ZIMBABWE: Sexual abuse rises as humanitarian crisis worsens

Contributor
May 01, 2003

The humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe affects more than half of the country's 11.6 million people. As it has worsened, so to have the number of reported cases of child abuse. "The effects of two years of severe drought, increasing poverty, the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic and economic decline have left children especially vulnerable to abuse," said Dr Festo Kavishe, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative for Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe

uganda: the Horrors of LRA child captivity

Contributor
May 01, 2003

Fifteen year-old Patrick Komakech lies on a bed, grateful for his freedom and more importantly for his life. He was brought to a rehabilitation centre in the northern Ugandan town of Kitgum after fleeing his captors, the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), two weeks after they abducted him from his school. He was among the lucky ones. Others in his group who had tried to escape, were recaptured and killed in front of their counterparts "as a lesson on what would happen to us if we tried to...read more

Uganda

SOMALIA: Premier denies reports of TNG split

Contributor
May 01, 2003

The prime minister of the Transitional National Government (TNG) of Somalia, Hasan Abshir Farah, has admitted there are "minor differences" between himself and the TNG president, but stressed this did not amount to a split within the interim administration.

Somalia

djibouti: Editor of opposition newspaper arrested again

Contributor
May 01, 2003

Daher Ahmed Farah, editor of the newspaper "Le Renouveau" and president of the Movement for Democratic Renewal and Development (Mouvement pour le renouveau démocratique et le développement, an opposition party), was arrested in Djibouti on the morning of 20 April 2003 and placed in solitary confinement at Gabode prison.

Djibouti

New website resource on human rights funding

Contributor
May 01, 2003

The International Human Rights Funders Group (IHRFG) website functions as a resource both for human rights funders as well as for human rights groups and grantseekers, and includes a searchable database of human rights funding and funders.

Lesotho: report on highlands project recommends improved schools

Contributor
May 01, 2003

A recently released report documents the complaints of communities affected by the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) and recommends to the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) that conditions at schools in various districts are immediately improved.

Lesotho

angola: Child Soldiers Forgotten in Angola

Contributor
May 01, 2003

Child soldiers who fought in the Angolan civil war have been excluded from demobilization programs, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. April marks the one-year anniversary of the agreement that brought peace to mainland Angola in 2002. Both the largest opposition group, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), and the government used child soldiers in the war. Children’s rights groups have estimated that as many as 11,000 children were involved in the last years o...read more

Angola

World Press Freedom Day -May 3 2003

Contributor
May 01, 2003

On May 3, 2003, the South African chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-SA), ARTICLE 19- Global Campaign for Free Expression, South African National Editors Forum (SANEF), Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI), Wits Journalism School and the Wits Media Studies Programme will host a panel discussion on censorship laws at the Wits Graduate School for Social Sciences and Humanities from 08:30 - 12:00.

rwanda: First issue of new independent newspaper seized

Contributor
May 01, 2003

Reporters sans frontières (RSF) protested the seizure of the weekly "Indorerwamo"'s ("The Mirror") first issue and called on Internal Security Minister Jean de Dieu Ntiruhungwa to return the seized copies of the newspaper immediately. "This prior censorship demonstrates that press freedom is not guaranteed in Rwanda," said Robert Ménard, the organisation's secretary-general, in a letter to the minister.

Rwanda

South Africa: Link FM gives R10000 to House on the Rock

Contributor
Apr 17, 2003

Link FM threw its financial weight behind the House on the Rock last month when it donated R10000 to the home. The House on the Rock is home to 23 children, some of whom were abandoned by parents, some who are Aids orphans and others who have been abused.

South Africa

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