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From: [log in to unmask]
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 07:35:54 EST
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: AF Digest 10/31/-#2
Nigeria to Test Polio Vaccines Over AIDS
By DULUE MBACHU
.c The Associated Press
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) - Nigerian authorities said Wednesday polio vaccines
recently administered in a nationwide campaign will undergo laboratory
testing to calm fears about AIDS.
Vice President Abubakar Atiku ordered testing on the vaccines for agents
that could spread HIV or sterility, Nigeria's state television reported. An
official in Atiku's office, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed
the order.
Health workers on Friday launched a drive to immunize 15 million African
children at immediate risk of contracting polio - an effort hampered in
Nigeria by an assertion by Islamic radicals the vaccination drive is part of
a U.S. plan to decimate the Muslim population by spreading AIDS and
infertility.
International health officials and the Nigerian government have called the
allegations ridiculous.
U.N. officials involved in the vaccination campaign say proof that the
vaccines are safe has been repeatedly supplied. Caroline Akosile, a U.N.
Children's Fund official said last week that the polio vaccines had been
repeatedly certified in Nigeria and abroad.
But many Nigerians are wary.
Datti Ahmed, a physician who also leads the self-styled Supreme Council for
Sharia in Nigeria that has spearheaded the campaign against polio
immunization, told The Associated Press he welcomed the decision to test the
vaccines.
``We are partially happy the government has accepted the need to test and
investigate the vaccines,'' said Ahmed.
Three predominantly Muslim states in northern Nigeria have either delayed or
refused permission. In other predominantly Muslim northern states where the
immunization went ahead, large numbers of people still barred health
officials from their homes. Muslims and Christians in Nigeria's south have
largely embraced the program.
When WHO and other organizations launched the Global Polio Eradication
Initiative in 1988, 125 countries were affected by the disease.
Today, the malady has been eradicated in Europe, the Americas, much of Asia
and Australia. It usually infects children under the age of five through
contaminated drinking water and attacks the central nervous system, causing
paralysis, muscular atrophy, deformation and, in some cases, death.
Until the latest Nigerian outbreak, India was the hardest-hit country.
Indian health authorities have stepped up vaccinations and say they are
close to defeating the disease. A mass vaccination program earlier this year
immunized more than 230 million children in the six India states most
affected by polio.
WHO statistics indicate the campaign has been successful so far - new polio
cases in India as of Oct. 14 were 145, compared with 1,556 cases diagnosed
in 2002.
Failure of previous vaccine initiatives in northern Nigeria have aided the
disease's spread internationally, recently leading to the crippling of
nearly a dozen children in at least four other West African nations - Ghana,
Togo, Niger and Burkina Faso - according to WHO.
International immunization campaigns have slashed the number of countries
where the polio virus is still breeding to seven - Nigeria, India, Pakistan,
Egypt, Afghanistan, Niger and Somalia. Ninety-nine percent of all new polio
cases in the world are in Nigeria, Pakistan and India.
10/30/03 00:55 EST
------------------------
U.N. Report: Women Hard-Hit by Congo War
By EDITH M. LEDERER
.c The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Women in the Congo have suffered extensively during
the country's five-year civil war, from widespread rape and sexual violence
that goes unpunished to the breakdown of family life, a U.N. adviser told a
Security Council meeting Wednesday.
``The law of the gun has devastated the condition of women,'' said Amy
Smythe, the adviser on gender issues to the U.N. peacekeeping force in
Congo.
The civil war in Congo officially ended this year with the creation of a
power-sharing government that includes rebel leaders. The vast central
African nation's north and east remain volatile, however, with deadly
attacks and ethnic fighting.
The United States organized a Security Council meeting on women, peace and
security to mark the third anniversary of a U.N. resolution that committed
governments to include women at peace talks while protecting them from the
abuses of war.
``It's important in terms of consciousness-raising to highlight this
resolution and the things that can be done,'' said U.S. Ambassador John
Negroponte. ``In modern warfare ... women and children are much more
affected than they used to be.''
Smythe and other speakers cited some progress in sensitizing governments and
U.N. peacekeepers to the plight of women caught up in conflict and the need
to include them in postwar decision-making. But it was clear that much more
needs to be done to implement the resolution.
In eastern Congo, for example, Smythe said data collected by the U.N.
peacekeeping mission, other agencies and local communities showed that tens
of thousands of women and girls, and possibly hundreds of thousands, were
sexually assaulted during the civil war.
``The consequences for women throughout the Congo have been devastating, as
they have suffered the most'' from the war, she said, citing the breakdown
of all institutions starting with the family, widespread displacement, the
inability to grow crops, ``massive rape and sexual violence and complete
impunity for perpetrators of these heinous crimes.''
Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno said gender
experts have been included not only in the U.N. mission in Congo but in
peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone, Kosovo, East Timor and Afghanistan
- and similar posts have been authorized for Liberia and Ivory Coast.
While these experts ``are playing an active role, putting gender issues at
the center of peacekeeping,'' he said only 4 percent of U.N. civilian police
are women ``and figures are equally low for the military.''
He urged member states that contribute police and soldiers to U.N.
peacekeeping operations to provide more women. He also called for the
inclusion in U.N. missions of women and men experienced in gender-based
crimes ``to help us address the high rates of violence against women that
are common in post-conflict situations.''
In Congo, Smythe said only three of the 69 U.N. police officers were women
at a time when they were dealing with the victims of sexual violence.
``Victims, usually female, have repeatedly intimated that the sight of a
male officer in uniform makes them relive the experience of the violation
all over again,'' she said. ``Thus there is a serious need for women
military and civilian police officers.''
On a positive note, Smythe said, her office helped sensitize the former
combatants to the U.N. resolution, which was translated into the four major
languages used in Congo.
Gender experts also promoted the inclusion of women delegates in peace
negotiations - though there were only 37 women alongside 516 men, and in
Congo's current transition, only 7 percent of the representatives in
government, parliament and institutions supporting democracy are women.
10/29/03 22:45 EST
------------------------
Official says aware of gravity of US image problem
WASHINGTON, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The Bush administration's candidate for the
task of improving its image abroad said on Wednesday she knew the gravity of
the problem from "troubling and disturbing" views she heard as ambassador to
Morocco.
Margaret Tutwiler, the former State Department spokeswoman nominated to run
the department's worldwide "public diplomacy" programs, said she was
confident however that U.S. officials could start "digging our country out
from this situation that we unfortunately find ourselves in in much of the
world."
The U.S. Senate is expected to confirm Tutwiler in the position of
undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, the
official responsible for explaining U.S. policy to foreign public opinion
and projecting a positive image of the United States abroad.
Opinion polls show that despite tens of millions of dollars spent on
advertising campaigns the reputation of the United States has deteriorated
sharply in the past year, mainly because of the invasion of Iraq, U.S.
Middle East policy and the Bush administration's treatment of old European
allies.
Critics of the Bush administration say the problem is with U.S. policies,
not with the way they are presented.
Tutwiler, speaking of her experience as ambassador to Morocco, said: "Much
of what I learned about our country, from listening, engaging and
interacting with Moroccans from all walks of life, was troubling and
disturbing."
But Tutwiler, testifying to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in a
confirmation hearing, gave no indication what she thought might be the root
of the image problem.
"We are all trying to figure out how best to fix the situation in which we
find ourselves," she said.
She said that her approach would be to concentrate on "activities that are
actually in the field making a difference" and that she would be willing to
close down programs that had outlived their usefulness because of changes in
the world.
"Somehow, within the limited resources, (we need) to take some assets and
apply them to a new situation that's very troubling, that has evolved," she
said.
Tutwiler takes the place of Charlotte Beers, a former advertising executive
who resigned from the State Department in March because of ill health.
Beers ran a campaign of television ads, broadcast in the Muslim world and
designed to show that American Muslims can worship freely and get along with
their neighbors.
Critics said the campaign was largely irrelevant because few Muslims abroad
thought Muslims could not worship freely.
10/29/03 15:44 ET
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Ghana, Nigeria seek to end Ivory Coast stalemate
ABIDJAN, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The presidents of Ghana and Nigeria will jet
into Ivory Coast on Thursday in a bid to end a political stalemate that has
threatened a shaky peace process in the former French colony, officials
said.
An aide to President Laurent Gbagbo said Ghana's John Kufuor, who chairs the
Economic Community of West African States, and Nigeria's Olusegun Obasanjo
would hold talks with their Ivorian counterpart on Thursday.
"These two countries have been strongly involved in the attempts to resolve
the Ivorian crisis, so it is normal that they would come now to try to find
a way out," the aide, who declined to be named, said.
Civil war erupted in the world's biggest cocoa producer last year after a
failed coup against Gbagbo. Thousands were killed and more than a million
people driven from their homes by the fighting.
Although the conflict was officially declared over in July, the country is
still divided between a rebel-held north and government-controlled south and
progress towards peace has been bogged down by disputes.
In the latest setback, the rebels pulled out of a power-sharing government
last month, accusing Gbagbo of stalling a French-brokered peace accord
signed in January.
They said they would only return if Gbagbo stepped down, and have since
called on West African nations to step up efforts to end the political
deadlock.
Gbagbo's supporters accuse the rebels of making excuses to delay
disarmament. Gbagbo has visited Ghana and Nigeria in recent weeks for talks
about the deadlock.
West African leaders are eager to draw a line under the conflict in Ivory
Coast, an economic powerhouse in the region which is home to million of
immigrants from surrounding countries. They fear a resumption of hostilities
would spill chaos well beyond Ivory Coast's borders.
10/29/03 15:41 ET
------------------------
Zimbabwe Replaces Striking Hospital Staff
By MICHAEL HARTNACK
.c The Associated Press
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Zimbabwe's health minister on Wednesday dispatched
police, army and prison doctors to replace striking health care workers at
government hospitals.
The move came as President Robert Mugabe dispelled persistent rumors that he
is in poor health with a public appearance to welcome delegates from 69
international organizations to the northwestern resort town of Victoria
Falls for a conference on monuments and heritage sites.
About 500 doctors walked out Friday demanding pay raises of up to 8,000
percent to keep pace with rampant inflation, officially running at about
455.6 percent. They have since been joined by some 20,000 nurses.
The only doctors currently providing services at state hospitals are
foreigners brought in to assist under long-standing agreements with Cuba and
other countries.
The state-owned Herald newspaper reported Wednesday that one doctor at
Harare's main hospital had to attend to casualties from four road accidents
assisted only by student nurses. Some outpatients had been turned away, the
paper said.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa told state radio that medical personnel
from the armed forces, police and prisons would ease pressure on the
hospitals and ``prevent further loss of life.'' He did not specify how many,
if any, patients had died as a result of the work stoppage.
This is the second time the country's health care professionals have gone on
strike this year. Doctors interrupted services at state hospitals
intermittently in June.
Meanwhile, Mugabe told delegates at the International Conference on
Monuments and Sites gathering that land was Zimbabwe's greatest heritage and
had been reclaimed for the country's black farmers, state radio reported.
Mugabe's often-violent land reform program has seen 5,000 white-owned farms
confiscated for redistribution to blacks.
The program has crippled Zimbabwe's agriculture-based economy, with the
country now facing 70 percent unemployment and accute shortages of food,
gasoline and medicine.
When students at the University of Zimbabwe were told they would not be
receiving overdue living allowances, it sparked a riot Tuesday on campus in
Harare's Mount Pleasant suburb.
Some 12,000 students stoned the acting vice chancellor's car and looted a
grocery store. Police dispersed the protesters.
Mugabe's Wednesday appearance came after a flurry of rumors that he had
collapsed and been admitted to a hospital in neighboring South Africa for
treatment.
Government press secretary George Charamba insisted Mugabe was in good
health and accused western diplomats of trying to ``destabilize'' the
country.
10/29/03 13:57 EST
----------------------
Rebel Leader Seeks Peace After Sudan War
By ANDREW ENGLAND
.c The Associated Press
RUMBEK, Sudan (AP) - In the United States, rebel leader John Garang learned
soldiering and economics, skills he took with him back to his native Sudan,
home to Africa's longest-running civil war.
The imposing 58-year-old has used his skills in the war, and may soon apply
them as vice president of Sudan if the warring parties agree to a
power-sharing deal as part of a U.S.-backed peace plan.
``My background in the military is by force of circumstance,'' Garang told
The Associated Press in a recent interview. ``Of course it's been worth it,
especially now you see Sudan transforming.''
There is little doubt that Sudan must be transformed. The country has only
known a brief period of peace since independence from Anglo-Egyptian rule in
1956 and more than 2 million people have died from fighting and war-related
famine and disease since the latest conflict began its latest phase in 1983.
Garang, who describes himself as an ``Episcopalian-stroke-Lutheran,'' has
spent most of his adult life battling the predominantly Arab and Muslim
government in Khartoum to seek greater autonomy for the largely animist and
Christian south. The conflict also is fueled by competition for oil, land
and other resources.
Garang's followers address him either as ``doctor,'' because of his Ph.D.
from Iowa State University, or ``chairman,'' for his position in the rebel
Sudan People's Liberation Army. At a recent press conference after
discussing 15-month-old peace talks, Secretary of State Colin Powell called
him simply, ``Dr. John.''
Powell, who has said ending the war in Sudan is a top priority for the Bush
administration, met with Garang and Sudanese government officials last week
in neighboring Kenya and announced that the warring parties had agreed to
remain in negotiations and ``conclude a comprehensive settlement no later
than the end of December.''
Sudan, with a population of 30 million people, is listed by the United
States as a state sponsor of terrorism. Osama bin Laden lived in Khartoum,
the capital, in the early 1990s and had numerous business interests in the
country. Sudan has, however, been credited with cooperating in the war
against terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks.
The government has been accused of supporting slavery and bombing aid groups
and civilians in the conflict, but human rights groups also have criticized
Garang.
``Their human rights record is poor because of the lack of accountability,''
said Jemera Rone of Human Rights Watch. ``That has led to a lot of abuses
that have never been punished, including summary executions, disappearances,
prolonged arbitrary detentions, corrupt transactions and the taking of food
from civilians.''
Garang, who spoke outside his residence in this rebel town, dismisses the
allegations.
``A movement that has lasted 20 years will have its critics,'' he said.
``Which leader never gets criticized? ... Our (human rights) record is
available for scrutiny by history.''
The articulate rebel leader gives little away about himself - except that he
reads war classics, from Sun Tzu to George Patton.
A member of southern Sudan's largest tribe, the Dinka, Garang was born in an
impoverished village, and at 18 left high school in Rumbek to join the first
southern rebellion in 1963. But he said guerrilla leaders urged him to
finish school, which he eventually did in Tanzania.
He later attended Grinnell College in Iowa, graduating in 1969 with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, after which he returned to Africa with
a fellowship to study at Dar es Salaam University, Tanzania - then a hot bed
of radical thinking. There he met Yoweri Museveni, who would later lead a
rebellion in Uganda from 1981-1986 and become a key ally.
Garang returned to southern Sudan in 1970 and was integrated into the
government army two years later when a peace deal was reached. During the
next 11 years, Garang attended the U.S. Army infantry officer's course at
Fort Benning, Ga., and earned his doctorate at Iowa State University.
But some southerners, including Garang, felt the peace was doomed and formed
a covert group to organize another rebellion.
In May 1983, then Col. Garang was visiting troops in the south when the army
attacked a battalion he'd once commanded. Suddenly the second war was under
way, months earlier than the rebels intended, he said. As the most senior
officer, Garang assumed leadership.
With peace on the horizon, he now hopes to use his nonmilitary skills to
turn the ``liberation energy'' toward development. But the warring parties
still have to resolve some key issues, and Garang said he's learnt to ``keep
expectations modest.''
``The situation is sufficiently complex that you don't want to overextend
your emotional resources,'' he said. ``I don't get easily excited.''
10/29/03 03:54 EST
-------------------------
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Next WASAN meeting is Wednesday, September 24, 2003. Location: Safeco Jackson Street Center, E Main St, between 23 & 24th, Suite 200.
7:00 pm Business meeting.
7:30 pm African film, followed by a discussion.
(Everyone is welcome).
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