Back Issues

Ethiopia: Free Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie!

2007-11-22

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

We are writing to ask your support for the release of two courageous Ethiopian civic and anti-poverty activists Daniel Bekele, the Head of Policy Research and Advocacy Department of ActionAid Ethiopia, and Netsanet Demessie, Executive Director and co-founder of the Ethiopian NGO, Organisation for Social Justice in Ethiopia (OSJE).

Protocol on the rights of women in Africa: Second Anniversary

Faiza Jama Mohamed

2007-11-21

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/44594

What gains and what challenges do we have two years after the entry into force of the protocol? This is the overall question that the various articles presented in this special issue of Pambazuka aim at addressing. And what is clearly coming out is that the challenges outweigh the gains made so far, says Faiza Mohamed.


What gains and what challenges do we have two years after the entry into force of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa?

This is the overall question that the various articles presented in this special issue of Pambazuka aim at addressing. And what is clearly coming out is that the challenges outweigh the gains made so far. The articles which are mostly written by members of the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) coalition, for the occasion of the second anniversary of the Protocol’s entry into force, bring out descriptive country situations with emphasis on the extent to which the Protocol is embraced or not embraced by the governments of Kenya, South Africa, the Sudan and Uganda; but there are also mention of regional/continental level perspectives looking at how far the Protocol has gained momentum as a recognized tools for action to protect the human rights of women.

The authors raise several key issues that beg closer attention if this Protocol is at all to make a meaningful difference in the lives of many African women.

1. Universal ratification of the Protocol – i.e. ratification by all the member states – is critical for all African women to equally have the benefit of its implementation. The majority of the countries (30) have not ratified and clearly this is a problem. If you consider women as representing 50% of the total population [1] (in some countries they are more than 50% but let us stick to 50% for now) of these 30 countries, then this would approximately translate to 260.7 million women and girls being denied the chance to claim their rights as provided in the Protocol. This is more than 50% of Africa’s female population and surely this should be of great concern to all of us!

2. Various stakeholders in any given country need to take ownership of the Protocol, chief among them being the state itself. Obviously, it has been left up to the civil society organizations and in particular women’s organizations to be the flag bearers and its nurturers. Where are the states that have adopted it and pledged to carry it through? Where are the Presidents who made a solemn declaration to deliver it to the women of Africa? What about mainstream human rights organizations? Should they too leave it to the women or should they also take responsibility to advocate for it and live up to it? What will it take to have these important stakeholders embrace the Protocol as their own? Ownership by all, and not just the women, is a critical factor for the success of the African women’s rights Protocol.

3. Reservations entered against any article of the Protocol are obstacles aimed at defeating the objectives for which it was created. Of the 23 countries that ratified the Protocol only two (The Gambia and South Africa) had put up some reservations. Recently Gambia removed its reservations leaving South Africa as the only country with reservations. On a closer look one could argue that South Africa’s reservations are not harmful ones. But the notion of a leading African state, whose standards are looked up to as a model in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region, setting such a negative precedence (as reservations obviously carry that notion) is indeed worrying. Others would also argue that if a country, such as Kenya, Sudan and Uganda, want to ratify with reservations then let them do so because then their women will not be totally denied to benefit from the rest of the rights provided in the Protocol. And who knows, after some further advocacy work, they could come around as Gambia did to lift such reservations. These are important points to reflect on.

4. What is the added value of the African women’s rights Protocol? Clearly there is no doubt that it complements other international human rights instruments, such as the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against women (CEDAW), and many people would add that it also further provides rights that are well situated within the realities and needs of African women; but as the authors point out in their articles its value has not been exploited yet to reap the benefits it offers African women. As Delphine Serumaga states in her article on the situation in South Africa, “Women and the girl-child remain marginalized with regards to access to basic human rights such as justice, safety and security, housing and health.” If the situation is as such in one of the most developed countries in Africa what can we imagine would the case be in the less advantaged countries? For African women to reap the value of the women’s rights Protocol, countries must domesticate it, must invest resources into mass education, as obligated under article 26 (2) of the Protocol (on implementation and monitoring), must encourage women to seek help at designated places when their rights are violated, and must ensure that the justice system delivers free from its, often alleged, patriarchy’s biases. Many states can learn from countries like Djibouti which has, not long ago, set up a help Center for women whose rights are abused and equipped it with a hotline service for women to immediately report violations; and then it follows through their cases in the courts. In a short while the Center managed several hundred cases which had a good impact on the attitudes of the public in appreciating the rights of women. This is one example of how member states could turn the Protocol into real value for women.

These and more issues are deliberated in the several articles that follow; and the critiques and ideas that are discussed to re-energize the campaign could serve as food for thought. SOAWR members are definitely going to deliberate on them, during their upcoming meeting in January 2008, so that the African women’s rights Protocol is translated into, to borrow Pamela Mhlanga’s words, “substantive rights” and not allowed to remain as “paper rights”!

Keep on reading……….

Note
1 Source of population data: US Census Bureau


* Faiza Jama Mohamed is the Africa Regional Director of Equality Now and convener of the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) coalition.

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

Reflections on the 2nd anniversary of the protocol

Pamela Mhlanga

2007-11-21

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44595

The Women’s Rights Protocol arguably demonstrated the maturity of the African women’s movement, showing the power of collective agenda setting and follow through in a systematic and coherent way, says Pamela Mhlanga.

As the second anniversary of the coming into force of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Women’s Rights Protocol) dawns, we need to pause and reflect. The adoption and subsequent coming into force of the Women’s Rights Protocol was a turning point in the struggle for the rights of women on the continent. Women’s rights discourse and practice was deepened and expanded, and the Women’s Rights Protocol has proved to be a source of inspiration for keeping the momentum to achieve women of Africa’s full equality. The reflection, during this second anniversary, should thus focus on what we know, what we have learnt, and what we are carrying forward to strengthen ourselves as a women’s movement, as well as the content and practice of women’s rights, thereby solidify the gains we have made and decisively tackling the gaps remaining.

The Women’s Rights Protocol arguably demonstrated the maturity of the African women’s movement, showing the power of collective agenda setting and follow through in a systematic and coherent way. It also signaled that the experiences, voices and engagement of women of Africa with human rights matter, and these nuances wee captured in the form of the Protocol. Significantly, it marked the further institutionalization and affirmation of the rights of women on the continent; there is now a ‘homegrown’ source of women’s rights to which we can refer, underpinned by universal human rights standards.

What we know, however, is that women ‘do not eat paper’, and we face the perennial issue of promise vs delivery, and, by extension, ‘paper rights’ vs substantive rights. What we also know is that African governments ratify international human rights instruments all the time, and, dare it be said, often with impunity, as a number of them dance the ratification dance at international level, yet show little sign of domesticating or implementing their commitments. A case in point is that all 14 Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries have ratified CEWDAW, and only 3 countries have domesticated it, due in part to unique constitutional provisions providing for self-execution of ratified international obligations. Another case in point, is numerous reports replete with empirical evidence of little progress in enlarging women of Africa’s entitlements to fully engage with rights, thus denial of rights is still rampant, from violations of bodily integrity, sexuality, and socio economic rights, to outright discrimination often entrenched in national legal frameworks; the long reach of patriarchy and sexism, and increasingly backlash and rise of fundamentalisms, continue to coalesce and pose a fundamental challenge to the positive steps thus far taken to claim our rights.

This contradictory picture of progress and regression begs the question, if substantive delivery on women’s rights remains such a challenge, how are we to reframe the struggle to claim our rights, and how do we continue to creatively use the Women’s Rights Protocol as a point of reference? Certainly for the women’s movement, the struggle for rights must not only remain deeply political, but also located and articulated within broader struggles for advancing participatory democracy, people centred development and good governance. It must go further and be framed as nothing short of an agenda for transformation; radicalising the empowerment project in a way that fundamentally shifts gendered stratifications in structures, processes, cultures and political ethos in new ways.

This agenda for transformation implies a reconceptualisation of indicators of success in achieving women’s rights as a ‘live’ and dynamic process, defined by what is working or not working for women at any given time, not confined to occasional reports, and defining one or two acts or promises by governments as evidence of ‘political will’. The current poverty eradication and HIV/AIDS response frameworks, for example, are not working for women, otherwise these devastating conditions would not have our faces imprinted on them; why after so many decades do we still talk about the feminisation of poverty?

It is absolutely essential that the ‘footsteps’ of women are traced, and their voices made visible in empowering ways, in order to excavate the authentic voice that will not be erased by sophisticated frameworks for advancing rights that are, at times, so complex many of us hardly recognise ourselves in them; the project, as one activist has pointed out, is as much about going back to basics in terms of raising critical consciousness amongst women about asserting our rights and dignity, as it is about sitting on high tables negotiating complex legal instruments based on our agenda and demands. The establishment of the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) is a point of departure, as the network is working towards harness this complex political agenda in the context of the Women’s Rights Protocol, in a way that aims to bridge the dichotomy between paper rights and substantive rights.

There is an understanding within the SOAWR network, made up of continental and national based women’s empowerment organizations, that the deployment of the Women’s Rights Protocol requires a deepening and broadening ownership of the content of the Protocol, achieved through mobilising a groundswell of support from all the places where women are, in order to create new opportunities for demanding accountability and delivery. Thus whilst some members are visible in key forums such as the AU and SADC Summits, others are taking the message to places where critical engagement is also essential, such as local communities. There is a recognition also that quiet diplomacy in pushing for change may be useful up to a point, so some members are working on public interest litigation cases, and using issue based advocacy such as gender based violence, to place the Women’s Rights Protocol on as many agendas as possible.

SOAWR members recognise the value of broadening the power base in order to ensure strategic influence at all levels, thus they have sought to engage both state and non state actors. In the years beyond this second anniversary of the coming into force of the Women’s Rights Protocol, there are various points of influence that will be necessary to continue to engage, not just by SOAWR but other initiatives, if the continent is to move from 22 ratifications to 53, and there is a fast and effective transition from ratification to domestication and implementation. These would include, amongst others, structured linkages with coalitions working towards an effective African Court on Human and People’s Rights, as well as groups addressing critical issues of people centred empowerment; closer ties with all Regional Economic Communities, supporting the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Women in Africa, a more pivotal role at every point of gender mainstreaming processes in institutions, structures and processes that matter to us, including stronger ties with the AU Gender Directorate and the African Centre for Gender and Social Development in the ECA, amongst others. Equally important should be the refusal to continue to engage in spaces that no longer serve us, but deepening our own internal engagement on lessons we have learnt and how we can leverage this learning to be more effective as a women’s movement, including ensuring mutually supporting each other’s efforts. The struggle continues.

* Pamela Mhlanga is Head of Programme, Women in Development Southern Africa Awareness (WIDSAA) Programme, at the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC)

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

Making the protocol effective at family level

Morissanda Kouyaté

2007-11-21

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44596

It is two years since the protocol came into force. Time has come for it to become a reality at the level of the family argues Morissanda Kouyate.


It is two years since the Protocol came into force. Time has come for it to become a reality at the level of the family. On the 11th of July 2003, African Heads of state adopted the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. This historic event was a breath of fresh air for African women’s rights. As I have stressed in a previous article, these are rights, and not privileges due to women (http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/22731). In the four years since its adoption, the Protocol has been ratified by the requisite 15 countries, and has come into force as per the statutes of the African Union.

A lot has come to pass during this time: Heads of state have participated in meetings of the AU, only to return home and “forget” to ratify agreements signed on behalf of their people; attempts to water down the Protocol by expressing reservation on certain fundamental articles; but we have also seen a number of resolute political leaders committed to advancing the cause of African women and overcoming the paradox: Nothing without women, but everything for men.

Faced with this incomprehensible slothfulness on the part African governments, the question arises: What is the price of ratification? It requires neither a detailed plan of action, nor foreign aid. All that is required is a strong political will and a commitment to the rights of women. It is unacceptable for politicians to spout pro-feminist rhetoric while the protocol document gathers dust in the parliamentary drawers and ministerial archives.

Forget for a moment the speeches, conferences and workshops, and introduce the protocol to African families (men, women and children). Rather than localization, we should be talking about appropriation, as SOAWR and it global partners have endeavoured to do.

We must continue to involve all sectors of African society: political, religious and traditional leadership, parents, and youth groups. But most of all, the women and girls whose rights have been suppressed in the name of supposed cultural and traditional values.

Catchy slogans will not suffice. What is required is a door-to-door campaign to inform women that their right to protection against female genital mutilation, child-marriage , HIV/AIDS, etc, is enshrined in a document called the Protocol, signed by their own leaders.

To those who argue that the illiteracy prevents women in African villages from enjoying the full protection of the Protocol, let us make it very clear: women’s rights are acquired at birth and not in the classroom.

The work of activists is thus one of restoring innate rights that have previously been alienated. Achieving this requires the kind of innovation and assertiveness that SOAWR displayed by ‘red-carding’ countries that had not yet ratified the Protocol, at regional and international conferences.

This strategy can be further fine-tuned. I would suggest, for instance, that local women in non-ratifying countries issue these red-cards to their own leaders at meetings and rallies. This would be a clear signal to them that until and unless they ratify the Protocol, they do not deserve to participate on the local political playing field.

That the Protocol has come into force, after the required 15 signatories, is thanks to the gargantuan efforts of SOAWR and its partners. Never before in the political history of the continent has a document been ratified so rapidly. The challenge, however, still lies in exposing leaders who are yet to ratify the protocol, perhaps in the hope that it will be overtaken by events. Of equal importance is the challenge of restoring women to their rightful place in the vanguard of the continent’s development.

Future efforts must focus on the beneficiaries of the Protocol. It is only through them that the Protocol will truly come into force.

Dr. Morissanda Kouyate is Director of Operations, Inter-African Committee and Secretary-General, CPTAFE, Republic of Guinea

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

Making the AU protocol a continental agenda: SOAWR's experience

Caroline Muthoni Muriithi

2007-11-21

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44597

As we approach the 2nd anniversary of the coming into force of the Protocol,Caroline Muthoni Muriithi takes us on a retrospective of the continental successes that SOAWR has achieved so far.


The Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) Coalition was created in September 2004 to speed up the ratification of the African Union (AU) Protocol on the Rights of Women and subsequently push for the domestication and implementation of the Protocol at the national level. Three years after its inception, the SOAWR coalition has evolved into a 26 member coalition all working towards popularization, ratification and domestication/implementation of the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women. As we approach the 2nd anniversary of the coming into force of the Protocol let us look back on the continental successes that SOAWR has achieved so far as we intensify the momentum of the campaign and renew our efforts to ensure universal ratification and implementation of the Protocol.

Continental campaign: Using the African Union policy space

The coalition took advantage of the new advocacy opportunities that came with the newly established African Union to engage the African Union member states. The transformation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to the African Union in 2002 created room for civil society engagement (CSO’s) and welcomed their contributions through the African Citizens’ Directorate (CIDO) which has the responsibility of facilitation of civil society engagement [1]. Although the collaboration and engagement between CSO’s and the African Union and its institutions has been limited, SOAWR managed to work with other AU departments such as the African Union Commission Legal Counsel Office which receives the instrument of ratifications and the Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) which has worked together with civil society to discuss African Union instrument such as the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa and the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women as well as strategizing on promoting gender equality within the African Union Commission.

Through this fruitful collaboration with the Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) the campaign has been able to reach a wide audience both within the African Union as well as citizens across the continent. In 2005, the WGDD helped to provide a space for SOAWR to hold a press conference at the Abuja Summit in January 2005 and has continued to collaborate with SOAWR in planning and hosting various activities such as : jointly publishing a book ‘Breathing life into the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women’ which was launched at the July 2006 African Union summit in Banjul, Gambia; organizing a joint North African Consultation on strategies for accelerating the ratification of the Protocol across North Africa in Tunis, Tunisia in April 2007 and has continued to engage in various discussion on the way forward for gender equality in Africa.

SOAWR members have also utilized the advocacy and lobbying opportunities at the African Union Summits. The African Union hosts two summits every year; January and July. Since its creation, members have used the summits as a way to make the campaign visible among government officials, African Union and the Heads of State and Government. The summits offer an opportunity to engage these leaders on the steps their governments have taken to ratify the Protocol and a chance to influence decisions made within the African Union.

During the summits, various creative strategies have been used to send the campaign message across. In January 2005, the rating cards strategy proved effective at holding governments accountable. The strategy was based on football penalty cards system: Red for countries that had not signed the Protocol; Yellow for those countries that had signed but not ratified; and Green for those countries that had ratified the Protocol. What made this strategy successful was the fact that country representatives where given the bright colored cards while either sitting in the plenary room or walking towards it making the room look colorful but at the same time arousing curiosity among the other delegates to know what the color cards were about. The color card also created competition among the countries while at the same time shaming those countries that had not ratified the Protocol. The strategy worked on the premise that most governments do not want to look bad before their peers and therefore would be pushed to sign and ratify the Protocol. It worked! On 25th November 2005 (a year after the formation of SOAWR) the African Union Protocol came into forces largely due to the pressure and all the strategic lobbying and campaigning by SOAWR members. Today many of the African Union officials as well as the country delegations are aware of the campaign and the Protocol.

The publication and distribution of policy briefs during every summit which links the Protocol to the current theme of the summit has made the Protocol relevant to all the African Union discussion and debates. These policy briefs are handed out to the African member states delegations as well as to the media. The presence of local and international media present at the Summit has enabled members to communicate the campaign agenda to heads of states and government by holding press conferences and distributing media statements and policy briefs. This has given visibility to the campaign effort in the country hosting the summit, through out the continent and beyond while popularizing the AU Protocol to the masses. To add icing to the cake, the secretariat has followed up by putting more pressure on African Union member states by writing to individual presidents urging them to honor their commitments by ratifying and implementing the Protocol.

The campaign has linked continental efforts with national campaign efforts by actively involving national SOAWR members and women’s organizations in the host country to link human rights violation of women in the country together with Protocol campaign and the Summit theme. For example at the Accra summit in July 2007, SOAWR hosted a public forum that discussed the Protocol at length; the ongoing African Union debate on Union Government and tied these discussions together with ‘trokosi’ a traditional practice in parts of Ghana where girls are enslaved for life in shrines to pay for the ‘sins/crimes’ of their relatives or family members

Women’s organizations across Africa have been mobilized and have joined the rallying call to push for the popularization, ratification and implementation of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in their respective countries. These groups have adopted the Protocol as a tool with which to champion their rights by adopting the Protocol’s provisions in their day to day activities. For example Voix de Femmes, a SOAWR member in Burkina Faso, have adopted article 5 of the Protocol as a tool to fight Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). The Protocol is the first human rights instrument to specifically call for the elimination of FGM and has become a bench mark for the Voix de Femmes campaign against FGM.

Successes

At the time SOAWR was formed, only four African countries had ratified the Protocol (The Comoros, Libya, Namibia and Rwanda), however due to the aggressive campaign today there are 22 African states that have ratified the Protocol. The Protocol came into force one year after the launch of the campaign and two and a half years after the adoption by the Heads of States and Government making it the fastest human rights instrument to enter into force within such a short time in Africa.

The concept of holding member states accountable has been elevated to a new level never seen before at the African Union Summits. It is the first time that leaders have been put to task and have been shamed for failing to honour their commitments to African women expressed in the Protocol and the Solemn Declaration for Gender Equality in Africa.

The African Union Protocol has been featured in various African Union discussions and meetings and with more government officials being more aware of the AU Protocol on women’s rights. For example during the Accra Summit in July 2007, the SOAWR team realized that many of the country delegations were aware of the Protocol as well as the SOAWR coalition that had been pushing for the ratification and implementation of the Protocol. SOAWR campaign objectives have become visible through out the continent as well as the African Union level.

Due to the wide experiences gained at lobbying at the continental level and specifically within the African Union the SOAWR campaign has become a model to be replicated by others around the continent and beyond. SOAWR has been called upon to share its strategies with other civil society organizations around African and in particular the secretariat has received request for organizations to embark on a learning visit to learn about the SOAWR campaign and meet with coalition members. In January 2007, an Iranian woman’s groups visited the Secretariat to learn about the strategies that SOAWR was using to campaign for the ratification and implementation of the Protocol. The group picked up pointers that they intended to replicate back in Iran to develop a national protocol on the rights of Iranian women. In April 2007, the Secretariat hosted lawyers from the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers Association (ZWLA) who wanted to learn more about the campaign and meet with SOAWR members in Nairobi.

Due to the success of the continental campaign, the focus has begun to shift to those countries that have ratified the Protocol to start the process of implementing the provisions of the Protocol at the domestic level. The campaign will continue to target the 31 countries that have not yet ratified the Protocol in order to achieve universal ratification and subsequent implementation of the Protocol in all these countries. It is a large task ahead but the campaign continues to grow in strength and in numbers, recruiting women’s organizations from across Africa to work toward a common goal and objective, to ensure that the AU Protocol on the Rights of Women become a reality for all women in Africa. SOAWR has earned its reputation as,‘the coalition that makes things happen’.

Notes

1 AFRODAD, AFRIMAP and OXFAM GB, ‘Towards a People-Driven African Union- Current obstacles and New opportunities, 2007, p. 5


* Caroline Muthoni Muriithi is Assistant program officer, Equality Now

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

The challenges of ratification: Highs and lows of gender activism

Marren Akatsa-Bukachi

2007-11-21

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44603

On the second anniversary of the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa, Marren Akatsa-Bukachi reflects on the challenges faced in the past year.


It was an appealing sunny day in mid November 2005, Sarah Mukasa then of Akina Mama wa Afrika and I were geared for a higher and more important level of gender activism. I represented the Eastern African Sub Regional Support Initiative for Women (EASSI), and Sarah Akina Mama both members of the Coalition on Solidarity on African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) and were conducting a workshop in Grand Imperial Hotel in Kampala Uganda.

We had co-organized the workshop to unpack the outcome of a previous workshop that was organized by SOAWR in conjunction with the African Union in September 2005 in Addis Ababa. The workshop was called to discuss domestication and implementation strategies of the Protocol. Sarah and I both energized, were eager to share the good news with a large constituency of Uganda civil society.

The Protocol was about to come into force on November 25th following the 15th ratification by Togo. The Protocol’s significance lies in the fact that it is the only regionally generated document specifically on the rights of African women and that relates to the context specific violations of African Women’s Human Rights. Coincidentally this date would coincide with the beginning of 16th Days of Activism Against Gender Violence. I felt elated. This was prophetic. To add to the “high,” Uganda was on the verge of ratification. This confidence was buoyed by the revelation by the government representative that the Protocol had passed through all the necessary stages and was only awaiting Cabinet approval. We were assured this would take place speedily before the matter of the General Elections, scheduled to take place in February 2006 would get in the way.

With reenergized spirits, we discussed strategies for domestication and ratification as if we already had won the prize. Little did we know that dark forces were lingering in the shadows. Even as we spoke, there was a double page spread in the local dailies vilifying the Protocol. The article was sponsored by the Catholic Bishops and was specifically speaking to Article 14 on Health and Reproductive Rights. The Article states inter alia, that “Protect the rights of reproductive rights of women by authorizing medical abortion in cases of sexual assault, rape, incest, and where the continued pregnancy endangers the mental and physical health of the mother or the life of the mother or the foetus”.

‘The Protocol for Women’s Rights in Africa supports Abortion,” screamed one headline. “Catholic Bishops decry abortion”, shrieked another. It seemed our celebration was turning into battle. We had already identified the ratification platform as a basis for deeper advocacy for the passing of the stalled Domestic Relations Bill whose content was more or less reinforced by the Articles in the Protocol, when the Bishops came up with their bombshell. In an election year everyone with power to influence a significant voting constituency becomes a darling and the Bishops had stirred a hornet’s nest. In Uganda where almost 50% of the populations (read voters) are Catholics, this constituency cannot be ignored. The Protocol was placed into cold storage and stayed there to date.

Two years after coming into force, seven more countries have ratified the Protocol, bringing the total to twenty two, twenty four countries have signed but not ratified while seven have not signed at all.

Advocacy by SOAWR

SOAWR can be credited with contributing to the respectable level of achievement of almost 50 percent ratification by the fifty three African Union Member States.

Its strategy of using the African Union Summits of Heads of States as a lobby platform has elicited tremendous levels of success.

Since January 2005 members of the SOAWR Coalition have attended the African Union (AU) Summits to ensure that the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa remains on the agenda of policy makers and to urge all African leaders to safeguard the rights of women through ratification and implementation of the Protocol. Members have consistently produced policy-briefs, launched books and held press conferences during the Summits to keep the Protocol at the forefront of policy-makers’ concerns. Members have also directly met with at least 10-15 Ministers over the last six Summits. Since January 2005, SOAWR has used the opportunity of the Summits taking place in different countries to press on the host to either ratify or move to implementation.

The latest addition to the countries that have ratified the Protocol is Ghana, host of the last AU Summit that deposited its instruments of ratification in July 2007 almost two weeks after hosting the Summit. This is a testimony to SOAWR’s. tenacity and lobbying skills. This brings ratification countries to 22.

During the Summit, a team drawn from national coalitions and the steering committee met and committed to the following:-

1. Prepared and circulated to Ministers a short policy brief on the status of the Protocol and the implications of Continental Government proposal for women’s rights and gender equality
2. Participated in CSO pre-Summit activities planned with a view to raising visibility for women’s rights and gender equality issues and participating in the Grand Debate
3. Maintained relationships with key Government delegations
4. Co-convened with Ghanaian women’s coalition, a university based seminar on the Protocol.

Amongst other pre-summit activities carried out by SOAWR was the Public Forum which was titled “Is it possible to have a United States of Africa without Women?” and What form would be meaningful for African Women? The forum provided an opportunity for governments as well as African civil society to deliberate on the Grande debate on Continental Unity and also on issues of harmful traditional practices with special focus on the Trokozi practice in relation to the Protocol. Other activities included a Press Conference, SOAWR Planning and Evaluation Meeting and Direct Advocacy with the Permanent Representatives Council of the different African Countries in the African Union (see Appendixes 1- 5).

I was among those privileged to lobby the foreign Ministers and their representatives at the Summit venue. We gave out red cards to those countries that had not signed the Protocol, yellow cards to those that had signed and not yet ratified and green cards to those that had signed and ratified. We lobbied actively amongst the delegates during tea time and any time they stepped outside the conference hall. We congratulated those that had ratified and exhorted those that needed to ratify or deposit instruments of ratification to do so. We were elated to hear that Liberia only needed to deposit the instruments and expected to see it amongst the group of green cards within two weeks of leaving Accra. To date we are still waiting. It is sad but true, what is on paper is not necessarily put in practice!

Our lobbying strategies were very interesting but also revealed at times that those sent to represent their governments at these meetings are not always up to par with regard to issues such as the Protocol. Many a time we were informed that the person dealing with this matter was left behind in the capital city and there was nothing they could do about it. I remember on one of the days when we stood outside the meeting hall, our body language must have given us away as one of the delegates asked pointedly, “whom are you waiting to pounce on next?” It elicited laughter but at the same time showed that our seriousness was visible to all. Our strategy was to demand that none “signatory countries sign up, signed up countries move to ratification as speedily as possible, the “ratifiers” domesticate and implement. We found to our surprise that there was a gap in information with quite a large number of delegates not quite aware of the Protocol but also a good number supportive and willing to take some action back in their own countries. I realized that there is an information gap here that needs to be plugged if SOAWR is to achieve 100 per cent ratification. Government officials in key ministries such as foreign affairs need to be sensitized on the Protocol.

In some countries it is considered a gender issue and embedded in the ministry of Gender or Women’s Affairs. The Coalition may need to design a program specifically targeting policy makers to make them aware of the Protocol and its benefits to the country and to women’s rights. It should not be seen as threatening existing rights but as scaling up these rights, particularly social and cultural rights. I say this because when I was on a visit to Ethiopia and enquired from one of our partners why Ethiopia has not ratified the Protocol, the response was that the Ethiopian Constitution is very gender sensitive and already touched on the very issues propounded in the Articles in the Protocol. None the less, women’s organizations are fighting patriarchy and gender based violence, amongst them female genital mutilation that would benefit from ratification, domestication and implementation of the Protocol. As for Eritrea, it is still at the red card stage and has not signed the Protocol. However, after years of lobbying by the National Union of Eritrean Women, the government outlawed FGM in May 2007.

Even as SOAWR Coalition continues to lobby for total and unreserved ratification, it does not miss an opportunity to make demands on the member states. Using the opportunity afforded by the AU Summit in Accra and the discourse around an African Union Government, SOAWR came up with the following demands:

Specifically, the African Heads of States and Government meeting in Accra should show commitment to continental unity by embracing the following:

• Incorporation of gender equality in the values underpinning the Proposal of United States of Africa
• Instituting and making public during the next Summit a performance audit of the Directorates of the African Union Commission in terms of the incorporation of gender concerns (2004-2007)
• Prioritization of the rights and entitlements of refugees and displaced populations, particularly women and girls.
• Prioritization of full citizenship status for women in terms of rights, particularly women who marry across nationalities and lose their rights.
• Guarantee to women the freedom to trade and work across states’ borders. Women small traders manage a high degree of non-formal cross border trade
• Conduct analysis into the gendered implications of macroeconomic policy with respect to the ‘convergence criteria’.
• Enable total factor mobility—the free movement of all factors of production (labour as well as capital)—by addressing questions of African citizenship, including African women’s equal citizenship rights and freedom of movement at the continental level.
• Embedding the principle of gender parity in the election and appointment of persons to the continental institutions.
• Ensuring that the principle of appointing 50% women commissioners at the African Union Commission continues to be honoured.
• Increasing the minimum threshold for women MPs elected to the African parliament to at least two per country
• Review all recommendations (in the continental government proposal) in light of deficiencies already noted by the African women’s movement with respect to ensuring the equal representation of African women at the Abu’s highest decision-making organs—for instance, the Commission’s Chair could also have a Deputy responsible for gender mainstreaming across her/his ‘Cabinet’ and all Commissioners responsible for programs and projects under the strategic focus areas should ensure that gender implications are taken into account in their elaboration and implementation;
• Publicly censuring countries that have yet to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of African Women.
• Honor their commitment to deliver on the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa.
• Demonstrate greater commitment to the normative framework already established by the AU—particularly with respect to the promotion and protection of human rights (including women’s human rights), peace and security.

The debate on the Union Government is timely, but it will only be relevant in as far as it will recognize that the majority of the African people are women and girls; and that to win their confidence African Leaders need to seriously take up their concerns head on.

We came back full circle in Uganda on October 18th 2007; we were back in the same venue where we were in November 2005 once again with Akina Mama wa Afrika to again discuss the stalled ratification process in Uganda. This time the aim was to put in place a steering committee that over see different strategies to ensure ratification and implementation of the Protocol. The committee’s first task is to find out exactly where the protocol is stalled. Is it in the Attorney General’s Office or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? A video documentary made by Akina Mama to popularize the Protocol had one of the Christian Bishops proposing that the Protocol should be signed with reservations on Article 14 otherwise it will be a tough battle ahead..

Is this Uganda’s desire for her future?

* Marren Akatsa-Bukachi is the executive director of the Eastern African sub Regional Support Initiative for Advancement of Women (EASSI)

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

The 'lost protocol' in Uganda: tears, struggles and hope

Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe

2007-11-21

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44600

Today, as many across the continent celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the women’s movement in Uganda is struggling to find the protocol, says Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe.


Today, as many across the continent celebrate the 2nd Anniversary of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa, the women’s movement in Uganda is struggling to find the protocol; which seems to ‘have been lost’! Uganda, just like a number of other African States has to date signed but not yet ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa.

Signature only is a presumption of serious interest but does not guarantee ratification, domestication and implementation. The Protocol in Uganda stalled since 2005 where, it is reported that instruments of ratification had been prepared by government but the protocol lost momentum as well as priority on the part of the government to ratify this protocol. The Protocol in Uganda seem to have got lost and many do not seem to know where it is or even the process to date.

‘We have not seen this protocol in Parliament. The Cabinet has also not ratified it. It has got lost somewhere and we do not know where it is.’ Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga, Deputy Speaker of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda, 6th August 2007.

With the current realities, the lives of women in Uganda have been redefined by national, regional and international occurrences. For instance, globalization has impacted on women where more increasingly women are getting poorer due to unfair trade, weaker role of the state, the war on terror, SAPs, PRSPs, etc. In addition, women’s triple roles are being increased due to the global trends like: commercialization of food crops, privatization of water, etc.

There is also a waning political will at the national level which implies that women’s issues are taking back sea due to the increasing feeling that women have had had it all but are being ungrateful yet today government is committed to less vigorous roles a far as human rights are concerned. In addition, the rise of militarism is tending to redefine women’s rights and choices, as well as institutionalizing violence against women – this is especially so in Northern and Eastern Uganda which has been affected by civil strife, displacement and political instability for last 20 years.

For the human rights and women’s movement in Uganda, the protocol is important because: it gives impetus to national laws and policies like the Domestic Relations Bill (Uganda’s family law that has not been enacted since the 1960s - for over 40 years) Land Law ownership, Sexual Offences Law, Domestic Violence Law and law on trafficking in persons. The protocol is paramount as it will help African States to exercise gender justice.

‘If anything, this Protocol should facilitate African States to pass fairer legislation’ Stella Mukasa, Feminist, AMwA, July 2007.

Similarly, a survivor of 3 conflicts in Uganda laments that:

‘If there was law to be passed or treaty to be ratified, it should prevent soldiers from assaulting women as well as protecting women from local / community instigated forms of violence. How do we even ensure that that law applies to the rebelling forces?’ Loy Adepuit Owani, Soroti District, Eastern Uganda.

The Protocol also provides a legal framework at continental level (standardized) and the monitoring of these at continental level.

‘If we can have the protocol, it gives us similar standards, frameworks against impunity across Africa’. Eva Luswata Kawuma- Advocate of the High Court of Uganda, 18/10/07

The Protocol also consolidates and protects the gains so far registered in Uganda such as: women’s education, political participation, Affirmative Action especially in political and governance sector as well as bringing to bear the regional expectations in as far as protection and promotion of women’s rights is concerned.

The Backdrop: Challenges of the Protocol

One of the biggest challenges has been the rise of fundamentalism, re-negotiation of women’s basic rights as well as the waning state commitment to women’s rights. More generally globally, there are fundamentalist forces that are re-defining women’s space ands positions in the form of economic, religious, political, ethnic and cultural fundamentalism.

In Uganda, this has not been helped by the fundamentalist forces taking hostage of the state and using it to roll back on the achievements so far registered. The most vivid backlash of fundamentalism has been experienced with work on the Protocol in Uganda as well as on work with the family law (The Domestic Relations Bill). The state has been held hostage by strong religious groups especially Christian fundamentalists (the Catholic Church and Pentecostals) who are opposed to certain articles in the Protocol especially Article 14 that deliberates on Health and Reproductive Rights. In 2005, the Catholic Church came up with a 2 page centre spread press release in the two of the leading newspaper dailies strongly opposing the Protocol, describing it as one that opens up un-African behaviour and rights especially abortion and use of contraceptives that are contrary to the doctrines of Christianity, morality, and African culture. In a similar move, in 2006/2007, the Pentecostal Churches also signed nationwide petitions opposing the Protocol. In their contestation, these groups have either openly opposed the whole protocol or even calling upon government if its to ratify, it does so with reservations on certain areas such as Article 14, which has been contested within the women’s movement as seen below.

‘We do not want government to ratify with reservations… this brings about impunity where there may have reservations on many articles … Also the process removing reservations is very tedious’. Marren Akatsa-Bukachi, EASSI Executive Director, Interview in the Protocol Video – As Time Ticks, AMwA / SOAWR 2007.

There is also waning political will and outright hostility to women’s issues and the notion of we gave you which implies that rights are granted and can be withheld at leisure by the powers that be. Due to the weak political will and half hearted reforms, gender mainstreaming has been reduced to one sentence usually appended onto policy statements. Gender distributive policies challenge peoples cherished belief, they are often addressed as technical aspects of programming but not real commitment and action is undertaken.

Most countries shy away from economic and social rights progressively because they have to allocate budgets yet, gender budgeting is still a challenge to many developing countries, Uganda inclusive. While the women’s movement managed to register a lot of achievements in the period 1986-2000, after that period, there has been waning political support to women’s emancipation and increasing fatigue. Besides, the failure to consolidate the gains so far registered as well as become independent , free of patronage from the ruling party’s has affected the leverage and power to negotiate on a number of issues.

The problem of convincing policy makers is that; social and economic rights to be understood in terms of development and wellbeing of women. This coupled with the increasing complacence and fatigue in as far as women’s rights imply that advocacy on the protocol is an uphill task.

Many actors (state and non state actors) do not understand the protocol and its provisions, hence, a lot of work has to be done to popularize and raise awareness on the protocol. For example, on 6th August 2007, Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA) as part of SOAWR commissioned and launched a documentary on the Protocol entitled ‘As Time Ticks’. The current Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development – Hon. Syda Bbumba was interviewed by the press on 7th August 2007 and was reported to have confessed that she was not aware or heard about any such a Protocol. She is reported to have responded as: ‘I do not know anything about such a protocol. I would be telling a lie if I commented about it’ Hon. Syda Bbumba, Interview in August 2007

Yet, it is the same ministry that prepared a Cabinet Paper to be discussed by Cabinet in 2004/2005!

In a similar development, a number of Members of the 8th Parliament in Uganda indicated that they were not aware whether this particular Protocol is supposed to be ratified by Parliament or Cabinet and what their role should be! This is an indicator that the Protocol is not known, information is still lacking among policy makers, legislators, and foreign ministry relevant departments and if known, its not prioritized on the part of government.

De-politicizing of the women’s agenda has also implied that the women’s movement in Uganda has in the last few years tended to address issues that are that are less controversial and leave out those that redefine women’s total liberation. Issues such as: women’s bodily integrity, sexuality and sexual orientation, private lives of women, gender based violence, abortion rights, sexual, reproductive health and rights, etc have tended to be left unattended or minimally addressed. In addition, sexual and reproductive rights still remain elusive and, the failure to understand that even provisions of the protocol makes it under restricted circumstances. There is also increased bureaucracy and reduced activism among human rights stakeholders, which has led to even failure to consolidate past gains. This makes them unable to seriously and consistently engage in the human rights issues such as the Protocol.

In relation to the above, one of the biggest challenges of the Protocol in Uganda has been the inconsistency in the advocacy generally within the women’s movement and mainstream human rights and the fact that many human rights actors look at as women struggles not as human rights struggles. Hence with such a situation, advocacy on the Protocol faces stiff resistance as it pushes women’s rights to address these fundamental rights.

There are also discussions about whose struggle is it anyway? Issues about social mobilization, linkages and supporting each others work on the Protocol have been very loose and mainly left to the SOAWR Members in Uganda (Akina Mama wa Afrika and Eastern African Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women) both of which are international women’s NGOs. Hence, implying that most national women’s organizations are not actively engaged with the protocol advocacy or even relate to their mandates that they are dealing with on day to day basis. As observed by renowned feminist, ‘Activists identify with an issue as long as there is no struggle’ (Marjorie Mbilinyi, Tanzania)

Work on the protocol has been an uphill struggle, some of which pit with the core of patriarchy which seem as an added controversial burden to many in the women’s movement in Uganda who are already battling with a lot of agenda. Major issued to dialogue internally are: What kind of issues do we address and how far are we willing to go? Arent we operating within the same patriarchal framework that redefines what is good for women and what is bad? How far are we willing to address specific rights that have hitherto been labeled no go areas? Do we take on women in their diversity and orientation or are we still ‘playing safe’? How do we handle the controversy and difference within the movement as far as the Protocol is concerned?

The Lack of the Protocol Impacting on Women’s Lives in Uganda

Many should be asking why we need to ratify the Protocol in Uganda given all the various initiatives undertaken at national level to uplifting the status of women. One of the glaring impacts of the lack of ratification of the protocol is that laws, administrative, social and economic indicators that states are obliged to provide are not in place. Women’s rights in Uganda have still remained rhetoric mainly as rights enshrined in the 1995 Constitution. This explains why to date there is reluctance in enacting laws, setting up policies and programmes that operationalise women’s rights like the family law, laws on GBV, trafficking in persons, etc. To date, Uganda has failed to protect women from injustice at family and community levels in the private spaces as women are still abused in the name of cultural practices that are highly discriminatory and patriarchal.

Uganda will not be in a position to meet its PRSP (Poverty Eradication Action Plan – PEAP) & MDG targets. Failure to ratify the protocol implies that there are no measures to reach those targets. Failure to ratify also impacts on Uganda’s commitments at international level as far as protection and enforcement of women’s rights are concerned will not be met yet women are among the poorest who have very low social indicators.

A number of reviews like the Poverty Eradication Action Plan, African Peer Review Mechanism process indicated that poverty in Uganda is highly structures along gender lines and specific interventions in terms of the legislation, policy, administrative and programmes have to be undertaken to address inherent challenges that impact on women. It’s therefore no wonder that irrespective of all these, women are poorer. A number of women’s rights have still not attained like affected by conflict, poorest, sexual and reproductive rights,. MDG 3, Constitutional rights of women as provided for in Chapter 4 of the Ugandan Constitution, Pillars within the PEAP especially since gender is across cutting issue. And in terms of Uganda’s long term vision and missions of becoming a middle income country, there is also need to address the role of women in as far as attainment of economic independence as well as stimulating economic growth.

Consolidation of gains in as far as women’s rights is questionable with the failure to ratify, domesticate and implement the protocol. For instance, there are a number of national legislative and policy concerns like: the 1995 Constitution, labour laws, criminal law, National Gender Policy, National Action Plan for Women and PEAP. In addition, if we borrow some of the progressive provisions in the Protocol, it gives impetus to national level advocacy for better laws and policies.

Women’s discrimination is varied but it has at times been in the form of the absence and even existence of gender neutral / gender blind retrogressive laws and policies that are premised on patriarchal notions like citizenship rights, definition of adultery and other sexual offences, definition of a family and head of family. Access to justice continues to elude women and the administration of the law and policy has been sighted as a major hindrance to enjoyment of women’s rights. Generally in Uganda, the court system is characterized by patriarchal values upheld by legal practitioners and the institutions, generally giving more privilege to men and disadvantaging women; difficulty in physical access to magistrate courts; inability of the poor, especially women to pay court expenses; and the degree of technicalities involved, including the legal jargon. As noted,

‘Women’s rights continue to be trampled on because the current laws are inadequate’. Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga, Deputy Speaker of Parliament of the Republic of Uganda, 6th August 2007.

Therefore, without the ratification, domestication and implementation of the protocol, we cant quote using International and regional instruments in court cases.

The existing laws, policies and programmes in Uganda today have all failed to genuinely promote and protect the rights of women at personal level and in private spaces. This failure has down rolled the achievements made in the public lives as far as human rights are concerned. Statistics of the Uganda Demographic and Health Survey Report of 2006 indicate that, women’s bodies and sexuality is still controlled by men as such impacts on the realization of many of the fundamental human rights by women.

Its therefore no wonder that statistics indicate that the quality of life of women is reducing and the social indicators are grim like: high fertility rates of 6.9 children on average, increase in physical and sexual violence (to at least 60% experienced violence by partners or husband and at lest 2 in 5 women have been sexually abused by age 15); early marriages ( on average at 17.8 years for women aged 20-49, 55% of women aged 22-49 married by 18 years and 74% married by 20 years of age); age of first sexual intercourse at 16.6 years; polygamy at 28%, rape is on the increases and that 51% of women prefer to use injectibles as preferred method of contraception as it does not require them to negotiate with their partners. The case below justifies this by:

‘I stated from zero level after the death of my husband. My in-laws they took all my things, even my clothing… And when I refused to be inherited by my in-laws, they lit a broken jerry can and burn me all over my body’ Nancy Oluka, Widow, Lira District, Northern Uganda’.

So what next?

As a way of conclusion, there is need to re-strategize and re-launch the campaign as there is need to explore why the process that appeared to be very progressive all of a sudden lost steam and went off the radar of governments priorities. This will enable for strategizing and action on advocacy not only for the protocol but other process on women’s rights that seem to have stalled to date. In addition, there is need to raise awareness about the Protocol as well as enroll allies and human rights actors to join advocacy.

Lastly, ratifying the Protocol, domestication and implementation is actually what the operationalisation of women’s rights in Africa. The task of eliminating gender based discrimination is beyond the purview of protocols, law and human rights but not beyond the people who have experienced multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination over long periods of time. We as Africans need to change our communities so that individually and collectively we are all able to enjoy living lives grounded on equality, equity, freedom, dignity, peace, mutual respect, gender justice, non discrimination and above all respect that African women are equal in rights and dignity!

* Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe is the executive director of Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA)

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

Kenya's ping-pong with the Protocol

Anne Atieno Amadi

2007-11-21

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44601

The Kenyan situation as regards the ratification of the Protocol has become something akin to a game of ping pong. So far the position of its ratification remains unclear and efforts by different interested parties to obtain clarity on the position seem to hit a dead end, writes Anna Amadi.


The African Charter on Human and People’s Rights addresses African concerns, traditions and conditions. It provides for the enjoyment of rights and freedoms on the basis of equality and non-discrimination, the elimination of discrimination against women and the protection of the rights of women and children. The protections offered by the Charter are, however, not adequate and in 1995, the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (hereinafter the ‘Protocol’) was adopted in Maputo by the OAU to supplement the Charter.

Kenya is a State party to many human rights treaties and declarations but has not ratified the Protocol. For a long time, the human rights discourse and the implementation of obligations outlined in the various human rights treaties and declarations have not been prioritized by Government. The implication of this has been that the human rights discourse has not been popular within Government ministries and departments. Further the human rights initiatives have not attracted adequate budgetary allocations within the Government. Noteworthy, over the years, the human rights agenda has been a preserve of civil society.

The Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) is a regional coalition of women’s and human rights organizations that came together to work for early ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. SOAWR was formed in 2004, its members alarmed that one year after adoption, only one country (The Comoros) had ratified the Protocol. The group of organizations formed a coalition that would deliberately encourage governments to take swift action in bringing the Protocol into force and ensuring its subsequent domestication. Indeed it was through the efforts of SOAWR that the Protocol came into force in November 2005, just two years after its adoption. So far 22 countries have adopted the Protocol and sadly, Kenya is not one of them.

The Kenyan situation as regards the ratification of the Protocol has become something akin to a game of ping pong. So far the position of its ratification remains unclear and efforts by different interested parties to obtain clarity on the position seem to hit a dead end. There have been myriad challenges in pushing for the ratification of the Protocol in Kenya. These range from lack of clarity on where and from whom to get information on status of ratification of, not just the Protocol, but other international and regional human rights conventions as well. Communication channels remain unclear and undefined. There is also a general lack of awareness and education on human rights and hence no candid discussions on the implications, advantages and disadvantages of ratification of given human rights instruments. These challenges have hampered appropriate consultations on the Protocol with relevant players.

In May 2007 during the 41st Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights held in Accra, Ghana, the Kenya Government reported that it had ratified the Protocol. The exact words of the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Honorable Martha Karua were “I can confidently say that the instrument will be deposited by the end of June.” We are now in mid October and nothing has come of the minister’s pronouncement. There is no evidence that any follow up has been made on the Minister’s declaration and clearly there was no commitment in stating thus- an empty promise, yet again.

The Attorney General’s office indeed confirms that the Protocol was debated and received cabinet approval for its ratification and so the AG’s role has been performed. The approval, however, is said to be subject to reservations particularly regarding the thorny issue of women’s reproductive heath rights. (The Protocol explicitly sets forth the reproductive right of women to medical abortion when pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the continuation of pregnancy endangers the health or life of the mother).

The office of the Secretary of Cabinet and Head of Civil Service also confirms that there was a cabinet approval and that this was communicated the Foreign Affairs Ministry way back in May 2006 and the latter was expected to prepare and deposit the instrument for ratification. It is frustrating that the legal office in the Ministry has been giving contradictory information, with claims that the approval was communicated but got ‘lost’, yet other sources claiming no such approval has been received .The Gender Ministry that should take the lead in the matter appears to be in darkness over the whole issue!

In 2005 the Kenya Government constituted an Advisory/Consultative Committee on International Human Rights Obligations with the function of advising the Government on measures necessary to comply with its international human right obligations. The committee works with stakeholders including relevant Ministries, Government departments, public bodies, civil society among others to coordinate the collection, documentation and updating information relevant to the Government’s obligations in order for it to meet and implement its obligations under the regional and international human rights instruments to which Kenya is a state party. FIDA Kenya which is a member of SOAWR sits on this committee, and this offers an opportunity for SOAWR to keep pushing for the ratification of the protocol. However, the committee only plays an advisory role, and cannot, for example, demand accountability from a government department when it fails to perform its duties.


So far, simply put, we are in a quagmire. Clearly there is need for us to continue seeking of audience with the various personalities charged with the responsibility of following up on ratification within government. It would also be useful to build the capacity of stakeholders on the processes and usefulness of not only ratifying but also domesticating the protocol. Women’s and human rights organizations must use of all opportunities that present themselves in different forums to make the case for early ratification of the Protocol. Regular and sustained strategy meetings amongst coalition partners need to be held to keep the agenda alive, with a vibrant communication strategy that ensures all interested parties are on the same wavelength. Media should be an integral campaign partner so that the activities around advocating for the ratification of the Protocol are were well covered for the attention of the concerned government bodies.

* Mrs Anne Amadi is deputy executive director of FIDA Kenya

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

Sudanese women: Towards ending violence and discrimination

Ratification of the protocol is crucial

Manal Abdelhalim

2007-11-21

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44604

Manal Abdelhalim reflects on the Sudan's progress towards ending violence and discrimination against women, within the context of the protocol.


The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Women in Africa is considered as one of the important women’s rights protection instruments at regional level. It emphasize on women in conflict, women refugees, displaced, women under severe poverty and harmful practices. This article will reflect that the ratification of the protocol is crucial for Sudanese women because it highlights on the present situation on the Sudanese women.

Education- equal opportunity: the dream of millions of the girls’ child

While the article 12 of the protocol stated that “eliminate of all forms of discrimination against women and guarantee equal opportunity and access in the sphere of education and training” educational opportunities for women and girls are very limited, the rate of enrollment ranges between 86% in Khartoum state and between 21% and 30% in other states, particularly Darfur state. Dropout rates amongst girls in primary school are high. The curriculum is gender biased and does not consider the cultural diversity; it perpetrates stereotyping roles of women. The illiteracy rate amongst women is also very high.

FGM: from “prohibition” to “legislation”

Sudan is among 28 African countries which are heavily practicing the female circumcision/ FGM. It had been prohibited by Sudan’s penal code from 1946 (during colonial era) until 1983, the most sever form of female circumcision, infibulations, was prohibited by penal code. The offense was punishable by imprisonment of maximum five years and / or a fine. The law was initially enacted under British colonial rule and was ratified again in 1957 and 1974; this provision was apparently repealed with the promulgation of the 1983 penal code which included no provision on infibulations. The 1991 penal code also contains no provisions explicitly prohibiting F.C.

In 1981, a national workshop was held on F.C [1] issues and solid strategies were recommended and were set. The major achievement of the 1981 conference was the establishment of the Sudanese National Committee for the Eradication of Female Circumcision (SNCEFC); it was established by decree of the Minster of the interior and social welfare in 1984. The committee was eventually replaced by Eradication of Traditional Harmful Practices Affecting the Health of Women and Children (ETHP). However, the state has taken backward steps from its commitment. Regarding the injection of F.C. information within the educational curricula, it was meant to be introduced at primary school level (8thclass), and secondary school (1st and 2nd class). But the idea was widely resisted by the General Assembly members; accordingly, the textbook was withdrawn in 1999, and then resumed in 2000.

May conference on FGM: the wrong end of the rope

In May 2002, a large conference was held by the Women’s College of Omdurman Islamic University and sponsored by the Ministry of Guidance and Endowment. It was attended by physicians, scientists, religious leaders and NGO representatives. The main outcome of the conference was an official change of attitude towards “legalizations” of FGM as part of Islamic practice” and it was concluded that “the state [has] to encourage such a recommendation”.

Civil society and women organizations and some human rights organizations have to reorganize themselves to reshape an effective advocacy plans and to lobby the government’s concerned bodies for law initiation. Protocol articles on harmful traditional practices can be used as strong instrument in their advocacy plan.

Political participation- 2008 election can make a difference

Women’s participation in Politics is minimal and meager. Up to date the rate of women ministers at federal levels is only 6.8% compared to the male rate at states level, which stands at 8.6%.[2] The rate of women in parliament is 19.7% and until 2003 the participation of women in higher ranks of public service in different government bodies did not exceed 11%. The number of women in senior civil service posts in Khartoum was 343 out of a total of 1642 posts. In the states, the number is 3241 posts out of 10448 posts. There were only 67 female judges in Sudan, 2 ambassadors and 17 diplomats. In the public sector, women’s participation is 35% and in the private sector it is 10% in the state of Khartoum. Although women participate by 80% in agricultural operations, their calculated contribution in the national economy is only 26%. This is as well as and despite the effort they exert in performing household duties; which is not considered work [3].

The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), DPA AND EPA are providing a solid base for women to lobby the States Parties for effective representation and participation of women at all levels of decision-making. Sudanese women rights bottleneck: access to justice /access to law: The promotion of women’s legal rights is affected by the lack of legal awareness, inaccessibility and lack of availability of legal services for women. Legislation is drenched in technical language to the point that it excludes laypersons from understanding and exercising their rights. Furthermore, prevalence of discriminatory laws and Acts restricts women, cripples their status and restricts their freedom and mobility.[4] Examples of these laws include the Labor Law, Nationality Law, Criminal Act, the Public Orders Law, Land Ownership, Personal Status Law and Customary Laws, amongst others.

According to the Nationality Act, Sudanese women who have children born to a non-Sudanese father have no right to claim Sudanese nationalities for their children.[5] The Public Orders Law for Khartoum state 1996 raised controversial discussions and dialogue about its articles that control the freedom and mobility of women. Each State has its own law and there are no great differences in their contents. Article 7 forbids mixed dance and does not allow women to dance in front of men. Article 9 specifies one door and ten seats allocated for women on public transport. Article 16 sets the age at which a woman may manage her own hair dressing shop at 35 years of age. Article 18 prohibits men from practicing tailor work for women except after obtaining approval from local authorities. Although Sharia law should only apply to Muslim citizens, women belonging to other religions have to adopt an Islamic dress code. This includes the requirement for women to cover their heads with veils and prosecutions for those found brewing alcohol. Women are often convicted and their business merchandise confiscated.

Women in conflict: ending all forms of sexual violence

Sudan has been hardly attested by long civil wars and conflicts, accordingly women’s situations have been altered to cope with the war situation. They are the most affected by armed conflicts; they always end up shouldering the burden of loss of family members, displacement, fragmentation, identity crisis, insecurity and end up heading households. Also, their accessibility to food, shelter, resources, markets and income becomes increasingly limited. Sudanese women’s efforts to contribute in the Sudan Peace talks and negotiations have been largely sidelined. The prevailing situation (atrocities committed against women and girls) resulted from the latest conflict in Darfur and has created a wide spectrum of issues; yet, women are not powerless or victims to their circumstance. On the contrary, they are heads of households and community keepers; they struggle to keep their families, communities and their identity in tact to surpass any armed struggle.

It is great opportunity and it is a high time for Sudanese women to take the privileges and opportunities created by the existence of new peace settlement by the AU and the UN, particularly in Darfur to advocate for the protocol ratification.

More orientation is needed

Since the adoption of the protocol in 2003, very little efforts have taken place to diffuse the protocol’s content and lobbying for ratification. The first orientation session has been held by Mutawinat group following the adoption of the protocol. The objective of the session was to orient the civil society groups in Sudan by the existence of the protocol as well as to reveal the government attitudes towards the protocol.

Zienab Abbas (Sudanese women’s right activist participated on stages of the negotiations that the protocol has passed), according to Mrs. Zienab ‘’the protocol was exhausted extensive consultations, discussions and brainstorming, before its formulation so this why the protocol considered as a comprehensive and human rights document for African women”. “Unlike the CEDAW the protocol emphasized on harmful practices and for the first time FGM to be singled out as one of the most harmful practice in Africa. One of the most privileges of the protocol is considering the situation of women during war and conflicts, women refugee, displaced, women under severe poverty”

Mrs. Aisha Abuelgasim (Ministry of social planning Advisor) revealed the preliminary official reactions to the protocol; the government tends to make some reservations on the following articles:

Article no. 20-(b) (a widow shall automatically become the guardian and custodian of her children, after the death of her husband, unless this is contrary to the interests and the welfare of the children). The reason of conservation is that item contradicts with personal status matters law, 1991.

Article no. 7-(a) (Separation, divorce or annulment of as marriage shall…).

Article no. 14 (State parties shall ensure that the right to health of women including sexual and reproductive health is respected and promoted …..) Article no. 6 (State parties shall ensure that women and men enjoy equal rights and are regarded as equal partners in marriage.

According to Aisha the government did not submit a detailed justifications for such reservations but in generally the reason given is that these items are either contradicting with the prevailing laws or with Shari’a principles.

One step forward

SOAWR has played a great role to push the ratification issue in Sudan during the January 2006 summit. In collaboration with SIHA and several Sudanese organizations SOAWR hosted a well attended symposium on the Protocol addressing the Protocol’s various articles from an Islamic perspective. As an immediate outcome of the meeting, Sudan was red-carded with the Minister of Health receiving the card for President Bashir. Sudanese organizations also circulated a petition calling on the Sudanese government to deposit its instrument of ratification. SIHA also became a member of SOAWR and committed to expanding the campaign’s reach to its members in Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Somaliland and the Sudan. More recently, SIHA has participated on a joint SOAWR/Oxfam GB Workshop to Review the Governance and Transparency Funding Bid. As a result a country strategy (2008-2012) has been developed as one step towards advocating for ratification and making the Protocol widely popular in the Sudan. The main aim of the strategic plan is to take advantage of new political and supportive atmosphere of the first general election, by 2008, following the signing of CPA, and to secure ratification by 2009.


* Manal Abdelhalim is programme director of the Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)

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

For notes, see link below.
Notes

1 The conference was supported by WHO and the Ministry of Health.
2 National Policy for Women Empowerment document, Ministry of social welfare, women and child welfare, March, 2007
3 Study on: Capacity Assessment of the GCRT (Final report) March,2006
4 Mutawinat report on discriminatory laws and articles, 2001
5 Granting of Sudanese nationality based on conditions, stated by the Article No.4 (A person shall be considered as a Sudanese by birth of the following conditions (a) if he obtained a Sudanese nationality by birth (b) first shall have been born in Sudan or his father was born in Sudan 2nd shall be at the time of the coming into force of this act a resident in Sudan and he was or his parental descendants were resident in Sudan since first day of January 1956)

South Africa's reservations and the Protocol

Delphine Serumaga

2007-11-21

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44605

Delphine Serumaga writes that despite the impressive policy framework that state has set in place for the protection of the women's rights, South African women and the girl-child remain marginalized with regards to access to basic human rights such as justice, safety and security, housing and health.

South Africa signed, ratified, and deposited the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the African protocol) by 14th January 2005 The commitment is with reservations on article 4, specifically referring to the protection of pregnant women from execution until their child is born, and a provision that exists in South African law.

This commitment adds to numerous agreements, protocols, and legislation for the protection of human rights in South Africa. The policy framework labyrinth that exists within South Africa can be perceived as laudable.

Looking from the outside, one would assume that with numerous considerations for human rights by the State, the social environment is ideal for the enjoyment of at least one’s fundamental human rights, making South Africa’s response to human rights a model to follow.

In fact, within the SADC region, on occasion, civil society organisations look at the South African framework and advocacy approaches for law reform as possible best practices to adopt.

The general trend of South Africa’s role on the continent is that this nation can play a significant role as an arbitrator or a peace negotiator. Thus implying, to an extent, that the national situation is well cared for and managed.

It is true that South Africa has a good and comprehensive constitution, well-planned legislative framework and impressive record of regional and international commitments.

Since the State participates greatly on a wide scale in human rights discourse and commits to the protection of human rights in various arenas such as the United Nations Security Council and the DRC peace agreements, one must look closer to see if what looks good on paper or on record is a true reflection of the internal state of affairs.

From a women’s rights organisation perspective, it is clear that despite the expansive human rights acknowledgements the State makes, the condition for women’s rights remain wanting. Women and the girl-child remain marginalised with regards to access to basic human rights such as justice, safety and security, housing and health. All social aspects that impact on a woman’s vulnerability to violence, a core matter of the African Protocol

The State’s commitments and engagements in human rights promotion are widely acknowledged therefore, the inevitable questions are, why sign another protocol? What internal value does the protocol bring to the people? Is the State or even civil society taking the full opportunity of the protocol that they have ratified?

The African Protocol has limited popularity as a human rights instrument in South Africa; currently there are only 8 civil society organisations that have observer status in South Africa. Out of the 8 organisations, only 2 actively participate in the deliberations of the African Commission. One could safely deduce that the African Protocol is not widely engaged with at the civil society level and possibly within the judicial system at this juncture.

The articulation and domestication of the African Protocol has not been fully realised as with other regional and international policies due to civil society and the judicial system only working with a 13 year old progressive legislation and judicial framework that has been and is still in development since the birth of the new dispensation.

Reference to the provisions of the African Protocol in court judgements is not common place, advocacy campaigns focusing on benefits of the protocol by both government or civil society are non-existent, rights education does not include reference to the African protocol at this stage.

The irony therefore, would be that government could hold civil society accountable for not engaging with a tool they have provided in order to actively pursue the rights for our target groups

The responsibility of drawing down the relevant aspects of the African Protocol to local levels is twofold. The State should make budgetary considerations for the domestication of the protocol. Equally important, the state should ensure that the judicial framework is aware of the commitments and state responsibilities that exist within the protocol.

The second aspect of promoting the protocol is the responsibility of civil society. Mobilisation through joint ventures of interest groups to campaign and advocate for the accountability of government is an untapped priority.

The current climate civil society is operating under is the provision of community-strengthening initiatives that include rights education based on the South African constitution and legislation responding to the reduction of poverty and vulnerability to violence.

At the continental level, we as civil society should take the responsibility of promoting a collective African human rights response to the violations that are rampant in countries such as Sudan and the DRC as a parallel process to South Africa’s role in the deliberations. This would promote the utilisation of the African Protocol in substantive ways.

South African civil society has to critically challenge itself on the current levels of engagement and lack of mobilisation in the national and regional arenas.

We rightfully sight lack of sufficient funding or human capacity to participate fully. However, the true irony is that South African civil society’s failure to effectively engage with the African Protocol highlights that the State has played it’s role in setting up the arena for the fight for human rights and we can be accused of letting ourselves down in our fight for human rights.


* Delphine Serumaga is the executive director of People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), South Africa

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

Who needs the Commonwealth?

Tajudeen Abdul Raheem

2007-11-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/44675

The Biennial Commonwealth Summit takes place in Kampala, Uganda 22-24 November amidst the usual controversies that have surrounded these summits whose importance in a world in which Britain is nothing more than post imperial middle power whose claims to global leadership is no longer based on its imperial past but in recent years toadying to the USA (one of its former colonies!) The association of the organization with British colonialism has always been difficult for many radical anti colonialists to accept. However it is significant that apart from the USA that never joined most of Britain’s former colonies chose to join after their independence even countries with radical nationalists and militant anti imperialist governments like Nkrumah’s Ghana or Ghandi’s India. Instead of leaving the organization what has happened is that countries in Africa with tenuous or no direct links to British colonialism like Mozambique, Namibia and Cameroon have either joined or have some associate membership. Rwanda’s application to join has been pending since 1996.

The justification has always been that though these countries were forcibly colonized by Britain that experience has led to a number of shared institutions, histories and above all, English as their official language that could be the bases for technical, political, economic, cultural and diplomatic interface that goes beyond Britain. The Commonwealth, in typical British pragmatism, has been adjusting to the changing fortunes of Britain as a declining imperial power. It has evolved from White British Commonwealth, through British Commonwealth, to now simply, The Commonwealth. It has grown from being simply an adjunct to British diplomatic and political interests into an organization where former colonies can and do strike back and isolate Britain on many issues. Under Margaret Thatcher and her belligerent position in cosying up to Ian Smith (who incidentally died , as the Queen was heading for Uganda , Wednesday 21 November) and his ‘internal settlement’ in 1979 and her ignoble support for the apartheid regime, the British government could not get the support of the majority of the members of the Commonwealth. Indeed in spite of British support apartheid South Africa was expelled from the organization and only resumed membership after the country was liberated from Thatcher’s friends. To the right wing politicians and their media hirelings in Britain the Commonwealth is an anti-British organization therefore they query why Britain had to be providing the large support it gives towards running it.

The Commonwealth has also provided a means for the cheapest form of diplomacy for many poor countries and statelets to also fly their flag. In these countries the Commonwealth’s development cooperation, technical support and cultural exchanges are very crucial in providing capacity building on skills to the nationals and their governments. In these countries the Commonwealth perform much needed and therefore appreciated tasks that the best of UN system wide support do in many countries.

However the good work of the Commonwealth whether through education grants, training for different kinds of professionals, supporting judiciary, etc do not make headlines. One reason is that they are relatively quite modest. The other and more important reason is that the politics of the organization is what interests most people. It is Just like the way many people unfairly write off the UN because of their frustrations with the opportunistic power play in the security Council.

The focus on Commonwealth politics is not a misplaced one though they need to be tempered with due regard to other useful tasks it performs. In many cases I think there is an exaggerated expectation of what the Commonwealth can achieve. It is a talking shop with no real enforcement powers beyond expulsion of erring members. And that option has been rarely used. Zimbabwe withdrew before it could be expelled. But the exit of Zimbabwe has not diminished the controversy around the conflicts in the country within the Commonwealth. It continues to divide the organization with perceptible clear racial lines that pitches the majority members against the old White Commonwealth members (namely Australia, New Zealand, Canada and their mother country, Britain). They take a more hectoring line on Zimbabwe while the African, Caribbean and Asian countries tend to be more conciliatory towards Mugabe. The British simply do not have any moral or political right to lecture anyone about Zimbabwe. Their own inconsistencies also make them vulnerable to charges of multiple standards. The Zimbabwe conflict is parallel to Pakistan’s and the way Britain has been responding to Pakistan’s PERVERSE General Musharav is different from the way they talk to or about Zimbabwe. Why is it that what is good for the goose is suddenly not good for the gander? What has Musharaf lost by being expelled from the Commonwealth? It never affects its relations with London or his biggest backers in Washington? Although British hypocrisy does not mean that President Mugabe is right to be beating up his opponents and muscling the media, it gives his apologists ammunition to clobber opponents as agents of British colonialism and makes it even more difficult for Africans and African leaders in particular to be openly too critical of Uncle Bob and the excesses of his regime.

I thought Gordon Brown was more strategic and smarter than his predecessor, Blair, and would not be as sanctimonious as him but he has proven to be same, same. His threat not to attend the Africa-EU summit in Lisbon next month if Mugabe was invited has isolated him. He will soon discover as Blair did not just in Africa but also in the Commonwealth where even Britain needs friends. He should ask Mckinon, the Commonwealth Secretary General, about his experience at the AU summit in Accra in July. At a Pensioners’ Luncheon with the Leaders he looked on as these retired citizens praised Mugabe and demanded he address them. The wealth has never been common but it is no longer predictably British either. But when would it wean itself from the British Nanny by transforming into an organization that can welcome continued participation of Britain but can also do without it, as and when necessary.

* Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is the deputy director of the UN Millennium Campaign in Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He writes this article in his personal capacity as a concerned pan-Africanist.

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

Africa: 'When Silence is Golden' - Film premier, 3 December

2007-11-22

http://www.article19.org/pdfs/other/silence-golden-flyer.pdf

When Silence is Golden follows the film’s director in her quest to lift the silence on the gold mining activities of a Canadian mining company near a small town in Western Ghana. Through her journey, we meet the inhabitants of the town who, despite government to silence them, cannot hide their anger and are eager to express their grievances.

Review of Africa Blogs

Dibussi Tande

2007-11-22

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/44622

One of the leading topics on the African blogosphere this week is AFRICOM, the United States Africa Command. Crossed Crocodiles reflects the general mood among African bloggers with his argument that AFRICOM has no place in Africa:

“I don't think the greatest immediate danger posed by AFRICOM is from US soldiers and sailors. One of the things that worries me is that I suspect the mercenaries and mercenary corporations are what the US plans to use in Africa, in addition to training African military as US surrogates. These mercenaries may be employees of the US State Department, or some other US government department, as they are in Iraq. Or they may be the employees of giant corporations, such as oil companies. Whatever US objectives, arms and mercenaries can only destabilize. The presence of actual US military personnel may just be window dressing. The dirty work will be done by private armies and private CIAs. Already in the US these are taking over the functions of the military and intelligence. I am hoping a change in US administration may change the direction of this trend, but there are no guarantees.

This view is shared by Africa Speaks who argues that:

“What Africa needs least is U.S. military expansion on the continent (and elsewhere in the world). What Africa needs most is its own mechanism to respond to peacemaking priorities. Fifty years ago, Kwame Nkrumah sounded the clarion call for a “United States of Africa.” One central feature of his call was for an Africa Military High Command. Today, as the African Union deliberates continental governance, there couldn’t be a better time to reject U.S. military expansion and push forward African responses to Africa’s priorities.

Long suffering the effects of militaristic "assistance" from the United States, Liberia would be the worst possible base for AFRICOM. But there are no good locations for such a poorly conceived project. Africa does not need AFRICOM.”

Liberia and Friends blog however, takes a diametrically opposed view and insists that AFRICOM is good not only for Africa but specifically for Liberia:

“Why is it that so many African powers are against the United States setting up its African command on African soil? The answer is simple, African nations, at least those run by dictators, like Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, don't want more Americans, and their democratic ideas, upsetting the status quo…”

It then goes on to make the case for AFRICOM setting up its headquarters in Liberia:

“… coming out of almost two decades of civil war, and with our infrastructure, and economy in shambles… several hundred, or even thousands, of well paid American soldiers and civilians, would work wonders for the economy. And not to mention the huge financial incentive and the creation of thousands of jobs that would come with Africom requests for basing rights.

Another reason we Liberians should welcome Africom is because it would give pause to any future rebel group, or military commanders contemplating a coup.”
Still on the issue of security and western involvement in Africa, Pickin Java explains how western business and political interests use two myths to control oil in the Gulf of Guinea:
1. Business myth: "We are not involved in politics. We just make profits for our shareholders through managing the oil." Reality: Shell and other companies have been intimately involved with Nigerian state figures in creating the type of instability amenable to Shell's control of petroleum production, in order to suck the region dry and thus enrich elite political/economic/military 'shareholders'.

2. Military myth: ". . . in general, U.S. policymakers tend to be extremely well educated and dedicated professionals, earnestly working to advance U.S. interests. . . political and economic freedom, peaceful relations with other states, and respect for human dignity. . ."
Matthew V. Sousa and James J. F. Forest, Oil and Terrorism in the New Gulf: Framing U.S. Energy and Security Policies (Lexington Books, 2006), p. 148-149.

Because the Gulf is filled with dangerous terrorists and criminals that are against everything earnest U.S. policymakers believe in, it is important to prop up strong states with strong militaries to fight this menace. Reality: Provide the steel hand on which the velvet glove of business and politics can be worn. "Terrorists" are those who oppose Shell's, BPs and others' corporate interests.”
Pickin Java concludes by asking “How long until the U.S. finds the right kind of Musharraf for Nigeria?

Afrikaflak tackles another contentious issue, China’s growing economic influence in Africa:
What the Chinese seem to have done [is to] directly cultivate the people – you know, regular Africans. They’re building roads, bridges, buildings, railroads… The Chinese have most likely banked a lot of goodwill this way: ameliorating the standard of living for run-of-the-mill Africans, those people who never feel the direct benefits of debt relief or well catered Friendship Summits or satellites in orbit.
…
The Chinese offer Africans something real and concrete while American (and to a lesser extent, European) promises are abstract, remote even: democracy, participatory government, rule of law – whatever you want to call it. The U.S. says, if you follow through on the first goals, the good stuff will follow. Later. Maybe much later.
The Chinese appeal to Africans’ base needs. This translates simply: If you have enough plastic crap, you won’t care about what junk the Americans peddle. In the end, everyone is happy: the stalwarts who get to remain in power; the family with their new tools to make their lives a little easier; and, the guy at the end of the street schlepping this stuff.”
This Way Please raises a series of questions about the recent agreement between the Congolese and Rwandan governments to disarm Hutu rebels in the DRC:
“Yes, half-a-dozen previous neighbourly agreements and millions of unimpressed citizens and refugees attest to the tiresome political truisms that words are far cheaper than deeds, and promises are only as good as the collective will and capacity to implement them… Numerous questions remain:
• Will the international attention and pressure be sustained, coherent and - crucially - even-handed?
• Is this a prelude to a separate agreement concerning Laurent Nkunda and his companions?
• How much political capital will Presidents Kabila and Kagame be prepared to invest in selling this to their hard-line supporters, interested allies and long-suffering, suspicious electorates in affected areas? (After issuing various uncompromising ultimatums against Nkunda, Kabila does not appear to have left himself much room for manoeuvre.)
• How much control does either President have over what goes on in the Kivu? (Some soldiers up the road from me are shooting in the air as I write.)
• Who would fill the vacuum if the rebel groups disband, and how will they behave?
• Who will listen to, inform and look out for the rural population and less familiar minorities of the Kivus?
• Who will stand up to challenge hate speech and divisive misinformation from politicians in DRC and the Diaspora?
• Will the Security Council issue firm, unambiguous instructions to MONUC to end confusion over interpretations of its mandate?”


* Dibussi Tande, a writer and activist from Cameroon, produces the blog Scribbles from the Den, www.dibussi.com

Tanzania and the Protocol of the Rights of Women in Africa

Usu Mallya

2007-11-22

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/broadcasts/podcasts.php

Usu Mallya, the Executive Director of the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), talks to George Njogopa about Tanzania and the Protocol of the Rights of Women in Africa, which the country ratified in March this year. She applauds the political commitment shown by the government but says it now needs to make sure that Tanzania’s laws comply with the protocol and that women are made aware of their rights.

Global: China and Zimbabwe: Is there a future?

2007-11-22

http://www.africafiles.org/atissueezine.asp#art1

Zimbabwe and China have relations dating back to the southern African country’s 1970s liberation struggle when Beijing provided arms and training to the black nationalist movement fighting the white minority government of Ian Smith. The friendship was rekindled when President Robert Mugabe, shunned by former friends in the West over the political crisis in his country, adopted a "Look East" policy forging stronger ties with countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and India.

Zimbabwe: Mbeki due in Zimbabwe for talks

2007-11-22

http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/13250

South African President Thabo Mbeki was due in Zimbabwe for talks, as part of his mediation efforts in the political crisis in the southern African country, his office said in a statement. The South African leader was appointed by the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) group to mediate in the longstanding political stand-off between the government and the opposition in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe: Seven injured as police crush NCA demo in Harare

2007-11-22

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news211107/ncademo211107.htm

The National Constitutional Assembly say 7 of their members were seriously injured on Wednesday after police crushed their demonstration in Harare’s city centre. The group was marching to Parliament in an attempt to denounce constitutional amendment 18 which harmonised presidential and parliamentary elections. Teera Musiya, one of their activists, sustained a deep cut on the head and blood was said to be ‘gushing’ out as he was ferried inside an NCA truck.

Africa: SMS Campaign: Speak out! Stand out! Commit to preventing violence against women

2007-11-22

http://www.wougnet.org/Alerts/speakoutgenderviolence.html

With your participation, WOUGNET in collaboration with Womensnet, South Africa and APC-Africa-Women (AAW), will be conducting an SMS-based campaign. The idea is to send out an SMS on each of the 16 Days of Activism that will allow individuals and organisations to Speak Out, Stand Out, and Commit to preventing Violence against Women. We would like you to send your slogan/message which highlights your resistance to violence against women.

Global: World Bank, IMF charged with short-changing women

2007-11-22

http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=3392

Activists are pushing the World Bank and IMF to change the lens through which they view gender's role in development. Although women are the majority of the world's poor, activists say, the institutions overlook that when influencing economies.

Ghana: Police scale up violence unit to prevent abuse of women and children

2007-11-22

http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=946

As in countries throughout Africa and around the world, the abuse of women and children continues to be a challenge for authorities in Ghana. Recognizing traditional police forces were ill equipped to deal with such cases, the Ghana Police Services established the national DOVVSU unit more than a decade ago.

Global: International day for the elimination of violence against women

2007-11-22

http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=1064

The right to live free of violence and discrimination is the right of every human being. Yet, as we commemorate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, this right is being violated on a massive and systematic scale. Violence against women continues in every part of the world and it limits social and economic progress and harms families and communities.

Africa: Human rights watchdogs urge action against enforced disappearance

2007-11-23

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75437

Human rights activists who gathered in Brazzaville have called on African states to do more to prevent the enforced disappearance of citizens and to end the impunity that often accompanies such crimes. Representatives from the International Human Rights Federation (FIDH) and other NGOs were meeting in the Republic of Congo capital ahead of the 42nd session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which runs until 28 November.

DRC: Inquiry opens into sexual abuse allegations against peacekeeper

2007-11-22

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24703

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has announced that an independent investigation has begun into allegations of violent sexual abuse by a soldier serving with the force in the troubled northeast of the country. Investigators from the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) are already on the ground in Bunia, the capital of Ituri district, to conduct the probe, according to a press release issued by the mission (known as MONUC).

Guinea: Probe into abuses by security forces fizzles

2007-11-23

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75461

A planned investigation into alleged civilian killings by Guinean security forces is faltering as lawyers have suspended their participation and rights groups are looking elsewhere for a means to seek justice for victims. Citizens and international observers are worried that if people's grievances are not addressed then the upcoming anniversary of January's deadly military crackdown could trigger more protests and violence.

Malawi: Attitudes to child labour changing

2007-11-23

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75384

Despite laws forbidding the use of child labour - often viewed as the norm and an important source of income - enforcement has been anything but strict in Malawi, until recently. Since March 2007 up to 480 children have been 'rescued' from tobacco estates in the district of Mangochi, once an important centre of slave trading on the southern banks of Lake Malawi.

North Africa: Maghreb forum targets judicial independence, human rights

2007-11-22

http://tinyurl.com/2tab2f

Dozens of delegates from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania met recently in Rabat to discuss the role national human rights institutions should play in guaranteeing better judiciary independence for Arab countries. Representatives from the United Nations development programme, the Arab League and the Islamic Organisation for Education, Science and Culture also attended the November 12th seminar.

Rwanda: Report done on France's alleged role in genocide

2007-11-22

http://tinyurl.com/yv2gh2

A special Rwandan commission handed over on Friday a 500-page report on France's alleged role in the country's 1994 genocide, the commission's president said. "We have achieved the first task and we will wait for the president of the republic to pronounce on the veracity of this inquiry so that it can be made public," said commission president Jean de Dieu Mucyo.

Somalia: Exodus continues as IDPs surpass one million

2007-11-23

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75430

Despite a lull in fighting in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, hundreds of families are still fleeing the city, joining what the UN has estimated to be one million displaced people (IDPs). "Many families are leaving because they don’t believe the current break in the fighting will last," a civil society source in Mogadishu, who requested anonymity, told IRIN on 21 November.

Liberia: Government grants citizenship to 2,600 Sierra Leone refugees

2007-11-20

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/PANA-78WJ4K?OpenDocument

Liberia is granting citizenship to 2,600 Sierra Leonean refugees who chose to stay in the country after the end of a 10-year civil war back home, a government official has said. The refugees, who will go through a process of naturalisation, started receiving portions of farmland this week being dished out at Bensonville, 60 kilometres (40 miles) northeast of the capital.

Global: Amdani Juma anti-deportation campaign

2007-11-22

http://www.irr.org.uk/2007/november/ha000018.html

An anti-deportation campaign has been launched in aid of Amdani Juma, a Burundian refugee who has been refused indefinite leave to remain in the UK. Amdani, a torture survivor, came to the UK in March 2003 as a UN - sponsored asylum seeker and was granted humanitarian protection. Many of his family and friends were tortured and some were murdered. Many others like him were forced into exile. Amdani settled in Nottingham and worked at the Nottingham and Notts Refugee Forum (NNRF) for two years.

East Africa: Somali refugees on hunger strike

2007-11-22

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7105527.stm

Some 30 Somali refugees held at Nairobi airport awaiting deportation have gone on hunger strike, a rights group says. Their protest comes one day after Kenya flew 18 Somalis back to Mogadishu, despite pleas that they were fleeing the fighting there.

DRC: Nearby fighting mars opening of UNHCR field office in North Kivu

2007-11-23

http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/474588aa4.html

The UN refugee agency has opened a new field office in Rutshuru, a district capital swamped by displaced Congolese in the volatile province of North Kivu. But the opening of the bureau on Wednesday was marred by a fresh outbreak of fighting close to the centre of Rutshuru town that forced thousands of people to flee their homes in search of safety. The conflict set back plans to launch new camp management and coordination operations in the area.

Malawi: All refugees and asylum seekers registered

2007-11-23

http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/4745bbc74.html

The UN refugee agency and the government of Malawi are conducting a registration of all the residents in Dzaleka refugee camp to improve the protection, management and assistance to refugees and asylum seekers in the country. "This registration is a vital part of helping refugees," said Matewos Beraki, acting head of the UNHCR office in Malawi.

Africa: Agreement to regulate flows across Mediterranean

2007-11-23

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=40131

Everyone agrees: migration flows from the developing South to the industrialised North must be regulated to curb the appalling trafficking of human beings across the Mediterranean sea. The 35 countries that took part in a two-day government meeting in Portugal agreed on everything that must be done to prevent especially the trafficking of women, who often fall prey to prostitution and sexual exploitation networks, and to strengthen the channels of legal migration.

Senegal: Violent strike rocks Dakar

2007-11-23

http://www.afrol.com/articles/27308

Senegalese police fired tear gas to contain thousands of protesting street sellers barred from selling in the streets of the capital Dakar on Wednesday. The irate protesters invoked anti-government sentiments, threw stones, burnt vehicles and smashed car windows. The strikers polluted the air with smoke of dark clouds.

Ghana: Teachers demonstrate in solidarity with demoted colleague

2007-11-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/44572

A group of teachers in the Tema Municipality in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana on November 15, 2007 threatened to embark on an indefinite strike, should the Ghana Education Service (GES) fail to reinstate Helen Abrokwa, former head teacher of Padmore Street Primary School who has been demoted for granting interview to the media.
Media Foundation for West Africa

A group of teachers in the Tema Municipality in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana on November 15, 2007 threatened to embark on an indefinite strike, should the Ghana Education Service (GES) fail to reinstate Helen Abrokwa, former head teacher of Padmore Street Primary School who has been demoted for granting interview to the media.
On September 18 the GES, in a letter signed by the Tema Municipal Director of Education, transferred and demoted Abrokwa, who had had more than 30 years of experience in teaching to leave her administrative position and resume classroom duties for disclosing the low enrolment at the start of the new academic year to the media.
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s correspondent reported the teachers issued the threat during a protest march to demand Mrs. Abrokwa’s unconditional reinstatement. The protesters, about 500, also condemned the action of the GES, describing it as a violation of the terms and conditions of the service.
The transfer and subsequent demotion of Abrokwa followed an earlier threat against another education professional. The GES nearly transferred James Okaija Dinsey, the Greater Accra Regional Director of Education, for speaking to the media.

Following the demotion, there have been several calls for the GES to rescind their decision but to no avail.

MFWA is deeply concerned about GES’s refusal to reinstate the teacher.

Kwame Karikari, Prof.
Executive Director MFWA Accra
Tel: 233-21-24 24 70
Fax: 233-21-22 10 84
Email: mfwa@africaonline.com.gh
Website : www.mediafound.org

Kenya: Surprise defeats in primaries

2007-11-23

http://tinyurl.com/2t2fab

Wangari Maathai, a Nobel laureate, and Chris Murungaru, a former interior minister, have been surprise losers in parliamentary primaries in Kenya. Maathai and Murungaru were competing to represent the ruling party, the Party of National Unity (PNU). After the losing the vote to run for the Tetu ticket in central Kenya, Maathai said on Sunday that she would defect to a smaller party.

Southen Africa: Improving electoral quality in the region

2007-11-22

http://appablog.wordpress.com/

Heads of the Electoral Commissions of the SADC countries, representatives of the SADC Secretariat and the Pan African Parliament, and other stakeholders and experts will meet in Lusaka, Zambia from 28 –29 November to evaluate elections and the electoral systems, and to map a way forward in order to improve the quality of elections in the region.

Algeria: Voters apathetic amid claims of election rigging

2007-11-22

http://tinyurl.com/33yry2

Widespread apathy exhibited by Algerian voters during campaigning for local elections has led the Ministry of the Interior and 23 participating political parties to trade accusations of corruption and blame for a potential boycott.

Ghana: Auditors urged to change approach

2007-11-22

http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/13200

President John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana has challenged auditors to fashion out multifaceted approaches to combat the nature of the threat posed by fraud and economic crime, which had the ability to erase gains made by government at improving public sector financial management.

Africa: Mbeki urges substantial reforms of IMF, World Bank

2007-11-22

http://www.forbes.com/afxnewslimited/feeds/afx/2007/11/18/afx4351795.html

Thabo Mbeki, the president of South Africa, put his weight behind efforts to reform the IMF and the World Bank substantially. Addressing the G20 finance ministers and central bankers, Mbeki said the world's financial system, laid out in the Breton Woods arrangements after the war, have only served the minority interests of the world's leading economic powers. 'For a very long period we have had a multilateral system which in reality has been dominated of the many by the few,' he said.

Africa: Mandelson attacks South Africa and Nigeria over EPAs

2007-11-23

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=40137

Africa’s largest nations are trying to block the signing of the economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with the European Union (EU), Peter Mandelson, EU trade commissioner, has claimed. Speaking to members of the European Parliament, Mandelson strongly criticised the positions taken by Nigeria and South Africa in the EPA negotiations between the EU and nearly 80 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

East Africa: Officials confused about pros and cons of EPA

2007-11-23

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=40129

The news that the ministers of the East African Community (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi) are on the verge of signing an economic partnership agreement with the European Union (EU) has been received with mixed reactions by government officials from these very same countries. The East African Community (EAC) ministers had agreed with their EU counterparts last week that they would sign a framework agreement on trade in goods, market access, development cooperation and fisheries by no later than November 23 this year.

Africa: How should hotel industry practices contribute to pro-poor tourism?

2007-11-23

http://www.eldis.org/go/country-profiles&id=34174&type=Document

The potential for tourism as a strategy for poverty-reduction in Africa will not be realised as long as the industry still operates in relative isolation from its host communities. Multinational hotel chains have a limited impact on local social-economic development as a result of the widespread use of subcontractors and casual labour. However, where employment is offered locally, hotel chains usually offer reasonable wages and working conditions according to this paper published by the National Labour and Economic Development Institute of South Africa.

Africa: African Science Initiative launched

2007-11-23

http://tinyurl.com/27j29u

Syngenta and the Royal Society of Chemistry have announced the creation of the Pan Africa Chemistry Network to help promote the economic and social development of the continent. The Network, which will eventually span the whole continent, is being established initially in Kenya. Its purpose is to connect African chemists more effectively and to enable them to achieve greater levels of innovation and scientific development.

Africa: AIDS the primary cause of death in Africa - UNAIDS

2007-11-22

http://data.unaids.org/pub/EPISlides/2007/071119_epi_pressrelease_en.pdf

New data show global HIV prevalence—the percentage of people living with HIV—has levelled off and that the number of new infections has fallen, in part as a result of the impact of HIV programmes. However, in 2007 33.2 million [30.6 – 36.1 million] people were estimated to be living with HIV, 2.5 million [1.8 – 4.1 million] people became newly infected and 2.1 million [1.9 – 2.4 million] people died of AIDS.

Sudan: Scores die in fever outbreak

2007-11-23

http://tinyurl.com/2lo9je

Rift Valley Fever has killed 92 people in Sudan since reports of an outbreak surfaced a week ago and it is still spreading, the World Health Organisation (WHO) says. The UN body has started holding daily meetings to monitor the spread of the disease, which has no effective human vaccine and can kill as many as half of those who contract it.

Africa: New field test advances Ebola diagnoses

2007-11-23

http://tinyurl.com/3bdh8h

Researchers have developed a rapid, cheap and reliable field test to detect two strains of the Ebola virus. The study, carried out by Canadian, Congolese, Dutch, Gabonese and German scientists, was published on 15 November in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. In 30 minutes, the test detects viral proteins of Zaire and Sudan Ebola virus from samples of patients' urine and serum using an 'immunofiltration assay'. The samples are chemically deactivated to prevent infection to workers.

Ghana: Malaria cripples health budget

2007-11-23

http://www.afrol.com/articles/27317

The cost of malaria treatment is crippling Ghana's health budget, Ghana’s Health Minister, Major (retired) Courage Quashigah, told an annual health summit in the capital Accra on Tuesday. The cost of treating malaria this year amounted to US $772.4 million. This amount that equalled to the Ghana's entire health budget for 2008, represents 10% of the country's entire Gross Domestic Product for 2006.

Zimbabwe: Workplace AIDS programmes feel the pinch

2007-11-23

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75459

Zimbabwe's seven-year economic crisis has forced private companies to make some difficult decisions about workplace programmes for HIV-positive staff. How do you provide life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) medication, care and support, when you're struggling to keep your business afloat? "We are meeting real challenges in carrying out HIV/AIDS programmes at workplaces, and this inevitably comes from the macroeconomic problems that the country is going though," Nyika Mahachi, the HIV/AIDS programme advisor at the Zimbabwe AIDS Prevention Support Organisation (ZAPSO), told IRIN/PlusNews.

Swaziland: Business and labour fight AIDS together

2007-11-23

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75349

Ten years ago, attempts by businesses to talk about AIDS in the workplace were enough to make workers down tools. But after a decade in which Swaziland's AIDS epidemic has devastated its workforce, labour and management are finally starting to work together to reduce the spread of the disease. "AIDS is as much an economic problem as a health problem in Swaziland," said Musa Hlope, former executive director of the Federation of Swaziland Employers and Swaziland Chamber of Commerce (FSE/SCC).

Mozambique: Mozambique needs 100 000 teachers by 2015

2007-11-23

http://tinyurl.com/2u6mbu

Mozambique will need to employ more than 100 000 teachers by 2015 in order to meet United Nations' millennium development goals for education, national media reported on Thursday. Radio Mozambique said in a report - quoting a study done by Action Aid International in Maputo - that the country needed to employ 109 000 teachers by 2015 in its primary schools to attain a ratio of 40 learners per teacher.

Kenya: MIRP - Imporving the lives of marginalised peoples

2007-11-20

http://www.mirp.org/

The Maasai Integral Resource Program [mirp] have two core programs - Education and Conservation. In education, mirp supports ten primary schools with a population of 4058 students by improving the infrastructure like classrooms, desks and teaching materials and also supports 86 vulnerable children [24 of them orpahns]. In Conservation mirp is involved in wildlfie security to stop poaching and bush meat trade as well as cultural tourism where guests stay with hosts
families at a fee.

Lesotho: A desire to learn stifled by hunger

2007-11-23

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75400

The hunger of the seemingly healthy and well-groomed school students at Moruthane Secondary School, about 80km south of Lesotho's capital, Maseru, is at first not apparent, but as the morning progresses they become listless and their concentration lapses. Their teacher, Nigerian national Yemi Ajijedidun, 32, told IRIN, "They are not bad students; they are bright, but they are hungry."

South Africa: Tutu hits out at church on attitude to gays

2007-11-23

http://www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=religion&id=1759

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu has strongly criticised the Anglican Church for its stance on homosexuals. In an interview with BBC Radio 4, the Archbishop accused the Church of being “obsessed” with the issue of gay priests, while ignoring pressing global needs such as poverty and HIV. "Our world is facing problems - poverty, HIV and Aids - a devastating pandemic, and conflict," said Archbishop Tutu, 76.

Nigeria: 'Anti-gay' Nigeria loses bid to host commonwealth games

2007-11-23

http://www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=nigeria&id=1757

The Commonwealth Games Federation, a multinational sporting event in which some 5,000 athletes from 53 former British colonies, the United Kingdom and Mozambique compete every four years, has chosen Glasgow, Scotland, as the host city for the 2014 games. Nigeria’s Abuja had been considered a strong contender to host the event, but the country’s homophobic policies coupled with questions raised by the African nation’s gay activists about ongoing persecution of gay and lesbian Nigerians seem to have derailed the city’s bid.

Somalia: Somalis launch public gay site

2007-11-23

http://www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=somalia&id=1758

A group of Somalis wrote their names in the genesis book of history at the weekend by launching the first-ever gay website [www.somaligaycommunity.org]. The Project Manager of Somali Gay Community in the United Kingdom, Murad, said the site, which aims to woo Somalis the world over, is designed to bridge information drought surrounding gay affairs in a purely conservative and Muslim society like Somalia.

Africa: The 'forgotten continent' in climate fight

2007-11-23

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=325275

Africa is the "forgotten continent" in the fight against climate change and needs help to cope with projected water shortages and declining crop yields, the United Nations's top climate change official said on Sunday. Yvo de Boer said that damage projected for Africa by the UN climate panel would justify tougher world action to slow global warming even without considering likely disruptions to other parts of the planet.

Africa: Zimbabwe pioneers commercial biodiesel processing

2007-11-22

http://www.sardc.net/Editorial/Newsfeature/07481107.htm

Zimbabwe has launched the first commercial biodiesel processing plant in southern Africa, underlining the region’s resolve to move to cleaner and renewable sources of energy. This comes amid concerns about the impact of fossil fuels (coal, petroleum and natural gas) on global warming as well as depletion of the world’s petroleum reserves.

East Africa: Lessons learned from community-based climate change adaptation projects

2007-11-23

http://www.eldis.org/go/country-profiles&id=34262&type=Document

Across south-eastern Africa, organisations are developing and implementing projects specifically designed to support adaptation to climate change, many at the community level. This paper published by Climate Change and the International Institute for Sustainable Development reports on a workshop that brought together representatives of a number of these organisations to share experiences and encourage the establishment of a more strongly linked community of practice in south-eastern Africa.

South Africa: Urban land for South Africa’s poor

2007-11-23

http://www.eldis.org/go/country-profiles&id=34135&type=Document

Why do poor South Africans have a hard time accessing urban land? This report published by the Southern African Regional Poverty Network analyses the perspectives and experiences of civil society organisations (CSOs) whose aims are to increase the poor’s access to urban land.

Botswana: Bushmen – back to court?

2007-11-23

http://www.survival-international.org/news/2683

Bushmen in Botswana have announced they plan to return to court within a matter of weeks if the government continues to prevent them from returning home. The Gana and Gwi Bushmen were evicted from their lands in the central Kalahari in 2002, but last year won a landmark court case affirming their right to go home.

Egypt: Bloggers plan online festival of torture videos

2007-11-23

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=325466

Egyptian bloggers, long at the forefront of exposing rights abuses, are planning an online festival of torture videos to run alongside the 31st Cairo Film Festival, local media reported on Tuesday. The parallel festival is the brainchild of a blogger named Walid, the Egyptian Mail reported, and will feature "controversial acts of torture allegedly committed by the security authorities".

Nigeria: Outrage over shut-down of newspaper

2007-11-22

http://www.ifjafrique.org/anglais/index.php?page=lire&id=410

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the move by management at the Guardian newspaper to end a 12-day strike by shutting down the newspaper and dismissing all its employees. The journalists and the other workers at the paper have been on strike since November 8 after negotiations with managers over a pay raise and better working conditions stalled. The Guardian online and print editions have not been published since then.

Somalia: President asked to clarify government’s position on press freedom

2007-11-23

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=24400

Mogadishu mayor Mohamed Omar Habeb’s demands that news media and journalists must register with the authorities in order to be able work in the capital are a violation of the Transitional Federal Government’s undertakings, Reporters Without Borders said in a letter to President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed. Mayor Habeb said on 14 November that “all the media” including “representatives of foreign media” would have to register with the authorities “within 30 days in order to continue working in Mogadishu, otherwise they will not be authorised.”

Sudan: Ten jailed over editor murder

2007-11-23

http://tinyurl.com/2rvp3y

Ten Darfuri men have been sentenced to death in Sudan for beheading a prominent journalist, legal sources have said. Mohammed Taha, editor-in-chief of the Al-Wifaq newspaper, was kidnapped from his home in September last year and his body found the next morning in a suburb in southern Khartoum.

Zimbabwe: Newspaper executive arrested

2007-11-23

http://africa.oneworld.net/article/view/155405/1/

The chief executives of the Financial Gazette and Zimind Publishers Jacob Chisese and Raphael Khumalo respectively, were arrested for allegedly increasing cover prices without the approval of the National Incomes and Pricing Commission. They were questioned over the price increases at Harare Central Police Station where they explained that the high costs of newsprint, film, printing plates and fuel necessitated the increases.

DRC: UN to help government disarm dissidents by force

2007-11-23

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=325685

United Nations peacekeepers will help the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) army disarm eastern dissident groups by force in violence-plagued North Kivu province, UN and Congolese commanders said. Army soldiers and fighters loyal to renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda clashed again on Thursday a few kilometres from Rutshuru, where the dissidents attacked an army base a day earlier and forced thousands of civilians to flee.

Horn of Africa: Looming threat of renewed war casts pall over Eritrea

2007-11-23

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=325625

Holding up a grubby, worn banknote, the ex-rebel fighter points proudly to an image famous across Eritrea -- defiant liberation soldiers raising a flag on a mountain peak.It's 10 years this month since Africa's youngest nation enthusiastically launched its own currency in November 1997, the nakfa.

Uganda: LRA to pursue peace talks

2007-11-23

http://tinyurl.com/2xodxu

Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army says it will push ahead with talks to end two decades of conflict with the government despite expulsion of some fighters from the group. Godfrey Ayoo, an LRA spokesman, said several fighters had been dismissed after being found guilty of working with unnamed "external hostile forces" to destabilise the movement.

DRC: Security Council welcomes DRC-Rwanda agreement on threats to peace

2007-11-22

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24751

The Security Council has commended the recent agreement of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda to work together against threats to peace and stability in the region, calling it “an important milestone towards the definitive settlement of the problem of illegal armed groups” operating in the turbulent far east of the DRC.

Somalia: Nomination of new prime minister hailed

2007-11-22

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24765

Welcoming the nomination of Nur Hassan Hussein as the new Prime Minister of Somalia, the senior United Nations envoy to the country has voiced hope that this move would pave the way for unity. In a statement, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah praised the concerted efforts of members of the Transitional Federal Institutions (TFIs) that led to the decision and said he was pleased that the process was carried out in a peaceful manner.

Africa: Make ICTs more accessible

2007-11-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/44672

The 5th International Conference on Open Access ended last week in Bagamoyo, Tanzania after successful deliberations. Leadership, ICT infrastructure for development, ICT infrastructure, M-Applications and ICT in business were some of the issues that were discussed at the conference.
Highway Africa News Agency

The 5th International Conference on Open Access ended last week in Bagamoyo, Tanzania after successful deliberations.

Leadership, ICT infrastructure for development, ICT infrastructure, M-Applications and ICT in business were some of the issues that were discussed at the conference.

It was also observed that the translation of policy to meet the demands of ICT and leadership is often problematic due to obstacles that can be attributed to human capacity, financial resources, institutional arrangements, political will and appropriate leadership.

Speakers agreed that there is need to engage politicians in dialogue on ICT4D and to involve all players in the debate including the private sector, civil society and government, while building awareness of obstacles.

There is also a need to share lessons learned on ICT policy formulation, implementation mechanisms and structural review and update, particularly with countries that do not have a national ICT policy.

ICT and development actors should engage in bottom-up and action-oriented activities, which can trigger top-down changes from policy makers.

The conference also observed that ICT is a tool to enhance community development and socio-economic and that governments must do more to engage better with citizens, the private sector, public servants, and in providing more cost-effective services through e-Government.

There is an urgent need to manage political risk and other non-technical issues which hold up increased and better investment in ICT infrastructure and to create a critical mass of understanding and sense of urgency in rural and disadvantaged communities of the opportunities that ICTs offers.

Lack of electricity with no cost-effective alternatives in both rural and urban areas hamper community access to ICTs. There was also agreement that the current debate on undersea cables should be widened to include the concerns of communities and other private stakeholders.

Accordingly, there is an urgent need to roll out adequate, affordable and accessible backbone infrastructure through public-private partnerships and universal access funds.

As far as M-Applications and ICT in business are concerned, it was observed that African entrepreneurs are innovating rapidly, creating remarkable ICT solutions. However, considerable constraints in access to finance, over-or inappropriate regulation, lack of business advisory support, etc. exist. Solutions involving business incubation, institutions of higher learning, knowledge and technology parks, etc should be investigated.

The conference confirmed a major shortage in numbers and breadth of skills of qualified and experienced ICT personnel in Africa, which hampers socio-economic development.

It was also observed that mobile service providers are the new incumbents, reaching more communities than the Internet, computers or even landline telephones. This 'last mile' connection offers great opportunities for business and other applications.

It was noted that open source affords increased opportunities for locally developing sustainable solutions, which satisfy local and community needs.

There is also a need to converge ICT applications across technology, legal and country boundaries requiring new and proactive regulatory perspectives.

The participants also suggested that local applications and content should be made readily and easily accessible through local means.

The next conference on Open Access takes place in Malawi in November 2008.

Africa: e-waste recycling - How to approach the subject systematically

2007-11-20

http://www.elearning-africa.com/newsportal/english/news90.php

The dumping of old PCs in Africa is a flourishing trade. Recycling in industrial countries is quite expensive, and this has made disposing of European and American scrap in African lands a lucrative activity for many racketeers. Despite the Basel Convention’s prohibition of international waste transfer, untold numbers of containers stuffed with old computers and components are shipped to the Continent daily – with the majority unfit for service and thus destined for dumping alleys, rivers or rubbish heaps.

Global: Google awards for "Mobile For Good" android applications

2007-11-22

http://mobileactive.org/android-for-good-challenge

Google and the Open Handset Alliance's open platform has released its software developer kit (SDK) and issues a mobile application challenge that includes a call for applications for humanitarian benefit and economic development. The challenge will issue a total of $10 million USD, initially in a first phase that will award $25,000 each to 50 applications received by March 3rd, 2008.

East Africa: 80 Percent of computer products fake

2007-11-23

http://africa.oneworld.net/article/view/155404/1/

Up to 80 per cent of computer consumable products on sale in East Africa could be fake, a major regional distributor with branches in four countries has claimed. Among the most affected are the HP brand of toners and cartridges, according to Red Dot Kenya country manager Asif Saroya. Red Dot is a distributor of computers and related accessories with offices in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

Global: EU Fundamental Rights Agency's consultative conference - travel bursaries

2007-11-22

http://fra.europa.eu/fra/index.php

EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) will organize a consultative conference for civil society stakeholders on the setting up of the Fundamental Rights Platform on 10 – 11 December in Brussels. This conference will end FRA’s consultations on the subject that started shortly after the launch of the Agency in April by an open website consultation. FRA will be able to cover the costs of participation of some of the participating organizations.

Ghana: e-Learning Africa call for proposals

2007-11-20

http://www.elearning-africa.com/proposals.php

The 3rd International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training will take place from May 28 to 30, 2008 in Accra, Ghana. eLearning Africa is the premier gathering place for all experts and stakeholders engaged or interested in ICT-based education, training and development on the African continent. Everyone concerned with eLearning in Africa is welcome to share and learn. We encourage practitioners and academics engaged in an African context to apply by submitting a proposal. Deadline for receipt of all proposals is Friday, December 7, 2007.

Global: Unified models of economy and ecology - summer school

2007-11-22

http://www.twnside.org.sg/title2/wto.info/twninfo110723.htm

The European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE), the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) and the Venice International University (VIU) are pleased to announce their annual European Summer School in Resource and Environmental Economics for postgraduate students. The 2008 Summer School will take place from the 6th to the 12th of July, at the VIU campus on the Island of San Servolo, in Venice, located just in front of St. Mark’s Square. The theme of this Summer School is Space in Unified Models of Economy and Ecology. Deadline for application: February 1st, 2008.

Africa: Campaigner (2 posts), Zimbabwe and Nigeria - Amnesty International

2007-11-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/44575

Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of volunteers and professionals standing up for human rights. Independent of any government, ideology, economic interest or religion, we have more than two million supporters in over 150 countries. AI is currently recruited to fill two campaigner positions in the Africa programme, based in Zimbabwe and Nigeria. The deadline for applications is 28 November 2007.
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
JOIN THE FIGHT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of volunteers and professionals standing up for human rights. Independent of any government, ideology, economic interest or religion, we have more than two million supporters in over 150 countries. Our purpose is to research, campaign and take action to effect change and protect individuals wherever rights, justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.
The following positions are within The International Secretariat - AI's global centre for research, campaigning, legal, lobbying and membership work. It's here where Researchers and Campaigners work hand-in-hand in highly motivated and dedicated teams to develop strategies in the fight for Human Rights.

CAMPAIGNERS (2 POSTS)
AFRICA PROGRAMME: ZIMBABWE (X1) & NIGERIA (X1)
£26,810*
LONDON WC1

The role of Campaigners is to devise and implement a mixture of activities inspiring and mobilising people to take action by formulating clear, focussed and achievable medium to long term strategies. Working closely with other AI departments such as Media and Campaigns Programme, you will sometimes go on overseas missions for research and campaign activities.

A proven campaigner who's committed to human rights, you will combine a creative, yet pragmatic approach with excellent communication skills, particularly written and presentational. You should have a sound knowledge of the specific region, employing your sensitivity to their culture and customs when devising campaign strategies. A good working knowledge of the language will be an advantage.

* We offer an attractive worldwide relocation package plus other benefits.
Please quote REF: AFR/07/17

For further information about these and our other current vacancies, and to apply online, please visit our website or fax us on +44 (0) 20 7413 5822 or send an A4 SAE (42p) to Amnesty International, International Secretariat, The Recruitment Team, HR Programme, 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 0DW.
Closing date: 28 November 2007. CVs will not be accepted.

http://web.amnesty.org/jobs/index/06112007-AFR0717

LIBERATE FROM INJUSTICE
Join us, speak out for human rights: http://www.amnesty.org/actnow

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