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Featured in this issue

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/26110

* Editorial: Poverty is a gross violation of human rights and must be abolished, argues Pierre Sané. And before you laugh out loud because you think this statement is naïve keep in mind that: "There is nothing to smile at in distress, misery, dereliction and death which march in grim parade with poverty."
* Comment and Analysis: Steve Kibble says the pushing through of the NGO Bill in Zimbabwe completes the strangling of basic freedoms, but that the love of liberty shall not be killed
- Another Africa is still possible, as the third African Social Forum prepares to meet in Zambia
- Onyekachi Wambu raises questions about Northern NGOs bandwagons in relation to diaspora, and calls for a partnership between African social movements and the diaspora
* 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence: "We do not interfere in domestic affairs" - A Ugandan woman tells how she suffered years of domestic violence
- Senegal moves closer to ratifying the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women
* Letters: Pambazuka readers rave and rage about Everjoice Win's article last week on international days of "this and that"
* Pan-African Postcard: Those calling for the head of Kofi Annan are a danger to the world, says Tajudeen Abdul Raheem in his weekly column
* Conflict and Emergency: The Equatorial Guinea coup plot raises uncomfortable questions for the UK and US governments
* Human Rights: NGOs to engage with African committee of experts on rights of the child
* Refugees and Forced Migration: The grim fate that awaits those deported to the DRC
* Elections and Governance: The latest from elections in Ghana, Mozambique and Niger
* Books and Arts: A review of 'We miss you all', described as "engaging, surprising, challenging and absolutely inspirational".

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Poverty, the next frontier in the struggle for human rights

Pierre Sané

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/26103

Poverty will only cease when it is recognized as a violation of human rights and, as such, abolished.

One should be aware that the striking feature of our civilization, as it globalizes around the aspiration to unprecedented prosperity, is the persistence and even increase of poverty. It is an overwhelming fact: poverty affects half the world's population. It is spreading: the vast majority of the 2 to 3 thousand million human beings who will be added to the world's population before the end of the century will be exposed to it. It is putting alarming pressure on the environment and global equilibrium. The figures are apocalyptic: 8 million children die each year because of poverty, 150 million children under the age of five suffer from extreme malnutrition, 100 million children live in the streets. Every three seconds, poverty kills a child somewhere. And our world puts up with it.

When, in 1994, 800 000 corpses of Tutsi and opposition Hutu victims of genocide in Rwanda were carried on rivers of blood through the country of a thousand hills, the world held its breath. We all felt guilty. We wished that action had been taken to prevent it. We all said, once again, "never again!". The United Nations established an International Tribunal to establish the truth and hand down justice. "We cannot bring back the dead, but the guilty shall pay. International law will prevail. Morality is safe". But what about the 8 million children who die each year from poverty-related diseases? We are well aware of these figures and they are probably under-estimated.

What, then, is the basis of the ethical double standard which leads us to accept the poverty manufactured by our society, even though it kills more surely and methodically than machetes and militias? Is there a single moral or ethical justification for this central contradiction between the equality proclaimed in the granting of rights and growing inequality in access to life-giving resources? To address this question is essential for the preservation of our own humanity.

It would seem, however, that the famous "standards of decency" are changing. Thus, the international community has set, as a priority for the millennium (Millennium Development Goals [MDGs]), to reduce by half in 15 years the number of people living in extreme poverty. This approach, however laudable in itself, does not exhaust the issue. For one thing, the intended goal will not easily be reached. But even if it were successfully achieved, the basic question would remain untouched: can persistent poverty be tolerated at all?

This problem has to be tackled from another angle. As long as we consider poverty as a quantitative, natural deficit to be made up, the political will to reduce it will not be energized. Poverty will only cease when it is recognized as a violation of human rights and, as such, abolished. This is why, and this is how.

When poverty is defined in relative terms, it is at once infinite and incurable. We are forced, at the same time, to consent to it indefinitely and to exhaust, in vain, unending resources in seeking to reduce it. This relativistic approach can only determine an arbitrary poverty line which is adopted as an artificial horizon. But such a bogus horizon remains unbearable: what do one or two dollars a day mean, and above all, what right do we have to make do with such a figure? For poverty is not a fate to be alleviated by international charity or aid. Nor does poverty reflect poor people's lack of self-reliance or their inability to compete in a free-for-all of supposedly equal opportunities. Poverty does not persist solely because of incompetent, corrupt governments that are insensitive to the fate of their population. No. Fundamentally, poverty is not a standard of living or even certain kinds of living conditions: it is at once the cause and the effect of the total or partial denial of human rights.

Of the five families of human rights - civic, political, cultural, economic and social - proclaimed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as inherent to the human person, poverty violates the fifth, always; the fourth, generally; often the third; sometimes the second, or even the first.

Reciprocally, the systematic violation of any one of these rights degenerates rapidly into poverty. As was recognized at the International Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna, in 1993, there is an organic link between poverty and violation of human rights.

And yet, human rights are indefeasible and inseparable. Their violation is a fundamental infringement of human dignity as a whole, and not a regrettable inconvenience to be endured by distant neighbours. It must therefore cease, and the imperative takes a simple form: poverty must be abolished. The claim sounds naïve, and may even bring a smile to your lips.

Condescension would, however, be misguided as well as inappropriate. There is nothing to smile at in distress, misery, dereliction and death which march in grim parade with poverty. We should, indeed, be ashamed. But the issue is also substantive: the abolition of poverty is the only fulcrum that offers the leverage to defeat poverty.

Leverage, in this case, comes from investment, national and international reforms, and policies to remedy the deficiencies of all kinds that are the backdrop to poverty. Fortunately, humanity now has the means to answer the challenge: never have we been so rich, so technically competent and so well informed. But in the absence of a fulcrum, these forces cannot act as effectively as they might.

If, however, poverty were declared to be abolished, as it should with regard to its status as a massive, systematic and continuous violation of human rights, its persistence would no longer be a regrettable feature of the nature of things. It would become a denial of justice. The burden of proof would shift. The poor, once recognized as the injured party, would acquire a right to reparation for which governments, the international community and, ultimately, each citizen would be jointly liable. A strong interest would thus be established in eliminating, as a matter of urgency, the grounds of liability, which might be expected to unleash much stronger forces than compassion, charity, or even concern for one's own security, are likely to mobilize for the benefit of others.

By endowing the poor with rights, the abolition of poverty would obviously not cause poverty to disappear overnight. It would, however, create the conditions for the cause of poverty to be enshrined as the highest of priorities and as the common interest of all - not just as a secondary concern for the enlightened or merely charitable. No more than the abolition of slavery caused the crime to vanish, no more than the abolition of domestic violence of genocide have eliminated such violations of the human conscience, the legal abolition of poverty will not, then, make poverty disappear. But it will place poverty in the conscience of humankind at the same level as those past injustices the present survival of which challenges us, shocks us, and calls us to action.

The principle of justice thus implemented and the force of law mobilized in its service are of enormous power. This, after all, is how slavery, colonialism and apartheid were ended. But while slavery and apartheid were actively struggled against, poverty dehumanizes half the planet to a chorus of utter indifference. It is, undoubtedly, the most acute moral question of the new century to understand how such massive and systematic violations, day in, day out, do not trouble the conscience of the good people who look down upon them.

While equality of rights is proclaimed, growing inequalities in the distribution of goods persists and is entrenched by unjust economic and social policies at national and global level. To deal with poverty as a violation of human rights means going beyond the idea of international justice - which is concerned with relations between states and nations - towards the creation of global justice, which applies to relations between human beings living in a global society and enjoying absolute and inalienable rights - such as the right to life - that are guaranteed by the international community.

Such rights do not belong to the citizens of states but, universally, to human beings as such, for whom they are the necessary condition of life on the planet. The obligation to denounce violations and to ensure respect, protection and effective enjoyment of rights is incumbent on all, without distinction of race, country, or creed. The principle of global justice thus establishes the conditions for a fairer distribution of the planet's resources between its inhabitants in light of certain absolute rights. Let us remember that, morally speaking, the right to property is not absolute: it follows that territorial sovereignty, which entails ownership of natural resources, cannot qualify an absolute right, such as the right to life elsewhere.

What we must note is that nearly 3 billion people receive only about 1.2% of world income, while 1 billion people in the rich countries receive 80%. An annual income transfer of 1% from one group to the other would suffice to eliminate extreme poverty. In fact, the transfer continues to operate in the opposite direction, despite efforts towards debt reduction and development aid.

At the end of the day, there is a simple choice. Not between a "pragmatic" approach, based on aid granted by the rich to the poor, and the alternative sketched here. The real choice is between the abolition of poverty and the only other way for the poor to obtain rights, which is for them to take them by force. Needless to say, the latter solution usually causes misery for all: social strife, rampant crime, mass uncontrolled migration, smuggling and trafficking are the only things to flourish. But what moral basis do we have to demand moral behaviour from people to whom we deny any opportunity to live a healthy life? What right have we to demand that they respect our rights? The sombre option will become increasingly likely if nothing is done - or too little, as tends to be the case with pragmatism, however deserving.

The options thus reduce to a single choice, which is the only one compatible with the categorical imperative to respect human rights: to abolish poverty in order to eradicate it, and to draw from this principle all the consequences that free acceptance of it implies.

No great programme will ensure the eradication of poverty. Its proclaimed abolition must, first, create rights and obligations, and thereby mobilize the true forces that can correct the state of a world plagued by poverty. By simply setting an effective and binding priority, abolition changes the ground rules and contributes to the creation of a new world. Such is the price to pay to give globalization a human face; such is also the greatest opportunity for sustainable development that we can hope to grasp.

What are the implications for NGO activity? First, I would suggest that it is imperative to develop strategies that give tangible significance to the principles of indivisibility and interdependence of human rights. The unfortunate historical separation of human rights into civil and political rights on the one hand, and economic, social and cultural rights on the other, has tended to entrench the view that poverty was beyond the scope of human rights NGOs and to farm out poverty to market forces or development processes. Campaigns for ratification of international treaties must promote treaties on social, economic, and cultural rights, national legislations must be amended accordingly, and violations of such rights must be actionable. Furthermore, in the field, research techniques must be deployed to monitor the violations suffered by victims, fulfillment of their obligations by states and international actors, and reparations for injured parties.

Ultimately, the issue is to mobilize public opinion for a universal justice that is within our grasp. Its emergence has been lengthy - very lengthy. From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to the Rome Conference that established the International Criminal Court, the emergence of universal justice has been defiled by acts of barbarity that have grossly infringed human dignity. Now, however, the legal instruments are there, and, step by step, experiments and initiatives give hope. It remains to energize political will by unceasing mobilization, true thinking, the contributions of experts and support for victims and their families.

What promises does such global justice bear? Let me quote Nobel Laureate José Saramago: "Were such justice to exist, there would no longer be a single human being dying of hunger or of diseases that are curable for some but not for others. Were such justice to exist, life would no longer be, for half of humanity, the dreadful sentence it has hitherto been. And for such justice, we already have a practical code that has been laid down for fifty years in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a declaration that might profitably replace, as far as rightness of principles and clarity of objectives are concerned, the manifestos of all the political parties of the world".

Such global justice is essential in order to ensure common welfare, and therefore international peace. To ensure freedom from poverty, a fundamental human right. To give dignity to the poor and the outcasts. But to succeed in the quest for justice, every single individual must be made aware of the issues at stake and mobilized.

The world will celebrate Human Rights Day on December 10. What better day to remember the rights of the poor?

* Pierre Sané is UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences, a post he has held since joining the Organization in May 2001. He is responsible for a programme of work that ranges from human rights and the fight against discrimination to philosophy, ethics of science and technology, policy-action research and international cooperation in Social Sciences. Prior to joining UNESCO he was Secretary General of Amnesty International (1992-2001). At the beginning of his career he worked in the field of regional and international development both in Africa and in Canada. He writes this article in his personal capacity and not as a representative of UNESCO.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

* International Human Rights Day takes place on December 10.

>>>>>Human Rights Links:

http://www.ohchr.org/english/events/hrd2004.htm
http://www.un.org/av/special/hrday/
http://www.hri.ca/index.aspx
http://www.hrweb.org/
http://www.derechos.net/
http://www.hrw.org/
http://www.amnesty.org/

*Zimbabwe: Goodbye to the last freedom

Steve Kibble

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/26109

The railroading through Parliament in November 2004 of the NGO Bill means that the government of Zimbabwe (GOZ) has now completed its strangling of three basic freedoms. Freedom of association has now joined freedom of information (the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act - AIPPA - shut down the only independent daily newspaper) and freedom of assembly (the Public Order and Safety Act - POSA - makes any gathering subject to police permission and scrutiny) in the oxygen tent in line with the GOZ strategy of shutting down all independent voices and democratic spaces. By contrast, the government sponsored Youth Militias (Green Bombers) operate with impunity.

ZANU-PF's strategy for survival and retention of their ill-gotten assets is a holistic strategy of repression with mutually reinforcing elements. Increased militarisation sees military and security sectors immune from the law and occupying increasingly prominent positions in the intelligence, provincial administrations and electoral authorities. Secondly the regime has used its presidential powers to amend the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act allowing police to detain without formal charges opponents of the regime, supposedly to counter corruption. Thirdly the judiciary is almost completely compliant, as shown in its confirming most of the contentious legislation. The neutralising of the judiciary has important knock-on effects in areas like press and media freedom and intimidation, information starvation, freedom of the opposition to assemble and be heard, politicisation of the police, further land 'resettlement', human rights violations, show trials of the opposition, politicisation of governmental-controlled food aid, public order and the like.

The NGO Act bans foreign funding for political governance, human rights and anti-corruption work and effectively proscribes international NGOs from carrying out such work. It makes registration of NGOs subject to arbitrary authority under a government-controlled NGO Council and provides severe penalties including shutting down NGOs and imprisoning staff for contravention of the Act. Very wide-ranging definitions leave much to ministerial dictate and arbitrary decision-making from both formal and informal government structures.

It is unclear how much the Act will affect the churches in Zimbabwe; government assurances that they will be fine if they stick to 'religious matters' contrast with the police closing down meetings held in churches to discuss the Act. The Act went through despite its running contrary not just to the Zimbabwean constitution, but also to several regional and international rights conventions that Harare has signed up to, and despite its likely economic impact given the numbers employed in the NGO sector and its effect on foreign exchange and tourism (what is left of it).

The NGO Act, the Electoral Amendment Act as well as legislation to provide payments to collaborators (non-combatant forces in the 1970s liberation war) are all in the context of the forthcoming parliamentary elections. These are set for March 2005 although the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is currently suspending participation until the conditions for a free and fair election are met, although it will be meeting in late November to review this. The combined legislation will severely limit any check on the government, make illegal non-governmental funding for civic and voter education, ensure government control of the electoral process and support from a potential opposition force of 'collaborators'.

It is widely believed that 'a dirty dozen' of NGOs already named in the newspapers and mostly operating within the human rights arena were the primary target although the bill would affect all NGOs. This would include the national Constitutional Assembly, the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace, the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum and Transparency International Zimbabwe.

For a local journalist, although the immediate target are indeed NGOs (foreign and national) the wider context is of control of black, particularly rural, Zimbabweans to ensure not just obedience but the impossibility of thinking any other way than in channels laid down by ZANU-PF and of destroying the MDC. A peace activist described the strategy as - 'the regime attempting a scorched earth policy in terms of social formations. While it wants to hold elections so as to appear democratic it wants to prevent thought, communication, information, and analysis.'

The act has been on the way since 2000 when the GOZ saw then the result of civil society lobbying in the rejection of the government's draft constitution in a referendum. It was given additional impetus by Zimbabwean civil society providing much of the evidence for the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights report on Zimbabwe finally submitted to the African Union to outrage from Harare at being criticised by fellow Africans (far harder to bear than from the West). The GOZ is convinced that NGOS are a front and money conduit for the MDC who are themselves a front for Tony Blair - a position hardly helped by the Blair statement in July 2004 in the UK parliament that he was working for regime change in Zimbabwe.

In fact the act could be said to be already in operation before its official date. A climate of fear and arbitrariness around NGO work has existed for some time with local ZANU-PF activists and youth militias feeling free to determine who is allowed into 'their' area whatever local governors might say. Work permits (TEPs) for outside NGO staff are being refused almost as a matter of course. To see how the proposed NGO Council would look, says a local human rights activist, we should examine the workings of the supine pro-government Media Information Council.

The Act has served its purpose of dividing and confusing civil society as to the best response to the legislation - pretending it is not happening, ignoring the plight of others and carrying on programmes as much as possible, seeking friendly 'godfathers' inside ZANU-PF, relocating and/ or shutting down in Zimbabwe. The use of repressive divide and rule tactics make the NGOs the latest in a series including the judiciary, the media, the churches and farmworkers and farmers.

Internationally and regionally the GOZ has divided or silenced critics with even the limited sanctions regime ineffectual, despite their renewal in Europe in February 2004 and in the USA. The GOZ control strategy appears to be to survive until the elections, despite the likely gap in food supplies and then to get an African 'free and fair' verdict which would take the heat off, challenge the international community to lose interest and give it a strong hand in post-election negotiations with the MDC. This would also give Mbeki a vindication of 'quiet diplomacy' even though Harare is in undoubted breach of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) electoral protocol it signed up to in Mauritius in August 2004.

Who is then standing up to the government on the NGO bill? Foreign embassies are not able or not willing to say much. NANGO, the Zimbabwe local NGO umbrella body presented a forceful case to the Parliamentary Portfolio committee examining the bill, but is unable to affect the strategy. Whilst rights-oriented Zimbabwean NGOs protest, the churches appear busy defending their own territory and interests, but not those of wider civil society. International development NGOs who are mostly Western do not wish to be painted like their governments as part of the plot to 'recolonise' Zimbabwe. Despite the brutal expulsion from Harare in October 2004 of a Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU) fact-finding and solidarity delegation to Zimbabwe, the South African government appeared keener on criticising their fellow Alliance members than the Mugabe regime. Some regional churches and NGOs have provided critical support for Zimbabweans but have been unable to persuade their governments or ruling parties to make much beyond the occasional muted criticism as happened in Botswana.

However it does appear that the confidence of the ruling party in its hold on power has run into a number of problems even if they are unlikely to result in any other electoral scenario but ZANU-PF maintaining its electoral hold including enough seats to change the constitution. Its propaganda is subject to massive public scepticism in relation to the supposedly improving economy -the public does not believe that inflation is going down in light of its own experience. Some of the first wave of settlers who seized land are in turn being thrown off their land so that the elite can have it (breeding a kind of sans culotte bitterness). Economically, the crisis of production and livelihood continues - a systematic process of de-professionalisation and de-capitalisation. A very significant proportion of professionals, such as doctors, engineers, educationalists and financial managers have sought employment elsewhere. Despite rumours of its demise, the parallel market is up and running again with the rate against £1 being roughly Zim $14,000. A much -vaunted accommodation with the IMF is no more likely than returning foreign investment. 99% of the population live with an income less than the poverty datum line, mitigated only by remittances from the 15 to 25 % of the population living outside.

The cabinet decision to expel COSATU showed the South African public its contempt for the neighbours and indeed for court orders against the expulsion. COSATU was mobilising itself and civic groups in the region to "seal entry points into Zimbabwe for four days" from December 4 to 8.

Internationally, parliamentarians were horrified by the treatment of MDC MP Roy Bennett - who physically attacked the Minister of Justice after endless taunting from him, and was sent to prison with a sentence of hard labour. The not guilty verdict in the trial of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai for treason showed how threadbare the case was, according to a lawyer observing the trial. The latter said that although there was no case to answer, the judge with a vestige of professional self-respect, but allegedly a recipient of a farm under the fast-track land reform process, prolonged the trail as long as possible so that the state could tie up Tsvangirai in a lengthy legal process.

The government appears to have little strategy or resources to deal with an expected food gap between January and March, although it has loudly proclaimed that it will be self-sufficient - to widespread disbelief - and does not need NGO or World Food Programme help. Nor does the refusal to allow in British media organisations to cover the cricket in late November show Harare in a good light.

The debate on whether free and fair elections can be held or not is critical, for the coming months. Some form of transitional administration, with international (UN, AU, SADC) support, will be needed. But how can such a transitional arrangement be brought about? In the end the whole system of neo-patrimonialism and endemic corruption presided over by the regime needs root and branch change. The authoritarian mindset has little ability to think alternatives other than repression and blame on outside conspirators. In the words of the Crisis in Zimbabwe NGO Coalition 'Slurs, verbal abuse, violence and intimidation may win arguments, but they can never reconstitute, heal or rehabilitate societies. NGOs may be closed, elections may be rigged, newspapers may be bombed and millions starved, but it will never kill the people's love for liberty.'

* Steve Kibble is Africa/Yemen Advocacy Coordinator for the Catholic Institute for International Relations.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Africa: Another Africa is still possible

Upcoming ASF meeting in Lusaka

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/25978

The upcoming third edition of the African Social Forum (ASF), from 10-14 December in Lusaka, Zambia, faces as one of its challenges the broadening of the forum to make it more popular than it has been up until now by enabling movements which do not appear on the African or international scene to express their voices and concerns.

"A popular Forum in 2004 would constitute an important condition for the successful organisation of the World Social Forum in Africa in 2007. This third edition would make it possible to examine the stakes of such a perspective and bring out together the visions and objectives that could be pursued for 2007," says a briefing document on the upcoming Lusaka meeting on the ASF website.

The ASF has taken place annually, since Bamako in 2002, as a prelude to the annual World Social Forum.

At the first forum in Bamako in 2002, over two hundred social movements, organizations and individuals from forty five African countries established the 'Bamako Consensus', that endorsed the Charter of the World Social Forum to build a different world.

Under the theme "Another Africa is Possible", participants undertook analyses, shared experiences and heard testimonies on wide-ranging economic, social, political and cultural matters affecting the African peoples. The ASF identified a number of recommendations and proposals for activists and networks to include in their work, and a steering committee was put in place to move the process forward.

At the second ASF meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a final statement was issued detailing how past and present economic policies implemented by African governments had failed to improve the lives of ordinary Africans. The Forum concluded that only a dynamic civil society organised in strong and active social movements "can and must challenge the neo-liberal political economy of globalization". The consensus was for the need to build a new African state and society, where public institutions and policies would guarantee cultural, economic, political and social rights for all citizens.

Following the Bamako and Addis Ababa Forums, a process of consultations have taken place around Africa to find a way of effectively exposing the current social, political and economic injustices for better government and state action. These have resulted in various regional forums designed to create a platform for interest groups of civil society to discuss issues together relating to social, political and economic justice.

The ASF has in the past faced criticism that it is dominated by wealthier NGOs at the expense of less well resourced social movements, whose members face constraints in terms of their ability to travel to and participate in such events. But the counter argument has also been made that activists need to get involved before they express disappointment at the outcomes of the meetings.

The ASF briefing document issued ahead of the upcoming Lusaka meeting explains that as a space for "discussion, reflection, mutual consolidation and democratic debate", it is important for Africa that the Forum continues to be the instrument of the growth of African social movements and of "vigilance in relation to the policies conceived and implemented on the continent".

The document also notes that the world has experienced major upheavals in the last two years, linked to American policy with regards the 'war on terror' and the war in Iraq.

"The effects of these upheavals on the African peoples are not negligible and aggravate the effects of the liberal policies implemented on the entire planet over the last twenty years. Already the aggravation of several conflicts, the growing presence of foreign military forces and the increased grip on the petroleum and mineral resources of the continent are perceptible."

As a result, the document notes that it is necessary to review the situation and that the Forum "must allow a better understanding of the new stakes and the outlining of alternatives and resistance strategies which the African social movement will try to promote for the benefit of the peoples of the continent."

Other priority areas and themes for discussion at the forum include the question of sovereignty in relation to external influences, the future of peasant farming in light of WTO and regional trade agreements and the question of Pan-Africanism.

For the first time at the ASF meeting in Zambia, a youth camp will be established where participants will be charged with developing an African youth council, an African youth communication line and a follow-up to the resolutions to the ASF council. The youth camp is intended to develop a youth movement within the ASF.

* Compiled by Patrick Burnett, Fahamu. For more detailed information, please visit http://www.africansocialforum.org/english/fsa2004.htm

THIRD WORLD NETWORK WEB SPECIAL ON ASF

Third World Network-Africa, the Accra-based advocacy organisation, will have a dedicated page on its website www.twnafrica.org to report the forthcoming African Social Forum (ASF) which starts in Lusaka, Zambia on December 10, 2004. The four-day event will bring together hundreds of activists and organisations campaigning on human rights, gender, race, the environment, trade, and many other issues. The website will present regular news and features from the African Social Forum, and will also welcome contributions and reactions. For more information, please contact Emmanuel.k.Bensah at webjournalist@twnafrica.org

* Background reading from Pambazuka News on the African Social Forum

- Living the alternative: Background to the World Social Forum and the African Social Forum
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?issue=139
- Another Africa is possible
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=12669
- ASF condemns US aggression
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=12705
- The African Social Forum
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=11315
- Putting the ASF in order
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=19930
- In search of deeper dialogue beyond Addis and Bamako http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=19929

Building African Self-Determination in Partnership with the Diaspora

Onyekachi Wambu

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/26113

As an open space that brings together social movements, civil society organisations, community based organizations, academics, activists and individuals, under the rubric 'another Africa is possible', ASF is in many ways, a living manifestation of this new fangled Pan-Africanism that has so begun to preoccupy our governments. It is a powerful new movement that can exploit the endless opportunities that exist to begin the process of real development - shifting genuine power and resources back to Africa and entrenching our autonomy and self-determination.

But as we meet to begin to chart ways forward, we must also raise questions about the identity of this Pan-Africanism that is represented this week in Lusaka, and whether in its narrowness, it is in fact ignoring a powerful partner for African development?

The diaspora - Africa's biggest 'aid' donors How wide is the definition of Pan-Africanism at the ASF? If you take African civil society, is it merely civil society in Africa, or is African identity a key factor in defining this entity? In which case space and time become relevant. Surely, the Pan-Africanism that is represented this week cannot be complete, with the old and new African diasporas (both by-products of the very globalization being critiqued this week) glaring absent.

The absence of the African diaspora in all its complexity is partially due to historic factors. Despite the massive contributions the diaspora has been making towards development in Africa, there are still very few structured partnerships with African civil society, community forums and social movements. The diaspora tends to organize itself around identity structures (involving home towns, ethnic groups, alumni associations, etc), formations frequently viewed as regressive and conservative by civil society and social movements. Instead, there has been a tendency amongst African civil society, community forums, and social movements to be more focused on Northern NGOs and agencies.

The absence is also due to a lack of awareness of the dramatic role the African diaspora plays in development. There is need for the ASF to recognise, legitimise and support the self-help efforts of African diaspora groups in contributing to development in their regions of origin in Africa. This will acknowledge the long tradition, going back to the slave trade, of self-help by the diaspora in supporting Africa's development. More recently in the post war period, working in partnership with identity based groups from their villages, home towns, ethnic groups, diaspora organisations have enabled people to take control of their lives.

We should understand the diaspora's historic and continuing contribution to Africa through the transfer of five forms of capital: social (networks, trust), intellectual (skills), political (advocacy), cultural (food, music) and financial (investment, remittances).

Remittances, one element of this diverse diaspora capital pool, has become highly visible and is beginning to form a key discourse of development, with some even calling it a 'new paradigm' of development. But it is not new. There has always been a history of internal remittances in every country, people going to the capital city or from a poorer area to a more prosperous area, or to a neighbouring country and sending money to those relatives they left behind. Globalisation has given this phenomenon a huge dimension. According to the 2004 World Bank Global Development Finance, at $93 billion, remittances now exceed the flow of aid, and are second only to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a source of external financing. In the African context, over 9 years $28 billion dollars was sent through Western Union alone to Nigeria (Earlier this year at the G8 Summit - a State Department official was quoted as saying that Nigerian diaspora sent $12 billion - this would be about 5% - 10% of GDP. The Bank of Ghana tracked $1.3 Billion between 2002 and 2003, and in Lesotho remittances represent 28.7% of GDP.

Diaspora/African Government Partnerships Increasingly there is recognition of the diaspora as Africa's biggest 'aid donors'. In recent years, some proactive governments and the diaspora have begun to meet to chart a way forward on socializing, not just remittances, but the whole range of capital the diaspora contribute. The Government of Ghana has highlighted the key role that the Ghanaian diaspora does and can play in national development. The Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), the policy framework for supporting growth and poverty reduction in the short term, identifies the Ghanaian diaspora as a potential source of funds for the GPRS.

Shortly after the turn of the Millennium, the Ghanaian government also held a 'Home Coming Summit' for investment and other exchanges. The Summit was attended by 1600 members of the Ghanaian diaspora. Since then Ghanaian Embassies and foreign missions have tried to help Ghana's diaspora to direct their resources through more formal channels for national development. Examples include the 'A Dollar a month for Ghana' initiative by the High Commission in Sierra Leone, the 'Five Pounds No Balance Police' initiative by the High Commission in the United Kingdom to purchase basic tools for the Ghana Police Service.


Northern NGOs - partnership or cooption? African governments are not the only ones seeking partnerships with the diaspora. Multi-lateral and international agencies have also begun to see the diaspora, and particularly their remittances, as a 'new paradigm' of development. There is obviously no 'newness' in the paradigm of development, but what there is are recently launched attempts by various multilateral and international agencies to 'capture', 'shape', 'control' and 'regulate' remittances for their own purposes, and many times over the heads of those making the contributions. The International Development Committee (IDC), which scrutinizes the work of DFID, the UK government's department for International aid, recently produced a report 'Migration and Development: How to make migration work for poverty reduction': In an otherwise useful report - this sentence stood out and concerned us at the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD):

'(Northern) NGOs and private sector organisations have a role to play too, employing their expertise so that migrants can remit more productively, at the same time getting in at the ground floor of a good business opportunity' (p.120)

There are two parts of that sentence that are loaded. What does it mean by remit more 'productively'? And what does it mean by good business opportunity?

None of us should be against organisations assessing the global environment and seeking to avoid possible threats, whilst capitalising on opportunities. This is natural. But if in seeking to capitalise on a new opportunity, mainstream players once again co-opt and begin to take away real power from people in the developing world, as they have done in the last 30 years, then there is cause for concern.

Such concern was raised at the experts meeting - 'Bridging the Gap: International Migration and the Role of Migrants and their Remittances in Development' organized by Dutch NGO, Novib. Around 40 participants, gathered, many of them carrying out specific advocacy programmes for diaspora/migrant workers originating from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Key objectives of the meeting were to gather issues related to migrant remittances and its role as a tool in development; to formulate recommendations to improve polices and practices around remittances, including workable mechanisms to ensure inclusion of migrants diaspora in policy-making processes around this 'new paradigm' of development. AFFORD posed specific questions to the conference: * who frames the questions around remittances? Those who make the contributions or the multilateral and international agencies who see a 'new' paradigm of development? * Why are the diasporas who are central to this contribution considered 'marginalised' in discussions? * If the relationships involved in remittances are ultimately between the diasporas who remit, the host country they remit from and the homeland country they remit to, where do international NGOs and others add value to this process? * In the research that is badly needed to understand the impact of these remittances, whose capacity will be strengthened - those of the diasporas and their beneficiaries in the South or those of international agencies - who have placed themselves at the centre of this process? * Why did Novib take the lead and place itself at the centre of a conference aimed at bringing together diasporas? * In support of and empowerment of southern initiatives, how has Novib sought to build upon a similar initiative launched in Amsterdam last December by AfroNeth, a Dutch based African organisation, seeking to mobilise and connect the African diaspora in the Netherlands for development purposes in Africa? * Finally, Novib, will take forward some of the outcomes of this meeting to the corridors of power in the EU and elsewhere, why? Does this not disempower diaspora/migrant groups further?

Beyond AFFORD's questions, others were also provoked. For Peter Payoyo from the Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme, 'the mention of an AfroNeth initiative brought to my mind the Bohol Conference which took place in the Philippines in October 2003 (co-organized by two Novib partners, the AMC and PSAP, together with other NGOs and the Philippine Ministry of Labour).' He openly wandered whether the Novib Experts Meeting would build on the accomplishments of this initiative?

Payoyo's post-conference paper ('Bridging the Gap...a Critical Synthesis') raised further questions, which I will quote at length, given the important points being addressed:

'The immediate position of Novib is furthermore to be seen in Novib's involvement in certain key policy processes that the Meeting was also appraised. Novib was notably a member of the Inter-Agency Remittances Task Force, an international steering group which was set up in the aftermath of the International Conference on Migrant Remittances held in London in October 2003. The other members of the Remittances Task Force, led by the World Bank and the UK's DFID, include the ADB, ILO, IOM, UK ONS, WSBI, CGAP, and the EU. Novib is the only agency that may be considered as "non-governmental" in the context of the composition of this Task Force. Allusion was also made to Novib's involvement in the formulation of an EU-wide 'Directive on Migration and Development' to be released in early 2005.

'There was unease. It was uneasiness about a probable self-anointed mission on the part of Novib to directly represent civil society views and positions in the EU and in the World Bank-led Task Force, as well as in the other fast-multiplying global fora on migrant remittances. This unease was not assuaged by the closing remarks of the Meeting organizer, who called on migrant organizations to unite and get their act together, and flatly denied that Novib was out to grab a space that was reserved for civil society actors, in this case, the diaspora organizations from the developing world.

'In this light, AFFORD's keen observation that Novib's forays into the arena of international remittances could lead to the further disempowerment of migrant groups must be seriously considered and reflected upon. The conceptualization of the "Expert Meeting" as well as the process of selection and exclusion involved in the invitations to Meeting have already revealed a glaring bias against migrant groups and migrant advocates who can claim no expertise in the "new" field of remittance flows, an esoteric field in international development policy that is presently defined not by Novib, and certainly not by the 'diasporas' themselves.

'In a polite gathering, there is no need to insist on something that the host chooses to avoid. So it was that AFFORD's questions, chewed or eschewed by participants who smiled through the proceedings, remained unanswered.'

Peter Payoyo is right. For AFFORD the answers to these questions are important because they go to the heart of how we should all see issues of organic development or non-development. Arguably remittances historically are a form of engagement through which diasporas have sought to respond directly to the needs of their home communities, while avoiding:

a) Their governments (at both ends), b) International/multi-lateral agencies c) And while subverting traditional development paradigms.

That diasporas choose this form of engagement is a powerful comment in itself. By voting with their feet in this way, they are registering dissatisfaction with existing models of development. Remittances are thus an implicit critique of the development models which people in the South are confronted by. Through remittances diasporas have lit a beacon about the agency and resources of ordinary people from the South.

Conclusions: Shifting power to South In recognition of the massive contributions being made by the diaspora and in the drive to more effectively socialise this contribution (particularly remittances), African governments and Pan African institutions like the African Union have begun seeking partnerships with the diaspora. More problematically, as has been pointed out above, multi-lateral and international NGOs have also begun the same process. However, allies on the ground such as civil society groups, community forums and other social movements represented at the ASF have been much slower in recognising and developing such partnerships with the diaspora. The ASF and the participants attending this week need to be challenged to understand and engage with the diaspora and the way it contributes its various forms of capital.

The diaspora has been working, has been learning and building its capacity to contribute to Africa's development. It has shaped its own priorities in response to partners on the ground in Africa, and in response to the wider context provided by governments (at both ends) and the international development sector. It has guarded its autonomy and self-determination jealously. Through its contributions it dispelled the myth that Africans don't have agency, transferred genuine resources, particularly to the rural areas, and has provided an implicit critique of mainstream development models. Its presence enables profound questions to be raised - around issues of Pan African identity, around issues of development, and around issues of partnerships which seek to shift genuine resources and power to Africa, rather than disempowering those partners.

These are issues, some of which are already at the heart of the work of ASF this week. Will the ASF finally rise to the challenge of the diaspora and how we develop new equitable partnerships for Africa's development? Will it finally anchor the civil society movement in Africa along some clear principles and recognise the importance of identity?

Another Africa is possible. But we have to be proactive and seize the opportunities.

Onyekachi Wambu Information Officer, AFFORD (Thanks to Peter Payoyo of the Philippine Seafarers Assistance Programme for permission to quote from his Paper 'Bridging the Gap: International Migration and the Role of Migrants and their Remittances in Development - a Critical Synthesis')

In defence of Kofi Annan

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/26092

The mild-mannered, soft-spoken UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, has been receiving the unwholesome attention of the triumphalist neo-con fundamentalists and also that of sections of what passes for 'liberal' opinion in the USA, a country that is in the grip of right wing extremism.

The ostensible reason for shooting pointed arrows at Mr Annan are the salacious but very selective revelations emanating from US investigations into the Iraqi Oil for Food programme. The allegations include corruption, diversion of food money into private coffers, fraudulent contracts and all manners of underhand activities by individuals and companies (mostly Western), and others.

These allegations are not earth shattering given what is going on with US mishandling of the Iraqi economy and its vital oil resources since they occupied the country. US companies and principally the notorious Halliburton of the US Vice President Dick Cheney are accused of similar practices. So why is the US so interested in investigating the UN in Iraq without allowing any censure of its own illegal activities in that country?

Even big Western humanitarian agencies that often keep their mouth shut in relation to powerful Western Governments (who were often their biggest Donors or protectors) were sufficiently outraged to break with their unwritten convention (of looking the other way when their governments are misbehaving) and demanded accountability from the US proconsul for Iraq, Paul Bremmer, before he handed over to their crony, Iyad Allawi and other US puppets in the Interim Government of Iraq.

Both Bremmer and the Bush administration treated the request with contempt because they believe they are above the standards of public probity they demand of everybody else, especially those governments or individuals they may not like. Since the US demands accountability from everybody else, who dares demand accountability from the US and its chosen agents? This is why the US has given itself the power to act as global law enforcer but exempts itself from the International Criminal Court. The Americans can fight wars on behalf of the UN but are not bound by UN procedures or resolutions.

The double standard stinks. The attack on the UN has taken an ironical personal turn for Mr Kofi Annan. His son is alleged to have worked for and received payments from one of the companies accused of being involved in the Iraqi gravy train. And because of this Annan's persecutors are demanding that Uncle Kofi should resign. They want him punished for a yet to be proven criminal act by his son. The logic is that because Annan Sr was in charge of the UN and these things happened under his watch he should carry the can. Yet nobody demanded the resignation of Bush for allowing the US to be attacked by not concentrating on his watch! Not even the chiefs or operatives of the various security and intelligence services that failed the country on that fateful day were compelled to resign!

The fact that Bush's family has a long history of juicy business relationship with the Bin Laden family and the obvious conflicts of interest in that was never an issue for US voters who returned Bush to power. The Enron and Halliburton scandals and the personal involvement of senior administration officials, Republican financiers and other supporters have not led to any resignations in the US government.

So why are they calling for Kofi Annan's head?

The reason is not difficult to see. Kofi Annan, like Boutros Boutros- Ghali before him, both of them pro American gentlemen, when they started out, later than sooner, discovered that the credibility of the UN and their own personal credibility demand being able to stand up to the bullies in the US who see the UN as an after-sales service complex for American misadventures. They hounded Boutros-Ghali out of office when he began to resist the US’s more brazen abuse of the UN system and their contempt for multilateral solutions.

When they were sending attack dogs at Boutrous-Ghali, Mr Annan was the master's poodle presented to the world as a 'safe pair of hands', 'moderate', 'sensible' and all the other superlatives used to dress up being 'a house Nigger'. And he seemed to play ball for many years, but over Iraq he began to grumble which became much more open during and after the last UN General Assembly when he declared the war against Iraq and the Anglo-American occupation of that country as illegal.

Consequently the Bush administration and their screaming loony sects decreed an end to his term. Some of the criticisms they are making of Annan today were the same ones many who had opposed his candidacy in 1997 put forward.

For me the biggest stain in his dull bureaucratic career at the UN will remain inaction over genocide in Rwanda which he has been doing everything to atone for in the past few years. However his Rwanda record did not matter then so why now? The answer is simple: Mr Annan is now tired of being 'a House Nigger'. For talking back to his masters they want to banish him from the palace. It is yet another abject lesson for those Africans or other developing world peoples who always want to play it safe and be on the right side of the big powers. You are nothing but a disposable towel to them. You are not any 'special friend' or 'great leader' but a convenient tool and they will get rid of you when you are no longer of service.

A defence of Annan and the UN is a correct thing to do today because those calling for his head and bashing the UN are more dangerous to our world. It is not an endorsement of all Annan and the UN did or did not do but an expression of hope that together the whole world can make the UN be of better service to humanity. It is a proclamation of a fact that is definitely lost on Bush and his gangsters that the US does not own this world. It is a shared universe in which all of us, big and small countries, rich and poor, super power and powerless, are legitimate stake holders whose interests are better served by genuine cooperation, multilateralism and respectful interdependence, than by the bullying by one super power. It is a shared world in which none of us is a tenant to the Americans.

* Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is General-Secretary of the Pan African Movement, Kampala (Uganda) and Co-Director of Justice Africa

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

>>>>>SOLIDARITY LETTER

(The following is the text of a petition email circulating on the Internet in support of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan)

Dear Secretary General,
We, a group of concerned young people from across the globe, have watched with dismay the attacks on the integrity and the legitimacy of the United Nations.

During these difficult and challenging times, we stand with you in solidarity against all forces that seek to destroy the organization or undermine the high office of the Secretary-General. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King: "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." We believe that you will rise to the challenge and lead the organization out even stronger.

The United Nations, today more than ever before, needs a leadership that is firm and not intimidated into giving up the integrity and independence with which a body like the UN deserves to operate. We the people need to stand up and defend the organization not only against those who are bent on destroying it, but also against those who's actions expose the organization to such critics.

We recognize that giving in to the forces currently calling for your resignation would only serve to undermine the UN as an in dependent organization and would weaken the ability of the UN as a vehicle to work for peace and justice around the world. That is why this cannot be seen as an attack on any one individual, but the UN as a whole. For the UN to continue to play its vital role and to command the respect of the world, it must maintain its credibility by ensuring that those who act in the organization's name do so transparently and with high integrity. We hope that with this full knowledge of the facts, appropriate actions shall be taken to save this essential organization unfounded damage and accusations.

We pledge to do all we can to defend the integrity of the organization in our communities and resist the systematic campaign that seeks to poison public opinion against the organization. We strongly urge you to continue to play your role without fear or favour.
In Solidarity,
Signed:

PLEASE TAKE THE FOLLOWING URGENT ACTIONS:
1. ENDORSE this letter to the UN Secretary General by responding to this with Your NAME and COUNTRY (Add organization if you want) by Sunday. PLEASE SEND IT DIRECTLY TO Maawuli@yahoo.com
2. FORWARD this email to other colleagues and POST this announcement on your organization's website and list-serves.
3. Shape PUBLIC OPINION in your community and country by raising the issue and challenging the critics. Contribute to media discussions- Radio, Print and TV etc.
4. Our US colleagues should visit the UN Association website and take action:
http://usa.unaaction.org/r.asp?aacwc=3643134305632105196772

International days of this and that (1)

Jamie R. Rogers

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/26028

I am a woman although some would not consider me to be. I am almost 21 and it almost never counts for anything much. I am also from "The Deep South" of the US. That is, more specifically, Alabama.

I am proud that the world has decided to recognize woman on one day (two if you count Mother's Day) of the year, so very appreciative that they can give up one year of their lives for women. But, do they? I mean, do they really stop and take notice? Sure, people like you, editors, writers, politicians, leaders of governments, they are obliged to care. What about the rest of the world? How do we make them care?

I wore my red ribbon yesterday to school and to work. Do you know how many people asked me why? Do you know how many people said, "huh?" when I told them that it was World AIDS Day? Too many. I wore the ribbon so that I could remind people, as well as myself, of the ever-growing concern for women less fortunate than myself. I wore it to remind myself to be in prayer for those I know who are plagued by the awful disease. You know, women are starting to take more notice of Breast Cancer Awareness and the pink ribbon, but could it be because they know someone who has breast cancer, or they have it themselves?

We, in America, are not as aware of the AIDS epidemic as we should be, especially with the amazing rate at which the disease is spreading throughout our country. People still have the backwards mentality to think that if someone has AIDS/ HIV then they deserve it. I want to shout "wake up!" to these narrow-minded people.

The truth is, we have not moved an inch past where Alabama was in the 1960s. We are still as racist as we were then, only now, the racism extends an ever reaching arm to homosexuals, to women, to Buddhists or people of any other religion outside of Southern Baptists, and to those living (if you can call it that) with AIDS.

Oh, I am proud to be an American. But I am prouder to be a woman. Especially when there are women like Ms. Win and the ever-courageous Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the rightful leader of Myanmar. Women of the world, wake up and MAKE your voice heard! How can you sit quietly anymore?

International days of this and that (2)

V.Mundy, Zimbabwe

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/26029

International days of this and that (3)

Joan Anne Nolan

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/26030

Long live Dennis!

Eric Singh

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/26031

Summertime comes to Christmas

Chukwu-Emeka Chikezie

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/26079

World exclusive!

A Grateful Africa Gives Something Back Not content to take and take and take, Africa finally rewards the ever-generous Western giver with a warm-hearted gesture of her own. A pleasantly surprised world will look on in wonder and moist eyes as Africa demonstrates a capacity (yes, that's right, capacity) for compassion bordering on the downright selfless. But in these troubled times is it not right that an Africa that has so much should give a little something to those less fortunate than she?

"It is not right that Africa should simply continuously collect," said Adekunle Oduwagbemilolasoladeshe speaking from his home in Lagos, Nigeria, "after all, we also have much to give, it's time to put something back." Today, in response to an outpouring of concern in Africa, we are proud to release the song, "Do They Know It's Summertime?" in aid of victims of the cold in Britain.

"In this their moment of greatest need, we in Africa cannot walk by on the other side of the street," opined Blessings Dube in Harare, Zimbabwe, "we must show that we care, that we have warmth in our hearts. I personally don't listen to those cynics who say it's pointless giving because nothing ever changes in Britain. We have to have hope that our generosity will make a difference." The song's producers hope that "Do They Know It's Summertime?" will raise millions in aid of needy victims in Dartford. Millions of smiles, that is.
Rather than set their breathtaking song to a new tune and in order to conserve resources the record's producers suggest that the beautiful ditty be sung to the tune of another well-known song, also likely to reach number one in the pop charts. They hope that the well-known Congolese singer Papa Wemba will perform the song and perform it live to crowds in Europe.

Do They Know It's Summertime? Africa Aid

Do they know it's Summer
It's Summertime
There's a reason to be afraid
At Summertime, it's just so bright & we can't find shade
But it's their world of plenty that they're trying so hard to destroy
Throw your arms up in despair at Summertime
But just you wait there
While they fire yet more guns
At Summertime, it's hot, and you're under the sun
There's a world of funky lingo
And it's a world of shock and awe
Where the only sun that's shining is in the holiday snaps
And the smouldering shells that fall there
Create so much smoke in a plume
Well tonight just sing this song & and know your due
And there won't be any sun in England this Summertime
The biggest problems they'll have this year are rife
(Oooh) Where the sun never glows
The wind or is it snow
Do they know it's Summertime at all
(Here's to you) sitting here having such fun
(Here's to them) wondering what's like to have a sun
Do they know it's Summertime at all
Free the world, free the world, free the world
Let them know it's Summertime again
Free the world, free the world, free the world
Let them know it's Summertime again
Free the world, free the world, free the world
Let them know it's Summertime again
Free the world, free the world, free the world
Let them know it's Summertime again
Free the world, free the world, free the world
Let them know it's Summertime again

**WE MISS YOU ALL

Noerine Kaleeba with Sunanda Ray

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/25987

Death and pain are frequently recurring themes in this highly personal book by Noerine Kaleeba, the founding director of The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) in Uganda. Yet this is by no means a depressing book. On the contrary, it is engaging, surprising, challenging and absolutely inspirational.

The first edition of WE MISS YOU ALL was published in 1991. Noerine Kaleeba's experience of AIDS had begun five years earlier: "AIDS came to my house," she wrote, "on the afternoon of the 6th June 1986, when the British Council sent me a telex to tell me that my husband Chris was seriously ill in a hospital in England." Chris had been undertaking postgraduate studies in Hull, where Noerine was able to visit him in hospital. She was shocked by how AIDS had enfeebled and emaciated her once-handsome husband. Chris was able to return to Uganda, but a few months later he died in hospital, in severe pain, shunned and neglected by the nursing and medical staff.

After Chris's death, Noerine withdrew to her mother-in-law to grieve. Three weeks later she returned to Kampala and began meeting with a group of 16 friends who were either living with or directly affected by AIDS. These meetings led to the formation of TASO, which aimed to provide medical, practical and psychosocial support to people living with HIV/AIDS. TASO quickly established itself as an effective organisation, mobilising hundreds of volunteer counsellors and other service providers.

But TASO also went further, by pioneering an approach known as 'positive living', which enabled HIV-positive people to retain (or regain) their dignity, to improve the quality of their lives, to overcome HIV-related stigma and discrimination, to plan for the future, and even to prolong their lives. This approach - since adopted by HIV support and service organisations in many parts of the world - was a huge break-through at the time.

Under Noerine Kaleeba's leadership, TASO rapidly developed its services and expanded its outreach, achieving an international reputation for the clarity of its vision and the quality of its innovative work. But suffering and death were never far away. Of TASO's original 16 founding members, for example, 12 died of AIDS within the organisation's first year.

Leading TASO through its early years of growth and development took their toll on Noerine. In April 1995, feeling "totally burned out", she retired as Director of TASO. In the following year she joined the newly established United Nations Joint Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS), based in Geneva. She still works for UNAIDS, as the organisation's specialist in community mobilisation. In this new edition of her book, she describes - with typical, self-deprecating humour - how she has coped with the move:

"My training is in physiotherapy; my experience is in counselling and caring; my heart is in supporting people who are sick. Fighting for budgets and attending meetings and writing reports are not activities in which I excel (ask the long-suffering UNAIDS administrative staff who have to clean up after me!)."

Yet she has been a highly effective and respected spokesperson for UNAIDS at scores of international meetings throughout the world. Moreover, she is still firmly convinced of the supreme importance of the organisation's work:

"I continue to work with UNAIDS because I see it as the only hope, the only way to focus advocacy in order to provide the much needed influence."

Much has changed on the international HIV/AIDS scene since the first edition of WE MISS YOU ALL was published, over a decade ago. The most obvious change is the availability of effective antiretroviral drugs (which TASO is helping to make more accessible in Uganda). Equally important, however, is the fact that people living with HIV are increasingly viewed as important partners rather than simply as victims of the HIV pandemic. This is due, in large part, to the emergence of literally thousands of HIV/AIDS support and service organisations - many inspired by TASO - throughout the world. As a result of these and many other changes, HIV/AIDS is increasingly recognised as a preventable, manageable health condition, rather than as an inevitable fate or as a certain death sentence.

Noerine Kaleeba's book reminds us, however, of the human cost of the HIV pandemic. Uganda is regarded as one of the few 'success stories' on the international HIV/AIDS scene, having reduced HIV prevalence by two-thirds since the early 1990s. Noerine Kaleeba pays tribute to her country's achievements, but also adds:

"I have to put quotation marks around the word 'success' every time I use it, because although the statistics are impressive, it certainly doesn't feel like a success to me or to anyone I know. Too many are still dying and suffering."

In fact HIV/AIDS has continued to ravage Noerine Kaleeba's own family. Since the first edition of WE MISS YOU ALL was published in 1991, 12 of her close family members have died of AIDS. She is now responsible for looking after 14 orphans, in addition to her own four children. Most families in Uganda and many other African countries have similar stories to tell.

Unusually for an international civil servant, Noerine Kaleeba is not ashamed of personalising the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Speaking to the dignitaries gathered at the World Health Assembly in 2001, for example, she described how her own family has suffered from the exorbitantly high prices of antiretroviral drugs:

"I have four siblings who are HIV-positive, and although we had previously agreed with our family that we could not afford ARVs for any of them, the issue is being revisited now - thus placing enormous pressure on me, as I am the key breadwinner of the family!"

Yet Noerine Kaleeba's basic conviction is still one of hope, based on her faith in God, in her children, and in the friends who have supported her for nearly two decades:

"My message to all people in the world remains one of hope. Hope for a future world without HIV and AIDS. This hope will come out of a realisation that the whole population - the infected, the affected and the uninfected - need to join the fight against HIV and AIDS. ... To everyone living with HIV infection or disease the message is of hope, and the courage to fight until a cure is found. We triumph over the virus when we do not allow it to spread!"

Reviewed by Glen Williams (Series Editor, Strategies for Hope)

* WE MISS YOU ALL (second edition), by Noerine Kaleeba with Sunanda Ray. xii + 124 pp; ISBN 0 7974 2525X; published by SAfAIDS, Harare, 2002. Available from SAfAIDS: info@safaids.org.zw Telephone: +263 4 336193/4.

Democratic Transitions in East Africa

Paul J. Kaiser and F. Wafula Okumu

2004-12-09

https://www.ashgate.com/shopping/title.asp?key1=&key2=&orig=results&isbn=0%207546%204278%20X

Genocide in Rwanda, massive floods of refugees and displaced people in the Horn of Africa, violent civil wars in the West African countries of Sierra Leone and Liberia - these are testimonies to the tremendous cost to grassroots communities when the authority and legitimacy of national political systems and leaders are called into question. The consolidation of democracy represents one tangible strategy to restore authority and legitimacy of political rule, providing the peace and security necessary for political enfranchisement and economic opportunity. This volume explores the factors that are crucial to the emergence of democratic political systems on the African continent, specifically focusing on Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Impressions of Tafo

Robert Taylor

2004-12-09

http://www.friendsoftafo.org/home.htm

Friends of Tafo is a UK registered charity that aims to empower as well as help the people of Kwahu-Tafo, an impoverished rural town in Ghana, via responsible giving that generates a capacity for self-development in education, health, employment and infrastructure. Robert Taylor (photographer and FOT trustee) has recently published a book 'Impressions of Tafo' including photo portraits and interviews with Tafo's community. "This is a wonderful insight into a small but vibrant community in Ghana...I learnt so much from this beautifully presented book."  Jon Snow, Channel 4 News.

Southern Africa: The "I" Stories

2004-12-09

http://www.genderlinks.org.za

The "I" stories: speaking out on gender violence in Southern Africa is a collection of the writing of men and women who have been affected by violence – as survivors and rehabilitated perpetrators. The 17 stories from five Southern African countries are testimony to the strength and courage of the writers who, despite social and cultural norms which compound the silence surrounding gender violence, have spoken out. The stories are told simply and honestly by ordinary people in their own words. This booklet is a unique compilation of the authentic voices of those in our community who have spoken out, and who in doing so have opened the way for others to do the same. Booklet available from Gender Links (R30.00). Call Susan Tolmay on 27-11-622 2877, email admin@genderlinks.org.za or go to www.genderlinks.org.za

Africa: FGM Checks into Hospitals

2004-12-09

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/2097/context/cover/

Activists working to end female genital mutilation in Africa find themselves in a bitter phase of the struggle. Now that some traditional practitioners have disavowed it, many doctors and nurses are taking up the illegal practice. And these are people that activists thought were their friends. "With activists campaigning about the unhygienic conditions in which traditional circumcisers carry out their trade, some parents are taking their daughter to the modern doctors," says Efua Dorkenoo, a Ghanaian activist against FGM. "This is actually taking people centuries back," says Millie Odhiambo, executive director of The CRADLE (also known as the Child Rights Advisory Documentation and Legal Centre).

Africa: Women's rights and the trading system

2004-12-09

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC15299

The WTO and the free trade agenda in general need to be better brought in line with the Beijing Platform for Action (BFPA), according to a paper that provides the notes of an event on 'Women's Rights and the Multilateral Trading System: the Politics of Gender Mainstreaming at the WTO'. The aim of the event was to offer some background for discussion, to raise some questions around gender and trade, to present some of the approaches from the International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN), and to hear from representatives from country missions, the UN, WTO, and the international NGO community. The paper says that after 1995, many in the global women's movement have supported gender mainstreaming initiatives in order to assess and integrate gender concerns into legislation, policies and programs at all levels, but that questions arise as to whether this is working.

Egypt: Call for reform to divorce system

2004-12-09

http://www.peacewomen.org/news/International/Dec04/divorce.html

Egypt's divorce system discriminates against women and undermines their right to end a marriage, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released on World Aids Day. In October, the government established family courts but, like no-fault divorce introduced four years earlier, these have failed to tackle ongoing discrimination against women. The 62-page report, "Divorced from Justice: Women's Unequal Access to Divorce in Egypt," documents serious human rights abuses stemming from discriminatory family laws that have resulted in a divorce system that affords separate and unequal treatment to men and women.

Kenya: Women build a place of unity

2004-12-09

http://www.peacewomen.org/news/International/Dec04/brokenlives.html

There is one village in Kenya, a place the people call Umoja, that manages to stand out from the rest. There are almost no men living here. Women run the show in Umoja, which was founded about a decade ago, and that is very odd in such a patriarchal part of the world. "We are always under men," said Rebecca Lolosoli, who is the leader of the three dozen or so women who live in Umoja, which means Unity in Swahili. "The men treat us like nothing. You are there to give them children. We're like property, and we're mistreated." Umoja traces its origins not so much to political protest, however, as to acts of sexual violence against the women, reportedly by British soldiers.

Sierra Leone: Grain without pain

2004-12-09

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/ba29c47c0bc008de26b951581025ae27.htm

The women of Kawula village say they have traded in blisters for beauty and regained freshness where they were once out of breath, all thanks to machines provided by the UN refugee agency. The machines in question are not cosmetic or sport gadgets. Instead, they are rice mills donated by UNHCR as part of community empowerment projects in north-western Sierra Leone's Kambia district, one of the major areas of return for Sierra Leonean refugees who fled the country during the decade-long civil war that ended in 2002.

Zimbabwe: Tackling the impact of customs on AIDS

2004-12-09

http://womensnet.org.za/news.php?page=showcomments&id=95

Traditional practices of polygamy, virginity testing and 'kugara nhaka'(wife inheritance), inhibit women's control over their bodies and increase vulnerability to HIV infection, but activists are split on the best way to tackle the customs. The Girl Child Network (GCN) believes in empowering girls to resist virginity testing. Other advocacy groups favour tighter legislation against high-risk behaviour performed "in the name of culture". Still others believe in empowering women to make informed decisions within the context of traditional culture, given the hostility of many community leaders to attempts to tamper with custom.

Africa/Global: Millions enslaved, says Annan

2004-12-09

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12698&Cr=slave&Cr1=

Millions of men, women and children are still being bought and sold as chattels, forced into bonded labour, held as slaves for ritual or religious purposes, or trafficked across borders, often to be sold into prostitution, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message marking International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. "All these forms of slavery are abhorrent, and must be eradicated," he declared, calling on all States to ratify and implement existing conventions that fight the scourge. "Slavery offends every value that underlies the United Nations Charter, and the Organization and all its Member States must take a strong stand against it."

Africa/Global: Practical human rights guide to the WTO

2004-12-09

http://www.3dthree.org/en/complement.php?IDcomplement=36&IDcat=4&IDpage=14

The Practical Guide is unique in providing a concise and simply-worded guide to the World Trade Organization (WTO), from a human rights perspective. Importantly, the Practical Guide contains pointers for individuals and groups concerned with human rights to respond to the threats trade and trade rules can pose to the enjoyment of human rights. It describes human rights mechanisms that can be applied by people concerned to ensure that trade, trade rules or the domestic implementation of international trade rules are carried out in a way that does not have negative impacts on human rights. No prior knowledge of trade or economic issues is required to read and make good use of the Practical Guide.

Africa: More Needed to Restore Legitimacy of Commission on Human Rights

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/25990

A report on the future of the United Nations, ordered last year by Secretary-General Kofi Annan , accurately diagnoses the sorry state of the UN Commission on Human Rights but proposes an inadequate cure, Human Rights Watch said. Among its key findings, the report highlights that the Commission suffers a serious problem of credibility that casts doubts on the overall reputation of the United Nations. The report, entitled "A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility" and prepared by an panel of eminent persons, notes that the Commission's most serious problem is that so many of its 53 member states are themselves responsible for serious human rights violations.
More Needed to Restore Legitimacy of Commission on Human Rights

(Geneva, December 2, 2004) -- A report on the future of the United
Nations, ordered last year by Secretary-General Kofi Annan and officially
released today, accurately diagnoses the sorry state of the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights but proposes an inadequate cure, Human Rights
Watch said today.

The report is on target in recognizing that gross human rights violators
seek seats on the Commission to protect themselves from criticism. But
instead of establishing membership criteria linked to a member state's
human rights record, the panel members give up the battle and recommend
expanding the Commission to include all 191 U.N. members.

Among its key findings, the report highlights that the Commission suffers
a serious problem of credibility that casts doubts on the overall
reputation of the United Nations. The report, entitled "A More Secure
World: Our Shared Responsibility" and prepared by an panel of eminent
persons, notes that the Commission's most serious problem is that so many
of its 53 member states are themselves responsible for serious human
rights violations.

"The report is on target in recognizing that gross human rights violators
seek seats on the Commission to protect themselves from criticism," said
Joanna Weschler, U.N. advocacy director for Human Rights Watch. "But
instead of establishing membership criteria linked to a state's human
rights record, the panel members give up the battle and recommend
expanding the Commission to include all 191 U.N. members."

This recommendation is inconsistent with the report's own analysis. In a
section on the General Assembly, the only U.N. body with universal
membership so far, the report states that the Assembly has lost its focus
and recommends that it establish "smaller, more tightly focused
committees."

The General Assembly has hardly been a reliable defender of human rights.
Just days ago, it voted not to take any action on or even discuss several
resolutions against highly abusive states: Sudan, whose ethnic cleansing
is responsible for ongoing crimes against humanity in its western region
of Darfur, as well as Zimbabwe, and Belarus. Even the Commission with its
current membership had succeeded in criticizing Belarus earlier this year.

"There's little that a 191-member body could accomplish during a six-week
session. At best, it would be yet another talk shop," Weschler said.

Human Rights Watch has argued that governments wishing to serve on the
Commission should fulfill membership criteria and make specific rights
commitments prior to their election. In addition, the Commission on Human
Rights should become a standing body, capable of acting upon crises as
they occur rather than waiting for the six- week annual session. In its
report, the Panel recommends the creation in the unspecified future of a
Human Rights Council, which presumably would be permanent.

Among many other issues covered by the report, Human Rights Watch welcomed
the prominent place that the report gives to the recommendation that the
Security Council should stand ready to use its authority to refer cases to
the International Criminal Court.

Also of great value are recommendations made regarding the responsibility
of the United Nations to protect civilians from atrocities and mass
killings committed by their governments. Human Rights Watch supports the
five criteria of legitimacy laid out in the Panel's report, but criticized
the lack of reference to international humanitarian law as the
indispensable guiding principle of any military action. Significantly,
the report calls on the permanent members of the Security Council to
"refrain from the use of the veto in cases of genocide and large scale
human rights abuses" - a recommendation that Human Rights Watch strongly
supports.

Human Rights Watch endorsed the report's proposed definition of terrorism.
The report found that the right to resist foreign occupation does not
imply a right to target civilians and noncombatants.

"Nothing justifies deliberately attacking civilians," Weschler said.

Human Rights Watch also welcomed the report's recommendations addressing
the due process concerns related to the listing of individuals and
entities identified as supporters of al-Qaeda as well as lists created by
some other Security Council sanctions regimes.

"We have been concerned for years about the lack of due process behind the
listing and delisting of individuals and entities targeted for sanctions,"
Weschler said. "The Panel was right to press for this problem finally to
be addressed."

Human Rights Watch Press release

More...

Africa: NGOs to engage with African Committee of Experts on Rights of the Child

Carol Bower

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/26052

On 29th November, representatives of child rights organisations in 18 African countries met in Dakar, Senegal for a four-day workshop on the procedures of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The meeting was convened by the West African office of Save the Children (Sweden) and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA – based in the Gambia), and supported by Save the Children (Sweden) and the Ford Foundation. Its primary purpose was to inform African child rights networks about the role and functioning of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), and to build capacity to engage with this important body. I was fortunate enough to attend in my capacity as Chairperson of the ChildrenNOW Network (www.nscn.org.za).

The Workshop was a combination of expert inputs and work in small groups. Inputs from various experts included:

· the history of international child rights conventions and the UN system;
· a comparison of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC);
· the role and work of the Committee of Experts to date;
· communication procedures;
· reporting procedures;
· strategies for the ratification of the ACRWC, and implementation at national level;
· the actions that African NGOs can take to support ratification and implementation.

The Workshop came to the conclusion that a network of African NGOs to support the implementation of the ACRWC should be established. It was further agreed that we need to ensure visibility for the network, that networks at country level are very important and should be the basis of a regional network, and that some conceptualisation work needs to be done, such as a feasibility study. The IHRDA was asked to undertake preliminary activities towards setting up such a network.

Concrete activities that the Institute was asked to perform in the next 6 to 12 months, in conjunction with the Save the Children (Sweden) network, include a review of existing networks and to plan to meet again within the next twelve months. It is hoped that this meeting will take place in Addis Ababa in May 2005.

For further information, and a full report on the Workshop, contact Carol Bower (carol@rapcan.org.za) or consult the web site of the African Union (www.africa-union.org/child/home.htn)

** Carol Bower is Executive Director of Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (RAPCAN) and National Chair of the South African Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.

Africa: One billion children suffer from poverty, war, AIDS, Unicef says

2004-12-09

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041209/hl_afp/unicefunchildren_041209111511

More than one billion children, half of the world's population of children, suffer from poverty, violent conflict and the scourge of AIDS, the United Nations Children's Fund said in its annual report. The rights of children to a healthy and protected upbringing, as laid out in the widely-adopted 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, were regularly imperiled, due in part to the failure of governments to carry out human rights and economic reforms, UNICEF said.

Burundi: Gatumba, the United States and the ICC

2004-12-09

http://www.justicetribune.com/article_uk.php?id=2839

While the US government is stepping up pressure on states to sign bilateral agreements guaranteeing American citizens freedom from prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the conflict that divides the US from most of its Western partners has found a new forum for debate, according to a report by the International Justice Tribune, available in full on their website. While renewing the UN mandate in Burundi, the Security Council also acknowledged a UN report on the Gatumba massacre in which at least 152 Congolese Banyamulenge refugees were murdered in their transit camp at Gatumba, Burundi on August 13. In its resolution of 1 December, the Security Council "reiterated its strong condemnation of the Gatumba massacre". The US ambassador made it clear that he "supports the resolution based on the understanding that it in no way directs, encourages, or authorizes [the UN mission] to cooperate with or support the ICC".

DRC: Peacekeepers find mass grave

2004-12-09

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4074953.stm

A grave containing "numerous" bodies allegedly killed by rebels has been found in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, UN peacekeepers say. An underground jail had also been found in a "torture camp" run by the FAPC rebels, said a UN spokesman. The rebel-run Ndrele camp was on Sunday the scene of clashes between the rebels and the UN after peacekeepers tried to investigate reports of abuses.

Nigeria/Africa: Visa office torture

Visa applications cause anger

2004-12-09

http://farafina.dbweb.ee/?article_id=129&category_id=26&issue=6

"Visa applicants are used to verbal abuse, being shoved about, being threatened with horsewhips and belt buckles and kept out in the sun or rain for hours on sluggish queues even though they arrived at the consulate at exactly the time they were told to and even though they have paid or will pay up to a hundred dollars for the torture of applying for a visa. The presumption is that the applicant is a liar, that all the documents put forward in support of the application are fakes. Occasionally you hear applicants who have been humiliated to breaking point venting their frustration on their interviewer from the direction of the cubicles, yelling like lunatics. Or you hear the terrible pleading in their voices, the readiness to endure even more humiliation, in order to meet a medical appointment or attend a daughter’s wedding or visit prospective business partners, and the sound is unbearable."

Uganda: MP's 'state torture' claim

2004-12-09

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4075919.stm

A Ugandan opposition MP has alleged that one of his staff was tortured by state security services. Driver Sam Ongiya, 26, claims he was picked up by armed men and forcefully interrogated about opposition activities. Opposition politicians fear increased harassment as Uganda prepares for democratic elections in 2006. Human rights groups report that torture by state security agencies is common in Uganda but the government maintains it is working to eliminate it.

Zimbabwe: CSOs to protest repression on Human Rights Day

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/26084

Civil society organisations, Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, and other citizens in the SADC region are gathering in front of the Zimbabwean Embassies or High Commissions in their respective countries on International Human Rights Day to protest against the wave of repression which limits civic space and undermines civil liberties in Zimbabwe.
CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANISATIONS READY TO DEMONSTRATE IN SOLIDARITY WITH ZIMBABWEANS ON 10 DECEMBER 2004

8 December 2004; Johannesburg, South Africa

Civil society organisations, Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, and other citizens in the SADC region are gathering in front of the Zimbabwean Embassies or High Commissions in their respective countries on International Human Rights Day to protest against the wave of repression which limits civic space and undermines civil liberties in Zimbabwe.

The demonstrators will be protesting against the draconian legislation which has been adopted by the Zimbabwean government, particularly, the Public Order and Security Act (POSA), the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and its recent amendment, the Broadcasting Services Act (BSA) and the Miscellaneous Offences Act and the NGO Bill, all of which contravene Zimbabwe’s constitution and its international human rights obligations.

The scheduled solidarity event at the Zimbabwean Embassy in Zambia will be reinforced by the African Social Forum in Lusaka, which will highlight the overall declining human rights situation in Zimbabwe and enable the further participation of African civil society in such solidarity events.

All the peaceful protests throughout the participating SADC countries will take place from 11am to 1pm on the 10th December 2004. For details on how to join the demonstration in your area, please contact Amnesty International South Africa (AISA) on +27 12 320 8155 (campaigns@amnesty.org.za) or CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation on +27 11 833 5959 (cswatch@civicus.org).

-Ends-

More...

DRC: The grim fate that awaits those deported

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/26051

The plane lands at Ndjili airport, Kinshasa, in the dead of night - the better to avoid monitoring by journalists and human rights activists. Then the returning asylum seekers are led out onto the tarmac by their European escorts to be handed over to the Congolese authorities. Some will have suffered violence in the process of being deported or in the detention centre where they were held prior to the flight. Others will have been tied to the seats with scotch tape for the duration of the seven-hour journey. Most would have been prevented from using the toilet or eating. They are handed over to the offices of the Director-General of Migration (DGM), ostensibly the Congolese immigration service but, in reality, an arm of the government's security services. A file containing details of their claim for political asylum in Europe is also passed to the DGM. According to René Kabala Mushiya, an activist who works in Kinshasa with the National Human Rights Observatory, this is the moment when European governments abandon those who have claimed asylum in their countries to a state which violates human rights with impunity.

Ethiopia: Vital food to refugees under threat

2004-12-09

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/9ca65951ee22658ec125663300408599/cc8c8ac3a5c7630849256f64001bf43f?OpenDocument

Vital food rations for 118,000 refugees in Ethiopia may be cut by 30 percent unless international donors supply 4.2 million dollars to buy cereal, the United Nations' food agency warned. Ethiopia's refugee population is almost entirely dependent upon food aid as people are unable to farm for themselves without angering the locals, who also rely heavily on international support to feed themselves.

South Africa: Refugees unwanted in the Rainbow Nation

2004-12-09

http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/features/humanrights/041207sa

Since the end of apartheid a decade ago, growing numbers of refugees from across Africa have been heading towards the continent's richest and most industrialised country. No one knows how many African immigrants have settled illegally in South Africa. Estimates vary from 2 to 10 million people, or between 5 and 25 % of South Africa's population.

Sudan: Disagreements threaten future of 4 million refugees

2004-12-09

http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=7291

The resettlement of four million internally displaced peoples (IDPs) and refugees into southern Sudan faces a bleak future as disagreements over land emerge days to eventual peace signing. Now organisations working in the region are urging resolution and the immediate address of serious lack of social amenities to lure potential returnees back home.

Angola: Independent electoral commission vital to poll credibility

2004-12-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44562

Setting up an independent electoral commission to oversee Angola's first post-war elections was critical to the credibility of the poll, analysts said on Tuesday. "Although peace has been achieved, Angola remains politically polarised. It is vital that a new, independent commission be established to ensure that voters buy into the process - without such a body, one can expect to see numerous challenges to the eventual results," Martinho Chachiua, of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, told IRIN.

Ghana: Kufuor heads for poll win

2004-12-09

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=71387

Ghana remained calm Wednesday as results pointed to president John Agyekum Kufuor heading for a first-round victory as the picture of the election became clearer 24 hours after polls closed. His New Patriotic Party (NPP) is also in a strong lead in the 230- member parliament. According to results from 176 constituencies in the presidential election released by the Electoral Commission Kufuor has 55.6 percent of votes with former vice president John Evans Atta Mills of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) polling about 42.1 percent.

Mozambique: The count continues

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/26089

Tabulation of votes has finally begun in all 11 provinces and at national level in Maputo, Filipe Mandlate, spokesman for the National Elections Commission (CNE) said Wednesday afternoon. Most provinces started inputting results sheets into the computers five days late and there is no chance that they will complete their work by the end of Thursday, as required by law. Processing in two provinces, Gaza and Cabo Delgado, was held up by Renamo objections, but Mandlate said these had been resolved. In Gaza, Renamo demanded that press, observers and party delegates be invited to the start of data input and that all be given the list of polling stations and there registration book numbers. Read the Mozambique Political Process Bulletin, available through the link below, for the latest on the elections. You can also visit the website of the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa for more detailed information: http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/mozambique.htm
MOZAMBIQUE POLITICAL PROCESS BULLETIN

Election e-mail special issue 20 Thursday 9 December 2004

CNE SAYS PROVINCIAL COUNT HAS FINALLY STARTED

Tabulation of votes has finally begun in all 11 provinces and at national
level in Maputo, Filipe Mandlate, spokesman for the National Elections
Commission (CNE) said Wednesday afternoon. Most provinces started inputting results sheets (editais) into the computers five days late and
there is no chance that they will complete their work by the end of today,
as required by law.

Processing in two provinces, Gaza and Cabo Delgado, was held up by Renamo
objections, but Mandlate said these had been resolved. In Gaza, Renamo
demanded that press, observers and party delegates be invited to the start
of data input and that all be given the list of polling stations and there
registration book numbers (which has never been made publicly available).

The worry in Gaza is that the original register was substantially inflated, apparently by including many register books more than once. The register was cleaned in the weeks before the election and many duplications removed. But revisions were rushed and were only finished two days before the election and observers wanted to be sure that registers were no longer included twice; without a list there was no way to check this. If a register was in the data base twice, it is possible that editais could be entered twice, which in Frelimo-voting Gaza could potentially increase the vote for Armando Guebuza.

Contrary to the report in yesterday's Bulletin, processing was delayed in
Niassa because of problems finding a suitable location for the computer,
and data input only began late Wednesday afternoon.

SOFTWARE, TABULATION & TRANSPARENCY PROBLEMS CONTINUE

STAE left the writing of the tabulation software for the 12 computers until very late and it was completed only at the very last minute. Then the CNE unexpectedly commissioned an audit by Solucoes Ltda, which recommended significant changes, especially in the security to block access to the data base by senior STAE officials. It also discovered other shortcomings. Computer staff within STAE were unable to make the changes quickly enough, so they were done by Solucoes itself. The company worked through last weekend, after polls had already closed, to correct problems in the STAE-written software.

But the patching done by Solucoes was very rushed, so it seems likely that
problems remain with the tabulation software. Each of the 11 provincial
computers contains a data base with a list of all polling stations and their respective register books. This is the famous list which remains a "state secret" and has never been released by STAE or CNE. One reason is that the list was still being compiled for some provinces, including Tete, after the election was already over. The lists for Tete, Gaza and Maputo province, at least, contained many errors, and it seems likely that not all have been corrected.

Radio Mozambique reports that on Wednesday afternoon STAE (Electoral
Administration Technical Secretariat) technicians in Manica found they
had too many polling station results sheets (editais). There were 732 polling stations in Manica, so there should be 1,464 editais (each polling station produces two of them, one for the presidential and one of the parliamentary election), but in fact there were more. This is exactly the confusion that worried people when no list of polling stations was ever produced. It probably reflects an error in the data base, but it could just as easily be a fraudulent attempt to introduce editais from false polling stations.

The effect of these problems is that the CNE and STAE in Maputo will have
to make a number of legitimate changes to the final results, simply to correct errors. As ex-President Jimmy Carter noted, no other country where the Carter Center monitors elections feels the need for such a correction procedure. The problem for domestic and foreign observers is that these
and other corrections and changes are made completely in secret. In past
elections, no list of the corrections and changes was ever published, leading to some distrust.

Domestic and foreign observers have been pressing for more transparency in
the final correction process as well as in provincial tabulation, but so far this has been denied. The Commonwealth said yesterday that without this, the entire process will lack credibility.

Dr Vaughan Lewis, chair of the Commonwealth Observer Group, issued a
pointed statement on this yesterday on his departure. He said: "We hope
that the transparency and credibility that characterised the preparation,
campaigning, voting and counting phases of the elections process that we
observed will also characterise the rest of the process still taking place as we leave Mozambique. This is a pre-requisite for the credibility of the entire exercise." Lewis noted that although the observer team left yesterday, it has been replaced by a Commonwealth Expert Team to observe the concluding phases of the collation and tabulation of votes at the provincial and national levels. The European Union and Carter Center still have observers here. So the struggle between the CNE and observers for more transparency continues, with the continued threat that international observers will not give the election their full approval.

CONFLICTING RENAMO PROTESTS

The Renamo deputy president of the CNE, Raimundo Samunje, said yesterday
that data input should stop in all provinces until the changes recommended
by the software audit have been implemented, AIM reports. Samunje seemed
unaware that his demand had already been met by Solucoes.

But Eduardo Namburete, head of the Renamo election office, told the BBC
Africa service in an interview due to be broadcast this morning that the
problem is not computers at all, but was fraud on the voting days. He
called for the election to be annulled and for Joaquim Chissano to remain
as president until a new CNE and STAE are established and new elections
can be held. He said the election commission members are "all working for
Frelimo", which seems a bit hard on the Renamo nominated members of the
CNE.

Namburete said Renamo delegates had been kept out of polling stations
throughout the country and there had been widespread ballot box stuffing.
Yet one observation made by all observer groups is that Renamo had delegates in nearly all polling stations. It is clearly true that Renamo delegates were kept out of some polling stations in Tete and there was ballot box stuffing in Changara and Tsangano in Tete, but this is too small to account for Renamo's massive loss of support.

STRANDED POLLING STATION

Staff at the polling station in Mucangadazi, Zumbo, Tete and their editais
and other materials have still not been collected, STAE director Antonio
Carrasco said yesterday. Continued heavy rain has made it impossible for a
helicopter to land to pick them up, and STAE is now trying to send a boat.
This is apparently the only polling station in the country from which electoral material has not been collected.

PROVINCIAL RESULTS AT 20.00 WEDNESDAY

Radio Mozambique on Wednesday night gave detailed results from the vote
tabulation in three provinces. Only Manica has counted more than half of
its polling stations. With results from 482 polling stations (58%) the race is very close:

Manica Presidential election
Armando Guebuza 62,603 (48%)
Afonso Dhlakama 61,287 (47%)

Manica Parliamentary election
Frelimo 57,658 (47%)
Renamo 55,755 (45%)

In Zambezia less than a quarter of the votes have been counted. With 524
presidential editais (21%) the partial result is:
Armando Guebuza 48,360 (42%)
Afonso Dhlakama 60,647 (53%)

In the parliamentary elections, with 438 editias (18%) processed, the results were:
Frelimo 35,208 (42%)
Renamo 43,941 (48%)

According to AIM, the radio's account of Nampula only gave percentages.
With 414 presidential editais (16%) the partial result was:
Armando Guebuza 47%
Afonso Dhlakama 48%

With 380 parliamentary editais (15%) processed, the partial result is a
tie:
Frelimo 45.2%
Renamo 44.9%

In the parliamentary race in Nampula, 6% of ballots have been blank and 7%
have been invalid (nulos). The invalid votes are sent to Maputo for
reconsideration.

If after two days of tabulation Nampula and Zambezia have processed less
than one-quarter of the votes, it seems likely that it will take until the
weekend to get full provincial results.

Requalification of invalid votes continues in Maputo. So far nulos from
Maputo city and province and Inhambane have been reclassified and work has
started on Gaza.

=============================
MOZAMBIQUE POLITICAL PROCESS BULLETIN
Editor: Joseph Hanlon (j.hanlon@open.ac.uk)
Deputy editor: Adriano Nuvunga
with reports from 50 correspondents

Material may be freely reprinted and circulated.
Please cite the Bulletin.

Published by AWEPA, the
European Parliamentarians for Africa

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

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reports from more than 50 local correspondents. To SUBSCRIBE or
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Niger: Elections 2004

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/26069

President Mamadou Tandja has won a second five-year term in office, becoming Niger's first head of state to secure re-election as the arid landlocked country enters a new era of political stability.
Full story: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44576

BACKGROUND BRIEFING: During virtually its whole independent existence, Niger has see-sawed between fragile democratic governments, whose stability has depended on their varying ability to incorporate representatives of the country's ethnic patchworks, and military dictatorships of varying shades of authoritarianism. Niger has never had what could be termed a totalitarian or overwhelmingly repressive government. Yet at the same time none of the military or civilian administrations could be said to have satisfactorily guaranteed civic rights and freedoms. Read this election briefing on the Niger elections from the Centre for Democracy and Development by clicking on the link below.
Niger – elections 2004
Centre for Democracy and Development
http://www.cdd.org.uk/pdf/niger_election.pdf
Reposted with permission

Geography

Niger is West Africa’s largest country, bigger than Nigeria, and with its size of 1,267,000 sq km, roughly the size of Germany, France, and Italy combined. However, its population is a meagre 12.3 million people (2002), most of whom live in the southern part of the country, bordering Nigeria, and in the south-western part of the country along the Niger valley, especially in and around the large cities like Niamey, the capital, and Tillabéri. Other major cities in the south are Dosso, Tahoua, Maradi, Zinder, and Diffa. In the north central part of Niger, by the foot of the mountain area Massif de Aïr, lies the city of Agadez. The area to the west of Agadez towards the border with Algeria and Mali is mainly desert. To the east and south-east of the Massif de Aïr mountain area is a vast desert area that is very scarcely populated, all the way towards the border with Chad. The northeastern corner of Niger is made up of another lower mountain area called Plateau du Djado.

The arable part of the country corresponds with the heaviest populated parts of Niger in the south and southwest where about 95% of the population is living and where there is a prevalence of at least a limited amount of rainfall and ground water. The implication of this is that although the country as a whole has a population density of 10 per sq km, the huge desert areas making up some ¾ of the country means that the population density is more like 40 per sq km in the southern and south-western parts of the country where most people live.

The ethnic composition of people in Niger is as follows: Hausa – 56%, Djerma and Songhai – 22%, Fulani – 8.5%, Tuareg – 8%, Kanouri and others – 5.5%. Around 20% of the population are nomadic or semi-nomadic pastoralists, traditionally including most of Niger’s Fulani and Tuareg groups (8.5% and 8% of the population respectively). Most of the population speaks various Hausa dialects, while French is the official language. The majority of the population are Muslim. The literacy rate is estimated at only around 17% with a slightly higher percentage for men and lower percentage for women, and most children get their basic education from either state schools or Muslim schools.

History

The history of human existence in the area of today’s Niger goes back some 40,000 years and is intimately tied to climactic changes. Conditions in the area were more hospitable in previous historic periods, and life must have been quite different in this part of Africa in the past before the Sahara desert starting expanding southwards. Of more recent history the area’s strategic importance came from its position on the southern fringes of the Sahara, with camel trade routes to north Africa passing through cities like Agadez, Zinder, and Niamey. Together with the start of the utilisation of iron in this region, this led to the establishment of the powerful empire of Kanem from the 9th century AD in the south-eastern corner of today’s Niger. Already from the 7th century, the Songhay Empire along the bend of the River Niger, reached the western part of the present day Niger around Niamey. The arrival of Islam from the 11th century, partly spread from Songhay from the west and by contacts with Hausa converts from the east, changed the social structure of the society. From its maximum outreach in the beginning of the 13th century, civil war and general decay during the 15th century led the Kanem Empire to shrink back to an area around Lake Chad stretching to Bilma in the north and Zinder to the west. At the same time, the Songhay Empire grew, with its maximal expansion – eastwards all the way to Agadez – around 1520, before collapsing around 1591. In the aftermath, together with the emerging empire of Bornu the Kanem empire got a new lease of life as the Kanem-Bornu Empire. During the following centuries the Hausa city-states became the dominant influence from the northern part of Nigeria into the south-central parts of today’s Niger from Zinder in the east to the River Niger in the west. During the beginning of the 18-hundreds the first European adventurers arrived in the area. From 1804 the Hausa city-states had come under attack from the Muslim cleric Usman dan Fodio and his Fulani jihadists. After four years warfare the Hausa states were completely conquered and placed under the administration of dan Fodio and his Sokoto Caliphate. From the beginning of the 1800s France had pushed eastwards, expanding its West African empire all the way towards Niger, and establishing an important army post in Niamey. But it was not until 1890 that the French occupied the entire area, integrating Niger into French West Africa from 1904. From 1921 Niger became a separate colonial entity under France, but it was not until 1959 when uranium was discovered in Niger that France really started taking an interest in the country. By that time the country had however already seen the emergence of an independence movement for a couple of decades and in 1960 the country gained its independence from France under the French-designed process which began with the loi cadre of 1958. With the conservative Hamani Diori as its first president, Niger was guaranteed close ties to France – an arrangement which assured supplies of uranium for France’s independent nuclear ambitions, and on the other hand certain levels of aid cooperation for the desperately poor new nation.

Issues

Several themes run through the post-independence history of Niger. Some of the most prominent follow:

Coups and fragile democracy

During virtually its whole independent existence, Niger has see-sawed between fragile democratic governments, whose stability has depended on their varying ability to incorporate representatives of the country’s ethnic patchworks, and military dictatorships of varying shades of authoritarianism. Independence President Diori was overthrown in 1974 by Lt-Col Seyni Kountche, an army officer radicalised by contact with the rural poor during the drought years of 1968-1973, when the army was engaged in distributing food aid. Opinion on Kountche’s legacy is mixed, with some praising his development-oriented managerial style, and others pointing to the regime’s various repressive manifestations. Kountche died in 1987 and was succeeded by Chief of Staff Ali Seybou, who civilianised himself into a one-party president two years later. In 1990, as in much of the rest of West Africa, popular demonstrations forced the government to concede to multipartyism, and in July of the following year a National Conference set up a transitional government under Andre Salifou. In 1993 Mahamane Ousmane was elected to head the country, but this was far from the end of instability and military involvement in politics. Colonel Ibrahim Mainassara, a figure more typical of West Africa’s opportunistic military figures of the mid-1990s, took power in January 1996, and immediately froze all political parties – rescinding the ban only in May, two months before he orchestrated his own election as a civilian president. But Mainassara was assassinated by his own guards in 1999, with Major Dauda Wanke assuming a caretaker Presidency from April to October of that year, when current incumbent Mamadou Tandja was elected. Civil-military relations remains fragile, however: An August 2002 army mutiny in the south-eastern town of Diffa was apparently motivated by discontent over pay, and around 200 mutineers were arrested, many of whom remain in custody.

Rebellion in the Tuareg north

Niger’s far north, largely populated by Tuareg nomads, has always been marginal to the centres of power. Yet tensions built with the exploitation of uranium in the area, as local populations felt they were funding the Nigerien state yet seeing little of the benefit. In 1990, roughly coincident with a similar rebellion in neighbouring Mali, a war began in the desert north. Mahamane Ousmane’s government signed a ceasefire with Tuareg rebels in 1995 which saw rebel forces integrated into the national army and prominent Tuaregs given positions in government. There then followed a decade of peace, although the reach of the state and the rule of law ha always had a tenuous presence in the Saharan borderlands. But that changed in February 2004, when Rhissa Ag Boula, a former radical rebel and the most prominent Tuareg in Niger’s government, was sacked from his job as Tourism Minister and then arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder of ruling party cadre Adam Amangue in January of that year. Former fighters loyal to Ag Boula reacted by deserting from the security forces and several acts of banditry, including attacks on trans-Saharan traffic, have since been attributed to that group of veterans of the Air and Azouad Liberation Front.

Constrained Freedoms and Manipulated Democracy

Niger has never had what could be termed a totalitarian or overwhelmingly repressive government. Yet at the same time none of the military or civilian administrations could be said to have satisfactorily guaranteed civic rights and freedoms. Tandja’s rule has been no exception, with Niger a frequent visitor to the lists of countries where the press (comparatively large and vibrant considering the low levels of incomes and literacy) is intermittently interfered with by government. A typical episode was the six-month prison sentence given to Mamane Abou, editor of the opposition PNDS-leaning Le Republicain in November 2003, for his role in publishing information on multi-million-dollar irregular payments by the country’s treasury. Sharp practices were also in evidence during the current election campaign, with opposition parties complaining that the government had the lion’s share of state media coverage – the ruling MNSD received around four times as much television airtime. And the party was also accused of taking advantage of its incumbent position by enlisting local and traditional authorities to help with its campaign.

Slavery

One of the darker sides of life in Niger is the prevalence of domestic slavery. Despite the fact that slavery recently was outlawed, the practice continues. Brutal treatment of slaves is commonplace with some stories describing abuse of the worst kind experienced during the transatlantic slave trade period. There are also reports suggesting that despite physical violence, sexual abuse, and hard work, some slaves actually see no alternative to their life in bondage. With at least some food and a place to sleep, quite a few would find life as unemployed in a poverty stricken country like Niger a more challenging existence than slavery.


November 2004 Elections

As in neighbouring Mali, Presidential elections in Niger follow a French-style two-round system. The first round was originally scheduled for 13 November, but was delayed for three days as the first date coincided with the Eid celebrations marking the end of Ramadan. The second round is fixed for 4 December. Six candidates successfully registered for the first round. They were:

· Tandja Mamadou: The incumbent President, a Kanouri from the east of the country, is the first to have served a full five-year term, at the head of his National Movement for the Development Society (MNSD). He gained 40.6% of first round votes.
· Mahamadou Issoufou of the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) came second to Tandja in 1999. He came second with 24.6% of first round votes.
· Mahamane Ousmane, candidate for the Democratic and Social Convention (CDS-Rahama), has already been president once (1993 to 1996), and is currently speaker of parliament. 17% of first-round votes.
· Moumouni Adamou Djermakoye of the Nigerien Alliance for Democracy and Progress (ANPD) 6.07%
· Cheiffou Amadou of the Rally for Social Democracy (RSD-Gaskiya) 6.35%
· Hamid Algabid of the Rally for Democracy and Progress (4.89%)

Mamadou thus headed for the second round with a comfortable lead, helped by the declaration of all remaining parties that they would back him, and not the challenger Issoufou, in the 4 December run-off.

This briefing was written by Olly Owen (olly.owen@wmrc.com) and Morten Hagen (mhagen@cdd.org.uk)

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Zambia: Opposition plans protest over constitution delay

2004-12-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44558

Zambia's main opposition, the United Party for National Development (UPND), will demonstrate against the government's decision to delay a new constitution until after elections in 2006. "We are planning to stage non-violent demonstrations with civil society throughout the country because of President Mwanawasa's recent statements that we cannot demonstrate against his decision to enact the new constitution in 2008," UPND spokesperson Patrick Chisanga told IRIN.

Zimbabwe: Draft Law Threatens Civil Society Groups

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/25991

The Zimbabwe government's draft law to regulate nongovernmental organizations threatens the existence of civil society groups in the country, Human Rights Watch says in a new briefing paper. Scheduled for a vote in parliament next week, the bill substantially restricts freedom of association and thus falls far short of the Southern African Development Community's principles to protect human rights during elections. "A vibrant civil society is crucial for a functioning democracy," said Georgette Gagnon, deputy director at Human Rights Watch's Africa Division. "With elections coming up in March, Zimbabwe needs to allow sufficient space for civil society groups, not pass a law that would stifle them."
Press Release

Zimbabwe: Draft Law Threatens Civil Society Groups

Bill Falls Far Short of Regional Standards to Protect Human Rights in Elections

(London, December 3, 2004) - The Zimbabwe government's draft law to regulate nongovernmental organizations threatens the existence of civil society groups in the country, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. Scheduled for a vote in parliament next week, the bill substantially restricts freedom of association and thus falls far short of the Southern African Development Community's principles to protect human rights during elections.

"A vibrant civil society is crucial for a functioning democracy," said Georgette Gagnon, deputy director at Human Rights Watch's Africa Division. "With elections coming up in March, Zimbabwe needs to allow sufficient space for civil society groups, not pass a law that would stifle them."

The briefing paper details how the draft law-known as the Non-Governmental Organizations Bill-would infringe on fundamental human rights, particularly the freedom of association. The bill would also significantly increase government control over civil society groups.

Moreover, the bill is inconsistent with the Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections recently agreed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), of which Zimbabwe is a member state. Agreed at the SADC summit in August, the Principles and Guidelines commit member states to protect "the human and civil liberties of all citizens, including the freedom of movement, assembly, association, expression ... during electoral processes."

Compared with similar laws in five of the 14 SADC member states, the Zimbabwean bill provides for substantially greater government surveillance and control of nongovernmental organizations. The law would give the Minister of Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare and the Non-Governmental Organization Council new intrusive powers.

"This law would enable the government to intervene in the reasonable activities of civil society organizations and possibly force many of them to close," Gagnon said. "It would undermine the fundamental freedoms of association and expression in Zimbabwe."


Human Rights Watch is particularly concerned about the limitations that the proposed law would place on nongovernmental organizations active on issues of governance, including human rights. The draft law states that no foreign nongovernmental organization will be registered if "its sole or principal objects involve or include issues of governance," which includes the protection of human rights. Similarly, local organizations working on matters such as governance issues would be barred from receiving "any foreign funding or donation." Both clauses are inconsistent with the SADC Principles and Guidelines and with the Zimbabwean constitution as well.

Moreover, the bill broadly defines as "foreign" anyone who is not "a permanent resident of Zimbabwe or a citizen of Zimbabwe domiciled in Zimbabwe." Any Zimbabwean organization with membership that includes expatriate Zimbabweans would thus be considered foreign. Many civil society organizations in Zimbabwe currently depend on foreign and expatriate funding for their activities.

Human Rights Watch called on SADC member states to urge the Zimbabwe government to reconcile its proposed nongovernmental organization law with the regional organization's standards, and especially those on protection of freedom of association in elections.

"The government should immediately withdraw the bill or amend it to comply with Zimbabwe's human rights commitments," Gagnon said.

The 18-page briefing paper Zimbabwe's Non-Governmental Organizations Bill: Out of Sync with SADC Standards and a Threat to Civil Society Groups will be available online during the embargoed period at: http://embargo.hrw.org/backgrounder/english/zimbabwe1204/

After embargo (after Dec 3) it will be available at:

http://hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/zimbabwe/2004/12/

For more information, please contact:
In New York, Peter Takirambudde: +1-212-216-1223 (office) or +1-609-468-4802 (mobile)

In London, Tiseke Kasambala: +44-20-7713-2774 (office) or +44-79-3965-5384 (mobile)

In Brussels, Vanessa Saenen (French, Dutch, German): +32-2-732-2009

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Zimbabwe: Turmoil in Zanu PF as six top officials are suspended

2004-12-09

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=10707

The six suspended provincial chairpersons of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party were not only bent on sabotaging the imposition of a woman as co-vice-president. They wanted, for the first time ever, to have President Robert Mugabe's own position contested at the party congress. The fourth five-yearly congress of Zimbabwe's ruling party, Zanu PF, was thrown into turmoil with the suspension of six provincial chairpersons and strong censure of Information Minister Jonathan Moyo.

Malawi: Mutharika takes fresh aim at embezzlers

2004-12-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44503

More heads are expected to roll as Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika pushes ahead with his campaign to rid the country of high-level corruption, analysts said on Friday. Last Thursday the mayor of the commercial capital, Blantyre, was arrested in connection with the disappearance of Kwacha 400,000 (US $3,782) from the city's coffers. John Chikakwiya is said to have solicited the money from the Grain and Milling Company for the rehabilitation of roads, but the funds cannot be accounted for.

Mozambique: How Northern donors promote corruption

2004-12-09

http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/item.shtml?x=85822

Corruption is a worldwide and age-old phenomenon. Yet in recent years, Northern donors have become increasingly vocal about corruption in Southern countries and the need for these countries to clean themselves up. Northern donors themselves, however, refuse to change their own policies, or to make tackling corruption a priority. Indeed, they continue to support corrupt Southern elites who are willing to back Northern priorities on economic liberalisation, including free trade and the down-sizing of the state.

Nigeria: IAP urges ratification of AU convention

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/corruption/26104

As Nigerians joined the rest of the world to mark the United Nations Anti Corruption day on December 9, Independent Advocacy Project (IAP), the good governance group, again called on the federal government to ratify the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. The Convention was adopted by African Heads of State, including President Olusegun Obasanjo in Maputo, Mozambique in July 2003. In a statement released in Lagos, IAP said it was imperative that the Nigerian government sets in motion the process that will lead to the ratification and domestication of this important regional instrument, especially in light of the president's claim that fighting corruption is one of his key programmes.
ON UN ANTI CORRUPTION DAY, IAP URGES
NIGERIA TO RATIFY AU CONVENTION
IAP is particularly concerned that Nigeria, one of the strongest
promoters
of NEPAD has not yet ratified the Convention.

LAGOS 9 DECEMBER 2004: As Nigerians join the rest of the world today
to mark the United Nations Anti Corruption day, Independent Advocacy
Project, IAP, the good governance group has again called on the
federal government to ratify the African Union Convention on
Preventing and Combating Corruption. The Convention was adopted by
African Heads of State, including President Olusegun Obasanjo in
Maputo, Mozambique in July 2003.

In a statement released yesterday in Lagos, IAP says it is imperative
that the Nigerian government sets in motion the process that will
lead to the ratification and domestication of this important regional
instrument, especially in light of the president's claim that
fighting corruption is one of his key programmes.

Drawing the link between the AU Convention and the New Partnership
for Africa's Development (NEPAD), IAP points out that ratifying the
Convention will assist the federal government in living up to its
NEPAD promises, including the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).
IAP is particularly concerned that Nigeria, one of the strongest
promoters of NEPAD has not yet ratified the Convention.

Says the good governance group: "The delay in ratifying this
Convention may send a wrong signal that the president is merely
paying lip service to fighting corruption. This is more so as the
Convention represents a regional consensus on what nations should do
in the areas of prevention, criminalization, international
cooperation and assets recovery. Among its corruption prevention
measures are requirements for the declarations of assets by public
officials, access to information and anti-corruption education"

These are some of the key governance areas that require urgent
attention. For instance, the Convention sets clear standards in the
area of assets declaration and ratifying the Convention will further
strengthen government hands in ensuring transparency in this area.
This is especially so at this time where allegations are rife that
several leading politicians, including Plateau State Governor Joshua
Dariye made false claims in their assets declaration forms. Besides,
corruption is endemic in the nation's political parties, while
billions of dollars pilfered by the late military dictator Sani
Abacha are still trapped in oversees banks.

IAP hereby urges the federal government to seize the opportunity of
this first World Anti Corruption day to announce its programme for
ratifying and domesticating both the Convention.



--
Independent Advocacy Project (IAP)
Second Floor, 17/19, Allen Avenue, Oshopey Plaza,
P.O.Box 10073, G.P.O. Ikeja, Lagos Nigeria
Tel: 234-1-4977101, 2341 7915198
e-mail: info@ind-advocacy-project.org
website: http://www.ind-advocacy-project.org

More...

Nigeria: Nigerian court rules money laundering suspect has immunity

2004-12-09

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=115967&src=dcn

A Nigerian state governor under investigation for alleged money-laundering in Britain can't be tried in Nigeria because of the immunity he enjoys from prosecution under the constitution, a court ruled Monday. More than GBP1 million that Plateau state Governor Joshua Dariye is suspected of having diverted from Nigeria's treasury was traced to eight bank accounts in Britain, Nigeria's attorney general's office said last month.

Uganda: Graft report receives state's backing

2004-12-09

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=115969&src=dcn

The government has asked the Court of Appeal to reinstate the Justice Julie Sebutinde report on corruption in the Uganda Revenue Authority nullified by court on 16 August. The court reduced the massive report to trash on grounds that the three commissioners did not consent to it. In its second grounds of appeal, the attorney general (AG) said the judge had failed to evaluate the evidence on record, nullified a report without looking at it and misdirected himself by relying on The Monitor and The New Vision newspaper cuttings to make a verdict.

Africa/Global: Who Owns the Knowledge Economy?

2004-12-09

http://www.thecornerhouse.org.uk/item.shtml?x=85821

When the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) was signed in 1994, the United States, Europe and Japan dominated the world's software, pharmaceutical, chemical and entertainment industries. The rest of the world had little to gain by agreeing to these terms of trade for intellectual property. They did so because a failure of democratic processes nationally and internationally enabled a small group of men within the United States to capture the US trade-agenda-setting process, to draft intellectual property principles that became the blueprint for TRIPS and to crush resistance through US trade power.

Africa: Discussing reparations

2004-12-09

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=6722

Reparations should be the banner through which Africans and the international solidarity movement unite in an ever-expanding struggle against the forces of neo-liberal globalization, argues this commentary on Nepad and reparations from the www.zmag.org website. "The global justice movement must take up the demand for Africa reparations until those who have benefited from the crimes of slavery, colonialism and global apartheid are finally held accountable and made to pay reparations that are long overdue," it concludes.

Africa: EU will back Africa's quest for a trade deal

2004-12-09

http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#2340

The European Union has pledged to support African countries to negotiate a new trade deal to replace the existing Cotonou Agreement. Louis Michel, the newly appointed EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid said trade issues were a priority in poverty reduction efforts in the continent. Michel also defended EU against accusations that it was imposing conditions on African countries by forcing them to negotiate in blocs.

Africa: Poor Are Paying the Price of Rich Countries' Failure, says Oxfam

2004-12-09

http://www.oxfam.org/eng/pr041206_MDG.htm

A new report from Oxfam, 'Paying the Price', finds that rich countries' aid budgets are half what they were in 1960 and poor countries are paying back a staggering $100 million a day in debt repayments. Oxfam also calculates that 97 million more children will be out of school by 2015 unless urgent action is taken. Jeremy Hobbs, Oxfam's Executive Director, said: "The world has never been wealthier, yet rich nations are giving less and less. Across the globe, millions of people are being denied the most basic human needs - clean water, food, health care and education. People are dying while leaders delay debt relief and aid."

Africa: World has 1.4 billion 'working poor'

2004-12-09

http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#2337

The number of workers earning less than two dollars a day and living in abject poverty has reached a record 1.4 billion people, the International Labour Organisation said on Tuesday, the ILO said in its World Employment Report 2004. Farmers and agricultural workers suffer the most from earnings below the two dollar poverty line, the UN's labour agency added as it called for a huge boost to the quality of jobs on offer. About 40% of workers in developing countries are employed in agriculture, yet most of their jobs are informal or poorly paid, making it a key sector for development, the ILO said.

Namibia: No-budget budget provokes concern

2004-12-09

http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#2323

The future for Namibia's development projects is looking grim as while the country's debt is still manageable, the State's financial situation leaves little room for manoeuvre. The warning bells that Government is strapped for cash was sounded by Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila announcing this week that for the first time since Independence no additional budget would be tabled this year. At the heart of the dilemma is a smaller than expected revenue for the 2003-04 financial year - a billion dollars less than forecast.

Southern Africa: Cycle of poverty leads to recurring crises

2004-12-09

http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=4221&SelectRegion=Southern_Africa

Governments, aid agencies and donors need to acknowledge the chronic nature of problems that lead to recurring crises in Southern Africa, such as the widespread food shortages two years ago, a new report recommends. Titled "Southern Africa: The Cycle of Poverty Continues", the study by the development agency Save the Children argued that although the number of food insecure people was now estimated to be 60 percent lower than at the height of the crisis in 2002, "Save the Children does not believe that it is a case of 'mission accomplished', and that we can now shift our collective energies to other acute crises". The report commented that the process of development had stalled or reversed in most of Southern Africa over the last 10 years.

Southern Africa: Economic progress slow, says SADC secretary

2004-12-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44536

The lacklustre performance of Southern African economies over the past year has been attributed to the AIDS pandemic, political instability in some countries, and the negative effects of prolonged drought. In his annual report, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) secretary, Prega Ramsamy, noted that regional economic growth had stagnated, jeopardising progress towards achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). "If this situation is not reversed quickly it is hard to see how SADC is going to meet the MDGs," the secretary commented.

Africa: 20 year patents threaten to end AIDS drugs for developing countries

2004-12-09

http://www.msf.org/content/page.cfm?articleid=ECEDF48F-9D6F-45DD-AFCD7E55622F351B

Efforts to bring antiretroviral treatment to AIDS patients in developing countries are threatened by the looming implementation of new World Trade Organisation's patent rules, the charity Médecins Sans Frontières warned this week. The organisation's TRIPS (trade related aspects of intellectual property rights) agreement comes into force for most signatories on 1 January 2005. It requires the organisation's members to grant 20 year patents to new pharmaceutical products. Only the least developed countries can postpone implementation until 2016.

Africa: Increasing immunisation coverage

Press Release

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/26085

As global health leaders struggle to meet the United Nations goal of reducing mortality among the world's poorest children, vaccines are attracting more and more attention. The purchase of the vaccine is just the beginning, however, as the effectiveness of a vaccine is only as good as its delivery system. According to a recent series of reports from PATH's Children's Vaccine Program (CVP), it is possible to rapidly introduce new vaccines and dramatically improve both immunization rates and injection safety practices. CVP’s experience in the field demonstrates that simple and effective technologies and management strategies enhance the success of developing countries’ efforts to promote immunization–shown to be one of the most cost-effective health interventions.
GLOBAL PROGRAM MAKES MAJOR STRIDES IN HELPING TO INCREASE
IMMUNIZATION COVERAGE AND SAFETY IN AFRICA AND ASIA

PATH's Children's Vaccine Program Helps Countries Work towards Health-related Millennium Development Goals by Improving Immunization

Ferney-Voltaire, France; and Seattle, Washington, USA (9 December 2004) - As global health leaders struggle to meet the United Nations goal of reducing mortality among the world's poorest children, vaccines are attracting more and more attention. The purchase of the vaccine is just the beginning, however, as the effectiveness of a vaccine is only as good as its delivery system.

According to a recent series of reports from PATH's Children's Vaccine Program (CVP), it is possible to rapidly introduce new vaccines and dramatically improve both immunization rates and injection safety practices.

CVP's experience in the field demonstrates that simple and effective technologies and management strategies enhance the success of developing countries' efforts to promote immunization-shown to be one of the most cost-effective health interventions. The series of papers released this month describe what it takes to immunize and improve immunization safety for children in developing countries of Africa and Asia.

"The Children's Vaccine Program has been a valuable partner in revitalizing global and local attention to immunization," said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of UNICEF. "CVP has been a key advocate in supporting the introduction of new and needed vaccines in developing countries. We applaud their commitment to work in new and innovative ways."

The Children's Vaccine Program was launched in December 1998 through a major grant to PATH from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. CVP was a founding member of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), and has worked with The Vaccine Fund to catalyze support for immunization.

PATH's CVP covers nearly six years of working both globally and with national governments in enhancing the effectiveness of immunization programs in countries such as Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, and Senegal. The reports profile proven methods of addressing the devastating burden of vaccine-preventable disease in developing countries. They are available on the CVP website: http://childrensvaccine.org/files/changing-face-of-immunization.htm

PATH promotes innovative technologies and techniques to improve the performance of immunization systems. Examples include improving management and logistics to increase immunization coverage and improve delivery of vaccine, and use of technologies that reduce the dangers posed by used needles and other immunization waste products. One such technology-the auto-disable or AD syringe, a syringe that can only be used once-prevents re-use and the spread of infection. AD syringes are now used to deliver all vaccines in 75 of the poorest countries in the world. These innovations help to improve health systems.

"Our approach is to work with local colleagues to design and test promising approaches for delivering vaccines at a community or state level, then to encourage our partners-national governments and health agencies-to replicate these successes, first nationally and then internationally," said CVP Director Mark Kane.

In some areas, such as in West Africa, the results have been dramatic: Senegal, for example, reports that two regions where CVP worked in the north-St. Louis and Matam-experienced a 40 percent jump in the number of children immunized against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus; now, more than 80 percent of the children are protected against these and other diseases. In Andhra Pradesh, a heavily populated state in southeastern India, the introduction of the hepatitis B vaccine state-wide was achieved in only 30 months-more than two years ahead of schedule. And the Indian government has decided to make safe injections part of its official national policy in 2005.

Dr. Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy, the new Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (AP) in India, has announced his commitment to improving AP's health systems. "Towards this end," he said, "We appreciate the role of [the] Children's Vaccine Program in mainstreaming new vaccines and technologies and motivating health workers at all levels."

Vaccines and the technologies and management techniques that streamline immunization services are desperately needed in the world's poorest countries, where vaccine-preventable diseases kill as many as one out of every six children. By focusing on developing countries such as those with among the largest populations and the greatest burden of disease-India, China and Indonesia-CVP has had a considerable impact.

"The Children's Vaccine Program continues to make amazing contributions to GAVI. When we need them, they are there," said Tore Godal, Executive Secretary of GAVI, a partnership that includes UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and the World Bank, among other members. "CVP has a keen ability to anticipate challenges and problems."

PATH's CVP has, through its health partnerships at the country level, continued to foster health system strengthening. In Indonesia and Vietnam, for example, CVP and health officials there are now able to track whether vaccines are being kept at the temperature required to avoid damage to the vaccine as it gets transported in more remote areas. In Cambodia, for example, the government piloted a new approach to planning focused on clear deliverables with detailed "micro-planning" for each district. Cambodia also intensified monitoring and managerial support using a plan for improving vaccine coverage linked to results-based performance measures. These in turn helped local health agencies target resources to areas that most needed them.

"Cambodia managed to immunize almost 25,000 more children in 2003 than in 2002," Kane said. "In just twelve months, immunization coverage in targeted districts rose 13 percentage points-from 70 percent to 83 percent. By strengthening delivery systems and working on practical solutions, NGOs like PATH are able to make a difference in children's lives for the better health of all."

To access the summaries on CVP's work, please visit: http://childrensvaccine.org/files/changing-face-of-immunization.htm

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PATH, an international, nonprofit organization, creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions that enable communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health. By collaborating with diverse public- and private-sector partners, PATH helps provide appropriate health technologies and vital strategies that change the way people think and act. PATH's work improves global health and well-being. For additional information, visit www.path.org

PATH's Children's Vaccine Program (CVP), funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, works to ensure that all children receive the full benefits of immunization without undue delay. It also supports the development and introduction of new and underused vaccines in developing countries. For more information, visit www.ChildrensVaccine.org

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Africa: Malaria a major cause of child death

2004-12-09

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC16841

This document, produced by UNICEF and Roll Back Malaria (RBM), reviews the malaria burden in Africa and examines the role for UNICEF in taking forward the RBM initiative. The document focuses particularly on the critical importance of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) for malaria control and outlines UNICEF's approach to increasing the use of ITNs. Case studies are also provided from UNICEF programmes across Africa.

Africa: New video about HIV positive priest

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/25988

The Strategies for Hope Trust has launched a new video, designed to combat HIV-related stigma, shame, discrimination and denial in churches. The video features Rev. Canon Gideon Byamugisha from Uganda - the first African priest to disclose his HIV-positive status.

While churches throughout the world have provided health care, counselling and material support to many people living with HIV/AIDS, they have been less effective in addressing issues such as HIV-related stigma and discrimination. Many churches have ignored HIV/AIDS as an issue affecting their own members, or have expressed judgemental attitudes towards people living with HIV.

In this video, entitled 'What can I do?', Canon Gideon talks about the need for his fellow Christians to do away with judgemental attitudes towards HIV-positive people, and instead to offer them love and support. 'Churches need to spread hope, not fear,' he says. He goes on to tell how his wife died of an HIV-related illness and that he too found out he was HIV-positive. He accepted his status and disclosed it to his family and friends, and also to his Bishop. Later he married a woman who was also HIV-positive.

Canon Gideon speaks on the video about the difficulty he has faced when buying condoms, because people usually associate condoms with immorality. He describes how he has turned these situations into impromptu AIDS education sessions.

With the support of his family and friends, his church and World Vision International, Canon Gideon has taken his unique HIV/AIDS ministry to many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as to Asia, Europe and North America. He is driven by the conviction that HIV/AIDS is both a preventable and a manageable illness - providing the barriers of stigma, shame, denial, discrimination and ignorance can be broken down. He wants to encourage others, especially religious leaders, to get this important message across to the general public.

The video is 49 minutes long and is divided into short segments on topics such as 'Coping with stigma', 'Why be tested for HIV?' and 'Challenges for the church'. It is accompanied by a 48-page Facilitator's Guide, to enable groups to explore in greater depth the issues which it raises.

The production of the video and the Facilitator's Guide has been supported by Christian Aid, World Vision International, The World Bank and Lutheran World Federation.

The video and the Guide can be ordered from TALC: e-mail: info@talcuk.org; Web site: www.talcuk.org; telephone: +44 (0) 1727 853869. For general enquiries about these or other Strategies for Hope materials please contact Glen Williams: glen@stratshope.org; telephone: +44 (0) 1865 723078.

Africa: The deadly rise of urban malaria

2004-12-09

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996740

Urban malaria is emerging as a potential but "avertable" crisis in Africa, scientists are warning. Malaria kills millions around the globe and until recently was believed to be a disease of rural areas, since the Anopheles mosquito - which transmits the deadly parasite between people - breeds in stagnant waters. But now, scientists at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) in the UK are issuing a global alert that "urban malaria is a new, emerging tropical disease".

Angola: HIV infection rate for pregnant women at 2.8 percent

2004-12-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44505

The rate of HIV infection among pregnant women in Angola is 2.8 percent, half earlier estimates, according to a new national study. A health ministry report covering all of Angola's 18 provinces found that the highest HIV rates were in southern Cunene (9 percent) and Cuando Cubango (4 percent), which border Namibia.

Nigeria: 75 million dollars pledged for health sector

2004-12-09

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-12/09/content_2311042.htm

At least USD$75 million have been pledged to support the health sector in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, in an effort to hasten the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). To ensure success, a joint three-tier budget, involving the federal and state governments as well as donor agencies, will be adopted. Funke Adedoyin, Minister of State for Health, was cited by the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday as saying Nigeria was "scaling up its health activities in 14 pilot states where indices indicate that there have been a steady increase on child mortality and HIV/AIDS prevalence."

Nigeria: The challenge to attain the health-related Millennium Development Goals

2004-12-09

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2004/pr88/en/

The 2nd High-Level Forum (HLF) on the Health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Abuja, Nigeria, was held 2-3 December. In September 2000, 189 world leaders made a commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Three of the eight goals relate directly to health: to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters, child mortality by two-thirds, and combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. The HLF comes in advance of 2005, the "report card year", when Heads of State will meet to review progress at the Millennium +5 Summit in September.

South Africa: AIDS Initiative Focuses on Women

2004-12-09

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=26557

"HIV is just a virus...If we change our attitudes, HIV will die. It will have no space and capacity to spread," says Musa Njoko, a young South African woman who has been living with the virus for the past decade. Njoko, a singer, has devoted herself to helping people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Along with about 200 other AIDS activists, Njoko attended the launch of the 'Mutapola Campaign' in Pretoria.

Tanzania: Consolidating the fight against HIV/AIDS

2004-12-09

http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2004/12/09/26906.html

Since the first three cases of AIDS were reported in 1983, HIV infection has spread throughout the country and thousands of people in all walks of life have lost their lives. Surveillance reports indicate a two fold increase of HIV prevalence from 7.2 to 13.3 per cent among female blood donors. The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS epidemic is now being experienced throughout our society.

Zimbabwe: Transmitting HIV and the law

2004-12-09

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=26574

Popular disc jockey Kaiboni could spend several years in prison for statutory rape and willful transmission of HIV. He is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old on several occasions, and consciously infecting her with the AIDS virus. Kaiboni denies the charges, claiming he was unaware of his HIV status at the time. For AIDS activists, the court proceedings focus attention on the effectiveness of a law that bans HIV-positive persons from knowingly engaging in sexual behaviour that might lead to their partners becoming infected.

Zimbabwe: WFP to feed 1.6 million in Zimbabwe

2004-12-09

http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?cg=BreakingNews-Africa&ao=126368

The World Food Programme (WFP) has confirmed that it plans to expand its support to 1.6-million Zimbabweans during December via its targeted feeding programme. WFP spokesperson in Zimbabwe, Makena Walker, said that about 25 000-million tonnes of food aid, left over from its assistance programme last year, would be distributed next month to vulnerable groups, including the chronically ill, child-headed households and the disabled.

Africa: Mandela launches education drive for vulnerable African children

2004-12-09

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1508&ncid=751&e=9&u=/afp/20041206/hl_afp/safrica_mandela_aids

Former South African president Nelson Mandela on Monday kicked off a fund-raising drive to help children orphaned or left vulnerable by AIDS on the world's poorest continent. In a taped message aired at the function, he said: "No child in Africa, and in fact anywhere in the world, should be denied education."

Africa: Universal Schooling an Elusive Goal

2004-12-09

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=26548

A new report by the South African Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA) has highlighted the challenges and constraints facing education in Africa. According to the Johannesburg-based think tank, more than 40 million children of primary school age in sub-Saharan Africa are not receiving an education, (this amounts to almost half the children on the continent who should be in primary school). Enrolment in secondary school in 22 countries is below 20 percent, and less than 10 percent of the workforce has completed secondary school.

Equatorial Guinea: A Classroom for the Mentally Disabled

2004-12-09

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=26540

The only classroom for the mentally disabled in Equatorial Guinea is run by two non-governmental organisations, InteRed and the Teresian Institute. According to an activist in Spain, the country's government have not provided any other public institutions because in their eyes, the mentally handicapped do not exist. The classroom has 40 students and has been providing basic education, adult literacy classes and vocational training since 1983. In order to receive more support and legitimacy, the Institution is placing pressure on the state to officially recognise the issued training certificates in order to help the graduates of their programmes enter the job market.

Zambia: Police arrest Evelyn Hone students union leaders

2004-12-09

http://www.times.co.zm/news/viewnews.cgi?category=4&id=1102377067

Two Evelyn Hone College student union leaders were arrested yesterday for allegedly instigating violence at the institution, contrary to section 91 (b)(c) Cap 87 of the laws of Zambia. Several other students who attempted to march to the ministry of Science and Technology to protest against the alleged increment of tuition fees next year were blocked by the police. The students started their demonstrations on Sunday night after word went round that the college management intended to hike the fees next year. They have been released on bond.

*"We Do Not Interfere in Domestic Matters"

Experiences from Uganda in honour of Sylvia Tamale

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/16days/26054

Tributes continue to come in for Dr Sylvia Tamale, the first woman Dean of the Faculty of Law at Makerere University, Uganda. Dr Tamale, an internationally renowned feminist activist and academic was honoured on December 2nd by the women's movement in Uganda for her extensive work to advance human rights in Africa. As we reflect on the impact of violence on the lives of women over the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence, we hear from two contributors. One is a survivor of domestic violence, and the other a young lesbian activist in Uganda. Both (whose identities have been protected) wished to express their appreciation for Dr Tamale's support for their individual and collective struggles. They also wish to focus attention on the critical importance of the work that Dr Tamale and others like her do. - Sarah Mukasa, Akina Mama wa Afrika

We Do Not Interfere in Domestic Matters

"The first step towards ending an abusive relationship is to have the courage to speak about it. To tell someone about the hell that you are living with is the first small step towards healing oneself. When I was ready to take that step, Sylvia was there to pick me up and to help me start the healing process. And so I will honor her, even as she honors me; by telling you my story. I am a survivor of domestic violence and an activist. My field of activism is democracy and good governance for my country Uganda. I have come to be active in women's rights after realizing that part of the reason that our countries have a huge democracy deficit is the non-involvement of women as primary actors in decision-making. But back to the subject:

I bring to the campaign to stop violence against women a perspective that I hope will help people to discard the often-misconceived stereotypes about the women who are subjected to domestic violence. I am a lawyer with a postgraduate degree in law and I studied the international protection of human rights. One would imagine therefore that I know my rights. This did not stop me from living with and marrying a companion who shot me through the right hand wrist in a fit of anger and possessiveness. I lived with my husband trying to make a marriage out of a war zone, seemingly unable to change my circumstances for eight years.

Each year the violence got worse especially after the birth of our first child (we have two). I knew he was being unfaithful and lived with the constant fear of contracting HIV/AIDS. Yet I went ahead and had a second child. When I tried to introduce condoms into the marriage I was battered for that too. And I stayed on a few more years. Until one day my daughter (3 years at the time) woke up during a particularly bad fight and found her father holding a cocked pistol to my head. It was then that I knew I had to leave. I decided that this was not the legacy I was going to leave for my daughter. I did not want her to grow up believing it is normal for women to be battered. I had never seen a fight between my parents as I grew up and they are still married.

I had a good job, good education; I am a political leader and a regular political columnist in Uganda. I had a very good standard of living. So why was I putting up with this abuse? Is it culture, upbringing or am I just a little crazy to have stayed with this man?

Then of course there is the question of making the laws work. The night I allowed myself to see that I was indeed a battered wife after all those years, I called my friends to come and help before my husband murdered me and I told them to bring the Police with them. The Police refused to come because they did not 'interfere in domestic matters'. This was assault with a deadly weapon. I did not need any subsidiary/domestic violence laws, the Penal Code should have been enough. But since I was a woman, being battered by her husband, the Police refused to interfere. In the morning I rushed to a local medical clinic and called a photographer to take pictures of my injuries (Now I think of it I never got round to picking up the pictures). I walked to the police station with the confidence of a lawyer who knew her rights. However, the drunken sod at the police laughed at me. "We do not interfere in domestic matters".

My husband is an army officer and so I went to his overall superior and asked him to disarm this domestic terrorist. Once again I was ignored. I called a relative who was a government Minister and asked her to talk to my husband's boss, he told her something like: "You know her! She must have provoked him". The 'Boy's Club' shut me out and I was on my own.

I did all the lawyerly things. I started the judicial separation process, appeared before a family court to settle the case. A senior Attorney represented my husband. He refused to believe that my husband could hold a gun to my head and he built a case based on the premise that I wanted to squeeze money out of my 'poor husband in some kind of revenge'. So I finally put on the 20/20 eyeglasses and allowed myself to see my life for what it was- a typical story of "The abused woman". The law and those who would write it, who swore to protect and defend it, were actually working against delivery of justice. I was in a country with no services for battered women. The counselling I got was from parents and friends who had no clue about domestic abuse except what they read and what I myself told them.

Throughout all of this, Sylvia has remained a true girl friend. When the abuse started I was hesitant to tell anyone about it because I thought it would be admitting to failure and weakness. But because of the trust that existed between us I was eventually able to open up to tell her what was going on. She listened and gave whatever advice she could. She listened to my woes and cried with me when I needed to cry. By simply being there, listening and believing in me, she kept me going another day.

When things were really tough Sylvia held on. Aside from the physical injuries, women who experience domestic violence have to deal with deep, often overwhelming feelings of complete worthlessness.

Sylvia would not let me give in to this mental anguish. She even asked me to edit the book she was writing at the time in 1997-98 but I was too consumed with my misery and could not complete the task. The fact that she offered showed me that she was trying to pull me out of my misery so that I could do something worthwhile and start believing in myself again.

After I left my husband Sylvia did not allow me to wallow in guilt and shame for a failed marriage. She came and sat with me in my new home and talked me through the threatening phone calls that my husband made from time to time. Sometimes I drank too much alcohol to take away the pain. Sylvia patiently waited for me to realize that the answer was not at the bottom of a bottle.

I guess the most important thing in all this is that my relationship with Sylvia and my closest friends never changed. That gave me a sense of security and continuity. I knew that in spite of all that happened I had a friend I could count on to pick me up and make sure I went on with my life.

Thank you Sylvia. It is time you were recognized for the work you have done for women such as myself in this county.

Sylvia, Our Hero, Our Friend. We are proud to commemorate the achievements of our dear friend and partner in the struggle for the rights of sexual minorities, Dr Sylvia Tamale. We are very honoured and grateful to be part of this ceremony. As you are all aware, Sylvia has endured a lot of criticism and hostility for speaking out. Yet she still chooses not to keep silent."

"As SEXUAL MINORITIES UGANDA (SMUG), we have benefited so much from the support of this powerful woman. I remember the first time our organization first met her way back in 2003. She was such a great and positive force. This was a total departure from our past encounters with the mainstream civil society and human rights sector. Often we were subjected to abuse, ridicule, dismissal, outright hostility. Occasionally if we were 'lucky', we met with those who arrogantly informed us, that our issues are not 'priorities'. Oh really? So it is fine in the meantime for us to be subjected to abuse, torture, ridicule, humiliation, police harassment, criminalization, and to live a life of constant fear and insecurity? All this came from the movement that is supposed to be promoting human rights in this country. Those who arrogantly spoke down to us in this way did not even recognize the irony of their remarks. Heterosexual women, who fight for the right to choose their partners; who resist the humiliation of having their sexuality policed and monitored by an established patriarchal order (for example, the policy of rewarding girls who remain virgins until marriage, as one of the main HIV prevention strategies of the Buganda Kingdom, FGM, early marriages and so on), would have us submit to the very oppression they resist. They do not see our struggle as a natural extension of the rights they seek. Apparently, the struggle for women's autonomy and bodily integrity is limited to a select few! One is forced to ask the question, what is the good of human rights if they do not protect the rights of all human beings? For whatever else people choose to call us, we are first and foremost, human beings.

And so when we met Sylvia we were somewhat cautious.

What a breath of fresh air she was. Here was someone who listened to us. She was not judgmental. She did not think us mad, immoral or evil. Instead she encouraged us to stand up for our rights, never to quit no matter what. She says we may never live to see the fruits of our efforts, but at least we would have made a difference, and the world a better place. She understood our pain and isolation, our fears and our hopes. She has inspired us to fight on.

This brave and courageous woman was last year voted worst woman of the year in a poll that was taken in one of Uganda's leading dailies. What a strange world we live in. Someone who stands up to fight for the rights of all people, without qualification; someone who struggles for an end to all violence and discrimination; this is the person, voted the worst woman of the year? Well, there are many of us who do not agree with this. Sylvia is our woman of the year, always.

We feel very honoured to be here today. We believe in Sylvia and we thank her for standing by us through thick and thin. She is such a wonderful person, one who inspires us. We have learnt and continue to learn so much from her.

We are proud to be associated with someone who understands our language, one who believes that it is unacceptable to discriminate against others simply because they are different from ourselves. Whilst many people in this country call gays and lesbians mad, insane, sick (you know what they call us), at least we know that there are people in this country who care to get along with us, even if they have not walked in our shoes.

To us Dr. Tamale is a friend, parent and a teacher.

Sylvia you will always be our hero."

AWDF grants awarded for 16 days campaign

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/16days/26044

The world will be marking 16 days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence from November 25th to December 10th 2004. Once again, women's organisations and human rights activists all over the world will come together in their various communities. Last year, the AWDF awarded a total of USD$15,000 in grants to 17 women’s organisations in Africa to celebrate the 16 Days Campaign. In 2004, AWDF will award USD $15,000 to 17 organisations.
The world will be marking 16 days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence from November 25th to December 10th 2004. Once again, women's organisations and human rights activists all over the world will come together in their various communities for the following activities:

· Raising awareness on all forms of gender-based violence against women as a human rights issue at the local, national, regional and international level.
· Strengthening local work around violence against women.
· Demonstrating the solidarity of women both locally and internationally to organise against violence against women.
· Calling on Governments to implement promises made to eliminate violence against women.

The theme for this year’s campaign is, “For the Health of Women, For the Health of the World: No more Violence”. In line with this, the African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF) has again provided grants to African women’s organisations working to eliminate violence against women. AWDF grants will support activities such as printing of posters, tee shirts, organizing radio shows, one-day seminars, marches, rallies etc. Last year, the AWDF awarded a total of USD$15,000 in grants to 17 women’s organisations in Africa to celebrate the 16 Days Campaign. In 2004, AWDF will award USD $15,000 to 17 organisations, namely:

· Association pour la Paix et la Solidarite – Burkina Faso
· Association pour le progres et la Defense des Droits des Femmes (APDF) – Mali
· BAOBAB for Women’s Human Rights – Nigeria
· Foundation for Female Photojournlists – Ghana
· International Action for Development Initiatives – Ghana
· Kaabong Women’s Group – Uganda
· Nana Yaa Memorial Trust for Good Quality Maternity Service – Ghana
· S.O.S Femmes Bibliotheque des Femmes - Mauritius
· Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF) – Ghana
· Women Writers of Nigeria (WRITA) - Nigeria
· Women’s Consortium of Nigeria (WOCON) – Nigeria
· Uganda Health Empowerment Project (UHEP) – Uganda
· Akina Mama Wa Afrika – Uganda
· Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET) – Uganda
· ISIS-WICCE - Uganda
· International Association for the Advancement of Women - Ghana

The AWDF is the first autonomous Africa-wide fundraising and grant-making organisation set up to provide grants to African women’s organisations. The vision of the AWDF is for African women to live in a world in which there is social justice, equality and respect for women’s human rights. The mission is to mobilize financial resources to support local, national and regional initiatives led by women, leading to the achievement of this vision. AWDF currently supports 185 African women’s organisations in 32 countries with grants and capacity building.

For further enquires, please contact: Ms Vera Doku, Communications Officer, the African Women’s Development Fund. Tel: 021 - 780476/7 Fax: 021- 782502.

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Grants awarded for fight against HIV/AIDS

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/16days/26045

On Monday 1st December 2004, the world marked World AIDS Day. The theme for this year's campaign, which was selected by the United Nations was, "Women, Girls HIV and AIDS". Globally, young women and girls are more susceptible to HIV than men and boys, with studies showing they can be 2.5 times more likely to be HIV-infected than their male counterparts. According to UNAIDS report released in February 2004, 55 percent of adults infected are women. Their vulnerability is primarily due to inadequate knowledge about HIV/AIDS, insufficient access to HIV prevention services, inability to negotiate safer sex, and a lack of female-controlled HIV prevention methods. The statistics are startling, that is why the African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) has since it's inception given grants for women's reproductive health and HIV/AIDS.
On Monday 1st December 2004, the world marked World AIDS Day. The theme for this year's campaign, which was selected by the United Nations was, "Women, Girls HIV and AIDS".

Globally, young women and girls are more susceptible to HIV than men and boys, with studies showing they can be 2.5 times more likely to be HIV-infected than their male counterparts. According to UNAIDS report released in February 2004, 55 percent of adults infected are women. Their vulnerability is primarily due to inadequate knowledge about HIV/AIDS, insufficient access to HIV prevention services, inability to negotiate safer sex, and a lack of female-controlled HIV prevention methods. The statistics are startling, that is why the African Women's Development Fund (AWDF) has since it's inception given grants for women's reproductive health and HIV/AIDS.

This year, the AWDF will once again award grants to women's organisations to support their efforts in combating HIV/AIDS on the continent. The following 19 women's organisations will receive grants to the tune of USD$15000.

· Soeurs Unies a L'oeuvre - Benin
· Association Femme et Vie (AFV) - Benin
· Association Vive le Paysan Nouveau - Benin
· Busia Women AIDS Support Organisation - Kenya
· Disabled Women's Network and Resource Organisation - Uganda
· Dzinpa and Adom Oil Processing Group - Ghana
· HIV Empowered and Living Project (Heal Project) - Zambia
· Jekesa Pfungwa/Vulingqondo (JP/V) - Zimbabwe
· Society for Women and AIDS in Africa- Nigeria (SWAAN) - Nigeria
· The International Centre for Reproeuctive Health and Sexual Rights - Nigeria
· FIDA - Uganda - Uganda
· Women's Resource Centre - Swaziland
· Nana Yaa Memorial Trust for Good Quality Maternity Service - Ghana
· Association de Lutte contre les Violences Faites aux Femmes -Cameroon
· Cooperative de Development Redonner Espoir aud Paysans Popuplations - Togo
· Femme dans le Mone Social - Congo
· Women's Promotion and Assistance Association (WOPA) - Cameroon
· Protection Enfants SIDA (PES) - Congo
· Association des Femmes Africaines pour la Recherche et le Developpment (AFARD - Togo) - Togo

In 2003, the AWDF awarded USD $13, 000 to 19 organisations to organise activities for World AIDS Day. The AWDF is the first autonomous Africa-wide fundraising and grant-making organisation set up to provide grants to African women's organisations. The vision of the AWDF is for African women to live in a world in which there is social justice, equality and respect for women's human rights. The mission is to mobilize financial resources to support local, national and regional initiatives led by women, leading to the achievement of this vision. AWDF currently supports 185 African women's organisations in 32 countries with grants and capacity building.

For further enquires, please contact: Ms Vera Doku, Communications Officer, the African Women's Development Fund. Tel: 021 - 780476/7 Fax: 021- 782502.

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Senegal moves closer to ratification of women's rights protocol

Wildaf press release

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/16days/26055

"The follow-up committee for the ratification and the implementation of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) on the Rights of Women in Africa informed us that the law on the ratification of the Protocol was adopted unanimously Wednesday the 1st December at the National Assembly. The law has now to be transmitted to the President of the Republic will promulgated it. The instrument of ratification will then be deposited at the African Union." (Also available in French)
L'Assemblée Nationale du Sénégal a adopté la loi sur la ratification du protocole relatif aux Droits de la Femme en Afrique

Lomé, Togo, 3 décembre 2004. Le comité de suivi du Sénégal pour la ratification et la mise en œuvre du protocole à la Charte Africaine des Droits de l'Homme et des Peuples (CADHP) relatif aux Droits de la Femme nous a informé que l'Assemblée Nationale qui s'est réunie mercredi le 1er décembre a adopté à l'unanimité la loi portant sur la ratification du protocole. La loi sera ensuite transmise au Président de la République pour promulgation. L'instrument de ratification pourra alors être déposé auprès du Président de la Commission de l'Union Africaine.

Aussi, sachez que l'Union Africaine a instauré depuis 2003 une semaine de signature espérant ainsi inciter les États membres à signer les traités de l'institution. En 2004, cette semaine est prévue du 6 au 13 décembre prochain au siège de l'Union Africaine à Addis Abeba. Elle coïncide avec la session extraordinaire du Conseil exécutif qui aura lieu les 6 et 7 décembre. Donc, maintenez la pression. Incitez vos gouvernements à ce qu'ils respectent leur parole donnée lors de la dernière Conférence des Chefs d'État et de Gouvernement dans la déclaration solennelle qu'ils ont pris en faveur de l'égalité entre les femmes et les hommes. Les États membres se sont alors engagés à ratifier avant la FIN DE 2004 cet instrument juridique de grande importance pour les femmes africaines.

Le Protocole entrera en vigueur trente (30) jours après le dépôt du quinzième instrument. Au 1er décembre, trente et un (31) pays, dont treize (13) d'Afrique de l'ouest, l'ont signé. Nous encourageons les organisations de femmes, les ONG et les réseaux de droits humains à poursuivre leurs actions de lobbying et de suivi pour la ratification dans leur pays.

Nous sentons que les actions entreprises par les uns et les autres commencent à porter leurs fruits. Continuons le bon travail ! N'hésitez pas à nous faire connaître vos actions.

Dans les jours à venir, WiLDAF/FeDDAF Afrique de l'Ouest démarrera une nouvelle campagne dont l'objectif sera d'obtenir la ratification du protocole de tous les pays de la sous région d'ici la mi février 2005. Un suivi de cette campagne sera régulièrement disponible dans le site de WiLDAF/FeDDAF-Afrique de l'Ouest.

Bravo au comité sénégalais de suivi pour le travail qu'il effectue. Nous encourageons nos collègues du Sénégal à poursuivre le suivi jusqu'au dépôt de l'instrument de ratification auprès de l'Union Africaine.

Meilleures salutations !

Women in Law and Development in Africa/ Femmes, Droit et Développement en Afrique (WiLDAF/FeDDAF) bureau sous-régional d'Afrique de l'Ouest
Wildaf@cafe.tg
www.wildaf-ao.org

Pour suivre au jour le jour le processus de signature et de ratification : www.africa-union.org et consultez la section Documents officiels et ensuite la rubrique Traités, conventions et protocoles.

More...

Tanzania: Violence against girl pupils still rampant

2004-12-09

http://www.ippmedia.com/ipp/guardian/2004/12/04/26447.html

Several years have passed since Tanzania ratified an International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women (CEDAW). Nothing has been done to incorporate the convention in the country’s domestic laws up to now when the world is marking 16 Days of Activism Against Women Violence (16DAWV). This derails efforts to curb violence against women and schoolgirls, with the latter being the most affected.

West Africa: Countries wage war on violence against women

2004-12-09

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/a7fbbcae701768ce283e91a3b31ff596.htm

Barely emerging from years of civil conflict, two countries in West Africa are waging a new war – a battle to eradicate all forms of violence against women. Last Thursday, the authorities in Sierra Leone and Liberia joined humanitarian organisations like the UN refugee agency and the International Rescue Committee to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and to launch 16 Days of Activism to Eliminate Violence against Women.

Zimbabwe: Women activists to appeal for domestic violence legislation

2004-12-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44572

Zimbabwean women activists are to petition parliament on Friday to approve a four-year-old Prevention of Domestic Violence Bill. The activists, frustrated with continued delays in the bill's approval, have chosen the last day of the worldwide campaign dubbed "16 Days of Gender Activism against Domestic Violence" to make their appeal.

Czech Republic/Africa: Abanda Angry Over Czech Racism

2004-12-09

http://www.cameroon-tribune.net/article.php?lang=Fr&oled=j08122004&idart=21261&olarch=&ph=y

Cameroon's Patrice Abanda has criticised the failure of a Czech football anti-racism campaign after becoming victim of another racist incident. He said the campaign had little effect. "The only change which I see is the appearance of plaques in stadiums saying 'Football yes, racism no'. That's all that I have noticed," he said. "Otherwise, it is the same chants, cries of monkey, banana skins, all that," he added. "It's not only with me, but also with other black players who have come to play here."

South Africa: Race discussion reaches South Africa's sports

2004-12-09

http://www.afrol.com/articles/14837

Should a national athletic team or a rugby team have racial quotas to reflect the nation's racial composition? Political activists in South Africa are launching protests when a sports team becomes "too white", causing the white-dominated opposition to talk about a "race obsession" among certain ruling party members.

South Africa: Race row as Mbeki blood rejected

2004-12-09

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4075383.stm

South Africa's national blood service is to meet to discuss whether to stop treating blood donated by black people as high risk. The health minister has already said this should stop, after it emerged that President Thabo Mbeki's blood was destroyed because he was black. He did not fill in a questionnaire and because he was considered high risk, his blood was burnt.

USA/Africa: A black identity

2004-12-09

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~418~2582408,00.html

"The matter of who's "more" black has a certain personal resonance. Like many foreign blacks, I'm often treated by my black peers as a usurper. Furthermore, my children have the same pedigree as Barack Obama: Kenyan father and American mother. After three decades in America, I still anguish about the sad state of the relationship between American and African blacks. Each group, safe within its own prejudices and preconceptions, rejects the other."

Angola/Botswana/Zambia: Mine clearance to protect elephant migration

2004-12-09

http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_15914.shtml

An ambitious project to clear deadly land mines from a wildlife sanctuary in southern Africa is being launched in a bid to give thousands of elephants and local villagers new hope. The announcement was made during the Nairobi Summit for a Mine-Free World taking place at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The $1 million project initially aims to clear mines, sown during the Angolan civil war, to help restore an ancient elephant migration route linking Botswana with Zambia and Angola.

Congo: Forest communities and forests destroyed to pay debt

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/26024

Like many other Third World countries pushed by the global policies of colonialism and later neocolonialism to poverty and indebtedness, Congo has a current debt of $4.9 billion. Like many other southern governments, too, advised by multilateral agencies to commerce their wealth -natural resources-, the government of Congo has been placing greater emphasis on the growth of the timber industry in the Congo Basin, which has the world's second largest stretches of virgin rainforest after the Amazon in South America.

Ba'aka pygmies, the indigenous population of the forest, have their traditional lifestyle under threat as the forest opens up to intensive logging, both legal and illegal. Certainly, trees valuable to the Ba'aka for their fruits, oil, medicinal bark and for the construction of pirogues are rapidly disappearing under the loggers' saws.

For example, the Sapelli, an African mahogany, is one of the most highly-prized trees on the world timber market - and it is also host to a species of caterpillar, an essential food source, that emerge towards the end of the rainy season when hunting and fishing is limited. A sack of smoked caterpillars can sell for up to $100, and just one tree can provide up to five sacks per year. This money remains in the local economy, whereas a large proportion of the money from logging leaves the country.

An initiative to protect the forest area was launched in 2002 with the creation of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership (CBFP) at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in South Africa. The CBFP has planned a network of new and expanded national parks which will cover 40% of the entire Congo Basin. But such conservation policy has been criticised for often having little regard for indigenous populations - for example, the Ba'aka have not yet been informed about the CFBP national parks development.

"Local forest communities and civil society groups have so far been completely excluded from the initiative, which is primarily about 'partnerships' between international conservation organisations and international loggers," said Simon Counsell, director of the Rainforest Foundation.

Meanwhile "eco guards" police the forests to stop illegal hunting and trade in bush meat, which is the staple of the Ba'aka. Though, these regulations are undermined by corruption as the trade is organised by members of local elites who ensure that "their" bush meat sellers are not targeted by the eco guards - and instead, the eco guards have been accused of victimising the Ba'aka. "We get so much suffering because of eco guards," Nyaku, a Ba'aka from Mbua, near the administrative centre of Pokola in northern Congo, told Focus On Africa. "We can't go and find things in the forest as we used to. All we hear is hunger."

Should any debt be paid by destruction, dispossession and hunger?

* Article based on information from: "Concern over Congo logging", Kate Eshelby, BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3937829.stm

SOURCE: WORLD RAINFOREST MOVEMENT
W R M B U L L E T I N 89
International Secretariat
Maldonado 1858; Montevideo, Uruguay
E-Mail: wrm@wrm.org.uy
Web page: http://www.wrm.org.uy
Editor: Ricardo Carrere

Nigeria: Villagers block access to ruptured oil pipe in delta, says Shell

2004-12-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44518

Angry residents of a southern Nigerian village where a Royal Dutch/Shell oil pipeline burst, have set the spilled crude on fire, preventing repair teams from reaching the site, the company said. Shell said it first noticed leaks in its 18-inch diameter pipeline at Egbeda village in Rivers State last weekend. The pipeline is part of a key network that transports crude oil from the inland oilfields of the Niger Delta to the terminals on the coast for export.

Tunisia: 15 wetland sites to be protected

2004-12-09

http://www.afrol.com/articles/14859

The decision by Tunisian authorities to protect 15 wetland sites has been welcomed by environmentalist groups. The wetlands to be protected total over 750,000 hectares and vary in landscape. These landscapes include salt lakes, swamps, peat bogs, dunes, karstic caves, oases, and lagoons, and are home to some 85 aquatic plant species.

Zambia: Dam gives way for wetlands in Zambia

2004-12-09

http://www.afrol.com/articles/14882

A long awaited hydrological and monitoring network for Zambia's Itezhi Tezhi Dam is finally in place, following a three-year initiative to improve water flows in the Kafue Flats. The dam for years has disrupted natural flooding and destroyed biodiversity in ancient wetlands, but the network now is to restore this valuable habitat.

Malawi: Access to land, growth and poverty reduction

2004-12-09

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0001007/index.php

After four decades of agricultural-led development strategies in the postindependent Malawi, economic growth has been erratic and a large proportion of the population live below the poverty line and studies suggests that the poverty situation has worsened. Smallholder farmers face several constraints including landlessness and small land holdings and declining agricultural productivity, states this University of Malawi study, which argues that past agricultural strategies have been less successful because they ignored the land question among smallholder farmers.

South Africa: South Africans oppose "Zimbabwe-style" land seizures

2004-12-09

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24679669.htm

Only 14 percent of South Africans believe their country should follow Zimbabwe by seizing white-owned commercial farms for landless blacks, while 31 percent of 2,000 South Africans surveyed - including 45 percent of whites - said they felt there was a danger the chaotic scenes seen in Zimbabwe could be repeated in their country. Although many white farmers say they see the need for change, some describe the process as "Zimbabwe in a velvet glove".

Algeria: Kafka's the trial in real life

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/26007

Reporters sans frontières has urged the Algerian justice system to put an end to its harassment of "Le Matin" editor Mohammed Benchicou, who is already serving a two-year sentence and could now be convicted in two or possibly three separate libel cases on 7 December 2004. "With close to 50 cases [pending], with one trial after another, one lawsuit after another, hearings adjourned by judges and incomprehensible legal manoeuvres, Benchicou's legal ordeal is on a par with the absurdities and nightmarish procedures of the bureaucratic and partisan judicial system described in Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'," RSF said. (French version available through the link below)
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT UPDATE - ALGERIA

6 December 2004

RSF urges courts to end editor Mohammed Benchicou's judicial harassment

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

**Updates IFEX alerts of 13 August, 25, 17 and 15 June 2004, 12, 9 and 3
September and 27 August 2003**

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has urged the Algerian justice system to put an end to its
harassment of "Le Matin" editor Mohammed Benchicou, who is already serving a
two-year sentence and could now be convicted in two or possibly three
separate libel cases on 7 December 2004.

"With close to 50 cases [pending], with one trial after another, one lawsuit
after another, hearings adjourned by judges and incomprehensible legal
manoeuvres, Benchicou's legal ordeal is on a par with the absurdities and
nightmarish procedures of the bureaucratic and partisan judicial system
described in Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'," RSF said.

"The authorities have already obtained the closure of 'Le Matin' and the
imprisonment of its editor. The time has come [for them] to consider showing
moderation and clemency," the organisation added.

In one of the pending cases, Benchicou is being prosecuted for "offending
the head of state", namely President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in an article
entitled, "Time for an Anti-Bouteflika Front", which appeared in the 31
December 2003 edition of "Le Matin". Article 141 of the Criminal Code
provides for up to a year in prison for such a crime. The prosecutor is
seeking a six-month sentence. Benchicou's lawyers pleaded in his defence in
a 30 November 2004 hearing.

In another case, Benchicou is accused of "insulting the president of the
republic" in connection with another article he wrote. And in a third case,
a court in Sidi Mohammed is due to issue a verdict in a case brought against
Benchicou and one of his journalists, Abla Chérif, over an article entitled,
"How I was Tortured", about alleged atrocities by gendarmes in Tkout (90 km
south of Batna, in the Aurès) in May.

The newspaper "Le Soir d'Algérie" reported that several of the victims
travelled from Tkout to Algiers in order to testify at the 24 November
trial, confirming Chérif's account of their mistreatment and torture.

On 14 June, Benchicou began serving a two-year prison sentence for
"violation of currency exchange laws", on the grounds that cash vouchers
were found in his luggage at Algiers airport in August 2003. His sentence
was confirmed in August 2004.

"Le Matin" opposed President Bouteflika during his April re-election
campaign. Previously, in February, Benchicou published a scathing leaflet
about the president entitled, "Bouteflika, an Algerian Imposter".

For further information, contact Séverine Cazes 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: moyen-orient@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

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

IFEX - Nouvelles de la communauté internationale de défense de la liberté
d'expression
_________________________________________________________________

MISE À JOUR D'ALERTE - ALGÉRIE

Le 6 décembre 2004

RSF demande aux magistrats algériens de mettre un terme à l'harcèlement
judiciaire de Mohammed Benchicou

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

**Mise à jour d'alertes de l'IFEX du 13 août, 25, 17 et 15 juin 2004, 12, 9
et 3 septembre et 27 août 2003

(RSF/IFEX) - "Un nombre incalculable d'affaires - sans doute près d'une
cinquantaine -, des procès à répétition, des plaintes à tiroirs, des
audiences ajournées par les magistrats et des procédures incompréhensibles :
l'ancien directeur du quotidien "Le Matin", Mohammed Benchicou, est au coeur
d'une saga judiciaire qui n'est pas sans rappeler "Le procès", le célèbre
roman de Franz Kafka. L'auteur pragois y décrit de manière angoissante les
absurdités d'une justice bureaucratique et partisane aux procédures
cauchemardesques", a déclaré RSF.

"Nous demandons à la justice algérienne de mettre un terme au harcèlement
judiciaire contre Mohammed Benchicou. Les autorités ont déjà obtenu la
fermeture du journal "Le Matin" et l'emprisonnement de son directeur depuis
bientôt six mois. L'heure est maintenant venue de songer à faire preuve de
modération et de clémence".

Le 7 décembre 2004, la justice algérienne devrait rendre au moins deux
verdicts - peut-être trois - dans des affaires de diffamation distinctes
contre le journaliste et directeur de publication Benchicou.

D'après l'un de ses avocats, Maître Bourayou, Benchicou est poursuivi pour
"offense au chef de l'Etat" suite à un article paru dans "Le Matin", le 31
décembre 2003, et intitulé "L'heure d'un front anti-Bouteflika". L'article
141 bis du code pénal prévoit une peine pouvant aller jusqu'à un an de
prison. Le procureur a requis dans cette affaire six mois de prison ferme.
Les avocats de Benchicou ont plaidé à l'audience qui s'est tenue le 30
novembre 2004.

Dans une seconde affaire, Benchicou est poursuivi pour "outrage au président
de la République", cette fois suite à une chronique intitulée "La République
de Fatiha Bouagla" et signée de son nom.

Enfin, le tribunal de Sidi Mohammed doit rendre son verdict dans l'affaire
qui oppose le directeur du journal "Le Matin" et l'une de ses journalistes,
Abla Chérif, au ministère de la Défense. L'affaire concerne la publication,
après les événements de Tkout (à 90 km au sud de Batna, dans les Aurès) en
mai, d'un article titré "Comment j'ai été torturé". La journaliste Chérif y
avait retranscrit des témoignages de personnes ayant été victimes
d'exactions commises par des gendarmes de la brigade de Tkout. D'après le
journal "Le Soir d'Algérie", plusieurs victimes se sont déplacées, le 24
novembre, de Tkout à Alger pour venir témoigner au procès et ont confirmé
les mauvais traitements et les tortures rapportés par la journaliste.

Benchicou purge depuis le 14 juin une peine de deux ans de prison ferme pour
"infraction à la loi régissant le contrôle des changes et les mouvements de
capitaux" à la suite de la découverte de bons de caisse dans ses bagages à
l'aéroport d'Alger, en août 2003. Cette peine avait été confirmée en août
2004.

Lors de l'élection présidentielle d'avril 2004, le quotidien "Le Matin"
avait fait campagne contre le président-candidat Bouteflika. En février,
Benchicou avait publié un pamphlet à l'encontre du président algérien
intitulé "Bouteflika, une imposture algérienne".

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

RSF est responsable de toute information contenue dans cette mise à jour
d'alerte. En citant cette information, prière de bien vouloir l'attribuer à
RSF.
_______________________________________________________________
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L'ÉCHANGE INTERNATIONAL DE LA LIBERTÉ D'EXPRESSION
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courrier électronique: alerts@ifex.org boîte générale: ifex@ifex.org
site Internet: http://www.ifex.org/

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Eritrea: Concern over continuing imprisonment of journalist

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/26006

The World Association of Newspapers has written to the Eritrean authorities to express concern at the continuing imprisonment of journalist Dawit Isaac and the government's ongoing suppression of press freedom. "According to reports, Mr Isaac, a journalist, author and playwright, has been held in jail since his arrest in September 2001 for publishing a call for democratic reforms in Setit, the newspaper he founded on his return to Eritrea in 1996 after living in exile in Sweden for nine years," said the organisation.
To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: World Association of Newspapers (WAN), gov.affairs@wan.asso.fr

His Excellency President Isaias Afworki
Asmara, Eritrea
C/o Permanent Representative to UN
Email: eritrea@un.int

6 December 2004

Your Excellency,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the
World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 100 countries,
to express our serious concern at the continuing imprisonment of journalist
Dawit Isaac and the government's ongoing suppression of press freedom.

According to reports, Mr Isaac, a journalist, author and playwright, has
been held in jail since his arrest in September 2001 for publishing a call
for democratic reforms in Setit, the newspaper he founded on his return to
Eritrea in 1996 after living in exile in Sweden for nine years. Setit, the
first independent newspaper in your country, was known for criticising the
government and reporting on abuses of power. At the same time as Mr Isaac
was arrested, your government closed all private and independent media and
jailed many critics.

Mr Isaac, who is a Swedish citizen, remains in prison without having been
given a fair trial. He was last seen at the beginning of 2002 when his wife
visited him in hospital where he was being treated for injuries which,
according to some sources, were the result of torture. All visitors to Mr
Isaac have since been banned and little is known of his condition, although
the government states that he is still alive.

We respectfully remind you that the jailing of Mr Isaac constitutes a clear
breach of his right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by
numerous international conventions, including Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. Furthermore, the United Nations Commission on
Human Rights considers that "detention, as punishment for the peaceful
expression of an opinion, is one of the most reprehensible ways to enjoin
silence and, as a consequence, a grave violation of human rights".

We respectfully call on you to ensure that Mr Isaac is immediately released
from jail and that all charges against him are dropped. We urge you to take
all necessary steps to ensure that in future your country fully respects
international standards of freedom of expression.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Seok Hyun Hong
President
World Association of Newspapers

George Brock
President
World Editors Forum

cc : Mr Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations
Mr Koichiro Matsuura, Director-General, UNESCO

More...

Ivory Coast: RSF reveals government plan to control state media

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/26049

Seizing control of the state media was one of the linchpins of President Laurent Gbagbo's failed bid to recover all of Cote d'Ivoire's territory. In just one morning, on 4 November, supporters of the president and his party succeeded in hijacking Radiotélévision ivoirienne (RTI) and Radio Côte d'Ivoire (RCI). A new staff of presenters and journalists ready to take editorial orders was put in place. (French version available)
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT UPDATE - CÔTE D'IVOIRE

7 December 2004

RSF reveals government plan to control state media

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

**Updates IFEX alerts of 26, 11, 8 and 5 November, 28 and 27 October 2004**

(RSF/IFEX) - The following is an excerpt from RSF's report "Chronicle of a
state media hijack":

Seizing control of the state media was one of the linchpins of President
Laurent Gbagbo's failed bid to recover all of Cote d'Ivoire's territory. In
just one morning, on 4 November, supporters of the president and his party
succeeded in hijacking Radiotélévision ivoirienne (RTI) and Radio Côte
d'Ivoire (RCI).

A new staff of presenters and journalists ready to take editorial orders was
put in place. From this day on and throughout rioting that shook Abidjan for
nearly a week, TV and radio broadcasts descended into peddling propaganda,
relaying incitement to murder, putting out lies and orders to foment
violence in the street.

Even if the tone on the airwaves has been somewhat modified, activism still
holds sway within the Ivorian state-owned media and the "parallel"
management imposed on RTI on the 4 November is still in place, completely
illegally.

"In a democracy nothing can justify a political clan submitting state-owed
media to its diktats," said Reporters Without Borders.

"RTI and RCI need to operate again in a professional and calm atmosphere and
free from government control for the return to normality heralded by the
Ivorian authorities not to appear as a sham," the worldwide press freedom
organisation said.

"The legitimate team, led by Kébé Yacouba, should be allowed to operate
normally again as soon as possible, in line with the job entrusted to it by
the president of the republic in January 2004. In addition all public media
staff should be provided with the means to work in safety."

A general manager put in place under escort

At daybreak on 4 November, on the orders of President Laurent Gbagbo, Côte
d'Ivoire's national armed forces (Fanci) launched operation "Dignity". Their
objective was to forcibly retake the north of the country, in the hands of
insurgents since 19 September 2002.

At around 9am the same day, a significant military detachment took up a
position in the courtyard of RTI, in the Abidjan's Cocody quarter. Civilian
vehicles followed in their wake. Out of them stepped Georges Aboké, the
channel's former managing director, Jean-Paul Dahily, its former general
secretary and an advisor to the president, and Silvère Nebout, the head of
state's communications advisor. They were escorted to the top floor of the
building where the management offices are located.

To read the full report visit:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=12039

For further information, contact Léonard Vincent 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: africa@rsf.org, Internet: http://www.rsf.org

The information contained in this alert update is the sole responsibility of
RSF. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit
RSF.
_________________________________________________________________
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IFEX - Nouvelles de la communauté internationale de défense de la liberté
d'expression
_________________________________________________________________

MISE À JOUR D'ALERTE - CÔTE D'IVOIRE

Le 7 décembre 2004

RSF fait état du plan présidentiel pour contrôler les médias d'État

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

**Mise à jour d'alertes de l'IFEX des 26, 11, 8 et 5 novembre, 28 et 27
octobre 2004**

(RSF/IFEX) - Ci-dessous, un extrait du rapport RSF "Chronique d'un hold-up
sur les médias d'Etat" :

La reprise en main des médias d'Etat a été l'une des pièces maîtresses de
l'offensive avortée du président Laurent Gbagbo pour reconquérir le contrôle
de l'ensemble de la Côte d'Ivoire. En une matinée, le 4 novembre, la
Radiotélévision ivoirienne (RTI) et Radio Côte d'Ivoire (RCI) sont passées
sous la coupe des fidèles de la présidence et du parti présidentiel, le FPI.

Un nouveau staff d'animateurs et de journalistes, partisans d'une ligne
éditoriale aux ordres, a été imposé. A compter de ce jour, et durant toutes
les émeutes qui ont secoué Abidjan pendant près d'une semaine, les émissions
de la télévision et de la radio publiques ont connu une grave dérive
propagandiste, relayant des appels au crime, des mensonges et des mots
d'ordre organisant les violences de la rue. Si, à l'antenne, le ton a
quelque peu changé, les médias publics ivoiriens restent aujourd'hui des
médias militants. La direction "parallèle" imposée à la RTI le 4 novembre
est toujours en place, en toute illégalité.

"Rien ne justifie que, dans une démocratie, les médias d'Etat subissent les
diktats d'un clan politique, a déclaré Reporters sans frontières. Pour que
le retour à la normale prôné par les autorités ivoiriennes ne s'apparente
pas une mascarade, la RTI et RCI doivent fonctionner de nouveau dans un
climat professionnel serein et dégagé de la mainmise du pouvoir. Son équipe
dirigeante légitime, conduite par Kébé Yacouba, doit pouvoir exercer de
nouveau, dans les plus brefs délais, la mission que lui a confiée le
président de la République, en janvier 2004. De plus, l'ensemble du
personnel des médias publics doit bénéficier de mesures de protection".

Un DG installé sous escorte

A l'aube du 4 novembre, sur ordre du président Laurent Gbagbo, les Forces
armées nationales de Côte d'Ivoire (Fanci) ont été engagées dans l'opération
"Dignité", dont l'objectif était la reconquête par la force du nord du pays,
tenu par des insurgés depuis le 19 septembre 2002. Aux environs de 9 heures
ce même jour, un important détachement militaire a pris position dans la
cour de la RTI, dans le quartier de Cocody, à Abidjan. Des voitures civiles
ont suivi peu après. En sont descendus Georges Aboké, ancien directeur
général de la chaîne, Jean-Paul Dahily, son ancien secrétaire général et par
ailleurs conseiller technique à la présidence, et Silvère Nebout, conseiller
en communication du chef de l'Etat. Un commandant de la garde républicaine
les a accompagnés au dernier étage de l'immeuble, où se trouvent les bureaux
de la direction.

Lire la suite du rapport sur le site de RSF :
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=12036

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

RSF est responsable de toute information contenue dans cette mise à jour
d'alerte. En citant cette information, prière de bien vouloir l'attribuer à
RSF.
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Tanzania: Continued harassment of "Dira" newspaper condemned

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/26008

Reporters Without Borders has condemned the action of the authorities on the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar in continuing to harass the privately-owned weekly Dira, which has been prevented from publishing for the past 12 months. In a 24 November ruling, the Zanzibar high court made no comment on the Zanzibar government's claim that Dira violated press ethics - the reason given for closing the newspaper a year ago - but said it could not resume publishing because it was not properly registered. The court did, however, leave a door open for Dira by suggesting it could re-apply for an operating licence. (French version available)
TANZANIA
Zanzibar authorities continue to harass independent weekly after one year
UPDATE of 25 November 2003 press relase

Reporters Without Borders today condemned the action of the authorities on
the semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar in continuing to harass the
privately-owned weekly Dira, which has been prevented from publishing for
the past 12 months.

In a 24 November ruling, the Zanzibar high court made no comment on the
Zanzibar government's claim that Dira violated press ethics - the reason
given for closing the newspaper a year ago - but said it could not resume
publishing because it was not properly registered. The court did, however,
leave a door open for Dira by suggesting it could re-apply for an operating
licence

"The courts took a year to suggest the Zanzibar government was wrong and the
newspaper did not break any journalistic rules, but to save face, they are
now making it clear a bureaucratic hurdle," Reporters Without Borders said.
"We call on the Zanzibar authorities to abandon this battle against the
island's only independent newspaper and to let it reappear after being
silenced for a year."

Dira's management has said it will apply for a new licence and, if refused,
it will refer the case to an appeal court.

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

TANZANIE
Un an après, les tracasseries continuent pour l'hebdomadaire Dira
MISE A JOUR du communiqué de presse du 25 novembre 2003

La Haute Cour de l'île semi-autonome de Zanzibar a estimé que l'hebdomadaire
indépendant Dira, suspendu par le gouvernement local depuis le 24 novembre
2003 pour avoir enfreint l'éthique journalistique, avait violé les règles
d'enregistrement des publications.

En rendant cet arrêt le 24 novembre 2004, la plus haute juridiction de ce
territoire tanzanien a toutefois laissé la porte ouverte à un recours de
Dira, en contredisant les motifs de sa suspension par le gouvernement et en
permettant au dernier hebdomadaire privé de l'île de présenter une nouvelle
demande de licence de parution.

"Pour Dira, les tracasseries continuent, a déclaré Reporters sans
frontières. Il a fallu un an à la justice pour contredire le gouvernement de
Zanzibar et reconnaître que le journal n'avait pas enfreint les règles du
journalisme. Pour sauver la face, on lui oppose maintenant une épreuve
administrative. Nous appelons les autorités de Zanzibar à abandonner le
combat contre la seule publication indépendante de l'île et à la laisser
reparaître, après cette année de silence forcé."

La direction de Dira a fait savoir qu'elle allait formuler une nouvelle
demande de licence. En cas de refus, elle entend porter son affaire devant
une cour d'appel.
--
Leonard VINCENT
Bureau Afrique / Africa desk
Reporters sans frontières / Reporters Without Borders
5, rue Geoffroy-Marie
75009 Paris, France
Tel : (33) 1 44 83 84 84
Fax : (33) 1 45 23 11 51
Email : afrique@rsf.org / africa@rsf.org
Web : www.rsf.org

More...

Zambia: Minister threatens government-owned media outlets

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/26047

Deputy Minister of Commerce Trade and Industry Geoffrey Samukonga has caused a stir at the "Zambia Daily Mail", "Times of Zambia" and Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) by accused the news organisations of tarnishing his image. According to the "Zambia Daily Mail" of 25 November, Samukonga threatened to have the newspaper's managing editor, Godfrey Malama, fired if he did not dismiss chief reporter Patson Phiri, who he accused of writing stories against him.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT - ZAMBIA

7 December 2004

Minister threatens government-owned media outlets

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

(MISA/IFEX) - On 24 November 2004, Deputy Minister of Commerce Trade and
Industry Geoffrey Samukonga caused a stir at the "Zambia Daily Mail", "Times
of Zambia" and Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) when he
accused the news organisations of tarnishing his image.

According to the "Zambia Daily Mail" of 25 November, Samukonga threatened to
have the newspaper's managing editor, Godfrey Malama, fired if he did not
dismiss chief reporter Patson Phiri, who he accused of writing stories
against him.

"In a shocking and astonishing spectacle, Mr. Samukonga stormed into the
'Daily Mail' newsroom and unleashed a tirade of insults on chief reporter
Patson Phiri, whom he accused of writing adverse stories against him," the
newspaper said.

The deputy minister then reportedly proceeded to Malama's office and
insulted him. He also allegedly pointed his finger menacingly at
editor-in-chief Mary Mbewe's face and threatened to have the newspaper's top
managers dismissed if Phiri was not fired.

The "Times of Zambia" and ZNBC reported that Samukonga repeated this
outburst at both of their institutions. At ZNBC, he reportedly threw papers
about in anger over a story that his firm had been sued by a security
company for non-payment of services rendered.

The Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) condemned Samukonga's behaviour,
saying his actions were a threat to democracy.

The "Zambia Daily Mail"'s management filed a complaint against Samukonga
with the police. The complaint was later withdrawn when President Mwanawasa
promised to take action against the minister.

For further information, contact Zoé Titus, Programme Manager, Media Freedom
Monitoring, MISA, Private Bag 13386 Windhoek, Namibia, tel: +264 61 232 975,
fax: +264 61 248 016, e-mail: research@misa.org, Internet:
http://www.misa.org

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

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/26009

In a 2 December 2004 letter to President Robert Mugabe, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed its outage over the government's continued clampdown on independent media in Zimbabwe, including proposed new legislation that could be used to jail journalists for up to 20 years. At a time when several other African countries are lifting criminal sanctions for press offences, bringing their laws in line with international standards, Zimbabwe's government is preparing to introduce penalties that are among the harshest on the continent. In the letter, CPJ said that this will only further impede Zimbabwe's media, which already face other restrictive laws.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ACTION ALERT - ZIMBABWE

3 December 2004

CPJ outraged over proposed new legislation that could see journalists jailed
for up to 20 years

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

(CPJ/IFEX) - In a 2 December 2004 letter to President Robert Mugabe, CPJ
expressed its outage over the government's continued clampdown on
independent media in Zimbabwe, including proposed new legislation that could
be used to jail journalists for up to 20 years. At a time when several other
African countries are lifting criminal sanctions for press offences,
bringing their laws in line with international standards, Zimbabwe's
government is preparing to introduce penalties that are among the harshest
on the continent. In the letter, CPJ said that this will only further impede
Zimbabwe's media, which already face other restrictive laws.

According to local and international press reports, the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Bill currently before Parliament imposes up to 20
years' imprisonment, heavy fines, or both for publishing "false" information
deemed prejudicial against the state. Clause 31 would make it an offence to
publish or communicate "to any other person a statement which is wholly or
materially false with the intention or realizing that that there is a real
risk of inciting or promoting public disorder or public violence or
endangering public safety; or adversely affecting the defence and economic
interests of Zimbabwe; or undermining public confidence in a law enforcement
agency, the Prison Service or the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe; or interfering
with, disrupting or interrupting any essential service."

This comes on top of the already draconian Public Order and Security Act
(POSA) and the Access to Information and Public Privacy Act (AIPPA), which
was last month strengthened to impose a jail sentence of up to two years for
any journalist caught working without accreditation from the
government-controlled media commission. Dozens of journalists have already
been detained and harassed under AIPPA and POSA since these laws were
introduced in 2002, while AIPPA has been used to shutter Zimbabwe's only
independent daily newspaper, the "Daily News".

As well as intimidating journalists, CPJ sources say the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Bill could be used to intimidate their sources.
They fear that the law's language could also be used broadly against
Zimbabweans who communicate with news outlets and other organizations based
abroad.

These moves to tighten already restrictive legislation come in the run-up to
general elections scheduled for March 2005.

In its letter, CPJ reminded President Mugabe of Zimbabwe's commitment to the
Southern African Development Community principles and guidelines governing
democratic elections, which include safeguarding freedom of expression and
access to the media (Section 7.4).

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send appeals to the president:
- calling on him to do everything in his power to ensure that all repressive
media legislation is repealed and that the draconian proposals currently
before Parliament are dropped
- urging him to do all in his power to allow the "Daily News" to reopen and
independent journalists to work in Zimbabwe without fear of reprisal

APPEALS TO:

President Robert Mugabe
Office of the President
Munhumutapa Building
Samora Machel Avenue/ 3rd Street
Harare, Zimbabwe
Fax: +263 4 708 820

Please copy appeals to the source if possible.

For further information, contact Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford
or Research Associate Adam Posluns at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY
10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 1004, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail:
africa@cpj.org, Internet: http://www.cpj.org/

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

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Africa/Global: Hunger costs millions of lives

2004-12-09

http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2004/51809/index.html

Hunger and malnutrition cause tremendous human suffering, kill more than five million children every year, and cost developing countries billions of dollars in lost productivity and national income, according to FAO's annual hunger report, 'The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2004'. "More than 20 million low birth-weight babies are born in the developing world every year," the report says. These babies faced increased risk of dying in infancy, while those who survive often suffer lifelong physical and cognitive disabilities.

Challenging the crude record of the oil industry

2004-12-09

http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/cms/page1112.cfm

Think you have it bad at the gas pump? All over the world, people feel the squeeze from the cut-throat practices of the oil industry. From the Exxon Valdez oil spill to the death of Ken Saro Wiwa who was executed for protesting Shell's oil drilling of the Niger Delta, the oil industry has been behind some of the most devastating environmental disasters and human rights abuses in recent history. That's why Corporate Accountability International is campaigning around the world to challenge two of the most egregious oil companies in the world, ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco. Visit the website of Stop Corporate Abuse for more information.

Africa Action hosts African Civil Society Leaders

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/diaspora/26050

Africa Action held its second annual Baraza in Washington, DC last weekend, bringing leading analysts and activists from the U.S. and Africa together for two days of discussion on key trends and issues U.S. Africa policy. Following the Baraza, Africa Action staff traveled to Atlanta and New York city with leading civil society leaders from Africa for a range of media and community events focused on analyzing the current state of U.S. policy toward Africa.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ann-Louise Colgan (202) 546-7961

Africa Action hosts African Civil Society Leaders for
2nd Annual Baraza & Speaking Tour;
Keynote addresses from Baraza now available on Africa Action’s website

Tuesday, December 7, 2004 (Washington, DC) - Africa Action held its
second annual Baraza in Washington, DC at the weekend, bringing leading
analysts and activists from the U.S. and Africa together for two days of
discussion on key trends and issues U.S. Africa policy. Following the
Baraza, Africa Action staff traveled to Atlanta and New York city with
leading civil society leaders from Africa for a range of media and
community events focused on analyzing the current state of U.S. policy
toward Africa.

Africa Action’s annual Baraza (Kiswahili for "Assembly") is an
invitation-only event, bringing together 60 leading analysts and
activists from across the U.S. and from Africa for two days of strategic
discussion on U.S. Africa policy. At this forum, participants discuss
and debate some of the most important developments and trends in Africa
and in U.S. Africa policy. This year’s theme was "The U.S. & Africa:
Questions that Need Answers."

Africa Action brought four leading African activists to the U.S. for the
Baraza and tour, representing civil society organizations from across
the continent:

* Rev. Dr. Molefe Tsele, General Secretary of the South African Council
of Churches (SACC).
* Matilda Moyo from the Steering Committee of the Pan African Treatment
Access Movement (PATAM), the continent-wide network advocating for
access to essential medicines for all people living with HIV/AIDS;
* Rt. Rev. Peter Njenga, retired Anglican Bishop of Kenya and long-time
advocate for social and economic justice in Kenya and throughout Africa.
* Muthoni Wanyeki, Executive Director of the African Women's Development
and Communication Network (FEMNET), a continent-wide network based in
Kenya.

Highlights of the Baraza included:

* Keynote addresses analyzing the state of Africa, by Muthoni Wanyeki of
FEMNET, and the state of U.S. Africa policy, by Ann-Louise Colgan of
Africa Action, both now available on Africa Action’s website at
http://www.africaaction.org/
* Panels on "The Answer to AIDS", "Who You Gonna Call when Intervention
is Necessary?" and plenaries on "Africa in the U.S. Media" and "How to
Influence U.S. Foreign Policy", among others.
* Presentation on "Ownership, Diversity & Race: Confronting
(Mis)Representations of Africa in the U.S. Media" by Hugh Hamilton, WBAI
Radio Host, now available in the ‘Newsroom’ section of Africa Action’s
website

Highlights of the Tour in New York and Atlanta included:

* Speaking engagements at prominent churches in each city; meetings with
key religious leaders
* Local media events in New York and Atlanta featuring African guests
and Africa Action staff
* Events at Clark Atlanta University and Columbia University in New York
City on U.S. Africa relations

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Migrants help world economy

2004-12-09

http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story.asp?StoryId=CqAQS0eidDw4TzwnVBM9TAwnZB2nPywW

The United Nation's 2004 World Economic and Social Survey calls for better management and cooperation among nations to address global migration. It says 175 million people around the world are living away from their home countries, and an orderly and controlled population movement across borders could prove to be beneficial for both the sending as well as the receiving nations.

New diaspora initiative for Africa's development

2004-12-09

http://allafrica.com/stories/200412020657.html

Efforts by Nigerian professionals in the diaspora to spearhead a new development initiative for the country received a big boost penultimate Saturday with the establishment of the James Ibori Center for Policy Studies in Madison, USA. The Center, established in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin outreach programme, seeks to halt the downward slide of the nation's economy and reverse the trend of bad governance in Nigeria and indeed, Africa.

West Africa: Africans in diaspora give conditions for return

2004-12-09

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=2350

Africans in diaspora who are determined to return to their birth places in Africa including Nigeria, have demanded the provision of dual citizenship from African leaders as a pre-condition for them to return to the continent. Arrangements have been concluded for the first batch of Africans in the diaspora to embark on a fact-finding tour of three selected African countries which include Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria with the hope of coming back home.

ZIMPOST Warns Against Undeclared Parcels

2004-12-09

http://allafrica.com/stories/200412060627.html

Zimbabweans in the Diaspora who try to evade customs duty by not declaring exact contents of parcels and letters mailed to relatives and friends risk losing their valued goods, Bekhitemba Ncomanzi, the manager for Harare central sorting office, has said. Ncomanzi said the practice had resulted in valuable goods being lost or customers approaching ZIMPOST to claim goods that were never posted in the first place.

Africa: Crimes against women in times of conflict

2004-12-09

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGACT770752004

Women and girls bear the brunt of armed conflicts fought today both as direct targets and as unrecognized "collateral damage". 'Lives Blown Apart' a new report in Amnesty International's campaign, Stop Violence Against Women, calls for global action to challenge both the violence and the failure of governments to prevent it. "Patterns of violence against women in conflict do not arise 'naturally' but are ordered, condoned or tolerated. They persist because those who commit them know they can get away with impunity," said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International. The report says the International Criminal Court must be allowed to act effectively and deliver justice to women and girls. "If the Security Council is serious about ending violence against women in conflict it can refer cases to the ICC, when governments fail to do so."

Africa: Nations embrace anti-mine action plan

2004-12-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44521

The summit on a mine-free world ended in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Friday with delegates adopting a declaration renewing their commitment to rid the world of the weapons and endorsing a comprehensive five-year plan aimed at expediting the clearance and destruction of landmines.

DRC/Rwanda: Crossing borders

2004-12-09

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC16641

The UN Peacekeeping Mission to DRC (Monuc) should increase its presence in rebel controlled areas to ensure a greater proportion of children are demobilised with minimum risk, says a Save the Children report that looks at the Disarmament, Demobilisation, Repatriation, Rehabilitation and Reintegration process (DDRRR) of Rwandan boys and girls formerly associated with armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The report recommends that community members and leaders should be trained on child protection issues.

DRC: Are Rwandan Army Troops in Congo?

2004-12-09

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2004/12/04/congo9767.htm

Rwandan troops have invaded the Democratic Republic of Congo twice in the last decade. Press reports indicate that Rwanda troops have again crossed into Congo. Violence and instability in Congo have claimed the lives of three million people in the last five years and the dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers to eastern Congo has not brought stability to the region. Veteran Rwanda expert Alison Des Forges, a senior advisor to Human Rights Watch's Africa division and recipient of a 1999 MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant, discusses current events in Rwanda and the Congo in a Q-and-A available on the website of Human Rights Watch. For further background on the situation in the Great Lakes, read the article 'Great Lakes: Yet another powderkeg?' available at: http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/6822.html and 'African Union may help disarm militias', available at http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44573

Equatorial Guinea: Unravelling the coup plot

Patrick Burnett

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/26105

A few years ago it was an unknown blot on the map wedged between Cameroon and Gabon and home to roughly 525 000 people. But within a few years it has quietly rocketed up the rankings to become Africa's third largest oil producer. In 2004 it has firmly grabbed international attention with a coup plot that just keeps on unravelling.

The latest revelations on the Equatorial Guinea coup plot confirm earlier speculation that it was an 'open secret' within the global intelligence community. Last weekend the Observer UK reported that the British government knew about the coup several months before it was launched. The Observer said two reports on the coup were handed to British Intelligence and to a senior colleague of US defence secretary Donald Rumsfield. This news steps up the pressure on Tony Blair's government to explain why they failed to act according to international norms and warn the government of Equatorial Guinea.

Sharper questions for the UK government to reveal how much it knew come at an embarrassing time for Tony Blair. Blair has previously described Africa as a "scar on the conscience of the world". More recently he created the Commission for Africa to probe Africa's development challenges. Last week the Commission began a series of meetings throughout the continent aimed at gathering input on Africa's challenges. Blair will be keen to avoid any implication that his government tacitly supported the plot.
A few years ago it was an unknown blot on the map wedged between Cameroon and Gabon and home to roughly 525 000 people. But within a few years it has quietly rocketed up the rankings to become Africa's third largest oil producer. In 2004 it has firmly grabbed international attention with a coup plot that just keeps on unravelling.

The latest revelations on the Equatorial Guinea coup plot confirm earlier speculation that it was an 'open secret' within the global intelligence community. Last weekend the Observer UK reported that the British government knew about the coup several months before it was launched. The Observer said two reports on the coup were handed to British Intelligence and to a senior colleague of US defence secretary Donald Rumsfield. This news steps up the pressure on Tony Blair's government to explain why they failed to act according to international norms and warn the government of Equatorial Guinea.

Sharper questions for the UK government to reveal how much it knew come at an embarrassing time for Tony Blair. Blair has previously described Africa as a "scar on the conscience of the world". More recently he created the Commission for Africa to probe Africa's development challenges. Last week the Commission began a series of meetings throughout the continent aimed at gathering input on Africa's challenges. Blair will be keen to avoid any implication that his government tacitly supported the plot.
News of the plot first broke in March when Zimbabwean police in Harare impounded a plane which flew in from South Africa with 64 alleged mercenaries on board. A few days later, an Equatorial Guinean minister said they had detained 15 more men who were the advance party for the group captured in Zimbabwe.

Nick du Toit, the leader of the group in Equatorial Guinea who has now been sentenced to a lengthy jail term - Amnesty International last week condemned the court proceedings - said at his trial in Equatorial Guinea that he was recruited by Simon Mann, the alleged leader of the group held in Zimbabwe. He said he was told they were trying to install an exiled opposition politician, Severo Moto, as head. In September, Mann was sentenced to seven years in jail in Zimbabwe after being convicted of illegally trying to buy weapons. Also implicated in the plot is Sir Mark Thatcher, the son of the former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. The South African authorities have arrested Sir Mark and charged him with contravening two sections of South Africa's Foreign Military Assistance Act. He denies the charges. Sir Mark has admitted to being friends with Mann.

Mann, according to his confession to Zimbabwean authorities, went on a roadshow to get support for the coup from wealthy British businessmen. Other high profile names that have surfaced include the novelist Jeffrey Archer and Lebanese oil tycoon, Eli Calil, who has British citizenship and previous ties with former UK government minister and new European Commissioner Peter Mandelson. Both Archer and Calil have denied any knowledge of the coup and Mandelson has denied being in touch with Calil over the plot.

Equatorial Guinea has become strategically important because of the discovery of lucrative oil reserves. US interest in the country has increased because it offers a way for it to diversify its oil supply away from the volatile Middle East. Estimates show that the US now relies on West Africa for 15 percent of its oil. US Vice President Dick Cheney, a former oil company executive, has previously declared: "Along with Latin America, West Africa is expected to be one of the fastest-growing sources of oil and gas for the American market."

Equatorial Guinea, a former Spanish colony, has been ruled by President Obiang since he seized power from his uncle in a coup in 1979. His government has been accused of widespread human rights abuses and of suppressing political opposition.

The oil industry, including companies with close ties to the Bush administration such as Exxon Mobile and Chevron Texaco, have previously attempted to boost Obiang's public image to overcome concern about his human rights record. At a corporate dinner in Washington in 2002, he was described as the country's "first democratically elected president" and a man who has "embarked on the total physical reconstruction of his country and the improvement of the welfare of all its citizens." This was despite the fact that social development indicators have remained low even though billions of dollars in oil money has been pumped into the country. Life expectancy is at 55 years and infant maternal mortality is 87 per 1000 births.

One explanation for the silence of Western governments has been that they were keen to see regime change in the oil-rich state because it suited their strategic and commercial interests, and because they were embarrassed by their dealings with a regime accused of human rights abuses. According to this theory the UK and US governments would have made a tactical decision to keep quiet and let a privately-backed coup run its course and do the dirty work.

A more cynical theory could be that Obiang was making noises about the re-negotiation of oil contracts. Oil companies initially claimed 87 percent of oil receipts but this has declined to 75 percent in recent years. The industry standard is 50 percent. But this in turn raises questions about where the coup plans originated. Did Mann originate the plot, or did the plan originate elsewhere?

In September, The Guardian UK reported that Theresa Whelan, a member of the Bush administration in charge of African affairs at the Pentagon, twice met a London-based businessman, Greg Wales, in Washington before the coup attempt. The Guardian said Mr Wales had been accused of being one of its organisers, but he has denied any involvement.

The report went on to detail how at a Washington event attended by Wales and organised by the International Peace Operations Association, a euphemistic name for an influential group of US "private military companies" Whelan told the group the Pentagon was keen to see them operate in Africa, saying: "Contractors are here to stay in supporting US national security objectives overseas." She added: "The US can be supportive in trying to ameliorate regional crises without necessarily having to put US troops on the ground, which is often a very difficult political decision. Sometimes we may not want to be very visible."

While reports such as these raise the speculation level, there is no evidence at this stage that the coup plot originated anywhere other than with the mercenaries named although the possibility of this being a rough and ready form of "regime change" cannot be completely discarded. Clearly, many questions remain to be answered before the gap between truth and fiction can be narrowed.

LINKS:
http://newswww.bbc.net.uk/2/hi/africa/3597450.stm
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ek.html
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Oil_watch/Kuwait_of_Africa.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1232950,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1376144,00.html
http://www.gvnews.net/html/DailyNews/alert2778.html
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1361299,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardianpolitics/story/0,,1361564,00.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/equatorialguinea/story/0,15013,1313672,00.html

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Ethiopia/Eritrea: Cautious optimism on stalled peace process

2004-12-09

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44520

The recent announcement by Ethiopia that it would accept "in principle" a ruling to end a simmering border dispute with Eritrea was broadly welcomed, but the complex issue of when and how the two countries can enter into dialogue to try and normalise relations still remains. Ethiopia had refused, until now, to respect an April 2002 ruling by the Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, part of the Permanent Court of Arbitration based in The Hague. UN special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Lloyd Axworthy believes the international community should work to build on the momentum generated by the new pledge by Ethiopia.

Ivory Coast: A new deal for the future?

2004-12-09

http://www2.rnw.nl/rnw/en/currentaffairs/region/africa/ivo041207

South African President Thabo Mbeki concluded four-day talks with all parties in the Ivory Coast conflict on Monday, announcing that agreement on a four-point plan had been reached. He told waiting reporters that the government of Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo, opposition parties and the country's main rebel group had accepted that "specific programmes must be carried out". The agreement, aimed at reviving the faltering peace process in Ivory Coast, provides for the government to implement legislative changes, with the rebels required to start making progress with their own disarmament.

Liberia/Sierra Leone: Rebuilding failed states

2004-12-09

http://www.icg.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=3156

A fresh strategy towards peacekeeping is needed in Liberia and Sierra Leone if both are not to remain shadow states, vulnerable to new fighting and state failure, argues the International Crisis Group (ICG) in a new report. "The international community needs to make genuinely long-term commitments - not two to five years, as at present, but on the order of fifteen to 25 years - to enable new political forces to develop," said the report.

Somalia: Forgotten crisis, says UN envoy

2004-12-09

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/CBH03001.htm

Plagued by violence and drought, Somalia is mired in a humanitarian crisis forgotten by most of the world, a top U.N. official said on Friday as he led the world body's first high-level visit in a decade. Jan Egeland, the U.N. undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and humanitarian relief coordinator, started a three-day trip to raise awareness of Somalia's problems by visiting the capital of Somaliland, an autonomous enclave which is unrecognized internationally.

Sudan: Peace Talks Must Address Civilian Protection

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/26091

Human Rights Watch has written a letter to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current AU chairman, urging the AU to speed its deployment of troops to Darfur and seek to expand their mandate to protect civilians. Any accord between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebel groups, set to resume peace talks on Friday in the Nigerian capital Abuja, needs to incorporate human rights provisions. Civilians in the rural areas of Darfur far from the African Union's existing bases continue to come under attack, as Sudanese government forces and their Janjaweed militias pursue a campaign designed to consolidate ethnic cleansing and prevent farmers from returning to self-sufficiency.
Darfur: Peace Talks Must Address Civilian Protection
African Union Needs to Speed Troop Deployment, Insist on Rights Provisions


(New York, December 10, 2004)-The African Union must speed its deployment of troops to Darfur and seek to expand their mandate to protect civilians, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, the current AU chairman. Any accord between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebel groups, set to resume peace talks on Friday in the Nigerian capital Abuja, needs to incorporate human rights provisions. Civilians in the rural areas of Darfur far from the African Union's existing bases continue to come under attack, as Sudanese government forces and their Janjaweed militias pursue a campaign designed to consolidate ethnic cleansing and prevent farmers from returning to self-sufficiency.

The African Union should ask the United Nations Security Council for a full mandate to protect civilians. Human Rights Watch also called on the African Union to rapidly deploy its expanded monitoring force of 3,500 personnel in Darfur and press for more help from the international community to achieve this.

"The African Union still has only 900 troops and monitors on the ground in Darfur, and these forces lack the mandate to protect the hundreds of thousands of civilians who remain at risk of attack," said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "They need to secure the rural areas of Darfur as quickly as possible so that 1.8 million people can return home safely and voluntarily." While the Sudanese government resumes African Union-mediated talks in Abuja with two Darfur rebel groups, it also faces a U.N. Security Council deadline of December 31 to finalize the Naivasha accords with the southern rebel movement to end the 21-year civil war.

The failure of the Naivasha accords to include accountability provisions for crimes committed during that war, waged mostly in the south, has ensured that the Sudanese political and military leadership responsible for those atrocities would remain immune from punishment, further fueling their abuses in Darfur, Human Rights Watch said. "Once again, the Sudanese government has armed and directed ethnic militias to carry out the same scorched-earth tactics of mass displacement in Darfur that it so ruthlessly employed in the south," said Takirambudde. "Unless the international community ensures that the Sudanese authorities are held responsible for these crimes in Darfur, their atrocities will continue."

The Sudanese government has continued to use helicopter gunships and Antonov airplanes in attacks against civilians in Darfur and has failed to take any steps to "neutralize and disarm the Janjaweed/armed militias," in violation of a Security Protocol signed between Khartoum and two Darfurian rebel groups on November 9. Meanwhile, the rebels as well as the government have repeatedly broken the AU-mediated ceasefire with minimal consequences. In view of the Sudan government's failure to abide by African Union and Security Council resolutions to disarm and prosecute the Janjaweed militias, and its refusal to end its support for their rampages and protect civilians instead, Human Rights Watch called on President Obasanjo to recommend depriving Sudan of its voting rights in the African Union.

The African Union should also reverse its decision to hold its 5th Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Khartoum in July 2005, and thus also prevent Sudan from assuming the presidency of this important emerging regional body for one year. "The African Union must demonstrate that it will not tolerate Khartoum's continued disregard for the principles and ideals on which the African Union was founded," said Takirambudde. "The fate of Darfur's people is at stake, and so is the credibility of the African Union." The open letter to President Obasanjo is available at:
http://hrw-news-africa.c.topica.com/maacXboabcooya46RSLb/

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Gender and ICTs

2004-12-09

http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/cep-icts-or.pdf

"New technologies in the information and communications arena, especially the Internet, have been seen as ushering in a new age. There is a mainstream view that such technologies have only technical rather than social implications. The dramatic positive changes brought in by these information and communication technologies (ICTs), however, have not touched all of humanity. Existing power relations in society determine the enjoyment of benefits from ICTs; hence these technologies are not gender neutral. The important questions are: who benefits from ICTs? Who is dictating the course of ICTs? Is it possible to harness ICTs to serve larger goals of equality and justice? Central to these is the issue of gender and women’s equal right to access, use and shape ICTs." - From the introduction of an overview report on Gender and ICTs by Bridges.org.

High Impact through High Tech in Mali

2004-12-09

http://www.psi.org/news/1104e.html

Population Sservices International/Mali and the country's premier cell phone company, Ikatel S.A., have launched a one-year health communication campaign, "La Santé au bout du fil" (Health On Line) that will combat HIV/AIDS, an emerging threat, and malaria, the number one cause of mortality. The campaign, one of the first NGO-private sector partnerships in the country, makes use of cellular technology to improve health in this poor, vast country of 13.4 million that extends from the savanna in the south to the Sahara Desert in the north.

ICT and Trade agreements

2004-12-09

http://www.crisinfo.org/content/view/full/590/

Free trade agreements have increasingly broadened their scope of regulation concerning telecommunications, under the pretext that these are services just like any other. This has hindered the access to communication and information as a fundamental human right as the private sector gains power through liberalization. Decisions that affect the global media system are now being taken behind closed doors, without consulting the civil society but with the support of giant media moguls that encourage corporate property of information, showing total disregard for cultural diversity issues.

ICT policy far from gender neutral

2004-12-09

http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=28764

Women's organizations are dealing with so many priority issues, it's hard to see information and communication technologies (ICT) as anything more than a tool to facilitate their work. For this reason 16 members of the APC Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) came together in early November in Cape Town, South Africa, to map out key gender and ICT issues for the APC WNSP's upcoming Gender and ICT Policy website.

Networking in Africa for Transnational Advocacy

2004-12-09

http://www.ssrc.org/programs/itic/publications/knowledge_report/memos/niombomemo2.pdf

"Increasingly, African NGOs are networking with the aim to achieve common goals. As Mark Surman and Katherine Reilly argue in "Appropriating Internet for Change", the broad majority of civil society organizations are struggling with the issue of how to increase the impact of campaigns, projects and programs using networked technologies. This also applies to African networks, which are involved in transnational advocacy. This paper relates to African organizations and networks, which work together on issues beyond their national borders. We focus here on online collaboration between national organizations, which form a network to advocate at the regional and international level."

Swahili Free and Open Source Software launched

2004-12-09

http://www.kilinux.org/

As the Father of Tanzania, the late Mwalimu Nyerere will always be remembered by his famous saying: "It can be done; play your part". December 4 saw the launch of The Open Swahili Localization Project, also known as Kilinux, the first ever release of a free office suite software in Swahili, called "Jambo OpenOffice." Jambo OpenOffice is the Swahili version of OpenOffice.org, a leading international effort to provide a free and open source office suite.

Black Looks: Musings and Rants by an African Fem

2004-12-09

http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/

Black Looks is produced by an African feminist who describes herself as "a woman of a certain age who has travelled the world, the cities of Africa, the Americas, Middle East and Europe, now living in rural Spain under the guise of being an organic farmer. But still my heart is and always will be in mother Africa." Her blog contains commentaries about current issues in Africa such as Sudan, the Ghana elections and slavery, a variety of categories and an archives option. It also contains some recommended reading and links to other blogs and websites of interest related to African women and art.

Commission for Africa e-forum

2004-12-09

http://www.odi.org.uk/africaconsultation/index.html

Moderator summaries of a Commission for Africa e-forum which took place from Monday 15 November to Friday 3 December 2004 are now available on the Commission's website. Messages can still be posted until Friday 17 December. Note that messages posted until then will be fed into the consultation by the Secretariat, but will not be represented in the e-forum final summary report, as the moderator summaries finished on 3 December.

HealthWize

2004-12-09

http://www.hcpartnership.org

A new weekly service is now available to provide you with expert medical knowledge about a variety of public health issues to help you design more effective communication programs. HealthWise is a joint product of the Health Communication Partnership (HCP) and the INFO (Information and Knowledge for Optimal Health) Project, both based at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs (CCP) and supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). HealthWise will research and summarize answers to your questions about public health problems in reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, maternal health, child survival and tuberculosis, malaria.

Jimbi media newsletter

2004-12-09

http://www.jimbimedia.com/

Jimbi is the African slit drum, created by creating a hollow though a slit made on the side of a large log. It is an instrument with a big sound that could be heard up to 10 miles away, depending on the particular instrument and the nature of the terrain. Jimbi Media (JM) is a company that assists African visionaries, writers, leaders, artists and trendsetters of African descent to realize and to perfect their work, as well as to find and to satisfy their audiences. Visit their website to subscribe to their newsletter.

The Source

2004-12-09

http://www.ids.ac.uk/sourcesearch/cf/bwhatsnew.cfm?No=1

What's new in Source is a Free bi-monthly bulletin from the Source International Information Support Centre, www.asksource.info It contains details of over 100 books, reports, articles, CD-ROMs and online resources recently added to the Source online database, covering the practice, management and communication of international health and disability.

December 2004 issue of Alliance magazine available

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/26014

The December 2004 issue of Alliance, with a special feature on getting global giving going, has just been published. Articles include:
- An overview of the global philanthropy infrastructure
- How funders can help non-profits get media coverage for international issues
- Why the time is right for an expansion in African regional philanthropy.
PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE PUBLICATION

December 2004 issue of Alliance published - Getting global giving going
The December 2004 issue of Alliance, with a special feature on getting global
giving going, has just been published. Articles republished on the website
include:

**Manuel Arango on how he came to found the Mexican Center for Philanthropy
**Adele Simmons and Dan Nielsen with an overview of the global philanthropy
infrastructure

Go there now: http://www.allavida.org/cgi-bin/click/click.cgi?id=58

Linking to Alliance articles from your website
We are happy for you to create links to these articles, or indeed to any of
our other articles, that are on our website. Please acknowledge the author
and original publisher (Alliance) in related copy.

Other articles published in this month's issue of Alliance include:

** The Alliance Roundtable - philanthropic leaders from across the world
discuss what it would take to really get global philanthropy going
**Lisa Cannon on how funders can help non-profits get media coverage for
international issues
**Akwasi Aidoo on why the time is right for an expansion in African regional
philanthropy

For a full set of contents from the December issue and to find out what else
we have published in Alliance this month, visit the Alliance website at
www.allavida.org/alliance

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Integrating HIV/AIDS and gender into the performing arts

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/26016

Southern Africa HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Services (SAfAIDS) is planning to offer comprehensive and empowering regional Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops to performing arts groups/organisations in the region. This resolution was taken after identifying that current conventional approaches to developing gender transformative behaviours in the fight against HIV and AIDS remain largely ineffective. The first ToT workshop has been scheduled for 7 - 12 February 2005. Performing arts groups/organisations, with interest in HIV/AIDS and Gender Issues, in southern Africa are invited to submit a statement of interest in participating.
INTEGRATING HIV/AIDS AND GENDER INTO THE PERFORMING ARTS WORLD

Southern Africa HIV/AIDS Information Dissemination Services (SAfAIDS) is committed to HIV and AIDS related capacity development, research and increasing action and advocacy, within a gender and human rights based approach and from an ethical and effective perspective in the southern African region.

As part of our Policy and Legal Reform Program, aimed at protecting the status of women and girls in the midst of HIV and AIDS in southern Africa, SAfAIDS shall offer comprehensive and empowering regional Training of Trainers (ToT) workshops to performing arts groups/organisations in the region. This resolution was taken after identifying that current conventional approaches to developing gender transformative behaviours in the fight against HIV and AIDS remain largely ineffective. Experience and scientific data reveals that the use of the performing arts and 'edutainment' in empowering communities with coping skills and relevant knowledge is effective in mobilizing communities towards ensuring the protection of women and girls.

Our first ToT workshop has been scheduled for 7 - 12 February 2005. Performing arts groups/organisations, with interest in HIV/AIDS and Gender Issues, in southern Africa are invited to submit a statement of interest in participating in this ToT, and develop a collaborative relationship with SAfAIDS in its future HIV/AIDS related performing arts initiatives. Limited sponsorship is available to support a few groups/organisations to attend the ToT. Groups/organisations able to self-fund or co-fund their attendance shall be given preference during our selection process. Each selected group/organisation shall:

* Participate in a 6 day elaborate workshop, facilitated by an international performing arts expert and co-facilitators with gender, legal aid and HIV/AIDS expertise and experience in the region.

* Receive a copy of a Manual developed by SAfAIDS, entitled "Integrating HIV/AIDS and Gender into the Performing Arts in Southern Africa"

* Be linked with relevant gender, human rights, legal aid and HIV/AIDS related networks, groups and organisations

* Be empowered to developed performing arts related programmes that can secure financial support in the areas of HIV/AIDS and Gender in the region

* Become a collaborative partner with SAfAIDS and its intermediary partner organisations in their efforts to promote HIV/AIDS and Gender topical issues through use of the performing arts in the region.

SAfAIDS invites you to complete the short statement of interest below and return to:

Email: rouzeh@safaids.org.zw or info@safaids.org.zw
Fax to: +263 4 336195 by December 18 2004.

Groups and organisations with members who are predominantly women and girls are ESPECIALLY encouraged to complete and submit this statement of interest.

All Performing Arts Groups/Organisations selected will be required to complete a brief summary report of activities undertaken.

Rouzeh Eghtessadi
SAfAIDS
Harare
Email: rouzeh@safaids.org.zw

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Community Informatics Research Network 2005 conference

24-26 August 2005, Cape Town, South Africa

2004-12-09

http://www.cirn2005.org/

Previous Community Informatics conferences have been organised around different application areas, such as education, health and tourism. CIRN2005 takes a more open approach, and is focused on research and practice in the context of partnerships in Community Informatics.

Southern Africa Institute of Fundraising (SAIF) 7th Biennial Convention

18 – 20 May 2005, Cape Town, South Africa

2004-12-09

http://wwwsaifundraising.org.za

The Southern Africa Institute of Fundraising (SAIF) is holding its 7th Biennial Convention on 18, 19 and 20 May 2005 in Cape Town, South Africa. The theme is 'Dare to be Different' and the objective of Convention 2005 is to help build the capacity of Africa's professional fundraisers. To this end, a number of dynamic and acclaimed overseas and South African speakers will be making cutting edge presentations. The keynote speaker is South African Geoff Hilton-Barber. Click on the URL provided for more information.

Congo: Humanitarian Affairs Officer, L-4

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

2004-12-09

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/95E3EB3179FF981FC1256F62004CF758

Under the supervision of the Resident Coordinator, and working in the Coordination Unit, the HAO functions will include assisting the UN Country team and facilitating inter-agency contingency planning by developing scenarios and common plans of action.

Egypt: Program Officer

Ford Foundation

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/26102

The Program Officer for Human Rights will be responsible for developing, monitoring and evaluating a program of grantmaking to strengthen respect for and realization of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights in the Middle East and North Africa. The program currently focuses on increasing the effectiveness of human rights protection, improving access to law and legal protection of rights, and promoting the cultural legitimacy of human rights.
THE FORD FOUNDATION
POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT

Program Officer
Human Rights
Peace and Social Justice Program
Cairo, Egypt

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION: The Program Officer for Human Rights will be responsible for developing, monitoring and evaluating a program of grantmaking to strengthen respect for and realization of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights in the Middle East and North Africa. The program currently focuses on increasing the effectiveness of human rights protection, improving access to law and legal protection of rights, and promoting the cultural legitimacy of human rights. Building on this, and under the direction of the Representative in Cairo, the Program Officer will develop a program responsive to the current needs of the human rights movement in the region, working to foster independent and professional approaches to securing human rights; strengthening the governance and management of human rights institutions; exploring effective approaches to promotion of human rights; and encouraging exchange and engagement with human rights movements in other parts of the world. The program will emphasize regional and sub-regional collaboration, with a special focus on Egypt and Palestine and exploratory grant making in the Sudan. All programs in the office include a strong focus on gender and justice and on youth.

The Program Officer is responsible for identifying potential grantees, both non-governmental and governmental; soliciting, reviewing and responding to proposals; recommending and monitoring grants and evaluating lines of programming; and offering support and guidance as needed to actual and potential grantees. S/he is expected to develop and maintain close working relationships with existing and potential grantees, relevant leaders in civil society, and other donors in the field. In addition to coordinating the Human Rights portfolio, the Program Officer will contribute to defining the office’s overall strategic direction for the region, and will seek opportunities to cooperate programmatically with other Cairo Office programs. S/he will also collaborate with colleagues working on human rights in the Foundation’s other offices in Africa to support regional initiatives and networks. With colleagues in New York and in other Foundation field offices the Program Officer will work to advance human rights worldwide.

QUALIFICATIONS: Significant human rights working experience in the Middle East and North Africa and sound knowledge of the human rights movement in the region; a university degree; an advanced degree in a relevant topic preferred or demonstrable equivalent knowledge in the human rights field; experience with grant-making organizations an advantage; ability to conceptualize program ideas and strategies; demonstrated analytical, writing and organizational skills; ability to work with colleagues of diverse backgrounds and perspectives; fluency in Arabic and English is required.

Salary is based on experience and on the Foundation’s commitment to internal equity. A generous benefits package is provided.

Location: Cairo, Egypt Target Date: June 2005

To apply for the position, visit www.fordfound.org/employment or send full application materials (consisting of substantive cover letter, c.v., and a 5-20 page sole-authored writing sample in English) to Mr. Douglas Miller at 320 E. 43rd St., New York, NY 10017, USA, by January 10, 2005.

Equal employment opportunity and having a diverse staff are fundamental principles at The Ford Foundation, where employment and promotional opportunities are based upon individual capabilities and qualifications without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, sexual orientation/affectional preference, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status or any other protected characteristic as established under law.

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Kenya: Team members

African Colours

2004-12-09

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/26076

AfricanColours is an independent online organization since 2000 that works for the promotion of African artists through the hosting of a virtual Africa- information infrastructure for African art. We are looking to recruit dynamic, self motivated, innovative team members for our new head office to be situated in Nairobi who will be expected to complement the execution of the AfricanColours programmes which include PR, art projects and campaigns, the purchase and dissemination of editorials, news, new media productions.
WWW.AFRICANCOLOURS.NET is looking for innovative team members for the new head office in Nairobi as from February 1st.

AfricanColours is an independent online organization since 2000 that works for the promotion of African artists through the hosting of a virtual Africa- information infrastructure for African art. The key issue of African Colours is to work for the importance of Art in general and to support the interests of artists as individuals and / or groups.

We are looking to recruit dynamic, self motivated, innovative team members for our new head office to be situated in Nairobi who will be expected to complement the execution of the AfricanColours programmes which include PR, art projects and campaigns, the purchase and dissemination of editorials, news, new media productions.

S/he must be ready to maintain, build and develop networks of artists within Africa act as a spokesperson for artists and facilitate relations with all relevant stakeholders in relation to artists in Kenya and within Africa.

S/he will identify talented and/or potential aspiring artists and devise strategies to maximize their opportunities; organise exhibitions and proactively promote artists interests in order to promote wider awareness and appreciation, understanding and support of Art in Africa.

Applicants must have the following qualifications:

- Computer literacy (Microsoft Word, Photoshop, and Excel, Flash, Web design)
- Experience in journalism, media/PR, being able to summarize information
- Global decision-making and problem solving skills
- Experience in the artistic field
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, enthusiastic and a team player
- Creative thinking and an ability to be proactive and demonstrate initiative

Salary range:
Depending on qualifications and salary history

Application:
Candidates interested in this position should send a cover letter and CV to: Carla van Beers cvb@africancolours.com by 5th January 2005.

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Mozambique: Country Director Mozambique

Concern Universal

2004-12-09

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/9B40E4863EBC52D2C1256F5F002E0666

The Country Director will report to the Concern Universal (CU) person responsible for the Southern Africa Region. The Country Director will continue to develop and implement its programme in Mozambique and will be responsible for Programme Officers, Finance Manager and all service staff. The post is based in Lichinga with regular travel to Maputo to continue to develop CU's programme with donors and to consider establishing a CU office there. The post will require regular travel also to Zambezia Province (Milange) and to Blantyre in Malawi. The work base may be reviewed depending to programme demands in the coming years. Closing date: 23 Dec 2004

Zimbabwe: Programme Director

RedR/IHE

2004-12-09

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/44B1D0BB4E2BCED0C1256F5F00570F15

The Programme Director is responsible for supporting the management and development of the agency's work in Zimbabwe and for ensuring that the Fund contributes effectively to meeting the long- and short-term needs of children within the framework of agreed strategy and wider organisational aims. The Programme Director is also part of the regional management team for the agency. Please apply online at http://www.onlinejobs.redr.org
Closing Date: 5 February 2005

Fahamu