Pambazuka News 488: Africa: Youth and resistance
Pambazuka News 488: Africa: Youth and resistance
Ever since the World Commission on Dams report, there’s been some reluctance to use hydropower as a source of clean and cheap energy, writes Saliem Fakir. But as the demand for electricity surges across the continent, Fakir asks whether – in the absence of practical, clean alternatives – Africa should reconsider hydro projects to help power its development.
A recent report highlights the social backlash of international sporting events by documenting the preparation for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October. ‘The 2010 Commonwealth Games: Whose Wealth? Whose Commons?’, shows that the costs fall primarily on the local poor and marginalised, shocking numbers of whom are evicted and displaced. Despite clear indicators that a proposed host city will need to evict people to prepare for a sporting event, steps to protect the local population prior to accepting a host bid have not been taken by international organisers or national governments, reports Dana Wagner. While cities worldwide vie to host prestigious mega-events, history suggests that the resident poor will continue to pay, as thousands of South Africans and Indians have for events in 2010 alone.
Campaign groups remain concerned about the environmental impacts of Ethiopia’s Gibe 3 dam, following the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s approval of a $400 million loan towards its construction. Zhang Ke puts the hydropower project in context.
D2D (Detroit to Dakar) is an initiative that has brought together Africa-focused organisations from around the US, to coordinate activities and enhance participation at the US Social Forum in Detroit 22-26 June 2010. The goal of D2D is to promote issues related to Africa and the African diaspora, at the US Social Forum in Detroit while also making strategic links towards the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal in early 2011.The statement that came out of the meeting follows.
Although initially encouraged by a book promising to discuss the important issue of ‘how the imperialist media has double standards’ in reporting oppression, genocide and terror depending on whether it is carried out by allies or enemies of the West, Michael Karadjis finds instead that Ed Herman and David Peterson’s 'The Politics of Genocide' is a ‘betrayal of everything it means to be of the left’.
Ghana’s World Cup victory over the United States was also victory for Pan-Africanism, writes Horace Campbell. With Africans around the world rallying in support of the Black Stars and unified in their celebrations of the win, the team gave us a glimpse of a 21st century continent that is ‘united, strong and peaceful’.
Progressio, the Development Planning Unit of University College London (UCL) and Somaliland Focus (UK) congratulate the people of Somaliland and the National Electoral Commission on a peaceful expression of the popular will at the conclusion of their mission to observe Somaliland’s presidential election on 26 June 2010.
The spread of digital technologies in the Middle East and Africa has generated the view that 'new media' open up political spaces for dissent, activism and emancipation. Cambridge University's Centre of Governance and Human Rights is convening a conference entitled 'New media, alternative politics' (14-16 October 2010) that will bring together researchers, academics, activists, journalists and policy makers to discuss whether and how new media empower an alternative politics and mobilise political change. A call for papers (and presentations) is now out, and can be found at
at times i stare at black pages of night's sky
at times i stare at blank screens of my mind.
i do so wish then, within my heart of hearts,
that one day i will write three new stanzas
that will paint in ink of poetry or philosophy
the paradise-like land of our national anthem:
a poem that will consult spirits of those poets
whose work wished for justice, peace, liberty
in a kenya of their times and fellow kenyans,
a poem that will let these spirits and our own
arise and defend the land against endeavours
of a few but formidable kenyans whose politics
plays chess with our future and ethnic heritage
a poem that will be a spirit itself like Harambee
binding us all as has Annan's National Accord
into one national force, which like the words
of the three stanzas of the national anthem,
gives the heart of the land a feeling of hope.
The world worked together to help bring South Africa's apartheid system to an end, writes Kader Asmal. So why allow such a system to live on in Israel/Palestine?
As oil giant Chevron faces off against Nigerian activists and their families over the company's alleged role in the deaths of two protestors in the Niger Delta in 1998, Dana Wagner discusses the case and its significance for corporate responsibility.
Stressing the importance of the geopolitical context behind the ongoing struggle over the status of Western Sahara, Yahia H. Zoubir discusses the role of international relations in shaping the evolution of the dispute.
Campaign Manager – Demand Dignity
Amnesty International
£38,975 + excellent benefits
Closing date: 25 July 2010
Focusing on some of the key areas that keep people poor, Amnesty International’s flagship Demand Dignity campaign will help us achieve our overall goal: an end to human rights violations. By developing and implementing the strategies that underpin all Demand Dignity’s campaigning and activism work, you will help change people’s lives.
About the role
Whether it’s one of the billion people living in slums worldwide or one of the mothers who needlessly die in pregnancy and childbirth, you can help give them a voice. Exercising strategic leadership and sound judgment, you’ll lead the development and implementation of Demand Dignity’s global strategies and operational plans, making sure everything from methodologies to publications meet our high standards. As Campaign Manager you will be motivating a team as you oversee the creation and delivery of key projects, and integrate campaigning with other direct assistance and policy development work. At the same time, you’ll work closely with partner organisations, keep an eye on budgets and report on progress – all while representing Amnesty International externally.
About you
You’ll have already shown you can lead and develop campaigning at a national and international level and adopt innovative approaches. What’s more, thanks to first-hand experience of contemporary campaigning techniques for victims of human rights violations, you’ll be thoroughly familiar with the issues that surround this work, with a strong grasp of the ethical standards and principles that underpin professional work for these individuals. We’ll also be looking for the proven ability to write for a diverse range of target reader groups and to communicate organisational positions and views to external stakeholders or the media. Add a talent for co-ordinating, inspiring and developing a diverse team, and you could soon be making a difference on a grander scale, demanding dignity for all.
About us
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people standing up for human rights. Our network extends to more than two million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries around the world. Each one of us is outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world – and together we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity.
For more information and to apply, please visit
Closing date: TBC
Pambazuka News 487: Racketeering: Jamaica, Angola, EPAs and Fifa
Pambazuka News 487: Racketeering: Jamaica, Angola, EPAs and Fifa
Long before he learned to dunk on warped wooden backboards, Awet Eyob nursed a dream: to play basketball in America. He is 6-foot-8, built like an oak tree, and seems to have mastered a behind-the-back dribble and crisp passes from the corner of his eye. But one big problem stood between him and his dream: his homeland, Eritrea, an isolated, secretive nation in the Horn of Africa that is refusing to let its young people leave.
This one week course gives an introduction to Project Cycle Management emphasising project formulation. Crucial in proper project planning is a thorough analysis of objectives that the project intends to achieve. This course enables participants to employ clear, sequential planning methods such as the logical framework.
As criticisms of President Obama’s war and economic policies mount, the group that first questioned his intentions regarding the concerns of the black community is holding a national Congress to define a black agenda to serve the interests of black people.
Do you want an insight into the investment opportunities in Ghana right now? Have you been trying to locate means of finance for your enterprise in Ghana? Would speaking to a knowledgeable experienced and well connected business person from Ghana be of use to you? Then this event is where you should definitely be to get some answers!
Kenya Homeless Street Soccer Association (KHSSA) is glad to take this opportunity to invite member organizations to the grand finals of our selection tournament for Kenya national street soccer team to the Homeless World Cup 2010 in Rio, Brazil from 19th -26th of September, 2010 at the Jericho Sports Ground on the 20th June, 2010 from 10am to 2pm.
The International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI) and the Refugee Law Project have the pleasure in announcing the launch of a paper on the current situation of Rwandan refugees in Uganda entitled "A Dangerous Impasse: Rwandan Refugees in Uganda". The launch will be held on Monday 28th June 2010 at Hotel Africana starting at 3pm - 5pm.
With World Cup security stewards complaining of poor working conditions and unpaid wages, a labor dispute threatens to overshadow the action on the pitch in South Africa. SPIEGEL spoke to union head Evan Abrahamse about the workers' complaints.
Namibia’s National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) calls upon visiting Zambian President Rupiah Bwezani Banda to help establish the fate or whereabouts of several Namibian freedom fighters who had disappeared without a trace to date on Zambian soil between 1976 and 1978. The Zambian security forces, presumably acting on the instructions of then SWAPO President Sam Nujoma, rounded them up after they were accused of being “radicals” and or “rebels”.
On October 10th, 2010, thousands of people from every nation around the world will film their perspective and contribute their voice to the largest participatory media event in history. The event will result in a feature documentary and dynamic video archive. Through an open forum of diverse perspectives, our community will reveal the basic human struggles and triumphs that unite us. We anticipate that this new understanding of the shared human condition will foster a greater sense of global empathy and interconnectedness, and ultimately, action towards a more sustainable and equitable planet.
One of the most important vehicles by which CODESRIA has sought to mobilise national-level research capacities and to channel these into organised reflections has been the National Working Groups (NWGs) which it has encouraged African researchers to organise autonomously on priority themes of their choice. NWGs have been supported by the Council in over forty African countries and have resulted in some of the most interesting studies on politics, economy and society in contemporary Africa.
After seven years of devastating effects of Access to information and protection of privacy act (AIPPA), the media and the population at large have welcomed the registration of four newspapers in Zimbabwe, which are Newsday, Daily News, Daily Gazette and The Mail. The latest is News Day, the new private daily newspaper that descended on the streets of Zimbabwe on 4 June 2010.
Swaziland's death rate more than doubled in a decade, proof of the toll of AIDS, statisticians in this southern African kingdom has said. Nombulelo Dlamini of the Central Statistical Office discussed a new study comparing censuses in 1997 and 2007 in an interview on Wednesday. The study shows that in 1997, the death rate was 7.6 people in 1,000. By 2007, it was 18.03 per 1,000 people. Life expectancy over the period decreased from 60 to 43 years.
When Samuel Mwangi’s one-year-old HIV-positive son died five years ago, he thought the death of his child also meant the death of his family’s legacy. "I wept. And to the bottom of my heart, I knew that that was the end of my generation," said HIV-positive Mwangi. The baby’s death had been a big blow to Mwangi and his partner, Miriam Wanjiru, because their child had been on an ARV treatment program at a health centre. They had hoped he would survive.
Louis Michel, the Belgian former EU development commissioner and current prominent Liberal MEP has shocked his home nation and its one-time central African subjects by calling King Leopold II, the Congo's colonial master responsible for between 3 million and 10 million deaths, a "visionary hero."
This latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines Cameroon’s situation after 28 years under President Paul Biya. The ruling party is weakened by intense internal rivalries over control of resources and positioning for the post-Biya period. Having done away with the constitutional limitation on the number of presidential terms, Biya, who is at the same time feared and opposed within his own party, is deliberately maintaining uncertainty over whether he will stand again.
The UN and humanitarian partners are very concerned at the increasingly insecure environment in Darfur in which the humanitarian community serves the people of Sudan. The steady deterioration of security conditions, particularly in the past two months, is not only affecting the population but directly targets the humanitarian community.
Perhaps Africa's World Cup began in earnest on Jun. 16, when a despondent green and gold-clad crowd began leaving the Loftus Versfeld stadium even before the end of South Africa's heavy defeat to Uruguay. Migrant African fans felt the first touch of cold post-tournament reality. In their final game on Jun. 22, Bafana Bafana, as the country's national team is known, went on to shine brightly for an hour against a pathetic France, but despite taking a two-goal lead, faded at the finish to make an unwelcome mark in the record books as the first host in the World Cup's 80-year history to fail to make through to the second round.
Three days of tense deliberations by members of the Kimberley Process have failed to reach consensus on whether diamonds from Zimbabwe's Marange fields should be certified as conflict-free. Zimbabwe has already announced that it intends to resume exports of the precious stones immediately.
Participants at the Annual Conference on African Women in Politics held on the 7th – 9th June 2010, organized by the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET)have called on governments to, among other things, strengthen legal and policy frameworks in their countries by aligning them with international and regional principles and standards of democracy in particular those supporting equal participation and representation of men and women in political leadership.
The Intersessional Meeting of the Kimberley Process (KP), presided over by Israel as Chair of the KP, concluded on June 24th. On the agenda of the meeting were a number of initiatives relating to the on-going work of the KP and to the consolidation of the process such the creation of an office for administration and support and the establishment of a Working Group on Trade Facilitation. The center of attention, however, was the KP minimum standards implementation in the Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe.
Four hundred sixty-five refugees from different nationalities are detained in various police stations at Sinai. Within the framework of the EFRR’s follow up on the cases of detained refugees in Sinai police stations, a committee was formed by the foundation. The committee is made of 4 lawyers who have visited north Sinai governor.
The European Union is facing shortages of 14 critical raw materials needed for mobile phones and emerging technologies like solar panels and synthetic fuels, according to a study by the European Commission. The commission is ringing the alarm bell on raw materials as China again plans to tighten its control over its rare earth minerals by allowing just a handful of state companies to oversee the mining of the scarce elements that are vital to some of the world’s greenest technologies.
The Rift Valley Institute Great Lakes Course will now take place in Entebbe, Uganda, from 17 to 23 July. Due to security concerns surrounding the elections in Burundi, the course has been moved from the previously announced location in Bujumbura. The syllabus and dates remain unchanged. The Great Lakes course is a residential programme designed for aid workers, peace-keepers, researchers and diplomats.
In this week's roundup of emerging powers news, India’s complacency leads to Chinese takeover of huge Ethiopian rail project, Airtel Enters into Strategic Partnership with Oglivy Africa, UNCTAD’s Economic Development in Africa Report 2010 “South-South Cooperation is launched, and Chinese tuition offers solutions for Africans.
"Africa is now facing the same type of long-term food deficit problem that India faced in the early 1960s", says a paper by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), a US-based think-tank. In the early 1960s India faced a major food crisis. African countries are not spending enough on agriculture and the overall productivity of the continent has dropped since the mid-1980s, said the paper which looked at trends in public spending on agriculture in Africa.
Souréba, 3, is as light as a bird. Resting on her mother’s knee, the little girl seems indifferent to the noises and movements around her. When her mother, Habsatou, tries to give her some therapeutic food on her finger, the child turns away from the brown milky mixture. She is emaciated and has lost her appetite.
A new laboratory has been set up in the Ivorian port city of Abidjan to improve the monitoring of hazardous materials under a project backed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that aims to prevent a repeat of a notorious incident in which thousands of people were sickened by toxic waste.
In the far south of Mali, one of the country’s main agricultural areas, the Sikasso region, is rich in fertile soil. But despite the region’s capacity to feed its people, the children of Sikasso are suffering from alarmingly high rates of undernutrition.
The United Nations is prepared to support Niger to organise free and transparent elections next year, a UN delegation to the country said. Mr. Abderahamane Niang, who has just led a UN mission to Niger to evaluate its electoral needs, met with all the political stakeholders during the visit.
At least 12 people either died in landslides or drowned in rising waters following the torrential rains that fell in Abidjan, the Ivorian economic capital, Thursday, according to the National Civil Protection Office.
International business leaders, mostly heads of leading multinational firms, are meeting in Nairobi to discuss new strategies of increasing their business dealings within Africa. The meeting of some 40 senior international and regional business leaders, convened by the Economist Corporate Network's, a division of the leading Economist Magazine, opened this week. The first Africa Business Group meeting in Nairobi focused on changing market dynamics in East Africa.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has set up a high-level Millennium Development Group (MDG) Advocacy Group, comprising 17 current and former political leaders, business people and thinkers from around the world to galvanise support for achieving the goals. Ban named Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero as co-chairs of the group.
The International Press Institute (IPI) has expressed grave concern over the recent death threat against Gambian journalist, Abdoulie John, and called for an immediate and thorough investigation into the matter. "We are gravely concerned about reports of threats against Gambian journalist Ab doulie John," said IPI Press Freedom Manager Anthony Mills, adding: "particularly since journalists in Gambia operate under fear of death, harassment and physical harm.
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has reshuffled cabinet ministers, dropping four and re-assigning several others to new portfolios. The changes affected only ministers from his party, which formed a coalition government with President Robert Mugabe last year to end years of bitter wrangling.
The discovery of oil in western Uganda has prompted a land grab around the oil fields, dispossessing impoverished local communities and providing a potential trigger for conflict, members of parliament from the area have said.
The African Union has began a 90-day countdown to the International Peace Day, when all guns in the continent’s conflict hot-spots are expected to go silent. But, just for a day. The countdown began on Tuesday and is special for the political bloc given its declaration of 2010 as “the year of peace and security.”
An ethnic Hutu opposition candidate who hoped to run for president in Rwanda has been denied the right to appear on the ballot because of charges of denying the country’s genocide, party officials said today. Victoire Ingabire returned to Rwanda in January after 16 years, a return she says she made because the country needs an open discussion to promote reconciliation.
The trial of Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda and eight councillors on allegations of criminally defaming businessman Philip Chiyangwa in which five journalists will appear as witnesses, was on 22 June 2010 moved to 23 September 2010 by Harare magistrate Olivia Mariga.
Madagascar 50th Independence Day Anniversary is on June 26th and the festivities are already underway . In spite of a star-studded line-up of international entertainers, the atmosphere is not exactly festive because of the political uncertainty and the economic hardship that has resulted from the 18 month-long crisis
A journalist working for a private newspaper has been shot dead in front of his house in the Rwandan capital. Witnesses say Jean Leonard Rugambage, the acting editor of Umuvugizi newspaper, was fired on by two men who then fled in a car. The authorities had recently suspended the paper, prompting it to start publishing online instead.
The last of three ceremonies to rebury victims of Rwanda's 1994 genocide who were washed up on the shores of Lake Victoria in Uganda has taken place. Nearly 11,000 bodies thrown into rivers in Rwanda were recovered from the lake and buried by Ugandan villagers. Their bodies have now all been exhumed from different places and buried at three special memorial sites.
A court in Kenya has ruled that prisoners will be allowed to vote in a referendum on a new constitution. It is the first time that prisoners in the East Africa nation have been given the right to vote. The ruling applies only to voting in August's referendum, but correspondents say it may lead to further concessions for future elections.
The emerging economies of Brazil, India, China and Russia will enjoy an agricultural boom over the next decade as production stalls in Western Europe, a report says. Agricultural output in the Bric nations will grow three times as fast as in the major developed countries, the joint United Nations-OECD study said. Livestock and crop prices will stay above long-term averages, it added.
A court to mainly try suspected pirates has opened in the Kenyan port of Mombasa, funded by international donors. Pirates based in neighbouring Somalia have made the Gulf of Aden one of the world's most dangerous shipping lanes.
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Nigerian Bar Association Human Rights Institute and other Nigerian human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are deeply concerned by reports of a decision by the Nigerian government to resume the execution of prison inmates. The reason given by the authorities for the resumption is to ease prison congestion.
The winner of Guinea's hugely significant upcoming presidential election should urgently focus on rebuilding the rule of law and holding human rights abusers to account, Human Rights Watch has said. The first round of voting is scheduled for June 27, 2010.
In mid-July AIDS experts from around the world will gather for the 18th international AIDS conference. The focus will be on where AIDS is being defeated and where it is re-emerging. Unfortunately, Uganda will be discussed in the second category.
The Lord's Resistance Army, or LRA, has been ruthlessly attacking civilians in the Central African Republic, or CAR, since February 2008. Attacks continued unabated in the country's isolated southeastern Haut Mbomou and Mbomou prefectures, and surged during the first three months of 2010. Despite this deadly track record, LRA violence in CAR, one of the world's poorest countries, has been badly under-reported and gone largely unnoticed. T
A new International Monetary Fund (IMF) working paper entitled “Mining Taxation: an application to Mali” analyses the structure of the mining taxation system in Mali. It follows the regressive path set forth by the World Bank, consisting of attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) by lowering royalty taxes in the gold mining sector at the expense of lower government revenues collected through these royalties.
The MSMGF is pleased to announce the launch of our newest policy brief, HIV Prevention with MSM: Balancing Evidence with Rights-based Principles of Practice. This document details the current context for the development and implementation of HIV prevention efforts targeting MSM, provides an overview of available MSM-specific HIV prevention strategies, and offers a look at recent guidelines from global health institutions.
As the people of the small African nation of Burundi get set to cast their votes in Monday’s presidential election, an independent United Nations expert today warned of potential violence and human rights violations, citing a number of recent worrisome developments.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun a scheme to boost about 70,000 smallholder farmers in Ethiopia by buying the food they produce to use in the agency’s operations in the Horn of Africa country. Through the Purchase for Progress initiative, which is financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, WFP plans to buy an estimated 126,000 tons of food from local farmers over the next five years.
The Security Council has joined the chorus of United Nations condemnation of the ambush by unknown assailants in Darfur in which three soldiers serving with the African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force were killed and a fourth was seriously wounded. More than 20 gunmen opened fire without warning on the blue helmets as they were providing security to civilian engineers working near the West Darfur village of Nertiti, according to the peacekeeping mission, known as UNAMID.
Experts in renewable energy have met in Accra, Ghana to discuss how policy-makers can support the harvesting of abundant renewable energy and thus open the door for sustainable African development. The workshop organized by the World Future Council Foundation, in Hamburg, Germany, in cooperation with the Energy Commission of Ghana brought together representatives from utilities, regulators, industry and civil society from ten African countries who are determined to expand their cooperation under the umbrella of the African Renewable Energy Alliance (AREA).
A son of Congo's first democratically-elected leader, Patrice Lumumba, is to seek the prosecution for war crimes of 12 Belgian officials suspected of aiding his father's assassination in 1961. Lawyers for Francois Lumumba said on Tuesday that they planned to file the complaint at a Brussels court in October – a week before the Democratic Republic of Congo celebrates 50 years of independence from its former colonial master, Belgium.
South African police were investigating a possible conspiracy yesterday after making six arrests in connection with the attempted assassination of an exiled former Rwandan army chief of staff. Lt-General Faustin Kayumba Nyamwasa, a dissident Rwandan military commander who fled the country earlier this year, is recovering in a Johannesburg hospital after an attempt on his life that his wife has blamed on the president of Rwanda. The authorities in Kigali have denied any knowledge of a plot to kill General Nyamwasa.
The Joint Operations Command (JOC), a state security organization only accountable to Robert Mugabe, is spearheading ZANU PF’s campaign to foist the Kariba draft on the people of Zimbabwe. Since the constitutional outreach programme started on Monday SW Radio Africa has been inundated with reports of soldiers roaming towns and districts intimidating people to toe the ZANU PF line.
Public hearings for a new constitution continue to be blighted by the endless persecution of people taking part, or those known to be aligned to the MDC. There were reports that 3 MDC activists were abducted by state security agents in Chief Svosve’s area in Mashonaland East province. Eye witnesses say Rodreck Shamu, Temba Masimara and another person identified only as Makunyadze, were abducted by a group of armed men driving a white double-cab CAM truck. Worryingly for the MDC the whereabouts of the activists remains unknown. The party says the three were targeted because they had been instrumental in mobilising MDC supporters in the area to participate in the outreach meeting
South African unions representing thousands of workers at power utility Eskom said on Friday they were not planning an imminent strike over wages, allaying fears a labour action could hit the Soccer World Cup. State-owned Eskom and unions failed to resolve a wage dispute after late-night bargaining on Thursday, union officials said. The two sides were not far apart on the size of a wage increase but hit snags mainly on housing allowances, they said.
Rich countries were set to figure out how to catch up on their missed aid promises and find new ways to help the world's poorest nations at a time when their own budgets are squeezed. The Group of Eight (G8) nations meet in Huntsville, Ontario, north of Toronto, short by an estimated $18 billion on a 2005 pledge to raise their combined aid to the poorest countries by at least $50 billion.
A measles outbreak in Malawi has killed 82 people, mostly children, and infected more than 17,000 others, a senior health official said. Dr Storn Kabuluzi, director of preventive health services in the department of health, said efforts were being made to vaccinate those most at risk.
KwaZulu-Natal’s health department is using a plastic device in its mass male circumcision drive that speeds up the procedure but has significant side-effects in adult men. Doctors who spoke anonymously to Health-e, expressed concern about the department’s use of the Tara Klamp (TK), a disposable device designed to stay on the penis for around seven days until it falls off with the foreskin.
At the Gleneagles G8 Summit in 2005, the G8 countries committed themselves to providing Africa with $25 billion additional dollars by 2010. Three reports have emerged in the last short time assessing the actual achievements. According to the Muskoka Accountability report, released this week by the G8 itself, the commitment has fallen short by at least $7 billion. The report is so self-serving and opaque that it's frankly impossible to divine the exact figure, but even taking it at its best, it means that the G8 will fall short by almost 30%, says Stephen Lewis.
Leading up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, reports have come out alleging that South African authorities had made efforts to hide the homeless population to make areas seem more welcoming to tourists. Now, as the games go on, one organization is taking a stand to raise awareness about the negative impact of the World Cup on the poor and homeless.
The 1st African Broadcast and Film Conference attracted over 200 participants from across the continent, There was a real buzz in the air as many people within Africa’s broadcast industry met for the first time. This 2nd African Broadcast and Film Conference will take place over two days (28-29 July 2010) in Kenya at the Kenyatta Centre in Nairobi. Key topics include a session on Africa’s newest generation of Free-to-Air and Pay TV Challengers, a look at how broadcasters can generate local content and a look at multi-platform strategies with social networking and blogs.
Once Africa had few international connectivity options bit now it has a widening number of choices from new fibre connections (notably SEACOM and TEAMS in Q2, 2009) to cheaper satellite connectivity (03B Networks in 2010). Therefore this report has been expanded to look at the interplay between fibre and satellite prices and the speed at which the market is making transition to increased fibre use.
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Executive Secretary Tomáz Salomão on Thursday criticised the European Union (EU) for trying to “impose” a preferential free-trade agreement on countries in the region. Last year, the EU signed an interim economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland to facilitate the free movement of goods between the two regions.
UNHCR and other leading agencies in the protection of internally displaced people (IDP) have launched a new handbook that will help field workers to more effectively protect the rights of IDPs around the world. The ground-breaking "Handbook for the Protection of Internally Displaced Persons" was presented at a ceremony in Geneva organized by the Global Protection Cluster, an inter-agency working group.
Africa's continued struggle for political and economic independence in many ways mirrors the very own struggles of communities in the U.S. that are now being tabled at the 2010 U.S. Social Forum in Detroit. Africa advocates and progressive foreign policy observers were pitching that message Thursday in introducing the "From Detroit to Dakar 2010" project, even as leaders of the powerful G8/G20 nations geared up for their meeting this weekend in Toronto, Canada next door.
As South Africa hosts the 2010 World Cup what does the competition, football and sport in general have to contribute to development? As the spotlight shines on South Africa there is intense media scrutiny - and more than a little hype. At the same time development organisations globally are using the competition as an opportunity to promote their programmes and campaigns.
The ritual is familiar, as leaders of the G8 countries gather for their annual meeting, this year in Canada, and followed immediately by the parallel meeting of the expanded G20 countries. Although they take backseat to major power debate on their own responses to global economic crisis, previous commitments to the development of Africa are to be reviewed and, in part, renewed. But even the upbeat spin from the G8's own evaluation cannot conceal the fact that fulfillment of commitments has at best been "a very mixed picture."
A new study warns that trade and investment flows with the South are reinforcing a longstanding trend in which African countries export farm produce, minerals, ores, and crude oil, and import manufactured goods. It says this situation should be reversed while the South-South trend is still in its early stages. A repeat of the traditional pattern will not help African countries to reduce their traditional dependence on exports of commodities and low-value-added goods.
Potential Egyptian presidential candidate Mohamed ElBaradei led thousands of people on Friday in an anti-torture protest that analysts said was significant for joining disparate groups in a common cause. Around 4,000 people, representing varied political views, and many ordinary citizens greeted ElBaradei, 68, the former nuclear inspector, as he visited the port city of Alexandria to offer condolences to the family of Khaled Mohammed Said, an Egyptian who rights groups say was beaten to death by police.
With the theme “Maternal infant and child health and the development of Africa” the forth coming 15th Afican Union (AU) summit scheduled for 25th to 27th July in Kampala Uganda is meant to find solutions to reduce on the high maternal deaths in Africa. Uganda has been chosen as the host for the 15th African Union summit because of her effort and contribution towards the fight for peace and stability on the continent. Uganda sent troops to Somalia to contribute to the peace in that region and she a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.
Kenya has announced plans to establish a regional carbon emissions trading scheme to steer Africa's carbon market. This would hopefully position the country as the continent's carbon credit trade hub, finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta said in his budget speech to parliament earlier this month (10 June).
Ten years after the first draft of the human genome was completed Africa hopes to jump on board the genomics revolution with a partnership announced on 22 June. The US$37 million Human, Heredity and Health in Africa project (H3Africa), sponsored by the US-based National Institutes of Health and UK medical charity The Wellcome Trust, will enable African researchers to conduct genetic population-based studies into non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease over the next five years.
The first study to quantify the effects of human migration on malaria incidence on a global scale has been published — and could lead to more effective strategies for eliminating the disease, say scientists. Prompted by evidence that eliminating malaria in a single country is not possible if there is a steady influx of infected people from neighbouring countries, researchers mapped rates of migration and malaria transmission within and between global regions.
Sahrawi refugee Fetim Salam Hamdi has been portrayed as a slave in a poorly translated documentary film. But Ms Hamdi insists she is a free woman and now goes to court to stop the film's screening. The Australian documentary film "Stolen", shot in the Algeria-based refugee camps housing over 100,000 Sahrawi refugees last year, portrays the Ms Hamdi as a slave.
The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) has escaped drastic cuts despite a tough austerity budget, but in a new report the National Audit Office has told the government it should get better value for aid to overseas primary education, and take "a tougher, clearer stance" on costs and performance. Andrew Mitchell, the new development minister, said there would be a spending review.
As voters in Somaliland prepared to finally cast their ballots in a tight, oft-delayed presidential election on 26 June, there was one outcome for which almost everybody in the territory, regardless of political or clan affiliation, was rooting. Peaceful and well-conducted polls “will lead to international recognition of Somaliland”, said Mohamedrashid Sheikh Hassan, who is running for vice-president on the opposition Justice and Welfare Party (UCID) ticket.
The world's largest antiretroviral (ARV) programme may be operating in the dark most of the time, according to a long-awaited review of the HIV/AIDS national strategic plan (NSP) released by the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC). Some of the news is good. SANAC's preliminary draft shows that since the NSP's inception in 2007, reported condom use has almost doubled, treatment coverage among adults living with HIV has almost tripled, and prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services among HIV-positive pregnant women has reached 76 percent.
At least 85 journalists fled their homes in the past year because of attacks, threats and possible imprisonment, with especially high exile rates in Iran, Somalia and Ethiopia, says the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in its annual survey, released on 20 June to mark World Refugee Day. Since 2001, more than 500 journalists have fled their homes, and 454 remain in exile today. But life in exile is precarious and only the beginning of a new set of struggles.
Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services Ronnie Shikapwasha has cautioned the Media Liaison Committee (MLC) to exercise sincerity when dealing with media issues. Reacting to comments from the MLC spokesperson Amos Chanda, that government had no role in the facilitation of study tours for the media to learn how media regulation was being implemented in the region, Shikapwasha said that his statement was deliberately misunderstood.
As the World Cup gathers momentum in South Africa, so do its critics. Explo Nani-Kofi investigates the real impact of this tournament on a nation still recovering from apartheid oppression. Nani-Kofi insists that poor South Africans ‘pay a big price’ for this monumental sporting extravaganza.
The 2010 Africa Oyé festival took place in Liverpool on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 June. Alex Free reflects back on the ‘UK’s biggest Africa-based music festival’, which boasted ‘an eclectic selection of accomplished musicians from across the pan-African world’.
Following the widely contested result of the Ethiopian elections in May, Alemayehu G. Mariam urges Ethiopian intellectuals to rise and become the ‘tip of the spear of social change’ in the country. Mariam persists to contend Meles Zenawi’s right to the presidency, whilst calling on fellow intellectuals to become advocates of peaceful change and democracy in their homeland through a focus of the intellectual ‘eye’.
With the 2010 World Cup at the halfway point, the blogosphere is starting to take stock of the performance of the six teams representing the continent, and of South Africa as the host country, writes Dibussi Tande.