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Featured:

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/30192

EDITORIAL: Stephen Lewis, in an extract from his new book, criticises the way women have been left out of the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa
COMMENT&ANALYSIS:
- Issa Shivji laments the lack of a principled vote in the Tanzanian elections
- Organisations resolve to strengthen freedom of expression in Africa
- Pambazuka News Q&A: Swaziland is a tiny kingdom with a big problem
- Ndung'u Wainaina on peace in the Great Lakes
- Durban conference asks how Africa can reclaim the 21st century
LETTERS: Who did the looting in the DRC?
BLOGGING AFRICA: The taste of Africa, the religion of Africa, the debates of Africa...
CONFLICT&EMERGENCIES: Eritrea/Ethiopia border "tense" as UN troops go home
HUMAN RIGHTS: One step closer to justice for Charles Taylor - amputees win Nigerian court case
ELECTIONS&GOVERNANCE: Thirty shot dead in opposition protests
REFUGEES&FORCED MIGRATION: World Organisation Against Torture says it is "gravely concerned" about Sudanese refugees in Egypt - featured in Pambazuka News over the last two weeks
WOMEN&GENDER: Congratulations from around the world over the 15th ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa
CORRUPTION: Is Africa ready for whistle-blower protection?
HEALTH: Human Rights Watch Honors Ugandan AIDS Activist
MEDIA: East African journalists Deliberate on Media and Globalization
FUNDRAISING&USEFUL RESOURCES: Google gets into giving (but only to Americans!)

How the other half dies

Stephen Lewis

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/30193

Elections in Tanzania: In search of a principled vote

Issa G Shivji

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/30187

The Tanzanian National Electoral Commission (NEC) announced this week that general elections will take place on 14 December following the postponement of a 30 October poll due to the death of a presidential running mate. Elections did take place 30 October on Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar, with the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (Party for the Revolution) winning the elections. The vote was marred by clashes between security forces and opposition supporters. Issa Shivj assesses the choices available for Tanzanian voters.


‘So my prayer to the socialist god is to get to have the American one-party system in Tanzania. ... So my hope is that you can have another party; you can have two parties in Tanzania, both believing in the essentials of the Arusha Declaration. Then try to see which is going to be more efficient in implementing it. But one socialist party, one capitalist party well, theoretically yes, but I don’t know how it can work.’

Julius Nyerere said this fifteen years ago when the debate on multi-party democracy had just begun and the Nyalali commission (The Justice Francis Nyalali Commission in the early 1990s found that only 20 per cent of Tanzanians wanted to revert to the multiparty political system) was making the rounds of the country to get people’s views. Nyerere went on to draw an analogy with the American system where, he said, there were two parties; ‘but they’re really one party!’ ‘Both parties agree on the basic national objectives. Internally, both of them are highly capitalist. Externally, both of them are imperialist.’ Elsewhere, Nyerere expressed the hope that the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) would split and that you would get two strong parties, both socialist and both nationalist.

The socialist god, fortunately for a few, unfortunately for the many, did not answer any of Nyerere’s prayers. Instead of the CCM splitting into two strong parties, it buried the Arusha Declaration itself, and with it both nationalism and socialism.

Today we have some 18 or so parties with perhaps two or three credible ones. But there is hardly any great difference in their vision, outlook or major policies. All are donor-dependent; all are driven by the neo-liberal policies of liberalisation, privatisation and the enrichment of the minority; the so-called “Washington consensus”; and none has a credible vision of constructing a national, democratic economy and polity in the interest of the large majority. So, when Tanzanians went to the polls in a third multi-party election last weekend, what was there to choose from? For the purposes of discussion we may cluster the choices into three types: the common sense, the pragmatic and the rational. Theoretically, there is also the fourth, the principled choice, based on principles and policies of a party. But this, as I said, was not available. The fourth choice did not exist.

The common sense choice dictates to err on the side of caution. This is best expressed in the old adage, ‘better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t know’. Common sense, however, is not always good sense. If you continue to strengthen the devil you know, there is a likelihood that he may be further emboldened to become even more devilish. These overwhelming electoral victories or what are called “ushindi wa kishindo”, or with an even more ominous connotation, “ushindi wa tsunami”, have their consequences. Few parties, and still fewer individuals, who have got into the political seat with 70-80 per cent vote, can resist the arrogance of power. Self-control in the exercise of power is a rare phenomenon.

The second type of choice is a pragmatic one. Here the voter is moved neither by instinct nor by principles and much less by reason. The motive force is either immediate self-interest - bribes and favours - or a racial, regional, religious or gender prejudice and bias. In our current political scenario, as a matter of fact, the pragmatic choice reigns supreme. We have already seen it in the internal nomination processes of the parties and should prepare ourselves to see more of it during the elections. Supposedly, there are watch dogs like the electoral commissions who are supposed to check such practices. But who watches the watch dogs?

Then there is the third set of choices, which we call a rational choice. In absence of the availability of a principled choice, the most rational choice would be for a political configuration which assures some stability, security, basic freedoms and checks on gross abuse and misuse of power. In our situation, theoretically, it means a union parliament which would have a strong presence of the opposition, over, say, 40 per cent of the seats. As for the presidency, ideally, the winning candidate should end up with slightly over 50 per cent of the votes. In other words, “ushindi wa kishindo: should disappear from our political scene.

Since we are a two-government union, the rational choice would be that different political parties are elected to run the two governments. The constant threat and fear whipped up by some ruling circles and their spokespersons that any party other than CCM forming the Zanzibar government would spell disaster for the union is a political scarecrow. No politician, even with a modicum of political sense, would advocate, and much less attempt, complete independence for Zanzibar. The union question is, in my view, not about secession; it is really about greater autonomy. And as I have always maintained, the union question should be contextualized, discussed and debated within the larger question of the grassroots democratisation of our politics. No people can have democracy for themselves if they are denying democracy to others.

The rational choice is not necessarily a principled choice. One only hopes, that the scenario painted here would create necessary conditions and open up space for the people to discuss and determine the vision and organise themselves to realise that vision. In other words, the rational choice would create an enabling environment for a principled choice.

But the rational choice pre-supposes certain pre-conditions. One is that the elections should be free and fair; free of corruption, rigging and other malpractices. On the part of the ruling party, it means “ushindi wa kishindo” should remain an aspiration. It should not become a coded message for “ushindi wa kishindo” by any means, fair or foul!

On the part of the opposition parties, it means not only to place on offer more democratic political governance, but also, a serious, critical and persuasive analysis of the promises and performance of the incumbent government over the last ten years. It is a telling comment on the opposition parties that so far they have not even been able to tell us what has happened to our society over the last ten years and yet, we feel it in our bones that this country has undergone fundamental changes, not only in its political and economic direction but in its social character. A good political leader is one who can explain systematically what people feel confusedly.

One cannot obviously expect such an analysis from the ruling party. Self-criticism is not, and has never been, a credo of bourgeois parties. They would only provide a score-board with ticks on achievements. It is the opposition which has the duty to raise, at least, question marks. If they fail to do so, then this time around, people would be justified in raising a big question mark against the very system of multi-party politics in Africa.

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

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Resolution to Strengthen Freedom of Expression in Africa

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/30158

We, the 42 members of 33 organizations participating in the Conference of African Freedom of Expression Organisations held in Accra, Ghana, from October 28 to 30, 2005, under the auspices of the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), Media Rights Agenda (MRA) and Journaliste en Danger (JED), with sponsorship from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisations (UNESCO);

Concerned by the continued violation of freedom of expression across Africa;

Concerned by the increasing enactment and abuse of repressive media laws in many parts of the continent;

Further concerned by the killings, imprisonments and arbitrary arrests and detentions of journalists and media workers, and the arbitrary suspension and closure of media outlets around the continent;

Gravely concerned by the lack of response of the African Union and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to address these serious violations of freedom of expression;

Recalling the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in October 2002;

Recalling the Resolution on the Mandate and Designation of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression in Africa by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights adopted in December 2004;

Recalling the appeal to the African Union made by more than 100 media and freedom of expression organizations on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day 2005;

Welcoming the commitment and the Statement of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission on World Press Freedom Day 2005 reiterating the importance of freedom of expression and the role of the media;

We call on the African Union to:

1. strengthen the existing mechanisms on freedom of expression in Africa;
2. ensure that the current Special Rapporteur Mechanism is fully independent and is provided with the necessary resources to efficiently execute the mandate;
3. take into account freedom of expression in the peer review mechanism process under the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD);
4. urge African Union members to respect freedom of expression and to cooperate with the Special Rapporteur to address the challenges of freedom of expression across Africa;
5. urge African governments to adopt a Treaty on Freedom of Expression in Africa;
6. urge the African Union to establish as a matter of urgency the African Court on Human Rights and make it operational.


We further call on the African Union to:

1. ensure the release of all arbitrarily detained Eritrean journalists and political prisoners held incommunicado since 2001;
2. ensure that an independent investigation is conducted to probe the murder of journalist Deyda Hydara in the Gambia;
3. closely monitor the situation of freedom of expression in Tunisia and ensure that freedom of expression advocates are protected and prisoners of conscience are freed;
4. take urgent measures to protect journalists and media practitioners in Somalia against the violent attacks and harassment by officials of local authorities and non-state actors.

Done this 30th of October 2005 in Accra

Attached is the list of organizations

* * * * *

Host Organisations

1. Journaliste en Danger (JED)
2. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)
3. Media Institute for Southern Africa (MISA)
4. Media Rights Agenda (MRA)

Participating Organisations

African Organisations
5. AFMF: Africa Free Media Foundation (formerly NDIMA Network for the Defence of Independent Media in Africa)
6. AMDISS: Association for Media Development in Southern Sudan
7. CNLT: National Council for Liberties in Tunisia
8. CREDO: Centre for Research Education & Development of FoX & Associated Rights
9. EFJA: Ethiopian Free Press Journalists Association
10. FAMEDEV: Inter-Africa Network for Women, Media, Gender Equity & Development
11. FXI: Freedom of Expression Institute
12. HornAfrik Media
13. NGE: Nigerian Guild of Editors
14. OMAC: Organisation des Medias d’Afrique Centrale
15. OTM: Observatoire Togolas des Medias
16. PIWA: Panos Institute West Africa
17. SCFE: Somali Coalition for Free Expression
18. TAEF: All Africa Editors Forum
19. URATEL: Union des Radios & Televisions libres du Togo
20. WAJA/OJAO: West Africa Journalist Association/ Union des journalistes de l’Afrique de l’Ouest

Non-African Organisations
21. ARTICLE 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression
22. Free Voice
23. IFEX/AMARC: International Freedom of Expression eXchange/World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters
24. IFJ: International Federation of Journalists
25. IMS: International Media Support
26. Index on Censorship
27. OSI: Open Society Initiative - Network Media Program and Justice Initiative
28. CHRI: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative

Ghana Organisations
29. AI: Amnesty International, Ghana Chapter
30. GCRN: Ghana Community Radio Network
31. CHRAJ: Commission on Human Rights & Administrative Justice
32. Ghana Bar Association
33. Ghana Journalists Association

Swaziland: A tiny kingdom with a big problem

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/30188

A firebomb attack on a policeman last Friday was the latest in a series of six similar explosions targeting state institutions that have hit the tiny mountain kingdom of Swaziland in the last month. The attacks have been blamed by Africa’s last remaining ruling monarchy on banned political groups and come at a time when there is growing criticism of King Mswati III’s extravagant lifestyle in parallel with widespread impoverishment and the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection. Pambazuka News sent some questions on the situation in Swaziland to Bongani Masuku, Secretary General of the Swaziland Solidarity Network, an umbrella body of groups working for democracy in Swaziland. Zimbabwe is not the only problem country in the region, Masuku reveals.


PAMBAZUKA NEWS: What's the mood like in Swaziland these days with regards to electoral reform and democracy?

BONGANI MASUKU: A mood of both despair and anger is the only way I can try to intrepret the situation on the ground. The people feel a sense of despair, because they, for the meantime, are not able to stop the royal regime bulldozing and imposing its interests on the whole nation, knowing well that it has at its disposal all the instruments of force, whilst the progressive voices have no adequate support to mount a sustained offensive against this, at least for now. The international community is vocal elsewhere - where its own interests are at stake - and silent on Swaziland, where it is not interested or where its interests are best secured by the current regime, which is part of the double standards we see everyday in realpolitik.

The anger is informed by the fact that when all nations of the world are discussing serious ways to develop themselves and confront major issues like poverty, HIV and AIDS, unemployment, human security, sustainable livelihoods, participation of women and economic justice through redistribution, we have a situation in our country where the opposite is true. We are still rooted in backward and primitive ways that safeguard the selfish and greedy interests of a royal minority and their friends, all in the name of culture. We are still unable to enjoy even the most basic rights that other people elsewhere are beginning to take for granted as given and inevitable, such as the right to form and belong to an organisation of your choice, particularly on the basis of shared political opinion.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: A post-9/11 anti-terrorism bill has been tabled again in the Swazi parliament in the wake of two recent fire bombings in the capital, Mbabane. Opposition groups are worried that King Mswati III might use the legislation to stifle dissent. Are there grounds for this concern?

BONGANI MASUKU: Concerns around the Anti-terrorism Bill relate to the fact that the definition of terrorism is not legitimate, neither is it broadly agreed to, but is rather an attempt to stain the legitimate activities of the progressive movement. PUDEMO, together with its youth wing, SWAYOCO, have been the main victims in the past of this label, for obvious reasons. In this regard, the regime is still looking for ways to legitimise its illegitimate attack on the activities of the progressive movement, which have become understood by every democracy-loving person all over the world. It is trying to secure a space in the global atmosphere characterised by insecurity, as a partner in the search for peace, but in the process it is also seeking to use that space to crush the democratic movement. It has used such acts for years, such as the definition of political activities as criminal activities or outlawed/illegal activities. These are the crude methods it has used to maintain itself in power, hence the obvious fact that this is not meant to target some terrorist somewhere, but the "terrorist", as defined by the royal regime.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The government branded the firebomb attacks as "terrorism". Where they?

BONGANI MASUKU: While we are not sure about the firebomb, we can only assume that these are the legitimate expressions of accumulated anger by the people and their response to the sustained wave of violence, state terror and naked brutality being meted out by the regime against the people. The people are not limited in the way they respond to state-enforced terror, they respond in the manner they deem appropriate to defend the cause they stand and believe in.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Swaziland's parliament consists of a 65-seat House of Assembly, 10 of whose members are appointed by the king, and a 30-seat Senate. All the senators are appointed, either by the House of Assembly or the king. In this context, there have been calls for electoral reform. What progress has or is being made in this area?

BONGANI MASUKU: With regard to the reformation of parliament and general electoral reform, what we have seen is attempts to subvert legitimate demands or calls for electoral reform through diversion, confusion and reconfiguration of the people's legitimate intentions to suit the purpose of the regime in seeking to maintain the fundamental bases of the system, but interfere with some of its manifestations in such a way that it appears that there has been a change in the way things are. In other words, the regime seeks to announce change, but resists change in actual fact. It changes the gowns of the rapists and not the character of the rapist, but parades the rapist as a new person. This includes the fact that multiparty democracy is still illegal, the media is still royal-controlled, the judiciary is still royal-stage-managed and all structures of society are still coerced, through overt and covert or subtle means.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The Central Bank of Swaziland reported in its annual review in September that the economic situation in the country had deteriorated over the last year. Swaziland is believed to have one of the worst rates of child poverty. Why is this?

BONGANI MASUKU: The issue of the deteriorating situation and poverty in the country is a hallmark of the system's generalised crisis levels. Many people have downplayed the extent of the crisis in Swaziland, but daily they are being forced to admit that the country is collapsing, and in the process shaming all those who had always claimed that all is well and that the only problem in the region is Zimbabwe. The royal family has caused so much economic bleeding that the country's economy can no longer take it anymore. The royal parasites are milking the cow to death, hence there is no way it can survive, however fat it is. The country's reserves shall be depleted sooner than many people think and soon, public servants will not be paid, as already many services, particularly public social services have totally collapsed, such as health, education, and basic community needs. The indicators to the extent of the poverty crisis are reflected in the fact of the following; HIV and AIDS levels at 38%, unemployment levels at 40%, high illiteracy levels, high child mortality rates, landlessness and the general state of social conditions of life, as well as the crisis of privatisation and retrenchments.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: A flood of textile imports from China has hit Southern Africa hard. What has been the impact on the labour force in Swaziland?

BONGANI MASUKU: The flood of textile imports from China which has hit Southern Africa have had a dramatic impact on the labour force of Swaziland, hence the closure, if not increased rate of exploitation, in most textile companies. This is related to other matters such as the loss of preferential trade rates in the world market, which have threatened at one point to cost 15 000 jobs in such a small country and in one sector only. But it would be narrow minded to just isolate China, because the fluidity in the global market has imposed a particular amount of fragility, such that poor countries have been the ultimate losers. So it is a combination of factors, amongst others, the disinvestment by rich countries in productive sectors, as well as extreme and unregulated capital mobility, which, together impact negatively on the economic situation in the country.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: What is the path forward suggested by the Swaziland Solidarity Network in terms of moving the country forward?

BONGANI MASUKU: The Swaziland Solidarity Network suggests a process that could move the country forward underpinned by the following factors (our perspectives are underpinned by the historic PUDEMO document, entitled ‘Way forward towards a Constituent Assembly through a negotiated settlement’). In summary they state that:

a) There must be a commitment by the monarchy to a genuine process of fundamental transformation in the form of a memorandum of intent; and to a process underwritten by a credible international organisation to safeguard against the tendency of the royal regime to renege on commitments;

b) This must be followed by a preliminary process, which shall be inclusive of all formations in the country, which is popularly known as the talks about talks on the critical issues facing our country. It is at this stage that there will be formal removal of all laws that militate against democratic progress and free political participation;

c) The next stage should be a negotiation stage, where the actual negotiations about the kind of society Swaziland should be must take place and all stakeholders must agree to a clearly defined process of transformation in political and constitutional terms. The outcome of this process shall include the draft constitution which shall guide the elections of a Constituent Assembly;

d) The Constituent Assembly is the democratically elected body of political representatives, mandated to formally write a constitution for the country;

In broad political terms, this is part of the critical process needed to drive forward the constitutional debate out of the current political quagmire and structural dilemma into which years of royal misrule has plunged our country. However, we also need a clear and workable alternative political process, which seeks to unite all the progressive organisations around a clear and viable framework for fundamental change in Swaziland.

This requires leadership of stature, advanced political and organisational foresight, mass mobilisation and a properly co-ordinated international solidarity movement, to support the genuine cause of the struggling people of Swaziland.

* Interview conducted by email. Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

The challenges to post-conflict reconstruction in the Great Lakes region

Ndung’u Wainaina

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/30189

Exploring genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=29835) and an examination of security and resource issues fuelling conflict in the Great Lakes region (http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=30071) have been the subjects of two recent articles in Pambazuka News. In the third contribution to the discussion of the region, Ndung'u Wainaina examines the challenge of post-conflict reconstruction in the Great Lakes region: “Immediate concerns can be identified as ending existing ongoing conflicts, putting in place measures to prevent new ones, laying the ground for building sustainable peace and planning on post conflict reconstructions,” he writes.


Many people have argued that countries in the Great Lakes region are in perpetual conflict and disintegration by virtue of their ethnic composition. But in some cases, ethnic diversity is actually a blessing in disguise depending on the political ideology and level of societal socialisation, although this does not in any way mean that ethnicity has not caused havoc. Many countries in West Africa and the Great Lakes are however driven to war not due to their ethnic diversity. Other critical factors have contributed to the conflicts in the Great lakes region.

Conflict is inextricably related to poverty and human development. When a whole segment of society is excluded from socio-economic and political activities, there is every reason for that section to group and wage a war for recognition. Secondly, inequitable sharing of valuable natural resources fuels conflicts. It is self-evident that wherever in Africa there are minerals or such other lucrative resources, conflicts are ignited. Conflicts have turned into cover-ups for looting, corruption and supporting local dictatorships by both local and international actors.

Thirdly, a sustainable democracy is about functioning, independent and democratic institutions. People are able to vent their concerns through these institutions. Finally, as argued above ethnic diversity in itself provides little impetus to conflict. However, a polarized society based on other factors is more likely to break into a civil war. Such issues as historical discrimination and grievances, sharing of national wealth, social exclusion in decision-making processes, widespread atrocities against a group at the hands of another etc. can easily spark conflict.

In an attempt to address conflicts in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa, immediate concerns can be identified as ending existing ongoing conflicts, putting in place measures to prevent new ones, laying the ground for building sustainable peace and planning on post conflict reconstructions. Here the focus should take both national and sub-regional dimensions since as much as the conflict may be internal; it has tremendous cross border effects. Moreover, future political stability and democracy is achieveable via sustainable capacity building of personnel and leadership, institutional transformations, developing progressive post-conflict rehabilitation, a reconstruction and development agenda and the adoption of good governance practices.

A desire for justice and accountability is crucial for the processes of restoring peace, security and post conflict reconstruction in the Great Lakes. Civil society has a great role to play in this process. Addressing atrocities in a time of transition poses a fundamental challenge and yet it is extremely significant in avoiding future conflicts and autocratic dictatorships. Due to the cross border nature of some of the conflicts in this sub-region, the possibility of establishing accountability mechanisms that transcend borders may be an option in the future.

It is important for any justice and accountability mechanisms to be open and democratic through wide consultations with the relevant stakeholders and for decisions to be made in a transparent manner. Further these mechanisms have to be designed in a comprehensive and holistic way. These issues are crucial in avoiding discontent and thwarting any attempts to create an impunity gap. Civil society participation in the pre-transition consultations is fundamental in ensuring that final transitional decisions are not determined and conditioned by parties to the conflict.

Local and regional civil society initiatives in partnership with the international civil society community are very critical in providing technical assistance and expertise to countries emerging from such conflicts. One such role may involve bringing together stakeholders in each country, in consultation with neighbouring expertise for input, to develop an appropriate national strategy of pursuing justice and reconciliation policies as a way of cementing the move to democracy. However, such initiatives should be mutually reinforcing. For practical proposes such initiatives could explore mechanisms for establishing truth about the conflict in a non-judicial fora, crafting reparation policy for victims, transforming institutions, initiating vetting processes and formulating progressive socio-economic programs that guarantee equality and inclusion.

Collaboration initiatives in advancing post conflict accountability and securing lasting peace are an essential component in achieving the implementation of emerging international justice and accountability mechanisms as well as charting national policies and institutional responses. Further, signed peace agreement frameworks have created openings for further negotiations and consultations in stabilizing and institutionalizing the rule of law.

International intervention across the Great lakes region in post conflict situations is critical in providing basic information on experiences and lessons learned elsewhere; capacity building; technical expertise, especially in legal matters; information and database construction; and the mobilization of human and financial resources. In devising post conflict reconstruction programs, international obligations should be observed, particularly in relation to international human rights and humanitarian laws.

In order to avoid accusations that the international community captured the local initiatives, the intervention should be designed to strengthen local expertise and capabilities. The creation of a peace building commission and human rights council within the United Nations framework means more responsibility. For instance, the UN was requested to facilitate transitional mechanisms in the post conflict Burundi situation. As the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa region undergo transition, the civil society role in these areas is crucial, as issues of accountability and justice have become an integral part of the transition worldwide.

* Ndung'u Wainaina is a Transitional Justice Fellow and Co-founder of the International Center for Policy and Conflict, a Nairobi-based Transitional Justice Initiative.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

The path to reclaiming the 21st century

Richard Kamidza

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/30190

Given the prevailing economic and social circumstances facing the African continent, exactly how can Africa begin to chart a path for the future? A conference due to be held this weekend in Durban, South Africa, brings academics together to discuss this question and decide exactly how Africa can reclaim the 21st century.


Introduction

The West tried for centuries to impose its models for development on Africa with limited success and without taking into account existing vast differences in culture and politics on the Continent. In this regard, most post-colonial African states adopted Western blueprints in the form of capitalism or socialism with limited trickling benefits to the general populace. It thus seems that Africa is in most cases worse off now than during colonialism despite billions of aid and investment being poured into the Continent. The continent has witnessed the controversy around which agency is more central in driving the development process between state and markets in an environment dominated by foreign actors, especially the Bretton Woods institutions, through their “one-size fit all” policies in addition to a host of imposed conditionalities. While this controversy continues, the socio-economic and political conditions in a number of States continues to deteriorate by the day.

Development paradigms and policies

Since the 1960s Africa has witnessed a contestation or confusion of development agendas, namely, the nationalist agenda of an autonomous development path anchored upon a derigiste economic nationalism in ideological terms on the one hand, and the Bretton Woods institutions propounding a neo-liberal economic adjustment programme premised upon free market enterprise in ideological terms on the other. The former has been and still is deliberately State-centric and encourages State interventionism in economic management. The latter has evolved as a market-driven development strategy and, as such, deliberately set out to roll back the State.

This ideological contestation has forced the Continent’s leadership to embrace several developmental paradigms and policies, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s, in support of the two positions. The debate moved towards convergence in 1997 when the World Bank, through the question “Can Africa Claim the 21st Century?” accepted and appreciated the key role of the State in the socio-economic development of their respective countries. In response African leaders fashioned their own developmental paradigms such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) whose central thrust is collective responsibility towards improving the Continent, including getting directly involved in the search for long-term political stability and sustainable development. Assertive leadership of this responsibility is producing democratic fruits in former troubled nations and regions such as the Great Lakes region, where the return to democracy and constitutional route has resulted in positive socio-economic transformation.

Africa’s Challenges

Political conditions

Africa continues to face political challenges including many politically induced conflicts that have, and will, continue to destabilize both the respective member-State and/or the region. Scarce resources are allocated annually to defense, security and military ministerial portfolios in many African countries as a way of dealing with the prevailing conflicts and/or as a precaution to peace, security and humanitarian concerns, especially in those countries not directly involved in conflict. Post-colonial States have fallen prey to the ploy of destabilization, a factor that scares away both domestic and foreign investors. The prevailing socio-economic conditions have deteriorated in some countries to the point of contributing to the unfolding conflicts. As a result millions of people have been killed, displaced or forced into exile. This development also denies Africa access to its resource – human capital – which is now contributing to global capitalism without any compensation being paid to “our” Continent.

Socio-economic conditions

Africa continues to face unimpressive socio-economic conditions characterized by low economic growths; falling per capita income and life expectancy; rising inflation rates, interest rates and infant mortality rates; deteriorating external and domestic debt stocks; worsening poverty situations evidenced by food dependence, malnutrition and the fact that between 65% to 80% of the Continent’s population is living below the poverty datum line; and lack of access to basic social services (health, education, housing and water).

Macro-economic fundamentals

African countries are at different levels of economic development, depicting wide disparities in their macro-economic fundamentals. Such development impacts negatively on regional economic development strategies. In addition, Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are yet to persuade member-States to move towards the convergence of their macro-economic fundamentals, which are explained by other factors. Of great concern at this juncture is also the duplicity of RECs which makes them both weak and vulnerable to external shocks and influence.

Production structure and trade

Production structure on the Continent has remained largely primary production-oriented, a trend that renders Africa the largest net importer of goods and services from the industrialized nations. This means that the Continent specializes in the production of raw materials, but has no input to global pricing. In addition, countries have, in most cases, competed seriously against each other since failure to diversify the economic base means the production and exportation of similar commodities. Africa’s contribution to global trade remains insignificant – just under 2%. This poses the question as to how long can Africa continue to remain in this position.

Access to international markets

Throughout the Continent market reforms have failed to develop the productive sectors. This has resulted in the underdevelopment of industrialization strategies. Even the religious adoption of Western driven economic reforms have failed to rejuvenate the industrial base of most countries on the Continent. The industrial base remains largely narrow and characterized by mono-commodities for export to the same market. This is more pronounced in Southern Africa where, for instance, Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Namibia produce and export diamonds to the same market. Other common export products include tobacco, copper, fish, tea, coffee, horticulture and cotton. This unfortunately generates less foreign currency necessary to meet national import requirements since the majority of member-States are net-importers. In the process this serves as a constraint to industrial development. At the same time debt service obligations means the availability of fewer resources to support the social sector; the very foundation for building a sound human resource base which is deemed critical for the Continent’s developmental needs.

The debt burden

At a time when the Continent is grappling with many challenges, member-States have accumulated large, but growing external debt which takes away a significant proportion of available resources for debt servicing. Industrial development requires foreign currency which is used to service debt, while sacrificing social service provisions in the process. In addition, no significant innovation is taking place to improve the future prospects of the Continent. A high debt overhang creates uncertainty for both domestic and foreign investors. It is a situation that adversely affects a country’s credit ratings and perception of risks. Furthermore, it limits potentially viable firms from accessing finance from the international capital markets. Moreover, the qualification of most countries to the highly indebted poor countries (HIPC) initiative, has failed to extricate the Continent from this position. This means that the debt burden is not only retarding economic growth and development, but it has also become economically exhausting and unsustainable, politically destabilizing and ethically unacceptable.

Aid flows and donor-recipient relations

While industrialized economies pledge to increase aid flow to countries with sound socio-economic policies and democratic practices, in many cases this pledge has come with conditions and selective application. Inter-State relations has come to the fore, raising the question of whether aid is a developmental instrument or a vehicle to globalize capitalism, which is in search of markets. It appears that aid flows have gone beyond the realm of economic policies to include new conditionalities of good governance; respect for the rule of law and the environment; and observance of human rights. In addition, foreign direct investments (FDIs) tend to ignore certain regions. In particular sub-Saharan Africa has remained an unfavourable destination of this capital formation.

The current situation in Africa is not promising in terms of crafting sustainable endogenous policy directions, options and space. Despite decades of implementing developmental paradigms and policies on her own and/or in collaboration with global strategic partners, Africa has remained the poorest region in the world. Indeed, of the 53 countries on the Continent, only 7 countries have graduated onto the globally ranked middle income category (Countries include Botswana, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, Mauritius, Seychelles and South Africa [World Development Indicators database, World Bank, July 2005]).

The least developing countries (LDCs) category are of great concern which suffer from huge, but growing external debt overhang and limited capacity to industrialize and generate foreign currency necessary to meet national requirements. To date, Africa contributes less than 2% to the total global market, while it attracts only 2% of the FDIs inflows. In addition, the adoption of Western driven initiatives, presumed to offer lifelines to millions of poverty stricken people in the form of debt relief and free access to European markets under “everything else but arms (EBA)” initiatives, has failed to produce positive tangible results. Similarly, the adoption of neo-liberal policies has also failed to produce a success story to act as a model for policy options. Notable also is the failure of developmental State paradigms and policies to produce success stories. Indeed, Africa has remained stuck in the same predicament of an underdevelopment web characterized by unimpressive socio-economic indicators, unstable political environments and conflict situations, while countries in other Continents are making progress.

While Africa is preoccupied with identifying and correcting policy errors of the past, the formulation of its relations with developed regions is premised within the neo-liberal paradigm despite entrenching weak and vulnerable States towards the ambit of global institutions and agendas. A significant number of States have become increasingly vulnerable to the donor payroll, a development that weakens State capacity to offer alternative policy options, policy space and policy directions. This further exposes the same weak State to the dictates of donors, resulting in a vicious cycle of borrowing, harsh conditions, and unavoidable compromises in terms of a State’s responsibility to its citizens.

In this context, The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD) and the African Futures Institute (AFI) are holding a two day conference focusing on the question: “Can Africa (re)claim the 21st Century?” In this spirit there are many questions regarding development that remains unanswered which the conference can raise and provide pointers on. A revisit to developmental paradigms and policies requires further interrogation by African scholars, given the prevailing socio-economic and political conditions prevailing on the Continent. Therefore the conference will bring together various scholars and policy makers from the Continent to discuss these issues.

Building sustainable strong state-citizens relationship offers unique opportunity to empower the organs of the states to become truly African with the “strong” belief that “Africa is for Africans”. This is imperative to mould the pillars of states to uniquely guide socio-economic and political transformation in a manner that facilitates development. In this respect, the conveners are expecting the debate to focus on how Africa should de-industrialize the donor sector and all its tentacles, which for long, has undermined the acceptance of “uhuru” developmental strategies and paradigms on the basis that Africans can not kick-start the developmental steps of their territories without externally driven resources and guidance, a development that demonizes the self-reliance concepts as baseless and unsustainable.

Indeed, as conveners, we will be happy to be associated with the creation of the right attitude in which Africans appreciate that poverty alleviation is in our own interest rather than the donor sector; that externalization of Africa’s resources is the main contributor to the growing external debt overhang; that domesticating Africa’s resources provides the basis for native industrialization strategies; that trade negotiations requires African resources to prepare in consultations of all the constituencies; and that demonisation of self-reliance principles is a “defeatist attitude” based on the “blame game” theory.

Africa has all the right signs for claiming the 21st Century. In this regard, it is imperative for her to exploit every opportunity that arises with positivist attitude. Indeed, the time to lament historical injustices and causal relationships for the present “status squo” is over. It’s high time that Africa realizes that globalization has no room for philanthropic and benevolent gestures, hence the expectation for the right attitude and a continent-orientated policy framework.

* Richard Kamidza is a Senior Researcher at The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), Durban, South Africa

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Ethiopia: Campaign launched against child trafficking

2005-11-01

http://tinyurl.com/9vcq3

Ethiopian children are being sold for as little as US $1.20 to work as domestic workers or prostitutes, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on October 20. Up to 20,000 children, some 10 years old, are sold each year by their parents and trafficked by unscrupulous brokers to work in cities across Ethiopia, the IOM added. The figures were announced as the Ethiopian government, the UN and the IOM launched a campaign to highlight the suffering endured by vulnerable children in this Horn of Africa nation. Dubbed "Ethiopia's Campaign for Vulnerable Children", the campaign encourages candidates running in local elections scheduled for early 2006 to push the issue onto the agenda.

Uganda: Stop the Northern Uganda carnage

2005-11-01

http://www.petitiononline.com/savacoli/petition.html

"We Ugandans and friends of Uganda, in tandem with Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI: http://www.acholipeace.org), Human Rights Watch (http://hrw.org/campaigns/uganda/), Amnesty International (http://web.amnesty.org/report2003/uga-summary-eng), local Human Rights groups, the civil society and all peace loving members of the international community, are extremely concerned about the continuing genocide (http://www.acholitoday.worldbreak.com) that is ravaging the Acoli, Lango and Teso sub-regions of Uganda. Please join us in signing the petition."

Who did the looting?

Shungu M. Tundanonga-Dikunda

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/30191

Patrick Bond wrote: "…using license to loot the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the late 1990s civil war…" (http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?issue=226)

Shocking to read this rubbish. Is it a civil war when foreign armed forces cross a border to attack another state or is it an invasion? Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi crossed the Congolese borders on August 2nd 1998 and occupied the Congolese cities of Goma, Bukavu and Uvira. The RCD was founded in Rwanda on August 10th 1998. Please take time to do some researche to find out the difference between a civil war and an invasion.

Troops from Zimbabwe, Angola and Namibia were in the DRC. If the ZDF, according to your way of writing, looted the DRC, what about the Rwandese and Ugandan armies?

No single Congolese woman was raped by any ZDF soldier. No single Congolese citizen was brutalized by any ZDF soldier. The Western media are the one reporting about the ZDF looting the DRC.

So, Mr. Patrick Bond you better take time to do some research before writing this kind of shit. If you don't like Mugabe, it is your problem. But let the ZDF out of your mind. Zimbabwe (Mugabe and the ZDF) didn't loot the DRC. King Leopold II (Belgium), Museveni (Uganda) and Kagame (Rwanda) are the ones who looted the DRC. The ZDF has left the DRC some years ago, but Rwanda and Uganda are still looting the DRC, raping the Congolese women and killing the Congolese citizens inside the DRC.

PATRICK BOND responds:

Of course the past and present regimes in Kigali, Kampala, Brussels, Paris and Washington also deserve blame for belligerence and armed aggression. But should we let the Zimbabwe Defense Force (ZDF) 'out of our mind'?

Right then, let's return to 2002, when the Table de Concertation sur les Droits Humains au Congo/Kinshasa noted that 'all the warring parties are gaining important advantages from the situation, political advantages, but above all economic advantages, thanks to the illegal looting of the Congo's natural resources'. Some of the ZDF's massive outlays - in the range of $150 million by August 2002 - were expected to be reimbursed by Kinshasa in the form of further 'economic advantages'.

The Zimbabwe Financial Gazette - informed by top government officials - noted that Harare had 'not benefited directly from the war in the DRC, save for individual ruling Zanu(PF) politicians.' By October 2002, these allegations were amplified by the United Nations Security Council, whose panel of experts judged that 'New trade and service agreements were signed between the DRC and Zimbabwe just prior to the announced withdrawal of ZDF troops from the diamond centre of Mbuji Mayi late in August 2002 ... [including] a private Zimbabwean military company to guard Zimbabwe's economic investments'. Instead of 'looting that was previously conducted by the armies themselves', new systems had emerged: 'embezzlement, tax fraud, extortion, the use of stock options as kickbacks, and diversion of state funds conducted by groups that closely resemble criminal organisations'.

Extraction of the Congo's riches - especially lumber and minerals - was meant, theoretically, to offset some of the Mugabe regime's costs of providing military support to Kabila during the 1998-2002 war. According to the UN, 'The elite network of Congolese and Zimbabwean political, military, and commercial interests seeks to maintain its grip on the main mineral resources - diamonds, cobalt, copper, germanium - of the government-controlled area. This network has transferred ownership of at least US$5 billion of assets from the state mining sector to private companies under its control in the past three years, with no compensation or benefit for the state treasury.' For example, pristine rain forests of teak and mahogany in Katanga were razed by what The Observer newspaper discovered was a web of Zimbabwe-related companies which sold the timber through African Hardwood Marketing in London.

Zimbabweans also exploited diamonds and mining concessions through a ZDF military company, Operation Sovereign Legitimacy (Osleg), which operated another shady outfit, Cosleg, as a joint venture with the DRC firm Comiex-Congo. Yet another example was a diamond mining scheme in Kalobo, associated with colonel Tshinga Dube of Zimbabwe Defence Industries and a notorious Ukrainian diamond and arms dealer, Leonid Minim. Many such joint ventures emerged, some initially established to raid DRC state assets by Mugabe's cronies Billy Rautenbach and John Bredenkamp (partly through the latter's company Tremalt and its subsidiary, the Kababankola Mining Company). Rautenbach was formerly the chief executive of the DRC state firm Gécamines, which the UN found was repeatedly raided by unethical managers. In conjunction with European arms manufacturers, Bredenkamp regularly violated military hardware sanctions against Zimbabwe. His monthly strategy meetings included attendance by ZDF commander Vitalis Zvinavashe, brigadier general Sibusiso Moyo, air commodore Mike Karakadzai, Kababankola's managing director, Colin Blythe-Wood, and another Kababankola director, Gary Webster.

In one of the most lucrative operations, 'conflict diamonds' from the Mbuji-Mayi mine in the DRC war zone were apparently smuggled to Johannesburg, cut and repackaged, and then smuggled back to Harare and onwards to Antwerp where they were sold as if they had come legally and certifiably from a (non-conflict) mine owned by Oryx Natural Resources. An Omani national, Thamer Said Ahmed Al Shanfari, controlled Oryx - 'a front for ZDF and its military company Osleg' - and became the Zimbabwean military's 'most important foreign business partner', in the words of a Pretoria intelligence report cited in Madrid's respected El Pais newspaper. Leading Zimbabwean politician Emmerson Mnangagwa was revealed to be 'the key strategist for the Zimbabwean branch of the elite network', according to the UN, providing political cover and assisting with distribution of the spoils to colleagues such as minister of defence Sidney Sekeramayi.

In the meantime, the war in the DRC was responsible for between two and three million deaths.

* Burning from the Inside

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/30184

Burning from the Inside

Burning from the Inside is an interview documentary with several members of a Nigerian Ijaw ethnic group, of which several million are living in the oil-rich region of the Niger Delta.

Nigeria is the world's sixth largest exporter of crude oil, holds the fourth largest reserve of oil and gas and is an important supplier of oil to the US. Since the British left Nigeria in the 1960s the country has been in a state of semi-civil war, wracked by religious conflicts, and its natural resources looted by western companies, as a result of which millions of people have died.

The people interviewed in this film have all suffered horrendous violence in their struggle for independence. Some have been on death row, some raped, some kidnapped and even tortured. Off camera they are quite willing to talk but on camera they were too scared because of possible repercussions.

The project started in January 1999 and ended by September 2004, during which time the media had changed their general mood by describing the situation of 'gangs, local tribes and the oil companies in conflict' as 'armed militants and guerrillas against the government in a war zone'.

The documentary deals with all aspects of human rights from child abuse, women, the status of gays and lesbians, the environmental problems and the struggle for a common identity.

During the five years it took me to assemble this feature-documentary in "cinematic black and white", I've discovered that the infrastructure so badly needed like hospitals, roads or schools is still a figment of the imagination. The change of government with all the big words and promises failed to live up to its momentum.

Some of those featured in the film

Oronto Douglas is Nigeria's leading environmental human rights lawyer. He is deputy director of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria, and has been a visiting lecturer and speaker at community-organized events, international conferences, and universities all over the world. Douglas was a member of the legal team that represented Ken Saro-Wiwa before he was executed by the Nigerian military junta in November 1995.

He received degrees in law from the University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and De Montford, Leicester, England. His articles and speeches have been published in books, journals, and magazines in Nigeria, Europe and the United States. His recent book: "Where Vultures Feast, Shell, Human Rights, and Oil in the Niger Delta" has been published by Random House. He is now the Commissioner for Information, Culture, Tourism and Strategy for Bayelsa state in Nigeria.

Chief(Captain) Samuel Owonaru (Rtd) was a chief of staff of the Niger Delta volunteer force in 1966. He was arrested and tried by the Nigerian government and sentenced to death. He was in prison waiting execution for a few months until a counter coup brought General Gowon to power and released him from jail.

Between 1967-1970 Samuel Owonaru was a captain in the Nigerian army. He fought on the side of the Federal government against the separatists for the Biafra State. He sustained a serious injury during the Civil War and was left wheelchair bound.

Sokari Ekine is a human rights activist, researcher and educationalist. She is a founding member of the Niger Delta Women for Justice, a non-governmental organisation based in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and is presently their European representative. Ms Ekine is the author of "Blood and Oil: Testimonies of Violence from Women of the Niger Delta”. She has also written a number of essays on gender violence and oil exploration in the Niger Delta.

Sokari runs her own website: www.blacklooks.org

Ibiba Don Pedro is a Nigerian journalist. In 2003 she won the CNN African journalist of the year award. She also won the Reuters-IUCN media Award 2000 (English-speaking Africa) for excellence in environmental reporting in Amman, Jordan. Ibiba DonPedro completed a Master degree in Mass Communications at the University of Leicester, UK in 2002/2003. She holds a BA (Hons) degree in English from the University of Jos, Nigeria. She is currently working on a book, “Trapped in the Barrel”, an investigative exploration of the consequences of oil production on women in the oil producing communities.

Rowland Ekperi is the President of the Ijaw People's Association of Great Britain and Ireland. He has been working tirelessly over several years to ensure that the story of the Ijaw people and their fellow Niger Deltans is not forgotten.

Felix Tuodolo is President Emeritus of the Ijaw Youth Council, an organisation often accused of kidnapping oil workers and their families. He was one of the principal signatories to the famous Kaiama Declaration of December 11, 1998.

As for myself, I’m Nick Peterson a white British film-maker, writer and music composer. I have never worked on a documentary before. I have only directed thrillers, comedies and MTV style video-clips. No one wanted me to direct this documentary and no distributors wanted to back this project arguing that it was doomed from the start. Most of my friends -even African ones- urged me to stay away from African politics arguing that it is a very dangerous affair. I think they were all right up to a point. It's never easy to find the truth anywhere so I just limited the story to a portrait-interview. The narrative is driven by the text displayed on the screen and the narrator depicting the story of the struggle for independence. Eventually I had to add my own voice to it, in order to introduce the characters and to explain the situation surrounding the making of this film.

I'm glad I've kept working on this project for so long even though it seems extremely surreal to try and understand what is true and what isn't, what is real and what isn't.

Nick Peterson, October 2005.

* Nick Peterson expects the documentary to be available online within the next two months. DVDs will also be available soon. Contact Nick at nick.peterson@mnemonics.co.uk

Africa: African Urban Economies - Viability, Vitality or Vitiation?

2005-11-03

http://www.palgrave.com/products/Catalogue.aspx?is=1403999473

By: Deborah Fahy Bryceson and Deborah Potts

Are Africa’s most populous and economically dominant cities a force to reckon with in the twenty-first century? This book analyzes the economies of East and Southern Africa’s ‘apex’ cities, probing how they have altered structurally over time and their current sources of economic vitality and vulnerability at local, national and international levels. Case study chapters focusing on Johannesburg, Chitungwiza, Gaborone, Maputo, Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, Nairobi, Kampala and Mogadishu shed new light on contemporary African urban prospects and problems.

Challenges and Change in Uganda

2005-11-03

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?topic_id=1417&fuseaction=topics.text_1417&topicid=1417

The Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars Africa Program has released a new report, entitled "Challenges and Change in Uganda." This report is based on a joint Wilson Center-CSIS conference held on June 2nd, 2005, entitled "Uganda: An African 'Success' Past its Prime." This compilation includes each of the presentations given that day, updated to take account of more recent developments. The June 2nd event generated a rich and passionate discussion of recent social, economic and political trends in Uganda.

Global: Gender Mainstreaming in Conflict Transformation - Building Sustainable Peace

2005-11-01

http://www.womenink.org

Edited by Rawwida Baksh, Linda Etchart, Elsie Onubogu and Tina Johnson, this book 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 resolution. It is designed as an advocacy, capacity-building and advocacy tool to contribute to gender mainstreaming in all processes of conflict transformation and in building sustainable peace. Divided into two parts, it first provides a gender analysis of conflict in the Commonwealth and globally and then documents national and regional case study experiences.

Africa Blog Roundup: The taste of Africa, the religion of Africa, the debates in Africa...

Sokari Ekine

2005-11-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/30153

African Refugees - African Refugees (http://africanrefugees.blogspot.com/2005/10/taste-of-west-africa.html) reports that West African and Sudanese refugees are making their presence felt in the southern Australian city of Prospect. People from Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo took part in a “Taste of Africa” festival of music, an exhibition of arts and crafts and a fashion show and of course food. Sounds much like London in the early 1980s at the height of “multiculturalism”!

Egyptian Person - Egyptian Person (http://egyptianperson.blogspot.com/2005/10/my-opinion-regarding-moharam-bek.html) discusses the aftermath of a play in Alexandria that caused rioting amongst the Muslim population. Some people were killed and many injured outside the church where the play took place as people demanded that the church be burnt down. EP describes the mentality of the people calling for the church to be burned down as the same as those that demand the killing of someone who chooses to convert to another religion. She goes on to say:

“(It is) the same mentality that sentenced Salman Rushdy to death because of his book "Satanic Verses", and the same mentality that moves a terrorist. A complex of long-term brainwashing, ignorance, hate, suppression, and an inability to accept the "other". Religion in the Middle East is indeed a perfect tool to control the masses.”

Tunisian blogger – jrayda diaries - jrayda diaries (http://jrayda.blogspot.com/2005/10/ce-nest-pas-de-la-politique.html) has an excellent post entitled “Its Not Politics” (in French) where he questions the debate on Muslim women wearing the veil in so called democracies that claim to uphold freedom of speech and human rights. He raises a number of important questions such as “are there two different freedoms, one the choice to wear jeans and another the choice to wear the veil”? What about the freedom to exercise your religion or freedom to choose what you wear? Why shouldn’t Muslim women wear the veil? Catholic nuns do! What is it that enrages people so much about Muslim women wearing the veil? He describes the reaction of the West to the veil as “a nuclear reaction that risks to explode the planet”. Following on from Muslim women and the veil, he asks why is it that Muslim men are expected to shave their beards whilst orthodox Jews are able to keep theirs? The same applies to Muslim dress – why does it cause such a negative reaction yet people do not react to Jewish attire or Buddhists or any other religious attire? He concludes sarcastically that no it is not politics!

Digital Africa – Digital Africa (http://digitalafrica.blogspot.com/2005/11/congratulations-anna-and-all-open-cafe.html) ask us to join in the one year birthday celebrations of Open Café – who have spent one year of building open source communities in Africa.

Kenyan Pundit - Kenyan Pundit (http://www.kenyanpundit.com/?p=57)
posts Part V of the “Constitutional Referendum” – Devolution in which she shares her notes from a workshop on the constitution. From what I have read in the Kenyan blogosphere, the constitution makes for difficult reading. Her summary on devolution:

“There will be devolved government with one level of devolution (districts). There is no Senate, but a National Forum for District Government whose utility is questionable. Government can suspend district government.”

As the price of oil rises there is a need to find viable energy alternatives. Timbuktu Chronicles - Timbuktu Chronicles (http://timbuktuchronicles.blogspot.com/2005/10/palm-oil-biofuel.html) reports on new research which “suggests that Biofuels derived from locally available Palm Oil are a viable option. Vegetable oil is one of the alternatives which can be used as fuel in automotive engines either in the form of straight vegetable oil, or in the form of ethyl or methyl ester...".

Friends of Ethiopia - Friends of Ethiopia (http://friendsofethiopia.blogspot.com/2005/11/eight-die-in-clashes-with-ethiopian.html) reports on Tuesdays clashes between riot police and opposition supporters in Addis Ababa which resulted in the death of at least 5 people and injured many others. The riots followed the arrest of 30 taxi drivers who participated in demonstrations against the government and claimed the elections were rigged.

Black Looks – Black Looks (http://okrasoup.typepad.com/black_looks/2005/11/in_1975_freedom.html) returns to Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence by looking at the variety of literature on the contribution of women to that struggle. The poems and writings of Freedom Nyamubaya alongside testimonies of mothers and short stories by Zimbabwean writers.

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

* Africa: Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa and the protection of women in armed conflicts

2005-11-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/30122

As a part of the coalition supporting the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, Pambazuka News is profiling various aspects of the Protocol in weekly features included in the Women and Gender section of the newsletter. This week we will look at female soldiers, and the issues around the topic faced by the African continent. This is what the protocol states:

Article 11 – Protection of Women in Armed Conflicts

“States Parties shall take all necessary measures to ensure that no child, especially girls under 18 years of age, take a direct part in hostilities and that no child is recruited as a soldier.”

Further, many of the Protocol’s articles address women in conflict. The call for the integration of a gender perspective in decision-making, the enactment and enforcement of laws against physical and sexual violence, the right to peace as well as participation in the promotion and maintenance of peace – these are just a few of the provisions made for women that could be engaged in times of conflict.
While no specific policies exist with relation to women’s involvement in military operations, other policies surrounding child, and specifically girl soldiers, include the UN’s 2002 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict. It calls for the abolishment of the use of children under the age of 18 in conflict, while also raising the age of compulsory recruitment and direct participation in war to 18.

Women and children in Africa are being recruited or kidnapped by armies as porters, domestic laborers, captive wives and soldiers. If not explicitly taken by force, many of these children and women “voluntarily” join up because they can be assured shelter, clothing and food – resources they may not have access to in the conditions of civil war and conflict. Sierra Leone, Uganda, the DRC and many other nations are just some of the places where mostly non-governmental military groups are exploiting women and children in times of war. Most have experienced or witnessed physical violence, mutilation, sexual abuse, trafficking, forced displacement, destruction of homes, massacres and separation from families and communities. Many girls and women are raped, which in turn leads to pregnancy and high numbers of diseases, including HIV/AIDS. Further, the reliance on and socialisation of these young women to the military leaves many unable to think or act independently once they are released. Schooling and training needs are not met, and upon their release most have few options.

The challenges that face female soldiers upon reintegration are complex and difficult. The trauma of what they have experienced during war does not make it easy for women to return to the lives they once knew. Having transgressed normal or expected gender boundaries and traditional roles, it is often the case that these women are marginalized and ostracized once they return to their communities. If the women have been raped and have subsequently borne children, they are generally even less accepted. Finding it difficult to return to their expected ways of living, many women run the risk of losing their husbands and struggle to raise children, care for other relatives and earn a living. Many conceal their past, if this is possible, but then suffer alone.

Researched and written by Karoline Kemp, a Commonwealth of Learning Young Professional Intern with Fahamu.

Further Reading:

Reintegration of Female Soldiers - http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/DDR/AfricaBarth.html

Previous Articles:

Female Genital Mutilation - http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=30050

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

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

* Africa: Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa ratified

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/30177

The news that The Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa had been ratified last week by Togo set about a frenzy of press releases and congratulatory emails! Now that Togo has signed, the Protocol will come into force 30 days from October 26. Pambazuka News received the following messages (please follow the link to read the full statements):

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

Warmest congratulations on your tireless work towards making these ratifications a reality, from the Global Fund for Women.

Amnesty International welcomes the entry into force of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Protocol) as an important step in the efforts to ensure the promotion and respect of the human rights of women in Africa.

Congratulations to African women and thanks to the first 15 countries which have ratified the Protocol, from Women in Law and Development in Africa (WILDAF)


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

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

________________________________________________

Dear Faiza, Muthoni, and Friends at SOAWR,
Warm greetings from the Global Fund for Women! At the end of last week, we learned that Togo has become the 15th African country to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, finally making the Protocol official. All of us at the Global Fund send you our warmest congratulations for your tireless work towards making these ratifications a reality!
We have been following the Protocol closely in the news and while we realize that much work remains to be done in achieving recognition and protection of women’s rights across Africa, your work and dedication deserve to be celebrated and recognized! We are inspired and reinvigorated in our own work by your efforts to help women take charge of their own lives. In this exciting time, we hope that the ratification of the Protocol will be useful to you in your struggles to lobby governments to respect and promote the rights of African women.
With all of our solidarity and congratulations,
Muadi Mukenge
Program Officer for Africa
Marlene Dehlinger
Program Associate for Africa
Global Fund for Women

_____________________________________________________

Amnesty International Public Statement

On 26 October 2005, Togo became the fifteenth state to ratify the
Protocol. As a consequence, the Protocol will enter into force on 25
November 2005, 30 days after the deposit of the fifteenth instrument
of ratification.

The Protocol fills a major gap in the regional human rights system
by providing a comprehensive framework for the promotion and
protection of women’s human rights.

The Protocol recognizes and guarantees a wide range of women’s civil
and political rights as well as economic, social and cultural rights.
These rights include the right to life, integrity and security of
person; protection from harmful traditional practices; prohibition of
discrimination; and the protection of women in armed conflict.

Furthermore, the Protocol guarantees to every woman the right to
respect as a person and to the full development of her personality;
prohibition of exploitation or degradation; access to justice and
equal protection before the law; participation in the political and
decision making process. The Protocol also guarantees the right to
health and reproductive rights of women; the right to food security,
and the right to adequate housing.

Amnesty International calls on:

African states that have ratified the Protocol to implement it by
reviewing all national laws, policies, practices and procedures to
ensure that they meet the obligations set out in the Protocol,
including by incorporating the rights enshrined in the Protocol into
their domestic legislation and take all other necessary measures to
implement the instrument in good faith.
All African states that have not yet done so to ratify the Protocol
on the Rights of Women in Africa without further delay and without
reservations.

Amnesty International also calls on African governments:

Publicly condemn all violations of women’s human rights and
refrain from engaging in such violations;
Take action to investigate all allegations of violations of women’s
human rights by members of the police, security and armed forces and
others acting with the acquiescence of the state and bring to justice
those suspected to be responsible;
Provide constitutional guarantees to prohibit discrimination and
ensure equality of men and women and review and amend discriminatory
laws and procedures

Background

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on
the Rights of Women in Africa was adopted on 11 July 2003 by the
Assembly of the African Union second summit in Maputo Mozambique.

As of 26 October 2005, the following fifteen states are parties to
the Protocol: Benin, Cape Verde, Comoros, Djibouti, Gambia, Libya,
Lesotho, Mali, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa,
Senegal and Togo.

The following states have not yet ratified the Protocol: Algeria,
Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African
Republic, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Gabon, Ghana,
Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Mozambique,
Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic,
Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sao Tome & Principe, Sudan,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Protocol complements the African Charter on Human and Peoples’
Rights in ensuring the promotion and protection of the human rights
of women in Africa. The implementation of the Protocol will be
supervised by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
the body established to monitor compliance of states parties to the
African Charter, pending the establishment of the African Court on
Human and Peoples’ Rights. Also, states parties to the Protocol
commit themselves to indicate in their periodic reports to the
African Commission the legislative and other measures undertaken to
ensure the full realization of the rights recognized in the Protocol.
______________________

WOMEN IN LAW AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA (WiLDAF)

CONGRATULATIONS TO AFRICAN WOMEN AND THANKS TO THE 15 FIRST COUNTRIES WHICH HAVE RATIFIED THE PROTOCOL
The protocol on women’s rights in Africa will enter into force on 25th November 2005!

Togo is the 15th State to deposit its instrument of ratification!

Like we announced in an earlier press release, Togo, deposited really with the AU on the 26th 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 (Mozambique). Togo becomes then the fifteenth country to do it officially.

We have the right and the duty to celebrate the entry into force of the Protocol on November 25th 2005 which is 30 days after the 15th deposit of the instruments of ratification as it is expected by the text of the treaty.

We exhort our follow up committees and every women's rights organizations working on this matter to continue the good work of lobbying so all African States ratify it and implement it.

Again, thank you so much for the good work.

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

Africa: Protecting the vulnerable - the case of women in Africa

2005-11-01

http://www.accord.org.za/ct/2005-3/ct3_2005_p17-22.pdf

Africa has experienced many protracted intra-state wars where violence against women has been used as a weapon of war. This article seeks to highlight the case of refugee and internally displaced women in Africa and argues that their protection is not only a rights issue, but given the role women can play in state reform and peace processes, the protection of women is essential to Africa’s development and on a broader scale, global security. While there are fewer conflicts than previous 5 years, Africa still faces many challenges, some related to the aftermath of conflicts: more directly related to conflict are the huge numbers of refugees - 30% of the global refugee population and internally displaced persons (IDPs) of 13 million. The majority (75 - 80%) of these groups are women and their children and grandchildren and are therefore vulnerable to what have become common atrocities and abuse.

Global: How Does Change Happen? Reports back from the Association of Women in Development (AWID) Forum

2005-11-02

http://www.awid.org

How does change happen? The 10th Association of Women In Development (AWID) International Forum on Women's Rights and Development posed this question at their forum, which was held October 27-30 in Bangkok, Thailand. Each report or blog from the forum gave a real sense of the excitement and momentum that was built up over the four days, with women from across the globe meeting together to discuss and share. Below you will find a list of the articles, and by following the link you will find the updates that were sent out daily via the AWID newsletter during the Forum. Enjoy!

1) Plenary Report from the first day of the AWID Forum
Rochelle Jones
2) Forum BLOG
Kathambi Kinoti documents the feelings of the first day...
3) Plenary Report from Day Two of the Forum
Kathambi Kinoti
4) Forum Interstices: whispers and smiles.
On the second day of the AWID ForumRochelle Jones attempts to translate inspiration into words.
5) How Should we Change? Plenary Report from Day Three of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti
6) Where is the Money for Women's Rights?
AWID Launches its groundbreaking report at the Funders' Forum
By Rochelle Jones
7) How Does Change Happen - A Wrap Up
Plenary Report from Day Four of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti
8) Chaotic equilibrium…
By Rochelle Jones

How does change happen? The 10th Association of Women In Development (AWID) International Forum on Women's Rights and Development posed this question at their forum, which was held October 27-30 in Bangkok, Thailand. Each report or blog gives a real sense of the excitement and momentum that was build up over the four days, with women from across the globe meeting together to discuss and share. Below you will find a list of the articles, and by following the link you will find the updates that were sent out daily via the AWID newsletter during the Forum. Enjoy!
____________________________________

The information below has been reposted from the AWID newsletter.

1) Plenary Report from the first day of the AWID Forum
Rochelle Jones
2) Forum BLOG
Kathambi Kinoti documents the feelings of the first day...
3) Plenary Report from Day Two of the Forum
Kathambi Kinoti
4) Forum Interstices: whispers and smiles.
On the second day of the AWID ForumRochelle Jones attempts to translate inspiration into words.
5) How Should we Change? Plenary Report from Day Three of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti
6) Where is the Money for Women's Rights?
AWID Launches its groundbreaking report at the Funders' Forum
By Rochelle Jones
7) How Does Change Happen - A Wrap Up
Plenary Report from Day Four of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti
8) Chaotic equilibrium…
By Rochelle Jones

___________________________________________

1) Plenary Report from the first day of the AWID Forum
Rochelle Jones

2) Forum BLOG
Kathambi Kinoti documents the feelings of the first day...

________________________________

1) Plenary Report
Rochelle Jones

The first day of the Tenth AWID International Forum began with the welcome Plenary Session, focused around the theme of ''What Have We Changed Now? (and why are we here?).'' The President of AWID, Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, welcomed 1600 men and women from all over the world, and it was clearly a moment where everyone seated in the Grand Ballroom of the Shangri-La Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, was feeling the energy and anticipation of an incredible event. Sadly, AWID's Executive Director Joanna Kerr, was unexpectedly called home in the days prior to the commencement of the Forum due to the sudden death of her father. Bisi highlighted Joanna's difficult time, and her kind words were a testimony to Joanna's invaluable leadership and tireless efforts in organizing the Forum, and the room erupted into powerful applause to send energy to Joanna on the other side of the world.

''A humbling moment...'' AWID's Shareen Gokal and Shamillah Wilson began the Plenary by discussing why so many people had gathered together to strategise on how to make positive changes for women's rights and gender equality. Six key reasons for the Forum were presented, which set the scene for the panel presenters - the first being to connect in a global way in the
same space. Almost every region in the world was represented in the room, and the feeling of togetherness was captured beautifully by Sunila Abeysekera, a Sri Lankan feminist and human rights activist, who exclaimed at the beginning of her presentation: ''This is a humble moment for me to meet everyone I've worked with, heard about and read about in the past thirty years''.

The second reason for such a momentous gathering is to understand what changes we have already made, and how. Shamillah Wilson, AWID's Young Women and Leadership Theme Manager, described the women's movement as ''the most successful revolution history has witnessed''. Attitudes, concepts, institutions and most importantly, lives, have been changed by women's movements. Women have made the private sphere a part of public debate; we
have created the structures for equality within the state; we have developed and implemented curriculums for gender and women's studies in universities; and many more milestones in history. An important undercurrent emerging from all of the Plenary speeches was that young
feminists need to be acknowledged! Young women are redefining human development and injecting new hope into women's movements. The importance of knowing where we've come from in order to know where we are going, was a key message, reinforced by Sunila's presentation on how past achievements of the Women's Human Right's Movements have meant profound changes for women all around the world.

To understand how the world has changed is the third reason for the AWID Forum. Increasing militarization, corporate control, concentrations of wealth, lack of political will and persistent catastrophes such as natural disasters and HIV/AIDS form barriers to the achievement of gender equality and women's rights. Women's movements are losing ground, and we need to come together to strategize on how to prepare for these issues and develop new agendas. Junya Lek Yimprasert, founder of the Thai Labour Campaign, with her light-hearted yet grounding presentation on Thai worker's rights, put these issues in perspective and reminded us all that it is women who suffer the most in the context of these issues.

Reason number four is to look at ourselves and take responsibility for the demands we are making. How do we live it in our daily lives? Noelene Nabilivou, a speaker from Fiji, discussed the importance of identity and awareness of how society codifies and constructs the pathways that we are supposedly obligated to negotiate as women. Her energetic yet humble speech reinforced the need to deconstruct ourselves in addition to the structures that oppress.

The big question is: how does change happen? The fifth reason for coming together is to shift the focus from deconstruction to reconstruction. There was a call for for more analysis on how to solve problems and create change, adding to our strengths in identifying the need for change. We need to think about how change happens – whether it is via actions such as movement and
alliance building, non-violent action or strategic spaces within institutions.

Finally, we need to refuel our hope! Follow dreams, chase new ideas, mobilize, create noise and crystallize action plans. Change happens when we say no, when we affirm each other's right to dignity, and when we create spaces such as this for transformation. The key message for the following days is that the Forum is not only a rare opportunity to create history together, but that it will be a different experience for everyone.

2) Forum BLOG
Friday File Moderator Kathambi Kinoti documents the feelings of the first day...

The Shangri-La is ablaze with an amazing diversity of women (and some men) all here to reflect about change. The Forum presents many opportunities to look at the big picture and at the same time examine the finer details of women's activism. Last night I attended a charity screening of the movie ''Iron Jawed Angels,'' which is about the American suffragette movement of the early 1900s, just before and during the First World War. It reminded me that we often take for granted many of the gains made for women's rights. It seems absurd to us today that women should be denied the opportunity to vote for the leaders they want, let alone to run for office. Yet less than a
hundred years ago, that was the universal reality. One of the ironies that that the suffragettes presented as a challenge to Woodrow Wilson, who was the US President at the time, was: ''How can you claim to fight for democracy in Europe, when there is no democracy at home?'

Today, after the opening plenary session of the Forum, all the participants had a chance to contribute to an exercise in remembering how change has happened in their different geographical regions. I joined other participants from Africa in a lively session and was once again struck by another irony of history. We recalled that although women took part in the
struggles for liberation from colonial rule, when African countries gained independence in the 1960s women were sidelined.

One of the presentations that I attended was 'That is Not What we Meant at All!' This was an aptly titled discussion about how significant successes brought about by activism are often turned against women. For instance, activism has brought about the recognition of honour killings as a crime. However some women who marry men of their choice, against the wishes of their families have found their husbands arrested for abducting them.

There are also several interesting photo exhibitions and displays such as the Girls Go Global Exhibition. I was struck by a poster that protests 'We're not Sick – We're Women.' It is directed against the manufacturers of the menstruation-suppressing birth control pill Seasonale. The drug is said to reduce a woman's menstrual periods to four in a year. According to its advocates, 'there is no medical necessity for menstrual periods' and menstrual suppression improves women's health.

There is such an overwhelming array of presentations at the Forum that it is difficult to choose which to attend. There is however something for everyone – discussions, debates, book launches, a film festival, and even feminist yoga.

3) Plenary Report from Day Two of the Forum
Kathambi Kinoti

4) Forum Interstices: whispers and smiles.
On the second day of the AWID ForumRochelle Jones attempts to translate inspiration into words.

________________________________

3) Plenary Report from Day Two of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti

The theme of Friday's Plenary Session was ''What is the Change Around Us?'' The session began with a video produced by AWID entitled ‘Three Moves Deep: Planning for the Future of Women's Human Rights,'' which highlights several issues that will affect the future of the world and women's rights in particular; fundamentalisms, new technologies, global power, climate
changes and economic inequalities. The video likened the future to a game of chess, where governments and multinational corporations are thinking several moves ahead, presenting a challenge to civil society to keep up with them.

The moderator of the session was Anita Nayar from India, and the six panelists were Dr Marsha Darling from the USA, Yassine Fall from Senegal, Nursyahbani Katjasungkana from Burma, Yanar Mohammed from Iraq, Ramesh Singh who is based in Thailand and Virginia Vargas from Peru.

Ms Nayar opened the discussion on the session's theme by posing the question ''Are the changes inevitable, and is the future predetermined?'' The panelists discussed the three manifestations of global power: Geopolitical power, the international financial institutions, corporations, as well as the potential power of civil society. Although the emerging Southern centres of power - South Africa, Brazil, India and China hold the promise of challenging Northern hegemony and bringing millions of women out of poverty, there is a danger that they may become regional hegemonies in themselves. Women's civil society organizations have sometimes been passive participants in furthering economic inequalities, such as in the case of the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. It is therefore important for feminists to understand the power and economics dynamics of powerful states, international financial institutions and MNCs, and engage with them to protect women's rights. We must also be proactive in invading policy spaces
and holding governments accountable for their actions.

Fundamentalisms threaten to erode women's rights among other areas, in marriage and divorce, their property rights and reproductive rights. The panelists noted that what goes under the guise of religious fundamentalism is usually political ideology, particularly in the Islamic world and in the
United States of America. They emphasized the importance of feminist activism to ensure that there are secular and egalitarian constitutions and laws. Ms Mohammed called for solidarity from the women's movement across the world to support women's activism in Iraq around constitutional reform and Ms Katjasungkana asked for support for Burmese human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi who is currently under house arrest.

New technologies are a double-edged sword as far as women's interests are concerned. Whereas technological transformations such as the electronics and microchip revolutions were external to our bodies, the revolution in genetics is directly related to women's bodies. It raises the question: ‘Who owns DNA?' and threatens to privatize all forms of life. The concern for feminists is how to ensure that human rights are respected, research subjects are protected and bodily integrity is secured. We need to be more vocal and present in the debates, and to get over being afraid of science.

The effects of climate change are being felt today more than ever before. We need to bring the discourse down to the level of the people, and not just confine it to scientific plenaries. It is no longer just a generational issue but an issue that affects people's day-to-day lives. There are lessons to be learnt from the tsunami, the recent hurricanes, the mudslides and earthquakes that have affected the world this year. There is the need for a global early warning system. There is also a need to examine why government response to disasters is not able to match that of their
citizens.

The panel discussion ended on a positive note by emphasizing that change is possible. Ms Fall cited the successful mobilization of women in Kenya around the MDG process and said it was important to mobilize to resist the privatization of water provision services. Mr Manek pointed out the need to pay more attention to HIV/AIDS. He also proposed that each of us should look at our personal choices and our lifestyle and exercise our power as consumers. He emphasized the importance of crossing the boundaries between civil society movements and other groups such as politicians and the youth in order to effect change. Ms Mohammed called for international solidarity and satellite TV that will impact positively on the mentality of the people. Ms Vargas emphasized that feminism is about a new political culture, while Ms Katjasungkana reminded participants that when the secular state fails to deliver, people turn to fundamentalism. Dr Darling appealed to feminists to work more directly to strengthen civil society voices to
ensure that technology does not do harm.

4) Forum Interstices: whispers and smiles.
On the second day of the AWID Forum, Friday File Moderator Rochelle Jones,
attempts to translate inspiration into words.

It's difficult to find a quiet space to reflect and breathe here, but in this buzzing arena of voices, minds, bodies and spirits, I'm not anxious about all this energy – I'm simply stunned. It is a whirlwind of colour, smiles, beautiful diversity and overwhelming emotion, and despite the
organized sessions taking place during the day, a huge part of the Forum's personality lies in the in-between spaces, or the interstices of the Forum. People are claiming spaces wherever they can, to talk, rest, read and catch up with friends.

The whispers and smiles in the corridors not only parallel the sessions taking place during the day, but they add a unique richness because they reflect the importance of informality in the Forum process. For example (and there are so many of them), everyone here is dressed exactly the way they want to be dressed. I'm pretty confident in saying that there is no-one at this Forum bound by any socially prescribed conventions. These women (and men!) are simply shining. They are confident, they are comfortable, they are themselves. This ease translates to they way they
communicate their ideas, and even to the way they shoot warm smiles in your direction when you catch their eye. I am so very happy to be a part of this amazing event, and I frequently find myself standing in the middle of a corridor, slowly turning 360 degrees just watching and inhaling the power that has engulfed this little corner of the world.

Sometimes I am moved to tears by overhearing a simple introduction, like ''Hi, my name is... and I have been working for sex-worker rights in Indiafor twelve years''. On other occasions I am overcome with sadness, like in discussions about power inequality and the unfairness of it all. There are moments when I feel that poverty and women's rights, love and respect are unattainable in such a terrible, unfair world that privileges the rich and tramples on everyone else. Then there are delicious moments of elation and inspiration like when I met Jully Sipolo, a feminist poet from the Solomon Islands, and when I heard Regis Mtuti Munyaradzi from Zimbabwe talk about the role that he can play as a man to deconstruct and reconstruct
masculinity.

These are the most inspirational moments. These are the moments where I look down and realize that my hands are shaking, and that it's not because I've had too much coffee. The interstices of the AWID Forum are capturing the essence of how our personal lives are inextricably entwined in complex and beautiful ways with sadness, happiness and all shades of grey. This Forum is in its own groove right now, and I'm swaying with the rhythm.

5) How Should we Change? Plenary Report from Day Three of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti

6) Where is the Money for Women's Rights?
AWID Launches its groundbreaking report at the Funders' Forum
By Rochelle Jones

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

5) How Should we Change? Plenary Report from Day Three of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti

Saturday's Plenary Session began with an excellent performance by PRIMADONNA, a troupe of Malaysian transsexual, transgender and MSM individuals. Through their music and dance
presentation they expressed their conviction that everyone should be allowed to have a lifestyle of their choice. The performance drew huge applause from the audience.

The plenary was moderated by Lina Abou-Habib from Beirut. The various panelists presented diverse answers to the theme question ''How should we change?''

Pramada Menon, from the India-based organization Creating Resources for Empowerment in Action (CREA) urged introspection from those within the women's movement, in order to effect change. Citing herself as an example of someone who received support when she began to work as a young woman in the movement, she said that we need to re-evaluate the trend of the
movement's 'NGOization' which leads to demands for greater qualifications from young women wishing to work within the movement. Inclusiveness is another way of creating change. We need to examine our language and ensure that we do not exclude some people by our ways of talking, and we need to recognize diversity including disability. She said that the office of her own organization CREA is situated on the 1st floor and some people with disabilities may find it difficult to visit it. She challengedorganizations working for women's rights to practise what they preach by,for instance, having and implementing sexual harassment policies in their own workplaces. People within the movement need to know when to move on and when to stay on. It is also important to address our own sustainability in terms of whether we are taking enough care of ourselves in our personal lives, and to have fun. She said that she believes that change is possible at any age.

Marcela Rios Tobar, a feminist academic and activist from Chile said that the women's movement has changed many things. However this is a time when we are facing challenging political contexts such as conservatism, fundamentalism and the weakening of the international governance structures such as the UN. She said that there have been many gains for women's rights at the international level, but few at the national level and she proposed three solutions to this disparity; Redefining the connection between local and global activism; reclaiming the political and ideological foundation of feminism; and redemocratizing political processes including leadership within the movement.

Enisa Eminova, a Roma feminist from Macedonia said that we need to overcome racism in the global women's movement. She caused laughter when she said that a Western feminist had
recently introduced her to someone else as a 'quasifeminist,' a term she had never heard before. This illustrated to her the racism experienced by feminists who are not from dominant cultures. She said that we need to avoid labels and support each feminist's right to define herself. She
pointed out that there are also class divisions within the movement that we should challenge. Cultural relativism is another barrier to change that needs to be dismantled. Often when we recognize the rights of marginalized communities to practise their culture, we then accept their reluctance to discuss issues such as domestic violence or virginity testing within those cultures and we therefore sacrifice women's rights.

Dr Sylvia Tamale from Uganda began by reciting a poem urging us to get drunk with the passion to change things. She said that the problem with most of those in the women's movement in Africa is that they are teetotallers, or at best, just slightly tipsy with feminist passion, and that will never cause change. Dr Tamale pointed to some challenges: the careerism that has depoliticized the women's movement, the gap between theory and practice, and extremism and fundamentalisms. She proposed effecting change by actively engaging with political structures and systems. She said that it is important to theorize our work. We also need to embrace radical strategies and not fear to tread controversial paths because that is how we bring about change.

Medea Benjamin of the US-based women's group Code Pink: Women for Peace said that whereas other speakers had expressed the sense that they were humbled to take to the podium, she found it embarrassing to address the plenary, coming as she was from a country that is waging an unjust war against Iraq. She presented a slide show about the work of Code Pink in
trying to bring about peace within the US, Iraq, Israel and Palestine. The slide show highlighted the various advocacy efforts of the organization - vigils, demonstrations, creating links between bereaved Iraqis and bereaved Americans, as well as providing medical supplies to war victims in Faluja. Ms Benjamin said that Code Pink is trying to create a community of love and not war and asked for solidarity from the rest of the women's movement globally.

Lydia Alpizar of AWID was the final panelist to speak, and she did so in Spanish. She protested against the 'heteronormativity' of English, saying that non-English speakers are often excluded from dialoguing with the rest of the movement. Ms Alpizar stressed the need to mobilize more financial resources in order to bring about change. Women's organizations are often afraid to ask for money, but the women's movement is not sustainable without enough resources. She said that we need to politicize the issue of financing. We also need to explore the possibility of having collective rather than competitive processes to secure funding for organizations within the movement. She suggested for instance that larger organizations who receive good funding can assist smaller organizations to get donor funding. She said that it is important for women's organizations to evaluate themselves by installing mechanisms to measure their effectiveness. Ms Alpizar ended by saying that she has a dream that we will be brave enough to change.

6) Where is the Money for Women's Rights?
AWID launches its groundbreaking report at the Funders' Forum
By Rochelle Jones

On Friday October 28, 2005, in front of an international audience of women's rights' activists and key donors at the Funders' Forum, Lydia Alpizar Duran of AWID, in collaboration with Cindy Clark and Lisa VeneKlasen of Just Associates, launched the much-awaited results of AWID'S action-research project ''Where is the Money for Women's Rights? Assessing Resources and the Role of Donors in the Promotion of Women's Rights and the Support of Women's Rights Organizations.'' One of the most alarming discovery from the research was that 51% of women's organizations are now receiving less funding compared to five years ago in 2000.

The Funders' Forum took place at the AWID International Forum in Bangkok, Thailand, and the unavoidable absence of AWID's Executive Director Joanna Kerr, as well as Just Associate's Ellen Sprenger, who played key roles in the research project, did not in any way hamper the huge success of the Funders' Forum, which marked the beginning of an initiative to increase the level of funding to women's organizations worldwide, improve access to funding globally, and affirm the legitimacy of women's rights organizations and movements worldwide.Also present at the Funders' Forum were representatives from the women's rights funding community: Sylvia Borren,
Director, Novib-Oxfam Netherlands; Maria Eitel, President, Nike Foundation; Patti O'Neill, Special Advisor, Network on Gender Equality, Development Assistance Committee, OECD; Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO, The Global Fund for Women; and Dr. Rosalia Sciortino, Director, Southeast Asia Regional Program, The Rockefeller Foundation.

The opening address was from the charismatic Bisi Adeleye Fayemi, President of AWID, who described the many anecdotes circulating throughout women's organizations that they simply don't have the same amount of funding that had access to previously. As a result of these increasing messages from international women's movements, AWID decided to explore them with solid research focusing on the key questions: Where is the money? How do we mobilize more resources?

Cindy Clark presented the main findings of the year-long action-research initiative, which was conducted via surveys, international meetings and interviews with diverse women's rights organizations and AWID's member base. According to the report, ''women's organizations are in a position of survival and resistance''. She exposed how there are striking commonalities across regions in that women's rights organizations are not receiving funding despite an increase in money going to some regions. A snapshot of Official Development Aid (ODA) in 2003, for example, revealed that out of USD 69 billion dollars in aid money, only 0.6 percent of ODA has gender equality as a principle objective and only 2.4 percent of this money supported the work of NGOs. Five main funding sectors were covered by AWID's research: Bilateral and Multilateral Development Agencies; Large Independent Foundations; Public Foundations / International NGOs; Individual giving / Family Foundations; Corporate Philanthropy; and Women's Funds. Among these, common threads were found in poor tracking and accountability systems, and most importantly, that the promises of gender mainstreaming have not been realized.

There is a sense in the funding community that gender has been mainstreamed, and hence there is no need to support specific women's programs anymore. Unfortunately, this has resulted in women's organizations receiving less funding, despite the Millennium Development Goals identifying that women's equality is a prerequisite for development.

Other trends include a clear frustration from funders regarding the impacts and outcomes of funding, and that Women's Funds are growing in numbers and are the most frequently mentioned as flexible and steady sources of funding, giving USD 15 million in grants in 2004. Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women (GFW), explained this by remarking
that Women's Funds have been forced into existence because money is going elsewhere.

Overall, the research discovered a downward drift in funding for women's rights organizations, and revealed a need for urgent strategies to reverse this trend. Women's rights organizations need to identify and work with their allies in the funding community, working together on new policies and accountability mechanisms.

Importantly, there is a need for more evaluation efforts and for mobilizing broad, public support for women's rights. Recommendations from the funding representatives present on the panel were also invaluable, which was facilitated by Lisa VeneKlasen of Just Associates. For example, Sylvia
Borren from Novib-Oxfam in the Netherlands, implored that gender equality is something for which we must keep working. Referring to the audience, she exclaimed: ''We are the ones who are going to make this world democratic, or not''. Women need to think big, demand more, and find allies.

Rosalia Sciortino, Director of the Southeast Asia Regional Program, The Rockefeller Foundation, recommended that in the face of recent negative political shifts and conservatism, women's organizations need to take a proactive stance rather than a defensive one. According to Rosalia, many Foundations have stepped back in defensive moves, and are now afraid to reclaim this lost space. Maria Eitel, President of the Nike Foundation, suggested that the power of corporations can and should be used, and that organizations can reap benefits through speaking the language of business and economics to corporate funders, and Sylvia Borren highlighted the importance of capacity building, and the need to start strategizing around the question: ''If we had all the money - would we have the capacity to put it to effective use?''

It's not all bad news for women's organisations, however, with Patti O'Neill from the Network on Gender Equality, Development Assistance Committee, OECD, sharing her feeling of a real sense of change in the air on the tail-end of lost momentum with donors. Norway, Canada and Sweden,
for example, are reexamining and reenergizing their approaches.

At the end of the Forum, Lydia Alpizar Duran of AWID launched the new AWID initiative ''Fundher-Money Watch for Women's Rights'', which aims to increase the amount of funding for women's organizations all over the world, to improve access to funding globally and to build legitimacy of women's rights organizations and movements. This will be achieved through
dialogue and alliance building between and among donors and women's rights organizations and networks, and will include an annual report ''Money Watch for Women's Rights'', to report on these issues.

As Lydia took the floor, she told Forum participants that this initiative was for them, and that the dialogue between donors and women's rights organizations, reinvigorated by this research, was only just beginning.

7) How Does Change Happen – A Wrap Up
Plenary Report from Day Four of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti

8) Chaotic equilibrium…
By Rochelle Jones

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7) How Does Change Happen – A Wrap Up
Plenary Report from Day Four of the Forum
By Kathambi Kinoti

‘Eighteen hundred people, 120 plus countries, one question: How does change happen?’ This statement came at the end of a short video presented at the beginning of the fourth and final plenary of the AWID Forum, where six panelists extracted the main ideas about change that they had gathered from the various discussions going on at the Forum.

Geetanjali Misra, the incoming President of the AWID Board, was the moderator of the panel of discussants who included Bishakha Datta, Maria Alejandra Scampini Franco, Bella Matambanadzo, Yvonne Underhill-Sem, and Lisa VeneKlasen.

Ms Franco, a teacher and feminist, stressed the importance of further analysis of the effect of economic policies on women, from a macroeconomic as well as a human rights perspective. She also said that there is a need for further analysis of the intersectionality of feminists’ different
identities in order to understand how to change. The interaction of the women’s movement with other movements is another continuing and pertinent topic of discussion according to Ms Franco. She said that as women are strategizing on how to work with other movements, they have to be aware that alliances need hard work and can be time-consuming. She said that the Forum had successfully integrated young women and emphasized the need for the global movement to encourage their participation as important change agents.

Bella Matambanadzo, a Zimbabwean feminist working with the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, remarked that she comes from a country where change has incredible political currency. She talked about the need to confront capitalism in order to make meaningful change in the lives of women. Ms Matambanadzo said that although the women’s movement may be creating space for young women, there is still the need for generating and exchanging knowledge intergenerationally. Referring to discussions on bringing men on board the women’s movement, she emphasized the importance of taking into account that this would be adding a layer of male privilege to men who regard themselves as progressive. She stressed that HIV/AIDS should be part of the global feminist agenda and not be regarded simply as an African problem.

Bishaka Datta, an Indian writer and documentary filmmaker, said although many people do not agree, it is crucial to give more visibility to issues of sex and sexuality. Referring to the power of images to change what we see, she showed some video clips about women around the world demonstrating about different sexuality issues. Issues that we should address include trafficking and migration, using a human rights framework to provide justice to people in prostitution, talking about pleasure, and protecting sexual integrity.

Yvonne Underhill-Sem a feminist geographer from New Zealand, called for comprehensive feminist analysis about new technologies and how they relate to women’s bodies. She said that feminist discussions also need to include the materiality of the environment in terms of food security, the use of resources to nourish and replenish our bodies. Ms Underhill-Sem said that
social contracts continue to be made on our behalf in places where feminists are not present based on non-feminist values and norms, and feminists therefore need to mobilize their collective power to make social contracts based on the right norms and values. She ended by saying that
change happens by unleashing the possibility and power that we all have to create a collective and embodied justice.

Lisa VeneKlasen, an American feminist who has worked on several continents, talked about the ‘how’ of change. She pointed out that change is not linear but dynamic, chaotic, messy and negotiated. It is also impermanent. She said that processes of change need to involve shared analysis, cross-generational conversations, the need to create knowledge and the need to take into account regional and country realities. We also need to be looking into the future and reclaiming discussions on technologies, science and money, rather than merely reacting to changes as they happen. She said that we need to go back to conversations about individual and collective power.

Geetanjali Misra said that change is happening when we can see victims of political violence themselves attending the AWID Forum rather than have other people represent them, and when a group of transgender and transsexual entertainers can be given the opportunity perform at a Forum plenary. She said that change can happen when women are able to use the UN effectively, when they can demand fair trade practices and economic policies, and when they are able to use national and international laws to advance their rights. She ended by challenging the participants to regard the Forum as a moment of change.

8) Chaotic equilibrium…
By Rochelle Jones

Can it be the final day? I sense changing energies, yet still the same level of power simply shifting form. I was asked a question this morning, and I really had to take a step back and consolidate the concepts in my mind. The question was – How do you think change happens? And at the exact moment that the question was asked, there was a cascade of words flowing through my head, yet I was unable to articulate them into any coherent, verbal form.

It’s interesting how change - the most important focus of the Forum – can somehow adopt prolific disguises, and parade as different concepts. Some of the disguises that I have seen change adopt in the Forum include: power; self-care; accountability; persistence; sexual justice; collaboration; capacity building; love; money; legitimacy; inclusive spaces; respect; resistance; diversity; (re)imagining; multiple identities; feminist economics; and countless more.

I have all of these concepts in my mind when I visualize the past three days, but especially the Celebration Dinner held last night and the final Plenary today. My favourite visual snapshots, that seem to embody all of the above concepts and more, are firstly, the large group of women from
different countries dancing confidently and purposefully onstage under a clear, warm, Thailand sky with a member of the transgender and transsexual theatre/dance troupe, Primadona. Another was from today’s Plenary, when women from the audience shared their feelings about what they are taking away from the event, and importantly, about how we can make it better next time. These are moments you want to keep close to your heart.

But as Geeta Misra, President Elect of the AWID Board explained in her Plenary presentation, the AWID Forum is not merely an event! We should not just walk away from this gathering and treat it as another episode in a long line of others. This is a messy, non-linear, chaotic, revolutionary
moment! Someone mentioned the word “crazy” from the audience – and just as Lisa VeneKlasen of Just Associates on the Plenary team took it up, I will borrow it as well, but use it in the context of change. Change is crazy. It’s emotional and inevitable, and can sometimes be foolish and unwise. Change can be unscripted and stealthy, but it can also be embraced, probed, and directed along certain pathways. This is what we do on a daily basis as women’s rights and social justice advocates.

It takes women, men, transgender and transsexual individuals –like all of us – to direct the kind of changes we want to see in our lives and in the lives of others. It may start with the word no, or it might start with a yes. The absolutely crucial point is that it starts. AWID’s Forum is a magnificent starting point for some and a middle point for others, but it’s definitely not the end, even though we all walk away and resume our separate lives and agendas in over 120 countries.

Remember that we are always connected. The AWID team can be taken in some ways as a microcosm of women’s movements around the world. This is the first time I have met the incredible women that I work with, and I feel a sense of sadness that now we must walk away from each other and resume lives with oceans between us. I know, however, that the virtual, spiritual and conceptual worlds we are working in on a daily basis connect us beyond the physical realm, and I am OK with this. I extend my gratitude and appreciation to all of you who create the chaotic equilibrium of our revolutionary moment. Don’t stop!

Global: Security Council Resolution 1325 Turns 5

2005-11-01

http://www.unifem.org/news_events/currents/currents200509.html

October 2005 marks the fifth anniversary of landmark Security Council resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. The resolution (commonly referred to often as "1325") addressed, for the first time ever, the impact of conflict on women, recognizing women's role in preventing and resolving conflict, and calling for the equal participation and full involvement of women in all efforts to maintain and promote peace and security. The watershed political framework that resolution 1325 provides recognizes the relevance of women, and a gender perspective, to negotiating peace agreements, planning refugee camps and peacekeeping operations and reconstructing war-torn societies.

Rwanda: Gender Perspectives to Strengthen Demobilization and Reintegration Programmes in the Greater Great Lakes Region

2005-11-01

http://www.unifem.org/news_events/currents/currents200509.html

A consultation will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, from 31 October to 2 November 2005 to identify ways to integrate gender concerns into demobilization and reintegration programmes in the African Great Lakes Region. The meeting is being co-organized by UNIFEM and the Secretariat of the World Bank's Multi-Country Demobilization and Reintegration Program (MDRP).

Afrique: Déclaration sur la répression des immigrants africains

2005-11-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/30148

L'Europe se ferme et impose aux pays de l'Afrique sub-saharienne l'ouverture. L'OMC (organisation mondiale du commerce) et l'AMI (accord multilatéral sur les investissements) porteurs de cette ouverture sont deux institutions au service des multinationales depuis les années 1990. Les pays de l'Afrique Subsaharienne, malgré leur potentialité en ressources naturelles, sont en majorité classés PPTE (pays pauvre très endettés) par la Banque Mondiale et PMA (pays moins avancés) par l'ONU suivant des critériologies donnant l'illusion que l'Occident peut proposer/imposer sa manière de vivre, de penser, de produire, de consommer…


L'Europe se ferme et impose aux pays de l'Afrique sub-saharienne l'ouverture. L'OMC (organisation mondiale du commerce) et l'AMI (accord multilatéral sur les investissements) porteurs de cette ouverture sont deux institutions au service des multinationales depuis les années 1990. Les pays de l'Afrique Subsaharienne, malgré leur potentialité en ressources naturelles, sont en majorité classés PPTE (pays pauvre très endettés) par la Banque Mondiale et PMA (pays moins avancés) par l'ONU suivant des critériologies donnant l'illusion que l'Occident peut proposer/imposer sa manière de vivre, de penser, de produire, de consommer…

Avec les deux décennies de PAS (Programmes d'Ajustement Structurels) la quasi-totalité des pays de l'Afrique Subsaharienne se sont désengagés de leur responsabilité de reproduction sociale en adoptant l' option d'économie (néo) libérale prônée par l'Union Européenne, les USA , FMI , et la BM.

Ainsi les clauses conditionnelles des accords d'échanges commerciaux notamment les APE, CSLP et AGOA imposant aux pays de l'Afrique Subsaharienne de se libéraliser, de se privatiser et de se déréguler, représentent les causes profondes du blocage de leur processus de développement endogène.
Les négociations sur ces accords très déséquilibrés, exigeant aux pays de l'Afrique subsaharienne d'ouvrir leurs marchés aux entreprises multinationales du Nord, ont aggravé leur situation de surendettement. Ces pays dont le Mali ont été appauvris et le chômage s'est pointé au quotidien des préoccupations de la population notamment les jeunes.

Un nombre important de ces jeunes, face à leur situation d'insécurité sociale , économique et de désespoir, et face aux accords de partenariats qui ne tiennent pas compte de l'être humain, optent pour la solution alternative : l'immigration internationale. Ainsi plusieurs d'entre eux empruntent les chemins dangereux du Sahara et les enclaves espagnoles de Ceuta et de Melilla à partir du Maroc entre autres.

Ces fils d'Afrique, dont on reproche comme crime le fait d'avoir nourri l'imaginaire migratoire, sont constamment objets de tuerie, de répression et de refoulement par les pouvoirs publics méditerranés. Ce rôle de sous-traitance, en échange d'aide public au développement et de soutien à leur politique d'oppression contre leurs peuples n'honore pas ces pays. De sources bien informées, l'Union Européenne s'apprête à verser une somme de 40 millions d'Euros au Maroc contre un engagement fort et clair dans la lutte contre l'immigration vers l'Europe.

Cette Europe néolibérale donneuse de leçons de démocratie et de gouvernance, fait semblant d'ignorer sa responsabilité dans le délabrement social et économique de l'Afrique, cause principale de l'immigration économique.

Selon la CNUCED, " entre 1970 et 2002, l'Afrique Subsaharienne a reçu 540 milliards de dollars US en prêts , mais bien qu'elle ait remboursé près de 550 milliards de dollars en principal plus intérêts, elle affichait encore un encours de dette de 295 milliards en 2002 ". Ce qui signifie que l'Afrique Subsaharienne transfert de ressources vers le Nord et non le, de violation des Droits Humains sur des milliers d'immigrants africains avec la complicité des pouvoirs publics africains.

La Coalition des Alternatives Africaines Dette et Développement contraire. Il y a lieu de signaler aussi les stratégies de pillage et spoliation du Nord à travers la hausse des taux d'intérêt (de l'ordre de 7% en 1970 à 15% en 1980) et la chute des cours des matières premières (le prix kg de la fibre de coton était de 216 cent en 1980 a passé à 110 % le Kg en 2001). Ces principes iniques dans les relations internationales sont les principales facteurs explicatifs du surendettement et les crises de la dette des années 1973 et 1982.
Cette Europe raciste, se livre à des pratiques criminelles (CAD- Mali), attristée par la mort de dizaines d'Africains tombés sous les balles criminelles, les centaines de blessés et les milliers de rapatriés en violation totale des conventions internationales et de Genève sur l'immigration, le droit d'asile, contre la torture et la libre circulation des personnes et des biens :

Interpelle les pouvoirs publics africains notamment le Gouvernement du Mali à se démarquer de toute Politique de coopération confondant immigration et terrorisme telle que prônée par l'union européenne ;
S'oppose à la suppression des contrôles sur les prix à l'importation prônée par les APE à travers l'Accord de Cotonou, car facteur de surendettement, de chômage et de baisse de revenu national pour la prise en charge des services publics ;

Exige le dédommagement de tous les émigrés ayant fait l'objet de répression sauvage de la part des armées marocaines et espagnoles ;

Appel les pays de l'Afrique Subsaharienne à se démarquer de toute politique de coopération qui, contrairement au processus de Barcelone en 1995, leur impose des conditionnalités migratoires et sécuritaires qui violent les Doits Humains et Démocratiques internationaux.

Oui aux échanges commerciaux réciproques équitables !

Oui à la circulation des Personnes et des Biens !

Non à la fermeture de l'Espace Schengen et au rôle de sous traitance dévolu au Maghreb !

Bamako le 20 octobre 2005: Le Secrétariat National

Egypt: Human rights should be at centre of election agenda

2005-11-02

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGMDE120322005

Amnesty International is calling on the Egyptian government and candidates contesting Egypt's forthcoming parliamentary elections to put human rights at the centre of their agenda and to commit to promote long-needed reform once in office. The organisation said this was vital for tackling long-standing human rights violations. Despite some limited recent improvements in human rights, the coming elections, due to commence on 9 November, will be held against a background of continuing, widespread violations, including systematic use torture, deaths in custody, impunity for human rights perpetrators, and restrictions on freedom of expression and association. These human rights violations persist despite repeated calls for government action to address them made by UN human rights bodies and both national and international human rights organizations.

Nigeria: Court paves the way for war crimes victims’ suit against Charles Taylor

2005-11-03

http://www.justiceinitiative.org/db/resource2?res_id=103009

A federal High Court judge upheld a lawsuit by two amputees to lift the asylum granted to former Liberian ruler and warlord Charles Taylor by the Nigerian government. The decision represents a stirring victory for those who have sought to bring Taylor to justice and a setback for the Nigerian government, which has given Taylor protection and intervened in court to quash the suit. Taylor was indicted by the UN-mandated Special Court in Sierra Leone in March 2003 on 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in contributing to the murder, rape, and mutilation of thousands in Sierra Leone. Taylor funded and orchestrated much of the violence against civilians during Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war, and pioneered the exploitation of child soldiers to undertake heinous acts. Since August 2003, when he was granted asylum, Taylor has resided in a private compound in the Nigerian city of Calabar.
November 1 - A federal High Court judge upheld a lawsuit by two amputees to lift the asylum granted to former Liberian ruler and warlord Charles Taylor by the Nigerian government. The decision represents a stirring victory for those who have sought to bring Taylor to justice and a setback for the Nigerian government, which has given Taylor protection and intervened in court to quash the suit. Taylor was indicted by the UN-mandated Special Court in Sierra Leone in March 2003 on 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in contributing to the murder, rape, and mutilation of thousands in Sierra Leone. Taylor funded and orchestrated much of the violence against civilians during Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war, and pioneered the exploitation of child soldiers to undertake heinous acts. Since August 2003, when he was granted asylum, Taylor has resided in a private compound in the Nigerian city of Calabar.

The two men who brought suit, Nigerian nationals Emmanuel Egbuna and David Anyaele, survived amputations inflicted by members of the Taylor-supported Revolutionary United Front (RUF) militia in Sierra Leone in January 1999. Cutting off limbs, noses, and ears was a trademark of Taylor's troops. The two men petitioned Nigeria's federal High Court in May 2004 to strike down the asylum granted by Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo to Taylor because it violated Nigeria's obligations under international and domestic law to prosecute and deny asylum to perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Nigerian government raised procedural objections, and argued that its decision to grant asylum is a political decision unsuitable for judicial review. In rejecting the government's claims, High Court Judge Steve Jonah Adah noted that the plaintiffs had suffered terrible personal damages for which they sought redress, had made specific allegations against Taylor, and were precluded from seeking redress so long as the Nigerian government maintained its grant of asylum to Taylor. The Court concluded that the claimants had a right to sue for so long as Taylor enjoyed asylum.

The government has announced its intention to appeal. Hearings on remedies in the case have been set for December 5, 2005.

Certified copies of the decision should be available in the next week.

Nigeria: New evidence of human rights violations in oil-rich Niger Delta

2005-11-03

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR440252005

Ten years after the execution of writer and human rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight fellow activists, new evidence shows that the peoples of Nigeria's oil producing Niger Delta continue to face death and devastation at the hands of the security forces. A report issued by Amnesty International reveals how poverty-stricken communities, which protest against the actions of companies or are suspected of obstructing oil production, risk collective punishment. "It is an insult to the memory of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his fellow campaigners that those responsible for killings, beatings and rape are still allowed to escape justice. Their campaign for economic and social rights remains as relevant as ever with 70 percent of Niger Delta inhabitants continuing to live in absolute poverty despite booming oil revenues," said Kolawole Olaniyan, Director of Amnesty International's Africa programme.

Sierra Leone: Taylor's Surrender, Adequate Funding Crucial to Court's Continued Success

2005-11-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/30140

The U.N.-backed court for war crimes in Sierra Leone is making major strides toward ensuring justice for serious crimes committed during the eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued November 1. The devastating conflict, which lasted from 1991 until 2002, was characterized by brutal human rights abuses committed by all warring factions. The 46-page report, "Justice in Motion: The Trial Phase of the Special Court for Sierra Leone," evaluates the conduct of the court during trials, which began last June. "The Special Court has broken new ground with practices to promote fair trials, protect witnesses and make justice accessible to Sierra Leoneans," said Elise Keppler, counsel with Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program. "The Special Court is setting benchmarks that other tribunals can look to."
The U.N.-backed court for war crimes in Sierra Leone is making major strides toward ensuring justice for serious crimes committed during the eleven-year war in Sierra Leone, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued November 1. The devastating conflict, which lasted from 1991 until 2002, was characterized by brutal human rights abuses committed by all warring factions. The 46-page report, "Justice in Motion: The Trial Phase of the Special Court for Sierra Leone," evaluates the conduct of the court during trials, which began last June. "The Special Court has broken new ground with practices to promote fair trials, protect witnesses and make justice accessible to Sierra Leoneans," said Elise Keppler, counsel with Human Rights Watch's International Justice Program. "The Special Court is setting benchmarks that other tribunals can look to."

Key accomplishments of this novel tribunal, which is a hybrid international-national court, include:
Substantial progress on trials of accused associated with all three main warring factions
A defense office that advocates to ensure effective defense representation and fair trials A comprehensive scheme of protection and support for scores of witnesses
Robust outreach that disseminates information about the court around the country through video, radio and discussion

Initially forced to rely exclusively on voluntary donations from other countries, the Special Court has faced constant financial shortfalls. Recent pledges made at a funding conference on September 30 are commendable, but remain inadequate. As a result, the court currently lacks sufficient funds to complete operations and carry out critical "post-completion" activities, such as protecting witnesses who have testified. "With everything the Special Court has achieved, it would be shameful if it didn't receive the funding it needs to wrap up its work," said Keppler. "Donor countries should step up and contribute generously so that the court can make a strong and historic finish."

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor's ongoing exile in Nigeria also threatens to undercut the Special Court's ability to fulfill its mandate to prosecute those bearing the greatest responsibility for serious crimes committed in Sierra Leone's armed conflict, Human Rights Watch said. Taylor has been indicted by the Special Court of seventeen counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people of Sierra Leone. The crimes include killings, mutilations, rape and other forms of sexual violence, sexual slavery, the recruitment and use of child soldiers, abduction, and the use of forced labor by Sierra Leonean armed opposition groups. "The Special Court cannot complete its work as long as Nigeria continues to harbor Taylor," said Keppler.

The report details concerns regarding court operations that should be addressed to ensure that the court functions as fairly and effectively as possible. These include disclosure of information identifying protected witnesses in the courtroom, poor performance of defense counsel, and insufficient initiatives to engage the national justice system.

Human Rights Watch also identified accomplishments and made recommendations for improvement in the Special Court's operations. The report builds upon Human Rights Watch's September 2004 report "Bringing Justice: The Special Court for Sierra Leone," which assessed developments at the Special Court at an earlier stage of its operation.

The Special Court is charged with bringing to justice those who bear the greatest responsibility for grave crimes committed since November 1996, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, other serious violations of international humanitarian law and certain violations of Sierra Leonean law. Created in 2002 through an agreement between the United Nations and the Sierra Leonean government, the Special Court represents a significant new model of international justice, often referred to as a "mixed" or "hybrid" tribunal.

Human Rights Watch Press release

Tanzania: Statement regarding Rights and Responsibilities of Government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs)

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/30154

"We, the undersigned CSOs, have followed closely recent actions by the Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) to curtail activities of HakiElimu. We fail to see the justification and legal basis for MOEC actions. We view these actions as a threat to CSOs in Tanzania to enjoy their rights and fulfill their responsibilities. We call upon the Ministry to reconsider its decision, lift the interdiction on HakiElimu, and reaffirm the fundamental freedoms and roles of CSOs. Tanzania has made considerable progress in promoting good governance in recent years. The Government has taken deliberate steps to open up space for stakeholders to effectively participate in national policy processes. The measures taken against HakiElimu threaten to undermine the considerable progress that has been made."
Statement regarding Rights and Responsibilities of
Government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Tanzania

We, the undersigned CSOs, have followed closely recent actions by the Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) to curtail activities of HakiElimu. We fail to see the justification and legal basis for MOEC actions. We view these actions as a threat to CSOs in Tanzania to enjoy their rights and fulfill their responsibilities. We call upon the Ministry to reconsider its decision, lift the interdiction on HakiElimu, and reaffirm the fundamental freedoms and roles of CSOs.

Tanzania has made considerable progress in promoting good governance in recent years. The Government has taken deliberate steps to open up space for stakeholders to effectively participate in national policy processes. The measures taken against HakiElimu threaten to undermine the considerable progress that has been made.

We view this issue to be much bigger than HakiElimu. Of consequence here are the rights and responsibilities, powers and boundaries, and the space for citizens and their associations to organize, to hold views and opinions, and to express them freely. This affects the rule of law, and how it is applied when the State and CSOs disagree, or when the State is displeased with the views of citizens and their associations. We come together because we view this issue as fundamentally about the space for independent civil society in Tanzania.

Laws and Policies Governing Work of CSOs
We understand that HakiElimu’s activities are consistent with and protected by the laws and policies of Tanzania. Article 18 of the Tanzanian Constitution guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to seek, receive and disseminate information and ideas. The laws under which HakiElimu is incorporated allow it to, among other aspects, undertake research and analysis, publish and disseminate findings, and stimulate public debate. The NGO Act affirms these roles.

National policies also emphasize the role of independent CSOs in development. Section 6.3.2 of MKUKUTA explicitly recognizes the role of CSOs in monitoring and evaluating impact of policies, and enabling communities to do the same. It also calls for CSOs to “advocate for accountability of its members and government to the people.” Section 3.4.2 of the Primary Education Development Plan (PEDP) calls on CSOs “to contribute their experience and knowledge”, “to share information”, “to effectively collect and communicate educational information from and to schools, communities, government and other stakeholders”, and “to conduct education policy analysis and advocacy”.

HakiElimu’s work has been consistent with the laws and policies of the land. Moreover, as the Government has opened up space for policy dialogue in recent years, HakiElimu and other CSOs have participated and contributed actively in the process. All these show a desire among HakiElimu and many CSOs to engage and dialogue with the Government. It is for this reason that we are deeply concerned by the content and tone of MOEC actions in restricting HakiElimu.

Reasons Given by the Ministry of Education and Culture
We have studied the reasons given by the Ministry to interdict HakiElimu. The MOEC Circular No. 5 of 2005 accuses HakiElimu for a) “disparaging the image of the education system and the teaching profession of our country and b) repeatedly failing to “conform with directives given to him by the Ministry of Education”. In a speech on 8 October, 2005 the President is reported to support the actions against HakiElimu because the CSO is said to be too critical and to have misled the public on the true situation of education in Tanzania.

We respectfully fail to see the basis for the above characterization of HakiElimu’s work, particularly in view of the following:

1. The claim that HakiElimu is too critical and overly negative is not supported by the evidence. The PEDP Reviews report it published in August 2005, which seems to have sparked off the actions by MOEC, is a) composed entirely of findings from Government reports that are exhaustively referenced and no new research done by HakiElimu and b) systematically mentions achievements as well as gaps against official targets. Overall, many of HakiElimu’s publications – such as its booklet on key principles for school committees, its popular information sheets on PEDP, its posters with quotes of Mwalimu Nyerere and President Mkapa – can only be construed as positive and supportive of Government. The media spots it broadcasts have actors depicting challenges shown extensively in research reports and widely acknowledged by the public. For example, the media spots show that corruption is a challenge in education; the remarks of the concerned Minister to the last Parliament and PCB reports confirm the same. The spots show that there are insufficient teachers and materials for children with special needs; MOEC and other reports confirm the same, and this is open knowledge to disability organizations. Raising these challenges should be welcomed as the first step to solving them in the interest of quality education for all.

2. The claim that HakiElimu disparages the teaching profession does not ring true. HakiElimu, perhaps more than any other Tanzanian CSO, cooperates closely with the Tanzania Teachers’ Union (TTU). It collaborated with them to conduct a large study of The Living and Working Conditions of Teachers, the first of its kind in over ten years. The study presents facts and concrete suggestions to improve the wellbeing of teachers. HakiElimu also supported TTU to reprint over 100,000 copies of the TTU Constitution so that its members could be well informed of their rights and responsibilities. Thousands of teachers throughout the country participate actively in HakiElimu’s activities, such as its public essay competitions, and correspond regularly with the organization. In fact, the TTU presented HakiElimu with a special certificate of recognition this year.

3. The reference to HakiElimu ‘failing to conform to directives’ given by MOEC strikes us as misplaced. HakiElimu is not a department of the Government and should not be treated as such. By their very nature, CSOs are independent, ‘non-governmental’ and self-governing. As such, we fail to see which directives the Ministry has the mandate to give to CSOs which they are obliged by law to follow. The essence of civil society in a democratic society is to have freedom and diversity of opinion; for citizens and citizen associations to both agree and disagree with Government, to at times cooperate with and at other times challenge the Government, as long as the laws of the land are respected. A fundamental responsibility of the Government is to promote and safeguard the space for civil society to think and express itself independently of Government; even or especially when citizens and CSOs are critical of Government.

Conditions for Lifting the Interdiction
We understand that MOEC has stated five conditions for lifting the interdiction on HakiElimu. These are a) withdraw all media spots, b) agree to prior approval by MOEC of all studies/publications, c) provide proof that HakiElimu is a genuine well intentioned educational NGO, d) ensure HakiElimu is led by competent professionals in education, and e) provide satisfactory explanation regarding authorization and objective of the PEDP Reviews report. With all due respect, these conditions appear to violate the very basic freedoms and roles of CSOs in a democracy.

The requirement to withdraw media spots and to seek prior approval from MOEC for all publications is tantamount to censorship, and violates among others Article 18 of the Tanzanian Constitution. The requirement for HakiElimu to prove it is genuine and well intentioned is a subjective matter and impossible to ‘prove’. That HakiElimu is led and staffed by competent officers is clear to many of us who observe the quality of their work and analysis, and that is why we have often elected them to positions of leadership. Regarding the PEDP Reviews report, the mandate for publishing it is provided in, among others, the PEDP document itself and the objective is stated clearly in the document.

Taking them as a whole, what indeed is the legal basis for the conditions? We know the Government fully intends to promote and uphold the rule of law in Tanzania. This being the case, it is the responsibility of MOEC to clearly state which specific laws have been broken by HakiElimu, if any, and which specific laws give MOEC the powers to interdict HakiElimu and demand compliance with the above conditions.

Conclusion and the Way Forward
The Government has committed itself to good governance, human rights and the rule of law. The President has championed transparency, openness and accountability. In recent years, the Government has made progress in these areas and received accolades from around the world. The actions against HakiElimu are of serious concern, because they represent a step backwards and appear to be contrary to the commitments of the country and cherished aspirations of its people.

What is important now is to rectify the situation and move forward to reinstate an environment of healthy Government-CSO relations governed by democratic standards and the rule of law. In this light, we urge MOEC to reconsider its position and to take the following action:

1. Lift the interdiction on HakiElimu from undertaking and publishing studies regarding Tanzanian schools and rescind the MOEC Circular Number 5 of 2005.
2. Reassure civil society that the basic rights of all individuals and organizations in Tanzania will be safeguarded and protected at all times.
3. Promote open dialogue, public debate and full participation of civil society in all policy processes, including education.

While we regret recent events, we are committed to sustaining the constructive and productive relationship we have enjoyed with various parts of Government. As CSOs, we continue to welcome dialogue with Government to seek mutual understanding and resolution. We are confident that we can resolve the issue at hand and be reassured that civil society can operate independently in Tanzania without fear of retribution. We need to come together, for the sake of the wellbeing of the people and democracy of Tanzania.

Signed:

1. Actionaid Tanzania
2. Aide et Action
3. ADAP
4. ADILISHA
5. Advancement Women Association (AWA)
6. Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development (ACORD)
7. AMANI-Early Childhood Care and Development
8. Baraka Goodhope Orphans’ Development
9. Campaign for Good Governance (CGG)
10. CARE International
11. CED Program
12. CHIRIKO
13. Coastal Youth Vision Agency (CYVA)
14. CODE COZ
15. Community Active in Development Association(CADA)
16. DOLASED
17. ECOTERRA
18. FAWE Tanzania
19. FemAct Coalition
20. Fight against Fraud Crime and Corruption (FCC)
21. ForDIA
22. Gender Network for Dodoma Region (GENDOR)
23. Green Hope Youth Organisation
24. Hakikazi Catalyst
25. Hoope Adventure Tours (T)
26. Information Centre on Disability
27. Instituto Oikos
28. Inuka Centres for Girls Empowerment
29. Journalism Environment Tanzania
30. KIVULINI Women’s Group
31. KULEANA
32. Lake Zone Art Group(LZAG)
33. Lake Zone Orphanage and Center (LAZOKA)
34. Land Rights Research and Resources Institute (LARRRI - HAKIARDHI)
35. LEAT
36. Legal and Human Rights Centre
37. Life Skill Association (LISA)
38. Maajabu-Tazama
39. Maarifa ni Ufunguo
40. Marcus Foundation (MGF)
41. Misali Island Conservation Association
42. MISA Tan
43. Muungano wa Wavuvi Tanzania (TAFU)
44. Mwanza Development Group
45. Mwanza Policy Initiative (MPI)
46. MWAYODE
47. National Network of of Organisations Working with Children (NNOC)
48. Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV)
49. Norwegian People’s Aid
50. Nyanza Social Economic Development
51. Nyanza Social Economic Development Association (NSEDA)
52. OXFAM GB
53. OXFAM IRELAND
54. PACT Tanzania
55. PAMOJA Trust
56. Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM)
57. PINGOS Forum
58. Policy Forum
59. Poverty Africa - Mwanza
60. Rafiki Family
61. Rukwa Association of NGOs (RANGO)
62. Sand County Foundation
63. Save the Children UK
64. SHENDENA
65. Shinyanga Foundation Fund (SFF)
66. Shirika la Kupambana na Umaskini na Kuleta Maendeleo ya Jamii (SHIKUKUMAJA)
67. Shirikisho la Vyama vya Watu wenye Ulemavu Tanzania (SHIVYAWATA)
68. Southern Africa Human Rights NGOs Network (SAHRINGON) Tanzania Chapter
69. Swahiba Sisters
70. Taaluma Women’s Group (TWG)
71. Tabora Voluntary Development Society (TADESO)
72. TADREG
73. TAMWA
74. Tanzania Education Network (TEN/MET)
75. Tanzania Forest Conservation Group (TFCG)
76. Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP)
77. Tanzania Network for Community Health Funds (TNCHF)
78. Tanzania Women Lawyers Association (TAWLA)
79. Tanzania Association for People Living with HIV and AIDS (TAPLA)
80. Tanzania Women Linving with HIV and AIDS (TAWOLIHA)
81. The Leadership Forum
82. Ujamaa-CRT
83. Umoja Community Resource Trust
84. VAHIMA GROUP
85. VIBINDO Society
86. Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO)
87. WAMATA
88. Women Science and Technology Association (WODSTA)
89. Women’s Advancement Trust (WAT)
90. Women’s Dignity Project (WDP)
91. Women’s Legal Aid Centre (WLAC)
92. YMCA-Mwanza
93. Youth Action Volunteers
94. Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development (YES)
95. Youth Media Development Club
96. Youth Partnership Countrywide

Any other organizations interested in joining us in this statement please submit your endorsement (signed by the Chief Executive of your organization) to:
Tanzania Education Network (TEN/MET) Fax No: 022 2152237

Uganda: East Africa and Horn of Africa governments must put an end to targeting of human rights defenders

2005-11-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/30107

As the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights prepares to meet next month, Amnesty International and human rights defenders from across East Africa and the Horn of Africa expressed fears that progress made during the last two years could be lost in political negotiations. Over 60 grassroots activists from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda will be participating in a conference taking place in Entebbe, Uganda from 31 October to 04 November 2005. The talks have been organized by Amnesty International and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders' Project (EHAHRDP).
Uganda: East Africa and Horn of Africa governments must put an end to targeting of human rights defenders

As the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights prepares to meet next month, Amnesty International and human rights defenders from across East Africa and the Horn of Africa expressed fears that progress made during the last two years could be lost in political negotiations. They today opened a conference to address this concern in the run-up to the African Commission's gathering, which begins on 21 November in Banjul.
Over 60 grassroots activists from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda will be participating in the conference, which is taking place in Entebbe, Uganda from 31 October to 04 November 2005. The talks have been organized by Amnesty International and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders' Project (EHAHRDP).

The African Commission's Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mrs Jainaba Johm, will deliver the conference's keynote speech on the protection of human rights defenders in Africa. The conference will be followed by a press briefing on 4 November 2005, with the publication of a Final Declaration directed at government leaders.
"Human rights defenders across Africa continue to be subjected to a wide range of human rights violations -- including harassment, intimidation, banning or restriction of their activities, unlawful arrest, incommunicado detention, imprisonment on bogus charges, torture, ill-treatment and extra-judicial killings -- while exercising their right to defend the human rights of others," said Kolawole Olaniyan, Director of Amnesty International's Africa Programme.
"We are asking the African Commission to reflect these regrettable facts in their negotiations and take all necessary steps to improve the protection of human rights defenders across the continent."

Amnesty International and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project are deeply concerned at what they see to be a widespread wave of human rights violations against activists legitimately investigating human rights violations committed by government authorities and elements of armed groups.

Recent examples include:
In Ethiopia, between 8 and 14 June 2005, three investigators and three regional managers of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) were arrested in Addis Ababa and Dessie. The three investigators were conducting research on the military shootings of at least 36 people in Addis Ababa on 8 June, during street protests against alleged election fraud in the May 2005 elections. Cherinet Tadesse, Yared Hailemariam and Berhanu Tsegu were held incommunicado for about a month, accused of incitement to violence and organizing opposition demonstrations. All six activists were released on bail but have not been formally charged.

On 10 August 2005, twenty-three activists participating in a demonstration against the irregular allocation of public land in Kitale Town, western Kenya were arrested and detained in police custody for two days -- charged with "malicious damage of property by a rioting assembly group and taking part in unlawful assembly". On 12 August, Gabriel Dolan -- a human rights defender, Roman Catholic priest and coordinator of the Justice and Peace Commission -- went to the police station to visit those arrested during the protest. He was promptly arrested, charged with "incitement to violence, malicious damage of property by a rioting assembly group and taking part in unlawful assembly". He has since been released on bail, but his case is still pending.

In Somalia, the human rights community was shocked to learn about the murder of well-known peace activist Abdulkadir Yahya Ali in Mogadishu on 10 July 2005. Abdulkadir Yahya Ali, then director of the Centre for Research and Dialogue, was assassinated in his home by unidentified armed men.

Sudanese human rights defenders, including members of development and women's rights NGOs, lawyers, and journalists, often experience arbitrary detention, short-term arrest, lengthy interrogation, and harassment by government security services. Criticism or reporting on human rights violations -- especially in the context of the humanitarian and human rights crisis in Darfur -- is vigorously suppressed.

The director of the West Darfur office of the Sudan Social Development Organization (SUDO) was detained without charge or trial for seven months in 2004-5, and Sudan's best-known human rights defender and chair of SUDO, Dr Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, was briefly detained on 8 May 2005 to prevent him from travelling to Ireland to receive an international human rights defenders award.
Human rights abuses have also been committed by armed opposition groups in Darfur. Three SUDO staff members were kidnapped in North Darfur by rebel fighters on 29 September 2005 but released a few days later.

"We are urging governments in East Africa and the Horn to ensure that the principles contained in the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders -- adopted in 1998 -- are fully respected and incorporated into national laws and mechanisms," said Hassan Shire Sheik, Coordinator of the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project. "The defenders of the rights of African people deserve no less than the full protection of their governments and the international community."

Background Amnesty International has documented and campaigned on cases of violations against African human rights defenders over several decades. Human rights defenders include all those who act collectively or independently to peacefully promote and protect universal human rights -- be they civil and political rights or economic, social and cultural rights -- based on international human rights treaties and standards. However, their work is often hampered by abuses by government agencies and, in some instances, armed groups and non-state actors.

Human rights defenders are active in all countries of East Africa and the Horn, except for Eritrea, where human rights organizations are not allowed to operate independently and freely. In Kenya and Uganda in particular, they have been for years at the forefront of civil society activism.

Press conference details:
When: 11am (local time), Friday, 4 November 2005 Where: Windsor Lake Victoria Hotel, Entebbe, Uganda Who: Jean Lokenga, Amnesty International; Hassan Shire Sheikh, Co-ordinator -- East and Horn of Africa HRD Project; Musa Gassama, International Service for Human Rights

Contacts for media:
Hassan Shire Sheikh, East Africa and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders' Project (Uganda) + 256 71 39 48 43 Jean Lokenga, Africa Human Rights Defenders Coordinator, Amnesty International (Uganda): + 256 71 77 00 83 Eliane Drakopoulos, Press Officer, Amnesty International (London): +44 20 7413 5564, m +44 7778 472 109

Burundi: UNHCR warns of funds shortage in refugee repatriation

2005-11-01

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49848

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has said it could reduce, or even suspend, its voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees from Tanzania unless it receives the money required to help hundreds of thousands of the refugees to return home. "It is the largest ongoing voluntary repatriation operation anywhere in the world after Afghanistan," UNHCR said. "Nevertheless, there are still at least 400,000 Burundian refugees in neighbouring Tanzania alone, many of whom wish to go home.

Egypt: 1500 Sudanese refugees risk forced repatriation

2005-11-03

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KKEE-6HQR4Z?OpenDocument

"The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is gravely concerned by the situation of 1500 Sudanese refugees who, since 29th September 2005, have been living in front of the UNHCR offices in Cairo, protesting the fact that their request for resettlement was frozen following the signing of the recent peace accord between the Sudanese government and the South People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). According to the information received, the police have repeatedly arrested and confiscated their identity papers given to them by the UNHCR, and they have also been subjected to violence. Furthermore, the refugees have been stigmatised by the press."

Europe/Africa: Ten out of 25 EU countries restrict health care for asylum seekers to emergencies only

2005-11-02

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/331/7523/986-b

Almost half of the European Union’s countries restrict health care for asylum seekers to emergencies only, a study comparing health care in 25 countries has shown. Medical screening also varies widely between the countries, with little more than half providing mental health screening, say researchers.

Global: Taking the temperature of the world's refugees

2005-11-01

http://www.unhcr.ch/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=436230534

In October, the UN refugee agency has been holding a series of meetings with refugees and asylum seekers in some 40 countries throughout the world. This is part of the Gender Age and Diversity (GAD) roll-out, a new global exercise designed to improve understanding of the concerns of refugees themselves. On six continents, teams made up of the same triumvirate of actors – UNHCR, NGO and government representatives – met with refugee and asylum seeker groups of both genders, and different ages and ethnic backgrounds, to hear what they had to say about their lives.

Sudan: Devastation holds back IDP return to south while continuing violence hampers aid operations in Darfur

2005-11-01

http://www.db.idpproject.org/Sites/IdpProjectDb/idpSurvey.nsf/wViewSingleEnv/SudanProfile+Summary

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement paved the way for the return of those uprooted from the south; but as of October 2005, only around 250,000 of the 4 million IDPs had returned spontaneously along with insignificant numbers of refugees. The challenges in the return areas are daunting; the civil war devastated the southern countryside, leaving practically nothing of the little infrastructure which was there before the conflict started. The peace agreement did not include other rebel groups and left many local grievances unresolved which have already led to renewed conflict in the south as well as in other parts of the country.

Zimbabwe: Illegal immigrants using Zimbabwe as transit point

2005-10-31

http://www.africasia.com/services/news/newsitem.php?area=africa&item=051031073142.9m992py7.php

At least 300 refugees have deserted holding camps in Zimbabwe in the past two months raising fears that illegal immigrants are using the country as a transit point. "We are worried about this trend and feel Zimbabwe is being used as a transit point for irregular migration into other countries," the newspaper quoted Chief Immigration Officer Elasto Mugwadi as saying.

Angola: Growing unease over lack of readiness for elections

2005-11-03

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49901

With less than a year to go before Angola's first post-war elections, there are growing concerns over whether the country is moving quickly enough to be ready in time. The ballot is expected to take place in September 2006, although no exact date has been set, and the president can leave it until 90 days prior to the vote before making the date public. Politicians and members of civil society point out that there has not been much progress in preparation for the poll since the swearing in of the National Electoral Commission (CNE) at the end of August.

Ethiopia: Over 30 reported dead and several hundred detained in fierce crackdown

2005-11-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/30143

In the past two days riot police reportedly shot dead over 30 protestors in the capital Addis Ababa and began systematic arrests of leaders and members of the main opposition party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), as well as several journalists of the private press. The riot police used live ammunition to target protestors in the central Mercato and other districts. The demonstrations reportedly started peacefully but turned into stone-throwing, building of barricades and burning of vehicles when police started shooting. At least 150 people are also reported to have been wounded in the shootings. Police said two police officers had been killed by the protestors.
In the past two days riot police reportedly shot dead over 30 protestors in the capital Addis Ababa and began systematic arrests of leaders and members of the main opposition party, the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), as well as several journalists of the private press. The riot police used live ammunition to target protestors in the central Mercato and other districts. The demonstrations reportedly started peacefully but turned into stone-throwing, building of barricades and burning of vehicles when police started shooting. At least 150 people are also reported to have been wounded in the shootings. Police said two police officers had been killed by the protestors.

All CUD leaders are reported to have been detained, including Hailu Shawel, the CUD President, who was badly beaten; Dr Berhanu Negga, the new Mayor of Addis Ababa; Gizachew Shifferaw; Dr Hailu Araya, former editor of the Press Digest publication; and Dr Yakob Hailemariam, a former UN official and International Criminal Court official. All are elected members of parliament. Ms Birtukan Mideksa, a lawyer and CUD Vice-President; Debebe Eshetu; and former army major Getachew Mengiste were also arrested. They are all said to be held in the police Central Investigation Bureau, known as Maikelawi. The government has issued a statement saying they will prosecute leaders of the Ethiopian Teachers Association and the Ethiopian Free Press Journalist Association for violent conspiracy in relation to the demonstrations.

The arrests were sparked off by the start on the previous day of a series of non-violent protest actions called by the CUD, who are boycotting the new parliament on account of alleged election fraud by the ruling party, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's Ethiopian Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). Some 30 taxidrivers were arrested for honking their car horns during the previous day's protest action.

On 1 November, after the street protests and police shootings, with a stay-home strike in process and many businesses closed, opposition supporters were arrested by police at their homes and taken away to unknown destinations. They would be due to be taken to court within the 48-hour limit prescribed by the law.

Arrests and shootings, including of several women, continue today (2 November), with several dead bodies seen in the streets and hospitals.

Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the arrest of the internationally-known human rights defender Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, aged 75. The founder and former chair of the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO) for 14 years, he is a retired geography professor and author. He had recently resigned from his EHRCO position to support the CUD's election campaign and write for the private press. He has been ill in bed for the past three months with a painful spinal complaint, for which he has been receiving regular physiotherapy. Amnesty International fears for his safety and health since detainees are often treated harshly, particularly in the first few days of detention, including by being made to sleep on a cold cement floor, not being allowed to receive food or a change of clothing from relatives, and being denied medical treatment. It is not clear if he has been allowed to take pain-killing medication with him. He may be held in the same place as the CUD leaders. Police later broke into his home and took away documents and other materials.

Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Professor Mesfin Woldemariam, the CUD members of parliament and ordinary members of the CUD, whom Amnesty International considers to be prisoners of conscience falsely accused by the government of violent conspiracy. While Professor Mesfin Woldemariam remains in detention, Amnesty International urges that he be given all necessary medical care in hospital rather than harsh prison conditions without appropriate medical facilities.

Amnesty International also calls for the security forces to be ordered not to use lethal force against demonstrators except where lives are threatened, and for an independent inquiry into the shooting deaths and injuries.

Amnesty International calls on the UN Special Representative for Human Rights Defenders and the Special Rapportuer on Human Rights Defenders of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to use all possible channels to secure the release and safety of prominent human rights defender Professor Mesfin Woldemariam

Background
A conference of human rights defenders from all countries of East Africa and the Horn of Africa, meeting in Entebbe, Uganda, is also demanding the release of Professor Mesfin Woldemariam.

Hassan Sheikh Shire, co-chair of the conference and director of a Canadian-sponsored East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project, said: "Human rights defenders stand here in solidarity with Professor Mesfin Woldemariam and demand his immediate release. We call on the Ethiopian government to recognize the legitimate role of human rights defenders in accordance with the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders. The Government of Ethiopia must take measures to ensure respect for the rule of law and protection of basic human rights."

On 8 June 2005 soldiers shot dead some 42 people in Addis Ababa who were protesting at alleged election fraud. They also detained thousands of opposition party supporters. Detainees were held in harsh conditions and some were badly beaten. After some weeks all were released on bail after short court appearances. The CUD denies government accusations -- which are not substantiated by any evidence produced -- of a conspiracy of violence. The CUD's 109 new MPs are boycotting the parliament, which has removed their parliamentary immunity.

Guinea-Bissau: President appoints controversial new prime minister

2005-11-03

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49912

Guinea-Bissau's President Joao Bernardo "Nino" Vieira appointed a long-time ally as prime minister on November 3, days after sacking the government of his political arch rival Carlos Gomes Junior. Aristides Gomes, the mastermind behind the campaign that propelled Vieira to the presidency in July, was swiftly sworn into office and promised to mend political fences and the West African nation's ailing economy. "I will form a government of national consensus that reflects all the country's political forces," Gomes told reporters after the ceremony.

Liberia: Sirleaf slams Weah for dodging face-to-face election debate

2005-11-03

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49893

Presidential candidate Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has rounded on her rival George Weah for shunning a live public debate with just a week to go until the run-off vote that will determine the next president of war-battered Liberia. Weah, the soccer millionaire and political novice who won the most votes in the first round in October, is set to go head-to-head with Harvard-educated economist and veteran politician Sirleaf at the ballot box on 8 November. But he has declined to take part in a face-to-face debate in Monrovia, scheduled for this week in front of a live audience of 700 people and due to be broadcast on local radio.

South Africa: NGOs not puppets of donors says Good Governance Learning Network

2005-11-03

http://www.civicus.org/new/content/puppetsofdonors.htm

"On at least two recent occasions President Thabo Mbeki is reported to have questioned whether NGOs in South Africa are being manipulated by foreign donors and the extent to which civil society in South Africa is independent. As a network of NGOs committed to democracy and free speech we feel compelled to respond to the President’s attack on the credentials of NGOs. The President’s statements over the past week were made in the context of the upcoming African Union peer review of South Africa and civil society’s push for greater representation on the panel that will review the state of governance in the country. The views expressed by Mbeki reiterate government’s ambivalent line on NGOs, particularly on matters related to contested development strategy and NGOs’ oversight role."

Zambia: Protestors demand constituent assembly to vet draft constitution

2005-11-03

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49894

Thousands of Zambian demonstrators, many wearing green ribbons and carrying fresh-cut branches as a sign of protest, marched on parliament on 1 November to insist that a constituent assembly be convened to pass a new constitution for the country. The demonstrators, ranging from university students to the clergy and opposition party leaders, braved soaring temperatures to hand out petitions to MPs demanding a bill be passed creating a constituent assembly. They also want the new constitution in place before next year's presidential election - a target President Levy Mwanawasa has said would be impossible to meet.

Zanzibar: President takes office

2005-11-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4398628.stm

Zanzibar's President Amani Karume has been sworn in after being re-elected. Mr Karume rejected opposition claims of fraud in Sunday's election in the semi-autonomous Tanzanian islands. The poll was marred by violence by police and members of both parties, but international observers described the vote as generally free and fair. Civic United Front opposition candidate Seif Hamad rejected the results and promised protests. Police cordoned off the CUF headquarters on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe: Annan appeals to Zimbabwe to let UN help homeless after Government rejects aid

2005-11-03

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=16426&Cr=zimbabwe&Cr1=

Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appealed to the Government in Zimbabwe to allow the United Nations to provide humanitarian assistance to the country after the authorities rejected the world body's aid amid reports that tens of thousands of people there are still homeless and in need of help. "The Secretary-General remains deeply concerned by the humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe," his spokesman said, citing reports of continued suffering months after the eviction campaign that began in May 2005. Mr. Annan reacted with dismay to a decision by the Government to reject offers of UN assistance.

Africa: How can we fight corruption?

2005-11-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4396066.stm

The BBC is asking for comments on corruption. Few people's lives in Africa are free of the effects of corruption, from corrupt politics at national level to everyday bribes at a personal level. Corruption undermines economic growth, creates institutional mismanagement and hurts society by holding back economic development at all levels.

Africa: Is Africa ready for whistle-blower protection?

2005-11-02

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/110438575/ABSTRACT

This article in the journal Public Administration and Development "...critically examines propositions driving the exportation of western whistleblower concepts into the developing world...Specifically it attacks the prevailing view that public interest disclosure is somehow a culture-free, or at least a culture-muted phenomenon, governed by a set of rules and conventions detached from local histories and practices. The article concludes that this exportation is in the spirit of neo-colonialism and issues a note of warning about the dangers of dispersing western conceived forms of corruption reporting to Africa."

Ghana: Ghana to ratify UN Conventions on preventing corruption according to the Speaker of Parliament

2005-11-02

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=119118&src=dcn

Ghana would soon ratify the United Nations and African Union (AU) Conventions on Preventing and Combating Corruption and related offences following Parliament's receipt of Government's documents on the issue. So far only 10 nations, including Nigeria, Burundi, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar and Mali have ratified the African Convention but 15 nations are required to make it operational and enforceable. On the other hand, only five African countries - Libya, Madagascar, Namibia, Tanzania, and Uganda - have ratified the UN document.

Namibia: Pohamba's anti-graft campaign gets fresh impetus

2005-11-03

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49910

Namibian president Hifikepunye Pohamba's anti-corruption campaign scored a significant victory this week with the resignation from parliament of a scandal-tainted former minister, analysts said. Paulus Kapia was forced to resign from his position as deputy minister of works, transport and communication in late August, after a high court liquidation inquiry into a US $5.7 million investment in his company, Avid Investment Corporation, went missing.

South Africa: Call for SA oil-for-food inquiry

2005-11-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4396554.stm

South African opposition leader Tony Leon has called for an inquiry into allegations made in the UN report on the Iraq oil-for-food programme. The report suggests that four South African companies may have been among 2,200 firms worldwide that paid money to Saddam Hussein's government. At least two of the companies are linked to the governing ANC party.

Uganda: Donors "will not tolerate" graft in Uganda - Danish envoy

2005-11-02

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=119128&src=dcn

The donor community has asked the government to strengthen the fight against corruption or miss further donations. Representing the donor community on Monday [31 October] during the launch of the corruption week at the Constitution Square, the royal Danish ambassador, Mr Stig Barling, said Uganda had failed to minimize corruption though it had a framework to minimize it. "As Uganda's development partners, we will not tolerate corruption. Any score below four is unacceptable by the development partners. We have zero tolerance on corruption and impunity when it comes to corruption. We have zero patience on such issues. The government institutions should act or will miss donations in future," he said.

Africa: Poverty reduction strategy papers – Children First!

2005-11-02

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC19944

Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: Children First! A case study on PRSP processes in Ethiopia, Keny and Zambia
Author(s): Heidel, K.
Produced by: Kindernothilfe (KNH) (2005)

This study aims to contribute to an assessment of Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) processes in Ethiopia, Kenya and Zambia from a child rights perspective. It links up with a previous study, titled 'Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: blind to the rights of the (working) child?', which showed that the majority of the PRSPs did not deal with child labour. The study in 2004 called for a case study with a wider scope that also goes beyond a mere text analysis. This report aims to address this gap.

Africa: World Bank Chief Says Africa Is First Priority

2005-11-01

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30742

Less than six months into his job at the helm of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz has announced that tackling poverty and deprivations in Africa is going to be the World Bank's top priority. "I think the situation of sub-Saharan Africa is not acceptable. It has to be the first priority of the World Bank," he told members of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) meeting at the Finnish Parliament over the weekend. However, Wolfowitz added that the efforts of the World Bank and the development community must be supplemented by African leaders in order to achieve rapid results.

Cameroon: New 3 year deal with IMF

2005-11-01

http://tinyurl.com/arzm4

Cameroon has signed an agreement with the IMF for a new three year Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) programme to the amount of US$26.8million. Cameroon's last PRGF arrangement expired in December 2004 and the IMF has been monitoring Cameroon's performance since then under a 'staff-monitored programme'. According to the IMF, Cameroon has made progress in improving economic policies and 'implementation of the program resulted in a substantial fiscal adjustment, especially in non-oil revenue, and improved public financial management and reporting.

Sierra Leone: UK drops privatization PR contract

2005-11-01

http://www.oneworld.net/link/gotoarticle/addhit/120987/8/43042

The UK Government has backed down in the face of demands that it stop using aid money to fund privatization of public relations in the world's second poorest country. The UK Department for International Development (DFID) has written to all eight companies short listed for a contract to provide communication support to the Sierra Leone Commission for Privatisation stating they will not fund a campaign to "promote privatisation". This reverses the terms of the original contract.

Zambia: LDCs request exemption from TRIPS for another 15 years

2005-11-03

http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/twninfo285.htm

The least developed countries in the WTO have made a request to the TRIPS Council to extend the transitional period for their implementing the TRIPS Agreement for a further 15 years after the present transition period expires at the end of this year, reports Third World Network. The formal request for extension was submitted by Zambia on behalf of the LDC members on 13 October and issued as a communication by the WTO Secretariat on 21 October.

Africa: Bird Flu's Spread to Africa Could Be Imminent, UN Warns

2005-11-02

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/10/1027_051027_africa_birdflu.html?source=rss

Africa may soon become a new front in the struggle against a dangerous strain of avian influenza, National Geographic News reports. In recent weeks the viral strain, called H5N1, has spread to Europe and Turkey from Southeast Asia, where it festered for several years. Now flocks of birds that could carry the microbe are migrating from their breeding grounds in Europe and Asia to winter havens in Africa.
* Related Link
DRC: An epidemic waiting to happen
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30843

Botswana: Botswana Project Encourages Young People To Donate 'Safe Blood,' Stay HIV-Free

2005-11-02

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=33266

Botswana has launched a new project that encourages young people to donate "safe blood" and teaches them how to avoid contracting HIV, Reuters AlertNet reports. The project, Pledge 25, targets youths both in and out of school because "most of them are not yet sexually active, which means they are still free from HIV," Mukendi Kaembe, a National Blood Transfusion Service pathologist at the Princess Marina Hospital in the capital city of Gaborone, said.

Kenya: Limited immunisation campaign launched after measles outbreak

2005-11-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49820

A limited measles immunisation campaign has been launched in Nairobi following an outbreak of the disease in a suburb of the capital city, health authorities said on Friday. The campaign targets children under the age of five and is confined within Eastleigh, a downmarket suburb east of the city centre with a considerable number of refugees from Somalia, said an official in the disease management unit of the ministry of health who asked not to be named.

Liberia: Youth not putting HIV prevention lessons into practice

2005-11-02

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49804

First the good news. Young Liberians know about AIDS, how they might contract the disease and what they can do to protect themselves. Now the bad news. They are not putting that knowledge into practice. A study commissioned by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) found while nine out of 10 respondents knew HIV could spread through sexual intercourse, and six out of 10 knew a condom would protect them, only one in 10 used it the first time they had sex.

South Africa: Rural Lusikisiki is winning AIDS battle

2005-11-02

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20031324

The HIV/AIDS programme initiated by Medicins sans Frontieres in Lusikisiki is well on its way to reaching everyone in the sub-district that needs treatment. Lusikisiki, a tiny town in the Eastern Cape, has just celebrated enrolling over 1100 AIDS patients on antiretroviral treatment thus becoming the biggest rural treatment programme in the country. “The majority of people in South Africa can’t spell Lusikisiki. They just know that it is in the bhundu. If we can achieve this here, the whole country can achieve even more. Let us be a light for others by saving our own lives,” Dr TC Thomas, superintendent of the local St Elizabeth Hospital, told the 2000-strong crowd gathered in the town on Friday (28 October).

Uganda: Human Rights Watch Honors Ugandan AIDS Activist

2005-11-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/30128

On November 8, Human Rights Watch will give its highest recognition to Beatrice Were, a leading advocate for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. Ms. Were was one of the first Ugandans ever to declare her HIV-positive status publicly. She is a founder of the National Community of Women Living with AIDS (NACWOLA), a grassroots organization that provides services to over 40,000 women in 20 districts of Uganda. She has defended the rights of people living with AIDS against controversial shifts in the country's AIDS policy, including the recent adoption of U.S.-funded "abstinence-until-marriage" programs.
For immediate release:

Human Rights Watch press release

Human Rights Watch Honors Ugandan AIDS Activist

Outspoken Defender of Women Living with HIV/AIDS

(New York, October 27, 2005) — On November 8, Human Rights Watch will
give its highest recognition to Beatrice Were, a leading advocate for
the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda.

Ms. Were was one of the first Ugandans ever to declare her
HIV-positive status publicly. She is a founder of the National
Community of Women Living with AIDS (NACWOLA), a grassroots
organization that provides services to over 40,000 women in 20
districts of Uganda. She has defended the rights of people living
with AIDS against controversial shifts in the country's AIDS policy,
including the recent adoption of U.S.-funded
"abstinence-until-marriage" programs.


"Beatrice Were is the human face of AIDS in Uganda," said Jonathan
Cohen, researcher with Human Rights Watch's HIV/AIDS Program. "She
has transformed her personal struggle with AIDS into a courageous and
inspiring brand of activism."

A mother of three, Ms. Were learned she was HIV-positive following her
husband's diagnosis with HIV in the 1990s. When her husband died, his
family attempted to grab her property and take custody of her
children. Ms. Were successfully fought back, later becoming an
activist to protect other women from similar abuses.

After disclosing her HIV status to her children, Ms. Were founded the
highly successful Memory Book Project, which encourages HIV-positive
parents to prepare their children for bereavement by recording family
memories in an album.

"At every step, Beatrice Were has chosen to break the silence around
HIV/AIDS rather than to live privately with her illness," said Cohen.
"By bringing HIV/AIDS out into the open, she has brought hope to
countless Ugandans."

Since 2004, Ms. Were has worked with Human Rights Watch and other
organizations to highlight Uganda's recent and dramatic backslide in
HIV-prevention policy. Uganda earned international praise for its
highly successful HIV prevention programs in the 1990s. But the
country has recently embraced U.S.-funded "abstinence-until-marriage"
programs which deny young people information about any method of HIV
prevention other than sexual abstinence until marriage, including
information about condoms.

Ms. Were contracted HIV from a husband who to whom she had been
faithful. She has devoted much of her career to counseling young
people about HIV/AIDS and promoting a full range of HIV-prevention
options.

"Beatrice Were is living proof of the dangers of
'abstinence-until-marriage' approach," said Cohen. "Her struggle shows
that HIV/AIDS is not solved by promoting marriage, but by promoting
the human rights of women."

For more information on HIV/AIDS and human rights:
http://www.hrw.org/doc/?t=hivaids&document_limit=0,2

For more information about human rights in Uganda:
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=africa&c=uganda


For more information, please contact:

In New York, Charles Tate: +1-212-216-1289

In New York, Jennifer Nagle: +1-212-216-1831

In New York, Minky Worden: +1-212-216-1250

Cameroon: Education - Secretary Of State expresses satisfaction

2005-11-03

http://tinyurl.com/9m3pm

The Secretary of State in the Ministry of Secondary Education, Madame Abena Catherine, paid an impromptu visit to secondary schools in the Nyong et Kelle Division in the Centre Province. The visit mainly aimed at evaluating the first sequence (six weeks) of the 2005/2006 academic year, with respect to infrastructure, curricular programming, students’ and teachers’ welfare, etc., according to the Cameroon Tribune.

Global: Advanced economies losing lead in education

2005-11-03

http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=2751

Developing countries are rapidly increasing the number and quality of college graduates, generating a sea change in the relative education advantage that advanced countries have enjoyed over literally hundreds of years, according to an analysis released November 1 by The Conference Board, the global business network. Access rates to education are rapidly equalizing for primary and secondary education in developing countries and literacy rates are rapidly approaching advanced country standards.

Kenya: 600 university lecturers pledge to work

2005-11-03

http://allafrica.com/stories/200511020710.html

Nearly 600 Kenyatta University lecturers rushed to beat a deadline to sign back-to-work forms the week of October 31. Those who signed the forms included many officials of the local chapter of the Universities Academic Staff Union, Uasu. But about 100 lecturers had not signed to indicate they were ready to resume duty when the university reopens. They were away from campus on official duties, including study leave and leave of absence. Public relations officer Ken Ramani confirmed the figures, adding that the senate - the main university governing organ - would meet to discuss reopening.

Madagascar: High level testimonies on successful basic education approach

2005-11-03

http://tinyurl.com/8zl5t

A UNESCO-led joint programme on basic education in Madagascar has proven extremely successful. A series of stakeholders shared their experience on the programme’s innovative methodologies and approaches on November 3 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. High level government officials, UNDP and programme staff will provide a rich testimony on their varied experiences on this successful programme.

Rwanda: Educationalists review progress

2005-11-03

http://tinyurl.com/cp7s9

According to the Rwandan New Times, The State Minister in charge of Primary Education, Joseph Murekeraho, recently met and held discussions with five hundred heads of schools at Lycee de Kigali School to review Rwanda’s education system. While opening the workshop, Murekeraho appealed to the school heads to address the problems like language that hinder the students’ performances and urged them to recruit qualified teachers. “How do you expect someone who does not know that particular language to teach it? You can never teach something you have never been trained for,” Murekeraho said and called upon the school heads to be vigilant in addressing the issue of bilingualism. “Some people think that when we are giving scholarships, we consider those who can speak the language of the host country, that is wrong,” Murekeraho disclosed adding that all students are given equal chances.

Zimbabwe: Most graduates are preparing to emigrate, survey shows

2005-11-03

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=13112

Over three quarters of the parents of new graduates are now urging their offspring to leave, mainly because their families depend on remittances from abroad. The prospects of Zimbabwe's economy bouncing back from its current crisis are likely to be dim if the results of a new survey of university and college graduates are taken into account. Over three quarters of the parents of new graduates are now urging their offspring to leave, mainly because their families depend on remittances from abroad. Tens of thousands of Zimbabwean doctors, nurses, pharmacists, teachers and other professionals have already left the country.

Africa: Africa aid to be eaten by climate change-scientist

2005-11-01

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23405543.htm

Extra aid to help dig Africa out of poverty agreed in July by leaders of the world's main industrial nations could be eaten up by global warming unless urgent action is taken, a British scientist said on Monday. In an open letter to environment and energy ministers of the Group of Eight (G8), Lord May of Oxford, president of the Royal Society scientific think-tank, said the deal struck at the G8 summit in Gleneagles was flawed. "As long as greenhouse gas concentrations continue to rise, there is the very real prospect that the increase in aid agreed at Gleneagles will entirely be consumed by the mounting cost of dealing with the added burden of adverse effects of climate change in Africa," he wrote.

Africa: UN warns of poverty as lakes evaporate

2005-11-01

http://www.finfacts.com/irelandbusinessnews/publish/article_10003780.shtml

Lake Chad has shrunk by almost 90 per cent, while water levels in Lake Victoria - Africa's biggest freshwater lake - have fallen by a metre since the early 1990s. Niger has lost more than 80 per cent of its freshwater wetlands in the past 20 years. The dramatic and, in some cases damaging environmental changes sweeping Africa's lakes are brought into sharp focus in a new atlas. Produced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Atlas of African Lakes compares and contrasts spectacular satellite images of the past few decades with contemporary ones.

Ghana: All Set For Bui Dam To Take Off

2005-11-01

http://www.graphicghana.info/article.asp?artid=8840

Ghana and Sino Hydro, a Chinese construction company, have signed a memorandum of understanding to undertake the construction of the Bui Dam. The government is currently funding the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) at a cost of $2 million to prepare the ground for the take-off of the project after ongoing negotiations on funding have been completed. The $500 million project, which has been on the drawing board for decades, is expected to augment the power supply production from the Akosombo dam and Aboadze Thermal Plant.

Malawi: Deforestation at a price

2005-11-02

http://tinyurl.com/c4bvn

According to the New York Times, with the vast majority of Malawi's population dependent on charcoal and firewood for cooking, the country's deforestation rate -- one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa -- is taking a toll on the environment, yet yielding paltry economic rewards. Hundreds of thousands of rural Malawians rely on logging for income, but the sale of firewood and charcoal generates less than $8 million a year nationwide. Meanwhile, the World Bank estimates 20% of Malawi's forests were destroyed during the 1990s, and one forestry expert says the heavily populated southern region of the country has lost almost 80% of its tree cover.

West Africa: $10 billion needed to finance West Africa power pool

2005-11-01

http://www.newsinghana.com/business.php?story=449

About 10 billion dollars would be required in the short to medium term to meet the investment requirements for power generation and transmission infrastructure under the West Africa Power Pool Project (WAPP), Energy Minister Mike Oquaye has announced. The amount would be used to rehabilitate and construct new generation plants and to upgrade and build new transmission lines over the next 10 years, including the establishment of interconnection infrastructure and development of hydropower plants such as Keleta in Guinea and Felou in Mali. The World Bank has already committed a 350-million dollar line of credit for the development of the WAPP out of which the Ghana Government and the Volta River Authority had secured 40 million dollars to implement the 330KV Aboadze-Volta Transmission Line.

Zimbabwe/Zambia: People displaced by dam seek compensation

2005-11-01

http://www.zimbabwechronicle.com/2005/October/28/feature/feature.htm

When the giant Lake Kariba was built in the 1950s, authorities at the time celebrated its construction as one of the most sterling feats of engineering and human endeavour. The lake, whose construction was completed in 1958, provides hydro-electricity to Zimbabwe and Zambia and influenced the springing up of bustling commercial, fishing and tourism activity in Kariba town and on its shoreline thereby generating significant revenue and employment to the country. However, 47 years down the line thousands of people who were displaced on the Zimbabwean and Zambian banks of the Zambezi River to make way for the colossal water reservoir feel that they are entitled to compensation.

Africa/Global: Called to take action against housing and land rights violations

2005-10-31

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/land/30092

On World Habitat Day, the Housing and Land Rights Network launched a new and interactive website, whereby its members and the general public can report land and housing violations.The website has built a simple database with a list of basic information on the world's most common housing and land rights violations.
Africa/Global: Called to take action against housing and land rights violations

On World Habitat Day, 3 October 2005, the United Nations (UN) chose the theme ''The Millennium Development Goals and the City”, which serves as a reminder of the enormous efforts needed to ensure that progress is made towards the achievement of the goals agreed upon by the international community and set out in the Millennium Declaration and reaffirmed at the World Summit 2005 held in New York in September.

With daily reports of land and housing violations by nations against its citizens, the Millennium Development Goals with regard to land rights needed to be repeated. On World Habitat Day, Miloon Kothari from the UN Human Rights Commission said that ''adequate housing was a right for all'' (UN Press Release, 3 October 2005).

Similarly, on World Habitat Day, the Housing and Land Rights Network (HLRN, 2005) launched a new and interactive website, whereby its members and the general public could report land and housing violations. The website has built a simple database with a list of basic information on the world's most common housing and land rights violations. The general public and members can document violations such as:
- Forced evictions
-Demolitions
-Confiscation and
-Privatization of public goods and services.

The full article of the UN press release titled ''Adequate housing: A Right for all'' can be read at
http://www.hlrn.org/news_show_user.php?id=104

Further details of the HLRN database can be obtained from http://www.hlrn.org

* Posted by Mandlakazi Moetsoledi, Fahamu intern

Africa: African media must not ape West

2005-11-02

http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20051101&i=African_media_must_not_ape_West

African journalists are under pressure to tell the African story differently after it became apparent that they follow the Western perspective when reporting on their continent. Africa has been subjected to negative reporting in the international media where it is always associated with strife, hunger, famine and other bad things. The positive side of Africa is never projected. All this might change after editors from across Africa decided to form a continent-wide forum of editors after meeting in Johannesburg from October 15 to 17.

East Africa: Journalists Deliberate on Media and Globalization

2005-11-02

http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2001/11/30-11-01/East.htm

Journalists from five countries in eastern Africa gathered in the Ugandan capital Kampala at the end of last week to deliberate on trends in the development of the media in eastern Africa. Papers by journalists and media managers from the region and South Africa were presented at the conference with the theme “safeguarding the public interest: will the media in eastern Africa survive the onslaught of globalization?” The conference critiqued trends in media production, distribution and consumption in the region and discussed how to build partnerships among academics, media practitioners, the government and civil society with a view to strengthening democratic institutions in the region.

Lesotho: MISA victory ensures media access to public information

2005-11-02

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70165/?PHPSESSID=17faa1b6cead75b4648b3f341f4bc896

The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Lesotho has acted decisively to ensure that public and private media have equal access to public information about the upcoming Commonwealth Speakers' Conference in Lesotho starting on 2 November 2005. On 31 October, media houses in Maseru - which include the Lesotho Defence Force Public Relations Office, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), Southern African Press Association (SAPA) and Agence France-Presse (AFP) - were refused information at the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Lesotho about the Commonwealth Speakers' Conference. The reason given by the authorities was that the information would first be transmitted to the government-owned and controlled Radio Lesotho before being transmitted to the independent media.

Morocco: Imprisoned journalist beaten by prison guard and two inmates

2005-11-02

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/70171/?PHPSESSID=17faa1b6cead75b4648b3f341f4bc896

Reporters Without Borders has written to the Moroccon authorities to draw attention to the plight of Abderrahmane El Badraoui, the former editor of the weekly Al-Moulahid, who has been in prison in Morocco since January 2002. He was physically attacked on 26 October by a guard, Mustafa Dindla, who had taken to subjecting him to extortion. After complaining about the guard's behaviour to the prison's deputy governor, Mr. Badraoui was attacked by the guard and two inmates, who hit him with keys and then gave him a beating.

The Gambia: Editors slate detention

2005-11-02

http://www.journalism.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3244&CAMSSID=8344d8b4bc33eda4a6363f55053196bc

The Southern Africa Editors’ Forum (Saef) and the South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) have condemned the detention and harassment of the editor of the Gambian newspaper, The Independent, by that country’s intelligence agents, according to a statement. Musa Saidykhan was taken from his office in Banjul after he had written a story in his newspaper about how South African President Thabo Mbeki, had promised to help Gambian journalists by interceding with the government there over media repression. At the recent TAEF launch conference in Johannesburg, Saidykhan asked President Thabo Mbeki to raise the unsolved murder of Gambian journalist Deyda Hydara last December with the Gambian authorities.

Africa/Global: The human security report 2005

2005-11-01

http://www.humansecurityreport.info/

The first Human Security Report documents a dramatic, but largely unknown, decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuse over the past decade. Published by Oxford University Press, the Report argues that the single most compelling explanation for these changes is found in the unprecedented upsurge of international activism, spearheaded by the UN, which took place in the wake of the Cold War.

Africa/Global: The Washington Consensus, armed conflict, health and education

2005-11-01

http://www.palgrave-journals.com/development/journal/v48/n3/abs/1100166a.html

This article from the September 2005 edition of the journal Development explores how the assault on public institutions in the last two or three decades have created destabilizing conditions with particular reference to health and education. It suggests that the IFIs acknowledge the deficiencies of their early policies and even the Bush administration includes them in its Millennium Challenge Accounts. It looks at what happens in health and education during conflict in order to illustrate how poorly designed policies lead to tragic results.

Côte d'Ivoire: Government Recruits Child Soldiers in Liberia

2005-11-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/30117

In anticipation of renewed fighting with rebel forces, the Ivorian government is recruiting Liberian children alongside hundreds of other former combatants in Liberia’s civil war, Human Rights Watch says. Since September, Ivorian army officers and Liberian former commanders have been conducting a recruitment drive seeking ex-combatants in Liberian towns and villages bordering Côte d’Ivoire. “The Ivorian government is bolstering its military manpower by recruiting children who fought in Liberia’s brutal civil war,” said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. “The international community must do all it can to ensure that these children are demobilized and that their recruiters are prosecuted.”
For Immediate Release:

Côte d'Ivoire: Government Recruits Child Soldiers in Liberia
U.N. Security Council Must Take Urgent Action on Investigation, Sanctions

(New York, October 28, 2005) — In anticipation of renewed fighting with rebel forces, the Ivorian government is recruiting Liberian children alongside hundreds of other former combatants in Liberia’s civil war, Human Rights Watch said today.

Since September, Ivorian army officers and Liberian former commanders have been conducting a recruitment drive seeking ex-combatants in Liberian towns and villages bordering Côte d’Ivoire.

“The Ivorian government is bolstering its military manpower by recruiting children who fought in Liberia’s brutal civil war,” said Peter Takirambudde, executive director of the Africa division of Human Rights Watch. “The international community must do all it can to ensure that these children are demobilized and that their recruiters are prosecuted.”

In October, Human Rights Watch interviewed 19 Liberian ex-combatants, including three children aged 13 to 17. All of them had been approached by Liberian and Ivorian recruiters to join a fighting “mission” on behalf of Côte d’Ivoire’s government. Several of those interviewed, including the children, said that they themselves were involved in the recruitment of additional fighters. After Liberia's civil war ended in 2003, some 101,000 combatants—including 11,000 children—were disarmed and demobilized under a United Nations-sponsored program.

Children were among those who described to Human Rights Watch how they attended meetings in Liberia in September and October, during which former Liberian commanders offered them US$300 to $400 to go to Côte d’Ivoire to fight on behalf of the Ivorian government. Many described being given money, rice and clothing to encourage their friends to join.

Most of those interviewed had crossed into Côte d’Ivoire in September, but came back to Liberia to cast their votes in the country’s October 11 general election. They also returned to identify additional recruits, for which they were promised additional remuneration. According to their accounts, Liberians are recruited from Nimba county and the southeastern counties of Grand Gedeh and River Gee, counties which border government-controlled areas of Côte d'Ivoire.

Interviewees said that after crossing into Côte d’Ivoire, they were taken to one of three militia bases in the west of the country: Toulepleu, Blolequin and Guiglo. They said each of these bases housed several hundred Liberians, most of whom, like them, had fought with the Liberian rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), during Liberia’s civil war. The majority of those interviewed said they received food, uniforms and, in some cases, weapons from Ivorian military personnel at the bases. Many described seeing dozens of Liberian children inside militia bases in Côte d’Ivoire.

Several interviewees identified two Ivorian military officers, one a colonel and the other a sergeant, who appeared to be coordinating recruitment on behalf of the Ivorian government. One ex-combatant gave a detailed account of a meeting of Liberian commanders in Guiglo in the first week of September, in which they were briefed on the military mission being planned.

In the past year, Human Rights Watch documented two other periods of intense recruitment of Liberians to fight alongside the Ivorian government: last October, just prior to a government offensive against the rebel New Forces (Forces Nouvelles), and again in March, before the parties met for peace talks in South Africa.

Almost all of those interviewed had registered in 2004 for education or skills-training programs being administered by the Liberian Disarmament, Demobilization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration Program. However, the U.N. and Liberian-administered program is currently facing a funding shortfall of US$10 million needed to cover the reintegration of some 43,000 ex-combatants.

Several educational and vocational programs for ex-child combatants have opened in towns close to the border, but children said that pressure from the economic situation of their families had forced them to abandon the programs. Commanders appeared to have exploited this and used it as a tactic to encourage the child ex-combatants to fight in Côte d'Ivoire.

Human Rights Watch makes the following recommendations:

• The U.N. peacekeeping missions in both Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire should step up their monitoring of the recruitment and use of children by both the Ivorian government and New Forces rebels, and they should make their findings public. All information on recruitment and child soldier use should be provided to the monitoring and reporting mechanisms established under resolution 1612 (2005) by the U.N. Security Council.
• The Liberian and Ivorian governments and the New Forces rebels should conduct thorough investigations and prosecute those involved in the recruitment and use of child soldiers.
• The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, who announced on January 20 that he would send a team to Côte d'Ivoire to lay the groundwork for a possible investigation of war crimes, should include the recruitment and use of child soldiers in the scope of the ICC investigation. Under the ICC statute, the recruitment and use of children under the age of 15 is a war crime.
• The U.N. Sanctions Committee for Côte d’Ivoire should immediately activate travel and economic sanctions against individuals identified as responsible for the recruitment and use of child soldiers, pursuant to U.N. Security Council Resolution 1572.


Testimonies of Liberians interviewed in October 2005 by Human Rights Watch

A 14-year-old who was recruited in September, and has since recruited three friends around his age, described:

In mid-September I was talking to a friend when my former MODEL commander called us over. He asked what we were doing and talked to us about what was on in Ivory Coast. We told him that we wanted to go to school but that there was no money to go. He explained that he was pulling people together to go on a small mission. He said it was going to be a quick mission and that if we went we'd be able to get money enough to pay our school fees. He said he would be heading over in a few weeks, after the October 11 elections, and that anytime we saw our friends we should try to motivate them to come with us. He gave me 1000 Liberian dollars [US$19] for us to buy food and new clothes and promised to give us a small thing if we brought more boys with us. So far I've found three friends to go; two are 15 and the other is 16. I bought them some new clothes with the money my CO [commanding officer] gave me. I don't have money in Liberia and if I stay here I'd probably be forced to steal and do other bad things, and if I do that and get caught I'll be beaten. I live with my brother and he told me he doesn't want me to go, but he can't tell me what to do. No. It's better I go to Ivory Coast and when I'm back I can go to school. I know it will carry me somewhere.

A 22-year-old mid-level commander who has been based in Blolequin since around
March 2005 and returned from Côte d’Ivoire in early October to recruit other fighters explained:

I came a few days ago from the base with seven other fighters and we're heading back in a day or two. Most of my friends are heading over—in fact I came to encourage them to go. I tell them that on the other side we eat three times a day while here they're not doing anything. I also tell them that once things happen, anything they get is for them to keep. It's working okay so far. I've encouraged about ten of my friends to go, including some boys of about 14, 15 years old. I've even got a girl of about 17 to go so she can help us cook. All of us used to fight with MODEL. Several weeks ago an Ivorian officer arrived in Blolequin. He gathered some of the commanders together, drove us in three cars to the base in Guiglo and told us about the mission. He said, “The mission will soon be on hand. Anytime we call you, you have to be ready to help us.” He said that once things started he'd even put some of us on salary. There are so many Liberians there—maybe up to 200. I was given an AK-47 [assault rifle] by the Ivorians. We're just waiting for the Ivorian ceasefire to end.

A 19-year-old female combatant who crossed over into Côte d'Ivoire during the first week of September described how she was recruited:

In the first few days of September the one who used to be my commander in the MODEL days came to visit me in my house. He said, “I'm pulling people together to go to Ivory Coast. We have a mission going.” He said he would pay me US$350. For me, I don't have anybody here. I'm living with friends and don't know where my family is. My boyfriend died during the MODEL attack on Buchanan in 2003. I have nothing to keep me here. So I went. We left the next evening with a big group of us—about 50 including a few boys and other girls. My CO gave us money for transport to the border. Once there we split into three groups and then crossed over at night on a bush path. Once on the other side we joined up again and headed on to Guiglo base. While in the barracks we got a little training on how to lay low and avoid the rebels. They said our mission is to attack X. All I know is what my CO tells me. There are about 200 of us Liberians there including about 25 girls. Many of us came back from the barracks in Guiglo to Liberia to vote. I stood in line all day to cast my vote. My CO said I will be heading back tomorrow so I'm just waiting for the word.

This 18-year-old Liberian described why he declined efforts to be recruited:

In September I was walking through the street in town when a man named J called me over to talk with him. He said, “Hey, are you looking for a way to earn money? There's a mission on in Ivory Coast and money is there.” He told me he was just waiting until after the elections and that after voting, he was going over. In fact, since that time three other people, including a few who speak French, have come over to encourage me to go. I listened to my heart: one part said I should go but the other part said no. I thought about my schooling—after disarming I signed up to study to be an auto-mechanic. I started the program but then it stopped because they said the learning materials weren't there. But I'll wait. In the meantime I'm blessed with a dog that helps me hunt bush meat [deer] and so I'm able to survive. I said no. I'm not going.


For further information, please contact:
In Dakar, Corinne Dufka (English, Spanish): +221 636 1013
In Brussels, Vanessa Saenen (English, French, German, Dutch): +322 732 2009
In Toronto, Georgette Gagnon: +416 762 0364

Eritrea/Ethiopia: Eritrea, Ethiopia move troops, tanks, says UN source

2005-11-03

http://za.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-11-02T134018Z_01_ALL246756_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-ERITREA-ETHIOPIA-TROOPS-20051102.XML

Former foes Ethiopia and Eritrea have both moved troops and tanks towards the border in recent weeks, a UN source said on Wednesday, after the world body reported that the situation on the frontier had become tense. A UN statement said on Tuesday UN peacekeepers had altered their description of the situation on the ground to "tense" from "stable", a worrying change to diplomats trying to prevent a resumption of the nations' 1998-2000 war. "We cannot say that the situation is stable," the source at the peacekeeping U.N. Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said on Wednesday, when asked about the change in language.

Ethiopia/Eritrea: Concern over UN border pullout

2005-11-01

http://www.sudantribune.com/article.php3?id_article=12131

Ethiopia is concerned about the UN pullout from some bases along the tense border with Eritrea, saying Tuesday that the peacekeepers help ensure war doesn't break out again. After saying its work had been hampered by new restrictions imposed by Eritrea, the U.N. Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea said Monday it was pulling peacekeepers from 18 of 40 posts in the buffer zone and strengthening operations at other positions.

Somalia: Puntland begins reducing security forces

2005-11-03

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=49913

The self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, on Tuesday embarked on its first ever disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) programme designed to reduce the number of its military personnel, officials said. The DDR intitiative, which is supported by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), is expected to cut the number of Puntland's security forces by 1,000 by the middle of 2006 and save funds to finance development projects.

South Africa/Zimbabwe: Mbeki-Mugabe military pact

2005-11-03

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=13058

Presidents Robert Mugabe and Thabo Mbeki have made a secret pact to train black pilots for South Africa while easing whites out of the SA Air Force (SAAF). An informed source with the Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ), speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed this week that 14 experienced instructors, led by Group Captain Chasakara, would leave shortly for South Africa. It is understood that they have been seconded to the SAAF to undertake a comprehensive two-year training programme aimed at beefing up the numbers of black pilots.

Sudan: Mediators try to salvage Darfur rebel meeting

2005-11-01

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MCD052709.htm

Mediators from Darfur's main rebel group arrived at a unity meeting on Sunday to try and reconcile its two leaders whose differences have stalled African Union-sponsored talks to end the conflict in western Sudan. The Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) began its congress to elect a new leadership amid heavy security on Saturday, after delaying it for many days awaiting the arrival of its President Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur.

Africa/Global: First ever non-profit software survey

2005-10-31

http://www.aspirationtech.org/software_survey05?PHPSESSID=c8efcdbba052efe5117ad80510f424e3

Aspiration is conducting the first-ever Nonprofit Software Survey of those making decisions about software solutions in and for nonprofits and NGOs around the world. We want to learn how organizations and their technology supports look for appropriate software for nonprofit work, evaluate software options, and decide which tools to use.

Africa/Global: Interconnection costs

2005-10-31

http://rights.apc.org/papers.shtml

This paper produced by South African Mike Jensen covers increasing North-South inequities (“paying both ways”) and proposed strategies for minimising the disparities in interconnection rates, accelerating the restructuring of the communications sector, supporting the establishment of national and international internet exchange points, and building local demand for national and international backbones.

Africa/Global: Internet governance and development

2005-10-31

http://southasia.oneworld.net/article/view/121415/1/5339

Nearly two years after the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) took up the question in Geneva, the international community is yet to arrive at a consensus on creating a framework to manage the Internet. All countries today recognise the fundamental and growing role of the Internet as a facilitator of governance, commerce, and communication. Many nations want a multilateral model of management for the Internet and also see a role for themselves in it.

Africa/Global: Nonprofits and Weblogs

2005-10-31

http://news.gilbert.org/NPOWeblogs

Michael C. Gilbert writes in the August 2005 edition of the Nonprofit Online News Journal: "I get the impression nonprofits are getting interested in weblogs. But since I started blogging before the term was invented, it's been a little hard to tell when this idea started catching on." Read the full article by visiting the website link provided.

Africa/Global: The WSIS Challenge Award

2005-10-31

http://www.stockholmchallenge.se/feature_right.asp?IdNr=44

The Stockholm Challenge, with the support of the WSIS Executive Secretariat, has initiated the WSIS Challenge Award, to be announced at the WSIS Tunis Summit on November 17th 2005. The WSIS Challenge Award is open to initiatives in Africa that use ICT to enhance livelihood opportunities, improve living conditions and support economic development. Projects that are eligible to compete should show that they empower people and communities by using ICT in areas such as health, education, government, business, culture and environment.

Africa: Weblogs, Wikis and development

2005-11-03

http://sangonet.org.za/portal/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2151&Itemid=1

At the launch of SANGONeT's portal on World Development Information Day (WDID), 24 October 2005 - speaking from Seattle in the United States, non-profit online specialist, Michael Gilbert of the Gilbert Center, talked to more than eighty South African delegates located in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town via a digital video conference link, about the practices of Weblogs and Wikis as some of the most exciting new tools to promote leadership and collaboration in development as well as advance alternative views.

Global: Community Radio for Development

2005-11-01

http://www.id21.org/communityradio

An email discussion on community radio for development takes place 23 January - 18 February 2006. To join the discussion, send an email to lyris@lyris.ids.ac.uk with the message: subscribe communityradio firstname lastname

Global: Habitat Jam

2005-11-01

http://www.habitatjam.com/content.php?id=18&sid=8&pid=0&language=en

Imagine tens of thousands of people around the world just like you connecting in real time over the internet to discuss and debate some of the most urgent and controversial issues that face a rapidly urbanizing planet. Imagine world-class thinkers leading the discussions. Imagine the results that could be achieved by this unprecedented global conversation and collaboration. This is Habitat JAM.

Global: On-line Global Forum

2005-11-02

http://www.hrea.org/lists/hr-education/

From 29 September-5 November 2005 an On-line Global Forum on the relation between human rights education and other "educations" is taking place on the Global Human Rights Listserv. The Global Human Rights Education listserv is an on-line community on which over 3500 human rights defenders and educators from 160 countries share new resources, methodologies, strategies and lessons learned.

Africa/Global: Google's Charitable Arm to Focus on World Poverty, Environment

2005-11-03

http://www.fdncenter.org/pnd/news/story.jhtml?id=119400009

Internet search giant Google has announced the launch of Google.org, its new charitable arm, which will focus its grantmaking on world poverty and the environment, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Over the next twenty years, the company will endow the umbrella organization with funds equivalent to three million shares of its stock — about 1 percent of the number of shares it controlled when the company went public more than a year ago.

Angola/Mozambique: Human Rights Fellows Program

2005-10-31

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/30086

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) and the Open Society Justice Initiative (the Justice Initiative) are pleased to invite applications for the Human Rights Fellows Program for the 2006-2008 session. The deadline for applications is November 21, 2005. This program was launched in 2003 by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) and the Open Society Justice Initiative, in collaboration with Conectas Human Rights, the Open Society Foundation (South Africa) and South African, Mozambican and Angolan Civic organizations.
Human Rights Fellows Program for Angola and Mozambique

(2006-2008 Session)

The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) and the Open Society
Justice Initiative (the Justice Initiative) are pleased to invite
applications for the Human Rights Fellows Program for the 2006-2008 session.
The deadline for applications is November 21, 2005.

This program was launched in 2003 by the Open Society Initiative for
Southern Africa (OSISA) and the Open Society Justice Initiative, in
collaboration with Conectas Human Rights, the Open Society Foundation (South
Africa) and South African, Mozambican and Angolan Civic organizations.

The Fellows Program is 20 months in duration and involves both academic
study and practical experience in human rights/public interest advocacy. Up
to six human rights lawyers and activists from Angola and Mozambique will be
selected to participate. Candidates must be nominated by human rights NGOs
based in Angola or Mozambique.

For further information, please write to julia.neiva@conectas.org

South Africa: SANGONeT launches South African NGO portal

2005-11-01

http://www.sangonet.org.za

The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) is pleased to announce the launch of a new Internet portal for and about the NGO sector in South Africa. This portal is primed to become the gateway to the South African NGO sector, boasting the most comprehensive, validated and easily searchable NGO directory in the country, containing information about more than 2 500 organisations. This directory is augmented by wide ranging and diverse information for and about the NGO sector, including general news, press releases, campaigns, vacancies, event calendars, case studies, toolkits and research reports.

Southern Africa: Call for Papers - Language and Gender in Southern Africa

2005-10-31

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/30087

Following the interest shown in the recent 'language and gender' issue of SALALS (Volume 20/3, 2002), a team of colleagues from the University of KwaZulu-Natal will be producing a follow-up volume, to be published in 2006. This is within the context of an NRF-funded research project on language, gender and equity in South Africa, currently running at UKZN. This team project has three main sections: expanded language resources of multilingual contexts and its use to construct shifting gender identities; masculinities and femininities in relation to language usage in schools; gender aspects of South Africa's indigenous languages (with a focus on issues of heritage and culture).
CALL FOR PAPERS

for a special issue of

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies

focusing on

LANGUAGE AND GENDER IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

Following the interest shown in the recent 'language and gender' issue
of SALALS (Volume 20/3, 2002), a team of colleagues from the
University of KwaZulu-Natal will be producing a follow-up volume, to
be published in 2006. This is within the context of an NRF-funded
research project on language, gender and equity in South Africa,
currently running at UKZN. This team project has three main sections:
expanded language resources of multilingual contexts and its use to
construct shifting gender identities; masculinities and femininities
in relation to language usage in schools; gender aspects of South
Africa's indigenous languages (with a focus on issues of heritage and
culture).

In the contemporary context, the existence of a variety of social
identities creates new contexts for the interface between language and
gender. This Special Issue calls for interdisciplinary papers that
provide fresh insights into 'Language and Gender in Southern Africa'.
The journal seeks manuscripts from the broadest possible
methodological range that interpret the special focus on 'Language and
Gender in Southern Africa'. Empirical and theoretical articles
reporting original research as well as research reviews are
encouraged. The editors also welcome research in languages other than
English.

We are interested in new directions in language and gender, which are
guided by the new contexts of research. The editors invite papers
addressing any aspect of this broad area, covering substantive but
also methodological issues of importance. As a guide, some of the
following issues could be addressed in papers with special reference
to language-related issues and gender: law; human rights; equity;
identities; sexuality; citizenship; HIV/Aids and public health;
stereotypes; variation in language; pedagogical issues; media.

Papers submitted for the planned focus volume might link in with the
UKZN NRF project focus, or explore any issues relating to language and
gender in the Southern African context. Papers will be peer-reviewed
by the group of contributors, before being submitted to the editor of
SALALS for a final decision on publication.

Due Date for Abstracts: 30 November 2005

Date for submission of drafts: 31 January 2006

Please send expressions of interest to Elizabeth de Kadt
(dekadt@ukzn.ac.za) and Vasu Reddy (VReddy@ukzn.ac.za).

Southern African Students Fund, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford Scholarship

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/30161

St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, is offering a scholarship to a student from Southern Africa for the academic year 2006-7. The scholarship is available only for study on the MSc in African Studies. Details of the degree are outlined on the University of Oxford African Studies web site www.africanstudies.ox.ac.uk and in the University postgraduate prospectus or can be obtained by email from african.studies@sant.ox.ac.uk
Southern African Students Fund, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford Scholarship for the academic year 2006-7


St Antony’s College, University of Oxford, is offering a scholarship to a student from Southern Africa for the academic year 2006-7. The scholarship is available only for study on the MSc in African Studies. Details of the degree are outlined on the University of Oxford African Studies web site www.africanstudies.ox.ac.uk and in the University postgraduate prospectus or can be obtained by email from african.studies@sant.ox.ac.uk

The scholarship is open to students who have been to university in, and are resident in, any of the following countries: South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, and Malawi. Applicants should have a good 2.1 or equivalent for their undergraduate degree, and show evidence of a capacity for independent research as well as excellent writing skills in English.

The scholarship will cover university fees, college fees, and a stipend. Shortlisted applicants will be required to apply for Overseas Research Studentships and all applicants are encouraged to find supplementary sources of funding. South African students can apply for University of Oxford Oppenheimer scholarships. All applicants may also apply for the ORISHA scholarship (see the African Studies website for details).

Application for admission to the University is a separate process (see the University of Oxford website or email graduate.admissions@admin.ox.ac.uk). Scholarship applicants should also apply for the MSc in African Studies and this should, if at all possible, be sent before the closing date for scholarship applications. St Antony’s should be named as college of first choice in the University application.

Students should send a full Curriculum Vitae and 500-word research proposal, and ask two referees to send letters of support. The closing date for applications is 28 February 2006. Applicants should ensure that they provide postal and email addresses for themselves, especially for the period February to April 2006. Applications and references can be sent by mail to the Administrator, African Studies, St Antony’s College, Oxford OX2 6JF, UK or preferably by email to African.studies@sant.ox.ac.uk

Shortlisted candidates will be required to send a sample of their academic writing. Please do not send this with the initial application.

E-Learning Course on HIV and AIDS

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

2005-10-31

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/30088

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, industry, agriculture, and transportation. This course is an introduction to HIV and AIDS.
E-Learning Course on HIV and AIDS

(Reposted from the Afro-nets list, 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

Human Rights Advocacy course

2005-10-31

http://www.hrea.org/courses/2E.html

This distance learning course provides human rights activists with a range of proven human rights advocacy methods and critical concepts as a means for them to reflect on and deepen their own work. The course will look at the theoretical foundations and critical issues of human rights advocacy, elements of advocacy planning, and strategies for action.

Reinventing Development conference: lessons from rights-based practice and its implications for policy and funding

University of London, 1-3 December 2005

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/30174

The conference seeks to:
1) gather further data on the implications and impacts of applying a rights-based approach in practice, and
2) feed this experience into policy and donor debates and communities.

Reinventing Development conference:
lessons from rights-based practice and its implications for policy and funding
University of London 1-3 December 2005

Collaborating partners in the conference include:

- Centre for International Human Rights (CIHR), Institute of
Commonwealth Studies, University of London

- Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP) at Oxford
Brookes University

- International Council for Human Rights Policy, Geneva

The conference seeks to:

1) gather further data on the implications and impacts of applying a
rights-based approach in practice, and

2) feed this experience into policy and donor debates and communities.

It will also coincide with the launch of an edited collection
entitled, Reinventing Development? Translating Rights-based Approaches
from Theory into Practice (P. Gready and J. Ensor (eds), Zed Books,
London).

For further details please contact Mary Sanver Mary.Sanver@sas.ac.uk

Africa: Regional Director

Room to Read

2005-11-02

http://www.roomtoread.org/jobs_africa_regdir.html

This management position is a newly created role that will drive our organization's expansion into Africa. The Africa Regional Director's primary responsibilities will include spearheading our expansion into new countries, providing leadership and assistance with strategic and tactical execution on all in-country programs, project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, accounting, human resources, and administrative initiatives in Africa.

DRC: Gender-Based Violence Program Coordinator

The International Rescue Committee

2005-11-01

http://www.ircjobs.org

The International Rescue Committee currently seeks a GBV Program Coordinator for its program in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The GBV Program Coordinator is responsible for the on-going evolution, improvement and implementation of the overall IRC DRC strategy in the prevention and mitigation of GBV.

Malawi and Tanzania: Anticorruption Experts

DPK Consulting

2005-11-02

http://www.dpkconsulting.com/core/_media/jobs.php?id=intl_short#anchor53

DPK Consulting seeks anticorruption experts for anticipated Millennium Challenge Account (MCA)-funded projects in Malawi and Tanzania. These projects will focus on issues of government integrity, accountability, and transparency.

South Africa: Agenda Journal internship

2005-11-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/30150

Agenda is a feminist media project based in Durban that is committed to giving women a forum, a voice and skills to articulate their needs and interests towards transforming unequal gender relations. In order to meet our vision, we offer an annual internship programme with the aim of contributing towards a pool of gender-sensitive and gender-aware writers, who will practice the skills acquired at Agenda in the mainstream media and other environments.
Agenda is a feminist media project based in Durban that is committed to
giving women a forum, a voice and skills to articulate their needs and
interests towards transforming unequal gender relations. Through our work, we aim to question and challenge current understandings and practices of gender relations. In particular, we contribute to the development of women and their capacity to organise themselves, reflect on their experiences and write about this. In order to meet our vision, we offer an annual internship programme with the aim of contributing towards a pool of gender-sensitive and gender-aware writers, who will practice the skills acquired at Agenda in the mainstream media and other environments. One candidate per year is selected. We therefore invite applications from interested parties. We particularly encourage applications from black women candidates.

REQUIREMENTS
Strong interest in gender issues
Strong language and writing skills
The ability to think critically
The ability to work under pressure and manage multiple tasks simultaneously
The ability work independently and to take initiative
Work experience would be an advantage but is not essential

A reasonable stipend is provided. The programme provides a challenging,
stimulating and supportive work environment and will run from January to
December 2006.

TO APPLY
Submit:
A letter of motivation
Your CV
A copy of your academic record
Two pieces of written work (preferably one of which is an academic essay)

Direct applications to:
The Editor
Fax: 031 304 7018; Email editor@agenda.org.za
Tel: 031 304 7001
PO Box 61163, Bishopsgate, 4008.

Closing date: 15 November 2005. Only short-listed candidates will be
contacted.

Sudan: Programme Manager, Governance and Gender Justice

UNIFEM

2005-11-01

http://www.unifem.org/about/vacancy_detail.php?VacancyID=22

UNIFEM has established a programme for Sudan. The programme is guided by the global and Africa Multi-Year Funding Frameworks for 2004-2007. It is implemented within the context of the ''one country two systems'' approach for Sudan. A Programme Manager in Khartoum will be recruited to support the implementation of the programme. He/She will coordinate UNIFEM's work with the Government of National Unity, with specific implementation of programme in the north, as well as special initiatives in Darfur.

* Ethiopian security forces arrest GCAP activist

2005-11-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/gcap/30194

The Global Call to Action against Poverty has expressed its alarm at the arrest of Ato Daniel Bekele, a GCAP activist and the Policy, Research and Advocacy Manager for Action Aid Ethiopia. On Tuesday November 1 at around 8 pm, Ethiopian security forces went to Bekele's house and arrested him without charge. Fikre Zewdie, a fellow activist who visited Bekele and saw him across the fence of the prison gate reports that he is in good health, although he continues to be held without charge and incommunicado.

3 November 2005

ETHIOPIAN SECURITY FORCES ARREST GCAP ACTIVIST

The Global Call to Action against Poverty expressed its alarm at yesterday’s arrest of Ato Daniel Bekele, a GCAP activist and the Policy, Research and Advocacy Manager for Action Aid Ethiopia
On Tuesday November 1 at around 8 pm, Ethiopian security forces went to Bekele’s house and arrested him without charge. Fikre Zewdie, a fellow activist who visited Bekele and saw him across the fence of the prison gate reports that he is in good health, although he continues to be held without charge and incommunicado.

Article 6 of the African Charter of Human Rights, adopted on June 27 1981, of which Ethiopia is one of the signatories’ states:
Every individual shall have the right to liberty and to the security of his person. No one may be deprived of his freedom except for reasons and conditions previously laid down by law. In particular, no one may be arbitrarily arrested or detained.
By holding Ato Daniel Bekele, the Ethiopian government is in direct contravention of this article and GCAP calls upon the African Union and the United Nations to hold them accountable.

Prior to this latest incident, Bekele had been attacked on October 16 by two armed men believed to be government security forces. Before using physical violence, the men questioned him on his criticism of EPRDF (ruling party in Ethiopia) and assaulted him, causing injuries to the head and to his left eye. The Ethiopian newspaper Eftin reported that when they asked for justification for the assault, a party official and the Head of Police, denied any knowledge of, or participation in Bekele’s assault.

This is the same government that in April, refused to grant permission to Ethiopian civil society to hold a rally to launch GCAP.
GCAP is appalled that Ethiopia, with a poverty rate of 44 percent, would antagonize its civil society activists who are fighting for the betterment of Ethiopian citizens instead of working with them. We hope that the Ethiopian government explains its’ illegal holding of Bekele and investigate fully the reasons surrounding his beating.

END

Africa: On the road to Hong Kong: Agriculture in Africa

2005-11-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/gcap/30139

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

The importance of agriculture and agricultural trade in Africa cannot be exaggerated. In 2001 alone, agriculture provided $20.7 billion to Africa’s economy. Indeed, farming employs at least 70% of the workforce in Sub-Saharan Africa, and generates about 30% of the continents gross domestic product. At the same time, African farmers are among the poorest in the world. Access to fair and equitable agricultural trade policies is crucial for Africa in terms of food security, economic development and poverty eradication.
Agriculture in Africa

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

The importance of agriculture and agricultural trade in Africa cannot be exaggerated. In 2001 alone, agriculture provided $20.7 billion to Africa’s economy. Indeed, farming employs at least 70% of the workforce in Sub-Saharan Africa, and generates about 30% of the continents gross domestic product. At the same time, African farmers are among the poorest in the world. Access to fair and equitable agricultural trade policies is crucial for Africa in terms of food security, economic development and poverty eradication.

Many barriers exist for rural farmers in Africa – poor soil, lack of rainfall and weak infrastructure. But even more worrying are the global trade rules that have been forced onto African governments whose own structures are not strong enough to protest these unfair and detrimental policies. The Uruguay Round of trade agreements, which began in 1994, are generally held as the turning point in global agricultural policy, and are called the Agreements on Agriculture.

Trade liberalization and tariff barriers have been just some of the areas that have been detrimental to African farmers. Structural adjustment policies and trade conditions have resulted in eliminating subsidies and reducing tariffs for African countries. At the same time, highly subsidized European and American farmers undermine African farmers in both domestic and export markets – leaving African farmers unable to compete in the global market. Further, these subsidized goods lead to overproduction, which then results in lowered prices. Many developing countries, like those found in Africa, rely on one or two types of crops, and then lose out on contracts. The corporatisation of agriculture is also problematic. Few can afford to run small-scale farms, and are therefore forced to work on larger, corporate type farms on land that is not theirs and for low wages. They reap none of the benefits of their work, and have no access to the food that they grow.

African farmers thus call for the elimination of export subsidies, reductions in domestic trade distorting subsidies in developed countries, tariff and quota free market access for less developed countries, domestic supports for small scale farmers to enhance food security, and the standardization of food safety and processing requirement. African and other developing countries are also calling for a “development box” of rules and exemptions that would allow poor nations to protect their agricultural industries. These are an extension of “special and differential treatment” WTO principles, which intend to help developing countries integrate into the global economy of trade and implement their commitments.

These Agreements in Agriculture are due to be finalized by the end of 2005, thus, the WTO Ministerial is crucial to African governments. Wealthy countries, such as the US and the EU, have been fighting to protect the policies that are advantageous to them. African governments must work, therefore, to uphold the demands of farmers and stand firm in their negotiations with the WTO to protect the agricultural sector of the continent.

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

Further Reading:

UN International Trade - http://www.un.org/esa/progareas/trade.html

Oxfam and Trade - http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_we_do/issues/trade/index.htm

Previous Articles:

Women and Trade - http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=30051

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

South Africa: CSOs demand a development agenda at WTO

2005-11-03

http://tinyurl.com/9kol7

On October 26, South African Civil Society Organisations held a caucus to support their government’s position on trade and to make their policy demands. At a meeting that included the South African GCAP arm, SANGOCO, church organizations, and labour movements, and well-known GCAP personalities Chien Yen and Hellen Wangusa, the CSOs stated their demands on Agriculture, Non Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), Services, and Development. They demanded that their government must ensure that development policy drives trade policy and not vice versa.


South African CSOs demand a development agenda at WTO

On October 26, South African Civil Society Organisations held a caucus to support their government’s position on trade and to make their policy demands.

At a meeting that included the South African GCAP arm, SANGOCO, church organizations, and labour movements, and well-known GCAP personalities Chien Yen and Hellen Wangusa, the CSOs stated their demands on Agriculture, Non Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), Services, and Development. They demanded that their government must ensure that development policy drives trade policy and not vice versa.
We, a consultation of labour, faith-based and civil society organisations examined and discussed the current trade system and the nature and role of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). We are convinced that such trade policies and agreements must be challenged to serve people's development rights and needs, and national development aims especially the goals of poverty eradication, job creation and socio-economic justice.
To us, development means the fulfilment of human rights, including labour rights, environmental security and sustainability, the right to develop in a manner that promotes human cooperation and equity. In sum, trade and development are essentially about people, communities and the capacity to provide for their needs.
We note with approval that the South African Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry recently stated at a meeting in Geneva that the current Doha Agenda negotiations are not essentially about market access but development, and must serve the development needs and rights of the majority of the WTO members.
In this context, the most fundamental principles are the rights of all governments and peoples to pursue their own development policies and to create alternative development models according to their own internally agreed aims and means. They should not be obliged to permanently sign away their policy rights.
In the light of these democratic development principles, we have reached the following conclusions about the current WTO negotiations:
Agriculture
Agriculture plays a major role in development and in all the economies of Africa. Market access for big South African agricultural producers into the rich markets of the north is important. However:
· The export dumping of subsidised agricultural products from the highly industrialised countries onto both large and small agricultural producers in Africa must be ended without delay.
· We are also concerned that governments' agricultural policies must also guarantee necessary supports to small and emerging agricultural producers throughout Africa especially women.
· The terms of international agricultural agreements must recognise and enshrine the right of our governments to protect our domestic agriculture as they see fit.
· We are opposed to the current permissive production and trade in Genetically Modified Organisms.
· We call on the South African government to engage in the current negotiations on agriculture in the WTO to guarantee the above.
Non Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) As this agreement applies to manufacturing, mining, fisheries and forestry which are all crucial sectors of our economies and the bases for higher levels of development:
· We are concerned by the implications of further tariff reductions in all these spheres, as such past and existing cuts have already had damaging effects especially on domestic companies and employment creation and retention.
· Governments need to be able to utilise tariff rates and flexible tariff policies as instruments of industrial promotion and future industrialisation strategies.
· All the proposed "coefficients" or formulae for tariff reductions will result in one or another degree of tariff cuts and bindings which will severely constrain the above.
· We call on the South African government to intervene actively in these negotiations to counter the imposition of further tariff reductions and permanent policy restrictions upon this country and rest of Africa at a time of an unemployment pandemic.
Services
Services are the major sector and provide the sinews for all national economic and social development. Services are also essential to the delivery of vital human rights for our people. Adequate levels of control over financial services are also essential. Therefore:
· Vital social services and infrastructure should not be opened up to "global" service providers subjected to further pressures towards privatisation and the removal of such services from peoples' access.
· The rich countries’ proposed "benchmarking" of commitments is a direct contradiction of the rights of governments to choose where, when or whether to open their service sectors to foreign trading. We endorse the current position of the SA government in opposing this manoeuvre.
· We call on the South African government not to make any offers to open up our services under GATS or to make requests to African governments under binding multilateral rules.
Development
Developing country governments have called for reform, as a top priority, of the anti-development, imbalanced and inequitable agreements within the WTO for many years. Therefore:
· The Doha Agenda cannot be considered to serve "development" unless and until the dozens of outstanding implementation issues are decisively dealt with. Amongst these is the strengthening and operationalisation of Special and Differentiated principles for all developing countries.
· Other crucial development issues currently in Working Groups in the WTO including trade and finance, trade and debt, trade and commodities, trade and technology must also be dealt with as crucial development issues.
· Access to both technology and medicines must be facilitated and rich countries should not promote the commercial interests of their pharmaceutical and other corporations over our essential rights.
The above issues are vitally important to the constituencies we work with. We call on the SA Government to:
· Enhance the tripartite National Economic and Labour Council (NEDLAC) process; broaden engagement with social movements, faith-based organisations and NGOs and extend genuine public consultation with all the people of South Africa. Particularly, direct consultations with sectors and affected vulnerable people in those sectors such as labour, unemployed, women, farm workers and fisher folk.
· Deepen South Africa's cooperation and solidarity with the rest of Africa and contribute to the united resistance of Africa to detrimental policies and divisive and bullying tactics from the rich countries.
· Demand and formally articulate demands for inclusive, transparent and democratic methods of operation at the WTO.
Government must ensure that Development Policy drives Trade Policy and not vice versa.
Representatives who participated in the workshop from the following organisations support the statement:
COSATU: Congress of South African Trade Unions;
NACTU: National Council of Trade Unions;
FEDUSA: Federation for Unions of South Africa
SACC: South Africa Council of Churches;
SACBC: Justice and Peace Department of the Southern African Bishops Conference
EJN: Economic Justice Network
ESSET: Ecumenical Service for Socio Economic Transformation
Denis Hurley Peace Institute
FOCCISA: Fellowship of Christian Councils in South Africa
SANGOCO: South African NGO Coalition;
AIDC: Alternative Information and Development Centre
SEATINI: South Africa (Southern and East African Trade Institute);
IGD: Institute for Global Dialogue
Solidarity Centre
AWEPON

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