Back Issues

Embraced by Brazil and shunned by Switzerland: the story of the two trevors

Patrick Bond

2003-02-06

"Africa didn't really shine here," South African finance minister Trevor Manuel told a press conference in snowy Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum last week. "There is a complete dearth of panels on Africa."

Nevertheless, in any five-star hotel gathering of powerbrokers, backslapping is crucial, no matter how artificial the camaraderie. Here is how former Johannesburg Star newspaper editor Peter Sullivan witlessly described the Davos experience for Sunday Independent readers this week:

"The SA contingent worked hard to get investment but partied equally hard: a real 'jol' was had by all with great jiving from Kader Asmal, Trevor Manuel and Alec Irwin (sic), while Bertie Lubner and his wife boogied the night away. We also drank a few bottles of KWV's best red." (Too many, apparently, to subsequently spell trade minister Erwin's name correctly.)

Sullivan regaled with stories of meeting "the beautiful Queen Rania of Jordan", Bill Gates and Bill Clinton. But as one shrewd journalist - not the social-climber Sullivan - reported on January 28, "Among the many snubs Africa received here was the decision by former US president Bill Clinton to cancel his presence at a press conference on Africa today to discuss the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Forum officials said Clinton did not give reasons for not attending."

The ingratitude!

Recall that over the previous eighteen months, Thabo Mbeki, Manuel and Erwin had either hosted, chaired or played a crucial backroom role on globalisation's equivalent of a big-five hunting safari - mainly for the benefit of the Davos club:

* At the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, Mbeki shot down NGOs and African leaders who argued in favour of reparations for slavery/colonialism/apartheid.

* Ten weeks later at the World Trade Organisation's Doha ministerial summit, Erwin split his continent's delegation to prevent a Seattle-style denial of consensus by African trade ministers, in the process promoting multinational corporate interests.

* Then, at the UN's Financing for Development conference in Monterrey, Mexico last March, Manuel was summit co-chair and endorsed the World Bank and IMF "Washington Consensus", relegating debt relief to the status of a dead duck.

* A few months later, at the Kananaskis, Canada Summit of the G8 powers, a grovelling Mbeki departed with a handful of peanuts for his hungry and now badly wounded African elephant - and yet, against all evidence to the contrary, declared that the meeting "signifies the end of the epoch of colonialism and neo-colonialism".

* Finally, at Johannesburg's World Summit on Sustainable Development, Mbeki undermined standard UN democratic procedure, advanced the privatisation of nature, and did virtually nothing to genuinely address the plight of the world's majority.

A little sympathy from the world's ruling class for Pretoria's men in kneepads would surely have been in order - even if just the face-saving sort, for the cameras, as is normally the case.

So let's leave the grey-monied set in favour of a hot, sunny, colourful place crowded with ordinary grassroots activists who took the world's problems rather more seriously last week. In Porto Alegre, Brazil, the World Social Forum attracted 100,000 leftist delegates from across the globe who insisted, "Another World is Possible!"

Here at least, South Africa - especially Soweto campaigners for free electricity, water, medicines, education and housing - shone as brightly as a house reconnected late at night thanks to Operation Khanyisa.

Several times in Porto Alegre, I witnessed the passion with which former Soweto city councillor Trevor Ngwane addressed the crowds, moving the agenda from basic human rights, to continent-wide organising in the year-old Africa Social Forum, to his widely-applauded declaration that the World Bank must now be defunded and decommissioned.

"Weakening the power of Washington is our main challenge," Ngwane announced, "especially now that Bush is in heat after Middle Eastern oil, and because the IMF and World Bank show they will not reform."

Moreover, the World Social Forum has spawned a variety of localised social forums of labour, women, environmentalists, community militants, church activists, and youth. In conjunction with the African Social Forum which met last month in Addis Ababa, Ngwane has been mandated to help get a Southern African Social Forum off the ground.

Decentralisation will help avoid, as Canadian author Naomi Klein warns, domination by the new "big men" of the left: Brazilian president Lula Inacio da Silva and embattled Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Crucial for a coming generation of bottom-up social forums, says Klein, is the chance to replant Porto Alegre's most radical seeds: "The ideas flying around included neighbourhood councils, participatory budgets, stronger city governments, land reform and co-operative farming - a vision of politicised communities that could be networked internationally to resist further assaults from the IMF, the World Bank and World Trade Organisation."

Icy Davos and friendly Porto Alegre will clash again - as elites marginalise Africa through intensified globalisation and as social forums break out across Africa uniting to demand, as Asian intellectual Walden Bello suggests, economic "deglobalisation". Which forum philosophy will prevail?

On two previous occasions, South Africa's famous two Trevors - Manuel and Ngwane - have seen their respective teams square off. Once, during an April 2000 clash covered by SABC's Special Assignment ("Two Trevors go to Washington"), Manuel chaired the World Bank board of governors for two days while Ngwane taught 30,000 protesters outside to toyi-toyi.

And again last August, when Manuel was negotiating some meaningless treaty or other at the Sandton Convention Centre, Ngwane and 20,000+ demonstrators marched over from Alexandra to demand that the elites pack up and end their charade.

With the world's environmental and developmental crises worsening ever more rapidly, lubricated by petro-warrior George Bush, can any conclusion be reached about the latest confrontation? Perhaps only this: one Trevor was cold and lonely fighting a battle he can never win; the other was flush with the warmth of solidarity, basking in the resurgence of a humanistic but uncompromising international left.

* Patrick Bond teaches at Wits University and recently authored ‘Unsustainable South Africa: Environment, Development and Social Protest’, published by University of Natal Press. This article was due to appear in the Sowetan newspaper on February 7.

* Send comments on this editorial for publication in the Letters and Comments section of Pambazuka News to editor@pambazuka.org

Bette Stockbauer

2003-02-06

You guys have a great publication. I love your editorials. My husband and I sponsor a conservation program in Africa and your section on grants has given me some excellent leads. You have a great balance of information. Thank you so much.

call for articles on human rights and freedom of expression

2003-02-06

The Foundation for Human Rights Initiative publishes a thematic bi-annual human rights journal called "The Defender". We are currently looking for information and submissions on the theme 'Human Rights and Freedom of Expression'.
From: Wougnet, http://www.wougnet.org

The Foundation for Human Rights Initiative publishes a thematic bi-annual human
rights journal called "The Defender". The journal is replete with in depth
substantive articles on human rights and democratisation. It focuses on Uganda
but also addresses illuminating experiences from other countries as well.

We are currently gathering information for the next issue and the theme will be
on "HUMAN RIGHTS AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION". Articles written will emphasize the
important connection between human rights and freedom of expression. One's free
to come up with their own topic but should relate it to freedom of expression
and human rights.

Please submit your information to the Editor via e-mail, fax or postal
address.(See address below).

THE EDITOR

***********************************************
Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI)
Human Rights House, Plot 1853, Lulume Road, Nsambya.
P.O. Box 11027
Kampala, Uganda
Tel: (256-41) 510263 , 510498, 510276
Fax: (256-41) 510498
Email: fhri@spacenetuganda.com
URL: http://www.fhri.or.ug

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Kifle Mulat, Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA)

Letter to Amara Essy, Secretary General of African Union (AU)

2003-02-06

We have concrete grounds for calling on the African Union to focus its attention on the question of the respect of the right to freedom of expression. Journalists in Africa work under particularly hostile circumstances and, because of their important role in building and maintaining democracy, require recognition and protection.
**We apologise for any cross-posting - The following is being forwarded
exactly as received**

To: IFEX Autolist (other news of interest)
From: Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA),
efjakifle@hotmail.com

Letter to "Extraordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) "
from the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA) .

Feb. 3, 2003
H.E. Mr. Amara Essy
Secretary General of African Union (AU)
AU Headquarters,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Via Fax: 251-1-512622/3030

Your Excellency,

We would like to extend our best wishes to your excellency and through you
to the African heads of state and government, delegates and brothers and
sisters who are participating in the Extraordinary Summit of the African
Union (AU) due to be held from February 3-4/2003.

We are convinced that the present AU summit would perform tasks that would
have a major positive impact on the growth and development of the African
peoples.

We hope that our newly established organization, AU would, among others,
focus on and discuss the issue of the exercise of the rights to press
freedom which is based on the right of peoples to freedom of expression.

We are desirous that the African Union Constitution would firmly stand for
the respect and exercise of press freedom; embrace the accountability and
responsibilities of all concerned parties, protect press freedom from
attacks; and strongly protest against undemocratic practices of dictators,
and strongly requires professionals to be governed by code of ethics.

We have concrete grounds for calling on the African Union to focus its
attention on the question of the respect of the right to freedom of
expression. Journalists in Africa work under particularly hostile
circumstances and, because of their important role in building and
maintaining democracy, require recognition and protection.

In several AU member states, journalists are arrested, harassed, and
intimidated solely for their reporting, and many countries resort to harsh,
outdated laws to prosecute journalists for their work. Research conducted
by African and international press institutions shows an alarming pattern of
governments interfering with the free flow of information and zealously
prosecuting journalists for their work-in some cases even drafting
legislation deliberately aimed at suppressing the dissemination of
dissenting views.

For instance, a government in an African country has shut down the entire
independent media and has so far detained a dozen journalists. Several
others have fled the country. A government spokesperson acknowledged to CPJ
that independent journalists are currently imprisoned and held incommunicado
but would not guarantee that all of the detained journalists were alive.

Our country, Ethiopia also has a dismal press freedom record, and its
government is planning alarming changes to the country's 10-year-old press
laws that would severely restrict the rights of Ethiopia's already
beleaguered private press corps. Although the Ethiopian authorities claim
that the new law would promote "constructive and responsible journalism," we
believe that the statutes would lead to a crackdown, driving many of them
out of business or putting them behind bars. Currently, one journalists is
imprisoned in Ethiopia, more than 40 journalists have pending court cases.
While these and other few African countries are the most egregious press
freedom violators in the AU, international press organizations, have
documented state harassment of independent reporters and news outlets all
over the continent.

The Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA) respectfully
reminds Your Excellency that most AU member states have signed Article 19 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Articles 19 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and Article 9 of the African Charter
on Human and People's Rights, all of which recognize an individual's right
to seek, receive, and impart information without fear of reprisal.

As an African association of journalists dedicated to defending press
freedom in Ethiopia EFJA strongly believes that media outlets and
journalists should be able to work freely, and that a public's ability to
gather and receive information should be enshrined and recognized as a
fundamental human right. We also believe that journalists should not face
arrest detention, or harassment for their work.

We call on your Excellency and the African heads of state and government to:
- respect AU and international laws
- release imprisoned journalists in their respective countries.
- change their repressive press laws
- ensure that the media in the AU member can function freely, without
intimidation, harassment, or restrictions.

It is our sincere hope that the AU Summit would come up with successful
results that would be to the ultimate benefit of the peoples of the African
continent.

We also hope that press freedom would flourish in Africa and the rest of the
world.

Sincerely,

Kifle Mulat
President,EFJA

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
3rd February, 2003

**The information contained in this autolist item is the sole responsibility
of EFJA**

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the cost of the brain drain

2003-02-06

Is there anybody with data on Uganda's human resource potential and migration of the same from Uganda? I would like to know the consequences of such migration on the development of the nation. For instance how many Uganda graduates are in the UK and USA and how much tax does the UK earn per Ugandan there?

A New Democracy: Alternatives to a Bankrupt World Order

Harry Shutt

2003-02-06

http://www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk/home.htm

We are told, day in and day out, that there is only one way forward for the world: globalized free market capitalism. Yet more and more people know, as Harry Shutt points out, that this way lacks all vision for the future of humanity, is empty of social responsibility and environmental care, and will not, he argues, even deliver a stable economy or secure political future.

Barbs: A Study of Satire in the Plays of Wole Soyinka

Patrick Ebewo

2003-02-06

http://www.africanbookscollective.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_New_Titles_68.html#A1197

A wide-ranging introduction to Wole Soyinka's dramatic literature and an in-depth and comprehensive study of satire in fourteen of Soyinka's plays from Childe Internationale to King Baabu, and the sketches in Before the Blackout. Ebewo treats satire as an instrument of criticism, a literary genre and an institution in society. He explores the history and definition of satire in various cultural contexts, approaching Soyinka as an African satirist influenced by Western and African satirical modes.

culture and lifestyle newsletter seeks contributors

2003-02-06

Voice, a newsletter of the International African Students Association (www.iasaonline.org) seeks critical essays, articles, true-life stories, poems, cartoons and pictures for inclusion in the next edition of the Voice. The newsletter aims to bring together innovative but readable exploration of African culture and lifestyle from the perspective of young Africans.


Voice, a newsletter of the International African Students Association (www.iasaonline.org) seeks critical essays, articles, true-life stories, poems, cartoons and pictures for inclusion in the next edition of the Voice. The newsletter aims to bring together innovative but readable exploration of African culture and lifestyle from the perspective of young Africans.

The editors welcome pieces that touch on all segment of life in Africaand the Diaspora. Contributors are at liberty to consider any aspect of recent African development including excavations of politics / conventions, national and regional trends, traditions, arts and culture, music, literature, economics, sports, education, youth and social development. Contributors are encouraged to be creative in their writing styles.

Deadline: Feb 21st, 2003
Submissions should be between 300 to 500 words. Although longer contributions may be considered space permitting. All submissions should be accompanied by a short biographical sketch, and whenever possible should be sent via email (as plain text, not attachment).
All submissions should be sent to newsletter@iasaonline.org
Newsletter P.O. Box1868,
Jamaica Plain,
MA02130 USA

Opportunities exist on the editorial team of the Voice for individuals with strong writing, editorial or layout skills to produce future editions of the newsletter. If interested write us newsletter@iasaonline.org

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Food for All: The Need for a New Agriculture

John Madeley

2003-02-06

http://www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk/home.htm

What kind of agriculture do we need to feed the world? World leaders have committed themselves to halving hunger by the year 2015 as a first step towards food for all. But is this an achievable target? John Madeley's new book shows we already have the experience on which to base a new approach to agricultural production and feeding the world's whole population. Millions need better access to the land from which the market forced them, and a more equitable income distribution so that the poor can afford the available food. This is part of the solution. But the other part is an innovative, multi-faceted move away from a monoculture production system dependent on ever more tractors and fossil fuels, dangerous chemicals, and hybrid seeds monopolized by a handful of giant corporations.

africa/Global: coalition against trafficking in women

2003-02-06

http://www.catwinternational.org/

The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) is a non-governmental organisation that promotes women's human rights. It works internationally to combat sexual exploitation in all its forms, especially prostitution and trafficking in women and children, in particularly girls. Visit their web site to find out more.

africa: REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE AND WOMEN LIVING WITH AIDS

2003-02-06

http://216.122.213.218/pdf/Repro_Choice_HIV_AIDS.pdf

One area in which stigma and discrimination affect women living with HIV/AIDS (WHA) is reproductive health. This report summarizes available information concerning barriers and discrimination that WHA face in exercising their full sexual and reproductive rights concerning pregnancy. It is based on an extensive review of the literature and interviews with key informants in Australia, India, Kenya, South Africa and Thailand.

africa: union set to lower women's rights standards

2003-02-06

If a draft protocol on the rights of women in Africa was passed in its current form by the African Union, the union would for the first time set lower standards than those already existing regionally and internationally, according to a letter sent to the African Union on behalf of Equality Now and the participants of an NGO meeting on the protocol held recently in Addis Ababa. Click on the link below to read the letter and a mark-up of the protocol showing where it falls below international standards.
13th January 2003


Ambassador DJINNIT Said
Interim Commissioner for Peace,
Security and Political Affairs
African Union
Tel/Fax. (251-1) 511475
Addis Ababa


Dear Ambassador DJINNIT:

I am writing on behalf of Equality Now and the participants of the NGO’s Meeting on the Draft Protocol on The Rights of Women in Africa, which was recently held at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa, to thank you for giving us the opportunity to meet with you on 6th January at your office and present to you several concerns which came out of discussions at the NGO’s meeting on the draft Protocol on the rights of women, which could be summarized as follows:

1. While appreciating the fact that the African Union has set higher standards in previous legal instruments such as the African Charter itself and the Charter on the Welfare and the Rights of the Child than other regional or international organizations, we are concerned that the draft Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa does not clearly and consistently reflect the noble objectives of the organization and its member states. For this reason, during our regional consultations of 4 to 5th January 2003, we made comments and proposals aimed at strengthening and making the existing text more consistent and comprehensive.

2. We understand that in the original planning, a 2-day experts meeting is anticipated. If at all possible, we request the African Union to consider extending this period by one more day to better enable experts to consider and address the issues we have raised, particularly the ways in which the current draft reflects lower standards than those already established in international instruments such as CEDAW. We appreciate that all this must be done in time for the proposed Heads of States Summit in July 2003, but we believe that if we all use the remaining time optimally, this goal can be realized to the satisfaction of all interested parties.

3. While we appreciate that a quorum of member states is required before dates can be confirmed for the experts and ministerial meetings, we wish to respectfully point out that the repeated postponements of the meetings do not reflect well on the African Union. If it is possible to get an early indication of the dates for the next meeting, we would be happy to provide any assistance to move the process forward as well as providing technical support to the experts on the draft Protocol on the rights of women.

As a follow-up to our meeting with you, we have attached the markup to the draft Protocol that was generated at the NGO’s meeting hosted by Equality Now. The markup contains proposals for amendments to some of the text provisions of the draft Protocol with explanatory notes and footnotes that indicate areas where the current draft Protocol falls short of regional and international standards and provide relevant information about these standards. The proposed changes are in capitals, bolded and underlined while notes are marked “Bold” with the word “Note” preceding each remark. Footnotes appear at the end of the pages.

As we pointed out during the meeting with you, if the draft Protocol is passed as it stands now, the African Union would for the first time set lower standards than those already existing regionally and internationally. We are convinced that our efforts to strengthen the draft Protocol and to achieve consensus on several outstanding aspects of the draft as we have managed to do on article 6, for example, should make a positive contribution towards accelerating discussion at the experts level.

Finally, as indicated in various ways and occasions, we as members of civil society, are ready and willing to work closely with the African Union in order to bring discussions on the draft Protocol to a successful conclusion.

Thank you and we look forward to your feedback and collaboration on this as well as notification of dates for the next experts meeting.

Sincerely,



Faiza Jama Mohamed
Africa Office Director
--------------------------


DRAFT PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON
HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS ON THE RIGHTS
OF WOMEN IN AFRICA

(as adopted by the Meeting of Government Experts
in Addis Ababa on 16 November 2001)




6 JANUARY 2003 MARKUP
FROM THE MEETING CONVENED ON 4-5 JANUARY 2003 IN ADDIS ABABA,
BY THE AFRICA REGIONAL OFFICE AND THE LAW PROJECT OF EQUALITY NOW,
WITH THE FOLLOWING GROUPS REPRESENTED:


AFRICAN CENTRE FOR DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS STUDIES
AKINA MAMA WA AFRIKA
EQUALITY NOW
ETHIOPIAN WOMEN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
FEMMES AFRICA SOLIDARITE
FEMNET – AFRICAN WOMEN’S DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION NETWORK
MALIAN WOMEN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
SENEGALESE WOMEN LAWYERS ASSOCIATION
WILDAF – WOMEN IN LAW AND DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA
WRAPA – WOMEN’S RIGHTS ADVANCEMENT AND PROTECTION ALTERNATIVE

This Markup includes Notes in the text to indicate where provisions of the current draft Protocol fall below existing international standards, and Footnotes to provide additional information on relevant international standards.





22 November, 2001


DRAFT PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER
ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS ON THE
RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA


The StateS Parties to this Protocol,

CONSIDERING that Article 66 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights provides for special protocols or agreements, if necessary, to supplement the provisions of the African Charter, and that the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government meeting in its Thirty-first Ordinary Session in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in June 1995, endorsed by resolution AHG/Res.240 (XXXI) the recommendation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to elaborate a Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa;

CONSIDERING that Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights enshrines the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnic group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or any other opinion, national and social origin, fortune, birth or other status;

FURTHER CONSIDERING that Article 18 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights calls on all Member States to eliminate every discrimination against women and to ensure the protection of the rights of women as stipulated in international declarations and conventions;

RECOGNIZING THE BENEFIT OF ELABORATING AND SUPPLEMENTING ALL RIGHTS IN THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS AS THEY PERTAIN TO WOMEN, PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 66 OF THE AFRICAN CHARTER, IN ORDER TO SECURE THESE RIGHTS IN REALITY;

NOTING that Articles 60 and 61 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights recognize regional and international human rights instruments and African practices consistent with international norms on human and peoples' rights as being important reference points for the application and interpretation of the African Charter;

RECALLING that women's rights have been recognized and guaranteed in all international human rights instruments, notably the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and all other international and regional conventions and covenants relating to the rights of women as being inalienable, interdependent and indivisible human rights;

NOTING that women's rights and women's essential role in development have been reaffirmed in the United Nations Plans of Action on the Environment and Development in 1992, on Human Rights in 1993, on Population and Development in 1994 and on Social Development in 1995;

FURTHER NOTING that the Dakar Plan of AFRICAN PLATFORM FOR Action AND THE DAKAR DECLARATION of 1994 and the Beijing Programme of PLATFORM FOR Action and Declaration of 1995 call on all Member States of the United Nations, which have made a solemn commitment to implement them, to take concrete steps to give greater attention to the human rights of women in order to eliminate all forms of discrimination, and of INCLUDING gender-based violence against women, WHICH HAS BEEN INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AS A FORM OF SEX DISCRIMINATION;

BEARING IN MIND related Resolutions, Declarations, Recommendations, Decisions, Conventions and other Regional and Sub-Regional Instruments, ACTIONS AND STEPS TAKEN, aimed at eliminating all forms of discrimination and at promoting equality between men and women;

REPUDIATING THE INEQUALITY OF THE SEXES WHEREVER IT EXISTS, REJECTING ALL NOTIONS AND INSTITUTIONS OF SUPERIORITY AND INFERIORITY ON THE BASIS OF SEX, AND AFFIRMING THE EQUAL HUMANITY OF MEN AND WOMEN ;

NOTE: Major international charters of rights virtually universally include preambular statements of substantive values the document exists to further. Failure to include any such statement would be a significant departure from the standard practice of other international instruments.

CONCERNED that despite the ratification of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and other international human rights instruments by the majority of Member States, and their solemn commitment to eliminate all forms of discrimination and harmful practices against women, women in Africa still continue to be victims of discrimination, INCLUDING VIOLENCE2 and OTHER harmful practices;

FIRMLY CONVINCED that any practice that hinders or endangers the normal growth and affects the physical and psychological development of women and girls should be condemned and eliminated;

RECALLING THAT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN IS AN OBSTACLE TO THE PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN THE POLITICAL, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL LIFE OF THEIR COUNTRIES AND CONSTITUTES AN OBSTACLE TO DEVELOPMENT IN THE CONTINENT;

NOTE: CEDAW’s Preamble recalls that “discrimination against women…is an obstacle to the participation of women…in the political, social, economic and cultural life of their countries” and is “convinced that the full and complete development of a country…requires participation of women on equal terms with men in all fields.”

DETERMINED to ensure that the rights of women are protected in order to enable them to enjoy fully all their human rights;

COMMITTED TO THE FULL PARTICIPATION OF AFRICAN WOMEN AS EQUAL PARTNERS IN AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT;

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:


Article 1
Definitions

For the purpose of the present Protocol

a) "African Charter" shall mean the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights;

b) "African Commission" shall mean the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights;

c) "Assembly" shall mean the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU AU;

d) "Discrimination against women" shall mean any distinction, exclusion or restriction based on sex, or any differential treatment whose objective or effects compromise or destroy the recognition, enjoyment or the exercise by women, regardless of their marital status, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in all spheres of life;

e) "Harmful Practices" shall mean all behavior, attitudes and/or practices which negatively affect the fundamental rights of women, such as their right to life, health, dignity, education and physical integrity;

f) "OAU" shall mean the Organization of African Unity UNION;

g) "StateS Parties" shall mean the StateS Parties to this Protocol;

h) "Violence against women" shall mean all acts perpetrated against women which cause or could cause them physical, sexual, psychological, SOCIAL, and economic harm, including the threat to take such acts; or to undertake the imposition of arbitrary restrictions on or deprivation of fundamental freedoms in private or public life in peace time and during situations of armed conflicts or of war;

i) “Women” shall mean persons of female gender, including INCLUDE girls, AND “MEN” SHALL INCLUDE BOYS.


Article 2
Elimination of Discrimination AND VIOLENCE Against Women

1. StateS Parties shall combat CONDEMN AND ELIMINATE all forms of SEX discrimination, INCLUDING VIOLENCE2 against women, through appropriate legislative, institutional, ADMINISTRATIVE and other measures. In this regard they shall:

NOTE: CEDAW obligates States to “condemn” (e.g. Art. 2) and, throughout, “eliminate” when referring to states parties obligations to act against sex discrimination. The African Charter at Art. 18 similarly requires at (3) that States “shall ensure the elimination of every discrimination against women.” To merely “combat” sex discrimination is below the international standard set forth both in CEDAW and in The African Charter.

a) include in their national Constitutions and other legislative instruments AND POLICIES, if not already done, the principle of equality between men and women and ensure its effective application;

b) enact and effectively implement appropriate legislative, POLICY or regulatory measures, including those prohibiting and curbing all forms of discrimination including SEX-BASED VIOLENCE2, INCLUDING UNWANTED OR FORCED SEX IN OR OUTSIDE MARRIAGE, AND OTHER those harmful practices THAT which endanger the health and general well-being of women and girls;

c) integrate a gender perspective in their policy decisions, legislation, development plans, programmes and activities and all other spheres of life;

d) take corrective and positive action in those areas where discrimination INCLUDING VIOLENCE2 against women in law and in fact continues to exist;

e) TAKE ALL MEASURES NECESSARY TO ELIMINATE DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMEN, REGARDLESS OF MARITAL STATUS, IN ACCESS TO, ACQUISITION AND CONTROL OF, AND FINANCING FOR LAND AND PROPERTY;


e) support the local, national, regional and continental initiatives directed at eradicating all forms of discrimination against women.

2. StateS Parties shall commit themselves to modify the social and cultural patterns of conduct of men and women through public education, through information, education and communication strategies, with a view to achieving the elimination of harmful cultural and traditional practices and all other practices which are based on the idea of the inferiority or the superiority of either of the sexes, or on stereotyped roles for men and women.


Article 3
Respect for Dignity
Women contribute to the preservation of those African values that are based on the principles of equality, peace, freedom, dignity, justice, solidarity and democracy. EVERY WOMAN SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO THE RESPECT OF THE DIGNITY INHERENT IN A HUMAN BEING AND TO THE RECOGNITION OF HER LEGAL STATUS. In this regard, the States Parties shall;

a) ensure that women and girls enjoy rights and dignity inherent in all human beings;

b) adopt and implement appropriate measures to prohibit any exploitation and degradation of women and girls.

NOTE: These amendments are proposed to bring the language of the Protocol into more precise conformity with the language of Art 5 of the African Charter.


Article 4
The Rights to Life, Integrity and Security of Person

1. Every woman and girl shall be entitled to respect for their HER life and the integrity and security of their HER person. All forms of exploitation, cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment and/OR treatment shall be prohibited.

2. StateS Parties shall take appropriate and effective measures to:

a) enact and enforce laws to prohibit DISCRIMINATION AND all forms of violence against women and girls whether the DISCRIMINATION AND violence takes place in the private or IN public sphere;

b) adopt such other legislative, administrative, social and economic measures as may be necessary to ensure the prevention, punishment and eradication of all forms of violence against women and girls;

c) identify the causes and consequences of DISCRIMINATION AND violence against women and take appropriate measures to prevent and eliminate such DISCRIMINATION AND violence;

d) actively promote peace education through curricula and social communication in order to eradicate elements in traditional and cultural beliefs, practices and stereotypes which legitimize and exacerbate the persistence and tolerance of DISCRIMINATION AND violence against women and girls;

e) punish the perpetrators of DISCRIMINATION AND violence against women and implement programmes for the SECURITY AND rehabilitation of women victims SURVIVORS;

f) establish mechanisms and accessible services for effective information, rehabilitation and reparation for victims of DISCRIMINATION AND violence against women and girls;

g) prevent and prosecute perpetrators, AND THEIR ACCOMPLICES, of trafficking in AND PROSTITUTION OF women and girls and protect those women and girls most at risk of such trafficking, PROSTITUTION AND OTHER FORMS OF COMMERCIAL SEXUAL EXPLOITATION;

NOTE: CEDAW, Art. 6, directs states parties to “suppress all forms of traffic in women and exploitation of prostitution of women.” Beijing Platform for Action’s Strategic Objective D.3 (paragraph 130) directs governments to “eliminate trafficking in women and assist victims of violence due to prostitution and trafficking,” and opposes trafficking for “prostitution and other forms of commercialized sex.” The 1949 Convention for Suppression of Traffic in Persons, Arts 2,3 oppose activities by accomplices as well as direct traffickers in women.

h) protect women from gender-based violence during situation of IN armed conflict and war and ensure that such violence is treated and prosecuted as war crimes, and/or crimes against humanity, AND/OR GENOCIDE WHEN WARRANTED BY THE CIRCUMSTANCES;

i) respect and ensure respect for the provisions of the international humanitarian law applicable to situations of armed conflicts that affect the civilian population in general and women in particular;

j) protect asylum seeking, refugee, returnee, internally displaced women and girls against all forms of violence, abuse, rape and other forms of sexual exploitation, and ensure that women asylum seekers enjoy equal access with men to refugee status, determination procedures and women refugees shall be accorded the full protection and benefits guaranteed under international law, including their own identity and other documents;

k) prohibit all medical or scientific experiments on women and girls without their informed consent;

l) make adequate budgetary allocations for the implementation and monitoring of actions aimed at preventing and eradicating violence against women;

m) in those countries where the death penalty still exists, not to carry out death sentences on pregnant and nursing women, and girls.


Article 5
Elimination of Harmful Practices

StateS Parties shall condemn AND PROHIBIT all forms of harmful practices which affect the fundamental human rights of women and girls and which AS A FORM OF DISCRIMINATION are contrary to recognized international standards., and, therefore, commit themselves, inter alia, to STATES PARTIES SHALL TAKE ALL MEASURES NECESSARY TO ELIMINATE SUCH PRACTICES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO:

NOTE: The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child provides at Art. 21(1) that States Parties "shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate harmful social and cultural practices affecting the welfare, dignity, normal growth and development of the child." Similarly, the Convention on the Rights of the Child at Article 24(3) requires States Parties to "take all effective and appropriate measures with a view to abolishing traditional practices prejudicial to the health of children." The Beijing Platform for Action includes in actions to be taken by governments that they "prohibit female genital mutilation wherever it exists" at paragraph 232(h). The current draft text of the Protocol falls below these international standards for governmental action in this area.

a) creatING public awareness in all sectors of society regarding harmful practices through information, formal and informal education, communication and outreach programmes;

b) prohibitING, THROUGH LEGISLATION WITH SANCTIONS, the medicalization and para-medicalization ALL FORMS of female genital mutilation scarification and all other practices and all other forms of violence against women in order to effect a total elimination of such practices, INCLUDING MEDICALIZATION AND PARAMEDICALIZATION. STATES PARTIES SHALL TAKE EFFECTIVE MEASURES TO ENFORCE SUCH PROHIBITION;

c) providING the necessary support to victims of harmful practices through basic services such as professional health AND LEGAL services, emotional and psychological counseling, and skills training aimed at making them self-supporting;

d) protectING those women and girls who are at risk of being subjected to harmful practices and all other forms of violence, abuse and intolerance.


Article 6
Marriage

StateS Parties shall ensure that men and women enjoy equal rights and are regarded as equal partners in marriage. They STATES PARTIES shall enact appropriate national legislative AND OTHER measures to guarantee that:

a) no marriage shall take place without the free will FULL AND FREE CONSENT of both parties;

NOTE: The proposed language is based on the ICCPR Art. 23(3), which provides that “No marriage shall be entered into without the free and full consent of the intending spouses,” and CEDAW Article 16(b), which provides that States Parties shall ensure on a basis of equality of men and women “the same right freely to choose a spouse and to enter into marriage only with their free and full consent.” The language in the current draft Protocol falls below this international standard.

b) The minimum age of marriage for women shall be 18 years;

c) STATES PARTIES SHALL RECOGNIZE AND ENCOURAGE MONOGAMY AS THE PREFERRED FORM OF MARRIAGE. STATES PARTIES SHALL PROTECT AND PROMOTE THE EQUAL RIGHTS OF WOMEN WITHIN MARRIAGE AND FAMILY.

N.B: Three options were put under brackets for further consideration of this sub-article.

Option 1 - [polygamy shall be prohibited].

Option 2 - [they adopt the appropriate measures in order to recognize monogamy as the sole legal form of marriage. However, in existing polygamous situations, State Parties shall commit themselves to guarantee and protect the rights and welfare of women].

Option 3 - [polygamy must be the subject of mutual consent between the parties. The State parties shall commit themselves to guarantee and protect the rights and welfare of the women. However, the State parties shall ensure to encourage monogamy as the preferred form of marriage].


d) every marriage shall be recorded in writing and registered in accordance with national laws, in order to be legally recognized; STATES PARTIES SHALL TAKE ALL NECESSARY MEASURES TO ESTABLISH, MAINTAIN AND PUBLICISE THE EXISTENCE OF MARRIAGE REGISTRIES THAT ARE ACCESSIBLE TO THE POPULATION WITHIN THEIR TERRITORIES AND ENCOURAGE AND EDUCATE THE POPULATION ON THE BENEFIT. NON-REGISTRATION SHALL NOT LEAD TO NON-RECOGNITION OF A MARRIAGE;

e) the husband and wife shall, by mutual agreement, choose their marital regime and place of residence;

f) a married woman shall have the right to keep her maiden name, to use it as she pleases, jointly or separately with husband's surname;

g) a woman shall have the right to keep her nationality, obtain another one or take up the nationality of her husband or AND THE ABILITY WITHOUT LEGAL RESTRICTION TO transfer her nationality to HER HUSBAND AND her children by mutual agreement;

NOTE: The proposed language conforms to the provisions of CEDAW Art.9. As stated in the current draft of the Protocol, paragraph (g) falls below the standard of CEDAW.

h) a man and a woman shall jointly contribute to safeguarding the interests of the family, AND TO protecting and educating their children;

i) during her marriage, a woman shall have the right to acquire her own property and to administer and manage it freely;

J) STATES SHALL NOT ENCOURAGE COHABITION BUT IN SITUATIONS WHERE IT EXISTS STATES PARTIES SHALL COMMIT THEMSELVES TO GUARANTEE AND PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN THOSE RELATIONSHIPS IN REGARDS TO PROPERTY, CUSTODY AND MAINTENANCE OF CHILDREN ARISING OUT OF THE RELATIONSHIP.


Article 7
Separation, divorce and annulment of Marriage

StateS Parties shall enact TAKE appropriate national legislative, ADMINISTRATIVE AND OTHER measures to ensure that men and women enjoy the same ARE ACCORDED EQUAL rights in case of separation, divorce and annulment of marriage. In this regard, they shall ensure that:

a) separation, divorce and annulment of a marriage shall be effected by judicial order;

b) women and men shall have the same EQUAL rights to seek separation, divorce or annulment of a marriage;

c) in case of divorce, annulment of marriage or separation, men and women shall have the same reciprocal EQUAL rights and responsibilities towards their children, SUBJECT TO In any case the interests of the children shall be BEING given paramount importance CONSIDERATION;

d) in case of divorce or annulment of marriage, men and women shall have the same EQUAL rights to an equitable sharing of the joint property deriving from the marriage.

Article 8
Right to Information and Legal Aid
ACCESS TO JUSTICE AND EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW

Women shall have the right to EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW, TO have their cause heard JUDICIALLY and TO EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW. StateS Parties shall have the duty to promote and ensure that the rights of women are protected in this respect. They shall TAKE ALL APPROPRIATE MEASURES TO ENSURE:

a) take all administrative and appropriate measures to ensure equal access of women to EFFECTIVE ACCESS BY WOMEN TO JUDICIAL AND LEGAL SERVICES, INCLUDING LEGAL INFORMATION AND legal aid services;

b) support TO local, national, regional and continental initiatives directed at giving women access to legal aid services;

c) THE ESTABLISHMENT OF set up adequate structures including appropriate
educational structures for all social strata, with particular attention to women, and TO sensitize and inform them of the rights of women and girls;

d) ensure that law enforcement organs PERSONNEL at all levels are aware of AND ENFORCE gender equality RIGHTS and women’s humans AS HUMAN rights and ARE EQUIPPED THROUGH APPROPRIATE TRAINING WITH THE SKILLS TO RESPECT THE ENTITLEMENT OF WOMEN TO EQUAL PROTECTION OF THE LAW AND enforce the law in a gender responsive manner;

e) THAT WOMEN ARE REPRESENTED EQUALLY WITH MEN IN JUDICIAL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT INSTITUTIONS;

f) REFORM OF EXISTING DISCRIMINATORY CUSTOMARY LAWS TO ENSURE RESPECT FOR FUNDAMENTAL WOMEN’S RIGHTS, PARTICULARLY THE RIGHT TO EQUALITY.

NOTE: CEDAW Art. 2(f) provides that governments undertake “to modify or abolish existing laws, regulations, customs and practices which constitute discrimination against women.” CEDAW Art. 2(g) provides that they “repeal all national penal provisions which constitute discrimination against women.”


Article 9
Right to participation in the Political
Process and Decision making

1. StateS Parties shall take specific positive action to promote the equal participation of women in the political life of their countries, ensuring THROUGH AFFIRMATIVE ACTION that:

a) women do participate without any discrimination in all elections;

b) women are represented equally at all levels with men in all electoral and candidate lists;

c) women are equal partners with men at all levels of development and implementation of state policies and development programmes.

2. StateS Parties shall ensure THROUGH AFFIRMATIVE ACTION9 women's increased, significant and effective representation and participation at all levels of decision-making.

3. STATES PARTIES SHALL ENSURE TO UNDERTAKE EQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF POWER AND DECISION MAKING AT ALL LEVELS AND TO UNDERTAKE STATISTICAL GENDER ANALYSIS AND MAINSTREAMING OF A GENDER PERSPECTIVE IN POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUCH PROGRAMMES IN NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.


Article 10
Right to Peace

1. Women have the right to a peaceful existence and the right to participate in the promotion and maintenance of peace.

2. StateS Parties shall take all appropriate measures to ensure the increased participation of women:

a) in programmes of education for peace and a culture of peace;

b) in the structures and processes for conflict prevention, management and resolution at local, national, regional, continental and international levels;

c) in the local, national, sub-regional, regional, continental and international decision making structures to ensure physical, psychological, social and legal protection of asylum seekers, refugees, returnees and displaced persons, in particular women;

d) in all levels of the structures established for the management of camps and asylum areas.

3. StateS Parties shall take the necessary measures to reduce military expenditure significantly in favour of spending on social development in general, and the promotion of women in particular.

4. StateS Parties shall take special measures in accordance with international humanitarian law to ensure:

a) effective protection of women and children in emergency and conflict situations;

b) effective protection of asylum seekers, refugees, returnees and displaced persons, particularly women and girls;

c) full and equal participation in all aspects of planning, formulation and implementation of post conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation.


Article 11
Right to Education and Training

1. StateS Parties shall take all appropriate measures to:

a) eliminate all forms of discrimination against women and girls AND GUARANTEE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND ACCESS in the sphere of education and training;

NOTE: CEDAW, Art. 10, provides for equal “opportunity” and “access” in the educational context, setting the international standard.

b) eliminate all references STEREOTYPES in textbooks and syllabuses to the stereotypes which THAT perpetuate such discrimination;.

c) protect the girl-child from all forms of abuse, including sexual harassment in schools;

D) INTEGRATE GENDER SENSITIZATION AND HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION AT ALL LEVELS OF THE EDUCATION CURRICULUM INCLUDING TEACHER TRAINING;


2. StateS Parties shall take specific positive action to:

a) increase PROMOTE literacy among women;

b) promote education and training for women and girls at all levels and in all disciplines, PARTICULARLY IN THE FIELDS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY;

c) promote the enrolment and retention of girls in schools and other training institutions and the organization of programmes for women and girls who leave school prematurely.


Article 12
Economic and Social Welfare Rights

StateS Parties shall adopt AND ENFORCE legislative and other measures to guarantee women equal opportunities to work. In this respect, they shall:

a) promote equality in access to employment AND CAREER ADVANCEMENT;

NOTE: This language is supported by CEDAW, Art 11 (1) (b) and (c), the international standard, which provides for equality for women in professions and employment, including in promotion.

b) promote the right to equal remuneration for jobs of equal value for men and women;

a) ensure transparency AND THE APPLICATION OF NON-DISCRIMINATORY CRITERIA in recruitment, promotion and dismissal of women and combat and punish sexual harassment in the workplace;

NOTE: CEDAW, Art. 11 (b) expressly provides for “the application of the same criteria for selection in matters of employment” for women as for men, setting the international standard.

d) allow ENSURE women’S freedom to choose their occupation, and protect them from exploitation by their employers violating and exploiting their fundamental rights as recognized and guaranteed by conventions, laws and regulations in force;

NOTE: CEDAW, Art. 11(c), specifically guarantees that “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in the field of employment in order to ensure”…” the right to free choice of profession and employment…”, making merely “allowing” such freedom substantially below the international standard set by CEDAW.

E) ENSURE THE RIGHT EQUALLY WITH MEN TO SOCIAL BENEFITS IN PARTICULAR WITH REFERENCE TO RETIREMENT, UNEMPLOYMENT, OLD AGE AND OTHER INCAPACITY TO WORK;

NOTE: CEDAW, Art. 11(e) specifically provides for such rights, making the absence of such a standard below the international level.

e) create conditions to promote and support the occupations and economic activities of women, in particular, within the informal sector;

f) set up a system of protection and social insurance for women working in the informal sector of the economy and sensitize them to adhere to it;

g) introduce a minimum age of work and prohibit children below that age from working, and prohibit, combat and punish all forms of exploitation of children, especially the girl-child;

h) take the necessary measures to recognize the economic value of the work of women in the home;

i) ADDRESS PREGNANCY NEEDS IN THE WORKPLACE, guarantee adequate and paid pre and post-natal maternity leave in both the private and public sectors, AND PROVIDE DAY CARE FACILITIES AT THE WORK PLACE;

g) SUBJECT TO THE IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS, PROHIBIT DISCRIMINATION INCLUDING DISMISSAL ON THE GROUNDS OF PREGNANCY OR MOTHERHOOD;

NOTE: CEDAW Art. 11(2)(a) clearly mandates that States Parties shall take measures “to prohibit, subject to the imposition of sanctions, dismissal on the grounds of pregnancy or of maternity leave and discrimination in dismissals on the basis of marital status,” making the absence of such a provision beneath CEDAW standards. This standard is underlined by the Declaration on the Rights of Women at Art. 10(2), which requires that “measures shall be taken” to prevent discrimination on grounds of maternity. Article 8 of the European Social Charter protects workers who are mothers, including prohibiting at (2) the dismissal of a woman from employment during pregnancy leave.

j) ensure equality in taxation for men and women;

k) recognize and enforce the right of salaried women to the same allowances and entitlements as those granted to salaried men for their spouses and children;

l) recognize that both parents bear the primary responsibility of upbringing and development of children and that this is a social function for which the State and the private sector take responsibility;

m) take effective legislative and administrative measures to prevent the exploitation and misuse ABUSE of women in advertising practices AND THEIR EXPLOITATION, USE AND ABUSE IN PORNOGRAPHY.




Article 13
SEXUAL Health and Reproductive Rights

1. StateS Parties shall ensure that the right to health of women, including SEXUAL AND reproductive health are respected and promoted. This includes:

a) the right to control their fertility;

b) the right to decide whether to have children, the number of children and the spacing of children;

c) the right to choose any method of contraception;

d) the right to self protect and to be protected against sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS;

e) the right OF WOMEN to be informed on one’s OF THEIR health status and on OF the health status of one’s THEIR partner, particularly if affected with sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO THEIR RIGHT TO PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY;

e) the right to have family planning education, INFORMATION AND SERVICES.

NOTE: CEDAW, Art. 12 (1), obligates States Parties to take measures to ensure “access to health care services, including those related to family planning.” Subparagraph (2) guarantees that women are ensured “appropriate services in connection with pregnancy, confinement and the post-natal period, granting free services where necessary.” Providing education without services in this area falls below CEDAW standards.

2. StateS Parties shall take ALL appropriate measures to:

a) provide adequate, affordable and accessible health services, including information, education and communication programmes to women especially those in rural areas;

b) establish AND ENHANCE EXISTING pre-and post-natal health and nutritional services for women during pregnancy and while they are breast-feeding;

b) protect the reproductive rights of women particularly by authorizing medical abortion ENSURING THAT WOMEN HAVE ACCESS TO SAFE AND LEGAL ABORTION SERVICES AT LEAST in cases of sexual assault, rape, and incest, OR WHERE THEIR LIFE OR PHYSICAL OR MENTAL HEALTH IS IN DANGER.





Article 14
Right to Food Security

StateS Parties shall ensure that women have ENJOY the right to nutritious and adequate food. In this regard, they shall take appropriate measures to:

a) provide women with access to clean drinking water, sources of domestic fuel, land, and the means of producing nutritious food;

b) establish adequate systems of supply and storage to ensure food security AND ENSURE THAT ALL FAMILY MEMBERS, INCLUDING GIRLS, SHALL HAVE EQUAL ACCESS TO NUTRITION AND FOOD.

NOTE: ICESCR, Art 11, recognizes the right of everyone to “adequate food.” Art. 2 guarantees that the rights in the Covenant are exercised without sex discrimination. Pregnant women are guaranteed “adequate nutrition during pregnancy and lactation” in Art. 12(2) of CEDAW.


Article 15
Right to Adequate Housing

1. STATES PARTIES SHALL ENSURE THAT women shall have ENJOY the right to equal access to housing and to acceptable living conditions in a healthy environment. To ensure this right, StateS Parties shall grant to women, whatever their marital status, access to adequate housing.

NOTE: The term “enjoy” is used in CEDAW, Art. 14 (2)(h), providing for women’s right to “adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing…”

2. STATES PARTIES SHALL PROTECT WOMEN FROM FORCED EVICTIONS AND DESTRUCTION OR DEMOLITION OF THEIR HOMES.


Article 16
Right to Positive Cultural Context

1. Women shall have the right to live in a positive AND NONDISCRIMINATORY cultural context WITHOUT DEGRADING PORTRAYALS OF WOMEN and to participate at all levels in the determination of cultural policies.

2. StateS Parties shall take all appropriate measures to enhance the participation of women in the formulation AND IMPLEMENTATION of cultural policies at all levels.


Article 17
Right to a Healthy and Sustainable Environment

1. Women shall have the right to live in a healthy and sustainable environment.

2. StateS Parties shall take all appropriate measures to:

a) ensure a greater participation of women in the planning, management and preservation of the environment at all levels;

b) promote research AND INVESTMENT into new and renewable energy sources AND APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGIES and facilitate women's access to AND CONTROL OF them;

c) regulate the management, processing and storage of domestic waste;

d) ensure that proper standards are followed for the storage, transportation and disposal of toxic waste.


Article 18
Right to Sustainable Development

Women shall have the right to fully enjoy their right to sustainable development. In this connection, the StateS Parties shall take all appropriate measures to:

a) introduce SEX EQUALITY AND the gender MAINSTREAMING issue inTO the national development planning procedures;

b) ensure, THROUGH AFFIRMATIVE ACTION, participation of women at all levels in the conceptualization, decision-making implementation, and evaluation of development policies and programmes;

c) promote women’s access to and control over productive resources such as INCLUDING land and guarantee their right to property;

d) promote women’s access to MACRO AND MICRO ENTERPRISES, credit, training, skills development and extension services at rural and urban levels in order to provide IMPROVE women’S with a quality of life and reduce the level of poverty among women;

e) take into account indicators of human development specifically relating to women INCLUDING GENDER DISAGGREGATED DATA in the elaboration of development policies and programmes; and

f) ensure that the negative effects of globalization and any adverse effects of the implementation of trade and economic policies and programmes be reduced to the minimum for women.
Article 19
Widows' Rights

1. StateS Parties shall take appropriate legal measures to ensure that widowS enjoy all human rights through the implementation of the following provisions:

a) prohibit that widows be subjected to inhuman, humiliating and/or degrading treatment;

b) widows shall become, de facto, the guardians and custodians of their children, after the death of their husband, unless this is contrary to the interests and the welfare of the children;

c) widows shall have the right to marry the person of their choice.

2. THE WIDOW SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO AN EQUITABLE SHARE IN THE INHERITANCE OF THE PROPERTY OF HER HUSBAND. SHE WILL RETAIN THAT RIGHT IN THE EVENT OF REMARRIAGE. THE WIDOW SHALL HAVE THE RIGHT TO CONTINUE TO LIVE IN THE MATRIMONIAL HOUSE, WHATEVER BE THE MATRIMONIAL REGIME. HOWEVER, SHE SHALL LOSE THAT RIGHT IN THE EVENT OF REMARRIAGE.


Article 20
Right to Inheritance

1. The widow shall have the right to an equitable share in the inheritance of the property of her husband. The widow shall have the right to continue to live in the matrimonial house, whatever be the matrimonial regime. However, she shall lose that right in the event of remarriage.

2. Women and girls shall have the same rights as men and boys to inherit, in equitable shares., their parents' properties.

Article 21
Special Protection of Elderly Women
and Women with Disability

StateS Parties shall undertake to:

a) provide protection to elderly women, poor women and women heads of families and take specific measures commensurate with their physical, ECONOMIC and moral SOCIAL needs;

b) ENSURE THE RIGHT OF ELDERLY WOMEN TO FREEDOM FROM VIOLENCE, INCLUDING SEXUAL ABUSE, DISCRIMINATION BASED ON AGE AND THE RIGHT TO BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY.

ARTICLE []
SPECIAL PROTECTION OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES

STATES PARTIES SHALL UNDERTAKE TO:

a) provide protection to women with disabilities and take specific measures commensurate with their physical, economic and social needs as well as their access to employment and professional training;

b) ENSURE THE RIGHT OF WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES TO FREEDOM FROM VIOLENCE, INCLUDING SEXUAL ABUSE, DISCRIMINATION BASED ON DISABILITY AND THE RIGHT TO BE TREATED WITH DIGNITY.


Article 22
Monitoring AND COMPLIANCE
(N.B. this sub-article was put under brackets for further consideration)

[1. StateS Parties shall ensure the implementation of this Protocol at national level and give a report as part of the report submitted under article 62 of the African Charter, stating the measures undertaken for the full realization of the rights contained and recognized by this Protocol. ANY PROCEDURES OR REMEDIES THAT ARISE UNDER OR PERTAIN TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE AFRICAN CHARTER SHALL BE EQUALLY APPLICABLE TO THE PROVISIONS OF THIS PROTOCOL.

NOTE: This suggested provision ensures without ambiguity that women receive no less protection for their rights expressly recognized under this Protocol than are provided in the African Charter.

2. StateS Parties to the Protocol shall ensure that:

a) any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated, shall have an effective remedy ;

b) such a remedy shall be determined by competent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities, or by any other competent authority provided for by the legal system of the State.]


Article 23
Interpretation

The African Court COMMISSION on Human and Peoples' Rights shall be seized with matters of interpretation arising from the application or implementation of this Protocol UNTIL SUCH TIME AS THE AFRICAN COURT IS ESTABLISHED WHEREBY BOTH WILL BE SEIZED WITH MATTERS OF INTERPRETATION.




Article 24
Signature, Ratification and Accession

1. This Protocol shall be open to signature, ratification and accession by the StateS Parties, in accordance with their respective constitutional procedures.

2. The instruments of ratification or accession shall be deposited with the Secretary General of the OAU.

Article 25
Entry into Force

1. This Protocol shall enter into force thirty (30) days after the deposit of the fifteenth (15) instrument of ratification.

2. For each of the State Party that accedes to this Protocol after its coming into force, the Protocol shall come into force at the date of deposit of the instrument of accession.

3. The Secretary General of the OAU shall inform the StateS Parties of the coming into force of this Protocol.

Article 26
Amendment and Revision

1. Any State Party may submit proposals for the amendment or revision of this Protocol.

2. Proposals for amendment or revision shall be submitted, in writing, to the Secretary General of the OAU who shall transmit same to the StateS Parties within thirty (30) days of receipt thereof.

3. The Assembly, upon advice of the African Commission, shall examine these proposals within a period of one (1) year following notification of StateS Parties, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 2 of this article.

4. Amendments or revision shall be adopted by the Assembly by consensus or, failing which, by a simple majority.

[5. The Commission may also, through the Secretary General of the OAU, propose amendments to this Protocol].

N.B. (this sub-article was put under brackets for further consideration.)

6. The amendment shall come into force for each State Party which has accepted it thirty (30) days after the Secretary General of the OAU has received notice of the acceptance.


Article 27
Status of the Present Protocol

1. EVERY WOMAN SHALL BE ENTITLED TO THE ENJOYMENT OF THE RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS RECOGNIZED AND GUARANTEED IN THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES’ RIGHTS AND THE PRESENT PROTOCOL, WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF ANY KIND.

2. None of the provisions of the present Protocol shall affect more favorable provisions for the realization of rights of women contained in the national legislation of StateS Parties or in any other regional, sub-regional, continental or international conventions, treaties or agreements applicable in these StateS Parties.

3. IN FULFILLMENT OF ARTICLE 18(3) OF THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLES' RIGHTS, EVERY WOMAN HAS THE RIGHT TO THE RECOGNITION, ENJOYMENT, EXERCISE AND PROTECTION OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS, AND FREEDOMS EMBODIED IN REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL DECLARATIONS AND CONVENTIONS.

NOTE: These general provisions aim to ensure that women’s rights under the present Protocol do not fall below those guaranteed under the African Charter and other regional and international instruments.

More...

africa: war and armed conflict

2003-02-06

http://www.whrnet.org/docs/issue-warconflict.html

There are more than thirty undeclared wars and internal conflicts taking place in the world at present. The impact of this situation on women, who are affected both as combatants and as civilians living in combat zones, is manifold. However, the stereotype of war as fought among soldiers in the battlefield is very far from the reality of today's wars and conflicts, which take place in the midst of civilian populations and inflict untold brutality and hardship on non-combatants. It is now estimated that 90 percent of war casualties are among ordinary civilians, according to this document, War and Armed Conflicts, by Niamh Reilly from WHRnet.

Africa: Zero tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation conference

2003-02-06

http://www.brunei-online.com/bb/wed/feb5w17.htm

African leaders and international organisations begun a three-day conference in the Ethiopian capital to declare, “zero tolerance” of the widespread practice of female genital mutilation. The conference, also to be attended by African first ladies, intends to declare 6 February a “World Day for zero tolerance for female genital mutilation,” said the Inter-African Committee on Traditional Practices, the organiser of the conference.

Benin: Groups Welcome New Law Banning Female Genital Mutilation

2003-02-06

http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=15538

Rights groups have welcomed a new law, banning all forms of female genital mutilation in Benin. ''I am pleased with the passage of the law, because, of all the countries in the sub-region, Benin was the last to outlaw female genital mutilation,'' says Genevieve Boko Nadjo, president of WILDAF-Benin, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dealing with women issues.

congo: response To Questions Raised In Women's Anti-discrimination Committee

2003-02-06

http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/ED8BA3E3E0AADB51C1256CBE002CFED3?opendocument

Since ratifying the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women in 1983, the Republic of the Congo had eliminated discriminatory laws and drafted other legislation to ensure gender equality, that country's representative has told the Convention's monitoring body.

ethiopia: Women Protest Against Female Genital Mutilation

2003-02-06

http://allafrica.com/stories/200302050110.html

Four wives of African presidents joined hundreds of women in Addis Ababa on Tuesday to call for zero tolerance to female genital mutilation. The wives of leaders from Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Mali and Guinea condemned the traditional practice as barbaric and called for international action against it.

KENYA: Rights groups condemn rape by police

2003-02-06

Kenyan women's rights groups have expressed outrage at recent incidents in which policemen have been accused of rape, and urged the authorities to take appropriate action to instil discipline within the force in order to stamp out such crimes.
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

KENYA: Rights groups condemn rape by police

NAIROBI, 6 February (IRIN) - Kenyan women's rights groups have expressed outrage at recent incidents in which policemen have been accused of rape, and urged the authorities to take appropriate action to instil discipline within the force in order to stamp out such crimes.

Simon Ndudu, a policeman in Nairobi's Kamukunji area, was arrested on Monday, and has been charged with raping a 14-year-old orphaned girl. His arrest came in response to pressure from outraged women's groups. Sources said the girl, who had travelled to the capital, Nairobi, to seek a relative for financial assistance, was still in hospital following surgery.

Two other cases - one involving a four-year-old child, and the other, a 22-year old woman, both also reportedly raped by policemen - were reported this week, but suspects are yet to be arrested.

According to the Coalition on Violence Against Women (COVAW), the three rape cases are a sign that sexual offences are rampant not only among the public but also within the police force country-wide, but most go unreported as victims are intimidated.

COVAW's Anne Gathumbi told IRIN that two out of every five women in Nairobi suffered sexual abuse. "The problem is that what we are seeing are just the reported cases, but the actual figures could be staggering," she said.

Gathumbi also complained of delays affecting the arrests of suspects. She told IRIN that although the 14-year-old had reported the offence immediately after it occurred on 30 January, the suspect was not arrested until five days later. "It is good he [the policeman] has been charged, but we are watching very closely to ensure the due process of the law is followed," Gathumbi said.

According to media reports, when the girl went to the nearby police station, officers on duty refused to take her statement, saying she could not sue a policeman. Women's groups also want those policemen to face charges.

The Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA), Kenya chapter, said it would assist the minor and her family to pursue the case. "We note the callous attitude demonstrated by the officers who were on duty at the time the girl went to report the abuse," FIDA said in a statement. "To say that they would not take her statement because the perpetrator of the abuse is a policeman amounts to complicity on their part. They too must be investigated with a view to having disciplinary action taken against them."

The Kenya Anti-Rape Organisation, an NGO, said it was "unfortunate" that the crime was committed by a law enforcer. "We condemn the heinous crime involving the defilement of minors, especially when committed by people in law enforcement," the East African Standard quoted Abeyd Anyanzwa, the organisation's secretary-general, as saying.

The rapes have brought the police force's already damaged image into sharp focus, especially in the context of the new government, which came to power in December 2002 and immediately pledged to uphold human rights.



[ENDS]

[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's IRIN
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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2003

More...

KENYA: Women complain over latest appointments

2003-02-06

http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32066

Barely a month in power, the new government of President Mwai Kibaki is coming under fire from certain sectors regarding the latest senior appointments. The latest voice of discontent has come from the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) - Kenya chapter, which claimed that recent political appointments were particularly unfair to women.

kenya: Women's Soccer Teams Skyrocket

2003-02-06

http://www.wenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1204

Once a sport restricted to men, soccer is slowly picking up among young women in Kenya. When the country's soccer federation launched a women's league, it quickly attracted a dozen teams.

nigeria: Empowering Women for National Development

2003-02-06

http://allafrica.com/stories/200302030817.html

Touched by the prevalent poverty among rural women, a non-governmental organisation is providing micro credit facilities to women at the grassroots with the conviction that it will empower them economically. The Women Organisation For Gender Issues (WOGI) grants small loans to women who have viable business proposals. The beneficiaries of the loans are expected to repay within a 12-month period. The loan is interest free.

CONGO: Rights groups seek revision of outdated laws

2003-02-06

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32132

Activists in the Republic of Congo (ROC) have called on the government to bring outdated laws on human rights into line with international conventions, and to ratify the International Criminal Court. The appeal was issued on 31 January, at the conclusion of a major multi-sectoral human rights conference held in the capital, Brazzaville.

kenya: Wave of Workers Strikes Continues Countrywide

2003-02-06

http://allafrica.com/stories/200302030951.html

A wave of strikes continued to sweep across the country this week as thousands of workers downed tools over various grievances. In the recent past, there has been a wave of workers strikes country-wide protesting exploitative employment.

malawi: students riot over 'third term'

2003-02-06

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2713395.stm

Students in Malawi have set fire to the ruling party offices over President Bakili Muluzi's attempt to alter the constitution to stay in power.

nigeria: poll date will not be shifted, says inec

2003-02-06

http://allafrica.com/stories/200302050438.html

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has turned down a request by the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari for the date of the presidential polls to be adjusted. In a February 3 letter to the INEC, Buhari asked for an adjustment, saying the elections - due for Saturday, April 19 - fell within the Christian holy week of Easter.

nigeria: The U.S. and Nigeria: thinking beyond oil

2003-02-06

Most Nigerian and outside analysts agree that Nigeria neither faces nor poses a significant external security threat. The real security threats to Nigerians are internal, and directly related to the economic and social issues. As poverty, AIDS, and inequality increase, can the country avoid a return to military rule? Can politicians and the military dampen and manage conflicts among Nigeria's diverse peoples, or will they exploit and exacerbate the divisions? Can the police and justice system improve their capacity to provide protection against both violent crime and its white-collar counterpart? In the long term, Nigeria's role as a force for regional stability will depend on answers to these questions. This is according to an article published by Africa Action, that includes information on US policy towards Nigeria, the problem of debt and public investment and the Nigerian diaspora.
The U.S. and Nigeria: thinking beyond oil

by Salih Booker and William Minter

Great Decisions 2003 (http://www.greatdecisions.org)

This article was published as one chapter in Great Decisions 2003,
a briefing book published by the Foreign Policy Association to be
used by hundreds of study groups around the U.S. during the year
2003. A TV program on the topic is also airing on PBS as part of
the Great Decisions TV series. A pdf version of the article,
including color photographs and other illustrations (3.8 M in size)
is available at http://www.africaaction.org/featdocs/nig2003.pdf
The full text of the article, with no graphics, is also available
at http://www.africaaction.org/featdocs/nig2003.htm

Introduction

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, is also the most important
state in U.S.-Africa relations today. Nigeria is America's major
trading partner in Africa. It plays the largest role of any country
in peacekeeping efforts on the continent. Nigeria's attempt to
build democracy from the ashes of authoritarian rule will arguably
have even more consequential effects for the continent than South
Africa's victory over apartheid in 1994. Although it is oil that
attracts Washington's attention the most, the ramifications of
Nigeria's success or failure will extend far beyond the energy
sector.

In past centuries, Nigeria's territory was home to a series of
powerful and technically advanced societies, renowned for their
artistic, commercial and political achievements. It was also a
pioneer in the movement for African independence. But since
independence its growth has been stunted by internal conflict and
military misrule.

Yet today, Nigeria is again one of Africa's most influential
countries. Its unique human resources and vast oil reserves create
the capacity for enormous prosperity and regional leadership. In
2002, Nigeria was the fifth-largest supplier of oil to the U.S.,
ranking behind only Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Venezuela.
Along with Royal Dutch Shell, a British-Dutch firm, U.S. oil
supermajors ChevronTexaco and ExxonMobil Corp. dominate oil
production in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Since emerging from
military dictatorship in 1999, its nascent democratic institutions
have survived huge challenges but have performed disappointingly in
the eyes of tens of millions of Nigerians. Their capacity to
deliver the peace and prosperity Nigerians want is still unproved.
The fate of Nigeria has profound implications for the entire
continent: both the potential and the obstacles are on the giant
scale of the country itself.

Presently, the Bush Administration is inclined to give even greater
attention to the strategic significance of West African oil than
did previous Administrations. Yet a long-term view of U.S.-Nigerian
relations must confront fundamental issues of democracy, conflict
resolution, resource use, the environment and poverty. Nigeria's
interests are in harnessing the country's wealth to achieve
development while building a stable democratic political system.
U.S. long-term interests are the same. Competing U.S. domestic
constituencies with interests in Nigeria include the big oil
companies, banks and investment houses, and the multiple
Africa-interest groupings among African-Americans, religious
groups, organized labor, environmentalists, global justice
advocates and human-rights organizations. In addition, the rapidly
growing Nigerian-American community is a well-educated and well-
positioned segment of the American immigrant community. Meanwhile,
the accelerating process of globalization is driving ever-closer
and more-intricate interaction between the two countries on matters
of trade, immigration, and shared regional and global concerns.
Realizing the positive potential of those ties requires going
beyond "business-as-usual" thinking.

Nigeria, whose almost 130 million people make up nearly one sixth
of Africa's population, reflects virtually all the major problems
confronting the continent. Its success or failure will resonate far
beyond its immediate neighbors in West Africa. The HIV/AIDS
pandemic, the crippling debt burden, protection of the environment
against corporate greed, the need to break out of dependence on
raw-material exports, the establishment of peaceful Muslim-
Christian and ethnoregional relations and balancing national and
local government accountability are all cases in point.

In Nigeria, as around the world, oil has been a source of great
wealth. But dependence on oil has also fostered conflict,
environmental damage, gross economic injustice, corruption and
shortsighted economic policies.

The key test for U.S. policy toward Nigeria is whether public
pressure can force policymakers to think beyond a narrow focus on
oil. If so, then there is great potential for sustainable benefits
for both countries. If not, then narrow elites may gain short-term
profit, but the long-term prospects for most Nigerians will be
bleak, and enduring U.S. interests will suffer as well.

One fundamental prerequisite for dealing with particular issues is
that Americans become more aware of the richness and complexity of
Nigeria's history, Nigeria's people, and the current initiatives
Nigerians are taking to solve their own problems. Outside formulas
for solving these problems will inevitably fail. But U.S. actions
can do much to hinder or help.

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

Oil, environment, and resource use

[not in this posting: see full text at
]http://www.africaaction.org/featdocs/nig2003.htm]

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

Debt and loot vs. public investment

With the economy so heavily dependent on oil, the income Nigeria
receives fluctuates wildly, depending on international oil prices.
Prices soared in the 1970s and dropped in the 1980s. Despite
somewhat greater stability in the 1990s, the price in recent years
has ranged between slightly more than $10 a barrel (in Jan. 1999)
and almost $29 a barrel (in Sept. 2002).

Poverty, however, has shown a consistent rising trend. The
proportion of Nigerians living in poverty increased from 28% in
1980 to 66% in 1996 to about 70% in 2000. As much as 90% of
national wealth is estimated to be in the hands of only 10% of the
population, and an average of 3 million people a year enter the
saturated job market without skills.

Much of the wealth that has flowed in has also flowed out, to pay
interest on foreign loans or to swell foreign bank accounts held by
corrupt officials. A sustainable future for Nigeria's economy
requires not only that current oil income be spent productively,
but also that steps be taken to halt the drain of over $3 billion
a year in debt service and to recover billions more in overseas
assets stolen by former military rulers.

The return to elected government in 1999, and the approach of new
elections in 2003, has created incentives for politicians at
national, state and local levels to seek to deliver new benefits to
voters. Both civil society and the press have added their voices to
calls to deliver the democracy dividend. But there are serious
questions about how that can be done.

International financial institutions focus their advice on
maintaining macroeconomic stability, with the usual prescriptions
for budget cutting, privatization and reducing regulation. They
also now recognize the need to combat corruption, on which Nigerian
civil society, the UN and international development groups all
agree. But the latter stress that balanced budgets and conventional
economic management will be ineffective or counterproductive unless
there is a quantum leap in long-term investment in health,
education and infrastructure.

As of the year 2000, Nigeria was spending less then 1% of national
income (gross domestic product, or GDP) on health and less than 1%
on education, with more than 2. 5% going to pay off foreign debts.
Spending has increased somewhat since then, but does not begin to
approach the 15% on health targeted by African leaders at their
summit on AIDS in the Nigerian capital in April 2001. Yet the HIV-
infection rate in Nigeria is now estimated to have passed 5% for
adults, the point at which experts say the pandemic threatens its
most explosive growth. With Nigerian journalists and civic groups
increasingly vocal, public awareness is growing that failure to
confront this threat will undermine any prospect of economic growth
under any model. But the scale of the response does not match the
magnitude of the threat.

Both international and national studies show that investment in
health, education and information infrastructure is essential for
countries like Nigeria to make a new economic start. Yet finding
the resources requires the political will to act by Nigeria's
creditors as well as Nigerians themselves, on two fronts: debt
cancellation and corruption.

Nigeria owes approximately $29 billion to foreign creditors, much
of it the result of loans they knowingly provided to corrupt and
repressive governments. In 2001 Nigeria paid $2.1 billion on its
debts, 10 times its spending on health that year. Yet Nigeria is
not even included in the World Bank's Heavily Indebted Poor
Countries (HIPC) initiative because it doesn't meet the bank's
GDP-based criteria for what constitutes a "poor" country. In
September 2002, the government said it would only be able to pay
$1.5 billion of the $3.2 billion due for the year. International
economist Jeffrey Sachs and others proposed that Nigeria and other
African countries simply stop paying debt and invest the resources
in health. But Nigerian officials engaged in negotiations with
creditors felt unable to take such decisive action. While President
Obasanjo continued to call for full cancellation, the debts stayed
on the books.

Culture of corruption

Similar obstacles faced efforts to recover stolen wealth and combat
corruption. Internally, the government faced a pervasive culture of
corruption. While President Obasanjo himself has a reputation for
personal honesty and his administration has launched significant
anticorruption measures, last year Nigeria still ranked as the
second-most-corrupt country in the world according to polls by
Transparency International (an organization of which Obasanjo was
a founding member).

Both Nigerian and international observers, however, have often
noted that this level of corruption would be impossible without
external partners. Former military ruler Sani Abacha, for example,
is estimated to have siphoned off $4 billion to foreign bank
accounts. The Obasanjo administration has been engaged in efforts
to recuperate some of these resources, through negotiations with
the Abacha family and pressure on banks in Europe and North
America. These efforts have not yet succeeded, however, and civil
society groups were scathingly critical of a proposed settlement
that would allow the Abacha family to retain $100 million if they
returned $1 billion.

In Nigeria, as in the case of other oil-producing countries,
tracking and controlling the huge sums of money paid by oil
companies requires not only vigilant national governments and
press. It also requires transparency by oil companies and banks and
proactive regulation and investigation by the governments of the
countries where those giant enterprises are based.

In sum, whether it is combating AIDS, removing the debt overhang,
or fighting corruption in public spending, redirecting Nigeria's
economy will require action not only by Nigerians but by those
outsiders who now profit from Nigeria's wealth.

Nigeria's human security imperatives

Most Nigerian and outside analysts agree that Nigeria neither faces
nor poses a significant external security threat. Discontent over
the 2002 International Court of Justice ruling for Cameroon on the
disputed potentially oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula in the east might
lead to incidents. But the real security threats to Nigerians are
internal, and directly related to the economic and social issues.
As poverty, AIDS, and inequality increase, can the country avoid a
return to military rule? Can politicians and the military dampen
and manage conflicts among Nigeria's diverse peoples, or will they
exploit and exacerbate the divisions? Can the police and justice
system improve their capacity to provide protection against both
violent crime and its white-collar counterpart? In the long term,
Nigeria's role as a force for regional stability will depend on
answers to these questions.

In one area, President Obasanjo has won credit for lessening the
chances of backsliding into military rule. He quickly retired the
so-called "political soldiers" who had held political office while
on active duty and reinforced those officers committed to military
professionalism. Despite popular disappointment with the dividends
of democracy, polls show that more than 70% of Nigerians strongly
oppose a return to military rule.

Yet the overall record is much more mixed. Since the return to
civilian rule in 1999, communal violence and, in some cases, harsh
military action to repress violence, has cost some 10,000 lives.
The roots of violence are neither ethnic nor religious, commented
The Economist (London), September 15-21, 2001, echoing the
consensus among analysts. But when conflict explodes in Nigeria's
crowded cities or in rural areas beset by competition for land,
communal dividing lines may quickly become battle lines. Violence
broke out between Muslims and Christians on several occasions in
2001 and 2002, in Kano and Kaduna in the North, Jos in central
Nigeria, and southern cities as well. In most of these incidents,
with the noticeable exception of Jos in September 2001, the
military responded quickly and professionally to limit the
violence. At Odi in the Niger Delta in 1999, and in Benue state in
2001, however, the military itself killed hundreds of civilians in
retaliation against communities. The military and President
Obasanjo have resisted open inquiries into responsibilities for
these abuses.

The essential prerequisite for the needed changes, says leading
Nigerian security studies scholar Dr. Said Adejumobi of Lagos State
University, is building in new structures for broader
accountability. Greater discipline and professionalism in the
military is to be applauded, but it is not enough. The 1999
constitution, for example, gives wide powers to the National
Assembly for oversight of the military. With the principle of
civilian control well established, the Ministry of Defense and
Ministry of Finance could also take more decisive action. But both
expertise and political will are lacking.

Ultimately, whether the Nigerian military is held accountable
depends on whether the politicians themselves are held accountable
by voters, the press and public opinion. Elections in 2003 will
provide a key test of whether democratic institutions can not only
survive but become more effective.

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

A giant that has not yet found its feet;
The U.S., democracy, and human rights

[these two sections not in this posting: see full text at
]http://www.africaaction.org/featdocs/nig2003.htm]

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

The Role of the Nigerian Diaspora

No one knows the exact numbers, but it is estimated that as many as
15 million Nigerians live outside the country, in neighboring
countries and across the African continent, in Britain and
throughout the Commonwealth, in other European countries, and in
many Asian countries as well. The latest U.S. census data counts
87,000 U.S. residents born in Nigeria. If children born in the U.S.
are included, these numbers would expand to between 200,000 and
300,000 in the Nigerian-American community. Few Nigerian immigrants
or other observers doubt that even this estimate is much too low.

Nigerians abroad excel in many areas and are found among top
professionals in academic, medical and other sectors. A
Nigerian-American heads Credit Suisse First Boston, one of the
leading American investment banks. The Association of Nigerian
Physicians in the Americas numbers more than 2,500 doctors in the
U.S. and Canada, and in most countries of the Western Hemisphere it
would be hard to find a university without a Nigerian on the
faculty.

There is also a minority of Nigerians who have turned their talents
to crime, leading to widespread stereotypes justifiably resented by
the vast majority of immigrants. The "419" scam, for example, named
after the clause in the Nigerian criminal code for fraud, now finds
gullible victims worldwide through Internet email. No one knows
whether the majority of con artists using it are Nigerians at home
or abroad, or copycats who have followed their example.

Less publicized are the contributions of Nigerian immigrants in the
U.S., many of them naturalized U.S. citizens, to their professions
and communities. With African immigrants at the highest educational
level of immigrants from any continent, and Nigerians among the
best-educated of national groups, the returns from the investments
their families and communities made in their education are in large
part being reaped here in the U.S.

Even less noticed are the quiet contributions Nigerian families are
making by sending remittances to relatives at home for school fees,
medical care and simple survival. Or the volunteer efforts of
computer professionals on visits home, bringing equipment and
expertise. Or the nonprofit organizations as well as business
ventures that support schools, clinics, small businesses, or local
governments back home in Nigeria. A study published by the Federal
Reserve Bank of Chicago, for example, estimated that family
remittances to Nigeria were equivalent to more than $1. 3 billion,
more than six times the annual flow of foreign aid to Nigeria.
Based on research among Nigerian immigrants in Chicago, the study
also estimated that they sent home an average of $6, 000 a year, or
12% of household income.

The Nigerian-American community is growing and becoming more active
in American political life. There are local elected officials who
are Nigerian born, and the Nigerian-American vote is significant in
key cities such as Chicago where it helped to unseat Sen. Carol
Mosley-Braun (D-Ill.) because of her dalliances with the Abacha
regime. The increase in this community's participation in U.S.
policy debates on Nigeria will become a major influence in years
ahead.

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

U.S. policy options; Questions; Readings and Resources

[these three sections not in this posting: see full text at
]http://www.africaaction.org/featdocs/nig2003.htm]

+++++++++++++++++++++Document Profile+++++++++++++++++++++

Date distributed (ymd): 030203
Region: West Africa
Issue Areas: +political/rights+ +economy/development+
+security/peace+ +US policy focus+

************************************************************
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More...

rwanda: Released Genocide Suspects Begin Re-Education

2003-02-06

http://allafrica.com/stories/200301310110.html

Some 19,000 genocide prisoners granted provisional release by President Paul Kagame began two months of re-education last Friday at solidarity camps throughout the country's 11 provinces and the City of Kigali.

South Africa: COSATU assures members over deregistration

2003-02-06

http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=906

COSATU this week admitted that six of its affiliated trade unions were among those the labour department has found to be in contravention of the regulations of the Labour Relations Act and thus being targeted for possible action against them.

South Africa: Some ANC policies and decisions unilateral - SADTU

2003-02-06

http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=907

The South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) general secretary has blamed lack of engagement and consultation within the tripartite alliance for the frequent differences between the African National Congress (ANC) and its partners, COSATU and the SA Communist Party.

Sudan: Preliminary conclusions of Amnesty International's mission

2003-02-06

http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/recent/AFR540032003!Open

Amnesty International delegates visiting the Sudan in the first official mission allowed for 13 years welcomed the growing openness in the country, but expressed concern at continuing arbitrary and incommunicado detention, unfair trials as well as the forced recruitment of children and displacement of civilians by all