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Pambazuka News Appeal

2007-12-14

Firoze Manji and Mukoma Wa Ngugi

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/45035

Pambazuka News needs your financial support.

This year we were told by a small loyal family foundation that, due to their own budgetary constraints, they will no longer continue to fund Pambazuka News. In addition, a major US foundation that provided core funding for Pambazuka News over the last two years did not renew their grant owing to a shift in funding priorities. The future of Pambazuka News is now at stake.

Pambazuka News, only seven years old this December, already has an estimated readership of 500,000. We have published more than 470 authors and 41,000 articles, news stories and announcements, 100 blog reviews and carried nearly 30 podcasts – all freely available on the website (http://www.pambazuka.org).

Believing we should be in constant dialogue with you, we have published more than 1000 reader letters and some 200 online comments (many of them articles in their own right). And since 2006, we have been publishing a French language edition (http://www.pambazuka.org/fr). We have also published six books on key issues facing Africa such as African women’s rights and China’s growing influence in Africa.

Pambazuka News has played a central role in a wide range of campaigns, including the Protocol on the Rights of Women, media and freedom of expression, and 16 days of activism against gender violence. In 2006, we supported the establishment of the African Union Monitor initiative to enable civil society organisations to engage the African Union in policy dialogue, provided daily updates at the AU Monitor website (http://www.aumonitor.org), and published a special issue on union government.

As one of our contributors wrote: ‘Pambazuka News has, in the short time of its existence, carved a niche for itself as an important forum where Africans talk frankly among themselves and reflect on the condition of their continent and its place in the global order.” As a result, for the third year running, we were voted as one of the ‘Top 10 who are changing the world of Internet and Politics’.

The demand for Pambazuka News continues to grow. We want to make Pambazuka News available in Portuguese and Arabic. We want to produce a printed edition in order to make Pambazuka News available to those without Internet access. We want to establish an award for young writers, artists and activists who have made significant contributions to the cause of social justice in Africa. We want to establish a Pan African Fellowship Fund to develop the future champions of social justice in Africa.

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Firoze Manji and Mukoma wa Ngugi
Co-Editors
Pambazuka News






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The routes and possibilities of a South - South subversive globalization: Africa and Brazil

2007-12-11

Jacques Depelchin

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/44949

Jacques Depelchin reflects on the growing economic, political and cultural relationship between Brazil and the Africa and urges for a solidarity from below that is cognizant of black revolutionary history.


Almost everyone knows about Brazilian football, especially Pelé; but, it is a fair bet that a very tiny percentage of the same people will know about one of the foremost intellectuals of Brazil in the 20th century: Milton Santos (MS), winner in 1994 of the Vautrin Lud prize given to the most outstanding geographer (sometimes known as the nobel prize for geography). Others have described him as the Noam Chomsky of Brazil. One could go on with the accolades. Thanks to a recent documentary (directed by Silvio Tendler) on and around his ideas, MS’ reputation (1925-2001) is likely to gain greater recognition among Brazilians as they begin to realize how far ahead his visionary understanding of humanity’s plight and challenges was.

This is not an essay on MS, it is an encouragement to those who already know him or of him and those who do not, to get to know him better. It is also an appeal to those who have the wherewithal to contact the film maker and make it available in other languages, including Kiswahili since he did teach in the geography department of the University of Dar es Salaam in the mid-seventies.

The main reason for this essay is to reflect on the growing convergence (economic, political and cultural) between Brazil and the Africa which is not delimited by its geographical borders. To paraphrase MS’ view: surely, another kind of globalization is not only possible, but a must if humanity is going to be born [1]. Inexorably, it will be thought and led by the poor, or the Wretched of the Earth, as Franz Fanon long ago, saw it coming. Will African intellectuality join them or prefer to carry on their mimicking of the West?

1. Mimicking or thinking? 1804 or 184?

In one of his interviews (and in the documentary), MS lamented the fact that most Brazilian intellectuals were more interested in copying what is happening in Europe or in the USA, rather than thinking from where they are, where they have come from and where they would like to go. Calling it intellectual laziness, he pointed out that it is easier for people to consume than to produce. Obviously, he is not the first to have said so [2], the question however, for all thinking Africans, as we enter the era of 50th anniversaries of Independence, is what happened after Independence? Is it something one could reasonably describe as an event? One which could or should have mobilized fidelity to what it meant? Were they events on the same scale as other previous emancipatory events , e.g.Quilombo de Palmares in Brazil(1597-1695), Haiti (1791-1804), and so many other unknown feats of resistance. Which kind of subject emerged out of such a collective birthing event? Did Independences rupture the colonizing enterprise, like truths puncture lies? Did there emerge an emancipated subject in our individual and collective consciousness? Which kind of consciousness prevailed in our countries, 50 years after Independence? We can point to heroes and heroines who did all they could to maintain fidelity to the emancipated subject which emerged out of that event. Each reader can fill in the dots.

In Haiti today, 184 is the number of people and institutions who signed a petition against President Aristide, denouncing him in a manner reminiscent of the Congolese who colluded with external forces to eliminate Patrice Lumumba, back in 1960/1. Could 184 coincidentally be an apt metaphor of what came to be of 1804 [3]? The shrinking and squeezing of freedom, equality and fraternity to the point of a group of 184 whishing it never happened? Could it be said that the same process has occurred in many African countries, namely that of reducing Independence not to an event, but to a transition used and abused by a small group to enrich themselves while the largest part of the population remained poor or got poorer? Shouldn’t what happens to every single Haitian today, because of that transition from 1804 to 184, be of concern to all thinking human beings?

On December 12, 2007 it will be 4 months since the disappearance of Pierre Antoine Lovinsky [4]. Kidnapping (or rendition?) might be a more appropriate word. How many (among those who knew of it) have done even a symbolic gesture calling on his kidnappers to let him free? Kidnapping used to be one of the ways people were ripped from the continent and dragged to the forts and slave ships. Wherever he is, Lovinsky could be asking himself why there has not been greater efforts to get him back from where he is. He must wonder, like many others, why the Brazilian government, headed by a president who visited Gorée and, more or less [5], apologized for slavery, does not go out of its way to go and find Lovinsky. Or, as some have speculated, is it part of the agenda of the UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) to silence, completely, all those who have vowed to continue calling for the return of President Aristide to Haiti?

It is impossible to think of Africa 50 years ago without, at the same time, thinking about its history from 500 years ago, because it is only by looking over the entire period that one can only begin to guess at the magnitude of the crime which has been committed with unimaginable, relentless impunity. If the Brazilian government, through its President, really meant to apologize for slavery, should it not be seen thinking and acting in a manner which is aimed at restoring the Haiti of 1804 rather than allying itself with the 184?

2. Brazil-Africa: South-South or South-North-South?

As more and more thinking Africans clamor for greater and greater South-South cooperation, it is encouraging to observe how the Brazilian government is willing to tread where its ruling clique would not like to go. The ruling clique is only interested in so-called Real Politik, and not at building a Planetary future through healing emancipatory processes. Even if, as everyone can see from the climatic changes, such a course is the only viable one. The ruling clique is more interested in fitting in the world as it is, rather than trying to build a different world, in which solidarity with Africa (and Asia) would loom large. But the world as it is, as seen from G8 Meetings and places like Davos is not interested in solidarity with Africa [6]; Africa and all of the poor of the world –they tell us in their own way-- shall be rescued by charity [7]. The charitable option is the most logical given that even the G8 and Davos have lost their grip on world decision making processes as these have been eroded by the weight and impact of financial decision centers via “the markets”. Described as self regulatory, these financial monsters are beginning to show growing signs of being out of control. How could it be otherwise given that the few regulatory leashes in place have been removed…so that these financial monsters could –so the logic went—even better self-regulate themselves [8].

The pressure for greater solidarity with Africa, in Brazil, comes from its African ancestry population and its allies (indigenous, landless, working, jobless people). Even the ruling clique cannot completely ignore the fact that more and more people in Brazil are clamoring for greater justice, and so, on occasion, it has to be seen as responding to these demands. As an emerging country, Brazil wants to have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. This is one of the objectives which has driven President Lula’s foreign visits, including the visits to Africa, including his recent stop in Burkina Faso, on October 15.

As readers of Pambazuka News know very well, October 15 2007 was the 20th anniversary of Thomas Sankara’s assassination (along with 12 of his comrades). One can only presume that the ruling clique decided that one additional vote for the quest of a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, should be achieved by any means necessary, and, therefore, accepted the Burkina Be invitation to “celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Burkina Be revolution”. In the eyes of Sankara’s foes such an accolade from Brazil would help bury Sankara one more time. Or for good!

However, this cynical collusion to treat African history like a serviceable walking mat does help illustrate the longer process of how the splitting apart of humanity has been carried out by the very ones who apologize in one venue and do the exact opposite in another. Most academics are likely to condemn these colluders. And yet, again, should one not ask the same question raised with regard to the 184 in Haiti? However inconvenient it might sound, is it not the case that, overall, 50 years since Independence, African people have been betrayed by those who were supposed to be thinkers and who, on paper at least, always like to be seen and heard as being on their side? Independence as a truth, as an event, has been treated like a mere happening, one which did not seize intellectuals to change their world view of the past, the present and the future. Yes, however uncomfortable it might make one, each one of us should be able to ask: did I do all that could/should have been done, and more, to turn that emancipatory event into a real transformation of the colonial situation? If one thinks one did, then the result should tell one that it was far from enough.

Now and then the daily routine of the last 50 years has been ruptured by someone like Thomas Sankara who did try to live in fidelity of that Independence as an Event. As MS might have said, Sankara’s courage was to think. Thinking, in a context dominated by mimicking, submission, keeping quiet, is the most courageous act, suggested MS. Pushing further: are intellectuals in Africa, of Africa, from Africa, thinking? Over the past 50 years, have we become, more or less, like the 184 of Haiti? Faced with either catechizing or thinking, which way has been the easier road to follow? What happens when a so-called “discovered” (e.g. Lumumba, Aristide) “discovers” something the “discoverer” does not want discovered? Ever since 1804, that question has been answered unilaterally in only one way, over and over, almost like a silent but persistent internal prescription: Shrink that 1804 to 184, from the outside and from within.

3. Lumumba (1960) Sankara (1987) Aristide (2004)

Certainly none of these three would have passed the catechist exam for mimicry. In the world of African spirits, one could imagine Sankara’s spirits, from wherever they are circulating, letting us know how they understand the difference between mimicking and thinking, between a revolution and its fake. Listening attentively, one might be able to hear the following from Sankara’s spirits:

“Why and how is it, that starting with resistance to dehumanizing practices, structures, mentalities, from the beginning of humanity, but especially since our Independence, our leaders (not just in Burkina Faso) have colluded with their worst enemies to liquidate those who were trying to change course? More importantly, why not have an open dialogue so that our own voices could be heard, against those whose version of events is patently self-serving?

Right after they got rid of my comrades and I, they began to say that they were the real revolutionaries. I would not have minded if, indeed, they went on pursuing (reaching new heights) what we had started together, but, instead they started describing the revolution from the moment of my liquidation, as they went on liquidating many of the projects we had initiated. Those we had planned were archived never to be heard of again. As singers have sung before why is it that we get rid so easily of those who struggle with the poorest of the poor, and in their place put the defenders of the richest of the rich?”

And Sankara’s spirits continue: “ From where I am, it is easy to meet with fellow victims of liquidation, including those who faced their fate after liquidating countless of their own people themselves. One with a very long name from somewhere at the centre of our continent told me, crying like a child that he wished he could be back and bring back to life the leader whose punishment was so severe that they dissolved his body in an acid bath. These liquidizers or liquidationists, after coming here, were confronted with the real history of our continent, one which, given what happened, is impossible to measure even by the standards imposed by those who claim no one has ever suffered more than themselves. These spirits are in such pain for what they did that it is difficult not to sympathize with them. Here is what one of them said (there is no point naming names, but he is one of the main characters in Ahmadou Kourouma’s Waiting for the Vote of the Animals): I knew our situation was bad, but first I really believed the stories of the experts on development who kept repeating that sooner or later tickling (sic) down would get everybody laughing all the way to the bank (just like it happened to me), but then it kept getting worse, and it is only after coming down here under ground that I could see (literally from below) how bad the suffering has been. I had seen some of it above ground, but from down here, I could not imagine how extreme the level of suffering has been. It is only now --continued this crying spirit-- that I understood how terribly, and horribly wrong I was. Somehow I bought into the notion that our suffering is lightweight, so trivial, not worth talking about, let alone, complaining. No one, not even some of our best griots, has been able to convey, in words what really happened, the terror, the fear that was inflicted through those wars of hunting for slaves. Those who escaped the brutal fate, either by luck or choice (becoming part of the hunters, in exchange of a few cowries, alcohol, cloth and/or guns), and their descendants, did their best to ensure that their own role did not get to be known. In short, what we are witnessing today, is a repeat of what has happened before: it is not the first time that our kin has colluded in and with self-liquidation.”

Again in the world of the African spirits, one would hear the spirits of Zumbi (the hero of the Quilombo de Palmares) and the spirits of Sankara meeting and commenting on the systematic downsizing, downgrading of the history of the continent, leading the 184 from Haiti and from other places to the point where downgrading would coincide with denigration and, finally, simply denial. Zumbi would say to Sankara: “You know, my spirits tried to talk to Lula about that choice and making him see that doing that visit on that day would be the equivalent of laughing at our own 20th of November which has been chosen by the African brothers and sisters to commemorate when I was killed on November 20th, 1695 [9]. But there was so much interference, there was no way he could have heard me. Of course, part of the problem is that he is trying to satisfy everybody.”

Not long ago, France, under Chirac passed a law calling slavery a crime against humanity, but in a world where the nation-state has become one more instrument of the financial oligarchy, the mind set which emerged out of slavery has been reinforced rather than weakened. Every time it looked like one was about to correct the history of the continent, one goes the other way, as if the ruling principle is to keep laundering it until it becomes unrecognizable. With forces trying to negate what happened and others deforming it beyond recognition, is it surprising that 50th anniversaries or any attempt to recognize a truth, an event is turned into its opposite, like the ruling clique of Burkina Faso celebrating the assassination of Thomas Sankara as the birth of something they call a revolution.

Undoubtedly, some readers will take issue with the raising of these discomforting questions. Others might even condemn it as a disguised way of celebrating afro-pessimism or useless self-flagellation. The vast majority of Africans will not even be able to access these words, and yet, it is this vast majority which has been robbed of what could have happened, had there been more thinking than mimicking within African intellectuality.

To carry on as the African brothers and sisters (by now ancestors) did in Haiti, from 1791 through 1804, without any help from outside, without human rights organizations cheering on the sides, took a kind of courage which is difficult to imagine today. Yet, one must nurture the courage to say, as MS did in the documentary, that there has been no humanity, so far; only now is it being built, little by little. Universalism has always been preached as coming from the Enlightenment. To which MS replicated: “we, Brazilians, are not universal because we fail to be thoroughly (sufficiently) Brazilians”. The same could be said of Africans. The failure has been one of not keeping at it: trying and trying to be sufficiently (i.e. more and more) Africans.

4. Brazil and the 10.639/2003 Law

In a context dominated by hesitations and vacillations, those who have most benefited from the systematic laundering of African wealth/history would like to keep on laundering it after each new phase, even if it means reducing the entire Planet to an unlivable place for all of its inhabitants. Those who have been cowered into submission still know that they were right to resist, but are running out of the courage of 1804. They do see the 184 waving at them to join their side, which, from the distant, does look like paradise on earth. Among them a half-despairing Congolese mutters: “do not get fooled”. “Back home”, he continued, “we had someone who also built a so-called paradise in the equatorial forest at a place called Gbadolite. Nature has returned. He and his paradisiacal Zaïre are gone.”

On the other hand, thanks to the work of people battling to carry on the spirits of Zumbi in Brazil, a law was passed in 2003, calling for the teaching of Africa and people of African ancestry in elementary and secondary schools (NB pre-primary and tertiary/higher levels are not mentioned). As its passing, the implementation will depend on keeping alive the spirits of Zumbi, Sankara and so many other known and unknown truth discoverers. In and of itself the law will not change the mindset, but it is arguable that the mindset will change faster, provided that on the African side there is the courage to respond to this law –10.639/2003. There is no point spelling out the possible multiplicity of responses because each individual, each collective can generate emancipatory thoughts/responses aimed at transforming the current situation for the better for everyone[10].

More than laws will be needed. No thoughts will be too small, no thoughts will be too big once total and complete emancipation from the remaining shackles of 1804 are turned into the single minded objective for humanity wherever people of African descent live, which is everywhere on the Planet.

* Jacques Depelchin works with the Ota Benga Alliance for Peace Healing and Dignity. He is currently visiting Professor at the Centre for Afro-Oriental Studies at the Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil

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

1. For those interested in knowing more on Milton Santos (Portuguese), see the following sites: http://www.nossosaopaulo.com.br/Reg_SP/Educacao/MiltonSantos.htm
http://www.teatrobrasileiro.com.br/entrevistas/stoklos-santos.htm
There is also an interview/conversation with Gilberto Gil (in English): http://old.gilbertogil.com.br/santos/eentre_0.htm
2. The number of people one could list her is too long and diverse, but among those who come to mind are C.L.R. James, Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, Amilcar Cabral, Amiri Baraka, Ayi Kwei Armah, Mongo Beti, Walter Rodney
3. For more information on the G184, see:
http://www.ijdh.org/articles/article_halfhourforhaiti_1-10-06.htm
4. For more on Lovinsky disappearance see the article by Roger Annis on Znet (September 27, 2007) http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=13901
5. There is no space here to enter into the discussion of whether Lula’s apology in Gorée was properly carried out. I do think that apology alone is not enough, given what happened.
6. Davos could be best described as the recycled Berlin of 1884-5, i.e. the place where the most powerful people of the Planet meet decide the future of its inhabitants. It could also be described as the kitchen cabinet of the UN
7. The literature on how poisonous/ruinous charity can be, is growing. See, among others: Michael Maren, Naomi Klein. However, as one reads these authors, many will have the feeling that what they are saying has been said before. The syndrome of discovery is still at work, whether the above authors like it or not: for the West it is hard to accept that it went wrong, but it is willing to accept it being said by those it can trust. Another way of saying this: a slave who fights for freedom cannot be trusted by those who profit from slavery until, from the latter’s corner emerges abolitionists who will then celebrated as the discoverers of slave’s freedom.
8. Any reader interested in verifying this assertion should read regularly, at least twice a week, the Wall Street Journal or the Financial Times.
9. Analogies can be misleading, but November 20th is Black Consciousness Day in Brazil. Its equivalent in the US would be Martin Luther King Day.
10. Will this law be properly advertised in all of the Brazilian diplomatic and cultural missions abroad, especially in the countries with African ancestry? It is through such publicity that Africans outside of Brazil will know of these efforts and, thus, be in a position to think, in turn, of how to respond.

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African food sovereignty or AGRA

2007-12-12

Mukoma wa Ngugi

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44955

Mukoma Wa Ngugi speaks to the dangers surrounding the Bill Gates initiative - Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)


"Food sovereignty is the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems. It puts the aspirations and needs of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies rather than the demands of markets and corporations. It ensures that the rights to use and manage lands, territories, waters, seeds, livestock and biodiversity are in the hands of those of us who produce food" – Declaration of the Forum for Food Sovereignty, Nyeleni , February 2007


From November 25th to December 2nd African farmer-, agricultural-, and pastoralist organizations from over 25 countries gathered at the Nyeleni Center in Selengue, Mali to, amongst other things, discuss the pitfalls of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) -- the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation initiative now chaired by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. With around 100 organizations present, thousands of Africans concerned with social justice and agriculture were represented.

Now, the theme of the conference might at first glance seem outrageous. After all, we are talking about Bill Gates here – a man who has become the poster child of good philanthropy. But this is precisely my point: because AGRA is a Bill Gates initiative with widely respected Kofi Annan as the chair, most of us are not going beyond the first glance. But it is important that we send a second glance AGRA’s way because what is at stake here is the very future of the continent’s agricultural practices - what is grown, how it is grown, who gets to grow it, who processes it, who sells it and where and how much the African consumer will pay. Simply put, if food is the basis of life, what is at stake is the very sustenance of the continent.

But in order to fully appreciate the role the sweet sounding Alliance for a Green Revolution is playing in Africa, we need to take a step back and situate AGRA in the context of other international and national forces that are undermining the well-being and sovereignty of African nations – forces that are in fact part of the problem, even as they present themselves as part of the solution.
Amongst the international forces undermining Africa’s well being is an overt US foreign policy whose goal is to consolidate a growing Empire through the pipeline of the war on terror – under the guise of spreading democracy. We have seen how well this is working in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. But even more insidious is the arm-twisting of African governments to pass anti-terror bills that tie African domestic policies to US foreign policy goals.

On top of this we must add US foreign policy-led organizations such as the USAID, and the International Republican Institute, currently active in over 40 African countries. Organizations such as the IRI build on the tracks laid down by missionaries. The missionaries came to Christianize and civilize, the IRI types come to democratize, liberalize and westernize. The missionaries paved the way for the colonialists our history teachers were fond of saying. In the future, they will be saying that organizations such as the IRI paved the way for the US Empire.

Lest this seems far-fetched, here is an example of these seemingly disparate forces at work. The IRI in 2006 helps Africa’s first woman president, Liberia’s Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf into power. So instrumental is the IRI that when receiving a Freedom Award from them, she declares that the “IRI was particularly active in promoting these elections. Very quickly an office was established. They came, they did workshops. They brought political groups together. They worked with the media. They educated. They instructed. They supported. They assisted the process.” [1] But even before the democracy solidified, Liberia becomes the first country to offer the United States a military base for its African Command Center. There are no coincidences here – the IRI paved the way for US further militarization of Africa using Liberia as a launching pad.

Meanwhile in Liberia, Firestone has the gall to invite the Liberian people into its website with a photograph captioned “since 1926 we have succeeded together and we have suffered together, now that peace has returned, learn how we are working for a better future for Liberia.” [2] Firestone, much like Shell, has a philanthropic arm used to cover up the actions of the other heavy, hungry and brutal arm. Under the exploitation of colonialism, industries and corporations served the nation-state. Today it is the other way around: the nation-state serves industries and corporations.

It is into this mix that we need to throw initiatives such as AGRA. An outcome statement produced by the Selingue conference organizers states that “AGRA is actually the philanthropic flagship of a large network of chemical-seed, and fertilizer companies” and is designed to “attract private investment, enroll African governments, and convince African farmers to buy new seeds and fertilizers.” [3]

Waiting at the wings, or more correctly, waiting in the AGRA boardrooms, are seed and fertilizer organizations such as Syngenta (with total sales of 1.2 billion dollars in 2004) and Monsanto (a multi billion dollar seed company), amongst other players. AGRA claims that it will help “millions lift themselves out of poverty and hunger by dramatically increasing the productivity of hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers and improving livelihoods.” [4]

AGRA further states that it will “develop and strengthen Africa’s small and medium-scale seed companies to develop and sell appropriate seeds to farmers, [it will also] develop rural agro-dealers (small rural shops, mainly owned by women) and work with local food processors that can add value to products [and] and with local micro-finance institutions.”

Pointing to Asia, AGRA claims that the green revolution there lifted millions from poverty. This claim was refuted by the Mali conference participants who pointed out the tragic case of Indian farmers. In India, farmers initially flourished under the green revolution because millions of dollars were used to buoy up the farms. But as soon as the money stopped being pumped, Indian farmers found that they could not afford hybrid seeds, or the high price of pesticides, and they entered into debt, eventually losing their land to banks. The green revolution in India really was the pauperization of the poor Indian farmer. AGRA’s promise of Agro-dealers in Africa, and its promise to follow the Asian model means small scale African farmers will be strangled by ever widening circles of dependency and debt.

AGRA claims to be African led because it appointed Kofi Annan as its chair. In Selengue, conference participants responded by saying Kofi Annan surely cannot be seen as speaking for over 50 countries and 680 million people. In any case as African American poet Sonia Sanchez, quoting Martin Luther King Jr. said in response to a question on Condoleezza Rice and Clarence Thomas “We should not fight for equal rights in order to do wrong with them.”

In this same sense, women presidents (as in the case of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf) and African UN Secretaries General (as in Kofi Annan) do not automatically do good for the continent. With Kofi Annan as the chairman of AGRA, AGRA will still do harm. And it will not be any better because he is African.

AGRA’s critics contend that the alliance will not take a definitive stand against Genetically Modified Foods. This was of grave concern to the organizations in attendance at Selengue. The AGRA website leaves a lot of wiggle room when it states that “Introduction of genetically engineered crops are not part of AGRA strategy at this time” but a little later states that “AGRA will not shy away from considering the potential of bio-technology in reducing hunger and poverty and we do not preclude future support for genetic engineering as an approach to crop variety improvement…”

Soon after he was appointed chair, Kofi Annan declared that AGRA will not use GMO’s – a statement that is contradicted in the website statement quoted above – and which he and AGRA retracted. [5] In a sense then, AGRA critics are right when they call it a “Trojan horse” for GMO’s.
Once the mask of philanthropy is removed, we find profit-hungry corporations vying to control the seed market in African countries, create a path for Genetically Modified seeds and foods and to pry open a market for chemical fertilizers – which in turn will have an adverse effect on African indigenous seed populations and destroy bio-diversity, not to mention the devastation of the environment and the salination of the soil. The philanthropic arm that Africa welcomes is in real terms paving the way for further exploitation of our resources.

In his latest novel, Wizard of the Crow, my father Ngugi Wa Thiong’o aptly talks of a corporony – a colony run by a corporation. Fiction is not so strange after all, because with AGRA we are looking at the corporatization of the food industry, from planting to production to selling and buying. With AGRA, what and how we plant and eat, and how much we pay for it will be decided in western corporate offices.

Africans should grasp what is at stake here and mobilize against AGRA. African leaders have already sold off the land and the right to natural resources. They have sealed off some parts of the continent into export processing zones. They have allowed foreign military bases onto African soil. They have given organizations such as the International Republican Institute free reign to determine the very nature of African political institutions. But here it should stop. Africans simply cannot let them sell off the right to food sovereignty. Because if they do, they will be selling off the very future of Africa.


* Mukoma Wa Ngugi is Co-Editor of Pambazuka News. He is also the author of Hurling Words at Consciousness (AWP, 2006) and a political columnist for the BBC Focus on Africa Magazine

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

For notes, see link below
Notes:

1. The International Republican Institute 2006 Freedom Dinner and Award Ceremony Honoring First Lady Laura Bush and President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf http://www.iri.org/newsreleases/pdfs/2006-09-22-PresidentJohnsonSirleafRemarks.pdf

2. http://www.firestonenaturalrubber.com/

3. Final conference document soon to be online at: http://www.nyeleni2007.org

4. http://www.agra-alliance.org/about/faq.html

5. What exactly did Kofi Annan say in Nairobi? http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2257&Itemid=5822

More...

Why the archives of the Rwanda tribunal must remain in Africa

2007-12-12

Yitiha Simbeye & Chidi Odinkalu

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44961

The authors of the article argue that giving Africans ready access to the kind of information contained in the archives will play a part in fighting the apathy that catapulted events in Rwanda from civil strife to genocide.

All persons interested in ending mass atrocities in Africa must take active interest in the question of where the archives of the ICTR – and, for that matter, the archives of the Special Court for Sierra Leone – are located. As the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) winds down – according to its Completion Strategy - by 2010, the major question now emerging is where its archives and records will be located.

The United Nations has established a committee headed by Richard Goldstone, former judge of the South African Constitutional Court and former prosecutor for the ICTR and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) to assess both tribunals, consult various stakeholders and evaluate relevant issues to inform its decision as to where the archives of both organs would eventually be sited. The committee will develop a set of parameters for assessing proposed locations to host the archives and determining the location most suited for that purpose.

It has been suggested that Africa is an unsuitable location for the archives of the ICTR; that the archives of the ICTR and the ICTY should be unified in one place, and that “natural” location for these archives should be The Hague, considered to be the judicial headquarters of the world. One suggestion is that Africa does not have the skills or capacities to host such records or guarantee that they will be accessible to the rest of the world.

The ICTR has housed its own records for the past eleven years that the Tribunal has been in existence. For this period, obviously, those records have enjoyed confidentiality that is essential both for the functioning of the Tribunal and for assuring the safety of witnesses, victims, and suspects before the Tribunal. Those records have been quite secure. After the Court has completed its work, it will be necessary to also assure that the records are classified, stored, and managed in such a way to ensure that they will be accessible to all interested in learning from them.

The Goldstone Committee will most probably focus on identifying institutions that will manage the archives. That institution, we submit, must be located and based in Africa. The reasons for this are overwhelming.

The circumstances leading to the establishment of the ICTR are well worth recalling here. Apathy defined the response of the world to the Rwanda genocide. The Oxford English Dictionary defines apathy as: ‘lacking interest or enthusiasm’. The people of Rwanda lived the consequences of global apathy during those eventful months of 1994. The tragic events that occurred have been well-documented. As those events occurred, the rest of the world in Africa and beyond watched. Estimates of the number of people killed during the genocide are somewhere between seven hundred thousand to one million.

Eventually galvanised into action after its stupor, the world in the United Nations created a tribunal to try those most responsible for the international crimes committed during those months of horror. The tribunal was established in Arusha, a small northern city in Tanzania, a country that has not known civil war or strife. Both the United Nations and the now defunct Organisation of African Unity (OAU) established panels to investigate why they were unable to mobilise effective action against such atrocity.

Arusha has played host to the ICTR for over one decade. During this time, it has quietly established itself as The Hague of Africa, hosting three international judicial bodies, one international, one regional, and one sub-regional. In addition to the ICTR, Arusha has also become host to the East African Court of Justice and, most recently, to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. It is the headquarters of Africa’s emerging regional judicial architecture.

This regional judicial system requires close monitoring and study by and for the benefit of people in Africa. The atrocities in Rwanda were committed by Africans against Africans. The archives of the judicial process of accountability - which is what the ICTR is - are an African heritage that must remain in Africa. There are several institutions in Africa – universities, research institutes, and regional institutions – within the region that can host it.

If the ICTR’s archives were to be re-relocated outside the continent, to, say, The Hague, access to them will be denied to an overwhelming majority of Africans, including most victims and survivors. With each passing year, Africans find it more difficult to gain entrance to European countries. European regimes for entry visas for Africans have become an obstacle course that only the rich and well-connected are confident of completing, and only few can breach. For the rest, it is a matter of ‘break a leg’. The price of international air travel is forbidding for most Africans.

Quite clearly, to even contemplate transferring the archives of the ICTR to anywhere outside Africa is the easiest way to exclude Africans from access to them. It dishonours all those who were killed while the world watched; and ensures that we learn no lessons from what happened. African’s will cease to have a stake in this particular heritage.

Global apathy catapulted the events in Rwanda from civil strife to genocide. It is important that we avoid another form of apathy from denying Africans the records of those horrific events. Citizen groups, governments, civic leaders, academic communities, activists, survivors groups, regional institutions, and friends of Africa everywhere must take the work of the Goldstone Committee seriously and demand that the archives of the ICTR remain in Africa. African governments, especially the governments of the East African Community countries must come together to identify an institution to play this role and mobilise the resources to support it. Nothing less will suffice.

* Yitiha Simbeye is a Tanzanian expert in international criminal law. Chidi Odinkalu is a Nigerian lawyer

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

Afro-Venezuelans: An open letter to the Venezuelan National Assembly

2007-12-11

Jesús "Chucho" García

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44951

Jesús Chucho García calls for a greater recognition of Afro-Venezuelans in the country's constitution.


Afro-Venezuelans are not satisfied with how they are recognized in the constitution:An open letter to members of the national assembly

Esteemed members of the National Assembly,

Last Tuesday, you began to discuss the Constitutional Reform article by article. Days beforehand, Social Communicator Modesto Ruiz, an Afro-Venezuelan member from Barlovento, had expressed the feelings of the Afro-Venezuelan movement as none other had done in the constitutional history of Venezuela. It wasn’t simply the voice of Ruiz speaking, it was the voices of African ancestors and their descendants, who—after the abolition of slavery in 1854—were making a historic claim before the injustice, racism and discrimination to which we had been subjected, just as our decisive contributions to the irreversible social advancement for more than 200 years of this country’s history have done. For the first time after more than 25 constitutions discussed in that same room where you sit, the reason why we should be “legally” recognized in the Venezuelan Constitution was being explained in our own symbols, our own language, and our most profound feelings.

Each one of you knows that the Constitution should be the reflection of the people, with an understanding of how Amilcar Cabral expressed them, “The people are the principal actors and beneficiaries of the liberation struggle. This concerns a political notion that should be defined in the given historical moment.”

Who built the economies in the colonial era? Who was it that paid with their blood, intelligences and bare struggle in the Independence and Federal Wars? Who contributed to the fight for Revolutionary Democracy in the 1970s and 1980s with their blood? Perhaps it wasn’t Barlovento, Veroes (in Yaracuy state) and the most impoverished ghettoes of Caracas—where afrodescendants live—that saved the country during the 2002 coup and oil stoppage?

How can esteemed members and the President of the Republic Hugo Chávez Frías try to reduce us to one Article—number 100—of the Constitutional Reform (which, by the way, was badly written and historically decontextualized)? How can you oppose the proposals that we have made to 11 of the 33 articles proposed by President Chávez, wherein we are demanding our historical character to be an integral part of the Venezuelan people?

Esteemed members, if this is how things will be, then we are facing new, subtle forms of racism and discrimination. Your names will be forever stamped in the history of Venezuelan hypocrisy, just as in 1830 and 1854, when the names of National Assembly members who mocked the aspirations of our ancestors—who demanded citizenship, land and recognition of their cultural particularities - were stamped with hypocrisy in that same room. If the Constitutional Reform is ratified with a reductionism towards afrodescendants, then from the point of view of respect toward diversity, pluralism and the advancement to the total integration of our country, we would even be below an ultra-rightist state such as Colombia, and we would be very much below the Brazilian, Nicaraguan and Ecuadorian Constitutions.

The historic debt definitely continues, and it will depend on you and the President of the Republic, because we as afrodescendants already made our proposals for a newly articulated Preamble and technical contributions to the 33 articles, along with two street mobilizations, throughout which, by the way, the doors to that same room were never opened for us to enter. Our welcome by the highest authorities of the National Assembly and of the Presidential Committee for Constitutional Reform has thus far only been in the streets.

* Jesús "Chucho" García is a leading activist against and researcher of racism in Venezuela

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

The philosophy of Kabwe Zitto

Nationalism and identity in Tanzania

2007-12-11

Ramesh Shah

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/44952

Ramesh Shah looks at the evolution of political discourse in Tanzania

Recently, Mr. Kabwe Zitto of opposition party Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) faced a four month suspension in the Tanzanian Parliament. The opposition expressed disappointment on suspension of Mr. Zitto as a move by CCM legislators to conceal the “Truth”. The issue was very simple. It was regarding the Buzwadi mining contract between the present Tanzanian government and Barrick Gold Corporations in London. The opposition believed that by blocking Zitto’s motion, the government failed to show the transparency.

On the other hand, Mr. Zitto believed that he had an obligation to “defend the Nation’s resources in the interest of “Wananchi””. Perhaps, President Kikwete saw some truth, perhaps he was honest, perhaps he wants to use the best people and their ideas to lead the nation through the maze of globalization: Whatever the case may be, he made Zitto one of the members of inquiry into mining contract. But then came another surprise. In one of the newspapers, it was reported that the Karatu legislator, Wilbrod Slaa also wanted to disclose secrets on Bank of Tanzania when he felt that the Government would also block his private motion in the Parliament. It was interesting to see the first page of this paper. The top headline was about Mr. Slaa’s remarks regarding suspicion of corruption in the Bank of Tanzania. The lower headline was about the Vice President Mr. Shein asking people to avoid luxuries and invest at home. This showed nothing much except that in the process of fighting extreme poverty in the mineral rich Tanzania, the time had come and some people had risen to ask for greater transparency.

People are asking for more than parliamentary democracy. They are taking a closer look at the parliamentary laws and rules and asking how and for whom they work. Could all this be connected to another problem? Recently, Mr. Warioba said that it was high time that Tanzania had a Constitution that separates the legislative and executives arms. Mr. Masekwa also said that there was a need to amend the Constitution in order to avoid any situation whereby the executive could simply muzzle the parliament.

Tanzania still has to solve many other problems arising recently. The new Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act [2007] is expected to protect the PCB, journalists, and the public in fighting graft. But actually the media will be prevented from independent investigations from the PCB. Yet today’s crime in the world is such that it needs simultaneous investigations from all sides. In India, media plays a major role in the investigations and show their progress to the people on their media channels. Kenya also has similar problem in a Media Bill where it is legally mandatory for media to reveal its source of information in the court. If this Bill becomes effective, no one will give information to the media. Law Society of Kenya [LSK] has promised to go to court to stop this Bill.

A few months ago, some university student leaders were not allowed to continue their studies. I ask myself, when do “leaders” become “ring-leaders” in our country? When I was a student at this university, I always saw our leaders as “leaders”. My point is not on whether Mr. Zitto or the students were right or wrong. When Tanzania wanted to go democratic, the first thing CCM did was to propose the multi-party approach. It was the CCM that was to lead us into democracy. The second thing it tried to do was make the democracy more vibrant and asked the opposition to become more active. At this stage, Mr. Zitto was not an individual but he represented a trend of thought. He was not one but many. He was part of a new trend now emerging in all developing countries. He was not opposing as a party, but just trying to set up a new trend of transparency. Like many academics, and citizens, I have been dreaming of effective arguments and transparency. I did not look at our parliament as a “party” but as a “nation”. 



When I was a student of economics at the university, I read a book called “Four Essays on Philosophy” by Chairman Mao. One of the essays was on “Contradiction”. When there is a major contradiction, we come to-gather as nation and try to solve it. This is when we fought for and achieved our independence. Then a new minor contradiction arose, and this was party politics. Since then, we have been struggling between different major [national] and minor [party] and still minor [individual] contradictions. Mr. Zitto’s approach showed a major [national] contradiction but many understood it as a minor contradiction, and he was suspended!!! It would have been a plus for the CCM members to respect Mr. Zitto's move if we agree that the CCM wants to increase the level of democracy and transparency. Democracy and transparency cannot be strengthened by merely setting up more human rights institutions, but rather by the people rising to make the use of them. Mr. Zitto may have done exactly that. 



Amartya Sen has written a book on “identity”. In it he raises the question of how we identify our-selves. Do I identify myself as a national, or CCM, or as an individual, or as a Hindu, or as a socialist or as a capitalist or as a fan of a particular politician? What we are going to do depends on how we identify ourselves. Very often, issues of national interest may conflict with the party interest or religious interest and vice-versa. An issue of national interest may not resonate for the individual or the party. 

If we are to introduce the philosophy of a “majority” decision then it means that the majority can impose their decisions. Nowhere in the world or in history, is it ever said that the majority is always right. Majority is just numerical superiority.

Similarly, the minority is not always wrong, and yet she may loose her view due to the numerical strength of the “majority”. Very often, the law may contradict justice, and that is why we often call upon our nation to be just and not just legal. Laws emerge from the bills that are passed in parliament. A bill is drafted by the national legal persons and passed by the parliament. A Bill will not be just if drafted in the interest of a small influential group. Most of the third world was colonized some time ago.

The colonial “masters” used all sorts of unjust laws, fears, force and techniques to justify colonization. When we became independent, we inherited similar structure, and we also continued playing the same game towards our own people. The events following 1789 in revolutionary France were nothing but terror followed by Directorate and the Consulate. All this may suggest that the old oppression had merely been replaced by the new kind. For many philosophers, the aftermath only reinforced that a man’s true nature was as savage as it was wicked and vengeful. In this way, the social revolution got out of hand because many people wanted liberty before order, while others wanted to put order before liberty.

We should always ask, what is the best order to maximize liberty? If we talk of evil, then we may be talking about religion. The issue of evil troubled Plato greatly. If we use Leibniz’s idiom, God has made the best of all possible worlds. Among the many goods, He gave us, the good of freedom. He may not have liked the world without freedom, because the freedom itself is a necessary part of goodness. But freedom cannot exist without the possibility of abuse. The evil entered the world through our abuse of freedom. Beyond this, nothing else is evil. Some people think that evil itself is the necessary part of the global beauty in the same way the catastrophe is part of the beauty of a tragedy. 

I give regular lectures on Ethics at the University. At one time, while all good ethics may also contain good laws, not all laws absorb ethics. But today many laws are in contradiction to ethics. 

Then we end up with the use of power. When our thought is joined to will, we call it power; this means that if one has got power, one must manifest it to action.

The accumulation of power is likewise as important as its diffusion. An ounce of practice is worth more that a ton of theory. Talking is neither politics nor religion, parrots may talk, and machines may also talk. Each nation, each leader has a mission for the world. There is no power higher then power of purity. 


* Dr Ramesh Shah is an Economics and Export Consultant and has given lectures on Ethics at the University of Dar-es-Salaam

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

Yet another partnership pact between cats and mice

2007-12-11

Tajudeen Abdul Raheem

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/44948

Tajudeen to Africa and EU leaders: Who is fooling who?

In spite of all the controversies and mountains of news reports the final outcome of the Africa-EU Summit in Lisbon is nothing if not an anti climax. The joint declaration signed by the 67 leaders promised to be a new partnership that will propel both continents to ‘a new, strategic level’ which will forge ‘a new and stronger partnership that builds on their new identities and renewed institutions , capitalizes on the lessons of the past and provides a solid framework for long term cooperation’.

Why should the EU and Africa be looking for a new partnership when the much touted NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) has been in existence for the past five years?

Why are the same African leaders who claim that NEPAD is our economic blue print and the AU our political means of achieving its aims signing new partnerships? Why should other regional blocks who claim to support African initiatives using all kinds of carrots and sticks to induce us to sign new ones while making ritual commitment to support ‘African solutions to African problems’.
The Yoruba have a saying : ‘ Enia meji ki pa adanu iro, bi eniti an tan o ba mo o ye ki eniti ntan’ ni o mo’ (i.e. two people cannot both lose out on a lie, if the one being deceived does not know it is a lie , at least the deceiver should know it is a lie). The irony of Lisbon is that one is not sure who is fooling whom?

What is so new about this promised partnership which was dictated at all levels by the EU? It should rightly be called Europe’s strategy for Africa instead of the deceitful tag of EU-Africa Strategy. The basic principles, contents, negotiations and processes were dictated by the Europeans with the Africans playing catch up or merely reacting as reviewers of papers drafted by the EU and their consultants. I should know what I am talking about because I was partly involved in the CSO (more appropriately NGO) process. Instead of the European NGOs talking and partnering with their African NGO counterparts they were dealing directly with the AU bureaucrats, principally the African Citizens Directorate (CIDO). CIDO (which should be more appropriately called Centre for disempowering African Citizen Participation in the AU) then proceeded to cherry pick which African NGOs and NGIs (like myself) that they can involve. Things were not that different in the governmental processes. So bad did it become that there were deliberate leaks to NGO activists by concerned Ministers especially on EPA by African finance Ministers despairing at the bullying of African governments by the EU and their governments to force Africa to sign up by the time of the Lisbon summit.

It is obvious that the same divide and rule tactics which Europe successfully used to conquer us as slaves and later colonize and balkanize the continent into mostly non viable states was at play. How can we be negotiating with the EU as EAC, ECOWAS, SADC, etc when they were negotiating with us as the EU? Perhaps it is most appropriate that the venue of the Summit was Lisbon, capital of Portugal. Portugal was the first European country to set foot in Africa and the last to leave its colonies forced by armed struggles in its colonies. Indeed it was revolution in its colonies that precipitated revolution in Lisbon itself that freed it from Military dictatorship.

We really cannot blame the Europeans for leading us by the nose. We should ask our selves why our noses are so readily available. Why are we so ready and willing to respond to other people’s agenda with no respect for ours? Is it that we cannot refuse any invitation to dinner even if the food is not palatable or when we may be full?

Respect is not given on demand but earned by the way one respects oneself. If African leaders can sign up to NEPAD, AU, RECs and other intra African multilateral agreements and conveniently forget them whenever extra African powers come calling we cannot blame others for over writing them.

There is no amount of agreements that our leaders can sign with other regions of the world that will deliver social progress and development to our peoples unless we put our house in order and learn to deal with the rest of the world with a united front in spite of the contradictions between us. Others have their own internal contradictions too but they know where their best interest and what their long term strategies are.

If we say the AU is our primary diplomatic and political organ for Africa’s shared interests then we need to give it the essential power to do so on our behalf instead of constantly running around sucking up to any powers that claim to have interest in Africa.

The politics of the process that led to Lisbon is yet another demonstration of the ugly truth that we are yet to be taking our selves seriously and hence we belittle our own institutions and through that ourselves and privilege others in our affairs. It is time to stop this circus of Executive mileage and saver miles across the world. The leaders should just stay at home and implement all the agreements we already have to accelerate regional and continental integration. Anybody interested can come and join us as we rebuild this continent from Cape Town to Cairo. We do not need new agreements. We just need to fulfill existing ones we made among ourselves. Without this all agreements will just be like one between cats and Mice. Is there any wager who the mice are?

* Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is Deputy Director, Africa, for the UN Millennium Campaign, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He writes this column in his personal capacity as a concerned Pan Africanist.

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

Mau Mau reparations case

2007-12-13

http://lists.fahamu.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/maumau-reparations

The Kenya Human Rights Commission has set up a listserve to enable information to be circulated as part of the mobilisation for the Mau Mau Reparations campaign.

The Nature of the Mau Mau Claim

The Kenya Land and Freedom Army (Mau Mau) claim relates to torture, cruel and degrading treatment of detainees perpetrated by the Kenyan Colonial Government during the State of Emergency (1952-60). It is a tortious claim based on negligence and will be instituted in the British High Court. The claimants are seeking compensation for personal injuries sustained while in detention camps of the Kenya Colonial Government which operated under the authority of Her Majesty’s Government (HMG). The proposed claims are based on the tort of negligence. It is alleged that HMG is liable not only because of actions of the Kenyan Colonial Government but for its failure to take any or adequate steps to prevent the widespread use of torture that it knew was being perpetrated in its name.

Campaign Objectives

The campaign seeks to:

1. Institute proceedings against the HMG in the British High Court with a view to achieve a ruling compelling HMG to pay reparations to Mau Mau torture survivors;
2. Build local and global awareness on the Mau Mau claim for reparations;
3. Energize ongoing efforts for recognition of Kenyan heroes and heroines;
4. Implant the tools for comprehensive transitional justice in Kenya.

You can subscribe to this listserve at http://lists.fahamu.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/maumau-reparations

Remittances

2007-12-10

Kimutai Cherono

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/44943

Well said on the issue of remittances www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/44839. If the money inflow was used to invest in infrastructure development or similar uses then maybe it would be beneficial. Furthermore, the funds are used to purchase goods that are possibly supplied by the same multinationals that remit dividends to the 'North'.

Remittances

2007-12-13

Simon Collery

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/45001

It's interesting to see the issue of remittances aired, at last www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/44839. There was an issue about the huge movement of capital from developing countries to, usually rich people and organisations, rather than other countries, in the New Internationalist in the last couple of years.

But it is infuriating to hear the same unanalysed rubbish about charity, aid, development and similar by rich countries, when they are being grotesquely enriched at the expense of the poorest and most vulnerable. Hope to hear more about this.

To an extent, Ireland benefited from remittances, called 'invisible income', for many decades. But over the colonial period, massive amounts of capital and goods were extracted from the country, often to pay for its repression. I believe things have changed recently but it's hard to know.

Reclaiming the resources for health

2007-12-14

Elijah Chiwota

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/45034

Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET) Steering committee (2007), Reclaiming the Resources for Health – A regional analysis of equity in health in East and Southern Africa, EQUINET, Weaver Press, Zimbabwe, Fountain Publishers, Uganda, Jacana, South Africa, 228 pages.


The authors and one of the publishers of Reclaiming the Resources for Health – A regional analysis of equity in health in East and Southern Africa, EQUINET, are clear about their intention right from the onset. They write, “It is possible to learn from existing experiences in order to act.” This statement defines the book as one that stimulates social action and not some coffee table kind that one browses through while waiting for the doctor’s appointment or in a petrol or bread queue depending on which part of East and Southern Africa (ESA) one hails from.

Written by EQUINET’s steering committee (the acknowledgements section gives the names of the principal author and contributors), the book draws from a wealth of experience from this diverse and expert group. Most of the analysis comes from positions of authority and knowledge, backed by substantial research.

Reclaiming the Resources for Health is a critical resource book and a must read for policy makers and those working in equity in health in ESA countries such as civil society organisations (CSOs), faith-based organisations and community or grassroots level social actors.

Academics can also comprise another group that this publication will be of immense value to as the book pulls together sources that include work in progress by institutions working in health equity in ESA. The book refers to published reports, surveys, testimonials and experiences’ from communities, health workers, state and CSOs and country case studies and stories.

Comparative analysis of country case stories is critical to regional integration and economic development especially if ESA policymakers can learn from each other and replicate good practices in their own neighbourhoods. Such case stories feature in all sections of the publication together with other comparative information and data cited in the text.

For the social activist in health equity the book is a tool kit. It has all the ammunition one needs to understand the dynamics of health equity and captures important statistics in intelligent ways when presenting arguments. Furthermore, definitions of terminologies are beneficial to non-academics.

The media rarely covers the development story in detail and recently there has been renewed interest in highlighting issues such as poverty and its links to HIV and AIDS. Social determinants of poverty such as inequalities in wealth and limited provision of affordable and accessible health care and other social services are critical to fighting the pandemic.

Arguably health and citizen journalists will find the book a good source of information in understanding the multi-dimensional issues surrounding equity in health issues in ESA. Importantly also, after reading the book journalists will be able to critique international agreements by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organisation and Economic Partnership Agreements in the context of health equity.

Reclaiming the resources for health refers to grey material that can be a good starting point for further academic research. In most instances, such material is difficult to access as it is mainly unpublished thus gathering dust in some offices. It provides the references used at the end of each section. Even from a cursory reading, consultation of wide sources is evident from the analysis and the book might meet the rigorous standards synonymous with social science and academic research.

Although produced in expensive full-colour format, the design is eye-catching with cartograms, charts, illustrations, maps, photographs, pull-quotations, tables, figures and statistics that make the book reader friendly. The index also provides a quick reference to information in the book.

Its seven sections, consisting 30-odd pages each, cover the entire spectrum of issues dealing with health equity and constitute the main theme of the book. A summary of key issues introduces each section thus providing the reader with a gist of the information and data. One can read a section as a stand-alone chapter or module because of the references at the end. This is useful to those interested in particular sections relevant to their work or adapting the book for training purposes.

Reclaiming the resources for health touches on key development issues that groupings such as the World Social Forum continue to grapple with. These include the negative impact of neo-liberal globalisation and structural adjustment policies; resource outflows caused by debt and unfair trade regimes promoted by the World Trade Organisation (WTO); difficulties in attaining Millennium Development Goals in the absence of equity; and most importantly building alternatives to the status quo by demanding more resources for health.

Abuja PLUS strategies mentioned in the book are an example of initiatives that can go a long way towards achieving equity. The strategies call for more resources for health, especially from debt cancellation, which governments can direct to primary health care. This is in addition to the fifteen per cent as stipulated in the Abuja agreement.

The book points out that inequalities put a brake on poverty reduction, and that absolute poverty is a challenge to health equity but that so too are the growing gaps between rich and poor. The publication identifies manifestations of poverty and its various forms. These include lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; and ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; and homelessness and inadequate housing. Social discrimination, exclusion and lack of popular participation in decision-making processes are additional impediments to achieving health equity.

The publication further amplifies the need for governments to grab opportunities for health equity such as those provided by WTO trade related intellectual property rights flexibilities in Doha agreement 2001 to produce affordable generic drugs especially antiretrovirals. Compulsory licensing by government allows for the production of drugs at reduced cost.

Reclaiming resources for health identifies the central role of health workers and calls for measures to arrest the brain drain especially migration to high-income countries. These include improving salaries and conditions of service inclusive of access to antiretroviral therapy and training for health workers.

The book advocates for people centred health systems. “When health systems are organised to involve and empower people, as people centred health systems they can create powerful constituencies to protect public interests in health.” (Page 172).

Reclaiming the resources for health identifies that the realisation of socio-economic rights in health equity requires not only resource-allocations but also accountability and commitment by ESA governments. The onus falls on the state not to only give lip service but fulfil policy or legally binding obligations.

Whilst some ESA countries are signatory to international instruments that promote health equity, others have adapted the obligations into their domestic law. However, limited resources affect the need for progressive realisation of economic and social rights in ESA countries. Additionally, although states are ultimately responsible as duty-bearers, non-state actors, notably the private sector and civil society organisations, also have a role in meeting citizens’ socio-economic needs.

The book also reviews achievements made so far since the regional meeting on ‘Equity in Health – Policies for survival in Southern Africa’ held in Kasane, Botswana in 1997. The meeting, which committed itself to regional networking and equity in health, formed the basis upon which EQUINET, the book’s author and publisher, came into existence.

EQUINET, which promotes knowledge and policy dialogue through social partners, clearly spells out its agenda in the book.

“Our concept of equity includes the power and ability people (social groups) have to direct resources to their health needs, particularly for those with worst health. This refers to people’s collective ability to assert their own needs and interests, influence the allocation of societal resources towards their needs, and challenge the distribution of power and resources that block their development.” (Page 211).

As mentioned earlier, the book does not only identify problems, it provides solutions in the form of alternatives and possible choices in reclaiming resources for health. The book lists three central points. The first one is that poor people should claim a fairer share of national resources. Secondly, there should be a return by east and southern Africa countries from the global economy. Thirdly, investments should be committed at global and national resources towards health systems. In return, such health systems should allocate resources to those with greater health needs.

In conclusion, one may easily say that EQUINET achieved its objectives in this book as the publication goes beyond assessing achievements made so far since Kasane 1997. It calls for an evaluation of strategies to achieve health equity by identifying what has worked out and what failed. In a sense, the publication is radical as it calls for social action, a proactive state and an alternative global economic order.

For more information on EQUINET you can visit www.equinetafrica.org To order a copy of the book contact admin@equinetafrica.org Alternatively contact one of the African co-publishers: Fountain publishers in east and central Africa (sales@fountainpublishers.co.ug); Jacana media in South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho (sales@jacana.co.za; please note if you are a non profit organisation) and Weaver press for all other countries (weaver@mweb.co.zw)

* Elijah Chiwota works with MWENGO, Zimbabwe

Transitions in Namibia

2007-12-12

Pekka Peltola

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/44954

It was not with routine interest that I opened a copy of the book volume on “Transitions in Namibia”. This year has towards its end brought visible efforts to redirect the way Namibia is going politically, and thus redirect the lives of Namibians. The recent congress of the ruling SWAPO Party made important decisions, that were already in advance challenged by a new party formed by people with a background of the very core of SWAPO for the last three decades. We do not know what happens with the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP). Will it experience the same as the Congress of Democrats, founded less than ten years ago, or will it be able to create enough support to really influence the way Namibia is developing? I would simplify the choices as either following the Zimbabwe way to disaster, or to find another, essentially more democratic and economically just and viable way of development.

Every analysis is based on history. I have found by experience that the government of Namibia is not really interested in history at all. They want something, which Chris Saunders calls “patriotic history”. The idea is to produce “the one and only” history. The right one, giving the only truth of what has taken place. It is almost written already. Sam Nujoma has published a book called “Where Others Wavered”, which aims to enshrine armed struggle as the decisive factor in bringing freedom and independence. As Saunders points out, the aim is to cement the arm of exile leaders in the present and coming power struggles in the power struggle establishing “liberation credentials” and labelling deviating opinions as unpatriotic and imperialist.

In writing about the centrally important issue of land, Phanuel Kaapama discusses also the surprising way SWAPO turned its coat from a quite rigid soviet version of socialism to all out capitalism just before the 435-process commenced at the end of the 1980’s. I do not question the wisdom of Hidipo Hamutenya, when he said in 1990: “democratisation of Namibian society was necessary before the process of socialist transformation could commence”. But contrary to what happened in South Africa, there was almost no public discussion whatsoever on this tremendous change of basic political line. Even the labour leaders adopted with little resistance a so-called “social partnership”.

Namibian leaders have repeatedly expressed their admiration of the Zimbabwean land distribution policies. I do not believe, however, that Namibia will in this question follow the disastrous footsteps. The government knows well the experience of the couple of hundred farms which have been bought by state or individuals through Affirmative Action Loan Scheme. The experience shows how all important is the professional competence of the new farmers. Instead of becoming prosperous, new farmers have impoverished and become dependent of continuous government support for survival. Some have found paid work in neighbouring farms. Some owners have rented the farm back to the previous owner. Without training and slowly accumulating expertise farms do not produce the expected returns. In this issue, Mr Kaapama is somewhat too optimistic, I suspect, in indicating that the experience gained in the communal areas is broadly sufficient for the task.

As a trade unionist, I was particularly interested to read Herbert Jauch’s account on labour policies. The Labour Research and Resource Institute, LaRRI, which would not exist without Jauch’s initiative and commitment, has produced invaluable analysis and data for trade unions and the general public. I remember in 1987 having to defend in a United Nations workshop in Lusaka the idea of a highest pay differential of 1:10 in the independent Namibia. It is about the actual situation in the Nordic countries. SWAPO leaders present said that they cannot accept such a large differential. Today the difference between the national minimum wage of a Ramatex worker’s salary, relates to the pay of managers in the civil service to something like 1 to 50, and more than 1 to 100 for managers of parastatals.
The Namibian elite wants to earn as much as their peers in USA and Europe, although the carrying capacity of the economy and productivity of work does not warrant it. It does not leave much money for anything else, especially when the civil service is relatively large. In his chapter on the new black Namibian elite, Henning Melber shows this in figures: the top 20% earn almost 80% of all income: “Independence did not produce a national bourgeoisie, but a crypto-capitalist self-enriching elite, which expends its energy on exploiting the public purse, a truly parasitic class.“

A long time issue in the labour movement in Namibia is the affiliation of the largest trade union federation NUNW to the ruling party. Just as has been argued, it has led to stagnation of efforts to defend the rights of workers. It has also led to spreading the internal struggles of SWAPO inside the NUNW. It has gone very far and contributed to an erosion of understanding of where the labour leaders belong. It is quite astonishing to read that trade union leaders have accepted board and management positions in private and parastatal enterprises. This way they adopt neo-liberal policies and with that, the NUNW loses its mass base, as Jauch states.

Logically enough, workers have had to take their mass power into their own hands and away from their compromised leaders. Volker Winterfeldt gives a very good account of what happened in the biggest single employer in Namibia, the Ramatex textile factory. Fed up with the stagnant wages, four years of inaction by their trade union and constant exposure to bullying by the management and the government, workers voted for strike. Surprisingly easily, after three days, they won a raise almost doubling their income and benefits. In a neo-liberal economy Ramatex has been able to exploit the opportunities offered by the Namibian state and its Asian and Namibian employees to an extent Karl Marx could vividly describe in his book The Capital. - And in addition to pollute the ground water.

On my latest visit to Namibia a year ago I was really astonished of the impressive Chinese presence in the country. In a very few years Chinatowns have emerged, bringing construction, shopping areas, investment for energy production. Obviously this has happened with the full consent of the government, tenders have been won, work permits and retail shop licences have been granted. Gregor Dobler has taken the trouble of finding out how the process works, including bribing the decision makers. The cost of a work permit is between 20,000 to 100,000 Namibian Dollars.

Dobler’s work is admirable. It came into my mind that the political system in China could be the ideal in the eyes of the present government of Namibia: One party in absolute power, enjoying the fruits of a free-wheeling capitalism, no real trade unions or effective opposition. - Preferably, no critical media either.

Lalli Metsola describes and analyses the situation of ex-combatants. It certainly deserves research. It is a rather safe prediction to say that the newest definition by the ministry of a war veteran will cause endless controversy and court processes. Even I myself qualify as a war veteran, according to the definition. Lalli Metsola describes the fate of the former SWATF/Koevoet members as being still pariahs. They are out from war-veteran definition because they were not members of liberation forces. On the other hand, it will be problematic to draw lines between those who have been in exile, but participated in different activities. Lots to do for lawyers, I bet.

Mattia Fumati is afraid of the vision of youth in uniform coming from Zimbabwe style training camps, marching before the President chanting SWAPO songs. We have seen it in Europe before. On the lighter side, he describes accurately the activities of the Shinyewile club in Rundu. The aspiring young elite organises activities that depict their capabilities as future leaders, taking care not to offend the present ones, although mocking them softly. And the club is the best way to have a good time together.

Wolfgand Zeller and Bennet Kangumu Kangumu have dug deep into the strange geography of the Caprivi strip, with which its problems are intimately bound. The separateness and particular identities have not given the Caprivi region and its people much chance to live common history with the rest of Namibia. The old modus vivendi between the Mafwe and Subia and their associates was shattered by the new power relations in independent Namibia. But now, with the construction of the Trans-Caprivi Corridor with bridges over Zambezi a real common blood vein has been established and with it, new economic and political structures may emerge.

Graham Hopwood explores the problems encountered in the effort to create a regional level of administration between central government and local authorities. Regional structures carry a bias from the Bantustan era. The central authorities are also otherwise reluctant to give away power from their own hands. On the other hand, administrative capacity to handle coordinating functions and especially accounting seems to be lacking. As a consequence progress to really delegate tasks to regional level has been slow, in spite of public pronouncements of intentions.
The book has a very strong gender equality tendency. It ends with three weighty analyses of where Namibia stands now in this important respect. Dianne Hubbard goes through the most important gender-related legislation and shows in detail, how traditions and opinions have found expression in the laws. She shows the difficulty in applying Western juridical concepts in another cultural environment. As an example we can mention parental leave, which is not really at home in Namibians social structures.

Lucy Edwards looks into the HIV/AIDS disaster from the female perspective and argues powerfully how it is linked to inequalities and gender relations. It was a surprise for me to read that only 13.4 % of Namibians are formally married and together with cohabiting 15.5% this kind of couples make up only 29%. The figures ridicule an effort to control HIV/AIDS through restricting sex life inside marriage.
Suzanne LaFont describes the real, rather promiscuous, sexual behaviour in Namibia. It is actually the tradition.
The legislation believes, however, that female sexuality needs to be contained and, if possible, controlled. Among lawmakers reverence of tradition and nostalgia compete with politically correct gender equality. Political corrected does not weigh much in the speeches of Sam Nujoma, who threatened homophiles with arrest, deportation and imprisonment, all illegal threats. Suzanne LaFont notes, however, that the HIV-pandemic has forced a discussion on sexuality, which would otherwise not be happening.

Now, as much as ever, we need to understand what is going on in Namibia. This book is therefore timely, clearly written for giving us tools for analysis today. I commend its editor for recruiting top-level researchers contributing to this book, and for his further commitment to the ongoing task.
Henning Melber (ed.), Transitions in Namibia. Which changes for whom? Uppsala. The Nordic Africa Institute 2007.

* Pekka Peltola lives in Helsinki/Finland. He is a long-standing trade union activist, who worked years in support of SWAPO in exile in Cuanza Sul and elsewhere. He published a PhD thesis on the Namibian trade union movement (“The Lost May Day”) in 1995 and together with Iina Soiri (in 1999) the book : “Finland and the Liberation of Southern Africa”.

Uganda: Fighting for adequate livelihoods

2007-12-14

ftp://ext-ftp.fao.org/Radio/MP3/2007/HIV-AIDS-Kyomukama-e.mp3

Women own only a small percentage of the world’s land, yet produce two-thirds of the food in developing countries. A a recent FAO-sponsored Technical Consultation on Gender, Property Rights and Livelihoods in the Era of AIDS (28-30 Nov 2007), in Rome, it was stated that women still account for 60% of all HIV infected adults living in sub-Saharan Africa.

FAO is working with affected women’s groups as well as with governments and local-level groups to increase awareness about the issues of land grabbing and land reform as they affect women in developing countries, in particular in areas of HIV/AIDS prevalence. Women continue to be discriminated and stigmatized despite the efforts that many governments have taken to sensitise communities in recent years.

Unlike many widows or separated women, Flavia Kyomukama, HIV positive and member of Women's group in Uganda, survived land property grabbing from her husband.

Confusion over talks, as source says they are not over yet

2007-12-12

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news121207/talks121207.htm

The SADC sponsored mediation talks led by South African President Thabo Mbeki are far from over, a highly placed source told Newsreel on Wednesday. He said: ‘It is not true that the talks have ended. Only when President Mbeki says the talks have ended will they genuinely be over.’

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

Issue 116, 2007

2007-12-13

Selome Araya

http://www.aumonitor.org/

This week's AU Monitor brings you news and updates from the African Union. AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Bience Gawanas calls for a collective effort in addressing drug trafficking and related crimes, referring to them as "human security and development issues that should be addressed if the AU was to achieve its objectives". Further, the One World Trust has profiled the African Union in its Global Accountability Report, with findings based on public information.

In other AU news, Mrs Julia Dolly Joiner, Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union Commission, delivers a message to commemorate the 59th annual International Human Rights Day.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the Spanish Government are calling for proposals under the NEPAD-Spanish Fund, an initiative intended to "empower African women by unlocking their economic potential, fight poverty and close gender gaps".

African Leaders who gathered at the recent Africa-EU Summit in Lisbon, Portugal have stated that their aim for building ties with Europe is not to seek charity but to increase Africa's role in the global economy and build a partnership based on common interest and mutual respect. At the Summit's opening session, AU Chairman Alpha Konare stated "Africa doesn't want charity or paternalism. We don't want anyone doing things for us. We want to play in the global economy, but with new rules." In other Summit news, African Heads of State refused to accept the EU's proposed economic partnership agreements (EPA) , instead agreeing to interim trade agreements until an alternative is devised. Finally, members of both Parliaments expressed 'surprise and disappointment' that Darfur was not on the agenda for the Summit attended by Heads of States. The legislators and campaigners urge leaders to make the protection of civilians from conflict a top priority of an African-EU cooperation.

In regional news, the Zambezi Basinwide Stakeholders Forum concluded that local communities should be given more possibilities to participate in the decision-making processes regarding natural resources such as water. Further, The South African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal is set to deliver judgment of a pivotal case in which a white Zimbabwean commercial farmer is challenging the legality of the country's land reform program.

In peace and security news, a recent conference on human security and armed violence reduction in Africa was convened in South Africa in order to "examine Africa's research capability in the context of increasing global security challenges". At the close of the conference, participants called on the AU to spearhead the use of research into policy formulation at all levels. Further, a group of elder world leaders have joined together to offer their insight and wisdom on global challenges. Reporting from Darfur, the group of elders compiled a list of recommendations to ensure peace and an immediate ceasefire in the region.

In other peace and security news, the deployment of the EU Force (EUFOR) to protect aid workers and civilians in Chad and the Central African Republic has been placed on hold, due to disagreements between EU countries.

Finally, Festus Aboagye analyzes reasons behind the Western world's push for African 'home-grown' peacekeeping, suggesting that the West mobilizes resources for conflicts when it serves its interests most. Aboagye adds that "the 'real' reason why the West has not been able to participate directly in regional peacekeeping is because of commitments towards the war on terror."

Internship opportunity with AU Monitor

2007-12-13

http://www.aumonitor.org/

This week the AU Monitor announces an internship opportunity for young African journalism professionals to report from the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in January 2008. Journalists will be given training on the African Union and will be expected to produce daily reports from the summit meetings, amongst other duties. For more information please visit: www.aumonitor.org/comments/542/

The Monitor also launches its Monthly Discussion Paper series this week, with Professor Mammo Muchie examining the necessity for a Pan-African monetary union. The series is intended to promote discussion, debate, and sharing among the community of citizens and civil society across Africa committed to the ideals of pan-Africanism and a people-driven union. Please visit: www.pambazuka.org/forums/viewforum/2/

Zimbabwe: Parliament approves Protocol

2007-12-13

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10335

Both Houses of the Zimbabwe Parliament this week approved the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. The next step is for Zimbabwe’s instrument of ratification to be lodged with the AU, at which point the Protocol will come into force for Zimbabwe. After that women’s organisations will need to monitor the Protocol’s incorporation into domestic [national] law and its implementation.

South Africa: NGO disappointed in cell providers

2007-12-13

http://tinyurl.com/2acl8o

Advocacy organisation WomensNet is disappointed by the lack of response from mobile providers to a request for free cellphone calls to anti-gender-violence and AIDS help-lines. Last month, WomensNet, Gender Links and Nisaa partnered with LifeLine Southern Africa to urge Cell C, Vodacom, Virgin Mobile and MTN to declare these help-lines an essential service, with calls to them being free.

Egypt: Government 'fabricated terror group' - Report

2007-12-13

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/11_12_07_hrw_egypt.pdf

A US-based human rights group has accused the Egyptian government of using torture and false confessions in a high-profile anti-terrorism case. Twenty-two alleged members of an unknown Islamist group, the Victorious Sect, were accused of planning attacks on tourism sites and gas pipelines. Human Rights Watch says its research suggests the security forces may have fabricated the group's name.

DRC: Concern over conscription of children, human rights abuses in North Kivu

2007-12-13

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75854

Insurgents loyal to dissident general Laurent Nkunda, fighting government troops in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are still recruiting children into their ranks, even as serious human rights violations, including some committed by agents of the state, are rife in the region, according to the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC).

Global: On terror, US and UK are like the apartheid government, says Tutu

2007-12-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/44958

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has accused the United States and Britain of pursuing policies like those of South Africa's apartheid-era government by detaining terrorism suspects without trial. At an event to commemorate the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDR) today, the Nobel laureate said the detention of suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban members at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was a "huge blot on a democracy".
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has accused the United States and Britain of pursuing policies like those of South Africa's apartheid-era government by detaining terrorism suspects without trial.

At an event to commemorate the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDR) today, the Nobel laureate said the detention of suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban members at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was a "huge blot on a democracy".

"Whoever imagined that you would hear from the United States and from Britain the same arguments for detention without trial that were used by the apartheid government," Archbishop Tutu said.

Archbishop Tutu is chairman of the Elders, a group of prominent international statesmen that includes former US president Jimmy Carter, anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and his Mozambican-born wife, Graca Machel.

The group is spearheading a campaign to get one billion people to sign a pledge reaffirming the principles of the UNDR, passed by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948.

Archbishop Tutu, who helped lead the struggle to overthrow white minority rule in South Africa, said he was surprised so many Americans had accepted the argument that the Guantanamo detentions were necessary because of national security.

"It is exactly what the apartheid government used to say here," the Anglican cleric said.

His remarks come amid a growing outcry over alleged abuses at Guantanamo, which was used as a mass detention centre for suspected violent Islamic radicals in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.

Critics have said the US is circumventing international law by holding detainees without charge, often for years, and violated their human rights with forced confessions and torture tactics.

President George W. Bush said the detentions are lawful, humane and necessary as part of its fight against extremists in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the world.

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear a legal challenge by Guantanamo inmates who are contesting their detention.

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Global: UN set for key death penalty vote

2007-12-12

http://tinyurl.com/2vga6c

The world is set to take a giant leap towards the abolition of the death penalty worldwide in a crucial UN vote. The UN vote is expected to endorse a decision to establish a moratorium (a suspension) on executions worldwide. It is anticipated to take place on the morning of 18 December, at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.

Africa: Rwanda abolishes death penalty

2007-12-13

http://www.hrea.org/lists2/display.php?language_id=1&id=6786

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has lauded the abolition of the death penalty in Rwanda. Along with Gabon, which also recently decided to ban the practice, Rwanda joins "the vast majority of UN Member States that have already done so," Louise Arbour told the Human Rights Council, currently in its sixth session in Geneva.

Nigeria: Stepping up the fight against child-trafficking

2007-12-13

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75783

In a welcome centre in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, a small finger traces the words of an English text book; a young voice struggles to pronounce the words. Ruth is 13 years old and only in grade 3. But for her, this is a major achievement. At the age of five, Ruth was trafficked from her village in southern Nigeria to Gabon, further south on the Gulf of Guinea. For years of her life, she never attended school.

Uganda: Congolese refugees prepare to move

2007-12-13

http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/475ea0c74.html

Grandmother Laurencia Nyirabanzi has been a tower of strength to her family since they fled to Uganda after her three sons were killed just across the border in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) by fighters loyal to a renegade military commander. The, her three widowed daughters-in-law and her eight grandchildren are all victims of the latest outbreak of conflict in DRC's volatile North Kivu province, which pits government troops against forces loyal to renegade commander, General Laurent Nkunda.

Libya: Human rights defenders on hunger strike

Letter to UN Commissioner for Human Rights

2007-12-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/44956

On 18 October 2007, the Human Rights Committee completed its review of Libya’s fourth periodic report, which was due for consideration in 2002. Libya not only submitted its report five years after the deadline but also, more importantly, did not comply with the recommendations of the Committee made in 1998 on the conclusion of the review of the country’s third periodic report. In the words of the Committee, “the recommendations of 1998 have not been fully taken into consideration and [the Committee] regrets that almost all subjects of concern remain unchanged”.
16 November 2007

Dear Ms. Arbour,
Subject: Libyan Human Rights Defenders on Hunger Strike

On 18 October 2007, the Human Rights Committee completed its review of Libya’s fourth periodic report, which was due for consideration in 2002. Libya not only submitted its report five years after the deadline but also, more importantly, did not comply with the recommendations of the Committee made in 1998 on the conclusion of the review of the country’s third periodic report. In the words of the Committee, “the recommendations of 1998 have not been fully taken into consideration and [the Committee] regrets that almost all subjects of concern remain unchanged”. It therefore renewed its call to the Government of Libya to “comply with all recommendations addressed to it by the Committee and take all necessary steps to ensure that national legislation and its implementation guarantee the effective enjoyment of all Covenant rights in the State party”.

The Committee again found that the Libyan Government is imposing “extensive limitations of the right to freedom of opinion and expression in law and in practice, particularly those imposed on peaceful opposition to, or criticism of, the Government and the political system”. As in 1998 and with identical words, the Committee once more called on the Government to “ revise its legislation to ensure that any limitations on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, including those of the media, are in strict compliance with the Covenant”.

The Libyan League for Human rights strongly believes that the HRC’s present policy of only observing violations, without further action, will not remedy the worsening situation of human rights in Libya. The Committee made similar recommendations when it reviewed Libya’s first (1982), second (1992), and third (1998) periodic reports but the Libyan Government, as noted by the HCR, failed to take the recommendations into consideration. Each time the Committee calls on the Libyan Government “to comply with all recommendations” and each time the same Committee observes that the previous recommendations have not been taken into consideration by Libya and that “almost all subjects of concern remain unchanged”. We believe that it is time for the HRC to cease its “observe only” approach and take a more pragmatic attitude whereby the Committee clearly identifies violations, as well as their causes and remedies, and sets deadlines for the Government to redress all violations in conformity with its obligation ensuing from Libya’s accession to the CCPR. The previous approach has so far proved unproductive with the Government and it is imperative that the Committee finds new ways to ensure the implementation of its recommendations in Libya and elsewhere. Failure to do so will result only in more violations, broader impunity and erosion of the moral authority of the Committee, the eyes and ears of the international community in the field of civil and political rights and a major protector of human rights defenders.

In Libya, most human rights defenders are silent and voiceless as they have realized that they have no protection and that undertaking any human rights activities may result only in their arrest, jail and possibly torture. This situation is further exacerbated by a feeling that the HRC has not adequately fulfilled its protection duties when it comes to protecting Libyan human rights defenders. The case of Dr Idriss Bufayed illustrates this lack of concern on the part of the Committee. Dr. Bufayed, a prominent human right defender, together with 11 other Libyans, has been in jail for the last 10 months for daring to attempt to exercise his right to freedom of expression as defined in article 19 of the CCPR to which Libya is a party. We are not aware of any action that has been or is being taken by the OHCHR or any other UN Human rights office to defend this group whose “crime” is their call for a public sit in (on 17 February) in a square in Tripoli to protest against the continuous violation by the Libyan Government of the letter and spirit of the CCPR, especially articles 19, 21, 22 and 25, and to call for recognition of the right to freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom to elect the Government in a free and fair election. It is noteworthy that these violations were also recognized as major concerns by the Committee.

The 12 defenders, who were arrested on 16 February 2007, have experienced all forms of malicous mistreatment, including incommunicado detention for long periods of time, abuse, poor diet and insufficient medical care. According to unconfirmed reports, at least four of the 12 detainees - Driss Bufayed, Jamal Alhajji, Almahdi Hmeid, and Ahmed Alaabeidi - have been sujected to long and regular sessions of torture. They have all embarked, since 7 November, on a hunger strike in protest against this mistreatment and the harsh conditions of their detention. We have no doubt that you are aware of this case as members of the HRC mentioned some of its details last month on the occasion of the review of Libya’s fourth report. At this stage there is an urgent need for prompt and strong representations from your office and the Committee to the Libyan Government on behalf of the detainees to secure their release and their safe return to their families and friends. It is important that the OHCHR stresses in its representations that the group has done nothing wrong and that the right to freedom of expression is an internationally recognized inalienable right the violation of which cannot be condoned under any circumstance. The promptness of your intervention is all the more necessary since the lives of those on hunger strike are under real threat as they are suffering from orthostatic hypotension, dehydration and severe malnutrition.

We thank you in advance for any action you may decide to take to secure the release of this group of human rights defenders. Meanwhile we urge you to appoint an independent medical examiner to monitor the health of the strikers and to provide immediate medical assistance to save their life. The Libyan League for Human rights remains at your disposal for any additional information you may require.

Yours sincerely Soliman Bouchuiguir (Ph.D)
Secretary-General


Ms. Louise ARBOUR, High Commissioner for Human Rights Palais Wilson / 1211 Geneva

CC :
- H.E Mr Doru Costea,
- President of the Human rights Council
- Palais Wilson / Geneva
- Mr. Rafael RIVAS POSADA Chaiman Human Rights Committee Palais Wilson / Geneva
- All members of the HRC (17 members excluding the Chairman)

- Secretary Of HR COUNCIL
- Secretary of HR Committee

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Refugee Education Sponsorship Programme – Enhancing Communities Together

2007-12-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/44957

RESPECT is a growing institution that aims both to deliver educational opportunities and at raising awareness of refugees’ desperate need for higher education in the global south.
RESPECT (see http://www.respectrefugees.org) is a growing institution that aims both to deliver educational opportunities and at raising awareness of refugees’ desperate need for higher education in the global south.

It was started in 2001 by a school teacher, Marc Shaeffer, who had been inspired by the work done at Winnipeg Refugee Education Network (WREN see http://www.web.net/~wren/facts.html) He contacted the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), which introduced him to partner organizations and thereafter he created a network of contact with many refugee communities and NGOs working in the field. Though still few in number, now RESPECT associates and affiliates extend to the four corners of the globe, including, Canada, the US, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, India and Japan.

At first, he simply wanted to get used school materials to children in refugee camps, but later the vision grew to creating a network that would connect schools around the world with refugee schools, thus enhancing world awareness towards issues of refugees. The Global Letter Exchange (http://respectrefugees.org/ezine/2006/ezine20060616_letter.shtml) has become a network of friends who listen to each other, help each other by providing moral support and advice. The letter exchange has had a good resonance in many schools in the US, Canada and Japan.

Recognizing that the aspirations of refugees for higher education were not being met, RESPECT University (RU) was born to introduce refugees to post-secondary education and to help them combat the barriers that stand between them and their universal right to education. It still is not an ‘accredited’ institution, but is operating on the basis that it is better for refugees to be studying and remaining idle and hopeless. Hopefully, as it develops, some accreditation can be arranged in each country.

Now based solely on volunteer work, RU depends on linking refugees, who have obtained their high school diplomas, with tutors teaching through online or offline correspondence. Country coordinators and/or course coordinators enroll them in RU classes to pursue their studies at university level. RU now has a total of 14 tutors from different countries of excellent teaching skills and qualifications. They prepare their own courses tailored to the needs of the target group of students. They deliver their materials with the aid of country coordinators or course coordinators to the refugees using the infrastructure of partner NGOs or whatever means available on site at refugee camps.

A course is usually one year with some 10 assignments each that the students have to accomplish before being awarded a certificate of completion. Courses cover various fields of knowledge, but concentrate mainly on the needs of students and the ability of making practical use of the scientific material being taught. Among the courses offered are social psychology, accounting principles, community development, democracy, conflict resolution and improving written communication skills in English. All educational tools whether primary or secondary are included in the package sent by the tutor in care of the course coordinator who is in physical contact with the refugees and usually responsible for delivering assignments and feedback between the tutor and his/her students. Most of these tutors are either teachers at university level or have the expertise and the knowledge to build a curriculum and deliver it to a group of students. Among those tutors, there are Kenneth Donahue, a PhD student at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and instructor of international relations, Elizabeth Radziszewski, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Illinois and Ashok Pillai, a senior employee in the Indian government who is the source of motivation and boost to RESPECT International in general and the RU in particular.

A team of volunteers is responsible for spreading the word on RESPECT, its goals, achievements, and projects to as many interested and qualified people as possible. Some are working on creating country profiles to help adapt RESPECT to specificities of each country.

There is work to be done on a study of the required infrastructure. Universities are also being approached with suggestions of cooperation, awareness and fund raising events. The work of this group is complementary to that of tutors, whose aim is to increasing the availability of free-of-cost higher educational courses through RESPECT.

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Angola: Former IDPs share common challenge of recovery and reconstruction

2007-12-12

http://tinyurl.com/yr5zce

Since April 2002, most of the four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Angola have resettled, integrated or gone home following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the governing MPLA and UNITA, which marked the end of 27 years of civil war. In November 2005 the government estimated that there were still some 62,000 IDPs in Angola. Since then, population movements and the level of integration of the displaced have not been monitored.

Tanzania: Balancing camp closure and voluntary repatriation

2007-12-13

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40389

Tens of thousands of Burundian refugees staying in Tanzania returned home this year; however, the Tanzanian government will miss its target to empty all camps by mid-2008, the United Nations has said. Authorities had indicated they wanted to pick up the pace, and set a deadline for voluntary repatriation for the end of this year -- or Jun. 30, 2008 at the very latest.

Kenya: Thousands of IDPs in Mt Elgon need help, say officials

2007-12-14

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75804

Thousands of civilians displaced by violence related to land disputes in Mt Elgon, western Kenya, need urgent assistance, according to local leaders. “About 50 houses were destroyed today [10 December] in three villages in Cheptais division,” Wycliffe Chongin, a local church leader, told IRIN at Kapsokwony, the Mt Elgon District headquarters, after local officials met UN representatives.

Political Declaration of the Euro-African Civil Society Forum

2007-12-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/44953

We, African and European Civil Society Organizations, having met at the Lisbon Euro-African Forum, state that partnerships are the cornerstone of development. However, building a new partnership between Europe and Africa takes time. It requires more coherence and taking power unbalances into account. It also requires the effective implementation of the principles on which this relation must be based, such as mutual accountability and trust.
Political Declaration of the Euro-African Civil Society Forum

Lisbon, 15th to 17th November 2007

We, African and European Civil Society Organizations, having met at the Lisbon Euro-African Forum, state that partnerships are the cornerstone of development. However, building a new partnership between Europe and Africa takes time. It requires more coherence and taking power unbalances into account. It also requires the effective implementation of the principles on which this relation must be based, such as mutual accountability and trust.

This strategic partnership must respect the time and agenda of each actor involved in the process, allowing for the inequalities to be narrowed and for the maturity of institutions to be advanced enough to allow for a true balance of power between continents.

1º Mutual Accountability: We believe any future partnership must be rooted in mutual learning and respect, on an honest political dialogue and on the recognition that Human Rights are universal. Governance must be a political demand for the democracy-building process in both Continents.

Mutual accountability requires also equilibrium of power between the EU and Africa but, until this happens, bilateral and international negotiations must take into account existing disequilibrium and be adjusted accordingly.

2º Trust: Trust is built upon a common understanding and respect of each other. It is also permanently built and strengthened through the implementation of coherent and solidarity policies and the delivery of concrete outcomes. However, the combination of a lack of policy coherence by the European Union and their double standards for partner countries has led to a degree of scepticism on the part of Civil Society in Europe and Africa. The bilateral free-trade agreements, as they are currently defined, especially the Economic Partnership Agreements, are a clear counter-example of this trust-building process, since they are incoherent with key principles of the New Strategic Partnership, undermining the very processes of sub-regional and continental integration they are supposed to support. Another lack of coherence can also be found in the security-based approach of migration fluxes, only linked to Europe’s interest.

A new strategic partnership requires a true political will and the implementation of new instruments and resources in order to accompany the continental integration process as it has been defined by African partners.

Moreover, a people-centred partnership means that adequate and timely spaces should be created to allow for the diversity of civil society organisations to take part in all strategic and operational aspects of this relationship. A genuine Civil Society participation must be made possible in policy-making at the local, national and regional level, through the existence of concrete frameworks for dialogue based on solid and effective institutions, ensuring that the views of a wide range of stakeholders, and in particular marginalised groups, are integrated into the policy making process. Women must have access to adequate spaces and mechanisms allowing them to increase their political, economic and cultural power.

Finally, in order to respond, jointly, to the fast changing environment in which this Partnership has been established, we insist that this dialogue process include mechanisms and instruments for mutual learning, continuous assessment and review, and guarantee mutual accountability, the respect of mutual rights – including the right to development, and a true equilibrium of power. It is under these conditions that African and European Civil Society Organisations represented at the Euro-African Forum are willing to accept the challenges of being a partner in the construction of this new relationship.

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Kenya: People's manifesto launched

2007-12-12

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/44959

Access to education, security, smooth roads, free media and affordable health are among the demands Kenyan voters have of their political candidates. Other demands are respect and protection of peoples' rights to actively participate in governance, the right to vote in members to local committees and determine which projects are prioritised. All these and more constitute the manifesto launched by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) dubbed, "National People's Manifesto, From Party Promises to People's Demands".
The Nation (Kenya),

by Samwel Kumba - December 11, 2007.

Nairobi (Kenya) – Access to education, security, smooth roads, free media and affordable health are among the demands Kenyan voters have of their political candidates.

Other demands are respect and protection of peoples' rights to actively participate in governance, the right to vote in members to local committees and determine which projects are prioritised. All these and more constitute the manifesto launched yesterday by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) dubbed, "National People's Manifesto, From Party Promises to People's Demands", and which contains a collection of peoples' views from 55 constituencies across the country. The launch coincided with the International Human Rights Day.

The collection, validation and engagement of the electorate to compile the manifesto is thought to be instrumental in shaping the choice of a leader from among the candidates who will battle it out in the ballot box later this month. Launching the manifesto, the executive director of KHRC, Ms Muthoni Wanyeki, appealed to the leaders to respect the people's right to utilising decentralised funds in an accountable and transparent way as well as promoting human rights.

"This is the first time in Kenya's history that people have demystified power and spoken truth to it. They have delegitimised the party manifestos and formulated their own, debunked party promises by placing demands on political parties and candidates and exercised their right to determine their own destiny," Ms Wanyeki said. The People's Manifesto is founded to bring about transformation before, during and after the electoral process, Mr Tom Kagwe, a researcher at KHRC said. The views were collected from various regions including the Rift Valley, Northern Region, Coast, Eastern Region and Western Region.

Across these areas, people felt that elected leaders should continuously lobby relevant government authorities for construction of roads, schools and dams besides them (leaders) spending time in their constituencies and wards. "Elected leaders should lobby their respective political parties to have a third female membership and leadership as well as nominate women to both Parliament and the councils, aim to upgrade and tarmac roads, ensure better utilisation of rural electrification funds, liaise with municipal councils to ensure hawkers are allocated designated areas and lobby the Ministry of Lands to settle squatters," the manifesto reads in part.

Other projects that the electorate is lobbying for include construction of dispensaries, tertiary colleges and centres for adult learning, completion of the constitutional review process and nurturing the empowerment of women. The various regions also had their own unique sanctions to ensure that the elected leaders performed. In Rift Valley, the people called for a 'moot recall' of elected leaders where the people shall elect acting leaders to replace duly elected ones if they fail to honour demands made.

In the Northern Region, the electorate sought to pile pressure on elected leaders to deliver on their promises through mobilisation of voters to sign up a petition calling for improved performance. In Coast, the citizenry will be mobilised to sign petitions demanding improved performance and demonstrate against non-performing elected leaders. In Eastern, the people will boycott all functions organised by elected leaders who under-perform and form a task force to ensure elected leaders implement the constituency-based people's manifesto. And in Western, the electorate preferred to sue leaders for misuse of public resources and call for the amendment of the constitution to allow for a recall clause.

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Zimbabwe: MDC bruised but not yet beaten

2007-12-13

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75759

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) is in trouble: already split into feuding factions, it now risks being deserted by its key allies ahead of next year's elections. Labour movement and civil society groups are concerned over the 'compromises' the MDC has made in low-key talks with the ruling ZANU-PF party, and a growing intolerance within the opposition party, underlined by reports of intimidation and violence against members, analysts say.

Comoros: Instability spells decline

2007-12-13

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75813

The prospects for a peaceful resolution to the deepening political impasse between Anjouan, one of three semi-autonomous islands that make up the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros, and the Union government, are becoming ever less likely.
Individual island elections in June reignited hostility between Anjouan and the other two islands in the group, Grande Comore and Moheli. Anjouan forces had killed two national soldiers trying to enforce a constitutional court decision ordering Mohamed Bacar to step down as Anjouan's president.

Kenya: Former Sierra Leone president to lead poll observers

2007-12-14

http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143978874

Former president of Sierra Leone, Mr Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, will lead the Commonwealth Observers Group (COG) in the elections. Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr Don McKinnon, announced on Thursday that the former president would lead a team of observers composed of 13 eminent persons drawn from 11 Commonwealth countries. He added that the observers would be in the country from December 18 to January 1.

Zimbabwe: Mugabe warns against election violence

2007-12-14

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=327648

Zimbabwe's veteran President Robert Mugabe, accused of allowing attacks on his political opponents, appealed on Thursday to his supporters not to engage in violence in next year's elections. In a keynote address at his Zanu-PF conference in the capital, Harare, Mugabe also urged the party to remain united in the countdown to the parliamentary and presidential elections.

Kenya: Opposition accuse govt of trying to rig vote

2007-12-14

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=327341

Kenya's main opposition party accused the government on Monday of bribing voters and risking regional insecurity by trying to rig polls due on December 27. "A rigged electoral process will cause such chaos and political instability in Kenya, not only here but in the entire East Africa region," presidential challenger Raila Odinga, leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), told Reuters.

Nigeria: Leader battles to get a grip on power

2007-12-14

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=327246

Umaru Yar'Adua has been in charge of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and biggest oil producer, for six months and is already struggling against endemic corruption and political infighting. Most observers agree that Yar'Adua, a Muslim from northern Nigeria, is well-intentioned and more sincere than his predecessor, military man Olusegun Obasanjo. They also agree that he lacks the clout and decisiveness of Obasanjo

Africa: Only safe, quality anti-malaria drugs to be sold to Africa

2007-12-12

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/03/content_7193390.htm

China has tightened the quality control on anti-malaria drugs sold to African countries with a newly-issued regulation and other efforts, according to the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). According to the new regulation, China will only export anti-malaria drugs produced through a group of government-appointed pharmacy companies to African clients and carefully examine their products before export, said Wu Zhen, the SFDA deputy Director, at a press conference.

Kenya: Chinese bank gives Kenya $20 million for cheap housing

2007-12-12

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL06885098.html

China Development Bank will provide $20 million in development credit to build low-cost housing and improve education and health care in Kenya, the bank's top official in Africa has said. More than half the money will go towards construction of low- and medium-income houses in the east African country, which has a government target of building 150,000 new units each year.

Sierra Leone: President orders corruption probe

2007-12-13

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7141891.stm

Sierra Leone's new president has asked the country's anti-corruption body to probe ex-government ministers and other senior officials for alleged graft. Ernest Bai Koroma said this would set an example by making all accountable. He made the announcement after being presented with an audit into the state of corruption in Sierra Leone.

Kenya: Telkom Kenya Privatization and Safaricom IPO

Cause for public concern

2007-12-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/corruption/44947

The Government of Kenya is in the concluding stages of privatizing Telkom Kenya. The winning bidders France Telecom will take Board control by December 21, 2007.
The government is also planning to offload shares of Safaricom through an Initial Public Offer (IPO) before the end of this year. However there are reasons to be wary of this privatization exercise.
CAVEAT EMPTOR

Cause for Public Concern on the Telkom Kenya Privatization and Safaricom IPO

The Government of Kenya is in the concluding stages of privatizing Telkom Kenya. The winning bidders France Telecom will take Board control by December 21, 2007.

The government is also planning to offload shares of Safaricom through an Initial Public Offer (IPO) before the end of this year.


However there are reasons to be wary of this privatization exercise:

- The Kenya government is forcing through the Telkom Kenya’s privatization with undue haste in the face of public concern. The process has unfolded barely a month to the General Election and is set to close just six days to voting. Why could it not be delayed for a short period, two months perhaps, to allow for the electoral and festive season?

- The privatization of Telkom Kenya has taken place outside the legal framework of the Privatization Act. The Act, was passed by Parliament and signed into law by the President in 2005 but has been kept in abeyance by the Minister of Finance for two years. The Minister is simply required to gazette it and to embark on the establishment of a Privatization Commission. The failure by the Minister of Finance to gazette the Privatization Act amounts to the misuse of power. Simply put, the Minister has used his executive power to thwart the coming into force of a law. There is no guarantee that the next government, if it is a different one, will feel obliged to respect the privatization. Indeed, the leading Opposition party has indicated it will not.

- The refusal by the Minister of Finance to activate the Privatization Act flies against the constitutional check and balance mechanism that guides law making in Kenya. This is because the constitution deems a law to be in effect after it has undergone parliamentary passage and presidential assent; any other requirement, such as ministerial action to operationalise the law is merely intended as practical, regulatory or administrative considerations that cannot constitute grounds for delay or thwarting of the law.

- These transactions are being investigated by the serious fraud office of the united kingdom

About Safaricom:

- Safaricom Limited was established in 1997 as a fully-owned department of the Kenya Post & Telecommunication Corporation (KP&TC). The department was inherited by Telkom in 1999, when KP&TC was broken up into Posta, the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) and Telkom Kenya. But somewhere along the way, 40 % of Safaricom shares were transferred to Vodafone Kenya Limited, which in turn sold 25% of its own shareholding – and therefore 10% of Safaricom’s shares – to Mobitelea Ventures Limited, a mysterious company not resident in Kenya but in Guernsey. On January 29, 2007, Gavin Darby, CEO of Vodafone Americas, Africa, China, India wrote to the Kenyan Clerk of Parliament that Mobitelea had offered “valued advice” with the explanation that whenever Vodafone invests in ‘new territories’, it is not uncommon for the company to work alongside ‘a partner who typically gives advise on local business and protocols and the various challenges associated in investing in a new market’. Mobitelea was in turn “offered the opportunity to acquire 25% of VKL” at the same price Vodafone had acquired them for. There are grounds to believe that this language masks an irregular transaction.

- The transfer of Safaricom shares from Telkom to Vodafone and Mobitelea was neither aboveboard nor even regular. The privatization of Telkom Kenya can not, therefore, be deemed regular until the true picture of its ceding of Safaricom shares to Vodafone Kenya is unraveled and rectified. As it is, the ownership of a significant 5% of the Safaricom remains engulfed in a cloud of controversy that has a strong whiff of underhand wheeler- dealing.

- Vodafone Kenya and Telkom Kenya have gone to great lengths to hide the details of Safaricom’s relationship with Mobitelea Ventures. That this should be the case is fair grounds to suspect foul play in the sale of Safaricom shares.


The Kenyan parliamentary investment committee’s recommendations:

- The transfer of Safaricom’s shareholding from Telkom Kenya was convoluted and possibly illegal and corrupt. An investigation by Kenya’s parliamentary Public Investment Committee graphically illustrates the point. The committee, moreover, made several specific recommendations that are yet to be effected. Among the PIC findings and recommendations are that:

1.10% shareholding of Telkom Kenya Limited was irregularly transferred to Mobitelea Ventures Limited without the consent of Treasury and that of the parent ministry;

2.The Director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) should immediately institute investigations into the circumstances and manner in which Telkom’s shares were transferred to Mobitelea and take action against anyone found culpable;

3.The Director of KACC should include a progress report on the Telkom-Mobitelea investigations in the Commission’s quarterly report to parliament;

4.The PIC, on behalf of Parliament, invites the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the United Nations (UN), Transparency International (TI), and the Serious Fraud Office of London to also undertake investigations on the apparent grand corruption conceived and orchestrated by Vodafone PLC in Kenya.

5.The Chief Executive of the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), Eng. John Waweru, should be asked to step aside until the investigations are completed ‘due to his role on the Board of the defunct KP&TC and Telkom Kenya at the time of changes in Safaricom shareholding…’;

6.The Board members, Mr. Waweru , W.N Ayah, A.K Cheserem, M.P Manji, K.K Cherogony, D.A Oyatsi and G Mitine, who discussed the Telkom Kenya Board Paper No. 56/99 and seem to have abetted the irregular transfer of public shares of Safaricom should be barred from holding public office.

7.The value of the 10% shares of Safaricom ceded to Mobitelea Ventures should be determined and Mobitelea and or Vodafone PLC be made to redeem the determined value by June 2008;

8.The awaited Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Safaricom Limited should be suspended until such time when the investigations into the transfer of Safaricom’s shares to Vodafone PLC and Mobitelea are completed;

9.The 10% of Safaricom shares that was irregularly transferred to Vodafone PLC should immediately revert to Telkom Kenya to hold in trust for the Kenyan public.


The privatization of Telkom therefore remains suspect until and unless the PIC recommendations have been implemented or new information tabled before the Committee to persuade it otherwise.

The government should respect the recommendations of the PIC which directed that ” the awaited Initial Public Offer (IPO) of Safaricom Limited should be suspended until such time when the investigations into the transfer of Safaricom’s shares to Vodafone PLC and Mobitelea are completed”. Why the rush? Both the CEO of Safaricom and the Association of Stockbrokers and Investment Banks recommend delaying the Safaricom IPO until after the electoral and festive season. This time can be used be used to complete the investigations into the transfer of Telkom shares in Safaricom and to ensure that the interests of the Kenyans citizens are safeguarded.

Signed:

The Civil Society Task Force on Grand Corruption represented by:

Gladwell Otieno, Africa Centre for Open Governance, P.O. Box 18157, 00100 GPO Tel. ++ 254 20 272 3031, Nairobi
Mwalimu Mati, Mars Group Kenya
Muthoni Wanyeki, Kenya Human Rights Commission
Geoffrey Birundu, Name and Shame Corrupt Networks Campaign
Haron Ndubi, Haki Focus

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Africa: Ghana signs EPA

2007-12-13

http://www.afrol.com/articles/27517

After intense protests and controversy over the trade partnership agreement between the European Union and Africa Caribbean and Pacific countries, Ghana government decided to sign what is referred to as an interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)with the European Commission. The trade deal, which made Ghana the second after Cote d’Ivoire, would immediately eliminate tariffs on virtually all of the country’s exports to Europe and on 80% of imports from Europe over 15 years.

Africa: Africa Development Indicators 2007

2007-12-13

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTSTATINAFR/Resources/adi2007_final.pdf

In contrast to the 1970s and 1980s, the last decade has spelt a period of steady growth across Africa, partly as a result of global market conditions (high prices for oil and minerals) and partly due a change in macroeconomic policies. However, political volatility remains a risk to investment, says this latest report from the World Bank.

Africa: Cameroon swells poor group striking EU trade deals

2007-12-12

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL12902563.html

Cameroon's parliament has authorised the president to sign an interim trade deal with the European Union, joining a growing number of poor nations inking 11th-hour accords before preferential trade terms expire. The EU is rushing to strike basic interim deals with the comparatively better off former colonies to avoid disruption to their goods exports when preferential terms expire on Dec. 31.

Africa: How Europe is losing Africa

2007-12-14

Calestous Juma

http://tinyurl.com/ys4szu

Despite Lisbon’s genuine interest to serve “once again as a bridge” between the two continents, the summit came decades too late, argues Calestous Juma. Most of Europe has not woken up to the fact there is a new Africa that is unlikely to cross a bridge built with remnants from a previous era. New design criteria are needed to reconstruct relations between Africa and Europe.

Southern Africa: Malawi applauded for rebuffing World Bank prescriptions

2007-12-12

http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3601.aspx

A prominent New York Times article describes how Malawi went from food aid recipient to regional food provider in just two years after re-introducing fertilizer subsidies for its low-income farmers. The move contravened years of policy guidance from the World Bank and IMF, which warn against such distortions of the “free market.”

Uganda: The forgotten urban IDPs

2007-12-14

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artman/publish/news/The_forgotten_urban_IDPs.shtml

Under the heat of the mid-day sun, the hills that surround Banda, a Kampala suburb, ring with the distinct chink-chink-chink of metal hitting rock. Following the sound along winding paths that descend into a massive rock quarry, reveals groups of women and girls, each wielding an engine gear fixed to a wooden stick, methodically crushing rocks. Many, like 11-year old Irene Abalo who is a three-year veteran of life in the quarry, came here to escape violence in the north. Now, with tentative peace between the government and the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), a massive effort has begun to help the millions who fled to IDP camps in the north during the 20-year conflict.

Africa: IMF policies undermine HIV/AIDS initiatives in Malawi and Ghana

2007-12-13

http://www.eldis.org/go/country-profiles&id=34558&type=Document

Have traditional restrictive macroeconomic policies and budget ceilings limited some governments from giving HIV/AIDS the attention it deserves? This paper published by African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) analyses the links between macroeconomic frameworks provided by the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) and HIV/AIDS social spending in Ghana and Malawi.

Côte d’Ivoire: Unsafe sex increases after starting anti-HIV treatment

2007-12-13

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/8EEA5EA0-28CE-4629-BDEC-E3874B5BB62D.asp

Starting antiretroviral therapy is associated with increased sexual risk taking, according to a study conducted in Cote d’Ivoire and published in the January 2008 edition of AIDS. Younger age and alcohol consumption were also associated with unprotected sex. Several studies in industrialised countries have noted increased levels of unprotected sex since effective antiretroviral therapy became available. The exact reasons for this are unclear and a meta-analysis found that levels of unprotected sex were not increased amongst HIV-positive individuals taking anti-HIV treatment.

Kenya: Govenrment gets blank cheque to treat HIV+ children

2007-12-13

http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4873&Itemid=5813

The Clinton Foundation has given Kenya a blank medical cheque with a pledge to pay for the treatment of all HIV-infected children, easing the financial burden on their families. Direct costs of buying medicine is estimated to be more than Sh2 billion annually. This excludes costs associated with awareness campaigns and nutrition.

Global : Positive fatwas - using religious rulings in the AIDS struggle

2007-12-13

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75728

To most Westerners, a fatwa, or Islamic ruling, evokes the imposition of a death sentence on author Salman Rushdie and the wearing of head-to-toe coverings, or burkas, on women. Yet fatwas can also be progressive and bring widespread change. Issued by respected Islamic scholars known as ulama, fatwas are guidelines for the ummah, the worldwide Muslim community, which numbers between 1.3 and 1.5 billion people, according to the CIA Factbook.

Global: Many hands make healthcare more efficient

2007-12-14

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75834

The world is running a deficit of more than 4 million healthcare workers, but a proposed new shift in healthcare delivery may alleviate the shortage and bring new players to the field. An article in the 13 December edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, Rapid Expansion of the Health Workforce in Response to the HIV Epidemic, introduces the World Health Organisation's battle plan to combat the shortage and revolutionise the way we think of healthcare.

Togo: Haphazard ARV supplies threaten lives

2007-12-14

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75681

A desperate shortage of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in the West African country of Togo has temporarily eased with the arrival of a two-month supply of the life-prolonging medication. The stopgap consignment of the generic drug, Triomune, arrived from its Indian manufacturer on 28 November, four months after the original order had been placed; distribution began the next day. "They are making efforts to try to catch up on lost time," said Augustin Dokla, president of RAS+ (the network for people living with HIV in Togo).

Global: New illustrated book for displaced/refugee children and youth

2007-12-14

http://www.womenscommission.org/pdf/right_to_ed_handbook.pdf

The Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children has produced a new field-friendly publication, "Your Right to Education: A Handbook for Refugees and Displaced Communities", which is available online. The brightly illustrated book, which is aimed at refugee children, young people and adults, raises awareness of the universal right to education, especially in areas of conflict.

Africa: Religious leaders urge partnership with UN to tackle gender-based violence

2007-12-12

http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=1077

Some 60 religious leaders from 18 African countries stressed the need for members of faith-based organizations (FBOs) to partner with the United Nations at all levels to advocate for policy change and resource mobilization for the prevention of HIV and gender-based violence. At the end of a two-day regional forum organized by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and the World Conference of Religions for Peace-South Africa, a series of wide-ranging recommendations for strengthening partnerships were adopted.

Southern Africa: Justice for survivors of marital rape, how far has SADC come ?

2007-12-14

Pamela Mhlanga

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/16days/45014

The question of whether marital rape is recognised or not by Southern African Development Community (SADC) governments, as a matter of policy, should be put to rest, says Pamela Mhlanga. International organisations and agreements recognise marital rape as a human rights violation and six SADC countries have domesticated this position in their criminal justice systems.
The question of whether marital rape is recognised or not by Southern African Development Community (SADC) governments, as a matter of policy, should be put to rest. International organisations and agreements recognise marital rape as a human rights violation and six SADC countries have domesticated this position in their criminal justice systems.

SADC is making progress, albeit fraught with uncertainties, towards a legally binding Gender and Development Protocol scheduled for adoption in 2008. Yet, it is surprising that the current draft of the Gender and Development Protocol excludes marital rape from the ambit of gender based violence, making it diametrically opposed to the 1998 commitment by SADC governments, and indeed, the progress already made in six countries in the region. Are we taking a step back or moving forward?

Nine years ago, SADC governments made a strong policy stance, through the 1998 Addendum to the SADC Gender and Development Declaration, to comprehensively prevent and eradicate violence against women and girls. Not only did they acknowledge the root causes of gender based violence as stemming from unequal gender relations, but also recognised that this was a “a serious violation of fundamental human rights.”

They understood that there is no distinction between the private and public spheres of women and children’s lives, and that violence within the family, including threats, intimidation, battery, sexual abuse of children, economic deprivation, marital rape, femicide, female genital mutilation, and traditional practices harmful to women must be punished. So in fact, marital rape is on the SADC agenda as a priority area for intervention.

So why, nine years on, and in spite of acceding to or ratifying international human rights instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, have only six of the 14 SADC countries seen it fit to provide justice to survivors of marital rape?

What is distinctive about Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, and Tanzania, all of which now recognise marital rape? It may well be a question of political will, but equally the recognition that rape in all its forms can be a matter or life and death, causes untold trauma on survivors, and in some cases social ostracisation, including permanent scars, aside from destroying the essence of their lives.

The message from these six countries is that a marriage contract does not include an agreement for rape to happen. The so-called conjugal rights do not include the right to violate the individual rights of the other in any form whatsoever.

If the proposed Gender and Development Protocol is a forward looking document, affirming SADC women’s rights and grounded in their experiences, then there is also a need to set targets, including benchmarks to reduce and eventually eradicate gender based violence. This includes the target to reduce gender violence by 50% by 2015, and 70% by 2020, all of which are still subject to negotiation.

The spotlight is increasingly on marital rape due to evidence of the high rate of HIV infections amongst married women, rooted in unequal power relations, including their inability to negotiate safe sex. Repeated marital rapes increase their risk of infections, as well as the possibility of disability arising from the violence.

What makes marital rape as opposed to stranger rape particularly devastating is the violation of the trust between two people bound in a marital union, and the impact this has on the violator’s role in relation to the violated spouse. The trust is irreparably broken, compromising other marital rights flowing from the union.

For example, how can the violator of such an intimate relationship be expected to play the role of protector of the rights of the children in the marriage? It has been noted that because of the nature of the marital relationship, the rapists often repeat the offence many times over, because of their perceived right to usurp and violate the rights of the survivor, such as her bodily integrity.

This is a key reason why state and other interventions to stop the criminal behaviour are critical. If women still find it difficult to report stranger rape, what where does this leave rape within marriage?

People Opposing Women Abuse (POWA), a south African based gender justice organisation, notes, citing a 1998 study (Kottler) of 20 wives’ experience of sexual violence from their spouse or partner, that much awareness raising is required. Women need to understand that acts of “forced,” “survival” or “pressurised” sex, are in fact non-consensual sexual acts, and fall within the ambit of marital rape.

There is a reluctance to name the act of non-consensual sex within marriage for what it is, often because of notions of what a “real rape” is; understood as rape by a stranger outside the home.

Citing the same study, POWA also notes that unequal relations sometimes result in non-consensual sex, such as “obligatory” sex by wives, to pay back husbands for food and shelter. Gender activists in the region of raise the issue of the need to approach gender based violence in a multi-sectoral and integrated way. Poverty and lack of power to control one’s sexuality, for example, puts women in marital and other unions in vulnerable positions which compromise their rights.

Preventing and eradicating marital rape is thus an important factor in addressing gender inequality, and, by extension, any strategy to respond to a whole range of challenges that are limiting the region’s development and democratisation process.

A violence free society is certainly a good benchmark for deepening regional integration in SADC, and an important goal for the region. Recognising all forms of rape, including marital rape, and committing to be legally bound to ensure that the criminal justice system addresses this crime effectively, will send signals to rapists within marriages that this will attract punishment and stiff penalties.

For women of SADC, knowing that they have a legal right to seek redress in the tragic event of being raped by their spouses, is another milestone in the long road towards the enjoyment of their full rights as citizens. Freedom from violence widens opportunities for women to participate in, and benefit from, the development and democratic processes of the region; that is the ultimate goal for all citizens, without distinction.

* Pamela Mhlanga is the Deputy Director of Gender Links.

* This article is part of a series produced by the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service for the Sixteen Days of Activism on Gender Violence.

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

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South Africa: Without a home of my own - I Stories

2007-12-14

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/16days/45015

I started living with my husband in 1984, and we were in love and were very happy. The problem started after we got married in 2004 when he became ill. In 2005 he started beating me and forcing me to have sex with him even when I told him I was not well. He accused me of having another man, and hit me so hard that I ended up at the clinic to get help for my husband. Indeed they did not help me for they wrote me a referral letter to take him to Baragwanath Hospital.
Without a home of my own

Cindy Ndlovu,* South Africa

I started living with my husband in 1984, and we were in love and were very happy. The problem started after we got married in 2004 when he became ill. In 2005 he started beating me and forcing me to have sex with him even when I told him I was not well. He accused me of having another man, and hit me so hard that I ended up at the clinic to get help for my husband. Indeed they did not help me for they wrote me a referral letter to take him to Baragwanath Hospital.

He stayed in hospital for a whole month because they suspected that he was losing his mind. He was hitting children for no apparent reason and hiding food, saying the children must not eat because they are wasteful, he even locked the food away. When we asked for food he fought and chased us outside.

I found myself a job but he refused to let me work because he said I had an affair. He came with policemen to my place of employment, when I asked what I had done the police just said to me: “Get inside the van we will speak at the police station”. When we arrived at the station he said he wanted the policemen to talk to us because I disrespect him at home. When I came home I found he had hidden all my belongings including my identity document, marriage certificate and the house documents.

I asked the police to ask him to give me my documents. He returned them. The police suggested he go for another medical evaluation. At the hospital the doctors said he was epileptic and I should just get used to his behaviour. He only behaved that way with family no one else. I am confused: is he really ill or just being very abusive?

I do not have anyone to rely on that is why I stay in this abusive situation because of my children as well. My mother separated from my father when we were still young, my grandmother and my uncles brought me up. My mother worked as a domestic worker. When my grandmother passed away, we had nowhere to go.

At this time my mother was married to a man who was kind to us, never discriminated against us and allowed us to stay with them at his house. The problem came when he also passed away, there were misunderstandings amongst his children and we had to go stay with my mother’s aunt. Even there life was not good, as we had to fend for ourselves.

That is why I am in my marriage, because this marriage has lasted even when things were not right, I have nowhere to go. My husband has a daughter from another woman. He lied to me and told me that the child’s grandmother asked him to take her, as her mother does not provide anything and I agreed because I felt the child is innocent.

The child was only three years old then. Our relationship with the child was not a good one, she did things that broke my heart but I told myself that I will continue raising her. Out of spite, she would put her excretion under the pillows. When I asked why she did that she just stared at me. Today she is 20 years old and carries on with this strange behaviour.

My life is becoming more difficult, I can feel the brunt of not having your own home because if I had a home and family that protects me I would not withstand all this abuse. I know that Social Workers do their work because I went to them and they referred me to NISAA where I got help. I am thankful to NISAA because at least things are better even if the situation is not as I would like it to be.

I am unemployed together with my husband; we do not have food because there is no one who is assisting us. I have a young child of 11 years and a daughter who is married. She lives in shack somewhere with her husband and wants nothing to do with us. I am emotionally drained. Even now I know that my HIV positive step daughter will become my responsibility when she gets ill.

Ever since I came to this workshop I fell empowered, I can speak up against abuse. I am able to tell my husband to stop abusing my children and me. Recently my husband ordered our 11-year-old son to make our bed. He wakes up late, long after I leave. I feel my child should be protected from such things and told my husband to leave our son alone.


* not her real name

* This story is part of the I Stories series produced by the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service for the Sixteen Days of Activism on Gender Violence

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South Africa: Taking a stand - I Stories

2007-12-14

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/16days/45016

I am 47 years old, married with children. I have a son and two daughters age 24, 19 and 14. I got married at the age of 19. When I got married I was already working. I started to work in the age of 15. I come from a poor family. My parents drink heavily and used to fight everyday. When I grew up I looked for a job. When I married I had been working for four years. In our culture or tradition women they must bow down and worship their husband as king. I had to give him my salary even though he was working too. He earned a lower salary than me.
Taking a stand

By Gladys Dlamini,* South Africa

I am 47 years old, married with children. I have a son and two daughters age 24, 19 and 14. I got married at the age of 19. When I got married I was already working. I started to work in the age of 15. I come from a poor family. My parents drink heavily and used to fight everyday. When I grew up I looked for a job. When I married I had been working for four years. In our culture or tradition women they must bow down and worship their husband as king. I had to give him my salary even though he was working too. He earned a lower salary than me.

That was where the jealousy started because I was earning more money than him. I complained about giving him my salary because both of us we are earning. He said that he paid lobola for me and everything I have is his and everything he has is mine. In reality it was not like that because he took all my salary and never shared his salary with me. I complained to his parents. They used say have courage one day it will be all right. He started to drink, he used to get drunk every Friday. He would come from work drunk and ask me food and money. When I refuse he beats me. I use to sleep outside to hide.

I ran away to my mother’s house stayed there for two months. He begged me to come back home. My parents said I must go with him. I told my mother he will beat me again and she said he would not beat me again.

When we arrived home he told his parents that I am stubborn and I do not want to listen to him. He called me names and was drunk, my mother in law said I must not answer him because he was drunk, so I kept quiet until the next morning. He asked me for money because he had a headache and needed some tablets. When I asked where is your money he started to fight again. I said to him you told my parents you would not do this again but you started again. He said you made me angry because you refused to buy me tablets for headache.

I use to respect him as my husband. Since he started abusing me I have no respect for him at all. He stopped me from visiting my family and friends. He said I am wasting money by visiting.

He forced me to have sex with him. If I said I was tired he forced me or beat and said he paid lobola for me. I must give him anything that he wants. He said he married me for sex. So I have to do what he wants just to make him happy. Every morning he wanted breakfast even though there was no food at all.

In 1984 when my son was one year old my husband decided to leave his job. I said how could you do this, he said he want to go to school. I continued to work. He asked me for money for transport and food. The burden was on me because I had to look after my son and his father.

He went to school for one year only. After that he said he wanted to go to driving school. Again I paid all the costs for driving lessons. When he needed money for something he would fight with me. I used to give him money because I was afraid of being beaten. If I asked him anything such as how was your day, his answer is its not your business, bring me food I want to eat I am hungry. I would have rush around and make food for him.

After he got his licence he started a job as a driver and was working five days a week. Every Friday things would he would shout and say open the door while banging on the door. I get very and do not know whether to open the door or not.

In 1991 we bought a house and by now I had daughter. I had lost my job in 1988 and decided to use some of my package to pay for the house. We arrived at the office to pay for the house and it was closed. The following day I was tired and decided to stay home and have a rest. My husband went to pay for the house alone. He took the cheque for R30 000 and disappeared for two months. I ask him where the money was and where he had disappeared to. He just sat down and kept quiet, I started to shout at him, he became really angry and hit me.

One day I told my sister about my life, my sister said that it was time to get a lawyer and divorce. The lawyer began the process and found out that my husband used the R30 000 to go overseas. In 1995 I received the decree of divorce but we still lived together.

My husband started an affair and had sex with this woman in my bed in front of me.

My husband was working but did not give me money to buy food for children. My children were affected because they saw what was happening. My son hates his dad because his best friend is his dad’s girlfriend’s son. Both boys got very angry and wanted to beat my husband and his girlfriend. I stopped them and told them violence does not change anything.

After I cam to the “I” stories workshop I went home and told my husband about the experience. I told him I am aware of my rights and that there are places I can go to for help. He was surprised and started to say that everything will change. He became afraid and his blood pressure rose and he had to be admitted to hospital While he was there I asked about all his policies and he gave me access to all of them. I will not allow him to beat me any more.

* not her real name

* This story is part of the I Stories series produced by the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service for the Sixteen Days of Activism on Gender Violence

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Global: More extreme weather in poorer countries

2007-12-13

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75810

Developing countries top a 2008 Climate Risk Index released in the Indonesian island of Bali, where the United Nations climate change conference is taking place. The index shows that less developed countries often suffer more from storms, floods and extreme weather than industrialised countries, according to Germanwatch, the development non-governmental organisation that produced the study.

DRC: Press highlights World Bank blunders in Congo's forest

2007-12-12

http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3619.aspx

Last week, the Financial Times published an article on the World Bank's errors in its forest operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and allegations of support for illegal logging in the country by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Just two days later, the IFC announced it would sell its stake in Olam International Ltd., the Singaporean commodity trading company accused of "environmental malpractice" in the world's second largest rainforest.

Namibia: Poor 'will be hit hard' by climate change

2007-12-13

http://www.scidev.net/News/index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=4127

Climate change is expected to dramatically alter the lifestyles of poor people in Namibia, say the authors of a study. Their findings were published by the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) this month (December).

Nigeria: Gas flaring wrecking Delta communities

2007-12-13

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75824

Civil society groups in the Niger Delta region have warned that the government is destroying communities’ health and Nigeria’s environment by flouting laws against gas flaring, a technique used in oil production. For decades gas flaring has been used to separate crude oil from the associated gases that are extracted with it, but Nigeria flares more gas today than any nation in the world after Russia, even though it is only the world’s eighth largest oil producer.

Global: Groups protest World Bank

2007-12-14

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/45017

A very diverse group of non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples organizations and social movements staged a protest today outside of a press conference where World Bank President and former US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick announced the launch of the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility.
Groups Protest World Bank
Say Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Threatens Forests and Indigenous Peoples

Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia—

A very diverse group of non-governmental organizations, indigenous peoples organizations and social movements staged a protest today outside of a press conference where World Bank President and former US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick announced the launch of the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility.

“This Facility is merely the World Bank up to their old tricks,” stated Anne Petermann, Co-Director of Global Justice Ecology Project. “They’ve packaged up their carbon trading agenda under the guise of forest protection, when in fact this Facility will result in more forest destruction, more displacement of indigenous peoples and more carbon emissions. It’s a lose-lose-lose proposition for everyone but big business,” she added.

Close to 100 people stood outside of the press conference facility chanting slogans and staging a die-in, with different people representing island nations, indigenous and women’s groups, ecosystems and species that are threatened with annihilation from climate change. They charge that the focus of the World Bank on profit-oriented “false solutions,” like carbon trading and carbon offset projects including industrial tree plantations, is actually contributing to an acceleration of climate change.

“While pretending to be concerned about climate change and poverty, The World Bank has continued to fund fossil fuel exploitation to the tune of $8 billion since 2000,” explained Janet Redman, a researcher with the Sustainable Energy and Economy Network. “At the same time, they’ve done virtually nothing to bring clean energy to the 1.6 billion people without electricity,” she added.

“The World Bank is channeling over $2 billion from the most polluting industries in the industrialized north to the most polluting companies in the global south, while profiting handsomely from so-called ‘overhead,’” added Anna Pinto of the Center for Organizations, Research & Education.
“The Forest Carbon Partnership Facility is merely more of the same. It is also violating the rights of indigenous peoples to prior and informed consent as laid out in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” she concluded.

The very vocal and empassioned protest continued for 35 minutes with chants including “World Bank: Hands Off!” “Robert Zoellick You Can’t Hide:
Carbon Trading is a Crime,” “More Forest: Less Bank!” and “Land Rights Now!” Titi Soentoro, of the Indonesian Civil Society Forum and the Gender Caucus read a statement endorsed by dozens of groups demanding the rejection of the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. This statement and all of the endorsing organizations can be found at:

http://www.foei.org/en/campaigns/climate/bali/forests-declaration Contacts: Janet Redman, SEEN, +62-813-389-84-882 Simone Lovera, Global Forest Coalition, +62-813-379-84-639

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Global: What’s missing from the climate talks? Justice!

2007-12-14

http://tinyurl.com/2kk3gg

Peoples from social organizations and movements from across the globe brought the fight for social, ecological and gender justice into the negotiating rooms and onto the streets during the UN climate summit in Bali. Inside and outside the convention centre, activists demanded alternative policies and practices that protect livelihoods and the environment.

Global: “Save the water” warn world weather watchers

2007-12-14

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75858

The decade from 1998 to 2007 has been the warmest on record, said Michel Jarraud, secretary-general of the UN World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in Bali, where a UN meeting on climate change is underway. "The global mean surface temperature for 2007 is currently estimated at 0.41 degrees Celsius more than the 1961-1990 annual average of 14 degrees Celsius," Jarraud announced.

Senegal: Empty granaries in Casamance

2007-12-14

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75861

After a truncated rainy season in Senegal’s southern Casamance region, granaries are empty and many families are getting by on one meal a day. Residents say as a result of food shortages some children are missing school, many families are divided as men leave to seek work, and people are increasingly turning to the production and sale of charcoal to make a living.

Zimbabwe: SADC tribunal to rule on landmark farm case this week

2007-12-12

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news121207/sadc121207.htm

The new Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal in Namibia has finally held a hearing in the case brought by Zimbabwean white farmer Mike Campbell against the government of Zimbabwe. The farmer is seeking an interim order blocking the government from interfering with operations on his farm. There was a three-hour preliminary hearing, after which the President of the SADC tribunal Judge Onkemetse Tshosa, said they would deliver a ruling before the end of the week.

Global: Joint declaration on diversity in broadcasting

2007-12-12

http://www.article19.org/pdfs/publications/mandates-broadcasting.pdf

The four special mandates on freedom of expression have issued a Joint Declaration on Broadcasting Diversity, with the assistance of ARTICLE 19. The Joint Declaration makes a number of general points about the promotion of diversity, including that where regulatory tools are applied by bodies which lack independence from government or commercial interests, or in a non-transparent manner, they are likely to be abused.

Kenya: Citizen journalism shapes Kenya's politics

2007-12-13

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/media/45005

Delegates attending the GK3 summit have been introduced to "mzalendo", a Kiswahili word meaning, "patriot". The word became a subject of heated debate as South African-based Kenyan lawyer Ms Ory Okolloh shared her experience in new media, citizen journalism, human rights and development.
Highway Africa News Agency

Delegates attending the GK3 summit have been introduced to "mzalendo", a Kiswahili word meaning, "patriot". The word became a subject of heated debate as South African-based Kenyan lawyer Ms Ory Okolloh shared her experience in new media, citizen journalism, human rights and development.

Okolloh and two other bloggers are behind mzalendo.com, a blog which monitors the preformance of Kenyan MPs and how they relate to the electorate. This has forced MPs from East Africa's largest economy to address the blogging community.

"We often complain about politicians letting us down. We are very good at this. But what can we do about it?" was the question the 30-year-old lawyer put to the audience attending her presentation entitled Emerging people session: Pushing the envelope.

The site which is a first of its kind on the continent monitors what Kenyan representatives in the legislature are doing. It's a mammoth task for two people to keep track of every bill, every speech and every MP that passes through Kenya's august house.

"We want to develop a culture of questioning what your politician is doing for you," Okolloh says.

It is too early to say whether mzalendo.com will lead to political change in Africa. But the priority is to push government to be more open and transparent.

"This is our responsibility as individuals and citizens. We must ensure that information is passed on to the people who need it, to get knowledge and be able to make informed decisions that shape their lives."

Although sceptical whether Kenyans find mzalendo.com a useful tool, Okolloh said her main target audience is the youth under 30, who make up 70 percent of Kenya's population.

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Nigeria: World journalist stand in solidarity with locked-out colleagues

2007-12-12

http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=5600&Language=EN

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has urged its member unions worldwide to express their solidarity with the journalists locked out by The Guardian management in Nigeria. The 800 journalists and other workers took strike action on November 6 after negotiation with The Guardian management over a pay rise and better working conditions broke down. The Guardian online and print editions have not been published since.

Global: End to persecution of journalists key to human rights for all - IFJ

2007-12-12

http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=5584

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has said that an end to the legal persecution of journalists is an essential step towards providing human rights protection around the world. The IFJ, which is the world’s largest journalists’ group, says that governments who use criminal defamation and other legal restrictions to silence critical reporting undermine the role of media in exposing violations of rights across society

Tunisia: Journalist sentenced to year in prison

2007-12-13

http://tinyurl.com/2q73rc

A Sfax district court sentenced Tunisian journalist and blogger Slim Boukhdhir, known for his harsh criticism of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, to one year in prison on Tuesday (December 4th). The ruling drew a mixed reaction, with some journalists denouncing the court's decision and others saying they should not become involved in the matter.

Global: Home truths

2007-12-13

Mukoma wa Ngugi

http://tinyurl.com/ytlfhq

There seems to be a common misconception that Africans are born dreaming of emigrating to the West. But if we are to see Africans as fully fledged members of humanity, argues Mukoma wa Ngugi, we should recognise that no-one would want to leave his or her family for an indefinite period of time to earn a living in a foreign country such as the United States.

USA: Ethnic media take on race challenge

2007-12-12

http://tinyurl.com/2ul8fy

The first-ever multilingual poll of black, Hispanic and Asian Americans is a call to action for the ethnic media leaders who sponsored it. While respondents believe that ethnic media are "irresponsible" when it comes to covering race relations, they also describe ethnic media as a vital intermediary for strengthening inter-group communication. New American Media Editor Sandip Roy interviewed some of the poll’s media sponsors about how they view their shifting role in covering race relations in America.

Algeria: Two car bombs in Algiers kill, injure dozens

2007-12-12

http://tinyurl.com/24xjh3

Two car bombs detonated Tuesday morning (December 11th) outside an Algiers court building and a UN facility, leaving over 60 people dead, scores injured and others still missing in the rubble of collapsed buildings. When the first car bomb exploded at 9:50 a.m. outside the Constitutional Council in the downtown district of Ben Aknoun, it was heard up to 15 kilometres away.

CAR: Anatomy of a phantom state - New ICG report

2007-12-13

http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5220&l=1

This latest report from the International Crisis Group examines the country’s humanitarian and institutional crisis and outlines how the recently approved EU and UN forces (EUFOR and MINURCAT) could help the failing nation get on its feet. The land of 4.2 million inhabitants roughly the size of France lacks any meaningful institutions and is wracked by insurrections and corruption.

Uganda: City council sprays travellers from western Uganda

2007-12-12

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/SHES-79TQBK?OpenDocument

Kampala City Council has put in place several measures, including the spraying of buses from western Uganda, in a bid to curb the spread of the Ebola virus. At the same time, the death toll of the Ebola fever has risen to 30 whereas the cumulative number of people suspected to be suffering from the fever has also risen to 116.

DRC: Rebels call for peace talks

2007-12-13

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7141941.stm

Rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo loyal to General Laurent Nkunda have called for peace talks with the government to resolve the crisis. The rebels have pushed back army forces, regaining the territory lost in last week's government offensive. Up to now President Joseph Kabila has ruled out negotiations with Gen Nkunda.

Niger: Army admits civilian deaths

2007-12-13

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7139172.stm

Niger has admitted that the army killed seven Tuareg civilians at the weekend. Niger's defence minister said the civilians were caught in a firefight between the army and rebels of the Niger Movement for Justice. A statement on state radio said the incident occurred on Sunday in the region of Tiguidit, some 80km from the regional capital Agadez.

East Africa: LRA leader given ultimatum

2007-12-13

http://www.afrol.com/articles/27513

The governments of both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have lost patience over the failure of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader and founder to consent to lasting peace process, with the DRC giving Joseph Kony notice to leave its Eastern Garamba Park on or before 31 January 2008. Senior government officials of both countries had taken the decision at the recent Great Lakes Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Nigeria: At least six dead in sectarian violence

2007-12-14

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=75863

At least six people have been killed and 30 critically injured since clashes between Muslim and Christian communities in the north-central Nigerian city of Bauchi broke out on 11 December, Red Cross workers and residents said. Some 3,000 people have fled their homes in the area of the fighting, witnesses said. The government has ordered a 9pm to 6am curfew and closed the local university, which has often been the site of violent clashes.

Africa: Digital education requires relevant software

2007-12-13

http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4736&Itemid=5848

African leaders, entrepreneurs and development agencies should start developing content to harness the potential of emerging educational technologies, writes Calestous Juma. Digital education technologies like the XO '$100' laptop have their problems and critics. But the big challenge, says Juma, is teaching African children to use these technologies — and get the most out of them.

Africa: Ethiopians get texting in Amharic

2007-12-13

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7138128.stm

A new range of mobile phones has just gone on sale in Ethiopia, with the onscreen menu in Amharic, and the ability to send SMS text messages in the Ge'ez script - used for Amharic and other languages in the region. This is something of a breakthrough in a country where until recently text messaging was not allowed in any language.

Africa: Will no one speak for Africa? The one-laptop-per-child debate

2007-12-13

http://whiteafrican.com/?p=822

Why does it matter that two rich Westerners are batting back and forth over the strategies and benefits of a cheap computer for children in developing countries?, asks White African in his blog, in the wake of a debate as to whether children in the developing world would be better served by a laptop or food aid.

Global: Five billion connected by 2015

2007-12-13

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/45006

The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), the organisers of GK3 are optimistic that five billion people will be connected to the Internet by 2015. Walter Fust the Chair of the GKP Executive Committee expressed this while closing the conference. Fust, who is also the Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) said the plan, will not only create enormous job opportunities for software and hardware suppliers, but also connect billions of people to the Internet.
Highway Africa News Agency

The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), the organisers of GK3 are optimistic that five billion people will be connected to the Internet by 2015.

Walter Fust the Chair of the GKP Executive Committee expressed this while closing the conference. Fust, who is also the Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) said the plan, will not only create enormous job opportunities for software and hardware suppliers, but also connect billions of people to the Internet.

"The Internet will make a huge difference in terms of quality, quantity and availability to grow and expand global knowledge. This will bring enormous market opportunities," he said.

He noted that the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) will reduce the transaction costs of doing business.

The conference's theme Emerging People, Emerging Markets Emerging Technologies focused on the challenges to effective socio and economic development and use of ICTs as an enabler to connect those excluded from progress by providing them with access to knowledge through technology.

In support of the conference theme, Fust appealed for support to 'emerging people' who are the drivers of the information and knowledge revolution.

He commended youth for actively taking part in Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) initiatives.

He hastened to add that dangers of misuse of ICTs as well solve cyber waste.

"Cyber security and cyber crime are the themes that deserve special attention," he concluded.

Conference participants called for the inclusion of ICTs not only in early-age education, but also for life long learning.

They also called for increasing use of low energy consumption made possible by green technologies and availability of low cost devices to contribute to affordable access to information and knowledge.

The conference attracted about 2000 delegates from different sectors, including private companies, governments, international institutions and civil society groups.

The United Arab Emirates has approached the secretariat with intent to host GKP4.

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Global: UNECA champions local languages on the net

2007-12-13

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/45004

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) recently launched the Academic Network of African Researchers on Languages to undertake research on how "Internet language" can be simplified and translated into local languages. "We want to link computer sciences closer with languages with an objective of bridging the language digital divide that does hinder our local people from using ICTs especially in the use of Internet," said UNECA's Director of ICT, Science and technology Division Aida Opoku-Mensah.
Highway Africa News Agency

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) recently launched the Academic Network of African Researchers on Languages to undertake research on how "Internet language" can be simplified and translated into local languages. "We want to link computer sciences closer with languages with an objective of bridging the language digital divide that does hinder our local people from using ICTs especially in the use of Internet," said UNECA's Director of ICT, Science and technology Division Aida Opoku-Mensah.

At the same time, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) has launched a programme to review the national ICT policies of African countries on how they address the issue of languages. "We would like to see which country has language in its ICT policy", said IDRC Senior Programme Specialist Dr. Adel El Zaim. He said it remains the role of African governments to monitor and implement policies encouraging use of local language and encourage its application in schools.

"If a government in Africa implements such a programme it would have created employment for the local software developers, while many local people would benefit from and understand the local content since it will not be in foreign languages," he emphasised. He noted that IDRC has set up an ICT project covering Morroco, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and Sudan but is facing implementation hiccups due to lack of a single language to be used in the process.

"In Morocco and Tunisia we had French, while in Sudan, Jordan and Egypt we found Arabic and English languages being used. We are talking of a knowledge society and in the end we had to use all the three languages in the network in order to enable them communicate with the rest of the World,' he said.

Chairman of the advisory committee in ICANN, Mohammed Sharil Tarmizi said Africa's Internet penetration is only at 3.5 percent.

"We have more than 6800 languages in the world but how many of them are African and are used on the Internet? African governments should set up policies that give guidelines on how trhey should get involved in language issues and commit the telecommunication providers to venture into rural areas instead of isolating them," he emphasised. He said that out of the 6800 languages that were identified by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisations (UNESCO), 94 percent are spoken by only 3 percent of the world population.

"In Africa we know there are languages that are not written and with time they would disappear. But if we use our local content, we would be enabling our people to create own jobs and products that are relevant for the emerging people and the emerging market," he said.

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Global: Bread Loaf Writers Conference - Scholarships available

2007-12-10

http://tinyurl.com/2qxuvk

The Bread Loaf Writers Conference, which was founded by Robert Frost in 1925 and is the oldest and most distinguished writers’ conference in America, is offering a fellowship to either an African or Caribbean poet, fiction or nonfiction writer to attend the 2008 conference, August 13-24. Named after Michael and Marylee Fairbanks, the Fairbanks International Fellowship is in its third year of existence. The previous winners have been Glaydah Namukasa, a novelist from Uganda, and Stanley Gazemba, a writer from Kenya .

Africa: 2008 Young women leadership programme

2007-12-10

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/44945

EASSI is an eleven year old sub-regional support initiative for women that boasts of having a hand in the implementation of Government commitments to women and girls’ advancement. This program targets women from the ages of 18 to 35 from any of the eight countries of the sub-region, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda. Every year we target four women. In 2008, we specifically seek women from Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania.
ADVERTISEMENT FOR 2008 YOUNG WOMEN LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME

Do you want to experience a nine-month –long internship programme at EASSI?

EASSI is an eleven year old sub-regional support initiative for women that boasts of having a hand in the implementation of Government commitments to women and girls’ advancement. This program targets women from the ages of 18 to 35 from any of the eight countries of the sub-region, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda. Every year we target four women. In 2008, we specifically seek women from Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania.

EASSI works on policy advocacy on governments to foster women's empowerment and gender equality. Through its work it aims to narrow the gap between policy rhetoric and policy implementation. Placing the advancement of women at the centre of all of its efforts, EASSI focuses its activities on four strategic areas:
(1) Monitoring the Beijing Platforms for Action as a key focal area,
(2) reducing feminized poverty,
(3) increasing the role of women in peace building and conflict resolution,
(4) achieving gender equality in democratic governance by increasing the numbers of women in power and decision-making, and recognizing that HIV/AIDS cuts across all areas and working with partners to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS among women and girls.

To pursue these goals, EASSI works with like minded partners to advocate and lobby for laws and policies to eliminate gender discrimination and promote gender equality in all areas. It works to strengthen the capacity and voice of women's rights advocates. Its programme strategies are through, Research and documentation, Advocacy, Networking, information sharing, and Capacity Building The young women’s internship programme provides opportunities for learning, interacting and traveling. Its objective is to develop and enhance young women’s skills in leadership, lobbying and advocacy, programme management, report writing and analysis, research and documentation, information management, developing resourceful data bases, website maintenance and resource centre management.

The programme also provides opportunity to the interns to gain hands on experiences in working within a women's organisation. They have the chance to bring their own perspectives into the work of EASSI and to shape the internship programme. The programme will also shape their approach to feminism and issues at regional and global level that impact on women.

At the end of the internship programme, each intern is expected to produce a research report on an area of their choice but related to the work that EASSI does, based on their experience at EASSI.

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Criteria for Selection
* Female between the age of 18 to 35
* Citizen and resident of Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia or Tanzania
* Must have at least a Bachelors Degree in Social Sciences, Law, Development Studies, Mass Communication, Education, Information Technology, Gender and Women Studies, Economics and other related Arts and Science subjects.
* Must be able to communicate fluently in spoken and written English. French and Kiswahiili are an added advantage
* Must have practical interest in the advancement of women empowerment in the region
* Must ably demonstrate how they will apply their skills to the advancement of women concerns within their own countries
* Must have some workable knowledge of IT
* Be able to work under pressure
* Be able work as a team
* Must be willing to be away from home country for nine months from April 1 to December 15 2008
* Must possess a valid passport for at least a year Expectations of the interns The success of the program will be measured by:-

1. An analytical qualitative and quantitative research from each intern on any of the four program areas:-

* Monitoring Commitments to the Platform for Action
* Women’s Poverty, Food Insecurity and Lack of Economic Empowerment
* Governance Leadership and Decision making
* Peace and Conflict Resolution
2. Ability to demonstrate skills in each strategic area of EASSI · Research and Documentation · Advocacy · Networking and Information Sharing · Capacity Building Requirements for the Application Process
1. Letter of recommendation by a credible women’s organization and endorsed by EASSI’s Focal Point in member country
2. Curriculum vitae-not more than 3 A4 pages, including three referees, one academic, one personal and one from a women’s organisation
3. One recent colour passport photo-(either scan one or send by post)

4. Evidence of commitment to the women’s movement in the region
5. Copy of passport
6. Copy of academic certificates
7. One A4 page of written work in a field of women’s concerns EASSI will provide suitable accommodation and a monthly stipend for each intern. They will also be entitled to two weeks leave.

The deadline for submission is Monday January 14 January 2008 at 1200pm GMT.

You can submit by email to Marren Akatsa-Bukachi at eassi@eassi.org or post to Marren Akatsa-Bukachi Executive Director-EASSI P O Box 24965 Kampala, Uganda East Africa

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Africa: Africa Conference on engendering media and trade

2007-12-12

http://www.wunrn.com/news/2007/12_07/12_03_07/120307_africa.htm

The Association of Media Women in Kenya (AMWIK), with support from the Commonwealth Secretariat, are pleased to announce the upcoming Regional Conference on Engendering Macro-Economics and Trade Policies within the Context of Globalisation: Role of the Media which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 29-31 January2008.

Global: ICTE International Guest Program - Call for applications

2007-12-10

http://www.seedsoftolerance.org/fgp.html

ICTE is now accepting applications for the 2008-09 cycle of its International Guest Program. The International Guest Program brings Human Rights and Tolerance advocates and educators to New York City for a period of one to three months for a residency at the International Center for Tolerance Education (ICTE). All applications are due Monday, January 21st, 2008.

Global: Rethinking poverty: Making policies work for children - Conference and call for papers

2007-12-10

http://www.crin.org/resources/infodetail.asp?id=15761

In April 2008, UNICEF and the Graduate Program in International Affairs (GPIA), at The New School will jointly host an international conference to review and mobilise the international agenda on ending child poverty and reducing disparities. The conference, will create a space for consultation and exchange between academics, professionals and government officials working on different aspects of the fight against child poverty.

Global: UNESCO International conference and exhibition on knowledge parks

2007-12-14

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=24148

The UNESCO International Conference and Exhibition on Knowledge Parks provides a platform for key players around the world to help translate the concept of knowledge societies into concrete solutions for development. It sensitizes policy makers to the value of specialized knowledge parks and knowledge hubs to support and drive economic development and capacity building. The conferenc will take place in Doha, Qatar on March 29-31, 2008.

Norway: System dynamics-based development planning course

2007-12-10

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/44941

Today’s global development challenges demand experts who are able to think systemically and who can use dynamic tools to analyze complex and interdependent social, economic, and environmental systems that influence sustainable development. Millennium Institute’s six-week System Dynamics-based Development Planning Course equips participants with the knowledge and skills required to effectively analyze these challenges and determine the best approaches to mitigating them.
System Dynamics-based Development Planning Course

March 31 – May 9, 2008

Bergen, Norway

Today’s global development challenges demand experts who are able to think systemically and who can use dynamic tools to analyze complex and interdependent social, economic, and environmental systems that influence sustainable development. Millennium Institute’s six-week System Dynamics-based Development Planning Course equips participants with the knowledge and skills required to effectively analyze these challenges and determine the best approaches to mitigating them. The course is designed for policy advisors, planning technicians, advocacy and civil society groups, policy research institutions, private foundations, and bilateral development agencies.

The course comprises three modules, designed to provide progressive learning. They can be taken separately over a period, or together in one offering. The first module provides a general introduction to System Dynamics theory and its use for development planning, and a basic introduction to the Vensim modeling software. The second module is dedicated to the development of an integrated dynamic national model for development planning by way of a case study. The third module guides the participants through the analysis of country-specific issues and covers advanced modeling and analysis techniques, such as dynamic optimization and sensitivity analysis.

The course is based on the T21 framework, developed by Millennium Institute. This framework has received favorable evaluations from UNDP and has been used for planning by governmental institutions of several developing and industrialized countries, private corporations, nonprofit organizations and advocacy/civil society groups.

COURSE FEE
High income countries $8500
Low/Middle income countries $4300
Students $3100
Discounted rates are available for groups of three or more.

VENUE
University of Bergen, Norway

For further information and application materials or visit www.millennium-institute.org/courses or contact ao@millennium-instititue.org

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