Pambazuka News 239: Haiti and the hidden hand of Washington
Pambazuka News 239: Haiti and the hidden hand of Washington
This Unifem handbook is aimed at those planning and executing disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR). It contains reflections and lessons learned, case studies from Liberia and Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, and practical guidance in the form of a model standard operating procedure.
Micro-finance programmes not only give women and men access to savings and credit, but reach millions of people worldwide bringing them together regularly in organised groups. Although no 'magic bullet', they are potentially a very significant contribution to gender equality and women's empowerment, as well as pro-poor development and civil society strengthening. Through their contribution to women's ability to earn an income these programmes have potential to initiate a series of 'virtuous spirals' of economic empowerment, increased well-being for women and their families and wider social and political empowerment.
‘Women Testify: A Planning Guide for Popular Tribunals and Hearings’, is a comprehensive guide to organizing hearings and tribunals and is now available as the first online publication of the Center for Women’s Global Leadership. CWGL's extensive experience in organizing hearings during its 16 year history, notably the 1993 Global Tribunal on Violations of Women's Human Rights held at the UN World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna and the Global Campaign for Women's Human Rights in 1998, provide a basis for the guide and offer a detailed outline of plans and actions to help in organizing a successful event.
For a country like Uganda, the debt relief initiative championed by rock stars, activists and politicians could have a wide-reaching impact, saving the nation tens of millions of dollars a year and helping thousands to go to school. However, in contrast to other development assistance, the unconditional nature of the debt relief plan places the onus on governments to ensure the savings genuinely assist the poor. Even some debt relief activists voice concerns about how the cash will be spent.
From 16th February until 8th March 2006, the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) is organising 'Who Makes the News? Three Weeks of Global Action on Gender and the Media. Endorsed by both the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the "Who Makes the News?" campaign aims to promote gender equality in the media by challenging the news media to take substantial and immediate action to ensure that they represent women and men in a fair and balanced way.
The Agenda Feminist Media Project seeks a full-time Project Director and a full-time Journal Editor, to become integral members of its team, which is dedicated to raising women’s voices and discussing women’s issues in Africa. The Project Director is responsible for overseeing Agenda’s operations, which includes Agenda’s quarterly journal publication, website, radio and writing programmes. Past managerial, budgetary and fundraising experience required. The Journal Editor is responsible for conceptualising, commissioning, and editing Agenda’s quarterly journal publication.
Some 2085 Internally Displaced People living in Congo Town in Monrovia told The Analyst that they have been abandoned by the government of Liberia and the international community. “There is no health facility; children are not going to school and nobody seems to care for us. We are suffering,” said the chairman of the IDPs occupying the new health ministry in Congo Town, Mr. Augustus Tarpar.
According to the Environment News Service, the relentless drought across East Africa is deepening because of global climate change as well as the continuing destruction of forests, grasslands, wetlands and other critical ecosytems the UN environment Programme (UNEP) is warning. "Drought is no stranger to the peoples of East Africa," said Klaus Toepfer, the executive director of UNEP, which has compiled a number of reports on the state of Kenya’s forests. "It is a natural climatic phenomenon".
A massive reduction in the price of antiretroviral drugs now makes it possible for South Africa to turn HIV/AIDS from a killer into a chronic, manageable disease. Over the past five years, the cost of a year’s supply of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs in South Africa has plummeted from over R95 000 to around R1 200 for the standard “first-line” package of three drugs a day – largely because generic ARV drugs are now available.
"User fees are once again a topic of hot policy debate in Africa," write the authors of this article from the British Medical Journal. "They were introduced relatively recently in many countries, but the current call is for their removal, particularly at primary care level. As analysts who have consistently argued against user fees, we broadly support this call. However, we recognise that this action cannot be introduced overnight and, if weakly implemented, may exacerbate the problems facing African health systems."
Zimbabwe's two largest infectious diseases referral hospitals are being inundated by new cases of cholera, despite government claims that the situation is under control. A team of government and municipal health workers visited both the Wilkins and Beatrice Infectious Disease Hospitals in the capital, Harare, this week in a bid to ascertain the extent of the outbreak. Patients in three wards at Beatrice hospital have had to be evacuated to make room for those suffering from cholera.
Burkina Faso health workers are out in force nationwide to distribute medicine and information in a bid to combat elephantiasis, an often debilitating disorder the health ministry says strikes about one million people in the West African country. Health Minister Alain Bedouma Yoda said in launching the campaign that the country must wipe out the disease “to shield future generations from the socio-economic impact of this scourge.”
CIVICUS seeks to commission four writers to play a leading role in the design, development and drafting of four high-quality Background Papers (one per writer) on each of the sub-themes of the CIVICUS World Assembly, to be held June 21-25, 2006. Within an overarching theme for the event of “Acting Together for a Just World”, the four sub-themes to be explored through these papers are social justice, civic justice, economic justice and political justice. The papers are intended to enhance discussions and encourage productive debate at the World Assembly. For more information, see www.civicus.org/new/media/CallforBackgroundPapers20060123.pdf.
Ivory Coast's governing party says it will rejoin the government of national unity which it left last week. The Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) pulled out of the government on Tuesday (January 17) in protest at what it saw as international interference in the country's affairs. The party's leader told the BBC the decision would be reviewed if rebels who control the north of the country failed to disarm within three months. The pull-out came during anti-United Nations protests by FPI supporters. The FPI had been angered by a recommendation by a team of international mediators that parliament be dissolved.
Cape Verde's governing party, the African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV), has won Sunday's parliamentary elections. With almost all votes counted, the PAICV had gained 52% of the vote, while the main opposition party, the Movement for Democracy, had 42%. Voter turnout was as low as 58%. The new parliament will hold office for a five-year term. The PAICV has ruled the Atlantic archipelago continuously since 2001. The PAICV first came to power under a one-party system upon independence from Portugal in 1975. The Movement for Democracy won the first multi-party elections in 1990 but the PAICV regained office in 2001.
As Sierra Leone works to overcome a decade of civil war and unrest, a former rebel spokesman was accused of treason on Monday for alleged involvement in a recent bid to overthrow the government and assassinate the vice-president. Lawyer Omrie Michael Golley, former spokesman for the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebel movement, was arrested on 12 January along with two other men in a luxury hotel in the country’s seafront capital, Freetown.
Six of Benin’s seven trade union confederations on Tuesday (January 24) began a two-day stoppage to demand that the government hand over funds needed for presidential elections next March. Schools and government offices ground to a halt and state television and radio broadcasts were cut back due to the strike call, but many businesses remained open as usual due to the refusal by the country’s biggest trade union, the CSTB, to sign on to the stoppage.
Education and Culture are high on the agenda for the African Heads of State participating in the 6th African Union Summit in Khartoum, Sudan (23-24 January). The summit will also be the occasion for UNESCO’s Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, and the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, Alpha Oumar Konaré, to sign a cooperation agreement between the two organizations.
Ever since she was a little girl, Martine had always dreamt of becoming a farmer. Yet these dreams were shattered when an unplanned pregnancy forced her to drop out of high school. Now 20, Martine is getting a second chance at learning. She is one of 120 girls participating in a pilot project for marginalized girls in rural areas of Cameroon. The project is run by UNESCO and the Rubisadt Foundation, an NGO promoting novel approaches to gender in science and technology education.
Dr Abiola Ogunsola, a senior lecturer in sociology at the University of East London (UEL), has urged Africans to tap into their bottomless reservoir of perseverance and optimism and then fashion a distinctive and dynamic way of life that will give them a pride of place in the world. "Racism is a denial of the attraction for what you discriminate against," she said, as reported by The Observer.
In the wake of a worsening orphan crisis and accusations against a headmaster who allegedly raped six primary school pupils, the United Nations Children’s Fund has repeated its call for communities to speak out against all forms of child abuse. UNICEF said it was horrified at the continued sexual abuse of children, most of them primary school pupils, and by those in trusted positions. Anecdotal evidence from local NGOs and clinics around Harare show child sexual abuse is rampant.
The government of Sudan and its Janjaweed militia allies are massing a greater number of troops in the El Geneina vicinity along the border with Chad, according to the website of Damanga, a coalition for freedom and democracy. "Despite having witnessed more than two years of internal conflict with massive civilian abuse, six different individuals communicated with Damanga during the past week and reported further violence against civilians."
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has strongly criticised 21 pharmaceutical companies for marketing and selling "single drug" malaria pills that have the potential to develop resistance against one of the most common and serious tropical diseases. "The use of single-drug artemisinin treatment - or monotherapy - hastens development of resistance by weakening but not killing the parasite," the WHO said Thursday. The problem has assumed such seriousness that WHO has decided to name names, providing a list of the pharmaceutical companies marketing and selling these malaria pills.
Nigerian militants who have kidnapped four foreign oil workers and attacked a Shell oil platform say they are preparing to carry out more raids. The rebel group says it wants more control over the Niger Delta region's enormous oil wealth, and is demanding the release of two local leaders. Negotiations between the government and the rebels are said to be continuing.
Thousands of Congolese have fled fighting in the Kivu provinces in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to western Uganda, the United Nations reported this week. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said about 7,000 of the 20,000 new refugees in Uganda arrived this week. Meanwhile, the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) said its efforts to remove Ugandan Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebels from the country’s Garamba Park had been called off.
The UN Security Council on Tuesday authorized UN and French peacekeepers to remain in divided Ivory Coast until Dec. 15 but, bowing to US opposition, took no action on a plea for reinforcements. A resolution adopted unanimously by the 15-nation council authorized the more than 10,000 international peacekeepers already in the volatile West African nation to keep enforcing a fragile peace there until at least six weeks after elections due to take place before the end of October 2006.
The Codesria Gender Series aims to invigorate the African social sciences with debates that challenge conventional wisdom, received ideologies and gender stereotypes; and to showcase the best in African gender research. In the patriarchal world-view and male dominated cultures, literature and religion were seen as value-free and neutral, and not considered from a gendered perspective. Today, research is increasingly analysing the gender fault line in literature and religion.
This collection of essays critically interrogates the internal dimensions of the identity and citizenship crises at the root of the political crises of states in West Africa, and considers the steps that have been taken thus far to address them. It show the progressive alienation of ordinary people from the state, coupled with factors of historical identity and post-colonial citizenship are at the heart of the political crisis and conflicts in the region; and argues that these matters must be addressed if West African states are to achieve democratic nationhood.
The author presents a systematic review of the role of treaties in international law and seeks to demonstrate that their importance is today somewhat overstated given the extent to which States and other organizations tend to resort to more flexible means of standard-setting in order to promote respect for human rights. As this text demonstrates, the collaboration of various governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental representatives can result in an instrument which may be broader in scope and more progressive in content.
In a rapidly developing series of events, Congolese refugees have already begun going back home from Uganda, just days after they fled fighting in the Kivu region of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Over the weekend, UNHCR staff reported that some 15,000 refugees were staying in the open at an airfield in Kisoro, 450 km (280 miles) south-west of Kampala. That group has now shrunk to about 13,000; some 5,000 say they may be willing to move to a site further inland.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office renewed its January 20 appeal for action to stem the flow of those falling prey to smugglers in their flight from Somalia and Ethiopia. The appeal followed the January 16 appearance of a boat on Yemeni shores carrying 65 people and six dead bodies, UNHCR staff in Sana’a said. Another 14 people reportedly died during the voyage – six who threw themselves into the sea because they could not bear the thirst and another eight who died on board of thirst and hunger and whose bodies were thrown overboard.
Hunger appears to be a permanent condition in Kenya. Despite the conspicuous consumption among foreigners and Kenyans in Nairobi, millions of poor Kenyans live on less than Sh80 (1 US dollar) a day. Every year millions go hungry. Why then, when hunger constantly stalks the country, does each emergency come as a surprise that necessitates an urgent appeal to donors for food aid? This analysis by the Director of the United Nations Drylands Development Centre, and the principal author of the UN Millennium Project contends that there are many misconceptions about the causes of hunger, and politicians, donors and NGOs are often woefully ignorant about its underlying root.
In Uganda, the worst Members of Parliament over the last year have been revealed in a survey commissioned by the Daily Monitor, a local daily. The survey, which covers the period from August 2004 to August 2005, measures the performance of the MPs by their contributions to bills, motions, reports and any other contributions.Army MPs were some of the worst performers in the House, contributing three members to the top-ten list of non-performers. Yet the Army lobbied extensively and successfully to keep its slots in the House when Parliament reviewed the need for special interest group MPs earlier this month.
The densely forested region around Guiglo is home to a refugee camp for 8,000 Liberians and a camp sheltering some 6,000 Burkinabe farmers, driven off their plantations in Cote d’Ivoire during three years of conflict. Nearly all aid workers were forced out of the region last week when mobs began to burn and loot UN facilities following the death of five youths when peacekeepers opened fire following an attack on a UN military compound.
A high level mediation team from the United States has arrived in Ethiopia to try and break the border dispute with neighbouring Eritrea, according to the US embassy in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Eritrea insists that Ethiopia should accept a 2002 ruling by an independent border commission that demarcated the border following a peace deal that ended a bloody two-year war between the two neighbours.
Uganda's Global Fund probe was dismayed by revelations that the country's health ministers borrowed sh7m from the Global Fund for malaria to campaign for last year's referendum on change of political systems. The chairman, Justice James Ogoola, condemned the "borrowing," calling it an act of depriving malaria patients of their aid to the benefit of a partisan political activity. The commission was hearing evidence from the project manager of the Malaria Control Programme under the health ministry.
I am an African American and I read your article with interest. I see myself as a Pan-Africanist and am very interested in seeing the relationships between Africans and African Americans progress. For purposes of further research and from the perspective of an African American, you should know that one of the chief differences between Africans and African Americans is the tendency for Africans to "soft peddle" the issue of institutionalized slavery as it was practiced in North America.
I don't know whether this stems from some sense of guilt for African complicity in the slave trade or something else unknown to me, but African Americans sense it. For instance, in your article, on two separate occasions you used the term "came, via the trans Atlantic slave trade." I believe the correct and true term is "brought, via the trans Atlantic slave trade."
Now, some may think that this concern is "nit-picking," but the "new" African Americans are coming of their own choice, motivated and desirious of being a part of the American Experience. The desendants of those Africans that were "brought" here have worked, bled and died in making this new coming easier for those arriving today.
I encourage you to continue your research in this area and hopefully I have added in a small measure to the discussion.
Uganda's opposition Forum for Democratic Change has lodged a complaint that supporters of the National Resistance Movement are tearing down their leader's posters for the presidential campaigns. They say NRM supporters tear the posters of the FDC presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye, and replace them with those of President Yoweri Museveni in the municipality.
The area CID Officer said they were investigating the matter.
This is terrible. Why would the world turn its back on such atrocities. Surely God will not let the culprits get away with it. Shame on the Egyptian government and the UNHCR for failing to take action when it was necessary.
At least 11 people in northeastern Uganda have died from suspected meningitis after a specimen taken from one patient tested positive for the disease, health officials have said. "A single positive result indicates that there is a meningitis outbreak in the area and we have sent a team to help in the control," health ministry spokesman Paul Kaggwa said.
Kisumu is on the threshold of another new beginning. Kenya's lakeside town has many things going for it lately. After celebrating its centennial a few years ago, it recently achieved another first after the United Nations declared it the world's first Millennium City. It was in 1901 that the building of the Kenya Uganda Railway was concluded at Winam Gulf aka Kavirondo Gulf, that the foundation of the town was laid.
The Ministry of Information announced that it had decided that the IRIN and Associated Press correspondent in Ethiopia should leave the country in 24 hours for tarnishing the image of the nation and repeatedly contravening journalism ethics. The Press License and Control Department together with the Ministry decided that the AP correspondent, Antony Michel, be expelled from the country for disseminating information far from the truth about Ethiopia.
The Africa Regional Sexuality Resource Centre (ARSRC) calls for applications to its annual Sexuality Leadership Development Fellowship (SLDF) Programme. The Fellowship is scheduled to take place in Lagos, Nigeria from July 10– 28, 2006. The fellowship is designed to catalyse development in the field of sexuality.
The Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA) in collaboration with International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights (INTERIGHTS) will hold a workshop on Using International Law to Litigate Sexual and Domestic Violence Cases in Kampala from 27- 29 March 2006. The workshop, which will focus on sexual and domestic violence, will consider ways in which such violence can be addressed through litigation, particularly by reference to regional and international instruments and mechanisms.
The UK secretary of state for international development, Hilary Benn, on Wednesday asked the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi for an independent investigation into the alleged human rights violations in the Oromia Regional State. Speaking after his meeting with Meles, Mr. Benn said that complaints had been raised about the current situation in the Oromia region. "I think there should be an independent investigation into the alleged human rights violations in the region," he said. Mr. Benn said Meles accepted his proposal.
“Mainstreaming ICTs: Africa Lives the Information Society" is a contribution towards efforts to bridge the “policy-practice” divide. The book is aimed at development practitioners and ICT innovators interested in inventive technology applications for social justice and development. The book contains 10 case studies reflecting on the innovative and creative ways Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been used to promote people-centred development in a number of Sub-Saharan African countries.
US based international human rights organization, Human Rights Watch, last week issued a statement entitled "Ethiopia: Hidden Crackdown in Rural Areas". The statement said that the Ethiopian government has been using intimidation, arbitrary detention and excessive force in rural Ethiopia to suppress post-election protests and all potential dissent. The organization spoke of the condition in Ethiopia after a field trip to some parts of the country.
Africa's largest Sub-Saharan Internet sub-region, Southern and Central Africa leads the way with new trends, says a new report out this week. Outside North Africa, Southern and Central Africa has some of the most developed internet country markets on the continent. As a result, a number of trends developing there are beginning to spread across the continent. These are the findings of a new report published by Balancing Act this week.
The Winter/Spring 2006 edition of Cultural Survival Voices, focusing on the impact of fair trade and indigenous peoples, will be available shortly. In addition to several fair trade theme articles, this issue of Voices will feature an extended "Know Your Rights" pull out section with vital information for indigenous peoples. Voices is available in bundles of 50, in both English and Spanish language editions. If you have access to, or contacts with, indigenous organizations anywhere in the world, and you are able to help with Voices distribution, please send an email with your name and address to: [email protected].
Ungana-Afrika, with the support of OSISA (http://www.osisa.org/), is implementing a series of free workshops in the SADC region that help networks of non-profit organisations understand and implement new models of technology support and capacity-building. In 2006 Ungana-Afrika will implement these 'Incubation of ICT Capacity Building' workshops in two different countries in Southern Africa and we are looking for pro-active local organisations to collaborate with in this regard.
In the next few days IRIN will be releasing the latest of its short documentary films. The film is titled ‘Deadly Catch: Lake Victoria’s AIDS Crisis’, and tells the story of just one of many communities in Africa still being decimated by the disease. More than 20 years after the discovery of the AIDS virus the basic message of prevention continues to fall on deaf ears in many parts of Africa.
The East Africa Customs Union integration process has been slowed down by lack of elaborate infrastructure at border points. "The situation has been compounded further by the absence of essential facilities such as physical structures and manpower that are necessary to hasten the process," said an East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) member. An EALA delegation that toured major border points of the three East Africa Community member states, said the integration had not picked up after members failed to put in place the requisite infrastructure to speed up the process.
More often than not, the distribution of socioeconomic resources and political power in Ethiopia has been perceived in favor of the Amhara ethnic group. As a result, efforts to help the minority ethnic groups were supported by the invocation of subjective cultural attributes and sometimes, the manufacture of common historical experiences. After the collapse of the military regime, the present regime's misguided and divisive strategies sought to rectify what it believed to be a historically distorted distribution of resources and power in Ethiopia. This strategy led to the division of the country into "ethnic Bantustans" and hindered any real move towards development, democracy, and conflict resolution in Ethiopia. In this new work, author Ka sahun Woldemariam argues that the Amhara were as excluded economically and politically as any other ethnic group in Ethiopia, and that the concept of Amhara domination is a myth. Working from an interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological approach, this book includes over twenty figures and tables on the regional distribution of revenue and expenditure, health and education, manufacturing industries, and parliamentary elections. It is an important resource for scholars and students of African politics and ethnic conflict analysis and resolution as well as policymakers worldwide and Ethiopians in Ethiopia and the Diaspora.
If you thought fixed lines had been ousted by mobile phones, think again. In Kenya, Flashcom, a locally owned telecommunications company, has added a sizzle to fixed-line services through wireless connection that supports value-added services offered by the cellphone. The need for cheaper, reliable and stable Internet connectivity has kept up the demand for fixed telephone lines. The success of the information technology sector hinges on the availability of a reliable telecommunication network, especially fixed lines.
A private company that provides wireless high-speed Internet access in Uganda's rural districts is raring to enter the Kenyan market. Bushnet Ltd has been offering Internet services to the country's rural areas, where it commands two-thirds of the market share, a senior manager said. "We are looking at 60 per cent reduction in the price Internet consumers are currently paying in Kenya," said Bushnet Kenya general manager. However, the company is awaiting a licence from the Communications Commission of Kenya, the industry regulator.
The zbz e-list circulates news, opinion, views and events on Zimbabwe. Write to [email protected] if you would like to subscribe.
The XVII Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African Library and Information Professionals (SCECSAL XVII) will be hosted by the Tanzania Library Association (TLA) in Dar es Salaam on 10-14 July 2006. This conference will bring together some 500 delegates from all over the world, most will be from Africa. SCECSAL's conference and exhibition is the biggest African event for professionals within the library and information sector.
The man convicted of murdering Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso is to serve 30 years in jail. A retrial in Maputo upheld the 2003 conviction of Anibal "Anibalzinho" dos Santos Junior, who planned the killing. An appeal court allowed a retrial since the first trial was conducted in absentia after he fled Mozambique. Cardoso was murdered in 2000 while investigating a $14m fraud related to bank privatisation. The case has drawn attention to corruption in Mozambique.
Also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Republic of Congo should not be confused with its much larger neighbour, the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire). Congo is the fourth-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa and produces around 250,000 barrels a day. Government income from the oil sector totalled $1 billion in 2004, 70 per cent of the state's total revenue, and was projected to rise to $1.2 billion in 2005. Congo has a population of three million and with its substantial natural resources, it has the capacity to be a wealthy country. However, those riches are not finding their way to most of its people, 70 per cent of whom live below the poverty line.
The South African government has gone to court to seize assets worth over $3m from businessman Schabir Shaik. The case began in the Durban High Court on Wednesday. Mr Shaik was not present. He is currently on bail after being convicted in July last year of having a generally corrupt relationship with ex-deputy president Jacob Zuma.
Amnesty International has expressed concerns for the safety of Bonaventure Bizumuremyi, the editor of the independent fortnightly newspaper, Umuco, who has recently been the target of intimidation, harassment and armed attack from assailants allegedly associated with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the ruling political party in Rwanda. Bonaventure Bizumuremyi was reportedly woken up at 3 am on 15 January, by four men banging on the front door of his home in the capital, Kigali. The men, armed with clubs and knives, forcibly entered and ransacked his house.
Kenya-based Africa Free Media Foundation (AFMF) formerly Network for the Defence of Independent Media in Africa (NDIMA) and US-based World Free Press Institute (WFPI) have announced the establishment of three major awards for the media in Africa. Named AFMF/WFPI Trophy for Impartial Coverage, the awards will be presented to media outlets which exhibit impartiality in covering war, conflict, election and politically motivated trials. It is becoming increasingly evident that the role played by the media in covering such events is a contributing factor in resolving or fuelling conflicts. AFMF and WFPI hope that awarding the trophies will encourage the media to offer balanced news and opinions and thereby promote democracy and peaceful co-existence.
Kenya's opposition coalition has urged the president to dissolve his cabinet following new allegations of corruption against four senior ministers. A recent report by former anti-corruption chief John Githongo was published, saying the four had tried to block corruption investigations. Two of the four, who include the vice-president and the finance minister, publicly denied the charges.
Liberia's new president, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, came to power on a huge surge of support from women voters, hopeful that a woman leader would right some of the wrongs done to them during 14 years of civil war. One of her first pledges was to do something about the scourge of rape, using new legislation that came into force the day after her inauguration. A BBC report quotes her: "We will enforce without fear of favour the laws against rape recently passed by the national transitional legislation."
The European Union plans to create a trust fund to disburse European aid to Africa without depending on the World Bank, according to the bloc's top aid official. "European aid money should be spent according to European policies," EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel told journalists. He lamented that the EU does not have the influence it should in the World Bank. The 25-nation bloc is the world's biggest aid donor, providing 56 percent of development assistance.
Chad's National Assembly has asked the government to close an offshore oil account the World Bank had ordered frozen in a dispute, and said it should consider breaking ties with the global lender "if necessary". The request, contained in a resolution passed by the Chadian parliament, signalled a hardening of Chad's position in its continuing row with the World Bank over changes made by President Idriss Deby's government to an oil revenue law. The dispute is linked to the bank's biggest investment on the continent, a $3.7 billion oil pipeline built and operated by a consortium led by US oil major Exxon Mobil Corp.
Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, has triggered a bitter conflict with the bank's senior career staff by empowering a group of close political advisers to pursue aggressively what he sees as widespread corruption surrounding bank projects. The dispute has come to a head with the recent appointment of Suzanne Rich Folsom, a counsellor to Mr Wolfowitz with close ties to the Republican party, as the new director of the Department of Institutional Integrity, the internal watchdog that investigates suspected fraud and staff misconduct.
Through the African Union, all the African heads of state resolved to promote the unity and solidarity of the African states and to co-ordinate and intensify their co-operation and efforts to achieve better life for the peoples of the continent of Africa. But the spirit and letter of the African Union (AU), United Nations and the Arab League Charter has been breached and desiccated with impunity by Morocco and most African countries in their total dehumanisation of fellow African brothers tagged illegal immigrants, according to this commentary.
"What exactly is going on at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)? Is academic freedom really under threat, as has been argued recently?" asks Jane Duncan from the Freedom of Expression Institute. She writes: "At the heart of the problems brewing at the university is a looming contradiction between the university as an organ of state and its stated objectives of being 'critically engaged with society' and '[supporting] social transformation and redress'. This contradiction has found concrete expression in conflict between an increasingly embattled eThekwini municipality and a number of radical-activist scholars located in the university's sociology department and the Centre for Civil Society (CCS)."
The Zambian media has largely ignored the drought that has left more than a million rural Zambians in need of food aid, according to report on irinnews.com. Despite President Levy Mwanawasa's declaration of a national food crisis last year, when harvests failed in parts of southern, eastern and northern Zambia, the national broadcaster, the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), has not carried any reports on the drought or the starvation it has caused.
Amnesty International today (January 20) renewed its call on the government of Swaziland to take immediate and visible steps to prevent the torture and unlawful killing of crime suspects and political opponents by the police. In a letter to the Head of State, King Mswati III, Amnesty International expressed its concern that the government's failure to act against torture is persisting, contrary to the obligations of Swaziland under international and regional human rights treaties it has ratified and contrary to the new Constitution's Bill of Rights.
Climate change is not merely a threat - it's a reality. And it's the world's poorest people who already feel its devastating effects. Changing rainfall patterns are causing crops to fail and communities to go hungry; increasingly severe floods and storms are devastating families' homes and livelihoods year after year. Poor communities who are already struggling with the burden of poverty have to cope with more and more frequent extreme weather events. Around the world, the organisation Practical Action is working together with communities, helping them adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The IRC Liberia GBV program currently implements a holistic set of services to respond to the needs of women who have experienced gender-based violence and works with all actors to minimise their vulnerability to ongoing violence. The GBV Coordinator will be responsible for providing strategic direction, leadership and technical assistance to the national program, developing new initiatives and liaising with key donors and stakeholders and transitioning the program from an emergency response program to one implemented within a community development framework.
The Frontiers in Reproductive Health Program (FRONTIERS) of the Population Council is seeking an experienced Program Officer to coordinate a research project in Northwest Province on the integration of Family Planning and Voluntary Counseling/Testing (FP/VCT) services.
The people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) voted a resounding "yes" at their Constitutional Referendum held in December 2005. The referendum was the first time in decades that Congolese went to the polls to decide on their country's future. 60% of all voters were women, and 72% of the more than 9 million women registered as voters chose to endorse their Constitution. The strength of the female vote, and the increased participation of women during the constitutional process, points to the importance of taking into account the specific needs of women during electoral and constitutional processes.
The Coalition for an Effective African Court on Human and People's Rights, an NGO based in South Africa, criticized the process of nominating judges to the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights during the ongoing African Union summit in Khartoum, Sudan. The coalition said that the nomination process lacked transparency and that several of the judicial candidates did not have adequate experience in human rights. The coalition argues that the AU commission should be responsible for nominating judges to the court, rather than the member states. The protocol for establishing the court came into effect last January and African leaders are expected to appoint judges to the court immediately, according to Paper Chase, a legal news service.
The UAB-affiliated Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) is accepting applications for our internship program, termed "HIVCorps." Now in its 3rd year, the HIVCorps program sponsors volunteers in HIV prevention, treatment, and research activities in Lusaka, Zambia. Expatriate volunteers - usually pre-medical / medical students, or recent MPH graduates - are paired with Zambian counterparts of similar training and experience and work under a UAB-CIDRZ faculty mentor. This is a one year commitment and we expect to accept 4-6 expatriate volunteers (and a similar number of Zambian volunteers) for the 2006-7 year.
This position will deepen the capacity of the Humanitarian Response Team to understand, react to, and support any humanitarian response where public health expertise is needed. The Public Health Specialist will lead Oxfam America's public health response in regions where Oxfam America has leadership or is active and will support Oxfam International emergencies where there is a need for affiliate support. This position will lead assessments and coordination of deployable and regional staff related to public health. In addition, this position will serve as the primary link between Oxfam America and public health technical resources and staff at the Harvard Humanitarian Institute and other strategic allies of Oxfam America in the public health field.
The aim of the Global Directory of Human Rights Educators is to provide a resource for individuals, communities and organisations that are looking for assistance with their activities or want to exchange information. Through the directory one can identify trainers or curriculum developers, explore potential partnerships, or share your interest in certain thematic areas. Currently almost 600 educators from over 50 countries have registered in the directory. In order to protect the privacy of those listed the directory is password protected and will only be accessible to those who have registered.
In the forests of northern Republic of Congo, the Mbendjele are a hidden people. Living entirely on forest resources, they have co-existed with their environment for thousands of years. Their impact on the forest is so minimal that from satellite images it is impossible to detect any evidence of these people's hunter-gatherer activities. But their 'hidden existence' is under threat as logging concessions are allocated and logging companies move in to claim the timber.
At least US$232 billion will be sent back home globally by around 200 million migrants to their families in 2005, three times official development aid (US$78.6 billion dollars). Moreover, migration and remittance experts argue that the unofficial transfers could be as large as formal flows. What impact is this having on poverty reduction?
Are remittance flows gender-neutral? Does it matter if the people involved in these transactions are male or female? Do remittances reshape gender relations?
In the forests of northern Republic of Congo, the Mbendjele are a hidden people. Living entirely on forest resources, they have co-existed with their environment for thousands of years. Their impact on the forest is so minimal that from satellite images it is impossible to detect any evidence of these people's hunter-gatherer activities. But their 'hidden existence' is under threat as logging concessions are allocated and logging companies move in to claim the timber.
Scientists in Africa and Eastern Europe can now seek support from a new fund to help them research major challenges, such as climate change, desertification and biodiversity loss. The British Ecological Society's (BES) 'capacity building for ecology fund', launched on Monday (16 January), will develop ecological science in the two regions by helping create national and regional associations, according to SciDev.
Romain Murenzi, Rwanda's science minister, highlights the contributions that physics can make to economic development. The importance of physics for the economic development of all countries is clear. Physics is the most basic of sciences, and its concepts and techniques underpin the progress of all other branches of science. It is also a cross-cutting discipline that has applications in many sectors of economic development, including health, agriculture, water, energy and information technology. And the application of science through technology is crucial for providing the infrastructure that all modern countries need, according to SciDev.
Ecological Internet has launched a new rainforest portal dedicated to the protection of the world's remaining tropical rainforests and the rights of their inhabitants. The new site is the latest in a long list of highly successful environmental portal offerings by Ecological Internet. The portal provides unprecedented rainforest action, news, search and analysis capabilities.
The outcome of the December 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial has been strongly criticized by civil society organizations and social movements for securing substantial concessions from developing countries while providing them with hardly anything in return. The Hong Kong text represents an empty package of commitments and development rhetoric that in fact will primarily benefit the global corporate agenda and select interests. As negotiators prepare for a follow-up Ministerial in March or April 2006, it is important to reflect on the outcome of the Hong Kong Ministerial and take stock of the concrete “measures” derived from it and their consequences for men and women in the developing world.
On the 10th Anniversary of the UN Fourth World Conference on Women and the founding of the World Trade Organization, the International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN) chose to focus on the impact of trade liberalization on women’s economic security as its contribution to the Beijing +10 review because trade liberalization is a leading force for global economic integration. Since 1995, there is evidence that economic and political forces have been responsible for measures and policies, which run counter to the commitments made by governments for implementing the Beijing Platform for Action.
Extreme drought has hit Somalia hard, leaving 1.75 million people in need of help, an agency monitoring food availability in the Horn of Africa country warned. The crisis is especially severe in southern Somalia, where up to 30% of the cattle have died from lack of food and water, according to the Food Security Analysis Unit Somalia, which works with the United Nations and various aid groups, reports Boston.com News.
Nigeria's government is planning a specific ban on same-sex marriages, with five years in jail for anyone who has a gay wedding or officiates at one. Information Minister Frank Nweke told the BBC the government was taking the "pre-emptive step" because of developments elsewhere in the world. "In most cultures in Nigeria, same-sex relationships, sodomy and the likes of that, is regarded as abominable." Homosexual sex is already illegal and in the north offenders can be stoned. Justice Minister Bayo Ojo said the law would also ban "any form of protest to press for rights or recognition" by homosexuals, the AFP news agency reports.
West Africa’s oil-rich giant is convulsed over the president’s plans to run for a third term in office. Ron Singer maps the debates among political and civil-society activists who are asking if Nigerians can escape from the legacy of “one-man democracy”. As citizens prepare to return to the polls in 2007, Nigeria’s future hangs in the balance. A current initiative to change the constitution so that President Olusegun Obasanjo could run for a third term threatens to turn the nation into another of those familiar African one-man “democracies”, such as Uganda, ruled for twenty years now by Yoweri Museveni. Alternately, the initiative could plunge Nigeria into chaos.
Hope Ogbeide paid a field visit to Minna, Niger State on 17th January 2006 and wrote a report on an interview he had with Noma Usma, Secretary Coalition of Dam-affected Communities and President, Borgu Youth Council. The claims of Noma Usman were corroborated by the Chairman of Borgu Local Government Area, which hosts the Kainji hydroelectric dam.
Mozambique has deposited its instrument of ratification of the protocol on the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa with the African Union on 30th December 2005. Mozambique is the 17th state that ratified the protocol (January 18). Burkina Faso and Guinea in West Africa will very shortly deposit their ratification instrument as their parliaments have respectively authorised it.
I just wanted to send kudos to a true child of Africa, Doctor TJ Abdul-Raheem, the General-Secretary of the Pan African Movement, Kampala (Uganda) and Co-Director of Justice Africa. He is one of the very few clear-headed thinkers of our time. I agree with him Africa will rise again.
This report investigates what role new information and communication technologies play in small enterprise development in Africa. Drawing on field research in Botswana, the project analyses the information and communication needs of these enterprises and assesses opportunities for ICT application.
This Humanitarian Action Report 2006 is UNICEF's appeal for children and women in 29 emergencies around the world. In 2005, a series of natural disasters and continuing humanitarian crises around the world have affected the lives and well-being of millions of children.
The people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) voted a resounding "yes" at their Constitutional Referendum held in December 2005. The results of the referendum, announced by the President of the Independent Electoral Commission in January this year, showed that women had turned out in significant numbers to cast their votes. 60% of all voters were women, and 72% of the more than 9 million women registered as voters chose to endorse their Constitution.
Five African leaders have asked Sudan to withdraw a bid to head the African Union that has prompted worries it could sink the Darfur peace talks and dent the group’s credibility, an AU official said on Monday. Sudan has nominated itself to chair the 53-member AU, based on a tradition that the host becomes the next head. However, Khartoum’s bid has provoked criticism from rights groups which say a Sudanese presidency would damage AU efforts to improve the continent’s record on democracy and human rights, and is opposed by several African regional blocs.
African leaders rightly rejected Sudan's bid for the African Union's presidency this year, but should not reward Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir with Africa's leadership next year as long as the human rights disaster continues in Darfur, Human Rights Watch said today. The African Union announced today that Congo-Brazzaville would assume the A.U. leadership this year, but would be followed by Sudan in 2007.
Zimbabwe has paid an extra $15 million towards its debt arrears to the IMF as the fund sends in a review team before a March deadline for the country to clear its debt.The International Monetary Fund executive board in September gave Zimbabwe a six-month reprieve to settle its arrears or risk being expelled. Zimbabwe's payments to the IMF have left observers wondering where it had secured the money, but central bank governor Gideon Gono has insisted the funds came from export earnings, inflows from expatriate Zimbabweans and locals working for foreign-owned organisations who are paid in foreign currency.