and although there appears to be a stabilization in HIV prevalence rates this is actually due to a rise in AIDS deaths and a continued increase in new infections. This is according to a UNAIDS report that warns that the number of people living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has risen in every region of the world during 2003 and last year five million people became newly infected with HIV - more people than any previous year.

Africa: The MDG's for health

2004-08-05

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC15360

This World Bank report focuses on the health and nutrition Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) assessing the progress to date and prospects for achieving these goals. The first part of the report finds that progress towards the MDGs for health has been mixed and that progress in the second half of the 1990 - 2015 window will not necessarily be better. However, the authors argue that improving the rate of progress towards these goals is possible in all regions and countries.

Chad: Cholera outbreak kills 38 near Ndjamena

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42468

A cholera outbreak in and around N'djamena, the capital of Chad, has infected more than 600 people over the past month and 38 have died, an official of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Belgium said on Friday. "To date, more than 600 people have been infected by cholera and 38 have died,” Josette Benamane, the newly appointed MSF Belgium Coordinator in N'djamena, told IRIN.

DRC: Suspected plague kills 58 in Ituri

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42442

Health officials in the Democratic Republic of the Congo said last Thursday 58 people, suspected to have caught the plague, had died so far this year in the northeastern district of Ituri. They were among the 1,042 suspected plague cases recorded since January, according to a joint Ministry of Health and World Health Organization mission sent to the area from 18 to 26 July.

Great Lakes: New intergovernmental effort to combat AIDS

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42436

In an effort to stem the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Great Lakes region, government ministers from six countries signed a convention on Tuesday establishing a new regional organisation called the Great Lakes Initiatives on AIDS (GLIA). The Great Lakes has the world's second highest incidence of HIV infection after southern Africa.

South Africa: 1.5M Fewer HIV-Positive People Than UNAIDS Estimates, Report Says

2004-08-05

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=25036

South Africa has about 1.5 million fewer HIV-positive people than UNAIDS reported earlier this month, according to a new report released Wednesday by the country's governmental statistics agency Stats SA, Reuters reports. According to Stats SA's mid-year statistical report, there are about 3.8 million HIV-positive people in South Africa, and approximately 1.5 million people have died from AIDS-related causes.

South Africa: EU body awards R4,2 bn to combat HIV/Aids

2004-08-05

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=601

The fight against HIV/Aids in South Africa will receive a major boost when a European Union (EU) body will donate R4,2 bn to the Medical Research Council (MRC), reports the IOL. A spokesperson from the MRC indicated that the funding from the European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (ECDTP) will be used 'to conduct trials.'

South Africa: High risk for HIV among migrant women

2004-08-05

http://www.id21.org/health/h5kz1g1.html

Migration of male workers in South Africa is known to fuel the spread of HIV. This may also be the case for the increasing numbers of migrant women. Research funded by the UK Department for International Development looks at risk factors for HIV infection in migrant and non-migrant women in Carletonville, South Africa.

Southern Africa: SADC countries winning fight against malaria

2004-08-05

http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/health/0,2172,84531,00.html

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries which have declared war against the second biggest killer disease in Africa, malaria, are winning the fight. Over one million children have been killed by malaria every year, in the sub-Sahara region. Dozens of delegates from global organisations, as well as health experts from the SADC region have gathered in Gaborone to attend this year's malaria control conference.

Swaziland: Rural health "motivators" could ease professional shortage

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42502

A critical shortage of health professionals in Swaziland is undermining the public health system's capacity to expand its national antiretroviral (ARV) programme, health officials have warned. A recent situation analysis carried out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) revealed the extent of the problem in a country with one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. The WHO study noted there was an overall lack of staff in key areas of the health sector resulting in services either being stopped or quality of care being compromised.

Uganda: Sales of Antiretroviral Drugs at Pharmacies suspended

2004-08-05

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hiv.cfm#25085

Uganda's director general of health services has directed the country's National Drug Authority to suspend antiretroviral drugs sales on the open market following reports that some doctors have been selling counterfeit drugs to patients, Xinhua News Agency reports. Peter Mugyenyi, director of the country's Joint Clinical Research Centre, last Thursday at a parliamentary committee meeting on HIV/AIDS said that some people have been selling the counterfeit drugs in containers resembling those used to sell authentic antiretrovirals, Uganda's New Vision reports.

Africa/Global: Teacher motivation and incentives in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia

2004-08-05

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC15160&Resource=f1educ

This paper focuses on teacher motivation and incentives in low-income developing countries (LICs) in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. In particular, it assesses the extent to which the material and psychological needs of teachers are being met. This includes overall levels of occupational status, job satisfaction, pay and benefits, recruitment and deployment, attrition, and absenteeism.

Africa: Teacher supply and demand

2004-08-05

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC14784

Achievement of the Education for All (EFA) goal of universal primary education by 2015 requires that the education system can attract, educate and retain sufficient numbers of well qualified teachers. This working paper examines the place of teachers in the primary education systems of Botswana, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania (Mainland), Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Kenya: Leaders urged to be role models

2004-08-05

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408040240.html

Kenyan President Kibaki has urged leaders in the community and at all levels to provide credible role models for the youth to emulate. The President said proper socialisation of the youth was not the responsibility of parents and teachers alone, adding that community leaders had a role to play.

Nigeria: 'Education less expensive than ignorance'

2004-08-05

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408040356.html

Parents have been urged to invest in their children's education as it is less expensive than ignorance. Proprietor of Comsey Nursery and Primary School, Mr. Emmanuel Apalowo said this recently at the school's prize giving and valedictory service. Apalowo said if Nigerians could invest half of what they spend on frivolities on education, the system will be the better for it.

Nigeria: New Teachers Must Be Computer Literate by 2005, Minister

2004-08-05

http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotoarticle/addhit/90867/1138/3420

The Nigerian Minister of State for Education, Hajia Binta Ibrahim Musa, has said that students of the National Certificate of Education (NCE) in Colleges of Education must be computer literate by 2005 as a pre-condition of their graduation. Speaking at a conference last week she also said that the country should 'seek to promote the use of ICT and distance education as a cost-effective and affordable way of expanding and improving the quality of education systems.'

South Africa: Flow of teachers to richer countries under spotlight

2004-08-05

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408030181.html

Education Minister Naledi Pandor will this month lead a South African delegation to a Commonwealth meeting in Britain, where a set of protocols to guide the process of recruiting teachers is to be finalised. The meeting would focus on ways of stemming the flow of teachers from poorer to richer nations, said Pandor after her second Council of Education Minister's meeting in Pretoria.

Sudan: Schooling offers Darfur’s children a sense of stability

2004-08-05

http://www.unicef.org/emerg/darfur/index_22730.html

In the Kounoungo refugee camp in Eastern Chad, Darfurian children are eagerly attending school, after months of witnessing extreme violence, death and chaos in their homeland. Teachers and schools remind the children of their lives before the Janjaweed drove them from their villages, forcing 1.2 million Darfurians into the hostile desert lands. There are 10,000 people living in the Kounoungo refugee camp. Over 75 per cent are women and children. Temporary schools can provide the children with a sense of stability in the overcrowded camps.

Zimbabwe: 'Teachers' unions seek government protection

2004-08-05

http://www.zimonline.co.za/headdetail.asp?ID=129

The Zimbabwe Teachers' Association ZIMTA and the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) have called on the government to prevent political violence against teachers in the run-up to the 2005 general election. "Only the government can protect our members from political violence," ZIMTA secretary general, Denis Sinyolo told ZimOnline.

Sudan: Racism the roots of the Darfur crisis

2004-08-05

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408021131.html

The UN has described Darfur as 'the world's worst humanitarian crisis'. On 23 July, the US Congress described it as 'genocide'. Characterising the Darfur war as 'Arabs' versus 'Africans' obscures a complicated reality. Darfur's Arabs are black, indigenous, African and Muslim, just like Darfur's non-Arabs, hailing from the Fur, Masalit, Zaghawa and many smaller tribes.

Africa/Global: Ten years of genetic modification

2004-08-05

http://www.foei.org/publications/pdfs/gm_decade.pdf

Biotech companies promised that GM crops were safe, that they would provide better quality and cheaper food, that they were environmentally sustainable, that they would improve agricultural production, and that they would feed the developing world. After ten years, none of these promises have materialized, says a Friends for the Earth publication.

Africa: EU Launches Book on African Rainforests

2004-08-05

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=24503

Besides holding one of the most difficult jobs in the European Union, president of the European Commission Romano Prodi has also put his name to a book about African rainforests. The dense humid forests of central Africa represent the second largest block of rainforest left on earth - second only to the Amazon forest in Latin America. The forests, which stretch over about 670,000 square kilometres of the Congo, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, are among the richest wilderness areas on earth in terms of biodiversity.

Congo: Fishing practices denounced

2004-08-05

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-07-29/s_26286.asp

Republic of Congo said it is investigating complaints of extensive illegal fishing by Chinese ships in the West African nation's waters, including alleged fishing with dynamite. Republic of Congo fishers say Chinese vessels are trawling waters officially set aside for traditional fishers and dropping dynamite in the water to produce massive kills of fish, which then float to the surface and are easily scooped from the sea.

Gabon: Government plans fish revolution with UN funds

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42430

Even though Gabon has some 800 km of coastline, it is forced to import more than 7,000 tonnes of fish every year. But with a new grant from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the government hopes to change all that. "The US$ 270,000 grant from the FAO will allow Gabon to plan a development strategy for the fishing industry for the long-term, something we've never done before," Georges Mba Asseko, the government official in charge of fisheries, told IRIN in an interview.

Senegal: President cancels holiday as locusts invade north

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42504

President Abdoulaye Wade has cancelled his summer holiday and set up an emergency task force to deal with a plague of locusts that threatens to invade the north of Senegal. Officials said swarms of mature locusts had begun laying eggs in the northern province of Matam, prompting fears of large-scale crop destruction by their offspring in a few weeks' time.

South Africa: Chemical cleanup begins

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/23609

Earthlife Africa eThekwini has welcomed the announcement by the Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, that the Thor Chemicals cleanup is finally being launched. This follows years of action by Earthlife Africa to stop the company from importing toxic mercury waste for incineration which has had a detrimental effect on both the health of workers at Thor Chemicals and the surrounding environment.
Press Release: Thor Chemicals
Embargo: 10 am 3 August 2004

Durban: Earthlife Africa eThekwini welcomes the announcement by the Deputy
Minister of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Ms Rejoice Mabudafhasi, that
the Thor Chemicals cleanup is finally being launched. This follows years of
action by Earthlife Africa to stop the company from importing toxic mercury
waste for incineration which has had a detrimental effect on both the health
of workers at Thor Chemicals and the surrounding environment. Workers have
died as result of working in the mercury plant and incinerator at Inchanga
(Cato Ridge).

Earthlife Africa eThekwini has been concerned that Thor Chemicals would
refuse to pay for the clean up but thanks to the Deputy Minister Ms
Rejoice Mabudafhasi's intervention, the company is now paying R24 million
towards the cleanup. This amount however, will only be sufficient to cover
the first phase of the project which includes the EIA to determine the
cleanup requirements and also to determine the impact and methodology of the
proposed disposal of the toxic mercury waste. Earthlife Africa eThekwini
calls upon the government to hold the company responsible for the full cost
of the total clean up of the site.

"Earthlife Africa eThekwini's position has not changed in this process in
that we call for the toxic mercury waste to be sent back to its source in
the United States and Great Britain as part of the cleanup", said Bryan Ashe
spokesperson for Earthlife Africa eThekwini.

Earthlife Africa eThekwini will be monitoring the EIA and will document this
process and the worker's stories as part of our Ecological Debt Campaign
together with Jubilee South Africa ,who will be hosting an Ecological Debt
Tribunal in 2005.

/ends

For more information;
Contact Bryan Ashe -0826521533 or 031-201119
_____________________________________
Bryan Ashe
Earthlife Africa eThekwini (Durban) Branch
P.O. Box 18722
Dalbridge
4014
South Africa

Local:
Cell: 0826521533
Tel: 031-2011119
Fax: 088 031 2011119


International
Mobile: +27-826521533
Tel: +27-31-2011119
Fax: +27-088-031-201119

e-mail: bryan@earthlife.org.za

Website: www.earthlife-ct.org.za

Tanzania: Illegal fishing probed

2004-08-05

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3529058.stm

Tanzania is considering legal action after 22 European trawlers were spotted illegally fishing in its waters. The ships were spotted by European Union surveillance planes and the information was passed to the Tanzanian authorities, EU sources say. EU sources estimate that some 70 ships are operating illegally, targeting tuna, kingfish, lobsters and prawns.

Kenya: Pastoralists Risk Losing Entire Livestock Population

2004-08-05

http://www.eastandard.net/headlines/news04080407.htm

Following one of the largest migrations seen in the region in recent times, much of the livestock in northern Kenya is at risk from perishing following overcrowding and a shortage of water. The Isiolo District is hosting an additional 100,000 livestock, and 50,000 are reliant on a single water pan at Fororsa. Shared by both animals and humans, the water has become contaminated from overuse and poor maintenance. It is estimated that it will run out in a month's time

Namibia: Ulenga Comes Out Against State's Land Plan

2004-08-05

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1091197981162B255

The leader of Namibia's largest opposition party on Friday criticised the government's plan to expropriate white farmers, saying that it would destroy agriculture and harm black farm labourers. Speaking at the opening of a party conference, Ben Ulenga of the Congress of Democrats also called on former colonial ruler Germany to help with land reform through more financial aid.

South Africa: Farmers Criticise SA Black Agriculture Plan

2004-08-05

http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/land_affairs/0,2172,84617,00.html

South Africa's plan to boost the black majority's stake in agriculture is too ambitious and contains proposals not agreed by industry players, the country's largest farming union said this week. The plan says half the country's prime agricultural land should be in black hands within 10 years - 30% owned and another 20% leased out. Analysts say so far less than 4% of land has been transferred to blacks since the end of apartheid in 1994.

South Africa: Government Approves 485 Land Restitution Claims

2004-08-05

http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/land_affairs/0,2172,84799,00.html

The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights in Gauteng and North West has approved 485 land restitution claims in respect of 1 254 properties in the towns of Mafikeng, Vryburg, Ventersdorp, Lichtenburg, Schweizer-Reneke and Klerksdorp. More than 94% of the Gauteng restitution claims have been finalised, with over 13 000 people in the North West benefiting from the process.

Algeria: Crackdown on Journalists

2004-08-05

http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/1899.cfm

The Algerian government has jailed several journalists critical of its president and slapped a "temporary freeze" on the Arabic satellite channel al-Jazeera. It is the most severe attack on the freedom of the press since President M. Abdelaziz Bouteflika came to power in April 1999. The North African country has one of the freest print medias in the Arab world.

Ethiopia: Former editor released after serving two-year sentence

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/23592

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN says it has noted the release on 9 July 2004 of Tewodros Kassa. The former editor of the weekly newspaper "Ethop" had served his two-year sentence in full. Kassa was sentenced on 10 July 2002, on the grounds that he had "fabricated information that could incite people to political violence" and that he had defamed a "Mr. Duki" by "disseminating false information through the newspaper". The charges related to three "Ethop" articles published in 2001.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT UPDATE - ETHIOPIA

29 July 2004

Former editor released after serving two-year sentence

SOURCE: Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC), International PEN, London

**Updates IFEX alerts of 23 May and 7 March 2003 and 11 July 2002**

(WiPC/IFEX) - The WiPC of International PEN notes the release on 9 July 2004 of
Tewodros Kassa. The former editor of the weekly newspaper "Ethop" had served his
two-year sentence in full.

Kassa was sentenced on 10 July 2002, on the grounds that he had "fabricated
information that could incite people to political violence" and that he had
defamed a "Mr. Duki" by "disseminating false information through the newspaper".
The charges related to three "Ethop" articles published in 2001.

While passing no judgment on the contents of the articles published in "Ethop",
International PEN reiterates its opinion that custodial sentences are wholly
inappropriate when dealing with alleged offences of defamation and spreading
false information. PEN also raises its concerns over the current draft of the
ironically-named Proclamation to Provide for the Freedom of the Press in
Ethiopia, many of whose articles have the clear intention of restricting the
press rather than allowing it greater freedom in which to work (see IFEX alerts
of 28 and 21 July and 9 March 2004, 18 and 5 December, 14 and 10 February and 21
January 2003).

For further information, contact Dixe Wills at the WiPC, International PEN, 9/10
Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7AT, U.K., tel: +44 207 253
3226, fax: +44 207 253 5711, e-mail: dixe@wipcpen.org, intpen@gn.apc.org,
Internet: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk

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

Nigeria: Journalists Union expresses concern

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/23593

The Benue State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in north central Nigeria has expressed concern over the recent spate of threats against journalists in the state. The Council in a statement issued on July 28, 2004 and signed by Ben Bem Mnguityo, chairman and Owojecho Omoha, secretary, said it has "received complaints from some of its members that they are intimidated and harassed by some persons in the state to the point that journalists now fear their own shadows."
To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), alerts@mfwaonline.org

Nigeria Update: Journalists Union expresses concern

The Benue State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in north
central Nigeria has expressed concern over the recent spate of threats
against journalists in the state.

The Council in a statement issued on July 28, 2004 and signed by Ben Bem
Mnguityo, chairman and Owojecho Omoha, secretary, said it has "received
complaints from some of its members that they are intimidated and harassed
by some persons in the state to the point that journalists now fear their
own shadows."

The statement declared that "while the Union will not condone unethical
behavior by any of its members, it will go to any length to defend its
members performing their legitimate duties as watchdogs of the society."

The council also called on the Police Commissioner and the Director of the
State Security Service (SSS) to "safeguard the lives and property of
journalists." The statement came after the abduction and maltreatment of two
journalists; Johnson Babajide, a correspondent with the Nigerian Tribune and
Uja Emmanuel, a correspondent with The Sun newspapers on July 21, 2004 in
Makurdi, capital of Benue State.

Johnson was abducted from his home at about 6:30am GMT on July 21, 2004 by
armed men believed to be operatives of the government and taken to the State
Police Headquarters and later to Gboko, the hometown of Mr. George Akume,
Governor of Benue State, which is about an hour drive from Makurdi.

Johnson's ordeal came after a publication in the July 18, 2004 edition of
the paper that local militias were involved in a gun battle at the house of
Governor Akume in Gboko.

Emmanuel was also maltreated when he had gone, in the company of other
journalists, to the Police Headquarters to enquire about the abduction of
Johnson. He was ordered to be beaten by the Assistant Commissioner of
Police, H.C. Ugwu who seized and destroyed his camera and tape recorder.

Prof Kwame Karikari
Executive Director (MFWA)
Tel: 233-21-24 24 70
Fax: 233-21-22 10 84

**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole responsibility
of MFWA**

Senegal: Released editor hopes for changes to media law

2004-08-05

http://www.journalism.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1625

Newly-freed newspaper editor Madiambal Diagne has said he hopes his two-week spell in prison will bring about changes to media laws in Senegal, whose reputation as a haven of democracy in West Africa has been dented by the episode, according to a report by UN agency IRIN. Diagne, the editor of independent newspaper Le Quotidien, was jailed on 9 July after he published articles about alleged fraud in the customs service and alleged government interference in the judiciary.

Sierra Leone: Newspaper banned from covering parliamentary sessions

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/23591

On 27 July 2004, Justice Edmond Cowan, speaker of the Sierra Leonean Parliament, banned the privately-owned "Standard Times" newspaper from covering parliamentary sessions for one month. The speaker's action came after the publication in early July of an article in the newspaper, under the caption, "MP Thrown Out of Parliament", which the legislative body considered disparaging.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT - SIERRA LEONE

29 July 2004

Newspaper banned from covering parliamentary sessions for one month,
journalist detained for one hour

SOURCE: Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), Accra

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 27 July 2004, Justice Edmond Cowan, speaker of the Sierra
Leonean Parliament, banned the privately-owned "Standard Times" newspaper
from covering parliamentary sessions for one month.

The speaker's action came after the publication in early July of an article
in the newspaper, under the caption, "MP Thrown Out of Parliament", which
the legislative body considered disparaging.

According to MFWA sources in Sierra Leone, before the imposition of the ban,
editor Mike Beecher and reporter Abdul Kuyateh, the author of the story,
were summoned by the Parliament's plenary to clarify the information.

Kuyateh confessed to the speaker that he was not present at the
parliamentary session in which the event described in the article allegedly
occurred. He, however, refused to disclose his source when Cowan asked him
to do so.

Cowan then ordered the Parliament's sergeant-at-arms to detain Kuyateh for
one hour and instructed the newspaper to retract the story, giving it front
page coverage, and issue an apology.

Cowan also ordered Beecher to write a personal apology to the member of
parliament concerned. Failing to do so will be considered tantamount to
contempt of Parliament, which is punishable by law.

For further information, contact Jeannette Quarcoopome, Media Foundation for
West Africa, P.O. Box LG 730, Legon, Ghana, tel.: +233 21 24 24 70, fax:
+231 21 22 10 84, e-mail: events@mfwaonline.org, Internet:
http://www.mfwaonline.org

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

Zimbabwe: Waking up to state-owned newspapers

2004-08-05

http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/1881.cfm

The days of the private media in Zimbabwe are numbered. Soon, readers will wake up to see only state-owned newspapers decorating the newsstands. On June 10, the government controlled Media and Information Commission (MIC) closed The Tribune, leaving at least 60 full-time staff out of work. The Tribune is the third newspaper to shut down in less than a year. Last September armed police shut down The Daily News, a popular newspaper that was a harsh critic of President Robert Mugabe’s government. Its sister publication, The Daily News on Sunday was shut down as well.

Africa/Global: Child farm labour: The wealth paradox

2004-08-05

http://www.eldis.org/ds/docdisplay.cfm?doc=DOC13381&resource=f1children&n=1

This paper is motivated by the observation that children in land-rich households are often more likely to be in work than the children of land-poor households. The vast majority of working children in developing countries are in agricultural work, predominantly on farms operated by their families. These facts challenge the common presumption that child labour emerges from the poorest households. This article suggests that this seeming paradox can be explained by failures of the markets for labour and land.

Ethiopia: Potential Humanitarian Crisis in Somali Region

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42505

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has reported that a potential humanitarian crisis is looming in the Somali region of Ethiopia where the long rains have failed and up to 1.3 million people are likely to need emergency aid until the end of the year. Preliminary assessments suggest that crops have failed in 14 districts and the agency is calling for immediate delivery of water in some areas where shortages for both human and livestock consumption are reported to have already become critical.

Kenya: Focus on poverty, food insecurity in Coast Province

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42388

Poor, pregnant and malnourished. These are the three adjectives that best describe Kache Nyoka, a mother of five, who is caught up in the drought that has ravaged Kilifi District in Kenya's Coast Province. Sitting next to the ramshackle mud-and-thatch hut that she calls home, Kache is in deep thought, agonising over what to do about her seven-year old daughter who has been sent away from school because the family cannot afford the ten shillings (US $0.13) that every pupil must contribute to pay the cook hired by the school to prepare meals for the pupils.

Nigeria: UN hails Nigerian resumption of polio vaccination

2004-08-05

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11528&Cr=polio&Cr1=

With sub-Saharan Africa on the verge of the largest polio epidemic in recent history, a United Nations-backed campaign to eradicate the virus has hailed resumption of immunization in the Nigerian State of Kano, seen as vital for eliminating the disease that once paralyzed hundreds of thousands of children worldwide each year. Immunization campaigns were suspended in various northern states of Nigeria in August 2003 following concerns by public figures regarding the safety of oral polio vaccine (OPV), including rumours that it was contaminated by the HIV virus or that it could sterilize young girls.

South Africa: Launch of Research Report on Prepaid Water Meters in Soweto

2004-08-05

http://southafrica.indymedia.org/news/2004/07/6395.php

More than five hundred Phiri residents were joined in the Phiri Hall in Soweto to support the launch of a research report - The Struggle Against Silent Disconnections - produced by the Coalition Against Water Privatisation. Police kept their weary eye on the convergence of residents who were outraged by how their 'free' monthly supply of 6kl of water runs out after 11 days.

Zambia: Despite Surplus, Pockets of Food Insecurity Remain

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42516

The World Food Programme has announced that it fed almost 830,000 Zambians last month. This comes despite the fact that Zambia had a successful harvest and is expected to export an estimated 120,000mt of maize. The western region of the country is at particular risk as a result of the crops lost by farmers when the Zambezi River flooded at the beginning of the year

Zimbabwe: Increase in street children as economy worsens

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42463

Zimbabwe's worsening economic conditions were one of the key reasons for the growing number of children on the streets, according to a recent survey. Results from an assessment of children living and working on the streets in urban areas around the capital, Harare, showed that the majority ended up here as a result of poverty, sexual or physical abuse and family breakdown. Of the 450 children interviewed by Zimbabwe's National Council for the Welfare of Children, with support from UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), 58 percent had become homeless during the last year.

UK: Report on Somali Community Welcomed

2004-08-05

http://www.irr.org.uk/2004/july/ak000018.html

A recent report published by the Information Centre about Asylum and Refugees and entitled, 'The Somali community in the UK: what we know and how we know it' has been widely welcomed by the representatives from a number of Somali associations. 'In addition to mapping exactly what has already been written on the Somali community, the report addresses what needs to be done to begin to undermine the seemingly perennial disadvantage Somalis face in the UK', the Independent Race and Refugee News Network reported.

UK: Visa Headache For Festival Organisers

2004-08-05

http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/thejournal/tm_objectid=14465155%26method=full%26siteid=50081%26headline=visa%2dheadache%2dfor%2dfestival%2dorganisers-name_page.html

A clampdown on illegal immigration to the UK is causing serious problems for a popular North-East cultural festival. Organisers of the 28th Alnwick International Music Festival fear they could be left with a big hole in the year's programme if difficulties in obtaining visas force overseas groups to pull out. Amongst the groups due to perform but still without a visa are Sogo from Ghana. The festival is planned for 7th to 14th August.

US: African Film Festival

2004-08-05

http://www.africanfilmny.org/aff_fest.html

The African Film Festival in New York City has oppened. Held in partnership with the Ft. Greene Parks Conservancy, home of a thriving African diaspora art scene, the films are today and next Thursday, 12th August. Three films are being shown, each preceded by live African music. All events take place at the Fort Green Park.

US: Festival Eritrea 2004

2004-08-05

http://www.eritreanevents.org/

Friday 13th August sees the opening of the official Festival Eritrea in Washington DC at the Renaissance Hotel. The event takes place over three days and for the first time the celebration will be held in three separate venues to encompass the three neighbourly Eritrean communities of Virginia, Maryland and Washington.

US: TransAfrica Forum Presents 'A Continent for the Taking: The Tragedy and Hope of Africa'

2004-08-05

http://www.transafricaforum.org/calendarmain.html

Karibu Books and TransAfrica Forum's Writers' Corner are presenting Arthur R Ashe's book, 'A Continent for the Taking', on Friday 6th August at 1426 21st Street, Washington. The book explores the legacy of colonization on contemporary African countries such as the DRC, Liberia, Mali and Nigeria. The event will start from 6.30 and more information is available on the website and by e-mail:

Burundi/DRC: Army repels Interahamwe militiamen

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42515

Burundian government troops have succeeded in repelling an unknown number of Rwandan militiamen who crossed into Burundi from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, army spokesman Maj Adolphe Manirakiza said on Tuesday. Thousands of Interahamwe militiamen, and Rwandan government soldiers now known as the ex-FAR, fled their country in 1994 fearing prosecution for their involvement in the genocide in which, according to the most recent government statistics, 937,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus were killed.

Burundi: Political, militia leaders to finalise power sharing deal

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42490

Twenty-eight Burundian political and ex-militia leaders are due to resume meetings again on Wednesday in a bid to finalise the country's post-transitional power-sharing agreement. The two-day meeting will be held in Pretoria, South Africa, at the invitation of the facilitator of the Burundi peace process, South African Deputy-President Jacob Zuma. He has invited all 17 political parties that signed the Arusha Agreement, three former rebel movements that signed the ceasefire accords, and eight newly approved political parties in an effort to resolve the power-sharing issue that has blocked the development of a post-transitional constitution.

Liberia: Leadership battle in LURD leads to fighting on streets of Monrovia

2004-08-05

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42523

A long-running power struggle for the leadership of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement has spilled over into violence on the streets of the capital Monrovia, forcing UN peacekeeping forces to send in tanks and step up street patrols. Jacques Klein, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Liberia, warned both sides on Wednesday that the UN peacekeeping force would not allow them to undermine the country's peace process.

Sudan: AU peacekeeping force for Darfur

2004-08-05

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/91058/1/

The African Union (AU) announced plans to transform its monitoring mission in Darfur to a fully-fledged peacekeeping mission to tackle the on-going atrocities in western Sudan, where up to 1 million people have been displaced and about 50,000 killed. AU armed forces, however, need transport and logistical support to ensure quick, effective deployment of the monitoring mission which is still not up to full capacity.

Sudan: Fleeing Sudan

2004-08-05

http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/3070

Two weeks ago, in the early morning hours of July 12, hell descended upon the village of Donki Dereisa in South Darfur. Shortly before sunrise, Fatima Ibrahim, a 28-year old woman of noble features and simple ways, awoke from her sleep to the deafening sound of exploding ordnance falling from the sky and the rattle of automatic weapons fire. As she emerged from her mud hut with her ten year old daughter, she saw fires blazing all around and scores of heavily armed men on horseback attacking the village from every direction.

Sudan: Why the Darfur Tragedy Will Likely Occur Again

2004-08-05

http://www.worldpress.org/Africa/1905.cfm

"Darfur is likely to occur again because of the inability of African leaders and Western governments to develop and implement specific safeguards against ethnic cleansing and genocide. Ten years after the Rwanda genocide, the inability of African and Western leaders to develop and enforce safeguards against future ethnic cleansing and genocide have come full circle." This is according to an editorial by Chinua Akukwe, Worldpress.org contributing editor.

Uganda: Violence, reconciliation and identity - child abductees in Northern Uganda

2004-08-05

http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/Monographs/No92/Contents.html

Psychosocial rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for youth who have escaped or were released from the Lord's Resistance Army have been established since 1994 and are reasonably well integrated locally, both with communities and as part of the Government’s overall demobilisation and amnesty programme. In spite of the culture of peace and discourses of forgiveness and reconciliation within recipient communities, there are real tensions around reintegration and reconciliation surrounding the return of ex-abductees.

Africa: African Citizens in the Information Society

2004-08-05

http://www.famafrique.org/regentic/e-citoyennes.pdf

An organisation in Senegal, ENDA, has published an advocacy document presenting the major issues faced by African countries and their inclusion in the information society, as perceived by women. With a forward by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), the document is described as a 'tool for public, private and civil society stakeholders and decision-makers for integrating gender into ICT policies to contribute to a fair, plural and inclusive African information society.'

Kenya: Sole Internet Backbone Provider Raises Tariffs

2004-08-05

http://www.eastandard.net/financialstandard/news/news03080403.htm

Kenyan’s are about to start paying more for electronic mail access following a decision by JamboNet, the sole Internet backbone provider, to raise its tariffs by up to 40 per cent. The new structure takes effect on September 1, 2004, and dictates that ISPs pay JamboNet more for speeds above 512 kilobytes (Kbps).

Mali: Hospital at Dimmbal Uses Satellite Internet for Telemedicine

2004-08-05

http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/back/balancing-act_217.html

Situated some 750 km from Mali's capital Bamako, patients at Dimbal hospital are now benefiting from the medical opinion of experts in Geneva. This is made possible by the Geolink Access satellite which allows doctors in the hospital to ask questions of experts 6,000kms away in case of difficulties. The network is an initiative for 'la mission archéologique et ethnoarchéologique suisse en Afrique occidentale (Maesao)' and Dimbal is a pilot project.

Nigeria: $200m for Rural Telephony

2004-08-05

http://www.thisdayonline.com/news/20040803news04.html

In a bid to provide cheap telephone services to rural communities, Nigeria's federal government has launched a $200m rural telephony programme for the country. The programme will be delivered in three projects spread across 343 local government areas.

SA: SANGONeT ICT Discussion Forum, 16th August

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/23571

Following the success of SANGONeT's Thetha initiative, the network is planning its sixth provincial forum on the ICT challenges facing the CSO sector. It will be held on Monday 16th August in the KwaZulu-Natal province. Participants will be introduced to various inputs from government, business and CSOs, highlighting various ICT policy and development issues. For more information please contact Refilwe Rakhibane at SANGONeT by e-mail:

South Africa: Software Freedom Day, 28th August 2004

2004-08-05

http://www.softwarefreedomday.org.za/

The first Software Freedom Day will be held in South Africa on August 28th. Linux user groups, companies, organisations and individuals from around South Africa will get together to celebrate free and open source software in numerous events to be held throughout the country. The day aims to increase awareness about free software and it is hoped it will become an annual event.

VoIP telephony will be legalised first in West Africa, says new report

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/23674

VoIP telephony has been largely illegal in Africa but a new breed of telecoms regulators will open up its use and this is most likely to happen in West Africa, according to the authors of a new report published by Balancing Act this month (http://www.balancingact-africa.com) For the first time ever, this report looks in detail at the state of the Internet in 22 West African countries.








4th August 2004

VoIP telephony will be legalised first in West Africa, says new report

VoIP* telephony has been largely illegal in Africa but a new breed of telecoms regulators will open up its use and this is most likely to happen in West Africa, according to the authors of a new report published by Balancing Act this month (http://www.balancingact-africa.com) For the first time ever, this report looks in detail at the state of the Internet in 22 West African countries.

When Mauritius launched a number of legal, international VoIP calling services at the beginning of 2004 it became the first African country to take this major step. Although Mauritius is very different from every other African country, its first move into VoIP is the opening round in the steady legalisation of VoIP services throughout the continent. The question is no longer if it will happen but when will it happen?

West Africa has particularly large VoIP grey markets and the incumbent telephone companies in two of the larger markets have put numbers on its size. Rein Zwolsman, CEO of Nigeria’s Nitel estimated that before he put in place cuts in international calling rates, that a staggering 90 per cent of international calls were in the grey market. Oystein Bjorge, CEO of Ghana Telecom put the value of the grey market in Ghana at somewhere between US$15-25 million a year in 2003:”(These are) ball park figures. It depends on the rates you apply and the volumes”. In other countries, the grey market is estimated at somewhere between 10-20% of the overall market.

According to one of the report’s author’s Russell Southwood:”Grey markets in international VoIP calling have grown up almost everywhere in Africa because of the large difference between the price charged to the African customer by monopoly incumbent telephone companies and the much cheaper cost at which they buy that call on the international market. Grey market operators like ISPs and cyber-cafes can offer the calls more cheaply and still make a profit.”

The legalisation of VoIP will change the structure of both the internet and telecoms industries and the report looks at how this might occur and the type of new operators that will emerge, offering VoIP calling both domestically and internationally.

Liberalisation has already come to seven out of the 22 countries in West Africa covered in the report and the majority will follow in the next three years. Without the need to protect the incumbent telephone company, VoIP can be seen as a technology for gaining competitive advantage in liberalised national and international markets.

The authors of the report conclude that it is more likely to be legalised quickly in West Africa for a number of reasons. Several of the incumbent telcos have already made “under-the-counter” deals to allow companies to operate. For example, Mali’s Sotelma has made VoIP agreements with four local companies. The agreements make the four companies in effect retail VOIP sellers, using Sotelma for their bandwidth at an agreed rate.

The CEO of the leading regulator in the region – the Nigerian Communications Commission’s Ernest Ndukwe – has already adopted a progressive stance on the issue. He has said clearly that it is not about trying to make a technology illegal as regulation should be “technology-neutral”. If people want to offer services (VoIP or otherwise) then they must obtain a licence. And if you want to offer international VoIP calling then you have to connect to the backbone of Nitel or the SNO, Globacom.

For these reasons, it seems that VoIP will be legalised first on the mainland of the African continent in West Africa and when it is, both the internet and telecom industries will change considerably in the wake of it happening.

ENDS

Note to the Editor

*Shorthand definition of VoIP

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a generic term which refers to a technical standard that enables the transmission of voice traffic in whole or in part, over one or more network, which uses the Internet Protocol. VoIP traffic can be carried on a privately managed or the public Internet or a combination of both. VoIP technology supports a wide range of applications from traditional telephone services to interactive games. (Source: OFCOM)

The Report

Balancing Act’s African Internet Country Market Profiles is published in four parts. Part 1: West Africa has just been published and covers 22 countries. Part 2: East Africa will be published in early 2005. Part 3: Southern and Central Africa will be published in mid-2005. Part 4: North Africa will be published at the end of 2005. For further details: http://www.balancingact-africa.com

Each report covers the following: Overview of internet in West Africa, Impact of VoIP legalisation, key statistics, country background data, number of ISPs, dial-up-subs, bandwidth and backbone, geographic coverage, cyber-cafes, local web content, current status of regulation, digital divide initiatives and landline and mobile data.

Balancing Act is an online publishing and consultancy business covering telecoms, internet and computing in Africa. It is one of the primary sources of information and expertise in this area. It publishes Balancing Act’s News Update, a weekly e-letter which goes out to 7,200 subscribers across the continent and a monthly French-language edition.

The authors

Paul Hamilton, an independent consultant specialising in African telecommunication markets, is an associate of Balancing Act. Formerly the Telecoms Research Manager at World Markets Research Centre (WMRC), he has undertaken a range of research, analysis and consulting assignments for operators, vendors, NGOs and regulators.

Mike Jensen is a South African independent consultant with experience in over 35 countries in Africa assisting in the establishment of information and communications systems over the last 15 years. He provides advice to international development agencies, the private sector, NGOs and governments in the formulation, management and evaluation of their Internet projects.

Russell Southwood is the Chief Executive of Balancing Act and the Editor of its weekly e-letter on telecoms, internet and computing News Update. As a consultant, he has worked for a variety of clients looking at: the demand for fibre infrastructure in Africa over the next five years; the creation of a regional internet exchange point; the future for VoIP services in Africa ; the development of local internet content and services; and policy development.



Balancing Act

+ 44 (207) 720 3134

editorial@balancingact-africa.com

Zimbabwe: Government Prepares to Bug Internet

2004-08-05

http://www.zimonline.co.za/headdetail.asp?ID=112

The website, Zim Online, this week reported that the Zimbabwe government is planning to acquire high-tech equipment from China for the purpose of bugging the internet. According to the site, 'authoritative sources within Posts and Telecommunications (PTC) and government circles have revealed that the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) is already looking into ways of controlling internet communication as soon as the equipment arrives.'

Civil Society Observer

2004-08-05

http://www.un-ngls.org/form-more-details.htm

Civil Society Observer is a bi-monthly package of documentation of various kinds from all political persuasions to keep you informed of developments related to NGOs and civil society.

Lwati - SANGONeT's monthly e-newsletter

2004-08-05

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=2171

Lwati is the monthly e-newsletter of the Southern African Non-Governmental Organisation Network (SANGONeT).

"How-to" online volunteerism resource available

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/23590

Canadian-based charity Macdonald Youth Services (MYS) will publish and distribute to non-profits organizations worldwide, a free and unique, multi-media "how-to" resource about online volunteerism. Worldwide online users are projected to top one billion by the end of 2005. But globally, there are very few resources available now to explain how to tap into this huge, mostly untapped pool of potential online volunteers.
NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

UNIQUE MULTIMEDIA RESOURCE ABOUT ONLINE VOLUNTEERISM WILL BE
PUBLISHED AND DISTRIBUTED FREE, WORLDWIDE, BY CANADIAN CHARITY

Winnipeg, CANADA, July 28, 2004 -- Lead by Randy Tyler's six years of pioneering work with far-flung online volunteers, Canadian-based charity Macdonald Youth Services (MYS) will publish and distribute to non-profits organizations worldwide, a free and unique, multi-media "how-to" resource about online volunteerism. Worldwide online users are projected to top one billion by the end of 2005 (eT Forecasts). But globally, there are very few resources available now to explain how to tap into this huge, mostly untapped pool of potential online volunteers.

MYS's publication will share their innovative best practices, discerned over the last six years, with other non-profit organizations around the world to help them reap the benefits of online volunteerism by reaching into this cyber-based volunteer pool. Their resource (to be released 2nd quarter, 2005) will also serve to inform and educate the wired global public about Online (Virtual) Volunteerism -- a new and convenient way for a computer user to help a non-profit organization around the corner, or around the world, from the comfort of their home or work setting.

Thanks to the financial support, vision and commitment to volunteerism of the Winnipeg Foundation, along with the help of world leader InstallShield Software Corporation and talented online volunteers, such as Russ McLamb, MYS will share their best practices publication free, not only locally, but with non-profit organizations around the globe via a user-friendly, bandwidth option web download.

"It's exciting to anticipate a new resource sharing field-tested best practices for successful virtual [online] volunteering projects, based on the pioneering work of Macdonald Youth Services. The promised 'multi-media' format sounds especially intriguing, and how wonderful that this publication will be freely accessible to the entire volunteer community around the world. Bravo, Randy!"

Susan J. Ellis, President, Energize, Inc.
Philadelphia, U.S.
www.energizeinc.com

"After six years of pioneering efforts, Macdonald Youth Services has shown that the Internet is a proven medium to recruit volunteers from around the globe to help their children's charity. Thus, we at Chris-Mar Studios are proud to volunteer our time and talent to help them share their online volunteer program successes with other not-for-profit organizations around the world."

Russ McLamb, Owner/Voice Talent/Producer
Chris-Mar Studios
North Carolina, U.S.
www.chrismarstudios.com

Ellis, co-author of the Virtual Volunteering Guidebook, said: "We welcome this extension of the material we published back in 2000; in fact, it's about time someone with real-world experience in online service brought the information up-to-date!"

"Non-profits take note! Online volunteerism has the potential to revolutionize the way that organizations enlist and use volunteers. Macdonald Youth Services has been at the forefront of this emerging field and their new toolkit promises to be a terrific resource for organizations of any size."

Maggie Leithead, President/COO
Canada's Supersite for the Non-Profit Sector
Vancouver, Canada
CharityVillage.com

"I look forward to sharing our online volunteerism accomplishments to help the global non-profit community," said MYS's Randy Tyler. "I hope that our multi-media resource also assists the general public learn that online volunteerism is a new and flexible way, where one can now make a real difference to a charity or non-profit organization, a block or continent away, all from the convenience of one's home or office-based Internet connected computer."

Macdonald Youth Services is a 75 year-old trusted and respected registered charitable treatment and support agency based in Winnipeg, Canada, that provides a variety of innovative and leading programming for thousands of Manitoba's young people on a yearly basis within the following conceptual areas: residential treatment, treatment foster care, mobile crisis and brief treatment teams, specialized individual placements, pre-employment/life-skills training and youth shelter.

For Further Information:

Randy Tyler
Macdonald Youth Services
175 Mayfair Avenue (Head Office)
Winnipeg, MB Canada
W: www.mys.ca
T: 1-204-949-4292
E: RandyTyler@mys.ca
Online Media Centre:
www.mys.ca/media

Applications invited for National Humanities Center Fellowships

2004-08-05

http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/fellowships/appltoc.htm

Located in the Research Triangle Park of North Carolina, the National Humanities Center is a private nonprofit institution that provides an environment for individual research and the exchange of ideas among scholars. During the 2005-06 academic year, the center will offer forty residential fellowships for advanced study in the humanities.

Call for proposals: Music educational projects

2004-08-05

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=605

Mmino, a South African-Norwegian Education and Music Programme, invites proposals for music and music education projects in South Africa. Mmino provides funding to support the development of music in South Africa.
For more details contact Anriette Chorn at tel 011 838-1383 or email: mmino@nac.org.za

Fundraising Workshops

"Professional Resource Mobilisation and Practical Proposal-writing" Workshops

2004-08-05

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=609

The Performing Arts Network of South Africa (PANSA) is holding three fundraising workshops in September. Click on the URL for more details.

19th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Academy of Education

22nd - 26th November, 2004, Lagos, Nigeria

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/23673

All interested persons are invited to present papers on any of the sub-themes of the Congress. Papers to be presented should not be more than 15 pages, double spaced typing (point 12) on A4 size paper, computer processed and presenters should come with at least 25 copies of their papers.
19TH ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE NIGERIAN ACADEMY OF EDUCATION

Theme:
VALUES EDUCATION


Venue: Three-In -One Complex
Faculty of Education
Lagos State University
Badagry Expressway
Ojo, Lagos.


Date: 22nd - 26th November, 2004
Arrival - Mon 22ns November
Opening - Tue 23rd November
Departure - Fri 26th November

KEYNOTE SPEAKER
- PROF. OTONTI NDUKA, FNAE
University of Port Harcourt

Sub-Themes:

1. Concept of Value System and Structure
- PROF. (REV). F. C. OKAFOR
University of Nsukka.

2. Changing Values in Nigerian Society
- PROF. SOPHIA OLUWOLE
University of Lagos.

3. Values Education, Choices and Counter
- PROF. J. N. OMATSEYE
University of Benin

4. Education as Agent of Values Clarification and Orientation
- PROF. (MRS.) T. A. BOLARIN
Lagos State University.

5. Values Within the Context of Social,
Cultural, Economic and Religious Background
- DR. BELLO HASSAN


CALL FOR PAPERS
All interested persons are invited to present papers on any
of the sub-themes of the Congress. Papers to be presented
should not be more than 15 pages, double spaced typing (point
12) on A4 size paper, computer processed and presenters
should come with at least 25 copies of their papers.

ABSTRACT
Abstracts of not more than 250 words should reach the
Chairman LOC (through surface or electronic mail) not later
than October 14, 2004.
Abstract should carry the titles of papers, names and
addresses of author(s).
Abstract and other information should be sent to:

Prof. B. B. ODERINDE (M.N.A.E)
Chairman, L.O.C.
Lagos State University, Ojo., P.M.B. 1087
E-mail - oderindetunde@yahoo.co.uk
Phone:01-712070, mobile, 0802 305 1808
Or
Tola Olujuwon,
Eexecutive Director,
Central Educational Service,
374,Bornu Way,Alagomeji, Sabo,Yaba,Lagos.Nigeria
Email: cenduserve@yahoo.com
Phone: 234-803 334 9285

PUBLICATION
Papers adjudged to be of high literary and technical quality
are annually published in Congress proceedings entitled
Academy, Congress Publication.
The Nigerian Academy of Education has the following
publications among others:

(a) Journal of Academy of Education - This is published twice
a year - Jan/JULY.
(b) Congress Proceedings
(c) Newsletter - published twice a year, May/Nov.

CONFRENCE CHARGES AND DUES:
Registration fee: Individual N2,000.00
Institution N5,000.00
Annual due: Fellow N2,500.00
Member N2,000.00
Institution N10,000.00


Other fees/ Academy gown
- Member N7,000.00
- Fellow N8,000.00
- Dinner N 500.00


HOTEL ACCOMMODATION AROUND LASU
1. Wilophyl Hotel (Niser Bus/Stop)
Executive suite N5,000.00
V.I.P N4,000.00
Double Room N3,000.00
Single Room N2,000.00

2. Beno Hotel (Church Bus/Stop)
Executive suite N4,500.00
V.I.P N3,500.00
Double Room N2,800.00
Single Room N2,500.00

3. Jolag Hotel (Okoko U Turn)
Executive suite N2,000.00
Double Room N1,500.00

4. Stargen Hotel (Okoko U Turn)
Executive suite N3,800.00
Double Room N3,200.00
Single Room N2,800.00

5. Alfoscar Int'l Hotel (Alfoscar Bus/Stop) Igando
Standard Room N4,000.00
Alfoscar Standard Rm. N5,000.00
Alfoscar Suite N6,000.00
Honourable Suite N10,000.00
Royal Suite N10,000.00

6. Elmina Castle Resort, (Oppt. Alfoscar Int'l Hotel) Igando
Super deluxe Room N2,000.00
Deluxe Room N1,500.00
Double Room N1,200.00

HOW TO GET TO LASU
The Lagos State University is situated at Ojo on the Lagos -
Badagry Express Road.
It can be approached through the following routes.
(a)International/Local Airport to Oshodi to Mile 2 to Ojo
Or
Local Airport to Dopemu to LASU.
(b) Lagos - Ibadan Road to Ojota to
Anthony to Oshodi to Mile 2 to Ojo to LASU
Or
Lagos - Ibadan, stop at Berger. From Berger to Pen cinema to
Iyana Ipaja to LASU.

For further directives call 0802 305 1808
Or 0802 302 4201
0r 234-803 334 9285

COOPERATING INSTITUTIONS
1. Lagos State University, Ojo.
2. Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye.
3. University of Lagos, Akoka
4. Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, Ijanikin
5. Lagos State College of Education, Alausa
6. Ogun State Ministry of Education, Abeokuta
7. Federal College of Education, (Tech), Akoka
8. Federal College of Education, Abeokuta
9. Tai Solarin College of Education, Ijebu -Ode

THE NIGERIAN ACADEMY OF EDUCATION
(NAE)
The Nigerian Academy of Education, NAE, is the highest organ
for seasoned educationists with profound contributions to the
education industry in Nigeria. It draws its membership from
Professors of Education, Provosts of College of Education,
and Directors of Education in the Federal Ministry of
Education. It was founded in Lagos in 1984. It has been
waxing stronger since then. It holds two main events in a
year: the May Seminar (usually in Lagos) and the November the
hosting right)

It awards Fellowship to any of its members that distinguished
himself/herself in the service to the Academy and Honourary
fellowship to citizens in all walks of life who are adjudged
to have made outstanding contributions to the development of
the country and especially the discipline of Education.

It collaborates with other existing Academies in other fields
(e.g Academy of Science) to offer service to the nation in
area of giving professional advice and ideas deemed necessary
to move the country forward.
Its controlling organs include the General Assembly, the
Board of Trustee and the Executive Committee. It maintains a
permanent secretariat located at the NERDC Office, 3, Jibowu
Street, Lagos headed by Administrative secretary to whom all
enquiries are directed.

Peace Journalism distance learning course

Sep 27 - Dec 17 2004

2004-08-05

http://www.comminit.com/events_cal/2004/2910-event.html

Coordinated by the Transcend Peace University, this training course will aim to introduce students to peace journalism and how it differs from war journalism.

Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Congo-DRC: The role of the Diaspora

September 3, London, United Kingdom

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/23586

The main objective of the workshop is to analyse the role that the diaspora plays in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction in Congo-DRC. The workshop invites papers in English and French that combine empirical and theoretical perspectives on these topics from Economics, Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, Migration Studies and related areas.
Foundation for Education, Research and Development

CALL FOR PAPERS

‘Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Congo-DRC: The role of the Diaspora’
Friday, September 3rd 2004

The main objective of the workshop is to analyse the role that the diaspora plays in peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction in Congo-DRC. The workshop’s overall objectives are twofold:

· To promote public awareness of the role, status and economic contribution of Congolese immigrants to the development in post-war situation; and
· to enable people to make informed choices by understanding the major challenges of the immigration process and the prospects for development, in particular the poverty alleviation strategy through remittances.
·
Contributions might therefore discuss:
· Remittances and development
· Globalisation and immigration
· Parallel markets in war and post-conflicts situations
· Mineral wealth conflicts
· Entrepreneurship & financing of Ethnic Minority businesses
· Conflicts in the Great-Lakes Region
· Diaspora and peace-building
·
The workshop invites papers in English and French that combine empirical and theoretical perspectives on these topics from Economics, Anthropology, Sociology, Geography, Migration Studies and related areas. The workshop will be organised by FERD in association with the Centre of African Studies (University of London). It will take place at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Russell Square, London, on 3rd September 2004. To register for this free event, please email your name, title, organisation and contact number to claude.sum@ferd.org.uk .To present a paper, please submit an abstract (maximum 300 words) by 15th August to:

Dr Claude Sumata, FERD. Zenith House, Room 18, 210 Church Road, London E10 7JQ
e-mail: claude.sum@ferd.org.uk

DRC: Humanitarian Programme Coordinator

Oxfam UK

2004-08-05

http://www.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_oxfam.asp?s=bwfHeKPmZxOAfCcOxu&jobid=16421,8848652541&key=2027142&c=121465215857&pagestamp=sebuwgycfbnxlbncof

Applicants are sought to manage Oxfam's strategic planning for, and immediate response to, humanitarian emergencies in eastern DRC and to manage emergency response staff in the field. The successful candidate must have at least three years of field experience of humanitarian work, some of it in a management position, as well as knowledge of issues relating to emergency programming, humanitarian law, community involvement and empowerment.

Ivory Coast: Operations Manager

Save the Children, UK

2004-08-05

http://jobsearch.savethechildren.org.uk/viewvacancies.cfm?ID=75898

Save the Children UK is looking for an experienced Operations Manager to introduce sustainable and efficient management systems for logistics, security, HR, HRD and administration within its Ivory Coast Programme. Successful applicants will have a proven ability to lead and coach a team and possess analytical and problem solving skills. They should also have a good command of the French language.

South Africa: Research Assistant

Italian Consulate, Durban

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/23628

Applications are sought for an epidemiological research assistant. Working under the supervision of the Epidemiologist of the Italian Cooperation, the position holder will be responsible for coordinating surveys to evaluate the activities of the health services in KwaZulu Natal. The successful candidate will hold a first degree in a science discipline, have a valid driver's license and preferably have postgraduate training or working experience in Public Health or a related area.
Vacancy for a Research Assistance Employer: Italian Consulate, Durban.
Location: Italian Cooperation, Department of Health, Pietermaritzburg.
Duration: According to Italian Cooperation procedures.
Objective: To improve epidemiological information on KwaZulu-Natal.
Essential: First degree in any scientific area, valid drivers license, willingness to drive extensively in the province. Preferential: Postgraduate training or working experience in Public Health and related areas.
Tasks: Under the supervision of the Epidemiologist of the Italian Cooperation, the Research Assistant will be responsible for the followings:
(a) coordinate surveys to evaluate the activities of the health services, (b) identify epidemiological data sources through the internet, (c) identify and retrieve scientific articles, (d) produce an inventory of the institutions which may have epidemiological information and contact them to get copies of published and unpublished reports, and (e) review the epidemiological information and archive it.
Skills: Organizational and interpersonal skills, initiative and independence in carrying out the tasks, computer literacy, familiarity in tracing health information through the internet, ability to initiate and follow up contacts with researchers and institutions.
Salary: Between 10,000 and 14,000 rands per month according to qualifications and experience, all travel expenses paid.
Advantages: The Research Assistant will be able to expand his/her skills in epidemiology, public health and other relevant areas with attractive career prospects.
Closing Date: Curriculum Vitae and references should be faxed by 15 August 2004 to: Italian Cooperation 033-3952211.
Enquiries: The detailed description of the vacancy can be requested to Rogany Imam or Reshma Bisnath at 033-3952843 or 033-3952211

Uganda: Child Protection Advisor

Save the Children, Norway

2004-08-05

http://www.oneworld.net/job/view/9991

Save the Children, Norway, is seeking applicants for the post of Child Protection Adviser. You will be responsible for identifying and monitoring child protection issues in Northern Uganda as well as designing and advising on the implementation of child protection programmes in the region. The successful candidate will have experience of social welfare and of designing rehabilitation programmes for children associated with armed forces in developing countries.

UK: Africa Editor

Oxford Analytica

2004-08-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/23627

Applicants are sought for the position of Africa editor / analyst for the Oxford Analytica Daily Brief. The successful candidate should have a firm grounding in the region, probably developed through a postgraduate degree and/or relevant experience. Analytical skills and the ability to write/edit with speed and accuracy are essential. The closing date is 13th August. To apply, send a CV and details of current salary to:

Fahamu