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2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/30076

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UNCONFIRMED REPORTS REACHED US AT PAMBAZUKA NEWS AS WE GO TO PRESS THAT TOGO HAS BECOME THE 15TH AFRICAN COUNTRY TO RATIFY THE PROTOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN.

This means that the Protocol will enter into force thirty (30) days after the date of deposit by Togo. Congratulations are due to all the many organisations that have been involved in the campaign. This is a major victory for the women's movement in Africa. Is this the fastest ratification of such an instrument? Standby for further updates.

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EDITORIAL: Patrick Bond on the great robbery of Africa’s wealth
COMMENT&ANALYSIS: Economist Sanjay Reddy asks whose interests the World Development Report actually serves
- Human rights lawyer Yav Katshung Joseph joins the discussion about the DRC with an exploration of security and resource issues that block peace in the region
- An official response from UNHCR to last week’s editorial – “Sudanese Refugees In Cairo: We'll Wait Here, We’ll Die Here”
- The Protocol on the Rights of Women and legal strategies for implementation
LETTERS: Policing Africa and an appeal for IDPs
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Agrarian revolution - a serious proposition or a vote-catching gimmick?
BLOGGING AFRICA: No holes barred and the Musings of a Naija Man
BOOKS&ARTS: Pambazuka News reviews ‘A Tragedy of Lives: Women in Prison in Zimbabwe’
GLOBAL CALL TO ACTION AGAINST POVERTY: Farewell Chinwuba, Justice and John - "Blow in the winds, glow in the darkest room and in all our hearts" - Tributes to the campaigners who lost their lives in the recent plane crash in Nigeria.
CONFLICTS&EMERGENCIES: Darfur: Continual Targeting and Attacks on Villages and IDPs
HUMAN RIGHTS: The MDGs and human rights
REFUGEES: Spain/Morocco: The authorities must be held accountable for the violation of migrants' rights
ELECTIONS: Tanzania awaits elections; Liberia heads for run-off, Zim’s MDC in turmoil
WOMEN&GENDER: Benin becomes 14th country to ratify Protocol – one more to go…
DEVELOPMENT: Does anyone remember Make Poverty History?
CORRUPTION: International donor agencies and corruption
HEALTH&HIV/AIDS: Stephen Lewis slates Live 8/rich country aid
EDUCATION: Education of nomadic peoples of East Africa
MEDIA&FREEDOM OF EXPRESION: Tunisia: Government urged to heed demands of “18 October Movement” hunger strikers
INTERNET&TECHNOLOGY: Will Blogs change development thinking?
JOBS: Pambazuka News: Correspondant régional pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest/ West Africa Correspondent

Dispossessing Africa's Wealth

Patrick Bond

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/30074

Exactly how much wealth does Africa lose every year? Third World repayments of $340 billion each year flow northwards to service a $2.2 trillion debt, more than five times the G8's development aid budget, notes Patrick Bond. In addition Africa’s citizens experience depletion of assets like forests and mineral resources, and suffer the impact of pollution as a result of mining. In this context, Bond argues that those who claim international integration can enrich Africa are wrong.


There is a timeless line of argument from Walter Rodney's 1973 book 'How Europe Underdeveloped Africa': 'The question as to who and what is responsible for African underdevelopment can be answered at two levels. Firstly, the answer is that the operation of the imperialist system bears major responsibility for African economic retardation by draining African wealth and by making it impossible to develop more rapidly the resources of the continent.'

'Secondly, one has to deal with those who manipulate the system and those who are either agents or unwitting accomplices of the said system.'

Sub-Saharan Africa today still suffers the dispossession of wealth, along two trajectories: South-North resource flows, and adverse internal class formation. In the former case, the central processes are associated with exploitative debt and finance, phantom aid, capital flight, unfair trade, distorted investment, ecological exploitation and the 'brain drain'.

In the latter case, instead of accumulation and class formation via an organic middle class and productive capitalist class, Africa has seen an excessively powerful 'comprador'-oriented ruling elite whose income is based upon financial-parasitical accumulation and political-bureaucratic patronage power, which in turn is then subject to vast capital flight.

Although remittances from the Diaspora now fund development and even a limited amount of capital accumulation, capital flight is far greater. At more than $10 billion/year since the early 1970s, collectively, the citizens of Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, the DRC, Angola and Zambia have been especially vulnerable to the overseas drain of their national wealth. A major factor during the late 1990s was the relisting of the primary share-issuing residence of the largest South African firms, from Johannesburg to London.

In Washington, perhaps the most highly regarded of African elites is South African finance minister Trevor Manuel, who until late last month served as chair of the World Bank/IMF Development Committee. Having failed for four years to get even partial democratisation of the Bretton Woods Institutions onto the committee's agenda, Manuel gloried in the return of attention to Africa: 'Right now, the macroeconomic conditions in Africa have never been better. You have growth across the continent at 4.7%. You have inflation in single digits. The bulk of countries have very strong fiscal balances as well.'

These statements are true only if we take misleadingly narrow economic statistics seriously. Fortunately we don't need to because even the Bank is occasionally compelled to confess how Africa is drained of 'genuine savings' through depletion of minerals and forests, and other eco-social factors which ostrich-like economists invariably ignore.

Manuel's riff sounds impressive. Indeed, because of structural adjustment austerity, African states reduced their early-1990s deficit rates of around 6% of annual output, to just under 4% today. However, the fastest growing economies actually increased their deficits by a full percentage point over the last decade, suggesting that Keynesianism still works as well for African elites as it does for George Bush.

Meanwhile, monetary policy was tightened, interest rates soared and African central banks - typically run by IMF or ex-IMF staff - were discouraged from printing money (which sometimes fuels inflation). Price increases were reduced from double-digit rates prior to 2004 to an average of 9% this year. However, that level is far too low for a developmental trajectory, former Bank chief economist Joseph Stiglitz argued in his 'Post-Washington' critique of economic orthodoxy.

Bank president Paul Wolfowitz - architect of the Iraq War - was in a sporting mood at Manuel's Development Committee press conference on September 25: 'The path has been cleared to complete debt relief, and at the risk of a dangerous metaphor, I think Trevor has given us the ball right in front of the goal, and the goalie has tripped, and all we have to do now is kick it in.'

A dangerous move indeed, for Manuel warned of at least one more hurdle: 'a legal challenge because countries may feel that some have been favoured against others. My understanding is that both Rodrigo [Rato, IMF managing director] and Paul will go before their boards, sort out what the equality of treatment principle would be in each of the instances, and ensure that there is equality of treatment.'

It seems the InterAmerican Development Bank and Asian Development Bank won't participate in the debt relief pantomime. So 14 African countries favoured by the G8 - and four others in Asia and Latin America - will get a few crumbs of relief, costing the G8 less than $2 billion per year to service (on $40 billion in outstanding debt).

But because their leaders have ceased putting up a fuss, the debt of these 18 is reduced: not to nothing, but to levels where the Bank and IMF retain macroeconomic control, so that capital flight and ultra-cheap commodities can continue their outward flow.

None of the trade reforms proposed for the Hong Kong WTO meeting in December will alter the basic calculus of long-term decline for their (non-oil) primary commodity prices. Christian Aid recently estimated the damage done to African countries by trade liberalisation at $272 billion since 1980.

Even in the face of those 'internal contradictions and conflicts' - including vast overcapacity, wars, real estate bubbles, hurricane repairs, debt crises and balance of payments problems - men like Wolfowitz can afford to make small concessions. After all, Third World repayments of $340 billion each year flow northwards to service the $2.2 trillion debt. This is more than five times the G8's development aid budget (and ten times the level of Northern donations once we subtract the 'phantom aid' which never reaches the masses).

As Brussels-based debt campaigner Eric Toussaint concludes, 'Since 1980, over 50 Marshall Plans worth over $4.6 trillion have been sent by the peoples of the Periphery to their creditors in the Centre'.

Consider, as well, the South as ecological creditor. According to ecologist Joan Martinez-Alier, 'The notion of an ecological debt is not particularly radical. Think of the environmental liabilities incurred by firms under the United States Superfund legislation. Although it is not possible to make an exact accounting, it is necessary to establish orders of magnitude in order to stimulate discussion.'

Martinez-Alier and Jyoti Parikh of the UN International Panel on Climate Change argue that based upon the Third World's role as a carbon sink, an estimated annual subsidy of $75 billion flows South to North. Africans are most exploited because non-industrialised economies have not begun to utilise more than a small fraction of what should be due under any fair framework of global resource allocation such as carbon emissions.

The amounts involved would easily cover financial debt repayments. Instead, the G8 Gleneagles scam keeps poor countries down in several ways. According to Jubilee South: 'The multilateral debt cancellation being proposed is still clearly tied to compliance with conditionalities which exacerbate poverty, open our countries further for exploitation and plunder, and perpetuate the domination of the South. Even if the debt cancellation were without conditionalities, the proposal falls far too short in terms of coverage and amounts to demonstrate a bold step towards justice by any standard.'

However, almost by accident another Bank document began to do the rounds just prior to the Bank/IMF Annual Meetings: 'Where is the Wealth of Nations?' Here at least, World Bank environmental staff recognise that foreign investors may diminish overall wealth and savings, once resource depletion and pollution are factored in.

(To be sure, the Bank adopts a minimalist definition based upon current pricing - not potential future values when scarcity becomes a more crucial factor, especially in the oil sector. Nor do Bank economists yet deign to calculate the damage done to local environments, to workers' health/safety, and especially to women and vulnerable people in communities around mines. And unpaid household and community work is still left out of national statistical accounts, reducing women's labour to a nil value.)

What investments are most important, then? Dating to the mid-1990s, foreign direct investment has flowed mainly into oil rigs in the West African Gulf of Guinea and Angola's offshore Cabinda field, aside from an ill-fated South African privatisation spree in 1997.

Meanwhile, corrupt host regimes waged war against their people, not only in Angola (where formal conflict ended after a rightwing Unita guerrilla movement faded following Jonas Savimbi's death). In addition, as Amnesty International pointed out last month, the Bank was meant to finance the multi-billion dollar Chad-Cameroon pipeline to add human rights sensitivity, but deepening repression is the actual result.

Other Africans suffering oil depletion under dictatorial or militarised conditions include citizens of the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria and Sudan.

South Africans are also implicated in a kind of subimperial looting of oil. At the country's annual Political Science Association conference in KwaZulu-Natal last month, senior government researcher John Daniel shifted from claiming in 2003 that 'non-hegemonic co-operation has in fact, been the option embraced by the post-apartheid South African state.'

After reviewing the record of the African National Congress (ANC) in the continent's energy sector, especially Sudan and Equatorial Guinea, he conceded, 'The ANC government has abandoned any regard to those ethical and human rights principles which it once proclaimed would form the basis of its foreign policy.'

Big Oil celebrated this state of power relations at the World Petroleum Congress in Johannesburg last month. Opponents also came together, invited by the excellent NGO groundWork. The Ogoni people, for example, demanded reparations not only for the thorough destruction of their Delta habitat, but also for the depletion of what economists call 'natural capital'.

How much natural capital value is removed from Africa? In South Africa, the value of minerals in the soil fell from $112 billion in 1960 to $55 billion in 2000, according to the UN, while Africa as a whole suffers negative net annual savings.

Adding not just oil-related depletion but other subsoil assets, timber resources, nontimber forest resources, protected areas, cropland and pastureland, the Bank calculates that Gabon's citizens lost $2,241 each in 2000, followed by people in the Republic of the Congo (-$727), Nigeria (-$210), Cameroon (-$152), Mauritania (-$147) and Cote d'Ivoire (-$100).

In addition to mineral depletion worth 1% of national income each year, the Bank acknowledges that South Africans lose forests worth 0.3%; suffer pollution ('particulate matter') damage of 0.2%; and emit C02 that causes another 1.6% of damage. In total, adding a few other factors, the actual 'genuine savings' of South Africa is reduced from the official 15.7% to just 6.9% of national income.

These analyses, documents and calculations are new and fresh, and should shame those who claim international integration can enrich Africa. The opposite is more true.

Unlike Trevor Manuel, African justice activists like those who met at groundWork's conference know it. They wrote to officials of the World Petroleum Congress: 'At every point in the fossil fuel production chain where your members "add value" and make profit, ordinary people, workers and their environments are assaulted and impoverished. Where oil is drilled, pumped, processed and used, in Africa as elsewhere, ecological systems have been trashed, peoples' livelihoods have been destroyed and their democratic aspirations and their rights and cultures trampled.'

The letter concluded, 'Your energy future is modeled on the interests of over-consuming, energy-intensive, fossil-fuel-burning wealthy classes whose reckless and selfish lifestyles not only impoverish others but threaten the global environment, imposing on all of us the chaos and uncertainty of climate change and the violence and destruction of war. Another energy future in necessary: yours has failed!'

Indeed the Southern African Social Forum in Harare earlier this month generalised this sentiment to the entire set of economic relations that dispossess Africa of all kinds of wealth.

* The author is based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society. This work is part of a larger study carried out in collaboration with the Johannesburg-based Southern African Centre for Economic Justice and Harare-based Equinet, and participants at their 10-12 October workshop in Harare are thanked for feedback. Comments are welcomed, at pbond@mail.ngo.za

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

VICTORY FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AFRICA

2005-10-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/30080

As we went to press, news came through that the requisite 15 countries have ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and the Protocol enters into force in 30 days.

The following press release was issued today by Solidarity for African Women's Rights.

VICTORY FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN AFRICA
AFRICAN PROTOCOL ON RIGHTS OF WOMEN ENTERS INTO FORCE

Nairobi, Kenya -- Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR), a coalition of groups across Africa campaigning for the popularization, ratification and domestication of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, welcomes the 15th ratification by Togo of the Protocol on 26 October. The Protocol will now come into force within 30 days, marking a milestone in the protection and promotion of women’s rights in Africa and creating new rights for women in terms of international standards.

The other countries that have ratified the Protocol are Cape Verde, The Comoros, Djibouti, The Gambia, Lesotho, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Benin.

For the first time in international law, this groundbreaking Protocol explicitly sets forth the reproductive right of women to medical abortion when pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the continuation of pregnancy endangers the health or life of the mother. In another first, the Protocol explicitly calls for the legal prohibition of female genital mutilation, and prohibits the abuse of women in advertising and pornography. The Protocol sets forth a broad range of economic and social welfare rights for women. The rights of particularly vulnerable groups of women, including widows, elderly women, disabled women and “women in distress,” which includes poor women, women from marginalized populations groups, and pregnant or nursing women in detention are specifically recognized.
“The 19 national, regional and international organizations of SOAWR have been working tirelessly since July 2003 when the Protocol was adopted for ratification,” said Muthoni Wanyeki of FEMNET, a coalition member. “This moment is a testament to their work and the work of other civil society groups working across Africa for ratification.” The coalition delivered to heads of state a petition for which signatures were collected from across Africa by pen, email, online and by text messaging (SMS) from people encouraging their governments to ratify the Protocol. “To our knowledge, this is the first time that SMS technologies were used on a mass scale on the African continent in support of human rights,” said Firoze Manji of Fahamu, the SOAWR member that developed the technique.

“The protocol should not be viewed in isolation,” added Hannah Forster of the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies. “It would be prudent to approach its domestication and implementation in consonance with other relevant international instruments.” Added Gladys Mutukwa of coalition-member WiLDAF, “There are 38 member states of the African Union that have not yet ratified the Protocol. Our work will not end until they too show their commitment to women’s rights in Africa and become party to the Protocol.”

“The coming into effect of the Protocol is just the first step in securing the protection of the human rights of African women,” explained Faiza Jama Mohamed of Equality Now, another coalition member. “However our task remains incomplete until state parties exercise the political will to protect, promote and respect these rights.”

For more information contact:
Equality Now – SOAWR Secretariat
Tel +254-20-2719832; +254-722-805539
Fax.+254-20-2719868
Email: equalitynow@kenyaweb.com
www.equalitynow.org

Discussing the World Development Report: Does anyone need it?

Sanjay G. Reddy

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/30069

Every year, the World Bank releases its World Development Report, which is supposed to provide a guide to the economic, social and environmental state of the world. The 2006 version of the report represents a slight improvement on previous years, but still fails to impress Sanjay Reddy, who highlights data inadequacies, selective history and unhelpful prescriptions as its main weaknesses. It might be time for the World Bank to take its own medicine and open up the report to competition by allowing centres in developing countries to produce the report, he suggests.


A tempting first reaction to the World Development Report 2006 (henceforth WDR 2006), entitled ‘Equity and Development’, is that it represents a significant advance. Whereas previous WDRs (in particular WDR 1990 and 2000/01) had concerned themselves with the need to reduce the absolute disadvantages experienced by countries and by persons, WDR 2006 is the first WDR centrally to be concerned with relative inequalities between nations and between persons. Relative inequalities are viewed in WDR 2006 as concerns in themselves. The report defines equity as the requirement that “individuals should have equal opportunities to pursue a life of their choosing and be spared from extreme deprivations in outcomes” (p.2). It thus combines the emphasis of recent normative reasoning on ‘starting gate equality” with an insistence that outcomes that fall beneath a threshold of minimal adequacy must be deeply disvalued. This construction is rather clunky and appears to be the product of a political compromise rather than a foundational philosophical view, but is workable.

In many respects, WDR 2006 reflects the most progressive face of the World Bank (henceforth Bank). The report is concerned with absolute and relative disadvantages in their many dimensions (including health, education, political power, and real income). The report recognizes that disadvantages in these dimensions are often related. The report notes that self-perpetuating low level equilibrium traps are often associated with severe absolute deprivations or large relative inequalities and that there are often deep historical origins for these traps. The report also recognizes that inter-generational social mobility is often low and that specific policies are necessary to increase it. These features of the report are significant, and are worthy of praise. It can be argued that the report constitutes a landmark in terms of the breadth of its analysis and the choice of its theme.

However, from the standpoint of the developing countries, the report also possesses central inadequacies. Three of the classes into which inadequacies can be placed are the following:

1. Data and Inferential Inadequacies

The authors of the report cannot be blamed for making use of flawed data, as it may have been the best available to them. However, they can be blamed for failing to recognize the implications of the inadequacies in existing data for their ability to draw meaningful conclusions. For example, the choice of the specific PPPs for many countries (including large ones, such as such as India and China), used to compare real incomes across countries and to form global assessments, is highly questionable. Many countries have not recently, or in some instances ever, participated in benchmark surveys of the International Comparison Program, on the basis of which PPPs are identified. The implications of alternative choices of PPPs for assessments of global deprivations and inequalities are enormous, and must be centrally confronted [See e.g. Reddy and Minoiu (2005a, 2005b)]. Similarly, the report places great store in assessments that there have been reductions in global income poverty, deriving from the World Bank’s money-metric ($1 and $2 per day) approach to poverty assessment. These assessments are open to questioning on the basis both of their foundational assumptions and estimation techniques [See e.g. Reddy and Pogge (2003)].

2. Selective History and Analysis

The report recognizes the role of historical phenomena (for example, the imprint of slavery and colonialism) in shaping existing patterns of inequality and deprivation within and across countries. The report also recognizes that within-country inequalities have risen in many countries in the recent period. However, it fails to recognize that the policies recommended by the Bretton Woods Institutions may have been among the major reasons for the increases in relative inequality observed in these countries in recent years.

Structural adjustment policies and their successors may have among the central causes of widening relative income inequalities in many countries, contrary to what had been anticipated on the basis of simple trade models (and in particular the Stolper Samuelson theorem, which in its most simple variant predicts that trade liberalization in particular will lead to decreases in relative income inequality in developing countries). A considerable body of respectable technical literature (much of it focusing on Mexico’s experience in the aftermath of NAFTA) has in recent years concerned itself with explaining possible theoretical explanations for the apparent unexpected impact of trade liberalization in developing countries [See for example the work of Robert Feenstra, Gordon Hanson, Ann Harrison, James Galbraith, Zadia Feliciano, Pinelopi Goldberg, Nina Pavcnik and Ana Revenga, cited in the references]. This literature is not even mentioned in the WDR’s treatment of the effects of trade liberalization in Mexico (p.195).

Similarly, there is reason to think that financial liberalization and labor market liberalization may each have contributed to widening relative inequalities within countries. Arguments of this kind, which assert that at least some of the reason for widening inequalities within countries may be the implementation of policies recommended by the Bretton Woods institutions, do not appear adequately to be recognized and confronted. The role of policies eagerly promoted by the Bretton Woods institutions in the past (for example, the implementation of user fees in the health sector) respectively in increasing absolute disadvantages within nations and widening relative inequalities between nations (at least relative to the counterfactual in which these policies were not pursued), has not been forthrightly examined.

The report often relies on questionable indicators and analytical tools. For example, more secure property rights, as judged by foreign investors, are used as a proxy for the quality of institutions. A blithe footnote (p.108) avers without offering further evidence that “These data…are imperfect as a measure of the relevant institutions because they pertain to investments by foreigners only. Even so, they seem in practice to capture how stable property rights are in general”.

The report seeks too often to place the diverse phenomena that it confronts into an accustomed lens. For example, it describes domestic violence as an “inefficiency” (p.54). Although domestic violence is abominable, the reason that it is so is surely not that it constitutes an “inefficiency”. Language of this kind is indicative of the lack of commitment of the authors of the report to a conceptual framework in which human beings are foregrounded over abstract ends such as “efficiency” which are employed in an obscurantist manner.

3. Weak, Questionable or Unhelpful Prescriptions

It is perhaps not surprising, in view of the partial nature of the history provided and the analysis undertaken in the report that the recommendations for policies that may decrease absolute disadvantages and relative inequalities are also perhaps overly restrictive. There are some excellent innovative proposals in the report, some of which may be in the interests of developing countries (for example, the proposal to create a “generic drug region” in which “inventors in developed countries make legally binding commitments to their own governments not to enforce patent rights in certain pharmaceutical markets” (pp. 224-5)).

Similarly, the report correctly emphasizes the role of certain agricultural policies in developed countries (for instance, cotton subsidies) in depressing opportunities in poor countries. The report rightly takes note that aid should be targeted where it is most needed as well as where it is most effective. It recognizes that there has been an influential move to target aid toward countries that are perceived to possess “good policies” but is perhaps not adequately critical of the recent attempts within the Bretton Woods institutions to articulate this view, which have often taken a very narrow view of what constitute “good policies” and appeared to recommend that countries which do not possess such policies (which centrally emphasize liberalization and privatization) should not be beneficiaries of development aid at all. [See e.g. Burnside and Dollar (2000)].

The policies recommended in the report are more often than not accustomed policies which have been recommended in the past. It is a miracle that the same set of policies appears to be the prescription for all ills. For example, labor market deregulation (in particular reduction in the cost to employers of firing and hiring) is once again held up as being in general a highly desirable policy, and “overly generous unemployment benefit and social assistance systems, which discourage[s] job search” (p.192) are decried in blanket terms. Although there may occasionally be some merit in such recommendations, the reader is given the sense that alternative views have not been seriously considered.

Increased competition in domestic financial markets is similarly advocated as a general policy. The need to identify policies that specifically benefit the poor or relatively disadvantaged is too often glossed over in favor of broad prescriptions the primary effect of which may be to serve other interests entirely. For example, the epilogue to the report concludes that the “twin pillars” of a national development strategy aimed at increasing “equity” are a “better investment climate” and “empowerment”. It is stated that “for most people in the developing world, and certainly for the poor, it is not possible to have one without the other”. Many actual and potential conflicts of objectives are glossed over here; a better investment climate for the poor may not always be what makes for a better investment climate for relatively wealthy domestic or foreign investors, at least in the short run. The report notes, for example, that it is possible (p.228) that “the government…will not enforce tax collection, rather than build rural roads”, presumably because underlying conflicts of interests are resolved in favor of the relatively wealthy, whether at home or abroad. How potential conflict of this kind should be handled is not addressed.

In this and other respects, the report presents an account of political economy that is naïve. The general invocation of the need for a “better investment climate for all” without any effort to address such conflicts can have at most limited value in the formulation of policies that reduce absolute deprivations and relative inequalities. The treatment of property rights protections in the report is in this respect especially incoherent. Sound institutions are equated with those that protect property rights. However, land reforms including “expropriating with compensation” (p.167) are treated favourably, and the reader is told that (p.122) “The key to China’s equitable development was the combination of initial conditions and the economic reforms” without apparent recognition that China’s favourable “initial conditions” were the consequence of an earlier and comprehensive economic and social revolution, in which established property rights were overturned. One need not take a view on the merits of that revolution to recognize its historical importance.

Conclusion:

The WDR 2006 is a commendable effort in comparison to many of its predecessors. However, it is still dissatisfying. Its intellectual basis is often weak, its contents are not adequately complete and its prescriptions are often either questionable or of limited practical value.

A question that must be asked is: “Who does the WDR serve?” The substantial resources expended each year in the production of the WDR could perhaps better be used by supporting independent competitive research institutes (located in developing countries to the extent feasible) charged with the task of generating development research that is autonomous, intellectual rigorous and globally relevant. Competition can be beneficial in policy analysis, just as it is alleged to be beneficial in labor, capital and product markets. Perhaps this is the lesson that should be learned in this third decade of the WDR.

* Sanjay Reddy is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Barnard College, Columbia University.
(sr793@columbia.edu) This review was originally prepared for the Inter-Governmental Group of 24 on International Monetary Affairs and Development, a group of developing countries. This article first appeared in Economic and Political Weekly,
India, http://www.epw.org.in

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

REFERENCES

Burnside, Craig and David Dollar (2000), “Aid, Policies and Growth”, American Eonomic Review, Vol. 90, No. 4.

Feliciano, Zadia. 1993. "Workers and Trade Liberalization: The Impact of Trade Reforms in Mexico on Wages and Employment." Mimeo, Harvard University.

Robert Feenstra & Gordon Hanson, 2001. "Global Production Sharing and Rising Inequality: A Survey of Trade and Wages," NBER Working Paper 8372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

Feenstra, Robert C & Hanson, Gordon H, 1996. "Globalization, Outsourcing, and Wage Inequality" American Economic Review, vol. 86(2), pages 240-45.
James Galbraith and Vidal Garza Cantú, "Exporting Inequality? Recent Changes in industrial wage inequality in Canada, Mexico and the United States," Income and Productivity in North America, Commission on Labor Cooperation, Washington, 2001, 27-54.
Goldberg, P. and N. Pavcnik, “Trade, Inequality, and Poverty: What Do We Know? Evidence from Recent Trade Liberalization Episodes in Developing Countries”, Brookings Trade Forum, 2004.

Hanson, G. (2003). "What Has Happened to Wages in Mexico since NAFTA?" NBER Working Papers 9563, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

Hanson, G. and A. Harrison (1999), “Trade Liberalization and Wage Inequality in Mexico”, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, vol. 52, No. 2.

Reddy, S. and C. Minoiu (2005a), “Has World Poverty Really Fallen?”, available on www.socialanlysis.org

Reddy, S. and C. Minoiu (2005b), “China’s Poverty Reduction Experience in the 1990s”, available on www.socialanalysis.org .

Reddy, S. and T. Pogge (2003), “How Not to Count the Poor”, available on www.socialanalysis.org

Revenga, Ana. (1997). “Employment and Wage Effects of Trade Liberalization: The Case of Mexican Manufacturing.” Journal of Labor Economics, Vol. 15, No. 3, pp. S20-S43.

Greasing the wheels of reconciliation in the Great Lakes Region

Joseph Yav Katshung

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/30071

Two weeks ago in an article for Pambazuka News, Carol Chehade explored the “seamless borders of genocide” in the Democratic Republic of Congo (http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=29835). In this article Yav Katshung Joseph weighs into the discussion about the DRC with an exploration of the security and resource issues fuelling conflict in the Great Lakes Region. Internal normalisation, the establishment of the rule of law, reconciliation and reconstruction on a regional level are key to bringing peace and security to millions of citizens, he argues.


Several interconnected elements have shaped the conflict in the Great Lakes Region: neighbouring countries’ interests, economic resources, security concerns, ethnic division and so on. That is true for all core countries of the Great Lakes region (Burundi, DRC, Rwanda and Uganda) and it has been established by many observers and analysts that the root causes of the conflicts are insecurity, issues of identity, poor governance, political opportunism with its military options, and selfish economic interests (See J. Cartier-Bresson, Revue Tiers-Monde, n°174, Tome XLIV, avril–juin 2003).

In this regard, if realistic possibilities for conflict transformation are to be developed, the resources and security concerns will need to be addressed. Therefore, this article will focus only on these two issues: resources and security. I will offer my perspective on the how to transform conflicts by using resources and security as tools of reconciliation and reconstruction in the Great Lakes Region.

Security and Resources as sources of conflict in the Great Lakes Region

Security concerns

The question of security throughout the region has continued to be a major issue. The cycle of violence in the Great Lakes region began with the 1993 civil war in Burundi, which was followed by the 1994 Rwandan genocide targeting ethnic Tutsi and moderate Hutus. Both conflicts resulted in large numbers of refugee flows into neighbouring Zaire (now the DRC). The conflict then spread into Zaire, as both Tutsis and Hutus reside there in significant numbers.

Rwanda, citing the need not only to protect its own citizens from attacks by Hutus, but also to protect Tutsi-Congolese, launched incursions into eastern DRC in 1996.

In the beginning of the war in the DRC (1996), Rwanda and Uganda formed an alliance with the Congolese rebel movement led by Laurent Kabila. However, this “triple K” alliance (Kampala-Kinshasa-Kigali) fell apart in 1998, because of the number of security concerns cited by Uganda and Rwanda. Uganda maintained that it needed to stop insurgents (the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Allied Democratic Forces) from attacking Uganda through southern Sudan and eastern DRC. The Rwandan government invoked the right to “self-defence” against cross-border incursions into its territory by DRC-based Hutu militias. In reaction to the growing hostilities, Angola, Namibia, and Zimbabwe justified their military intervention in the DRC by stating that they were seeking to preserve the unity of a Southern African Development Community (SADC) member state (Chad also provided a small number of troops at the DRC government’s request).

Political and security justifications for their intervention notwithstanding, the opportunity to exploit the DRC’s lucrative natural resources also provided an impetus for the military intervention of some states of the region. However, while the clamour for economic resources may well have proved to be an obstacle to peace in the DRC, the conflict has been triggered by the security concerns of neighbouring states such as Rwanda and Uganda, who argue that it is necessary to stop the incursions into their territories, of various armed groups based in the Congo.

Resource concerns

One of the most perplexing issues in the DRC conflict has been and remains that of the exploitation of the DRC’s natural resources. Illegal exploitation of the mineral resources of DRC has been a constant feature in the discussion about the war in DRC in general, and especially in the eastern part of the country. A main dividing line in different analysis has been between those highlighting the exploitation of mineral resources as a main aim for the foreign armed forces, and others seeing their use of existing resources mainly as a way of financing the war efforts. It has long been established that the exploitation of these resources, including coltan, gold, and diamonds in eastern Congo, and diamonds, copper, cobalt, and timber in central DRC, contributed to and exacerbated the conflict in the DRC. Concerned with reports of pillaging of resources by the foreign forces, the UN Security Council mandated an independent panel to investigate these allegations. The panel has produced a series of reports, detailing the circumstances of this exploitation.

Regional actors have been accused of aggression and “foreign adventurism” with regard to Congolese territory and natural resources. In other words, while parties to the conflict in the country may have been originally motivated by security concerns, their continued presence in the DRC is attributable to economic gains derived from the DRC. The report further stated that criminal groups linked to the armies of Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe and the Government of the DRC have benefited from such micro-conflicts. This has been the conflict, and by extension any envisaged conflict resolution mechanism, an intricate affair requiring a multifaceted and comprehensive approach. This is critical for the peace process, because, according to reports, these “groups will not disband voluntarily... They have built up a self-financing war economy centred on mineral exploitation” (See Final report by the UN Panel of Experts).

The rationale for intervention by the neighbouring states became self-enforcing and the localised conflicts became regional. As such, the conflicts within and between the countries of the Great Lakes require regionally based and targeted solutions, along with the cooperation of relevant neighbouring states.

Transforming Security and Resources as sources of conflict to options for reconciliation and reconstruction in the Great Lakes Region

Reconciliation and reconstruction are essential elements of peace building. The key to transforming conflicts is to build strong equitable relations where distrust and fear were once the norm (Louis Kriesberg, Constructive Conflicts: From Escalation to Settlement. (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 1998), 322-335).

In the Great Lakes Region as in many African countries, violent conflict has become the “normal” state of affairs. Control of economic resources has become an important factor in motivating and sustaining armed conflicts. Complex political economies, which often hide behind the outward symbols of statehood and national sovereignty, have grown up around conflict. The challenge therefore is to transform regional and national political economies that are served by violent conflict into healthy systems based on political participation, social and economic inclusion, and respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Accordingly, attempting to transform conflicts for reconciliation and reconstruction in the Great Lakes Region, all countries should try to stimulate positive developments in the region that will enable them to conclude that their security and economic interests are better served through fostering stability at home and improving relations with their neighbours than by allowing their neighbours’ turmoil to deflect them from their chosen path of peace, reconciliation, democracy, and economic development.

Moreover, on security, ignoring the tensions and misunderstanding between Burundi, DRC, Rwanda and Uganda will have far reaching implications to the stability and social economic development of the Great Lakes Region with resources being diverted from human and economic development to warfare. For this reason it is important for them to work together for the restoration of peaceful dialogue and cordial relations between them. In this regard, allegations of hosting and/or training of rebel forces by neighbouring states for planned aggression must be investigated and stopped. Incursions of the forces of one state into another can lead to rising tensions and inter-state armed conflicts which if not promptly addressed will affect the well-being of the socio-economic development of the populations. If rebel groups in Burundi, DRC, Rwanda and Uganda are not neutralized, rebel incursions prevented, inter-state aggression arrested and territorial integrity secured, the result can be renewal of interstate conflicts and destabilization or even their disintegration.

Further, on the issue of resources, the Great Lakes Region is rich in natural resources, which are at stake for many actors in the conflict. However, resources are also a potential for post conflict rehabilitation and development. Therefore, reduction in the exploitation of mineral and other natural resources for the purposes of war, countries should work to examine ways of limiting the exploitation of such resources for the purpose of conflict. They should also seek to identify and promote the means by which such resources are safeguarded and managed in a way that reduces conflict and ensures that they benefit the population. Equally, there is a need to develop institutions and frameworks that both integrate/transform the informal to a formal economy, governed by a reasonable rule of law, transparency and efficiency, without marginalizing local and regional actors.

Concluding remarks

While the conflict dynamics in the Great Lakes region are complex and involve a multiplicity of interlocking regional and international actors, we should recognise that the region has made some progress in overcoming instability, but several threats remain.

In other words, each of the countries in the region has surely known and has pursued its own process of internal normalisation. Nevertheless, it is clear that the reconciliation process in one country is strongly linked to that of the others. Any viable solution must have a regional character. It is therefore important that the region’s constituent states understand that their security and economic interests are better served through fostering stability at home and improving relations with their neighbours than by allowing their neighbours’ turmoil to deflect them.

On the regional integration level, it is important to use a forum like the International Conference on the Great Lakes to speed up the normalisation process between all these states and to define strategies for political and economic integration of the region. The resumption of activities of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL) would be a vital step. Other institutions of a social, cultural and scientific nature can also contribute to deepening the progress.

Moreover, countries in the GLR should work for the establishment of the rule of law. This implies the democratisation of power, good governance, respect for human rights and the end of impunity at every level through the creation of effective and independent courts and tribunals. Efforts can be made to set up functional Truth and Reconciliation Commissions (There are attempts in Burundi and in the DRC) and other traditional mechanisms such as Gacaca courts in Rwanda to address issues of accountability for atrocities and reconciliation.

Further, in order to build a sustainable peace, countries in the region should work on political cohabitation and border security. The security of borders must be guaranteed and checkpoints ensured in common. To reach these objectives, it is necessary to strengthen the capacities of real republican armies in every country in the region and to strengthen measures for checking small arms trafficking at the borders. It is also important for countries to strengthen peaceful coexistence between themselves by respecting the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of neighbouring countries.

In brief, and as one third of all ended civil wars in Africa restart, I would like to see post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation efforts in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC satisfactorily completed. I would hope that peace and stability become realities for the millions of citizens in this region as we move from crises and conflicts to security and stability.

* Yav Katshung Joseph is a Lecturer in Law, at the Faculty of Law, University of Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. He is also the Executive Director of CERDH (Centre d’Etudes et de Recherche en Droits de l’Homme, Democratie et Justice Transitionnelle/Centre for Human Rights, Democracy and Transitional Justice Studies), and Coordinator of the UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Peace, Conflict resolution and Good Governance/University of Lubumbashi. He holds an LL.B and LL.M from the University of Lubumbashi; another LL.M from University of Pretoria, South Africa, and a Diploma in Transitional Justice from the Transitional Justice Fellowship Programme (ICTJ & IJR joint programme), South Africa. He is also an Advocate of the Court of Appeal of Lubumbashi. Mr. Yav Katshung Joseph has published numerous articles on human rights, law and transitional justice in scholarly journals. For contact: joyav22@yahoo.fr or joseyav@justice.com Phone: +243 9 970 21 758

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and National Legal Strategies

Summary of a paper presented at a conference on the ratification and domestication of the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women: by Ibrahim Kane of INTERIGHTS

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/30072

The implementation of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa will inevitably involve legal strategies. Prior even to its legal implementation, however, is the requirement that the treaty be broadly known by all spheres of society.

In regards to legal strategies, one of the most primary conditions for its implementation will be the harmonisation of national legislation with the treaty. By signing on to the Protocol, countries are bound to the African Charter, and must adopt specific legal measures. The initiative to harmonize the protocol should come from the state, but in the case that the government is slow to respond, there is nothing stopping civil society organizations from taking the lead. While there is no single model for procedural steps to harmonization, a potentially useful tool would be the organization of a convention.

Calling together all those parties interested in the implementation – senior staff from appropriate ministries, magistrates, advocates, police staff, parliamentarians, professors, researchers, women’s rights activists and the media – the end goal could potentially be a draft implementation law. Not only could this involve the key players, but it could also act as a source of information dissemination if given adequate media coverage. Leading up to the ratification and consequent implementation, however, women’s rights activists in Africa should be prepared for close cooperation with the political and administrative structures concerned, and should also be familiar with the processes and methods by which their work is done.

Under the African Charter, there is a requirement for member states to present, every two years, to the African Commission on the status of implementation of newly ratified protocols. Reviews of these reports are carried out not only by the African Commission, but also by NGOs, specifically those that have observer status at the regional body. Areas of concern can be identified and recommendations can thus be made.

Litigation is perhaps the most delicate strategy in the implementation of the Protocol, as it has the capacity to work both for and against women’s rights, especially in the climate of the African Commission, which has, after sixteen years of existence, never examined a case relating to a women’s rights violation. “The effectiveness of women’s rights protection will pass by the establishment of strategic litigation but which require, at national level, that certain conditions be satisfied regarding environment and the attitude of the judge on the one hand, and, on the other hand, vigorous training of human rights activists (men and women) and of those responsible for human rights organisations on the issue.” Modules related to the training of magistrates and human rights activists will be necessary, as will the need to ensure the regular publication and popularization of the convention’s ratification.

The ratification of the Protocol is simply the first step in a difficult and lengthy process, and will mean nothing without its proper and prompt implementation. To quote the report’s conclusion at length: ““Do not ask me if the legislation of a given country is good. Rather ask me if the laws in force are applied”. This saying must be . . . the leitmotif of all those who fight for the effective respect of women’s rights in Africa. Now that we have at our disposal one of the most revolutionary treaties regarding the protection of women’s rights, our fight must be to do everything possible so that it may start being implemented in the states, which have ratified it. It is at that cost that human rights will be actually the rights of “human beings” that is, “those assumptions that every human being has the right to enjoy the fact of their humanity” and that they will contribute to creating a united, an integrated, a justice – oriented Africa, an Africa of peace, of political, economic, social and cultural integration, which gives back to Panafricanism its full meaning” and composed of “democratic states that are respectful of human rights and ones concerned by the building of balanced societies.””

* This is a summarised version of a paper presented at a conference on the Ratification and Domestication of The African Union Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on Rights of Women in Africa. The conference, held between 27-30 September in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was co-convened by the African Union Commission and the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR). The full length versions of all papers presented at the conference will be released in book form in January 2006.

* Summarized by Karoline Kemp, Commonwealth of Learning Young Professionals Intern, Fahamu

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

UNHCR responds to the Cairo refugee sit-in: An official response

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/30070

Last week Pambuzuka News carried the story, Sudanese Refugees In Cairo: We'll Wait Here, We’ll Die Here’ (http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=29957), describing a sit-in demonstration near the Cairo office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The refugees continue to reiterate their demands, and their numbers show no sign of decreasing. In fact, the sit-in has now been joined by a few Ethiopian refugees.

This week, we promised to include our interview with UNHCR’s Senior External Relations Officer, Leila Nassif, about the demonstration. Ms. Nassif was formerly a Protection Officer and has been with UNHCR for more than ten years with posts in Saudi Arabia, elsewhere in the Middle East, Timor, Rwanda and Sudan. She has been in Cairo for 16 months. She was cooperative in answering questions, but had concerns of bias in an article being published in two parts and not including UNHCR’s point of view first. Although she had not visited the sit-in, she speculated that many demonstrators may not even be refugees. Since no demonstrators have identified themselves to UNHCR, they cannot confirm that any is a refugee known to their office

Question: What is UNHCR’s policy of providing assistance to families and how many children are required in order to receive aid? Refugees have told us families of fewer than six are not considered.

Answer: UNHCR’s priority is to assist the most vulnerable among both refugees and asylum seekers (single heads of households—male and female, unaccompanied minors, the elderly, torture victims and the ill/sick). We assist over 7000 people through our partners and help over 5000 children to attend school. CARITAS provides medical treatment to approximately 150 persons daily. We want to help as many as possible in the best way possible. Our guidelines to assist recognized refugees are based on worldwide HCR guidelines for refugee assistance in urban areas

Question: Refugees accuse UNHCR of neglecting unaccompanied minors, the elderly, and handicapped. Do you feel this is justified?

Answer: This is a general question and allegation. If there is a particular neglected case, UNHCR has a stated method to address or appeal this situation and UNHCR's doors are always open to such recourse. We help the most vulnerable first. The rumors circulating about abuses may not even refer to refugees per se but other Sudanese living in Egypt.

Question: A number of the refugees say they reject “compulsory voluntary repatriation.” Could you comment on their obvious fears of involuntary repatriation?

Answer: This is a contradiction in terms. Voluntary means voluntary and we do not force any person to return against his or her will. Every refugee repatriating with UNHCR's help is requested to complete a voluntary return form and to sign it voluntarily in the presence of a UNHCR officer. Most refugees are from the South and the situation there appears to be changing. Repatriation is not compulsory, but earlier this year we began a dialogue and dissemination of information. Many are unhappy because of the implications of return for their expectations. UNHCR and others have increased their presence and programs in the South. Statistics indicate 750,000 have already returned between 2004 and July of this year with an estimated 1 million to return in 2006, mostly IDPs and others from Central African Republic, Ethiopia and the DRC. The process is voluntary and if a person has any fear he/ she is not forced to return. UNHCR is facilitating persons who wish to return with small funds and travel allowances as far as Khartoum.

Question: To what extent do you feel their fears are justified that the Four Freedoms legislation will undermine their status as refugees?

Answer: In my personal opinion, their fears have no basis whatsoever. Egypt and Sudan have a long history of open borders, and the Four Freedoms will help enhance the status of all Sudanese in Egypt.

Question: We realize that UNHCR has a real crisis in terms of funds to disperse for urban refugee subsistence in general. Do you think this demonstration will help UNHCR to convince donors of the need to provide more funds especially for new arrivals in Egypt?

Answer: UNHCR always needs/relies on donor funding and countries are tremendously generous. But in my personal opinion, this [Cairo] is not the biggest need. There is greater urgency elsewhere. Egypt has tried very hard to fulfill its role, but this may not be appreciated because of its lack of resources. Refugees have the same complaints as less fortunate Egyptians in many cases. With regards to funding for new arrivals in Egypt the answer is “no” because UNHCR does not recognize the demonstrators as refugees.

Question: We would also like to know if the demise of resettlement for the Sudanese is a result of a decision taken by the governments who have been resettling them (US, Australia, Canada, Finland), or a policy decision taken by UNHCR Geneva or Cairo?

Answer: There is no UNHCR policy decision. It is just a statement of fact that the number of people seeking resettlement will naturally diminish. We will continue to submit cases for resettlement as appropriate. I am not in a position to comment on immigration policies of governments.

Question: We are amazed Egyptian security officials and police have permitted the demonstration to go on. Has UNHCR interceded on their behalf?

Answer: They have shown remarkable restraint and should be commended. They have had no prompting from UNHCR.

Question: To your knowledge, outside of Central America, has there ever been such a well-organized demonstration for their rights by refugees?

Answer: I do not feel that it is appropriate for me to comment on this because I simply am not sure. I believe the organizers are to be commended for keeping peace.

Question: If there is anything else you consider pertinent, please comment. :

Answer: Leaving aside Darfur, the situation in the South is changing, going back to normal with control, order and rehabilitation. This will have implications for refugees and asylum seekers everywhere since reasons for flight may have ceased and there are international pledges to rebuild ($4.5 billion). In my personal opinion, the demonstration may reflect the changing situation. The decision to stop individual status determination interviews for the Sudanese was done to protect a larger number of Sudanese. It permits a larger number of yellow cards to be issued with the protections associated with yellow cards. We still do not have large numbers coming from Darfur.

There are 22 million refugees and others of concern around the world and resettlement cannot be a solution except for the few since the resettlement quota is a few thousand per year. Further the economic situation in countries hosting refugees often excludes the possibility of local integration on a large scale. This leaves voluntary repatriation as the main solution. UNHCR seeks resettlement as appropriate, but repatriation is most preferred. UN reports are circulated on a regular basis and information is continually updated. I personally observed tremendous hope for sustained peace and aspirations to rebuild from general population, government officials and returnees. Roads have reopened, an airport made functional, and schools and other services have begun again.

I believe the Sudanese in Egypt have an important role to play—none of it is easy, but it can be done. The number seeking resettlement will naturally diminish as fewer and fewer people will meet the requirements. It is only normal to express fears and anxieties, but it is also important to acknowledge the contribution they can make. Of course there will be distrust, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t valid to talk about the changes that are happening.

From my experience as a Protection Officer, Sudanese in Egypt do not face the sort of extreme treatment others experience elsewhere. Egypt tries hard, but of course more can be done in terms of receiving, registering and processing. UNHCR also works at building awareness especially among professionals working with refugees. We are building capacity with the government: over the past year UNHCR has conducted 12 workshops with police, one with members of the People’s Assembly, one with journalists, and one with diplomats. UNHCR has met with representatives from the protest who presented demands. UNHCR tried to explain its limitations and that some things were already at work—specifically the priority of vulnerable groups. (End of interview)

Resettlement from the Embassies’ Viewpoint

We also talked with two representatives of major resettlement countries. Gerard Cheyne, US Regional Refugee Coordinator for North Africa and the Middle East, said, “The US Government supports the goal of voluntary repatriation of the Sudanese who left their homes during the conflict in the south. We will work with UNHCR in Cairo and elsewhere in the region to encourage the Sudanese to return to Sudan. At the same time we will continue to consider for resettlement any Sudanese for whom repatriation is not possible and for whom resettlement is believed to be the best durable solution—as determined by the UNHCR.” Ross Wilkie, Principle Migration Officer for the Canadian Embassy in Cairo had a similar response, “Any decision by UNHCR is one for them to comment on. Our large refugee resettlement program in Africa—which includes significant numbers of Sudanese from Cairo… is continuing.”

UNHCR claims to have made no explicit policy decision on the issue of resettlement of the Sudanese. In Ms. Nassif’s words, it is “just a statement of fact…that the number of people seeking resettlement will naturally diminish.” This blatantly contradicts the aspiration of the protestors expressed in one banner at the sit-in, “Fix our problems or send us to another country.”

Change in the air?

Last week, UNHCR held a meeting with various NGOs concerned about the on-going demonstration. Overall, the general attitude appears to have been one of disapproval. Fears were expressed that the organizers of the demonstration are encouraging parents to take their children out of schools, but we saw only very young children and babies at the protest. Another rumour cited was that leaders were encouraging people to join the protest by telling them they will receive $25 from the UNHCR for their presence at the demonstration. Since UNHCR clearly has insufficient funds for subsistence for the most vulnerable, what refugee would believe such a rumour?

Nevertheless, there is an eminent crisis. The refugees are in the park in front of a popular mosque where very large numbers of people come to pray at Eid el-Fitr, the feast celebrating the end of Ramadan. The police guarding them assume that the demonstrators have to be out by then. On the other hand, the refugees feel some security because the police are themselves upper Egyptians and feel a closer cultural bond with the protestors and tend to be more sympathetic. But this may not save the protest if the government takes the position it is expected to take.

Early mornings at the site now find refugees huddled together under blankets. As the weather turns increasingly cold, perhaps the elements themselves may decide the fate of the demonstration.

* This article was compiled by Alex Gomez, Themba Lewis, Martin Rowe, Assad Khalid Salih, Leslie Sander, Stacy Schafer and Helen Smith. They are students at the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies Programme in Cairo, Egypt.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Is the agrarian revolution round the corner?

Issa G Shivji

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/30073

Is the concept of agrarian revolution a serious proposition or a vote-catching gimmick? Issa Shivji examines what a real agrarian revolution would look like and lays down some of the fundamental transformations that would have to take place. Central would be a shift away from export crops to primary food crops.


In the current political campaigns, unlike during the last ten years of the third phase government, there is some talk about the transformation of agriculture. Even catching phrases like ‘agrarian revolution’ are being thrown around. What does this really imply? Let us see.

Tanzania is a text-book case of what is described in political economy as an extraverted economy, dependent on export of primary agricultural commodities. Agriculture contributes around 50 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product. Tanzania is a large country with a massive petty (largely middle and poor) peasantry which is firmly integrated in the world commodity market. Export agriculture is our mainstay. Our food production for domestic consumption is inversely related to that of export crop production and directly dependent on the vagaries of weather. This means that when export production is promoted, food production falls. Historically, the classical case is that of cotton growing in Mwanza region in the 1950s. As peasants concentrated their labour on producing cotton they spent less time on food. Not only that but the variety of food crops which provided balanced and adequate nutrition was also reduced as they concentrated on growing starchy cassava which requires less labour.

One recent study shows that in 1993/94, there were 3.7 million agricultural households on mainland Tanzania, amounting to a population of 20 million. The number of agricultural households had increased to 4.4 million in 1997/98, with a population of 23 million, an increase of 19 per cent in households and almost 16 per cent in population. The proportion of female-headed households is almost one-fifth. 90 per cent of farmers cultivated less than 2.0 hectares while large scale farmers cultivated only 14 per cent of arable land. Tanzania is thus a country of smallholders par excellence, the population directly dependent on smallholder agriculture being over 75 per cent.

In spite of the peasant production being small-scale and backward, it is the peasant who is most exploited. Exploitation means that the peasant does not get a return commensurate with his/her labour. The excess, that is the surplus, is drained away from rural areas to towns and international metropolis through unequal terms of trade to support non-producing classes and their luxury consumption. It would be different if the majority of this surplus was ploughed back into agriculture. It is not. The caricature of a bourgeoisie that we have is not capable of long-term investment in agriculture to spearhead a real agrarian revolution.

Our bourgeoisie looks to make quick profits. At best, it indulges in building and buses and guest houses. Its greatest aspiration is to become absentee landlords, or own land and offer it to so-called foreign investors in dubious deals euphemistically called joint ventures or just become commission agents for foreign firms. This is the bourgeoisie which in political economy is called a comprador, as opposed to a national, bourgeoisie.

So what does an agrarian revolution in these circumstances mean? First and foremost, it means that the agriculture sector must undergo a fundamental structural transformation which can only be done in the context of transforming the extraverted colonial-type economy to a nationally integrated economy. This implies a number of very important shifts in policy.

First, it means to shift away from concentrating on a few export crops to primarily food crops and other agricultural inputs for the domestic market.

Secondly, it means shifting from the hoe-based, rain-fed agriculture to the mechanized and chemicalized, irrigation-based agriculture. Agrarian transformation requires that other sectors of the economy – industrial, financial, energy, and transport and communication – should be integrated with and support the agriculture sector. For example, local industries must provide machines and other inputs, including fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides etc. to agriculture. The manufacturing industry must provide incentive goods - textiles, radios, bicycles, etc. – to peasants. The agrarian revolution cannot be sustained if the necessary industrial inputs are all imported. They have to be manufactured locally.

Thirdly, it means that the energy sector should shift to provide, for example, electricity to rural areas at affordable tariffs. This in turn means that we have to move away from oil-based generation of electricity to hydro-electricity on the one hand, and from large-scale hydro-electricity plants, to small-scale generation which can be maintained by local rural based technicians.

Fourthly, it means that our transport system must facilitate movement of agriculture commodities primarily within the country. This means building a network of transport routes and networks joining villages and towns and regions, joining agricultural farmlands with industrial areas. This cannot easily be done if we rely on building tarmac highways in a large country like Tanzania. It is expensive to build and very expensive to maintain. The emphasis has to be on rail and sea transport joining main centres across the country to which villages can be joined by a network of feeder roads. (The boast about building highways joining cities and towns while letting the railway system go to the dogs is clearly misplaced!)

The financial sector too has to be reoriented to give necessary cheap credit to agriculture. Clearly, no commercial bank would consider giving credit to a farmer cultivating maize, tomatoes, onions or citrus fruit on a 20-acre farm, let alone the majority who hardly own more than 3-4 acres. It is simply not viable. And this has nothing to do with the peasants in Tanzania not having land titles to use it as collateral. This business of collateral, which is the backbone of the multimillion programme on formalizing property and business, is a red herring. Which commercial Bank would give a loan to a farmer simply because he holds a land title on a 2 or 20-acre farm? Everywhere in the world, a serious credit system for the smallholder is always organised by the state, not by the private sector.

These are only broad sketches to highlight what an agrarian revolution means and implies, if it is meant to be a serious proposition and not simply a vote-catching gimmick? There are many issues that need to be discussed and debated if one sincerely has a vision of an agrarian revolution. There are such issues as the source of initial capital: Such a transformation would of course require initial capital. Where would it come from? From donors – no way; from the World Bank – hardly! It will have to come from domestic sources. Do we have such sources?

What will be the appropriate institution to provide an enabling environment for such a transformation, the state or the market? Thirdly, what will be the social agency to effect such a revolution? Foreign capital, settler farmers, ex-Zimbabwe, ex-South Africa, or our own peasants? Thirdly, what kind of political force and configuration will have the will and capacity to oversee such a revolution?

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

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Global: Water out of the WTO

2005-10-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/30011

Dear Friends,

I am writing on behalf of a number of Bolivian, Uruguayan and Brazilian activists to you to ask your support, suggestions and advice in the next 6 months for building together a global campaign calling for water to be taken out of the WTO as well as bilateral trade and investment agreements...there is also growing worldwide resistance to treating water as a “commodity.” We therefore feel that co-ordinating our different actions together with different networks of activists could build a large global campaign which has a chance of getting the theme of water out of different free trade agreements. Please follow the link for more information.

Dear Friends,

I am writing on behalf of a number of Bolivian, Uruguayan and Brazilian activists to you to ask your support, suggestions and advice in the next 6 months for building together a global campaign calling for water to be taken out of the WTO as well as bilateral trade and investment agreements. A number of us are already focusing our struggles in these areas, and have together organised various actions which are diverse but had an increasing impact. It is clear that free trade agreements in particular (as has been seen by the current legal actions against Argentina) greatly affect the rights of our countries. However there is also growing worldwide resistance to treating water as a “commodity.” We therefore feel that co-ordinating our different actions together with different networks of activists could build a large global campaign which has a chance of getting the theme of water out of different free trade agreements.

The campaign would focus on the following areas:

* In the WTO, the primary aim is to get a group of countries to support the campaign by proposing a different status for water than other services and goods.
* In terms of bilateral trade and investment agreements, the proposal is that governments, negotiators, water and sanitation authorities are informed and where possible take a position against their incorporation into these agreements.
* The aim is also to promote initiatives at constitutional level such as in Uruguay or in laws which restrict the inclusion of water in international trade agreements.
* Where free trade and investment agreements have been signed, it will be necessary to develop campaigns for renegotiations or laws that in the implementation of these agreements put access to water as a fundamental human right that comes before commercial or investment agreements.

To launch this campaign (which will last several years), we have
three key moments in the coming year:

a) The Third Summit of the Peoples in Mar de Plata,
b) The Sixth Ministerial meeting of the WTO in Hong Kong,
c) The Fourth World Water Forum in Mexico.

The plan is to work as much in the official forums as the alternative civil society forums during these three events. The idea is that in Mar del Plata, we could produce a draft civil society declaration that can be developed and enlarged in the run-up to Hong Kong. At
both the Summit of the Peoples and in Hong Kong, we want to build on the unity of various initiatives linked to water to organize joint events that reinforce our alliances and unite our efforts. In Mexico, we would organize a session in the official forum, promote
one or several sessions in parallel events and find official delegates in the Ministerial to put forward the issues. In these three events, we would help build a plan of action for the campaign and a strategy for lobbying and putting pressure on official sectors in our
different countries.

To begin the campaign, we are developing the following tools:

1. An e-discussion list which you can join by sending an email
to nickbuxton@funsolon.org
2. A website, whose name, we shall decide together along with
a slogan www.wateroutofwto.org,
www.waternotforsale.org, www.aguanoesmercancia.org
3. An initial draft declaration to initiate the e-discussion.

We look forward to your comments, suggestions, and proposals for taking water out of Free Trade Agreements.

Tanzania: Support for Professor Abdul Sherriff

2005-10-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/30012

The Tanzanian government has fired Prof. Abdul Sherriff, who is probably the world's living authority on Zanzibar, and is certainly one of the most accomplished intellectuals East Africa has ever produced. Please follow the link to read a report on the situation and take action to protest.
Dear Colleagues,

You may have heard that our colleague, Abdul Sheriff, former Professor at Dar Es Salaam and more recently a highly successful Director of the Zanzibar Museum and Archives has been summarily, and without explanation, dismissed from his post by the Tanzanian Ministry of Education. This is despite the fact that Abdul has an exemplary record as a creative director of the Museum and Archives and enjoys an international reputation as a historian of Zanzibar, East Africa and the dhow culture. Since he became Director of the Zanzibar Museum and Archives in 1992, he has established the Palace Museum, four major permanent exhibitions in the House of Wonders (since 2001), the Museum Library, and the Museum Education Programme, as well as trained a large number of staff. A few months ago he was appointed by the Tanzanian Minister of Science, Technology & Higher Education to be a delegate to UNESCO's World Heritage Committee in recognition of his work on the history of Zanzibar and the Zanzibar Stone Town which is a World Heritage Site. Abdul attended the meeting of the Committee in Durban in July and was due to attend the UNESCO General Assembly in Paris in October until barred by the Zanzibar Ministry of Education. In recognition of his exceptional achievements in the field of culture and development, and for intellectual leadership and achievements in ensuring the survival and appreciation of global cultural heritage Abdul will also receive this December a Prince Claus (the Netherlands) award. In honouring Abdul, the Prince Claus committee point to his use of sustainable low cost and low technology, and local technicians and skills, in setting up the House of Wonders museum. They also noted the training of local staff, creating a professional team of skilled and committed personnel and sustainable management. Abdul is a man of enormous integrity and one of the most internationally respected historians of East Africa. He will very shortly be without a position and income clearly as a result of political persecution.

Jan-Georg Deutsch has kindly supplied the following addresses:

Hon.Haroun Ali Suleiman Ministry of Education, Culture & Sports Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar P.O. Box 394 ZANZIBAR
Email: edu@zanzinet.com

Hon Mohammed Aboud Mohammed, Minister, Ministry of Trade Industry Marketing & Tourism P.O.Box 601 Zanzibar Fax No 255-24-2231517 E-mail: tradeministry@hotmail.com

I would urge those of you who can do so to write and it is, I think, the least gesture we can make to write in protest to both addresses.

Two weeks to go: Remember Saro-Wiwa Season

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/30026

Remember Saro-Wiwa is a coalition of organisations and individuals initiated and co-ordinated by PLATFORM, including: African Writers Abroad, Amnesty International, Christian Aid, Diversity Art Forum, English PEN, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, Index on Censorship, Mayor of London, Minorities of Europe, Anita and Gordon Roddick, South Bank Centre, Spinwatch. For a programme of upcoming events and information about the campaign please click on the link below.

Remember Saro-Wiwa Season

27 October, 2005

…. 2 WEEKS TO GO TO THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY… 2 WEEKS TO GO TO THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY…. 2 WEEKS TO GO….

With only 2 weeks to go to the 10th anniversary of the executions of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight Ogoni colleagues, here is a selection of events in the Remember Saro-Wiwa Season.

1. NEXT EVENT – 4 November Artist’s Talk with Gary Younge – Reserve your place now!
2. Remember Saro-Wiwa launches Season and Film – Screenings
3. November Panel Discussion: The Niger Delta Ten Years On
4. Organise your own commemoration event and register it at www.november10th.com

1. Next Remember Saro-Wiwa Season Event!
The Living Memorial: Artists’ Talk
Date: Friday 4th November
Venue: Museum of London, 150 London Wall
Nearest Tubes: St Paul’s, Moorgate.
Time: 7:30pm
Admission free but RSVP to bookings@remembersarowiwa.com
tel. 020 7357 0055
Places are filling up for this event so please RSVP ASAP.

Speakers
Gary Younge – Journalist
Alfredo Jaar – Artist/architect, member of Remember Saro-Wiwa Judging Panel
Short listed Artists’ Panel: Sokari Douglas Camp, Siraj Izhar, Emmanuel Jegede, Emily Johns, Frances Newman/Jeff Jackson/Knott Architects.
Chair: David A Bailey

Gary Younge and Alfredo Jaar will provide a broad political and cultural context for the unique public art project: London’s Living Memorial to Nigerian writer and campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Gary Younge will provoke debate about how London reflects its multicultural history and the achievements and contributions of people of colour through public monuments and spaces. Alfredo Jaar will investigate the artistic and political challenges of such a project, in the light of his own practice as an artist working in the public realm on high-profile commissions, with many years’ experience.

This will be followed by a panel discussion and questions from the floor with the short listed artists about their ideas and wider issues around the commission.

2. Remember Saro-Wiwa launches Season and Film – Refining Memory
The reception event, hosted by the Museum of London, was a great success, with around 200 people attending and strong acclaim for the first showing of Judy Price and Andrew Conio’s 30-minute poetic and discursive film “Refining Memory”.

The film explores the issues of loss, memory, memorial and representation and how artistic practice might engage with circumstances that globalisation make part of the fabric of our everyday lives. It shows the diverse and creative ways in which the 5 short listed artists have responded to the brief for a living memorial to Ken Saro-Wiwa. In doing this they have drawn out the underlying forces and circumstances that have led to the destruction of the Niger Delta and the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa.

The film is currently being screened in the 2nd floor gallery at City Hall, Queens Walk London SE1, until 10th November, and will be at the Whitechapel Gallery from 3-10 November. Further screenings will be announced soon and the DVD and catalogue will soon be available to buy for £6 (watch this space!).

3. 8 November Panel Discussion: The Niger Delta Ten Years On
Date: Tuesday 8th November
Venue: Amnesty International Human Rights Action Centre, 17-25 New Inn Yard, London EC2.
Nearest Tubes: Liverpool Street, Old Street, Shoreditch.
Time: 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Admission free but rsvp to info@remembersarowiwa.com
tel. 020 7357 0055

Places are filling up for this event so please RSVP ASAP.

Speakers
James Marriott – Co-director of PLATFORM and co-author of The Next Gulf: London, Washington and Oil Conflict in Nigeria (2005)
Kathryn Nwajiaku – Department of Politics and International Relations, Oxford University.
John Robertson MP – Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Niger Delta.
Patrick Smith – Director, Africa Confidential
Ken Wiwa
Chair: Bronwen Manby, former researcher at Humans Rights Watch and author of The Price of Oil: Corporate Responsibility and Human Rights Violations in Nigeria’s Oil Producing Communities. Bronwen is currently the Director of The Africa Governance, Monitoring and Advocacy Project. www.afrimap.org

10 years on from Saro-Wiwa, the Delta has become more volatile than ever.

A return to electoral politics in Nigeria in 1999 has witnessed an increase in violence in the Delta as political candidates make use of armed gangs to gain and secure their positions. Oil stolen from the Delta’s leaky infrastructure is used to fund the arming of groups engaged in a range of activities from ethnic nationalist politics to straight forward gangsterism. Recent months have seen a frightening inflow of assault weapons.

With communities still receiving little benefit from oil production and bearing much of the cost in terms of pollution and loss of livelihood, the path to a sustainable and just future for the Niger Delta appears further away than ever it was in Saro-Wiwa’s day.

Many observers are warning that the 2007 presidential elections – a process that starts with primaries in the spring of 2006 – may provide a flashpoint for the building tensions in the Delta. Amid this increasing volatility, US and UK foreign policy appears intent on an increase in Nigerian oil and gas production to help spread the burden of their energy dependence beyond the Middle East and former Soviet territories.

There are initiatives aimed at defusing the situation but are they enough and are they being adequately supported?

Amnesty International UK and the Remember Saro-Wiwa Project invite you to hear from a range of experts on the situation in the Niger Delta and participate in a discussion on how a peaceful and sustainable future may take shape in this troubled region.

4. Organise your own commemoration event and register it at www.november10th.com
The Remember Saro-Wiwa project has focused on London with the intention of concentrating attention on London’s role in the global oil industry that has destroyed so many livelihoods in distant lands.

Many people outside of London are planning their own commemoration event on or around 10 November. Our partner organisations in the USA – Oil Change International and Earth Rights International have built a website for people to register their events so that you can find an event happening near you or attract new people to your event. If you’re planning something in your local area or are looking for an event nearer to you then go to www.november10th.com and sign up. Please check back regularly over the next week as the list of events is bound to grow quickly.



Remember Saro-Wiwa
c/o PLATFORM
7 Horselydown Lane
Tower Bridge
London SE1 2LN

tel: 020 7357 0055

Remember Saro-Wiwa is a coalition of organisations and individuals initiated and co-ordinated by PLATFORM, including: African Writers Abroad, Amnesty International, Christian Aid, Diversity Art Forum, English PEN, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Human Rights Watch, Index on Censorship, Mayor of London, Minorities of Europe, Anita and Gordon Roddick, South Bank Centre, Spinwatch.
Financial supporters to date include: Arts Council England, The Ken Saro-Wiwa Foundation, Greenpeace, The Lipman-Miliband Trust, The Roddick Foundation, The Staples Trust, The Tedworth Trust, PLATFORM, and private individuals.

Over 120 private individuals to date have given sums between £3 and £20,000. If wish to join our growing band of individual donors on whatever scale, send your donations/standing orders to Jane Trowell, Remember Saro-Wiwa, c/o PLATFORM, 7 Horselydown Lane, London SE1 2LN.

Making your donation subject to the UK Government’s Gift Aid scheme will release a further 28% of your gift. Please indicate that you wish to do this when you send in your donation.

Many thanks to all our supporters for your political, cultural and artistic support for this project.

Appeal for IDPs

Joseph Chilengi

2005-10-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/30019

Greetings. Today is 24 October 2005 and on the international calendar, it is the United Nations Day. Africa Internally Displaced Persons Voice (Africa IDP Voice ) has in the last three years been carrying out a campaign to raise awareness and promote effective protection of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs ) in Africa. This is a category of forced migrants that do not benefit from any coherent international instrument for their protection. The problem is a very serious human rights, humanitarian , security and governance problem in Africa.

In August 2005, as part of our global campaign, Africa IDP Voice wrote an appeal to the United Nations Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan to dedicate this year's UN day to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) world wide.

The appeal was sent in person through Professor Walter Khalin, the United Nations Secretary General on the Human Rights of IDPs, His Excellency Joackim Chissano, Former President of Mozambique, who was Kofi Anna's envoy for the September 2005 Miilenium Summit. A copy was also sent to the executive chairman of the Africa Union in person through Commissioner Tom Nyanduka who is the African Union's Special Rapporture for Refugees and IDPs.

Africa IDP Voice has not received a response, not even an acknowledgement of the appeal.

I wish to share this with members and members are free to send comments to Pambazuka News or to: 1. africaidp@zamtel.zm 2. chilengi30@hotmail.com

We wish further to inform you of Africa IDP Voice's new email address as follows and request you to make changes as follows: africaidp@zamtel.zm Our website is also undergoing changes and will not be available for the next one month. It will reappear as: www.africaidp.org Please find attached copy of the appeal for members (available through the link provided).
AFRICA INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS VOICE
(AFRICA IDP VOICE)
raising awareness and promoting effective protection of IDPs in Africa

All correspondence to be addressed to the Executive Director

THIS COPY OF LETTER HAS BEEN SENT BY E-MAIL.

21st August 2005.

Mr. Koffi Annan
Secretary General
United Nations

Your Excellency,

RE: APPEAL TO DEDICATE 2005 UNITED NATIONS DAY TO INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPs).

Your Excellency, greetings.

The Africa Internally Displaced Persons Voice (Africa IDP Voice) is a Zambia based continental non-governmental organization (NGO) working to raise awareness and promote effective protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Africa whose numbers are at about fifty million (50,000,000).


Africa IDP Voice works with governments in Africa in addressing the deteriorating situation of internally displaced populations through a framework for realizing national and regional responsibility (Erin Mooney- Brookings)

Mr. Secretary General Sir, this letter is to request your good office and through you that the United Nations dedicates the 2005 United Nations Day which falls on 24th October 2005 to internally displaced persons globally.

The dedication of this day to internally displaced populations will help to raise the profile of the plight of IDPs and answering questions critical to addressing internal displacement

These are questions that are critical to address if national responsibility for IDPs is to be realized. Measurable indicators or benchmarks are needed to provide guidance to the national authorities in discharging their responsibility and as a basis for assessing whether they are being effectively exercised. The day will focus on set forth benchmarks for addressing internal displacement, advocate FRAMEWORKS FOR NATIONAL AND REGIONAL RESPONSIBILITY. In particular towards fulfilling national and regional responsibility for internal displacement:


Plot 222714 Leopards Hill Road Woodland Lusaka, Zambia. P.o Box 32368, Tel: 260-1-2566468-9, Fax: 260-1-266482,
E-mail: africaidp@zamtel.zm

1. Prevent displacement and minimize its adverse effect.
2. Raise national awareness of the problem
3. Collect data on the number and conditions of IDPs
4. Support training on the rights of IDPs
5. Create a legal framework for upholding the rights of IDPs
6. Develop a national policy on internal displacement
7. Designate an institutional focal point on IDPs
8. Encourage national human rights institutions to integrate internal displacement into their work
9. Ensure the participation of IDPs in decision making
10. Support durable solutions
11. Allocate resource (adequate) to the problem
12. Cooperation with international community when national capacity is insufficient

Further, focus on the political, social and economic root causes of internal displacement.

Taken collectively, these benchmarks constitute a framework for action for fulfilling national and regional responsibility.

The framework for national and regional responsibility provides guidance to assist in addressing internal displacement and in meeting obligations towards these populations.

At the same time this framework recognizes the important role and also responsibilities of actors, including national human rights institution, regional bodies such as Economic Community for west African States ( ECOWAS ), International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (IC/GLR ), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA ), East Africa Community (EAC ), Indian Ocean Community ( IOC ), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC ), international organizations, Donor and Civil Society in promoting, reinforcing and assisting fulfilment of national and regional responsibilities to protect and assist IDPs.

Highlighting the framework on this day globally will serve as a tool enabling international organizations and agencies, donor regional bodies, national human rights institutions, civil society and of course, IDPs themselves to monitor and assess the extent to which national and regional responsibility is being effectively exercised and thereby provide a basis for advocacy efforts for protecting the rights of the internally displaced.

The Guiding Principles on internal displacement under paragraph 58 of the Dar-es-Salaam Declaration underscore this point, setting for the right of IDPs and the obligations of governments towards these populations. They provide a framework for better understanding what national responsibility should entail.

There is need to highlight these principles as a guide in designing national and regional response and developing the steps needed to address the problem of Internal Displacement. Each bench marks a step that governments should consider taking to assume their obligation towards their Internally Displacement populations.

While government will need to tailor the step to fit their own national and regional conditions, a number of initiatives prove common. In particular, measures to prevent or mitigate displacement.

Dedicating this year’s UN Day to IDPs will help in raising national and regional awareness of the problem and conditions of IDPs. It will be advocacy in support national and regional legal framework for upholding the right of IDPs including regional harmonization; national and regional policy formulation on internal displacement and the designation of an institutional focal point on IDPs; it will encourages national human rights institutions to include rights of IDPs in their programmes, it will sensitize police and military, the Judiciary, the Legislature and development and humanitarian agencies and Civil Society to integrate internal displacement into their work; it help to lobby allocation of resources to the problem by national authorities and international community.

Further, it will enable international organizations, regional bodies, national human rights institutions, civil society assess the extent to which national responsibility is being effectively exercised and becomes the basis for advocacy efforts on behalf of the rights of the IDPs.

Africa IDP Voice prevails on African governments to carefully review the steps to addressing problems of their internal displacement as the most effective ways of dealing with internal displacement.

It will be used as a plat form to lobby donor governments to review the bench marks of national and regional responsibility as a key element in reaching decisions on funding in support of assistance to governments.


THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT

That primary responsibility for protecting and assisting IDPs rests with their national authorities is a theme that underpins and is underscored throughout the guiding principles on internal displacement, which set forth the right of IDPs and the obligations of government towards them. Developed at the request of governments, as expressed in resolution of the United Nation General Assembly and Commission on Human Rights, the 30 principles provide a normative framework for understanding what national responsibility should entail.

The day will be used to lobby governments worldwide to recognize the Principles as an important tool and standard for addressing situations of internal displacement and which states and other stakeholders can be encouraged to widely disseminate and use.

The day will help promote and disseminate the Guiding Principles through radio and TV programmes, newspaper articles and interaction with governments as a way to give recognition to the right and special needs of IDPs and reinforce government obligation towards these populations.

The will used to lobby for the translation of the Principles into local languages and widely distributed to local and national officials, non-state actors and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) spelling out the international legal standards on which the principles are based.

Training sessions in the guiding principles and on the standard of international humanitarian and human rights law on which the principles are based on this day could also be used in raising awareness of the rights of IDPs and of the responsibilities of government and other authority towards them.

Convening of national seminars on this on internal displacement will be another helpful way of raising awareness of the guiding principles. Such seminars will bring together local, regional and national government official, local NGOs and other civil society groups, international organizations and, representatives of IDP communities to discuss the different aspect of internal displacement in terms of the principles and promote joint strategies for addressing the problem.

Highlighting the principles on this day will in addition serve as an important framework for monitoring conditions in different countries. It will provide guidance for developing national laws and policies to address internal displacement. Indeed, UN resolutions have encouraged governments to develop national laws and policies for the protection and assistance of their internally displaced population taking into account the guiding principles. Overall, the guiding principles provide a normative framework that should be basis for national as well as international response to internal displacement

FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A NATIONAL RESPONSE

There is need to advocate for national and regional responses that are inclusive, covering all situations of internal displacement and groups of IDPs without discrimination. Specifically, this means advocating national responsibility for internal displacement that is comprehensive in several different respects.

All causes: National and regional responsibility for internal displacement applies to persons internally displaced in situations of conflict, communal strife and serious violations of human rights as well as IDPs uprooted as a result of natural and human-made disasters, development projects and other causes .In other words, national and regional responsibility for addressing internal displacement needs to be carried out for the benefit of all persons fitting the definition of IDPs found in the guiding principles.


BENCHMARKS OF NATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY

The day will focus on advocating the 12 key steps that governments can take towards ensuring the effective exercise of national and regional responsibility and protection of the rights of the internally displaced.

Your Excellency,

Dedicating this years UN Day will help in achieving the following:

1. Prevention
Governments have a responsibility to prevent and avoid conditions on their territory that might lead to population displacement, to minimize unavoidable and mitigate its adverse and ensure that any displacement that does occur lasts no longer than required by circumstance through establishment IDP protection structures at all levels of community.

2. Raising awareness of the Problem
The government’s acknowledgement of dedicating this day to IDPs will be an acknowledgement of the existence of the problem on its territory and of its responsibility to address it is an essential first step towards an effective national response.

Recognition of the day on internal displacement will also require raising awareness about the problem, building national and regional consensus around the issue and making efforts to address the crisis as a national and regional priority. It will also entail promoting national and regional solidarity with the displaced. Effort to raise awareness will include sensitization campaigns that reach all relevant authorities, so that national and regional responsibility for addressing internal displacement becomes a concept embraced and implemented by all parts of society. Radio, TV and drama programmes including media work will be carried out targeting specific audiences both locally and internationally.

3. Data Collection

The day will add value to credible information on the number, location and conditions of the internally displaced as it is essential to designing effective policies and programs to address their needs and protect their rights.

Age, gender and other key indicators should disaggregate data so that the specific needs of particular group of IDPs, such as women heads of household, unaccompanied minors, the elderly, persons with disabilities.

It is important to underline the efforts to collect data on IDPs should not any way jeopardize their security, protection and freedom of movement. Data and information on IDPs is used as part of advocacy, awareness raising and early warning using community structures on IDP protection.

4. Training on the Rights of IDPs

Emphasis on training of government officials and other stakeholders on the rights of IDPs ensure that they are aware of their responsibilities for protecting and assisting the internally displaced. It is also part of building government capacity and accountability to effectively fulfill these responsibilities. In particular, training target:-

• Government policy-makers at the national level
• Government officials at regional and local levels, who are in more direct contact with the displaced and are responsible for implementing government policy and programs in the field
• Military and police, are expected to play a key role in ensuring IDPs’ protection
• Parliamentarians, as they play a leading role in the development of legislation
• Civil society and most importantly, for IDPs themselves, who of course are entitled to know their rights.

5. National Legal Framework Upholding the Rights of IDPs

Because protection is, fundamentally, a legal concept, awareness on developing a national and regional legal framework upholding the rights of IDPs is a particularly important reflection of national and regional responsibility as well as vehicle for its fulfilment.

In countries in all region of the world, the adoption of legislation on internal displacement has proved valuable in defining IDPs, setting forth their rights and establishing the obligation of government towards them

National Policy or Plan of Action on Internal Displacement

Awareness on the adoption of a national policy or plan of action on internal displacement is a distinct though complementary, measure to the enactment of national legislation.


National and Regional Institutional Focal Point for IDPs
Awareness on designating national institutional focal points on internal displacement is essential to ensuring sustained attention to the problem and also to facilitate coordination within the government and with local and international partners

6. Role for National Human Right Institutions

It is well recognized that national human rights institutions make an important
Contribution to national efforts promoting and protecting human rights. They enjoy official recognition by government and also often command significant respect within national societies as they usually are headed by influential and eminent people including judges or respected human rights activists.
Awareness on them including IDP rights on the programs is very important.

Among the steps to be advocated on the UN Day is to the national institutions to promote and protect the rights of internally displaced are-
• Monitor IDP conditions to ensure that IDPs enjoy the same rights as other citizens in the country and not do face discrimination in seeking to access their rights and that they receive the protection and assistance they require.
• Conduct inquires into reports of serious violation of IDPs’ human rights
• To assess whether authorities follow-up early warnings of displacement and ensure effective measures are taken by authority.
• Advise the government on the rights of IDPs, in particular working with national legislative bodies in the development of national laws in internal displacement.
• Monitor and report on government’s implementation of national legislation and compliance with international treaty obligations as well as on implementation of national policies and plans of action for IDPs.
• Undertake educational activities and training program
• Forge strong relationships with IDP association as well as local NGOs and representatives of civil society advocating for the protection of IDP rights
• Monitor the return or resettlement of IDPs’ to ensure that it is voluntary and occurs in condition of safety
• Network with national human rights institutions in other countries and relevant regional bodies to share information and experience on internal displacement with a view to developing best practices.




7. Participation by IDPs in Decision-Making

Awareness on the rights of internally displaced persons to request and to receive, protection and humanitarian assistance from their governments. An environment must exist where IDPs can make their views know without risk of punished or harm. IDPs are best to know their needs and way of addressing them. Special attention on this day should be paid to ensure the participation of internally displaced women.

Durable Solution

The awareness will stress that national and regional responsibility for internal displacement extends to ensuring that IDPs have access to a durable solution to their plight. This means making every possible effort to facilitate the return or resettlement of IDPs in accordance with their rights.

8. Adequate Resource

The major problem in protecting and assisting IDPs is lack of resources for IDP programs. Both national authorities and international community do not or a lot little resources towards IDPs. The day will used to marshal solidarity for IDPs from donors and other stakeholders towards the cause of IDPs.

9. Cooperation with International and Regional Organizations

The day will raise awareness that when government do not have the capacity to provide for security and well being of their displaced populations, they should as an exercise of responsible sovereignty, invite or accept international assistance and work together with international as well as regional organization in addressing the protection and assistance needs of the displaced and identifying durable solution to their plight.

Nature of Protection for IDPs

The day will be important as it will raise awareness that the concept of protection encompasses all activities aimed at obtaining full respect for the rights of the individual in accordance with the better and spirit of the relevant bodies of law (e.g. Human Rights Law, International Humanitarian Law, refugee Law etc).

The definition of protection is comprehensive in scope, both in terms of the legal framework for protection (with full respect) and in terms of the strategies and methods by which protection may be achieved (through all activities).

Unlike refugees, IDPs have not crossed an international border. As such, no single international legal instrument is exclusively devoted to their specific protection needs. IDPs are covered by the law of their own country, and the state is responsible for assisting and protecting them. Under human rights law, which remains relevant in most cases of internal displacement, they are entitled to enjoy, in full equality, the same rights and freedom under domestic and international law as the rest of the country citizens.

Whenever IDPs find themselves in a situation of armed conflict, they are also protected by International Humanitarian Law (IHL). In international armed conflicts, this includes in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention and Protocol I in addition to the Geneva Conventions and in non-international armed conflicts, Article 3 that is common to the Geneva Conventions and Protocol II there to. IHL provides protection for those who have already been uprooted, and most importantly, against arbitrary displacement.

There is need for awareness to prohibit attack and destruction of objects indispensable to their survival such as crops, livestock, drinking water installations and to be treated in a humane manner and protect them from abuses committed by the party under whose power they find themselves. To preserve a minimum of safety and a basis for subsistence, both of which are essential to allow persons to remain in their home, and as guarantees for those who have already been displaced. It is important to express prohibitions against arbitrary displacement and regulate conditions under which evacuation can be carried out.

Accordingly, the implementation of IHL constitutes an important form of protection. Efforts to promote such respect for IDPs include drawing the attention of the parties to existing humanitarian problems, reminding them of their legal obligations and facilitating contacts between them for the purpose of enhancing the protection of IDPs.

Drawing upon the relevant provisions of these standard international law and refugee law by analog, the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, published in 1998, represent the first comprehensive attempt to articulate what protection should mean for IDPs in all phases of displacement.

Guiding Principles identify the rights and guarantees relevance to the protection of IDPs through all phases of displacement. They outline standards for protection against arbitrary displacement, protection and assistance during displacement, and for safe return or resettlement and reintegration of IDPs. Protection covers not only needs for physical security and safety but also the broad range of rights provided for in international law (including the rights to food, education, clean and safe water, employment etc).

The Guiding principles, it should be noted, do not seek to create a privilege the category of persons or to establish a separate legal status for IDPs. Rather, they a based on the assumption that IDPs have the same rights and obligations as other persons living in their own state. At the same time, however, they draw the attention to the importance of recognizing the particular situation and needs of IDPs. Although not a legally binding document as such, the principles reflect and are consistent with international human rights and humanitarian laws, and refugee law by analog, which are binding.

The principles provide solid guidance on how protection activities should be oriented in order to be effective. Notwithstanding the importance of basing protection on principles national and international law, it nonetheless is true that the protection of displaced persons frequently will depend on non-legal skills and initiatives. In other words, actions required to translate protection principles into effective protection on the ground. Action should also be focused on the search for durable solutions. For the essence of protection activities is the search for solutions which might ensure or restore rights. But internally displaced populations are often overlooked and their vulnerability seems to be ignored or sidelined for that of stable populations. Internally displaced populations suffer from double stigma and often-drastic economic social and sometimes cultural change. Stakeholders need to be reprimanded for their narrowed focus on initiatives that assess, monitor and/or evaluate issues of HIV/AIDS that are directed to multiple audiences, to influence policy formation, develop capacity and foster professionalism. The recognition of vulnerable and extreme vulnerable groups should be the foundation and critical point of any agenda that seek to prevent, mitigate and respond to HIV/AIDS.

The lack of an Institutional Framework for the protection and assistance of Internal Displaced Persons begets in many cases, the International Community intervention for the protection and assistance of our country’s internally displaced in the absence of responsible and effective national action. Zambia neither possess national initiatives concerned with IDPs that document best practices of ongoing HIV/AIDS programs, providing guidance for the development of national HIV/AIDS prevention and mitigation strategies, identifying standards, and developing skills in the knowledge and application of the methods and practices proven to achieve the standards.


There are no specific HIV/AIDS interventions for IDPs. The AIDS epidemic thrives in an environment of social exclusion, IDPs live in such environments, separated from their families, social structures and from shared norms and values and social support. They are likely to engage in risky behaviour. Their new environment often lacks strong community cohesion, thus increasing the risk of HIV infections.
Amongst the multitude of cares, IDPs are preoccupied by more immediate challenges of physical survival and financial needs many people therefore regard HIV as a distant risk. The day will raise awareness on designing specific programs on HIV/AIDS for these populations.


CONCLUSION

Internal displacement is a pressing issue in nearly every Great Lakes State. Much remains to be done at the national level to effectively address the protection and assistance needs of the internally displaced and to set the stage for durable solutions to their plight. To reinforce these efforts, regional and international policies and programs can prove valuable. The Great Lakes region conference should be a pioneering effort by the Great Lakes to explore the regional dynamics of the problem in the Great Lakes region and to find means to cooperate in finding solutions. In doing so, participants can benefit from the example of regional efforts elsewhere and from normative framework laid out in the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, recognized across the globe as a useful tool for formulating, evaluating, and monitoring national policy and laws on internally displaced persons.

Your Excellency, I thank you. In advance


Yours Sincerely
Africa IDP Voice


Joseph Chilengi
Executive Director



Cc: The Executive Chairman
African Union (AU)
Headquarters
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

Cc: Walter Kalin-
Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons and Co- Director, the Brookings Institutions-University of Bern Project on Internal Displacement.
Brookings Institutions – University of Bern Project on Internal Displacement

Cc: His Excellency Joaquim Alberto Chissano, Former President of the Republic of Mozambique and Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for the September Summit

Policing Africa

Faith Kabata

2005-10-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/29968

I am particularly impressed by the article on policing (Pambazuka News 226).

States are bound by several human rights instruments to respect, ensure and guarantee human rights. States cannot meet these obligations without a police force that recognizes and respects human rights. The police as state actors are often the perpetrators of human rights violations firstly, in the maintanance of law and order and secondly in determining/facilitating acess to justice/redress once a violation has occurred. Thus they are crucial actors as far as state obligations in human rights are concerned.

It is thus incumbent on states eager to fulfil their obligations under human rights instruments to reform their police force by creating human rights awareness in police units and imputing individual criminal liability on police officers who perpetrate human rights violations.

Supporting change

2005-10-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/29987

I really support the work Pambazuka News is doing and find it inspirational to hear what efforts are being made in a continent so far away from mine, both geographically and hegemonically. I hope that these type of efforts will continue and spread and that we can all see a real change being brought about.

A Tragedy of Lives: Women in Prison in Zimbabwe

Edited by: Chiedza Musengezi and Irene Staunton, Weaver Press Ltd, 2003, Distributed by African Books Collective Ltd.

2005-10-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/29967

“A Tragedy of Lives: Women in Prison in Zimbabwe” takes us through the lives of female prisoners in Zimbabwe. Edited by Chiedza Musengezi, founder and director of Zimbabwe Women Writers and Irene Staunton, publisher at Weaver Press, the format of the book brings together prisoners and writers, as each woman interviewed was done so by a member of Zimbabwe Women Writers. Tracked down by a writer, these women were often difficult to find, and the process of interviewing them was indeed also difficult, as recalling their past proved painful for many.

Categorized according to the type of crime committed, “A Tragedy of Lives” does a wonderful job of allowing outsiders into the lives of female prisoners. While each woman’s experience differs, general themes prevail - poverty, abuse, violence and the difficulty of providing for family member are pervasive, but each woman’s story culminates in the hope for a better future, and the means of attaining that future do not always coincide within the law.

Reproductive rights (or the lack thereof), domestic issues, fraud, commercial sex work, dangerous drug selling (mostly marijuana – not considered dangerous to many) and shoplifting were the primary causes of arrest for these women. Most of the women came from poor families and have had difficult lives. They were left with the burdens of caring for children, husbands/boyfriends, parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles with few resources and low levels of education or skills training (many women had received little education, as their parents before them could not afford the fees). Given these difficult situations, many of the women had simply sought out alternative, informal means of making ends meet, which just so happen to be outside of the law.

While women make only a small (2-3%) proportion of prisoners in Zimbabwe (and no doubt the rest of Africa), they are often imprisoned for criminal activities that are non-violent. Their time in prison, argue contributors to this book, could better be spent serving community sentences, so as to avoid the women’s absences from their homes and families – a situation which serves only to exacerbate the prevailing poverty from which they were originally trying to escape. Ongoing abuse and exploitation (mostly in terms of labor and access to family members and supplies) by officials were some of the main concerns of the women interviewed. But specific conditions in which Zimbabwean women find themselves facing in prison, and their particular needs as women, were again and again referenced in these interviews. Of particular concern was sanitation, especially while living in conditions not conducive to the needs of women. Dirty cells with toilets that could not be flushed from inside, a severe constraint on the number, or even complete lack of sanitary/menstrual pads*, combined with a shortage in soap (for cleaning clothes and blankets) and limitations on the number of undergarments a prisoner was allowed, all contributed to living conditions that were violations of basic human rights.

Upon their release from prison, many of the interviewed women found their reintegration difficult. A large number were not accepted by their families, numerous women returned home to find their husbands living with new women, many had missed watching their children grow up. Finding work was also a challenge. For those women who had committed petty crimes and were sentenced only to short incarcerations, they did not qualify for the training courses that some of the prisons offered (usually through foreign run charities). A great number of the women became religious while in prison, mostly due to the work of charity organizations, such as Prison Fellowship. This newfound appreciation for religion was often cited as a major motivation for these women to return to their homes and lead lives free of violence or dishonesty.

“A Tragedy of Lives” ends with interviews conducted with officials involved in Zimbabwe’s prison system. While they provide a glimpse into the policies behind the system, the interviews, in my mind, fell short of any critical analysis. Many, if not all, contradicted the very stories told in the book. The interviews with these officials are thus an interesting contrast to those held with the female prisoners – they serve to highlight the dissonance found in any institutional setting. Perhaps this is the theme of the book – what happens in reality is so often very far off from what should be going on ideally, in any given situation. That “A Tragedy of Lives” is able to convey this notion in such a personal way is impressive, and should serve as inspiration for anyone interested in justice.

* This problem is, in fact, common to all of Zimbabwe. Last week, Tabita Khumalo of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions, along with trade unions in Britain and South Africa, made an appeal for funds to purchase sanitary pads that could be sold at affordable prices to working Zimbabwean women. Currently, no menstrual products are produced locally, and foreign exchange rates are so low that importing them has become impossible. Pads are available on the black market, but the high cost means that they are worth half a months wages for most working women. This shortage has been played down by political figures, and is seen as taboo. The lack of these necessary supplies means that women are resorting to using rags and newspapers, which can lead to infections.

* Reviewed by Karoline Kemp, a Commonwealth of Learning Young Professional Intern working at Fahamu.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Africa Blog Roundup: No holes barred and the Musings of a Naija Man

Sokari Ekine

2005-10-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/30020

Agathon Rwasa - Agathon Rwasa http://agathonrwasa.blogspot.com/2005/10/fnl-kill-twenty-civilians-since-early.html is a blog dedicated to bringing Burundi rebel group FNL’s (Forces nationales de liberation) leader Agathon Rwasa to justice and highlighting the atrocities of FNL.

“Twenty civilians have died at the hands of the FNL since early September, according to the Burundian human rights group Ligue Iteka. The group has also raised concerns about eleven killings by government forces, together with reports of torture and arbitrary arrests. There has been no further news on the whereabouts of Agathon Rwasa, who was reportedly deposed by a pro-peace faction of the FNL eight days ago.”

Despite an arrest warrant for crimes against humanity it seems Agathon Rwasa is still being welcomed in Tanzania! There is a full list of astrocities committed by Agathon Rwasa on the blog.

Mzansi Afrika - Mzansi Afrika (http://mzansiafrika.typepad.com/mzansi_afrika/2005/10/africa_digital_.html)
reports on how European and American recycling firms use Africa as a dumping ground for useless equipment. This saves the expense of having to recycle properly.

“Re-use is a good thing, bridging the digital divide is a good thing, but exporting loads of technotrash in the name of these lofty ideals and seriously damaging the environment and health of poor communities in developing countries is criminal,” said Jim Puckett, coordinator of BAN who led the field investigation."

No holes barred, Egyptian blogger Sandmonkey –
Sandmonkey (http://egyptiansandmonkey.blogspot.com ) takes shots at George Galloway “I wanna see that bastard go down” , Syria “Syria fakes own support rally” and even George Bush has “crossed the line” for suing the Onion (the US’s “Alternative News Weekly).

Subzero Blue - Subzeroblue (http://feeds.feedburner.com/SubzeroBlue?m=924) announces the BBC’s decision to set up a new Arabic TV channel.

“The World Service says its new Arabic language television service is 'part of a wide-ranging package of proposals aimed at maintaining and enhancing BBC World Service's pre-eminent position and impact in an emerging multimedia age.' The Arabic channel, due to launch in 2007, forms part of a £30 million (U.S.$53 million) package of new initiatives."

What is interesting about this development is what is happening elsewhere. The BBC is cutting most of it’s Eastern European language provision. Could this have anything to do with the “death of communism” in these countries and rise of “anti West” in the Arabic speaking world? Also the Arabic News channel al- Jazeera is planning to start an English language service soon. How unsubtle can you get?

ZimPundit - Zimpundit (http://zimpundit.blogspot.com/2005/10/twenty-seven-mdc-members-file-senate.html) reports that 27 members of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) have filed papers with the Nomination Court without party leader Morgan Tsvangirai's approval. Zimpundit asks the important question:

“How are the standing political parties going to respond to these renegade candidates? Assuming (and this is unlikely), that the MDC will indeed expel those that did file papers without their party leader's sanction, the candidates are now outsiders to the party. They leave it with their resources and supporters, making MDC a much weaker political party. Let's not forget that the candidates are from the same provinces that the MDC has been walloping ZANU, we're talking a large chunk of their rural base.”

And ends with:

“There's a lot that could happen. This whole senate thing is turning out to be much more compelling than I had expected!”

Musings of a Naija Man - Musings of a NaijaMan (http://uknaija.blogspot.com/2005/10/unanswered-questions-from-nigerias.html) takes time to ask some pertinent but unpleasant questions around the death of Mrs Stella Obasanjo who died at the weekend following liposuction surgery in Spain and the misinformation broadcast following the Bellevue plane crash that killed 117 people.

“Why did it take so long to determine where the crash site was? Where did the "government official" who announced that there were 50 survivors get information. Why was the Nigerian First Lady having cosmetic surgery done? Who was footing the bill?”

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks

Africa: The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and Female Genital Mutilation

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/30050

As a part of the coalition supporting the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, Pambazuka News will profile various aspects of the protocol over the next six weeks. This week we will take a look at issues surrounding harmful practices against women, specifically, female genital mutilation, as related to the African continent. This is what the protocol states:

Article 5 – Elimination of Harmful Practices

“States Parties shall prohibit and condemn all forms of harmful practices which negatively affect the human rights of women and which are contrary to recognised international standards. States Parties shall take all necessary legislative and other measures to eliminate such practices, including:

b) prohibition, through legislative measures backed by sanctions, of all forms of female genital mutilation, scarification, medicalisation and para-medicalisation of female genital mutilation and all other practices in order to eradicate them…”

Female genital mutilation occurs around the world, most widely in Africa – where as many as 29 countries are known to be practicing it. Estimates range as to how many women have experienced the procedure, but figures are said to be around 78 million women who are affected.

With a practice as diverse as the cultures in which it occurs, female genital mutilation is a highly contested custom. The discourse surrounding female genital mutilation is polarized, with some arguing that the procedure is a cultural tradition and must be upheld in order for honor to be bestowed upon a woman and her family. Others, on the opposite side of the argument, contend that the procedure is in blatant disregard of basic human rights. The Protocol clearly takes the side of the latter argument.

It is extremely difficult to make generalizations about female genital mutilation, as the practices vary in different parts of Africa. The age at which it occurs is one such factor, as babies as young as a week old are sometimes subject to FGM, and sometimes grown women. Most girls undergo the procedure anytime between the ages of eight and fourteen.

Many different types of FGM exist, with the least common one being circumcision: cutting the hood of the clitoris. This is the mildest form of female genital mutilation. Excision involves the cutting of the clitoris and all or part of the labia minora, while infibulations means that the clitoris is cut along with the labia minor and most of the anterior part of the labia majora. Both sides of the vulva are then pinned together (with silk, catgut or thorns), leaving only a tiny opening preserved with the insertion of a small piece of wood or reed for the passage of urine and menstrual blood. The girl’s legs are then bound together to permit the formation of scar tissue. An intermediate form of this removes the clitoris and either part of or the entire labia majora. Generally, a female elder of the village, or a birth attendant performs FGM. Anesthetics are rarely, if ever used, and girls are held down by their mother or other female relatives. Traditional herb mixtures, earth and ashes are usually rubbed on the wound to stop bleeding. Conditions are generally very unsanitary, and the instruments are generally not sterilized. The consequences of this include chronic infection, pain during intercourse, menstruation and childbirth, as well as psychological trauma.

The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa is making steps in the right direction with regards to FGM. It goes beyond simply calling for an end to the practice, but demands that countries criminalize the practice and prosecute those who perform it. It also puts in place the framework for providing counseling support and treatment to survivors of FGM. Furthermore, the Protocol calls for awareness raising campaigns, and also includes a mechanism to allow intervention into the prevention of FGM cases.

Beyond the Protocol, changes are being made on the African continent. In some Kenyan communities, for example, many women are practicing an alternative to female genital mutilation. Girls spend a week in enclosure, just as girls about to be circumcised do, but instead are taught about the harmful effects of FGM and are given information to combat local beliefs and superstitions surrounding the practice. These girls are taught about their bodies and about relationships with men, and are encouraged to go to school and make decisions pertinent to their lives. They are also provided with a mentor – an older woman from their community that they respect and can listen to their concerns. At the end of the week, the girls undergo a graduation ceremony and are reintroduced into their communities as women.

*Researched and written by Karoline Kemp, a Commonwealth of Learning Young Professional Intern

* For previous articles, please follow the links:

Trafficking in Women and Children - http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=29740

Female Refugees - http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=29873

Benin: Benin is 14th country to ratify women's rights protocol; one more ratification needed

Wildaf Press Release

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/30066

Benin has deposited with the AU on the 13th October 2005 the instrument of ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, adopted in July 2003 in Maputo. Only one precious ratification is still missing before we celebrate our protocol. It won’t be long as Togo has also sent today its instrument of ratification to AU by express mail.

WOMEN IN LAW AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA (WiLDAF)
FEMMES, DROIT ET DÉVELOPPEMENT EN AFRIQUE (FeDDAF)
WEST AFRICA SUB-REGIONAL OFFICE / BUREAU SOUS-RÉGIONAL – AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST
B.P. 7755, Lomé, Togo – Téléphone (228) 222 26 79 - Fax (228) 222 73 90
Email : info@wildaf-ao.org - Site : www.wildaf-ao.org


--- Press Release --- Press Release --- Press Release ---

One more ratification for the entry into force of the protocol as Benin has deposit its instrument of ratification

Lomé, Togo, 21 October 2005. Benin has deposit with the AU on the 13th October 2005 the instrument of ratification of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa adopted in July 2003 in Maputo. Only one precious ratification is still missing before we celebrate our protocol. It won’t be long as Togo has also sent today its instrument of ratification to AU by express mail.
The protocol will enter into force thirty days (30) after the deposit of the 15th instrument of ratification.

Our follow up committees continue the work. We will keep you informed of new development. Don’t hesitate to let us know about your action.

Yours sincerely,

Women in Law and Development in Africa/ Femmes, Droit et Développement en Afrique (WiLDAF/FeDDAF) West Africa sub-regional office
info@wildaf-ao.org / wildaf@cafe.tg

To keep up to date on signatures and ratification, go to www.africa-union.org and check Treaties, conventions and Protocols etc. under Official Documents section.

Global: Digital dangers – ICTS and trafficking in women

2005-10-26

http://www.oneworld.net/link/gotoarticle/addhit/120849/66/42633

It seems unlikely that whoever coined the term 'information superhighway' anticipated that the traffic on the internet would be in people, as well as information. How, and how much, the internet and other ICTs are implicated in trafficking is the subject of this issue paper by The Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) produced in cooperation with The Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID).

Global: Gender mainstreaming in conflict transformation – bringing sustainable peace

2005-10-26

http://www.civicus.org/new/media/BuildingSustainablePeace.pdf

This is the latest title in the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Gender Mainstreaming Series, which highlights Commonwealth Secretariat and partners’ work in the area of peace and conflict management. This publication brings together a body of work into an advocacy, capacity-building and policy tool to contribute to gender mainstreaming in all processes of conflict transformation and in building sustainable peace. It argues that gender equality needs to be placed on the policy and programme agenda of the entire spectrum of peace and conflict-related initiatives and activities in order to achieve conflict transformation.

Global: Peace negotiations still an all-boys club

2005-10-26

http://www.oneworld.net/link/gotoarticle/addhit/120887/66/42633

Despite being integral to the grassroots peace building process, women are all but excluded from formal negotiations and political decision making. There is no peace, security, or justice unless both genders are fully involved in all stages of the peace process, says researcher Elisabeth Porter.

Global: UN report identifies ways to address gender inequality in peacekeeping

2005-10-27

http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Women and Peace and Security aims to ensure women's full participation in all stages of a given peace process, including in the negotiation and implementation of peace agreements as well as the drafting and negotiation of constitutions. With the aim of strengthening the commitment and accountability of the United Nations to gender equality, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has issued a comprehensive plan for reinforcing and integrating women's issues into the world body's peacekeeping and post-conflict operations.

Africa/Global: The MDGs and human rights

2005-10-27

http://www.surjournal.org/eng/index.php

This essay on the website of Sur - International Journal on Human Rights deals with the intrinsic relationship between the Millennium Goals and Human Rights. It analyzes how countries – specifically those where hunger and poverty are rapidly increasing – should adopt the human rights discourse in order to demand the monitoring and the implementation of the Millennium Goals by 2015. It shows that, despite its alleged flaws, the Millennium Goals can greatly contribute to the advancement of the Human Rights agenda.

Burundi: Iteka denounces rights violations

2005-10-27

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49673

Burundi's human rights watchdog, Iteka, has expressed concern over increased attacks on civilians by the rebel Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) and human rights violations committed by the rebels and the country's defence forces. The government must act quickly to prosecute any element of the police and other security forces involved in "extrajudiciary executions, torture and inhuman treatment", Jean-Marie Vianney Kavumbagu, the leader of Iteka, said in a report issued on Wednesday in the capital, Bujumbura.

Global/Africa: Human Rights Watch Awards

2005-10-27

http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/10/25/global11921.htm

Human Rights Watch's highest honor in 2005, the Human Rights Defender Award, will go to three courageous human rights activists from around the globe whose efforts illustrate major human rights challenges in the world today. The three honorees for this year illustrate the limits of freedom of expression in the Middle East, the massive "ethnic cleansing" and injustice in Darfur, Sudan, and the plight of HIV/AIDS affected women in Africa. Human Rights Watch's global rights defender awardees for 2005 are: Omid Memarian, a journalist and web-blogger from Iran, Salih Mahmoud Osman, a lawyer and human rights activist from Darfur, and Beatrice Were, an advocate for the rights of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

Maldives: Trouble in Paradise

Media Release from the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 24th October 2005

2005-10-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/29971

In response to strong public protests, President Maumoon Gayoom of the Maldives has committed his government to bring about constitutional reform. However, despite these promises, international human rights and democratic norms continue to be regularly breached in the Maldives. The Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Ms. Maja Daruwala stated: "While it is positive to note that international players, including the Commonwealth Secretariat, are providing assistance behind the scenes, there is a disappointing lack of public statements condemning negative events in the Maldives. Continued silence implies acceptance of violation of human rights and risks damaging the Commonwealth's reputation whose membership is dependent on adherence to the principles of democracy and human rights articulated in the Harare Declaration."
Human Rights

Trouble in Paradise: What's Wrong in the Maldives?

Media Release from the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 24th October 2005

In response to strong public protests, President Maumoon Gayoom of the Maldives has committed his government to bring about constitutional reform. However, despite these promises, international human rights and democratic norms continue to be regularly breached in the Maldives. The Director of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative[1][1], Ms. Maja Daruwala stated: "While it is positive to note that international players, including the Commonwealth Secretariat, are providing assistance behind the scenes, there is a disappointing lack of public statements condemning negative events in the Maldives. Continued silence implies acceptance of violation of human rights and risks damaging the Commonwealth's reputation whose membership is dependent on adherence to the principles of democracy and human rights articulated in the Harare Declaration."

The Maldives is plagued by human rights violations and disregard for the principles of participatory democratic governance and the rule of law. The free press faces harassment - particularly when the government's actions are criticised - and civil society faces restrictions through delays in registering human rights NGOs. Concerns have been raised that the Human Rights Commission Act ratified in August does not conform to the international standards of the Paris Principles and may in effect diminish its authority and credibility. The positive step of allowing registration of political parties has been undermined by arrests that effectively target the opposition.

Of particular concern are issues of access to justice and fair trial standards. The Maldives criminal justice system has been indicted for "systematically failing to do justice and regularly doing injustice." Observers and studies done in the recent past including by top British barristers headed by Sir Ivan Lawrence QC have voiced serious concern about the lack of separation of powers and the fact that the President is in control of everything including the judiciary. In these circumstances, the 10 year sentence on charges of "terrorism" of Jennifer Latheef on 18th October is an indication of the problems with the judicial system. Ms. Latheef, 32, is an outspoken critic of President Gayoom's 27-year rule, an uncompromising advocate of human rights and civil liberties. She has been termed by Amnesty International as a "prisoner of conscience". Apart from being the human rights coordinator of the opposition Maldivian Democratic Party, she is also a well-known youth leader, writer and photojournalist.

Ms. Latheef's "terrorism" charge arose in connection with her participation in a demonstration in September 2003 to protest the custodial deaths of four young prisoners. Three others involved in the demonstration have already been sentenced to 11 years jail each. Charges include "the assault of a number of police officers, plus the torching of government buildings and an election office". Ms. Latheef denies all charges.

The trial itself has been mired in controversy. Six out of the seven prosecution witnesses against Ms. Latheef were police officers whose statements were not always consistent. One police officer, for instance, claimed that he saw Ms. Latheef throw a stone at him while he was walking away from her - and that it hit him on his shin, despite the fact that he had his back towards her. Despite such lack of credibility, the judge ruled that Ms. Latheef was guilty of terrorism, and has sentenced her to 10 years in jail. Ms. Latheef was immediately taken to the police headquarters before being transferred to prison, where she remains. Ms. Daruwala explained that the promised reforms in the Maldives are undermined by the lack of demonstrable progress, as well as lack of due process or adherence to standards of fair trial. Ms. Daruwala called for an urgent review of Ms Latheef's trial and stated: "It is hoped that following such blatant disregard for human rights, the international community will finally take decisive action in the Maldives. It is time for action by the Commonwealth in particular, or the association may face another situation like in Zimbabwe".

www.humanrightsinitiative.org

Rwanda: "Genocide mastermind" begins testifying

2005-10-27

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49705

The former director of the cabinet in the Rwanda's Ministry of Defence and alleged architect of the 1994 genocide began his testimony on Monday before the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha. Col Theoneste Bagosora, 64, denied that he masterminded the killings in Rwanda, which claimed the lives some 937,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

Rwanda: Canada Acts on Justice for the Victims of Rwanda’s Genocide

African Rights Statement

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/30031

African Rights welcomes the news that Désiré Munyaneza, a Rwandese citizen who played a significant role in the 1994 genocide, was arrested in Canada on Wednesday, 19 October. Munyaneza, arrested in Toronto and accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, is the first person to be charged under Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act passed five years ago. African Rights, which has long campaigned for genocide suspects to be tried in the country of asylum, commends the Canadian government’s decision to prosecute Munyaneza in Canada, rather than to deport him or to transfer him to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania.
Statement by African Rights

Canada Acts on Justice for the Victims of Rwanda’s Genocide
Désiré Munyaneza is Arrested in Toronto
More Genocide Suspects Remain at Liberty in Canada


For Immediate Release, 21 October 2005

For further information, contact Rakiya Omaar, Kigali: (office) (00 250) 501007

African Rights welcomes the news that Désiré Munyaneza, a Rwandese citizen who played a significant role in the 1994 genocide, was arrested in Canada on Wednesday, 19 October. Munyaneza, arrested in Toronto and accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, is the first person to be charged under Canada’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Act passed five years ago. African Rights, which has long campaigned for genocide suspects to be tried in the country of asylum, commends the Canadian government’s decision to prosecute Munyaneza in Canada, rather than to deport him or to transfer him to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania. “The trial of Désiré Munyaneza in Canada will provide an important platform to raise awareness about what happened in Rwanda in 1994”, commented the director of African Rights, Rakiya Omaar. She added that, “public acknowledgement of their suffering is the least of the debts we owe to the survivors of that genocide.”

African Rights, a human rights organization which has been documenting the genocide since 1994, has published a huge body of work on the genocide. It has also campaigned vigorously and consistently for the perpetrators to be brought to justice, wherever they may be. The group has long been aware of the allegations against Munyaneza, identified as a leader of the militiamen responsible for massacres, abductions, murder, torture, rape and extreme sexual violence against Tutsis in Ngoma, the urban commune in the préfecture of Butare.

Munyaneza was a friend and key ally of Shalom Arsène Ntahobali whose mother, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, was, ironically, the Minister of Family and Women’s Affairs in 1994. She used her authority and influence to plan, incite, organize and supervise a highly successful genocide of women, men and children. Nyiramasuhuko and Shalom relied upon Munyaneza to help them implement the genocide in Butare, together with his brother, Clément Munyagasheke. In so doing, Munyaneza also formed a close working relationship with the principal military officers and local government officials in charge of the genocide in Butare, namely Lt. Col. Tharcisse Muvunyi, head of the Junior Officers School (ESO); Captain Ildephonse Nizeyimana, Muvunyi’s deputy at ESO; Alphonse Nteziryayo, responsible for the Military Police and appointed governor of Butare later in the genocide; and Joseph Kanyabashi, the bourgmestre (mayor) of Ngoma commune. Each of these individuals, with the exception of Capt. Nizeyimana, has been indicted by the ICTR.

Known as a political extremist even before April 1994, Désiré Munyaneza distinguished himself during the 100 days of killings by his energy and dedication to the policy of massacres, and for the efficiency of his operations. One of his responsibilities was surveillance of the formidable network of roadblocks established throughout the town of Butare, and manned by militiamen wielding machetes, axes, nail-studded clubs and other instruments of death. Armed with a gun and wearing military uniform, Munyaneza gave orders to the militiamen at the roadblocks in front of Hotel Faucon, at the entrance to the National University and in front of the home of a certain Juvénal Bihira. He was also in close contact with the militia and soldiers who jointly manned the roadblock at the entrance of ESO. Anyone who was identified as a Tutsi was killed on the spot, or taken away and assassinated elsewhere.

A large number of refugees flooded the grounds of the primary school of the Episcopal Church of Rwanda (EER) towards the end of April. Many of them were survivors of massacres in communes neighbouring Ngoma. They had first gone to the office of the préfecture and were chased away. EER was located near the home of Pauline Nyiramasuhuko. Some of the refugees were abducted by Munyaneza and Shalom, using vehicles that belonged to their families. They were taken to the Institute for Scientific and Technological Research (IRST) near the University, felled by machetes and other traditional weapons and dumped in graves that had been prepared for them. The abductions from the EER continued for weeks, but were always led by Munyaneza and Shalom working in tandem, sometimes accompanied by gendarmes.

Munyaneza is also accused by witnesses and survivors of abducting Tutsis from the University Hospital, together with soldiers.

In addition to organized massacres, Munyaneza also targeted certain individuals. One of them is Marie Mukamuganga, 62, known as Maman Amina. She was much sought after by Munyaneza, who claimed that she was a descendant of the Tutsi royal family. The mother of five children, she lived in cellule Ngoma B in sector Ngoma. She was a good friend of Munyaneza’s mother, and her son and Munyaneza had been in the same class at school. She said Munyaneza helped her with drinks from his business when she organized festivities, and also loaned her tables and other items. But these ties did not shield Marie when the killings began. Munyaneza came to look for her on two occasions, but failed to find her. He came back a third time, together with some soldiers, after he learned that Marie’s son had returned to Butare from Kigali. Marie described the ordeal.

Désiré came with Shalom and some soldiers. They were very aggressive. I was in the sitting room with my son, his wife and their baby. Désiré asked me, “Where have you been?” Overwhelmed by fear, I replied that I myself didn’t know.” He told me that they had been looking for me for a long time, but in vain. He took three grenades out of his pocket. It was the first time that I had seen such a weapon. And in fact it was Désiré who told me what they were.

He grabbed me and started banging my head against the grill on the window. Even now my head still hurts. Some of my teeth started to come loose. I begged him not to hurt me, pointing out that I was an old woman, just like his mother. I added that it would be better if he just shot me.

While Munyaneza was dealing with Marie, his companions were beating up her son, asking him “to show them the interahamwe that he had brought from Kigali.” Marie and her son were then led out of their house.

They made us lie down by a stream in front of our house. Then they told us to get up. They took up positions facing us, standing in front of a neighbour’s house. They fired at us, but miraculously the bullets didn’t hit us. Then the gun jammed. Since the authorities of the préfecture had given an order that people shouldn’t be shot, but killed by other means, some officials came running to find out who had disobeyed their instructions. They arrived and started quarrelling with the militiamen. We took advantage of this to run for our lives.

African Rights has also gathered substantial evidence about Munyaneza’s complicity in the crime of rape and sexual violence, particularly among the women and girls who had sought refuge at the office of the préfecture. The refugees there led a life of unmitigated misery, stalked by hunger, torture, rape and abductions. One woman who spent several weeks there commented that, “Désiré, Shalom and a certain Ntakujenjeka, Mahenga’s son, specialized in rape.”

Désiré raped a lot of girls. Some of them have died. He used to take them behind the office of the préfecture, in a building used by Mirinko Plastics, and to Mahenga’s home.

Munyaneza’s name came up repeatedly in 2002-2003 when African Rights carried out research on rape and sexual violence during the 1994 genocide. Sadly, some of the victims have since died of HIV/AIDS, including Michelle (not her real name). Michelle was 17 in 1994 and lived in commune Huye with her parents and seven siblings. The whole family fled to Butare town at the start of the genocide, and decided to separate to increase their chances of survival. Michelle ended up at the office of the préfecture and stayed there for a month.

I was raped by a lot of men at the office of the préfecture. I remember about six of them, including Désiré and Clément, the sons of Munyagasheke. There was a man responsible for our safety, and he too raped me. Many of the girls and women there were also raped; they used to take us into the bush behind the buildings. The killers came every day and picked women out. The group of men who came varied from day to day. Sometimes they returned several times in one day. They were violent.

Michelle’s parents and five of her brothers and sisters perished in the genocide. She was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in early 2002 and died in 2004.

It is impossible to fathom the sense of loss that defines the lives of survivors, so thorough, intense and brutal was the 1994 genocide. Bringing the men and women who killed their loved ones, their friends and neighbours, and who have condemned them to a life of sorrow and loneliness, is a small but necessary gesture towards the survivors. Many of Munyaneza’s allies in 1994 are in the custody of the ICTR in Arusha, including Shalom, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, Muvunyi, Kanyabashi and Nteziryayo. But many other leading perpetrators of the 1994 genocide remain at large, some of them in Canada. African Rights is aware of other militiamen, academics, civil servants and clergy who committed genocide and acts against humanity, who are today living quiet lives in cities and towns throughout Canada. We hope that they too, like Désiré Munyaneza, will be charged and tried in Canadian courts.

Burundi/Rwanda: "Asylum seekers" need urgent relief aid, UN official says

2005-10-27

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49769

Some 1,110 Rwandans who have sought refuge in northern Burundi urgently need relief aid, an official of Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Tuesday. "They left the Gatsinda site in Ngozi [Province] as the head of the zone requested it considering their security was threatened," Catherine Lune-Grayson, the UNHCR public relations officer, said. "They are now at a site where there is not much for them."

Chad: Aid workers return to camps despite breakdown in talks with deserters

2005-10-27

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49751

Humanitarian groups assisting Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad have redeployed staff to camps in the Hadjer Hadid area despite a breakdown in talks between army deserters and the government. UNHCR and other aid groups a few days ago cut back their presence amid tension in the region, where the government said dozens of deserters had fled.

Spain/Morocco: The authorities must be held accountable for the violation of migrants' rights

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/30063

Amnesty International delegates have found numerous irregularities in the treatment of migrants, including possible asylum-seekers, during a 10-day mission to Spain and Morocco including the towns of Ceuta, Melilla, Oujda, Nador and Tangier. The delegates took testimonies from people fleeing poverty and repression mostly from central and west Africa who were trying to get into the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, either by sea or by climbing the barbed and razor wire protected fence around them.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
PRESS RELEASE


AI Index: EUR 41/016/2005 (Public)
News Service No: 288
26 October 2005

Embargo Date: 26 October 2005 09:00 GMT


Spain/Morocco: The authorities must be held accountable for the violation of migrants' rights
"You are nothing but Negroes. You must not ask questions."

C. M. from Mali told Amnesty International that he was addressed in this way by a law enforcement official in a police station in Melilla, Spain.


"It's a prison, not a centre. They don't let us out and it's dirty, they don't clean. There's 17 of us and only one soap. At night we only eat a little bowl of milk with some dates. We normally only eat at 1.00 pm and 18.00. It's because you (Amnesty International) are here that they're feeding us now."

A. L. from Mali in a detention centre in Tangier, Morocco.


(Madrid, Spain) Amnesty International delegates found numerous irregularities in the treatment of migrants, including possible asylum-seekers, during a 10-day mission to Spain and Morocco including the towns of Ceuta, Melilla, Oujda, Nador and Tangier. The delegates took testimonies from people fleeing poverty and repression mostly from central and west Africa who were trying to get into the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, either by sea or by climbing the barbed and razor wire protected fence around them.

In the face of the substantial and repeated human rights violations detected by the organization in Melilla and in Ceuta as well as in Morocco, Amnesty International urges both governments to immediately stop all expulsions and refoulement of all migrants and asylum-seekers of sub-Saharan origin.

In the past few weeks, as acknowledged by the authorities of both countries, scores of people have been injured and at least 11 killed while trying to cross into the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla when they were confronted by the law enforcement officials of both countries. Amnesty International is investigating other disputed cases. Hundreds more, including possible asylum-seekers, have been rounded up by the Moroccan authorities and placed in detention or forcibly removed.

"The evidence we saw showed that law enforcement officials used force which is both unlawful and disproportionate, including lethal weapons. They injured and killed people trying to cross the fence. Many of those seriously injured inside Spanish territory were pushed back through fence doors without any legal formality or medical assistance," said Javier Zúñiga, head of Amnesty International's delegation and Senior Advisor to Regional Programmes at the International Secretariat in London.

The rights of migrants and asylum-seekers, guaranteed under the Spanish law, are not respected between the two fences, even when they are effectively in the custody of Spanish law enforcement officials.

Dr. Francisco Etxebarria, a Spanish forensic expert and a member of Amnesty International's delegation, was able to examine injured people as well as photographic and other evidence which, he said, strongly pointed to the inappropriate use of crowd control measures and equipment. He said the law enforcement officials obviously lacked training on how to deal with the particular circumstances when people try en masse to cross the fences around Ceuta and Melilla.

Given the gravity and the frequency of the lesions suffered by the people who have tried to cross the fences, Amnesty International urges the authorities of both countries to establish and implement a specific protocol on the use of force for the law enforcement officials operating in this area. The provisions of this protocol must be made public.

Amnesty International also urges the authorities of both countries to ensure that the investigations conducted into the aforementioned events are thorough, prompt, independent and impartial, and that the results are made public. The onus of the proof, in conformity with international standards, must lay on the authorities of both countries and not on the victims nor on the non-governmental organizations working on their behalf.

Both the Spanish and Moroccan governments assured Amnesty International that their respective judicial authorities were investigating the deaths of people whose bodies were found on their own side of the border. However, Amnesty International noted that the authorities of both countries sought to apportion blame to the deaths of the other, or at least to deny that their security forces were criminally responsible. In the case of the at least four deaths which occurred at the border between Ceuta and Morocco on 29 September 2005, both governments told Amnesty International that the other was responsible for all of them.

"Spain and Morocco must investigate independently all deaths and injuries which occurred in the context of these events, including those at or near the Ceuta and Melilla fences, as well as others which may have occurred as the result of mistreatment of migrants and asylum-seekers forcibly removed from the area by Moroccan forces. The full results of those investigations should be made public and any officials found to have used unnecessary or excessive force should be held to account," Javier Zúñiga said.

"Unless the culture of impunity and denial is tackled, more people will be seriously injured, killed or expelled illegally and clandestinely."

To prevent further human rights violations, all the CCTV cameras placed on the fences should be put under judicial control and systematically monitored in order to detect possible human rights violations. Any person reasonably suspected of being responsible for such violations should be brought to justice, in conformity with international standards.

Amnesty International also gathered first-hand information about the hundreds of migrants, reportedly including dozens of asylum-seekers from west and central African countries who were rounded up by the Moroccan security forces in recent days and weeks and detained first in police or gendarmerie stations and then in military bases. The organization received numerous reports indicating that those held had been given no information regarding the possible length of their detention, nor had they been afforded the right to a lawyer and to appeal against their custody.

Amnesty International's delegates collected evidence confirming reports that hundreds of migrants, including possible asylum-seekers, were transported in buses, trucks and other vehicles to remote desert regions near the border with Algeria, and then ordered to walk across the frontier towards towns inside Algeria. People from west and central African countries told Amnesty International that they had been left with little or no supplies of food and water. One of them described how a man he travelled with had died of exhaustion as his group walked through the desert back into Morocco.

In its meeting with Moroccan authorities, Amnesty International made known its serious concern about the number of reports it had received of migrants and asylum-seekers being beaten on arrest and having documents issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) confiscated or destroyed by Moroccan security forces. The recent European Commission technical mission to Morocco found that "there are doubts as to whether Morocco is able to offer in practice effective protection to all those seeking protection inside its territory."

"Refugees have clear and established rights. Both Spain and Morocco must respect their obligations under international standards on the protection of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants. They must provide them with information about their rights, including access to a legal counsel, to seek asylum, and to appeal against a negative asylum decision as well as related administrative and judicial procedures and safeguards," Javier Zúñiga said.

"The Spanish and Moroccan authorities in particular must allow the UNHCR to play a full role in the protection of asylum-seekers, and must also respect the personal documents issued by this organization to them by UNHCR."

The European Union's (EU) response to the latest crisis is almost exclusively centred on controlling illegal immigration. The report of the recent EU technical mission acknowledges the lack of adequate refugee protection in Morocco. However, the EU's recommendations are wholly inadequate in terms of ensuring the level of refugee protection that EU countries are obliged to offer under international law, ending labour exploitation of undocumented migrants and in helping poorer countries to address the root causes of irregular migration. Amnesty International is particularly concerned by recommendations put forward by the European Union aiming at enhancing migration controls in countries, such as RDC Congo or Côte d'Ivoire, where there are massive human rights abuses.

The EU's approach is also clearly not ensuring the safety and dignity of migrants who may not qualify as refugees under the Geneva Convention criteria but whose human rights nevertheless deserve to be protected.

"Europe must find collective solutions to a problem to which it has contributed, ones that ensure that people are not killed or injured at EU borders, and that those wishing to claim asylum can do so freely," Javier Zúñiga said.

Cases

- J.P., a man in his twenties, fled extreme poverty in Cameroon over a year ago. He made his way to Morocco through Nigeria, Niger and Algeria to Melilla. The first time he entered the Spanish enclave, he made it to the Commissariat where migrants can register and get legal assistance. However, J.P. was expelled immediately to Morocco. The second time he managed to enter Melilla, the Spanish Guardia Civil beat him and shot at him with rubber bullets from about two metres distance before turning him back. The third time he stormed the fence of the enclave with other migrants, but was expelled again back to Morocco from where the Moroccan authorities expelled him to an area at the border between Morocco and Algeria near the town of Oujda. While in the wilderness, migrants are often beaten and robbed by the Moroccan Auxiliary Forces. At the moment, J.P. is in hiding in Oujda and planning to go back to Melilla and try, once more, to gain entry.

- X and Y are among 500 other West Africans detained at a military compound in Northern Morocco. Six to seven men share each tent while new arrivals are brought in every day. They are given food and water, but there is no medication available on the compound. Both men say they have not been given access to legal counsel, nor have been informed of the reasons or length of their detention. They say they are willing to be repatriated but demand to be released immediately.

- Twenty-three-year old T. S. fled his native Côte d'Ivoire in 2003 after gunmen killed his father and brother in their home. He received refugee status in neighbouring Mali in June 2004. After several months in Mali, he travelled overland to Algeria and then to the Moroccan capital of Rabat. A week later he was arrested in a police raid on the house where he was renting a room. He was taken with dozens of West African migrants to the border and told to walk into Algeria. The policemen refused to acknowledge his refugee status. In Algeria, the group he was with was intercepted and searched by the Algeria military and told to go back to Morocco. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Casablanca confirmed T. S.'s refugee status in November 2004. After being unable to find work, he attempted to climb the fence at Melilla on 9 September 2005 with about 30 other people but, he says, he was the only one who succeeded in crossing into the Spanish enclave. On 19 September 2005 he applied for asylum. At the moment he is in a centre for migrants and asylum-seekers administered by the Spanish authorities.


Public Document
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Sudan: Refugees sharpen their skills as they prepare to return home

2005-10-27

http://tinyurl.com/8bh49

In the scorching heat of Kakuma refuge camp, in north-west Kenya, Sudanese refugees are upbeat about returning home. The majority of them have been living in this camp for more than a decade. Most of the children have never set foot in their home country. They only hear about Sudan from stories repeated by their parents and older brothers and sisters.

Uganda: new displacement as LRA attacks resurge

2005-10-27

http://www.idpproject.org/weekly_news/weekly_news.htm#1

The Global IDP Project says Northern and eastern Uganda is seeing a resurgence of attacks against civilians by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), even in areas that had experienced relative calm for over a year, raising fears that the 19-year conflict with the Ugandan government may be far from over. In one recent attack in the Katakwi district of eastern Uganda, the LRA burned huts and looted food stocks, causing nearly 600 residents of a nearby IDP camp to flee in fear of further attacks.

Liberia: George and Ellen vie for allies and voters ahead of run-off

2005-10-27

http://tinyurl.com/ab5k3

With less than two weeks to go before a presidential run-off, soccer legend George Weah and former finance minister Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf are vying for the backing of the 20 candidates eliminated in the first round. And their supporters. Under the watchful eye of UN peacekeepers and Liberian police, electoral officials on Wednesday announced the final results of the 11 October ballot and confirmed that no-one had won the required absolute majority.

Malawi: Leader under fire as ex-party tries to impeach him

2005-10-27

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3740547.stm

Bingu wa Mutharika has nursed ambitions of ruling Malawi since the Hastings Kamuzu Banda dictatorship began to unravel in 1993. But having achieved his goal last year, he could now become the first African president to be impeached. His career began when Mr Banda, Malawi's founding father, became president in 1964. Mr Mutharika became the first Malawian administrator in the civil service, which was then still dominated by the British. But during the so-called "cabinet crisis" in the same year, he fled Malawi for fear that Mr Banda would associate him with the rebelling ministers.

South Africa: 'Things may just snap' in the ANC

2005-10-27

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=254657&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

The African National Congress needs to find a "far more dignified" way of dealing with the succession issue, business magnate and former party heavyweight Tokyo Sexwale said October 23. "What we are seeing with the [Jacob] Zuma/Thabo Mbeki debacle is less than dignified," he told an Institute for Justice and Reconciliation symposium in Cape Town. "I think we can do better. Beware also the law of unintended consequences. Things may just snap." He said he thinks the ANC needs to give better guidance to the nation about its transition and succession policies.

Tanzania: Zanzibar completes voter verification ahead of elections

2005-10-27

http://tinyurl.com/8ptwj

The Zanzibar Electoral Commission announced on Wednesday that verification of the voters' registers had been completed ahead of Sunday's general election. "The verification of the voter's register was completed on 22 October in the Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam," Masauni Yussuf Masauni, chairman of the commission, told reporters. Zanzibar merged with the mainland state of Tanganyika to form Tanzania in 1964, shortly after independence from the United Kingdom. It elects its own president who is head of government for matters internal to the island. Zanzibar also has its own House of Representatives to make laws especially for it.

Uganda: Besigye is back, registers

2005-10-27

http://www.monitor.co.ug/news/news10271.php

Dr Kizza Besigye, the leader of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change, returned home, ending his four-year exile in South Africa. Besigye, whose return date was forced by the Electoral Commission's October 28 deadline for registration of voters, was also registered on the same day at the FDC's offices in Najjanankumbi. He will vote at his home polling station at Southern Ward, Rukungiri Town Council. The retired colonel, whom the government has accused of possible involvement with a shadowy rebel group, the People's Redemption Army, said he would not renounce armed rebellion as President Museveni had demanded in the past.

Zimbabwe: MDC head disowns rebel candidates

2005-10-27

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4378406.stm

Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has distanced himself from Movement for Democratic Change members who registered as election candidates. This week 26 MDC members registered to stand in Senate elections next month. Mr Tsvangirai had earlier announced the MDC would not field candidates. The dispute over the Senate election has left the MDC in its worst-ever crisis. Mr Tsvangirai's spokesman, William Bango, said state security services were sowing divisions in the MDC.

Africa: International donor agencies and corruption

Research abstract

2005-10-26

http://www.idd.bham.ac.uk/staff/staff%20publications/h-marquette/pdf%202.pdf

"Market capitalism looks to regulated market economies and stable growth to expand and this in turn assumes states committed to economic liberalisation and the reduction in the barriers to trade. Such preconditions are assumed achievable through the promotion of democratisation...As agencies who espouse a strong ethical stance internationally, corruption has appeared to be a highly visible reform issue for them during the 1990s. In spite of - or because of - such attention, levels of corruption appear to continue to rise... and become more entrenched... This will force them to face the question of whether corruption may be an integral component of the model and whether they either confront the risks associated with it, or start to ignore corruption in favour of some wider agenda objectives that have less to do with international ethics and more to do with international realities of market capitalism."

Botswana: Botswana least corrupt in the world

2005-10-26

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=119006&src=dcn

Transparency International has once more rated Botswana as among the worlds least corrupt countries, with an overall score and ranking. A statement from the Office of the President says this was confirmed Tuesday, at the launch of the Transparency International 2005 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) in London. In the survey, Botswana was listed among the top 20 per cent of countries considered to be least corrupt. It was also ranked as the least corrupt middle income country in the world as well as the least corrupt country in Africa.

Malawi: Former Malawi president faces corruption charges

2005-10-26

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=119045&src=dcn

Bakili Muluzi, Malawi's former president, is to appear before the Anti Corruption Bureau in Blantyre on allegations of corruption involving donor funds. It is alleged that Muluzi embezzled 1.4 billion kwacha in donor funds during his reign as president. Sam Ntasu, his spokesperson, says the allegations are unfounded. He says the said funds were personal donations from business associates to enable Muluzi to campaign for his party, the United Democratic Front ( UDF). Ntasu says the developments are just a ploy to discredit the former president.

Nigeria: 'Corruption is Nigeria's Major Problem'

Independent Advocacy Project press release

2005-10-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/corruption/29990

As salacious details of the corruption scandal involving the former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun, Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and others continue to unravel, Nigerians have identified corruption as the nation's number one problem. The findings of the Nigerian Corruption Index (NCI), a new survey conducted by Independent Advocacy Project (IAP), the good governance group, reveals that 58 per cent of respondents say corruption is the nation's major problem while 42 per cent say it is a major problem. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Nigerian Police ranked highest among the top three institutions where bribes are most likely to be demanded. The two other institutions are the Customs and Excise Department and the National Electric Power Authority, now known as the Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria (PHCN). Reported incidence of bribery was also highest among the Nigerian Police.
'Corruption is Nigeria's Major Problem'

Independent Advocacy Project press release

Lagos: 18 October, 2005. As salacious details of the corruption
scandal involving the former Inspector General of Police, Mr. Tafa
Balogun, Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and others
continue to unravel, Nigerians have identified corruption as the
nation's number one problem. The findings of the Nigerian Corruption
Index (NCI), a new survey conducted by Independent Advocacy Project
(IAP), the good governance group, reveals that 58 per cent of
respondents say corruption is the nation's major problem while 42 per
cent say it is a major problem. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Nigerian
Police ranked highest among the top three institutions where bribe is
most likely to be demanded. The two other institutions are the Customs
and Excise Department and the National Electric Power Authority, now
known as the Power Holding Corporation of Nigeria (PHCN). Reported
incidence of bribery was also highest among the Nigerian Police.

NCI empirically highlights the magnitude of corruption and underscores
its adverse effect on democracy, development and governance. It
captures corruption as experienced by ordinary Nigerians in their
interaction with officials of government establishments. Survey
respondents provided information on organisations where they have
encountered bribery, where they paid bribes, how much and for what.
The survey evaluates the average Nigerian's daily encounters with
corruption in terms of frequency, severity, size, financial and social
costs.

Instructively, of the 32 organizations considered for this study,
reported incidence of bribery was highest among the Nigerian Police
(96%), the National Electric Power Authority now known as Power
Holding Corporation of Nigeria (83%), Customs and Excise Department
(65%), and the Federal Ministry of Education (63%).


Presenting the survey in Lagos today, Mr. Babatunde Olugboji, IAP
Chairman and Africa Policy Expert at Christian Aid, the London-based
development agency pointed out that the findings of the survey has
again highlighted the enormity of the corruption problem, and called
on government to heed the voice of the people by taking urgent steps
to address the problem. Corrupt practices drain government coffers,
street level or petty corruption infests public offices and the police
force, where money is exchanged for licenses and other permits or
officials could be bribed to ignore 'inconvenient' laws and
regulations.

'The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may be
pouring encomiums on the federal government for fighting corruption,
but Nigerians who dip into their meagre income as bribes are telling
the federal government that is not doing enough to fight corruption.
While investigations being carried out by the EFCC (Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission) are excellent avenues of fighting
corruption, such investigations needs to be systematic, systemic and
methodical for them to be momentous, says Olugboji.


Survey respondents say existing punishment for corrupt officials are
inadequate. Confiscation of properties acquired through corrupt
practices (57%), outright ban from contesting – or being appointed
into - public office (55%) and extended jail terms (45%) were
mentioned as key measures through which the federal government can
effectively combat corruption.

Incidence of Corruption

Consistently, police collecting bribes (40%) and PHCN officials
demanding gratifications before rendering services (19%) appear to be
the leading forms of corruption noticed in public institutions. Among
the institutions where one is least likely to pay a bribe to obtain
service however is the Ministry of Justice (12%).

Out of the 32 organizations considered for this study, only about
seven were not significantly ranked as places where the average
Nigerian may need to give bribes in order to enjoy services provided
(those with total scores lower than 20%). The Nigerian Police (96%),
PHCN (83%), Customs & Excise (65%), Education Ministry (63%),
Immigrations and the Passport office were ranked as most likely place
bribe will be required to obtain services.

The 'External' Factor

Olugboji says that in many cases however, high-level corruption is
helped along considerably by the nation's Western partners.
International banks have allowed embezzled funds to be held in secret
foreign accounts. By some estimates, some $30 billion in Nigerian
flight capital has been deposited in European and North American
banks.

'Foreign firms eager to sell their goods have bribed ministers or
tacked 'commissions' for high officials onto contracts or investment
agreements. In some Western nations, bribing foreigners for business
purposes is legal and even a legitimate tax deduction. There is need
for Nigeria to work collaboratively with other countries to tackle the
supply side of corruption, as Western companies have often colluded
with Nigerian officials to fuel corruption in the country.'

Northern donors have become increasingly vocal about corruption in
Southern countries, asking countries like Nigerian to clean themselves
up. However, these Northern donors continue to ignore the
contributions of the multinational corporations to worldwide
corruption, and have refused to change their own policies, or to make
tackling corruption a priority. Indeed, they continue to support
corrupt Southern elites who are willing to back Northern priorities on
economic liberalisation, including the so called free trade and the
downsizing of the state, and willing allies in the ill defined global
fight against terrorism. Evidence has been mounting for some time that
the economic liberalisation policies required of Southern countries by
Northern donors have coincided with, and even led to, increased levels
of corruption.

In the UK for instance, offshore centres have become outstanding
places to launder the proceeds of crime and corruption, owing to the
secrecy surrounding their operations. They have been implicated in
almost all money-laundering schemes. In 1996, the IMF estimated that
US$500 billion - between two to five per cent of global Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) - is laundered offshore every year. In 1999, this
figure, according to the IMF, rose to between US$590 and $1,500
billion. A 1997 UN report also calculated that laundered global
revenues from corruption, fraud, pornography and prostitution stood at
between $500 billion and $1,000 billion. Arms dealers also often use
offshore bank accounts to conceal their tracks.

'It is time for Nigeria to ratify and domesticate the Africa Union
anti corruption convention, it is time Olusegun Obasanjo regime took
concrete – not cosmetic measures – to tackle corruption, it is time
EFCC systematically, not selectively, investigated corruption cases,'
concludes Olugboji.

Sao Tome & Principe: Avoiding the oil curse: Can Sao Tome legislation protect oil revenues?

2005-10-26

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=119046&src=dcn

Take profits from billions of barrels of offshore oil, divide them among a population of just 150,000, and this dirt-poor archipelago of flimsy wooden shacks could be transformed into one of the world's affluent petro-states. Factor in the potential for war, conflict or corruption - painful realities in many oil-rich African nations - and the dream of development can quickly become a nightmare, reports Associated Press.

Africa: ACP Group proposes lower tariff cuts for developing countries

2005-10-27

http://www.ourworldisnotforsale.org/showarticle.asp?search=857

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of countries in the WTO on Friday 21 October submitted a proposal on market access in agriculture, with its own set of thresholds in the tariff reduction formula for developed and developing countries, and with suggested tariff reduction rates for developing countries. The ACP paper was presented by the Group coordinator, Mauritius, at an informal agriculture meeting on market access held at the WTO Friday morning. The proposal was supported by many members of the Group, while several other developing countries welcomed the fact that the ACP Group was engaging in the process with its own proposal.

Africa: Africa faces bitter harvest as WTO subsidy talks stall

2005-10-26

http://www.tradeobservatory.org/index.cfm?RefID=77183

Tony Blair is running out of time on achieving the third and most controversial part of the 'Marshall Plan for Africa' he promised earlier this year: trade justice. With just weeks to go before critical World Trade Organisation talks in Hong Kong, Europe and the US are in deadlock over how far they should open up their markets to farmers from poor countries - and what they will demand from the rest of the world in return.

Africa: African cotton countries demand concrete results at Hong Kong

2005-10-25

http://www.twnside.org.sg

Representatives of the West African cotton-producing countries have demanded a concrete resolution of the cotton problem at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference, as well as a clear indication now that this will be the case, if they are to have any stake in outcomes of the Conference. Speaking to the press at the WTO on Wednesday, the West African countries said that in the absence of such concrete results, the developed countries whose policies have led to the cotton crisis will be responsible if the cotton countries are unable to accept an overall deal in Hong Kong.

Africa: Forgetting make poverty history

2005-10-27

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/article322382.ece

The UK's Independent newspaper asks if anyone remembers Make Poverty History. It seems a long time ago that some 200,000 people flocked to Edinburgh to rally G8 leaders as part of an unprecedented campaign for global justice. That same day, 2 July, Bob Geldof organised free music concerts in nine countries under the Live8 banner. The demands were straightforward and reasonable: rich countries should boost aid in line with their unmet 35-year-old promises; cancel the debts of the 62 poorest countries; set dates for the abolition of subsidies and other protectionist support to Western farmers, and stop forcing liberalisation and privatisation on poor countries, whether in trade negotiations or as conditions of aid and debt deals. Six days later, in the shadow of the 7 July bombs that ripped through central London, the Gleneagles summit ended to rock-star cheers. But as the millions who signed up to Make Poverty History (MPH) and Live8 rejoiced, inside the upper echelons of MPH all hell was breaking loose. "They've shafted us," a press officer from a British development organisation screamed down the phone. Read the rest of this article from The Independent in the UK by clicking on the URL provided.

Africa: Television and development

2005-10-27

http://www.saiia.org.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=721

The latest edition of e-Africa, the electronic publication of the South African Institute of International Affairs focuses on the development potential of television. "Television is one of the most misused, but potentially positive forces for change. It has the potential - through news, discussion shows, dramas, and various forms of educational programmes - to get Africa talking about its most pressing problems and needed solutions. And by showing that it is okay to talk about problems, television can help foster faster progress."

Global: Diversity in donorship - the changing landscape of official humanitarian aid

2005-10-27

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC19046

This research briefing considers the growth of non-Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors in providing assistance during crises and natural disasters. A growth in the number of non-DAC donors has challenged views that only rich industrialised countries provide such aid. The Briefing found that a growing diversity of non-DAC donors remains under-appreciated in debates on humanitarian action, as well as in broader developmental agendas; this growth has led to a revision of fundraising and partnership strategies within operational agencies, as donors such as the Gulf States add a new dimension to the politics surrounding aid.

Nigeria: Paris Club meetig over debt cancellation

2005-10-25

http://www.clubdeparis.org/en/index.php

The representatives of the Paris Club creditor countries met on 18, 19 and 20 October 2005 and agreed with the representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on a comprehensive treatment of its debt. This agreement implements the debt treatment framework for Nigeria announced by the Paris Club on 29 June 2005. The representatives of the Paris Club creditor countries welcomed the ambitious economic program implemented by the Nigerian authorities since 2003 and their desire to secure an exit treatment from the Paris Club. This agreement takes place after the approval by the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund of the Policy Support Instrument (PSI) on 17 October 2005 and includes a debt reduction under Naples terms on eligible debts and a buy back at a market-related discount on the remaining eligible debts after reduction.

Africa: Aids orphans 'may top 18m'

2005-10-26

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4373576.stm

UN charity Unicef says 18 million children in sub-Saharan Africa could be orphaned by Aids by the end of 2010. It also says that every minute, a child is infected with HIV and another child dies from an Aids-related illness. The charity says children are being overlooked in the global fight against HIV and Aids.

Africa: Implications of Health Sector Reforms for Sexual and Reproductive Health Services

2005-10-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/30001

The Initiative for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Health Sector Reforms is an international research, capacity building and advocacy project (also known as the Rights and Reforms Initiative). It aims to promote health sector reforms that are conducive to implementing the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development's (ICPD) Programme of Action, are driven by in-country actors, and are responsive to the needs of the people of the country, especially poor women.
Implications of Health Sector Reforms for Sexual and Reproductive Health
Services

The Initiative for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Health
Sector Reforms is an international research, capacity building and advocacy
project (also known as the Rights and Reforms Initiative). It aims to
promote health sector reforms that are conducive to implementing the 1994
International Conference on Population and Development's (ICPD) Programme of
Action, are driven by in-country actors, and are responsive to the needs of
the people of the country, especially poor women.

The Initiative is coordinated by the Women's Health Project/School of Public
Health in Johannesburg, South Africa, and led by an international team based
in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. The Rights and Reforms
team is made up of researchers (NGOs and individuals) and regional sexual
and reproductive health and rights networks.

The main purpose of the Initiative is to strengthen understanding amongst
activists and decision-makers of the role of global social and economic
changes and specifically of health sector reforms (HSR) in facilitating or
undermining efforts to achieve sexual and reproductive rights in health
policies and programmes.

The first phase of the Rights and Reforms Initiative (2002-2004) focused on
strengthening the knowledge base regarding the impact of HSR on women's
access to sexual and reproductive health services. Three research teams from
Africa, Asia and Latin America respectively carried out a systematic review
of information sources on each of six issues related to HSR, namely:

a.. Financing,
b.. Public-Private Interactions,
c.. Priority-Setting,
d.. Decentralization,
e.. Integration of services and
f.. Community Participation and Accountability.

Three regional papers on each of the six topics were produced, except for a
paper on Integration of services in Africa. The regional papers on each
topic were subsequently integrated into a 'global' paper on each topic and
are published in the book, The Right Reforms? Health Sector Reforms and
Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Additional project materials include policy briefs on each of the topics -
highlighting key issues and recommending further research needs and possible
areas for advocacy; three regional volumes and a training manual. All of the
materials can be accessed at www.wits.ac/whp/rightsandreforms.htm

Africa: Stephen Lewis slates Live 8/rich country aid

2005-10-26

http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/stop-imf/2005q4/001143.html

UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis on Sunday criticized rich nations for failing to deliver adequate aid to Africa, CBC News reports. Lewis also recently launched a book titled "Race Against Time." In the book, Lewis criticizes musician Bob Geldof for using the "hype" surrounding the Live 8 concerts in July to allow the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations to promote a "wholly inadequate" aid package for Africa as a "major triumph of international consensus and generosity," the Ottawa Citizen reports.

Africa: USAID Launches Global Health E-Learning Center

2005-10-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/29985

The USAID Global Health Bureau announces the new Global Health E-Learning Center. The Center offers a series of health and population e-learning courses that will cover a wide range of public health issues.
USAID Launches Global Health E-Learning Center

The USAID Global Health Bureau announces the new Global Health
E-Learning Center. The Center offers a series of health and population
e-learning courses that will cover a wide range of public health
issues.

Six beginning course offerings are now available:

-Antenatal Care
-IUD
-Logistics for Health Commodities
-Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage
-Standard Days Method
-Tuberculosis Basics

The e-learning courses will:

-Provide useful and timely continuing education for professionals
interested in health and population issues

-Offer state-of-the-art technical content on key public health topics

-Serve as a practical resource for increasing public health knowledge

To access the Global Health E-learning Center
and courses, visit the Web site at www.globalhealthlearning.org

Burkina Faso: Putting ARVs on TAP

2005-10-26

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30738

For Zenabo Nikieme, a Burkinabé woman who has been HIV-positive since 2000, the future once again offers a glimmer of hope. Last year it was a very different story -- something that prompted her to pen an open letter to Burkina Faso's Minister of Health. "I'm an HIV-positive widow and I have three children," wrote the 35-year-old fruit vendor from the capital of Ouagadougou, who was advised to begin taking anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs).

Malawi: Malawi Facing Widespread Famine Because of HIV/AIDS Prevalence

2005-10-26

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=33182

Malawi is "teetering on the brink" of what could become by January a widespread famine, caused by the "lethal combination" of HIV/AIDS and drought, Toronto's Globe and Mail reports (Nolen, Globe and Mail, 10/18). Many people in Malawi survive on subsistence farming, but an estimated 900,000 of the country's 12 million people are HIV-positive, a situation that exacerbates the "vicious cycle of poverty, hunger and disease," the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports.

South Africa: Controversial vitamin seller expands project

2005-10-26

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20031320

The Rath Foundation, which promotes its vitamins as a cure for AIDS and encourages HIV positive people to abandon their antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, has set its sights on the Eastern Cape. In the past few weeks, Rath Foundation pamphlets condemning ARVs as “toxic” have been distributed in Frere and Cecilia Makiwane hospitals, according to a doctor working in the hospitals who asked not to be identified.

Africa: Computer network to link 600,000 African schools

2005-10-27

http://www.ethpress.gov.et/Herald/articleDetail.asp?articleid=23859

At least 600,000 schools in Africa will be connected to one another via a computer network that can help African kids catch up with the latest developments in science and technology, Xinhua news agency reported. The first phase of the programme would be rolled out in 20 countries including South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda, Mali and Cameroon, South Africa's government news agency BuaNews said Tuesday. The programme is part of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) e-School initiative, which aims to equip all African primary and secondary schools with computers, radio and television sets, phones and fax machines, digital cameras, and to connect them to the internet.

Africa: Education of nomadic peoples of East Africa

2005-10-27

http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=43173&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Six per cent of Africans still lead a nomadic lifestyle. Marginalized by their highly mobile and harsh way of life, nomadic communities pose a particular challenge for education. The two volumes of Education of Nomadic Peoples in East Africa brings together disparate views and experiences in providing education for nomadic communities. The ‘Synthesis Report’ was carried out in 2001-02 in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda. It looks into the challenges and opportunities for using education to meet the development needs of nomadic communities. The ‘Review of Recent Literature’ discusses the two juxtaposing views of pastoral nomadism presenting a thorough examination of available sources that allows readers to make up their own minds.

Cote D'Ivoire: Rebels to organise children's exams after three-year break

2005-10-27

http://tinyurl.com/9cvvu

Rebels who control the north of Cote d'Ivoire have announced plans to begin organising exams for children living in their territory, where education systems ground to a halt three years ago. "We have decided that we will organise exams because the national minister for education has refused to, in what we consider to be cultural genocide," Mamadou Togba told IRIN. Hundreds of thousands of students have been unable to sit annual school examinations since the country was split in two by war following an attempted coup in September 2002.

Namibia: Growing controversy over teen pregnancy

2005-10-27

http://tinyurl.com/76xpb

Ndjianje Tjiraure, 16, always excelled as a student at Ashipena High School in Katutura, Namibia's oldest black suburb. But her hopes of becoming an engineer were dashed when she fell pregnant and gave birth to a boy last November, thanks to an education policy that requires teenage mothers to take at least a year off school to care for their babies. "The authorities learnt of my pregnancy in the third month and expelled me," Tjiraure, who was in Grade 9 at the time of her pregnancy, told IRIN. "I have been told that I can only be admitted in school next year." Statistics on young mothers like Tjiraure are not available, but she is not the only casualty of the policy Namibia adopted in October 1999.

South Africa: Expose learners to science careers at early age

2005-10-27

http://www.buanews.gov.za/view.php?ID=05102617151001&coll=buanew05

Exposing learners to a wide range of prospective careers in science at primary school level could help increase interest in science studies while empowering the youth to help the country deal with modern technological developments. This was a shared sentiment of delegates attending the Youth into Science Strategy (YSS) National Consultative Conference which ended in South Africa on 27 October. The conference was attended by representatives from sectors such as science councils and centres, government departments, non-governmental organisations and institutions of higher learning, among others. They spent two days exploring ways to rekindle young people's interest in the fields of maths and science.

Zimbabwe: Teachers urge free ARVs as AIDS thins their ranks

2005-10-27

http://tinyurl.com/cg3yh

Teachers in Zimbabwe have urged the government to provide free AIDS treatment after a survey revealed the profession was struggling with the highest infection rates in the country. According to a report by the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), the country lost 566 teachers to AIDS-related illnesses last year. In the first six months of 2005, the death toll had already hit 362. "We have lost more than 1,000 teachers across the country in the last 18 months. Many more are infected or affected and are suffering in silence. It is estimated that 25 percent of teachers are living with AIDS. The majority of schools in Zimbabwe have lost at least one teacher to the disease and at least two to three teachers are on AIDS-related sick leave," said the report.

Africa: Does ''Race and Racism in Africa'' need further discussion'?

2005-10-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/racism/29970

The recent Darfur crisis raises the isse of colonial race legacies in Africa. The issue is that many topics and subjects are covered daily, but that of racism seems to be more sensitive. However, inherent aspects of race keep coming up in communinities across Africa. Is it about time that more discussions are had about race and racism in Africa?
Global/Africa: Does 'Race and Racism in Africa' need further discussion?

Information technology has made the sharing and accessibility of information easier and faster. This is evident in the ever-increasing daily online news publications. However, many subjects such as 'Racism' are still controversial and difficult to articulate. The question is, does the topic of racism need further discussion?

The African Studies Centre at the University of Pennsylvania seems to think it does. The Association for Concerned Africa Scholars (ACSA) is calling for papers on 'Race and Racism in Africa', with particular focus on the impact of imperial legacies on present times.

Jesse Benjamin, editor of the ACSA bulletin in Pennsylvania, says that the recent crisis in Darfur has ''resurrected a racial language against Black Africans as the victims''. Furthermore, Benjamin states that the crisis illustrates and reveals the following points:

1.Presently in post-colonial Africa, race and racism are still a cause of many social tensions;

2.Racial categorization constructed in colonial times to divide people into camps along race lines are still ongoing,

3.Slavery and colonial terminology is still in use in much of the continent.

Benjamin says that she hopes the papers will explain why some Africans continue to deny their African identity. When asked of their roots, many still refer to their non -African and Arab descent.

South Africa, the Western Cape in particular, has had its share of allegations of racism in the media. The ACSA papers would in fact be instrumental in understanding these race related-problems. Recent reports over the mayoral spokesperson calling 'coloured' people lazy sparked controversy. More significantly, has been an acrimonious debate about racism in the judiciary.

Although the ACSA papers' deadline was on 23 October 2005, more discussion and deliberation needs to continue on this sensitive topic or else Africans will willingly be a product of colonial constructs for a long time to come.

Jesse Benjamin is a bulletin editor of ACSA and more details on the papers can be obtained from http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Current_Events/acasbull1005.html

Further information on issues referred to in this article can be found at: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_1821840,00.html

* Posted by Mandlakazi Moetsoledi, Fahamu student intern.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Ethiopia: Japan declines Ethiopian dam project

2005-10-25

http://www.africaintelligence.com/ion/default.asp

Although it was initially interested, the Japanese Kajima finally did not reply to the call for tenders issued by the Ethiopian Electric Power Corp. (EEPCo) for the construction of a hydroelectric dam for a 96 MW power station on the river Neshi, in the East Wollega region of Oromia Regional State. Only 3 firms submitted bids: the Turkish Enka, the Italian Salini and the Chinese Gezhouba Water and Power Group. Salini is already very active in Ethiopia. The group built, with funding from the European Investment Bank and the Italian government, the Gilgel Gibe Dam (184 MW) and is currently building the second phase of the project, which will have a capacity of 428 MW. This summer, Salini also penned an agreement with EEPCo to build a 46 MW hydropower dam at Beles in the Amhara region in the northern part of the country.

Ghana: Field Officer sheds more light on drowning in NEWMONT-created dam

2005-10-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/29978

Richard Adjei-Poku, Field Officer of Kenyasi-based non-governmental organisation Guards of the Earth and the Vulnerable, has shed more light on the drowning in a dam created by Newmont, a gold mining company, operating in the Kenyasi area, in the Brong Ahafo region. He was speaking to newsmen at a press conference facilitated by Third World Network Africa on 21 October. He maintained how two of the villagers, in their attempt to cross a so-called bridge, became victims of the negligence of Newmont Gold Ghana Limited, which is the world's largest gold-producer.
Richard Adjei-Poku, Field Officer of Kenyasi-based non-governmental organisation Guards of the Earth and the Vulnerable, has shed more light on the drowning in a dam created by Newmont, a gold mining company, operating in the Kenyasi area, in the Brong Ahafo region. He was speaking to newsmen at a press conference facilitated by Third World Network Africa on 21 October.

He maintained how two of the villagers, in their attempt to cross a
so-called bridge, became victims of the negligence of Newmont Gold
Ghana Limited, which is the world's largest gold-producer.

The creation of the dam has disrupted community life by separating
villages that previously shared the water of the Subri River, which
has now been dammed. The effect is that people have to work seven
miles to visit the other side of the divided community or take their
chance by crossing the dam access.

In fact, access might just be a misnomer. The so-called route
consisted of heaps of sand deposited in the river Subri, separating
the Dokyikrom area from other communities. At some point, this
pseudo-bridge was going to create casualties—not to mention
fatalities.

Responding to questions by newsmen, Adjei-Poku suggested that these
recent deaths only served to highlight how critical it was for the
public to be aware of the operations of these multinational mining
companies, who had fallen foul of providing compensation for those
villagers whose lives they had made unsustainable.

Adjei-Poku argued that sustainability of the communities in which they
operate remains key as far as these companies were concerned.

Newmont has active mines in Canada, Bolivia, Australia, Indonesia—to
name but four. It has remained at the centre of much controversy by
civil society organizations working on mining ever since it came into
the country in 2003.

Global/Africa: Bird flu is heading for Africa and Middle East

2005-10-25

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=2426&language=1

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has warned that the deadly bird flu virus, H5N1, could arrive in Africa and the Middle East in weeks, carried by birds migrating from Asia. Following October 19th’s statement from the organization’s chief veterinary officer, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania have all imposed restrictions on poultry imports.

Global: Protect human health by protecting nature

2005-10-27

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9816318/

Defending the diversity of the world's animals and plants can go a long way toward protecting humans from diseases such as AIDS, Ebola and bird flu, scientists say. Deforestation and other human interruptions to biodiversity are exposing people to new diseases that originate in wildlife, said the international group Diversitas, urging governments to do more to protect nature.

Kenya/Uganda/Tanzania: Lake Victoria dropping to alarming levels

2005-10-25

http://www.fas.usda.gov/pecad/highlights/2005/09/uganda_26sep2005/

Water levels of Lake Victoria are extremely sensitive to moderate changes in rainfall over the lake and rain catchment basin, with the lake's large surface area making it the largest recharge source. The lake's only outlet is at Ripon Falls, located near Jinja Uganda, which is the natural topographic control that originally formed the lake. In 1954, Owens Falls Dam (later renamed Nalubaale) was commissioned downstream of Ripon Falls to generate hydroelectricity along the Victoria Nile river and became Uganda's largest power station.

South Africa: Climate research to be boosted

2005-10-25

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=2429&language=1

Africa's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases — South Africa — unveiled plans for a research and development strategy to address climate change this week at a national conference in Midrand. But, although South Africa's Department of Science and Technology says the strategy will help the country produce locally relevant findings on climate change that can feed into national policies, some local scientists are unimpressed with the conference.

Angola: National Assembly president accuses independent media of instigating a "new civil war"

2005-10-26

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70024/?PHPSESSID=54e03ebd001d1a53d6a18b98150edee3

On October 12, 2005, the President of Angola's National Assembly accused local independent media of instigating a new civil war in the country. Roberto de Almeida said independent newspapers and radio stations should be blamed for what he considered as instigation to the return of the war in Angola. Speaking to the government-controlled National Radio of Angola (NRA), De Almeida accused the media of irresponsibility and having a politic agenda focused on "bringing a new war among the Angolans."

Nigeria: Broadcasting authority allows private broadcasters to reopen

2005-10-26

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70023/?PHPSESSID=54e03ebd001d1a53d6a18b98150edee3

On 24 October 2005, Nigeria's broadcasting regulatory agency, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), authorized Daar Communications Limited, operators of Africa Independent Television (AIT) and RayPower FM, to reopen the stations, which were shut down the previous day over alleged unprofessional coverage of an airliner crash in which all 117 passengers and crew members died. The NBC announced at about 9:00 p.m. (local time) on 23 October that it was shutting down the operations of Nigeria's leading privately-owned radio and television stations because after the stations located the site of the crash of Bellview Airlines earlier that day, AIT broadcast close-up shots of decapitated body parts and announced on location that "there could be no survivors," when the competent authorities had not fully assessed the situation and when the families of the victims had not been informed.

Tunisia: Government urged to heed demands of “18 October Movement” hunger strikers

2005-10-26

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=15417

Reporters Without Borders has urged the Tunisian authorities to take account of the demands of eight opposition figures who began an indefinite hunger strike on 18 October to demand respect for freedom of expression and association in Tunisia and the release of all prisoners of conscience. The hunger strikers include Lotfi Hajji, the head of the Tunisian Journalists Union (SJT). One of the aims of the “18 October Movement” is to draw the international community’s attention to the many violations of basic freedoms in Tunisia although the country is hosting the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) on 16-18 November.

Zimbabwe: Exiled journalists struggle to keep careers alive

2005-10-26

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70032/?PHPSESSID=54e03ebd001d1a53d6a18b98150edee3

The Zimbabwean government is well known for its repressive treatment of critics and independent journalists. A crackdown on the press over the past five years has left the country with no independent daily newspapers, no private radio news coverage, and only two prominent independent weeklies. What is less documented is the toll that this crackdown takes on the country's journalists, including those who flee overseas and struggle to rebuild their lives in exile, reports the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Zimbabwe: Government abandons prosecution of 44 Daily News journalists

2005-10-26

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=14812

Reporters Without Borders has voiced relief that the Zimbabwean authorities have abandoned the prosecution of 44 Daily News journalists who were to have been tried by a Harare court on 12 October on charges of working without an accreditation issued by the Media and Information Commission, the government-controlled body set up to regulate the news media. The 44 journalists and their defence lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa, went to the court on 12 October but none of the court officials including the judge in charge of the case knew about the hearing.

Congo: Civil war cause of massive displacement, food shortage

2005-10-26

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49773

Years of civil war in the Republic of Congo (ROC) has resulted in massive population displacement, food shortages and an increase in severe malnutrition, a government official said on Wednesday. "The situation has caused an increase in severe cases of malnutrition among both children and adults," Jean-Ignace Tendelet, the director of cabinet in the Ministry of Health and Population, said in the capital, Brazzaville.

Côte d’Ivoire: Fears of fresh turmoil mount ahead of landmark weekend

2005-10-26

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49778

Rumours swirl about a military coup in the offing, police are bracing for protests, well-heeled Ivorians have booked flights out of the country, and there is a story doing the rounds about the birth of a talking baby who warned of violence within days. The nervousness is the end-product of the collapse of a peace plan that provided for elections to be held on Sunday 30 October when President Laurent Gbagbo’s five-year mandate runs out.

Darfur: Continual Targeting and Attacks on Villages and IDPs

2005-10-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/30021

The Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT) reports that on 23 October 2005, fifty armed men reportedly the Janjaweed, attacked and abducted nine Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Kalma IDP camp, Nyala, Southern Darfur State. The IDPs were travelling from Kalma Camp to outside the camp by carts when they were attacked. The militias beat the IDPs with the butts of their guns and flogged them. The militias also looted six carts.
Darfur: Continual Targeting and Attacks on Villages and IDPs

SOAT

Sudan Organisation Against Torture

Human Rights Alert: 25 October 2005

Darfur: Continual Targeting and Attacks on Villages and IDPs

1. On 23 October 2005, fifty armed men reportedly the Janjaweed
attacked and abducted nine Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from
Kalma IDP camp, Nyala, Southern Darfur State. The IDPs were travelling
from Kalma Camp to outside the camp by carts when they were attacked.
The militias beat the IDPs with the butts of their guns and flogged
them. The militias also looted six carts. Two of the IDPs managed to
escape, their details are as follows:

1. Ahmed Ali Ahmed, (35 yrs), Fur tribe

2. Halima Ibrahim, Fur tribe, (F)





2. On 23 October 2005, security officers in Nyala arrested two
prominent IDP leaders from Kalma IDP camp. The IDPs were arrested
whilst attending the International Rescue Committee (IRC) clinic
inside Kalma Camp. The details of the IDPs are as follows:



1. Omda Soulieman Abaker Taha, (56 yrs), Fur tribe, leader of the Sheikhs

2. Tigani Ahmed, (37 yrs), Fur tribe, Sheikh



Initially, the IDPs in Kalma reported the arrests of their leaders to
Africa Union (AU) troops inside the camp. The AU refused to intervene
as it is outside their mandate, following this response; the IDPs
kidnapped and held hostage eighteen employees of WES, a governmental
organization working jointly with Rural Water Cooperation on water and
rail projects in Darfur. The IDPs demanded that they would release
the eighteen people once the security forces release Omda Soulieman
Abaker Taha and Sheikh Tigani Ahmed.



Police officers in Kalma camp intervened and fired live ammunition at
the IDPs killing one person and injuring nine others. The injured IDPs
are currently receiving medical treatment at Nyala Teaching hospital.



Omda Soulieman Abaker Taha and Sheikh Tigani Ahmed remain in detention
at security forces custody centre in Nyala and are facing no charges.
On 24 October 2005, four of the eighteen hostages were released. The
remaining fourteen continues to be held hostage by the IDPs. Their
whereabouts are unknown but it is believed they are inside Kalma Camp.





3. On 23 October 2005, armed men on horsebacks allegedly the Janjaweed
attacked Tama village, 22 km North of Nyala. The attack took place at
approximately 05.00am. During the attack, at least twelve of the
villagers were killed and tens were wounded. Following the attack, the
wounded villagers were taken to Nyala teaching hospital for medical
treatment. Thus far, two of the wounded villagers have died in the
hospital as result of their injuries.



4. On 20 October 2005, four armed men allegedly working for the
military intelligence in Darfur attacked an IDP from Dereig IDP camp,
Nyala using live ammunition. The armed men shot the IDP and looted
his horse.



The IDP is currently receiving medical treatment for his injuries at
SOAT's partner organisation in Nyala, the Amel Medical Centre for
Rehabilitation of Torture Victims in Nyala. The attackers left behind
documents and details of their identity which has been submitted to
the police in Otash. SOAT's networks of lawyers are providing legal
aid to the IDP. The perpetrators have yet to be arrested or charged.





5. On 18 October 2005, armed militias reportedly the Janjaweed
attacked and looted Abu Odam village, 7 km north east Nyala, Southern
Darfur State. During the attack, one villager, Adam Mahmoud Hamid,
(37 yrs) belonging to the Dajo tribe was killed and approximately 50
livestock looted.





SOAT strongly condemns the continual attacks on civilians and on
villages in Darfur. SOAT calls on the Government of Sudan to
immediately disarm the Janjaweed militias and any other militias
operating in Darfur; undertake an investigation into all attacks on
civilians and ensure that perpetrators are brought before a court of
law.

In addition, SOAT urges the government of Sudan to undertake an
immediate comprehensive reform of the security forces including the
immediate disarmament and reintegration of persons exercising police
powers who are not part of the regular forces;





SOAT calls on the Government of Sudan to:



i. Investigate the attacks all the IDPs and on Abu
Odam village and to ensure that the perpetrators are brought before an
impartial tribunal and guaranteed procedural rights at all times;

ii. Immediately disarm the Janjaweed militias and all
other militias that are operating in Darfur;

iii. End impunity for crimes committed by security
officers and government proxy militias in Darfur;

iv. Immediately take all steps required to prevent
attacks, threats, intimidations and any other form of violence against
civilians;

v. Immediately cease attacks on civilians and take
all steps required to prevent attacks, threats and intimidations on
civilians;

vi. Guarantee respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and
international human rights standards.



The above recommendations should be sent in appeals to the following addresses:

His Excellency Omar Hassan al-Bashir
President of the Republic of Sudan
President's Palace
PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 783223



His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit

First Vice-President
People's Palace

PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 771025



His Excellency Ali Osman Mohamed Taha
Vice-President
People's Palace

PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 771025

Mr. Lam Akol Ajawin

Minister of Foreign Affairs
PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 779383



Mr. Al Zubeir Beshir Taha

Minister of Interior
PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 779383

Dr. Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha
Advisory Council for Human Rights
PO Box 302
Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 770883

Permanent Representative:

His Excellency Mr. Mohamed Elhassan Ahmed Elhaj

Ambassador

Avenue Blanc 47

1202 Geneva

Tel: 022 731 26 63

Fax: 022 731 26 56

Email: mission.sudan@bluewin.ch

SOAT is an international human rights organisation established in the
UK in 1993. If you have any questions about this or any other SOAT
information, please contact us:

Argo House
Kilburn Park Road
London NW6 5LF, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7625 8055
Fax: +44 (0)20 7372 2656
E-mail: info@soatsudan.org
Website: www.soatsudan.org

Darfur: The EU/AU Partnership in Darfur: Not Yet a Winning Combination, says Crisis Group

2005-10-26

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=3766

The African Union's (AU) intervention in Sudan's Darfur region tests the effectiveness of its own peace and security structures and those of the European Union (EU), says the International Crisis Group. "The AU has taken the lead both in the political negotiations between the government and the rebels and in deploying a peace-monitoring mission, the AU Mission in Sudan (AMIS). It has had to rely on outside support for AMIS, with nearly two thirds of its funding coming from the EU's African Peace Facility. The results are mixed. If Darfur is to have stability anytime soon, and the two organisations are to fulfil their ambitions to be major players in crisis prevention and crisis resolution, AMIS must get more troops and a more proactive, civilian-protection mandate, and the EU needs to find ways to go beyond the present limitations of the African Peace Facility in providing assistance."

Eritrea: Eritrea says rapprochement with Sudan not linked to Ethiopia row boder

2005-10-26

http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=12266

Eritrea is denying widespread speculation that its recent rapprochement with neighboring one-time foe Sudan is aimed at securing its western border in the event of new war over its southern frontier with arch-rival Ethiopia. Instead, a senior Eritrean official said the warming of Eritrea-Sudan relations after a decade of active hostility is merely a reflection of new realities on the ground after the end of Sudan’s long-running north-south civil war this year.
* Related Link
Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of "duplicity" as border conflict rises
http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=12175

Sudan: Negotiating oil and peace

2005-10-26

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30703

Sudan's January's peace deal stipulates that oil wealth is to be shared by government officials and former rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) from the south, reports Inter Press Service (IPS). This area will now enjoy autonomy under the guidance of a regional government; the rebels also form part of a national transitional government. However, control of the key Ministry of Energy and Mining, which deals with oil production and revenue, was awarded to President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP). This decision outraged many in southern Sudan, where most of the oil resources are located.

Uganda: Great Potential for Acholiland

2005-10-27

http://community.jhr.ca/

For someone who just turned 90, Amamiya Akera has big plans for the future of his Acholi community. He sees rolling hills of maize, simsim and cassava. He sees school children walking on the road with full stomachs while shiny tractors traverse the green goldmine that surrounds them. Security and agricultural growth in the region may not be far away, reports the Daily Monitor. "The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has retreated into the Congo (where UN is sending soldiers to defeat them) and Sudan (where the US is supporting joint Ugandan-Sudanese military operations against them), says the report.

Africa/Global: OpenOffice.org goes live with 2.0

2005-10-26

http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=661&s=news

Today, a week after the OpenOffice.org project turned five years old, the team has released the long-awaited open source OpenOffice.org 2.0 suite. OpenOffice.org 2.0 is available in 36 languages and runs on Windows, GNU/Linux, Sun Solaris, Mac OS X (X11) and several other platforms and can be downloaded from the OpenOffice.org website.

Africa/Global: Reporting the information society

2005-10-24

http://www.panos.org.uk/iwitness/

This website i-witness offers journalists tools to report on the information society, and a place to discuss the challenges – and opportunities – they face.

Africa: High-Tech Toxic Trash Exported to Africa

2005-10-26

http://www.ban.org/BANreports/10-24-05/documents/PressRelease.pdf

A new investigation by the toxic trade watchdog organization, Basel Action Network (BAN), has revealed that large quantities of obsolete computers, televisions, mobile phones, and other used electronic equipment exported from USA and Europe to Lagos, Nigeria for "re-use and repair" are ending up gathering dust in warehouses or being dumped and burned near residences in empty lots, roadsides and in swamps creating serious health and environmental contamination from the toxic leachate and smoke. The photo-documentary report entitled "The Digital Dump: Exporting High-Tech Re-use and Abuse to Africa," exposes the ugly underbelly of what is thought to be an escalating global trade in toxic, obsolete, discarded computers and other e-scrap collected in North America and Europe and sent to developing countries by waste brokers and so-called recyclers.

Africa: Will blogs change development thinking?

2005-10-25

http://www.id21.org/viewpoints/blogsOct05.html

Blogs. What does an obscure format which started with computer geeks have to do with development? Quite a bit, say Tim Harford and Pablo Halkyard, who write the Private Sector Development Blog, the World Bank's first venture into internet blogging. Take the words of Financial Times internet expert, David Bowen: 'In the last 12 months they have gone from being an obscure and little understood fringe activity to something we all have to think about, and quite possibly indulge in.' The development community is no exception. Here's how blogging will change both the developed and the developing world.

Kenya: Welcome to Ruralkenya.com

2005-10-26

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30768

A generator rumbles behind the two-roomed building, which looks like one of the maize mills that dot Kenya's rural landscape. But, you're not likely to find a harvest of any sort in here - rather, food for thought. This is an internet café in a sleepy, rural part of Emuhaya constituency, about 500 kilometres from the capital, Nairobi. Information and technology experts estimate that only two percent of Kenyans with access to the internet live in rural areas. For those who have managed to log on, however, life has never been the same since.

Africa: African Democracy Forum

2005-10-25

http://www.africandemocracyforum.org

Kabissa has been working with the African Democracy Forum (ADF) to create an Online Community Web site for members to use to network, share timely information and discuss issues relating to democracy on the African continent. The ADF has had a Yahoo E-mail List for some time that is 270+ members strong and is an excellent resource for democracy activists on the continent seeking to keep in touch and network on a regular basis through e-mail. Also through e-mail, the ADF seeks to bring the network closer together through a periodic e-Newsletter.

Global: Forced Migration Journal

2005-10-27

http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/FORCED-MIGRATION.html

This journal focuses on issues concerning refugees and internal displacement.

Global: RightsWire

2005-10-25

http://www.humanrightsfirst.org/rights_wire/rightswire.htm

RightsWire is Human Rights First's free electronic newsletter, published bi-weekly. RightsWire provides analysis of timely human rights issues and opportunities to take action on them.

Global:Anti-Warehousing Campaign

2005-10-25

http://www.refugees.org/warehousing

The 14th Bulletin of the international campaign against refugee warehousing newsletter is now available.

Kenya: Mapambano Newsletter Special Edition Download in pdf

2005-10-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/29989

"We have produced a Special Issue of Mapambano which contains much of the material we have circulated on the on going campaigns on the Referendum in Kenya set for November 21st. We are on the "No" side although we believe that neither the "No" nor "Yes" sayers are an alternative to the political crisis in Kenya."
Mapambano Newsletter Special Edition Download in pdf at:

http://kenyasocialist.org/kswsfiles/2005/Mapambano_Oct2005.pdf

We have produced a Special Issue of Mapambano which contains much of the material we have circulated on the on going campaigns on the Referendum in Kenya set for November 21st. We are on the "No" side although we believe that neither the "No" nor "Yes" sayers are an alternative to the political crisis in Kenya.

Our position is that the alternative force that can solve the crisis in Kenya are the Kenyan workers together with other oppressed layers in the country. While the big problem now appears to be the Constitution, the real problem in Kenya is the exploitative capitalist system of government which allows a few people to live on the sweat of the majority.

We advocate for the formation of a "Workers Party" in Kenya as a means of enabling workers to begin to play a role in Kenya's politics on grounds that workers are the producers of wealth in Kenya and so they should have a say on how the wealth they produce is distributed in society.

This will never happen if workers are not organized and if they have no ambition of seizing power. Our role in the situation is to help workers in Kenya organize for a power take over. Mapambano Newsletter is mainly the voice of Kenyan workers, peasants, students and the vast army of unemployed in our country. You are encouraged to distribute the Newsletter as widely as possible.

Africa/Global: CIVICUS Civil Society Index

2005-10-26

http://www.civicus.org/new/CSI_home.asp?c=FD8912

The range of available resources on the CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) section of the CIVICUS website has been expanded. Using an action-research methodology, the CIVICUS Civil Society Index programme assesses the state of civil society in countries around the world, creating a knowledge base and impetus for initiatives to strengthen civil society. As country reports from the more than 50 countries implementing the project are being completed over the coming months, they will become available for free download on the website.

Africa/Global: New acquire project web site

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/30030

The ACQUIRE Project is pleased to announce its revamped and upgraded Web site at http://www.acquireproject.org This Web site will serve as an important resource for anyone interested in the efforts of this partnership to improve and increase access to reproductive health and family planning services in the developing world.
ACQUIRE Project Web Site

The ACQUIRE Project is pleased to announce its revamped and upgraded Web site at http://www.acquireproject.org This Web site will serve as an important resource for anyone interested in the efforts of this partnership to improve and increase access to reproductive health and family planning services in the developing world.

As the site expands over the next few months, visit it to explore the ACQUIRE Project's activities in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and Latin America. You will find varied information on our work and recent developments, particularly in focus areas such as revitalizing long-acting and permanent methods of contraception, preventing and treating fistula, and integrating HIV/AIDS and family planning services.

E-mail us at info-acquire@acquireproject.org with any questions or comments.

The ACQUIRE Project is a five-year global cooperative agreement funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) that works to advance and support the use of voluntary family planning and reproductive health services in health care facilities around the world.

The ACQUIRE Project is managed by EngenderHealth, in partnership with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA), CARE, IntraHealth International, Inc., Meridian Group International Inc., and the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA).

Scholarship for Women wanting to study Media Management

2005-10-26

http://www.journalism.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3171&CAMSSID=e4ecd87275213b71d9151cd3b1d2a107

The Sol Plaatje Media Leadership Institute at Rhodes University's School of Journalism and Media Studies invites applications for three scholarships from women wishing to register for the SPI's Postgraduate Diploma in Media Management in 2006. This course is specifically designed to provide people working in the media industry with the skills and knowledge they need to perform more effectively in their organisations and to fast-track their careers to management positions.

Citizens’ Summit on the Information Society (CSIS)

Tunis, November 16-18, 2005

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/30067

A Citizens' Summit on the Information Society (CSIS) will be held in Tunis, on November 16-18, 2005, coinciding with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The CSIS will be another milestone in the long tradition of UN conferences and Summits being complemented with events organized by citizen groups. Previous such events met with great success, for example during the Cairo Conference on Population and Development (1994), the Beijing Conference on Women (1995) or the Monterrey Summit on Financing for Development (2002).
Citizens’ Summit on the Information Society (CSIS)
Tunis, November 16-18, 2005
First announcement and call for support
CSIS Press release – October 24, 2005

A Citizens’ Summit on the Information Society (CSIS) will be held in Tunis, on November 16-18, 2005, coinciding with the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).

The CSIS will be another milestone in the long tradition of UN conferences and Summits being complemented with events organized by citizen groups. Previous such events met with great success, for example during the Cairo Conference on Population and Development (1994), the Beijing Conference on Women (1995) or the Monterrey Summit on Financing for Development (2002).

The CSIS objectives are twofold:
- To send a strong message of support and solidarity from international civil society to the local civil society and citizens;
- To address the main issues being debated at the WSIS, from the perspective of citizen groups and the public.

Based on earlier precedents, this event will offer an excellent opportunity to promote the Information Society and the basic principles on which it must be based, as articulated in the first phase of the World Summit on the Information, namely: human rights and social justice.

Invitation and Call for support:
Citizen groups, Civil society organizations, National, Regional and International Institutions, Government Delegations, and all other interested parties and individuals are invited to participate in the Citizen’s Summit on the Information Society. All are strongly encouraged to express their support for and solidarity with the CSIS by, e.g.:
- Signing-on as a supporter,
- Offering a donation,
- Proposing a contribution to the CSIS program,
- Reading a statement of support to CSIS, in a WSIS parallel event they may organize
- Disseminating CSIS news through websites and mailing lists,
- Or any other means of support they may suggest.

Practical information:
The Citizen’s Summit on the Information Society will begin on November 16th at 16:00, with an opening ceremony, continue all day on November 17th, with the closing session on November 18th morning. The CSIS program will consist of a series of panels and conferences addressing main WSIS issues from the public perspective.

The detailed program and practical information will be circulated by early November, together with a list of CSIS supporters.

First list of CSIS organizers and supporters:
AMARC (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters), ANND (Arab NGO Network for Development), APC (Association for Progressive Communications), ARTICLE 19 (Global Campaign for Free Expression), CJFE (Canadian Journalists for Free Expression), Comunica-ch (WSIS Swiss Civil Society Coalition), CPSR (Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility), CRIS Campaign (Communication Rights in the Information Society), FIDH (International Federation of Human Rights Leagues), FrontLine (International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders), HR Caucus (WSIS Civil Society Human Rights Caucus) HRW (Human Rights Watch), ICHRDD (Rights and Democracy), Index on Censorship, IteM (Instituto del Tercer Mundo), Norwegian PEN, OMCT (World Organization against Torture), WAN (World Association of Newspapers), WPFC (World Press Freedom Committee), in coordination with independent Tunisian civil society organizations.

CSIS International Organizing Committee:
Pablo Accuosto, Karen Banks, Roberto Bissio, Steve Buckley, Rikke Frank Jørgensen, Wolf Ludwig, Antoine Madelin, Meryem Marzouki, Seán Ó Siochrú, Chantal Peyer, in coordination with independent Tunisian civil society organization representatives.

Contact:
Expressions of support: support@citizens-summit.org
Press enquiries: press@citizens-summit.org
General contact, questions: contact@citizens-summit.org

Website: www.citizens-summit.org

E-Learning Course on HIV and AIDS

01 December 2005 (World AIDS Day) - 19 February 2006

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/30029

This course is an introduction to HIV and AIDS. It provides a starting-point for developing a clear understanding of the global epidemic, as well as an opportunity for participants to examine their own beliefs and attitudes towards HIV and AIDS and those affected by the disease.
E-Learning Course on HIV and AIDS

(Reposted from the Afro-Nets listserve - http://list.healthnet.org/mailman/listinfo/afro-nets)

Online course:
01 December 2005 (World AIDS Day) - 19 February 2006
Face-to-face seminar: 13 – 17 March 2006, South Africa

Organised by Health Division
InWEnt – Capacity Building International, Germany


Why this course?

The HIV and AIDS epidemic has reached such a dimension that,
along with other global problems, it became a central obstacle
for achieving development in many of the affected countries
worldwide. The social and economic consequences of HIV and AIDS
in high-prevalence countries, e.g. in Africa are devastating and
widespread. The effects are not limited to the health sector but
are felt throughout society and the economy – in education, in-
dustry, agriculture, and transportation. This course is an in-
troduction to HIV and AIDS. It provides a starting-point for de-
veloping a clear understanding of the global epidemic, as well
as an opportunity for participants to examine their own beliefs
and attitudes towards HIV and AIDS and those affected by the
disease.

Aim and Target Group

This course is designed for professionals who deal with HIV and
AIDS issues in various contexts, e.g. health, education, civil
society, business, or development co-operation. By improving
general knowledge and raising awareness of HIV and AIDS, the
course endeavours to encourage and empower its participants to
respond to the epidemic in their home countries. According to
the main InWEnt partner countries we are specifically inviting
applicants from Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mo-
zambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Zambia, South Africa, and Tanzania.

Content

Structured around the most common questions regarding HIV and
AIDS, this modular course provides basic medical knowledge and
epidemiological facts about the infection, offers analyses of
the socio-cultural and socio-economic framework of HIV and AIDS
and examines the most common interventions and mechanisms devel-
oped to cope with the epidemic today and in the future.

Module 1: Why is HIV and AIDS a threat to development and secu-
rity?
Module 2: What is HIV and AIDS?
Module 3: Who is affected by HIV and AIDS?
Module 4: How to respond to HIV and AIDS?

The course concludes with a face-to-face seminar. The detailed
programme of this seminar will be developed based on the spe-
cific interests of the course participants.

Structure of the course

A two week online introductory phase will precede the start of
the course. During this introduction participants will have the
chance to familiarise themselves with the online environment and
the various communication tools, as well as to become acquainted
with the other participants.

The e-learning phase is comprised of four modules, which are to
be completed consecutively. Participants will only gain access
to a module once the preceding one has been completed.

Each course module is designed to run over a two-week period and
will take five to eight hours to complete, plus one hour of chat
time at the end.

Following the online phase, a five-day face-to-face seminar will
be conducted in South Africa in March 2006. It will enable par-
ticipants to develop projects for putting into practice what
they have learned during the e-learning phase.

Learning Methods

The course follows a blended learning approach, with the online
modules being completed by a five-day face-to-face seminar. The
entire course will be supported by tutors, who will be in direct
contact with the participants throughout the modules, and who
will be able to direct participants' questions to experts as
needed. The continuous interaction amongst participants them-
selves, as well as between the participants, tutors and other
experts is an integral part of the course's design. There are
several tools available on the Global Campus 21 learning plat-
form that enable interaction, communication and co-operation.
They include a chat room, a pin board for posting information of
general interest, a document pool for exchanging completed mate-
rial and asynchronous discussion tools.

Language English

Duration
Introduction: 01 – 18 December 2005
Module 1: 19 December 2005 – 08 January 2006
Module 2: 09 – 22 January 2006
Module 3: 23 January – 05 February 2006
Module 4: 06 - 19 February 2006
Face-to-face seminar: 13 – 17 March 2006 in South Africa

Prerequisites

The students must have a very good standard of English language
proficiency. This should be demonstrated, if possible, by previ-
ous attendance of seminars, lectures or conferences held in Eng-
lish. Internet access is necessary.

Attendance

A maximum number of 35 students can be accepted for the online
course. Final official invitations will be issued to accepted
applicants. Participants who have successfully taken part in the
e-learning phase are eligible to join the face-to-face seminar
for a maximum of 24 students.

InWEnt will provide full board accommodation during the face-to-
face seminar in South Africa for all attendees. International
and local travel costs (economy class flights and flight related
expenses) will be covered by InWEnt. Travelling arrangements
will be made by the participants. Expenses will be reimbursed by
InWEnt only on presentation of original receipts. Any other ad-
ditional costs need to be covered by the participants. It is
recommended to bring sufficient extra money for personal ex-
penses.

During the face-to-face seminar the participants are covered by
insurance for emergency care and accidents. This insurance does
not include travel insurance, though, or costs of visa, medical
examinations or any loss or damage of personal belongings. Par-
ticipants will receive a certificate of InWEnt at the end certi-
fying the successful completion of the course.

Registration

Application Deadline: 22 November 2005

Please fill in the application form downloadable at:
http://www.afronets.org/pubview.php/113/
and send it, together with your CV, by e-mail or fax to the fol-
lowing address:

InWEnt - Capacity Building International, Germany
Health Division
Mrs Martina Egizii
Tulpenfeld 5
53113 Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49-228-2434–823
Fax: +49-228-2434–844
mailto:martina.egizii@inwent.org
http://www.inwent.org

Eurodad Electronic Conference on Poverty and Social Impact Analysis

2005-10-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/29988

You are invited to participate in an Electronic Conference on poverty and social impact analysis. This conference will promote discussion around the progress, challenges and opportunities of poverty and social impact analysis to contribute to pro-poor structural and macroeconomic policies that are based on country evidence and decided upon in an open and transparent manner.
Eurodad Electronic Conference on Poverty and Social Impact Analysis

You are invited to participate in an Electronic Conference on poverty and social impact analysis. This conference will promote discussion around the progress, challenges and opportunities of poverty and social impact analysis to contribute to pro-poor structural and macroeconomic policies that are based on country evidence and decided upon in an open and transparent manner.

This is an opportunity to debate and discuss some of the key challenges for influencing policy including issues of country ownership, civil society participation and fostering public debate

Conference aims:
• Improve communication between organisations/individuals interested in PSIA
• Share lessons of country experiences of poverty and social impact analysis
• Identify what donors and government agencies can do to improve process and impact of PSIA type work
• Identify what CSOs can do to improve process and impact of PSIA type work

When: November 1st – 22nd 2005

How: Via email and conference space on Eurodad website, www.eurodad.org

Format: One question will be discussed per week. Discussion will be moderated by Eurodad. Two key discussants will kick off debate at the beginning of each week on that week’s question

Languages: Participants are welcome to contribute in English, Spanish, French or Portuguese. The preparatory document will be available in English, Spanish and French as will the final summary report of the three-week discussion. However the primary conference language will be English.

Registration: Please register for this conference by sending an email with PSIA electronic conference in the title to psia@eurodad.org

More: More information will be emailed to conference participants before the end of October 2005. This will include a direct link to the site, the questions for each week and a short preparatory document. See also Eurodad’s recent report ‘Open on Impact, slow progress in World Bank and IMF poverty analysis’ at http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=650

Mali: World Social Forum 2006: Bamako (Mali)

2005-10-28

http://www.wsf2006.org/index.php

The World Social Forum 2006 web space has beencreated as a workspace for organisations/ networks/ groups to interact with each other for the purpose of registering and preparing activities in the WSF2006 Polycentric Event or for continued activities in the WSF Process. The deadline to register activities for WSF 2006 is November 15 , 2005 The WSF2006 Polycentric Event is located in Bamako (Mali), Caracas (Venezuela) and Karachi (Pakistan).

Links to websites:

- WSF 2006 Electronic Space: http://www.wsf2006.org/index.php

- Bamako, Mali (January 19th to 23rd): http://www.fsmmali.org/?lang=en

- Caracas, Venezuela (January 23 to 29 ): http://fsainfo.rits.org.br/#

- Karachi, Pakistan (January 23 to 29): http://www.forosocialmundial.org.ve/

- Current listing of registered events: http://www.memoria-viva.org/bdf/listeespaces_es.html

- Main WSF Site: http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/index.php?cd_language=2&id_menu=

- WSF International Council: (http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/main.php?id_menu=3_2_1&cd_language=2)

- WSFtools: http://www.wsftools.ras.eu.org/wikini/wakka.php?wiki=ProposalFromBrazilianSecretariat

- Wikipedia entry on the WSF: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Social_Forum

- For a critical discussion of communication and culture within the WSF see: http://www.nigd.org/docs/MakingTheRoadWhilstWalkingPeterWaterman

* Intitulé du poste : Correspondant régional pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest

Pambazuka News (www.pambazuka.org)

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/30075

Pambazuka News est la newsletter électronique hebdomadaire de référence. À la pointe du combat pour la justice sociale en Afrique, elle fournit des commentaires incisifs et des analyses en profondeur sur différents sujets comme la politique et les questions d’actualité, le développement, les droits de l’homme, les réfugiés, les questions de genre et la culture en Afrique.

Pambazuka News offre un tour d’horizon hebdomadaire exhaustif des informations sur les droits de l’homme, les conflits, la santé, l’environnement, les affaires sociales, le développement, l’Internet, la littérature et les arts en Afrique. Pambazuka News est produit par Fahamu (www.fahamu.org), une organisation qui utilise les technologies de la communications et de l’information pour couvrir les besoins des organismes et des mouvements sociaux qui aspirent a un changement social progressif.

Nous sommes à la recherche d’une personne motivée, indépendante et sensible aux problèmes de société afin de se joindre à notre équipe en tant que : CORRESPONDANT RÉGIONAL.

Pambazuka News (www.pambazuka.org)

Job Title: Regional Correspondent: West Africa

Pambazuka News is the authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa providing cutting edge commentary and in-depth analysis on politics and current affairs, development, human rights, refugees, gender issues and culture in Africa.

Pambazuka News offers a comprehensive weekly round-up of news on human rights, conflict, health, environment, social welfare, development, the internet, literature and arts in Africa. Pambazuka News is produced by Fahamu (www.fahamu.org), an organisation that uses information and communication technologies to serve the needs of organisations and social movements that aspire to progressive social change.

We are looking for a motivated, independent and socially conscious individual to join our team as REGIONAL CORRESPONDENT.
Pambazuka News (www.pambazuka.org)

Intitulé du poste : Correspondant régional pour l’Afrique de l’Ouest.

Temps partiel

Information sur Pambazuka News et Fahamu

Pambazuka News est la newsletter électronique hebdomadaire de référence. À la pointe du combat pour la justice sociale en Afrique, elle fournit des commentaires incisifs et des analyses en profondeur sur différents sujets comme la politique et les questions d’actualité, le développement, les droits de l’homme, les réfugiés, les questions de genre et la culture en Afrique.

Pambazuka News offre un tour d’horizon hebdomadaire exhaustif des informations sur les droits de l’homme, les conflits, la santé, l’environnement, les affaires sociales, le développement, l’Internet, la littérature et les arts en Afrique. Pambazuka News est produit par Fahamu (www.fahamu.org), une organisation qui utilise les technologies de la communications et de l’information pour couvrir les besoins des organismes et des mouvements sociaux qui aspirent a un changement social progressif.

Nous sommes à la recherche d’une personne motivée, indépendante et sensible aux problèmes de société afin de se joindre à notre équipe en tant que : CORRESPONDANT RÉGIONAL.

Responsabilités : En tant que membre de l’équipe de Pambazuka news, et en étroite collaboration avec notre bureau de Cape Town, Afrique du Sud, vos responsabilités seront les suivantes :

- Recherche et rédaction de matériel pour la newsletter hebdomadaire ainsi que pour le site Internet ;

- Recherche, recrutement et/ou interview de sources d’informations pertinentes pour des articles destinés à la publication dans la newsletter ou sur le site Internet ;

- Compte-rendu d’événements capitaux survenant dans la région ;

- Suivi des sources d’information pertinentes;

- Développement de relations suivies avec les sources d’information au sein de sa région désignée et extension de la portée de Pambazuka News ;

- Développement de contacts avec les médias appropriés dans sa région et liaison avec ceux-ci lorsque nécessaire.






Critères personnels

Vous devrez être sensible aux problèmes de société et posséder d’excellentes qualités rédactionnelles. Nous sommes à la recherche d’un candidat doté des compétences et qualités suivantes :

Qualités essentielles


- Expérience dans la recherche ou le journalisme au sein d’un environnement académique, médiatique ou de recherche ;

- Compétences en rédaction, correction et recrutement de sources ;

- Français courant, écrit et parlé, et une bonne maîtrise de l’Anglais ;

- Preuve tangible d’un intérêt réel ainsi que d’un véritable engagement pour promotion de la justice sociale et la défense dune cause ;

- Familiarité avec l’Internet en tant qu’outil de recherche, de compte-rendu et de communication ;

- Capacité à travailler en dehors de toute supervision directe ;

- Avoir accès à l’Internet ;

- Connaître les nouveaux types de médias et le potentiel qu’offre la technologie à l’activisme social ;

- Excellente connaissance et bonne compréhension des affaires africaines ainsi que des débats actuels autour du développement de l’Afrique ;

- Une expérience du travail en Afrique, surtout dans les médias serait un avantage ;

- Capacité à respecter des délais ;

- Résider et/ou travailler dans la région ;

- Mobilité géographique occasionnelle ;


Qualités désirables :


- Un diplôme de journalisme ou dans quelque autre domaine adéquat ;

- Connaissance du secteur de la société civile en Afrique ;

- Engagement direct en tant que militant dans la région ;
- Connaissance des opérations de l’Union Africaine, et des autres corps régionaux.

Il s’agit d’un contrat initial à durée déterminée de six mois, renouvelable pour une durée pouvant se monter à deux ans suivant performance et disponibilité de fonds. Nous considérons que le poste demande un engagement de deux à trois jours par semaine. La rémunération sera proportionnelle à l’expérience.


Si vous pensez avoir le profil requis, veuillez envoyer une lettre de motivation d’une page accompagnée d’un CV de deux pages à : editor@pambazuka.org La date butoir/délai pour les dépôts de candidatures est le 21 Novembre 2005. Veuillez prendre note que seuls les candidats sélectionnés seront contactés. Il sera demandé aux candidats sélectionnés de passer un test court.


Pambazuka News (www.pambazuka.org)

Job Title: Regional Correspondent: West Africa

Reporting to: The Editor, Pambazuka News

Part-time

About Pambazuka News and Fahamu

Pambazuka News is the authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa providing cutting edge commentary and in-depth analysis on politics and current affairs, development, human rights, refugees, gender issues and culture in Africa.

Pambazuka News offers a comprehensive weekly round-up of news on human rights, conflict, health, environment, social welfare, development, the internet, literature and arts in Africa. Pambazuka News is produced by Fahamu (www.fahamu.org), an organisation that uses information and communication technologies to serve the needs of organisations and social movements that aspire to progressive social change.

We are looking for a motivated, independent and socially conscious individual to join our team as REGIONAL CORRESPONDENT.

Responsibilities: As part of the Pambazuka News team, and in close contact with our office in Cape Town, South Africa, your responsibilities will involve:

- Researching and writing material for the weekly newsletter and website;
- Researching, commissioning and/or interviewing relevant sources for articles to be published in the newsletter and on the website;
- Reporting on key events in the region;
- Monitoring of relevant information sources;
- Developing relationships with sources of information in your assigned region and extending the reach of Pambazuka News;
- Developing contacts with relevant media in your area and liaising with them where necessary.

Person specifications

You must be a socially committed individual with excellent writing skills. We are seeking someone with the following skills and qualities:

Essential:

- Experience as a researcher or journalist in an academic, media or development field;
- Writing, editing and commissioning skills;
- Fluency in French written and spoken, and good command of English;
- Proven track record, interest and commitment to social justice and advocacy;
- Familiarity with the internet as a research, reporting and communicating tool;
- Ability to work without direct supervision;
- Access to the internet;
- Knowledge of new media and the potential of technology for social activism;
- Excellent general knowledge and a good understanding of African affairs and the current debates around Africa’s development;
- Experience of working in Africa, especially in the media, would be an advantage;
- Ability to meet tight deadlines;
- Be living and/or working in the region.
- Willing to travel occasionally

Desirable:

- A degree in journalism or other relevant field;
- Knowledge of the civil society sector in Africa;
- Direct engagement as an activist in the region;
- Knowledge of operations of African Union, and other regional bodies.

This is for a fixed period of six months in the first instance, renewable for up to 2 years depending on performance and the availability of funds. We envisage that the position will require a commitment of two to three 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 editor@pambazuka.org The deadline date for applications is 21 November 2005. Please note that only short-listed candidates will be contacted. Short listed candidates will be required to complete a short test.

END

Rwanda: Palliative Care Coordinator – Cooperatice Housing Foundation International

2005-10-25

http://www.fpa.org/jobs_contact2423/jobs_contact_show.htm?doc_id=309712

The Palliative Care Coordinator will be responsible for assisting the Country Director and Deputy Director with overseeing and managing the Palliative Care component of a multi-year, multi-million dollar grants management program that strengthens the role and effectiveness of local organizations providing HIV/AIDS Palliative Care services at the community level. The Palliative Care Coordinator will oversee and coordinate all matters related to Palliative Care in the community-based program, including hands-on interface with USAID, local government health officials, other international NGOs and local NGO partners.

South Africa: Fulltime Director

The Dopstop Foundation

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/30028

The key performance areas of the job include:
1. Managing the Dopstop intervention programme and strategy through: Skills development and training; Facilitating supportive environments; Strengthening community action; Reorienting health services; Research; Public policy development and a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Trauma Centre.
2. Liaising with farmers, farm workers, NGO's, Government and all relevant stakeholders.
3. Fundraising and Financial management.
4. Public relations and communication.
5. Staff management and project supervision.
6. Ongoing organizational and programme development.

The DOPSTOP ASSOCIATION

REQUIRES:
Fulltime Director as soon as possible.

The key performance areas of the job include:

1. Managing the Dopstop intervention programme and strategy through: Skills
development and training; Facilitating supportive environments; Strengthening
community action; Reorienting health services; Research; Public policy development
and a Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Trauma Centre.
2. Liaising with farmers, farm workers, NGO's, Government and all relevant stakeholders.
3. Fundraising and Financial management.
4. Public relations and communication.
5. Staff management and project supervision.
6. Ongoing organizational and programme development.

REQUIREMENTS

a) Proven project and organizational management experience including familiarity with
financial management systems.
b) An appropriate tertiary qualifications.
c) Sound knowledge of the health sector and policies; skills development legislation and
developments within agriculture and the wine industry.
d) Demonstrable organizational skills and ability to provide leadership in a team context.
e) Familiarity with the funding environment.
f) Drivers license.
g) Computer literacy.
h) Proposal and report writing skills.

Closing date is 2nd November 2005.

An application letter, CV with three contactable references should be forwarded to: The Chairperson; P.O. Box 7011, Stellenbosch; 7599 or Fax: (021) 883 8780 or E-mail: director@dopstop.org.za

Zambia: Programme Assistant

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/30027

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia urgently requires a dynamic and highly motivated person to fill the position of PROGRAMME ASSISTANT for its' Radio and Good Governance Project, on an initial one-year renewable contract.
JOB OPPORTUNITY


The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Zambia urgently requires
a dynamic and highly motivated person to fill the position of
PROGRAMME ASSISTANT for its' Radio and Good Governance Project, on an
initial one-year renewable contract.


Qualifications and Experience

University Degree / Diploma in Mass Communication /Journalism with a
bias towards broadcasting from a reputable institution.
Proven radio production experience of at least 3 years for degree
holders and 5 years for diploma holders in a broadcasting environment.
Wide knowledge of good governance related issues and operations of the
community / private radio sector is an advantage.

Computer literate.


Duties

The successful candidate will:

Conduct hands –on radio production training to 10 participating radio stations;

Ensure effective and timely monitoring, reporting and documentation of
project outcomes;
Specifically provide direct implementation of the project;
Provide technical support and backstopping assistance to all
participating radio stations.



If you meet the above requirements, please submit your application
with copies of academic and professional certificates and detailed CV
with three traceable referees by Monday, 31 October, 2005 to:



The National Director

MISA - Zambia

P.O Box 32295

Tel/fax: 292096

Lusaka

Email: misazambia@zamnet.zm



The successful candidate must be ready to begin work immediately. A
competitive package will be offered to the successful candidate.



NOTE: This was advertised in the daily newspapers during the month of
September. We, however, want to ensure that those who might have
missed the advertisement get to see it and submit their applications
within the next few days. Kindly circulate to others that could be
interested.



MISA - ZAMBIA IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

Africa: Women and Trade

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/gcap/30051

Leading up to the December 2005 World Trade Organization's (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, Pambazuka News will examine some of the issues regarding the WTO as it affects Africa. This week we look at women and trade.

African women are widely recognized as active contributers to economic systems and trade. Women work to generate over half of most household’s incomes, and work extremely long hours. They are also the main caretakers of children and other extended relatives, while at the same time accounting for more than half of the workforce that grows, processes and markets food and other goods. At the same time, women are often left out of formal economic planning and development schemes. Rarely do they have access to business loans, and in most cases the land they work does not belong to them. Women also make up the poorest of any social grouping in Africa, and this increasing “feminization” of poverty should be of upmost importance to all.

The WTO is directly involved in shaping the lives of millions of people across the globel, and Africa’s women are not exempt. In fact, the policies that the WTO dictates often have devestating effects on individuals, families and communities.

One of the other most specific threats to women in Africa relates to the ending of the quota system in the textile and garment industry. This changed on January 1st, 2005. Up until then, a quota sysem had been in place, making it mandatory for large, wealthy countriies (mainly the US and EU) to spread their orders for textiles and garments over factories in several dozen countries, mostly in developing nations. With the end of this quota system, these obligations have been lifted, meaning that orders can now simply go to the lowest bidder. This coumtry is China, and as a result, garment factories around the world are shutting down because they cannot compete in this new market. Women make up the majority of workers in this industry, and Africa is no different. Women are now starting to lose their jobs to Chinese workers in large numbers. One of the places in Africa where the highest concentration of garment factories are found is Mauritius. Almost a fifth of the working population is involved in the industry in one way or another. Over two thirds of those employed are women. As a result of the end of the quota system, factories are now closing, and the unemployment rates are soaring. At least 10 000 jobs will be lost, and the women that once held them, often the main breadwinners in their families, are left with small severance packages and nowhere to look for new jobs.

Another threat to African women in terms of trade involves trade liberalization. One of the most serious ways that this plays out is in relation to food security, which itself is important on individual, household, national, regional and global levels. Indeed, food security in many ways determines poverty levels in any given country. Agriculture is one of Africa’s largest industries, and women are its largerst contributors. Trade liberalization in relation to agriculture has meant a number of things. Chemical pest control and fertilizers have made their way into the African agriclutrural sector, leaving small scale farmers unable to afford them, and thus keep up with the market. Women also make up many heads of households, and are left, therefore, with the double burden of carrying for their families and homes, as well as their agricutlrural workload. The opening up of the export market means that many of these women no longer have time to care for crops that would go towards feeding their families, they must work solely for commercial purposes. The wages earned from these crops are limited, as many African countries rely too heavily on one single crop, and many more cannot compete in the global market.

These comprise simply two specific examples of the way in which African women are affected by trade. Numerous others exist, and the realities faced by African women are difficult to summarize because of their enormous variations and complexities. But one thing is possible to conclude: governments and decision makers must take into account the specific circumstance of women in relation to trade, and put into place mechanisms that protect their abilities to meet those basic human rights which are being violated as a result of policies that rarely benefit Africa and its people.

For further information:
http://www.awepon.org/

http://www.igtn.org/

For previous articles:

On the Road to Hong Kong - http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=29838

Africa and WTO - http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=29857

Farewell Chinwuba, Justice and John - "Blow in the winds, glow in the darkest room and in all our hearts"

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/gcap/30056

The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) community in Africa has been devastated by the deaths of ActionAid International Nigeria activists Chinwuba Egbe and John Moru, and GCAP Nigeria National Coordinator Justice Egware in the Bellview flight that crashed after take off from Lagos Airport in Nigeria on Saturday, 22 October. Tributes have been pouring in all week via the GCAP email listserve. Below are details about the three activists from the www.whiteband.org website and summaries of the tributes that have been sent. The full tributes can be read by following the link provided.

CHINWUBA EGBE

Chinwuba Egbe (34) was an Education Team Leader and Co-ordinator of Stepping Stones and REFLECT (STAR) with ActionAid International Nigeria (AAIN). In their media release, AAIN called him a “grassroots man to the core who was ‘at home’ amongst the poor and excluded, discussing and helping to shape issues of common interest and empowering them through participatory approaches.” Egbe had contributed to many poor peoples’ livelihood through the Reflect Project in more than 30 communities in Nigeria.

JOHN MORU

At 34, John Moru had already made his mark as an activist who was dedicated to the fight against pervading poverty in the midst of plenty in Nigeria, denial of political and human rights to the people, and the threats of international capitalism. Moru contributed to the emergence of a strong governance team in ActionAid International Nigeria (AAIN) and the initiation of the Nigeria Social Forum (NSF).Together with Egware, he was in the forefront of the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) campaign in Nigeria. He is survived by a wife and a daughter.

JUSTICE EGWARE

Justice Egware (36) not only sustained the growth of the National Coalition on Education (CSACEFA) but also contributed to the building of the organisation as a strong force in educational issues in Nigeria with a view to bringing the ‘voice’ of civil society into national discourse. In addition, Justice was in the forefront of the struggle for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Nigeria through the MDG Campaigns and as GCAP Nigeria Coordinator. Activists across Africa will remember him as a powerful voice during the Africa Standing Tall against Poverty concert in Accra in the days before the World Summit. They will recall how motivational he was at the World Summit and in the days thereafter at the International Facilitation Group. He is survived by a wife and son.

Any person who watched the Standing Tall against Poverty concert in Accra on television or who attended the concert will remember the powerful and immortal words of Justice Egware on September 3 when he said, “Today, we are standing tall together to say No to Poverty. Africa is not a poor continent and we all agree that we are a generation that believes that poverty can be eradicated.”

Tributes:

- Dear fellow campaigners and friends,

It is with great sadness and deep shock that we bring you this news. Justice Egware, co-ordinator of GCAP Nigeria and John Moru of Action Aid Nigeria are believed to have been on the fateful Bellview flight 110 that crashed after take off from Lagos airport on Saturday night. 117 people were on board. There were no survivors. Justice and John were returning to Abuja from Lagos where we launched the Nigeria GCAP publicity campaign at the Galleria media Centre. Other campaigners arrived from Abuja and we are trying to acsertain who else was on board that fateful airline. We are totally devastated and we pray that the gates of eternity shall open gently as their spirits rise across the African skies with all our dreams, all our hopes....blow in the winds, glow in the darkest room and in all our hearts. - Kwesi Owusu

- The Centre for Democracy and Development wishes to sympathise with and extend our condolences to those who lost their loved ones in the incident and pray that they find the endurance and strength to bear the grief of these irreparable losses.

- AWEPON kindly conveys our sincere condolence and prayers to the families of our dear campaigners.

- On my personal behalf and The Civil Society Movement-Sierra Leone we express our unreserved sympathy for the demise of friends and brothers.

- Coalition Jubilee 2000 Angola wishes to extend sincere prayers and condolences for all the families bereaved in this tragic air accident.

- On behalf of the Global Sustainability Watch Network, it is with shock and sadness that we receive the terrible news. Heart felt condolences to the families and friends.

- Deepest condolences from Charles Nyambe.

- Really sorry about the death of Justice and John. They were great people and will be missed a lot. - Christine Misiko

- Girl Child Network and the Women`s Coalition are in great shock and we share the loss.

- It is with shock and sadness that MWENGO receives the terrible news. Heart felt
condolences to the families and friends.

- Condolences to their families and G-CAP fraternity from Julius Kapwepwe.

- Please accept SANGOCOs sincerest condolences and support to family and friends, regarding this great tragedy and loss.

- Helen Tomobo is sending her solidarity to the families and friends. We have lost the best folks among us.

- On behalf of the MDG/GCAP Campaign in Uganda, this is to convey our deeply felt condolences to the families of Justice Egware and John Moru, to GCAP Nigeria and all GCAP campaigners.

- Heart felt condolences and support to the families and friends of Justice Egware and John Moru on behalf of Erasmo Mabunda.

- Sincere condolences from Gerald Mwale of the University of Zambia.
Centre for Democracy & Development (CDD) Commiserates With the Nation and
Mourns the Demise of those Who Passed On In the Unfortunate Bellviews Air
Crash of 22 October 2005

The management and staff of the Centre for Democracy & Development (CDD), an organisation dedicated to the promotion and sustenance of human security, democracy and development in the (West-) African region, received with utmost shock the unfortunate demise of the 117 people who were on board the ill-fated Bellviews 737 aircraft 5N-BFN that crashed while flying about 9pm from Lagos to Abuja on Saturday 22 October 2005. We consider this most regrettable incidence as nothing short of a regional and international tragedy, as some of the brightest people from the continent and beyond met their untimely deaths during this painful mishap.

CDD wishes to sympathise with and extend our condolences to those who lost
their loved ones in the incident and pray that they find the endurance and
strength to bear the grief of these irreparable losses. Apart from the
citizens, government officials, kith and folks who passed on, the Centre
mourns the deaths of our associates, partners, and close friends, including General Cheick Oumar Diara, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in-charge of Political Affairs, Defence and Security, along with Mr. Emmanuel Quaye. Also, Mr. Justice Egware of the Civil Society Action Coalition on Education for All (CSACEFA), and John Moru of ActionAid International, Nigeria office. We pray that the souls of the dead would find eternal rest.

Signed
Centre for Democracy & Development

Dear Kwesi,

It is great shock and pain that we have lost our brothers who have been working tirelessly for a poverty free Africa. Please kindly convey our sincere condolence and prayers to the families of our dear campaigners. May their souls rest in peace.

Immaculate
AWEPON

Hello Jubileu,
It is with deep regret to hear of the great mishap that has befalling us as a new group trying to awaken the minds of our less previleged folk of what they have been denied of.I see this unfortunate hppenning as a mere sabotage.Did the management of the plane not know of the fault of the plane befor it took off?Or management only concern with expoiting the custosmers with little or no concern for their safty>Note it it is clear that the weather had nothing to do with the crash.I believe for such an act to be avoided for the future an investigation should go on and corretive measures put in place.Tarvelling at all level should be made safe for the peac of the world.

Let however on my personal behalf and The Civil Society Movement-Sierra Leone (CSM-SL)EXPRESS OUR UNRESERVED SYMPATHY for the demise of friends and brothers.As already said,let this misharp help to stenghten us the more in our struggle against poverty for our less fortunate people.

May their souls and all the souls of all positve fighters rest in perfect peace.

Festus Minah

AS A MEMORIAL OF OUR COLLEAGUES AND BROTHERS JUSTICE, JOHN AND CHINWUBA!

Today, we learned of the tragic death of Mr. Justice Egware (36 years), Mr. John Moru (34 years) and Mr. Chinwuba Egbe (34 years), Coordinator of the World Campaign of Action against Poverty (GCAP)-Nigeria, Action Aid Nigeria and Ag Education Team Leader and Coordinator of Stepping Stones and REFLECT (STAR), respectively, in the aviation accident which took place on the 22 of October when they were returning to Abuja, after launching the GCAP campaign in Lagos. We are profoundly touched by the tragic loss of our loyal friends and colleagues.

Dear colleagues, Justice and John, no tears can express the sorrow and pain we feel in our hearts.

Time will bring memories which will live for ever. The end is the culmination of a life. The end reveals the unchanging reality; we are merely travellers in this world. You left with a "see you soon".
We continue with yours and our campaign; we continue united in our commitment to struggle incessantly to eliminate poverty in Africa and in the World.

The real value of your contribution begins, now that you have left us forever. Your parting moment demonstrates for all, that you were and will always be great personalities and role models for civil society in Africa and behind the borders of Africa.

May God Almighty take care of you,
Justice and John, rest in peace with the Lord God.

And so be it!

Sincere prayers and condolences for all the families bereaved in this tragic air accident.

Benjamim A. Castello
Coalition Jubile 2000 Angola (LiJuA)

It is with shock and sadness that we receive the terrible news. Heart felt
condolences to the families and friends

Happy James Tumwebaze
On behalf of the Global Sustainability Watch Network

My deepest condolences. May the souls of the beloved departed rest in EternalPeace
Regards to all.
Charles Nyambe

Dear all,

Really sorry about the death of Justice and John.it is very sad, and I just want to wish them a long and happy eternal life. They were great people and will be missed alot. May God be with them and their families.

Christine Misiko

Dear friends
I received the news of Justice and John with great shock and we are in big pain.I always share all the GCAP messages with my girls and women here in the high density surbub of Chitungwiza and I communicate all the messages on the campaign.Sometimes I fail to get words to pass on to families in such great pain and loss. On behalf of girls and all women in Zimbabwe I just want you to know that we are in great shock and we share the loss.When we lose so much we really battle to know why and answers do not come our way. My dear friends know that such big loss is loss to the whole world. Sometimes we part in very painful ways ..and we just wonder!!!!!

Betty Makoni
Girl Child Network-Director
Women`s Coalition Zimbabwe-Chairperson

It is with shock and sadness that we receive the terrible news. Heart felt
condolences to the families and friends.

Idaishe Chengu,
MWENGO,
ZIMBABWE

Really sad,

Our condolences to their famlies and G-CAP fraternity.

Julius Kapwepwe
UGANDA

Plse accept our sincerest condolences and support to family and friends, regarding this great tragedy and loss. We speak from the South of Africa but know that all the worlds people seeking justice are with the family and friends.

Hassen Lorgat
South African NGO Coalition (SANGOCO)

You have worked with Justice
From near or far.
Your have lived with Justice as family
Or as friends.
You have met him, known him
Loved him.
You have seen him smile.
I share with you the pain.
I share the powerlessness
I share the questions without answers
I grieve with you
May his smile, his energy, keep on shinning.

Coumba Toure

Dear Comrades,

I just got to see this and it is deeply and truly devastating and too sad. Last week, the GCAP Africa planning team held a teleconference on Wednesday. When the members present were asked for A.O.B Justice told all of us that He loved us all and he is very proud of everybody. We all got excited and we all laughed and joked about it. Sadly did we know that these were his parting words....I spent alot of time with Justice in New York and exchanged emails after that encouraging me never to give up on what I believe. I have lost a friend, brother and and a comrade.This is a great loss to the two families and all of us. I am sending my solidity to the families and friends. We have lost the best folks among us.

In Solidarity
Hellen Tombo

Comrades, Friends, Fellow campaigners,

We are deeply saddened by the news of this tragic event. It was bad enough to learn of the plane crash in the media, but the news got truly devastating when it emerged that close friends and associates - people who share our values and are part of the movement we are trying hard to consolidate - were on this flight.

While thanking Kwesi for letting us know as soon as was possible, we would humbly ask that Kwesi take on the burden of extending our very deepest sympathies to the families of Justice and John on our behalf. We know they did a splendid job at the publicity launch in Lagos and we were looking forward to sharing in the assessment of this and other aspects of the campaign in Nigeria and West Africa as a whole together with Justice and other colleagues, in a few days time, in Harare. This event precipitates a great loss in numerous ways to us all. It is undoubtedly an even greater loss to the families and we feel with them at this difficult time. We owe it to these departed comrades to make everything of the campaign for social justice that we are all actively engaged in.

We will remember them fondly and invoke the spirit of their commitment to the campaign as we continue!

In solidarity
Ezra Mbogori
MWENGO

Mes cherEs amiEs,

c’est avec grande tristesse que nous apprenons le deces de nos amis dans le crach d avion survenu au Nigeria. Aussi, nous adressons nos condoleances aux membres de leur familles, a leurs amiEs et a tous ceux qui les connaissent.

El Hassan SAYOUTY
Espace Associatif
Morocco

Dear Kwesi,

It is with shock and sadness that we have learnt of the death of Justice
and John. On behalf of the MDG/GCAP Campaign in Uganda, this is to
convey our deeply felt condolences to the families of the Justice Egware
and John Moru, to GCAP Nigeria and all GCAP campaigners.

Deo Nyanzi
Uganda National NGO Forum

It is with shock and sadness that we received the terrible news. Heart felt condolences and support to the families and friends of Justice Egware and John Moru.

May GOD almighty give them internal rest.

Erasmo Mabunda
On behalf of ABIODES, GCAP Coordinating group and the GCAP campaigners in
Mozambique

Dear All,

I didn't know John or Justice, but please accept and pass on my condolencesalso. Their deaths leave the world even poorer.

Sincerely,
Melanie

Dear All,

Please accept my sincere condolences. This is
indeed a great loss to the campaign.

Gerald Mwale,
University of Zambia, Lusaka

Memorial Services for Chinwuba, Justice and John

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/gcap/30057

Please follow the link for more detailed information on the following memorial services planned...

1. ACTIONAID Nigeria

a)Memorial service in Abuja, Nigeria on Saturday, 5 November
b)Family Support Fund
c)Reflections of Three Patriots on Development:
d)Collection of Tributes
e)Burial ceremonies
f)Programme at Nigeria Social Forum

2. ACTIONAID International and SANGOCO
a)Memorial Service in Johannesburg on Thursday, 27 October

1. ACTIONAID International Nigerial Honors and Immortalises Departed Colleagues

ActionAid International Nigeria (AAIN) lost two staff (Mr. Chinwuba Egbe, Acting Education Team Leader and Mr. John Moru, Governance Team Leader) and a partner (Mr. Justice Egware, Policy Advisor of Civil Society Action on Education for All and Co-ordinator of Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) in the ill-fated Bellview airline crash on Saturday 22nd
November, 2005.

We have planned the following programmes to honour and immortalize our colleagues:

Memorial service: A memorial service will be held for the three departed colleagues in Abuja on Saturday 5th November, 2005 at Zuma Hall, Rockview Hotel Extension at from 4.00-9.30pm.

Chinwuba, John & Justice (CJ2) Family Support Fund: Donations are solicited for this fund to assist with the education of their children and support to their wives and parents. A dedicated account is being opened for the fund. The proposed trustees of the Fund are Dr. Otive Igbuzor (Country Director, AAIN), Ms. Amina Ibrahim (Special Adviser to the President on MDGs), Ms. Felicia Onibon (Moderator, Civil Society Coalition on Education for All) and Mr. Taiwo Ajose (Head of Finance, AAIN).

Reflections of Three Patriots on Development: A book of the articles written by the three of them will be published.

Collection of Tributes: There will be a collection of the tributes on them which will be published.

Burial ceremonies: ActionAid International Nigeria will participate in burial ceremonies that will be organized by the three families. The burial ceremony of John Moru has been fixed for Friday 28th October (Wake keeping) and Saturday 29th October, 2005 (funeral service) at Igarra, Akoko Edo Local government Area of Edo State in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. The burial ceremony of Chinwuba Egbe has been fixed for Thursday 3rd November (Wake keeping) and 4th November, 2005(Funeral service) at Egbe’s family compound in Aku, Igbo Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State. The dates for Justice Egware will be communicated later.

Programme at the Nigeria Social Forum: A programme will be organized in their honour in the Nigeria Social Forum slated for 14th-18th November, 2005 at NYSC camp in Lagos.

We wish to acknowledge the solidarity of colleagues, friends and partners across the world. We are strengthened by your show of love.

We covet your presence in these programmes to honour our departed colleagues.

Otive Igbuzor
Country Director, AAIN

2. Action Aid International and SANGOCO holds Memorial Service

It is with a deep sense of loss, sorrow and grief that we announce that
two of our Staff Mr. John Moru (34 years) and Mr. Chinwuba Egbe (34
years); and our partner Mr. Justice Egware (36 years) were in the
Bellview plane crash of Saturday 22 October 2005 which was going from
Lagos to Abuja in Nigeria. There were no survivors from the plane crash
with 117 people on board.

Mr. John Moru (Governance Team Leader) and Mr. Justice Egware, the
Nigeria GCAP Co-ordinator and Policy Advisor of Civil Society Coalition
on Education for All (CSACEFA) were returning from Lagos where they
attended Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) Nigeria publicity
campaign and Mr. Chinwuba Egbe (Ag Education Team Leader and
Co-ordinator of Stepping Stones and REFLECT (STAR) was on his way back
from Uganda after training on STAR.

John and Justice were both activists, dedicated to the fight against
pervading poverty in the midst of plenty in Nigeria, denial of political
and human rights to the people, and the threats of international
capitalism. They were both in the forefront of the global call for
action against poverty (GCAP) campaign in Nigeria.

Chinwuba was a grassroots man to the core and was 'at home' amongst the
poor and excluded, discussing and helping to shape issues of common
interest and empowering them through participatory approaches.

So, they died in the battle to eradicate poverty from the face of the
earth and to engender justice and equity. They died actively proclaiming
the banners of equity for Nigerians, and fighting bravely for the
emancipation of poor people. John is survived by a wife and a daughter
while Justice is survived by a wife and a son.

These young men have contributed in no small measure to the modest
achievement of ActionAid International Nigeria. John contributed to the
emergence of a strong governance team in ActionAid International Nigeria
(AAIN) and the initiation of the Nigeria Social Forum (NSF). Similarly,
Chinwuba contributed to many poor peoples livelihood through the Reflect
Project in more than 30 communities in Nigeria. Justice not only
sustained the growth of the National Coalition on Education (CSACEFA)
but also contributed to the building of the organisation as a strong
force in educational issues in Nigeria with a view to bringing the
'voice' of civil society into national discourse. In addition, Justice
was in the forefront of the struggle for the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Nigeria through the MDG
Campaigns.

We - SANGOCO, the Global Campaign for Education - South Africa and
ACTION AID INTERNATIONAL having been working on these issues with the
comrades and will sorely miss them for their warmth and honest
contribution to the plight of the poor and marginalized in all our
communities.

A memorial service will take place this Thursday, 27 October from 13h00
to 14h00 to honor the memory of our lost colleagues.

Friends in the Johannesburg area are welcome to attend a memorial
service to be led by Bishop Paul Verryn of the Johannesburg Central
District.

The service will be held at the Methodist Church, No. 114 Rissik Street,
Methodist House, Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

May their souls rest in peace.

For more information:

Wole Olaleye
Regional Policy Coordinator
Southern Africa Partnership Programme (SAPP)
ActionAid International
2nd Floor, Rosebank Arena 3
Cradock Avenue , Rosebank, Johannesburg
Tel: +27 11 880 0008
Fax: +27 11 880 8082
Email: wole.olaleye@actionaid.org

Hassen Lorgat
Campaigns and Communications Manager
South African NGO Coalition (SANGOCO)
Tel:0027 11 403 7746
Fax:0027 11 403 8703
Mobile: +27 82 411 2946
email:hlorgat@sangoco.org.za
URL:www.sangoco.org.za

The Chinwuba, John & Justice Fund

2005-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/gcap/30068

Please find available through the link below instructions for paying money into the Chinwuba, John & Justice Fund.

1) The current account for the CJ2 has been opened at the Standard
Chartered Bank Nigeria Ltd.

The account details are as follows:

* Account Name: Action Aid International Nigeria (CJ2 Family
Support Fund)

* Account No.: 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 5 1 6 0 1

* Currency of Operation: Nigerian Naira.


2) For people that would want to make donations outside Nigeria.

2.1 Within ActionAid Family

* Monies can be collected and transfer through AA internal
system by handing over such donations to the finance department/unit of
a CP. The CP finance will process the transfer to AAIN through AAUK.

2.2 Other than AA family

Monies could be remitted/wired to AAIN account by SWIFT and the
details are as follows:

* Customers Name: ActionAid International Nigeria.

* Customer Account No: 2 8 1 1 0 0 5 1 6 0

* Customer banker's country Address: Standard Chartered Bank
Nigeria Limited. 105B Ajose Adeogun St. Victoria Island Lagos, Nigeria.
Telephone: 234 1 3202000

* Funds to be routed through: Standard Chartered Bank 37,
GraceChurch Street, London EC3V 0BX

* Account No: 0 0 -0 5-7 0 8 3 6 0 2 - 0 1

* SWIF Address : S C B L G B 2 L

Note to would be supporters: Please follow the instructions carefully
for effective transfer of your funds/donation/contributions.

Thanks.
Otive Igbuzor
Country Director, AAIN

Fahamu