PAMBAZUKA NEWS 67
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 67
Since 1999, land invasions of white-owned farms in Zimbabwe have highlighted the need for land reform in Zimbabwe. The implications of these invasions have been felt throughout Southern Africa, notably in South Africa, where a highly racially skewed distribution of land still exists today. The land question has re-emerged in South Africa today as a top priority. The idea of land invasions has captured the imaginations of a broad range of South African society, with many warning that land invasions are inevitable if land reform does not speed up. A research project being carried out by Harriet Geary-Jones at the University of Leeds, under the supervision of Rachel Slater, focuses on the land question in Southern Africa. The main aim is to undertake a comparative analysis of the land issue in Zimbabwe and South Africa in order to ascertain whether land invasions will happen in South Africa as they have in Zimbabwe. A secondary, but important aim is to assess the potential of the internet as a research tool for interviewing and the use of a discussion forum for generating ideas. How far is it possible for us to answer questions about the land issue in Southern Africa using the internet, when so many South Africans and Zimbabweans do not have access to the internet? How can one achieve a high response rate to e-mailed questionairres? As a launch pad for discussion plaease refer to arguments put forward in the Daily Mail and Guardian (May 5th, 2000) by Ben Cousins from the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape. We hope that this forum will offer the opportunity to voice their opinion on the land issue in South Africa and Zimbabwe. Any comments and contributions are greatly appreciated.
The European Commission (EC) is to provide Angola with US $117 million to support the country's peace process following the signing in April of a ceasefire between the government and UNITA rebels.
A R1, 2million double-storey complex with eight new classrooms is to be built for a primary school in Ginsberg here. The AngloGold Fund, the social development arm of AngloGold, South Africa’s largest gold producer, funds the project for the Ginsberg Seventh Day Adventist Primary School.
The British High Commission in Ghana's has donated 65,000 pounds (about US $95,300) to two human rights projects under its Human Rights Project Fund. The funding is to be given to the Social Enterprise Development Foundation of West Africa (SEND), to implement a gender, human rights and peace education project. The project aims to address the livelihood insecurity of women and children through human rights and gender education and training.
The R1,3 million high-technology IT centre was opened at the Fort Hare Institute of Governance. The Dutch – funded initiative will be used extensively in the training of civil servants.
SANGONeT's Executive Director is raising funds for the organisation's training programmes by running the Comrades Marathon 2002. For more information on how to help develop South Africa by making a pledge, visit the SANGONeT website.
African women's rights activists have initiated efforts to promote women's awareness on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Zimbabwe's world renowned female sculptor, Agnes Nyanhongo's work deals with the standing of women in traditional and contemporary African society. She is a staunch advocate of the freedom of women.
Women in the Southern Africa region have mandated the Women and Land in Zimbabwe organisation to represent them at regional level in championing for women's land rights.
The American Association of University Women Educational Foundation and the Educational Testing Service will host a symposium on "International Perspectives: Global Voices for Gender Equity," to be held from 15 to 17 November 2002.
Magistrate in charge of the family and juveniles court, Matilda Ssengooba have urged women to aspire for political positions in leadership at any level without fear during the world YWCA membership celebrations in Kampala.
Efforts to save girls from the outlawed practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Tanzania's Mara Region in late 2001 have failed.
Women in Zanzibar and Pemba islands of Tanzania will find a bit of relief as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) implements six water projects that will benefit 45,000 people.
Lack of progress in talks between Togo's opposition and presidential bloc has prompted the withdrawal of funding for facilitation of dialogue between the two sides, and heightened fears of a worsening political climate in the West African nation.
Analysts and NGO’s are sceptical about the generosity of debt relief for developing countries, especially in the case of Mozambique. While the country has been praised as a "star pupil" by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, one analyst points out that all this really means is that Mozambique is now seen as a 'good debtor' because for the first time it is actually paying what the international community demands. In recent years Mozambique has only been able to repay around one quarter of the amount demanded by the international community. Even this is more than the country is able to spend on health and education combined.
Artists in Africa today need cooperation across organizations, institutions, and agencies that exhibit art, the government, the media and the community at large. The outcome of a recent conference insists that art commands a peripheral attention inside the continent for many reasons. Though some of the reasons may be linked to the socio-political conditions, others derive from sheer ignorance on the part of policy makers and the prevalent inverted value system which has confounded the meaning and philosophy of development in Africa.
London Arts is publishing 'Celebrating Sanctuary', a collection of conversations with London-based refugee artists. Publication of the book coincides with Refugee Week(17-23 June), the national celebration of the contribution that refugees and asylum seekers make to multi-cultural Britain.
Tayo Olafioye is a prize-winning poet, and currently distinguished professor of literature in the US. A poet of the younger generation, his overriding concern is for the future of nationhood and national identity in Nigeria; and his own relationship to the nation as a committed poet writing in exile. The poet assumes that to love one's country is to be critical about its hateful history, disintegration and idiocies. He also asks: 'How do we carve a new nation?' The rulers - the looters - are neither satisfactory nor convincing. Instead, according to Olafioye's poetic manfesto, 'poetry must whittle new alternatives'."It is this kind of poetry which Pablo Neruda describes as imperfect... It is political. It is cultural, and beyond all this, it is an inner quest to conquer the turbulence of his world...Olafioye's book of poems...restates in concrete terms the blinding realities of Nigeria's post-independence social and political madness." - Onookome Okome
The APC (Association for Progressive Communications) urgently needs to fill two challenging positions, Programme and Projects Manager/Deputy Director and Logistics Coordinator.
This book examines the dialectics of political liberalisation in Zimbabwe, over time, from the settler period to the late nineties. The study takes in theoretical parameters for political and economic concepts and assumptions; and provides a historical overview of settler rule, civil society reactions, and political developments from 1945-1979. The author reveals stark historical continuities during this period. He argues that the post-independence state has sought, like its settler predecessor, to impose its hegemonic position by limiting the level of political space in which civil society could operate; corporatist structures and policies have militated against the establishment of a fully-fledged democratic society. The final chapter, which analyses structural adjustment and liberalisation, and the legacy of settler rule, offfers an assessment of the prospects of a lasting democractic process in Zimbabwe, and likely obstacles.
The Church Community Leadershipt Trust (CCLT), requires the services of a helpful, hardworking SwitchboardOperator/ Receptionist.
The United Nations in July will launch "Heart and Soul," a weekly television and radio soap opera intended to spread HIV/AIDS prevention messages and awareness about other issues affecting Africa.
Fighting the HIV/AIDS Pandemic Through Information and Strategic Communication: An Integrated Training Course for Program Teams and Journalists. The conference takes place between June 6 and July 16. It is open to those from Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia via distance learning.
Swaziland's absolute monarch King Mswati III has introduced legislation gazetted on Wednesday that imposes stringent measures to suppress dissent and harsh penalties against those advocating political reform. The Internal Security Bill, 2002, is due to be debated by the country's parliament and sure to be passed as there are no political parties or opposition to the king in the legislature.
The United Nations has so far received just 15 percent of its US $289-million appeal for aid programmes – excluding food – in the Great Lakes region for 2002, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs(OCHA) has reported. The $289 million includes a regional appeal for the Great Lakes as well as individual country appeals for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Republic of Congo, and Uganda.
High-level discussions on Southern Africa's food crisis which began in Johannesburg on Thursday, attracted representatives from a wide range of aid agencies, donors, and regional governments, says the World Food Programme (WFP). The two-day meeting followed warnings by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and WFP that more than 10 million people in six Southern African countries are threatened with starvation over the next year.
The World Trade Organisation has emerged as an important agency, whose rules and operations have major effects on the development policies of its developing-country Members. This paper reviews some of the recent developments and issues arising from the WTO’s work and activities. The paper takes what the author considers is a “development perspective” of the trading system.
On the day of the G7 finance ministers meeting in preparation for the G8 Summit, George Soros and human rights and environmental watchdog Global Witness will launch 'Publish what you pay', an international campaign calling for mandatory disclosure by natural resource companies of payments to national governments to facilitate transparency and combat corruption.
In 1992 when the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio advanced the concept of sustainable development as the answer to both the environment and development crises facing the planet, it generated hope and optimism around the world. A decade on, as governments prepare for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Rio Plus Ten) in Johannesburg to review the progress made in implementing Agenda 21 – UNCED’s Plan of Action - it is clear that this hope was misplaced. The process of globalisation, driven by the industrialised North and its corporations, has all but undermined the concept of sustainable development. The Johannesburg Summit in August should provide a good opportunity to refocus attention on the need to take effective action to check this dangerous trend.
Why do more than 800 million people still go hungry in a world marked by incredible affluence? 180 nations are gathering in Rome from June 10 to 13 to address just that question at the "World Food Summit: Fives Years Later" meeting. Since 1996, governments have presided over a set of policies that have conspired to undercut peasant, small and family farmers, and farm cooperatives in nations both North and South. These policies have included runaway trade liberalization, pitting family farmers in the Third World against the subsidized corporate farms in the North (witness the recent U.S. Farm Bill), forcing Third World countries to eliminate price supports and subsidies for food producers, the privatization of credit, the excessive promotion of exports to the detriment of food crops, the patenting of crop genetic resources by corporations who charge farmers for their use, and a bias in agricultural research toward expensive and questionable technologies like genetic engineering while virtually ignoring pro-poor alternatives like organic farming and agroecology.
Last month, UNCTAD released their annual Trade and Development Report. The report addressed the following question: why are developing countries trading more, yet earning less? The report concludes that the liberalisation of trade and foreign direct investment should no longer be the sole focus of development agencies. Instead, developing countries, and the development agencies that impose conditionalities on them, should ensure that trade policies are designed in such a way as to maximise domestic growth and development - which may not involve reducing external barriers. In addition, the process of designing export oriented policies in developing countries needs to take into account the probability of oversupply in the markets for labour-intensive manufacturing exports from other countries.
The New Plan For Africa's Development (Nepad) is little more than recolonisation of Africa and is just an extension of Gear, protesters at a meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) at the International Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban said on Wednesday. "The name Nepad is a myth - there is nothing new about it. It is just Gear for Africa and, just as Gear resulted in the loss of one million jobs in SA, so too will Nepad further plunge Africa into poverty," said Ashwin Desai of the Concerned Citizens' Group.
The Hesperian Foundation is looking for an Editorial Coordinator and Project Associate/Research Coordinator for an Environmental Health Book Project. The foundation is a nonprofit publisher of books and newsletters for community-based health care. Developed collaboratively with health workers and groups worldwide, our publications address the underlying social, political, and economic causes of poor health, and suggest ways groups can organize to improve health conditions in their communities.
AFRODAD is a regional organisation based in Harare. Its main goal is to undertake research and analysis and provide information on African Debt problems and contribute to finding sustainable solutions. Over the past two years, AFRODAD has embarked on an extensive institutional restructuring and expansion exercise. The organisation is now looking to recruit a dynamic, and committed individual to head the organisation and build its position as a key independent research, advocacy and information institution on the debt problem in Africa.
The Transform Network comprises 6 training organisations in East
and Southern Africa as well as a partner, Transform Africa, in the UK. Our four-year gender project seeks to research, train and advocate new ways of tackling gender issues from an African perspective, with a focus on African NGOs. We also seek to advocate to European NGOs.
The African Network Information Center (AfriNIC), the African Regional Internet Registry, seeks two highly qualified candidates to fill the vacancy of Hostmaster in 2002. Candidates must be nationals of a member state of the African Union. AfriNIC offers competitive salary structure and benefits.
An internationally renowned South African composer has rejected a call by Nelson Mandela to apologise for the lyrics of a new song which portrays the country's Indian population as abusing black people and being more racist than whites. A barrage of criticism has led to Mbongeni Ngema's song AmaNdiya - Zulu for "Indians" - being banned by some radio stations and record shops.
The authorities in the self-declared republic of Somaliland have banned the establishment of private radio stations, the official Radio Hargeysa reported on Tuesday. A circular issued by the Somaliland information ministry said that until broadcasting regulations were laid down, there would be no private radio stations because of the "potential dangers" of such operations. "No other voice can be heard on the air waves except Radio Hargeysa, which is the national voice," the statement said.
Journalists Against AIDS (JAAIDS) Nigeria commenced a project to monitor coverage of HIV/AIDS in the print media in Nigeria over a period of 12 months. Under the project, JAAIDS will conduct analysis of media coverage of HIV/AIDS in selected national newspapers and magazines for frequency, accuracy and quality.
Zimbabwe's only privately owned broadcasting station, Joy TV, started in July 1998, closed down on 31 May 2002, bringing down the curtain on Zimbabwe's botched experiment with broadcasting diversity and carrying the same dream down with it. Joy TV closed down after a lease agreement it had with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation was cancelled on the grounds that it violated the Broadcasting Services Act, which was enacted in 2001.
The new vice chancellor of the University of South Africa (Unisa) and former chairperson of the South African Human Rights Commission, Barney Pityana, who oversaw the hearings into racism in the media, has accused the "Mail and Guardian" newspaper of racism and is threatening to take it to court for defamation.
On the 3 June 2002, the President and Secretary of the Law Society were arrested and detained by members of the Zimbabwe Republic Police. The offices of the Law Society, the Secretary’s law practice and the private residences of both the President and the Secretary were subjected to search and official law society documents were seized. The two were charged with contravening section 5(2)(b)(1) of the Public Order and Security Act.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is particularly alarmed at the apparent attempts to compromise the independence, effectiveness and integrity of the Law Society of Zimbabwe, and the personal attacks on its Secretary and President. The arrest of the President and Secretary come as the latest in a campaign to silence criticism of the government. ZLHR fears that the arrests of the President and the Secretary may herald a plan to compromise our justice delivery system and the safety of human rights defenders.
Based on the charges and the submissions of the state representative at the hearing of an application for the release of Messrs Moyo and Mapombere, we consider that the charges were palpably false, unfounded and apparently malicious for the following reasons:
1. There is no section 5 (2)(b)(1) in the Public Order and Security Act;
2. It is alleged that the President of the Law Society of Zimbabwe organised a meeting on 4 March 2002 to plan “peaceful” “mass action” in support of the MDC and at which meeting it was agreed that the MDC ceases reconciliation talks with ZANU PF. It is an undisputable fact that on 4 of March 2002, Presidential elections had not yet been held and the MDC had not engaged ZANU PF in any reconciliation talks and there had been no talk of mass action;
3. In light of the accused persons’ denials; the highly questionable authenticity of the letters supposedly written by the accused and the impossibility of the facts of the offence alleged, no “reasonable suspicion” of an offence having been committed could remotely have arisen. In any event, the right to peacefully demonstrate, assuming the letters are authentic, is protected under Sections 20 and 21 of the Constitution which guarantee the right of freedom of expression and freedom of association and assembly;
4. Further, the whole of Section 5 of the Public Order and Security Act is arguably unconstitutional as it severely restricts the exercise of the right to freedom of expression.
The apparent persecution of the Law Society of Zimbabwe and its secretariat comes after vitriolic and unfounded attacks on the person of the President of the Law Society by the government through its Minister of Information and Publicity in the President’s Office, as reported in the Herald of 18 April 2002, for statements made in his official capacity.
Meanwhile it has come to the attention of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights that the government may have intentions to introduce legislation to give it control over the Law Society Council. We hope that the unjustified arrests of the President and Secretary of the Law Society will not be used as an excuse to pass such legislation.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is extremely concerned at the attempts to undermine the republican and democratic principles underpinning the Constitution of Zimbabwe. There seems to exist a systematic suppression of the plurality of opinion and the growth of democracy. The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act severely controls the activities of the print media and practitioners. The Broadcasting Services Act constructively prohibits the creation of competing private radio and television stations. The Public Order and Security Act severely limits every citizen’s freedom of expression, association, assembly and protection of the law. In 2001 the Executive caused the resignation of a number of judges, in an attempt to compromise the independence of the Judiciary. The executive had also systematically ignored court orders. Parliament continues to be compromised by the appointment, directly or indirectly, of thirty members by the President which gives the party of the President effective control over Parliament.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is outraged at the perverse use by the executive of the criminal justice system. We call upon every lawyer, and every patriotic Zimbabwean to denounce the treasonous intentions of subverting citizens’ rights. Every Zimbabwean should jealously guard our liberation values and the fruits of our hard won independence for which tens of thousands of our fellow countrymen perished.
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 66
PAMBAZUKA NEWS 66
Fighting has been going in northwestern Liberia over the past few days, a diplomatic source in the capital Monrovia told IRIN on Friday. "There were reports today [Friday] that fighting was [still] going on in Suehn-Mecca, which is 70 km from Monrovia," the source said. "The situation is rather hard to ascertain. Most certainly there has been displacement but it is very difficult to know how many or where they could be," he added.
A report by the Danish group Physicians for Human Rights, which documents the politicisation of Zimbabwe's growing food crisis. The full report contains detailed fieldwork examining the distribution of food in particular villages and towns, on which these findings and conclusions are based.
July 1st – 3rd, Courtyard Hotel, Dar es Salaam. Come to practical on-line computer training sessions. Find accounting templates & software on the internet. Consider what the digital economy means for you. Discuss the implications of govt. policy and wireless trends for your business. Meet local internet service providers. Share new e-business practices. Join & start up business networks. Registration deadline: June 14th 2002.
Friends of the Earth International accuses governments of failing to set
social and ecological limits to economic globalisation. Instead of using the Earth Summit to respond to the global concern over deregulation and liberalisation, governments seem hell-bent on rebranding the WTO's free trade agenda as sustainable development.
The 'Genomics and World Health' report has been recently published by the World Health Organization(WHO). The report is intended to highlight the relevance of genomics for health care worldwide, with a particular focus on its potential for improving health in developing countries.
Several developing countries on Wednesday urged changes to the newly launched Global Fund against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis to give states with the most patients more of a voice in its activities.
Several developing countries on Wednesday urged changes to the newly launched Global Fund against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis to give states with the most patients more of a voice in its activities.
The World Conference on Religion and Peace (WCRP)is convening a gathering of religious leaders in Nairobi, Kenya, between June 9-12 to discuss the impact of HIV/AIDS on children and to launch a continent-wide campaign to further engage religious communities in efforts to expand care and to reduce the stigma often associated with AIDS.
Unregistered political parties in Nigeria have filed a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)over what they say are unconstitutional registration guidelines for political parties.
Did you ever wonder when exactly after the deposit of the 20th ratification or accession the Convention will enter into force, what needs to be done and how your organization could be involved ? December 18 has the following suggestions.
Mpanga Primary School is situated inside the Kahunge Refugee Resettlement Scheme in Kamwenge District, southwestern Uganda. Here, a group of Ugandan displaced people - originally expelled from Tanzania - who arrived overnight on May 6 are starting to gather around aid workers who are distributing clothes, food, hoes and domestic implements. The Ugandan returnees are part of a group of 3,027 Ugandans, mainly ethnic Bakiga cattle herders, expelled from Tanzania in late 2000, allegedly for voting against Tanzania's ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party in elections in October 2000.
The president of the rebel Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), Adolphe Onusumba, has again called for an international independent commission of inquiry into the recent mutiny and killings in Kisangani, northeastern Democratic Republic of
the Congo (DRC). He said on Radio Rwanda on Friday that the RCD had nothing to hide.
The European Commission launches a debate on the need for a common policy for the return of undocumented residents. Acting on a proposal from the Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner, António Vitorino, the European Commission has therefore approved a Green Paper on a Community return policy on illegal residents. The European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee, the Committee of the Regions, the candidate countries, third-country partners, international governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, the academic world and other interested organisations and individuals from civil society are invited to take part in this discussion. The Commission would like to receive all contributions in writing by 31 July 2002 so that it can make the best possible preparations for a hearing on Community return policy by the summer of 2002.
South Africa, the breadbasket of a region hard hit by food shortages, could find itself unable to meet domestic needs should exports to neighbours outstrip reserves. The estimated regional maize deficit stands at 3.3 million mt for the year. South Africa's department of agriculture adjusted its estimate of the yield from its domestic maize crop from 8.5 million mt to 8.59 million mt.
Northern governments are guilty of rigging the rules to protect their own markets while calling for developing countries to open their economies and trade themselves out of poverty, fair trade campaigners argue. The debate over debt forgiveness has largely been won by activists looking to reform the international financial system. But the issue of protectionism and demands for fairer market access for developing countries are taking centre stage.
Families in southern and western Zambia are expecting the worst in coming months, if the current drought conditions continue, according to a report by CARE International. The survey noted that eight out of 10 farmers reported maize crop failure in the range of 76-100 percent of anticipated yields. Given the lack of fully-grown crops, many households have begun eating green maize but more distressing is that five people have already died from eating wild roots.
Liberian opposition parties have called on the government to heed a recent call by the West African states economic community (ECOWAS) for an immediate ceasefire saying that Liberians preferred "ballots not bullets" as a way of attaining state power.
Developed countries came under fire on Thursday for failing to meet United Nations financial targets for overseas development aid. Sir Anerood Jugnauth, the prime minster of Mauritius, urged them to meet their commitments and boost spending in third world countries. He was speaking at the seventh summit of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
A former director in the department of trade and industry has been dismissed after he received a R55000 discount on a luxury vehicle from a company with an interest in the government's controversial arms deal. Vanan Pillay was among the recipients of discounted vehicles from the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), involved in the defence procurement process.
Some 25,000 refugees living in Djibouti are at risk of malnutrition, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Thursday. It said supplies for the refuges were "rapidly running out" and appealed for an emergency 8,000 mt of food to deal with the crisis.
In a hard-hitting statement released to the London-based publication Africa Analysis and scheduled for publication in British newspapers on Friday, President Bakili Muluzi of Malawi pointed the finger of blame at the international financial agencies. With hundreds of Malawians already dead in recent months as a result of famine, he noted that unfortunate weather conditions were only partly to blame. “Your hands are often tied by the requirements of donor nations and agencies such as the IMF and the World Bank,” he said. Muluzi maintained that his government had been running a “very successful scheme” to provide seed and fertilizer to smallholder farmers. This had been “severely curtailed” last year because the IMF and World Bank would not allow the government to continue financing it. Even more damningly he said that the country's strategic grain reserves had been sold on the orders of the IMF and World Bank. The money realised from this sale had gone to pay off commercial bank loans used to buy the grain in the first place.
The May 27 issue of the New Republic examines how Uganda's "ABC" HIV/AIDS prevention program has primarily used behaviour modification to lower HIV infection rates and how that model could be applied to the rest of Africa. ABC, which began in 1987 after President Yoweri Museveni became aware that many soldiers in the army were HIV-positive, stands for "Abstain, Be Faithful, or wear a Condom." The program focuses primarily on abstinence before marriage and fidelity inside of marriage, and has "little to do" with condoms.
There are 1.9 million child labourers in Kenya, a government report says. Of these, 15,000 work in risky and hazardous conditions such as mining, quarrying, building and construction, fishing, commercial agriculture and road and transport work. The report, launched in Nairobi by Planning Minister Adhu Awiti, says close to four out of every 10 child labourers work more than the standard 40-hour week. Children in domestic service routinely work more than 41 hours per week.
The instability and power vacuum created by the collapse of the Somali state poses the greatest danger to the outside world and to Somalia itself, according to a new report by the Brussels-based think tank, the International Crisis Group (ICG). In a press release to launch the report, the ICG said Somalia was one of the world's chief examples of a failed state. "Its highly fragmented internal security situation and the competing agendas of its neighbours have raised concerns that it may again become a base for international terrorism," the organisation said.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions wishes to clarify its position on the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad). Media reports have suggested that COSATU is simply "opposed" to Nepad. This is a gross oversimplification. The federation's views on Nepad were clearly explained in a media statement on 25 April 2002. It reported that the Central Executive Committee (CEC) had agreed that COSATU should embrace the broad principle of Nepad. The CEC took the view that the transformation of Africa can only happen if it is driven by its people. There was a strong feeling that the NEPAD plan has been developed only through discussions between governments and business organisations, leaving the people far behind.
A grouping of nine prominent aid agencies working in Sudan on Thursday warned of the potential for a worsening humanitarian crisis in the south of the country as increased conflict and ongoing flight bans have cut off access to hundreds of thousands of people at a critical time.
Burkina Faso will host meningitis experts to a meeting in July to discuss and adopt a global response to recurrent outbreaks of the disease, says Jean Gabriel Wango, Secretary General of the Health Ministry. Burkina Faso says an outbreak of the disease earlier this year is now under control."We can say that the most difficult period has gone," Wango said. "Since 19 May, Burkina Faso has been out of an epidemic situation."
Inter-Congolese dialogue facilitator Ketumile Masire is continuing efforts to resume the talks with the help of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), Africa's foremost political body. At a meeting on Thursday in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, he said "only a minute fraction" remained to be done to complete the dialogue. He added, in a statement released from his office, that if the parties returned to the negotiation table an inclusive deal could be clinched in which there would be neither "victor nor vanquished".
The political consensus that brought President Olusegun Obasanjo to office in 1999 has evaporated and he faces a big challenge to retain power. "So far Obasanjo does not appear to have the firm support of any of the blocs. He might still get it but time is not on his side," Tekena Dokubo, a university teacher and political analyst, told IRIN.
Politically motivated violence appears to be decreasing in Zimbabwe, says a report by a local human rights group. "Reported cases and instances of political violence have decreased in comparison to the cases reported in the first four months of 2002," says The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum's latest report.
Medecins Sans Frontieres(MSF) has told the UN Security Council that the humanitarian needs of citizens in the Mano River Union should prevail over the political ambitions of the international community in the region. MSF official Martha Carey says that her agency is concerned about people living in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone because "the political agenda of the international community was significantly undermining the humanitarian needs of the people".
The International Monetary Fund wants public officials tried for corruption in Kenya suspended from duty. The Fund's representative, Samuel Itam, said such a move would demonstrate that the government was serious about eradicating the vice.
"Corruption leads to misallocation of resources, poor economic performance and aggravation of poverty," he said.
"Women's work" like fetching food, tending crops, searching for firewood and carrying water is considered "invisible work" according to recent studies.
Guinea-Bissau faces a daunting task to improve children’s well being. While national immunisation coverage has improved, its 40 percent primary school enrolment was decreasing, the UN High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) reported on Wednesday.
In observance of the International Day of Action for Women's Health, Ipas calls on political leaders, policymakers, health care providers and others to take action against one of the most serious, most neglected and most preventable global threats to women's wellbeing: lack of access to safe abortion-related care.
Following is the set of discussion messages that will be used during the online conference on information access for rural women, June 3-21: WEEK 1: Information Access for Rural Women, WEEK 2: Challenges/Difficulties of setting up and maintaining rural information centres, and WEEK 3: Best practices/Lessons learned and Recommendations.
When UNESCO takes the floor at the First Global Forum on
Trade in Educational Service which is currently taking place in Washington, the United States, its message is clear: As stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, higher education shall be accessible to all on the basis of merit. "Higher education should is considered as a public service," says Stamenka Uvalic-Trumbic of UNESCO's Division of Higher Education. She also quotes the Assistant Director-General for Education, John Daniel for saying that "when it comes to trade liberalization, higher education is not a product like bananas or cars.
Quality education is not possible without textbooks and other reading materials. An international meeting on "Sustainable book development towards achieving EFA targets" that starts today at UNESCO's Headquarters in Paris will seek to identify a more coordinated approach to textbook provision and national book development in developing countries.
The third issue of the electronic bulletin on Education for All in Africa is now out. Prepared by UNESCO Dakar, it reports on progress made by African countries in preparing credible national EFA action plans before the deadline of September 2002. The Bulletin also reports on the series of regional and sub-regional meetings on EFA organized in recent months by UNESCO Dakar.
A high court judge knew about what he took to be an irregular attempt by his own company to win an airports tender - but there is no evidence he tried to stop it. Judge Jerome Ngwenya was a shareholder in Khuselani Security and Risk Management, controversially axed late last year from its R99-million contract to provide security at South Africa's main airports. The company is now subject to a multimillion-rand tax investigation.
The AIDS crisis continues to expand in numbers and reach, without immediate medical solutions in view. As a consequence, the centrality of prevention and mitigation through education is being recognized in countries and among agencies. Educational interventions should provide the knowledge and encourage the development of attitudes and skills that can limit the spread and impact of the epidemic. Agreement about what the issues are, and key actions to be taken, can help in increasing the speed and effectiveness of the response. The document is available in English, French and Spanish (PDF Format).
Education for all means more than getting all children into school. It also means giving them a quality education. New reports from UNESCO’s Institute of Statistics show both goals are still distant in Latin America and Africa.
United Nations Volunteers (UNV) has announced that it will run a five-year project aimed at transforming the lives of some 1,200 disadvantaged children in two of Burkina Faso's towns, Bobo-Dioulasso and Hounde.
Zambian police recently arrested 39 people protesting against the rape and strangling to death of four young girls in the last year. The 39 men and women, who are members of the Non Governmental Organisations' Coordinating Committee(NGOCC), were charged with unlawful assembly and later appeared in court. They include NGOCC’s Chairperson, Inonge Wina, and the Vice-Chairperson, Petronella Chisanga.
The gap between universal rights and remedies has become inescapable and inexcusable, threatening the integrity of the international human rights legal regime. There are overwhelming numbers of overdue reports, untenable backlogs, minimal individual complaints from vast numbers of potential victims, and widespread refusal of states to provide remedies when violations of individual rights are found. The reforms envisaged in this Report have assumed that improvements not requiring formal amendment will be more easily accomplished. Hence, the recommendations generally assume a six-treaty body regime, and focus primarily on offering concrete suggestions for improvements in working methods of the treaty bodies and procedures at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Just back from Angola, Soraya Keshavjee, a professional counsellor, reviews the situation in the country. She calls on the international community to revisit the situation in Angola because of the women of the country.
One of the most eagerly awaited results of the UN Special Session on Children, held in New York, earlier this month, was the outcome document - A World Fit for Children. The United States' stand over several sections of the document has held up its final release. Here is the latest but unofficial version of the final document covering the entire gamut of issues on child rights.
Most people in East and Central Africa feel that their political leaders are driven by selfish interest rather than national vision, a British Council survey has revealed. Women leaders were found to be less corrupt.
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), recently facilitated a media mission to Kaduna and Bauchi states, regarded as educationally disadvantaged. As the world celebrates children, Andrew Ahiante, who was part of the mission, writes on the gains of sending girls to school.
A Sharia court in Katsina will meet today to consider the appeal of a 30-year-old woman condemned to die by stoning for adultery, a woman's rights groups said.
The Department of Social Development will host a workshop in Pretoria tomorrow, to mark the beginning of the Child Protection Week from 27 May to 2 June.
Gambian plain clothes police have arrested 400 prostitutes in bars, hotels and nightclubs over the past few days, police in the West African tourist destination said on Wednesday.
The right to reproductive health services dominated debate at the recently concluded United Nations conference on children. It pitted delegates from the Global North against those from the South. At the core was insistence by America and the European Union that the final document should not include anything on reproductive services.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)is co-hosting a National HIV/AIDS Treatment Congress, with the Treatment Action Campaign. It will take place at the Coastlands Conference Centre, Durban on 27-29 June 2002. The AIDS Consortium, Médecins Sans Frontières, the Southern African HIV/AIDS Clinicians Society and the Anglican Church also support the Congress.
SciDev net now has a special section containing news and opinion articles, as well as a discussion forum, on the topic of 'Science & Sustainability'. This section is intended to provide information about, and stimulate debate on, the way that science and technology are being addressed during preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg later this year.
The United Nations on Monday opened a vital meeting in Indonesia where 6,000 delegates will try to bridge differences before an August summit that aims to cut poverty while saving the environment. Some officials fear the World Summit on Sustainable Development, opening in South Africa in August and dubbed Earth Summit 2, will be a failure unless talks on Indonesia's resort island of Bali achieve clear commitments. "The players are a very long way apart in terms of reaching any significant agreement," said Ian Willmore, senior press officer from Friends of the Earth. "If (Bali) doesn't work, then it means the Earth Summit won't work. In a nutshell, the U.S. wants ... to avoid signing up to binding international agreements on quite a wide range of areas on which other people might want to see progress."
We the undersigned, as individuals concerned about the abuse of human rights in Zimbabwe, find it puzzling and rather appalling that the international police organization, an organization that claims to value the respect of human rights, would invite to the Interpol Conference in the city of Lyon, a known and documented abuser of such rights in the nation of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe's Police Chief, Mr Augustine Chihuri.
The record of the police force in Zimbabwe as being a highly corrupt organization, and the force's political allegiance to Mr Mugabe are not issues of debate. We the undersigned hereby wish to register that we are appalled by the choice made by Interpol, to allow Mr Chihuri to attend the Interpol Conference despite his inclusion on the list of Zimbabwean officials affected by the "Smart Sanctions" imposed by the EU and the USA. Your choice is hereby taken as an indication that you do not stand in solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe to secure their basic human rights. We cannot conceive of a logical explanation as to why the invitation to the Interpol Conference, of an individual on an oppressor's payroll, could benefit the oppressed people of Zimbabwe. We request that Mr Chihuri be removed from his post as Vice President of Interpol, unless your organization wishes to retract its claim to the respect of human rights as one of its core values.
To sign this internet petition, please go to www.PetitionOnline.com/zwIpol/
With four fifths of Africa's poorest living in the countryside, the battle against poverty will only be won through "accelerated rural development", the president of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) told a conference in Dar es Salaam on Thursday. Poverty must be tackled at its roots, in the rural areas, where there is a need to go beyond social interventions in health and education "to touch upon economic development processes in the countryside" that involve the poor themselves, Lennart Bage added.