---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 18:03:06 +0000 From: Charlotte Utting <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [WASAN] FW: PAMBAZUKA NEWS 95 - BUSH NO-SHOW IN MAURITIUS REFLECTS DEEPER DISDAIN ---------- From: [log in to unmask] Reply-To: [log in to unmask] Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003 14:26:10 -0600 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: PAMBAZUKA NEWS 95 - BUSH NO-SHOW IN MAURITIUS REFLECTS DEEPER DISDAIN PAMBAZUKA NEWS 95 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 BUSH NO-SHOW IN MAURITIUS REFLECTS DEEPER DISDAIN William Minter In mid-December, in the midst of the controversy over racist remarks by Senator Trent Lott, Bush administration officials intimated that a presidential trip to Africa in January would demonstrate the U.S. president's sensitivity to African American concerns. If President George W. Bush had followed through on his plan to visit five African countries, Africans would have posed hard questions. Is your policy "just another trip"? Or are you willing to commit real resources to responding to the deadly threat of AIDS, and to other urgent African priorities? An answer of a sort came just before Christmas, when a White House press release curtly announced that the trip was postponed. Later Secretary of State Colin Powell also called off plans to fill in for President Bush at the U.S. - Africa consultation being held in Mauritius this week. Heading the U.S. delegation instead would be U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, who will tout the benefits to Africa of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (which mandated this second consultation), and pitch other U.S. policies for promoting free trade. Both the reduced U.S. presence in Mauritius and the exclusive focus on trade accurately reflect the realities of U.S. Africa policy. Washington policymakers are offering band-aids for the continent's gaping wounds, while pushing policies that add to the damage and deprive Africans of resources to fight back. This is evident in the U.S. willingness to use Africa as a military staging ground for war in the Middle East, while ignoring Africans' concerns for their own human security. It shows up as well in the stingy U.S. contribution to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, amounting to only a tiny fraction of the $ 3.5 billion a year that would be the fair U.S. contribution, Meanwhile, the administration proposes handing over some $36 billion a year to rich investors by abolishing the tax on dividends. Last week U.N. Special Representative Stephen Lewis called rich countries' failure to respond to the AIDS pandemic "mass murder by complacency." The administration brushes off findings that current "debt relief" programs leave desperately poor countries paying more to foreign creditors than they spend on the health needs of their people. And Bush refuses to act positively on global issues from women's reproductive rights to global warming, on which the penalty for failure falls most heavily on Africa. Bush's balance sheet is also deeply in the red even in the realm for which the U.S. claims most credit: trade policy. It is true that AGOA has opened some additional opportunities for textile exports from African countries. But the benefits from this are estimated at only about $100 million to $140 million a year, and only go to a few countries. An International Monetary Fund study estimates that these benefits could have been five times greater if the U.S. had not imposed extremely restrictive rules of origin for the materials used in exported textiles. Meanwhile, African exports to the U.S. continue to be dominated by oil. In December Washington stood alone to block a World Trade Organisation agreement to allow export of generic medicines from one developing country to another. African and other developing countries were outraged. The New York Times commented that Washington's position was "so obviously influenced by the drug companies that America is alienating nations whose support it needs on other trade issues." As African countries face the combined impact of famine and AIDS, they also see their agriculture devastated by another killer: agricultural trade subsidies in the U.S. and Europe. Last year's U.S. farm bill, for example, added some $83 billion in new subsidies for rich U.S. farmers, whose exports already undercut developing country farmers who produce rice, maize, and other food crops. Such subsidies also undercut African exports. In a report last fall, for example, Oxfam calculated that U.S. cotton farmers received subsidies of $3.9 billion. Oxfam estimated the damage to African cotton producers from these subsidies at about $300 million a year. Most official speeches in Mauritius will undoubtedly extol the potential mutual benefits of expanded U.S. -African trade. But that potential stands little chance of being realized with the current business-as-usual policy. When and if President Bush does visit Africa, he may seek to avoid answering the question of whether he values African lives. Two years into his administration, the policy record leaves little doubt that the answer is "no". * William Minter is a senior research fellow at Africa Action, the oldest U.S.- based advocacy group on African affairs. This commentary was originally published in Le Mauricien (http://lemauricien.com), January 15, 2003. * Send your comments for publication in the Letters and Comments section of Pambazuka News to [log in to unmask] /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 2.CONFLICT, EMERGENCIES, AND CRISES AFRICA: IRAQ LOBBIES AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2646179.stm Iraq has made a direct appeal to Africa for more help in preventing a war with the United States. The call came during the Afro-Arab Parliamentary conference currently taking place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. BURUNDI: ZUMA URGES AU TO DEPLOY PEACE MISSION TO BURUNDI http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=14377 South Africa's Deputy President Jacob Zuma urged the African Union's (AU) conflict resolution body on Tuesday to deploy the so-called African Mission to Burundi as soon as possible to enforce the cease-fire in the region. According to a statement issued by his office from the AU's headquarters in Addis Ababa, Zuma said troops from South Africa, Mozambique and Ethiopia had all been earmarked to take part in the mission. DRC: U.N. DEMANDS CONGO REBELS HALT MASSACRES http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2324989,00.html The U.N. Security Council demanded Wednesday that rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba, whose forces have been accused of cannibalism, rape and massacres, ensure an immediate halt to human rights violations in eastern Congo. The council statement was issued shortly after a U.N. investigation confirmed a horrifying campaign of atrocities against civilians in the forests of northeast Congo, with children among the victims. DRC: UN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER CALLS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF POWER-SHARING DEAL http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31705 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello has appealed for the speedy implementation of the power-sharing accord signed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on 17 December 2002. "My principal concern on this voyage is the putting into place of the accord," he told IRIN in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, on Tuesday. ETHIOPIA: RED CROSS WARNS OF CRISIS http://www.africaonline.com/site/Articles/1,3,51682.jsp The International Committee of the Red Cross is warning that immediate action is needed to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Ethiopia. The Swiss-based organisation says months of drought have left millions of people in urgent need of aid. IVORY COAST: CALL FOR TRANSITIONAL AUTHORITY TO GUIDE PEACE PROCESS An organisation called the Centre for the Defence of Peace and Democracy in Africa has drafted a peace plan for the Ivory Coast calling for a resolution from the United Nations' Security Council that would establish a United Nations Transitional Authority in Ivory Coast (UNTACI). The authority would assist in drafting a new constitution, initiate new electoral lists for presidential and legislative elections and transfer power to the newly-elected authorities. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12523 IVORY COAST: TALKS LAUNCHED WITH PEACE CALL http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/576510 Ivory Coast political leaders and rebel chiefs began talks near Paris on Wednesday to end a war that risks plunging West Africa into turmoil, with a peace call by ex-colonial power France ringing in their ears. Opening nine days of closed-door talks, Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told delegates only they could end four months of bloodshed that has killed hundreds in the world's top cocoa producer. LESOTHO: RED CROSS DISTRIBUTE FOOD FOR FAMINE RELIEF http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=825 The Lesotho Red Cross Society has distributed 265 metric tons of maize seeds and 410 metric tons of fertilizers to orphans. The distribution also covered the aged and the disabled in the districts of Berea, Butha-Buthe and Leribe. Seventy metric tons of maize seeds were distributed in the Mokhotlong district. MALAWI: MALAWI DECLARES FLOOD EMERGENCY http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2649805.stm Malawi President Bakili Muluzi has declared a "state of national disaster" and called for international assistance following severe floods in several parts of the country. SENEGAL: DOZENS DIE IN FIGHTING http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2638199.stm Thirty rebels and four government soldiers have been killed in recent fighting in the troubled southern province of Casamance, an army source says. For the past 21 years, a separatist movement has waged a violent campaign to create a separate state in southern Senegal. SOMALIA: ANOTHER FACTION LEADER LEAVES ELDORET http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31703 A prominent Mogadishu-based faction leader Muse Sudi Yalahow left the Eldoret peace talks on Monday because he is unhappy over the progress of the meeting. Yalahow's departure follows that of another Mogadishu-based faction leader Muhammad Qanyare Afrah and of Colonel Barre Hiiraale, the leader of Juba Valley Alliance, which controls the port city of Kismayo and much of the Juba valley area of southern Somalia. SOMALIA: PEACE COMMITTEES TO CONCLUDE THIS MONTH, SAYS MEDIATOR http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31702 Technical committees discussing core issues of the Somali conflict should conclude their work this month, Kenya’s special envoy for Somalia Elijah Mwangale announced on Tuesday. This means that the power-sharing phase of peace talks should start early next month, he told a news conference in Nairobi. SUDAN: ARMY TAKES OVER KONY CAMPS http://allafrica.com/stories/200301130051.html Sudanese government troops will be deployed in camps which Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group was occupying in southern Sudan to avert any attacks against Uganda. ZIMBABWE: FOOD SUPPLY THREATENED http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=806 Zimbabwe appears headed for another season of food shortages in 2003-2004 with poor rains and reduced plantings likely to dent output, a U.S. based food monitoring organisation says. Although Zimbabwe was once the breadbasket of southern Africa, sharply reduced domestic food production has forced the country into dependence upon food aid, and nearly half Zimbabwe's estimated 14 million people now face starvation. ZIMBABWE: WORLD VISION RESUMES FEEDING http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=796 A relieved World Vision says it has resumed its feeding programme in the Beitbridge area in southern Zimbabwe, following a month-long delay in the delivery of food aid from the United States. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 3.RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY AFRICA: DEFENDING DEMOCRACY - A GLOBAL SURVEY OF TRENDS http://www.demcoalition.org/html/globa_survey.html The first-ever survey assessing how democratic governments pursue a democratic foreign policy concludes that governments are doing a better job of promoting democracy beyond their borders, but still put other interests first when dealing with dictatorships or responding to violations of democratic rights. Defending Democracy: A Global Survey of Foreign Policy Trends 1992-2002, conducted by the Democracy Coalition Project and funded by the Open Society Institute, grades 40 countries on implementation of their pledges to protect and promote democracy. Readers can download the full report or individual country reports from the link provided below. AFRICA: NEW LIFE FOR AFRICAN MULTILATERALISM http://www.hrw.org/wr2k3/africa.html The outlook for human rights in Africa at the close of 2002 was more hopeful than it had been for several years, says Human Rights Watch in its World Report 2003, released this week. During the year, there were significant moves towards resolving longstanding conflicts in Angola, Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and African leaders made significant commitments to transparent and accountable governance and respect for human rights. But HRW notes that African leaders had promised reform on many previous occasions while continuing to embezzle national funds and to violate human rights. New or ongoing crises and longstanding repression in some countries continued to undermine progress towards respect for human rights and the rule of law across the continent. ANGOLA: ACTIVISTS URGE UN TO ACT ON ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31672 Allegations of human rights abuses in the northern enclave of Cabinda and the living conditions of some 80,000 demobilised soldiers should top the agenda during UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Sergio Vieira de Mello's visit to Angola next week, rights activists said on Friday. CONGO: GOVERNMENT CREATES NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31708 The National Assembly of the Republic of Congo (ROC) has adopted a law creating a national human rights commission, as stipulated by the country's new constitution, which was approved by referendum in January 2002 and entered into effect in August 2002 following a five-year transition period. DRC: AMNESTY PLEADS FOR LIVES OF KABILA TRIAL DEFENDANTS http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/recent/AFR620012003!Open Amnesty International is urging President Joseph Kabila of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to use his prerogative to immediately commute the death sentences passed on some 30 defendants for their alleged role in the assassination of President Laurent-Desiré Kabila in January 2001. DRC: MLC ARRESTS SOLDIERS FOR RIGHTS VIOLATIONS http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31706 The Mouvement de liberation du Congo rebel group (MLC) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has arrested five of its soldiers accused of committing human rights violations in Ituri District, in the northeast of the country. Ituri has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks between the MLC and its ally, the Rassemblement congolais pour la Democratie-National (RCD- N), against the RCD-Kisangani-Mouvement de liberation. DRC: TWO MASS GRAVES FOUND IN MAMBASA http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31691 Two mass graves have been discovered in Mambasa, 50 km northwest of Beni, in the Ituri district of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to the United Nations Mission in the DRC, known as MONUC. GHANA: TRUTH PANEL BEGINS HEARINGS http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2656953.stm A commission set up to investigate human rights abuses in Ghana has begun hearing petitions from people who say they, or their families, suffered during past periods of military rule. The National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), modelled on South Africa's truth and reconciliation commission, is looking into allegations of torture and killings. KENYA: MAJOR CHANGES IN GOVT STRUCTURE http://allafrica.com/stories/200301120140.html President Mwai Kibaki is expected to unveil major changes in Government structure after the completion of the reorganisation of his ministries next week. The East African Standard has established that the President and his staff were putting final touches to the exercise which targets bloated ministries and departments as well as transferring "misplaced functions to their rightful areas". LIBERIA: INTEREST GROUPS SPELL OUT GUIDELINES FOR ELECTIONS http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31697 A three-day consultative meeting that brought together Liberia's 18 registered political and other pro-democracy groups have recommended, among other things, that in the absence of a national census a thorough voters registration be conducted in the presence of political party representatives. NIGERIA: OBASANJO, BUHARI MEET IN PUBLIC AFTER PARTY CONVENTIONS http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/national/nr116012003.html Celebrations at the Armed Forces Remembrance Day climaxed with the first meeting in public of President Olusegun Obasanjo, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2003 presidential elections, with his rival, All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari. Clad in white flowing agbada, Gen. Buhari caused a stir when he entered the venue after the national anthem had been played and as President Obasanjo was about to march forward and lay his wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier. ZIMBABWE: CIVIL SOCIETY CONDEMNS CONTINUING REPRESSION http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=809 The Combined Harare Residents Association, together with other representatives of civil society, including the 350 members of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, has strongly condemned the continuing repression of democratically elected representatives and the citizens of Zimbabwe in general. ZIMBABWE: CONCERN FOR WELFARE OF ARRESTED ACTIVISTS The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition has said they are concerned about the welfare of MDC MP Job Sikhala and NGO Human Rights Forum research lawyer Gabriel Shumba, both of who were arrested and detained on Tuesday. The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition is deeply concerned for the welfare of these two individuals and urges the police to release them immediately, the organisation said in an urgent alert. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12590 ZIMBABWE: CONSULTING WITH THE PEOPLE? OFF TO JAIL WITH YOU The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) this week strongly condemned the arrest of the Mayor of Harare, Engineer Elias Mudzuri on Saturday 11 January 2003. ZESN said the arrest, for holding a meeting without police clearance, was "ridiculous" as the mayor was an elected representative who was supposed to know the problems and concerns of the people. Related Link: * Mayor released without charge http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31694 Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12522 ZIMBABWE: FOOD RIOTS – A SIGN OF THINGS TO COME OR MEDIA FANTASY? http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,150 The people of Zimbabwe are trapped in a leadership paradox. On one hand is the brutual authoritarianism of a government that is long overdue its sell-by date and has overstayed its usefulness. On the other hand is the apparent lack of leadership from an opposition that they have to look up to for answers to their daily anguish. Those that had put all their cards on a new political scene after the elections, feel the most pinch from the opposition’s lack of leadership as they still look up to it for a solution. Unfortunately, the opposition has not been pro-active and decisive in leading the people after the presidential election, says this commentary on the Centre for Civil Society web site of the University Natal. ZIMBABWE: MDC CLAIMS MUGABE EXIT PLAN http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=813 A Zimbabwe private newspaper reported that Zimbabwean, South African and British authorities have hatched a plan for embattled President Robert Mugabe to hand power to his chosen successor, before the end of his current term in 2006. The Zimbabwe Sunday Mirror said the plan, which it claimed had the support of Zimbabwe's army commander, included the appointment of an interim government with the support of the main opposition and the holding of parliamentary and presidential elections in 2005. Related Link: * I won't step down just now - Mugabe http://allafrica.com/stories/200301160214.html ZIMBABWE: OPPOSITION MARCH BROKEN UP IN HARARE http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=799 Four opposition supporters in Zimbabwe have been arrested after demonstrating in support of the Harare mayor, Elias Mudzuri. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change said it hoped to have 2,000 people at the demonstration, but the police banned the protest, and arrested those who turned up. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 4.CORRUPTION DRC: BELGIUM TO PROBE CONGOLESE MINISTER ACCUSED OF MONEY LAUNDERING http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31644 Belgian judicial authorities are investigating possible money-laundering activities linked to ore trafficking by a minister in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), state-owned Radio-Television Belge de la Communaute Francaise (RTBF) reported from Brussels last Wednesday. KENYA: KENYA HOLDS TALKS ON RESUMING AID http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=51292 Senior officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are due to hold talks with the Kenyan government on Tuesday about resuming aid to the country. A spokesman for the Kenyan ministry of finance, Mohammed Lugh, said the IMF would meet President Mwai Kibaki to discuss an anti-corruption bill. Both the IMF and the World Bank have told Kenya it must pass laws to tackle economic crimes before lending can be resumed. NAMIBIA: SOCIAL SECURITY CREDIT CARD USED TO BUY GIFTS FOR CABINET MEMBERS http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=51297 Former Prime Minister Hage Geingob and Prisons Minister Andimba Toivo ya Toivo received gifts bought through the unauthorised use of a credit card issued to a manager at the Social Security Commission, it was alleged this week. The information surfaced at the Presidential Commission of Inquiry into the Activities, Management and Operations of the SSC. NIGERIA: ABACHA'S 'SHADY DEALINGS' COME HOME TO ROOST http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=68&art_id=qw1042558021828B252&set_id =1 Swiss justice authorities will hand over to Nigeria files they built up in a money-laundering investigation of the West African nation's late dictator, General Sani Abacha, a leading official said on Tuesday. SOUTH AFRICA: BENZ BROTHERS BACK IN COURT http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=11&o=14457 The fraud and corruption trial of former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni and businessman Michael Woerfel was set to resume in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday. SOUTH AFRICA: SA COULD EXTRADITE KERN OVER SHARON CORRUPTION CLAIMS http://www.sabcnews.com/politics/government/0,1009,50864,00.html Justice Department spokesperson Paul Setsetse says South Africa will consider extraditing millionaire Cyril Kern of Cape Town, if there is evidence that he was involved in money laundering. Kern's gift of R15 million to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is being used as political ammunition against him in the Israeli general election. SOUTH AFRICA: WHISTLEBLOWERS MAY GET ADDED PROTECTION http://allafrica.com/stories/200301130295.html Key legislation designed to protect employees in the public and private sectors from persecution if they blow the whistle on corruption could soon be expanded to include anyone who observes corrupt practices. ZAMBIA: FORMER FINANCE MINISTER NABBED http://www.panapress.com/freenews.asp?code=eng034473&dte=15/01/2003 Former Zambian Finance Minister Katele Kalumba, who has been on the run from his country's authorities since last October, has been arrested by police in connection with investigations of the plunder of national resources. Kalumba was arrested Tuesday in the northern border town of Chiengi, near the Democratic Republic of Congo. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 5.HEALTH AFRICA/GLOBAL: EU TRIES TO BREAK WTO MEDICINES DEADLOCK http://www.europaworld.org/week111/euseeks10103.htm The EU has launched an initiative to break the current WTO deadlock on developing countries' access to affordable medicines. WTO members failed to meet the end of a 2002 deadline to find a solution for developing countries without manufacturing capacities, namely given the disagreement over the disease coverage. In a letter addressed to all WTO Trade Ministers, EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy proposes a multilateral solution which is workable, sustainable and legally secure, based both on the Doha mandate and on the chair's compromise text of 16 December 2002. AFRICA: 'MASS MURDER BY COMPLACENCY' Special U.N. envoy to combat AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis warned at a January 8 press conference in New York following a trip to Southern Africa that the behaviour of rich countries towards AIDS in Africa could be summed up as "mass murder by complacency". Lewis stressed the sluggish response of industrialised nations to the Global Fund for HIV, TB and Malaria, and warned that a war against Iraq would "eclipse" every other international human priority, leaving people with AIDS among its greatest sufferers. He said: "What is required is a combination of political will and resources," he said. "The political will is increasingly there. The money is not." Read the full press briefing by clicking on the link below. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12644 AFRICA: DRUG SUPPLY EFFORTS ONLY 'SCRATCH THE SURFACE' http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=15509 Six companies involved with the UNAIDS- and WHO-sponsored Accelerating Access program said this week they would increase the antiretroviral drug supply to Africa, "acknowledging that current efforts only scratched the surface" of the continent's epidemic, Reuters reports. AFRICA: EFFORTS TO AVERT FAMINE IN AFRICA http://www.planetwire.org/details/3691 More than 34 million Africans are threatened by starvation due to severe food shortages throughout the continent. The crisis is exacerbated by an HIV/Aids rate averaging more than 20 percent in the affected countries. Those infected with the disease require 30 to 50 percent greater daily caloric intake. AFRICA: HEALTH AND LITERACY COMPENDIUM IN AFRICA http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=805 This compendium describes and provides details for both print and web based materials on the links between health status and literacy status. It also explains how to access and develop easy-to-read health education materials, and how to teach health with literacy, using health content. KENYA: GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS STILL NOT PROVIDING HIV/AIDS DRUGS The international medical NGO Medicins Sans Frontiers (MSF) said last Friday that just one of Kenya's provincial hospitals was dispensing antiretrovirals (ARVs) to people living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs). This was despite government funding allocated to five major hospitals last year to kick-start the national distribution of HIV/AIDS drugs. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12517 LESOTHO: HIV/AIDS INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO FAMINE http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=826 The current famine in Lesotho is further compounded by HIV/Aids as many young and able-bodied people who cultivate the fields succumb to HIV/Aids related complications. According to the United Nations Resident Representative, Scholastica Kimaryo, the current famine that has left many families destitute has an incestuous link with the high prevalence of HIV/Aids, which has put Lesotho amongst the top four countries worst affected by the pandemic in the world. MALAWI: PROJECT AIMS TO REDUCE CHOLERA FATALITY RATES http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=812 The European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office has granted MK27 million, which is equivalent to about E300, 000 to the United Nations Childrens Fund in support of the Cholera Preparedness and Control Project. The project, which is scheduled to run for eight months, will cover areas in Central and Northern Malawi. SENEGAL: WHY SENEGAL'S BOLD ANTI-AIDS PROGRAM IS WORKING http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/005/focus/The_network_effect+.shtml Prostitution was legalized in this predominantly Muslim country in 1969, and today the government tolerates it as long as each prostitute registers with the state, is over 21 years old, and comes regularly to a center run by the Ministry of Health for checkups, education, and medical treatment. And that's a big reason why this West African nation of 10.5 million, according to the World Health Organisation, has an HIV infection rate of about two percent while many of its nearest neighbors face rates several times higher. SOUTH AFRICA: ACTIVISTS CHALLENGE INVITATION TO HIV/AIDS DISSIDENT South African HIV/AIDS activists have condemned an invitation by Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang to a leading AIDS dissident to address regional health ministers later this month. "For the health minister to invite someone who has been castigated by the medical profession for his belief that HIV does not cause AIDS only reinforces our suspicion that Tshabalala-Msimang has failed as minister of health," Sipho Mthathi of the Treatment Action Campaign told Plusnews. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12502 SOUTHERN AFRICA: HIV/AIDS AND FOOD INSECURITY IN SOUTHERN AFRICA http://www.oxfam.org/eng/pdfs/pp021127_aids_safrica.pdf This policy briefing from Save the Children and Oxfam calls on the international community to recognise the relationship between the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the Southern African food crisis. The paper briefly provides an overview of prevalence in the region and states that HIV/AIDS has a particularly damaging relationship with food insecurity in that it impacts most heavily the key members of society who can produce food as well as health workers, teachers and others of working age. The relationship between hunger and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is also discussed. SOUTHERN AFRICA: JOINT EFFORT CAN TURN PANDEMIC AROUND - LEWIS The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa could be turned around, despite the devastating toll on human lives, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis, says. Lewis noted that defeating the disease would require a combination of political will and resources. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12473 SWAZILAND: NUMBERS IN NEED EXPECTED TO INCREASE http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=816 Preliminary figures from the latest vulnerability assessment indicate that the number of people facing hunger in the tiny kingdom of Swaziland has risen significantly. News reports from the kingdom quoted national disaster task team chairman Ben Nsibandze as saying that 297,000 out of a population of 1 million will require food aid to survive. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 6.EDUCATION AND SOCIAL WELFARE AFRICA/GLOBAL: NGOS URGE ACTION ON CONFLICT CHILDREN http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/IOR800012003?Open Several NGOs this week lobbied the United Nations Security Council at its open debate on children and armed conflict to take immediate action to protect children's security and rights in armed conflicts around the world. "The lives and futures of millions of children are at stake everyday in 35-armed conflicts worldwide. The major challenge for the Council is to ensure respect for international law and commitments to protect children in specific situations," the organisations said. AFRICA: ACCELERATING PROGRESS ON GIRLS' EDUCATION - TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE OUTCOMES http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=804 This review outlines a strategy for accelerating progress on Girls' Education in order to meet the goal of gender equality in primary and secondary education by 2005. This is an important challenge of the Millennium Development Goals and the Education for All goals and one which UNICEF feels is slipping. AFRICA: EDITORIAL BLASTS WEAK POLITICAL WILL TO AVERT DEATHS http://www.unfoundation.org/unwire/2003/01/07/31264 Despite a drop in child mortality rates worldwide, rates in developing nations are on the rise or holding steady and international efforts to reverse the trend remain unfocused, according to an editorial in the current issue of The Lancet. ANGOLA: MORE THAN 800,000 CHILDREN TO BE VACCINATED AGAINST MEASLES http://allafrica.com/stories/200301130179.html More than 800,000 children from nine months to 15 years old will be vaccinated against measles in April this year in southern Huila province, in a joint action of the Provincial Health Management and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF). ANGOLA: REINTEGRATION OF CHILD SOLDIERS UNDERWAY http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31729 United Nations officials in Angola on Wednesday said the reintegration of former child soldiers into civil society was underway despite the scale of the problem confronting the humanitarian community. ETHIOPIA: WARNING OVER HIGH TOLL OF AIDS ORPHANS http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31681 A quarter of children in Ethiopia could be orphaned by the HIV/AIDS virus within eight years, experts warned last Friday. The warning came during a conference on HIV/AIDS in Addis Ababa, where it was also revealed that 2.2 million Africans are dying of the virus each year. GHANA: FISHERMEN BACK FIGHT AGAINST CHILD LABOUR http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31656 A 15-month project initiated by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) and other bodies to help hundreds of child labourers in fishing communities in Ghana has received a "fantastic response" from fishermen, according to an IOM official. KENYA: GOVT MOVES TO EASE CONGESTION IN SCHOOLS http://allafrica.com/stories/200301140124.html The Government has moved to restore order in schools affected by congestion, advising parents to seek admission for their children elsewhere. Education, Science and Technology Minister, Prof George Saitoti said schools affected by a higher influx of admissions country-wide would "be de-congested". LIBERIA: POVERTY, WAR DRIVE 800,000 CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=14839 Poverty and war have driven more than half of Liberia's 1,628,726 children, between the ages of 3-18, out of school, according to records at the ministry of education. Liberia, with its vast resources of diamond, timber, iron ore and gold, could be one of Africa's richest nations, with the best system of education. But the brutal 1989-1997 war and the current insurgency, which erupted three years ago, have obliterated all hopes. SOUTH AFRICA: DEVISING SOCIAL SECURITY INTERVENTIONS FOR MAXIMUM BENEFIT http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/cssr/papers/wp13.pdf Is social security, designed to provide protection against various contingencies, well suited to the elimination or redress of large-scale, endemic poverty? This article attempts to contribute to the debate surrounding social security systems in South Africa, as the basic income grant system is now considered not viable. SOUTH AFRICA: SADTU IN THE RUNNING FOR LABOUR WEB SITE OF THE YEAR http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=803 A ground breaking South African Democratic Teachers' Union website (www.sadtu.org.za) has been nominated as a finalist for Labour Start's Site of the Year 2002. It is the official web portal of the South African Democratic Teachers Union. The web site, which incorporates the electronic Educators Voice newspaper, shot to fame when it broke the story of massive Aids fatalities among teachers in South Africa. SOUTH AFRICA: STATE PROMISES AID FOR SA'S STARVED THOUSANDS http://www.iol.co.za/index.php? click_id=6&art_id=vn20030114055607162C863717&set_id=1 Bureaucrats are blocking attempts to dispense food relief urgently needed for thousands of poverty-stricken rural people, according to an NGO activist. This accusation follows the discovery of a horrifying statistic - 150 000 South African families are starving. The audit may be just the tip of the iceberg because the study covers only 13 areas that have been identified as economically depressed. TANZANIA: NORWAY BOOSTS EDUCATION FUNDING http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31725 Norway on Tuesday challenged the G-7 countries to follow its example and significantly increase their commitments to education initiatives in the developing world. Hilde Johnson, Norway's Minister for International Development, said this would be the only way of meeting the Dakar Declaration commitments, through which the international community undertook to ensure that no country that attempted to provide education for all its citizens would lack the resources to do so. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 7.WOMEN AND GENDER ETHIOPIA: YOUNG AFRICANS REJECT GENITAL MUTILATION http://www.womensenews.com/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1176/context/archive When Genet Girma and Addisie Abosie got married in Kembatta, Ethiopia, they did the unthinkable in their community. Genet wore a placard saying "I am not circumcised, learn from me" and her groom wore a matching one that said "I am very happy to be marrying an uncircumcised woman." KENYA/SOUTH AFRICA: NEW REPORT ON WOMEN WITH HIV/AIDS http://216.122.213.218/pdf/Repro_Choice_HIV_AIDS.pdf Women living with HIV/AIDS face obstacles in receiving reproductive health care. Ipas, a non-profit agency focusing on reproductive health, has completed a report summarizing the available information concerning the discrimination HIV-positive women face in exercising their sexual and reproductive rights. Authored by Maria de Bruyn, "Reproductive Choice and Women Living with HIV/AIDS" is based on an extensive literature review and interviews with key informants in Australia, India, Kenya, South Africa and Thailand. KENYA: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE WIDESPREAD, SELDOM REPORTED Although the Kenyan Constitution was amended in 1997 to guarantee equality between the sexes, in reality discrimination against women persisted in both the private and public spheres, says the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Expressing its concern in an alternative report to Twenty-Eighth Session of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women entitled "Violence against Women in Kenya", OMCT said attempts to draft legislation ensuring equality for women had been thwarted, leaving women in Kenya with few laws specifically protecting their rights. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12605 MAURITIUS: WOMEN'S ROLE IN TRADE NEEDS MORE RECOGNITION http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=3169 The role of women as an engine for trade and development in Southern Africa needs better recognition, Mauritian Minister for Women's Rights Arianne Navarre- Marie told NGOs on Monday meeting to discuss US-African trade cooperation. NIGERIA: THE PLIGHT OF NIGERIAN WOMEN UNDER SHARIA LAW http://www.marxist.com/Africa/nigerian_women_and_islam.html Events in the lives of two women in Nigeria once more focus our attention on the position of women in class society. Safiya Huseini's face tells a life story - a woman oppressed by her religion, her womanhood, her society. For daring to challenge the dictates of a patriarchal society she was condemned to death. Amina Lawal is herself a no less "perfect" specimen of a Muslim woman. Neither was her crime any different from that of Safiya’s. They both had sex outside wedlock. But, while Safiya has escaped punishment Amina’s fate still hangs in the balance. Both women have more in common than a shared crime - and they share this with millions of women, particularly under the rule of Islamic law. To be sure the position of women in "Christian" society is not a paradise and much still has to be done to achieve genuine emancipation, but compared to her Muslim counterpart she has conquered more rights. SENEGAL: WOMEN JOIN HANDS TO REVIVE A COMMUNITY RESOURCE http://allafrica.com/stories/200301140783.html Wolimata Thiao is a towering, one-woman, tour de force. She has mobilised the women of Popenguine and surrounding villages, north of the Senegalese capital, Dakar, to reclaim and protect nature. The dynamic village women of Popenguine, Popenguine Serere, Kiniabour 1 and 2, Guerew, Thiafoura, Soro Hassap and Ndayane, persevered and proved their critics and detractors wrong. Slowly, they won over their husbands, and other villagers, proving that they could regenerate and conserve their environment, encourage eco-tourism, ensure reforestation and the survival of both flora and fauna. SENEGAL: WOMEN'S INCOME GENERATION PROJECT IN SENEGAL http://www.oxfam.org/eng/story_senegal_women_tiedyeing.htm Siwre Thiambe is one of 49 women's groups under the umbrella organisation PROFEMU, which was set up with Oxfam's support to help improve the lives of its 2,000 members in Dakar, the capital of Senegal, and in the nearby town of Thiès. PROFEMU's wide-ranging programme includes a loan scheme, which has enabled the women of the Siwre Thiambe group to borrow money and set up a tie- dyeing business. SIERRA LEONE: SEXUAL VIOLENCE WIDESPREAD IN WAR The widespread and systematic use of rape and other sexual violence during the ten-year civil war in Sierra Leone is documented in a new Human Rights Watch report. The 75-page report, "We'll Kill You If You Cry:" Sexual Violence in the Sierra Leone Conflict, presents evidence of horrific abuses against women and girls in every region of the country by the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF), as well as other rebel, government and international peacekeeping forces. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12588 SOMALIA: ONE WOMAN'S FIGHT TO RESCUE THE ENVIRONMENT http://allafrica.com/stories/200301130987.html Somalia lost many things as a result of having no government for over a decade during the 90s, but one of the least obvious was an ability to protect its environment. But one woman has been of critical importance in Somalia's environmental crisis. Now in her mid-fifties, Fatima Jibrell has made it her life's work to fight back. She founded the Horn of Africa Relief and Development Organisation (Horn Relief) in the early 1990s and also coordinates the Resource Management Somali Network (RMSN), which includes environmental groups throughout the Horn of Africa. WOMEN CONNECT! THE POWER OF COMMUNICATIONS TO IMPROVE WOMEN'S LIVES http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=820 This document reports on the findings of a three-year program designed to strengthen the ability of women's NGOs in Africa to communicate more effectively. The initiative assisted these groups in using traditional media (posters and brochures), mass media (newspapers, radio, magazines and television) and ICT (e-mail and the Internet) to communicate and advocate for causes they deemed important. This refers to women's sexual and reproductive health, inheritance rights for women and the reduction of all forms of violence. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 8.REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION AFRICA/GLOBAL: NEW INITIATIVE FOCUSES ON 'FORGOTTEN PEOPLE' http://www.africanconflict.org/article.php?sid=602&mode=thread&order=0 The lives of tens of millions of people around the world are threatened by conflict, ethnic violence, drought and natural disaster. But the response to those needs varies tremendously. For example, Toby Porter, an independent consultant, has calculated that in 1999 the United Nations spent $207 for each person in need in Kosovo, but only $16 per person in Sierra Leone and $8 per person in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Refugees International (RI), a DC-based refugee and IDP advocacy organisation, has launched a new initiative entitled "Forgotten People" about humanitarian emergencies around the world. BURUNDI: BURUNDIAN ARMY, HUTU REBELS WAGE BATTLES http://news.yahoo.com/news? tmpl=story2&cid=515&ncid=723&e=4&u=/ap/20030115/ap_on_re_af/burundi_fighting Fighting between the Burundian army and two rebel groups has displaced more than 30,000 people in two provinces, officials and aid workers said Wednesday. For two weeks, the Tutsi-dominated army has been fighting Hutu rebels of the National Liberation Forces, or FNL, in Bujumbura Rurale province, forcing more than 20,000 to flee their homes, said Ignace Ntawembarira, the province's governor. CAR: UN AGENCY TRAINS REFUGEE WOMEN http://allafrica.com/stories/200301150003.html The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has launched a programme in the Central African Republic (CAR) to train 50 refugee women in professional skills and provide another 550 with income-generating possibilities. CONGO: MANY IDPS GO UNAIDED AS RELIEF SUPPLIES DWINDLE http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31689 Aid agencies in the Republic of Congo (ROC) do not have enough relief supplies to assist the growing number of people displaced as populations in the Pool region have been forced to flee repeated bombings, banditry and attacks on villages, according to the United Nations. ETHIOPIA: UN OFFICIALS GAIN ACCESS TO TROUBLED CAMP http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31680 UN officials have made their first visit to a troubled refugee camp in western Ethiopia where more than 40 people were killed during ethnic clashes two months ago. Increasing tensions between rival ethnic groups sparked the clashes, which broke out in late November. SOUTH AFRICA: ORANGE FARM RESIDENTS TO MARCH AGAINST EVICTIONS AND FOR DEVELOPMENT http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=798 Residents of the small informal settlement of Driziek, situated in the Orange Farm area southwest of Johannesburg, face eviction from the homes they have lived in for the past nine years. The community has vowed to resist the “unwarranted and unilateral” move on the part of the local authorities and sees the proposed evictions as part of an ongoing assault by the state. SOUTH AFRICA: PEOPLE WORKING FOR THE GOVERNMENT http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=797 “When one listens to a Congolese guy’s experience with our ‘government’, it makes one think of the people who work for the Department of Home Affairs. He mentioned our government’s excellent policies on the rights and privileges of refugees. However, he did not get the service and support he needed. For an example, he was told on enquiry that he couldn’t get government financial support because it is only for South Africans.” SOUTHERN AFRICA: SAN, LAND RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT: CAN SAN SURVIVE WITHOUT LAND? http://www.ciir.org/ciir.asp?section=news&page=story&ID=555 To counteract the difficulties facing their many dispersed and remote communities across the southern African region regarding land rights, human rights, capacity-building and development, the San decided to establish a regional organisation that could represent them at all levels, hence the establishment of the Working Group of Indigenous Minorities in Southern Africa (WIMSA) in 1996. SUDAN: ETHNIC CLEANSING DISPLACES THOUSANDS IN NILE REGION http://www.angolapress-angop.ao/noticia-e.asp?ID=156920 The Sudan government has been accused of engaging in ethnic cleansing operations in the vicinity of Talisman and Lundin oil installations in western Upper Nile. A senior official of the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM), Taban Deng Gai, who is currently in the affected area, confirmed that the government launched a six-day offensive in Mayom and Leer counties last December 31, involving approximately1,500 ground troops supported by helicopter gun-ships. THE NANSEN REFUGEE AWARD UNHCR and its partners are currently providing protection and assistance to some 20 million people around the world, including refugees, internally displaced persons and others of concern. Each year, numerous dedicated individuals make enormous personal sacrifices while working to assist these people. The Nansen Refugee Award recognises and honours this spirit and dedication. The Award was instituted in 1954 and named after Fridtjof Nansen, the first League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the 1922 Nobel Peace Prize laureate. It is awarded annually to an individual or a group of individuals, whose support for the refugee cause has been demonstrated through an innovative approach to refugee protection or assistance. The deadline for submitting nominations to be considered for the 2003 award is 31 January 2003. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12646 UGANDA: REFUGEES INCREASE http://allafrica.com/stories/200301130278.html The Uganda Red Cross (URC) at Mpondwe border in Kasese district have expressed concern over the rising number of Congolese refugees entering the country. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 9.RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA SOUTH AFRICA: RIGHTWINGER TELLS COURT OF 'NIGHT OF TERROR' http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=11&o=14378 An alleged rightwinger accused of planning to blow up the Vaal Dam testified on Tuesday in the Bloemfontein Regional Court with his Bible at hand. Leon Peacock (42) regularly quoted from the small Bible while testifying in his defence. He told Regional Court President WA du Plessis, who was presiding, that the prophesies of the book of Revelations in the Bible were similar to those of 19th century Boer prophet Siener van Rensburg. One of Van Rensburg's prophesies is about the so-called Night of Terror, which some right-wing groups believe will precipitate a rightwing coup d'etat in South Africa. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 10.ENVIRONMENT AFRICA/GLOBAL: BIODIVERSITY MANAGEMENT AND LOCAL LIVELIHOODS http://www.id21.org/society/s2crg1g1.html How can the world's bioresources be managed so that the social groups most dependent upon them benefit from conservation efforts, or are compensated for negative effects? How can ecological concerns be included in rural development initiatives where conservation is not the primary aim? AFRICA/GLOBAL: GREEN RIGHTS? A NEW APPROACH TO SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT http://www.id21.org/society/s8bma1g1.html Should a good environment be our human right? To date, recognition has been given to civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. This study examines the background to current discussions and argues that the environment should be added to the list. AFRICA/GLOBAL: PROGRESS LOCAL NOT GLOBAL http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2003/2003-01-09-10.asp Although the global community may not be making much progress on the daunting environmental and social problems humanity faces, local and grassroots initiatives are providing cause for optimism, according to the Worldwatch Institute's annual State of the World report. AFRICA: TOXIC TANKERS SHIPPING SOUTH http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=14545 The industrialised North continues in its attempts to send its hazardous waste ships to be scrapped in the shipyards of the developing South, threatening human health and the environment in those nations, charged activists as delegates gathered this week for the conference of the Basel Convention on hazardous waste trade. GHANA: TOXIC SPILL FROM GOLDMINE POLLUTES RIVER http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2003/2003-01-10-03.asp A river and communities poisoned by a cyanide spill from a gold mine in 2001 may have been hit by another spill from the same mining company. Water from an abandoned underground mine within the mining concession of Goldfields Ghana Ltd. has seeped into the Asuman River in the Wassa West District of the Western Region, sparking fears of contamination and a worsening health situation for area communities. KENYA: COOKING WITH SUNLIGHT Sitting in a small compound of mud-brick houses, and shacks made of shrub branches and plastic, 24-year-old Adey Hillow may not look much like a trend- setter, but she is actually at the cutting edge of some innovative technology. The wood-box solar cooker she is using to prepare lunch for her husband, infant and three other relatives holds the promise of saving forests by using simple sunlight - instead of scarce firewood - to prepare traditional African meals. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12501 KENYA: GREEN BELT FOUNDER NEW ASSISTANT ENVIRONMENT MINISTER http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2003/2003-01-14-19.asp#anchor2 Kenya's new President Mwai Kibaki has named Dr. Newton Kulundu as Environment Minister and Professor Wangari Maathai as assistant minister. Maathai was elected to Parliament in Kenya on December 27 on the opposition National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) ticket. Maathai is a world-renowned environmentalist, who rose to fame for her spirited campaigns against government backed forest clearance. KENYA: HONEY PRODUCER WINS INTERNATIONAL PRIZE http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/0,,contentMDK:20085007~menuPK: 3445 7~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html Honey Care Africa, an IFC-supported small business whose supply chain has doubled the incomes of some of Kenya’s poorest people, is the winner of a prestigious United Nations sustainable development award. The firm has received the Equator Prize, a US$30,000 cash award honoring community-based poverty reduction initiatives in countries on or near the Equator, home to the world’s greatest concentrations of both biological wealth and human poverty. MALAWI: PLANS FOR ECOTOURISM http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2003/2003-01-09-02.asp Nowhere is southern Africa's food crisis more acute than in Malawi. Out of a total population of 11 million people, more than three million run the risk of starvation due to a combination of flooding and drought. But Malawi has a saving grace. Natural wonders of lake and mountain and wildlife are attractive to tourists, and the government is moving to enhance the country's tourist drawing power. SOUTH AFRICA: MAJOR CHANGES DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE http://137.158.131.188/edrclib.nsf/bf5b1710499bcb0b422566f900394756? OpenForm&ParentUNID=542bc76c345fff9842256b99004e08a4 South African tourism could be affected due to loss of habitats and biodiversity as a result of climate change, according to a study produced by the Energy & Development Research Centre (EDRC), at the University of Cape Town. The study said tourism, which contributes as much as 10% of GDP, was the biggest potential economic loss to the country as a result of climate change. Other findings included a warning that forests, small but locally valuable in terms of commercial production of timber and non-timber products, stood to be “entirely lost”. SOUTH AFRICA: TOXIC SPILL SICKENS RESIDENTS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=810 KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Agriculture and Environment Affairs Narend Singh is to visit the scene of a toxic spill in the Stanvac Canal, Merebank, South Durban. Related Link: * Residents overcome by gas http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=794 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 11.MEDIA AFRICA: CAMPAIGN TO IMPROVE HEALTH JOURNALISM The African Women's Media Center has announced that its parent organisation, the International Women's Media Foundation, has received a $1.5 million, three- year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a campaign to enhance the quality of healthcare coverage in the African media with responsible, accurate and relevant media messages. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12640 AFRICA: NOTICE FOR AFRICAN JOURNALISTS, MEDIA BASED AND FREE EXPRESSION ORGANISATIONS The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), and the IFJ promoting Accountability Website (IFJ-PA), contains information on submitting articles and reports on public accountability, corruption and democracy; information on the IFJ Journalism for Tolerance Prize; and links to journalism and advocacy resources. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12503 GAMBIA: EDITORS GET DEATH THREATS http://www.indexonline.org/indexindex/20030113_gambia.shtml Editor-in-Chief Abdoulie Sey and Managing Editor Alagi Yorro Jallow, both of the Banjul daily Independent newspaper have received a series of death threats from unknown persons, who vow to eliminate them in retaliation for reports published by the paper. MOZAMBIQUE: FINAL STATEMENTS IN CARDOSA CASE Judge Augusto Paulino has set Friday 31 January as the date for the verdict and sentencing of the six men accused of the murder of Carlos Cardoso. The final day of the trial ran into the early evening, as the three prosecution lawyers and five defence lawyers gave their final statements, and three of the defendants also gave final statements. Carlos Cardoso was murdered "because he was a journalist who denounced abuses, who did not shut up, who would not forget any matter, who insisted on following what he regarded as most important, and who would not allow any of the illegalities he had written about to fall into oblivion," declared the Cardoso family lawyer, Lucinda Cruz, in her final statement. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12641 SOUTHERN AFRICA: LET THEM EAT CAKE http://www.fair.org/extra/0211/famine.html A famine is raging through southern Africa--a famine that Doctors Without Borders has called among the worst in Africa in the past decade. The international relief organization CARE reports that the famine "is largely the result of one of the worst droughts in a decade" and that "severe hunger--even starvation--threatens millions, particularly among the most vulnerable: children, the elderly, and pregnant and nursing women" in Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This is occurring against the backdrop of an AIDS epidemic in Africa that has claimed 25 million lives and counting, leaving behind about 14 million orphans. It's a tragic story, full of suffering, especially of children; it's also a story of the heroism of those who relentlessly struggle against the odds under the harshest conditions. But it's not good television, apparently, shows this analysis of how major news networks have covered the story. UGANDA: EDITOR CHARGED WITH SEDITION http://www.indexonline.org/indexindex/20030110_uganda.shtml Vincent Matovu, managing editor of Mazima, a Ugandan weekly, was remanded in custody on two counts of sedition on 6 January. Matovu denied the charges before magistrate Suzan Kanyange. He was remanded until 21 January. Prosecutor Acio Marion alleged that Matovu, 34, published a seditious article about Joseph Kony and the Ugandan LRA rebels in November 2002. UGANDA: GOVERNMENT CURBS LIVE RADIO BROADCASTS Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has protested over the Ugandan government's crackdown on live outdoor radio broadcasts of the views of ordinary Ugandans. "This is just a means of preventing people from debating national issues and making themselves heard," RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to Information Minister Basoga Nsadhu, while calling on him to allow the broadcasts to continue. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12504 ZIMBABWE: ANZ CHALLENGES REGISTRATION LAW IN ZIMBABWE http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=824 The Associated Newspapers Group has lodged a constitutional challenge of sections of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. This requires media houses to be registered by the Media and Information Commission appointed by the Minister of Information. ZIMBABWE: JOURNALIST ACCUSED OF SPYING http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=801 A Zimbabwe correspondent for the BBC, Lewis Machipisa, has been accused of spying for the broadcasting station in Zimbabwe. The state owned weekly newspaper The Herald says that Machipisa is now working for the BBC and a London-based community radio station, SW Radio Africa. This was happening despite the "fact" that the government banned the BBC from operating in Zimbabwe, after accusations that the station was peddling "falsehoods". The paper says that Machipisa is now going "underground" in the rural areas, shooting images for the BBC, writing stories and sending them to Britain. ZIMBABWE: PAPER SUED FOR Z$10 MILLION Beatrice Moyo, the wife of the Minister of Information and Publicity, has instructed her lawyers to sue The Daily News for $10 million (US$182 000) for damages allegedly caused by an article that appeared in the paper on Monday 13 January 2003. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12592 ZIMBABWE: POLICE DEMAND REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE FROM PUBLISHER/EDITOR http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=827 In a move that signals the beginning of the harassment and arrests of publishers and journalists over non-compliance with the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, officers from the Criminal Investigations Department visited the publisher of The Sun newspaper, and requested that he produce his registration certificate. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 12.DEVELOPMENT AFRICA/GLOBAL: HOW GATS COULD AFFECT YOUR LIFE http://www.tni.org/george/articles/gats.htm European trade commissioner Pascal Lamy has got a hold of your future and is doing all he can to hand it over to the transnational corporations. The vehicle for Lamy's villainy is an obscure trade agreement called GATS, or the General Agreement on Trade in Services. The agreement itself may be a less-than- riveting read, but its significance is relatively easy to grasp. All human activities are to become, in the fullness of time, profit-oriented commodities that can be invested in and traded, says this article on the web site of the Trans-National Institute. AFRICA: AGOA - AN INSTRUMENT OF THE US RULING CLASS The US has acquired a new colonial device to get African States to submit to US imperialist rule, with the active support of African ruling classes. The US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), enacted in the year 2000, gives President Bush king-size powers to decide which African State he will open the US market to, and which African State he will close the US market to. AGOA is ridden with conditionalities that African States have to submit to in order for President Bush to favour them by opening the US market to their goods and services. AGOA, argues this essay written by Rajni Lallah of Lalit, Mauritius, in the context of the AGOA Business and Head of States Forum being held in Mauritius in January 2003, is really just a method of carving up Africa in a new kind of colonialism. Lalit states that the role of the African ruling classes in using AGOA to dispossess peoples in Africa of their collective property, economic, social, civil, political rights, and sovereignty, must be exposed. Postings from Africa Action on the AGOA meeting can also be found through clicking on the link below. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12550 AFRICA: SECTOR WIDE PROGRAMMES AND POVERTY REDUCTION http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=793 Improving the access to services by poor and marginal groups is a strong or central objective of most sector wide programmes, which are reviewed by the Overseas Development Institute. The review presents findings from the collection of information on how the sector wide approaches are tackling poverty reduction objectives. MALAWI: IMF TEAM TO ASSESS ECONOMIC PROGRESS http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31715 An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team arrived in Malawi on Monday to assess whether to unfreeze US $47 million in vital aid to the country, news reports said. In May the IMF said it would withhold the US $47 million earmarked for Malawi under its Poverty Reduction Growth Facility due to government overspending beyond targets set by the Fund. NAMIBIA: LAND REFORM AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION: EXPERIENCES FROM NAMIBIA http://www.nepru.org.na/Publications/NWP/PDF/NWP78.pdf Redistributive land reform in Namibia is widely regarded as a precondition for sustainable rural development and poverty alleviation. This paper briefly discusses the development of thinking on land reform and the development of land reform models prior to Independence. It refers to progress on land redistribution since 1990 and discusses some of the problems experienced, concluding that land reform in Namibia has progressed at a very slow pace. TANZANIA: BURIED ALIVE http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=2824 When a Canadian multinational took over control of a peasant gold mine in 1996 they had one problem - it was the lifeblood of a local community of peasant miners. Since then, what happened to the local miners who were deep in the shafts of the mine when the Vancouver-based company sent in the bulldozers has been a matter of controversy. The evidence that has surfaced since 1996 - ranging from a firestorm of memos and reports to disputed photographs and videos which may show the dead bodies of exhumed peasant miners - has inspired human rights lawyer Tundu Lissu to lead a growing number who say an independent inquiry is the only way to put this matter to rest, says this investigative piece from www.zmag.org. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 13.INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY AFRICA: NETWORKING IN AFRICA: USING ICTS TO EXCHANGE RESEARCH AND POLICY KNOWLEDGE http://www.id21.org/society/s8bpb1g1.html How can African research become more accessible to both African and external policy-makers and researchers? How can African researchers exchange knowledge and expertise? Research by the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) for Comunex explores ways in which policy-makers in Africa can network and share knowledge between research networks. CIVIL SOCIETY STATEMENT SENT TO WSIS SECRETARIAT A statement from the Civil Society Co-ordinating Group, comprising representatives of groups participating at preparatory committee meetings for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), has been sent to the WSIS Secretariat as input into plans and preparations for PrepCom 2 in Geneva, February 14-28, 2003. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12574 DISCUSSIONS ON SOFTWARE AS A PUBLIC GOOD The Internet Society has started a new discussion list: [log in to unmask] Description of list: "Discussions on software as a public good. Free software and open source software applications on third world development and Internet access. Open standards for interfaces and communications." Please visit http://www.isoc.org/members/discuss/pubsoft.shtml if you'd like to join the discussions. EAST AFRICA: EAST AFRICA SETS UP SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL http://www.scidev.net/frame3.asp?id=1001200315373019&authors=Deodatus% 20Balile&posted=9%20Jan%202003&c=1&r=1&t=NB Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have set up a joint Science and Technology Council for East Africa in an attempt to boost science and technology in the region. The council is intended to allow the three countries to share and exchange their skills in science and technology. It will also seek funding from foreign donors, and co-ordinate science and technology training in the region to ensure that new developments are distributed evenly between the three countries. GOOGLE LANGUAGE TOOLS http://www.google.com/language_tools This page, full of language tools and developed by Google, will be most helpful to persons looking to translate short passages of text or entire Web pages. First, the page provides an engine that allows users to search for pages composed in over thirty languages. The most helpful feature, though, is a translator that lets users translate text passages and Web pages from English into five different languages, and several different European languages back into English. As of November 2002, the Web-based tool is a beta release. SIMPUTER TO BE LAUNCHED IN AFRICA, MIDDLE EAST MARKETS Simputer, a hand-held computing device developed in India to take Internet to the rural masses, is set to be launched in the Middle East and African markets soon, its promoter said Monday. "We are looking at the market potentials of Africa and the Middle East to give out Simputer for contract manufacturing," said Vinay Deshpande, chairman and chief executive officer of Encore Software. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12571 ZIMBABWE: EMAIL SYSTEM CRASHES http://zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=5943 The technical problems which have been brewing in Zimbabwe’s email system for months came to a head this week, with widespread failures affecting subscribers at almost all internet service providers in the country. People outside Zimbabwe reported that email sent to Zimbabwe email addresses were returned with the message "user/domain unknown". Those sending email from Zimbabwe to international addresses had messages bounced back to them, and access to Zimbabwean websites from outside the country has also been difficult, or impossible at times, reports ZWNews. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 14.eNEWSLETTERS AND MAILING LISTS AID WORKERS EXCHANGE http://www.aidworkers.net/exchange/ Aid Workers Exchange is a weekly e-mail bulletin for knowledge sharing amongst field personnel working in humanitarian relief and international development. It covers a wide variety of topics with the format alternating between questions/responses and short, practical articles. Visit their web site if you would like to join. BALANCING ACT NEWS UPDATE http://www.balancingact-africa.com/ Balancing Act’s News Update covers connectivity developments in Africa and this week goes out to 5496 subscribers in government, the private sector, civil society and education. It has subscribers in almost all African countries and its web site has regularly recorded over 8000 individual visits a month. Visit their web site for the current issue, back issues or if you would like to subscribe. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 15.FUNDRAISING COMMUNITY REACH ANNOUNCES RELEASE OF NEW REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS Pact's Community REACH team is pleased to announce the release of Request for Applications (RFA) #03-C-1. Under this RFA, Pact anticipates awarding on a competitive basis between five to seven subgrants focusing on Reducing Stigma and Discrimination through Innovative and Proven Effective Approaches for a total of US$ 750,000. The purpose of the RFA is to disseminate information about Pact's Community REACH Project for the management of HIV/AIDS sub-grants to prospective PVO and NGO grant recipients in order to provide them with a fair opportunity to submit applications for funding. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12639 KENYA: $2.5M UNICEF BOOST FOR NEW SCHOOLS PLAN http://allafrica.com/stories/200301150589.html The free primary education programme has received a boost from a United Nations agency. Unicef is to give $2.5 million for learning and teaching material for the lower classes in eight districts and in Nairobi. Some 450,000 pupils in Standards One to Three are expected to benefit from the grant. KENYA: EU GIVES 170M EUROS GRANT FOR UPGRADING OF MAJOR ROADS http://allafrica.com/stories/200301150592.html The European Union has donated 170 million euros (Sh13.8 billion) to rehabilitate the country's dilapidated road network.The money will be used to rehabilitate the Sultan Hamud-Mtito Andei section of the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway and Mai Mahiu-Naivasha-Lanet road. Roads around Mt Kenya will also be upgraded under the five-year project. SOUTH AFRICA: ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR MANDELA’S MUSICAL SOS FOR AIDS http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=145 Names of contracted artists have been released for the exclusive music concert organised to raise awareness and much needed funds for the fight against AIDS, the City Press reports. The concert will be held at Robben Island on February 2, 2003. Musicians from the US, Europe and Africa have been billed to perform in the Mandela SOS Aids benefit concert which will be globally broadcasted. SOUTH AFRICA: KZN AIDS CHARITY DENIED UN FUNDS http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1261174-6078-0,00.html A KwaZulu-Natal Aids charity has been excluded from the list of recipients of the R1.8-billion grant from the United Nations' Global Aids Fund - for the second time. In May last year, the Enhancing Care Initiative was prevented from receiving R712-million of the R1.8-billion grant after Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang lambasted the group for not making its application through the state's South African National Aids Council. SOUTH AFRICA: PROJECT IRKED OVER FUNDING http://www.dispatch.co.za/2003/01/16/easterncape/EIRKED.HTM A sum of R30 000 allocated to Whittlesea's anti-Aids campaigners for capacity building by the National Development Agency (NDA) in 2001 has not reached the activists. The money was supposed to be deposited into the bank account of the Whittlesea Anti-Aids Youth Campaigners (WAAYC) on April 2, 2002. WAAYC is an NGO educating people infected and affected by the virus, and also provides home- based care to those living with the virus. SOUTH AFRICA: THEMBA LESIZWE TAGS R5 MILLION TO EMPOWER VICTIMS OF CRIME AND VIOLENCE http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=144 In response to the recent upsurge of violent and sexual crimes, Themba Lesizwe this month approved R5 million in funding to over 35 non-governmental and community based organisations providing victim empowerment services to poor communities. The funding was made available by the Embassy of Ireland through their development cooperation programme with South Africa. SOUTH AFRICA: US/SA DEAL PROMISES 90 000 NEW HOMES http://www.sabcnews.co.za/south_africa/social/0,1009,50832,00.html About 90 000 houses are to be built for needy South Africans thanks to a R200 million deal between the National Reconstruction and Housing Agency (Nurcha) and an American investment company, Nurcha announced. The money, made available by the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic), would be used by Nurcha to underwrite the loans of emerging housing developers and contractors borrowing money from partner banks and micro-financing organisations. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 16.COURSES, SEMINARS, AND WORKSHOPS A TRAINING MANUAL ON EFFECTIVE WRITING AVAILABLE ONLINE A major training resource designed to help those working in the not-for-profit sector hone their writing skills in order to influence, persuade and bring about positive social change has been made available free of charge on the internet, thanks to the support of IDRC. “The CDROM version has been so popular,” said Firoze Manji, Director of Fahamu, “IDRC and Fahamu decided to make the resource available in the public domain as well.” Writing for Change, originally published as an interactive CDROM by Fahamu and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is designed primarily for people working in the not-for-profit sector, including researchers, scientists, project managers, team members, campaigners, fundraisers, social activists and writers. Available in English, French and Spanish from Fahamu's web site (http://www.fahamu.org) the resource is thought to be one of the most comprehensive available, running at about 900 pages per language. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12594 ACCESS TO CARE AND TREATMENT FOR WOMEN, CHILDREN AND FAMILIES Khartoum, Sudan, 26 - 29 May 2003 The Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA) is pleased to announce its IXth International Conference: Access to Care and Treatment for Women, Children and Families in Africa. Since 1989, SWAA has successfully organized eight pan- African conferences in venues from Harare to Kampala. These meetings bring together advocates, practitioners, scientists, community groups and People Living With HIV/AIDS from across Africa and around the world. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12498 ANNUAL WORKSHOP: PROCEDURES OF THE AFRICAN REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS SYSTEM Fajara, The Gambia, 11-20 August 2003 The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa is a pan-African NGO that works towards the promotion and protection of human rights and development, through the implementation of African human rights treaties. The Institute will hold its Fifth Annual Workshop on Procedures of the African Regional Human Rights system. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12607 BUILDING SKILLS FOR IMPLEMENTING HEALTH REFORM AND STRENGTHENING HEALTH SYSTEMS April 28 - May 10, Cape Town, South Africa Abt Associates Health Policy Training Institute (AAHPTI) is pleased to announce its Global Core Course, "Building Skills for Implementing Health Reform and Strengthening Health Systems," to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, April 28- May 10, 2003. The course, designed for middle and upper level technical, management and policy staff, develops practical skills in resolving specific problems and issues that policy makers and managers confront when they reach the implementation phase of health reforms. For more information please contact us at: [log in to unmask]; www.abt-train.org Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12500 MA IN SUSTAINABLE INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM The Heller School For Social Policy And Management The Poverty and Development (PD) Fellowship for the Master of Arts in Sustainable International Development will be awarded to an early to mid-career planner committed to poverty alleviation and community development within Southern Africa. Nationals of the following countries may apply: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The Fellowship begins August 2003. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12499 MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE IN GENDER AND PEACE BUILDING Department For Gender And Peace Studies, University For Peace The Department for Gender and Peace Studies at the University for Peace is pleased to announce the Master of Arts Degree in Gender and Peace Building, beginning in September of 2003. The Programme has been designed to address the interaction between Gender and Peace Building when discussing topics such as: The Study of Peace and Nonviolent Transformation of Conflict; Cultures and Cultural Transformation: from a Culture of War to a Culture of Peace; Strategies of Inclusion and Exclusion: Diverse Human Groups; Peace Processes: Conflict Analysis, Resolution and Transformation; Human Rights, Democracy and Governance. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12606 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 17.ADVOCACY RESOURCES A RIGHT TO A LIFE Demand That GlaxoSmithKline Put Lives Before Profits Five million adults are carrying the AIDS virus in South Africa, making it the most infected country on earth. However only a fraction of these people can access essential treatment because the multinational pharmaceutical companies are keeping the prices of their drugs artificially high. Please sign our petition demanding that GlaxoSmithKline puts lives before profits at http://www.actsa.org/action.htm. We need your help to get as many signatures for our petition as possible. If you can, we would be very grateful if you could include the message below as part of your email signature or send it on to family and friends: 'Every day, 1000 people in South Africa die of HIV/AIDS because they cannot afford treatment. Sign ACTSA’s petition now (http://www.actsa.org/action.htm) to stop GlaxoSmithKline, the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, from putting profits before lives.' BARCLAYS TO BLAME FOR CAPE DELAYS Tell Barclays To Face Their Social Responsibility Despite agreeing a settlement in December 2001 of £21 million for 7,500 claimants exposed to asbestos by its mining operations in South Africa, Cape Plc has still not yet paid a penny. The delays have in large part been due to a lack of co-operation by Cape’s bankers, including Barclays Bank. Please find time to write to the Chairman of Barclays to urge him to ensure that the bank faces up to its social responsibilities at http://www.actsa.org/Cape/action_intro.htm DRC: SAY NO TO THE DEATH SENTENCE The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is urging activists to write to the authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo urging them to repeal the sentences of those found guilty and sentenced to death for taking part in the assassination of former President Laurent-Désirée Kabila. OMCT is also advocating an amnesty for political crimes and a guarantee that human rights will be respected in the country. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12554 THE $6,000,000 QUESTION Take Action http://www.maketradefair.com/spage/english/action14.asp? subcat=1&cat=1&select=1&special=yes Take action now to stop Nestlé, the world's largest coffee company, demanding $6 million from a country where 11 million people are facing famine. What are Nestlé doing to help fight hunger in Ethiopia? They are demanding the Ethiopian Government pay $6m in compensation for a company that was nationalised 27 years ago, a company that they didn't even own at the time. THE COMMERCIALISATION PROGRAMME IN SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL PARKS Online Petition http://www.mylittleblackbook.co.za/Petitions/ The commercialisation and concession process recently embarked on by the SANP should be a matter of disquiet for all environmentalists and conservationists and South African citizens who are all shareholders in the National Parks of South Africa, says this petitions web page. The link to the web site below presents a synopsis of the matter and includes some of the many concerns raised by various parties involved in the issue. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 18.JOBS AFRICA: PROGRAM DIRECTOR AND TWO DEPUTY PROGRAM DIRECTORS Amnesty International Amnesty International is seeking a Program Director and two Deputy Program Directors to manage the Africa Program of its International Secretariat, responsible for research and campaigning on human rights issues in Africa. The Africa Program has around 50 staff based in London, Kampala, Dakar, Paris and Pretoria. Each of these positions requires an experienced manager with a proven track record in motivation of staff and in the provision of the direction, support and systems to enable them to perform to their full potential. You should bring astute political judgement, a clear vision of how the human rights agenda can be taken forward in Africa and the ability to communicate this persuasively to individuals and groups at all levels. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12648 ANGOLA: PROGRAM COORDINATOR CARE http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/8189B930D79CDAF1C1256CA60059BD32 The Program Coordinator (PC) for the Consortium for Development Relief in Angola, based in Luanda, will ensure day-to-day management of the Development Relief program, serving all consortium members in their planning, administrative, logistical, reporting and representational needs. The PC is accountable to the Consortium steering Committee (SC), and will inform the SC of critical program issues and assist in the implementation of SC decisions. IVORY COAST: MEDICAL COORDINATOR Merlin (Medical Emergency Relief International) http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/1BF0736FC3E6216DC1256C92005F79DE Merlin has just finished an assessment in the west of Ivory Coast in the government held areas and has identified locations where vulnerable IDPs, displaced by the fighting, have settled or are in transit. It proposes a three- month emergency programme of mobile clinic health care and water and sanitation provision for which we need to put together an experienced medical and logistical team. KENYA: AFRICA DIRECTOR OF HIV/AIDS PROGRAMS World Relief http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/6D6DF75B1E7EE5FEC1256CA90067EB5C To provide technical supervision and support to World Relief's HIV/AIDS programs in Africa and guide in the development of new strategic initiatives. The Africa Director will be resident in Nairobi, Kenya and report to the International Director of HIV/AIDS Programs. SUDAN: PROJECT ASSESSOR Sudan Organisation Against Torture SOAT requires an individual with at least 5 years experience of working on human rights or international development projects, to conduct a short independent assessment of SOAT projects in Sudan, London and Egypt. Relevant knowledge or some experience of working in the region is essential. Fluency in Arabic and English required. The assessment visit is expected to last for approximately 10 days, and will take place in early 2003. The assessment is funded by the UK Community Fund. All travel, accommodation and other costs will be paid for, and remuneration for the assessor is negotiable. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12513 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 19.BOOKS AND ARTS AFRICAN STUDIES Volume 61 Number 2/December 01, 2002 The issue includes: * Ethnicity, Nationalism and the Making of Democracy in Kenya: An Introduction p. 205 James Ogude * Political Ethnicity in the Democratisation Process in Kenya p. 209 Ken Omolo * Can Moral Ethnicity Trump Political Tribalism? The Struggle for Land and Nation in Kenya p. 269 Jacqueline M. Klopp Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12589 CHILDREN'S RIGHTS: A SECOND CHANCE Save The Children http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/functions/wedo/pubsbookshop_childrights.ht ml The past decade began with genuine optimism for the world's children. But what has happened since the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)? Children's Rights: A second chance looks at the impact that local, national and international policies and practices have had on children over the last decade. As the stories of Liberia, Jorge, Nancy and Mustajab show, the lives of millions of children across the world have barely been touched by the UNCRC. For many the situation has actually got worse. Yet, as this report demonstrates, the four key principles of the UNCRC - non-discrimination, acting in the best interests of the child, survival and development, and participation - remain the key to progress. GATHERING SEAWEED: AFRICAN PRISON WRITING Edited By Jack Mapanje It was striking to read Jack Mapanje's deeply impressive collection of 20th century African prison writing at a time when British newspapers were devoting so many columns to the vaporous 'prison diaries' of one Jeffrey Archer. The contrast, not least in the likely respective financial rewards for Mapanje and Archer, is stark, and not one which reflects well on either our society or its values. Jack Mapanje, Malawi's foremost poet, was imprisoned for over 3 years by Life President Banda for his elliptical depictions of life under a brutal dictatorship in his first book, Of Chameleons and Gods. His subsequent, post- prison writing (The Chattering Wagtails of Mikuyu Prison and Skipping Without Ropes) brilliantly portrayed life in that claustrophobic and fear-ridden society. Gathering Seaweed - whose title is derived from a piece by Nelson Mandela about Robben Island - is a collection of writings by political prisoners from across the African continent. The authors are an interestingly varied lot - prisoners who became presidents (Nkrumah, Kenyatta, Kaunda, Neto, Mandela); politicians (Kariuki, Odinga) who were imprisoned both by colonialists and by ex-prisoner presidents turned jailers; and poets, playwrights, novelists, sculptors, lawyers and political dissidents. Some are writers who wrote in order to survive, creating poems in their heads or writing novels on hidden scraps of toilet paper. Others were activists who wrote simply to record their captivity for posterity. What shines through this book is a common, radical vision of what Africa might and should become. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12496 JOURNAL OF REFUGEE STUDIES - TABLE OF CONTENTS ALERT December 2002; Vol. 15, No. 4 http://www3.oup.co.uk/refuge/hdb/Volume_15/Issue_04/ * Refugees in Western Tanzania: The Distribution of Burdens and Benefits Among Local Hosts Beth Elise Whitaker, pp. 339-358 http://www3.oup.co.uk/refuge/hdb/Volume_15/Issue_04/150339.sgm.abs.html * On the Threshold of Africa: OAU and UN Definitions in South African Asylum Practice Anais Tuepker, pp. 409-423 http://www3.oup.co.uk/refuge/hdb/Volume_15/Issue_04/150409.sgm.abs.html * Book Reviews Caroline O. N. Moser and Fiona C. Clark, eds. Victims, Perpetrators or Actors? Gender, Armed Conflict and Political Violence Reviewed by Fiona Wilson, pp. 424-425 http://www3.oup.co.uk/refuge/hdb/Volume_15/Issue_04/150424.sgm.abs.html * Book Reviews Anne F. Bayefsky and Joan Fitzpatrick, eds. Human Rights and Forced Displacement Reviewed by Hannah R. Garry, pp. 426-427 http://www3.oup.co.uk/refuge/hdb/Volume_15/Issue_04/150426.sgm.abs.html * Book Review Rotimi T. Suberu: Federalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nigeria Reviewed by Youssef Kamal, pp. 432-434 http://www3.oup.co.uk/refuge/hdb/Volume_15/Issue_04/150432.sgm.abs.html THE CDM GUIDEBOOK: A RESOURCE FOR CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM PROJECT DEVELOPERS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=822 This practical guidebook is directed at smaller-scale local partners in Clean Development Mechanism projects -small businesses, non-governmental organisations and community based organisations - to empower them to put forward project ideas, particularly ideas with a development focus. THE TRANSNATIONAL FAMILY: NEW EUROPEAN FRONTIERS AND GLOBAL NETWORKS Deborah Fahy Bryceson (editor) http://www.bergpublishers.com Families living outside of their original national boundaries have had, and continue to have, a profound influence over the flow of people, goods, money and information. More in-depth perspectives reveal how immigrants face troubling issues of cultural identity, economic change, political uncertainty and social welfare. From an examination of 19th century transnational families emigrating from Europe, to the Ghanaian Pentecostal diaspora in Europe today, this book combines broadly based analysis with more unusual case studies to reveal the complexities that immigrants and refugees must contend with in their daily lives. This book, wide-ranging in its geographical and thematic scope, is a highly important and timely addition to debates on transnational families, immigrants and refugees. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 20.LETTERS AND COMMENTS A WASTED YEAR Sibanze Simuchoba Zambia has had a new president for the past 12 months. During this time, the country has achieved nothing worth writing home about. There is wide-spread starvation. The government in its dubious wisdom has rejected GM grain. The sad thing is that it has failed to bring non-GM grain for the masses. People are surviving on wild roots, some of which are so poisonous that they have to be boiled for hours on end. One wonders why the government prefers the people to eat these roots to GM maize. There is loud noise about a zero tolerance approach to corruption. So far the "fight" has been ineffectual. A task force has been formed, without legal foundation, to bring the culprits to book! So far it has been a sham. The economy is dying and there is no hope for improvement on the horizon. Truly, it has been a squandered 12 months. MR. NYARWAYA ISAAC World Vision, Kigali, Rwanda I like Pambazuka News because it keeps development issues in the limelight. NO SYSTEM IS PERFECT David Jamieson, United Kingdom I refer to Ledum Mitee's editorial on the democratic process in Nigeria (Pambazuka News 94), and I'm sure he's right that there are flaws, but don't let any of us get too carried away with criticising the nations of Africa. Democracy is very new in Africa and the old nations of Europe and America don't have a flawless record. In the UK we have a government with an overwhelming majority based on less than 50% of the vote, and in the USA we have a President elected with fewer votes than his opponent by virtue of a deeply flawed process in Florida, a state run by his brother. No system is perfect. The important issue is that we continue to hold all of the systems up to the light of public scrutiny. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 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 2003 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. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ Next WASAN meeting is Wednesday, January 22, 2003. Location: Safeco Jackson Street Center, 23rd Ave and E Main St, 2nd Floor. 7:00 pm Business meeting 7:30 pm Program: (none in Jan, next one is in February - watch this space for details.) Everyone is welcome). We usually meet the fourth Wednesday of the month. For a calendar of local Africa events see http://www.ibike.org/africamatters/calendar.htm . To post a message: [log in to unmask] To subscribe send a message to [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe send a message to [log in to unmask] . All past postings are archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wa-afr-network Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~