A new study from Canadian researchers examines the World Bank's influence in establishing mining codes in Southern countries. It finds that the Bank's assessment of what was needed to attract foreign investment did not consider broader development objectives.

Promoting an organisation development (OD) approach to development practice, this book is addressed primarily to those readers who work as donors and have an interest in finding creative ways of developing and supporting an organisation development consultancy resource in the countries and regions in which they work, and for those who work in NGO support organisations, particularly when a strategy of providing OD consultancy is pursued.

Sue Soal (CDRA), Rick James and Liz Goold (INTRAC) and William Ogara (CORAT)

West African governments are failing to address a rampant traffic in child labor that is growing worse because of the AIDS crisis, Human Rights Watch charges in a new report. The 79-page report, "Borderline Slavery: Child Trafficking in Togo,"
highlights Togo as a case study of trafficking in the region. The report documents how children as young as three years old are exploited as domestic and agricultural workers in several countries.

Following the WSIS PrepCom II in Geneva, two basic working documents have been produced: a draft Declaration of Principles and a draft Plan of Action. Comments to the two working documents may be submitted by May 31, 2003. To facilitate contribution to the WSIS working documents and Uganda's input to the WSIS, WOUGNET is hosting an online forum: 'An Information Society for Uganda'. For details and to register, send email to [email protected] or visit:
http://www.wougnet.org/WSIS/ug/isug.html

Theatre in most of Africa has for centuries been an important social phenomenon, playing a central role in religion, ritual and social practices, as an art form and as a vehicle for passing on information and traditions, as well as for expressing ideas. In recent years, theatre has started to play a role in development and as a means of political expression. Women and women’s groups have also started to make use of this powerful expressive medium to promote equality in the home and in society, as well as to educate and advocate around their issues. This report explores the significance of theatre as a means to freedom of expression for women in four African countries: Zimbabwe, Kenya, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Malawi's President Bakili Muluzi is to step down next year, abandoning attempts to change the constitution to allow him to run for a third five-year term. In an address to the nation Muluzi said he had endorsed a cabinet proposal for the economic planning minister, Bingu Wa Mutharika, to run as the ruling United Democratic Front candidate.

Sustainable development is a popular concept based on the assumption that we know enough to "manage" our natural resources in a way that will enable them to flourish indefinitely. With so many people in the world and a steeply rising demand for consumer products, it's certainly an enticing idea. But do we really know enough to manage natural resources sustainably?

Africa Action is circulating the statement available through the link to a worldwide audience. They are seeking endorsements from organisations around the world and will release the statement publicly on or around April 15. Please register your organisational endorsement on their website at http://php.africaaction.org/action/moneyaids.php and please circulate the statement to other organisations and networks.

This paper looks at how gender concerns are being integrated into policies and programs that shape post-conflict societies. Findings indicate a slow but positive shift in international opinion and understanding about the consequences of conflict on women and the importance of their participation in peace building processes and post-conflict social transformation. However, gender discrimination continues to manifest itself in such forms as political exclusion, economic marginalization, and sexual violence during and after conflict that deny women their human rights and constrain the potential for development.

This paper summarises existing evidence and experience concerning HIV/AIDS and food security in Africa. It deals with two major issues: the impact of HIV/AIDS on agrarian livelihoods and how this can be mitigated; the implications of a concurrent generalised HIV/AIDS epidemic and an episode of acute food insecurity, what is termed 'new variant famine'.

At least three quarters of the world's power must come from clean sources by the end of this century to sufficiently limit global warming, according to estimates released in this week's Science. The study shows that even the most conservative estimates of future warming point to a need for tremendous amounts of clean power development.

The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) has deplored the violence that erupted in Highfield after the announcement of the election results. The Movement for Democratic Change’s (MDC) Mr Pearson Mungofa won the election with 8 759 votes beating his main rival Mr Joseph Chinotimba of the ruling ZANU PF party who polled 4 844 votes. Mr. Chinotimba indicated that he is not accepting the results. In Kuwadzana MDC’s Mr Nelson Chamisa won the seat by 12 548 votes against his main rival Mr David Mutasa of ZANU PF who polled 5002 votes. "We note with concern however, the pre-poll violence, intimidation and visible vote buying that characterised these by-elections," said the ZESN.

Rwandan children still suffer the devastating consequences of the 1994 genocide and the war that preceded and followed it, Human Rights Watch says in a 80-page report, “Lasting Wounds: Consequences of Genocide and War for Rwanda’s Children”. In the report, Human Rights Watch documents the widespread abuse and exploitation of children in 1994 and since. In the violence nine years ago, hundreds of thousands of children were killed and maimed, physically and psychologically. Hundreds of thousands of children were orphaned and many now try to cope on their own. Families all over the country have opened their homes to needy children but, themselves living in poverty, they have not always respected foster children’s rights.

The quarterly SADC Barometer examines the programmes of the Southern African Development Community, reporting on developments in regional trade, integration, development and other crucial areas affecting the region. The SADC Barometer is part of an effort by the South African Institute of International Affairs to promote reform and a more involved, robust civil society discussion on African policy choices. As a result SAIIA has launched two programmes to involve and inform key members of business and civil society about regional and continental issues not covered in the mainsteam media. The second project is aimed at informing civil society about the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). In the coming months, SAIIA will produce a monthly journal, Africa in Perspective, which will provide in-depth analysis of the latest developments in NEPAD and a variety of other reforms and innovations in Africa. In addition, SAIIA will roll out an active programme to survey your views on key policy priorities and feed these views to the media and government decision-makers. These journals will be distributed by electronic mail to key players in business, academia, government, media, non-governmental organisations and other civil society organisations. To forward suggestions or comments or to subscribe or unsubscribe to the SADC Barometer please write to SAIIA at [email protected].

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN has called on the Ivoirean authorities to carry out an exhaustive investigation into the killing of journalist Kloueu Gonzreu and to bring those responsible to justice. Gonzreu's body was discovered on 19 March 2003 in the Toulépleu region. Gonzreu was also a teacher as well as working for the Red Cross. The bodies of two other Red Cross workers and his son, Thierry Gonzreu, were also found with the journalist.

The number of journalists behind bars rose sharply in 2002, while heightened awareness of journalist safety and a decline in the number of global conflicts last year contributed to a decrease in the number of journalists killed for their work, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists' (CPJ's) annual survey of press freedom conditions around the world.

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has called on the European Union to intervene on behalf of detained journalists in Eritrea. RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter: "Our organisation particularly calls on the European Union to condition the resumption of economic aid to Eritrea on the release of the 18 journalists it has imprisoned and the re-emergence of a free, privately-owned press in the country."

A new Global Witness report exposes the Liberian government’s violent destabilisation of West Africa, through its support of mercenaries in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone and through its regular import of weapons in violation of UN sanctions. The report, titled, ‘The Usual Suspects: Liberia’s Weapons and Mercenaries in Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone’, outlines the threat posed by Liberia to international peace and security.

In Burundi the first period of a three-year transitional government is drawing to an end. Under the terms of the peace agreement to end the civil war, presidential powers are to be transfered from a Tutsi to a Hutu on 1 May. But speculation among analysts and commentators over what the future holds for Burundi is rife. Aid agencies in western Tanzania and some Burundians are not relying on a smooth transition of power. They believe that waiting till the day will be too risky. The result is that refugee numbers have been mounting steadily and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has put in place a contingency plan to deal with a fresh influx.

The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), known as MONUC, denounced on Tuesday the capture of two towns in eastern DRC by a Rwandan-backed rebel group, the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie-Goma (RCD-Goma). "The attacks caused large displacement of people and a report, yet to be confirmed, suggests that RCD[-Goma] has the intention of carrying on with territorial conquests in Kasuo, Bingi and Lubero, where MONUC opened a reception centre for the purpose of its disarmament, demobilization and repatriation (DDR) operations," MONUC said.
Related Link:
* New stand-off threatens peace deal
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=17869

A government programme to provide anti-AIDS drugs to HIV-positive Zambians had ignored those who needed it most and was simply "a lot of hot air", activists told IRIN. Last year, the government announced that up to 10,000 people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) would receive free antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in nine provincial treatment centres. The project would also provide a team consisting of a physician, faith healer, counsellor and social worker in each centre. But the Network of Zambian People Living With HIV/AIDS (NZP+) has expressed concern that PWAs who are poor and powerless, still have no access to treatment.

The president of Ethiopia’s Tigray region, which borders Eritrea, has warned of local clashes following a recent announcement that the controversial village of Badme is in Eritrea. Tsirgay Berhe, who heads the regional government in Tigray, said the local population might not accept the decision. On Friday, the independent Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) categorically stated that the symbolic village of Badme - where the two countries' border war flared up in 1998 - was in Eritrea. The EEBC rejected attempts by Ethiopia to "vary" the delimited border line, ahead of physical demarcation due to start in July.

The Atua Government Hospital has been selected as one of the health institutions to administer anti-retroviral drugs to full-blown AIDS patients as from May this year. The drugs are expected to boost the health of AIDS patients to ensure prolonged lifespan. The hospital is the only one selected for the pilot project on the administration of Nevirapine, the drug for the prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS positive women during labour as well as the newly-born baby.

Mozambique and Denmark signed in Maputo on Monday a memorandum of understanding for further cooperation in the area of agriculture, particularly for the National Agriculture Development Programme (PROAGRI).The Danish programme to support Mozambican agriculture is budgeted at 278 million Danish Crowns (about 79 million US dollars) to be used over the 2000-2004 period.

Congolese representatives have hailed the historic signing of a peace agreement and said it paved the way for the reconstruction of the country. But delegates also noted that tough times lie ahead as they seek to implement the peace deal. All the sides in the Democratic Republic of the Congo signed a peace deal that will pave the way for elections in two years' time. Forty-four groups - including armed factions, exiled political parties and civil society groups - signed the Final Act at Sun City. The signing ceremony signalled the end of the South African-sponsored Inter-Congolese Dialogue (ICD) which began 14 months ago in the same venue.

Most South African businesses believe that bribery has become an accepted practice and that police officials were the most corrupt of all, the first comprehensive assessment of corruption in the country has found. The finding is contained in the "perception-based" Country Corruption Assessment Report, compiled over two years by the department of public service and administration with assistance from the United Nations office on drugs and crime.

Corruption is a major obstacle to development, lowering investment and retarding economic growth, Center for Public Accountability (CPA), chief executive officer Prince Bowo Olateru-Olagbegi has said. He advised government to give adequate attention to addressing the issue of corruption because of its adverse effects on the nation's socio economic development.

"In short, the most recent wave of violence, like other acts of political violence in Zimbabwe, are part of an organised, coordinated and targeted campaign meant to terrorise and intimidate any voices of dissent into silence by brutally retaliating against perceived dissidents," says the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition in a report highlighting just a few of the hundreds of cases of victimisation by state agents against individuals who were believed to have organised the recent stay away.

Justice Paddington Garwe, the Judge President, this week threw out an application for the alteration of bail conditions imposed on Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC president, and two of that opposition party's top officials facing high treason charges. The court also refused to grant an application for the temporary release of Welshman Ncube's passport.

South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang last week recommended a combination of garlic, onions, virgin olive oil and the African potato to boost the immune systems of people living with HIV/AIDS. However, a local immunology professor on Monday said the African potato turned the food combination into a lethal concoction.

In Amigna Daba, a small rural village in the south-central Ethiopian highlands, girls must overcome distance as well as cultural and religious barriers to education. The village has no services, no safe water, and no roads, or other basic infrastructure. The nearest school is a three-hour walk away. The challenges children face in going to school in rural Ethiopia are hard to imagine. Sixty-four percent of the population in the country lives in absolute poverty. This harsh statistic translates into a weak educational infrastructure, which serves only 57 percent of the total school age population and 47.0 percent of school age girls.

For millions of children all over the world going to school, having a decent meal and a clean place to live in are a luxury. According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) about 246 million children are involved in child labour. These children are exposed to the worst form of working conditions. They are engaged in work that is hazardous to their health and general well being.

Nominated Member of the National assembly Fatoumatta Jahumpa Ceesay has reiterated the strides government has made in empowering Gambian women, citing the adoption and ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) as an example of progress.

The new globalized world is the result of processes relating to the restructuring of capital. It has changed the relationships between sexes, changed people’s opinions and values, and has reordered the political world landscape. This globalization process has evolved unequally across regions, socio-economic groups within regions, and between sexes, with multiple consequences that continue to erode the quality of people’s life. Women are not only affected as part of the family and as a disadvantaged group of society, but also as a result of their position in the sexual division of work, says this report from WHRnet.

Humanitarian and human rights conditions for IDPs from oil-rich regions in Sudan's Western Upper Nile state are very disturbing, said a German charity, reports AFP. After visiting the region, the director of Hoffnungszechen voiced concern for IDPs in southern Sudan uprooted to make way for oil exploration, adding that many IDP children were malnourished.

Gene experts have declared race to be no more than an accident of geography - and predict the future of black and white South Africa will probably be more shades of brown. Racism is scientifically unfounded, confirmed Professor Trefor Jenkins, Professor Emeritus at Wits University, and Dr Himla Soodyall, director of the Human Genomic Research Unit. The genetic pool in the country was already so mixed that supremacists had no hope of a pure lineage, they said during a series of workshops at the National Festival of Science, Engineering and Technology in Grahamstown this week.

The Open Knowledge Network, is an initiative of the G8 Digital Opportunity Taskforce (DOTForce) linking together existing grassroots information and knowledge-sharing initiatives to promote both the creation and the exchange of local content as widely as possible across the South, supported by a range of different information and communication technologies (ICTs). The programme is coordinated by OneWorld International and its network of southern offices. The Africa Programme Manager will lead the development of the OKN, managing programme planning, coordination and implementation.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, planning and supervising the expansion of social marketing activities nation-wide, including overseeing program sites in the interior, hiring and training PSI field staff, and coordinating with local NGOs.

Another momentous Zimbabwean March has come and gone. But this time it ends on a high note. The mix of menace and jubilation, of terror, fear, anger and defiance, is electric, explosive. The long-suffering, patient, apathetic Zimbabweans have had enough and are finally reacting to the horrors of the past three years.

A year ago the mood was different. An election which most thought would relieve us of deepening poverty and intensifying government abuse had been stolen. The sacrifices which had been made by thousands of committed opposition cadres stretching their energies to the breaking point seemed to have been made in vain. We stared into a dark future, afraid, confused and deeply depressed.

And our fears were justified. The past year has been horrendous. Government has used the Public Order and Security Act to prevent organised activity by the opposition as well as all civil society organisations, even during campaigning for by-elections. Opposition leaders have been continuously hounded, arrested, harassed and brutally tortured, while their supporters have been beaten, abducted, raped, and chased from their homes.

The justice system has been subverted, with the police selectively arresting members of civil society and the MDC without any evidence of crime, while standing watching while government supporters commit the worst atrocities. Independent judges have been hounded out of office and replaced by those who appear more compliant. When these don't satisfy their ZANU PF bosses, they too can be arrested. Cases which threaten to embarrass the government never get hearing dates, with the result that some election petitions from the 2000 Parliamentary elections have yet to be heard, and one year later we are still waiting for the court challenge to the Presidential election. Constitutional challenges to restrictive press laws are also still awaited. The courts are rather spending their energies harassing opposition leaders with spurious charges ranging from fraud to murder to treason.

The civil service has been systematically purged of non-government supporters. Those in senior posts are expected to publicly show approval of ZANU PF policies and make appearances at party meetings. Hundreds if not thousands of teachers have been chased from their schools as suspected opposition supporters. Graduates of the government militia who have been trained in propaganda, brutality and torture methods have been infiltrated into all government offices and placed on salaries, even though they have no relevant skills. Teachers colleges, nursing schools, polytechs and vocational schools have instructions to give priority to militia graduates: if they do not satisfy the entry requirements, no problem; just finish them before completing the course in order to get a certificate. These torturers and abusers are to be unleashed into our schools to prepare our children for life!

And the economy. A year ago inflation was 70%; today it is 220% - officially. Unofficially probably over 300%. Few farms function at above subsistence level. Jobs are unobtainable; the “informal sector” rules. Those living on pensions or savings are destitute; the lucky ones have children outside the country who send pounds, or dollars, or rands. Those who can still afford to own cars cannot pay for insurance. And cannot buy petrol. Eight days in a queue is common. Those who rely on public transport must be on the street before 6 a.m. to get to work by 8, and even then they are often very late. School children often leave home at 5 a.m. and return at 6 p.m. Goods are scarce, and expensive.

Government's answer to inflation was to control prices, when inputs cannot be controlled. The result was predictable - a further collapse of production and a flourishing black market, frequently controlled by ZANU PF bosses. Exports from the manufacturing sector have dropped catastrophically. The foreign exchange which they should earn to pay for fuel and electricity imports is not available. And we are producing less of our own electricity due to break down of machinery and lack of forex to buy spare parts. A very vicious circle prevails, producing what has been termed “meltdown”.

The so-called land reform is a distant memory. The agricultural sector has diminished by gigantic proportions. But no one is sure what's happening on the farms - settlers, war vets, ZANU PF thugs, genuine land-hungry villagers and government cronies are all battling for a share of the spoils, which no longer exist, since all the movable property and crops have been plundered and few of the beneficiaries really wanted to farm. Those who do are struggling with lack of inputs. Poor rains at the beginning of the season have reduced the output of those who succeeded in planting crops, while much of the crop is being stolen from the fields by starving villagers and displaced former farm workers. The prospect for the next planting season later this year is grim, because very little seed maize has been planted and even less will be available for use, as it is being eaten.

Donors are distributing food aid in many rural parts of the country, while in others, hunger and even starvation is common. Government continues to attempt to interfere, but has not succeeded in most cases. In towns, staple food is scarce, and is obtained through “connections”, political and otherwise. Long queues have frequently been attacked by riot police beating people (mainly women) with batons and chasing them away.

The daily struggle for food and transport in towns is what has brought the people to the breaking point. Women have progressively amended their family feeding to omit more and more items - cheese, milk, chicken, meat, fruit - not affordable; mealie meal, flour, margarine, bread, vegetables, sugar - not available. We are left with beans and rice. And for most rice is also not affordable. As the position worsens by the week, government has become increasingly repressive.

Zimbabweans did not easily give up hope that President Mbeki and the ANC would finally understand the true nature of our distress. But finally it has become clear that it was not a question of misunderstanding but deliberate prevarication in order to positively support Mugabe's dictatorship.

The shift began with cricket. Failure to get the world to acknowledge the need to boycott Mugabe by shifting the World Cup matches made it very plain that our salvation would only come from ourselves. And so the protests finally began. Henry Olonga and Andy Flower set it off, as if singing the overture, at the first Harare cricket match. Then the women took up the score on Valentine's Day in both Harare and Bulawayo ; the cricket protests began in earnest when the scene moved to Bulawayo, and were brutally suppressed. International Women's Day saw more demonstrations in defiance of POSA, and further arrests. Finally the orchestra swelled into the massive support for a stayaway called by the MDC in mid-March. The brutality of the reprisal measures undertaken by the militia, army and police in the wake of the stayaway has only increased the anger and the determination. But the demonstrations and stayaway had taught beleaguered Zimbabweans the most important lesson: we have the power, we can face arrest, we can even face torture. The MDC followed up the stayaway with an ultimatum to the government to restore rule of law and human rights. It expired with the month at midnight March 31. As midnight struck Zimbabweans were jubilant - in the face of extreme intimidation, cheating and physical violence against voters, they had persevered and won so strongly that even ZANU PF could not deny them victory.

And so March has ended. April lies before us. Will Independence Day on the 18th mark another new beginning? Maybe not just yet, but now the people are waiting and ready for the mass action which will finally bring the end of this evil regime. It cannot come soon enough.

* Mary Ndlovu is a Zimbabwean human rights activist.

* Previous editorial by Mary Ndlovu: March – Zimbabwe’s Month of Destiny

* Please send comments on this editorial to [email protected]

TIEMS, The International Emergency Management Society, is conducting an assessment to identify what are the unmet needs of emergency management professionals in Africa and how the Society can help to address these needs. TIEMS' annual conference will be held in Provence France from June 3 to 6 2003. The conference organisers have set aside a session period for discussions on disaster management and research in Africa. The intent of this session is to identify key areas where further efforts are needed to support and expand disaster management and research in Africa. The format of the session will be based on short presentations followed by discussions. Individuals interested in participating in the session, or wanting to express opinions on disaster management and research in Africa, are encouraged to attend the conference. Recognizing the short lead time before the conference and often long lead times needed to secure travel funds and documents, an option for "virtual participation" in the session is available.

University of Chicago philosophy professor Iris Marion Young is in Johannesburg and has agreed to give an informal presentation to civil society activists and intellectuals interested in global justice. She will be sharing ideas with Jubilee South Africa and anyone else interested in the question of how we justify our demands for the global redistribution of wealth, and what modus operandi might help achieve our goals.

WorkingforChange.com has recently posted a list of 5 things it encourages readers to do about Iraq. The ideas give readers a variety of ways to take action online such as pre-written emails to governmental officials, local events calendars and online donations, reports NetPulse, a project of PoliticsOnline: Fundraising and Internet tools for politics. (http://netpulse.politicsonline.com)

A science and technology stakeholders' workshop aimed at discussing the importance of technology in modern society was held in Harare recently. Among some of the workshop's objectives included promoting public awareness of science and technology.

The open source software (OSS) movement is undoubtedly gaining momentum in SA with the local enterprise market and government starting to gain a better understanding of the value proposition behind the adoption of OSS. This is according to Mark Rotter, senior analyst at African ICT research house BMI-TechKnowledge.

A curfew imposed a month ago after several nights of violence in two Burundian refugee camps in western Tanzania continues, IRIN learnt on Thursday. Calm has returned to the Mtabila and Myovosi refugee camps, near Kasulu, but the 20:00 to 06:00 local time curfew imposed by the Tanzanian authorities is still in place.

Over 250 people have been admitted to the main casualty wards in Harare since last Thursday. Many of the victims told how they were warned, during their attacks, not to report the incidents to hospitals or human rights organisations, says Zvakwana in their latest newsletter.
Related Link:
SA finally speaks up over Zim
http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/southern_africa/0,1009,55812,00.html

It was a trip that had become almost routine. As a lawyer, Gugulethu Moyo was accustomed to visiting Harare police stations, but last Tuesday she walked into a nightmare when she attempted to secure the release of a photographer arrested while covering Zimbabwe's two-day national strike. The 28-year-old lawyer endured vicious beatings and two nights behind bars on the whim of the wife of Zimbabwe's army commander.

The South African government should not respond with violence to HIV/AIDS demonstrators seeking medical treatment, Human Rights Watch says. Police in Durban last week opened water cannons on some 70 peaceful demonstrators who were urging the government to provide antiretroviral treatment for persons living with HIV/AIDS. This attack took place on the eve of South Africa's Human Rights Day, established in memory of the victims of apartheid-era atrocities. The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) has also condemned police action against protestors, reports IRIN news.