Pambazuka News 457: Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai's terrifying gamble
Pambazuka News 457: Zimbabwe: Tsvangirai's terrifying gamble
Botswana's president accused Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Friday of failing to honour a power-sharing deal with his foes and called for new elections to resolve the political deadlock. In a state of the nation address after his re-election last month, Botswana's leader Ian Khama made clear he believed the blame for the political paralysis in neighbouring Zimbabwe lay at the hands of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party.
Morocco's National Initiative for Human Development (INDH) has done a solid job of developing a charity network, but still needs more participation by women, children and local councils, according to a recent report by the initiative's oversight body.
Three Tunisian newspapers tied to key opposition parties are withdrawing from circulation for a week to protest what they call the government's "unprecedented clampdown" on the independent media.
Market liberalisation has encouraged massive private investment in Africa's cellular networks, according to a report released by the World Bank. The result was a major revolution in information and communications technology (ICT), which helped boost economic growth to an annual 4 percent between 2001 and 2005, the report on Africa's infrastructure by the World Bank said.
Sub-Saharan Africa needs to double its infrastructure spending to $93 billion a year, 15 percent of regional output, to drag its road, water and power networks into the 21st century, a report said on Thursday. The research compiled by the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa (ICA) identified the continent's woeful electricity grids as its most pressing challenge, with 30 countries facing regular blackouts and high premiums for emergency power.
"No more commitments... We have had enough of the promises. Can we please see something happening on the ground? Right now, it is business as usual and that’s why Africa is off-track on the MDG target." Jamillah Mwanjisi, executive secretary for the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation attending the Second Africa Water Week in Midrand, South Africa, is not happy WITH what's happening in the water and sanitation sector.
It is one of the world's oldest professions, dating so far back that it is even mentioned in the Bible. But in the deeply cultural and religious country of Swaziland, Senator Thuli Msane stirred a hornet's nest when she publicly challenged a new strict bill opposing prostitution. Msane spoke out against arresting sex workers, when she said government should first address the humanitarian challenges that drive them into the trade.
The incumbent, President Armando Guebuza, has won the Mozambican 2009 elections in a landslide, obtaining three quarters of the votes, according to official results. Leopoldo da Costa, the chairman of Mozambique's National Elections Commission (CNE), announced that Frelimo’s Guebuza has been re-elected for second five-year term, winning 75.4 percent of the votes.
On the heels of a federal appeals court ruling that only the U.S. Congress and the executive branch of government - not the courts - can interfere with government-sponsored "extraordinary rendition", a U.S. citizen from New Jersey is asking another court to tell the government it wasn't okay to secretly imprison and abuse him in three different African countries over a period of four months.
A new report released by Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) / Doctors without Borders, documents both extensive achievements in expanding AIDS treatment in recent years, and the threat that funding slowdowns will not only stall expanding treatment, but also force life-threatening cutbacks for patients already on treatment.
Can religion and homosexuality ever be reconciled? Inclusive and Affirming Ministries (IAM) strongly believes so and says dialogue is a biblical way in which people of faith should tackle “sensitive and painful” issues, rather than debate which “only polarizes and divides people.”
Thousands of people in Cote d'Ivoire poisoned by toxic waste face being cheated out of $45m in compensation after the money, which was deposited in a bank account in the West African country, was frozen. At the same time, a local figure, claiming to be president of the National Co-ordination of Toxic Waste Victims of Cote d'Ivoire and who is unknown to the victims' lawyers, has now applied to have the cash moved to the association's account.
On November 8/9, China’s and Africa’s governments will meet for the 4th summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Sharm-el-Sheik, Egypt. A report published by International Rivers finds that China and Africa have been successful in boosting their financial and economic cooperation, but have failed to deal seriously with the environmental challenges that have resulted from their growing cooperation.
Africa must increase its collection and analysis of data about climate change's impact on water supplies, a meeting has heard. The continent needs information about water resources at local, national, regional and transboundary levels, said scientists at the 2nd Africa Water Week this week (9–13 November), organised by the African Ministerial Council on Water in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Kenya hopes to eliminate malaria by 2017, a malaria conference heard last week. The disease has been in decline in the country in recent years and scientists say they are optimistic that it can be eliminated by then.
Reported cases of kala azar infection, a deadly disease also known as visceral leishmaniasis, have continued to rise in Southern Sudan, according to medical workers. "We are clearly in the midst of a kala azar epidemic," Jill Seaman, working in the Old Fangak clinic in Jonglei State, run by the Sudan Medical Relief organization, said.
Some 20,000 people wounded in Sierra Leone's war are receiving micro-grants as part of efforts to rebuild lives and livelihoods in the still fragile country. The initial grants of 300,000 leones (US$80) each are part of a government "reparations" programme, implemented by the National Commission for Social Action (NaCSA).
High school students in the Niger capital, Niamey, learned to put HIV/AIDS and reproductive health in a broader context during a recent essay contest. "In preparing my essay I learned that AIDS is not a death sentence," said one female student who requested anonymity. "This kind of exercise should be encouraged because it allows students to increase their knowledge of AIDS and its consequences."
Even when Guinea is not facing political crisis and reeling from a massacre, daily life is gruelling for many and instability is never far away. In this country that holds 30 percent of the world’s reserves of bauxite, the primary ore in aluminium, most people live hand-to-mouth; only about 19 percent of the population have access to proper sanitation facilities; malnutrition is widespread.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has been feeding people in Lesotho since 1965, yet the tiny mountain kingdom is still not much closer to achieving food self-sufficiency. Time to overhaul the approach, aid agencies say. WFP generally only ships and provides food in crisis situations like civil conflicts and natural disasters. Programmes sometimes linger on after the emergency has passed, when food aid used is to help communities rebuild, but the goal is usually to move out.
Three years after the Kenyan government began to promote emergency contraception as part of its family planning strategy, the “morning-after pill” remains as controversial as ever: critics argue that unless the public is better educated about its purpose, it risks undermining the messages of abstinence and protected sex, putting impressionable young people at risk of HIV.
James Donkor, a journalist working with community radio station Radio Progress, in Wa, the capital of Ghana's Upper West region, was reportedly assaulted on 24 October 2009 and briefly detained by two policemen in the area. The journalist, who had photographed a man the policemen had allegedly tied to an electric pole, was accused of "disrespecting" the police officers.
Pambazuka News 456: Counterterrorism's blindness: Mali and the USA
Pambazuka News 456: Counterterrorism's blindness: Mali and the USA
Looking to Mwalimu Julius Nyerere's understanding for guidance, Issa G. Shivji stresses the contemporary importance of non-alignment for Tanzania and African countries at large. In the face of a multi-polar world where power is progressively drifting eastwards, Africa must revitalise its erstwhile spirit of national liberation and autonomy, Shivji argues.
As Namibia approaches its parliamentary and presidential elections at the end of November, Henning Melber assesses the country's political landscape. Through comparison with the evolution of support for South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) in the post-apartheid period, Melber considers the ability of the opposition Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) to chip away at some of the longstanding support for liberation-era party Swapo (South West Africa People's Organization).
In light of the Kenyan ruling class's clear vested interest in autocracy, Samuel Abonyo makes the case for a federalist system of government to achieve better representation and prosperity for all across the country.
In the face of repeated difficulties around the supply of energy in Tanzania, Chambi Chachage writes that problems around power are as much about powerlessness as they are about a power crisis. If power cuts essentially mean the majority of Tanzanians remain a powerless people, it is time for power – energy and political – to be more fairly distributed, the author concludes.
In an open letter to Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth secretary-general, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative laments the lack of response from the Commonwealth in relation to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's troubling remarks about human rights defenders in his country.
With the US intent on continuing its funding for counterterrorism efforts against 'al-Qaeda' in Mali, Vijay Prashad argues that blindly channelling funds to the Malian military might well lead to the country going 'the way of Guinea'. Washington's focus is entirely on counterterrorism efforts, Prashad stresses, with the military support on offer to Mali dwarfing that available for development while enabling former military general and current President Amadou Toumani Touré to consolidate his power.
While Ethiopia endures a devastating famine, Meles Zenawi's regime has been 'downplaying and double-talking' around the crisis, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam. Despite confident assertions of its ability to work towards tackling food shortages through its Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Agency, the regime remains painfully incapable of developing a system to protect its population, the author stresses.
With Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni reportedly overseeing donations to former MPs, Vincent Nuwagaba decries 'the worst form of corruption'.
Edited by William Gumede and Leslie Dikeni, 'The Poverty of Ideas: South African Democracy and the Retreat of Intellectuals' is now available from Jacana Media.
With trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking Macau Forum countries falling in the wake of the global economic downturn, Lucy Corkin discusses Macau's efforts to 'leverage its position more aggressively to promote trade and investment between China and the Portuguese-speaking countries'.
Pambazuka Press is pleased to announce the release of Yash Tandon's new book 'Development and Globalisation: Daring to Think Differently'. The book is available for only £7.95 from the South Centre.
The fervour with which foreign commercial interests are forcing their agricultural 'solutions' on the African continent represents nothing more than an established endeavour to protect profits and access to resources, writes Joan Baxter. For all that they are dressed up as 'help' and 'knowledge', these ostensible solutions are about one thing: Money. So long as powerful initiatives like the Green Revolution and agribusinesses are able to trample on the continent's sovereignty, Baxter argues, Africa's land, traditional knowledge, biodiversity, seeds and crop varieties will remain in liquidation.
In the final week before the fourth ministerial FOCAC meeting in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, on November 8 and 9, China has been intensifying its effort to put across the‘win-win’ view of its African engagement, with a barrage of new announcements, trailers of the new measures to be unveiled at the summit, and facts and figures to rebut the most common criticisms and fears. Stephen Marks reviews preparations in the run-up to the meeting.
China is leading the pack in the 21st century ’scramble for Africa’ but anybody who thinks Beijing has the continent sewn up need only glance at the passport of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, writes Ed Cropley.
The spotlight will fall on Sharm El’ Shaik, Egypt in November 2009 as the next chapter in Sino-African relations is forged at the occasion of the fourth Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). It will see representatives from African and Chinese governments converge at an ominous time as the world continues to grapple with a financial crisis. Hayley Herman previews the key issues under discussion.
Civil Society Organisations from across the Commonwealth and beyond meeting in London on 13 October 2009 have issued a strong message to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2009 regarding their obligation to protect and uphold human rights and fundamental freedoms, as enshrined in the 1971 Declaration of Commonwealth Principles and other subsequent Commonwealth communiqués and declarations.
CJN!SA and CJN! have united in calling all people to raise the voices of the global South, defend the rights of people and nature, and strengthen solidarity in the fight for climate justice.
On November 2, 2009, grassroots leaders drawn from the countrywide networks of Bunge la Mwananchi met and developed a position on the debate of holding to account post election violence (PEV) perpetrators in Kenya on the eve of ICC sepcial prosecutor Ocampo's visit.
Despite cheap available solar and wind options, the World Bank’s portfolio of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in Africa focuses on hydropower, methane-capture and other toxic investments, Khadija Sharife writes in Pambazuka News. Unpicking the links between energy, investment and ecological degradation across the continent, Sharife argues that rather than leading to real reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide, offsetting simply allows industrialised nations to ‘utilise Africa’s “underdeveloped” status as yet another exploitable resource'.
Highlighting the plight of Rwandan refugees in Uganda following a UNHCR announcement that they will lose their refugee status by 2011, Lawrence Carter writes in Pambazuka News that the ‘pervasive practice of coercion and forced return of refugees within the East African Community requires urgent attention’. Rwanda may be ‘stable’, argues Carter, but this ‘does not detract from the fact that many Rwandan refugees possess legitimate concerns over their safety and ability to live a peaceful and dignified life if they were to return’.
‘Greedy colonial-racist interests’ are ‘the common historic cause for Africa’s woes’, including those of Zimbabwe, Udo W. Froese writes in this week’s Pambazuka News. The ‘Rhodesian lobby’ has 'to date worked hard at destabilising and isolating Zimbabwe' in order to retain its 'interests in agriculture, mining and resources', Froese argues. The Movement for Democratic Change’s links to this lobby and to the West, Froese suggests, make the party a ‘non-starter’. ‘SADC heads-of-state would find it difficult to support an old colonial, race-based order, where their kith-and-kin have no access to land and the wealth of their land,’ writes Froese.
Unless post-independence South Africa sees success as ‘lifting the widest number of the black majority out of poverty, in the shortest time', it will fail as a country, William Gumede writes in Pambazuka News. And it ‘will join the club of developing countries that just muddle along, with a small political and economic elite in charge, and a poor majority trapped in poverty, from which a small numbers occasionally join the ranks of the rich'.
Wazir Mohamed and Esau Mavindidze report on a recent symposium aimed at creating a space for Zimbabweans to discuss the present and future of the country. Bringing together representatives of government, civil society, human rights groups, scholars and Zimbabweans in the diaspora, the symposium – hosted by Syracuse University’s Africa Initiative and the Newhouse School of Public Communications – provided ‘a rare avenue’ to ‘assess the progress, status, challenges and opportunities for lasting peace, healing and reconstruction for the people of Zimbabwe’.
In this week’s Pambazuka News, Phanice Shamalia reports on ‘Sexually Speaking’, a lively discussion among 30 Kenyan women hosted by Storymoja as part of its monthly Women in Leadership forum. After ‘an afternoon of candid conversation’ on how various issues of our lives affect our sexuality’, Shamalia writes, participants concluded that it ‘is possible to have a healthier sex life, a confident sex life, and an educated sex life. One step is by attending sessions such as this one, with informed, opinionated women who are willing to share their knowledge.’
In this week’s Pambazuka News, Sabella Ogbobode Abidde discovers why titles matter in the Nigerian context, where not properly addressing ‘certain people with their earned, dashed, or forged title, could get one into trouble’. ‘Some Nigerians, it seems, do not like to be ordinary people,’ Abidde writes, ‘They have to be somebody. They have to be important, a very, very important person – whether or not they add value to the community they live in.’
‘I write as a fellow African to take a stand with the people of Guinea and to let you know that Guinea and Africa as a whole are better off without you in power', Mawuli Dake says in an open letter to Guinea’s President Camara. Referring to the events of 28 September, Dake writes that the ‘horrendous massacre and flagrant abuse of human rights’ by men under Camara’s command, combined with the president’s ‘lamentable attempt to absolve’ himself of any responsibility by asserting that he ‘cannot control the security forces and their actions’, clearly make him ‘incapable and disinclined to remain in power as leader of Guinea'.
(www.pambazuka.org) is an award-winning social justice e-newsletter and website that is produced by a community of some 1800 commentators, bloggers, activists and academics. It is published by Fahamu (www.fahamu.org), an Oxford-based charity.
In order to improve the usability of the site’s online database of 55,000 records, which has been built up over the last ten years, we are seeking an experienced indexer whose task will be to assign keywords using an established cataloguing system (e.g. such as used by the Library of Congress) and to develop a thesaurus of key words for classifying new articles as they are added to the database. The person would also be required to provide similar services for the growing list of books published by Pambazuka Press (www.pambazukapress.org). The person would also be expected to train and work alongside volunteers/interns.
The post would ideally be full-time for the first three months, and part-time thereafter. Remuneration according to experience. Closing date for applications: 1 December 2009.
Applications in writing with CV and references to [email][email protected]
Fahamu Trust is a registered UK charity (no. 1100304).
2nd floor, 51 Cornmarket St, Oxford OX1 3HA
by Yohannes Woldemariam is one of the best written analysis I have read on this matter in a long time. Good points on the policies of the Eritrean government that are driving hundreds and thousands out of their country, the role of EU's migration policy and the overall responsibility of the global community. Thank you.
P.S. I happened to be visiting Italy, in Sicily at the time of this and you can read more of the findings of my organisation from www.BlackAllianceBlog.blogspot.com
could have aptly been renamed 'Secrets of the African Streets'; especially after having watched CNN's presentation of Joburg's 'prostitutes' in light of the forthcoming World Cup. It is a powerful poem and congratulations in order. What is probably lacking in the general discourse is how state failure leads to such cultural decadence.
Wow, I have gone through and am deeply touched and also disgusted by persons who even after having knowledge on albinism still act like they need more education on it, while the government is giving support, mere talk isn't as important we need to see action, and measures being taken to protect all the persons with albinsm in Kenya. We are right behind such moves, that work to improve the quality of lives of persons with albinism.
While in the 1980s, the IMF and the World Bank appeared to be the only major source of funding for African development, Chinese and Indian interest in the continent’s more recently discovered mineral and oil resources have opened up alternative offers of investment. In this week’s Pambazuka News, Renu Modi and Seema consider the benefits new players China and India bring to Africa.
The spokesman of Kenya Youth Alliance, Njuguna Gitau, has been shot dead. Mr Gitau was shot in the head on Nairobi's Luthuli Avenue, according to witnesses at the scene. They said he had been walking on the street with four men when an argument broke out. Two of them drew pistols and shot him before the attackers fled the scene.
Kenyans for Justice and Development welcome ICC Prosecutor Louis Moreno Ocampo’s intervention towards helping Kenyans find justice for the chaos of early 2008. The ICC’s intervention is a major step towards holding criminally accountable all those who masterminded and executed the 2007/2008 pre and post election mayhem.
Equality Now, a New Field partner, is releasing a new film about female genital mutilation (FGM) entitled “Africa Rising.” The film is showing this week in New York, San Francisco, and Boston, USA. The film is not currently available for sale, but a trailer can be immediately viewed online.
The convictions of Pierre Falcone, Arcadi Gaydamak, ex-president's son Jean-Christophe Mitterrand and Charles Pasqua in a French court for arms trafficking to Angola have exposed the impunity with which arms traffickers supplied weapons to Angola during its 27-year civil war.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) staff member Thulani Ndhlovu who was arrested on Wednesday 28 October in Dete, Hwange has been granted bail out of custody by Magistrate Ms I. Munamati Madzorere. Madzorere ordered Thulani to pay $200 bail and report twice every week (Monday and Friday) at Bulawayo Central police station.
The Legal Resources Foundation, a local legal service NGO invites applications from suitably qualified and experienced persons for the post of Centre Director that has arisen at its Masvingo Centre.
Applications are invited from suitably qualified and experienced person to fill in the position of Administration Officer at the Legal Resources Foundation with immediate effect. This is a contract of 4 to 6 months. The closing date for this vacancy 13 November 2009.
A new online collection of testimonies reveal that while communities in Anosy, southern Madagascar have been living with the challenges of increasing drought for some time, it is the impact of an ilmenite mining operation that has exacerbated their feelings of powerlessness and fears for the future.
The goal of the African Leadership Institute (AfLI) is to nurture and enhance leadership capability across Africa, with particular focus on the promising leaders of the future. AfLI’s aim is to create a network of high potential young Africans who have attended our programmes, and who are expected to rise to top leadership positions in their sphere of activity over the next 5-20 years.
Kenyan Attorney General Amos Wako confirmed Wednesday November 4th 2009 that he is banned from travelling to the United States and announced his intention to sue for defamation.
In the 21st century it may seem ludricrous to even consider the possibility of an increase in violence against women. The fact that we have come so far in terms of creating really good legislation, has not necessarily resulted in the scale of impact envisaged. In most countries, on any given day newspaper headlines alerts us to the reality that women still face attacks on their bodies on a daily basis.
On 14 October 2009 a bill entitled the 'Anti-Homosexuality Bill' was tabled before the Ugandan parliament titled the . The bill is aimed at increasing and expanding penalties for 'homosexual acts' and for all institutions (including NGOs, donors and private companies) who defend the rights of people who engage in sexual relations with people of the same gender.
(www.pambazuka.org) is an award-winning social justice e-newsletter and website that is produced by a community of some 1800 commentators, bloggers, activists and academics. It is published by Fahamu (www.fahamu.org), an Oxford-based charity.
In order to improve the usability of the site’s online database of 55,000 records, which has been built up over the last ten years, we are seeking an experienced indexer whose task will be to assign keywords using an established cataloguing system (e.g. such as used by the Library of Congress) and to develop a thesaurus of key words for classifying new articles as they are added to the database. The person would also be required to provide similar services for the growing list of books published by Pambazuka Press (www.pambazukapress.org). The person would also be expected to train and work alongside volunteers/interns.
The post would ideally be full-time for the first three months, and part-time thereafter. Remuneration according to experience. Closing date for applications: 1 December 2009.
Applications in writing with CV and references to [email][email protected]
Fahamu Trust is a registered UK charity (no. 1100304).
2nd floor, 51 Cornmarket St, Oxford OX1 3HA
Ethiopia plans to offer 3 million hectares of land over the next two years for investors to develop large-scale commercial farms, a government official has said. Countries in Asia and the Gulf — such as China, India and Saudi Arabia — have rushed to buy farmland abroad to grow crops for their own people after food price inflation last year highlighted the need for greater food security.
Aggressive moves by China, South Korea and Gulf states to buy vast tracts of agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa could soon be limited by a new global international protocol. A scramble for African farmland has in recent years seen the equivalent of Italy’s entire arable land hoovered up by businesses from emerging economies.
There have been many reports in recent times on diamond extraction and trade in Marange from national, regional and international organisations. Most of these reports have focussed on the role of government in trying to halt the illegal extraction, on networks of powerful political figures that control the trade, and on the impact on the economy of the country and compliance with the Kimberley Process.
The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. Open societies are characterized by the rule of law; respect for human rights, minorities, and a diversity of opinions; democratically elected governments; market economies in which business and government are separate; and a civil society that helps keep government power in check. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places high priority on protecting and improving the lives of marginalized people and communities.
Investor and philanthropist George Soros in 1993 created OSI as a private operating and grantmaking foundation to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those foundations were established, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. In addition to the National Foundations, OSI in some regions carries out directly some regional or national activities. OSI has expanded the work of the Soros foundations network to encompass the United States and more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Each national foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities.
The Regional Director for Africa oversees implementation of the work of three Regional Foundations—the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), and Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA)—as well as the national foundation in South Africa and has principal staff responsibility for ensuring coordination between these foundations and other OSI programs and entities. The Regional Director provides strategic guidance and leadership on pan-African initiatives and coordinates staff implementation of initiatives developed by the Africa Advisory Board. The Africa Regional Director reports to the Director of International Operations.
Principal Responsibilities
* Serve as the principal liaison between OSI regional/national foundation executive directors in Africa and the Director of International Operations on all matters related to foundation programming, strategy, management, governance and budget;
* Provide the Director of International Operations with regular written and verbal assessments of the political environment, and analysis of the opportunities and challenges facing the regional/national foundations in Africa;
* Provide strategic guidance and leadership on pan-African initiatives that do not fall under regional/national foundations in Africa, in coordination with the Africa Advisory Board (AAB).
* Play a key role in organizing the AAB meetings, in coordination with the Director of Programs and the Director of International Operations. Facilitate the implementation of ideas and projects developed by the AAB;
* Facilitate and ensure effective coordination and collaboration between OSI regional/national foundations in Africa and other OSI entities and programs engaged in programming related to Africa. Recommend policies, procedures or decisions needed to ensure such collaboration and coordination to OSI senior management for adoption;
* Manage a grant-making portfolio to support regional strategies and emergency-response activities in countries not covered by regional/national foundations. Oversee the solicitation, evaluation, and review of applications for funding;
* Provide advice and guidance to OSI senior management on overall OSI strategy in Africa;
* Travel regularly to Africa in order to carry out responsibilities;
* Maintain regular communication with the National Foundations to assist them in troubleshooting administrative, programmatic, strategic, management, personnel and other problems, including through regular trips to the foundations to meet with the Executive Director, board members, program staff, locally based donor representatives, and other external partners and grantees, as necessary;
* Manage the annual budget drafting and submission process of the National Foundations in collaboration with the Director of International Operations and other relevant senior managers;
* Serve as the primary contact for the finance staff on budgetary questions, and with Human Resources on personnel issues related to regional sub-boards, national foundations, and the Regional Director’s own support staff;
* Develop, execute, and coordinate special projects as requested by the Director of International Operations and other OSI officers;
* Supervise two program staff.
Requirements
* Demonstrated and extensive knowledge of political/social dynamics in countries of Southern, West and East Africa;
* Minimum of ten years experience in advocacy, policy analysis or management related to Africa;
* Demonstrated experience in managing inter and intra-organizational relationships in complex organizational environments;
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills;
* Masters degree or relevant advanced degree/experience;
* Fluency in English and French;
Start Date: Immediately
Compensation: Commensurate with experience. Excellent benefits package.
To Apply
Please email resume and cover letter with salary requirements before December 4, 2009 to: [email][email protected] Include job code in subject line: RD-Africa
OR
Open Society Institute
Human Resources – Code RD-Africa
400 West 59th Street
New York, New York 10019
FAX: 212.548.4675
No phone calls, please. The Open Society Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Rome-based UN agencies have resolved to work together to revamp the fight against hunger, PANA reported from here. The senior managers, drawn from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Food for Agriculture Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP), were led by among others, the FAO Director General Jacques Diouf.
Fana Soumah, a television newscaster with the state-owned Guinean Broadcasting Corporation, was violently assaulted by a soldier in Conakry, the Guinean capital, the sub-regional rights body, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), said in a statement.
The UN Deputy Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Southern Sudan, Lise Grande, has welcomed the first-ever rescue, by the Southern Sudan Police Service, of 28 abducted children in Pibor County, Jonglei State. The children, aged between 2 and 14 years, were released on late last month.
West African neighbours, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, have called for national reconciliation in Cote d'Ivoire to ensure a peaceful vote to climax peace efforts in the country that was torn apart by civil war about a decade ago. They have also expressed appreciation about arrangements towards the forthcoming elections which Ivorian Preident Laurent Gbagbo said would take place in December 2009 or January 2010.
Rwandan journalist, Amani Ntakandi of the bi-monthly Rus hyashya published in Kigali, has been released by the people's courts, 'Gacaca', of Mbazi in the south of the country, after serving a three-month sentence for "illegally" reporting on the proceedings of these courts.
The Head of the country office of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Libya, Laurence Hart, has declared that the issue of migrants stranded in the North African country on their way to Europe was "seriously" worrying the organisation.
One hundred thousand poor people in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, will benefit from a Kshs. 600 million pilot programme to be undertaken b y the government and development partners to transfer cash to the vulnerable poor, the Prime Minister's Office has said in a statement.
The reproductive health expert of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Fanding Badji has called on African governments to show more political will in the fight against obstetrical fistula in Sub-Sahara Africa.
Seeking to minimise the perceived damage done to it by the recent conviction of one of its top members, Bode George, Nigeria's ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has endorsed the conviction. George, a former deputy national chairman of the PDP, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years imprisonment, along with five others, last week for a contract scam while he served as the chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).