PAMBAZUKA NEWS 118: OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 118: OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH
A Kenyan mother of five appealed to American President George Bush on the eve of his African tour on Monday for help in finding her husband, two weeks after his arrest in Malawi by United States agents on an anti-terrorist swoop.
As your plane touches down in Dakar, Senegal, we welcome the opportunity of your visit to examine the US Africa relationship and to establish ties that are based on honesty, respect and a clear commitment to removing the structural obstacles that impede Africa's development. We would like to raise the following issues for your consideration. They are not new ones, but there is an opportunity, with your visit, to act decisively and change the image and relationship of your Administration with Africa.
The proposed visit to five African countries has been scheduled to clash with the Second Heads of Summit meeting in Maputo, Mozambique. It is unclear how the Administration could be so out of step with African continental institutions by not seeking to attend this important meeting. As arranged, the trip will rather serve as a distraction to the African Union meeting.
We notice that your planning team has omitted those countries like Tanzania and Kenya that have directly suffered from terrorist attacks against US interests and citizens. This is odd given the tremendous cost that these countries have borne and continue to bear as a result of their relationship with the US. Furthermore, the highly selective programme excludes civil society and the business communities who could have offered constructive and prepositional conversation around US foreign policy, aid and trade. As constructed, the agenda appears to offer little else than a series of photo opportunities starting with Goree Island and ending in a Ugandan AIDS clinic with shots of our Presidents in between.
This trip may boost the Republican campaign image among the African-American community before elections. However, it does very little to boost confidence on the continent that this is a working visit that will afford time and space for Africans to share their aspirations and engage the Administration on the need for the US to change its policies and practices toward Africa. There is still time though should you choose to act on the substantive issues we raise below.
Delivery not spin on HIV/AIDS is needed:
Two thirds of the 25 million people who have died are Africans. In Zimbabwe alone, more than 3000 people are dying each week from the disease. There is no doubt this is one of the gravest issues confronting the continent, yet the Global Health Fund is short on resources. While welcoming the public pledge of US$15 billion to a unilateral US Global AIDS programmes, we note your Administration's request for 2004 is a miserly $450 million. Mr. Bush, where is the $15 Billion that you have promised to fight AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean? Show us the money!
The quality of US health programmes have suffered from the reliance on patented drugs and the restriction of health programmes that promote abstinence from sex rather than safe sex. We call on you to heed the demand of African leaders and women's organisations for a change in these policies and those promoting health cut backs. The demand for the right to import and manufacture generic drugs is a moral imperative. This trip would be an opportunity to express your support for Africans to access cheap generic drugs and to promote women's rights to control their own fertility.
Decrease uni-lateral militarisation, facilitate regional peace-keeping:
Several African conflicts are leading to the deaths, displacement and impoverishment of millions of African women, men and children. African leaders have tried individually and collectively to respond to these conflicts despite the debilitating effects of structural adjustment policies (which the US supports) and debt servicing.
The US needs to provide adequate logistical and financial support for peacekeeping, peacemaking and peace-building in Sudan, Liberia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi. It can do this through cooperation and collaboration with existing efforts such as the ECOWAS-sponsored peace conference in Liberia, the South African-led peace efforts in Burundi and the United Nations and French-led operations in the DRC.
At the same time, civil society organizations in Africa would like to register their unequivocal opposition to the further militarisation of the continent by the proposed setting up of new military bases in Africa as well as the expansion of others, i.e. Djibouti. We are not unmindful of the past US military role in Africa. In fact a number of Africa's civil wars are products of US military support, including Liberia, the DRC, and the recently ended Angolan war. The move to militarize the continent cannot be justified by US economic interests in our oil or in protecting Africa from terrorism.
We call on the US to roll back the current plans to create “forward operating bases” on African soil and desist from promoting bi-lateral agreements that exempt both US and African citizens from prosecution under the International Criminal Court. With great power comes responsibility for one's actions. This should also apply to the US.
Why is Iraq's debt different from Africa's?:
It has long been established that Africa's debt burden is a major obstacle to Africa's development objectives. The servicing of Africa's debt has made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the continent to invest in the productive sector, health and education.
Mr. Bush, will you announce US support for the unconditional cancellation of Africa's debt while in Africa? If Iraqi's debt can be cancelled, then surely there is nothing to stop you from doing the same for Africa.
Dumping is not Fair Trade:
In your pre-visit media briefings, you made reference to free trade and AGOA as a panacea for Africa's economic woes, yet your Administration practices protectionist policies, offers tremendous subsidies and is aggressively promoting patents on all living and non-living resources. Agriculture is Africa's competitive advantage and the only form of livelihood for 70% of its population. Africa's poverty is the direct consequence of the inability to export agricultural commodities at fair prices and to access US technologies.
We call on you to announce a moratorium on subsidies to US farmers, desist from championing risky GM products and to take measures that will enhance market access for Africa's agricultural products.
Democracy is a principle, not a matter of expediency:
African people across the continent are establishing and holding accountable democratic governments. In these cases, US support like elsewhere in the world is welcome. The practice of externally induced “regime change” as we have seen in the recent past is not welcome. Africans reserve the right to elect and/or recall their leaders through democratic processes. We view with deep concern, the pressure that is placed on African Governments to adopt laws that contravene national constitutions and to act in a manner that strips their citizens or residents of their fundamental freedoms and access to the rule of law such as the recent case of four Moslems in Malawi suspected of being linked to Al Qaeda. This divides Africa along racial and religious lines.
We would have liked an opportunity to express these thoughts more directly and hear your responses. However we note with concern that the space for civil society in the US to comment on and/or critique your administration policies has shrunk considerably. We are not surprised that civil society in Africa as well did not feature in your itinerary.
We deeply share the pain and suffering of Americans resulting from September 11 events and the sense of urgency to bring this insecurity to an end. However, we think that US-Africa relations cannot not be driven by the US War Against Terrorism or US interests in Africa as an emerging market or as supplier of 15% of US oil. We make these appeals because we believe there are obligations that come with being the world's only super power. Furthermore, the people of the US and Africa have a history that is intertwined. Crimes against African humanity were conducted during slavery and during the cold war. In that sense the US has an ethical burden to act in ways that exude justice, human rights and a genuine respect for democracy. We ask not for charity, we seek justice. We look to your trip to to act decisively and change the image and relationship of your Administration with Africa.
Yours truly:
Helen Wangusa Coordinator, African Women Empowerment Network (AWEPON), Uganda
Patrick Craven, Congress of South African Trade Unions, South Africa
Muthoni Wanyeki, Executive Director African Women Development and Communication Network (FEMNET), Kenya
Oduor Ong'wen, Director, Econews Africa, Kenya
Ezra Mbogori, Executive Director, Mwelekeo wa NGO (MWENGO), Zimbabwe
c.c.Hon. Colin Powell, Secretary of State, Hon. Andrew Natsios, Administrator,USAID.
Endorsed by:
Emira Woods, Co-Director, Foreign Policy in Focus/Institute for Policy Studies, US
Salih Booker, Executive Director, AfricaAction, US
Bill Fletcher, President, Transafrica, US
Leon Spencer, Executive Director, Washington Office on Africa, US
Njoki Njoroge Njehu, Director, 50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for Global Economic Justice, US
Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General, CIVICUS Citizens World Alliance, South Africa
* Visit to endorse the open letter or have your name added as a signatory.
THE BUSH PHOTO SHOOT IN LINKS
SENEGAL
* Bush Discusses Liberia With West African Leaders
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080093.html
* Cooped-up locals angry about Bush http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1382948,00.html
SOUTH AFRICA
* Anti-Bush crowd braves cold
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1385104,00.html
* Bush and Mbeki have long talks on Africa
* Mbeki lied to US over Mugabe talks, says opposition http://allafrica.com/stories/200307070898.html
* 'Texas is missing an idiot'
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Bush_in_Africa/0,,2-7-1505_1385148,00.html
* Zimbabwe Hot Topic for Bush Meeting in South Africa
* Bush's Brief Visit to Lift Botswana from Obscurity
UGANDA
* Activist Dares Bush On Aids
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080507.html
* Bush to Museveni – No third term; no DRC meddling
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/current/Regional/Regional0707200335.html
* Officials Want Bush to Remove Subsidies
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307090097.html
* Reform Tells Bush to Press Museveni On Parties, Rights
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080508.html
NIGERIA
* Another day, another photo opportunity
http://www.hrw.org/africa/index.php
The European Commission (EC) on Tuesday granted US $112,000 to assist flood victims in the Caprivi region of north-eastern Namibia. On 12 May 2003, floods caused by the Zambezi River bursting its banks submerged 22 villages in the Kabbe constituency of the Caprivi region, some 1,400 km north-east of the capital, Windhoek.
An international NGO on Tuesday said a shortage of funds was hampering the delivery of assistance to Zimbabwe's urban poor. Help Germany coordinator Hans Sittig told IRIN: "With the limited funds we are just managing to provide help to those who fall under our programme. But that is just scratching the surface. There are many other vulnerable groups who are desperately in need of assistance.”
The European Union (EU) has allowed the Government to divert US$8m (sh16b) from the European Development Fund (EDF) to finance humanitarian activities in the war-ravaged northern Uganda.
The US government is attempting to block all discussion of structural changes to the World Bank's governance, something which has been repeatedly demanded by Bank critics and promised by ministers at international summits, according to the Bretton Woods Project, a London-based World Bank, IMF watchdog group. A key problem with World Bank and IMF governance structures is that the 46 Sub-Saharan African countries have just two Executive Directors on the Bank and Fund Boards to represent them all, says the Project.
The repatriation of Eritrean refugees from Sudan, which resumed last month, has been halted due to the start of the rainy season, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.
Four people were killed and seven others injured on Wednesday when rebels shelled the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, for the third consecutive day.
On a street by the river port in the oil town of Warri, dozens of Nigerian soldiers and marines shelter behind sandbags, pointing their machine guns towards an unseen enemy. They are mounting a 24-hour watch on the southern approaches of the Warri River. "The situation in the Niger Delta has graduated from restiveness to insurrection," Enilama Umoku, a political science lecturer at Delta State University near Warri, told IRIN.
The former president of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konare, looked set to become Africa’s top diplomat Tuesday, after the formal withdrawal of Amara Essy, the current interim chairperson of the African Union Commission. Essy said: "The Office of the President of Cote d’Ivoire, my country, announced on Monday 7 July, 2003, the withdrawal of my candidacy to the post of Chairperson of the African Union."
Half of the ten member commission of the African Union (AU), to be elected in Maputo this week, will be women, according to Ana Nemba, the permanent Mozambican ambassador to the AU.
Most of the largest carbon dioxide emitting companies in the U.S. are failing to assess, disclose and address the financial risks posed by climate change, according to a new study of 20 of the world's largest companies. Unlike many of their foreign rivals, American industry giants such as ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, General Electric, Southern Company and Xcel Energy, continue to pursue business strategies that discount the global warming threat, the report details.
On the eve of the African Union (AU) summit in Maputo, Amnesty International called on all African governments to fulfil their obligations under international law and to cooperate fully with the Special Court for Sierra Leone. "African governments meeting in Maputo should state publicly their commitment to cooperate with the Special Court; failure to do so will undermine the integrity of the AU," Amnesty International said.
Transparency International, an organisation that exposes government corruption, on Monday urged African heads of state to adopt a continental anti-corruption treaty. The Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption is scheduled to be presented for adoption to the heads of state at the African Union Summit to be held in Maputo on Wednesday.
The United States is helping some developing countries rework their drug patent laws in ways that "go beyond global standards" in protecting pharmaceutical companies and that could "undercut" President Bush's five-year, $15 billion AIDS initiative by making antiretroviral drugs more expensive and more difficult to obtain, the Wall Street Journal reports. "There are many ways that the Bush administration has contravened the letter and spirit of international efforts to improve access to drugs in developing countries,” Asia Russell, international policy coordinator at the Health GAP, said.
As negotiations leading up to the fifth ministerial of the World Trade Organisation from September 9-14 in Cancun Mexico grind to a halt, civil society organisations are stepping up their efforts to mount massive mobilisations and civil disobedience in Cancun and elsewhere in the world during the week of the ministerial meeting. Many of the issues under discussion relating to agriculture and drug access are crucial to the welfare of the developing world. Cancun is shaping up not to be another Doha but a second Seattle, writes Walden Bello, executive director of the Bangkok-based Focus on the Global South.
The aim of this digest is to compile on a monthly basis the trends of violations on freedom of expression on the continent. It will be based on information gathered from partners within the IFEX network and elsewhere. The first part of the digest will highlight and summarize the regional trends and the second will take a closer look at legal dimension of one of the threats of the month. Email [email protected] for a copy of the digest.
The prospects of Wireless Internet are by all admissions very promising, offering vast development opportunities worldwide both from a mobility and fixed infrastructure standpoint. Wireless Internet technologies present very attractive opportunities for developing countries to leapfrog several generations of telecommunications infrastructure. This is according to the conference manifesto of "The Wireless Internet Opportunity for Developing Nations" conference, hosted by the Wireless Internet Institute and the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force.
iEARN Sierra Leone, founded in 1999, is a member of the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN), a non-profit global network that enables young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects. The core activity of iEARN Sierra Leone is the participation of young people and their teachers sharing their talents over the Internet. They create and participate in online projects covering a range of issues, including peace, human rights, conflict resolution and sustainable development.
The ICT Stories objective is to capture the learning process that accompanies the introduction and implementation of ICTs in a project in exemplary stories. Based on a set of criteria three winning stories will be selected by a renowned jury. The writers of these stories will be given the opportunity to travel to Switzerland to present their findings at the ICT4D platform at the WSIS.
To get the economy of a developing country going, its government must stamp out corruption, ramp up efficiency and use open-source technology to build a cheap, reliable information infrastructure, experts at a conference sponsored by the United Nations told investors and policy-makers this week.
The sending of French and British soldiers to the DRC, where the most modest estimates suggest that around three and a half million people have died as a result of war in the last five years, has received little comment. Yet the question remains: has the problem of the Congo been too much intervention, or too little? The Congolese state has been bankrupted by the costs of war. The people survive in conditions of desperate poverty. Successive outside players have done nothing to encourage self-government or even the conditions in which democracy could grow. The arrival of the French troops has been met therefore with cynicism.
As Africa has a strong actual and potential international comparative advantage in agriculture and agri-processed products, improving African agricultural producers’ access to world markets should benefit African agriculture, exports and overall economic growth significantly. However, developed and even developing countries generally operate high tariff and non tariff barriers to agricultural trade, and many developed economies subsidise agricultural production and exports, depressing world agricultural prices and undermining Africa’s options of pursuing agricultural export oriented economic growth. Hence, achieving agricultural trade liberalisation in the Doha round is important for Africa’s future development prospects, says this briefing from the South African Institute of International Affairs, available on the web page of the Southern African Regional Poverty Network.
Two local seed companies are considering entering the legal fray over local nongovernmental organisation Biowatch's longrunning battle to get government's information on genetically modified crops. Biowatch launched a high court application last September to compel government to give it a list of all the genetically modified crops grown in SA, the locations of field trials, and information on the risk assessments on the basis of which government had granted permits for the crops.
With the resumption of administrative activities across the troubled Pool Region in the Republic of Congo, the government has expressed hope that all internally displaced persons (IDPs) would be back in their homes by the end of July.
Thousands of civilians were displaced when heavy fighting erupted again on Tuesday between the army and fighters loyal to Agathon Rwasa's faction of the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) in the southeastern part of the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.
The Zambian government says the return of peace to Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will lead to a reduction of the number of refugees in the country.
People living in remote areas in Tanzania are due to benefit from a US $5.4 million grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a public-private partnership formed in 2002 to attract resources to fight the three diseases.
Many of the circumstances that lead to internal displacement are similar or identical to those that cause individuals to develop a “well-founded fear of persecution” and seek international protection as refugees. Moreover, the potential consequences of withdrawing protection prematurely or erroneously from IDPs and refugees can be equally harmful. An article in the May edition of Forced Migration Review examines this issue.
The ministry of health has still not signed an agreement to accept R715-million in international funding to combat HIV and Aids despite a promise earlier this year to sign the agreement by May. However, an announcement would be made "very shortly" about when the agreement with The Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria would be signed, a department spokesperson said this week.
The Sunday Independent tells the shocking story of the gang-rape of five months old Thandiwe and how it led her foster mother, Claudia Ford, to establish the Princess Trust. First on the list of trust beneficiaries are Women and Men Against Child Abuse and the Child Protection Unit.
Liberia's only major referral hospital, the John F. Kennedy Medical Centre in the capital, Monrovia, can no longer contain the influx of cholera patients, most of whom are internally displaced persons, the acting Minister of Health Nathaniel Bartee said on Wednesday.
Many schools in Kenya are coping with a 100% or more increase in student numbers that are triggered by the new government's free and compulsory primary education policy. Average class sizes have risen while facilities remained the same. With the influx of so many new children, latrine use might go up to 200 pupils per latrine. Poor hygiene at schools may add to the region's health problems, where already over 85% of illnesses reported at local clinics are water-related.
The number of people with no education in SA is decreasing, according to the results of Census 2001, released by Statistics SA this week. This bodes well for the country as it shows that the education system is reaching more and more people.
In Mozambique, unsafe water and poor sanitation is killing almost 55 children every day. The country has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world: 246 out of every 1000 live births die within their first five years. Thirteen per cent of these deaths are directly attributable to a lack of access to clean water, proper sanitation and poor hygiene practices, says Unicef.
Human rights education has for a long time been considered the missing link in Kenya's education system, leading to stop gap measures like civic education. Teaching human rights to students can yield huge benefits in terms of building a culture of human rights and democracy. As a result, the government has now decided to incorporate human rights in the formal school curriculum, targeted for implementation in January 2003, barely beating the 2004 deadline for the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education.
Political sleaze is the biggest corruption scourge facing the world, according to a global survey of public perceptions released July 3 by an international watchdog. The poll for Transparency International found that when asked which area of public life they would most like be rid of corruption, people in three out of every four countries pointed to politics.
After a one-week general strike the leaders of the Nigerian trade unions have called it off. And for what? The government had increased the price of petrol from 26 naira to 40 naira. Initially the trade unions has said they would stand firm, the government had to bring the price down to 26 naira. Then the negotiations started and the agreed price was 34 naira, a 30% increase. The workers and poor people of Nigeria had shown a bitter determination to continue the strike, but they have been terribly betrayed by their so-called leaders, says this article.
Active participation of citizens in shaping policy and decision making of their countries is impossible if their own governments continue to deny them the rights necessary to ensure such participation. These include the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, association and political participation, as well as media freedom to facilitate a free exchange of information, ideas and opinion. This is part of the text of a press statement issued on Tuesday at the 2nd African Union meeting of Heads of State in Maputo, Mozambique by CREDO for Freedom of Expression of Associated Rights, FAHAMU, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Signatories to the petition, which has already been delivered to key political leaders in Maputo, included African and international journalists/media and freedom of expression organisations; African and international civil society and human rights organisations; individual lawyers, journalists, intellectuals, academics and human rights campaigners. Visit the link for the full statement, the letter to African leaders and the full list of signatories. Below are links to some of the stories generated by the petition.
* WAN Appeals to African Union for Press Freedom
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307050003.html
* MISA supports petition to the African Union for Press Freedom
http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/media/030702misa.asp?sector=MEDIA
* IFEX members support media petition
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/51876/?PHPSESSID=a629b18ed6710f...
* Media Freedom Issues to Be Highlighted At AU Meeting
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35267
* Petition to the AU Calling for Press Freedom and the Release of Journalists
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080789.html
* Press Freedom Petition to Go to AU Leaders
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080515.html
* Malawi president to face AU press petition
http://www.nationmalawi.com/articles.asp?articleID=5110
The government of Sudan has appealed to the African Union to actively support the ongoing peace process between the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), a diplomatic source told IRIN.
African heads of state and government have a busy few days ahead of them, as they meet for the second summit of the African Union in Maputo, Mozambique, from 10-12 July. With some devastating crises afflicting the continent, their citizens look to them for the leadership to end Africa’s armed conflicts and address problems like drought and famine, as well as speed up development, promote democracy and strengthen regional integration and trade.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 117: THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 117: THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
Swaziland's labour organisations have responded to King Mswati III's draft constitution which ensures the continuity of royal rule by calling for two national strikes over the next two months.
A forgotten famine is reducing one of the world's richest stores of biodiversity, the rainforests of Madagascar, to ash. Farmers stricken by drought on the Indian Ocean island are burning swaths of primeval woodland to make charcoal.
Amnesty International is gravely concerned at the persistent reports of torture by members of Uganda's Violent Crime Crack Unit (VCCU). "The recent death of Nsangi Murisidi as a result of torture at the hands of VCCU officers is further confirmation of an entrenched pattern of torture of detainees while in custody," the organisation said. Nsangi Murisidi, a small business holder, was picked up by the VCCU officers from his place of work in Owino Market in Kampala on 14 June 2003, the last day he was seen alive.
With 14.6 million people in need of assistance in Eritrea and Ethiopia by May 2003, and indications that conditions continued to deteriorate in several areas, Carolyn McAskie, the UN's Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator (DERC), undertook a mission to the region in June. The objectives of the mission were to review the overall humanitarian situation; raise awareness of the situation; and to seek better ways of addressing the underlying structural causes of food-insecurity in the two countries.
Governments, international organisations, foundations and nongovernmental organisations in 2003 will spend an estimated $4.7 billion to address the AIDS epidemic in low- and middle-income countries, but that amount is less than half of the more than $10.5 billion that will be needed each year by 2005 to fight the epidemic in those countries, according to a new UNAIDS report.
Ten million children under the age of five die every year around the globe and six-million of those deaths are easily preventable, a leading medical journal reveals. Five articles in the Lancet indict the poor leadership that has let good initiatives to improve children's health go by the wayside as other priorities have come along.
The delay in establishing the Pondoland National Park in the Eastern Cape is due to opposition from the government in that province, Environment Minister Valli Moosa said last Thursday. "The Eastern Cape provincial government is opposed to the establishment of a national park on the Wild Coast," he said in a written reply to a parliamentary question by Democratic Alliance MP Errol Moorcroft.
The environmental impact assessment of a planned nuclear reactor at Koeberg, near Cape Town, has been approved, the environmental affairs department said last Thursday.
The World Social Forum (WSF), initiated in 2000, is a historic development welcomed by progressive women and men world-wide. However, despite the presence of large numbers of women and significant feminist networks, feminism as both discourse and global movement remains marginal to the culture and politics of the WSF. The Forum needs feminism and feminists need initiatives like the WSF to make another world possible, argues this article on the website www.rabble.ca.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the government of Cote d'Ivoire on Monday failed to sign a $91 million dollar grant agreement because of a dispute about how the money would be disbursed and monitored.
Fighting has ceased between local residents and Sudanese refugees in north-western Kenya after leaders from the warring parties agreed to help stop hostilities, paving the way for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to resume its aid work.
The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said last Wednesday there was a need for people involved with refugees and asylum seekers to be equipped with necessary skills that can help them spot terrorists wishing to enter Malawi under the guise of asylum seeking. Speaking in an interview in Mzuzu at a stakeholders meeting on the asylum seeking process in Malawi, UNHCR resident chief of mission Michael Owor said there was a need to train immigration officers, the police, religious and traditional leaders.
As President Bush prepares for his trip to Africa from July 7-11, trade is high on the agenda. The official speeches during the trip are sure to tout the mutual benefits of trade, as host countries hope to gain additional access to U.S. markets. At the same time, however, U.S. and African agendas are diametrically opposed on most issues being considered by the World Trade Organisation which will hold its summit in Cancun, Mexico in September. The trade summit is held every two years, with Cancun following four years after Seattle's protests and two years after the meeting in Doha that was labelled as beginning a "development round" of trade talks. Since Doha, in fact, the rich countries have fought a stubborn and so-far successful battle to block advances on priorities laid out by African and other developing countries, with the U.S. taking the hardest anti-African and anti-development line. The consequences, in areas ranging from agricultural subsidies to the availability of generic AIDS drugs, are matters of life and death. This set of two e-journal postings from Africa Action focuses on key trade issues, by highlighting recent African statements as well as analyses from the Third World Network, a group that closely monitors global negotiations on these issues.
The policies and conditions set down by the people in charge of development and the global economy are doing the opposite of what they claim - they are in fact anti-developmental. Far from breaking free from the neo-liberal paradigm of the last 25 years, the likes of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) are in fact giving it a facelift. Along with the world's leading donors, they are applying the same pro-poverty, pro-inequality, one-size-fits-all development straitjacket sported by a string of least developed countries the world over.
Household food stocks have shown marginal improvements in Zimbabwe, but the majority of households still have less than one months supply, with half estimated to have no food in stock. Thirteen districts still reported households consuming unusual foods or `famine' foods, says the NGO Food Security Network in a May report, drawn from 145 monitoring reports from 58 districts from all provinces of Zimbabwe. Food insecurity in May was attributed to poor harvests, inability to afford food, seizure of maize grain by police at roadblocks, political bias and difficulties for particular groups in accessing food.
Isaias Samakuva last Friday won a landslide victory to become the new leader of Angola's former rebel movement UNITA. Samakuva, formerly UNITA's representative in London and Paris, was elected with 78 percent of the vote at a party congress held in Viana on the outskirts of the capital, Luanda.
Related Link:
BBC profile of new leader
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3031752.stm
Allegations of corruption within the Kenya National AIDS Control Council (NACC) will not affect grants due to be given to the Kenyan government by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. "The Global Fund is not involved at all in any kind of discussion with regard to this matter," Dr Elhadj Sy, Africa Director for the fund, told IRIN last Friday. "We have not issued any threats or any statement on this."
Some 150 Angolan refugees in Namibia are expected to return home next week in the first phase of a voluntary repatriation programme, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said last Friday.
African countries must invest heavily in health in order to overcome obstacles to the achievement of their development goals, the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) director-general for the continent, Ibrahim Samba, said last Thursday. "This would constitute an excellent strategy in the fight against poverty," Samba said at a WHO subcommittee meeting of 12 African countries in Brazzaville, capital of Republic of Congo.
Nigeria is set to benefit from a recently signed Global AIDS Fund grant agreement, local newspaper This Day reported last Thursday. The Fund has made US $28 million of the $150 million grant immediately available for the expansion of existing programmes for antiretroviral drugs and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.
While the government holds up its mother-to-child HIV-transmission programme as the continent’s largest, it is turning into a shambles in many provinces. Investigation has revealed that mismanagement within the HIV/Aids sections of the national and provincial health departments could result in the dismal failure of the programme.
Globalisation is one of the most controversial development issues of the day. ‘Globaphobes’ attribute most of the ills of the world to globalisation. The anti-globalisation movement has focused attention on the extent to which decisions affecting the lives of millions of the world’s poorest people are made in international fora – at which the poor have no voice. Globalisation is seen as marginalising a large part of the world’s population and contributing to increased international inequality. On the other hand, ‘globaphiles’ see extending globalisation as the key to eliminating world poverty. But despite the heated debate on globalisation, there is still a lack of empirical research examining the links between globalisation and poverty in detail.
If the international community wants the global benefits of rainforest preservation, it is going to have to stump up some of the costs, says a paper produced by Alternatives to Slash-and-Burn Programme (ASB) in Kenya that examines the land-use systems that replace natural forests after periods of deforestation. While part of the conservation answer lies in the developing countries themselves, the paper asks if these countries should have to shoulder the entire financial burden of forest conservation when all faced urgent development imperatives, such as educating and vaccinating rural children?
1 July 2003 marked the entry into force of the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (the Migrants Rights Convention). This is the first international human rights treaty to come into force since 1990 when the Convention on the Rights of the Child came into force. Amnesty International has welcomed the coming into force of this Convention since it is an important human rights tool for the protection of the human rights of the around 175 million migrants in the world. The organisation has urged all states to accede to the instrument.
Raised temperatures due to climate change have been found to reduce the productivity of plants in the depths of Lake Tanganyika in East Africa. Combined with fewer nutrients in shallower areas and less oxygen penetration, this has led to changes in the lake ecosystem. For example, the number of phytoplankton has decreased.
Catherine Phiri, who has died around the age of 40, learned in 1990, after the death of her husband, that she was HIV positive. She could have done what everybody else did in Malawi at that time, and hidden the knowledge from her family, friends and colleagues. Instead, she defied stigma and discrimination and became one of the first people in her country to go public about her illness. Her death deprives the organisation she founded to help thousands of Aids orphans of a role model and visionary leader, but those who worked with her say there is no doubt that it will carry on her work.
Britain's biggest weapons manufacturer, BAE Systems, paid millions of pounds in secret commissions to obtain a huge UK taxpayer-backed contract to sell Hawk jets to South Africa. The British government has confirmed the payment, which will fuel the ongoing row about corruption allegations faced by BAE all over the world.
Related Link:
* Govt dismisses new arms deal claims
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=11&o=23350
One of the most disturbing impacts of the HIV/ Aids pandemic is that, as more women die, the ratio of men to women has changed, Alan Whiteside, director of the University of Natal's Health Economics and HIV/Aids Research Division says. "The natural gender balance was that there were slightly fewer adult men than women. Now there is a ratio of 120 males to 100 females. This is social engineering like we have never seen before and it is a critical question no one has addressed."
The Committee to Protect Journalists has expressed alarm that Ugandan authorities have closed the Catholic Church-owned Radio Kyoga Veritas FM, in the north-eastern town of Soroti. The station was reportedly closed for airing reports about fighting in the region between government forces and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
MISA-South Africa says it is "deeply concerned" about a proposed upward referral system contained in a draft editorial policy for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). "It is, in our view, an attempt to deliberately compromise the editorial independence of the editors and journalists. While the Draft Editorial Policy document duly acknowledges the essence of time in journalism and programming, we are concerned that the SABC would even consider a system that would clearly violate fundamental principles of editorial independence and compromises the South African public's right to receive and impart information."
CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights has condemned the Nigerian authorities “mop up” of this week’s edition of the investigative news magazine Tell. In a nation wide operation lasting about a day and a half at the beginning of the week, virtually the entire print run of the weekly magazine normally available for four to six days after publication was bought up by hundreds of teams of plain clothes security agents. Although a good number of the “mop up” teams were reportedly “polite”, in many cases, the “mop up” was enforced by intimidation where distributors, newsagents and vendors rejected generous sums well beyond the cover price. Commenting on the developments, CREDO’S Coordinator Rotimi Sankore condemned the “mop up” stating: “While it is less brutal than outright seizure of publications and the locking up of journalists, the mass buying up of the latest edition of Tell magazine, utilising what appears to be public funds, represents a new and sinister censorship strategy by what is supposedly a newly elected democratic government.”
The Media Monitoring Project has noted with concern the recent suspension of the publication of The Daily Mirror, which its publisher, Ibbo Mandaza, attributed to the “dire economic situation”. "Its contribution in the provision of information to the public and media diversity in the country cannot be understated. It is through a diverse media that the public gets a platform to express themselves and access information of their choice, as should be the case in a democratic society. Therefore, the closure of the publication is indeed a blow to the country’s democratic struggles," said the Media Monitoring Project.
"Today" newspaper editor, Masautso Phiri, has defied an order to present himself for interviews at police headquarters in Lusaka. Phiri told the Zambia Independent Media Association (ZIMA), the Zambian Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), that he had decided to "make himself unavailable" to the police until they say why they wanted him to report to them.
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN has welcomed the release of Daher Ahmed Farah, editor of the newspaper Le Renouveau and leader of the Movement for Democratic Renewal and Development. Farah was released on 23 June 2003 when the presiding judge at his hearing ruled that no crime had been committed and that the defendant was therefore not guilty. He had been accused of libel and had been detained since 20 April 2003.
Created by and for survivors, Landmine Survivors Network (LSN) empowers individuals, families, and communities affected by landmines to recover from trauma, fulfill their rights, and reclaim their lives. Part of this job will involve providing recommendations to LSN DC on how to improve programmatic activities to better assist survivors, especially those critically in need, including but not limited to accessing mobility devices, link/referrals, peer support, social groups, and direct assistance.
The Project Coordinator will be involved in the following: Assisting in the recruitment and hiring of project staff including local experts and consultants; Supervision of all project staff; and Book provision activities.
The overall purpose of the role is to deliver effective management of the financial management and accounting within ACORD. The post-holder will work very closely with the Executive Director and with the other management team members. S/he will liase very closely with the Programming and Fundraising department, and members of the Programming Directorate. They will also work very closely with programme finance managers giving professional support and supervision and work closely with the Northern Programme Manager.
ZOA Refugee Care is a Christian relief and rehabilitation organisation providing assistance to refugees, IDP's, returnees and host populations in some ten countries in Africa, Asia and the Balkans. This is a pioneering position with the aim to establish a ZOA country programme in Eastern DRC.
The International Law Institute (ILI) Uganda and African Centre for Legal Excellence invites you to attend or nominate participants from your organisation to attend a Seminar: Applying Human Rights To Governance and Development, July 28- August 8, 2003. Upon completion of the course an internationally acclaimed certificate will be awarded to the participants. ILI Uganda is a capacity building institution providing training to African professionals in finance, management, law and governance.
The pilot session of a new online course on Knowledge Networking for Development will run for seven weeks, starting July 14th and ending August 31st. This pilot session of the course is meant to provide a forum for discussions rather than a formal training event. There is no tuition fee for this pilot session and it is open to everyone.
This is a five-day, residential programme which provides an introduction to some of the key theories, frameworks and practices which form the foundation of organisation development (OD). The programme draws on nine years of Olive's (www.oliveodt.co.za) experience of OD practice and will be of value to: Leaders of civil society organisations who seek a deeper understanding of the organisations of which they are the stewards; Leaders who want to enhance their effectiveness in supporting the development of their organisations; Consultants or other development workers who want to explore developing their capacity to work in the field of OD.
The Electoral Institute of Southern Africa will be holding a conference in partnership with Centro De Estudos De Democracia E Desenvolvimento (CEDE) on Consolidating Peace and Democracy in Mozambique through Election-related Conflict Management Initiatives, from the 22nd to 23rd July 2003 at the Hotel Polana in Maputo, Mozambique. The Southern African Region has been a theatre of violent conflicts that to a considerable degree undermined both democratic governance and economic progress. In Mozambique, protracted violent conflict was terminated in 1992 through a negotiated settlement. The peace process was then consolidated through the general election in 1994. The democratic process was further consolidated with the holding of the local elections in 1998 and the second round of general elections in 1999. But in all these elections the opposition (RENAMO) refused to accept the results of the elections claiming electoral fraud. It is clear that if solutions are not found to problems that the electoral process faces in Mozambique, sooner or later, peace and stability could be affected.
A just released French version of a training manual on Ageing in Africa entitled Manuel de Formation sur le Vieillissement en Afrique is now available. This publication is produced by HelpAge International Africa Regional Development Centre and is aimed at all those interested in issues concerning older people in Africa - organisations working with and for older people, academicians and researchers and social workers. The training manual is a 251-paged publication aimed at filling the knowledge and information gaps on ageing issues in Africa. It also trains those who run training sessions on better facilitating techniques. It is available in French and English at US$ 10 (excluding postage) and is published by HelpAge International Africa Regional Development Centre. More information can be obtained from and orders sent to [email protected].
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has been informed by a Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l'Homme, a member of the OMCT network, of the disappearance of Mr. Léonard Hitimana, a member of the transitional National Assembly in Rwanda. According to the information received, Mr. Hitama's car was found on April 9th, close to the Ugandan border. Security forces have carried out an investigation at the President of the National Assembly's request, but it has been unsuccessful. The OMCT is asking concerned parties to write to the authorities requesting that Mr. Hitama be located, that an investigation be launched and that human rights be guaranteed.
This manual, which presents information in an accessible question-and-answer format, is divided into three sections for ease of reference. The first section defines substantive rights such as survival, fair treatment, and empowerment. The second section provides practical guidelines on how to use regional and international human rights systems such as the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, or the UN Committee on Torture. The last section contains a comprehensive list of human rights documents with tables by country detailing the status and the stage in the implementation process of each of the conventions in each country.
The book presents overwhelming evidence, from a range of disciplines, that local people do know a great deal about their environment. This knowledge must be taken into account in the planning and implementation of development to be both acceptable and effective. Forty-six contributions from anthropologists, sociologists, geographers and agricultural scientists (among others) in academia and international organisations provide both case study material and general conceptual papers. The interdisciplinary approach of this book makes it an essential tool for those studying indigenous knowledge systems.
L. Jan Slikkerveer, D. Michael Warren, David Brokensha
Gabriel Warburg contends that efforts in Sudan to enforce an Islamic state and an Islamic constitution on a multi-religious and multi-ethnic society have led to prolonged civil war, endless military coups, and political, social, and economic bankruptcy. He analyzes the history of Sudan's Islamic politics to illuminate current conflicts in the region.
In the sixth edition of Promises Not Kept John Isbister updates his study of the dilemmas of international poverty and the Third World by bringing in a discussion of the effects of the war on terrorism and the “new American hegemony,” and surveys the prospects for justice in a world of globalization. Isbister’s comprehensively updated facts and figures, clear and forceful exposition of current concerns, and broad survey of the history of the linkages of the developed and developing worlds, will make this a popular update to a widely-used introductory text.
A domestic drama, in a rural African setting, this play takes the motif of the eagle in Ghanaian mythology/symbolism to explore ideas of ambition, achievement and fulfilment, as individuals may experience for themselves, or as they may desire for others, particularly family members. It further reflects upon and how ideas of ambition interact with competing responsibilities presented by the family. Shadow of an Eagle was first broadcast on BBC African Theatre in 1969 and is now for the first time widely available outside Ghana.
South Africa's first significant female-led political party was launched in South Africa by Patricia de Lille, a former trade unionist and leader of the Pan Africanist Congress. De Lille, one of the country's top ten most popular politicians, is taking the ruling African National Congress head-on with her Independent Democrats. Several surveys show that De Lille is a nationally recognizable politician with strong support across the racial and physical geographies of the country.
As more than 14 million people in Southern Africa face the threat of starvation, aid operations in the region continue to be hampered by the controversy about the uses and dangers of genetically modified foods. Although the region has produced enough food to meet two-thirds of its needs, the World Food Programme (WFP) says Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe will need to import at least 2.65 million tonnes over the next 12 months.
The Niger Delta Coalition Against Child Labour and Trafficking, a coalition of 30 NGOs and civil society organisations established in 2001 to combat child labour/trafficking and fight violence against children, young people and women has expressed concern that despite being the single largest contributor to the Nigerian budget, the Niger Delta region remains the largest supplier of children for labour and sexual exploitation in West and Central Africa. Yet the Nigerian Government is colluding with multinational oil companies in the region to protect profits at the expense of child survival, development, protection and participation rights, at the expense of development, at the expense of the environment, at the expense of democracy and human rights. Noting that combating child trafficking and slavery needs increased local, national and international attention and ongoing effective prevention, protection and rehabilitation measures, the coalition has recently launched a multi-disciplinary campaign to raise awareness on the ills of child trafficking, promote access to justice, mobilise public opinion and mobilise resources.
Transparency International has lauded the Government's efforts to fight corruption in the judiciary. Transparency International deputy director Mwalimu Mati said their last index ranked the judiciary as the sixth most corrupt institution. Speaking on phone to the East African Standard, he said there was a need to eradicate corruption in the judiciary to bring back public confidence.
A leading pro-democracy activist who has been invited to address an international conference in London has been refused a visa by the UK High Commission in Harare. John Bomba has been a key student leader in Zimbabwe's volatile political scene for the last four years, and has drawn the attention of many of the most prominent figures in the country's turbulent opposition politics.
Bush comes to Africa to assist US imperialism. He wants to increase US multinational companies control of the resources of Africa. Bush and his war- mongering clique want to bully and bribe those who opposed him over the Iraq invasion. Bush says he wants to help Africa’s development. But he only wants to help big business and the elites of the world. He will try to tempt African rulers with special treatment if they fall in line. This treatment through trade deals will not benefit the people of Africa. President Mbeki said he was opposed to the war against Iraq. How can he now warmly receive the same person who carried out the war? Mbeki should refuse to meet Bush!
A monthly electronic newsletter from Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) - http://www.wougnet.org. For comments or queries, contact [email protected]. To subscribe/unsubscribe to the WOUGNET Update Newsletter, send a message to [email protected] with the following command in the subject or body of your message: subscribe/unsubscribe.
Environmentalists are calling it “the invasion of the invasives.” Non-indigenous plant species brought to Southern Africa are alarming conservationists by the way they are taking over the habitats of native plants and, in some cases, causing indigenous species to become endangered.
This year's World Refugee Day, commemorated under the theme “Refugee Youth, Building the Future”, was dedicated to millions of young people whose futures have been jeopardised by war, persecution and self-exile. But young girls in refugee camps claim their rights have been ignored. They cite lack of access to education at the refugee camps, accusing donors of misplaced priorities.
The chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), President John Kufuor of Ghana, has urged the United Nations to consider setting aside the indictment of Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes in order to facilitate a negotiated settlement to Liberia's civil war. "I am not demeaning the role of the UN tribunal, although the indictment almost torpedoed the mediation process," Kufuor told a Security Council mission in the capital, Accra, on Monday.