Back Issues

Is Land Grabbing Fever Spreading from Zimbabwe to SA?

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/2526

Earlier this month in Bredell, near Kempton Park on the East Rand, South Africa and some say that ‘land grabbing fever’ has hit South Africa, hot on the heels of the Zimbabwean debacle.

The land is owned by government, Transnet and a private company. Thousands of homeless people invaded the Bredell land allegedly after paying the Pan African Congress R25 a plot.

An interim Court order was granted allowing the government to evict the ‘squatters’. In coming to his decision, Judge Rabie made a reference to the irresponsibility displayed by the PAC.

Predictably, there has been a war of words between the PAC and the ANC over the land invasion. PAC leader Stanley Mogoba has warned that should the matter not be resolved satisfactorily resolved there could be a ‘revolution’. “If government wants to go the route of confrontation, they are asking for very big problems”, he said (www.iol.co.za).

ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama called the PAC “an organisation of agents provocateurs masquerading as a caring liberation movement when, in fact, they are the worst hypocrites and opportunists who will jump at the slightest opportunity to exploit the plight of our people, with the sole purpose of lining their pockets” (www.iol.co.za).

Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane said that he found it paradoxical that the government was so quick to commit to a multi-million rand arms deal with not a visible enemy in sight, but at the same time so slow to respond to an issue it billed a top priority in the run-up to the 1994 general election (www.iol.co.za).

According to the South African Sunday Tribune, a group of black tenant farmers have invited Robert Mugabe to come to SA to advise them on how to proceed to get land. Joachim Hlatswayo, a tenant leader was quoted in the same newspaper as saying that they wanted to hear Mugabe’s views on land restitution and land seizure. The invitation to Mugabe has been confirmed by the Zimbabwean High Commission in Pretoria, but they noted that in terms of diplomatic protocol, only the President of SA, Thabo Mbeki could invite the president of another country for a visit.

What is clear is that the Bredell ‘land invaders’ have become political pawns. While government’s land restitution has been largely ineffective, it is equally clear that landless people are getting impatient (www.iol.co.za).

The squatters are now appealing the eviction order. In the meantime, local PAC leaders have not been able to account for the money collected from the squatters.

The Zimbabwean experience has suddenly made land grabbing an alternative to remaining landless. This week, saw the establishment of the National Landless People’s Movement. NLPA representative Lucas Mufamadi says they support “the gallant actions of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe”. He also said that land occupations are inevitable as land reform has been slow (www.mg.co.za).

Clearly, the Bredell land occupation is illegal and governments all over need to take quick action to avert this from happening by stepping up the pace of land reform and where land occupations have occurred, they must take action too.

However, should our laws not reflect an African reality as far as land is concerned? Should there be private property clauses in our constitutions, or should there be communal property provisions, or should there be both? Civil society and governments must start seriously debating this and other human rights issues to make sure that we do not prescribe to a Eurocentric definition of human rights which does not fit into the African context. The landlessness issue must be looked at from this perspective.

In the interim, government must start pouring its resources into land reform. In addition, land grabbing must be strongly discouraged.

Accessing weblinks in the newsletter

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/2387

Thanks for this issue but I cannot access any of the weblinks specified in the text... what can I do?

<i>OUR REPLY: If you have e-mail access, you can use the Kabissa www4mail server to request that web pages be delivered to your mailbox. To use it, address a message to www4mail@kabissa.org and copy and paste the weblinks into the body of the message, one per line. The subject line is ignored by www4mail, but some people find it useful for labelling requests. Your web resources will be returned to you in the form of attachments that can be viewed using your web browser. If you do not even have a web browser, you can request plain text by preceding each weblink with the word "GET". </i>

Adrian from Kosovo

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/2332

African NGO perspectives on the Global Development Gateway

Raj Patel, Voice of the Turtle

2001-07-30

http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/topic/knowledgebank/gateway/index.htm

Over the past few weeks, KFN has carried a healthy, and splendidly civilised, debate on the World Bank&#8217;s new Development Gateway initiative. Behind the candid commentary, though, are some rather bitter issues, many of them directly relevant to African politics.

First, the theory. Colonisation and &#8216;development&#8217; need knowledge in order to prop up the rather shaky rationalisations upon which they rest. The World Bank has spent a great deal of time and money cornering the market in &#8216;development&#8217; knowledge for precisely this reason. The tragedy is that there&#8217;s a great deal of subversive work being done by African academics, policy analysts, teachers and activists that rarely gets the coverage that headline Bank projects do.

This &#8216;African silence&#8217; works to the advantage of those trying to secure the status quo. For those concerned with active democracy rather than &#8216;good governance&#8217;, with redistribution rather than &#8216;poverty&#8217;, with justice rather than &#8216;law&#8217;, the Bank&#8217;s site is bad news. It is hard enough, given the neoliberal domination of Africa, to shift public debate to questioning social fundamentals, much less changing them.

Now, to practice. Many comrades in the NGO world here are forced to adopt a different kind of language in order to get themselves heard not only by donors, but by governments too. The adoption of &#8216;the master&#8217;s tools&#8217; is precisely the sort of compromise that many hoped would be unnecessary after decolonisation. That our politicians remain beholden to these rhetorics and policies, whether GEAR in South Africa, structural adjustment in Zimbabwe, HIPC conditions in Mozambique or PRSPs in Uganda, bears witness to the very limited extent of African decolonisation. That people believe that there are no alternatives is *precisely* because neoliberalism cannot allow the space imaginatively to entertain these alternatives. Hence the importance of the Development Gateway.

So what to do? Sadly, ignoring the World Bank doesn&#8217;t make it go away. Meeting the Bank&#8217;s knowledge offensive (and offensive is the right word) demands action. Activists have only limited resources, though, and firefighting new neoliberal initiatives takes time and energy. This time, we&#8217;re in luck. In challenging the Bank website, we can not only to reject the Bank, but do it by actively getting creative with other projects.

There are already many African organisations that have taken a stand. The MWENGO website, at www.mwengo.org for example , is a recently launched Southern African regional hub. Among the positions there are some that are openly critical of neoliberal colonial economics, and supportive of land redistribution. The chances of challenges to property rights being disseminated by the Bank? Slim.

(Although the Bank&#8217;s PR machine has swung into gear to defend its openness to other positions, there are already reasons to be suspicious. Even before the official launch, the site has already refused to post correspondence from one legal scholar, and there is reason to think merely by looking at the titles of the topic areas that some comments are liable to be more &#8216;on topic&#8217; than others.)

Initiatives similar to MWENGO&#8217;s, that fly in the face of this ideological intimidation, exist elsewhere on the continent. It is our responsibility actively to support them, and to create spaces in which alternatives are thinkable not only by ourselves, but also the people with whom we work, and whom we may claim to represent.

To sign the declaration against the Bank, send an email to gateway@voiceoftheturtle.org with your Name and organisation in the subject line (no organisational endorsement is assumed).

Raj Patel
SEATINI,
Takura House,
67-69 Union Avenue, PO Box 4775
Harare
Zimbabwe
t: +263 4 792681-6 x255
f: +263 4 251648
m: +263 91 305684
e: rcp9@cornell.edu
SEATINI : http://www.seatini.org

More...

Alanna Hartzok, Earthrights Institute

2001-07-30

http://www.earthrights.net

Thank you. I offer you this quote, and the other articles you may download form my website.

-- "Forms are nothing when the substance is gone, and the forms of popular government are those from which the substance of freedom may most easily go. Political equality, co-existing with an increasing tendency to the unequal distribution of wealth, must ultimately beget the despotism of organized tyranny or the worse despotism of anarchy." - Henry George

Florence Kiff, Agency for Cooperation and Research in Development

Editor/Publications Coordinator

2001-07-30

http://www.acord.org.uk

Firstly, many thanks for the excellent latest issue of the Kabissa-Fahamu newsletter. The G8 coverage was very comprehensive and helped me keep up with all the details.

Secondly, the latest news from ACORD is that we now have a new, free, bi-monthly e-newsletter which I thought you might like to subscribe to. It includes news from our programmes, organisational news, a hyperlinked list to all our new publications, a list of other useful resources and the latest vacancies at ACORD. The current issue is on our website at [url=http://www.acord.org.uk/e-news/No1.htm]
]http://www.acord.org.uk/e-news/No1.htm[/url] If you'd like to subscribe, either go to http://www.acord.org.uk/e-news/Subscription.htm or simply reply to me at this e-mail address.

Greg Moran from South Africa

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/2231

Micha Hollestelle

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/2428

First of all I wish to congratulate you on your growing newsletter. Growing in subscriptions, length, depth and most of all in quality. Reading your newsletter is almost enough to be posted on the international matters that matter.

Despite all the the satisfaction I get from your newsletter, however, I do have one suggestion about the layout: Is it possible to deliver your newsletter in a more reader friendly layout, as a word document attached for instance?

<i>OUR REPLY: Thank you for writing. We are glad you appreciate the quality of the newsletter - we work hard on it! We very consciously designed the newsletter so that it is accessible to subscribers that can read only plain text e-mail messages. The feedback from subscribers in Africa has been, by and large, very positive since it provides them with all the information they need on a weekly basis in a single e-mail. However, this stands in contrast to our subscribers in more "bandwidth-rich" countries who are accustomed to news websites and often complain about the newsletter being too long, containing too much information, and being too difficult to navigate. This tension is one we are very aware of, and we are continually on the search for solutions. We welcome input from our subscribers!</i>

Solomon Ramonyai, Human Rights Institute Of South Africa

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/2429

Steven Wilson

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/2333

Africultures :

2001-07-30

http:/www.africultures.com

Lettre d'information 30/2001
semaine du 28.07.01 au 05.08.01
1) l'AGENDA DE LA SEMAINE :


Nous rappelons que, pour ne pas surcharger cette lettre, nous ne publions
que les nouveautés.
Pour avoir la totalité de l'agenda, rendez-vous sur :
www.africultures.com/actualite/agenda/agenda_fr.asp

Les détails des programmations ainsi que les adresses, contacts et horaires
sont sur : www.africultures.com/actualite/agenda/lettre_diff.asp


ARTS PLASTIQUES * RAPPEL DES EXPOSITIONS EN COURS

Paris :
- Dolène Fuma Courtis (Réunion), Musée du Grand Orient de France, du 15 juin
au 30 juil. "Au commencement... la où commence le chemin". Sculpture de
basalte sur structure métallique.
- Exposition : Islam Zian Alabdeen, peintre du Soudan. Galerie Agbe &
Gbalicam, du 5 juil. au 12 août. Avec une imagination fertile, le sens de la
couleur, il installe des personnages ordinaires et des animaux dans des
situations extraordinaires. Avec sensibilité et humour, il nous invite à
réfléchir sur les contradictions du monde.
- Un art populaire, Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, jusqu'au 4
nov. Regard sur l'art populaire d'aujourd'hui, l'exposition regroupe 150
ouvres d'une cinquantaine d'artistes d'Europe, d'Afrique, d'Asie, d'Amérique
du Nord et du Sud. Avec, notamment : Kane Kwei, Ghana ; Cheik Ledy, RDC ;
Moke, RDC. www.fondation.cartier.fr

Régions :
- 26 - Mourad Messoubeur, Grignan, du 01 juil. au 02 sept. Artiste algérien
accueilli en France depuis une dizaine d'années. Vit à Marseille. Il
pratique des transferts d'images sur fibre de résine et moisissures sur
plaque de verre et fibre de résine. ed.complicites@wanadoo.fr -
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/ed.complicites
- 29 - Mame Fari, Riec sur Bélon, du 01 juil. au 02 sept. Passions
Africaines et Artatoom.com organisent l'exposition "Mame Fari", exposition
de peintures africaines (Kre Mbaye, Eric Wonanu), à l'Oasis-Galerie.
- 44 - Un jardin des civilations au Cameroun, Nantes, du 07 juil. au 27
août. L'exposition "Jardin des civilisations" présente une esquisse du
projet d'aménagement paysager des abords du lac municipal de la ville de
Dschang au Cameroun. pl_cam@yahoo.fr - s.djache.architecte@wanadoo.fr
- 44 - Nantes, Centre Régional d'Art textile, du 4 juil. au 16 sept. : Hervé
Di Rosa. De 1997 à 2000, Hervé Di Rosa effectue plusieurs séjours chez les
artisans zoulous, au Ghana, au Bénin, en Ethiopie. 4 expositions sont
présentées, qui sont autant de voyages sur les traces de l'artiste.
Notamment, du 4 juil. au 16 sept., Le CRAT, Centre Régional d'Art textile,
présente "Mes tissages, un cheminement où il ne faut pas perdre le fil", les
appliqués du Bénin et travail d'Afrique du Sud.
- 86 - Terre d'Empreintes, Sénégal, Rurart, espace d'art contemporain,
Rouillé, jusqu'au 20 déc. 2001. Terre d'Empreintes, Sénégal présente les
ouvres des artistes sénégalais Séni Camara, Sérigne M'Baye Camara, Viyé
Diba, Ibrahima Konaté. www.rurart.org
- 92 - André Maire - Dessins d'Afrique et d'Asie, Musée des années 30,
Boulogne - Billancourt, jusqu'au 04 août. Une soixantaine de grands formats
retracent les itinéraires en Afrique et en Asie d'André Maire, grand peintre
voyageur des années 30.

Monde :
- Italie - Authentique/Ex-centrique : Africa in and out of Africa,
Fondazione Querine Stampalia, Venise, jusqu'au 04 nov. Exposition dans le
cadre de la 49ème Biennale de Venise. Africa in and out of Africa rassemble
les ouvres de sept artistes africains ou de la diaspora s'illustrant dans la
peinture, la sculpture, la photographie, la vidéo et le multimédia.
ddediana.querini@provincia.venezia.it
- USA - Uganda's International Art Renaissance, The Art Room, San Francisco,
jusqu'au 31 mars 2002. James Kitamirike, Dan Sekanwagi, David Kibuuka, Bruno
Sserunkuuma, Fred Makubuya, et Derek Kaggwa.. www.theartroom-sf.com
- Suisse - 5000 ans de figures humaines - cent regards sur les collections
Barbier-Mueller, Genève, jusqu'au 15 oct.
- Espagne - Afriques : l´artiste et la ville, Centre de Culture
Contemporaine de Barcelone (CCCB), jusqu'au 15 sept. Artistes : Prologue, El
Anatsui, Godfried Donkor, Berry Bickle. Dakar : Viyé Diba, Amadou Kan-Si,
Ousmane Dago Ndiaye. Paris : Patrice Felix Tchicaya. Abidjan : Anapa,
Ananias Leki. Lagos : Dilomprizulike, Akinbode Akinbiyi. Londres : Sokari
Douglas Camp, Eileen Perrier. Harare : David Brazier, Luis Basto, Calvin
Dondo. Johannesburg : Penelope Siopis, Santu Mofokeng. Cape Town : Willie
Bester, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Jane Alexander. Epilogue : Moshekwa Langa, Bodys
I. Kingelez, Samuel Fosso. http://www.cccb.org - jcarrera@cccb.org
- Autriche : 100 Negerköpfe - eine lebende Erinnerung an die Sklaverei, par
Attila (Belgique) et Roger Zeade (Côte d'Ivoire), jusqu'au 2 septembre au
Schloßmuseum am Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum, Linz.
www.schlossmuseum.at


DANSE * MONDE


- Tournée - la troupe ivoirienne Yelemba est en tournée de mai en juillet,
les 28 et 29 juil. : Anvers (Belgique) - Sfinks Festival - www.yelemba.com


HISTOIRE / SOCIETE * MONDE


- Suisse - Exposition "Kua et Himba - Deux peuples traditionnels du Botswana
et de Namibie face au nouveau millénaire", Musée d'ethnographie, Genève,
jusqu'au 9 sept. Cette exposition est une approche monographique de deux
peuples d'Afrique australe frappés par les effets dévastateurs de la
modernité. L'exposition présente les recherches effectuées durant près de
vingt ans par l'ethnologue et juriste argentin Carlos Valiente-Noailles, qui
a réuni et offert au Musée une collection unique d'objets, de photos, de
films et d'enregistrements sur ces deux populations.
www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/ethg


MUSIQUE * REGIONS


- 06 - Nuits du Sud, Vence, du 19 juil. au 11 août. Avec notamment : Ismaël
Lo, Faudel, Melina kana..

- 09 - Ariège, Terre de Couleur, Ste Croix Volvestre , du 03 au 05 août. Une
trentaine de concerts et de spectacles pour ce festival au cour de l'Ariège,
avec parmi la programmation Ray Lema et les Tyour Gnaoua, Jim Murple
Memorial.

- 33 - Reggae Sun Ska 4, Cussac Fort Médoc, du 23 au 29 juil. Le 28 : Lee
"Scratch" Perry, LKJ, Skatalite et le 29 : Sound System surprise.

- 33 - 10èmes Nuits atypiques de Langon, du 01 au 05 août. Les Nuits
atypiques fêtent leur dixième édition.Entre paroles et musiques, ici et
ailleurs, fanfare tsigane et flûte peul, polyphonie malgache et rap occitan,
accordéon gascon et balalaïka russe.Avec entre autres au programme : Le 2
août : Mamar Kassey, Orchestre National de Barbès, le 3 août : Feo Gasy,
Eliades Ochoa (du buena Vista Social Club), le 4 août : Erick Manana, Manu
Dibango. www.mondomix.org/nuitsatypiques

- 34 - A Sète, le 28 juil. : Henri Dikongue.

- 51 - F'Estival des Musiques d'Ici et d'Ailleurs, Châlons-en-Champagne, du
jusqu'au 19 août. le 28 juil. : Djoloff (Sénégal), Le 1er août : Septeto
Nacional (Cuba), le 2 août : Patrice (Sierra-Leone - RFA), le 3 août :
Natalia M. King (USA). musiques-ici-ailleurs@wanadoo.fr -
www.musiques-ici-ailleurs.com)

- 52 - Le Chien à Plume en maillot de bain, Langres, du 03 au 05 août. Avec
: K2R'Riddim, Massila Sound System, Nathalie M.King.

- 83 - Les Voix de Gaou, Six-Four-les-Plages, du 19 au 30 juil. Avec : Cheb
Mami, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Macka B, The Gagliators, Souad Massi, Gnawa
Diffusion.

- Tournée - Ba Cissoko Trio - Le 29 juillet : AfriCarjac.

- Tournée - Positive Black Soul, Hip Hop du Sénégal - le 28 juil. : Nice
(6) Cedac de cimiez.

- Tournée - Djollof, le 28 juil. : Chalons en champagne, le 29 juil. : Paris
19 (75) Parc de la Villette.

- Tournée - Omar Sosa, le 29 juil. : Tempo Latino, Vic Fezensac, le 1 août
: Grenoble, le 2 août : Spoletto - Italy, le 3 août : Tremplin Jazz,
Avignon, le 5 août : Evora, Portugal.

- Tournée - Sally Nyolo, 27 ou 28 juillet à Reading (Uk), Womad Festival et
le 29 juillet à Cajar, Fest Africajar.


MUSIQUE * MONDE


- Maroc - Agadir : festival de chants arabes du 13 juillet au 25 août, avec
notamment le Libanais Georges Wassouf, les Marocains Faiz Assaid, Amina
Fakhet et Nass El Ghiwane et l'Algérien Cheb Mami.

- Angleterre - Festival Womad, Reading, du 27 au 29 juil. Avec : Asian Dub
Fondation, L'Orchestre National de Barbès, Régis Gizavo, Hamid Baroudi, Afro
Cuban All stars.

- Espagne - La mar de músicas, Carthagène, du 6 au 29 juillet. La 7ème
édition du festival international de musique "La mar de músicas" met cette
année le Mali à l'honneur. Une plongée au cour du Mali pour connaître sa
culture, au moyens d'expositions de photographies, projections de films,
gastronomie, et débats litteraires, et surtout de nombreux concerts.
www.lamardemusicas.org

- USA - Concerts africains d'été à New York, le 29 juil. : Papa Wemba, SOB'
s.

- Suisse - Paléofestival Nyon, du 26 au 29 juil. Avec : Rachid Taha,
Geoffrey Oryema, la Fonky Family, Ben Harper, Black Uhuru, Maceo Parker,.
www.paleo.ch

- Tournée - El Hadj N'diayele 28 juil. : Womad Seattle WA et le 29
juil. : Ashkenaz Berkeley CA, le 1 août : Washington DC.


PHOTO * REGION


- 07 - Aubenas - L'Afrique aux Aubenades de la Photographie, Maison de
l'Image, du 7 juillet au 5 août. Les Regards croisés 2001, L'identité
photographique d'un territoire, ont pour thème l'Afrique. Les expositions
ont été sélectionnées en collaboration avec Guy Hersant. Programme sur le
site : www.aubenades.org Africultures est partenaire des Aubenades et a
consacré son numéro d'été 01, n°39 à la photographie africaine.



RAPPEL DES EXPOSITIONS PHOTO EN COURS

- Niger - Centre culturel franco-nigérien de Niamey - Du 11 juin au 29
juillet : Photographie, "Banni Samay" photographies de Jean-Pierre Estournet
prises au cours de deux séjours au Niger dans trois villages du pays
zarma. - www.ccfn.ne


PLURIDISCIPLINAIRE * PARIS


- Paris Quartier d'été, du 14 juil. au 15 août. Chaque été, le plus souvent
en plein air, la danse, la musique, le cirque, le théâtre, le conte
investissent parcs, jardins, avenues, squares et monuments. Avec notamment
du 23 au 28 juil. : Mahmoud Gania, Maroc - Luxembourg, Parc de Belleville,
Tuileries. Du 30 juil. Au 2 août : Kady Diarra, Burkina Faso - Tuileries,
suare Carpeaux et banlieue. Du 6 au 9 août : Dayèl Waro, Réunion -
Luxembourg, Parc de Belleville.


PLURIDISCIPLINAIRE * REGION


- 13 - Marseille et le Jazz, Marseille, du 18 juil au 24 août. Exposition :
du 18 juil. Au 24 août, "Jazz en photo" de Laurent Fréneau.

- 13 - Nuits Métis, La Ciotat, du 21 juil. au 31 août. Le festival Nuits
Métis est le point d'orgue des actions de Contre Jour, qui travaille depuis
de nombreuses années sur les échanges de pratiques artistiques d'horizons
différents, en menant des résidences en Afrique et en France. Du 21 juillet
au 4 août : Boulev'art - Les artistes dans la rue. Une dizaine de peintres
et de sculpteurs venus de France et d'Afrique installent leurs espaces de
travail sur le port, comme la structure béninoise Ayïzo l'expérimente depuis
trois ans sur la Place de l'Etoile Rouge de Cotonou. L'atelier prendra forme
au fil des ouvres et installations crées par les dix plasticiens. Un espace
convivial permettra les rencontres et discussions entre plasticiens et le
public. Des débats-rencontres autour de l'art contemporain y seront animés.
Du 24 juillet au 4 août. "Sténopés", réalisés pae Oscura et les stagiaires
de La Ciotat lors de l'atelier des Nuits Métis 00 - Galerie du Port. Le 3
août : L'entre-deux mondes, ou la rencontre de la provence et du Mali.
Spectacle de rue. Cette création réunit le spectacle vivant, théâtre,
musique, marionnette et cirque et les arts plastiques, installation, photo,
peinture et vidéo. Le spectacle raconte le mariage d'un jeune artiste
français avec la fille d'un griot africain. 35 artistes français, maliens,
guinéens, ivoiriens et burkinabés participent à cette histoire. 20h à minuit
sur le port - gratuit. Le 4 août, Concerts avec Trio Ba Cissoko, Guinée.
Virtuoses de la kora, le trio représente la jeune création musicale
guinéenne. Mali Echo System - Yvislan, Mali-France. Rencontre entre la
musique electronique et la musique traditionnelle mandingue.. Kill Point -
Troisième Oil, Guinée-France. Création hip hop Marseille Conakry -
contre.jour@wanadoo.fr


PLURIDISCIPLINAIRE * AFRIQUE


- Côte d'Ivoire - Festival des Arts de la rue de Grand-Bassam, Abidjan, du
02 au 06 août. Les Arts de la Rue pour une Culture de la Paix. Depuis 1996,
les associations Ymako Téatri, Toucouleurs et Quartier France, organisent le
Festival des Arts de la Rue de Grand Bassam, afin de remettre les arts dans
leur espace original : la rue, où ils sont accessibles à tous. Festival des
Arts de la rue, le FAR se veut complètement gratuit et populaire, et a pour
but d'impliquer toute la population en programmant une variété de
disciplines artistiques et sportives traditionnelles aussi bien que
contemporaines, parfois délaissées par les media. Ainsi, la programmation
inclut entre autre : une course de pirogues, un tournois de lutte
traditionnelle, une course de cyclomoteurs, des spectacles de danse, de
théâtre et de marionnettes, des acrobaties équestres, des jongleurs, des
ateliers et des expositions d'arts plastiques, des soirées cinéma, des
concerts de musiques acoustiques, des veillées de contes... Africultures
est partenaire du FAR, le programme détaillé, les interviews à lire dans les
pages Evénemnts Africultures.

- Bénin - Médiathèque des Diasporas, Cotonou. Arts plastiques : Le hall
d'exposition de la Coopération technique belge abrite jusqu'au 29 juillet
2001 l'exposition les nouvelles créations (peintures et sculptures) de
Dominique Kouas et Edwige Akplogan. Cette exposition peut être visitée tous
les jours. Du 19 juillet au 10 août 2001 au Centre culturel américain de
Cotonou une exposition d'ouvres d'art Batik de Sikirou Shola Adehoumi. Le
vernissage aura lieu le 19 juillet 2001. Shola est un artiste béninois
spécialisé dans le batik. Il a étudié au centre national d'artisanat de
Ouagadougou puis exposé dans les Centres culturels d'Abidjan, de Cotonou et
de Douala. Il nous propose ici une exposition vente de ses plus récentes
ouvres. Une autre exposition a lieu du 12 au 30 juillet 2001 au Centre
culturel chinois de Cotonou. C'est l'artiste Gilles Toudonou Sylvanus alias
« Gisty » qui expose une quinzaine de tableaux. C'est la première fois que
ce jeune artiste plasticien expose. Musique : Du 25 au 28 juillet 2001 aura
lieu au Centre culturel français de Cotonou le Festival de musique béninoise
«Asàn kpo gàn kpo ». Ce festival regroupe une vingtaine d'artistes et de
groupes d'artistes. A l'occasion de la fête de l'indépendance du Bénin Tohon
Stan, le roi du Tchink System sera en concert le samedi 04 août 2001 au
Stade de l'Amitié de Cotonou avec beaucoup d'autres artistes. Tohon Stan est
l'initiateur du métissage entre la musique moderne et la musique
traditionnelle Tchinkoumè (Tambours d'eau). Le groupe congolais Makoma sera
en concert géant au Bénin le 03 août 2001 au Stade de l'Amitié de Cotonou. A
l'occasion de la célébration des 100 jours de Kérékou III le doyen de la
musique béninoise Danialou Sagbohan sera en concert à Lokossa dans le
département du Mono le 15 juillet 2001. Il sera sur scène avec l'étoile
montante de la musique béninoise Anna Tèko , une jeune fille d'environ 18
ans qui a commencé par chanter depuis l'âge de 4 ans.


PLURIDISCIPLINAIRE * MONDE


- Angleterre - Ukkasie, Wembley, du 26 au 29 juil. Premier Festival
Afrikaans Artistique. et Culturel, UKkasie au Centre de Conférence de
Wembley. Le Festival UKkasie est organisé par UKkasie Ltd, société
représentant les intérêts de la communauté Afrikaans au Royaume Uni. Tous
les bénéfices du festival seront utilisés pour des causes artistiques,
culturelles et sociales. www.ukkasie.com

- USA - Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington. Du 7 janvier
2001 au 6 janvier 2002 : "Encounters with the Contemporary". Du 15 avril au
7 oct 01 : "Recent Acquisitions". Du 6 mai 01 au 6 janvier 02 : "Beautiful
bodies : Form and decoration of African Pottery". Du 10 juin au 14 octobre
01: "In the presence of spirit : African Art from the National Museum of
Ethnology, Lisbon". Programme des rencontres musicales, débats, projections
du Musée : www.si.edu/nmafa

- Allemagne - Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin. Du 18 mai au 29 juillet :
The short century : independence and liberation movements in Africa,
1945-1994. L'exposition présente une cinquantaine d'artistes africains
contemporains. Elle est accompagnée de films, théâtre et musique. La
programmation détaillée est consultable sur les sites : www.hkw.de -
www.theshortcentury.com Africultures rendra compte de cette importante
exposition dans sa prochaine édition.


THEATRE * REGIONS


- 84 - Avignon, "Le cabaret Omar Khayyam", du 6 au 28 juillet. Dans le cadre
du Avignon-Off, André Benedetto (théâtre des Carmes) monte et interprète
"Le cabaret Omar Khayyam", avec Modestine Ekete (la danseuse) et DJ Ben (le
musicien), à partir des poèmes du célèbre auteur arabe (1048-1131). 21 h.

- 84 - Avignon, Spectacle "Doum Doum Patouka Dhambi" Cie Tellem Chao,
Théâtre du Rouge Gorge, du 6 au 28 juillet. Dans le cadre du festival off en
Avignon "Doum Doum Patouka Dhambi" Histoires d'Ivoire, un voyage à travers
les contes, la musique, le théâtre et la danse. Représentations à 11h et
13h. http://membres.tripod.fr/tellemchao

- Théâtres d'Outre-Mer en Avignon, du 06 au 28 juil. Dans le cadre du
festival d'Avignon, du 6 au 28 Juillet, programme de la Chapelle du Verbe
Incarné pour le TOMA 2001. Retrouvez l'ensemble de la programmation, des
tables-rondes, le détail des pièces dans la rubrique Les Evénements
Africultures sur le site.

- 13 - Marseille, Spectacle : Curumi (enfant en dialecte Tupi), La Friche de
la Belle de Mai du 1 au 30 juillet. Massalia théâtre de marionnettes
présente Curumi. Rencontre inédite avec des enfants de cultures différentes
: Grecs de Macédoine, Albanais de Grèce, Tziganes, Marseillais de Mayotte...
Le spectacle est présenté sur le site web www.image-aigue.org

- Tournée - La Caravane du Sud, du 01 juin au 31 août. Ce festival itinérant
se compose de 3 troupes : Les Karkabous du desert (algérie, chant, danse),
Nedjma, une voie d'Algérie (Théâtre), Le Baton magique (conte). Pour
connaître leur lieux de passge : 04 91 91 01 29.

THEATRE * AFRIQUE

- Ghana - Panafest 2001, Pan-African Historicla Theatre Festival, Legon -
Accra, du 27 juil. au 03 août. Festival panafricain réunissant théâtre,
histoire, musiques, sports etc, le du 27 juillet au 3 août à Cape Coast,
Elmina et Accra. Plus de 10000 participants venant de 40 pays se
retrouveront autour du thème "La Ré-émergence de la civilisation africaine"
et plus spécialement "unir la famille africaine : combler le fossé grâce aux
technologies de l'information" En guise de "pré-festival", un voyage est
organisé entre le 21 et le 26 juillet : il emmènera les participants dans un
pèlerinage sur les traces des esclaves sur la Côte de l'Or. Festival créé en
1991 par la célèbre dramaturge ghanéenne Efua Sutherland pour promouvoir
l'écriture africaine, Panafest a eu lieu en 1992,94, 97, 99. Bien que
soutenu par le gouvernement du Ghana et L'OUA, Panafest s'autofinance depuis
1999 grâce aux sponsors que chaque troupe trouve pour son voyage et ses
frais de séjour. www.africaonline.com.gh/Panafest


TELEVISION

Vous trouverez, dans le plus grand détail, toutes les émissions concernant l
'Afrique programmées à la télé au jour le jour sur :
www.africultures.com/actualite/television/page_tele.htm


RADIO

L'Afrique à la radio : www.africultures.com/actualite/radio/radio.htm


2)- LES MURMURES DE LA SEMAINE

Les sorties, les rumeurs, les prix, les informations etc.
Pour ne pas surcharger la lettre nous ne donnons pas le détail de l'
information. Vous le trouvez sur :
www.africultures.com/actualite/murmures/lettre_diff.asp


ARTS PLASTIQUES


- Expo en ligne : " My knees hurt", exposition/ installation de Soleiman
Badat et David Deurweilher plasticiens réunionnais à Art'Senik ILe de la
Réunion en ligne sur http://www.dekap.net

- Ouverture de Galerie : TOWA, une galerie d'art présentant des artistes
contemporains Afro-Caribéens vient d'ouvrir sur Paris (58 rue Damesme 75013
Paris). On peut en voir un bout sur
http://www.creolis.com/portail/Towa/Towa4.htm


CINEMA


- Cannes - Newton Aduaka, réalisateur de "On the edge" et "Rage", a été
sélectionné (avec 5 autres candidats) par le jury de Cinéfondation, présidé
par Pascale Ferran, pour la troisième session de la résidence du festival de
Cannes.


INTERNET


- Togo : Cité-Magazine : Le premier journal togolais sur Internet.
http://www.francofil.net/fr/medias/medtg_fr.html

- Radion Louisiane : Radio Louisiane se veut la voix internationale de la
musique cadienne, zaricots, acadienne, créole louisianaise et
franco-américaine. Écoute en direct.
http://www.francofil.net/fr/medias/medlou_fr.html


LITTERATURES

Parutions :


- "Les peintures murales des femmes Kasséna du Burkina Faso" de PIBOT
Jacques. Editeur : HARMATTAN (L'). Prix TTC : 80.03FF - ISBN : 2-7475-0865-X


Publications :

- Africa et Mediterraneo : numéro spécial sur l'Afrique et la pauvreté,
articles écrits par des anthropologues, économistes et sociologues (en
italien). Focus sur internet en Afrique. fad4462@iperbole.bologna.it

- "Le Margouillat", mensuel de BD de l'île de La Réunion, vient de faire
paraître son 9ème numéro (juillet/août). Après Téhem chez Glénat et Li-An
chez Delcourt, un troisième auteur du "Margouillat" vient de signer un
contrat avec une maison d'édition professionnelle : Grégoire chez Les
Humanoïdes Associés pour un album à paraître fin 2001. La maison d'édition
pays - "Centre du Monde" (!) - éditeur entre autres des "Tiburce", annonce
aussi 4 nouvelles parutions pour fin 2001 dont trois albums disponibles en
souscription : "Gaspard" de Marc Blancher, "Dans les Hauts" (collectif) et
"Zistoir plafon" de Séné. Vous pouvez suivre toute l'actualité de la BD
réunionnaise sur le site officiel du "Margouillat":
http://www.margouillat.org



MEDIA / LIBERTE DE LA PRESSE


- Sénégal : Le Bureau sénégalais des droits d'auteur (BSDA) a intenté, il y
a trois semaines, une action en justice pour nonpaiement des droits
d'auteur, à l'encontre de la station saintlouisienne Téranga FM et des
stations dakaroises Sud FM, Walf FM et RadioNostalgie, rapporte Habib Demba
Fall dans un article publié par le Soleil du 5 juillet.
(http://www.panos.sn/actus/index.html)



3) LE SITE AFRICULTURES DE LA SEMAINE


- La Musique Guyanaise sur Internet : Fresque.com vient d'ouvrir ses
portes sur le Net. D'un simple clic, vous avez accès à toutes sortes
d'informations concernant l'île de la Réunion (et les autres îles de l'Océan
Indien). Pour vous permettre de préparer vos vacances, nous dénichons pour
vous les meilleures adresses des professionnels, hôtels, restaurants,
activités, recettes et surtout l'actualité (cinéma, concerts,
expositions...). Une fois sur place, vous saurez quoi faire, quoi voir...
vous aurez ainsi la possibilité d'avoir les meilleurs plans. Sans attendre
vos prochaines vacances, vous pouvez découvrir la Réunion et passer une
soirée réunionnaise. Pour cela nous mettons à votre disposition un carnet
d'adresses dans lequel vous trouverez les restaurants, les services, les
associations qui vous feront profiter de leurs soirées.
http://www.fresque.com

More...

Challenging Inequities In Health

From Ethics to Action

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/2397

A new book &#8212; Challenging Inequities in Health: from ethics to action &#8212; draws together all of the GHEI studies into a 21 chapter resource on health equity. This volume provides new perspectives on the concept of health equity, empirical evidence on the scale and nature of health inequities in 13 countries and assessments of relevant policy developments and their implications.
http://www.rockfound.org/display.asp?Collection=3&context=1&DocID=424&Preview=0&ARCurrent=1

A growing sense that health disparities are widening in many countries sparked the development of the book Challenging Inequities in
Health: From Ethics to Action (Ed. Evans, Whitehead, Diderichsen, Bhuiya and Wirth, Oxford University Press 2001). This newly published
volume presents 21 chapters worth of cutting edge research and policy analysis to a wide non specialist readership of students, profession-
als and decision-makers. It brings together in one volume new perspectives on the conceptual foundations of health equity, empirical
evidence on the scale and nature of the inequities in health in twelve countries around the world, and assessments of the associated
policy developments and their implications for the future. Above all, the volume takes the position that health equity is a matter of social justice.

The authors aim to help build global capacity to measure, monitor and interpret developments in health equity at a national and international level. The in depth country analyses draw on epidemiology, demography, economics and other fields to approach health inequalities
from several different angles. The topics covered range from adolescent livelihoods in Tanzania to the health burden of indigenous peoples in Mexico, from health equity in Japan to the gender gap in life expectancy in Russia. The book is a unique demonstration of global cooperation in bringing together and giving equal weight to work on health equity carried out in the southern and northern hemispheres.

More...

Planning for Leadership Transition

2001-07-30

http://www.msh.org/publications

Titled "Planning for Leadership Transition," this edition of Management Sciences for Health (MSH)'s award-winning publication - The Manager -considers strategy and process for managing a leadership transition and developing leadership capacity among staff at all levels.
It describes how organizations can search for a new leader, and prepare for future transitions
by developing the leadership talents of current staff. Working Solutions from Africa and Nicaragua provide examples of ways organiza-
tions have managed their leadership transitions. The accompanying case scenario "'Better Health' Plans for Leadership Transition" may be used for staff development and training.

Published quarterly, The Manager is a continuing education management publication from MSH. Each issue presents in-depth discussions of
management strategies for improving health and family planning services.

This issue marks the 10th anniversary of The Manager. With this issue, we are proud to introduce a new, updated design. We hope you
like the fresh look and new colour scheme.
Our publications are free of charge to people in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Funds received from sales in North America, Western Europe, Japan, and Australia support reprinting and distribution of our publications in 180 countries.

Funding for this issue of The Manager was provided by the US Agency for International Development through MSH's Management and Leadership Development Program.

Sincerely,

Sherry Cotaco
Bookstore and Distribution Manager
Management Sciences for Health (MSH)
165 Allandale Road
Boston, MA 02130, USA
Tel: +1-617-524-7799 x 248
Fax: +1-617-524-2825
mailto:scotaco@msh.org
http://www.msh.org/publications

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Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/2465

Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply 2000.140 pages. ISBN 089608-607-0. WE547. US $14.00 Vandana Shiva
http://www.womenink.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=books&Product_Code=WE547

In this book, the renowned environmentalist and activist charts how corporate control of food and the globalization of agriculture are robbing millions of their livelihoods and their right to food, and the related impact this has on the environment and the quality and healthfulness of the foods we eat. Topics covered include genetically engineered seeds, patents on life, mad cows and sacred cows and the debate on shrimp farming. This inspiring book will possibly lead the debate about genetic engineering and commercial agriculture for some time to come.

More...

The International Criminal Court and National Sovereignty

2001-07-30

Adel Maged

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/2399

This book is one of the few Arabic publications that deals exclusively with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its legal system. It addresses many sensitive legal issues relating to the ratification process of the ICC Statute, as well as the implementation of international criminal law norms throughout the Arab world.
This work delineates crimes that fall under international criminal jurisdiction and distinguishes them from other domestic crimes that fall exclusively under national jurisdiction. Furthermore, it focuses on the
national sovereignty of States, which frequently serves as the foundation of many of the obstacles that impede the adoption of the ICC Statute.
Primarily addressed are the constitutional and other legislative barriers to the ratification process. These topical discussions are followed by
attempts to provide solutions to overcome such impediments. The book also discusses the immunities of Heads of States and national judicial sovereignty over a State's territory and its nationals, while subsequently analyzing whether or not the ICC actually obstructs (or infringes) such manifestations of State sovereignty.

Further discussed are other issues relating to the implementation of the ICC Statute into national legal systems. Examples include the relationship between international law and municipal law, as well as how international
treaties are received within national legal systems, with a particular focus on the interrelationship between national and international jurisdiction. Also detailed are the main obligations of States Parties under the ICC treaty.

This book concludes with recommendations concerning the ratification and the implementation process, and also explains how the ICC could serve the interests of all Arab States. In closing, it urges Arab countries to give
enough attention to the emerging system of international criminal law, while imploring them to enact national legislation and to create effective national legal systems capable of prosecuting crimes that are within the
jurisdiction of the ICC.

The book is published with the hope that it will be useful for all those who are working on or are interested in international criminal justice,
particularly for decision-makers and legal scholars in the Arab world.

The Publisher:
The book is published by the Center for Political and Strategic Studies at the Al-Ahram Foundation in Egypt.

Adel Maged
Chief Prosecutor
Member of the Department of Legislation at the Egyptian Ministry of Justice

More...

Two Ethiopians Receive Prestigious Awards

2001-07-30

http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2001/07/27-07-01/Two.htm

Afework Tekle and Tebebe Yemane Brehan, received the most prestigious awards at St. John's College Cambridge University from the President of the American Biographical Institute (ABI) and from the Director General of International Biographical Center (IBC) at the 28th International Congress on Arts and communications, England held from 15th - 22nd July 2001.

Call for Papers: Journal of Social Work Research and Evaluation Special Issue on Women

Deadline: October 15, 2001

2001-07-30

http://www.springerjournals.com

In 1995 the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women. The Platform reflected a new international commitment to the goals of equality, development, and peace for all women everywhere. the editors of the Journal of Social Work Research and Evaluation: An International Publication invite manuscripts that address one or more of the following Critical Areas of Concern identified in the Beijing Platform for Action: Women and poverty; Education and training of women; Women and health; Violence against women; Women and armed conflict; Women and the economy; Women in power and decision-making; Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women; Human rights of women; Women and the media; Women and the environment; The girl child.
A special issue of The Journal of Social Work Research and
Evaluation: An International Publication.

In 1995 the Beijing Platform for Action was adopted at the Fourth
World Conference on Women. The Platform reflected a new international
commitment to the goals of equality, development, and peace for all
women everywhere. This commitment was reaffirmed in 2000 at the
"Beijing + 5" special session of the United Nations General Assembly.
At that time it was noted that "even though significant positive
developments can be identified, barriers remain and there is still the
need to further implement the goals and commitments made in Beijing."
It was further noted that "effective and coordinated plans and
programs for the full implementation of the Platform for Action
require a clear knowledge of the situation of women and girls, clear
research-based knowledge and data disaggregated by sex, short- and
long-term time-bound targets and measurable goals, and follow-up
mechanisms to assess progress."(1)

Accordingly, the editors of the Journal of Social Work Research and
Evaluation: An International Publication invite manuscripts that
address one or more of the following Critical Areas of Concern
identified in the Beijing Platform for Action:

Women and poverty; Education and training of women;
Women and health; Violence against women; Women and armed conflict;
Women and the economy; Women in power and decision-making;
Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women; Human rights of
women; Women and the media; Women and the environment; The girl child.

Manuscripts should be one or more of the following types: empirical
(quantitative and/or qualitative); conceptual, addressing theoretical
model development; conceptual, addressing research methodology needs,
strategies, or innovations; or reviews of empirically-based knowledge.

Additionally, manuscripts should have an international perspective,
through one or more of the following means: cross-national
comparisons; studies of international migrants; or studies within one
country that draw upon literature from other countries and derive
implications for other countries.

Manuscripts should be in English, 16-20 pages in length, and include
an abstract of 100 words or less. The references and format of the
manuscript should follow the style of the American Psychological
Association. Authors should submit four copies. Manuscripts will be
peer-reviewed by at least two consulting editors and returned with
comments.

Manuscripts should be submitted by October 15, 2001 to:

The Editors, Journal of Social Work Research and Evaluation,
College of Social Work,
The Ohio State University,
1947 College Road,
Columbus, OH 43210-1162, USA.
Phone: (614) 292-5300; Fax:(614) 292-6940;
E-mail: tripodi.5@osu.edu
Further information about the journal may be obtained at
www.springerjournals.com

[[ Source: AWID Resource Net, contact: awid@awid.org ]]

More...

FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR WOMEN SCIENTISTS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA AND LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

2001-07-30

http://www.twows.org/

The Third World Organization of Women in Science (TWOWS) has fellowships available for women scientists in Sub-Saharan Africa and Least Developed Countries at Centres of Excellence in the Global South. It is a programme for female students to promote their effective participation in the scientific and technological development of their countries. The deadline is October 31, 2001. You can get more information, including the application, online or please contact Leena Mungapen, TWOWS.

NEW ISSUE OF GENDER, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY FOCUSES ON GENDER RELATIONS IN FOREST SOCIETIES

2001-07-30

http://gendevtech.ait.ac.th/gtd/gtd.htm

A new issue of the journal Gender, Technology, and Development on the topic of Gender Relations in Forest Societies is now available. You can read more about this journal, including article titles and authors online.
To purchase copies, contact
Sage Publications, Inc at <info@sagepub.co.uk> in North and South
America; <market@sagepub.co.uk> in Europe, Africa and Australia, and
<sageindia@sagepub.com> in Asia.

More...

OFAN AND RADCLIFFE MEETING ON GENDER, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY: CURRENT TRENDS AND FUTURE ACTION

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/2431

A meeting convened by the Once and Future Action Network (OFAN) and the Radcliffe Center for Public Policy Center April 30 through May 1, 2001 discussed possibilities for closer collaboration among the global gender, science, and technology (GST) networks, and plans were outlined for future
activities. For further details contact ECOWOMAN.
MEETING CONVENED BY OFAN AND RADCLIFFE ON "GENDER, SCIENCE, AND
TECHNOLOGY: CURRENT TRENDS AND FUTURE ACTION:"

Many of you may remember the Once and Future Pavilion at the NGO Forum
in Beijing (Huairou) 1995, where women asked questions, searched for
solutions, shared ideas, demonstrated their knowledge of science and
technology and showed how they made it work for them. The work has
continued and one of the more recent happenings was a meeting convened
by the Once and Future Action Network (OFAN) and the Radcliffe Center
for Public Policy Center April 30 through May 1, 2001. Possibilities
for closer collaboration among the global gender, science, and
technology (GST) networks were discussed and plans outlined for future
activities. Among the global GST networks present in addition to OFAN
were Gender and Science and Technology (GASAT), the Global Alliance
for Diversifying the Science and Engineering Workforce, the Third
World Organization for Women in Science (TWOWS), and the regional
focal points (Southeast Asia and Pacific, Africa, and Latin America)
of the Gender Advisory Board (GAB) of the UN Commission on Science and
Technology for Development. Decisions reached at the two-day meeting
included:

1. the rotation of the OFAN global secretariat from India to Fiji 2. a
renewal of OFAN's role as a policy monitoring and advocacy network on
gender, science and technology issues with an immediate focus on
Rio+10 and the annual meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of
Women (CSW) to review implementation of the Beijing Platform for
Action, and 3. an agreement to explore a global collaborative project
on information and communication technologies (ICTs).

For further information contact the new global secretariat at:
ECOWOMAN, Box 9874, Nadi Airport Post Office, FIJI, South Pacific or
email <ecowoman@is.com.fj>.

More...

SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON WOMEN REPORTS TO THE AFRICAN COMMISSION OF HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/2481

UNIFEM is supporting the African Commission's Special Rapporteur on Women and Violence, Julienne Ondziel-Gnelenga, to report on Violence Against Women at domestic, community and institutional levels, including women in conflict situations. Five field studies to assess the situation of women's human rights in Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are also being conducted. For more information, contact Hodan Addou, Programme Coordinator for East, Central and the Horn of Africa.



The Rapporteur's preliminary report will be submitted to an Expert
Meeting for review, before presentation of the final text to the
African Commission of Human and Peoples' Rights later in 2001. This
reporting process is the only Africa-wide mechanism to date for
monitoring the status of women's human rights across Africa and the
performance of OAU Member States who have pledged to uphold them
through the African Charter and its attendant Protocol.

More...

Unicef announces $190, 000 grant for girls&#8217; healthcare and education in Kenya

2001-07-30

http://ippfnet.ippf.org/pub/IPPF_News/News_Details.asp?ID=1282

UNICEF has announced a $190,000 grant to improve primary health care and education for girls in Kenya's Kwale district according to a report by the Nairobi Daily Nation (23 July). Nicholas Alipui, the agency's country director, appealed to parents to challenge outdated traditions that obstruct girls' rights and asked them to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Womens Economic Rights-Conference

1st Nigerian Internet interactive workshop on the economic empowerment of Nigerian Women

2001-07-30

http://www.kabissa.org/mailman/listinfo/womenseconomicrights-conference

You are welcome to the 1st Nigeria Internet Interactive Conference organised by Women's Rights Watch Nigeria from the 9th August - 8th September, 2001. The First Nigerian Internet Interactive Conference on: THE ECONOMIC RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN NIGERIA - from rhetoric to action.

In the Days After Genoa

2001-07-30

http://www.indymedia.org/

The massive street protests in Genoa, Italy, this weekend have ended. Most of the estimated 200,000 to 300,000 who participated this weekend in demonstrations against the closed meetings of the G8 have returned to their communities. People around Europe and the world are debating what the protests meant, why they happened, what inspired such harsh reaction by the Italian police and where we all go from here. Many see Genoa as a crossroads for the alternative globalization movement, facing fragmentation from internal differences or increasing influence in challenging global forces of domination. In the aftermath of Genoa, a large number of posts on Indymedia turned to discussion of strategies and tactics, old and new.

BURUNDI: Parties to remain in opposition

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/burundi/20010727c.phtml

A spokesman for the group of parties who supported the candidacy of Colonel Epitace Bayaganakandi for the presidency of the transitional period, Alphonse Rugambarara, reiterated that his group would not enter the transitional government led by President Buyoya and his deputy, Hutu leader, Domitien Ndayizeye.

Demand for Italian inquiry into violence against G8 demonstrators

2001-07-30

http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/3B5E0406F06E7E5B80256A920052EB7F?OpenDocument

Amnesty International is demanding an inquiry into the police violence against G8 demonstrators.

LIBERIA: President declares amnesty for opponents

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/wa/countrystories/liberia/20010727.phtml

Liberian President Charles Taylor announced a general amnesty on Thursday for all treason suspects abroad and anti-government dissidents in the northern county of Lofa, news media reported.

Malawi: Demise of Democracy

Malawi Digest

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/2516

The Malawi Digest, produced by MIDEA, raises concerns about the growing demise of democracy in Malawi. According to the Digest, Malawi is in danger of sliding back into one-party rule. There are real concerns about the government's lack of respect for the constitution and the rule of law, and the real dangers that are now faced from the abuse of human rights, the intolerance of dissent and the emergence of politcally motivated violence.
THE MALAWI DIGEST


In the referendum of June 1993, Malawians loudly rejected the one-party dictatorship which they had endured for over 30 years, in favour of democratic pluralism. Thus when the United Democratic Front (UDF) party came to power as the first democratically elected government since l964, it pledged itself to give the nation a government based on the will of the people, and one which would be transparent, accountable and committed to respect for the rule of law and to the promotion and protection of human rights for all.

However, only seven years later, Malawians are watching with dismay as all the promises heralded by the 1993 referendum, which seemed to be confirmed by the 1994 general elections, begin to evaporate as the country appears to be rapidly sliding back to a new form of one party rule. The government has turned back on its promise to provide good governance based on constitutionalism and on respect for the rule of law and observance of human rights. Not withstanding its continued public declarations of commitment to a plural democracy under-pinned by an effective opposition, the government&#8217;s actions have, in fact, been promoting the direct opposite. Taking advantage of a fragmented and weakened opposition, the government has openly embarked on a systematic erosion of all the pillars of genuine democratic governance and rule of law, characterized by, among others, lack of a balance of power between the Executive and the Legislature as well as an independent Judiciary.

Unless this situation is urgently arrested, Malawi risks degenerating into another one-party dictatorship, despite the existence of a multi-party setting. . This digest intends to highlight some of the major contradictions that Malawi is currently living with. These include a drift away from constitutionalism, abdication of responsibility by the Legislature, growing government intolerance for dissent, emergence of politically sponsored violence, lack of transparency and accountability, and disregard for the rule of law.


1. DRIFTING AWAY FROM CONSTITUTIONALISM

· Undermining the Popular Will
In order to prevent any return to dictatorship and also ensure that the government reflected the will of the people, the Malawian people adopted in 1994 a Constitution providing for checks and balances and contained several entrenched clauses. To avoid a prolonged hold on power, the Constitution set a limit on the Presidential tenure to two consecutive 5-year terms only. To check abuse of power, the Constitution provided for a bi-cameral Parliament comprising an elective lower house, i.e. the National Assembly, and an upper house, i.e. Senate, comprising traditional leaders and appointed representatives of various key sections of Malawi society; the Senate was vested with powers of veto over the National Assembly and would have authority to impeach the President. The Constitution also contained a Recall clause so the constituents could replace a Member of Parliament who had lost the people&#8217;s confidence and mandate. These and other entrenched clauses could be changed only through a referendum or by Parliament after the widest possible consultations.

In the very first act of undermining the popular will, Members of Parliament unilaterally repealed the Recall Clause ( Section 64, repealed by Act No. 6 of 1995 ) when the Constitution, adopted provisionally in 1994, came up for review in May l995. The Members justified their action on the grounds that such a provision could be abused and would thus be injurious to the development of Malawi&#8217;s young democracy.

In January 2001, without prior consultation and in complete disregard for calls by civil society and other sections of society, Parliament adopted a bill abolishing the Senate. The ruling party, which sponsored the amendment bill, stated that it would be too costly for the nation to have a senate at this time. Significantly, the bill was not allowed the twenty-one days notice period before being debated in the House, a move which was widely seen as intended to avoid a possible blockage by opponents of the proposed amendment.

During its current budget session, Parliament has proposed another fundamental amendment which would see the quorum in the House, currently at 50% of elected Members, reduced to a mere one third. If passed, this amendment would completely negate the principle of majority opinion in passing laws; Malawi would be the only country where the minority makes decisions over the majority. This amendment, it would appear, is a prelude to a suspected plan by the Executive to amend the Constitution further by abolishing the two-term limitation on the President&#8217;s tenure of office. The reduction in the quorum requirement would thus give legality to a clearly illegal and unconstitutional act.

Through the above Constitutional amendments and others which have been adopted during the past six years, the people&#8217;s will as expressed in the Constitution has been steadily undermined. If allowed to continue unchecked, such developments as these will ultimately render the people&#8217;s will irrelevant, as was the case during the thirty-years of one-party dictatorship.


· Erosion of the Balance of Power:

The past few years have also witnessed a steady erosion of the principle of the separation of powers amongst the three arms of Government, namely the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary. At the same time the principle of the independence of the Judiciary has been severely tested. However, inspite of the fact that certain judges have seemingly succumbed to Executive influence, the Judiciary has generally succeeded in maintaining its independence. Meanwhile, the Executive and the Legislature have, both jointly and severally, tended to ignore or have shown open contempt for its authority.

The most disturbing aspect of the erosion of the principle of separation of powers has been the way that the office of the Speaker has placed Parliament in a virtually subservient relationship to the Executive.

One of the most glaring example of this subservience was the unprecedented motion adopted by the House in May 2000, at the suspected instigation of the Executive, which saw Mr. Gwanda Chakuamba, president of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the main opposition party in Parliament, being suspended from attending Parliament for a year. The reason for the suspension was that the MCP leader had &#8220;shown disrespect for the Head of State&#8221; by boycotting public Presidential functions, including the State Openings of Parliament, which the former had maintained pending the outcome of a suit which he had filed in the High Court over alleged rigging during the 1999 presidential election, in which Mr, Chakuamba had lost to the incumbent, Dr. Bakili Muluzi.

The MCP leader challenged his suspension in the courts, which subsequently ruled that Parliament had over-stepped its mandate in suspending him from the House, to which he was elected by his constituents. Reacting to the High Court decision, the Speaker of Parliament declared that Mr. Chakuamba should be punished further for having shown contempt of Parliament by challenging its decision in the courts. The Speaker further declared that the presiding judge had no authority over Parliament and, instead, summoned him to appear before the House to answer to charges of contempt of Parliament. Probably on subsequent advice, the Speaker allowed the matter to die, but not before the judge had reminded him of the separation of powers between the judiciary and the legislature and also of the independence of the judiciary.

Despite the MCP leader&#8217;s return to Parliament, the Speaker and Members from the ruling party in the House, supported by a faction loyal to the MCP vice president, have decided not to re-instate him to his de jure position of Official Leader of the Opposition. This situation has, predictably, contributed to continuation of a deep split between the rival MCP factions whilst at the same time destabilizing and weakening the opposition. Needless to say, the Executive has derived much satisfaction from the prevailing situation since the vice president&#8217;s faction, led by the de facto Leader of the Opposition, has consistently been co-operative and supportive of the government side in the House.

In a separate incident which has further underlined this co-operation in undermining the Judiciary, the Executive and the office of the Speaker are openly flouting the ruling by the Supreme Court in May 2001 on a petition brought by the MCP faction loyal to the vice president, Mr. John Tembo. In the petition, the faction asked the Supreme Court to quash a ruling late last year by the lower court which found to be null and void the results of two separate conventions held simultaneously on 9th August 2000 by the two rival factions. The convention held in Blantyre by the faction loyal to the party president had confirmed Mr. Chakuamba in his position whilst that of members loyal to the vice president held in Lilongwe elected Mr. Tembo as president.

The Supreme Court upheld the lower court&#8217;s ruling and ordered that the party&#8217;s leadership position revert to that prevailing before 9th August 2000, pending an internal resolution of the split in the party.

In complete disregard of the Supreme Court&#8217;s ruling, the Head of State has, to the dismay of many, publicly declared the MCP vice president to be the &#8220;genuine leader&#8221; of the party. The President&#8217;s view is evidently supported by the office of the Speaker of Parliament. For, during one meeting of the current sitting of the House, the First Deputy who was then in the chair, did nothing to correct an MCP Member who rose on a point of order against a reference to Mr. Tembo as the &#8220;MCP vice president&#8221; and &#8220;to remind the Member (then holding the floor) that Mr. Tembo is the president of the MCP, not vice president&#8230;&#8221; For his part, the Speaker himself has stated that there can be &#8220; no question of the position of Leader of the Opposition going to Mr Chakuamba&#8221;, citing as justification the fact that Mr. Tembo &#8220; was duly elected to that position by the MCP Members of Parliament&#8221;. The Speaker&#8217;s statement of course flies in the face of the Supreme Court ruling and contravenes Parliament&#8217;s own standing orders regarding appointments to positions in the National Assembly.

The preceding cases have illustrated both the erosion of the principle of the separation of powers as well as the constant pressures exerted on the independence of the Judiciary. There have been other cases, some dating as far back as 1995, in which actions by the Executive or by the Legislature have prejudiced matters before the courts, resulting in the cases having to be withdrawn.

There have been numerous other cases illustrative of the Legislature&#8217;s subservience to the Executive. For instance, Parliament has seemingly accepted that the President can create administrative districts without reference to the House, despite the obvious inherent political as well as financial implications. For the ruling party, the creation of additional districts has been beneficial in giving it extra seats in Parliament arising from the constituencies which are automatically created in the new districts. Another example is the creation last year by the Office of the President and Cabinet of a new national intelligence service (the National Intelligence Bureau) without any prior notification to legislators. During the 2000 budget session, Parliament proceeded to allocate funds for its operations without even asking why such a body was necessary or enquiring what had happened to the Special Branch which had previously operated under the police establishment.

Clearly, the principle of separation of powers has been greatly eroded and, as a consequence, Malawi has begun a very real and worrisome drift away from constitutionalism.






2. LEGISLATURE ABDICATING ITS RESPONSIBILITY

The previous section highlighted the subservience of the Legislature to the undue influence of the Executive, which is in contrast to the efforts of the Judiciary to preserve its independence from both of the other arms of Government. As for the Legislature, it is to be noted that apart from the Executive, Members have also allowed themselves to be influenced in carrying out their work by such unhelpful factors as political affiliation and selfish interests. As a result, members of the Legislature are seen by most Malawians as having abandoned their responsibilities as representatives of the people.

· Political Affiliation

The Constitution states that Members of Parliament have the right to make independent decisions, based both on the interests of their respective constituents and on their own conscience. In practice, however, Members have been constrained to follow the dictates of their parties. In some circumstances it has been pragmatic and beneficial for the Members to obey, but in most cases this has been at the expense of national interest and good governance. For instance, when, in 1996/97 members of the Malawi Congress Party and the Alliance for Democracy, on a point of principle, boycotted Parliament for several months, the governing party carried on without them and in the meantime passed a number of controversial bills which subsequently worked to the disadvantage of the two parties.

Recent examples of Members of Parliament voting according to party direction include the 100% &#8220;yes&#8221; votes cast by Members from the ruling United Democratic Front Party (UDF) and those from the pro-Tembo faction of the Malawi Congress Party to suspend the MCP president from the House in June 2000 and also in connection with Constitutional amendment bills on abolition of the Senate, and the &#8220;crossing of the floor&#8221; by Members, which they knew fully well was targeted at certain Member. Earlier, in January 2001, the same pattern repeated itself when the House adopted a bill which would in effect give the government control over the activities of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and was thus aimed at stifling those NGOs considered to be too critical of the government. This was despite the privately expressed opposition of some of the Members to these bills. Invariably, virtually all Members from the AFORD party and all those from the MCP faction loyal to the party president cast dissenting votes.

The nation is obviously ill-served when elected representatives pass laws which they themselves do not believe in.

For fear of being considered disloyal to their parties, Members, particularly those from the ruling party, have refrained from raising questions about some of the actions of the Executive even though these were clearly unacceptable. In one of the earliest examples of this problem, for instance, Parliament was in 1995 prevented from taking any meaningful action over a scandal in which the then Minister of Education procured without following the proper procedure educational supplies from an overseas supplier affiliated to a local firm for which the Minister had previously worked. As a consequence, a lot of public funds were lost in clearly unethical circumstances. Yet the Minister was never seriously held to account. In the most recent incident, Members belonging to the ruling party joined the Speaker in blocking any discussion of attacks perpetrated at Parliament grounds by members of the UDF&#8217;s youth wing against individuals and property belonging to the opposition on the opening day of the current budget session.

During the June 2000 session of Parliament, a prominent and staunchly loyal UDF Member from Mangochi, commenting on an audit report on one of the parastatal corporations (the Petroleum Control Commission) whilst making a contribution on the budget speech raised a question regarding the problem of corruption in the public sector, observing that those involved in corruption were not serving the President and his government well. The Member received no support from other MPs. Meanwhile, he was summoned to appear before the UDF disciplinary committee, where he was severely castigated and forced to issue a public apology for his &#8220;erroneous insinuations&#8221;. Even the President launched a scathing public attack on the Member. If the Member had any evidence of corruption against anyone, the President stated, he should submit it to the Anti Corruption Bureau.

Ironically, only two months later, the chairman of Parliament&#8217;s Public Accounts Committee made public the Auditor General&#8217;s report which showed the existence of widespread corruption and fraud in government Ministries as a result of which three implicated Ministers were subsequently dropped from the Cabinet. There has never been any apology made to the Member from Mangochi, but his experience served as a brutal lesson to other MPs who might be tempted to take their responsibilities to the public too seriously.

Thus for most legislators the operative principle seems to be &#8220;my party first&#8221;, even if this may not be in the interest of their respective constituents or the majority of Malawians.

· Personal Interests

Members of Parliament have, from the very beginning, shown that their personal interests take high precedence when taking decisions in the House. Reference has been made earlier to their decision to unilaterally repeal the Recall Clause from the Constitution. Obviously, this was because they wished to protect their respective tenure of office, regardless of their performance.

Since then, the Honourable Members have shown themselves to be particularly concerned about personal financial rewards than in issues of benefit to the public. In 1995, the House decided against implementation of the Chatsika Report, commissioned by the government in 1994 to review the conditions of service for the Civil Service, on the grounds that the recommended remuneration package would be too costly to the state. Yet only a few months later, the same Members had no qualms in granting a request for improved salaries and allowances for the Judiciary, subject to the Members&#8217; own sitting and other allowances being improved first. Unashamedly, the Members then promptly awarded themselves the increases, in utter disregard of public disapproval. During the current session, Members have once again awarded themselves increases in sitting allowances and per diem allowances, with the result that it is now estimated that the latter allowances alone will now cost Parliament about K60 million per week. This excludes monthly salaries of K30,000 and sitting allowances of K42,000 per Member.

This apparent greed and preoccupation with money has made most Members from the opposition vulnerable to enticement into defection to the ruling party, in return for financial reward. In the process, true representation of the people has been sacrificed at the altar of personal satisfaction .


3. EROSION OF THE RULE OF LAW
The President is fond of reminding the nation and the world of his government&#8217;s commitment to the rule of law and to the assurance of justice and equality for all before the law. Unfortunately, this commitment is honoured more in the breach than in observance. From the earliest days, members of the administration have behaved in ways which have suggested to the public that some people are above the law. Commitment to the rule of law has, instead, been characterized by unpunished incidents of certain individuals who regard themselves as being above the law, and by corruption, abuse of powers and, lately, politically sponsored violence.

· Living above the Law
The now familiar cavalier attitude of senior government officials toward the rule of law first manifest itself in 1996. During the budget sitting of Parliament in 1996, civil servants staged a demonstration at Parliament to press for the adoption of the Chatsika Report on civil service conditions of service. As the Minister of Education left Parliament grounds, his car was mobbed by the demonstrators. Following this incident, another Minister declared publicly that he would shoot to kill anyone who might be tempted to accost him. As though to prove the point, and to the horror of other Members of Parliament in the House, the Minister brandished his gun, boasting that he had several others which he was ready to use on anyone challenging him.

The Minister&#8217;s public conduct since 1996 has suggested that he may well have been serious about shooting at anyone who stood in his way. In the meantime, he had deliberately breached the sanctity of Parliament by bringing a gun into the House. Neither the Speaker&#8217;s office nor the government censured the Minister or took any kind of action against the Minister on his behaviour.

Contrary to Constitutional provisions, in 1999 the ruling party fielded as a candidate in that year&#8217;s general elections, and later the President appointed to the Cabinet, an individual already known to be under police investigation in a homicide case arising from a dispute over land. Although the individual concerned subsequently voluntarily resigned from the Cabinet so as to &#8220;not go into court in a Ministerial suit&#8221;, the incident showed a lack of respect for the law on the part of the ruling party and the Executive.

In January this year, the Mayor of the City of Blantyre defied a court injunction against interfering with the convening of a meeting by a recently formed pressure group, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The mayor refused to sign for the court order and, instead, on 15th January 2001, the day of the meeting, he called in the police to forcibly disperse the people. Several people, including women and children, were injured in the ensuing stampede; a family living near the venue of the meeting was reported to have lost a little baby, who died from inhalation of fumes from tear gas used by the police.

The mayor was taken to court where he, together with the Regional Commissioner of Police who authorized the use of the police and other officers, was found guilty of contempt and given a suspended sentence. Unrepetant, the mayor ignored calls to resign over the incident whilst the Minister responsible for the police refused to take any disciplinary action against the convicted officers.

Significantly, the Minister responsible for Presidential Affairs, and a member of the national executive of the ruling UDF party, accompanied the mayor everyday during the court hearing in a clear show of Executive support.

Shortly thereafter, this Minister himself and the UDF regional governor for the Southern Region appeared before the court, also on charges of contempt arising from defiance by the two against an injunction barring them from discussing or referring to a case then in the magistrate&#8217;s court where the leader of the NDA, Mr. B.J. Mpinganjira, was on trial on charges of corruption. Both men were subsequently acquitted, but their case demonstrated once more the government&#8217;s disrespect for the rule of law.

· Abuse of Power

Another manifestation of erosion of the rule of law has been the misuse and abuse of the institutions established to either administer the law, i.e. the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), or to promote and protect justice, such as the office of Ombudsman.

Following the formation of the NDA towards the end of the year 2000, the opposition seems to have been revitalized. The public enthusiasm that has greeted joint meetings and rallies of the NDA, Alliance for Democracy Party (AFORD) and the Chakuamba faction of the MCP have apparently shaken the government and its party, the UDF, out of complacency and caused it to worry about its own support. As a result, the governing party has, since the end of November 2000 been conducting a non-stop high profile campaign, led by the President himself, to rally support and prevent an exodus to the opposition. At the same time , the government has launched a dis-information campaign, in which the three heads of the opposition MCP,AFORD and NDA have been accused of plotting to start a civil war in Malawi and over-throw the government through force. Consequently, surveillance through the national intelligence bureau (NIB) against the opposition leaders and on suspected sympathizers has been stepped up. In this context, there are strong indications that the government is now intercepting mail and tapping telephones of both real and imagined &#8220;opponents&#8221;, all of which is reminiscent of the practices under the old one-party regime.

In the midst of all this has come the DPP&#8217;s declaration in April 2001 that he would now arrest any persons who, in his opinion, may be considered to be guilty of treason; he has not explained what would constitute treason but no one doubts as to the intended targets of the veiled threat. It is also generally agreed that the DPP&#8217;s statement was made at the behest of the Executive.

Another example of the abuse of the DPP&#8217;s office was reported in the &#8220;Eye of the People&#8221; newspaper of 10th June 2001 which suggested that, on instruction from the President, the DPP withheld permission for the Anti-Corruption Bureau to prosecute Dr. Casssim Chilumpha, a former Minister of Finance and one-time Minister of Education. Dr. Chilumpha was dropped from the Cabinet in November last year together with Mr. Mpinganjira and a third Minister, Mr. Peter Chupa, after a report by Parliament&#8217;s Public Accounts Committee implicated them in a K187 million corruption case involving the Ministry of Education. Indeed, it may be recalled that whilst the DPP lost no time in bringing Mr. Mpinganjira to court last November, where he was acquitted on all charges, it was not until March/April this year that Dr. Chilumpa was brought before a magistrate&#8217;s court by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, only to have his case dismissed on a technicality.

The government has not refuted the report by the &#8220;Eye of the People&#8221; newspaper, thereby giving credence to the article.

As for the Ombudsman, no action has been taken against his office yet. But it is significant that the government has not refuted or commented on reports that it intends to present a bill aimed at reducing his powers, which the authorities now consider to be &#8220; too excessive&#8221; and used to discredit the government.

As with the other issues, many more instances abound which have served to confirm the prevalence of abuse of the instruments intended for the delivery of fair justice and for the promotion of the rule of law.

· Lack of Accountability

Members of both the Executive and the Legislature have been reticent about declaring their assets, as they are constitutionally required to do immediately upon assuming office and in the interest of transparency and accountability. Undoubtedly, many of the Honourable Ministers and Members fear that if they declare their assets, they might be unable to account for the wealth that some of them have amassed so soon afterwards. Significantly, neither the President nor Parliament have so far taken any action against defaulters.

In 1994 and 1995, the government, on the President&#8217;s direction, distributed to Members of Parliament sums of money amounting to K50,000 per person. The money was ostensibly to be used by the members in development activities in their respective constituencies. However, it is significant that the moneys were given only to members from the UDF. Meanwhile, there has been no accounting for these funds, and neither has there been any evidence provided as to such projects as may have been carried out with the money.

Similarly, and at about the same period, the government also gave out a considerable amount of money to enable youth to start income generating activities as part of efforts to encourage participation by the youth in national development as well as promote their economic empowerment and self-reliance. Again, no tangible results seem to have come out of this scheme. Meanwhile, reports indicate that virtually all the money was given to individuals and groups of youth affiliated to the ruling party.

In both instances, the government has not accounted for the funds disbursed, and it has resolutely blocked any attempts by opposition Members to raise these issues in Parliament.

· Corruption
Such examples of lack of accountability on the part of the Executive arm of government have indisputably contributed to the development of the culture of corruption now widespread in public institutions. And the corruption seems to have tainted everyone, including the Head of State himself. For instance, according to a key witness in the K187 million (approximately $4.5million) scandal involving the Ministry of Education, to which reference has already been made, the President himself was not only implicated, but might also have supported the actions that led to the misuse of public funds under that Ministry . According to the witness, the problem in question was most prevalent in 1999 when the Ministry was directed to assist aspiring UDF candidates in that year&#8217;s general election. Such individuals were officially recorded as contractors engaged on Ministry of Education projects and would be paid in advance for their &#8220;projects&#8221;; in fact, however, the money went to finance the election campaigns of the individuals concerned.

In similar and other ways, millions of Kwacha have been siphoned from government departments by senior officials and from parastatal organizations by chief executives and other senior officials as well as by board members and used on personal projects. In some instances moneys have not gone to individuals but have been spent on personal aggrandizement of individuals, such as by buying the latest models of luxury cars for personal use of senior company personnel even when the organizations concerned are operating at a loss.

Nepotism has been among some of the forces driving corruption. Nearly all chief executives and members of boards of parastatal corporations are relations of senior members of the ruling party or Cabinet Ministers. Thus, for instance, the present chief executive of the Petroleum Control Commission, responsible for oversight on the importation of fuel and petroleum products, was appointed to the post on direct orders of the Minister for Presidential Affairs, who, apparently is a man friend of one of the executive&#8217;s sisters. The wife of the same Minister is chairperson of the national telephone company, the Malawi Telekom Networks Limited (MTL). The Regional Governor of the ruling UDF party in the Southern Region was chairperson of the PCC board of directors, and has, together with the Minister then in charge of the Ministry of Energy and Mining, now responsible for Presidential Affairs, been implicated in 1997 audit report which revealed widespread misuse of funds. The chief executive at the time, according to the audit report, had foreign accounts, one of which had $220,000 whilst another had over 200,000 pounds sterling. Despite pressure by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, both of them PCC creditors, to have the chief executive prosecuted and appropriate action taken on the Minister and the board chairman, the case remains outside the courts. Meanwhile the chief executive, a close personal friend of the Minister, has since been transferred to another parastatal corporation from which he had been previously moved, also on grounds of financial impropriety.

In the most recent case of official corruption, the Minister for Information has been implicated in an insider deal involving the sale of public telephone bureaux as part of the privatization of MTL; others involved are the chairperson of the company, the chief executive and several other senior officials. When the matter first came to light, the Minister tried to reverse the sales of the bureaux; he also denied reports that he, too, had acquired one of the assets being sold off. However, the Anti-Corruption Bureau immediately took up the matter for investigation. When asked about the matter in Parliament, the Minister declined to comment on the grounds that it was now sub judice. He rejected for his resignation to permit the investigations to be carried out. The Minister concerned is one of those that have prospered greatly since being appointed to office.

It may be worth noting that the Minister for Presidential Affairs is quoted by the press as declaring that the MTL bureaux issue is &#8220;a finished matter&#8221; and that nothing will happen to his wife, regardless of investigations by the Anti Corruption Bureau, because, allegedly, the Minister, his family and his friends are &#8220;untouchable&#8221; and &#8220;above the law&#8221;.

Other cases of corruption uncovered in recent years include dubious awarding of contracts, such as one where two Ministers conspired and bought a fleet of second-hand Land Rover vehicles for use by the Malawi Police Force from a regional supplier instead of purchasing direct from the manufacturers in Britain. The vehicles, which have been impounded by the Anti-Corruption Bureau, were purchased at a higher price than that of the manufacturers. In another, a supposed agent collected millions of Kwacha in fees involving the supply of equipment for making national identity cards.

Another way in which corruption has been perpetrated has been the formation of dubious companies by public officials, including Members of Parliament and Cabinet Ministers to whom contracts are then awarded for the supply of services and goods. Nearly seven months ago the first woman Deputy Inspector General of Police in Malawi had to be sent on forced leave when junior officers complained that they were being denied allowances because priority on funds was going towards paying the Deputy Inspector General, who had complete monopoly in supplying food-stuffs to the entire police service. It is understood that she has since been quietly retired. However, many others known to be involved in similar deals have escaped detection or have been allowed to go unpunished. .

During the past eight months, it has seemed that no week goes by without a fresh corruption scandal surfacing. In virtually all cases, no one has been punished, which has greatly tarnished the integrity of the government and made a mockery of the President&#8217;s frequent exhortations against corruption.

4. ELIMINATING COMPETITION AND MUZZLING DISSENT

From the very early days of the current political dispensation, the ruling party has shown an unmistakable aversion to genuine multi-party governance, characterized by healthy though keen competition during election campaigns and co-operative partnership in the running of national affairs between the winning party and the losers. Instead, following the short-lived alliance between the UDF and the AFORD parties in l994/95, the former has treated the opposition, both in word and in deed, as the enemy. Thus the opposition parties are never consulted on national policies or programmes, and inter-action between Cabinet Ministers and other officials, including Members of Parliament from the UDF, is taboo, except within the premises of Parliament.

Similarly, despite invitations by the President during the euphoric aftermath of the UDF&#8217;s 1994 victory for the citizens of this country &#8220;feel free to criticize this your government&#8221;, in fact, the government had always shown a warriness about anyone voicing descent. This trait may initially have been forgiven as arising from lack of confidence in people newly in positions of power where every act and utterance was subjected to public scrutiny and comment. However, over the past six years, it has become evident that this government does not take kindly to dissent.

· Politically Sponsored Violence
In the past, the government had seemed to be content to keep the opposition parties at a distance and to destabilize and weaken them by enticing their members to defect to the UDF or by encouraging rivalries and divisions among them, as has been so successfully done with the Malawi Congress Party. Election campaigns were characterized by vigorous competition, but, in general, they were peaceful. But this seems to have changed and instead the UDF has come up with new strategies for dealing with the opposition. In this regard, a very disturbing recent development has been the emergence of politically motivated violence.

The use of intimidation and violence as political tools was first noted in seemingly isolated incidents during the 1999 Parliamentary and Presidential elections. In nearly all instances, the violence was initiated by elements belonging to the ruling party. On two separate occasions, for instance, the president of the Malawi Congress Party, Mr. Gwanda Chakuamba, together with other party officials, was attacked in Kasungu District and in Nsanje District in the presence of the police; in Kasungu, the car in which he had been traveling was badly damaged and he and the others were actually chased even within the police precinct. It was not until the MCP leader took these matters to court that the police began to take action, but up to now no arrests have been made, despite the fact that some of the people involved are well known people.

Since the 1999 general elections, organized violence has become a feature of electioneering, especially in areas regarded by the UDF to be particularly critical.

Thus, for instance, during a campaign rally organized by the MCP candidate for a by-election in the Blantyre East constituency in April this year, a truck-load of UDF party operatives were ferried to the venue where they immediately attempted to break the meeting up. In the fighting that ensued between the intruders and MCP supporters, one person, later identified as a UDF member, was killed. Despite the fact that the vehicle which ferried the UDF elements was clearly identified as belonging to the Blantyre City Assembly, which should have facilitated investigations, the police claim to have been unable to arrest the real culprits. Perhaps because the person who was killed belonged to the UDF party, the President immediately ordered that the matter be investigated and the guilty parties be brought before the court. Whereupon the police immediately detained a number of MCP members, including the candidate for the by-election, and held them in police custody until Friday June 22, when they were released, ostensibly &#8220;for lack of evidence.&#8221; The President&#8217;s concern was remarkable, as only a few weeks earlier, during a similar confrontation between UDF and NDA supporters in which the former severely damaged NDA property and critically injured some supporters of the pressure group, the President and the government chose to maintain silence; not surprisingly, the police made no arrests.

On the occasion of the official opening of the current sitting of Parliament, on June 4, a group of Young Democrats , went on a rampage in the full glare of a massive police presence against individuals and property belonging to opposition parties and critics of the government, especially the National Democratic Alliance. They burnt down, within Parliament grounds, a Mercedes Benz car belonging to a senior NDA official and sprayed graffiti on several others belonging to other NDA leaders. A Moslem cleric known to be a critic of the government was stripped almost naked and beaten up, as were several other people. No arrests were made; the government has made no statement on the incident, and the Speaker has resolutely prevented any attempts by Members of Parliament to bring it up for discussion in the House. Ironically, however, the owner of the car, who was not using it himself on the day of the incident, was soon afterwards suspended from his job at the Lilongwe City Council on orders from the Minister of Local Government.

On the night of Tuesday June 26, a prominent Moslem Sheikh belonging to the Quadriya sect, and one of the authors of a recent pastoral letter critical of the President and the government, was attacked inside his home at Liwonde, in Machinga District, by a group of people whom he has since identified as UDF party operatives. They beat him up brutally and apparently left him for dead. Friends had to take him away from the hospital in Liwonde, where he had initially been admitted because of reported rumours that his attackers were planning to finish him off at the hospital.

As in the other incidents, the government has not made any statement and no arrests have been made. It is significant, however, that the attack on Sheikh Bugidad, came only days after a public rally attended by the President and at which some senior UDF leaders called for the death of critics of the rumoured plan to have the President seek a third term. The Moslem pastoral letter spoke very strongly against any attempts to amend the Constitution with the aim of enabling Dr. Muluzi to go for a third terms as President.

It is also significant that the use of violence against opponents of the ruling party and against critics of the government emerged at the very same time as the President and other leaders began to show open intolerance of the opposition and will do anything to disable, and perhaps even eliminate completely, anyone who might threaten their hold on power. On more than one occasion, the President has publicly threatened to use force against opposition leaders, whom he has accused of plotting to bring his government down through civil war. Since no evidence has ever been adduced to support such accusations, the President&#8217;s remarks have given the unmistakable impression that the government has now become paranoid. In such circumstances, the apparent indications are that the UDF is officially sanctioning the use of force by its members, especially the Young Democrats, whose activities have become reminiscent of those of the MCP&#8217;s defunct Malawi Young Pioneers. This is cause for great concern.

· Silencing the Critics
Despite the change from dictatorship to democratic rule, and inspite of the official existence of legal guarantees of freedom of expression, Malawian citizens remain afraid to openly voice their opinions. Having silently endured 30 years of brutality and suppression under the regime of Dr Banda, Malawian citizens are now bewildered at contractions imposed on them by the evolving political environment.

Until now, only civil society organizations have been at the forefront in voicing concerns about political and other developments in the country. However, it has been evident for a while, especially in the past two years, that the government had grown tired of these critics, especially non-governmental organizations, NGOs, and that it would only be a matter of time before they were silenced. Thus it came as no surprise when it became known last year that, as part of its strategy to silence dissent, the government was considering legislative measures to control NGOs, especially those involved in the fields of good governance.

After initially giving assurances that any such measures would be mutually agreed with the civil society organizations, the government decided to take unilateral decisions on the matter. Thus, despite protests from civil society organizations and other critics, the government forced through Parliament in January this year a bill which gives it power to virtually shut down any NGO, on a number of questionable grounds, including one of being &#8220;involved in activities of a political nature.&#8221;

A board dominated by government appointees, and on which the NGOs will have no real representation, will determine what NGOs may be permitted to operate, subject to the organization concerned being also a member of the Council for Non-governmental Organizations in Malawi (CONGOMA), membership of which has previously been voluntary. The board will monitor the activities of the NGOs and will have authority to have any NGO de-registered.

Armed with this Act, the government has already begun to put pressure on NGOs to toe the line. At the same time, pressure seems to have been put on organizations that support NGOs involved in good governance and human rights, including foreign donor agencies in the country, with a view to persuading them to reduce or cut off financial support to a number of targeted organizations.

Meanwhile, the government has in recent weeks shown in various ways that it will not brook any criticism. In this regard, and as noted in previous sections of this discourse, various incidents of calculated acts of violence directed against critics of the government have been cited.

Among the recent victims of such action has been one NGO concerned with civil liberties, whose director was personally attacked following some remarks in which she had criticized the government. In what may have been a precursor to the use of violence to silence criticism, a seeming break-in took place a few months ago at the home of another prominent woman human rights activist. The intruders took away a number of items, including some money which they demanded on the director and members of her household; they also attempted to rape a female servant. At the time were taken to be mere robbers but, with hind-sight, it has to be considered that this was a politically directed act of intimidation against the director of the Malawi Centre for Advice, Research and Advice on Rights (Malawi CARER). Coincidentally, her organization had earlier published an article in one of the journals which was critical of the government.


.
· Curtailing Dissent by Ordinary Citizens

Previously, the government&#8217;s disapproval of dissent has been especially against criticisms from organizations which it has labeled as &#8220;political parties masquerading as NGOs&#8221;. Now, however, it seems, even peaceful demonstrations and petitioning of government by ordinary citizens are no longer tolerated. Nearly two months ago, a group of 6oo Moslems belonging to the Quadriya Moslem sect marching in Blantyre to present a petition to the President on the current political situation in the country was prevented from reaching Sanjika Palace. A heavy contingent of armed police dispersed the group using tear-gas and arrested their leaders, including Sheikh Bugidad, head of the sect and a staunch critic of the President. (Having failed to present the petition to the President himself, the group decided to release it to the public, among whom it caused a stir with its stinging forthrightness. Which is undoubtedly why the sheikh was attacked and apparently left for dead last week.)

In the northern district of Chitipa, two local Members of Parliament organized a peaceful march on Friday May 25 to present to the District Commissioner a petition addressed to the President. In the petition, the people wanted to seek the government&#8217;s assurance that, contrary to some rumours suggesting otherwise, the funds intended for construction of a long awaited road connecting Chitipa to the neighbouring Karonga District had not been spent on another project. Despite the organizers having duly notified the police in good time about their intended march, the police officer-in-charge declared it illegal and ordered his men to forcibly stop the march. Tear gas canisters and live bullets were shot into the crowd, resulted in the instant death of three people. Immediately thereafter, the two MPs were arrested and flown to Lilongwe where they were arraigned on Monday May 28 on charges of incitement, among others.

As with all such cases, the government has said nothing and done nothing, despite widespread calls for an official statement to explain the circumstances behind the Chitipa shooting and demands for an inquiry so that the wrong-doers may be dealt with and the victims compensated, the government has so far remained silent.

Thus, having come to power with a promise of openness and readiness to accept advice and even criticism, the government has now not only become intolerant of dissent but is showing itself prepared to employ any measures to stop criticism, even if in doing so, such rights as the citizens&#8217; right to freedom of expression are violated. The government seems determined to gag its citizens into silence again.

5 CRIME AND SECURITY
§ Law Enforcers as Criminals
The past decade has witnessed a phenomenal rise in serious crime in Malawi , including armed robberies, resulting in a great sense of insecurity among the people. And crime has also spread to rural areas. A lot of the activities indicate the existence of organized crime and crime syndicates, some of which appear to have external connections. The erection of security walls around premises is now a major growth section of the construction industry whilst thriving private security companies have mushroomed throughout the country.

At the local level, the government has initiated, in selected areas throughout the country a programme of community policing with a view to preventing crime rather than dealing with offenders after crimes have occurred. At the same time, communities in other areas, particularly in urban centers, have begun operating a system of independent neighbourhood watches. Whilst in some areas where they have been instituted, the community policing programme and the neighbourhood watches have made some impact, in general, the crime rate has continued to rise. The population thus lives in constant fear of loss of property and life.

The most disconcerting aspect of the criminal activity to emerge in Malawi during the past few years is the growing evidence of the direct participation by elements of the Malawi Police Force. For instance, less than two months ago, patrons at a night club in Blantyre had their evening suddenly disturbed by two disguised persons who burst in, started shooting in the air and demanded money from the cashier. Unfortunately, the two were over-powered by the patrons who, on searching them, found badges identifying them as serving police on them before one of the men broke loose and escaped. The captured officer was handed over to the nearest police station, together with the AK 45 rifles which had been snatched from the two as well as the identity badges. Those at the station confirmed the identity of the policemen but tried to protect them by suggesting that, in fact, the two were on duty and had been in pursuit of suspects who had run away in the direction of the club. There were apparent difficulties in accounting for the AK45 rifles, which are not standard issue for the Malawi security forces, or for the partial disguises which the men wore at the time, and why they came into the night-club with guns blazing. The spokesperson for the Malawi Police headquarters also tried unconvincingly to cover up for the two officers. And this has been the pattern with most similar incidents.

Recently there have been reports of a series of break-ins at a number of police stations where arms have been stolen. It is suspected that such break-ins are planned from inside the stations involved and that the arms stolen end up in the hands of criminals. This was the case with a cache of arms that was stolen from the Malawi Army armory at army head-quarters in Lilongwe about 18 months ago; these were later found in the hands of ex-soldiers who had apparently been involved in crimes carried out in areas around the capital city. There are also suspicions that some of the stolen arms are sold to criminal elements by policemen in need of money.

This development has increased the sense of insecurity among Malawians. The government has, in the meantime, indirectly admitted to failure to deal effectively with crime by dismissing four Inspectors General of Police within the of six years.

§ An Unprofessional and Politicised Police
With financial assistance from Britain, the government embarked upon a reform programme intended to transform the Malawi police force into a professional non-political institution for dispensing law, based on equitable dispensation of justice and respect for the civil rights and liberties of the individual. The programme&#8217;s objective was to change the image of the police as a tool for brutalizing and suppressing the people at the behest of politicians, which it had come to be regarded under the previous dictatorial regime, and portray it, instead, as friend of the community.

Despite the wide publicity with which the reform programme was launched, the police reform programme does not appear to have made any progress beyond, perhaps, the senior officers at the national headquarters. In a previous section, reference has been made to how, for instance, at the request of the mayor of the city of Blantyre, the police officer in charge of the Southern Division sent some of his men to break up a political meeting organized by a pressure group perceived by the government to be its enemy. Police also assisted the aggressors by not intervening to break up a fight that erupted between supporters of the ruling party and those of the MCP when the former tried to break up a campaign rally organized by the latter, resulting in a death. Reference has also been made to the violence that occurred at the Parliament grounds when the President officially opened the current session of the House, where, once again, the police failed to intervene since the perpetrators were members of the ruling party.

But events during the past fortnight have served to illustrate another example of how the Malawi police force which was supposed to be transformed into a non-partisan professional law enforcement agency has, instead, now become a tool for use by the politically influencial in breaking the law. A fortnight ago, the general manager of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, the national radio, who is known to be affiliated with the ruling party, called in the police to prevent agents from the Malawi Revenue Authority from sealing up the radio station and siezing vehicles and other property in lieu of monies owed to the revenue collection agency. The monies comprised un-remitted arrears in income taxes collected from employees on behalf of the Malawi Revenue Authority as well as levies on varied income received by the radio over a number of years. In statements later, the police headquarters tried to justify the police action by suggesting that the local police had intervened in order to prevent disturbance of peace at the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation, which is situated next to the Southern Division office of the Malawi Police. This statement, unfortunately, only made the police sound ridiculous.

Naturally, such incidents as this have done little to engender confidence in the law enforcement agency among the citizens of this country, who have been severely traumatized by the insecurity pervading their country.

6 CONCLUSION

This presentation has centred mainly on issues of governance and the rule of law with the aim of highlighting the very real danger of Malawi sliding back towards a one-party dictatorship behind the façade of public statements by the national leadership professing continued commitment to plural democracy, equity for all and respect for the law. Unfortunately, those making these statements seem to have willed themselves into believing their own declarations. Unwittingly, many of this country&#8217;s well-wishers outside Malawi who have no way of seeing for themselves the contradiction between the words and the deeds have, regrettably, also been led to believe the picture presented by officialdom.

The contradictions also exist in other spheres of Malawian life. For instance, in the economic sphere, the government&#8217;s stated goal of eradicating poverty bears very little, if any, relationship to the ever more unbearable situation resulting from the government&#8217;s economic policies and practices as a result of which the multitudes of the poor are getting poorer, whilst the few who are affluent, including those whose wealth has been acquired through doubtful means, are getting even wealthier. The social sphere, too, presents its own kinds of contradictions. In education, the pride of the government&#8217;s policies is the introduction of free primary education which has, in less than seven years, more than doubled the enrollment of children entering the education system to more than 3 million. It speaks volumes about what those who run the education think of its quality that most of them have sent their children to schools outside Malawi. In health, too, the majority of people who cannot afford to pay for private clinics have to put up with inadequately provided but over-burdened health clinics and hospitals manned by poorly motivated, over-worked and under-paid staff.

Whilst the leadership is constantly talking about its desire to see development spread throughout the country, the reality for Malawians has been that areas in which the opposition predominates have seen very little development since the government&#8217;s publicly declared position has been one of punishing such areas for not supporting the ruling UDF party. Unfortunately, this has meant that, since the national election results have been along geographical lines, with the Southern Region voting for the UDF, the Centre largely supporting the MCP and nearly all of the North going to the AFORD, the government&#8217;s development programmes have been least in the north. The public exhortations to the people to regard each other as one have not been matched by policies and practices that promote and strengthen such unity.

Malawi is sitting on a time bomb whose explosion could be triggered by any of the factors examined in the preceding pages. The consequences of such an explosion would, naturally, have the most devastating effects on Malawi itself, but the implications for the other countries in the region cannot be over-stated.



--- 00 ---
















Malawi Institute of Democratic and Economic Affairs,
P.O. Box 30465,
Lilongwe 3
Malawi 2nd July 2001

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MOZAMBIQUE: The succession debate

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/mozambique/20010726.phtml

As President Joaquim Chissano serves out his last term of office, a debate is simmering between two distinct factions in his ruling FRELIMO party to determine his successor, analysts have told IRIN.

Mugabe's scared cronies lie low

2001-07-30

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=2192

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's embattled government is talking tough in the face of rising international pressure, but political analysts said its senior members are showing signs of worry over their future. Many are taking seriously threats of sanctions against Harare and want to lie low to distance themselves from Mugabe's controversial record, they said.

RWANDA: Former Akazu member arrested

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/rwanda/20010727.phtml

A member of the Akazu, the inner circle of former president of Rwanda, Juvenal Habyrimana, and also the president's brother-in-law, was arrested on Thursday at the request of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), an ICTR statement said.

SHELL'S MANAGING DIRECTOR APPEARS BEFORE RIGHTS COMMISSION IN NIGERIA

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/2427

Mr. Ron Den Berg, the Royal Dutch/Shell Managing Director in Nigeria appeared today before the human rights violations investigation commission panel set up by the government in the country. Since October last year the commission has been investigating rights abuses committed before the present government in the country.


Shell's Managing Director was subpoena by the Movement for the Survival of
the Ogoni People (MOSOP) to answer the allegations of rights abuses
committed in Ogoni during the last military rule, particularly human rights
violations committed between 1993 and 1995 when Ken Saro-Wiwa, the renowned
campaigner for environmental justice in Ogoni, was murdered by the military
government in the country.

Allegations against Shell include environmental devastation, but
particularly use of military/police personnel in rights abuses in Ogoni.
MOSOP alleges that the oil company is still involve in activities which it
suspects are directed towards suppression of the protests by the local
people to claim their dignity and fundamental human rights.

While appealing for reconciliation and peace it was difficult for Mr. Ron
Van Den Berg to allay suspicion that his company or workers got involved in
reported vandalising of Shell's facilities in Ogoni. But MOSOP insists that
some unknown persons vandalises Shell's facilities in a bid to discredit the
Ogoni struggle.

The Shell's MD also claimed that there has not been any environmental
devastation associated with the operations of his company. But asked under
cross examination by Ledum Mitee if 12 000 barrels of crude oil spill in
Holland, his native country, could not be termed as environmental
devastation, he could not answer in the affirmative. He rather insists that
much of the oil spills in his company's operations are "caused by sabotage
(and) vandalisation of oil pipelines and other facilities".


In accusing the oil company, MOSOP leader, Mr. Ledum Mitee claimed that
there are instances were the local people arrested some vandals and Shell
refused to prosecute the culprits, only to turn around and insinuate that
the people of Ogoni are responsible for vandalisations. He further alleged
before the rights commission that the natives of Ogoni have also witnessed
vandals tampering with Shell's facilities under security guards who cordoned
off the area.


According to Ledum Mitee, Shell's workers have continued to work in Ogoni
under same security guard. He further alleged that army and police
personnel hired by Shell, purportedly to provide security for its workers in
Ogoni have been known to be committing gross rights violations against the
native people, even as he told Shell's MD that much illegality committed by
Shell and its workers pass without his (MD's) knowledge.

In the cause of the proceedings members of the panel, particularly the
chairman, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, have consistently been reminding both
MOSOP and Shell0of dhe need for following a peace process rather than
pursuing endless accusations and counter-accusations that ultimately profit
no one.


===========================================================================
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ND-HERO focusing on the issues of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.Niger
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social security and economic self-reliance and development of the Niger
Delta region of Nigeria through the promotion, protection and defense of
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Delta region.


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Sierra Leone: Most Serious Attacks in Months

UN Peacekeepers Needed to Protect Civilians

2001-07-30

http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/07/Salone0724Test.htm.

Recent atrocities against civilians in two districts of northern and eastern Sierra Leone are the most serious in several months, Human Rights Watch said today. These atrocities include the killing of over twenty civilians by pro-government militias.


(New York, July 24, 2001)
According to extensive interviews conducted by Human Rights Watch, both the government-allied civil defense force militias (CDF and rebels from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) have been
attacking and killing civilians in the northern Kono and Koinadugu
districts of Sierra Leone.

Human Rights Watch called on the United Nations to deploy
peacekeepers to the region as quickly as
possible.

"Civilians are being targeted in deadly battles of retaliation," said
Peter Takirambudde, Executive
Director for Africa at Human Rights Watch. "Neither the
RUF nor the CDF make much effort to distinguish between
military and civilian targets. The U.N. has to act immediately to stop
these atrocities."

Human Rights Watch has interviewed numerous victims and witnesses who
described attacks by the CDF militias in June and July against the
RUF-controlled towns of Worodu, Yiraia, Sukudu and Mansofinia. In the
four attacks documented by Human Rights Watch, at least
twenty-four civilians, including nine women and nine children were
killed, and some nineteen more civilians, including eleven children,
were wounded.

In the most serious recent incident, on June 17, CDF militias, commonly
known as the Kamajors or Donzos, killed at least twenty-one civilians in
the town of Yiraia. In apparent retaliatory attacks in late June and
early July, the RUF launched raids against surrounding villagers whom
they accuse of supporting the CDF militias. The RUF killed at least
three civilians, wounded several, and abducted sixteen people.

Eleven witnesses and wounded survivors from Yiraia described how in the
early morning of June 17, scores of CDF militiamen armed with automatic
rifles and machetes attacked the village located some thirty-five miles
north of the diamond-rich town of Koidu. Several people, including one
elderly man and at least two children, were burned after the attackers
set fire to numerous houses in the village. One twelve-year-old survivor
with at least five deep gashes around her neck, was left for dead after
a militiaman attempted to cut her throat. Another man, shot three times
by the attackers, described how his mother, father, sister and son were
all killed during the attack. Yet another woman described how her
five-year-old daughter's head was shattered by shrapnel after their
house was hit by an apparent rocket-propelled grenade. One man, who had
recently returned to Sukudu village from a refugee camp
in Guinea, was shot by the CDF in another attack on July 11.

A local CDF commander in Kono District, interviewed by Human Rights
Watch on July 17, admitted to attacking Yiraia, the home and base of a
prominent RUF member, in retaliation for previous attacks by the RUF
against their positions. However, CDF leaders in Freetown denied having
ordered the attack and said that at the time of the June attack, the CDF
militiamen were not acting under orders from the Ministry of Defense.

In apparent retaliatory raids, which began in late June, RUF rebels
attacked several towns including Porpon, Hermakono, Bumbanja, Dombadu
and Samadu. During these attacks, the rebels killed at least three
children, hacked off the ear of one man, wounded several more with
machetes, and abducted at least sixteen people, including five children.


According to witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch, many villages
have been burned and looted by both sides, and hundreds of civilians
have been displaced as a result of the attacks, which took place from
mid-June through the second week in July.

Witnesses claim many of the CDF militiamen currently moving into and
launching attacks against RUF territory in Kono and Koinadugu Districts
were, until April 2001, based in refugee camps in Guinea or around the
Guinean border with Sierra Leone. While in late May 2001 the United
Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) was able to facilitate the
disarmament of 171 of these militiamen, hundreds more are currently
operating in what has been an RUF stronghold since 1998.

Human Rights Watch is concerned that hundreds of refugees who have been
returning to their villages in Kono and Koinadugu Districts from refugee
camps in Guinea are at particular risk for retaliatory attacks by the
RUF who may accuse them of supporting the CDF militiamen.

Since a ceasefire between the RUF and Government of Sierra Leone was
declared in November 2000, UNAMSIL has been able to deploy and/or patrol
in all RUF-controlled areas, and since May 2001, some 7,000 combatants
from all sides have disarmed. While thousands of combatants in the RUF
strongholds of Kambia and Lunsar have disarmed and some degree of
governmental authority has been restored, those combatants in the
diamond rich area of Kono have been reluctant to disarm, frustrating
United Nations and government officials.

Human Rights Watch called on UNAMSIL to hasten its planned deployment
into the Kono and Koinadugu Districts so as to enhance protection of the
civilian population. Human Rights Watch also called on the
UNAMSIL human rights unit to make public its investigation into the
attack on Yiraia, and to conduct further investigations into subsequent
attacks by both the CDF and RUF against civilians in Kono and Koinadugu
districts.

A copy of the testimonies can be found at
http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/07/Salone0724Test.htm

For more information on Sierra Leone, please see:

Funds Urged for Sierra Leone Court (HRW Press Release, July 24, 2001) at
http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/07/un_courts0724.htm

No "Safe Passage" Through Rebel-Held Sierra Leone (HRW Press Release,
April 3, 2001) at http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/04/refugee-0403.htm

Guinean Forces Kill, Wound Civilians in Sierra Leone (HRW Press Release,
February 28, 2001) at http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/02/guinea0227.htm

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swaziland: the continuing saga...

2001-07-30

http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,893576-6078-0,00.html

Mswati III has backed off on an earlier proclamation limiting rights. "That such an inward-looking, diehard government can respond in this way underscores how influential the liberal democratic value system has become in the world."

UGANDA: Full ministerial list published

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/uganda/20010727.phtml

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has announced the full make-up of his new cabinet following parliamentary elections last month. The list contains few new faces and includes 10 ministers who failed to win seats in the election but who can hold office by presidential appointment, the BBC reported.

UGANDA: Museveni criticised over cabinet team

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/uganda/20010724d.phtml

Opposition politicians, religious groups and civil society groups have come out against the cabinet line-up of President Yoweri Museveni, endorsed by parliament on 19 July, saying it was not representative of different groups in the country, despite Museveni's promises, the 'EastAfrican' newspaper reported on Monday.

Zim cops hold MDC candidate for two hours

2001-07-30

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=2214

Zimbabwean police detained the opposition candidate in a fiercely contested by-election for more than two hours on Sunday, the second day of a poll marred by widespread violence during months of campaigning.

Zimbabwe election candidate arrested

2001-07-30

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=2215

Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change ran a gauntlet of violence, kidnappings and arrests at the weekend as the ruling Zanu PF party fought to ensure victory in a critical by-election.

Zimbabwe government to introduce information Bill

2001-07-30

http://www.misanet.org/alerts/20010725.zimbabwe.0.html

President Robert Mugabe confirmed that the Zimbabwe government would table a freedom of information and protection of privacy Bill, and replace the notorious Law and Order (Maintenance) Act.

ZIMBABWE: British govt seeks better relations

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/zimbabwe/20010727.phtml

New British High Commissioner to Zimbabwe, Brian Donnely, said on Thursday that his government wanted to re-establish the friendly relations the two countries enjoyed before the current controversy over the land issue, news reports said.

Zimbabwe: Court declines to remand MDC members in custody

2001-07-30

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=2193

Bindura magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi on Tuesday threw out the State's request for the remand in custody of seven members of the MDC when they appeared before him facing charges of public violence.

ZIMBABWE: Mugabe appoints three new judges

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/zimbabwe/20010727b.phtml

President Robert Mugabe has added three new seats to the Supreme Court by appointing three judges seen as stalwarts of his ZANU-PF ruling party, the state-controlled 'Herald' reported on Friday.

ANGOLA: IRIN Focus report on Camacupa's IDP camps

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/angola/20010727.phtml

A patch of bare earth dotted with smoking fires has become home to the hundreds of people who arrive each day at the displaced people's camps outside Camacupa in the Angolan province of Bié.

CAMEROON: Chadian refugees begin leaving for home

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/wa/countrystories/cameroon/20010725.phtml

UNHCR completed on Monday the voluntary repatriation from Cameroon of 288 Chadians who had fled civil war in their country in the early 1980s.

Concern Warns of "Potential Catastrophe' in Angola

2001-07-30

http://www.concern.ie/news/angola.htm

Concern has warned of a "potential catastrophe" in the Angolan city of Kuito as malnutrition and mortality rates rise among 300,000 people that have fled fighting in surrounding areas.

ETHIOPIA: UNHCR to resume Somali refugee repatriation

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/ethiopia/20010726a.phtml

After more than a decade in Ethiopia, Somali refugees in the eastern camp of Rabasso are preparing to return to their homes in northwestern Somalia, a spokesman for UNHCR told IRIN Thursday.

Group of Africans 'dumped' on Turkey-Greece border

2001-07-30

http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/page2.html#40

The United Nations refugee agency today said it was in contact with Turkish and Greek authorities over recent reports of a group of Africans allegedly "dumped" on the border between the two countries.

Nigeria: Red Cross aids thousands of displaced people in central regions

2001-07-30

http://www.icrc.org/icrceng.nsf/c1256212004ce24e4125621200524882/dfb3f3dec6ad2e9fc1256a95004fd0bf?OpenDocument

Over the past four weeks a series of intercommunal clashes in central and northern Nigeria has left many dead or wounded and forced an estimated 65,000 people to flee their homes in Nasarawa, Benue, Bauchi and Kaduna states. Working with the Nigerian Red Cross Society, since the beginning of July the ICRC has distributed relief supplies such as blankets, buckets, soap and mats to a total of 22,500 displaced people living in improvised camps.

Picum: Publication on Health Care and Undocumented Migrants

2001-07-30

http://www.picum.org

PICUM, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants, published a booklet (English only) as a result of the Experts Seminar on access to Health Care that took place on 22 and 23 March 2001. Representatives of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain exchanged their experiences in working with undocumented migrants. The publication contains besides a description of the situation in the above mentioned countries also a report of the discussions between the experts on themes such as the importance of professional confidentiality, the use of international regulations, the need for education in human rights. Copies of the publication (6.25 Euro) can be ordered at the PICUM secretariat.

Proposal for an EU Council Framework Decision on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings

UN Observations

2001-07-30

http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/(Symbol)/HR.GVA.OHCHR.STM.CHR.01.04.En?Opendocument

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) wish, at the outset, to express their support for the work of the European Union against trafficking in human beings and related exploitation. They do so from the viewpoint of two United Nations bodies with different but complementary mandates in this area. Both organisations believe that the present proposal to strengthen common approaches to this issue through the adoption of a Council Framework Decision is an important and timely step forward.

SIERRA LEONE: Returnees shun resettlement

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/wa/countrystories/sierraleone/20010727.phtml

Former refugees reluctant to return to their homes in Kono District, eastern Sierra Leone, have agreed to temporary relocation to the southern area of Taiama, UNHCR Information Officer Isa Blyden told IRIN on Friday.

Trafficking in Women

2001-07-30

http://www.catwinternational.org/un_protocol.pdf

An online Guide to the UN Trafficking Protocol is now available. The Guide is an initiative by CATW (Coalition against Trafficking in Women), MAPP, Article Premier, AFEM (Association des femmes de l&#8217;Europe méridionale) and the EWL (European Women&#8217;s Lobby). It will soon also be made available in French and Spanish.

U.S. State Department Trafficking Report a &#8220;Mixed Bag&#8221;

2001-07-30

http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/07/traffick-0712.htm

The U.S. State Department&#8217;s first annual report on trafficking in persons contains serious flaws, Human Rights Watch has said. "The State Department´s report is a real mixed bag," said LaShawn R. Jefferson, Acting Executive Director of the Women´s Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. "We´re glad the U.S. government is finally paying close attention to this important human rights abuse. But the report has some major flaws that will need correcting the next time around."

UGANDA: IRIN Focus on displacement in the north

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/uganda/20010724.phtml

As villagers of Guru Guru in northern Uganda fled an attack by rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), one man found himself surrounded and trapped inside his home. Unable to escape the armed rebels, Faustino Onek was abducted and forced into the bush, where he was tortured, stabbed and finally had his left arm amputated. Onek, a community elder and grandfather to 27 children, had met at least one of his attackers before: it was his nephew.

Botswana: No corruption at Btv

2001-07-30

http://www.gov.bw/cgi-bin/news.cgi?d=20010723&i=No_corruption_at_Btv

No corrupt intent has been found in the awarding of tenders by the Botswana Televion (Btv). This was as a result of scrutiny by the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) on a complaint by the Director of Television Training Institute, Billy Kokorwe who accused Btv of curruption and nepotism in the awarding of tender for the provision of post-production services and facilities.

Call for Action on Corruption

Uganda Debt Network

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/corruption/2418

The members of Uganda Debt Network write to express consternation and profound shock at the high levels of corruption in Uganda as reported by Transparency International. As members of the civil society, we are deeply concerned about the devastating impact of corruption on the economic and political development of this country. The results of TI's survey indicate clearly that government institutions charged with fighting corruption are too weak and too overstretched to do their job effectively and efficiently.


This therefore, demands that government should empower civil society in the fight against corruption. We urge government and Parliament as a matter of urgency to expedite the enactment of:
? The Leadership Code (Amendment Statute 2000, and ? IGG Amendment Statute 2000.

Parliament should also:

? Enact a Public Information Act to enable members of the civil society, and the media to access public information and expose the corruption in public offices; ? Establish an Anti-corruption Tribunal to be given a status of original court of record to try corruption related cases and ensure recovery of stolen public resources; ? Enact a Public Litigation Act to enable civil society and members of the public to compel public officials to account for their actions.

We recognise government's effort to fight corruption in this country through the establishment of the various anti-graft offices such as Directorate of Ethics and Integrity (Office of the President) Inspectorate of Government.
However, the fact that most Ugandans perceive corruption to be on the increase demands that action be taken now rather than later.

Yours sincerely, Zie Gariyo Coordinator

More...

Cocoa corruption traps Nigerians

2001-07-30

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_1459000/1459406.stm

In Nigeria, two former ministers have been ordered to pay back the equivalent of more than $20m after being named by a commission examining corruption in Nigeria's cocoa sector.

Coega, Conflicts of Interest and the Arms Deal

2001-07-30

http://www.psam.ru.ac.za

In 1999 the government sold its purchase of R30bn of military hardware to the South African public on the basis of the &#8216;offset&#8217; benefits accompanying its deal with international arms suppliers. The public were told that the deal would bring R110bn in direct foreign investment and 65 000 jobs. The Coega Project, to establish an Industrial Development Zone in the Eastern Cape, was held to be the biggest single beneficiary of this deal. Two years down the line not a cent has been invested in Coega as a result of the arms deal. Instead the South African tax-payer will foot the bill for the construction of a R4.5bn harbour in Coega.
PSAM Press Release - 24 July 2001





The government has now established a private company, the Coega Development
Corporation (CDC), to push ahead with the construction of the Coega Project
regardless of its economic viability. Despite its lack of constitutional or
legal mandate the CDC has been allocated R185million by the Eastern Cape
department of Finance this year alone. CDC cannot be held accountable to
Parliament and does not have to comply with the Public Finance Management
Act or State Tender Board regulations.

The PSAM has established that the CDC has awarded a number of contracts to
companies which are connected with members of its own board of directors. It
has also awarded contracts to a company connected with an ex-Cabinet
Minister who was intimately involved with the decision making process during
the arms deal.

For a full analysis, and a chronology of connections between Coega and the
Arms Deal, please visit www.psam.ru.ac.za click current cases then click
Finance&#8230;

To learn more about the Coega project watch Special Assignment tonight at
9.30pm on SABC 3.

To unsubscribe from this mailing list send a reply to psam-admin@ru.ac.za
and enter the word unsubscribe in the subject box.

More...

ETHIOPIA: Anti-corruption freeze on bank accounts

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/ethiopia/20010726.phtml

The Federal High Court has ruled to block the personal and business accounts of a number of former government officials and private businessmen accused of corruption, local press reports said Wednesday.

More Ethiopian Officials Fall in Anti-Graft Push

2001-07-30

http://news.excite.com/news/r/010724/12/international-ethiopia-corruption-dc

Ethiopian authorities have suspended four senior politicians in the latest round of a campaign against corruption among leaders of the Horn of Africa country, officials said on Monday.

Nigeria's leader orders military to return the loot

2001-07-30

http://globalarchive.ft.com/globalarchive/articles.html?id=010725001562&quer

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has ordered leading members of former military regimes to hand back property they misappropriated from the state while in power.

Nigeria: Declare your assets, Code of conduct urges public servants

2001-07-30

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news2/nn827328.html

ALL public office holders and senior civil servants across the country who have not declared their assets as stipulated by law have been advised to comply or risk the wrath of the law. Giving this warning on Monday during a courtesy call on Governor Chinwoke Mbadinuju in Awka , the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau, Capt Effiong Nsa (rtd) decried the attitude of such public officers who had not complied.

SA: Mbeki earmarks corruption

2001-07-30

http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,896046-6078-0,00.html

Allegations around the controversial arms deal have prompted President Thabo Mbeki to earmark the issue of corruption for urgent attention - following a three-day Cabinet brainstorming session aimed at assessing government's progress over the last six months.

South Africa: Investigating Unit Faces Challenging Task

2001-07-30

http://allafrica.com/stories/200107250085.html

Parliamentary report points to the urgency of handling backlog of cases, most dating to 1998. The controversial special investigating unit, of which the new boss will be known next week, has its work cut out.

Zambia: Corruption is a Danger to Democracy, Warns Hamanzi

2001-07-30

http://library.northernlight.com/FD20010723650000128.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#

People can lose faith in democracy and all institutions charged with good governance if corruption is rife, Human Rights Commission (HRC) member Justice Hamanzi has warned. Speaking during the launch of Transparency International (TI) Zambia on Friday, Justice Hamanzi said poor law enforcement could lead to civil wars in certain extreme situations.

Zambia: Corruption Levels Worry Auditor General

2001-07-30

http://library.northernlight.com/FC20010726170000111.html?cb=0&dx=1006&sc=0#

Excessive discretionary powers have contributed to the rise of corruption in Zambia, observed Auditor General Fred Siame yesterday.

Zimbabwe: Zanu PF militias given extra cash

2001-07-30

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=2217

President Robert Mugabe's cash-strapped government has awarded almost $1 billion in unbudgeted funds to war veterans following a 25% increment on their tax free monthly gratuities, The Standard has established.

Africa's Debt - Africa Action Position Paper

2001-07-30

http://www.africapolicy.org/action/debtpos.htm

Africa Action calls for the cancellation of Africa's foreign debt, which we consider in large part to be illegitimate, based on its origins and consequences. We consider the present and past attempts to deal with the debt crisis to be absolutely insufficient, and we oppose the existing debt relief framework, developed and controlled by creditors and designed to function only in their interests.

Biotech will bypass the hungry

UNDP&#8217;S HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2001

2001-07-30

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/july13/top.htm

Advances in agricultural biotechnology are being desperately promoted in the name of eradicating hunger and poverty. The misguided belief that the biotechnological silver bullet can "solve" hunger, malnutrition and poverty has prompted the industry and the development community, policy-makers,and economists to chant the mantra of "harnessing technology to address specific problems facing poor people". And in the bargain, it is forgotten that what the world's 840 million hungry need is just food, which is abundantly available.

BUILD WORKING CLASS POWER TO DEEPEN NATIONAL LIBERATION AND STRUGGLE FOR SOCIALISM

2001-07-30

http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/latest.html

Today, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) held a successful national bilateral meeting. This meeting discussed the following matters: A joint reflection and assessment on the current political situation and the context and its impact on the organised working class, the unemployed and rural poor from a working class standpoint; The state, role and political capacity of the trade union movement; The state, role and political capacity of the SACP; A joint reflection on the relation between the struggle to complete the national liberation of black people and the struggle for socialism in our country and internationally.
----------------------------------------

Press statement issued by the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

To receive future press statements go to http://gate.cosatu.org.za/mailman/listinfo/press

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



26 July 2001






Today, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress
of South
African Trade Unions (COSATU) held a successful national bilateral
meeting. This meeting took place in the context of a series of bilateral
and trilateral meetings between the ANC, SACP and COSATU. The
meeting also
took place as part of the lead-up to the ANC-SACP-COSATU Alliance
Summit
scheduled for 22 September.

In its agenda, this meeting discussed the following matters: -
- A joint reflection and assessment on the current political situation and
the context and its impact on the organised working class, the unemployed
and rural poor from a working class standpoint - The state, role and
political capacity of the trade union movement - The state, role and
political capacity of the SACP - A joint reflection on the relation
between the struggle to complete the national liberation of black people
and the struggle for socialism in our country and internationally

The SACP and COSATU agree that many important gains for working people and
the poor have been made since 1994, including progressive labour and other
legislation, outlawing of racism and repression, ongoing democratisation,
and the delivery of basic services to millions of our people.

However, these gains are often overshadowed by massive job losses over the
past seven years, one million in the formal sector. This week Statistics
SA has announced that the official unemployment figure has now risen to
26+ACU-, with the expanded definition of unemployment now at 38+ACU-.
Through casualisation, contracting out and outsourcing bosses are further
seeking to subvert our democratic social, political and economic gains.
Big companies are also not investing the profits produced by workers in
job-creation and development.

The SACP and COSATU agree that, fundamentally, the difficulties we are
encountering are a function of seeking to transform our society on the
terrain of a society, and a world, still dominated by capitalism.
However, the two formations agreed that as a movement we could have done
better. In particular, the 1996 adoption by government of the GEAR
policy, marked a significant policy shift and, in practice, an attempt to
use capitalist means to achieve the goals of our shared national
democratic vision. GEAR and the related privatisation programme have
failed to achieve the fundamental restructuring of our society, and in
many respects these policies have taken us backwards. We agreed that,
while there are serious policy disagreements, the alliance remains united
around its long term vision of a non-racial, non-sexist, united and
democratic South Africa. The alliance is the only vehicle capable of
achieving these objectives.

The meeting agreed that the way forward includes:

- The revitalisation of our organisations, including, in particular the
ANC itself. Tendencies to bureaucratisation, the dominance of state
technocrats in the policy process, and organisational careerism were
dangers highlighted. We need to ensure that our formations are much more
actively engaged on the ground, in the mobilisation of our mass base. -
Support for the COSATU campaign to defend and build a strong, extensive
public sector, including publicly-owned corporations. Both COSATU and the
SACP are opposed to privatisation of publicly-owned resources. - The
struggle against corruption and the abuse of public office. Our two
formations will be working with the ANC to ensure that we are much more
pro-active in dealing decisively with these problems. Corruption,
particularly from those in public office, undermines our liberation
struggle, and is essentially the plundering of public resources. - The
detailed elaboration of much more effective industrial sector policies and
programmes +IBM- including the transformation of the financial sector. -
The building of an extensive social protection net +IBM- including major
land reform, the provision of social services including affordable public
transport, a basic income grant, and the transformation of existing
resources, like the R2,3 billion a year Road Accident Fund.

The meeting expressed support and solidarity with striking workers,
including those in Eskom and in the mining sector.

Further meetings are planned to carry forward our discussions and
programme of action.

CONTACT
Mazibuko K. Jara +IBM- SACP +IBM- 083 651 0271
Pat Craven - COSATU +IBM- 082 821 7456





Patrick Craven and Moloto Mothapo
Acting COSATU Spokespersons

patrick@cosatu.org.za
082-821-7456
339-4911

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

Visit the COSATU web site at http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/latest.html for copies of our most recent press statements.

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COSATU takes steps to ensure that any attachments are free from
viruses. You should, however, carry out your own virus check before
opening any attachment. COSATU accepts no liability for loss or
damage caused by software viruses.

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

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

Contact 082-821-7456 Patrick Craven or Moloto Mothapo for further comment.

Visit the COSATU web site at http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/latest.html for copies of our most recent press statements. For the full archive go to: http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/archive.html

Get free e-mail for union members. Visit http://www.union.org.za and sign up now! It's free!

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KENYA: Biwott lashes aid conditions as donors consider change

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/kenya/20010727.phtml

Kenyan Minister for Trade and Industry Nicholas Biwott, an influential figure in the government of President Daniel arap Moi, has criticised the aid conditions imposed on Kenya as impractical, and suggested that they smack of double standards.

VICTORIOUS UNIONS CALL-OFF THE NATIONAL ESKOM STRIKE

2001-07-30

http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/latest.html

Today, NUMSA NUM and MWU Solidarity signed the proposed collective bargaining wage agreement after the 21000 workers accepted the current revised settlement proposal from the Eskom company. Most of the workers scrutinized and ratified the proposed settlement package as representing the true, genuine and legitimate mandate of all workers.
Press statement issued by the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

To receive future press statements go to http://gate.cosatu.org.za/mailman/listinfo/press

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

NATIONAL UNION OF METALWORKERS OF
SOUTH AFRICA

153 Bree Street (cnr. Becker), P.O. Box 260483
Newton, Excom 2023
Johannesburg, Tel: 011-8322030/9
2001, Fax: 011-8336408
E-mail: dumisan@numsa.org.za 011-8336330







NUMSA PRESS RELEASE
&#8211; FOR IMMEDIATE USE


The
strike will effectively end tomorrow 27/07/2001 starting with
the first shift at 6H00 in the morning.

The following are the details of the proposed settlement
agreement:

Wages and benefits :

9% wage increase effected now for the lowest paid
workers and 1% effected in January 2002.
7% wage increase effected now for the highest paid
workers and 0,5% effected in January 2002.
Fourmonths paid maternity leave.

The unions accept on behalf of workers that this agreement
we have signed constitutes the outcome of hard and extensive
negotiations which led to the most successful strike action. We
believe that the agreement will go a long way to addressing the
short and long-term needs of workers. The agreement will
create certainty for workers and improve their purchasing
power.

This victory will boost morale and show to all workers that
they have power to change their wages and working
conditions..

It will directly improve the wages of workers and enhance
their benefits. The agreement is important in mobilising and
increasing their resource capacity to purchase goods and
services in the local economy. In this regard workers will have
a share in the profits of the company because maximum
returns benefited few company executives. This agreement will
collectively empower workers to take a stake in the company
and absorb the consequences of wage-cuts. It will bring social
and economic justice for all workers in the company. It is a
move from the painful experience of wage restraint to the
beginning of the equitable distribution of incomes. It is our
responsibility in this regard to renew our determination to
address the company&#8217;s legacy of non-commitment to the
betterment of working conditions by settling at improved
wages above the inflation rate.

The agreement is in pursuance of our strategic goal in
advancing towards a real workplace democracy and ensuring
that workers have access not only to decent wages but
increased benefits that will improve their lives. This will help in
impacting positively in labour performance in the company.

The wage agreement in this case is in the best interest of the
workers. We always maintained that workers are not a cost
to the company but add value to the company and the
economy. We are more than delighted that the agreement will
not decrease the workers living standards but add more value
to the economy.


We also occupy the moral high ground after the company was
interdicted successfully on the questions of the unilateral
implementation of the wage increases. The order compelled
Eskom to withdraw its unilateral implementation of the wage
increase. We hope the company and the government will learn
a lesson on this case.

The strike action demonstrated that workers can not be
treated with utter contempt. It proved that the company can
not use its power to flout the accepted statutory dispute
resolution procedure and undermine the workers constitutional
right to strike. We hope in future the company will not use its
control of the administrative system to impose wage increases
with which it hoped will undercut the unions demands and so
demoralize and divide the workers that on strike.


We are delighted by the overwhelming support that the strike
received from the majority of the workers. The success of the
strike demonstrated workers preparedness to fight for their
working conditions at the company.

We believe that in any wage negotiations compromise is may
be necessary in order to break the deadlock and such talks
should be based on fairness, transparency and proper vision
to deal with sensitive issues in that way parties can able to
resolve impasses without strike actions. This is critical, in
order to ensure an acceptable labour market regime.

We trust and hope that the Eskom company in future wage
negotiations would not adopt the same paternalistic and
parochial approach to the wage talks.

The unions salutes all workers who took part in the strike and
congratulates them on a great victory.

For more information contact Dumisa Ntuli at 689 1700
or cell 0829737282.



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

Contact 082-821-7456 Patrick Craven or Moloto Mothapo for further comment.

Visit the COSATU web site at http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/latest.html for copies of our most recent press statements. For the full archive go to: http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/archive.html

Get free e-mail for union members. Visit http://www.union.org.za and sign up now! It's free!

COSATU takes steps to ensure that any attachments are free from viruses. You should, however, carry out your own virus check before opening any attachment. COSATU accepts no liability for loss or damage caused by software viruses.

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

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World Bank and IMF 2001 Annual Meetings in Washington DC

2001-07-30

http://www.imf.org/external/am/2001/index.htm

The World Bank/IMF website on Annual Meetings is available on the website. A detailed calendar of events and background information on the various official meetings, press conferences, the Program of Seminars and other activities will be posted on this site. It will be updated regularly between now and the end of September, so you may wish to check it periodically for timetables, subjects and accreditation details.
This note is to provide you with initial information on the World Bank and
IMF
2001 Annual Meetings in Washington DC.

Further e:mail communications will follow in the coming weeks as more
information is available. If you have any questions, wish to be added to
the
distribution list or if you do not wish to receive any more information
about
the Meetings, please send a reply message to:

Karolina Ordon
annualmeetings@worldbank.org

You may phone her at +(202) 458 5971; fax +(202) 522 7131


Dialogues with Civil Society
As in previous years, we will hold a number of dialogues with senior WB and
IMF
officials on topics of interest to civil society. These are tentatively
scheduled from Wednesday, September 26 - Friday, September 28 at the World
Bank
and IMF headquarters. We welcome your suggestions on the topics you wish to
be
addressed in these discussions. Please send your suggestions to the e:mail
address above, and we will make every effort to address these as schedules
and
space permit.


Activities around Annual Meetings
The World Bank/IMF website on Annual Meetings is available at
http://www.imf.org/external/am/2001/index.htm A detailed calendar of events
and
background information on the various official meetings, press conferences,
the
Program of Seminars and other activities will be posted on this site. It
will
be updated regularly between now and the end of September, so you may wish
to
check it periodically.


Accreditation
As many of you are aware, civil society organizations, as all Visitors, must
apply for accreditation in order to gain access to the World Bank and IMF
buildings where the official Annual Meetings, Program of Seminars and most
of
the WB/IMF-sponsored meetings for CSOs will be held. For those interested
in
attending, we would strongly recommend that you apply for accreditation as
soon
as possible -- no later than August 31 -- to allow sufficient time for
processing and for you to obtain the necessary documentation to enter the
United
States.

Please note that in order to apply, you must send a request in writing by
fax or
mail (note e-mail requests are not accepted !!!). The requests should be
submitted individually by person or organization on letterhead stationery.
Note
that requests from "coordinators" containing the names of representatives
from
more than one organization will not be processed, and you will be asked to
re-submit the requests on each organization's own letterhead. All requests
should be addressed to:

Ms. Thelma A. Guerra
Officer for Special Guests and Visitors
Joint Secretariat
IMF - World Bank Group
Washington, DC 20433
USA
Fax: (1 202) 623-4100
Tel: (1 202) 458-0264

Please feel free to forward this information to interested colleagues in
the
global NGO community.

Best regards,

Carolyn Reynolds
World Bank

More...

Anti-tobacco treaty on track, says WHO

2001-07-30

http://www.oneworld.org/ips2/july01/00_49_004.html

The World Health Organisation says it is convinced that a proposed UN treaty curbing the use of tobacco will survive attacks from opponents.

Conference on Vertical Transmission Begins in Ivory Coast

2001-07-30

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hiv_recent_rep.cfm?dr_cat=1&show=yes&dr_DateTime=24-Jul-01#5962

A four-day conference addressing the issue of mother-to-child HIV transmission in Africa began yesterday in the Ivory Coast capital of Abidjan, Agence France-Presse reports. Simone Gbagbo, wife of Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, said that the conference will allow the eight participating countries to "share their experiences" on fighting HIV.

ExtraMED joins the free health information initiative:

Reducing the health information gap between rich and poor countries

2001-07-30

http://www.iwsp.org/

Informania Ltd, the world's largest electronic publisher of biomedical journals from the Third World, announced that it would provide the ExtraMED full-text database to developing country users for free or at very low cost, under the same terms as those announced last week by six leading medical publishers. It would also enable the distribution of this information through a new network of health information resource centres.

PRESS RELEASE: London, 23 July 2001

The announcement was made at a global videoconference on Universal Access to
Health Information staged at the British Medical Association in London,
chaired by Richard Smith, Editor of the British Medical Journal, and with
live links to development professionals throughout the world.

Describing the announcement, Chris Zielinski, Chief Executive of Informania
Ltd., said, "For all the perceived evils of globalization, the global spread
of valid health information can be an unalloyed good, and I commend the
initiative of WHO and the commercial publishers." However, he warned, "If
all this information comes from the industrialized countries alone, and none
of it is local, it could end up being seen as a form of information
colonisation."

The provision of ExtraMED - which has exclusive electronic rights to over
300 of the leading biomedical journals published in developing countries,
and has been issuing them on monthly CD-ROMs over the last few years - would
help to balance the equation.

"It is crucial that information from the South is included in this worthy
initiative, as an act of validation and in pursuit of information equity,"
Zielinski said.

Informania Ltd aimed to develop the distribution mechanism for ExtraMED in
association with a well-known publisher, to coincide with the launch of the
major medical publishers' scheme in early 2002. He offered the use of the
recently established Information Waystations and Staging Posts Network
(www.iwsp.org) to distribute the publishers' offline material, as it already
links the largest collection of health information centres in the developing
world, and is set to expand rapidly.

Zielinski also called upon other electronic publishers of developing country
content to join the initiative. "We could have a comprehensive offering,
amounting to an alternative MEDLINE - providing the full text of all the
leading developing country journals from a single source."

CONTACT: Chris Zielinski, Chief Executive, Informania Limited, P.O. Box 40,
Petersfield, Hants GU32 2YH, UK Tel: +44-(0)1730-301297 Fax:
0044-1730-265398 e-mail: zielinski@innermeaning.com
------------------------
BACKGROUND:

ExtraMED publishes the full text of 316 Third World biomedical journals as
page images (print-outs look like photocopies of the actual journal pages).
Some 30,000 articles, comprising 250,000 pages, had been included in
ExtraMED by July 2000. Taking its name from the fact that it comprises
journals that are 'extra' to the MEDLINE database, ExtraMED focuses on
journals that are largely excluded from the international indexes. The
journals were originally selected through the World Health Organization's
regional Index Medicus projects. It is by far the largest full-text source
of such literature. The journals benefit from wider exposure and a share of
any income generated.

ExtraMED was started by Chris Zielinski in 1994 while he was a Director of
Health and Biomedical Information at the World Health Organization. Chris
continued the project within his family company, Informania Ltd.

Information about the Information Waystations and Staging Posts Network is
available at www.iwsp.org

On 9 July 2001, six of the world's leading medical publishers (Blackwell
Science, Elsevier Science, Harcourt International, John Wiley, Springer
Verlag, and Wolters Kluwer) joined forces with WHO in a unique venture in
which they have put profits aside to enable more than 100 of the poorest
countries in the world to access vital scientific information free of charge
through the Internet.

['HIF-net at WHO' profile: Chris Zielinski spent over 20 years as a
publisher in WHO and FAO, working in Africa, Asia and Europe. Chris is
Principal Consultant of Informania Ltd, the company he originally founded in
1992 to produce ExtraMED, a database which presents the full text and images
of over 300 Third World biomedical journals on a monthly CD-ROM. He is
currently Director of the Health Information for Development Project, the
projected first phase of the Information Waystations and Staging Posts
project, which seeks to build the technological capacity of some 1,000
health information resource centres and develop selected centres into
large-scale producers of locally appropriate health information. Chris
serves on the boards of Healthlink Worldwide, and Partnerships for Health
Information. <dvt@compuserve.com>]

More...

G8's Pledge of $1.3 Billion to Global AIDS Fund a 'Pittance'

2001-07-30

http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hiv_recent_rep.cfm?dr_cat=1&show=yes&dr_DateTime=24-Jul-01#5962

"It is sad that, with its announcement about the pledges to the AIDS fund, the G8 conference was able to seize the PR high ground," an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer states. The commentary piece calls the G8's pledge of $1.3 billion to the Global AIDS and Health Fund created by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan "a comparative pittance."

HIV/AIDS fact sheets available from UNAIDS Web-site

2001-07-30

http://www.unaids.org/fact_sheets/ungass/index.html

HIV/AIDS fact sheets produced by UNAIDS for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS (25-27 June 2001) have just been published and they are available for download from the UNAIDS Web site.


The set of fact sheets are available in a single English language
Adobe Acrobat Format (PDF) document (603 KB). Each fact sheet is also
available separately for download, in 4 languages (English, French,
Spanish and Russian). Except for the Russian version (only available
in MS Word format), they are available in 3 formats: HTML, MS Word
(DOC) and Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF).

The Titles of the Fact Sheets are:
* An overview of the HIV/AIDS epidemic
* HIV/AIDS and development
* AIDS as a security issue
* HIV/AIDS, food security and rural development
* HIV/AIDS-a governance challenge
* HIV/AIDS care and support
* Preventing HIV/AIDS
* Preventing HIV/AIDS among young people
* AIDS education-a battle against ignorance
* Drug use and HIV/AIDS
* Gender and HIV/AIDS
* World AIDS Campaign 2001
* Mother-to-child transmission of HIV
* Orphans and children in a world of AIDS
* The search for an HIV vaccine
* HIV/AIDS and the world of work
* The International Partnership against AIDS in Africa
* What is UNAIDS?
* The Cosponsors of UNAIDS

--
Dr Brian Pazvakavambwa, MBChB, MPH
The World Health Organization (WHO)
Department of HIV/AIDS
Global and Inter-Regional Coordination
20 Avenue Appia
CH-1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland
Tel: +41-22-791-4564
Fax: +41-22-791-4834
mailto:pazvakavambwab@who.int
http://www.bpazva.8m.com

More...

Hopkins Report: New Informed Choice Strategy for Developing Countries

Guides People to Better Family Planning Decisions

2001-07-30

http://www.jhuccp.org/pr/j50edsum.stm

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health are calling for a new, broader strategy to help people make well-informed choices about family planning and protection against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The new strategy urges efforts in five areas: government policies, communication programs, access to contraception, family planning program leadership and management, and counseling.


The proposal, addressed to
policy-makers and health care providers working in and for developing
countries, appears in the latest issue
(http://www.jhuccp.org/pr/j50edsum.stm) of Population Reports published by
the Johns Hopkins Population Information Program.

The new strategy broadens efforts to assure people's informed choice in
family planning. "Informed choice" means that individuals and couples can
make their own free decisions about using family planning based on accurate
information and access to services and supplies to carry out their
decisions. This principle has long been fundamental to family planning
programs around the world.

"While counseling has long been considered a key to ensuring informed
choice, what happens before people visit a service provider may be even more
important," writes author Ushma D. Upadhyay in calling for the new strategy.
For example, in all 50 developing countries surveyed at least 80% of women
who planned to start using family planning in the next year already had a
specific method in mind. In 26 of those countries the percentage was over
90%.

"The principle of informed choice focuses on the individual. Yet most
people's family planning decisions also reflect a range of outside
influences. These include household influences and community norms,
government laws and policies, information available, and access to family
planning and services," writes Upadhyay.

Good communication between clients and providers during counseling remains
essential, the report notes. Many people want help thinking through the
decision-making process and learning how to use a method correctly.
Providers also can help clients assess whether they are at risk of HIV/AIDS
and other STIs. In view of the AIDS epidemic, "it is more important than
ever for people...to consider dual protection" against unintended pregnancy
and STIs, according to the report. "Making a family planning choice without
considering STI risk and protection is not a fully informed choice."

Whether people can make their own choices is key to their satisfaction with
family planning. An Indonesian study, for example, found that 91% of women
who received the family planning method they wanted were still using that
method a year later. By comparison, only 28% of those who did not get their
preferred method were using the method they received after a year.

The proposed comprehensive strategy includes:

· Setting supportive policies. Endorsement at the top sets the tone for the
entire health care system. National policies in Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, and
Zambia intend to protect people's rights and ability to making informed
choices. For example, Mexico's constitution states that "every individual
has the right to decide in a free, responsible, and informed manner the
number and spacing of his or her children."
· Widespread communication programs. Information campaigns in the mass media
and in the community can inform people of their right to make their own
decisions, explain their options, and direct them to health care providers
who can help. For example, Bolivia's "Las Manitos" ("Little Hands")
campaign advised people that their reproductive health was in their own
hands and that there is a range of contraceptive methods to choose from,
including condoms which protect against HIV/AIDS.
· Improving access. A range of contraceptive methods and outlets helps
people carry out their choices. In nine countries surveyed, from 11% of
women in Mauritius to 48% in Costa Rica said they would rather use a
different family planning method. Most often, their preferred method was too
expensive, too difficult to obtain, or not available at all. Falling funding
levels make better access increasingly difficult, however. Donor governments
and international organizations are contributing less toward the cost of
contraceptives. In 1999, the last year for which data are available, donor
support for contraceptives totaled US$130.8 million, down 9% from the
previous year. This continues a trend of falling funds that began in 1996.
· Stronger management and leadership. Program management that improves
quality of care enhances clients' choices. In Kenya, after new service
delivery guidelines were instituted, the percentage of clients unnecessarily
denied family planning services because they were not menstruating declined
from 47% to 29%.
· Improving counseling. Counseling can be crucial to helping some people
think through their decisions. It is a partnership of not one, but two
experts--the provider as the medical expert and the client as the expert on
her or his own situation and needs. The "Smart Patient" program in
Indonesia, a pilot project carried out by the Johns Hopkins Center for
Communication Programs, helped clients prepare their questions for
counselors. These clients asked an average of 5.5 questions per session,
compared with 3.5 among clients who were not coached.

Ushma Upadhyay prepared the report, Informed Choice in Family Planning:
Helping People Decide. Population Reports is an international review journal
of important issues in population, family planning, and related matters. It
is published four times a year in four languages by the Population
Information Program at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs
for more than 170,000 family planning and other health professionals
worldwide, with support from the US Agency for International Development
(USAID). USAID administers the US foreign assistance program, providing
economic and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries worldwide.

For more information contact: Kim Martin at Johns Hopkins Center for
Communication Programs, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland
21202, USA. Tel: 410 659-6140; Fax: 410 659-6266; e-mail: Press@jhuccp.org
or PopRepts@jhuccp.org WEB SITE: http://www.jhuccp.org/

More...

New forum: Psychosocial Support for Children affected by AIDS

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/2455

There is growing realization in programs around children affected by AIDS (CABA) that an essential component is missing - psychosocial support. From the 19th ­24th. August 2001, a small group of practitioners and experts are meeting at Masiye Camp (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) to develop a working definition and to plan how to scale up program strategies for a regional response. We are launching this time-limited pre-think tank discussion forum. After the think tank this forum will continue to serve as a platform for specialized discussions around issues on PSS-CABA. To join the forum, please send a message to: join-pss-caba@healthlink.org.za


New forum: Psychosocial Support for Children affected by AIDS
PSS-CABA
******************************************

There is growing realization in programs around children affected by AIDS
(CABA) that an essential component is missing - psychosocial support.

Practical responses to address this gap are few, and this component is
still not integrated into the large number of projects being continually
developed.

To this end, Humuliza Project (tdh-switzerland) and Masiye Camp (Salvation
Army), both working in the field of PSS-CABA, have forged a partnership to
facilitate an expanded response to PSS-CABA in Africa.

>From the 19th ­24th. August 2001, a small group of practitioners and
experts are meeting at Masiye Camp (Bulawayo, Zimbabwe) to develop a
working definition and to plan how to scale up program strategies for a
regional response.

To have maximum participation and inputs in all these discussions, we
decided (with the support from Health & Development Networks) to launch
this time-limited pre-think tank discussion forum. After the think tank
this forum will continue to serve as a platform for specialized discussions
around issues on PSS-CABA.

To join the forum, please send a message to: join-pss-caba@healthlink.org.za

We look forward to your participation

Moderator
PSS-CABA Discussion Forum
E-mail: pss-caba@healthlink.org.za

--------------------------------------------------------
- A posting from af-aids@hivnet.ch

- To submit a posting, send to this address
- For anonymous postings, add the word "anon" to the subject line
- To join or leave this forum, add the word join or leave to the subject
line
- Browse previous postings or post new messages at:
http://www.hivnet.ch:8000/africa/af-aids/

- Reproduction welcomed, provided source and forum email address is quoted
- The forum is managed by Health & Development Networks (www.hdnet.org) on
behalf of the Fondation du Present (www.fdp.org)

The views expressed in this forum do not necessarily reflect those of HDN
or FdP, unless otherwise stated
--------------------------------------------------------

More...

Open Electronic Conference on HIV/AIDS in Nigeria

2001-07-30

http://www.nigeria-aids.org/eforum.cfm

Under the project supported by The FUTURES Group International/POLICY Project Nigeria and the National Action Committee on AIDS (NACA), Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria is conducting on the Nigeria-AIDS eForum, a six-month long open discussion of key HIV-related issues among HIV/AIDS activists and advocates as well as governmental, non-governmental, multilateral and community-based organisations in Nigeria.
-------------------------------------------------

Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria is pleased to announce the
commencement of its six-months long Open Electronic Conference on key
HIV issues on the Nigeria-AIDS eForum:
http://www.nigeria-aids.org/eforum.cfm


The principal objective of this project is to build effective net-
working, stakeholders' participation and transparency in the imple-
mentation of the HIV/AIDS Emergency Action Plan (HEAP) as well as the
general response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Nigeria.

Other objectives are to:

1. Enhance national exchange of information and experience between
HIV/AIDS workers and organisations, the private sector, community
organisations, PWAs, the media etc in Nigeria;
2. Highlight good practices and promote multi-sectoral partnerships;
3. Facilitate stakeholder participation in the HIV/AIDS policy making
and implementation process, through encouragement of open dis-
course on issues among forum members;
4. Disseminate news, views and information on HIV/AIDS to Nigerians
and other publics across the world, information about HIV/AIDS ac-
tivities (especially of NACA), grants, resources, international
job vacancies, upcoming conferences as well as research reports
and other news relevant to Nigeria;
5. Serve as a forum for polling opinions, evaluation and feedback on
legislation, interventions, strategies, projects etc by govern
menttal and non-governmental agencies and encouraging stake-
holders' input into these processes;
6. Encourage openness, transparency and accountability in the na-
tional response to HIV/AIDS;
7. Facilitate the formation of a broad-based national response to
HIV/AIDS;
8. Serve as a model for an exchange forum and communication network
on HIV/AIDS in the West African sub-region.

In preparation for the launching of Open Electronic Conference,
JAAIDS is organising a two-day workshop for its moderators and team
of Key Correspondents (KCs) who will report for the forum. The work-
shop will hold at the training room of the Media Resource Centre on
HIV/AIDS in Lagos on 27-29 July 2001. Six Key Correspondents (two fe-
male and four male, including a person living with HIV) representing
each of the six geo-political zones in Nigeria have been appointed to
report for the forum. Two co-moderators (one male, one female) have
also been appointed to moderate discussions on the forum.

We intend that full discussions under the Open Electronic Conference
will commence in the next two weeks. Fuller communications on the
conference and solicitations for inputs into the discussion format by
forum members will be made in the days ahead.

Do please stay in touch.

Omololu Falobi
Project Director
mailto:moderator1@nigeria-aids.org
http://www.nigeria-aids.org

More...

Oxfam responds to Pfizer

2001-07-30

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/cutthecost/pfizeresp.html

Pfizer argues that the cost of drugs is simply not relevant to the issue of access to most medicines in the developing world, citing as evidence the low utilisation rates of very cheap generic drugs for pneumonia, TB and malaria. Oxfam accepts that the causes of the public health crisis in developing countries are complex. But limited access to life-saving drugs that are widely-available in rich countries is also central to any explanation.

Rx for War Zone Workers

2001-07-30

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/24/health/24CONV.html

An interview with David Kuhns who worked for Médecins sans Frontières in Somalia and Afghanistan, and dealt with re-renty problems on returning home to the United States. He has set up a Peer Support Network which works with volunteers who need help dealing with what they experienced overseas.

The Bush edict that kills women

2001-07-30

http://www.consider.net/forum_new.php3?Action=Display&newDisplayURN=200107230012

According to Anthony Browne, health editor of the Observer, and a trustee of Population Concern, "there are many reasons to despise George Dubbya Bush. But as he tries to joke away his global calumny during meetings in London and in Genoa (at the G8 summit), little is heard of what can only be called his most pernicious international act. On his first day in office, he introduced a policy that is promoting Aids, encouraging maternal deaths, and increasing poverty among the world's most vulnerable people."

Working Toward Aids Drugstore for Africa

2001-07-30

http://fdncenter.org/pnd/current/004308.html

In a letter sent to United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan last month, Barry R. Bloom, dean of Harvard's School of Public Health, proposed the creation of a "global HIV/AIDS pharmacy" that would help facilitate the purchase and distribution of AIDS drugs in African countries, the Boston Globe reports.

G8 - failing the world's children

2001-07-30

http://www.oxfam.org.uk/policy/papers/g8b.html

The debt burden of the poorest countries helps keep children out of school. School fees make education an unaffordable luxury for the world's poor. But the G8 has failed to tackle the education crisis. Debt relief is not deep enough, and aid levels are falling. The world's richest nations should launch a global initiative to abolish school fees and get all the world's children into school.

GRAFFITI WALL

2001-07-30

http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/graffitiwall/index.html

This wall promotes children's rights. It was created by children in South Africa. If you want to know how they did it, or how you might do something similar in your community, follow this link.

Nigerian education crisis deepens

2001-07-30

http://allafrica.com/stories/200107230757.html

Another 20 schools have been closed over the last 72 hours as the education crisis continued to deepen. Eight secondary schools in Central Province were closed over the weekend following disturbances by students. This brings to 27 the number of institutions closed in the province this month alone.

SchoolNet South Africa: Accessing a World of Learning

2001-07-30

http://www.idrc.ca/reports/read_article_english.cfm?article_num=853

In a country where almost 70 % of schools are still without computers, SchoolNet SA has carved out a niche not just by making technology more available, but by focusing on historically disadvantaged schools.

SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHILDREN's Rights in Education

2001-07-30

http://www.childrightseducation.org/english/icrei.html

The second International Conference on Children's Rights in Education will be conducted from 18-22 August 2001 in Victoria, Canada. The main aims of the Conference are to promote respect and support for children's rights and the full development of children through education. It will provide a structured exchange by international and national experts of information and perspectives on theory, research and practices relating education and children's rights.
Amongst the co-operating international organisations
for the Conference are: Education International, the International School
Psychology Association, and the NGO Group for the Convention on the Rights
of the Child.


Further information and registration form can be found at:
http://www.childrightseducation.org/english/icrei.html

Further information is available from: Natasha Blanchet-Cohen,
Co-ordinator, IICRD, Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria,
B.C. Canada, V8W 2Y2. Email: credi@uvic.ca; website:
www.childrightseducation.org

More...

SUDAN: Weekend march to highlight children's needs

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/sudan/20010726.phtml

The Sudanese Movement for Children, which comprises governmental and nongovernmental agencies and civil society organisations, will next Friday organise a march to start from Wad Madani, the capital of Al-Jazirah State, and end at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum, as part of the global campaign "Say Yes for Children".

The bitter taste of chocolate: Child labour in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana

2001-07-30

http://www.peacelink.it/afrinews/64_issue/p11.html

Chocolate companies in the West are finally starting to wake up to the reality that child labour is being used on the cocoa plantations that supply the companies with the raw material to make their chocolate. Some key players in the U.S. and Britain are starting to make noise on the issue, although they have a long way to go.

The changing face of independent schools in South Africa

2001-07-30

http://www.teacher.co.za/200107/private.html

Independent schools are not the exclusive enclave of the wealthy, but cater to many different communities, writes Jane Hofmeyer in a recent issue of Independent Education magazine.

Unionists demand Nigerian inclusion in major education meeting

2001-07-30

http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/latest.html

Seventy eight (78) teacher trade unionist from Nigeria are stranded in Johannesburg because of the refusal of the Nigerian Embassy in Pretoria to clear them to be granted visas by the Thai government.
Press statement issued by the Congress of South African Trade Unions.

To receive future press statements go to http://gate.cosatu.org.za/mailman/listinfo/press

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





Eleven hundred delegates from 155 countries meeting
at the 3rd world congress of Education International in
Jomtien, Thailand, have expressed outrage at the
exclusion of the Nigerian delegation to the congress.
The congress begins on Wednesday 25 July and ends
on 29 July 2001.

&#8220;It is ironic that over 11 years ago at Jomtien, at the
World Education Conference &#8211; Heads of State spoke
of education as inclusion, and necessary ingredient
for sustainable development. Yet now at Jomtien the
largest nation on the African continent &#8211; Nigeria -
and a key leader in the newly created African Union
has been excluded from discussing educational
matters,&#8221; said Fred van Leeuwen &#8211; General Secretary
of Education International.

Education International has appealed to the President
of Nigeria for his personal intervention.


Contact person: Hassen Lorgat, SADTU Press Officer
Tel +66 38 255 974 (Thailand)

Education International is a world-wide trade union organisation of education
personnel, whose 24.5 million members represent all sectors of education,
from pre-school to university, through 305 national member organisations in
155 countries and territories.



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

Contact 082-821-7456 Patrick Craven or Moloto Mothapo for further comment.

Visit the COSATU web site at http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/latest.html for copies of our most recent press statements. For the full archive go to: http://www.cosatu.org.za/press/archive.html

Get free e-mail for union members. Visit http://www.union.org.za and sign up now! It's free!

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Racism and the administration of justice

Amnesty International Report

2001-07-30

http://www.web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/recent/ACT400202001?OpenDocument

This report illustrates how racial discrimination in the administration of justice systematically denies certain people their human rights because of their colour, race, ethnicity, descent (including caste) or national origin. Based on research conducted by Amnesty International in recent years, it shows that members of ethnic minorities often suffer torture, ill-treatment and harassment at the hands of the police. In many parts of the world they face unfair trials and discriminatory sentencing which puts them at increased risk of harsh punishments, including the death penalty.

SOUTH AFRICA: US may boycott racism conference

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/southafrica/20010727.phtml

The Washington Post newspaper reported on Thursday that the United States had again threatened to boycott next month's United Nations conference on racism in Durban, South Africa.

UN official says Durban conference must achieve breakthrough on racism

2001-07-30

http://www.un.org/News/dh/latest/page2.html#41

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, who is also Secretary-General of the Conference, said the Durban meeting would be "nothing less than a conference to discuss the core principles that should underpin this new century. It is an important opportunity for the world community to commit, for the first time in the post-apartheid era, to a truly global effort to address the ancient and the modern manifestations of this evil."

US boycott signals indifference on racism

2001-07-30

http://www.mg.co.za/mg/za/news.html#racismcon

THE United States risked appearing indifferent about racism if it were to boycott the upcoming United Nations conference on the subject, South Africa's director general of foreign affairs said on Sunday."If they don't come, people will read into it that they don't see the issues as important. It will send a signal to their own constituencies and the rest of the world," Sipho Pityana told the SAPA news agency.

World Conference Against Racism, A letter from Lynn Huntley

2001-07-30

http://www.aaionline.org/webzine/july2001/presidentletter.html

Lynn Huntley, executive vice president of the Southern Education Foundation, a public charity based in Atlanta, Georgia, writes: "No matter what the official documents issued by governments and the UN say or don't say, people of African descent and their allies can use the time together profitably and well. And whatever the official documents say or don't say, our work combating racism, inequality and related forms of intolerance will begin afresh when we all return back home."

Developing countries regain clout at climate talks

2001-07-30

http://www.oneworld.net/ips2/july01/01_37_004.html

Developing countries' delegates at the UN climate talks in Bonn regained diplomatic ground lost during negotiations last November in The Hague, says Ramesh Jaura.

From the Hague to Bonn: snatching retreat from the jaws of defeat

2001-07-30

http://www.earthtimes.org/bonn/bonnconferenceanaylsisjul24_01.htm

One of the surest indications that trouble is at hand is when diplomats start hiding behind catchy phrases and meaningless terminology. Participants and observers to the COP-6 Climate Change Conference here have been told that a "breakthrough," "deal," or "compromise" (take your pick) had been achieved.

Group of Eight Pledge Climate Change Action

2001-07-30

http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2001/2001L-07-23-02.html

The Group of Eight (G-8) major industrialized nations have outlined a series of measures to help reduce world poverty, particularly in Africa, and have pledged to continue discussions on how to address climate change and other global environmental issues.

Rampant Fishing Hits Entire Ecosystems

2001-07-30

http://www.oneworld.net/ips2/july01/15_42_048.html

Overfishing is far more devastating than is commonly understood and was taking place long before its magnitude began to command public attention over the past century, say scientists.

ZAMBIA: Food shortages loom say farmers

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/zambia/20010727.phtml

Zambia was expected to experience a huge shortage of maize, the country's staple food, the Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU) said on Thursday. "A maize shortage is expected this year. ZNFU estimates a shortfall of 120,000 to 150,000 mt," Songowayo Zyambo, ZNFU executive director, was quoted saying in an AFP report.

Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe

Media Update # 2001/28

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/2486

In describing the death of an Odzi settler as murder, the state print media abandoned all the basic restrictions surrounding the reporting of incidents involving criminal charges. The purpose of these restrictions is founded upon the fundamental principle that accused individuals are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The conduct of the state media in this case has pre-empted the court investigation and raises the question of whether the trial of the white commercial farmer involved in the fatal accident may have been compromised by such unprofessional coverage.

Monday 16th July to Sunday 22nd July 2001



SUMMARY

While The Herald (16/7) did not actually describe the accident as
murder in its initial report, the story did quote the Minister of
Information, Jonathan Moyo, as describing it as &#8220;&#8230;a callous,
premeditated, cold-blooded murder of the Ku Klux Klan type
of murders&#8230;&#8221;
Relying on unnamed sources, the state media reported the incident
as a deliberate act of racism arising out of the government&#8217;s land
reform programme and used this stance to cover the looting of
nearby farms by angry war veterans sympathetically.
The Daily News missed the initial story, and subsequent reports
confined themselves to events following the incident, as should
have been the case with the state-controlled media in coverage of
incidents involving a pending trial.
Notably, The Zimbabwe Mirror (20/7) ran a story quoting the
brothers of the dead man attacking the state-owned media for
politicizing the death of their brother.
But none of the media managed to provide a clear context to the
incident, and the state media&#8217;s coverage of it reflects the biased
and politicized pattern of its coverage of violence in other parts of
the country, particularly in Bindura where a by-election is due this
weekend.
The progress of the US Zimbabwe Democracy Bill was also a
subject of much debate during the week under review.

Odzi Settler&#8217;s Death.
In addition to allowing Minister Moyo to describe the death of the
Odzi settler as murder, The Herald (16/6) also employed
accusatory language to describe the incident, saying: &#8220;A
commercial farmer in Odzi&#8230;allegedly ran over a resettled
farmer&#8230;dragged him for about 20 meters under his truck
before dumping the body in full view of other settlers&#8230;&#8221;
The paper's heavily racist comment also clearly referred to the
incident as murder, likening it to racist murders that have taken
place in South Africa and the United States. And it noted that war
veterans had demonstrated remarkable restraint by not retaliating
"against the white commercial farmers," who, the paper
claimed, "seem bent on triggering another bloodbath that will
justify the imposition of sanctions&#8230;"
In this way, the paper not only perpetuated the prejudice against
the white farmer involved in the killing before his trial, but also
managed to suggest that most white farmers were inciting violence.
The next day, the news columns of the paper simply described the
incident as murder when it reported that war veterans had taken
over the farm belonging to the commercial farmer allegedly
responsible for the death &#8220;&#8230;as tempers flared following the
murder of a peasant farmer allegedly by a white commercial
farmer&#8230;&#8221;
The Herald (19/7) compounded this error by muddling the story of
the man&#8217;s remand with vague references to eye-witness reports
apparently not raised at the court hearing. It also referred to the
incident as murder in its headline, &#8220;Odzi murder slammed&#8221; of a
story about those condemning &#8220;&#8230;the brutal murder of a Mutare
man&#8230;&#8221;
Despite the fact that the same edition of the paper reported the
farmer as appearing in court facing a murder charge, the
accompanying story clearly sought comment from a number of
people on the basis that the farmer had already been found guilty.

ZBC&#8217;s coverage of the settler&#8217;s death was little better. While it did
not directly refer to murder, it used the incident to portray the
impression that it was the result of a racist attack and that white
farmers were generally violent and were harassing peaceful
peasants occupying their farmlands.
ZTV made no attempt to balance its initial coverage of the event the
previous evening or in its follow-up stories (16/7, 8pm) only quoting
settlers and war veterans. In one of its reports that night, it quoted
war veterans&#8217; acting chairman, Patrick Nyaruwata, as saying that
his organization had received reports that other white farmers had
been harassing settlers on designated farms.
&#8220;&#8230;If the whites start fighting us, then we have to retaliate...&#8221; he
was quoted as saying, thus giving the impression that white
farmers were provoking settlers and war veterans. He was not
asked to provide examples or give viewers some idea of the scale
of the problem. Nor was independent opinion sought, or those of
the white farming community.
Similarly, the same report quoted the war veterans&#8217; secretary-
general, Andy Mhlanga saying, &#8220;&#8230;This is now the time to show
the white minority that we are very, very angry about their
action. We urge all war veterans countrywide to make sure
that people in designated farms leave with immediate effect.&#8221;
ZTV did not subject this inflammatory statement to any scrutiny or
provide alternative opinion. Nor were the police consulted over the
legality of such a threat of summary eviction..
A similar impression was given by a report on ZTV&#8217;s 6pm and 8pm
bulletins two days later (18/7), in which a settler was allegedly shot
by a Nyabire farm security guard. The story contained a startling
revelation from war veterans&#8217; spokesman, Andrew Ndlovu, saying
he had received a call from the President&#8217;s Office informing him of
incidents on other farms. ZTV never asked him why the President&#8217;s
Office should be contacting him about such incidents. Nor did it
ask the President&#8217;s Office whether it thought the war veterans were
a form of law enforcement agency supplementing the activities of
the police.
The Daily News missed the original story and concentrated on the
reaction of the war veterans following the incident (17/7) and
reported the incident itself in the barest detail, presumably because
the paper was aware of the sub judice reporting restrictions that
exist in relation to events leading to criminal charges. The Herald
also focussed on the war veterans' reaction (17/7) and both papers
stated that the commercial farmer was due to appear in court
facing a charge of murder.
The Daily News (19/7) carried a report of the white farmer's remand
hearing under a somewhat misleading headline, "Police, Court
Deny Odzi Farmer Right to Lawyer", which referred to the fact that
the lawyer was advised not to attend for security reasons: "'I
stayed away on the advice of the police and court officials,'
Ndlovu said. 'They feared that my presence might ignite an
already tense situation,&#8217;" the paper reported the lawyer as saying.
But the story also reported that the lawyer had attended the
hearing in the afternoon.
The next day (20/7) the same paper devoted a story and a front
page photo to the farmer's young black wife and in so doing
appeared to be using the fact to refute the state media allegations
that he is a racist.

The Zimbabwe Democracy Bill
The Herald (16/7) reiterated ZBC's allegations in its bulletins the
previous evening that - according to eye-witnesses - the Odzi
farmer involved in the death of a settler had boasted that he had
wanted to kill 15 settlers to "celebrate" what he thought was the
passing of the Zimbabwe Democracy Bill by the US Senate.
It is impossible to tell if this was the state media exploiting the
weaknesses in The Zimbabwe Standard's original story (reported
here last week), but the claim certainly highlighted the inadequacy
of the early reports on the progress of the Bill.
Following up the Sunday story, The Daily News (16/7) reported the
comments of an International Crisis Group, but then compounded
the confusion initiated by The Standard by reporting that the
Democracy Bill had received "&#8230;approval by the US Congress&#8230;"
Despite the fact that the daily also appeared to correct its mistake
by virtually repeating The Standard's explanation, it made matters
worse by stating that the stage was set for "the proposed law to
sail through the House of Representatives."
So, had it been approved? Unfortunately the private press was
unable to clarify the matter. That could only be obtained from the
state owned media. Responding to The Standard&#8217;s inaccurate
headline of the day before, Zimpapers (16/7) and later, the state
broadcaster, quoted Zimbabwe&#8217;s ambassador to the U.S., Simbi
Mubako, (Radio and TV 16/7, 8pm) and the visiting black American
politician, Andrew Young, (20/7, 6pm and 8pm) saying that the Bill
had not yet become law and explaining the Congressional
procedures the Bill needed to pass through before it did. (These
were: approval from the Senate&#8217;s full foreign relations committee,
the Senate itself, the House of Representatives, a conference
between the House and the Senate, and finally to the American
President.) Mubako and Young both gave the impression that the
Bill was still a long way from becoming law, but the state-owned
media failed to ask either of them for some estimate of the time it
would take for the Bill to pass through all these legislative stages.
Coverage of the progress of the Bill in the private Press clearly
suffered from a lack of understanding of the American Congress&#8217;s
legislative procedures and provided the Minister of Information
(Jonathan Moyo) with an opportunity to attack The Daily News and
The Standard. The Herald (18/7) reported him accusing the two
papers of &#8220;&#8230;spreading false and malicious news against
Zimbabwe with the hope of promoting chaos, social
breakdown and conflict.&#8221;
However, the state Press also lacked any dispassionate analysis
of the Bill&#8217;s likely effects or clarification of its passage through
Congress.
The Herald (18/7) carried an excessively lengthy, one-sided
defence of the government&#8217;s &#8220;good governance&#8221; record by Mubako
under the heading, Why Sanctions Are Not The Answer. The article
discredited itself in the second paragraph by claiming that the title
of the Democracy Bill was &#8220;&#8230;a misnomer because there was not
and has never been a crisis of democracy in Zimbabwe since
the advent of majority rule&#8230;&#8221;
The Herald (21/7) carried a second attempt to peddle state
propaganda in another opinion piece headlined, US: Why Try to
Protect Past Injustices?, which completely ignored the present
injustices taking place in Zimbabwe.
In an effort to correct its errors of the previous week, The Standard
(22/7) quoted a US political consultant as saying that the Bill was
&#8220;on course&#8221; and that, in fact, the full Senate Foreign Relations
Committee had approved the Bill &#8220;unanimously&#8221;, and not the sub-
committee, as the paper had reported originally. This seemed to
have moved the Bill further down the legislative pipeline, but the
story failed to enlighten its readers on this matter. The paper also
reported that the Bill could be approved by the US Senate in
September but didn&#8217;t explain where it would go from there.
And while an inside opinion piece fulminated on why the
government should be so upset about the Bill if it was allowing
democracy to flourish in Zimbabwe, the unattributed article also
attacked Moyo, describing him as a &#8220;heartless mercenary&#8221; for
defending the indefensible. This article, under a &#8216;national news&#8217;
logo, should have been clearly identified as an opinion piece. Nor
should it have reported that, &#8220;Elsewhere, in the current issue of
The Standard, a US Senator reiterates that the Bill was
approved by the committee&#8230;&#8221;
Only Ed Stewart, described in The Standard&#8217;s front-page story as a
&#8220;US political consultant&#8221;, was reported to have said the Bill had
been passed, not a Senator&#8230;further compounding the confusion
already in the minds of the paper&#8217;s readers.
The Standard also published the Bill in full without providing any
explanation of its content.

Political Violence and the Bindura By-Election
Political violence in the countdown to the Bindura by-election
continued to receive considerable coverage in the week under
review. But most was piecemeal and biased depending on which
media was reporting the incidents. While The Daily News continues
to provide horrifying evidence of what appears to be a concerted
campaign of violence against opposition MDC supporters around
the country (16/7 with a picture), and in Bindura (17/7), Zimpapers
continue to report attacks on ZANU PF supporters by MDC youths
(The Herald 18/7).
MMPZ notes with concern that while the state media continue to
obtain unhindered comment from the police, the private Press,
particularly The Daily News, appears to be having difficulty seeking
information from the ZRP. In two of its stories (17/7) the paper
reported that the police had refused to comment. One sought a
police response to the claim by the MDC&#8217;s Bindura candidate that
the &#8220;application of the law by the police is selective because
MDC and Zanu PF members are treated differently.&#8221;
And the other sought police comment about police protection for
traditional chiefs. In that story Assist. Comm. Wayne Bvudzijena
was quoted as saying: &#8220;You know I don&#8217;t talk to The Daily
News.&#8221;
For what it&#8217;s worth, the police should be reminded that they are a
public institution and are obliged to provide information relating to
issues of public concern. Such partisan treatment of the media
exposes the bias of the police force and compromises its
reputation to carry out its duties &#8220;without fear or favour&#8221;.

As with the coverage of previous by-elections, media reporting
focused on political violence to the exclusion of the contesting
candidates&#8217; campaign policies. Reporting in all media of the
Bindura by-election was limited to events rather than critical
election issues, possibly because the politically volatile conditions
have overshadowed the candidates&#8217; campaign agendas.
There were piecemeal reports of what the candidates have to offer
in separate articles in the state owned press. The Herald (19/7)&#8217;s
article headlined, &#8220;Battle of two Elliots on next week&#8221; missed the
opportunity to profile the candidates. The spokespersons for the
two parties were interviewed instead of the candidates. ZANU PF&#8217;s
information secretary, Nathan Shamhuyarira, was quoted in the
article saying
&#8220;Giving land to the landless people is a distinctive
feature of our party&#8217;s achievements&#8221; and, &#8220;&#8230;the
revival of the youth brigades to instill discipline
and political consciousness among the youths.&#8221;
These were cited as some examples of the party&#8217;s campaign
policies. The MDC&#8217;s information and publicity officer, Learnmore
Jongwe was merely reported as expressing his hope for the party&#8217;s
success in spite of ZANU PF&#8217;s violence and intimidation
programme against the MDC.
It was only in The Sunday Mail (22/7) lead story, &#8220;Election fever
grips Bindura,&#8221; that Jongwe gave a brief outline of the party&#8217;s
policies for the constituency.

ZBC only reported (21/7, ZTV 6pm and 8pm) the Zimbabwe Council
of Churches statement denouncing violence and ignored the actual
incidents of political violence, especially in Bindura. All radio (22/7,
1pm) only made side reference to the violence in Bindura in a story
that was similar to that in The Sunday Mail, which accused MDC of
bussing hundreds of youths to Bindura to intimidate people. No
comment was sought from the MDC.
In any democracy the public broadcaster is obliged to provide the
electorate with balanced, fair and adequate information on the
candidates in any election and what they have to offer the
electorate.
In the Bindura by-election, ZBC, as the public broadcaster, is
mandated to cover both the ZANU PF candidate, Elliot Manyika
and MDC&#8217;s Elliot Pfebve. However, during the week under review,
the state broadcaster aired seven items on the ruling party&#8217;s
Manyika (Radio 1/3 and 2/4 had two stories each, while ZTV
carried three) and ignored Pfebve altogether.
On July 21 (ZTV, Nhau/Indaba and 8pm) ZANU PF&#8217;s Shuvai Mahofa
was shown presenting a $2m cheque to Manyika for projects in
Bindura. The footage also showed some women who were putting
on Manyika&#8217;s campaign regalia. The reporter did not analyse the
vote-buying implications of such a donation, which was made
barely a week before the election.

Ends.

More...

MOZAMBIQUE: FEAR AND SELF-CENSORSHIP IN WAKE OF CARDOSO MURDER

2001-07-30

http://www.cpj.org/

Eight months after the murder of investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso, Mozambican journalists are afraid to cover sensitive stories, particularly those involving corruption, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).


The organisation reached this conclusion after a recent
four-day visit to the Mozambican capital, Maputo, during which CPJ
representatives met with dozens of journalists from both state-owned and
private media as well as high-ranking government officials.

Government officials expressed a commitment to press freedom, but
journalists presented a different picture, says CPJ. While there is no
official censorship, journalists described many episodes of self-censorship.
"There is fear when you get into the hardest part of the news," one
journalist told CPJ. According to another, "Certain stories involving highly
placed people -- we think it's best not to touch those." Many journalists
said they were afraid to follow in Cardoso's footsteps. CPJ is disappointed
by these findings given that press freedom organisations have been
encouraged by Mozambique's past record. "The country is known for an
environment in which both independent and state-sponsored media have
competed freely, without official interference," says CPJ.

Cardoso, a veteran independent journalist who edited the daily fax
newsletter "Metical", was shot dead on 22 November 2000, notes CPJ. One week
before his death, Cardoso launched a campaign against what he called the
"gangster faction" in the ruling Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO),
which he accused of provoking political violence. Shortly before Cardoso's
murder, "Metical" had been investigating alleged wrongdoing at the
Mozambique Commercial Bank. CPJ calls on the Mozambican government to
"publicly reaffirm its respect for the role of the press as a check on
abuses of power" and to "make the Cardoso murder investigation an ongoing
priority and to aggressively pursue all avenues, regardless of where they
lead."

Meanwhile, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) reported on 22 May
that the Public Prosecutor's Office had charged six people in the Cardoso
case. Businessman Ayob Abdul Satar and former bank manager Vicente Ramaya
were charged with ordering the killing, while four others were accused of
carrying it out. The Abdul Satar family and Ramaya are key figures in the
alleged fraud at the Mozambique Commercial Bank. [Updates IFEX "Communique"
#9-47.] For more information, see www.cpj.org and www.misanet.org

More...

MRA, Article 19 to hold Regional Access to Information Workshop

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/2529

Freedom of Information experts and activists across Africa will meet in Nigeria in September to map out strategies for establishing a regional network aimed at strengthening campaigns for the enactment and implementation of access to information laws throughout the continent.
The activists will be joined at the three day workshop, which will take place in Abuja between September 19 and 21, by experts on Freedom of Information laws from Asia, Europe and North America.

The workshop is being organized by ARTICLE 19, the Global Campaign for Freedom of Expression, based in London and Media Rights Agenda (MRA) in collaboration with the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA), based in Cape Town. The meeting is being organized with support from The Ford Foundation.

The workshop will bring together 35 individuals and organisations which are either already active or which are interested in working in future on freedom of information issues to discuss and share advocacy and monitoring strategies and to explore networking and cooperation opportunities. They will also share perspectives regarding the role of access to information in promoting and protecting the full range of human rights in Africa. The participants will be drawn from Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone countries.

Other participants from outside Africa will come from Article 19; the Bank Information Center, a Washington-based World Bank watchdog with a very strong right to know focus; Partnership Africa Canada, an organization based in Toronto, Canada, which has conducted pioneering research on the role of illegal oil and diamond trade in fuelling conflict and corruption; the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), based in India; and the Access to Information Programme (AIP) in Bulgaria.

The specific objective of the workshop include:

· To strengthen the momentum behind campaigns to promote and implement freedom of information laws across sub-Saharan Africa;

· To enable civil society organisations in sub-Saharan Africa to share experiences and strategies in promoting and monitoring the implementation of freedom of information laws and to enhance their capacity to carry out effective advocacy and monitoring strategies as appropriate; and

· To assess the feasibility of establishing a network of civil society organisations on freedom of information in sub-Saharan Africa and map out the basis for any future cooperation and coordination.

The conceptual framework for the meeting will include issues as diverse as conflict prevention and resolution, the struggle against impunity, the role of private and multi-lateral corporations, poverty reduction strategies, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health as well as the relationship between Africa and global financial institutions such as the Bretton Woods institutions.

Once the conceptual framework has been established, the participants will move on to discuss and identify strategies for advocacy and monitoring, including ways of sharing information and experiences in the future, and the legal and institutional frameworks that can most effectively promote and protect openness and transparency.

The workshop is informed by the belief that &#8220;information is the oxygen of democracy&#8221; and that if people do not know what is happening in their society, or if the actions of those who rule them are hidden, they cannot take a meaningful part in the affairs of that society.

The initiative is designed to take advantage of a changing global climate in which freedom of information is increasingly high on the agenda in a wide range of countries.

There is a growing recognition internationally of the obligation on governments to provide information to their citizens through clearly defined constitutional and legal procedures. Since 1995, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Mr. Abid Hussain, has consistently emphasized in his annual report to the UN Commission on Human Rights the importance of access to information within national contexts.

Over 40 countries around the world now have freedom of information laws in one form or another that require the disclosure of government records and information to members of the public. Many others, especially in Eastern Europe, are in the process of adopting such laws.

However, within Africa, although the issue of freedom of information is now a topical one in varying degrees in countries like Nigeria, Uganda, Mali, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, and there is a likelihood that some of them might be adopting freedom of information laws in the near future, the overall situation in Africa remains unimpressive.

In February last year, South Africa passed the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000, to become the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to enact a freedom of information law. But it is the only country in Africa at this time that has a freedom of information legislation. In Nigeria, a Freedom of Information Bill is pending before the National Assembly and has passed its second reading in the House of Representatives and awaiting a public hearing to be held in a few weeks by the Information Committee of the House.

Malawi has a constitutional guarantee of public access to government-held information, but it has no legal framework outlining procedures for giving effect to this guarantee. Mozambique and Tanzania also have constitutional protection for the right to information, but also have no legal procedures for the implementation of this right.

Following the passage of the Promotion of Access to Information Act in South Africa, the Institute for Democracy in South Africa has already established an Open Democracy Centre to monitor the implementation of the new Act and provide training for government officials and civil society organisations on freedom of information.

The workshop will provide participants an opportunity to explore in depth the range of means by which information and experience can be shared in future and to agree on a basis for future action and follow-up activities, including creating any capacity needed for this to take place.

It will also create the basis for new and broader alliances within the region and with international participants to be strengthened in tangible ways. This would involve some particular areas or issues where cooperative action will be agreed upon.

During the meeting, a model Freedom of Information law drafted by Article 19 will also be circulated and discussed along with a discussion paper on comparative standards on access to information that have developed in different spheres of political, economic and social life that identify principles which apply in all spheres and which could therefore be seen as a common "bottom line" in all activities and campaigning efforts.

For further information, please contact:

Edetaen Ojo
Executive Director
Media Rights Agenda
Tel. & Fax: 234-1-4930831
E-mail: edet@mediarightsagenda.org

More...

New Info Source for World Newspaper Industry

2001-07-30

http://www.wan-press.org/congress.forum/index.html

As a service to the global newspaper industry, the World Association of Newspapers is providing extensive information from the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in a special section on its web site. The information includes executive summaries of all presentations, selected speeches, photos, and other data about trends, management, advertising and revenue, content, design and many other subjects of pressing concern to the newspaper community.


"The Congress and Forum produced many ideas that will have an impact on the
future direction of our industry. We feel it is important to share this
information with as wide an audience as possible, particularly at a time
when advertising revenues have fallen," said Timothy Balding, Director
General of the Paris-based WAN.

"The web site cannot reproduce all the benefits of attending the Congress
and Forum, but the information we provide there may help newspaper men and
women who are looking for ways to increase revenues, cut costs and improve
their products," he said.

The 54th World Newspaper Congress and 8th World Editors Forum held in Hong
Kong in June was the third largest since WAN began the annual event in 1948.
More than 1,000 publishers, managing directors, CEOs, senior editors and
other top newspaper executives from 75 countries attended the event.

The annual meetings are next scheduled for 26 to 29 May 2002 in Bruges and
Brussels, Belgium.

The special pages on the WAN web site include summaries of every
presentation made at the Congress and the Forum. While the Congress focused
on the business of running newspapers ­ its theme was "Reinventing the
Newspaper Company" -- the Forum focused on newsroom issues around the theme,
"Newspapers: A Portal to the Future."

The materials cover a full range of issues of concern to the newspaper
industry, from some of the industry's most interesting personalities. The
user-friendly site offers everything from the latest trends and innovations
in newspapers, to management and strategy development, to a look at future
of the newsroom.

The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry,
represents 17,000 newspapers; its membership includes 67 national newspaper
associations, individual newspaper executives in 93 countries, 17 news
agencies and eight regional and world-wide press groups.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 25 rue
d'Astorg, 75008 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49
48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr
---
Larry Kilman
Director of Communications
World Association of Newspapers
25, rue d'Astorg
75008 Paris France
Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00
Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48
E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr
Visit our web site at www.wan-press.org

More...

Post-Apartheid South Africa and Mass Mediated Deliberation

2001-07-30

http://www.safundi.com/papers.asp?lop=jacobs1

The black population of South Africa is still at a disadvantage in access to media, conclude the authors of this scholarly paper on the relationship between media and democracy.

Toward An "Overstanding" Of Genoa And Jamaica

2001-07-30

http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/overstanding.shtml

Police shootings in Jamaica and Genoa are linked by underlying economic and social issues that don't receive the coverage they deserve, says News Dissector Danny Schechter, who calls for more media and public "overstanding."

Zambia: Cops Pursue Editor Over 'Chiluba is a Thief'

2001-07-30

http://allafrica.com/stories/200107250158.html

Post editor Fred M'membe yesterday refused to "co-operate" with the police in their "probe" of Edith Nawakwi's charges that "Chiluba is a thief". Two plain clothes police officers from Woodlands police station yesterday visited The Post offices to ask M'membe, deputy news editor Amos Malupenga and reporter Bivan Saluseki to report to the police station. "I have come to a point where I feel I have had enough of police harassment and abuse," M'membe said.

Zimbabwe acts against BBC

2001-07-30

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=2191

The Zimbabwe Government has suspended all accreditation of BBC correspondents in the country, accusing the corporation of "distortions and misrepresentation". Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said he objected to a television report by Africa correspondent Rageh Omaar about a speech by President Mugabe earlier this week. The BBC says it stands by the report.

Zimbabwe: launch of kubatana.net

2001-07-30

http://www.kubatana.net

As traditional media becomes increasingly repressive in Zimbabwe, the launch of a local web site, www.kubatana.net, is a breath of fresh air. The NGO Network Alliance Project, the energy behind the development of kubatana, has brought Zimbabwean ngos, csos and development organisations together under one online umbrella. Kubatana is a Shona word which means "working together" - an apt name when a strengthened civic response to the current social and political unrest in Zimbabwe needs to be encouraged.

50 years is enough

Demands to World Bank/IMF

2001-07-30

http://www.50years.org/s28/demands.html

The following demands are being circulated for endorsement in advance of the mobilization at the IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington, DC in September/October 2001. These demands have been formulated by the 50 Years Is Enough Network, a U.S.-based coalition of over 200 organizations committed to the fundamental transformation of the IMF and World Bank, through consultations over 15 months with the members of its South Council.

ADVOCACY ONLINE - DESIGNING ELECTRONIC PETITIONS

2001-07-30

http://www.e-petition.org

Most email users have received their fair share of email petitions on topics ranging from the support of Afghan women's rights to ending the dolphin slaughter in Japan. These types of messages are frequently revealed as hoaxes or campaigns, but the question remains: why are email petitions such a bad thing in the first place? The E-Petition website explains why you shouldn't use, or forward, email petitions (ever!), and provides lots of great links that will legitimately support advocacy work online. For queries regarding this tip, or requests for tips, please write to techtips@wougnet.org
Hullo everyone,

At one time or another, you may have received an electronic petition
- typically "chain-letter" style with a request to add your
name to a list of names if you support the cause discussed in the
email, to forward the request to as many as you can after appending
your name, and to forward this email back to the organisers if you
are at a certain position in the list. This techtip addresses the
issue of electronic petitions. For queries regarding this tip, or
requests for tips, please write to techtips@wougnet.org

Regards,

Dorothy



ADVOCACY ONLINE - DESIGNING ELECTRONIC PETITIONS

Most email users have received their fair share of email petitions --
on topics ranging from the support of Afghan women's rights to ending
the dolphin slaughter in Japan. These types of messages are frequently
revealed as hoaxes or campaigns, but the question remains: why are
email petitions such a bad thing in the first place? The E-Petition
website explains why you shouldn't use, or forward, email petitions
(ever!), and provides lots of great links that will legitimately
support advocacy work online: http://www.e-petition.org
[Source: ACTEW-L News on the Net (July 2001) ]http://www.actew.org]

Available at http://www.e-petition.org is the following:
- examples of email petitions that did not work
- the bad news about email petitions, why "chain letter"-style
e-petitions do not work
- the good news about e-petitions, and suggestions on how to
conduct effective e-petitions
- examples of effective web-based petitions
- examples of organisations that use e-petitions effectively

While the good examples listed at http://www.e-petition.org
are web-based, you may sometimes need, or be constrained, to use
email methods. Here is one way you can organise an email-based
petition:
a) discuss/describe your cause and provide contact
information for interested people to learn more
b) request all interested in the petition to send their
name, organisation, country, or other pertinent information directly
to you
c) specify the kind of individuals, organisations, networks to
whom the e-petition could be forwarded to
d) if possible, include a deadline after which additions to the
petition will be closed
e) be prepared to potentially handle several emails a day

In conclusion, e-petitions can be a quick and easy way to
drawing attention to one's cause, however, it is important to
understand how to make effective use of this strategy.




---
WOUGNET is hosted on Kabissa - Space for change in Africa
To post, write to: WOUGNET@kabissa.org
Website: http://www.kabissa.org/mailman/listinfo/wougnet

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Gender, HIV and Human Rights

2001-07-30

http://www.unifem.undp.org/public/hivtraining/

A Training Manual from UNIFEM (in pdf. format).

HIV/AIDS Advocacy Guide

2001-07-30

http://www.ippf.org/hivaids/advocacyguide/index.htm

A new HIV/AIDS Advocacy Guide from IPPF outlines what advocacy can do, often at little cost, in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Produced for any NGO working in HIV/AIDS, the guide is aimed at helping groups to influence governments to change policy and law as well as reaching the private sector and community leaders who have a critical role in prevention and care efforts. Issues covered in the guide include involving people with HIV/AIDS, addressing groups at higher risk, HIV/AIDS in the workplace and best practices from FPAs.

STOP THE WAR WITH 12 POINTS

2001-07-30

http://www.whrnet.org/12points.html

Women's Human Rights Net wants civil society worldwide to protest the war, rebuild a fair society in Afghanistan and support Women's Human Rights. The Twelve Points were developed in exchanges among several women's human rights activists in New York, Asia and Latin America following the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. They are intended to suggest alternatives to military action and the cycle of violence, destruction and death. Please use these suggestions in whatever way you find helpful.

ANGOLA: Oxfam voices concern about IDPs

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/sa/countrystories/angola/20010726.phtml

The international humanitarian organisation Oxfam says the Angolan government is responding inadequately to the needs of people displaced by the civil war. Speaking at the end of a visit to Angola, Oxfam's director Barbara Stocking said an end to the war was the only way out of the humanitarian crisis in the country, and called on the international community to support a negotiated peace.

BURUNDI: Atmosphere at peace talks "good"

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/burundi/20010727a.phtml

The atmosphere at the Thursday meeting between President Buyoya and Zuma, was described as "good" by Buyoya's spokesman, Appolinaire Gahungu.

BURUNDI: Coup attempt ahead of regional summit

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/burundi/20010723.phtml

Army mutineers staged a coup attempt in Bujumbura on Sunday night, ahead of a regional summit on the future of Burundi which began in the Tanzanian town of Arusha on Monday.

Deal, but no peace in Burundi

2001-07-30

http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/burundi010724.html

The Burundi peace accord has been signed, but there's absolutely no peace, observes Monique Harbers.

DRC: WFP seeks "urgent" support for humanitarian air operation

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/drc/20010727b.phtml

WFP on Friday announced the launch of an "urgent" appeal for US $2.1 million to fund a six-month emergency humanitarian air operation to begin in early August in the DRC that will enable aid workers to reach remote areas to assess the needs of war-torn populations and set up relief operations.

GUINEA-BISSAU: Tension in the military reported

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/wa/countrystories/guineabissau/20010726.phtml

There has been rising tension within Guinea-Bissau's army, the Senegalese news agency, APS, and other sources reported. The tension appears to centre on the future of Armed Forces Chief of Staff Verissimo Correia Seabra.

Sierra Leone &#8211; From &#8216;Rational Violence&#8217; To Peace

2001-07-30

http://www.oneworld.org/panos/news/July2001/SierraLeone.htm

Government soldiers and rebels in Sierra Leone are no longer restless since a ceasefire agreement signed last November ended 10 years of civil war. &#8220;It&#8217;s been like paradise since that time,&#8221; said Sule Musa, editor of the independent newspaper, the Advisor.

SIERRA LEONE: RUF child fighters return to their families

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/wa/countrystories/sierraleone/20010727b.phtml

Seventy-nine former child combatants of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) were returned to their families on Tuesday in Kailahun, after spending six weeks at an interim care centre run by Save the Children Fund (SCF)-UK.

UGANDA-SUDAN: Diplomatic ties scheduled to resume

2001-07-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN/cea/countrystories/uganda/20010726.phtml

The governments of Sudan and Uganda are expected to restore diplomatic relations - severed in 1996, with each of the two accusing the other of supporting the other's rebel movements - through the formal exchange of diplomats next month, according to the 'EastAfrican' newspaper.

african policy at an electronic roundtable

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/2525

Last year, from January to May 2000, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and The Africa Policy Information Center (APIC, now a part of Africa Action) co-sponsored "International Policies, African Realities: An Electronic Roundtable," which brought more than 500 people together, with African panelists and participants from Africa and around the world, in a structured on-line discussion on a range of African issues. The electronic discussion was hosted by Bellanet. The full report is downloadable from the web site below and the discussion is archived for all to access.
A publication based on the Roundtable has just been published. It includes chapters on Economy and Development, Democracy and Human Rights, and Peace and Security, consisting of selected extracts from the Roundtable proceedings brought together by moderators Dr. AbdouMaliq Simone and Karin Santi.

The chapters entitled "Lessons Learned" and "Reflections" examine the use of ICTs to advance African shaping of continental and global policies, from the moderators and Africa Action senior research fellow William Minter.
The report is published on the [url=http;//www.africapolicy.org/rtable/]Africa Action[/url] web site.

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BSA: a new spin on software audits

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/2522

Software audits and licensing expenses are becoming more and more threatening. Or are they? This article mentions a threatening letter which is resulting in changes to open source software. The Business Software Alliance's (BSA) 'Truce Campaign' is not engendering support from users - and many are looking at other options. In South Africa, which is dominated by Microsoft at the end user level, there have also been threats of a 'crackdown'.
The BSA has been sending out threatening letters to companies across the US hinting that they may be audited for licensing compliance. This article on Yahoo tells the complete story. First, the letters are really just a marketing tool to sell more software. The BSA has no intention of following through with their threats. Second, and possibly even more importantly, the tactics are often resulting in a switch to open source software. It seems that nobody likes a bully: people will start taking their business elsewhere (adapted from Slashdot).

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call to ban internet censorship in SA

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/2437

A call to oppose the new draft Interception and Monitoring bill, brought before the South African Parliament last week, has come from anti-censorship organisations.
The draft bill proposes legislation empowering government to completely montior and regulate internet traffic between South Africa and the rest of the world. It has been called Draconian - and for good reason.
Read this article from news24 which provides the details.

For more information on freedom of expression on the net, see the home page of the Global Internet Liberty Campaign.

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evil computer viruses and other malignant code forces

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/2521

There have been a spate of damaging and ubiquitous viruses lately. This article explains the difference between a virus and a virus hoax. It also tells you how both can damage your computer. Throughout the article there are links to online resources: identify whether you are the victim of a virus or a virus hoax, visit websites offering free anti virus software, learn how to delete a virus FOREVER from your PC, and.. keep your anti-virus software up to date.
DEFINITION
A virus is a program (lines of executable computer code). Viruses are made to spread from machine to machine, and many of them use the internet to do this. Many use the address book and signature files of programmes like MS Outlook Express to hide in and spread. Others attach to attachments. Viruses which act in this way are called worms. For a detailed explanation of the difference between a virus, a worm and a trojan horse, visit [url=http:www.symantec.com]this[/url] site. Some viruses are not harmful to your machine, but many are malicious and potentially embarrassing.
Another excellent resource is at the CERT (Computer Emergency Response Team) web site: it has a list of viruses, hoaxes, anti-virus vendors and links to the anti-virus databases.

SIRCAM
The SirCam virus has unleashed havoc and many red faces over the last 10 days. It mails a random file on your hard drive to people in your address book. In addition, some systems recognise the virus and 'bounce' the mail messages, with their attachments, back to the victim. At a South African ISP last week, this happened when a user had her PC infected and the worm sent out a large (3MB) file as an attachment to everyone in her address book. The mail server was jammed within a few hours. Open the attachment, and your PC wil become infected. Were you a victim? Visit Slashdot and take the poll ...it might give you a smile.
Visit this web site for information on how to recognise and get rid of the SirCam virus.
Another virulent and destructive viruses at the moment:
Code Red Worm

HOAXES
Virus hoaxes are those irritating messages which warn people about terrible viruses which don't exist. These get circulated by email users as friendly warnings, and eat up bandwidth. Some of these hoaxes can be harmful: a recent hoax stated that a virus file had been found in the Windows sytem folder, and it had to be deleted as it was a virus. It was extrememly believable, and many people unwittingly deleted the file. Unfortunately, it is a necessary and legal part of the Windows operating system.
Some viruses are setup to look like warnings about viruses - and so people open the messages and their systems become infected.

REGEDIT
Often, the cirus will record keys in the Windows registry. In order to edit the Registry, you will have to click on start, click on run, type regedit and press <enter>
You will be able to browse the different folder as in Windows Explorer: locate and delete the virus 'keys' if they are there.
Only follow specific and clear instructions which you have located on a reputable anti-virus web site. If you are unsure, check more than one site.
WARNING: DO NOT EDIT THE REGISTRY IF YOU ARE NOT CONFIDENT ABOUT IT - YOU CAN MESS UP YOUR MACHINE BADLY

TIPS
- don't send any email until you have cleaned your machine
- obtain a copy of the virus pattern file update from your sytem adminastrator, or vendor, and install and run a scan of your machine
- if there is no update available yet, search the internet for information on how to clean the virus, or bookmark this site
- If your system is damaged and you have to reinstall the operating system, backup but don't put the files back on your machine without scanning
- scan and clean any diskettes you have used during the 'infected' time
- always download and install the latest upgrades to your anti-virus software (this will usually be every 3-4 weeks)
- encourage this practise amongst your colleagues
- configure your anti-virus to scan incoming email and downloaded files over the internet

More...

global development network site

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/2523

This news release about the Global Development Network (research in the developing world) describes it's mission and provides a link to the web site. It has moved outside the World Bank as an independent organisation, although still receiving funding from the WB. Take a look at the site, and tell KFN what you think.
The now fully independent Global Development Network (<a href"http://www.gdnet.org">GDN</a>) was launched yesterday at an opening ceremony attended by World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn.

The GDN started out as a World Bank initiative in 1999 with the primary objectives of supporting the generation and sharing of knowledge for development and helping to bridge the gap between the development of ideas and their practical implementation. The premise of the GDN is that their achievement requires strengthening the capacity of research and policy institutions to undertake high-quality, policy-relevant research and to move research results into the policy debates, at both national and global levels.

During GDN's second annual conference in Tokyo last year, an internationally elected governing body voted to establish GDN as a fully independent non-profit organization. Wolfensohn and others pledged support for GDN as it moved towards independence. Immediately after the Tokyo meeting, the Bank's GDN secretariat began the implementation process. Last March, GDN became a legally independent entity, and this month the move outside of the World Bank took place.

Yesterday's reception at GDN's new location at 2600 Virginia Avenue in Washington D.C. marked the official opening of GDN as an independent body, and demonstrated the continuing cooperation between the World Bank and GDN.
"The research community in the developing world will truly commend the World Bank for its courage and vision in encouraging GDN's move to independence while simultaneously continuing its financial support," said GDN Director Lyn Squire.

In a letter to the newly independent organization, Lal Jayawardena, a former advisor to the President of Sri Lanka and the Chairman of GDN's governing body, expressed that group's commitment to the newly independent organization. He expressed confidence over GDN's future role in engaging research institutes: "It is not an easy road, but the initial steps are promising. GDN's foundations are well laid, not only in their physical manifestation that you are celebrating today but, more importantly, in their human dimension throughout the research community of the developing world."

More...

AAIonline The online Newsletter of the Africa-America Institute

2001-07-30

http://www.aaionline.org/webzine/webzine_frameset.html

The function of this newsletter is to keep you abreast of AAI's work and to bring you information and perspectives on Africa-related matters that are not well-covered by other major news sources. One such forthcoming event is the United Nations World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR), to be held next month in Durban, South Africa. Hence, this time we are featuring a piece about the WCAR authored by Lynn Huntley, the founder and director of the Comparative Human Relations Initiative, an examination of contemporary intergroup relations between persons of European or African descent in Brazil, South Africa and the United States.

ELECTRONIC JOURNAL ON INTERNATIONAL GENDER, SCIENCE, AND TECHNOLOGY

2001-07-30

http://www.wigsat.org/it/wigsatl.html

The International Gender, Science and Technology Digest is a bimonthly electronic newsletter that is useful for keeping current on events, resources, announcements and publications in gender, science and technology for development. To subscribe to this email list directly,
send a message to WIGSAT-L@list.wigsat.org with the message "subscribe" in the subject line or subscribe online.

LESOTHO LAYS THE FOUNDATIONS FOR INTERNET ACCESS

Balancing Act Update: 70

2001-07-30

http://www.balancingact-africa.com

With the introduction of its own national internet hub, Lesotho has cut the umbilical cord with South Africa. The authors of this week's story (for names see the end of the article) describe how this was achieved and Lesotho's future ambitions in this field.

ONCE AND FUTURE ACTION NETWORK (OFAN) NEWSLETTER REVIVED

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/2434

The Once and Future Action Network (OFAN), a coalition of more than 100 organizations working on gender, science and technology, has reinstituted its newsletter on Women in Science and Technology. The current issue gives an overview of global GST networks as well as the activities of the OFAN regional focal points. The next issue will have an environmental focus. If you would like to be added to the mailing list, please send a request to the new global secretariat, ECOWOMAN, Box 9874, Nadi Airport Post Office.

The Love and AIDS Group

2001-07-30

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveandaids

A new mailing list for those concerned about things like intolerance, child abuse, the state of religion, minorities, social and cultural integration during their childhood.

Funding southern ngos

2001-07-30

http://www.inasp.org.uk

The following was published in "HIF-net at WHO" in response to a request on where to look for funding "for developing country NGOs undertaking not-for-profit nutrition, micronutrient and/or blindness prevention projects for the benefit of poor urban and rural dwellers/communities."
[Note from the moderator: Access to information on sources of funding for southern NGOs is a vital and underestimated issue - not just for NGOs, but also for individual funders, who are doubtless overwhelmed with
inappropriate requests.

(1) I can recommend a general book published by the Directory of Social Change: 'The WorldWide Fundraiser's Handbook: A Guide to Fundraising for Southern NGOs and Voluntary Organizations'. For further details, email wwp.ifrg@dial.pipex.com It does, however, cost 12 pounds. Other guides that are just as good, and free, must be available somewhere - if not in print then on the Web

(2) General guidance on fundraising can be
found in the online Fundraising Workshop by Bill Bruty and Firoze Manji, available free on the INASP web site http://www.inasp.org.uk

(3) Funding agencies that support health information activities are described in the INASP-Health Directory, also available free on the INASP web site.

(4) For specific guidance on 'international organizations that provide funding/support for developing country NGOs undertaking not-for-profit nutrition, micronutrient and/or blindness prevention projects', I am sure some 'HIF-net at WHO' subscribers will be directly involved in these activities, or will be able to give further recommendations... If you have any comments or suggestions on this subject, please copy them to
hif-net@who.int Many thanks, Neil PW]

More...

Global Development Network Awards

Call for Papers and Proposals

2001-07-30

http://www.iaen.org/announcements/index.php?view=detail&id=307

The Global Development Network is soliciting research papers and proposals in the area of HIV/AIDS and Delivery of Health Services for its Annual Awards Competition. Abstracts are now being accepted. Prizes of US$ 10,000 and US$ 5,000 will be awarded for the best research papers; full submissions are due by August 31. A single prize of US$ 125,000 will be awarded for the best research proposal; full submissions for proposals are due by August 15.

South Africa: Tax break

Non profit:register for tax exemption

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/2395

New legislation provides for the exemption of public benefit organizations carrying out approved public benefit activities. In addition to the tax exemption benefits enjoyed by NPOs, local donors will also benefit. &#8217;An extended category of qualifying public benefit organizations provides the donor with a wider selection of organizations to which tax deductible donations may be made.&#8216;
Non-Profit Organizations urged to register for tax exemption
By Damaria Senne
Non-Profit Partnership
Johannesburg

After a year of waiting, the cash strapped non-profit sector received a boost with the announcement that the Taxation Laws Amendment Act
30 of 2000 takes effect on the 15th of July. The new legislation provides for the exemption of public benefit organizations carrying out approved
public benefit activities. In addition to the tax exemption benefits enjoyed by NPOs, local donors will also benefit. &#8217;An extended category
of qualifying public benefit organizations provides the donor with a wider
selection of organizations to which tax deductible donations may be made, &#8216; says Karen Nelson, a senior lobbyist at the Non-Profit
Partnership, an organization whose aim is to strengthen the financial sustainability of the non-profit sector. &#8216;An extended category of
qualifying public benefit organizations provides the donor with a wider selection of organizations to which tax deductible donations may be made and the donor, no longer limited by legislation to one particular type of organization, is now at liberty to support a cause of its choice.&#8217;

&#8216;At long last!&#8217; says Mary Honey, head of the Legal Resource Centre&#8217;s NPO Support Project in Cape Town. &#8216; We hope that the law achieves its
purpose and extends the ambit of the tax benefits for non-profit organizations (NPOs).&#8217; The announcement was also welcome news to local donors. &#8216;We&#8217;re pleased that the long awaited tax bill has now been legislated,&#8217; says Gail Campbell, head of the ABSA Foundation. &#8216;Not only will this bring benefits for the non-profit sector, but we also hope that it will encourage increased corporate giving for the community development projects.&#8217;

In order to qualify for exemption the public benefit organization must register with the South African Revenue Services and comply with the
following requirements:

· It must be a Section 21 company, a Trust or an
association of persons established in terms of a constitution
· It must submit a copy of its founding statement to the South African Revenue Services (SARS)
· At least three independent and unconnected persons must accept fiduciary responsibilities of the non-profit organisation
· It must invest in certain prescribed investments
· On dissolution, it must transfer its assets to an approved public benefit organization
· It may not accept donations, which are revocable or conditional
· All amendments to the public benefit organization&#8217;s founding documents must be submitted to the SARS.
· It may not engage in, or take part in schemes entered into for the reduction, postponement or avoidance of tax
· It may not pay excessive remuneration
· It will be obliged to conform to certain reporting standards
· It must be registered with the Director of Non-Profit Organizations.

&#8216;We would like to urge non-profit organizations to register with the Non Profit Organizations Act through the NPO Directorate in the Department
of Social Development,&#8217; says Penny Dlamini, Training, Lobbying and Research Manager at the NPP. &#8216; This is the first step in ensuring that
they benefit from the tax exemption and donor deductibility legislation. We also urge them to share this information with other organizations, so that more organizations can benefit from the legislation.&#8217; The NPP will facilitate several seminars on the subject. &#8216;We are available to assist organizations with the registration and communicating what the legislation is all about,&#8217; Dlamini says. &#8216;The first presentation will be on
the 12th September 2001 in Cape Town.&#8217;

For more information about the Taxation Laws Amendment Act 30 of 2000, please contact Penny
Dlamini at the NPP at (011) 339-1139 or email her at
pennyd@npp.org.za

For more information regarding this article, please email me at this
address or telephone me at the Non-Profit Partnership. Contact details
are provided below.

Sincerely
Damaria Senne
Communications Manager
Non Profit Partnership
PO Box 31819
Braamfontein
Tel: 011 339 1136
Fax: 011 339 1153
E-mail: laurams@npp.org.za

More...

Accès Cinéma Africain

African Film Access

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/2398

A French language immersion offered in Montreal in collaboration with Vues d'Afrique, the largest festival of Francophone African and Caribbean film and video in North America. April 18-22, 2002. Fee: $425.00, includes pass to festival, orientation, classes, and discussions with filmmakers; materials, lodging and some meals. For more information, contact Julia Schulz, 207-594-7688 or julias@languagelearning.org

Project Design and Proposal Writing

20th -31st August, 2001

2001-07-30

http://www.iirr-africa.org/tr-link1.htm

Through participatory methods, participants will learn some of the tools and techniques that facilitate needs assessment, design of sustainable, people-centred projects and the formulation of successful proposals. Topics include principles of participatory planning, community needs assessment, establishment of project baselines, village entry techniques, planning tools and writing of project proposals.

Note: this item apppeared last week under an erroneous headline.

The Maintenance of a Medicine

Wednesday 12 September 2001

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/2388

Sustaining your strategic advantage, through proactive management of the product licence.
A one-day seminar and workshop presented by the South African Association of Pharmacists in Industry. All pharmacists, research & development personnel, QA/QC & laboratory staff are invited to attend.

The Pharmaceutical Society of South Africa,
52 Glenhove Road,
Melrose,
Johannesburg.
For full details and registration form please contact
robbie.cameron@pixie.co.za

More...

Communications Adviser to the Pan-African Programme for the Control of Epizootics, Nairobi, Kenya

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/2531

RWA International are looking for a communications specialist to undertake a 2 year input to carry out the following tasks: development and implementation of communications strategies and policy at national and regional level; capacity building and training in data management and modern communication methods; provide national components with communications guidelines and media materials; assist with production of media materials nationally and regionally, esp. printed publications, TV and Radio; assist with provision of timely and accurate data on animal health and disease outbreaks; represent PACE at national and international conferences etc; other duties as advised.
Qualifications and Experience: Applicants must have a minimum of a Masters Degree in a relevant communications-oriented field; minimum of 15 years experience in international / donor-funded development programmes; experience of rural development communications strategy and policy; experience of agriculture or livestock sector would be an advantage; ability to work in French language highly desirable; candidates must be prepared to spend approx 2 - 4 months per year travelling to and in numerous West, Central and Eastern African countries. Salary: Negotiable based on experience, qualifications and previous earnings. Application Instructions: Please apply by letter or email to Matthew S Pritchard, Technical Coordinator, attaching a current CV highlighting experience in rural development communications programmes and including a detailed salary history for the last 5 years. Tel: +44-1765-600455; Fax: +44-1765-600344; Email: mat@rwainternational.com; Address: RWA International, Beckets House, 34 Market Place, Ripon, North Yorkshire, HG4 1BZ, United Kingdom; Website: http://www.rwainternational.com Closing date: 31 August 2001

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DebtChannel.org Editor, OneWorld.net

2001-07-30

http://www.debtchannel.org

OneWorld is an international non-profit Network whose mission is to harness the democratic potential of the Internet. Its website www.oneworld.net is the world's leading portal on development and human rights. We are looking for an Editor to edit OneWorld's DebtChannel.org. The DebtChannel.org Editor will be responsible for editing and updating the channel to enable it to fulfill its mission as a leading Web resource on international debt. She/he will report to the OneWorld Africa Regional Coordinator based in Lusaka, Zambia.


-----Original Message-----
From: Tobias Eigen [mailto:tobias@kabissa.org]
Sent: 27 July 2001 13:12
To: KFN Development
Subject: FW: [wougnet] JOB: DebtChannel.org Editor, OneWorld.net




-----Original Message-----
From: kfn-editor-admin@kabissa.org
[mailto:kfn-editor-admin@kabissa.org]On Behalf Of Dorothy Okello
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2001 1:11 PM
To: wougnet@kabissa.org
Subject: [wougnet] JOB: DebtChannel.org Editor, OneWorld.net


DebtChannel.org Editor
OneWorld.net

OneWorld is an international non-profit Network whose mission is to harness
the democratic potential of the Internet. Its website www.oneworld.net is
the world's leading portal on development and human rights.

We are looking for an Editor to edit OneWorld's DebtChannel.org
(www.debtchannel.org). The DebtChannel.org Editor will be responsible for
editing and updating the channel to enable it to fulfill its mission as a
leading Web resource on international debt. She/he will report to the
OneWorld Africa Regional Coordinator based in Lusaka, Zambia.

** SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

Undertake all necessary tasks to ensure the effective implementation and
running of DebtChannel.org according to agreed standards

Update main DebtChannel.org pages with new content (stories and photographs)

Set up alliances with partner organisations to edit relevant sections of
the channel (for instance interactive features such as the Discussion
Forum) and ensure that editorial standards are met

Identify and contact possible Op-ed contributors

Identify and implement strategies to increase the number of page-views over
time

Identify potential OneWorld partners with relevant content for
DebtChannel.org

Promote DebtChannel.org to the relevant networks and the media

** PERSON SPECIFICATION

We are looking for an African passport-holder with a strong debt/economics
background and knowledge of debt campaign networks. They must have strong
writing skills in English and be willing to travel. We expect the post to
be based in Lusaka, though exceptions would be considered for
well-qualified candidates. Web-editing skills are desirable, as is
knowledge of other international languages.
This is a paid position.

Salary / Benefits : equivalent to £13,200 per annum
Type of work : Contract

Location : Africa
Languages Needed : English

Closing Date : 15 Aug 2001
Date job appeared on this site : 10 Jul 2001

** To apply :
Candidates should send a CV and covering letter, explaining how their
skills and experience are relevant to the post.

Applications should be sent to jobs@oneworld.net, or by post to OneWorld
International, 17th Floor, 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP, United
Kingdom, to arrive no later than the closing date.

Closing date for receipt of applications: 15 August 2001. Short-listed
candidates will be contacted within two weeks of this date.
For more information see : http://www.debtchannel.org

More...

Lecturer Public health-University-Western Cape

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/2533

Job Vacancy - Lecturer Public health-University-Western Cape
------------------------------------------------------------

School of public health
University of the Western Cape
South Africa
Lecturer

Applications for the above post with the University of the Western
Cape (UWC's) South Africa, starting as soon as possible, are invited from
suitably qualified and experienced persons.

UWC's School of Public Health provides health and welfare person-
nel with the necessary tools to facilitate the process of trans-
formation in the country's health and welfare sectors. The UWC
SOPH has established itself as a national leader in public health
teaching, research and service development: Its innovative educa-
tional and research activities focus on the implementation of dis-
trict health systems.

To qualify for this post, you will need a qualification in the
Health Sciences gained at tertiary level, together with a minimum
of a Masters degree, preferably in public health, primary health
care or a related field. Possession of a doctoral degree would be
an advantage. Proven experience in the development and management
of health systems and programmes, as well as in health systems re-
search is highly desirable, as is experience in the teaching and
supervision of postgraduate students.

In return the University offers an attractive salary and comprehen
sive fringe benefits.

Further information may be obtained from Prof. D. Sanders
Tel: +27-21-959-2132.

To apply: Please send your CV and covering letter (including the
names, FULL postal/ e-mail addresses and telephone/fax numbers of
at least 3 contactable referees) in assured confidence to the Hu-
man Resources Department on:
UWC,
Private Bag X17,
Bellville, 7535
Fax: +27-21-959-2989
Tel: +27-21 959-2994/3626/2988.
Closing date for applications: 3 August 2001.

Prof David Sanders/Lynette Martin
Public Health Programme
University of the Western Cape
Private Bag X17
Bellville, 7535
Cape, South Africa
Tel: +27-21-959-2132/2402
Fax: +27-21-959-2872
Cell:+27-82 202-3316
Mailto:lmartin@uwc.ac.za


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Research Director - 2 year fixed term at Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD)

2001-07-30

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/2532

A collaboration between HEARD and the USAID funded Policy Project In 1998 the University of Natal established HEARD under the Directorship of Professor Alan Whiteside. The mandate of HEARD is to carry out teaching and academic and applied research on the impact and implications of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Southern African region. The Division currently has four academic research posts and a number of Research Associates. HEARD is now seeking a Research Director who will provide leadership within HEARD and support to the School of Economics in the Faculty of Management Studies.
TO ALL SANGONeT USERS

Research Director - 2 year fixed term
Health Economics and HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD)

Reference No.: D75/2001

A collaboration between HEARD and the USAID funded Policy Project
In 1998 the University of Natal established HEARD under the
Directorship of Professor Alan Whiteside. The mandate of HEARD is to
carry out teaching and academic and applied research on the impact
and implications of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Southern African
region. The Division currently has four academic research posts and a
number of Research Associates. HEARD is now seeking a Research
Director who will provide leadership within HEARD and support to the
School of Economics in the Faculty of Management Studies.

The Research Director will:
· Assume day to day management of all research matters, reporting to
the Director of HEARD.
· Guide research in the field of HIV / AIDS and Health Economics of
postgraduates and junior staff in the School of Economics at the
University.
· Undertake research into the Economics of HIV/AIDS in the Southern
African region.
· Develop and run projects for clients, including commissioned,
academic and funded research projects.
· Annually teach a semester-long optional module in the area of Health
Economics to post graduate (Honours and Masters) students in the
School of Economics.
· Liaise with the HEARD Director of Administration on the management
of the Division.

Qualifications Minimum requirements are either a PhD in a relevant field
or a Masters degree with experience. HEARD will provide in-service
training for suitable candidates. Applications from suitable candidates
on a secondment basis would be welcomed.

For further information about HEARD please consult Samantha Willan,
Director of Administration, HEARD (willans@nu.ac.za) or our website at
www.und.ac.za/und/heard

The remuneration package offered includes benefits and will be
determined according to qualifications and experience of the successful
applicant.

The selection process will commence on 20 August 2001 and will
continue until a suitable candidate is appointed or a decision is taken
not to fill the post.

Applicants are required to submit a curriculum vitae, together with the
name, telephone no. and fax no. or e-mail address of three referees, to
Human Resources Administration, University of Natal, Durban 4041,
Fax. No. +27 (0)31 260 2139 or e-mail ballim@nu.ac.za

"In striving to meet the goals established in the University's employment
equity plans, preference may be given to candidates who belong to the
designated groups identified in the Employment Equity Act. All
appointments are merit-based and candidates who do not meet the
criteria stipulated below will not be considered."
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Rwanda: Lecturer in Journalism

2001-07-30

http://www.nur.ac.rw/esti.htm

The School of Journalism and Communication at the National University of Rwanda is looking for a lecturer for the 2001-02 academic year, beginning October 2001 for different undergraduate courses. Courses include Basic Skills for Media Writing; Writing for Broadcast Media and Broadcast production.
National University of Rwanda (Central Africa)
School of Journalism and Communication

The School of Journalism and Communication at the
National University of Rwanda is looking for a
lecturer for the 2001-02 academic year, beginning
October 2001 for different undergraduate courses.
Courses include Basic Skills for Media Writing;
Writing for Broadcast Media and Broadcast production.

A master's degree and experience in professional
journalism is preferable, but candidates with a
bachelor's degree will be considered. Prior higher
education experience is desirable.

Send letter of application and résumé to: School of
Journalism and Communication, contact person: Ms Ines
Mpambara (inesmp@nur.ac.rw). Application deadline is
September 1st, 2001.

The National University of Rwanda will provide
housing, local transportation and a very adequate
salary for the local situation. The National
University of Rwanda is located in Butare, a beautiful
and quiet town, two hours from Kigali, the Rwandese
capital.

For more information about the National University of
Rwanda, please visit our website : www.nur.ac.rw

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Fahamu