PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDIÇÃO EM PORTUGUÊS 91: Crise eleitoral no Haiti | Violação dos direitos humanos na Palestina
PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDIÇÃO EM PORTUGUÊS 91: Crise eleitoral no Haiti | Violação dos direitos humanos na Palestina
Orthodox economists sometimes get it wrong. When a government fixes the prices of various goods below what they cost to produce, they fail to provide the necessary subsidy to fill the gap. The orthodox theory predicts that there will be empty shelves in the shops. But in Zimbabwe, this is not how things have turned out. Retailers there have indeed run out of all manner of price-controlled goods.
The HIV/Aids NGO/CBO Support Toolkit is a website and CD-Rom with over 500 downloadable resources and supporting information. The toolkit includes practical information, tools and example documents to help those working to establish or improve NGO/CBO support programmes.
Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho and Swaziland already have more than 14 million people in need of food aid, after poor harvests at the beginning of this year. Desperate farmers, many of whom will use donated seed and fertiliser, are pinning their hopes of recovery on next year's crops, but so far rainfall figures have been worryingly low.
The fatwa issued a fortnight ago against the ThisDay Journalist Isioma Daniel by the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State in Northern Nigeria has far-reaching implications beyond the immediate threat to her life, press freedom, and the controversy surrounding Nigeria's hosting of the Miss World beauty pageant. Before going further, it is important to declare an interest in the matter. I am a journalist by training, and have campaigned for press freedom, freedom of expression and human rights in general all my adult life. I have also lived and worked in Nigeria, campaigned against military dictatorship, and in the past wrote a column and features on current affairs for ThisDay Newspaper. This 'admission' does not in anyway disqualify me from commenting on this issue, quite the contrary. I may also add, that although my professional judgement is that portions of Isioma's article were controversial, the fatwa against her is completely out of order.
What are the implications and significance of the fatwa beyond the immediate issues?
Firstly, it is important to recognise that the issuing of a fatwa by an elected politician represents a dangerous political phenomenon. That is, one of a nascent dictatorship based on a fusion of religion and the state (in a section of a secular country). This phenomenon began with the passing of death sentences by stoning against allegedly 'adulterous' women in the name of religious law. In all cases, not a single man responsible for the pregnancies or babies used as evidence against the women was indicted. The failure of the Nigerian government to intervene decisively to halt these blatant miscarriages of justice permitted the phenomenon to expand its jurisdiction to cover press freedom, freedom of expression and the arbitrary and extra-judicial imposition of death sentences on other citizens.
Secondly, by first concentrating its initial attacks on the alleged promiscuity of women, e.g. unwed mothers and beauty contestants in a largely chauvinist society, this phenomenon was able to employ a divide and conquer tactic, and also cloak the potential danger of its spiked fist with a glove of dubious morality. We have not heard that the Zamfara State government (or for that matter the Nigerian government) is opposed to the giving away of teenage girls into marriage. This in turn, highlights the inequalities in Nigerian society in general and the country's constitution in particular. For instance, the present Nigerian constitution written by the last military regime, and accepted by the incumbent civilian government, denies women many rights including the right to confer citizenship on their non-Nigerian husbands through marriage, a right taken for granted by Nigerian men. A senior government official once justified this on the logic-defying basis that women are “easily carried away by emotion” and may end up conferring Nigerian citizenship on foreigners in exchange for love.
Thirdly, by advocating a legal and institutional framework which aims to restrict the movement and activities of women, and deny them their economic, social and political rights, Zamfara and other states advocating similar laws will by default literally 'bury' half the problems of their states in relation to unemployment, provision of education and so forth in one stroke. The other side of this of course, is that society is denied the benefit of half of its skills, talent and productive forces. It is significant that high unemployment and deepening poverty in some states have provided armies of unemployed and desperate youth easily converted into raging mobs by cynical manipulation of some religious and political leaders.
Fourthly, the violent protests orchestrated by political and religious opportunists and the issuing of the country's first ever political fatwa could be interpreted as a testing of the waters, and a show of strength by potential demagogues to see how far they can go without being challenged by secular and democratic forces, or even other Islamic leaders.
It is necessary to point out here that the problem is not with Islam. Christian fundamentalists in the United States for instance have regularly attacked and even killed doctors running family planning clinics and women attending them. Despite carrying out these acts of violence with thinly veiled and tacit support of right wing religious and political leaders, no one in their right mind can allege that the problem is with Christianity. To further emphasise this point, women in predominantly Muslim countries such as President Megawati Sukarnoputri in Indonesia, Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan, Tansu Çiller in Turkey, and Begum Khaleda Zia in Bangladesh have emerged as democratically elected leaders. In 'conservative' countries such as Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan under the Taliban where democratic rights are suppressed, elections are not held - never mind the emergence of women leaders.
Within this context, the problem of invoking religion and narrow interpretations of religious morality to suppress democratic rights can be seen more as a device by members of ruling elites or opposition groups to build social and political support for their political agendas, rather than as a strictly religious problem. This problem is only religious to the extent that at best, it reflects the undemocratic interpretation of a religious school of thought. In order to stop such undemocratic schools of thought from gaining political ground and suppressing democratic rights, the time to intervene is now.
Individuals, whether public officials or private citizens, cannot be allowed to commit crimes with impunity in the name of religion which otherwise would not go unpunished. Calling for the arbitrary murder, execution or assassination of anyone is a crime regardless of if it is done in the name of religion.
If the Nigerian government is not to create a dangerous precedent, the Inspector General of Police must at the very minimum commence investigations into the statements and actions of the Zamfara State Deputy Governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo and all democratic and judicial institutions of the Nigerian government must also go beyond opposing the Fatwa, and reaffirm unequivocally the supremacy of all constitutional and democratic rights over any pronouncements by any person, whether public office holder or private citizen. These rights include media freedom, and the fundamental rights to opinion, free expression, association and life.
In addition, the Nigerian government must recognise and affirm that it is not the place of the government or private individuals to punish the media for errors or the content of news reports, features or opinion articles. Any redress sought must be through the judiciary, or through an independent ethics or complaints body not appointed by or dominated by the government. The media cannot play its vital role of sustaining democracy through holding the government and powerful individuals to account if the government or private citizens can arbitrarily arrogate to themselves power to punish the media.
To fully appreciate the consequence of not acting now, we must ask the question: What would have been the consequence for democracy and the unity of Nigeria if Isioma Daniel and the publisher of ThisDay Nduka Obaigbena had been murdered by zealots carrying out the exaltations of the Zamfara State Deputy Governor? What would have been the consequences for the West African Sub Region of a chain of events which could have led to widespread religious and ethnic conflict in a country of one hundred and twenty million people? Without a shadow of doubt, failure to halt 'politically' motivated rights violations at the starting blocks, often have devastating consequences for society.
* Rotimi Sankore is Coordinator of CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights
* Send comments and views for publication to
Background Information:
On the 16th of November 2002, Isioma Daniel wrote an article on the Miss World beauty pageant published in ThisDay, a Nigerian national newspaper. In the article, which addressed the controversy over Nigeria’s hosting of the pageant, she suggested that the prophet Mohammed would have probably chosen a wife from the participants. The article attracted complaints from Muslims and protesting youth torched the Kaduna offices of ThisDay in Northern Nigeria. Over two hundred lives were lost in the protests, and churches, mosques and other property were destroyed in attacks and counter attacks by Muslims and Christian youth. The federal government had to deploy the police and army to restore peace, and imposed a curfew for some days.
The Newspaper publicly apologised for the article, and explained that the Editor had tried to remove the offending sentences, but failed to do so due to technological difficulties. The publication emphasised that it is not anti-Muslim and has several Muslims in top management positions. Some Muslim leaders accepted the apology and called on fellow Muslims to do the same. But some other Muslim leaders refused to accept the apology, and supported the Fatwa issued by the Zamfara State Deputy Governor Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi. The potency of the fatwa was undermined by the fact that it was opposed by the country’s leading Islamic body the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and some prominent Muslim scholars on the grounds that the writer and the publication had apologised, and that the Deputy Governor does not have the authority to issue fatwa’s. The Nigerian federal government also opposed the fatwa and press freedom groups in particular condemned it. However, the Zamfara State government, which was the first Nigerian State to introduce Islamic Sharia law, has not withdrawn the fatwa.
Isioma Daniel has fled the country.
Related Links:
* Nigerian Sharia state holds firm on fatwa
* Soyinka blames federal government
http://allafrica.com/stories/200212020458.html
* Fed Govt Nullifies Fatwa
http://allafrica.com/stories/200211300099.html
* The truth behind the Miss World riots
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,850959,00.html
* Sultan Wants Perpetrators of Kaduna Riots Punished
http://www.thisdayonline.com/
CREDO, an organisation supporting freedom of expression and associated rights, has welcomed with caution the registration of 22 political parties in Nigeria this week. However, CREDO said in a statement that it was not the role of government to screen and register parties. “Rather an Independent Electoral Commission should merely recognise the existence of parties that notify it of their intention to participate in electoral processes, once they fulfil basic administrative procedure,” CREDO said.
The Swazi government's deliberate and flagrant disregard for the rule of law and its attempts to undermine the independence of the judiciary jeopardize long term protection of human rights in Swaziland, says Amnesty International.
Residents fleeing the western city of Man told of corpses scattered in the streets. No one thought this could happen in Ivory Coast, but in Man, the fall from grace of this West African nation can be seen — and smelled.
The strength of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) is to be expanded to a total of 8,700 military personnel and have its presence extended eastwards.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDIÇÃO EM PORTUGUÊS 90: Latifúndio ilegal em Angola | Repressão policial na Guiné-Bissau
PAMBAZUKA NEWS EDIÇÃO EM PORTUGUÊS 90: Latifúndio ilegal em Angola | Repressão policial na Guiné-Bissau
This is a call for applicants for the Adilisha distance learning courses for non-profit human rights and advocacy organisations in the SADC region. Fahamu, in association with the Department for Continuing Education at the University of Oxford, will be offering courses specifically designed to meet the needs of non-profit human rights and advocacy organisations in the SADC region (Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe). Developed together with international and regional experts, seven courses will be run in the course of the next 8 months. Applications are now opened for:
* Leadership and management for change
This course is about leading and managing for change. It aims to help you, a manager or a leader in an organisation involved in the struggle for justice, with the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to help you to do your work effectively and ethically. Because if you don't do you work effectively and ethically, your struggle will be in vain.
* Fundraising and resource mobilization
Fundraising and resource mobilisation maybe a high priority on your list. But in the kind of context you are operating in, the prospects of raising sufficient funds might not be so good. In order to be effective - in order to bring about equity and justice - you need to be able to effectively fundraise and mobilise your resources, and effect change. And yet many of you are not able to do this. That's what this course is for.
A senior ruling party politician has claimed that nurses and teachers in the Oshana region, Namibia, have received maize meal and other food rations meant for thousands of drought-affected Namibians.
Every year 15 million people die from infectious diseases and currently 40 million people live with HIV/Aids. Some of this misery could be prevented if poor people had access to affordable medicines.
Like many Zimbabweans, the main concern of Simon Marume is how he can stretch his salary to feed his family. Marume, 49, works for a milling company in the capital, Harare. His wife is unemployed and he has five children to support. He also has financial obligations to his extended family in his rural home area of Masvingo, in southwestern Zimbabwe.
A fund has been established for the defense of John Pape, who was arrested earlier this month in Cape Town, South Africa, after being on the run since the 1970s for his involvement in the activities of an American liberation movement.
Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has reserved judgment in a case in which the Independent Journalists Association of Zimbabwe is challenging certain clauses of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Opposition Congress of Democrats leader Ben Ulenga has taken issue with members of Parliament trying to derail the Combating of Domestic Violence Bill.
Ending hunger in Southern Africa and building food security lies in the development of smallholder farmers. If they were given enough support these farmers could be as efficient as commercial farmers, says a Washington-based research institute.
OneWorld Radio is to offer radio stations around the world an opportunity to broadcast HIV/Aids awareness programming from the MTV Staying Alive campaign. This includes the 1 December 2002, World Aids Day, concerts from Cape Town, South Africa and Seattle, USA.
Africa has been in the international news lately, with the formation of the New Partnership for African Development (Nepad) and debt relief for highly indebted countries. Analyses of why Africa is poor point to one recurring principal cause: Corruption. This is a rather puzzling predicament because most traditional African leaders and societies had little or no corruption.
Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Nasiru Mantu says the Senate is not conducting a witch -hunt against the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), but rather aims to reinforce it. He was commenting about the creation of a committee to probe the activities of the ICPC.
Nearly half of all public officials surveyed in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa thought it was "not wrong" or "wrong but understandable" to accept 'gifts of appreciation' from citizens in return for performing services which are part of their jobs. This is according to a report released last week by the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM).
Lawyers for Zambia's ex-president Frederick Chiluba last Thursday defended their client's right to keep the immunity from prosecution he enjoyed while in office, which parliament voted to lift earlier this year. Chiluba's lawyers told nine Supreme Court judges that lawmakers erred by lifting his immunity without bringing specific criminal charges against him.
A wave of pre-election violence and protests which have rocked Kenya's political party nomination process over the past week is raising serious concerns ahead of the country's presidential, parliamentary and civic polls slated for 27 December.
The Sudanese government has agreed to allow Ugandan soldiers to continue an offensive against Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebels inside Sudan, just a few days after ordering them to leave. Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF) spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza told IRIN on Monday that Khartoum had agreed to allow the UPDF to continue to operate in southern Sudan for as long as it took to wipe out LRA bases there.
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has expressed its deep concern at the high levels of violence against women that persist throughout the world. "Women and girls continue to be exclusively or disproportionately subjected to a number of different forms of violence within the context of the family, in the community and at the hands of State officials," said an OMCT statement on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, marked on November 25.
The Miss World beauty circus fled to Britain on Sunday while in northern Nigeria the death toll continued to mount in bloody sectarian rioting fuelled by Muslim anger at the pageant. As around 90 contestants arrived in London, the Nigerian Red Cross said that the toll in the flashpoint city of Kaduna had passed the 200 mark and that violence linked to the event was expected to continue.
Despite Cabinet’s April decision to offer free anti-retroviral drugs to survivors of sexual assault, the programme is being undermined by time lags and survivor’s failure to complete the course of drugs. The programme is being rolled out in Gauteng, the Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal and the Free State, but the AIDS Law Project’s Liesl Gerntholtz says the drugs are not readily available in Mpumalanga, Limpopo and the Northern Cape.
The Water for All email list is a campaign to stop the national and international privatization of water. As a part of this list you will receive information, updates and action alerts regarding water privatization. To subscribe to this list email [email protected] with the words "subscribe Water for All" in the subject line.
Mohammed Abacha, the son of late military ruler General Sani Abacha, has confirmed that his lawyers are fighting to have millions of dollars returned to him and his family.
Banks in Switzerland and other European countries have frozen accounts holding money allegedly siphoned away while Abacha ruled Nigeria from 1993 to his death in 1998.
Corruption and a food crisis were to blame for Malawi's failure to honour financial agreements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the finance minister has said. The fund suspended $47 million in aid to Malawi after the government failed to implement agreed fiscal discipline measures. Other donors, including Britain, the US and the European Union, have also withheld funds.
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of their joint programme, The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, wish to express their deepest concern regarding recent official declarations threatening the existence of independent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and more generally freedom of association in Zimbabwe. Our organisations have been informed that during a Parliamentary Assembly session, on 13 November, the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Cde Patrick Chinamasa, released a list of NGOs which he presented as a threat to national security.
On Friday, November 15, an explosion destroyed the offices of the independent weekly National Pilot in Ilorin, the capital of Nigeria's west central Kwara State. Five people were seriously injured in the blast-which local sources suspected was a politically motivated bomb attack-including the paper's deputy editor-in-chief, Mudasiru Adewuyi.
The US has warned Nigeria that it will support international sanctions starting as early as next month if it fails to fall into line with a global campaign against money laundering. Western diplomats in Nigeria are urging the country's parliament to pass laws proposed by President Olusegun Obasanjo in an attempt to avert punitive action threatened last month by the Financial Action Task Force, an anti-money-laundering body set up by leading industrialised nations.
Rwanda is beginning the process of setting up a nationwide system of community courts to try more than 100,000 suspects in the genocide war of the mid-1990s in which up to a million people are believed to have died.
There are growing reports of fighting breaking out between government troops and Mai-Mai militias in Katanga province, in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has delayed a $12 million grant to Tanzania for malaria prevention efforts after Tanzania's Ministry of Finance said it would control the grant instead of the country's health ministry, the Boston Globe reports.
South Africa has one of the worst TB epidemics in the world, with an incidence rate of 362 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. In the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province, where there are 500 cases for every 100,000 people, this fact is hard to miss. Various factors - poverty, HIV/AIDS, and lack of infrastructure - all contribute to rising TB rates. But a new project is using modern technology to fight the scourge.
Negotiations between the Congolese government and two rebel groups have produced an agreement in principle on the workings of a transitional government, the South African government said.
The United Nations Security Council should extend the arms embargo on Liberia to all rebel groups, and closely monitor the compliance of the Guinean government with that embargo, Human Rights Watch says. In a new report, "Liberian Refugees in Guinea: Refoulement, Militarization of Camps, and Other Protection Concerns", Human Rights Watch said the Guinean government's close relationship with Liberian rebel groups is posing a serious threat to refugees' security and protection in Guinea.
AIDS is the leading killer of women in South Africa and is claiming increasing numbers of lives every year, according to a government study released last Thursday. AIDS-related illnesses were responsible for 9.8 percent of female deaths in South Africa in 2001, up from 5.6 percent in 1997, the survey by Statistics South Africa showed.
Ivory Coast's rebels last Wednesday rejected the president's offer to hold a referendum on the constitution, saying it was a diversion and had no effect on peace talks aimed at ending a bloody two-month rebellion in one of West Africa's economic hubs. Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo said Tuesday he would hold a referendum next year on whether to amend the constitution.
Blood from umbilical cords could be given to children who are acutely ill with malaria, according to new research. Children with malaria develop anaemia because the malaria parasite destroys the red blood cells that shunt oxygen around the body. But in sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria is rife, spare blood is often in short supply.
Agricultural ministers in South and East Africa have agreed to create a regional policy on genetically modified (GM) organisms in a bid to ensure that their countries follow common guidelines on health and environmental safety, and other related issues. The decision, taken at a meeting of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in Kampala, Uganda, comes in response to controversy over the Zambian government's refusal to accept donations of GM maize.
Unplanned pregnancies account for a substantial proportion of births in Kenya and can have a variety of negative consequences on individual women, their families, and the society as a whole, says a paper from the Department of Social Statistics, University of Southampton. The paper shows that unplanned childbearing in Kenya is associated with a number of factors, including urban/rural residence, region, ethnicity, maternal education, maternal age, marital status, birth order, length of preceding birth interval, family planning practice, fertility preference and unmet need for family planning.
Nigeria is ranked second in Africa - based on available statistics - for its high rates of infant and maternal mortality. It records 191 deaths per 1000 live births, behind Sierra Leone with 246. Worse still, Nigeria comes last in terms of efforts put in place to reverse this ugly trend in the past 10 years.
Violence against women has its root cause in women's unequal status in society. If the scourge of gender-based violence is to be overcome, then the warped attitudes and resultant discrimination that perpetuate them by preventing women from participating in society on an equal basis with men must be addressed. Human rights provides the framework for this undertaking, says United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
With help from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a small but influential Kenyan women's group is helping researchers preserve bottle gourds, one of Africa's earliest domesticated plants and one of its most endangered. Located 160 kilometers west of Nairobi in the village of Kitui, the group has established a Gourd Museum that houses a growing community genebank, as well as an informal library of songs, stories, and indigenous knowledge.
The organisations listed in this posting have booked a corporate tent during the One Day cricket matches between Zimbabwe and Pakistan. Sanctions and sports/cultural boycotts are non-violent interventions that have helped to oust unjust regimes - South Africa and Rhodesia are good examples. In the face of massive hunger, violence and fear in Zimbabwe we need to actively support an integrated campaign that creates sustained and varied pressure on the Mugabe regime.
A broad coalition of Ghanaian organisations, including teachers, doctors, nurses, trade unions, women's and human rights organisations, NGOs, students and others have stated their opposition to the World Bank-backed "private sector participation" proposal and delivered a memorandum to this effect to their government. We urge you to take immediate action to instruct U.S. Executive Directors to oppose the World Bank's water privatization proposal in Ghana and to oppose loan conditions promoting increased cost recovery for water. Access to water is a basic human right and should not be denied to people simply because they are poor.
The International Federation of Journalists, the world's largest journalists' group has condemned rioters who attacked the daily newspaper This Day in the northern Nigerian city of Kaduna. The IFJ also condemned a bomb attack on the weekly newspaper National Pilot in a separate incident.
With a population just shy of 10 million people, Zambia is at a crossroads in coping with a series of overlapping crises. Arguably the most devastating among them is the rapid spread of HIV, currently infecting 20% of the country’s entire population. As a result, scores of children have been directly affected. NetAid invites you to give young girls in Zambia the priceless gift of education. Your valuable donation can be given on behalf of a friend or family member who will be notified of your present.
The 2003 programme of Mango's financial management training for NGOs is now available to view on our website. In the coming year, we are delighted to introduce some new short courses in response to popular demand. The training programme will be delivered in regional locations around the world, including Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Thailand, Jordan and the UK.
Our current programme of events (ranging from 1 day to 2 weeks in duration) caters for a wide range of needs in the relief and development sector, and can also be adapted for 'in-house' training events.
To the surprise of the Attorney-General's Office, a magistrate in the central Mozambican province of Sofala has granted provisional freedom to Jose Beirao, former provincial director of finance, who is accused of stealing 22 billion meticais (about 925,000 US dollars) of state funds.
Jubilee and Khulumani want to issue a warning to FW de Klerk that, if he continues to apologise for Apartheid and support those who have benefited and still benefit from Apartheid, our organisations will be left with no option but to put his role in perpetrating Apartheid crimes back in the spotlight. Last week, De Klerk suggested that support for the claim (filed by Jubilee South Africa and the Khulumani Support Group against international banks and companies that supported the Apartheid Regime) will impede foreign investment in South Africa and hamper the progress to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Today, it has come to light that de Klerk has given open support to the Swiss banks and asked them to oppose and resist the case before the US courts.
For rich people, a beautiful landscape is something of value. For those falling on hard times, rolling hills and spectacular valleys are of less worth. Unless, that is, they can be turned into a money-making opportunity. That is what landowners around the farming town of Estcourt in the South African province of KwaZulu Natal are hoping to do when they pool their title deeds to form one of the country's biggest game parks.
Tens of thousands of refugees in the capitals of Kenya and Uganda are living in dire and dangerous conditions, and national governments are taking insufficient steps to address their plight, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. Human Rights Watch also criticized intergovernmental agencies for neglecting their responsibilities to protect and assist refugees in Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda.
Responsible for specific fundraising targets as well as developing the AME capacity for Resource Development and Communications. Includes setting specific fundraising targets and ensuring that these are implemented and achieved; supporting and encouraging efforts of national organizations to build sustainable Resource Development and Communications programs; providing direction for achievement of AME's vision for national office in-country fundraising; directing external relations for Africa and Middle East Area including government relations, media and donor relations.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) will fill a significant void in the international legal system, fulfilling the objective of safeguarding higher values such as protection of human rights - an obligation that transcends state borders, according to the Nigerian Coalition on the ICC (NCICC). The NCICC also noted that that there is need for civil society/government partnership on the implementation of the Rome Statute in Nigeria.
If you are a mid-level or senior programme manager, social worker, senior government officer or planner, a health care professional, or have an interest in ageing issues, then this course is for you. Topics to be covered include: Demographic situation and socio-economic implications for Africa; HIV/AIDS and its impact on older people; Gender dimension of ageing; Poverty and Research and Policies on ageing.
Morgan Tsvangerai of Zimbabwe was awarded the Democracy Medal by the International Association of Political Consultants (IAPC). Mr. Tsvangerai was an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of Zimbabwe in last year's elections. I am delighted about this award, for Morgan Tsvangerai is presently under the threat of capital punishment in Zimbabwe. He is charged with a conspiracy to assassinate the president, Robert Mugabe. The factual basis of the charges is flawed and viewed as entirely false by the international legal and political communities. It is my hope that the IAPC's Democracy Medal will inspire Morgan Tsvangerai and his loyal supporters to continue their fight for democratic change in Zimbabwe.
Michael Carmichael, The Oxford Centre for Public Affairs
The Council of Europe has adopted an optional Protocol to update the European Convention on Cybercrime. The protocol criminalises the dissemination of racist and xenophobic material through computer systems. It also makes it an offence for sites to deny, minimise, approve of or justify crimes against humanity, in particular acts during the Second World War. For any act to be an offence under the Protocol, it must be done intentionally. This should prevent service providers who unknowingly host such material being guilty of an offence. The aim of the Protocol is to harmonise international cooperation in this area, as various EU States have already introduced anti-racism legislation. The Protocol has a way to go before it could become law, and many have expressed doubts over its possible effectiveness because the Bush administration in the US has announced that they will not support it.
ACORD is searching for an exceptional individual to become our next Executive Director. The person appointed will continue the process of change we have been undergoing which involves changing the focus of our programming to working with the excluded in Africa and social movements in both the North and South and using advocacy and research as tools for change. The Executive Director is responsible for the strategic leadership and overall organisational management of all areas of ACORD's work. We have started relocating the Head Office from the UK to Africa and will be completed by end 2003 whilst increasing the status, skills and responsibility of our Programme Managers to strategically manage their programmes.
The Aids Law Unit of the Legal Assistance Centre has welcomed plans by government to expand its anti-retroviral treatment programme for HIV-positive people early next year.
The High Court of Malawi has overturned a Presidential banning order on demonstations. Justice Edward Twea said the order was "unconstitutional and wholly unreasonable".
Otjozondjupa region governor Grace Uushona has called on Namibian women to unite in the fight for their democratic rights. Uushona says women of the country should free their minds and resist enslavement by men.
One thousand people are likely to die of diarrhea and cholera this rainy season due to 6000 broken down water points, which have not been rehabilitated. Health analysts are saying this is despite efforts by UNICEF-Malawi and the Malawi government.
The state-controlled Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) has come under severe censure from the democracy monitors from the Electoral Commission Of Kenya (ECK) and the Kenya Domestic Observation Programme (K-DOP). K-DOP Chairman, Archbishop John Njenga, accused the State-owned media giant of denying Kenyans a chance to make informed decisions on which candidate to support and vote for.
The growing internet rush in Tanzania is bringing more women to the web. In contrast to other African countries, reports the BBC, the increasing number of cyber-cafes in cities and rural areas are contributing to this boom by offering cheap internet access. A growing number of female net-cafe owners provide easy internet access to their female customers.
The man charged with killing Mozambican investigative reporter Carlos Cardoso told a court on Monday that the murder was ordered by the eldest son of President Joaquim Chissano. Carlitos Rachide said as he pleaded guilty that he was asked to kill Cardoso by one of his co-accused, Anibal Antonio dos Santos, alias Anibalzinho, who mysteriously escaped from the Maputo maximum security prison in September.
East Africa risks attracting terrorist attacks and becoming a theatre in the war against terror unless its governments improve their handling of refugees, a group of international human-rights lawyers have warned.
The latest Statistics SA report on income distribution (Earning and Spending in SA) underlines one benefit of the transition to democracy: government's earnest effort to track developments relating to poverty and inequality. Beyond that, however, the report makes depressing reading. Its key finding that income inequalities worsened between 1995 and 2000 underscores the need for more vigorous action to create jobs. Perhaps the most shocking finding is that, in real terms, the average African household has seen a 19% fall in income, while the average white household has enjoyed a 15% increase.
A Ugandan-backed rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) said on Monday it had suspended its participation in peace talks being held in South Africa, complaining it had become "marginalised." RCD-Liberation Movement (RCD-ML) leader Mbusa Nyamwisi said the talks had become a "surrealistic psychodrama" where the signing of an accord had become more important than achieving peace.
You will be responsible for developing and co-ordinating SCUK's child soldier programme in the DRC. You will provide technical expertise and assist teams in planning and implementing new and ongoing activities, developing and delivering training in the interim care of former child soldiers and reintegration strategies.
The IRC seeks a Field Coordinator for its Sierra Leone program based in Kono to act as the senior staff member and represent IRC in an official capacity in the district.
To provide technical oversight of food aid programming in the region by coordinating with the Vice-President's office the management of food aid country programs. This position will also be responsible for insuring that food aid staff are recruited according to the skills, abilities and qualities required of a food aid program.
Diamond miner De Beers marked the opening of a new store in London's West End by threatening legal action against campaigners for the bushmen of the Kalahari in an attempt to stop protests spoiling the opening. The move underlines the way companies are increasingly aggressive in their treatment of those they feel are damaging their brands while being keen to present themselves as socially responsible.
Programs to assist and protect refugees worldwide currently face a financial crisis, says the US Committee for Refugees. Funding by donor nations for international refugee programs has been seriously inadequate during 2002, triggering major assistance cutbacks in refugee camps around the world.
CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations, is inviting applications for national partners to participate in its Civil Society Index 2003-04. The Index is an action-research project that assesses the state of civil society in countries around the world with a view to creating a knowledge base and an impetus for civil society strengthening initiatives. The Index was successfully piloted in 14 countries around the world and CIVICUS is now launching the first full implementation phase in approximately 25 countries. The Index will be implemented by civil society organisations at the country level, in close partnership with CIVICUS.
Now that the New Partnership for Africa's Development has reneged on its original plan to subject the character and quality of national governance in Africa to peer review, the need for a method to improve the way the continent governs itself is more urgent than ever, according to a Financial Times commentary by Robert Rotberg, director of the programme on intrastate conflict at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and president of the World Peace Foundation.
With people facing hunger in most parts of the country, Zanu PF supporters have reportedly taken advantage of this to sway the electorate to its side as well as punish the would be supporters of the MDC. In Chimanimani, Zanu PF supporters were allegedly caught red-handed rewarding voters with allocations of maize, moments after they cast their votes.
Zimbabwe has been traumatised by the combined impact of political and economic authoritarianism, yet the MDC's economic policies and political practice reflect the very same neo-liberal flavour that has brought the Zimbabwean economy to its knees and devastated the lives of the Zimbabwean people. The MDC's failure, as a labour based party, to draw the working people of Zimbabwe into political activity in their own interest, as initiators of social and political change, means that in its present form and content the MDC can do little to end the misery of the Zimbabwean workers and peasants, argues this commentary on the Zimbabwe Indymedia web site.
The trickle-down theory of development advanced by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund has been a failure, says a document by the World Council of Churches. "Authentic human development can never be achieved when the ultimate goal is the amassing of wealth and material goods, creating an unquenchable thirst for more power, profits and possessions. An alternative approach is required that allows us to express "development" and "economy" in relation to our common vocation to live in right relationships with our neighbours," says the document.
I spent two days in Binga - no sign of any food distribution from Save the Children Fund (UK) although Joel Gabbuza tells me that it was due to get underway today (21st November). I saw about 20 villages - all adults severely stressed, nearly all children suffering to some extent from malnutrition, some quite severe. All villages reported deaths - most not directly linked to food, but related. I witnessed people eating leaves from trees as well as roots and tubers from the bush and seeds off local trees. I only saw maize meal prepared in one village. We saw one adult man - about 45 years old, retrenched from his job in 1999 and now dying of HIV/Aids. He was a skeleton and I do not think he will live more than another few days. There were no protein foods at all in his village.
The first clear indications of how the World Bank and IMF are going to conduct Poverty and Social Impact Analysis (PSIA) are now available. A number of the pilot studies have been completed and a conference was recently held in Washington DC. NGOs have expressed concern that their objectives of opening up debates about different social and economic policy options are not being met through the current approaches. The World Bank and the IMF, under pressure from NGOs and some governments, have agreed to introduce more systematic analysis of the likely poverty impact of policies proposed in their loans. NGOs have argued that PSIA should look at macro-level policy alternatives, not just at the 'fine-tuning', timing and sequencing of pre-determined policies.
joint letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo by Independent Journalism Centre and other Nigerian NGOs
We the undersigned, representing a community of non-governmental media organizations, feel compelled to write you this open letter in view of the dangerous dimensions that reactions to the November 16, 2002, news report by THISDAY, The Saturday Newspaper, on the re-located Miss World contest, are assuming. First and foremost, we wish to draw your attention to the lead report of the Nigerian Tribune of Tuesday, November 26, 2002, titled "Zamfara pronounces death sentence on journalist".
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) says it is deeply concerned about news that 17 women in Munwashi, who have been tried for adultery, have been sentenced to 100 lashes of the whip each. The OMCT is requesting activists to write to the Sudanese authorities requesting them to take all necessary measures to ensure the respect for the international human rights instruments to which Sudan is party.
Often some government and donor officials have denied that Malawi will privatise nearly every lifeline. But progress indicates that the government intends to privatise institutions providing food security in Malawi, water, electricity and more. This will translate into the livelihood of the people being at the mercy of 'forces of the market'. This privatisation behaviour has been opposed by civil society, says this briefing from the Malawi Economic Justice Network.
Kiambu small-scale farmer Benson Kinuthia wants to sell his four cows. The reason is that he has found a new love in dairy goats that are easier to feed and earn him more income.
Kinuthia is one of 30 residents of Central Kenya's Kamuchege village in Lari, Kiambu district, whose experiment with dairy goats has earned them accolades. They've won trophies at the national agricultural show and the success of their dairy goat experiment has caused a small rural community to focus on a hitherto unknown source of nutrient - goat milk -
also said to have medicinal value.
HelpAge Zimbabwe (HAZ), the country's leading organisation championing the rights and welfare of the elderly in Zimbabwe is perturbed by what has been happening to senior citizens. What transpired in Harare suburbs and Chitungwiza, where some residents, acting on allegations of witchcraft, attacked four elderly women was uncalled for. We call for the policy makers to come up with legislation that allows older people to live in dignity and security, free from exploitation and abuse and fair treatment without discrimination.
For many African countries the worst of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is still to come, according to a new UN report released on Tuesday. "In the absence of massively expanded prevention, treatment and care efforts, the AIDS death toll on the continent is expected to continue rising before peaking around the end of this decade," the UNAIDS/World Health Organisation AIDS Epidemic Update 2002 said.
Extracts:
* State Failure in the Congo: Perceptions & Realities 379-388
Theodore Trefon, Saskia Van Hoyweghen & Stefaan Smis
* Community & the Congo Conflict 411-430
Stefaan Smis & Wamu Oyatambwe
* Democracy & the Money Machine in Zaire 445-462
Tom De Herdt
* Making a Killing: Criminality & Coping in the Kivu
War Economy 517-536
Stephen Jackson
A New Political Order in the DRC: The Challenge
of Multinationalism 581-590
Mwayila Tshiyembe
The global press freedom situation has deteriorated in the past year, with an alarming number of journalists killed or in prison, the World Association of Newspapers said Monday in its annual review of press freedom world-wide.
A meeting to revise final drafts of an Intellectual Property (IP) bill for Nigeria ended in Abuja last Friday, with health advocates winning vital clauses that would protect the right of Nigerians to access to cheap and affordable treatment.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has hailed the decision by a key expert panel to adopt a position paper on the right to water. Addressing the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello said the initiative to develop a general comment on water would be a meaningful contribution to the World Water Forum to be held next March.
A Ministry of the Basic Education employee has been accused of being among people threatening to evict former labourers from a government farm. He has denied that he wants the workers booted. He says that he had played no role in trying to force the former workers off the farm.
The Zimbabwe Standard newspaper has established that the Government's determination to infiltrate all sectors of society has intensified. This is evident through reports that graduates from the notorious Border Gezi Training Institute will be given first priority for training by the country's main journalism school, at the Harare Polytechnic.
The government of Chad recognises health and nutrition as major influences on children’s educational success. But before planning school health services, they need to know the extent of health problems among Chad’s schoolchildren. Assisted by researchers from the Partnership for Child Development at Imperial College London, they conducted the first nationwide health survey of school-age children.
President Bakili Muluzi has warned that he will start snatching maize from NGOs who are politicizing the distribution of the commodity in rural area.
HIV/Aids is an analytically useful policy domain because of the uncertain, complex and highly contested nature of the public health interventions that are needed.
It has been reported that British journalists have been refused visas to accompany international cricket inspectors on their fact-finding tour of Zimbabwe.
With no cure in sight, education and prevention will be in the spotlight this World AIDS Day. What started as a novel approach – mixing HIV prevention messages with serial dramas – has emerged as a proven model with significant results in the fight against HIV infection.