Back Issues

Featured this week

2006-03-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/32972

FEATURED: March 22 was World Water Day. Patrick Bond discusses the “water wars”
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- A new advocacy campaign aims to end torture in Northern Uganda. Pambazuka News speaks to the organizers
- Jacob Rukweza critiques claims that homosexuality is “unAfrican”
- Russia has seen an increase in racial attacks. Nassor Said Ali of the St. Petersburg African Union explains the issues
LETTERS: Is the new rights council old wine in new bottles?
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Three years after the invasion of Iraq, Tajudeen Abdul Raheem takes Bush and Blair to task
BLOGGING AFRICA: Regular blog columnist Sokari Ekine wraps up the blogosphere this week
BOOKS AND ART:
- Kenyan graffiti artist Phiks on Lines of Attitude, a new exhibition
- Review of “A Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents”
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: News from Somalia, Senegal, Uganda, Darfur
HUMAN RIGHTS: Speedy ICC trial for DRC prisoner
WOMEN AND GENDER: Good governance and women’s participation in West Africa
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Global internal displacement crisis alarming, says new report
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: DRC poll poses challenge/Gabon opposition leader in hiding/Kenyan battle lines drawn as parliament heads for re-opening
DEVELOPMENT: Trade rules a stumbling block to MDGs
CORRUPTION: Githongo says Anglo-Leasing scandal has 70 percent to go
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: News from Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe
EDUCATION: Donors must end neglect of African universities
RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
ENVIRONMENT: Move to save anti-prostate cancer tree in Kenya
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Tunisian human rights defender on hunger strike
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Digital revolution on streets of Nigeria
PLUS: Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, seminars and workshops; Jobs.

* French speaking? French friends?

Read the Pambazuka News French edition by visiting http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/ Subscribe online at http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/subscribe.php or send an email to subscribe-fr@pambazuka.org with 'subscribe French edition' in the subject line. Please forward widely!

* Can trade in the era of globalisation be 'just'? Read our issue on the subject (http://www.pambazuka.org/en/issue/240) and send your feedback to editor@pambazuka.org

World Water Day: Water activists turn on the taps and turn up the pressure

Patrick Bond

2006-03-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/32963

One in five people in the world now lacks access to clean water and 40 per cent do not have basic sanitation. Water, the most precious global resource, is the subject of World Water Day on March 22, which was preceded by the World Water Forum, held between 16-22 March, where officials from 140 countries met to discuss how to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015. Patrick Bond discusses the “water wars” – the battle by activists against the global trend that seeks to turn the delivery of water into a commercial enterprise.


On March 16 in Mexico City, thousands of grassroots water warriors marched against an equivalent number of establishment delegates from governments, corporations and international agencies at the World Water Forum.

The activists, opposed to what they term the 'commodification' of water, were stopped a kilometer away from their establishment opponents. But as the Washington Post reported, 'Youths in ski masks attacked journalists and fought with police, smashing a patrol car and hurling rocks during largely peaceful Water Forum protests involving about 10,000 marchers.'

The Post continued, 'Many of the battles over water in Mexico don't involve people who would otherwise be considered radicals. Those on the front lines are residents of low-income neighbourhoods in Mexico City who get in fistfights over water-truck deliveries, or housewives who can no longer stand the stink of untreated sewage flowing beside their homes. And then there are the Indian families whose crops are ruined by the diversion of water to feed a nearby city, while their children go without safe drinking water.'

Here in South Africa, there are millions who can tell stories of water 'delivery drought'. Rural areas are under-serviced due to lack of operating subsidies which mean that a large percentage of taps installed in the post-apartheid era are now dry. And for those lucky to be on municipal water grids, mass disconnections due to unaffordability affect more than 1.5 million South Africans each year, even the government admits.

According to Desmond D'Sa of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance, 'Across the metro, low-income people and even whole blocks of flats are having trouble paying their rates, and quite a few have had their water cut off recently. I've negotiated for some reconnections, but the amounts outstanding are vast. People simply can't afford the rates. Council is even reneging on a pre-election promise to write off arrears.'

Water warriors here also decry the new 'pre-paid meter' technology that leads to self-disconnection. Conlog, a firm directed by the late ANC leader Joe Modise once he retired as minister of defense in 1999, is manufacturing these devices, which Johannesburg activists backed by the Freedom of Expression Institute will argue in court next month are unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, Conlog is installing them across the African continent. Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee activists have taken the lead in ripping out pre-paid meters - both water and electricity - and periodically marching to municipal offices to trash the hated technology.

And as part of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, with its focus on public-private infrastructure partnerships, state-owned Rand Water - which supplies bulk water to Johannesburg - is helping a Dutch company and the World Bank privatise water in Accra, Ghana. That country's National Coalition Against the Privatisation of Water is already in close contact with the Johannesburg Anti-Privatisation Forum, helping coordinate protests.

The highest profile citizens' campaign against commodified water was in Bolivia six years ago, when the people of the third-largest city, Cochabamba, fought the US firm Bechtel, backed by the World Bank. As of two months ago, the new Bolivian water minister in Evo Morales' indigenous-led government is Abel Mamani, a neighbourhood activist veteran of another water war, in El Alto, who cut his teeth battling the French water company Suez.

Mamani made five points in a speech last week:
* Water is a fundamental human right and a pre-requisite to the realization of other human rights;
* Water belongs to the earth and all living beings including human beings and it is the duty of everyone to protect access to water for all forms of life and for the earth itself;
* Water is a public good and therefore its management needs to be in a sphere that is public, social, community-based, participative and not based on profit;
* Water should not be privatised and should be withdrawn from all free trade and investment agreements; and
* There should be profound change in the organization of the World Water Forum to allow majority and decisive participation in the negotiations by the poorest and those who most need water.

Bolivia is just one of the sites where the balance of forces has shifted left; other major battles - not always victorious - have been fought in Manila, Jakarta and Detroit. Biwater was kicked out of Dar es Salaam last year, to the regret of its advisor, the Adam Smith Institute, funded by British taxpayers.

Civil society movements and governments have forced Suez to retreat from major cities ranging from Atlanta to Buenos Aires to Montevideo in recent months. The firm's bid to retain the Johannesburg Water contract for another 25 years will be considered by council in June, but after mass protests in Soweto, Orange Farm and other townships, is by no means secure.

The goals of progressive civil society activists, generally, are 'decommodification' of water, improved access by poor people, better conditions for water workers, and more appropriate eco-management of water. The latter should include penalties for hedonistic consumption.

Additional campaigns are waged against megadams, inappropriate irrigation, fish destocking, water pollution, bulk water diversions, bottled water, abuse of water by golf courses and extractive firms like Coca Cola and Nestle, and looming water scarcity. On one crucial battleground, control of water by the World Trade Organisation, activists appear to have just won, by exempting water from the WTO's General Agreement on Trade in Services.

As the Mexico confrontation shows, protesters are linking up with vigour. Back in 1992, after the Rio Earth Summit and a Dublin water conference that both advanced the principle that water is 'an economic good', privatisation began in earnest. Within a few years, a broad-based international front of community, consumer, environmental and labour organisations emerged to fight back.

The formal privatisation of water slowed during the late 1990s, in part because it became so difficult for the big British, French, German, Spanish and US firms to realise profits across the Third World, not least thanks to rising social resistance. Nevertheless, municipalities and water supply agencies are still being pressured by the World Bank to adopt commercial principles, including pricing water high enough to at least cover operating/maintenance costs, at a time of declining subsidies.

No one disputes that with at least 2.6 billion people lacking adequate sanitation and 1.1 billion lacking access to improved water sources, there is an urgent need for dramatic improvements in investment, management and affordability. Third World states shrunk during the past quarter-century of sustained structural adjustment, addled by debt payment outflows, capital flight and foreign aid cutbacks. So the resources required for water and sanitation cannot often be found.

Still, the primary strategy adopted by water advocates has been to defend the state as the key institution for delivering water. There are vast problems with relying on state agencies (whether national or municipal), yet in most societies it remains the institution which can best redistribute and organise resources.

Some water-delivery NGOs such as WaterAid, members of Freshwater Action Network or South Africa's Mvula Trust do find themselves occasionally accused of betraying mass popular movement sentiments over water prices, standards and institutional delivery systems. While expanded community control is generally an objective of progressive activists, a primary concern is that decentralization should not replace a serious state commitment to subsidizing poor people's water. Unlike what most NGOs can provide, an operative state's grid service is more likely to offer purified, high-pressure water in sufficient quantities to serve gender equity, public health and other broader eco-social goals.

Critics argue that some NGO interventions lubricate neoliberalism, because installing inadequate collective tap systems - usually without sufficient sanitation - contributes to further state shrinkage. The general trend towards private outsourcing, including some examples of NGO delivery, has been destructive, because standards are lower, prices are higher, disconnections are more common, maintenance is worse and accountability is harder to establish.

The struggles against commodified water often erupt on global platforms, such as the triannual World Water Forum - at The Hague in 2000, Kyoto in 2003 and Mexico City in 2006 - and related meetings of the water establishment such as WTO summits. There, activists have battled a series of enemies:
* the Global Water Partnership (created by the World Bank, UN Development Programme and Swedish aid);
* the Marseilles-based World Water Council (founded by Suez, Canadian aid and the Egyptian government and joined by 300 private companies, government ministries, and international organisations);
* the International Private Water Association (privatisation firms plus the World Bank, US Credit Export Agency and Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development);
* the World Bank itself (which in $20 billion worth of 1990s water projects imposed privatisation as a loan condition in a third of the transactions);
* Mikhael Gorbachev's Green Cross (in ongoing dispute with Council of Canadians over global-scale water rights and property rights in the UN);
* Aquafed (a federation set up by a former Suez managing director); and
* the World Panel on Financing Infrastructure.

The latter was chaired by former IMF managing director Michel Camdessus during 2002-03, with major multilateral development banks, Citibank, Lazard Freres, the US Ex-Im Bank, private water companies (Suez, Thames Water), state elites (from Egypt, France, Ivory Coast, Mexico, and Pakistan) and two NGOs (Transparency International and WaterAid). It proposed much greater amounts of public subsidies for privatisers, via a risk insurance mechanism to safeguard companies like Suez against currency crises which devastated the firm's Argentina operations after 2001.

Some of the strongest critics of neoliberal water policies are citizens'/consumers' organisations (especially the Council of Canadians in Ottawa and Public Citizen in Washington); trade unions (Public Services International and their affiliates); indigenous people's movements; environmental groups (led by the International Rivers Network and Friends of the Earth); and think-tanks (e.g., the PSI Research Unit at Greenwich University, Polaris in Ottawa, the TransNational Institute in Amsterdam, the Agriculture and Trade Policy Center in Minneapolis, the Municipal Services Project in South African and Canadian universities, Parivartan and the Centre for Science and the Environment in New Delhi, Food and Water Watch in Washington, and the International Forum on Globalization in San Francisco).

From the struggles have emerged inspiring leaders, intellectuals and politicians, including Accra campaigners Rudolf Amenga-Etego (who was awarded the 2004 Goldman environmental prize) and Alhassan Adam, Canadians Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke (who won the 2005 Right Livelihood Award) and writer Varda Burstein, Paris-based Danielle Mitterrand, Cochabamba movement leader Oscar Olivera, Washington-based water watchdogs Maj Fiil-Flynn and Sara Grusky, Olivier Hoedeman and Satoko Kishimoto of 'Reclaiming Public Water' at the Transnational Institute, filmmakers Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman, European campaigner Ricardo Petrello, anti-dam strategists Paddy McCully and Lori Pottinger, and extraordinary Indian women like Sunita Narrain, Medha Patkar, Arundhati Roy, Vandana Shiva and Shiney Varghese. South Africans who are well-known internationally include Bryan Ashe and Lianne Greef of the SA Water Caucus, Dale McKinley of the national Campaign Against Water Privatisation, Wits sociology researcher Ebrahim Harvey, Anil Naidoo (based in Ottawa), trade unionist Roger Ronnie, and Sowetans Trevor Ngwane and Virginia Setshedi.

The World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, as well as regional Social Fora, have provided spaces for water activist assemblies during the early 2000s. Email listserves such as 'water warriors', 'reclaiming public water' and 'right to water' permit information exchange and coordination. A People's World Water Forum was held in Delhi two years ago, preceded by the 2001 'Blue Planet' conference in Vancouver, as well as periodic European gatherings.

Because the water movements have generated superb examples of cooperation across borders, campaigns against commodified services will continue to serve as a model for global civil society. If in the short-term here in South Africa activists can reconnect water to Durban's poor and working people and disconnect Suez from Johannesburg and Rand Water from Accra, over the longer-term, the world desperately needs to link their visions, programmes and projects to similar processes, in the next set of 21st century water wars.

* Patrick Bond (pbond (at) mail.ngo.za) is based at the Centre for Civil Society, http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Torture and displacement in Northen Uganda

Pambazuka News Q&A

2006-03-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/32964

Two million civilians have been driven from their homes by 20 years of armed conflict between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government in Northern Uganda. Human Rights Focus (HURIFO) and WITNESS have co-produced "Between Two Fires: Torture and Displacement in Northern Uganda" to address the issue of torture committed against the IDP communities of Northern Uganda. The video advocates for official acknowledgement of these abuses, redress for torture victims, and strengthened national mechanisms against the use of torture. In this interview with Pambazuka News, James Otto, director of Human Rights Focus (HURIFO) and Hakima Abbas, Program Coordinator for Africa and Middle East, answer questions about the video and the situation in Northern Uganda. The video is part of a wider advocacy project. Anyone interested in participating can sign a Witness Rights Alert by visiting www.witness.org/option,com_rightsalert/Itemid,178/task,view/alert_id,47/


Pambazuka News: What is the goal of HURIFO and WITNESS in producing "Between Two Fires: Torture and Displacement in Northern Uganda"? How can the film contribute to strengthening human rights mechanisms?

Human Rights Focus (HURIFO) and WITNESS produced "Between Two Fires" to tell the, as yet untold, story of torture survivors in Northern Uganda. The goals of the film are to engage the government of Uganda and the international community to create change for the displaced communities of the North. The video advocates for official acknowledgement of these abuses, redress for victims of torture and the strengthening of national mechanisms to end the use of torture. The film can contribute to ending these abuses by telling the personal stories of survivors and bringing their voices to the attention of decision makers globally.

All the footage was filmed by human rights defenders from HURIFO who were trained in the use of video advocacy and technical aspects of filmmaking by WITNESS. The video was launched at an event on March 8th – International Women's Day – at United Nations headquarters. The event was attended by civil society organizations and international decision makers, including representation by the Ugandan mission to the United Nations. In addition, to reaching such audiences, it is hoped that the video will also create change by galvanizing debate and mobilizing global communities to take concrete action on the issue. Notably, citizens from around the world can take action through the on-line call to action, Rights Alert, featured at www.witness.org We urge all Pambazuka News readers to Act Now to end these abuses.

Pambazuka News: What are the voices featured in the film - the survivors of these rights abuses - saying?

The survivors of torture are sharing their experiences of torture and other ill treatment. They share their sense of being trapped between the abuses committed by the rebels, their "children in the bush", and the army that has been deployed ostensibly for their protection. A common thread of abuse throughout "Between Two Fires" is the use of sexual violence perpetrated upon men and women alike. The survivors themselves appeal to the national government to create mechanisms for accountability for victims so as to end the impunity which reigns in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps. These survivors have found the fortitude to empower themselves; seeking redress within the system and calling on other victims to also speak out about abuses.

Pambazuka News: The film seeks to address national mechanisms against human rights abuses. Which mechanisms are not in place that should be?

Within Ugandan national statutes, torture is not defined or criminalized. This must be a priority moving forward. In addition, access to justice and redress is practically non-existent for IDPs in Northern Uganda. There is currently no presiding high court judge in the region. While the National Human Rights Commission has the potential of being a powerful entity for the promotion and protection of human rights in Uganda, it does not have the human or financial resources to deal with the number of cases in the North. Currently the Commission faces a backlog of some 2-3 years of cases. So, what we are seeking is that the government and the international community prioritize the rebuilding of national justice mechanisms in Northern Uganda and strengthen national legislation to end the use of torture throughout the country.

Pambazuka News: What are the survivors of this conflict calling for in terms of redress?

The survivors are calling for some form of reparation, in the form of compensation but also in the form of official acknowledgment of these abuses. After twenty years of conflict, having been removed from their land and being the victims of human rights violations, the displaced communities find themselves longing for peace and to return to their homes. Immediately after the recent presidential elections that re-instated President Museveni to power, the Ugandan government announced that the IDP community will be resettled within the current year. This brings a sense of relief to the community. But obviously, this is not where the story will end. Once the communities are resettled and given the socio-economic tools to rebuild their lives, they will also have to deal with the psychological trauma of their experiences. Compensation and acknowledgement leading to prosecution of perpetrators will restore some of the trust between the community and the government.

Pambazuka News: What are the implications of the official acknowledgement of this abuse?

The government and military have pursued a policy of denial of abuses. This denial has eroded the trust between the community and the government, as was apparent in the 'protest vote' results of February 23. Yet, official acknowledgement is a form of redress, a small step toward restoring dignity and a sense of empowerment for survivors of abuses. We witnessed in Rwanda the power of this acknowledgment, and of apology, in the post-genocide reconciliation effort. In Uganda, with acknowledgement we hope action will also come. As the government ends the silence around these abuses, they will be compelled to act to strengthen national mechanisms to end these abuses, thus preventing future violations.

Pambazuka News: The International Criminal Court has recently set out a warrant for the arrest of top leaders of the LRA . What are the implications of this?

In the wake of issuance of arrest warrants for top LRA leaders, the violence against civilians increased. Notably, the LRA targeted foreigners present in the North which resulted in the withdrawal of certain humanitarian agencies from the region. Obviously this has devastating effects on a population that is reliant on aid. Many thus implore the timing of the ICC arrest warrants, while acknowledging the importance of the Court in the global context. What we are seeking in the advocacy around "Between Two Fires" is in conformity with the complementarity principle of the ICC. So that, while the ICC will investigate and prosecute perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the highest level, we are seeking the strengthening of national mechanisms to tackle the abuses in Northern Uganda. Indeed, we believe that the ICC will not be successful in restoring a sense of justice and reconciliation in Northern Uganda unless there is also a parallel strengthening of national mechanisms to end the abuses committed against IDPs.

Pambazuka News: The rights abuses in Northern Uganda are atrocious. Over a million and a half people are displaced and living in camps where the UPDF are in fact raping and killing these IDPs. Over thirty thousand children are at risk of being kidnapped by the LRA for recruitment as soldiers, and are thus commuting nightly to safe haven, where they face less risk of being kidnapped. What is being done to protect the citizens of Northern Uganda, and who is responsible for their safety?

As in any State, the government is and should be, responsible for ensuring the safety of civilians. In this instance, the government has pursued a military tactic to end the rebellion by the Lord's Resistance Army, yet has not succeeded in ensuring the safety of the nearly two million Internally Displaced Persons in the North. The Acholi population was moved into camps ostensibly to ensure their protection from LRA attack. Yet, the camps themselves became easy target for attack by the LRA – attacks that include widespread rape, murder, maiming and the abduction of some forty thousand children forcibly recruited into LRA ranks. In addition to the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the LRA, the civilian population has been subjected to violations of human rights committed by the UPDF themselves. Protection remains an important issue that needs to be addressed in the North.

Pambazuka News: Uganda recently saw the re-election of President Yoweri Museveni after he changed the constitution to allow a third presidential term. What do these elections mean for the conflict in Northern Uganda? Is the government of Museveni part and parcel of the problem? What needs to happen in order for this situation to change, at a governmental level?

The outcome of the recently concluded Presidential and Parliamentary elections sent a strong message to which the President must respond positively. North and North East of the River Nile, nearly all opposition politicians were voted in as members of parliament to the 8th Parliament and President Museveni was given only 13% of the votes in his seemingly limitless term as the country's President. The protest vote, which was premised on the plight of the IDP's quest for peace and a return to their homes, has had a politically devastating effect. To provide hope and perhaps the first step in the march towards nation building, President Museveni needs to abandon the winner takes all practice characteristic of these elections.

Beyond the elections, the situation in the North persists and must be addressed by both the Ugandan government and the international community. In our advocacy around "Between Two Fires" we urge specific changes in policy and practice at the national level and in the international arena where we feel there is some leverage on the human rights landscape of Uganda. The personal stories of survivors of torture will be disseminated widely and heard for the first time directly from the source through this film. We hope that this voice will catalyze the international community and the government to make the necessary changes, which are small steps foward to the peace and respect for human rights so yearned for in the North.

* HURIFO's website is www.humanrightsuganda.org Copies of "Between Two Fires" can be ordered from orders@witness.org

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Is homosexuality really “UnAfrican”?

Jacob Rukweza

2006-03-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/32974

Homophobia recently topped the news agenda when Cameroonian newspapers published a list of prominent people and accused them of homosexuality, sparking debate across Africa. Many African leaders are on record for their condemnation of homosexuality, but Jacob Rukweza, an activist with Zimbabwe’s Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) argues that politicians must make space for homosexuals within the law. To not do so denies a fundamental aspect of their society and reflects poorly on their ability to lead as representatives of their nations.


Among the many myths created about Africa, the belief that homosexuality is absent in Africa or incidental is one of the oldest and most enduring. African leaders, historians, anthropologists, clergyman, authors, and contemporary Africans alike have denied or overlooked the existence of homosexuality or same-sex relationships and persistently claimed that such patterns were introduced by Europeans.

Southern African leaders have been accused of blaming the alien culture of homosexuality for their countries problems. In February 1999, on the sidelines of the World Council of Churches 8th Assembly, Keith Goddard, Director of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) which has a membership of nearly 500, most of whom are black Zimbabweans – told a press conference in Harare that Zimbabwe was “one of the most vocally homophobic countries in the world. President Robert Mugabe is world famous for his verbal gay bashing.”

President Mugabe hit the headlines in 1995 when he denounced gays and lesbians as “sexual perverts” who are “lower than dogs and pigs”. Rejecting calls for gay human rights, Mugabe said, “we don’t believe they have rights at all”. Mugabe charged that homosexuality was unnatural and unAfrican, saying that it was an alien culture only practised by a “few whites” in his country. He repeated similar sentiments on the 25th of February this year whilst addressing supporters in Mutare, to the east of the country, during official celebrations of his 82nd birthday.

Mugabe’s attitude and mentality towards homosexuality represents a dominant perception among African leaders. In January 2003, Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda, was quoted by The New Vision, calling on the Ugandan police to arrest all homosexuals or anyone indulging in unnatural sexual practices. He also denounced homosexuality as unAfrican. Sam Nujoma, while still President of Namibia in 2003, also told a press conference of international journalists that homosexuality was a “borrowed sub culture, alien to Africa and Africans”.

Whilst some leaders in West Africa have not been vocal about gay rights, their attitudes are represented eloquently by the anti-gay laws informing the judicial systems of their countries. Under Sharia law in Nigeria and most of North Africa, homosexuality is a criminal offence punishable by hanging. Laws across Africa do not recognise homosexuality as a way of life: it is generally perceived as unnatural and therefore criminal. Those who practise homosexuality are automatically turned into lawbreakers, social rejects and threats to society. It is impossible to separate the laws from the political leadership which sponsors such law.

But research and reports by progressive contemporary historians, anthropologists and sexologists around the issues surrounding sexuality and gender in traditional African societies tell a different story. Stephen Murray and Will Roscoe’s book Boy Wives and Female Husbands (1998) explores African homosexuality and documents same-sex relationships in some fifty societies in every region of the continent. Essays by scholars from a variety of disciplines explore institutionalized marriages between women, same-sex relations between men and boys in colonial work settings, mixed gender roles in East and West Africa. The book covers recent developments in South Africa, where gays and lesbians successfully made that nation the first in the world to constitutionally ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and assists in revealing the denials of African homosexuality for what they are – prejudice and wilful ignorance.

Obviously homosexuality can hardly be referred to as a new phenomenon in African society. It is not. Cursory interviews of homosexuals have proved that to a great extent their behaviour is neither borrowed nor influenced by foreign culture.

Jasper, a 23-year-old Zimbabwean who works as a hairdresser in Harare, discovered his homosexuality at the age of 12 while still in school in rural Wedza, where he grew up with his parents. He says he considers himself a woman trapped in a man’s body, something he did not choose for himself. He says his behaviour is not influenced by any western culture since he discovered his sexuality at a very tender age, in a rural setting, well before interacting with anything he could call western.

Paul, 33, who works in Bulawayo as a teacher, says he has married twice and has a six-year-old daughter. Each of his wives left after finding out that their marriage was just a front. Paul says he was forced to marry by his parents. He goes to church every Sunday “to pray for his sin” but is unable to abandon his lifestyle. Paul says he was “born gay” and feels “insulted by people who think this is a prank”.

Sarah, 28, a journalist by profession, says she is a lesbian and there is little she can do to change that. She says she is not attracted to men and will not get married to a man because she has always been attracted to other women. She says she has a female partner and the two are in love, although both their parents are encouraging them to settle down with male partners. She says she discovered her sexuality ten years ago when she was in college. “At first I was confused. I didn’t understand what it was. I tried to date boys but it didn’t work out. I just couldn’t stand it.” Sarah says her behaviour and feelings come naturally to her.

What African societies have done with some degree of success, however, is to make sure that homosexuality as an aspect of life or topic of family discourse remains firmly taboo.

For a typical African family unit, gays, lesbians and bisexuals do not exist. Even in a family where a member is clearly gay, parents and other family members generally never attempt to consider or accept this reality. At best, families that have noticed homosexual tendencies in one of their own have either panicked or berated such behaviour as mischief while dismissing it as inconsequential.

Open and meaningful family engagement on such issues of sexuality is virtually non-existent and discourse is usually limited to admonitions and reprimands. Small wonder then why vernacular languages have extremely limited vocabulary when it comes to the subject of homosexuality.

For various reasons, a siege mentality was deliberately grafted onto the psychology of the African family system over a period of time. This mentality has persistently and consistently refused to open up to the glaring realities of divergent sexualities and natural but differing sexual preferences inherent in human beings.

Unfortunately this mentality ¬– domineering and stubborn – informs even the highest structures of governance in Africa and shapes government policies, legislation and national character. As a result, because this point of view does not recognise homosexuality as a way of life, government policies and laws accordingly refuse to acknowledge homosexuality as a way of life. This is why in most of Africa, excluding South Africa and in some of the countries that were not colonised by the British, homosexuality is classified under various forms of legislation as a criminal and punishable offence.

The 'ostrich mentality' as adopted by many African governments has clearly failed to take nations into the future, which is where everyone belongs. The tendency of dipping your head in the sand when faced with complex problems is both naïve and retrogressive. When you decide finally to pull your head out of the sand, the problem will still be there – perhaps now more complex but still looking you in the face.

Moreover, laws that fail to acknowledge the realities of the constituency they purport to serve reflect badly on those whose responsibility it is to legislate and execute good law. It is a major weakness on the part of society when its laws ignore fundamental aspects of the lives of its people on the basis of perceived complexities of such aspects. The law in its stride should, at any given time, be able to deal conclusively with all aspects of its constituency. Failure to live up to this expectation can only mean that those tasked with making laws on behalf of society are incompetent and incapable of reading or interpreting society's fundamentals.

What must be clear here is that, when the law fails to acknowledge the realities of a society it is supposed to serve, the law in question is bad and must be corrected. Parliaments the world over are sponsored to make and amend laws. Parliamentarians are elected to make laws that serve the interests of all society and to amend laws that infringe on the rights and interests of any member of society. There is no better way for African MPs to earn their allowances than to represent the people's interests in parliament and make laws that, in the first instance, recognise the existence of all people.

Laws, anywhere in the world, are made to serve and protect society and its people, and not the other way round. And in serving or protecting people, the law is expected to be fair and just in the eyes of all people. In other words, the law is expected to be fair and just in the eyes of men, women, children, teachers, lawyers, doctors, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists, blacks, and whites alike – indeed all people.

The fact that laws in Africa do not recognise the existence of homosexuality as a way of life will not make gays and lesbians disappear from among us. Their existence is as real as the colour of our skin. It will be impossible to ignore the existence of homosexuals in our midst without attempting to ignore the very existence of humanity.

However, deliberate calls by African leaders to have homosexuals in their countries arrested is a tacit, albeit unintended, acknowledgement that homosexuals exist in Africa. We are indeed witnessing a paradigm shift by African leaders: a reluctant transition from denial to acknowledgement. The Nigerian Bill to ‘Make Provisions for the Prohibition of Relationships Between Persons of the Same Sex, Celebration of Marriage by Them, and for Other Matters Connected Therewith’ is obviously reactionary and draconian but it does presume the existence of homosexuals in society. And even Mugabe in his recent speech in Mutare finally, though reservedly, admitted to the existence of black homosexuals in Zimbabwe although he said, in Shona: “they are few”. We can only hope that such acknowledgements may, in time, translate into the tolerance and appreciation of natural sexual and gender differences.

* Jacob Rukweza is an activist who has written this article on behalf of GALZ – Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe, an organisation founded in 1989 to facilitate communication within the gay community.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Russia and Race: Being African in St Petersburg

Pambazuka News Q&A

2006-03-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/32965

Across Europe, African football players face weekly abuse from fans chanting racial insults. In Russia, racial attitudes have extended beyond the football pitch to include violent attacks against Africans, some of which have resulted in death. With International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/racial/) marked this week, Pambazuka News interviewed Nassor Said Ali, co founder and leader of the St. Petersburg African Union, which has been working to support the victims of race-based violence in Russia.


Pambazuka News: Who are the African people that live in Russia? What are the attitudes towards African people in Russia and why do these attitudes exist?

Nassor Said Ali: Most of the African population currently living in Russia is comprised of students. There are also a number of graduates who, for one reason or another have been unable to leave and fall into the trap of the Russian legal system where they face restrictions on their residential status and the inability to gain work permits. In addition, there is a small population of illegal immigrants, as well as legitimate residents. There are also children from mixed Afro-Russian families – in many cases, these children face discrimination and some are deserted in state orphanages.

African people in Russia are increasingly finding themselves living in fear of being the object of increasing racial attacks. Africans believe that these attacks are part and parcel of a prejudice towards them due to a lack of information about Africa and any culture alien to Russia. Aliou Tunkara, head of the St. Petersburg African Union, an organisation dedicated to helping Africans in Russia, argues that "Russian racism comes out of the social misconception that we are people from another planet abusing the generosity of the Russian people by turning into criminals and drug dealers."

Pambazuka News: What is St Petersburg African Union doing to combat racism and support those who are affected by it?

Nassor Said Ali: The African Union has embarked on an awareness raising campaign. After a round table session on interethnic and interracial relations, attended by St. Petersburg's city administration, migration and political authorities, as well as a number of local NGO's, specific mutual terms were reached with local law enforcement authorities. The outcome included the decision to conduct lectures and discussions concerning Africa as a continent with cultural, geographical, economic and historical diversity to be held with police academies and schools. This was done with the hope of fighting racism and xenophobia. The African Union has also been active in raising awareness of these issues in more public ways – street demonstrations and numerous media interventions.

Pambazuka News: Are local authorities active in supporting anti-racist views, or do they in fact actually contribute to the views that many people hold?

Nassor Said Ali: While the African Union has been able to collaborate with government and police departments, they have also encountered problems at this level. A sociological survey among Africans in the city found that authorities have been indifferent to racist attitudes, or are even permissive in some cases.

Indeed, some police officials have been dismissive of the cases in which African people have been attacked or killed, arguing that the victims have been connected to the "lowest of the locals," or blaming the attacks not on racism, but simply on the public drunkenness of hooligans out looking for a good time or someone to rob. There have also been allegations that the attacked Africans have been misrepresenting Russian society, and that ethnic minorities have exaggerated "the scale of race-related crimes to divert attention away from their own wrong doings," according to the head of the St. Petersburg police press office.

Pambazuka News: Are these isolated incidents, or are nationalist and racist sentiments on the rise?

Nassor Said Ali: While some officials would like to blame these incidents on drunkenness or low-level crime, it appears that racist and xenophobic crimes are in fact increasing. Extremist organisations, such as the Freedom Party, have claimed responsibility for some of these murders, asserting that their "byely patruli" (white patrol) operates in the city centre to "cleanse the city of unwanted elements where the police had failed." It is not only Africans that are targeted – a Vietnamese student was killed recently, and the local Jewish community has reported a rise in acts of vandalism. Further, human rights organisations are worried about a recent tendency among nationalist movements in assuming a major role in the opposition forces of the country, in an environment where the ruling democratic forces are losing ground.

Pambazuka News: Does the media report accurately on these incidents (ie. are the African students blamed for instigating the violence)?

Nassor Said Ali: A recent front page story from the local weekly, Novy Petersburg, branded the anti-racist campaign undertaken by the African Union as a "promotion of African culture of cannibalism, drugs and the dissemination of infectious diseases among the children." The implications of this are obviously widespread, and when the African Union entered into classes as a part of their awareness campaign they were met with both students and teachers echoing these sentiments. Further, the head of the St. Petersburg police press department admitted to lying about the extent and causes of attacks on Africans, claiming that he didn't want the media to pick up on the issue. That the media is therefore unable to report accurately is alarming. News outlets have also been accused of reporting on the incidents, but not addressing the responses of authorities, law enforcement agencies and public.

* Interview conducted by email and compiled from previous articles. Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Three years after the invasion of Iraq

Tajudeen Abdul Raheem

2006-03-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/32973

Three years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, Washington and its allies insist that Operation Iraqi Freedom will end in victory, despite ever-increasing bloodshed in the country. Tajudeen Abdul Raheem hones in on the architects of the invasion, George Bush and Tony Blair.


This week is the anniversary of the illegal Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. President Bush and his British poodle, Tory Blair, have both been trying to put a spin on their continuing destruction of the country and its people to their very sceptical compatriots and a world that has stopped believing anything said by these global con men who cannot be relied on to even declare their names without inviting suspicions!

The war was never sanctioned by the rest of the world and despite many diabolical attempts in the past three years to give it some kind of moral and diplomatic seal of approval Washington and London remain isolated.

Blair never had a united country, party, parliament or government behind his militarism. That was why he had to lie about the 'imminent and immediate danger ' that Iraq allegedly constituted. The Weapons of Mass Deception (WMD) and 45-minute strike capacity of Saddam Hussein have been exposed for what they were: fantasies of a duplicitous war monger determined to please his American bosses at any cost. He has been crashing down the hill of public trust since the invasion. His handler, George Bush, initially manufactured a national coalition behind him but knowing what they now know millions of Americans have discovered that their dumb President used 9/11 to falsely lure them into an unjust war without end. The easy victory he promised has become a nightmare, forcing parallels with Vietnam.

Worse for Bush, his loony right intellectual and political gurus who provided specious ideological justification for the invasion are recanting in their droves. He has become a disciple whose prophet has been exposed as a phony.

Listen to two of the most hawkish war mongers. The first, Francis Fukuyama, the apostle of End of History and the ever rising advance of Western liberalism recently said: "By invading Iraq, the Bush administration created a self-fulfilling prophecy: Iraq has now replaced Afghanistan as a magnet, a training ground and an operational base for Jihadists, with plenty of American targets to shoot at.”

The second is fellow Republican hawk and a senior official before conflict of interest forced him out, Richard Perle. He said: "The military campaign and its political aftermath were both passionately debated within the Bush administration. It got the war right and the aftermath wrong. We should have understood that we needed Iraqi partners."

Others who supported the war have become publicly disillusioned. Despite their confessions though there is one thing common to all of them. They are recanting for American reasons without any concern for the Iraqis. When they talk of 'Casualties in Iraq' they do not mean the innocent Iraqi children, women and men murdered en masse at weddings, naming ceremonies or in detention centres – the so-called 'collateral damage' of Bush' s adventurism. They are only concerned about the couple of thousand of American and British killed in the war. While they are still counting their casualties in the lower denomination of four digits the Iraqi casualties are in the hundreds of thousands. In their minds it's only American and British lives that matter. The rest are just statistics. Even in death a Westerner's life is still worth more than that of other people. That's why Bush could falsely claim that 30,000 Iraqis 'more or less' have been killed in this war. Could he have said 'more or less' about American life?

As the late Bob Marley said: "You can fool some people sometimes,
But you can't fool all the people all the time."

The Hausa also say: "Mara gaskiya ko cikin ruwa sai ya yi gumi" (a dishonest person will sweat even if he is in water!). Bush and Blair are liars and murderers, who if only the world is fairer, should have been hauled before the International Criminal Court as war criminals who have continued to kill innocent civilians in another country that posed no threat to their countries.

The only other alternative now is to wait for their exits. In the case of Bush, there is a date which cannot come sooner. But Blair is the weaker of the two monsters. The Labour Party should do the world a big favour and begin a long process of atonement for the needless death of innocent Iraqis by changing the locks to 10 Downing Street. Blair’s latest exposure of offering peerages and other national honours for undeclared 'donations' or 'loans' to the Labour Party just shows how cynical and amoral a politician this man, (B-Liar) is.

If he had been an African leader the British government would have been one of the first big mouths to be condemning his corruption and lack of transparency. Blair helped Bush to undermine international law and he has now domesticated the same skills by finding loopholes in laws passed by his own government on party financing. The British people have enough very British reasons to be rid of this fraudster whom Nigerians would have easily recognise as a '419' Premier.

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

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Global: Jubilee2000 campaign for debt cancellation

2006-03-20

http://tinyurl.com/qhxzr

“Though Bank President Wolfowitz has said 42 countries will benefit from the (Group of 8) G-8 nations debt deal, the fine print of the World Bank’s plan to implement debt cancellation means that beyond an initial 17 nations, any additional countries will have to wait at a minimum until mid-2007 – a full two years after the G-8 Summit in Gleneagles – for their debts to be cancelled to the World Bank…We need your help to hold World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz to his word.”

Global: Streetnet international alliance

2006-03-22

http://www.streetnet.org.za/english/default.htm

StreetNet International alliance of street vendors was launched in Durban, South Africa, in November 2002. Membership-based organizations (unions, co-operatives or associations) directly organizing street vendors, market vendors and/or hawkers among their members, are entitled to affiliate to StreetNet International. The aim of StreetNet is to promote the exchange of information and ideas on critical issues facing street vendors, market vendors and hawkers (i.e. mobile vendors) and on practical organizing and advocacy strategies.

Liberia: Fight Firestone

2006-03-22

http://www.stopfirestone.org

“The Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) is working with our colleagues in Liberia and in the US to stop Firestone's exploitation of Liberia and her people…We have launched lawsuits against Firestone in Liberia and in the United States, and we are waging a public pressure campaign in advance of the April 3rd court date to show Firestone that the world is watching, and it doesn't like what it sees. Please visit ww.stopfirestone.org to learn more about Firestone and the lawsuits, and to send a letter to Firestone president Dan Adomitis demanding an end to Firestone's modern-day slavery and other abuses.”

From Commission to Council: Putting Old Wine in New Bottles?

Chrysantus Ayangafac

2006-03-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/32929

On the 15th of March 2006, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly, 170 for and 4 against, to replace the discredited Human Rights Commission (the commission) with the Human Rights Council (the council).

Is the present initiative really nouvelle in its approach to human rights?

The more things change the more they remain the same. It seems to me, the council has changed much in terms of the form and procedure of the UN approach to human rights. In doing this, the council is dealing with the disease of the ineffectiveness of the commission and not the structural problem that led to its demise, the democratic deficit at international organisations.

The old Commission’s system of independent “special rapporteurs”, special procedures and access for human rights NGOs will be retained. However, the special procedures will be subject to review within one year, so member states must be vigilant to ensure they are maintained. But is this good enough to ensure that intervention in human rights cases is not grounded in political and geostrategic reasons?

The present initiative is no doubt innovative and a reflection of efforts to remedy the dire human rights situation around the world. But in so-far-as its approach is still statist in nature, realism will always override international obligation. Approaches to human rights abuses should be engendered in a holistic manner, encompassing issues around government legitimacy, representation and accountability, not leaving out poverty. Against this backdrop, civil society seems the best available route to bridge the gap between rhetoric and practice.

South Africa’s role in Zimbabwe’s Current Crisis

Progressio open letter

David Bedford

2006-03-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/32943

We write as an international development NGO with a long history of commitment to working in Southern Africa. Our work to overcome poverty and injustice necessarily leads to an involvement with many civil society organisations in the region, including in Zimbabwe. As a northern partner to these organisations, we are keen to give voice to their demands and needs.

We have chosen this day to write to you as March 21st is Human Rights Day in South Africa. We urge you to consider the sufferings of ordinary Zimbabweans who are now being subjected to violent and repressive human rights abuses by their government.

Zimbabwe today is a divided country, characterised by police brutality, political repression and a ruling elite which systematically denies the basic rights of the majority of citizens. In spite of this, South Africa’s government has repeatedly voiced its support for the ZANU-PF government. The solidarity shown by the government with other African nations is admirable; but our partners consider that in the case of Zimbabwe it is misplaced. True solidarity should be with the oppressed citizens of Zimbabwe, and not with their undemocratic government.

* Please click on the link for the full letter.
Progressio
Unit 3 Canonbury Yard
190a New North Road
London N1 7BJ

21st March 2006

Subject: South Africa’s role in Zimbabwe’s Current Crisis

South Africa’s role in Zimbabwe’s Current Crisis

Your Excellency,
We write as an international development NGO with a long history of commitment to working in Southern Africa. Our work to overcome poverty and injustice necessarily leads to an involvement with many civil society organisations in the region, including in Zimbabwe. As a northern partner to these organisations, we are keen to give voice to their demands and needs.

We have chosen this day to write to you as March 21st is Human Rights Day in South Africa. We urge you to consider the sufferings of ordinary Zimbabweans who are now being subjected to violent and repressive human rights abuses by their government.

Zimbabwe today is a divided country, characterised by police brutality, political repression and a ruling elite which systematically denies the basic rights of the majority of citizens. In spite of this, South Africa’s government has repeatedly voiced its support for the ZANU-PF government. The solidarity shown by the government with other African nations is admirable; but our partners consider that in the case of Zimbabwe it is misplaced. True solidarity should be with the oppressed citizens of Zimbabwe, and not with their undemocratic government.

A campaign against the majority of poor civilians is today being waged by the ZANU-PF government in Zimbabwe. The following examples are illustrative:

• The ZANU-PF government uses repressive legislation to silence opposition and harass individuals whom it considers threatening. The Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) have been used in the last year to, inter alia, close privately-owned media outlets, break up peaceful demonstrations, and arrest and detain civil rights campaigners. The 2005 Constitutional Amendment Act gave the government, among many other powers, the power to withdraw passports from those it deems to be a threat to security. As a result of these actions, there is little independent space to voice criticism of the government, or to propose responses to the economic and social crisis in the country.

• Torture is widely practised in Zimbabwe with the knowledge and support of the state, and is rarely prosecuted. Documentation exists of the practice of torture against individuals by the police force, the military and ZANU-PF party faithful. For example, a June 2005 report by the Redress Trust, an international anti-torture NGO, delineates a culture of systematic abuse of prisoners by Zimbabwean state officials, and others acting on behalf of the ruling party.

• The independence of the Zimbabwean Judiciary has been thoroughly compromised, and it is now subject to almost complete control by the Executive. Appointments to and removal from judicial office can take place at a political whim, as illustrated by the well-documented case of the dismissal of Justice Benjamin Paradza. On a number of occasions in recent years, the Constitution has been amended to circumvent the jurisdiction of the courts. Consequently, individuals have no access to legal redress for crimes committed against them, such as under ‘Operation Murambatsvina/ Restore Order’ in 2005.

Defenders of Zimbabwe’s current regime frequently point out that Western commentators are disproportionately concerned about the situation there, when greater disasters are occurring all over Africa. Zimbabwe is a special concern precisely because, although there is no formal conflict, the government is using emergency legislation and powers to centralise all power in the hands of the state and its supporters.

In spite of the hostility of the Zimbabwean government towards its own people, South Africa continues to support it actively. In early 2005, South Africa led a SADC observer mission to the parliamentary election, which formally pronounced the poll “peaceful, transparent, credible and well-managed”. As we have stated, these elections were strongly condemned by organisations including the Zimbabwe Election Support Network, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights and the National Constitutional Assembly, with the endorsement of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. South Africa has welcomed President Mugabe as a guest of honour at high profile events: in April 2004, he was one of a handful of African leaders invited to President Mbeki’s second term inauguration. At the Commonwealth, the African Union, and within SADC, South Africa has rallied around the ZANU-PF government, and turned a blind eye to the rampant human rights abuses and entrenched polarisation engendered by that government. This is the greatest endorsement the Zimbabwean government could hope for.

As the driving force of NEPAD, with its objectives to promote democratisation and human rights, South Africa is undermining its own principled position through its vocal support for the ZANU-PF regime. South Africa has shown it can play a leadership role on the continent, influencing positive outcomes in Burundi, the DRC, and Cote d’Ivoire. In a recent issue of the Review of African Political Economy, Ian Phimister and respected Zimbabwean political scientist Brian Raftopoulos argue that, taking into account the current regional context, “the importance of Mbeki and SADC’s support for Mugabe could hardly be exaggerated”.

It is tragic that on this, South African Human Rights Day, that an African government can still victimise its own people and poarise its society on South Africa’s border.

We hope that South Africa will do its utmost to reverse its uncritical support for Zimbabwe’s undemocratic regime, encourage it to break free from its repressive actions, begin a dialogue with its own people and above all that South Africa will not continue to support the ZANU-PF regime in regional and international forums.

We would welcome an opportunity to discuss these issues further with you.


Yours sincerely

David Bedford
Acting Director

South Africa: Lines of attitude - Crossing continents with street art

2006-03-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/32962

Lines of Attitude spans geographical latitudes in its exploration of media and human rights issues through the work of leading graffiti artists from South Africa, Kenya and the United Kingdom. The project partners the British Council with leading South African graffiti artists Faith 47 and Falko, bringing them collaboratively together with legendary UK graffiti artists Dreph and Mode2, as well as Kenya's Phiks. Through murals, workshops, publications and an exhibition, Lines of Attitude embraces the positive, professional side of this popular street art form, offering an alternative viewpoint to the singular perception of graffiti as vandalism. Embracing the particular resonance of graffiti in contemporary urban youth culture, the project engages young people in an exciting, active dialogue around freedom of expression, whilst also aiming to leave a permanent line of "can do" attitude on the public landscape. For details about the exhibition see below. Pambazuka News had the opportunity to interview Phiks, an artist from Kenya.

Pambazuka News: Can you tell us about what you are doing here in Cape Town? What is the project you are involved in?

Phiks: The project called "Lines of Attitude" involved coming to Cape Town as part of the project. We (artists I work with) painted a wall in Kenya last November and we just finished painting a wall here in Cape Town. The upcoming exhibit "Lines of Attitude" is also a part of the project, and all the artists have contributed pieces to it. This is a project which has got graffiti artist from different countries working together on the following theme: "How Western media affects culture." We came up with this theme in Kenya and started working on it last year. The aim of the project is to try and give graffiti a positive attitude towards the masses.

Pambazuka News: What is the connection for you between art and social change? How can the medium of graffiti be used to raise awareness or inspire action?

Phiks: My personal connection between art and social change is a love for art. Art is what I eat and most of my inspiration comes from things that happen around me, as well as the people around me. The media of graffiti can be used to raise awareness or inspire action, not only in big time events like the exhibit. You have to keep in mind what you do on a small scale level because people out there are watching everything I do. I try to keep it real for the young and old people – so I try to keep positive to promote art.

Pambazuka News: Can you describe the "matatu" culture in Kenya? What is its significance?

Phiks: Matatu culture is a big thing in Kenya. Matatu’s are not only a form of transportation, but since the 80's have been made into a form of art. There is a lot of competition because it is a source of income for Matatu owners. I do air brushing and other work on these. The significance of them is that this is the kind of grafitti I do in Kenya – this is where I come from.

Pambazuka News: What is the art scene in Kenya like? Is there a strong connection there between art and political criticism?

Phiks: The art scene in Kenya is really catching up to other places. At my level, it's great – there is also a really strong connection between the art and political criticism.

Pambazuka News: What is the government response to what you do? What about the general public?

Phiks: I would say that no, the government at the moment doesn't like what I do. They are trying to stop Matatu art because some Members of Parliament in Kenya are also in the Matatu business and they want to cut down the competition by putting up laws against us.

The general public, on the other hand, loves it! The population is made up of lots of young people under the age of 35. But it's hard – you can't mess with the government in Kenya unless you have power – which means money or good connections.

Exhibition Details:
Exhibiting artists:
(UK) mode2, dreph;
(Kenya) phiks;
(SA) falko, faith47

Opening on 16 March. Running until 06 April, District 6 Homecoming Centre 15 Buitenkant St. Cape Town.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents

by Reporters without Borders: September 2005

Sokari Ekine

2006-03-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/32945

The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents is an all in one guide for both beginners and seasoned bloggers. The guide is roughly divided into two parts. The first covers “how to get started” and includes blogging tools, ethics, how to stand out and promote your blog. All of these can be found on many different sites on the internet such as on Wikipedia and blogger.com. The second part deals exclusively with blogging anonymously and how to get around issues of censorship for those blogging from countries where there are repressive regimes.

In countries were the mainstream media is censored and or under pressure, bloggers can often circumvent the censorship laws and provide the only real independent news. This puts bloggers in these countries under extreme danger from the government and in many cases they have been arrested by their government and thrown into prison. Countries such as Iran and China are particularly dangerous but bloggers in Tunisia and Egypt have also been arrested and detained.

However, blogging anonymously is not the only challenge faced by those who live under repressive regimes. How do you promote your blog and how do you circumvent filtering systems that the repressive government may have put in place? The guide provides step-by-step answers to these kind of questions.

The guide to being an “ethical blogger” and what makes your blog shine are probably the most contentious out of the whole book. Many bloggers feel that codes of ethnics do not belong in the blogosphere and that readers will make up their own minds on which blogs to trust and which not to, based on their own set of criteria. Setting up a blog is the easy part. Getting people to read it and even more important to trust the content is more difficult. If for example a blogger continues to make errors of fact and present commentary that is overly biased readers will soon tire and go elsewhere. In that sense then there is really no need to follow a strict code of ethics in the same way as one would in the mainstream media. Blogging is a tool of freedom of expression and bloggers do not want to feel they are constrained by the ethics or codes of mainstream media.

The chapters on how to blog anonymously and how to circumvent censorship are the most useful part of the guide. Blogging anonymously includes using cybercafés rather than your own computer at home, university or workplace. Alternatively you could set up web access via an “anonymous proxy” which would hide the real IP address of the computer you are using. Other options are explored such as using a “circumventor”, similar to a proxy server but requiring the help of a third party in a “safe country”. More complicated and technically challenging is the “invisibleblog” which requires posting via a specially formatted email system that is encrypted. All of these options are explained in detail with links to sites that can provide the blogger with further information and help on how to beat censorship laws and avoid detection by government security forces.

The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents is an extremely valuable guide for those bloggers living under repressive regimes where they are at risk of imprisonment. For the rest of the blogging world the guide provides useful tips on getting started and promoting your blog.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Côte d’Ivoire: Reggae star Fakoly strikes dissenting chord

2006-03-22

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23706617.htm

With his biting lyrics that name and shame African leaders and denounce Western politics, West African reggae star Tiken Jah Fakoly knows his music has made him as many enemies as friends. The 37-year-old singer, who lives in Mali in self-imposed exile from his troubled home of Ivory Coast, is one of the most powerful voices for young African people. But he is also a thorn in the side of African politicians.

Rwanda: Producer defends genocide drama

2006-03-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4825218.stm

The producer of a new film about the 1994 Rwandan genocide has responded to criticisms that the BBC-funded drama traumatised survivors of the massacre. Shooting Dogs dramatises events that took place between 6 and 11 April 1994 at the Ecole Technique Officielle (ETO) school complex in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. Part of the recreation saw hundreds of Rwandan extras play members of the Interahamwe militia, the Hutu extremists held responsible for the 1994 genocide. According to Mr Belton, 15 students attending lessons at the school required hospital treatment after becoming distressed by the pretend mob's chanting and whistling.

The missionary position and other comments

Sokari Ekine

2006-03-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/32944

Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman (http://madkenyanwoman.blogspot.com/2006/03/outing-heterosexuality.html) writes an essay entitled “Outing Heterosexuality” in which she discusses the inability of Africans to deal with any discussion on sexuality that is not limited to:

"…the missionary position sex-is-for-the-purpose-of-reproduction-only-and-any-other-type-of-sexual-activity-will-send-you-into-the-inferno heterosexuality. Did you get that? Homosexual, bisexual, transsexual, gay, queer, lesbian, transgender, cross-dresser and so on and as Judith Butler says, on and on have, exactly the same standing (I think there's a horribly dirth pun in there somewhere) as heterosexuality does."

She concludes that the reality is that your sisters, brothers, friends, colleagues, cousins, nephews, nieces, even your parents are all:

“…trapped in a prison more violent and restrictive than any physical restraint.”

Gukira (http://gukira.blogspot.com/2006/03/homosexuality-is-un-african.html) responds with a brilliant essay on “Homosexuality is Un-African” in which he:

“…argue(s) that histories of the term homosexuality and its cultural contexts cannot account for African conceptions of sexuality. I then examine the possible effects of legislating gender and sexual diversity by analyzing a section from Nigeria’s recent draft bill against homosexuality. Finally, I argue for an approach to sexual rights embedded in concepts of African diversity and hospitality.”

In the end we all loose from bigotry and gender stereotyping. As Gukira writes:

“Women heckle men, asking them to prove their masculinity. Men police men. Women police women. We police each other. We create gender prisons that demand narrow and stereotypical performances of gender.

Africans continue to threaten those who speak out against homophobia and defend the rights of homosexuals as the human rights that belong to us all. We seek liberty but demand prison for those who are different!”

The Voice of Somaliland Diaspora (http://waridaad.blogspot.com/2006/03/ikran-haji-daud-symbol-of-hope-for.html) comments on the visit to the US of the Honourable Ikran Haji Daud Warsame, the first elected woman MP in Somaliland. He writes:

“In a society dominated by male chauvinism, it is a rarity to mention women who made history in our society, except a few. However, women, NOT MEN, have always remained the source of inspiration, hope, strength, courage and resilience for most Somalis, both men and women, for generations.”

He honours Ms Warsame and hopes that her presence will spell a new hope for Somali women.

Lagos based Nigerian blogger Ore’s Notes (http://orenotes.blogspot.com/2006/03/vagina-monologuesi-saw-this-last.html) posts on her visit to the Vagina Monologues and reports that the venue was packed out despite the early 6pm start.

“The vagina celebration ended with an exquisitely eloquent exhortation by Joke Silva to reclaim the dreaded c-word - cunt. As beautiful as she made it sound, I still hate the word! I shudder to type it. And reading it (especially on my blog) is even worse! And that’s because I cannot get away from the venom and hate behind the word when it’s hurled at women as the worst possible kind of insult. The argument that words (or people, for that matter) only have power over you when you permit them to, and that by 'reclaiming' the word you take away the sting, is a common one.”

Ore does not agree – “…a word that is borne out of such hatred and violence against women is not one I wish to reclaim or share.”

Kenyan Poet and blogger, Mshairi (http://www.mshairi.com/blog/2006/03/19/home-again) writes a beautiful poem which expresses her homesickness.

dreaming swift and magnificent
stand be still at the centre my heart
desires to ask the age-old keepers of the cosmic forests how long
the trees have been weeping tire not little
bird soon you will rest listen to the mighty
oceans sing this land of diamonds is yours mine ours
this land of gold is yours mine ours
this land of silver is yours mine ours I am the potent splendour of a rock clinging to the earth this is my world welcome
to my world

Freedom for Egyptians (http://freedomforegyptians.blogspot.com/2006/03/al-azhar-objects-movie-on-jesus-and.html) comments on the recent visit of Prince Charles to Egypt, which coincides with the objection of the clerics of Al Azhar who want to ban an Egyptian film on Jesus.

According to the Middle East Online: A film due to be shot in Egypt on the life of Jesus Christ has stirred protests from the highest authority in Sunni Islam, the Al-Azhar institution in Cairo.

The Moor Next Door (http://wahdah.blogspot.com/2006/03/reflection-on-camus-albert-lalgrien.html) reflects on the role of Albert Camus in Algeria's war of independence. He concludes that Edward Said was right in saying Camus was against independence. But he wonders whether that makes Camus an "imperialist tool”.

“Algeria was his home and he was just as attached to it as any Muslim Algerian was and had his own views of it and how it should have been handled.”

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

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Africa: New Rules letter calling for shift of Paris Club negotiations

2006-03-20

http://www.new-rules.org/

In anticipation of the Paris Club’s upcoming “celebration” of its 50th birthday, the US-based network “New Rules for Global Finance” has called on Nigeria’s President Obasanjo and the African Union to support a change of venue for Paris Club negotiations. Put simply, future Paris Club debt negotiations should take place in the debtor country, say New Rules. This will help reorder the negotiating balance between debtor and creditor.

Africa: Anti-Abortion Laws a "Silent War Waged Against Women"

2006-03-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=32586

Calls for abortion laws across Africa to be revised have dominated the first days of a meeting in Ethiopia – the ‘Regional Consultation on Unsafe Abortion in Africa’. This four-day conference, which ends Mar. 23, has been organised by Ipas and the Guttmacher Institute, both based in the United States. More than 140 researchers, key government officials, and health practitioners from 16 African countries have gathered in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, to attend the consultation. Discussions are focusing on research into termination of pregnancy, and how the findings of inquiries can influence policy.

Africa: Women and Peace Building in Africa

2006-03-22

http://ccrweb.ccr.uct.ac.za/

This report on “The Impact of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security in Africa,” is from a seminar hosted by the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR) in Cape Town, South Africa, and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)’s Southern and Central African Regional Offices The aim of the seminar was to review the progress of the implementation of the resolution in Africa in the five years since its adoption by the United Nations (UN) in 2000.

Global: IWD 2006 - A revealing look at women's commemorative activities

2006-03-20

http://www.awid.org/go.php?list=analysis&prefix=analysis&item=00307

A look at some of the activities held by women for International Women’s Day provides a telling account of how ongoing struggles continue to affect women's everyday lives as well as their abilities to live in safety, dignity, and peace. This past year we saw the election of the first female president in Africa, Ellen Johnson- Sirleaf of Liberia, as well as the electoral victory of feminist Michelle Bachelet in Chile. Women have taken huge steps forward in the public sphere and have worked hard to break down social, political, and cultural barriers. Yet women still face tremendous obstacles to equality all over the world. A look at some of the activities held by women for IWD provides a telling account of how ongoing struggles continue to affect women's everyday lives as well as their abilities to live in safety, dignity, and peace.

North Africa: First encyclopedia on women’s rights

2006-03-20

http://tinyurl.com/nu2je

The Arab League has published the first ever encyclopedia stating the legal position of women's rights in the region. The book called: “The Situation of Women in Arab Legislations”, was put together to serve as fundamental reference guide to the legal status of women in Arab countries. “The purpose of this book is to serve as a reference for any individual interested in the legal status of women in any of the Arab League member states,” according to the Women’s Unit of the Cairo-based Arab League. The idea was welcomed by the Egyptian National Council for Women which called the book an “an excellent step” in expanding women’s rights in Arab countries.

South Africa: You have struck a woman, you have struck a rock

2006-03-23

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=266952&area=/insight/insight__national/

In South Africa last week, events on International Women’s Day dramatically challenged us as a country to clarify the nature of leadership and power as well as their underlying values and principles, writes Pregs Govender in the Mail and Guardian newspaper in reference to the Jacob Zuma rape trial. "In our country, where violence against women and girls is widespread, a rape survivor used her democratic right to charge her alleged perpetrator, a very powerful man. For her courage she has paid a very high price. Her home has been burgled and ransacked twice, she and her mother have faced death threats, and she has lost her freedom as she has been forced to seek police protection."

Sudan: Final Event on CEDAW Campaign cancelled in Port Sudan

Sudan Organisation Against Torture press release

2006-03-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/32969

"On 15 March 2006, officers from the National Security Bureau (NSB) in Port Sudan, Eastern Sudan summoned Hassan Altaieb, lawyer and SOAT monitor in Port Sudan to their offices for questioning. Whilst at the security offices, Mr. Altieb was questioned about an event scheduled to be held in Port Sudan tomorrow 16 March 2005 as part of a nationwide campaign for the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The security officers demanded the list of participants expected to attend the event including the full names of all the speakers."
Sudan Organisation Against Torture
Human Rights Alert: 16 March 2006
Final Event on CEDAW Campaign cancelled in Port Sudan

On 15 March 2006, officers from the National Security Bureau (NSB) in Port Sudan, Eastern Sudan summoned Hassan Altaieb, lawyer and SOAT monitor in Port Sudan to their offices for questioning. Whilst at the security offices, Mr. Altieb was questioned about an event scheduled to be held in Port Sudan tomorrow 16 March 2005 as part of a nationwide campaign for the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The security officers demanded the list of participants expected to attend the event including the full names of all the speakers.

Following two hours of questioning, security officers informed Mr. Altieb that they were cancelling the event. No reason was given for why the event should be cancelled. The security officers also advised the hotel where the event was due to be held on 16 March 2006 to cancel the room reservation.

The campaign for the ratification of CEDAW by the government of Sudan was organised by Khartoum Centre for Human Rights and Environmental Development (KCHRED) and Amel Center in collaboration with SOAT and funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office has seen Workshops and public forums and art exhibitions and meetings with government officials and parliamentarians held in Khartoum, Juba, Southern Sudan and across Sudan including Nyala, Al Fashir, Madani, Kosti and in Port Sudan. The final day of the campaign in Port Sudan was scheduled to culminate in a celebration and workshop in Port Sudan on 16 March.

SOAT condemns the arbitrary use of power by the security forces in Port Sudan and ongoing harassment of human rights defenders taking part in a nationwide human rights campaign. The campaign has brought together Sudanese NGOs, representatives of the government, and representatives across the political spectrum. The objective of the campaign is to discuss women rights in Sudan and to promote closer support for and engagement with, the key objectives of CEDAW and by default the institutions of the United Nations by the public.

SOAT urges Sudan to respect its obligations as state party to the UN Assembly on the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders which under Article 1 states; “everyone has the right, individually or in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of human rights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international level”, and article 12.2, provides that “the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure the protection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually or in association with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de facto or de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as a consequence of his or her legitimate exercise of the rights referred to in the present Declaration”.

SOAT calls on the Government of Sudan to:

i. Immediately investigate and provide reasons for the cancellation of the event;
ii. Respect human rights and fundamental freedoms including freedom of Association in accordance with international human rights standards
iii. Cease the harassments, summoning and arbitrary arrests human rights defenders
iv. Guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout Sudan in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

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

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

His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit
First Vice-President
People's Palace
PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 771025

His Excellency Ali Osman Mohamed Taha
Vice-President
People's Palace
PO Box 281, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 771025

Mr. Lam Akol Ajawin
Minister of Foreign Affairs
PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 779383

Mr. Al Zubeir Beshir Taha
Minister of Interior
PO Box 873, Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 779383

Dr. Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha
Advisory Council for Human Rights
PO Box 302
Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: + 249 183 77088

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

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

Uganda: Pro-women program produces a dissident

2006-03-20

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=2666

Ugandans voted last month for 69 special female members of parliament as part of the country's lauded gender affirmative-action program. But one prominent female politician says the 10-year-old system has failed to deliver legal gains for women. "Politics is generally seen as a game of the leaders, the affluent and the brave. And so it has never been the women's domain," said Zziwa, who belongs to the government party, the National Resistance Movement. Zziwa was first elected to the Ugandan parliament in 1996, along with 38 other women on a special gender ticket, after the government enshrined a system for boosting female representation as part of an ambitious program of affirmative action for women in all spheres of national affairs.

West Africa: Good governance and women’s participation

2006-03-20

http://www.wildaf-ao.org/eng/article.php3?id_article=685

The sub-regional WILDAF office has just concluded a finance contract with the European Commission for a project on ‘‘good governance and women’s participation’’. Commenced in early January 2006, this project will last three years and 7 West African countries namely Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo will benefit from it. Its overall objective is to contribute to an effective participation of women in governance at local and national levels. Specifically, the project aims at building capacities of women in urban and rural areas to influence decisions, policies and programmes implemented by the authorities for a better consideration of the basic human rights of women and gender equity.

Chad: European Parliament calls for trial of Hissène Habré

2006-03-20

http://tinyurl.com/r4p3t

The European Parliament today (March 16) called on Senegal to bring Hissène Habré to trial or extradite the former dictator of Chad to Belgium, where he is wanted to stand trial. Habré's victims and their supporters cheered the European Parliament's decision. Habré, who fled to Senegal in 1990 after an eight-year rule marked by widespread atrocities, was first indicted in 2000 in Senegal.

DRC: International court should be faster

2006-03-20

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060319/D8GEA2LG1.html

The International Criminal Court, which has a Congolese rebel leader in jail as its first defendant, will have speedier proceedings than the U.N. special tribunal for Yugoslavia, the court's chief prosecutor said Saturday (March 18). The Criminal Court's first prisoner, Thomas Lubanga, was flown to the Netherlands just before midnight Friday and taken into custody at the court's newly opened detention unit - the only inmate there so far. Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said the arrest warrant covered crimes committed after July 1, 2002, when the world's first permanent war crimes court came into existence.

Global: US pledges to help new rights council

2006-03-20

http://tinyurl.com/rpept

The United Nations' new Human Rights Council - created Wednesday (March 15) with a 170-4 vote in the General Assembly - will launch in June, with advocates saying they hope it will be effective at confronting countries that abuse their own people. The US, which voted against the new entity citing concerns it will not be strong enough, nevertheless agreed Wednesday to help fund the council and work toward making it "as strong and effective as it can be."

Liberia: Taylor case a warning to world warlords-prosecutor

2006-03-20

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L19244337.htm

Moves to try former Liberian President Charles Taylor for crimes against humanity in a Sierra Leone court are a warning to the world's warlords that they cannot escape justice, the court's chief prosecutor said. Newly-elected Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said on Friday (March 17) she had asked Nigeria, where Taylor lives in exile, to consider handing him to a UN-backed Special Court in Freetown, which has indicted him for his part in Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war.

South Africa: FXI welcomes court ruling on shack demonstration 

Freedom of Expression Institute press release

2006-03-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/32968

"Over the past month, the FXI has been supporting the Shack Dwellers' Movement in Durban, called Abahlali Base Mjondolo, in their attempts to hold a march in the city. This was the second time that the organisation has wanted to hold a march. On the first occasion, in November 2005, the march was banned by the municipality and protestors were attacked and fired upon by police."
South Africa FXI welcomes court ruling on shack demonstration 

Freedom of Expression Institute (Johannesburg)
PRESS RELEASE
February 28, 2006

Over the past month, the FXI has been supporting the Shack Dwellers' Movement in Durban, called Abahlali Base Mjondolo, in their attempts to hold a march in the city. This was the second time that the organisation has wanted to hold a march. On the first occasion, in November 2005, the march was banned by the municipality and protestors were attacked and fired upon by police.

For communities such as the shack dwellers, protests, marches and demonstrations are the only real way in which they are able to exercise their right to free expression. And with poor communities feeling that they have no voice and that their expectations are being betrayed by politicians, the 2004-2005 year saw almost 6000 protests across the country.

The FXI assisted Abahlali with legal and other advice. The eThekwini Municipality attempted - through delays, refusals to talk to the shack dwellers and intimations that the march would be illegal - to prevent the action from going ahead. On 27 February 2006, on the morning of the march, a number of shack settlements in Durban were invaded by police. Four Abahlali members were arrested and beaten up. Others were prevented from leaving the settlements.

Police told activists that the march had been banned by City Manager Mike Sutcliffe. The FXI advised Abahlali of the legality of the march and encouraged the organisation to take the matter to court.

Abahlali applied for and won an interdict against the police, preventing them from hindering or interfering with the march in any way. Further, the judge ruled, consistent with the FXI's advice, that the march had always been legal in terms of South Africa's Regulation of Gatherings Act and that convenors of gatherings need only - as the Act stipulates - notify local authorities of their intention to hold a gathering (march, rally, demonstration, etc) and not apply for a permit to do so, as had been suggested by the eThekwini Municipality. The march thus went ahead.

In letters to Sutcliffe, the FXI stated its position that the city was interfering with the freedom of expression of the shack dwellers as enshrined in the South African Constitution. The FXI also reminded Sutcliffe that the tactics of pre-emptively arresting people - before any crime had taken place - and of intimidation were reminiscent of the days of apartheid.

The FXI believes that the court ruling is significant in more than just the case of Abahlali Base Mjondolo. Almost 900 demonstrations that took place in 2004-2005 were illegal, many of them because local authorities had refused to "give permission" for gatherings to take place. The 27 February judgement, the FXI believes, clarifies that it is not within the power of local authorities to "give" or "refuse" "permission" according to their whims. The judgement thus is a victory for freedom of expression of poor communities in particular, for whom taking to the streets is the only form of expression available to them.

Zimbabwe: Internally displaced people living rough in Harare

2006-03-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/32967

Life for some Zimbabweans can only be described as hell on earth. As the world celebrated International Women's Day, 33-year-old Fungai Katsande finds herself worse off than ever. Waking up everyday to face the challenges of life makes her want to break down in tears. "My husband is sick, my child is sick, I am sick and I do not know who is going to help me", she says quietly. Visit www.kubatana.net Zimbabwe's civic and human rights web site incorporating an online directory for the non-profit sector, to read the full story.

Egypt: Expectations and experiences of resettlement

2006-03-22

http://www.aucegypt.edu/fmrs/documents/resettlement-final-edited__.pdf

In recent years, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regional offices in Cairo, has referred approximately 4,000 recognised refugees per year for resettlement to the United States, Canada, Australia and a number of other smaller receiving countries, making it the largest such programme in the world. But despite this, there has been little research conducted into the expectations and experiences of the refugees themselves on this process. This study aims to investigate Sudanese refugees' expectations of life in resettlement while in Egypt, and upon arrival in the US, Canada and Australia, and hopes to facilitate these findings with governmental, non-governmental and intergovernmental agencies.

Global: Global internal displacement crisis remains alarming

2006-03-22

http://tinyurl.com/ozhbu

Although the number of people internally displaced within their own countries by conflict decreased slightly during 2005, the global internal displacement crisis remained at an alarming level, according to a new report published by the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. “The report clearly shows that most governments in countries affected by conflict fail to live up to their responsibility to prevent arbitrary displacement and ensure the safety and well-being of their displaced citizens,” said Elisabeth Rasmusson, head of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

Global: Lower number of asylum-seekers raises questions for industrialized countries

2006-03-20

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=17838&Cr=asylum&Cr1=

In the last five years, the number of asylum-seekers arriving in all industrialized countries has fallen by half, according to preliminary annual figures released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), who said this trend should spark reflection in the industrialized world about the fate of those in need of protection. Asylum applications in 50 industrialized countries fell sharply for the fourth year in a row in 2005, reaching their lowest level in almost two decades, the agency said, attributing this to more stable situations in many areas of the world but also to increasingly restrictive asylum policies.

Global: Refugees and Emergency Thresholds in 2005

2006-03-22

http://tinyurl.com/m7uqf

This report presents the results of 41 site-surveys reporting mortality and nutrition data in refugee settings over 2005 and contained in the Complex Emergency Database (CEDAT). CEDAT is a global, shared searchable database on complex humanitarian emergencies.

Sudan: Refugees as remitters

2006-03-22

http://www.id21.org/society/s10csr1g1.html

The world's estimated 17 million international refugees are not seen as likely to send remittances, or money, to families back home. However, refugees resident in developed countries do send money, not only to their countries of origin but also to neighbouring countries where family members are at earlier stages of the asylum-seeking process.

Uganda: Only Peace Can Restore the Confidence of the Displaced

2006-03-22

http://www.refugeelawproject.org/papers/reports/RLP.IDMC.pdf

In August 2003, the Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (RSG) on internally displaced persons (IDPs) undertook an official visit to Uganda in order to "gain a better understanding of the situation of internal displacement in Uganda, with a particular focus on persons displaced by the conflict with the LRA and to explore ways of enhancing the response of the Government of Uganda, UN agencies, NGOs and other actors." The RSG made 26 individual recommendations. This report seeks to follow up on these recommendations and discern the extent to which changes have taken place, whether positively or negatively.

Uganda: Too scared to return home

2006-03-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603210147.html

Wilson Akera hates living in Padibe camp for internally displaced persons because life is generally unbearable but he is even more scared of the prospect of returning home soon as he believes insecurity is still rife in the villages. "We are willing to go home and end this cycle of despair, but we are uncertain of our security," Akera said. "The area a few kilometres out of here is a den of the unknown. Groups of rebels still loiter there." Akera is one of the 1.6 million-plus people who have been displaced by two decades of war between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda.

DRC: Poll may pose nightmare

2006-03-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4828790.stm

UN head Kofi Annan has said the Democratic Republic of Congo elections in June will pose "major logistical challenges, if not nightmares". He is visiting DR Congo, where the UN has its largest peacekeeping mission, ahead of the country's first free elections in 45 years. He also welcomed a planned deployment of European Union troops to act as a rapid reaction force during the polls. The polls are to end a power-sharing period after a five-year civil war.

Egypt: Judges protest lack of freedom

2006-03-20

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060318/D8GDN7381.html

Nearly 1,000 Egyptian judges held a half-hour silent protest Friday (March 17) to demonstrate for full judicial independence and against the government's order to interrogate six of their colleagues who criticized recent elections. The justices, wearing the red and green sashes of their profession, gathered outside their professional association, the Judges' Club, in downtown Cairo ahead of an extraordinary general assembly to discuss their grievances.

Ethiopia: EU releases final report on 2005 elections

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603200127.html

The European Union has issued its final report on last May's elections in Ethiopia. According to the report, the 2005 parliamentary elections were the most competitive elections Ethiopia had experienced, with an unprecedented high voter turnout. However, it said, while the pre-election period saw largely orderly manner, the counting and aggregation process were marred by irregular practices, confusion and lack of transparency. The report noted that subsequent complaints and appeals mechanisms did not provide an effective remedy. The human rights situation rapidly deteriorated in the post-election day period when dozens of citizens were killed by the police and thousands were arrested, it said.

Gabon: Opposition leader in hiding

2006-03-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4830432.stm

Gabon's main opposition leader says he has gone into hiding after government forces raided his party's headquarters. Pierre Mamboundou told the BBC that he was not about to leave the country, but said he was also considering seeking political asylum. He finished second in last November's presidential election, which he claimed was fraudulent. President Omar Bongo, Africa's longest-serving head of state, won with 79.2% of the vote. Mr Mamboundou told the BBC's French service that police had seized documents and computers during the raid on the headquarters of his Gabonese People's Union (UPG) early on Tuesday (March 21) morning.

Kenya: MPs brace for battle as parliament reopens

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603200847.html

Daggers are drawn ahead of the state reopening of parliament after a five-month recess, one of the longest in Kenya's history. Cabinet ministers and government-friendly MPs dug in to do battle with an opposition that has sworn to scuttle the state agenda in the house. Parliament is deeply divided over corruption - specifically, the Sh7 billion twin Anglo Leasing scandals - the stalled Constitution review, the raid on the Standard Group and presence of alleged mercenaries in the country.

Kenya: New party a clear sign Kibaki wants to run in 2007

2006-03-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603210701.html

The registration of a new party by politicians close to President Mwai Kibaki has sent a strong signal that he is keen to vie for a second term. However, the setting up of the National Rainbow Coalition-Kenya (Narc-Kenya) has sent mixed signals to coalition partners, Ford-Kenya and National party of Kenya (NPK), leaving them in a state of political limbo, as they were reportedly not consulted when the plan was mooted. It also casts doubt about a pre-election unwritten agreement within the national Alliance Party of Kenya (NAK), in which Kibaki was to go for a single term and leave the presidential ticket to Ford-Kenya come 2007.

Nigeria: Country shuts down for key census

2006-03-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4828090.stm

The streets of Nigeria's main cities are quiet, as people have been told to stay at home and wait to be counted in the first census for 15 years. The headcount is sensitive, as funding and political representation depend on the results but questions of religion and ethnicity have been left out. There is frustration in many places that the process has started slowly. Nigeria's president has stressed that the five-day census is not political and urged people to remain calm. Nigeria is Africa's most populous country but estimates of its population range from 120 to 150 million.

Uganda: Opposition witnesses "harrassed"

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603201117.html

The FDC in Uganda has pleaded with the government to stop its functionaries from harassing witnesses who have sworn affidavits supporting Dr Kizza Besigye's petition against President Museveni's re-election. "Our witnesses particularly the soldiers, are being terrorised and hunted. Those who have sworn affidavits are being harassed yet they are also Ugandans and voters," FDC spokesperson Mr Wafula Oguttu told journalists yesterday at the party's head office in Najjanankumbi, Kampala. "We have chosen legal ways of fighting our political wars and government should not deny us that chance," Oguttu pleaded. "Let witnesses present their side and let government challenge them."

Zimbabwe: Minister warns Tsvangirai over protests

2006-03-22

http://tinyurl.com/pfcwg

Zimbabwe State Security Minister Didymus Mutasa has warned opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and his supporters that the government will crush any mass protests against President Robert Mugabe. "We are watching them closely. We heard his [Tsvangirai's] threats and we hope they will just end as threats, but if they start destroying things then they will see us," Mutasa told independent news service ZimOnline, adding that if Tsvangirai and the MDC want war with the government, then it is more than ready for them, reports the Mail and Guardian.

Cameroon: Biya must confront root causes of corruption

2006-03-22

http://www.postnewsline.com/2006/03/biya_must_confr.html

Ndiva Kofele-Kale, Professor of Public International Law at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, is a leading scholar on the impact of corruption in developing countries. He is also at the forefront of the growing movement to make corruption a human rights violation punishable under international law. In this interview from The Post Online (Cameroon), Professor Kofele-Kale talks about the anti-corruption drive in Cameroon, and the need to establish international mechanisms for dealing with corruption by high-ranking government officials.

Cameroon: Transparency International supports anti-corruption efforts

2006-03-20

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=120379&src=dcn

A Press Statement by Transparency International has lauded recent moves taken by President Biya to combat embezzlement. The global civil society organisation that is leading the fight against corruption, Transparency International (TI) has qualified recent moves to combat corruption in Cameroon as the steps that will "deter future cases of illicit enrichment in the country".

DRC: Court forces SA mining tycoon to take stand

2006-03-20

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=15&art_id=vn20060320031530504C550361

A controversial South African multimillionaire and convicted fraudster has been ordered to answer questions about his involvement in the shadowy DRC mining industry. And the Pretoria High Court order, which will force Niko Shefer to take the stand, also promises to uncover how figures within the local mining company became embroiled with the Democratic Republic of Congo's state mining company, Gecamines.

Kenya: Githongo says it is not over yet

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603201256.html

Kenya's former ethics permanent secretary John Githongo now says there is more on the Anglo Leasing scandal that is yet to be revealed. "It's not over. It's just starting. Right now about 30 per cent has come out," Mr Githongo said of the mega-corruption scandal that has shaken the Narc Government to its very core, forcing the resignation of two Cabinet ministers. He made the revelation during an interview with The New York Times, which was published on Saturday. In a separate interview with The Guardian, Githongo called on the UK authorities to launch a full investigation into a number of British businessmen, whose multi-million dollar contracts are at the centre of Kenya's latest corruption scandal.

Uganda: Ministers quizzed on global fund money

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603201100.html

"A heap of garbage," was Justice James Ogoola's description of the accountability rendered for the millions spent by the three ministers of health in purported supervision of Global Fund activities in Uganda. "Utter rubbish," Bank of Uganda Governor Tumusiime Mutebile summed up state minister for general duties Mike Mukula's attempts to exonerate himself from responsibility of accounting for the money. This was a session of Justice Ogoola's commission of inquiry into the alleged mismanagement of the Global Fund against Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis, which was thrown into shock by Mukula when he said the money was never misused.

Africa: Aid inflows and debt relief yet to translate into reduced poverty

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603200835.html

Uganda, like other sub-saharan African countries, still faces the challenge of keeping the inflation rate below 10% and holding the shilling at bay against the dollar at the expense of poor medical care, substandard education, poor road network, rampant unemployment and having millions of the population still living on one dollar a day. Participants at the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) roundtable meeting on debt relief and the challenges of increased aid in Lusaka, Zambia over the weekend agreed that there was need for increased debt relief instead of increased aid inflows.

AFRICA: No "magic bullets" to end poverty, says Jeffrey Sachs

2006-03-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52322

In 2005 economist Jeffrey Sachs presented an action plan to meet the UN's poverty-slashing Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, which included practical and affordable interventions such as bed-nets to fight malaria, vaccinations to combat infectious diseases, the provision of anti-AIDS drugs, fertilisers to improve crop yields and drilling wells to provide safe drinking water. Sachs, who heads the UN Millennium Project and the Earth Institute, has been criticised for suggesting strategies that have been implemented before and failed. In a wide-ranging interview with IRIN, Sachs defended his plan and provided some details on how the project is going to help poor countries help themselves.

East Africa: UN report hails Kenya, Uganda water initiatives

2006-03-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603210703.html

A community revolving fund in Kitale, Kenya, that has assisted hundreds of poor families with money to put up better sanitation, is among unique initiatives in East Africa hailed in a new United Nations global report. Established by an NGO called Practical Action (formerly ITDG) and managed by the Catholic Diocese of Kitale, the fund operates in the Tuwani and Shimo la Tewa slums of the town. It offers loans of between Ksh27,000 ($342) and Ksh60,000 ($759) to plot owners, who repay at an annual rate of 12 per cent. This has benefited more than 230 families.

East Africa: WTO report paints grim picture of job losses

2006-03-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603210695.html

East African countries will suffer job losses and an increase in poverty under the most plausible outcomes of the current world trade negotiations, a Washington-based think tank warns in a new report. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace bases its conclusions on sophisticated statistical modelling of likely agreements resulting from the Doha Round of trade talks, which have been underway for the past five years. The central scenario projected in the Carnegie report involves an ambitious expansion of market access for manufactured goods and a more modest expansion of world trade in farm products, accompanied by elimination of subsidies for agricultural exports.

Global: Trade rules a stumbling block to realising the MDGs

2006-03-20

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32513

Less than a decade remains for countries to reach the ambitious targets laid out in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -- agreed on by global leaders at a summit in 2000. The eight MDGs focus on halving the number of people living in extreme hunger and poverty, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality and reducing child mortality, all by 2015. They also aim to improve maternal health, combat disease, ensure environmental sustainability and develop partnerships that can tackle issues such as unfair global trade rules, and debt in developing countries. To get a sense of what progress is being made towards achieving the MDGs, Walter Kudzodzi spoke to Tetteh Homeku, director of programmes at the Accra-based Third World Network-Africa (TWN-Africa).

Kenya: World Bank approves Sh7bn for trade

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603201316.html

The World Bank has approved US$120.6 million (Sh8.68 billion) aid to Kenya under its trade and transport facilitation project. The project will fund implementation of the East African Community Customs Union and provide institutional backing for transport. Finance ministry Permanent Secretary Joseph Kinyua said the funding, approved last month, would make it cheaper for businesses to operate in the country through improved transport network and simpler customs procedures. Kenya got the lion's share of the US$184 million World Bank's kitty for the three East African countries, with Uganda receiving US$26.4 million and Tanzania US$37 million.

Nigeria: Obasanjo in battle with Russia over Nepad

2006-03-23

http://www.tribune.com.ng/120306/news10.htm

Nigeria and Russia are now pitched in an emotive diplomatic row following a resolve by the Russian government to side track the agenda of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) from the overall programme of G8, ahead of the next G8 meeting to be held in Moscow, Sunday Tribune can report. Russia, the current chairman of G8 has tactically been distancing itself from NEPAD and has been indicating that NEPAD will not form part of issues that the G8 would deliberate upon during its next summer meeting in Moscow, a development said to have angered President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Zambia: Government cautious about spending debt savings

2006-03-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52341

Zambia's coffers are $150 million richer after having its debts slashed by G8 countries last year, but despite calls for the opening of the spending taps, the government has adopted a prudent approach to poverty alleviation. According to finance minister Ngandu Magande, about 95 percent of the US $7 billion external debt will disappear by the end of 2006, following Zambia's selection as one of 19 countries to qualify for debt cancellation from the G8 group of rich nations.

East Africa: Stocrin price cut to lead to more reductions

2006-03-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603210698.html

The reduction in the price of a key Aids drug, Stocrin, is expected to put pressure on other global multinationals to reduce their medicine prices. UNAids says further reductions are essential to achieving universal access to the life-saving drugs by 2010. The price cut, which was announced recently on the fifth anniversary of the pharmaceutical company Merck Sharp & Dohme's worldwide HIV/Aids pricing policy, will see the price of Stocrin fall by 20 per cent.

Ethiopia: H5N1 test negative, scare hurts economy

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603200132.html

The ministry of health in Ethiopia says samples from dead chickens have tested negative for the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, but a nationwide scare about the disease has had an incalculable cost on its economy. Ethiopia sent blood samples from 14 chickens to be tested in Italy after 7,000 died of an unidentified disease in a state-owned farm in southern region. The remaining chickens were incinerated and the government banned movements of poultry products including chickens along a 60-km (38-mile) area surrounding Gubre poultry farm.

Global: Aids will hit firms harder in five years

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603201072.html

The threat of HIV/Aids on the global economy in the next five years is likely to cause severe losses, according to the World Economic Forum Report 2006. Business losses are predicted at 46 percent from 2005 compared to 37 percent as at 2004. "Future concern is rising about the expected impact of HIV/Aids on firms' operations over the next five years," reads in part the World Economic Forum (WEF) Report 2006 titled: Business & HIV/AIDS: A healthier partnership?

Kenya: Openness changes Aids sufferer

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603200564.html

Amid the din of swinging cranes and the rattle of heavy trucks, Francis Ruwa weaves through the gang of casual workers who are busy offloading cargo from a ship on the quayside at the port of Mombasa. In his hand, he is carrying a bundle of pamphlets which he distributes to his colleagues as he moves on, occasionally making stopovers to exchange greetings and pass on a word of advice. Unless one pays attention, Ruwa could easily be mistaken for a salesman distributing promotional materials but he is on a campaign trail against HIV/Aids which has already claimed hundreds of employees at the prestigious state corporation.

Nigeria: Nigeria: 74 ARV treatment centers established

2006-03-20

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=35949

Seventy-four antiretroviral therapy treatment centers have been established across Nigeria to help provide antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive people, Health Minister Eyitayo Lambo said last Thursday in a statement, AFP/Yahoo! News reports. Nigeria in December 2005 announced it would begin a program that aims to provide antiretroviral drugs at no cost to about 250,000 HIV-positive residents.

Sudan: Meningitis confirmed in Darfur IDP camp

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603200098.html

A vaccination campaign against meningitis is expected in western Sudan following the confirmation of an outbreak in Hamadyia camp for internally displaced persons in Zalinger, West Darfur, according to the United Nations World Health Organization. Some 28 cases of meningitis and one death had been reported through an early-warning system by 10 March, WHO said in a statement. The disease had also been reported in other regions of Sudan.

Tanzania: Bars, sex trade fuelling HIV spread say Zanzibar's muslims

2006-03-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603210189.html

The battle against HIV/AIDS in Zanzibar will not succeed as long as trade in alcohol and commercial sex work continue to thrive on the island, according to Muslim leaders. "Zanzibar would have been free of HIV/AIDS if Muslims stuck to their religious teachings but, mainly, if the government was serious about controlling the spread of pubs, especially in residential areas," said Sheikh Azzan Khalid, deputy leader of the Zanzibar Islamic Propagation Group. "The state television has been a key player in moral decay by showing programmes which promote sex."

The Gambia: Testing a vaccine for childhood pneumonia

2006-03-20

http://www.id21.org/health/h9fc3g1.html

Almost one in five of child deaths worldwide are caused by pneumonia. A vaccine tested in the Gambia in a study led by the UK Medical Research Council has proven to be effective against pneumonia, thus reducing hospital admissions and increasing survival rates. The researchers recommend the wider introduction of the vaccine across Africa.

Uganda: HIV prevalence drops to 6.4%, survey says

2006-03-20

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=36021

Uganda's HIV prevalence has decreased from 6.5% to 6.4%, according to a national AIDS indicator survey, Uganda's New Vision reports. The survey - which was presented on Monday by Wilford Lordson Kirungi, medical epidemiologist for the country's AIDS Control Program - was conducted between 2004 and 2005 and involved 10,437 households chosen at random. The survey finds that HIV prevalence fell in the country, and awareness of modes of transmission increased.

Zimbabwe: Pit latrines a health hazard in cities, warn experts

2006-03-20

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52271

Zimbabwe's local authorities and health experts have warned that the erection of ventilated pit latrines by the small number of beneficiaries of the country's urban renewal housing project could pose a serious health hazard. Government has encouraged the occupants of the 150 new houses hastily constructed after the controversial Operation Murambatsvina (Clean out Garbage), which affected hundreds of thousands of people last year, to build the toilets while they await the installation of formal ablution facilities.

Africa: Donors 'must end neglect of African universities'

2006-03-22

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=2717&language=1

International donors should invest more in Africa's universities because of the important role they could play in alleviating poverty, according to a study commissioned by the World Bank. The report, published last month, calls for donors to reverse their neglect of the higher education sector. It says wider access to university education would give many Africans a better life and stimulate economic development.

Africa: Education at the World Social Forum

2006-03-20

http://tinyurl.com/p3ogk

UNESCO and partner NGOs organized two panels on education at the Polycentric World Social Forum in Bamako, Mali, last January. The first workshop focused on the positive links between literacy, HIV prevention education and women’s empowerment. The second looked into civil society perspectives on Education for All. Participants underlined civil society’s role and responsibility in ensuring that governments respect their commitments to providing education opportunities to their people.

Africa: UNESCO and the African Union Summit

2006-03-20

http://tinyurl.com/r3cwe

A second “Decade for Education in Africa” is to be launched in 2006 to push forward the momentum of Education for All on the continent. “I hope that this Decade will allow us to make considerable progress in education, especially pan-African education,” says Alpha Oumar Konaré, Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union. As a prelude to this Decade, education and culture were high on the agenda for the African Heads of State participating in the 6th African Union Summit in Khartoum, Sudan on 23-24 January.

Global: Can the numbers be trusted?

2006-03-20

http://tinyurl.com/r7yba

Nearly one-fifth of the world’s adult population – 771 million adults – lack the basic literacy skills vital to improve their livelihoods, according to the EFA Global Monitoring Report released in November 2005. But where does this number come from? Does it include migrant workers, nomads or refugees? And how accurate is it? The Report makes cross-national comparison of literacy using data compiled by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). About two-thirds of the country statistics come from nationally-reported figures based on national censuses or surveys.

Kenya: Finally a woman named public university vice chancellor

2006-03-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603210852.html

Prof Olive Mwihaki Mugenda, 52, has been appointed the first woman Vice-Chancellor of a public university in Kenya. Prof Olive Mugenda, the new Kenyatta University Vice-Chancellor, addressed the press after her appointment. Mugenda edged out three male professors to clinch the top position at Kenyatta University - one of Kenya's oldest universities - for a five-year term. Formerly in charge of finance and planning, she deputised her predecessor, Prof Everett Standa, who returns to his teaching post at Moi University, after his three-year term ended on Monday.

Global: Ethnic audit of PRSPs and their effect on indigenous peoples

2006-03-20

http://digbig.com/4gtbs

Indigenous and tribal peoples represent about 5 per cent of the world's population, but over 15 per cent of the world's poor. The incidence of extreme poverty is higher among them than among other social groups and they generally benefit much less than others from overall declines in poverty. This paper reports on an ethnic "audit" of 14 PRSPs (poverty reduction strategy papers) in 14 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Its goal is to ascertain whether and how the rights, needs and aspirations of indigenous and tribal peoples have been taken into account and whether they have been involved in the consultations leading to the formation of the PRSPs.

Global: International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

2006-03-22

http://www.hrea.org/feature-events/id-against-racism.php

Sometimes, racist people commit acts which are as stupid as they are outrageous. However, violent forms of racism and discrimination is only the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the surface of apparent equality, people belonging to ethnic, religious, sexual or any other minorities, continue to be confronted with various forms of intolerance and discrimination. The vicious circle of popular bigotry and populist politicians finds easy victims in any group of people who fall outside the prejudiced perception of “normality”.

Africa: Taking Aim at MDG Targets

2006-03-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32542

The targets for the seventh United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) sound impressive. This MDG focuses on ensuring environmental sustainability. Eight goals were adopted by the international community at the UN Millennium Summit, held in 2000, in a bid to raise living standards around the globe by 2015. However, Muna Lakhani, a member of the South-Africa based environmental action group, Earthlife Africa, has concerns about the targets for MDG seven - and indicators used to measure progress towards these targets.

Global: Activists share reservations about global water forum

2006-03-20

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32519

"Access to water is a basic right": while this is the message voiced by the organisers of the 4th World Water Forum, beginning Thursday (March 16) in Mexico City, civil society activists take a dim view of this international event, as they believe it will promote the privatisation of water resources.

Global: Biosafety Protocol Alive, but Restricted

2006-03-22

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32550

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety "is alive," celebrated the delegates to the Third Meeting of the Parties to the Protocol (MOP3), although there were complaints about and criticism of modifications to the final agreement reached Friday night (March 17). "We made important concessions to accommodate legitimate concerns," Brazilian Environment Minister Marina Silva said in her closing speech.

Global: UN warns of worst mass extinctions for 65m years

2006-03-22

http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,1735751,00.html

Humans have provoked the worst spate of extinctions since the dinosaurs were wiped out 65m years ago, according to a UN report that calls for unprecedented worldwide efforts to address the slide. The report paints a grim picture of life on earth, with declining numbers of plants, animals, insects and birds across the globe, and warns that the current extinction rate is up to 1,000 times faster than in the past. Some 844 animals and plants are known to have disappeared in the last 500 years.

Kenya: Move to save curative tree

2006-03-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603210860.html

The country is losing tonnes of an indigenous tree species to Europe where it is used in the manufacture of a cancer drug. As a result, conservationists in Tigoni, Kiambu, have launched a campaign to save Prunus Africana, locally known as Muiri. Tonnes of the tree's bark are exported to France and other European countries every year for the manufacture of drugs used in the treatment of prostate cancer.

LESOTHO: Lowland districts face water shortages

2006-03-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52346

The Lesotho Highlands scheme supplies South Africa with millions of cubic metres of water per year, while people living in the lowlands of the tiny mountain kingdom struggle to find water for domestic consumption. Young women and children queuing with containers, waiting to draw water from boreholes or public taps, are a common sight in many parts of the country. "Life is difficult because we always have to travel for long distances to get water, and when we finally find a place that has water, there are many people waiting to get a turn," said Makemohele Koetle, from Lithabaneng district, southeast of the capital, Maseru.

Tanzania: Using the sun to sterilise water

2006-03-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4786216.stm

Tanzanian villagers have begun using an energy-saving method to sterilise their drinking water - leaving the water under the sun. The piped water supply to Ndolela village in the central Iringa region is intermittent and even when it does it flow, it is not clean enough to drink. When the pipes run dry, villagers get water from a dirty spring. Mother of five Rose Longwa says the new process has changed her life. "We no longer suffer from stomach illness. That's because the water is clean and safe."

Kenya: Buildings, buildings everywhere and not a drop to drink

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603200099.html

Reports about the housing situation in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, often focus on the lack of proper places to stay - particularly in the massive slum of Kibera, where tens of thousands live in appalling conditions. However, there are also areas of the city where too many residential properties are being built - or at least, being built too quickly. Development here is outstripping the provision of water, electricity and sewerage systems. And the result, greater numbers of people relying on limited infrastructure, is seen as a recipe for disaster.

DRC: ICC asked to investigate 2003 disappearance

2006-03-22

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/73048/

Reporters Without Borders and its partner organisation Journaliste en Danger (JED) have written to the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor asking him to carry out more thorough enquiries into the June 2003 disappearance of Agence France-Presse assistant Acquitté Kisembo. Militia chief Thomas Lubanga, who was arrested on war crimes charges and transferred to the ICC on 17 March 2006, is suspected of ordering his murder.

Southern Africa: Gender imbalances in the media need to be addressed

2006-03-22

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/78759f22d687e7b2c014224524e776db.htm

The media should address the gender imbalances in news coverage and in the newsroom to draw a larger audience of women, urge activists. Fewer women were used as sources in news stories because men shaped decisions on coverage in most media organisations, according to a survey of 76 countries, including 13 in Southern African, conducted by various NGOs participating in the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP).

Tunisia: Imprisoned human rights defender Mohamed Abbou on hunger strike

2006-03-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/32940

Incarcerated since 1 March 2006 for publishing an article on the Internet , lawyer and human rights defender Mohamed Abbou has been on hunger strike since 11 March. He is protesting his prison conditions that have worsened since 2 March, when a gathering in front of Kef prison, where he is detained, took place that was blocked by the police and the National Guard.
IFEX - News from the international freedom of expression community
_________________________________________________________________

UPDATE - TUNISIA

15 March 2006

Imprisoned human rights defender Mohamed Abbou on hunger strike

SOURCE: Observatory for the Freedom of Press, Publishing and Creation in Tunisia (OLPEC), Tunisia

**Updates IFEX alerts of 6 and 2 March and 28 February 2006, 21 September, 27 July, 13 June and 4 May 2005**

(OLPEC/IFEX) - The following is an abridged translation of a statement by the CNLT, of which OLPEC is a member:

Imprisoned lawyer and human rights defender Mohamed Abbou on hunger strike

Incarcerated since 1 March 2006 for publishing an article on the Internet , lawyer and human rights defender Mohamed Abbou has been on hunger strike since 11 March. He is protesting his prison conditions that have worsened since 2 March, when a gathering in front of Kef prison, where he is detained, took place that was blocked by the police and the National Guard.

In recent days, Abbou has been woken in the middle of the night by guards who beat him and target him in retaliation. The prison administration has also incited some of his fellow prison-mates to harass and further damaging rumours about Abbou and his family, reported his sister, who visited him on 9 March.

Prison guards also stopped his weekly visit after only three minutes, despite the insistence of his mother, whom he had not seen in three months. His wife Samia Abbou, had decided since 2 March not to meet her husband behind bars and to instead stage a sit-in in front of the prison each Thursday visiting day, as a sign of protest against the injustice faced by her husband.

A substantial police dispatch encircled Samia Abbou during her last sit-in. Numerous State Security and National Guard vehicles "escorted" her and barrister Idoudi, the entire way out of Tunis to Kef (170 km), stopping the vehicle 10 times, during which the driver had documents removed from his car and a ticket drawn up against him.

For further information contact OLPEC, Tunisia, e-mail: postmaster@observatoire-olpec.org, Internet: http://www.observatoire-olpec.org

The information contained in this update is the sole responsibility of OLPEC. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please credit OLPEC.
_________________________________________________________________
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Uganda: Ministers in near fight as police raid FM radio station

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603201082.html

Police in Uganda raided Open Gate FM Radio, arrested two presenters and picked up computers, two days after two ministers nearly fought outside the radio studios. The minister for the presidency, and the state minister for energy confronted Budadiri West MP Mafabi at the radio station on Saturday accusing him of defaming them. Mafabi had been on a talk show on the radio. Non-uniformed policemen arrived at the radio station at 1pm and attempted to take the on-air computer too.

Zimbabwe: Government seeks more snooping powers

2006-03-22

http://www.journalism.co.za/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=3796

The Zimbabwean government has drafted a bill that would permit the surveillance of telephone and e-mail communications while making it compulsory for service providers to install the enabling equipment on behalf of the state, according to a statement from Misa. The proposed law, the Interception of Communications Bill 2006, seeks to empower the chief of defence intelligence, the director-general of the Central Intelligence Organisation, the Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority to intercept telephonic, e-mail and cellphone messages.

Nigeria: Second Nigerian Youth Leadership Summit Consultation

Rina Alluri

2006-03-22

http://www.developmentpartnership.org/dpi/events/2nd_Youth_Summit.html

In preparation for the Second Nigerian Youth Leadership Summit scheduled for Enugu during July 4-5, 2006, development Partnership International along with other partners is organizing consultative sessions in all the geopolitical zones of Nigeria and in the Diaspora from May- June 2006. The purpose of the consultation is to find out what young people perceive as their most important priorities, what efforts and interventions they are undertaking to address these important priority areas, what challenges they are facing, both as young people and at the level of their work, identify and document best practices emerging from their work, and recommendations on how they can further improve their work. The consultation in the Diaspora, will focus more on health policy, health sector reforms, and how those in the Diaspora can contribute to Nigeria’s health sector development.

East Africa: EU offers regional body Sh344m

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603201230.html

The European Union wants Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) members to sign a treaty that would usher in stability, security and development in the Horn of Africa. The EU also said it was willing to give Igad Sh344 million to deal with migration and refugees. European Commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, Louis Michel, said such a regional pact would complement programmes to address cross-border issues.

East Africa: Plan on for regional fund to fight hunger

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603201003.html

An emergency fund to help fight hunger in the Horn of Africa will be set up if Heads of State adopt the proposal during a Summit recently held in Nairobi. The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) council of ministers proposed that the fund be set up as one way of finding a lasting solution to the disaster. The proposal is to be presented to the leaders who include President Kibaki, Sudan's Omar El Bashir and Uganda's Yoweri Museveni, at the 11th IGAD summit of the assembly of heads of state and government.

East Africa: States to back Somalia peace bid

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603201298.html

Seven countries have agreed to deploy security forces to Somalia to help find lasting peace in the country. Under the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, the countries also agreed to establish a regional emergency fund involving the private sector to fight ravaging famine in the Horn of Africa. In a 56-point communiqué released after a one-day Summit in Nairobi, Presidents Kibaki, Omar El Bashir (Sudan), Abdullahi Yusuf (Somalia), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) and Ismael Omar Guelleh (Djibouti) further welcomed the progress made in the implementation of peace deal for Sudan.

Senegal: Some 4,500 displaced by clashes

2006-03-22

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52327

Fighting between Guinea Bissau troops and Senegalese separatists has forced more than 4,500 people to flee their homes in the past several days, humanitarian officials have said. Since Thursday last week, the Guinea Bissau military have been bombarding rebels from Movement of the Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) in the area of Sao Domingo, a city just inside the Guinea Bissau border whose entire civilian population has fled. Entire towns and villages on in the border region are deserted after internal fighting within the MFDC spilled into Guinea Bissau last week.

Somalia: 2.1 million Somalis in urgent need of assistance

2006-03-22

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-6N4JRC?OpenDocument

A revised Humanitarian Appeal for Somalia was launched in Nairobi by the Acting Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mr Christian Balslev-Olesen, to seek additional funding to respond to the critical needs of 2.1 million people whose already chronically food insecure and dire humanitarian situation has been further aggravated by the worst drought in a decade.

Somalia: Questioning of US Navy use of deadly action against Somali vessels

2006-03-22

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=62630

On Saturday March 18, the USS Cape St. George and USS Gonzales opened fire on Somali vessels inside the Somali coastline, killing one while taking others into custody. The office of the Somali Justice Advocacy Center received calls from Somalia, and therefore asks the US government to release those in detention and offer an accurate explanation about the details of the incident.

Sudan: Democratic leader calls for a stop to 'human carnage' in Darfur

2006-03-21

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603200962.html

House of Representatives Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-California) delivered an emotional account of the crisis in Darfur, Sudan, which she called "a challenge to the conscience of the world," in an address hosted by the Center for National Policy last Friday. Pelosi visited refugee camps in Chad in February. She recounted the deplorable conditions that the people of Darfur are forced to live in, where refugees - including children and pregnant women -have to walk several miles for water and firewood and live in "inhuman" sanitary conditions.

Sudan: LRA Terrorises Sudan

2006-03-22

http://www.newsudanvision.com/lra.html

The people of southern Sudan nickname them "tong tong", referring to their notorious tactic of chopping off ears, lips and arms. Top UN officials in Sudan call them an international terrorist group whose actions are "brutal and absolutely unforgivable". And commanders of the SPLA, the former rebels of southern Sudan, call them the deadliest and most dangerous of all militias supported by the Sudan government. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has effectively extended its reign of terror from Uganda into the deepest jungles of Southern Sudan, causing death and destruction, disrupting relief operations, cutting off trade routes and preventing the return of refugees.
Related stories:
Uganda: US to support Anti-LRA war
http://allafrica.com/stories/200603200587.html

Sudan: To save Darfur

2006-03-23

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=4027&l=1

The international strategy for dealing with the Darfur crisis primarily through the small (7,000 troops) African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) is at a dead end, says the International Crisis Group. "If the tragedy of the past three years is not to be compounded, the AU and its partners must address the growing regional crisis by getting more troops with greater mobility and firepower on the ground at once and rapidly transforming AMIS into a larger, stronger UN peacekeeping mission with a robust mandate focused on civilian protection," says the think tank.

Africa: New website explores Africa's need for Internet fiber

2006-03-22

http://www.digitaldivide.net/blog/acarvin/view?PostID=11831

The Association for Progressive Communications has launched a new website to promote East Africa's dire need for an international submarine cable that could provide affordable broadband Internet access. This web site, FibreForAfrica.net, has been put together to provide basic information about international Internet bandwidth in Africa, its costs and the existence of monopoly access to it.

Africa: Web tools build African languages

2006-03-22

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

LocaleGEN, an online tool to help build African language locales in up to 700 African languages, will be released. Alberto Escudero-Pascual, a software localisation developer known for his work on the Swahili translation of Linux (KiLinux) is responsible for the development, and says the tool aims to help facilitate the creation of African language locales.

Kenya: The diaries of mad Kenyan bloggers

2006-03-22

http://allafrica.com/stories/200603131230.html

Local online diarists are treading where professional journalists won't dare to shape public opinion on everything from politics, economics to sex. Is this the birth of new media in Africa as faceless authors take on hot subjects? Ben Singer reports on Kenyan blogs in this article from The Nation newspaper.

Nigeria: Digital revolution on streets of Nigeria

2006-03-22

http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=225&fArticleId=3167473

Peddlers of pirated software now hold sway on the very streets where drug dealers and prostitutes plied their wares a decade ago in Nigeria's biggest city. Every building in the Ikeja district is now packed with computer and cellphone ware. Business is done on the streets.

Africa: Panos small grants programme for print media journalists

2006-03-22

http://panoseasternafrica.org.ug/grants.html

The Panos Global AIDS Programme invites print journalists from Eastern Africa; Western Africa; the Caribbean; South Asia to participate in a small grants programme aimed at raising debate at country level on the progress made by their countries in the attainment of the goals of the Declaration of Commitment agreed upon during the United Nations General Assembly Special Sessions (UNGASS) on HIV/AIDS held in June 2001.

Africa: Women's land link Africa

2006-03-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/32930

Women's Land Link Africa, a joint project of the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE), the Huairou Commission, FAO, Southern and Eastern Africa and UN HABITAT, was proud to celebrate International Women's Day, 8 March, by launching its website, www.wllaweb.org Although women's rights to land, housing and property are clearly recognized in laws at all levels, practically, there is a discernable gap between theory and practice of these laws.
Women's Land Link Africa: A New Approach

Women's Land Link Africa, a joint project of the Centre on Housing Rights and
Evictions (COHRE), the Huairou Commission, FAO, Southern and Eastern Africa
and UN HABITAT, is proud to celebrate International Women's Day, 8 March, by
launching its website, www.wllaweb.org

Although women's rights to land, housing and property are clearly recognized
in laws at all levels, practically, there is a discernable gap between theory
and practice of these laws.

There are ongoing efforts in response to these problems at various levels,
from advocacy and awareness raising to development initiatives- all focused
on improving women's access, control and ownership of land and housing. Yet
is has become clear that coordination and linking of such efforts are lacking
- in particular between grassroots women- and lessons learned and best
practices are lost or kept only to a few.



Linking Together:

Women's Land Link Africa, or WLLA, seeks to fill this gap. It is an
innovative initiative designed to link, support and strengthen women's
struggles related to housing and land throughout the African continent.

Combining community development and human rights based approaches, the WLLA
builds on efforts by enhancing advocacy for law and policy reform and
implementation; facilitating information exchange on best practices and
lessons learned on improving women's access, ownership and control over
housing and land; and assisting in development of tools and strategies
towards achievement of women's equal rights to land housing and property
within Africa.

Website:

You are invited in this effort to take a look at our website to find out more
about WLLA and women's housing and land work in Africa.

The website is only one aspect of our work, and it, like the activities and
actions of WLLA itself, will be expanding each day. So the website is still
under construction with new information continuously being added- so check
back often after today!

Women rights should be respected and women's efforts celebrated, not just on
International Women's Day, but everyday. Won't you please join us?



Many thanks.

Sylvia Noagbesenu

Women Land Link Africa Information

Officer,

Women and Housing Rights Programme (WHRP)

Centre on Housing Rights and Eviction (COHRE)

Africa Regional Office:

PMB CT 402

Cantonments, Accra

GHANA

Tel: +233 (21) 238.821 (direct)

Fax: +233 (21) 231.688

Email: sylvia@cohre.org

Website: www.cohre.org

'Housing Rights for Everyone, Everywhere'

Global: Digital Vision Programme Fellowship

2006-03-22

http://rdvp.org/become/

The Program awards approximately fifteen fellowships each year to exceptional social entrepreneurs and technology professionals from around the world. Successful candidates have innovative ideas and are passionate about implementing a project to empower individuals and communities in the developing world.

Southern Africa: Research grants on resource mobilisation for equity in health

2006-03-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/32933

The Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (Equinet), through the Health Economics Unit, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa invites applicants for medium scale research grants (of up to £9000 each) for experienced individuals working in the field of health care financing in East and Southern Africa. Interested participants are encouraged to submit proposals for the development of country level case studies and to undertake research on a particular area of resource mobilisation or mechanisms for strengthening cross-subsidies in the overall health system. This area of work contributes specifically to the ‘fair financing’ work which is one of Equinet's priority work areas.
REGIONAL NETWORK FOR EQUITY IN HEALTH IN EAST AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

CALL FOR APPLICANTS FOR COUNTRY LEVEL RESEARCH GRANTS ON RESOURCE MOBILISATION FOR EQUITY IN HEALTH,

Call Closes On May 5 2006.

The Regional Network for Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET) promotes
policies for equity in health across a range of priority theme areas (See
www.equinetafrica.org)

EQUINET through the Health Economics Unit University of Cape Town, Cape Town South Africa invites applicants for medium scale research grants (of up to £9000 each) for experienced individuals working in the field of health care financing in East and Southern Africa. Interested participants are encouraged to submit proposals for the development of country level case studies and to undertake research on a particular area of resource mobilisation or mechanisms for strengthening cross-subsidies in the overall health system. This area of work contributes specifically to the ‘fair financing’ work which is one of EQUINET’s priority work areas. Possible areas of research include:
• Individual health financing strategies such as:
➢ impact of the removal of user fees;
➢ sustainability and equity of pre-payment schemes;
➢ equity impact of changes in donor funding mechanisms;
➢ impact of debt relief on health care financing.
• Implementation of mechanisms for improved cross subsidies in overall health system financing (e.g. mechanisms for equalising risks between separate health insurance or pre-payment schemes; and mechanisms for addressing public-private mix disparities);
• Impact of differentiated hospital amenities on equitable health care financing; and
• Equity oriented legislation relevant to health financing and its implementation in the private for-profit health sector

The application should be made jointly by the applicant and the institution that they are affiliated to. Grants will only be awarded to institutions in the East and Southern Africa region. Applicants are expected to have experience in health, health equity, and health care financing. Those active in EQUINET work are encouraged to apply.

The proposals must be submitted by 5 May 2006 and the feedback will be provided by May 17 2006. Applicants may be asked to respond to and make revisions based on peer reviewer comments on their proposals prior to award of grants. The country level research is expected to begin on 1 June 2006, and a draft report must be submitted by 30 August 2007, and the final report will be due on the 30th of November 2007.

Applications should include
 The research proposal setting out clearly the background, aims, methods to be used, expected data to be gathered and analysis to be implemented, relevant ethical clearances to be obtained and how the results will be reported and used
 A brief CV of the applicant
 The name and full contact information of the institution which the individual is affiliated to
 An example of the written work of the applicant


Applications be submitted to admin@equinetafrica.org and copied to vmutyam@heu.uct.ac.za with RESOURCE MOBILISATION GRANTS in the subject line or by fax to EQUINET resource Mobilisation grants on +27 21 448 8152
By 5 May 2006.

The focal point for queries on this programme is Vimbayi Mutyambizi at the Health Economics Unit University of Cape Town, Cape Town South Africa.

Kenya: Poverty Eradication Network courses

2006-03-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/32928

The Poverty Eradication Network (PEN) is introducing training courses for the not for profit sector. PEN has a wide range of proven interventions to strengthen your organisation: participatory organisational assessment; organisational development; governance strengthening; leadership and management training and mentoring; systems development for information technology, human resources, finance, administration and operational procedures; resource mobilisation and fund raising; and strategic planning.
The Poverty Eradication Network (PEN) is introducing training courses
for the not for profit sector. PEN has a wide range of proven
interventions to strengthen your organisation: participatory
organisational assessment; organisational development; governance
strengthening; leadership and management training and mentoring;
systems development for information technology, human resources,
finance, administration and operational procedures; resource
mobilisation and fund raising; and strategic planning.



Ask PEN to undertake a free needs assessment for your organisation or
attend one of our high-quality, highly- rated, proven international
training interventions at fees you can afford.



2006 Training Courses for Non Profit Organisation (NPO) leaders



Good Governance:



This course content includes: fundamental roles and responsibilities,
developing high-performance boards, resolving common problems, board
assessment and development. Participants produce action plans for
transforming their Board.



Who should attend: For NPO Board Members ONLY



Dates: Nairobi Thursday 20/04/2006 to
Saturday 22/04/2006

Dar es Salaam Thursday 29/06/2006 to
Saturday 01/07/2006

Kampala Thursday
05/10/2006 to Saturday 07/10/2006.


Duration: 3 days



Fees: US $ 400 or local
equivalent (incl. facilitation, materials, full room and board)


Resource Mobilisation:



This course is planned and facilitated with the "Resource Alliance -
UK". Understanding the changing community of donors; why do they
give, how can you connect with them? Build a strong case for support,
diversify your donor base to include local resources, generate your
own income and open new possibilities.



Who should attend: Fund raisers and Resource
Mobilisers with NPOs (Board

Members, CEOs,
Senior Managers and Consultants).



Dates: Kisumu Wednesday 17/05/2006
to Friday 19/05/2006

Zanzibar Wednesday 26/07/2006 to
Friday 28/07/2006

Entebbe Wednesday 13/09/2006 to
Friday 15/09/2006



Duration: 3 Days



Fees: US $ 400 or local
equivalent (incl. facilitation, materials, full room and board)



Strategic Planning:



Demystifying Strategic Planning this course provides a simple
framework to enable you to manage a process that will transform your
organisation. Set higher goals, address the key issues your
organisation faces, assemble a plan with measurable objectives and an
action plan that informs future organisational change. Build a truly
great organisation.



Who should attend: Board Members, CEOs and
Senior Managers



Dates: Mombasa Wednesday 03/05/2006 to Friday
05/05/2006

Dar es Salaam Thursday 03/08/2006 to
Saturday 05/08/2006



Duration: 3 Days



Fees: US $ 400 or local
equivalent (incl. facilitation, materials, full room and board)



Managing Change
(Building A High Performance NPO In A Rapidly Changing Environment) :



Get out of that rut, embrace change, move your organisation forward
with a series of carefully selected techniques. OD self-assessment,
building an OD plan, risk analysis, understanding and mastering change
management.


Who should attend: Board Members, CEOs and Senior Managers



Dates: Nairobi Thursday 13/07/2006 to
Saturday 15/07/2006

Dar es Salaam Thursday 26/10/2006 to
Saturday 28/10/2006



Duration: 3 Days



Fees: US $ 400 or local
equivalent (incl. facilitation, materials, full room and board)





These and other courses are also offered to individual organisations
on a tailor-made basis.

Visit our web site www.penkenya.org for more details.



Coming soon:

"Advocacy and Lobbying,"

"Strategic Leadership,"

"Training for Master Trainers."



PEN's trainers are pioneers in NPO leadership in Africa with
experience spanning more than 60 years. Spaces are still available, so
book now!











FILL IN THE ATTACHED REGISTRATION FORM AND RETURN BY POST OR EMAIL TO:

The Training Manager

Poverty Eradication Network

P.O. Box 4932, Nairobi, 00200.
Kenya

Tel. +254 20 4450656/7

Email: training@penkenya.org
Website: www.penkenya.org

Nigeria: Gender, poverty and environment in Africa

2006-03-20

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC21295

Green Earth Resources Network International and the Centre for Gender Studies at Benue State University, Makurdi, Nigeria present the international conference "Gender, poverty and environment in Africa: A challenge for African leaders" in Nigeria, 25-29 April 2006.

Southern Africa: Sustaining a vibrant women's movement in the SADC region

Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa and the Women in Law in Southern Africa Research Trust

2006-03-20

http://www.osisa.org

This meeting, held 26-30 March 2006, Mbabane, Swaziland, will explore, in depth, the dwindling vibrancy of the women’s movement in the Southern African Development Community and provide a road map towards its reinvigoration. Participants will engage in the situational analysis, examining the causes of the deteriorating vibrancy, proposing strategies and modalities to address this and collectively draw up an action plan with defined roles, responsibilities and timeframe for its implementation.

Ethiopia: Advocacy & Liaison Officer (African Union)

Crisis Group

2006-03-20

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=3991&l=1

The role will be to support the Africa Program in all advocacy activities with the African Union and all the major organisations located in Addis Ababa. Working under the supervision of the Africa Program Director and in coordination with our West, Central, Southern and Horn of Africa Project Directors you will strengthen our advocacy efforts with the African Union.

Gambia: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA)

2006-03-22

http://www.africaninstitute.org

The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA) is a pan African human rights organization, based in Banjul, the Gambia, established to promote the effective use of African human rights treaties and law to protect rights in Africa. The Executive Director will provide strategic direction and professional leadership, sustaining and building on IHRDA’s reputation and unique contribution to the human rights movement in the continent, and developing a strong team of professional and motivated staff.

South Africa: Program Associate, International Programs Division

Population Council

2006-03-22

http://www.popcouncil.org/opportunities/05-06.html

The individual in this position is responsible for implementing operations research activities on HIV/AIDS, with a specific focus on the care and treatment of people living with HIV/AIDS, including linking/integrating the provision of antiretroviral treatment into other HIV/AIDS programs.

Uganda: Part-Time Librarian

Forum for Women in Democracy

2006-03-20

http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#FOWODE

Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) is a non-partisan organization whose mission is to promote gender equality in all decision-making through advocacy, training, research and publishing. A resource center has been in existence at FOWODE since 1998 to facilitate women leaders at Parliamentary and lower levels. Young leaders and students now can access the library. We are looking for a committed librarian to participate in the on going reorganization of this Library.

West Africa: Gender-based Violence and Youth Advisor

The International Rescue Committee (IRC)

2006-03-22

http://ircjobs.org/jobs_details1.asp?Job_id=62760&Page_Id=6456&Published=1

The International Rescue Committee currently seeks a GBV and Youth Advisor for its West Africa programs who will report to the Senior GBV TA and will participate in monthly conference calls with the Sr. GBV TA and the Child Youth Protection Development Director.

Fahamu