Health systems in developing countries have been traditionally geared towards the treatment of infectious disease. How do we transform them to take account of the increasing health burden posed by non-communicable disease (NCD)? This study by the Gondar College of Medical Services in Ethiopia and the Wessex Neurological Centre in Southampton, UK explores how epilepsy could be targeted and treated in rural areas of Ethiopia. It argues that effective treatment is possible using the existing health infrastructure and very few additional resources.

The Freedom of Expression Institute's (FXI) Anti-Censorship Programme (ACP)
has just released its second report, which tracks the progress of the programme since the release of its first report in May 2003. The report notes the fact that censorship has now firmly set in, in South Africa.

The family of the late General Sani Abacha have failed in their bid to halt repatriation of millions of dollars of Nigeria's looted funds stashed away in several foreign banks by the former Head of State.

WITNESS is seeking a PROGRAM ASSOCIATE who would have a primary focus on supporting partnerships in Africa and in the Islamic world. WITNESS advances human rights advocacy through the use of video and communications technology. In partnership with non-governmental organizations and activists, WITNESS strengthens grassroots movements for change by loaning video cameras and assisting its partners to create and use video as evidence before courts and the United Nations, as a tool for public education, and as a deterrent to further abuse.

Don’t take the assault on the freedom of the press lying down. Not only has the only independent daily newspaper been shut down but postage has increased to an extent that many Zimbabweans can no longer afford to correspond with each other. The cost of transport is excessive. The public media including radio and television is state-controlled. All these factors have increased the isolation and the information vacuum in which Zimbabweans live. The information that used to pass between urban and rural dwellers has become almost non-existent. Click on the URL below to find out what you can do.

Globalization, trade and investment designs and structures reinforce a model of development -centred on free trade, hyper economic growth, and export-oriented production- which is inherently unsustainable in ecological and social terms. They also destroy viable localized and regional systems that may have the greatest long-term promise for future sustainability. Consequently, there is increasing global concern about the broader issue of corporate accountability and pressures seem to be mounting from diverse political and intellectual quarters for greater corporate responsibility. The Global Compact is the United Nations' response to this demand.

A conference earlier this year on water privatisation in Ghana detailed how the efforts of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) and later the Ghana National Coalition Against the Privatisation of Water, with the help of international civil society, successfully brought into the public domain the "hitherto secret, corporate-driven, World Bank-pressurised, fast-tracked, Ghana government water privatisation agenda." The conference deliberations commenced with opening remarks from Charles Abugre, Executive Director of ISODEC, who said the imposition of privatisation and the oppressive conditionalities of international finance capital continued to weigh heavily on developing countries, but that the small victories against water privatisation in Ghana and elsewhere were encouraging, and may be the forerunners to complete victory.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) recognises the central role of agriculture. However, its tilt towards increasing productivity through enhancement of infrastructure and inputs; export led growth through opening regional and international markets; and improving backward and forward linkages through agro - processing leaves the impression that there are still weaknesses in its conception of the overall picture of agriculture. The bias towards a certain model of agriculture - commercial and export orientated - points to gaps in its conception of a more wider and deeper perspective on rural development. This is according to a paper that evaluates NEPAD's strategic focus on issues of agriculture and rural development.

Bill Gates donation of U.S. $25 million for biofortification - breeding crops with higher levels of micronutrients - is an effort to provide a life-saving shot to the dying family of public-sector international agricultural research institutes. But Gates, argues Devinder Sharma, a New Delhi-based food and trade policy analyst, has to understand that biotechnology, the way it is being promoted by corporate interests, has the potential to further the great divide between haves and have-nots. Biotechnology will, in reality, push more people in the hunger trap.

The government has approved the creation of 10 more Internal Displaced Person's (IDP) camps in Kitgum district. By July there were over one million people in the camps in north and northeastern Uganda.

The repatriation of about 20,000 Rwandans living illegally in Tanzania will be a gradual and voluntary process, Maj Tumainiel Kiwelo, the commissioner for Kagera Region, where the Rwandans are living, told IRIN on Monday. Roughly 600 Rwandans had applied to remain in Tanzania as residents, while the rest had not done so, because they wanted to go back, he said.

Sitting behind his desk, partly hidden behind a pile of papers he is marking, Barnabus Bugera, a bespectacled Burundian refugee, is everything you would imagine of a schoolteacher. Bugera's passion is educating children. And, having set up and run the first secondary school for Burundian refugees in western Tanzania in 1996, he exudes confidence of a bright future for thousands of refugees who previously had few opportunities after completing primary school.

Uganda's health officials should heave a sigh of relief following 'successful' measles immunisation campaigns, which targeted 12.7 million children. The campaign, which was conducted Oct. 15-19, ran into some problems. In the western district of Mbarara some pupils reportedly ran out of the classroom and hid in mango trees when the vaccines arrived. In the eastern district of Kayunga, a local councillor was beaten by her husband for taking their 10-year old daughter for immunisation.

Gender equality and violence against women presented continuing challenges to the international community, Angela King, Assistant Secretary-General and Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, told a United Nations committee last week, as it began its consideration of issues related to the advancement of women. Gender equality was the responsibility of everyone, and the international community must promote the advancement of women in political, economic and social spheres, she continued.

Ethiopia must boost routine child immunisation to combat deadly diseases, the United Nations said on Thursday as the country began a major house-to-house polio campaign. Abdelmejid Tibouti, deputy head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that immunisations were vital to “protect each child” from easily preventable killer diseases.

A low-key parliamentary election in Swaziland at the weekend yielded a new crop of MPs that includes the head of a banned opposition political party and a sharp increase in the number of women legislators.

The health delivery system in Zimbabwe is declining as medical personnel leave the country in search of better working conditions and more money. The exodus of nurses and doctors and other professionals from Zimbabwe for economic reasons is accelerating, with most of those leaving going to Britain, the country's former colonial master.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has admitted that one of its key African initiatives is in trouble. In a working paper published in Washington, two of the IMF's researchers show that its programme to relieve some of Africa's poorest countries of their debt burden may not produce a sustainable economic situation.

Ex-farm workers make up the bulk of Zimbabwe's estimated 100,000 displaced persons and are in need of assistance, the NGO, Refugees International (RI), has warned.

Simbani Africa is a radio news agency project by the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC). Simbani Africa has the objectives of better informing community radio stations and of reducing the digital divide between the North and the South parts of the continent. The agency's mandate is to gather information from various African communities in order to broadcast the many voices of Africa.

On October 18 2003, journalists from both private and state-owned media were barred from reporting the deliberations underway in various committees of a government organised national convention (National Indaba) taking place in Lusaka, Zambia.

The latest issue of the APC Africa Internet Rights Newsletter 'Chakula' focuses on the recently held PrepCom 3 (preparatory committee) of the World Summit on Information (WSIS), highlighting key issues under discussion and outcomes and making some recommendations for civil society organisations (CSOs) on how to move forward with regard to upcoming and related meetings.

I am a black and not uncritical supporter of Zanu-PF. I find criticism of Mugabe from Western politicians and media disingenuous. I find the nature of criticism from black people alarming. I do not believe critical black people are ignorant of the covert, neo-colonial agenda by white, political and economic elites. Indeed, I believe they accept that they are supporting it. Many describe Mugabe as a "brutal dictator". Even senior UK politicians last year argued for armed intervention. Yet, by early 2002, human rights groups reported that 160 people had died in Zimbabwe because of the conflict. In contrast, within a few weeks of the 1973, CIA-backed, anti-democratic coup in Chile, 35,000 people had been killed. To describe Mugabe as one of the world's worst dictators is outrageous and disingenuous.

Even with Charles Taylor gone, the country’s problems run deep and the peace there is still extremely fragile, says a new paper from the South African based Institute of Security Studies. "Throughout the recent conflict, both rebel groups maintained their primary goal was the removal of Charles Taylor, but ethnic based dissatisfaction and disempowerment lie at the root of their grievances. Neither group is likely to accept any long-term political scenario that does not give them a substantial share of power."

Increasingly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the context within which women's human rights are to be protected and realized is one of decentralized or decentralizing states. The IDRC Gender Unit is launching a competitive call for proposals for research investigating whether and how contemporary decentralization reforms, in practice, contributes to or on the contrary hinders the realization and protection of women's and girls' civil, political, social, economic and/or cultural rights.

Elinor Sisulu's biography of Walter and Albertina Sisulu has won the 24th Noma Award for Publishing in Africa, a hat-trick for Cape Town publishers David Philip. The jury described Walter and Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime as 'a compelling account' of the Sisulus' long and honourable struggle against apartheid, 'told with honesty and authority'.

Senior editors from 14 southern African countries will meet in Johannesburg, South Africa, in November 2003 to establish the first of five planned regional chapters for the new Africa Editors' Forum.

Every four years the Polisario Front holds a congress, to discuss how to proceed with their 27-year battle against Morocco for self-determination of the disputed Western Sahara. Hundreds of Polisario representatives based as far a field as Australia make their way back for the event. This year, for the first time since a ceasefire was signed with Morocco in 1991, the Polisario held their congress in the heart of what they proudly call "liberated territory".

Rwanda's historic elections sent the world's highest share of women to parliament, knocking long-time champion Sweden from the top spot, the Inter-Parliamentary Union said on Wednesday. Rwanda's women now occupy 48,8 percent of the seats.

AIDS experts have raised doubts about a new study suggesting South Africa's HIV/AIDS epidemic peaked in 2002 and was expected to level off as fewer new infections were reported. The study, published in the recent issue of the African Journal of AIDS Research, said that the epidemic in South Africa peaked last year with about 4.69 million people living with HIV/AIDS and had started to level off.

Presidential elections in Guinea, in which the head of state, Lansana Conte, will seek another seven-year term despite failing health, will take place on 21 December, the government has announced.

Some 100 activists were arrested in Zimbabwe on Wednesday after protesting near the parliament in Harare. The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) organised the protest in support of political reforms.

A High Court judge in Zimbabwe Wednesday approved a petition by two top government officials that allows them to remove themselves from a case brought by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. The opposition is questioning the judge's decision, saying the two officials played a key role in the presidential election last year that the opposition is challenging in the courts.
Related Link:
* Election Petition - Full Heads of Argument
http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=7794

Branch and regional structures of the African National Congress (ANC) are questioning the decision of their president, Thabo Mbeki, to use a legal route to resolve a party problem. Some members and leaders say the appointment of a commission of inquiry into allegations that national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka was a spy was shortsighted and ill-advised. They are concerned that Mbeki failed to provide leadership or seek "a political solution to a political problem" which threatens to divide the party.

Tuberculosis is making a comeback in Mali, partly as a result of HIV/AIDS patients falling prey to the disease, but also because the respiratory disease is considered shameful and patients are reluctant to seek treatment, government officials said.

Media in Nigeria is a weekly publication on developments within and affecting the media/communication/freedom of expression sector in Nigeria. It is an initiative of the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), a non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Lagos, Nigeria. If you want to subscribe, simply send a message to: [email protected] OR [email protected] saying you want to subscribe. If you no longer wish to subscribe, send a message that you no longer wish to subscribe to the same address.

Pop-up adverts, forms that don't work, slow-loading internet sites - the list is endless, as this columnist found out when he asked readers to send in comments on the things they hate most about the web. Click on the link to check it out.

A new initiative has been launched to provide researchers and academics in some of the world's poorest countries with free or low-cost access to scientific literature in food, nutrition, agriculture and related biological, environmental and social sciences.

Unsure of how to evaluate fundraising costs? Confused with planned giving terminology? Need to know more about Internet fundraising? The Association of Fundraising Professionals has a resource centre on their website where Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are answered.

The Kibaki administration will be evading a historic responsibility if it fails to resolve issues that are pertinent to a peaceful transition and the very future of democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Kenya. The NARC government was voted into power primarily because the Moi government was regarded as deceptive and undemocratic. Undemocratic because the previous elections were characterised by violence and claims of malpractice; the state instruments were partisan; the government was intolerant to divergent opinions; and the government was insensitive to popular demands. However, since NARC came to power, there have been undercurrents that the Kibaki administration is no different from its predecessor after all.

Firstly, though the Kibaki government is more tolerant to different opinions, recent events indicate that the government is growing sensitive by the day. Indeed, like its predecessor, the administration is eager to use the oppressive tools of the state, including the provincial administration, to muzzle opposing opinions. The recent attempt by the administration to bar a Baringo Central MP from addressing his constituents has been interpreted in this light.

Paradoxically, while the NARC leaders were in the opposition, they vigorously campaigned for the dismantling of the provincial administration. The then official opposition party, Kibaki’s Democratic Party of Kenya, presented a memorandum to the constitution of Kenya Review Commission calling for the scrapping of the administration. However, on assuming power, they have not only defended the administration, but an assistant minister in the office of the president has been quoted as saying they will weed out those sympathetic to the previous government from the administration.

Secondly, the NARC leadership has increasingly been using the same old methods. In the recently held by-elections, NARC ministers have been criss-crossing the affected constituencies using the trappings of power, state resources and promising largesse from the state. Yet, when they were in the opposition last year, they constantly accused KANU, which was in power then, of using state resources for partisan gains. Closely related to that, of course, is the old tactic of divide and rule and the mentality that only those who support the government will benefit from government resources. Week after week, NARC ministers are quoted exhorting the various ethnic communities to support the government if they hope to benefit from its largesse.

Not even yesteryears’ democracy and human rights crusaders are immune from this anachronistic thinking. Indeed, when the president visited his home turf two months ago, there were deliberate efforts to isolate and condemn a part of Central Province that voted for the opposition. Apparently, the right to an opinion and association has lost meaning now that NARC is in power.

Thirdly, the old issue of selective application of the law has reared its ugly head again. There are increasing concerns that the war against corruption is turning out to be selective and targeted at specific individuals and families. For many key players in the current administration were in fact stalwarts of the previous administration. It’s therefore highly inconceivable that they were not involved in the corruption of that era. Indeed, their names appear in several public accounts and public investment committee reports. Others were mentioned in the various human rights reports as players in various human rights abuses, including ethnic violence. Yet, they continue serving in the cabinet as ministers, assistant ministers and others as influential NARC MPs, while government officers continue making allegations against certain families and individuals. Again the old adage that charity begins at home appears to have lost its meaning.

And fourthly is the question of the ruling coalition’s internal democracy. As it were, a political party cannot give a country what it lacks internally. Thus, NARC cannot entrench democracy in the country if it cannot grant the same to its members. One measure of a party’s attitude towards democracy is its capacity to subject its leaders to popular mandate, which is through party elections. Yet, this is the most divisive issue in NARC.

The established tradition worldwide is that parties, whose ideological persuasions are close, form coalitions after elections in order to constitute a government, where no single party wins a majority. For NARC, political parties and amorphous groups formed the coalition regardless of their political persuasions to win the December 2002 elections. Thus, the party lacks clear structures and leadership, has no quantifiable membership, lacks unifying ideology and, much worse, has not agreed whether to be one party or to retain its current amorphous state. The persistent war between factions of the coalitions means that the party will take sometime before it can guarantee its membership internal democracy. And that undermines the capacity of the coalition to entrench democracy in the country.

On the human rights front, the NARC government has done better than the previous KANU one. On assuming power, it accorded human rights campaigners positions in its ranks, opened torture chambers - among them the famous Nyayo House - and cautioned the security organs against abusing suspects’ rights. However, there have been genuine concerns that the country may be sliding back into the days of torture. In recent weeks, there have been complaints that police officers are perpetrating arbitrary arrests; extra-judicial killings are still prevalent while the security officers have been accused of torturing suspects, notably in Kisii.

Moreover, the government recently initiated a security operation in Turkana district, which was called off after a fierce battle between the residents and the security forces. While the number of the dead was given as six, there are fears that the operation left behind trails of human rights abuses, which are not yet documented.

There are also expressions of genuine grievances arising from the recent efforts to form a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. The concerns are that the proposed commission is a tactic to witch-hunt and humiliate certain individuals and communities, and not an effort to promote national reconciliation.

Secondly, the old tactic of destroying people’s income basis in an effort to remove them from certain areas, which was perfected in the 1990s, has been brought back. In the last few weeks, the government, in conjunction with the Nairobi City Council, has been demolishing informal business structures in order to remove those businesses from supposedly road reserves. The problem is that this destruction, which has only been conducted in upmarket areas, leaves many people without an income and thus compromises their economic rights.

More importantly, the recently published suppression of terrorism bill has sent shock waves into the spines of many Kenyans and human rights activists. Indeed, the bill has met resistance from many quarters including members of parliament. The resistance has its roots in two areas. Firstly the government published the bill without consulting with stakeholders, and appeared to be bowing to pressure from both the American and the British governments. Indeed, despite protests against this bill, the government has indicated its resolve not to withdraw the bill. Secondly, and much worse, the bill is highly repressive, runs against the national spirit and militates against our national sovereignty in favour of American and British interests.

In their analysis, the Chambers of Justice, a legal civil society group, says the bill germinates out of the US Patriot Act 2001, whose official title is Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. In the US, the group notes, the “application of the Patriot Act by the US government has resulted in some of the grossest violations of human rights ever revealed since the Nuremberg trials.” It cites the case of the al-Qaeda suspects who are still incarcerated incommunicado at the US military base in Quatanamo Bay in Cuba, two years after they were arrested in Afghanistan.

The bill contravenes Sections 72, 74(1), 77 (2a), 77(4), 77(8), 82 and the bill of rights; contravenes the penal code section 9; and lowers the standard of the burden of proof as required in all criminal cases. Needless to add that the bill lacks adequate provisions for compensation of victims of terrorism and gives sweeping powers to the police. These powers include powers to detain cash belonging to a suspect and forfeits the property of suspected persons to the state. And, ironically, the bill not only allows foreign security forces, notably American and British, to arrest and detain Kenyans, but it also sanctions torture and police brutality. Indeed, there are reports that a team of Kenyan CID officers and the American FBI agents tortured suspects arrested recently in Mombasa on suspicion of terrorism.

And lastly, there is the issue of ratification and adoption of the international human rights conventions in Kenya. Kenya is a signatory to such important treaties as the African Charter of Human Rights and People's Rights (ACHPR) of 1981, the African Charter of the Rights and Welfare of the Child, and which are both acceptable by NEPAD's human rights committee. However, the country still lags behind in legislating and effecting these conventions.

* Evans Wafula is an advocacy officer with the Independent Medico Legal Unit in Kenya.

* Please send comments on this editorial to

We are an established NGO, with the aims of reconciliation and comunity development through a range of grassroots projects including the Tsebong Community library, computer training courses for the disadvantaged, the Iphediseng women's sewing project, art programmes and the Interactive Themba Theatre group who are pioneering HIV/AIDs education through drama. We are looking for a part time administrator to start at the end of November. Ideally you are a mature person with initiative, fluent English and a minimum of one African language ( preferably Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho). You will also have at least 3 years' previous experience in an office environment, with a good working knowledge of Word, Excel and email with proven skills in book-keeping as your role will be to deliver the day to day administration of the office at the Centre and its various projects. The salary we can offer is from R2750pm for 3 days a week. Please send your cv & letter of application/phone number, with current salary and references by fax to 011 477 3490, email [email][email protected] or post PO Box 468 Westhoven 2142 Jo’burg by NOON Wednesday 29th Oct. Interviews will be at the Centre on Friday 31st Oct.

The food crisis in Zimbabwe is worsening, with a majority of the country's districts having exhausted their food stocks, according to a UN report received on Friday. "According to reports from 58 districts in August 2003, food is becoming scarce, harvest stocks have been exhausted in a majority of districts and over half report a deteriorating food situation," the report said. The report comes a week after the UN's food agency warned that only a quarter of its appeal for funds to feed millions of starving people in southern Africa, most of them in Zimbabwe, had been met. An estimated 5.5 million Zimbabweans will require emergency food aid by early next year, out of a regional total of 6.5 million. This is one of the stories in the latest Zimbabwe Update for the beginning of October. The Zimbabwe Update is produced by ZIMCIVINFO in support of democracy, peace and civics in Zimbabwe.

Advocates of liberalisation assert that states which disengage from strategic economic planning are more likely to stimulate economic growth and hasten poverty reduction. Is there evidence to back this neo-liberal claim? What is the role of national economic governance in poverty eradication? How should we monitor the relation of economic governance to poverty reduction?

African female experts from different liberal parties will discuss their national situation and the measures taken by the party to enhance female participation. The workshop will produce a joint declaration with practical points for the future.

This budget brief from the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) assesses the extent to which the 2003 South African Budget addresses widespread child poverty and the delivery of children's socio-economic rights. The brief concludes that while Budget 2003 may have moved a small step in the 'right' direction, the national treasury, along with other government departments, could have done and should have done more for poor children.

Three broad facts about education have emerged from recent research. Firstly, almost universally education is found to lift people out of poverty. Secondly, when a comparison is made between investing in education and other forms of investment, the returns from investing in education are on average lower. Thirdly, the returns to education - in the sense of the increment in income that accrues to each year of education - are much higher for those with higher levels of education. What factors influence these trends?

Forget the spin you have been reading about the "failure" of the World Trade Organisation meeting in Cancun, says this commentary from Foreign Policy in Focus. It was one of the most successful international meetings in years because it redefined how trade can benefit the poor and how the developing world can be real players in these negotiations. In fact, if policymakers and global trade negotiators were paying attention, Cancun could lead to trade talks that actually bring about fair trade, and the benefits to both the developing and the developed world that have long been promised.

The world anti-corruption watchdog, Transparency International (TI), says that Zimbabwe, one of Africa’s wealthiest nations that has sadly been reduced to an economic basket case, is accelerating towards being one of the worst corrupt countries in the world, giving another twist to the screws on a country already bruised by negative international perception.

Over 1.2 billion adolescents - one person in five - are making the transition from child-hood to adulthood. How well we prepare them to face adult challenges in a fast changing world will shape humanity's common future. Adolescents must be enabled to avoid early pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS while being given skills, opportunities and a real say in development plans, stresses The State of World Population 2003 report by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund.