Pambazuka News 419: Blowing the lid off Zimbabwe: the debate continues
Pambazuka News 419: Blowing the lid off Zimbabwe: the debate continues
Survival’s campaign targeting Graff Diamonds over its involvement in a controversial diamond mine planned on the land of Kalahari Bushmen in Botswana has stepped up a gear. Thirty protestors gathered yesterday outside Graff’s flagship London store holding placards saying ‘Boycott Graff’ and ‘Botswana diamonds: Bushmen despair’.
As people around the world celebrate their loved ones on Valentine's Day weekend, activists are working to ensure that the ongoing horrors of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are not forgotten. Over the past decade, hundreds of thousands women and girls have been brutally raped in the DRC, primarily by rebel groups vying over control of land and mineral resources.
Stepping Stones, a 50 hour programme, aims to improve sexual health by using participatory learning approaches to build knowledge, risk awareness, and communication skills and to stimulate critical reflection. This article in the British Medical Journal details the results of a randomized trial to measure the impact of the Stepping Stones programme on HIV and herpes simplex type 2 (HSV2) rates in rural South Africa. The trial also measured unwanted pregnancy, reported sexual practices, depression, and substance misuse.
As arrests of people on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity escalate in Africa, some human rights groups have come up with a plan to challenge such arrests at a legal strategy meeting on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) held last month in Cape Town. International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC) in collaboration with Global Rights, Interights and The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya) convened this meeting with a view to discuss strategies that could be used to defend cases against LGBTI people in the continent.
Interviews for a documentary, aiming to give voice to gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people from rural areas, are underway in Uganda. Titled Behind the Mirror, this documentary aims to bring to the fore, challenges faced by LGBTI people at grass roots level such as discrimination and their struggle to survive in a hostile and homophobic society. According to Frank Mugisha of Ice Breakers Uganda many LGBTI Ugandans are treated unfairly, with hatred and lack of respect.
Rwandan Hutu rebels have killed over 100 civilians in eastern Congo in reprisal attacks since the start of a joint offensive against them three weeks ago, New York-based Human Rights Watch said on Friday. The attacks by the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebels took place after Rwanda and Congo launched joint operations aimed at removing the rebel militia, which is seen as a root cause of years of strife in central Africa.
Facebook is not just a way to get back in touch with old classmates from school or see what your “friends” are up to. Activists around the world are taking advantage of this new virtual space to expand their reach and establish more immediate and interactive contact with individuals and organisations from an ever wider range of backgrounds. ITeM, an APC member in Uruguay, talked with APCNoticias about how it is using this web-based tool, and shared some practical advice for others who are experimenting with social networks and other Web 2.0 tools.
The Department for International Development will announce a £1.4 million three-year project that will lay the foundations for financial services to be made available through new and emerging technology across Africa and Asia, to bring access to the poor in developing countries. International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander said the introduction of Mobile phones, text messages and fingerprint recognition could soon bring branchless banking to millions of the world's poorest people and could redeem them from poverty.
The Kellogg Brown & Root LLC (KBR Ink) has pleaded guilty to the federal charges that the company bribed Nigerian officials to win contracts. As part of the plea agreement, KBR agreed to pay a $402 million criminal fine. The US Department of Justice accused the Houston-based engineering company of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for its participation in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts.
Xenophobic attacks in South Africa displaced 150,000 people and killed more than 60 in 2008. This year, as the country heads to the polls, researchers say local politicians may be capitalizing on the hate and fear that fuelled the attacks - this time to win votes. Immigrant lobby groups have put out a call for increased monitoring of political campaigns ahead of general elections in April.
Leaders of the Federation of African Journalists (FAJ) launched a yearly working programme at the first meeting of the Steering Committee in Dakar last weekend February 6th and 7th. The Steering Committee of the FAJ elected by congress in November 2008 in Nairobi, Kenya, convened in Dakar to examine the implementation of priorities and programmed activities for 2009 as agreed at the Nairobi Congress.
cc. Underlining South African labour’s support for the people of Gaza in an 8 February address to a Cape Town rally, Zwelinzima Vavi of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) highlights the need for growing global solidarity in standing up to Israeli oppression. The COSATU general secretary salutes the efforts of groups both within South Africa and beyond in refusing to facilitate the movement of Israeli goods, and stresses the role of international isolation in bringing down another directly comparable example of brute political force in the shape of South Africa’s erstwhile apartheid regime.
Will the Obama-Nation become an abomination if it fails to
stop the bombing of nations? From Gaza to Afghanistan, the
American people must take a stand and tell Obama to forge
a better plan to free the land of Zionist and the Taliban. To
stand up against corporate bailouts while prisons are left out
for change like a business with out clout as 2.3 million prisoners
remain in chains.
Change became a mantra defined on a political precipice
forged in steep words unprecedented by one who won the
right to be the 44th president. Supported by beliefs sold
in edifices of worship bonding the ideals shuttered in the
hearts of the dispossessed whose hope for tomorrow has
not regressed. Yet, time sours faith in hungry bellies as
the unsheltered endure the storms of lies, alibis, and corrupt
government undisguised as the media realized exposing the
truth could result in a covenant Pulitzer Prize.
A future is born with a change of power on this day and in
this hour with an oath of office the Obama-Nation must stand
in allegiance, against torture, Abu Graib, Guantanamo Bay,
rendition and detention just to mention how the U.S. derelictions
became the world’s affliction. Evolving from 8 years of
disconnection, disaffection, humiliation, dissatisfaction with
the Bush administration corporate affiliations that led to U.S.
financial ruination.
The Democrats believe they can, since Obama told them
“Yes We Can”, Americans hope this is not a sham – as
participatory democracy is more than a four-year election,
since each day the Americans should strive for perfection,
healing the planet as they heal themselves of racism, sexism
and capitalist exploitation, to improve America’s place in
the world of nations.
No drama in the Obama-Nation is the expectation, void of
hesitation folk’s anticipation the 44th will elevate the level of
peace dividends given in Clintonques deliberation face to face
with world’s representatives, like ebony and ivory side by side
championing U.S. hegemony in perfect harmony. As Gates
secures the gates of the Pentagon to sustain an imperialist
presence from Iraq to the China sea, who is to believe change
can be conceived with National Security Agency secrets up
their sleeves.
The continued embargo of Cuba and Haiti a scandalous exercise
of power, as Latin America excise North America in its revolutionary
shining hour. Iran seek nuclear advancement as the CIA creeps to
hinder its expansion, an inexplicable situation given the arms race
has moved as far as outer space, continuing to militarily arming
Israel and Taiwan, while North Korea produces nuclear energy the
U.S. attempts to prohibit proliferation not of its control, using
food as a weapon toward an obvious starving nation not keeping with
its humanitarian goals.
Afrika stumbles into the 21st century with corporate proxy wars,
none keeping score as economic devastation brings multiple horrors.
The killing of babies and raping of girls, arming of children leaving
the land trampled with scars. Afrikans hope the Obama-Nation will
plant seeds of democracy, negating the hypocrisy of years of neglect
without regret, and yet, AFRICOM is a serious misstep. While Asians
in Malaysia the largest concentration of Islamic moderation
confounds U.S. inclination to confront jihadist of Al-Qaeda’s
persuasion in its population.
On the home front, Martin L. King Jr., proclaimed we as a people
will get to the promised land, while Malcolm X said it will be
either the ballot or bullet, so could it be hard to understand the
44th like a Manchurian candidate manipulating the political
landscape, permitting the Patriot Act to prohibit progressive or
revolutionary tact believing true liberation after today has become
a point in fact. By virtue of the ballot, the revolution has been high
jacked, the black bourgeoisie has been notified America is now
sanctified and the promised land gentrified as the Obama-Nation is
satisfied. But Cointelpro victims remain classified in prisons, yet
to be rectified with truth and reconciliation, no way to start anew
in the Obama-Nation.
So with a historic inauguration by pomp and circumstances through
crying eyes, a new era to inspire a generation of possibilities
beyond rhetoric. Anxious for the audacity of hope to spring eternal
in humanities fratricidal brotherhood with service to the nation
negating race or class as societies underclass test pomp and
circumstances with stark cold reality of growing unemployment lines
with the economic situation continuing to decline. My warning to all
while the band plays “Hail to the Chief” with a military seven gun
salute, to not become hoodwinked or bamboozled, nor forgo the
political determination to end the embargo of Haiti and Cuba, to
free Puerto Rico and Palestine for this is not the time to recline in
building struggle.
To keep U.S. hands off of Assata, because we gotta free all U.S.
political prisoners in the spirit of knowing We Are Our Own Liberators!
* was 19-years -old when he was arrested. He is a former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, and is one of the longest held political prisoners in the world. He has spent over 38 years in captivity. Jalil can be reached at: Jalil Muntaqim/A. Bottom, 2311826, 850 Bryant St, San Francisco, CA 94103.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.
cc. Reflecting on the refusal of 
cc. Dated 19 December 2008 and originally widely published in Arabic following his arrest and torture, Monim Elgak’s letter to Salah Abdullah, the director general of the Sudanese Security and Intelligence service, suggests that his own gross mistreatment while detained is nothing when compared with Sudan at large. Offering a crushing indictment of the Sudanese regime’s oppressive policies and blatant disdain for human rights and freedom of expression, the author writes that redress for his own experiences will only come through the implementation of a restorative package of reforms on the back of sustained political will.
Oscar Grant was brutally killed by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police (in California, USA) in the early hours of New Year's Day 2009, an event that was captured on video and . In a poetic response, Sheilagh ‘Cat’ Brooks reflects on the impact of this event.
I was only six years old
when they led me to the bush, to my slaughterhouse.
Too young to know what it all entailed,
I walked lazily towards the waiting women.
Deep within me was the desire to be cut,
as pain was my destiny:
it is the burden of femininity,
so I was told.
Still, I was scared to death . . .
but I was not to raise an alarm.
The women talked in low tones,
each trying to do her tasks the best.
There was the torso holder
she had to be strong to hold you down.
Legs and hands each had their own woman,
who needed to know her task
lest you free yourself and flee for life.
The cutting began with the eldest girl
and on went the list.
Known to be timid, I was the last among the six.
I shivered and shook all over;
butterflies beat madly in my stomach.
I wanted to vomit, the waiting was long,
the expectation of pain too sharp,
but I had to wait my turn.
My heart pounded, my ears blocked;
the only sound I understood
was the wails from the girls,
for that was my destiny as well.
Finally it was my turn, and one of the women
winked at me:
Come here, girl, she said, smiling unkindly.
You won’t be the first nor the last,
but you have only this once to prove you are brave!
She stripped me naked. I got goose pimples.
A cold wind blew, and it sent warning signs
all over me. I choked, and my head
went round in circles as I was led.
Obediently, I sat between the legs of the woman
who would hold my upper abdomen,
and each of the other four women grasped my legs and hands.
I was stretched apart and each limb firmly held.
And under the shade of a tree . . .
The cutter begun her work . . .
the pain . . . is so vivid to this day,
decades after it was done.
God, it was awful!
I cried and wailed until I could cry no more.
My voice grew hoarse, and the cries could not come out,
I wriggled as the excruciating pain ate into my tender flesh.
Hold her down! cried the cursed cutter,
and the biggest female jumbo sat on my chest.
I could not breathe, but there was nobody
to listen to me.
Then my cries died down, and everything was dark.
As I drifted, I could hear the women laughing,
joking at my cowardice.
It must have been hours later when I woke up
to the most horrendous reality.
The agonizing pain was unbearable!
It was eating into me, every inch of my girlish body was aching.
The women kept exchanging glances
and talked loudly of how I would go down in history,
to be such a coward, until I fainted in the process.
Allahu Akbar! they exclaimed as they criticized me.
I looked down at my self and got a slap across my face.
Don’t look, you coward, came the cutter’s words;
then she ordered the women to pour hot sand on my cut genitals.
My precious blood gushed out and foamed.
Open up, snarled the jumbo woman, as she poured the sand on me.
Nothing they did eased the pain.
Ha! How will you give birth? taunted the one with the smile.
I was shaking and biting my lower lip.
I kept moving front, back, and sideways as I writhed in pain.
This one will just shame me! cried the cutter.
Look how far she has moved, how will she heal?
My sister was embarrassed, but I could see pain in her eyes . . .
maybe she was recalling her own ordeal.
She pulled me back quickly to the shed.
The blood oozed and flowed. Scavenger birds
were moving in circles and perching on nearby trees.
Ish ish, the women shooed the birds.
All this time the pain kept coming in waves,
each wave more pronounced than the one before it.
The women stood us up but warned us not to move our legs apart.
They scrubbed the bloody sand off our thighs and small buttocks,
then sat us back down.
A hole was dug,
malmal, the stick herb, was pounded;
The ropes for tying our legs were ready.
Charcoal was brought and put in the hole,
where there was dried donkey waste and many herbs—these were the cutter’s paraphernalia.
The herbs were placed on the charcoal,
and we were ordered to sit on the hole.
As I sat with smoke rising around me,
I could hear the blood dropping on the charcoal,
and more smoke rose.
The pain was somehow dwindling but I felt weak
and nauseated.
Maybe she is losing blood? my sister asked worriedly.
No, no. It will stop once I place the herbs, cried the cutter impatiently.
The malmal was pasted where my severed vaginal lips had been,
and then I was tied from my thighs to my toes
with very strong ropes from camel hide.
A long stick was brought and the women took turns
showing us how to walk, sit, and stand.
They told us not to bend or move apart our legs—
This will make you heal faster, they said,
but it was meant to seal up that place.
The drop of the first urine,
more burning than the aftermath of the razor,
passed slowly, bit by bit,
one drop after another,
while lying on my side.
There was no washing, no drying,
and the burning kept on for hours later.
But there was no stool . . .
at least, I don’t remember.
For the next month this was my routine.
There was no feeding on anything with oil,
or anything with vegetables or meat.
Only milk and ugali formed my daily ration.
I was given only sips of water:
This avoids "wetting" the wound and delaying healing, they said.
We would stay in the bush the whole day.
The journey from the bush back home began around four and ended sometimes at seven.
All this time we had to face the heat
and bare-footedly slide towards home . . .
with no water, of course.
We were not to bend if a thorn stuck us,
never to call for help loudly
as this would "open" us up and the cutter
would be called again.
Everything was about scary dos and don’ts.
I stayed on with the other five
for the next four weeks. None of us bathed;
lice developed between the ropes and our skin,
biting and itching the whole day and night.
There was no way to remove them,
at least not until we healed.
The river was only a kilometer away.
Every morning the breeze carried the sweet scent of its waters to us,
making our thirst more real.
The day the cutter was called back
each of us shivered and prayed silently,
each hoping we had healed and there would be no cutting again.
Thank God we were all done
except one unlucky girl
who had to undergo it all again,
and took months to heal.
Our heads were shaved clean.
The ropes untied, lice dropped at last.
We were showered and oiled,
but most important was the drinking of water.
I drank until my stomach was full,
but the mouth and throat yearned for more.
It was over.
All over my thighs were marks from the ropes,
dotted with patches from the lice wounds.
Now I was to look after myself,
to ensure that everything remained intact
until the day I married.
(The Cut ® 2006 Maryam Sheikh Abdi.)
* Maryam Sheikh Abdi is a program officer for the programme.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.
On Monday 9 February (UK) and the Muslim Human Rights Forum (Kenya) released a report on Abdulmalik Mohamed, the Kenyan detained at Guantánamo Bay. The report is supplied here together with a press release urging the Kenyan government to do the right thing and appeal to the US government on Abdulmalik's behalf. Reprieve and the Muslim Human Rights Forum appeal to you to lend your voice to the calls for the return to Kenya of Abdulmalik and the upholding of his legal and human rights.
cc. Speaking at the Kenya We Want Conference (4–6 February 2009), Yash Ghai elegantly outlines his views on the historical limitations of Kenya’s constitution and the holistic service it should provide in shaping lives rooted in opportunities, representation, freedom of expression and ‘nation building’. While keen to see the development of a constitution true to these goals, Ghai highlights the inherent complexity of creating such a national document, and concludes that a constitution’s successful implementation ultimately hinges upon a country’s ability to foster popular, representative participation and a culture of genuine respect for the law.
cc. After a decade of political polarisation and international stand-off, the debate on Zimbabwe has finally been opened up to a wider reading public, thanks to Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘Lessons of Zimbabwe’ appearing in the London Review of Books (4 December 2008) and [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.
NOTES
For letters in response to Mahmood Mamdani (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n23/mamd01_.html), see Terence Ranger, Gavin Kitching, Patrick Bond,
On the politics of the land reform and the character of the state, see Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2005), ‘Land Occupations and Land Reform in Zimbabwe’, op. cit.; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2007a), ‘The Radicalised State: Zimbabwe’s Interrupted Revolution’, Review of African Political Economy, 111; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2007b), ‘The Zimbabwe Question and the Two Lefts’, Historical Materialism, vol. 14, no. 4; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (forthcoming, a), ‘After Zimbabwe: State, Nation and Region in Africa’, in The National Question Today: The Crisis of Sovereignty in Africa, Asia and Latin America, edited by S. Moyo, P. Yeros & J. Vadell; Wilbert Sadomba (2008), War Veterans in Zimbabwe’s Land Occupations, op. cit.; Amanda Hammar & Brian Raftopoulos (2003), ‘Zimbabwe’s Unfinished Business: Rethinking Land, State and Nation’, in Zimbabwe’s Unfinished Business: Rethinking Land, State and Nation in the Context of Crisis, edited by A. Hammar, B. Raftopoulos & S. Jensen, Harare: Weaver Press.
On the international politics of the Zimbabwe question, see Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (forthcoming, b), ‘Delinking in Crisis: The Resurgence of Radical Nationalism in the South Atlantic’; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2007b), ‘The Zimbabwe Question and the Two Lefts’, op. cit.; Gregory Elich, ‘Zimbabwe Under Siege’, Swans Commentary, and Stephen Gowans (2008), ‘Cynicism as a Substitute for Scholarship’, http://gowans.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/cynicism-as-a-substitute-for-scholarship/
On the economic recovery, see UNDP (2008), Comprehensive Economic Recovery in Zimbabwe: A Discussion Document, Harare; Sarah Bracking & Lionel Cliffe (2008), Plans for a Zimbabwe Aid Package: Blueprint for Recovery or Shock Therapy Prescription for Liberalisation?, mimeo.; M. Lupey (2008), A Four Step Recovery Plan for Zimbabwe, CATO,
Do you dream of writing but hesitate to start? Are your drawers full of manuscripts you dare not show anyone? Do you tell your kids wonderful bedtime stories and wish you could write them down? Here's the chance to turn your dreams into reality!
A writing workshop is the best way to hone your craft under the guidance of an expert published writer. The deadlines will encourage you to complete your stories, the workshop leader will help you polish them to perfection, and you would join a community of fellow writers. AND you will have the chance to get published by Storymoja, one of the most innovative publishing houses on the Kenyan scene today. What more could you ask for? Sign up now!
DETAILS:
Workshop Leader: Muthoni Garland. Her novella, "Tracking the Scent of My Mother," was short-listed for the Caine Prize for African Writing. One of her children's stories, "Kamau's Finish" is used as supplementary reader in the US and UK, and is available in Uchumi, Nakumatt and most bookshops for only 300/.
Curriculum: Participants will discuss how to write books that excite young readers, and the various forms and age ranges of children's writing. You will also learn and apply such craft elements as character, plot, point of view, description, dialogue, setting, voice, and theme. In addition, writers will work with illustrators on the visual aspect of their books. Each participant will complete at least one publishable manuscript. Storymoja will publish the most promising manuscripts.
When: The workshops begin on Wednesday 25th February 2009.
They will run for two months and end Wednesday 29th April, 2009.
Sessions are every Thursday from 6:00pm to 8:30pm and every Saturday from 9am to 11:30am.
Where: Storymoja offices, off Lower Kabete Road, Spring Valley, Nairobi.
Cost: Ksh 12,000/ each.
If Storymoja publishes your manuscript, half of this (6,000) will be refunded to you as an advance against your author's royalties.
Scholarships: Storymoja is offering four scholarships to exceptionally talented writers who can demonstrate financial need. Please indicate when you register whether are applying for the scholarship and indicate in one paragraph why you are unable to pay the workshop fee.
Registration: please write to by February 18th and include the following:
a. Your name, e-mail and phone number.
b. Your publishing history (newcomers are very welcome!)
c. A short description of what you are hoping to write and/or why you want to attend this workshop. Add a paragraph explaining your financial situation IF you are applying for the scholarship.
d. A 800-word sample of your writing for children.
PLACES ARE LIMITED SO PLEASE SIGN-UP QUICKLY!
If you already have a children's manuscript and you want us to evaluate whether it meets our publishing requirements, please send it to
cc. In response to the reaction of 33 scholars to the publishing of Mahmood Mamdani’s , seek to ignore or discredit the considerable research of Sam Moyo on the land question, Johnson stresses that ‘deep thinking’ requires an actual engagement with the scholarship of informed individuals in place of mere dismissals and allegations of Mugabe ‘cronyism’.
cc. Developed as a participatory platform in sharp contrast to the general absence of space for political representation in the Kenyan nation, this article traces the history of the Bunge La Mwananchi (Parliament of the People) social movement through its members’ own voice. Set against the backdrop of the intolerant Moi government, Bunge offered a viable alternative to the corruption-riddled and ethno-factional nature of official party politics, and has continued to challenge the excesses of the country’s political class. With a view to further advancing the success of the movement, Bunge calls upon fellow Kenyans to open new chapters around the country and make their voices heard.
Following the recent attacks on Gaza, Abayomi Azikiwe examines the sentiment of the African-American population against Israeli aggression and the support of this violence by the US. Azikiwe argues that a direct correlation exists between the Palestinian and Arab struggle for independence, the plight for African liberation during colonialism, the Atlantic slave trade, apartheid, and African-American movements in the US. By highlighting the connection between imperialism, colonialism, and Zionism, Azikiwe affirms the need for oppressed peoples worldwide to speak out against Israel’s aggressive policies and actions, and for the media to disseminate accurate information concerning the impact of the Israeli occupation upon the people of Gaza.
Sokari Ekine reviews the following blogs:
Mama Shujaa
ScarlettLion - Uganda
Meskel Square
Afrigadget
Black Looks
Me Gourmo Abdou Lô, 2009-02-09
Mauritanian advocate and member of the National Defence Front Me Gourmo Abdou Lô explains the rational, scope and effectiveness of imposing sanctions against military regimes who come to power by way of coups d’état, as was done by the African Union’s Peace and Security Council in Mauritania. He assesses the danger of silence on the part of the international community in the face of the resurgent militarism on the continent. He points out that the successful Ghanaian elections should not obfuscate the inherent flaws in the continent's democratic processes, with particular reference to Guinea and Mauritania.
cc. Journalist Venance Konan delves into the Côte d’Ivoire impasse and reveals that the interminable delays in setting a date for the elections are due to the machinations of political elites who continue to benefit from the status quo. While various protagonists on the political stage drag their feet, ordinary citizens continue to suffer grinding poverty and the imminent threat of renewed violence. Konan calls on Côte d’Ivoire’s civil society and the international community as a whole to act for the sake of the Ivorian people.
cc. That South Africa must face an epidemic in the infancy of its democratic age is perhaps one of the great injustices of our time, writes Theodore Powers. Facing up to the legacy of AIDS dissidence must do more than simply substitute a heterodox discourse of HIV/AIDS with an orthodox scientific position. A sustained and localised response that aligns politically opposed social organisations and state institutions while utilising existing social institutions, Powers maintains, is not only cost-effective, but creates a united front in support of improved public health and orthodox science.
President Hu Jintao is currently on a five nation to Saudi Arabia, Mali, Tanzania, Senegal and Mauritius The visit comes at a time when speculation is rife as to whether China’s Africa engagement, especially delivery of the FOCAC commitments will be threatened as a result of the global financial crisis., President Hu’s visit, - his fourth to the continent since becoming China’s leader - is therefore intended to demonstrate that Africa remains a strategic player in China’s overall foreign policy and to emphasise both to Africa and to China’s detractors that China’s interest in Africa is not
Thanks for this . While Obama's and US policy towards Africa is likely to change, we must understand that this will not take place outside of activism on the part of African society. African society in this new era of change and openness need to deconstruct and dismantle the neo-colonial bonds which has strangled development from the bottom-up over the last thirty or so years. African policy makers, African civil society, and African peoples must play their part in forging new pathways and new relations. This would mean that they will have to develop new approaches and ideas based in their cultures and history in order to reshape and reorganize development goals. What is required is a new period of bottom-up development. The election of Barack Obama and his idea of change has to be met with new challenges by the ordinary people of Africa seeking to regain the ground lost since the colonial slave trade, the placing of its citizens in reserves and the appropriation of their land, and the oppression which continued with the imposition of neo-colonial rule. Africa must learn from the failure of elections in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Elections which did not deliver democracy for the majority. Change and Democracy in Africa in the era of Obama must begin with long overdue land reform. Reforms which has been forestalled over the last three decades because of local collusion and adherence to the neo-colonial agenda of international capital. African society and African leaders must enter the debate of change based on a paradigm that is home grown and rooted in the culture of their societies.
Mugabe had the opportunity to free the masses of Zimbabwe from the oppressive nature of the colonial system, but he blew it . His decision to follow the neo-colonial path and to turn his back on democratization brought Zimbabwe to its knees. It is my hope that the new Prime Minister not make the same mistake. Free elections as the situation in Zimbabwe has brought to the fore is one part of the solution. The other part is immediate legal land reform that recognizes the historical destruction of cultural system of ownership and production of food. Mugabe's failure is his lack of recognition that land reform should have been the backbone of the process of democratic renewal which began with his election. He turned his back on history and the oppressive nature of history. I hope that his successors learn from that mistake.
I do understand with the MDC’s decision to join the new government. But to argue that nine years of MDC’s struggle came to naught is too simplistic and does not take into consideration the concessions made by Mugabe. A reading of Mugabe’s speeches clearly points to the fact that he was not prepared to move an inch. Remember he does not trust MDC and MDC people should not trust Mugabe. A journey begins with a small step Tendai, and we hope that this step leads us to a new Zimbabwe. We do not expect to reach there today, but someday, by the will of God, surely we will be there. What we are witnessing now is a paradigm shift in political matters together with a gradual transfer of power- from those who have plundered this country to those, whom the electorate, believe are fresh and have new ideas in our, efforts (Zimbabweans and the international commuhnity)to undo the damages of the ‘lost decade’.
University of Minnesota
We are sick and tired of the rhetoric by so called in the diaspora who don't have an idea of how bad the situation on the ground is like. Why don't you Tendai come to Zim just for one week to understand why MDC had to backtrack. Stop writing nonsense and get back to your senses. Stop this rhetoric and join others in contributing positively to the struggling masses...tumira hupfu kumusha wosiyana nokunyora zvisina maturo...
- Is the world really in a recession? Claims of a world recession is exaggerated. Would the authors please share their definition of recession? or perhaps show some statistics that the world is in recession? According to all estimates and forecast the world economy will continue growing in 2009, and indeed outside of the advanced economies much of the developing world will be growing at rates higher than population growth.
UNU-WIDER
The Assembly of heads of state and government of the African Union (AU) ended their 12th ordinary summit on 4 February 2009 with a decision to transform the African Union Commission (AUC) into the African Union Authority (AUA), to be launched in June 2009. The Assembly’s deliberations were extended by a day as states struggled to agree on the modalities of setting up a Union Authority and moving it to a federal government, with a mandate to coordinate cross-border issues. ‘We rejected this agreement of creating a government or an Authority without power to govern. You cannot create a government that is weak in its mandate,’ a Kenyan government official told PANA press. African leaders sought an amendment to the Constitutive Act of the AU and time to consult with their parliaments. While some blamed the Commission’s lack of preparedness for the delay in reaching a deal: ‘the commission did not work out the details of transforming the Commission into an Authority and providing details on the legal reforms’. In a bid to save the process from collapsing, foreign ministers have been charged with finalizing the outstanding issues and report to the assembly before the June 2009 summit. Meanwhile, the Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni openly disagreed with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi over the direction of the formation of a single African government, the former calling for the strengthening of regional blocs, and the latter an immediate formation of the United States of Africa.
Though the idea of forming a united government of Africa has been on the table since the formation of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963 and that all member States accept the idea in principle as a common and desirable goal, some African policy makers question the pace of integration. ‘Libya and some 20 countries seem very much eager to see the union Government as soon as possible, while the other block of countries like Ethiopia and South Africa want to take it slow. Members of the latter block argue that it is too early for Africa to politically integrate. According to this group, Africa must first integrate economically by investing in infrastructure and the like.’ An analyst expressed his optimism that Muammar Gadaffi’s clear mission and vision to obtain a Union government will enable Africa to move forward with regional integration and to compete on equal footing with other global powers.
The secretary general of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) hailed calls for the introduction of an African single currency which would help reduce the cost of business transactions and ensure that prices of commodities are easily compared. The president of South Africa, Kgalema Motlanthe, said that his country would use its tenure as chairperson of the Southern African Development Community to fortify the institution and cement cohesion with COMESA and the East African Community.
In other news, the AUC chairperson Jean Ping has sent special envoy Amara Essy as to Madagascar to urgently seek an end to the political crisis and stand-off between President Marc Ravalomanana and opposition leader Andy Rajoelina.
Finally, a landmark workshop on legal strategies for promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in Africa was held in Cape Town last week. The meeting was the ‘first-ever dialogue between lawyers who have worked on litigation related to LGBT rights and African LGBT leaders’ and allowed participants to review key pieces of litigation to document lessons learned. ‘Participants ended the meeting with a call to create a multi-faceted LGBT legal fund for Africa and a training and support network for African lawyers working on sexual rights cases.’
Pambazuka News 418: Zimbabwe's coalition government: MDC's surrender?
Pambazuka News 418: Zimbabwe's coalition government: MDC's surrender?
Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was elected African Union (AU) chairperson by the Assembly of heads of state and government at their twelfth ordinary session to replace Tanzanian president Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete. The outgoing AU chairman briefed the Assembly on the achievements of the union under his tenure which included the peace process in Kenya, interventions in the Comoros, Zimbabwe and Somalia, among others. In his acceptance speech, Muammar Gaddafi pledged to reform the position of the chairperson and added that the call for a united Africa was not his own, but that of the founders of the organisation and a popular demand from African citizens. He also used the occasion to note that his long advocacy for the unity of Africa had nothing to do with what people call his ambition to lead the AU. Prior to his election, Gaddafi arrived at the summit venue accompanied by seven members of Africa’s royalty who support a quicker move towards a single government for the continent.
African heads of State and Government also during this summit decided, ‘as a compromise step toward eventually forming a continent-wide government’, to transform the AU Commission into the African Union Authority, an institution that will have ‘a bigger mandate, with bigger capacities’ and headed by a president with a vice-president and secretaries charged with portfolios.
The chairperson of the AU Commission noted that the current global financial crisis has highlighted the need and urgency for NEPAD integration into the AU structures and processes to enable the continent to face its challenges with a strong united voice. The African Development Bank, entrusted with a leading role in Africa’s infrastructure development, maintained that the acceleration of infrastructure development on the continent will play a critical role for economic growth.
In other news, only two member countries - Ethiopia and Mauritania - have ratified the African Charter on democracy, elections and governance while 26 others have neither signed nor ratified the document. Nine countries have signed the first regional agreement between Arab and African countries on combating piracy at a special meeting organised by the International Maritime Organisation. In the agreement, the nine countries that are affected by piracy would cooperate in preventing ship hijackings and apprehending suspected pirates for arrest and prosecution. “The Djibouti Code of Conduct - as the agreement is referred to - allows one signatory country to send armed forces into another signatory country's territorial waters to pursue pirates and, in some cases, to jointly conduct anti-piracy operations. The nations have also agreed on the creation of piracy information centers to be set up in Kenya, Tanzania, and Yemen, and an anti-piracy military training center to be established in Djibouti.
Lastly, the AU celebrated Miriam Makeba and Aimé Césaire as acknowledgement for their contributions to the emancipation of Africa.
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is due to sign into law a constitutional amendment allowing his rival Morgan Tsvangirai to become prime minister. It paves the way for the men to share power, as agreed last September. Meanwhile, a judge has dismissed treason charges against a key opposition MDC figure, removing another obstacle to forming a unity government.
The African Union (AU) has imposed sanctions, including a travel ban and a check on bank accounts, on Mauritania's military junta, it has announced. The AU says it will urge the United Nations to extend the measures so they are applied by every country. The move comes amid speculation that General Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz could contest elections, set for 6 June.
Kenya's top legal officer has denied that the government has been blocking a probe by the United Kingdom into the Anglo Leasing affair. On Thursday, the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) halted a probe into the corruption case, saying Kenya was not cooperating with the investigation.
The death toll from a contaminated baby medicine sold in Nigeria has risen from 34 - recorded in early December - to 84, the health ministry has said. There have been 111 reported cases of children who have fallen ill after being given teething syrup "My Pikin". The poisonous syrup was discovered last November when babies began dying of organ failure across the country.
The new African Union (AU) chairman, Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi, has said that multi-party democracy in Africa leads to bloodshed. Speaking at the AU summit in Ethiopia, Col Gaddafi said Africa was essentially tribal and political parties became tribalised, which led to bloodshed. He concluded the best model for Africa was his own country, where opposition parties are not allowed. Analysts say the AU is in for an interesting year under Col Gaddafi.
A Zimbabwean judge has dropped charges of treason against the secretary general of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Tendai Biti. He had faced a possible death sentence after being accused of plotting a coup against President Robert Mugabe. But Magistrate Olivia Mariga said prosecutors appeared unprepared to proceed against Mr Biti. It could be a sign that the ruling Zanu-PF wants a proposed coalition government to work, say correspondents.
The introduction of solar power systems to rural communities in East Africa is providing new business opportunities, as well as affordable and safe electricity supplies. Johari lives in the Iringa region of Tanzania. She used to work as a manual labourer, breaking rocks and selling the stones for building material. But now, after a short training course, Johari is assembling and selling small solar panels that can be used to power radios and recharge batteries for lamps and mobile phones.
The new Kenyan National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan should address rights abuses that make children vulnerable to HIV infection and impede access to care, Human Rights Watch has said in a policy proposal submitted to the government. The organization pointed out that tens of thousands of children in Kenya who need anti-retroviral treatment (ART) are not receiving it. The Kenyan National Aids Control Council (NACC) is currently preparing its new five-year strategic plan.
Government is to facilitate the processes aimed at strengthening the machineries dealing with matters of gender equality such as 50/50 representation in decision-making structures. Delivering the State of the Nation Address during a joint sitting in Parliament on Friday, President Kgalema Motlanthe said in the coming few months pending on the national and provincial elections, government will endeavour to complete that particular mandate.
Over 1,600 migrants currently held on the Italian island of Lampedusa are at risk of being forcibly returned to their home countries. According to an official statement by the Italian Minister of the Interior on 23 January, 150 migrants have already been returned from Lampedusa since 1 January. All those on the island are at risk of being returned without access to a fair procedure for examining their asylum claims or the opportunity to challenge their deportation.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has warned that a call by the United Nations Special Envoy in Somalia, Ahmed Ould Abdallah, to suspend news reporting from Somalia was an "ill-thought out and counter-productive" response to the media crisis in the country. "We oppose this move because it will not work and could make the situation even worse for journalists," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for urgent humanitarian action by the international community over the plight of Dawit Isaak, a journalist and writer who has been held in Eritrea without trial for almost eight years and who is believed to be seriously ill.
The United Nations refugee agency and its partners are sending staff and vital relief supplies to assist some 10,000 new asylum-seekers who have arrived in the Somali Region of south-east Ethiopia since the beginning of the year after fleeing insecurity in neighbouring Somalia. “About 150 people are now crossing the border each day and it is likely that [the] number of new arrivals will increase further over the next few weeks,” Ron Redmond, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told reporters in Geneva.
The leader of an armed group involved in recent combat in the South Darfur region of Sudan has pulled his militia out of the conflict zone as a result of the decision made by the hybrid African Union (AU) and United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to stay and protect civilians in the area. There have been renewed clashes since last month in Muhajeria involving the Government of Sudan and the rebel groups known as the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army/Mini Minawi (SLA/MM).
Many African countries are threatened with collapse or becoming failed states, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has warned. He told Heads of States at the just ended 12th AU summit that if their governments do not address the effects of climate change and the global financial crisis, some half of Africa's countries could be failing within 10 years.
Birtukan Mideksa has been sentenced to life in prison. She spends her days and nights in solitary confinement in a two-metre by two-metre cell. She cannot leave it to see daylight or even to receive visitors. Previous inmates say the prison is often unbearably hot. Her crime: refusing to say sorry. The judge, aged 34, is the head of Ethiopia's most popular political party, the only female leader of a main opposition party in Africa.
Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika picked Foreign Minister Joyce Banda on Friday as his running mate for the May presidential and parliamentary election. Wa Mutharika chose Banda, 67, who held several cabinet posts under former president Bakili Muluzi, over Finance Minister Goodall Gondwe, who is respected by the opposition and donors.
The very high levels of adherence to antiretroviral therapy observed in some settings in sub-Saharan Africa appear to be explained by the need to preserve a network of social relationships that people with HIV rely upon to survive, rather than being a consequence of individual motivation, according to a study conducted in Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda.
Freak weather conditions continue to cause devastation in Morocco as authorities struggle to address the humanitarian crisis. A number of people have lost their lives, mainly in the countryside and in mountainous regions and areas near rivers and dams.
The National Union of Tunisian Journalists (SNJT) issued a statement Monday (February 2nd) condemning the government's confiscation of the January 31st issue of Attariq Aljadid, a newspaper operated by opposition party Attajdid Movement, and expressing solidarity with members of Tunis radio station Radio Kalima, which was shut down last Friday.
During a seminar entitled "Discrimination in Inheritance" held in Tunis on January 24th, Mauritanian human rights organisations and activists spoke out against slavery, which they said is still eroding Mauritanian society. "Slavery is a painful reality in Mauritania," said Bairam Ould Messaoud, head of Mauritania-based organisation SOS Slaves. "Some families still own slaves and take them around houses and farms here in Nouakchott without the government intervening."
In the wake of the global financial and economic crisis, the President of the UN General Assembly, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, set up a commission of experts chaired by Nobel Prize Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, whose mandate includes putting forward “credible and feasible proposals for reforming the international monetary and financial system in the best interest of the international community”. The Commission of Experts of the President of the UN General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System will present its final report in early April 2009.
In the year in which the WSF joins with the population of the Pan-Amazon, we, women from different parts of the world gathered in Belém, reaffirm the contribution of indigenous women and women from all forest peoples as political subjects that enriches feminism in the framework of the cultural diversity of our societies and strengthens the feminist struggle against the patriarchal capitalist global system...
A cosmopolitan mix of women from the corporate and humanitarian aid fields gathered in Geneva on Friday to discuss the empowerment of displaced woman through livelihoods. More than 30 people from around the world attended the half-day "Worlds of Women Coming Together" meeting, co-organized by the UN Refugee Agency and Women's International Networking. Nyaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, general secretary of the World YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association), gave the keynote address.
The UN refugee agency said Friday that the Kenyan government has agreed to allocate land to accommodate the increasing numbers of Somali refugees who are fleeing to north-eastern Kenya to escape the escalating conflict in their country. The commitment came during a three-day visit to Kenya by Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Craig Johnstone, who arrived back in Geneva on Friday.
Laws against female genital mutilation are driving the practice underground and across borders, says UNIFEM. A study released in 2008 looked at the flow of girls traveling to be excised between Burkina Faso and its neighbours Mali, Niger, Ghana and Cote d’ Ivoire. Except Mali, all four countries in the study have laws against female genital mutilation (FGM), although enforcement varies widely.
When Egypt's new parliament convenes in early February, some members will be proposing a law to strengthen penalties against sexual offenders by increasing jail time and fines. The bill will also put more pressure on police to crack down on perpetrators by calling on them to intervene when incidents occur and not to remain passive bystanders when women demand justice.
High on the agenda for developing countries at the Accra High Level Forum on aid effectiveness was a commitment to use developing country systems (alignment) and to regulate division of labour (harmonisation). Regarding alignment donor governments agreed to channel at least 50% of aid through developing country systems. As for ‘donor harmonisation’, no specifics were given except for a call for donors to ‘harmonise their assistance proactively’.
Young women are not only combatants in contemporary African wars, they also participate in a whole array of different roles. By and large, though they remain invisible in these contexts to northern policy makers and NGOs. This policy dialogue argues that to improve policy and programming efforts it is necessary to broaden the understanding of young women’s roles and participation in armed conflict in Africa historically and today. The intention is to provide policy makers and aid practitioners with a state-of-the-art overview of the situation for young women in African war and post-war situations.
African peoples’ high vulnerability to climate change stems partly from historical global inequities that have left them ill-equipped to cope with the climate extremes they are already experiencing and the food security, water scarcity, and climate-induced migration crises that these extremes exacerbate. This year’s negotiations toward a post-2012 climate agreement must recognise African countries’ need for technological and financial support to pursue low-carbon development that will reduce poverty and strengthen their resilience to the impacts of climate change.
The Third National LGBTI Youth Leaders’ Lekgotla, which unites students’ gay groups from different universities in South Africa, is starting on 3 to 7 April 2009. The University of Cape Town’s gay rights group Rainbow UCT will be hosting this annual gathering and is expecting groups from about nine universities in South Africa.
Last May, the Red Cross office for West and Central Africa decided it wasn't going to let the flood disaster of 2007 happen again. The floods had affected over 800,000 people when torrential rains pummelled the region, destroying crops and homes. Red Cross partner, the African Centre of Meteorological Applications for Development, and other forecasters issued warnings for abnormally heavy rains during the 2008 wet season.
Reporters Without Borders condemns the way the Gambian authorities continue to hound The Point, a privately-owned daily based in Banjul. Its editor, Pap Saine, was charged with publishing false information yesterday, two days after being arrested and then freed on bail for reporting the arrest of a Gambian diplomat. Saine is to appear in court again on 19 February.
Reporters Without Borders is shocked by the murder of Francis Kainda Nyaruri, a freelance journalist based in the southwestern town of Nyamira, whose decapitated body was found on 29 January in a nearby forest. He had been missing since 16 January. “We would like above all to express our deep sympathy to the victim’s family,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We urge the competent authorities, especially Nyanza province police chief Larry Kieng, to do everything possible to establish the motive for this appalling murder and to bring those responsible to justice, keeping in mind its shocking symbolism for the Kenyan population.”
Boussada Ben Ali, the managing editor of the independent weekly L’Action, was today sentenced to three months in prison and fined 50,000 CFA francs (about 76 euros) for “publishing false information”. The journalist immediately appealed against the sentence but will remain in custody at Niamey prison where he has been since 26 January while awaiting the outcome of the appeal.
Fraud, data piracy, seeking partners on the internet: women in Burkina Faso are as much victims as perpetrators. From Ouagadougou to Banfora via Bobo-Dioulasso, and from Ouahigouya to Dori, all towns with an internet connection are affected by this phenomenon. However, the fight against this crime is in the tentative stages, if not altogether non-existent. Legislation is still under development.
On Monday 12 January 2009 at 7pm, of the four Gabonese civil society activists – Grégory Ngbwa Mintsa, Marc Ona Essangui, Georges Mpaga and Gaston Asseko – who had been detained in Libreville since 30 and 31 December 2008, respectively, were released from jail. This release follows days of large-scale international mobilisation by both non-governmental groups and French authorities in Paris and Libreville.
Eight countries - four in Africa and four in Asia - have been identified as those most economically vulnerable to the effects of climate change on fisheries in the first ever detailed study of the subject. The most badly hit countries are those where fish play a large role in diet, income and trade, and also lack the capacity to adapt to the impact of climate change such as the loss of coral reef habitats to the bleaching effect of warmer waters, and lakes parched by an increase in heat and a decrease in rainfall.
As Mali’s government makes strides toward the Millennium Development Goal of primary education for all by 2015, increased school enrolment and the resulting shortage of teachers and classroom space have blocked a growing number of students from secondary education. In 2008, some 17,000 students out of more than 80,000 who passed their secondary school exams, known as the diplôme d’étude fondamentale (DEF), were not admitted to secondary schools, according to the Ministry of Education.
Sylvie Kouamé*, 17, told IRIN she had sex for money with a man she met on line in her home country Côte d’Ivoire. She needed a few dollars for school fees. She no longer needs money for school. Five months pregnant, Kouamé dropped out a few years short of graduating secondary school.
As the gap between the fierce political rivalries of Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) narrows, there are fears that the independent media will be squeezed even more. In the past decade, while Zimbabwe lurched from one political crisis to another and the economy went into freefall, the independent media were lambasted by President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF government for their often critical views, and subjected to increasingly repressive media laws.
After years of delays, HIV/AIDS funding in the Central African Republic is finally making its way to thousands of HIV-positive people in desperate need of care and treatment. Hope and excitement were in the air in 2003, and again in 2004, when the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria allocated two grants, totalling US$40 million over five years, to combat HIV/AIDS in the Central African Republic (CAR), where an estimated prevalence of 6.3 percent makes it the hardest hit country in central Africa.
CODESRIA / SEPHIS programme is pleased to announce the 2009 session of its Lecture Tour series. The Lecture Tour series is an international academic forum that seeks to create a space for scholars from the South to discuss and express their ideas and share their perspectives on selected themes. It serves as an opportunity for Southern institutes or universities to invite a scholar with an established reputation from another area of the South, affiliated to a historic school or specific research approach, to present a series of public lectures and seminars on chosen themes.
Within the framework of its strategy for building comparative knowledge on Africa produced from within the African continent, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) invites proposals from researchers based in African universities and centres of research for the constitution of Comparative Research Networks (CRNs).
World Pulse Media is pleased to announce a Call for Applicants for Voices of Our Future, an exciting new international women's correspondent network. World Pulse will choose up to 30 applicants who are beginning to use new media to speak for themselves to the world, transform their communities, and change their own lives.
On February 21 - 22, 2009, the All African People’s Development and Empowerment Project (AAPDEP) will hold it’s second annual International Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Conference will open with a presentation by African Socialist International (ASI) Chairman Omali Yeshitela, who is credited with keeping alive the vision of Kwame Nkrumah and Marcus Garvey for a united prosperous Africa and forging a practical 21st century program for its achievement.
In February 2006, a thirteen year old schoolgirl, R.M., was raped by her teacher, Edson Hakasenke when she went to his house to collect her school papers upon his request. Mr. Hakasenke told her not to report the incident as she would be thrown out of school and he would lose his job. R.M. did not report the rape until several weeks later after she was treated for a sexually transmitted infection that she had contracted as a result of the rape. Her aunt/guardian filed a complaint with the headmaster. When confronted, Mr. Hakasenke claimed R.M. was his “girlfriend.”
This conference forms part of a collaborative project between the British Institute in Eastern Africa (BIEA) and the British Association of South Asian Studies (BASAS). Compared to the rapidly proliferating work on China in Africa, India, the other great ‘Asian Driver’, has been rather neglected in academic and policy circles. This event will bring together a series of papers on India’s changing relations with one region of sub-Saharan Africa.
The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) is disturbed at a growing trend in South African cities in terms of which the state forcibly removes shackdwellers from large shacks on well-located land to 'temporal housing' in transit camps (also known as 'temporary relocation areas' or TRAs) on the urban periphery. Relocation to transit camps is most often done to make way for infrastructure and development projects which will not benefit those being removed
The High Level Conference on Food Security in Madrid on the 26th and 27th of January excludes the main stakeholders in the debate on the food crisis from meaningful participation. It is a forum dominated by the World Bank, IMF and WTO, as well as transnational companies such as Monsanto, and it is an outrage that they are given space on the panels of discussion while representatives of small farmers - who produce 80% of the world's food – are left only a few minutes on the floor to give their position.
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to call for proposals for its revamped programme for the publication of text books for use in African universities. The programme was initially introduced as part of a broad set of objectives for achieving greater balance and relevance in curriculum development in African universities by making available to teachers and students, text books that are adapted to the African historical context and the environment of research and learning on the continent.
In September 2007, the International Humanitarian Law Project at the London School
of Economics and Political Science held a Symposium to discuss the content of the
Pact and its Protocols. The follow-up Conference on 29-30 May 2009 will focus on
the implementation and enforcement of the Protocols. Individuals who played an
integral role in drafting the Pact and Protocols as well as those responsible for its implementation have been invited to participate during the course of the first day.
In this research programme an interpretation will be offered of the relationship between the new Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), social space, mobility and marginality in Sub-Saharan Africa. In six case-studies (Central Chad, West-Cameroon, Central Mali, Senegal, North Angola and South-East Angola), the programme seeks to arrive at an interdisciplinary analysis of the dynamics of mobility, social relations and communication technologies.
GISWatch is a groundbreaking publication, which will impact on policy development processes worldwide and could make a difference in your country if more people hear about its findings. GISWatch is an annual watchdog report which this year asks: How do we ensure access to the internet is a human right enjoyed by everyone? The report highlights the importance of people's access to information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, and where and how countries are getting it right (or wrong), and what can be done about it.
For a number of years now, particularly in the period of globalisation, trade unions have been faced with major challenges which call for strategic responses. These challenges include building trade union internationalism in the period of mobile capital, assessing relations with left political parties as these have been dragged towards the political centre, tensions between collective bargaining and defensive struggles and strategic, revolutionary unionism and so on. This, the first of a new series of Annual Conferences, hosted by ILRIG and other partners, is an opportunities for activists and analysts - trade unionists as well as those involved in social movement campaigns - in South Africa to debate experiences of organising in South Africa, and elsewhere, whilst hearing of other forms of trade unionism in South Africa and elsewhere.
After some five years of research, Hans Fässler's book on Switzerland's links with slavery and the slave trade was published in 2005 under the title "Reise in Schwarz-Weiss. Schweizer Ortstermine in Sachen Sklaverei" (Rotpunkt-Verlag, Zurich). It has since been translated into French and been published in France under the title "Une Suisse esclavagiste. Voyage dans un pays au-dessus de tout soupçon" (Duboiris, Paris) with a preface by Doudou Diène, special rapporteur to the UN on contemporary forms of racism.
The disaster of climate change is intertwined with peace and conflict at many levels, from international environmental negotiations to indigenous communities using local abilities and resources to forge connections for dealing with climate change's impacts. This session will explore these interlinks, in particular to try separate the hyperbole over climate change causing all witnessed problems from the reality of climate change exposing vulnerabilities and conflicts that have long simmered but have not been addressed. Authors are encouraged to think broadly about peace and conflict and to ensure that any presentation critically engages with contemporary discourse on the topic.
Social movements in Latin America have been in the “trenches of resistance” against global capitalism, and now need to move to an “offensive,” taking concrete steps toward the creation of alternatives to capitalism, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez expressed during a speech to thousands of participants in the World Social Forum Thursday in Belém do Pará, Brazil. “Just like Latin America and the Caribbean received the biggest dose of neo-liberal venom, our continent has been the immense territory where social movements have sprouted with the greatest strength and begun to change the world,” said Chávez.
This catalogue was published on the occasion of the Event Series “200 Years Later…”, commemorating the 200 year anniversary of the official Abolition of the Maafa (Transatlantic Slave Trade), Berlin, 23-30.11.2008. It was awarded UNESCO's Toussaint Louverture Medal for its “contribution to the struggle against domination, racism and intolerance”. At the centre stands the celebration of the much neglected and still widely unknown manifold strategies of resistance of African people / people of African descent against one of the greatest atrocities in the history of mankind and the cultural and artistic practices they developed on the basis of this resilience.
The outpouring of emotion across Africa when President Barack Obama was sworn in had as much to do with his heritage as with the possibility that he might reverse some of the Bush administration's disastrous policies. President George W. Bush trumpeted Africa as a foreign policy success, highlighting the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (PEPFAR) as proof. He didn't mention the extremely unpopular ideological limitations on PEPFAR that he championed.
Pambazuka News 417: Special Issue: Kenya: One year on
Pambazuka News 417: Special Issue: Kenya: One year on
The Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) of the African Union (AU) touched on a number of issues including the administration of the AU Commission, its alternative sources of funds and the political crisis facing African States. The PRC expressed great disappointment during its opening session at the resurgence of military coups in Africa. The AU Commissioner for peace and security reminded the diplomats that the organisation would not accept any unconstitutional changes of government in the continent. Meanwhile, following a consultative meeting of foreign Affairs ministers of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States that took place in Libya prior to the PRC ordinary session, the Senegalese Minister of State for foreign Affairs declared that his country would like to see clarity among African leaders on the formation of an African federal government at the AU summit. The government of Uganda brought to a halt a Col. Muammar Gadaffi sponsored meeting in Kampala under the umbrella ‘Forum of African Traditional Leaders’, claiming that the Colonel was using the forum to pursue his agenda of creating a United States of Africa by engaging traditional leaders in politics, which is unconstitutional.
In peace and security related news, the AU will endorse the recommendation of the Southern African Development Community aimed at resolving the current political crisis in Zimbabwe. In the proposal, the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change is supposed to be sworn in as prime minister on 11 February and a coalition government to be formed shortly thereafter. Human Rights Watch, calling for the suspension of Zimbabwe from the continental organisation, urged the AU to put intensive pressure on President Robert Mugabe to end the longstanding political crisis, to formally take over the mediation process and ‘set basic principles, specific human rights benchmarks and timelines for resolving the crisis’. Meanwhile, the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur said that hundreds more troops from Egypt, South Africa, Senegal and Bangladesh, among others, would arrive in the Sudanese region of Darfur in an effort to boost the Mission’s civilian protection. In other news, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia resolved to form a regional disarmament committee to disarm pastoral and nomadic communities in a move aimed at reducing arms used in cattle rustling in the region.
In other news, the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) Coalition launched its book ‘Advocating for Women’s Rights: Experiences from the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights Coalition (SOAWR)’ in which the coalition shares its experiences in developing advocacy strategies for the ratification, popularisation and domestication of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. Finally, an analyst studies the impact of genetically modified (MG) crops on African agriculture and explores whether GM is the solution for the continent against hunger.
Pambazuka News 421: Zimbabwe: Transitional justice without transition?
Pambazuka News 421: Zimbabwe: Transitional justice without transition?
This course aims at giving the students a thorough overview and understanding of international law instruments pertaining to migration movements and to migrant and refugee women and children in particular. The course will have a human rights focus. The course will be structured around an examination of two groups and their rights; women and children. No single international treaty governs migration and migrants' rights, but that does not mean that there is no "international migration law".
The course will cover various advanced topics in international refugee law. Topics to be covered include ethical and professional obligations while representing clients undergoing refugee status determination; the \"nexus\" requirement of the refugee definition; the expanded grounds for protection under the OAU Convention and UNHCR\'s mandate; the possibility of socio-economic \"persecution\"; the distinction between prosecution and \"persecution\"; the non-refoulement and expulsion provisions of the Convention; refugee rights guaranteed by the Convention; and, the interaction between the Convention and domestic and international human rights protections.
In this course, participants will increase their understanding of the psychosocial and mental health issues of refugees and learn how to implement effective interventions. Topics will include: Review of international research about the psychosocial and mental health consequences of war and violence; Implications for working with various cultures and contexts; Skills for assessment of need; Culturally sensitive interviewing skills; Methods for working with translators; Introduction to individual, family, group and community interventions, and more.