Millions of Africans will continue to die from malaria – an easily treatable disease – unless international donors agree to raise the substantial funds required to fight the disease. According to a new report by the Africa regional office of the World Health Organisation (WHO-Afro), a warchest of between $1.5 billion and $2.5 billion is needed every year to prevent and control malaria, which claims over one million lives annually.

New measures aimed at preventing the dumping of low quality condoms in Uganda have resulted in shortages across the country, a senior health ministry official told IRIN on Tuesday. Ugandans use between 80 and 100 million condoms annually as part of the country's anti-HIV/AIDS strategy of ABC - Abstain [from sex], be faithful [to one partner] or use a condom.

In the arena of post cold war democratisation in Africa, Ghana clearly hit the ground running. From the first election in 1992 that saw the transformation of Flight Lt Jerry Rawlings to President Jerry Rawlings, through the 1996 'stolen election', to the 2000 election, which resulted in the alternation of power from Rawlings' National Democratic Congress (NDC) Government to John Kuffuor's New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, the 2004 election promised all the elements of a consolidation election.

This was the context of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)-West Africa Civil Society Forum's observer mission to Ghana's election this week. Although ECOWAS deployed its own official observer mission, the leadership of West African civil society bodies affiliated to ECOWAS also felt we needed to undertake our own mission. It was a small team of ten led by Sierra Leone's civil society activist and politician, Zainab Bangura, and we deployed in five regions - Greater Accra, Volta, Ashanti, Eastern, and Northern regions. I was in the Greater Accra region with our Team Leader, Zainab Bangura, and coordinated the reports from our colleagues in the hinterland.

Although we were prepared for a well-run election, as Africans who have also 'monitored' elections in several African countries, we were on the lookout for inadequacies. In terms of the preparation and even-handedness of the electoral commission, we were not disappointed. The Electoral Commission arranged our accreditation promptly even though we applied late, it sent its officials to train us on the peculiarities of elections observation in Ghana, and the training covered a range of subjects from security to the voter register. Finally, the EC invited us to contact its officials immediately we notice anything unusual during the voting exercise.

In the period prior to the polls we also met with the leadership of the major political parties, NPP, NDC and CPP, and they all evinced a strong desire for a peaceful and well-run election. All espoused non-violence and all said that if they lost they would seek redress through legal means or accept defeat. It was apparent that campaigning also involved an element of voter education, for example in how to mark the ballots correctly, making the point that those with a vested interest can be the most committed teachers.

The parties were not without complaints, especially officials of the official opposition NDC, and these were extensively documented in a “Memorandum for Foreign and Domestic Observers and Monitors” which was shared with us by its officials. Their concerns ranged from the Voters Identification Card system, delays in disbursement of funds to the EC, manipulation of the media and biased coverage in favour of the ruling party, training of foreign mercenaries and importation of weapons and the alleged partisan involvement of President Obasanjo of Nigeria.

On the eve of the election, the NDC insisted on a meeting of all the political parties with the Electoral Commission to discuss lingering concerns about the “flawed process”. We attended the meeting as observers and it was interesting to see the manner the Electoral Commission responded to all the allegations made by the NDC, both in the way it conceded on some of the gaps noticed by NDC and in the manner it held its own grounds on other aspects of its preparations. I am familiar with many of these allegations as a Ghanaian resident and felt the EC did a good job of demonstrating its independence.

On Election Day, our team visited no fewer than forty polling stations in the Greater Accra region. It was only in one station that the election did not start promptly at 7.a.m because materials did not arrive there due to a vehicle breakdown. We made a point of speaking particularly to party polling agents and it was remarkable that not a single polling agent, particularly those from the opposition parties had any complaints to make to us. In a few polling booths with unusually large number of voters, there was some rowdiness, but by the time we brought this to the notice of the Deputy Chairman in Charge of Operations at the EC headquarters, the Commission promptly took action.

In all cases, police presence was hardly noticeable as they stood some distance from the polling officials, except when their attention was requested. Our colleagues in the other regions painted pretty much the same picture, except the Northern region where there were pockets of violence in the Bawku constituency. With respect to counting, this was done at each polling station immediately after voting stopped at 5.p.m. In a unique collaboration between Joy 99 FM station, the Institute of Economic Affairs and Ghana's largest mobile telephone company, Spacefon, results were relayed by phone to the news studio and broadcast, across the country.

What Ghanaians have managed to do with this election is prove that election management is no rocket science. It requires adequate and competent preparation, a high degree of transparency, a responsible government, which respects its own citizens and an alert citizenry ready to protect their vote. It does not matter who wins the election in Ghana as the results were still coming in by the time this was written, but the process that I witnessed was without exaggeration better than what transpired in the last US election. (Editors note: Subsequent to this article being written, President John Kufuor has won re-election for a second term.)

Yet in spite of all one has written, Ghana is not without post election challenges. If President Kufuor wins the election, he would be mistaken to interpret the verdict as a vote of confidence in his government's performance. Ghanaians still worry that their economy is too aid-dependent with sixty percent of the budget coming from external assistance and extreme poverty still stalking the land.

My own assessment listening to Ghana's proliferating FM stations and to ordinary people in my four years of part-residence in Ghana is that the legacies of authoritarian rule and the search for stability count more for ordinary Ghanaians than immediate economic gains. But this may not be for long. As long as many Ghanaians see the shadow of former President Rawlings lurking in the opposition NDC though, the likelihood of its victory in presidential election is remote.

The irony is that the NPP government has not necessarily performed creditably in ensuring the security and safety of ordinary Ghanaians, especially Ghanaians in the Northern region. The brazen murder of the local monarch, the Ya Na in Yendi District, a centre of traditional influence in the Northern region remains a major source of tension and there are those who see the NPP as responsible for this, given the prominence of major NPP figures like Aliu Mahama (current Vice President), Joshua Hamidu (former National Security Adviser and now High Commissioner to Nigeria) and Malik Alhassan Yakubu (former Interior Minister) in the conflict. Indeed, the only area that witnessed serious conflict during the election was the North, especially the Bawku constituency where Hawa Yakubu, prominent civil society activist and ECOWAS Parliamentarian was a candidate.

Equally, in terms of development, the property owning democracy and golden age of business that NPP promised Ghanaians is yet to materialise four years after it came into office. Generally, the economy is no better than where the NDC left it. Over the past two decades, market forces have dominated the economy and this trend has continued with the NPP government. The economy is reliant on the export of primary products thus making it vulnerable to the general shocks of the global economy including price fluctuations. Further, since the 1990s, the economy has been characterised by high rates of inflation, high interest rates, depreciation of the cedi, dwindling foreign reserves, excessive public debt overhang and stagnant economic growth, implementation of the government poverty reduction strategy notwithstanding. The real test of NPP's popularity will come in 2008 when Kuffuor's term expires, and the opposition parties have managed to re-organise themselves.

There are lessons too for other West African countries, especially the most populous of them all, Nigeria. It is arguable that elections in Ghana have resulted in enhanced legitimacy because the chain has remained unbroken since 1992. Having run the fourth election in an unbroken cycle, the Electoral Commission in Ghana is regarded as one of the best managed in the whole of Africa. Its Executive Chairman, Dr Kwadjo Afari-Gyan, and his fellow commissioners have become well-known elections gurus in the continent, earning the respect of peers across the board. Sitting in on one of the Commission's meetings with political parties, one can understand why. Dr Afari-Gyan demonstrated a mastery of his brief without being arrogant, entertained legitimate complaints from the opposition parties and left all with a clear impression that he was not in the pocket of any government or opposition party.

The challenge is therefore to organise an Electoral Commission that is truly independent of Government and wholly accountable to the people. The Ghanaians can help by sharing their experience with other West Africans, and since Dr Afari-Gyan is already the Secretary-General of the Elections Management Bodies in Africa, there is a platform to achieve this objective.

Also, given the plans by ECOWAS to establish a full Elections Unit in the ECOWAS Secretariat, that Unit has the specific challenge of assisting to enhance election management in West Africa, by providing capacity strengthening initiatives and strictly upholding the provisions of the Supplementary protocol on Democracy & Good Governance signed by all Heads of States in West Africa, but yet to be ratified by the majority of these leaders.

Another lesson that West African states should take to heart is the relevance of freedom of information and the vigilance of civil society. A major credit for the transparent conduct of the Ghanaian election goes to the several FM stations dotted around the country and the vigilance of CODEO - the local domestic observer mission of 7,000 people. Although some of the FM stations can be a bit over the top in the use of inelegant adjectives to describe the President and opposition leaders, they feed the public with regular, minute-by-minute updates on the elections, and in the process prevent potential problems. They also broadcast provisional election results as soon as counting is completed at the polling booth and follow this to the collation centres until final results are delivered. And, more importantly, they are encouraged to do so by the Electoral Commission. So, the idea that a result known to everyone at the local level suddenly produces another winner as it happens in Nigeria is immediately nipped in the bud.

Finally, what Ghana proves is the importance of distance between the Electoral Commission and the political leadership in any state and the confidence that comes from understanding and surefootedness. We need a better understanding of electoral geography in all of our countries in West Africa, a factor that may well be responsible for the fear of election among the contending parties in Cote d'Ivoire. Two, we should let the public nominate elections commissioners and subject them to public scrutiny before Parliament appoints them in our countries; three, we must fund the electoral body direct from the Consolidated Account without any interference from the ruling Government; four, the electoral body must be supported by an independent bureaucracy, not the regular civil service, and finally, we must ensure that the electoral law promotes independent candidacy and proportional representation rather than winner takes all mentality in our countries where diversity should be celebrated.

In all of these areas, Ghana is light years ahead of many West African states but that is really where the greatest hope lies. Here is a country that was a complete basket case in the early 1980s and many never thought it could recover from its abysmal state. It also defies political science theory up to a point, in that the people are still poor but they value democracy. Barely two decades later, Ghana is an example and a beacon of hope for the rest of Africa. African states' permanent transition too may yet lead to transformation and I believe that if the chain remains unbroken in many of our states, we will improve electoral legitimacy.

* Dr Kayode Fayemi is Director, Centre for Democracy & Development, in Nigeria. This article is reproduced with permission of CDD.

* Please send comments to

* Click on the link below for press statement by the West African Civil Society Forum on the Ghana elections.

“Conflict is like a fire: It can keep you warm and can cook your food, but if it gets out of control, it can burn your house down.”

One thousand people die every day in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and nearly half of these deaths are accounted for by children under five years of age, according to a report released this week by the International Rescue Committee (see Conflicts and Emergencies for more details). The IRC says these deaths add daily to the cumulative total of 3.8 million fatalities since the crisis began in August 1998 to the end of April 2004. Far from being resolved, the volatile situation in the east of the country continues to cause grave concern, with recent reports that Rwandan troops have entered the DRC to pursue rebels it says threaten its security. Pambazuka News emailed some questions about the situation in the DRC to YAV KATSHUNG JOSEPH, Executive Director of CERDH (Centre for Human Rights and democracy Studies / Centre d’Etudes et de Recherche en Droits de l’Homme et Démocratie).

PZ: News reports indicate a higher level of sabre rattling between Rwandan president Paul Kagame threatening to pursue forces hostile to Rwanda in the DRC and the DRC government sending troops to the eastern border. Reports indicate that Rwandan troops are operating in the DRC. In May, Bukavu was the focus of violent conflict, with Rwanda fingered as having provided logistical support, but strongly denying any involvement. This time Rwanda has stated in a very clear way that they will cross into the DRC to pursue forces that threaten them. What are the circumstances and the sequence of events that have led to this situation?

YKJ: Rwanda’s goals are to neutralise the rebel groups/interahamwe based in the DRC who destabilise peace; to prevent incursions from the DRC based rebel-groups; and natural resources control, etc. The DRC goals are security of the people, resources, property and state.

I noted with surprise that barely a week after the conclusion of the international conference on the Great Lakes, where leaders of the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda expressed willingness to co-operate in matters of common concern, there has been an eruption of fresh conflict. In fact, reports are that Rwanda has re-invaded the DRC.

Rwanda has twice invaded DRC in recent years - it says to attack Rwandan rebels based there. Rwanda has consistently said it is prepared to take military action because of the threat it says is posed by the group of some 8,000 men, which includes fighters who took part in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis and moderate Hutus. As usually, Rwanda justified their invasion by saying that they were pursuing interahamwe who were said to have sought refuge in the DRC.

Even after signing an agreement in Dar es salaam (Declaration on the Great Lakes) in November 2004, the Rwandan president threatened to pursue forces hostile to Rwanda in the DRC. Under the peace deal, the Hutu rebels were supposed to have been disarmed but progress has been slow. For Rwanda, the deadline of demobilizing the interahamwe have passed and the DRC and MONUC failed to do so and therefore, Rwanda would like to do it by force.
PZ: How serious is this latest round of hostilities and what are the implications for the transitional government in the DRC and peace in the Great Lakes region?

YKJ: The Congolese government said 6,000 Rwandan troops had crossed the border and attacked villages. Some 2,000 people have fled in North Kivu province. As a consequence, some 10,000 troops have been sent to expel Rwandan forces from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwandan military action is unravelling tentative moves towards peace throughout the Great Lakes region and the trust between the various elements in government has thinned because, the RCD (Congolese Rally for Democracy) is seen to deal with the Rwandans.

PZ: The Great Lakes conflict involving Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, DRC, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi is reported to have resulted in three million deaths and more than two million refugees and internally displaced people. In the east of the country instability and the flagrant violation of human rights has continued. The scale of the human suffering is almost unprecedented and yet somehow it seems that the DRC crisis has played second fiddle to other international and regional concerns, such as for example Sudan. Why do you think this is?

YKJ: The war in the DRC has resulted in one of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with over 3.4 million displaced persons scattered throughout the country. An estimated 3.5 million people have died as a result of the war. This is a figure much higher than the national population of many African countries and several times superior to the number of victims of the Rwandan, Yugoslav, Sierra Leonean and Sudan conflicts that attracted so much attention. All in all, the international response to human rights violations in the DRC was an unsatisfactory one. Even worse was the response of the African Commission. Anyone concerned with the protection of human rights should be interested in the DRC conflict which impacted so negatively on the rights of more than 50 million African people and the resolution of which constitutes a step forward in the promotion of human rights in Africa as a whole.

PZ: South Africa has played a role in the peace negotiations in the DRC but the process seems to keep on stumbling against the same obstacles. What does this say about the South African approach to establishing peace on the continent in relation not only to the DRC, but also their involvement in the Ivory Coast?

YKJ: It is true that South Africa has been instrumental in putting in place the transitional Government in the DRC and actually, facilitating negotiation in the Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). However, there is a kind of fear at some level regarding the Congolese experience. In fact, initially, people were very enthusiastic about its role in the DRC as the main engine driving the process.
Things have however changed. Firstly, there is a general feeling that it is not Congolese, or Rwandans who won the war (if the armed conflict can be considered as such), but South Africa. This is largely in economic terms. South African companies have since invested heavily in the DRC and are behind most explorations and other economic activities. Some even think that this could have been the driving force behind South Africa's fervent involvement in the process. Others are saying that South Africa simply wants to have control in Africa and it is behaving like an imperialist characterized by hegemonic ideas. To me, the South African approach to establishing peace on the continent is a good thing but the objective must be genuine and for the interest of Africa.

PZ: What action needs to be taken and structures put in place to end this latest threat to peace and secure human rights in the region?

YKJ: The Security Council urged Rwanda not to send troops into DRC but did not condemn Rwanda's action or impose sanctions on the President, as the Congolese had wanted.

Incursion of the forces of one state into another can lead to rising tensions and inter-state armed conflicts. If the conflicts are not addressed, this can affect the well-being of the population’s socio-economic development and resources might be diverted to warfare instead of human and economic development; and if the conflict is not addressed it can have an impact on inter-state trade and restrict free movement of the people.

THERAPY:

1. There is a need to Disarm, Demobilise, Repatriate and re-integrate armed groups;
2. The international community should assist with the quick implementation of the agreements signed;
3. There is a need to put into consideration/revisit the mandate of MONUC-reinforcing the capacity of MONUC within a realistic time frame to implement the Agreement;
4. Establish joint border patrols between the national armies of all countries;
5. Need to reinforce confidence-building measures and joint and regional verification mechanisms should be reinforced with continued dialogue;
With regards the internal crisis in the DRC, the transitional government brought relative peace to the country, however there still exist pockets of crisis in the eastern regions. The transitional government should be pressurized by the international community and supported to conduct elections in June 2005 as planned. Furthermore, the MONUC should assure the security in the eastern borders of the country for the disarmament of armed groups

PZ: Further comments?

YKJ: In conclusion, all states in the Great Lakes region must know that: “Conflict is like a fire: It can keep you warm and can cook your food, but if it gets out of control, it can burn your house down.”

* Please send comments to [email protected]

A $42.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to the Institute for OneWorld Health, the first nonprofit pharmaceutical company in the United States, will create a powerful new approach to developing a more affordable, accessible cure for malaria, which kills more than a million children each year. OneWorld Health will work in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, and Amyris Biotechnologies. UC Berkeley will conduct research to perfect a microbial factory for the compound artemisinin, currently the most effective treatment for malaria, and Amyris, a new biotech company founded on the breakthroughs in synthetic biology pioneered at UC Berkeley, will develop the process for industrial fermentation and commercialization.

Delegates at the African Social Forum in Lusaka agreed that Africa should host the next World Social Forum. However, delegates who were drawn from over 50 African countries were divided over which country should host the forum. Morocco had earlier offered to host the World Social Forum but most of the delegates were opposed to the idea of staging the conference in the North African country.

The Africa Social forum conducted an African Court of Women’s lives and livelihoods, which offered through testimony, expert analysis, poetic visuals, dance and drum, the situation of women in this violent globalised world. Rabia Abedelkrim from FAMES/ENDA, Senegal explained that the role of the judiciary was not to mimic the courts but to articulate new concepts in dispensing justice. “Testifiers were going to speak with their bodies,” she said.

* Editorial: 2004 marks the 120th anniversary of the Berlin conference that tore up Africa into balkanised zones for the benefit of imperial exploitation - Rotimi Sankore highlights the consequences on Africa
* Comment and Analysis: Conflict is like a fire: It can keep you warm and can cook your food, but if it gets out of control, it can burn your house down, warns Yav Katshung Joseph in relation to the DRC
- Many thought Ghana would never recover from 1980s turmoil, but recent elections show there is hope for the rest of West Africa, writes Kayode Fayemi
- Separating the good guys from the bad guys in Côte d'Ivoire might not be as easy as the international community would like, says Véronique Tadjo
* Letters: Readers share their thoughts on food security, FGM and the future of Africa
* Conflict and Emergencies: As conflict flares in the east, a new report says the death toll in the DRC is approaching four million
* Refugees and Forced Migration: Child Protection in the context of displacement in Uganda
* Elections and Governance: Zimbabwean human rights groups respond to the passing of the NGO bill
* Development: The African Social Forum in Zambia demands full debt cancellation
* Environment: Rich countries spend billions subsidising industries that cause climate change, but a fraction of this amount goes to those in developing countries who suffer the most from pollution, states a new report
* Books and Art: Pambazuka News reviews Blind Moon by Chenjerai Hove

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Sign up for women's rights: http://www.pambazuka.org/petition

Stay awake: Get Pambazuka News alerts: http://www.pambazuka.org/petition/alerts.php

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dear Reader,

Although we will be sending out a short message next week, this will be our last full edition for 2004. The weekly Pambazuka Newsletter will be released once again on 06 January 2005. May everyone go in peace during the break!

The Editors

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Two opposition parties challenging the veracity of Namibia's national and presidential polls were on Thursday granted a High Court order to peruse official election documentation in order to substantiate their case. The court ordered the Electoral Commission to make available to the Congress of Democrats (CoD) and the Republican Party (RP) election reports of returning officers for each of the 1,168 polling stations and all of the 107 constituencies.

TrustAfrica is seeking a consultant to help elaborate a strategy for collaboration between TrustAfrica and the African Diaspora. TrustAfrica is being established as an African grantmaking foundation supporting African solutions to the continent's most pressing challenges, including peace and conflict, regional integration, and citizenship and identity. TrustAfrica has been housed in the Ford Foundation since 2001 and will become independent and move to Africa in late 2005 or 2006. The Ford Foundation and other donors will provide initial funding for TrustAfrica's operations and its endowment. TrustAfrica will also raise additional funds from African sources to ensure it is self-sustaining, one of many actions TrustAfrica will undertake to ensure African ownership of its mandate.

Pambazuka remains the only African centred on-line resource for reseachers, development workers, proactive government workers and the civil society in Africa. Through its service, it has been able to bring about an African wide connected assertiveness among relevant stakeholders on critical issues confronting the continent. It is for Africans, by Africans and for the friends of Africans across the world.

The resettlement of four million internally displaced peoples (IDPs) and refugees into southern Sudan faces a bleak future as disagreements over land emerge days to eventual peace signing. Now organisations working in the region are urging resolution and the immediate address of serious lack of social amenities to lure potential returnees back home.

The upcoming third edition of the African Social Forum (ASF), from 10-14 December in Lusaka, Zambia, faces as one of its challenges the broadening of the forum to make it more popular than it has been up until now by enabling movements which do not appear on the African or international scene to express their voices and concerns.

"A popular Forum in 2004 would constitute an important condition for the successful organisation of the World Social Forum in Africa in 2007. This third edition would make it possible to examine the stakes of such a perspective and bring out together the visions and objectives that could be pursued for 2007," says a briefing document on the upcoming Lusaka meeting on the ASF website.

The ASF has taken place annually, since Bamako in 2002, as a prelude to the annual World Social Forum.

At the first forum in Bamako in 2002, over two hundred social movements, organizations and individuals from forty five African countries established the 'Bamako Consensus', that endorsed the Charter of the World Social Forum to build a different world.

Under the theme "Another Africa is Possible", participants undertook analyses, shared experiences and heard testimonies on wide-ranging economic, social, political and cultural matters affecting the African peoples. The ASF identified a number of recommendations and proposals for activists and networks to include in their work, and a steering committee was put in place to move the process forward.

At the second ASF meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a final statement was issued detailing how past and present economic policies implemented by African governments had failed to improve the lives of ordinary Africans. The Forum concluded that only a dynamic civil society organised in strong and active social movements "can and must challenge the neo-liberal political economy of globalization". The consensus was for the need to build a new African state and society, where public institutions and policies would guarantee cultural, economic, political and social rights for all citizens.

Following the Bamako and Addis Ababa Forums, a process of consultations have taken place around Africa to find a way of effectively exposing the current social, political and economic injustices for better government and state action. These have resulted in various regional forums designed to create a platform for interest groups of civil society to discuss issues together relating to social, political and economic justice.

The ASF has in the past faced criticism that it is dominated by wealthier NGOs at the expense of less well resourced social movements, whose members face constraints in terms of their ability to travel to and participate in such events. But the counter argument has also been made that activists need to get involved before they express disappointment at the outcomes of the meetings.

The ASF briefing document issued ahead of the upcoming Lusaka meeting explains that as a space for "discussion, reflection, mutual consolidation and democratic debate", it is important for Africa that the Forum continues to be the instrument of the growth of African social movements and of "vigilance in relation to the policies conceived and implemented on the continent".

The document also notes that the world has experienced major upheavals in the last two years, linked to American policy with regards the 'war on terror' and the war in Iraq.

"The effects of these upheavals on the African peoples are not negligible and aggravate the effects of the liberal policies implemented on the entire planet over the last twenty years. Already the aggravation of several conflicts, the growing presence of foreign military forces and the increased grip on the petroleum and mineral resources of the continent are perceptible."

As a result, the document notes that it is necessary to review the situation and that the Forum "must allow a better understanding of the new stakes and the outlining of alternatives and resistance strategies which the African social movement will try to promote for the benefit of the peoples of the continent."

Other priority areas and themes for discussion at the forum include the question of sovereignty in relation to external influences, the future of peasant farming in light of WTO and regional trade agreements and the question of Pan-Africanism.

For the first time at the ASF meeting in Zambia, a youth camp will be established where participants will be charged with developing an African youth council, an African youth communication line and a follow-up to the resolutions to the ASF council. The youth camp is intended to develop a youth movement within the ASF.

* Compiled by Patrick Burnett, Fahamu. For more detailed information, please visit http://www.africansocialforum.org/english/fsa2004.htm

THIRD WORLD NETWORK WEB SPECIAL ON ASF

Third World Network-Africa, the Accra-based advocacy organisation, will have a dedicated page on its website www.twnafrica.org to report the forthcoming African Social Forum (ASF) which starts in Lusaka, Zambia on December 10, 2004. The four-day event will bring together hundreds of activists and organisations campaigning on human rights, gender, race, the environment, trade, and many other issues. The website will present regular news and features from the African Social Forum, and will also welcome contributions and reactions. For more information, please contact Emmanuel.k.Bensah at [email protected]

* Background reading from Pambazuka News on the African Social Forum

- Living the alternative: Background to the World Social Forum and the African Social Forum
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?issue=139
- Another Africa is possible
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=12669
- ASF condemns US aggression
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=12705
- The African Social Forum
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=11315
- Putting the ASF in order
http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=19930
- In search of deeper dialogue beyond Addis and Bamako http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=19929

The six suspended provincial chairpersons of Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF party were not only bent on sabotaging the imposition of a woman as co-vice-president. They wanted, for the first time ever, to have President Robert Mugabe's own position contested at the party congress. The fourth five-yearly congress of Zimbabwe's ruling party, Zanu PF, was thrown into turmoil with the suspension of six provincial chairpersons and strong censure of Information Minister Jonathan Moyo.

Think you have it bad at the gas pump? All over the world, people feel the squeeze from the cut-throat practices of the oil industry. From the Exxon Valdez oil spill to the death of Ken Saro Wiwa who was executed for protesting Shell's oil drilling of the Niger Delta, the oil industry has been behind some of the most devastating environmental disasters and human rights abuses in recent history. That's why Corporate Accountability International is campaigning around the world to challenge two of the most egregious oil companies in the world, ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco. Visit the website of Stop Corporate Abuse for more information.

Women's organizations are dealing with so many priority issues, it's hard to see information and communication technologies (ICT) as anything more than a tool to facilitate their work. For this reason 16 members of the APC Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) came together in early November in Cape Town, South Africa, to map out key gender and ICT issues for the APC WNSP's upcoming Gender and ICT Policy website.

Death and pain are frequently recurring themes in this highly personal book by Noerine Kaleeba, the founding director of The AIDS Support Organisation (TASO) in Uganda. Yet this is by no means a depressing book. On the contrary, it is engaging, surprising, challenging and absolutely inspirational.

The first edition of WE MISS YOU ALL was published in 1991. Noerine Kaleeba's experience of AIDS had begun five years earlier: "AIDS came to my house," she wrote, "on the afternoon of the 6th June 1986, when the British Council sent me a telex to tell me that my husband Chris was seriously ill in a hospital in England." Chris had been undertaking postgraduate studies in Hull, where Noerine was able to visit him in hospital. She was shocked by how AIDS had enfeebled and emaciated her once-handsome husband. Chris was able to return to Uganda, but a few months later he died in hospital, in severe pain, shunned and neglected by the nursing and medical staff.

After Chris's death, Noerine withdrew to her mother-in-law to grieve. Three weeks later she returned to Kampala and began meeting with a group of 16 friends who were either living with or directly affected by AIDS. These meetings led to the formation of TASO, which aimed to provide medical, practical and psychosocial support to people living with HIV/AIDS. TASO quickly established itself as an effective organisation, mobilising hundreds of volunteer counsellors and other service providers.

But TASO also went further, by pioneering an approach known as 'positive living', which enabled HIV-positive people to retain (or regain) their dignity, to improve the quality of their lives, to overcome HIV-related stigma and discrimination, to plan for the future, and even to prolong their lives. This approach - since adopted by HIV support and service organisations in many parts of the world - was a huge break-through at the time.

Under Noerine Kaleeba's leadership, TASO rapidly developed its services and expanded its outreach, achieving an international reputation for the clarity of its vision and the quality of its innovative work. But suffering and death were never far away. Of TASO's original 16 founding members, for example, 12 died of AIDS within the organisation's first year.

Leading TASO through its early years of growth and development took their toll on Noerine. In April 1995, feeling "totally burned out", she retired as Director of TASO. In the following year she joined the newly established United Nations Joint Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS), based in Geneva. She still works for UNAIDS, as the organisation's specialist in community mobilisation. In this new edition of her book, she describes - with typical, self-deprecating humour - how she has coped with the move:

"My training is in physiotherapy; my experience is in counselling and caring; my heart is in supporting people who are sick. Fighting for budgets and attending meetings and writing reports are not activities in which I excel (ask the long-suffering UNAIDS administrative staff who have to clean up after me!)."

Yet she has been a highly effective and respected spokesperson for UNAIDS at scores of international meetings throughout the world. Moreover, she is still firmly convinced of the supreme importance of the organisation's work:

"I continue to work with UNAIDS because I see it as the only hope, the only way to focus advocacy in order to provide the much needed influence."

Much has changed on the international HIV/AIDS scene since the first edition of WE MISS YOU ALL was published, over a decade ago. The most obvious change is the availability of effective antiretroviral drugs (which TASO is helping to make more accessible in Uganda). Equally important, however, is the fact that people living with HIV are increasingly viewed as important partners rather than simply as victims of the HIV pandemic. This is due, in large part, to the emergence of literally thousands of HIV/AIDS support and service organisations - many inspired by TASO - throughout the world. As a result of these and many other changes, HIV/AIDS is increasingly recognised as a preventable, manageable health condition, rather than as an inevitable fate or as a certain death sentence.

Noerine Kaleeba's book reminds us, however, of the human cost of the HIV pandemic. Uganda is regarded as one of the few 'success stories' on the international HIV/AIDS scene, having reduced HIV prevalence by two-thirds since the early 1990s. Noerine Kaleeba pays tribute to her country's achievements, but also adds:

"I have to put quotation marks around the word 'success' every time I use it, because although the statistics are impressive, it certainly doesn't feel like a success to me or to anyone I know. Too many are still dying and suffering."

In fact HIV/AIDS has continued to ravage Noerine Kaleeba's own family. Since the first edition of WE MISS YOU ALL was published in 1991, 12 of her close family members have died of AIDS. She is now responsible for looking after 14 orphans, in addition to her own four children. Most families in Uganda and many other African countries have similar stories to tell.

Unusually for an international civil servant, Noerine Kaleeba is not ashamed of personalising the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Speaking to the dignitaries gathered at the World Health Assembly in 2001, for example, she described how her own family has suffered from the exorbitantly high prices of antiretroviral drugs:

"I have four siblings who are HIV-positive, and although we had previously agreed with our family that we could not afford ARVs for any of them, the issue is being revisited now - thus placing enormous pressure on me, as I am the key breadwinner of the family!"

Yet Noerine Kaleeba's basic conviction is still one of hope, based on her faith in God, in her children, and in the friends who have supported her for nearly two decades:

"My message to all people in the world remains one of hope. Hope for a future world without HIV and AIDS. This hope will come out of a realisation that the whole population - the infected, the affected and the uninfected - need to join the fight against HIV and AIDS. ... To everyone living with HIV infection or disease the message is of hope, and the courage to fight until a cure is found. We triumph over the virus when we do not allow it to spread!"

Reviewed by Glen Williams (Series Editor, Strategies for Hope)

* WE MISS YOU ALL (second edition), by Noerine Kaleeba with Sunanda Ray. xii + 124 pp; ISBN 0 7974 2525X; published by SAfAIDS, Harare, 2002. Available from SAfAIDS: [email][email protected] Telephone: +263 4 336193/4.

A new weekly service is now available to provide you with expert medical knowledge about a variety of public health issues to help you design more effective communication programs. HealthWise is a joint product of the Health Communication Partnership (HCP) and the INFO (Information and Knowledge for Optimal Health) Project, both based at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Center for Communication Programs (CCP) and supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). HealthWise will research and summarize answers to your questions about public health problems in reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, maternal health, child survival and tuberculosis, malaria.

The Zimbabwe government's draft law to regulate nongovernmental organizations threatens the existence of civil society groups in the country, Human Rights Watch says in a new briefing paper. Scheduled for a vote in parliament next week, the bill substantially restricts freedom of association and thus falls far short of the Southern African Development Community's principles to protect human rights during elections. "A vibrant civil society is crucial for a functioning democracy," said Georgette Gagnon, deputy director at Human Rights Watch's Africa Division. "With elections coming up in March, Zimbabwe needs to allow sufficient space for civil society groups, not pass a law that would stifle them."

"New technologies in the information and communications arena, especially the Internet, have been seen as ushering in a new age. There is a mainstream view that such technologies have only technical rather than social implications. The dramatic positive changes brought in by these information and communication technologies (ICTs), however, have not touched all of humanity. Existing power relations in society determine the enjoyment of benefits from ICTs; hence these technologies are not gender neutral. The important questions are: who benefits from ICTs? Who is dictating the course of ICTs? Is it possible to harness ICTs to serve larger goals of equality and justice? Central to these is the issue of gender and women’s equal right to access, use and shape ICTs." - From the introduction of an overview report on Gender and ICTs by Bridges.org.

Rwandan troops have invaded the Democratic Republic of Congo twice in the last decade. Press reports indicate that Rwanda troops have again crossed into Congo. Violence and instability in Congo have claimed the lives of three million people in the last five years and the dispatch of United Nations peacekeepers to eastern Congo has not brought stability to the region. Veteran Rwanda expert Alison Des Forges, a senior advisor to Human Rights Watch's Africa division and recipient of a 1999 MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant, discusses current events in Rwanda and the Congo in a Q-and-A available on the website of Human Rights Watch. For further background on the situation in the Great Lakes, read the article 'Great Lakes: Yet another powderkeg?' available at: http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/6822.html and 'African Union may help disarm militias', available at http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=44573

Angry residents of a southern Nigerian village where a Royal Dutch/Shell oil pipeline burst, have set the spilled crude on fire, preventing repair teams from reaching the site, the company said. Shell said it first noticed leaks in its 18-inch diameter pipeline at Egbeda village in Rivers State last weekend. The pipeline is part of a key network that transports crude oil from the inland oilfields of the Niger Delta to the terminals on the coast for export.

More heads are expected to roll as Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika pushes ahead with his campaign to rid the country of high-level corruption, analysts said on Friday. Last Thursday the mayor of the commercial capital, Blantyre, was arrested in connection with the disappearance of Kwacha 400,000 (US $3,782) from the city's coffers. John Chikakwiya is said to have solicited the money from the Grain and Milling Company for the rehabilitation of roads, but the funds cannot be accounted for.

A new report by the South African Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA) has highlighted the challenges and constraints facing education in Africa. According to the Johannesburg-based think tank, more than 40 million children of primary school age in sub-Saharan Africa are not receiving an education, (this amounts to almost half the children on the continent who should be in primary school). Enrolment in secondary school in 22 countries is below 20 percent, and less than 10 percent of the workforce has completed secondary school.

While the US government is stepping up pressure on states to sign bilateral agreements guaranteeing American citizens freedom from prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC), the conflict that divides the US from most of its Western partners has found a new forum for debate, according to a report by the International Justice Tribune, available in full on their website. While renewing the UN mandate in Burundi, the Security Council also acknowledged a UN report on the Gatumba massacre in which at least 152 Congolese Banyamulenge refugees were murdered in their transit camp at Gatumba, Burundi on August 13. In its resolution of 1 December, the Security Council "reiterated its strong condemnation of the Gatumba massacre". The US ambassador made it clear that he "supports the resolution based on the understanding that it in no way directs, encourages, or authorizes [the UN mission] to cooperate with or support the ICC".

Population Sservices International/Mali and the country's premier cell phone company, Ikatel S.A., have launched a one-year health communication campaign, "La Santé au bout du fil" (Health On Line) that will combat HIV/AIDS, an emerging threat, and malaria, the number one cause of mortality. The campaign, one of the first NGO-private sector partnerships in the country, makes use of cellular technology to improve health in this poor, vast country of 13.4 million that extends from the savanna in the south to the Sahara Desert in the north.

Reporters sans frontières has urged the Algerian justice system to put an end to its harassment of "Le Matin" editor Mohammed Benchicou, who is already serving a two-year sentence and could now be convicted in two or possibly three separate libel cases on 7 December 2004. "With close to 50 cases [pending], with one trial after another, one lawsuit after another, hearings adjourned by judges and incomprehensible legal manoeuvres, Benchicou's legal ordeal is on a par with the absurdities and nightmarish procedures of the bureaucratic and partisan judicial system described in Franz Kafka's 'The Trial'," RSF said. (French version available through the link below)

In a 2 December 2004 letter to President Robert Mugabe, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed its outage over the government's continued clampdown on independent media in Zimbabwe, including proposed new legislation that could be used to jail journalists for up to 20 years. At a time when several other African countries are lifting criminal sanctions for press offences, bringing their laws in line with international standards, Zimbabwe's government is preparing to introduce penalties that are among the harshest on the continent. In the letter, CPJ said that this will only further impede Zimbabwe's media, which already face other restrictive laws.

"Increasingly, African NGOs are networking with the aim to achieve common goals. As Mark Surman and Katherine Reilly argue in "Appropriating Internet for Change", the broad majority of civil society organizations are struggling with the issue of how to increase the impact of campaigns, projects and programs using networked technologies. This also applies to African networks, which are involved in transnational advocacy. This paper relates to African organizations and networks, which work together on issues beyond their national borders. We focus here on online collaboration between national organizations, which form a network to advocate at the regional and international level."

The Southern Africa Institute of Fundraising (SAIF) is holding its 7th Biennial Convention on 18, 19 and 20 May 2005 in Cape Town, South Africa. The theme is 'Dare to be Different' and the objective of Convention 2005 is to help build the capacity of Africa's professional fundraisers. To this end, a number of dynamic and acclaimed overseas and South African speakers will be making cutting edge presentations. The keynote speaker is South African Geoff Hilton-Barber. Click on the URL provided for more information.

What's new in Source is a Free bi-monthly bulletin from the Source International Information Support Centre, www.asksource.info. It contains details of over 100 books, reports, articles, CD-ROMs and online resources recently added to the Source online database, covering the practice, management and communication of international health and disability.

The United Nation's 2004 World Economic and Social Survey calls for better management and cooperation among nations to address global migration. It says 175 million people around the world are living away from their home countries, and an orderly and controlled population movement across borders could prove to be beneficial for both the sending as well as the receiving nations.

Efforts by Nigerian professionals in the diaspora to spearhead a new development initiative for the country received a big boost penultimate Saturday with the establishment of the James Ibori Center for Policy Studies in Madison, USA. The Center, established in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin outreach programme, seeks to halt the downward slide of the nation's economy and reverse the trend of bad governance in Nigeria and indeed, Africa.

Friends of Tafo is a UK registered charity that aims to empower as well as help the people of Kwahu-Tafo, an impoverished rural town in Ghana, via responsible giving that generates a capacity for self-development in education, health, employment and infrastructure. Robert Taylor (photographer and FOT trustee) has recently published a book 'Impressions of Tafo' including photo portraits and interviews with Tafo's community. "This is a wonderful insight into a small but vibrant community in Ghana...I learnt so much from this beautifully presented book."  Jon Snow, Channel 4 News.

An ambitious project to clear deadly land mines from a wildlife sanctuary in southern Africa is being launched in a bid to give thousands of elephants and local villagers new hope. The announcement was made during the Nairobi Summit for a Mine-Free World taking place at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The $1 million project initially aims to clear mines, sown during the Angolan civil war, to help restore an ancient elephant migration route linking Botswana with Zambia and Angola.

The decision by Tunisian authorities to protect 15 wetland sites has been welcomed by environmentalist groups. The wetlands to be protected total over 750,000 hectares and vary in landscape. These landscapes include salt lakes, swamps, peat bogs, dunes, karstic caves, oases, and lagoons, and are home to some 85 aquatic plant species.

Delighted to read Everjoice Win's article on World Aids Day. Such fresh and frank commentary needs to be printed as a flyer and distributed around liberally. Well done Everjoice!

Thank you for the information regarding Dennis Brutus. Whether we agreed with him or not, the fact remains that Dennis is a giant who paved the way for the great strides made in the fight against apartheid sports. The fruits that we are now reaping are to a great extent the product of men like Dennis and the late George Singh and many other sports administrators who stood up to counted against the fascist regime. I can do no better than lend my support to the words expressed by the Arch and Fatima. Long may you live Dennis and everything of the best.

Under the supervision of the Resident Coordinator, and working in the Coordination Unit, the HAO functions will include assisting the UN Country team and facilitating inter-agency contingency planning by developing scenarios and common plans of action.

Jimbi is the African slit drum, created by creating a hollow though a slit made on the side of a large log. It is an instrument with a big sound that could be heard up to 10 miles away, depending on the particular instrument and the nature of the terrain. Jimbi Media (JM) is a company that assists African visionaries, writers, leaders, artists and trendsetters of African descent to realize and to perfect their work, as well as to find and to satisfy their audiences. Visit their website to subscribe to their newsletter.

The World Food Programme (WFP) has confirmed that it plans to expand its support to 1.6-million Zimbabweans during December via its targeted feeding programme. WFP spokesperson in Zimbabwe, Makena Walker, said that about 25 000-million tonnes of food aid, left over from its assistance programme last year, would be distributed next month to vulnerable groups, including the chronically ill, child-headed households and the disabled.

"HIV is just a virus...If we change our attitudes, HIV will die. It will have no space and capacity to spread," says Musa Njoko, a young South African woman who has been living with the virus for the past decade. Njoko, a singer, has devoted herself to helping people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Along with about 200 other AIDS activists, Njoko attended the launch of the 'Mutapola Campaign' in Pretoria.

The lacklustre performance of Southern African economies over the past year has been attributed to the AIDS pandemic, political instability in some countries, and the negative effects of prolonged drought. In his annual report, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) secretary, Prega Ramsamy, noted that regional economic growth had stagnated, jeopardising progress towards achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). "If this situation is not reversed quickly it is hard to see how SADC is going to meet the MDGs," the secretary commented.

The world will be marking 16 days of Activism Against Gender-based Violence from November 25th to December 10th 2004. Once again, women's organisations and human rights activists all over the world will come together in their various communities. Last year, the AWDF awarded a total of USD$15,000 in grants to 17 women’s organisations in Africa to celebrate the 16 Days Campaign. In 2004, AWDF will award USD $15,000 to 17 organisations.

This document, produced by UNICEF and Roll Back Malaria (RBM), reviews the malaria burden in Africa and examines the role for UNICEF in taking forward the RBM initiative. The document focuses particularly on the critical importance of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) for malaria control and outlines UNICEF's approach to increasing the use of ITNs. Case studies are also provided from UNICEF programmes across Africa.

The WTO and the free trade agenda in general need to be better brought in line with the Beijing Platform for Action (BFPA), according to a paper that provides the notes of an event on 'Women's Rights and the Multilateral Trading System: the Politics of Gender Mainstreaming at the WTO'. The aim of the event was to offer some background for discussion, to raise some questions around gender and trade, to present some of the approaches from the International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN), and to hear from representatives from country missions, the UN, WTO, and the international NGO community. The paper says that after 1995, many in the global women's movement have supported gender mainstreaming initiatives in order to assess and integrate gender concerns into legislation, policies and programs at all levels, but that questions arise as to whether this is working.

Africa Action held its second annual Baraza in Washington, DC last weekend, bringing leading analysts and activists from the U.S. and Africa together for two days of discussion on key trends and issues U.S. Africa policy. Following the Baraza, Africa Action staff traveled to Atlanta and New York city with leading civil society leaders from Africa for a range of media and community events focused on analyzing the current state of U.S. policy toward Africa.

On 29th November, representatives of child rights organisations in 18 African countries met in Dakar, Senegal for a four-day workshop on the procedures of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. The meeting was convened by the West African office of Save the Children (Sweden) and the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA – based in the Gambia), and supported by Save the Children (Sweden) and the Ford Foundation. Its primary purpose was to inform African child rights networks about the role and functioning of the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC), and to build capacity to engage with this important body. I was fortunate enough to attend in my capacity as Chairperson of the ChildrenNOW Network (www.nscn.org.za).

The Workshop was a combination of expert inputs and work in small groups. Inputs from various experts included:

· the history of international child rights conventions and the UN system;
· a comparison of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACRWC);
· the role and work of the Committee of Experts to date;
· communication procedures;
· reporting procedures;
· strategies for the ratification of the ACRWC, and implementation at national level;
· the actions that African NGOs can take to support ratification and implementation.

The Workshop came to the conclusion that a network of African NGOs to support the implementation of the ACRWC should be established. It was further agreed that we need to ensure visibility for the network, that networks at country level are very important and should be the basis of a regional network, and that some conceptualisation work needs to be done, such as a feasibility study. The IHRDA was asked to undertake preliminary activities towards setting up such a network.

Concrete activities that the Institute was asked to perform in the next 6 to 12 months, in conjunction with the Save the Children (Sweden) network, include a review of existing networks and to plan to meet again within the next twelve months. It is hoped that this meeting will take place in Addis Ababa in May 2005.

For further information, and a full report on the Workshop, contact Carol Bower ([email protected]) or consult the web site of the African Union (www.africa-union.org/child/home.htn)

** Carol Bower is Executive Director of Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (RAPCAN) and National Chair of the South African Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect.