Pambazuka News 327: AFRICOM: The US Military Command for Africa
Pambazuka News 327: AFRICOM: The US Military Command for Africa
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/327/44280_nigeria_niger_delta.j... Bassey examines the factors behind the economics of oil and conflict in the Niger Delta and concludes that the violence in the Delta is “a boom for merchants of crisis capitalism”.
Simple lessons are not necessarily easy to learn. For example: oil is a non-renewable and limited resource. The fever our planet is suffering—global warming or, more accurately, climate change-- cannot be allowed to run its course. To do so would be to allow the global transformation of this planet, with even greater inequity than now exists between North and South, rich and poor, frail and strong.
Oil and conflicts appear to be twins in today’s world. When people think of oil, in general terms, what comes to mind is ‘progress’. Thus, people speak of oiling the wheel of progress. Today, however, much is being seen of oil as greasing the wheels of conflict. And this is very much the case in the Niger Delta.
The crisis we are witnessing needs to be viewed both in economic and political terms as a major for profit venture. Understanding it through this filter is crucial to our seeing why we appear trapped in intractable murky waters and it will also help us construct bridges over which we may come out of the malaise.
In answer to a question on what the likely consequences of the continued exploration of oil in the Niger Delta by oil corporations would be I had to recall first and foremost that the lure of oil is its cheapness as well as its easy yielding in the refining processes. What we mean is that oil is a cheap source of energy. It is cheap partly because its extraction in the Niger Delta and much of the tropical world is carried out in ways that pay scant attention to environmental costs. Thus the consequence of continual exploration and exploitation of the Niger Delta is that the poor people continue to subsidize the costs of crude oil by the losses they suffer in environmental services, quality of life and extreme environmental degradation. The result is, and will continue to be, deepened conflict as opportunistic groups as well as gangs find space to extract financial gains from the system; and ultimately as the people will eventually struggle to regain their sovereignty over their environment and resources.
The Niger Delta situation, rather then being resolved, appears to be getting more intractable. Meetings, programmes, commissions and what have you are being held or set up, yet the problems are growing more legs. As we examine the economic mechanics fuelling these tensions, it is worthwhile for us to have an overview of the local and global scenario exerting influence over related events here and globally.
Profiting from Crisis: the economics of war
The path of crude oil development has been strewn with skeletons and soaked in human blood across the world. The ongoing case in Nigeria is a glaring example. The case of Angola is still fresh in memory. In 1999, as the first barrels of crude oil were shipped from Sudan, so did the war between government forces and those of the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army escalate. When we turn our eyes to the Middle East we see the raw situation of war waged for profit and resource appropriation and control.
The issue of the profitability of disasters has been expertly exposed by Naomi Klein in her new book. She states that “With resource scarcity and climate change providing a steadily increasing flow of new disasters, responding to emergencies is simply too hot an emerging market to be left to the nonprofits – why should UNICEF rebuild schools when it can be done by Bechtel, one of the largest engineering firms in the U.S.?” She also asks the question, “Why deploy UN peacekeepers to Darfur when private security companies like Blackwater are looking for new clients?” In a 2005 article with the title Allure of the Blank State she articulated the advancement of preventive war as normative behaviour by the government of President George W. Bush.
It should be instructive that at a time when oil fields have become hotbeds of conflicts and insurgency, that is precisely when oil companies are making record breaking profits. This boom is also enjoyed by those involved in weapons trade, deconstruction/reconstruction, private soldiers and the like. In the month of October 2006 when the highest Iraqi civilian casualties of 3,709 were recorded, a market analyst stated that Halliburton’s quarterly profit was “better than expected.” By the last quarter of 2006 this company had enjoyed an inflow of up to $20 billion from the Iraqi war alone.
Writing on the Niger Delta situation, a researcher declared that, “the low level of accountability is also attributed to weak electoral administration and process, and a pervasive undemocratic political culture which not only serves the interest of the political class but also encourages the personalization of state resources by those who wield political power, a bureaucratic culture of secrecy and impunity, which nurtures an already entrenched abuse of power by the political and administrative class.”
Its manifestation is ubiquitous and its pinch is directly felt by the peoples of the Niger Delta who have become nothing short of pawns on the chessboards of political manipulators. The manifestations are seen on the boardrooms of corporations, shareholder dividends, and in the proverbial excess crude funds in the case of Nigeria. The ‘excess crude’ euphemism is a concept by which the political executives in Nigeria purposely base revenue projections on estimates far below the market value of crude oil in order not to be caught off guard by a slump in price, and probably also to skim off the ‘excess’ funds that must come where there are positive differentials, as always is the case. With current price of oil pushing beyond $90 per barrel, and with the current Nigerian national budget based on a $40 per barrel benchmark, political actors at various levels are already angling to share the ‘windfall’ which often have been seen as nothing but the ‘loot’, utilized without accountability. We note that for 2005 and 2006 budgets the benchmark was $30/barrel of crude oil and for 2008 the proposal stands at $53/barrel/
The Nigerian State: trapped in the barrel
One activist posited that the Nigerian government is a victim of disaster capitalism and that the new government is caught in the web of supremacist gangs engaged in the business of kidnappings and abductors of oil workers and children and parents of politicians. In a phrase, while both the government and oil companies are the beneficiaries of the crisis raging in the oil fields through huge profits and so called windfalls, both are equally vulnerable. Both face the challenge of access to oil fields and with time, not even the offshore installations will be so secure. This will come to pass unless steps are taken to look away from short term profits and to work for security of the environment, livelihoods and the rights of the people to live in a way that is favourable to their development.
Moreover, deep seas and far off offshore locations do carry special financial risks besides the physical ones. It will get to a point where oil prices will be so high that not even the producing countries will be comfortable with it. The costs spiral may in the long run assist in the finding of alternatives to crude oil and when that happens, unprepared nations like Nigeria will be in a quandary.
It appears the only real addition to our oil resources are with regard to the bitumen deposits to the west of the Niger Delta. Bitumen has a huge environmental downside. Like tar sand, the extraction of bitumen releases much more Green House Gases than the extraction of crude oil does. It also potentially has a heavier environmental footprint. The potential of replicating a violent mineral belt here is very real.
Oil Companies
Oil corporations are huge beneficiaries, and may even be said to be instigators, of the crisis related to the industry. The surge in global awareness about peak-oil and climate change, all-time-high price of oil as a result of conflicts in Nigeria, Iraq and disturbances in Turkey, Pakistan, Iran, etc can become rather unsettling. Add to this the indication that government is likely to renegotiate the contracts with the oil companies. These are all worrisome signals to a cartel that has always had its way and that is quite happy with business as usual as long as they hold the right end of the stick. If government goes through with the renegotiations, it is hoped that at the end of the day the companies will no longer have the lame excuses by which they heap blame on the government for not putting up the money to stop gas flaring, among other things.
It can only be in a state where impunity reigns that a corporation can leave a court order unchallenged for two years, not obey it and not be sanctioned over it. This is the case with a High Court judgement delivered on 14 November 2005 in which Shell was ordered to stop gas flaring in Iwerekhan community. The judgement has not neither been challenged nor vacated and yet the flaring continues unabated. An unwillingness to accept judicial decisions is a clear case of provocation, a clear attempt to ignite a fire where there ought to be none.
January 2008 has been set as the deadline for routine gas flaring to be ended in Nigeria. The oil companies have made some efforts at compliance. Only one of the majors has announced that they would be unable to meet the set target date. That is Shell. They state in their Sustainability Report 2006 that they would end gas flaring everywhere in the world by 2008 except in the Niger Delta where they claim that some of the locations are either inaccessible or it would mean shutting down production if the gas flares are to be shut off. Another indication that the flares out date may not hold is the recent announcement by the Federal Government that a fine of N12, 700 or $100 will be imposed for every million cubic feet of gas flared after the set date.
The government stated that oil companies would only be allowed to flare gas from their oil fields after reaching an agreement with the Federal Government to pay $100/Mscf. Moreover, from January1, 2008, oil companies who make false declarations will be fined $500/Mscf. The official who made the announcement added that “no excuse will be tolerated from any oil firm flaring gas without the approval of the Federal Government. Going by the state of preparedness, experts including officials of the World Bank are looking as far off as 2011.
Apart from being human rights monstrosities, gas flares are known to cause a cocktail of diseases and untimely deaths. Diseases associated with gas flares include cancer, respiratory illnesses and blood disorders.
The ‘benefits’ of disaster capitalism to oil companies include:
• Operating behind military shields as they have always done. This way the state apparatus of coercion does the dirty job and the oil companies involved can claim they were not a party to the assault.
• Refuse to pay adequate taxes unless publicly pressured.
• Make false declaration on the amount of reserves they have in Nigeria, get punished elsewhere and stay happy and quiet in Nigeria with no questions asked. False declaration ultimately is nothing but an exercise in self delusion.
• Be found guilty of bribing Nigerian officials by investigators outside Nigeria, whereas no questions are asked in Nigeria where governments make plenty of noise about fighting corruption.
• Declare that oil spills are caused by sabotage even where there is no evidence to support such claim. And based on these spurious claims, such spills are left unattended to.
Niger Delta Communities: beaten by all sides
The usual assertion that Nigeria suffers from a resource curse may not be true because the resource that we are endowed with is a blessing rather than a curse. Resource wealth does not necessarily have to subvert development. One would agree however that the scramble for the wealth does subvert our collective ability to resolve the conflicts into which we are immersed. And this is primarily because of the privatisation of public funds generated through the exploitation of these publicly held resources.
The crisis situation can best be seen as a result of interplay of a web of interrelated factors, and not the result of a single determinant. As an analyst put it, “While most of the attention is often placed on local actors: the state/political elites, militia groups/warlords, and weak and inept bureaucracies, very little attention is paid to the role of external and transnational actors and the lack of transparency that shrouds the extent of their involvement in these conflicts.
High Tide
Let us conclude by stating that much of the violence experienced in the Niger Delta has been inflicted without any shot being fired. For example, whenever the word restiveness is mentioned images of rampaging Niger Delta youths come to mind. A cursory look at the other geopolitical zones in Nigeria will reveal that youths are just as restive in those parts as they are in the Niger Delta. Secondly, whenever there is a pipeline tragedy consequent upon a fire or an explosion, most reports jump to the conclusion that pipeline vandals were responsible. By these ingrained constructs, the region is now known as a volatile region where the unthinkable become the expected.
It is time for us to calmly re-examine ourselves and strive to uncover the truth. It is time for the Niger Delta to show the way in a collective drive to reconstruct our regional as well as national psyche. This will start by our people understanding that the violence in the Delta is a boom for merchants of crisis capitalism. The gun runners, the kidnappers, the ballot thieves and those engaged in illegal bunkering differ very little irrespective of whether some of them are tagged Excellencies or Honorable. In one short phrase, it is time for us to regain our sovereignty and to ensure that our ballots decide who holds the reigns of our government, who makes decisions and how and when we want our resources extracted. We propose here that as climate change pushes the world towards a cataclysmic brink, a major move is to tackle the trend at the root cause. It is estimated that temperatures in West Africa may rise by up to 4 degrees Celsius and that sea level rise is expected to lead to a loss of over half of the land of the Niger Delta by 2050. There will be an increase in vector-borne diseases as well as severe dislocations. With the downward march of the desert, environmental refugees from the south and from the north will put extreme pressure on the middle belt and raise new levels of crises.
We recommend that Nigeria halts all new oil field prospecting and no further auctioning of oil blocks. If we follow the example of the demands of Ecuador with regard to oil exploitation in the Yasuni national park this will not mean a reduction in our national income. Ecuador is demanding that they should be compensated for keeping the oil in the ground. The argument is that by that action the release of Green House Gases are blocked at source since the fossil fuel is not brought up for use. This is true carbon sequestration and deserves to earn carbon credits instead of the fictional approaches used to exploit an unsuspecting and at times gullible world.
In conclusion, we wish to state that keeping the oil in the ground will plug the holes of exploitation, violence and profiting from degradation and dehumanizing activities. We say NO MORE OIL BLOCKS until and unless it is with the express consent of the people. Our life and our future are in our hands.
This is an edited version of a paper delivered by Nnimmo BASSEY at the Niger Delta Roundtable held at Ibom Hall, Uyo, on Thursday, 1 November 2007
* Nnimmo Bassey is the Executive Director of the Environmental Rights Action, ERA/Friends of the Earth Nigeria with head offices in Benin City, Nigeria.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/authors/Lynne_Muthoni_Wanyeki.jpgA survey by the African Centre for Open Governance finds that corruption is the number one issue in the forthcoming Kenyan elections.
The people have spoken. And, unsurprisingly, what they have said is diametrically opposed to what their leaders have been saying on their behalf.
What am I talking about? Last week, the African Centre for Open Governance launched a survey it had commissioned from the opinion polling company, Infotrak, into citizens’ views about corruption, the electoral process and transitional justice.
The findings? For no less than 89 per cent of those with voters’ cards polled across the country, corruption was the foremost electoral issue. Disaggregated by age, no less than 94 per cent of 18-24 year olds — the largest voting bloc — ranked corruption as their priority concern. And even a majority of those above 55 — 56 per cent — did the same.
Disillusionment with efforts of what remains of the National Rainbow Coalition was high, with no less than 70 per cent saying they did not feel the government of President Mwai Kibaki had done enough to address corruption. Granted, awareness of the details of those efforts was low. Only 13 per cent, for instance, were aware of the National Anti-Corruption Committee headed by Mutava Musyimi. This, of course, is somewhat ironic, given that the NACC is tasked with creating public awareness about corruption. But low levels of awareness aside, citizens were quite clear about why they gave Kibaki’s government a failing grade — pointing to the fact that the highest office holders accused of corruption have either remained in office or been re-appointed to the same. No less than 92 per cent said that they want an end to ‘sacred cows’— only eight per cent said that they were concerned about the conflict that going after the ‘sacred cows’ might create.
Citizens, then, gave their thoughts on past and present “grand corruption” — listing the cases of Goldenberg, the Kroll report, the “Artur brothers,” Anglo-Leasing and sugar imports. They were unhesitant about what they want done. No less than 81 per cent want those implicated and found guilty to be jailed, with 72 per cent demanding that they be forever barred from holding public office again. And no less than 77 per cent want any properties acquired with the proceeds of corruption confiscated. They were equally clear about what they want done with recovered funds and property — invested back into public services. Only a paltry five per cent said they would be satisfied with apologies.
What this shows, as Gladwell Otieno, head of AfriCOG, pointed out during the survey’s launch, is that all presidential candidates and other aspirants should know that there exists among Kenyans “a bedrock of support for firm action” on past and present grand corruption. What the survey’s findings should tell all three is that wishy-washiness — and a flat-out refusal — to act on past and present grand corruption will be their downfall. Especially because the findings of the survey held even when disaggregated to confirm that voters already committed to a certain presidential candidate felt the same way.
As for the electoral process in general, citizens were equally clear — no less than 93 per cent of citizens polled said they would not vote for a candidate alleged or known to be corrupt. And, even though only 51 per cent said they would not accept campaign bribes — named by them as including money, food and drink, clothes and, interestingly, jobs and title deeds — 80 per cent of the same said doing so would have no influence at all on their voting. As Maina Kiai, head of the Kenya National Human Rights Commission said during the launch, this finding confirms that “bribes do not work.” And as Mwalimu Mati, head of the Media Analysis and Research Group, added, the survey’s findings are no less than a ‘wake up call’ for all aspirants who have been warning us that the ‘skies will fall’ should past and present grand corruption be dealt with. We want our money back.
This article originally appeared in the East African Standard on November 5th.
*L. Muthoni Wanyeki is the Executive Director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org
Kenya is gripped by election fever. In the frenzied atmosphere everything has become extremely partisan and claustrophobic operating essentially as 'if you are not for me' then you are against me!
Last Saturday, 3rd November 2007, at Nairobi's famous Ufungamano Hall, I (not unexpectedly) walked straight into the brawling ring of Kenya's ongoing 'do or die' political campaigns. I was a key note speaker at a public Lecture on 'the Great Majimbo debate' organised by the Young Professionals for Raila.
It was obviously a partisan platform but the matter being discussed was of a very public nature in which I had both personal and professional interest. I will debate this matter on any platform. We may not yet have votes in other African states but we should not collaborate in our silencing by also refusing to contribute to public spaces. What gives foreign diplomats, NGOs and so called 'experts' the right to lecture our leaders on all things under the sun and beyond the skies but require other Africans 'to stay quiet'?
I had made it clear to my hosts that I was not coming to speak as a UN staff but rather as a concerned Pan Africanist and a political scientist with some insight into the subject matter.
That entire caveat was of no use in the ensuing reports of the meeting in the Kenyan papers. I do not usually blame the media for 'misrepresentation' or 'misquoting' but on this occasion my colleagues in the fourth estate of the realm really undersold themselves. Sample these headlines: 'UN envoy defends Majimbo system' (Sunday Nation, November 4); 'UN official backs controversial Majimbo system' (Sunday Standard November 4); or 'Majimbo system: ODM now brings in an expert' (the people on Sunday, Nov 4) including claims that I was specifically flown in by ODM for the event! Even in their preoccupation with my UN status they did even bother to be accurate. All the reports managed to get my position and particular UN affiliation wrong.
But this should not detract us from the political significance of the debate that is wrongly termed Majimbo by Kenyans and Ugandans will know as FEDERO. For me it is about wider issues of political and economic governance, devolution of power and the degree to which people of Kenya should have control over their destiny and the accountability of their leaders to them at various levels. It is a debate that has echoes in many African countries. It is about how to deepen democracy beyond just the right to ritually vote periodically. It is about how to stop our Presidents from monopolising power at the centre and reducing representative institutions like parliaments to personal choir groups. It is about creating alternative centres of power and a wider democratic basis for recruitment of leaders and avoid the 'he is the only one they have got ' syndrome that has turned formerly visionary leaders into tin pot, overstayers in office. In the current charged competition for votes the Kenya debate is couched in exclusive terms. President Kibaki's side have succeed in wrong footing the pro devolution group as Majimboists (code word for Tribalists just as Federo is seen as another word for Buganda hegemony in Uganda) and their supporters as enemies of the Unity of the country. Whereas in Uganda it is the majority nationality that has historically championed Federo, in Kenya it is the minority groups, with majority Kikuyu elite being opposed to it.
The opposition has reacted defensively to say that it is not the old divisive Majimbo of the 1960s that they are clamouring for rather it is a limited political devolution that will give Kenya back to every Kenyan. What is clear is that both sides agree on devolution but cannot agree on by how much. The government thinks the Constituency Development Fund which came under this regime (even though it was from a Private Members bill instead of government or opposition Legislative agenda) is enough. The opposition thinks it should be extended to regional levels. I think if devolution is so good why is it being limited to 2.5 %? Who controls the rest? Both Government and Opposition have to give clear answers to the voters.
Whether you call it Majimbo or devolution the consensus means that everyone is not happy with the status quo. This is where my defence of Federalism begins and the substance of my contribution to the debate last Saturday. One, the response to an overbearing centralised state is devolution of power and clamouring for same by the constituent units in that system. They could be Districts, provinces, regions or other administrative areas.
Two, in the specific case of Kenya it is clear that the BOMAS consensus was to have a very weak form of federalism / devolution which shares powers and resources between the constituent units on a more equitable way but retaining substantial and most importantly the power to levy taxes, at the centre. It will be very much different from the Nigerian federalism which is though centre-centric (all mineral resources are controlled by the centre) but every state (and even local governments) can levy and collect taxes as they deem fit and permissible under the constitution. They can also make laws on non exclusive legislative areas However if there is a clash with federal law the Federal law will prevail. The Kenyan model also differs from the Ethiopian federalism which is based on Ethnic Nationalities and guarantees 'the right to self determination including secession'. It will appear that what the political class in Kenya agreed in BOMAS as more generic association with the South African halfway house between federalism and unitarism. And even that may seem too much for sections of this class as evident from the inability to implement it and the emotional debates around it.
The political scoring games between the politicians is preventing a serious discussion but whoever wins the election cannot defer the matter any longer, Unfortunately the government side seem to be scaring Kenyans with a break-up of the country if federalism is accepted and the opposition side is too fearful of losing support to put up a principled case for a devolved federalism with Kenyan compromises (even scared of using the word). Both sides are surcharging the public.
While there may be many challenges with establishing a federal system including threats of narrow nationalism, regionalism or statism. The solution is not to continue to defend the unsatisfactory status quo but to agree on rights of all Kenyans wherever they may be and the full commitment to the rule of law to defend them. The opportunities of a federal system are just too many for fear to intimidate supporters from articulating it. One, it offers greater opportunities for wider political recruitment of leadership instead of the current situation of being limited to National cabinet level. For instance you may not have heard of Yar'Adua in Nairobi but he did not come from inside Obasanjo's hat of dirty tricks because he had been Governor of one of Nigeria's 36 states for two terms. Two, Marginalised peoples or regions, Youth, Women and others have wider opportunity for accessing leadership position through the state / regional levels and graduating to national level. A situation in which 60 year old Kenyans are being asked 'to wait for their turn' or regarded as 'Young Turks' only demonstrate the limited space available at the top.
Three, gone are the days when it was wrongly assumed that in order to be a nationalist you have to deny being part of a particular community. That strategy has generally not worked instead it produced all kinds of ethnic, regional and religious manipulation in the name of nation-building. The problem is not in our diversities but the denial of those differences and the politics of exclusion required to enforce this regime of denials. There are greater opportunities for real 'unity in diversity' in a genuine federation of peoples at peace with themselves than being forced to remain in political community as though it is a catholic marriage. The possibility or fear of divorce does not mean that all marriage will end in divorce. The fact that the option exists does not mean it will be exercised. Local autonomy gives the constituent units the security to be genuine 'good neighbours' and free citizens of a larger unit. That is why even in its 5th decade of Independence marginalised groups in Nigeria are still calling for 'real federalism'. It is not a call to break up the country it is a cry for equal participation for all Nigerians so that they are real stakeholders in the joint affairs of their country. "Forward ever, backward never".....Kwame Nkrumah (1909 - 1972)
..................DON'T AGONISE! ORGANISE!!....................................
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Landmines have long been recognized internationally as indiscriminate weapons of war. The impact of their use in human and socio-economic terms has received considerable attention, generated studies, contributed to policies and, in the end, led to one of the most successful international instruments and a process for monitoring states' compliance with their Mine Ban Treaty commitments.
Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of volunteers and professionals standing up for human rights. Our purpose is to research and take action to effect change and protect individuals wherever justice is denied. This high profile role is key to shaping and driving AI's human rights agenda in this region. Providing strategic and political analysis to the movement, you’ll lead AI's regional and country work and motivate your team both in London and in the field. Closing date: 28 November 2007.
Why is life expectancy in some countries in our region 40 years longer then others? How well are we meeting commitments made by leaders to spend 15% of government budgets on health? What can we do about the loss of health workers due to migration? These issues are discussed in the new book published by EQUINET “Reclaiming The Resources For Health: A Regional analysis of equity in health in east and southern Africa” launched in the region in Lilongwe Malawi on October 23rd 2007, at an event locally hosted by REACH Trust Malawi and Malawi Health Equity Network, two EQUINET steering committee member institutions.
The Rio Tinto ilmenite mine in the Fort Dauphin area of southern Madagascar is the first of a number of mining projects planned for Madagascar with the support of the World Bank. The effects of this mine are widespread, not only on the people and economy of the region but also on its unique environment. The new Panos report 'A mine of information?' examines the debates, grievances, consultations and negotiations that have taken place between the mining company and the many different stakeholders affected by the project, not least members of the local community.
The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) is concerned about the reasons given by the United States (US) Department of State to University of Johannesburg Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Adam Habib, for his being denied entry into the US. Habib is a political scientist and prominent political commentator. The reasons were sent to him by the US Consulate General in Johannesburg on October 26, 2007, following an application from Habib for a waiver of his ineligibility to enter the US.
Is there only one model for empire, based on European empires? How might the critique of European empires serve to understand imperial forms elsewhere? This collection by Ann Laura Stoler, Carole McGranahan and Peter C. Perdue moves beyond the Euro-centric slant of colonial studies to compare European and non-European empires with socialist states and empire beyond colonialism.
This latest briefing from the International Crisis Group warns of the real risk of renewed conflict and calls on the international community to move fast to stop it. The UN Security Council and the U.S. in particular must give both sides the clearest message that no destabilising unilateral action will be tolerated, and that the parties must comply with their obligations under international law, disengage on the ground and restore the demilitarised Temporary Security Zone (TSZ).
It is often asserted that AIDS is at the core of a “vicious circle”, whereby the impacts of AIDS increase poverty and social deprivation, while poverty and social deprivation increase vulnerability to HIV infection. In examining this view, authors Piot, Greener and Russell assert that it is important to distinguish between what might be called the “downstream” effects of AIDS on poverty, and the “upstream” effects of poverty upon the risk of acquiring HIV.
As America and Europe diversify oil and gas supplies away from the volatile Persian Gulf, West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea is set to become its counterweight: “The Next Gulf”. This book is written by Andy Rowell, James Marriott & Lorne Stockman and published by Constable.
Margaret Legum, best known for her call to sanction apartheid South Africa, died in Cape Town at the age of 74 on November 1. She died of complications arising from a cancer-related operation. She leaves behind two sisters, three daughters, five granddaughters and one grandson. She was widowed in 2003.Legum, who studied economics at Rhodes University and Cambridge, was a major advocate of social justice in South Africa. She lectured and worked as a journalist, often writing for the Mail & Guardian while residing in Kalk Bay in Cape Town.
For decades now, many countries in Africa have been involved in internal and external civil wars and conflicts. It is estimated that there are over 9.5 million refugees and internally displaced persons and thousands of civilians killed. In our last issue of the Our Rights Newsletter, FEMNET would like to focus on key debates around The Role of Women in Peace building Processes and Post-Conflict Reconstruction. Articles should be in English or French, not exceeding 800 words and should be submitted to [email][email protected] [email][email protected] by Monday 19th November 2007.
Lately, saving Africa has become very fashionable, writes Mukoma Wa Ngugi. Hollywood celebrities are adopting African babies. Bono and Bob Geldof sing for Africa. And Bill Gates, former heads of state Bill Clinton and Tony Blair and a sprinkling of former World Bank officials have probably caused traffic jams there as they tout their campaigns.
African Journal of Reproductive Rights (AJRR) is currently accepting manuscripts for publication. AJRR publishes scholarly articles and advanced empirical research in all areas of the reproductive rights. We welcome articles or proposals from all perspectives on reproductive rights pertaining to Africa, legislations, comparative policies, case laws, global perspectives etc.
Further details are available in the Journal section of
On 22nd October 2007, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights marked twenty years of promotion and protection of human rights in the continent. Although Malawi ratified the charter in 1989 and it has eight outstanding state party reports to write to the African Commission, and it is yet to submit its initial report, writes Levi Mvula.
The adoption of the first post – colonial constitution in 1995 brought jubilation to many Malawians. This was so because the new constitution established a democratic system of government and included a bill of rights. This was in contrast with the 1966 Constitution, which, despite stating that Malawi would recognize the rights protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, failed to include a comprehensive bill of rights. In this regard, it was difficult to understand how the state was going to achieve the fulfillment and protection of rights. Indeed for the first 23 years of its independence, Malawi did not sign up to any international human rights instruments and in practice, the government and its agents were responsible for widespread human rights violations against political or perceived opponents. However, the major turning point in Malawian constitutional history occurred in 1994, when the 1966 Constitution was replaced by a Constitution designed to create a more liberal political order. After a rigorous process of consultations, the constitution entered into force in May 1995. The new constitution, among other things included a bill of rights in chapter four that guarantees a wide range of justifiable human rights and also provided a framework in which the government can fully undertake its international obligations.
Despite the ‘gross violations of human rights occurring in the country’ during the one party state era, Malawi ratified most of the major relevant International and African human rights treaties. Such treaties include the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, ratified on 17 November 1989, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both ratified on 22nd December 1993. Malawi is also a state party to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women which it ratified on 22nd March 1987 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified on 2nd January 1991. Ratification or accession to these human rights instruments comes with certain obligations on the part of the ratifying state. Such obligations include giving effect to the provisions of the treaties at a national level through the process of domestication. One of the most important duties of state parties under international human rights law to these instruments is the submission of periodic reports to the treaty monitoring bodies on the steps they are undertaking to give effect to the rights contained in the treaties to their nationals.
Malawi has largely failed to discharge its reporting treaty obligations under the international treaties it is party to. To date, Malawi has only submitted some of the reports due under the CEDAW and CRC and none under the various other treaties the country signed without coercion including the reports to the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights. In June 2004, the government made some efforts to redress the situation by submitting a report which combined the second, third, fourth and fifth periodic reports on the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women. The shadow report to this particular state report was prepared by Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), Women Lawyers in Southern Africa (WLSA) and National Association for Business Women (NABW). The reports were considered by the committee on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women during its 35th session from 15th May to 2nd June 2006. As required by the procedures of the committees, the committee of Elimination on all forms of Discrimination against Women made several recommendations such as appealing to the Malawi government to set a clear time frame for the adoption of the revised Citizenship Act, Immigration Act and the Wills and Inheritance Act and for the New Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Bill, designed to eliminate discrimination against women. On the CRC state party report, the committee had recommended, among other things, that Malawi harmonize the definition of the age of a child and requested it to consider raising the age of the child up from 16 to 18. Much time has passed since then but there is still no sign on the ground that the government is undertaking steps to implement the recommendations that were made by the committee.
Recently, it was revealed that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) which is responsible for the convention on elimination of racial discrimination announced that it was going to consider Malawi’s country situation in August 2007 in the absence of the state party report from the Malawi Government. The committee reached that decision after Malawi ignored several reminders to comply with its reporting obligations. It is embarrassing to learn that the committee has since decided to give Malawi more time until next June 2008 to submit the report. A recent enquiry on the responsible ministry, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, indicated that the process of preparation of the report had not started as of first week of October 2007 and one wonders if the exercise will be carried out at all.
On 22nd October 2007, the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights marked twenty years of promotion and protection of human rights in the continent. Although Malawi ratified the charter in 1989 and it has eight outstanding state party reports to write to the African Commission, and it is yet to submit its initial report. Sources from the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights indicate that Malawi is the one of the three states in the SADC region yet to report and one of the three will be presenting its maiden report this November 2007 when the African Commission hosts its 42nd session which will sit in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Michelle Hansungule, a Human rights professor at the University of Pretoria labeled states who are never bothered with treaty obligations such as submission of state reports like Malawi as permanent defaulters. Surprisingly, states that are being accused of massive human rights violations like Zimbabwe take the reporting obligation under the African Charter very seriously by submitting its state party reports. It is important to note that all neighbouring countries have been submitting their state party reports. Tanzania and Mozambique have been reporting to the African Commission though they still have outstanding reports whilst Zambia and Zimbabwe are amongst those states that submitted all their reports and no outstanding reports. The African Commission continues to urge member states of the African Union that have not yet submitted their reports like Malawi to submit their initial and periodic reports. Of great significance to Malawi is that we can combine all the overdue reports (eight) into a single report for submission to the African Commission.
Efforts to understand the cause of this non compliance with reporting obligations under various international instruments reveals very troubling excuses. According to the Malawi Human Rights Commission, the government has attributed its current failure to fulfill its treaty reporting obligations to the lack of human and material resources to fund the process of preparing the reports and subsequent submission of the reports. The issue of lack of human resource as one of the reasons for non – compliance with the treaty monitoring bodies of various treaties is difficult to understand. This is because there are several well qualified men and women in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs who have attended refresher courses on state party reporting and other important trainings. Besides, there are several men and women in the civil society and the academia that have the capacity to assist in the process of writing the state party report. After all, the state party report on CEDAW was done by various experts from the academia, civil society and government. It is important to note that the requirement is not necessarily that the Ministry should write the report on its own particularly where there is no enough capacity but that it should take a leading role in the report writing process.
On the other hand, it is widely rumoured that the government has finalized a state party report on the convention of the rights of the child. If this rumour is true, then the government through the ministry responsible should be applauded. I also hope that this will motivate us as a country to clear all the outstanding reports under various treaties. An appeal though to those responsible is that issues of reporting ought not to be secretive but rather open and it is my hope that the state will offer the civil society copies for them to shadow the report as encouraged by the human rights norms.
In conclusion, it is worthwhile to emphasize that submission of state party reports is very important in as far as promotion and protection of human rights is concerned. By ratifying the treaties, the country accepted to comply with the treaty obligations and it is frustrating that we are failing to do as is expected of us. Reporting needs to be taken seriously and there is need for political will since it is only the submission of these reports that can highlight the implementation of various human rights provisions as is required by these international human rights treaties since the international human rights law gives states near to total discretion to implement internationally recognized human rights within their own countries. All Malawians have noted that the situation of human rights in Malawi has tremendously improved since Malawians voted for politics of pluralism. Today, Malawians are enjoying rights that could have landed them in conflict with the law some fifteen years ago. The success stories of the human rights regime in Malawi need to be shared with other states after Malawians had lived 31 years under a regime that never recognized human rights and violated them. Reporting obligations also grant the independent experts on human rights the opportunity to offer recommendations, which may sometimes be referred to as General Comments or views on how states can ensure full realization of certain rights depending on the type of the treaty. This may well prove extremely beneficial to Malawi. It is thus wholly unheard of for Malawi to continue disregarding its reporting obligations, obligations it assumed voluntarily, as this paints an extremely depressing image of the government’s commitment to the promotion, protection and fulfillment of various human rights. The Attorney General as the chief government advisor can the nation service to remind the relevant authorities on the significance of the reporting obligations and assist where gaps exists.
* Levi Mvula is a human rights activist in Malawi working for the Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation (CHRR), a non-governmental organisation working in the area of human rights and governance in Malawi.
* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org
Pambazuka News 326: Robbing Peter to pay Paul: the Mo Ibrahim prize
Pambazuka News 326: Robbing Peter to pay Paul: the Mo Ibrahim prize
Mediation talks between the ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition MDC have been postponed temporarily, dealing a new setback to efforts to find a lasting solution to the country’s crippling economic and political crisis. The Thabo Mbeki led talks were called off on Wednesday night due to the death of Patrick Chinamasa’ son, who was reportedly studying at a college in Michigan, United States. A source told Newsreel from Johannesburg that Chinamasa’s son, who was 23 years old, died in his sleep on Wednesday, the day the talks resumed in Pretoria after a month long break.
Experts on HIV/Aids issues were on Thursday questioning the authenticity of recent figures released by government which suggested that epidemic’s prevalence rates were dropping. The government on Wednesday released new statistics that showed that the HIV/Aids prevalence rate has declined from 18,1 percent to 15,6 percent over the past four years. The Ministry of Health was quick to claim the “victory” as a “reflection of the unrelenting campaign by the government”.
Amnesty International has urged governments not to send anyone suspected of crimes during Rwanda's 1994 genocide to be tried in the country, saying it had serious concerns over the justice system. The central African country wants suspects in the 100-day slaughter of 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus to be transferred to its custody.
A cholera outbreak in Congo's eastern city of Goma is raising fears of an epidemic among tens of thousands of refugees in camps, aid workers said on Thursday. Fighting between government soldiers, Tutsi insurgents, Rwandan Hutu rebels and local Mai Mai militia has forced more than 370,000 to flee villages in North Kivu province this year.
The government of south Sudan might pull its deputies out of the national parliament if Khartoum does not make more progress towards meeting southern demands, the vice president of the region said on Thursday. The southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) withdrew its ministers and presidential advisers from Khartoum two weeks ago, saying the central government had failed to carry out key parts of a north-south peace agreement, signed in 2005.
Health systems cannot properly diagnose, treat, or contain the co-epidemic of HIV and tuberculosis (TB) because not enough is known about how the two diseases interact. A report by leading global health experts warned that the largely “unnoticed collision” of the global epidemics of HIV and TB has exploded to create a deadly co-epidemic that is rapidly spreading in sub-Saharan Africa.
Wandia Njoya writes, I feel partially vindicated by the decision of authorities in Chad to charge six French nationals, members of the French humanitarian organization L’Arche de Zoe (Zoe’s Arc), with kidnapping of children from Chad destined for adoption in France. I wish the six faced a more serious charge such as child trafficking or slave trade (banned two centuries ago), but for now I’ll appreciate these charges as a minor victory.
Mary Ndlovu presents some hard truths about life in Zimbabwe and questions those Pan Africanists who fall for Mugabe’s “anti-imperalist rhetoric”. She asks if there is hope? Yes there is but only if Pan Africanism is “turned on it’s head” and “seized by the people” away from leaders not just in Zimbabwe but across Africa who have consistently betrayed the people.
Africa is losing its brightest to the First World, writes David McFarlane. Less than 10% of doctors trained in Zambia since its independence in 1964 are still in the country: the other 90% have migrated, mainly to Europe and the United States. No less staggeringly, there are more Sierra Leonean-trained doctors in Chicago alone than in the country itself and cash-strapped Benin provides more medical professionals to France than there are in the whole of its own health system.
President Paul Kagame has indicated to the One-Laptop-Per-Child project that government will buy laptops from the new sales promotion scheme 'Give 1 and Get 1' (GIGI), RNA has learnt from a senior official behind the plan. Starting November 12, One Laptop Per Child - the brain-child of American Prof. Nicholas Negroponte will be offering a 'Give 1 and Get 1' (G1G1) promotion. For US$399, a person in a developed country will be purchasing two XO laptops. One that will be sent to a child in a developing nation and one that will be sent to their child at home.
Multiple sex partners, sex for pay, and sexual coinfections (particularly genital herpes, or HSV-2) continue to act as major risk factors for HIV transmission in Africa, according to a systematic review of 68 separate epidemiological studies conducted over the past 20 years. The analysis, published in the October 2007 issue of PLoS One,, found that these factors have remained significant over time and have not declined in importance as HIV prevalence becomes higher in the general population.
The fourth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-4) produced by the United Nations Environment Programme was launched on 25 October 2007, with the key message that the world has changed dramatically over the past 20 years. The launch of the report was conducted simultaneously in about 40 cities across the world, including Johannesburg, South Africa and Port Louis, Mauritius. Both countries are members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
This AFRODAD report highlights how HIV/AIDS has become a leading cause of death in the African continent. It not only constitutes a serious constraint to growth and stability of most African economies and societies, but has actually begun to destroy the hard-won development.
Following the launch of the groundbreaking Yogyakarta Principles earlier this year, the United Nations will be hosting a panel discussion next month to explore discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The event, which will bring together non-governmental organisations, UN representatives and state delegates, is an initiative co-sponsored by Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.
Still hale and hearty at 75, David Olanya takes a break from digging in his garden to explain his joy at getting a new home and plot of land, more than a decade after he was forced on the run by fighting between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government. "We needed to move out and farm in our lands and produce our own food. That's why we are here," said Olanya, a father of five. It was the news that it's now safe to move around Gulu and Amuru districts in northern Uganda that prompted Olanya to leave Anaka camp for internally displaced people (IDP), a haven his family had called home for so long.
Talk your way out of tensions, that's the message the UN refugee agency conveyed in a recent workshop for community leaders and local authorities in strife-torn eastern Chad. Conflict resolution and peaceful co-existence were the key words in a three-day workshop supported by UNHCR, its partner Eirine and the Association Chefs Traditionnels du Tchad (ACTT) and held in Abéché University earlier this month.
The UN refugee agency and two key partners have been busy over the past week responding to the urgent needs of 103 young children caught up in an abduction scandal in the eastern Chad town of Abéché. The Chad authorities have detained and charged several Europeans, including members of the French aid agency Children Rescue/Zoe's Ark, in connection with the alleged abduction of the children, who are currently being looked after in Abéché's orphanage
Shocking new details have emerged of the torture and beating of a group of Bushmen in Kaudwane resettlement camp, Botswana. Fifteen men were arrested in late September for hunting, and at least ten of them were tortured. The incidents bring the total number of Bushmen arrested for hunting this year to 53. During this time the government has not issued them with a single permit to hunt on their land, despite Botswana’s High Court ruling in December that its refusal to issue permits was unlawful.
Félicien Kabuga has a reward of several million dollars on his head, and tops the list of fugitives of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Yet, he's managed to escape justice for years. The ICTR was set up in Arusha, northern Tanzania, by the United Nations in 1995 to bring high level perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide to justice. Between 800,000 and a million minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed in the Central African nation over a period of about 100 days in 1994.
A new project to develop an integrated sugarcane facility in Kenya could be a boost for biofuels production in east Africa. The Ngima Project at Homa Bay on the shores of Lake Victoria (‘‘ngima’’ is the word for ‘‘life’’ in the local Luo language) is looking to foster a dual export and domestic system of sugarcane production, concentrating on both white sugar and biofuel production.
Nibon Soro and Kartenin Silué, two children living in the Korhogo region of northern Côte d'Ivoire, should be in school. But, farm duties -- and their family's poverty -- stand in the way of education. The two, both under 10, drive the draught animals that help with ploughing. "We really want to go to school, but our father says that he doesn't have the money to educate us, and there is no-one to help him in the fields either," they told IPS.
This report published by the European Network on Debt and Development examines China’s role as a donor in Africa. It explores Chinese views on such issues, including their response to concerns expressed about the increased cooperation with Africa. The authors argue that China’s assistance to and cooperation with Africa is changing the rules of the game and threatens to leave by the wayside those governments, institutions and organisations which do not act strategically . Possible ways forward are proposed:
An alternative macroeconomic framework oriented towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Sub-Saharan Africa is known and feasible. Currently, the effects of neoliberal reforms have been counter-productive with non-intervention leading to increased volatility of nominal exchange rates. This report published by the IPC finds that In fact, inflation-targeting is particularly detrimental to expanding investment which helps accelerate growth and human development. Another major obstacle to effectively implementing MDG-based macroeconomic policies is the underdevelopment of financial institutions.
Donor funding for HIV/AIDS has skyrocketed in the last decade: from US$ 300 million in 1996 to US$ 8.9 billion in 2006; yet, little is understood about how these resources are being spent. This paper analyses the policies and practices of the world’s largest AIDS donors as they are applied in Mozambique, Uganda and Zambia.
Gay rights activists in Uganda have come together to create a Chapter of the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) and take part in a landmark debate organised by Queer Youth Uganda. The climate for LGBT people in the country is extremely hostile, and attacks from the media, religious groups and the government are commonplace. Despite this, more than 100 activists and supporters gathered in the capital Kampala to debate the way forward for gay rights in Uganda.
The Darfur peace talks in Libya may have got off to a disappointing start with a boycott by key rebel factions. But activist Safaa Elagib Adam made sure she was there to push for better representation for women from the outset. As a veteran of the last round of talks in Abuja, the secretary general and gender adviser of the Khartoum-based Community Development Association knows she faces an uphill struggle. She was one of only four women representing civil society last weekend in Libya, and says there were no women on either the government or the rebel delegations.
Battles broke out again in the Somali capital on Friday killing at least one, wounding four and stoking the nation's humanitarian crisis after nearly 90,000 people fled days of fighting earlier this week. Ethiopian forces supporting Somalia's interim government are trying to crush Islamist-led rebels. A Reuters witness said clashes resumed before dawn in the heart of the coastal capital.
Reporters Without Borders has condemned information, press and communication minister Toussaint Tshilombo Send’s announcement of a ban on around 40 TV and radio stations five days ago. It has had the effect of silencing four community radio stations based in Kinshasa, while around 200 other community radio stations throughout the country are also threatened.
Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the way governor Ali Modu Sheriff of the northern state of Borno has hounded journalists for the past 10 days. After criticising his lavish spending, James Garuba of the Tribune, Michael Olabode of This day, another privately-owned daily, and several other reporters were arrested twice last week by the State Security Service, the main domestic intelligence agency, and then placed under its daily control.
Daouda Yacouba of the privately-owned fortnightly Aïr Info has been released after being held for six days at police headquarters in the northern city of Agadez. He has not been charged. Yacouba was arrested on 25 October in Ingall, a town to the west of Agadez where he works as the Agadez-based Aïr Info’s correspondent. The police did not explain why he was arrested but they questioned him about his articles and his alleged links with the Tuareg rebels of the Niger People’s Movement for Justice (MNJ).
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have agreed to collaborate on interconnecting all African capitals and major cities with ICT broadband infrastructure and strengthen connectivity to the rest of the world by 2012. The announcement comes after Dr. Hamadoun Touré the Secretary-General of the ITU announced that one of the summit goals was to interconnect all African capitals with ICT broadband infrastructure and strengthen connectivity to the rest of the world by 2012 as well as interconnect major African cities by 2015.
In a report released by Deloitte, East African mobile operators loose a third of their revenues to governments by way of taxes and other government tariffs. The Deloitte study suggests that if Rwanda for example goes on to impose the proposed 10 percent excise tax on mobile telephones, it would have the second highest tax rate in Africa, behind Uganda
The European Union has set aside a total sum of 9.1 billion Euros for funding of Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-based research on the continent through the EuroAfrica-ICT Strategic Partnership. The partnership, which is part of the Seventh EU Framework Programme for Research and Development (FP7) is a project that would last till 2010 and is driven by activities of the European Commission, Directorate General of Information Society and Media and is aimed at exploring the potential for a deeper and broader Science and Technology (S&T) cooperation on ICT between EU and the sub-Saharan Africa region.
Without new interventions, cases of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) in rural South Africa will increase dramatically over the next five years, according to a study. The research was published last week (27 October) in The Lancet. The study, which modelled the effect of various infection control measures on the spread of XDR-TB in the rural community of Tugela Ferry in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, suggests that infection rates will increase from 194 cases in 2007 to an estimated average of 234 cases a year by 2012.
The Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA) Fellowship Program was founded in 1993 at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., in order to train women's human rights lawyers from Africa who are committed to returning home to their countries in order to advance the status of women and girls throughout their careers (see LAWA Goals). Over 50 women's human rights advocates from Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe have participated in the LAWA Program, and we hope to include Fellows from additional countries in the future. The application deadline for the 2008-2009 LAWA Fellowship Program is November 30, 2007.
Convened by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) on the 28th of October 2007, civil society groups have called for new forms of corporate governance to develop the ICT infrastructure in Africa. These new forms should “ensure the interests of all stakeholders, but above all, the interest of African consumers and citizens,” the statement insists. The Kigali statement by African civil society delegates, academicians, researchers, consumer interest groups, and internet service providers is made in light of the Connect Africa Summit taking place in that same city on the 29th and 30th of October 2007.
The Swazi media faces a new threat following a call by Parliament for government to pilot the contentious Media Council Bill within eight weeks. A Parliament Select Committee recently constituted to probe Times Sunday editor, Mbongeni Mbingo, on charges of contempt of Parliament, whilst clearing Mbingo on the charges, called on government to pilot the Media Council Bill within eight weeks of the adoption of its report by Parliament.
Top Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón has ordered the opening of an inquiry into allegations of genocide in the Moroccan-occupied territory of Western Sahara. The Western Saharan plaintiffs are also looking for accountability for the 542 Sahrawis that Morocco made "disappear" during the war with the Sahrawi pro-independence movement Polisario Front from 1975-1991, according to the group "Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State" (ASVDH).
Conservationists have applauded the Ugandan government’s decision to drop its plan to give away a third of Mabira Forest Reserve land for sugarcane plantations. Ugandan government bowed down to pressures from wildlife activists and publicly announced conserving Mabira.
The South African government has revealed that less than 5 percent of white-owned commercial agricultural land has been redistributed since the demise of apartheid in 1994, making the target of having 30 percent redistributed by 2014 seem almost unachievable.
Thousands of the poorest residents in Cape Town, South Africa, are facing eviction from an informal settlement to make way for a government housing project. About 20,000 residents of the Joe Slovo informal settlement near Langa, a township about 15km from Cape Town along the N2, the main access road to and from the airport, are opposing their forced removal to Delft, about 20km northeast of the city, because they say it would reduce their standard of living further and make it difficult and more expensive to travel to the city for work.
Togo's Constitutional Court has confirmed that the ruling party won a majority in the 14 October election, after the main opposition party had contested the results, charging fraud. On 30 October the Court said the ruling Rally of the Togolese People party took 50 of 81 seats in the poll, seen as pivotal to the country's regaining favour with the international community after years of isolation.
MONUC, the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has called on the army to demobilise all child soldiers in its ranks and hand over any minors held by military tribunals to civilian jurisdiction. "We believe there are almost 200 minors still present in various FARDC [regular army] brigades currently deployed in North Kivu," MONUC spokesman Kemal Saiki told reporters on 31 October.
For the first time since taking up arms almost 20 years ago, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) has sent a peace delegation to Kampala. But the rebels and Ugandan government remain poles apart on the key issue of International Criminal Court (ICC) indictments against top LRA leaders.
About 10,000 children are severely malnourished and at risk of death in the Lower and Middle Shabelle regions of Somalia as food prices experienced a sharp increase and the ongoing conflict hindered access to those affected, early warning agencies said.
Hunger and HIV/AIDS are reinforcing each other in Southern Africa, "leading to a potentially tragic new level of famine", says a book published by a regional agricultural think-tank. The World Bank's annual report, released last week, also raises concerns over the pandemic's impact, pointing out that most people affected by HIV and AIDS depend on agriculture.
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, in his 27th year of rule, is ignoring approaches from former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela to step down, reports have said. The usually reliable weekly Zimbabwe Independent, quoting unnamed sources, also said that former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan had tried to meet with Mugabe to discuss his retirement, but he too had been ignored. No comment could be obtained from Mugabe's office.
On the heels of the High Level Panel’s invitation for e-submissions, the AU Monitor urged African civil society and citizens to contribute to the process of a “Peoples’ Audit of the AU”. This week, the AU Monitor brings you the perspective of Charles Mutasa, AFRODAD Executive Director and Deputy Presiding Officer of ECOSOCC, which provides critique and analysis of ECOSOCC, along with a policy brief from AfriMap that provides recommendations for open, democratic and transparent AU policies and processes as well as a call from the Peoples’ Hurricane Relief Fund for the AU to increase its outreach, support and contribution to the African Diaspora.
Furthermore, heeding the call for a written submission before the completion of the panel’s first draft of their report, a joint preliminary civil society statement was formulated and endorsed by over twenty civil society organisations and coalitions working in over thirty countries. The high-level panel extended the days on which they were to convene, according to their working agenda, in order to hear the submission which was presented by a delegation of civil society representatives: myself, Hakima Abbas of Fahamu’s AU Monitor initiative, Eyob Balcha of Afroflag Youth Vision, Faiza Mohamed of Equality Now and the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR), and Alioune Tine of Recontre Africaine pour la Défense des Droits de l’Homme (RADDHO).
During the meeting, we delivered the joint statement and provided reference documentation, including, the CSO Accra communiqué and the executive summary of the report Towards a People-Driven African Union. The floor was then given to each civil society representative to elaborate on the recommendations of the statement based on their areas of expertise. Eyob Balcha delivered a statement from a youth perspective in which he recommended the creation of an AU institutional framework through which the participation of African youth is mainstreamed in continental decision-making processes, including the inclusion of youth representatives in national delegations; the creation of a permanent continental youth body responsible for engagement with sub-regional and national youth initiatives; and the practical implementation of the agreed decisions and provisions of the African Youth Charter.
Following Eyob’s presentation, Faiza Mohamed offered recommendations and insight to the panel from a gender perspective. She recommended that the Commission be provided a mandate to monitor and report on the implementation of AU decisions by member states and that the AU consider imposing sanctions on member states that do not deliver on their commitments to ratify and domesticate the AU/OAU protocols. Also, noting that the Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD) is under-resourced and that it has been a year since the position of director of the Directorate remains vacant, she urged the review panel to investigate the effects of such a lack of leadership on programs. She also recommended that the fifty-fifty gender balance policy of the African Union be strictly and promptly implemented at the Commission and that Member States be urged to consider implementing this gender balance in its representation at the Permanent Representatives Committee and Executive Council of the African Union.
Lastly, Alioune Tine addressed the panel regarding the need for democratic participation and governance with in the African Union. He noted the difficulties civil society have had in accessing important information, in obtaining visas for participation in AU summits and other meetings and the lack of public spaces within the AU compound itself (comparing the space to the United Nations building). He sited as an example of lack of information that, despite his organisation being a member of ECOSOCC, he was unaware, until his arrival in Addis, of the continental elections taking place on Monday October 31st. He noted that an example of successful partnership between civil society and the AU was participation in the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. However, he also noted that the criteria for observer status that requires organisations to be funded with a majority of resources derived from its membership is not realistic for most African NGOs. Finally, Alioune noted that the AU must take into further consideration geographic and linguistic spread in all its meetings so as to ensure that nobody is excluded based solely on our colonial experiences.
As the floor was opened to questions from the panel, further elaboration was requested and provided on access to information via the website, which we considered largely insufficient. For example, amendments to the consultative act are not available on the AU site and the ECOSOCC website is not up to date. In addition, it was noted that the media should have stronger interface with the AU so that information is popularised at the national level not just through the Internet (to which many do not have access) but also through TV, radio and print. The panel was reminded that the legitimacy of civil society is often based on a public mandate and that while we do not equate civil society with citizenry, we believe that a strong civil society interface with the AU will enable greater implementation of decisions at the national level. In addition, the panel were made aware of the public consultations that were held in ten countries in advance of the Accra summit that informed the CSO communiqué from Accra. In terms of ECOSOCC we brought attention to the fact that the Interim President of the General Assembly was not given official space to present her report at the last summit and that such disregard by Heads of States reflects badly on the potential policy influence of the council. More detail was presented regarding SOAWR activities and organisations as an example of how successful civil society engagement can push AU treaty processes forward and drive national implementation. In regard to the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, we noted that there is a civil society coalition that has been very active in driving ratification and that complimentarity is needed vis a vis the protocol of the Court and the Commission – indeed, that it is necessary for there to be a thorough review of the complimentarity of treaties and protocols across the board. Lastly we remarked that civil society itself has taken the lead to strengthen our engagement with the AU, citing as an example that the AU Monitor was set up by a range of civil society organisations, though now led by Fahamu, to provide news, information and analysis to a broad range of organisations and citizens across Africa.
The Chairperson noted civil society’s commitment to engaging the audit process and reiterated that further documentation would be welcomed throughout the process. He also ensured us that the recommendations and ideas from civil society and citizens would be duly taken into account in the drafting processes.
This week's AU Monitor brings news and critical analysis of the African Union. An editorial from the Africa Agenda criticizes the "Grand Debate on the African Union" as failing to look at the challenges facing the formation of a united continental government or follow through with commitments. The analysis therefore concluded that " It is up to civil society groups, activists and other proponents of the Union Government of Africa to work towards the realisation of Africa's redeeming dream by putting pressure on the African Union and the Heads of state". In other AU-related news, a resolution put forth by leaders from Ghana and South Africa at the International Conference on Traditional Leaders urges the AU to establish a Forum of African Traditional Leadership as an organ of the AU.
In regional news, ECOWAS held its first business forum in Accra, Ghana, in an effort to develop strategies for improving regional business operations and greater regional integration. The intent of the forum was to devise strategic plans to develop a common market, improve investment, and address common currency issues. Further, ECOSOCC elections of civil society organizations are being held this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
In peace and security news, the AU/UN Deputy Joint Special Representative Designate updated the Peace and Security Council on preparations to deploy the AU/UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) . Further, addressing the pending Darfur peace talks in Lybia, AU Commission Chairperson Alpha Oumar Konare urged all Sudanese parties to "demonstrate the necessary spirit of compromise and extend full cooperation to the AU and the United Nations." However, the UN announced the postponement of the scheduled Darfur talks for three more weeks. It is hoped that during this time, more rebel chiefs will come to the table. In other security news, private military contractors (PMC's) pledge an attempt to improve security measures in Africa, something they claim the UN missions and state militaries have failed to accomplish. In food security news, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) is encouraging policy-makers to recognize the benefits of using biofuel to increase food security and agricultural production in Africa.
In Pan-African news, at the conclusion of the 4 th meeting of the Ministerial Bureau of the 5th Pan-African conference in Namibia, African ministers pledged to improve governance and public administration on the continent. The ministers will present the African Public Service Charter to the AU, in hopes that it will be used as a standard for all countries to evaluate efficacy and ensure alignment in public service matters. Further, Ochieng' Ogodo reports on the need for 'good laboratory practice' in African labs in order to produce quality data, develop new medical drugs and technology, and improve product development initiatives.
In economic news, a group of German NGO's has taken a public stance against economic partnership agreements (EPA's), stating that the trade negotiations mostly benefit European corporations and harm the economy of local producers. Lastly, despite his country's long-lasting colonial ties in Africa, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's announced his attempts of "normalizing" France's relationship with Africa; however, it was acknowledged that there must first be a recognized shared interest in order for France to gain support in this initiative.
To help meet costs, Pambazuka News will be charging for advertisement of jobs. A modest sliding scale of charges have been established, with provision for small African organisations to be able to advertise at low or no cost. To find out more, please contact the editor at pambazuka dot org.
Dr. Maryse Narcisse, member of Haiti's National Commission of the Fanmi Lavalas Party, has been kidnapped. Dr. Narcisse and her driver, Delano Morel, were abducted near her home in Port-au-Prince. Dr. Narcisse is a medical doctor and long-time advocate for democracy in Haiti. She has been in the forefront of efforts to provide community-based health care and education for all Haitians.
US Report on the spread of HIV/AIDS claims one Haitian immigrant in 1969 is the cause of the spread of AIDS in the US.Leslie Fleming responds on behalf of Haiti Action.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/authors/Issa_Shivji.jpg“Mo Ibrahim’s prize for a retired African president which was awarded to Joachim Chissano of Mozambique was in my view an insult to the African people.” Issa Shivji raises a number of questions around the award such as how and what is “good governance” and why is it only applied to Africa? And most importantly “for which and whose democracy they are getting a prize”.
Punishment is to deter; often to take revenge. Reward is to encourage. Rewards can also be a recognition for outstanding, usually, individual achievements. Which acts are liable to punishment and which are rewarded depends on the dominant values of society. These can differ from society to society and from time to time within same society. Issues of democracy and dictatorship, of war and peace, of governance and state administration, do not fall within the realm of a system of punishment and rewards.
Of course, victorious powers recognise their war heroes and vanquished bury their martyrs with honour. But then heroes of the victor are mercenaries for the vanquished and the martyrs of the vanquished may be terrorists for the victor. In other words, the issues of war and peace are contentious issues and can only be understood in their historical and social context. And so are the issues of democracy and dictatorship. Therefore, it is naïve, if not mischievous, to award a person – moreover with a cash prize – for bringing peace or democracy to his country.
It is even worse to cite “good governance” as an achievement for awarding an individual president of a country. What is “good governance”? Who determines what is good and bad governance? What yardsticks are applied? And why are these yardsticks applied only to Africa? Why doesn’t any one award a Norwegian prime minister for good governance or include “good governance” conditionality to lend Mr. Bush assistance or fund Martin Athissari to advise Bush on good governance? (Remember Martin Athissari, funded by the World Bank, came to Tanzania to advise President Mkapa on good governance.)
The point about these rhetorical questions should be obvious. Mo Ibrahim’s prize for a retired African president which was awarded to Joachim Chissano of Mozambique was in my view an insult to the African people. First, it is belittling African people. Dictators and undemocratic rulers exist all over the world, including the West which has arrogated to itself the right to judge others as “good man” or punish them for being dictators (Saddam Hussein).
Despots and dictators are not a monopoly of Africa. African people, like other people elsewhere, have always struggled against them. If they have attained some success in these struggles, it is their collective achievement. Their success is not due to particular qualities of any single leader. Good leaders are as much a product of our societies as are the bad ones. It is for the people to decide who is a good or a bad leader and how to award a good one and punish a bad one. I certainly cannot imagine Mozambicans (or any African people for that matter) awarding a 5-million dollar prize to Mr. Chissano. First because Chissano’s goodness itself is, I am sure, a contentious issue in Mozambique. Secondly, Mozambican people, if at all, would have awarded their leader by including him in a list of honour or putting his picture on a postal stamp. And if they had 5 million dollars to spare, they would have probably built secondary schools to produce future good leaders rather than give it away to Chissano to “live a better life” and invest in business (which is what Chissano said in a BBC interview he would use the money for.)
The worst disappointment in the prize saga has been its uncritical and unqualified celebration by scribes and even academics and intellectuals. Since this prize to a retired president was for stepping down from power or “good governance’ or bringing democracy and peace to his country, it was expected that analysts would go beyond the superficial and the obvious to a deeper understanding and explanation of issues of war and peace and democracy and dictatorships in Africa. Before we celebrate, we must understand what it is that we are celebrating. Before we applaud this prize to Chissano we must understand the history, politics and forces which underpinned war and peace in Mozambique.
The people of Africa have been involved in a long struggle against war and for peace and democracy and the struggle continues. In this struggle, they are pitted against not only their own immediate rulers but also against the erstwhile colonial and imperialist powers supporting them. Our dictators were not simply made in Kinshasa (Mobutu) or Central African Republic (Bokassa) or Entebbe (Idi Amin) but also in Washington or Paris or London and Tel Aviv. The vicious war in Mozambique was not simply waged by RENAMO but fully supported and instigated by apartheid South Africa backed by the US and western powers. Apartheid South Africa also claimed the life of the liberation leader Samora Machel and his leading comrades.
Chissano took over from Samora and under the tutelage of Washington steered the neo-liberal course. It is under this new direction that the former freedom fighters like Chissano’s family and Gebuza and others (with some honourable exceptions) began accumulating wealth and became businessmen. Chissano’s son Nyimpine, a businessman, was implicated in the murder of a journalist Carlos Cardoso who was investigating the fraudulent disappearance of 14 million dollars from the Commercial Bank of Mozambique in 1996. The story of wealth accumulation by political leaders in Mozambique is not that different from what we have been witnessing and debating in Tanzania. It is even on a larger scale. In Tanzania Mwalimu’s ghost has had greater restraining power on vultures of wealth than Samora’s in Mozambique.
As with economics, so with politics. The opening up of space after one-party authoritarianism did not just come about on a silver platter. People in Tanzania, Mozambique and the rest of Africa struggled for it. But as usual the rulers and their imperialist backers pre-empted the struggle for real democracy by imposing their own truncated version of neo-liberal democracy
So, when our leaders receive prizes for their democratic achievements we should ask ourselves for which and whose democracy they are getting a prize. Are they getting the prize for a neo-liberal democracy under which the World Bank and “development partners” (read: developed predators!) impose privatization of national assets and resources; under which their diplomats pressurize our ministers and governments to sign utterly one-sided contracts with the likes of golden sharks; under which the parliament is literally ordered to pass laws which have been drafted by their consultants like the Mining Act, under which our political leaders in a free-for-all pandemonium overnight become “wajasiria mali” and bankers and big miners? Is this the democracy for which the peasants, workers, youth, and wamachinga fought? In short, before celebrating let us ask ourselves what are we celebrating and whose music we are dancing to.
Without such critical understanding, I am afraid, we can end up celebrating and legitimizing the shaming and ridiculing of the democratic struggles and achievements of our people.
Mr. Mo Ibrahim: you have made millions of dollars from the sweat and blood of the African people. If you want to return a few million to the people, build schools, dispensaries, and water wells in the south of your own country rather than giving them to Chisasanos of this world. Do not add insult to injury by robbing (poor) Peter to pay (rich) Paul.
© Issa Shivji.
* This article was first published in THE CITIZEN (Tanzania) in Saturday Palaver and is reproduced here with the kind permission of the author.
* Issa Shivji is one of Africa’s most radical and original thinkers and has written frequently for Pambazuka News. He is the author of several books, including the seminal Concept of Human Rights in Africa (1989) and, more recently, Let the People Speak: Tanzania down the road to neoliberalism (2006).
* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org
The government of Sudan’s recent forced relocation of civilians in South Darfur is a serious violation of international law and could be the prelude to new attempts to dismantle certain civilian camps, Human Rights Watch has warned. Sudan’s government should cease the relocation operation, immediately confirm the whereabouts and well-being of those who have been moved, and allow the African Union Mission in Sudan, the United Nations Mission in Sudan, and humanitarian agencies access to all displaced persons, whether they reside in camps or other locations in Darfur.
As closer attention is paid to the lives of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa, girls are found to be clearly disadvantaged, compared with their male counterparts. In Burkina Faso 74 percent of girls aged 15-19 cannot read (INSD and ORC Macro 2004).
Pregnancy- and childbirth-related complications are the number-one killers of 15-19 year old girls worldwide. This report highlights the issue of adolescent pregnancy among married and unmarried adolescent girls (10-19 year olds), especially those living in poverty. It draws attention to current trends, as well as the social, economic, and health consequences of adolescent pregnancy not only for the girls themselves, but for their families and countries.
The International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) welcomes prominent Ugandan activist Victor Juliet Mukasa as our new Research and Policy Associate for the Horn, East, and Central Africa.
Speakers: Mandira Sharma and Arnold Tsunga
Chair: Dr Jenny Kuper
Date and time: Tuesday 6 November, 12.30-1.30pm
Venue: New Theatre, East Building, LSE (click here for a How to get to
It is one of the greatest misfortunes that can befall a woman at any point in her life - to loose her husband. No matter the length of time she spent with him in matrimony, the grief and sorrow she experiences cannot be quantified.
Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) is a non Governmental Advocacy Organization which promotes gender equality and equity principles, women’s empowerment and social transformation within Tanzania and beyond. Begun in 1993, TGNP has adopted the following strategies: participatory methodology and animation; networking coalition building and outreach, policy analysis and advocacy; action-oriented participatory research and collective action; scholarly analysis, media engagement and popular literature; and capacity building and training.
AMERA is now recruiting for a new Country Director to head up its operations in Egypt.Interviews are expected to take place in Cairo on November 26-27. Deadline for applications is November 10 2007.
The *Working Papers on Women and International features article-length manuscripts by scholars from a broad range of disciplines. It disseminates materials that are at a late stage of formulation and that contribute new understandings of women\'s economic, social, and political position amidst change. The series focuses on the relationships between gender and global transformation and publishes reports of empirical studies and projects, theoretical analyses, and policy discussions that illuminate the processes of change in the broadest sense.
The African Journal of Agricultural Research (AJAR) is currently accepting manuscripts for publication. AJAR publishes high-quality solicited and unsolicited articles, in English, in all areas of agriculture. Instruction for authors and other details are available on our website Prospective authors should send their manuscript(s) to [email][email protected]
AJAR is also seeking for qualified reviewers as members of its editorial board. Please contact me if you are interested in serving as a reviewer.
The Global Health Workforce Alliance will convene the first-ever Global Forum on Human Resources for Health from 2-7 March 2008 in Kampala, Uganda. As Africa is the worst affected by the health workforce crisis, it is a demonstration of commitment and solidarity that the first Forum will be organized in Africa.
A special Speak Africa virtual space (http://cairo.mepemepe.com/) has been set up for exchange of ideas amongst children and youth around the Cairo Plus V meeting. Like the overall Speak Africa strategy, the Speak Africa space is not branded with any agency, NGO or partner logos, and as such is an open forum for partners to contribute, share information and develop an infrastructure that will be easily extensible to other youth events, but more importantly to the SpeakAfrica platform as a whole.
The Kenya Physiological Society (KPS) and the African Association of Physiological Sciences (AAPS) invite all scientists involved in basic, clinical and biomedical research to participate in this historic congress to be held at Chiromo Campus, University of Nairobi in Kenya. The theme of the Congress is "Physiological Sciences and Development in Africa".
With support from UNESCO, a publication on media legislation in Africa has just been released, result of a research undertaken by a team of African scholars, coordinated by Professor Guy Berger, Head of the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa.
The economic partnership agreements (EPAs), proposed by the European Union (EU) to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, constitute a "neo-colonial instrument" which will destroy the economic and social basis in African states, according to some German non-governmental organisations. European opponents of EPAs say that, in general, the trade negotiations between the EU and the ACP countries have been driven predominantly by European corporate interests and those of a few privileged business elites in ACP countries.
On February 22, 2007, the Ghanaian Parliament passed the long awaited Domestic Violence Act (DV Act). Although the original bill specifically prohibited marital rape, parliament bowed to public pressure and removed the provision, leaving husbands free to rape their wives with impunity. Marital rape constitutes a violation of women's human rights. The Ghanaian parliament should act immediately to expressly make marital rape a crime, writes Nancy Kaymar Stafford in this forthcoming publication.
The Association for Women's Rights in Development is an international membership organisation that works to strengthen the voice, impact and influence of women's rights advocates, organizations and movements internationally to effectively advance the rights of women. From November 14-17, 2008, up to 1,500 women's rights leaders and activists from around the world will converge on Cape Town, South Africa at the 11th AWID International Forum to discuss the power of movements.
You are invited to join and commemorate the e-publishing of SexPolitics: Reports from the Front Lines, edited by Richard Parker, Rosalind Petchesky and Robert Sember. SexPolitics is a collection of analytic case studies from eight countries—Brazil, Egypt, India, Peru, Poland, South Africa, Turkey, and Vietnam—and two global institutions—the World Bank and the United Nations—which aim to document and interrogate the global shaping and shifting of sexuality policy and politics.
The fifth CODESRIA/SEPHIS Extended Workshop on New Theories and Methods in Social History that will be held in Dakar, Senegal, has been postponed to 3-21 March 2008.
Ashoka’s Changemakers and Nike have partnered to open a worldwide search for leading innovations that use sport to improve community, accelerate development and drive social change. Organisations are invited to submit their proposals until January 8, 2007. The Changemakers online community will vote for three winners from approximately 12 finalists who will be selected by our panel of judges. The three winners will each receive $5,000. All groups and sports enthusiasts can join the online Changemakers community to make suggestions and recommend resources that will help refine and strengthen the strategies presented by competition entrants. For more information on entering, the online review, and voting please visit the following website:http://www.changemakers.net/competition/sports
A comprehensive examination of the work of the African Union (AU), with special emphasis on its capacity to meet the challenges of building and sustaining governance institutions and security mechanisms. Samual Makinda and F. Wafula Okumu show how Africa and, in particular, the AU can effectively address the challenges of building and sustaining governance institutions and security mechanisms only if they have strategic leadership. They also analyze current debates on, and criticisms of, leadership in Africa and examines key options for overcoming the constraints that African leaders face.
North Kivu is again a crucible of conflict in Congo. Since fighting resumed between the insurgents of Laurent Nkunda and the national army in December 2006, over 370,000 civilians have been displaced in the province. Due to the failure of the latest attempt to integrate Nkunda’s troops into the army, the crisis has become much worse since May 2007. UN attempts to impose a ceasefire and appoint a special envoy to mediate have failed.
Gone are the days when Africans used to see Information and Communication Technology as a luxury, President Paul Kagame has said. “In just ten years, what was once an object of luxury and privilege, the mobile phone has become a basic necessity in urban and rural Africa,” Kagame said yesterday. He was addressing hundreds of top government and telecoms industry leaders who are attending a two-day high-level Connect Africa summit at Serena Hotel in Kigali. The meeting is attended by six African Heads of State, including Kagame.
A computer developed for poor children around the world, dubbed "the $100 laptop," has reached a milestone: Its price tag is now $200. The One Laptop per Child Foundation, founded by MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte, has started offering the lime-green-and-white machines in lots of 10,000 for $200 apiece on its Web site (http://laptopfoundation.org/participate/givemany.shtml).
Poor internet connectivity is one of the serious underlying causes of the digital divide between developing and industrialized countries, and is hampering the transition to the global information society. The recent emergence of national and regional research and education data communication networks in parts of the developing world have shown large benefits arising from collaboration amongst tertiary education institutes, says Anna Bon of Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.
The aim of this course is to explore and discuss various ways of articulating and affirming the voice as a powerful agency of social change. The registration deadline is December 15, 2007. All applicants shall receive notice of admission results by February 10, 2008.
Eighteen-year-old Beatrice Kouado is bent over her paper pattern in concentration, painstakingly guiding the yellow thread back and forth in regular, even stitches as she learns the art of tailoring. Beatrice was one of the lucky ones selected for the training programme, after her father heard it on the radio.
At a mass rally held in Makeni in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone, Amnesty International members and hundreds of other local activists called on the newly elected government of Sierra Leone to commit to ensuring justice and full reparations for the tens of thousands of Sierra Leonean women who have been the victims of sexual violence.
As crisis worsens in Somalia, where 88,000 people fled their homes in recent days adding to a total displaced population nearly ten times that amount, the top United Nations humanitarian official there today called on all parties to facilitate access by aid workers to civilians in need of assistance.
The Security Council has extended through next April the mandate of the United Nations mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which has been in the Territory since 1991 to monitor the ceasefire between Morocco and the Frente Polisario. In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council called on the parties “to continue to show political will and work in an atmosphere propitious for dialogue in order to engage in substantive negotiations.”