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Selected headlines from Pambazuka News 172

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/24373

SMS FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS

* CAMPAIGN UPDATE: Namibia has become the fourth country to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, joining the Comoros, Libya and Rwanda. Watch out for more details on Namibia’s ratification in next week’s Pambazuka News. Fifteen ratifications are needed before the protocol enters into force. You can help speed up the ratification process by signing a petition.

* 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 or sign online at http://www.pambazuka.org/petition/

* Sign up for FREE SMS ALERTS about the campaign for the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Visit http://www.pambazuka.org/petition/alerts.php

HOW TO SUPPORT THE SMS PETITION

* Send text messages to your colleagues and friends alerting them to the petition and informing them how to sign by SMS. You can also use email and word of mouth to help spread the word.

* Distribute leaflets about this initiative. If you work in a human rights or social justice organisation in Africa, volunteer to distribute leaflets for us about the petition to your networks and contacts. Send your details to sms-support@pambazuka.org and we will post you pamphlets to distribute.

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS ISSUE

* Conflicts and Emergencies: Sudan – Call for multinational response
* Human Rights: Accountability and human rights NGO’s; An Analysis of the Zimbabwean non-governmental organisations bill
* Refugees and Forced Migration: Darfur’s displaced remain traumatised
* Women and Gender: DRC: The ICC – An opportunity for women
* Elections and Governance: Nigeria: International pressure mounts on federal government
* Development: A profile of Southern Africa
* Corruption: Equatorial Guinea: Corruption means the poor stay poor
* Health: Chasing the MDG’s
* Books and Arts: It is no more a cry: Namibian poetry in exile

>>>>> Africa, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Bribery on a massive scale

This year marks what many activists have dubbed the unhappy birthday of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. It is 60 years since the creation of these institutions in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, and in that time period both have come to have a profound and controversial influence on the world.

Pambazuka News is profiling a series of articles that aim to examine the role of these institutions in the context of Africa. This week we carry the third article in this series which looks at the involvement of multinational corporations in corruption during the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.

This article charts the dogged battle the tiny mountain kingdom of Lesotho has fought against multinational corporations in the World Bank-funded project. The trials have set a precedent when it comes to corruption in mega development projects and focused attention on how the World Bank deals with corruption in the projects it funds.

Pambazuka News encourages activists, academics or anyone interested in the role of these institutions in Africa to respond to the articles or to submit articles for inclusion in the newsletter. Contributions can be sent to editor@pambazuka.org

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Bribery on a massive scale

Fiona Darroch

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/24372

In 1986, The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) was set up between the governments of Lesotho and South Africa as a multi-billion rand infrastructure project designed to control the flow of the Senqu/Orange river and in doing so provide water for the people of Gauteng province, and electricity and money for the people of Lesotho.

Corruption concerns first surfaced in 1993 when a civil government was elected in Lesotho. The government commissioned an audit of both of the parastatal bodies which shared responsibility for the project. The audit revealed obvious and substantial administrative irregularities within the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA). After an audit of its chief executive officer, Masupha Ephraim Sole, Sole was then subjected to a disciplinary enquiry, and subsequently he was dismissed.

The investigations had revealed that Sole was clearly living far beyond his means: his housing, cars, holiday arrangements, and instances of nepotism were the obvious indicators. Civil proceedings were instituted to recoup the funds which had been misappropriated by Sole. Civil proceedings began in 1996 and produced evidence of bank accounts that included accounts with the Union Bank of Switzerland.

In August 1997, the Lesotho government applied to the Swiss court for disclosure of a number of Swiss bank accounts, including those belonging to Sole. The application was resisted by a number of the contractors/consultants working on the LHWP, but in early 1999, bank records were handed over. Those which belonged to Sole indicated that he had received millions of maloti for which he offered no explanation. Civil proceedings concluded in October 1999, with judgment given against Sole for the sum of 8.9 million maloti. His appeal, in April 2001, failed.

The bank records obtained from Switzerland indicated that throughout the lifetime of the project, Sole, using ‘middlemen’ or intermediaries, had indirectly received vast sums of money from certain companies and consortia who had been awarded contracts in the project. The patterns, size and timing of the payments gave rise to the notion that bribery had taken place on a massive scale.

The Lesotho government now decided to prosecute Sole as well as many of the corporations and members of consortia who had made secret payments into various Swiss bank accounts, together with the intermediaries who acted as conduits. In December 1999, 19 defendants were charged with bribery. Sole also faced charges of fraud and perjury. Seven of the defendants failed to attend this initial hearing.

By February 2001, the landscape had altered substantially. The court had ruled that the defendants should not be tried together, and a long programme of trials of individual defendants began with that of Masupha Ephraim Sole, on 11th June 2001. He was charged with 16 counts of bribery and two of fraud. During his trial, Sole chose not to give evidence. Evidence which had been gathered for the civil proceedings was now used to show that he had lied repeatedly in denying the existence of any accounts in Zurich. Such accounts existed, and showed a complex pattern of payments which had been made indirectly to him by a very large number of the contractors and consultants at work on the LHWP.

In a comprehensive judgment, finding Sole guilty as charged, Acting Judge Cullinan, a former Chief Justice of Lesotho, observed that the patterns of payments which had emerged during the trial had arisen from transactions which ‘inextricably bound together’ the defendant consultants/contractors, the intermediaries, and Sole himself. Sole was subsequently imprisoned, for eighteen years, reduced on appeal to fifteen.

The trial of Acres International, the Canadian engineering company, now followed. Prior to the criminal proceedings, the World Bank had begun debarment proceedings against Acres and Lahmeyer, a German engineering consulting firm, both of which had received funding from the Bank for the contracts. It is worth noting that the evidence of secret payments into numbered Swiss accounts was not deemed to amount to sufficient grounds for the debarment of the companies at that stage. Acres continued to apply for, and receive, funding for projects from the Bank. However, the Bank reserved its position, saying that it would reopen debarment proceedings if new evidence against Acres were to emerge from the criminal proceedings.

It was alleged that Acres had made payments to Sole through the offices of Zaliswonga Bam, one of three intermediaries originally identified. Bam had died of a heart attack in 1999. Although he was, at the relevant time, working for a housing association in Botswana, Bam and his wife had numbered Swiss bank accounts into which money was put by Acres amongst others and a proportion of which was then placed in one of Sole's many accounts.

Acres had to accept that it had made payments to Bam; the company argued that such payments were customary practice, and had been made pursuant to the ‘representation agreement’ it had made with Bam for services rendered by him to the company in his capacity as its agent or representative. With little evidence to substantiate their case, Acres argued that Bam had performed such services, that payment of such sums of money was commonplace in such circumstances, that nothing adverse should be inferred from the fact that the payments were made in such secrecy, and that in any event, the company had had no idea whatsoever that Bam was making payments to Sole.

The company comprehensively failed to convince the judge of the virtue of these arguments. In a colourful and literary judgment, Judge Lehohla concluded that in the light of the established relationship between Acres and the LHDA, Acres’ personnel were so embedded in the LHDA that there was simply no need for a ‘representative’. Bam's ‘representative’ status with Acres was not public knowledge, neither was it generally known that Bam was on the payroll of other companies working on the LHWP. The judge could see no evidence to show what services Bam performed, nor why he performed them, particularly in the light of the work he was doing at the material time. The judge concluded that the representation agreement was a sham, that Acres had benefited from bribing Sole, to the detriment of its competitors, and that the company was therefore guilty as charged.

Acres was convicted, and sentenced to a fine of CAD3.8M. The company refused to accept the ruling of the court, suggesting that the Judge had not been up to the job, that the trial had been unfair, and that this error would be corrected in the Appeal Court. Acres then lost its appeal. At the time of writing, the company, pleading poverty, has paid a little under half of the fine which was imposed upon it by the Court of Appeal.

After the appeal hearing, debarment proceedings were recommenced by the World Bank and in August 2004 the Sanctions Committee debarred Acres from applying to the Bank for financial support for a period of three years. Shortly before the Sanctions Committee gave its ruling, the company was bought by a larger corporation, Hatch. The implications for Hatch's dealings with the World Bank remain unknown.

A trial against Lahmeyer followed the same pattern as the Acres' proceedings, as did the appeal; and it is anticipated that a similar pattern of events will flow in the debarment proceedings with the World Bank, although one cannot predict the view of the Sanctions Committee. Proceedings have now been instituted against Impregilo, an Italian company, with the first hearing timetabled for October 2004. Evidence is now being gathered against others.

Conclusions

Whilst these trials have earned Lesotho a unique place in legal history, it has been an expensive business. At an international level, many have expressed their admiration for the determination which the Attorney General has shown in proceeding with these difficult cases, and for the tenacity of purpose in the prosecutors, without whose sustained efforts the trials would simply not have been possible. No financial support for these trials has been forthcoming from outside the country. Many institutions and governments promised financial support at the outset of the trials, but none has yet been forthcoming. A conclusion drawn by some in Lesotho is that institutional support for a prosecution may be lacking from a country where the defendant company is registered, and where there may be a corresponding conflict of political interest.

Many of the legal aspects of corruption have now been thoroughly and recently tested in the Lesotho courts. In particular, there is now clear, developed common law jurisprudence on the questions of jurisdiction (where the matters can be tried) and citation (with regards whether a company has a legal personality). In addition, the definition of bribery has been further refined to ensure that equal resonance accrues to the two parts of the offence - netting both the bribee and the briber.

From the perspective of the international community, these trials pose challenges to Parties to the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery about the ways in which corruption is detected and punished in different parts of the world. Canadian lawyers have expressed doubt as to whether Acres would have been prosecuted in Canada. The high moral tone taken throughout by Acres, which has, throughout, been disinclined publicly to express remorse for its actions, might have deterred a decision to prosecute. Lahmeyer could not be prosecuted under the provisions of German criminal law in any event, since corporate offences are dealt with under administrative law only, punishable by means of fines.

With regards the international financial institutions, Judge Steyn gave the clearest indication of the Court's view of their role in his ruling in the Lahmeyer appeal:

‘…that it will revisit its practices and procedures in general, but for present purposes, more particularly the practice of the employment of representatives who can play the obfuscating role played so frequently in this mammoth project. But also, that it will be firm and resolute in enforcing its disciplinary proceedings on any agency, company, individual or institution who participates in the practice of bribing those employed on development projects.’

In terms of the Acres debarment, the company has been debarred for three years. The period of debarment is shorter than it might have been, because the Sanctions Committee took into account the fine which had already been imposed by the Lesotho courts, and the fact that those who had been responsible for the bribery no longer worked for the company. The Bank has conducted its own inquiry into corporate corruption in Lesotho: its procedures are not vulnerable to judicial scrutiny. However, the trials in Lesotho have been subject to such scrutiny at every turn; they have effectively provided the World Bank with the materials used in its debarment proceedings. The decision of the World Bank to debar Acres has been heralded as a clear indication from the Bank that it means business, in excising corruption from its lending practices. Responses to the debarment of Acres have yet to emerge from other IFIs. There can be no doubt that mutual debarment could become an ultimate deterrent to a company considering the bribery of a foreign public official.

* Fiona Darroch is a barrister at law, in practice at Hailsham Chambers, London. Part of her practice is in international environmental and human rights issues, and she has been following and writing on the Lesotho corruption trials for two years.
* A group of lawyers based in Durban and Roma have begun an initiative which will assist people in the region of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project who have been displaced by the project and who are still suffering the ill-effects. For further information please email Nikki Evans at nikki.evans@protimos.org

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Darfur Beyond the Crossroads; Struggles of African Nationalism

Kwesi Kwaa Prah

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/24374

I have had a chance to look at Farid Omar's article ‘Darfur at the Crossroads: Caught Between Western Hypocrisy and Muslim Complicity’. (Read it online at http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,461) My impression is that while I can agree to some of the arguments he makes I am also in disagreement about some factual and interpretative errors in his discussion. I am going through his piece almost paragraph by paragraph in order to lay bare the discrepancies and factual inadequacies.

For a start, the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) have not been altogether silent about the genocide in Darfur, which is instigated, aided and abetted by the Khartoum government. In a recent report made by the BBC, 9th August 2004, entitled ‘Arab League backs Sudan on Darfur’, the reporter indicated that "Arab Foreign Ministers at an emergency session in Cairo backed Khartoum's measures to disarm Arab militias and punish human rights violators. They called on the UN to give Sudan more time to resolve the conflict. And Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha said he thought the UN's end of August deadline was impractical." In effect the report indicated that, "the Arab League has rejected any sanctions or international military intervention as a response to the crisis in Sudan's Darfur region." The Sudanese Vice-President Ali Osman Taha had indicated that, "We are really committed to disarm whoever is acting outside the law". But who armed the Janjaweed? He added that, "comprehensive stability was only possible if both the Arab Janjaweed militia and rebel groups disarmed."

It is possible to read into this, firstly, the indecisive and guarded complicity of the Arab League position on the tragedy of Darfur. Genocide is not something which can be given time to be reversed. The slaughter and butchery of 30 000 Furs (not Darfuris) is a matter which needs to be brought to a close immediately. In any part of the world today any extension beyond immediacy in terminating genocide would hardly be countenanced. In the present Sudanese conflict in Darfur with the Sudanese army plus the Janjaweed on one side and African nationalist rebels on the other, who are oppressors and oppressed?

Secondly, if you compare the stance of the Arab League to that of the United Nations you will notice an enormous gap in perception of the magnitude, dimensions and perceptions of the crisis. While some of us recognize in the crisis genocide and ethnic cleansing others see a question of disarming armed bandits and rebels as the heart of the matter. I am not aware of what the OIC has or has not said, but I would agree with Farid Omar that they appear to be "strangely silent". If that is the case, then that certainly amounts to implicit complicity.

I share Peter Takirambudde, Chief of the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch's view that Sudan is "trying to manipulate opinion in the Arab world to hide the massive crimes it has committed against Sudanese citizens."

Magdi Abdelhadi of the BBC has observed, with regards to the Arab League's statement that "there were no surprises in the Arab League statement and Khartoum got what it wanted. The statement welcomed measures already taken by the Sudanese government to disarm the Janjaweed and bring those responsible for human rights violations in Darfur to justice. The Arab foreign ministers also pledged to assist Sudan and the international community in resolving the conflict peacefully. The statement was very much in line with a report by an Arab League's fact-finding mission to Darfur earlier this year, which largely exonerated the Sudanese government from responsibility and laid the blame on a combination of factors, including protracted drought, tribal conflict and under-development in western Sudan." Of course human rights violators should be brought to book. Human rights violations are unacceptable in the modern world, whether such violators are Americans in the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, Arab authorities in the Sudan, or human rights criminals in the Great Lakes area.

True enough, "While western hypocrisy on the situation in Darfur is really problematic, Muslim complicity in the Darfur mayhem is equally disturbing. The Muslim people and their allies around the world should stand up for Darfuris, denounce and expose western double standards and condemn the AL and the OIC for their inaction and failure to put pressure on Sudan to contain the crisis in Darfur." There I have no problems with Farid Omar's views. But then he goes on to say that, "The western media has presented the political and humanitarian crisis in Darfur and broader conflict in Sudan as a race or religious war. This is a false paradigm. The conflict in Sudan is not one pitting the so-called Muslim-Arab North and the so-called Christian/animist South, or between the Arab Janjaweed militia working in collusion with the Sudanese government and the Black Africans in Darfur. The people of Sudan are all Africans, be they Black-Africans or Arab-Africans." Here I have a bone to pick with Omar. Certainly the various conflicts or the various fronts of war in the Sudan are not simply racial or religious. That is the crude and distorted simplification of the issue. But, we must not forget that the Fur are Muslims just like the Arabs in the Sudan. Therefore the conflict cannot be put down to religious differences. Then, what is it?

For years the Khartoum regime of Muslim fundamentalists have also been pursuing ethnic cleansing in the Nuba Mountains of Southern Kordofan with genocidal overtones against the Nuba who are also mostly Muslims. A similar tactic has been in place there, that is, using local Arab militias working hand in glove with Sudanese army units against the Nuba. In the South of the country the conflict is of much longer standing and can be said to have commenced in August 1955, with a period of low intensity conflict between1972 and 1983. Since 1983 over two million southern Sudanese have died as a result of the war.

In the case of the war in southern Sudan the international media has too often simplified the struggle as a conflict between a Christian and animist South against a Muslim North. The real fact of the matter is that it is a struggle between Arabs and Arabized Nubians and the Africans of the Sudan whether they are Fur, Zaghawa, Messalit and other similar groups in the west or the Ingessana in the east or the Beja/Hadendowa in the Kassala area adjacent to Eritrea. Some Nubians are now rejecting Arabism. The struggle in the Sudan is an age-old struggle between the forces for the Arabization of Africans and African nationalism, which rejects Arabization.

It is not simply a question of Islam against Christians and animists. I have in the past on many occasions indicated to friends in the Southern Sudan that they have for too long allowed their position to be sold short by playing to the international media and other interests which simply defined the struggle as one between Christians and animists in confrontation with Muslims. The explosion of media attention in the wake of the emergence of the Darfur crisis has underscored the falsity of the religious explanation of the conflict. If the Fur, Messalit, Zaghawa, Ingessana and Beja are Muslims certainly the struggle of the Sudan is not a religious conflict of Muslims and non-Muslims.

The history of the Arabs in the Sudan has been part of the history of the Arabs in Africa. Arabs entered Africa in the middle of the 7th century AD and have been steadily Arabizing Africans starting with the Berbers of northern Africa who till today have to a degree been resisting Arabization.

The Sudan and Mauritania are possibly the most decisive flash points in this process. Will Africans steadily accept to be culturally Arabized or will they resist Arabization and remain culturally rooted in their histories?

This is the real question of the Sudan and Africa. I say that I believe Africans prefer to remain African and not to become Arabs. I say this without prejudice to Arabs or those Africans who have become Arabized and wish to remain so. Just as much as Arabs have the right to protect their identity, history and culture, Africans also have a similar right. Just as much as Arabs wish to see the realization of Arab unity (el watani el arabi), Africans also most fervently wish to see the unity of Africans. The Arab League with all its weaknesses represents contemporary aspirations of Arabs for Arab unity.

As I have often argued, for as long as the pursuit of this ideal is conducted democratically for the freedom of Arab peoples, the ideal deserves the support of all progressive and well meaning people. But this must not be allowed to proceed geographically, politically, economically and culturally at the expense of Africans. Where does the border of the Arab world end and who are the people beyond the borders of the Arab world? Africans need to answer this question for themselves.

Today on the maps of the Arab League the Arab world includes about a third of Africa's geographical area. There are some of us who say enough is enough. No further expansion at the expense of Africans is tolerable. The notion Arab-Africans is a term used in the Sudan to hide the realities of Arabization. It is a concept, which has become in some ways a Trojan horse for Arab expansionism in Africa. Culturally and otherwise, people will always mix and adopt new identities, but this must not become a one-way traffic to Arabization and the cultural denationalisation of Africans.

In the broad historical experience of Africans two imperialisms can be pointed to, Arab and Western imperialism. Historically, Arab imperialism in Africa is older than western imperialism by a millennium. The day Africans realize that Arabs are not Africans and Africans are not Arabs but that the two peoples must live together in peace and with humanity towards each other their recognition of the African identity would have moved one step further and would have made a decisive conceptual move towards the ultimate achievement of African unity. The unity of Africa embraces historically, culturally and psychologically more directly the African Diaspora than the Arab north of Africa. In this sense, the African Diaspora is central to Pan-Africanism and African unity.

In a manuscript I am currently writing I have made the point that, if we want to maintain the rigour of the logic of the Diaspora link, we must, as Africans, define our reality on a historical and cultural basis. In this respect, geography is only useful in as far as it helps us to understand the historical and social process. We can therefore hardly define the reality of contemporary Africa as a geographical expression; that is, Africans as all who live on the continent of Africa. The argument has a resounding and irresistible flip-side, which is that, all who do not live on the continent or not born on the continent, are not Africans. This is the distorted logic, which pushes out the African Diaspora. We must not equate citizenship with nationality or cultural identity. A state may have people of different nationalities.

I do not agree that the so-called "race and religious analogy of the conflict is part of the ideological ploy of U.S. imperialism to generate anti-Arab hostility among African-Americans and Black Africans, to win support of African-Americans and Black African Christians for the US neo-Conservatives/Christian right project against Arab and Muslim Africans, and in particular against Sudanese Muslims. It is also aimed at undermining the long standing Afro-Arab solidarity that has historically striven against the forces of western imperialism, colonialism, apartheid and the occupation in Palestine."

Of course western imperialism must be denounced but so also must the Arabization of Africans be fought. It is ridiculous to bracket African-Americans with US neo-conservatives in this way. It is at best disingenuous and at worst mischievous. The point, which the Darfur crisis has forcefully brought home to many Africans in the Diaspora, is the fact that ultimately the definition and identity of Africans cannot be based on colour. In the Sudan it is not possible to differentiate African from Arab on the basis of colour and I am sure that with television available worldwide many Africans in the Diaspora who have for centuries been faced with white racism find it difficult to digest the fact that most Arabs in the Sudan have black faces. The point I have elsewhere made is that amongst Arabs colours range from black to blonde. The same is true for Jews. In years to come this may be more clearly true for Europeans.

Ultimately what defines an African from an Arab are cultural and historical belongings, not nature but nurture, not biology but rather culture. The black colour which is common for most Africans happens to be a miraculous bonus, in the sense that whereas most other major peoples of the world have other attributes they share as groups based on culture, religion, language, history and geography, mixed to different degrees, in the case of Africans in the absence of clearly unifying language and religion, colour has become a most useful blessing which makes most Africans recognizable from a good distance. But, in the future increasingly there will be many Africans who are not necessarily black. This is the way the world is moving and this is the future of humanity.

From my viewpoint, part of the tragedy of Darfur is that African nationalism in the Sudan has been conveniently split between what is going on in the west, south, east and northeast. Africans have so far failed to find sufficient ground to realize that they are all fighting the same war. The Arabist rulers in Khartoum have been clever at creating convenient and tactical truces, and thereby silencing and truncating the Southerner's struggle from the Fur, Ingessana, Nuba and Beja. This amounts to success for the policy of divide and rule, which has been in the past used to such consummation by successive Arabist regimes in Khartoum, who fear and deny the predominant African character of the Sudan. What al Bashir and the Khartoum clique fear most, is that the Arabist minority may lose control of the Sudan; that the African majority may exert its preponderant character.

It is most doubtful if the Arab League, in its present form, would readily accept a thoroughly democratic solution to the national question in the Sudan. But Africans are waking up. Sooner or later the African character of the Sudan as a democratic expression of the society will triumph.

I am happy with Farid Omar's philosophically inclusive sense of humanity. But, I fear the persistence of the confusion of Arab and African on the continent and beyond. This confusion, on this specific matter, appears to be more prevalent among Africans than non-Africans. We still do not seem to know or understand who we are. I hope we do not go into another major Pan-African meeting/congress with this confusion. If this happens, we would not have made any real headway since the last one. Let us not try to foist an African identity on people who do not want to be so regarded and who reject the African identity; who continue to despise and enslave Africans. I agree with Farid Omar when he says that, "the root causes of the Sudanese conflict are primarily political and can be located in totalitarian tendencies that have overtime, suppressed the evolution of popular democracy." While this diagnosis is right the point has to be seen in relationship to the long history of oppression, slavery, war, ethnic cleansing and now genocide.

The suggestion that external forces have fanned the Sudanese conflict is grossly exaggerated and misplaced. Blaming the conflict on American arms and money and right-wing evangelical groups in the US does not do credit to the Africans of the Sudan. The Africans of the Sudan are a group oppressed by the minority Arab elite in the country. As for the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of the Sudan, we must remember that the Sudan as it is geographically represented today is like all African states an artificial creation of European powers. The British were anxious to control the whole of the Nile Basin in order to supply Egypt with its lifeline, the Nile waters.

Omar's contention that "the Sudanese government either has no interest in resolving the crisis or lacks the capacity to do so", is spot on. As for the AU I agree with Farid Omar that the about "300 Peace Monitors it has deployed in Darfur is grossly inadequate." Again Farid Omar's observation is pertinent when he writes that, "Like the Arab League and Organization of Islamic Conference, the Muslim and Arab media have also maintained a strange silence.” In sharp contrast to events in the Middle East, coverage on the horrific Darfuri scene by Al-Jazeera and other leading Arab Satellite Televisions such as the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya is dismally marginal. Failure by Muslim and Arab media to adequately cover the grisly events in Darfur smacks of complicity.

Africans need to read the lessons right in this behaviour and attitude of the Arab media. The simple truth about all the wars in the Afro-Arab borderlands is that, at best we should be able to nationally coexist in peace. But if we cannot live together in peace, then we must go our separate ways without rancour, pain and mutual torment. The members of the global community have fortunately agreed as standing international protocol, since the Treaty of Versailles, that in our times, nations and peoples have the right to self-determination.

This protocol applies equally well to the African people of the Sudan.

* Kwesi Kwaa Prah is Director of the Centre for the Advanced Studies of African Societies. This article has been used with permission of the author.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

"The time for action is now"

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/24330

Today the Security Council of the United Nation is meeting to discuss the pitiful situation in Darfur. The same body had given the Government of Sudan an ultimatum of one month (which ended Tuesday 31 August) to disarm its killer allies, the Janjaweed Militias, that have been running rampage with impunity in the Western region of the country.

Many independent observers, humanitarian NGOs and concerned people doubted then that the Sudan government would meet this deadline or even had any intention of doing so. The suspicion was that the government would use that time, albeit a short one, to gain more time and pretend it was doing something in order to ease the mounting diplomatic pressures on it.

The UN resolution was not just about the Government of Sudan - it also called upon the armed rebels to observe a ceasefire and cease any violence against innocent civilians. Further the resolution called for active resumption of peace talks under the auspices of the African Union and broad support for the AU's peace monitors.

One month later has there been any positive development to assuage the doubters? The sad answer is a definitive “No”. The humanitarian crisis continues to worsen for the people of Darfur and all kinds of humanitarian agencies are feeding fat on their misery through endless appeals, a huge chunk of which may not reach Darfur. On the political front, there have been more talks about talks than a real political breakthrough in addressing the political issues behind the conflict.

The Abuja talks hosted by General Obasanjo as Chair of the AU and also Chair of the AU peace and Security Council is more or less in impasse. There were lots of motions without movement. However in order to keep the efforts on track a lot of diplomatic speak is being employed to dress up the situation and talk up little gains.

The small gains include, one, the rebels attended the Abuja talks at senior level thereby abandoning their initial misguided belligerency in boycotting a previous AU talk in Addis in July. Two, the Sudan government by sitting at the table with the rebels, has diplomatically and politically acknowledged that it was recognising rebel political groups even if it does not recognise their aims. Three, the meeting also offered opportunity for the AU and others interested in the Sudan conflict to learn more about the complexity of the many conflicts in the Sudan.

Many had (wrongly for years) seen Sudan only in terms of its Arab/African fault lines or the religious prism of Islam/ Christianity. In Darfur these assumptions take different permutations. Also many naively assume that peace will break out once the SPLA and Khartoum long-negotiated peace deal takes full effect. While the North/South conflict may have the most prominence internationally Sudan has been fighting all kinds of bitter wars on many fronts with all kinds of marginalized and disaffected sections of its huge country, the largest on the African continent. That simplistic understanding of Sudan has led many well-meaning peace initiatives by different African states and other members of the international community to collapse.

However the Arab/African dynamics of the conflict is threatening the effectiveness of AU action and seriously endangering its consensus. It is playing into the hands of militants in the conflict especially in Khartoum. So what would the UN Security Council be deciding today on Darfur? China and Russia and Arab allies of Sudan including some African states, ignobly blocked a more censorious resolution that would have made sanctions mandatory if Khartoum failed to deliver. Now there will be further negotiations on what to do.

Allies of Khartoum will continue to insist that it is doing enough and willing to do more but that the time was short. Its opponents will retort that it has no intention of doing anything but merely buying more time to defeat or considerably weaken the rebels militarily and also intimidate the civilians into submission. The evidence for the past one-month does not augur well for the government.

The case for a more effective pressure to be brought to bear on the government is clear. While the UN's support for the AU effort is most desirable it is also important that the AU's engagement be more robust. It should move beyond peace monitoring to peace -making and enforcement. It has given too much room for Khartoum to bog it down in procedural and administrative issues. The constitutive Act of the Union unlearnt the dubious notion of 'territorial integrity and sovereignty ' of the old OAU which became the Dictators' charter. Thus there are now clear grounds under which the Union can intervene in the 'internal affairs' of its member states. The Darfur situation is a clear test of Africa's commitment to new ways of governance and solidarity.

Even if for political reasons the AU may not want to see the situation in Darfur as 'genocide', by any definition, it is a gross violation and systematic abuse of rights of Darfur Africans on a mass scale.

The AU cannot just be negotiating small numbers of troops with Khartoum but must be more aggressive in enforcing its mandate. This will mean more troops, which a number of states have indicated they are willing and able to contribute. A number of human rights organisations including Human Rights Watch have called for Chapter VII of the UN charter to be invoked so that the AU troops on the ground can be increased and its mandate expanded to include protection of civilians.

The silenced voices of those killed and being killed right now and the agony of those fleeing death stalking their villages and towns, not to talk of the agony of the innocent women being raped and children being traumatised in Darfur demands no more words or yet another plan but direct enforceable action against the Janjaweed militias. Asking or relying on the Government of Sudan to do this will be like asking turkeys to vote for an early Christmas. The time for action is now: no more excuses from Khartoum.

* 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

Say no to water privatisation in Ghana

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/24355

"We, the undersigned, are writing as individuals and members of organizations, many of whom know firsthand the tragic impacts of corporate failures in the water sector from Bolivia to the Philippines and from Argentina to South Africa. The Ghana National CAP of Water, made up of women's organizations, student and youth groups, tenants, residents and community associations, religious groups, trade unions, environmental groups, and human rights groups has united around the goal of ensuring access to water for all Ghanaians by 2008. The National CAP of Water has concluded that the achievement of this goal is being undercut by World Bank and government programs that promote (1) an international market price for water, and (2) private sector contracts to foreign multinational corporations for the management of the Ghanaian water system. We ask that these programs cease and the Ghanaian people be given a chance to develop alternative proposals."
News from Public Citizen's Water For All Campaign
**********

*******PLEASE FORWARD******* PLEASE FORWARD*********
Dear Friends,

Below is an open letter that will be sent to the World Bank president
and the CEOs of the major transnational water companies that are bidding
for the Ghana water contract. In a last-ditch attempt to STOP the water
privatization process in Ghana, we will also seek to reprint the letter
in key Ghanaian and French (most of the bidding companies are French)
newspapers. Please add your organization's signature by sending the
following information:
1. Individual Name and Title
2. Organization Name
3. Country
Send to: cmep@citizen.org BEFORE September 12, 2004
Make sure the subject line includes the words: Ghana Water
We are especially interested in collecting organizational signatures
from countries that have suffered from major water privatization
failures such as Argentina, Bolivia, the Philippines and South Africa.
Copies of the letter are available in Spanish and French from
sgrusky@citizen.org
..................................................................................................................

OPEN LETTER FROM CONCERNED CITIZENS AROUND THE WORLD IN SUPPORT OF THE
GHANA NATIONAL COALITION AGAINST THE PRIVATISATION OF WATER

Dear Mr. James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank
Dear Mr. Henri Proglio, CEO of Vivendi Environnement (Veolia)
Dear Mr. Mestrallet, CEO of Suez
Dear Mr. Larry Magor, CEO of Biwater,
Dear Mr. J.F. Talbot, CEO of SAUR

We, the undersigned, are writing as individuals and members of
organizations, many of whom know firsthand the tragic impacts of
corporate failures in the water sector from Bolivia to the Philippines
and from Argentina to South Africa. Given this history of failed water
privatization projects, many perpetrated by the very same corporations
that are now seeking contracts in Ghana, we ask that you listen to the
concerns of the Ghana National Coalition Against the Privatisation (CAP)
of Water. The Ghana National CAP of Water, made up of women's
organizations, student and youth groups, tenants, residents and
community associations, religious groups, trade unions, environmental
groups, and human rights groups has united around the goal of ensuring
access to water for all Ghanaians by 2008. The National CAP of Water
has concluded that the achievement of this goal is being undercut by
World Bank and government programs that promote (1) an international
market price for water, and (2) private sector contracts to foreign
multinational corporations for the management of the Ghanaian water
system. We ask that these programs cease and the Ghanaian people be
given a chance to develop alternative proposals.

The National CAP of Water calls for:

* A thorough examination of public sector options. Reform and
restructuring of the public sector water utility is a viable option,
requiring investments in capacity-building, infrastructure, greater
local management autonomy and local community accountability.
* Full participation of all sectors of civil society in
decision-making about reforms in the water sector.
* Full public disclosure of all documents, bids, proposals and
negotiations involving private sector contracting to foreign
multinational corporations for the management of the Ghana water
system.

The undersigned organizations and individuals are particularly
concerned about the proposed private sector water contract in Ghana
because many of us have experienced serious problems with private sector
water delivery in our own countries. A few examples are highlighted
below.

BOLIVIA: In 1999, the Bolivian government granted a 40-year contract
for the water services of Cochabamba to a subsidiary of the corporate
giant, Bechtel. The terms of the contract were so draconian that
citizens, unable to survive under the burden of the new water prices,
began to organize to drive the company out. Water rates increased
immediately - by 100 to 200 percent in some cases. Small farmers and
the unemployed were especially hard hit. In a country were the minimum
wage is less than $100 per month, many families were struggling to pay
water bills of $20 or more. In April 2000 after months of civil
disobediance and angry protest in the streets, the president of Bolivia
was forced to terminate the water privatization contract. Bechtel, in
retaliation, sued the government of Bolivia for $25 million. Bechtel
claimed it had lost investment and "potential profits" as the company
was expected to earn an annual income of $58 million.

PHILIPPINES: In 1997, the Filipino government granted a 25-year
contract to Maynilad Water (co-owned by Suez and the Lopez family) to
provide water services to part of Manila. Civil society groups
criticized the undemocratic and non-transparent nature of the
privatization process, rate hikes (which include an adjustment tied to
exchange rate fluctuations), unmet promises of rehabilitation and
expansion of water services (especially to the urban poor) and weak
regulatory and oversight practices. In a Christmas 2001 press release
the Asian Labor Network said, "In effect Maynilad Water has deprived the
Filipino family of three full meals or three kilos of rice. The
ordinary vendor will now have to surrender one full day of income to pay
for the cost of water." Following bad management and the Asian
financial crisis, Suez is now using various legal manuevers to try to
rid itself of responsibility for the debt. And, Maynilad Water is
negotiating with the Filipino government, attempting to pass its debt to
the public sector in a debt-equity swap. As is too often the case, the
people of the Philippines will pay the burden of this debt.

ARGENTINA: In 1993, the Argentine government granted a 30-year contract
to Aguas Argentinas (majority owner Suez) to provide water and sewerage
services to the city of Buenos Aires. During the first eight years the
company earned a 19% profit rate on its average net worth, but after
2002 the peso crisis left the company in debt. The contractual clause
that permitted Aguas Argentinas to link water prices to the U.S. dollar,
and ensure hefty profits, was overruled by an emergency decree of the
government. Linking consumer water prices to the peso exchange rate had
meant on-going price increases which were borne disproportionately by
the urban poor. Non-payment for water and sanitation services were as
high as 30%, service cut-offs were common, and women and children bore
the brunt of the health and safety consequences. Aguas Argentinas
reneged on its contractual obligation to build a sewerage treatment
plant and over 95% of the city's sewerage flows directly into the Rio
del Plata. Now Suez threatens legal action in the World Bank court,
claiming $180 million in damages, to force contract re-negotiations.

SOUTH AFRICA: In 1999, the British water multinational Biwater
developed a joint venture with a South African group and was awarded a
30-year contract to provide water in Nelspruit, South Africa. The
company has nearly tripled the consumer price of water and been quick to
cut-off service for those who cannot afford to pay. The price hikes and
persistent complaints that the company fails to provide service to poor
areas, have caused some consumers to boycott paying their bills.
Contractual commitments to expand access are being hampered, according
to Biwater officials, by the lack of revenue and lack of access to
credit. Conflict and social tension continue as citizens insist that
access to clean and affordable water is a human right.

These are just a few of the water privatization failures suffered by
people around the world. We call on you to listen to the concerns of
the Ghana National CAP of Water. There is significant opposition to
private transnational corporate involvement in the water sector. There
must be an end to the external pressure, including that of the World
Bank, that promotes private sector contracting to foreign transnational
corporations of vital natural resources such as water.

Sincerely,




Sara Grusky
Water for All Campaign
Public Citizen
Phone: (202) 454-5133
Website: www.wateractivist.org

Stop Telkom Retrenchments in South Africa

2004-09-02

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=36

Telkom workers in South Africa are facing a new wave of retrenchments. The telecommunications giant plans to shed another 4,181 workers in 3 years, despite its record R4.592 billion profit for the 2004 book year - in a country with an unemployment rate of 42%. You can help by signing a petition.

Tell the UN to act on Darfur

2004-09-02

http://capwiz.com/africaaction/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=6291691

The Khartoum government has failed to comply with the terms of a UN Resolution aimed at ending the violence in Darfur. The members of the UN Security Council must now deal with this reality and take immediate action to stop the ongoing genocide in Darfur. You can sign a petition to the UN by clicking on the link provided.

All men

Zainab Bangura

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/24327

I want to say thank you for being so informative and useful and keep it up. You have kept us informed of what is happening across the continent. For people like us who are so busy and travel a lot, it not only makes good reading on the plane and on the road, but also helps to keep us abreast in a turbulent and unpredictable continent.

I was looking at the news yesterday on SABC cable TV . First was the swearing in ceremony in Nairobi of the Somalia Parliament - mostly men. Then there was the signing in ceremony on the three East African Leaders of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania on some protocol - all men. Then came the Sudanese talk in Abuja - all men. Finally I saw the polio and measles inoculations by UNICEF and Ministry of Health staff at the refugee camp for Darfur refugees - all were women and children. The men enjoy and control political, social and economic power, make decisions on our behalf - mostly bad decision - and we suffer the consequences, They fight wars of which we are the victims. We have to fight to create laws like the protocol (on the rights of women) to give us basic rights as citizens of our own countries. We have to be protected against them. It made me sick yesterday of all days.

And coming from Liberia made me even more sick. I spent the whole of last week in Liberia. The country has no electricity, no water. People without any exception have to get their own drinking water and generate electricity. Wealthy people dig wells in their homes, get purifying plants and use generators to pump the water into their houses. There is no building in the country that is intact, including office buildings. There is no oil company. More than 50% of the country's population is in Monrovia. Yet Charles Taylor was proud to call himself a president of a country. How can you be so wicked to your own people? What have they done to deserve such treatment?

Lets do something

Stephen Mutoro

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/24324

The article on the celebrity novelist Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong'o's tragedy on return to Kenya, after 22 years in self-exile, makes good reading (Pambazuka News 171: Pan-African Postcard).

While Kenyans are saddened by this event, it is just one among many incidents that was fortunate to receive hyped publicity. Crime affects us all. We should not be seen to be alarmist when it unfortunately affects VIPs. What I suggest is that in our quest to free our continent of legendary crime, we must get back to the drawing boards. Excellent papers, seminars, workshops and the rest won't just do. They are mistaken for elitism. And truly crime is caused due to social exclusion and marginalization especially to the worlds-apart disparity that separates the majority poor and the rich. We have seen, particularly in cases of rape and violence against women that criminals seem to want to derive pleasure but it often turns out that they merely want to irritate and perform a social protest, which of course is unwelcome.

Lets look at the red-light district that is Nairobi's Koinange Street. The other day I was shocked when I was driving near Teleposta Towers, at around 6.45 pm, and a scantily dressed twilight girl was beckoning me. At first I was confused and thought she had been a victim of crime. When I quickly realized she was not, I sped away and that Wednesday evening I wondered about solutions to such social problems. No one seems to be bothered that it is a problem and many of those in the trade appear to be on average well-off. Prohibitionists believe that prostitution is wrong. On the contrary its proponents believe that it cuts down on HIV/AIDS infections, raises government revenue if legalized and reduces the incidents of rape. Do human rights allow sex with a consenting party who is an adult? Is payment for sex a crime? These and many other questions thirst for answers. So we are at it. My plea to Dr. Tajudeen and other well-wishers is that we need to come together and address Nairobi crime as civil society. This is because lamentations only worsen the situations. Lets do something.

Responsibility to protect?

Henning Melber

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/24325

Call for submissions to all writers

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/24216

“The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is an international Animal Welfare organisation with a regional branch in Mombasa, Kenya. WSPA deals primarily with animal protection, legislation, campaigning and education in animal welfare and humane education. Our education department is responsible for producing materials for schools and communities such as newsletters, teachers’ resource packages, and guides on animal care amongst other things. Last year we compiled poetry from members across Africa and published a small in-house anthology which was then distributed to members across Africa.”
To All Writers (in Africa): Call for Submissions:
The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) is an international Animal Welfare organisation with a regional branch in Mombasa, Kenya. WSPA deals primarily with animal protection, legislation, campaigning and education in Animal Welfare and Humane Education.

Our Education department is responsible for producing materials for schools and communities such as newsletters, teachers’ resource packages, guides on Animal Care amongst other things. Last year we compiled poetry from members across Africa and published a small in-house anthology which was then distributed to members across Africa.

We are currently putting together a collection of short stories based on Animal Welfare and Humane Education issues for use within the National Curriculum across Africa. We would like to make this an open opportunity for any writer who wishes to take part in contributing work for such a purpose. The stories will be published purely for educational purposes on a non-profit basis. Authors will be acknowledged.

Although the stories should be hinged on Animal Welfare issues in the broadest sense, it is an open-ended project with ample space for creativity which can be both non-fiction and fiction, could be based on folklore and myths, and/or could be based on personal experiences. We intend to develop comprehension exercises on the stories which will be based on the individual stories.

Stories should be between 1000-1500 words and should be targeting a readership age between 10-15.

If you have any further enquiries please write to Dipesh Pabari (see details below). I look forward to reading.

Dipesh Pabari
Humane Education Officer - Africa
World Society for the Protection of Animals.
P.O. Box 34070, Nyali, Mombasa, Kenya
Tel: +254 (0)41 470174/5/6
Fax: +254 (0)41 470175
e-mail: DipeshPabari@wspaafrica.com
Internet: http://www.wspa-international.org

Children and the Right to Adequate Housing: An International Law Resource Guide

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/24217

This new publication from HLRN Middle East/North Africa provides a guide to the meaning of the human right to adequate housing as it applies to children. It also serves as a tool for assessing children’s housing rights conditions and addressing problems and violations. Building on the experience and activism of members in India, HIC-HLRN commissioned the initial research from “Haq Center for Child Rights” (New Delhi), in 2002. The present edition updates and adapts al-Atfal wa al-Haq fi al-Sakan for the benefit of the Arabic-speaking public. The book has been designed for use by its members and the public as a reference work, a means for awareness raising and a training manual.

It is no more a cry: Namibian poetry in exile

Henning Melber (ed.)

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/24219

"This volume offers access to a unique aspect in the history of the Namibian struggle for self-determination during a crucial period of time. The testimony is aimed particularly to serve a new generation in Namibia, who has not lived through this important part of our history. The re-publication will help them to achieve a fuller understanding of a difficult and bitter time. It will also foster a better and clearer perspective on events in our present societies. Given our current rite de passage or interregnum, the insights presented in these republished texts are more than historical evidence. They offer lessons from the past for the present and the future." - Dennis Brutus
New Publication from the Basler Afrika Bibliographien:

Henning Melber (ed.)
IT IS NO MORE A CRY
Namibian Poetry in Exile
and Essays on Literature in Resistance and Nation Building

IT IS NO MORE A CRY - Namibian Poetry in Exile was originally published in 1982 and it was regarded as a documentation of culture in resistance hitherto un-accessible. This reprint is supplemented by Essays on Literature in Resistance and Nation Building by the editor Henning Melber. They explore the place of this particular literature and poetry in Namibian society.

"This volume offers access to a unique aspect in the history of the Namibian struggle for self-determination during a crucial period of time. The testimony is aimed particularly to serve a new generation in Namibia, who has not lived through this important part of our history. The re-publication will help them to achieve a fuller understanding of a difficult and bitter time. It will also foster a better and clearer perspective on events in our present societies.
Given our current rite de passage or interregnum, the insights presented in these republished texts are more than historical evidence. They offer lessons from the past for the present and the future." (Dennis Brutus)

Basler Afrika Bibliographien, 2004, 99 pp.
ISBN 3-905141-84-1 / 99916-782-5-5
Price: CHF 25.00 / N$ 90.00

Orders to: Orders from Southern Africa to:
Basler Afrika Bibliographien Gamsberg Macmillan Publishers
Postfach2037 P.O. Box 22830
4001 Basel Windhoek
SWITZERLAND NAMIBIA
Tel. ++ 41 61 228 93 33 Tel. ++ 264 (0)61 23 21 65
Fax ++ 41 61 228 93 30 Fax ++ 264 (0)61 23 35 38
E-mail bab@bluewin.ch E-mail gmp@iafrica.com.na

Media, Public Discourse and Political Contestation in Zimbabwe

Nordic Africa Institute

2004-09-02

http://www.nai.uu.se

The current situation in Zimbabwe under the ZANU-PF government shows increasing signs of abuse of power by those in political control. They also direct their desire to suppress criticism towards the media. Press organs in private ownership have been closed down and journalists have been physically harassed, arrested and expelled. Laws are abused to regulate and manipulate public opinion by a policy of banning. Worldwide condemnation of the growing restrictions upon the freedom of expression goes hand in hand with the protests inside the country against the growing tendencies of totalitarian rule.
*****************************************************
New Book from the Nordic Africa Institute:
*****************************************************
Melber, Henning (Ed.)
Media, Public Discourse and Political Contestation in Zimbabwe
Current African Issues 27
39 pp Published: Aug 2004
ISBN: 91-7106-534-2 ISSN: 0280-2171 Price: 80 SEK/ 6.95 GBP/ 8 EURO
Paperback Size: 210 x 300 mm

Keywords
Civil rights, Freedom of information, Journalism, Mass media, Political development, Press, Zimbabwe

Description
The current situation in Zimbabwe under the ZANU-PF government shows increasing signs of abuse of power by those in political control. They also direct their desire to suppress criticism towards the media. Press organs in private ownership have been closed down and journalists have been physically harassed, arrested and expelled. Laws are abused to regulate and manipulate public opinion by a policy of banning. Worldwide condemnation of the growing restrictions upon the freedom of expression goes hand in hand with the protests inside the country against the growing tendencies of totalitarian rule.
Current events are critically reflected upon and the background to these developments is summarised in this publication. It is based on some of the contributions to a recent conference on Zimbabwe organised by the Nordic Africa Institute and offers insights into the contested space of public opinion in Zimbabwe. The critical analyses of current developments are there-by complemented with particular reference to the media sector in the ongoing battle for hegemonic control over the public sphere.

This study is also available electronically (PDF-file) at our website (www.nai.uu.se). The electronic version is free of charge.

Contributors:
Sarah Helen Chiumbu is the current Director of the Media Institute of Southern Africa-Zimbabwe Chapter. Previously she served as the Information Officer for the organisation. She is a holder of a Master of Philosophy in Media and Communication Studies from the University of Oslo, Norway, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Media and Communication studies and a Bachelor of Arts in English, French and Psychology from the University of Zimbabwe. Her research interests are in broadcasting, information communication technologies (ICTs) and globalisation.
Henning Melber is a professionally trained journalist (1971/72), who worked for a short period during 1972 with the German daily newspaper in Windhoek/Namibia before being dismissed for political and ethical differences. He subsequently studied Political Science (PhD in 1980) and Sociology (venia legendi in 1992). He was Director of the Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit in Windhoek between 1992 and 2000 and has been Research Director at the Nordic Africa Institute since then.
Dumisani Moyo is a Lecturer in the Media and Communication Studies Programme (Department of English) at the University of Zimbabwe. He teaches courses in theories of communication, media ethics and global communication issues. He holds an M.Phil. from the University of Oslo and a B.A. Honours from the University of Zimbabwe. He is currently a Research Fellow and a doctoral candidate at the University of Oslo, and is researching on broadcasting regulatory reform and democratisation in Southern Africa

Contents:
Henning Melber
Inside the "Third Chimurenga": Media Repression, Manipulation
and Hegemony in Zimbabwe - Some Introductory Notes

Dumisani Moyo
From Rhodesia to Zimbabwe: Change without Change?
Broadcasting Policy Reform and Political Control

Sarah Chiumbu
Redefining the National Agenda:
Media and Identity - Challenges of Building a New Zimbabwe

Bibliography

Appendices
Resolutions passed by the 53rd General Assembly of the International Press
Institute (IPI) in Warsaw/Poland
Press Release by the World Association of Newspapers (Paris) June 2, 2004

South African artists play tribute to workers

Radio Labourstart music feature

2004-09-02

http://radio.laborstart.org/

Radio LabourStart is playing all 15 songs from an album produced by the Congress of South African Trade Unions. The songs will be played, three every day, repeated throughout the day. Among the artists featured here are the COSATU Peforming Band, the POPCRU and SADTU Choirs, Ihashi Elimhlophe, Chicco Twala/Nokwazi Dlamini, Busi Mhlongo, Phuzekhemisi, Hugh Masekela, Bambata, Sibongile Khumalo, Jonas Gwangwa, Kutu, Letta Mbulu, Vusi Mahlasela, and Jabu Khanyile.

The African Writers Programme

2004-09-02

http://www.goreeinstitute.org/goreeInstitute/program/african_writer.htm

The intention of this project is to create a Forum that will group the major practising writers on the African continent, and ultimately be in a position to reflect their opinions and interests. At present there is no regular venue for African writers to meet. Gorée Institute, by its location and through its commitment to be a meeting place of minds, is ideally situated to fulfil this function. To start with a database will be established to centralise information about African writers and writing - their bibliographies, the possibilities of publication, translation and distribution of books, etc.

Who Fights? Who Cares? War and Humanitarian Action in Africa

Edited by Alex de Waal

2004-09-02

http://www.justiceafrica.org/whofights.html

Africa faces huge political and humanitarian challenges. Sixteen countries are stricken by war or serious instability; the shadow of genocide looms over central Africa; while natural and man-made disasters threaten the lives and livelihoods of millions of Africans. International structures for peace and security and the delivery of humanitarian assistance have so far failed to prevent enduring crisis across the continent. Hopes of new models for ‘African solutions to African problems’ have suffered severe setbacks in the last few years.

Africa/Global: Sexual violence epidemic exposes flaws in gender and minority protection

2004-09-02

http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=290

Sexual violence of nearly epidemic proportions and multiple forms of discrimination against minority and indigenous women could be better prevented, but are inadequately understood and confronted by existing rights mechanisms and legal instruments. In a new report, launched during the session of the UN’s Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), Minority Rights Group International (MRG) has called for urgent action by states and human rights and gender rights actors to address the causes and consequences of serious and ongoing discrimination against minority and indigenous women.

Burkina Faso/Cameroon: Women's health losing ground in some nations

2004-09-02

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5877403/

Some countries have taken major strides to improve the rights and reproductive health of women but more must be done to meet goals set at a U.N. conference a decade ago, according to a report released on Tuesday. Burkina Faso and Cameroon have lost ground, said the report presented at the three-day meeting to assess how much had changed by the 10th anniversary of the Cairo conference.

DRC: The ICC - An Opportunity for Women

2004-09-02

http://www.whrnet.org/docs/issue-international_court.html

The International Criminal Court (ICC) recently began its first formal investigation to judge crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is urgent that the women's movement monitor whether the ICC effectively investigates and sanctions the perpetrators of sexual and gender crimes committed against women. Sexual violence as a weapon of war can no longer go unnoticed. This special issue of Women’s Human Rights Net addresses key aspects of the ICC, such as gender crimes and related case law, gender-sensitive proceedings and the possible implications of implementing international standards nationally to advance women's human rights.

Ethiopia: Hope for women

2004-09-02

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1293070,00.html

In Ethiopia, thousands of women each year are left with injuries following childbirth, which, for the most part, go untreated. As the problems get worse, the women are shunned by husbands and families, cast out of villages and left to depend on charity. Their condition is not life-threatening, and would be easily patched up in Britain but, in one of the poorest countries of the world, leave women scarred for life.

Kenya: Women, HIV & AIDS

2004-09-02

http://www.unifem.org/news/currents/documents/WomenAndHIVAIDS.pdf

"We crawled into this dark hut with no windows. Inside was almost total darkness although it was only 10 o'clock in the morning. Lying at the corner with barely enough blankets to cover her self was a 35-year-old women dying of AIDS. She had lost her husband a year ago. At her age and with nothing, she was left to care for her five children. A coughing 4-year-old boy, whose future one dared not even think about, peeped behind her. Nobody could ask where the other children where for the trauma on her face was too much for any parent," writes Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, Regional Programme Director UNIFEM East and Horn of Africa.

Mozambique: AIDS Stripping Widows Of Their Rights

2004-09-02

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=25282

When her husband died two months ago, Albertina Come did not only lose him. She also lost their house and belongings acquired through hard work over ten years of marriage. Unfortunately for Come, her late husband’s family blames her for his death. And as punishment, they said, she should not be entitled to any inheritance. “They locked me out of the house, and took all our belongings,’’ she told IPS.

Niger: Battle Against Fistula Moves Ahead

2004-09-02

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=25238

Zeinabou Baba had just about given up on the prospect of living a normal life by the time aid workers arrived in her village of Tera, west of Niger's capital Niamey. Married at the age 16, Baba had experienced four pregnancies that resulted in stillbirths - and the development of a condition known as obstetric fistula. Matters changed, however, when a team from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) arrived in Baba's village, offering assistance to women with fistulas.

Tanzania: Drama as weapon in the fight for empowering women

2004-09-02

http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2004/08/19/18829.html

After the International Women Conference held in Beijing, China 1995, so many songs were sung. These songs, concerning women’s emancipation, empowerment and discrimination against women started hitting the world, particularly the African continent whereby due to the norms of traditional African culture, women were not very much considered as appropriate players in political, economic and social activities.

Africa/Global: Accountability and human rights NGOs

2004-09-02

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC15470

This paper produced by the International Council on Human Rights Policy argues that human rights NGOs, unlike development and humanitarian organisations, have not developed formal accountability procedures. It argues that it will be necessary to do so in order to defend their reputations against scepticism, as well as to strengthen the sector's ability to promote respect for human rights. It examines the contributions that donors, governments and other organisations can play to enable human rights NGOs to strengthen their accountability mechanisms and thereby their effectiveness.

DRC: Ituri Court Must Prosecute Gravest Crimes

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/24356

Judges in the newly restored court in the Ituri district of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) must intensify efforts to prosecute serious human rights crimes, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released this week. Since 1999, armed conflict among rebel factions, local ethnic groups, and foreign fighters in the northeastern region has resulted in numerous atrocities that have gone unpunished. On August 17, the court in Bunia, Ituri's capital, handed down its most serious conviction so far. Human Rights Watch welcomed the court's prosecution of Commander Rafiki Saba Aimaible, the former security chief of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), an armed group in Ituri responsible for serious crimes. Commander Rafiki was found guilty of arbitrary arrests aggravated by torture, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
D.R. Congo: Ituri Court Must Prosecute Gravest Crimes
Donors and DRC Authorities Should Increase Funding for Local Courts

(Brussels, September 2, 2004) - Judges in the newly restored court in the
Ituri district of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) must
intensify efforts to prosecute serious human rights crimes, Human Rights
Watch said in a briefing paper released today. Since 1999, armed conflict
among rebel factions, local ethnic groups, and foreign fighters in the
northeastern region has resulted in numerous atrocities that have gone
unpunished.

On August 17, the court in Bunia, Ituri's capital, handed down its most
serious conviction so far. Human Rights Watch welcomed the court's
prosecution of Commander Rafiki Saba Aimaible, the former security
chief of the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC), an armed group in Ituri
responsible for serious crimes. Commander Rafiki was found guilty of
arbitrary arrests aggravated by torture, and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

With support from the European Commission, the Ituri court resumed its
work six months ago after having been closed since May 2003, when its
judges had to flee deteriorating security conditions. However, the new
investigative judges assigned to the court have largely limited
prosecutions to minor crimes and have not investigated the more serious
human rights abuses. In one case, the leader of one armed group was
charged on the basis of theft, but the prosecutor failed to bring charges of
murder, rape, or torture committed by people under the suspect's direct
command, which had been documented by Human Rights Watch. The
court has lacked the political will to take on these more serious cases.

National courts, such as the tribunal in Bunia, will need to complement the
work of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which started
investigating war crimes in the DRC on June 23 - the first-ever
investigation by the new international court. The ICC will focus on the
most senior perpetrators, and is unlikely to be able to try lesser-ranking
individuals who also carried out abuses. These perpetrators will need to be
tried by national courts.

"If the new court in Bunia is to be effective, it must prosecute the gravest
crimes as well as minor offenses," said Pascal Kambale, counsel for
Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program. "The ICC will
focus on the high-level perpetrators, so the national courts must ensure
that other suspected human rights criminals don't get off the hook."

In November, the European Commission and other donors initiated a six-
month project to help restore the criminal justice system in Bunia. This
short-term funding helped judges and investigative judges start working
again years after the court had been closed, but many serious problems
remain. There is no capable police force able to carry out investigations,
and there is a lack of protection for witnesses who come forward to testify.

The Human Rights Watch briefing paper, "Making Justice Work:
Restoration of the Legal System in Ituri, DRC," highlights the strengths
and weaknesses of the justice program in Ituri, seen by many as the
potential test case for rebuilding the largely defunct justice system
throughout the DRC. It calls international donors and the DRC transitional
government to provide longer-term funding and support to the criminal
justice system.

"The Ituri justice program is a foundation for rebuilding the national
justice system," said Kambale. "If the government and international
donors are serious about ending the cycle of violence and securing justice
for victims, they must ensure there is more funding and political will to
make this happen."

Human Rights Watch has documented serious crimes in the conflict that
ravaged Ituri since 1999, including ethnic massacres, rape, and torture. A
local conflict between Hema and Lendu ethnic groups allied with national
rebel groups and foreign backers, including Uganda and Rwanda, has
claimed over 60,000 lives since 1999, according to United Nations
estimates. In the past eight months, fighting has decreased in the area,
though human rights abuses continue.

"The conviction of Commander Rafiki is a good start for the court in
Ituri," said Kambale. "We need to see more trials focusing on these
serious human rights crimes to help end the cycle of violence and ensure
that victims see justice being done."

For more information on the state of the judicial system in the DRC,
please see Democratic Republic of the Congo: Confronting Impunity,
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/02/02/congo7230.htm

For more information on justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo,
please see http://www.hrw.org/doc/?t=justice&c=congo

Ghana: Human Rights Commission Worried About Forced Marriages

2004-09-02

http://www.accra-mail.com/story.asp?ID=11075

Ghana's Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has identified forced marriage as the major human rights abuse in the country's Northern Region. Speaking on a visit to the region, the acting Commissioner of the CHRAJ said that "Saboba District alone reported 84 human rights abuse cases, of which 51 were based on forced marriages."

Sudan: Janjaweed Camps Still Active

2004-09-02

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/08/27/darfur9268.htm

The Government of Sudan is permitting abusive Janjaweed militia to maintain at least 16 camps in the western region of Darfur, Human Rights Watch says. Despite repeated government pledges to neutralize and disarm the militia, HRW investigators report witnesses which claim that five of the camps are shared between the militia and the government and that the Sudanese army have incorporated Janjaweed members into its leadership.

Uganda: ICC investigates war crimes

2004-09-02

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408270727.html

A team from the International Criminal Court (ICC) is in Uganda to investigate alleged atrocities committed in the war between government troops and the rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), UN officials said on Wednesday. "A team of nine ICC people is in Uganda," Andrew Timpson, who works for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), was quoted by AFP as saying. "They have started soliciting for interpreters for the local Luo language and Swahili and have also met human rights groups and non-governmental organisations," Timpson added.

Zimbabwe: an analysis of the Non-Governmental Organisations Bill

2004-09-02

http://www.zwnews.com/IBAngocomment.doc

"In the ultimate analysis, not only is the Bill in flagrant violation of international and regional human rights standards and norms, it also represents a decisive rejection of the terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, which provide for the right to freedom of expression, association and assembly. That attitude can only be described as contemptuous of the rule of law and of regional and international standards of governance and of the protection of human rights." This is according to an analysis of the controversial Zimbabwean Non-Governmental Organisations Bill, 2004, conducted by the International Bar Association.

Burundi: Fighting displaces another 3,000

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42929

An estimated 3,000 civilians were displaced on Saturday following fighting between rebels and government troops in the northwestern province of Bujumbura Rural. The displaced sought refuge in the commune of Kabezi in an area under the control of UN peacekeepers. Kabezi already hosts some 30,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) as a result of persistent insecurity due to fighting between the army and the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) led by Agathon Rwasa.

Burundi: Refugees' bitter lesson: no escape from war

2004-09-02

http://www.sundayindependent.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=2204364

Two weeks have passed since 160 Banyamulenge refugees were killed in this desolate transit camp, which lies under the shadow of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Kivu mountains. They had come here to the Burundian border seeking respite from the war that continues to ravage the DRC, hoping if not for peace, then at least for a temporary rest from the horrors they have grown up with. They found instead that war cannot be outrun.

DRC/Burundi: Massacre puts focus on refugee rights

2004-09-02

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=412da29133&page=news

In the aftermath of this month's massacre of 160 Congolese refugees in a temporary camp in Burundi, some advocacy groups say too little is being done to ensure the rights of refugees as outlined in the U.N.'s 1951 convention. "The massacre is the latest in the region's history of refugee camp disasters," says the U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR). "It highlights yet again one of the dangers of refugee warehousing, the practice of confining refugees to camps or segregated settlements or otherwise depriving them of basic human rights."

Eritrea/Sudan: Sudan agrees to process Eritrean asylum seekers

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/24222

Sudan has agreed to consider the asylum claims of 76 Eritreans who forced a Libyan plane to land in Sudan because they feared returning home, a U.N. official said on Saturday. Libya had denied the Eritreans refugee status. The Libyan military transport plane took off from the town of Khufrah and was heading for the Eritrean capital Asmara when some of the angry deportees moved into the cockpit and forced the plane to land.

Ethiopia: New research guide

2004-09-02

http://www.forcedmigration.org/guides/fmo033/

A new research guide to Ethiopia has been added to Forced Migration Online. It provides an overview of key information on forced migration issues, and gathers together important resources available online and elsewhere.

Guinea: End of refugee crisis in sight

2004-09-02

http://www.afrol.com/articles/13825

Almost 200,000 refugees have found a safe haven in Guinea as the wars in West Africa were at their worst, mostly from Sierra Leone, Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire. Now, almost all Sierra Leoneans have been repatriated and those few remaining will be offered Guinean citizenship. The repatriation of 73,000 Liberians is to start in October this year. Guinea has been the West African country that hosted most refugees during the end-1990s.

Libya/Egypt: Illegal Egyptian immigrants die from heat

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/24223

Security sources said that two illegal Egyptian immigrants died and 18 others were injured from excessive heat after being deported by Libyan authorities. The Egyptian sources told United Press International the immigrants, trying to sneak into Europe through Libya, were deported by Libyan authorities to the Egyptian border.

Mauritania: UNHCR hails Mauritania's new national refugee law

2004-09-02

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

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has congratulated Mauritania for becoming the first country in North Africa to adopt a national refugee law. In a letter sent to the Mauritanian President, Maaouye Ould Sidi Ahmed Taya, High Commissioner Ruud Lubbers said the law would "pave the way for the establishment of a national legal framework for the protection of refugees and returnees, and national asylum structures that can assume responsibility for managing refugee affairs in Mauritania."

Sudan: Darfur’s displaced remain traumatized and at risk of rape, harassment

2004-09-02

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11777&Cr=sudan&Cr1=

The displaced inhabitants of the Sudanese region of Darfur are traumatized and humiliated, and remain at constant risk of rape, violence and pressure to return to their homes, a United Nations humanitarian official told reporters after visiting the war-torn area. Dennis McNamara, the Director of the UN's Internal Displacement Division, told a press conference that rape and sexual violence against women and girls in Darfur was an immense problem.

Sudan: Sudan's 'lost boys' in America

2004-09-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3602724.stm

Orphaned youngsters, they fled their villages in Sudan in the 1980s, afraid they would be slaughtered as many of their families were by government troops. The lost boys - so called because they had to fend for themselves without parents or elders - set out on an extraordinary journey across Africa that took them to Ethiopia, back to Sudan and to refugee camps in Kenya. Three years ago, the United States government agreed to allow 3,600 of them to begin new lives in America.

Botswana: Strikers Being Evicted

2004-09-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3617198.stm

The International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU) has reported that workers taking part in an illegal strike at Botswana's largest mining firm, Debswana, are being evicted from company-owned homes. It is warning that the evictions could have serious social consequences on the stability of the region and that replacement mine workers have not been properly trained, reportedly leading to two deaths. Between 2,500 and 3,000 workers have been involved in the strike.

Burundi: Leaders Take Giant Step Before Poll

2004-09-02

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn20040831064437955C747002

Burundi's president and vice president, representing the country's two main political parties, have agreed to appoint an independent electoral commission to oversee the first democratic elections in more than a decade. The commission will consist of three Hutus and two Tutsis and candidates will be approved by the National Assembly. Despite this positive news, a government spokesperson again warned that an October 31st deadline to hold the election might not be met.

East Africa: leaders want federation soon

2004-09-02

http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#1911

The presidents of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda on Saturday agreed at a summit in Nairobi to move faster towards creating a political federation. “The summit resolved to expedite and compress the process of integration so that the ultimate goal of a political federation is achieved through a fast-track mechanism,” they said in a joint statement issued after a three-day summit.

Malawi: 2004 Elections - A mockery of democracy

2004-09-02

http://www.africapulse.org.za/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=2191

Executive Director of Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR) Ollen Mwalubunju has said the 2004 Parliamentary and Presidential Elections was a mockery of the country's democracy.

Malawi: Electoral Commission Chair Quits Over Flawed Poll

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42951

The chairman of Malawi's Electoral Commission (MEC), Justice Kalaile has resigned from his position, three months after presiding over controversial parliamentary and presidential ballots. The opposition Malawi Congress Party and Mgwirizano coalition are currently disputing the presidential rulings in the high court.

Nigeria: International pressure mounts on Federal Government

2004-09-02

http://www.thisdayonline.com/news/20040827news03.html

The battle of wits between the Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over the Labour Bill being processed by the National Assembly has shifted to the international arena as labour organisations in several African nations have started mounting pressure on government not to go ahead with the proposed law. COSATU's secretary general, Zwelinzima Vavi said the union would compile a list of local companies operating in Nigeria and lobby them to put pressure on the government to withdraw the bill.

Nigeria: Police Stop Second NLC Rally

2004-09-02

http://www.champion-newspapers.com/news/teasers/article_3

Just one week after similar action was taken in Abuja, policemen in Lagos stopped a second scheduled rally of the Nigeria Labour Congress. The police carried out an early morning raid on the organisation's office and then locked the main entrance, only unlocking it again later in the day. Speaking after the event, the state chairman of the National Conscience Party (NCP) said that the police action was an" invitation to anarchy" and threatened people's right to free expression.

Somalia: Transitional federal parliament welcomed

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42959

The European Union and the United States have welcomed the setting up of Somalia's transitional federal parliament, a move that paves the way for the formation of an all inclusive government in Somalia. "The European Union commends the efforts of Somali leaders in achieving this significant outcome and calls upon them to ensure that the same spirit of positive cooperation prevails during the remainder of the reconciliation process," a statement by the EU presidency in Brussels on Tuesday said.

Swaziland: Civil society decries lack of action on rule-of-law crisis

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42910

Former government leaders joined human rights attorneys in criticising officials perpetuating Swaziland's rule-of-law crisis at a conference sponsored by the Law Society of Swaziland this week. The crisis began two years ago when the royal government refused to obey High Court rulings limiting king Mswati's power to rule by decree.

Zimbabwe: Demonstration broken up by police

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42977

At least 15 people were reportedly arrested and eight injured when pro-democracy National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) protestors clashed with police during demonstrations against the Zimbabwe government's proposed Non-Governmental Organisations Bill. Under the Public Order and Security Act, the police must approve all gatherings but had turned down an NCA request to hold the demonstration.

Zimbabwe: Government Accuses MDC of Running Scared

2004-09-02

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1093517282695B251

Zimbabwe's government said this week that the MDC had decided to boycott elections because they were scared of losing. Justice Minister Chinamasa also dismissed charges that the government was not prepared to enforce the SADC election guidelines.

DRC: Government Urged To Come Clean on Oil Payments

2004-09-02

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=114892&src=dcn

A group of seven NGOs, lobbying under the motto, Publish What You Pay, has urged the government to stop including confidential clauses in deals with oil firms and publicly commit to improving transparency. The move follows a recent International Monetary Fund mission to the country and its recommendations that more audits of state oil firms and other companies in the sector should be carried out to ensure that the revenues are being properly used. The country is expected to be sub-Saharan Africa's fourth biggest oil producer this year.

Equatorial Guinea: Corruption Means the Poor Stay Poor

2004-09-02

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=114917&src=dcn

In a recent article by the Financial Times, it was suggested that the regime of Mr Obiang is an embarrassment to the US, which is showing interest in west African oil and claims a "positive, constructive relationship" with the country. This is despite a recent human rights report by the State Department which said "there was little evidence that the government used the country's oil wealth for the public good. Most oil wealth appears to be concentrated in the hands of top government officials while the majority of the population remained poor."

Ghana: Media Urged To Expose Corruption in Society

2004-09-02

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=114888&src=dcn

Mr Daniel Batidam, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), has urged the media to expose corrupt practices among the people entrusted with public office. Talking at an anti-corruption workshop, he said that politicians often "give cheap talk about fighting corruption...without the media holding them accountable to what they say in order to promote good governance." Mr Batidam also said that aspiring politicians were already influencing voting patterns at the primaries by giving money to gain favours from the party delegates.

Kenya: Nepad Urges State To Act On Corruption

2004-09-02

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=114918&src=dcn

Nepad's Chief Executive, Pete Ondeng, this week said that corruption had become the greatest stumbling block to Kenya's development, killing the aspirations of millions of ordinary people and denting Kenya's image among development partners. Speaking in Kabarnet, Ondeng urged the Government to strengthen systems that can help the country eliminate the vice from among those entrusted with positions of leadership.

Malawi: Corruption Rife In The Road Traffic Commission

2004-09-02

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408300294.html

The Media and the Driving Schools Association of Malawi have called upon the new Director of Public Prosecutions and the Anti-Corruption Bureau to turn their attention to the Road Traffic Commission and the proliferation of corruption practices at the Commission over the issuance of SADC licences to clients. The calls follow a spate of horrific road accidents in the country.

Nigeria: Banks Collude With Central Bank to Defraud Government, Tax Boss

2004-09-02

http://champion-newspapers.com/news/teasers/article_7

The new Chairman of Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Ms Omoigiu, this week accused some bank chiefs of colluding with officials from the Central Bank (CBN) to steal billions of naira from public funds. According to her upwards of N1.028 billion in taxes have been collected by the banks on behalf of government but have not then been remitted into the nation's account. To date no prosecutions over this matter have been undertaken.

Nigeria: Political Corruption Cause of Major Conflicts

2004-09-02

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408310548.html

The Director-General of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Dr Sunday Ochoche, has said that political corruption is the main cause of major conflicts in Nigeria. Speaking during a two-day seminar entitled "Peace in Ebonyi State - I am a Stakeholder", Ochoche said that in order to actualize their ambition, politicians have stimulated many conflicts that have caused so much havoc in the country.

Africa/Global: The trade union role in achieving the MDGs

Union International Network

2004-09-02

http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#1916

"The persistence of extreme poverty and the failure to meet many development goals are usually linked to lack of employment, poor wages and working conditions, and violations of workers' rights. In their most fundamental functions, trade unions work to combat these causes of poverty. Furthermore, in their campaigns trade unions often play a major role in the forefront of working towards results that have become part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), such as achieving universal primary education or combating the spread of HIV/AIDS. All too frequently however, policy advice and loan conditions counteract trade unions' efforts to contribute to achievement of the MDGs, particularly the attainment of MDG 1 for eradicating extreme poverty."

Africa: Poor countries, loans and the MDGs

2004-09-02

http://www.afrodad.org/archive/owningtheloan1.pdf

This report from Christian Aid and AFRODAD argues that the process by which aid-recipient countries agree to take on the terms and conditions of a loan needs to be opened up to scrutiny by citizen groups and their representatives in parliament and other formal democratic structures. This should help to avoid lending and borrowing mistakes, which in the past have led to the build-up of unsustainable debts that now have to be paid off at the cost of financing the Millennium Development Goals. Christian Aid and AFRODAD commissioned research in December 2003 to investigate the links between debt management, the build-up of new loans, and the most sustainable ways of financing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Malawi, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia. Click on the link to read the full report.

Africa: Sustaining growth in developing countries

2004-09-02

http://www.gdnet.org/knowledge_base/growth.html

Economic growth in most developing countries has been a story of ups and downs, stability and stagnation. Most developing countries have achieved moderate to rapid growth over medium to short periods of three to ten years, yet maintaining positive growth rates over longer periods has eluded the majority. What accounts for this volatility? Visit the GDNet web site for a special feature containing a wide-range of materials on economic growth from developing country analysts.

Ethiopia: Economists advocate transparency, caution on privatisation

2004-09-02

http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#1920

Former World Bank Chief Economist Joseph Stiglitz warned on Monday of the perils of development without openness, transparency and accountability. He and other participants in a symposium on "Democracy, Development and the Case for the Developmental State" in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, also argued against blanket privatisations. Developing countries need to respect human rights, have a diverse media and strong political opposition groups, Stiglitz told the senior politicians, business leaders and aid officials attending the symposium, which was organised by an Ethiopian think tank, the Inter-Africa Group.

Southern Africa: A profile of Southern Africa

2004-09-02

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000914/index.php

Southern Africa represents a "matrix of competing interests and contending difficulties", says an analysis commissioned by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation from the Human Sciences Research Council's Integrated Rural and Regional Development research programme and available on the Southern African Regional Poverty Network website. "Nonetheless, it is one of the more robust regions on the continent, with increased movement toward a free trade area and democratic practice. Many donors and nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) alike estimate that southern Africa’s reasonably well-developed infrastructure and diverse natural resource base have the potential to lead the rest of Africa towards a more prosperous 21st century."

Southern Africa: Impact of global oil prices

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42949

Recent increases in global oil prices will have an impact on economies in the region, although it will be softened by the weaker US dollar, analysts told IRIN. John Loos, a noted economist with one of South Africa's largest commercial banks, ABSA, told IRIN that because oil prices had peaked at almost US $50 a barrel before gradually easing off this week, a "gradual uptick in inflation" could be expected in the region. Brent crude oil was trading at US $40.77 a barrel on Tuesday afternoon.

Africa/Global: Chasing the MDG's

2004-09-02

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC15334

This article, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), focuses on health as central to the achievement of all the millennium development goals (MDGs). Key challenges for health improvement include reversing the global HIV/AIDS epidemic and reducing child and maternal mortality. The authors acknowledge the need for more aid but argue that this is only part of the picture. To effectively absorb increases in aid, poor countries need strong, equitable health systems and institutions. They also need the capacity to deliver services, which includes having enough skilled staff.

Africa: Assessing Africa's food and nutrition security situation

2004-09-02

http://www.ifpri.org/pubs/ib/ib17.pdf

Food and nutrition security are the fundamental challenges to human welfare and economic growth in Africa. Low food availability and profound poverty have caused the number of undernourished people on the continent to rise considerably in recent years. An estimated 200 million people in Africa can now be classed as undernourished - almost 20 percent more than in the early 1990s. The dismal level of food and nutrition security obvious in many African countries at both the national and the household level means that while 14 percent of the global population is undernourished, the figure is nearly double (27 percent) for Africa.

Africa: HIV/AIDS Has 'Highly Negative' Impact on Agricultural Production, UN agency says

2004-09-02

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=25417

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has announced the results of a study showing that HIV/AIDS is causing a "long-term decline" in subsistence agricultural production in Mozambique and across sub-Saharan Africa, Agence France-Presse reports. The study, which was based on interviews with about 90 people in Mozambique in 2003, showed that as HIV-positive people become too ill to farm, they stop planting many crops.

Africa: UK must stop draining health care workers from Africa, says minister

2004-09-02

http://www.hst.org.za/news/20040475

The British government is to tighten regulations on employment of health care workers from developing countries in order to stop draining key staff from nations hard hit by AIDS, Health Minister John Hutton announced this week during a visit to South Africa. "We are determined not to destabilise the healthcare systems of developing countries. The NHS is expanding, but we're not going to do that at the expense of other countries," he said this week. National Health Service hospitals are already forbidden to recruit nurses from almost all developing countries except India, China and the Philippines, but private agencies have been allowed to recruit staff from anywhere in the world on short term contracts.

Burundi/Uganda: The causes and consequence of stigma

2004-09-02

http://www.acord.org.uk/stigma.pdf

ACORD, an international NGO working in over 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, has just produced a report of research carried out in Northern Uganda and Burundi to gain insight into both the causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination. The research produced evidence of alarming levels of stigma and discrimination suffered by individuals, their carers and families in both countries. Ignorance and fear compounded by cultural and religious taboos were found to be at the root of such attitudes and behaviours. Reluctance to be tested or seek counselling and/or rejection by service providers are among the key consequences confirming that stigma and discrimination act as a major barrier to accessing services and treatment.

East/Southern Africa: Unicef warns on ARV use

2004-09-02

http://www.newvision.co.ug/detail.php?newsCategoryId=13&newsId=383116

The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and scientists have warned against the use of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) without improving the nutrition of patients. Delegates from 14 eastern and southern African countries are meeting in Entebbe to discuss the regional nutritional needs of women, children and the implications of HIV on nutrition. The delegates want their respective governments to institute nutrition policies and provide nutrition supplementation to improve health. The commissioner in charge of children’s health, Jessica Nsungwa, said 10% of Ugandan women have chronic energy deficiency while 41% of pregnant women were anaemic.

Ivory Coast: Nurses run checkpoint gauntlet to get medicines for north

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42921

Battling your way past rebel and government soldiers to buy medical supplies does not fall under a nurse's usual job description. But for Sister Rosalia, trying to treat the sick in the northern half of Cote d'Ivoire, it is an unavoidable chore. The world's top cocoa producer has been split in two since an uprising in September 2002 and aid workers and residents say the humanitarian situation is deteriorating in the rebel-held north of the country.

Kenya: Government to expand HIV/AIDS treatment

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42894

The Kenyan government plans to provide anti-retroviral treatment (ARVs) to 181,000 people living with HIV by 2005, a government statement said. The number of beneficiaries would rise to 250,000 by 2010, it added. Health Minister Charity Ngilu said the strategy would be achieved through the implementation of a National Social Health Insurance Scheme, which the Kenyan parliament is due to debate this year.

Nigeria: 'Foolish' Nigerian senate strike

2004-09-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3615628.stm

The Nigerian senate has gone on strike for two days - demanding President Olusegun Obasanjo sacks a minister who called them foolish. Outspoken minister for Abuja, Nasir El-Rufai, is one of President Obasanjo's most controversial appointees. He has been criticised for ordering the demolition of illegal structures in Abuja, as well as dismissing hundreds of workers in his ministry.

Sierra Leone: All Uphill from Cairo into Africa

2004-09-02

http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=25265

A new push to reproductive health services planned at a London conference next week will have to work in Sierra Leone if anywhere. Sierra Leone, a small West African country on the Atlantic bordering Liberia and Guinea has the unhappy distinction of the highest maternal mortality rate in the world. ''That's about 2,100 per 100,000 births,'' Yvonne Harding who works with Marie Stopes International in the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown told IPS.

Sierra Leone: Cholera kills 40 people in first outbreak in five years

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42913

A cholera outbreak in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, has killed 40 people so far this month, a senior government health official told IRIN on Friday. He blamed overcrowded slums, torrential rains and infected traders arriving from neighbouring Guinea into Sierra Leone for the country's first cholera outbreak in five years.

South Africa: PMTCT continues despite Nevirapine controversy

2004-09-02

http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=3805

A programme for the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV (PMTCT) will continue in South Africa's Gauteng province, provincial health minister Gwen Ramokgopa has announced. Use of the anti-AIDS drug Nevirapine as a single dose in PMTCT programmes is currently under further research following claims by the Medicines Control Council (MCC) that the drug could create resistance in some HIV-positive expectant mothers.

Sudan: WHO Health update for Darfur, Sudan and Chad

2004-09-02

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/briefings/2004/mb4/en/

The main health concerns facing displaced people in Darfur and their host communities include: malnutrition, acute respiratory infections, diarrhoeal diseases, malaria, hepatitis E and conflict-related trauma. The possibility of outbreaks of communicable diseases is particularly elevated. This is due to risk factors including limited amounts of potable water, low standards of environmental hygiene, declining nutritional status, and low vaccination coverage. Twelve communicable diseases and health events are being monitored by the Early Warning Alert and Response Network (EWARN) established by WHO, and implemented by a network of health care groups throughout the three Darfur States.

Swaziland: New survey shows much lower HIV infection among youth

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42907

A dramatically lower number of Swazi teenage girls are being infected by HIV than was previously estimated, suggesting a turning point in the battle against HIV/AIDS in a country with the world's highest HIV infection rates, a new report has revealed. The findings in the report, 'A Baseline Study on HIV Risk Factors', commissioned by the UN Childrens' Fund (UNICEF) are derived from interviews and blood tests of over 1,000 Swazis in two rural areas and revealed that only six percent of girls aged from 15 to 19 were found to be HIV-positive, with most of the HIV infections occurring among older girls.

Tanzania: Free drugs for HIV/AIDS patients

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42943

Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa announced on Tuesday that the government would start distributing anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) free to HIV/AIDS patients from October. "There is no cure for AIDS yet, these drugs can only prolong lives," Mkapa said in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, during the signing of an US $87.9-million grant from the Global Fund for Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Tanzania: Searching for a solution to the malaria crisis

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42956

In the next six years, the number of Tanzanians killed by malaria could be halved. They just need to start using insecticide-treated nets. "Treated nets can reduce mosquito bites by more than 80 percent and kill more than 50 percent of all mosquitoes that enter houses," Alex Mwita, manager of Tanzania's National Malaria Control Programme, said. Medical experts say the use of bed nets would cut the number of children killed by the disease by 27 percent.

Uganda: Less than 10% have access to ARV's

2004-09-02

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=25462

An article in Uganda's Monitor newspaper recently examined efforts by the government to provide antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive people in the country. Although approximately 120,000 HIV-positive Ugandans need antiretrovirals, only about 13,000 are expected to be on treatment by November, according to Dr. Elizabeth Namagala, who is in charge of antiretrovirals for the country's Ministry of Health, the Monitor reports.

Zimbabwe: With ARVs beyond reach, rural folk resort to herbs

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42867

Moketsi Nleya, a subsistence farmer in rural Madlambuzi, western Zimbabwe, painfully retrieves a bunch of thin brown roots from under his pillow, which he breaks into tiny fragments and chews, followed by a cupful of an analgesic herbal concoction that also acts as a sedative. Nleya, 55, is among a growing number of HIV/AIDS patients in rural Zimbabwe who have to resort to traditional medicine because they have no direct access to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy.

Africa/Global: UN chooses Costa Rican human rights expert as rapporteur on right to education

2004-09-02

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11791&Cr=education&Cr1=

A Costa Rican professor and adviser with a long record of advocating for the protection of human rights has been selected by the United Nations to serve as the world body's Special Rapporteur on the right to education. The UN Commission on Human Rights, based in Geneva, announced that it has appointed Vernor Muñoz Villalobos to the post - which examines obstacles to the right to education and identifies ways to remove them - initially until 2007.

Africa: Addressing sexual violence in the education sector

2004-09-02

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC15460

Recent research studies worldwide reveal that sexual violence in the education sector is an unaddressed problem. This report from the Panos Institute attempts to address this gap by focusing on the problem of sexual violence in educational institutions all over the world, and argues that educational institutions, due to the level of respect they hold in communities, can help break the cycle of violence through addressing it vigorously where it happens, and ensuring that curricular and extra-curricular opportunities equip young people to navigate their sexual lives without violence.

Africa: Educators debate condoms in schools

2004-09-02

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20031101

Education officials from around the African continent unanimously support abstinence messages but argue over condom distribution at schools. While schools are under pressure to distribute condoms at schools, not one of the 12 African countries represented at a high level meeting in Durban is doing so and most education officials felt this would be inappropriate.

Cameroon: Teachers Plan Strike Action

2004-09-02

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408301523.html

Cameroonian teachers have decided to go on strike from October 6 to 29, if the government does not ameliorate the status of teachers in the country. This is one of the major declarations made during a press conference, last Friday, in Yaounde.

South Africa: Sadtu Insists On Higher Teachers' Pay Rise

2004-09-02

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408310181.html

Government hopes that a revised benefits offer to educators will avert a South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) strike may be dashed after the union dismissed the offer as "disappointing". Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine FraserMoleketi's offer came as Sadtu's showdown with her department gathered momentum. Sadtu chief negotiator Fikile Hugo said that his union, the largest in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council, might strike if government did not announce "something tangible" at a meeting with union negotiators on Friday.

Australia/Africa:Campus racism rises

2004-09-02

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/28/1093518164853.html?oneclick=true

When Agade Busaka came to Australia to study in 1998, he was excited. Now the 25-year-old cannot wait to leave, and alert his friends to the racism he has experienced. He and his colleagues are so concerned, some have called for warnings about racism to be placed in literature advertising courses.

US/Africa: Rising use of `African-American' raises question of who belongs

2004-09-02

http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBVJ8LNGYD.html

For a moment, the Ethiopian-born activist seemed to melt into the crowd, blending into the sea of black professors, health experts and community leaders. But when he suggested focusing some attention on African immigrants, the dividing lines were promptly and pointedly drawn. The focus of the campaign, activist Abdulaziz Kamus was told, would be strictly on African-Americans. "`I said, `But I am African and I am an American citizen; am I not African-American?' '' asked Kamus, an advocate for African immigrants.

Africa/Global: Technology already exists to stabilize climate, say experts

2004-09-02

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-09-01/s_26591.asp

Existing technologies could stop the escalation of global warming for 50 years, and work on implementing them can begin immediately, according to an analysis by Princeton University scientists. The scientists identified 15 technologies - from wind, solar, and nuclear energy to conservation techniques - that are ripe for large-scale use and showed that each could solve a significant portion of the problem.

Africa/Global: World Bank funnels taxpayer funds for poverty reduction to big oil

2004-09-02

http://www.seen.org/pages/press_releases/Tug_of_war.shtml

The Institute for Policy Studies released a report that shows that most oil projects supported by the World Bank supply industrialized country consumption - not developing countries' energy needs - and almost all benefit large corporations based in those countries. Halliburton leads the pack of companies benefiting from World Bank energy lending. "The Energy Tug-of-War: Winners and Losers in World Bank Fossil Fuel Finance" exposes the leading beneficiaries of 133 financial packages, worth over $10.7 billion, approved by the World Bank Group since 1992. The report was written by the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network (SEEN), a project of the Institute for Policy Studies.

Africa: Drug-Discovery Plan to Tap, and Help, Africa Forests

2004-09-02

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/08/0826_040826_rainforest_drug.html#main

The beleaguered rain forests of Madagascar are home to thousands of plants found nowhere else- and perhaps new lifesaving drugs. Could the search for medicinal plants help keep the forests of this African island nation intact? A team of scientists hope the answer is yes. "Is it possible to add to the human economy without depleting the biodiversity riches? We are trying our best to do this," said a scientist. Click on the link to read the story on the website of National Geographic.

Ghana: Loggers and politicians, not small farmers, are to blame for deforestation

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/24261

Even by conservative estimates, less than a quarter of Ghana's pre-colonial forest remains. Loggers and politicians caused most deforestation, though they like to shift the blame to farmers. But the fact is that throughout the Twentieth Century farmers have had little control over the trees on their land.
SOURCE: WORLD RAINFOREST MOVEMENT
MOVIMIENTO MUNDIAL POR LOS BOSQUES

International Secretariat
Maldonado 1858; Montevideo, Uruguay
E-Mail: wrm@wrm.org.uy
Web page: http://www.wrm.org.uy
Editor: Ricardo Carrere
**********************************************************************

=================================
W R M B U L L E T I N 85
August 2004 - English edition

This bulletin is also available in French, Portuguese, and Spanish. Please
let us know if you wish to receive it in some of these languages.


Ghana: Loggers and politicians, not small farmers, are to blame for
deforestation

Even by conservative estimates, less than a quarter of Ghana's
pre-colonial forest remains. Loggers and politicians caused most
deforestation, though they like to shift the blame to farmers. But the
fact is that throughout the Twentieth Century farmers have had little
control over the trees on their land. British colonialists gave timber
rights to chiefs, who promptly sold them to loggers, or ordered them
cleared and replaced with cacao plantations. After independence, the
government claimed ownership of all trees and land, and sold most of it
off to loggers. Cocoa farmers followed the loggers, settling in the newly
cleared areas. Because cacao trees grow better under shade, small farmers
usually conserve forest cover. But decades of bad forest policies and a
corrupt forest department meant that farmers received no compensation
-only ruined fields- for the trees that logging companies cut from their
land. Government officials -often receiving kick-backs from loggers- set
extremely low royalties on logged trees, and failed to collect most
anyway. Booming foreign demand in Asia combined with new timber mills
financed by the World Bank plunged the timber sector into crisis.

Reforms in the 1990s came too little and too late. After substantial civil
society and donor pressure, the government reluctantly implemented a few
token reforms to involve communities in scattered projects. But farmers
still have no say over forest policies, over whether their land is given
off as a concession, nor over which trees companies cut from their
backyards.

By blaming farmers, politicians and loggers evade responsibility. Similar
scapegoating happens in Madagascar, Senegal and many other countries
across Africa. Such stories about destructive slash-and-burn farmers are
then picked up by naïve scholars and self-seeking international agro-input
companies. Fertilizer companies say governments must get 'destructive'
'slash-and-burn' farmers to buy more fertilizer in order to raise
productivity on existing land thereby stopping expansion. Biotechnology
firms argue that new genetically engineered seeds will enable farmers to
boost yields on current land. In the process, we are blinded to the real
villains, and we lose opportunities for real changes in policy and
government to foster conservation and rehabilitation.

By: Aaron deGrassi, e-mail: degrassi@ocf.berkeley.edu . Note based on:
deGrassi, Aaron (2003). Constructing Subsidiarity, Consolidating Hegemony:
Political Economy and Agro-Ecological Processes in Ghanaian Forestry.
Washington, DC: World Resources Institute. Environmental Governance in
Africa Working Paper No. 13. deGrassi, Aaron (2003). (Mis)Understanding
change in agro-environmental technology in Africa: Charting and refuting
the myth of population-induced breakdown. In, Zeleza, P. T. and Kakoma, I.
(eds.), In search of modernity: Science and technology in Africa. Trenton:
Africa World Press. pp. 473-505.
************************************************************

Nigeria: Anger as Shell Rejects Nigerian $1.5 Billion Compensation Order

2004-09-02

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/anger_as_shell_rejects_nig_31082004.html

The oil giant Shell is challenging the authority of the Nigerian Senate by rejecting an order to pay compensation of $1.5 billion to communities in the Niger Delta affected by oil pollution. In an advertisement published in Nigerian newspapers the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) claims the Senate failed to follow "due process" in imposing the fine, announced last week. Friends of the Earth Nigeria reacted angrily to the advertisement, saying it showed that the oil giant was yet again trying to avoid facing up to its responsibilities to the local communities.

South Africa: Renewable energy is people’s power

2004-09-02

http://www.earthlife.org.za/News_Detail.asp?ID=35

These are the two messages uniting civil society in a demonstration on 1st September, to coincide with second anniversary celebrations of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD+2). The demonstration will call on government to play a stronger role in increasing access to and affordability of energy services, coupled with development of local industries in renewable energy technologies. "Two years after the WSSD, millions of South African households are still without access to affordable and safe energy, " says Richard Worthington, branch co-ordinator of Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, which is organising the demonstration.

Tanzania: Wildlife authorities look for solution to hippo crisis

2004-09-02

http://www.terradaily.com/2004/040829171352.nxsfi2js.html

Tanzanian wildlife authorities have expressed fears for the survival of thousands of hippos due to acute shortage of water facing the country's southern western Katavi National Park. "We are concerned with acute shortage of water flowing into the park. If the river dries up, thousands of hippopotamus might die," the park's chief warden Stephen Quoli told AFP on Sunday.

Kenya: Masai Ordered to Pay Sh3.5 Million

2004-09-02

http://www.eastandard.net/headlines/news01090407.htm

44 Masai herdsmen charged with invading white-owned ranches in Laikipia were ordered to pay a total of Sh3.5 million as bail this week. Their relatives and lawyers have claimed that the ruling is designed to harass the Masai and described the ruling as a prohibitive bail condition, claiming that the majority of the accused are simply unable to over the Sh80,000 ($1,000) required from each of them. The magistrate denied receiving any advice from the government and said that he was discharging his duties independently.

Kenya: Rift In Cabinet Over Masai Land Rights

2004-09-02

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-08-27/s_26754.asp

Minister of State William Ole Ntimama this week broke ranks with the government and threw his weight behind the Masai's campaign to reclaim ancestral land. "The Masai land was annexed under a state of war by the colonial government," the minister said. Calling for dialogue among the government, white farmers and the Masai to begin as soon as possible, he also appealed to the ranchers to "allow Masai to graze in some of the land. People are moving in desperation, there is no water or grass outside the electric fences," he said.

South Africa: Land Reform Faces Funding Shortages

2004-09-02

http://allafrica.com/stories/200408310732.html

Edward Lahiff, of the Western Cape Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLASS) has called upon the South African Government to be "realistic" when setting targets for placing more commercial farmland in the hands of the rural poor. His comments follow recent research by PLASS which shows that the Government faces a shortfall of R587 million for land reform projects it has already approved.

Zimbabwe: Farmers Arrested For Not Leaving Land

2004-09-02

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn20040828112217757C906173

Zimbabwean police last week arrested six white commercial farmers for allegedly refusing to vacate their farms designated for landless blacks. State media sources said that the farmers in the region of Karoi in western Zimbabwe had defied notices to leave their land and that most had more than one farm each. Farming sources have said that none of the farmers had more than one farm and that some were not even farming as their properties had already been taken.

Lesotho: Court Orders Return of Newspaper's Computer Equipment

2004-09-02

http://allafrica.com/stories/200409010008.html

On 18 August 2004, the "Mirror" newspaper, a weekly English tabloid, was served with a rescission order providing for the return of all its computer equipment by the sheriff of Lesotho's High Court. This follows the seizure of the newspaper's computer equipment after being served with a writ of execution in a civil defamation case.

Southern Africa: MISA and Gender Links to host the first Southern African Gender and Media Awards and Summit

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/24340

Over 160 people from the region and several observers from across the globe will participate in the first Southern African Gender and Media Awards and Summit in Johannesburg from 12-14 September. Mail and Guardian editor Ferial Haffajee will give the keynote address at the multi-media award presentation and formal opening on the evening of 12 September. The competition attracted close to 100 print, television, radio and photography entries with stories ranging from men running day care centres to daughters being sold for debt.
MISA Communiqué (Gender Summit)

September 1, 2004

Gender Summit: MISA and Gender Links to host the first Southern African Gender and Media Awards and Summit



* NOTE TO EDITORS



Gender links will be running a wire service on the summit from 12-15 September edited by Christina Stucky. If you are interested in receiving this service please e mail cstucky@wol.co.za or phone 083-460-6454. For further information on the summit please contact Colleen Lowe Morna on 082-651-6995 or Kubi Rama on 082 378 8239 or go to www.genderlinks.org.za All sessions of the summit are open to the media.





Johannesburg, 1 September: Over 160 people from the region and several observers from across the globe will participate in the first Southern African Gender and Media Awards and Summit in Johannesburg from 12-14 September.



Mail and Guardian editor Ferial Haffajee will give the keynote address at the multi-media award presentation and formal opening on the evening of 12 September. The competition attracted close to 100 print, television, radio and photography entries with stories ranging from men running day care centres to daughters being sold for debt.



Africa director for Inter Press Service and chair of the judges panel Farai Samhungu described the entries as "a resounding testimony to the progress that is being made in Southern Africa towards presenting gender issues in ways that spark debate and make for more professional, robust journalism."



The summit, that is being convened by Gender Links and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), will feature 12 country reports and over 25 case studies of media practice, training, monitoring and advocacy following the ground breaking Gender and Media Baseline Study two years. This showed that on average women constitute 17 percent of news sources and are portrayed in a limited number of roles, most often as victims of violence or as beauty queens. The study showed that gender as an issue hardly features in mainstream coverage.



Participants include MISA regional and country offices, the Gender and Media Networks established in seven countries by Gender Links, representatives of the Southern African Editors Forum, media women's associations, media trainers, practitioners and award winners. A key outcome will be the launch of a regional gender and media network made up of all these groups.



Highlights of the packed three day programme include:

The launch of the directory of women's sources by Mauritian Minister of Women's Rights Arianne Navarre at a jazz evening hosted by Kaya FM on the evening of 13 September.
Sessions on current gender and media issues, including gender and images, elections, information technology, culture, custom and tradition. Minister of Health Patrick Pillay, a single parent and the patron on the gender and media network in Seychelles, will talk about constructions of masculinity in the media. . Talks by African and international gender and media experts including Esther Kanaimba, Chair of the Federation of African Media Women; Margaret Sentamu of the Ugandan Media Women's Association; Margaret Gallagher, the internationally renowned author of "Gender Setting"; Ammu Joseph of the Network of Women in the Media in India and Gifti Nandi from the International Federation of Media Women.
Kristina Stainton, a community radio trainer from New Zealand who was involved in the production of the award winning film "Whale Rider" about gender and tradition in the Maori community, will talk share her experiences as an indigenous woman working in the media at an informal event on the evening of 14 September called "Sharing Voices".
The overall theme of the summit is "Making every voice count."




Ends

Southern Africa: Small media to band together

2004-09-02

http://www.journalism.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1744&CAMSSID=623e0458134e5a066e3b91f429a7d5a2

Southern Africa's largest association of independent grassroots publishers will be formally launched at a small media summit near Johannesburg on September 16. The new Association of Independent Publishers of Southern Africa (AIPSA) is expected to launch with a membership of 120 rural, township, and neighbourhood publishers from across the region. The new body will incorporate the 126-year-old Community Press Association (CPA) and the Independent Media Alliance (IMA), and will automatically gain membership of the umbrella Print Media South Africa (PMSA) association.

Togo: New law decriminalises press offences

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/24258

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has welcomed reforms passed by the Togolese National Assembly amending the press and communications law so that press offences are no longer punishable by prison terms. In a 24 August 2004 extraordinary session, Parliament unanimously adopted the draft law. The new text replaces the 25 September 2002 law, previously considered one of the most repressive in Africa. Thirty-four of its 112 articles were amended and four repealed.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT - TOGO

27 August 2004

New law decriminalises press offences

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has welcomed reforms passed by the Togolese National
Assembly amending the press and communications law so that press offences
are no longer punishable by prison terms.

In a 24 August 2004 extraordinary session, Parliament unanimously adopted
the draft law. The new text replaces the 25 September 2002 law, previously
considered one of the most repressive in Africa. Thirty-four of its 112
articles were amended and four repealed.

The law's major advance is the abolishing of prison sentences for press
offences such as defamation and insult. Heavy fines of up to five million
CFA francs (approx. US$9,200), however, remain. Nonetheless, the new law is
considered much more liberal and respecting of press freedom than its
predecessor.

"Even if the authorities in Togo have taken this step solely under pressure
from the European Union (EU), we welcome this reform of the press code that
will bring hope to every journalist in the country," said RSF.

"We will, however, remain vigilant and wait to see how the law is applied.
In fact, prison sentences are still in place in cases of journalists found
guilty of incitement to theft, murder, racial hatred or subverting the
security forces from 'their duty to their country'."

"If judges apply too broad an interpretation of these notions, there is the
danger that journalists who are critical or provocative could still find
themselves victims of arbitrary imprisonment," the organisation added.

Amendment of the press and communication law was among the Togolese
government's commitments in Brussels on 14 April 2004, with a view to
resuming cooperation between Togo and the EU, broken off in 1993 because of
a weak Togolese democracy.

On 28 April, Communications Minister Pitang Tchalla set up an 11-member
reform commission drawn from journalists' organisations and unions, the
Communications Ministry, the Togolese media observatory and the broadcast
and communications authority. The new law passed by Togolese
parliamentarians almost exactly mirrors the results of the commission's
work.

Another advance in the new law is the repeal of all articles allowing the
interior minister to decree seizures or closures of newspapers, which had
given rise to many abuses in the past. This role has now been given to the
state prosecutor, who will be required to justify such decisions in advance.

One article of the draft law, in particular, was intensely debated. Article
104, which abolishes the use of custody for press offences, was withdrawn
during its passage through Cabinet on 21 July, then reinstated after lengthy
negotiations before the law commission on 6 August.

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

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

Zambia: Court dismisses State application against media bodies

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/24259

On August 27 2004, the Lusaka High Court dismissed an application by the state arguing that six media organizations that sued the state had wrongly commenced the matter of challenging the legality of government's decision not to take all the recommended names appointed to sit on the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and the Zambia National Broadcasting Services (ZNBC) boards to parliament for ratification. In his ruling in chambers, High Court Judge Gregory Phiri said the matter was properly commenced before the court and could therefore be heard by judicial review.
Zambia Alert Update

August 31, 2004

Victory: Court dismisses State application against media bodies



*The following is an update of MISA Alerts and statements issued on March 12 and 23, 2004. See www.misa.org for more information.



On August 27 2004, the Lusaka High Court dismissed an application by the state arguing that six media organizations that sued the state had wrongly commenced the matter of challenging the legality of government’s decision not to take all the recommended names appointed to sit on the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and the Zambia National Broadcasting Services (ZNBC) boards to parliament for ratification.



In his ruling in chambers, High Court Judge Gregory Phiri said the matter was properly commenced before the court and could therefore be heard by judicial review.



This followed an objection by the state in a preliminary hearing on August 24 saying the six organizations - except the “Post” newspaper, had legal authority to sue the state in the case and that the matter was not supposed to be commenced in the first place due to irregularities relating to Order 53 of the Supreme Court Practice Rules.



He said the organizations also have legal authority to seek judicial review over Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Mutale Nalumango’s refusal to take to Parliament names of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) and the Zambia National Broadcasting Services (ZNBC) board members.



He said the decision to leave out some names was made by Information and Broadcasting Services Mutale Nalumango, in the exercise of her statutory powers under the Independent Broadcasting Authority Act No.17 of 2002 and the ZNBC (Amendment) Act No. 20 of 2002.



“It is apparent that the applicant’s aim is at challenging the legality of the minister’s decision made in the exercise of her statutory powers under the Independent Broadcasting Act No. 17 of 2002 and the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (Amendment0 Act No.20 of 2002,” he said.



Judge Phiri said there was a decision involved by the minister and that decision was administrative in nature and could be subject of judicial enquiry. He stated that the subject matter of the application for judicial review by the media associations was not about interpretation of statutory provisions but about the decision made by the minister.



“Clearly this decision cannot be vividly said to be a question of interpretation of statutory provisions per se,’ he said.



BACKGROUND



On August 24 2004, the Court allowed the media bodies to make amendments to the legal action to show names of individuals to sue on behalf of the respective organizations.



Those that have sued the state and the Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services include the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA)-Zambia, Press Association of Zambia (PAZA), Zambia Media Women’s Association (ZAMWA), Society of Senior Zambian Journalists (SSZJ), Zambia Union of Journalists (ZUJ) and the “Post” newspaper.



Despite the coming into effect of the IBA and ZNBC Acts in December 2003, and the fact that the Appointments Committees have submitted names to the Minister in order for her to take them to the National Assembly for ratification, the Minister has not done so to date. MISA consequently demanded that the minister submits these names to Parliament for ratification without any further delay in the interests of transparency and good governance.



The IBA Act removes the Minister of Information’s regulatory powers in terms of awarding broadcasting licenses to non-state broadcasters, which will instead be performed by a publicly nominated board ratified by Parliament. Delays in the ratification of this board means that the Minister of Information so far continues to control this function. The government refused to surrender its right of licensing the ZNBC, but the new ZNBC act does require the state broadcaster to transform into a public broadcaster serving the diversity of political views and interests across the spectrum. It also enables the government to charge the public a TV license fee. Additional funds are urgently required to refurbish the antiquated equipment and facilities of the state broadcaster.



Ends

Africa: The young face of NEPAD: Children and young people in the New Partnership for Africa's Development

2004-09-02

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC15471&Resource=f1children

This paper suggests that the aspirations of NEPAD's initiators, partners and stakeholders for progress, peace and poverty-reducing growth should find their foundation in Africa's human capacity development, which in turn must start with Africa's children. It reviews what has worked and what has not worked for children in the last decades; proposes strategies for human development within the framework of NEPAD, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and national Poverty Reduction Strategies; and identifies priority actions for and with children and young people which, in the favourable macroeconomic and institutional climate sought by NEPAD and the African Union, will help ensure sustained progress.

Africa: Towards feasible social security systems in sub-Saharan Africa

2004-09-02

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC15475&Resource=f1poverty

The prospects for workable social security systems in sub-Saharan Africa do not appear encouraging. This paper argues that in the current circumstances of widespread economic crisis (and the demographic impacts of the HIV/AIDS pandemic) both formal and informal mechanisms have to be combined. The only practicable way forward is to combine these approaches, and devise a new division of responsibility between public and private provision.

Angola: UN-backed vaccination campaign against polio in children begins

2004-09-02

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=11762&Cr=angola&Cr1=

Angola’s health authorities have begun immunizing 5 million children under the age of five against polio, part of a campaign by United Nations agencies to make sure the country is not caught up in the current wave of re-infections across Africa. Backed by officials from the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation, as well as several non-governmental organizations (NGOs), 12,000 vaccination teams will fan out across the country, the UN agencies said in a statement.

Liberia: Too little money for rehabilitation of former child combatants, UNICEF says

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42890

The head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) criticised donors last Thursday for failing to fund the resettlement and retraining of former combatants in Liberia once they had been disarmed. "Much effort has been put into disarmament and demobilization, but not as much effort has gone into funding reintegration and rehabilitation...and that is worrisome," Carol Bellamy told reporters at the end of a three-day visit to Liberia to assess the reintegration of former child soldiers.

South Africa: Billion Rand public works programme launched

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42976

Next to Brazil, South Africa is said to be one of the most unequal societies in the world, prompting the government to place greater emphasis on poverty alleviation through public works programmes. The multi-billion rand Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) was launched this week at a series of provincial ceremonies. But whether or not the programme will make a significant dent in unemployment and poverty levels is debatable, an analyst told IRIN.

South Africa: Protests at lack of development

2004-09-02

http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/crime1justice/0,2172,86881,00.html

All those who were arrested on charges of public violence at Intabazwe in Harrismith, in the eastern Free State, have been released. Around 40 youths appeared in the Harrismith Magistrate's Court. Violence erupted when youths protesting about poor service delivery and a lack of development, barricaded streets and burned tyres.

Uganda: 47 children, formerly abducted by LRA, come back home

2004-09-02

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_23334.html

UNICEF in Uganda urged civilian and military authorities responsible for receiving 47 formerly abducted children - repatriated from southern Sudan by the International Organization for Migration, after their abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) - to ensure the children’s rights remain protected. The 47 individuals, reportedly including 12 under the age of 8, were abducted from their families by the LRA during the ongoing armed conflict in northern Uganda.

Zimbabwe: People with Spinal Cord Injuries hold a 5-day workshop

Gladys Charowa

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/welfare/24293

People with disabilities (Spinal Cord Injuries) held a five day national workshop for trainers from August 23 - 27 2004 at Ruwa National Rehabilitation Centre near the capital Harare. The aim was to physically empower newly injured people in hospitals and rehabilitation centres with information on how to manage their conditions after injuries. Research has revealed that if newly injured people are given adequate information about their conditions early, and from people in similar situations, it would reduce the period of time spent in hospital and rehabilitation centres and will save on resources of the patient and government Other research also reveals that in under developed countries, people with spinal cord injuries die within two years after their injuries due to lack of information and poverty.
People with Spinal Cord Injuries hold a 5-day workshop in Zimbabwe

People with disabilities (Spinal Cord Injuries) held a five day national workshop for trainers from August 23 – 27 2004 at Ruwa National Rehabilitation Centre near the capital Harare . The aim was to physically empower newly injured people in hospitals and rehabilitation centres with information on how to manage their conditions after injuries.

Research has revealed that if newly injured people are given adequate information about their conditions early, and from people in similar situations, it would reduce the period of time spent in hospital and rehabilitation centres and will save on resources of the patient and government point of view. Another research also revealed that in under developed countries, people with spinal cord injuries die within two years after their injuries due to lack of information and poverty. In developed countries, People with spinal cord injuries live normal life as their able-bodied counterparts.

The current situation was that an injured person could spend at most three years in hospital and at a rehabilitation centre before being discharged. When discharged from hospital, some go back home in wheel borrows as they can not afford to purchase wheelchairs where this is one’s human right for mobility.

Due to lack of information on the management of spinal cord injuries, newly injured people were spending more time in hospitals mourning about their conditions resulting in them developing pressures sore due to depression.

It takes more than six months for pressure sores to heal before one begins rehabilitation activities. It is felt that if one accepts his/her condition and have adequate information, would be admitted in hospital for less than a month and spend at more three months at a rehabilitation centre.

Over 30 participants drawn from all the country’s ten provinces and patients at the Ruwa National Rehabilitation Centre attended the workshop organised by the Disabled Women Support Organisation (DWSO). DWSO’s thrust is to physically and economically empower women and girls with disabilities. Both men and women attended this workshop.

The trainers were tasked to go back to their respective provinces and impart the knowledge to newly injured on their respective provincial hospitals on voluntary basis. It is the of DWSO to have trainers at district hospitals if it got funding for such training.

At the workshop, the government responded positively, as three top government officials graced the organisation. The government agreed to work together with DWSO to improve the welfare of people with spinal cord injuries.

Currently there is no cure for spinal cord injury, therefore DWSO is requesting all governments world over to work with people with spinal cord injuries so that their lives could be improved and live longer as their able-bodied counterparts.


Produced by

Gladys Charowa
DWSO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Africa Meets Africa Radio Show Launched

2004-09-02

http://www.wpfw.org/listenonair.html

This Sunday, 5th September, sees the launch of a new progressive weekly radio programme, Africa Meet Africa, on Pacifica Radio in Washington DC. The programme aims to showcase events throughout the continent of Africa and its. Listeners can tune in from throughout the world via the station's webstream.

Festival Eritrea, Toronto

2004-09-02

http://www.dimtsi.com

Festival Eritrea is being held in Toronto between the 4th and 6th September. Eritreans from Toronto will be joined by many from throughout the country. There will be a number of events including guest speakers, fashion shows and a talent contest.

Ghana: Reconcile Africans in the homeland and those in Diaspora

2004-09-02

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=65048

Strategies must be identified and implemented to bring healing and reconciliation between Africans in the homeland and in the Diaspora, a government minister has said. Government was encouraging the return of those in the Diaspora, because by knowing their roots and knowing what actually took place during the slave trade, the healing and reconciliation process would have begun, the minister said.

New project to tap Zimbabwean diaspora dollar

2004-09-02

http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2004/August/August26/6337.shtml

The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and the City University (London) have embarked on research on the contributions Zimbabweans in the diaspora make or are interested in making towards the development of their country. The research is targeted at Zimbabweans living in the United Kingdom and in South Africa.

Role Of Diaspora In Reconstruction of DRC, Workshop

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/diaspora/24370

On Friday 3rd September, the School of Oriental and African Studies in London is hosting a workshop on the role of the diaspora in the post conflict reconstruction in the DRC. The event is free.

Africa: How new Africa made fools of the white mischief-makers

2004-09-02

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=556261

"Things have changed in Africa over the past few years," said a friend of Simon Mann, the old Etonian now awaiting sentence in Zimbabwe for attempting to buy arms illegally. "The days are gone when you could recruit a bunch of moustaches, load up some ammunition and take over a country - especially if you are a white man." In Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, Nick du Toit, Mr Mann's associate, is on trial for his life. And under house arrest behind heavy iron gates in Constantia, one of Cape Town's smartest suburbs, Sir Mark Thatcher is contemplating his future.

Africa: UN Rejects Private Peacekeepers

2004-09-02

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/peacekpg/training/0827rejects.htm

As the United Nations continues to face a shortage of well-equipped, professionally trained soldiers for its growing peacekeeping operations overseas, a proposal to hire private security forces to rectify the shortfall has been greeted with scepticism. A proposal to double the current peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the possibility of a new 10,000-strong U.N. mission in Sudan are expected to bolster the total number of U.N.

DRC: Ex-rebel leader returns to government

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42909

Four days after officially suspending his participation in the coalition transitional government of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Azarias Ruberwa, one of the four Congolese vice-presidents and leader of the Rassemblement Congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) has announced he will return to the capital, Kinshasa. "The vice-president [Ruberwa] will return to his usual duties tomorrow, [Saturday]" Francis Bedi Mabele, the RCD-Goma secretary-general, told IRIN on Friday. Ruberwa is also scheduled to meet with South African President and mediator of the DRC crises, Thabo Mbeki.

DRC: Maintaining momentum in the peace process

2004-09-02

http://www.crisisweb.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=2927

The UN Security Council should consider and act on the recommendations of United Nations reports on economic exploitation and arms flow and place particular emphasis on isolating the armed groups in Ituri and applying pressure on neighbouring governments to cooperate in the elimination of such activities from within their borders in accordance with existing UN Security Council Resolutions. This is according to an International Crisis Group report 'Maintaining Momentum in the Congo: The Ituri Problem', which notes that the "international community is slowly awakening to the grim realisation that collapse of the Congo peace process and return to war are real prospects."

DRC: War unlikely to end in the east just yet, rebel general says

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42990

War in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) did not end when fighting ceased in 2003 in most parts of the country, according to Gen Laurent Nkunda, a Congolese army officer who led dissident troops in June to capture Bukavu, the capital of the eastern province of South Kivu. IRIN interviewed Nkunda on 21 August, in the eastern town of Goma, on his rebellion against the transitional government, his views on the integration of the national army and whether or not he would he would make real his threat to seize Bukavu.

East/Southern Africa: Resolving Small Arms Proliferation

2004-09-02

http://www.saferafrica.org/DocumentsCentre/Monographs/RSAP/Index.asp

SaferAfrica and Saferworld have assisted Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Kenya with the development of National Action Plans for Arms Management and Disarmament (NAPs) to control the proliferation of small arms. This report describes the process and environment that has led to the development by SaferAfrica and Saferworld of the small arms mapping methodology; outlines the methodology; presents some of the practical experiences gained through its implementation; and reflects upon some of the key lessons that we have learnt.

Liberia: UN brings forward deadline for ending disarmament to 30 October

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42979

The head of the UN mission in Liberia said on Wednesday that the war-scarred country's disarmament programme would officially end on October 30 and any former fighters found with weapons after then would be prosecuted. "We obviously want to disarm everyone. We are now looking at the date of 30 October as the end of the programme," Jacques Klein, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative in Liberia, told reporters.

Mauritania: Government accuses Burkina Faso and Libya of backing coup

2004-09-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=42900

The government of Mauritania has accused Libya and Burkina Faso of backing an attempt to topple President Maaouiya Ould Taya earlier this month and has announced the arrest of 31 military officers in connection with the alleged putsch. The first news of a fresh attempt to topple Ould Taya emerged on August 9, when military and political sources reported a new wave of arrests within the armed forces.

Sudan: Call for multinational response

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/24368

Africa Action has warned against efforts by the international community to unfairly foist on the African Union the ultimate responsibility for stopping the genocide in western Sudan. Following a September 1 report on Darfur submitted to United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan, Africa Action reiterated the call for an immediate and robust multinational intervention. Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said, "While we commend the African Union for its efforts to address the Darfur crisis, we must recognize its real limitations. The African Union does not have the resources to lead a strong and urgent intervention in Darfur, though it can form an important part of such an international response."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ann-Louise Colgan (202) 546-7961

UN Prepares to Dump Darfur Crisis on the African Union;

Africa Action Calls for Immediate & Robust International Intervention
to Stop Genocide

Wednesday, September 1, 2004 (Washington, DC) - In response to today’s
report on Darfur from United Nations (UN) Secretary General Kofi Annan,
and ahead of tomorrow’s Security Council debate on next steps, Africa
Action has warned against efforts by the international community to
unfairly foist on the African Union the ultimate responsibility for
stopping the genocide in western Sudan.

Annan’s report indicates that a UN plan has been presented to the
African Union as a blueprint for an expanded all-African force. The
Sudanese government has previously rejected such a force, but this UN
proposal itself bows to Khartoum’s calculated and stronger opposition to
any intervention that includes soldiers from anywhere other than Africa.

Africa Action today reiterated the call for an immediate and robust
multinational intervention to stop the ongoing genocide, as the UN
report concedes that the Khartoum government has failed to meet the
commitments it made in July and that government-sponsored attacks
against civilians are continuing in Darfur. Africa Action emphasizes
that the UN and the member states of the Security Council should bear
the responsibility for resolving this crisis as a matter of the greatest
urgency, even while the African Union has an important role.

Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said today, "While we
commend the African Union for its efforts to address the Darfur crisis,
we must recognize its real limitations. The African Union does not have
the resources to lead a strong and urgent intervention in Darfur, though
it can form an important part of such an international response. A
robust military force is required to stop genocide and restore security
to the region, and there is an urgent need for the US and other military
powers to join with the African Union in providing leadership to make
this happen NOW."

Booker continued, "If the UN and its member states decide tomorrow to
push the burden on to the African Union to stop this genocide, they will
in effect have washed their hands of the world’s worst humanitarian
crisis because it is occurring in Africa. The UN acknowledges today that
an increased international presence is needed in Darfur immediately, and
it must take action tomorrow to ensure this need is met."

He added, "How many Sudanese have to be killed before the most powerful
nations act?"

This week, Africa Action supporters sent almost 40,000 messages to the
15 members of the UN Security Council, calling on them to take action in
response to the failure of the Sudanese government to comply with the
demands laid out by the international community at the end of July. The
email messages called on the members of the Security Council to
immediately authorize an international intervention to stop the violence
in Darfur, to secure the region and to facilitate a massive humanitarian
effort to save millions of lives.

Today, people from the Darfur region living in the U.S. traveled from
around the country to New York for a rally and protest at the UN
building, urging the UN to take action to stop the genocide in Darfur.

####

Sudan: UN says Sudan failing on Darfur

2004-09-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3618450.stm

A new United Nations report says Sudan has not disarmed Arab militias or stopped attacks against civilians in the strife-torn Darfur region. The report for the UN Security Council did note some progress, but called for more foreign troops to go to Sudan. The Sudanese ambassador to the UN described the report, which did not recommend any sanctions, as balanced. Up to 50,000 people have been killed in Darfur, following a campaign by Arab militias against black Africans.

Nigeria: Cheaper Phone Cards Introduced, Access Increased

2004-09-02

http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/current1.html

Nigerian mobile operator M-tel has introduced a N250 mobile phone recharge card into the market to create better access for subscribers. The move follows its market survey which revealed that most subscribers in the country could not afford the N400 recharge card and needed a lower tariff.

Nigeria: Country May Join Global University System

2004-09-02

http://www.afrol.com/articles/13614

The Nigerian Minister of Science and Technology, Professor Turner Isoun, has stated that it would benefit Nigeria tremendously if it joined the Global University System (GUS). According to the GUS, the system "helps higher educational institutions in remote and rural areas of developing countries to deploy broadband internet...and act as the knowledge centre of their community".

Senegal: Information Technologies Help Pastoralists

2004-09-02

http://www.digitalopportunity.org/external/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scidev.net%2FFeatures%2Findex.cfm%3Ffuseaction%3DreadFeatures%26itemid%3D313%26

The International Veterinary Science and Medicine School of Dakar, Senegal, has launched an initiative to help pastoralists avoid conflicts, environmental problems and animal diseases during their annual migrations. Instead of relying on conversations at weekly markets, the initiative enables pastoralists to track the movement of herds and obtain information on the state of different pastures by using mobile phones, the Internet and global positioning systems.

South Africa: Government Must Address High Cost of Bandwidth

2004-09-02

http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/current1.html

The Internet Society of South Africa (ISOC-ZA) has joined other organisations in calling for the government to urgently address the high cost of bandwidth in the country. In a statement, the organisation said that the true cost of bandwidth is clear from the dramatic slow-down in the growth of Internet users in SA. A recent report shows that growth slowed to 6% in 2003. At this rate, only one in ten people in SA will have Internet access by 2006.

South Africa: National Civil Society ICT Roundtable

2004-09-02

http://www.sangonet.org.za

The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) and the South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO) are convening a national ICT roundtable event for civil society organisations to be held on 9 September 2004 in Johannesburg. The event will focus on the Second National Operator (SNO), which will be licensed on 17 September 2004, as well as the fourth draft of the ICT Empowerment Charter. For more information or to register for the event, visit:
NATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY ICT ROUNDTABLE

"What is our stake in the multi-billion rand South African IT & communications industry?"

9 September 2004 Johannesburg

The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) and the South African National NGO Coalition (SANGOCO) are convening a national ICT roundtable event for civil society organisations to be held on 9 September 2004 in Johannesburg.

The event will focus on the long-awaited Second National Operator (SNO), which will be licensed on 17 September 2004, as well as the fourth draft of the ICT Empowerment Charter, which was released last week. Public comments on the charter must be submitted to the Charter Working Group before 15 September 2004.

Both the SNO and ICT Empowerment Charter present civil society with unique challenges and opportunities to ensure that all South Africans share in the benefits of these important developments. Our failure to act in this regard will only result in the continuation of current access, cost and ownership trends, and not in the desired transformation of South African society and the IT industry.

The forthcoming event will therefore provide participants with an opportunity to gain insight into the focus and scope of both developments, as well as to raise specific issues and expectations which will be collated and presented to the appropriate authorities after the meeting.

The roundtable will be held on Thursday, 9 September 2004 (10h00-15h30), at the School for Public and Development Management, Wits University in Parktown (1st Floor, Donald Gordon Building, cnr St Andrews and St Davids, Parktown).

A map of the venue is available on request.

If you have something to contribute and/or want to learn more about the SNO or ICT Empowerment Charter, please attend this important event.

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

If you cannot attend the event, we are still interested in your views.
Please e-mail or fax us your comments by 10 September 2004.

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

Information on the SNO and ICT Empowerment Charter is available at http://www.itweb.co.za and http://www.ictcharter.org.za

To register for the event or submit written comments, please contact:

Sandra Roberts SANGONeT Tel: (011) 403-4935 Fax: (011) 403-0130 E-mail: sandra@sangonet.org.za URL: http://www.sangonet.org.za

South Africa: OSS Launched in South Africa's Languages

2004-09-02

http://www.santecnetwork.org

Ahead of this week's FOSS Day in South Africa, history is being made with the release of computer software which has been translated into a number of South Africa's official languages. Translate.org.za has spent two years developing the software in Zulu, Sepedi and Afrikaans. Speaking before the launch, the organisation's director said that "this is the first Africans-helping-Africans, no strings attached, Free Software word processor."
Computer Software in South African languages available on Global Software Freedom Day JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (19 August, 2004) - History is being made with the translation of computer software into a number of South Africa's official languages ahead of the first annual Global Software Freedom Day.

Translate.org.za, a South African software translation project, has spent two years developing this software with the sponsorship of the Shuttleworth Foundation, the Department of Communications, CSIR, Obsidian Systems (a leading South African Linux and Open Source company), Hewlett Packard (South Africa) and St James Software.

"We are about to launch the first African language word processor, quality software in South African language," said an ecstatic Dwayne Bailey, founder and director of the Zuza Software Foundation, of which Translate.org.za is an ongoing project.

"This is the first African's-helping-Africans, no strings attached Free Software word processor. It has always been my dream that one day fellow South Africans would be using computers with quality software in their mother tongues. So far we have translated software into Zulu, Sepedi and Afrikaans," he added.

Translate.org.za translator, Thobile Mhlongo, agrees. She said: "Using OpenOffice.org in Zulu was phenomenal. Seeing my language used on a computer made me think of all the school children, grannies and other proud Zulu speakers who will use this software."

On August 28, 2004, the first annual Software Freedom Day (SFD) will be celebrated worldwide, including many venues across South Africa. In Gauteng, SITA is organising a series of events. Their keynote speaker will be DPSA Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, who has shown interest in the work of Translate.org.za The aim of SFD is to make the world more aware of the virtues of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), and encourage its widespread use. The day will be marked by a global grassroots marketing campaign and in Gauteng a Linux installation festival.

Bailey will be a guest speaker at the Software Freedom Day celebrations alongside Minister Fraser-Moleketi at the Di-Data Campus, which will be attended by South African businesses, international and pan-African companies, government and parastatals on August 28th, 2004.

Siyanda Update

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/24341

The "Siyanda Update" is a monthly newsletter featuring the latest gender mainstreaming resources available on the Siyanda website http://www.siyanda.org/ Siyanda aims to assist busy gender practitioners with locating essential gender mainstreaming resources quickly and easily. It is also an interactive space where gender practitioners can share ideas, experiences and resources with like-minded colleagues. To subscribe or unsubscribe from the "Siyanda Update", please go to: http://www.siyanda.org/subscribe.htm

Ugandan Parliamentary Briefer

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/24254

The Parliamentary Briefer is prepared to inform organisations, particularly Civil Society Organisations, what is happening in Parliament in order to encourage more timely engagement with legislative and other processes. If you would like to be added to the list, please send an email to eva@devassoc1.co.ug

Africa: CODESRIA Research Fellowship Programme 2004

2004-09-02

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=639

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), invites applications from post-doctral African scholars for its Advanced Research Fellowship Programme for 2004. Candidates from all disciplines of Social Sciences and Humanities interested in advanced research of any African social reality will be considered for this award to the value of US$10 000.

Africa: Global Development Awards

2004-09-02

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=640

The Global Development Awards, the largest international contest for researchers, offering prizes to scholars and practitioners based in developing countries, is inviting applications for research on development. The Medals for outstanding research on development are worth USD 75,000.

Africa: Grants for Poverty Alleviation using ICTs

2004-09-02

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=657

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) invites proposals for its Poverty Reduction Outcomes Through Education Innovations and Networks (PROTEIN) programme. COL-PROTEIN is seeking to support initiatives that will adopt open and distance learning and information and communication technologies (ICT) to help build rural capacity under the following areas: Food Security, Environmental Protection, Rural Development, Nutritional Education and Micro-Enterprise. Limited financial support up to CAD20,000 will be granted.

South Africa: Aids Consortium and Department of Health: Call for Training Proposals

2004-09-02

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=635

The Department of Health (Intersectoral Aids Unit) and the Aids Consortium invites proposals from training service providers to develop a capacity building programme for their partner organisations. This request is limited to members of the Aids Consortium and grassroots organisations only.

Swedish/South African Culture Partnership Programme

2004-09-02

http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=653

The Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) invites funding applications from arts and culture organisations, foundations and NPOs, for joint arts and culture projects between Sweden and South Africa for grants for a maximum of three years. The main goal of the Swedish/SA Culture Partnership Programme is to promote freedom of information, freedom of expression, and capacity building through cooperation between the two countries.

Conflict Transformation Training for Organizational Leaders & Programme Managers

15th –19th Nov 2004, Nairobi, Kenya

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/24225

Coalition For Peace in Africa (COPA), a regional membership organization with a secretariat in Nairobi Kenya will in the month of November 2004 offer a one-week training to organizational leaders and programme managers seeking to develop their organization's capacities to address conflict. Specifically, the training will run from 15th to 19th Nov 2004 at the Corat Training Centre in Nairobi. The training is ideal for practitioners serving in the fields of Human Rights, Relief & Development, Religious organizations, and also personnel from other fields operating in or around conflict areas.
Conflict Transformation Training for Organizational Leaders & Programme Managers (15th –19th Nov 2004): Nairobi, Kenya

Coalition For Peace in Africa (COPA), a regional membership organization with a secretariat in Nairobi Kenya will in the month of November 2004 offer a one-week training to organizational leaders and programme managers seeking to develop their organization’s capacities to address conflict.

Specifically, the training will run from 15th to 19th Nov 2004 at the Corat Training Centre in Nairobi. The training is ideal for practitioners serving in the fields of Human Rights, Relief & Development, Religious organizations, and also personnel from other fields operating in or around conflict areas.

For more information, we have attached the training prospectus and an application form. Kindly forward this information to your colleagues and partner organizations who may be interested in the training. And if it is possible for your organization to sponsor a participant or a staff, we would welcome that too.

Completed applications can be sent to the COPA Programme Assistant by post or email by 22nd October 2004. Any clarifications or enquiries on the same are also welcome.


**********************************************************************************
Martha Wanjiru
Programme Assistant
Coalition For Peace in Africa
P.O Box 61753
00200 City Square-Nairobi
Tel: 254 020 2736565
Email: copa@copafrica.org
Website: www.copafrica.org

Mango Finance Training

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/24249

Mango provides financial management services to relief and development organisations. The link below contains information on venues and dates for Mango training for September 2004 to January 2005.
VENUES AND DATES September 2004 to January 2005:



Dakar, Senegal



FM1: Practical Financial Management for NGOs: Getting the Basics Right, Monday 27 September to Friday 1 October *** CONDUCTED IN FRENCH (course details also available in French)

FM3: Financial Management for Programme Managers: Working with Local Partners, Monday 4 October to Wednesday 6 October *** CONDUCTED IN ENGLISH.



Bangkok, Thailand



FM1: Practical Financial Management for NGOs: Getting the Basics Right, Monday 1 November to Friday 5 November 2004

FM2: Managing for Financial Sustainability: Strategic Financial Management for NGOs, Monday 8 to Wednesday 10 November 2004



New Delhi, India



FM1: Practical Financial Management for NGOs – Getting the Basics Right, Monday 29 November to Friday 3 December 2004

FM3: Financial Management for Programme Managers Working with Local Partners, Monday 6 to Wednesday 8 December 2004



Kabul, Afghanistan



FM1: Practical Financial Management for NGOs – Getting the Basics Right, Sunday 23 to Thursday 27 January 2005.



UK – London and Oxford



FM3: Financial Management for Programme Managers, London, Tuesday 12 to Thursday 14 October 2004,

TFT1: Getting The Financial Management Message Across: Training for Finance Trainers, Oxford, Monday 18 to Thursday 21 October 2004

FM4: Financial Management for Field Accountants, Oxford, UK, Monday 15 to Tuesday 16 November 2004

AB1: Field Accounting Basics, London, Tuesday 30 November 2004

BB1: Budgeting Basics, London, Wednesday 1 December 2004

Brief details on our courses follow below. If you wish to find out more about any of our courses or to make a booking, simply reply to this email or log on to our website: http://www.mango.org.uk/training where full course details, booking information and latest calendar can be found.

COURSE OUTLINES IN BRIEF



Notes:

· All courses are delivered in English, except where stated otherwise.

· All courses are non-residential except where indicated.

· GBP = British Pounds Sterling. Prices quoted are valid until 31 December 2004.

· Booking are made on first come, first served basis. Booking conditions apply.



FM1: Practical Financial Management for NGOs – Getting the Basics Right (5 days)

Introduction to financial management for managers and finance officers of small to medium sized NGOs. It takes a practical look at the ‘building blocks’ of financial management: keeping accounts, financial planning, internal control and financial monitoring. It also looks at managing the external audit. Cost: 495.00 GBP



FM2: Managing for Sustainability – Strategic Financial Management for NGOs (3 days)

This course covers the more advanced aspects of financial management for NGOs. It is aimed at senior managers and those responsible for the strategic management of programmes. The workshop focuses on strategic financial management challenges, including financing strategies for sustainability, building reserves, financing core costs and managing donor relationships. Cost: 375.00 GBP



FM3: Working with Local Partners – Financial Management for Programme Managers (3 days)

This course is for non-financial project or programme managers who work with and support local partner NGOs. Course content includes an introduction to the building blocks of financial management; challenges in the field; financial monitoring; and using financial management checklists. No previous financial management training or experience is required. Cost: 375.00 GBP



FM4: Introduction to Financial Management in the Field (2 days)

Aimed at accountants based in Head Office, or those who have little experience of the relief and development sector, this course helps accountants to transfer their skills to the NGO environment. It covers the challenges and practicalities of accounting in field-based operations, including cash accounting systems, internal control, multiple donor reporting and the impact of culture. Cost: 250.00 GBP.



TFT1: Getting the Financial Management Message Across: A short course for Finance Trainers (3.5 days)

This is for those who have to train others – such as field staff or partner NGOs – in how to manage finances more effectively. The course provides an opportunity to design and practice participatory style training, to make finance training more effective and even enjoyable. It requires a background in, or a good working knowledge of, finance but no previous training experience. Cost: 450.00 GBP



AB1: Accounting Basics (1 day)

This workshop provides a practical introduction to keeping simple accounts for field operations. It covers: the cash accounting system, monthly routines, accounting for projects and producing and reading financial reports. Cost: 125.00 GBP



BB2: Budgeting Basics (1 day)

This is for those who need to build and manage effective budgets. The day includes an overview of the financial planning process, the functions and types of budget, cost structures and practical approaches to budgeting. Practical sessions on building a project budget and cash flow forecast are also included. Cost: 125.00 GBP





Mango

97A St Aldates, Oxford, OX1 1BT, UK

Phone: +44 (0) 1865 423818

Fax:+44 (0) 1865 423560

www.mango.org.uk



Registered Charity No.: 1081406

Registered Company. No.: 3986178


====================================================

For the latest Calendar of Training Events, follow this direct link
to our website: http://www.mango.org.uk/ngos/training_intro.html

TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU) new semester

2004-09-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/24250

TRANSCEND Peace University is the world's first global peace university for policy makers, practitioners, scholars, students, UN staff and others working in peacebuilding, conflict transformation, post-war reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation, development, human rights, and other related fields. The link below contains information about the university's September Semester 2004.
TRANSCEND Peace University (TPU) new semester!

TRANSCEND Peace University is the world's first global peace university
for policy makers, practitioners, scholars, students, UN staff and others
working in peacebuilding, conflict transformation, post-war
reconstruction, rehabilitation and reconciliation, development, human
rights, and other related fields. Please forward this announcement to
individuals, organisations, UN agencies and governments which you believe
may be interested in participating in the TPU's September Semester 2004.
For more information or to apply on-line, please visit
www.transcend.org/tpu The deadline for applications for the September
Semester is September 17, 2004.

Johan Galtung, the Rector of TPU and one of the founders of peace studies,
invites you to join practitioners and students from around the world
online.

Since 1996, 300+ on-site workshops have been offered for 6,000+
participants around the world, using the TRANSCEND manual "Conflict
Transformation By Peaceful Means," published by the United Nations. There
will be certificates; for single courses, diplomas for clusters of courses
and eventually BA, MA; and PhD degrees. Participants may combine online
and onsite courses.

In the Sept. 2004 Semester TPU will offer the following 13 courses:

1. Peaceful Conflict Transformation, Johan Galtung

2. Nonviolence as Political Tool and Philosophy, Jorgen Johansen

3. Peace Journalism, Jake Lynch and Annabel McGoldrick

4. Peace, Music, Literature and the Arts, Olivier Urbain

5. Deep Culture in Conflict, Johan Galtung and Wilfried Graf

6. Democratization and Development, Paul D. Scott

7. Conflict Prevention, Intervention, Reconciliation and
Reconstruction, S.P. Udayakumar

8. Dialogue, Peace and Development, Katrin Kaeufer and Claus Otto
Scharmer

9. Peace and Tourism, Lynda-Ann Blanchard and Freya Higgins-
Desbiolles

10. Peace Business, Jack Santa Barbara and Sara Horowitz

11. Peace and Macro-history, Sohail Inayatullah

12. Peace Museums, Christophe Bouillet

13. Peace Zones, Christophe Barbey

Starting Date: September 27, 2004

Ending Date: December 17, 2004

Deadline for Registration: September 17, 2004

Cost per one Course: For European Union, North American and East
Asian/Australian participants 300 Euros. For all others 150 Euros.

For more information or to register, please contact the TRANSCEND Peace
University Global Center in Cluj, Romania with a staff to handle
information, applications, payments, course related questions, and
computer problems: <tpu@transcend.org> Fax +40-264- 420298, Tel
+40-724-380551; web-site www.transcend.org/tpu

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

PCTR: Advanced International Training Programme on War to Peace
Transitions and Post-War Recovery

Cluj-Napoca, Romania, November 22-26, 2004

Peacebuilding, Conflict Transformation and Post-War Rebuilding,
Reconciliation and Resolution (PCTR) is one of TRANSCENDs most advanced
international training programmes for practitioners, UN staff,
international and national aid and development workers, and those working
in post-war rebuilding, rehabilitation and reconciliation, and war to
peace transitions. The programme also includes special modules on (i)
peacebuilding and conflict transformation before war and violence to
transform conflicts before they become violent and to prevent the outbreak
of war, (ii) mobilising, empowering and strengthening resources and local
and international capacities for peace and conflict transformation for
ending violence during wars, and (iii) developing strategic frameworks and
integrated approaches for peacebuilding and conflict transformation at the
local, national and regional levels for local and national NGOs,
international actors, and UN agencies.

Participants will receive the UN/TRANSCEND manual on Conflict
Transformation by Peaceful Means, together with books, materials and a CD
with the leading resources and workbooks/training manuals on
peacebuilding, conflict transformation and post-war recovery collected
from around the world.

Participants to the course include staff responsible for the development
and implementation of war to peace transition programmes, DDR, conflict
transformation, local dialogue forums, policy development and planning,
and programming in war and post- war contexts. Each PCTR has included
participants from all continents, and gender balance is promoted for all
TRANSCEND programmes.

For more information please visit: www.transcend.org/tpd/tp.php?idtp=15 or
www.transcend.org where you will find the announcement for the programme
on the right column at the top, or write to:

Calina Resteman, training@transcend.org

Deadlines for applications are October 21st for those requiring visas for
travel to Romania and November 1st for those who do not require visas.
Each programme accepts a maximum of 30 participants, and less than half of
the available positions for this years course still remain. If you know of
colleagues or organisations which may find this programme of interest,
please forward it to them.

East Africa: Programme Manager

Christian Aid

2004-09-02

http://www.christianaid.org.uk/aboutca/jobs/jds/EAPM.htm

Christian Aid is seeking applications from individuals to lead the development and management of the organisation's programme in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania). You must have at least five years experience of international development work, including project management and have experience of working with a local organisation in the south, ideally in Africa.

Eritrea: Nutrition Programme Manager

Concern Worldwide

2004-09-02

http://www.oneworld.net/job/view/10101

The position holder will be responsible for the management and provision of technical support to Concern's nutrition programme in Eritrea and for the preparation of donor proposals and reports. The successful applicant will have at least three years field experience in managing emergency and on-going nutrition programmes. To apply, send your CV to:

Nigeria: Country Director

Action Aid

2004-09-02

http://217.199.179.132/index.asp?page_id=1336

Action Aid is seeking applications for the position of country director in its Nigeria programme. The holder will be responsible for managing and strengthening the organisation's work with marginalised communities which aim to help advance human rights and social justice. The successful applicant will have a proven track record in leading development programmes, advocacy activities, fundraising and organisational development.

Sierra Leone: Field Coordinator

International Rescue Committee

2004-09-02

http://www.theirc.org/jobs/index.cfm/number/2004-493

You will be responsible for the supervision of all programs at the field site and for IRC Sierra Leone's compliance with USAID's grant regulations and conditions. The successful applicant will have three to five years experience working overseas in a humanitarian setting and experience with implementing USAID projects.

Sudan: Emergency Health & Nutrition Co-ordinator

Save the Children, UK

2004-09-02

http://jobsearch.savethechildren.org.uk/viewvacancies.cfm?ID=79749

In response to the current humanitarian emergency, you will be responsible for ensuring that health and nutrition systems are implemented and standardised in the region of Eddaein and for supporting SC UK's emergency preparedness and response. To fulfil the role you will have at least three years of international experience in health and nutrition, preferably gained within the context of an emergency programme.

Sudan: Humanitarian Protection Adviser

Oxfam UK

2004-09-02

http://www.i-grasp.com/fe/tpl_oxfam.asp?s=QzByEJgTrIUzWwIro&jobid=16796,3445238752&key=2116352&c=711586140223&pagestamp=setdtwyntsjsaskxyj

The position holder will be responsible for leading the ongoing development of a humanitarian protection strategy for Oxfam's response in North Sudan. The successful applicant must have at least three years experience working on issues related to the protection of civilians during conflict and have strong familiarity with international law, namely in the area of refugee and humanitarian law.

Fahamu