PAMBAZUKA NEWS 104
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 104
Continuing displacement of people from central Liberia due to fighting between government and rebels could quickly overburden the scarce resources of humanitarian agencies, the UN office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in New York on Tuesday.
Thousands of people in Cote d'Ivoire have had to open their doors to friends and acquaintances displaced by an armed conflict that broke out in the West African country in September 2002. From one day to the next, they have had to provide accommodation, food and sometimes clothing to the internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo began his campaign for re-election in "hostile" territory this month. Makurdi, the city in central Nigeria where, on 1 March, he addressed his first rally since winning the ruling party's nomination in January, is the capital of Benue State, where troops acting on his orders raided several villages in October 2001, killing hundreds of civilians in reprisal for the killing of 19 soldiers by a local militia.
The Global Civil Society Portfolio of the Ford Foundation has set aside $US1 million to promote civic engagement in global governance and to encourage global civil society actors to address the democracy deficits apparent within global governance. With this call for proposals the Ford Foundation is seeking civil society organisations that have a strategic plan to strengthen or promote accountability mechanisms between global governors and global citizens.
The mining of the world's largest titanium fields on the east African coast of Kenya appears to have hit another snag after the country's new government announced that it is planning to conduct a public forum to discuss whether Tiomin Resources Inc., a Canadian mining firm, should be licensed to start mining the mineral in Kenya.
IT entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth's Shuttleworth Foundation has opened the first of three open source learning centres in the Western Cape. The centre, at the Nooitgedacht Primary School in Bishop Lavis, takes computer access to nearly 1 000 children for the first time.
Derechos announces the creation of a new mailing list for the distribution of information (news, articles, commentary, documents) and actions concerning the threats to human and civil rights and democracy in and by the United States of Americas. This includes legislation like the Patriot Acts, projects like Total Information Awareness, judicial/political actions such as the denial of habeas corpus and so forth. The mailing list will be in English and moderated. You are invited to join and to contribute.
The controversial Bujagali dam project reared its head at the Third World Water Forum held in Japan last week with an expert on hydropower saying lack of democracy was at the heart of the project's failure to attract ready funding. Bujagali, which has become one of Africa's most controversial hydropower projects in the past few years, is already seven years behind schedule. The dam has stalled for seven years now following charges that its environmental assessments were faulty, and that Uganda had given too much away when it negotiated a power purchase agreement (PPA) with the American company AES.
The Commission on Human Rights began on March 24 its annual discussion of racism and racial discrimination, hearing a number of requests from national delegations for more vigorous efforts to implement the Declaration and Programme of Action of the Durban World Conference against Racism and Racial Discrimination.
Water belongs to the earth and all species for all time. It is an inalienable human right and a public trust to be protected and nurtured by all peoples, communities and nations, and the bodies that represent them at the local, state, and international level. Based on these unwavering principles, we make the following claims: Water is not a commodity and must not be left to the whims of the market because no person or entity has the right to profit from it. Water must not, therefore, be commodified, privatized, traded or exported for commercial gain. Water must be excluded as a "good", a "service" and an "investment" in all international, regional and bilateral trade agreements. Every human being has the right to clean water. We demand that governments of the world substantially increase spending on clean water and sanitation for poor people with little or no access. We affirm that by reducing current astronomical levels of military spending that clean and safe water can be provided for every living person on this planet. We maintain that debt cancellation is essential for water security in poor countries, and demand that privatization cease to be used as a condition on international lending.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) through the collaborative efforts of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) has boosted the country's athletes with a sum of $75,000 towards the preparation for All African Games in October.
Human rights groups around the world now have access to a forum for the exchange of practical information in many languages to support their social justice work. The Digital Freedom Network, Forefront and the Centre for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University have partnered to coordinate Human Rights Connection (HRC) at http://www.hrconnection.org, a web-based community resource centre that provides human rights activists with a place to read and post "how to" information, articles and case studies on a wide range of issues, such as working with the media, planning an advocacy campaign, establishing an organisation, and using technology.
Pupils of the Lesaoana Intermediate School in the rural eastern Free State village of Sehlajaneng have received a computer centre from the Telkom Foundation that is set to change their learning experience.
Mr Sam Seepei, Manager of the BHPBilliton Trust, handed over a cheque for R1.334 million to the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Malegapuru William Makgoba, signifying a vote of confidence in the University and its highly successful Science Foundation Programme (SFP).
In just two decades, the environmental justice movement, which has its roots in the United States, has spread across the globe: the call for environmental justice can be heard from south-central Los Angeles to south Durban. This grassroots movement is largely a response to environmental racism - any policy, practice or directive that differentially affects or disadvantages (whether intentionally or unintentionally) individuals, groups or communities based on race or colour, says this article.
A man looked at a video screen on a camcorder in shock and wonder. He started crying. "That's my daughter in there," he said. "I had no idea that she was still alive." After learning that the International Rescue Committee (IRC) was caring for her since her release by rebel forces in Sierra Leone, he begged her to come home. The IRC videotaped this plea to show his daughter, and eventually was able to reunite them.
sqlDesktop promises to clean up your life. Oh, and it also promises to turn your digital documents into a valuable resource, reports www.tectonic.co.za.
A Sustainable ICT Case Studies website has been launched. It has been generated by Gamos and BigWorld as part of a research programme into Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sustainability factors. Funded by the Department of International Development (DFID), the research programme identified activities from across the world that sought to benefit the poor and had an ICT component. In particular it considered programmes where ICTs had enhanced ongoing development activities, the ICT activity could be replicated without sizeable investment, and there was a measure of sustainability.
Kabissa has launched a new web site for its Time to Get Online project. It is an Internet capacity-building project for West African civil society organisations that was launched in November 2002. Initially, it targeted organisations in West Africa whose main agenda concerns human rights, freedom of information, responsive government and democratization. A set of self-learning materials has been developed to help civil society activists and organisers to get online and to integrate the Internet into their organisations. The materials can be used as both a self-taught curriculum and as a reference guide for users with varying levels of Internet experience and expertise. The materials are available for download for African civil society organisations. Local workshops serve as a supplement to the learning materials and give organisations the opportunity for hands-on learning.
The usage of the Internet - which has been described as a possible engine for economic growth - is still a 'mountain to climb' in many African countries. According to a report published by Africa Online, of the 770 million people in Africa, one in every 150, or approximately 5.5 million people in total, now uses the Internet.
The Social Change email list is a continuation of Social Change magazine, and is intended for discussing social and economic development issues, especially as they relate to Zimbabwe.
Zvakwana/Sokwanele is a non-partisan, non-profit group of passionate people - volunteers and visionaries - working to keep Zimbabweans informed about breaking news, including civic campaigns and public meetings and events. They have an activist wing that engages in non-violent civic actions. The words zvakwana and sokwanele are vernacular for "enough is enough". Visit their web site and join the Zvakwana mailing list.
To all those working at the Egyptian Ministry of Interior and who are involved in torture or who have ordered it or refrained from stopping it, although they knew it was taking place: The undersigned organisations know how you have spent the last three days torturing our colleagues, antiwar activists and other Egyptian citizens who have walked the same path of the millions of citizens all over the world and have peacefully expressed their protest of the killing going on in Iraq.
The High Court has issued an order compelling a state witness in the treason trail of three opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leaders to surrender equipment used to secretly videotape a meeting at which the MDC officials allegedly plotted to assassinate President Robert Mugabe. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, secretary-general Welshman Ncube and shadow minister for agriculture Renson Gasela are alleged to have met in Canada with representatives of Dickens and Madson, a Canadian political consultancy they allegedly attempted to hire to assassinate Mugabe.
Related Link:
Ben-Menashe witness charges daily rate
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303250698.html
UNICEF has expressed distress at the situation of children in northeastern Cote d'Ivoire, following a recent mission which showed that the area's children had paid a heavy toll in health and education as a result of the Ivorian conflict.
Benin has taken steps necessary to reach its completion point under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, making the country eligible for debt relief totalling US $460 million, the IMF and World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) reported on Tuesday.
The Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit has become the latest economic think-tank to criticise the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad). In a report, the unit said the recovery plan had "little to offer Namibia". Namibia could benefit, however, from a "neighbourhood effect". If most countries in Africa were stable, peaceful places, trade within Africa would increase and more investment would be attracted. But the think-tank said it was unlikely that Nepad alone could do this.
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) expressed grave concern on Tuesday over reports of violence against women in Mali. Apart from forced marriages and polygamy, which are common, 24 percent of Malian women marry before the age of 15 years and 94 percent undergo female genital mutilation (FGM), OMCT said in a report to the UN Human Rights Committee.
Rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) reportedly killed a government peace envoy on Monday, dampening hopes for a peaceful end to the 17-year insurgency in northern Uganda.
The international NGO Medecines Sans Frontieres (MSF) expressed concern on Thursday that some EU member states are trying to water down proposals by the EC that would allow developing countries to buy essential drugs at prices far below the normal market rate. The EC proposed in October 2002 a price regulation scheme under which pharmaceutical companies would reduce their prices for essential medicines by at least 80 percent compared with the average prices in countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The reduction would enable developing countries - most of which are African - buy drugs at affordable prices to fight diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, whose present cost is often prohibitive for them.
The Department of Social Development and the Public Service Monitor (PSAM) have expressed delight over the arrest by the Joint Anti-Corruption Unit of 19 people in Umtata, East London and Port Elizabeth. The department this morning called for "stiff" sentences for officials or former officials convicted of fraud and corruption.
MPs have voted themselves 735.9m shillings (9.2m dollars) to buy sparkling new cars. Handsome car grants of 3.3m shillings (about 43,000 dollars) each - enough for top-of-the-range vehicles with all extras fitted - were recommended in the Cockar Report on MPs' pay and perks.
Roman Catholic Archbishop Michael Francis says the culture of corruption in society exists from the top to bottom - and that nobody cares enough to take corrective measures. He was speaking at the opening of a three-day workshop organized by the Liberia Watch for Human Rights at the YMCA in Monrovia.
The saga at the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) took another twist last week when two more employees of the beleaguered examinations body appeared before the Harare Magistrates court and were found guilty of contravening the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The new regime in Central African Republic has taken on the uphill task of finding upstanding politicians to take part in a consensus government to reassure a weary donor community.
Malaria costs Tanzania $120-million (R960-million) in treatment expenses and lost man-hours every year, Health Minister Anna Abdallah said on Wednesday. "The loss is equivalent to 3,5 percent of the east African country's gross domestic product and is manifested in terms of spending in treating the disease and lost man-hours due to illness," she added.
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has given the green light for re-opening stalled talks with President Robert Mugabe's government following a gesture by South African President Thabo Mbeki welcoming the Movement for Democratic Change leader's apparent change of heart. In the most upbeat remarks he has made on Zimbabwe in many months, Mbeki made a dramatic and impassioned plea on Wednesday for Mugabe and Tsvangirai to resume talks aimed at thrashing out their differences over Zimbabwe's future.
In this, the first part of a series of articles on Internet legislation in Africa, Heather Ford gives a broad overview of legislation – and lack thereof – dealing with censorship and privacy on the Internet in Africa.
On first glance, the Internet in Africa seems to be coming along quite nicely. Access figures are rising daily, there is a broad commitment by governments in the region to focus development in this sector, and ICT national strategies are being, or already have been, developed in order to accelerate the uptake of communication technologies in various countries on the continent.
If, however, one attempts to look for legislation to deal with human rights issues such as the right to privacy, data protection and freedom of expression on the Internet, there seems to be a vacuum of legislation that has left Internet communities in many African countries open to attacks both by the authorities as well as criminal elements. As more governments start to recognise how the Internet is being used by ‘subversive’ elements within their countries, the dire need to formalize legal instruments to protect citizens from arbitrary surveillance on the Internet becomes all the more clear. As the South African Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) stated in response to recent data protection laws in that country, ‘In order for the Internet to grow, citizens need to feel confident that their privacy online is given the maximum possible protection.’
The right to privacy of Internet users is being attacked for different reasons in Africa: in each case governments claim to be acting in the interests of protecting their citizens – either from ‘moral corruption’, ‘terrorism’, or ‘cybercrime’. This is achieved through the constant surveillance and registration of Internet users, the banning of Internet publications, the use of Internet filters and/or the imprisonment of publishers. This is not to say that Africa is the only continent where the privacy of Internet users is being threatened. After September 11, many countries around the world enacted laws that severely threaten a citizen’s right to privacy on the Internet. Where there are no laws to deal with the Internet in Africa, however, governments use old provisions to survey and censor individuals in cases as they emerge. In other countries, repressive media laws are being developed by authoritarian governments to attack individuals who publish their content on the Internet.
The dearth of laws pertaining to the Internet in Egypt has allowed the government to closely monitor content being published by local nationals and to use existing laws to stop the publishing of any content that intends to ‘corrupt public morals’.
In 2002 the interior ministry in Egypt set up a department to investigate computer and Internet crime. Before that, the government had issued warnings to the local Internet community to refrain from publishing on taboo issues such as homosexuality, human rights violations, criticism of the president and the army, as well as modern versions of Islam. Since early 2001, there have been numerous cases of entrapment of gay men on the Internet, as well as the imprisonment of webmaster, Shohdy Surur for posting a sexually-explicit, socially critical poem written by his late father 30 years ago. Since there is no law in Egypt that refers to Internet publishing, the state brought charges under the law on public morals which forbids possession of material for sale or distribution ‘with intent to corrupt public morals’.
Lack of legislation, on the other hand, has had a positive effect on opposition groups in authoritarian states, enabling them to speak out using a medium that resists control on many, but not all, levels. The internet in Egypt continues to have a positive effect on supporting agents of change, despite government attempts to control it. Some media organizations have been able to circumvent the power of the government to censor their publications in the traditional media by publishing them on the Internet. The Middle East Times publishes on its website all of the articles that were censored in the print edition of the publication (http://www.metimes.com/cens/censored.htm). On another positive note, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) recently succeeded in amending the latest Communications Bill to include references to the protection of privacy as well as restricting the right of security agencies to interfere with private communications.
South Africa is far ahead of most African countries in developing comprehensive laws relating to the Internet. That is not to say that these laws have been greeted with complete enthusiasm by the local Internet community. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act of 2002 was riddled with controversy over certain provisions, one of which allowed the Minister of Communications the power to declare any database in the country to be critical and set standards for the administration of that database. The act also announced the that all cryptography and authentication providers needed to register with the government, and introduced new ‘Cyber Inspectors’ who are given the power to aid law enforcement in criminal and civil investigations, as well as being granted the power to inspect and confiscate computers, determine whether individuals have met the relevant registration provisions as well as search the Internet for evidence of ‘criminal actions’.
The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act, 2002 has encountered a similarly controversial path. The act, published in the Government Gazette on January 22, 2003 compels service providers to retain personal data that they have collected from customers indefinitely, and make it available to law enforcement when requested to. It also makes any communication service which cannot be monitored by the authorities illegal, and gives the Minister of Communications broad powers to specify technical and security requirements, facilities and devices as well as the type of communication-related information to be stored.
Even though there are no laws that cover communications over the Internet in Zimbabwe, the government uses some of the country’s repressive media laws such as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) to prosecute journalists who publish anything "likely to cause alarm or despondency" (POSA) on the Internet or traditional media.
For the majority of African countries without Internet privacy and freedom of expression laws, it is essential that civil society act purposefully and initiate national and region policy processes that are based on International human rights instruments. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that ‘Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any medium and regardless of frontiers’ (Article 19) and ‘No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence’ (Article 12). Regional charters such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the African Charter on Broadcasting are strong regional statements that could guide new efforts by African civil society to press their leaders to develop, and, more importantly, to enforce new ICT laws that have privacy and freedom of expression at their core.
What you can do:
* Find out what laws govern the Internet and communications in your country and lobby governments to adopt laws that ensure freedom of expression and the right to privacy.
* Join the email discussions around civil society engagement in African ICT policy currently going on at
* Visit the Association for Progressive Communications’ (APC) Africa Internet Policy Monitor website, http://africa.rights.apc.org and join the mailing list [email protected]
PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDIÇÃO EM PORTUGUÊS 103: Vale e Jindal julgadas na Swazilândia por danos ambientais e violação de Direitos Humanos
PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDIÇÃO EM PORTUGUÊS 103: Vale e Jindal julgadas na Swazilândia por danos ambientais e violação de Direitos Humanos
This digest assesses the human rights situation of poor and marginalised children in urban areas around the world. While it covers issues as diverse as air pollution and children's participation in decision-making, it also ranges from outlining global urban trends to providing concrete examples of positive practices in poor urban neighbourhoods.
The latest heavy rains in Zambia, while causing localised damage, were good news for those who planted late, says the latest UN Resident Coordinator's report. Zambia has been struggling with food insecurity brought on by drought. The December 2002 vulnerability assessment indicated that 2.7 million people or 28 percent of the population required food aid to survive.
Widows who have been bereaved within the past two years have been banned from running as candidates in this year's parliamentary election. This has enraged women's empowerment groups who are already bristling under cultural restrictions that regard Swazi women as legal minors.
This article argues that there has been a widespread ‘policy failure’ in remote rural areas. The focus on livelihoods development, based on successes in non-remote areas does not take account of the special risk, exclusion and marginalisation characteristics of remote rural areas.
All parties involved in the renewed combat in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo must prevent killings and other abuses of civilians by their troops, Human Rights Watch says. “Many military operations in this area have turned into slaughter of civilians or other kinds of abuses, like rape, torture and pillage,” says Alison Des Forges, senior adviser to the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch.
The Deputy Minister of Environmental Affairs, Rejoice Mabudafhasi, will personally hand over a clean-up directive to the management of the Thor Chemicals plant in Cato Ridge. Thor Chemicals is notorious worldwide for giving mercury poisoning to its workers and for widespread mercury contamination of the surrounding land and streams.
The Anti-War Coalition has called for the “broadest possible democratically minded forces to register strong protests against the likely slaughter of innocent men, women and children in Iraq”.
The government has launched the South Africa Reference Group for Women in Science and Technology to enhance women's involvement in these sectors. The establishment of the group is an active implementation of the National Research and Development Strategy, which was approved by the Cabinet last year.
This commissioned report aimed to provide insight into issues related to communication of HIV/Aids to children in the 3-12 year age group, with an emphasis on South Africa. The overall brief includes identifying of key issues related to children and HIV/Aids, including discrimination, grief, knowledge, attitudes and practices.
A decade ago women seemed to be on the periphery of the epidemic, today they are at the epicentre. This page guides you to some resources on women and HIV/Aids and to detailed information on especially vulnerable groups of women. Some sample statistics show that today 47 percent of the 36.1 million people living with HIV are women and this proportion is growing. Of the 16,000 new infections that occur everyday, up to sixty percent are now amongst women.
Zimbabwe, a declared pan-Africanist nation that claims to respect and uphold all the statutes and treaties that bind the continental club of African countries, the African Union (AU), is openly flouting conventions and declarations governing human rights and freedoms, especially in relation to freedom of expression, says the Media Institute of Southern Africa.
An expert group has reaffirmed that unsafe sexual practices are responsible for the vast majority of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa, and that safer sex promotion must remain the primary feature of prevention programmes in the region. Following a review of evidence, which included recent articles suggesting that a majority of HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa are due to unsafe medical practices, particularly injections, the experts concluded that such suggestions are not supported by the vast majority of evidence and that unsafe sexual practices continue to be responsible for the overwhelming majority of HIV infections.
Central African Republic rebel leader General Francois Bozize has suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament after his forces captured the capital, Bangui. The rebels, who are estimated to number about 1,000, apparently met little resistance from government forces when they marched into the capital on Saturday.
An attempt to hold peace talks between the presidential peace team and rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has failed. This is the second time peace talks have failed to take place recently. This has led to question marks over the future of efforts to end the 17-year war.
About 100 people from the Anti-War Coalition (AWC) gathered outside Denel in Kempton Park on Friday to demonstrate against the state-owned arms company's supply of military equipment worth millions of rands to Britain and the United States, which could be used in the war against Iraq.
Survival has recently been labelled a 'terrorist' organisation by a senior figure in Debswana, De Beers's Botswana subsidiary. In a BBC interview Dr Akolang Tombale, who is both permanent secretary in Botswana's Ministry of Mineral Resources and Water Affairs, and deputy Chairman of Debswana, accused Survival of being a 'terrorist organisation', and of doctoring the government's own mineral concession maps.
The convoy of Gani Fawehinmi, a candidate in next month's presidential election, has been attacked as he returned home after a campaign. He said that the gang of four machete-wielding men asked for him by name but he was in a different car to the one attacked. Mr Fawehinmi, a human-rights-lawyer-turned-politician, is one of 19 challengers to President Olusegun Obasanjo in next month's election but correspondents say he is unlikely to win.
The leaders of five Portuguese-speaking nations are to hold talks on Friday on elections in Guinea-Bissau, amid international concerns over the fairness of the polls. The meeting has been called in Luanda by Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who is head of Palop, the five-nation Portuguese-language community.
A coalition of human rights groups has accused the United Nations of making little effort to prosecute rapes alongside other crimes committed during Rwanda's 1994 genocide. "Thousands of Rwandan rape victims, many of whom are now dying of AIDS, continue to wait expectantly for justice from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda," said coalition organizer Jean-Louis Roy, head of the Canadian humanitarian organisation Rights and Democracy.
Kountaya camp exploded in song and dance last Saturday as Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugee women gathered at the camp in Guinea's Albadaria district to mark International Women's Day, which was observed all over the world on March 8.
Liberian women have called on the Government and the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) to cease the hostilities in order for them to have a peace that would enable their children to go to school without any fear or intimidation to prepare themselves for the development of their country.
The government has been forced to temporarily withdraw a crucial anti-corruption bill as a backbench rebellion which started on Wednesday continued. The government, which has a huge majority, is finding it difficult to do business in parliament because instability within the coalition is finding expression on the floor of the House.
Nigeria's parliament has voted to scrap a landmark anti-corruption law and replace it with a controversial new act stripping President Olusegun Obasanjo of many of his powers to appoint financial investigators. The House of Representatives approved new rules proposed by the Senate that could render obsolete the work of an anti-corruption commission established by the president after the return of civilian rule in 1999.
Eddison Zvobgo, the Member of Parliament for Masvingo South, this week accused the government of condoning corruption, saying it was time to hunt down those spreading the "Aids of corruption". Moving a motion in Parliament for the establishment of an anti-corruption commission, he said government departments, politicians and parastatals were riddled with corruption and it was time for the "bigger hunt to commence".
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) and other civic organisations and political parties have called on the government to establish an independent electoral commission comprised of representatives from interested and relevant civic organisations. This call was made at a public hearing on the Electoral Amendment Bill, which was organised by the Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs portfolio committee.
A leading U.S. charity revealed Wednesday a new initiative that it says will assist research and development workers in Africa to access and manage biotechnology to help reduce poverty and hunger. The Rockefeller Foundation says that its new African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) will serve as a platform where African scientists and development experts can access new materials and information on technologies owned by international private companies and later even transfer them into the hand of millions of poor African farmers.
Amnesty International is urging all candidates in Nigeria's upcoming presidential, federal and state elections to commit themselves publicly to place the prevention of human rights abuses during elections at the heart of their electoral campaigns.
Just 16 years old, Francine Afsa has lived more than a quarter of her life in this refugee camp in western Tanzania. She has been here with her parents, nine brothers and two sisters since 1999, having already spent a short time in Tanzania as a refugee in 1996 when a Tutsi-led rebellion broke out in her homeland, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC, formerly Zaire). She regards her future in the camp bleakly: "It will get worse and worse. There is no hope for my life. I'm like someone who's in jail."
The verdict in the retrial of 50 men, tried for their alleged sexual orientation, is expected on 15 March before a criminal court in the Qasr al-Nil district of Cairo. The trial takes place amid a continued clampdown by the Egyptian authorities on men on the basis of their actual or perceived sexual orientation.
The anti-corruption task force has seized former President Frederick Chiluba's house in Kabulonga. According to the government gazette notice issued by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Director-General judge Robert Kapembwa, the house will be forfeited to the state if it is not claimed within three months from the date of the notice's publication.
South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, speaking on public radio on Monday, said that Roberto Giraldo, who denies that HIV causes AIDS, will not be appointed as a ministerial adviser but is simply being consulted by the government for his advice on nutrition and HIV/AIDS, the South African Press Association reports.
At moments like now I mourn the passing of the USSR. The US feels it can do anything it wishes irrespective of public opinion. Attacking Iraq will accelerate terrorist attacks on the US.
WATER-L is a new e-mail list for news and announcements related to the World Water Forum and water policy issues. Water-L is created by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Third World Water Forum and the World Water Council.
To subscribe to WATER-L send an e-mail to [email protected]
'HIV & AIDS Treatment in Practice' is an email newsletter for doctors, nurses, other health care workers and community treatment advocates working in limited-resource settings.
Two Mauritian business partners of Nyimpine Chissano, son of president Joaquin Chissano, have been accused of involvement in embezzling $20 million from the national pension fund.
South Africa is playing down its efforts to get the three African countries -- Angola, Cameroon and Guinea -- sitting on the United Nations Security Council to vote against a resolution that would clear the way for the United States to launch an attack on Iraq. South African foreign affairs officials insist the country is not lobbying for the African nations represented on the Security Council to vote against the resolution. ''We are not lobbying anybody. Those countries are aware of African Union (AU) and Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) resolutions against the war,'' says a spokesperson for the South African Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Ronnie Mamoepa.
African leaders have agreed on a framework for a peer-review mechanism aimed at tackling obstacles to growth and development on the continent. It follows a meeting on Sunday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to discuss implementation of the New Partnership for African Development (Nepad).
Uganda has warned Rwanda against fighting a "proxy war" in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This follows a Rwandan threat to send its troops back into DR Congo unless Uganda also withdrew.
South Africa's highest court has ruled that gay couples should receive the same financial benefits as heterosexuals. The case was brought by lesbian judge Kathy Satchwell, who wanted her partner to get the same benefits as the married partners of other judges.
We thank you for your work, and hope that we shall be encouraging one another in these difficult times. Great work and keep it going.
Hannilie Zulu
African Institute
The past few years have seen remarkable consensus on and commitment to poverty reduction from governments around the world. This has resulted in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which seek to reduce global absolute poverty by 50 per cent by 2015 and to reduce other forms of human deprivation. However, even if the MDGs are achieved - and the prospect of this happening is not good - some 900 million people will have an income of less than US$1 a day in 2015. Hundreds of millions of people will have suffered losses that severely reduce their capabilities and scores of millions will have died easily preventable deaths.
This paper examines the welfare outcomes of migrants and non-migrants in Ghana in the years 1991/2 and 1998/9 using nationally representative survey data. The results reveal that migration is a common feature of household behaviour in Ghana in both years, with over 50% of individuals migrating at some point within their lives.
The United States and the European Union have a special responsibility to pull the United Nations Commission on Human Rights back from the brink of disaster, Human Rights Watch says. The annual meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights is due to begin on Monday, March 17. Several of the world's worst rights violators are now among its 53 members, Human Rights Watch said.
Related Link:
* Protests mar human rights forum
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/2855737.stm
The average African women gives birth to six children during her life, but she would gladly use contraceptives to lower that number. As one in 15 African women dies due to birth complications, women are also much more aware of the risks of giving birth than are men. More than one quarter of worldwide pregnancies between 1995 and 2000 were unwanted or not planned, according to the UN population fund UNFPA. This situation is particularly true for African woman, where child-demanding families and husbands in addition to lacking family planning resources leave the average housewife few possibilities of dissent.
Free the Fishing Boys - A US-funded programme, which aims to assist and return to their families more than 1,200 children trafficked for forced labour in the Central and Volta regions of Ghana is making good progress.
The Resource Alliance is an international network working to build the fundraising and resource mobilisation capacity of voluntary sector, non-governmental and community based organisations. Visit their web site by clicking on the link provided.
The key to restoring climate stability is shifting from a fossil fuel based energy economy to one based on renewable sources of energy and hydrogen. Advancing technologies in the design of wind turbines that have dramatically lowered the cost of wind generated electricity to the point where it can be used to produce hydrogen from water, along with the evolution of fuel cell engines, have set the stage for a dramatic restructuring of the world energy economy. The good news is that this shift is under way. The bad news is that it is not happening nearly fast enough to avoid a climate disrupting buildup in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, writes Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute.
The New Tactics in Human Rights Project invites you to visit its new web site, www.newtactics.org. All over the world, people are addressing human rights issues in new and innovative ways. The New Tactics project gathers these innovations and disseminates them - using the web, print publications and cross-training workshops - while building global and regional networks of human rights practitioners.
Somalia's peace talks are in danger of collapsing and need stronger leadership from mediators, the international community and Somali factions themselves. A serious problem is that faction leaders and civil society representatives are self-appointed, with real risk that the negotiation will produce another "government in exile" unable to provide a working administration inside the country that represents popular will, says the International Crisis Group.
As peace talks resume, the Khartoum government is violating the cessation of hostilities agreement it signed 15 October 2002 with the SPLA rebels and reaffirmed on 4 February 2003. Government forces and government-sponsored militias are attacking the Western Upper Nile oilfields in an effort to dislodge the SPLA and expand oil development. The primary victims are civilians. The fighting does not immediately threaten the peace talks. The International Crisis Group says if this grave breach is not challenged by the international community, however, it will set a precedent that the parties have no reason to take other parts of the peace process seriously, including any final agreement and accompanying international guarantees.
This study, from the Energy and Development Research Centre (EDRC) at the University of Cape Town, forms part of a broader study on the economic impact of climate change in South Africa, and concentrates on the existence value of the biodiversity that is threatened by climate change. It is predicted that climate change will cause significant biodiversity loss in South Africa and it is possible to measure direct economic costs of this loss.
Uganda Access to Essential Medicines Coalition has voiced concern over comments made in the media regarding antiretroviral use in Uganda. The media recently reported that 10,000 Ugandans now have access to antiretroviral therapy. In a statement on behalf of the coalition, Rosette Mutambi said the 10,000 Ugandans accessing AIDS drugs is just a drop in the ocean.
The Sierra Leone Special Court's announcement of its first seven indictments is a tremendous step forward for the cause of justice in Sierra Leone, Human Rights Watch says. The Sierra Leone Special Court Prosecutor, David Crane, has announced indictments against Foday Saybana Sankoh, Johnny Paul Koroma, Sam Bockarie, Issa Hassan Sesay, Alex Tamba Brima, Morris Kallon and Sam Hinga Norman, for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and violations of international humanitarian law.
The scope for corruption in the Chad-Cameroon pipeline will be evaluated jointly by l'Action Tchadienne pour l'Integrite (ATI), Transparency International's contact group in Chad, and Transparency International Cameroon (TIC), it was agreed at a meeting on 16 February 2003.
AIDS-related complications have become the leading cause of death among pregnant women in South Africa, according to a report released on Friday by Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, South Africa's Sunday Times reports.
Combating poverty, the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the pandemic of violence against women were clear human rights priorities, Sergio Vieira de Mello, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the Commission on the Status of Women.
A behind-the-scenes succession battle appears to have begun following indications that senior ZANU-PF officials are exploring retirement scenarios for President Mugabe. Since the rigged March 2002 presidential election, the country has been heading towards state collapse. The economy is imploding, a government-created food crisis is turning Zimbabwe into a beggar nation and deepening state sponsored violence could degenerate into widespread unstructured conflict. At the same time, the international community has become even more divided. A new mediation effort is urgently needed that involves all relevant Zimbabwean stakeholders and aims to restore legitimacy to the government by creating a transitional administration, restoring the rule of law, finding an electoral compromise, reforming economic policies, ensuring genuine land reform, and creating an exit strategy for the president, argues the International Crisis Group.
In early 2002 southern Africa was gripped by food shortages. These were just one aspect of a complex humanitarian crisis, with impacts ranging across all sectors, from agriculture, to education and health. This report, from the International Development Committee of the UK House of Commons, says that if the countries of southern Africa are to escape the vicious circle of vulnerability, crisis, poverty and HIV/ AIDS, governments, donors, NGOs, the private sector and international organisations will have to work together more effectively, and work together regionally.
More than 100 African leaders from 15 countries who attended the continent's first regional conference on unsafe abortion concluded deliberations in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, March 7 with a strong call for action to address this global public-health problem. Unsafe abortion results in the deaths of about 30,000 African women every year, according to the World Health Organisation.
Among the world's water experts, privatization has become something of a dirty word. Once thought of as the new frontier for private investors, the idea of letting corporations operate municipal and regional water systems has been criticized by environmentalists, international organisations, and governments alike as a flawed solution for getting water to the poor people who need it the most.
While it is seen as a project that has brought some remarkable economic prosperity to the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho and an engineering feat surpassed by none of its kind in the whole world, the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) has left a trail of destitution, uncertainty and hopelessness amongst the communities affected by it in the Mohale area.
This International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) report is divided into two parts, the first looking at the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector in sub-Saharan Africa, and the second at ways of bringing effective HIV/AIDS education into schools. It is based on a synthesis of a number of research findings from a variety of studies.