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Featured in this edition

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/27922

EDITORIAL: As Kenya looks to the future, Mukoma Ngugi warns politicians not to fall prey to their own personal ambitions at the expense of the people
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Gerald Caplan explores the ‘solidarity of sorrow’ between the Armenian, Jewish and Rwandan genocides
- Issa Shivji asks why Tanzanian election candidates aren’t discussing how to avoid Latin America’s negative experiences of the Washington Consensus
- April 27 was Freedom Day in South Africa. But Ronald Elly Wanda finds that the emancipation struggle may not be over
LETTERS: Charity or ‘development pornography’: your views
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tony Blair will march right back to Downing Street for a third term, says Tajudeen Abdul Raheem
AFRICAN UNION WATCH: African countries are heading for a “long, nasty and brutal” battle over who gets to sit on the United Nations Security Council, writes Wafula Okumu
CONFLICTS AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news and reports on Burundi, Ivory Coast and Sudan
WOMEN AND GENDER: UN special envoy for AIDS Stephen Lewis gives an impassioned speech, saying the “world is off its rocker when it comes to women"
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Togo violence in disputed poll
DEVELOPMENT: Report back from WB/IMF protest meetings in Washington; Global week of action activities in Zambia
AND…Browse for links to news and information in the Health, Education, Courses, Books and Jobs sections…

Kenya: The Constitution as a Promissory Note

Mukoma Ngugi

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/27915

The people of Kenya should demand a constitution that recognizes inequality and poverty, that is committed to the liberation of women, that sees health and education as human rights, and that addresses land redistribution. Politicians, writes Mukoma Ngugi, should hold the interest of their people above crass political ambition in negotiating Kenya’s future.


When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir – "I Have A Dream" - Martin Luther King Jr.

Background

A constitution serves the simultaneous roles of laying the framework that will govern a society and laying in law the promise - the dream - that the society has for itself. It protects gained freedoms and guides and nurtures expansions of freedom. For a government to oversee the creation of a constitution that is both a foundation and a dream, and that is also in the interest of justice served not only for the now but for the future, it must be willing to commit political suicide. It must be willing to write itself out of office when its usefulness has ended. It, within its very own conscience, has to understand the people as the makers of their own destiny and consequently the true makers of history.

The NARC (1) coalition government does not see its role as the bridge to a new Kenya. It sees itself as the new Kenya. Instead of fighting for a constitution that binds future governments to the welfare of Kenyans, it is fighting within itself to safeguard the political fortunes of its constituent members. And KANU, the party that can single handedly claim to have ruined Kenya, is waiting, watching the fissures grow. It may soon find an opportunity to pounce.

If the NARC coalition government could find within itself the ability to rise to the challenge of developing a constitution that sweeps away the legacies of Moi's tyranny and that at the same time holds future governments accountable to the dreams of the people, it would have done enough. And if it can do more in creating the conditions in which the dreams can be achieved, all the better.

But as things stand - and this should be stated boldly and without mincing words - the NARC coalition is on the brink of failing Kenya. It will not be because it shall have done any worse than Moi (the last two years have done more for Kenya than Moi's 24), but because in place of putting Kenya first, it put its own political survival. NARC has become the space in which political egos are vying for power and somewhere, between getting rid of KANU and the elections of 2007, the idea of Kenya has been lost.

Alliance or Individual political Interests?

Perhaps this is the nature of coalition governments. In Kenya, a fractured opposition was unable to get rid of the Moi dictatorship first in 1992 and then in 1997. But it learned that there was not only safety but strength in numbers, and coalesced into NARC. Under the umbrella of NARC one found revolutionaries, liberals, disgruntled Moi-lets, power sycophants, etc, all with the single goal of ridding Kenya and themselves of the Moi government. In December of 2002 they succeeded. Instead of seeing this as the beginning, at the dinner table, they began their war over who was to get the choicest pieces of the nation - the presidency, the post of prime-minister, cabinet posts, parliamentary seats, etc. What of the Nation's future? It remained all but forgotten.

But let us be fair in our criticism – freedom of speech is a foundational right, a platform from which other rights can be demanded - and it exists in Kenya now. Free primary education, even though fraught with fits and starts, is an achievement. AIDS is in the national agenda. There is a debate over universal health: Those in favor of a gradual introduction won, but the debate (2) was there nevertheless. There is a debate over the rights of women. NARC government cleaned out the corrupt judiciary - a move that showed that the political will to do right by Kenya was there. Corruption, even though new and old scandals keep erupting, is at the very least being debated.

In good neighborliness, Kenya has been instrumental in facilitating peace in Somalia and Sudan. Internationally, the NARC government has refused to join Bush's pre-emptive wars. For distancing itself from the Bush government, NARC is facing threats of what amounts to undeclared sanctions. The withdrawal of 200 million shillings intended to aid in the anti-corruption drive, or the tourism advisories or terror alerts that warn Americans against traveling to Kenya, point to reluctance by the American government to support a Kenya that is not in toe with its agenda. Certainly the KANU leadership, with much less commitment to fighting corruption than NARC, got away with a lot more. And here, there are two things that need to be pointed out, the hypocrisy of the West that has never had qualms in supporting dictatorships throughout Africa and Latin America, but more importantly, the dependency of African countries to the West – a dependency so great that cleaning out corrupt officials from the government cannot be done without calling to the West.

These, nevertheless, are not small achievements. But for each of them, one can point to much more work that remains to be done. NARC did not inherit a floundering democracy with a flourishing middle class where liberal policies can hold the seams together – all avenues of hope and recourse had been gutted by the Moi government. NARC inherited a country wedded to neocolonialism and beholden to the IMF and World Bank, that flouted good neighborliness, where a human life could be lost at the whim of the government, and corruption and exploitation were the norm. Poverty is itself disenfranchising, and one needs only to travel from Dandora slums to Muthaiga Estate or walk from Mountain View Estate to the neighbouring slum of Kangemi to understand that the disparity between the rich and the poor will not be cured by free primary education.

Now, one of the ways that a government recognizes the enormity of the task ahead is by entrusting the burden of fulfillment to the people. It does this by facilitating the creation of a constitution which safeguards them against governmental excesses and at the same time holds the government accountable for the welfare of the people. Thus the government becomes accountable not only for the injury it might cause the people, but also for the injury its inaction causes.

Memorandum of Understanding

Yet it seems to me that the search for a new constitution was undermined by NARC even before it came into power. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed behind closed doors and gave Kibaki the presidency and Raila (Odinga) the yet-to-be-created post of Prime Minister, should be considered as not legally binding to the Kenyan people. The MoU was a negotiated (3) settlement between several opposition parties before they were in power, and is not therefore representative of Kenyans. It was, as it were, an example of the carelessness with which the power elite holds Kenyans - that matters that affect the future of a whole nation can be negotiated behind closed doors. And no matter whether one finds merit with Raila or Kibaki, the future of Kenya should not be beholden to promises between two politicians. If Kenya has to have a Prime Minister, first let it be discussed and then justified by the Kenyan people. And if the Prime Minister is to have more powers than the President, then let the Prime Minister be elected by the people and not by the President, as the Bomas draft constitution (4) declares. Why should we practice a democracy twice removed? Elect a President who in turn elects a Prime Minister who is more powerful than the President? Simply put, who ever wields the most power should face the electoral public.

Again we are seeing these back-door negotiations that will produce more MoUs. The one/two-person mini-coalitions within NARC that are emerging give credence to the maxim that politics makes strange bedfellows. Who would have thought Charity Ngilu (5) and Raila (6) would play in the same team in this power game? Thus we have Ngilu and Raila on one side, and on the other, Kibaki supporters, all with one goal in mind - getting the most powerful seat in the nation.

And what of the party registration drive? Again, there are hidden hands with hidden agendas. NARC wants to conduct a registration drive that recruits individual members as opposed to registration through party affiliation. Once people register as NARC and not as members of the constituent political parties, then NARC becomes a single political party under a single leadership. The coalition thus coalesces into NARC. This in turn heavily favors Kibaki since he is in control of the party machinery, thus paving the way for his second term as president (never mind an MoU that gave the understanding that he was going to pull a Mandela and not run again). Or if the search for Kibaki's posterity prevails, his chosen successor is favoured.

With the same move, the Kibaki government is trying to undermine Charity Ngilu and wrest the position of party chair from her. Under the current NARC constitution, the sitting chair in the next general election is automatically nominated. This means that unless Ngilu is edged away from the NARC party chair, Kibaki would have to pit himself against her if he is to run under a NARC ticket in 2007. This is a move that would be very much welcomed by KANU which, without Moi's stick, will encourage a NARC implosion. Ngilu and Raila are definitely for a recruitment drive on individual party tickets. By maintaining party independence, they are setting the stage for other party coalitions outside of NARC to be formed. The scenario whereby either NARC implodes and spawns other coalitions or coalesces into one party under one leadership has been set. Under these circumstances of continuous political machinations, it is imperative that we the people refuse to honor any secret MoU's that bind a whole nation to the political goals of a few politicians.

The Constitution in Balance

Under this whirlwind of MoUs, alliances, and counter alliances within NARC, it is not surprising that the struggle for a new constitution also reflects the goals of political survival. Hence Kibaki passed a bill that allows for the Bomas Draft to be amended by a simple majority. Certainly the first clause to be modified if not all together deleted will be the one calling for a powerful Prime-Minister position. Kibaki, or at least his supporters, have no desire to see him essentially write himself out of office by curtailing his powers following his re-election in 2007. But with Kibaki running or not, there are those who do not want to see the powers of the presidency reduced.

Raila on the other hand will fight such a modification for with it go his chances of becoming the most powerful person in Kenya as a Prime-Minister elected by the President-elect in 2007. He does not command enough support to win the presidency on his own ticket but he does have enough support to throw a wrench into the NARC machinery. Because he cannot win alone, he will try to short-circuit his way into power by becoming the Prime Minister. And in this quest for personal power at the expense of the nation, the creation and implementation of a new constitution is in the balance.

Since the quest for a new constitution has become caught up in the politics of the day, since instead of the Nation's longevity and welfare our politicians are protecting their own longevity, it is imperative that we, the Kenyan people, first oppose MoUs made outside our consent and remain vigilant against other MoUs being signed with an eye on 2007 elections.

It is imperative that we demand a constitution that is cognizant of the vast inequality and debilitating poverty, that is committed to the liberation of women, sees universal health and education as human rights not as a privilege, and that addresses land redistribution.

In the Bomas draft, there is a Bill of Rights that recognizes the marginalized, the principle of devolution and the democratization of power, equality regardless of gender and many more. It is these aspects of the Bomas Draft that reflect our refusal to go back to where we have been and that nurture an egalitarian democracy that we must demand be kept above the fray of personal political ambition.

* Mukoma Wa Ngugi is the author of 'Conversing with Africa: Politics of Change' and Coordinator of the Africa without Borders Conference to be held in Durban, 2006. This article first appeared at www.zmag.org

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Notes
1. After having attempted to defeat the Moi party, KANU as separate parties in 1992 and 1997, in 2002, the Liberal Democratic Party and National Alliance Party of Kenya came together to form National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). As a united front, they were able to defeat the Moi government with NARC getting 63% of the vote and KANU's candidate, Uhuru Kenyatta getting 30%.
2. See the article, Kibaki: We Cannot Afford Ngilu Plan by David Mugonyi. Daily Nation, April 7th, 2005.
3. For a good summary of how the MoU was negotiated, see Joseph Ojwang's article, Wrangles in Kenyan Government at www.change-links.org/MoU12.htm
4. For a complete history of the Kenyan constitution review process, visit http://www.kenyaconstitution.org/enter.htm
5. Charity Ngilu is currently the Minister of Health and the NARC Party Chair. In 1997 she ran against Moi for the presidency and finished 5th overall. As leader of the National Party of Kenya, in 2002 she allied with Mwai Kibaki to defeat Moi's candidate.
6. Raila Odinga allied with Kibaki and Ngilu in the 2002 elections. Before that, he had allied with the Moi government but left when Moi chose Uhuru Kenyatta as the KANU candidate. He had also been imprisoned by the Moi government for eight years. Until recently, the relationship between Raila and Charity Ngilu had always been rocky at best.

A solidarity of sorrow

Gerald Caplan

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/27916

In this keynote address to the Toronto Armenian Community on the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, Gerald Caplan explores the ‘solidarity of sorrow’ between the Armenian, Jewish and Rwandan genocides. What these three genocides have in common transcend their differences and all people who believe in justice should work together for genocide prevention, he writes.


April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots in the spring rain.

T. S. Eliot wrote these haunting, unforgettable words in his epic poem The Waste Land. This was 7 years before the Armenian genocide, which we commemorate on April 24 and which we have no evidence Eliot was touched by. It was 21 years before the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising during the 2nd World War, during the black heart of the Holocaust, which we commemorate on April 19 and which Eliot could hardly have conceived only 2 decades later. And it was 72 years before the genocide in Rwanda, the great genocide of the late 20th century, occurring almost exactly half a century after the world, emerging from the nightmare of Hitler, vowed Never Again. April, when the lilacs bloom again.

The 20th century has gone down in historical infamy as the Century of Genocide. I'm sorry I don't know whether the 1904 genocide by the German army of the Herero people of south-west Africa (now Namibia), the first genocide of the last century, also took place in April. But we do know that the near-genocide of the Fur people of western Sudan has now entered its 3rd April with little respite and no adequate international intervention. We also know from Rwanda and Darfur that Never Again has been trivialized as so much rhetorical bombast by public figures on public occasions, sound and fury signifying little. We now know that unless major strategic or economic interests are at play, if nothing is at stake beyond mere human life, on however massive a scale, then the accurate description of the state of our times is Again and Again and Again.

What we also know, I'm afraid—and this is an equally dismaying observation---is that for a very large number of those descended from victims and survivors of the genocides of our time, the precise concept is in any event NOT Never Again. It's that never again will OUR people be the victims of such a calamity.

I am honored and humbled to have been asked to give the keynote address on this historic occasion. But I also feel outraged and almost morally defeated—as you all must surely be--- that the central message of this 90th anniversary remains the relentless effort to persuade our own government in Ottawa, the Government of the United States, and—I single it out for reasons that I'll try to make clear---the government of Israel, to perform a simple act of justice. We must continue to insist that each of them officially recognizes that in 1915, a classic genocide, wholly consistent with the definition set down 35 years later in the United Nations Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, was deliberately inflicted upon the Armenian people living in Turkey by the Turkish government and army and their proxies.

It happens to be among the several terrible ironies of this humiliating situation that Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-born Jewish lawyer who coined the word genocide and almost single-handedly pressured the United Nations into adopting the Convention in 1948, cited the annihilation of the Armenians as a seminal example of genocide.

I have asked myself why I was selected for this role today. I assume my good friend Aris Babikian, well-known to you all as a community representative, played a key role in this decision. I'm very sorry family matters have prevented Aris from being here today. For those who may not know, I want to tell you that in my view, Aris Babikian is the best single ambassador that the Canadian Armenian community has. NOT because he never stops lobbying anyone with the slightest power and influence about the injustice of non-recognition, although that is true. But because he is THIS community's link to OTHER communities who have shared comparable tragedies. In fact, I regret to say frankly, in my experience Aris is one of only few Armenian Canadians who have shown a genuine interest and who has reached out to such other communities.

And that's why I believe I'm here. Because like Aris, I believe in the solidarity of sorrow and the solidarity of victims.

My own special focus is Rwanda. For various reasons, I came to write a long report, a history, in effect, of the Rwanda genocide. Called "Rwanda: The Preventable Genocide," it documents the organized slaughter in 1994 of perhaps 800,000, perhaps a million - no one yet knows for sure - Rwandan Tutsi and thousands of pro-democracy Rwanda Hutu, and the complicity in or indifference to this genocide by members of the international community. When the report was published, I found myself unable simply to walk away and begin new and unrelated pursuits. I feared that the memory of the genocide, only 6 years after the tragedy, had already almost vanished, assuming any but a bare minority ever knew the truth about it in the first place beyond a few horrific TV images.

Working from my home, I founded an international voluntary movement called Remembering Rwanda, dedicated to commemorating in 2004 the 10th anniversary of the genocide. (The 11th anniversary, on April 7, passed with barely a murmur; I doubt many outside Rwanda knew of it at all.) From the start, I particularly sought out the support and cooperation of Jewish and Armenian organizations.

I had two reasons. I instinctively believed that the solidarity of victims would be obvious to these two communities above all, so that the simple fact of shared victimhood would lead their survivors and descendants to rush to support each other. And I believed (as someone who has always been involved in political action for social change) that for good practical reasons of increased influence, the more of us that we could unite in a common cause, the better for us all.

Despite my long years in the political trenches, I seem to have been stunningly naïve. Of course we found some support. A number of prominent Jews in North America, Europe and Israel lent us their names. A few prominent Armenians did the same. Aris managed to get the agreement of several international Armenian organizations to use their names as well, but I believe that I only ever spoke to a couple of their members in total. During last year's three-day commemoration in Toronto for the 10th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, Aris alone showed up on behalf of the Armenian community. I can tell you how gratified the Rwandans were by his presence. In the dozens of other cities throughout North America and western Europe where commemorations took place, sometimes a few known Armenians were involved, sometimes none at all. Why should this be? I asked a number of people. The bottom line always seemed to be a preoccupation with the Armenian genocide to the exclusion of any other.

This is of course understandable. We naturally all feel most strongly the loss of our own family and kin. But beyond that, the Armenian people, like the Rwandans in certain ways, still must cope with the special burden of official denial. They are assaulted by the harsh reality that the Turkish government to this day refuses to acknowledge the crime that was committed and lobbies incessantly against recognition of the genocide by other governments. I know that this insult continues to drive the Armenian community.

Nevertheless, I must tell you frankly that I found the general disinterest of Armenians in the Rwandan genocide to be not only morally disappointing but from your own point of view, politically short-sighted.

As for the Jewish communities of the western world and the government of Israel, with notable honorable exceptions they failed to respond in a positive manner. I believe that most of the western Jewish and Israeli establishments were more or less indifferent to the Rwandan genocide.

In regard to the Armenian genocide, I must report that these same elements were in the vanguard of denial.

I fully understand that these are very sensitive and delicate matters, and it's much easier not to raise them at all. But that would be running away from uncomfortable truths carrying important lessons. I want instead to try to talk about them as carefully as possible. I'm sure the fact that I'm Jewish- wholly non-religious, even anti-religious, but yet Jewish to my core - complicates the issue considerably. These are thoughts I have tried to work out for several years. Today seems to be an appropriate forum for articulating them.

On the walls of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, are inscribed one of Hitler's more intriguing statements. In 1939, just before he launched his aggression against Poland, triggering the Second World War, Hitler explained that he was dispatching special death squads to Poland that would deliberately slaughter large numbers of Polish men, women and children. But he wasn't remotely concerned about the reaction. "Who, after all," he asked, "speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?" In other words, he was saying, with sufficient shamelessness, you could literally get away with murder, even murder of the ultimate kind. For the past eight decades, a series of Turkish governments and their supporters have largely confirmed Hitler's cynical insight, as they have denied the very existence of the genocide and attempted to undermine all attempts to have it recognized.

As it happens, in recent years their bullying and intimidation tactics have increasingly failed, as a growing number of countries have officially recognized the genocide. But to our shame, Canada has not, the United States has not, and Israel has not.

One year ago, the House of Commons in Ottawa voted to recognize the genocide by a large margin, 153 votes to 68. But the entire cabinet voted against the resolution, citing the need to maintain good relations with Turkey. So the bizarre situation in our own country is that the Canadian House of Commons recognizes the genocide of the Armenians, but the government of Canada officially does not.

In the United States, although George Bush promised recognition in his first presidential campaign, he soon enough reneged in the face of joint pressure from both Turkish officials and significant Jewish-American organizations, such as the highly influential American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. This is not often widely discussed publicly. But it's perfectly familiar in American political circles since Congress too has been convinced by this same tenacious lobby to reject resolutions calling for recognition. This lobbying effort was hardly unknown, having been documented last year by the Israeli daily Haaretz among other sources.

I should also stress that on the other hand, and as one would have hoped and expected, prominent among those publicly calling for American government recognition of the genocide were a significant number of Jewish Americans. They included Holocaust scholars, rabbis and community leaders, all of whom had concluded from the evidence that there was absolutely no question that a classic genocide had been inflicted on Turkey's Armenians.

The cooperation between Turkish officials and these Jewish American organizations naturally reflects Israel's own position on the question. That position is an adamant refusal to acknowledge the 1915 genocide, regardless of the evidence. In fact so strongly has this policy been maintained by a series of Israeli governments that it is, unfortunately, fair to say that rather than indifference, rather than the passivity of the bystander, Israelis, with a few notably courageous exceptions, have taken active measures to undermine attempts to safeguard the memory of the Armenian genocide. One of these, I'm afraid, has been to deny that a genocide ever occurred. Here we have the most appalling irony of them all: that those who consider that denial of the Holocaust is tantamount almost to a 2nd Holocaust, have now become deniers of the genocide of the Armenians.

The motives of this almost Orwellian stance are, however, clear enough. There are two.

The first, and the better-known, is based on Israel's determination to maintain a strategic alliance between itself and Turkey in the Middle East. Israel's vital interests are deemed to be at stake here, not to say it's very survival. This is an understandable and easily defended position. But it's a position that places realpolitik and national strategic interests ahead of ethics, ahead of the solidarity of genocide victims, and ahead of Israel's self-declared claim to be a different kind of nation, indeed a "light unto the nations". This is a position that says that even the common fate of genocide cannot take priority over Israel's perceived self-interest.

But this leads to the 2nd reason for Israel's refusal to recognize the genocide, one that I find far more difficult to understand or to share. It is precisely the refusal to accept that the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide, or the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide, or the Holocaust and any other human catastrophe, can be equated in any way.

As the Jerusalem Post editorialized a decade ago: "There is nothing in history like the Holocaust. It was not even JUST a genocide." The Holocaust must be seen as transcendent, as being in a separate category, from all other presumably "ordinary" genocides like the Armenians'.

I want to say again that these are remarkably sensitive issues, frankly uncomfortable and difficult to discuss. They are felt passionately and unforgivingly by many. For many Jews, both in Israel and the western world, recognizing other genocides somehow diminishes the singularity, the uniqueness, of what Hitler did to the Jews of Europe, and on this uniqueness they are uncompromising. Nothing, they declare, can compare to the Holocaust. It is incomparable. It is unprecedented. It is unique. It is even, in the actual words of two scholars determined to end any possibility of further debate, "uniquely unique".

The significance of this debate has been described by one Israeli scholar this way: "From Auschwitz came two people: a minority that insists it will never happen again, and a majority that insists it will never happen to US again."

This is a helpful way to frame the debate. It points out that the lesson of the Holocaust, or at least the implication, can be seen as either particularistic or universalistic, as either a unique episode in human history applicable only to the Jewish people or a grotesque reflection of the potential capacity of human nature for depravity. Of course every event in history is unique and unprecedented in certain ways, and beyond question some aspects of the Holocaust are literally unique, that is to say, nothing else like them had ever happened before or indeed since. But the same, alas, can be said of aspects of both the Armenian and Rwandan genocides.

I believe that what the Armenian, Jewish and Rwandan genocides have in common transcend their differences.

For what all three have in common is that in each case, a cabal of conspirators set out explicitly and deliberately to exterminate all the members of the target group for the simple reason of WHO they were, not what they did. What all have in common is a demonstration that whether Turks in the circumstances prevailing in 1915, or Germans in the context of Nazi Germany and World War 2, or Rwandan Hutu in the ambience of the 100 days after April 7, 1994 - in each of these circumstances, ordinary Turks and ordinary Germans and ordinary Rwandans perpetrated crimes that no one would have thought them - or any other human being - capable of. I believe that in advance, few of them would have believed themselves capable of such a descent into barbarism.

For that reason, I consider that I too am capable - under unfathomable but feasible circumstances - of perpetrating similar crimes. For that reason, I see in the Holocaust a universal and not a particular lesson.

I see that any people anywhere may suddenly become the victims of unspeakable atrocities.

I see the solidarity of sorrow, not the competition of victims.

I see that all racism, all bigotry, all hatred, all anti-democratic behaviour must be opposed without compromise.

I see the need to fight for the rights of the oppressed and the victimized wherever in the world they may be.

Let me conclude with a quote from an article written in 1918 by a man named Shmuel Tolkowsky. Tolkowsky mattered. He was secretary to Chaim Weizmann, then the leader of the world Zionist movement and later the 1st president of the State of Israel. The article, written only three years after the genocide of the Armenians, was called "The Armenian Question from the Zionist Point of View". It is reproduced in a recent book given to me by Aris Babikian called The Banality of Denial: Israel and the Armenian Genocide, written by an Israeli, Yair Auron.

"We Zionists look upon the fate of the Armenian people with a deep and sincere sympathy," Tolkowsky wrote. "We do so as men [he meant humans], as Jews, and as Zionists. As men our motto is…'I am a human being. Whatever affects another human being affects me.' As Jews, our exile from our ancestral home and our centuries of suffering in all parts of the globe have made us, I would fain to say, specialists in martyrdom; our humanitarian feelings have been refined to an incomparable degree, so much so that the sufferings of other people - even alien to us in blood and remote from us in distance - cannot but strike the deeper chords of our soul and weave between us and our fellow sufferers that deep bond of sympathy which one might call the solidarity of sorrow. And among all those who suffer around us, is there a people whose record of martyrdom is more akin to ours than that of the Armenians?"

Today I would add: "Or that of the Rwandans?"

So I hope that Armenians, Rwandans and Jews, and all women and men who believe in justice and a better, more equitable world, will work together for genocide prevention, will work together to end the terrible calamity in Darfur, and will work together to ensure that when we meet again 10 years from now, we will commemorate together the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, mildly comforted that, at long last, the entire world will finally have come to acknowledge the terrible, indisputable reality of your history.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

An Argentinisation of Tanzania?

Issa Shivji

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/27917

From colonial resource exploitation to the negative impact of rampaging neo-liberalism, Africa has always followed behind the experience of Latin America. With general elections due to take place in late October in Tanzania, Issa Shivji asks why the candidates aren’t talking about how the country is going to avoid recent Latin American experiences with the Washington Consensus?


Latin America in the third world is a good barometer of what follows and what to expect in Africa, particularly in relation to economic policies. Being in the backyard of a superpower, Latin America’s experience tends to be more severe and so is the anti-imperial resistance of its people. The experience of imperialist-generated military coups that we had in Africa during the first two decades of independence was preceded by a similar wave of militarism in Latin America. US-supported Mobutus and UK-Israel supported Idi Amins, were pale shadows of the suppression, torture, and disappearances of the CIA-installed Pinochets.

The pillage of the resources of the DRC, the former Congo-Zaire, is a mirror image of the century old pillage of the timber, oil, mineral and other natural resources of Latin America by imperialism. Now that imperial powers have turned their attention to the African oil in West Africa, Sudan and possibly the Eastern seaboard, we may well be on the way to repeat that tragic episode in Latin American history. God forbid.

In Africa, our leaders tend to cower before our imperial paymasters. Somehow we seem to be so impervious to lessons of history, both our own and others’, that we tragically repeat it. Important substitution industrialization was tried out in Latin America long before we experimented with it. It failed. Yet we didn’t learn from Latin America’s failure. The free market and privatisation policies worked out by the IMF, the World Bank and US Treasury called the “Washington consensus” has been on in Latin America for some time now. The policy prescriptions of the IFIs (International Financial Institutions) for Africa were virtually carbon-copies of those imposed in Latin America.

I once downloaded some of the IFI-generated policy papers for Argentina and found that they were so similar to those for Tanzania; you only had to change the country name and currency denomination!

Argentina became the star of the Washington consensus. The IMF held it up as a showpiece. Water, electricity, telecommunications, gas, post office, the national airline and many other state companies were cut up and sold off within years. Foreign investment flowed in at the rate of US$800 million a month. The GDP grew by 10 per cent. Ten years into the reforms, Menem, once a populist president of Argentina, now wholly taken in by the “Washington Consensus”, went to the US declaring that his country had pulled off an economic miracle: hyperinflation had been brought under control, corruption was reduced and everybody was happy. The Argentinian middle class deposited their pesos in dollar accounts, thanks to easy convertibility.

Then came the great crash in 2001 as banks could no longer honour deposits and billions of dollars flowed out at a faster rate than they had flowed in. Within 5 days in July (2002) alone, 2.6 billion dollars left the country. By 2002 the GDP had fallen by 21 per cent, a performance similar to the depression years of the 1930s. Even middle class professionals, including engineers and bankers and white collar workers found themselves with begging bowls in the street. Some attempted to commit suicide while, once passive, society-women were out demonstrating in the streets banging their fancy, but empty, pots and pans. Governments changed every week. The ‘Washington’ baby collapsed like a pack of cards. Argentina threatened to default on its $141 billion foreign debt. The IMF pumped in more billions which came through the door and left through the window in the form of capital flight and debt servicing.

The rise and fall of the neo-liberal experiment in Argentina, which reduced a once prosperous country to economic ruins, thanks to the “Washington consensus”, made a great impression on the South American continent. A wave of backlash against the free market and privatisation set in. Left presidents have been elected in a number of countries through popular vote, the best example of which is Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. The American-backed attempt to overthrow him did not survive. He was out of the state house for two days but was literally reinstalled by massive demonstrations of the poor – the “wretched of the earth” - from the slums of Caracas. But the rich and middle classes did not give up. The imperialist media kept instigating and middle class opposition was mobilized to call for a referendum to overthrow Chavez. In August 2004, Richard Gott reported:

“To the dismay of opposition groups in Venezuela, and to the surprise of international observers gathering in Caracas, President Hugo Chavez is about to secure a stunning victory on August 15, in a referendum designed to lead to his overthrow. First elected in 1998 as a barely known colonel, armed with little more than revolutionary rhetoric and a moderate social-democratic programme, Chavez has become the leader of the emerging opposition in Latin America to the neo-liberal hegemony of the United States.”

In a recent speech Chavez finally declared.

"I am convinced, at this stage of my life - I am now 50 years old - after six years as a president, after nearly 30 years of political struggle, since 1997, when I had the idea of taking an oath from a small group of fellow countrymen, soldiers, to create the first nucleus - there were only about 5 of us then - of what later became the MBR-200 [Bolivarian Revolutionary Movement 200] ... after many readings, debates, discussions and many travels around the world, etc., I am convinced, and I think that this conviction will be for the rest of my life, that the path to a new, better and possible world, is not capitalism, the path is socialism, that is the path: socialism, socialism…Capitalism leads us straight to hell.”

The experiences of Latin America are passing us by in Africa. Our intellectuals and leaders continue swearing by the “Washington consensus” whereas we should be learning from history.

In this election year, we should be taking stock of the last twenty, particularly the last ten, years of neo-liberal reforms. In taking stock we should not only critically examine our own experience but also the experience of other continents which have gone through a very similar process. Regrettably none of this is happening. The so-called free media does not even report of such experiences like Argentina. Instead, editorial writers are busy positioning themselves to curry favours from the establishment. Some of them are more establishment-minded then the establishment itself.

Our aspirants for “serving the people” , for that is the cliché politicians use during the election season, are talking little of ‘service’ or ‘people’, and more about preserving “the good” done by the third phase government. But why don’t we also learn from the bad of the first, the second and the third phase and, indeed, from the effects of the global hegemony of neo-liberalism elsewhere?

Aren’t Argentina and Venezuela relevant to our people? Shouldn’t our aspirants be telling us what they have learnt from those experiences and how do they propose to avoid the Argentinisation of Tanzania?

© Issa Shivji. Shivji is Professor of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Is South Africa’s emancipation struggle over?

Ronald Elly Wanda

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/27918

April 27 was Freedom Day in South Africa, a national public holiday to remember the first democratic elections held in the country eleven years ago. Celebrations took place country wide under the theme ‘Building a South Africa that Truly Belongs to All’. Ronald Elly Wanda visited South Africa last year. Here he reflects on his experiences and concludes that the country has a long way to go before it belongs to all of its people.


Earlier last year I was ill-fated for I missed an opportunity to meet up with some of Africa’s contemporary divas at Hammersmith’s world famous Shepherds Bush Empire (formerly Apollo theatre) in West London. Amongst the divas assiduously imported from rhythmic South Africa were two of my favourites; culturally electrifying Yvonne Chaka Chaka and politically inspirational and poetically soothing Miriam Makeba, the woman whom perhaps every right-thinking African school boy at some point tunefully fell for. Noticeably absent was Brenda Fassie owing to her poor health, she died three months after the event. She will be sadly missed by all who enjoyed her ecstatic and care-free style of music. The festivities were hosted by Republic of South Africa’s London consulate to honour the country’s 10th anniversary under Black rule and as a democratic state.

January of 2004 saw my first visit to South Africa or Azania, a place chock-full of political history and also social ills resultant from the devilish apartheid system. I had other prior rendezvous in Durban and later in Johannesburg, but as a political spectator I couldn’t resist the temptations of comparative politicking to try and weigh whether what the English professors have painted in their thrilling lectures and engaging books was actually anything closer to reality. I am not implying that what the armchair professors have reported are entirely wrong, but that it is sometimes qualitatively functional to hear the story from those who actually went through it. After all, Simeon Strunsky the essayist perhaps had me in mind when he remarked that “people who want to understand democracy should spend less time in the library reading Aristotle and more time on the buses and in the subways”.

My journey from London Heathrow to Johannesburg had been a fat circus right from the start. Day one, I missed my flight, due to Expedia’s (the internet travel agents) late communication to Virgin Atlantic who subsequently mishandled my E-ticket, not to mention the usual airport pressures.

Having spent a soporific night under the inept hands of Virgin Atlantic, I arrived at Johannesburg as scheduled. I was swiftly welcomed by the wonderful southern comfort (the weather not the drink!) that made me forget all about the horrible wintry English weather that I had left behind for the pitiable London inhabitants. Johannesburg airport’s layout, capacity and organisation are impressive and capable of giving one a counterfeit impression of having arrived in Amsterdam, Berlin or Venice and not geographically south of mother Africa.

Johannesburg, commonly referred to as the ‘city of gold’ is Azania’s biggest commercial centre; it is largely white and quite well to do. My stay at Sandton district was necessitated after a lengthy exploration that left me exhausted and disappointed in failing to find a place to stay in Johannesburg amongst “abantu” (people).

The neighbourhood of Sandton city (formerly Down-town) where I briefly resided boasts about everything that Soweto does not. Large and spacious houses, public parks which are not accessible to the general public, shopping malls, corporate headquarters, hotels and a large tax base to support ample amenities and services. Sandton city’s residents are predominantly white but one can find a few and occasional blacks who are considered better - off aka “Rand-lords”.

I didn’t have to walk very far from my transient residence to notice the huge electrified wall fencings that were supervised by Sandton’s very own police force. They reminded me of London’s city police, who keep watch over London’s fiscal constituency and are known for their brutality against ethnic minority communities. For a minute or so onward, I permitted my mind to wonder what it would have been like for me as a young black person or for that matter a black South African or just a black African caught by these largely white “heavy weaponry carrying” police force. Word has it that during the Apartheid regime the white dominated police force here when dealing with black people, were known to have employed a policy of “shoot first then ask questions later”. How times have changed, I thought to myself.

As elsewhere in Africa, the changes in South Africa came after a long and bruising fight by the people. Through liberation struggles, the working class, black women and the student movements amongst other groups of people fought a bitter war to liberate black people from the slaving system of apartheid. The outcome in South Africa was that Nelson Mandela in 1990 was released having spent 27 long years in prison, South Africa had its first ever democratic election that saw black people voting for the first time in 1994. Expectedly and unsurprisingly, Mandela and the ANC (African National Congress) won the elections overwhelmingly and Mandela became the country’s first democratically elected president. Having served his full term he was succeeded by the country’s vice president Thabo Mbeki in 1999, whose mandate got renewed in the middle of last year by the South African electorate.

Eleven years on, it is often common to come across books and discussion papers written by European and American armchair professors of African politics on how well South Africa is doing. I mean you walk into a library or a political or social forum and all you will see is; “The End of Apartheid”, “The fall of Apartheid”, “The politics of Apartheid”, “Mandela”, “Waiting: the White South Africans”, “The concise History of South Africa.”

I might upset some readers, but I am of the view that there were many concessions made in the run up to the political transition of 1994. Mandela and other leaders who led the liberation struggle abandoned the “real” fight for the people, that of social justice and equality of opportunity. For instance, the laws in South Africa today are formally ‘colour-blind’ and in some cases even promote affirmative action in favour of black people; however from what I saw in Soweto, and in Durban, the country remains an inequitable society. United Nations research has also categorised it as still amongst one of the most unequal in the world. Indeed, not so long ago a government minister was quoted as saying: “South Africa is sitting on a social time bomb”, clearly reflecting the concerns of the majority of poor black South Africans.

It is clear that the ANC has abandoned its core roots and energy - the poor people. The ANC party was born socialist but later adopted capitalism and endorsed the neo-liberal agenda, whose fruit we know is exploitation of the people. The ANC’s economic policy emphasis on market liberalization and tight government control on spending has meant that the working class and poor who are mostly black South Africans have to bear the cost of its conservative economic policy.

I recall one prominent South African panellist during a seminar in London that I chaired, noting that: “Post Apartheid policy makers drew all the wrong lessons from ‘international experience’, and hence have prepared to amplify rather than correct apartheid capitalism’s main economic distortions”.

The compromises made by the ANC government since 1994 has not delivered higher living standards and its systematic ideological conversion has pronounced many people who are already poor into further poverty. My former tutor Professor Heather Deegan in her book “The Politics of the New South Africa” agreeably notes that: “When it comes to education, the legacy of apartheid is still evident in many places. Many children continue to study under the tree, in dilapidated buildings and without appropriately trained teachers. Some schools are hollow shells without even the most basic equipment and few textbooks.”

For if we are to truly judge whether present day South Africa is democratic or not we need to look at the primary essence of democracy. The essential aspirations of democratic ideals are that decision ought to be taken by the people. Secondly, this means that the mass of the people should have some say in what they are going to be, and not just told what they are. Thirdly, this decision should be genuinely the peoples; it should not be manipulated by propaganda, misinformation and irrational fears. And fourthly it should to some extent reflect the peoples considered opinions and aspirations. In my view none of the above tenets are apparent in present day South Africa. This is because the only way we are going to fully realise democracy in Africa is when collectivism prevails, in other words a government by the people for the people.

In this light, it is easy to comprehend the argument of two amongst many of Mbeki’s critics, Professors Dani Nabudere and Patrick Bond – who have articulated that the persuasive powers of the World Bank and IMF - are partly to blame for the fact that a decades old liberation movement disappointed its constituents entirely reasonable aspirations within months of coming to state power.

The exchanges I received whilst in Soweto were enough to make me defend the view that the poor men and women in the townships have got no reason to be cheerful - in spite of ten years of Mandela and Mbeki neo-liberal regimes. For the poor are still poor and the Rand-lords as in Sandton are still getting richer. The liberation struggle ought to continue, free enterprise ought to be dejected whilst collectivism encouraged in order for Africa to fully realise egalitarianism. After all in terms of natural resources Africa is the richest continent in the world. Why are its inhabitants incessantly in poverty?

* Ronald Elly Wanda is a Political Scientist based in London, UK.
ronald2wanda@yahoo.co.uk

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Blair marches right and back for third term

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/27914

Tony Blair (B.Liar to his enemies) is set for a third term after moving his New Labour Party so far to the right that it is almost indistinguishable from the opposition Conservative Party, writes Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem. His three-term reign, to the puzzlement of African leaders under international pressure to show commitment to good governance by stepping down after two terms, is bad news for ethnic minorities.


Next Thursday, May 5, is general election day in Britain. Barring a very dramatic shift through a last minute change of mind by millions of voters, the governing Labour Party will be returned for another term in office.

The election has been dogged by a number of clouds of uncertainties that may not have anything to do with a fundamental difference between the Labour Party and the main opposition Conservative Party. In fact the biggest problem for the Conservatives is that under Tony Blair (those who cannot stand him call him TORY B-LIAR!) his New Labour has outdone the Tories in their reactionary politics and policies, whether on immigration, law and order or the economy.

The second opposition party, the Liberal Democratic Party, is more distinguishable from the other two by a wide barge on key policy alternatives, but unfortunately these nice people (as they are generally believed to be) are undermined by the undemocratic ‘first past the post system’ that advantages the two main parties. Both Labour and the Tories are beneficiaries of a disproportionate distribution of seats in parliament as a result of having their core voters concentrated in key regions, thereby gaining a majority of seats even without a substantial majority of the popular vote. Unless proportional representation is introduced across the board (not just restricted to European Elections as at the moment) it would be difficult for any third party to make a breakthrough in Britain.

So the voters are forced to decide between one set of Tories and another one. Personality and presentation assume more influence in such a situation. British politics is significantly being Americanised and emptied of substantial ideological differences and political cleavages that may make it pointless choosing between either of the two dominant parties.

The outcome of the election is not a foregone conclusion in many of the marginal constituencies and among different kinds of disgruntled groups. First among these are natural labour voters who are disappointed in Tony Blair's arrogant leadership and toadyism to Bush - especially over Iraq and other foreign policy summersaults. The media and Labour politicians often disingenuously talk of those angry about Iraq as if they are all 'disaffected Muslims'. Muslim British are not the only section of the society that feel betrayed by a Prime Minister elected to serve Britain who chose to be foreign secretary of the USA! The issue has not and will not die away until Blair is no longer Prime Minister.

Second, ethnic and racial minorities feel that Labour has abandoned them as a key constituency in favour of pandering to increasing xenophobia and racism in the wider society. They can point to a raft of immigration and asylum seeking laws further compounded by panic draconian legislation on terrorism that directly or indirectly victimise Black and other ethnic minorities. Instead of leading by principle Labour has allowed the conservatives and their cheer leaders in the largely rightwing media of Britain to lead on these issues. In fact they are in some kind of grotesque competition on these and many other issues for the dubious title of 'The Nastiest' party of Britain. The Conservative leader, Michael Howard, used to have a virtual monopoly on this but successive New Labour Home Secretaries from Jack Straw through David Blunket to the current burly beast, Mike Reid, have done their nastiest best to close the gap.

So bad has Labour shifted to the right on these issues that a former ‘Leading Nasty’, one of Margaret Thatcher's Bull terriers, Norman Thebit, was briefly cast as a Liberal Democrat during the debate on the Terrorism Bill in the House of Lords. Even he could not help drawing attention to the unusual role Labour forced him into. For a man who spent all his political career bashing miners, challenging ethnic minorities to pass the cricket test or jump on their bikes or haranguing the public to accept police state diktats it was a big irony that even this uncompromising law and order grandee felt Labour had gone too far in its crusade against 'terrorists'.

The ideological convergence of the leading parties and the frustration by Labour voters about Tony Blair has generated fears that the turn out could be low. The educated guess is that a lower turn out may punish Labour but be good news for the conservatives.

I am just glad that I will not be in Britain and have not applied for the controversial postal ballot. Where I would have voted is one of those constituencies where even a dog wearing Labour's colors will be elected. In any case many Black voters tend to vote labour when they vote. However, under Tony Blair not a few are reconsidering this historical loyalty. Already in many London constituencies Black, Asian and African voters are switching locally. Like other voters tactical voting may be the means through which anger at Blair and particular war mongering MPs (including the mixed race MP for one of the London constituencies, Oona King) will be punished. There may not be many spectacular upsets but there may be a few symbolic 'enough is enough' messages to Bush's friend by this weekend.

If the Labour lead turns out to be much lower than predicted his tenure at No. 10 may be brought to a quicker end soon. But whatever the size of the majority, Blair is on his last term - despite the fact that there is no term limit in Britain. Among the Ekisanja supporters of President Museveni in Uganda for example (and also other Presidents in Africa toying with extending their rule) there must some confusion as to why a PM who has no limit on his terms is pledging not to run again while they are busy trying to get a president whose terms are constitutionally limited to stand again.

* 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

Sign on against GM maize

Open letter by South African civil society to South African government

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/27841

"During the period 1999-2005, the South African government, in its haste to embrace genetic engineering, authorised the import of a staggering 2 683 033 tons of GM maize seed from the US and Argentina: 2679 tons for field trials; 4 264 tons for commercial planting; 1 779 115 tons as unspecified commodity imports; and 899 500 tons for animal feed."
OPEN LETTER BY SOUTH AFRICAN CIVIL SOCIETY TO SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT:

URGENT SIGN: Please email safeage@mweb.co.za by Monday 2nd May, 2005.
Just type in the heading of your email:
SUPPORT FOR THE MORATORIUM ON IMPORTED GM MAIZE

SOUTH AFRICA ALLOWS 2.6 MILLION TONS OF CONTAMINTED GM MAIZE TO BE IMPORTED FROM US, ARGENTINA?


Once upon a time, South Africa was a net exporter of maize. But that was before the GM revolution!


During the period 1999-2005, the South African government, in its haste to embrace genetic engineering, authorised the import of a staggering 2 683 033 tons of GM maize seed from the US and Argentina: 2679 tons for field trials; 4 264 tons for commercial planting; 1 779 115 tons as unspecified commodity imports; and 899 500 tons for animal feed.

On the 22 March 2004, the United States’ authorities informed the European Commission that up to 10 kg of Syngenta’s illegal bt10 GM maize seeds were exported from the US to test sites in Spain and France and up to 1000 metric tonnes of Bt10 feed products may have entered the European Union (EU) since 2001. The seeds entered the US through export channels for Bt11. Although Bt 11 has obtained regulatory approval in the US, the EU and South Africa Bt 10 has not been approved in the US or any other country in the world.

As a result, the EU has on 15 April 2005, banned the imports from the US of shipments of maize gluten animal feed unless they are assured that the imports are free of unauthorised GM maize. This ban effectively shuts out all imports of US maize gluten since there is currently no effective way of testing Bt10 and even if such a system is devised, it would still have to be approved in the US and EU; a process that could take some time. If Syngenta is able to develop a testing system for the EU, than it should have no problems making the same available for use by the South African authorities.

South Africa has imported from the US and Argentina a total of 1 411 145 tons of GM maize in bulk shipments containing the following GM events: Bt11, MON810, T25, and Bt176. These 4 GM events are imported together in single bulk co-mingled shipments. 511 645 tons has been imported into South Africa as unspecified commodity imports and 899 500 tons for animal feed. Additionally, the South African government has during July-August 2004, allowed Syngenta to import and commercially plant 3280 kg of Bt 11 GM maize, yielding on average 1500 tons of GM maize.

The South African government does not conduct any tests of imported GM seeds to check for the presence of unauthorised GMOs. Thus it is highly likely that the Bt11 seeds imported into South Africa may have been contaminated with the illegal Bt10 seeds. These illegal, risky and unregulated Bt 10 GM seeds may thus insidiously have entered our environment and food and seed supply.

South Africa does not segregate between GM and non-GM seeds. Thus, the contamination of maize seeds by unauthorised GM seeds seriously compromises the right of farmers to demand zero tolerance for unauthorised GMOs.

Bt10 contains a gene conferring resistance to the antibiotic ampicillan, widely used for infections of the middle ear, sinuses, bladder, kidney, meningitis etc. There is the danger that the consumption of Bt10 will confer resistance to the antibiotic, rendering it ineffective against infections. This antibiotic is widely used in South African medicine and any chance of increasing risk of antibiotic resistance in the treatment of HIV and other illnesses.

EXTREME DISQUIET AT FLOOD OF GM MAIZE IMPORTS

We are extremely concerned about the flood of GM maize being imported into South Africa from the US and Argentina. We have voiced these same concerns a year ago, but these have obviously fallen upon deaf ears.

These GM maize imports are displacing and placing at risk thousands of jobs in our agricultural sector and related industries by artificially distorting internal market forces by importing food that is both subsidised and can imported more cheaply. The South African government is acting highly irresponsibly and placing the food security of the nation in serious jeopardy. Already maize farmers are looking to convert their maize stockpiles into ethanol because they cannot sell these on the South African market due to the cheap GM maize imports flooding the market. Even then the proportion of food insecure people in this country remain high.





WE DEMAND THAT THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT TAKE THE FOLLOWING MEASURES:

1. Urgently imposes a moratorium on the further imports of GM maize into South Africa and arranges for the following:

(a) an independent assessment to be conducted of the socio-economic impact of GM maize imports; including on the production of maize in South Africa; the distortions in the market place caused by the sale of such maize; the food security impacts for South and Southern Africa; and
(b) the establishment of a proper functioning segregation, traceability, monitoring and surveillance system in order protect our seeds from contamination, and human health and the environment from the risks posed by GMOs including, by unauthorised GMOs.

2. Immediately bans the further import and growing of Syngenta’s Bt11 GM maize;
3. Immediately withdraws all products from the South African market containing or that may contain Syngenta’s Bt11 GM maize until such time as they have been certified as being free of Bt10;
4. Urgently requires Syngenta to provide a full explanation of what has transpired with the Bt11 seeds it has imported and grown in South Africa, including a report issued by an independent laboratory certifying that maize seeds in South Africa have not been contaminated with the illegal Bt10; and
5. Requires Syngenta to establish a compensation fund to compensate farmers, producers and consumers for any damages suffered as a result of product recall of contaminated seeds, and products.

This sign on is sent out by African Freeze Alliance on Genetic Engineering (SAFeAGE) www.safeage.org.za
Supported by:
Biowatch
African Centre for Biosafety
Earthlife Africa, Ethekwini Branch
Ekogaia Foundation
Safe Food Coalition

'Development pornography' (1)

Anne McLaughlin

2005-04-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/27853

I love this article! (Pambazuka News 203: Behind the image: poverty and 'development pornography') I think it is absolutely right on... I visited Cape Verde from 1996 to 1999 as a Peace Corps volunteer and brought with me all kinds of stereotypes and propaganda that was very hard to discard, but I did as the years went by...

I have the hardest time trying to explain what I saw to people here in the western US and to help them understand my commitment to disrupt the status quo and turn things around in Africa. Since returning, I have learned and appreciated the concept of "stealing from the poor." I think it makes sense to spotlight the corporate and government predators when talking about what is happening in Africa, however, people are much more uncomfortable with acknowledging their own complicity in the problem.

If I start to talk about the corporations, then they get uncomfortable because, in America, that's like criticizing God. It's never spoken about, but one isn't supposed to criticize capitalism here. And people feel powerless when they understand who is doing what in Africa. It is so much easier for them to pledge $1 a day to help a "starving child". They get to feel powerful and superior, and they feel like they are addressing the problem. The question is: how do we get people to feel that same sense of personal power if they are going after the source of the problem, not the result? The problem is so huge and complex, it would almost take a documentary to explain it; not a simple television advertisement. Do you have any suggestions or advice for me?

I am finishing a law degree, and before I return to Africa, I want to somehow communicate with people here about Africa; help change the preconceptions and picque their interest in the continent; dare I say help them develop an empathy with Africans not based on pity, but based on respect as valiant and dignified equals?

Thank you so much for the work you do!

'Development Pornography' (2)

Hellen Tombo

2005-04-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/27864

I am soooooooo pleased that someone is now talking of the images potraying Africa as a dead continent needing help. I have visited many developed countries and am so saddened by the images used to solicite for funds by bigger institutions. From a very small voice, I have made my feelings and disagreements known, which have not gone down very well with many.
 
I was very surprised by what I found out during my visit to some of the learning institutions in the "developed world". When I interacted with the pupils and students, they had a very, very negative picture of Africa. To them, Africa is so poor that they cannot imagine there are airports, cars, big buildings, planes, good clothes etc. One of my friends cannot come to Africa because she has a phobia of animals. From when she was a child, she was made to believe that Africans live in forests with animals, eat dirty foods with flies, don't shower, don't wear clothes, etc etc.
 
The power esteem by the western countries will never change if their children grow up knowing that they have to work to assist Africa. The price Africa is paying due to these images is too big for the benefit of a few. A policy should be developed on what kind of images should be used.
 
Did you know that in the UK, you cannot just take photographs of children and use them in your materials? Why can't this apply in Africa and Asia?
 
You have made my day. Thank you very much.

'Development pornography' (3)

Sibanze Simuchoba

2005-04-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/27878

What an apt characterisation! I couldn't agree more. As comrade Mugabe has said, colonialism is a crime against humanity. Reparations are in order. African leaders have to realise that paying back the so-called debt to the multi-lateral institutions of the West, is a perpetuation of slavery and subjugation. Africa will not develop for as long as it is led by imperialist lackeys who are falling over each other to reach the HIPC completion point as was the case in my country Zambia.These governments are there to meet the conditionality set by their Western bosses. Not once have they met any expectation of the hapless masses.

I disagree with Patrick Bond and David Moore's conclusions on the Zimbabwe elections. It is condescending to merely allege that the urban poor and working class were cheated while the rural poor were intimidated. Where is the evidence to support these assertions? If Morgan the beloved weren't an ignoble chancer, why did he participate in the elections which he all along dubbed unfree and unfair? Comrade Mugabe is right to have reclaimed our peoples birth right. Their land. Savagely stolen by the ancestors of Morgan's current financiers. Aluta continua!

'Development pornography' (4)

Steve Cisler

2005-04-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/27879

Thanks for posting that provocative essay. I had seen a critique of the charity infomercials that are shown frequently on some channels here in the US. The documentarian/director was shooting the charity representative and the little child from the (barrio, refugee camp, remote village). As he began to shoot he called, "More flies!!"

Even though I was aware of this kind of manipulation, the stories in these ads (sometimes an hour long) can be well told and convinced me that this Christian group was doing some good, that the executive director of the NGO really believed in what they were doing, and that it was better than the inaction or inability of the national government to provide a similar kind of assistance.

The way telcom/computing projects are portrayed shows the limits of expressing what really goes on in an effective ICT project: think about all the photos you have seen and how limited is the subject matter.

It's usually users at computers in different variation: smiling kids crowded around one machine; some exotic tribal group gazing at or using the computer; situated in a thatched hut a young person helping an older person; a whole family bonding in front of the screen; some celebrity or bigwig (Gates in a South African township) at the machine, surrounded by locals.

My favorite was the shot of a villager in India with his sick chicken held in front of the webcam so the vet could make a remote diagnosis of the animal's illness.

Many of the photos are set up in hopes of publicizing the project. A friend worked on wireless connectivity in Mongolia, and they made sure to hitch some horses up outside the technology center to remind the outsider that this project was a blend of the traditional Mongolian culture and advanced tech.

What is hard to convey through photos, white papers, and statistics are the changes going on in the minds of the people who have engaged and made useful links to people or information.

I Saw Biafra

Charles Ndubueze Akuneme

2005-04-28

http://www.africanbookscollective.com/

A factional account of the post-independence Nigerian civil war. The novel is written from the dual perspective of an adult, a Biafran, relating his experiences, as he understood them as a child. This is an important literary contribution to the collective memory of the war. It is the author's first novel.

Indigenous African institutions

George B.N. Ayittey

2005-04-28

http://www.transnationalpubs.com/showbook.cfm?bookid=10049

George Ayittey's Indigenous African Institutions presents a detailed and convincing picture of pre-colonial and post-colonial Africa - its cultures, traditions, and indigenous institutions, including participatory democracy. Contrasting traditional African society colonial and post-colonial rule, Ayittey concludes that while colonialism was pernicious and brutal, it did not totally destroy native African institutions and in some ways even contributed to their survival and regeneration.

Journal of African Elections

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/27846

Journal of African Elections, vol. 3, no. 2, December 2004, has a special focus on the South African Elections, 2004, and includes:
* Under Strain: The Racial/Ethnic Interpretation of South Africa's 2004
Election by Thabisi Hoeane
* Political Party Funding in the 2004 Election by Dirk Kotze
* Why the IFP Lost the Election in KZN by Shauna Mottiar
* Women's Representation: The South African Electoral System and the
2004 Election by Amanda Gouws
Contact publications@eisa.org.za Online subscriptions are available via SABINET at
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New volumes from Codesria

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/27880

Three new volumes are available from Codesria. They are: Gender, Economies and Entitlements in Africa; Gender Activism and Studies in Africa; and African Gender Scholarship: Concepts, Methodologies and Paradigms. For more details click on the link below.
African Gender Scholarship: Concepts, Methodologies and Paradigms
CODESRIA Gender Series Volume 1
Published November 2004; 110 pages ISBN: 2-86978-138-5
A distinctive contribution of African feminist and gender scholarship has been a conscious effort to draw from, and simultaneously rethink, concepts, paradigms and methodologies that are often taken for granted both in conventional and in mainstream feminist scholarship. This with a view to enriching them with perspectives sensitive to the encounters, cultures, economic and socio-political predicaments that have shaped and been shaped by gender relations in Africa.
Volume I brings together essays by some of the leading names on gender studies in Africa, as a major contribution to these concerns. Situating themselves variously in relation to claims and counter claims on the universalisms and particularisms in African feminism and gender studies, the authors de-bate the relative (de)-merits of Eurocentrism, African epistemologies and cultures, colonial legacies, postcolonial realities, and other current dilemmas and challenges in understanding and articulating African feminism and gender research. Practiced and budding scholars should find this a fascinating read.
The CODESRIA Gender Series acknowledges the need to challenge the masculinities underpinning the structures of repression that target women. The series aims to keep alive and nourish African social science research with insightful research and debates that challenge conventional wisdom, structures and ideologies that are narrowly informed by caricatures of gender realities. It strives to showcase the best in African gender research and provide a platform for the emergence of new talents to flower.
Published November 2004; 110 pages ISBN: 2-86978-138-5
Rest of the world: 15.00 USD; Africa: non-CFA 10.50 USD; CFA 6,000 
Contributors
• Signe Arnfred
• Bibi Bakare-Yusuf
• Edward Waswa Kisiang'ani
• Desiree Lewis
• Oyeronke Oyewumi
• Filomina Chioma Steady

Contents

Contributors

 Preface

Chapter 1
Conceptualising Gender: Eurocentric Foundations of Feminist Concepts and the Challenge of African Epistemologies
Oyeronke Oyewumi

Chapter 2
Decolonising Gender Studies in Africa
Edward Namisiko Waswa Kisiang'ani

Chapter 3
African Gender Research and Postcoloniality: Legacies and Challenges
Desiree Lewis

Chapter 4
An Investigative Framework for Gender Research in Africa in the New Millennium
Filomina Chioma Steady

Chapter 5
'Yorubas Don't Do Gender': A Critical Review of Oyeronke Oyewumi's The Invention of Women: Making An African Sense of Western Gender Discourses
Bibi Bakare-Yusuf

Chapter 6
Gender Research in Africa: Dilemmas and Challenges as Seen by an Outsider
Signe Arnfred


For orders:   
Africa: 
Publications and Dissemination
CODESRIA
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop x Canal IV
BP 3304
CP 18524, Dakar, Senegal
Email: codesria@codesria.sn
Rest of the world: 
African Books Collective
The Jam Factory
27 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HU
Email: abc@africanbookscollective.com
Web: www.africanbookscollective.com

Gender Activism and Studies in Africa
CODESRIA Gender Series Volume 3
Published December 2004; 184 pages ISBN: 2-86978-140-7 
This book celebrates the successes in African struggles for gender equality and draws attention to the challenges facing the edification of gender studies, women's rights and entitlements. It brings together contributions by seasoned gender specialists who draw empirical evidence from several African countries - Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa - to critically discuss various experiences in setting up gender and women's studies programmes, feminist and gender activism, gender identities, social protest, gender and culture in indigenous films, continuities and discontinuities in conceptions of gender, same-sex relationships, customary law, and gendered discourse patterns. Readers will find great merit in the focus on challenges, achievements and future perspectives in the crystallisation of gender activism and studies in Africa. 
The CODESRIA Gender Series acknowledges the need to challenge the masculinities underpinning the structures of repression that target women. The series aims to keep alive and nourish African social science research with insightful research and debates that challenge conventional wisdom, structures and ideologies that are narrowly informed by caricatures of gender realities. It strives to showcase the best in African gender research and provide a platform for the emergence of new talents to flower. 
Published December 2004; 184 pages ISBN: 2-86978-140-7
Rest of the world: 15.00 USD; Africa: non-CFA 10.50 USD; CFA 6,000 
Contributors 
• Signe Arnfred
• Babere Kerata Chacha
• Amanda Gouws
• Josephine Ahikire
• Ayodele Ogundipe
• Charmaine Pereira
• Mansah Prah
• Charles Ukeje
• Felicia Arudo Yieke

Contents

Contributors

Preface

Chapter 1
Locating Gender and Women's Studies in Nigeria:
What Trajectories for the Future?
Charmaine Pereira

Chapter 2
Chasing Illusions and Realising Visions: Reflections on Ghana's Feminist Experience Mansah Prah

Chapter 3
Establishing Gender Studies Programmes in South Africa: The Role of Gender Activism
Amanda Gouws

Chapter 4
Locating Gender Studies in the Pan African Ideal: A Reflection on Progress and Possibilities in Uganda
Josephine Ahikire

Chapter 5
From Aba to Ugborodo: Gender Identity and Alternative Discourse of Social Protest Among Women in the Oil Delta of Nigeria
Charles Ukeje

Chapter 6
Gender and Culture in Indigenous Films in Nigeria
Ayodele Ogundipe

Chapter 7
Conceptions of Gender in Colonial and Post-colonial Discourses: The Case of Mozambique
Signe Arnfred

Chapter 8
Traversing Gender and Colonial Madness: Same-Sex Relationships, Customary Law and Change in Tanzania, 1890-1990 
Babere Kerata Chacha

Chapter 9
Collaborators or Warriors? A Sociolinguistic Analysis of the Discourse Patterns of Men and Women in their Claim for Space in the Public/Formal Workplace
Felicia Arudo Yieke


For orders :   
Africa:
Publications and Dissemination
CODESRIA
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop x Canal IV
BP 3304
CP 18524, Dakar, Senegal
Email: codesria@codesria.sn
Rest of the world: 
African Books Collective
The Jam Factory
27 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HU
Email: abc@africanbookscollective.com
Web: www.africanbookscollective.com



Gender, Economies and Entitlements in Africa
CODESRIA Gender Series Volume 2
 Published December 2004; 190 pages; ISBN: 2-86978-139-3
 This theoretically sophisticated and empirically grounded book draws extensively on feminist methodologies to discuss gender, economies and entitlements in Africa. It deals critically with a broad range of themes that highlight the structural insensitivities, stereotypes, injustices and inequalities that women are often victims of, despite their significant contributions to household and national economies throughout Africa. Among the issues covered are: gender relations in the family, formal education and health; gender and accessibility to resources; women's experiences of citizenship; sex identities and sex work; and globalisation, trade and gender. The book captures how, despite phenomenal structural constraints, women as economic agents have refused to celebrate victimhood.
The CODESRIA Gender Series acknowledges the need to challenge the masculinities underpinning the structures of repression that target women. The series aims to keep alive and nourish African social science research with insightful research and debates that challenge conventional wisdom, structures and ideologies that are narrowly informed by caricatures of gender realities. It strives to showcase the best in African gender research and provide a platform for the emergence of new talents to flower.
 Published December 2004; 190 pages; ISBN: 2-86978-139-3
Rest of the world: 15.00 USD; Africa: non-CFA 10.50 USD; CFA 6,000
 Contributors
• Elizabeth Annan-Yao
• Zenebe N. Bashaw
• Christine G. Ishengoma
• Godisang Mookodi
• Grace Ongile
• Charmaine Pereira
• Manthiba Phalane
• Richard Ssewakiryanga
• Sylvia Tamale
• Chris Okechukwu Uroh

Contents

Contributors

Preface

Chapter 1
Analysis of Gender Relations in the Family, Formal Education and health, Elizabeth Annan-Yao

Chapter 2
Gender Trauma in Africa: Enhancing Women's Links to Resources, Sylvia Tamale

Chapter 3
Gender and Resources: Some Macro and Micro Level Considerations
Godisang Mookodi

Chapter 4
Accessibility of Resources by Gender: The Case of Morogoro Region in Tanzania
Christine G. Ishengoma

Chapter 5
Trajectories of Women, Environmental Degradation and Scarcity: Examining Access to and Control over Resources in Ethiopia
Zenebe N. Bashaw

Chapter 6
Understanding Women's Experiences of Citizenship in Nigeria:
Charmaine Pereira

Chapter 7
Sexual Identities and Sex Work - Interrogating the Interface: A Study on Constructed Identities Among Female Sex Workers in Kampala
Richard Ssewakiryanga

Chapter 8
Globalisation, Trade and Gender - The Key Concerns
Grace Ongile

Chapter 9
Globalisation and the Feminisation of Poverty: A South African Perspective on Expansion, Inequality and Identity Crises
Manthiba Phalane

Chapter 10
Globalization and the Question of Gender-Justice: The Nigerian Experience
Chris Okechukwu Uroh


For orders:   
Africa: 
Publications and Dissemination
CODESRIA
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop x Canal IV
BP 3304
CP 18524, Dakar, Senegal
Email: codesria@codesria.sn
Rest of the world: 
African Books Collective
The Jam Factory
27 Park End Street, Oxford, OX1 1HU
Email: abc@africanbookscollective.com
Web: www.africanbookscollective.com

Africa and the UN Security Council Permanent Seats

Wafula Okumu

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/aumonitor/27913

As the battle for permanent seats on a reformed United Nations Security Council heats up, Wafula Okumu treads the minefield of politics and internal dealings over the African contenders in the race. The battle ahead, he writes, is likely to be “long, nasty and brutal” and is sure to lead to increased tensions between African power brokers.


The campaign for the proposed new permanent seats in the reformed United Nations Security Council (UNSC), while producing fireworks around the world, has also opened up old historical wounds and heightened regional rivalries.

Although the hottest rivalries are in Asia, particularly between India and Pakistan, and between Japan, South Korea and China, Africa is also exhibiting deep divisions along regional and language lines as countries scramble for the coveted seats.

Senegal is the latest African country to put forth its name for a permanent seat on the UNSC, should the body be expanded. Other African countries jockeying for the permanent seats are South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Libya. The African Union (AU) is flummoxed as to which of its member states to endorse, and has yet to establish the criteria to be used for selecting African countries to the reformed Security Council. The entry of Senegal into the race has only increased the dilemma, and is an indication of the AU’s indecision. In creating this leadership vacuum, the AU is leaving the selection of who will represent Africa on the expanded UN Security Council to be determined by foreign busybodies and regional power struggles.

Among the criteria laid down by the UN ‘Report of the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change’ (the Report on UN Reforms) is that the new members of the UNSC must have contributed “most to the United Nations financially, militarily and diplomatically,” particularly through contributions to United Nations assessed budgets and participation in mandated peace operations. The other conditions spelt out are that new members should represent the broader UN membership, increase the democratic and accountable nature of the Security Council, and should not impair its effectiveness. A working group that was appointed in January 2005 during the Abuja Summit of the African Union to come up with recommendations on the proposed UN reforms presented its report to the Foreign Ministers on March 7 in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, but was deafeningly silent on the selection criteria for Security Council permanent seats.

What the AU stands to gain from a reformed Security Council

According to the “Ezulwini Consensus,” which was adopted by the AU Foreign Ministers as Africa’s common position on UN reform, “Africa’s goal is to be fully represented in all the decision-making organs of the UN, particularly in the Security Council, which is the principal decision-making organ of the UN in matters relating to international peace and security.”

The UNSC is now more important than ever to Africa, particularly concerning matters of intervention in the conflicts occurring within the region. These decisions will become more legitimate and easier to implement if they are made through democratic processes.

The major criticism of the UN from the South has been that a few powerful members have dominated its policy-making process and frequently used the veto power to enhance their interests. This has been deemed undemocratic. It is now surprising that critics of this arrangement are now seeking to strengthen it rather than to reform the UNSC. It is a classic case of “Animal Farm” where the oppressed join the oppressors, and behave just like them.

The position of the AU

When the AU Committee was formed in January to propose a common African response, its terms of reference included consideration of the two models relating to the reform of the UN Security Council. These models were recommended to reflect the 4 global regions: Africa, Asia/Pacific, Americas and Europe.

Model A provides for six new permanent seats, with no veto being created, and three new two-year term non-permanent seats; bringing the total to 24. Africa would have 2 no-veto permanent seats and 4 two-year non-renewable seats. The balance of power would still tip in Europe’s favor as the UK, France and Russia would retain their veto powers as would the US and China. Africa would still be the only region without veto power.

Model B provides for no new permanent seats but creates a new category of eight four-year renewable-term seats and one new two-year non-permanent (and non-renewable) seat. All the regions would get 2 four-year renewable-term seats. Although Africa would get the most (4) of the two-year non-permanent seats, Europe and the Americans gain most, as they each get two four-year renewable-term seats. Additionally, all regions will have at least one member with veto power, except Africa.

AU has rejected both of these models and instead demanded “not less than two permanent seats with all the prerogatives and privileges of permanent membership including the right of veto.” Although the AU opposes, in principle, the veto, it strongly feels that it be extended to all permanent members “so long as it exists.”

The AU has also demanded the right to select African representatives to the Security Council and to set up its selection criteria for African members of the Council. In this regard, the AU seems to be overlooking the proposed UN selection criteria, in favor of some criteria of its own. According to “Ezulwini Consensus,” these criteria will be based on “the representative nature and capacity of those chosen.” However, these criteria have still not been explicitly defined.

The selection criteria of UNSC permanent seats

Taking into consideration the criteria of the Report on UN Reforms, some of the African candidates put forward so far are better qualified than others.

1. Contributions to the promotion of peace, security and stability in Africa

In the UN’s assessments of present troop contributions for peacekeeping efforts, Nigeria is ranked 7th, South Africa is 10th, Senegal 12th, Kenya 13th and Egypt 49th. However, taking the past into consideration, Kenya claims the distinction of being the second top African nation troop contributor to all UN missions. Libyan troops are currently not serving on any UN peacekeeping mission.

South Africa, Kenya, Senegal and Nigeria have all played crucial roles in promoting and maintaining peace and security in their respective regions. South Africa’s record in promoting peace on the continent includes playing leading roles to end conflicts in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and most recently in Ivory Coast. Nigeria has earned praises for playing leading roles in the peacekeeping missions in the Sierra Leonian and Liberian civil wars. In the case of Liberia, in 2003 Nigeria was instrumental in ending the conflict by offering beleaguered president Charles Taylor a safe haven.

Nigeria also played an instrumental role in reversing a coup in the tiny oil-rich nation of Sao Tome in 2003 and is currently leading the AU troops in Darfur. The Nigerian foreign minister has argued further that a permanent membership seat on the Security Council would ease the country’s burden of peacekeeping in Africa and inevitably reduce the pressure on resources to the benefit of all Nigerians.

Kenya played a central role in ending Sudan's 21-year north-south civil war, Africa's longest running conflict. The peace efforts in neighboring lawless Somalia have also been maintained through Kenya’s support as host, first to the peace negotiations, and subsequently the government in exile. Kenya’s foreign minister, Chirau Ali Mwakwere, in his announcement of Kenya’s candidature for the permanent seat in the Security Council, called for these achievements in the region to be recognized. He also cited Kenya’s peacekeeping efforts worldwide and peaceful nature as additional qualifications.

2. Are they democratic role models?

All the contenders have contributed positively to emerging African values and practices in peace, justice and governance. Senegal is selling itself as a model for religious tolerance and justice. South Africa was the first country to disarm its nuclear arsenal and has broken through the barriers to give Africa permanent access to the Group of Eight most industrialized countries. Both Senegal and South Africa have commendable records on democratic transitions and consolidation. Kenya also, in December 2002, underwent a democratic process that saw the defeat of an incumbent ruling party and peaceful handover of power to a coalition of opposition parties. Nigeria in April 2003 held national elections whose results were generally accepted. Libya and Egypt are not known to practice universally accepted democracy.

Nigeria’s biggest minus is its corruption reputation. Corruption has not only stigmatized the country as untrustworthy but also earned it a third ranking as the world's most corrupt nation on Transparency International’s corruption index. Despite President Obasanjo’s declared war on corruption, Nigeria has yet to sign the UN and AU conventions targeted at enhancing greater transparency in the fight against organized crime and corruption. In particular, Nigeria has refused to sign international conventions such as the 2003 UN convention on trans-national crime. Most damning is the fact that despite being the chair of NEPAD’s Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC), Nigeria has not ratified the AU Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. Only two HSGIC members, Libya and Rwanda, have ratified this convention. South Africa, Kenya Senegal and Egypt have also not ratified the AU convention on corruption.

3. Are they representative of Africa?

There has been much debate concerning what it means to represent Africa. This is often confused to mean to have a large African population. Nigeria, as the most populous African country would win on this count, even though, 7/8 Africans do not live in Nigeria, and would therefore be unrepresented. What is needed, however, is a selection that is not based on national size and composition. Whichever country is chosen to represent Africa has to see itself as African first, and seek to promote the interests of the whole continent equally.

It has been sarcastically noted that were it not for Egypt’s interest in the Security Council permanent seat, President Hosni Mubarak would never have attended an AU Summit. Egypt had very strong Pan-Africanist orientation during Gamel Nasser’s rule but has over the years paid more attention to Middle Eastern issues, particularly the Palestinian question, than to African problems. Many watchers of Egyptian African foreign policy have noted that it is mainly driven by its interest in the waters of the Nile. Many Africans also resent how Egyptians regard themselves as being “non-Africans.”

Nigeria, on the other hand, has played leading roles in the promotion of pan-Africanist ideals enshrined in the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Cooperation in Africa (CSSDCA), NEPAD and the AU. Libya too has a strong claim to represent Africa. Libya’s leader, Muammar Gaddafi is widely regarded as the father of the African Union. South Africa has played an active role of promoting Africa’s development through the NEPAD initiative and heading the AU at its formative period. President Mbeki was the brain behind NEPAD and the first Chairman of the AU after hosting its inaugural summit in Durban in July 2002. Kenya has given shelter to refugees from many other African countries, and is currently hosting almost 300,000 refugees, not only from its war-torn neighbors, but from different parts of the continent.

4. Financial contributions to the UN

An indication of the various countries’ level of commitment to the UN is their fulfillment of financial obligations. The amount of the membership dues is assessed according to a country’s ability to pay. However, payments are often still not made on time. African countries are notorious for late payments and delinquencies only matched by the United States, which intentionally withholds payments as a way of exerting pressure on the UN or to make political points.

South Africa and Egypt have already paid their dues, $5,196,166 and $2,135,411 respectively, for 2005 by the end of January, as established by UN Financial Regulations Rule 5.4. Since 1996, South Africa has consistently paid its UN dues on time. Between 1991 and 2004, Egypt paid its dues in time six times, Libya two times, and Senegal once. As of 16 December 2004, South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Nigeria and Libya had paid their full dues to the UN regular budget. While Nigeria has always paid late, Kenya has been chronically delinquent.

5. Financial Capability

Financial capability is not listed amongst the UN selection criteria, however it clearly cannot be ignored, and may end up as a de facto criteria unless adequate provision is made to enable poor countries to participate as permanent members of the Security Council. Among the qualities expected of a country to be an active and productive member of the Security Council are financial resources to enable it to staff its New York and Geneva UN Missions with adequate and highly qualified people. The resources needed to maintain and run a full permanent representation on the Security Council to match the other Big 5 are enormous.

The Favorite

South Africa is widely seen as a favorite to fill one of the “permanent seats” that will be set aside for Africa at the Security Council, should the UN adopt model 1. South Africa has credibility among the G-8 nations that the other contenders do not have. South Africa accounts for nearly 40 percent of Africa's economy, while Nigeria, with its vast oil reserves, is saddled with a national debt of $34 billion. Egypt’s $2 billion aid from the US has caused uneasiness on the continent as it is an incentive to kowtow to US agenda rather than promote Africa’s interests, which are in many cases at odds with Washington’s.

Libya, despite its oil wealth is still recovering from the UN isolation that ended in 2003. Kenya has a weak economy and is presently too bogged down in domestic politics to carry out a credible continental and international campaign. Senegal’s late entry will also be costly as it is already experiencing difficulties in selling itself on a continent where it is seen as a French proxy. These three seem to be positioning themselves as regional picks should model B be adopted.

South Africa’s emergence as the clear favorite has not been well received by its rival, Nigeria, which has emotionally invested enormous hopes in the “African permanent seat” on the Security Council. To check South Africa’s well-oiled diplomatic machine, Nigeria has launched a desperate and dirty campaign aimed at stemming what is appearing to be a sure victory. Davo Oluyemi-Kusa, a close confidante of President Obasanjo, has dismissed South Africa and Egypt as not being “black enough” to represent Africa, compared to Nigeria that has “true blacks.” Nigeria not only sees itself as “the only true African candidate” but is also prepared to back Egypt as “a compromise” should there be strong disunity over the “African candidate.”

International Connections

In view of the AU’s indecision to establish selection criteria and to endorse two candidates, some African countries have sought “strategic partnerships” with countries from other regions and on the Security Council. The African campaign for UN Security Council seats is being watched very closely and with great interest by other countries that want to trade their support with Africa’s to shore up their own interests. The other regional candidates, Germany, Japan, India and Brazil have declared their support for Africa to have seats with veto power and have indicated their willingness to engage in mutual backing for the seats in exchange for increased trade.

South Africa has gravitated towards a partnership with Brazil, India and Japan. Nigeria seems to be angling towards China and Russia while Egypt is banking on the US support. Senegal seems to have very strong backing from France but its candidacy will automatically be vetoed by China as it is one of the few countries in the world that has established diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Although the US has not endorsed any of the models it is openly supporting only Japan’s bid, with veto rights. While France and Russia have called for veto rights for all new members other Permanent Members have kept their counsel on the issue.

The new members of the Security Council must first be approved by two-thirds of the 191-member General Assembly. Then the Council’s five permanent members - the US, UK, France, China, and Russia - must ratify the decision. If the UN General Assembly is left to decide for Africa, its decision would be most favorable to South Africa. Nigeria, with a poor international image, would lose to Egypt.

In the Security Council, South Africa is guaranteed all of the votes while Egypt will have to rely on the US to muster the needed support. There is no doubt that the US would prefer Egypt over Nigeria, given its close historical relations and partnership in seeking solutions to the Middle East problems.
The US, in its effort to engage and include the Arabs in the world’s highest decision making body, has chosen a method and means that will be hard fought by Africans. In the process, it is guaranteed to increase conflict rather than to promote dialogue between civilizations in Africa.

Role of African Union

The AU has not only failed to pick candidates for potential African seats on the UNSC, but has also been unable to forge a consensus on how Africa should be represented at the top decision-making body. This indecision is only likely to increase the nasty undertones among those countries campaigning for the seat.

There is widespread concern on the continent that the fight for permanent membership would lead to bad blood between the leading African candidates - Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa - with many of the other countries choosing sides for reasons that would not promote Africa’s interests. It is because of this fear that the AU is being looked to for Solomonic wisdom to break the deadlock.

Traditionally, the AU decides such issues through regional and linguistic balancing. However, this is not an option that will be available in deciding on the UN Security Council seats. As a result of the failure of the African Union to resolve the issue of which countries should occupy Africa's two permanent seats on a reformed UN Security Council it is now inevitable that the campaign between South Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Libya and Senegal is going to be long, nasty and brutal.

* Dr. Wafula Okumu is a Canadian-based analyst of African Affairs

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Africa/Global: Girls are the greatest casualty of war

2005-04-25

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/scuk/jsp/resources/details.jsp?id=2746&group=resources&section=news&subsection=details

Save the Children is calling on world leaders to better protect the large numbers of vulnerable and innocent girls whose lives are destroyed every year by conflict, with the launch of a new report 'Forgotten Casualties of War: Girls in Armed Conflict'. The report identifies a 'hidden army' of girls, some as young as eight, who are abducted against their will to live life in the army. The roles of the girls vary from being actual soldiers through to serving as porters, cleaners and cooks. Almost all are forced to serve as sex slaves or 'wives'.

Africa/Global: Promoting gender-sensitive entrepreneurship via microfinance institutions

Una Murray

2005-04-01

http://www.fao.org/sd/dim_pe1/pe1_050401_en.htm

The main focus of this paper is on how staff from a microfinance institution can interact with potential clients in a more gender-sensitive manner. Microfinance is a mechanism for triggering or sustaining social and economic development by supporting entrepreneurial activities, and can have multiple spin-off benefits, including the potential to be a component of poverty reduction strategies, thus contributing to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Whilst clients who use microfinance services differ according to age, income, ethnicity and whether they access microfinance services as individuals or in groups, typical microfinance clientele in many parts of the world have been resource poor female entrepreneurs.

Africa/Global: The road not taken

International aid's choice of Copenhagen over Beijing

Rosalind Eyben

2004-06-01

http://www.unrisd.org/80256B3C005BCCF9/httpNetITFramePDF?ReadForm&parentunid=CF44F20D7ED85383C1256FE1004F404D&parentdoctype=paper&netitpath=80256B3C005BCCF9/(httpAuxPages)/CF44F20D7ED85383C1256FE1004F404D/$file/eyben.pdf

In this paper, the author compares the context, themes and outcomes of the two United Nations conferences, held within six months of each other in 1995: the World Summit on Social Development at Copenhagen and the Fourth World Conference on Women at Beijing. The author finds that Copenhagen set the scene for the aid system’s over-arching policy instrument (the PRSP) while Beijing became invisible to the mainstream. Could it have been otherwise? Can the gender equality agenda still provide an opening to different ways of thinking about economy, society and politics that would allow international aid to support transformative processes for social justice?

Africa: "This world is off its rocker when it comes to women"

Speech by Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/27872

"I well realize that this is a conference on women’s global health, and everything I’m about to say will apply to that generic definition. But the more I thought of the subject matter, the more I want to use HIV/AIDS in Africa as a surrogate for every international issue of women’s health, partly because it’s what I know best; partly because it’s an accurate reflection of reality. I’ve been in the Envoy role for four years. Things are changing in an incremental, if painfully glacial way. It’s now possible to feel merely catastrophic rather than apocalyptic. Initiatives on treatment, resources, training, capacity, infrastructure and prevention are underway. But one factor is largely impervious to change: the situation of women. On the ground, where it counts, where the wily words confront reality, the lives of women are as mercilessly desperate as they have always been in the last twenty plus years of the pandemic."
Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa
Text of a speech delivered at the University of Pennsylvania's Summit on
Global Issues in Women's Health, Philadelphia
April 26, 2005

I well realize that this is a conference on women’s global health, and everything I’m about to say will apply to that generic definition. But the more I thought of the subject matter, the more I want to use HIV/AIDS in Africa as a surrogate for every international issue of women’s health, partly because it’s what I know best; partly because it’s an accurate reflection of reality.

I’ve been in the Envoy role for four years. Things are changing in an incremental, if painfully glacial way. It’s now possible to feel merely catastrophic rather than apocalyptic. Initiatives on treatment, resources, training, capacity, infrastructure and prevention are underway. But one factor is largely impervious to change: the situation of women. On the ground, where it counts, where the wily words confront reality, the lives of women are as mercilessly desperate as they have always been in the last twenty plus years of the pandemic.

Just a few weeks ago, I was in Zambia, visiting a district well outside of Lusaka. We were taken to a rural village to see an “income generating project” run by a group of Women Living With AIDS. They were gathered under a large banner proclaiming their identity, some fifteen or twenty women, all living with the virus, all looking after orphans. They were standing proudly beside the income generating project … a bountiful cabbage patch. After they had spoken volubly and eloquently about their needs and the needs of their children (as always, hunger led the litany), I asked about the cabbages. I assumed it supplemented their diet? Yes, they chorused. And you sell the surplus at market? An energetic nodding of heads. And I take it you make a profit? Yes again. What do you do with the profit? And this time there was an almost quizzical response as if to say what kind of ridiculous question is that … surely you knew the answer before you asked: “We buy coffins of course; we never have enough coffins”.

It’s at moments like that when I feel the world has gone mad. That’s no existential spasm on my part. I simply don’t know how otherwise to characterize what we’re doing to half of humankind.

I want to remind you that it took until the Bangkok AIDS conference in 2004 --- more than twenty years into the pandemic --- before the definitive report from UNAIDS disaggregated the statistics and commented, extensively, upon the devastating vulnerability of women. The phrase “AIDS has a woman’s face” actually gained currency at the AIDS conference in Barcelona two years earlier, in 2002, and even then it was years late. Perhaps we should stop using it now as though it has a revelatory dimension. The women of Africa have always known whose face it is that’s withered and aching from the virus.

I want to remind you that when the Millennium Development Goals were launched, there was no goal on sexual and reproductive health. How was that possible? Everyone is now scrambling to find a way to make sexual and reproductive health fit comfortably into HIV/AIDS or women’s empowerment or maternal mortality. But it surely should have had a category, a goal, of its own. Interestingly, the primacy of women is rescued (albeit there’s still no goal) in the Millennium Project document, authored by Jeffrey Sachs.

And while mentioning maternal mortality, allow me to point out that this issue has been haunting the lives of women for generations. I can remember back in the late 90s, when I was overseeing the publication of State of the World’s Children for UNICEF, and we did a major piece on maternal mortality and realized that the same number of annual deaths --- between 500 and 600 hundred thousand --- had not changed for twenty years. And now it’s thirty years. You can bet that if there was something called paternal mortality, the numbers wouldn’t be frozen in time for three decades.

I want to remind you that within the UN system, there’s something called the Task Force on Women and AIDS in Southern Africa. Permit me to tell you how it came about, and where it appears to be headed … and I beg you to see this as descriptive rather than self-indulgent.

In January of 2003, I traveled with the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, James Morris, to four African countries beset by a combination of famine and AIDS: Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Lesotho. We had surmised, at the outset, that we would be dealing primarily with drought and erratic rainfall, but in the field it became apparent that to a devastating extent, agricultural productivity and household food security were being clobbered by AIDS. We were shocked by the human toll, the numbers of orphans, and the pervasive death amongst the female population. In fact, so distressed were we about the decimation of women, that we appealed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations to personally intervene.

And he did. He summoned a high level meeting on the 38th floor of the UN Secretariat, with TV conferencing outreach to James Morris in Rome and to the various UN agencies in Geneva, and after several agitated interventions, the Secretary-General struck a Task Force on Gender and AIDS in Southern Africa, to be chaired by Carol Bellamy of UNICEF.

If memory serves me, Carol Bellamy determined to focus on seven of the highest prevalence rate countries: studies were done, recommendations were made, costs of implementation were estimated, monographs were published. And here’s what festers in the craw: the funding for implementation is not yet available. The needs and rights of women never command singular urgency.

There’s an odd footnote to this. Within the last two months, a number of senior students at the University of Toronto Law School, compiled papers dealing with potential legal interventions on a number of issues related to HIV/AIDS in Africa. One of the issues was, predictably, gender. Not a single student, over the course of several weeks, whether on the internet or wider personal reading, came across the Secretary-General’s Task Force (although one student said that she had a vague recollection that such a thing existed). The Task Force findings are clearly not something the UN promotes with messianic fervour.

I want to remind you that as recently as March, there was tabled, internationally, the Commission on Africa, chaired by Prime Minister Tony Blair … indeed established by Tony Blair. It has received nothing but accolades, particularly for the analysis and recommendations on Official Development Assistance, on trade and on debt. The tributes are deserved. The document goes further down a progressive road than any other contemporary international compilation.

With one exception. I want it to be known --- because it’s not known --- that the one aspect of this prestigious report which fails, lamentably, is the way in which it deals with women. There is the occasional obligatory paragraph which signals that the Commission recognizes that there are two sexes in the world, but by and large, given that women are absolutely central to the very integrity and survival of the African continent, they are dealt with as they are always dealt with in these auspicious studies: at the margins, in passing, pro forma. And it’s not just HIV/AIDS; it’s everything, from trade to agriculture to conflict to peace-building.

Maybe we should have guessed what was coming when there were only three women appointed out of seventeen commissioners. They had the whole world to choose from, and they could find only three women … it doesn’t even begin to meet the Beijing minimum target of thirty percent. We’re not just climbing uphill; we might as well be facing the Himalayas.

I want to remind you, finally, of the arrangements we’ve made within the United Nations itself. HIV/AIDS is the worst plague this world is facing; it wrecks havoc on women and girls, and within the multilateral system, best-placed to confront the pandemic, we have absolutely no agency of power to promote women’s development, to offer advice and technical assistance to governments on their behalf, and to oversee programmes, as well as representing the rights of women. We have no agency of authority to intervene on behalf of half the human race. Despite the mantra of ‘Women’s Rights are Human Rights’, intoned at the International Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993; despite the pugnacious assertion of the rights of women advanced at the Cairo International conference in 1994; despite the Beijing Conference on women in 1995; despite the existence of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, now ratified by over 150 countries; we have only UNIFEM, the UN Development Fund for Women, with an annual core budget in the vicinity of $20 million dollars, to represent the women of the world. There are several UNICEF offices in individual developing countries where the annual budget is greater than that of UNIFEM.

More, UNIFEM isn’t even a free-standing entity. It’s a department of the UNDP (the United Nations Development Programme). Its Executive Director ranks lower in grade than over a dozen of her colleagues within UNDP, and lower in rank than the vast majority of the Secretary-General’s Special Representatives.

More still, because UNIFEM is so marginalized, there’s nobody to represent women adequately on the group of co-sponsors convened by UNAIDS. You see, UNAIDS is a coordinating body: it coordinates the AIDS activities of UNICEF, UNDP, the World Bank, UNESCO, UNFPA, WHO, UNDCP (the Drug Agency), ILO and WFP. UNIFEM asked to be a co-sponsor, but it was denied that privilege.

So who, I ask, speaks for women at the heart of the pandemic? Well, UNFPA in part. And UNICEF, in part (a smaller part). And ostensibly UNDP (although from my observations in the field, “ostensible” is the operative word).

Let me be clear: what we have here is the most ferocious assault ever made by a communicable disease on women’s health, and there is just no concerted coalition of forces to go to the barricades on women’s behalf. We do have the Global Coalition on Women and AIDS, launched almost by way of desperation, by some international women leaders … like Mary Robinson, like Geeta Rao Gupta, but they’re struggling for significant sustainable funding, and their presence on the ground is inevitably peripheral.

I was listening to the presentations at the dinner last night, and thinking to myself, when in heaven’s name does it end? Obstetric fistula causes such awful misery, and isn’t it symptomatic that one of the largest --- perhaps the largest --- contributions to addressing this appalling condition has come not from a government but from Oprah Winfrey?

I was noting, just in the last 48 hours, that Save the Children in the UK has released a report pointing out that fully half of the three hundred thousand child soldiers in the world are girls. And if that isn’t a maiming of health --- in this case emotional and psychological health --- then I don’t know what is. And perhaps you notice the rancid irony: women have achieved parity on the receiving end of conflict and AIDS, but nowhere else.

Female genital mutilation, the contagion of violence against women, sexual violence in particular, rape as a weapon of war --- Rwanda, Darfur, Northern Uganda, Eastern Congo --- marital rape, child defilement, as it is called in Zambia, sexual trafficking, maternal mortality, early marriage … I pause to point out that studies now show that in parts of Africa, the prevalence rates of HIV in marriage are often higher than they are for sexually active single women in the surrounding community; who would have thought that possible? …

The overall subject matters you’re tackling at this conference strike to the heart of the human condition. All my adult life I have accepted the feminist analysis of male power and authority. But perhaps because of an acute naiveté, I never imagined that the analysis would be overwhelmed by the objective historical realities. Of course the women’s movement has had great successes, but the contemporary global struggle to secure women’s health seems to me to be a challenge of almost insuperable dimension.

And because I believe that, and because I see the evidence month after month, week after week, day after day, in the unremitting carnage of women and AIDS --- God it tears the heart from the body … I just don’t know how to convey it … these young young women, who crave so desperately to live, who suddenly face a pox, a scourge which tears their life from them before they have a life … who can’t even get treatment because the men are first in line, or the treatment rolls out at such a paralytic snail’s pace … who are part of the 90% of pregnant women who have no access to the prevention of Mother to Child Transmission and so their infants are born positive … who carry the entire burden of care even while they’re sick, tending to the family, carrying the water, tilling the fields, looking after the orphans … the women who lose their property, and have no inheritance rights, and no legal or jurisprudential infrastructure which will guarantee those rights … no criminal code which will stop the violence … because I have observed all of that, and have observed it for four years, and am driven to distraction by the recognition that it will continue, I want a kind of revolution in the world’s response, not another stab at institutional reform, but a virtual revolution.

Let me, therefore, put before the conference, two quite pragmatic responses which will make a world of difference to women, and then a much more fundamental proposal.

Many at the conference will not know this, but the Kingdom of Swaziland recently made history when it received from the Global Fund on AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, money to pay a stipend --- modest of course, but of huge impact --- to ten thousand caregivers, looking after orphans, the vast majority being women. The Swaziland National AIDS Commission (that may not be the precise name), reeling from the exploding orphan population, made the proposal for payment to the Global Fund, and it swept through the review process with nary a word. The amount is roughly $30/month, or a dollar a day … not a lot to be sure, but clearly enough to make a great difference.

My recommendation is that this conference orchestrate the writing of a letter, to be signed by people like Mary Robinson, Geeta Rao Gupta, and prominent women from academia, and have that letter sent to every African Head of State and Minister of Health, urging them to ask for compensation for caregivers, using the Swaziland precedent.

And the second pragmatic proposal? I would recommend, with every fibre of persuasion at my command, that the conference collaborate directly with the International Partnership on Microbicides, whose remarkably effective Executive Director, Dr. Zeda Rosenberg, will be here on campus on Thursday. She will tell you what she needs and how to go about getting it. The prospect of a microbicide, in the form of a gel or cream or ring, which will prevent infection, while permitting conception --- the partner need not even know of its presence --- can save the lives of millions of women. The head of UNAIDS, Dr. Peter Piot, who will be known to many of you, recently suggested that the discovery of a microbicide may be only three to four years off. That’s almost miraculous: short of a vaccine --- and we must never stop the indefatigable hunt for a vaccine --- a microbicide can transform the lives of women, and dramatically reduce their disproportionate vulnerability. What’s needed is science and money. You can help with both.

On the more fundamental front, I want to suggest that the process of UN reform, now urgently underway, be confronted with arguments that spare no impatience.

I have heard the President of Botswana use the word extermination when he described what the country is battling. I have heard the Prime Minister of Lesotho use the word annihilation when he described what the country is battling. I sat with the President of Zambia and members of his cabinet not long ago, when he used the word holocaust to describe what the country is battling.

The words are true; there’s no hyperbole. The words apply, overwhelmingly, to women. That being the case, there has to be a proportionate response. It seems to me that the response should proceed on two simultaneous fronts.

First, let me say that I was thrilled by the suggestion from Mary Robinson, and others, that Penn State act as a kind of coordinator for the surprising numbers of initiatives, unrelated one to the other, occurring under the auspices of many universities. The practice of twinning, the practice of using various Faculties as training centres, the practice of American and Canadian universities bridging the gap in capacity until the developing country can take over … all of that is to the good, and it needs coordination. But there’s more, I would submit, for you to do. Within multilateralism, that is within the UN system, wherein lies the best hope for leadership, there must be a change in the representation of women. There must emerge, for Women’s Global Health, and certainly for HIV/AIDS, an agency, an organization, a powerful Think Tank, whatever the entity --- it can start on the outside, and then claim equal presence amongst the co-sponsors of UNAIDS, and thrust its advocacy upon the Secretariat, the Agencies, the member states, in unprecedented volume and urgency. Nor does this entity confine itself solely to women’s global health, although that is the entry point. It insists on the 50% rule … just start your evidence-gathering by identifying the numbers of senior women, agency by agency, secretariat department by secretariat department, diplomatic mission by diplomatic mission, and when you’ve recovered from the shock of learning that the multilateral citadel knows nothing of affirmative action, then begin your unrelenting advocacy. This must become a movement for social change. It needs leadership. Why not this University, why not this conference? And let me emphasize; there’s nothing limiting about this concept. We’re looking towards the day when governments are finally made to understand that women constitute half of everything that affects humankind, and must therefore be engaged in absolutely everything. Why would it not be possible to build a movement, committed to the rights of women, in the first instance amongst nursing and medical faculties across the world, and take the world by storm? You have resources, knowledge and influence available to no others. The terrible problem is that you’ve never marshalled your collective capacities.

Second, a similar movement must be directed, I would submit, to Africa itself. I’m hesitant here, because there are enough neo-colonial impulses around without my being presumptuous in making recommendations for Africa, and indeed for women. But I must bring myself to say what I know to be true: the African leadership, at the highest level, is not engaged when it comes to women’s health. There’s so much lip service; there’s so much patronizing gobble-de-gook. The political leadership of Africa has to be lobbied with an almost maniacal intensity on the issues of this conference, or nothing will change for women.

That, too, will take a monumental effort. In my fantasies, I see a group of African women, moving country to country, President to President, identifying violations of women’s health specific to that country, and demanding a change so profound that it shakes to the root the gender relationships of the society. I know that African women leaders like Wangari Matthai and Graça Machel and many prominent cabinet ministers, committed activists and professionals think in those terms; what is needed is a massive outpouring of international support from their sisters and brothers on the planet.

I’m 67 years old. I’m a man. I’ve spent time in politics, diplomacy and multilateralism. I know a little of how this man’s world works, but I still find much of it inexplicable. I don’t really care anymore about whom I might offend or what line I cross: that’s what’s useful about inching into one’s dotage.

I know only that this world is off its rocker when it comes to women. I must admit that I live in such a state of perpetual rage at what I see happening to women in the pandemic, that I would like to throttle those responsible, those who’ve waited so unendurably long to act, those who can find infinite resources for war but never sufficient resources to ameliorate the human condition.

I’m excited of course about the Millennium Development Goals, and I’m equally excited that with the leadership of the British, this next G8 Summit in the summer might just possibly spawn a breakthrough. And there are countless numbers of people working to that end.

But I have to say that I can’t get the images of women I’ve met, unbearably ill, out of my mind. And I don’t have it in me either to forgive or to forget. I have it in me only to join with all of you in the greatest liberation struggle there is: the struggle on behalf of the women of the world.



-30-

Nigeria: Nigerian women lured to Italy to work as prostitutes

2005-04-25

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4481863.stm

It is estimated there are between 10,000 - 20,000 Nigerian prostitutes working in Italy today. Almost all come from Edo state in southern Nigeria. As yet, no research has been done into why so many come from this one state, but the route may have originally been established by Nigerian women who came over to southern Italy to harvest tomatoes during the 1980s. But it's often not until they arrive in Italy that they are told that they will have to prostitute themselves in order to pay off the debt.

Uganda: ‘Women bear brunt of taxation in PEAP’

2005-04-27

http://www.monitor.co.ug/business/bus04279.php

Despite its noble intentions, the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) 2001-2003 policy strategies have not adequately addressed the constraints that women and other poor groups face, a report has revealed. The report titled: ‘Engendering Uganda's poverty Eradication initiatives’, dated May 2003 says that the taxation system is of a greater burden to women and other disadvantaged groups contrary to providing an enabling environment to escape from poverty. Taxes listed include graduated personal tax, fees, licenses and market charges among others.

Africa: Africa commission to meet in Gambia

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/27834

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights will hold its 37th Ordinary Session from the 27th April to 11th May 2005 in Banjul, The Gambia. During this Session, which will be attended by delegates from State Parties to the African Charter, representatives of National African Human Rights Institutions, as well as representatives of International and Non-Governmental Organisations, the participants will discuss in particular, the general human rights situation in Africa. Despite the improvements registered so far, human rights conditions on the Continent still remain fragile and of major concern and require increased vigilance on the part of the African Commission, the international institutions, of Non-Governmental Organisations and of Civil Society in general.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRESS RELEASE
Ref: ACHPR/PR/PUB/RELEASE/05/MG

37th ORDINARY SESSION OF THE AFRICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS, FROM 27TH APRIL TO 11TH MAY 2005, BANJUL, THE GAMBIA

Banjul, 22nd April 2005: The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights will hold its 37th Ordinary Session from the 27th April to 11th May 2005 in Banjul, The Gambia.

During this Session, which will be attended by delegates from State Parties to the African Charter, representatives of National African Human Rights Institutions, as well as representatives of International and Non-Governmental Organisations, the participants will discuss in particular, the general human rights situation in Africa.

Despite the improvements registered so far, human rights conditions on the Continent still remain fragile and of major concern and require increased vigilance on the part of the African Commission, the international institutions, of Non-Governmental Organisations and of Civil Society in general.

For this reason, the African Commission will, during the Session, address a certain number of pressing issues, notably on the situation of refugees and internally displaced persons in Africa, that of human rights defenders and handicapped persons in Africa.

The Commission will also examine the Initial Report from Seychelles and the Periodic Reports from Egypt and Mauritania, presented in conformity with Article 62 of the African Charter. Furthermore, since the 5th World Conference on Women is scheduled for this year, the Strategies for the rapid ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Women’s Rights in Africa will be the object of close scrutiny during the deliberations.

Finally, within the framework of its protection mandate, the African Commission will also consider several Communications/Complaints submitted as allegations of human and peoples’ rights violations by the State Parties.

The Chairperson of the African Commission will give a Press Conference after the closing ceremony of the 37th Ordinary Session which will take place on the 11th May 2005.

*****************
For further information kindly contact:
Moussa Gandéga: Public Relations Officer/ ACHPR
Tel: (220) 4392962; Fax: (220) 4390764,
E-mail: achpr@achpr.org, press.officer@achpr.org

AFRICAN UNION
UNION AFRICAINE

African Commission on Human & Peoples’ Rights UNIÃO AFRICANA
Commission Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples

Kairaba Avenue, P. O. Box 673, Banjul, The Gambia Tel: (220): 4377721/23; Fax: (220) 4390 764 E-mail: achpr@achpr.gm; Web www.achpr.org

Réf.: ACHPR/PR/PUB/RELEASE/05/MG

POUR DIFFUSION IMMEDIATE COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE

37ème SESSION ORDINAIRE DE LA COMMISSION AFRICAINE
DES DROITS DE L’HOMME ET DES PEUPLES,
DU 27 AVRIL AU 11 MAI 2005, BANJUL, GAMBIE.

Banjul, le 22 avril 2005 : Du 27 avril au 11 mai 2005 à Banjul, Gambie, la Commission Africaine des Droits de l’Homme et des Peuples tiendra sa 37ème session ordinaire.
Durant cette session à laquelle prendront part des délégués des Etats Parties à la Charte Africaine, des représentants d’Institutions Nationales des Droits de l’Homme Africaines ainsi que des représentants d’Organisations Internationales et Non-gouvernementales, les participants discuteront notamment de la situation générale des droits de l’homme en Afrique.
En dépit des améliorations enregistrées, les conditions des droits de l’homme sur le continent demeurent encore fragiles et préoccupantes et elles nécessitent une vigilance accrue de la part de la Commission Africaine, des institutions internationales, des organisations Non-gouvernementales et de la société civile en général.
C’est pourquoi, au cours de ses assises, la Commission Africaine abordera un certain nombre de questions pressantes notamment sur la situation des réfugiés et des personnes déplacées en Afrique ainsi que celle des défenseurs des droits de l’homme et des personnes handicapées en Afrique,

Il sera également question du Rapport initial des Seychelles ainsi que des Rapports périodiques de l’Egypte et de la Mauritanie, présentés conformément à l’article 62 de la Charte Africaine. En outre, la 5ème Conférence Mondiale sur les Femmes devant se tenir cette année, les Stratégies pour la ratification rapide du Protocole à la Charte Africaine relatif aux Droits de la Femme en Afrique feront l’objet d’une grande attention lors des discussions.

Enfin, la Commission Africaine examinera aussi plusieurs communications/plaintes au titre de ses activités de protection.

La Présidente de la Commission Africaine donnera une conférence de presse après la cérémonie de clôture de la 37ème session ordinaire qui aura lieu le 11 mai 2005.
**************
Pour toute information complémentaire, veuillez contacter :
Moussa Gandéga : Responsable des Relations Publiques/CADHP
Tel: (220) 392 962; Fax: (220) 390 764
E-mail: achpr@achpr.org/press.officer@achpr.org

Africa: Discussing the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights

2005-04-25

http://www.choike.org/documentos/hhrr_africa.pdf

The Protocol Establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights was adopted by the Organisation of African Unity on 10 June 1998 and came into effect on 15 January 2004. Only 19 States have ratified the treaty although 45 have signed it. More recently, at the AU Assembly in July 2004 a decision was taken to merge the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights with the Court of Justice of the African Union. What are the implications of this merger?

Africa: UN rights body shuts up shop

2005-04-22

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L21522026.htm

The UN's top human rights forum wrapped up what could be its last annual six-week session of wrangling and rhetoric on Friday, with few likely to mourn its expected passing. If UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan gets his way, the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights will be its swan song, with the much maligned body making way for a slimmer and more credible Human Rights Council next year.

Kenya: Rights commission recommendations welcomed

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/27908

A coalition of Kenyan organisations submitted alternative reports on the human rights situation in Kenya, for the 83rd session of the Human Rights Committee (HRC) from March 14th to April 1st 2005 in New York. During this session, the HRC considered Kenya's second periodic report on the implementation of the rights contained in the International covenant on civil and political rights (ICCPR), more than 18 years late. Subsequently, the coalition has welcomed the recommendations adopted by the HRC and urges Kenya to "take appropriate measures to incorporate the ICCPR into domestic law" and "allow its rights to be invoked in domestic courts".
NGOs welcome the concluding observations on Kenya adopted by the UN
Human Rights Committee (HRC) and ask for their full and prompt
implementation

Press Release : April 22nd 2005

The NGOs "Centre for Economic and Social Rights" (Hakijamii),
"Coalition on Violence Against Women - Kenya" (COVAW-K), "Federation
of Women Lawyers Kenya" (FIDA Kenya), "Kenya Alliance for Advancement
of Children" (KAACR), "Kenya Section of the International Commission
of Jurists" (ICJ Kenya), "Mainyoito Pastoralist Integrated
Development Organisation" (MPIDO), "The Child Rights Advisory
Documentation and Legal Centre" (The CRADLE) and the "World
Organisation Against Torture" (OMCT) and the Kenya Human Rights
Commission submitted alternative reports on the human rights
situation in Kenya, for the 83rd session of the Human Rights
Committee (HRC) from March 14th to April 1st 2005 in New York. During
this session, the HRC considered Kenya's second periodic report on
the implementation of the rights contained in the International
covenant on civil and political rights (ICCPR), more than 18 years
late. A briefing session, prior to the official session, between
these NGOs and the independent experts of the HRC was organised on
March 14th, during which they presented their alternative reports as
well as their main subjects of concern on the incorporation of
international human rights instruments into domestic law, access to
remedies, right to life, torture, judicial guarantees, detention,
forced evictions and on the situation of women, children and
homosexuals.

The coalition welcomes the recommendations adopted by the HRC and
urges Kenya to "take appropriate measures to incorporate the ICCPR
into domestic law" and "allow its rights to be invoked in domestic
courts". Furthermore, all individuals subject to Kenyan jurisdiction
must have "equal access to judicial and other remedies". In this
regard, Kenya must give priority to its "efforts to combat corruption
in the judiciary and address the need to provide increased resources
to the administration of justice".

The coalition welcomes the HRC's recommendation to urge the Kenyan
authorities to ensure that death penalty is only applied to the "most
serious crimes". Besides, as no one sentenced to capital punishment
has been executed since 1988, Kenya should "ensure that the death
sentences of all those on death row whose final appeals have been
exhausted are commuted" and "consider abolishing de iure the death
penalty and acceding to the Second Optional Protocol to the
Covenant".

With regards to extra-judicial killings perpetrated by police units
(so called "flying squads") or other law enforcement personnel, the
coalition stands by the HRC's request to the Kenyan authorities "to
ensure prompt investigations and prosecution of those held
responsible" and to set up "an independent civilian body to
investigate complaints filed against the police".

Moreover, the Kenyan authorities should "take more effective measures
to prevent abuses of police custody, torture and ill-treatment". They
must ensure that "allegations of torture and similar ill-treatment,
as well as of deaths in custody, are promptly and thoroughly
investigated by an independent body so as to bring perpetrators to
justice", and that "complaint forms are available from a public body
other than the police". High Court judgments in such cases must be
enforced without delay and the law requiring that access to places of
detention be given to the Kenya Human Rights Commission must be
enforced.

Furthermore, the HRC, "continues to be concerned by the situation in
prison and particularly in the areas of sanitation and access to
health care and adequate food ".

The coalition welcomes the HRC's recommendations to ensure that those
accused of the capital offence of murder, like other accused, are
brought before a judge within a reasonable time and to guarantee both
the right of persons in police custody to have access to a lawyer
during the initial hours of detention and throughout the criminal
proceedings.

With regards to forcible evictions, the coalition strongly supports
the HRC's recommendations made to the Kenyan authorities "to develop
transparent policies and procedures for dealing with evictions".

The coalition urges the Kenyan authorities to implement the HRC's
recommendations on the situation of women, in particular to address
the absence of constitutional protection against discrimination, to
adopt effective and concrete measures to combat domestic and sexual
violence, that perpetrators of such violence are prosecuted and that
victims are provided with assistance and protection. Furthermore,
Kenya should increase its efforts to combat the practice of female
genital mutilation (FGM) and address the high maternal mortality rate
by adopting measures that would improve access to family planning
services for all women and by reviewing its abortion laws.

As the HRC recommended, Kenya should adopt specific anti-trafficking
legislation, actively investigate and prosecute trafficking offences
and implement policy for the eradication of trafficking and for the
provision of support to victims of trafficking.

The coalition enjoins the Kenyan authorities to implement the HRC's
recommendations on the situation of children, in particular to raise
the extremely low age for assuming criminal responsibility, which is
currently of 8 years, and to combat and reduce the child labour.

Finally, on the situation of homosexuals, Kenya is urged to repeal
Section 162 of the Penal Code which criminalizes homosexuality, as
recommended by the HRC.

In addition to the conventional obligation to periodically report on
the implementation of the ICCPR, the HRC, asked Kenya to submit
within one year information on the
follow-up given to its recommendations on discrimination against
women, extra-judicial killings perpetrated by police units, police
custody and serious dysfunctions in the
administration of justice.

It is now time to for the Kenyan authorities to fully implement the
recommendations adopted by the HRC in order to comply with the
provisions of the ICCPR. NGOs will
closely monitor the implementation of the HRC's recommendations and
will regularly update treaty bodies on the actions taken by the
Kenyan authorities.



Millie Odhiambo
CRADLE

Caroline Karimi Lintari
COVAW

Joyce Majiwa
FIDA KENYA


Otiende Amollo
ICJ-KENYA

Tim Ekesa
KAACR

Patrick Mutzenberg
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

Odindo Opiata
Centre for Economic and Social Rights

Philip Sironka
MPIDO

Ekitela Lokaale
Kenya Human Rights Commission



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Background information

All States parties to the International covenant on civil and
political rights (ICCPR) are obliged to submit regular reports to the
Human Rights Committee (HRC) on how the
rights are being implemented. States must report initially one year
after acceding to the Covenant and then whenever the Committee
requests (usually every four years). The Committee examines each
report and addresses its concerns and recommendations to the State
party in the form of "concluding observations".

The Human Rights Committee is the body of independent experts that
monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights by its State parties. The Committee meets in Geneva
or New York and normally holds three sessions per year.

For more information:
http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/index.htm
Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture (OMCT)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
Organización Mundial Contra la Tortura (OMCT)
8 rue du Vieux-Billard
Case postale 21
CH-1211 Geneve 8
Suisse/Switzerland
Tel. : 0041 22 809 49 39
Fax : 0041 22 809 49 29
E-mail : omct@omct.org
http://www.omct.org

Africa/Global: Support to Internally Displaced Persons

2005-04-20

http://www.sida.se/internflyktingar

In May 2003, a group of representatives of donor organisations agreed to undertake a collaborative evaluation process focusing on the theme of support to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). This synthesis report is based on 17 reports covering operations in ten countries: Angola, Somalia, Indonesia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Colombia, Liberia, Eritrea, and Sudan. Seven critical issues are identified: the rights of IDPs, the protection deficit, donor policy on IDPs, the categorisation of IDPs, needs assessments, coordination and the collaborative response, and when the need for assistance ends.

Botswana: Weaving a refugee legacy into Botswana's baskets

2005-04-25

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/UNHCR/ff41a342caadc33054277d0e391001b2.htm

Tourists visiting Botswana invariably buy some of the colourful baskets on offer in crafts shops to take home as souvenirs. Little do they know that these baskets are the material proof of one of the most successful refugee integration stories in southern Africa. The baskets are made by women whose parents and grandparents came to the country as refugees from Angola. They brought with them traditional basket-weaving skills and combined them with the dyes and colourful patterns that are part of Botswana's culture.

Congo/DRC: UN agency to begin repatriation of thousands to Equateur

2005-04-27

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46825

The first 100 of some 58,000 refugees who had been living in the Republic of Congo (ROC) in the past six years are due to begin returning to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)'s Equateur Province on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the UN refugees agency, UNHCR, announced. The spokeswoman, Jennifer Pagonis, said on Tuesday in Geneva that the operation would be "one of the most logistically challenging major refugee voluntary repatriation programmes" the agency had undertaken anywhere in the world.

Ethiopia: Local people burned out of homes to make way for national park

2005-04-19

http://www.refugeesinternational.org/content/article/detail/5639

The burning of the Guji-Oromo houses is the latest move in the effort to remove the Guji and Kore people from within the boundaries of the National Park so that it can be developed and managed by the Netherlands-based African Parks Foundation as a wildlife viewing park for well-heeled tourists. It is a condition of the African Parks Foundation contract that no people be present in the Park. Included in the development plans is a fence around part of the Park to keep local people out and wildlife in.

Namibia/Botswana: More refugees want to return to Caprivi, UNHCR

2005-04-20

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46734

The voluntary repatriation of refugees from Botswana to Namibia's Caprivi region has encouraged others to follow suit, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) told IRIN. UNHCR spokeswoman Melita Sunjic said the repatriation of eight adults and four children last Friday was the first since 2002. Since then more than 60 people in Dukwi refugee camp in northeastern Botswana have signed up to make the 450 km journey to Katima Mulilo in the Caprivi region.

DRC: Army preparing 10 brigades ahead of general elections

2005-04-27

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46818

At least 10 brigades of the new Congolese army are being prepared to help with the country's reunification process, especially during elections planned for later this year, the army's chief of general staff, Lt-Gen Kisempia Kisungilanga, told IRIN on Monday. "Those being trained will participate in peacekeeping operations during the electoral process," he said.

Liberia: Former rebel leader to run for president

2005-04-27

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46843

The leader of Liberia’s one-time main rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) Sekou Conneh, told IRIN on Wednesday that under pressure from former fighters, he will stand as president in landmark October polls. “My former fighters in LURD and other supporters from across Liberia have put me under pressure to stand as a presidential candidate. They said they would support me to the fullest, because they want me to be president so as to better cater to them in the future,” Conneh said.

South Africa: Alliance summit declaration

2005-04-28

http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#2812

"Senior delegations of the ANC, SACP, COSATU and SANCO met in our second Ekurhuleni Alliance Summit from 22-23 April 2005. We have convened in a period that is characterised by important advances and major challenges. On the one hand, as an ANC-led alliance, we have consolidated and expanded our overwhelming electoral majority, we have advanced and deepened democratic governance, we have entrenched extensive social and economic rights and we have rolled out significant social resource transfers. In the recent period, government has shifted to a more expansionary fiscal stance and has begun to implement a programme of significant public investments. As an Alliance we collectively salute and claim these achievements. On the other hand, deeply entrenched poverty and inequality continue to characterise our society and, above all, we have an economy that is not generating nearly sufficient jobs. As we meet, another devastating wave of mass retrenchments is striking the mining and manufacturing sectors."

Togo: Opposition Defies Official Poll Results

2005-04-27

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=28472

Emmanuel Akitani-Bob, an opposition candidate in the presidential election held Sunday in Togo, declared himself winner of the poll Wednesday. This came a day after the National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI) announced that Faure Gnassingbe, son of deceased head of state Gnassingbe Eyadema, was the provisional winner. Tuesday's announcement was greeted with outrage by opposition supporters, who erected barricades and burned tires in the Togolese capital, Lome, to protest the outcome of the poll.

Uganda: Key opposition MPs arrested

2005-04-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/27871

The Ugandan authorities have arrested two key opposition members of parliament on what appear to be politically motivated charges, chilling the political climate ahead of next year's elections, Human Rights Watch said. Two MPs from the opposition Forum for Democratic Change, Ronald Reagan Okumu and Michael Nyeko Ocula, were arrested on April 20 by the Criminal Investigations Division of the police. Okumu is the party's deputy executive coordinator and MP for Aswa County, Gulu district; Ocula is MP for Kilak County, also in Gulu.
Human Rights Watch Press Release

(New York, April 27, 2005) ? The Ugandan authorities have arrested two key
opposition members of parliament on what appear to be politically
motivated charges, chilling the political climate ahead of next year's
elections, Human Rights Watch said today.

Two MPs from the opposition Forum for Democratic Change, Ronald Reagan
Okumu and Michael Nyeko Ocula, were arrested on April 20 by the Criminal
Investigations Division of the police. Okumu is the party's deputy
executive coordinator and MP for Aswa County, Gulu district; Ocula is MP
for Kilak County, also in Gulu.

The Forum for Democratic Change is the political party widely believed to
pose the greatest challenge to the reelection of President Yoweri Museveni
next year. Okumu has been a prominent opponent in parliament of a bill
that would allow Museveni to stand for a third term as president.

"The arrest of these opposition MPs smacks of political opportunism,"
said Jemera Rone, researcher in Human Rights Watch's Africa Division.
"Holding them without trial would prevent them from campaigning before the
election. The government must promptly provide for a fair trial or release
them."

The two politicians, both from northern Uganda, were charged with the
February 2002 murder of Alfred Bongomin, council chairman of Pabbo
sub-county, Gulu, and were then remanded to Luzira Prison in Kampala. In
the past two years, Human Rights Watch has documented how the government
has used capital charges to detain political opponents for prolonged
periods of time, often for more than a year. Rarely have any of these
cases been brought to trial.

The arrests also highlight concerns about Uganda's law on bail and remand.
The Ugandan constitution provides that suspects preliminarily charged with
a capital offense?such as treason, kidnapping, rape, and murder?may be
held in detention for 360 days before they are entitled to bail.

The law is intended to give the police and prosecutors time to investigate
the case. However, it requires no showing of any evidence to connect the
accused to the crime until the completion of the criminal investigation,
for which there is no time limit.

Consequently, as long as investigations are ongoing, suspects can be held
for the full 360 days without bail before a court is required to make any
assessment of the strength of the evidence against them. In most cases
researched by Human Rights Watch, the police had not completed their
investigations by the time the 360-day period for detention without bail
had expired.

Human Rights Watch called on the Ugandan parliament to amend the 360-day
detention without bail provision of the constitution to explicitly provide
for bail in accordance with international law. These provisions are
inconsistent with Uganda's obligations under the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights, which states that individuals charged with a
criminal offense are "entitled to trial within a reasonable time or
release."

In almost all cases that Human Rights Watch has investigated in Uganda the
past two years, the prosecution has taken at least the full 360 days to
complete the investigation. In the case of Okumu and Ocula, Internal
Affairs Minister Ruhukana Rugunda reportedly stated in parliament on April
21 that the prosecutor had completed inquiries into the matter. The
following day the prosecutor asked the magistrate for an adjournment for
"further investigation" of the offense that happened three years ago,
increasing the possibility that the two MPs will be detained for a
prolonged period.

The two MPs were earlier victims of intimidation by the army when they
visited Pader district in northern Uganda in November. They were members
of a group of parliamentary MPs and activists intending to hold a public
meeting on proposed constitutional amendments. Soldiers beat several
members of the group and refused to allow the meeting to take place.

Hailing from northern Uganda, Okumu has been a vocal defender of human
rights in his district. As recently as last month he wrote an open letter
to the minister of defense calling for the government and the army to
account for a series of killings and beatings by the army's 11th Battalion
in two camps for the displaced persons in his constituency early this
year.

In the same letter, Okumu also complained about the illegal detention in
Gulu military barracks of two Gulu elected officials and a local
businessman. Ironically, he is now in the same prison as these three
men?Steven Olanya, Achan Laryang and David Ocheng. All have been charged
with the same 2002 murder. When initially detained in March, the three men
were accused of an entirely different crime.

Human Rights Watch is concerned that these arrests may be part of a
broader campaign to intimidate the opposition. In recent months, a number
of other members of the political opposition have been arrested, including
the chairman of the FDC in Rukungiri district in southwestern Uganda. They
are now in prison on remand for the capital offense of treason.

"Reagan Okumu and Michael Ocula have become latest members of the
political opposition languishing in jail on apparently trumped up
charges," Rone said. "As elections loom, the government needs to
demonstrate its commitment to a genuine transition to multiparty
democracy. It needs to bring those charged to a speedy and fair trial or
release them."

All five suspects are Acholi from northern Uganda, where an 18-year war
between government forces and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army?composed
almost entirely of Acholi?has forced at least 80 percent of the Acholi
population into camps for the displaced. The LRA is guilty of gross human
rights abuses, and recent efforts to negotiate a peace agreement have
stalled.

To view this document on the Human Rights Watch web site, please go to:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/04/27/uganda10548.htm

Human Rights Watch Press release

Zimbabwe: The only way is UP

2005-04-28

http://www.zvakwana.org/

The Zvakwana newsletter reports that in Bob Helvey’s book 'Strategic Non-violent Conflict: The Fundamentals', he compared two elections in 2002 in Serbia and Zimbabwe. In regard to the Zimbabwean example Helvey said of the MDC: “Little attention was given to a “Plan B” that would go into effect should the elections be stolen by the incumbent, robert mugabe.” Helvey went on to say: “With no detailed plan or any capacity to enforce the mandate of the people’s vote, the MDC had no alternative but to limit its response to declaring the election neither fair nor free and to call for another election.” That was in 2002. Sound familiar? In the words of Sokwanele in the South, “the MDC needs to adapt or die”, says Zvakwana.

Africa/Global: Transparency International integrity awards

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/corruption/27829

Transparency International (TI) invites individuals and organisations to submit nominations for the 2005 Integrity Awards. The annual awards recognise the courage and determination of individuals and organisations fighting corruption around the world. The winners of the Awards are a source of inspiration because their actions echo a common message: corruption is surmountable.
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL INTEGRITY AWARDS

Transparency International (TI) invites individuals and organisations to
submit nominations for the 2005 Integrity Awards. The annual awards
recognise the courage and determination of individuals and organisations
fighting corruption around the world.

The winners of the Awards are a source of inspiration because their
actions echo a common message: corruption is surmountable.

Candidates must have undertaken an action that is likely to
significantly influence, or have had a significant impact on, existing
levels of corruption in his or her country or region. Their actions must
be particularly imaginative, innovative or courageous, and deserving of
international recognition.

The TI Integrity Awards were established in 2000. To date, awards have
been given to 11 activists. In many cases, the awards have led to a
change of laws in certain countries. The awards also serve to encourage
and support the winners in their anti-corruption initiatives. Past
winners have been honoured for tackling corrupt practices in the
pharmaceutical industry, exposing an oil-and-supplies scam in the
military, uncovering corruption in the tax system and pioneering the
introduction of a new judicial management system.

Nominations must be submitted no later than 1 July 2005. Award winners
will be honoured on 11 November 2005.

For more information, visit
http://www.transparency.org/integrityawards/index.html or e-mail
styler@transparency.org

Kenya: State rejects Rotich nomination to graft body

2005-04-22

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=117195&src=dcn

The Government rejected a move by a Parliamentary committee to have Dr Julius Rotich appointed as a director of the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC). Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Kiraitu Murungi said a 2004 report by the Inspector General of Corporations implicated and indicted Rotich for serious financial irregularity.

Nigeria: Signs of decreasing corruption?

2005-04-26

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/11491942.htm

For Nigeria, a nation long considered one of the world's most unrepentantly corrupt, the last few weeks have been remarkable. First the national police chief, who had recently resigned, was arrested and led away in handcuffs, accused of graft and money laundering. Then the housing minister was fired, charged with selling government houses on the cheap to the well connected. Finally, the head of Nigeria's Senate - the third-highest-ranking official in the beleaguered West African country - resigned after being denounced by the president for bribery.

South Africa: Closing arguments in Shaik case

2005-04-27

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4483319.stm

South Africans are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the fraud and corruption trial of Shabir Shaik, the financial adviser to Deputy President Jacob Zuma, which has lasted more than six months. Allegations aired in court have been closely followed, since they involve not only Mr Shaik, but, by implication, the deputy president himself.

Africa/Global: Activist Events Shine; G7 & IMF Disappoint at April Meetings

Soren Ambrose

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/27905

The IMF and World Bank held their 2005 semi-annual meetings last weekend (April 16-17). It was a good weekend, from the standpoint of the activities organized by civil society. The official meetings, on the other hand, seem not to have gone well for our side. The G7 Finance Ministers issued a communiqué indicating that little progress was made on negotiations for 100% debt cancellation. The major bone of contention was between the US and UK plans for IMF debt relief: the Brits wanted to sell a substantial portion of the IMF's gold stocks to finance the relief, while the U.S. was against gold sales and wanted to finance it through the resources in the IMF's structural adjustment facility (the "Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility").
Activist Events Shine; G7 & IMF Disappoint at April
Meetings in Washington

Soren Ambrose - 50 Years Is Enough Network - Washington,
DC USA


The IMF and World Bank held their 2005 semi-annual
meetings last weekend (April 16-17).

ACTIONS

It was a good weekend, from the standpoint of the
activities organized by civil society. On Friday we had a
crowd of 150 or so outside the Treasury Department at
lunchtime to urge the G7 Finance Ministers, meeting there
later that day, to come to agreement on a plan to
genuinely cancel 100% of the multilateral debt claimed of
countries in crisis, without conditions. The event
featured several speakers from the Global South and street
theatre. A very spirited event, co-sponsored by 50 Years,
Jubilee USA, American Friends Service Committee Africa
Program, Africa Action, and the Mobilization for Global
Justice (MGJ).

Friday evening, the MGJ, the DC activists' collective that
first came together for the April 2000 protests against
the IMF and World Bank, held a teach-in on local and
global issues. Speakers included Virginia Setshedi from
the Anti-Privatisation Forum (South Africa), Lidy Nacpil
from the Freedom from Debt Coalition (Philippines), Victor
Geronimo from the Colectivo Popular (Dominican Republic),
and Basav Sen (MGJ). After the speakers, that audience
split into 6 discussion groups on issues of local and
global concern like labor, prisons, healthcare, etc. The
event was very well-received, with many people happy to
see the links between DC issues and global ones so
effectively exhibited.

Saturday was the big day. MGJ hosted a rally in the park
across from the IMF/WB, which turned into a rally to
Dupont Circle, for a festival of resistance, including
lots of music. The crowd was probably about 1000 -
significantly more than the Washington Post's estimate of
200, tho certainly not as many as we would have liked.
What we lacked in size we made up for in energy; indeed,
this event probably had as positive and energetic a feel
as any I've attended in the last 9 years in Washington.

For a good selection of pictures from the events, see the
website of 50 Years Is Enough steering committee member,
the Global Justice Ecology Project:
http://www.globaljusticeecology.org/index.php?name=news

On Sunday, MGJ sponsored community service projects to
emphasize its seriousness about the theme for the weekend
- "a better world is under construction," which is to say
that people are dealing with problems themselves and not
waiting for institutions to solve them. A surprisingly
large number of people from out of town participated in
those projects.

As usual, numerous meetings among civil society groups and
between some of those groups and IMF/WB and government
officials took place. The most unusual events involved a
group of parliamentarians from six different countries,
North and South, was in town presenting a petition with
over 1000 legislators' endorsements, calling for
fundamental reform at the Bank. They held a public event
on Sunday which was well-attended.

DEBT & IMF CONDITIONS

The official meetings, on the other hand, seem not to have
gone well for our side. The G7 Finance Ministers issued a
communiqué indicating that little progress was made on
negotiations for 100% debt cancellation. The major bone
of contention was between the U.S. and U.K. plans for IMF
debt relief: the Brits wanted to sell a substantial
portion of the IMF's gold stocks to finance the relief,
while the U.S. was against gold sales and wanted to
finance it through the resources in the IMF's structural
adjustment facility (the "Poverty Reduction and Growth
Facility"). We don't really feel that how the
institutions "finance" debt relief should be the concern
of debt advocates, but we supported going after the PRGF,
the most destructive element in the IMF. The U.S. seems
not to have won any other countries over to its side;
indeed, some of the European governments have responded by
wanting to *increase* the amount of money going into the
PRGF, which will serve mainly to enable the IMF to force
devastating conditions more effectively on more countries.

It is possible that there will not be any further attempts
to secure a deal on IMF debt before the G8 Summit in
Scotland in early July - bad news, given the progress that
seemed to have been made in the last year. A compromise
on World Bank/African Development Bank debt is likely to
be announced at the summit.

But wait there's more. Both the G7 Finance Ministers'
communique and the statement from the International
Monetary & Financial Committee (which sets IMF policy)
echoed earlier comments by Treasury Secretary John Snow
regarding the creation of a new IMF facility. It is this
facility which we have identified as the potential very
large "catch" in evaluating the US proposal for 100%
multilateral debt cancellation. It looks as if such a
thing might well be created soon, juding from the
statements' language, even in the absence of sweeping debt
cancellation. The IMFC, for example, said in its
statement that it "looks forward to further work on a
policy monitoring arrangement to enhance the IMF's
signaling role for countries that do not need or want IMF
financing."

The IMF already has programs that solely monitor policy
development in countries, without IMF funds going to the
government. It is our suspicion that going to the trouble
of creating a new "facility" would represent an effort to
formalize the IMF's "gatekeeper" (here called "signaling")
function. As things stand now, other multilateral and
bilateral donors and lenders follow the IMF's lead in
determining when a country is creditworthy. If the IMF
withholds a tranche (installment) of an agreed loan
program because of failure to adhere to policy conditions,
the World Bank, the regional development banks, and
bilateral agencies will follow suit. This function is
unofficial - no written rule guarantees this role for the
IMF. If the IMF creates this new facility, with the
attendant fanfare, it can position it to be the arbiter of
countries' creditworthiness even if the IMF stops making
loans altogether.

For us, such a move would negate a large part of the
benefit of 100% multilateral debt cancellation. Our
demand for cancellation is in large part motivated by a
recognition that such debt is used to keep governments
trapped in loan-and-repay cycle that ensures they will be
perpetually subject to external economic conditions that
work against their own interests. If the liberation from
debt no longer would imply liberation from the IMF, it
would be a great loss. The move would still be
worthwhile, since people are suffering inordinately from
the diversion of funds they need in order to pay off the
debts incurred against their own interests. But the
change would be merely ameliorative rather than a clear
contribution to systemic transformation.

We continue to argue that debt cancellation is the most
important pre-requisite for genuine people-centered
development in the Global South, and that therefore it
should be the top priority of development institutions
like the World Bank and for Southern countries' finance
ministries.

Two other tidbits from the official statements - actually
one is from the G24 group of countries - round out this
report.

ARGENTINA

Enormous pressure was put on the Argentinian government,
which recently stunned observers by winning over a crucial
supermajority of bondholders to its proposed payment of
about 31 cents on the dollar, to make arrangements to pay
off those who refused to go along. As the IMFC put it:
"The Committee welcomes Argentina's rapid recovery. The
recent debt exchange offer represents an important step
toward the long-term goal of sustainable growth. Argentina
will now need to formulate a forward-looking strategy to
resolve the remaining arrears outstanding to private
creditors consistent with the IMF's lending into arrears
policy, and to continue with necessary structural
reforms."

These are fighting words, given the IMF's contentious
relationship with Argentina since it played a major role
in creating the circumstances for its 2001 economic crash.
During the negotiations with bondholders, the IMF
frequently expressed concern, but resisted getting heavily
involved since it was not really in its purview. In the
end, the Argentinian government got about 76% of its
bondholders to agree to the new terms. It did so by
playing the game by the rules - it went to the market and
negotiated with those who wanted something from it. The
IMF initially welcomed the resolution of the crisis. It
has no grounds on which to tell Argentina that after using
recognized market mechanisms - the IMF's paramount value -
it should now change its negotiating terms and offer a
better deal to those who did not cooperate with it. The
response no doubt reflects the growing concern - even
panic -- among banks and governments that Argentina's
success may encourage other indebted governments (such as
the Philippines and Nigeria) to try to follow in its
footsteps. It is questionable whether the Kirchner
government could reverse itself at this stage even if it
wanted to without embroiling its country in fresh
political turmoil. This dispute could end up becoming a
key part of a turning point in North-South economic
relations.

THE G24

Meanwhile, the director of the Washington office of the
G24 (mostly large middle-income developing countries)
stated at a press conference that the skewed power
equations at the IMF board (where the wealthy countries
control all the levers of power) must be addressed soon,
or borrowing countries will begin to avoid the IMF as much
as possible. That would be a very good thing.

The official, Ariel Buira, said, "If you look at reserves,
the reserves of the developing nations are considerably
higher than the reserves of industrial countries.

"So the current system of governance is completely out of
line with economic realities, and what is happening as a
result of this is that people are moving away" from the
IMF and the World Bank.

Kenya: WTO a 'tool of imperialism', minister says

2005-04-28

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504280004.html

The World Trade Organisation was imperialistic and meant to enrich developed nations, a minister said in Parliament. The trade body would do nothing to reduce poverty in the country, Trade and Industry minister Mukhisa Kituyi said, putting WTO in the same league as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "The WTO is not a development vehicle to deal with poverty. It is a tool of imperialism, which has overtaken IMF," he said.

Nigeria: Politicians to air frustrations over debt

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/27902

Four senior Nigerian MPs and Senators are embarking on an international mini-tour in May, 2005 to urge western campaigners, politicians and officials to support debt cancellation for Nigeria. They will explain why rising frustration with the finance ministers of major creditor nations has led the National Assembly to call on President Obasanjo to halt debt repayments. The four representatives are Senator Udo Udoma – Chief Whip of the Senate; Senator Patrick Osakwe – Chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Debt; the Hon. Farouk Lawan – chair of the House Committee on Finance; and the Hon. Sadiq Sanussi – chair of the House Committee on Aid, Loans and Debt Management.  They will be accompanied by Dr. Mansur Muhtar – Director General of Nigeria's Debt Management Office. The Senators and House Representatives will be visiting Washington, London, Berlin and Rome.  If you live in any of these cities and would like to attend their upcoming meetings, please write to info@newstartnigeria.org for details.

Nigeria: £17bn default looms

2005-04-26

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1470480,00.html

Nigeria is heading towards an Argentinian-style default on its $33bn (£17bn) of overseas debt unless western creditors accept a deal to alleviate the country's financial burden, a delegation from west Africa's biggest economy said in London. As part of a four-country visit, the senior politicians warned that public unrest was growing over the hardline approach adopted by the west and that time was running out for negotiations.

Zambia: A report on the global week of action on trade

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/27903

Saturday 16th April 2005, was a big day for Organisation Development and Community Management Trust (ODCMT) and the people of the eastern province, as it marked the end of the Global Week of Action. The Global Week of Action is a week when global trade campaigns are emphasised. In Zambia, the ODCMT with support from Christian Aid held its major events; a march past, a musical concert and signature mobilisation campaign in the Eastern Province. ODCMT’s campaign team from Lusaka included all members of staff and representatives from its partner organisations which included One World Africa, Civil Society Trade Network of Zambia, Green Living Movement, Zambia Council for Social Development, Social Economic Literacy Development Club (SELIDEC), Twikantane Womens Nutrition Group and a representative from Christian Aid.
REPORT ON GLOBAL WEEK OF ACTION CONCERT IN CHIPATA
16th April 2005
Report by: Susan Mwape

Saturday 16th April 2005, was a big day for Organisation Development and Community Management Trust (ODCMT) and the people of the eastern province, as it marked the end of the Global Week of Action. The Global Week of Action is a week when global Trade Campaigns are emphasised. In Zambia, the ODCMT with support from Christian Aid held its major events; a march past, a musical concert and signature mobilisation campaign in the Eastern Province.

ODCMT’s campaign team from Lusaka included all members of staff and representatives from its partner organisations which included One World Africa, Civil Society Trade Network of Zambia, Green Living Movement, Zambia Council for Social Development, Social Economic Literacy Development Club (SELIDEC), Twikantane Womens Nutrition Group and a representative from Christian Aid. Others came from media houses which included Qfm radio, Monitor Newspaper and the Green Time News Paper. Musicians like Red Linso, Chiko Chali and Chax were on board with the team which left Lusaka on Friday 15th April 2005, for a nine hours’ drive and got to chipata at 6pm (18:00hrs). Meanwhile the Muvi Posse; James Chamanyazi, Saga, Shamack, Cha and solo left Lusaka on Thursday at 03:00am to make sure that everything was in place ahead of the big day.

Campaigners marching to the David Kaunda Staduim

On Saturday 16 April 2005, the enthusiastic team from Lusaka; lodging at Mazdi Moyo, a Reformed Church in Zambia Training Centre, about 20 kilometres from the heart of Chipata district; were up at 05:00am. Anxiously prepared to get to the stadium for the big concert on Trade Justice. The whole team was dressed in White t-shirts for the Global week of action and white arm bands. There was a walk of about three kilometres (3KM) through Chipata town to the stadium and about 100 residents joined to show solidarity and support to the cause. When we got to the stadium hundreds of people were already waiting to see what the day would give them.

The Programme at the stadium started with the observation of a moment of silence to remember the late Mr. Francis Banda, former Executive Director of ODCMT and to just reflect on our friends and relatives who have died because of poverty. Thereafter we had the national anthem which was followed by a quick song on trade justice by James Chamanyazi; the song was spiced by the audience chanting “Make Trade Fair”, after the song. The song was a welcome call to the government officials who were present at the event. The Provincial Deputy Permanent Secretary and the Agriculture Coordinator were asked to come forward and were dressed in White arm bands and bandanas, symbolising government’s solidarity in the fight against poverty and its commitment to represent its people at international fora.


The Deputy Permanent Secretary; Mr. Joshua Musonda (in blue) and the Provincial Agricultural Co-ordinator Mr. Martin Sishekanu (in green) dressed in the GCAP white bands

Mr. Martin Sishekanu, the Provincial Agriculture Coordinator, gave a speech in which he spoke about the very low prices farmers are paid for their commodities. He said this season, his office has been flooded with complaints of unfair trade from tobacco and cotton farmers who are very bitter. Mr. Sishekanu noted that the Zambian economy is of a dual nature and as such he emphasised the need for all to focus on local trade even while looking at international trade. He informed the gathering that the Government is currently setting up Agriculture marketing information Centres for flow of information among stakeholders in the Eastern province. He commended ODCMT for organising such an event to sensitise and show solidarity to the many farmers across the country.

Mr. Joshua Musonda, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Eastern Province gave a speech on behalf of the Provincial Minister. He expressed the need to push for change in the trade rules, he expressed his disappointment in the lack of transparency in how buyers determined their prices and how they deducted input costs; especially in cotton farming. He said this led farmers and their representatives to conclude that they were being exploited. He also talked about the Government wanting to see changes in the cotton trade. He said, “The government would like to see a profitable cotton trade that would earn the country foreign exchange, make farmers live off their labour and also support the establishment of job creating industries such as cotton ginneries and textile manufacturing. However, this can only be possible if global trade rules are tailored to accommodate poor countries”. This met a round of applause from the audience.


Mr. Joshua Musonda; the Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Eastern Province

We then heard a testimony from a cotton farmer Ms. Naomi Tembo, who narrated to the audience how a multinational company which buys cotton in the Eastern province loans farmers’ inputs such as seed and pesticides to enable them grow cotton which they later sale to the same company at a very low price. The price of this cotton is dictated by the multinational company. Farmers at times find themselves with just a receipt indicating that they have paid for the loan and they end up going home empty handed with nothing to take back to their families and children," said Ms. Tembo.

We later had the musicians sing and dance and the excited audience kept chanting for more music. After an hour of non stop music, we heard the plight of two cotton farmers who testified in front of the audience on how they did not gain from their labour. They also expressed their disappointment with the multinational companies for failing to provide protective clothing to farmers. Over three thousand people came to the concert; children and adults, two thousand and forty people (2,040) signed the petitions against unfair trade. The all went home Chanting Slogans of Fair Trade.



Masses at the stadium

The Organisation Development and Community Management Trust (ODCMT) is very humbled by the support we got from the many organisations that took part in the activities of the Global Week of Action and we would like to express our gratitude to the following:

Mr. Joshua Musonda; Deputy Permanent Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Martin Sishakanu; Provincial Agriculture Co-ordinator of Eastern Province and their Delegation.

Christian Aid; the funders of the project, Chalaka Development Project, Zambia Council for Social Development, Civil Society Trade Network of Zambia, Monitor Newspaper, Qfm Zambia, Green Living Movement, One World Africa, Eastern Province Women’s Development Association (EPDWA), District Women’s Development Association (DWDA), Kagoro Make Trade Fair Group, Social Economic Literacy Development Club (SELIDEC) and Mr. Krishnamurthy Pushpanath for the moral and technical support he rendered to ODCMT throughout the preparations of the Week of Action.

The Musicians: James ‘Chamanyazi’ Ngoma, Chiko Chali, James ‘Red Linso’ Banda, Ackim ‘Rage’, Che ‘Saga’ Mutale, Charity ‘Cha’ Mwiinga, Shamack, and the Muvi Posse.


The Muvi Posse Band

Many thanks also go to Ms. Lungu; the Deputy Provincial Community Development officer of the Ministry of Sports, Youth and Child Development, the Zambia Police service, Mr. Mwaba; the driver who gave us transport even at awkward hours, the Chipata Red Cross Society of Zambia for taking care of all the casualties, Breeze Fm-Chipata, Radio Maria-Chipata and all the people that came from the different districts to show solidarity and the audience.

Zimbabwe: Harare meeting on EPA's

Statement by civil society organizations

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/27919

"We note with concern that EPA negotiations are being undertaken at a time when most African states are still reeling under the effects of the IMF-World Bank imposed Structural Adjustment Programmes leaving them with limited policy space and options to resist calls for further liberalization. Farmers in ESA countries who produce largely for domestic demand will be wiped out by import surges from the relatively cheap and subsidized EU products."
Statement by civil society organizations in Zimbabwe on the Economic
Partnership Agreements Dedicated Session on Agriculture
27 April 2005

We, the trade and economic justice activists from various civil society
organisations in Zimbabwe, including the media, representatives of
academics, farmers and peasant movements, labour, consumer movements met in
Harare to review Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) negotiations with
specific reference to the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) dedicated
session on Agriculture.

We reviewed the following issues on the agenda of the dedicated session:

· Overview of agricultural trade between ESA-EU countries
· Agricultural subsidies in ESA-EU trade
· Tariff reduction formula in agricultural trade
· Standards and SPS measures in ESA-EU agricultural trade
· Commodity protocols in ESA-EU agricultural
· Rules of origin

We note that EPAs are essentially Free Trade Areas and will have
far-reaching implications on national economies and people's livelihoods.

We note with great concern testimonies given by cotton farmers in ESA
countries whose households have been pushed into abject poverty caused by
the unfair low prices in the current marketing season.

ESA governments should protect negotiators who are identified by the Empire
as standing in the way of "consensus" because of their pro-people policy
options.

We further call on ESA governments to open up space for meaningful
consultation with citizens before they go for negotiations.

Participants called on COMESA and SADC secretariats to appreciate that for
ESA countries and Zimbabwe in particular, the notion that "people first
before profits" should be the basis on which EPAs must be negotiated.

Therefore, these institutions should promote regional integration
purposefully couched to fight empire-led integration and fragmentation of
Africa.

They should not hoodwink ESA governments into believing that negotiations
will deliver more aid, growth and development. Instead, the so-called
technical assistance and capacity building is designed to meet the offensive
interests spearheaded by big business corporations based in the North.

Impact assessment studies of trade liberalization must be carried out and
sponsored by ESA governments in order to avoid the EU manipulation of
Technical assistance and European Development Fund to dilute the latter's
development concerns.

We note with concern that EPA negotiations are being undertaken at a time
when most African states are still reeling under the effects of the
IMF-World Bank imposed Structural Adjustment Programmes leaving them with
limited policy space and options to resist calls for further liberalization.

Farmers in ESA countries who produce largely for domestic demand will be
wiped out by import surges from the relatively cheap and subsidized EU
products.

The role of ESA countries envisaged under EPAs is largely influenced by
historically determined lopsided power relations with the EU whose quest for
cheap raw materials developed commodity protocols catering for the interests
of big business and its need to protect European agriculture.

The market access ESA countries are being promised is a myth.

Barriers still exist in the form of SPS, TBTs, Tariff peaks and escalation.

Standards and SPS measures that are demanded by the EU further limit trading
opportunities for ESA countries.

While the existing standards favour developed nations, ESA countries should
explore alternatives involving, among other things, commodity-based risk
assessment.

The meeting called on African governments to fully explore domestic-demand
driven production strategies, intra regional trade and the much-talked about
South-South cooperation, but cautioned that some of the identified new
markets are located in countries that are flooding ESA countries with cheap
products and knocking on the doors of the West.

On reciprocity, participants noted that this will lead to serious revenue
losses for ESA countries and also facilitate greater market access for EU
products causing a decline in local food production. ESA countries will find
themselves dependent on EU products and this threatens their quest for food
security and sovereignty in Agriculture.

We are calling on ESA Governments to pay attention to special and sensitive
products when negotiating commitments on tariff reductions, especially those
critical to food security.

ESA governments, COMESA and SADC should harmonize their recommendations on
rules of origin taking into account bilateral agreements and arrangements
like AGOA, SACU and the Everything But Arms initiative.

We recommend that:

1. Negotiations between EU and ESA countries on agriculture must be
based on the interests of ESA farmers and allow for the protection of their
livelihoods and local food production

2. Trade negotiations between the EU and ESA countries must not go
beyond what has been agreed at the WTO. The agreed position on the Doha
issues particularly with respect to the elimination of subsidies must be
implemented.

3. We urge the ESA countries to start looking into alternatives to
the EPAs, as is provided for in the Cotonou Agreement. We demand that trade
and development cooperation between the EU and ESA be founded on an approach
that:

· is based on a principle of non-reciprocity
· allows protection of ESA producers' domestic and regional markets
· reverses the pressure for trade and investment liberalisation,
· allows the necessary policy space for ESA and supports countries to
pursue their own development strategies

Jean Kanengoni SEATINI
Juliet Sithole General Agriculture
and Plantation Workers Union
Idaishe Chengu MWENGO
Tafadzwa Munopa Zimbabwe Social Forum
Agnes Chaonwa Trades Centre
Given Chijokwe The Voice Newspaper
Andrew T. Mushita Community Technology
Development Trust
Ludwig Chizarura SEATINI
Anilliah Masaraure ABA
Dewa Mavhinga ZIMCODD
Masiwa Rusare Trades Centre
Walter Muchinguri The Herald
Elijah Munyuki SEATINI
Davie Malungisa OXFAM America
Patricia Kasiamhuru SAPSN
Ibrahima Aidara CIROAF
Ian Mashingaidze Action Aid
Charity Manyeruke University of Zimbabwe
Rangarirai Machemedze SEATINI
Thomas Deve Africa Trade Network/Mwengo
Matilda Moyo MWENGO
Chikondi Banda MWENGO
Naome Chakanya LEDRIZ
Isaac Chikwanda SEATINI
Stuart Hargreaves Livestock/VET
Tadeaous Chifamba Foreign Affairs

Africa: Half of World's HIV/AIDS Found in Sub-Saharan Africa

2005-04-22

http://new.ippf.org/UnmanagedFrame.aspx?ID=4138&ifHeight=1500&srcIF=http://ippfnet.ippf.org/pub/IPPF_News/Classic/Default.asp

Over half of the people living with HIV/AIDS in the world are found in sub-Sahara Africa, according to statistics released by a Tanzania-based health body. Dr Steven Shongwe, the executive secretary of the Commonwealth Regional Health Community for East, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA Health Community), said that a recent survey among the 14 member countries in the body indicated that the region has an estimated 30 million people suffering from HIV/ AIDS, accounting for about 50 per cent of the worldwide total.

Africa: UN health agency and Africa mark fifth anti-malaria day

2005-04-28

http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=14069&Cr=malaria&Cr1

The war against malaria in Africa can only be won if governments, communities and development partners work together against the parasitic disease that kills more than 800,000 Africans per year, the regional director for Africa of the United Nations health agency said. "Let us re-dedicate ourselves collectively to a more coordinated fight against this public health challenge facing our continent," Dr. Luis Gomes Sambo of the World Health Organization (WHO) said, marking the fifth annual Africa Malaria Day.

Angola: Traditional healers 'helping Marburg virus spread'

2005-04-27

http://www.scidev.net/news/index.cfm?fuseaction=readnews&itemid=2064&language=1

Researchers trying to battle the outbreak of deadly Marburg virus in Angola claim that traditional healers' practices could be helping the virus spread. They believe that healers are re-using syringes and needles to inject patients. This, say the researchers, could explain why the virus is still killing an average of three people a day, one month after the outbreak was identified.

South Africa: The curious tale of the Minister and the vitamin seller

2005-04-27

http://www.health-e.co.za/news/article.php?uid=20031215

The antics of the discredited Dr Rath, and our health minister's support for him, are dragging us back into the dark days of AIDS denialism, says this Health-E News article. After months of relative stability in government over HIV/AIDS treatment, we seem to be back on the rollercoaster of contradictions. The problem this time hinges around the curious fondness our Health Minister, Dr Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, has for Dr Matthias Rath, a discredited vitamin seller. Rath has peddled his vitamin product, Vitacor, around the world. First he claimed it was a cure for heart disease, then cancer and now AIDS.

Southern Africa: HIV/AIDS advocates say countries' Laws not addressing women's rights

2005-04-28

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=29467

Domestic HIV/AIDS-related laws and policies in Southern African countries are not adequately addressing the rights of women and girls, according to HIV/AIDS advocates who attended an Oxfam America event last Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa, Inter Press Service reports. Studies in Southern Africa have shown that regional and international human rights agreements have not been "adequately applied or incorporated" into domestic HIV/AIDS-related laws, especially those regarding the protection of young women, Jacqueline Bataringaya, an HIV/AIDS consultant for Oxfam in Southern Africa, said.

Uganda: 'Unacknowledged' Ugandan AIDS Epidemic 'Fueled' by War

2005-04-28

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=29597

Toronto's Globe and Mail on Tuesday in the second article in a series examined the "largely unacknowledged" HIV/AIDS epidemic in the northern region of Uganda that has been "fueled" by the country's 18-year war. Although HIV prevalence among adults in Uganda's general population is 6.2% and the nation is a "darling of donor countries," the HIV prevalence rate in the country's northern region is 11.9% and rising, according the Christian aid group World Vision.

Zambia: Government not doing enough for children, report finds

2005-04-28

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46837

An official report has found that the Zambian government was not "giving sufficient priority" to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and has called for universal access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

Africa/Global: Education in fragile states

2005-04-28

http://www.eldis.org/education/fragile_states.htm

A new Eldis key issues page examines the delivery of education in states that can be described as "fragile". This page aims to provide a starting point for discussion on education in fragile states, and specifically provides literature on service delivery and aid effectiveness in fragile states, looks at why donors should focus investment on education in fragile states, and examines how this should be done.

Africa/Global: Sending a friend to school

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/education/27893

Young people and education activists in more than 100 countries will join together this week to protest world leaders' failure to meet a major UN target on girls' education this year – a failure they say will lead to greater poverty and unnecessary child deaths. Five years ago, governments of the world promised to get equal numbers of girls as boys into school by 2005. The target – the first of all the UN's Millennium Development Goals to fall due - will be missed. As part of the Global Campaign for Education's (GCE) 'Send my Friend to School' campaign from April 24-30, children will be presenting politicians, cabinet ministers and even heads of state with colourful cardboard cut-outs, or "friends", each of which represents one of the more than 100 million children out of school.
MEDIA RELEASE
COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE
ARTÍCULO DE PRENSA

***français ci-dessous/ española abajo

MILLIONS OF CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD DEMAND: “SEND MY FRIEND TO SCHOOL”

Young people and education activists in more than 100 countries will join together this week to protest world leaders’ failure to meet a major UN target on girls’ education this year – a failure they say will lead to greater poverty and unnecessary child deaths.

Five years ago, governments of the world promised to get equal numbers of girls as boys into school by 2005. The target – the first of all the UN’s Millennium Development Goals to fall due - will be missed, and experts believe that a second Millennium target for giving every child a quality primary education is also at risk.

As part of the Global Campaign for Education’s (GCE) ‘Send my Friend to School’ campaign from April 24-30, children will be presenting politicians, cabinet ministers and even heads of state with colourful cardboard cut-outs, or “friends”, each of which represents one of the more than 100 million children out of school. A million cut-out ‘friends’, collected from around the world, will be delivered to G8 leaders at the G8 Summit in Scotland in July. From April 24, members of the public can also make an online ‘friend’ at: www.sendmyfriend.info

“Girls’ education is the key to ending world poverty. 2005 marks the year that world leaders have broken their promise to get equal numbers of girls and boys into school. I support the Global Campaign for Education’s call to educate girls to end poverty and call on world leaders to respond to calls from children around the world to 'send my friend to school” said Graca Machel, human rights activist and wife of Nelson Mandela, while making her own ‘friend’ as part of the campaign.

Mr Mandela delivered his own rallying cry to young people around the world when he met children involved in the Send my Friend to School campaign: “Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation.” Children from all corners of the world will be rising to the challenge set by Mr Mandela and showing their solidarity with the more than 100 million children around the world and 860 million illiterate adults who have been denied their fundamental right to learning, most of whom are girls and women.

Kailash Satyarthi, GCE chairperson, said: “Enabling girls to attend school is literally a matter of life and death. Education, especially for girls and women, is the best way to break the cycle of ill health, hunger and poverty. Without it we can’t achieve the Millennium Development Goals. World Bank research shows that this year alone, one million additional children will die unnecessarily, because governments failed to meet the 2005 target for girls’ education.”


Ends- For more information please contact: Jo Walker, Tel +44 1865 313 111, email: actionweek@campaignforeducation.org, or visit www.campaignforeducation.org



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NOTES TO THE EDITOR:

WHAT IS THE GCE?
The Global Campaign for Education (GCE) is a broad coalition of development and education research agencies and unions, representing organizations active in over 100 countries. Members include Oxfam, Action Aid, Save the Children, PLAN, World Vision, as well as Education International, which represents all Teachers’ Unions around the world. The GCE’s aim is for every child in the world to get a quality education. For more information see: www.campaignforeducation.org

EVENTS DURING THE GLOBAL ACTION WEEK:
During the Week of Action, April 24-30, various events will be held including visits by children to their national parliaments to present their cut-out ‘friends’, and “Politicians going back to school”, where Members of Parliament will visit classrooms and meet with children and their ‘friends’. As well as marches and rallies to Parliament Buildings with ‘friends’. An estimated 1 million children, in 110 countries around the world, will take part in the Week of Action in 2005.

‘Friends’ collected from across Niger will be presented by children to the Prime Minister Hama Amadou.

In Peru, out-of-school children will present their ‘friends’ to the President of the Republic, Pres Alejandro Toledo.

In Ghana, both the President and Vice President are set to meet with ‘friends’. The Action Week will be kick-started with a national launch by the Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, attended by Ministers and children and culminate on 29 April when a delegation of children and their ‘friends’ will meet the President.

In Ethiopia students will descend on the Parliament buildings with their ‘friends’, culminating in a meeting with the President.

In Spain, three female politicians, from the three main political parties in Spain will be going ‘back to school’ together. One of these ‘pupils’ will be the Education Minister, María Jesús Sansegundo.

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2004?
During the 2004 Global Week of Action, over 2 million young people and adults in 117 countries spoke out for education and world leaders, including 14 heads of states and thousands of MPs and legislators, listened to them.

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN TO GET ALL CHILDREN INTO SCHOOL?
Governments to take positive action and invest 6% of GDP in education. Primary education must be free, compulsory and good quality. The needs of illiterate adults must be met. The worst forms of child labour must be stopped. Education of girls and women must take priority.

The World Bank and IMF to write off poor country debt, which eat up the resources needed for education.

Rich countries to double their aid to poor countries, and properly fund the Education for All Fast Track Initiative, which supports countries that are taking positive steps to get every child into school.

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BULLETIN D’INFORMATION POUR LES MEDIAS
Pour parution immédiate


DES MILLIONS D’ENFANTS A TRAVERS LE MONDE EXIGENT : « ENVOYEZ MON AMI(E) A L’ECOLE »

Des jeunes millions d’enfants dans plus de 100 pays vont se rassembler cette semaine pour protester contre l’échec des dirigeants mondiaux cette année face à la réalisation d’un objectif majeur de l’ONU sur l’éducation des filles – un échec qui, selon eux, entraînera davantage de pauvreté et des morts inutiles d’enfants.

Il y a cinq ans, les gouvernements du monde ont promis qu’un nombre égal de filles et de garçons seraient scolarisés avant 2005. Cet objectif – le premier de tous les Objectifs du millénaire pour le développement de l’ONU à arriver à échéance – ne sera pas atteint, et selon les experts, un second Objectif du millénaire, visant à donner à tous les enfants une éducation primaire de qualité, est également menacé.

Dans le cadre de la campagne de la CME ‘Envoyez mon ami à l’école’, qui se déroulera du 24 au 30 avril, les enfants vont présenter aux hommes politiques, aux ministres des gouvernements et jusqu’aux chefs d’Etat des découpages en carton multicolores, leurs ‘ami(e)s’, représentant chacun l’un des plus de 100 millions d’enfants exclus de l’éducation. Un million de ces ‘ami(e)s’ découpé(e)s, collecté(e)s dans le monde entier, seront amené(e)s aux dirigeants du G8 lors du Sommet du G8 en Ecosse au mois de juillet. A partir du 24 avril, le public pourra également participer en ligne à l’adresse www.sendmyfriend.info

« L’éducation des filles est la clé pour mettre fin à la pauvreté dans le monde. L’année 2005 sera marquée comme l’année où les dirigeants mondiaux ont rompu leur promesse de scolariser un nombre égal de filles et de garçons. Je soutiens l’appel de la Campagne mondiale pour l’éducation des filles comme moyen de mettre fin à la pauvreté, et j’appelle les dirigeants mondiaux à répondre aux appels des enfants du monde entier demandant d’‘envoyer mon ami(e) à l’école’ », a affirmé Graca Machel, militante des droits de l’homme et épouse de Nelson Mandela, en confectionnant son(sa) propre ‘ami(e)’ pour la campagne.

M. Mandela a lancé son propre cri de ralliement en direction des jeunes du monde entier lors d’une rencontre avec des enfants participant à la campagne Envoyez mon ami à l’école : « Parfois il arrive qu’une génération doive faire preuve de génie. Vous pouvez être cette génération de génie. » Des enfants venus des quatre coins du monde vont relever le défi lancé par M. Mandela et feront preuve de leur solidarité avec plus de 100 millions d’enfants et 860 millions d’adultes illettrés dans le monde qui ont été privés de leur droit fondamental à l’éducation, et qui sont en majorité des filles et des femmes.

Kailash Satyarthi, président de la CME, a déclaré : « Permettre aux filles de fréquenter l’école représente littéralement une question de vie ou de mort. L’éducation, notamment celle des filles et des femmes, est le meilleur moyen de briser le cycle de la maladie, de la faim et de la pauvreté. Sans elle, nous ne pourrons pas atteindre les Objectifs du millénaire pour le développement. Les études de la Banque mondiale montrent que, pendant cette seule année, un million d’enfants supplémentaires vont mourir inutilement parce que les gouvernements n’ont pas réussi à atteindre l’objectif 2005 d’éducation des filles. »


Fin – pour plus d’informations veuillez contacter Jo Walker, Tel +44 1865 313 111, email: actionweek@campaignforeducation.org ou visitez www.campaignforeducation.org



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NOTES A L’INTENTION DES REDACTEURS :

QU’EST-CE QUE LA CME?
La Campagne mondiale pour l’éducation (CME) est une large coalition d’agences de recherches pour l’éducation et le développement et de syndicats, représentant des organisations agissant dans plus de 100 pays. Ses membres incluent Oxfam, Action Aid, Save the Children, PLAN, World Vision ainsi que l’Internationale de l’éducation qui représente tous les syndicats d’enseignants du monde. Le but de la CME est que chaque enfant dans le monde reçoive une éducation de qualité. Pour plus d’informations, voyez le site : www.campaignforeducation.org

MANIFESTATIONS DE LA SEMAINE D’ACTION GLOBALE
Pendant la Semaine d’action, du 24 au 30 avril, diverses manifestations seront organisées, notamment des visites d’enfants dans leurs Parlements nationaux pour y présenter leurs ‘ami(e)s’ découpé(e)s ainsi que des manifestations de ‘Retour des politiciens à l’école’ qui verront des membres du Parlement visiter des salles de classe et rencontrer des enfants et leurs ‘ami(e)s’. Il y aura aussi des marches et des rassemblements devant les bâtiments des Parlements en compagnie des ‘ami(e)s’. On prévoit qu’environ 1 million d’enfants dans 100 pays à travers le monde participeront à la Semaine d’action en 2005.

Des ‘ami(e)s’ collecté(e)s dans tout le Niger seront présenté(e)s par des enfants au Premier ministre Hama Amadou.

Au Pérou, des enfants exclus de l’éducation présenteront leurs ‘ami(e)s’ au président de la République, Pres Alejandro Toledo.

Au Ghana, la Semaine d’action démarrera avec un lancement national par le Vice-président de la République du Ghana, auquel participeront des ministres et des enfants. La semaine culminera le 29 avril par une rencontre entre une délégation d’enfants et de leurs ‘ami(e)s’ avec le Président – une manifestation reproduite au niveau régional où des ‘ami(e)s’ seront présenté(e)s aux ministres régionaux.

En Espagne, trois femmes politiques issues des trois principaux partis politiques espagnols feront ensemble un ‘retour à l’école’. L’une de ces élèves sera la ministre de l’Education, María Jesús Sansegundo

CE QUI S’EST PASSE EN 2004 ?
Pendant la Semaine d’action globale 2004, plus de 2 millions de jeunes et d’adultes dans 117 pays se sont exprimés pour défendre l’éducation – et les dirigeants mondiaux, parmi lesquels 14 chefs d’Etat et des milliers de députés et de législateurs, les ont écoutés.

CE QUI DOIT SE PASSER POUR QUE TOUS LES ENFANTS SOIENT SCOLARISES ?
Les gouvernements doivent agir sans équivoque et investir 6% du PNB dans l’éducation. L’éducation primaire doit être gratuite, obligatoire et de bonne qualité. Les besoins des adultes illettrés doivent être pris en compte. Les pires formes de travail des enfants doivent être éliminées. L’éducation des filles et des femmes doit devenir une priorité.

La Banque mondiale et le FMI doivent annuler la dette des pays pauvres, qui engloutit les ressources nécessaires pour l’éducation.

Les pays riches doivent doubler leur aide aux pays pauvres, et financer correctement l’Initiative de mise en œuvre accélérée de l’Education pour tous, qui soutient des pays qui prennent des mesures positives pour scolariser tous leurs enfants.

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RECOMENDACIÓN A LOS MEDIOS

Para publicación inmediata


MILLONES DE NIÑOS DE TODO EL MUNDO RECLAMAN: “ENVÍEN A MI AMIGO A LA ESCUELA”

Los jóvenes y niños de más de 100 países se unirán esta semana para protestar por el fracaso de los líderes mundiales en el cumplimiento de uno de los principales objetivos de la ONU sobre la educación de las niñas – un fracaso que muchos vaticinan que conducirá a una mayor pobreza y a una mortandad infantil innecesaria.

Hace cinco años, los gobiernos de todo el mundo se comprometieron a escolarizar el mismo número de niñas que de niños en 2005. El objetivo – el primero de los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio de la ONU en ser conseguido – fracasará y, según opinan los expertos, el segundo objetivo del Milenio de ofrecer a todos los niños una enseñanza primaria de calidad corre también un gran riesgo.
Como parte de la campaña ‘Envíe a mi Amigo/a a la Escuela’, desde el 24 al 30 de abril, los niños presentarán a los políticos, a los ministros, e incluso a los altos mandatarios vistosas figuras de cartón, o ‘amigos’, cada una representando uno de los más de 100 millones de niños sin escolarizar. Un millón de figuras de ‘amigos’, procedentes de todo el mundo, será entregado a los líderes del G8 durante la Cumbre del G8 que tendrá lugar el próximo julio en Escocia. Desde el 24 de abril, el público en general podrá participar en esta acción, accediendo a www.sendmyfriend.info

“La educación de las niñas es clave para poner fin a la pobreza mundial. 2005 representa el año en el que los líderes mundiales incumplieron la promesa de escolarizar el mismo número de niñas que de niños. Apoyo el llamamiento de la Campaña para la Educación de educar a las niñas para poner fin a la pobreza, y pido a los líderes que respondan al llamamiento ‘Envíe a mi amigo/a a la escuela’ de los niños de todo el mundo”, declaró Graça Machel, activista de derechos humanos y esposa de Nelson Mandela, además de contribuir con un ‘amigo’ como parte de la campaña.

El Sr Mandela hizo su llamamiento a los jóvenes de todo el mundo cuando se reunió con los niños participantes en la campaña ‘Envíe a mi amigo/a a la escuela’: “Algunas veces, recae en los hombros de una generación actuar con grandeza. Ustedes pueden ser esa gran generación.” Los niños y niñas del mundo responderán al reto planteado por el Sr Mandela, y mostrarán su solidaridad con los 100 millones de niños de todo el mundo y con los 860 millones de personas analfabetas, a las que se les niega el derecho fundamental de aprender, siendo la mayoría niñas y mujeres.

Kailash Satyarthi, presidente de la CME, declaró: “Permitir que las niñas vayan a la escuela es literalmente una cuestión de vida o muerte. La educación, especialmente para las niñas y las mujeres, es la mejor manera de romper el círculo de la enfermedad, el hambre y la pobreza. Sin ella, no podremos alcanzar los Objetivos de Desarrollo del Milenio. Los estudios del Banco Mundial muestran que este año un millón de niños fallecerá innecesariamente, por culpa del fracaso de los gobiernos en cumplir el objetivo 2005 de educación de las niñas.”

Para mayor información, contacten por favor: actionweek@campaignforeducation.org o visiten www.campaignforeducation.org


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NOTAS PARA EL EDITOR:

QUÉ ES LA CME:
La Campaña Mundial de Educación (CME) es una coalición extensa de agencias y sindicatos de desarrollo e investigación para la educación, que representa a organizaciones activas en más de 100 países. Entre sus miembros, se incluyen Oxfam, Ayuda en Acción, Salvad a los Niños, PLAN, World Vision, así como la Internacional de la Educación, que representa a todos los Sindicatos de Educadores del mundo. El Objetivo de la CME es conseguir una enseñanza de calidad para todos los niños y niñas Para mayor información, visite: www.campaignforeducation.org

ACONTECIMIENTOS DURANTE LA SEMANA DE ACCIÓN MUNDIAL:
Durante la Semana de Acción, 24-30 de abril, tendrán lugar varios acontecimientos, que incluirán la visita de los niños a los parlamentos nacionales para presentar sus figuras de ‘amigos’, y la actividad ‘los políticos regresan a la escuela’, en la que miembros del parlamento visitarán las aulas para reunirse con los niños y con sus ‘amigos’. Habrá también manifestaciones y marchas a la sede del parlamento con numerosos ‘amigos’. Se estima que un millón de niños de 100 países participarán en la Semana de Acción de 2005.

Los ‘amigos’ procedentes de todo Níger serán presentados por los niños al primer ministro, Hama Amadou.

En Perú, niños sin escolarizar presentarán sus ‘amigos’ al presidente de la república, Alejandro Toledo.

En España, tres políticas, pertenecientes a los tres principales partidos políticos, ‘regresarán juntas a la escuela’. Una de las ‘estudiantes’ será la ministra de educación, María Jesús Sansegundo.

QUÉ OCURRIÓ EN 2004?
Durante la Semana de Acción Mundial 2004, más de 2 millones de jóvenes y adultos de 117 países hicieron un llamamiento en favor de la educación – y fueron escuchados por los líderes mundiales, entre los que se incluyeron 14 jefes de estado y miles de parlamentarios y legisladores.

QUÉ SE NECESITA PARA QUE TODOS LOS NIÑOS SEAN ESCOLARIZADOS?
Los gobiernos deben emprender acciones positivas e invertir el 6% del PIB en educación. La enseñanza primaria deber ser gratuita, obligatoria y de calidad. Deben cubrirse asimismo las necesidades de los adultos analfabetos. Las peores formas de trabajo infantil deben ser prohibidas. La educación de las niñas y de las mujeres debe ser prioritaria.

El Banco Mundial y el FMI deben cancelar la deuda de los países pobres, ya que consume todos los recursos necesarios para la educación.

Los países ricos deben duplicar la ayuda a los países pobres, y financiar adecuadamente la Iniciativa Vía Rápida de Educación para Todos, que apoya a los países que emprenden medidas positivas hacia la escolarización de todos los niños y niñas.

Africa/Global: Why education for girls matters

2005-04-28

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC18177

As a response to failure of achieving the MDG for gender parity in education in 2005, this paper from the Global Campaign for Education proposes a new action plan to get every girl in school and learning. The paper argues that the 2005 girls' education target was neither unrealistic nor unaffordable, but rather it has not been met because both the international community and national governments have given insufficient political attention and inadequate money to meet it.

Kenya: 1.7 Million Children Out of School

2005-04-27

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504280012.html

Some 1.7 million children are still out of school despite the free primary education programme, a workshop was told this week. Out of these are some 200,000, who dropped out after enrolling under the programme, which was introduced by the Narc Government.

Africa: Planet earth on the brink

2005-04-25

http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/2828.html

A new comprehensive report on the world's environment warns that the Earth is on the 'tipping point' of irreversible and possibly catastrophic changes. The planet can still be saved, but big policy changes are needed. Martin Khor from Third World Network argues: "The environment used to be a high-priority issue, discussed seriously at global summits and national meetings. But lately it has been displaced by other seemingly more pressing problems, such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan arising from September 11, the instability in the Middle East, and economic competition among countries catalysed by trade liberalisation."

Africa: Thousands of Megawatts of New Renewable Energy Potential

2005-04-14

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=431&ArticleID=4772&l=en

Thousands of megawatts of new renewable energy potential in Africa, Asia, South and Central America have been discovered by a pioneering project to map the solar and wind resource of 13 developing countries. The multi-million dollar project, called the Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA), is proving that the potential for deploying solar panels and wind turbines in these countries is far greater than previously supposed.

Sudan: Deserted in the Desert

2005-04-28

http://www.irn.org/pubs/wrr/issues/WRR.V20.N2.pdf

The latest edition of World Rivers Review, published by the International Rivers Network, examines the US$1.8 billion Merowe Dam in Sudan, the largest dam project currently being built in Africa. The 67-meter-high dam will create a 174-kilometer-long reservoir that will displace about 50,000 people. The main purpose of the project is to generate electricity for Sudan's cities and the petroleum industry. It is being built by Chinese companies. European companies Lahmeyer (Germany) and Alstom (France) are also involved. World Rivers Review examines the fate of those displaced.

Zambia: Zambia keeps door shut on GM crops

2005-04-21

http://www.scidev.net/Features/index.cfm?fuseaction=readFeatures&itemid=395&language=1

Hunger is a perennial challenge facing African countries, and Zambia is no exception. But while some nations are prepared to boost supplies by importing food containing genetically modified (GM) organisms, Zambia is sticking to its guns and saying no. Zambia's agriculture minister Mundia Sikatana says the government is staying firm on plans to develop legislation on GM products, and is reaffirming its ban on their entry into the country until it is satisfied they pose no threat to health or the environment.

Africa: Putting Community Radio on the Map in Africa

2005-04-26

http://www.ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=28455

The largest obstacle for this sector is the lack of an enabling environment to ensure expansion of community radio, due to insufficient legislation surrounding the industry,” Steve Buckley, president of the World Association of Community Broadcasters (AMARC), told IPS. “I think the reason is because in a number of countries, governments are afraid that they may lose power by allowing communities to have access to airwaves.”

DRC: Six journalists abducted by militiamen in Katanga province

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/27887

On 24 April 2005, six Congolese journalists were abducted by a group of Mai Mai militiamen operating under the command of one "Chinja Chinja" ("Cut-Throat"). The journalists are being held in the port of Kilumbe, Upper Lomami district, some 400 km from Lubumbashi. They had gone to the area to cover the disarmament of armed militias in Katanga province, southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
IFEX- News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT - DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

27 April 2005

Six journalists abducted by militiamen in Katanga province

SOURCE: Journaliste en danger (JED), Kinshasa

(JED/IFEX) - On 24 April 2005, six Congolese journalists were abducted by a
group of Mai Mai militiamen operating under the command of one "Chinja
Chinja" ("Cut-Throat"). The journalists are being held in the port of
Kilumbe, Upper Lomami district, some 400 km from Lubumbashi. They had gone
to the area to cover the disarmament of armed militias in Katanga province,
southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

News of the hostage-taking came from one of the abductees, Adam Shemisi, a
journalist with the privately-owned station Tropicana, who managed to
escape. He identified the other detainees as Jean-Marie Mususa, of the
Congolese News Agency (Agence congolaise de presse, Kinshasa), Pierrot
Nsenga and Léon Kabasele, of RTNC/Lubumbashi, Freddy Mwanza, a cameraman
with Raga TV, and Scott Mayemba, of the Kinshasa-based newspaper "Uhuru".

The abducted journalists had accompanied a clergyman to the area. Minister
Ngoy Mulunda is one of the persons in charge of the militia disarmament
programme. No official reason was given for the hostage-taking, but it is
believed that it may have come in retaliation for the 8 April arrest of Mai
Mai militia commander "Chinja Chinja" in Kinshasa. The commander has been
charged with human rights abuses against local citizens in the Upper Lomami
district. His arrest was confirmed by the United Nations' Mission in the DRC
(MONUC) on 27 April.

According to JED sources, negotiations got underway between Minister Mulunda
and Mai Mai militiamen on 26 April, aimed at ensuring the journalists'
prompt release.

For further information, contact D. M'Baya Tshimanga, president, Journaliste
en danger (JED), B.P. 633 Kinshasa 1, Democratic Republic of Congo, tel.
+243 814 035821, +243 9898 0760, +243 99 96 353, fax: +243 88 01 625,
e-mail: direction@jed-afcentre.org, Internet: http://www.jed-afrique.org

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

Togo: One month suspension for Radio Kanal FM

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/27886

The High Authority for Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC), the regulatory body of the media, on Thursday, April 21, slapped a one-month suspension on a private radio station Kanal FM for broadcasting what it described as a "defamatory, tendentious and insulting editorial". According to a Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) Togo source a HAAC directive issued on Friday, April 15, barred all private radio and television stations from covering the campaign for the elections due to be held on April 24, 2005.
IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), alerts@mfwaonline.org

Togo alert: One month suspension for Radio Kanal FM

The High Authority for Broadcasting and Communication (HAAC), the regulatory
body of the media, on Thursday, April 21, slapped a one-month suspension on
a private radio station Kanal FM for broadcasting what it described as a
"defamatory, tendentious and insulting editorial".

The HAAC also accused the radio station of not complying with earlier
warnings and cited "serious breach of the code of ethics of the journalistic
profession" as justification for the suspension order.

According to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)- Togo source a HAAC
directive issued on Friday, April 15, barred all private radio and
television stations from covering the campaign for the elections due to be
held on April 24, 2005.

The directive ordered Directors of the affected stations to "strictly comply
with" the provisions of Section 27 of the order which stipulates that
"private radio and television stations are not permitted, during the
campaign for the presidential elections to organize special programmes or
debates for the candidates or their representatives or report on the
election campaign". It further threatened sanctions if the provisions were
not complied with.

Following this order, on Tuesday, April 20, four journalist and private
media organizations denounced the HAAC for attempting to muzzle the media.
In a statement, the organizations declared: "Barring the media from
covering what is going on during election campaign is a deliberate attempt
to muzzle the media and promote some hidden agenda." It further described
the ban as "unconstitutional, an abuse of authority and a violation of press
freedom and the right of citizens to information pluralism".

The Media Foundation for West Africa is concerned at what it considers an
increase in moves to clamp down on media freedom. MFWA views the HAAC's
directives and pronouncements as a denial of the right of the Togolese media
to play their role in the election processes that are essential to building
democracy.

Kindly send your protest letters to:

H. E. Faure Eyadéma
Through:
M. Pitang Tchalla
Ministre de la Communication et de la Formation civique
BP 40 Lomé, Togo
Tél: (228) 221 29 30 (Standard)
(228) 221 29 23 (Secrétariat particulier)
Fax: (228) 221 43 80

Le Chef d´escadron Akila Esso Boko
Ministère de l´Intérieur, de la Sécurité et de la Décentralisation
Lomé, Togo
Tél: (228) 222 57 12/222 57 16 (Standard)
(228) 221 37 72 (Secrétarait particulier)
Fax: (228) 221 61 50/222 21 84

M. Katary Foli-Bazi
Garde des sceaux, Ministre de la Justice chargé de la promotion de la
démocratie
et de l'Etat de droit
Tél: (228) 221 26 53/221 54 91
(228) 221 09 75 (Secrétariat particulier)

Prof. Kwame Karikari
Executive Director
Tel: 233 21 24 24 70
Fax: 233 21 22 10 84

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

Tunisia: Imprisoned journalist on hunger strike

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/27885

The Committee to Protect Journalists says it is deeply concerned about the health of imprisoned Tunisian journalist Hamadi Jebali. Jebali has been on a hunger strike since April 9 to protest his treatment in Sfax prison, about 142 miles (230 km) from Tunis. According to his lawyer Noureddine B'hiri, Jebali's health is deteriorating quickly. He is very faint and weak, B'hiri said, adding that Jebali's wife, Wahida Trabelsi, is demanding that an outside doctor be allowed to examine Jebali's condition.
IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), HSabra@cpj.org

TUNISIA: Imprisoned journalist on hunger strike

New York, April 19, 2005 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply
concerned about the health of imprisoned Tunisian journalist Hamadi Jebali.
Jebali has been on a hunger strike since April 9 to protest his treatment in
Sfax prison, about 142 miles (230 km) from Tunis.

According to his lawyer Noureddine B'hiri, Jebali's health is deteriorating
quickly. He is very faint and weak, B'hiri said, adding that Jebali's wife,
Wahida Trabelsi, is demanding that an outside doctor be allowed to examine
Jebali's condition.

Jebali, the former editor of Al-Fajr, the now defunct weekly newspaper of
the banned Islamic Al-Nahda party, began the strike on April 9. Last month,
B'hiri told CPJ, the prison staff stopped delivering Jebali the food
prescribed by his doctors for his preexisting heart condition. B'hiri also
said that Jebali's hunger strike is in protest of his more than 10 years in
solitary confinement.

Jebali was initially imprisoned in 1991 due to an article he wrote calling
for the abolition of military tribunals in Tunisia. Tried the following year
by a military court, along with nearly 300 others accused of belonging to
Al-Nahda, he was later sentenced to 16 years in prison. International human
rights groups monitoring the mass trial concluded that the proceedings fell
far below international standards of justice.

"Hamadi Jebali has been unjustly jailed for more than a decade," said CPJ
executive director Ann Cooper. "Regardless of this hunger strike, he should
be released from prison at once."

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to
safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit www.cpj.org

*************************
Hani Sabra
Researcher
Middle East and North Africa

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 Seventh Avenue
12th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Tel: (212) 465-1004, x-104
Fax: (212) 465-9568
Web: www.cpj.org

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

Burundi: Stop fighting us, rebel leader tells government

2005-04-27

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46827

Burundi's remaining rebel group, the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) will end the war only when government troops stopped attacking its forces, rebel leader Agathon Rwasa said on Wednesday. "We are committed to lasting peace in Burundi," he told a news conference in Tanzania's commercial city of Dar es Salaam. "But the government must also respect our position. If we are attacked we are going to hit back."

Ivory Coast: Gbagbo relents on opposition candidate

2005-04-27

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504270630.html

Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo has agreed to use his constitutional powers to allow a main opposition rival to stand in October's elections, bowing to international pressure and to one of the key demands of rebels occupying the north of the country. In a speech aired on state television late Tuesday, Gbagbo said he would apply Article 48 of the constitution, which allows the president to take extraordinary measures when institutions or territorial integrity are at stake.

Sudan: Calls for a new action plan

2005-04-27

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=3391

Despite recent Security Council resolutions and a peace agreement covering part of the country, Sudan remains at war, with as many as 10,000 or more civilians dying monthly in Darfur. The UN, NATO and the EU need to get together urgently with the AU, decide who can do what best and then do it without regard for institutional prerogatives or national prestige. How to maximise cooperation to get the necessary additional troops on the ground quickly with equipment, structure and command organisation to be effective is probably the single most urgent and complex issue the international community faces in Sudan. More action is needed to protect civilians and relief agencies in Darfur; implement accountability; build a Darfur peace process; implement the Khartoum-SPLM agreement; and prevent new conflict in the east before it becomes the next major war. This is according to the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group.

Sudan: Darfur peace talks to resume in May

2005-04-27

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46834

Peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebels in the western region of Darfur are expected to resume in May, a spokesman for the African Union (AU) in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, told IRIN on Wednesday. An AU mediation team, he added, had been holding consultations with Sudanese government officials in a renewed effort to jumpstart the negotiations.

Sudan: The will to act?

2005-04-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/27870

The latest debate in Washington on Sudan is about estimates of the number of dead in Darfur, with the Washington Post in an April 24 editorial criticizing Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick for citing a report of 60,000 to 160,000 dead in the last two years, in contrast to higher estimates ranging up to 400,000 from human rights groups and other analysts. But this debate, like the earlier and continuing international debate over whether to call the atrocities in western Sudan genocide, is largely a surrogate for a more fundamental debate over the international political will to act. This is according to the latest edition of the Africa Focus Bulletin, available by clicking on the link below. Also available is a statement from the Darfur Relief and Documentation Center welcoming a recent UN Commission on Human Rights Resolution.

Sudan: Promises and Plans

AfricaFocus Bulletin
Apr 27, 2005 (050427)
(Reposted from sources cited below)

Editor's Note

"Time is running out for the people of Sudan. We need pledges
immediately converted into cash and more protection forces in
Darfur to prevent yet more death and suffering. If we fail in
Sudan, the consequences of our actions will haunt us for years to
come." - United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan

The latest debate in Washington on Sudan is about estimates of the
number dead in Darfur, with the Washington Post in an April 24
editorial criticizing Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick for
citing a report of 60,000 to 160,000 dead in the last two years,
in contrast to higher estimates ranging up to 400,000 from human
rights groups and other analysts. But this debate, like the earlier
and continuing international debate over whether to call the
atrocities in western Sudan genocide, is largely a surrogate for a
more fundamental debate over the international political will to
act.

Even the lower numbers being cited, or the January report from an
international commission that found evidence of "crimes against
humanity" while declining to rule on whether these crimes were
genocide, are more than sufficient grounds for action. There is
wide agreement in principle on some measures, such as providing
more humanitarian aid and increasing the numbers of Africa Union
troops on the ground in Darfur. The International Crisis Group has
just released a new report with a comprehensive set of specific
actions needed to provide greater security and prevent new deaths.
In theory stronger language or higher estimates of the death toll
might lead to greater pressure for action. The danger is that
debates about words or numbers will instead substitute for action.

This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains an op-ed by Secretary General
Annan from The New York Times of April 13, a press release from the
World Food Program on the precarious state of food supplies for
Darfur, and a press release and excerpts with specific action
proposals from the New Sudan Action Plan released by the
International Crisis Group (ICG) on April 26. More details of the
ICG plan are available on the group's website
(http://www.crisisgroup.org).

For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins and additional links on Sudan,
visit http://www.africafocus.org/country/sudan.php

For current news, including recent articles on funding for
humanitarian operations in both Darfur and southern Sudan, see
http://allafrica.com/sudan and
http://www.africafocus.org/country/sudan_irin.php For the most
detailed coverage of the issue of numbers of deaths in Darfur, see
http://www.sudantribune.com

++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++++++++

Billions of Promises to Keep

By Kofi A. Annan

The New York Times

April 13, 2005

This is a make-or-break year for Sudan, Africa's biggest country.
In Oslo this week, donor countries pledged $4.5 billion in aid to
Sudan, but while I applaud the donors' generosity, promises alone
are not enough.

Time is running out for the people of Sudan. We need pledges
immediately converted into cash and more protection forces in
Darfur to prevent yet more death and suffering. If we fail in
Sudan, the consequences of our actions will haunt us for years to
come.

After more than two million dead, four million uprooted, and 21
years of warfare, southern Sudan is at last on the threshold of
peace. It is, of course, a volatile, fragile peace. Violence,
disease and displacement are still daily realities in this
desperately impoverished region, where one in four children die
before the age of 5, nearly half of all children are malnourished,
and only 5 out of 100 girls attend primary school.

Peace will not be easily consolidated in such an environment. Nor
will it come on the cheap. Indeed, roughly half all countries that
emerge from civil war lapse back into violence within five years.
International support is urgently needed to help Sudan weather the
rocky transition from war to peace.

The needs are many - and immediate. More than three million
civilians, displaced by violence, can now return to southern Sudan
and rebuild their lives. Two million of them need food aid. If
people are not fed, if former soldiers are not reintegrated or
retrained, peace will quickly unravel.

The billions pledged this week can help. But hungry people cannot
eat pledges. Through long and bitter experience we've learned that
donor pledges often remain unfulfilled. In Cambodia, Rwanda,
Liberia and elsewhere, a large percentage of promised funds failed
to materialize, and many lives were lost as a result.

For example, in 1992, donors pledged $880 million for Cambodian war
rehabilitation; three years later, only $460 million had been
delivered. Nearly a year after donors promised $1 billion to deal
with the devastation caused by the 2003 earthquake in Bam, Iran,
less than 20 percent of the money had been delivered.

Clearly, we must do better in Sudan. I urge donors to convert their
generous pledges into cash without delay. And I urge the public to
hold them accountable for their promises. This time, let us keep
our commitments, and not turn a blind eye to a whole generation of
Sudanese who have earned this peace and desperately need it.

In Darfur, rations at camps already have been cut - and soon
Sudan's rainy season will begin, making aid more difficult and
costly to deliver. In a matter of weeks we will run out of food for
two million people.

No one really knows how many people have died in Darfur since the
conflict began, but some analysts estimate it could be 300,000 or
more. If the situation deteriorates further, up to four million
people - two-thirds of Darfur's population - may need food aid by
summer's end.

But more than food aid is needed - we also need to hold the
perpetrators of violence in Sudan accountable. The International
Commission of Inquiry, which I appointed at the request of the
United Nations Security Council, has amply documented the murder,
mass rapes, abductions and other atrocities committed in Darfur, as
have many others. We know what is happening in Darfur. The question
is, why are we not doing more to put an end to it?

Last summer, the Security Council, the United States and the
European Union all said Darfur was their top priority. But it was
only last month that the Security Council agreed to impose
sanctions on people who commit violations of international law in
Darfur and, in a historic first, to refer the situation in Darfur
to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, thus taking
a critical step toward ending the prevailing climate of impunity.
Last week I handed the prosecutor the sealed list of those
identified by the Commission of Inquiry.

While we are grateful to African leaders for their contributions
thus far, we need thousands more - and not today or tomorrow but
yesterday.

After all, giving aid without protection is like putting a Band-Aid
on an open wound. Unarmed aid workers, while vitally necessary,
cannot defend civilians from murder, rape or violent attack. Our
collective failure to provide a much larger force is as pitiful and
inexcusable as the consequences are grave for the tens of thousands
of families who are left unprotected.

We saw this all too well in Bosnia a decade ago. Back then, Bosnian
civilians watched the aid trucks continue to roll while their
neighbors were gunned-down in full daylight. "We will die with our
stomachs full," they used to say. Are we now going to stand by and
watch a replay in Darfur?

I also urge all those with influence over the warring parties to
persuade them to return quickly to the negotiating table and agree
on a political settlement.

In this watershed year for Sudan, it is vital that the
international community move speedily to provide the resources to
consolidate a fragile peace in the south, and to protect civilians
from recurring violence in Darfur. We know what we need: money to
help win the peace in the south, more African Union boots on the
ground to help end the atrocities in Darfur, and political pressure
to settle the conflict. It's that simple, and that essential.

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

United Nations World Food Programme (WFP)

Quick U.S. response allows WFP to cancel ration cut in Darfur but
funding still critical

26 Apr 2005

http://www.reliefweb.int

Khartoum - The United Nations World Food Programme announced today
that thanks to a rapid donor response, the agency will not be
forced to carry out expected ration cuts in May for close to two
million people living in Sudan's western region of Darfur. The
reprieve follows WFP's warning three weeks ago of impending ration
cuts due to a lack of funds which remains a concern.

As a last resort due to severe under-funding, WFP had planned to
halve the non-cereals part of the daily ration for general
distributions in Darfur in May. However, the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID) Food for Peace has stepped in
and redirected to Sudan around 14,000 metric tons of non-cereals
already on the high seas.

"We are extremely appreciative of the urgent efforts made by the
United States to prevent ration cuts at such a critical period,"
said Ramiro Lopes da Silva, WFP's Representative and Country
Director in Sudan. Even before this new donation, the United States
has contributed 60 percent of the food and 50 percent of cash
towards WFP's emergency operation.

However, WFP warned that despite this stop-gap measure for the
current non-cereals shortfall, the overall emergency operation in
Darfur still remains severely under-funded. Of the US$467 million
WFP needs for the Darfur operation, only US$281 million has been
received, leaving a 40 percent shortfall.

Adding to the difficulties is the recently increased estimate of
people requiring food aid. WFP contingency planning projects a
worst-case scenario of 3.5 million people in need during the
leanest months of July and August, of which WFP will target 3.25
million.

"The rainy season coincides with the peak of the hunger season,"
Lopes da Silva said. "With limited food supply, the situation is
going to be dreadful for hundreds of thousands of Sudanese."

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

International Crisis Group
http://www.crisisgroup.org

A New Sudan Action Plan

Press Release

Nairobi/Brussels, 26 April 2005: Despite recent UN Security Council
resolutions and a peace agreement covering the south, parts of
Sudan remain at war or threatened by war and the security situation
in Darfur is deteriorating. Stronger measures are needed to restore
security and prevent further mass deaths.

A New Sudan Action Plan, the latest briefing by the International
Crisis Group, outlines a policy blueprint for the next steps
required in Darfur, where as many as 10,000 civilians or more die
each month, and elsewhere in the giant country.

"The UN, NATO and the EU need to get together urgently with the
African Union (AU), decide who can do what best in Darfur and then
do it without regard for institutional prerogatives or national
prestige", says Suliman Baldo, Crisis Group's Africa Program
Director. "How to maximise cooperation between these four
organisations -- how to get the necessary additional troops on the
ground quickly enough with equipment, structure and command
organisation to be effective -- is probably the single most urgent
and complex issue the international community faces with the entire
Sudan portfolio".

The UN Security Council resolutions at the end of March 2005 were
welcome, if long overdue, steps, raising the prospect that senior
Khartoum officials will finally be held criminally accountable for
their Darfur policy. But the situation remains very grave, and more
action is needed to:

1. protect civilians and relief agencies in Darfur by reinforcing
AU peacekeepers with a stronger mandate and more troops -- up to at
least 10,000 total -- that are properly resourced; enforcing the
arms embargo and military flight ban over Darfur; neutralising
government-controlled militias and enabling IDPs and refugees to
return home;

2. implement accountability by getting the proposed Sanctions
Committee operational; by widening targeted sanctions; and aiding
the International Criminal Court investigation;

3. build a Darfur peace process by devising a blueprint for
negotiations and appointing a lead senior mediator from the AU as
well as U.S., EU, and UN envoys to lend support;

4. implement the existing peace agreement for southern Sudan by
deploying the proposed UN mission rapidly; effectively managing the
oil sector; pressing for security sector reform; and ending the
capacity of Khartoum hardliners to use the Ugandan insurgency, the
Lord's Resistance Army, to sabotage stability in southern Sudan;
and

5. prevent new conflict in the east, before it becomes the next
major civil war.

"In the absence of more assertive action, a resumption of war
threatens the south, fighting could intensify in the east, and
mortality rates will skyrocket in Darfur, where localised famine
threatens", says John Prendergast, Special Advisor to the President
of Crisis Group. "The future of the Sudanese state and its people
are at stake, and their fate will be determined by the actions the
international community now takes -- or fails to take -- to counter
atrocity crimes and promote peace throughout the country".

Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 485 555 946 Jennifer
Leonard (Washington) +1 202 785 1601

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

Objective One: Protect Civilians and Relief Supplies in Darfur

Action One: Give the AU force (AMIS) a stronger mandate.

The government of Sudan has failed in its responsibility to protect
its citizens. Therefore, the AMIS mandate -- primarily a monitoring
one at present, though with a narrow provision to "protect
civilians whom it encounters under imminent threat and in the
immediate vicinity" -- must be strengthened to focus
unequivocally on the protection of civilian life and humanitarian
operations, and to leave AMIS commanders and troops in no doubt
that they are expected to operate proactively. The Rwandan
government has made it clear that it will pull its forces out of
Darfur if the AU does not seek a more robust civilian protection
mandate. The Security Council should lend its weight to support
such an AU effort and should endorse the new stronger mandate.

Action Two: Send more troops, properly resourced.

AMIS was authorised in October 2004 to field 3,320 troops. Only
just over 2,000 have thus far reached Darfur. Both figures are
inadequate even to accomplish the current mandate of primarily
ceasefire observation. A minimum of 10,000 are needed to carry out
the stronger mandate that the situation requires. A number of
questions must be addressed urgently:

* where the additional troops are to come from -- AU member states
and/or other contributors;

* what additional equipment is required and whether this can be
provided by the troop-contributing states or must be provided by
others;

* how the additional troops and their equipment can be deployed
quickly; and

* what command and control adjustments the larger force may
require.

The young AU is the only body that has stepped up to the Darfur
tragedy in a meaningful fashion. It is vitally important that it
develop, as it desires, the capacities, institutions, practices and
procedures to handle security crises on the African continent.
However, the difficulty evidenced in deploying in six months only
a little more than half the inadequate number of authorised troops
shows it needs assistance to master this crisis. Three
organisations are capable of helping: the UN, which already has a
mandate under Security Council Resolution 1590 to deploy 10,000
troops in Sudan, not necessarily limited to the south; NATO, which
has unrivalled trained manpower and logistical resources; and the
EU, which has growing peacekeeping abilities and ambitions and the
right to call on NATO resources.

How to maximise cooperation between these four organisations -- how
to get the necessary additional troops on the ground quickly enough
with equipment, structure and command organisation to be effective
-- is probably the single most urgent and complex issue the
international community faces with the entire Sudan portfolio.
Crisis Group will analyse this more fully in a subsequent report.
The immediate requirement, however, is for senior representatives
of the four organisations and key governments to consult urgently
and decide who now can best do what. Among the questions and
options on their agenda should be:

* how many of the necessary additional troops the AU can provide
and how quickly, and how and from where any shortfalls can be made
good;

* whether NATO or the EU should be the primary provider of Western
assistance to the efforts in Darfur and what lift, capacity
training, and equipment can be provided; and

* whether part of the UN peacekeeping deployment authorised for
Sudan under Resolution 1590 should be sent to, or earmarked as
available in emergency for, Darfur, and if so what the relationship
to the AMIS mission should be in terms of subordination or
superiority and/or division of tasks or zones of responsibility.

These matters need to be settled quickly between the organisations
on a basis of what can work and without regard for jurisdictional
prerogatives or prestige. The results should be confirmed and
formalised in a Security Council resolution.

Action Three: Enforce the Security Council's ban on offensive
military flights over Darfur.

Although the Sudanese military's use of aerial assets has decreased
in recent weeks, its helicopter gunships and Antonov bombers remain
a threat to civilians. Resolution 1591 invites the AU's Ceasefire
Commission to provide the Security Council with information about
compliance with the ban and envisages application of targeted
sanctions against individuals responsible for violations. More
direct and immediate safeguards should be provided, including a new
Security Council resolution requiring that an AMIS or UN observer
be present on all military fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters that
fly over Darfur, with any violations to be reported immediately to
the Security Council, which in turn should be prepared to authorise
the international troops on the ground to seize the offending
aircraft and also be prepared to call an especially serious breach
to the attention of the ICC. Additionally AMIS and NATO/EU should
consider the feasibility of and procedures for establishing AWACS
radar coverage of Darfur's airspace.

Action Four: Neutralise the militias.

Despite innumerable commitments to do so, the Sudanese government
has not yet made a serious effort to disarm or otherwise rein in
the Janjaweed militias -- an essential step if civilians are to be
secure and peace is to return to Darfur. The responsibility is
Khartoum's. The Security Council should give the government one
last opportunity to discharge that responsibility by ordering it to
produce a plan for review by the Council and to implement it
promptly. AMIS should report within 30 days on that implementation,
and if progress is not sufficient, the Security Council should
impose targeted sanctions against those deemed responsible, bring
full details to the attention of the ICC and task the international
troops on the ground to produce their own plan to improve the
situation. That plan would need to involve proactive measures
including use of force sufficient at least to make the militias
realise that matters had fundamentally changed, and there would be
high costs to further depredations.

Action Five: Enable IDP/refugee return.

Two years into the crisis, the UN has yet to articulate a
comprehensive plan for persons displaced by the conflict to return
to their homes and to assist them in rebuilding their villages. The
Secretary General should urgently develop such a plan, with clear
delineation of responsibilities and timelines, after which the
Sudanese government will need to cooperate with it. The plan should
include a Neutral Resettlement and Claims Commission composed of
representatives of the government, the rebels and civil society
known for their integrity, chaired by a UN representative, and with
a mandate to:

* record criminal complaints against groups or individuals for
injuries, wrongful deaths and material losses such as looted
livestock and household and commercial goods;

* consult with women and local organisations in planning and
implementing IDP and refugee returns;

* create mechanisms for restitution, compensation and
investigation of charges by victims; as the entity responsible for
the policies that have led to the devastation of Darfur, the
Sudanese government should be expected to bear full responsibility
for setting up a restitution/ compensation fund;

* collaborate with investigations by responsible third parties
into violations of international humanitarian law; and

* establish land usage rights to resolve the inevitable disputes
that will arise when displaced persons return to their villages.

Action Six: Monitor and enforce the arms embargo.

The Security Council needs to move quickly to put in place the
institutions envisaged by Resolution 1591: a Council Committee to
identify transgressors against whom member states are to apply
targeted sanctions and a Panel of Experts to assist it. At least
the former should be up and working by 28 April 2005 -- 30 days
after passage of the resolution and the date envisaged by the
resolution for entrance into force of the initial sanctions. The
Security Council has not yet identified a member state to chair of
the Committee, and the Secretary General has not named the Panel of
Experts. Reports of the Panel of Experts and the Committee should
be public, and the Council and member states should act
expeditiously upon them. The same Committee and Panel of Experts
are charged as well with responsibility for the targeted sanctions
regime with respect to other aspects of Resolution 1591.

[For specific actions on objectives 2 through 5, see the full
report on ]http://www.crisisgroup.org]


*************************************************************
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Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre

DRDC/PR/2004/15 Geneva, 22.04.2005

DRDC Welcomes UN Commission on Human Rights Resolution
E/CN.4/2005/L.36/Rev.3 on the situation of human rights in the Sudan,

Darfur Relief and Documentation Center (DRDC) welcomes resolution E/CN.4/2005/L.36/Rev.3, adopted without a vote by the 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights on 21 April 2005. The resolution condemned the continued, widespread and systematic violations of human rights and international humanitarian law as reflected in the findings of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur (ICID), the violence against civilians and sexual violence against women and girls, destruction of villages, widespread displacement and other violations in Darfur and urged all parties to take necessary steps to prevent further violations. It condemned the violations committed by the Janjaweed and other armed militias, and reiterated the need to control, disarm and disband these militias and bring to justice all those responsible for human rights violations in Darfur. The resolution also decided to appoint a Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan and called upon all parties to the conflict to cooperate fully in the implementation of Security Council resolutions 1556 (2004), 1590 (2005), 1591 (2005) and 1593 (2005).
Resolution E/CN.4/2005/L.36/Rev.3, was adopted by consensus without vote under Item 19 of the Commission’s Agenda and therefore it carries heavy moral weight on the government of Sudan to fully and unconditionally respect and implement all its provisions as Sudan, which is a State member of the Commission on Human Rights, unequivocally approved all these provisions including paragraph 4 ( a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h and j ) which called upon the Government of Sudan to continue efforts aimed at finding a durable peaceful resolution to the conflict in Darfur, stop and investigate violations of human rights and to bring the perpetrators to justice, end impunity for the crimes committed in Darfur in light of the recommendations made by the ICID, disarm the Janjaweed militias, promote the respect for human rights and international humanitarian law throughout the country, protect the human rights of all persons in particular those of internally displaced persons and refugees, improve security in and around camps for internally displaced persons and enhance access to the courts for all victims, exert maximum efforts for promoting peaceful social coexistence between different tribes in Darfur and cooperate fully in the implementation of relevant UN Security Council resolutions. DRDC calls on the government of Sudan to respect Resolution E/CN.4/2005/L.36/Rev.3, in letter and spirit. We also call upon the international community to remain vigilant and closely follow up the situation of human rights in the country.
DRDC is deeply concerned that the security situation in Darfur is deteriorating rapidly and that the region witness increased attacks against civilian populations and targets including international relief organisations and their personnel in recent days. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands of houses were burnt and their inhabitants displaced in March and April 2005. DRDC firmly believe that effective protection of the defenceless civilian populations in Darfur from combined army and Janjaweed attacks is the most critical need that should be addressed urgently by the international community. DRDC repeats its call to the Security Council to authorise the deployment of a resourceful and strong military force in Darfur which should be composed of at least 50,000 thousand troops in order to effectively protect the more than 2 million IDPs and refugees and ensure their speedy and safe return to their original villages. This force should also be empowered to disarm the Janjaweed and apprehend their leaders and mentors in order to bring them to justice in compliance with repeated calls on the government of Sudan to do so. This is the only way to avert a chaotic situation that may degenerate into a major humanitarian disaster reminiscent of the 1994 Rwanda genocide. Ends

Botswana to develop cyber law

2005-04-28

http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20050420&i=Botswana_to_develop_cyber_law

The Director of Information Technology (IT) has described the move by Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries to harmonise Internet laws as an indirect call for Botswana to develop its own cyberspace legislation to deal with the increasing use of technology. Since Botswana’s trading partners are within the SADC region, it has become necessary that Botswana develops its own cyberspace laws that are non-existent at present.

Creating awareness on violence against women through ICTs

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/27920

Rape, incest and other forms of violence against women reign in Kambiti, a small shopping centre in the Central Province of Kenya. The background information the Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) had before starting a project to create awareness on violence against women little prepared us for the lessons we have learnt in the last seven months. The AMWIK project sought to utilise information and communication technology to disseminate information on gender based violence to the Kambiti community and adjacent areas.
CREATING AWARENESS ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN USING
ICT?S IN CENTRAL KENYA
By Jane Wambui Thuo
Programme officer, AMWIK

Rape, incest and other forms of violence against women
reign in Kambiti, a small shopping centre in the
Central Province of Kenya. The background information
the Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK) had
before starting a project to create awareness on
violence against women little prepared us for the
lessons we have learnt in the last seven months.

Kambiti is a sleepy village that borders both the
agriculturally productive Central Province of Kenya
on one side and the semi-arid parts of Eastern
Province on the other and lies about 120 Kilometers
from the city of Nairobi. Nothing suggests anything
out of the ordinary about Kambiti, infact it is famous
for its variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and is
a favorite stop over for travelers along the Nairobi
/Nyeri highway where they buy mangoes, water melons,
paw paws, pumpkins and oranges at bargain prices.

However the deceptive calm that greets visitors to
Kambiti is a far cry from the reality where gender
based violence is rampant. The entry of the
Association of Media Women in Kenya, (AMWIK) in the
community could therefore not have been more
appropriate. The project sought to utilise information
and communication technology to disseminate
information on gender based violence to the Kambiti
community and adjacent areas.

Radio has been cited as the most commonly used
communication channel in rural Kenya. Nonetheless, the
information broadcast on the radio programmes may not
always reach the intended audience. With their
multiple work load, for example, women hardly get time
to listen to the radio. In most cases, particularly in
the rural areas, the radio is under the control of the
male ? and older - members of the household. AMWIK
therefore opted to package radio programmes and
distribute them to community groups so they could
listen to them during their weekly meetings.

Ten radio programmes of twenty-minutes? each,
addressing various issues on gender based violence
were produced. Topics covered included:
? definitions of gender violence and the forms of
violence with reference to international conventions
e.g. CEDAW and the provisions of the Kenyan laws
? prevalence of gender based violence in the project
area
? the cultural beliefs and attitudes that men use to
justify domestic violence
? effects of violence on the victim, children, the
entire family and the society in general
? role of men alleviating gender based violence
? inheritance and succession law
? how members of the community can take action against
GBV

Five community groups comprising mainly women and
already in existence as self-help groups were selected
for the project. AMWIK was aware that GBV in the
community could not be addressed by women alone. The
women?s groups were therefore requested to incorporate
men for the purpose of the project only.

AMWIK trained twenty radio listening groups?
moderators from the five groups - ten women and ten
men - on gender relations and how to facilitate the
radio listening sessions for their groups. The Each
group was then provided with a radio/cassette and the
recorded programmes on tapes. After listening to a
radio programme, the moderators guide the members of
the group in discussing the issue addressed using the
following guideline:
? Does the issue discussed in the programme affect
them?
? What is being done about it?
? WWith the information gained from the programme,
what action can they take as members of the community?
? Whom would they contact for assistance, if required?

There has been a great demand for the cassettes by
other members of the community. Group moderators have
been educating the community using the knowledge
gained from the programmes. As Joseph Mutisya, a group
moderator says, ?the information in the programmes is
just what we have been missing?. Three men?s groups
and a youth group have organised themselves for
listening sessions.

According to a member of one o f the listening groups
known only as Mama Carol the community has been
empowered through the programme. ?We can now seek
audience with the local administration for their
action against brewers of illicit alcohol whose
consumption has contributed to the high incidents of
violence and other crimes. Now I know what steps to
take in case of defilement or rape in my village?, she
explains. The women and men in the community have
received counseling and legal advice from the
Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), the
Federation of Women Lawyers ?Kenya (FIDA) and Men for
Gender Equality Now.

? Case study: The women from Kambiti were incensed by
the defilement of a twelve year old girl by an uncle.
According to Florence, a teacher at a local primary
school and a group moderator, the girl was traumatised
and the relatives had threatened her with dire
consequences if she exposed the uncle. Florence
narrated the incident to her group and it was on this
basis that they sought intervention from AMWIK. AMWIK
took prompt action by sending the girl for medical
check up and counseling and she was taken temporarily
into a rescue centre for counseling. The girl was not
willing to stay at home any more, fearing that the
uncle could defile her once again. AMWIK has now
adopted the young girl and placed her in a children?s
home and is catering for her living and education
expenses.

For the men, AMWIK has organised for counseling
sessions by Men for Gender Equality Now, a men?s
support group against gender violence. A key issue
that came from the men?s counseling sessions was that
their spouses denied them their conjugal rights. The
men were advised to behave more responsibly and assist
with domestic chores otherwise how would they ?expect
a wife who woke up at 3.00a.m to fetch water 20Kms
away, cook and wash for the family, and perform other
household chores for close to 15 hours in a day to be
sexually ready for her husband who has plenty of
energy having idled around the whole day!?

For AMWIK, there is a clear indication that
information, communication and technology (ICT) is a
crucial tool for information dissemination not only to
create awareness but also prompt social action against
issues like gender violence and HIV/AIDS. Information
is a powerful tool through which people?s attitudes
can slowly change towards desired effect so long as
information is contextualized to meet the felt needs
and issues unique to their lives.

AMWIK collaborated closely with partners working
towards alleviation of gender violence the World
Vision, The Coalition on Violence Against Women,
(COVAW), FEMNET?s Men for Gender Equality Now, the
Women?s Rights Awareness Programme (WRAP), the
Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA-Kenya), the
administration and the media. During one of the
monitoring trips, AMWIK took along a team of
journalists who published newspaper articles and
broadcast radio and TV programmes from the project.

The Men Against Gender Equality Now group has
established direct contact with the men in the
community and have made several trips to educate the
men on their rights and roles in ending gender based
violence. The project, supported by the Global
Knowledge Partnership (GKP) Seed Grant and Small
Innovative Projects Fund, has created a forum through
which members of the community can exploit the
potential of ICTs to make a positive difference in
their lives.

ECA calls for rapid transition to 'information economy'

2005-04-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/27852

African governments should commit more strongly to policies that support a sustainable transition to an information and knowledge economy. That was the message from the Economic Commission for Africa, Monday, at the opening of "CODI IV", the fourth Committee on Development Information. Speaking at the opening session, ECA's Deputy Executive Secretary Josephine Ouedraogo said that information as a driver in economic development has expanded dramatically during the past decade in line with the shift in parts of the world from an “industrial society” to an “information society”.

ECA Press Release No. 10/2005                                                 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ECA CALLS FOR RAPID TRANSITION TO 'INFORMATION ECONOMY'

Addis Ababa, 26 April 2005 (ECA) -  African governments should commit more strongly to policies that support a sustainable transition to an information and knowledge economy. That was the message from the Economic Commission for Africa, Monday, at the opening of "CODI IV",  the fourth  Committee on Development Information.

Speaking at the opening session, ECA's Deputy Executive Secretary Josephine Ouedraogo said that information as a driver in economic development has expanded dramatically during the past decade in line with the shift in parts of the world from an “industrial society” to an “information society”.

She told participants that the liberalized ICT environment is spinning off new industries in Africa, creating technology parks, globally-operating call centres, cyber-cities and a growing software development sector seeking a share of the global $260 billion software industry. Some estimate that African software companies could become the single largest contributor to their countries' Gross Domestic Product.

Despite these developments, she said, “ICT resources in Africa do not take women’s needs into account, and current policies of deregulation and liberalization of communications do not address issues of communication for empowering women.” “We need to address this imbalance by adopting gender-sensitive policies,” she said.

She praised the Enterprise Development Facility (EDF) launched in 1997 by ECA and UNDP to empower African women entrepreneurs and facilitate their participation in the information economy. She urged the adoption of similar initiatives to build an inclusive information economy for young people and civil society.

Citing examples of the changes brought by ICT applications, she noted: “With the aid of ICT and geoinformation applications, prospective travelers can make bookings online without leaving their homes. The economic rationale for e-ticketing has the potential to save the transport industry over $2.7 billion a year.” But she cautioned that policy-makers should to pay attention to the potential impact on employment of e-paper systems and technological solutions.

For her part, ECA’s Aida Opoku-Mensah, Officer-in-Charge in the Development Information Services Division (DISD) urged participants to investigate, deliberate and document the advantages and returns of the emerging information and knowledge economy as an economic resource during the coming days.

“We expect CODI-IV to be a landmark in shaping ECA’s future work, and in addition, in strengthening understanding of the key role of data and information in planning and implementing Government programmes and projects," she said.



MEDIA ADVISORY
The fourth meeting of the Committee on Development Information (CODI) takes place 23-28 April 2005 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The theme for this year's meeting is  "Information as an economic resource."  CODI meets every two years and is one of seven subsidiary bodies of the ECA, established in 1997 . The Committee provides policy and technical guidance for ECA's work in "harnessing information for development".  For more information, visit the “CODI” website at   http://www.uneca.org/codi


Mercy Wambui, Communication Officer, UNECA
Tel: +251 1 44-54-23
Email: mwambui@uneca.org

Issued by the ECA Communication Team
P.O. Box 3001
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
Tel: +251-1-44-33-22
Fax: +251-1-51-03-65
Email: ecainfo@uneca.org
Web: www.uneca.org

Empowering Local Communities and Improving Local Government through ICT

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/27830

This discussion focuses on the question: How can ICT empower local communities and improve local governments, especially during a process of decentralization? Can ICT help improve the poor record of decentralization and make the goals of decentralization a reality? Can ICT empower citizens with the information and means they need to make their governments work effectively for them? What is needed to make ICT an effective tool for good local governance? These questions are crucial to the well-being of people throughout the developing world. This discussion will seek to answer these questions with concrete examples, specific cases, experience and recommendations that can guide local communities, local governments, ICT practitioners and decentralization experts. Join the discussion and share what you know.
Empowering Local Communities and Improving Local Government through ICT

JOIN THE ONLINE DISCUSSION
May 2 - May 27, 2005

"ICT can contribute to fostering empowerment and participation and
making government processes more efficient and transparent by
encouraging communication and information-sharing among people and
organizations, and within government." (Creating a Development Dynamic).

"ICTs can empower people and significantly improve local government" -
statements like this are often treated cynically. Yet some communities
have managed to use ICT to make their local governments more responsive,
transparent, and efficient. Widespread trends toward decentralization
make it crucial to learn from these communities.

This discussion focuses on the question: How can ICT empower local
communities and improve local governments, especially during a process
of decentralization?

Decentralization - the transfer of power from central to local
government - has a highly questionable record. Decentralization reforms
are often poorly designed and executed. As a result, local governments
fail to fulfill their new responsibilities - fiscal management,
strategic planning, and very basic public services degenerate.

Yet many donors and citizens continue to believe that decentralization
provides new opportunities for active participation of an informed
citizenry that will create more responsive, transparent and effective
local government.

Can ICT help improve the poor record of decentralization and make the
goals of decentralization a reality? Can ICT empower citizens with the
information and means they need to make their governments work
effectively for them? What is needed to make ICT an effective tool for
good local governance? These questions are crucial to the well-being of
people throughout the developing world.

This discussion will seek to answer these questions with concrete
examples, specific cases, experience and recommendations that can guide
local communities, local governments, ICT practitioners and
decentralization experts. Join the discussion and share what you know
regarding:

* Cases of successful decentralization efforts that have utilized
ICT effectively
* Challenges to introducing ICT successfully into decentralization
efforts
* Technology options that work - and those that don't
* Cases of local governments using ICT to improve transparency,
responsiveness and efficiency
* Cases of citizens/civil society groups using ICT to participate
more fully in local government decision-making
* Technologies that have proven particularly effective in
improving local government

Agenda

Week 1: Can ICTs support successful decentralization and improve local
governance?

Week 2: How can local communities (e.g., businesses, NGOs, media,
schools, etc.) use ICT to participate more effectively in local
decision-making?

Week 3: How can local governments use ICT to improve the efficiency of
service delivery to local citizens and businesses?

Week 4: Where do we want local governments to be in three years, and
what should we be doing now, using ICT, to help realize that goal?


This discussion is sponsored by the USAID-funded DOT-COM Alliance and
hosted by GKD. It will focus on "Using ICT to Empower Local Communities
and Improve Local Government" for four weeks (May 2 to May 27, 2005).
However, GKD is a major forum for exchange of experience and knowledge
on all aspects of ICT for development, with thousands of members from
over 100 countries. The ongoing GKD forum will continue after this
discussion topic.

***HOW TO JOIN***

Anyone who has electronic mail with Internet access can subscribe to the
discussion. To join, please send an e-mail to:

MAJORDOMO@MAIL.EDC.ORG

Do *not* enter a subject. In the body of the message, type the text:

SUBSCRIBE GKD

Do *not* put anything after GKD. You will receive a Welcome Letter to
the discussion.


***THE DOT-COM ALLIANCE***

This discussion is sponsored by the DOT-COM Alliance. The DOT-COM
Alliance is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID): (GDG-A-00-01-00009-00, dot-GOV; GDG-A-00-01-00014-00, dot-ORG;
GDG-A-00-01-00011-00, dot-EDU).


***WORLD WIDE WEB SITES FOR THE DISCUSSION***

For those who would prefer to follow the discussion on the Web, the
DOT-COM Archive (as of May 2) is available at:
http://www.dot-com-alliance.org/archive.html

The DOT-COM Alliance website provides information about this discussion
and other projects using ICT to support development:
http://www.dot-com-alliance.org
http://www.dot-com-alliance.com/events/discussiongroup.htm


The GKD database provides an easy way to search messages of this and
other GKD discussions: http://www.GKDknowledge.org


***MODERATOR***

This discussion is hosted by GKD and moderated by EDC, a nonprofit
organization.


***FOR FURTHER INFORMATION***

For further information about the discussion, please contact:

Janice Brodman
Jbrodman@edc.org

For further information about the DOT-COM Alliance, please contact:

Barbara Fillip
bfillip@aed.org

Fighting poverty with nanotechnology

2005-04-13

http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28285

Futuristic nanotechnologies that purify drinking water, produce energy and grow food can benefit poor countries and help to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a new report. Most of the current research into nanotechnology is being done in the North, but there are important potential applications to fulfill the energy, health and food needs of the South, says Peter Singer, director of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) and co-author of the report.

Internet Advances in Africa

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/27845

As of April 2005, the African continent now has its own regional internet registry, AfriNic, with responsibility for assignment of internet addresses within the continent. This long-awaited development has the potential to save some $500 million in fees paid outside the continent each year to registries in Europe and North America, reports the latest edition of the Africa Focus Bulletin. The agency, which received formal approval at an international meeting in Argentina on April 8, is headquartered in Mauritius, with an operations center in South Africa and back-up facilities in Egypt. The AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a news article on the AfriNic launch, excerpts from a 2004 report on Schoolnet Namibia, and several additional links to related information.
Africa: Internet Advances

AfricaFocus Bulletin
Apr 22, 2005 (050422)
(Reposted from sources cited below)

Editor's Note

As of April 2005, the African continent now has its own regional
internet registry, AfriNic, with responsibility for assignment of
internet addresses within the continent. This long-awaited
development has the potential to save some $500 million in fees
paid outside the continent each year to registries in Europe and
North America. The agency, which received formal approval at an
international meeting in Argentina on April 8, is headquartered in
Mauritius, with an operations center in South Africa and back-up
facilities in Egypt.

The launch of AfriNic is one sign of the emerging maturity of
internet operations in Africa, as advances at many levels move
beyond conference talk about information technology to practical
applications. While gaps in infrastructure and equipment are still
substantial, more and more advances now depend on the human
capacity to take cost-effective advantage of those opportunities
already available.

Illustrations at one level include AfriNic (http://www.afrinic.net)
and the plans of the African Association of Internet Service
Providers (AfriSPA) to establish new data exchange points within
the continent. This week the Africa Network Operations Group
(AfNOG; http://www.afnog.org) is holding its latest training
session on network technology, in conjunction with the meeting
AfriNic in Maputo, Mozambique. At the level of applications within
countries, the operations of Schoolnet Namibia, which has provided
standard packages of internet-connected computer networks to almost
450 schools around the country in the last five years, demonstrate
what is possible.

By relying on open-source software and standard hardware
configurations refurbished in their own workshop, this non-
governmental organization working with government and other
partners has been able to keep costs low and focus on training and
sustainable services rather than just supplying equipment. Staffing
for its production workshop at its headquarters in the township of
Katutura is provided largely by unemployed youth, who receive
training and the opportunity for later employment in exchange for
their work.

This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a news article on the AfriNic
launch, excerpts from a 2004 report on Schoolnet Namibia, and
several additional links to related information. For additional
current information on Schoolnet Namibia, including a current list
of schools connected, see http://www.schoolnet.na

Schoolnet Namibia's interactive Africa map puzzle is used worldwide
- test out your own knowledge at
http://www.schoolnet.na/games/map/africa.html

Other recent articles of interest on related issues include

* an April 7 press release from the African Association of Internet
Service Providers (AfriSPA), announcing the award of a contract to
establish a network of internet exchange points within Africa, to
allow transfer of data within the continent
http://www.afrispa.org/NewsDetail.asp?ItemID=9

and

* an April 13 report from the Association for Progressive
Communications on a training workshop on community wireless
connectivity, held in Mtoni, Zanzibar
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=32069

For regular updates on African telecommunications and internet
developments, see the weekly Balancing Act:
http://www.balancingact-africa.com

Previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on related issues include:

Africa: Mobile Renaissance? May 6, 2004
http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/han0405.php

Kenya: ICT Policy Debates May 6, 2004
http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/chak0405.php

Africa: Internet Creativity Feb 17, 2004
http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/ict0402.php

Africa: Digital Solidarity Gap, 2 Dec 15, 2003
http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/it0312b.php

Africa: Digital Solidarity Gap, 1 Dec 15, 2003
http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/it0312a.php

++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++++++++

African Internet Users to Save $500 Million a Year

Highway Africa News Agency (Grahamstown)

April 8, 2005

By Rebecca Wanjiku, Highway Africa News Agency

Mar del Plata, Argentina

http://www.highwayafrica.ru.ac.za/hana/index.asp

[Highway Africa news articles are also available on
]http://allafrica.com]

It was a moment of great joy and pride for Africa as the Internet
Corporation for assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board of
Directors approved AfriNic as the Regional Internet Registry (RIR)
for Africa.

The fouteen member board joined other participants in a standing
ovation as Adiel Akplogan, AfriNIC's executive director took the
podium.

"This is very rewarding news for Africa and the internet community
at large. It is a starting point for more participation by Africans
in global internet technology. Having our registry is proof of our
seriousness to address internet evolution on the continent," said
Akplogan.

As expected, Africa's two representatives on the board, Mouhamet
Diop and Njeri Rionge captured the centre stage and took Africa to
new heights in the battle to bridge the digital divide. Diop
introduced the motion while Njeri seconded.

"I am honoured and humbled to be celebrating AfriNic's approval. We
will surely celebrate in Maputo, Mozambique, later this month
(April) during AfriNic's meeting," Njeri added.

The approval is the climax of a ten year journey that is likely to
save African ICT users U$500 million paid annually to other
regional exchanges as "transit fees". The approval will mean faster
internet access through local and regional connectivity as well as
the allocation of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses according to the
size of the institutions.

"Today, Africa pays more than U$500 million annually in transit
fees to other regional registries in Europe or America. We want to
ensure all that money goes to Africa's technological and
information development. Since AfriNic is a non-profit
organisation, any excess money raised will be ploughed back into
capacity building initiatives," said Pierre Dandjinou, AfriNIC's
board chairman.

Though the approval shows that Africa is serious about bridging the
digital divide, Dandjinou says the major challenge lies in getting
political backing to ensure that the role of AfriNIC becomes well
known in all African countries.

Since AfriNic will be delivering quality services comparable with
those currently on offer by other RIRs, Dandjinou argues there is
need for a major awareness campaign so that more people can take
advantage of the newly recognised entity.

Adiel Akplogan, AfriNic executive director confirmed that all data
and operational activity has already been and will continue to be
transfered effectively. The migration process is being conducted
with the support of the other RIRs that had previously allocated IP
addresses to African organisations. AfriNic is the fifth RIR and is
expected to handle all issues relating to Africa.

The approval was widely expected after the Internet Assigned Names
Authority (IANA) gave a clean bill of health in its public
presentation at the meeting in Mar Del Plata, Argentina. Barbara
Roseman, from IANA said AfriNIC policies and technical operations
have been satisfactory and all conditions set have been complied
with.

Roseman said the public comment forum on AfriNic web site has been
the most successful so far. The internet public forum elicited more
than 20 positive comments, a move Roseman terms as commendable.

The idea of AfriNic was mooted by a small group of Africans
attending a meeting in Canada in 1995. Since then, the journey
towards its establishment has weathered many a storm ranging from
lack of finances to political goodwill. AfriNic is currently
registered and domiciled in Mauritius with other offices in South
Africa, and Egypt.

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

Empowering Youth and Connecting Schools: Lessons from the
SchoolNet Namibia Approach

International Network for the Availability of Scientific
Information (INASP)

INASP infobrief 2: February 2004

[excerpts: full text of infobrief available at
]http://www.inasp.info]

Schools in developing countries are beginning to get computers and
access to the Internet. They are using them in teaching and
administration; learners also use them to become computer and
Internet literate. Resulting from an evaluation commissioned by
Sida, this infobrief draws on the SchoolNet Namibia approach and
its achievements. It suggests that programmes like this should give
priority to the provision of affordable access using open
platforms, pay attention to longer term cost of ownership issues,
leverage change through partnerships, work closely with
governments, involve school principals and teachers, and seek to
ensure that necessary capacities are developed in schools
themselves.

Quality education for all

In April 2000, the world's education community met in Dakar and
affirmed its commitment to six goals leading to Education For All.
...

The emphasis on quality in the Dakar Framework for Action is
important. It argues that "quality is at the heart of education,
and what takes place in classrooms and other learning environments
is fundamentally important to the future well-being of children,
young people and adults. A quality education is one that satisfies
basic learning needs, and enriches the lives of learners and their
overall experience of living". Among the twelve strategies
identified to achieve these goals is to "harness new information
and communication technologies" (ICTs). In terms of potential
benefits, ICTs are expected to contribute towards "knowledge
dissemination, effective learning and the development of more
efficient education services". They can also help to "improve
access to education by remote and disadvantaged communities, to
support the initial and continuing professional development of
teachers, and to provide opportunities to communicate across
classrooms and cultures". Affordability of the ICTs is seen as a
key factor to be taken into account.

In the search for quality education for all, numerous ICTs in
schools projects have been launched around the world. One very
visible model is the "schoolnet" that introduces computers and
Internet connectivity to schools. There are now schoolnets in at
least 9 African countries, there are also schoolnets in Canada,
Switzerland, India, Iran, and Lebanon, there is a European
schoolnet, a global schoolnet, and plans for schoolnets in 9
Southeast Asian countries. The latest evolutions in this area are
the global e-schools initiative of the United Nations ICT Task
Force and the NEPAD schools programme.

This infobrief presents some lessons emerging from one of these
initiatives SchoolNet Namibia. It is part of a wider evaluation of
Swedish support to SchoolNet Namibia that was commissioned by the
Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and
carried out in late 2003. ...

About SchoolNet Namibia

SchoolNet Namibia was established in February 2000 to empower youth
through the Internet. Its main objective is to provide sustainable
low-cost technology solutions for Internet to all Namibian schools.
What does it do? In late 2003, the following main roles and tasks
were carried out.

Connect schools to the Internet

In 2002, SchoolNet set up its own Internet Service Provider (ISP)
hosted at the Polytechnic of Namibia. Schools gain access in two
main ways dial-up over phones using a modem, or via wireless. For
poorer schools, the phone access is subsidised using funds from
Sida. Under a new agreement, these tasks will largely move to
Telecom Namibia which guarantees fixed access rates for all
schools, irrespective how they connect.

Acquiring computers and equipment

SchoolNet Namibia provides refurbished computers to schools.
Increasingly, SchoolNet buys multiples of standard refurbished
computers instead of relying on "trick or treat" containers of
mixed equipment that require a lot of work before they can be used.
Building, installing, maintaining computer labs

Most schools get an Internet-connected computer laboratory.
Configurations differ according to the local situation. The current
package is the open source OpenLab application (which includes a
bundle of educational content). Most schools still use older Linux
(Suse 7.3+) solutions, some "fatclient" labs contain computers with
some Microsoft and Macintosh operating systems and usually a Linux
server. Until recently, all installation and support was provided
from Windhoek. A depot in northern Namibia now provides local
support.

Addressing technical queries

Most teachers and learners are computer beginners and they cannot
troubleshoot and fix technical problems. When they encounter a
problem, they call a toll-free telephone number to register the
problem, receive immediate advice, or to arrange for a technician
to visit.

Connecting schools to power

SchoolNet Namibia aims to ensure that any school can participate in
the programme. This includes schools off the power grid. So far,
SchoolNet has provided solar power sufficient for a computer lab in
six schools, two of which also access the Internet by wireless.

Strengthening ICT skills and capacities

Local skills are essential if the labs and connectivity are to be
used. Some initial training is provided to selected teachers and
learners at installation.

SchoolNet also provides ICT learning opportunities to street kids,
usually unemployed and with little formal education. Through
training and mentoring, they become ICT literate. Many become
SchoolNet ICT volunteers and work for a while in schools.
Thereafter, some continue working in their schools, some join the
staff of SchoolNet; most use their ICT skills to get a job.
SchoolNet also sponsors web-based competitions for school teams to
produce their own content.

Delivering educational and web content

SchoolNet mainly focuses on connectivity and computers. On the back
of these, demands are growing for more content applications beyond
games for learners and teachers. In 2003, SchoolNet joined with
Direqlearn to include some educational content in new OpenLab 2
installations.

An agreement with the Government's National Institute for
Educational Development makes it possible to also include their
local educational materials for teachers in the bundle.

Influencing wider policies

In partnerships with Government, the private sector, and others,
SchoolNet tests and demonstrates new technologies and new ICT
access models.

Results

What has SchoolNet Namibia achieved? In just over two years, it
launched an ISP, connected around 120 schools and many other
educational groups to the Internet, and set up computer
laboratories in these schools. It has also shown how these can be
done in rural areas where there are neither telephone lines nor
connections to the power grid.

It has pioneered affordable strategies and solutions for schools.
Its models combine low-cost refurbished computers, open source
operating systems and software applications, discounted access to
the Internet, and the offer of ICT volunteers to provide basic ICT
support after set up and installation.

It has begun to tackle the lack of ICT skills in Namibia and in
Namibian schools. Through mentoring and training, young people have
gained computer-related skills that help them to get jobs. In the
schools, the pool of ICT-aware teachers and learners has also
grown, and these individuals are starting to use computers and the
Internet in both their daily lives and in the classroom.

Finally, SchoolNet has become a test bed for technical solutions
that challenge more widely used proprietary operating systems. In
particular, it offers alternatives that may be more sustainable
over time, given limited local funding for ICTs in schools. Beyond
technologies, innovative joint ventures and partnerships suggest
ways that all disadvantaged schools can begin to use the new ICTs.

Key elements in the approach

Probably the most important feature of the SchoolNet Namibia
approach is the focus on affordability providing solutions that
will ultimately be within the budgets of all Namibian schools. For
cash-strapped schools, it is essential that they can afford, in the
future as well as now, their ICT infrastructure and applications.
By focusing on affordability and longer-term costs of ownership,
schools can avoid some of the dangers of the 'free' market in
which, for example, donated computers are more costly than
expected. Donated 'free' computers that need licenses to be legal
can result in large unanticipated costs.

...


Lessons

What can be learned from this experience? As well as the many
achievements, SchoolNet Namibia faces many challenges and issues.
After only a few years operating, it would be arrogant and
impossible to propose any 'best' practices. Instead, we list some
aspects of its experience that may assist others in developing
activities in this area.

1. Sustainability in schools is closely linked to the affordability
of the ICTs. To be affordable, it is not enough to provide cheap or
free computers and connectivity, the wider costs of ownership now
and in the future need to be known.

2. From a 'supply' perspective, ICTs can be made more affordable,
and thus accessible to schools. These include the use of
volunteers, refurbished computers, open source operating systems,
and providing discounted or free connectivity.

3. However, a well-informed 'demand' from schools and the wider
education system is necessary to ensure that ICTs are sustained in
schools. Principals and teachers need to understand the wider
potentials of the ICTs and to take ownership of them. This is much
more than just becoming computer-literate.

4. Providing an affordable and open ICT platform in schools is
essential. Getting it used is quite another challenge. It requires
commitment from the school and probably the involvement of
specialised partners in areas like e-learning or content
development.

5. The government has a vital role in this area. Since ICT
developments in and around schools often move much faster than
ministries are able to determine policy and standards, it is vital
that the various actors communicate effectively and work towards
common goals and priorities.

6. The schools are key stakeholders and partners in this type of
exercise. Their active involvement in the programme should result
in dividends in the future. Seeing them as 'beneficiaries' may miss
out on opportunities for the sustainability of ICTs in both schools
and of a 'schoolnet.'

7. There is a tension between installing ICTs in new schools and
supporting ICTs in partner schools. Since many schools do not have
in-house ICT expertise, the technical support challenge can grow
substantially. Without good support, schools and other actors may
become disenchanted with the whole programme.

8. Some tasks, such as providing and supporting Internet access,
can be delivered through partnerships with specialised agencies.
Getting the attention of the prospective partner requires that the
feasibility of the 'market' is tried and tested, that enough
credibility is built up, and that a political demand is created.

9. Ultimately, a schoolnet may see its core tasks evolve from the
implementation of technical tasks to a situation where, through
partnerships, it enables and mobilises the efforts of others,
directing them towards shared goals.

10. ICTs can contribute to the quality of education in schools.
Through schools, they can also contribute to informal and lifelong
education and the general empowerment of youth and communities....

11. The capacities required to make effective use of ICTs in
schools should not be under-estimated, nor restricted to technical
skills. A wider understanding of ICT potentials by teachers and
administrators is also essential.

More information

This infobrief was prepared by Peter Ballantyne as part of a review
of SchoolNet Namibia commissioned by the Swedish International
Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). ...

The full evaluation report is available from
http://www.sida.se/publications or via http://www.eldis.org/ict/

*************************************************************
AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication
providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with
a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus
Bulletin is edited by William Minter.

AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus@igc.org Please
write to this address to subscribe or unsubscribe to the bulletin,
or to suggest material for inclusion. For more information about
reposted material, please contact directly the original source
mentioned. For a full archive and other resources, see
http://www.africafocus.org

The Lwati newsletter

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/27828

Lwati is the monthly e-newsletter of the Southern African Non-Governmental Organisation Network (SANGONeT). The latest edition contains news about first SANGONeT "ICTs for Civil Society" Conference and Exhibition which was held from 1-3 March 2005 at the Indaba Hotel in Fourways, Johannesburg. Visit www.sangonet.org.za or write to newsletter@sangonet.org.za "Lwati" is an isiSwati word meaning information.

GenARDIS small grants fund

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/27881

The GenARDIS small grants fund was initiated in 2002 by CTA, IICD and IDRC, to support work on gender-related issues in ICTs for ACP agricultural and rural development. The programme was developed in recognition of the constraints and challenges encountered by rural women in ACP countries with respect to ICTs. The challenges include cultural factors that hinder women's access to ICTs, limited time availability to participate in training and use of ICTs, minimal access to technology such as radios, mobile telephones or computers, and inadequate availability of information in local languages that is relevant to local contexts.

Gender and Agriculture in the Information Society - GenARDIS
(A French version of this announcement will be circulated shortly)

Winners announced for second round of GenARDIS Small Grants Fund ­ more
than 310 nominations received

The GenARDIS small grants fund was initiated in 2002 by CTA, IICD and IDRC,
to support work on gender-related issues in ICTs for ACP agricultural and
rural development. In 2004, Hivos joined the team of sponsoring
organisations in time for the second round of the programme. The fund
supporters are pleased to announce that the selection of Round 2 GenARDIS
grant winners has been completed. As in Round 1, the response was
overwhelming, with more than 310 submissions received in a period of 2
months. This provides a clear indication that there still is a real need
for support in the field of Gender and Agriculture in the Information Society.

The programme was developed in recognition of the constraints and
challenges encountered by rural women in ACP countries with respect to
ICTs. The challenges include cultural factors that hinder women’s access to
ICTs, limited time availability to participate in training and use of ICTs,
minimal access to technology such as radios, mobile telephones or
computers, and inadequate availability of information in local languages
that is relevant to local contexts.

Submissions consisted of research programmes, training courses,
publications, broadcasts, theatre productions, promotion materials, etc. ­
whatever need could be addressed by the means available to the many
creative applicants for the grant. All projects focused on innovative use
of ICTs by or for rural women to improve the well-being of their families
and communities.

The expert panel who judged the submissions consisted of Helen Hambly-Odame
(University of Guelph, Canada), Ramata Molo Thioune (IDRC), Judith
Veldhuizen (IICD), Marjan Besuijen (Hivos) and Gesa Wesseler (CTA).
Administrative support was provided by Dorothy Okello and Milton
Aineruhanga (WOUGNET), on behalf of APC.

We congratulate the winners and honourable mentions, and extend special
thanks and appreciation to all those people and organisations who put time
and effort into preparing applications for the GenARDIS fund.


WINNERS of € 5000 one-time grants:

1. Mabela Khabele, Lesotho. Widening the Wellhead - creating and using
a dedicated cellular phone network to add information, value and dignity to
the work of women in Lesotho's agricultural sector

2. Gabriela Demergasso and Bettina Koelle, South Africa. Developing
rural expertise in spatial dynamics - participatory GIS in the rooibos tea
lands of the Suid Bokkeveld (Northern Cape Province, South Africa)

3. David Dolly, Trinidad & Tobago. Proposal to test the use of mobile
cell phones among a select group of female and male farmers in Trinidad and
Tobago

4. Eric Ilboudou, Burkina Faso. Projet de renforcement des compétences
de 30 femmes paysannes en NTIC

5. James Onyango, Kenya. Engendering equality: a health and
agricultural community-based information & communication system project

6. Anil Naidoo, South Africa. Mobile learning for change

7. Brigitte Kasongo Mawazo, Democratic Republic of Congo. Campagne
d'accompagnement et de sensibilisation des femmes rurales d'Uvira sur la
promotion des TIC à des fins de plaidoyer pour le genre

8. Ofa Guttenbeil, Tonga. Production of a training video aimed at
covering 8 main segments to be used as a training methodology at Gender and
CEDAW Advocacy.

9. Collins K. Osei, Ghana. Promoting the Cultivation of Healthy
Vegetables by Farmers: A Gender Approach to Using ICTs

10. Guy Raoul Gbaguidi. Benin. Projet de sensibilisation, de formation
et de mise en place d'un système d'information agricole basé sur les TIC au
profit de dix groupements féminins de la commune de Dassa-Zoumé au Bénin

*****
Congratulations to all these winners! You will be contacted shortly for
follow-up and next steps towards implementation
*****


Honourable Mentions go to:

· Williams Ezinwa Nwagwu, Nigeria. Information and Communication
Technology skill acquisition among female schoolteachers in Umuahia, Abia
State, Nigeria

· Helen Lwemamu, Uganda. Rural Agricultural Community Connectivity
Project

· Joseph Kandeh, Sierra Leone. ICT mediated livelihood training of
women in vegetable production in the western rural areas of Sierra Leone

· Joyce Endeley, Cameroon. Gender and the cellular paradox:
Innovation and Transforming Societies in Rural Africa

· Della Ablavi Koutcho Diagne, Senegal. Réseau des jeunes filles
rurales pour l'emploi ménager à Dakar


*****
Invitations will be extended to recipients of honourable mentions to attend
the GenARDIS workshop in late 2005.
*****

On behalf of CTA, Gesa Wesseler
On behalf of IDRC, Ramata Molo Thioune
On behalf of IICD, Judith Veldhuizen
On behalf of Hivos, Marjan Besuijen
genardis@cta.int

IFEX Launches Handbook on Free Expression Campaigning

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/27884

The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) has launched a new publication aimed at equipping human rights activists around the world with essential tools to campaign more effectively for freedom of expression and press freedom.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE

22 April 2005

IFEX Launches Handbook on Free Expression Campaigning

Toronto - The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) today
launches a new publication aimed at equipping human rights activists around
the world with essential tools to campaign more effectively for freedom of
expression and press freedom.

"Campaigning for Free Expression: A Handbook for Advocates" is a 120-page
manual that provides a toolbox of tips, best practice case studies and
resources for campaigning. The manual showcases a variety of campaign tools,
including investigative missions, coalition-building, legal advocacy and
Internet-based actions, such as blogging, e-mail protest letters and SMS
text messaging. It also gives activists important tools for mounting
campaign strategies and doing power analyses of their local situations.

"This handbook gives us vivid examples of how a variety of campaign
techniques have been used to persuade governments to act in less repressive
ways," says Luckson Chipare, IFEX Convenor and Regional Director of the
Media Institute of Southern Africa. "By doing skilful, tactical and
strategic campaigning, free expression advocates can maximise their
resources to become even more powerful agents of change," he adds.

With threats to journalists, writers, Internet users and human rights
activists on the rise in many countries, the need for more concerted
campaigning on free expression issues is increasingly urgent. "Governments
and other forces are employing more sophisticated methods to restrict
freedom of expression," says Chipare.

Criminal defamation laws are being used to hinder proper scrutiny of the
activities of public officials, business leaders and others. Internet
censorship is spreading worldwide as governments find new ways of limiting
citizens' expression and access to information on the World Wide Web. And
since September 11, 2001, many countries have passed sweeping anti-terrorism
laws that infringe on human rights.

Former Greenpeace campaign director and founder of Selene consultancy Mats
Abrahamsson says, "I hope that free expression campaigners will read this
book and learn from their colleagues' mistakes and successes. But most of
all I hope that it will inspire people to be creative in their campaigning,
and to never give up the fight."

The IFEX handbook will be featured at UNESCO's World Press Freedom Day
conference in Dakar, Senegal, from 1-3 May 2005.

The IFEX handbook can be downloaded from the IFEX website here:
http://www.ifex.org/download/en/IFEXCampaignHandbook.pdf

IFEX is a network of 64 non-governmental organisations that monitors free
expression violations worldwide and facilitates information sharing and
campaigning among its members.

- ENDS -

For further information, contact the IFEX Clearing House, 489 College
Street, Suite 403, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1A5 Canada, tel: +1 416 515 9622,
fax: +1 416 515 7879, e-mail: campaigns@ifex.org, Internet:
http://www.ifex.org
_________________________________________________________________
IFEX - Nouvelles de la communauté internationale de défense de la liberté
d'expression
_________________________________________________________________

COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE

Le 22 avril 2005

L'IFEX lance un guide de campagne en faveur de la liberté d'expression

Toronto - L'Échange international de la liberté d'expression (IFEX) lance
aujourd'hui une nouvelle publication qui vise à fournir aux activistes du
monde entier qui oeuvrent en faveur des droits de la personne les outils
essentiels qui leur permettront de faire campagne plus efficacement, afin de
mieux défendre la liberté d'expression et la liberté de la presse.

"Faire campagne : un guide à l'intention de ceux et celles qui militent en
faveur de la liberté d'expression" est un manuel de 120 pages qui propose
une boîte à outils remplie de conseils, d'études de cas illustrant les
pratiques recommandées et de ressources utiles pour ceux et celles qui font
campagne. Ce guide offre une gamme complète d'outils de campagne, parmi
lesquels figurent les missions d'enquête, la formation de coalitions,
l'assistance juridique et les actions menées par Internet, notamment les
blogs, les lettres de protestation par courriel et la messagerie texte SMS.

Le guide fournira également aux activistes les outils indispensables qui
leur permettront de mettre au point des stratégies de campagnes et analyser
les pouvoirs en place dans leur situation particulière.

"Ce guide fournit des exemples clairs des différentes façons dont certains
outils de campagnes ont été utilisés pour convaincre les gouvernements
d'adopter des méthodes moins répressives," indique Luckson Chipare,
président du Conseil de l'IFEX et directeur régional du Media Institute for
Southern Africa (MISA). "En menant avec une habileté tactique des campagnes
stratégiques, les défenseurs de la liberté d'expression peuvent maximiser
leurs ressources pour devenir des agents de changement encore plus
puissants," ajoute-t-il.

Avec les menaces grandissantes qui pèsent sur les journalistes, les
écrivains, les Internautes et les activistes des droits de la personne, il
devient de plus en plus urgent de mener des campagnes concertées pour lutter
contre les atteintes à la libre expression sous toutes ses formes. "Les
gouvernements et les autres pouvoirs utilisent des méthodes de plus en plus
sophistiquées pour restreindre la liberté d'expression," indique Chipare.

Les lois sur la diffamation criminelle sont utilisées pour empêcher l'examen
public des activités des officiels du gouvernement, des chefs d'entreprises
et d'autres acteurs. La censure de l'Internet se propage à travers le monde,
alors que certains gouvernements découvrent de nouvelles façons de limiter
le droit d'expression des citoyens et l'accès aux informations de la toile
mondiale. Depuis les attaques du 11 septembre 2001, plusieurs pays ont
également adopté d'importantes lois antiterroristes qui portent atteinte aux
droits de la personne.

Comme l'indique Mats Abrahamsson, directeur de Selene et ancien directeur de
campagnes de Greenpeace, "J'espère que les personnes qui militent en faveur
de la liberté d'expression liront ce guide et apprendront des échecs et des
réussites de leurs collègues - mais j'espère surtout que cet ouvrage
incitera ces individus à faire preuve de créativité dans leurs campagnes et
qu'ils n'abandonneront jamais la lutte."

Le guide de l'IFEX sera présenté à la conférence de la Journée mondiale de
la liberté de la presse de l'UNESCO qui aura lieu à Dakar, au Sénégal, le 3
mai 2005.

On peut télécharger le guide à l'adresse suivante :
http://www.ifex.org/download/fr/IFEXHandbookFrench.pdf

L'IFEX est un réseau virtuel regroupant 64 organisations qui surveille en
continu l'état de la liberté d'expression dans le monde et qui facilite le
partage d'information et l'organisation des campagnes par ses membres.

- FIN -

Pour tout renseignement complémentaire veuillez contacter le Secrétariat de
l'IFEX, 489, rue College, bureau 403, Toronto (Ontario) M6G 1A5 Canada, tél
: +1 416 515 9622, téléc : +1 416 515 7879, courrier électronique :
campaigns@ifex.org, Internet : http://www.ifex.org
_______________________________________________________________
IFEX - Noticias de la comunidad internacional de la libertad de expresión
________________________________________________________________

COMUNICADO DE PRENSA

el 22 de abril de 2005

IFEX lanza manual de organización de campañas para la libertad de expresión

Toronto - El Intercambio Internacional por la Libertad de Expresión (IFEX)
lanza hoy una nueva publicación que busca dotar a los activistas de derechos
humanos en todo el mundo de herramientas esenciales para organizar más
eficazmente campañas a favor de la libertad de expresión y la libertad de
prensa.

"Organización de campañas para la libertad de expresión: un manual para los
defensores" es un manual de 120 páginas que brinda cajas de herramientas,
estudios de caso y materiales de consulta para la organización de campañas.
El manual ilustra una gama de herramientas de campaña, como misiones de
investigación, formación de coaliciones, defensa legal y acciones con base
en Internet, como blogs o diarios en Internet, cartas de protesta por correo
electrónico y mensajes de texto SMS. También da a los activistas
herramientas importantes para montar estrategias de campaña y hacer análisis
de fuerza de su situación local.

"Este manual nos da ejemplos ilustrativos de cómo se ha usado una amplia
gama de técnicas de campaña para persuadir a los Gobiernos de actuar de
maneras menos represivas", dice Luckson Chipare, el Convocante de IFEX y
Director Regional del Media Institute of Southern Africa. "Al hacer campañas
hábiles, tácticas y estratégicas, los defensores de la libre expresión
pueden aprovechar al máximo sus recursos para convertirse en agentes de
cambio aún más poderosos", agrega.

Con las amenazas a periodistas, escritores, usuarios de Internet y
activistas de derechos humanos al alza en muchos países, la necesidad de
organizar campañas más concertadas de cuestiones de libre expresión es cada
vez más urgente. "Los gobiernos y otras fuerzas están empleando métodos más
sofisticados para restringir la libertad de expresión", dice Chipare.

Se están usando leyes de difamación penal para obstaculizar el escrutinio
adecuado de las actividades de funcionarios públicos, líderes empresariales
y otros personajes. La censura de Internet se está extendiendo en todo el
mundo mientras los Gobiernos encuentran nuevas maneras de limitar la
expresión y el acceso a la información de los ciudadanos en la red mundial
(www). Y desde el 11 de septiembre de 2001, muchos países han aprobado
amplias leyes antiterrorismo que atropellan los derechos humanos.

El director de Selene y exdirector de campañas de Greenpeace, Mats
Abrahamsson, dice "Espero que los organizadores de campaña de libre
expresión lean este manual y aprendan de los errores y éxitos de sus
colegas. Pero más que nada espero que inspire a la gente a ser creativa en
sus campañas, y a no rendirse nunca en la lucha".

El manual de IFEX será promovido en la conferencia de la UNESCO del Día
Mundial de la Libertad de Prensa en Dakar, Senegal, del 1 al 3 de mayo de
2005.

El manual de IFEX se puede descargar del sitio Web de IFEX aquí:
http://www.ifex.org/download/es/IFEXHandbookSpanish.pdf

IFEX es una red de 64 organizaciones no gubernamentales que vigila las
violaciones a la libre expresión en todo el mundo y facilita el intercambio
de información y la organización de campañas entre sus miembros.

- FIN -

Para mayor información comunicarse con la Oficina de la Red IFEX, 489
College Street, Suite 403, Toronto, Ontario M6G 1A5 Canada, teléf: +1 416
515 9622, fax: +1 416 515 7879, correo electrónico: campaigns@ifex.org,
sitio Internet: http://www.ifex.org

The Alfred Friendly Press Fellowships (AFPF)

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/27836

This is an American non-profit, non-governmental organization that gives developing-world journalists the opportunity to work as reporters at American newspapers. The program, which runs from March to September, is offered annually to approximately 10 professional print journalists between the ages of 25 and 35. The Friendly Fellows are given an in-depth, practical introduction to the professional and ethical standards of the U.S. print media. Unique among the many training programs available to journalists, AFPF is the only one to offer a non-academic, long-term, hands-on experience in a single newsroom.
* Applications for the 2006 fellowship year will be available online after May 1, 2005.
Please visit www.pressfellowships.org for detailed program information.

2005 TIEMS Virtual Conference: Education and Disasters in Africa

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/27840

The International Emergency Management Society (TIEMS) is sponsoring a 2nd Annual Virtual Conference on Disasters and Africa. The theme of this year's conference is "Education and Disasters in Africa". The conference will run from 1 to 21 May 2005 and end with a presentation of the conference results at the TIEMS annual meeting, to be held in the Faroes Islands 24 to 27 May 2005 (see www.tiems.org for details)
2005 TIEMS Virtual Conference: Education and Disasters in Africa

The International Emergency Management Society (TIEMS) is sponsoring a 2nd
Annual Virtual Conference on Disasters and Africa. The theme of this year's
conference is "Education and Disasters in Africa". The conference will run
from 1 to 21 May 2005 and end with a presentation of the conference results
at the TIEMS annual meeting, to be held in the Faroes Islands 24 to 27 May
2005 (see www.tiems.org for details).

The theme for this year's conference was identified during the TIEMS
sponsored 2004 virtual conference. The theme of education and disasters also
fits within the Decade on Education (2005-2014) and serves to call attention
to the links between knowledge, education and disaster mitigation and
prevention.

Africa faces particular changes in educating citizens about disasters, their
management and avoidance. But from community disaster preparedness
activities to the establishment of university-level disaster research and
training centers, the continent also has a wealth of experience and success
stories which need to be shared and replicated.

The format (weekly exchanges of emails on specific topics) and duration (3
weeks) of the conference do not allow for an in depth analysis of all
aspects of the links between disasters and education in Africa. As a result,
the conference will be used to identify key issues and information which can
be further developed in subsequent conferences and exchanges between
participants.

The format for the conference is for a selected moderator to open each
week's discussion with a short topical paper. This opening is followed by
email exchanges by participants on the topic being discussed. At the end of
the week, the moderator will circulate a summary of the discussions and any
conclusions which can be made.

In this year's conference, the 3rd week will be devoted to the sharing of
examples of how educational activities have been used to reduce or eliminate
disaster impact in Africa. These case studies will be assembled by TIEMS on
their web site as a resource for those involved in disaster management and
education in Africa.

To join the conference, please send an email to majordomo@tiems.org with
"subscribe virtualconference" in the text.

The automatic list management system will then email you back a message to
confirm you want to joint the conference. Follow the instructions provided.

Once accepted into the conference, you can send messages to
virtualconference@tiems.org and they will be received by all others who are
participating in the virtual conference.

Armed conflict transformation course

2005-04-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/27877

The Coalition for Peace in Africa (COPA) is a membership network of individuals and organisations working for sustainable peace in Africa. Twice a year, COPA holds a 5-week training workshop. This course covers diverse aspects of conflict transformation and peace building, and is aimed at building the capacity of participants, mostly from the African continent, working for development, human rights, peace, justice and related fields.
Coalition for Peace in Africa
COPA

ADVANCED CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION COURSE

Duration: 30th May – 1st July 2005
Location: Elijah Barayi Training Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa
Language of facilitation: English, with translation into French and Portuguese
Closing date for applications: April 28, 2005

The Coalition for Peace in Africa (COPA) is a membership network of individuals and organisations working for sustainable peace in Africa. It aims to be a resource for African wisdom and expertise able to respond effectively to the conflicts besetting different parts of Africa. It connects people working for peace and development, human rights and related goals, in Anglophone, Lusophone and Francophone countries throughout Africa.

Twice a year, COPA holds a 5-week training workshop. This course covers diverse aspects of conflict transformation and peace building, and is aimed at building the capacity of participants, mostly from the African continent, working for development, human rights, peace, justice and related fields. The purposes of this course are to:

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

The course has been designed specifically for people who want to focus on conflict in Africa. Although it will include an analysis of global events and their impact on Africa, emphasis will be placed on culturally sensitive and sustainable responses to regional and community conflicts in Africa. Participants should bring to the course case studies and examples of conflict transformation from their own experience and research. Throughout the course there is a strong focus on personal development and the need for individuals and organizations to form networks, coalitions and alliances with others working in similar fields. By the end of the course each participant is expected to have designed an action strategy, which is developed further and implemented on his or her return. Participants who complete the training will be awarded the Advanced Certificate in Conflict Transformation

Programme:

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

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

Module Three: Conflict Intervention in Africa
Changing environments and political systems in Africa
Demilitarisation
Culture and tradition
African renaissance, NEPAD and the AU
Building an African Vision
Human rights and African values

Module Four: The way forward for peace
Conflict and sustainable development
‘Do no Harm’
Impact and effectiveness
Monitoring and Evaluation
Mainstreaming conflict sensitivity in project planning
Developing context specific action strategies

The course includes tours to local places of interest as well as opportunities to make contacts with local organisations.

For organisations:

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

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

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

Facilitators:

Four COPA members from the African continent will facilitate the course. COPA facilitators take a participatory approach, emphasising experiential learning. They have experience of living and working on the continent and internationally. The course process and content will be developed by the facilitators in-line with participants needs.

In addition to the full-time tutors, resource specialists from external institutions will conduct sessions on particular topics.

Participants:

The course is aimed particularly at:
• Development and relief workers operating in contexts of conflict and violence in Africa.
• NGOs wanting to develop their programme beyond development and emergency relief to include advocacy, lobbying, peace building and reconciliation.
• Peace and justice workers from religious institutions
• Human rights workers interested in Conflict Transformation.
• Those wanting to explore African cultural mechanisms for peace making.

We encourage people from Francophone and Lusophone countries to apply. While the course in conducted in English care will be taken not to disadvantage any language groups. Women are particularly encouraged to apply.

If you have special needs that you fear may affect your participation please let us know. Every effort will be made to accommodate these needs.

Numbers on each course are restricted. It is advisable to apply as soon as possible.

Course Fees:

Tuition fee: $1,500
Accommodation, extra curricular activities and medical insurance: $2,000
Total fee: $3,500

A non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to secure a place upon acceptance.

Participants will need about $300 to cover personal expenses within south Africa.

It is the applicants’ responsibility to ensure they have all necessary funds before travelling to South Africa.

Scholarships:

Limited funds are available to support those unable to raise the full fees. Scholarships will be awarded primarily on the basis of the context in which the applicant is working and their need for such training. Other factors taken into account include, prior experience, diversity of applicants (age, gender, nationality, experience etc) and the demonstrated commitment and motivation of applicants. Applicants for scholarships should complete section 4 of the application form as early as possible. This should include an explanation of why they require a partial scholarship and should list the other sources of funds they have approached. Participants should first seek funding from their employer, partner organisations or donors already familiar with their work. COPA can offer advice to applicants on how to find alternative sources of funding.

For further information on COPA and the ACT Course please contact:

COPA Continental Secretariat
Post: P.O. Box 61753-00200 City Square, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: (254-020) 2736565
Email: copa@copafrica.org
Web: www.copafrica.org

Codesria Globalization Studies Network

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/27843

The Globalisation Studies Network (GSN), an association of over 100 institutions from nearly 50 countries around the world united by a shared preoccupation to promote a better understanding of the processes and structures of globalization, is pleased to announce its second international conference which is scheduled to take place in Dakar, Senegal, from 29 to 31 August 2005, and to invite abstracts and panel proposals from those wishing to be part of the conference.
Globalization Studies Network - CODESRIA
 
Second International Conference
 
Theme: Globalisation: Overcoming Exclusion, Strengthening Inclusion
 
Venue: Dakar - SENEGAL
 
Date: 29 to 31 August, 2005
 
Call for Abstracts and Panel Proposals
 
 
 
The Globalisation Studies Network (GSN), an association of over 100 institutions from nearly 50 countries around the world united by a shared preoccupation to promote a better understanding of the processes and structures of globalization, is pleased to announce its second international conference which is scheduled to take place in Dakar, Senegal, from 29 to 31 August 2005, and to invite abstracts and panel proposals from those wishing to be part of the conference. The umbrella theme around which the conference will be held is:
 
Globalisation: Overcoming Exclusion, Strengthening Inclusion
 
The framework document of the GSN observes that "globalizing dynamics are unfolding at accelerating rates in every realm of human endeavour ..." (see the GSN website at: www.gstudynet.com) The inaugural conference of the Network which was held in Coventry in August 2004 and hosted by the Centre for the Study of Globalization and Regionalization of the University of Warwick was devoted to an exploration of all aspects of these dynamics as captured by the research, teaching and policy advocacy preoccupations of the numerous institutions and organizations that were represented at the meeting. The second conference is designed to focus reflection on the discontents of globalization in the ways in which they have manifested themselves and with a view to exploring the challenges of making the process more inclusive, representative and equitable. The conference will be hosted by the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) at its headquarters city of Dakar, Senegal, and will feature the presentation of keynote addresses and papers in plenary and parallel sessions. English and French have been adopted as the working languages for the conference and authors of paper abstracts and panel proposals are encouraged to make their submissions in either one of these languages. Every effort will be made to accommodate as many of the abstracts and panel proposals which are received; funds will be available to support participants from developing and transitional countries. An opportunity will also be provided for participating institutions and programmes to exhibit some of their outputs during the conference. 
 
Abstracts and panel proposals for consideration for the conference should be received by 30 April, 2005. Authors of abstracts and panel proposals that are selected will be notified by 21 May, 2005. Full papers for circulation to conference participants should be received by 15 July, 2005. Abstracts, panel proposals, and full papers should be sent to:
 
The Coordinator,
The 2nd Globalisation Studies Network Conference,
CODESRIA,
Ave. Cheikh Anta Diop, X Canal IV,
BP 3304,
Dakar,
Senegal.
E-mail: GSN.Conference@codesria.sn
Tel.: +221-825 9822
Fax: +221-824 1289

Radio Talk-shows/Debates workshop for Peacebuilding

2005-04-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/27921

Search for Common Ground – a non-governmental organisation working in the field of conflict transformation – held a workshop on "Talk-shows/Debates for Peacebuilding" at the beginning of April. This workshop brought together the producers of some important radio talk-shows in sub-Saharan Africa to share their professional experiences. Eleven English-speaking and French-speaking countries have been represented in Bujumbura (Burundi). One of the objectives of the workshop was to develop material for a manual on “How to produce a talk-show for Peacebuilding”, while also taking into account Africa's widely differing realities. This training manual should be ready by July 2005 and will be distributed free on CD-ROM (upon request) and via the website of the project “Radio for Peacebuilding, Africa” (www.radiopeaceafrica.org, soon available in French and Swahili). If you would like to be informed about the launch of this manual on the web, please write to us at radiopeaceafrica@sfcg.be The workshop is part of the Radio for Peacebuilding, Africa project. This project aims to develop and encourage the use of radio techniques and programme content which can have a positive impact on conflicts in Africa.

Regional Interdisciplinary Course on Children's Rights

2005-04-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/27873

The Human Rights Trust of Southern Africa (SAHRIT) has been running the Regional Interdisciplinary Course on Children's Rights since year 2002. To date over 60 people from the 14 SADC countries working for and with and/or involved with the promotion and protection of the rights of the child have passed through the course. The course is designed for personnel in NGOs, government departments, and civil society organizations working with and for the protection of the rights of the child dealing with issues pertaining to the protection and promotion of the rights of the child. Participants from outside southern Africa can participate provided they secure their own sponsorship.
Regional Interdisciplinary Course on Children's Rights

The Human Rights Trust of Southern Africa (SAHRIT) has been running the
Regional Interdisciplinary Course on Children's Rights since year 2002. To
date over 60 people from the 14 SADC countries working for and with and/or
involved with the promotion and protection of the rights of the child have
passed through the course.


Who can participate

The course is designed for personnel in NGOs, government departments, and
civil society organizations working with and for the protection of the
rights of the child dealing with issues pertaining to the protection and
promotion of the rights of the child. Participants from outside southern
Africa can participate provided they secure their own sponsorship.


Course content

Participants are exposed to theories and views on children's rights and
the course provides extensive information on the background, motivation,
strategies and main trends in the field of children's rights. Course
presenters are experts from leading human rights institutions in Africa
and other parts of the world.


How to Apply

Selection of participants is highly competitive and only two participants
are drawn from each of the SADC states. A limited number of places are
reserved for paying participants especially from other regions.

For application forms email to: mawanza@sahrit.org.zw


Deadline

5 May 2005


What past participants say about the course

"The Child rights seminar has in many respects boosted my career
prospects"
- Dr. Charles M. Fombad, BOTSWANA

"SAHRIT short courses are a give-and-take rendezvous and a mine of
information. Enriching, practical and lessons-packed, with experienced
participating institutions and lecturers, the courses equipped me with
adapted-to-the-situation working tools."
- Claude Kalinga, DRC

"SAHRIT trained 2 members from the Centre for Legal Assistance (CELA) in
Malawi. CELA is involved in legal representation and alternative dispute
resolution approaches. The course on Child Rights gave us new strategies,
knowledge and expertise in facilitating the release of more than 60
juveniles in Malawi prisons within 4 months. ."
- Charles Kasambara, MALAWI

"The multidisplinary course on child rights has enabled me and my
organization to effectively advocate for children's rights. In Mozambique
child participation is predominately characterized by decoration and
tokenism. Following the course we have established a child participation
mailing list where one of the key issues we are working on is the
elaboration of a child policy.
- Nyararai Magudu, MOZAMBIQUE

Kenya: Central Africa Project Director

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/27837

The successful applicant will be responsible for overseeing Crisis Group projects and leading research in the Great Lakes region. S/he will head a team of researchers and analysts, and will supervise the work of a small team of specialists responsible for producing high quality research, analysis and reporting.
Contact open_positions@crisisgroup.org

South Africa: EISA Local Government Programme

2005-04-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/27844

EISA has a vacancy for a position in Johannesburg. SADC (including South African) nationals are encouraged to apply. Responsibilities will include:
* Overall coordination and supervision of the Local Government programme
* Identify and prioritise needs areas for capacity building for all stakeholders in the SADC region
* Oversee development and implementation of all local government projects.
Vacancy - EISA Local Government Programme


EISA has a vacancy for a position in Johannesburg. SADC (including South
African) nationals are encouraged to apply.

Responsibilities
* Overall coordination and supervision of the Local Government programme
* Identify and prioritise needs areas for capacity building for all
stakeholders in the SADC region
* Oversee development and implementation of all local government
projects
* Conceptualise project proposals
* Managing the programme budget
* General administration
* Preparation of reports

Qualifications
* An honours degree or post graduate qualification in Social Sciences. A
Masters qualification is an advantage
* Familiarity with and experience in the local government environment in
South Africa including an understanding of relevant legislation and
structures
* Familiarity with SADC local government issues
* Familiarity with local government issues in the SADC region
* Good computer skills
* Good writing skills, including proposal and report writing
* Knowledge of South African indigenous languages
* Willingness to travel in the region
* Project management skills
* Self-motivated and able to work under pressure
* Facilitation and training experience is an advantage
* Ability to research and prepare analytical papers

Applications
Send your applications with accompanying CV Att Ms Zahira Seedat, EISA,
PO Box 740 Auckland Park 2006, South Africa by not later than 30 April
2005.
Tel +27 11 482 54 95
Fax +27 11 482 61 63 OR
Email zahira@eisa.org.za

Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
http://www.eisa.org.za/EISA/jobs.htm

Fahamu