---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 15:52:32 -0700 From: charlotte utting <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [WASAN] FW: PAMBAZUKA NEWS 70 - G8: IT'S THE 'BLAME THE VICTIMS' SUMMIT ---------- From: [log in to unmask] Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 15:29:13 -0500 (CDT) To: [log in to unmask] Subject: PAMBAZUKA NEWS 70 - G8: IT'S THE 'BLAME THE VICTIMS' SUMMIT PAMBAZUKA NEWS 70 A weekly electronic newsletter for social justice in Africa CONTENTS: 1. Editorial, 2. Conflict, Emergencies, and Crises, 3. Rights and Democracy, 4. Corruption, 5. Health, 6. Education and Social Welfare, 7. Women and Gender, 8. Refugees and Forced Migration, 9. Racism and Xenophobia, 10. Environment, 11. Media, 12. Development, 13. Internet and Technology, 14. eNewsletters and Mailing Lists, 15. Fundraising, 16. Courses, Seminars, and Workshops, 17. Advocacy Resources, 18. Jobs, 19. Books and Arts, 20. Letters and Comments If you have e-mail access, you can get web resources listed in this Newsletter by sending a message to [log in to unmask] with the web address (usually starting with http://) in the body of your message. Want to get off our subscriber list? Write to [log in to unmask] and your address will be removed immediately! /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 1.EDITORIAL G8: IT'S THE 'BLAME THE VICTIM' SUMMIT Action For Southern Africa (ACTSA) And The World Development Movement (WDM) Briefing http://www.actsa.org/News/press_releases/250602_nepad.htm Leaders of the G8 have adopted a new approach to their annual summits. Over the past five years, they have met in tumultuous carnival of protests and empty promises. This year, they have retreated to a fireside chat in a remote mountain resort, far away from demonstrations. But some things will stay the same. There will be more empty promises. The G8 will re-announce token amounts of aid and debt cancellation, and promise more in the future. But the real responsibility for the economic crisis in Africa will be blamed on the African countries themselves. NEPAD and G8 Action Plan for Africa At their meeting on 26 - 28 June in Kananaskis, Canada, the G8 leaders will unveil an 'Action Plan on Africa'. The fact that the leaders of the rich countries are committing themselves to engage with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), being hailed an 'African plan for African development', is a welcome change from the recent past, when plans were imposed from G8 capitals. However, as pointed out in 'Africa: What the G8 must deliver', the new briefing by Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) and the World Development Movement (WDM), the crucial test for the G8 is whether they will deliver on their own responsibilities, rather than blaming Africa for its poverty. It is undeniable that there has been poor governance, corruption and mismanagement in Africa. However, the briefing reveals the context - the legacy of colonialism, the support of the G8 for repressive regimes in the Cold War, the creation of the debt trap, the massive failure of Structural Adjustment Programmes imposed by the IMF and World Bank and the deeply unfair rules on international trade. The role of the G8 in creating the conditions for Africa's crisis cannot be denied. Its overriding responsibility must be to put its own house in order, and to end the unjust policies that are inhibiting Africa's development. Yet the G8 will do little and lecture Africa extensively. Its communique will undoubtedly recycle some of the most pervasive myths: * Africa has received increasing amounts of aid over the years - in fact, aid to Sub-Saharan Africa fell by 48% over the 1990s; * Africa needs to integrate more into the global economy - in fact, trade accounts for a larger proportion of Africa's income than of the G8; * Economic reform will generate new foreign investment - in fact, investment to Africa has fallen since they opened up their economies; * Bad governance has caused Africa's poverty - in fact, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), economic conditions imposed by the IMF and the World Bank were the dominant influence on economic policy in the two decades to 2000, a period in which Africa's income per head fell by 10% and income of the poorest 20% of people fell by 2% per year . As a result of these myths, the victims are being blamed for their poverty. Africa is already labouring under conditions imposed by the IMF and World Bank, aid donors, the US Growth and Opportunity Act, the EU Cotonou agreement, Bilateral Investment Treaties and the 28 agreements of the World Trade Organisation. Promises, promises... The past record of the G8 does not give confidence of real commitment. The strategy has been: Make promise. Grab headlines. Tick it off. Job done. Then when the shouting dies down... quietly break promise. * Last year, they ticked off HIV/AIDS with a Trust Fund - only $2.1 billion, a fraction of the $10 billion called for by Kofi Annan, has been delivered. * In 1999, they apparently ended the debt crisis with a promise of $100 billion - only $13 billion of debt stock has been cancelled to date ($7.5 billion in Net Present Value). Year after year, they have promised to support education for all, to make trade rules fairer and to end tied aid to the poorest countries. Yet, year after year, the G8 has failed to deliver. This year, it is likely to be even worse. The promises from previous summits will not only be recycled, they will come with a heavy price tag. * $1 billion more for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Trust Fund will come with a continuation of the IMF and World Bank influence over economic policies of African countries. * Improved access to rich markets will come with increased pressure on Africa through World Trade Organisation negotiations to give new rights to multinational companies producing a wide range of services, including those that are essential to the poor. * Announcements of aid for Africa will not be "new money", but will come with new conditions on African leaders, including those related to migration. As the G8 discusses new forms of conditionality, Africa is being divided into the deserving and undeserving poor. ACTSA and WDM are calling on the G8 to stop tinkering at the margins and actually deliver on its long-standing promises to Africa. This G8 must stop blaming the victims and commit to a real development plan that reflects Africa's urgent needs. Links on Nepad and the G8: * How does the G8 affect Africa? http://g8.activist.ca/print/g8-africaflyer-sp.pdf * Critiques of NEPAD from African NGO's http://www.web.net/~iccaf/debtsap/nepad.htm * NEPAD: A critical review http://www.sask.fi/Documents/NepadLRS.doc * Little hope for Africa from G8 http://www.debtchannel.org/ /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 2.CONFLICT, EMERGENCIES, AND CRISES AFRICA: THE G8, AFRICA AND ARMS SUPPLY http://web.amnesty.org/web/web.nsf/pages/ttt3_africa One of the ways in which the G8's actions impact on the lives of ordinary Africans threatens to remain in the shadows - the way in which the transfer of military, security and police equipment and expertise contributes to human rights violations and exacerbates ongoing conflicts in the region. ANGOLA: A GRIM SITUATION http://www.rnw.nl/humanrights/html/angola020624.html "The situation remains grim, dramatic. It's sad to say, but people are dying, and over the coming months, I'm certain that quite a number of people will perish," says United Nations Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Angola, Erick de Mul. DRC: RCD REBEL FORCES FACING MUTINY AGAIN Heavy fighting has broken out again in South Kivu Province, southeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), between the leader of a mutiny among troops of the Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) and loyal forces of the Rwandan-backed rebel movement, news agencies reported. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8508 ETHIOPIA: UNEASY CALM RESTORED IN AWASA Bekele Sakuma is now hoping for calm and peace. Just four weeks ago he identified the body of his 17-year-old son, shot dead during clashes with security forces in the southern Ethiopian town of Awasa. "The hardest thing a father can do is pick his son out of a line of bodies," said Bekele, a 55-year- old security guard who lives in the nearby village of Loke. The village was where some 7,000 protesters gathered on 24 May before marching towards Awasa to demonstrate against a change in the town's status. Like many Sidamas - the ethnic group whose heartland surrounds Awasa - he believed that he might lose his land with impending political changes. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8507 GUINEA-BISSAU: CALM BUT TENSE, UN SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS The overall situation in Guinea-Bissau has remained calm over the past three months, but political tensions still run high, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in his latest report on the West African nation to the UN Security Council. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8440 KENYA: DROUGHT PROBLEMS REMAIN EVEN AS FLOODS RECEDE Parts of southeastern Kenya, which received exceptionally poor rainfall during May, are experiencing the stress of drought - even as flooding subsides in western and eastern parts of the country, according to a new vulnerability update for the country. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8438 SIERRA LEONE: CONFLICT IN LIBERIA POSES THREAT TO STABILITY - ANNAN The United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned that escalating conflict in Liberia and increasing incursions by armed elements into Sierra Leone portend a "worrying trend". Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8560 SOUTH AFRICA: COPS OPEN FIRE ON PROTESTERS IN LENASIA http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=13 Men, women and children ran for cover as violence erupted in Lenasia on Tuesday morning after police opened fire with rubber bullets. The R554 highway to Lenasia, which had been closed off in protest by about 4 000 residents over the removal of Tembelihle informal settlement residents to Vlakfontein, was strewn with odd shoes, clothes and knobkerries after police started firing rubber bullets. SUDAN: KHARTOUM REACTS TO BUSH CALL FOR IT TO END WAR http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28476 The Sudanese government has said it will send a letter to US President George W. Bush to clarify its position after his call last Thursday, 20 June, on Khartoum to demonstrate more serious commitment to ending the Sudanese civil war. Minister for External Relations Mustafa Uthman Isma'il said the government welcomed without reservations Bush's call for an end to the war, but was displeased that he had not touched on the need for the other warring party - the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) - to do the same. SUDAN: ORGANISING FOR PEACE AS THE WAR ESCALATES http://www.crisisweb.org/ The renewed Sudan peace effort that began in Nairobi on 17 June may be the last chance for the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) process to set meaningful negotiations in train, says a new International Crisis Group (ICG) report. The decisive issue in negotiations will be self-determination for the South, combined with reform of the central government. ICG urges diplomatic support for self-determination as the only way to get an agreement that has a chance to maintain Sudanese unity. TANZANIA: 30 FEARED DEAD IN MINING TRAGEDY http://www.africantimes.com/articlepg1.asp?ID=48551 More than 30 people may have suffocated deep inside a tanzanite mine in northern Tanzania last Thursday after an oxygen pump failed, mining officials said. Alex Magayane, Arusha regional mines officer, said rescue workers had pulled one body from the gemstone mine in Mererani, 24 miles southeast of Arusha, and believed 31 others were still trapped inside. TANZANIA: TRAIN VICTIMS' RIDE TO DEATH http://allafrica.com/stories/200206260629.html Passengers aboard the doomed train that crashed in Tanzania had to endure a 20 minute roller coaster ride to death. Early estimates of a death toll of more than 200 proved modest. Tanzania's worst rail disaster has claimed more than 300 lives, it was feared last night. ZAMBIA: FOOD SITUATION REMAINS CRITICAL FOR RURAL POOR http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28500 The Zambian government's Disaster Management Unit is "doing its best" to cope with the country's food crisis, but the situation remains dire for Zambian villagers in affected rural areas. ZIMBABWE: FARMERS VOW NOT TO ABANDON FARMS The tension was ratcheted up a notch in Zimbabwe this week as farmers vowed to ignore a government order banning them from farming as millions of people struggle with the daily grind of food shortages. Under the country’s Land Acquisition Act, nearly 3000 farmers roughly half of the farming population will be breaking the law from June 25 if they continue to farm their land. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8564 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 3.RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY AFRICA: ANALYSTS WARN OF CHALLENGES AHEAD OF AU LAUNCH Analysts on Thursday issued a cautious welcome for the African Union (AU), expected to be launched on 8-10 July in Durban, South Africa. Speaking to western diplomats gathered at the South African Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA), political observers agreed that although the transformation from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) into the AU was a promising move, the new organisation faced enormous challenges. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8544 ALGERIA: TIME TO PROVE THAT POLITICS MATTERS http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=686 The single most notable message from the recent elections in Algeria was the high rate of voter disinterest, according to a new International Crisis Group (ICG) report. In the capital, Algiers, 70 per cent of voters stayed away. In the Kabylia region, where there have been massive anti-government protests, alarming levels of violence and a powerful movement to boycott the elections, turnout was as low as 2 per cent. ICG Middle East Program Director Robert Malley said: "Since they won their independence, the Algerian people have gone from the enthusiasm of the post-colonial days, to authoritarian single-party rule, chaotic pluralism, and then a grisly war that has been civil in name only. Today, Algeria's political class - in power and in opposition alike -- faces a straightforward task: to prove that it can be useful and that politics can work". BENIN: POLICE HALT PROTEST MARCH BY RIGHTS ACTIVISTS http://www.newafrica.com/news/articlepg1.asp?ID=48594&countryid=6 Benin police last Wednesday stopped a protest march planned in Cotonou by the country's Human Rights League (LDH), against alleged human rights violations in the country, witnesses said. The estimated 40 security men armed with tear gas canisters and truncheons, stormed the Cotonou Labour Office Square where the demonstrators had assembled for the march. BURKINA FASO: UNDP SUPPORT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS An initiative aimed at financing activities that promote human rights was launched on Friday in Burkina Faso by UN Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative Christian Lemaire. "UNDP's support for such initiatives aims at enabling local action in favour of human rights for a sustainable improvement to the daily life of Burkina Faso's populations," Lemaire said at the launch of the programme in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8492 CAMEROON: MINISTER FIRED FOR ELECTION DELAY http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_2061000/2061700.stm Cameroon's President Paul Biya has sacked his interior minister after having to postpone parliamentary and municipal elections, which were scheduled to start on Sunday. Ferdinand Koungou Edima was accused of failing to prepare the vote properly after the state-run printing press had not finished producing the ballots. CONGO: CALM PREVAILS IN SECOND-ROUND LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS Calm prevailed on Sunday in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo, as voters went to the polls in the second round of nationwide legislative elections. Results are expected by late Monday or early Tuesday. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8447 KENYA: U.S., UK URGE PROMPT KENYA POLLS http://www.africantimes.com/articlepg1.asp?ID=48562 The United States and Britain have urged Kenya to go to the polls this year on schedule and ignore a ruling party proposal for a delay, a plan widely seen as a ploy to prolong President Daniel arap Moi's rule. MADAGASCAR: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS MUST BE ADDRESSED http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/AFR350032002? OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIES\MADAGASCAR Talks on the political crisis in Madagascar must address the deteriorating human rights situation, Amnesty International says. "The leaders of Madagascar and the international community must condemn the ongoing human rights abuses and take a firm stance on holding those responsible to account," the organization said. MADAGASCAR: US RECOGNIZES RAVALOMANANA, UNFREEZES ASSETS http://allafrica.com/stories/200206270003.html In a surprise move, the United States became the first major world power to formally recognize the government of Marc Ravalomanana in Madagascar. A letter to that effect from President George Bush was presented by American ambassador Wanda Nesbitt in Madagascar on Wednesday. NIGERIA: AFRICA COMMISSION RULING ON OGONI VIOLATIONS The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Mosop) has welcomed the decision of the African Human Rights Commission which found Nigeria in violation of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights in relation to its treatment of the people of Ogoni. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8442 NIGERIA: CEASE SPONSORING VIGILANTE VIOLENCE Ebonyi State in south-eastern Nigeria should not endorse the activities of vigilante groups, Human Rights Watch and the Centre for Law Enforcement Education (CLEEN) has said. The human rights groups were responding to recent reports that the governor of Ebonyi, Sam Egwu, was planning to introduce the vigilante group, known as the Bakassi Boys, into his state and to sign a law establishing them there. The Bakassi Boys have been responsible for numerous human rights abuses in the neighboring states of southeastern Nigeria where they operate, including extrajudicial killings, public burnings, mutilations, torture, and unlawful detentions. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8441 NIGERIA: IRIN FOCUS ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT CRISIS When the three-year tenure of Nigeria's 774 local government councils lapsed at the end of May, new elected officials should have taken their place. However, no new councillors have been voted into office. In fact, it seems increasingly doubtful that local government polls will be held on 10 August as had been announced, and this has raised fears of a prolonged crisis in the country's third tier of government. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8559 NIGERIA: OUTRAGE AS NIGERIA REGISTERS ONLY 3 NEW PARTIES http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.jsp?a=37&o=5137 Nigeria's election commission last Saturday registered three new parties out of a total of 24 that applied to compete in next year's national elections. The decision immediately reignited a furious row over the commission's strict rules, which many of the would-be parties regard as a cynical and unconstitutional ploy to exclude them. SIERRA LEONE: PARLIAMENT STARTS BUSINESS Sierra Leone's newly elected parliament sat for the first time on Tuesday, electing Justice Edward Cowan as speaker and Elizabeth Alpha Lavallie as deputy speaker. Both are from the ruling Sierra Leone's People's Party (SLPP). The session, held at Parliament Building, Tower Hill, in the capital, Freetown, was attended by 120 members out of 124, including opposition leaders. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8558 TOGO: EYADEMA TRIES TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH EU The presidents of Togo, Gnassingbe Eyadema, and the European Commission, Romano Prodi, held talks on Monday in Brussels on Togo's political situation and bilateral relations. Eyadema told Prodi his country was suffering because the EU had cut financial aid following controversial elections in 1998. He blamed the aid cut on opposition parties which had lobbied against his government after the elections, the pro-government Republic of Togo online news service reported. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8501 ZAMBIA: PRESIDENT SLAMS PREDECESSOR CHILUBA http://www.africantimes.com/articlepg1.asp?ID=48548 Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has slammed his predecessor Frederick Chiluba, accusing him of granting ''outrageous'' benefits to retiring military heads three days before December general elections. ZIMBABWE: IMPUNITY ENABLES EVER MORE HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/recent/AFR460352002!Open The Zimbabwean government has systematically ensured that those responsible for torture, abductions and political killings are never brought to justice, Amnesty International says in a new report called 'The Toll of Impunity'. "Impunity has become the central problem in Zimbabwe where state and non-state actors commit widespread human rights violations without being brought to justice. Unless the cycle of impunity can be broken, human rights abuses will continue unchecked and victims and their families will not see justice," the organization said. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 4.CORRUPTION AFRICA: BLAIR PROMISES £1BN AID FOR AFRICA IN GOOD GOVERNANCE DEAL http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=309139 Tony Blair underlined his determination yesterday to make Africa a priority at the G8 summit when he announced British aid to the continent would rise to £1bn a year by 2006. The initiative requires African nations to institute good governance and crack down on corruption as part of a drive to make development cash more effective. ANGOLA: FINANCE MINISTER DENIES $1BN WENT MISSING http://www.africantimes.com/articlepg1.asp?ID=48787 Angola's finance minister on Wednesday denied a humanitarian group's charges that $1 billion had gone missing from the African nation's budget last year. London-based Global Witness, an international humanitarian pressure group, has estimated more than $1 billion or between a third and a half of all state income was unaccounted for in last year's budget. KENYA: FORMER KNH DIRECTOR IN COURT OVER CORRUPTION http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?id=12047&categoryID=1 A former director of Kenyatta National Hospital and four other senior officials on Monday appeared in a Nairobi court facing corruption charges. The director, Dr. Hosea Waweru, was charged with abusing his office by authorising the payment of 5.3 million shillings as refund of duty and value added tax to High Voltage Communications Limited. KENYA: FRAUD ON THE RISE, SAYS REPORT http://allafrica.com/stories/200206200091.html Fraud and corruption cases are on the increase in East Africa, threatening to undo economic gains made by the region, says a new report. NIGERIA: PUBLIC SPENDING UNDER INVESTIGATION http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/business/newsid_2056000/2056238.stm Nigeria's government is under attack again for its lack of financial transparency. A recent report by a parliamentary committee says there has been a "virtual slide into financial anarchy". NIGERIA: SOME 243 POLICEMEN NABBED FOR CORRUPTION http://allafrica.com/stories/200206250554.html Another batch of 92 policemen allegedly involved in corrupt practices were last week arrested by the Police Anti-corruption Squad. This brings to 243 the number of such arrests since the squad was initiated recently by the Inspector- General of Police, Mr. Tafa Balogun. SOUTH AFRICA: SCORPIONS ORDERED TO PROBE COUNCILS http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=40054 President Thabo Mbeki has ordered the special investigating unit the Scorpions to investigate wide ranging allegations of corruption and maladministration in five councils in the Western Cape province of the country. TANZANIA: SHORT TO VISIT TANZANIA AS FRAUD CLAIMS FLY http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,744049,00.html Clare Short, the UK international development secretary, is to fly to Tanzania next week to discuss the row over the country's controversial £28m military air traffic control system as allegations of shady deals and fraud begin to surface. ZAMBIA: CHILUBA BRIBED CHIEF JUSTICE CLAIM http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=40087 After sensational claims in the press, nongovernmental organisations are calling on Zambia's chief justice, Matthew Ngulube, for his side of a story alleging he was bribed by former president Frederick Chiluba. The Post reported on Monday that Chiluba gave him $168000 from the national treasury for various things, including school fees for his children. ZAMBIA: ZAMBIAN PRESIDENT VOWS TO DEAL WITH CORRUPTION IN RULING PARTY http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=40075 Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa vowed to root out corruption within his government Tuesday and said his administration was not beholden to the ruling party officials who put him in power. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 5.HEALTH AFRICA: 28 MILLION AFRICANS NOW LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS - UNAIDS More than 28 million Africans are now living with HIV/AIDS and in some countries over 30 percent of the adult population is infected, a UNAIDS statement warned on Tuesday. "The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS is rolling back decades of development progress in Africa," said Peter Piot, UNAIDS executive director. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8504 AFRICA: AFRICANS STILL IGNORANT ABOUT AIDS http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_2062000/2062156.stm High numbers of people in Africa and other developing countries do not realise that HIV/Aids can kill. Even in countries with high infection rates a large majority of men and women believe they are not at risk of contracting Aids, the UN Population Division says in a new report. AFRICA: AGEING AND AIDS IN AFRICA http://www.who.int/hpr/ageing/Research%20Update%20Fin.pdf Of the total number of children under the age of 15 who had lost their mothers or both parents to AIDS by 2000, 90% were in sub-Saharan Africa. Most of those infected with HIV are people in their economically active stages of life (15- 49). It is grandparents who have to care for their sick or HIV-infected children and raise and support their orphaned grandchildren. In most cases, they provide this care with little or no state or other support. AFRICA: BUSH PLAYS SHELL GAME WITH AFRICAN LIVES http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2002/0206aids.html On the eve of a meeting of rich country leaders in Canada, President Bush has brought out a "new initiative" promising $500 million to prevent transmission of HIV/AIDS from mothers to children. Intended to stave off the embarrassment of coming empty-handed to a summit trumpeted as focusing on Africa, the White House initiative is in fact a cynical move to derail more effective action against AIDS. BURUNDI: VACCINATION CAMPAIGN PROGRESSES, DESPITE FIGHTING Despite continuing fighting in parts of Burundi, the vaccination campaign launched last week was "moving forward as planned", Susanna Campbell, the communications officer for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), says. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8453 GHANA: TB BECOMES MAJOR KILLER DISEASE http://www.africantimes.com/articlepg1.asp?ID=48672 Tuberculosis is claiming more lives in Ghana than any other diseases including AIDS and kills about 20,000 people each year, Ghana News Agency reported Monday. Dr Mohammed Bin Ibrahim, director of Western Region of Health Services, made the remarks when launching the regional TB campaign on Monday. About 40,000 cases were reported in the year 2000 in the west African country, Ibrahim added. MALAWI: QUEST FOR HIV/AIDS TREATMENT FUELS BOGUS DRUG BOOM http://allafrica.com/stories/200206210451.html Many Malawians living with HIV/AIDS are forced to rely on illegal drugs in a bid to treat opportunistic illnesses, ease suffering and prolong their lives. SOUTH AFRICA: ANTIRETROVIRAL THERAPY REDUCES TUBERCULOSIS INCIDENCE IN AREAS WHERE AIDS, TB ENDEMIC http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=11720 Highly active antiretroviral therapy can reduce the incidence of tuberculosis in HIV-positive people by 80% or more in areas where the two diseases are endemic, with the most protection being afforded to those with advanced immune suppression, according to a study published in the June 15 issue of the Lancet. SOUTH AFRICA: SA RESEARCHERS MAKE MALARIA BREAKTHROUGH http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.jsp?a=11&o=5145 South African researchers have made a breakthrough in malaria research that will enable more effective drugs to be developed to treat the parasite-based infection, a medical researcher said on Sunday. The breakthrough was based on identifying how the malaria parasite handles iron in red blood cells, said Giovanni Hearne, a doctor at the Wits University's Medical School in Johannesburg. Malaria is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito and is a huge problem worldwide, particularly in Africa. SOUTH AFRICA: TREATING AIDS SAVES MONEY, SAYS AIDS GROUP http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.jsp?a=11&o=5191 Not treating HIV-positive people was more expensive than buying them medicine, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) said in Johannesburg on Monday. "That's the thesis that our experts are testing and they are looking at hard figures to support it," TAC secretary Mark Heywood told reporters in Johannesburg. Heywood was speaking ahead of a HIV/Aids congress due to take place in Durban. SUDAN: NEW HOPE FOR TREATMENT OF KILLER DISEASE KALA-AZAR The recent development of a treatment for leishmaniasis, also known as black fever, a disease that each year afflicts some 500,000 people globally and kills at least 60,000, offers a ray of hope for thousands of Sudanese who die each year from the disease for lack of treatment. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8451 UGANDA: 'FEMALE CONDOM NOT YET POPULAR' http://allafrica.com/stories/200206200143.html The female condom has not been well received because it interferes with certain cultural sexual practices, a monitoring and evaluation specialist has said. ZAMBIA: CONTRACEPTIVE AND SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTION PROTECTION IN LUSAKA http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/2809602.html Although efforts are being made to integrate STI services into family planning clinics in Zambia, these efforts need reinforcement. The educational levels of both providers and their clients may be barriers to a successful transfer of STI prevention information during client-provider interactions. ZIMBABWE: UPDATE ON STATE OF EMERGENCY OVER HIV/AIDS A month after Zimbabwe's government declared a state of emergency over HIV/AIDS to allow the importation and manufacture of generic drugs, not much action has been taken and there are still a lot of unanswered questions, Zimbabwe's National Network for People living with HIV/AIDS (ZNNP+), told PlusNews. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8454 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 6.EDUCATION AND SOCIAL WELFARE AFRICA: A CRISIS OF AGEING http://www.id21.org/insights/insights42/insights-iss42-art03.html There has been much talk of an ageing crisis in Europe, but the real crisis is in Africa. A combination of high fertility, rising longevity, civil war and HIV/AIDS lies behind a unique transformation of the demographic structure in which, unlike any other regions in the world, falling life expectancy at birth is associated with rising life expectancy at later ages. ANGOLA: POLIO-FREE CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED Angola launched a drive last weekend to vaccinate three million children under- five against polio - with the support of the country's girl and boy scout movement. The signing of Angola's ceasefire in April has, for the first time in years, opened up areas throughout the country that were previously inaccessible for polio National Immunisation Day (NIDs) campaigns, the UN children's agency UNICEF said in a report. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8505 ETHIOPIA: FOCUS ON EDUCATION IN BORENA http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28537 Like most children in her village, Gechawa Gandesha laughs when she is asked why she will not go on to senior school. "It would take me almost a week to walk there," said the 14-year-old, who already walks more than four kilometres to her current school. Gechawa is at the top of her primary class, and longs to become a doctor. Her headmaster says she is more than capable of achieving that. But she lives in one of the remotest corners of Ethiopia, and schools are few and far between. KENYA: UNDERWEIGHT BABIES IN 'GRAVE DANGER' IN NAIROBI HOSPITALS http://allafrica.com/stories/200206250034.html A new study on child mortality in Kenya says that newly-born underweight babies admitted to the country's leading public hospital are at a higher risk of dying within the first month than Nigerian children were more than 25 years ago. According to the study, which is another damning indictment of the poor standards of healthcare at Kenyan public hospitals, low birthweight babies admitted to the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) - the country's biggest and most advanced hospital - are also more likely to die than those admitted to the institution more than a quarter of a century ago. NIGERIA: GABON REPATRIATES 242 NIGERIAN TRAFFICKED CHILDREN http://www.africantimes.com/articlepg1.asp?ID=48541 A Nigerian NGO leading the fight against women trafficking and child labour, said 242 Nigerian children were repatriated from Gabon between January 2000 and June 2001, the local press reported last Thursday. SOUTHERN AFRICA: FUTURE UNCERTAIN: SOCIAL PENSIONS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA http://www.id21.org/insights/insights42/insights-iss42-art07.html Only three countries in sub Saharan Africa - South Africa, Namibia and Botswana - provide non contributory social pensions for their elderly citizens. In all three countries, the social pension injects substantial volumes of cash into poor households and communities. It has stimulated trade and marketing infrastructure, helped stabilise rural food supplies, and reduced vulnerability by providing a 'safety net' against livelihood shocks such as drought. UGANDA: AIDS ORPHANS INCREASE TO 2 MILLION IN UGANDA http://www.newafrica.com/news/articlepg1.asp?ID=48655&countryid=52 The number of children orphaned byAIDS has increased from 1.7 million in 2000 to 2 million this year despite a decline in the rate of infection, the English daily Monitor reported on Monday. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 7.WOMEN AND GENDER AFRICA: US GROUPS IN BUSH APPEAL FOR UNFPA FUNDS A group of 25 population, women's rights, medical, religious and health groups sent a letter last week to US President George Bush asking him to release life- saving funds for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The group says women and their children are suffering because the funds have not been released. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8530 ETHIOPIA: WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT VITAL FOR DEVELOPMENT - GOVERNMENT Women must seize the opportunity of equality and fight for their rights, the Ethiopian government urged on Monday. Without their full participation in society the country could never attain rapid and sustained development, the information ministry declared in a statement. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8461 KENYA: TWENTY POKOT GIRLS HOSPITALISED AFTER CIRCUMCISION http://allafrica.com/stories/200206240186.html Twenty girls have been admitted at Ortum Mission Hospital in West Pokot after undergoing female genital mutilation (FGM). And among them, 10 have successfully been operated on by a team of doctors from University of Nairobi led by Dr Hillary Mabeya. The girls aged between 10 and 16 were rescued from bleeding to death by a local NGO, Setat Women Group - North Rift Chapter. NAMIBIA: TEEN PREGNANCY RATE 'HIGH' IN KARIBIB AREA http://allafrica.com/stories/200206260112.html Last year one in five pregnant women in the Karibib district were teenagers who should have been in school, says Dr Matthew Akpo. The Usakos-based doctor told a Women's Action for Development (WAD) Field Day at Karibib last Saturday, that the teenage pregnancy rate remained high even though health workers were teaching family planning techniques. NIGERIA: 1,098 VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING DEPORTED IN THREE YEARS http://allafrica.com/stories/200206260484.html Two hundred victims of human trafficking were deported to Nigeria last week, bringing to 1,098 the number sent back from Europe and North America in the past three years, figures released on Wednesday by the Nigerian immigration authorities showed. More than 98 percent or 1,081 were women who had been sold to prostitution rings in the different countries. Only 17 of the victims were male. NIGERIA: AJANAKU WANTS GENDER BALANCE IN PARTIES http://allafrica.com/stories/200206250173.html The Special Adviser to the President on Women Affairs, Mrs. Titilayo Ajanaku, has called for the restructuring of the political parties at all levels to ensure gender balance. She said "all stakeholders hold it as a duty to see how the women can be encouraged to function and how to make the atmosphere conducive for women's participation without destroying their identities and distinctiveness." SIERRA LEONE: AID GROUP WORKS TO EASE RETURN OF SEX ABUSE VICTIMS http://www.unfoundation.org/unwire/2002/06/21/27183 As they struggle to reintegrate back into their communities following civil conflict in Sierra Leone, women and girls who have been sexually abused by combatants are receiving much-needed assistance from Christian Children's Fund, which is promoting community dialogue and education in the country. SWAZILAND: LAWS MAKE WOMEN LEGAL MINORS http://www.africantimes.com/articlepg1.asp?ID=48638 Swaziland’s authorities have been accused of stepping up their repression of women following a decree that women may not wear trousers because it against social traditions. Reports from the capital Mbabane say soldiers will enforce the law by ripping trousers off women who dare to flout the custom. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 8.REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION ANGOLA: ANGOLA EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR REFUGEES http://www.newafrica.com/news/articlepg1.asp?ID=48586 Angola took advantage of last Thursday's World Refugee Day to express its commitment to gradually solve the dramatic situation facing thousands of its citizens, particularly children and women living in refugee camps. BURUNDI: JOINT DELEGATION TO SEEK REPATRIATION OF BURUNDIAN REFUGEES http://allafrica.com/stories/200206260398.html Burundi and Tanzania announced on Tuesday that they would send a delegation to Geneva to ask the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to facilitate the repatriation of all Burundian refugees now in Tanzania. Close to 500,000 Burundian refugees are camped in Tanzania, thousands of who have been returning home on their own or under UNHCR-sponsored operations. However, the UNHCR position is to facilitate repatriations only to safe areas, while extending "limited assistance" to refugees insisting on going elsewhere in Burundi. ERITREA: MORE THAN 50,000 REFUGEES REPATRIATED The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Tuesday that the number of Eritrean refugees repatriated from Sudan has passed the 50,000 mark. The operation, which is now a year old, reached this milestone when, on Sunday, its 91st convoy carried 960 Eritreans from the eastern Sudanese town of Kassala to Teseney in western Eritrea, according to the UNHCR spokesman, Kris Janowski. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8524 GAMBIA-SENEGAL: UNHCR LOOKS INTO NEW DISPLACEMENT The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees sent a mission to The Gambia on Tuesday to take stock of possible population displacement following an announcement last week by the Senegalese army that it had launched security operations in Casamance, a UNHCR source told IRIN on Wednesday. The Senegalese army announced last weekend that it had begun an operation to curb increased insecurity and banditry in Casamance, an area in southern Senegal that borders on The Gambia. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8557 KENYA: FIRST CONVOY IN SOMALI BANTU RELOCATION SET TO LEAVE The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is due to begin transporting some 11,000 Somali Bantu refugees living in Dadaab refugee camps in northeastern Kenya to Kakuma refugee camp in the northwest from Wednesday, 26 June, in close collaboration with the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8509 KENYA: KENYAN GOVERNMENT SETS INDIGENOUS GROUP'S COURT CASE FOR JULY 23 http://www.dfn.org/news/kenya/ogiek0723.htm A case in which the Ogiek community have challenged the government over their tribal Mau Forest land will now be heard on July 23. Although the community went to court over a year ago contesting a government decision to excise parts of the expansive Mau forests of Kenya to settle other communities, the case has yet to be heard because the government has yet to file its defense. LIBERIA: THOUSANDS MORE FLEE TO SIERRA LEONE An estimated 4,000 people have fled to Sierra Leone from Liberia following a rebel attack last Thursday on Sinje refugee camp, northwest of the Liberian capital, Monrovia, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8503 SIERRA LEONE: UNHCR APPEALS FOR RELEASE OF ABDUCTED PERSONS The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) last Friday urged the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) to release five abducted nurses and an ambulance belonging to their NGO, MERCI. LURD rebels attacked Sinje refugee camp, 80 km northwest of the Liberian capital, Monrovia, last Thursday, taking away the nurses and causing Sierra Leonean refugees and displaced Liberians to flee. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8439 SOMALIA: REFUGEES BEING TRANSFERRED FROM MANDERA TO DADAAB http://allafrica.com/stories/200206260359.html The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has transferred up to 1,043 Somali refugees, who have been stranded for weeks in the northeastern Kenyan border town of Mandera, to the Dadaab refugee camp 500 km to the south. The refugees are part of a group of 10,000 who fled inter-clan fighting in the Somali town of Bulo Hawa near the border with Kenya starting in April, and have been camped in and around Mandera under difficult conditions. SUDAN: CHURCH APPEAL FOR CONFLICT IDPS IN WESTERN UPPER NILE Church World Service (CWS), an umbrella group of Christian organisations in the US, has appealed for urgent support for relief efforts to assist thousands of families displaced in Rubkona County, southern Sudan, by government military action in the oil-rich area. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8510 SUDAN: EU CONCERN AT HUMANITARIAN DANGERS, IGAD TALKS http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=28508 The EU on Tuesday expressed grave concern about the humanitarian situation in many parts of Sudan, particularly in western Upper Nile (Unity/Wahdah State), Eastern Equatoria and Bahr al-Ghazal - all in the south and affected by serious fighting. Humanitarian actors working in Sudan estimate that between 150,000 and 300,000 people were displaced in western Upper Nile alone between January and April. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 9.RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA SOUTH AFRICA: LET'S TALK ABOUT RACE http://allafrica.com/stories/200206200499.html Why are we so afraid of admitting our racism/s? Media coverage of racism often extends only to sensational killings or attacks, or the media defending itself against being racist. There is little space for open, honest debate on race, and when there is, where are the voices of ordinary people? And why are the voices so often male? Do women experience racism? SOUTH AFRICA: WARDER DENIES RACISM CLAIM http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/FreeState/0,1113,2-7- 832_1203803,00.html A Grootvlei Prison warder on Monday denied claims by inmates that he had made racist and sexist remarks about members of the Jali Commission into prison corruption. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 10.ENVIRONMENT AFRICA: HUMAN TB INFECTS AFRICAN MEERKATS AND MONGOOSES http://enn.com/news/enn-stories/2002/06/06272002/s_47551.asp A major killer in human populations, tuberculosis has now jumped into populations of Africa's meerkats and mongooses. The culprit is ecotourism, a phenomenon once thought to be agreeably benign. Apparently, the hotel system now operating in the continent's once-isolated bush country has exposed the fauna to more human diseases. AFRICA: WARMING CLIMATE SPAWNS DISEASE EPIDEMICS http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2002/2002-06-25-06.asp Dozens of lions died in Tanzania in 2001 after flies carrying distemper spread to eastern Africa. This is an example of how the changing, warming climate around the globe is triggering unprecedented numbers of disease outbreaks in both land and ocean based wildlife populations in habitats ranging from coral reefs to rainforests. Ecologists and epidemiologists have expressed concern over this rising trend in a new report in the June 21 issue of the journal "Science." KENYA: KWS RUES HUMAN, WILDLIFE CONFLICT http://allafrica.com/stories/200206260260.html Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has acknowledged an upsurge in human-wildlife conflict in the country. A communications officer, Mr Daniel Njaga, said the service is concerned by the sharp increase in the human-wildlife conflict that has seen several people lose their lives. LIBERIA: CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES ENGULF AFRICAN FOREST - NGOS OBSERVE http://allafrica.com/stories/200206240246.html The plundering of forests is pervasive in Africa and is causing enormous damage to the environment and the economy, as well as hurting the poor the most, say NGOs from five African countries. NAMIBIA: IVORY PLAN GETS SUPPORT http://www.newafrica.com/news/articlepg1.asp?ID=48585&countryid=36 Two wildlife organisations have come out in support of a government bid to be allowed to sell ivory stocks on an annual basis. The Namibia Nature Foundation's Project Co-ordinator, Nils Odendaal, told The Namibian that they backed the request 100 per cent. Namibia is home to approximately 10 000 elephants and has about 40 tonnes of ivory stockpiled. Namibia's elephant population is on Cites' Appendix II, which allows one-off sales of ivory but not annual quotas. TANZANIA: ILLEGAL LOGGING THREATENS RARE TREE SPECIES http://www.newafrica.com/news/articlepg1.asp?ID=48786&countryid=49 Tanzania's rare hardwood trees, including the Fagaropsis angolensis species found around Mount Kilimanjaro and the Brychylaena holschensii in the north- eastern Usambara mountain region are currently under threat from illegal logging, forest officials concede. UGANDA: PRESIDENT SUSPENDS ANIMAL EXPORTS http://www.newafrica.com/news/articlepg1.asp?ID=48646&countryid=52 President Museveni has called for an end to wild animal exports, saying it would be more profitable to use Uganda’s wildlife to promote tourism. ZIMBABWE: WILDLIFE IN CRISIS http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/wild/020613wpa.asp?sector=WILD It is estimated that Zimbabwe has lost about 50 percent of its wildlife, 65 percent of its tourism and up to 90 percent of safari hunting on commercial farms due to resettlement, according to Wally Herbst, Chairman of the Wildlife Producers Association. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 11.MEDIA CANADIAN MEDIA IS TAKING AIM AT AFRICA http://allafrica.com/stories/200206270053.html The Group of Eight (G-8) summit being held in Kananaskis, a ski hamlet about 100km west of Calgary, has stirred a wave of interest about Africa in the Canadian media. DRC: JED ACCUSED OF TARNISHING COUNTRY'S IMAGE Minister of Communications and Press Kikaya Bin Karubi has responded to the recent protest letter from Journaliste en danger (JED) which denounced threats and harassment aimed at the private broadcaster RAGA and journalist Jean-René Mputu Biduaya. In an 18 June 2002 letter to JED, Kikaya denied any involvement in the blackmail efforts and intimidation campaign designed to force RAGA to stop criticising the government. The minister described the remarks reported by JED as "gratuitous" and "fabrications aimed at having our foreign partners believe that the private press in the Congo is bullied by the authorities." Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8497 KENYA: MEDIA CALL FOR PROTECTION http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/28062002/News/News9.html The government has been told to provide security for journalists covering the coming General Election. Journalists from both public and private media organisations complained that they were being harassed and intimidated by State officials and political party operatives even before the elections are called. KENYA: NEWS FIRM CHALLENGES NEW LAW ON THE MEDIA http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/28062002/News/News67.html A news agency in Kenya has moved to court to challenge the law requiring publishers to execute bonds of Sh1 million to run newspapers and magazines. Kenya Eyes News Services wants a Constitutional Court to declare the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendment) Act 2002 illegal. MALAWI: COMMUNITY RADIO STATION CENSORED The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has warned the Malawi Institute of Journalism radio station (MIJ FM) that it risks losing its broadcasting license because of what MACRA describes as anomalies and bias in its reporting. MIJ FM is a community radio station run by the MIJ to train students. However, it has been established that the license principles issued to MIJ state that the radio station should protect the best interests of the community, encourage new and innovative programmes and promote community access to information. MACRA Director of Telecommunications Mike Kuntiya refused to clarify what the authority meant by "anomalies" in MIJ FM programmes. MACRA, hitherto dormant, is yet to prove to be a neutral referee. The Authority has failed to take action against the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), despite the public outcry over MBC's apparent partisan reporting in favour of the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF). Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8516 MALAWI: POLICE DISBAND PRESS CLUB MEETING On 20 June 2002, police in Malawi's largest city Blantyre stopped a series of public debates organised by the Lilongwe Press Club to discuss the proposed amendment to the Malawi Constitution regarding the limits on the president's term in office. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8515 NIGER: PUBLICATION DIRECTOR OF "LE CANARD DÉCHAÎNÉ" JAILED AGAIN Abdoulaye Tiémogo, publication director of the satirical weekly "Le Canard déchaîné", was arrested on 18 June 2002 further to Prime Minister Hama Amadou's filing of a complaint for "defamation". RSF has urged the prime minister to withdraw his complaint and see to it that the journalist is released immediately. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8495 NIGERIA: BABANGIDA, GOVT BATTLE IN COURT The attempt by former military President, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida to stop the implementation of the report of the Human Rights Violation Investigations Commission (HRVIC) got underway in Abuja last week with the federal government declaring before the Federal High court that General Babangida had no legal right to dictate when or how the reports of the HRVIC should be implemented. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8513 NIGERIA: NUJ UNDER PRESSURE TO SCRAP NAWOJ The National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Mr. Smart Adeyemi, has said that he is under "severe pressure" to scrap the Nigeria Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ). According to him, this should be done before the association's elections billed to be held next month. Adeyemi, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja, said that the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE) and the Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) "are pressing continuously" on the issue. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8500 TUNISIA: CPJ PROTESTS PROSECUTION OF ONLINE EDITOR In a 19 June 2002 letter to Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, CPJ protested the arrest and prosecution of Zouhair Yahyaoui, an Internet café employee and editor of the online publication "Tunezine". On the evening of 4 June, plainclothes state agents detained Yahyaoui at an Internet café in the capital, Tunis. Authorities then searched Yahyaoui's home and confiscated disks and other computer materials. After spending several days in detention, Yahyaoui was charged in court on 13 June with intentionally publishing false information. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8506 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 12.DEVELOPMENT AFRICA: AFRICANS CALL FOR POLITICAL ACTION TO ACHIEVE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS Governments need to go beyond reliance on their development programmes and start mobilizing popular political support to achieve progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This was a key conclusion of a forum on the MDGs that brought together ministers and senior government officials from 14 eastern and central African countries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this week. World leaders endorsed the goals at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, setting clear targets for reducing poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women by 2015. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8546 AFRICA: G8 DEBT RELIEF 'NOT GOOD ENOUGH' http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.jsp?o=5292 The announcement by G8 summit leaders in Kananaskis in Canada on Wednesday to grant up to one billion dollars in additional debt relief to some of the world's poorest countries represented neither progress nor a breakthrough on debt relief, according to Jubilee South Africa. "The announcement is proof that the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) debt relief initiative has failed," Jubilee South Africa representative Neville Gabriel said on Thursday. Gabriel said in a statement that the G8 were only trying to catch up on empty promises made three years ago at the Cologne summit for $100-billion in debt relief in terms of the HIPC debt relief initiative. AFRICA: G8 UNLIKELY TO ADVANCE CONCRETE AFRICA PLAN http://allafrica.com/stories/200206260388.html A year ago in Genoa, Italy, the leaders of eight nations known as the G-8 set up a task force to develop a concrete plan of action to support "Nepad" - the Africa-generated new partnership for African development. But hopes for much specificity have been ratcheted down as the Summit gets underway. In New York Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned against "unrealistic expectations" and "magic success" at the summit. Still, Annan said he hopes "that this partnership would lead to a changed economic environment on the continent." AFRICA: PUTTING PEOPLE BEFORE ENVIRONMENT http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2002/june/nepad.htm The objective of Agenda 21, the strategy document adopted at the 1992 Rio Summit, was to maximise economic and social welfare without compromising the sustainability of vital ecosystems. But Will Alexander of the University of Pretoria, South Africa argues that this is a utopian view, and that there should be no environmental impediments to the maximisation of economic and social welfare. He calls for multidisciplinary approaches to problems, and warns against the imposition of northern hemisphere solutions to Africa problems. This is critical, he says, in the light of the forthcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development. AFRICA: SUCCESS AND FAILURES IN PROGRESS TOWARDS DEVELOPMENT GOALS http://www.undp.org/mdg/mdgreportinafrica.pdf There have been success stories in Africa: an increasing number of countries are recording high growth rates, while successful elections have swept the continent. But for every success story there have been setbacks. Child mortality rates are up in several countries, as is HIV/AIDS, while reliable data in many countries is hard to come by. This is according to a new 26-page report on progress towards the Millenium Development Goals, compiled by the UNDP and Unicef for G8 Africa representatives. G8: FAILING MODEL OF GLOBAL GOVERNANCE http://www.fpif.org/briefs/vol7/v7n09g8.html Since the mid-1990s, the G8 annual summits have incorporated more social issues and developing country concerns into their agendas, but they have failed to demonstrate much progress on these issues. Similarly, the G8 has failed to produce the kind of global leadership necessary to jettison the failed neoliberal model for managing the global economy. For many NGOs and developing countries, the G8 summit remains a symbol of elite global governance, but concerns about the legitimacy of this self-constituted forum are increasingly overshadowed by criticisms of the forum's ineffectiveness. MALAWI-MOZAMBIQUE: POVERTY REDUCTION NEEDS MORE THAN JUST POLITICAL WILL A lot more than political will is needed to eradicate poverty in Africa, according to a recent report by an international development think-tank. The British-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) asked some tough questions of how public money is managed and spent in trying to alleviate poverty in five African countries - Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda. The aim of the research titled, 'How, When and Why does Poverty get Budget Priority' was to identify the factors influencing the importance attached to poverty reduction within the budget process, and the effectiveness with which policies are translated into funding and, ultimately, into results. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8549 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 13.INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY EGYPTIANS FLOCK TO NEW NET PLAN Free Internet Model Working In Egypt http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,52993,00.html Egypt has scrapped its old Internet subscription plan in favor of per-hour dial- up charges, resulting in an immediate and welcome spike in usage. FACTS ON WIRELESS/CELL/MOBILE TELEPHONES http://www.fda.gov/cellphones/ The Food and Drug Administration in the US has published a web site with consumer information about cell phones. Everything from health hazards to how they work and the effect they have on medical equipment is covered. ISOC VS ICANN - A DEMOCRATIC INTERNET? http://newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=02/06/25/0259203 "ISOC claims around 8,600 individual members. That's not a lot, considering that the worldwide number of Internet users is in the hundreds of millions...The free and open Internet, as opposed to the glorified shopping network so many corporate types apparently want the 'Net to become, needs a strong and organized voice to speak up on its behalf." ISOC and ICANN both claim to be this voice: ICANN is wrapped in scandal and ISOC needs members. Perhaps the much-touted 'anarchy' of the internet is prevailing - or is it the apathy of its users? Read the article. PREPARING FOR THE DIGITAL DARK AGE http://www.infowarrior.org/articles/2002-08.html This scathing article from computer security expert, Richard Forno, analyses the new Palladium computer design announced by Microsoft. MS intend Palladium to answer security worries with a hardware/software bundled solution. Viability is in doubt. SPAM VS SPAM http://www.salon.com/tech/col/leon/2002/06/24/spam_assassin/index.html Salon.com has an article on using open-source software to stop spam: "The only way to stem the flood of unwanted e-mail may be to harness a million eyeballs and an army of open-source hackers". XML FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST Following discussions at the 25th meeting of ECCHRD, participants representing European based human rights NGOs and IGOs discussed the possibilities of embracing XML as a standard for the exchange of data on human rights, in particular of data with regard to violations of human rights, within the human rights community. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8474 Contact: [log in to unmask] YOUR PC'S ENEMY WITHIN Speaking Out Against Spyware http://news.com.com/2009-1023-937457.html?tag=fd_lede The Wild West days of cyberspace are over--and, like it or not, it's time for government to change its laissez-faire attitude toward the Internet and create laws that clearly prevent unscrupulous businesses from preying on unsuspecting consumers and seizing control of computers. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 14.eNEWSLETTERS AND MAILING LISTS EMAIL SERVICE WITH A FOCUS ON FUNDING http://www.chapel-york.com Chapel & York's email-Information Service helps you find the resources you need from amongst the vast amounts of information available for charities, non- profits, & NGOs on-line. The focus is on new funding information, and international and cross-boarder funding. POPULATION AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH PORTAL http://www.developmentgateway.org/pop The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Development Gateway Foundation have launched the Population and Reproductive Health Internet Portal, a community-built database of shared population information, including data, research, projects, ideas and dialogue. Visitors to the website are able to sign up for free membership, which entitles them to receive regular updates on new resources that are added. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 15.FUNDRAISING AFRICA: AID AGENCIES' RESPONSE TO UK AID INCREASE http://allafrica.com/stories/200206250740.html Aid agencies have welcomed an announcement that the United Kingdom will increase aid to Africa, but said it is likely that there will be little progress on debt relief, trade and funding for education at the G8 summit. BURKINA FASO: PROJECT AIMS TO IMPROVE CONDITIONS IN POVERTY BELT A US $30-million poverty alleviation project aimed at improving agricultural output in areas near Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, was launched at the weekend by the African Development Bank (ADB) and the Burkinabe government. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8573 SOUTHERN AFRICA: CANADA GIVES FUNDS FOR SOUTHERN AFRICA CRISIS Canada will contribute CAD $34.2 million (US $22 million) in humanitarian aid to Southern Africa, a statement said last Friday. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8574 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 16.COURSES, SEMINARS, AND WORKSHOPS CALL FOR APPLICANTS Adilisha Distance Learning Courses For Human Rights And Advocacy This is the first call for applicants for Adilisha distance learning courses for human rights and advocacy organisations in southern Africa. 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 human rights and advocacy organisations in southern Africa. Developed together with international and regional experts, seven courses will be run in the course of the next 12 months. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8538 HUMAN RIGHTS DISTANCE LEARNING COURSE This distance learning course, taking place between 23 September and 15 December, provides participants practical guidance on how to monitor human rights and is specifically a generic pre-deployment course for human rights monitors. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8536 WORKSHOP ON SCIENCE COMMUNICATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SciDev.Net is holding a four-day workshop in Entebbe, Uganda between 29 September and 3 October on Science Communication for Sustainable Development. It will bring together a group of scientists, public relations officers, print and radio/TV journalists along with professionals from academies of science, government departments, science and technology policy institutions and non- governmental organisations. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8537 YOUNG WOMEN’S SYMPOSIUM IN KENYA The Eastern and Southern African Symposium on Young Women and HIV/AIDS, will take place in Nairobi, Kenya between 27-29 November. The theme is HIV/AIDS, Education and Youth. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8534 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 17.ADVOCACY RESOURCES CALL TO OPPOSE SUDANESE DEATH SENTENCES Twelve prisoners were hung in Sudan in the closing days of May and a further 15 prisoners have been sentenced to death and are awaiting execution, according to the World Organisation Against Torture, whose international secretariat urgently requests those opposed to the death penalty to write to the Sudanese authorities and protest against the killings. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8479 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 18.JOBS AFRICA PROGRAMME OFFICER Pacific Institute For Women's Health http://www.comminit.com/vacancy862.html Collaborates with local organisations in Africa, the US, and elsewhere, as well as with consultants, advisors, and interns. Commitment to women's health and rights, including access to safe abortion information and services. Ability to travel to and work effectively in Africa (25-35% time). EAST AFRICA AREA REPRESENTATIVE World Neighbors World Neighbors seeks an East Africa Area Representative. Responsibilities include program development, strategic planning, budgeting, evaluation, reporting, administration and fund-raising. Travel 30-40% of the time. Position supports WN activities in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8551 UK DEPUTY DIRECTOR: OPERATIONS Mango Mango has grown rapidly over the last two and a half years. Maintaining a tight focus on strengthening the financial management of NGOs, we deliver a range of complementary services, including: training, placing financial staff, publishing capacity building materials and consultancy. Through our practical approach and high professional standards we are recognised as having made financial management accessible to NGOs around the world. We are recruiting a Deputy Director: Operations to play a major role in the development of the organisation. We are looking for someone with considerable energy, initiative and ability to join our small and enthusiastic team. The successful candidate will have practical field experience of working with NGOs and a heart-felt commitment to improving standards of financial management in the sector. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8555 ZIMBABWE COUNTRY COORDINATOR Academy For Educational Development http://www.comminit.com/vacancy794.html Support management of the in-country HIV/AIDS workplace prevention and education programme, under an umbrella initiative called SMARTWork [Strategically Managing AIDS Responses Together]. Experience in programme design, and needs assessment research, for technical assistance and training. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 19.BOOKS AND ARTS FIFTY AUTHORS CONFIRMED FOR AFRICA BOOK FAIR Preparations for the Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century celebrations and awards presentation ceremony are on course. At least 50 of the 100 authors have confirmed their participation in the event due to be held at the Civic Centre in Cape Town. Also expected to attend are the patron of the project, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the founding father of the project, Prof. Ali Mazrui. This event is also expected to be attended by former President Nelson Mandela and senior officials and dignitaries from UNESCO and the OAU. In his letter of acceptance, Mazrui said; "I am delighted that plans are going in full- stream ahead for the Literary Centennial Gala in Cape Town in the last week of July." Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8499 QUALITATIVE METHODS: A FIELD GUIDE FOR APPLIED RESEARCH This field guide is a practical, hands-on guide for use by social scientists, public health specialists, and research teams interested in using qualitative methods to study sexual and reproductive health. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=8486 THE WTO, AGRICULTURE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT http://www.greenleaf-publishing.com/catalogue/wtoagri.htm Despite the Doha declaration of November 2001, the failure to start a new round of global trade negotiations at Seattle in December 1999 and the hostility of protesters to the trade liberalisation process and growing global economic and social disparities was a wake-up call for the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The ambitious goal of this ground-breaking book is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of liberalised world trade, in particular in the agricultural sector, and to investigate to what extent the current WTO agreements provide the necessary fail-safe devices to react to trade-related negative impacts on sustainability, environmental protection and food security. The background and interrelationship between the WTO, the tenets of sustainable development and the unique features of the agriculture and forestry sectors are explored, and conclusions regarding the deficits of the world trade system and its conflicts with basic societal goals—such as sustainability—are drawn. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 20.LETTERS AND COMMENTS BRIAN MACGARRY Harare, Zimbabwe Your newsletter contains a lot of useful information, but also contains items that I don't find relevant; although other people won't be interested in all that interests me. But have you considered returning to publishing it in two parts? People like me could then subscribe to one part. Our server charges by the kilobyte, and that does add up. Otherwise, I can only say keep up the good work. SHONA POLLOCK This is an excellent resource and I will pass it on to our members. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ THIS NEWSLETTER IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY FAHAMU, KABISSA, AND SANGONET Fahamu - learning for change Unit 14, Standingford House, Cave Street, Oxford OX4 1BA, UK [log in to unmask] http://www.fahamu.org Kabissa - Space for change in Africa 24 Philadelphia Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912, USA [log in to unmask] http://www.kabissa.org Southern African Non-Governmental Organisation Network (SANGONeT) P O Box 31 Johannesburg, 2000 South Africa [log in to unmask] http://www.sn.apc.org The Newsletter is an advocacy tool for social justice. The Newsletter is open to any organisation committed to this goal. You can use this Newsletter to tell others about your work, events, publications, and concerns. The quality and range of information depends on you. SUBMIT YOUR NEWS If your organisation is a regular provider of information, please ensure that your information is widely read by adding [log in to unmask] to your addressbook and mailing lists. Help us in particular by making sure that sections relevant to your work are well represented. We consider every submission to that address for inclusion. Please attribute original sources by including a website address and/or contact e-mail. SUBSCRIBE The Newsletter comes out weekly and is delivered to subscribers by e-mail. Subscription is free! To subscribe, send an e-mail to <pambazuka-news- [log in to unmask]> with only the word 'subscribe' in the subject or body. WRITE AN EDITORIAL We welcome original editorials. Typically, editorials run 300-500 words and include links and contact details of their authors. Space is available through the website for longer editorials. Please inquire to [log in to unmask] FAIR USE This Newsletter is produced under the principles of 'fair use'. We strive to attribute sources by providing direct links to authors and websites. When full text is submitted to us and no website is provided, we make the text available on our website via a "for more information" link. Please contact [log in to unmask] immediately regarding copyright issues. The views expressed in this newsletter, including the signed editorials, do not necessarily represent those of Kabissa, fahamu and SANGONeT. (c) Kabissa, Fahamu and SANGONeT 2001 If you wish to stop receiving the newsletter, unsubscribe immediately by sending a message FROM THE ADDRESS YOU WANT REMOVED to [log in to unmask] Please contact [log in to unmask] should you need further assistance subscribing or unsubscribing. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ ------------------------ Yahoo! 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