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Africa: The Friday Assembly

The Golden Jubilee of the African Liberation Day

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/47463

The Golden Jubilee of the African Liberation Day invites you to an Open Parliament-Style Debate on the Progress of African Unity and possible interventions by the current generation & Drafting of the People's Declaration on Unity Every Friday Beginning on the 18th of April 2:00 - 5:00 pm The Professional Centre, Nairobi.
THE FRIDAY ASSEMBLY

THE GOLDEN JUBILEE OF THE AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY

Invites you to an Open Parliament-Style Debate on the Progress of African Unity and possible interventions by the current generation & Drafting of the People's Declaration on Unity Every Friday Beginning on the 18th of April
2:00 - 5:00 pm The Professional Centre, Nairobi.
Parliament rd/ Haile Sellasie rd Come, let us make History!

BACKGROUND
May 25th 2008 marks the most important date on the African calendar; the 50th anniversary of the day when all the independent African states (8) convened at the Conference of Independent African States in Accra, Ghana and declared this day "The African Freedom Day" to mark each year the onward progress of the liberation movement, and to symbolize the determination of the people of Africa to free themselves from foreign domination and exploitation.

Five years later, on May 25th 1963, as the Conference convened, this time in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the leaders of the Independent African states (now 32) founded the "Organization of African Unity" to act as a framework towards the political unification of all African states. On this day, the African Freedom Day, which had been observed on the 15th of April, was changed to May 25 and declared the African Liberation Day. This day was to be honored and celebrated in Africa, and to be the point around which people reflected, organized and strengthened themselves as they progressed towards African unity.

The African Liberation Day was initially observed as a national day by almost all the African states, but as the "leaders" Will towards African unity changed, so did the gran­diosity of the commemoration which today has become a hidden event of embassy dinners with scatterings of forums and lectures by a few Pan African organisations and personalities.
As we approach the Golden jubilee of this landmark event, we, in this generation, need to ask ourselves how far we have gone in achieving the vision of a United Africa, and what we ourselves have done to further the aspirations of the of this struggle. We look upon the African Union (what was the OAU) and if indeed it is on track to delivering this dream. We reflect on its initiatives, from NEPAD to the AU Audit, and if they con­tain enough energy to push us forward to our goals.

We, the people need to play our role in reenergizing the push for African Unity by bringing back the institution which has been most instrumental in the liberation and unification of the African continent, we need to reawaken the Africa Liberation Day!

OBJECTIVES
To debate and develop a position and a guiding document for a people driven initia­tive towards African Unity to be presented at the grand event of the 50th anniver­sary commemoration of the AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY.
This initiative also seeks, among other things, to establish a regular forum in which the people shall be able to address their issues directly and develop their own solutions and interventions.

Zimbabwe: Black America must not be silent

Bill Fletcher

2008-04-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/47437

For Bill Fletcher, speaking out against Mugabe's excesses does not make one an ally of the Bush or Gordon Brown agenda for Africa, or a supporter of the troubling MDC. In this frank article, he argues that what matters is whether "there is a political environment that advances genuine, grassroots democracy and debate in Zimbabwe." On tough issues such as on Obama or Zimbabwe, Black America has to accommodate and learn from different views and not find agents of 'imperialism' in every voice that is critical - solidarity has to accommodate difference

Much of Black America stopped discussing Zimbabwe after its liberation in 1980; at least, we stopped discussing it for a while. After years of regular coverage of the liberation war, details regarding Zimbabwe became harder to obtain as attention shifted to struggles in Mozambique, Namibia, Angola and South Africa. Not to be misunderstood, it was not that facts were being withheld for us here in Black America, so much as we paid less attention to developments, and did not dig for information.

President Robert Mugabe, the leader of ZANU (later ZANU [PF]) was, of course, a hero to so many of us insofar as he was the main, though not only, leader of the liberation struggle. He seemed, at least at first, to be oriented toward the development of an independent and, at least theoretically, socialist-oriented Zimbabwe, with land redistribution, workers’ control, and black power all on the agenda.

So many of us chose to ignore developments, however. We ignored purges that had taken place within ZANU prior to Liberation. We ignored the violent crushing of a rebellion in the early years of the Mugabe administration. We ignored President Mugabe’s adoption of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank formula of “structural adjustment”, despite its economic theory running contrary to a pro-people economic transformation. And, we ignored the fact that the land was not being redistributed. We ignored this and other unsettling matters while the focus of much of Black America was on events unfolding in other parts of Southern Africa.

It was only after the seizures of white farms in 2000 that a new discussion of Zimbabwe emerged, albeit a much distorted one. For many it was as if they had jumped through a time portal between 1980 and 2000, oblivious to the development of the country and the challenges that it had encountered. President Mugabe, it seemed to many, was finally seizing the land and completing Liberation…at least, that is what many of us thought. But what was missing was a broader context to understand developments and too many well-intentioned African Americans interpreted Zimbabwean developments through our lens here on the opposite side of the Atlantic. Instead of reviewing the actual developments on the ground, many of us fell prey to interpreting facts based on what we would have liked to have believed was unfolding rather than what was actually playing out.

Many well-intentioned supporters of Zimbabwe ignored or were oblivious to the growing protests that had swept Zimbabwe in the 1990s among workers who stood in opposition to the economic policies of structural adjustment that were impoverishing them. We were further prepared to ignore, or forget, that President Mugabe had been quite delayed in taking steps to redistribute the land in the first place, even factoring in that the British and USA reneged on pledges that they had made to subsidize a “willing seller, willing buyer” land transfer. And some of us closed our eyes to who was actually benefiting from land redistribution and who was not.

In 2003, several African American activists - including this writer - penned a letter of protest against the policies of President Mugabe. Each of us had been supporters of ZANU (PF) and had been reluctant to voice public criticisms. Our criticisms were aimed at the repression being conducted against opponents of the Mugabe administration and their supporters. We also questioned how - but not whether - land was being redistributed and who was gaining from this. We made it abundantly clear that our criticisms bore no resemblance, in either form or content, to those voiced by US President Bush and British then-Prime Minister Tony Blair.

The response we received was, let’s say, quite remarkable. Some pro-Mugabe individuals and organizations, despite knowing the histories and work of the signatories, declared us to be CIA agents and/or agents of the US State Department (a difference without a distinction for our critics). Some people even went so far as to suggest that we were being paid by the Zimbabwean opposition. We were vilified for even questioning what was transpiring in Zimbabwe, even though in some cases we had first hand knowledge of brutal repression.

The other response was just as interesting. Quietly we were applauded by many African Americans who were pleased that someone(s) had spoken up, though they, themselves, were not necessarily prepared to publicly do so. While this was encouraging, it was equally unsettling in that it evidenced a fear within Black America about having a genuine debate on such an important issue.
Nevertheless, in the aftermath of this verbal/written slugfest, little real exchange took place. The atmosphere had become so charged that many people decided that it was not worth saying one more thing about Zimbabwe. Rather, too many of us just sat back and watched in silence.

So, we watched. Colleagues of mine in Zimbabwe, individuals whose progressive work I was familiar with, were jailed and tortured by the Mugabe administration, but I was expected by pro-Mugabe activists in the USA to say nothing, and indeed, to deny everything. Any hint of criticism was immediately construed as allegedly giving aid and comfort to the Bush administration and its mania for regime change. In a brief visit to Zimbabwe I had the opportunity of speaking with a group of Black Zimbabwean trade unionists. I found myself attempting to explain to them why many African Americans were silent in the face of President Mugabe’s repression, or in some cases, actively supported President Mugabe. They shook their heads in collective disbelief.

Over the last two weeks we have seen events surrounding the Zimbabwean election and it feels surreal. I must, however, ask some tough questions. What does it mean that an incumbent administration fails to reveal the ACTUAL election results, yet demands a recount? One need not be a supporter, and I am not, of the principal opposition party in Zimbabwe - the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) under Morgan Tsvangirai - to sense that all is not right with the world following the election. One’s attitude toward the MDC should actually be secondary to whether one believes in the notion of free and fair elections. To put it bluntly, if one is going to call elections, they should be transparent; if one does not want transparent elections, don’t call them in the first place.

The MDC is politically inconsistent, and outside of Zimbabwe there are very mixed feelings about them within Southern Africa. Though originally planned as a labor party, the MDC became a sort of united front of opponents of President Mugabe, ranging the political spectrum from the revolutionary Left to some conservative white farmers. The economic views of the MDC are themselves difficult to ascertain at various moments. But this is a matter for the people of Zimbabwe to resolve. Whether we like or dislike the MDC, or President Mugabe for that matter, holds second place to whether there is a political environment that advances genuine, grassroots democracy and debate in Zimbabwe. If that environment does not exist, then all of the revolutionary rhetoric in the world will not amount to a hill of beans on the scale of things.

The Zimbabwe political crisis threatens to go from bad to worse. A reenactment of the events in Kenya following their stolen election a few short months ago is not beyond imagination. The role of the African Union, and particularly Zimbabwe’s neighbors, becomes all the more important in attempting to resolve the crisis. Threats by Britain and the USA are not only counterproductive, but they are insulting since the administrations of neither country possesse the moral authority to actually entertain or offer a positive solution. But supporting the African Union would be a positive step.

There is something that I believe that African Americans can and should do, and in some respects it might represent an important chapter in our continuing relationship with Zimbabwe. This is a variation on a proposal I made once before. We should offer to assist the African Union in mediating the talks toward a peaceful resolution of the on-going crisis. Specifically, the Congressional Black Caucus should contact the African Union and offer to constitute a mediating team to work with the African Union. This should not be interference and should not be construed as interference, but it could be a genuine act of solidarity.

Within Black America, we have to be prepared to have more open and constructive debates without resorting to the “nuclear option.” I have seen a variant of this in the discussions surrounding the candidacy of Senator Obama. Someone voicing a reservation or concern, let alone a criticism, is open to being called everything but a child of God. This infantile approach to controversy WITHIN our community must end; indeed, it must not be tolerated. The stakes are far too high.

Let me apologize to some in advance: I cannot maintain silence for fear of upsetting an opponent. As I said, the stakes are too high.


*Bill Fletcher, Jr. is Executive Editor of The Black Commentator (www.blackcommentator.com) where this article first appeared. He is also a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies and the immediate past president of TransAfrica Forum.

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

African voices on AFRICOM

Africa Action

2008-04-01

http://www.africaaction.org

This Africa Action resource provides examples of statements from African leaders from multiple regions who stand opposed to AFRICOM


"The stand that many African countries have taken against the military command is one that needs to be supported and needs to be explained to the U.S. public so there is a greater understanding as to the implications of U.S. policy and why it is being rejected." - Bill Fletcher Jr., Former President of TransAfrica Forum [1]

Due to the perceived importance of Africa in the U.S. "war on terror" and the increasing U.S. dependence on African oil, President Bush announced on February 6, 2007 the establishment of a Unified Command for U.S. military forces in Africa, known as AFRICOM. According to Bush, "The Africa command will enhance our efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa and promote our common goals of development, health, education, democracy, and economic growth in Africa."[2] Africa Action challenges the veracity of this assertion in a recent statement, available at: http://www.africaaction.org/newsroom/docs/AFRICOMStatement082.pdf

African nations have repeatedly declared their opposition to the hosting of U.S. bases on the African continent and the militarization of their relations with the United States. As a result of this dissent, AFRICOM is currently based in Stuttgart, Germany. Civil society leaders and journalists in Africa have objected that AFRICOM will pursue narrowly defined U.S. interests at the expense of both the sovereignty and welfare of the African nations.

AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS REACT TO AFRICOM

Regional organizations have been most vocal in their critique of AFRICOM, and last August, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) was the first to issue a clear message of dissent against the Bush initiative. SADC is made up of 14 African nations including South Africa, Angola, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo. On August 29, 2007, SADC announced its position "that it is better if the United States were involved with Africa from a distance rather than be present on the continent." The SADC Defense and Security Ministers further stated "that sister countries of the region should not agree to host AFRICOM and in particular, armed forces, since this would have a negative effect. That recommendation was presented to the Heads of State and this is a SADC position." [3]

The initial reactions of African leaders to President Bush’s declaration last February were characterized by confusion and distrust. While the U.S. Department of Defense made clear that AFRICOM was moving forward at full-speed, its objectives and specific details of what it would entail had not been enunciated clearly. In September 2007, half a year after the Bush announcement, President Festus Mogae of Botswana said, "We have not taken a position [on AFRICOM] because we don't know how the animal will look like. We are still discussing the issue." [4]

While individual countries within SADC are allowed to reach their own decisions regarding AFRICOM, none have since strayed from the official position of this important regional body. Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa reaffirmed his country’s stance on October 2, 2007, when he stated "none of us is interested" in hosting the command. [5]

Other key regional organizations made up of nations across Africa have declared their condemnation of AFRICOM and its implications for U.S-African relations. The 25-member Northern African Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) has backed SADC’s position on the establishment of U.S. bases and stated that CEN-SAD "flatly refuses the installation of any military command or any foreign armed presence of whatever country on any part of Africa, whatever the reasons and justifications." [6] The Arab Magreb Union also voiced strong opposition to the placement of U.S. bases anywhere on the continent.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has stated resolutely its opposition to American bases in the region. At the forefront of this effort stands Nigeria, whose leadership unequivocally denounced the possibility of American troops being based in West Africa.

However, several months after first coming out with this stance, Nigerian President Yar’Adua issued a statement during his December 2007 visit to Washington that seemed at first to dramatically shift the Nigerian position on AFRICOM: "We shall partner with AFRICOM to assist not only Nigeria, but also the African continent to actualize its peace and security initiative, which is an initiative to help standby forces of brigade-size in each of the regional economic groupings within the African continent." [7]

In response to these controversial remarks, the Nigerian public and members of parliament expressed their outrage at this apparent shift in position. Consequently, the day after President Yar’Adua’s initial statement, he retracted his comments and announced that he had been misquoted.

On, December 14, 2007, Yar’Adua reiterated Nigeria’s original position on AFRICOM by stating, "I did not agree that AFRICOM should be based in Africa. What we discussed with Bush is that if they have something to do for Africa that has to do with peace and security, they should contribute. I told him that we African countries have our own plan to establish a joint military command in every sub-region (as we) have in economic groupings." [8]

Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe clarified this confusion: "President Yar’Adua’s statement on the proposed AFRICOM is consistent with Nigeria’s well-known position on the necessity for Africa to avail itself of opportunities for enhanced capacity for the promotion of peace and security in Africa; Nigeria’s position on AFRICOM remains that African governments have the sovereign responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in the continent, especially in the context of the proposed African Union Stand-by Force and in this regard, the need for support and assistance by Africa’s development partners, such as the United States, in the provision of training, funding and logistics for African militaries was duly acknowledged." [9]

The only member of ECOWAS to break from this position is Liberia. President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has pledged her support to the new command, stating that "AFRICOM is undeniably about the projection of American interests – but this does not mean that it is to the exclusion of African ones." [10] It is important to note that the government of Liberia, a country with a unique historical relationship to the U.S and a fragile democracy still emerging from the challenges of civil war, stands alone in its support for AFRICOM.

CIVIL SOCIETY AND CITIZEN RESPONSES

Though the government of Liberia has been very supportive of AFRICOM, many in Liberian civil society have objected. Ezekiel Pajino of the Center for Democratic Empowerment in Liberia, calls AFRICOM "a deadly plan of U.S. military expansion on African soil." Pajino states, "AFRICOM will be the legacy of Bush’s failed foreign policy that threatens future generations throughout our continent." [11]

Other African civil society leaders, academics, bloggers12 and journalists across the continent share this unease. Ikechukwa Eze in Nigeria’s Business Day writes, "Apprehension exists about the extent to which AFRICOM may violate rules of sovereignty and its attempts to replace the AU." [13] This comment and others like it raise a number of issues, including the sovereignty of African countries, the role of private military contractors (PMCs), the function of the U.S. military in administering development assistance, and U.S. interests in controlling access to African resources at the expense of ordinary Africans.

Professor Hamza Mustafa Njozi of the University of Dar es Salaam warns that "if what has befallen other countries is any barometer, the Americans will need a military base in Tanzania." With reference to potential oil deposits currently being explored by multinational corporations in Tanzania, he said, "Military presence is necessary to ensure total control of this vital resource as well as the continued pillage of our gold mines." [14] Commenting on President Bush’s February 2008 trip to Africa, Sakin Datoo, chairperson of the Editors Forum of Tanzania, said, "Bush is being portrayed as a savior of Africa due to the dollars he is bringing along with him on his trip. But Tanzanians are able to see through this façade. Bush only cares for his own interests and nothing else . . . any illusion that we will provide a military base for the U.S. army should be erased." [15]

Africa Action stands in solidarity with the many African voices speaking out against AFRICOM and urges the U.S. to base its foreign policy towards Africa in a similar respect for the African people.

*Brooks Harris and Matt Levy contributed to this resource.

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

***For notes and links to more readings, please visit this link:
- AFRICOM: The Militarization of U.S.-Africa Policy Revealed, February 2008 http://www.africaaction.org/newsroom/index.php?op=read&documentid=2763&type=15&issues=256&regions=32

- Africa Action’s 2008 Africa Policy Outlook, February 2008 http://www.africaaction.org/resources/docs/AfricaPolicyOutlook2008.pdf

- resistAFRICOM.org – a project of The Hip Hop Caucus, Africa Faith and Justice Network, Africa Action, TransAfrica Forum, Foreign Policy in Focus and the Institute for Policy Studies. A joint backgrounder answering frequently asked questions about AFRICOM is available here: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1552/t/5734/content.jsp?content_KEY=3855

References:

1 http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_3720.shtml
2 http://www.heritage.org/Research/Africa/wm1644.cfm#_ftn6
3 http://www.info.gov.za/speeches/2007/07083016151001.htm
4 http://allafrica.com/stories/200709121003.html
5 http://zambianchronicle.com/category/africom/
6 http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=16567
7 http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/nvs/pictures-yaradua-in-white-house-12-12-07.html
8 http://businessdayonline.com/Analysis/Features/1718.html
9http://www.nigerianmuse.com/nigeriawatch/I_Didn_t_Approve_AFRICOM_In_Nigeria_Says_Yar_Adua
10 http://allafrica.com/stories/200706251196.html
11 Africa Action correspondence with author.
12 For noteworthy examples of African weblogs criticizing AFRICOM, see:
http://crossedcrocodiles.blogspot.com/2007/11/why-does-us-need-to-have-enhanced.html
http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/11/africom.html
http://www.zeleza.com/blogging/african-affairs/africom-strange-fruit-mercy-industrial-complex
13 http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_4289.shtml
14 http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/46049
15 Africa Action correspondence with author.

A response to the Feminist Political Education Project

Grace Kwinjeh

2008-04-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/47439

I was just sent a copy of this statement by the Feminist Political Education Project [http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/47404] and must admit to being more than a little bewildered and shocked by what is suggested in light of recent events in Zimbabwe, by sisters whom I know very well – who are part of the Feminist Political Education Project.

Sisters dare I say, I have worked with you over the years – some of you have mentored me to be the woman I am. I hope that in the interest of fostering a robust debate amongst ourselves as sisters, feminists, comrades in the struggle you will read and understand my response to the positions you have put forward, with a view to promoting holistic transformative politics in our country, not a duplication or reconstruction of the status quo under a different order, in which as women especially are forever held at ransom by elitist, patriarchal notions of what constitutes our liberation.

I hold no brief for Morgan Tsvangirai, neither can I even be classified as some-one who belongs to his 'inner' circle. I respond to fellow sisters on matters of principle as a comrade with a track record and history in the struggle for Zimbabwe's liberation, firstly and as a Feminist who has stood up against male 'bigotry', within the MDC and the broader democratic movement.

Based on these 'credentials' I have no fears or guilt in taking on fellow sisters on -especially when they advance or propagate reactionary views as a way to resolving a crisis that has left us not only scarred but deeply traumatised. What they suggest is a preservation of the status quo! Particularly if those views are then misconstrued as representing the broader Feminist movement in Zimbabwe – I beg to differ.

I will not at this stage go into an intellectual or theoretical discussion on Feminism and its various components and articulations, especially in our Zimbabwean case – that is a subject those of us who claim to be Feminists have to debate at some stage. Of concern for me at the moment is the 'Position Paper.' And wonder whose 'Position', we are debating here while asserting that this 'Position' has nothing to do with us women.

Indeed, it appears from the views put forward to be an implicit acceptance that the democratic will of the people is not paramount, and infers that a group of men (as this is who makes up the political 'leadership') are going to sit around a table and work together in a Transitional Authority for the common good of all Zimbabweans - and this promoted by a group of self-proclaimed feminists, nogal!

How many of our female comrades in the labour, student, constitutional movements or even the church were consulted before such a paper was presented to the world? Do the opinions of these women matter? Or by virtue of belonging to the lower classes in our society they remain excluded and marginalised even in discourse by senior Feminists who purport to be pushing their cause? Not taking into account the fact that the bulk of these women are at the front-line of our struggle as they take Mugabe on daily- they pay with their lives, their homes and their loved ones. The continued refusal by my sisters to acknowledge the existence of these women as leaders in their own right is a cause for concern.

I have argued elsewhere in the MDC Teresa Makone debacle that as women we are not a homogenous group – but there are certain sisters who know better than to be agents of replicating the same patriarchal notions in terms of our participation in the resolution of the Zimbabwean crisis in a way that normalises our second class citizen status. We refuse to be under-dogs in perpetuity!

Can we therefore locate the 'Position –Paper' by fellow Feminists within the context of them using Feminism to fight certain male agenda's? That has nothing to do with us as female comrades, including our sisters, mothers and grand-mothers who continue to suffer under the yoke of Mugabe's dictatorship.

What is suggested also presupposes that Zanu-PF has the capacity to act honestly as a coalition partner - something of which there is absolutely no evidence. This is almost similar to Trevor Ncube's commentary through Ferial Hafferjee's editorial 10 days ago in the Mail & Guardian that suggested a coalition must include 'moderate' Zanu-PF people such as Mnangagwa, Gono and Murerwa! And that there must be a blanket indemnity for Mugabe and his security chiefs – whilst some sort of amnesty may well be negotiated, South Africa's experience as elsewhere shows that immunities from prosecution can, and I would argue must be bolstered by some form of accountability (especially if a line is to be drawn in the sand to avert a repeat performance at a later stage). This need not always mean prosecution, but this potential stick must always be present!

The equating of Tsvangirai with Mugabe in the FePEP statement is, to put it mildly, obscene. Certainly, there is much to be concerned about in terms of internal issues within the MDC, although one could hardly argue that they have operated in normal circumstances. The conflation of concerns and grievances has clouded many people's vision. Certainly, Tsvangirai should look for coalition partners and should draw on expertise within fellow opposition ranks and maybe even ZANU-PF, but it must be on collective acceptable terms - NOT as part of a negotiated settlement, or in this case something that is suggested for imposition as in this statement! The assumption that he will not adopt a constructive conciliatory route unless this is imposed on him is arrogant, patronising and fundamentally undemocratic.

It should also be noted that Tsvangirai is not the MDC and that the MDC is a political movement with structures from ward to national level, to whom Tsvangirai, Khupe and the rest of the top leadership have to account. We have fought and resisted 'Mugabeism', in the MDC – some battles we have lost others we have won. It is the principles around the formation of the party, collective leadership, accountability, transparency and its ultimate goal for total liberation – political and economic justice that puts us in the awkward position always of resisting attempts at subverting the will of the people through the back door.

That will which expressed itself so strongly on March 29 – a will for change some will selectively ignore in pursuit of unpopular agenda's that appease certain elites within ZANU-PF and the ANC Mbeki camp.

It seems to me that those who have promoted a 'third way' to date have fundamentally misread the situation as it stands at the moment in Zimbabwe. I see that some are now promoting the argument that the failure of the ZANU_PF rank and file to come out in their large numbers is largely due to Makoni. I'm struggling to find any empirical basis for this assertion. Are the FePEP promoters suggesting Makoni must be the national leader?

My reading of the arguments put forward by comrades on the ground and Zimbabweans in general in not supporting the Makoni project are as follows – he is the only leader with an apparent national profile who does not have a registered political party; a man with less than 8% of the vote? People did not vote for Makoni because they did not trust him, because he comes from Zanu-PF, because his track record in government is nothing to shout home about, and because of his enduring silence regarding human rights violations that have characterised Zanu-PF rule. Those marketing Makoni should have addressed the above concerns as a matter of strategy to appeal to the electorate other than seem to be imposing him through the back-door.

Are these the credentials of a man 'fit to govern'? He may have jumped ship – although he still claims loyalty to the party, but that the current leadership has lost its way. The reality is that Zanu-PF is a ruling party that is dying – at least as a ruling party formation (as UNIP did in Zambia, the MCP in Malawi and KANU in Kenya) - it can limp along for the foreseeable future with an ever decreasing capacity to service its extensive and mutating patronage networks, but it has fundamentally lost its ability to control the support of the people - even though they tried hard to manipulate and buy it in this last election.

What was different this time was the acutely lower levels of violence and intimidation (although it was certainly present) and the small spaces that were opened up for the limited campaigning season. Mbeki has been praised for helping provide the space – but he has disingenuously argued that the only differences outstanding in terms of the mediation process between the MDC and Zanu were procedural. The differences were much more fundamental than that, but once again it was the MDC who was coerced to compromise into participating in elections where conditions were improved, but certainly not free and fair.

Leaving aside the evidently flawed electoral process, the fundamental problem in Zimbabwe remains the concentration of executive powers, which have rendered parliament largely impotent. It was this dilution of power that the MDC sought during the mediation in terms of constitutional changes, but which Zanu-PF failed to follow through on, despite the agreement of its negotiation team!

In this context of trickery and treachery, should we support positions such as the FePEP statement that essentially promote and reward such bad behaviour? There is no 'magical' solution to the situation in Zimbabwe in terms of making everyone happy. Elections mean there are winners and losers. Certainly, particular circumstances may necessitate negotiated outcomes, but negotiating the suggested governance situation (i.e. a TA with equitable representation) in these circumstances sets an awful precedent for the region - one which, in the future, we may see elements of other faltering and failing ruling parties adopting as some kind of survival strategy. If Zimbabwe can do this they may ask, why not us?

Let's not even get into the sycophantic support for SADC's 'mediation' initiative and the assumption that Mbeki has done a good job. Many people strongly believe that he has a great deal of responsibility for the mess the country is now in. The extent to which this is really the case is no longer relevant. He has consistently reinforced a perception that he is biased in favour of Zanu-PF, as have the ANC who continue to refer to Zanu-PF as their 'comrades' in a quirky turn of revisionist liberation history. Mbeki, alas, is simply no longer trusted to be an honest broker by most Zimbabweans and this perception alone disqualifies him from continuing to play this role.

It appears that the FePEP statement is little more than a reflection of desperation and the thinking of an elitist group of women purporting to speak on behalf of a 'majority' that I doubt they have any meaningful contact with. Certainly none can claim electoral legitimacy / representation (at least any more) in terms of popular support. Several work for corporate NGOs and large donor agencies – essentially insulated from the hard realities of life in Zimbabwe or exile. What is suggested is done so from the armchairs of comfortable hotels and NGO boardrooms. It is also very distressing that those who promote such positions appear to also have a certain amount of influence over where donor funds get located and utilised. Many NGOs and individuals have been beneficiaries of the Zimbabwean crisis. Theirs is a 9 to 5 struggle.

There is a very real danger that a 'managed transition' (as suggested) with the window dressing of transitional justice will be little more than an exercise in 'elite pacting', designed to ensure the old wine is decantered in new bottles. I'm afraid the FePEP 'position paper' simply feeds such agendas and does not further a transformative course of action that is so desperately needed.

*Grace Kwinjeh is a Zimbabwean Feminist.

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

Lest we forget: An open letter to my sisters who are brave

Alice Walker

2008-04-03

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/47082

Pambazuka News is pleased to reproduce for our readers this well received essay by Alice Walker in which she looks at Obama using various lenses such as black feminism and international solidarity while reflecting on race, class and gender

I made my first white women friends in college; they were women who loved me and were loyal to our friendship, but I understood, as they did, that they were white women and that whiteness mattered. That, for instance, at Sarah Lawrence, where I was speedily inducted into the Board of Trustees practically as soon as I graduated, I made my way to the campus for meetings by train, subway and foot, while the other trustees, women and men, all white, made their way by limo. Because, in our country, with its painful history of unspeakable inequality, this is part of what whiteness means. I loved my school for trying to make me feel I mattered to it, but because of my relative poverty I knew I could not.

I am a supporter of Obama because I believe he is the right person to lead the country at this time. He offers a rare opportunity for the country and the world to start over, and to do better. It is a deep sadness to me that many of my feminist white women friends cannot see him. Cannot see what he carries in his being. Cannot hear the fresh choices toward Movement he offers. That they can believe that millions of Americans -black, white, yellow, red and brown - choose Obama over Clinton only because he is a man, and black, feels tragic to me.

When I have supported white people, men and women, it was because I thought them the best possible people to do whatever the job required. Nothing else would have occurred to me. If Obama were in any sense mediocre, he would be forgotten by now. He is, in fact, a remarkable human being, not perfect but humanly stunning, like King was and like Mandela is. We look at him, as we looked at them, and are glad to be of our species. He is the change America has been trying desperately and for centuries to hide, ignore, kill. The change America must have if we are to convince the rest of the world that we care about people other than our (white) selves.

True to my inner Goddess of the Three Directions however, this does not mean I agree with everything Obama stands for. We differ on important points probably because I am older than he is, I am a woman and person of three colors, (African, Native American, European), I was born and raised in the American South, and when I look at the earth's people, after sixty-four years of life, there is not one person I wish to see suffer, no matter what they have done to me or to anyone else; though I understand quite well the place of suffering, often, in human growth.

I want a grown-up attitude toward Cuba, for instance, a country and a people I love; I want an end to the embargo that has harmed my friends and their children, children who, when I visit Cuba, trustingly turn their faces up for me to kiss. I agree with a teacher of mine, Howard Zinn, that war is as objectionable as cannibalism and slavery; it is beyond obsolete as a means of improving life. I want an end to the on-going war immediately and I want the soldiers to be encouraged to destroy their weapons and to drive themselves out of Iraq.

I want the Israeli government to be made accountable for its behavior towards the Palestinians, and I want the people of the United States to cease acting like they don't understand what is going on. All colonization, all occupation, all repression basically looks the same, whoever is doing it. Here our heads cannot remain stuck in the sand; our future depends of our ability to study, to learn, to understand what is in the records and what is before our eyes. But most of all I want someone with the self-confidence to talk to anyone, "enemy" or "friend," and this Obama has shown he can do. It is difficult to understand how one could vote for a person who is afraid to sit and talk to another human being. When you vote you are making someone a proxy for yourself; they are to speak when, and in places, you cannot. But if they find talking to someone else, who looks just like them, human, impossible, then what good is your vote?

It is hard to relate what it feels like to see Mrs. Clinton (I wish she felt self-assured enough to use her own name) referred to as "a woman" while Barack Obama is always referred to as "a black man." One would think she is just any woman, colorless, race-less, past-less, but she is not. She carries all the history of white womanhood in America in her person; it would be a miracle if we, and the world, did not react to this fact. How dishonest it is, to attempt to make her innocent of her racial inheritance.

I can easily imagine Obama sitting down and talking, person to person, with any leader, woman, man, child or common person, in the world, with no baggage of past servitude or race supremacy to mar their talks. I cannot see the same scenario with Mrs. Clinton who would drag into Twenty-First Century American leadership the same image of white privilege and distance from the reality of others' lives that has so marred our country's contacts with the rest of the world.

And yes, I would adore having a woman president of the United States. My choice would be Representative Barbara Lee, who alone voted in Congress five years ago not to make war on Iraq. That to me is leadership, morality, and courage; if she had been white I would have cheered just as hard. But she is not running for the highest office in the land, Mrs. Clinton is. And because Mrs. Clinton is a woman and because she may be very good at what she does, many people, including some younger women in my own family, originally favored her over Obama. I understand this, almost. It is because, in my own nieces' case, there is little memory, apparently, of the foundational inequities that still plague people of color and poor whites in this country. Why, even though our family has been here longer than most North American families - and only partly due to the fact that we have Native American genes - we very recently, in my lifetime, secured the right to vote, and only after numbers of people suffered and died for it.

When I offered the word "Womanism" many years ago, it was to give us a tool to use, as feminist women of color, in times like these. These are the moments we can see clearly, and must honor devotedly, our singular path as women of color in the United States. We are not white women and this truth has been ground into us for centuries, often in brutal ways. But neither are we inclined to follow a black person, man or woman, unless they demonstrate considerable courage, intelligence, compassion and substance. I am delighted that so many women of color support Barack Obama -and genuinely proud of the many young and old white women and men who do.

Imagine, if he wins the presidency we will have not one but three black women in the White House; one tall, two somewhat shorter; none of them carrying the washing in and out of the back door. The bottom line for most of us is: With whom do we have a better chance of surviving the madness and fear we are presently enduring, and with whom do we wish to set off on a journey of new possibility? In other words, as the Hopi elders would say: Who do we want in the boat with us as we head for the rapids? Who is likely to know how best to share the meager garden produce and water? We are advised by the Hopi elders to celebrate this time, whatever its adversities.

We have come a long way, Sisters, and we are up to the challenges of our time. One of which is to build alliances based not on race, ethnicity, color, nationality, sexual preference or gender, but on Truth. Celebrate our journey. Enjoy the miracle we are witnessing. Do not stress over its outcome. Even if Obama becomes president, our country is in such ruin it may well be beyond his power to lead us toward rehabilitation. If he is elected however, we must, individually and collectively, as citizens of the planet, insist on helping him do the best job that can be done; more, we must insist that he demand this of us. It is a blessing that our mothers taught us not to fear hard work. Know, as the Hopi elders declare: The river has its destination. And remember, as poet June Jordan and Sweet Honey in the Rock never tired of telling us: We are the ones we have been waiting for.

* Alice Walker is a Pulitzer Prize winning author. This article first appeared at The Root, www.theroot.com

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

Justice for Zimbabwe: A Message of Solidarity

Imani Countess

2008-04-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/47438

On March 29 the people of Zimbabwe cast their votes for President, Parliament, and local representatives. To date, the results of the Presidential election have not been announced, leading to widespread accusations of vote manipulation. Charges of intimidation and the threat of violence grow daily, while the population suffers from spiraling inflation, commodity shortages, and joblessness. Ultimately, the people of Zimbabwe will determine their leaders, but as concerned citizens we can send a message to the Government of Zimbabwe, the African Union and to the nations of Southern Africa that we stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe and that we support their struggle for human rights and justice.

The following Message of Solidarity includes the points outlined in such popular documents as The Zimbabwe We Want, the People’s Convention (February 2008), as well as the platforms of human rights and justice groups in Zimbabwe. We invite you to add your name to the following message.

MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY HUMAN RIGHTS AND JUSTICE FOR ZIMBABWE

The people of Zimbabwe have been betrayed, both by the government that represents them and by Western governments that claim to support their desires for economic development and democracy. Internally, corruption, government mis-management, military excesses, and poor economic decisions have deepened the country’s multiple social and economic crises. At the same time, the post-independence promises made by the international community were not kept and the imposition of World Bank/IMF economic structural adjustment policies further entrenched inequality and reversed the initial gains made by the country. We, the undersigned, support the people of Zimbabwe in their calls for a peaceful resolution to the current crisis. We urge the Government of Zimbabwe to work towards: 1. A new constitution, a people-driven document that ensures that any elected government runs the country to benefit its people, not the elite.

2. Economic justice, specifically:

- An audit of Zimbabwe’s 4.2 billion dollar debt - Repatriation of stolen assets, particularly funds diverted from public coffers to individual accounts in international banks. - National investments in social development, job creation, and regional economic integration efforts.

3. A national “Truth and Reconciliation” process to begin the healing process. We urge the international community to:

- End the “undeclared economic sanctions.”

- Cancel the colonial debt, including apartheid-related debt, along with debts related to failed structural adjustment policies, following an audit of the country’s national debt.

- Work with the Zimbabwean people to identify and repatriate public funds that have been diverted to private accounts in international banks.

To add your name to this Message of Solidarity, please send an email TransAfrica Forum at JusticeforZimbabwe@transafricaforum.org

*Imani Countess serves as TransAfrica Forum’s Senior Director of Public Affairs. TransAfrica Forum is the leading advocacy organization for Africa and the African Diaspora in U.S. foreign policy. TransAfrica Forum helped lead the world protest against apartheid in South Africa and colonial rule in southern Africa. Today, the organization works for human and economic justice for African people on the continent of Africa, in Latin America and in the Caribbean.

Zimbabwe: Right to know violated

Article 19

2008-04-15

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/47418

It’s been more than two weeks since Zimbabweans went to the polls to elect a legislature and President. But instead of the outcome of the elections, Zimbabwe’s ruling ZANU-PF party led by President Robert Mugabe has delivered harsh crackdowns and stonewalling to the electorate.

Defeat can be hard to accept, “but at the very least, the people of Zimbabwe have the right to know the result of their vote,” says the Executive Director of ARTICLE19, Dr. Agnes Callamard. The government of Zimbabwe is obligated under the International law “to conduct an election and to let the people know those they’ve chosen to lead them.”

ARTICLE 19 urges Zimbabwe’s government to heed the calls of Zimbabweans, the 2008 first extra-ordinary SADC summit of Heads of State and Government, and the international community “to comply with the rule of law and SADC Principles and Guidelines governing democratic elections.”

It is in the interest of Zimbabwe and the southern African region that President Mugabe adheres to electoral procedures as set out in Zimbabwe’s electoral law and release the result of the election immediately. “In the event that a run-off is needed, that must also be conducted according to accepted norms and standards.” ARTICLE19 strongly urges Zimbabwean authorities to back away from chaos and violence and move towards reason and the rule of law in settling the outcome of this election.

*ARTICLE 19 is an independent human rights organisation that works globally to protect and promote the right to freedom of expression. It takes its name from Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which guarantees free speech.


ARTICLE 19 (www.article19.org) is an international human rights organisation which defends and promotes freedom of expression and freedom of information all over the world. It takes its name from Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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

An open letter to Mrs Govan Mbeki

Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)

2008-04-16

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/47432

Kuwe nakaThabo,

Siyakubulisa ngesihle samakhosikazi ngolimi lwethu!

Siloba lincwadi singabomama besizwe seZimbabwe esibhekane lokuhlukuluzeka sidinga uncedo kubomakhelwane.

Ngomgqibelo mhlaka 12 April umntanakho uThabo wezakuleli eleZimbabwe ezoxoxisana loRobert Mugabe. Kasazi ukuthi baxoxisana ngani ngakho ke asisoze sigxile kungxoxo yabo ngoba singayazi njalo lesizatho singasazi ukuthi kungani uThabo waphoqelela wedlula kuleli. Kodwa sizakhuluma ngamazwi aphoswa nguThabo esuka kuleli wathi "inkinga, ziphi inkinga." Lamazwi asicaphula ngakho sicela umkhuze, umbuyise ebuntwini uThabo.

IZimbabwe ibhekane lobunzima lenkinga kwezomnotho, kwezombusazwe, kanye lokungahlaliseki nje jikelele. Kasenelisi njengabomama ukunakekela abantwabethu sibanike ukudla kathathu ngelanga, ukuthola ukudla kunzima konke lokhu uThabo ukutshaya indiva.

Ukhetho esisuka kulo lwengeze ngamandla ukuhlupheka kithi lanxa ukhetho lwaqhutshwa ngokuthula sihlukuluzekile engqondweni ngokwala kukaRobert ukuthi impumelo kamongameli yaziswe uzulu.

Abantu asihlalisekanga ngani ngoba isibalo samapholisa sesandile ezigabeni ikhulukazi emaphandleni lokhu kusenza sidlele evalweni.

NakaThabo siyacela ngesisa umkhuze uThabo ngaloludaba umtshele axwaye ukukhuluma engahluzanga emazwi akhe, asuke asicasule kakhulu. Sicela umkhuze singakamkhuzi thina. Untinte umfazi, untinte imbokodo. Tshela uThabo ame acabange abesekhuluma engabozilulaza phakathi kwamanye amadoda.

Yithi omakhelwane


Women Of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)

Loosely translated into English

Dear Mother of Thabo, We greet you in the name of sisterhood and in our mother tongue (isindebele)!

We are writing to you as mother of the suffering masses of Zimbabwe to ask for your help.

On Saturday 12 April 2008, your child Thabo Mbeki came to Zimbabwe to meet Robert Mugabe. We don't know what they discussed or the real reason he came to Zimbabwe so we cannot comment about that but we want to comment about the words he used when he was leaving.

He said, "There is no crisis in Zimbabwe. We find this has provoked us. Please correct him.

Zimbabwe is in an economic, political and social crisis. We cannot afford three meals a day or even find the basic commodities to feed our children. The political crisis has been worsened by the recent election. Although the election day was peaceful we have been annoyed by the refusal of Mugabe to release presidential results. Socailly the amount of police around the streets and in our rural areas make life very tense.

NaThabo please correct you son about these issues and tell him to refrain from hisrespecting us by his comments.

Please discipline him before we have to do so.

Your neighbours, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)

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

50th Anniversary of the Independent States of Africa Conference

Akyaaba Addai-Sebo

2008-04-15

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/47419

Eight independent African states comprising Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia and United Arab Republic (Egypt), gathered in Accra, Ghana, from April 15 to 22, 1958 to dedicate themselves to the cause of total political and economic liberation and unification of the African continent and the uplift of the African Personality. It was at this conference that the principle of “one man one vote” was adopted to provide cohesion and direction for the liberation movements. Moral and material support was promised the freedom fighters.

The convener, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the Prime Minister of Ghana, in his inaugural speech referred to the significance of the occasion being the first time in history that independent African states had gathered together with the common aim of evolving strategies to safeguard their independence, plan for the total liberation and unity of Africa and to shape their common destiny in their own interest by raising the living standards of their people through economic, cultural, educational, technical and scientific cooperation. 

It would be a sad day for Africa and the younger generation if this historical signpost passes by unobserved continentally through an African Union organised celebration. For historical amnesia to affect Africa to the extent of intellectual paralysis on the part of the vast array of African institutions that have become the repository of the history of Africa’s development and progress is an indictment on the leadership and the civil servants that underpin them. Will April 15, 2008 pass by without rekindling any memories in the political minds of the present rulers of Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Libya, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia? Will the significance of April 15, 2008 pass by unrecognised by the other member states of the African Union as the conference was the forerunner of the African Union? 

Do I hang my head in shame as I send out this release in the hope that the world media will wake up to this story and remind their readers and viewers of the significance of April 15, 2008 as there is the distinct possibility that no significant statement would come out to make the African child and youth proud of their past? Occasions such as the 50th Anniversary of the First Conference of Independent African States are celebrated with such pageantry to make citizens love their own memories. It is for the sake of the African child that I herein appeal to the world media to give due attention to the occasion as it is their human right for African children and youth to be taught to love their own memories. 

Lest we forget, 5 December 2008 will also mark the 50th anniversary of the epochal All-African People’s Conference held in Accra, Ghana, where a permanent secretariat was established for the global Pan-African movement with George Padmore as the first secretary-general. It was Dr. Nkrumah’s Convention People’s Party (CPP) government that purposefully linked the independence of Ghana to the cause of total liberation of Africa under a union government. These epochal stories of Africa and their impact must be retold to hold the attention of and sparkle the genius in the African child both at home and abroad. 

Zimbabwe - enough with the old treasures

Farai Kashiri

2008-04-16

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/47433

Among the complex questions in Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's Pan-African Postcard WHAT KIND OF POLITICAL CHANGE? one has a clear answer [http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/47413].

He asks: "Is it not clear that they (Zanu-pf & Mugabe) are preparing for the rerun while the opposition is shuttling between the court and diplomatic capitals? I am not quite sure if the MDC will achieve anything by choosing this course. Why can't they just go for the rerun and humiliate the Old man?"

Answer: Yes, it's clear. Zanu-pf, Mugabe and the military are preparing for a 're-run' because they are the only ones who know there will be
a re-run AFTER the recount. They have now had 2 weeks to doctor the ballot boxes to suit that purpose. The MDC wants the existing results from the

polling stations to be announced first so everyone will have confirmed what they know already which is that Tsvangirai won the Presidency.

The Reason the MDC don't want a run-off or a re-run is bcause: (a) they won and (b) brutal violence will be used by Mugabe and co. in their 'campaign' to 'win' the re-run. This is already happening. See reports of violent retribution of MDC voters in areas where Zanu-pf lost their previous stranglehold (Reports by Zimbabwe Peace Project, Zimbabwe Doctors for Human Rights, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights etc.)

Why do we need to constantly prove and re-prove to the world that Mugabe uses violence? Haven't we already seen it? Why do people defend him by denying it? Why do citizens have to be beaten into a pulp - again? On 29 March they peacefully used their civil right to chose their president. What gives Mugabe and the military the right to deny the people the results of that vote and demand a re-run?

As Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's advisor Thomas Deve says:" the opposition may
be more vulnerable than everyone is predicting if there is a run off." That is: Vulnerable to being beaten with sticks and stones, bloodied and tortured,

hands broken so they cannot write the X on the ballot paper even if they dare to come out to vote! How many times do people have to vote before their voices are respected?

Change is hard to accept, but Pan-Africanists especially need to clear away old 'treasures' that have gone wrong, to see and acknowledge reality before too many more people have died.

Farai Kashiri

Fire John Yoo the U.S. torture architect

Steve Fox

2008-04-16

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/47431

What would you do if you found out that a pyromaniac worked in the fire department in your town?  You would urge the fire department to fire him, right?

Well, what if you heard that a law professor had written a memo authorizing and, in a sense, advocating illegal torture by the Bush administration?  We assume the reaction would be the same.

Last week, I wrote to you about a shocking memo written by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel in 2003 advising the Pentagon that laws and treaties forbidding torture and other forms of abuse did not apply to U.S. interrogators because of the president's wartime power.

The man who wrote that memo -- John Yoo -- is now happily ensconced as a tenured law professor at the UC Berkeley School of Law.  While an unknown number of people suffer the aftereffects of illegal torture he encouraged, Professor Yoo is teaching, writing, and generally enjoying life in California.

This is flat out wrong.  John Yoo should not only be disqualified from ever serving in government again, but he should also be prohibited from spreading his distorted view of the law and the role of lawyers to young law students.

The National Lawyers Guild has called for his dismissal.  We are joining their call and hope you will, too.

Please take a moment and send a strongly worded (and pre-written) E-mail to Christopher Edley, Jr, Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, today, urging the dismissal of John Yoo.  Just click on the following link to get started: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=24188

After you have taken action, please forward this E-mail widely to friends, family, and colleagues. Together, we can rid John Yoo from the ranks of law professors in this country.

Book Review: Nuruddin Farah's Links

Mildred Barya

2008-04-16

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/47420

Publisher: Riverhead books, 2004.
Hardback 334 pages.

This is why there is hope for Somalia

The novel Links, by Nuruddin Farah, opens with a very arresting line:
“Guns lack the body of human truths!”

Right away we are introduced to a story of guns and concealed truths. To untangle what lies in this statement, we follow the author’s narrative of the wars within a war, and a lost battle. Tension maps every page with each exposition of the dangerous terrain that’s become Somalia, the characters intentions and impenetrable intrigues.

Links is not a one person story. Neither is it just a political one. It is a balanced, gendered one. Each woman, each man, each child is a story. Amidst the violence and senseless horrors experienced by most characters, we are inclined to embrace Rajo, (Raasta) a child who is both vulnerable and legendary. She is seen as “a symbol of peace in war-torn Somalia, the stuff of myth, seen by the city’s residents as a conduit to a harmonious coexistence.” Wise beyond her age, she talks people out of their depression, comforts mothers and gives confidence to the children. “…she gives shape to the links between words and their meanings, and then fits them into chains of her own choosing.” By age four she has figured out what marriage is like. With “a face as ancient as the roots of a baobab,” she is referred to as the “Protected One.”

Rajo is Somalia wearing a dress and a child’s face. As her story unfolds, we find out how she is abducted but not stolen. She has to put up with risks but like enduring hope, she is the sun that rises each day to greet the once beautiful Somali land. There’s little wonder therefore that Rajo actually means hope.

We are also seduced to listen and accept the story of Jeebleh, who returns to Mogadishu after twenty years to pay homage to his mother’s grave and also settle a few scores with one of the bad guys—Caloosha. At the airport, Jeebleh presents his Somali passport. The officer leafs through the pages looking for the visa. It is Jeebleh’s turn to be sarcastic and ask when it has become “necessary for a Somali to require a visa to enter Mogadiscio?” Jeebleh must tread carefully because he is walking on eggs. He cannot tell who is a foe and who is a friend. Nothing is told straight up. He even has to go through a tangled maze to locate his mother’s actual grave. Bile, the good guy is walking on landmines with his trying-to-do-good attitude and actions. Af-Laawe, who has started an NGO to take care of the dead prides in his “Funeral with a difference!” He speaks in metaphors all through the story. He is consistent in not giving clear answers to simple questions.

“How is Bile?” Jeebleh asks Af-Laawe.
“It depends on who you talk to,” Af-Laawe responds.
Later, Jeebleh asks Af-Laawe, “Why the nickname ‘Marabou’?”
“Somebody has been telling you things,” is Af-Laawe’s response.

Behind his back there are rumors that his efficiency and expediency in gathering the bodies into his van is only because he is selling organs of the dead and making huge profits out of calamity.
Within the quandary, Farah goes on to weave a delicate hope. He uses whatever realities are at hand to send a double textured message of hope. For instance, on the collateral damage that’s become Somalia’s rubber stamp, he writes: “A cynic I know says that thanks to the vultures, the marabous and the hawks, we have no fear of diseases spreading.” In another instance, one of Jeebleh’s contacts says, “My cynical friend suggests that when the country is reconstituted as a functioning state, we should have a vulture as our national symbol.” There is irony as well as good hope considering the manner in which the sentence is stated. “…when the country is reconstituted as a national state…” Farah sees the coming into constitutional state Somalia, some day.

And the use of the vulture too must be deliberate. In ancient Egypt—Kemet land, the vulture was the symbol of royal protection won on the foreheads by pharaohs, gods and the goddess Nekhbet. Egypt then was fertile, just and prosperous. Also, the powerful Ghanaian empire before the fatal brush with colonization had the symbol of a vulture. During slave trade, for those who escaped slavery, the vulture acted as a guide to the hills, away from the dogs, the horses and the overseers. For those who collapsed or died along the way, the vulture ate (read cleared) their remains. This gave a certain sense of freedom to those Africans since they believed that the vulture would carry their spirit back to their roots, back home to Mother Africa. Farah’s use of the many deaths and vultures can be interpreted through this original African expression of freedom and return to a desired state. A delicate hope!

The major strength of the novel is Farah’s honesty about the links that break and mend Somalia. The links that are the threads of hope as well as the strands of death, the root cause of the existing chaos threatening to extend to the neighbouring nations, the network of clans and lunatic warlords. Farah merges the landscape of memory and reality to recreate a possible Somalia, scathed but not diminished.

* Mildred K Barya is Writer-in-Residence at TrustAfrica (www.trustafrica.org)

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

South Africa: Exhibition: Skin-to-Skin: Challenging Textile Art

2008-04-18

http://southafrica.africancolours.net/content/16320

Skin-to-Skin: Challenging Textile Art opens at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg on 16 April 2008, running until 10 May. Curated by Fiona Kirkwood, the exhibition reflects South Africa's multi-cultural identity and unique history through diverse work by artists using textile-related concepts, techniques and materials.

Zanzibari Slave Market 2007

Nafeesa T Nichols

2008-04-08

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/47207

dirty, rusted, corroded
links of the iron chain
hung innocently around
the neck of a sculpture

afraid to touch the layers
of fossilized blood, sweat, agony and fear
Fear so soul deep that one can
smell it
touch it
intimately know it when you see it
so familiar that it cloaks you like a second skin

Microscopic bits of beautiful brown skin
Unnaturally scraped from the necks of the unfree
Embedded in the links
turned to salt deposits and rust
formed from tears of desolation

iron chain
silently guarding the memory of
shrieks of pain, sobs of inconsolable grief and whispered prayers
of death's release

Hanging from the neck of a sculpture
"In memory of the slaves"
It's stillness belies the memory of
disbelieving jerks and the desperate yanks
of the instantly insane
refusing to accept the reality
of human capitol

Its stillness remembers the
stoic, beaten into acceptance
who lay in their own shit
with the iron chain
which now hides the stench
of that shit mixed with urine, blood, dirt
and a bottomless dread

iron chain transporting, enslaving
beautiful brown bodies
beautiful black souls
each link forging the
supreme weapon of black death
destroying a mass of bodies, minds,
hearts and hope
ahead of time.

Now hanging from the neck of a
sculpture
harmless.


* Nafeesa T. Nichols, a performer and poet, is also a scholar of South African literature and music and a Pan African activist.

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

African Blog Review – 4/17/2008

Dibussi Tande

2008-04-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/47436

Kenyan Pundit
http://www.kenyanpundit.com/2008/04/16/challenges-of-the-grand-coalition-part-1guest-post/

Kenyan Pundit identifies the key challenges facing Kenya’s coalition government whose creation has been received with “widespread cynicism, bewilderment, anger and disappointment”. Top on the list of challenges is the government’s lack of credibility:

“The fact that almost half of the 220 member Kenya National Assembly will be in government is astounding, especially if one takes into account the high falutin’ earnest pledges by the three leading presidential candidates in the 2007 elections-Kibaki, Raila and Kalonzo-on how they would all have lean, clean and efficient cabinets.

As one of the many Kenyans who were tear gassed recently for demanding a 24 member cabinet at Uhuru Park recently, I need not regurgitate what I think of the 42 member bloated cabinet.

Unfortunately, unless something dramatic happens over the next few days to reverse it, the reality of an obese (some say obscene) cabinet is a de facto reality.

The Grand Coalition thus has its work cut out for it when it comes to persuading Kenyans that it will somehow justify all those billions of tax payers’ shillings it is robbing from the meagre national coffers.”

In the News
http://www.inthenews.co.za/2008/04/16/under-the-spell-of-a-dark-lord/

In the News argues that President Thabo Mbeki’s increasingly controversial stance on the Zimbabwe crisis is damaging his legacy:

“President Mbeki has a ridiculous sense of loyalty to a man who has tarnished and will continue to tarnish his image and legacy for years to come. One can’t imagine what President Mbeki thought when he said there is no crisis in Zimbabwe when the whole of Africa is watching Zimbabwe. He failed to exercise wisdom and tact thus once again taking the attention away from Zimbabwe and putting it on himself.

President Mbeki has once again failed to take positive leadership on Zimbabwe and he looks like Mugabe’s subordinate. Time and time again President Mbeki looks to be an underling of the Mugabe, who continues to hold the Zimbabwean nation hostage. President Mbeki has tried to build a Kwame Nkrumah like Pan-African legacy but Mugabe has tainted this legacy. All the gains Mbeki made in Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi have been blown away by the never ending Mugabe Tsunami. President Mbeki has to save himself and his legacy and tell Mugabe like it is. Zimbabwe is dying because of Mugabe and his cronies. President Mbeki should not hide behind the culture of respecting elders. He should show Mugabe enough respect to tell him that his renegade government is affecting Southern Africa and not in a good way.”

African Unchained
http://africaunchained.blogspot.com/2008/04/burden-of-cfa.html

Africa Unchained cites an article about the negative effects of the CFA Franc on the economy of Francophone Africa:

“For every growth in France’s GDP, the euro appreciates against the Dollar, thus the CFA franc assumes too high an exchange rate. This puts the brakes on growth in the African economies that are also heavily dependent on commodities produced by Asia and South American countries that have much more flexible currencies. Put simply, a strong euro just kills CFA member economies as they experience declining export prices... A high fixed rate also kills economic growth in member countries, as it’s incompatible with productivity. The level of regional integration among member countries and the two central banks is remarkably low, even further undermining economic growth. Because the economies of Central African countries are heavily dependent on oil, and those of West Africa heavily dependent on other commodities, it is hard to argue for the long-term viability of the CFA unless of course you’re De Gaulle.”

Ndagha
http://ndagha.blogspot.com/2008/04/malawi-women-shun-internet-discussions.html

Ndagha posts an article which originally appeared in the Daily times which analyzes the (non)participation of women in Malawian internet forums:

“Apart from issues of content, some moderators believe that Malawian women cannot actively participate as Internet access is the domain of men only. One moderator claimed this reality “may be a reflection of the gender tilt in Malawi's education. It is biased towards men and this is reflected in mailing list membership.”
[…]
They alluded to “years of patriarchal influences” which Malawi and other countries the world over are known for.

These tendencies “in the Malawi context, may prevent women who could potentially participate in mailing lists with the same vigor, tenacity, boldness and intellect as men. These influences, may be embedded in their sub-conscious, have taught them to stay away from the public space,” argued Nyasanet moderators.”

The Imhotep blog
http://www.greatimhotep.com/2008/04/video-breast-ir.html#more

Imhotep blog posts a video on the practice of breast ironing in Cameroon:

“In Cameroon where the practice is most widespread, 50% of adolescent girls in cities and a quarter of all girls nationwide have their breasts 'ironed,' often by their mothers.

The 'ritual' is performed by massaging the girls' chests with heated objects like stones, in order to reverse their pubescent development. The mums say it's driven by fear of unwanted male attention, rape and pre-marital pregnancies.

According to UNFPA, breast ironing exposes girls to numerous health problems such as abscesses, infections, dissymmetry of the breasts, cysts, and even the complete disappearance of one or both breasts.

Nevertheless breast ironing is widespread and interestingly, the high prevalence in cities attributed to the effects of urbanization.”

Scribbles from the Den
http://www.dibussi.com/2008/04/another-failed.html#more

Scribbles form the Den posts an International Herald Tribune article on the recent political crisis in Cameroon which has led to fears that Cameroon may become another “failed state”:

“The international community could take steps to help prevent a crisis. Unfortunately, promises of preventive measures and "never again" rhetoric regarding Africa rarely translate into action on the ground. I fear that the international community will wait until it is too late to prevent a major conflict in Cameroon - and will then have to spend massive resources in response to a humanitarian crisis.

Today, many people are trying to leave the country. But most of Cameroon's neighboring countries are themselves collapsing states and cannot provide a safe haven.

Unless there is clear political reform that will allow citizens to finally enjoy basic civil liberties - including full freedom of expression, free elections and the rule of law - a crisis is inevitable.

Cameroon is another Central African country where time is running out.”

* Dibussi Tande, a writer and activist from Cameroon, produces the blog Scribbles from the Den

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

China to seal $9bn DR Congo deal

2008-04-18

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/04/china-to-seal-9bn-dr-congo-deal/

After decades of civil war, the Democratic Republic of Congo is about to sign an agreement with China who will provide $9 billion worth of investment in rebuilding infrastructure in exchange for the country’s natural resources, the largest deal of its kind in Africa.

African governments reject U.N. intervention in Zimbabwe

2008-04-18

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=42043

Despite mounting pressure from some major Western powers to intervene in Zimbabwe's electoral crisis, U.N. involvement remains a distant possibility. At the U.N.-African Union (EU) Summit held Wednesday, both the United States and Britain argued that a U.N. presence in Zimbabwe was critical to break the deadlock, but their position failed to win over most of the AU members.

Position Paper: Zimbabwe Feminist Political Education Project

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/zimbabwe/47440

We the under-signed Zimbabwean women, in our capacity as THE FEMINIST POLITICAL EDUCATION PROJECT (FePEP), urgently call for an end to the political impasse that our country is in. Over a week after we voted in the harmonized elections, we note with great dismay that the results of the Presidential elections are yet to be released. The country is in limbo. Violence, poverty, HIV & AIDS and deterioration of social services continue to disproportionately affect women and girls.
11 April 2008

We the under-signed Zimbabwean women, in our capacity as THE FEMINIST POLITICAL EDUCATION PROJECT (FePEP), urgently call for an end to the political impasse that our country is in. Over a week after we voted in the harmonized elections, we note with great dismay that the results of the Presidential elections are yet to be released. The country is in limbo. Violence, poverty, HIV & AIDS and deterioration of social services continue to disproportionately affect women and girls. We voted on the 29th of March for our representatives in Parliament and for a Head of State in the hope that collectively they can address these problems. As citizens we demand to know and see the fruits of our vote, which would affirm our rights to participate in politics.

We call for the immediate release of the presidential election results. But regardless of who wins this elections among the four presidential candidates, it is our view that the country is too politically polarized to move on. Whoever becomes our next President has the Herculean task of bringing all sides together to think nationally, and in the best interests of all Zimbabwean citizens, not just their own party, or personal self interest. We believe that neither Mr Robert Mugabe nor Mr Morgan Tsvangirai is trusted enough by everyone to foster unity and national coherence that will be required to move forward. We strongly believe that this is what is at the heart of the present impasse. Equally we do not believe that a run-off will be in our best interests as women. We are too familiar with the violence that was meted upon numerous of us from 1890 when the colonialists came into our country right up to the most recent elections. Chief among these forms of violence is sexual violence, and it concomitant implication, HIV infection. Zimbabwean women now have the lowest life expectancy world wide because of HIV & AIDS, 34 years. We can not afford yet another pointless violent election that will slice more years off our lives.

We boldly suggest that all political parties and players in Zimbabwe come together in a national Transitional Authority, (TA). The TA should be headed by a person who can be trusted by both ZANU PF and the MDC formations. She or he must not be the leader of a registered political party. The TA will be composed of up to 15 members, ensuring geographic, ethnic, and gender balance. We believe that such an interim authority will provide a moderating voice and can pave the way for a government of national unity that can steer Zimbabwe to a more democratic dispensation, guided by a new constitution.

We therefore call upon the Southern African Development Community, supported by the African Union, and the United Nations, to bring all the parties in Zimbabwe together to discuss a move towards this interim arrangement. In this regard the South African President Mr Thabo Mbeki should continue his mediation role. It is our contention that the people of Zimbabwe are so deeply polarized yet again and can not possibly negotiate on their own. Our position as FePEP reflects and amplifies the voices of so many women, who are tired of seeing their country torn apart by selfish male egos, the quest for unbridled power, and total disregard for citizens’ rights.

Teresa Mugadza (+ 263 912877420)
Isabella Matambanadzo
Thoko Matshe
Everjoice Win
Shereen Essof
Juliana Manjengwa
Karin Alexander
Janah Ncube
Priscllah Misihairabwi-Mushonga
Revai Makanje

SALAN Statement on Zimbabwe

2008-04-18

http://www.salan.org/News_Views/news_detail.asp?art_ID=2158

The Southern African Legal Assistance Network (SALAN), a network of legal aid NGOs in Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe joins the regional and international community in noting, with great concern, the disturbing developments unfolding in Zimbabwe. Though acknowledging the effort made by the SADC member states to mediate an end to the election crisis in Zimbabwe, SALAN joins the rest of the world in adding its voice to the following demands:

DELAY BY ZEC TO ANNOUNCE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS RESULTS

• SALAN regrets the continued failure on the part of the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) to disclose the results of the election, without any reasonable explanation

• This inexplicable delay in the announcement of Presidential election results is both unwarranted and unjustifiable and has caused unnecessary anxiety and heightened tension in Zimbabwe inviting suspicion that electoral outcomes will be manipulated and that the Zimbabwean peoples' peacefully registered political preferences will be contemptuously discounted.

• SALAN therefore calls for the expeditious release of all outstanding Zimbabwean electoral results in accordance with due process of the law, including that the verification and counting must be done in the presence of candidates and / or their agents.

• SALAN also urges the Government of Zimbabwe to desist from interfering with the work of ZEC and enable ZEC to immediately announce results of the presidential vote taken on 29 March.
DELAY BY ZEC TO ANNOUNCE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS RESULTS

• SALAN regrets the continued failure on the part of the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission (ZEC) to disclose the results of the election, without any reasonable explanation

• This inexplicable delay in the announcement of Presidential election results is both unwarranted and unjustifiable and has caused unnecessary anxiety and heightened tension in Zimbabwe inviting suspicion that electoral outcomes will be manipulated and that the Zimbabwean peoples' peacefully registered political preferences will be contemptuously discounted.

• SALAN therefore calls for the expeditious release of all outstanding Zimbabwean electoral results in accordance with due process of the law, including that the verification and counting must be done in the presence of candidates and / or their agents.

• SALAN also urges the Government of Zimbabwe to desist from interfering with the work of ZEC and enable ZEC to immediately announce results of the presidential vote taken on 29 March.

NEED FOR ALL STAKEHOLDERS TO RESPECT THE RESULTS

In the event of a run off, SALAN calls for the following:

• Establishment of a credible, independent and impartial election management body;

• An environment of peace, free from intimidation and political violence;

• That the run-off is conducted within the framework of Zimbabwe's electoral laws;

• That a mechanism be put in place so that delays and technical challenges encountered by the ZEC are given public explanation to avoid a repeat of the current situation;

• That the presence of electoral observer missions are afforded necessary access and accreditation.

• We urge all parties to adhere to and respect the electoral results.

SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE

In solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe SALAN:

• Urges the SADC and its member states to provide all necessary support to Zimbabwe to enable it to peacefully transform the electoral and political crisis in that country into an opportunity for the development of a sustainable democracy.

• SALAN calls for the immediate cessation of all acts of political violence and intimidation; all those engaging in acts of political violence, especially militia groups should be dealt with in accordance with the law. We urge all the political parties of Zimbabwe to exercise restraint and desist from employing intimidatory tactics

• SALAN calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to guarantee the safety and freedom of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission officials, local election observers, pro democracy activists and journalists as well as opposition members and supporters now, and during the run off

• Lastly SALAN salutes the Zimbabweans and their organisations who have courageously spoken out

For more information Contact:
Juliet Kaira Chibuta
Coordinator
Southern African Legal Assistance Network (SALAN) Secretariat
6th Floor Woodgate House
Box 35162
Lusaka, Zambia
Tel/Fax: 260-211-231845
E-mail: salan@zamnet.zm
Website: www.salan.org



- SALAN Members -
DITSHWANELO- The Botswana Centre for Human Rights; Centre for Advice, Research & Education on Rights (CARER)-Malawi; Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC)-Tanzania; Liga Mocambique Dos Direitos Humanos (LDH) Mozambique; Legal Assistance Centre (LAC)-Namibia; The Black Sash-South Africa; Legal Resources Centre (LRC)-South Africa; Zambia Civic Education Association (ZCEA)-Zambia; Legal Resources Foundation (LRF)-Zambia; Zanzibar Legal Services Centre (ZLSC)-Zanzibar; Legal Resources Foundation (LRF)- Zimbabwe

State-sponsored violence - Appeal by AI secretary-general

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/zimbabwe/47470

At the time of Zimbabwe’s 28th anniversary of independence, Amnesty International is deeply concerned about reports of the deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe following presidential, parliamentary and local government elections which took place on 29 March 2008. The organization is particularly concerned about apparent retribution attacks against opposition supporters in rural areas, townships and farms across the country. Victims allege that they have been assaulted by soldiers, police, so-called “war veterans” and supporters of the ruling party, ZANU-PF, and have been accused of not having voted “correctly.”
Appeal by the Secretary General of Amnesty International

END STATE-SPONSORED VIOLENCE IN ZIMBABWE

At the time of Zimbabwe’s 28th anniversary of independence, Amnesty International is deeply concerned about reports of the deteriorating human rights situation in Zimbabwe following presidential, parliamentary and local government elections which took place on 29 March 2008. The organization is particularly concerned about apparent retribution attacks against opposition supporters in rural areas, townships and farms across the country. Victims allege that they have been assaulted by soldiers, police, so-called “war veterans” and supporters of the ruling party, ZANU-PF, and have been accused of not having voted “correctly.” These assaults appear to be targeted at people in rural areas and low income suburbs where the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) seems to have gained more votes than the ruling ZANU-PF party.
For example,
· On 6 April, about 10 soldiers and two people dressed in police uniform, reportedly went to the home of a known MDC activist in Gweru, assaulted him with sticks and kicked him and two of his friends. The activists sustained injuries and required medical treatment.
· On 11 April, a man was attacked in his shop in Mashonaland East Province by persons believed to be ZANU-PF supporters who reportedly broke into his shop, dragged him out the building and accused him of being an MDC member. The victim alleges that the ZANU-PF youth stole groceries from his shop and that they burned grass on both of his hands before beating his hands and back with wooden poles. The victim sustained injuries including burns to both of his hands and his left arm as well as broken bones in one of his arms and in both of his hands. Though some victims have reported these crimes to the police, no arrests have been reported and it appears that perpetrators continue to commit abuses with impunity.
Violations of national and international law
These assaults violate both national and international human rights law. Section 15(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe states:
“No person shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading punishment or other such treatment.
” Torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment are prohibited absolutely under international law, for example under Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Zimbabwe is a state party to both instruments. It is also widely agreed that a state has violated the prohibition on torture and other ill-treatment not only when a state official physically commits the act, but also when such an act is committed at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.

To President Robert Mugabe…
I call on you in your capacity as head of state and as leader of the ruling ZANU-PF party to denounce and bring to an end all human rights abuses, including violent attacks by soldiers, police, “war veterans” and ZANU-PF supporters. I am appealing to you to bring about a prompt, independent and impartial investigation into the reported acts of human rights abuses, including all reports of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and to bring to justice all suspected perpetrators.

To the Commissioner-General of Police, Augustine Chihuri, and Army Commander, General Constantine Chiwenga…

I call on the Commissioner-General of Police and the Zimbabwe National Army Commander to bring an immediate end to human rights violations being perpetrated directly or condoned by police officers and soldiers.
I urge you to ensure that all allegations of police and military involvement in human rights abuses including violent attacks on individuals are promptly, independently and impartially investigated. The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and the Zimbabwe National Army must cooperate fully with investigations. Those suspected of involvement must be brought to justice in proceedings which meet international standards of fairness. Victims must be awarded full reparations in accordance with international standards.
Police officers and soldiers should operate in a non-partisan manner and respect human rights law. They should act to prevent human rights abuses, not perpetrate them or allow a climate of impunity for others who may be responsible. To Jabulani Sibanda, Chairperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association… I call on you to publicly call on your members to end immediately all acts of violence against real or suspected supporters of the political opposition. The alleged abuses by members of your organization may constitute crimes under national and international law. Those committing the abuses as well as those instigating them should be held accountable.

To Heads of states and governments of the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
… Amnesty International welcomes the emergency summit held by SADC in Lusaka on 12 April but urges you to redouble your diplomatic efforts to avoid further deterioration of the human rights situation in Zimbabwe. I call on you to acknowledge publicly and express concern at the human rights abuses being perpetrated by members of state security organizations, “war veterans”, and ZANU-PF supporters. The Zimbabwean authorities have operated in violation of regional and international human rights law and standards for too long. Urgent action is needed to end human rights abuses, hold perpetrators accountable and ensure reparation for the victims.

Irene Khan Secretary General

Zimbabwe: EALS to hold consultative meeting

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/zimbabwe/47473

East Africa Law Society (EALS) is calling for an emergency Pan-African Citizens’ Consultation next week to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis. The meeting which is supported by the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) takes place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Monday, April 21, 2008.
EALS TO HOLD CONSULTATIVE MEETING ON ZIMBABWE NEXT WEEK

East Africa Law Society (EALS) is calling for an emergency Pan-African Citizens’ Consultation next week to discuss the Zimbabwe crisis. The meeting which is supported by the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) takes place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Monday, April 21, 2008. It brings together representatives of the civil society, legal fraternity, trade union, academia and other interested stakeholders in the Eastern and Southern Africa region and the rest of the continent and intends to advocate for action by the African Union (AU) in the Zimbabwe post election crisis.



The one-day meeting whose theme is: “An Emergency Consultation: Africa Taking the Initiative on the Zimbabwe Election Crisis”, seeks to foster reflective discussions on the impact of the recently concluded Zimbabwe elections and the delay in the release of results. It also expects to catalyze further initiatives and interjections by the AU, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and governments in the region.



70 participants drawn from 18 countries in Africa will participate in the consultative meeting. The countries represented are: the five EAC Partner States, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Botswana, Angola and DRC. Others are Mozambique, Namibia, Lesotho, Zambia, Malawi, Swaziland and South Africa. Regional organizations expected include: SADC Lawyers Association, Media Institute of Southern Africa, and Southern African Judges Commission among others.



Participants are expected to get accurate and detailed update on the current situation in Zimbabwe and to reflect on the possible options available to SADC, COMESA and, most importantly, the AU. The outcome of the intervention, it is envisaged, shall include procurement of a progress report for stakeholders, as well as a strong Communiqué and resolutions to be presented to President Jakaya Kikwete, the United Republic of Tanzania, in his capacity as Chair of the Summit of the African Union. Special emphasis will further be laid on messages that shall be delivered to the Peace and Security Commission of the African Union.



The meeting will take the opportunity to add its voice towards applying pressure on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to immediately relay the results of the elections held on March 29, 2008. The People of East Africa, individually, and through various civil society organizations and caucuses have since the Zimbabwe elections joined forces with the rest of the continent in expressing deep concern at the pace with which the ZEC has handled the election results, precipitating a national crisis.



The reflective consultation comes hot on the heels of the recent SADC Summit held in Lusaka, Zambia, and attended by political leaders in the Southern Africa region. The meeting however did not produce quick solutions to the crisis and instead urged Zimbabweans to wait for the electoral body to finish its work. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) also filed an application at the High Court to force the ZEC to officially release the results. The High Court rejected the bid in its ruling suggesting that the Electoral Commission needs more time for verification. ZANU PF and President Robert Mugabe insist on a second round of voting even before the results are officially released saying that none of the candidates wholly won the polls. The MDC on its part is laying its stake in claim for victory.



Consequently, the civil society and trade unions in the country are talking of a rollout of peaceful actions and strikes aimed at compelling the ZEC towards release of the results. According to EALS CEO, Don Deya, any further delays could lead to a situation where the country may degenerate into chaos triggered by the fear that ZEC is manipulating or tampering with the Presidential elections results. “We applaud the people of Zimbabwe for being patient yet very alert and vigilant to avoid the manipulation of results”, Deya recently noted.



While the immediate focus of next week’s meeting is on the Eastern and Southern African countries, its importance far exceeds those borders, and the lessons learnt are replicable continent-wide. There is an imminent need for the African Union to encourage the revision of electoral laws across the continent, adherence to the rule of the law and to constitutionalism.

‘War Vets’ unleash orgy of violence

2008-04-18

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news170408/warvets170408.htm

Gangs of Zanu-PF youths, labelling themselves war veterans, have unleashed a reign of terror in Umguza on the outskirts of Bulawayo. Our Bulawayo correspondent Lionel Saungweme told us the youths are believed to be loyal to Obert Mpofu, the Zanu-PF MP for the area and they also attacked and seriously injured the MDC senatorial candidate there, Moses Sivalo.

AU Monitor Weekly Update

Issue 133, 2008

2008-04-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/aumonitor/47434

The AU Monitor and the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) invite research papers for the forthcoming publication “African Perspectives on Aid in Africa” to be published in September 2008. While Africa is the biggest recipient of aid globally, the terms, conditions and principles upon which aid is delivered are rarely defined by the people of Africa for whom, at least rhetorically, this aid is supposed to create positive change. Indeed, recent analysis from Third World Network, highlights the “effect of circumscribing national sovereignty and country autonomy over development policies” “contrary to the stated principles of country ownership and mutual accountability” of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. In light of the September 2008 high-level meetings on Aid Effectiveness in Accra, Ghana, Fahamu and AFRODAD seek to publish a comprehensive volume on Aid in Africa from the diverse perspectives of African civil society, social commentators, policy makers, academics and citizens. The “African Perspectives on Aid in Africa” book will uniquely seek to explore the very premise and foundation upon which the concept of aid is based, the history and context of aid, how the emergence of new global powers such as Venezuela and China are redefining aid, related power dynamics and its relation to development, all from the perspectives of Africa. The deadline for submission is May 30, 2008. Please contact us via email at charles@afrodad.co.zw and hakima@fahamu.org with a one page abstract for your paper and for further information by April 25th, 2008.

In this week’s AU Monitor, we bring you news from the extraordinary summit of heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to discuss the “deepening tensions in neighbouring Zimbabwe”. The summit, which was attended by eight SADC heads of state, concluded that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) should announce the results as guided by the country’s laws and expressed support for the continued mediation of President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. However, both civil society and the opposition party have expressed disappointment at the outcome claiming that the summit almost endorsed the ZEC’s delay in announcing the election results, failed to denounce rising violence, the closure of the ZEC command centre and the ban on rallies or to pronounce on the failure of President Mugabe to attend the summit.

As Zimbabwe’s electoral crisis continues, Bronwen Manby analyses the Kenyan post-election crisis in light of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) report of 2006, noting that “had the problems the APRM report then highlighted been tackled, it is possible that the violence and distress of the 2008 crisis could have been avoided”. Indeed, the APRM eminent persons noted “the role of prominent members of the ruling party and high ranking government officials in fuelling the so-called ethnic clashes” with impunity and called for leadership which “recognises the need for dramatic change in a society” that “entails not simply directing change but managing it in a way that ensures broad ownership, legitimacy and self-directed sustenance and replication of change in all associated systems.” Highlighting areas of weakness of the APRM report and process that contribute to the lack of implementation of its decisions, the author notes that the report “does not identify the issues relating to the independence of the Electoral Commission of Kenya” but focuses rather on “the simple fact of holding elections”. Further, she stresses “the gap between the country review report and the programme of action”, the lack of monitoring on reporting related to implementation of the recommendations and the lack of sanctions for failure to act, concluding that without “integration into other national planning systems, debates and oversight mechanisms, the APRM process seems doomed to become little more than a cosmetic exercise without effect in the real world of policy and decision making”.

The Delhi Declaration, adopted at the end of the India-Africa summit, stresses the need for strengthened ties not only at the bilateral level but through India’s strengthened “partnership with the African Union and the Regional Economic Communities of Africa”. Notably, the declaration also urges “the international community to give real and immediate effect to commitments on climate change, especially in the areas of technology transfer, financing and capacity building. There is also need for a closer look at the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime to ensure cost-effective transfer of appropriate and advanced clean technologies to developing countries.” The Declaration also stresses the importance of the development dimension of the Doha Round of trade negotiations at the World Trade Organisation and welcomes “the strengthened engagement, solidarity and cooperation among developing countries in that process”, while Peter Draper claims that “the Doha Round is likely to result in a host of opt-outs for the majority of African states, meaning they will benefit from free trade by being able to export goods more easily to developed countries, but will be protected to a degree from having to reciprocate by opening their markets in a way which would damage them”. The next Africa-India Summit will be held in 2011 in Africa. Meanwhile, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) council, will host the Europe Africa Business Summit on April 28-30, in Hamburg, Germany, “aimed at providing a critical assessment of the current state and future of the European African economic relationships.”

Also this week, representatives of African civil society organisations, regional economic communities, gender experts and policy makers convened to finalize the draft African Union Gender Policy aimed at accelerating “the execution of mandates of the AUC and its organs to promote the social, economic, political and cultural development for continental cooperation and integration”. The final draft of the policy will be submitted to another experts group meeting prior to the joint Economic Commission on Africa/AU Ministers of Gender Conference scheduled for June and will be submitted for adoption by heads of state and government during the June-July AU Summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Finally, a stakeholder consultation was held last week by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission to improve intra-Community movement of citizens and reduce the harassment at the borders. Participants called for “the operationalisation and reinforcement of the pilot committees set up in eight Member States and meant to improve the circulation of citizens and stem their harassment at the borders”. Meanwhile in East Africa, civil society organisations concluded that “the African Court of Justice has failed to make an impact on human rights abuses on the continent, two years after its inception” at the close of a roundtable held in Arusha, Tanzania.

Global: Lack of critical health care for most women and children

2008-04-18

http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=1117

Leading global health experts, policymakers and parliamentarians are convening in Cape Town from 17th to 19th April at the Countdown to 2015 conference to address the urgent need for accelerated progress to reduce maternal, newborn and child deaths. According to the 2008 report, Tracking Progress in Maternal, Newborn & Child Survival, released today, few of the 68 developing countries that account for 97 per cent of maternal and child deaths worldwide are making adequate progress to provide critical health care needed to save the lives of women, infants and children.

Global: New film series takes on culture of silence on violence against women

2008-04-18

http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=1118

Fourteen years ago, in April 1994, news got out that ethnic violence in Kigali was spreading throughout Rwanda. Violence against women is the theme of Women on the Frontline, a series of seven films being broadcast for the first time on the 18th of April by BBC World at 1930 GMT to about 300 million households to help peel away the silence surrounding the brutality of gender-based violence that crosses all borders.

Liberia: UN-backed anti-rape campaign reaches country’s north

2008-04-18

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=26350

A United Nations-backed campaign to stamp out rape in Liberia, the highest reported crime in the West African country as it recovers from a devastating civil war, has been extended to the north with a senior UN official calling for full implementation of the law.

Togo: All set for TRC creation

2008-04-18

http://www.afrol.com/articles/28637

Togolese officials have embarked on a nation-wide consultation on the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to heal the wounds of the 2005 political violence in the West African country

Sudan: Darfuris arrested and physically abused following student protests

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/47474

The Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT) is concerned about the fate of an unknown number of Darfuris arrested following student protests in Khartoum. At least some of those detained have suffered serious physical abuse in custody.
Human Rights Alert: 16 April 2008

Darfuris Arrested and Physically Abused Following Student Protests

The Sudan Organisation Against Torture (SOAT) is concerned about the fate of an unknown number of Darfuris arrested following student protests in Khartoum. At least some of those detained have suffered serious physical abuse in custody.

On 14 April Darfuri students at universities in Khartoum launched demonstrations against a decision to make high school pupils in Darfur sit an altered version of nationwide university entrance exams. In past years, university entrance exams have been uniform across the country. But the exam papers in use in schools in Darfur this year reportedly include additional questions that are not present in papers distributed elsewhere in the country. Protestors said the additional questions could affect Darfuri students' chances of securing university places. A large number of Darfuris – including students and graduates – were detained in connection with the 14 April demonstrations and charged with crimes including rioting and causing public nuisance.

SOAT is aware of at least one specific episode of serious physical abuse in custody that occurred in the wake of this wave of detentions. Bashir Abdala Adam (32 years old, employee of the Nana Consultancy Company) was arrested by agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) from the gates of Khartoum University at 3.30pm on 14 April. Although he is of Darfuri origin, Mr Adam says he was not involved in the demonstrations and was only visiting his brother at the university at the time of his arrest. The security agents who arrested him beat him severely inside their vehicle and then subjected him to further physical abuse in the offices of the political section of the NISS in Bahry, an area of Khartoum. At around midnight, security agents took Mr Adam and eight students to a police station in Khartoum North and attempted to hand them over into police custody. Police officers initially refused to accept any of the detainees because they had been physically abused. The police eventually agreed to accept the eight students but insisted that Mr Adam be taken to a hospital. Instead of taking Mr Adam to receive medical treatment, security agents drove him to a location near Bahry Electricity Station, where they beat him further with sticks and pipes and then left him.

Following his release, Mr Adam received a medical examination and obtained papers referring him for specialist treatment for injuries sustained during his time in the custody of the security services. But on 15 April Mr Adam was again detained by NISS agents from 4pm until 9.30pm and beaten all over his body with weapons including sticks, piping and wire. During this second period of detention, the security agents confiscated the medical papers referring him for treatment.

Article 33 of Sudan's Interim National Constitution asserts that, "No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment." International agreements that Sudan is party to – including the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (Article 5) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 7) – include similar guarantees. In practice, however, physical abuse in custody is widespread in Sudan and is encouraged by a culture of impunity underpinned by mechanisms including immunity laws, pardons and amnesties for state officials responsible for human rights violations.

SOAT calls upon the Sudanese authorities to:

- Take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of Bashir Abdala Adam and all others detained in connection with the student demonstrations in Khartoum

- Allow all detainees immediate and unrestricted access to family, legal advice and any medical treatment that they need

- Order the immediate release of all detainees in the absence of valid legal charges, or if legitimate charges exist, bring them before an impartial tribunal and guarantee procedural rights at all times

- Conduct impartial and transparent investigations into the abuse suffered by Bashir Abdala Adam and other detainees, and bring to justice all suspected perpetrators, guaranteeing them fair trials according to internationally recognised standards

- Expedite reforms to bring the Sudanese justice system and all legislation into line with the Interim National Constitution and international human rights standards, and to end the impunity of state officials.

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

His Excellency President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir,
Office of the President,
People's Palace,
PO Box 281,
Khartoum, Sudan,

His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit,
First Vice-President,
People's Palace,
PO Box 281,
Khartoum, Sudan,

His Excellency Ali Osman Mohamed Taha,
Vice-President,
People's Palace,
PO Box 281,
Khartoum, Sudan,

Mr Abdel Bassit Sabdarat,
Minister of Justice,
Ministry of Justice,
PO Box 302,
Khartoum, Sudan

Mr Deng Alor,
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs/External Relations,
PO Box 873,
Khartoum, Sudan,

Mr Ibrahim Mohamed Hamed,
Minister of Internal Affairs,
Ministry of Interior,
PO Box 873,
Khartoum, Sudan,

Dr Abdelmuneim Osman Mohamed Taha,
Advisory Council for Human Rights, Rapporteur,
PO Box 302,
Khartoum, Sudan,
Fax: +249 183 77 08 83

Permanent Mission of the Republic of Sudan to the United Nations in Geneva,
Avenue Blanc 47,
1202 Geneva, Switzerland,
Tel: +41 22 731 26 63,
Fax: +41 22 731 26 56,
Email: mission.sudan@bluewin.ch / mission.sudan@ties.itu.int

The Embassy of Sudan in Brussels,
Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 124,
1050 Brussels, Belgium.
Tel.:0032 (2) 647 51 59 / 0032 (2) 647 94 94,
Fax: 0032 (2) 648 34 99,
Email: sudanbx@yahoo.com

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the title and date of this SOAT publication in your reply.


For more information please contact:

Sudan Organisation Against Torture
Argo House
Kilburn Park Road
London
NW6 5LF
United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7625 8055
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7372 2656
Email: info@soatsudan.org
Website: www.soatsudan.org

Global: Rights of parliamentarians must be respected - IPU

2008-04-18

http://www.buanews.gov.za/view.php?ID=08041812451001&coll=buanew08

Rights of an elected parliamentarian must be respected as it impacts on the entire country, according to the Committee on Human Rights of the Interparliamentary Union (IPU). "... if the rights of an elected parliamentarian are not respected, this does not bode well for the ordinary citizens of those countries," says President of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, Sharon Carstairs, Thursday.

Egypt: Perversion of justice - 25 face jail

2008-04-18

http://tinyurl.com/4otwkj

An Egyptian military court sentenced 25 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood to jail on Tuesday - a verdict described by Amnesty International as a "perversion of justice". “This trial appeared to be politically motivated from the start, when President Mubarak sent the defendants for trial before a military court despite an earlier civilian court ruling that some of them should be released,” said Amnesty International.

Angola: Lack of cooperation prompts UN to close human rights office

2008-04-18

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=26374

The United Nations announced that it will close its human rights office in Angola, after authorities in the southern African nation decided not to sign an agreement that would have formally established the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the country. OHCHR, which has had a presence in Angola since 2003, has been asked by the Government to cease its activities in the country by 31 May, according to a news release issued by the Geneva-based Office.

Guinea Ecuatorial: Concern over erosion of rights

2008-04-18

http://www.afrol.com/articles/28640

Amnesty International (AI) has expressed worry over the deteriorating human rights situation, including reported claims of detention without trial or charged, torture and killing of political opponents in Equatorial Guinea government, ahead of the parliamentary and local elections scheduled for 4 May 2008.

Chad: UNHCR transfers 5,400 Sudanese refugees camps

2008-04-18

http://www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/4808a35d4.html

Just over two months after the latest major eruption of fighting in Sudan's West Darfur region, the UN refugee agency has transferred some 5,400 new Sudanese refugees to two camps in eastern Chad. But UNHCR estimates that another 8,000 people remain scattered in several villages along the volatile Chad-Sudan border.

Sierra Leone: Country at a Crossroads: Challenges facing young people

2008-04-18

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

The report "Country at a Crossroads: Challenges Facing Young People in Sierra Leone Six Years after the War" is based on the Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children's February 2008 visit to Sierra Leone to look at young people's needs, what services appear to be working and what more is needed. Country at a Crossroads
highlights how six years after the war, young people in Sierra Leone continue to lack opportunities and face barriers to achieving quality education.

Global: Refugee detention denies rights - Report

2008-04-18

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=101116

As Turkey continues in its efforts to stem the flow of irregular migration, a refugee rights group has published a report detailing the limited access to rights and the poor conditions that refugees in Turkey face in detention, including severe beatings by the police. The report was released in the wake of cases in Istanbul in the last two years involving in one case an African migrant who was killed in police custody, and in another the police forcing African men to perform manual labor.

Global: Africans lost in 'The Promised Land'

2008-04-18

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41991

The young man who agreed to be called Hamed has come a long way to do nothing. The Ivoirian would prefer to work but, after sneaking into Israel from Egypt about a month ago, he's got nothing better to do than sit in a park everyday in central Tel Aviv, wait, and hope for a government decision on his refugee application.

Chad: Aid for refugees left homeless after camp blaze

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/47494

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has provided temporary housing and relief supplies to more than 2,000 Darfurians who were left homeless after a fire swept through part of the Goz Amer refugee camp in eastern Chad last week. The agency has distributed mats, blankets, kitchen sets and jerry cans to some 2,130 refugees from Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, who are currently being housed in three schools at the camp until family tents arrive in the coming days.

South Africa: Pavement dwellers building a new world - one child at a time

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/47452

Over the past month, the Delft-Symphony Pavement Dwellers and their elected Anti-Eviction Campaign leadership have been working hand-in-hand to improve the lives of residents. While it may be an exaggeration to assume (as was reported recently in the Cape Argus) that we live here on the pavement in harmony all the time, there does exist a strong sense of camaraderie among residents and a common vision of the type of world we are fighting for.
Delft-Symphony Pavement Dwellers building a new world - one child at a time

Tuesday April 14, 2008
For comment, please call 076-186-1408 or 0784031302

Greetings from the pavement of Delft-Symphony:

Over the past month, the Delft-Symphony Pavement Dwellers and their elected Anti-Eviction Campaign leadership have been working hand-in-hand to improve the lives of residents. While it may be an exaggeration to assume (as was reported recently in the Cape Argus) that we live here on the pavement in harmony all the time, there does exist a strong sense of camaraderie among residents and a common vision of the type of world we are fighting for.

What are we fighting for? We are fighting for housing; not only for ourselves but for everyone living in South Africa. We recognize that South Africa is a financially rich country that now has 3 billionaires according to the Forbes list and countless millionaires. This is a country that can easily afford to build decent housing for all and fulfil its constitutional mandate. We believe that the government is violating the constitution and our human rights by refusing to spend more than 2% of its budget on housing.

Still, we are not only fighting for houses, we are also fighting for ownership of the housing process. If it is true that 'the people shall govern', then how can we sit by and allow a few elitist government officials and their haughty friends in Thubelisha Homes define the process for us?

Yet the government believes that we are stupid; that we cannot think for ourselves; that we cannot design our own communities or construct our own houses. We denounce this arrogance and snobbery by Lindiwe Sisulu and her friends.

But, we are not just fighting for houses and for ownership of the housing process; even more significantly, we are fighting for a better world for ourselves, our children and for every single person living in South Africa. The privatisation and corporatisation of our country is building a new Apartheid that ghettoises the poor in new suburban townships where bread and electricity prices shoot through the roof and where a multi-billion Rand train project in Gauteng is creating a transportation system accessible only to tourists and the wealthy. And so, while fighting for our right to housing, we, the Pavement Dwellers of Delft-Symphony, begin (slowly and without government support) to create this new world that we are fighting for. And we begin, first and foremost, with our children.

We have recently set up a community crèche on the pavement. With the eventual arrival of a container, we expect the crèche to become a defining fixture of our community. But this is only one of the projects we have created for our children. For the past few weeks, we have been running a unique 'pavement camp' for kids on school holiday. This has included our soccer and netball clinics, collecting the kids for discussions on life and life-skills, and preparing for the upcoming Symphony Way Fashion Show. Everything has been run by the community and coordinated by the new Delft-Symphony Children's Committee. This is proof, once again, that we are not stupid; that we can think; that we can design our own communities, construct our own houses, and build a new world for our children. And we will do so without being commanded by the so-called experts in government who do not understand the human consequences of forced removals and the povertization of the population caused by persistent anti-poor economic policies.

From the pavement in the desert on the other side of Cape Town International Airport, The Delft-Symphony Anti-Eviction Campaign

Zimbabwe: An open letter to nakaThabo ( Mrs Govan Mbeki) from WOZA

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/47458

Kuwe nakaThabo, Siyakubulisa ngesihle samakhosikazi ngolimi lwethu! Siloba lincwadi singabomama besizwe seZimbabwe esibhekane lokuhlukuluzeka sidinga uncedo kubomakhelwane. Ngomgqibelo mhlaka 12 April umntanakho uThabo wezakuleli eleZimbabwe ezoxoxisana loRobert Mugabe.
AN OPEN LETTER TO MRS GOVAN MBEKI
Kuwe nakaThabo, Siyakubulisa ngesihle samakhosikazi ngolimi lwethu!

Siloba lincwadi singabomama besizwe seZimbabwe esibhekane lokuhlukuluzeka sidinga uncedo kubomakhelwane.

Ngomgqibelo mhlaka 12 April umntanakho uThabo wezakuleli eleZimbabwe ezoxoxisana loRobert Mugabe.
Kasazi ukuthi baxoxisana ngani ngakho ke asisoze sigxile kungxoxo yabo ngoba singayazi njalo lesizatho singasazi ukuthi kungani uThabo waphoqelela wedlula kuleli. Kodwa sizakhuluma ngamazwi aphoswa nguThabo esuka kuleli wathi "inkinga, ziphi inkinga." Lamazwi asicaphula ngakho sicela umkhuze, umbuyise ebuntwini uThabo.

IZimbabwe ibhekane lobunzima lenkinga kwezomnotho, kwezombusazwe, kanye lokungahlaliseki nje jikelele.
Kasenelisi njengabomama ukunakekela abantwabethu sibanike ukudla kathathu ngelanga, ukuthola ukudla kunzima konke lokhu uThabo ukutshaya indiva.

Ukhetho esisuka kulo lwengeze ngamandla ukuhlupheka kithi lanxa ukhetho lwaqhutshwa ngokuthula sihlukuluzekile engqondweni ngokwala kukaRobert ukuthi impumelo kamongameli yaziswe uzulu.

Abantu asihlalisekanga ngani ngoba isibalo samapholisa sesandile ezigabeni ikhulukazi emaphandleni lokhu kusenza sidlele evalweni.

NakaThabo siyacela ngesisa umkhuze uThabo ngaloludaba umtshele axwaye ukukhuluma engahluzanga emazwi akhe, asuke asicasule kakhulu. Sicela umkhuze singakamkhuzi thina. Untinte umfazi, untinte imbokodo. Tshela uThabo ame acabange abesekhuluma engabozilulaza phakathi kwamanye amadoda.

Yithi omakhelwane Women Of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)

Loosly translated into English

Dear Mother of Thabo, We greet you in the name of sisterhood and in our mother tongue (isindebele)!

We are writing to you as mother of the suffering masses of Zimbabwe to ask for your help.

On Saturday 12 April 2008, your child Thabo Mbeki came to Zimbabwe to meet Robert Mugabe. We don't know what they discussed or the real reason he came to Zimbabwe so we cannot comment about that but we want to comment about the words he used when he was leaving.

He said, "There is no crisis in Zimbabwe. We find this has provoked us. Please correct him.

Zimbabwe is in an economic, political and social crisis. We cannot afford three meals a day or even find the basic commodities to feed our children. The political crisis has been worsened by the recent election. Although the election day was peaceful we have been annoyed by the refusal of Mugabe to release presidential results. Socailly the amount of police around the streets and in our rural areas make life very tense.

NaThabo please correct you son about these issues and tell him to refrain from hisrespecting us by his comments.

Please discipline him before we have to do so.

Your neighbours, Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA)

East Africa: Ethiopia votes in first round of elections

2008-04-18

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=336914

Ethiopians voted on Sunday in a first round of general elections that the opposition coalition boycotted to protest alleged intimidation of its candidates, and that an international rights group said would be unfair. Governing coalition candidates were running virtually unchallenged after the main opposition coalition pulled out of the races for nearly four million positions, ranging from neighbourhood council jobs to parliamentary seats.

Kenya: Historic coalition Cabinet sworn in

2008-04-18

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=337212

Kenya swore in a power-sharing government on Thursday to soothe fury over a disputed election that plunged the East African country into a bloody crisis. "Our people are now in the process of reconciliation," President Mwai Kibaki said at the ceremony, nearly four months after the December 27 poll that triggered what was arguably Kenya's darkest moment in its post-independence history. "We can and must bring the cycle of violence to an end."

Sierra Leone: Police detain ex-ombudsman for graft

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/corruption/47497

Police in Sierra Leone have detained a former government ombudsman on corruption charges, authorities said on Friday, in the first high-level arrest since a new government took office last year pledging to tackle graft.

Africa: Commodity dependence and development - New study

2008-04-18

http://tinyurl.com/48zsu8

A positive correlation has been found between dependence on primary agricultural commodities and poverty, as measured by the human development index. This is due, according to this South Centre study, to three prominent features of commodity markets: price volatility; the secular decline of long-term prices; and market concentration.

South Africa: Poverty and distribution trends in an era of globalization - Study

2008-04-18

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/poverty/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1119436

South Africa’s transition to democracy in 1994 created new possibilities for economic policy. Economic liberalization brought sustained, if unspectacular, growth that reversed the long decline in per capita incomes, but left its scars in much job shedding associated with business becoming internationally competitive. Using poverty estimates from a combination of sources, this WIDER study demonstrates that poverty nevertheless declined quite substantially after the turn of the century.

Global: Food crisis moves up global agenda at IMF, WBank meets

2008-04-18

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g5FcVUqWscIjC6nhmSTvpqTQNLTQ

Rising food prices and their threat to political stability and development gains captured the attention of world economic leaders meeting here, with a call to arms launched by the World Bank. The issue steadily gained prominence during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings over the weekend that mainly were focused on the unfolding global financial turmoil and deteriorating economic growth prospects.

Nigeria: WB and IMF policy influence in energy sector

2008-04-18

http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art-561198

Despite rhetoric to the contrary, the World Bank's energy portfolio still fails to reap the double dividend of renewable energy technologies that would tackle both energy poverty and climate change. Nigerian economic policies shaped by World Bank and IMF recommendations, policy agreements and conditionality have so far lead to a dysfunctional electricity privatisation process, a heavy and as yet unfulfilled reliance on reform of the gas sector, and the failure to make any widespread practical progress on pro-poor, decentralised renewable energy.

Global: Praise for passage of legislation for expanded international debt cancellation

2008-04-18

http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3736.aspx

Leaders of churches, development agencies, civil rights, labor, and human rights groups have praised the passage by the US House of Representatives by a vote of 285-132 of the Jubilee Act (HR 2634). The legislation calls on the US Treasury Department to negotiate a multilateral agreement for debt cancellation for up to 24 additional poor countries that need cancellation to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Global: Petition for retention of health workers

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/47466

The undersigned organizations, physicians, healthcare workers, and advocates are writing regarding our collective support for the pre-service training, support and retention of 140,000 new health professionals plus additional paraprofessional and community health workers in the U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (S. 2731). Provided adequate training and supervision within functioning referral systems, lay or community health workers and paraprofessionals are an important part of delivering high-quality standards of care.
Dear Senators:

The undersigned organizations, physicians, healthcare workers, and advocates are writing regarding our collective support for the pre-service training, support and retention of 140,000 new health professionals plus additional paraprofessional and community health workers in the U.S. Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (S. 2731). Provided adequate training and supervision within functioning referral systems, lay or community health workers and paraprofessionals are an important part of delivering high-quality standards of care. However, they should not come at the expense of the health professionals needed, and should not be counted against the 140,000 new health workers called for in the House and Senate bills.

Developing countries are facing a health workforce shortage crisis, most severely in sub-Saharan Africa where many countries have less than one health worker per thousand residents. Without adequate numbers of nurses, doctors, clinical officers and midwives, the historic U.S. investments being made to fight AIDS will continue to fall far short of their potential. Paraprofessionals and community health workers are crucial to scaling up human resource capacity for health. However, studies [1] have shown that in order for programs involving paraprofessionals and community health workers to be successful, health professionals are needed to provide support, referral services and supervision. Indeed, recent guidelines published by the Office of the Global ADS Coordinator, W.H.O. and UNAIDS have stated clearly that community health workers require additional health professionals in order to be successfully utilized.[2] Fortunately, new PEPFAR legislation soon to come up for vote in the Senate calls for the training and retention of new health professionals in partner countries. Unfortunately, the current language calls for the training of 140,000 “new health professionals, paraprofessionals and community health workers,” and goes on to define “paraprofessionals” to include very low-level basic heath assistants. The inclusion of lower cadres of non-professional health workers provides a dangerous loophole which allows OGAC to continue its harmful current practice of hiring away scarce health professionals from struggling public clinics, or else expensively importing expatriates. This loophole will result in a continuation of ongoing trainings for community health workers and existing health professionals, without ensuring a serious effort to increase the supply and retention of doctors and nurses needed to create sustainable solutions or to successfully utilize lay-health workers. Without the training and retention of additional needed health professionals, HIV/AIDS will continue to devastate families and entire populations in Sub Saharan Africa. We encourage you to support language specifying a commitment to train and retain 140,000 new health professionals plus additional paraprofessionals and community health workers necessary for the success of PEPFAR.

We thank you for your action and your leadership.

Sincerely, [List in formation] National Physicians Alliance The AIDS Institute American Medical Student Association Health GAP NOTES:

1. Lehmann, Uta, Friedman,Irwin, and Sanders, David “Review of the Utilization and Effectiveness of Community-based Health Workers in Africa,” Joint Learning Initiative Working Paper 4-1, February 2004
2. OGAC/WHO/UNAIDS Task shifting guidelines, available at: http://www.who.int/healthsystems/TTR-TaskShifting.pdf

Africa: Call to faith-based communities to fight HIV, TB and malaria

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/hivaids/47453

African Monitor Founder and President, Archbishop Njongo Ndungane, this morning reiterated the important work of the Global Fund in fighting HIV and AIDS, TB and Malaria and called on donors to provide resources necessary for the Fund to meet its objectives. He was opening a workshop to scale up the involvement of the Faith-Based Organizations in the Global Fund, held in Tanzania.
Faith-Based communities called on to play major role in fight against HIV and AIDS, TB and Malaria

16 April 2008

African Monitor Founder and President, Archbishop Njongo Ndungane, this morning reiterated the important work of the Global Fund in fighting HIV and AIDS, TB and Malaria and called on donors to provide resources necessary for the Fund to meet its objectives. He was opening a workshop to scale up the involvement of the Faith-Based Organizations in the Global Fund, held in Tanzania.

An ardent advocate for effective development for Africa, Archbishop Ndungane commended the fact that 80% of the Fund's 73 grants - totaling 1.1 billion US dollars - is destined for low income countries.

He praised the Global Fund for its tireless fundraising drive to raise the much needed resources which, he said, was a sign that the international community endorses the work of the Fund.

"This shows both that there is enormous demand of investment in the fight against HIV and AIDS, TB and Malaria; and that the fund has the capacity to develop bold and innovative proposals" he said.

He called on the Fund to face up to the important commitment of spending the money responsibly, professionally and transparently; and in effective and sustainable ways.

He called on faith-based organizations to use their networks across the continent to get involved in development and be part of the fight against HIV and AIDS, TB and Malaria. "We have the responsibility to the wider societies in which we are part"

"There is more good news- and that is the readiness of the international community to work with faith-based organizations", he said.

For a full text of Archbishop Njongo Ndungane's address, please email info@africanmonitor.org or call African Monitor; +27 21 713 2802

Kenya: The sick now have access to treatment

2008-04-18

http://www.amref.org/index.asp?PageID=35&PressReleaseID=375

With the gradual return of peace across Kenya, the AMREF clinic in the heart of the sprawling Kibera slums has in February recorded an over 400% increase in patient numbers over the previous month as patients can now freely access the facility. Patients trooping to the Kibera Community Based Health Centre are on the rise as calm returns to the Nairobi city slum that was severely ravaged by the post-election violence that erupted across the country.

South Africa: ART recommended for all with CD4 counts below 350, say doctors

2008-04-18

http://tinyurl.com/44pkay

Antiretroviral therapy should be recommended to all people with HIV who have CD4 cell counts below 350 cells/mm3 regardless of whether they have symptoms of HIV disease or not, according to new guidelines from the Southern African HIV Clinicians’ Society published in the Summer 2008 edition of the Society’s journal.

Africa: Fund health systems, not projects, say researchers

2008-04-18

http://tinyurl.com/3qkcle

Investment in health systems — not just in specific health intervention projects — is key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on maternal and child health, say experts. The 'Countdown to 2015' initiative — which tracks progress in reducing child and maternal deaths under the MDGs — cites Tanzania as an example of a country that manages its health investment well.

Sudan: The art of HIV education in the south

2008-04-18

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=77815

In a tiny recording studio in the southern Sudanese capital, Juba, Patrick Taban's phone rings off the hook, but he pays it no attention - he's too wrapped up in his preparations for a big production later that evening. Taban heads The Heavens, a drama and musical group of 14 members whose performances rotate largely around church music and social issues, including HIV/AIDS.

Uganda: Schoolchildren killed in dormitory fire

2008-04-18

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=337017

An overnight fire that destroyed a primary school dormitory in Uganda, killing 19 schoolgirls and two adults, may have been set deliberately, police said on Tuesday. "Preliminary investigations indicate that it was homicide," police Inspector General Kale Kaihura told reporters at the scene.

Mali: Still a long way to go to meet adult literacy targets

2008-04-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=77803

In 2000 the Malian government signed up to UN Education for All goals to help 50 percent more adults become literate by 2015, but eight years on still only 30 percent of Malian adults can read or write, and the government is yet to outline its strategy to address the problem.

Somalia: Schoolteachers killed in attack

2008-04-18

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=336921

A British schoolteacher, her two female Kenyan colleagues and a Somali headmaster were killed in an overnight attack in central Somalia blamed on Islamist insurgents, witnesses said on Monday. The four were killed when suspected rebels attacked and briefly took control of Beledweyne, the capital of Somalia's Hiraan region located about 300km north of the capital, Mogadishu.

Zimbabwe: Concern from the SA Lesbian and Gay community

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/lgbti/47459

The South African Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (LGEP), formerly known as the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NCGLE), is concerned about the deepening political, economic and social crises in Zimbabwe. We express our full solidarity with the lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, women, workers and all the people of Zimbabwe. We add our voice in condemning the unjustified delay in the release of the 29 March elections.
SA LESBIAN AND GAY COMMUNITY CONCERNED ABOUT DEMOCRACY CRISIS IN ZIMBABWE

The South African Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (LGEP), formerly known as the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality (NCGLE), is concerned about the deepening political, economic and social crises in Zimbabwe. We express our full solidarity with the lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, women, workers and all the people of Zimbabwe. We add our voice in condemning the unjustified delay in the release of the 29 March elections. As Zimbabwean Independence Day approaches on 18 April 2008, Zimbabweans have nothing to celebrate in honour of their heroic liberation struggle and historic achievement of freedom and democracy.

The actions of the government of Zimbabwe, the police, the army, the judiciary and the Zimbabwean Elections Commission are against universally accepted democratic principles and practice. The Zimbabwean government is responsible for the social and economic crises facing that country. The crises are rooted in actual social stratification processes and ZANU-PF policy choices that support them. These originate from the early 1990s adoption of neo-liberal Structural Adjustment Programmes by Mugabe's government. They have been reinforced by the failure of that government to transform that country's economy into one at the hands and service of the needs of the overwhelming majority of the people. It is under such conditions that principles of democracy, equality and non-discrimination get sacrificed and political leaders look for easy scapegoats to hide their failures. No wonder then that Mugabe's first targets were lesbian and gay people in Zimbabwe.

The homophobia promoted by ZANU-PF is not divorced from the oppression of women, the exploitation of workers and the gross violation of human rights that the same government has been responsible for. Beyond majority numbers, democracy is also about progressive values of equality, freedom, human rights and non-discrimination.

We call on the lesbian and gay community in Zimbabwe to emerge and add their principled voice in the struggle for democracy, freedom and equality in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwean political protagonists will have to map out their own process and ordinary Zimbabweans must settle their scores with their oppressors.
But South and Southern Africans have an important role to play:

1. First, the South African government must take a principled position on Zimbabwe, an approach that is radically different from its current approach. Whilst continuing to foster dialogue and negotiations between various Zimbabwean forces, the South African government must make it clear that democratic principles are not for sale and must not show any equivocation in publicly condemning the undemocratic actions of the Zimbabwean government. It is for these reasons that the LGEP welcomes the 14 April 2008 statement of the ANC National Working Committee.

2. Secondly, a wide range of progressive forces and voices in South Africa must do more to build and express solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe. This must start with political pressure on the South African government and the diplomatic representatives of Zimbabwe in South Africa.

3. Finally, as progressive South Africans we must engage our Zimbabwean and Southern African comrades in struggle around the affirmation of democracy, people’s power, social justice, equality, non-discrimination, and the removal of all forms of oppression in the much-needed new constitutional framework that Zimbabwe needs.

We therefore call on the entire lesbian and gay community in South Africa to add their voice in support of democracy, freedom and equality in Zimbabwe.

Somalia: Villages abandoned as drought bakes Puntland

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/47514

Squatting in the scorching sun, Adan Hassan Mahamud pointed to the parched landscape around Hamure village, 280km east of Bosasso in the self-declared autonomous Somali republic of Puntland. "I have seen droughts but nothing like this in 12 years," Mahamud, 80, said. "Many in the community have lost a large number of livestock - their only means of livelihood."

Tanzania: Farmers face eviction

2008-04-18

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=42039

A Norwegian cement company wants to evict an estimated 3,000 Tanzanian farmers it says are trespassing on its land. The farmers say their families have lived there for generations, and that they were not consulted when the land was sold. After 16 years of conflict Tanzania's highest court is due to reach a verdict soon.

Western Sahara: Status quo in negotiations unacceptable – latest UN report

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/land/47492

Consolidating the status quo is not an acceptable outcome to the current process of negotiations over Western Sahara, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says in his latest report on the long-running dispute between Morocco and the Frente Polisario. Mr. Ban writes that while he welcomes the two parties’ commitment – outlined in a communiqué last month – to continue their negotiations, so far there was no sign of any breakthrough in the dispute.

Botswana: Gem Diamonds sink water boreholes on Bushman land

2008-04-18

http://www.survival-international.org/news/3224

Several water boreholes have been sunk in preparation for a diamond mine in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), Botswana, but the Bushmen who live there are forbidden from taking any water at all from their own borehole in the reserve.

Sudan: Secret police seize copies of six daily newspapers

2008-04-18

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=26628

Reporters Without Borders called on the Sudanese government to lift its almost three-month censorship of the privately-owned press in Khartoum which has intensified in recent days with the seizure of six daily newspapers.

Gambia: Journalist's case postponed yet again

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/47460

The sedition trial against Fatou Jaw Manneh, a US-based Gambian journalist, was on April 14, 2008, adjourned to April 21 by Magistrate Buba Jawo of the Kanifing Magistrates Court. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources reported that Jawo, adjourned the case on the grounds that defence lawyer, Lamin Jobarteh, was indisposed.
The Gambia UPDATE: Journalist's case postponed yet again

The sedition trial against Fatou Jaw Manneh, a US-based Gambian journalist, was on April 14, 2008, adjourned to April 21 by Magistrate Buba Jawo of the Kanifing Magistrates Court.

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources reported that Jawo, adjourned the case on the grounds that defence lawyer, Lamin Jobarteh, was indisposed.

The state counsels, Fatou Bittaye and Ellen Manga, informed the court that Jobarteh was said to be sick.

Manneh, who was arrested upon her arrival from the USA on March 28, 2007, has been charged with three counts of sedition, following a series of online articles she wrote criticising the regime of President Yahya Jammeh.

Since the trial started more than a year ago, there has not been any significant progress. The journalist remains stranded in The Gambia, even though she had been living in the US for a decade prior to her arrest.

The case has been prolonged on numerous occasions and the authorities seem to lack interest in completing the case.

Prof. Kwame Karikari
Executive Director MFWA
Tel: 233 21 242470
Fax: 233 21 221084
Email : mfwa@africaonline.com.gh
Website : www.mediafound.org

Zimbabwe: IFJ calls for the release of detained journalist

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/47472

The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) has called for the release of the freelance Zimbabwean journalist Frank Chikowore who was arrested on arson charges during an opposition strike. Authorities in Zimbabwe have cracked down on journalists in the country after the ruling party contested the results of presidential and parliamentary elections held almost three weeks ago.
The International Federation of Journalist (IFJ) has called for the release of the freelance Zimbabwean journalist Frank Chikowore who was arrested on arson charges during an opposition strike. Authorities in Zimbabwe have cracked down on journalists in the country after the ruling party contested the results of presidential and parliamentary elections held almost three weeks ago.

“This media crackdown is a calculated attack on journalists who have revealed what appears to be the loss of the elections by the ruling party,” said Gabriel Baglo, the Director of IFJ Africa office. “We condemn these arrests and call for the authorities to release Chikowore immediately and unconditionally.” Chikowore was arrested on 15 April in the capital Harare along with about 50 people while covering an opposition protest. He was charged with arson and police searched his house and confiscated a laptop, a recorder and a camera.

At least five other journalists have faced charges since the elections.

Today Jonathan Clayton the South Africa-base correspondent of British newspaper The Times was deported after his conviction for making false declaration on the motives of his presence in the country. Clayton was arrested on April 9 on arrival at the airport in Bulawayo in southwestern Zimbabwe. He was tried for violating the country’s immigration laws after he declared at the airport that he was a tourist. He was convicted and fined by a court on Tuesday.

Also in Bulawayo, the former broadcaster Margaret Kriel was jailed from April 10 to 14 before being released on bail without charge. Kriel is accused of having recently filed news reports without accreditation with her daughter, a journalist working for foreign media who has since left the country. Kriel, a well-known critic of the government has been writing on her blog Morning Mirror since 2002.

The IFJ says the authorities should stop harassing Kriel and allow her to work in total freedom.

In Harare, a court acquitted and freed on Wednesday New York Times correspondent Barry Bearak and British freelance journalist Stephen Bevan, who were tried for practicing journalism without accreditation. In a separate case, South African satellite technicians Sipho Moses Maseko and Abdulla Ismail Gaibbe, who were accused of covering the elections without accreditation among other charges, were acquitted on Monday and have left the country.

The authorities banned most foreign media coverage of the elections held on March 29. In the months before the election the government cracked down on local and national journalists, shutting down newspapers and allowing members of President Robert Mugabe’s political party to harass and attack journalists with impunity.

The IFJ is renewing its call on authorities to let the media work freely and safely without fear of reprisals for critical reporting.

For further information contact the IFJ: +221 33 842 01 43

The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries

International Federation of Journalists - Africa
Office 17, Boulevard de la Republique, Dakar - Sénégal
Tel : + 221 33 842 01 42
Fax : + 221 33 842 02 69
Email : ifjafrique@ifjafrique.org
Url : www.ifjafrique.org
Url : www.ifj.org

Sudan: IFJ welcomes agreement to end censorship

2008-04-18

http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=6072&Language=EN

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed an agreement by Sudanese authorities to end censorship after journalist union leaders brought together a group of newspaper editors in a concerted effort to strengthen ethical journalism and media independence in the country.

Kenya: Government to embrace a social protection strategy for the poor

2008-04-18

http://www.awcfs.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=393&Itemid=1

Still in its nascent stages, the Kenya National Social Protection Plan is an ambitious government project that proposes far-reaching policies and actions for the poor and vulnerable that will enhance their capacity to cope with poverty and equip them to better manage risks and shocks. The process begun in early 2007.

Burundi: Fourteen killed as rebels, army clash

2008-04-18

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN841860.html

Rebels from Burundi's last active guerrilla group fired mortar bombs at government positions in clashes that killed 10 rebels and four soldiers, an army spokesman said on Friday. The fighting, which started late Thursday and continued into Friday morning, was centred on the rebel stronghold of Bubanza some 50 km (30 miles) northwest of the capital Bujumbura, the military's deputy spokesman Colonel Justace Ciza said.

Sudan: The humanitarian situation in Darfur - Dakar Declaration

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/conflict/47456

Welcoming the convening of the 11th ordinary session of the Islamic Summit Conference in Dakar, and that this historical occasion represents an opportune moment for the leaders of the Muslim World to take stock of the progress of work on issues and projects addressed in their declarations at the 10th Ordinary Summit (2003) and the Extraordinary Summit (2005), and call on leaders of the Muslim World to devote time, energy and resolve to address emerging issues that affect the Muslim Ummah, particularly the humanitarian situation in Darfur and also Palestine.
Dakar NGO Declaration on the Humanitarian Situation in Darfur, Western Sudan,
March 2008
We, representatives of the undersigned civil society groups and individuals:
Welcoming the convening of the 11th ordinary session of the Islamic Summit Conference in Dakar, and that this historical occasion represents an opportune moment for the leaders of the Muslim World to take stock of the progress of work on issues and projects addressed in their declarations at the 10th Ordinary Summit (2003) and the Extraordinary Summit (2005), and call on leaders of the Muslim World to devote time, energy and resolve to address emerging issues that affect the Muslim Ummah, particularly the humanitarian situation in Darfur and also Palestine.
We recognize and adopt without reservation the statement focused on Darfur which was prepared by Arab organizations for presentation to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, including the recommendation that States of the OIC call for the end of violations of international humanitarian law and for the ending of the illegal blockade on Gaza. We are mindful that the 11th ordinary session of the Islamic Summit Conference is held under complicated and exceptional circumstances facing the Muslim World and Muslims in many parts of the world. Such circumstances necessitate serious and firm action from the Muslim leaders vis a vis the many challenges and concerns at stake. We condemn the growing phenomena of xenophobic sentiments, Islamophobia and anti-Muslim and anti-Islam incidents and manifestations of bigotry and intolerance in some parts of the world, especially in the West. Equally condemnable is the ceaseless increase in political discourse in the West against migrant Muslim communities and Islam in general. Such incidents are, by and large, pervasive and more often than not they are tolerated, condoned or encouraged in certain Western countries under the pretexts of freedom of expression, speech and opinion.

We are cognizant of the objectives of the Organisation of Islamic Conference as enshrined in its Charter. We wish to reaffirm the principles in the agreements made to date; the Dhaka Declaration on Human Rights in Islam adopted by the 14thsession of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) in December 1983, the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam adopted by ICFM at its19th on 5 August 1990, the Covenant on the Rights and Care of the Child in Islam adopted by the 7thIslamic Summit Conference in 1994. This covenant emphasized that basic rights and public freedoms in Islam are an integral part thereof that no one has a prerogative to interrupt, violate, or disregard them. We are mindful that the religion of Islam advocates high moral values and it commands Muslims to uphold the values of peace, and respect for the safety and personal integrity of the human person. Islam forbids indiscriminate and unlawful killings, forced displacement of civilians in particular women, children and the elderly; the destruction of lives and livelihoods, including desecration of places of worship, which constitute crimes abhorrent to the Islamic faith and all norms of civilized life.

We are deeply concerned at the grave violations of human rights in Darfur, in particular, reports of systematic attacks on civilians, destruction and burning of villages, targeting of centres for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and civilians; the removal by force of, inter alia, , Zaggawa and Massaleet communities from their villages; the relocation of IDPs to new areas away from their areas of origin and the lack of adequate protection of and assistance to civilians, by force or misinformation; the widespread recourse to rape and other forms of sexual violence against women, including against the girl child, as a means of warfare and the abduction and forced labour of civilians victims of the armed conflict in Darfur in flagrant violation of the teachings of Islam. We also note that this conflict is now affecting the wider region, including Chad and the Central African Republic, displaying many of the same characteristics.

In this regard, we take note of Article 3, Sub-Articles (a and b), of the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam which stipulates that: “in the event of the use of force and in case of armed conflict, it is not permissible to kill non-belligerents such as old men, women and children. The wounded and the sick shall have the right to medical treatment; and prisoners of war shall have the right to be fed, sheltered and clothed ... It is prohibited to fell trees, to damage crops or livestock, and to destroy the enemy’s civilian buildings and installations by shelling, blasting or any other means.” Highly appreciative of the role played by some members of the Organisation of Islamic Conference in resolving the humanitarian crisis in Darfur; we call upon them to further remind all parties to the conflict about their legal and moral duties toward the people of Darfur, and to undertake further steps to persuade the government of Sudan to respect its obligations under the Charter of the Organisation of Islamic Conference, the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam and other relevant regional and international human rights agreement to which Sudan is a state party.

In particular, we call on the Organization of the Islamic Conference to:

1. Press all parties to the conflict to put an immediate halt to all attacks against civilians in Darfur and to agree a cessation of hostilities as a precursor to a sustainable ceasefire and resolution of the crisis, and engage as appropriate to urge the parties to the conflict to the negotiation table;
2. Urge member States of the OIC and others to pledge necessary means and support to the United Nations-African Union hybrid operation in Darfur and call on the government of Sudan to facilitate its rapid and effective deployment;
3. Call on the government of Sudan to cease all support for the Janjaweed, including through the provision of supplies and weapons, and on external actors to cease support to all parties to the conflict;
4. Call on all parties to the conflict to cease attacks on humanitarian operations and provide the necessary support to international agencies and humanitarian organisations and ensure them immediate, full, safe and unhindered access to the conflict-affected people in Darfur in order to facilitate the delivery of the necessary relief material and assistance;
5. Take concrete steps to end the state of impunity and lawlessness and thereby help create conditions of security that permit civilians to safely and voluntarily return to their areas of origin. Measures taken by the government of Sudan, which affect IDPs including their removal to the so-called “safe designated areas,”should not create a situation of prolonged displacement or a permanent resettlement of IDPs away from their areas of origin. Occupation of villages from which IDPs have been forcibly expelled should be stopped and reversed;
6. Consistent with the values of Islam, oppose impunity and call for the implementation of appropriate accountability mechanisms; and insist on reparations for the damage done to the victims in Darfur and compensation for their losses;
7. Recognize the regional nature of the conflict in Darfur and welcome the Senegalese mediation efforts, and support the conclusion of a strong agreement with effective implementation ensuring peaceful relations between Chad and Sudan. Press for consolidation of peace in the wider Sudan and cooperation with the African Union to ensure an impartial mediation process within Chad;

Done at Dakar, Senegal, on Sunday, 9th March, 2008
Amnesty International-Senegal
The Darfur Consortium Organisation Nationale des Droits de l’Homme (ONDH)
RADDHO
RADDHO-Guinea WARIPNET

Sudan: Diaspora leaders urge Darfur focus at upcoming Security Council special session

2008-04-18

http://tinyurl.com/4e2nqr

The Darfuri Leaders Network, a broad-based alliance representing Darfuri diaspora organizations across the U.S., today urged members of the U.N. Security Council to address the ongoing violence and humanitarian crisis in Darfur during an upcoming special session of the council this week.

DRC: Cautious calm settles over war-scarred Ituri region

2008-04-18

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42032

Wading through the chest-high grass outside of this hamlet in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Mathieu Nyakufa gestures to the bones -- still bleaching in the sun -- of those who have been lost to the country's wars. "I was living just down here in the valley," the 52-year-old farmer says of one terrible morning in February 2003. "They were killing people with guns, with machetes, with spears and arrows. I escaped because I saw people running in my direction. Three of my children were killed in my own house."

Africa: Contested politics in Africa: the state, identity and resources - New study

2008-04-18

http://www.eldis.org/go/country-profiles&id=36478&type=Document

This brief examines the state, identity politics, and the struggle for resources in Africa. It contends that identity politics obscures the real reason behind exclusionary practices, namely the struggle for and access to resources. It uses the recent conflicts in Côte d’Ivoire, Sudan and Chad to illustrate how initial identity tensions laid the foundation for a struggle for access to resources that has re-ignited violence in those
societies.

Ethiopia: Unrest simmers in Ogaden

2008-04-18

http://tinyurl.com/6f7xw4

Ethnic Somali separatists have been fighting government forces in the east of Ethiopia for more than 13 years now, but the long-running conflict has been largely invisible as Addis Ababa has restricted access to the region. There have been numerous clashes between the Ogaden National Liberation Army (ONLF) and the military in recent months, with both sides claiming successes.

Nigeria: Shell pipeline 'sabotaged'

2008-04-18

http://tinyurl.com/5rw85j

An armed group in Nigeria's southern oil-producing region claims to have sabotaged a major oil supply pipeline belonging to Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) said that it had carried out the sabotage operation on Thursday evening in Rivers state, in a statement on Friday.

Uganda: Optimism prevails, despite setback in peace talks

2008-04-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=77823

Josephine Akello had hoped the peace talks between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) would finally end with rebel leader Joseph Kony signing a peace accord on 10 April. Then she heard that the elusive Kony had failed to show up at a much-publicised signing ceremony due in Ri-Kwangba, near the border between Southern Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Africa: Measuring Africa's Internet connectivity

2008-04-18

http://whiteafrican.com/?p=984

ICTP Science Dissemination Unit has been monitoring and testing internet connectivity to 45 universities in Africa for the past 12 months. Using at tool called PingER Africa, they track real-time network performances in terms of response time (for a succession of pings) and packet loss percentages.

Global: Where is the money for womens' rights work on ICT - Research report

2008-04-18

http://www.genderit.org/en/index.shtml?apc=---e--1&x=95582

In collaboration with the Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID), Lucía Carrasco, Fernanda Hopenhaym and Cindy Clark focuses the findings from "Where is the money for women's right? Strategic Initiative" onto the field of information and communication technologies (ICT) and gender.

Changes at SaferAfrica

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/47450

After seven years of operation, SaferAfrica is changing its name to Surpazwith effect from Monday 7th of April, 2008. The new name better reflects the evolution of our work over the years. SaferAfrica originally served to provide technical assistance and capacity to African international and regional organizations, governments and civil society organizations in the field of peace, safety, security and development.
INFORMATION FOR GENERAL DISTRIBUTION

After seven years of operation, SaferAfrica is changing its name to Surpaz. The change will take effect on Monday 7th of April, 2008.

The new name better reflects the evolution of our work over the years. SaferAfrica originally served to provide technical assistance and capacity to African international and regional organizations, governments and civil society organizations in the field of peace, safety, security and development. Through our assistance we have attempted to enhance and strengthen the capacity of both governmental and nongovernmental organizations so that they can better implement existing policies affecting human security, peace and development in Africa. In short, SaferAfrica is an implementation enhancement organization at the service of peace, safety, security and development.

In 2003 SaferAfrica started receiving requests for technical assistance from non- governmental organizations and governments, as well as international organizations, from outside of Africa. Our mission has taken us to Asia (Cambodia and Sri Lanka), the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East (Dubai and Jordan) to Central America (Nicaragua) and to South America (Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela). We have simultaneously continued to operate in Africa in Mali, Ghana, Senegal, Sudan, Uganda, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Mauritius, Seychelles, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Botswana, Angola, DRC, Burundi and Rwanda. As we assisted countries and regions outside of Africa, we have always attempted to generate South-South interactions and opportunities for region to region cooperation and exchange of information on issues of peace, safety, security and development.
Our work outside of Africa is growing and our name change is to reflect the international scope of our work as well as the belief that in South-South interactions the future of conflict prevention, conflict resolution and sustainable development lies. Our work outside of Africa and at South-South level will be enhanced through our name change. Surpaz means the “Peace of the South” and is a word readily understood by most languages and cultural groups. Our name may be changing but our work will not. Indeed, now more than ever the world needs a new dimension in the perpetual discussion of the construct and delivery of peace, development and prosperity for all.

Together with our new name, our Web address is changing to www.surpaz.org and email addresses are changing to [initials].[last name]@surpaz.org. (example jw.potgieter@surpaz.org) This will be effective on May 1, 2008. We kindly request that you update your records to reflect our change of name to Surpaz and our new contact details. The Board of Directors of Surpaz look forward to our continued work and progress together in the years to come

Global: Training and research opportunities in socio-economic sciences - CREATING

Call for applications until May 16 , 2008

2008-04-18

http://www.africamuseum.be/news/creating

The project 'Co-operative research on East African territorial integration within globalisation' (CREATING) has received funding from the EU 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development under its Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH) programme of measures to support international cooperation.
The Royal Museum for Central Africa is one of the 9 major partners in Europe and eastern Africa involved in this project.

Wajibu: 23 years and still going strong

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/47441

Wajibu is a journal of social and ethical concern, which has been published in Nairobi, Kenya, on a quarterly basis since August 1985. Wajibu seeks to enlighten people on social, economic, political and spiritual issues that are topical, relevant and of common concern. It wishes to promote dialogue among the various communities in Kenya and seeks to promote values that lead to the building of a just, free and peaceful society.
Wajibu looks for readership among all educated Africans and others who have the interest of our continent at heart. Over the years, our subscribers have mostly been research institutions, universities, seminaries, individual professionals in various fields and a few secondary schools. About 90% have been Kenyan, 5% from other African countries, and the remaining 5% from other continents.

2008 Global Youth Enterprise Conference - Call for proposal

Deadline: April 18, 2008

2008-04-18

http://www.youthenterpriseconference.org/purpose_background.asp

Present to 350 other experts from the international youth enterprise, employment and livelihood community. The Call for Proposals is now open. Proposal submission deadline is April 18, 2008. Click here for more information. Practitioners, funders, members of the private sector, academics and youth leaders from over 25 countries and all sectors will share learning, innovations, and ideas for strengthening and expanding opportunities for young people around the world.

2nd Symposium on Academic Globalization: AG 2008

2008-04-18

http://www.sciiis.org/wmsci2008/website/ag2008.asp?vc=22

The 2nd Symposium on Academic Globalization: AG 2008, part of the Academic Globalization Project, is being organized in the context of WMSCI 2008, and its collocated conferences. The purpose of AG 2008 is to bring together scholars, educators and practitioners with the objective of exploring, reflecting and sharing ideas with regards to the impact that the Globalization Phenomena is having or might have on universities (research, teaching and continuing education), and vice versa: the impact that academia is generating, or could generate on the phenomenon of globalization.

CODESRIA Gender Institute 2008

Gender in Contemporary Labour Markets - Call for Applications

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/47443

Each year, since 1994, CODESRIA has organised a Gender Institute which brings together 12 to 15 researchers for between four to six weeks of concentrated debate, experience-sharing and knowledge-building. During the first few years of the existence of the Institute, its main objective centred on the promotion of a generalised gender awareness in the African social research community.
CODESRIA Gender Institute 2008
Theme: Gender in Contemporary Labour Markets
Call for Applications

Each year, since 1994, CODESRIA has organised a Gender Institute which brings together 12 to 15 researchers for between four to six weeks of concentrated debate, experience-sharing and knowledge-building. During the first few years of the existence of the Institute, its main objective centred on the promotion of a generalised gender awareness in the African social research community. The Institute has subsequently been organised around specific themes designed to strengthen the use of gender as an analytic category that is integral both to the output of African social researchers and the emergence of a networked community of scholars versed in the field of Gender Studies. The theme that has been selected for the 2008 Institute is: Gender in Contemporary Labour Markets.

The struggle for social equality between men and women remains an area of continuing relevance to any quest for a holistic understanding of economy, society, culture and politics in contemporary Africa – as, indeed, in every other region of the world. In fact, it can be argued that it is an arena whose construction is a permanent work in progress. And yet, the general, instinctive but misleading assumption has persisted, even in otherwise knowledgeable circles, that any reference to gender is little more than a code word for raising narrow, even parochial concerns that are specific to the interests of women only. In a bid to correct this erroneous instinct and, in so doing, open new frontiers of reflection on gender issues among African social researchers, CODESRIA has decided for the strategic plan period 2007 – 2011 to continue to build on its tradition of critical and innovative gender research by strategically focusing its annual Gender Institute on themes that will both contribute to an erosion of stereotypes about gender studies, and advance the frontiers of gendered knowledge as knowledge that is holistic. To this end, the 2008 CODESRIA Gender Institute will focus the attention of participants on the construction and functioning of labour markets in Africa in terms of their impact on, and consequences for gender relations. In doing so, participants in the Institute will be encouraged to locate labour markets and the gender relations woven into them in their geo-historical contexts. The refraction of global-level labour market developments into African labour markets and vice versa will also be explored. Mainstream academic research on African labour markets – as, indeed, labour markets elsewhere in the world - has been dominated by concerns over the basic nature of the markets themselves; the degree of flexibility and/or rigidity they exhibit at different moments in time; the reforms that are called for in the light of the problems identified with the functioning of the markets; and the changes which they experience as these pertain to worker productivity and national/sectoral competitiveness. Where attention has been paid to labour market conditions in the context of export-led industrialisation in the global South, the main concern has been more with productivity and competitiveness deriving from low wages than to the human and social welfare costs that arise. In the light of the preoccupations of mainstream labour market research, it is perhaps not too surprising that attention to the gendered nature of labour markets has been a rarity in spite of the fact that women have had a long history of participation in paid and unpaid employment. The reasons for this lack of interest in the gender dimensions of labour markets are multiple. They include the fact that labour market studies have been mostly monopolised by the discipline of Economics which also exhibits inbuilt biases against gender concerns in the construction of economic models and policies. Also, formal labour markets have, historically, been disproportionately dominated by men. Furthermore, the overwhelmingly patriarchal ideological underpinnings of labour markets very easily translate into the instinctive subordination of women in the system. Little wonder then that even when they entered into the (formal) labour markets, women were generally placed in the lower rungs as to be easily consigned to a policy and research “invisibility”. Finally, the massive role played by women in informal labour markets has been an issue which has not been of direct interest to most economists who, for a very long time, were more interested in formal sector activities, perceiving these as constituting the real, perhaps even exclusive arena where policy and action take place.

While theory and policy remain underdeveloped with regard to gender relations in labour markets, tremendous changes continue to occur in the markets which make it ever more untenable to pursue research on the nature, dynamics and implications of the markets without fully integrating the gender dimensions. For one, the numbers of women who have entered into the formal labour market has, anecdotally at least, undergone a tremendous expansion over the last two decades. The history, economics, demographics and sociology of this expanded presence and role in labour markets need to be examined closely as important areas of research and policy interest in their own right. For another, contemporary labour markets themselves have become even more segmented than ever before, producing new gender dynamics that call for attention. These new dynamics speak to hierarchies of power in the markets, the degree of social protection available to different categories of workers, and the gendered ways in which opportunities are distributed among different layers of employers within and between economic sectors. Furthermore, within the overall framework of the expansion of the informal economy and of the complex interfaces between the formal and informal sectors, women’s participation in informal labour markets have witnessed a continued growth that cannot be ignored. The interfaces between formal and informal labour markets, including the ways in which they are straddled by specific gender relations, call into question some of the categories that are predominant in the study of labour markets. They also broach upon the question of the ways in which informal and illicit labour markets “subsidise” formal labour markets, mainly drawing in an exploitative way on the sweat of girls, women and boys. Also, as women’s trade union/industrial relations consciousness has grown, there has been an increased contestation of discriminatory employment terms and conditions in labour markets. This contestation has gone hand-in-hand with the rise of new social movements of women organising to struggle for better recognition, remuneration and safety standards for women in formal and informal labour markets. The intensification of cross-border migrations and the restructuring of global labour markets have thrown up new structures of labour market opportunities and constraints that affect men and women differently, and carry consequences for the local and global configuration of labour market gender relations. Participants in the 2008 CODESRIA Gender Institute will be challenged to, among other things, explore the many conceptual, methodological and empirical challenges which are posed by the changing nature of local and international labour markets in terms of their implications for gender relations. Proposals drawing from different disciplinary perspectives will be welcomed for consideration for inclusion in the programme of the Institute. The objectives of the 2008 Gender Institute are to:
1) Provide a platform to African scholars with an interest in undertaking theoretical and empirical research on gender relations in labour markets;
2) Familiarise researchers with the latest literature in the field and through this help consolidate an African perspective on the theoretical debates taking place on gender relations and/in labour markets;
3) Sharpen researchers’ gender analytic skills, as well as promote an African feminist methodology in the understanding and assessment of labour markets; and
4) Encourage African knowledge production on the gender relations that underpin labour markets and, in so doing, contribute to the emergence of a critical mass of networked intellectuals with an active research interest in deepening research on this theme.

Eligibility and Selection Director For every session, CODESRIA appoints an external scholar to provide the intellectual leadership of the Institute. Directors are senior scholars known for their expertise on the topic of the year and for the originality of their thinking on it. They are recruited on the basis of a proposal and course outline covering a total of up to forty five days during which they are expected to:
- participate in the selection of laureates;
- assist with the identification of appropriate resource persons;
- design the course for the session, with specifications of sub-themes;
- deliver a set of lectures and provide a critique of the papers presented by the resource persons and the laureates; and
- submit a written scientific report on the session.
In addition, the Director is expected to (co)edit the revised versions of the papers presented by the resource persons with a view to submitting them for publication in one of CODESRIA’s collections. The Director also assists CODESRIA in assessing the papers presented by laureates for publication as a special issue of Africa Development or as monographs.

Resource Persons Lectures delivered at the Gender Institute are not introductory courses, but critical think-pieces that are meant to help advance the reflections of participants on the main topic of the year, and on their own research topics. Resource Persons are, therefore, senior scholars or scholars in their mid-career who have published extensively on the topic, and who have a significant contribution to make to the debates on it.

Once selected, resource persons must:
- submit a copy of their lectures for reproduction and distribution to participants not later than one week before the lecture begins ;
- deliver their lectures, participate in debates, and comment on the research proposals of a the laureates;
- review and submit the revised version of their research work for publication by CODESRIA not later than two months following their presentation.

Laureates African social scientists who have a minimum qualification of a Masters’ degree, with a proven research capacity and who are currently engaged in teaching and/or research activities are invited to send in their applications for consideration for admission into the Institute. The selection of laureates is done by an independent committee of renowned scholars.

Application Applicants for the position of Director should submit:
- an application letter ;
- a proposal providing a detailed course outline, spelling out the issues to be covered under each sub-theme, and showing how the course would be original or responsive to the needs of prospective laureates;
- a curriculum vitae ;
- three writing samples.

Applicants for the position of Resource Person should submit:
- an application letter ;
- two writing samples ;
- a curriculum vitae and ;
- a two-pages abstract of their proposed lecture.

Applicants wishing to be invited as Laureates should submit:
- an application letter;
- a curriculum vitae ;
- a letter indicating institutional or organisational affiliation ;
- a research proposal (two copies and not more than 10 pages) indicating a descriptive analysis, outlining the theoretical interest of the theme chosen by the applicant, and its relation to the problematic and concerns of the theme of the 2008 Institute and ;
- two reference letters from scholars and/or researchers known for their competence and expertise in the candidate’s research area, including their names, addresses and telephone, e-mail, fax numbers.

The deadline for the submission of applications is set for 25 April, 2008. The Institute will be held from02 to 27 June, 2008 in Dakar, Senegal.
Applications should be sent to:

The CODESRIA Gender Institute,
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop X Canal IV,
B.P. 3304, CP 18524,
Dakar, SENEGAL.
Tel. (221) 33 825 98 21/22/23
Fax: (221) 33 824 12 89
E-mail : gender.institute@codesria.sn
Website: http://www.codesria.org

CODESRIA: Research Workshop

Political Participation in A frica - Dakar, Senegal, 6-27 July 2008

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/47444

The American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Council for the development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) are pleased to announce the holding of a workshop onPolitical Participation in Africa. The workshop will be held on 6-27 July 2008 at the West African Research Center (WARC) in Dakar, Senegal. The organizers will cover all the costs of participation (travel, lodging, meals, stipend) of the 20-25 applicants who will be selected to join this three-week workshop.
CODESRIA
Research Workshop
Theme: Political Participation in Africa
Date: 6-27 July 2008
Venue: Dakar, Senegal

Call for Applications

The American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) are pleased to announce the holding of a workshop onPolitical Participation in Africa. The workshop will be held on 6-27 July 2008 at the West African Research Center (WARC) in Dakar, Senegal. The organizers will cover all the costs of participation (travel, lodging, meals, stipend) of the 20-25 applicants who will be selected to join this three-week workshop. The working language is French though some English materials may be used.

The workshop leaders are Profs. Leonard Wantchekon (New York University, Department of Politics, USA), Augustin Loada (Faculté de Droit et de Science Politique de l'Université de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso), Alioune Badara Diop (Unité d'Enseignement et de Recherches de Sciences Juridiques et Politiques de l'Université Gaston Berger, St.-Louis, Senegal), and Catherine Boone (University of Texas at Austin, Department of Political Science, USA). Participants The seminar is targeted at young university faculty in the social sciences, and doctoral-level graduate students who hope to go into teaching positions in African universities. All Fellows should be engaged actively in an empirical research project in politics, political sociology, political anthropology, public law, development studies, or a related area. Fellows should be working on a dissertation chapter, conference paper, book chapter, or article that can be developed into an article-length publication. As workshop participants, the Fellows will present their on-going research projects to the group in order to fuel discussion and generate new ideas for framing and developing their future research projects.

Themes Political participation is broadly defined as a set of activities undertaken by citizens to affect the making of governments as well as public policies. It includes turnout and voting in elections, lobbying, joining political parties and unions, petitioning, and participating in street demonstrations. A good understanding of patterns of political participation is central to the study of democracy and governance in Africa.

We are looking for Workshop Fellows who are interested in a range of issues linked to political participation, including the dynamics of voting and elections, the organization and workings of political parties, and the effect of political participation on substantive policy outcomes (eg. health and education policies, land law, economic and fiscal policies). We are especially interested in
1. Regional and urban-rural differences in political participation: what explains differences in political dynamics, including in turnout and voting, across regions and types of elections?
2. Economic interests, ethnic/religious identities and political participation: how do economic conditions and membership in ethnic and religious groups affect civic engagement?
3. Institutions and political participation: how do state structure and electoral rules affect electoral mobilization and voting?
4. Political participation and democratic governance: does increased citizen involvement improve the ability of governments to provide public goods, or change clientelist practices?

The workshop will devote systematic attention to issues of research design and strategies of data-gathering. Over the course of the workshop, each Fellow will present a piece of original scholarship to the group. This can be a research paper, conference paper, dissertation chapter, or other piece of written work that is approximately 20-30 pages in length. The format will include break-out groups centered on particular themes, and time for participants to revise and develop their research papers. One goal of the workshop is to get a critical mass of publishable papers that can be collected into an edited volume on Political Participation in Africa. Applications Applications will be accepted in French. Applications should include:
1. A Letter of Application that clearly states the applicant's institutional affiliation, position and all relevant contact information for the
2. A detailed, recent CV of the applicant
3. a 500-word description of the applicant's current research interests, how these relate to the theme of political participation, the empirical focus of the applicant's research, and the current status of the applicant's research project.
4. a 10-15 page written document that is part of the applicant's on-going research project. This can be a work-in-progress that is part of a paper, article, or chapter. The written text should tell the reader about the empirical as well as the theoretical/conceptual interests of the author.
5. two letters of reference. If the applicant is a graduate student, one letter should be a letter of introduction from the applicant's supervising professor. Applications for participation in the workshop as a Fellow should be sent to CODESRIA, by postal service or by 20 May, 2008. The list of participants will be announced on 29 May, 2008. All queries and applications will be sent to the following address:

Workshop on Political Participation
CODESRIA P.O. Box. 3305,
CP 18524 Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop X Canal 4
Dakar, Senegal
Tel.: +221 33 825 98 22/23
Fax.: +221 33 824 12 89
Email: political.participation@codesria.sn
Website: http://www.codesria.org or http://www.apsanet.org/africaworkshops

Fellowship available

Research into the History of Sexualities and Modernities in the MENA and Central Asia

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/47451

From 2008 to 2010 the SEPHIS programme will run a research project on ‘Sexualities and Modernities’ sponsored by the FORD Foundation. The objective of this programme is to allow researchers to gain a deeper historical and comparative understanding of the complex interplay between cultural contexts and the politics of sex- and gender-based claims of identity. Dissemination to advocacy groups and into the public sphere is an essential part of this endeavor. The deadline for applications is 1 May 2008.
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Fellowship available for research into the History of Sexualities and Modernities in the North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia From 2008 to 2010 the SEPHIS programme will run a research project on ‘Sexualities and Modernities’ sponsored by the FORD Foundation. The objective of this programme is to allow researchers to gain a deeper historical and comparative understanding of the complex interplay between cultural contexts and the politics of sex- and gender-based claims of identity. Dissemination to advocacy groups and into the public sphere is an essential part of this endeavor. SEPHIS is making one fellowship available to candidates at the post-doctoral, PhD and MA level to research any area to do with the history of sexualities in North Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.

Funding of up to $15 000 is available to the successful applicant who will have 18 months (until December 2009) to complete a substantial written research report as well as an academic article of around 10 000 words. The latter will be published as part of a collection of articles. In addition, the applicant will be expected to contribute to public activities outside the academic sphere. Contributions should be received by December 2009. The successful candidate will also be required to attend a week-long training workshop in September 2008, to be held at a venue in the South. During the workshop the applicant will be expected to present and discuss his or her research proposal with fellow researchers from other countries in the Global South. He or she will be trained on research methodology and theories of sexuality to gain deeper understanding on the relevant issues. Moreover, the researcher will be expected to contribute to a policy dialogue through talks and lectures on the outcome of his or her research, all to encourage the formation of a South-South network on the history of sexualities, and in keeping with the networking aims of SEPHIS. Throughout the project, the candidate will be expected to submit short four-monthly reports on his or her progress.

Eligibility:

Applicants should be employed by or at least affiliated to a research institute or any other relevant organization in the Middle East, North Africa or Central Asia. Applications for this research project should include:
· a research proposal (maximum of four pages), stating the research problem, reviewing the relevant literature, presenting the research methodology, and indicating the social relevance of the research project
· a short dissemination plan for two audiences:
1. academics: e.g. historians/anthropologists/sexuality studies; and
2. activists in organizations addressing questions of sexuality: e.g. HIV/AIDS, sexual and reproductive rights/LGBT

· a letter testifying to institutional affiliation in the global South
· a budget (not exceeding $15.000).

For MA and PhD students:

· a letter of recommendation from a thesis supervisor is required
· an abbreviated CV outlining academic career, including achievements, activities and publications
· a sample of written work, attesting to the applicant’s ability to write and finish an assignment (this may be an essay or an article)

The deadline for applications is 1 May 2008.

Applications can be emailed to:

Imtiaz Saikh Coordinator Sexualities Programme (sephis.sexualities@gmail.com)

Hard copies can be sent to:

SEPHIS
International Institute of Social History Cruquiusweg 31
1019 AT Amsterdam The Netherlands

Global: CSHR Human Rights Summer Courses at Columbia

2008-04-18

http://humanrights.columbia.edu/summer/

The Summer Term’s courses in human rights are offered in conjunction with the Center for the Study of Human Rights (CSHR) at Columbia University. Established in 1978, the CSHR at Columbia University is committed to providing excellent human rights education to Columbia students, fostering innovative interdisciplinary academic research, and offering its expertise in capacity building to human rights leaders, organizations, and universities around the world

Global: The CSDG/ECOWAS Peace and Security Mentoring Programme

2008-04-18

http://www.kcl.ac.uk/schools/sspp/ws/ps/tpg/studentship.html

As part of its Knowledge Building and Mentoring Programme, the Conflict, Security and Development Group (CSDG) at King’s College London in collaboration with the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), is pleased to announce a call for applications for the MA Studentships and Mentoring Programme 2008-9. The deadline for applications is now the 21 April.

The Guy Mhone Memorial Essay Competition in Development Research

A Call for Entries

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/47471

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) invites entries from scholars based in universities and centers of research in Africa in respect of the annual development research essay competition it has endowed in memory of the late Professor Guy Mhone. Mhone, who died on 01 March, 2005 was, during his life time, one of the leading development thinkers on Africa.
CODESRIA
The Guy Mhone Memorial Essay Competition in Development Research
A Call for Entries

Background:

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) invites entries from scholars based in universities and centers of research in Africa in respect of the annual development research essay competition it has endowed in memory of the late Professor Guy Mhone. Mhone, who died on 01 March, 2005 was, during his life time, one of the leading development thinkers on Africa. Trained as a professional Economist, he drew equally from his deep knowledge of the discipline and the insights he gained from other disciplines of the Social Sciences and Humanities to construct a unique inter-disciplinary critique of the challenges confronting the African continent. It was this investment in inter-disciplinarity, together with the critical edge of much of his output that was at the root of the originality which marked his scholarship. From his theory of enclavity within which he explored the nature and consequences of the center-periphery relationship between South Africa and the labour reserve economies of Southern Africa, and his thoughts on the informal sector of African economies, to his assessment of the role which the state could play in turning the table of underdevelopment in Africa, and his commitment – intellectual and practical - to the pursuit of development alternatives, Mhone successfully broke new grounds in our thinking on Africa for which we are the richer. He did so with his unique blend of theory and practice which saw him at different points in his career contributing as a teacher and researcher, as well as serving, with distinction, in several policy advisory roles.

Theme and Eligibility:

The memorial essay on development research is one of the ways in which CODESRIA has sought both to draw attention to the contributions of Mhone and encourage a younger generation of scholars interested in development questions to draw inspiration from his works. 2008 marks the second year of the competition and is focused on a theme that was dear to Mhone, namely, Trade and Industrial Policies for Africa in the Age of Globalisation. Younger researchers who are either currently undertaking postgraduate studies in African universities or who have completed their doctorate degrees at any time during the last five years are invited to enter the competition by submitting essays on this theme. The essays should not be more than 15,000 words, inclusive of all references. They could explore any aspect of the challenges of promoting trade and industrial policies in Africa in the age of globalisation that authors wish to focus upon. Theoretical and/or empirical contributions are equally welcome. Furthermore, the essays may be submitted in hard copy or electronically and in English or French. Candidates entering themselves into the competition should also forward their CVs to CODESRIA and clearly indicate their current institutional affiliation. The Council will reserve the right to verify the eligibility of the candidates according to the criteria described in this announcement.

Selection Process:

All essays submitted for consideration for the award of a prize under the competition will be blind-reviewed by an independent selection committee of eminent scholars with an established and acknowledged record in development research. All those who submitted entries for consideration will be notified of the results of the evaluation undertaken by the Selection Committee once it completes its assignment. The Committee will be mandated to select up to three prize winners from among entries received, ranking them in an order of merit.

Reward for Winning Entries:

The three winning essays adjudged by the Selection Committee to be the best will be offered cash prizes of between USD1,000 and USD2000 depending on their ranking. The essays will also be published by the Council in English and French within its Intervention Series for younger scholars. Furthermore, the authors of the winning essays will be invited to participate as fully sponsored presenters in the international conference on public sector reforms which CODESRIA is hosting in Lusaka, Zambia, in June 2008.

Submission Dates and Procedure:

All entries for the competition should be received by CODESRIA no later than 30 April, 2008. Entries received after the closing date will not be processed for consideration by the Selection Committee. Entries should be sent to:
CODESRIA,
(The Guy Mhone Memorial Essay Competition in Development Research),
BP 3304, CP 18524,
Dakar, Senegal.
Tel.: +221 33 825 98 22/23
Fax: +221 33 824 12 89
E-mail: essay.competition@codesria.sn
Website: http://www.codesria.org

West Africa Peacebuilding Institute (WAPI) 2008 - Admissions open

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/47455

The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) would like to announce the start of admissions to the West Africa Peacebuilding Institute (WAPI) for 2008. This year’s Institute will be held from September 1 – 19, 2008 at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra, Ghana. Deadline for application is 31st May 2008.
THE WEST AFRICA PEACEBUILDING INSTITUTE (WAPI) 2008

The West Africa Network for Peacebuilding (WANEP) would like to announce the start of admissions to the West Africa Peacebuilding Institute (WAPI) for 2008.

This year’s Institute will be held from September 1 – 19, 2008 at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra, Ghana.

WAPI is a three-week intensive training program that aims to strengthen the capacity of civil society-based peacebuilding practitioners and institutions across the West Africa sub-region and beyond in order to promote the development of indigenous responses to conflict.

Six courses will be offered during the three-week period, each week having two 5-day intensive courses running concurrently. The courses are highly interactive and participatory, blending theory and practice in the field of peacebuilding.

Admission to WAPI is open to practitioners, students, and policy makers interested in peacebuilding, human rights awareness and advocacy, development, arms control, humanitarian aid, social welfare, and gender.

Please find details in both French and English on the courses and fees and application forms (English and French) attached. Send completed applications to:

wapi@wanep.org or wanep@wanep.org Deadline for application is 31st May 2008.

Please circulate this information to anyone you think may be interested.

You could also visit our website for further details or regular update on the training: www.wanep.org/wapi

Africa: Information pluralism and media development coordinator

People Development Consulting

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/47478

People Development Consulting, www.peopledev.net, is searching for a committed collaborator, for a West African NGO based in Dakar. The job mission is: Contribute, within the frame of the 5 Years Strategic Plan, to the consolidation of Information Pluralism and Media Development at the West African regional level through the implementation and visibility of the programme at regional and international levels.
INFORMATION PLURALISM AND MEDIA DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME COORDINATOR

People Development Consulting, www.peopledev.net <http://www.peopledev.net/>, is searching for a committed collaborator, for a West African NGO based in Dakar.


Job Mission
Contribute, within the frame of the 5 Years Strategic Plan, to the consolidation of Information Pluralism and Media Development at the West African regional level through the implementation and visibility of the programme at regional and international levels.

Main responsibilities
Under the supervision of the programmes director you will:
- Implement the programme’s strategy for the coming years.
- Contribute to the fundraising for the development of the programme in the coming years.
- Consolidate and broaden the judicial, economic and institutional frameworks of information pluralism at the regional level.
- Provide documentation and facilitate public debates on the challenges of information and communication for democracy.
- Strengthen capacities of actors in the media sector and their synergy.

Your qualifications and profile
- Master’s degree to PhD in international relations, political sciences, communication and information sciences.
- Project management knowledge: command of development projects and programmes conception, planning, implementation and evaluation.
- Research: good knowledge of research methodologies, and ability to define terms of reference of studies and coordinate research work on the fields from a distance.
- Knowledge of the information sector and theme (Information Pluralism and Media Development) : good knowledge of theories, concepts of information and communication sector, specific knowledge of challenges of information pluralism and media development stakeholders at both international and West African level;
- Minimum 5 years of relevant working experience at the same level;
- Languages : perfect command of English or French, with good working knowledge of the second language;
- Strategist, leader, creative, autonomous, reactive, dynamic, ability to develop and interpersonal relationship and networks;
- Command of usual office softwares and internet.



Applications
· Send your resume and cover letter in which you explain why you think you are a good candidate for the position (maximum 4 pages for both documents, in word format).
· Recall : i) the position you’re applying for in the resume and the cover lettter, ii) your availability, iii) your expected salary, iv) 3 professional references with their phone number and email.

The deadline for application is April, 28th, 2008, to the following email addresses info@peopledev.n <mailto:peopledev@orange.sn>et

Due to the number of applications awaited, only short listed candidates will be contacted.

Applications that don’t fulfil the conditions and requirements will not be considered.

Africa: Institutional development officer

People Development Consulting

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/47479

People Development Consulting, www.peopledev.net, is searching for a committed collaborator, for a West African NGO based in Dakar. The job mission is: Under the supervision of the Director General, the Institutional Development Officer formulates and implements a proactive funding plan as well as an institutional development strategy. He/She is the focal point of the information about and towards donors.
INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

People Development Consulting, www.peopledev.net <http://www.peopledev.net/>, is searching for a committed collaborator, for a West African NGO based in Dakar.

Job Mission
Under the supervision of the Director General, the Institutional Development Officer formulates and implements a proactive funding plan as well as an institutional development strategy.
He/She is the focal point of the information about and towards donors.

Main responsabilities
Expansion and stabilisation of the organisation’s financial resources
- Update the general financing strategy and ensure its coherence with sector-based financing strategies of programmes and departments.
- Keep an updated watch on funding opportunities, develop and monitor funding proposals with programmes coordinators.
- Prepare exclusively some strategic reports and respect the quality requirements, deadlines and any other contractual obligation related to reporting to donors.

Institutional communication
- Supervise the elaboration and implementation of institutional communication tools and materials, and guarantee the quality of these communication instruments (activity reports, presentation brochures, films, website);
- Ensure the presence of the institution in the press (Senegalese, regional and international) through the coverage of important events, the organisation of press conferences, interviews of the organization’s staff in the medias, etc.
- Provide timely and quality targeted-information to financial donors as well as the promotion and dissemination of PIWA products.

Governance and strategic partnerships
- Prepare documentation and logistics for the General Assembly and Board of Directors statutory meetings and ensure regular information and relationships with these statutory bodies.
- Monitor the development of strategic partnerships within the international network of sister institutions and ensure quality relationships with these partners.

Your qualifications and profile
- Master’s Degree in marketing-communication, project management, or management with good knowledge of problematics of information and communication.
- Expertise in public and institutional fundraising and command in management of development programmes and projects (namely designing, writing and evaluation of projects).
- Command in Institutional Communication and Public Relations.
- 5 years of relevant working experience at a level of responsibility and professionalism equivalent to that of this described position.
- Languages: perfect command of either English or French with working ability in the second language.
- Strategic thinking, excellent relational capacity and relations that can be immediately mobilised within the community of donor, reactivity, autonomy and dynamism.
- Basic knowledge in Human Resources management (recruitment, selection, and training) will be an asset.
- Command of usual office software and Internet (Word, Excel, Outlook, Explorer…).
- Good knowledge of countries in the sub region and of West African socio-political environment.


Applications
· Send your resume and cover letter in which you explain why you think you are a good candidate for the position (maximum 4 pages for both documents, in word format).
· Recall : i) the position you’re applying for in the resume and the cover lettter, ii) your availability, iii) your expected salary, iv) 3 professional references with their phone number and email.

The deadline for application is April, 28th, 2008, to the following email addresses info@peopledev.n <mailto:peopledev@orange.sn>et

Due to the number of applications awaited, only short listed candidates will be contacted.
Applications that don’t fulfil the conditions and requirements will not be considered.

Global Development Policy Internship - Women Thrive Worldwide

2008-04-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/47446

Women Thrive Worldwide's Global Development Policy program works to ensure that the benefits of U.S. international assistance reach both women and men in developing countries. Time Commitment: 20-40 hours per week from mid-May until August 2008.
Global Development Policy Internship / Women Thrive Worldwide / Washington, DC, USA / Closing date: May 05, 2008.

SUMMARY:

Women Thrive Worldwide's Global Development Policy program works to ensure that the benefits of U.S. international assistance reach both women and men in developing countries. We do this by raising awareness about women's roles in development and in their economies among policymakers in Congress and in the Administration; with others in the development community; and with the general public. Women Thrive Worldwide actively works to increase, monitor and provide accountability on the U.S.'s investment in international assistance programs, especially programs that invest in women and girls, and particularly through indigenous women's organizations abroad.

Our goal is to ensure that U.S. international assistance creates opportunities for women so that their potential is fully tapped for reducing poverty and helping countries develop economically.

Time Commitment: 20-40 hours per week from mid-May until August 2008 SPECIFIC DUTIES INCLUDE:

-- Researching and drafting materials on gender in international development issues;
-- Organizing Women Thrive Worldwide's members for meetings with Congress;
-- Attending coalition meetings;
-- Tracking current legislation;
-- Occasionally helping with small administrative tasks, such as updating Thrive's database.

Current projects that interns may be involved in include:

-- Campaign to End Gender-Based Violence through U.S. Leadership
-- Global Resources and Opportunities for Women to Thrive (GROWTH)

Act Campaign
-- Millennium Challenge Account.

ALL OF THE WOMEN THRIVE WORLDWIDE'S INTERNSHIPS REQUIRE:

-- Superior oral and written communication skills;
-- Excellent research skills;
-- Strong interest in international development economics, or political organizing for international women's issues;
-- Enthusiastic and self-motivated work style with attention to detail;
-- Interest and/or course work in international economics, development or women's issues;
-- Excellent computer skills, particularly Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint;
-- Experience with Congress a plus.

Women Thrive Worldwide has had much success with many interns. You will learn a lot and get a great reference. We invest a lot in our interns and you will have a high degree of responsibility and very high level of involvement in the organization.

Women Thrive Worldwide will reimburse reasonable daily transportation costs.

TO APPLY:

Please send cover letter, resume, short writing sample and contact information for 3 references to Seema Jalan, Senior Policy Manager, (sjalan@womensedge.org)

or mail hard copy to: Women Thrive Worldwide, 1825 Connecticut Avenue, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20009.

No phone calls/fax please. Be sure to mention "Global Development Policy Internship" on the application. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

DEADLINE TO APPLY: MAY 05, 2008.

Website: http://www.womensedge.org

Fahamu