The first-ever multilingual poll of black, Hispanic and Asian Americans is a call to action for the ethnic media leaders who sponsored it. While respondents believe that ethnic media are "irresponsible" when it comes to covering race relations, they also describe ethnic media as a vital intermediary for strengthening inter-group communication. New American Media Editor Sandip Roy interviewed some of the poll’s media sponsors about how they view their shifting role in covering race relations in America.

Since April 2002, most of the four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Angola have resettled, integrated or gone home following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the governing MPLA and UNITA, which marked the end of 27 years of civil war. In November 2005 the government estimated that there were still some 62,000 IDPs in Angola. Since then, population movements and the level of integration of the displaced have not been monitored.

The four special mandates on freedom of expression have issued a Joint Declaration on Broadcasting Diversity, with the assistance of ARTICLE 19. The Joint Declaration makes a number of general points about the promotion of diversity, including that where regulatory tools are applied by bodies which lack independence from government or commercial interests, or in a non-transparent manner, they are likely to be abused.

Some 60 religious leaders from 18 African countries stressed the need for members of faith-based organizations (FBOs) to partner with the United Nations at all levels to advocate for policy change and resource mobilization for the prevention of HIV and gender-based violence. At the end of a two-day regional forum organized by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and the World Conference of Religions for Peace-South Africa, a series of wide-ranging recommendations for strengthening partnerships were adopted.

A prominent New York Times article describes how Malawi went from food aid recipient to regional food provider in just two years after re-introducing fertilizer subsidies for its low-income farmers. The move contravened years of policy guidance from the World Bank and IMF, which warn against such distortions of the “free market.”

China has tightened the quality control on anti-malaria drugs sold to African countries with a newly-issued regulation and other efforts, according to the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). According to the new regulation, China will only export anti-malaria drugs produced through a group of government-appointed pharmacy companies to African clients and carefully examine their products before export, said Wu Zhen, the SFDA deputy Director, at a press conference.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has urged its member unions worldwide to express their solidarity with the journalists locked out by The Guardian management in Nigeria. The 800 journalists and other workers took strike action on November 6 after negotiation with The Guardian management over a pay rise and better working conditions broke down. The Guardian online and print editions have not been published since.

The new Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal in Namibia has finally held a hearing in the case brought by Zimbabwean white farmer Mike Campbell against the government of Zimbabwe. The farmer is seeking an interim order blocking the government from interfering with operations on his farm. There was a three-hour preliminary hearing, after which the President of the SADC tribunal Judge Onkemetse Tshosa, said they would deliver a ruling before the end of the week.

Cameroon's parliament has authorised the president to sign an interim trade deal with the European Union, joining a growing number of poor nations inking 11th-hour accords before preferential trade terms expire. The EU is rushing to strike basic interim deals with the comparatively better off former colonies to avoid disruption to their goods exports when preferential terms expire on Dec. 31.

This week's AU Monitor brings you news and updates from the African Union. AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Bience Gawanas calls for a collective effort in addressing drug trafficking and related crimes, referring to them as "human security and development issues that should be addressed if the AU was to achieve its objectives". Further, the One World Trust has profiled the African Union in its Global Accountability Report, with findings based on public information.

In other AU news, Mrs Julia Dolly Joiner, Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union Commission, delivers a message to commemorate the 59th annual International Human Rights Day.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the Spanish Government are calling for proposals under the NEPAD-Spanish Fund, an initiative intended to "empower African women by unlocking their economic potential, fight poverty and close gender gaps".

African Leaders who gathered at the recent Africa-EU Summit in Lisbon, Portugal have stated that their aim for building ties with Europe is not to seek charity but to increase Africa's role in the global economy and build a partnership based on common interest and mutual respect. At the Summit's opening session, AU Chairman Alpha Konare stated "Africa doesn't want charity or paternalism. We don't want anyone doing things for us. We want to play in the global economy, but with new rules." In other Summit news, African Heads of State refused to accept the EU's proposed economic partnership agreements (EPA) , instead agreeing to interim trade agreements until an alternative is devised. Finally, members of both Parliaments expressed 'surprise and disappointment' that Darfur was not on the agenda for the Summit attended by Heads of States. The legislators and campaigners urge leaders to make the protection of civilians from conflict a top priority of an African-EU cooperation.

In regional news, the Zambezi Basinwide Stakeholders Forum concluded that local communities should be given more possibilities to participate in the decision-making processes regarding natural resources such as water. Further, The South African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal is set to deliver judgment of a pivotal case in which a white Zimbabwean commercial farmer is challenging the legality of the country's land reform program.

In peace and security news, a recent conference on human security and armed violence reduction in Africa was convened in South Africa in order to "examine Africa's research capability in the context of increasing global security challenges". At the close of the conference, participants called on the AU to spearhead the use of research into policy formulation at all levels. Further, a group of elder world leaders have joined together to offer their insight and wisdom on global challenges. Reporting from Darfur, the group of elders compiled a list of recommendations to ensure peace and an immediate ceasefire in the region.

In other peace and security news, the deployment of the EU Force (EUFOR) to protect aid workers and civilians in Chad and the Central African Republic has been placed on hold, due to disagreements between EU countries.

Finally, Festus Aboagye analyzes reasons behind the Western world's push for African 'home-grown' peacekeeping, suggesting that the West mobilizes resources for conflicts when it serves its interests most. Aboagye adds that "the 'real' reason why the West has not been able to participate directly in regional peacekeeping is because of commitments towards the war on terror."

Both Houses of the Zimbabwe Parliament this week approved the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. The next step is for Zimbabwe’s instrument of ratification to be lodged with the AU, at which point the Protocol will come into force for Zimbabwe. After that women’s organisations will need to monitor the Protocol’s incorporation into domestic [national] law and its implementation.

Starting antiretroviral therapy is associated with increased sexual risk taking, according to a study conducted in Cote d’Ivoire and published in the January 2008 edition of AIDS. Younger age and alcohol consumption were also associated with unprotected sex. Several studies in industrialised countries have noted increased levels of unprotected sex since effective antiretroviral therapy became available. The exact reasons for this are unclear and a meta-analysis found that levels of unprotected sex were not increased amongst HIV-positive individuals taking anti-HIV treatment.

There seems to be a common misconception that Africans are born dreaming of emigrating to the West. But if we are to see Africans as fully fledged members of humanity, argues Mukoma wa Ngugi, we should recognise that no-one would want to leave his or her family for an indefinite period of time to earn a living in a foreign country such as the United States.

Tens of thousands of Burundian refugees staying in Tanzania returned home this year; however, the Tanzanian government will miss its target to empty all camps by mid-2008, the United Nations has said. Authorities had indicated they wanted to pick up the pace, and set a deadline for voluntary repatriation for the end of this year -- or Jun. 30, 2008 at the very latest.

In contrast to the 1970s and 1980s, the last decade has spelt a period of steady growth across Africa, partly as a result of global market conditions (high prices for oil and minerals) and partly due a change in macroeconomic policies. However, political volatility remains a risk to investment, says this latest report from the World Bank.

Sierra Leone's new president has asked the country's anti-corruption body to probe ex-government ministers and other senior officials for alleged graft. Ernest Bai Koroma said this would set an example by making all accountable. He made the announcement after being presented with an audit into the state of corruption in Sierra Leone.

Niger has admitted that the army killed seven Tuareg civilians at the weekend. Niger's defence minister said the civilians were caught in a firefight between the army and rebels of the Niger Movement for Justice. A statement on state radio said the incident occurred on Sunday in the region of Tiguidit, some 80km from the regional capital Agadez.

Climate change is expected to dramatically alter the lifestyles of poor people in Namibia, say the authors of a study. Their findings were published by the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) this month (December).

African leaders, entrepreneurs and development agencies should start developing content to harness the potential of emerging educational technologies, writes Calestous Juma. Digital education technologies like the XO '$100' laptop have their problems and critics. But the big challenge, says Juma, is teaching African children to use these technologies — and get the most out of them.

Why does it matter that two rich Westerners are batting back and forth over the strategies and benefits of a cheap computer for children in developing countries?, asks White African in his blog, in the wake of a debate as to whether children in the developing world would be better served by a laptop or food aid.

The governments of both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have lost patience over the failure of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader and founder to consent to lasting peace process, with the DRC giving Joseph Kony notice to leave its Eastern Garamba Park on or before 31 January 2008. Senior government officials of both countries had taken the decision at the recent Great Lakes Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission has set up a listserve to enable information to be circulated as part of the mobilisation for the Mau Mau Reparations campaign.

The Nature of the Mau Mau Claim

The Kenya Land and Freedom Army (Mau Mau) claim relates to torture, cruel and degrading treatment of detainees perpetrated by the Kenyan Colonial Government during the State of Emergency (1952-60). It is a tortious claim based on negligence and will be instituted in the British High Court. The claimants are seeking compensation for personal injuries sustained while in detention camps of the Kenya Colonial Government which operated under the authority of Her Majesty’s Government (HMG). The proposed claims are based on the tort of negligence. It is alleged that HMG is liable not only because of actions of the Kenyan Colonial Government but for its failure to take any or adequate steps to prevent the widespread use of torture that it knew was being perpetrated in its name.

Campaign Objectives

The campaign seeks to:

1. Institute proceedings against the HMG in the British High Court with a view to achieve a ruling compelling HMG to pay reparations to Mau Mau torture survivors;
2. Build local and global awareness on the Mau Mau claim for reparations;
3. Energize ongoing efforts for recognition of Kenyan heroes and heroines;
4. Implant the tools for comprehensive transitional justice in Kenya.

You can subscribe to this listserve at

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) recently launched the Academic Network of African Researchers on Languages to undertake research on how "Internet language" can be simplified and translated into local languages. "We want to link computer sciences closer with languages with an objective of bridging the language digital divide that does hinder our local people from using ICTs especially in the use of Internet," said UNECA's Director of ICT, Science and technology Division Aida Opoku-Mensah.

The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), the organisers of GK3 are optimistic that five billion people will be connected to the Internet by 2015. Walter Fust the Chair of the GKP Executive Committee expressed this while closing the conference. Fust, who is also the Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) said the plan, will not only create enormous job opportunities for software and hardware suppliers, but also connect billions of people to the Internet.

Insurgents loyal to dissident general Laurent Nkunda, fighting government troops in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are still recruiting children into their ranks, even as serious human rights violations, including some committed by agents of the state, are rife in the region, according to the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC).

Civil society groups in the Niger Delta region have warned that the government is destroying communities’ health and Nigeria’s environment by flouting laws against gas flaring, a technique used in oil production. For decades gas flaring has been used to separate crude oil from the associated gases that are extracted with it, but Nigeria flares more gas today than any nation in the world after Russia, even though it is only the world’s eighth largest oil producer.

In a welcome centre in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, a small finger traces the words of an English text book; a young voice struggles to pronounce the words. Ruth is 13 years old and only in grade 3. But for her, this is a major achievement. At the age of five, Ruth was trafficked from her village in southern Nigeria to Gabon, further south on the Gulf of Guinea. For years of her life, she never attended school.

The question of whether marital rape is recognised or not by Southern African Development Community (SADC) governments, as a matter of policy, should be put to rest, says Pamela Mhlanga. International organisations and agreements recognise marital rape as a human rights violation and six SADC countries have domesticated this position in their criminal justice systems.

I am 47 years old, married with children. I have a son and two daughters age 24, 19 and 14. I got married at the age of 19. When I got married I was already working. I started to work in the age of 15. I come from a poor family. My parents drink heavily and used to fight everyday. When I grew up I looked for a job. When I married I had been working for four years. In our culture or tradition women they must bow down and worship their husband as king. I had to give him my salary even though he was working too. He earned a lower salary than me.

Thousands of civilians displaced by violence related to land disputes in Mt Elgon, western Kenya, need urgent assistance, according to local leaders. “About 50 houses were destroyed today [10 December] in three villages in Cheptais division,” Wycliffe Chongin, a local church leader, told IRIN at Kapsokwony, the Mt Elgon District headquarters, after local officials met UN representatives.

Despite Lisbon’s genuine interest to serve “once again as a bridge” between the two continents, the summit came decades too late, argues Calestous Juma. Most of Europe has not woken up to the fact there is a new Africa that is unlikely to cross a bridge built with remnants from a previous era. New design criteria are needed to reconstruct relations between Africa and Europe.

Former president of Sierra Leone, Mr Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, will lead the Commonwealth Observers Group (COG) in the elections. Commonwealth Secretary-General, Mr Don McKinnon, announced on Thursday that the former president would lead a team of observers composed of 13 eminent persons drawn from 11 Commonwealth countries. He added that the observers would be in the country from December 18 to January 1.

The world is running a deficit of more than 4 million healthcare workers, but a proposed new shift in healthcare delivery may alleviate the shortage and bring new players to the field. An article in the 13 December edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, Rapid Expansion of the Health Workforce in Response to the HIV Epidemic, introduces the World Health Organisation's battle plan to combat the shortage and revolutionise the way we think of healthcare.

At least six people have been killed and 30 critically injured since clashes between Muslim and Christian communities in the north-central Nigerian city of Bauchi broke out on 11 December, Red Cross workers and residents said. Some 3,000 people have fled their homes in the area of the fighting, witnesses said. The government has ordered a 9pm to 6am curfew and closed the local university, which has often been the site of violent clashes.

After a truncated rainy season in Senegal’s southern Casamance region, granaries are empty and many families are getting by on one meal a day. Residents say as a result of food shortages some children are missing school, many families are divided as men leave to seek work, and people are increasingly turning to the production and sale of charcoal to make a living.

Kenya's main opposition party accused the government on Monday of bribing voters and risking regional insecurity by trying to rig polls due on December 27. "A rigged electoral process will cause such chaos and political instability in Kenya, not only here but in the entire East Africa region," presidential challenger Raila Odinga, leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), told Reuters.

Women own only a small percentage of the world’s land, yet produce two-thirds of the food in developing countries. A a recent FAO-sponsored Technical Consultation on Gender, Property Rights and Livelihoods in the Era of AIDS (28-30 Nov 2007), in Rome, it was stated that women still account for 60% of all HIV infected adults living in sub-Saharan Africa.

FAO is working with affected women’s groups as well as with governments and local-level groups to increase awareness about the issues of land grabbing and land reform as they affect women in developing countries, in particular in areas of HIV/AIDS prevalence. Women continue to be discriminated and stigmatized despite the efforts that many governments have taken to sensitise communities in recent years.

Unlike many widows or separated women, Flavia Kyomukama, HIV positive and member of Women's group in Uganda, survived land property grabbing from her husband.

Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET) Steering committee (2007), Reclaiming the Resources for Health – A regional analysis of equity in health in East and Southern Africa, EQUINET, Weaver Press, Zimbabwe, Fountain Publishers, Uganda, Jacana, South Africa, 228 pages.

The authors and one of the publishers of Reclaiming the Resources for Health – A regional analysis of equity in health in East and Southern Africa, EQUINET, are clear about their intention right from the onset. They write, “It is possible to learn from existing experiences in order to act.” This statement defines the book as one that stimulates social action and not some coffee table kind that one browses through while waiting for the doctor’s appointment or in a petrol or bread queue depending on which part of East and Southern Africa (ESA) one hails from.

Written by EQUINET’s steering committee (the acknowledgements section gives the names of the principal author and contributors), the book draws from a wealth of experience from this diverse and expert group. Most of the analysis comes from positions of authority and knowledge, backed by substantial research.

Reclaiming the Resources for Health is a critical resource book and a must read for policy makers and those working in equity in health in ESA countries such as civil society organisations (CSOs), faith-based organisations and community or grassroots level social actors.

Academics can also comprise another group that this publication will be of immense value to as the book pulls together sources that include work in progress by institutions working in health equity in ESA. The book refers to published reports, surveys, testimonials and experiences’ from communities, health workers, state and CSOs and country case studies and stories.

Comparative analysis of country case stories is critical to regional integration and economic development especially if ESA policymakers can learn from each other and replicate good practices in their own neighbourhoods. Such case stories feature in all sections of the publication together with other comparative information and data cited in the text.

For the social activist in health equity the book is a tool kit. It has all the ammunition one needs to understand the dynamics of health equity and captures important statistics in intelligent ways when presenting arguments. Furthermore, definitions of terminologies are beneficial to non-academics.

The media rarely covers the development story in detail and recently there has been renewed interest in highlighting issues such as poverty and its links to HIV and AIDS. Social determinants of poverty such as inequalities in wealth and limited provision of affordable and accessible health care and other social services are critical to fighting the pandemic.

Arguably health and citizen journalists will find the book a good source of information in understanding the multi-dimensional issues surrounding equity in health issues in ESA. Importantly also, after reading the book journalists will be able to critique international agreements by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organisation and Economic Partnership Agreements in the context of health equity.

Reclaiming the resources for health refers to grey material that can be a good starting point for further academic research. In most instances, such material is difficult to access as it is mainly unpublished thus gathering dust in some offices. It provides the references used at the end of each section. Even from a cursory reading, consultation of wide sources is evident from the analysis and the book might meet the rigorous standards synonymous with social science and academic research.

Although produced in expensive full-colour format, the design is eye-catching with cartograms, charts, illustrations, maps, photographs, pull-quotations, tables, figures and statistics that make the book reader friendly. The index also provides a quick reference to information in the book.

Its seven sections, consisting 30-odd pages each, cover the entire spectrum of issues dealing with health equity and constitute the main theme of the book. A summary of key issues introduces each section thus providing the reader with a gist of the information and data. One can read a section as a stand-alone chapter or module because of the references at the end. This is useful to those interested in particular sections relevant to their work or adapting the book for training purposes.

Reclaiming the resources for health touches on key development issues that groupings such as the World Social Forum continue to grapple with. These include the negative impact of neo-liberal globalisation and structural adjustment policies; resource outflows caused by debt and unfair trade regimes promoted by the World Trade Organisation (WTO); difficulties in attaining Millennium Development Goals in the absence of equity; and most importantly building alternatives to the status quo by demanding more resources for health.

Abuja PLUS strategies mentioned in the book are an example of initiatives that can go a long way towards achieving equity. The strategies call for more resources for health, especially from debt cancellation, which governments can direct to primary health care. This is in addition to the fifteen per cent as stipulated in the Abuja agreement.

The book points out that inequalities put a brake on poverty reduction, and that absolute poverty is a challenge to health equity but that so too are the growing gaps between rich and poor. The publication identifies manifestations of poverty and its various forms. These include lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; and ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; and homelessness and inadequate housing. Social discrimination, exclusion and lack of popular participation in decision-making processes are additional impediments to achieving health equity.

The publication further amplifies the need for governments to grab opportunities for health equity such as those provided by WTO trade related intellectual property rights flexibilities in Doha agreement 2001 to produce affordable generic drugs especially antiretrovirals. Compulsory licensing by government allows for the production of drugs at reduced cost.

Reclaiming resources for health identifies the central role of health workers and calls for measures to arrest the brain drain especially migration to high-income countries. These include improving salaries and conditions of service inclusive of access to antiretroviral therapy and training for health workers.

The book advocates for people centred health systems. “When health systems are organised to involve and empower people, as people centred health systems they can create powerful constituencies to protect public interests in health.” (Page 172).

Reclaiming the resources for health identifies that the realisation of socio-economic rights in health equity requires not only resource-allocations but also accountability and commitment by ESA governments. The onus falls on the state not to only give lip service but fulfil policy or legally binding obligations.

Whilst some ESA countries are signatory to international instruments that promote health equity, others have adapted the obligations into their domestic law. However, limited resources affect the need for progressive realisation of economic and social rights in ESA countries. Additionally, although states are ultimately responsible as duty-bearers, non-state actors, notably the private sector and civil society organisations, also have a role in meeting citizens’ socio-economic needs.

The book also reviews achievements made so far since the regional meeting on ‘Equity in Health – Policies for survival in Southern Africa’ held in Kasane, Botswana in 1997. The meeting, which committed itself to regional networking and equity in health, formed the basis upon which EQUINET, the book’s author and publisher, came into existence.

EQUINET, which promotes knowledge and policy dialogue through social partners, clearly spells out its agenda in the book.

“Our concept of equity includes the power and ability people (social groups) have to direct resources to their health needs, particularly for those with worst health. This refers to people’s collective ability to assert their own needs and interests, influence the allocation of societal resources towards their needs, and challenge the distribution of power and resources that block their development.” (Page 211).

As mentioned earlier, the book does not only identify problems, it provides solutions in the form of alternatives and possible choices in reclaiming resources for health. The book lists three central points. The first one is that poor people should claim a fairer share of national resources. Secondly, there should be a return by east and southern Africa countries from the global economy. Thirdly, investments should be committed at global and national resources towards health systems. In return, such health systems should allocate resources to those with greater health needs.

In conclusion, one may easily say that EQUINET achieved its objectives in this book as the publication goes beyond assessing achievements made so far since Kasane 1997. It calls for an evaluation of strategies to achieve health equity by identifying what has worked out and what failed. In a sense, the publication is radical as it calls for social action, a proactive state and an alternative global economic order.

For more information on EQUINET you can visit To order a copy of the book contact [email][email protected] Alternatively contact one of the African co-publishers: Fountain publishers in east and central Africa ([email protected]); Jacana media in South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho ([email protected]; please note if you are a non profit organisation) and Weaver press for all other countries ([email protected])

* Elijah Chiwota works with MWENGO, Zimbabwe

Firoze Manji looks behind the mask of remittances and suggests that there are grounds for questioning the overall value of remittances as a vehicle for development or social progress.

How often do we hear the phrase “remittances to Africa are a key source of development funding”? The volume of funds being remitted to Africa are certainly impressive. In 2005, we are told, “they totalled $188 billion—twice the amount of official assistance developing countries received. Moreover, there is evidence that such flows are underreported. Indeed, remittances through informal channels could add at least 50 percent to global recorded flows. Most of the reported flows go to regions other than sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), but SSA has still been part of the overall rising global trend. Between 2000 and 2005, remittances to the region increased by more than 55 percent, to nearly $7 billion, whereas they increased for developing countries as a group by 81 percent.” (Gupta et al 2007).

Can such remittances be equated with ‘development funding’? What is the evidence that this contributes significantly to the elimination of poverty? And if remittances of funds from workers in the North to their families in the South be considered as part of the infrastructure of ‘development’, then should not remittances of funds from the South to the North be also be considered as part of the equation?

The overwhelming majority of studies demonstrate that remittances are primarily used by households and families to help them survive the inadequate incomes that they already have. In times of crises, such supplementary income is used to “smooth household consumption and welfare”. For the most part, these funds are used for consumption and payments for education, healthcare needs and food for subsistence. In other words, remittances are primarily used to supplement income because wages or income from agricultural production, petty-commodity production or ‘jua kali’ trade, or whatever activity people are engaged in to ‘make a living’ is inadequate. Remittances are not primarily used to create employment or develop new initiatives.

The reality is that the majority of rural families in Africa have long been dependent on the ability of members of their families who have jobs in urban centres to be able to remit a portion of their wages to help their families cope with impoverishment. This lies at the very heart of the system of underdevelopment that is characteristic of neo-colonial / post-apartheid economies as it was in the colonial and apartheid economies.

There is a close association between remittances and the maintenance of prevalence of low wages in Africa. One of the crucial determinants of low wages is the social cost of the reproduction of labour: from the employers point of view, the less it costs to enable the wage earner to survive and reproduce, the lower the wage needs to be. And the more people there are that are unemployed – the larger the ‘reserve army of labour’ – the harder it is for the worker to demand better wages, especially if they are unable to organise to put pressure on employers. If the families of workers are eking out an existence on marginalised land, a few pennies in the form of remittances from the employed worker makes all the difference.

When migrant workers (either transiently away from home or with more permanent residency in countries where wages are better) are able to supplement the cost of maintaining their families through remittances, then what they are doing is not only helping their families survive: they are also ensuring the maintenance of their families at no additional cost to their employer or the state. For the recipient, of course, these remittances are a lifeline since they have no other means of surviving – especially in the lean times.

But is this development? Surely not. Surely it is subsistence, barely enabling people keeping their head above the water. It is ‘development’ only if we were to consider that development is not about social progress but about providing charitable support to the poor. Remittances are essentially an individualised social support mechanism without which there would be even greater misery.

Now supposing the same funds were used, instead, to support people to organise for better living wages, for better social services, for better housing and healthcare. Such a use of remittances would certainly contribute to social progress, to real development. So long as remittances play only the role of providing charitable support, they perform the role of shoring up an existing unjust system that keeps people poor. Worse still, there is a potential for disabling Africa's people from becoming organised actors who can determine their own future.

As Paulo Freire (1970) put it: “… charity constrains the fearful and subdued, the ‘rejects of life’, to extend their trembling hands. True generosity lies in striving so these hands – whether of individuals or entire people – need be extended less and less in supplication, so that more and more they become human hands which work and, working, transform the world." Do remittances really help human hands transform the world?

But even if we were to accept that remittances may be legitimately considered as ‘development funding’ or as part of the infrastructure of development, then surely movements of funds in the opposite direction – from South to the North – should also be taken into account. It is surprising this aspect is systematically ignored by those obsessed with promoting the apparent benefits of remittances. When Africans send funds from the North to the South, this is called remittances. When multinationals remit profits to the North, or when countries in the South are made to remit a part of their gross domestic product to the banks in the North, somehow this is not considered as (negative) remittances. If movements of funds in one direction are to be taken into account in the process of development, then surely movements in the opposite direction also need to be taken into account.

Surely, what is sauce for the goose is good for the gander?

Third World repayments of $340 billion each year flow northwards to service a $2.2 trillion debt, more than five times the G8's development aid budget (Dembele 2006). At more than $10 billion/year since the early 1970s, collectively, the citizens of Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, the DRC, Angola and Zambia have been especially vulnerable to the overseas drain of their national wealth. As Brussels-based debt campaigner Eric Toussaint concludes, 'Since 1980, over 50 Marshall Plans worth over $4.6 trillion have been sent by the peoples of the Periphery to their creditors in the Centre' (quoted by Patrick Bond 2005).

Research by the Tax Justice Network estimates that a staggering $11.5 trillion has been siphoned 'offshore' by wealthy individuals, held in tax havens where they are shielded from contributing to government revenues. “Around 30% of sub-Saharan Africa's GDP is moved offshore”, writes John Christensen (2006) of TJN, “As several studies have suggested, this rate of capital flight means that Africa - a continent we are continually told is irrevocably indebted - may actually be a net creditor to the rest of the world.”

In comparison, then, to the the wealth that is sucked out of Africa - which far exceeds the total amount of aid that comes from the North into Africa - the net value of 'remittances' (movements in both direction) is negative.

There are grounds, therefore, for questioning the overall value of remittances in development. That is not to say that sending money home doesn't help our families survive. Remittances remain essential for enabling the impoverished to cope with an unjust world that keeps them poor. But as a vehicle for social development and progress? I have my doubts.

* Firoze Manji is co-editor of Pambazuka News and executive director of Fahamu.

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

References

Patrick Bond (2005): Dispossessing Africa's Wealth. Pambazuka News
Demba Moussa Dembele (2005), Aid dependence and the MDGs, Pambazuka News http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2007/06/gupta.htm