KABISSA-FAHAMU-SANGONET NEWSLETTER 43 * 7901 SUBSCRIBERS
KABISSA-FAHAMU-SANGONET NEWSLETTER 43 * 7901 SUBSCRIBERS
Kenya's biggest opposition party criticised judges yesterday for quashing graft charges against a minister, saying it would encourage more theft of state assets in a country stricken by corruption.
'Six months ago I wrote in these columns that, "Mugabe may well use food in state hands to wreak additional havoc on society by distribution through the party, the so-called war veterans and the nefarious secret service. He undoubtedly will use that power over life and death to elicit party support and commitments to vote for him.'
Ondo State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr. Femi Akingbola, has berated corrupt produce merchants who he alleged have been frustrating government efforts at enhancing the revenue base of the state.
The Government has been unnecessarily shuffling anti-corruption strategies and so far they have failed to yield results, a major donor has claimed.
South Africa is moving on many fronts to combat corruption.
ANTI -Corruption Commission (ACC) director general judge Robert Kapembwa has denounced President Frederick Chiluba's press assistant Richard Sakala's attempt to politicise ACC investigations on him.
In this article, Riley analyzes the effectiveness of the United Nations system in defending women’s economic concerns. Her main focus is on the Outcomes Document resulting from the Beijing +5 meeting in 2000 which, she argues, does not adequately the concerns of women’s organizations who participate in these meetings. Thus, she advocates that women formulate a new economic agenda, one which accurately represents their concerns and which defines these concerns in terms of economic rights for all.
Rapid increases in water use and degradation of water quality are putting extreme pressures on this vital resource. This set of fourteen briefs recommends a number of strategies for dealing with the associated
challenges.
Food Policy Statement 34 from the International Food Policy Research Institute, based on the recently released book of the same title, edited by Keijiro Otsuka and Frank Place. The paper compares the evolution of land-tenure systems and their roles in protecting
the environment in Asia and Africa.
The Alternative Trade Network of Nigeria is an NGO based in Jos Nigeria and works with the less privileged rural artisan on product development, quality control, packaging and marketing for the aim of empowering them in a sustainable way. The network was formed in 1996 and currently works with over 65 cooperative groups from all over Nigeria. ATNN is a pioneer member of International Federation for Alternative Trade(ifat).
After months of discussions and speculation, last week’s discussions during the 4th WTO Ministerial meeting in Doha ended with the agreement to launch a new Multilateral Trade Round from January 2002. The EU has described this result as satisfactory. EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy has argued that the result represents major progress for sustainable development, and that the future negotiations will be characterised by a balance between regulation and liberalisation. The European Commission claim that by providing the CTE (WTO Committee on Trade and Environment) with a special role, sustainable development and environmental concerns will be mainstreamed in the future negotiations.
This site is geared towards anyone who uses computers in an elementary school, but I believe it is worthwhile reading for anyone who spends time on a computer. There is no time like the present to begin practising "Good Work Habits," and learning about "Work Station Setup."
Download useful ebooks for free at this site. One covers Writing SKills and another is a beginners guide to HTML. (Windows only).
International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), have launched a website to help dairy farmers track current information. The agreement was signed yesterday after a one month's trial link up at the ICRAF campus in Gigiri by representatives from the two organisations.
Zimbabwe's Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) fear being next on President Robert Mugabe's "hit-list" after a weekend of political violence.
The Magistrates' and Judges' Association of Malawi has written to President Bakili Muluzi, urging him to reject his United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs attempts to sack three senior High Court judges.
This week sees the opening of BusyInternet’s first technology development centre in Accra. The company’s founder Mark Davies has ambitious plans to open a network of technology development centres based upon the same business model across the continent. He has found a young and energetic management team and attracted investors into the project. The Accra opening will be the test case. Russell Southwood describes how the company wants to build something more than just "bricks and mortar".
The formerly titled Edinburgh Engineering Virtual Library (EEVL) has expanded its offerings and now brings users resources in mathematics and computing as well. The site should feel familiar to users of the old EEVL database, but along with the widened scope of materials, EEVL has undergone a redesign offering some new features.
Visit these resources on the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference as well as a critical look at institutions like the World Bank amd the IMF from Globalization in Focus.
COSATU welcomes the comprehensive report tabled to the people of South Africa today and welcomes the exoneration of government from any wrongdoing or corruption.
The aim of this Conference is to raise awareness on ICT amongst women in the Horn of Africa region and to explore opportunities for harnessing the technology to work as a tool for their development. The conference will provide an opportunity to hear what is happening on the ground for the purposes of learning and replication.
The harassment of Associated Newspapers of Zimbabwe(Private) Limited, publishers of The Daily News, continued in the week. The paper’s editor-in-chief, Geoffrey Nyarota, and the company’s founding Chief Executive Officer, Wilf Mbanga, were arrested, detained and subsequently appeared in court.
Debates and space for critical engagement is essential for democracy. There can never be enough emphasis on this point. It is therefore unfortunate that African National Congress (ANC) has chose to stifle debates by resorting to use of derogatory terms to describe opposing voices in the Congress of South Africans trade Unions (Cosatu), South African communist Party (SACP) and ANC alliance.
Poor communities in South Africa have limited access to media, to enable them acquire information that is relevant to their lives, and also to express themselves in order to contribute to national debates. While the main source of income for media companies in the country is advertising, the findings of the Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) National Community Radio Forum (NCRF) research report that there is discrimination (on the bases of content and the racial group that listens to the station) and several other problems in the advertising industry is a cause of great concern.
Zambia has faced hard questions by the UN's Committee Against Torture over the lack of legal protection of suspects against maltreatment by the police, a statement by the Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights has said.
Two journalists were arrested on 14 November 2001 by order of the state prosecutor. The two journalists were taken to the central police station in Bissau. No explanation was provided to explain the motive for the arrests. On 27 October, N'Tchama ordered the indefinite closure of the private daily "Diário de Bissau" and the private weekly "Gazeta de Noticias" because of "irregular activities." The prosecutor also accused the publications of disturbing the country's "peace and stability" and "violating official secrets.
The demands of past debt on the democratic government of Nigeria is handicapping its capacity to resolve growing internal social and ethnic tensions, says Jubilee Plus, in a new report.
Weaker copper prices and demand has lowered growth forecasts in Zambia, the London-based Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said in its latest update.
REFLECT - an approach to adult learning and social change that fuses the theory of Paulo Freire with the methodologies of participatory rural appraisal. Enables groups to develop their own learning materials by constructing maps, calendars, matrices, diagrams or using forms of drama, story-telling and songs, which can capture social, economic, cultural and political issues from their own environment.
Why did the US invade Afghanistan after the Taliban twice offered to extradite Osma Bin Laden? The answer is that they are after the huge oil reserves of Central Asia, argues Donna Baillie in this month's edition of Red Pepper.
Petchkovsky's engagement in an art project with a social content, involving a wide range of public, not only the art educated elite, had a fantastic response. The project was specially designed in the context of the world conference against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
Two books by Celia Winter Irving, author and art writer, exploring the famed Tengenenge Art Community, crucible of Zimbabwean stone sculpture are being launched by the Book Cafe in Harare, on 29 November. Each book deals with the way of life and art at Tengenenge and reflect the author's 15- year association with Tengenenge as a writer, painter, curator and lecturer. The books are edited by Anne Derges.
Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated ActionAid, a British development charity, 2.95 million pounds sterling (US $4.29 million) for HIV/AIDS work in Rwanda, DFID reported on Tuesday.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's warning that he will crush the opposition for plotting against his government is likely to see a rise in political violence before elections next year, analysts have said.
Declaring that the plunder of Congo's riches "continues unabated," a UN-appointed panel called for a moratorium Monday on the purchase of diamonds, gold and other resources from areas controlled by foreign forces or rebel groups.
President Robert Mugabe has raised the temperature further in strife-torn Zimbabwe when he named three opposition politicians as "terrorists" and claimed Britain was funding them.
The Director of Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC), Tymon Katlholo, has said that a well informed media could play a crucial role in exposing corruption and fraudulent practices in government, private sector and civil society among other areas.
The precautionary principle has become an increasingly important component of environmental policy, considered by the European Union to be a general principle of international law. As the precautionary principle has gained prominence, policy analysts have devoted increasing attention to the issue of implementation. Nevertheless, the practical implications of the principle remain unclear.
Do the children in your classroom ask you questions about the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre? Global express provides a rapid response that would help the students understand the issues involved.
Clareville Primary, a school in Durban, South Africa, has a number of children of refugees at its school, and has gone out of its way to welcome them.
Some 16 women foreign ministers appealed to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to make sure women in war zones get special treatment as victims and are invited to be partners at the peace negotiating table.
States of Denial is the first comprehensive study of both the personal and political ways in which uncomfortable realities are avoided and evaded. It ranges from clinical studies of depression, to media images of suffering, to explanations of the 'passive bystander' and 'compassion fatigue'. The book shows how organized atrocities - the Holocaust and other genocides, torture, and political massacres - are denied by perpetrators and by bystanders, those who stand by and do nothing. Blackwells, 2001, ISBN: 0745623921.
THE European Union (EU), the American and British governments have suspended K1.5 billion worth of aid pledged for this year's budget because of top level corruption and the suspension of the Privatisation programme.
Peace has been elusive in Africa's largest nation for almost five decades, the bitter dispute between the Christian and Animist south and the Muslim north dominating the period. US relations with sudan are also ambivalent, as it seeks to place sanctions on Sudan, and wants its cooperation in the fight against terrorism. allAfrica's Charles Cobb Jr. spoke with Sudan's Ambassador to the United States, Khidir Haroun Ahmed.
GroupBasics, a majority woman-owned Internet-based Application Service Provider (ASP) designed to integrate information technology into managing large-scale international projects, seeks a Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist.
The National Women's Law Center seeks an advocate for its women's health and reproductive rights program for Monitoring and responding to key policy developments in the areas of women's health and reproductive rights; identifying opportunities to advance the goals of the Center; in collaboration with other staff, developing advocacy strategies utilizing the resources of the Center; will work on a broad range of women's health issues and will represent the Center in coalitions, with national and state policy makers, and in various public speaking fora.
AWID is an international membership organization committed to gender equality and a just and sustainable development process. AWID facilitates an open exchange among researchers, practitioners, policymakers and others in order to develop effective and transformative approaches for improving the lives of women and girls worldwide. If you are not already a member of AWID, find out more about the Association by sending a blank e-mail message to aw[email protected], or visit our web site at www.awid.org.
An exciting fellowship opportunity is available at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs. The C.V. Starr Foundation will award three fellowships to mid-career professionals from developing countries in Eastern Europe, Russia, the former Soviet Republics, Africa, Latin America and South Asia.
OneWorld International Partner News highlights the top stories from the OneWorld community as selected by our regional centers in Africa, Austria, Italy, Finland, Latin America, the Netherlands, Spain, South Asia, the United States and the UK. If you would like to subscribe to it, email [email protected] with the following text in the body of the message: "subscribe partnernews_international"
Contact your government, the World Trade Organisation and European Union, to demand fairer trade rules for developing countries. Join the Africa-Europe Faith and Justice Network's letter writing campaign and state your concerns.
Email the UK government for reform of global trade rules in the run up to the WTO meeting in Qatar. State your concern about Trade Related Intellectual Property agreements (TRIPs).
Between the 13-15 December 2001, the International NGO Training and Research Centre’s (INTRAC) aim is to evaluate and appraise the different approaches to supporting, building and reinforcing civil society in light of the events of 11 September and the world’s subsequent reactions provoke changing expectations of approaches to civil society. Keynote speakers: Clare Short - Minister for Development, DFID, and Dr Rajesh Tandon - Director of PRIA
The People's Movement for Human Rights Education (PDHRE) is in the process of
establishing an international learning institution that will conduct workshops with human rights educators and community leaders from around the world. If your organization is interested in participating in this process, please email us.
Sangonet will provide free passes to a two-day IT training course as part of citizen base awards. South African NGOs are invited to propose strategies, which are replicable, innovative and feasible and demonstrate the ability to generate resources and mobilise citizen support. This is an international award that has already been held in Brazil, Thailand, Bangladesh and India; and is currently running in Argentina.
The Participation Group, (PG), at the Institute of Development Studies, (IDS), University of Sussex, is inviting applications for our first Learning Fellowship Programme. The LF will focus on the experiences of human rights activists and advocacy groups who have, in their advocacy, sought to involve those normally seen as "beneficiaries" in their work. The LF will closely examine the rationale, methods, and results of the participatory approach in human rights advocacy. Examples of human rights work include: law and constitutional reform, human rights education, women's rights, rights of minorities, and socio-economic rights advocacy. The LF seeks to highlight the challenges and successes of citizen-centred advocacy in different contexts, using different methods.
After a prolonged silence for nearly three years, the official publication of the Press Union of Liberia is back on the newsstand. MEDIA LINE, a monthly publication, is intended to keep our members, supporters and friends abreast of what goes on in the world of Liberian journalism - it's about journalists, about the good, the bad and the ugly things as they affect our job.
The Progressive Response (PR) is a weekly service of Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF)--a "Think Tank Without Walls." A joint project of the Interhemispheric Resource Center and the Institute for Policy Studies, FPIF is an international network of analysts and activists dedicated to "making the U.S. a more responsible global leader and partner by advancing citizen movements and agendas." We encourage responses to the opinions expressed in the PR and may print them in the "Letters and Comments" section. For more information on FPIF and joining our network, please consider visiting the FPIF website or email us to share your thoughts with us.
The National Endowment for Democracy is pleased to announce the establishment of the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellows Program to enable democracy activists, practitioners, scholars, and journalists from around the world to deepen their understanding of and enhance their ability to promote democracy. The International Forum hosts 12-15 fellows per year for three to ten months each. Each fellow will receive a monthly stipend for living expenses plus health insurance and reimbursement for travel to and from Washington, D.C. Stipend levels range from a minimum of $3500/month to a maximum of $7500/month, taking into account the fellow's previous annual income, level of experience, and the cost of living in Washington, D.C. Limited funds may be available for travel within the United States.
The Washington Chapter of the Society for International Development will hold its annual conference on December 3 at the InterAmerican Development Bank, from about 8 am to 6pm, including plenary speakers, luncheon speaker, breakout panels and closing reception.
Refugees have the right to legal representation during the asylum determination process, but until recently, for thousands of refugees in Egypt, professional legal services have been almost non-existent. Egypt guarantees the right to asylum in its constitution; it has acceded to UN and the Organisation of African Unity conventions on refugees. However, in Egypt, it is the Office of the UN High Commissioner (UNHCR) who determines who gets refugee status, not the Government of Egypt. There is no independent appeal process against negative decisions. There are more than 23 nationalities represented in Egypt's refugee population. In July 2000, the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies programme at the American University in Cairo began to address this deficiency. It now provides formal training in refugee law through courses that are part of the Diploma in Forced Migration and Refugee Studies and the MA in Human Rights Law, as well as 'hands on' practical experience of preparing cases for refugees seeking asylum in Egypt.
AfriProcure, the recently-launched procurement agency for NGOs, Churches and charities, has secured a major contract for the supply of sugar beans and maize for refugees in Angola. It needs to make contact with a range of suppliers to facilitate its programme.
AMREF, which was founded in 1957, has recently launched its ambitious new corporate strategy which focuses on retaining AMREF’s position as a leader in health development across Africa.
It is searching for suitable candidates to fill the challenging positions of Country Director - Uganda and Director, Fundraising and
Communications in our organisation.
A Healing Through Creative Arts Conference is being hosted by the Centre for the Study of Violence and
Reconciliation in collaboration with the cultural desk of Evangelischer
Entwicklungsdienst Deutschland, at Museum Africa, Newtown, Johannesburg.
Applications for USAID's
Civil Society Strengthening Programme will be accepted up to one year of the issuance date of the Annual Programme Statement, 9 March 2002.
In its current civic education programme the Popular Education Collective is conducting community-based workshops in Masvingo and Manicaland. The workshops are on good governance, choosing effective leaders, citizen participation, non-violence and tolerance, transparency and accountability. Civic education materials such as posters, leaflets, T-shirts, stickers etc. will be produced on the above topics.
Angolan rebel movement Unita claims to have killed 298 government soldiers, police and militia forces in operations between November 8 and 19, according to a statement.
Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has thrown out charges of terrorism against opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, declaring that the law under which he was charged was unconstitutional.
The head of the UN World Health Organisation's operations in Burundi, Kassi Manlan of the Ivory Coast, was found dead in Bujumbura on Tuesday.
The bushmeat on which the villagers in Buanchor in Nigeria used to grow fat is all but gone.
More than two months after the introduction of Islamic Sharia (laws) in northern Nigeria, women, in working class neighbourhoods such as Tudun Wada in Gusau, the capital of Zamfara state, are beginning to get rid of their chador, or veil, and to wear "sexy" clothing.
The Magistrates' and Judges' Association of Malawi has written to President Bakili Muluzi, urging him to reject his United Democratic Front MPs attempts to sack three senior High Court judges.
When King Mswati III, of Swaziland, recorded a track for a gospel album earlier this year, the sensation of a head of state singing holy praises was merely a part of the cresting enthusiasm his country has for the infectious music.
The independence of the judiciary and the media have come under attack, Amnesty International and Reporters sans Frontieres say.
Fighting broke out in Garowe, the regional capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, on 21 November, a local journalist told IRIN.
The chairman of the Political and Peace Council of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Omrie Golley, told IRIN on Tuesday that he has put his resignation on hold following "various pressures" from some quarters within and outside Sierra Leone.
Millions of dollars worth of aid to Malawi suspended due to corruption and the curtailment of the government's privatisation programme will be released soon, a government spokesman told IRIN on Tuesday.
At least 1,700 people fleeing rampaging rebels in the communes of Kiremba and Gasorwe arrived in the nearby northeastern Burundi town of Muyinga on Monday where most of them were sheltered in two primary schools, humanitarian sources told IRIN.
The failure of the inter-Congolese dialogue in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in October was foreseeable, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group, 'The Inter-Congolese Dialogue: Political Negotiation or a Game of Bluff?', that analyses the impasse in the peace process.
Rwanda's government needs US $250 million "at the very least" in the first two years if its poverty reduction strategy is to be implemented properly, Finance and Economic Planning Minister Donat Kaberuka said. on Saturday.
Despite recent instability in Bangui, capital of the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday that the situation in Zongo, across the Bangui river in the northwestern Equateur province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), remained "calm", with no major new influx of refugees reported.
At least 18 students were killed and many others wounded when gunmen opened fire on a Koranic school on 16 November, a local source told IRIN on Monday.
Despite continued differences between the two sides the peace process between Ethiopia and Eritrea is “on track” a spokesman for the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) said on Friday.
Zambian human rights groups are divided over whether to support a call by opposition parties for a public disobedience campaign to press President Frederick Chiluba to announce the date for general elections.
Zambia has faced hard questions by the UN's Committee Against Torture over the lack of legal protection of suspects against maltreatment by the police, a statement by the Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights said.
The Namibian Red Cross Society (NRCS) is withdrawing its services from the Osire refugee camp. "We will be withdrawing as of 31 December 2001," Geniene Veii, deputy secretary-general of the NRCS told IRIN on Tuesday. "Part of the reason that we are doing this is because of a lack of donor funding and partly because donors have been slow in making payments."
Images of poverty and squalor are everywhere at Porta farm, a fast-expanding squatter camp 18 km southwest of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has drawn up a five-year programme to boost girls' education in six Nigerian states starting next year, Maman Sidikou, head of UNICEF's education unit in the country said.
Traditional chiefs in Togo, in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the government, have agreed to support efforts against violence on girls through a 'national league' -in commemoration of the International Day of the Child that was celebrated on 20 November.
The House of Assembly of Bayelsa State, southeastern Nigeria, has condemned the proposed dredging of the River Niger by the federal government. In a resolution, the state house members said the dredging would cause negative environmental and ecological effects to riverine communities, vanguard newspaper reported on Monday.
President Frederick Chiluba has said Zambia will not retaliate to the mass abduction and massacre of Zambians by the Angolan armed forces last week.
Amnesty International is deeply troubled by the Military Order signed by President George W. Bush on 13 November allowing for the trial by special military commissions of non-US citizens suspected of involvement in "international terrorism."
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is preparing to ship food aid to more than half a million people in Zimbabwe who it says are at risk of starvation. The news comes as further measures were announced by the Government to speed the take over of the country's farms for the purpose of land redistribution. The agency plans to start operations later this month, with food aid arriving in December.
A group of African finance ministers has appealed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to acknowledge their countries' sacrifices and not forsake them as the global economic slowdown hits larger and higher- profile nations.
i want to live in a world where the past tense, the present tense, and the future tense--all avoid pre-tense.
i want to live in a world where the future protects the past...and, where, without question or doubt, the past protects the future...this may be the greatest present we may ask for.
i want all of the best dreams of all ages to be the "ourstory" of the future.
i want all the horrors of all our pasts to be forgiven, miscellaneous errors of ignorance, miserably multiplied by unmitigated arrogance.
i want to live in a world where no child will ever ask, why did you save my life?
i do not want to live in a world where children ask us, the well-fed, the educated, the healthy, the rich, the powerful, "innocent questions" for which i have no innocent answers.
[email][email protected]
Congratulations - really good stuff. – Warren Feek, Director, The Communication Initiative
The South African arm of Economists Allied for Arms Reduction has asked the Cape High Court to torpedo the multibillion-rand arms deal on behalf of the "the poor people of South Africa".
STE Publishers is a young, savvy publishing house and design studio, focussing on quality publications in the development sector. It is looking to employ a sales consultant.
The 16 Days of Activism Against gender Violence starts on the 25th of November. Women'sNet has added a new page to their site for more information.
Horn of Africa Regional Conference on Women and Information and Communication Technologies.