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Featured this week

2006-05-25

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/34535

FEATURED: Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Asks Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- African CSOs petition African Union over exclusion from AU Summits
- Youth meets wisdom: Amy Niang visits Joseph Ki-Zerbo
- Ndungu Wainaina reflects on the challenges to democracy in Kenya
LETTERS: on presidential term limits
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Netfa Freeman says African Liberation Day is a time to recommit to Africa
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine rounds up the African blogosphere
BOOKS AND ART: Shailja Patel discusses plagiarism and African arts
AFRICAN UNION MONITOR: Africa group exercises power at the UN
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Arrests in DRC coup plot; Critical time for Sudan peace
HUMAN RIGHTS: World’s poor pay price of terror war
WOMEN AND GENDER: Gender activist laments “feminisation” of poverty
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: UK government accused on treatment of asylum seekers
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Crackdown on opposition in Zimbabwe
DEVELOPMENT: Taking the IMF off life support
CORRUPTION: Kenya’s Anglo-Leasing probe in trouble
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: US policies betray Africa HIV fight
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: ‘Titling’ land leads to weakening of rights in Africa
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Ethiopia cracks down on blogs
NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA: The first 100 days in Haiti
PLUS: Advocacy and Campaigns; Internet and Technology; e-Newsletters; Courses; Jobs.

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Africa Day: Who says slavery is dead?

2006-05-25

Tajudeen Abdul Raheem

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/34496

In flight to Nigeria, Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem encounters a howling young man being deported from the United Kingdom. How is it that the youth of African countries will do anything to leave their place of birth and slave away in poorly paid jobs in rich countries? What kind of societies are being constructed in African countries when remittances act as the only method of survival for whole commmunties?


Today is Africa Day and I wish to share a very painful story with you.

One has heard or read many horror stories about detentions, forceful removals, and deportation of Africans accused of being 'illegal immigrants' or failed asylum-seekers, almost always from one European country or the other. Most people are not likely to encounter this directly. In February this year I came face to face with the inhuman way it is done.

I was travelling to Nigeria with a former radical lecturer, mentor to several generations of Nigerian students and intellectuals, Dr Patrick Wilmot. In 1988 he was kidnapped by security officials of the IBB regime (government of Ibrahim Babangida) and forcibly removed from Nigeria, a country in which he had lived in for almost 2 decades and despite the fact that he was and still is married to a Nigerian.

Wilmot's 'crime' was allegedly, 'teaching what he was not paid to teach'! Wilmot is of Jamaican origin but has lived longer in Nigeria than in Jamaica and is better known to Nigerians and considered 'one of us' by many. Yet in one night the military government yanked him away from his family and academic community and landed him in the United Kingdom, a country in which he had never lived in before and had nothing but a painful historical link of slavery and colonialism. Britain finally gave him legal residence and later citizenship and London has remained his home since 1988.

In spite of fears and anxiety by friends and colleagues unsure about the selective efficiency of the African state when it comes to real and imagined 'enemies', Wilmot was happy to be returning to a country from which he was deported. I was never officially deported from Nigeria but have become expert at being 'prevented to leave or enter the country' throughout the military regime and even under the current 'democratic' order. My travelling with Wilmot was both a personal and political assurance that we could face any trouble together and tough it out.

From checking in and boarding you know you are Nigeria-bound and in many ways feel like you are already in the country. As loud as Nigerians are infamous for, that evening there was an unusual noise coming from the back of the plane, distinct from the racket of voices around. The voice grew more disquieting as we sat so I went to check in the next cabin.

At the back of the plane was a young Nigerian man, definitely not more than 25 years old, sandwiched between two bully-built white British police/immigration officers and handcuffed to both of them. I made enquiries from the airhostesses since my initial attempt to talk to the man's captives was rebuffed. The hostess casually informed me that it was nothing unusual, that these things happen fairly regularly, that the man was being 'removed' and assured me that his noise would reduce as soon as the flight settled.

Meanwhile, the removal police were trying their best to calm down the howling young man as they would 'calm' an aggressive dog or cat. On his part he was just crying, howling, swearing, and whining like a trapped animal. It was so dehumanising and I felt humiliated for him and for Africa. Even sadder still was the general indifference of most of the other largely Nigerian passengers. Many of them have become inured to this kind of routine humiliation of fellow citizens. One even advised the whaling young man to 'shut up and try again when you get home'.

Here was Dr Wilmot, happy to return to a country from which he was unceremoniously thrown out, on the same flight with a young man being unceremoniously returned home. One got the impression that if he was left unshackled he could attempt jumping out of the plane. He wanted to be anywhere but home.

How bad can it be that a young man who should have his whole life ahead of him should be so frightened of going back home? What kind of society have we created where our young people see no hope in remaining in Africa and would do anything to leave it? We are even beginning to valorize poor jobs, bad pay and immigrant insecurity by gleefully talking these days about how important 'remittances' are to the welfare of Africans trapped in poverty at home. This actually makes it imperative for many young people to devise even more desperate means to opt out of Africa in order to become Western-Union life-savers to their families. Some countries are now even trying to launder that exploitation as part of Overseas Development Assistant (ODA)! And some of our own organisations in the name of Diaspora initiatives are directly or indirectly offering justification for this by only looking at the 'contribution' that remittance is playing instead of the wider conditions and the long term negative impact of whole communities dependent on handouts.

We do not tell the truth about the degradation, racism and exploitation that most of our people suffer in those 'shitty jobs', 'early morning and late night' that makes our peoples the last to go to sleep and the first to wake up!

These horror stories about immigration are repeated everyday across Africa and the world. Some of our own governments, despite being responsible for the economic and political conditions that are making many Africans leave home, even connive in the routine humiliation in their forcible return from different countries in Europe. Some of them are willing to accept payments from European countries in exchange for taking fellow Africans (not necessarily their citizens) that are deported from Europe.

Who says slavery is dead? This is official people trafficking by any other name and it is done with impunity by countries who have signed all kinds of international conventions allegedly protecting human rights. The same countries that are forcing us to globalise, open up our economies and markets, but are unwilling to open up their markets for our goods and our labour.

In spite of the humiliations many more people from across this continent will do anything to get a visa to go to the West and if that fails, anywhere else but Africa. Many years ago I had written about this phenomenon and suggested then that were a slave ship, properly labeled, to appear in any port city in Africa, people would rush into it proclaiming that they were fit to be slaves! It is worse today; we are in many ways financing our way into slavery both at home and globally.

As if the bad treatment from others was not enough, intra African trade and free movement of peoples are denied through branding of fellow Africans as 'aliens', 'foreigners', 'non indigenes' and 'settlers' even inside the same country. Pan Africanist entrepreneurs delivering goods and services to African people as when and where needed are criminalised as 'smugglers'.

They say Rome was not built in a day.

Today being Africa Day, we need to ask ourselves: if Romans were not there who would have built Rome? You need to ask yourself whether by your action or inaction you are part of the problem or part of the solution.

Happy Africa Day!

* 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 or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

AFRICAN CSO CONCERNS ON EXCLUSION FROM AU SUMMITS

Petition to the Commission of the African Union, 17 May 2006

2006-05-25

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/34538

To: H.E. Professor Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairperson of The Commission of the African Union

We write as representatives of African Civil Society to draw your attention to our serious concerns about the exclusion of organised and independent civil society organisations from last two Summit meetings of the African Union, and the non-organisation of the AU pre-summit CSO meetings. Like the 2005 Tripoli Summit before it, the last Khartoum Summit of the African Union in January 2006 excluded organised civil society presence and involvement.

We are dismayed at these developments, which appear to contradict the lofty promise of the preamble to the AU’s Constitutive Act in which the Heads of State of Africa professed a “common vision of a united and strong Africa energised by partnership between governments and all segments of civil society…”.

Towards seeking clarifications, redressing this and avoiding similar exclusions at the next and future summits, we humbly request for urgent consultations with the AU under your leadership. We shall be delighted if you are able to expedite consideration of our request and ensure that this situation is redressed before the forthcoming June-July 2006 Summit of the AU in The Gambia, in order to ensure CSO involvement the next and future summits.

We appreciate that The Commission, other structures of the AU and their officials maintain largely good relations with civil society, and that some member states are more welcoming than others. However, as independent and cohesive civil society we believe we must speak up on these developments as further exclusions by any future summit host countries will not only contradict Article 3g of the AU’s stated objective, in its Constitutive Acts to “promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance”, it could also shatter any hopes of ever realising the common vision of government-civil society partnership promised by the AU.

In addition to our concern that many civil society advocates were not able to secure entry clearance to Tripoli and Khartoum, and that the AU pre-summit CSO meetings did not hold, we are even more deeply concerned about the hostility displayed towards even minimum civil society presence.

On 21 January, just as the meeting of the Executive (Ministerial) Council of the AU was drawing to an end, security operatives of Sudan’s government arrested en masse, 35 representatives of African and international civil society and media organisations who had lawfully entered Khartoum while in a meeting to discuss mechanisms of effective partnership with the African Union. Also “arrested” were all lap top computers, note pads, papers and all instruments of record keeping in the possession of the civil society advocates. The arresting operatives reportedly assaulted some of the participants. Several hours later, the government of Sudan released their human prisoners. Till date, however, it retains indefinite custody of the computers and records.

This is all the more shocking because we believe that the establishment of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOC) of the AU as one of the organisation’s principal organs nearly two years ago was supposed to end this kind of drama and, place civil society’s partnership with the African Union and African governments on a sound and secure footing.

AU Summits are the major venue for regional policy making. Representatives of international and multi-lateral actors are always to be found at these Summits. The exclusion of, or harassment of African civil society at Summits could be seen as reverse discrimination against African voices in our own continent at a time when the continent deserves to enlist all the support it can muster from Africans and people of goodwill around the world.

We therefore fear that continuing exclusions of African CSO’s will worsen rather than accelerate the resolution of Africa’s numerous development problems.

To avert such a scenario, we propose that the AU should:

(a) Affirm the entitlement of African civil society to attend, hold meetings and participate in the coming summit to be hosted by Gambia, and future AU Summits; other AU meetings/events; or otherwise engage the AU as partners with our governments in the important and urgent task of ensuring the full social and economic development of Africa.

(b) Institute transparent standards and access requirements to be met by all subsequent hosts of its Summits; and liaise with host countries to ensure that CSO delegates do not suffer harassment. (c) Ensure adequate consultation with a view to urgent completion of the pending review of the 1993 rules on civil society consultation with the AU; and (d) Encourage the speedy establishment of independent structures for AU’s ECOSOC.

We reaffirm our believe that the development challenges facing our continent especially around key issues such as: Democracy and Good Governance; Human Rights; Gender Equality and Women’s Rights; Academic and Intellectual freedom; Economic and Social rights; Freedom of Expression and the Media; Human Security, Peace and Conflict issues; Food security; Health and in particular HIV/AIDS and other Public Health issues; Education, Science and Technology and ICT; Historical and Cultural Rights, Youth Development and many more cannot be resolved without the involvement of civil society.

We place ourselves at the disposal of the Commission of the AU for the purpose of clarifying and resolving the above concerns.

Signed by 56 Organisations (for full text and details of signatories, see link below)
African CSO Concerns on Exclusion from AU Summits

H.E. Professor Alpha Oumar Konare,
Chairperson of The Commission
Of The African Union,
African Union Headquarters,
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

17 May 2006

Your Excellency

African Civil Society Participation in the African Union

We write as representatives of African Civil Society to draw your attention to our serious concerns about the exclusion of organised and independent civil society organisations from last two Summit meetings of the African Union, and the non-organisation of the AU pre-summit CSO meetings. Like the 2005 Tripoli Summit before it, the last Khartoum Summit of the African Union in January 2006 excluded organised civil society presence and involvement.

We are dismayed at these developments, which appear to contradict the lofty promise of the preamble to the AU’s Constitutive Act in which the Heads of State of Africa professed a “common vision of a united and strong Africa energised by partnership between governments and all segments of civil society…”.

Towards seeking clarifications, redressing this and avoiding similar exclusions at the next and future summits, we humbly request for urgent consultations with the AU under your leadership. We shall be delighted if you are able to expedite consideration of our request and ensure that this situation is redressed before the forthcoming June-July 2006 Summit of the AU in The Gambia, in order to ensure CSO involvement the next and future summits.

We appreciate that The Commission, other structures of the AU and their officials maintain largely good relations with civil society, and that some member states are more welcoming than others. However, as independent and cohesive civil society we believe we must speak up on these developments as further exclusions by any future summit host countries will not only contradict Article 3g of the AU’s stated objective, in its Constitutive Acts to “promote democratic principles and institutions, popular participation and good governance”, it could also shatter any hopes of ever realising the common vision of government-civil society partnership promised by the AU.

In addition to our concern that many civil society advocates were not able to secure entry clearance to Tripoli and Khartoum, and that the AU pre-summit CSO meetings did not hold, we are even more deeply concerned about the hostility displayed towards even minimum civil society presence.

On 21 January, just as the meeting of the Executive (Ministerial) Council of the AU was drawing to an end, security operatives of Sudan’s government arrested en masse, 35 representatives of African and international civil society and media organisations who had lawfully entered Khartoum while in a meeting to discuss mechanisms of effective partnership with the African Union. Also “arrested” were all lap top computers, note pads, papers and all instruments of record keeping in the possession of the civil society advocates. The arresting operatives reportedly assaulted some of the participants. Several hours later, the government of Sudan released their human prisoners. Till date, however, it retains indefinite custody of the computers and records.
This is all the more shocking because we believe that the establishment of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOC) of the AU as one of the organisation’s principal organs nearly two years ago was supposed to end this kind of drama and, place civil society’s partnership with the African Union and African governments on a sound and secure footing.

AU Summits are the major venue for regional policy making. Representatives of international and multi-lateral actors are always to be found at these Summits. The exclusion of, or harassment of African civil society at Summits could be seen as reverse discrimination against African voices in our own continent at a time when the continent deserves to enlist all the support it can muster from Africans and people of goodwill around the world.

We therefore fear that continuing exclusions of African CSO’s will worsen rather than accelerate the resolution of Africa’s numerous development problems.
To avert such a scenario, we propose that the AU should:

(a) Affirm the entitlement of African civil society to attend, hold meetings and participate in the coming summit to be hosted by Gambia, and future AU Summits; other AU meetings/events; or otherwise engage the AU as partners with our governments in the important and urgent task of ensuring the full social and economic development of Africa.

(b) Institute transparent standards and access requirements to be met by all subsequent hosts of its Summits; and liaise with host countries to ensure that CSO delegates do not suffer harassment. (c) Ensure adequate consultation with a view to urgent completion of the pending review of the 1993 rules on civil society consultation with the AU; and (d) Encourage the speedy establishment of independent structures for AU’s ECOSOC

We reaffirm our believe that the development challenges facing our continent especially around key issues such as: Democracy and Good Governance; Human Rights; Gender Equality and Women’s Rights; Academic and Intellectual freedom; Economic and Social rights; Freedom of Expression and the Media; Human Security, Peace and Conflict issues; Food security; Health and in particular HIV/AIDS and other Public Health issues; Education, Science and Technology and ICT; Historical and Cultural Rights, Youth Development and many more cannot be resolved without the involvement of civil society.

We place ourselves at the disposal of the Commission of the AU for the purpose of clarifying and resolving the above concerns.

Kindly accept, Your Excellency, warm assurances of our profound esteem.

Yours Sincerely

Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, Women Advocates Research & Documentation Center (WARDC) Nigeria
Ahmed C Motala,Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, South Africa
Amie Joof, FAMEDEV , Senegal
Antonio Muagerene, OLIPA-ODES, Nampula, Mozambique
Aurelia Nicole Nguejo, Tuberculosis National League, Cameroon
Auwal I.Musa Rafsanjani, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) Nigeria
Babatunde Oluajo, Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Nigeria
Benjamin Castello, Coalition Jubilee 2000, Angola
Bertha Chiroro, Electoral Institute of Southern Africa, EISA , South Africa
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, African Women's Development Fund, Ghana
Chacha Benedict Wambura, Foundation HELP, Tanzania
Constantino Mendes JEA - The Ecological Youth of Angola, Angola
Corlett Letlojane, Human Rights Institute of South Africa HURISA, South Africa
Daniel Acheson, Civil Society Movement of Libera (CSM-L), Liberia
David Barnard, Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT), South Africa
David Mafabi, Pan African Movement, Uganda
Dismas Nkunda, Darfur Consortium, Uganda
Dr SOW Thierno Maadjou, OGDH ( Organisation Guinéenne de Defense des Droits de l'Homme), Republique de Guinée ( Conakry)
Dr.Rama Naidu, Democracy Development Programme, South Africa
Edetan Ojo, Media Righjts Agenda (MRA) Nigeria
Elizabeth Eilor, AWEPON, Uganda
Ezra Limiri Mbogori, MWENGO, Zimbabwe
Firoze Manji, Fahamu, UK/Diaspora & South Africa
Gabriel Baglo, Africa Affiliates, International Federation of Journalists, IFJ Senegal
Gibril Faal - African Foundation for Developemnt (AFFORD) – UK/Diaspora
Gillian Ameck Ayong, Action for Conflict Transformation, South Africa
Iheoma Obibi, Alliances for Africa, Nigeria, UK/Diaspora
Innocent Chukwuma, CLEEN Foundation, Nigeria
Ibrahim Kasozi, Youth Development Forum (YODEFO) Uganda
John B. Wabire, SUSTAINABILITY WATCH NETWORK-Kenya
Joseph Chilengi, Africa Internally Displaced Persons Voice, Zambia
Kaitira E. Kandjii, Media Institute Of Southern Africa, (MISA), NAMIBIA
Kwame Karikari, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA),Ghana
Lavina Banduah, National Accountability Group, Sierra Leone
Lois Chingandu, SAfAIDS , Zimbabwe
Mario Morais, FOPROI - Forum de ONG's da Provincia de Inhambane, MOZAMBIQUE
Marren Akatsa-Bukachi, The East African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI), Uganda
MAWULI DAKE, WISE- Ghana
Ndika Charles Akong, School of Governance ,Germany/Diaspora
Network of African Free Expression Organisations (NAFEO), Accra, Ghana
Olivia Bueno, The International Refugee Rights Initiative
Omololu Falobi, Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria
Opportune SANTOS AIFF/ECHOPPE Togo
Ozo Marome, SADC Youth Movement, South Africa
Patrick Mpedzisi, African Youth Parliament, Kenya
Paul Graham, IDASA, South Africa
Richard Koranteng twum Barimah, Volta Basin Development Foundation/African Rivers Network, Ghana
Ronke Adekunle, African Coalition for the Establishment of an Effective African Court on Human & People’s Rights
Roselynn Musa, FEMNET, Kenya
Rotimi Sankore, CREDO, Nigeria, UK/Diaspora
Sainabou Jaye, African Centre for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, Gambia
Silvestre Baessa, Mozambican Debt Group, Mozambique
Sudanese Organization Against Torture
Victor Kawanga, Commonwealth Forestry Association, Zambian Branch
YAV KATSHUNG JOSEPH, CERDH (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherche en Droits de l'Homme, Démocratie et Justice Transitionnelle, DRC
Wangari Kinoti, WOMEN DIRECT Service Centre, Kenya


*Replies to: Organising Committee for African Civil Society Consultations C/o

Africa Continental Contact
African Women's Development and Communications Network (FEMNET)
Réseau de Développement et de Communications des Femmes Africaines
P. O. Box 54562, 00200,
Nairobi, Kenya.
Tel: +254 20 3741301/20
Fax: +254 20 3742927
E-mail: admin@femnet.or.ke

Africa Diaspora Contact
Centre For Research Education & Development (CREDO)
AFA, Unit 10 Aberdeen Centre
Highbury Grove
London N5 2EA
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7424 5744
Fax:+44 (0)20 7424 5745
info@credonet.org

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Joseph Ki-Zerbo: The Historian and His Struggle

2006-05-25

Amy Niang

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/34532

Graduate student Amy Niang meets well known history professor Joseph Ki-Zerbo at his home in Burkina Faso.


There is an incommensurable gap between the old and younger generation of Africans. We - African youth - have grown up, been made to believe that anything ‘traditional’ or ‘old’ is necessarily retrograde, often ‘unreliable.’

Young Africans, especially children of the Diaspora, do not have the advantage of communicating with their past, a handicap that inhibits a corrective study of African history and deepens their incapacity to take their destiny in hand. According to an African proverb, “he who is lost doesn’t know where he comes from.”

I had the immense honor to meet the first African to qualify as professor of history, Joseph Ki-Zerbo, at his house in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (West Africa). At 84 today, weakened by age and sickness, Ki-Zerbo still draws amazing strength and vitality from his deeply-rooted convictions. He may have been preaching in the desert for decades but men like him live by their principles and his writings find resonance. African and world scholars have understood his message.

Ki-Zerbo deplores the increasing extinction of African identity. According to him, the curse of Africa is not the chronic poverty of its countries but the ignorance of its children of the true history and the true values of the continent. Unless Africans start learning about their own continent, their own thought system and the essence of its traditions, they will remain locked into the stranglehold of cultural identity.

It’s high time Africans liberate themselves from cultural asphyxiation, high time they went in search of what it is to be African, to draw the necessary lessons from their own traditional history in order to apprehend the future with confidence. The approach will consist, for Africa, in re-conquering its confiscated identity for, according to Ki-Zerbo, “without identity, we are just a mere object of history, a prop in the play of globalization, an instrument used by the others. A utensil.”

Ki-Zerbo narrates African past not in the way of a nostalgic chronicler who wallows in past glory or dwells into an imaginary fantasyland of pre-colonial Africa. He uncovers the history he was not taught at La Sorbonne University in France.

According to Ki-Zerbo, throughout history strong beliefs in simple principles such as the importance of family over the individual, the respect of elders, the spirit of sharing and good neighborliness, human communion in joy and sadness, etc, have been the bedrock of existence for Africans. Unfortunately, the degradation of these principles has blighted prospects for Pan-Africanism and development. But Ki-Zerbo warns us that “liberation for Africa will be Pan-African or will not be.”

Today, the debate over Africa is enmeshed in endless and ineffectual squabbling over the legitimacy of pseudo-democracies and misleading conflicts. But Ki-Zerbo argues that “the conception of power as well as its management in today’s Africa has nothing African to it.” In fact, political formations in pre-colonial Africa are rich with institutions based on a division of power with the greater possible number of people.

Africans, he says, “believe that power should be divided among its incumbents. They also believe that stability could be preserved in the multiplication of power.” He debunks misconceptions about African history and dominant theories that deliberately confine the history of the continent to the slave trade and the colonial experience. He adds that historical knowledge is a condition to collective liberation as the linkage between historical knowledge and self-worth is undeniable. In Africa, the lack of this knowledge has greatly contributed to underachievement and ‘mental underdevelopment.’

Ki-Zerbo is a man of vision and a soothsayer but he does not read Africa’s future in the sand of its drying soil; he uses the dialectical process of history as an investigative method to uncover the true past of the continent in order to understand the underpinnings of Africa’s value systems. He then tells us what a de-structured society can expect to see: the import and application of values that do not fit its peoples, which eventually will lead to the destruction of cultural identity.

His unsparing analysis and sharp, perceptive, riveting, pertinent, careful and thorough study of Africa’s history as well as its relations with the West has yielded a great number of articles and monographs, among which have been the comprehensive “History of Black Africa” (1972) that laid the foundation of a lifetime of scholarship and commitment to restoring the history of Africa by Africans. He also supervised the publication of two of the monumental eight-volume “General History of Africa” (Méthodologie et Préhistoire Africaine, 1981) as a member of the Scientific Committee for UNESCO.

He explores Africa’s past, drawing from oral tradition that is, in essence, the source of history and traditions for many African writers such as Mali’s late Amadou Hampaté-Bâ, who once said: “When an old man dies in Africa, it is like a whole library burning down.”

Ki-Zerbo’s life struggle and relentless social and political activism are not just a message of hope for Africa. It is the deep conviction of a man who knows that African development cannot be elusive forever and that it will be ‘African’ in conception and application or will not be. This knowledge is what he wishes young Africans to oppose against heavy odds and unacceptable immobilization, against institutionalized ignorance and empty rhetoric.

* Amy Niang is a Senegalese graduate student at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. E-mail her at amy_niang@yahoo.com

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

“The challenges of building a future democratic Kenya”

2006-05-25

Ndung’u Wainaina

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/34533

Ndungu Wainaina reflects on the succession politics presently waging in Kenya. He argues that the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) rose to power owing to the public desire for broad constitutional reforms in the sphere of governance to guarantee among others, human rights. Sadly, the coalition is now disintegrated and concludes that the task of completing the constitutional review and democratic transition in the country remains with all Kenyans.


The Kenyan state is in transition. The upcoming general elections in 2007 and the impending Kibaki succession are wrecking havoc on the political scene. But the agenda for this election is not clear. As of now the country stands between the possibility for progress into reforms and the rebirth of a new nation built on the firm tenets of democratic government and the respect for and promotion of human rights, or regression into the abyss of authoritarianism and bad governance. The 2002 general elections that saw the exit of the Kenya African National Union from state power for the first time in independent Kenya was primarily driven by the general public desire for reforms in governance, constitutional review and human rights spheres. The quest for a new democratic constitutional order was so central that all the political parties consistently promised to deliver a new democratic constitutional dispensation once they ascended into power.

The now disintegrated National Rainbow Coalition (NARC), won the elections on the promise of establishing a new constitutional dispensation within 100 days of getting into office. NARC won the elections, but failed to facilitate the making of the new constitution. This has resulted in a credibility deficit for the new government. Following the removal from government of the Liberal Democratic Party, a key partner in the Coalition, courtesy of the reconstituted cabinet in December 2005, the National Rainbow Coalition seems to have been dissolved. This has had a tremendous effect on the conduct of coalition politics in the country and the growth of constitutional democracy.

Four years after it was elected on the platform of reforms the NARC Coalition has failed to spearhead any of the key reforms that Kenyans wanted. The government failed to manage and facilitate the constitutional review process. Courtesy of its policy of non-negotiation, the government has engendered polarization of the country. Constitutional reform is the greatest casualty of this failure in leadership by the current government. Ending official corruption, impunity, institutional transformation and restoring the rule of law has fallen flat. Instituting a legitimate and radical transitional justice process in order to offer a firm socio-political and cultural framework to advance democratization and human development has been deferred. Continued reference to corruption cases in court is irrelevant as long as no tangible results are evident.

The reform of institutions has been slow, superficial, and misdirected. The conception and institution of the Governance, Justice, Law and Order Sector (GJLOS) reform has presented a situation where the path and direction of reforms has been reduced into a patching up process. Even though the president has insisted that his government is committed to socio-economic reforms to respond to the massive inequalities and poverty, results are mixed. The reported economic growth rate is lopsided in favour of the few big mainstream businesses while disinheriting the largest chunk of the population.

The country, now faced with the upcoming general election, is preoccupied with the intertwined political questions of undertaking a successful constitutional review and governance reforms and the Kibaki succession. Politically, Kenya is only democratic to the extent of regular elections; the government’s responsiveness to the will and the wishes of the people remains very limited. The progress towards democratic governance in Kenya depends more on the capacity of the citizenry to demand and protect their space and not magnanimity of the state.

The task of completing the constitutional review and democratic transition in the country remains with all Kenyans. There is urgent need to establish, focus and strengthen the citizenry into a critical mass that will provide the philosophical, institutional and logistical support to the various initiatives of the citizenry to develop a popular coalition to force and enhance the national drive towards completing the constitutional review and institutionalizing just and democratic governance in Kenya.

The experience of NARC has shown that regime change is not sufficient to facilitate democratic change. It is only right that the general Kenyan populace should in addition to being informed and made aware, be fully included in the quest for a new constitution and democratic order. For this to happen there is great need to consolidate and promote the emergence of a strong constituency of grassroots’ constitutional and democracy crusaders. The population has increasingly lost faith in the capacity of the government and commitment of the politicians to review the constitution and entrench democratic governance. More and more Kenyans are getting despondent. There is evidence that this development is neither entirely innocent nor accidental, but rather a consequence of political elite rigged democratic development.

The country requires the commitment of a core of champions around a common new vision for Kenya. This would guarantee democratic governance and social development. The sole objective of this core would be to drive and establish a new leadership to ensure the enjoyment of democratic governance by all. A large constituency of disinherited and excluded people is not only a great threat to the nation’s stability, harmony and continued existence as a going concern but also potentially the breeding ground for rebellion. The new leadership would usher a unique situation and opportunity of not only establishing a new constitutional order but also putting in place social democracy practitioners as the leaders and governance implementers of long desired changes in Kenya.

This transformative change calls for a core of leaders and citizens who are driven by higher values and aspirations than just material accumulation and professional excellence. It calls for an efficient economy with a human face; a strong political edifice with a human heart. If Kenya is to start dealing with her unhappy past comprehensively and decisively and to build a brighter future for all, then it will require people with a passion to serve and to change things; in the public, private and voluntary sector. It will require men and women with a dream great enough to die for and a vision big enough for everyone to have a part in it. It is time for converting the citizenry from casual observers to major stakeholders in this country. This will not threaten any one but rather secure the interests of even those who have done much to hurt the interest of the citizens and the country at large.

* Ndungu Wainaina is a Programme Officer, NCEC and Director, International Center for Policy and Conflict. P.O.Box 11996-00400 Nairobi. Tel: 4445974, 4446313; email: wainainagn@yahoo.co.uk

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

May 25: Celebration of an aspiration

2006-05-25

Netfa Freeman

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/34531

What is liberation? What is the existence of liberation like? While most holidays or commemorations celebrate people and things for whom or what they were, there are some that celebrate things as we aspire them to be. The latter is what can be said about May 25th when we celebrate African Liberation Day, often referred to as Africa Day.


Is African Liberation Day recognition of the rising tide of national independence that swept Africa and the Diaspora, or is it recognition of the continuing struggle for a completely liberated African world, free from all the vestiges of colonialism and neo-colonialism? The answer should not only be sought in history but also determined on the basis of which is more conducive to Africa's progress. Which best addresses the current exigencies of the African world?

History teaches that the origins of African Liberation Day are in the first Conference of Independent African States, which took place on April 15, 1958, in the Ghanaian capital of Accra. African leaders and political activists joined representatives from the governments of Ghana, Ethiopia, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, The United Arab Republic (a federation of Egypt and Syria), representatives of the National Liberation Front of Algeria and the Union of Cameroonian Peoples.

This represented the first Pan-African Conference held on African soil, expressing the collective disgust of African people with the system of colonialism and imperialism.

This conference defined Pan-Africanism as "the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism", laid out a strategy for coordinating the liberation of the rest of Africa and looked forward to the eventual complete unification of the entire continent. The Conference called for the founding of Africa Freedom Day, a day to, "mark each year the onward progress of the liberation movement, and to symbolize the determination of the People of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation."

Five years later in the city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, another historic meeting occurred. On May 25, 1963, leaders of thirty-two independent African States met to form the Organization of African Unity (OAU). By then over two thirds of the continent had achieved independence from colonial rule. This historic meeting changed the date of Africa Freedom Day from April 15th to May 25th and renamed the occasion African Liberation Day (ALD).

Since then ALD has been held on May 25th in every corner of the African world. It marks the last stage of African people's struggle against imperialism, demanding the African masses to coordinate efforts on a global scale and for the intellectual and professional classes to fulfill a heightened obligation.

Africa's intellectual and professional classes must not forget that we are only such because generations of our people, past and present, have struggled and suffered. This means that our obligation is to embrace the theoretical and scientific ground work laid down throughout the generations, put it into practice and use it to better the masses of Africa's children. Countless great leaders have practiced and written about the African revolution. The intellectuals and professionals must study this so we can know why we occupy this designation and how we can pick up where generations before have left off.

In order to do this we must collectively examine the theories and practices within the various stages and phases of our struggle for liberation. In other words African people must work and study together in organizations that exist for the liberation of Africa.

Because those historic meetings/conferences called for the "unification of Africa under scientific socialism" this means our generation's mission as agents for Africa's liberation is to make this a reality. We should not allow the current propaganda interests of the global order to make taboo the terminology, theories and lessons that have been accumulated by martyrs like Kwame Nkrumah, Walter Rodney, Sekou Ture, Shirley DuBois, Thomas Sankara, M'Balia Camara, Samora Machel, Malcolm X, and so many others.

Revolution is a concept that must be resurrected in the African world, as it currently is in Latin America. Countries like Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia are boldly showing us that we must hold fast on ideals of socialism and revolution. If "a better world is possible" Africa's rich legacy of struggle and natural potential dictates that a revolutionary Pan-Africanism become possible.

The difference between a revolutionary African and someone else is that whether they are a doctor, lawyer, engineer, carpenter, farmer, professor, educator, student, or whatever; a revolutionary African uses their attributes and skills for an organized mass movement that is working for profound positive change. That is the definition of revolution. Many freedom fighters before us, and today call for concrete and working relationships among Africans worldwide. Not a rhetorical or symbolic relationship and not simply economic but a growing, moving, permanent political phenomena.

Concrete relationships mean systematic, streamlined and consistent lines of communication between the African continent and the Diaspora; joint projects, programs and institutions that engage us on a global scale and that are socialist in nature.

ALD should be an occasion to remind and reinforce African people and the world of these exigencies. As the liberation struggle continues, ALD should be an opportunity for us to become more politically educated about the history and ever changing realities of Africa and her Diaspora, in addition to Africa's relationship to the struggles of other oppressed peoples of the world.

It must become an occasion for highlighting and hearing directly from men, women and youth who are on the front line of the struggle for Pan-Africanism and other just struggles. ALD celebrates the glorious and rich culture of Africa, but more importantly it is a chance to dedicate and rededicate our energies and our creativity to an African Revolution.

* Netfa Freeman is director of the Social Action & Leadership School for Activists (SALSA), a program of the Washington DC based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and an organizer with the Pan-African Liberation Organization (PALO). He can be emailed at netfa (at) hotsalsa.org.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Facts and news

2006-05-24

Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/34482

Pambazuka News is an encyclopedia of facts and news reports of great value to humanity. Well done and God bless.

Presidential limits: do we really need them?

2006-05-24

Chrysantus Ayangafac

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/34483

The issue of presidential term limits has always bucked my mind as I try to comprehend various constitutional trajectories across the globe and Africa in particularly. A cursory review of the polity in Gabon, Chad, Burkina Faso and Uganda etc will reveal something in common; poor institutional governance and near economic collapse. Can this hypothesis be explained by the fact that the presidents of these countries have been in power for more than two decades? Why do we need presidential limits? Do we necessarily need them in societies where there are institutional restrain on executive excesses grounded in accountability, representation and accountability?

Since the dawn of the third wave of democratisation in Africa, constitutional limits on presidential terms have somehow found themselves within the constitutions of some African countries. Presidential term limits were grounded in the rational that some of Africa’s political and economic ills are due to extended terms. While constitutional limits might be germane in themselves have they really achieved their desired effect?

My argument here is that, rather than focusing too much on presidential limits, we should first and foremost focus on strengthening institutional governance and the capacity of Africa states. Presidential term limits to my mind are the least of efforts to check executive excesses. For example, we need to create an environment and institutions which are responsive to executive prerogative. This entails widening the electoral base of a country, educating the electorate and enhancing courts. Within this context, presidential term limits will not just be a matter of constitutional provision but rather a matter of delivery.

Where presidential term limits operate within weak institutional frameworks, they are always easy to trample on. There is no doubt democracy and governance in some Africa countries is cosmetic and illusionary. Consequently, presidential term limits operating in a polity grounded in patrimonialism and rent-seeking, against a backdrop of weak and poor institutions, is always going to fail in achieving the “desired” effects.

Even when a president thus decides to step down, in a context of poor and weak institutions, presidential term limits do not preclude him from negotiating a reliable lapdog in the name of a successor to preserve elite interest, nor does this restrain him of hatching a deal to escape prosecution while he enjoys his bounty.

If we put too much energy into talking about presidential term limits, we might lose sight of the bigger picture, which is the institutional framework within which these presidents operate.

Global: WHO chief dies

2006-05-25

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/05/23/BAGRJJ0GH11.DTL&type=health

Dr. Lee Jong Wook, the head of the World Health Organization whose gamble to greatly expand AIDS treatment to the poor around the world helped give new life to hundreds of thousands of people, died suddenly Monday, two days after emergency surgery to remove a blood clot on his brain. He was 61. Dr. Lee had served less than three years of a five-year term as WHO director general, where he faced challenges including SARS, avian influenza, preparation for a possible human influenza pandemic, tobacco control and childhood immunization.

Under Whose Name? Plagiarism and African Arts, Part One

2006-05-24

Shailja Patel

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/34495

Two weeks ago, I discovered that an article I wrote for Pambazuka News, “Hungry For Live Poetry” about Nairobi's First Poetry Slam, was apparently plagiarized in its entirety by a journalist for the Kenya Times. Neither the Kenya Times editors, nor the journalist, Otieno Amisi, have responded to my emails.

The original article is at:
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/32250

The Kenya Times version is at:

http://www.timesnews.co.ke/03mar06/magazine/magazine3.html

Initially, I wasn't sure whether to be flattered, outraged, amused - or all three. I sent out an email to several African writers and journalists in my circle asking:

“Has anyone else had this experience? Is it worth challenging - either the guy himself, or the editors of the Kenya Times? Is it symptomatic of a larger culture of journalistic plagiarism that's going unchecked and unchallenged in Kenya?”

One response, from Kenyan arts organizer and writer, Dipesh Pabari:

“This sounds very typical. If I ever want to get things in the paper I literally write it myself and they publish it under their name […] that is just the way it works.”

A pragmatic view. If the goal is to disseminate information and get media coverage, then perhaps one should just play the game and accept “the way it works”. But what about those of us who write for a living? What about material that we consider creative output, product for livelihood - whether it takes the form of words, audio, film or image?

Plagiarism has always been a hot topic in the world of books and arts, where the currency is creative ideas and the artistic output they generate. As I write this, legal action is still ongoing over allegations that Dan Brown, author of the 40 million-copies-sold global bestseller, “The Da Vinci Code”, copied his plot from another writer.

This month in Africa, plagiarism has made literary, academic and media waves. South African journalist and author, William Mervin Gumede, is battling accusations that his highly acclaimed book, “Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC” uses other writers' work without proper attribution. Another South African, Afrikaner poet Antjie Krog, is said to be considering litigation against Stephen Watson, head of Cape Town University's English department. Watson claims she stole phrases and ideas from late British poet laureate Ted Hughes and his own work. He says Krog “lifted the entire concept” of her 2004 collection of Bushmen poems from his own1991 collection of Bushmen prose. Neither seems to see the innate irony; that both of them might justly be accused of plagiarizing, or appropriating, the voices of Bushmen.

Is this all just elitist squabbling, among privileged literati in their ivory towers? Does it have any relevance to social justice and the daily lived culture of the majority of Africans?

Consider the case of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. Few people are unfamiliar with the song and soundtrack. Fewer still know that it was written by a South African musician, Solomon Linda. It became a chart topper in the West when legendary US folk singer, Pete Seeger (incongruously famous for his own songs of social protest) covered it in the 1950s. In subsequent decades, it has been recorded by over 150 European and American artists, racking up hundreds of thousands of album sales. Most recently, it became a global “brand” as the theme track for Disney's megahit, “The Lion King.”

The song's original writer, Solomon Linda, received 10 shillings for the copyright in 1952, from Gallo studios in South Africa. After the release of “The Lion King”, Linda's family sued Disney for royalties on the use of the song. An undisclosed out-of-court settlement was agreed just this February. Sadly, it came too late for Linda, who died 1962, aged 53, of kidney disease. And for his daughter Adelaide, who died in 2001, of AIDS. Both could have received life-saving medical treatment from less than one-tenth of one percent of the $15 million grossed by the song worldwide. (Source: Emma MacDonald,The Age, Australia, April 22, 2006)
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/when-plagiarism-robs-the-poor-of-inspiration/2006/04/21/1145344270049.html

Next week: Plagiarism and the colonial mentality; how plagiarism impoverishes Africa politically and culturally.

* Shailja Patel is a Kenyan poet, writer and theater artist. Visit her at www.shailja.com

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Global : “Africa Week” kicks off in Paris

2006-05-23

http://www.apanews.net/article_eng.php3?id_article=2408

The African week started Monday in Paris with the varnishing of the art and handicraft exhibition chaired by Deputy-Director General of Unesco Africa Department, Noureini Tidjani-Serpos, in the presence of leading ambassadors members of the Unesco Africa Group. Many exhibitors from different regions of the continent are taking part in this cultural event held at the Unesco headquarters in Paris, the French capital city.

Censorship, Arab Africa relationships and failed electricity supplies

2006-05-24

Sokari Ekine

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/34494

The main story this week has been the alleged blocking of blogs by the Ethiopian government. Several Ethiopian bloggers have reported that they have not been able to access Blogspot blogs (blogger.com) from within and outside the country.

Ethiopian Life, Politics, Culture and Arts (http://seminawork.blogspot.com/2006/05/shutting-down-olfs-website-tplfs.html) reports that the Ethiopian government shut down the website of the Oromo Liberation Front following an “alliance for democracy” formed by five opposition groups. He comments:

“Now that the government has discovered how to block websites, it is adding more and more to its blockage business. Yesterday, Ethiomedia Forum was shut down. Then OLF…Too late for stifling free speech on the net!”

Ethiopundit (http://ethiopundit.blogspot.com/2006/05/sign-of-desperation.html) reports that over a two day period all blogspot blogs were blocked in Ethiopia and suggests ways in which Ethiopians in Ethiopia can circumvent the blockages so as to access pro democracy blogs in the Ethiopian Diaspora:

“Those who seek political quips from weichegud or intelligent analysis form other bloggers can't access the sites via the telecom servers. In addition, the government has blocked Ethiopian Review, Cyber Ethiopia, Quatero and Free our Leaders websites…My sources told me this is done with the advise and help of the Chinese. This blog can't be accessed in Ethiopia so the following advise may not reach its intended readers. Other websites like Ethiomedia who hasn't yet been blocked should carry the message to Ethiopian readers.”

Weichegud! ET Politics (http://weichegud.blogspot.com/2006/05/how-do-you-compete-with-this.html) one of Ethiopia's most prolific writers and critics o the Zenawi regime comments on the government's general reaction to the media and free press including the blogging community:

"Has the fact that the Ethiopian government, ranked fourth in countries jailing journalists, petitioning for the censure of American and German journalists, struck anyone in the EPRDF as, mmm, ironic, for example? And just when we all thought the EPRDF could not possibly hand us another gift, it slaps a pretty bow on the biggest one yet…Seminnawerq reported all 'blogspot.com' pages have been blocked in Ethiopia. Let's see. What makes bloggers, a temperamental bunch, from all over the world go into collective convulsions? The stench of a government with close ties to China, a so called 'ally in the war against terrorism', pawing at the Fifth Estate that is the Blogosphere. And whose duty is it to tell all these bloggers what's going on?"

The China link is an interesting one. In addition to their huge investment and purchase of African resources, will they also be providing lessons on how to repress the blogosphere and arrest and detain bloggers?

Grandiose Parlor, writing from the Nigerian Diaspora, (http://grandioseparlor.blogspot.com/2006/05/nigerian-electric-power-sector-9.html) comments on the $9 billion mess that is the Nigerian Electricity sector:

“I read with dismay that after spending about 1.3 trillion Naira (about 9 billion US dollars) on power generation between 1999 and 2005 Nigerians will not enjoy a stable supply of the commodity until 50 years from now! Yes, Nigerians should expect stable electricity by year 2056 if investment in the power sector grows at the same rate as the economy, according to the Nigerian minister for power and steel.”

It is not just a question of a stable supply - huge regions still do not have any electricity supply whatsoever. The latest excuse is that it is the “insurgency in the Niger Delta” that is responsible when in truth electricity provision has never been stable - in fact in Port Harcourt you could go for weeks without any power supply - and that was 20 years ago - and still no changes have taken place.

Gambian blog, Home of the Mandinmories (http://gambian.blogspot.com/2006/05/michigambiapress-offensive.html) comments on an organisation called the Michgambia (The Gambia Association of Michigan) which has collected medical supplies and equipment to send to Gambia.

“These medical supplies and equipment are intended to benefit hospitals in The Gambia including Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital in Banjul, Sulayman Junkung General Hospital in Bwiam, Western Division, AFPRC Hospital in Farafenni, North Bank Division and Bansang Hospital in Central River Division.”

However, Mandinmories points out that the press release credits the Gambian Embassy with the project and he questions why this is so and why it is not Michgambia that has the credit.

The Moor Next Door (http://wahdah.blogspot.com/2006/05/on-arab-americans-and-darfur.html) comments on the Arab-American website and the fact that they recently spoke on Darfur. He questions why Arab-American condemnation was ignored whereas Jewish and African American voices were publicised.

“I think the fact that one of the major leaders in the Arab-American community came out and spoke against it is something worth mentioning. Isn't it Arabs that are in Sudan doing the bulk of the killing and 'ethnic cleansing?' I'm always hearing Americans (whites, blacks, Jews, etc.) telling me that Arabs should look at their history and world objectively (something I totally agree with, as you can see here and elsewhere), yet when Arabs actually do this, these same people are indignant, un-informed, or don't pay attention. Checking out the AAI website once in a while would do these sorts of people some good.”

He goes on to say that it is important for Arab Americans to make their voices heard when it comes to issues such as Darfur and other humanitarian crises in Africa and elsewhere. He is quite critical of Arabs and their leaders need to answer the question “where were the Arabs”.

“But I think this is a valid question on the matter of Darfur. I don't believe in making collective apologies for the actions of others who behave like uncivilized miscreants, and I am not going to advocate doing so here or ever. But Arabs have made their entire region, people and culture look like the scum at the bottom of a coffee pot by ignoring the plight of the people in Darfur - not just the non-Arabs there but also of the Arab civilians killed by non-Arab militias.”

Black Looks (http://www.blacklooks.org/2006/05/ask_no_questions_-_tell_no_lies.html) comments on China's $1billion investment in Nigeria's railway network - not the only transport network it is involved with on the continent along with arms supply and oil.

“China is rapidly consolidating it's hold on Africa's resources through similar deals as the Nigerian one. Angola's railway system is also being rebuilt. Algeria is receiving help with building a highway; military equipment is being sold to Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Sudan so their leaders Mugabe, Obasanjo and Omar Hassan El-Bashir, can use their newly acquired arms against their own citizens.”

In another post (http://www.blacklooks.org/2006/05/lessons_on_censorship.html) she wonders whether lessons in censoring the blogosphere will be included in China's deals with Africa.

“The question is given China's policy on censorship of the blogosphere and it's record of detaining bloggers (Free Hao Wu for example) without charges - will they be including lessons on internet censorship as part of their buy up Africa project? It could be that African governments are only just waking up to the blogosphere as the number of blogs and readers increase exponentially - who will be next on the list?”

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, www.blacklooks.org

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Africa: Group asserts its collective power at the UN

2006-05-23

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=33320

The 53-member African Group at the United Nations - the second largest regional coalition after the 54-member Asian Group - is asserting its collective unity in a world body that is getting increasingly divided over politically-sensitive issues. The Africans have so far refused to back down on their demand for veto powers for proposed new permanent members of the Security Council, and have also expressed their public support for an Asian as the next U.N. secretary-general when incumbent Kofi Annan of Ghana steps down in December this year.

Africa: Marking Africa freedom day

2006-05-24

http://africa.oneworld.net/article/view/133324/1/

Africa Day exemplifies the achievements made by the various leaders on the continent with regard to the founding of the new African Union (AU), in establishing NEPAD and other continental developments, to address the challenges and ensure that the 21st Century truly becomes an African Century.

Somaliland: Time for African Union leadership

2006-05-24

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?l=1&id=4131

On 18 May 2006, the self-declared Republic of Somaliland marked fifteen years since it proclaimed independence from Somalia. Although its sovereignty is still unrecognised by any country, the fact that it is a functioning constitutional democracy distinguishes it from the majority of entities with secessionist claims, and a small but growing number of governments in Africa and the West have shown sympathy for its cause.

Egypt: Democracy can wait

2006-05-23

http://www.guardian.co.uk/egypt/story/0,,1775587,00.html

President Hosni Mubarak's enforcers have a particular way of dealing with female demonstrators: they sexually humiliate them. The case of journalist Abir al-Askari is but one example. When she arrived at Cairo's high court last week for a disciplinary hearing against two pro-democracy judges, she was grabbed by several men.

Ethiopia: Women urged to provide transformative leadership

2006-05-25

http://www.peacewomen.org/news/Ethiopia/May06/Leadership_Women.html

A Regional Network of Women for Greater East Africa, Women Direct, has urged women to actively involve in providing transformative leadership. Speaking at a workshop organized under the theme "Beyond Numbers: Towards Transformative Leadership" Network Executive Director Dr. Margaret Jesang Hutchinson said that women should participate in providing trasformative leadership at home, in farming and other workplaces so as to address the pressing challenges facing women.

Global: ''Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting - A statistical exploration'' by UNICEF

2006-05-23

http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_29994.html

This publication analyses available statistics on female genital mutilation or cutting, with the aim of improving understanding of related issues in the wider context of gender equality and social change. The study centres on women aged 15-49 and their daughters, presenting estimates and examining differentials in prevalence, and highlighting patterns within the data that can strategically inform programmatic efforts.

Global: Called to speak - six strategies that encourage women's political activism

2006-05-25

http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/I917.pdf

This report outlines six successful strategies used by interfaith community groups to encourage women's political activism and leadership. These programs provide women something both simple and profound: the resources and opportunities they need to claim a voice of political and religious authority.

Global: Women and UN Reform

2006-05-25

http://www.peacewomen.org/un/women_reform/Briefingnote_May.doc

The UN office of Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom in New York has, with a number of other groups, been advocating for women in the UN reform process. Our aim is to place gender equality, women’s rights and women’s issues centrally on the agenda. In particular, we have been working to ensure that gender equality, women’s machineries and gender mainstreaming within the UN are addressed at this time of fast-paced UN reform.

Kenya: Preventing rape survivors from becoming AIDS statistics

2006-05-23

http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=33321

For women who are victims of rape, recovery from the violation is typically arduous and draining. In Kenya, the post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), an anti-HIV treatment, is available in just seven of the 73 government district hospitals and one of the eight provincial hospitals. PEP reduces the chance of HIV infection when a woman is raped by someone carrying the virus, if administered within 72 hours of the crime.

South Africa: Gender activist laments ‘feminisation of poverty’

2006-05-25

Kristin Palitza

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/34534

Former MP of South Africa’s ruling party, ANC, and well-known gender activist Pregs Govender said the Jacob Zuma rape trial that rocked the country this month raised important questions about the role and responsibility of leaders worldwide. Govender, who spoke at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, last week closely investigated the global context in which the trial against South Africa’s former deputy president Jacob Zuma took place.
Former MP of South Africa’s ruling party, ANC, and well-known gender activist Pregs Govender said the Jacob Zuma rape trial that rocked the country this month raised important questions about the role and responsibility of leaders worldwide.

Govender, who spoke at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, last week closely investigated the global context in which the trial against South Africa’s former deputy president Jacob Zuma took place.

Zuma, who has been acquitted of rape charges laid against him by a 31-year-old AIDS activist and family friend, repeatedly justified his behaviour based on “Zulu culture” during his trial. He also refused to take responsibility for having unprotected sex with an HIV-positive person, believed his risk of contracting the virus was minimal and declared that the complainant’s dress indicated her wish for sexual intercourse.

In her speech, Govender said the court proceedings – the complainants sexual history became one of the main pieces of “evidence” – and Zuma’s conduct as a powerful and influential public figure were not isolated incidents but rather mirrored how (male) leaders worldwide used their influence and power to raise the levels of misogyny.

Zuma was a representative of today’s leadership in South Africa, and “if this is the paradigm that we apply to leadership in this country, we need to shift it,” demanded Govender.

She further explained that the way in which the complainant has been treated in and out of court was just one example of a global culture of misogyny, which grew due to increasing poverty, inequality, HIV/AIDS. Women continued to bear the brunt of human rights violations – in their homes, on the streets and in their workplaces. “Women’s bodies have become the battleground of poverty, HIV/AIDS and violence,” she said.

The rape trial was conducted inhumanely, without dignity, and the women’s rights violations that accompanied it caused despondency, despair and reinforced misogyny throughout South Africa, complained Govender.

Although governments around the world and international institutions like the World Bank repeatedly advocated gender equity and poverty eradication, their promises remained lip-service. Instead of wiping out poverty, leaders supported laws that forced “women and girls across the world [to] join the working poor,” Govender continued, noting that international decision-making led to the “feminisation of poverty”.

In South Africa, for example, the Sexual Offences Bill as well as bills to change customary law that regulates women’s access to land and treats them as legal minors, had not been enacted until today. “We need to start unpacking the inconsistencies [of national and international policy making],” she demanded, “[…] otherwise we are easily manipulated.”

Govender said poverty was one of the key factors that made women more vulnerable to violence and abuse and indicated that many governments continued to value profits and over the life and health of their citizens. In South Africa, for instance, the use of public transport, especially at night, was unsafe for women, yet budgets meant to improve the country’s transport system were “spent on building golf courses,” she claimed.

Govender also explained how the World Trade Organisation’s General Agreement on Trade and Tariff (GATT) created unemployment within the country (South Africa is a contracting party to GATT). Women turned vulnerable after losing union-supported, formal sector jobs and having to work in the informal sector, as street traders, for example.

As a result of this increasing “feminisation of poverty”, human trafficking became an increasing issue worldwide. More than 700,000 people are trafficked across international borders every year – its main victims are women and children.

* Kristin Palitza is the editor of Agenda, a journal on women’s rights and gender.

More...

Sudan: Abortion care needs

2006-05-25

http://www.peacewomen.org/news/Sudan/May06/Abortion_Care.html

Given the prevalence of sexual and gender-based violence in Darfur, why are safe abortion services and treatment of complications resulting from unsafe abortions or miscarriages not provided at all refugee/ IDP health facilities? Cases of rape of and violence against women in Darfur and in refugee camps in Chad are well-documented. These occur while women are collecting water, fuel or animal fodder, or during imprisonment. There have also been cases of women being forced to submit to sex in exchange for ‘protection’ by police officers and male camp residents.

Zimbabwe: Hunger forces girls into marriage

2006-05-23

http://tinyurl.com/n7scx

Tariro Muchina was barely in her teens late last year when her father "sold" her off into an arranged marriage in the small-scale farming district of Nyamajura, about 250km east of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare. Twelve months down the line, the 14-year-old Muchina, who was literally dragged screaming all the way into "marriage", appears to have come to terms with her fate, reports the Mail and Guardian.

Cameroon: Will a New Penal Code Lead to New Attitudes?

2006-05-23

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=33309

An information campaign is underway in Cameroon concerning a new Code of Penal Procedure that authorities say will strengthen the rule of law -- making the Central African country a standard for human rights. At present, Cameroon is regularly criticised by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for failing to respect human rights.

Egypt: Human rights protests increase

2006-05-23

http://www.africafocus.org

Despite promises of liberalization, repression is continuing against human rights reformers in Egypt, and U.S. annual aid to Egypt of some $1.7 billion is expected to continue at the same level in the next fiscal year. In addition to critiques from international human rights organizations, Egyptian bloggers are increasingly prominent in disseminating critique of the regime in both English and Arabic.

Ethiopia: Mengistu's verdict delayed

2006-05-23

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5007490.stm

A verdict has been postponed until next year in the 12-year genocide trial of Ethiopia's former Marxist ruler. Mengistu Haile Mariam is accused of killing tens of thousands of people after he ousted Emperor Haile Selassie. In a notorious campaign - known as the Red Terror - thousands of suspected opponents were rounded up, executed then tossed onto the streets. The ex-leader fled to Zimbabwe in 1991 and is being tried in absentia but 35 members of his junta are present.

Global: Rwanda casts doubt on ICTR modus operandi

2006-05-23

http://www.globalpolicy.org/intljustice/tribunals/rwanda/2006/0517doubt.htm

The apparent sidelining of Rwandans from the workings of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has led a government representative to question the UN-backed court's effectiveness. Kigali complains that unofficial changes to the court's mandate, for example the significant reduction of the number of genocide suspects, have actually undermined rather than developed Rwanda's legal system. In addition, officials criticize western countries harboring genocide fugitives for slowing down the process.

Global: World's poor and disadvantaged pay price of terror war, says Amnesty

2006-05-23

http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGPOL100182006

2005 was a year of contradictions in which signs of hope for human rights were undermined through the deception and failed promises of powerful governments, said Amnesty International as it published its annual report. Speaking at the launch of Amnesty International Report 2006, the organization's Secretary General Irene Khan said that the security agenda of the powerful and privileged had hijacked the energy and attention of the world from serious human rights crises elsewhere.

Senegal: UN panel seeks trial or extradition of ex-Chad leader

2006-05-23

http://www.voanews.com/english/2006-05-20-voa16.cfm

A UN human rights committee has said Chad's former ruler, Hissene Habre, must be tried or extradited to Belgium, under the 1984 Convention against Torture. Chad's ex-president, who has lived in exile in Senegal for the past 16 years, is accused of mass murder and torture. The decision of the United Nations Committee Against Torture says that by not trying Chad's ex-President Hissene Habre, or allowing his extradition, Senegal is breaking international human rights law.

South Africa: Justice Sector and the Rule of Law

2006-05-23

http://www.afrimap.org/english/images/report/Law%20report.pdf

This report, South Africa: Justice Sector and the Rule of Law, comes at an important time for South Africa and the African continent. It is one of a set of reports initiated by AfriMAP that intend to go beyond describing the institutional arrangements in a constitutional democracy and reflect on the health and quality of democracy and governance in South Africa. In particular, these reports will measure South Africa’s compliance with the commitments undertaken since 2000 by the African Union and NEPAD’s African Peer Review Mechanism.

Sudan: Authorities falling short of many human rights commitments, says new UN report

2006-05-25

http://www.hrea.org

Sudanese authorities are failing to uphold many of the commitments made last year under an accord to end a decades-old civil war, according to a United Nations human rights report issued today (23 May). In a review of the situation in Sudan from December 2005 to April of this year, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in cooperation with the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), lists among major shortcomings the ill-treatment, detention and harassment of people who voice their concerns about human rights throughout Sudan, failure to reform National Security and laws guarding State officials from criminal prosecution and the obstruction of the work of UNMIS human rights workers.

Zimbabwe: Human Rights Defenders share 2006 Martin Ennals Award

2006-05-25

http://www.martinennalsaward.org

The Jury of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders (MEA) announced today (May 23) in Atlanta that the 2006 laureates are Akbar Ganji, Iran, and Arnold Tsunga, Zimbabwe. Arnold Tsunga is an outstanding lawyer, Chairman of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, who continues to provide a voice to Zimbabweans silenced by repression. For representing victims of human rights violations he is constantly harassed and threatened. He was arrested several times and recently released on bail.

Global: Research guide on return of forced migrants

2006-05-23

http://www.forcedmigration.org/guides/fmo042/

This guide is not intended to provide a comprehensive discussion of return in all its facets. Rather, it aims to set out some of the core principles and issues surrounding the return of refugees and IDPs, and highlight the challenges associated with making return a safe, dignified and sustainable process. It also addresses some of the issues raised by the return of failed asylum seekers. The guide seeks to help the reader navigate the extensive literature on return, and identify areas where additional research is required.

Global: The state of the world's refugees 2006

2006-05-23

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/lib.nsf/db900SID/RURI-6PVVFD/$FILE/unhcr-gen-may06.pdf?OpenElement

This report presents the challenges to refugee protection and assesses the response of the international community. It provides an overview of key developments related to forced displacement from 2001 to September 2005. It also looks at efforts to strengthen international protection through enhanced inter-state cooperation. The State of the World’s Refugees also addresses recent developments related to refugee security.

Global: UK government accused of draconian treatment of asylum seekers

2006-05-23

http://www.guardian.co.uk/immigration/story/0,,1781050,00.html

The UK government has been accused of draconian treatment of asylum seekers, using "destitution as a tool of coercion", in a bleak report from the Church of England on a Britain where an economic boom has left the gulf between the very poor and the super-rich wider than ever.

South Africa: Number of asylum seekers rise sharply in first quarter

2006-05-23

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=446dd6dc4

The number of people applying for asylum in South Africa rose sharply in the first three months of this year, according to government figures released last week. In addition to the usual countries of origin such as Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Zimbabwe, new trends emerged with requests from people from Malawi, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China, United Republic of Tanzania and Ethiopia. Zimbabweans were by far the largest number of applicants in every reception office.

Uganda: Guard kills refugees

2006-05-24

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/5009146.stm

A refugee camp guard in northern Uganda has shot dead at least 10 displaced people with 13 others in hospital, some with their legs shattered. An army spokesman said the attack at Ogwete in Lira district, was carried out by a local defence militiaman. He is reported to be on the run. The man apparently shot his victims after an argument over a woman.

Uganda: UNHCR takes on new role protecting Ugandans displaced by civil war

2006-05-23

http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/news/opendoc.htm?tbl=NEWS&id=4471d1fa4

In a departure from its traditional role of protecting and aiding refugees (people who have crossed international borders in their flight from persecution), the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is now helping internally displaced people in Uganda. One of its efforts in Uganda is to work with the government to allow for greater freedom of movement and to help displaced people return to their original homes.

Côte d'Ivoire: Abuses threaten run-up to elections

2006-05-25

http://www.hrw.org

Government forces in Côte d’Ivoire, their allied militias and New Forces rebels alike are committing serious abuses against civilians with impunity, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today (23 May). These abuses and the impunity that fuels them raise serious concerns about the potential for violence in the run-up to the October elections.

Ethiopia: Party in rebel alliance

2006-05-23

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5005980.stm

Ethiopia's largest opposition party has announced it has formed an alliance with four rebel groups. The new Alliance Freedom and Democracy (AFD) says it will focus on peaceful struggle against the government but the armed groups will still stage attacks. Several leaders of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) are on trial for treason following protests over last year's disputed elections. The CUD says the polls were rigged - charges rejected by the government.

Global: Good governance improving in the poorest countries, says UN

2006-05-23

http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/may-2006/good-governance-20060519.en

Roving judges in the Maldives and a community justice system in post-genocide Rwanda are just two of the pioneering democratic governance initiatives captured in the first UN report on governance in the fifty most vulnerable countries in the world, launched in New York.

Nigeria: Obasanjo decides to leave office

2006-05-23

http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_GJGPQRV

Following a National Assembly vote against a constitutional amendment that would have let him seek another term in office, Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has announced he will leave office when his second term expires. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan previously had urged Obasanjo to keep the country's constitution intact and cede power to a successor.

South Africa: Critiquing the security strike

2006-05-25

http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,1022

Does the industrial action by security workers currently taking place in South Africa work to liberate or further entrench capitalism? asks this article from the website of the Centre for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. "The sad part in this whole scene is that black workers who are exposed to terrible working conditions are haunted by the phenomena of being treated as cheap and (having) nothing to offer except selling their labour power."

Tanzania: Court case on union with Zanzibar begins

2006-05-23

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53463

A case challenging the legality of the union that created the United Republic of Tanzania - a merger of the Tanganyika mainland and the two isles of Zanzibar has began in Stone Town, capital of the semiautonomous Zanzibar. A group of 10 Zanzibaris filed the case on 23 April before the Zanzibar High Court, seeking to have the union, signed in 1964, invalidated. The group, led by Rashid Salum Addiy, claims the 42-year-old union is illegal and wants it renegotiated.

Zimbabwe: Crackdown on opposition continues

2006-05-25

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53448

Zimbabwean police on Friday (19 May) cracked down on opposition by-election campaigning in the capital, Harare, arresting the leader of a faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and 60 of his supporters. Arthur Mutambara, head of the MDC's pro-Senate faction, was campaigning in Harare's high-density Budiriro suburb, where this weekend's by-election will be fought. He was detained along with the faction's deputy secretary-general, Pricilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga, and spokesperson Gabriel Chaibva, the by-election candidate.

Africa: Brown warns Africa leaders on corruption

2006-05-25

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1780780,00.html

It was just the sort of message Gordon Brown wanted to see. As he arrived at the Hilton in the Nigerian capital of Abuja to warn Africa that stamping out corruption was the flipside of greater financial generosity from the west, the TV monitor behind the reception desk said: "Important notice. Anti-money-laundering measures are observed in this hotel."

Kenya: Anglo Leasing probe runs into big trouble

2006-05-24

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=121248&src=dcn

Suspects in the Anglo Leasing scandals are unlikely to appear in court soon because the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission is frustrated in its bid to quickly conclude investigations, it was revealed on Thursday. The KACC deputy director, Ms Fatuma Sichale, said investigations into the Sh7 billion Anglo Leasing scandals were being hampered by factors beyond the commission’s control.

Kenya: Where is the police radio equipment?

2006-05-23

http://allafrica.com/stories/200605220328.html

The shocking details of how use of outdated communication equipment by police is frustrating the fight against crime has been exposed. And this despite the Government's claims that it has allocated Sh11 billion - and probably spent some of the taxpayers' money - to replace it. The multi-billion-shilling radio project was among those highlighted in a Public Accounts Committee report released in March. But in interviews with the Sunday Nation, current and former officers described the kit as "very poor".

Liberia: Foreign corruption spotters now in place

2006-05-25

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53513

A team of foreign financial experts flown in to Liberia to help the new government combat corruption is finally in place. Under a far-reaching scheme backed by Liberia’s partners and donors, known as the Governance Economic Management Assistance Programme (GEMAP), international experts are being placed in key positions to help ring-fence revenue and spending over the next three years.

Zambia: Lawyers raided in corruption case

2006-05-24

http://admin.corisweb.org/index.php?fuseaction=news.view&id=121265&src=dcn

Police on the trail of millions of pounds in government funds allegedly stolen by a former Zambian president raided a solicitors' office in North London. The raids in Edgware were part of a corruption case being brought against Frederick Chiluba. Zambian anti-corruption investigators accuse Mr Chiluba of transferring public funds to an account in the Zambian National Commercial Bank in London. They have filed a civil claim against him and 17 former officials over the alleged theft of £13 million.

Africa: OECD says China and India to boost Africa

2006-05-24

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5005632.stm

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says a booming India and China can be of benefit to economies in Africa. In a policy insight document, the Paris-based think-tank said there are a number of ways the continent can gain. The OECD says Indian and Chinese growth has dampened world inflation pressures, lowered global interest rates, and raised raw material prices. This in turn, it says, has helped to improve Africa's terms of trade.

Africa: Take the IMF off life support

2006-05-25

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0524-22.htm

Walden Bello and Soren Ambrose write on www.commondreams.org that its time to take the IMF off life support. “For over 25 years the world has had one answer for countries that find themselves in a financial crisis: take the IMF policy medicine and get on the debt treadmill that comes with IMF and World Bank loans. This path has worked very well – for big corporations in wealthy countries which walk into countries through the doors opened by the IMF’s policies and walk out with massive profits.”

Africa: War on Want launches research report on informal economy organisations

2006-05-25

http://www.waronwant.org/downloads/informaleconomy.pdf

This report highlights the struggles that informal economy organisations are facing in Africa was launched by War on Want and its partners during a seminar on 3-4 May 2006 in Lilongwe, Malawi. The report, entitiled Forces for Change: informal economy organisations in Africa, focuses on the experiences of informal economy organisations in Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, and is a joint research report between War on Want and the Workers' Education Association Zambia (WEAZ) and the Alliance for Zambia Informal Economy Associations (AZIEA). It shows the contribution of informal economy workers to the overall economy and the need for wider recognition of the informal economy within the International Labour Organisation (ILO), trade union federations, local and central governments.

East Africa: Economic growth has no impact on poverty

2006-05-24

http://allafrica.com/stories/200605230117.html

East Africa's generally strong economic performance is failing to produce significant progress toward anti-poverty goals, according to the latest African Economic Outlook report by the Paris-based Organisation for Co-operation and Development (OECD). The finding suggests that in Tanzania and Uganda, which had two of the highest growth rates in East Africa, economic improvements are largely confined to better-off segments of society and are not filtering down to the poorest citizens.

Global: IMF director makes uninspiring choice for deputy

2006-05-23

http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/article.shtml?cmd[126]=x-126-537521

According to this analysis by the Bretton Woods project, the imminent departure of Anne Krueger from the post of first deputy managing director of the IMF, gave Rodrigo de Rato the unique chance to move the Fund in a different direction as it looks to implement its medium-term strategic review. Instead, the managing director nominated US banker John Lipsky, maintaining the convention of keeping the top two posts at the Fund split between the transatlantic power centres.

Global: Inflated terrorism – propaganda lies

2006-05-23

http://tinyurl.com/qdnnh

The Bush administration is paltering to the American public with exaggerated misconceptions of worldwide terrorism to frighten us into supporting a global police state. With seven hundred military bases and a budget bigger than the rest of the world combined, the US military has become the new supreme-power force repressing "terrorism" everywhere, reports Global Research.

Mali: Toure prefers roads to gold mines

2006-05-23

http://www.apanews.net/article_eng.php3?id_article=2386

The Malian President Amadou Toumani Toure has again expressed, on Sunday, his resentment against international mining companies exploiting gold in his country, implying that to ensure bliss to Kayes (600Km west Bamako) residents, he relies “more on roads than the glittering metal”. “We made a mistake by thinking that Kayes' happiness will come from gold not roads,” Amadou Toumani Toure noted, on Sunday, while inaugurating a 98km asphalted road linking Kayes to the Senegalese town of Kidira.

Senegal: A prospective oil producer

2006-05-23

http://www.apanews.net/article_eng.php3?id_article=2406

Standing 63rd on the United States Energy Commission country classification "with a strong potential for oil deposits in the world", Senegal hopes to enter the circle of oil-producing nations in the "near future", the latest issue of Dakar weekly "Nouvel Horizon" reported. Currently, large companies with government-granted search permits from various backgrounds are active searching 19 prospecting blocks, the magazine indicated.

Zambia: Legacy of liberalisation

2006-05-25

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/4630063.stm

This medium-sized settlement, just west of Lusaka, looks like a standard African market town as you approach it on the road. It all looks ordinary and typically African - until you look into the distance and realise that at the end of the main street is an enormous modern building that completely dominates the vista. It is a South African-owned supermarket. It is an indication of how deep the influence of liberalisation has reached in Zambia.

Africa: Aids and inequality

2006-05-25

http://tinyurl.com/j4fzu

"Shelve the abiding fiction that disasters do not discriminate -- that they flatten everything in their path with "democratic" disregard. Plagues zero in on the dispossessed, on those forced to build their lives in the path of danger. Aids is no different," argues this commentary from the Mail and Guardian.

Africa: US policies on HIV/AIDS betray continent's priorities

2006-05-23

http://tinyurl.com/zu5s5

Twenty-five years into the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Africa is "ground zero" of this devastating crisis - home to more than 25 million of the 40 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. US and international policies have fundamentally failed to address the roots and the impact of this pandemic, particularly in Africa. Across the continent, inadequate resources and other challenges continue to fuel HIV/AIDS and undermine African efforts to respond, reports One World.

Kenya: First lady in storm over remarks on HIV/AIDs

2006-05-23

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4997336.stm

HIV/Aids activists in Kenya have been shocked by the first lady's comments that young people had "no business" using condoms. Lucy Kibaki called on students at a school prize-giving to abstain from sex in order to avoid infection with HIV. Her statement contradicts government policy that promotes condom use. According to a BBC correspondent in Nairobi, Mrs Kibaki is influential, as she chairs the Organisation of the 40 African First Ladies Against HIV/Aids. This stance puts her in line with Ugandan first lady who backs a campaign for young Ugandans to pledge abstinence until marriage.

Nigeria: NACA Boss Explains Drop in HIV/Aids

2006-05-23

http://allafrica.com/stories/200605220003.html

Chairman of the National Action Committee on HIV/AIDS, Professor Babatunde Osotimehin has attributed the recent 1.4 per cent drop in the disease prevalence nationwide to increasing political and financial commitment by the government and donor agencies. He said Nigeria, with an estimated 2.9 million people living with the HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) had received $180 million (about N23 billion) from the Global Fund Against AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, despite its suspension of a $50 million (about N6.4 billion) grant to the country.

South Africa: Former MP resigned over AIDS denialism

2006-05-25

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20031432

Activist Pregs Govender admitted this week that AIDS denialism within government had been one of two factors that pushed her to resign as an ANC Member of Parliament in 2002. The other factor was government's decision to spend billions of rands on arms. "I disagreed with the questioning of whether HIV causes AIDS," Govender told a full house at the University of KwaZulu-Natal this week, when she delivered the Harold Wolpe lecture.

Uganda: HIV cases rising

2006-05-25

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=37396

The number of new HIV infections in Uganda has increased from 70,000 in 2003 to about 130,000 in 2005, Uganda AIDS Commission Director-General Kihumuro Apuuli said Thursday, the Monitor/AllAfrica.com reports. Apuuli, speaking on HIV/AIDS Vaccine Awareness Day, said that despite financial support from donors, the incidence of new HIV cases in Uganda still is increasing.

Africa: Unions, scholars meet

2006-05-23

http://www.africafocus.org

Meeting in Cairo earlier this month, representatives of African unions and African intellectuals met to share their critiques of current development policies, targeting both international financial institutions and African governments. African scholars had documented the failures of structural adjustment decades ago, noted political economist Adebayo Olukoshi. But with few exceptions these policies are still being imposed.

Egypt: EU set to finance 200 new “girl-friendly” schools

2006-05-23

http://www.agenda.org.za/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1384&Itemid=147

The European Union has pledged to fund 200 new "girl-friendly" schools countrywide, in a joint bid with the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) to work towards a greater inclusion of females in education.

Global: Open-access research makes a bigger splash

2006-05-23

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=2844&language=1

Scientific papers published in online journals that are open-access have a bigger impact and are cited more frequently than papers readers must pay for, according to a new study. The findings will strengthen calls for more online scientific journals to switch to the open-access model and make research freely available.

Global: Policy impacts on schooling gender gaps in developing countries

2006-05-23

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC21750

This paper reviews the evidence on the effects of policies in the education sector and outside it on household schooling investments in girls and boys, distinguishing between policies that are gender neutral and those that explicitly target girls.

Global: Science communicators 'must promote public debate'

2006-05-23

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=2848&language=1

Science communicators should encourage public debates about science and technology, rather than simply tell people about the subject, a conference has heard. The call was made yesterday (17 May) at the ninth conference of the International Network on Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) in Seoul, South Korea.

Global: The end of child labour - within reach

2006-05-23

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC21751

This paper argues that there is a real possibility to eliminate child labour. It states that significant progress is being made in global efforts to end child labour, but recognises that much remains to be done and a strong and sustained global effort is still required.

Kenya: Varsity staff to strike over pay dispute

2006-05-23

http://allafrica.com/stories/200605220774.html

Public university lecturers in Kenya are planning to call a strike next month if the Government does not start immediate negotiations over salaries. The Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) officials have started meeting members to seek an endorsement of the planned strike should they fail to push the Government to the negotiating table. At the heart of the impending confrontation is the lecturers' quest for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement following the expiry of another one effected two years ago.

Nigeria: 10-year education plan ready, announces Obasanjo

2006-05-23

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/23/content_4586047.htm

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo here on Monday announced that the country has developed a 10-year plan on its educational development program at all levels. Speaking at a conference on financing, Obasanjo said with the program in place, he believed the country was ready to benefit from any foreign aid in the sector.

Global: Black academics protest racism

2006-05-24

http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/feature/details.aspx?i=56

The victimisation of a black lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University over her use of pioneering teaching methods has united black academics across the country in her defence and reignited their determination to fight racism in higher education (HE). When the Black Colloquium heard that one of their fellow members was told to ‘take leave’ so that an investigation could be conducted into her teaching methods following ‘external complaints’, they were both outraged and angered.

Africa: Funding for research on climate change

2006-05-23

http://www.oneworld.net/link/gotoarticle/addhit/133120/8/81807

Canadian and UK aid agencies have announced a major fund for research into how Africa can adapt to climate change.

Africa: Power crunch seen braking Africa investment, growth

2006-05-23

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L18684955.htm

Chronic power shortages across Africa are undermining investment, industrial development and economic growth and keeping the poorest continent poor, ministers and bankers said on Thursday (May 18).

Egypt: Yes, review the Nile Treaty

2006-05-23

http://tinyurl.com/p6fau

The Nile treaties have always been an aberration. In no other continent have there been strictures imposed on countries exploiting their natural resources the way those surrounding Lake Victoria have been through a treaty none of them was involved in signing. But now things seem to be about to change with the news that the 1929 treaty will be reviewed to allow the East African countries to exploit the lake waters for irrigation, reports the Daily Nation.

Global: Poor countries seek help on reducing emissions

2006-05-23

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L18770277.htm

Though most poor countries are not bound by the Kyoto Treaty to curb their greenhouse gas emissions, some are pushing rich countries to provide aid, technology and other incentives to help them reduce harmful emissions blamed for climate change.

Rwanda: Park closed to protect mountain gorillas

2006-05-23

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=33274

Continued attacks from poachers and poor villagers living nearby have led Rwandan officials to announce the closure of the National Volcano Park. "We realized that there was no other way out of this problem. But, we're confident that the awareness campaigns and other projects will enable communities to become conscious of the need to protect their ecological surroundings," Rwanda's tourism and national parks director said.

Uganda: Energy sector budget allocation to increase

2006-05-23

http://www.nationmedia.com/eastafrican/current/Business/biz220520064.htm

Uganda will increase its budget allocation to the energy sector by over Ush100 billion ($57.1 million) in the 2006/07 financial year. According to Ministry of Energy officials, the sector will be allocated Ush240 billion ($137.1 million) which is 80 per cent higher than the Ush133 billion ($76 million) given in the 2005/06 financial year. The money will deal with key sector priorities, such as hydropower generation.

Africa: 'Titling' land leads to weakening of rights

2006-05-25

http://africa.oneworld.net/article/view/133114/1/610

More than 30 percent of the land in Africa is jointly held by members of a group or community, making common property rights as important as individual rights. In many developing countries, giving individuals title to land has worked well. In Africa, however, titling has led to a weakening of land rights, especially for women and pastoralists, because so much of the land is held in common.

Kenya: Donors ready to fund land reform proposals

2006-05-24

http://allafrica.com/stories/200605230157.html

The donor community is ready to fund the implementation of the report on the illegal and irregular allocation of public land. However, they are being discouraged by the uncoordinated manner and slow pace at which the government is dealing with the process. The chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into Illegal and Irregular Allocation of Public Land in Kenya, says that several donor agencies have shown interest in funding the implementation of the report. "But they are being disappointed by lack of political will."

Africa: The Dawn of Right to Information in Africa?

2006-05-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/34486

Jeet Mistry, from the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, writes about Freedom of Information Laws in Africa and their potential to support democracy. "Freedom of information has long been recognised as a foundational human right... However, around the world, only around 60 countries have enacted freedom of information (FOI) laws."
The Dawn of Right to Information in Africa?

By Jeet Mistry, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Delhi

Today, 25 May, marks United Nations’ Africa Day - a day to reflect on a year that was meant to mark a watershed for development in Africa. Six years since the proclamation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it was hoped that the African nations would have made some advances towards meeting the MDGs. However, progress towards the MDGs has been, at best, inconsistent, and, at worst, has alarmingly regressed. To make matters worse, in July last year, African countries were once more the subject of yet another appeal led by British Prime Minister Tony Blair for Western governments to reinvigorate their international donor commitments to the continent ahead of the G8 meeting of world leaders and at the subsequent UN World Summit in September 2005.

Yet, despite another year of Africa hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons, a quiet revolution is taking place in countries across the continent that may at last lay the foundations for political and economic stability, good governance and prosperity. During the last year, officials and human rights activists in Kenya, Mozambique, Malawi, Ghana and even in recently war-torn Sierra Leone have been busy drafting national Freedom of Information Bills. Meanwhile, Uganda became only the fourth African country to entrench a FOI law, when its Access to Information Act 2005 came into force on 20 April.

Freedom of information has long been recognised as a foundational human right, ever since the UN General Assembly declared in 1946 that “freedom of information is a fundamental human right and a touchstone of all freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.” However, around the world, only around 60 countries have enacted freedom of information (FOI) laws.

An FOI law can help sow the seeds of good governance by promoting government transparency and accountability and also facilitating greater public participation in government decision-making. Empowering citizens with the legal right to access information on government’s activities can strengthen democracy by making government directly accountable to its citizens on a day-to-day basis rather than just at election time. Even at election time, an FOI law would ensure that voters have better access to information concerning the government’s record in office, allowing them to make a more informed decision at the ballot box. Voters would then be less reliant on political propaganda and rumours and would be less inclined to fall back on their ethnic affiliations when casting their vote.

Freedom of information can also open up channels of communication between civil society and the state. Openness and information sharing can entrench national stability by establishing dialogues between different ethnic groups as well as between citizens and the state, helping to promote popular trust in the political system. These channels of communication can combat feelings of alienation and reduce the risk of disillusioned sections of the public resorting to violence to promote their political ends. In this way, entrenching an effective FOI law can enable people to be part of the decision-making process and reduce public perceptions of exclusion of opportunity or unfair advantage of one group over another.

By promoting dialogue between citizens and their governments, freedom of information can help to ensure the effectiveness of development and poverty alleviation strategies and thereby bolster efforts to meet the MDGs. Much of the failure of development strategies to meet the MDG targets has been because governments and donors have designed and implemented policies without the active input of the very people targeted by such policies. With a FOI law in place, governments would be obliged to share information on their poverty alleviation strategies with the public, who can then have a voice in determining how these strategies can more effectively improve their lives.

In recent years, throughout the African continent, governments have been liberalising their economies in order to accelerate growth and development. By implementing an FOI law and thereby demonstrating their commitment to transparency, African governments would be more successful in assuring investor confidence in the economy, encouraging long-term private and foreign investment and bolstering growth. Furthermore, freedom of information can ensure that domestic, small-scale stakeholders also have a voice over economic policies, which can help economic growth and development to take place in a more equitable, balanced and therefore stable manner.

Thus far, freedom of information has had a mixed history in Africa. South Africa has had a functional freedom of information law – known as the Promotion of Access to Information Act - since 2000. The law entrenches in practice people’s fundamental right to information as set out in the South African constitution. The public have been able to use this law to hold the government to accountable for all actions done in their name. It has also helped to nurture the country’s still nascent democratic credentials by giving the public an opportunity to scrutinise and participate more actively in the everyday decision-making processes of government.

Meanwhile, over the last decade neighbouring Zimbabwe, which passed its Access of Information and Protection of Privacy Act in 2002, has been in a downward spiral economically and in terms of the promotion and protection of the rights and freedoms of its citizens. Zimbabwe’s law has very limited provisions on access to information and its main purpose has been to strengthen the government’s power to control and crack down on the independent media. As a result, unlike South Africa’s law, the public’s ability to bring the government to account for its actions has been constrained, while the government has been able to tighten its monopoly on information and conceal its motivations and decision-making processes behind a wall of secrecy.

It is crucial for the new wave of countries in Africa that are pursuing access laws to ensure their laws incorporate certain key principles that will help to foster openness, transparency, and public participation. In the first instance, an effective FOI law requires the government to provide the public with information proactively and on request. It should also include an overriding principle that all government information should be disclosed, unless the harm caused by releasing the information would be greater than the public interest in disclosing the information. Best practice requires that an effective law will:

• Promote the principle of maximum disclosure, subject only to limited, tightly drafted exemptions;
• Ensure that access procedures are user-friendly, cheap, quick and simple;
• Require decisions regarding disclosure to be reviewable by an independent, impartial body, such as an Information Commissioner or Ombudsman;
• Permit penalties to be imposed on officials for non-compliance with the law; and
• Impose ongoing monitoring, training and public education duties on the Government.

If implemented effectively, a FOI law can act as a powerful deterrent of corruption. Corruption has long been the scourge of development in Africa, and has been responsible for not only eating into state revenues but also civil society’s trust in the state, thus not only hindering economic development but also contributing to the collapse of the state in countries across the continent. Effective implementation of a FOI law can make it much more difficult for officials to cover up their corrupt practices and can also help to expose poor policymaking. Even at the local level, freedom of information can be used to expose agencies that fail to deliver basic services such as health and education and can thus empower people who had previously suffered in silence as a result of corrupt officialdom.

Today on UN Africa Day, the continent’s development is at a cross-road. Recent efforts across Africa to enact FOI laws represent a crucial opportunity for the continent to turn its back on decades of poor governance, brutal civil and regional conflicts, and abject poverty. However, African nations must ensure that their laws incorporate principles that premise people’s right to information above all to ensure their effectiveness and prevent abusive governments from snatching away the opportunity to build a future that promises stability, inclusive democracy and participatory development for all its citizens.

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Eritrea: President urged to mark independence anniversary by freeing prisoners

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http://tinyurl.com/jvr9x

On the eve of the 13th anniversary of Eritrea's independence, on 24 May 2006, Reporters Without Borders appealed to President Issaias Afeworki to release all of his government's prisoners of conscience, including 13 journalists being held incommunicado whose newspapers were shut down in a September 2001 crackdown. "Eritrea's independence day is once again going to be ruined by the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the political prisoners," the press freedom organisation said.

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South Africa: SABC cans Mbeki film

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East Africa: Training workshop in gender budgeting for HIV/AIDS

2006-05-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/34481

The Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) on behalf of the Eastern Africa Gender Budget Network (EAGBN) is pleased to announce activities of the EAGBN to take place from 12th – 14th June 2006 at Colline Hotel Mukono, Uganda. The activities include a two-day Gender budget training workshop in HIV/AIDS and the 5th regional one-day annual gender budget Network meeting. The training will run for two days from 12th – 13th while the annual meeting will be held on 14th June 2006.
Source: Women of Uganda Network

Introduction

Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) on behalf of the Eastern Africa Gender Budget Network (EAGBN) is pleased to announce activities of the EAGBN to take place from 12th – 14th June 2006 at Colline Hotel Mukono, Uganda. The activities include:

a) A two-day Gender budget training workshop in HIV/AIDS
b) The 5th regional one-day annual gender budget Network meeting.

The training will run for two days from 12th – 13th while the annual meeting will be held on 14th June 2006.

Background to the EAGBN

In June 2002, FOWODE organized the first EAGBN Conference on the theme “investing in Women: Towards gender responsive poverty reduction strategies, economic policies and budgets.” The conference was attended by over 50 sub-regional stakeholders from government institutions, civil society organizations, research centers, and the media as well as international researchers and activists working on gender budgeting. The countries represented were; Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. It was at this conference that the Eastern African Gender Budget Network (EAGBN) was formed to ensure the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of local and national poverty reduction strategies, macroeconomic policies and budgets of the member countries were gender responsive.

EAGBN organized a skills training workshop on gender budgeting for its members in May 2003. It was agreed in the training that the future focus should be on trade, governance and HIV/AIDS. The participants agreed that there was need to prioritize HIV/AIDS programmes and policies to take gender into consideration and training in this area would be a good start. This was because it was realized that HIV/AIDS funds were not spent equitably and that the current levels of HIV/AIDS funding would have done much more in terms of reducing the spread of AIDS and taking care of the sick if gender issues were taken seriously in spending priorities. It was therefore thought that since women and men benefit from resources differently, it is important to understand the gender issues in HIV/AIDS in order to look for ways in which they can be addressed in terms of resource allocation. The first step in this direction will be through building capacity in this area so that the available resources are spent equitably.

In August 2003, the TGNP a member of the EAGBN organized an EAGBN meeting in Dar es Salaam. The aim of this meeting was to share and critique positively the budgets of the three East African countries; Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania from a gender perspective by the Network members.

In November 2003, FOWODE on behalf of the EAGBN organized the second Regional EAGBN conference whose overall mission was to share experiences in the region on gender budgeting in the context of globalization. The conference had four major themes; Good governance, Gender and trade, Gender and HIV/Aids, and Domestic Violence. The outcome of this conference was an action plan that entailed interventions, which among other things called for regular annual meetings on the programme of gender budgeting in the region.


In December 2004, FOWODE organized the EAGBN meeting on behalf of the members. The aim of this meeting was to understand the progress of gender budgeting in the Eastern Africa Region and design strategies on how to influence the regional global economic policies and programmes.

1. Gender Budget Training in HIV/AIDS workshop

The goal of the training workshop is to impart skills and techniques on how to use gender budgeting to analyze HIV/AIDS programmes. The specific objectives of the workshop are:

• To increase awareness about the importance of gender budgeting in analyzing HIV/AIDS
• To train participants on how to analyse HIV/AIDS programs from a gender perspective
• To design an HIV/AIDS gender budget advocacy plan

Expected outputs
• Awareness on importance of gender budgeting in analyzing HIV/AIDS raised
• Skills on how to analyse HIV/AIDS programs from a gender perspective imparted
• HIV/AIDS gender budget advocacy plan designed


2. The 5th regional annual gender budget Network meeting
3. .
Integrating Gender into the Budget Process: Practical Experiences

The goal of this meeting is to understand the progress of gender budgeting in the Eastern Africa Region and design strategies on how to influence the regional global economic policies and programmes.

This meeting will provide the participants with an opportunity to:

• Learn and share recent gender budgeting experiences in the region.
• Discuss how to strategize and influence regional economic programmes and policies.
• Develop an agenda on how to strengthen gender budgeting in the region

Expected Outputs

• Gender Budget experiences shared in the region
• Strategies on influencing economic programmes and policies agreed upon
• Agenda developed on strengthening gender budgeting in the region


The annual meeting will be divided into three components. They include: Shifting gender budget from awareness level to practical level; second component, Gender Budgeting in East Africa: Sharing experiences, and the third; Developing a mechanism of engaging CSOs for Gender Budgeting in the East African Community as an institution.

a) Shifting gender budgeting from awareness level to practical level

For the last eight years, awareness has been created in gender budgeting at various fora. In Uganda, FOWODE has been at the forefront, in Tanzania the mantle was held by Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) and in Kenya ABANTU for Development has been active. The various member organisations created awareness through organizing dialogues, carrying out research and disseminating the findings. The time has now come for focus to shift to actual implementation of gender budgeting. In Uganda, FOWODE has been able to put government to task to implement gender budgeting through developing gender and equity guidelines. The government actually made provisions through including a gender and equity provision in the budget call circular 2006/07. This is just one of the means which the member organisations could adapt and lobby their respective governments to take on the gender budget mantle. During this session, strategies will be drawn out on how to practice gender budgeting in the region in order to ensure that women and men’s needs are actually captured in regional, national and lower level budgets.

4. Gender Budgeting in East Africa: Sharing experiences

Whenever the annual meetings are organized, the EAGBN member countries share their experiences over the year. This is important because the various countries are at different stages in terms of Gender Budget implementation in the Eastern Africa region. Therefore in order to share successful strategies and challenges, countries will present their experiences in Gender Budgeting over the last one year. The aim of this session is to draw lessons for each country and learn the best practices on how to effectively and efficiently achieve the intended goals since all the EAGBN member countries are all aiming at achieving gender balanced budgets.


3. Gender Budgeting in the East African Community as an institution

Since the East African Community is becoming a reality, there is need for CSOs in the region to come together and develop a mechanism for engaging the EAC in Gender Budgeting as an institution. It is important for the EAGBN members to create a space within the EAC in order to effectively influence the EAC in as far as gender budgeting is concerned. Therefore, during this session, the members will brainstorm on how this can be achieved.

4. The Way Forward
Following a thorough review of the regional gender budget experience and an attempt to influence the EAC, and bearing in mind that much will have been said during this meeting, a practical way forward will be developed. Each country/organization will commit itself on how to incorporate the ideas debated during the meeting.

Participation

Self-sponsorship is highly encouraged from other participants for both foreign and host country. Those who are interested in participating should submit their profiles by either fax or email to the conference coordinator. Cost to the conference will include registration fee ($100USD), travel, accommodation and meals

FOWODE will sponsor 10 participants from the region: 2 from Kenya, 2 from Tanzania, 2 from Rwanda, 2 from Ethiopian, 2 from Southern Sudan and 30 from the host country. This will cover the cost of travel, accommodation and meals. Those interested in participating should submit their profiles by either fax or email to the conference coordinator.

Arrival date
Participants will be expected to report on 11th June 2006 at the hotel of residence at 16:00hrs.



For more information contact:

Mr. Mukunda Julius
Program Director
Gender Budget Program
FOWODE
P.O. Box 7176, Kampala
Tel: 256-41-286063
Fax: 256-41-286029
Email: fowode@utlonline.co.ug

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Oxfam America

2006-05-23

http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whoweare/jobs/regional

The Regional Director will provide strategic program leadership and overall management of the Oxfam America Regional Office. He/she will also provide overall creative and administrative leadership to agency development of a long-term strategic vision and action plan for a growing regional program.

South Africa: Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, Women's Justice Project

National Center for State Courts

2006-05-23

http://www.afrea.org

The National Center for State Courts, a non-governmental organization supporting the justice sector both in the United States and internationally is interested in recruiting specialists to assist with a forthcoming international development activity to strengthen women's justice and criminal justice programs in South Africa.

Sudan: Program Coordinator (Civil Society Strengthening Program)

International Rescue Committee

2006-05-25

http://www.hri.ca/jobboard/viewJob.asp?ID=829

Reporting to the Chief of Party in Rumbek and the IRC Deputy Director-Programs, the Program Coordinator will take responsibility for the implementation of the program in three areas (Bahr-el-Ghazal (Malual Kon), Southern Kordofan (Kauda) and Upper Nile (Leer)).

West Africa: Researcher

Amnesty International

2006-05-25

http://www.oneworld.net/job/view/13061

The Africa Program at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International is seeking to appoint a dynamic person to fill the role of West Africa Researcher, with a focus on Nigeria.

Fahamu