Pambazuka News 458: Women’s rights: Looking back or moving forward?
Pambazuka News 458: Women’s rights: Looking back or moving forward?
Armed with a university certificate, Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji returned to her pastoralist community in Garissa, northeastern Kenya, expecting to serve as a veterinary health assistant. But she was refused the job.
Next year’s elections in Burundi, billed as a milestone on the country’s long road to sustainable peace, could trigger more conflict because of a combination of widespread illegal weapons and well-organized youth wings of political parties, according to analysts.
Chief Resident Magistrate Charles Kafunda on 16 November 2009 acquitted Post News Editor Chansa Kabwela of the case in which she was charged with one court of circulating obscene materials or things that corrupt moral contrary to section 177 1 (b) of the Penal Code chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia. Kabwela allegedly circulated the pictures between June 1 and 10, 2009 in Lusaka and the Zambian Government premised their case on the notion that the images tended to corrupt morals.
Latest analysis by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), has revealed that for the week of 30 October 2009 to 5 November 2009, a whopping 82 percent of the national broadcaster, the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC)’s election campaign news coverage was devoted to the ruling South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO) rallies, while the next highest party coverage was a mere four percent.
Three employees with the state-controlled Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH), O’brien Rwafa, Jacob Phiri and Freedom Moyo, were last week suspended for 10 days after being accused of leaking information on a government directive to stop covering government ministers who are members of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
In this week's emerging powers roundup, China is set to have a massive foreign exchange surplus for the foreseeable future, gobbling up natural resources producers in Africa and elsewhere, and is starting to pay more attention to its press, given its position as a major trading partner.
This report builds on field research conducted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Gabon in 2008 and 2009. While few of the Chinese company representatives in both Gabon and the DRC consulted for this study were aware of the EITI, all of them expressed great interest in the notion of an overarching transparency initiative.
This paper attempts to analyse Africa’s strategic partnerships: the Africa–Indian Forum Summit, Africa–Europe Summit, China–Africa Cooperation Forum (South–South) and the Africa–South America cooperation (South–South).
China has dramatically increased its participation in United Nations peace operations in recent years. China now provides more uniformed personnel than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil producer, said the Ghanaian government has not allowed it to bid for Kosmos Energy LLC’s assets in the African nation.
In this week’s [mp3], Botswana's Debswana dispute goes to mediation, Swaziland Democracy NOW! Campaign to be launched, and Togo hosts conference of precarious work. This bulletin is part of a partnership between Worker’s World Media Productions and Pambazuka News that seeks to highlight labour issues affecting Africa’s workers.
Pambazuka News 457: Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai's terrifying gamble
Pambazuka News 457: Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai's terrifying gamble
While the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama has understandably enjoyed the lion's share of media comment, Elinor Ostrom's success in jointly receiving the economics prize with Oliver E. Williamson may well prove of greater significance for Africans, writes Korir Sing’Oei.
Lion of hearts
turned to
desert's
dust
blown'n
to wilderness
you
soul of sev'n
part'd years
con-se-quen'tial
supa-politico
text of
world-ly
men's heart
burn'st
you
crack'd dreams
suns and stars
scatter'd
into flight
you
left origin
erstwhile
made you
swallow d'tongue
lockt your lips
once
river-lips
made
voice-less
you, now
turn to
phantoms
of false night
to love
your lips
phantasm-iz'd
bury'n
d'lion's heart
that d'scended
from a place
of saints and sages
you
bend'n anew, to
d'cultured will
dom-in-nance
veild d'lamp
that shun'
on darkenss
ef-face'n
you
folly pillag'd
you
unequal halves
deceiv'd you
foolish thrust
of two world's
hollow'd
your hol
abode
in d'destined hour
tower of darkness
morph'd
you
identity
expropriat'd
you
perch'd behind
colors, blows of red
you, buri'd
what bled
hid'n from
d'night and dayz
masquerad'd
dust of soul
you
now
lust on
d'modernize dayz
daze'd
you
lost what is of "I"
dispossess'd
of "I" by him
to become
another him
to be at all
in relation
to whom?
...to him?
lost, not here nor there
you get closer
to what's there
you, now
shamed to speak
ours, mine, your
mother tongue
you
fall over names
you
stride profess'n
prophet-like
enunciat'n
d'Lord's wisdom
you
perfect'd d'accent
venerating
d'colonized tongue.
You, not here nor there
leaves of life keep falling
again, and again, and again, and again...
Following the revelations around the true age of Nigeria under-17 captain Fortune Chukwudi, Sabella Ogbobode Abidde writes in full support of the honesty of one of the player's former coaches, Adokiye Amiesimaka. As Amiesimaka faces ridicule and defamation of character, Abidde decries the behaviour of the supposedly religious individuals attacking a man who was only telling the truth.
Isaac Newton Kinity stresses that arguments around election rigging are no excuse for Kenya's 2007–08 post-election violence.
While the Zambian government is seemingly content to make nonsensical noises on the subject of the country's Freedom of Information (FoI) bill, it should accept critical perspectives as the words of people who love their country, writes Henry Kyambalesa.
Referring to the misunderstandings, discrimination and at times outright hostility faced by Kenya's transsexuals, Audrey Mbugua discusses the day-to-day hardships faced by transsexual people in the country.
Looking back at the immense optimism Nigeria's citizens felt for their country in the immediate post-colonial period, Sabella Ogbobode Abidde stresses that former pride has been entirely replaced by a pervasive desire to escape into 'exile'. In the face of corruption and poor healthcare and education, the average Nigerian cannot help but lament an absence of opportunities. This reality notwithstanding however, Abidde argues that it is incumbent upon Nigeria's youth to shape a better future for themselves and their children.
With this year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) fast approaching – in the year of the 60th anniversary of the institution no less – the Commonwealth needs to do much more in support of civil society and the protection of human rights, writes R. Iniyan Ilango.
Many and sincere thanks to the hundreds of you who took the trouble to respond to the survey that we launched in September. The survey, conducted for us by the independent market research company , was aimed at getting your perspectives on how we could improve Pambazuka News. Here’s what you said:
More than 90% of you said you were satisfied with Pambazuka News, with 40% saying that you were very satisfied. Thank you!
We said we were thinking of offering a number of additional services. Most of you said you were interested in at least eight of the services, including access to Pambazuka News archives; the ability to have greater interaction and collaboration via the Pambazuka News website with other members, institutions, social movements, policy-makers and others to advocate for social justice; the ability to download ebooks and training materials; and the ability to get discounts on books published by Pambazuka Press.
You were most interested in being able to use the Pambazuka News platform for organising and interacting with others, as well as being able to access the rich archives of some 54,000 records stored on Pambazuka News, with articles written by some 1,700 writers, bloggers, commentators, analysts, academics and activists.
Nearly 40% of you said you would be willing to pay between $3.00 and $5.00 a month to become a member of the new Pambazuka platform.
We were touched by the fact that so many of you were able to devote considerable time and thought to suggesting how we can improve the quality of Pambazuka News – tighter editing, shorter articles, greater breadth of coverage and so on. We take your suggestions seriously. These comments were really helpful.
In order to deliver the kind of improvements you want, we are developing ambitious plans to expand and upgrade the existing website as the hub of social activism across the continent – an independent, self-financing pan-African social network and community of members comprising social justice activists, engaged intellectuals and institutions that have similar missions to those of Pambazuka. The platform will be a space where African civil society organisations, social movements, academic and research institutions, advocacy groups, alliances and coalitions can upload their publications, reports, information about events, training materials, video and audio materials; organise online discussions; hold online seminars; and advertise their products, courses and publications. It will be a space where books (print and ebooks) on African affairs can be obtained at discounted prices.
Access to the Pambazuka News website and e-newsletter will remain free but in addition we will be inviting individuals and institutions to join Pambazuka as fee-paying members in return for an exciting range of new services and benefits.
More details coming soon!
In this week's blog roundup, Dibussi Tande reflects on the similarities between the fall of the Berlin wall and communism in Eastern Europe, and the push for political liberalism in Africa. Elsewhere, Tanzania's education system is failing, Kenya faces a country-wide power blackout, and homophobia rears its ugly head.
The Fourth Ministerial Conference of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum (FOCAC) opened in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on November 6 2009. Pambazuka News brings you a transcript of a press conference by Premier Wen Jiabao held on November 9, 2009.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao delivered a speech entitled "Building the New Type of China-Africa Strategic Partnership" at the opening ceremony of the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on November 6, 2009. The following is the full text of the speech.
The New York State African Studies Association (NYASA) will hold its 2010 annual conference on March 26-27 at Binghamton University under the auspices of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies. In view of the impending change in the global order and power relations, and in light of the accelerating interactions between Africa and Asia, the annual conference invites abstracts and proposals for presentations, panels and roundtables on the above general theme and its variations.
With cheap labour, investment incentives and unrestricted exports, one Chinese textile group has turned to Egypt as an ideal location to produce its ready-made garments, beating stiff competition at home. The Chinese-owned Nile Textile Group has set up shop in the Port Said free zone, overlooking the north entrance of the Suez Canal, and developed an industrial estate now hiring 600 workers, 20 percent of which are Chinese and the rest Egyptian.
The Chinese government defended its decision not to block a UN Security Council resolution in 2005 referring the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC).Beijing, despite being a strong ally of Khartoum, abstained from voting on the resolution outraging Sudanese officials who accused China of failing to “protect its friends”.
President Mubarak has called on the Extraordinary African Summit for Refugees and Displaced Persons to alleviate the pains of the refugees, to protect them and to facilitate their safe return to their homelands, as he said “we are capable to do this with our own resources and with the support of the international community and our international partners”.
On November 5, 2009, Christian Aid partners OMUNGA and SOS Habitat were awarded the Civil Society Human Rights National Award, organized by the Human Rights Coordination Committee and Open Society Foundation –Angola. The award was implemented for the first time this year and is granted to organisations and individuals that have contributed to the defence, respect, protection and guarantee of human rights in Angola. This is a fantastic recognition of our partner’s human rights work in the country.
A new technology called "biochar" is being promoted as a major “geo-engineering” solution to global climate change, as well as a means of improving soils and addressing poverty according to this new report by The African Biodiversity Network, Biofuelwatch and The Gaia Foundation. However, this technology raises serious scientific and social concerns. Many questions need to be answered before claims about biochar can stand up to scrutiny.
A coalition of human rights organisations have expressed deep concern about the hostile context in which human rights defenders and journalists operate in The Gambia where hindrances to freedom of expression, arbitrary arrests and detentions, murders and judicial harassment against them are recurrent.
The spike in food prices of last year (2008) underscored what experts have been telling us for many years: the world's food systems are in crisis. The High Level Task Force on the Global Food Security Crisis (HLTF) and its members have supported -over the last 8 months- national authorities as they respond to food and nutrition insecurity. This tracks the progress of the task force over this period.
Until South Africa acknowledges that racism is deeply embedded in the fabric of its society, William Gumede writes in Pambazuka News, solutions will 'only paper over the deep divisions' and 'reconciliation across racial divides will remain elusive'.
The international community’s hasty decision to investigate Guinea’s Captain Camara for crimes against humanity has led to serious setbacks in solving the country’s political crisis, Joseph Kaifala argues in Pambazuka News. Since the only way for Camara to avoid trial at the International Criminal Court is to remain in power, it’s unlikely he’ll be willing to relinquish his military dictatorship any time soon, says Kaifala.
The universal declaration of human rights stipulates that everyone should have access to adequate standard of living including sufficient and appropriate food. Whereas the legal instrument to make the right to food enforceable are still being developed and debated, it is undeniable that states have an obligation to respect, protect and promote the progressive realisation of the right to food for all the populations under their jurisdiction
As social inequalites in Kenya continue to widen, Samuel Abonyo argues in this week’s Pambazuka News that policies that encourage the redistribution of wealth are what the country needs if it is to achieve economic growth and reduce poverty.
Apathy and a failure to speak out on the part of Nigeria’s citizens is fuelling the country’s leadership crisis, Babatunde Oyateru argues in this week’s Pambazuka News. Exhorting his fellow citizens to hold their political representatives accountable, Oyateru says: ‘We do not whisper, we should not cower, we should let our voices ring so loud … so that the generations that come after us will not have to scream, but sing songs of a delivered Nigeria.’
On 18 October 1967, 10 days after Che Guevara’s death, the details of the revolutionary hero’s last moments finally emerged. Before a nation in mourning, Fidel Castro gave this speech. In this emotive text brought to you by Pambazuka News, ‘El Lider Máximo’ revisits the journey of his comrade-in-arms, revealing Che’s human side, his military prowess, his philosophy and his great revolutionary pedigree.
The Partnership for Change has urged President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to cooperate with the ICC and ensure The Special Tribunal Bill is passed and enacted into law within two weeks, failing which, Kenyans resolve to "starve the government of money".
Western governments continue to support Meles Zenawi’s dictatorship because they believe that there is ‘no alternative in the opposition’, Alemayehu G. Mariam writes in this week’s Pambazuka News. But not only could this diplomatic mindset have ‘devastating consequences on Ethiopia’ by providing the moral justification for totalitarianism and a police state, it also makes the West complicit in the sufferings of the Ethiopians under Zenawi’s government, Mariam argues.
A season of fear has returned to Zimbabwe, following Morgan Tsvangirai’s decision to ‘disengage’ from the country’s dysfunctional Government of National Unity, Mary Ndlovu writes in Pambazuka News. With unlawful arrests, abductions, beatings, torture, burning of homes and killings by Zanu PF and state agents on the increase again, ordinary Zimbabweans are sceptical that SADC’s latest attempts at mediation will bring the country’s people closer to peace and prosperity. But says Ndlovu, there is ‘still room to hope for a miracle’.
Dearest People,
Congratulations a million times, thank you a billion times for your
persistence, patience and the peaceful manner you have won this
particular battle.
One only wishes that victories like these could be rewarded in a way
which does justice to
All of the people involved, but especially the ones
who have been trampled upon
tortured, raped in ways unimaginable
Hopefully your victory will open the eyes
which refuse to see
because they have been blinded by greed
Your victory shall make the poorest of the poorest
all over the world root
for greater victories
until this predatory
system is rooted out
along with the mindset set
on killing humanity
humility
dignity
solidarity
* Jacques Depelchin is a committed intellectual, academic, and activist for peace, democracy, transparency and pro-people politics in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
* is the South African shackdwellers' movement.
I am always delighted to receive the informative updates from Pambazuka, but a little concerned for the use of the term .
I work with organisations of persons with disabilities including visual impairment (blindness) but I have had a challenge explaining the good intentions in portraying US efforts in Mali as blindly – please check this.
Thanks and keep us informed for transformation.
Two Zimbabwean activists were intimidated at an on national healing, and one has been forced into hiding since returning home, writes Frances Lovemore, director of the country's Counselling Services Unit.
Following a five and a half year scholarly meditation to tackle explicitly the prejudices ‘still deeply embedded’ in the Western academy, Wendy C. Hamblet challenges the ‘popular assumption that violence is an essential quality of certain populations’, and offers ‘an alternative, more sympathetic, but also more realistic, account of some of the world’s current violences’.
Morissanda Kouyaté
October has been a month characterised by violence, lawlessness, corruption and the complete abuse of power for partisan and personal objectives. Despite Robert Mugabe’s outrageous claim to the contrary, Sokwanele has logged an incredible 3850 breaches of the GPA by Zanu PF since the start of the ZIG Watch project, making this party responsible for 88.8% of all breaches logged up until the end of October.
In preparation for this Regional Conference as well as to facilitate informed input to the draft regulations as published by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK), the Kenya ICT Consumers Association in partnership with Akiba Uhaki Foundation, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Article 19, the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights(KNCHR) and the International Commission of Jurists-Kenya Chapter(ICJ-K) has organized the 2-day Kenyan Convening in Nairobi to discuss the key issues and where necessary offer innovative Civil Society alternatives.
Facing History is working in close partnership with Skylight Pictures to bring the documentary film, The Reckoning: The Battle for the International Criminal Court, and additional film modules into classrooms around the world. This is an invitation to join a free online workshop about justice, genocide, and the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The International Training Programmes are specially designed for persons qualified to participate in reform processes of strategic importance on different levels and who hold a position in their home organisation with a mandate to run processes of change. This methodology is based on the assumption that your country wishes to carry out changes and is willing to invest its own resources to achieve these changes.
According to this September 2008 document from USAID entitled "Addressing Gender-Based Violence Through USAID's Health Programs: A Guide for Health Sector Program Officers", research demonstrates that gender-based violence has implications for almost every aspect of health policy and programming, from primary care to reproductive health programmes, because it not only results in injury and death of its victims, but also it can contribute to the spread of HIV. Reducing violence and coercion is among five high-priority gender strategies of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Published in January 2008 in the journal Political Perspectives, "As a Man This is How You Should Behave! A Critical Look into Methods of 'Developing Men' as a Means of HIV/AIDS Prevention in sub-Saharan Africa" looks at two HIV/AIDS prevention programmes in Uganda that both focus on changing men's attitudes and behaviour. According to the author, both programmes, Operation Gideon and the "Be a Man" campaign, tend to reinforce the same "truth" about Ugandan men, namely that they are the ones in control of their families or society.
Red Card is a component of a health communication campaign led by C-Change in Madagascar that was designed to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to curb associated risky behaviours by "letting girls call the shots" and sparking conversation between parents and adolescents. The campaign appropriated the signal soccer referees use to kick aggressive players out of a game; paper Red Cards were distributed to 1.5 million young women across Madagascar.
“It’s only us who can really understand our challenges and come up with appropriate solutions. The time for talking is over. It’s now time for action.” These words, from a participant in the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s community conversations on social cohesion, expressed the determination with which the Albert Park community began its second series of community conversations. This community in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), stressed by poverty and insecurity, clearly views dialogue as the way to unearth the causes of their problems and take decisions.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation and its sister charities are pleased with the United Nations General Assembly’s declaration of July 18, Nelson Mandela’s birthday, as “Nelson Mandela International Day”, an international day of activism.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) unreservedly condemns the unlawful arrest and detention in Victoria Falls on Sunday 8 November 2009 of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) President, Lovemore Matombo, together with four other union officials.
Former president Thabo Mbeki, together with his controversial health minister, Manto Tshabalala- Msimang, must be charged with genocide, says the SA Communist Party youth league. Young Communists League leader Buti Manamela said Mbeki and Tshabalala-Msimang denied hundreds of HIV-positive people access to antiretroviral drugs when they were in government.
A Dan rarther report entitled "All Mine" focuses on an American company, Arizona's Freeport McMoran, which, when it bought a massive copper mine from the government of Congo, also took control of part of the impoverished country's economic future. Critics of the purchase said that the contract for the billion-dollar mine left the war-torn African nation with little in return, and that the U.S. government played a part in what many are describing as a modern day land grab. The episode originally aired on September 23, 2008
It is the ninth time the Global Fund Board approved new proposals to support programs fighting the three diseases. The total two-year value of the programs recommended for funding was US$2.4 billion; the second largest ever approved by the Global Fund, following a US$2.75 billion round in 2008. The Global Fund has now approved a total funding of US$18.4 billion for 144 countries since it was created in 2002.
cc Badilisha
Badilisha! Poetry X-Change ° produced by the Africa Centre°, is an international poetry project based in Cape Town, South Africa. For the past 5 years poets from around the world and across the African continent have been featured at our annual festival engaged with wider audiences and local poetry networks via dynamic interactions in the form of workshops, discussions and multi-media collaborations. Badilisha! Poetry X-Change is now proud to announce a brand new dimension to the live poetry project. We are soon to launch Badilisha!
The newly appointed Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, its causes and consequences, Ms. Rashida Manjoo, wishes to carry out a comprehensive research project on the topic of reparations for women who have been subjected to violence. The findings of the research will inform her first annual report, which will be presented at the 14th session of the Human Rights Council in June 2010. The consultant is expected to undertake a study that addresses in a comprehensive and coherent manner the main issues raised above and identify the challenges in the field of reparations to women who have been subjected to violence as well as any good practices and lessons learnt.
Fahamu is seeking an experienced programme manager in its Nairobi office to take responsibility for managing its growing portfolio of projects. Please send your CV, cover letter and names of three referees to: [email][email protected] Applications close 27th November 2009. This is a full time position. Competitive salary commensurate with experience.
On the 8 October, seven prominent Sahrawi human rights advocates were arrested at Mohamed V airport in Casablanca, Morocco. They were driven away by Moroccan security forces immediately after disembarking from a flight returning from Algeria where they had been visiting the Sahrawi refugee camps between 26 September and 8 October.
This week's emerging powers news roundup focuses on the the FOCAC Sharm El Sheikh meeting, reports by the World Bank and OECD on Africa's infrastructural needs, the African land grab by rich nations, and growing Chinese investment on the continent.
For centuries, farmers like Berhanu Gudina have eked out a living in Ethiopia’s central lowlands, tending tiny plots of maize, wheat or barley amid the vastness of the lush green plains. Now, they find themselves working cheek by jowl with high-tech commercial farms stretching over thousands of hectares tilled by state-of-the-art tractors — and owned and operated by foreigners.
An apparent surge in the purchase of African land by foreign companies and governments to grow food and other crops for export has set alarm bells ringing on and off the continent. The headlines have been strident: “The Second Scramble for Africa Starts,” “Quest for Food Security Breeds Neo-Colonists,” “Food Security or Economic Slavery?”
The findings of a study on early childhood education in Senegal shows that 92 per cent of children in that country are out of the pre-school system. According to the report, out of 1,306,214 who can get pre-school education in the country, only 99,038 attend a development structure for early childhood. This means that 1,207,176 are not supported by the pre-school system.
A crony of the newly-elected Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba, has been forced to resign from the government due to a magazine report that links him to a financial scandal. Mr Jean Pierra Oyiba who is President Ali Bongo Ondimba’s Chief of Protocol, resigned but has denied links with the scandal that was reported this week by the Paris-based Jeune Afrique magazine.
Does clientelism play a major role in the voting decisions of African elections? Which factors are most important to African voters when choosing a candidate to vote for? This Afrobarometer working paper argues that clientelism is not a major factor in voting decisions. Instead, voters focus on issues relating to the provision of local public goods and the frequency of an MP's visits to the constituency.
Without adequate security or resources for education, young women and men in refugee camps would turn to prostitution or violence, the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Chad said at a Headquarters press conference.Michele Falavigna, reporting on the humanitarian situation in Chad after his first three months, said the country had been at war for 40 years and had virtually "never known peace and development".
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has denounced the vote on Friday October 30, 2009 by the National Assembly of a legislation reinforcing the powers of the High Authority of Audio-visual and Communication (HAAC) and which seriously threatens press freedom and freedom of expression in Togo.
The top priority for the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the protection of civilians from abuse, be it from the Government forces that it is mandated to support or armed rebel groups, a senior official has said.
At least 83,000 Somali children and women benefited from the Child Health Days Campaign carried out with United Nations support in the Afgooye corridor, which hosts displaced people who fled their homes owing to the violence in the capital, Mogadishu.
The United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) has begun transporting the provisional voters’ list to polling stations around the country as part of the latest phase of preparations for the upcoming presidential elections.
The United Nations refugee agency has voiced regret at Djibouti’s forced repatriation of 40 Somali asylum-seekers, including 13 women and children, who were rescued by a Dutch ship in the Red Sea last month.
The number of civilians fleeing tribal violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into neighbouring Republic of Congo since last week has topped 21,800, the United Nations refugee agency has reported.
Despite good global cereal harvests this year, millions of people in dozens of poor countries are in desperate need of emergency humanitarian aid due to stubbornly high food prices, the United Nations agricultural agency warned in a new report.
Ace Ghanaian investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas of the New Crusading Guide grabbed two awards at the 2009 edition of the Norbert Zongo Awards. He scooped the Norbert Zongo Grand Prize in Investigative journalism and the Segbo Excellence in Investigative Journalism 2009, for his groundbreaking expose on the work of Chinese human traffickers in Africa.
There is rising tension in the Zimbabwe National Army after a number of senior officers allegedly died from torture whilst in military detention. The Herald reported on Wednesday that Major Maxwell Samudzi, a 48 year-old deputy officer commanding One Engineers Support Regiment at Pomona barracks was found dead in his detention cell. The paper said Major Samudzi committed suicide, but army insiders contend he was tortured to death.
The President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), Lovemore Matombo, and four other unionists were set free on Thursday after a Victoria Falls magistrate threw out charges against them. The 5 were arrested on Sunday for holding consultative meetings with workers in the town. Police, acting on instructions from Mugabe’s regime, claimed the leaders had violated the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) by holding the meetings without police permission. The magistrate however ruled that trade unions were exempt from seeking police authority for their meetings.