Two Dutch journalists Raymond Bouuman and Pim Hauinkels were arrested on 26 February in the city of Bulawayo for filming a bread queue. The two work for the Dutch TV Journal ITL5. The two journalists were taken in for questioning by the police before being released after about an hour.

The African Union (AU), the continent's foremost political body, has appealed to Burundi's warring parties and their leaders to "show restraint and a spirit of compromise with a view to preserving the gains made and to complete the process of restoring peace to the country".

Sixteen years of civil war, cyclic floods and severe drought have collectively caused much hardship in Mozambique. But the current drought, affecting about 600,000 people, alongside the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, are together pushing a growing number of families to the brink of survival.

The World Alliance for Citizen Participation has taken its message of support for broader civic participation and engagement in global policy-making and governance to the World Bank. CIVICUS Secretary General and CEO Kumi Naidoo, delivered an address on “Civil Society, Governance, and Globalisation” as part of the Bank’s Presidential Fellows Lecture Series.

Rebels controlling the north of Ivory Coast have been shuttling between West African capitals to rally support for their ultimatum to launch all-out war unless they are given seats in the government. Meanwhile, rebels in the western Ivorian city of Man, where human rights groups have found several mass graves and estimate that up to 12 000 people have died since September, claim that government troops had been responsible for most of the killings.

Police raided a meeting of opposition and reform groups at a church in Zimbabwe's capital last Thursday, arresting a bishop and four human rights activists, witnesses said. Bishop Trevor Manhanga was among those arrested. Also arrested at the Northside Community Church were human rights lawyer Brian Kagoro, university political scientist John Makumbe, activist John Stewart and a church worker.

South African President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation address to Parliament last Friday "was silent on the key challenge of AIDS," Reuters reports. Mbeki "shrugged off" renewed demands from hundreds of AIDS advocates who marched on Parliament, calling for the government to reconsider its "go-slow" approach to the epidemic.

HIV/AIDS prevention programmes have had a dramatic effect on changing risky sexual behaviour, authors of a five-year study in Ethiopia said last Friday. The study, which was carried out among 1,500 factory workers in Ethiopia and started in 1997, showed a marked drop in casual sex and an increase in condom use. Prevalence rates of the virus also plummeted.

This is a call for the South African government to start taking the issues of youth unemployment seriously. It’s about time the National Youth Service is implemented. This issue has been discussed for more than eight years since the Government of National Unity took over. Since then, more 40% of the youth from age 15-35 years have remained economically inactive, unemployed, and living under extreme condition of poverty.

Southern Africa is struggling through its second major food shortage in a decade. The latest SADC Regional Food Security Emergency Assessment forecasts that the cereal harvest this year will be well below normal in areas that are already affected by food shortages. This implies that some 15,2 million people, concentrated in Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Malawi and Mozambique, will require food aid for a lengthy period.

A Zimbabwean human rights lawyer is seeking political asylum in South Africa after fleeing his country. Gabriel Shumba bears scars of brutal torture he allegedly suffered at the hands of the security forces in Zimbabwe.

KPMG Uganda, a professional services company, started a three-day workshop on 'fighting corruption and fraud' last week. During the official opening, Jotham Tumwesigye, the Inspector General of Government said, "It has long been recognised that corruption and fraud lurk at the very heart of our society, business and lives. If unchecked, these vices could very well undo the gains and hard work of the Ugandan people."

The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has issued a statement condemning the action taken by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) to discipline two of their players who protested against the ongoing human rights violations in the country. According to media reports, the ZCU suspended Henry Olonga and referred Andy Flower to the disciplinary committee for wearing black armbands during a world cup cricket match between Zimbabwe and Namibia in Harare on Monday February 10 2002. The black armbands were a sign of protest against the 'death of democracy' in Zimbabwe.

A new multi-million dollar project has been launched to speed up access in developing countries to a vaccine against the world's leading cause of severe diarrhoea among children. The goal of the three-year US$30 million venture is to ensure that a vaccine against the rotavirus is made available to children in developing countries at the same time as it is to those living in the developed world, a move that, it is claimed, could save half a million lives a year.

The Southern Africa Human Rights NGO Network (SAHRINGON), consisting of human rights NGOs' in the region, has noted with "regret" the fact that the human rights situation in Zimbabwe has not improved since its March 2002 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. SAHRINGON has called on the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to take note of the various incidents of torture and increased violation of human rights in the country.

Liberia's government said on Thursday that former Kamajor militiamen from Sierra Leone were fighting alongside the rebel Liberians United Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) in the western part of the country.

Protests marked Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's controversial first official visit to Europe for more than a year. On the day European Union travel sanctions were renewed for a year against him, he, his wife and about 70 other members of the Zimbabwean leadership flew into the French capital by private plane and checked into a five-star hotel.
Related Links:
* Obasanjo, Mbeki Move Could Plunge Country Into Violence
http://allafrica.com/stories/200302130394.html
* Letter from Obasanjo to Howard
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=964

Concerned for their security, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday moved 406 Congolese refugees in Burundi farther away from the border with the "volatile" Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It reported on Thursday that the refugees had left Rugombo, a refugee reception centre located three kilometres from the border, for Cishemeye I transit centre.

The plight of farm workers affected by Zimbabwe's fast-track land reform programme amid a serious food security crisis is being largely ignored, NGOs warn.

Recent gains made in making HIV/AIDS treatment accessible and affordable to Kenyans are being threatened by a deal currently under discussion at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which would severely restrict access to such drugs, a group of local NGOs has warned. ActionAid Kenya, EcoNews and Medecins Sans Frontieres on 14 February said the WTO meeting, convened in Tokyo, Japan, was negotiating a proposal to restrict use of compulsory licensing for many developing countries only to extreme national emergencies.

The poor state of Nigeria's educational sector has resulted in a frightening decay which has put the performance of the country's candidates in public examinations behind that of their counterparts in war ravaged countries in West Africa. This is revealed in a quarterly review of the sector by Shelter Rights Initiative.

Scientists have criticised a study published last year which suggested that earlier estimates of worldwide tropical deforestation and atmospheric carbon emissions were too high. The original study calculated that deforestation rates were 23 per cent lower than current UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates.

Vendors of Ethiopian free press publications are being hunted down and detained, and their newspapers are being snatched from them by police, says the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA). This comes at a time when local and foreign journalists, publishers and media professionals have strongly protested against the new draft press law that have been made public by the Ministry of Information.

An Addis Ababa court has dismissed corruption charges against Abate Kisho, former President of Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region and Ato Bitew Belay- former TPLF (Tigray People's Liberation Front- main partner of ruling coalition) Central Committee member and a dissident.

Youth Issues Papers are in-depth reviews of critical topics regarding youth reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention. They include an analysis of the issue, a literature review, case studies, lessons learned, and ideas about criteria for best practices.

The purpose of this position is to provide strategic leadership, overall vision and good management in order to fulfil the goal of the Resource Centre. Duties will include leading the review and analysis of sexuality and sexual and reproductive health (SRH)/rights trends and developments in the region and directing and overseeing data gathering activities and analysis to identify and glean experience, lessons learned, and best practice related to human sexuality and sexual and reproductive health programs for dissemination and exchange.

Bridges.org, the international NGO that helps people in developing countries to use ICT to help themselves, is expanding its offices in Cape Town. To this end, we are currently inviting applications for the positions of business manager, technology associate and webmaster.

The responsibilities for the Country Director include: Strategic planning, program implementation and evaluation; fund raising and grant management; the even and consistent implementation of IRC policies and procedures as described in the IRC Field Operations Manual; develop recommendations for policy revisions as necessitated by field conditions, and Human Resource management.

In an unprecedented show of unity, groups and individuals from across the political and social spectrum, men and women, young and old, from all sectors of society and from all shades of political opinion, all colours, religious beliefs and convictions came together at Johannesburg’s Library Gardens to oppose the threatened war against Iraq. Similar marches took place in Durban and Cape Town.
Related Link:
* Memorandum of demands to US and UK governments
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=969

Locals get almost nothing out of conservation accrued benefits. There is much talk on the need for wildlife neighbouring communities to share the benefits of wildlife conservation. This loud cry is neither supported by enforceable legislation nor by clearly spelt out Government policies. To Government functionaries, it is enough to proudly talk of the earnings from wildlife and highlight it as a percentage of the national income. But if the successes of conservation in terms of the welfare of rural people in and/or adjacent to wildlife-protected areas are gauged, obviously they are failure. Yet the villages in and around protected areas have little or almost no Government-supported infrastructures, argues this commentary.

The governing council of the United Nations Environmental Programme, which met in Nairobi last week, resolved that the continent be the core centre in implementing resolutions passed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

The Rural Women's Network of Senegal and ENDA-PRONAT are organizing a conference on "Rural Women's Access to land" - from 25-27 February 2003 in Thiès, Senegal. An online discussion is now open on the new Dimitra website http://www.fao.org/dimitra/ in preparation for this event.

Without reliable, relevant health information, health care managers and providers cannot make informed decisions to allocate resources effectively, improve the quality of health services, or address epidemics such as HIV/AIDS. As health systems around the world decentralize, the demand for sound information and the skills to use information effectively is increasing dramatically. In response, the Routine Health Information Network (RHINO) announces a technical workshop on Enhancing the Quality and Use of Health Information at the District Level.

Alcohol in Sub-Saharan Africa has historically been a conduit for religious and political expression controlled by male elders. Over the past century and especially during the last two crisis-ridden decades, alcohol's ceremonial role has been largely displaced. Currently, alcohol is a taboo subject for donors and African governments alike, yet it is at the nexus of many of the continent's most pressing problems. Agricultural sector decline, large-scale labor redundancy, household instability, and AIDS have cause or effect linkages to changing alcohol usage. This edited collection explores the economic, political, and social meanings of alcohol usage.

Tanzania's first annual home-grown human rights report has highlighted continued abuses of police power, low levels of awareness about human rights, abuses of economic and cultural rights and the tabling of several constricting bills in parliament amongst its major concerns.

As night falls in Gabon's capital Libreville, 13-year-old Arthur Goma stakes his patch for scraping out an existence in a country torn apart by devastating wealth inequality. For the street children of Libreville, survival is a nocturnal struggle of begging and gangland battles in a west African country which was once considered as one of the richest in Africa.

Police arrested a High Court judge seen as having angered the government by ruling against it, accusing him of corruption, state television reported on Monday.

Amnesty International (AI) last Friday called on the Liberian government to release Aloysius Toe, a leading human rights activist, saying he was due to be tried on a trumped-up treason charge. "Toe has done nothing but work legitimately for the defense of fundamental human rights in Liberia. He should not be in prison and not on trial," AI said in a press statement.

Heat waves in Delhi and Athens. Hurricane Mitch in Central America and tornadoes in the USA. Floods in Britain and China. All unprecedented in severity. Unprecedented in frequency. What is happening to the world's weather? What are the world's governments doing about it? This book takes us through the science, and behind the politics.

I look forward to being connected with Pambazuka not only to be networked with other organisations but to gain information useful for Life Concern International's objectives to be realised.

Rita Nzimbi
Life Concern International, Nairobi, Kenya

African Trade Ministers participating in the on-going World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations have a duty to denounce any agreement which could threaten public health or undermine access to generic versions of essential drugs on the continent. Making the call in a statement released to the press, the Treatment Action Movement (TAM), a coalition of Nigerian civil society actors on access to treatment and care, said the discussions at the WTO meeting hold great significance for access to healthcare in many developing countries.

The Institute for democracy in South Africa (Idasa) has been contracted by a UNESCO structure, INJEP (the National Institute of Youth and Popular Education) to develop an African Youth Directory. The aim of this project is to facilitate contact between structures dealing with youth issues on the African continent, and between these African structures and other interested parties worldwide. The Youth Directory will be distributed through youth structures in Africa and internationally, and different structures included in the directory stand to benefit a great deal from the increased exposure. The Youth Directory aims to provide information on youth structures and policies in all member states of the African Union. If you would like to have your organisation included in the directory, or know of any organisations that we should include, please contact Nico Bezuidenhout at [email protected]

The primary responsibility of this position is to provide technical assistance to the region and to country programmes to expand CRS' outreach in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic while ensuring that the CRS HIV/AIDS programming is accomplished in accordance with CRS/USCCB AIDS policies, & the Standards Approach for CRS HIV/AIDS Programming in Africa. Incumbent will provide leadership with HIV/AIDS Strategy Development, Information Management Project Development, Capacity Building, Monitoring & Evaluation and Networking. Masters in Public Health or related field required.

A controversial and long-delayed identity card scheme is finally been introduced in Nigeria. Some northern politicians oppose the scheme, fearing it will be used to cross-check other population records, including the voters roll.

As populations rise in the Sahel and arable land degrades, is conflict inevitable? Why are reforms of tenure law, decentralisation and the creation of new land institutions failing to reduce disputes over access to and ownership of land? Could innovative forms of arbitration bring together stakeholders to settle lasting disputes and develop sustainable forms of natural resource management?

Large-scale protectionist programmes have increasingly been abandoned in favour of community-based wildlife conservation. But the huge range of initiatives makes it difficult to assess the value and impact of these. A new review of community conservation efforts in East Africa finds that much remains to be done, particularly at policy, legal and institutional levels.

As gender issues and land rights assume greater importance, how are Ghanaian women seeking to redefine the terms on which they gain access to and control of land? How are women farmers being affected by growing land scarcity? Is enough being done to enable poor women farmers to gain improved access to extension services and productive assets?

Central African Republic (CAR) government forces, backed by the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have recaptured the towns of Bozoum and Sibut, Radio France Internationale reported on Sunday.

The top United Nations envoy for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has said he would seek Security Council action if a rebel group did not stop blocking peace efforts in the Ituri region, where half a million people have been displaced, women raped and many children enlisted as soldiers.
Related Link:
* Ituri peace accord postponed
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32359