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Featured in this issue

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/28110

EDITORIALS: Horace Campbell writes on how Walter Rodney became the ‘prophet of emancipation’
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: The onslaught of the biotech industry is the new scramble for Africa, argues Nnimmo Bassey
- Chandrakant Patel asks if the vision of Bandung will mean new trade rules based on equity?
LETTERS: Reader views on capitalism as genocide, development pornography and press freedom
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: News on DRC secession, Somalia peacekeepers and the latest from Darfur
HUMAN RIGHTS: Soon-to-be announced winner of human rights award arrested and held in Sudan
DEVELOPMENT: Footballers challenge the G8 in Kenya and chicken farmers demand fair trade in Ghana
ENVIRONMENT: New trade talks threaten environmental laws
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Kenyan and Nigerian first ladies mark press freedom day by storming newsrooms, beating and arresting journalists
ADVOCACY AND CAMPAIGNS: Call for the release of a Coke union worker arrested in Eritrea along with two others.
JOBS: Fahamu seeks advocacy and campaigns coordinator

* Would debt cancellation change your day-to-day life?

World Debt Day 2005 takes place on May 16 and is an opportunity to voice your feelings about how the burden of debt blocks development across Africa. Pambazuka News would like to know how you think debt cancellation would change your day-to-day life. Send your comments to editor@pambazuka.org

In March Pambazuka News produced a special issue on debt that contained a series of articles addressing critical issues related to debt. You can catch up on the articles in the edition by visiting http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?issue=197

Walter Rodney, the Prophet of Self Emancipation

2005-05-12

Horace Campbell

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/28102

Guyanese activist and academic Walter Rodney, the author of ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’ was not just a Guyanese figure. He was known worldwide, especially in Africa, where he enjoyed great popularity for his solidarity with the struggles of the working people. This year marks 25 years since his assassination and efforts are underway to commemorate the life of a man who became known as the ‘prophet of self emancipation’.


The year 2005 marks twenty-five years since Walter Rodney was assassinated in
Georgetown, Guyana. Walter Rodney was a tireless champion of the rights of working peoples everywhere and in his short life of thirty eight years he made his mark as one of the pre eminent thinkers of the 20th century.

When one reads his monograph, ‘World War II and the Tanzanian Economy’, (published by Cornell University, African Studies and Research Centre) one can get a sense of the kind of conditions into which Walter Rodney entered this world. This reflection on the war was also contained in a paper delivered by Walter Rodney in London on comparisons between Tanzania and Guyana under colonialism. War and the destruction of human lives by capitalism were constantly on the mind of Walter Rodney.

Secondary Education in Guyana

Walter Rodney was brought into this world in the midst of war, conceived by Guyanese working class activists who were very much part of the anti colonial struggles of the society. Rodney was born on March 23, 1942 in Bent Street, Georgetown, where he grew up and spent his childhood. After attending primary school, he won an open exhibition scholarship to Queen’s College, then one of the elite schools in the colony. Rodney grew up in a time of ferment in Guyana and he paid close attention to what was happening in his society while excelling in every area of life that he participated in. He was involved as a school cadet, as a debater, as a member of the sports team and was known to be a very good bridge and chess player. Rodney came to adulthood when the questions of the centrality of the working people in the future of the country were being debated (with words and with imperial intervention). Both of his parents were active in the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP) led by Cheddi Jagan and were outspoken in their opposition to racism, colonialism and imperialism. Walter Rodney often attended political meetings with his mother and went around distributing anti-colonial literature himself.

Walter distinguished himself in high school and in 1960 won another open scholarship, this time to the University of the West Indies (UWI) campus at Mona, Jamaica. In Jamaica, he was an active supporter of Caribbean Unity and he traveled extensively in Jamaica supporting the West Indian Federation during the referendum of 1961. Three years later, he obtained a degree in history with First Class (top) Honors.

While as an undergraduate he was outspoken in the defense of the poor and his activities were monitored by the Jamaican police, who were afraid of the strident defense of the rights of ordinary people. As an undergraduate, he was already writing and contributing to scholarly journals on the issues of slavery and capitalism. In one particular essay entitled, “The Slave,” Walter brought out not only the humanity of the enslaved African, but the capacity to organize and rebel under the most brutal conditions.

Walter Rodney in London

In 1963, he received yet another scholarship, to study African History at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. At that period, the questions of decolonization in all parts of the world were being debated. The legacies of the post war agitation by Africans who were involved in the West African Students Union (WASU) had inspired a spirit of cooperation beyond national boundaries. In London he deepened his understanding of Pan Africanism and was in contact with students from Africa and the Caribbean. C. L. R. James provided the bridge between these communities. James had been a member of the International African Service Bureau (IASB) and had cooperated with George Padmore, W.E. B Dubois, Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah in placing the decolonization question squarely before the British political leaders and peoples. Walter was a member of the group of Caribbean workers and students who studied and debated with C.L. R. James. These study sessions included the cream of the anti colonial youth who were being trained in Europe at that time.

In 1966, at the age of 24, Rodney received his PhD. His doctoral thesis was published in 1970 as ‘A History of the Upper Guinea Coast, 1545-1800’. Because of the scholarly breakthroughs in this study, Rodney’s work was published in the most distinguished Journals of African History and he made a name for himself as a pre - eminent African historian. It was while in London when he married Patricia.

Rodney and Tanzania

His first job in academia was an appointment as lecturer in history at the University of Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, East Africa. At that time, Tanzania was the Headquarters of the OAU Liberation Committee. In 1964 the Zanzibar revolution had radicalized the politics of East Africa and in 1967 the Tanzanian government launched the Arusha Declaration. Che Guevara had also traveled through Tanzania on his way to fight in the Congo.

Returned to Jamaica

In 1968, he returned to Jamaica to lecture at Mona campus, his old university. Rodney’s second coming to Jamaica coincided with the rise of mass political activity on the island, activity in which he became deeply involved. He worked closely with poor people and “grounded” with Rastafarians in Kingston and other parts of the country. He was constantly under surveillance by the police but was not intimidated. The scholarly work of Rodney increased while he was publishing for journals, but he found time for working with the ordinary people. In this regard, Walter was the quintessential organic intellectual.

Rodney was very popular with the Jamaican masses, but his activism was frowned upon by the middle classes who felt that he was wasting his time with the Rastafari. At that time, the Rastafari were considered “outcasts” and “criminals.” The influence of Walter Rodney on the lyrics of Bob Marley can be seen from reading ‘Groundings’ and listening to the Album ‘Survival’ by Bob Marley. (See Walter Rodney, ‘Groundings With My Brothers’) In seeking to respect the culture of the people, Rodney participated in numerous sessions teaching the history of Africa in poor communities. For this, he provoked the wrath of the Jamaican government, which claimed that he was a threat to national security.

The year 1968 was historic in the uprisings all over the world. Walter Rodney attended the Black Writers Conference in Montreal in October 1968. On his return to Jamaica, the government banned Rodney from Jamaica. The JLP government sent him back to Canada on the same plane on which he had arrived. The ban resulted in major uprisings in Kingston. This was a demonstration of the love that the people had for him.
Students marched on government offices and ordinary people in Kingston, angry at the expulsion of the beloved “Brother Wally,” joined the demonstration, which eventually turned into a popular uprising. The event, which became known as the “Rodney affair,” resounded throughout the Caribbean. Some of the public presentations Rodney gave in Jamaica were published in a small book, ‘The Groundings with My Brothers’.

After his expulsion from Jamaica, Rodney spent time in Toronto, Canada and in this period traveled to Cuba. In early 1969 he returned to Tanzania, where he resumed teaching at the University of Dar es Salaam. At this time, The University of Dar es Salaam was a magnet for all of those in Africa thinking through the issues of liberation and freedom. These ideas were debated at the University of Dar es Salaam. It was in this intellectual milieu when he published his best-known work, ‘How Europe Underdeveloped Africa’. This book broke with the Eurocentric conceptions of African history and immediately the book became one of the most widely-read and influential books on Africa and the third world in general.

In addition to his scholarly pursuits, Rodney was deeply involved in working with those dedicated to freedom and emancipation. He gave classes to the Workers at the Urafiki Textile Mill near the University and traveled on weekends to communal villages. Tanzania was then undergoing a revolutionary experiment, and it also served as the headquarters for many liberation movements from various parts of Africa. Rodney, who considered study and struggle inseparable, was involved in all of these activities.

He was central to the development of an intellectual tradition that became known as the Dar es Salaam School. His numerous writings on the subjects of socialism, imperialism, working class struggles and Pan Africanism and slavery contributed to a body of knowledge that came to be known as the Dar es Salaam School of Thought. Issa Shivji, Mahmood Mamdani, Claude Ake, Archie Mafeje, Yash Tandon, John Saul, Dan Nabudere, O Nnoli, Clive Thomas and countless others participated in the debates on transformation and liberation in the University. He traveled extensively throughout East Africa and was one of the founders of the History Teachers Workshop of Tanzania. This workshop assigned themselves the task of rewriting the text books for high school students in Tanzania. One of the results of these debates was the effort of the World Bank and western donors to prop up a conservative brand of economic theory in the University. By the end of the eighties, World Bank thinkers and consultants were blaming Walter Rodney for the radical thinking in the University of Dar Es Salaam.

Return to the Caribbean.

Walter was a teacher, a political activist, a father and husband. Two of his children, Kanini and Asha were born in Tanzania. His son, Shaka Rodney was born in Jamaica in 1968.

Walter always wanted to return to the Caribbean and he wanted his children to know Guyana. Hence in 1974 he moved with his family back. Initially, he was appointed as Professor of History at the University of Guyana. The government of Guyana, however, canceled the appointment. Because of his independence and clarity of ideas, the government thought that he would leave. Out of paid work, he refused to leave the country. Instead, over the next six years he threw himself into independent research and political organization. He increased his work as an international scholar, teaching and researching on a full time basis. Many did not understand how he could work full time as an activist in the Working Peoples Alliance (WPA) and remain committed as a serious scholar.

Walter threw himself into the study of the Guyanese working people and brought out a study of Guyanese plantations in the 19th century. He was involved in a three volume study of the Guyanese working people but before it was complete, he was assassinated on June 13, 1980. After his assassination, the first volume, ‘A History of the Guyanese Working People’, 1881-1905 was published by John Hopkins University Press. This book provided the historical foundations for the political movement he played a central role in founding and leading until his death, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA). More than anything else, the WPA was committed to the politics of reconciliation among all racial groups in Guyana, beginning with the working people.

The dominant theme in Rodney’s life and work, intellectual and political, is a deep and abiding commitment to the struggles of the working people everywhere for emancipation from all forms of oppression. It was the principle for which he lived, and the principle for which he died. His last major project was the writing of books for children. It was his view that only when children learnt proper history and respect for others that the struggles against racial insecurity could be overcome. Two children’s books were produced. His legacy remains an inspiration to lovers of justice and human dignity the world over.

Walter Rodney was assassinated on June 13, 1980. He had traveled one month earlier to Zimbabwe in Southern Africa to celebrate the independence of Zimbabwe. He had been under house arrest and the political leadership panicked when they learnt that he had met the Prime Minister and leaders of the Zimbabwean struggle.

From 1979 Rodney was under constant surveillance and close colleagues of Rodney were killed in 1979 (Ohene Kahama) and in 1980 (Edward Dublin). Finally, they killed him on June 13; murdered by a bomb concealed in a walkie-talkie. The man who handed the Walkie Talkie to Walter was whisked out of Guyana and protected by international imperialism until he expired nearly twenty years later.

His death shocked Guyanese of all racial groups, women, men, and youth. He had dedicated the latter part of his life to bridging the divisions between the people of Guyana only to end up paying with his life. Rodney was not just a Guyanese figure. He was also known worldwide, especially in the Caribbean and Africa, where he enjoyed great popularity for his solidarity with the struggles of the working people. It was for this reason Eusi Kwayana termed him as the ‘prophet of self emancipation’.

* Horace Campbell is chair of the Walter Rodney Commemoration Committee (http://www.rodney25.org/) Contact core@rodney25.org to find out more about planned events.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Conned with Corn

2005-05-12

Nnimmo Bassey

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/28103

The onslaught of the biotech industry is a modern day scramble for Africa, with genetically modified crops being promoted as the miracle cure to hunger and poverty with little analysis of their long term impact. The people of Africa and their governments must show solidarity, ask questions, and act.


The scramble for Africa is getting hotter today than it may have been during the Berlin Conference at which she was partitioned. The partitioning of Africa sowed the seeds of discord and conflict that we are reaping today. Today, certain concepts have been painstakingly constructed and foisted on the continent. And this has been done in order to have Africa so compromised that she would simply just beg to be colonised once more. We are talking about the onslaught by the biotech industry on the innards of this continent.

The siege is on. Many people imagine that the pressure on Africa to accept genetically modified grains or other crops as food aid ended with the widely known case with Zambia in 2002. That emblematic case rightly showed that every country has the sovereign right to determine what type of food to eat, irrespective of whether it is purchased in the market or is donated as aid. And it demonstrated to the world that the predicted catastrophe of Zambians starving never happened. The country thereafter recorded food surpluses, besides the fact that in the heat of the crisis the shortage was limited to sections of the country and there were supplies in other regions of traditional crops like cassava and millet that simply needed to be procured for the needy areas.

Genetically engineered food has been presented as the ultimate weapon against hunger in Africa and the world. This is also seriously suggested in the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), meaning that this may be the direction efforts will be concentrated in the years to come. African leaders have largely been co-opted into thinking this way because they are warned that since the so-called Green Revolution train left Africa standing at the station they should not miss the gene train. It has been noted that the Green Revolution required extensive chemical and equipment inputs and although food production increased in some areas, small scale farmers were marginalised, the environment took a beating and on the aggregate hunger was boosted in the world.

The next major push has manifested in the presenting of Monsanto’s genetically engineered cotton (Bt Cotton) as the solution. This cotton variety, which has been engineered to withstand certain pests and to be suitable for use of certain herbicides, has been planted in India, Indonesia, South Africa, etc. The biotech industry touts these as huge successes, but there are many reported cases where farmers have recorded lower yields, and have gone into debt. The manifold cases of failure of Bt Cotton are so well documented that we may not need to go into details here. Suffice to say that industry’s underhand push and shove has been vividly illustrated in the bribery scandal that rocked Indonesia where a prominent biotech industry bribed as many as 144 serving and retired government officials in order to have approval for the commercial cultivation of the variety.

Last year, some governments in West Africa pledged to embrace this same variety of cotton. The next point of call of the proponents of Bt Cotton is Tanzania. All these efforts have been made under the direction of the USAID, one of whose major goals is promoting the spread of GMOs in the world and pointedly working to "integrate GM into local food systems."

The push into Tanzania gathered momentum in 2002 when USAID began meeting with Tanzanian scientists to describe the potential of engineered foods. Some of these USA advocates were also the architects of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Nigeria in 2004 for a biotech programme managed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria.

The interesting thing about the Tanzanian case is that although cotton production was suspended in the southern part of Tanzania because of the spread of redball cotton disease in 1968, the country is currently experiencing cotton production surpluses. When this is coupled with the record low cotton price in the market, it becomes hard to see what arguments could be pushed for the genetically engineered variety of cotton.

Barring a change of heart, the government of Tanzania has already buckled under intense pressure and the country is set to join Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Burkina Faso and Kenya in conducting confined field trials (CFT) for genetically modified crops. These so-called field tests will eventually open the nation’s doors to genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

As already noted, food aid is one of the main vehicles for putting GMOs on the platter of the world. Do we call that charity? Not so. One issue about some of these food aids is that citizens in the recipient country may not even know that their country receives food aid. In 2003 Nigeria received 11000.6 Metric Tons of soy meal as food aid from the United States, under the US title “Food for Progress”. Taking into account that around 60% of soybeans in the US is genetically modified we strongly suspect Nigeria has been receiving GM products without any prior information to the Government, and with our population completely uninformed on this. In 2004 the country was billed to receive 10,500 tons of rice.

People around the world have been vocal is calling for caution in the introduction of genetic engineering in food crop propagation. The biotech industry with their powerful lobby has stoutly resisted compliance with the precautionary principle enshrined in the Cartagena Protocol on Bio-safety. The precautionary principle as the name implies requires that countries apply caution when considering or opening doors to bringing GMOs into their environment. One of the reasons for this is that the safety of GMOs has not been unequivocally proven.

The biotech industry thrives on subverting the ability of people to protect themselves and their environments. They do this through deliberate contamination and illegal release of genetically modified crops into the environment. In fact, when environments are acutely contaminated, nations have no option but to legalise the illegality. Many suspect that this may have been the case with Brazil. Also, many reports from North America show that when conventional and organic farms are contaminated by genetically modified neighbours, the innocent farmers are made liable and are forced to pay compensations to the polluter instead of the other way round. This is cowboy justice.

The argument usually put forward as a response to the insistence on caution is that GMOs have not harmed anyone. But how can we know that GMOs have not harmed anyone if there are no serious studies on the populations consuming it? How do we prove damage to human health when there is little or no serious research over the toxicological, long term impacts of GM food? How do we know whether an allergy is caused by a GM crop where adequate tests have not been developed to prove the link between the GMO and the allergy? The large number of questions existing over the risks of GM crops clearly show that the world is not ready for its release until the questions are properly answered.

An example of this need is the attitude of the European Commission, which is about to start new studies to examine the potential “cumulative long-term effects” genetically modified (GMO) crops might have on human and animal health in the longer term. This is coming eight years after the EU first allowed biotech crops. If the European Commission is now commissioning such studies, it shows that we still have a lot to learn from the risks of GMOs. And if that is the approach taken by Europeans, we have every reason to pause and think.

But, the biotech industry is like a bull set loose in a china shop and needs all the controls possible. Recent reports of contamination of food supplies with illegal varieties should worry everyone. We refer to the case of Latin America where corn varieties with StarLink which are not authorised for human consumption have been found in food aid sent there in 2002 and also in 2005. Where they cannot deny the presence of the illegal grain the response of the biotech industry has been that the illegal corn is okay for consumption. No apologies.

Africa received huge quantities of corn from the USA as food aid. From reports Africa was the top worldwide recipient of US corn as food aid in 2004. Three African countries, Angola (62.400 MT), Tanzania and Burundi (28.000 MT) were among the top five. Other African countries included Uganda (20.900 MT), and Kenya (13,600 MT). We recall here that after the refusal of GMO grains by Zambia and Zimbabwe the shipments of food aid to these countries in 2003 and 2004 dropped to zero.

The push continues even though proponents like the USAID recognises that GM corn sent to Africa as food aid “would be expected to perform poorly in African growing conditions” and is “not well suited for planting” . Despite this, the maize keeps coming to Africa. If one country rejects it, it is channelled to another.

We have many reasons to worry. Another reason is that the industry does not have GMOs under control and the risks to health and environment are unknown. A few weeks ago it became public that an untested experimental crop, from Swiss agrochemicals multinational group, Syngenta, called Bt10, has been illegally planted from 2001 until 2004 in the USA. This illegal variety contains antibiotic resistance marker genes, which the British Medical Association recommended not to commercialise due to the potential risks for human health. The EU, Japan and South Korea have already protested against this and are taking measures to test the grains in order to isolate and destroy the illegal variety. All Syngenta could say is that their 1000 tons of Bt10 food entered the EU accidentally. Initially Syngenta had claimed that Bt10 and Bt11 (an already commercialised variety of GM cron) were virtually identical, and therefore there were no risks, but later on it was verified as false since Bt10 contained antibiotic resistant marker genes, while that was not the case with the Bt11 type. What other areas have confused the biotech industry?

What measures are taken by our Governments in Africa? Africa continues to be the biggest corn food aid recipient, not only of grain, but also corn soy blend and cornmeal. Are we going to continue to let our population be at risk and consume these GM products?

Genetic pollution is not comparable to oil or other environmental pollution. Chemical pollution may finally dissipate after a thousand or so years, but genetic pollution on the other hand grows exponentially with time. They simply do not diminish. The problem expands.

With the huge contamination of the world’s corn and soya stock and the risk that it may become irreversible, the biotech industry is now seriously working on commercialising GM wheat and rice. Indeed it is reported that China may release GM rice into the market in the next year. With the bulk of rice in Nigeria coming from Asia, it is a matter of time before GM rice from China floods our supply lines. This is inevitable, unless something is done, and quickly too.

Just to think about all this makes us feel really scared about the food that is placed on our plates, and the seeds that we may be planting. If we blindly follow the biotech agri-business path we are bound to find that all traditional food crops will be genetically engineered in no time and as we have seen already, when the plague hits, the chance of recovery will be slim.

This is the time for everyone, Nigerian, Tanzanian, Togolese, Camerounian, or Swazi to stand up and defend our collective right to live in dignity and to choose what seeds to plant and what foods to eat. We cannot afford to place our future in the hand of an industry that has lost control of its Frankenstein. Our governments, if they represent us, must begin now to ask questions, and to act. Tomorrow will be too late.

* Nnimmo Bassey is Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action and Friends of the Earth Africa GMO campaign co-ordinator. An ERA/TWN African Conference was held 21-23 March 2005 on Genetically Modified Organisms in Lagos, Nigeria and drew the attendance of over 50 participants from 16 countries. It focussed on the enormous and unrelenting assault and the real threat of a GMOs invasion of Africa. The conference brought together civil society groups, government representatives, scientists and academia from Nigeria, Africa, and from Asia.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Post-Bandung: Rhetoric or Transformation in Afro-Asian Cooperation?

2005-05-12

Chandrakant Patel

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/28104

Fifty years after the first Afro-Asian meeting in Bandung in 1955, leaders from these regions met again to re-establish a spirit of co-operation. The meeting took place at a time of increased trade between countries of the South and when many African countries are starting to adopt “go east” policies. But will the vision of Bandung mean new trade rules based on equity and protection of weaker trading partners?


At the recently concluded meetings in Jakarta and Bandung to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Afro-Asian meeting in Bandung in 1955, the President of Indonesia observed: “ It took fifty long years for this Conference to happen, but Asia and Africa have finally assembled here again.” Reflecting on the achievements of the first Conference (which was attended by, among others, President Soekarno of Indonesia, President Nasser of Egypt, Prime Ministers Chou En Lai and Jawaharlal Nehru of China and India respectively), the President of Indonesia went on to ask:

“Why did it take 50 years - a lifetime - for Asia and Africa to reconvene, after the success of the first Summit in 1955?

We must ask: Does the Bandung Spirit mean the same in 2005 as it did in 1955? If the Bandung spirit has served us well over the years, how can we adapt that spirit to today’s circumstances? And we must ask: now that Asia-Africa spirit is reconvened in great numbers and with robust confidence, how can we make it relevant? Relevant to us, and relevant to the world?

Against this note of expectations, it must be observed that the very fact that the Conference took place - and in a modest if not practical way succeeded in outlining the broad contours of political, economic and social cooperation between the two regions - is an important development. Only time will tell whether the Conference has succeeded in shifting the colonial and therefore contrived patterns of linkages from North-South to Africa-Asia and to South-South.

There can be little doubt, however, that trade and investment ties between Asia and Africa are growing at a faster pace than between North and South. The combined share of Africa and Asia in world trade since the 1990s has risen markedly, from about a fifth to over a quarter of world total. Secondly, trade among developing countries has become the most dynamic component of international trade. In the decade of the 1990’s, for example, trade among them grew at an annual average of 11 percent, by far exceeding the 6 percent growth in world trade. As a result, the share of intra-developing trade has expanded from a modest 8 percent to over 13 percent of the total over the same period. More than 40 percent of their exports of agriculture and manufactured products are now destined for each other’s markets. In consequence, the structure of their trade has altered dramatically: whereas two decades ago, primary commodities accounted for nearly 75 percent of their exports, they now account for less than 30 percent. Even for Africa, there has been a modest rise in the share of manufactured goods.

If Africa’s trade with Asia were to continue to grow at similar rates over the next two decades i.e. at just over 10 per cent annually, a massive diversification of Africa’s trade structure is likely to take place. This will not only significantly lessen its dependence on traditional markets of developed countries but also more importantly, re-orient its trade towards the more dynamic markets of Asia. It is therefore not surprising that an increasing number of countries in Africa are designing strategies and polices to take into account this prospect. Zimbabwe’s “Go East” policy, now reportedly under consideration by other countries in the region, is a good example of this trend. They are grounded in emerging complementarities induced by rapid growth in import demand from Asia and growth of Asian SMEs-led investments in Africa.

It is equally true that much of the expansion in trade, investment and technology transfers is autonomous i.e. market-driven and concentrated in a few sectors and countries. If the benefits of such expansion are to be widely shared, it will in all likelihood require much greater attention and involvement of the policy-makers of the two regions. If the emerging trends are to lead to more fundamental and qualitative changes in economic relations, a structure and a system of cooperation will have to be built away from donor-inspired frameworks of EPAS, AGOA and the like.

Regional and inter-regional efforts at cooperation have so far largely focused on the mutual gains from closer economic relations. Without greater commitment and efforts on the part of the political establishments of the respective continents, however, economic cooperation will, in all likelihood, continue to remain below the potential warranted by their complementarities. The New Strategy of Afro-Asian cooperation must accordingly be based on sustained political commitment to ensure its progress and implementation. This includes as close a harmonization of positions as possible in global negotiations on matters of environment, social justice, reforms of global institutions, international trade, investment and other development issues. At the national level, where the primary impetus for greater cooperation must be nurtured, greater effort needs to be made to raise awareness about the political importance of Afro-Asian cooperation.

Arrangements for improved Afro-Asian cooperation must perforce take into account the striking changes that have taken place in the global economic and political environment over the past fifty years. Many of these changes warrant new approaches and engagement of new actors in driving cooperation: for example, the role of technology, of the private sector and in particular the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), improved communications and the need for larger markets in the wake of new integrated production and distribution systems all need to be given considerably greater weight and attention than was the case fifty years ago.

The dramatic transformation of many economies in Asia has altered the scope for mutual cooperation distinctly in favor of increased inter and intra–regional cooperation. The emergence of ASEAN, China and India, among others, as important players on the global scene is beginning to reshape economic geography and the quality of trade relations as they intensify their cooperation with each other and with other developing countries. Likewise, rapid growth and demand for the products of Africa has spurred the interests of business and the investment community in Asia to forge fresh links with Africa.

The real challenge before the Afro-Asian policy-makers is to ensure that patterns of Asian-African trade does not replicate North-South linkages: it must, for example, be informed by new trade rules in which the fruits of value chain are equitably distributed; in which dependency of debtor-creditor relationship is largely absent; in which rules of origin encourage investments and technology transfers at source; and in which the weaker trading partners are protected. It is possible to conceive of a new paradigm of economic relations. But is the political leadership in the two regions really prepared to implement the vision of Bandung?

* Chandrakant Patel is the editor of the Seatini Bulletin. Seatini is the Southern and Eastern African Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (http://www.seatini.org/) The latest edition of the Seatini Bulletin, ‘50 years after Bandung, Asia-Africa summit adopts a new pact’, contains a series of articles on the recent Bandung Summit. For more information and subscriptions, contact SEATINI, 20 Victoria Drive, Newlands, Harare, Zimbabwe, Tel: +263 4 792681, Ext. 255 & 341, Tel/Fax: +263 4 251648, Fax: +263 4 788078, email: seatini.zw@undp.org

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

'Development Pornography'

Charles Kachikoti

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/28107

I salute this brilliant discussion on a matter I myself had not thought of. As a journalist of 20 years standing in Zambia (15 years in newspapers and five in development communication), now in corporate public relations, I find this most instructive. I hope you are able to indicate which media organisations have taken up and published this piece. Good work!

A solidarity of sorrow

Jacques Depelchin

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/28088

Thank you for the piece by Gerald Caplan on solidarity in Genocide. That effort of transcending the differences in partial or total annihilation for the sake of an ideology is to be commended, but the effort falls short. The space is too brief to deal fairly with the reasons for this.

Uniquely unique

One should accept that all genocides are both unique and generic. But, the idea that, historically, morally or ethically, we shall one day devise a sort of Richter Scale for genocidal horror is beyond sadness because it would fall into the very system which was inaugurated with the wiping out of Indigenous people, Amerindians followed by ripping Africans away from their homes in ways which can be imagined as similar to current processes in various parts of the Planet.

Hitler's words quoted by Caplan illustrate something deeper. By then, as far as the System was concerned, who remembered the Native Americans, Africans and African Americans as people? The circumstances were different, but the objective was the same: wipe out any obstacle which dares to stand in the way. The difference between Hitler and Capitalism is that the latter does not have a name even though so many crimes have been perpetrated in its name.

It is easier to scapegoat Hitler than, say, institutions which pass today as standing up for humanity. If fidelity to humanity is going to create an unassailable foundation for Never Again, then it should not fear calling for something like Reconciliation with Truth. Such a process principled by a truth process based on an ethic of truth would be organized at a distance from States or institutions deriving their legitimacy from states. It would be rooted in the kind of preoccupation which is highlighted in Caplan's piece.

African Voices on Development and Social Justice

Jonathan Harle

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/28029

Opening eyes

Faith Kabata

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/28030

World Press Freedom Day (1)

Dieter Gerhardt

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/28035

World Press Freedom Day (2)

Andrew Manyevere

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/28036

I want to make brief comments on World Press Freedom day in relation to Zimbabwe. No matter how Shabir Shaik may have misconstrued his sentence or remarks on him from the media to justify what happens in Zimbabwe as a result is an insult to humanity and the dignity that we talk of in freedom.

To say Mugabe may have gotten up one morning and say enough is enough, for who through? If it was enough for him then he should resign and let someone else run the affairs of the country rather than assign oneself the role of a monarch. I think, irrespective of who Shaik is and where he comes from, his sentiments underline our greater problem of SELF is bigger than EVERYBODY.

Mugabe cannot argue with everybody in Zimbabwe to say he is the best and no one is better than him. That is what lack of freedom to the press means in Zimbabwe, Mugabe taking everything arround him including what to say and when by citizens. It is the freedom of the press, in my opinion, which brings with it the willingness of those in power to bow down to the wrongs committed while in office and resign. Denying press freedom, as is alluded by Shaik, is saying the opposite: Leave us in power and mind your own business. But we say how can we mind our business when our lines of communication cross with yours and yet you do not want us to go and repair the lines in order that we mind our business. How sincere then is the statement mind your own business?

We concede to the fact that some of these business men who fly across Africa are champions in seeding corruption and kill, virtually kill tenets of freedom of the press when they bribe their way into the heart of governance in Africa. This undermines freedom and we mean it sincerely when we say in Zimbabwe Mugabe's action on the media are the last kicks of a dying horse.

We are grateful of what the international community is doing in the fight for World Press Freedom and want to draw their attention to atrocities that took place immediately after the stage-managed-2005 elections, and are still taking place in Zimbabwe. We are loosing count of loss of human life and barbaric action taken against others by Zanu malice directed as vindictive and punitive assaults on freedom against association and belonging. We condemn these.

Central Africa: Crises, Reform and Reconstruction

ESD Fomin and John W Forje

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/28025

This timely book addresses development problems and prospects in Central Africa. Drawing from individual case studies, global debates and experiences, the contributors provide a rich repertoire of reflections and insights on economic integration and activities, and on the internal and external politics of the different states in the subregion.
Central Africa: Crises, Reform and Reconstruction
ESD Fomin and John W Forje
Published April 2005; 272 pages; ISBN 2-86978-151-2
‘This book contains insightful and well-articulated analyses of key factors and issues for nation building in Cameroon and the Central African sub region in terms of the socio-economico-political variables for the enterprise of natural development’.
Professor Beban Sammy Chumbow, Rector University of Yaounde 1, Cameroon.
‘This comprehensive work covers a wide range of issues affecting the Central African sub-region and argues that though most of the problems affecting African states are traceable to colonial and the Cold-War eras, authoritarian leaderships, despotism, consolidated through ethnic hegemony, politics of exclusion, corruption and unhealthy romance with forces of neo-colonialism are equally to be blamed. ... This is no doubt a timely publication and a must read for any one interested in the politics of Africa’.
Iroanya Richardo, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
This timely book addresses development problems and prospects in Central Africa. Drawing from individual case studies, global debates and experiences, the contributors provide a rich repertoire of reflections and insights on economic integration and activities, and on the internal and external politics of the different states in the subregion. Strikingly, all the studies point to the fact that Central African states, although possessing tremendous natural and human resources and peopled by communities thirsty for development, have for a long time remained under the spell and chaos of bad governments and bad economic policies and practices. A consequence has been endemic poverty and misery for all but an elite few. Informed both by their empirical findings and experiences as social actors, the authors of this important volume highlight not only the failure of democracy to take root in the subregion, but also how corruption, lack of transparency and accountability in governance and business have detrimentally become fashionable, making the prospects of reform an ever more extravagant dream.
E.S.D. Fomin has a Doctorate in History from the University of Yaounde. He is the author of four books, has published several scientific articles, and participated in many seminars, conferences, and symposia.
John W. Forje is currently Archie Mafeje Fellow at the African Institute of South Africa, Pretoria. He was educated at the Universities of Lund, Hull and Salford. He is a Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, University of Yaounde II-Soa; and a Visiting Lecturer, University of Buea, Cameroon. He is author of a number of books and articles.
Africa: CFA 10,000; non-CFA zone, 20.00USD; Rest of the world: 25.00 USD
Contents

Introduction
E.S.D. Fomin and John W. Forje

Section I: Nation Building and Regional Integration: Problems and Prospects
 
Regional Economic Blocs in Central Africa: What Went Right and What Went Wrong?
Arsene Honore Gideon Nkama
 
The Paucity and Irregularity of Anglophone Newspapersdin Cameroon Victor Cheo and Henry Muluh
 
The Management of Ethnic Diversity in Cameroon: The Case of the Coastal Areas
Emmanuel Yenshu Vubo
 
Effects of the Foreign Debt Burden on Saving Ratios in the CEMAC Zone
George Ndoh Mbanga
 
The NEPAD Initiative: A Basis for Fostering Economic Recovery in the CEMAC Zone
Ntangsi Max Memfih
 
Checking Rebels or Chasing Fortunes: Foreign States’ Elites and the DR Congo Conflict (1997–2002)
Oladiran W. Bello
 
The Youth and Environmental Education in Cameroon: A Study of Secondary School-based Environmental Clubs
Andrew Wujung Vukenkeng
 
From Village to National and Global Art: Whose Art?
Walter Nkwi
 
Section II : The Weird Wind of Democratisation and Governance
 
Traumas, Memories and ‘Modern’ Politics in Central Africa
E. S. D. Fomin
 
Tribulations of a Democratic Transition: The Cameroonian Experience
Valentine Ameli Tabi
 
Protection against Human Rights Abuses in the Central Africa  Sub-Region: The Case of Children
Margaret Ayike
 
The Vicissitudes of Cameroon Civil Society in the 1990s: What Lessons for the Central African Region?
Susanna Yene Awasom
 
Rethinking Political Will and Empowerment as Missing Dimensions in Post-Conflict Reform and Reconstruction in the Central African Sub-Region
John W. Forje
 
Conflict and Violence in Central Africa: The Political Economy Behind Internal and External Networks in Fomenting War in the Sub-Region
Ian Taylor
 
For orders :
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CP 18524, Dakar, Senegal
Email:
codesria@codesria.sn
Rest of the world: 
African Books Collective
The Jam Factory
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Email:
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Web:
www.africanbookscollective.com

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Health for Some: Death, Disease and Disparity in a Globalizing Era

Ronald Labonte, Ted Schrecker and Amit Sen Gupta

2005-05-11

http://www.socialjustice.org/cart.php?filter=&action=add_item&id=23&qty=1

Those who fall behind in the winner take all markets of global competition not only suffer from poverty and poor health, but also lose access to health care and other essential health-producing services. Reversing these trends will require decisive and coordinated action on the part of high-income countries in areas we often do not connect with: debt cancellation, increased development assistance, fair trade policies and global tax reforms.

Talk Left, Walk Right

Patrick Bond and David Moore

2005-05-12

http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=9406

This timely and instructive book by Patrick Bond, a radical academic based in South Africa, shows that Gordon Brown and Tony Blair's current effort to project themselves as the saviours of the world's poor is far from unique. The South African president and fellow Third Way traveller Thabo Mbeki has also been donning the garb of global justice in order to repackage neo-liberalism as the solution to world poverty.

Africa/Global: Beijing +10 amnesia: Governmental interventions in preparation for the September summit

2005-05-10

http://www.peacewomen.org/un/September_Summit/WomenGenderSeptSummit.html

Between 19 and 28 April 2005 UN Member States participated in four rounds of interventions, based on the following four major themes of the Secretary-General's report, 'In Larger Freedom'. These themes were: development, security, human rights and UN reform. The governmental responses to the recommendations in the report were largely void of a gender perspective and, in particular, a focus on women.

Africa/Global: Complaints of sexual infractions at UN last year doubled from 2003

2005-05-05

http://www.peacewomen.org/un/pkwatch/News/05/complaints.html

The number of allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation made by and about United Nations personnel in 2004 was more than double the number reported in 2003, a development that is deeply distressing, even though contributing factors include clearer reporting procedures and new response measures, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report to the General Assembly. "The total number of 121 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse registered in 2004 was more than double the 53 allegations reported in 2003. The increase in allegations is deeply troubling," he says.

Africa/Global: Evaluation of gender and age mainstreaming at UNHCR

2005-05-11

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC18411&Resource=f1gender

This report assesses the UNHCR age and gender mainstreaming pilot project launched in 2004. It provides a strategic overview of the pilot project experience, drawing out findings, good practice, lessons learnt and recommendations for the future. In particular it documents specific learning in terms of the MFTs (Multi-Functional Team), partnership working, methodology, leadership in the field and at headquarters, ownership and accountability. The age and gender mainstreaming pilot involves a massive organisational change exercise.

Africa/Global: Poor nations vow to defend women

2005-05-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4534795.stm

Latin American, African and Asian countries have vowed to act to improve the lives of women in the Third World. Members of the Non-Aligned Movement of nations ended their first ever summit on women's rights in Kuala Lumpur by signing a new protocol. The Putrajaya Declaration pledges to do more to protect women from violence, improve their health and education and give them a greater political voice.

Nigeria: More power and education needed to improve women's ability to negotiate safer sex

2005-05-11

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC18391&Resource=f1gender

This study, published in Demographic Research, examines the extent to which women have control over their sexuality within marriage in Lagos, Nigeria, and its implications for the spread of HIV. Findings from the study show that women have some control over their sexuality, such as during menstruation, breastfeeding, pregnancy and sickness. However, only a few women could negotiate with their husbands to insist on safe sexual practices. Other findings demonstrate that improved socio-economic status increases the likelihood of a woman asserting her reproductive rights; and 18 per cent of those interviewed reported multiple sexual partners.

Nigeria: Time to give women a voice

2005-05-09

http://allafrica.com/stories/200505100364.html

Women Organisations For Representative National Conference (WORNACO), an umbrella organisation founded with a mission to dismantle all structures and barriers that promote discrimination against women in Nigeria, recently held a one-day strategic meeting to discuss their engagement with the Confab and to also set agenda for the proposed Women's Summit slated for June 2005. The Convener of WARNACO, Professor Jadesola Akande, Executive Director Women, Law and Development Centre Lagos (WLDCN), chaired the meeting held at the Women Development Centre Lagos, which brought together forty-five participants representing organisations from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria.

Africa/Global: 12.3 million in forced labour

2005-05-12

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1481724,00.html

At least 12.3 million people are trapped in forced labour around the world, according to estimates in a report by the UN agency the International Labour Organisation. More than three-quarters of these are subjected to forced labour by private companies or individuals rather than being victims of the state, the ILO study suggests.

Egypt: Calls for an end to the death penalty

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/28034

The African Commission on Human and People?s Rights (ACHPR) which is currently meeting in Banjul (The Gambia) will review Egypt?s third State report. On that occasion, the FIDH publishes a report on the death penalty in Egypt in order to draw the attention of the African Commission on the violations of international and regional standards taking place in that framework. The report is the result of an international fact-finding mission which was conducted in November 2004 in Egypt.
Press release
FIDH

The African Commission on Human and People?s Rights (ACHPR) which is
currently meeting in Banjul (The Gambia) will review Egypt?s third State
report. That report is supposed to present the measures adopted by the
Egyptian authorities to give effect to the rights guaranteed by the main
regional human rights instrument in Africa, the African Charter on Human
and Peoples? Rights.

On that occasion, the FIDH publishes a report on the death penalty in
Egypt in order to draw the attention of the African Commission on the
violations of international and regional standards taking place in that
framework. The report is the result of an international fact-finding
mission which was conducted in November 2004 in Egypt.

The report notably points to the great number of crimes which entail the
death penalty in Egypt and to the fact that civilians may be tried by
military courts, sentenced to death and executed without delay, in
violation of the rights of the defence and sometimes in abstentia. The
only remedy is the unlikely pardon of the President of the Republic.
Confessions obtained under duress are often accepted in court and form the
basis of the sentence.

The FIDH report recommends to the Egyptian authorities to put an immediate
end to the state of emergency which, after 23 years, is no longer
justified in Egypt today; the state of emergency is conducive to serious
violations of human rights, including administrative detention without any
effective judicial control, unfair trials of civilians before military
courts, and widespread torture of detainees, including during the
pre-trial stage. The Egyptian authorities should inquire into all
allegations of torture and bring to justice those responsible.

The FIDH, the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) and the Human
Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners (HRAAP) call upon the
African Commission to recommend that the Egyptian authorities conform to
its 1999 resolution, which urged all States parties that still maintain
the death penalty to consider establishing a moratorium on executions of
death penalty as a first step towards abolition.

FIDH, EOHR and HRAAP also urge the African Commission to make public such
recommendations.

Contact: FIDH (331) 43 55 25 18 EOHR (202) 363 68 11 HRAAP (202) 302 82 19

More...

Nigeria: Serious violations of core labour standards

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/28041

A new report by the ICFTU on core labour standards in Nigeria, which coincides with Nigeria's trade policy review at the WTO this week, shows serious shortcomings in the application and enforcement of all eight core labour standards, particularly with regard to the lack of trade union rights of workers including the right to strike, discrimination and child labour.
INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF FREE TRADE UNIONS

ICFTU OnLine:
066/100505


New ICFTU report submitted to the WTO:

Serious violations of core labour standards in Nigeria

BRUSSELS, 10 May 2005, ICFTU Online: A new report by the ICFTU on core
labour standards in Nigeria, which coincides with Nigeria's trade policy
review at the WTO this week, shows serious shortcomings in the
application and enforcement of all eight core labour standards,
particularly with regard to the lack of trade union rights of workers
including the right to strike, discrimination and child labour. In
October 2004, the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) was
arrested during a general strike despite the fact that the action was an
entirely legitimate exercise of the collective rights of the trade union
movement. Though released, he is still facing criminal charges in an
Abuja High Court while police have raided his house and office on
several occasions.

A new Trade Union Amendment Act, which was adopted recently, fails to
address adequately problems identified in the report with regard to
freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining, the right
to strike and anti-union policies. The new Act is aimed at curbing the
right to strike and at weakening the Nigerian Labour Congress. The Act
was presented without adequate consultations through the tripartite
labour review set up with assistance of the ILO, contrary to what was
promised. Furthermore, trade union rights are restricted in Export
Processing Zones and strikes prohibited in such zones for a period of
ten years, which is directly contrary to ILO conventions.

The ICFTU and the NLC consider that in view of the seriousness of these
problems, there is need for a much stronger commitment to social
dialogue by the Federal Government of Nigeria in order to achieve a
culture of constructive engagement of labour over policies and
governance issues. It is also imperative to abrogate the Public Order
Act, which compels organisations to seek a permit from the Police before
any assembly. The law gives the Commissioners of Police latitude to
refuse to issue such a permit or to break up assemblies convened without
one. As such permits are invariably denied, the right to assembly
provided for by the Constitution and the right to freedom of association
cannot be meaningful as long as this law still exists.

Discrimination in employment and wages is persistent in Nigeria. Surveys
show a wage gap between men and women and a highly segregated labour
market. Few women are employed in the formal economy due to social
discrimination in education and training and to a gender-based division
of labour in the formal economy. Moreover, the Minimum Wage Act excludes
many workers, in particular those groups where women are
disproportionately represented such as part-time workers and seasonal
agricultural workers.

Child labour is widespread in Nigeria, and it was estimated in 2003 by
the ILO and the government that 15 million children are working, of
which up to 40% is at risk of being trafficked for forced labour, forced
prostitution and armed conflict. 6 million children do not attend school
and 2 million work more than 15 hours per day. Many children are also
trafficked into Nigeria for the purpose of forced labour. Several child
slave camps exist in the Western States of Nigeria, where children are
used as slaves in mining and on rubber plantations.

To read the full report:
http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991221621&Language=EN

The ICFTU represents 145 million workers in 231 affiliated organisations
in 154 countries and territories. ICFTU is also a member of Global
Unions: http://www.global-unions.org

For more information, please contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2
224 0232 or +32 476 621 018.

More...

Somaliland: Inside Hargeisa central

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/28033

Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi was arrested in January and spent 16 days in Hargeisa central prison for no other reason than the peaceful expression of his political views. Sultan Raabi had advocated a clan gathering to discuss the country’s political future, first at a public gathering and subsequently in a press conference. He was detained although he was never tried or sentenced by a court of law. Government officials told the UN independent human rights expert for Somalia, Ghanim Alnajjar, who met with Raabi Yusuf in prison in February, that he “had been charged with inciting a rebellion”, but no charges were in fact ever brought, nor any explanations given. Asked to report to the central police station in Hargeisa the day after the press conference, he was told on arrival that he was under arrest. His mobile and the keys to his safe were confiscated. He spent four nights in the station, and was interviewed once by officers from the CID who informed him that he was accused of “incitement”, though they gave no details or evidence.
CONDITIONS IN HARGEISA CENTRAL PRISON
African Rights
An Account from Sultan Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi

5 May 2005


Introduction

Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi was arrested in January and spent 16 days in Hargeisa central prison for no other reason than the peaceful expression of his political views. Sultan Raabi had advocated a clan gathering to discuss the country’s political future, first at a public gathering and subsequently in a press conference. He was detained although he was never tried or sentenced by a court of law. Government officials told the UN independent human rights expert for Somalia, Ghanim Alnajjar, who met with Raabi Yusuf in prison in February, that he “had been charged with inciting a rebellion”, but no charges were in fact ever brought, nor any explanations given. Asked to report to the central police station in Hargeisa the day after the press conference, he was told on arrival that he was under arrest. His mobile and the keys to his safe were confiscated. He spent four nights in the station, and was interviewed once by officers from the CID who informed him that he was accused of “incitement”, though they gave no details or evidence. After four days, he was told that he would be taken to court the following morning, and arranged to meet his relatives and supporters there. Instead, he was taken to Hargeisa central prison, amidst tight security and a large contingent of armed policemen, where the prison authorities were expecting him. In the meantime, government supplies of water and electricity to his restaurant in town, “Bile”, were cut off, and the government stipends to the traditional leaders perceived as his supporters, were terminated.

Despite the evident injustices of his detention, Sultan Raabi considers himself to have been one of the most fortunate prisoners because his status as a community leader allowed him privileges that ordinary detainees cannot even imagine. He was given a room on his own, and his family brought him food. Shocked and appalled by the conditions he found in prison, he gave a press conference to talk of his experiences. In the account published by a local newspaper, Haatuf, he described the situation there “as one that warrants immediate emergency action.” He also made this appeal: “I urge fellow-Muslims, people with a conscience and those with a minimum of patriotic feelings to act and help.”
Hargeisa central prison was built in the 1940s to accommodate 150 inmates by the British administration then in charge. But according to Ghanim Alnajjar, who visited the prison in February, it was then home to 800 inmates. He made the following observation in his report.

As noted by many during this mission, the conditions at the prison were very poor. It had noticeably deteriorated in the past three years, the conditions were overcrowded, and there were no sanitation facilities or running water.

Alnajjar echoed the observations made ten months earlier, in April 2004, by the Social Affairs Committee of Somaliland’s House of Representatives [parliament] who, on visiting the prison, wrote in their report:

The living conditions in the central prison are shocking… The prisoners lack medical attention. There is a medical officer assigned to the prison but he never appears there. Inmates suffer from TB, HIV/AIDS, swelling of the skin and other diseases. There were prisoners with broken limbs who had not been attended by doctors.

The toilets and sewage in the prison are overflowing. Health and sanitation in the prison are very poor. If immediate action is not taken, serious epidemic diseases could break out.

There were 200 custodial corps in the prison. They lack uniforms and transport.

The Committee’s report put the number of prisoners at that time at 603, 33 of whom were women. The increase of 200 prisoners between April 2004 and February 2005 justifies Alnajjar’s concern about the deterioration of conditions. Of the 603 prisoners at the time, they wrote that 264 had been convicted, 146 had been detained under the Emergency Decree by the “Preservation of the Peace Committee” and 193 were on remand.

On 24 April, a representative of African Rights and of the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland met with Sultan Raabi where he spoke at length about the day to day life of prisoners in Hargeisa central prison. This is his testimony.

Hargeisa central prison is a terrible, terrible place. I used to cry every night. And I hardly slept at all because I couldn’t believe that as a citizen, and as a person in a position of responsibility, I didn’t know all this was happening right in the midst of Hargeisa.

The prisoners were very welcoming. I was taken to a filthy room. The prison authorities asked me for money to connect the electricity in the room, and also money to pay the people who were going to clean the room. I told them that I had no money with me. One person, I’m not sure who he was, but he was not a prisoner, offered to advance the money and I said I would reimburse him. And the room was washed.

During the 16 days I spent there, the prisoners told me many horror stories and problems. But there are three things that are uppermost in my mind.
Lack of Medical Care

The first is the lack of medical care, which especially affects prisoners from regions outside of Hargeisa. Even when their families send them medication, they are not given the medicines. Nor do they get treatment. Some die as a result, from disease, compounded by malnutrition. Some die while still in chains.

During my time there, I never saw the prison doctor even though there were sick people in a nearby room. I asked the prison authorities to send some of them for medical care, but they refused. There was even someone who had been shot by the police and who was bleeding, but nothing was done to stop the bleeding. He had been wounded in Hargeisa. The police of course didn’t come to find out how he was doing.

Absence of Toilet Facilities

The second astonishing discovery for me is the fact that there are no toilet facilities. The prisoners have to dig pits in the very rooms where they sleep on sandy floors and then take out the waste in buckets. On the days when they are taking the waste, the stink is so terrible that no one has the appetite to eat anything. Even someone like me who had a private room had to use plastic bags because there are simply no toilets. Even the prison guards don’t have toilets.

Only five rooms have cement floors: the room I occupied, the one next door which was empty and a room reserved for the detainees accused of killing foreigners. So you can imagine the hygienic situation in the other rooms which don’t have cement floors and which are dug up as part toilets.

Overcrowded Store-Rooms as Holding Centres

But the very worse thing is the store-rooms which are used to house 96 prisoners to a room. These rooms, and I know of five, were not built to house detainees, but as they are, they can accommodate at most 30 per room. Instead, there are 96 men packed into a room, forced to sleep in one position as there is no space to turn. There are people in these rooms with TB, meningitis and HIV/AIDS, as well as prisoners who are mentally unstable. They receive no medical help and are living and sleeping with the others. Some go mad when they can no longer endure these inhumane conditions. Even if someone has diarrhoea, and it is not uncommon, they remain there. These prisoners are covered by lice and bedbugs.

These prisoners have the doors locked at 3:00 p.m. and remain locked up until 8:00 a.m. During that time, they get no water. Between 8:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., they are allowed outside twice, for half an hour each time. The rest of the time, until 3:00 p.m. they remain indoors although the doors are not locked.

The Detention of Children and Young Men

There were about 10 children in the prison, some aged about 12, others 13, 14 or 15. And it is in fact these juveniles who do the dirty work of cleaning out the buckets.

Youngsters aged 18-25 constitute a very large percentage of the male prison population.
Food

For breakfast, the prisoners are given a small bit of bread and black tea. For lunch they get a cupful of cooked maize and for supper, they get nothing. Even the prison guards are underfed.

The Lack of a Judicial Process

Many of the prisoners have been sent there without any kind of a judicial process. A large number of them are poor people from the areas to the west of Hargeisa, for example near the spot known as Makhayada Inanta and Allay Baday, a district where the land is now sought after by people with money. If they make a fuss about their land being taken, it is easy to get them imprisoned under the Emergency Decree which gives extraordinary powers to the mayor, the attorney-general, the Minister of the Interior, the governor, the head of the police and the head of the courts, to send people to prison directly without passing through any legal process. People are in prison after a phone conversation between various officials, and these officials also use the prison to detain people with whom they have private quarrels. I even remember a son imprisoned together with his mother and father.

Conclusion

Raabi Yusuf Abdillahi’s own experience underscores the problems inherent in the judicial system in Somaliland. Released two months ago, he is still waiting for an official explanation as to the reasons for his arrest, or an apology. On his release from prison, he learned that his brother had stood bail for him. When he and his brother went to the regional court to look into the issue of bail, and his detention, the judge sent them to the attorney-general, who told them to go and see the head of the police, who sent them back to the judge.

In the meantime, Sultan Raabi has decided to focus his energies on being an advocate for the men, women and children he left behind in prison, drawing attention to their plight, and to that of prisoners detained throughout Somaliland. African Rights and the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland urge the government and people of Somaliland, as well as international organizations concerned with justice issues present in Somaliland, to address the appalling prison conditions, including the wider implications for the police and the judiciary, and to help alleviate needless human suffering.

More...

Somaliland: Peace coalition concerned about human rights situation

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/28108

"The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland (CJPS) is concerned about the implications for human rights of statements made on 10 May by the Minister of the Interior, Ismail Adan Osman, during a conference to debate a proposed National Human Rights Commission. The comments, given prominent coverage by the local media yesterday, underline the government’s intolerance of criticism, and its determination to control the flow of information that reaches the outside world. The Coalition shares the desire of the government and public in Somaliland to attract international interest and investment. But it believes that sweeping unpleasant facts under the carpet, rather than confronting reality and addressing problems, is detrimental to the interests of Somaliland."
The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland


12 May 2005


For additional information, please contact Ibrahim Jama Ali (415851) or Ibrahim Haji Musa


Human Rights Organizations Under Threat


The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland (CJPS) is concerned about the implications for human rights of statements made on 10 May by the Minister of the Interior, Ismail Adan Osman, during a conference to debate a proposed National Human Rights Commission. The comments, given prominent coverage by the local media yesterday, underline the government’s intolerance of criticism, and its determination to control the flow of information that reaches the outside world. The Coalition shares the desire of the government and public in Somaliland to attract international interest and investment. But it believes that sweeping unpleasant facts under the carpet, rather than confronting reality and addressing problems, is detrimental to the interests of Somaliland. It also believes that the government’s extreme sensitivity to alternative opinions and voices is in fact undermining Somaliland’s nascent institutions, demoralising its people and jeopardising its future.

It is ironic, and instructive, that the comments by the Minister of the Interior were made during a presentation to a conference called to discuss the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission. The conference was organized by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Coalition was among a number of prominent and experienced human rights groups who were not invited to the conference, the others being Samotalis, the War Crimes Commission and African Rights. These organizations have, on a number of recent occasions, clashed with the government on its human rights record, a fact that should not have been allowed to stand in the way of their presence at a UNDP conference.

The Minister of the Interior told the conference what he expected of the proposed Commission, as reported by Jamhuuriya.

I would like so see included in the articles of the National Human Rights Commission clauses that restrain human rights activists based in Somaliland.

The newspaper went on to explain the Minister’s grievances against unnamed human rights groups.

He accused certain members of human rights groups in Somaliland of disseminating false reports that are damaging to the dignity and statehood of Somaliland.

The case of Zamzam Ahmed Dualeh, the young girl who was detained for five months last year, and whose detention and accusations of rape against a number of police officers was documented and publicised by the Coalition, was highlighted in the Minister’s speech.

There was a case which was used to weaken our economic development and [our quest] for recognition. It was intended to make the international community put an end to their support for us by making them perceive us as people who violate human rights and who are no better, if not worse, than the government we struggled against. [These human rights people] are doing this in order to trample upon the rights of all of us.

According to the article, the Minister is determined to vet human rights reports before they are allowed to reach an international audience.

The Minister warned human rights organizations by telling them that they should not disseminate reports without first submitting such reports to his Ministry.

The Coalition is particularly troubled by the tendency of the government to label critics as enemies of Somaliland. He asked the audience this question:

What is your own judgment when you see a citizen of Somaliland, be it a man or a woman, who submits a report critical of Somaliland to the British Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union delegation, both of whom paid a visit here recently?

The government newspaper, Maandeeq, also quoted the Minister as he expressed his opinion that human rights groups in Somaliland have a duty to keep the truth away from foreign visitors.

Every time that foreign visitors come to Somaliland, in order to learn more about our affairs, and where we stand regarding our independence, our achievements, and whether we are mature enough to be recognized [as an independent state], it so often happens that citizens, who claim to represent human rights, address their criticism and accusations of the government to the [foreign] delegations instead of submitting their concerns to the government.

I consider the person who acts in this manner to be someone who is opposed to our statehood and our search for independence.

Haatuf concentrated on the part of the Minister’s speech where he took the human rights groups who had defended Zamzam Ahmed Dualeh to task.

It is important that we collectively safeguard [human] rights and at the same time avoid inventing what is not true. He took an example of the girl from Puntland who accused the Somaliland police of raping her.

Haatuf quoted the Minister as he explained how the case developed.

The Minister said they had requested the United Nations to send them a doctor who investigated the case and who confirmed to them that the girl had never been raped. But complaints continue, and foreign delegations who come to Somaliland still ask the Somaliland government about the case. Therefore, the Minister said: “it is essential to seek information from those who are concerned before making such information available.”

We do not wish to comment here on the substance of the Zamzam case. We would merely point out that it was in fact inappropriate to condition her release on a medical examination that did not involve her consent or her mother’s, in order to minimize “embarrassment” to Somaliland. The embarrassment lay in the manner in which she was arrested, detained, tried, sentenced and denied a wide range of human rights.

The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland is committed to protecting and improving human rights. We see dialogue and debate as important, and urge all the people of Somaliland, irrespective of their politics, to contribute to the search for constructive solutions to the myriad problems Somaliland faces. We recognize and salute the abilities, judgement and resilience of the people of Somaliland who can, and will, make up their own minds about the truth as they see it. We also believe in justice and fairness, and that includes our right to speak our minds, without fear or favour, on issues of national interest, to national, regional and international audiences. We hope that the government of Somaliland will, in time, come to see this endeavour as an exercise in the responsibilities of citizenship.


The Coalition for Justice and Peace in Somaliland brings together organizations and individuals that share a common interest in promoting justice, peace, human rights, the culture of dialogue and the establishment of democratic institutions in Somaliland.

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South Africa: Tesco rakes in the profits as women workers suffer

2005-05-12

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC17632

This paper from ActionAid International states that while UK supermarket giant Tesco has commitments to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and an Ethical Trading Initiative baseline code, workers on South African farms supplying the company are paid below the minimum wage, are exposed to pesticides, suffer from food insecurity and are trapped in dismal housing. Action Aid calls for the adoption of new standards at the UN (the UN Human Rights Norms for Business) to establish legal obligations for companies to respect and secure the human rights of all workers within a company's sphere of influence.

Sudan: Winner of Front Line Award arrested in Sudan

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/28096

Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam is due to receive the inaugural Front Line Award from President McAleese at a ceremony in Dublin's City Hall on Friday morning (May 13th). He was selected for the award because of his courageous and inspiring work for human rights in Sudan, including in Darfur, which led to him being twice imprisoned in the last year. At 11.00 am on Sunday 8th of May he was arrested in the street in Khartoum North, hours before he was due to board a flight en route to Ireland. "The actions of the Sudanese authorities betray their contempt for the protection of human rights," said Front Line Director Mary Lawlor, "this new arrest of Dr Mudawi is a further attempt to silence those who work for the rights of others in Sudan. They will not succeed." Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam is the Chairperson of the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO). SUDO, is a voluntary organization created to promote sustainable development and Human Rights. It is engaged in humanitarian activities including providing emergency services in North, South and West Darfur as well as in human rights education and development projects throughout the country.
Front Line Press release
9 May 2005

Winner of Front Line Award arrested in Sudan

Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam is due to receive the inaugural Front Line Award
from President McAleese at a ceremony in Dublin's City Hall on Friday
morning (May 13th). He was selected for the award because of his
courageous and inspiring work for human rights in Sudan, including in
Darfur, which led to him being twice imprisoned in the last year. At
11.00 am on Sunday 8th of May he was arrested in the street in Khartoum
North, hours before he was due to board a flight en route to Ireland.

"The actions of the Sudanese authorities betray their contempt for the
protection of human rights," said Front Line Director Mary Lawlor, "this
new arrest of Dr Mudawi is a further attempt to silence those who work
for the rights of others in Sudan. They will not succeed."

Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam is the Chairperson of the Sudan Social
Development Organization (SUDO). SUDO, is a voluntary organization
created to promote sustainable development and Human Rights. It is
engaged in humanitarian activities including providing emergency
services in North, South and West Darfur as well as in human rights
education and development projects throughout the country. Dr Mudawi is
a 49 year old engineer who has been involved in the design and
manufacture of water supply systems as well as serving as Associate
Professor in the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, University of
Khartoum

The latest information is that Dr Mudawi is held in the Security
Detention offices in Khartoum North. He has not been allowed access to
his family or to a lawyer and there are fears that he may have been
moved. He was arrested with his colleague Yasir Saleem and driver
Abdalla Taha. According to the information received none of the three
have yet been charged

Dr Mudawi has been previously been arrested by the Sudanese authorities
on two occasions. On 24th January 2005, Dr Mudawi was arrested by
members of Sudan’s National Security and Intelligence Agency in North
Kordufan. Three days after he was transferred to Khartoum and detained
until 3 March 2005. According to the information received Dr Mudawi was
held in Khartoum in a ‘ghost house’, a private house used as a secret
detention center in Sudan. He went on hunger strike and was transferred
to hospital 26 February 2005 and was brought before the Attorney General
and charged with "attempting to commit suicide" which could carry a
one-year's imprisonment under Article 133 of the 1991 Sudan Penal Code.
Front Line believes that such a charge suggests that the Sudanese
authorities have failed to find any other offence to charge him with. In
2004 Dr. Mudawi spent seven-months in police custody, having been
charged, in connection with his human rights work, of committing
offences against the state. Following the hearing of his trial on 7
August 2004, all charges against Dr. Mudawi were dropped and he was
released.

The purpose of the Front Line Award it to honour the work of a Human
Rights Defender who, through their non-violent work, has made an
outstanding contribution to the promotion and protection of Human Rights
in the face of considerable personal risk. Dr Mudawi was selected as the
winner of the inaugural award by a jury which included Ruairi Quinn TD,
Senator Paschal Mooney, Simon Coveney TD MEP and Proinseas de Rossa MEP.
The Front Line Award will be presented at a ceremony in Dublin's City
Hall by President Mary McAleese on Friday 13th May.

Front Line has called for the immediate and unconditional release of
Dr Mudawi. Front Line Director Mary Lawlor stated, "We will continue to
press that he be released and allowed to travel to collect his award,
however, should he be unable to make it to Dublin we will still go ahead
with the ceremony in order to honour this remarkable and courageous man."

For further information please contact Mary Lawlor, Director, Front Line
on +353 1 212 3750 or mobile +353 86 839 9355 or email
marylawlor@frontlinedefenders.org

More...

Chad: Aid workers withdraw from four refugee camps after disturbances

2005-05-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47069

Aid agencies have withdrawn their staff from four refugee camps in eastern Chad following disturbances. UNHCR said the trouble began at Iridimi and Touloum on Monday, when the camp residents refused to take part in a refugee registration exercise being conducted there by UNHCR officials. In nearby Mile and Kounoungou, protests erupted when the camp residents refused to take part in a food distribution exercise which involved verifying the number of people actually present.

Côte d’Ivoire: IDPs need urgent protection and assistance

2005-05-10

http://www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/IdpProjectDb/idpSurvey.nsf/wViewSingleEnv/Cote%20d'IvoireProfile+Summary

Namibia/Angola: Angolan refugees wary of repatriation

2005-05-11

http://www.newera.com.na/archives.php?id=6911&date=2005-05-09

The remaining Angolan refugees at Osire refugee camp do not seem very keen to return to their home country after the war ended in 2002. Although many refugees have volunteered to be repatriated to Angola since the advent of peace, which came about with the death of UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi, others are still too afraid to go back. Some refugees who had gone back on repatriation have since returned, claiming that their lives are in danger.

Sudan: Darfur IDPs unlikely to return home in the near future - UN

2005-05-11

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/4950679a06b1a292683ab40f5bd53532.htm

A large number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the western Sudanese region of Darfur are unlikely to return to their homes in the immediate future, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a report to the Security Council, which called for the strengthening of the African Union (AU) mission in Darfur. Over 2.4 million people continue to be affected by the conflict, 1.85 million of whom are internally displaced or have been forced to flee to neighbouring Chad.

Togo: Hundreds return to Togo from Ghana

2005-05-11

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/+7wwBmaesqZ3qwwwhFqnN0bItFqnDni5AFqnN0bIDzmxwww/opendoc.html

The exodus from Togo has slowed to a trickle while hundreds of Togolese refugees have returned home from Ghana, citing improved security in their homeland. Those in Benin, however, say they are not ready to go back to Togo. More than 3,500 refugees are now living in two camps in Benin – Come, which is now full, and Lokossa, where the population is growing steadily.

UK/Africa: Exiles in UK criticise pre-election focus on asylum

2005-05-11

http://tinyurl.com/7koe7

In the run-up to last week's general elections that saw the ruling Labour party maintain a diminished majority, some asylum seekers and refugees in the United Kingdom said they were concerned about the heightened focus on immigration and asylum during the campaigning, saying it fed negative sentiments towards foreigners rather than a better understanding into the reasons why people are forced to seek asylum.

Africa: NEPAD and civil society participation in the APRM

2005-05-11

http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0001229/index.php

This Idasa paper attempts to provide civil society organisations with general information on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to help facilitate active and meaningful participation in its processes. Nepad is a relatively recent initiative for the rejuvenation of development on the African continent, arguably still more familiar to Western and African leaders than civil society.

Burundi: Threat to transition ebbs as interior minister is appointed

2005-05-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47057

Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye appointed on Tuesday Jean Marie Ngendahayo as the minister of interior, ending weeks of disagreement between the president and the former main rebel group, the CNDD-FDD. Ngendahayo is a member of the CNDD-FDD or Conseil national pour la défense de la démocratie-Forces pour la défense de la démocratie. His appointment follows talks last week in Pretoria, South Africa, between Ndayizeye and CNDD-FDD leader Pierre Nkurunziza, who is also the minister for good governance in Burundi's transitional government.

CAR: Polls results to be announced on 22 May, official says

2005-05-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47051

The Central African Republic's electoral commission is due to announce results of run-off presidential and parliamentary elections on 22 May, an official told IRIN on Wednesday. Voters went to the polls on 8 May, for the run-off, to elect a president and 87 out of 105 Members of Parliament. This followed 13 March general elections in which two of several presidential candidates qualified for a second round of voting: President François Bozize and his strongest challenger, Martin Ziguele, a former prime minister.

Ethiopia: Election observers should recognise systematic repression, says human rights watch

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/28018

As parliamentary elections approach, the Ethiopian authorities have established new institutions that suppress speech and political activity in the country's most populous region, Human Rights Watch said in a report released this week. At the same time, officials have continued to detain and harass perceived political opponents. The 44-page report, "Suppressing Dissent: Human Rights Abuses and Political Repression in Ethiopia's Oromia Region," documents how regional authorities and security forces have used exaggerated concerns about armed insurgency and "terrorism" to justify the torture, imprisonment and sustained harassment of their critics and even ordinary citizens in the central region of Oromia.
Election Observers Should Not Fail to Recognize Effects of Systematic
Repression

(Nairobi, May 10, 2005) ? As parliamentary elections approach, the
Ethiopian authorities have established new institutions that suppress
speech and political activity in the country's most populous region, Human
Rights Watch said in a report released today. At the same time, officials
have continued to detain and harass perceived political opponents.

The 44-page report, "Suppressing Dissent: Human Rights Abuses and
Political Repression in Ethiopia's Oromia Region," documents how regional
authorities and security forces have used exaggerated concerns about armed
insurgency and "terrorism" to justify the torture, imprisonment and
sustained harassment of their critics and even ordinary citizens in the
central region of Oromia. The ethnic-based party that controls the region,
the Oromo Peoples' Democratic Organization, holds the largest share of
parliamentary seats within the four-party coalition that has ruled
Ethiopia since 1991.

Human Rights Watch said that election observers reporting on the May 15
parliamentary vote must acknowledge the extent to which these pervasive
abuses have been used to prevent the emergence of dissenting voices and to
punish those who speak out critically against government policies.

"The Ethiopian government claims that the elections demonstrate its
commitment to democratic principles," said Peter Takirambudde, executive
director of Human Rights Watch's Africa Division. "But in the run-up to
the elections, the authorities have intensified the repression they have
used to keep themselves in power for 13 years."

In recent months, regional authorities in Oromia have imposed new local
institutions that restrict the large rural population's most basic
freedoms. For more than a decade, the region's ruling Oromo Democratic
Peoples' Organization has sought to solidify its grip on power by
punishing dissenters and intimidating others into silence. So far, these
abuses have been largely ignored by the international community.

The Oromo Democratic Peoples' Organization (OPDO) has enjoyed a position
of unchallenged dominance in Oromia's governance since 1991, following the
overthrow of the military leader Mengistu Haile Mariam. The following
year, the Oromo Democratic Peoples' Organization's only rival for
political control of Oromia, the Oromo Liberation Front, withdrew from the
political process after its candidates and supporters were harassed and
intimidated in the run up to parliamentary elections.

Since then, the Oromo Liberation Front has waged an ineffectual armed
struggle that has provided the authorities with a rationalization for
repression. Throughout this period, Oromo's ruling party has routinely
accused its critics and opponents of involvement with the rebel group to
justify subjecting them to extreme abuse and harassment.

In March, Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed dozens of people in
Oromia who had been arbitrarily detained, often repeatedly, when officials
accused them of supporting the Oromo Liberation Front. In each of those
cases, despite the inability of Ethiopian government authorities to
produce any evidence to support their allegations, the detainees were held
for weeks or months. None of the former detainees interviewed had ever
been tried for any offense connected to their arrest or confronted with
any evidence that they had committed any crime. Human Rights Watch
documented cases in which security officials had arrested children as
young as 11 and accused them of plotting armed insurrection.

Many of the people detained on suspicion of involvement in the Oromo
Liberation Front were severely beaten while in detention, and some were
subjected to brutal methods of torture. Several people detained last year
described being beaten to the point of unconsciousness. Others recounted
how they were stripped naked and made to stand with partially full bottles
of water tied to their testicles.

"They told me that I had gone to school not for education but to do
politics," said a 19- year-old Oromo woman detained in August by police in
Agaro. "They forced me to take off my clothes and I was naked except for
my underwear when they started kicking me.
They put a pistol in my mouth
and said that they would kill me."

Many former detainees said their ordeals did not end when they were
released from detention. In many cases, security personnel subjected them
to continuing harassment severe enough to destroy their livelihoods. After
several former detainees were released without charge, their businesses
failed as clients began to avoid them because police harassed those who
patronized stores owned by the former detainees.

In the past six months, regional authorities have taken even greater
efforts to stifle dissent in Oromia's countryside, where more than 85
percent of the population lives. Beginning late last year, Oromia's
regional government began imposing an entirely new set of quasi-
governmental community "development" organizations called gott and garee,
in thousands of rural communities. While government officials claim that
these institutions exist to facilitate development work, they are actually
being used to monitor and control the speech, movement and personal
associations of rural households in violation of fundamental rights. With
elections approaching, these institutions have also used monetary
sanctions to enforce attendance at pro-ruling party political rallies
thinly disguised as "community meetings."

"Far from being isolated incidents, the patterns of human rights abuse
that prevail in Oromia call into question the Ethiopian government's
professed commitment to human rights," Takirambudde said.

In response to repeated demonstrations by students protesting government
policies, regional and local authorities have gone to great lengths to
monitor and suppress criticism in Oromia's schools. Students said that
they could not express themselves freely in the classroom for fear of
being suspended, expelled or even imprisoned. Several teachers confirmed
that such fears were well-founded, describing how school administrators
pressured them into gathering and reporting information about their
students' political leanings.

People who have suffered abuse at the hands of government officials
because of their critical opinions said that they now avoid speaking in
public about the issues facing their communities. The chilling effect of
these abuses is most pronounced in Oromia's countryside, where dozens of
farmers interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that the efforts of the
garee to monitor their opinions have caused them to avoid any discussion
that might be seen as political.

"I used to speak at meetings about things that I thought were wrong. But
now I never do this," one elderly man told Human Rights Watch. "They are
too suspicious of anyone whose ideas are not the same as theirs."

Human Rights Watch called upon the Ethiopian government to take immediate
action to end these deeply entrenched patterns of human rights violations
and to hold responsible security and government officials accountable for
their role in carrying them out. International donors should employ their
considerable leverage to press the country's government into taking prompt
and meaningful action in this regard.

With elections approaching on May 15, Human Rights Watch also urged
international election observers to acknowledge the extent to which these
abuses have restricted the possibility for meaningful political debate in
the country's most populous region.

To view this document on the Human Rights Watch web site, please go to:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/05/10/ethiop10590.htm

Human Rights Watch Press release

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Liberia: Misinformed voters demand payment for registration

2005-05-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47047

Misinformed villagers in central Liberia, long accustomed to gifts from power-hungry politicians, have been demanding payment from government officials in return for putting their names on the voters' list for general elections due in October, a local official told IRIN. Some rural folk were so confused by the electoral process that they thought political campaigning had begun already and were demanding cash payments to register for their voter's card, Daniel Weetol, the Superintendent of Bong County, told IRIN.

Nigeria: More than 100 people arrested at separatist Biafra rally

2005-05-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47033

Riot police arrested more than 100 people at a rally in the oil-rich southeast of Nigeria last weekend organised by a group campaigning for an independent Biafra, according to witnesses and police. Described as a Christian revival meeting, the Sunday rally in Abakaliki, capital of Ebonyi state, was called by the outlawed Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), and featured preachers who prophesised the secession of south-eastern Nigeria and urged the audience of hundreds of people to fight for a separate state, the sources said.

Zimbabwe: Examining the SADC regional guidelines

2005-05-11

http://www.eisa.org.za/PDF/et20.pdf

This paper from the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa covers the campaign process during the 2005 Zimbabwe parliamentary elections. These elections in Zimbabwe were aimed at offsetting controversies that occurred in the 2000 parliamentary and 2002 presidential elections. Notwithstanding, as campaign issues are not legislated in the Zimbabwe Electoral Act, it was the SADC Principles that provided the basis in creating a peaceful process. This article seeks to examine whether the campaign in the recent parliamentary elections in Zimbabwe conformed to these regional guidelines.

Kenya: New Book On Corruption is Launched

2005-05-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504290956.html

A book on corruption in Kenya has been launched. Authored by lawyer Peter Anassi, ‘Corruption in Africa: The Kenyan Experience’ dwells on graft in the public and private sectors and details how corrupt deals are executed. It specifically devotes itself to corruption in the police force, local authorities, Judiciary, lands office, immigration, Kenya Revenue Authority and other departments.

Kenya: War on corruption too sluggish, says EU

2005-05-11

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=117362&src=dcn

The European Union says it is concerned about the slow pace with which the Government is tackling corruption allegations against its officials. It said it was also troubled by the growing insecurity and the wrangles surrounding the constitution review process. Acting head of delegation Derek Fee singled out recent revelations of corruption in the National Aids Control Council (Nacc), saying: "It makes me wonder if there is any depth to which corrupt individuals will not descend."

South Africa: Idasa not to appeal party funding ruling

2005-05-11

http://www.sundaytimes.co.za/zones/sundaytimesNEW/newsst/newsst1115643972.aspx

Idasa, the extra-parliamentary Institute for Democracy in South Africa, has opted not to appeal a recent ruling of the High Court on private funding of political parties - at least for now. It will instead focus on encouraging the passage of legislation through Parliament to police the matter.

Uganda: Police most corrupt, says report

2005-05-11

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=117339&src=dcn

The police force ranks highest in corruption and bribery among service providers in Uganda, a new national survey has shown. The National Service Delivery Survey (NSDS) says all institutions in the country asked for bribes. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) conducted the survey in the 56 districts of the country to assess availability, utilisation and satisfaction of service users as a guide for policy makers, implementers and monitors at all levels of governance.

Africa: China's Growing Influence in Africa

2005-05-11

http://www.globalpolitician.com/articleshow.asp?ID=691&cid=5

China's rapid ascension as an influential economic and political force in Africa is raising complex questions concerning the security of the African continent and the future of its people. China's involvement on the continent has increased dramatically over the past several years, fueled by Africa's growing demand for cheap Chinese products and the need for greater infrastructure investment in the African energy and transportation sectors. But will China, with visions of global influence and economic growth, act in a more constructive manner toward Africa, avoiding the mistakes made by its Western predecessor?

Africa: Economic Growth Improving

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/development/28070

As African finance ministers and economic experts gather in Abuja, Nigeria this week for their annual consultations, reports concur in noting improved economic growth for last year and favorable continuing prospects. This summary conclusion, contrasting with media images of unrelieved crisis, reflects both stability in much of the region and increased world demand for African products. However, the average results are accompanied by wide gaps among different countries, with oil-producing countries having the most favorable growth outlook. Growth has been both quantitatively and qualitatively insufficient to create jobs and reduce poverty. The latest edition of AfricaFocus Bulletin contains recent material related to this theme.

Africa: Economic Growth Improving

AfricaFocus Bulletin
May 9, 2005 (050509)
(Reposted from sources cited below)

Editor's Note

"Africa's real GDP grew by 4.6 per cent in 2004, the highest in
almost a decade, up from 4.3 per cent in 2003. ... [this] reflects
a continued upward trend since 1998. Unfortunately, the growth has
so far not been translated to employment creation or poverty
reduction." - United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

As African finance ministers and economic experts gather in Abuja,
Nigeria this week for their annual consultations, reports concur
in noting improved economic growth for last year and favorable
continuing prospects. This summary conclusion, contrasting with
media images of unrelieved crisis, reflects both stability in much
of the region and increased world demand for African products.

However, the average results are accompanied by wide gaps among
different countries, with oil-producing countries having the most
favorable growth outlook. Most seriously, as the report prepared by
the ECA for the Abuja meeting stresses, growth has been both
quantitatively and qualitatively insufficient to create jobs and
reduce poverty. In a statement issued in Dakar on May 7, the
ministers stressed the urgency that rich countries deal with the
overhanging debt burden that still blocks adequate long-term social
investment. The Abuja meeting will also focus on how to improve aid
coordination and other measures needed to deal with the fact that
most African countries are falling far short of meeting the
Millennium Development Goal targets for addressing poverty.

Another report released by the International Monetary Fund last
month also approvingly cited high growth and low inflation in
Africa. Among the obstacles it stressed to further growth, however,
were falling world cotton prices and the removal of textile quotas
that is expected to devastate recently expanded African textile
exports.

This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains excerpts from the survey
prepared by the Economic Commission for Africa. The full report and
other documents prepared for the Finance Ministers' meeting this
week, are available at
http://www.uneca.org/conferenceofministers/2005/documents.htm

The Regional Economic Outlook from the International Monetary Fund
is available at
http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2005/pr0586.htm

Previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on economic issues are available at
http://www.africafocus.org/econexp.php

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

Survey of Economic and Social Conditions In Africa 2004-2005

United Nations Economic Commission for Africa

[Excerpts only. PDF of full report, with footnotes and graphs, is
available at http://www.uneca.org/conferenceofministers/2005/documents.htm

E/ECA/CM.38/4 6 April 2005

This Survey was prepared by the Economic and Social Policy Division
(ESPD) of ECA, for presentation at the Conference of African
Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, 2005.

It is derived from the Economic Report on Africa 2005: "Meeting the
Challenges of Unemployment and Poverty in Africa".

1. Overall Growth Performance

Africa's real GDP grew by 4.6 per cent in 2004, the highest in
almost a decade, up from 4.3 per cent in 2003 (Figure 1). This
improvement was underpinned by higher prices of commodities,
including oil, stemming from a strong growth in global demand. In
addition, good macroeconomic management, better performance in
agriculture, the improved political situation in many countries,
and increased donor support in the form of aid and debt relief
contributed to this positive outcome. The favourable growth
performance in Africa in 2004, furthermore, reflects a continued
upward trend since 1998. Unfortunately, the growth has so far not
been translated to employment creation or poverty reduction.

1.1 Subregional Performance

The escalation in growth between 2003 and 2004 on the continent was
attributable to an improvement in the performance of sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA), in contrast with 2002-2003 when the increase emanated
from North Africa (Figure 1). Central Africa experienced the
highest growth rate in 2004, followed by East Africa, North Africa,
West Africa and Southern Africa (Figure 2). Contributing to West
Africa's relatively slow growth was the decline in Nigeria's real
GDP growth from 10.2 per cent in 2003 to 4.6 per cent in 2004.

Also contributing to the weak performance in West Africa was the
ongoing political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, which led to yet another
year of slow real GDP growth (0.9 per cent in 2004). Furthermore,
a locust invasion seriously affected the agricultural sectors of
Mali, Niger and Senegal, contributing to their relatively low
growth rates.

On the other hand, growth in six of the 15 West African countries
was 5 per cent or higher, with Liberia leading the group with a
real growth rate of 15 per cent, followed by the Gambia (6.6%),
Sierra Leone (6.6%), Burkina Faso (5.4%), Cape Verde (5.4%), and
Ghana (5.3%). Rising oil prices buoyed growth in North and Central
Africa. Meanwhile, East and West Africa benefited from increased
agricultural production, coupled with rising commodity prices. In
Southern Africa, real GDP growth increased in 2004, mainly as a
result of steady growth in South Africa, which benefited from
strong global and domestic demand created in part by its low
interest rate environment.

1.2 Fastest versus Slowest Growing Countries

2004 Growth Record

The fastest growing African countries in 2004 were Angola, Chad,
Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Mozambique (Figure 3).
Liberia's strong performance must be placed in context, however, as
a most recent post-conflict economy, Liberia grew from a relatively
low base of output. In addition, its growth was buoyed by
substantial external aid in support of its rebuilding efforts.
Thus, the sustainable nature of the growth may be in question.2 The
slowest growing economies in Africa were Central African Republic,
Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Seychelles and Zimbabwe, (Figure 3). The poor
performance was hampered by drought and an adverse political
environment (Zimbabwe); continuing political turmoil (Cote
d'Ivoire); and, despite the discovery of new oil fields and higher
oil prices, a decline in oil production due to limited investments
in upgrading existing fields (Gabon)

... the growth performance of the top and bottom performers has
been fairly stable over the last half-decade. In effect, 14 African
countries have been capable of sustaining their growth at 5 per
cent or higher since 1999, a rate that puts them closer to meeting
the estimated 7 per cent rate required to achieve the
poverty-reduction goal ...

1.3 Internal Sources of Growth, 2004

The internal factors explaining the growth record in Africa in 2004
include: continued macro- stability based on prudent fiscal and
monetary policy, an improvement in the current account balance due
to rising commodity prices (including cash-crop agriculture) and
receipts from tourism, as well as improved political stability in
several African countries.

1.3.1 Macro-stability

Inflation Declined

On average, inflation in Africa declined from 10.3 to 8.4 per cent
between 2003 and 2004. The favourable trend in inflation was due to
prudent monetary and fiscal policies, good harvests and relatively
stable and, in some cases, appreciating exchange rates. The average
trend, however, masks country differences. Inflation declined in 29
African countries but increased in 20 countries. ...

Fiscal Deficits Eased

Fiscal deficits in Africa declined between 2003 and 2004; 32
countries either recorded surpluses or declines in their fiscal
deficit. Of the 32 countries, 13 recorded surpluses while 19
experienced declines. Fiscal surpluses were concentrated in
oil-producing countries; 8 of the 13 countries that experienced a
fiscal surplus were oil producers. The success of African economies
as a whole in improving their fiscal stance in 2004 was
attributable to revenues generated from windfall gains in oil
prices and prudent fiscal policies. Notwithstanding progress on the
fiscal front, challenges remain for several African countries; 10
countries experienced deficits in excess of 5 per cent of GDP.
...

The Current Account Improved

Roughly, one-half of African countries (26 out of 51) experienced
an improvement in their current account, which moved from a deficit
of 0.1 per cent of GDP to a surplus of 0.4 per cent for the
continent overall.

The favourable performance on the current account was due to strong
growth in oil- and non-oil exports, and improved market access
facilitated by initiatives such as the Africa Growth and
Opportunities Act (AGOA) and the Everything But Arms (EBA)
initiative. For instance, the combined value of the 37 eligible
AGOA countries' exports to the USA grew by 38.1 per cent in 2004,
up from $US24.4 billion in 2003. However, the strings attached to
these preferential trading arrangements, in terms of rules of
origin and time-bound preferential treatment, are constraints to
export growth. Furthermore, the end of the Multi-Fibre Agreement
(MFA) poses a challenge for African textile and garment producers,
since it will open up the market to intense competition,
particularly from highly competitive countries such as China, India
and Pakistan. In effect, the contribution of textile and garment
exports to the current accounts of African economies could be
compromised as a result of the rollback of the MFA. ...


1.3.2 Tourism on the Rise

Tourism is fast becoming an important source of foreign exchange
earnings in Africa. Receipts from the tourism sector were $US18.6
billion in 2003 (the latest year for which data are available),
representing an increase of 19.2 per cent over 2002. Receipts per
tourist arrival were estimated at $US510 in 2003. While these
amount to only about one-half the per capita tourist expenditure in
the Americas ($US1029), they nevertheless represent a significant
source of income for African economies. Indeed, together with an
enabling environment and delightful weather conditions, the low
cost of touring Africa may be a positive factor that makes Africa
the preferred destination for tourists.

1.4 External Sources of Growth, 2004

Among the external factors explaining African economic growth in
2004 are: increased flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) and
overseas development assistance (ODA), as well as a rise in
commodity prices induced by increased global demand. While rising
oil prices were key in spurring growth in oil-producing African
countries such trends posed a threat to the growth of non-oil
producing African countries.

1.4.1 Strong Global Economic Growth

The global economy grew at 4.0 per cent in 2004, the strongest in
two decades. Global growth was widespread but particularly robust
in the United States and China, which experienced growth rates of
4.4 and 9.0 per cent, respectively. ...

1.4.2 Rising Commodity Prices

Africa's growth performance was spurred by rising oil and non-oil
commodity prices. The commodity price index, denominated in US
dollars, increased by 26.3 per cent in 2004 induced by increased
demand from Asia, particularly China. Oil price changes accounted
for the bulk of the commodity price increase, while metals and
minerals and fertilizers contributed significantly to the rise in
non-energy commodity prices. In contrast, the price of cocoa,
coffee, cotton and groundnut oil declined between 2003 and 2004, on
account of excess supply on the world market.

ODA to Africa recovered from a low of $US15.3 billion in 2000 to a
new high of $US26.3 billion in 2003 (Figure 4). The recovery in ODA
flows was largely driven by debt relief, provided through the
Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative, and emergency
assistance. ... By their per capita gross national income (GNI),
Denmark (0.94), Norway (0.87), the Netherlands (0.81), Sweden
(0.80) and Luxemburg (0.78) led the way in donations in 2001-2003.
...

1.4.4 FDI Flows are Up

Africa has been recording increased flows of FDI despite recent
declines in FDI globally. FDI flows to Africa increased from $US12
billion in 2002 to $US15 billion in 2003 and were projected to rise
to $US20 billion in 2004. FDI flows to Africa tend to be
concentrated regionally (i.e., North Africa) and sectorally (i.e.,
in the extractive industries).

Two thirds of all flows to Africa went to North Africa where
investments favoured oil-rich Libya, the Sudan and
investor-friendly Morocco. In SSA, the preferred FDI destinations
were: Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and South Africa.

FDI flows to the service sector, at large, and the electricity and
wholesale and retail subsectors in particular, have been on the
rise in recent years challenging the dominance of the extractive
industry. In particular, increased FDI flows to the service sector
have been influenced by privatization and liberalization of the
sector (e.g., telecommunications, electricity and water) and
technological innovations that have increased the range of tradable
services.

2. Some Areas of Concern

Notwithstanding the favourable growth performance in 2004, savings
and investment remain low. Meanwhile, the depreciation of the
dollar has contributed to the appreciation of the currencies of
several African countries and threatens to undermine their
international competitiveness. Global growth is, furthermore,
expected to decline to 3.2 per cent in 2005 on account of rising
crude oil prices, tighter fiscal and monetary policies in the USA
to address the deterioration of its budget and current account
deficits, and a cooling of the Chinese economy. A slowdown in
global growth may have adverse implications for African countries.

2.1 Risk of currency appreciation

As a result of continued weakening of the US dollar, 30 African
countries experienced appreciation of their currencies against the
dollar in 2004. ...

2.2 Weak Domestic Investment

Investment in Africa is generally low. It barely exceeded 20 per
cent of GDP during 2000- 2002.8 Only 11 out of the 50 countries for
which data are available experienced high investment rates, that
is, in excess of 25 per cent during 2000-2002, with a majority of
these countries being oil-producing (Figure 5).

2.3 Low Domestic Savings

The low level of investment in Africa is partly due to the low
savings rate in the region. On average, Africa had a savings rate
of 21.1 per cent of GDP during 2000-2002. Only 11 of the 50
countries registered savings rates above the average for the region
suggesting that even the average rate is dominated by the
performance of a few countries (Figure 6). The low level of
domestic savings deepens dependence on external aid and renders
African countries vulnerable to the volatilities of FDI and ODA
flows.

3. Prospects for Growth in 2005

Africa is projected to grow at 5.0 per cent in 2005, up from 4.6
per cent in 2004 (Figure 7). Growth is expected to be driven by the
upturn in the growth prospects of 32 countries (including the
largest 5 economies except Nigeria). Growth will be underpinned by
continued macroeconomic stability; rising African exports in the
context of strong, albeit slower, global growth; continued
improvement in agricultural output, assuming continued good weather
conditions; and vibrant growth in the tourism and mining
subsectors.

Central Africa and Eastern Africa are expected to lead the growth
process in 2005, while Southern Africa and West Africa are
projected to grow at the slowest rate (Figure 7). Growth in Central
Africa and Eastern Africa is, however, projected to be lower in
2005 than in 2004.

...

4. Growth, Employment and Poverty

4.1 Employment growth

Given the significance of employment as a source of income for the
poor, increasing employment opportunities must be considered a
critical element of poverty reduction initiatives. Sustained
economic growth represents the route for creating "decent" jobs
with above-poverty wages. Unfortunately, while real GDP growth in
SSA has been on an upward trend since 1998, for example, employment
growth has remained flat (Figure 8).

These trends suggest, then, that real GDP growth in SSA has not
been sufficiently employment-intensive.

4.2 Poverty Trends

In 2003, for example, SSA had the highest poverty rate, while North
Africa and the Middle East (MENA) experienced the lowest rate
(Figure 9). Moreover, the poverty rate decreased substantially
between 1980 and 2003 for all subregions with the exception of SSA,
where the rate actually increased slightly.12 In addition, SSA was
the only subregion where the proportion of the "working poor"
increased during 1980-2003 (Table 2). This finding is likely
explained by the fact that GDP growth in SSA during this period was
barely enough to absorb population growth.

5. Progress Towards MDG [Millennium Development Goal] Targets

5.1 Overall SSA performance

The unsatisfactory performance of SSA in creating jobs and reducing
poverty raises concerns about the subregion's progress in meeting
the overall targets of the MDGs, practically all of which relate to
social conditions. SSA's overall performance during 1990-2000, with
respect to achieving the MDG targets, has been disappointing
(Figure 10). Performance was particularly weak on halving poverty,
reducing maternal mortality and increasing the primary education
completion rate, though there appears to be significant progress on
meeting gender equality education targets, as well as on access to
improved water sources.

5.2 Subregional and country-level performance

The apparently dismal performance at the regional level, however,
masks subregional and country-level differences. North Africa, for
example, is singled out as a subregion with a remarkable progress
towards achieving the MDGs (Figure 11). It is also noteworthy that
several countries are projected to achieve each of the goals.
Nonetheless, the majority still lag behind, and special efforts
will be required to ensure that they can achieve the MDGs.

6. Conclusion and Policy Recommendations

The country-level MDG performance of African countries is cause for
"unrelenting concern" but not for "despair". Africa's favourable
real GDP performance in recent years is a welcome development,
especially when placed in the context of historically low levels of
growth. Sustainable growth in Africa will require policy
interventions at the economic, social, and political levels.

6.1 Economic

At the economic level, priority must be given to:

* Minimizing dependency on the vagaries of the climate, through
agricultural transformation; Reducing exposure to commodity price
shocks via export diversification; Consolidating macroeconomic
stability through prudent fiscal and monetary policies underpinned
by effective expenditure tracking systems and an efficient public
sector;

* Mobilizing domestic savings to finance investments, through
macroeconomic stability and measures to deepen financial and
capital markets;

* Maximizing job creation by minimizing constraints to private
sector investments and growth (e.g., complementary public
investments in roads, utilities, etc., and minimization of
red-tape);

* Minimizing the unpredictability of ODA flows by negotiating
greater donor coordination and commitment to streamline aid
delivery modalities and, where relevant, ensuring greater effort on
the part of African countries to fulfill mutually agreed benchmarks
with donors; and

* Accelerating efforts of regional cooperation to effectively
harness global forces for development.

6.2 Social

Social-level interventions must be guided by the goal of improving
the health and human capital of the citizenry. This can be achieved
by:

* Maximizing physical and financial access to health systems by the
poor, through cost-effective investments in social services,
including the design of financially sustainable social safety nets;

* Addressing the adverse effects of major diseases such as malaria,
and especially halting the spread of HIV/AIDS as well as addressing
the needs of people living with AIDS; and

* Investing in education and ensuring that human capital (acquired
either through formal education or skills training) is relevant to
the workplace; and putting in place effective policies to retain
human capital and reverse the brain drain.

6.3 Political

On the political level, the overriding objectives should be:

* Securing peace and security through the development of credible
democratic processes and institutions, including the respect for
the rule of law and the rights and liberties of the citizenry;
providing for the rule of the majority while respecting the rights
of minorities;

* Making special provisions for the least-developed countries and
post-conflict economies; and

* Optimizing global partnerships to level the playing field in the
trade arena; as well as developing and maintaining the capacity for
infrastructure development and effective management.

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

More...

Ghana: Chicken farmers march for fair trade

2005-05-12

http://april2005.org/media/events/gh_coopdetat.html

Hundreds of poultry, rice and cotton farmers from all parts of Ghana marched through the capital, Accra, demanding fairer trade rules in April. Among the crowd was poultry farmer, Lawrence Agorsor. On leaving the National Parliament of Ghana he declared: "Ghanaian farmers have been too quiet for too long. But not anymore."

Kenya: Footballers take on the G8

2005-05-12

http://april2005.org/media/events/ke_footie.html

On paper it was a mismatch equivalent to Barcelona versus Grimsby Town. Gor-Mahia FC, who lie second in Kenya's premier league and are the only Kenyan side ever to win the African Continental Cup, took on St Johns Sports, a team of young men from Korogocho, a Nairobi slum area. "This game was about depicting the power imbalance in the world, skewed against developing countries", said Peter Aoga from ECONEWS Africa, an NGO working on trade issues. "When we are involved in trade negotiations, we are inexperienced - we don't have the expertise. As much as the developed world says the grounds for negotiations are fair, they are not."

Rwanda/Zambia: HIPC debt relief granted

2005-05-11

http://www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk/news

In April, Honduras, Rwanda and Zambia all qualified for limited debt cancellation through the current international debt relief scheme (the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative). Whilst welcome, this falls far short of the 100% debt cancellation that Jubilee Debt Campaign is demanding for these and other impoverished countries. And it came only after the countries have implemented harmful 'structural reforms' demanded by creditors. Zambia, for instance, was forced to freeze public expenditure, meaning it could not employ thousands of much needed and qualified teachers.

South Africa: Jubilee opposes bank takeover

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/development/28109

Jubilee South Africa has come out strongly against a deal that would see local South African bank ABSA taken over by Barclays. "All of these and similar actions show that Barclays gave substantial support to the Apartheid regime. This support kept the doors open to international capital and kept mechanised infantry on the move in the townships and neighbouring countries. Pure and simple, this support increased the lifespan of Apartheid." Read the full text of Jubilee's press conference by clicking on the link below.
Text of Press Conference
Jubilee South Africa
12th of May 2005

At the beginning of this week, the Minister of Finance approved the takeover of ABSA by Barclays, and indications are that ABSA shareholders are accepting Barclays’ revised offer. This is an entirely disagreeable state of affairs. Neither the Government nor ABSA Bank has questioned the history of Barclays in South Africa.

The facts are clear and are a matter of public record:

Ø In 1976, Barclays bought R10 million in Defence Force Bonds
Ø Between 1972 and 1978, Barclays helped the Apartheid Government to obtain nearly US$500 million in loans.
Ø In 1974, Barclays participated in a US$15 million Eskom Eurobond issue.
Ø In 1979, Barclays purchased R20 million of SASOL shares
Ø Between 1982 and 1984, Barclays’ loans to South Africa totalled US$725.4 million.

ilee

Despite recent announcements in the press, Barclays did not leave South Africa in 1986 because of moral reasons. It left because of sustained pressure from students and human rights activists in the United Kingdom.

And, despite a clear record of support for Apartheid, Barclays chose not to appear before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It made a conscious decision not to seek amnesty and come clean.

Barclays was not alone in ducking this responsibility. Twenty-two other foreign corporations have also been identified as having aided and abetted the Apartheid regime, and all of these corporations dismissed the TRC.

Because of this, business’s catastrophic failure to appear before the TRC, the Khulumani v. Barclays lawsuit was launched in the US. This lawsuit charges these corporations with aiding and abetting a criminal industry known as Apartheid.

This lawsuit has brought forth significant opposition, including the South African Government. In 2003, the Minister of Justice sent an affidavit to the US Court stating that the lawsuit was contradictory to SA sovereignty and against foreign investment. On November 29, 2004, Judge Sprizzo, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, dismissed all of the apartheid-related lawsuits consolidated in his court. He stated that he did not believe aiding and abetting claims could be brought under Alien Tort Statute, a decision very much in the minority of U.S. jurisprudence. Plaintiffs immediately appealed to the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, which covers New York.

However, Judge Sprizzo had neglected to clarify if his dismissal applied to all of the defendants, so the higher Court instructed Plaintiffs to withdraw their appeal and ask the lower court to make this technical correction.

Judge Sprizzo has since issued his clarification, and, on the 27th of April 2005, the case was lodged on appeal in the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit.

We at, Jubilee South Africa, urge the South African Government, in the name of clarity and human rights, to withdraw its affidavit.

And, likewise, Jubilee South Africa urges the Government to reconsider its position regarding the imminent takeover of ABSA by Barclays. Without an examination of the past and a more critical examination of the economics at play, this deal is not good for South Africa. The South African Government has been remiss in not looking at the moral and ethical dimensions of this takeover.

South Africa does not need vulture capital and the unapologetic return of a multinational corporation that put profits above human life and dignity. Indeed, nothing has changed. Neither Barclays nor ABSA seem to recognise the primacy of human rights and basic ethical interaction, and appear to agree with Cecil John Rhodes’s vision of re-colonised Africa.

Steven Booysen, CEO of ABSA, recently bragged in The Star that, “…we will rule the continent.”

This kind of disrespectful attitude and the abject failure to address a shameful past has galvanised Jubilee South Africa to mobilise all resources and dig in for a long, hard and wide-reaching campaign against Barclays. Jubilee South Africa will not give up, and will continue to march, picket, advocate and educate against this takeover until Barclays & ABSA ambition are thawrted.

For more information contact:

MP Giyose, Chair of Jubilee South Africa
Tel: +27 46 624-2557
Cell: +82 350-0361

George Dor, Jubilee South Africa General-Secretary
Tel: +27 11 403-4858

Dennis Brutus, Jubilee Patron and Plaintiff in Khulumani v. Barclays
Tel: +27 11 403-7624/22

Tristen Taylor, Apartheid Debt and Reparations Campaign Coordinator
Tel: +27 11 403-7624/22
Cell: +27 84 250-2434
tristen-j2000@mail.ngo.za

More...

Southern Africa: SADC NGOs issue communique

2005-05-11

http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#2865

The SADC Council of Non-Governmental Organizations (SADC-CNGO), constituted by member organisations from Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, met in Johannesburg, South Africa from the 2nd – 4th May 2005 to develop strategies for engaging with broader SADC agenda and to ensure a more systematic and substantive civic participation and involvement in the economic, social and political development in the region.

Zambia: "We need freedom to choose our own policies"

2005-05-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200505060631.html

"We urge our leaders to tell the truth about the evil policies being imposed on our country. We say this because throughout history, there is no problem that has been solved until it has become tangible for all to see. Let's educate our people about the World Bank and the IMF's colonialisation," urges this editorial from Zambia's The Post newspaper.

Africa: TB epidemic growing, warns global body

2005-05-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=46955

Africa faces a US $400 million shortfall in the fight to curb the growing tuberculosis (TB) epidemic that kills more than half a million people each year, the global NGO, Stop TB Partnership, warned on Wednesday. It said $1.1 billion was needed over the next two years to reverse the death toll, which was currently increasing by five percent a year. The disease is the second biggest killer of adults in Africa.

Cameroon: Cholera outbreak on wane after 42 deaths

2005-05-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47020

A cholera outbreak which has killed at least 42 people and infected almost 1,400 since the beginning of the year in western Cameroon despite government measures to contain the disease, is finally receding, health officials told IRIN on Monday.

Kenya: ActionAid's Get On Board Campaign Launches Drive To Revamp HIV/AIDS Fight

2005-05-11

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=29845

The international development agency ActionAid's Get On Board campaign on Tuesday in Nairobi, Kenya, launched an international drive to overhaul the fight against HIV/AIDS and ensure that funding for the disease helps HIV-positive people, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. The new HIV/AIDS campaign is part of an effort to collect data about the African epidemic and deliver it to the Group of Eight meeting in Scotland in July, according to AFP/Yahoo! News.

South Africa: SA holds key to 3x5 success, says Lancet

2005-05-11

http://www.health-e.co.za/news/article.php?uid=20031221

Lack of financial resources, staff, and commitment from key countries, including South Africa, may hamper the World Health Organisation's goal to provide life-long antiretroviral therapy to 3 million people with HIV/AIDS in developing countries by the end of 2005. An Editorial in this week's issue of the The Lancet states that though progress has been made with 720 000 people in developing countries receiving antiretroviral treatment and three times the target number of outlets providing anti-retrovirals, the financial resources allocated to 3 by 5 are below what are needed (US$ 163 million vs 174 million), and the number of WHO staff deployed to the initiative is well below what it should be (112 vs 400).

Tanzania: Government opts for new malaria drug

2005-05-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47070

Tanzania will in 2006 officially adopt a new combination therapy for the treatment of malaria to replace SP or sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine, a standard first line drug, which is now ineffective against the disease. "Studies conducted in malaria endemic countries by the [UN] World Health Organization [WHO] have established that the drug is no longer effective," Hussein Mwinyi, the assistant minister for health, said on Wednesday at a news conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania's commercial capital.

Africa/Global: Organisational learning in NGOs

2005-05-11

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC18324

This paper from the International NGO Training and Research Centre (Intrac) explores the importance of organisational learning in NGOs, drawing on examples gathered from interviews mainly with Northern NGO staff and from an extensive review of the literature. It looks into why NGOs need to provide the motive, means and opportunity for organisational learning, and introduces practical examples of how pioneering NGOs are doing this.

Africa/Global: Rich countries failing on education targets

2005-05-11

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC18290

This report from the Global Campaign for Education assesses the aid efforts of 22 industrialised nations belonging to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and grades countries on the quantity and quality of education aid they provide to poor countries. The report finds that rich countries are still falling well short of the financing targets they set themselves. Rich countries need to back the Education for All Fast Track Initiative, and pledge enough resources to expand the FTI to all poor countries that come forward with credible and transparent plans for achieving the education goals.

Cameroon: Dialogue Flops As Minister Walks Out

2005-05-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200505060712.html

A meeting recently aimed at checking the ongoing strike action that has paralysed activities at the University of Yaounde I since April 29, has came to naught. The meeting that lasted for over eight hours came to an abrupt end when Higher Education Minister, Prof. Jacques Fame Ndongo, failed to agree with the delegation of the striking students.

Uganda: Broke Makerere Could Close

2005-05-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200505091532.html

The Minister of Education, Ms Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire, has appealed to the Ministry of Finance to provide additional funding to Makerere University to save it from imminent closure. Makerere has become broke and has no money to run the university this and next month.

Africa/Global: Environmental laws lined up for removal by new trade talks

2005-05-11

http://www.foei.org/media/2005/0418.html

Governments including Japan, Korea, Mexico and the United States are planning to use new World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations to dismantle a wide range of national laws protecting the environment, social well-being and health, Friends of the Earth International has revealed. A list compiled by the environmental group before trade negotiators met in Geneva in April showed that legislation covering food, fisheries, timber and petroleum production, energy efficiency, chemical testing, recycling and standards in the electronics and automobile industries have all been raised as potential "barriers to trade" in the past few months.

Kenya: Buying and selling wildlife conservation in Kenya

2005-05-11

http://www.id21.org/society/r2jc1g1.html

Wildlife tourism in Kenya generates more than one third of foreign exchange revenue. The livelihoods of many rural Kenyans are connected to wildlife-related policies and businesses. How can the competing demands on Kenya's wildlife be met, while protecting both livelihoods and habitats?

Southern Africa: Protecting the environment across borders

2005-05-11

http://www.id21.org/society/r2rd1g1.html

Transfrontier conservation initiatives refer to environmental and wildlife management programmes that cross political boundaries and national borders. The hope is that a combined approach to ecosystem management will produce positive environmental outcomes and benefits for local communities. However, the benefits to communities living in or alongside conservation areas are variable, and often they are not treated as equal stakeholders.

Southern Africa: Recurrent Dry Spells `Cause for Concern'

2005-05-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200504150887.html

The rising temperatures and recurrent dry spells in Southern Africa points to the impact of climate change and are "cause for concern", a senior scientist told IRIN. Many countries in the region, such as Swaziland and Lesotho, were now entering their fourth year of drought. According to a new Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) report, the 2004/05 season "has been marked by adverse conditions, including erratic rains, intermittent dry spells, and flooding in some areas".

Guinea: Issue of weekly magazine "JA L'Intelligent" temporarily seized

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/28052

On 24 April 2005, Interior Minister Kiridi Bangoura ordered the temporary seizure of issue 2311 of the weekly magazine "JA L'Intelligent", which carried a story and commentary on the health of the president, General Lansana Conte. According to Media Foundation for West Africa-Conakry sources, the magazine's 24 to 30 April edition carried a front page article entitled, "Guinea: the End", and a commentary entitled, "Eaten up with sickness, President Conte still hangs on to power and the country is dying". The magazine was only allowed to reappear on newsstands on 27 April, when the temporary ban was lifted.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT - GUINEA

6 May 2005

Issue of weekly magazine "JA L'Intelligent" temporarily seized

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

(MFWA/IFEX) - On 24 April 2005, Interior Minister Kiridi Bangoura ordered
the temporary seizure of issue 2311 of the weekly magazine "JA
L'Intelligent", which carried a story and commentary on the health of the
president, General Lansana Conte.

According to MFWA-Conakry sources, the magazine's 24 to 30 April edition
carried a front page article entitled, "Guinea: the End", and a commentary
entitled, "Eaten up with sickness, President Conte still hangs on to power
and the country is dying". The magazine was only allowed to reappear on
newsstands on 27 April, when the temporary ban was lifted.

The article and commentary by journalist Cheikh Yerim Seck appeared
alongside a picture of the president with his back to the camera, and made
reference to the serious state of the president's health. The stories also
commented on the president's few public appearances and the effect of the
president's poor health on Guinea's current deplorable economic situation.

Annoyed by the critical articles, the interior minister instructed the
Guinean newspaper distribution company SOGUIDIP not to distribute the
magazine.

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

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

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Kenya: First lady storms into newsroom, harasses staff, assaults cameraman

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/28051

Reporters sans frontières has expressed shock over the abuse of authority displayed by the wives of President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya and President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria in assailing and imprisoning journalists in separate incidents on 2 May 2005, in response to critical press reports. "We are stunned that the presidents' wives went so far just to seek personal revenge. We therefore call on [Kenyan First Lady] Lucy Kibaki to apologise to the cameraman she hit, and we call on [Nigerian First Lady] Stella Obasanjo to have the 'Midwest Herald''s publisher released from prison immediately, as such meddling harms the image of their respective countries," RSF said.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT - KENYA

6 May 2005

Kenyan first lady storms into newsroom, harasses staff, assaults cameraman

SOURCE: Reporters sans frontières (RSF), Paris

(RSF/IFEX) - RSF has expressed shock over the abuse of authority displayed
by the wives of President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya and President Olusegun
Obasanjo of Nigeria in assailing and imprisoning journalists in separate
incidents on 2 May 2005, in response to critical press reports.

"We are stunned that the presidents' wives went so far just to seek personal
revenge. We therefore call on [Kenyan First Lady] Lucy Kibaki to apologise
to the cameraman she hit, and we call on [Nigerian First Lady] Stella
Obasanjo to have the 'Midwest Herald''s publisher released from prison
immediately, as such meddling harms the image of their respective
countries," RSF said.

In Nairobi, Kibaki went to the premises of the Nation Media Group, Kenya's
largest press group, shortly before midnight on 2 May with six bodyguards
and Nairobi Police Chief Kingori Mwangi. They spent five hours in the
offices of the daily "The Nation", complaining about "unfair" reports.
Uttering insults, she had all of the journalists' cameras, notebooks and
mobile phones confiscated and swore that she would not leave until the
authors of the offending articles were arrested.

Kibaki also assaulted Kenya Television Network cameraman Clifford Derrick,
who had been filming the scene. She slapped him and tried unsuccessfully to
take his camera from him.

In their 2 May editions, several newspapers, including "The Nation" and "The
Standard", had reported that Kibaki had tried to put a stop to a farewell
party for Makhtar Diop, the World Bank's representative in Kenya, on the
night of 29 April, because of noise that was coming from the party.

A report entitled, "Shame of First Lady", published in "The Standard", a
rival of "The Nation", said that after failing to get the party stopped,
Kibaki went personally to the Muthaiga police station to file a complaint
against Diop. The report described her as being "lightly attired" at the
time.

In a separate incident in Nigeria, Omo-Ojo Orobosa, the publisher of the
Lagos-based "Midwest Herald", was arrested on First Lady Obasanjo's orders
when security forces, led by Inspector Sunday Owolabi, of the Ondo state
police department, burst into the newspaper's office at 10:30 a.m. (local
time) on 2 May and occupied it for one hour, until Orobosa was taken to
Akure prison. His arrest was prompted by an article about the first lady
entitled, "Greedy Stella" (see IFEX alert of 5 May 2005)

Meanwhile, President Obasanjo, who is also the current African Union
chairman, went to Dakar to attend a UNESCO summit on 3 May, World Press
Freedom Day.

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

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

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North Africa: IFEX Launches Arabic Newsletter on Freedom of Expression

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/28056

The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), in partnership with the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo), is pleased to announce the launch of the Arabic version of the "IFEX Communiqué" newsletter. Starting this week, the weekly newsletter will be published in Arabic covering free expression news and events worldwide.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE

9 May 2005

IFEX Launches Arabic Newsletter on Freedom of Expression

Toronto - The International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX), in
partnership with the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo),
is pleased to announce the launch of the Arabic version of the "IFEX
Communiqué" newsletter.

Starting this week, the weekly newsletter will be published in Arabic
covering free expression news and events worldwide. This publication comes
at an opportune time for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region,
which is one of the most heavily censored in the world. Advances brought by
electronic communications and satellite broadcasting pose exciting
opportunities to spread information on free expression and human rights
issues more widely across the region. A goal shared by both IFEX and HRInfo
is to raise awareness about human rights issues in the region, and to
provide information in Arabic in order to achieve this objective.

The "IFEX Communiqué" is a weekly e-mail publication that highlights
developments and issues affecting the free expression community worldwide. A
valuable resource tool, it provides regional and global news on free
expression trends and up-to-date information on conferences, workshops and
awards opportunities. The "IFEX Communiqué" contains a wide range of
material, including information from IFEX member organisations,
international media sources and other human rights organisations.

The Arabic version of the webzine will be available every Saturday on
HRInfo's website at http://www.hrinfo.net/ifex

The "IFEX Communiqué" is also available in English, French, Spanish and
Russian.

IFEX (http://www.ifex.org) is a global network of 64 organisations working
to defend and promote free expression. IFEX projects are managed on behalf
of its members by the IFEX Clearing House in Canada. HRInfo
(http://www.hrinfo.net) is an Egyptian network which serves as a central
repository for human rights information and websites in Arabic throughout
the MENA region.

The Arabic version of the "IFEX Communiqué" is made possible by the generous
support of UNESCO and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This
project also benefits from the participation of IFEX member, the Egyptian
Organization for Human Rights (EOHR).

To subscribe to the "IFEX Communique", visit http://www.hrinfo.net/ifex, or
contact the IFEX Communiqué Editor at communique@ifex.org

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: communique@ifex.org, Internet:
http://www.ifex.org
_________________________________________________________________
IFEX - Nouvelles de la communauté internationale de défense de la liberté
d'expression
_________________________________________________________________

COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE

Le 9 mai 2005

IFEX lance son Communiqué sur la liberté d'expression en langue arabe

Toronto - C'est avec grand plaisir que l'Échange international de la liberté
d'expression (IFEX), en partenariat avec le Arabic Network for Human Rights
Information (HRInfo), annonce le lancement de la version en langue arabe du
"Communiqué de l'IFEX".

Dès cette semaine, ce bulletin d'information hebdomadaire sur la liberté
d'expression couvrant les événements importants qui surviennent dans le
monde entier, sera publié en arabe. Cette publication arrive à point nommé
pour la région du Moyen-Orient et du Maghreb qui subit une des pires
censures au monde. Les percées réalisées grâce aux moyens de communication
électroniques et à la diffusion par satellite fournissent l'occasion de
diffuser des informations sur les différents enjeux liés à la liberté
d'expression et aux droits de la personne dans cette région. L'un des
objectifs que partagent l'IFEX et HRInfo consiste à sensibiliser le public
aux questions des droits de la personne dans la région et à diffuser des
informations en arabe pour mieux atteindre cet objectif.

Le "Communiqué de l'IFEX" est un bulletin électronique hebdomadaire qui met
en relief les différents développements et enjeux touchant les défenseurs de
la liberté d'expression à l'échelle mondiale. Ce précieux outil de
ressources fournit des informations régionales et globales sur l'état de la
liberté d'expression et ses tendances, tout en informant ses lecteurs des
plus récents ateliers, conférences et récompenses. Le "Communiqué de l'IFEX"
présente également des informations et une documentation complète sur les
différentes organisations membres de l'IFEX, les médias internationaux et
les autres organisations de défense des droits de la personne.

La version arabe du bulletin électronique sera disponible tous les samedis
dans le site Web de HRInfo à l'adresse suivante :
http://www.hrinfo.net/ifex

Le "Communiqué de l'IFEX" est également disponible en français, en anglais,
en espagnol et en russe.

L'IFEX (http://www.ifex.org) est un réseau mondial qui regroupe 64
organisations ouvrant à la défense de la liberté d'expression. Les projets
de l'IFEX sont gérés au nom des membres du réseau par le Secrétariat de
l'IFEX, au Canada. HRInfo (http://www.hrinfo.net) est un réseau égyptien qui
agit à titre de dépositaire central d'informations et de sites Web en arabe
sur les droits de la personne dans l'ensemble du Moyen-Orient et du Maghreb.

La publication de la version arabe du Communiqué de l'IFEX est rendue
possible grâce à l'appui généreux de l'UNESCO et du ministère norvégien des
Affaires étrangères. Ce projet bénéficie également de la collaboration de
l'Organisation égyptienne des droits de l'homme (EOHR), membre de l'IFEX.

Pour vous abonner au "Communiqué de l'IFEX", veuillez consulter le site
http://www.hrinfo.net/ifex, ou contacter la rédaction du Communiqué :
communique@ifex.org

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 :
communique@ifex.org, Internet : http://www.ifex.org

More...

Somalia: Puntland shutters critical newspaper

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/28053

Puntland authorities have ordered the immediate closing of the weekly newspaper Shacab for allegedly inciting violence, according to Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sources. The decree, issued after a cabinet meeting on Thursday, cited the government's constitutional responsibility to uphold the unity of Puntland.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

ALERT UPDATE - SOMALIA (PUNTLAND)

9 May 2005

Puntland shutters critical newspaper

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

**Updates IFEX alert of 4 May 2005**

(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a 6 May 2005 CPJ press release:

SOMALIA: Puntland shutters critical newspaper

New York, May 6, 2005 - Puntland authorities have ordered the immediate
closing of the weekly newspaper Shacab for allegedly inciting violence,
according to CPJ sources. The decree, issued after a cabinet meeting on
Thursday, cited the government's constitutional responsibility to uphold the
unity of Puntland.

The decree was signed by Vice President Hassan Dahir Afqurac on behalf of
President Adde Muse Hirsi, who is traveling abroad, according to the Somali
Journalists Network (SOJON). It ordered Shacab "temporarily suspended" for
an undetermined period for publishing unspecified articles that it claimed
could lead to unrest.

"CPJ is outraged at this shutdown of Shacab and calls on President Adde Muse
to immediately lift the ban," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said.
"Allowing public debate and a free flow of information on matters of public
concern are particularly vital at a time when Somalia is seeking to restore
peace and democracy."

CPJ wrote to Adde Muse this week to protest several recent attacks on the
press, including ongoing government harassment of Shacab. In April, Shacab
editor Abdi Farah Nur and reporter Abdirashid Qoransey were detained, tried,
and acquitted on charges of incitement and insulting the president. Those
charges were based on a mid-April article suggesting that citizens with
complaints about the Puntland government contact their representatives in
parliament, and a reader's letter criticizing authorities, according to
Farah.

Farah told CPJ that official harassment of the newspaper has continued since
their release on April 24. Government officials have made several visits,
raising questions about the newspaper's license and demanding payment of
"taxes."

Puntland is an autonomous region in Somalia's northeast. Somalia has had no
functioning central authority since 1991. A peace conference in Nairobi,
Kenya, last year elected former Puntland President Abdullahi Yusuf to head a
transitional federal government, although that government has not yet
returned to Somalia for security reasons. Puntland's parliament elected Adde
Muse to succeed Yusuf, and its authorities have signed on to the peace
process.

To read CPJ's May 3 letter:
http://www.cpj.org/protests/05ltrs/Somalia03may05pl.html

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

For further information, contact Africa Program Coordinator Julia Crawford
(x112) at CPJ, 330 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465
1004, fax: +1 212 465 9568, e-mail: jcrawford@cpj.org,
africaprogram@cpj.org, Internet: http://www.cpj.org/

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

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The Gambia: Press Union launches Foundation for Freedom of Expression

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/28055

To commemorate World Press Freedom Day, the Gambia Press Union (GPU) on May 3rd, 2005 launched a "Deyda Hydara Foundation for Freedom of Expression" in memory of Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara who was shot dead by unidentified gunmen on December 16, 2004. According to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) - Conakry source, the newly elected GPU President, Madi Ceesay explained that the Foundation's main objectives would be to support freedom of expression and media rights in the Gambia and ensure the protection of the lives and properties of journalists who are threatened because of their views.
IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), alerts@mfwaonline.org

The Gambia: Press Union launches Foundation for Freedom of Expression

To commemorate World Press Freedom Day, the Gambia Press Union (GPU) on May
3rd, 2005 launched a "Deyda Hydara Foundation for Freedom of Expression" in
memory of Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara who was shot dead by unidentified
gunmen on December 16, 2004.

According to Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) - Conakry source, the
newly elected GPU President, Madi Ceesay explained that the Foundation's
main objectives would be to support freedom of expression and media rights
in the Gambia and ensure the protection of the lives and properties of
journalists who are threatened because of their views.

Deyda Hydara who was co-proprietor of the Point newspaper and correspondent
for the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) as well as a leading
member of the GPU was murdered in cold blood last December. Up to now,
those responsible for his killing remain at large despite repeated promises
by the authorities to pursue and arrest the killers.

At the time of his murder, Deyda was leading a protest against newly enacted
draconian laws that would further restrict press freedom in the Gambia.

Arrests, detentions, arson attacks, intimidations and death threats have
been the lot of Gambian journalists in the past years. The perpetrators
carry out these heinous actions with impunity and are often not punished.

The Media Foundation for West Africa takes this opportunity to restate its
deep concern about the security of journalists in the Gambia and calls on
the authorities of that country to respect the right of journalists to carry
out their public duty and social responsibility of informing the citizens of
the Gambia.

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**

More...

Demand Freedom for Imprisoned Trade Unionists in Eritrea

2005-05-12

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=50

The IUF is requesting international support for a campaign to free three imprisoned trade union leaders in Eritrea. Tewelde Ghebremedhin, Chairperson of the IUF-affiliated Food, Beverages, Hotels, Tourism, Agriculture and Tobacco Workers Federation and Minase Andezion, secretary of the textile and leather workers' federation, were arrested by security police on March 30 and remain in detention. On April 9, police arrested Habtom Weldemicael, who heads the Coca-Cola Workers Union and is a member of the food and beverage workers' federation executive.

DRC: UN decries insecurity, malnutrition in Kasai Oriental

2005-05-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47049

Ongoing insecurity is the cause of deteriorating levels of nutrition among people in the south-central province of Kasai Oriental in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the UN Mission there known as MONUC, reported on Monday. "The worst famine-hit areas in the Sankuru District [in Kasai Oriental Province] include Kole, Tchumbe and Lubefu, located within the 500-km range from [the provincial capital] Mbuji-Mayi," Patrice Bogna, the information focal point for MONUC's Humanitarian Affairs Section, said in a statement detailing the mission's weekly humanitarian highlights.

DRC: Arrests in Katanga coup plot

2005-05-12

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/dc95bc14e6e82f317a8dc6e2bd3698f0.htm

At least 30 civilians and military personnel suspected of plotting the secession of Katanga Province from the Democratic Republic of Congo have been arrested, Deputy Provincial Governor Chikez Diemu said on Monday. He said judicial and security agents had made the arrests on Friday in the southeastern Katanga town of Lubumbashi. The detainees, he added, were being questioned over their participation in a network "whose aim was to destabilise the Congolese institutions".

Ivory Coast: A French neo-colonial misadventure

2005-05-11

http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/ivory/2005/0400parisinterest.htm

This Le Monde diplomatique article sharply criticizes France for its role in Ivory Coast’s war and highlights the country’s interests in its former colony. Since Ivorian independence in 1960, France has maintained a tight hold on the country’s wealth, using one-sided contracts to repatriate 75 percent of the wealth generated there. A strong French military presence has enabled the former colonizer to install regimes favorable to Paris’s interests. The author deplores the lack of reaction to the “almost funny” French government line, deploying 3,800 French soldiers to West Africa “with the ethical purpose of preventing a bunch of machete-waving lunatics from dismembering their own country.”

Somalia: IGAD to delay deployment of peacekeepers

2005-05-11

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47025

A peacekeeping force scheduled for deployment to Somalia will be delayed as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) attempts to iron out legal limitations and reconcile the divided transitional federal government (TFG), sources said. "IGAD's charter does not cater for troop deployment, and therefore efforts are underway to have it amended," a senior Uganda government official who preferred anonymity told IRIN on Monday.

Sudan: African Union Must Deploy Faster in Darfur

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/28021

The African Union should immediately increase the number of troops deployed in Darfur, Human Rights Watch said this week in a letter to members of the pan-African organization's Peace and Security Council. The African Union's current force in Darfur remains too small, and the projected rate of deployment of more troops too slow, to protect civilians and reverse ethnic cleansing in the western Sudanese region.
Darfur: African Union Must Deploy Faster
African Countries Should Immediately Increase Their Troop Numbers

(Addis Ababa, May 8, 2005) ? The African Union should
immediately increase the number of troops deployed in Darfur, Human
Rights Watch said today in a letter to members of the pan-African
organization's Peace and Security Council.

The African Union's current force in Darfur remains too small, and the
projected rate of deployment of more troops too slow, to protect
civilians and reverse ethnic cleansing in the western Sudanese region.

On April 28, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission,
Alpha Oumar Konare, issued a report calling for an increase in AU
forces in Darfur to12,300 military, police and civilian personnel by
spring 2006. Human Rights Watch urged members of the Council to
commit and deploy the 12,300 troops to Darfur immediately. Currently,
the AU mission in Darfur has 2,372 troops deployed across a region
the size of France.

"The Africa Union must quickly build up its troop presence in Darfur,"
said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director of Human Rights Watch.
"Success depends on the African Union's ability to get enough troops
on the ground now to stop ongoing violence across Darfur."

If the African countries that have pledged troops are not able to deploy
them in a timely fashion, the African Union should seek those forces
from other countries and request the international community to
provide necessary logistical and technical support, Human Rights
Watch said.

The African Union deserves credit for taking the lead in efforts to
restore security to Darfur. Human Rights Watch lauded AU plans to
help reverse the "ethnic cleansing" that has taken place in Darfur since
the conflict began in February 2003.

The Sudanese government has not objected to the presence of troops
from African countries, but rejects any deployment of non-African
troops. The AU force was originally deployed to monitor the April
2004 ceasefire between the government and two rebel groups. As the
African Union has documented, this ceasefire has been routinely
violated by all parties to the conflict.

Despite repeated promises, the Sudanese authorities have repeatedly
failed to curb ongoing attacks on civilians by the government-backed
militias known as Janjaweed. According to the African Union, an
estimated two million civilians have been displaced, twice as many as
a year ago.

According to recent United Nations estimates, up to 180,000 people,
mostly civilians, have died in the conflict, in which Sudanese forces
and government-backed militias have engaged in a scorched-earth
campaign against civilians of the same ethnicity as two main rebel
groups in Darfur. In the past two years, an estimated 2,000 villages
have been totally or partially burned to the ground in these attacks.
Displaced persons fear losing their land, but are unwilling to return
home because of continued Janjaweed attacks, ongoing burning of
villages and widespread destruction of crops.

To view this document on the Human Rights Watch web site, please
go to: https://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/05/08/darfur10589.htm

More...

Sudan: Government repeats 'no' to ICC

2005-05-12

http://www.justicetribune.com/article_uk.php?id=3034

Each time it gets the opportunity, Sudan restates its opposition to the referral of the Darfur situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC). On 22 April, in Jakarta, the Sudanese minister for foreign affairs told the news agency AP: "The Sudanese judiciary is, and has always been, willing and capable of assuming its responsibilities. The government has brought before the courts persons involved in violations of human rights. Scores of such persons have already been arrested and tried."

Uganda: Historic chance to end war

2005-05-12

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4535729.stm

The United Nations top emergency official has told the BBC that there is an historic opportunity to end the 19-year war in northern Uganda. Emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland says northern Uganda is being forgotten by the rest of the world. But speaking ahead of a UN Security Council briefing, he said recent peace contacts must not be squandered.

"Using Creative Commons to Licence Publicly-funded Knowledge"

Thetha Sangonet discussion forum

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/28022

The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT), in collaboration with the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), is hosting a Thetha on 24 May 2005 to discuss whether Southern African organisations should use Creative Commons to licence the information that they produce. The Thetha will occur in the same week (25-27 May) as the launch of Creative Commons South Africa and an international conference hosted by the Link Centre entitled "Commons-sense: Towards an African Digital Information Commons". Refer to www.commons-sense.org for more information.
THETHA - THE SANGONeT ICT DISCUSSION FORUM

"Using Creative Commons to Licence Publicly-funded Knowledge"

24 May 2005

The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT), in collaboration with the
Association for Progressive Communications (APC), is hosting a Thetha on 24
May 2005 to discuss whether Southern African organisations should use
Creative Commons to licence the information that they produce. The Thetha
will occur in the same week (25-27 May) as the launch of Creative Commons
South Africa and an international conference hosted by the Link Centre
entitled "Commons-sense: Towards an African Digital Information Commons".
Refer to www.commons-sense.org for more information.

SANGONeT's Thetha Forums aim to provide civil society organisations (CSOs)
with an opportunity to discuss information communication technology (ICT)
issues of common concern and to learn from one another's experiences. The
forums focus specifically on the ICT challenges facing the CSO sector,
highlighting and promoting practical benefits, opportunities and lessons
learned to date.

Creative Commons is an innovative non-profit that has developed a set of
licences that people can use to mark the conditions under which their
content can be copied, distributed and shared. Some of these conditions
include reproduction for non commercial or commercial use, and the
publication of derivative works.

More than 5 million webpages are currently licensed under the Creative
Commons banner. The success of the licence is, in part, due to the fact that
Creative Commons provides a simple way for people to encourage the type of
sharing and distributed creativity for which the web was first intended.
Using "human readable", "lawyer readable" and "machine readable" code,
Creative Commons licences enable even non lawyers to understand how their
copyright works on the Internet.

The Creative Commons Thetha will cover the following themes:

- What is Creative Commons?
- Who is using Creative Commons to licence publicly-funded content?
- How do you use Creative Commons to licence your content?
- What next? A Southern African collaboration?

Larry Lessig, renowned author and chairman of Creative Commons will address
the issue of "licencing publicly-funded knowledge online". Other speakers
include Heather Ford and Andrew Rens of Creative Commons South Africa.

The Thetha will be held in Classroom A, Donald Gordon Building, School for
Public and Development Management, Wits University Campus at 2 St David's
Place, Parktown (09h00-13h00).
If you are interested in participating in this Thetha, please contact
Refilwe Rakhibane or Sandra Roberts at SANGONeT before 20 May 2005:

Tel: (011) 403-4935 / Fax: (011) 403-0130
E-mail: thetha@sangonet.org.za / sandra@sangonet.org.za

For more information on Thetha - The SANGONeT ICT Discussion Forum, please
visit the SANGONeT website - http://www.sangonet.org.za

For more information on the APC's Creative Commons project, please visit
http://za.creativecommons.org/commons-sense/about.htm

Participation in the Thetha is free of charge.

"Come Thetha with us"

More...

Fahamu wins GenARDIS small grants award

2005-05-12

http://www.genderwsis.org/264.0.html

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.

New community wireless project begins

2005-05-12

http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=32071

It's most commonly associated with ultra-slim laptops and VIP airport lounges but wireless technology has been having far more exciting - and profound - effects in places that you can't take business class seats to reach and amongst people who travel on foot and not by plane. For wireless technology is about much more than being able to connect to the internet using a laptop without a cable.

New study examines impact of mobile phones on health care

2005-05-12

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

A study of a pilot project using mobile phones for healthcare in Africa has found that technology works, but implementation, management and human factors are real hurdles. Bridges.org conducted an in-depth investigation of a pilot project by the Cape Town Health Directorate that tested innovative uses of mobile phone technology to improve the treatment of Tuberculosis (TB) in its clinics. The treatment of TB in Cape Town offers a good setting to explore whether and how mobile phones can be used in healthcare.

Early Warning Resources on Crisis Group's website

2005-05-11

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3397&l=1

Crisis Group's Early Warning Resources web page is a one-stop-shop compiling various sources of public information and aiming to provide journalists, analysts and policy makers with forewarning of possible conflicts around the world and information on conflict trends. Early warning includes conflict-related early warning web pages; humanitarian and natural disaster early warning websites; risk analysis websites; Global conflict trend analyses; and Daily news services that provide the most up-to-date information on conflict-related issues.

SAfAIDS News Call for papers

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/28031

You are hereby kindly requested to submit papers or articles for SAfAIDS News newsletter. The newsletter targets:
- professionals working in the HIV/AIDS sector
- staff in ASOs, NGOs, FBOs, government bodies, UN agencies and universities in the region.
- policy makers.
- Community based organisations
SAfAIDS News Call for papers

You are hereby kindly requested to submit papers or articles for SAfAIDS
News newsletter. The newsletter targets:
- professionals working in the HIV/AIDS sector
- taff in ASOs, NGOs, FBOs, government bodies, UN agencies and universities
in the region.
- policy makers.
- Community based organisations

Areas of interest are:
- HIV/AIDS and the workplace
- Stigma and discrimination
- Access to treatment and care.

However, papers are not restricted to the topics mentioned above. In the
selection of articles, SAfAIDS will place an emphasis on gender, human
rights and development as crosscutting issues.

There are four categories of articles. These are:
- Features: are analytical articles focusing on HIV/AIDS related issues and
policy.
- Current and ongoing research.
- Project activities: explore project/programme information on critical
lessons learnt.
- Best practices: explore interventions that have worked elsewhere and can
be replicated

Articles can be send together with good photographs and should be a maximum
of 2 000 words. Kindly try to avoid scientific language for the sake of our
general readership. Contributions should be in either English and/or
Portuguese. The next deadline will be May 25 2005. Please inform us if the
articles have been submitted/ published elsewhere.

SAfAIDS reserves the right to edit all articles. An honorarium will be given
for one highly exceptional article per issue. SAfAIDS News can be accessed
on the SAfAIDS website: www.safaids.org.zw

For more information contact:
Eliezer F. Wangulu
Senior programme officer: publications
SAfAIDS
Email: eliezer@safaids.org.zw

Tsitsi Singizi
Information Officer
SAfAIDS
Email: tsitsi@safaids.org.zw

More...

Call for Applications: Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowships

2005-05-12

http://www.ned.org/forum/reagan-fascell.html

The Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program at the Washington, DC-based National Endowment for Democracy welcomes applications from candidates throughout the world for fellowships in 2006-2007. Established in 2001, the program enables democracy activists, practitioners, scholars, and journalists from around the world to deepen their understanding of democracy and enhance their ability to promote democratic change.

Developing Economic Alternatives to Neo-Liberalism workshop

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/28027

The Southern Africa Centre for Economic Justice (SACEJ) and Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (RLF) will hold a 'Developing Economic Alternatives to Neo-Liberalism' workshop between 11 to 14 May 2005 at the Elijah Barayi Training Centre, Johannesburg.
Developing Economic Alternatives to Neo-Liberalism
Southern Africa Centre for Economic Justice (SACEJ) and Rosa Luxemburg
Foundation (RLF)
11 to 14 May 2005, Elijah Barayi Training Centre, Johannesburg

Wednesday, 11 May

Public Meeting
5pm to 7 pm
Developing Alternatives to Neo-Liberalism

Why and to which end do we need Alternative Economic Concepts
Michael Brie (RLF, Department of Policy Research)

Developing Alternatives through Struggle
MP Giyose (Jubilee South Africa)


Thursday, 12 May

8.30 am to 12.30 pm
Defining and Interrogating Neo-Liberalism in Southern Africa

Why Neo-Liberal Economics Failed: A Theoretical Interrogation
Michael Heine (Berlin School of Economics)

The Dynamics of Neo-Liberalism in Southern Africa: A Critique
Mohau Pheko (Gender and Trade Network in Africa - GENTA)

The State in Southern Africa: Vehicle for Neo-Liberalism or for Change?
Simba Manyanya (SACEJ)

Breakaway and Plenary Discussions

1.30 pm to 5.30 pm

Water Privatisation in Southern Africa. The Case of Malawi
Irfen Bheda (Malawi Economic Justice Network - MEJN)

Neo-Liberalism: The Public Sector and Labour
Maria van Driel (Public Services International - PSI)

Neo-Liberalism: Conflict and Displacement
Grace Kwinjeh (Zimbabwe Political Victims Association - ZIPOVA)

Neo-Liberalism: The Media and Ideology
Jane Duncan (Freedom of Expression Institute - FXI)

Breakaway and Plenary Discussions

Evening Session, 7.30 pm to 9.00 pm
The World and the Bank: A Critique

The World Bank, IMF, Debt and Privatisation in Zambia
Charity Musamba (Jubilee Zambia)

Structural Adjustment and Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers in Tanzania
Deus Kibamba (Tanzania Gender Networking Programme - TGNP)

Strategies and Tactics Against the World/Wolfowitz/War Bank
Patrick Bond (Centre for Civil Society - CCS and SACEJ)

Plenary discussion

Friday, 13 May
8.30 am to 12.30 pm
Towards Alternatives to Neo-Liberalism

Crafting Proposals for a New Way Forward: The ANSA Project
Godfrey Kanyenze (Labour and Economic Development Research Institute of
Zimbabwe - LEDRIZ)

Conceptualising Alternatives: The European Discourse and the RLF Project
Günter Krause (RLF, Project on Alternative Economics)

Building Alternatives from the Bottom Up
Trevor Ngwane (Anti-Privatisation Forum - APF)

Breakaway and Plenary Discussions


1.30 pm to 5.30 pm

Local Alternatives to Neo-Liberalism
Vanessa Witbooi (South African New Economics Network - SANE)

Creating Cooperatives: An Alternative to Neo-Liberalism?
Judith Dellheim (Party for Democratic Socialism - PDS, Executive Committee
member)

Participation in Budget Processes
Collins Magalasi (Malawi Economic Justice Network - MEJN)

Community, Student and Worker Alternatives in Mauritius
Alain Ah-Vee (Lalit)

Breakaway and Plenary Discussions




Evening Session, 7.30 pm to 9.00 pm
The Role of Social Forums in Building Alternatives

The World Social Forum: A Critical Appraisal
Dennis Brutus (Jubilee South Africa and SACEJ)

The Zimbabwean Social Forum: An Opening for Debate
ZSF Regis Mtutu (Padare and Zimbabwe Social Forum - ZSF)

Plenary Discussion

Saturday, 14 May
8.30 am to 12.30 pm
Practical Possibilities for Developing Alternatives

Alternatives, Women and Youth
Sonto Mthimkulu (Youth for Work - YfW)

Strengthening Relationships Between Unions and Social Movements
Austin Muneku (Zambia Congress of Trade Unions - ZCTU, Justice Network)

The Role of National Economic Justice Networks
Roshnee Narrandes, (Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa - OSISA)

The Role of Regional Networks
Patricia Kasiamhuru (Southern African Peoples Solidarity Network - SAPSN)

Breakaway and Plenary Discussions


1.30 pm to 3.00 pm
The Way Forward

Plenary Discussion

More...

E-Parliament: Enhancing Legislative Work in Nigeria

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/28028

Information Technology, Publishing and Exhibitions (TEPEX) is organizing a workshop on E-Parliament. The aim of the workshop is to build the capacity of members of the legislative to use ICTs in discharging their mandate. The topics of the workshop include:
1. Understating ICTs for Legislative Functions
2. ICTs AND National Development
3. ICTs in Legislative Work
4. the Concept and Requirements of e-Parliament
5. the Internet as a Reference Library for Legislators
6. developing a Member/Constituency Website
7. ICT Policy Issues
8. Getting Prepared to Go Online.
The workshop will take place from the 8th to 9th June 2005 at Rockview Hotel, Abuja, Nigeria. For more details contact itepex@hotmail.com

Opportunities for women leaders in Zimbabwe

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/28042

The National Women's Coalition will be hosting an important conference on June 16th and 17th to discuss, among other issues:
- Deliberate on our successes
- Review our challenges in the last three years including funding and the NGO Bill
- Identify opportunities in the operating environment
- Design strategies to manage our diversity
- Work towards the creation of a mass movement of women
- Design strategies for working with donors to encourage fairer funding practices
- Designed strategies to make ourselves more effective and stronger
- Selection of an Steering Committee for the Women’s Coalition
- Brainstorm a broad agenda for the women’s movement in the next three years
If you'd like to attend and get involved please write to Netsai Mushonga at coalition@zol.co.zw for more information. (SOURCE: www.kubatana.net)

Rethinking African Development : Beyond Impasse, Towards Alternatives

A Call for Abstracts and Panel Proposals

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/28085

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) announces its 11th General Assembly which is scheduled to hold in Maputo, Mozambique, from 06 - 10 December, 2005. The theme that has been selected for the Assembly is: Rethinking African Development: Beyond Impasse, Towards Alternatives. The Assembly is expected to attract the participation of up to 500 researchers drawn from different disciplinary backgrounds, coming from across Africa and the Diaspora, and actively engaged in reflections on the development alternatives that could enable the African continent both to overcome its underdevelopment and transcend the current impasse associated with the continued application of problematic developmental models.
CODESRIA http://www.codesria.org

11th General Assembly

A Call for Abstracts and Panel Proposals

Theme : Rethinking African Development : Beyond Impasse, Towards Alternatives

Date : 06 to 10 December, 2005

Venue : Maputo, Mozambique

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA)
announces its 11th General Assembly which is scheduled to hold in Maputo,
Mozambique, from 06 - 10 December, 2005. The theme that has been selected for the
Assembly is: Rethinking African Development: Beyond Impasse, Towards Alternatives.
The Assembly is expected to attract the
participation of up to 500 researchers drawn from different disciplinary
backgrounds, coming from across Africa and the Diaspora, and actively engaged in
reflections on the development alternatives that could enable the
African continent both to overcome its underdevelopment and transcend the current
impasse associated with the continued application of problematic developmental
models. The proceedings of the Assembly will be conducted in
English, French and Portuguese.

CODESRIA was established in 1973 as an initiative of the African social research
community. It was given a specific mandate to extend the frontiers
of knowledge production on and about the African continent. The specific
goals for which the Council was set up and which are stated in its Charter
arose directly from the aspiration of the peoples of Africa to achieve
all-round socio-economic and political development that would qualitatively
uplift the human condition in Africa. The CODESRIA General Assembly is the
supreme organ of the Council; its triennial meetings have also become the
most significant gathering of intellectuals on the African continent. Every
General Assembly of the Council is organized around an intellectual theme to
which the African social research community is invited to respond and from
which an intellectual agenda is fashioned out for the next three years. The
11th General Assembly is conceived to break new grounds by concentrating the
attention of the research community on the developmental alternatives
available to Africa at a time of a widely acknowledge impasse in development
thinking and in the face of the equally widely recognized inefficacies of
the dominant neo-liberal paradigms that have informed policy-making on the
continent for at least two decades.



The theme of development is one which has been central to African social
research in the period since the end of the Second World War; indeed, it was
also integral to the birth of pan-Africanism, the national liberation
project, and the post-independence social contract which the nationalists
attempted to construct. The body of work which has been generated on the
theme has spanned virtually all spheres of human endeavour, with insights
drawn from various disciplines and in most cases mirroring different aspects
of the international scholarly and policy discussions of the day. The issues
that have been covered have been as varied as the kinds of debates that have
taken place. By and large, they are issues which have remained an abiding
part of the quest for African development and which will be revisited
extensively by participants in the 11th General Assembly at the different
plenary and parallel sessions that will be held. The pertinence and urgency
of the theme of the Assembly is underscored not only by the crises in
development thinking today but also by the huge costs which over two decades
of neo-liberal maladjustment has exacted, the many discontents associated
with the current phase of globalization, and the necessity for Africa to
regain the policy initiative in the shaping of its destiny. The African
academy has historically been in the forefront of the contestation of much
of the received wisdom that has underpinned the dominant development
policies implemented by governments in the period since the end of the
Second World War. No where has this been more evident than in the critique

that was offered of the dependency of post-independence African countries
in the 1960s and 1970s, the structural adjustment policies of the 1980s and
1990s, and the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers(PRSPs) on the basis of
which current policies are being constructed. The continuing failure of
thinkers and practitioners to historicize African development, the
inappropriateness of the dominant paradigms to the African cultural milieu,
the persistent resort to unilinear models, and the glorification of
technicist notions of development bereft of power relations constitute
challenges to which responses need to be forged.



In Maputo, the research community will be called upon to carry its critique
of post-independence Africa development and the mode of insertion of Africa
into the global system one step further by presenting alternatives that are
both detailed in content and holistic in approach and relevance. Among some
of the subjects that the research community is invited to address are:

* New Perspectives on the Concept of Development;

* Alternative Models of Accumulation for African Development;

* Reinventing the African State and Redefining its Role in
Development;

* Interfacing the State and the Market for African Development;

* Mobilising Citizen Participation in the Development Process;

* Non-State Actors in the Development Process;

* Engendering African Development;

* A New Social Contract between State and Society in Africa;

* Political Regimes and Socio-Economic Development in Africa;

* Culture, Tradition and Custom in African Development;

* Indigenous Languages in the Development Process;

* Social Policies for Sustained African Economic Development;

* Trade and Industrial Policies for Sustained Development in Africa;

* Agricultural Sector Strategies for African Development;

* Sustainable uses of African Natural Resources for Development;

* New Approaches to the Mobilisation of Savings and Investments;

* The Diaspora Factor in African Development;

* Science and Technology Policies for African Development;

* A Conducive Intellectual Property Rights Regime for African
Development;

* Achieving Environmental Sustainability in the Development Process;

* Law in the Political Economy of African Development;

* Alternative Legal-Constitutional Frames for African Development;

* The Media in the Development Process;

* Strategies of Regional Cooperation and Integration for African
Development;

* Transport and Transportation Systems for the Integrated
Development of Africa;

* Forging Self-Reliance in the Age of Globalisation;

* New Global Partnerships for African Development;

* An International Financial Architecture for African Development;

* Higher Education in African Development;

* A New Philosophical Ethos for an African Renaissance.

Scholars interested in being part of the Assembly are invited to send in
abstracts of papers that they would like to present for consideration by
the CODESRIA Scientific Committee which is vested with the responsibility of
peer-reviewing them. Those interested in constituting panels to address
specific issues are also invited to do so. All abstracts and panel proposals
should be received by the Council by Tuesday 31 May, 2005. The results of
the evaluation of the abstracts will be announced by Thursday 30 June, 2005.
Full papers from authors of selected abstracts must be received by Friday 02
September, 2005. The Assembly will open on Tuesday 06 December, 2005 with a
keynote address to be delivered by the Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka. Other
distinguished addresses to be delivered during the course of the Assembly
include the Cheikh Anta Diop Lecture to be presented by Carlos Lopes, the
Ake Lecture by Zenebeworke Tadesse, the Senghor Lecture by Adame Ba Konare,
and an endnote address to be delivered by Jomo Kwame Sundaram. Abstracts,
panel proposals and queries should be sent to:

The Secretary,

CODESRIA 11th General Assembly,

CODESRIA Secretariat,

BP 3304, CP 18524,

Dakar, Senegal.

Tel.: +221- 825 9822;

Fax: +221-824 1289.

E-mail: general.assembly@codesria.sn

More...

Second annual Sexuality Institute

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/28083

The Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC) in collaboration with Health Systems Trust, South Africa, is pleased to announce the second edition of its annual Sexuality Institute and to invite suitably qualified professionals to apply. The goal is to strengthen African intellectual resources and reshape sexuality research, discourse and action on the continent towards healthy, pleasurable, responsible and respectful sexuality.

The Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC) in collaboration with Health Systems Trust, South Africa, is pleased to announce the second edition of its annual Sexuality Institute and to invite suitably qualified professionals to apply.


Goal: To strengthen African intellectual resources and reshape sexuality research, discourse and action on the continent towards healthy, pleasurable, responsible and respectful sexuality.

Objectives:
The objectives of the programme are to:
1. Provide a forum for sexuality professionals in Africa to share ideas, update their knowledge, set the agenda and devise strategies for dealing with sexual violence on the continent

2. Contribute to policy, programme and research actions in sexual violence on the continent

3. Build beneficial professional networks and constituencies among sexuality professionals in Africa

Course Methodology: Incorporating both rigorous intellectual work and social activities, the Sexuality Institute promotes sharing of ideas, team building and collaborative work amongst participants in order to nurture relationships that last beyond the institute.

Through experience-sharing with distinguished sexuality professionals drawn across Africa, participants are exposed to the most current trends, thinking, concepts and programming in sexuality. They work in integrated country-level and cross-country teams on simulated plans as the vehicle for generating strategic plans for their future work.

Eligibility: To be eligible, applicants need to meet the following conditions:
· Have a minimum of five years work experience in the area of sexuality, sexual health and rights; work experience in sexual violence is an advantage
· Must be Africans working in Africa
· Must be at upper middle/senior level in their organisations
· Have a postgraduate qualification or demonstrated substantial work experience

Sponsorships: The ARSRC offers a few highly competitive, fully-funded sponsorship that are open to qualified citizens of Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria or South Africa, who are resident in the continent. ARSRC sponsorships cover registration fees, roundtrip travel expenses, as well as, accommodation, meals and incidental expenses.

Interested citizens of other African countries are encouraged to apply but will need to seek funding from other donors to cover their travel, accommodation and living expenses

Requirements for Application: Applicants are requested to submit the following:
1. Fully completed applications forms (free copies available for download from www.hst.org.za or www.arsrc.org)

2. Reference Letters: Two (2) reference letters are to be submitted with each application, completed by referees who must be familiar with the applicant’s work in the area of sexuality and are in a position to attest to the applicant’s institutional or organizational affiliations.

3. Curriculum Vitae: Each applicant is expected to submit detailed curriculum vitae showing clearly the applicant’s research, publications, awards or any other activities attesting to their competence and achievements in their area of work.

Deadline for the Receipt of Applications: All duly completed application forms and other documentary requirements should be sent to either of the addresses below by 10th June 2005 .

The 2005 Sexuality Institute
Health Systems Trust
401 Maritime House, 4th Floor, Cnr Salmon Grove & Victoria Embankment, PO Box 808 Durban
KwaZulu Natal,
Tel: 27 (031) 307 2954 / Fax: 27 (031) 3040775
Contact Person: Farana Khan
E-mail farana@hst.org.za

Or

The 2005 Sexuality Institute
Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre
17 Lawal St., off Oweh St., Jibowu, PO Box 803, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria.
Tel: 234-1-7919307 / Fax No: 234-1-3425470
E-mail opportunities@arsrc.org



Selection: Notification of the result of the selection will be made by 30th June 2005

More...

ICT Advocacy and Campaigns Coordinator

Fahamu

2005-05-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/28097

Are you enthusiastic, energetic and capable of innovative and creative thinking around the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs)? Fahamu is looking for a recruit to work on our use of SMS and other new technologies to support social justice campaigns in the Africa region.

Answering to the News and Information Coordinator, you will:

- Liaise with campaign partners;
- Develop a database of mobile phone numbers;
- Assist in managing an SMS alert system to support the campaign;
- Disseminate information via SMS and email;
- Assist in promotion and marketing of associated services;
- Assist in the research and development of new initiatives.

We urgently need someone who is:

- Tech savvy and aware of the latest ICT developments and their relevance to the African continent;
- Computer literate and comfortable with the use of a computer as an essential tool of everyday life for emailing, internet research, word processing and excel;
- A sound communicator with the ability to write clearly and concisely;
- Able to demonstrate an ability to think creatively;
- Capable of meeting tight deadlines and working under pressure;
- Highly proficient in English (added languages, especially an African language, Arabic or French, would be an advantage);
- Able to motivate and inspire.

Ideally, the candidate will be Cape Town based, although applications will be considered from across the African continent. The candidate will have a university degree in media and communications, development, social science or any other relevant subject. Prior experience in an information, communications or advocacy role will be strongly taken into account.

The job is for a fixed period of six months in the first instance. This is a part time position that we envisage will require a commitment of two-and-a-half days per week. Remuneration will be commensurate with experience.

If you believe you fit the above details please send a one-page covering letter and two-page CV to info@fahamu.org by 23 May 2005. Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Intitule du poste: Coordinateur de programme regional

La Fondation New Field

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/28045

La Fondation New Field recherche un coordinateur de programme régional pour coordonner et soutenir le programme de subvention de New Field en Afrique de l’Ouest. Le coordinateur de programme régional développera et mettra en oeuvre le programme de New Field en Afrique de l’Ouest, en se focalisant sur le changement social pour les femmes rurales et leurs familles en Casamance, dans la région du fleuve Mano, et au Burkina Faso.
La Fondation New Field
INTITULE DU POSTE : COORDINATEUR DE PROGRAMME REGIONAL
La Fondation New Field recherche un coordinateur de programme régional pour coordonner et soutenir le programme de subvention de New Field en Afrique de l’Ouest. Le coordinateur de programme régional développera et mettra en oeuvre le programme de New Field en Afrique de l’Ouest, en se focalisant sur le changement social pour les femmes rurales et leurs familles en Casamance, dans la région du fleuve Mano, et au Burkina Faso.

Il est prévu que chaque année 30 à 40 subventions seront attribuées aux plus petites organisations communautaires de base (OCB) et environs 10 aux partenaires régionaux. Les initiatives et les organisations à financer seront identifiées et évaluées par le coordinateur de programme régional, qui fera lui-même des recommandations au conseil d’administration de New Field en collaboration avec les conseillers locaux et en accord avec les orientations données par le directeur exécutif. Elle/Il ira au-delà des barrières économiques et culturelles afin d’établir des liens étroits avec de nombreuses personnes et à différents niveaux; elle/il fera des analyses sur les tendances qui affectent les femmes rurales, leurs familles et leurs communautés; elle/il travaillera en étroite collaboration avec les femmes leaders rurales d’Afrique de l’Ouest; et elle/il sera en contact régulier avec le personnel et le conseil d’administration de New Field aux Etats-Unis. Nous recherchons une personne qui a plusieurs années d’expérience de travail avec les OCB en Afrique, qui s’engage sur les questions de responsabilisation des femmes rurales et des enfants de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, et qui comprenne la complexité de la gestion et de la mise en oeuvre des programmes de financement au niveau local qui aboutissent à des changements sociaux. D’excellentes compétences en communication sont requises, avec un bon niveau d’anglais et de français. De plus, cette personne doit avoir de très bonnes connaissances et compétences administratives, une certaine force de caractère et de l’intégrité afin de réaliser les missions de New Field. Cette personne sera amenée à voyager pendant un tiers de l’année essentiellement en Afrique de l’Ouest et dans les zones reculées, ce qui nécessite un certain goût et de l’intérêt pour les voyages. Le coordinateur de programme régional sera de préference localisé au Burkina Faso, en Guinée, en Sierra Léone, au Liberia ou au Sénegal. Pour obtenir plus d’informations sur le poste et sur la procédure à suivre pour postuler, aller s’il vous plait sur le site internet www.newfieldfound.org ou envoyer un courriel à rpm@newfieldfound.org pour recevoir des détails. Le poste sera ouvert jusqu’à ce qu’il soit pourvu.

La Fondation New Field contribue à la création d’un monde sûr et durable en soutenant les femmes et leurs familles dans la lutte contre la pauvreté, la violence et l’injustice au sein de leurs communautés. Nous nous concentrons actuellement sur l’Afrique Subsaharienne. Basée à San Francisco, Californie, aux Etats-Unis, New Field est une fondation nouvellement établie qui soutient la Fondation Tides dans ses financements à l’international.

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West Africa: Regional Programme Manager

New Field Foundation

2005-05-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/28044

New Field Foundation is seeking a regional program manager to coordinate and support New Field's West Africa grant making program. The regional program manager will develop and implement New Field's program in West Africa, with a focus on social change for rural women and their families in Casamance, Mano River Region, and Burkina Faso.
New Field Foundation

JOB ANNOUNCEMENT: WEST AFRICA REGIONAL PROGRAM MANAGER

New Field Foundation is seeking a regional program manager to coordinate and support New Field's West Africa grant making program. The regional program manager will develop and implement New Field's program in West Africa, with a focus on social change for rural women and their families in Casamance, Mano River Region, and Burkina Faso.

It is anticipated that each year some 30-40 grants will be made to smaller community-based organizations and about 10 to larger regional partners. The West Africa regional program manager will identify and assess initiatives and organizations for funding, and make recommendations to the New Field board, in collaboration with local advisors and as guided by the executive director. She/he will cross economic and cultural barriers to develop strong relationships with a range of people at different levels; will analyze trends that affect rural women, their families and communities; will work closely with rural women leaders in West Africa; and be in close contact with New Field staff and board in the US. We are seeking a person who has worked for a number of years with community-based NGOs in Africa, is committed to rural women's and children's empowerment issues in West Africa, and understands the complexities of managing and implementing grassroots grant making programs that create social change. Excellent communication skills required, with good standard of English and French. Strong administration skills, strength of character and integrity to realize New Field's mission, plus the heart and interest to travel for about a third of the year, mainly in West Africa, including hard-to-reach rural areas. The regional program manager will preferably be located in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia or Senegal. For more information about the position and the application process, please visit www.newfieldfound.org or email rpm@newfieldfound.org for details. The position is open until filled.

New Field Foundation contributes to the creation of a safe and sustainable world by supporting women and their families to overcome poverty, violence, and injustice in their communities. Our current focus is sub-Saharan Africa. Based in San Francisco, California, USA, New Field Foundation is recently established and operates in support of Tides Foundation's international grant making.

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