PAMBAZUKA NEWS 96 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the web address (usually starting with http://) in the body of your message. Want to get off our subscriber list? Write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] and your address will be removed immediately! /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 1.EDITORIAL DEMOCRACY, WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND SHARIA LAW IN NIGERIA Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi The emergence of a more democratic polity in Nigeria demands a redefinition of the relationship between citizens and the state. While the essence of military or indeed any other dictatorship is the denial of fundamental rights in one guise or another, the essence of democratic governance rests on the respect for, defence and advancement of human, civil, political, economic and cultural rights of all without distinction. At least, this is the way it ought to be. However efforts to promote civil and democratic rights and institutions in Nigeria are facing significant challenges and generating social and political conflict. Amongst the numerous social, political and economic crises undermining Nigeria's nascent democracy, a key issue has been the recent implementation of the Sharia Criminal Penal Code in northern Nigeria. Sharia law is as old as Nigeria itself. Historically the 19th century holy war, which was led by Shehu Usman Dan Fodio in the Hausa kingdom, had as one of its major aims the need to improve the standards of living of Muslim women. However, after his death, and with time, the kingdom returned to its patriarchal structures. In present-day Nigeria, the concern of human rights campaigners and millions of Nigerians, both Muslim and Christian, is the extension of sharia law to criminal matters as against personal and civil matters, which it had been regulating before 1999. This has led to the introduction of flagellation (whipping), lapidation (stoning) and amputation into the penal code. These punishments have stimulated national and international debate on the law as it relates to gender. Between 1999 and today, ten northern states have ratified the implementation of the Sharia Penal Code. These state authorities have argued that by virtue of section 6(5) (K), the 1999 constitution gives power to Nigeria's component states to establish courts, and may be authorized by law to exercise jurisdiction at first instance or on appeal matters with respect to which a state House of Assembly may make laws. Rights campaigners on the other hand, have argued that the constitution of Nigeria defines it as a secular state. The implementation of Sharia Penal Codes in northern Nigeria is flawed in several respects. Firstly, it does not adequately protect the rights of women. Therefore abuse, violence and discrimination against women go unpunished as they are wrongly considered to be socially acceptable. In addition, the testimony of women is devalued and treated as that of a minor or person without necessary legal capacity. Often, these biases and attitudes also affect judges and therefore the judgment of the Sharia Courts. As a result the implementation of sharia in Nigeria has placed some restrictions on the rights of women in northern Nigeria. In the last two years three major cases that have violated women's rights have attracted international and public condemnation. In Safiya Tungartudu Hussein's case for instance, the question of gender bias has been raised on the following grounds: 1. Her pregnancy constituted the main evidence against her, but no scientific efforts were made to establish or disprove the paternity of the child. 2. The onus of pivot of adultery was just pregnancy. 3. The man named in the case was allowed to go free after denying responsibility for the pregnancy. These points alone suggest that the thinking of the court and supporters of sharia is that only women can be guilty of the 'offences' of adultery or fornication. What happens then, in the case of seduction of minors, or rape? This suggests that men living under shaira have been given a license to rape women and seduce or assault minors, or even impregnate them in the course of a relationship and then deny responsibility and watch them face a death sentence. Democratically minded Muslim activists have also adjudged the pronouncement as a misapplication of sharia law, as a result of ignorance on the part of the women, the judge and those that supported the sentence. Some Islamic scholars go further and believe that under the sharia law every person irrespective of country of origin, religion, race, sex, status, age or colour has basic human rights that should be respected. These rights include: the rights to life, right to justice, right to equality, right to be free from discrimination, right to freedom from slavery, respect for the chastity of women, right to freedom from want, right to security of life and property, right to personal liberty, right to freedom of expression, and equality before the law. Dr. M. T. Ladan has argued for example, that there are some specific rights to women because of their “special responsibilities and status in the eye of Islam”. These rights are the right to equality in status, worth and value, right to education, right to own and dispose of property, right to inheritance and dower i.e. a dead mans estate or part of his estate inherited by his widow, right to maintenance, right to custody of children and right to obtain divorce. Nevertheless, rights campaigners, Islamic modernists and feminists believe that there are two important principles in the Quran which clearly establish gender differences: 1. Notion of quwama (the authority or guardianship that men can exercise individually or collectively over women). 2. Notion relegating women to private spheres of life. The notion of quwama is reflected in several verses of Surah 4.34 (Al Wisa). It is also worthy of note that this surah deals with several issue's regarding family law, especially marriage, repudiation and inheritance. For instance it is argued that polygamy is forbidden for women (Al wisa verse 33) while it is allowed for men. Even though this has taken a new dimension in some countries, the verse endorsing polygamy (Quran 4.3) has been read by modern scholars as being applicable only to the man who believes that he will be able to love and relate to more than one wife equitably, including financial maintenance if applicable. This is however subject to the conscience of the man. As we know, ethics, morality and the law in all countries and all religions have established that many men and women have no conscience. In certain countries, modern legal reforms have positively insisted that a man must prove to the court his ability to maintain several wives equitably before entering into a second marriage. Be that as it may, the critics of this notion still feel that women are not given the same opportunities i.e. to have as many husbands as two, three or four even if they claim they can love, relate to and maintain them equitably. This suggests that men are believed to be superior to women, or in some way more powerful beings. On the second notion of exclusion of women from political participation, Abu Bakra's has read a hadith to mean or to have an effect that “a nation which places its affairs in the hands of a woman shall never prosper”, Al-Bukhari, Hadith No. 4425. Some scholars have argued however that some of these criticisms are a product of custom and have no relationship to the law. Several Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia have elected women leaders. One of the issues regarding gender bias is that of women as witnesses. Quran 2: 282 appears to allow the testimony of women in only civil matters and even then, two women are considered the equivalent of a single male witness. However in criminal procedure, certain interpretations believe that women are not acceptable as credible witnesses. Discrimination against women has also manifested in policy and law making. For instance women in Zamfara State in northern Nigeria were, for a period, prevented from travelling in public transport. The stated reason was that women are not to be seen in public spheres of life and certainly not in the company of unrelated men. Some women's organisations protested, and the law was amended, but in practice women are mostly provided with “women only” public transport. In another instance in Tarata Mafara local government, single women were given a three month ultimatum to get married or face being sacked from jobs in the civil service. Some financial inducements were provided to encourage women to become married. These examples constitute rights violations under Nigerian law. These and other similar policies also mask a greater problem of growing unemployment, lack of amenities and recreational facilities etc. The criminalization of women and their rights diverts attention from the real causes of crime, lack of adequate transport and housing and so forth. Such discriminatory policies are applicable to mostly ordinary everyday people as the rich and powerful find ways around them. The Nigeria constitution is supreme by virtue of the provision of Section 1 (1). Section 3 states that any other law which is inconsistent with the provisions of the constitution, shall be null and void. Chapter 4 of the 1999 constitution dwells on fundamental human rights, which include rights to freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Section 38, 1999). However, federal legislation does not specifically uphold the rights of women in areas where custom or religion violate their constitutional rights. Police officers for example routinely deny women the right to post bail in both Christian and Muslim parts of the country even though posters in many police stations state, “men and women have the right to post bail”. Like other laws, specific punishments need to be stipulated for the violations of women's rights. Existing inconsistencies and ambiguities create the space for the violation of women's rights. In conclusion, rights campaigners, women's organisations in Nigeria and internationally need to work towards law reform, and the domestic enforcement of international norms and standard for the observance of women's human rights such as the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Elections are not equal to democracy. The real test of democracy is a nation's capacity to uphold the constitutional, democratic and human rights of all its citizens regardless of ethnicity, race, age, economic and social status, and of course gender. *Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi is a human rights lawyer. She is also Coordinator of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), which has campaigned extensively on Sharia and other women's rights issues in Nigeria. WARDC can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] WORLD SOCIAL FORUM – ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE! The southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre will serve as the venue for the third World Social Forum from January 23-28, with organisers expecting attendance to top 100 000 in the gathering of social movements, non- governmental organisations, intellectuals and leftist groups from around the world - all striving under the banner of "A better world is possible". The WSF was inaugurated in January 2001 as a counterweight to the World Economic Forum, which brings together corporate executives, political leaders, economists and financiers in Davos, a Swiss city. Even more promising than the growth of the event, writes Michael Albert in a www.zmag.org commentary (http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=41&ItemID=2793), is that the forum has transcended its single event persona, with local forums for continents - Asia, Africa and Europe - countries, states within countries, cities and towns. The recent African Social Forum held in Addis Ababa was intended as preparation for African inputs to the World Social Forum. LINKS: * African Social Forum Second Edition Details on the African Social Forum held in early January and its relevance to the World Social Forum. http://www.enda.sn/Forum%20social/english/index.htm * Statements from the African Social Forum - FORUM CONDEMNS US AGGRESSION http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php? id=12705 - ANOTHER AFRICA IS POSSIBLE http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php? id=12669 - DESCRIBING AFRICA'S DEBT - ILLEGITIMATE, ODIOUS AND IMMORAL http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php? id=12702 * Porto Alegre 2003 A full listing of themes, central issues, preparatory forums, participating movements, news, feature articles and more... http://www.portoalegre2003.org/publique/ * Choike - A Portal on Southern Civil Societies http://www.choike.org/ /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 2.CONFLICT, EMERGENCIES, AND CRISES AFRICA: SOCIAL FORUM CONDEMNS US AGGRESSION The aggressive and militaristic approach to the world at large had little to do with the war on terror and everything to do with United States political domination over the world and its plunder of the world's resources for its own interests, said a resolution on United States aggression issued by the African Social Forum, held in Addis Ababa on January 6-7 2003. The resolution said it was "appalled" by the insistence of the United States to declare war on Iraq and rejected the use of United States military bases in Africa, such as those in Djibouti and Diego Garcia, to carry out this military aggression. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12705 AFRICA: US SENATE DEMOCRATS PROPOSE $900M IN EMERGENCY RELIEF FOR AFRICA http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=15555 Senate Democrats on Thursday introduced the Africa Famine Relief Act, which would provide $900 million in emergency relief for Africa, including $600 million in food aid, $200 million in disaster assistance and $100 million in HIV/AIDS-related aid, the Associated Press reports. AFRICA: WORLD OBSESSED WITH IRAQ MUST NOT IGNORE AFRICA http://www.oneworld.net/ips4/2003/01/16-1.shtml The international community and the news media are paying too much attention to Iraq and too little to the calamities facing Africa, senior U.N. officials said Wednesday. The African continent, they warn, is being threatened by a famine, destabilised by an intense civil war in Ivory Coast and endangered by an AIDS epidemic made worse by a shortage of funds. ANGOLA: AID TRUCKS REACH THE END OF THE EARTH http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=14575 By dawn, the convoy is ploughing through the bush, rolling east into a rising sun with 58 tonnes of emergency food for a settlement camp cut off without aid deep in Angola's famine territory. If these vehicles cannot make it, there is little chance of feeding the tens of thousands of people stranded in the province of Cuando Cubango, a wilderness so desolate it is known as "the land at the end of the earth". ANGOLA: FROM CRISIS TO DEVELOPMENT http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=854 With peace seemingly entrenched after nearly three decades of civil war, Angolan society now strives for normalcy. But, warn observers, the end of the war is merely the beginning of a long, hard road to development. BURUNDI: ZUMA ENDS PEACE MISSION http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31755 South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma ended on Thursday a four-day visit to Ethiopia and Burundi to gather support for the deployment of an African mission force in Burundi. DRC: PEACE PROCESS THREATENED BY UGANDA AND RWANDA MILITIAS, WARNS DRC NEGOTIATOR http://allafrica.com/stories/200301210055.html Continuing violence backed by Rwanda and Uganda in Ituri and Kivu provinces, as well as in other areas could "derail" the peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), warned representatives of the Congo government last Friday. IVORY COAST: NEW VIOLENCE HAMPERS PEACE TALKS http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/west_africa/0,1009,51471,00.html New violence has flared in Ivory Coast as the army fights rebels near the Liberian border, while rival factions in peace talks near Paris discuss a power- sharing pact aimed at ending civil war. The fighting in the west of the world's top cocoa producer was by far the heaviest since former colonial power France launched talks last week to try to end a four-month conflict it fears could spread through West Africa. MOZAMBIQUE: NINE HUNGER DEATHS CONFIRMED http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31850 Authorities have confirmed nine hunger-related deaths in an isolated area of north-western Mozambique. The country is among six nations in Southern Africa experiencing food shortages due largely to consecutive droughts, failed government policy and the impact of HIV/AIDS. About 15 million people face hunger in the six affected countries. NIGERIA: NOBEL LAURETE WARNS OF TURMOIL http://news.yahoo.com/news? tmpl=story2&cid=515&ncid=723&e=10&u=/ap/20030118/ap_on_re_af/nigeria_elections Ethnic and political violence are likely to surge ahead of April presidential elections, Nobel laureate author Wole Soyinka said Friday. Soyinka, an outspoken critic of successive military regimes, said Nigeria was in an anarchic state in which normal government functions have been upended. SIERRA LEONE: A YEAR OF PEACE BUT MORE WORK IS NEEDED http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/news/features/0301sierra.htm A year after the official end of the decade-long war in Sierra Leone, the peace is enduring, but Christian Aid partners believe there is a long way to go before they can enjoy permanent peace. Abu Brima of Christian Aid partner Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD) says: "The war can only really be over when we begin to address some of the root causes." SOMALIA: HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES UNABLE TO ACCESS BAIDOA http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31817 Ever since the outbreak of fighting in the southwestern town of Baidoa last July, humanitarian agencies have been unable to access the town, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Tuesday. SOMALIA: KENYAN FOREIGN MINISTER, NEW MEDIATOR ARRIVE IN ELDORET http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31847 Kenyan Foreign Minister Kalonzo Musyoka and the newly-appointed special envoy to Somalia, Ambassador Bethwel Kiplagat, have met Somali delegates gathered in the Kenyan town of Eldoret for peace talks. The minister was also expected to express the new government's commitment to the Somali peace process. Related Link: * Aydid opposed to presidential system http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31845 SOUTHERN AFRICA: 14M PEOPLE HUNGRY http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=15305 Poverty and famine have left an estimated 14 million people across Southern Africa hungry, and hunger leaves people weak and vulnerable to disease, including HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. United Nations AIDS Agency (UNAIDS) representative, Bunmi Makinwa, explains that: "A person with HIV needs better nutrition - more calories and more proteins - to stay healthy." SOUTHERN AFRICA: SMALL ARMS FLOOD SOUTHERN AFRICA http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=15249 The 14 member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have a mutual security pact as the centerpiece of their organisation, and if for no other reason than the tide of destabilising illegal arms that passes through their countries. ‘'The traffic in small arms and weapons of war through the region shows how closely linked our nations are in matters of security, and how vulnerable each state is to the security lapses in other countries, particularly neighbouring countries,'' an officer with the South African military told IPS this week. SOUTHERN AFRICA: THE SCRAMBLE FOR FOOD http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=853 The year 2002 in Southern Africa was marked by a scramble for food by the over 14 million people who face starvation, and by humanitarian agencies begging international donors for the urgent funds needed to buy food and to prevent a catastrophe. SUDAN: PEACE TALKS TO RESUME THIS WEEK http://allafrica.com/stories/200301210054.html Following a meeting on Thursday between President Omar Hassan el-Bashir and U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, John Danforth, it has been announced that delayed peace talks between the government and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement and Army (SPLM/A) will get underway on Wednesday, January 22, according to reports out of Khartoum and Nairobi. SUDAN: SUDAN'S HARVESTS OF SUFFERING http://www.indexonline.org/news/20030120_sudan.shtml The US makes no secret of its desire to expand its oil imports from Africa, aware of its present dependence on the unstable Gulf producers. "It is undeniable," said US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Walter Kansteiner last year, "that this (oil) has become of national strategic interest to us." Will US tactics in Sudan duplicate its Iraqi strategy of selective support for undemocratic governments that bolster Washington's regional needs, followed by equally selective sanctions and finally threat of all-out war to secure essential oil reserves? ZIMBABWE: IS ZIMBABWE ON THE BRINK OF GENOCIDE? http://zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=6007 When reports of killings and mass human rights violations reach the international community, the first response is always cautious. The first demand is for verification, whilst the second is usually conservative under- reaction. The machinery for dealing with mass human rights violations is inherently conservative, and this inevitably produces a significant time lag in responding to such situations, says a report prepared for ZWNEWS. ZIMBABWE: MUGABE EXIT PLOT THICKENS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=836 Despite energetic denials from President Mugabe, speculation surrounding the future of his presidency intensified as more details emerged of an exit deal, put together by his closest associates. The latest initiative has placed Mugabe in a vulnerable position as his government openly admits its failure to cope with food and fuel shortages. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 3.RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY AFRICA: ANOTHER AFRICA IS POSSIBLE Past and present economic policies implemented by African governments have failed to improve the lives of ordinary Africans, says the final statement of the Second African Social Forum (ASF), held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in early January. The Forum concluded that only a dynamic civil society organised in strong and active social movements "can and must challenge the neo-liberal political economy of globalization. The consensus was that we need to build a new African state and society, where public institutions and policies will guarantee cultural, economic, political and social rights for all citizens." Over 200 African women, men and young people from 40 countries participated. They represented social movements, trade unions, peasants' organisations, NGOs and research institutions. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12669 AFRICA: GADDAFI'S 'UNITED STATES OF AFRICA' REJECTED http://iol.co.za/index.php? click_id=68&art_id=vn20030122055032468C764910&set_id=1 Foreign ministers from across Africa on Tuesday rejected Libya's controversial proposal for a "United States of Africa", saying the vast continent was not ready to merge into one country with a centralised administration. ANGOLA: NGOS URGE UN TO INVESTIGATE ABUSES IN CABINDA http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31820 The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has promised a continued role for the UN in the promotion of human rights in Angola. However, the Brazilian diplomat has rejected calls for the UN to play a more forceful role in the investigation of alleged human rights abuses. DRC: GRAVE CONCERN OVER PLIGHT OF TWA PYGMIES IN EASTERN CONGO http://www.minorityrights.org/news_detail.asp?ID=68 As a major UN investigation confirmed the commission of widespread atrocities against Twa 'pygmy' communities in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) called for neighbouring states and the UN Security Council to take urgent diplomatic and humanitarian action to protect Twa and other communities from violations including mass rape, kidnapping, executions and cannibalism carried out against them by rebel factions. DRC: IMPRISONED HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST ON HUNGER STRIKE http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31827 A prominent human rights activist imprisoned for the past nine months in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been on a hunger strike for one week in protest against the lack of medical care being made available to him. GHANA: RIGHTS COMMITTEE HEARS TALES OF TORTURE http://iol.co.za/index.php? click_id=68&art_id=vn20030122053430277C393542&set_id=1 Ghana's reconciliation commission has begun its second week of public hearings of horrific rights abuses and torture allegedly committed by past regimes, especially military governments. KENYA: REVIEW OF 2002 ELECTION RESULT http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31830 The 27 December 2002 elections and the smooth handover of power that followed was historical in many ways, and was praised globally as an example of democratic maturity in an African country. LIBERIA: EXILED POLITICIAN RETURNS, HOPING FOR ELECTIONS http://allafrica.com/stories/200301210656.html Former president pro-tem of the Liberian Senate, Cllr. Charles W. Brumskine returned to his country last week after many years in exile in the United States. He fled Liberia in 1998 after he broke away from the regime of President Charles Taylor. Brumskine is planning to run for president in elections scheduled for October this year but the government of Charles Taylor has been cracking down on dissent and is battling an armed rebellion in the Northern part of Liberia. LIBERIA: SECURITY COUNCIL CONCERNED ABOUT RIGHTS http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31805 The UN Security Council has urged the government and the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) to ensure free access for humanitarian aid workers to displaced civilians and refugees, saying it was concerned about human rights in Liberia. LIBYA: LIBYA'S HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD IN SPOTLIGHT The likely election of Libya to a key United Nations post on Monday will put a spotlight on its human rights record and on efforts by abusive governments to undermine the international human rights system, Human Rights Watch says. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12680 NIGERIA/ZIMBABWE: ENVOY TO DELIVER OBASANJO'S MESSAGE TO MUGABE http://allafrica.com/stories/200301200692.html Efforts by Nigeria to mediate in resloving the political and economic crises engulfing Zimbabwe may get a boost as Foreign Affairs Minister, Alhaji Sule Lamido, travels to Harare to deliver a letter from President Olusegun Obasanjo to his Zimbabwean counterpart President Robert Mugabe. NIGERIA: BIG PARTIES PICK FORMER MILITARY RULERS TO RUN THE COUNTRY http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=15261 Former military rulers, who are blamed for much of Nigeria's woes, are back on the political stage - this time running as civilians in the April presidential election. And, no one is happy. "Unless a miracle happens, or less known parties form an alliance - none of them will pose a serious challenge to the big four parties which have nominated ex-military rulers as their presidential candidates," says Ronke Damilola, a political scientist in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial capital. NIGERIA: OBASANJO’S NOMINATION CHALLENGED http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31841 President Olusegun Obasanjo’s main challenger for Nigeria’s ruling party presidential ticket on Monday filed a suit in court to invalidate the incumbent President's nomination. Alex Ekwueme, a former civilian vice president, in his court papers said Obasanjo’s election at the 5 January People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primaries was in violation of party regulations. NIGERIA: POLICE FOIL ELECTORAL FRAUD PLAN http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2668391.stm Nigerian police have arrested three men allegedly contracted to print as many as five million fake voters' cards ahead of April's presidential and parliamentary elections. The operation, in which police also seized 500,000 faked voting documents, took place in Lagos following a tip-off a week ago but was only announced on Friday. SOUTH AFRICA: KENSINGTON 87 DUE IN COURT Activists known as the Kensington 87, who were arrested in April 2002 for protesting water and electricity cut-offs in their communities that were linked to the ANC government's programme of privatisation, were due to appear in the Jeppe Magistrate's Court in Johannesburg for the fifth time on Wednesday. The Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) notes in a press release that the case has dragged on for over a year, during which time hundreds of activists from the APF, the Anti-Eviction Campaign and other social movement organisations have been harassed, arrested and detained for various lengths of time as a result of their struggles for basic people's rights and needs. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12661 SOUTH AFRICA: KWAZULU-NATAL GOVERNMENT ACCUSED OF STARVING ITS CITIZENS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=840 The political controversy in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province is continuing, even if the "political crisis" has been called off. The Inkatha Freedom Party, which governs the province, is blamed by the local ANC opposition of blocking food distribution to communities that are being ravaged by hunger and poverty. ZIMBABWE: AMANI TRUST - THREATS AND ALLEGATIONS ARE CAUSE FOR CONCERN The Amani Trust has strongly denied involvement in a petrol bomb attack in Zimbabwe on Monday night after the state news media had claimed that an Amani vehicle had been identified as one of the vehicles ferrying the alleged attackers. "These allegations are wholly unfounded, but consistent with the continuous attacks that have been mounted against the Trust over the past year...There must therefore be concern for the safety of the staff and Trustees of the Amani Trust, and we hope that calls will be made upon the government of Zimbabwe to protect its citizens against unlawful attack." Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12798 ZIMBABWE: CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS STUDENT ARRESTED IN ZIMBABWE http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=845 A student from the University of Pretoria's Centre for Human Rights has been arrested in Zimbabwe, for allegedly being involved in a plot to overthrow the government. ZIMBABWE: ONE KILLED, SEVEN INJURED IN PRE-ELECTION CLASH http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31857 One man died and seven people were injured - two critically - in an attack on a ZANU-PF meeting in Kuwadzana, a suburb of Harare which is preparing for a local election. ZIMBABWE: POLICE TORTURED NKALA MURDER SUSPECTS, SAY DEFENCE LAWYERS http://zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=6003 Four suspects in the murder of Bulawayo war veterans' chief, Cain Nkala, were tortured during interrogation by the police in Bulawayo and forced to sign confessions which were dictated to them by their torturers, the High Court has heard. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 4.CORRUPTION AFRICA: AFRICA STARVES AS RULERS REAP PROFITS http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=14560 As millions go hungry, some African leaders have splashed out on jets and fleets of cars. Paul Harris reports from Eritrea and Malawi on a natural disaster compounded by war and corruption. KENYA: 'EASTAFRICAN' WRITER IS NEW ANTI-CORRUPTION CZAR http://allafrica.com/stories/200301220170.html President Mwai Kibaki last week restructured his government, trimming the functions of his office and naming a special official to spearhead the war on corruption. A department has been set up in the Office of the President to deal specifically with the fight against corruption and advise the president on the cleanup campaign. Its head will be the Permanent Secretary in charge of Governance and Ethics. John Githongo, long-time columnist for The EastAfrican and executive director of Transparency International (Kenya Chapter), was appointed first holder of the office. KENYA: ENVIRONMENT MINISTER KULUNDU SACKS 10 FOREST OFFICERS FOR CORRUPTION http://allafrica.com/stories/200301200016.html Ten forest officers have been sent packing as the Narc government intensifies war on corruption. Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife Minister Newton Kulundu said the suspended officers have been "destroying the very resource they are supposed to guard". KENYA: NAIROBI IN THE RUNNING AGAIN FOR FOREIGN LOANS http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=51332 The International Monetary Fund could resume lending to Kenya from July - almost three years after it suspended support to the country over concerns about corruption. Abdoulaye Bio-Tchane, director of the fund's Africa Department, said last Friday that he was confident the new government of President Mwai Kibaki would take measures to combat official graft. LESOTHO: LESOTHO IN BRAVE FIGHT AGAINST GRAFT http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=51366 The multibillion-rand Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), which transfers huge quantities of water from the rugged peaks of the Mountain Kingdom to the industrial heartland of South Africa, has always fitted the current stereotype of large dams – that they are massive, expensive and, environmental campaigners would say, destructive. The conviction on bribery charges last year of former Lesotho Highlands Water Authority (LHWA) CEO Masupha Sole and Canadian engineering firm Acres International added another dimension – corruption. SOUTH AFRICA: SCORPIONS TO PROBE SAAMBOU http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=51317 Justice Minister Penuell Maduna has asked the Scorpions to probe the demise of the Saambou banking group last year on the basis of an independent report implicating executives in "suspicious" transactions, insider-trading and mismanagement, Business Day reported on Friday. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 5.HEALTH AFRICA/GLOBAL: DEADLINE PASSES AS DOHA DECLARATION NEGOTIATIONS STALL http://www.eldis.org/ipr/news/2003january07.htm Back in 2001 the Doha declaration set the TRIPS council a deadline to find a solution to the issue of how developing countries - with limited or no production capacity - can take advantage of access to compulsory licences to respond to health emergencies. That deadline has now passed with no solution agreed and the post-Doha mood of optimism all but forgotten. This web page sifts through the political fallout of this failure to bring you analysis of how this situation came about and background to the declaration and the issues it aimed to address. AFRICA: MOCUMBI IN FINAL PHASE OF WHO ELECTION http://allafrica.com/stories/200301210944.html Mozambican Prime Minister Pascoal Mocumbi has made it through to the final phase of the election of the next general director of the World Health Organisation (WHO). The others who have passed into the final stage are the Belgian Peter Piot, who heads the UNAIDS programme, the South Korean Jong Woo Ook, who heads the WHO programme against tuberculosis, the Mexican health minister Julio Frank Mora, and the former Egyptian health minister, Ismaial Salam. AFRICA: UN CALLS FOR PROMPT ACTION ON HIV/AIDS http://allafrica.com/stories/200301220413.html Around 12 million of Southern Africa's 60-million people may die prematurely of AIDS alone unless prompt and decisive action is taken to respond to the region's humanitarian crisis, United Nations agencies have warned. AFRICA: YEAR-ENDER 2002 - HIV/AIDS FUNDING FAILS TO MAKE THE LEAP http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=842 Hailed as a "quantum leap" in the fight against the HIV/Aids pandemic, the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria has become a focal point for funding efforts to bring the epidemic to heal. BURUNDI: UN RESPONSE TO ANTICIPATED MALNUTRITION CRISIS http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31848 The UN has prepared a coordinated multi-sectoral response to a malnutrition crisis it says is "likely to occur" in the country due to a poor harvest. DRC: FLU KILLS 2000 http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31854 Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Health Minister Mashako Mamba told IRIN on Tuesday that "more than" 2,000 people had died as the result of an influenza epidemic that had been sweeping across parts of the country for one-and-a-half months. GHANA: NURSES EXODUS http://allafrica.com/stories/200301210993.html Last Year alone, about 3,000 nurses left the country to seek greener pastures in other countries. This is the picture given by the President of the Ghana Medical Association (GMA), Dr. Jacob Plange-Rhule. Ten years ago, there were 20,000 nurses. Today there are 9,000, in spite of the increase in population and the growing number of health facilities. NIGERIA: HIV/AIDS CASES RISE IN NYANYA http://allafrica.com/stories/200301210536.html The network of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria (NEPWHAN), has expressed concern over the increasing rate of HIV infections and number of deaths due to HIV/AIDS in Nyanya, an Abuja suburb. The rise in the rate of infected persons is despite current interventions at prevention, care and support for people living with the disease. SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS VACCINE TRIALS EXPECTED http://www.health-e.org.za/view.php3?id=20030101 Despite delays caused by protocol, preparations for the AIDS vaccine trials in South Africa are still underway and clinical researchers and scientists are hopeful that the Phase One tests will start early next year. This sense of optimism follows months of discussion and debate amongst the Medicines Control Council, the government as well as the vaccines' developers. It is hoped that the extensive consultations will help accelerate the onset of the vaccines trials - the search for the ultimate hope in HIV prevention. Khopotso Bodibe from Health-E News Service went out to seek clarity on the outstanding issues. SOUTH AFRICA: MANTO SUPPORTS MY CLAIMS, SAYS AIDS DISSIDENT http://www.iol.co.za/index.php? click_id=13&art_id=vn20030122054915776C718155&set_id=1 Aids dissident Roberto Giraldo, in South Africa for the second time in two months to talk to health officials, says Health Minister Manto Tshabalala- Msimang agrees with his controversial views. But the minister of health denies this. Giraldo, who has given a talk on HIV and nutrition to the health ministers from the 14 Southern African Development Community countries during his latest visit, also claimed that the 14 ministers believed correct diet could cure Aids. SOUTH AFRICA: NON-DISCLOSURE OF STD TO SEX PARTNER IS RAPE, SAYS LAW GROUP http://allafrica.com/stories/200301210980.html Any person infected by a life-threatening sexually transmissible disease who failed to disclose that to his or her partner before having sex is guilty of rape, the SA Law Commission (SALC) said on Tuesday. "Intentional non-disclosure by a person that he or she is infected by a life-threatening sexually transmissible infection in circumstances in which there is a significant risk of transmission of such infection to that person prior to sexual relations with another (consenting) person amounts to sexual relations by false pretences and would therefore constitute rape," it said in a statement. SOUTH AFRICA: UNDERSTANDING YOUTH CULTURE IS KEY TO HIV/AIDS INFECTIONS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=828 Over 60 percent of HIV/Aids infections in South Africa occur before the age of 25, a recent report from the South African University of Cape Town has revealed. The report focuses on "high risk" sexual activity among the youth and makes particular reference to South Africa. ZIMBABWE: DOCTORS' ASSOCIATION TO MEET OVER STRIKE THREAT http://allafrica.com/stories/200301211023.html The Hospital Doctors' Association (HDA) met this week to discuss whether doctors should down stethoscopes once again to press the government for an 80 percent pay rise promised to all civil servants. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 6.EDUCATION AND SOCIAL WELFARE AFRICA: AIDS, PUBLIC POLICY AND CHILD WELL-BEING http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=843 The author argues that while the health challenges posed by HIV/Aids are widely recognized, the specific impact of HIV/Aids on children remains poorly documented, analysed and addressed. Much debate has focused on adult prevalence, death rates and ways to control the epidemic in the short-term. This study calls for a new focus on the wider impact of HIV/Aids on children's lives, including falling school enrolment, increased malnutrition and rising poverty. CAR: TEACHERS EXTEND THEIR STRIKE http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31856 Primary and secondary school teachers in the Central African Republic (CAR) have decided to indefinitely extend their strike for the immediate payment of their salary arrears. "Eighty percent of the teachers are observing the strike," Malachie Mbokane, the chairman of the Interfederale des enseignants de Centrafrique, a umbrella confederation of five teachers' trade unions, told IRIN on Tuesday. ETHIOPIA: EMPOWERED COMMUNITIES LEARN THE VALUE OF THEIR DAUGHTERS http://www.basiced.org/stories/ethiopia1.php Among the daunting humanitarian challenges facing Ethiopia is the need to improve and strengthen basic education. The national gross enrollment rate, while on the rise, was 51 percent in 1999/2000, while girls' enrollment stood at 41 percent. NIGERIA: NIGERIAN IMMUNISATION PROGRAMME SEES RESULTS http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7381/121/a The National Programme on Immunisation (NPI) has just released a report that shows a continuing and dramatic decline in the incidence of fatal childhood diseases in Nigeria. Diseases covered by the report include tetanus, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, measles, tuberculosis, yellow fever, and cerebrospinal meningitis, which have been responsible for high infant mortality in the country. NIGERIA: URGENT ACTION NEEDED ON EDUCATION http://allafrica.com/stories/200301220231.html Once more attention is on education following the recent High Level Group on Education for All (EFA) meeting held in Abuja by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in conjunction with the Federal Government and other related international agencies. UNESCO has classified Nigeria among countries that may miss the 2015 deadline for the provision of Education for All if urgent action is not taken. SOMALIA: CHILDREN IN EXODUS TO EUROPE http://www.guardian.co.uk/Refugees_in_Britain/Story/0,2763,877215,00.html Thousands of children are being smuggled into Europe from war-ravaged Somalia every year, with Britain the most popular destination, according to a UN report. "Child smuggling from Somali territories is now so widespread that it has become a critical informal institution," the UN information agency report says. SOMALIA: THE EXPERIENCE OF SEPARATED SOMALI CHILDREN http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31752 Somali parents are paying smugglers up to US $10,000 to take their children abroad, as part of a lucrative and exploitative international child-smuggling business. Faced with desperate choices, many parents who see no future in their own country allow their children to be abandoned by "agents" at airports and railway stations in European and North American countries. SOMALIA: UN CALLS FOR RESPECT OF CHILD RIGHTS http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31787 UN agencies working in Somalia have called on Somali leaders and all parties to the conflict to take immediate measures to ensure that children are protected from violence. In a statement issued last Friday, Maxwell Gaylard, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, expressed deep concern at the recent killings, kidnappings and attacks targeting children. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 7.WOMEN AND GENDER AFRICA/GLOBAL: EMPOWERING WOMEN WITH KNOWLEDGE http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/resindex.html The website of Peace Women - the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom - has a section that aims to provide a user-friendly, comprehensive annotated bibliography of books, articles and analyses on women's peace theory and activities, as well as NGO position papers, reports, speeches, statements and tools for organisational building. AFRICA: $100 MILLION HIV/AIDS RELIEF NOT ENOUGH FOR WOMEN http://www.feminist.org/news/newsbyte/uswirestory.asp?id=7446 The US Africa Famine Relief Act proposes an amount of $900 million for emergency relief in Africa, of which $100 million will be directed towards HIV/AIDS programs. But while $100 million is a step in the right direction to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it is not nearly enough to address the massive increase in the number of AIDS cases as well as the increase in women contracting the virus in Africa, points out the Feminist Majority Foundation. AFRICA: GENDER, POWER AND IDENTITY IN AFRICAN CONTEXTS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=848 The idea of identity is an interesting one to most Africans, largely because it has remained so vexed. The author claims that not only is there no all- encompassing concept for identity in much of Africa, but that there is no substantive apparatus for the production of the kind of singularity which the term seemed to require. The implication of history for an Africans' sense of 'who we are' is complicated, and extends far beyond the scope of academic theorisations of identity. AFRICA: PRIZE FOR WOMEN'S CREATIVITY IN RURAL LIFE The Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF) cordially invites you to submit nominations for the tenth annual 'Prize for Women's Creativity in Rural Life' Award, honoring creative and courageous women and women's organisations working to improve the quality of life in rural communities around the world. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12801 AFRICA: STRONGER ROLES FOR WOMEN IN PEACE PROCESS AND REFUGEE CAMPS, URGES HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers has called on women to do more to influence "political priorities", urging them to speak out against political agendas that do not take into account what is important to them. Speaking in Geneva at the launch of an assessment report on the impact of armed conflict on women and their role in peace-building, Lubbers said women can play a stronger role in conflict resolution as they tend to approach conflict resolution in a practical way. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12818 AFRICA: WHAT THE WORLD BANK HAS DONE FOR WOMEN http://www.whirledbank.org/development/gender.html World Bank loans and International Monetary Fund-imposed Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) have stripped many women of what meager health and education benefits were once available to them. Women's formal sector unemployment has increased due to IMF-induced recessions, privitizations, and government cutbacks. Food production and other activities that provide income and sustenance to households have been undermined, as in Africa where incentives that switch land and labor to export crop production have forced women to reduce time tending farm plots that are the basis of food security and spend more time as unpaid labourers. BURUNDI: WOMEN'S PERSPECTIVES ON THE ARUSHA PEACE INITIATIVE http://www.eamwa.org/ The involvement of women in the on-going Burundi peace talks is a reflection of their general position in society. The initial battle for women's inclusion by mainly the urban based, educated women, enabled them to enter the peace talks, albeit long after they had started. But even today women are primarily observers of the process. They can participate directly in the discussions but have no right to vote on any motion. Read about the experiences of African women at the East Africa Media Women's Website. EAST/SOUTHERN AFRICA: GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE FIELD REVIEW Raising Voices (www.raisingvoices.org) and UN-Habitat (www.unhabitat.org/safercities) are undertaking a field review of organisations and institutions working to prevent gender-based violence (GBV) in East and Southern Africa. The aim is to create networks and alliances between those working to prevent GBV through conferences and partnerships and to produce a publication that highlights successful approaches to preventing GBV in the region. All NGOs, government agencies, local authorities and other groups working on the prevention of gender-based violence are warmly invited to share experiences. Please contact Lori Michau for further information at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or follow the link www.raisingvoices.org/fieldreview to complete a simple questionnaire. KENYA: FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION CASES HAVE DECLINED SAYS REPORT http://allafrica.com/stories/200301220047.html One hundred and fifty five under-age girls underwent female genital mutilation (FGM) in Marakwet District last month, a human rights report indicates. The report released by the Eldoret based Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (CHRD) shows Kipyego division led with 58 girls reported to have undergone the rite. KENYA: HOPES THAT NEW GOVERNMENT WILL END DISCRIMINATION http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/89FC2AFCFE151C17C1256CB0002E73 E7?opendocument Experts on the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women have expressed optimism that the newly elected Government of Kenya would commit itself to countering the traditional forms of discrimination that persisted in that country, as the Committee considered Kenya's reports on compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. TANZANIA: TANZANIA TRIES TO ATTRACT MORE GIRLS TO SCIENCE http://www.scidev.net/frame3.asp?id=1701200311521713&t=N&authors=Deodatus% 20Balile&posted=17%20Jan%202003&c=1&r=1 Tanzania has launched an initiative to raise the performance of girls in science examinations and to encourage more girls to study science subjects at school. The project involves holding intensive science-training camps for girls, and also training science teachers how to encourage girls to learn about science. UGANDA: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE LEVELS HIGH IN RURAL UGANDA http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-01/jhub-dvl012203.php Male to female domestic violence levels in rural Uganda are high and associated with both alcohol consumption and the male partner's perceived risk of HIV, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The study found that approximately one in three women living in rural Uganda reported being physically threatened or assaulted by their current partner. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 8.REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION AFRICA: AMNESTY CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO FRENCH DEATHS OF FOREIGN NATIONALS The recent deaths of two undocumented foreign nationals must be fully and impartially investigated, says Amnesty International. Before receiving news of the death of Somalian national Mariame Getu Hagos on 16 January, Amnesty International had written to the French Minister of the Interior about the death, on 30 December 2002, of Ricardo Barrientos, an Argentinian national, on an aircraft bound for Buenos Aires. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12800 AFRICA: RESEARCH REVEALS SCARY STATISTICS ON LANDMINES, IDPS http://allafrica.com/stories/200301210672.html A global report just released on internally displaced persons (IDPs) has described the abundance of land mines in numerous African countries as a major impediment to the ability of displaced persons to reclaim their lands. The report has cited Angola as one of the most heavily mined countries in the world, with an estimated 8 to10 million land mines. BURUNDI: IMC ASKS FOR GREATER INVOLVEMENT IN REFUGEE AND IDP INQUIRIES http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31835 The Implementation Monitoring Committee of the Arusha peace accord has urged the transitional government of Burundi and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees to include it in visits to the interior aimed at identifying and resolving the major difficulties of repatriated and internally displaced people. BURUNDI: THOUSANDS FLEE FRESH FIGHTING http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31801 Thousands of civilians have fled fresh fighting between government troops and Hutu rebels in Gitega Province, the spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Burundi, Nicholas McGowan, reported. GUINEA: NRC UPDATE ON DISPLACED GUINEANS http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31777 Encouraged by the overall improvements in the security situation in the country, thousands of internally displaced Guineans returned to their home areas during 2002, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said on Thursday in its updated background information on the situation of displaced Guineans. IVORY COAST: LIBERIANS REPATRIATED FROM IVORY COAST http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2666455.stm The first of some 40,000 Liberian refugees are being repatriated from Ivory Coast. Hundreds of Liberian refugees have been cramming onto ramshackle buses in the southern town of Tabou in a desperate bid to go home, says the BBC's Tom McKinley. IVORY COAST: UN ENVOY APPEALS FOR PROTECTION OF REFUGEES http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31813 The UN Humanitarian Envoy for Cote d'Ivoire, Carolyn McAskie, at the weekend appealed to the Ivorian government to exercise its obligations with regards to humanitarian law and provide protection to refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). KENYA-UGANDA: IOM ASSISTS UGANDAN REBELS TO GET AMNESTY http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31851 The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) office in Kenya launched a programme on Monday to screen former Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels who wish to apply for an amnesty and return to Uganda. KENYA/SOMALIA: KENYA'S 10,000 SOMALIA REFUGEES SET FOR US http://allafrica.com/stories/200301200843.html About 10,000 Somalia refugees in Kenya are to be resettled in the US. They will be airlifted from the Kakuma and Dadaab camps in Turkana and Garissa districts from next month, the NGO facilitating the relocation programme said. LIBERIA: FLOW OF RETURNEES AND REFUGEES INCREASING, SAYS UNICEF http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31807 Over 26,000 Liberian returnees and refugees from Cote d'Ivoire require urgent assistance after fleeing recent military activities in the rebel-held western Ivorian cities of Danane and Man, UNICEF reported on Monday. LIBERIA: NORWEGIAN REFUGEE COUNCIL OPENS AID PROJECT IN LIBERIA http://www.nrc.no/engindex.htm The Norwegian Refugee Council is starting up aid projects for the internally displaced in Liberia. Increased actions of war in Liberia and its neighbouring country the Ivory Coast, has worsened the situation for civilians. There are presently approximately 200 000 internally displaced refugees in Liberia. RWANDA-ZAMBIA: 5,000 REFUGEES TO BE REPATRIATED FROM ZAMBIA http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=31800 A tripartite agreement has been signed with the governments of Rwanda and Zambia to begin the voluntary return by air of more than 5,000 Rwandan refugees in Zambia, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported last Friday. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 9.RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA SOUTH AFRICA: WOMAN'S ARM CROSSES RACIST BOUNDARIES http://allafrica.com/stories/200301210928.html Jeanne Nolte was sleeping fitfully in her hospital bed while waiting to undergo major head surgery, when a blood-soaked woman was brought into the ward. She told Nolte that three Afrikaans men had beaten her until she lost an eye. Three days later Nolte decided not to undergo the operation at Garankuwa Hospital to remove an aneurism on her brain, because it would cause her to lose her memory. Instead, she wanted all her faculties so that she could establish and run the Anti Racist Movement (ARM) in the city of her birth, Polokwane, in Limpopo. Today, if you drive through Polokwane, you'll find business and government offices displaying bold stickers declaring: "Right of Admission Reserved, No Racists Allowed." /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 10.ENVIRONMENT AFRICA/GLOBAL: BUSINESS BREAKS PROMISE TO CLEAN-UP ACT Business leaders, politicians and the rich converge on the Swiss ski resort of Davos from 23 January for the World Economic Forum (WEF) - the annual gathering of the powerful which plays an important role in discussions of world economic and social policy. But the meeting takes place amidst growing criticism of corporate greenwash. Despite a high profile pledge made a year ago at the WEF in New York, WEF corporations have already demonstrated their unwillingness to embrace sustainability if it gets in the way of more profits. Friends of the Earth is highlighting cases of bad practices in the year since WEF 2002. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12698 CENTRAL AFRICA: CONGO BASIN FOREST PARTNERS HOLD INITIAL MEETING http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2003/2003-01-17-01.asp The first international meeting of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, an economic development and conservation program for six Central African countries, is set to open in Paris on Tuesday. Under pressure from population growth, poverty, unsustainable resource use, and political instability, the Congo Basin forests are the focus of a new initiative by a partnership of 29 governments, international organisations, environmental and business interests - the Congo Basin Forest Partnership. DRC: GROUP RAISES ALARM ON MARINE TURTLE POACHING http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=15328 An animal rights group has appealed to the Congolese authorities to revise the existing endangered species law to include marine turtles among the country's protected animals. ''Despite the benefits that sea turtles bring, they are being massacred by coastal residents for food or for economic reasons,'' says Alexis Mayet, president of the Congolese Educational Association for the Environment and Nature, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), with the French acronym ACEN. KENYA: ELECTRIC FENCE TO ENCIRCLE KENYAN FOREST RESERVE http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2003/2003-01-16-01.asp A fund has been launched in Kenya to put an electric fence around one of the east African nation's largest forest reserves to protect it from illegal loggers, poachers and general human encroachment. NAMIBIA/SOUTH AFRICA: OCEAN MYSTERIES TO BE STUDIED http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=851 A strange phenomenon in the shallow waters of South-western Africa - regular eruptions of toxic hydrogen sulphide - is about to be mapped and studied. These gas discharges change the ocean's blue colour into turquoise and result in extensive fish deaths. The research vessel (Meteor) has left Cape Town to find out why. SWAZILAND: FAILURE OF AGRICULTURE LEADS TO RISE IN AID DEPENDENCY http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=839 Virva Hautala and Sanna Simonen lend a hand at a pump, manually extracting life- preserving water from a borehole beneath the parched earth. The Finnish aid volunteers urge the children queued with plastic containers not to waste the precious fluid, as they pump and carry their water rations on their heads back to homesteads, up to 10 km away. UGANDA: CENSUS FINDS 5 000 CHIMPANZEES IN UGANDA http://iol.co.za/index.php?click_id=136&art_id=qw1043153280353B225&set_id=1 There are nearly 5 000 chimpanzees living in Uganda, according to a recently completed census. But continued hunting and human encroachment on their habitat could reduce that number, said scientists on Tuesday. ZAMBIA: TOUGH HARVEST YEAR AHEAD http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=837 Zambia faces a "daunting outlook" for 2003 with expectations of another poor harvest, says a report from the office of the UN Resident Coordinator. The food crisis was brought about by a consecutive drop in food production in 2002 (down 40 percent on the previous five year average), due to drought. By the middle of 2002 inflation was at 23.7 percent and the national currency, the kwacha, had depreciated by 14 percent. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 11.MEDIA ETHIOPIA: NEW GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS THREATEN PRESS FREEDOM AND EFJA Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA) Statement The right of citizens to freedom of expression has, for ages, been brutally suppressed in countries like Ethiopia, where democratic systems have not been established. After the EPRDF (Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front) put the entire country under its control and usurped state power, it accepted and ratified the UN Declaration of Human Rights, approved the charter during the transition period and promulgated the press proclamation. Ever since then, numerous free press publications have been rendering services as alternative sources of information. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12747 IVORY COAST: RSF CALLS FOR MEDIA FREEDOM Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has written to all the delegations taking part in the Ivory Coast peace talks being held in Linas-Marcoussis (south of Paris) between 15 and 24 January 2003, asking them to raise the issue of the media in the Ivory Coast. The organisation urges the political parties and rebel movements present to make a real commitment to establishing a freer and more responsible press in the country. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12678 MALAWI: JOURNALIST ARRESTED IN VAMPIRE SCARE http://www.indexonline.org/indexindex/20030121_malawi.shtml A Malawian radio journalist was arrested this week for broadcasting an interview with a man who claimed to have been attacked by a vampire, the Guardian reports. Southern Malawi has been rife with rumours of blood-sucking vampires, fuelled by the popular belief that the government is colluding with vampires to collect blood for international aid agencies. NIGIERA: ISIOMA DANIEL SPEAKS ON HER ORDEAL IN HIDING http://allafrica.com/stories/200301200026.html Former THISDAY reporter, Miss Isioma Daniel, whose article about the last Miss World pageant allegedly sparked deadly riots in Kaduna says she will probably spend the rest of her life in hiding. In an exclusive interview with the BBC, Isioma Daniel said her initial guilt soon turned to anger that some people could use a newspaper article as an excuse to "unleash their anger, their frustration with other aspects of their life". SADC: COLONIAL-ERA LAWS USED TO REPRESS SADC MEDIA http://www.mediatoolbox.co.za/pebble.asp?relid=3155 A unique gathering of parliamentarians and journalists from 11 Southern African Development Community countries has reached a remarkable decision - to call on their governments to repeal legislation which restricts the freedom of the media and freedom of expression and offends human rights generally. TUNISIA: INTERNET ACTIVIST GOES ON HUNGER STRIKE www.dfn.org/news/tunisia/hunger.htm Imprisoned Tunisian Internet activist Zouhair Yahyaoui is in the fifth day of his hunger strike to protest the harsh conditions of his confinement. Zouhair Yahyaoui founded TUNeZine.com soon after he graduated from college. Yahyaoui has been held captive since June, 2002, when he was sentenced to 24 months for posting satirical criticism of the Tunisian government on his Web site, Tunezine. UGANDA: JOURNALIST DETAINED SINCE 6 JANUARY Vincent Matovu, managing editor of the local Luganda-language weekly "Mazima", has been held on remand in Luzira prison since 6 January 2003, in connection with the publication of two articles concerning the war between rebel groups and government forces in the north of the country. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12679 ZIMBABWE: BUSINESSMAN HIRES THUGS TO BEAT JOURNALIST http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=830 Ernest Mungwari, who runs one of Zimbabwe's biggest transport companies, Tenda Transport Private Limited is reported to have hired thugs to beat up Brian Mangwende, The Daily News bureau chief, in the eastern border city of Mutare. ZIMBABWE: INFORMATION KIOSKS COULD LIMIT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) says it is "imperative" that the private media should be tenacious in investigating seemingly harmless government policies such as the intention to establish information kiosks in rural areas. The MMPZ says the kiosks could curtail citizens' right to access information of their choice, says the MMPZ in its latest Weekly Update, which also deals with wrangles around local government and food shortages. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12699 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 12.DEVELOPMENT AFRICA/GLOBAL: ASSESSING ECONOMIC JUSTICE 50 Years Is Enough Network/ New Voices On Globalization It has become clear that World Bank privatisation schemes are slated to be the new emphasis for that institution, says this article from The 50 Years Is Enough Network's Economic Justice News, which reviews three years of the global justice movement since large demonstrations and the meltdown in official negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Seattle, November 30 - December 3, 1999. The privatisation agenda is bad news for economic democracy, says the article, with essential services facing a sell off to the highest bidders. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12676 AFRICA/GLOBAL: LINKING LAND AND PROPERTY RIGHTS TO POVERTY http://www.eldis.org/poverty/povertylanddoc/index.htm The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) has just published a revised draft consultation paper on the role of land policy in providing better livelihoods for poor people. The paper examines the importance of land, land rights and land reform in developing countries, and considers how land policies can contribute to poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. It advocates a rights-based approach to land through advocacy and representation of the poor in land management. AFRICA: DESCRIBING AFRICA'S DEBT - ILLEGITIMATE, ODIOUS AND IMMORAL Africa's debt was illegitimate, odious and immoral, and had been paid many times over; it was Africa that was owed an immense historical debt for failed IMF/WB projects; debt was used as an instrument of domination and plunder of Africa's resources and the only solution to the debt crisis was its cancellation without external conditions. These were some of the conclusions of a workshop on debt help at the Africa Social Forum, which took place in Addis Ababa on January 6-7, 2003. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12702 AFRICA: EXTERNAL DEBT MANAGEMENT IN HEAVILY INDEBTED POOR COUNTRIES http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=850 Debt management policy plays an important role in ensuring and maintaining long- term debt sustainability. This document assesses the current status of external debt management in heavily indebted poor countries. AFRICA: FAIR AND TRANSPARENT ARBITRATION PROCESSES http://www.blue21.de/FTAP_english.pdf The debt crisis of developing countries has not yet been solved by current international debt management as designed by the Paris Club, International Financial Institutions (IFIs) including the IMF and World Bank, the London Club, and the G7. This paper presents the specific framework of an international insolvency procedure that relies on Fair and Transparent Arbitration Processes (FTAPs) to solve debt crises. AFRICA: IMPROVING GLOBAL ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=849 Global economic governance refers to the institutions, norms, practices and decision-making processes from which rules, guidelines, standards, and codes arise in order to manage the global economy. This paper from the South Centre looks at suggestions for ways of bringing about the reform of international institutions and therefore the global economic system. AFRICA: NEPAD'S MARKET ACCESS PLANS BLASTED http://allafrica.com/stories/200301100199.html Though the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) stresses the importance of increased investment in order to strengthen Africa's external trade, its proposals to achieve the intended objectives remain far from achieved as market access from Africa continues facing exceptions and postponements, said Dot Keet, a Research Associate of the Alternative Information and Development Center (AIDC), South Africa, at the recently held Africa Social Forum. AFRICA: RECRUITING AFRICANS ABROAD The underdevelopment of Africa through the much talked about brain drain dates back to the period of the slave trade when a substantial part of Africa's able bodied labour force were carted to Europe and America. In his award winning book ''How Europe underdeveloped Africa'' the late Patrick Wilmot stated that the lack of economic progress by African countries stems from the age long problem of brain drain. Today, that phenomenon is a fatal cancer eating deep into the tissues of the African soul. But as we are made to understand, help is not too far away. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12749 AFRICA: TRADE MATTERS http://www1.worldbank.org/wbiep/trade/ In today’s economically integrated world, trade matters more than ever before. This website has been created as a research, training, and outreach tool for people interested in trade policy and developing countries. AFRICA: WEST BLAMED FOR 'SHAMEFUL' GLOBAL POVERTY http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=13&o=14555 The west's attitude to developing countries when it came to trade was akin to a football team improving its position on the log only to find that the number one team had changed the rules and said three goals had to be scored to count as one, according to a United Kingdom committee of peers, who accused the west of "unjustifiable and objectionable" protectionism in its dealings with developing countries, in a report attacking the "shameful" level of global poverty. NAMIBIA: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF GLOBALISATION http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=856 What has the impact of recent advances in technology and movements towards trade liberalization been in Namibia? This paper attempts to extend the debate on globalisation and labour markets to Namibia, as the authors suggest the current debate lacks theoretical and empirical rigour. NAMIBIA: LAND REFORM AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION: EXPERIENCES http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=831 Redistributive land reform in Namibia is widely regarded as a precondition for sustainable rural development and poverty alleviation. This document 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. SOUTHERN AFRICA: YEAR-ENDER 2002 - NEW THINKING NEEDED ON FOOD SECURITY http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=846 Southern Africa's food crisis is not a short-term transitory phenomenon that will be over when this year's harvest is gathered. It points, instead, to a failure of development policies and the impact of HIV/Aids, for which there are no easy solutions, humanitarian officials acknowledge. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 13.INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY AFRICA: AFRICAN PARLIAMENTS 'NEED SCIENCE COMMITTEES' http://www.scidev.net/indexts.asp?topsix=y# A prominent Ugandan politician has urged all parliaments in African countries to set up science and technology committees to increase the effectiveness with which science and technology are integrated into economic and social development. The suggestion was made this week by Amuriat Oboi Patrick, the chair of a science and technology commission set up last year by the parliament of Uganda to do precisely that. AN INTRODUCTION TO WEBLOGS http://www.techsoup.org/articlepage.cfm?articleid=439&topicid=5 What's a web blog? What do web blogs do? How can I blog? How can blogging benefit my organisation? Learn all you need to know to become a blogger by clicking on the link below. EXPLORING THE FACTORS THAT HINDER AND HELP THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTERNET ACCESS IN AFRICA http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/views/f_kofi_1.html This article looks at the current state of Internet access in the African countries of Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. The different approaches for hooking onto the Internet backbone are discussed with a view to the availability and cost to Internet services for the community at large. This article further examines some causes of the current problems facing African countries and the high cost of Internet access to the ordinary person. Finally some initiatives to bridge the digital divide are presented and analysed in terms of how to maximize their returns. ICTS AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: INTERVENTIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=858 There is a current discussion on the role that ICTs potentially have to play in rural areas of the developing world. Its stated aim is to look beyond the current 'digital divide' debate, which focuses on information disparities to assess the potential role of ICTs in the context of current rural development paradigms. NEW SOFTWARE PROVIDES SECURE WORLDWIDE TRACKING AND DOCUMENTATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES http://www.martus.org/project_update.html The Benetech Initiative, a Silicon Valley nonprofit, has announced the release of The Martus Human Rights Bulletin System, an open source technology tool designed to assist human rights organisations in collecting, safeguarding, organising and disseminating information about human rights abuses. Currently, much of the violation and abuse information gathered by grassroots human rights groups is lost to confiscation, destruction, or neglect, making it difficult or impossible for prosecutors, truth commissions and others to use the information as evidence to hold the perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable for many of their crimes. The Martus software enables grassroots NGOs to securely store their records on off-site servers with easy-to-use software, preserving crucial evidence for research, investigation and prosecutions. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 14.eNEWSLETTERS AND MAILING LISTS WSIS DISCUSSION LIST The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) NGO Gender Strategies Working Group (WN-GSWG) is pleased to announce the structure and corresponding schedule of the [EMAIL PROTECTED] discussion, an electronic mailing list that is one of the group's efforts in strategising and organising women's participation in the WSIS process. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12692 WSIS PREPCOM MAILING LIST FROM: Balancing Act's News Update, Http://www.balancingact-africa.com/ Concerns are being expressed over the reports that the International Telecommunications Union plans to propose at the WSIS summit in December 2003 the creation of an international cyberspace treaty to set forth basic rules on Internet taxation, copyright protection and crime prevention. Join the WSIS PrepCom 1 Mailing List (https://ssl.cpsr.org/mailman/listinfo/wsis-prep1/) to find out more and discuss the issue. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12665 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 15.FUNDRAISING DJIBOUTI:US TO OPEN AID OFFICE IN DJIBOUTI http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,6119,2-11-1447_1310041,00.html US President George W Bush discussed possible war against Iraq with Djibouti President Ismael Omar Guelleh on Tuesday and said the United States would soon open an aid office in the tiny African nation. During a cordial half-hour meeting, Bush thanked his guest for his help in the war on terrorism and told him that Washington aims to open an office of the US Agency for International Development in Djibouti. PAN AFRICA: UK TO CONTINUE AFRICAN AID http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,6119,2-11-1447_1309417,00.html Britain will not abandon its development projects in Africa even if war breaks out in Iraq, said British International Development Secretary Clare Short. Britain currently spends £600m ($900m) on development assistance in Africa and plans to increase this number to one billion pounds by 2005-2006. SOUTH AFRICA: KIDS FOR AFRICA AND AFRICA FOUNDATION RAISE FUNDS FOR RURAL SCHOOL http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=162 The South African-based Africa Foundation and US-based Kids for Africa have struck a partnership to encourage students to raise funds for rural schools. Their "Lights for Learning" initiative is targeting US$10,000 to electrify a rural school near Durban. Other partnership initiatives in the pipeline will fundraise for environmental projects. SOUTH AFRICA: MANDELA SOS MUSIC CONCERT CALLED OFF http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=161 Latest media reports about the Mandela SOS music concert reveal that it's not "all systems go" for the concert as reported earlier on Thusanang. According to the Sunday Times, the concert was called off on Friday last week due to contractual problems. The Nelson Mandela Foundation's head, John Samuel, cited the inability of US producers to come to a satisfactory agreement with the foundation as the main reason for the cancellation of the concert. Revenue generated from TV rights from around the world was to be donated to the Foundation and the UN for the fight against Aids. SOUTH AFRICA: YOUTH CAMPAIGNERS STILL WAITING FOR FUNDS FROM THE NDA http://www.thusanang.org.za/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=153 The Whittlesea Anti-Aids Youth Campaigners (WAAYC) are still waiting to receive an NDA grant allocated to them in 2001, reports the Daily Dispatch. The NGO is working with people affected and infected with Aids and it also helps with home- based care to those living with the virus. The organisation was supposed to have received the allocated grant in April last year. ZAMBIA: STATE PLEADS FOR DONOR FUNDING http://www.zamnet.zm/newsys/news/viewnews.cgi?category=3&id=1043304451 President Levy Mwanawasa says his New Deal Government is unable to complete phase two of a magistrates court complex because of financial constraints and appealed to cooperating partners to assist. Mr Mwanawasa said it was Government’s wish that the project was fully completed as designed, but lacked the capacity to embark on the construction of phase II which required US$2 million dollars. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 16.COURSES, SEMINARS, AND WORKSHOPS 7TH SOUTHERN AFRICA DOMESTIC RESOURCE MOBILISATION WORKSHOP Maseru, Lesotho, 11th To 13th February, 2003 MWENGO, the Lesotho Council of NGOs are please to confirm that the 7th Domestic Resource Mobilisation Workshop will take place at the National Convention Centre in Maseru, Lesotho from the 11th to 13th February, 2003. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12686 INTERNATIONAL HIV/AIDS TREATMENT EDUCATION AND ADVOCACY SUMMIT Cape Town, South Africa, 13 - 16 March 2003 An international coalition of HIV/AIDS organisations and individual advocates are sponsoring a four-day global summit on "treatment preparedness" in March 2003 in Cape Town, South Africa. "Treatment preparedness" is a term used to describe HIV/AIDS treatment education and advocacy efforts that are designed to increase access to and demand for HIV/AIDS treatment and prepare communities for safe and effective use of HIV therapies. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12688 OXFORD UNIVERSITY ACCREDITED COURSE ON FUNDRAISING AND RESOURCE MOBILISATION Final Call For Applicants: Adilisha Distance Learning Course For Non-profit Human Rights And Advocacy Organisations Fahamu, in association with the Department for Continuing Education at the University of Oxford, will be offering courses specifically designed to meet the needs of non-profit human rights and advocacy organisations in the SADC region (Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe). Developed together with international and regional experts, seven courses will be run in the course of the next 8 months. Fundraising and resource mobilisation may be a high priority on your list, but in the kind of context you are operating in, the prospects of raising sufficient funds might not be so good. In order to be effective - in order to bring about equity and justice - you need to be able to effectively fundraise and mobilise your resources, and effect change. And yet many of you are not able to do this. That's what this course is for. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12690 THE WEST AFRICAN COMPUTING, TELECOMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING CONFERENCE AND EXPO Accra International Conference Centre, 14-16 May 2003 AITEC WEST AFRICA 2003 is a highly interactive event for senior executives in government and the private sector who are seeking new insights into important strategic issues. Participants will exchange views, network and compare experiences with other key decision-makers and with expert speakers from the Information and Technology industry. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12664 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 17.ADVOCACY RESOURCES GLAXOSMITHKLINE (GSK) ACTIONS ENDANGER MILLIONS WITH AIDS A Call To Divest GSK Stock The AIDS Therapeutic Treatment Now (ATTN) International Coalition asks you to sign-on in support of the campaign to urge major investors to divest GSK stock. Help stop corporate greed at the expense of human lives! Because of GSK's excessive HIV drug pricing, which set the standard for all HIV drugs, millions have died due to lack of accessibility to affordable drugs. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12689 JOIN THE ANTI-WAR REFERENDUM http://www.internationalanswer.org/ Vote No to War! Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have marched to protest against a planned US-led war on Iraq. Make your voice heard by signing up against war. STOP ARBITRARY ARRESTS AND TORTURE IN SUDAN The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests you to write to the Sudanese authorities requesting the release of Mr. Abdallah Fadl Alla Abdalla, who was arrested on January 18 and, according to the OMCT, is at risk of torture. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12746 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 18.JOBS DRC: PROGRAMME DIRECTOR International Human Rights Law Group http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/64D58477B2A31EC8C1256CAE007F3902 The International Human Rights Law Group is a non-profit organisation of human rights and legal professionals and activists engaged in advocacy, training and litigation around the world. The Law Group's mission is to empower human rights advocates and defenders at the national level to expand the scope of human rights protection for men and women, and to promote broad participation in building human rights standards at the national, regional and international levels. MOZAMBIQUE: MANAGING DIRECTOR World Relief http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/3313757081662FC9C1256CA90068BCF1 The purpose of this job is to guide the development of Fundo de Credíto Comunitário as it becomes a regulated financial institution which promotes sustainable growth among the economically active poor in Mozambique. RWANDA: COUNTRY DIRECTOR Internews Network http://www.comminit.com/vacancy1161.html An experienced video journalist and project manager to serve in Kigali as Country Director, providing technical advise and training to Internews staff in Rwanda as they continue to produce bi-monthly video newsreels on the justice process for Rwanda is needed. In addition, the Country Director manages the programme budget and coordinates development of budgets for continued programme activities. French language skills, report and proposal writing ability required. SIERRA LEONE: INVESTIGATORS Sierra Leone TRC The Sierra Leone TRC is currently looking for up to six investigators to work on a one year contract pursuing the objectives of the TRC, that is, the investigation of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law during the conflict in Sierra Leone from 1991 to 1999. The positions are rated at approximately the P4-P5 level, and salary can run up to about $7,000 per month. Please send c.v.s and other relevant information to [EMAIL PROTECTED] TANZANIA: COUNTRY DIRECTOR CORD (Christian Outreach - Relief And Development) http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/D348B649497EEA03C1256CAD00429DB5 Urgently required to manage a large operation which provides community service and health programmes for over 130,000 Congolese refugees in three camps, and a community development programme in western Tanzania. UGANDA: DIRECTOR Path/African Youth Alliance http://www.comminit.com/vacancy1149.html The Director of the PATH/AYA Uganda project office provides day-to-day management of the Kampala office and its staff, representing PATH/AYA at partner meetings and is accountable to the Adolescent Health Strategic Programme Leader and senior PATH management for ensuring that project deliverables and timelines are met. Ideal candidate will have experience living and working in Anglophone Africa with demonstrated cross-cultural skills. ZIMBABWE: HEAD OF MISSION Action Against Hunger http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/769BB75137315BB5C1256CAD0048C36B The Head of Mission is in overall charge of all aspects of the Mission in the field. The HoM coordinates the programmes and represents Action Against Hunger in meetings with local authorities, other agencies and donors. He/she also manages the expatriate team, oversees the budgets, administration and local staff. The HoM is the link person between the Desk Officer in HQ and the field team for all aspects of the mission's running and for development of the mission strategy. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 19.BOOKS AND ARTS COMBATING AIDS: COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES IN ACTION Arvind Singhal, Ph.D. http://www.arvind-singhal.com/books/combating-aids.html As governments and health officials look for ways to control the spread of HIV/AIDS in developing countries, they should not overlook the influence of communication, according to the authors of a new book, "Combating AIDS: Communication Strategies in Action." EARNING A LIFE: WORKING CHILDREN IN ZIMBABWE Edited By Michael Bourdillon http://www.weaverpresszimbabwe.com/dev/devframeset.htm Child labour has received much international attention in recent years, as a form of child abuse that needs urgently to be brought to an end. It is perceived to hinder the rightful development of children, and particularly their education. In Zimbabwe, formalised child labour is not common. Nevertheless, children in a variety of situations have to work for their livelihood. In many cases families, and the children themselves, depend partly on it. Often the schooling of the children depends on the income they earn. SHARING KNOWLEDGE HANDBOOK Kingo J. Mchombu http://www.oxfam.ca/publications/SharingKnowledge.htm Information is an important resource for human development. Limited access to information and knowledge prevents the full use and potential growth of intelligence in rural people. Sharing Knowledge is a handbook written by Dr. Kingo Mchombu for men and women working in villages, towns and rural areas who wish to transform their communities through information sharing. The author is the Head of the Department of Information and Communication Studies at the University of Namibia and a leading scholar on information and rural development. Sharing Knowledge is published by the Oxfam Horn of Africa Capacity Building Program with the support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). TRADE AND ENVIRONMENT Edited By Shahrukh Rafi Khan http://www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk/home.htm International trade and environmental protection are issues that continually arise on the global policy agenda, including the ongoing World Trade Organization negotiations. But as this volume illustrates, there are often profound differences of perspective, even clashes of interest, between the rich industrialized and developing countries. This book seeks to clarify the issues, detailing how trade impacts on the environment, and the effects that environmental concerns can have on trade. UK LAUNCH OF AFRICA'S 100 BEST BOOKS The Southern African Book Development Education Trust, SABDET, has announced that it is partnering the British Council in the UK launch of Africa's 100 Best Books on 30 January 2003. Reading Africa, a briefing and networking event on the 100 Best Books initiative for reading promotion organisations, educationists, booktrade, press and media will be held at the British Council's London headquarters at Spring Gardens. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12672 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 20.LETTERS AND COMMENTS FOUR-WHEEL DRIVES, MOSQUITOES AND GIANT BLACK SABLES Judy Connors, Phaphama Initiatives, South Africa Luanda is the kind of city that, at once, depresses and lifts your spirits. It is also more than a city; spending a while in it is an experience, the memory of which, instead of fading over time, lingers on only to strangely intensify, as more insights prod the mind, and deeper emotions fill the heart. The blessing of peace in Angola is accompanied by an almost tangible sense of urgency among the people we worked with, that not a day should be lost now in the awesome task of looking ahead and rebuilding a nation crippled by thirty years of civil war. One NGO poised to do this is Angola 2000, who with Open Society funding, entered into a collaborative partnership with the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) from South Africa. Angola 2000’s vision is to nurture the fragile but oh so longed for peace, by sharing among all Angolans, AVP’s practical skills of authentic communication that builds respect for self and others, and the effective non-violent resolution of interpersonal conflict. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12731 MBWOGE DANIEL MBONG, CAMEROON Good initiative, looking forward to learning more about the newsletter. NAVAYA OLE NDASKOI Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania Through an article about AGOA you published recently, I learnt about your excellent web site. I am a Tanzanian citizen, a strong believer in social justice. I am also the co-coordinator of an informal group called Indigenous Rights for Survival International (IRSI). IRSI is a loose network of young people with an interest in public policy issues in Africa. We mainly discuss policy issues through email and ultimately write articles in the press. I am sending you this letter (available through the link below), which I wrote to the President of the United Republic of Tanzania calling on him to stop the violation of fundamental human rights in Loliondo Division of Ngorongoro, Tanzania. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=12799 SYDNEY JACOBS, SOUTH AFRICA Thank-you very much for the newsletter. The valuable information given has struck up hot debates amongst my colleagues and I. Being a South African, and things going fairly well in our country, we tend to be naive and forget what is happening on the rest of the continent. Thanks again for allowing access to such vital information. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.fahamu.org Kabissa - Space for change in Africa 24 Philadelphia Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912, USA [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.kabissa.org Southern African Non-Governmental Organisation Network (SANGONeT) P O Box 31 Johannesburg, 2000 South Africa [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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- [EMAIL PROTECTED]> 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] should you need further assistance subscribing or unsubscribing. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
