They were "mannerless boys" for whom rape was a sport after a day on the army firing range and who perhaps never imagined their alleged deeds would come to light. But now, their victims - Kenyan Maasai and Samburu women who claim they were raped by British troops training in east Africa - are emerging from anonymity to tell of their ordeal.

This report presents the findings of a rapid assessment study conducted in Arusha, Dar Es Salaam and Mwanza regions to investigate activities performed by working children in the informal sector. Some of the main findings from this study include that there were more male working children in the informal sector activities investigated than females. This disparity is due to the fact that most female children are tracked by society into domestic work as opposed to more male-oriented activities.

An online Northern Sotho-English dictionary has been launched by a group of academics called TshwaneDJe to promote interest in the official indigenous languages of South Africa. TshwaneDJe is an initiative of Professor Danie Prinsloo, who also heads up the African Languages department at the University of Pretoria, and Gilles-Maurice de Schryver, a Belgian researcher of African languages. Together with David Joffe, who created the website AfricanLanguages.com, they hope to provide language reference and learning materials for the nine indigenous African languages in South Africa.

Forty-three people died in Bulawayo in April alone because of malnutrition, according to an official council report on the health situation in Zimbabwe’s second largest city. The city’s director of health services, Rita Dlodlo, said in the report – a copy of which was shown to The Daily News – that most of the deaths were among children in the five to 14-year age group.

Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, who became the first president when Zambia attained independence in October 1954, told participants at a United Nations Development Programme meeting in Johannesburg that HIV/Aids was not a death sentence. “If I had been found positive, I still would have used that status to campaign against the pandemic, as I do now,” said the 79 year-old former president.

In Africa, a child dies from measles every minute. Spread through the air, measles is one of the most contagious diseases known and is the leading cause of death among unvaccinated children. The good news is that the disease is easily preventable with a simple intervention: an inoculation. Take a Virtual Journey at the website provided and Help Vaccinate Children Against a Killer Disease.

The war in Congo has been miss-described as a local ethnic rivalry when in fact it represents an ongoing struggle for power at the national and international levels, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. The report provides evidence that combatants in the Ituri region of north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have slaughtered some five thousand civilians in the last year because of their ethnic affiliation. But the combatants are armed and often directed by the governments of the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.

"We stand against the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad). This plan was hatched in Pretoria and imposed on the governments and people of the continent. It talks of partnership, but represents a relationship of inequality in which the weak are begging the powerful for $64 billion a year. In order to beg, it agrees with the neoliberal paradigm and commits to following the agenda of the World Bank, IMF and WTO...The African Union (AU) has been formed on the basis of Nepad as its fundamental policy. It thus compels us to stand up to the AU and demand that it jettisons Nepad before we give consideration to engaging with its structures."

Cheap, portable and readily available: every year more than half a million people are killed through the misuse of small arms such as handguns, assault rifles and grenades. Millions more are crippled. With poverty providing an ideal breeding ground for small arms proliferation, African countries are currently the worst hit by a global epidemic of armed violence which threatens the safety and well being of people in developed and developing countries alike. In the context of the first UN Biennial Meeting of States to discuss the UN's programme of action on small arms and light weapons taking place in New York this week, id21 explains why small arms control is such an important issue for developing countries.
Related Link:
* Ending the gun culture
http://www.id21.org/society/s10bundp1g1.html

A new June report from Watchlist on children and armed conflict calls on all parties to conflict in the DRC to immediately halt abuses against children and uphold all international obligations to protect children's security and rights. It is also a call to the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, to work vigorously to ensure the end of abuses against Congolese children and adolescents.

Is changing sexual behaviour an effective tool for reducing the levels of HIV infection? If so, how can behavioural change programmes best be implemented at community level? Research by the Medical Research Council (UK) Programme in Uganda explores the implementation of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) set up to study the effects that community Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and improved management of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) can have on STD and HIV infection rates on a rural population in south west Uganda.

HIV is rampant among young people in South Africa, despite sound knowledge about sexual health risks. Levels of perceived vulnerability among this group are low and unprotected sex is common. Researchers from the London School of Economics studied a participatory programme seeking to empower young people to change gender norms as an HIV prevention strategy.

African leaders are expected to give George Bush's tour a rocky start by blaming US trade practices for impoverishing millions of farmers across the continent. Many African economies, especially those of Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Benin, depend on cotton for employment, exports and wealth creation. But many producers, mostly the small and labour-intensive ones, are failing because US subsidies are helping to depress prices and squeeze rivals out of markets.

Anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) activists from 28 African and Arab countries want their respective Governments to come up with specific legislation prohibiting the practice. In a petition dubbed the Cairo Declaration, the activists want all Governments to adopt an appropriate law which will lead to the prevention and subsequent abandonment of FGM worldwide.

The Tanzanian government is to fund a highly successful initiative to increase the number of women studying science subjects at university. The 'pre-entry programme' - which gives a six-week 'booster' course to women who initially fail to meet the entry requirements of science courses - has increased the proportion of women studying science at the University of Dar es Salaam from three to 28 per cent over the past six years.

After three years of preparation and five months of intensive negotiation, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted by consensus a resolution on the prevention of armed conflict, hailed as a landmark in efforts to move the world body from a culture of reacting to crises to one of preventing them reaching critical mass.

Every scientist, everywhere, needs to know how to write convincing proposals. In times of increasing competition for scarce research funding, it is vital for the staff of agricultural research organisations to design projects that can attract external project funding for specific agricultural research efforts. The skills and knowledge needed to achieve these aims are not difficult to acquire. But to date, information and exercises on what to do have not been brought together in a single publication or training module. “How to Write a Convincing Proposal: Strengthening Project Development, Donor Relations, and Resource Mobilization in Agricultural Research” aims to provide participants with a single source for acquiring these new and useful skills and knowledge.

Discussions are taking place in Angola over the date of the next presidential and parliamentary elections. Elections were last held in 1992, but the rebel movement UNITA rejected the results and plunged the country back into war. Following last year's peace agreement UNITA has fully committed itself to the constitutional path. A dozen years after the last elections, the focus is turning to the urgent need to hold elections to reaffirm the legitimacy of the government.

The Electoral Commission has decided to push ahead with the general registration of voters. The decision was taken despite a pending court application by the Congress of Democrats (CoD) that could affect the countrywide campaign.

The rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has intensified its attacks in northern Uganda in recent weeks with the main objective of forcing internally displaced persons (IDPs) out of camps protected by the Ugandan army, the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) has said.

A truth, justice and reconciliation commission should be set up immediately to address human rights violations and economic crimes committed in Kenya between 1963 and 2002, a national conference has recommended.

Delegates to the Somali peace talks, taking place in Kenya, signed what was termed an "historic" agreement on 5 July to set up a federal government, but confusion was created when some political groups denounced the agreement the following day.

Mozambican Health Minister Francisco Songane reaffirmed on Monday that malaria remains the single largest cause of death in the country. Songane was speaking in Maputo at a meeting between Ministry of Health specialists and cooperation partners under the "Roll Back Malaria" (RBM) programme.

An inter-ministerial commission set up in May to investigate the size of the civil service in the Central African Republic found 866 ghost workers in the government's payroll, the prime minister's office reported on Thursday. The government could save up to 265 million francs CFA (US $481,915) every month by not paying the ghost workers.

Ghanaian health authorities have ordered anti-retroviral drugs from undisclosed sources to cater for the treatment of 2000 HIV/AIDS patients for the next two years.

I was interested to read your Pambazuka editorial on the ICC (Pambazuka News 117). I agree strongly and would like to sign a petition or something, but the petition URL below the editorial is for something else. Is there a petition on ICC?

Pambazuka News Replies: For more information on the ICC, please visit the website http://www.iccnow.org. The website contains news, resources and information on how to get involved in advocating for the ICC.

CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations, is inviting applications for national partners to implement the CIVICUS Civil Society Index (CSI) 2003-04. The CSI is an action-research project that assesses the state of civil society in countries around the world with a view to creating a knowledge base and an impetus for civil society strengthening initiatives. The CSI was successfully piloted in 14 countries around the world and CIVICUS has launched the first full implementation phase in 42 countries. The CSI will be implemented by civil society organisations at the country level, in close partnership with CIVICUS. The deadline for submissions is July 31st 2003. For more information and application details, please visit www.civicus.org and/or email [email protected]

Whatever the other shortcomings of representative democracy, one issue that clearly remains largely unresolved is the participation and policy impact of women. This comparative study examines two African countries, South Africa and Uganda, both of which have attained greater women's political participation than most African - or indeed Western - democracies. How did women in these countries achieve some 30 per cent representation in both national and local political institutions? How far did women's mobilization in civil society play a part? How sustainable are the gains? And what is the impact of women politicians on policy?

'If in time, the reality of the absence of fundamental change convinces the disadvantaged majority that we have created a political democracy which is unable or unwilling fully to dismantle the system of racial oppression and exploitation, then we must expect that the dream deferred will, rather than wilt in the sun, explode!' (Thabo Mbeki, 1994). This book assesses how far South Africa has come in uprooting poverty since this pronouncement. It traces developments from the end of the apartheid economic system, that institutionalised and perpetuated poverty, and some of the highest levels of inequality in the world; to the new era, which grew out of this regime, and is characterised by black stratification, and an ever widening gap between rich and poor.

Working with the Representative in Nairobi and other Ford Foundation staff, the Program Officer will be responsible for the Foundation's Eastern Africa programming on human rights and social justice in the region.

The Country Director (CD) will join the Angola programme at an exciting point in its development. Concern has been operational in Angola since 1993 and are now developing a strategic plan to focus on advocacy and working with partners. The CD's role will be to provide management and leadership to this process.

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) says it has been informed about the torture of Jum'a Omer Alnur and death in detention of Mr. Awad Ibrahim Gamar in Sudan. The organisation wants those concerned to write to the Sudanese authorities asking them to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of other prisoners and to guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

The European Union (EU) has donated Sh500 million to the Government for the setting up of a recovery plan to market Kenya.

With HIV prevalence rates in antenatal clinic attendees of 35.4 %, Botswana is one of the countries at the epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Despite this, the role of research in the national response to the epidemic has continued to take a back stage. The National AIDS Coordinating Agency (NACA) in collaboration with all stakeholders and developmental partners have, as a result, found it necessary to hold the first ever National HIV/AIDS/STI/and other related infectious Diseases (ORID) Research Conference - NHASORC 2003. It will be held from the 7th to the 12th of December 2003 in Gaborone.

Although hopes were raised in the last week that new players would be allowed to enter the broadcasting arena before the end of the year, the Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) notes that this announcement comes nearly three years after the Supreme Court struck down a monopoly of the airwaves. "This delay brings into question Government’s commitment to allow new players into the broadcasting arena. Despite many calls by civic organisations for Government to revisit the Broadcasting Services Act to bring it into line with international norms and standards on freedom of expression, this has not happened."

African trade ministers have warned UK trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt that the price of a successful conclusion to the new round of global trade talks will be further cuts to Europe's farm subsidies. Agriculture ministers agreed last month in Luxembourg to break the link between subsidies and farm output to trim the surplus produce Europe dumps in poor countries, bankrupting local farmers. But trade ministers from Africa and the developing world meeting in London dismissed the deal as a fudge which leaves the worst excesses untouched.

Any attempt to extract heavy minerals from the dunes along the Eastern Cape's Pondoland coast will be massively destructive and according to one South African expert, such mining operations typically wipe out everything in their path. University of Natal geologist Dr Ron Uken says in terms of the environment, mining coastal dunes for titanium minerals such as ilmenite and rutile "leaves nothing".

Extinction of the unique Gourma elephants "is a real possibility if conditions don't change soon," Vicki Huddleston, U.S. Ambassador to Mali, warned in a June 18 interview with the U.S. State Department International Information Program. If the international community does not join with the Malian government now to prevent their ranges from being taken over by human settlements, these beautiful creatures will die, she said.

Journalists, editors, media academics, researchers and development workers from Africa will focus their attention on the role of the media in development, at a conference to be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from September 10 to 12, 2003. The conference, with the title "The Development Agenda and the Media: A southern Africa perspective - What role can the media play in advancing development goals in southern Africa?", will be hosted by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), a regional media freedom and freedom of expression organisation.

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN says it is "deeply concerned" by the continued detention of three journalists on charges of "publishing false information and disturbing public order." The journalists concerned are Dimas Dzikodo and Philipe Evegno, editor-in-chief and publication director respectively of the weekly newspaper L'Evenement, and Jean de Dieu Kpakpabia, journalist with the weekly newspaper Nouvel Echo.

A conference of leading journalists, media lawyers and online news executives, held between June 26-28 in New York, endorsed a set of 16 principles representing fundamental guidelines for maintaining and protecting the freedom and independence of Internet news, and suggested actions to implement it.

This sourcebook documents details of HIV prevention programmes for school age children in seven African countries: Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Types of programmes include both primary and secondary school based examples, use of the media, community based and peer education programmes and outreach for street children.

Swaziland may be entering a new and violent political phase with the proclamation at the weekend of a manifesto by the Swaziland Youth Congress, promising an armed response to alleged political repression by King Mswati's government. "We urge our members to take up arms against government," a Swaziland Youth Congress pamphlet was quoted as saying by the Times of Swaziland.

The Health Economics & HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD) was established in 1998 as a research and teaching organisation. Heard all about it is the in-house publication of the division and is published quarterly. To receive this publication please send an email to [email protected] with the words `subscribe newsletter' in the subject line.

Zimbabwe’s internal situation has continued to worsen, producing increasingly destabilising effects in southern Africa through refugees and economic chaos and damaging the entire continent’s efforts to establish new political and trade relations with the rest of the world. In this context, South Africa is the single country with the ability to help its neighbour through the roughest patches, according to a new report from the International Crisis Group. A range of other international players will need to play supporting roles.
Related Links:
* "I pretended I was dead"
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=24001
* Listen to me or else, Mugabe warns MP's
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20030709044043642C98...

Bukavu-based Radio Maendeleo in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been authorised to resume operations by the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), the Rwandan-backed rebel movement announced on Monday.

An application by Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two senior party officials to have treason charges against them dropped has been postponed to next week, a newspaper reported on Monday.

President Thabo Mbeki urged religious leaders at a mass Christian gathering in Pretoria to actively help fight the legacy of racism. He said that religious bodies were in a unique position to support the government in the struggle against poverty and in promoting reconciliation. "As religious leaders, perhaps it would be important to take an active role in fighting the legacy of racism, ensuring that we find practical ways and means of reconciling our people and communities."

The South African legal fraternity has welcomed the dropping of a corruption charge against a 65-year-old retired judge in Zimbabwe. "The withdrawal of all charges against Judge (Fergus) Blackie fully vindicates the stance of the South African Bar," the General Council of the Bar of SA (GCBSA) said.