Pambazuka News 413: Zimbabwe on the edge of the precipice
Pambazuka News 413: Zimbabwe on the edge of the precipice
Sudanese government soldiers and militia have forced kidnapped men, women and children into labour and sexual slavery in the war-torn region of Darfur, a coalition of African charities has said. The Sudanese military said the allegations were not worthy of comment and a government spokesman was not reachable for further response.
Reviewing the efforts of the acclaimed US playwright Eve Ensler and the former UN special envoy for AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis to sustain international attention on the DRC crisis, Stephen Leahy highlights the centrality of women and girls’ rights in the ongoing conflict in the east of the country.
Exploring Somalia’s fate under the Bush administration’s war on terror, Matthew Blood argues that the US has simply taken an already brutalised people and brutalised them even more. With warlordism, criminality, and piracy ever increasing, the author ponders whether the marked anti-Western sentiment and greater radicalisation of Islamic authority in the country will lead to violent future backlash within locations in the West from disaffected Somalis.
With Ghana witnessing elections broadly heralded as free and fair, Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem considers the country’s enduring two-party political system. Arguing that John Kufuor’s outgoing administration simply owed its electoral success to a fortuitous set of circumstances, the author delves into the country’s post-colonial history and considers the persistence of the Danquah-Busia/Nkrumahist divide in contemporary politics.
With journalists and protestors in Kenya facing brutal arrests as they challenge governmental efforts to curb media freedom, Cenya Ciyendi laments the repression of groups merely demonstrating for the right to freedom of expression. At a time when the world celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the author condemns the persistence of political self-service and the use of draconian, quasi-colonial measures to quash peaceful protest.
Considering the ultimate limitations of instructing Kenya’s children in ‘civilised’ acts like eating a banana with a knife and fork at the expense of an education true to the nation’s history, Wangui Kimari wonders whether the current educational system simply upholds students’ self-effacement.
Analysing the background to Angola’s legislative elections at the beginning of September, Rafael Marques de Morais considers the wide voting irregularities and social inequalities that allowed José Eduardo dos Santos’s MPLA to tighten its grip on political power. Reviewing the final results of the elections, the author argues that the central challenge for the Angolan electorate is to carve out a path of genuine representation and a new vision of genuine democratic power, all the while maintaining a commitment to non-violent action.
He picked up his tenor saxophone and played from memory Coltrane’s Naima. The style was not the usual hard bop. It had an overly intense feel, filled with staccato punches as if Blakey in his prime was teaching an Art class, pure drums and no cymbal. Most critics would have said he played like an amateur whilst the ones who consistently feign some form of enlightenment would have said he was borrowing heavily from bebop. It reminded him of his many struggles, most of them hidden under his ever so cool demeanor and the social expectations that arose with his manhood without even the pretense of his consultation or training. He could hardly remember when he became a man, not in that sense at the very least. He was no fool. However, he somehow seemed to have missed an important lesson over the years. The indications were there: deep husky voice that took him away from soloist roles, stubby chin with inconsistently sprouting hairs, broad shoulders that made his life a nightmare in an overcrowded city and that very tuft of not-so-public hair that he still didn’t understand the purpose it was meant to serve and whether or not his newly acquired manly status called on him to groom it or not.
cc. With its power-sharing agreement manifestly failing, Zimbabwe is on the brink of collapse, writes Mary Ndlovu. The author argues that in the face of an entrenched kleptocratic elite, life grows ever more difficult for the country’s population, a situation markedly exacerbated by a broader political culture of selfishness undermining the development of any form of effective collective action. Without an internationally sponsored, technocratically based transitional authority to replace ZANU-PF as soon as possible, Zimbabwe may yet be spoken of in the same breath as Somalia and the eastern DR Congo, she concludes.
In the midst of the current credit crunch and global economic downturn, John Samuel revisits the context behind the infamous 1930s great depression. The author contends that while the context behind the current financial crisis and that of the early 1930s are not identical, the high concentration of wealth within a few hands remains essentially the same.
Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice (KPTJ) evaluate the state of fundamental freedoms in Kenya, and their verdict is singularly unfavourable. The full statement is a condemnation of the record of the coalition government.
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Pozna?, Poland, was held from 1-12 December 2008. The conference involved a series of events, including the fourteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 14) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and fourth Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 4).
The Mo Ibrahim Foundation in association with SOAS and the Centre of African Studies-University of London is organising a Summer School in Dakar, Senegal, in April 2009 on the topic of ‘Governance and Development in Africa’. The residential school is for 25 participants who are policy makers, academics, or civil society representatives from any African country who will gain, through this training, new ideas and experience on the wide issue of good governance and development. We welcome applications from a wide range of backgrounds. Deadline for applications: 20th January 2009.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki exchanged congratulatory messages on Sunday to mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. Hu said in his message that the friendly and cooperative connections between the two sides have experienced sound, steady development in the past 45 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, despite changes in the international political arena and the respective situation in the two countries.
Barack Obama’s incoming administration could be stuck on the horn of a security dilemma in the strategic but unstable horn of Africa. A widening Somali crisis which has variously challenged both George Bush I and the Clinton Administrations, with disastrous consequences, now confronts Obama with the specter of “Blackhawk down” in Mogadishu.
Until last year, the only trigger Amoumoun Halil had pulled was the one on his livestock vaccination gun. This spring, a battered Kalashnikov rifle rested uneasily on his shoulder. When he donned his stiff fatigues, his lopsided gait and smiling eyes stood out among his hard-faced guerrilla brethren. Halil, a 40-year-old veterinary engineer, was a reluctant soldier in a rebellion that has broken out over an improbable - and as yet unrealized - bonanza of riches in one of the world's poorest countries.
China’s increasing African involvement often appears to generate more journalism than scholarship, and its coverage all too often tells us more about Western fears and myths than about Chinese intentions and African needs and priorities. African voices, and informed international scholarship are both heard too little. An initial step to remedying the first defect was Fahamu’s 2007 publication African perspectives on China in Africa edited by Firoze Manji and the present reviewer. Chris Alden, Daniel Large and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira's volume goes a long way to remedying the second - though the three editors and many of their contributors are both already known for their substantial individual contributions.
In 2004, the Tanzanian government launched its Tanzania National Voucher Scheme (TNVS). The scheme aimed to subsidise the cost of anti-malaria nets for pregnant women and children across the country. But has the implementation of the scheme so far been equitable? This study used a case study approach to analyse the power relations between key implementers of the scheme and the mothers served in four rural district health facilities in Namtumbo and Mbinga districts.
This report has been produced within the capacity building programme on participatory research and action (PRA) for people centred health systems in EQUINET. It is part of a growing mentored network of PRA work and experience in east and southern Africa, aimed at strengthening people centred health systems and people’s empowerment in health. The report presents the work and outcomes from the follow up action research building on a pilot in 2006 that aimed to strengthen community-health centre partnership and accountability in two districts in Zambia.
The national ART scale-up plan contains several measures to promote equity, considering also that there are insufficient resources to cover everyone who is eligible. Thus study focused on four of these covering ART enrolment on an open ‘first-come, first-served’ basis; targeted gender-sensitive health promotion of ART, measures to overcome specific geographical barriers to access for remote populations and prioritisation of people already on ART, pregnant women and young children.
Kenyan citizens and members of PEN International Kenya Chapter, condemn in the strongest terms possible the pattern of unconstitutional and insane legislation playing out in Parliament with the blessings of your Government. By passing your Government’s repugnant Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2008, Parliament has infringed on both our God-given human rights, and on our constitutionally recognised civic rights to representation and to freedom of expression, association, assembly, thought, communication, and even of dress.
This conference forms part of a collaborative project between the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) and the British Association of South Asian Studies (BASAS). Compared to the rapidly proliferating work on China in Africa, India, the other great 'Asian Driver', has been rather neglected in academic and policy circles. This event will bring together a series of papers on India's changing relations with one region of sub-Saharan Africa.
With the recent sharp decline in Chinese manufacturing output, the global decoupling theory seems to have died a well-deserved death. The idea that developing countries had become less dependent on US economic conditions, and so were insulated from the US crisis, was based on a potent combination of bad analysis and wishful thinking. In fact the first stage of the crisis has primarily affected trade-deficit countries, which included many of the rich countries.
In this 100-page report, Human Rights Watch documents how the government's HIV treatment program has failed to get lifesaving drugs to the majority of children who need them. If untreated, half of all children born with HIV will die before their second birthdays. Yet, many local health facilities do not ensure that children have access to HIV tests and rarely offer antiretroviral treatment for children.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the arrest by the security forces in Burkina Faso of four organisers of a big demonstration marking the 10th anniversary of the assassination of investigative journalist, Norbert Zongo, in Burkina Faso. The four are leading members of the Coalition Against Impunity which organised the demonstration in the capital, Ouagadougou, last Saturday, in support of the call for a fast-track inquest into Zongo’s murder.
Sokari Ekine reviews the following blogs:
This latest report from the International Crisis Group, argues that the inter-party negotiations to implement a power-sharing government under the Global Political Agreement are hopelessly deadlocked. The ZANU-PF regime has repeatedly violated the agreement’s premises by resuming a campaign of violence against Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters and making pre-emptive appointments.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has reechoed its stance on the need for the Gambia Government to allow independent investigation into the murder of Deyda Hydara, in order for the perpetrators of this heinous crime to be brought to justice. “It has now been four years since the callous murder of Deyda Hydara and yet still no one has been charged for this grave crime against humanity” said Gabriel Baglo Director of the IFJ Africa office.
With a focus on Ethiopia, this paper identifies and analyses the types, prevalence, major causes and effects of violence against girls in schools. It also aims to assess the availability and effectiveness of policies, rules and regulations and concludes with recommendations on ways to reduce violence against school girls. Despite the legal provisions and efforts to reduce and eliminate violence against children, particularly girls, violence and abuse seem to be widespread in Ethiopia - taking place at home, in schools, and in the community at large.
Five major events are planned to take place over 10 days with speakers from: Bolivia, Canada, England, Guyana, Haiti, India, Iraq, Ireland, Palestine, Peru, Spain, Tanzania, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, US, Venezuela. These events are organised by the GLOBAL WOMEN'S STRIKE and INTERNATIONAL WOMEN COUNT NETWORK. All are welcome.
This report by Mindy Schneider of Cornell University looks at food riots around the world, government responses, and states of democracy in 2008.
The 12th ordinary summit of the African Union (AU) will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia between January 26 and February 3, 2009 under the theme of ‘Infrastructure development in Africa’. According to the Centre for Citizen’s Participation in the AU (CCP-AU), the summit will likely be dominated by issues related to: peace and security in Sudan, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea and Djibouti; the union government – a topic to which a one day extra-ordinary summit is devoted; the draft social policy framework of the AU; the election of a new Chairman of the Union to replace the outgoing Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete; the impact of the global financial crisis on Africa.
In other news, the Chairman of the AU Commission said he will not consider sending troops to Zimbabwe to address the humanitarian and political crisis until all diplomatic channels are exhausted. Meanwhile, the Commission of the AU, deeply concerned over the devastating cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe, has donated 100,000 dollars to the country as a contribution to tackle the epidemic.
A group of 26 countries in east, central and southern Africa launched ‘The African Climate Solution’ at the UN climate change talks in Poland that aims to reduce green house gas emissions by forest resources and carbon sequestration through agriculture, forestry and land use in Africa and throughout the developing world. Participants at the talks were negotiating a new global climate change deal to be clinched in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the end of 2009. The AU Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Food Policy Research Institute aimed at strengthening food security by providing a better framework to find solutions to food security issues, poverty alleviation, hunger and malnutrition.
Meanwhile, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, at its 44th ordinary session, adopted a resolution calling on African States to observe a moratorium on the death penalty as a step towards making the AU a death penalty-free continent. In other news, the AU is planning to set up a communal fund, held by the African Development Bank and open to contributions from international donors and African governments, to pay for education, science and technology programmes on the continent.
Finally, the University of Cambridge has issued a call for papers on the theme of ‘Contemporary India-East Africa relations: shifting terrains of engagement’ as part of a collaborative project between the British Institute in Eastern Africa and the British Association of South Asian Studies.
We have often said that as the poor our only strength is in our discipline. Our numbers mean nothing if we are not organized and we cannot be organized without being disciplined. Our discipline has never been about taking orders from above. Our movement grew out of a rejection of the top down politics of the councillors, the ward committees and the branch executive committees. We have always rejected top down politics in all its forms - including those NGOs that want to remote our movements.
In what would be the first active deployment of its warships beyond the Pacific, China appears set to send naval vessels to help in the fight against hijackers in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden. A vice foreign minister and a leading naval strategist were quoted in Chinese state media on Wednesday as saying that Beijing is close to mounting a naval mission in the gulf.
cc. Concerned scholars should revitalise their opposition to Zimbabwe’s Mugabe regime, writes Horace Campbell. While being against any form of opportunistic, external intervention in the country, Campbell argues that scholars must come to offer an effective challenge to ZANU-PF’s persistent retreat into spurious anti-imperialist discourse. Heavily critical of writers like Mahmood Mamdani for echoing ZANU-PF’s claims around the effects of economic sanctions levied against Zimbabwe, Campbell argues that blocking international payments would prove a far more efficacious means of tackling Mugabe’s misappropriation of funds.
Emphasising that racialisation is far from simply an event, John Powell explores the history of racial segregation in the United States and the evolution of understandings around racism’s persistence and effects on day-to-day life. Just as racialisation reinvented itself in the shape of the Jim Crow laws following the end of slavery in the 19th century, today’s race-neutral approaches to issues of social and economic inequality can in reality simply compound racial disparities, Powell contends. In an Obama age, the author argues, tackling structural racialisation can only be achieved through ‘targeted universalism’: approaches and policies true to the individual circumstances that different social groups face.
Sanusha Naidu provides a round up of this week's developments on China and Africa, at a time when China celebrates 30 years of market reforms.
This issue, Pambazuka News 413, will be the last issue to appear in 2008. We will return on 8 January 2009. We are taking a break to recuperate and recharge our batteries. We are, we know, the lucky ones: there are millions who have no option to continue their fight against oppression and exploitation, for whom there will be no respite over the holiday break. As you celebrate the coming of the new year, spare your thoughts for them. And make a new year's resolution to help Pambazuka News give voice to their aspirations and their struggles by making a regular donation. You can do so easily .
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for the release of Ebenezer Viwami editor of Alerte Info an independent news agency based in Abidjan the capital. Viwami was arrested last Saturday for allegedly publishing false news on a riot that sparked the very at the prison in Abidjan. "This arrest looks contradictory with the promise of President Laurent Gbagbo not to jail journalists for libel" said Gabriel Baglo the Director of IFJ Africa office. The IFJ calls for the immediate release of Ebenezer Viwami.
This 66-page report describes how laws in over three dozen countries, from India to Uganda and from Nigeria to Papua New Guinea, derive from a single law on homosexual conduct that British colonial rulers imposed on India in 1860. This year, the High Court in Delhi ended hearings in a years-long case seeking to decriminalize homosexual conduct there. A ruling in the landmark case is expected soon.
The Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC) has recently concluded a merger with Amandla! Publishers and embarked on a new programme under the theme "Dialoguing Alternatives for Social Justice". The programme aims to strengthen movements for social justice through the production of alternative knowledge and by enhancing the institutional capacity of community media organizations and the communication capacity of progressive civil society organizations that facilitates a dialogue giving voice to the poor and marginalized locally and internationally. We are growing our committed and dynamic team and invite applications for the position of Journalist & Coach
The Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC) has recently concluded a merger with Amandla! Publishers and embarked on a new programme under the theme "Dialoguing Alternatives for Social Justice". The programme aims to strengthen movements for social justice through the production of alternative knowledge and by enhancing the institutional capacity of community media organizations and the communication capacity of progressive civil society organizations that facilitates a dialogue giving voice to the poor and marginalized locally and internationally. We are growing our committed and dynamic team and invite applications for the position of Capacity Building Facilitator.
The Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC) has recently concluded a merger with Amandla! Publishers and embarked on a new programme under the theme "Dialoguing Alternatives for Social Justice". The programme aims to strengthen movements for social justice through the production of alternative knowledge and by enhancing the institutional capacity of community media organizations and the communication capacity of progressive civil society organizations that facilitates a dialogue giving voice to the poor and marginalized locally and internationally. We are growing our committed and dynamic team and invite applications for the position of Operations Manager.
The Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC) has recently concluded a merger with Amandla! Publishers and embarked on a new programme under the theme "Dialoguing Alternatives for Social Justice". The programme aims to strengthen movements for social justice through the production of alternative knowledge and by enhancing the institutional capacity of community media organizations and the communication capacity of progressive civil society organizations that facilitates a dialogue giving voice to the poor and marginalized locally and internationally. We are growing our committed and dynamic team and invite applications for the position of Administrator.
A recent study by the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights found that 83% of Egyptian women and 98% of foreign women experience public sexual harassment in this country dependent on Western tourists, including explicit comments, groping, men exposing themselves and assault. Nearly 97% of Egyptian women and 87% of foreigners do not alert police. But human rights activists believe that the extensive news coverage of Saleh's case may inspire more women to file complaints.
Marrying off Mauritanian girls as young as six years old to men in Gulf states is turning into a profitable trafficking enterprise as a typically rural marriage practice migrates to the city, according to urban families. “It used to be widespread in the rural milieu, but now child marriages are more developed in urban areas as a new business,” said Sidi Mohamed Ould Jyyide, a sociologist in the capital Nouakchott.
As the Poznan Climate Change conference enters its final days, IRIN, with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is pleased to announce the launch of eight short videos exploring the human cost of climate change in Africa.
Practical application of and academic interest in human rights has grown exponentially over the last decade. Activism – its ethical imperatives, its particular constituencies, its social and political impact, and even its organisational structure - has become the subject of rigorous scrutiny. This journal aims to capture learning and communicate the lessons of practice across professional and geographical boundaries, within and beyond the human rights mainstream, and to provide a vehicle for innovative national and local practitioners world-wide who currently lack a platform for sharing their expertise internationally.
The ECOWAS Peace Fund got a boost Monday with a donation of US$100, 000 from China. At a brief ceremony in Abuja, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Xu Jianguo, who presented the cheque of the said amount to the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, said the contribution was in recognition of ECOWAS' efforts in regional integration. While describing ECOWAS as a "very important regional organization in Africa," Mr. Xu said that China and ECOWAS faced similar challenges and that China would not hesitate to assist the regional institution.
Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has announced in China that his country was ready to promote bilateral ties with Sierra Leone. In a meeting with foreign affairs minister Zainab Bangura, Jinping said China would assist Sierra Leone in the area of trade, education and health, adding that diplomatic ties between the two countries started 37 years ago.
Plummeting copper prices have caused investors to shy away from the $1.5 billion Kafue Lower Gorge Dam, which is designed exclusively for use by foreign mining companies. According to Reuters, the World Bank’s private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), reports that the proposed $1.5 billion Kafue Lower Gorge Dam in Zambia has been put on hold, as many investors shy away from major commitments in light of the financial crisis.
Hong Kong may be in a recession, and China's fast-paced growth is rapidly slowing, but that has not diminished the attractiveness of China to foreign companies. That is one of the conclusions to be drawn from the latest figures from InvestHK, the Hong Kong department that promotes the city as a place to do business. Hong Kong is a often bridgehead for those wanting to set up a business in mainland China.
A Niger guerilla faction led by dissident Tuareg insurgent leader Rhissa Ag Boula announced Dec. 16 it had abducted Canadian UN special envoy Robert Fowler, who disappeared with an aide while driving some 30 miles northeast of the capital Niamey. The vehicle was found abandoned. In a posting on its website, Ag Boula's Front of Forces for Rectification (FFR), which split from the Niger Justice Movement (MNJ) in May, said it was holding four people, including Fowler.
A Chinese business company, ZTE, said it has been offering capacity building training to Ethiopians in a bid to enhance technology transfer and strengthen people-to-people relations between Ethiopia and China. ZTE country chief representative, Zhang Yanmeng told ENA on Wednesday that the company will offer training to 1,000 workers of the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) on ‘Code Division Multiple Access’ (CDMA) network installations.
This conference will reflect on the diverse and changing notions of ‘the public’, in relation to the production of medical knowledge and health in contemporary Africa. We hope that an improved understanding of this basic social and political concept will help strengthen the connection between public health and social progress and confront the power imbalances in global medical research and health care delivery.
Metropolis TV is an innovative global media project that is about discovering similarities and differences between people and cultures in a globalizing world. A network of more than 50 correspondents from all over the world contributes to
The project on a weekly basis. Until now, Metropolis TV has explored 25 world wide themes and more than 200 reports have been produced from countries such as Nicaragua, Bolivia, Kenia, Zambia, Iran, India and Indonesia.
Berghof Conflict Research (BCR) is offering opportunities for supervised PhD social science research starting in 2009, on topics related to BCR's programme areas. Applications, including a research outline (maximum 6 pages), references, CV, and supporting documents should be sent to [email][email protected] by 31 March 2009. Please note that due to the forthcoming holidays we will be able to reply to your requests by 12 January 2009 at the earliest.
Tanzania Telecentre Network (TTN) builds a wireless internet network in Sengerema. It is the first wireless community network in Tanzania, making internet available and affordable to a large number of people living in rural areas. In the first phase, the wireless network connects six community organisations to the internet. In phase 2 and 3, it aims to connect all wards in Sengerema District.
Tanzania has reiterated that the proposed land reforms being vigorously pursued by Kenyan politicians that seek to allow foreign citizens to own vast tracts of land within the country are totally out of the question. The Deputy Minister for East African Co-operation, Mohammed Aboud, told reporters in the Ugandan capital Kampala that Tanzania is not ready to adopt the controversial issue of cross-border private land ownership within the region.
Zimbabwean feminists will caucus with women activists from the SADC region to break through the Zimbabwean political impasse and begin the implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA). In their meeting with SADC facilitator Thabo Mbeki, at 4pm, they will hand over their resolutions, with actions to move the current Zimbabwean question forward.
A free and fair media is a necessary element in any democracy. The press is the watchdog of the government. They ensure that the truth be told. The government should have no power in a democracy to control news outlets. If the bill is signed the government is essentially stealing the voice of the people so they will be able to declare a "state of emergency" when it is convenient for them. Giving the government a gag hold on the media's ability to report the truth.
The death toll from a cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe has soared to 1,111, the United Nations said on Thursday, adding to pressure for a quick solution to the crisis in the southern African country. South African ruling African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma ruled out military intervention and backed a diplomatic push as the way to end political deadlock and prevent a total collapse of the once relatively prosperous nation.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has said African leaders are not brave enough to force him from power, the state-run Herald newspaper reports. He told a meeting of his Zanu-PF party that the US was encouraging African countries to oust him, but said it would not be easy to send in an army.
Ethiopia has missed the deadline set out in a peace deal to withdraw its forces from Somalia, but has promised to go by the end of December. The recent agreement between the transitional government and Islamist opposition set Friday as the deadline. A BBC reporter in the capital says the troops are still in their bases. "Our total withdrawal... will be by the end of this month, the prime minister has made it very clear," Ethiopia's London ambassador told the BBC.
Survivors of Rwanda's genocide and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon have welcomed the life sentence given to its mastermind Theoneste Bagosora. Bagosora and two co-defendants were found by a UN tribunal to have led a committee that plotted the massacre of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. Mr Ban said the sentences were a "major step in the fight against impunity".
The introduction of solar power systems to rural communities in East Africa is providing new business opportunities, as well as affordable and safe electricity supplies. Johari lives in the Iringa region of Tanzania. She used to work as a manual labourer, breaking rocks and selling the stones for building material. But now, after a short training course, Johari is assembling and selling small solar panels that can be used to power radios and recharge batteries for lamps and mobile phones.
Why are many African states dominated by one political party? Why are ineffective leaders often re-elected by willing African publics? This research from Michigan State University published by Afrobarometer analyses attitudes to political parties in 18 African countries. It finds a significant gapin public trust of ruling and opposition parties, at least in part because Africans value respect for leaders
What factors generate election-related violence in fragile states? How can the international community address these? This study from the University of Denver suggests that social structure, political competition, the competence of the electoral administration and the degree of professionalism in the security sector contribute to election-related violence. International influence at mid-rank levels among the perpetrators of violence is limited.
Land is at the heart of all economic activity and a subject that has gained prominence the world at large since the 1990s - Land policy reform. Though the challenges vary considerably across regions and countries, the last decade has seen a tremendous increase in the demand for policy advice on land use.
Should the amount of aid that African countries receive from Europe be linked to their efforts to prevent their nationals moving to this continent? France, the outgoing holder of the EU's rotating presidency, has suggested that it should. During recent discussions involving both African and European governments, the French have advocated a two-year cooperation programme that would simultaneously try to encourage legal migration -- normally that involving skilled or highly-educated professionals, whose services are desired by European firms -- and curb 'irregular' movement.
The United Nations published a report by its expert panel that supports what the Congolese people have known and been saying for the longest. Now that the world has acknowledged the nature of the 12 year conflict in the Congo, we may finally start to see policy prescriptions that reflect the truth and include what the Congolese have argued for some time now.
Meanwhile, people displaced by the project finally receive monetary compensation, nearly four years after being impoverished through a resettlement process that denied them the option of the land compensation they were entitled to. Reuters reports that the World Bank-supported West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) at last delivered its first gas to Ghana on December 11.
On November 23, civil society groups convened a high-level meeting in Cairo to discuss the West Delta Irrigation project, which is financed in part by a $145 million World Bank loan. The project supports the construction of an irrigation system that will divert water from the Nile to supply modern, export-oriented farms on reclaimed desert lands that have severely depleted groundwater sources.
Men, women, children and infants are piled on mats in overcrowded cells. Food is strewn all over the kitchen and the toilets are overflowing. Children dig in rubbish bins. Yellow biohazard bags are piled high just outside the door, suggesting serious medical issues and there's no sign of proper medical facilities. Conditions in the centre amount to inhuman and degrading treatment.
United Nations-backed talks between the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and a main rebel group, aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to the strife-ridden country’s brutal armed conflict, resumed today after a week-long break. This round of negotiations is slated to end on 20 December when the two sides are set to adopt a framework for substantive dialogue attempting to end the conflict that has been plaguing the eastern part of the vast DRC.
Delegates attending a pan-African ministerial conference have welcomed a proposal attempting to secure billion-dollar commitments for building critical hydropower and agricultural irrigation systems across the continent, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced.
Actor-director Ben Affleck and Rolling Stone singer Mick Jagger have released a short film to help raise $23 million for United Nations efforts to pay for clean water and emergency aid kits for 250,000 people driven from their homes by renewed fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The film – “Gimme Shelter” – set to the Rolling Stones’ song of the same name, was shot last month in North Kivu province, epicentre of the latest surge in fighting.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said it is very concerned about reports that rebels are putting pressure on those displaced by the deadly fighting in the far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to return to their villages.
SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salomao has confirmed to Newsreel that it’s secretariat received documents and video evidence from the Zimbabwean government, on alleged MDC banditry training in Botswana. The revelation will outrage the MDC and other pro-democracy activists who claim several abducted activists featured in the video were tortured into making confessions about this ‘military training.’
Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said on Friday he would ask for power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe to be suspended if the government did not stop persecuting political opponents. Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, and Mugabe agreed to form a unity government three months ago. Their accord spurred hopes the ruined nation might recover from a deep economic and humanitarian crisis.