PAMBAZUKA NEWS 100 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 PUBLIC BROADCASTING - ELECTIONS, DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN AFRICA Rotimi Sankore The history of public broadcasting in Africa in relation to elections, democracy and human rights can be mostly summarised in six words, "abuse of power by incumbent governments". This may seem harsh, but this is the truth. >From Egypt to Zimbabwe, Gambia to Ethiopia and in almost every country between the four points of and centre of Africa - North, South, West, East and Central Africa - most governments have converted the power of public broadcasting to the abysmally selfish motive of sustaining themselves in power - indefinitely if possible. Were this to be of no consequence to the social, political and economic development of African countries and the continent as a whole, this observation could be considered an exercise in intellectual ball juggling. However given the unrivalled power of the broadcast media to shape public opinion, its continued abuse by numerous African governments can be likened to the use of a dis-information nuclear option by governments against their own people. How has the abuse of the broadcast media by these governments been used to damage the development of Africa and what can be done to end it? The first and most blatant indicator of the abuse of public broadcasting in Africa is its now infamous description as 'state broadcasting'. 'State' radio and television are often seen as one of the prizes of capturing power. The dangerous consequence of this is that public radio and television are seen as a means to propagate the opinion and agenda of governments or the state to the exclusion of the rest of society. In the 'state' controlled media, the interests of the state are merged with that of the ruling regime, and its leadership. The interests of the leadership in turn become the 'public interest.' The 'state' media is therefore used to, and sees its role as that of promoting the interest of the state, the ruling party or regime and its leadership - all of which have become indistinguishable from each other and the 'public interest'. Going by this, any opinions or events that may be opposed to or embarrass the 'state' are often not transmitted by the state broadcaster since this is assumed not to be in the interest of the public, i.e. state, i.e. leadership of the ruling regime. The clearest manifestation of this can be seen in the role of the 'state' media during most elections in Africa. The ruling party and its candidates are given wall-to-wall coverage, and everything good that happens is attributed to them with the possible exception of sunrise. The opposition on the other hand are excluded from or allocated the minimum coverage possible, which is almost always bad news. In the present world context of the "war against terrorism", legitimate activity of the democratic opposition could even be portrayed as "terrorist activity". Even paid or sponsored election campaign advertisements are not guaranteed airtime and have been considered subversive. We saw this happen in Zimbabwe and again to a lesser extent during the recent Kenyan elections in December 2002. Most opposition parties complain bitterly only because they are victims of such abuse. However, their philosophical perception of public broadcasting is no different from that of incumbent governments. The primary implication of denying the legitimate and democratic opposition appropriate visibility to the public via equitable access to the public broadcast media is the lack of a level playing field for competing political ideas. This applies not only to elections, but also to in-between elections when the 'state' media bombards the public with a constant stream of subtle and overt propaganda. The secondary implication of this is that anything that is perceived as being of possible help to the opposition is censored by the state controlled broadcast media. Censorship as we know, leads to lack of accountability, and lack of accountability reinforces dictatorship. In countries where the private or independent print media is located mainly in the cities, or where income and illiteracy limit their scope, the broadcast media becomes the eyes and ears of most of society. Since government with the exception of FM stations with limited reach largely controls the broadcast media, state control and abuse of the public media is bound to give governments an unhealthy capacity to control the flow of news and information. Such control lends itself easily to the manipulation of public opinion and thus society. For instance, where there is an impending famine and tens or even hundreds of thousands are facing mass starvation, as is presently the case in southern Africa and the Horn of Africa, news of this is censored. In other words, the public is denied the benefit of advance warning, knowing the causes of this, and debating potential short and long-term solutions in the public broadcast media. The lack of a collective sense of impending disaster and the opportunity of collective preparation for it means the first that the public knows of a famine is when it has actually hit them. But state censorship is only fully effective when backed with the full force of the levers of power. This means the subversion of democracy and in particular freedom of expression and opinion by means of manipulating public broadcasting is necessarily followed by the suppression of human rights in general, and media freedom in particular. This highlights the fact that media freedom cannot be secured in isolation from other pillars of democracy such as the right to freedoms of association, assembly, political participation and rights to be free from discrimination and persecution. It is therefore not out of place to posit that an open and accountable public media, which is guaranteed its editorial independence and facilitates equitable access to all shades of opinion in society is vital alongside other factors, to the sustenance of democracy. In order to achieve this several specific steps must be taken. Firstly, civil society must campaign unrelentlessly for the appointment process of boards and senior editorial and management staff of the public broadcast media to be removed from the control of executive arms of government. This campaign must involve all sectors of society, the professional associations, trade unions, NGO's and so forth. The body overseeing these appointments together with parliament must also reflect this diversity. Secondly, principles of editorial independence and the protection of journalists from political persecution for refusing overtures from political interests must guide parliamentary oversight. This editorial independence must go along with the media's obligation to promote accountability in both the public and other sectors of society. Thirdly, media freedom must be guaranteed for both the print and electronic, private or independent media. Fourthly, freedom of expression must be a constitutionally protected right that cannot be curtailed arbitrarily. Civil society must also make it clear, that for the political opposition to be accepted as legitimate, it should also sign up to these principles and not just oppose the government opportunistically. With specific regard to elections, certain principles are essential and must be institutionalised in respect of the public broadcast media: - Guaranteed equitable access to publicly owned broadcast media for all political parties. - A commitment to voter education with respect to the voting process, venues, times, political parties and candidates. - A limited number of brief and free slots for electoral campaign broadcasts be given to all political parties to outline their programme and candidates at relevant levels of government. This will ensure that at least all parties and candidates are given the equitable visibility necessary for genuine democracy. - A ceiling on the fees to be charged by all broadcast media for any additional election campaign broadcasts. - A ceiling on the total number of election campaign broadcasts that any one political party and its candidates can run over the period of the campaigns. This will prevent the outright buying of the elections by parties backed by richer members of society. - No discounts to any one political party for paid election campaign broadcasts. - A code of conduct and ethics regarding what is appropriate to run in an election advert or campaign. This will also cover incitement, hate speech, defamation and other standards agreed in advance by all parties. - No turning away of campaign adverts of any party to the advantage of other parties. - The rights of reply and correction for candidates that may have been defamed. - That the publicly owned media must not to be used by incumbent political parties to attack other political parties, and that ruling parties in particular not undermine the editorial independence of the broadcast media. - Guarantee of the safety and security of journalists, editorial and management staff, and media houses that exercise the right to editorial independence. - Fair, balanced and equitable news coverage of political party campaign activities especially during news broadcasts. This should include distinguishing between government activities and campaigning. - An agreement on fair, balanced and equitable coverage of election debates. - No broadcasting of speculative results that may truncate the will of the electorate and lead to conflict or violence based on electoral disputes. Any results broadcast should be based on results obtained from polling stations and agreed by agents of all parties present. Also, that coverage of disputed results not be broadcast in such a manner that is inflammatory and could lead to violent conflict. Significantly, these requirements for the public broadcast media to be able to play its role in facilitating democracy are not unique to Africa. Some of these and more are currently applicable in many countries around the world including in Africa. However, many countries around the world including the majority of African ones are yet to institutionalise these and other principles not outlined here. The institutionalisation of these principles is one of the urgent tasks facing African civil society and there must be no delay. But this is not a task for African civil society alone. The African Union must prove its relevance by not only adopting these principles, but also ensuring that its member states implement them. * Sankore is Coordinator of CREDO for Freedom of Expression and Associated Rights an international organisation focussing on rights issues in Africa. * Send comments on this editorial to [EMAIL PROTECTED] /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ PAMBAZUKA NEWS: 100 ISSUES OLD We hope readers will join us in celebrating the 100th issue of Pambazuka News. We thank you for the support you have given. Many have said they find this newsletter a powerful tool for social justice: share that tool. Encourage others to subscribe! /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 2.CONFLICT, EMERGENCIES, AND CRISES CAR: GOVERNMENT TROOPS RECAPTURE TWO TOWNS http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32355 Central African Republic (CAR) government forces, backed by the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) from neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), have recaptured the towns of Bozoum and Sibut, Radio France Internationale reported on Sunday. DRC-UGANDA: MUSEVENI CONVENES CABINET TO DISCUSS DRC http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32302 Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni convened a special cabinet meeting on Friday in the capital, Kampala, to discuss a report on allegations that Ugandan army officers were involved in looting natural resources in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to The New Vision government-owned newspaper. DRC: REBEL GROUP BLOCKS PEACE IN NORTHEAST The top United Nations envoy for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has said he would seek Security Council action if a rebel group did not stop blocking peace efforts in the Ituri region, where half a million people have been displaced, women raped and many children enlisted as soldiers. Related Link: * Ituri peace accord postponed http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32359 Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13440 ETHIOPIA: CALL FOR LONG-LASTING SOLUTIONS TO THE HUNGER CRISIS http://www.christian-aid.org.uk/news/media/pressrel/030217p.htm In a major new report Christian Aid examines the underlying causes of the current food shortage crisis in Ethiopia. 'Nothing to fall back on' says that Ethiopia will remain on the brink of catastrophe unless the root causes of poverty are attacked. IVORY COAST: SHOWDOWN TIME IS NIGH, SAY IVORY COAST REBELS http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=132&fArticleId=49161 Rebels controlling the north of Ivory Coast have been shuttling between West African capitals to rally support for their ultimatum to launch all-out war unless they are given seats in the government. Meanwhile, rebels in the western Ivorian city of Man, where human rights groups have found several mass graves and estimate that up to 12 000 people have died since September, claim that government troops had been responsible for most of the killings. LIBERIA: SIERRA LEONEAN KAMAJORS FIGHTING WITH LURD, GOVERNMENT SAYS http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32312 Liberia's government said on Thursday that former Kamajor militiamen from Sierra Leone were fighting alongside the rebel Liberians United Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) in the western part of the country. SOMALIA: CONFUSION AS TALKS' DELEGATES RELOCATE http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32323 Delegates to the Somali peace talks, arriving at the new venue in Nairobi from the western Kenyan town of Eldoret, have been greeted by chaos and confusion. SOMALIA: IS SOMALIA A SAFE-HAVEN FOR TERRORISTS? http://www.africanconflict.org/article.php?sid=334&mode=thread&order=0 It was no surprise to many observers when the US led war on terror turned its spotlight on Somalia during their operation in Afghanistan. But any confrontation between the most industrialized country and a country at the bottom of the human development index would be a catastrophe beyond imagination, says this commentary on the web site of the African Conflict Journal. SOMALIA: OPTIMISM ABOUT THE FUTURE - EVEN IF WAR CONTINUES http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=16140 Despite the slow progress at peace talks aimed at ending more than a decade of anarchy in Somalia, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) is optimistic about the future - even if the war continues. Steven Lauwerier was UNICEF's project officer based in Baidoa, in southern Somalia, until fighting broke out there late last year. He says progress is being made because UNICEF are now investing in people rather than infrastructure. SOUTH AFRICA: ANTI-TERRORISM BILL AIDS AND ABETS AMERICAN IMPERIALISM One of the first draft laws the South African Parliament will debate this year is the Anti-Terrorism Bill. This article from the Freedom of Expression Institute says the bill poses a threat to domestic activism and betrays the political history of the ruling ANC by preventing other international liberation movements from charting a similar course to its own. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13480 SOUTH AFRICA: PROTEST AGAINST WAR ON IRAQ http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=972 In an unprecedented show of unity, groups and individuals from across the political and social spectrum, men and women, young and old, from all sectors of society and from all shades of political opinion, all colours, religious beliefs and convictions came together at Johannesburgs Library Gardens to oppose the threatened war against Iraq. Similar marches took place in Durban and Cape Town. Related Link: * Memorandum of demands to US and UK governments http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=969 SOUTHERN AFRICA: RESPONDING TO THE FOOD CRISIS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=967 Southern Africa is struggling through its second major food shortage in a decade. The latest SADC Regional Food Security Emergency Assessment forecasts that the cereal harvest this year will be well below normal in areas that are already affected by food shortages. This implies that some 15,2 million people, concentrated in Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Malawi and Mozambique, will require food aid for a lengthy period. ZIMBABWE: FOOD SHORTAGES LEAD TO COPING STRATEGIES Many households were reported to be using 'coping' strategies to deal with food shortages, says a December/January report from The National NGO Food Security Network (FOSENET). These strategies included asset sales, school dropout, leaving home areas, and consumption of potentially toxic 'famine foods' that may have long term negative effects on households already impoverished by economic decline, unemployment, land hunger and HIV/AIDS. In the district of Mutare Rural people were reported to be moving away from their homes because of hunger. "This would need to be followed up as it is the first time an outflow of this nature has been reported and could signal a transition from food insecurity to more extreme famine type responses," said the report. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13399 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 3.RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY AFRICA/GLOBAL: SHOWDOWN http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=41&ItemID=3067 Even the New York Times was forced to admit it, after the mammoth Feb. 15-16 anti-war demonstrations: "There may still be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and world public opinion." But the next round of the struggle must begin, says this www.zmag.org article. It concludes: "If movements for social change unswervingly seek diversity, solidarity, equity, and self- management peace and justice and if they do it in a manner and with a tone and with tactics all of which seek to empower the weak and to meet the needs of the poor, they/we can win this struggle and the struggle I have in mind to win, the one I think we are all in, is not just over a reform here or there and it is not just over peace now and then - it is a struggle over who will decide the future and who the future will serve. Showdown indeed." Visit www.unitedforpeace.org/ for additional news about the campaign against war on Iraq. AFRICA: CIVIL SOCIETY, HUMAN RIGHTS AND DEVELOPMENT http://www.peacestudiesjournal.org.uk/ It is obvious that African concepts of human rights and civil society differ from those in the Western world, concludes this paper in the Peace Studies Journal. In addition, the traditional concept of civil society has been used and exploited in the past by Western colonial authorities to achieve their interests. "The question therefore is to what extent the much-touted concept of civil society and its accompanying NGO mushrooming on the continent can offer any real hope for redeeming Africa's plight and giving us a means of hope for liberation and development." CAMEROON: ICFTU DENOUNCES HARASSMENT AND DETENTION OF TRADE UNIONISTS The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions has expressed alarm at the unprecedented wave of repression against Cameroon trade unionists in recent days, which culminated on 12 February in the arrest for the second time of Benot Essiga, President of the ICFTU-affiliated Confederation syndicale des travailleurs du Cameroun (CSTC). Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13349 DRC: SECURITY COUNCIL HEARS OF 'GROSS VIOLATIONS' OF HUMAN RIGHTS Deeply concerned by the continuous heavy fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), despite the signing of ceasefire agreements, two top United Nations officials have briefed the Security Council on the military situation and the deteriorating human rights conditions in that country. Information gathered "reveals that prosecution on ethnic and tribal grounds, extortion of property, rape and other forms of sexual violence against women, extra-judicial executions, and the forced recruitment of children are being committed." Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13347 GUINEA-BISSAU: POLITICIANS ARRESTED http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2768181.stm Police in Guinea-Bissau have detained five prominent opposition politicians - including a former prime minister. The arrests come as the country prepares for early elections on 20 April. KENYA: AMNESTY ISSUES HUMAN RIGHTS MEMO TO GOVERNMENT http://allafrica.com/stories/200302180577.html As the new Government takes office Amnesty International has called on the newly-elected leaders to commit themselves to respect and uphold the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people, enshrined in domestic law as well as in the international human rights treaties signed and ratified by Kenya. KENYA: GOVERNMENT PLEDGES TO INVESTIGATE RIGHTS VIOLATIONS http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32285 A section of the human rights fraternity in Kenya has welcomed the new government's intention to open up fresh inquiries into human rights violations attributed to the previous Kenya African National Union (KANU) government. LIBERIA: AMNESTY CALLS FOR RELEASE OF RIGHTS ACTIVIST http://allafrica.com/stories/200302170684.html Amnesty International (AI) last Friday called on the Liberian government to release Aloysius Toe, a leading human rights activist, saying he was due to be tried on a trumped-up treason charge. "Toe has done nothing but work legitimately for the defense of fundamental human rights in Liberia. He should not be in prison and not on trial," AI said in a press statement. LIBERIA: THE ROAD TO THE BALLOT BOX SEEMS ROCKY http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=16059 The road to the ballot box in Liberia's political contest seems to be rocky as insecurity, violence and intimidation of political opponents rise in the run up to October's general elections. The race kicked off a few days ago with attacks, arrests and intimidation of political opponents and in one case the shooting of an opposition activist - raising the questions of insecurity, unhindered canvassing and level-playing field in the forthcoming elections. MALAWI: AN EYE ON DEMOCRACY - CONFUSION WITHIN THE REGIME http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=982 Although the National Assembly has attempted to water down some democratic precepts by the numerous amendments that they have allowed, the fact remains that the spirit and purpose of democracy still exists in our supreme law. The many attempts, including the removal of the recall provision, the abolishing of the second chamber, and the senate so far have not fully eroded the basic spirit of democracy and the accountability of the Executive through the peoples representatives. SOUTH AFRICA: MBEKI'S SPEECH POSITIVE, SAYS IDASA http://www.idasa.org.za In the state of the nation address, which was wide-ranging, positive, ambitious and delivery-orientated, President Mbeki sought to provide fresh hope for the poor, says the Institute for democracy in South Africa (Idasa). Related Link: * The State of the Nation Address - an Epoliticssa briefing http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=963 TANZANIA: GROUP LAUNCHES FIRST ANNUAL HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT Tanzania's first annual home-grown human rights report has highlighted continued abuses of police power, low levels of awareness about human rights, abuses of economic and cultural rights and the tabling of several constricting bills in parliament amongst its major concerns. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13410 UGANDA: MUSEVENI HINTS AT MULTI-PARTY POLITICS http://allafrica.com/stories/200302190448.html President Yoweri Museveni has recommended that Uganda should open up to multiparty politics. Top Movement sources told 93.3 Monitor FM Newsnight programme that the president announced the new direction on Tuesday, 18 February 2003, during a meeting at State House. ZIMBABWE: EU SANCTIONS RENEWED http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=132&fArticleId=50656 Protests marked Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's controversial first official visit to Europe for more than a year. On the day European Union travel sanctions were renewed for a year against him, he, his wife and about 70 other members of the Zimbabwean leadership flew into the French capital by private plane and checked into a five-star hotel. Related Links: * Obasanjo, Mbeki Move Could Plunge Country Into Violence http://allafrica.com/stories/200302130394.html * Letter from Obasanjo to Howard http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=964 ZIMBABWE: HIGH COURT JUDGE ARRESTED http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=16044 Police arrested a High Court judge seen as having angered the government by ruling against it, accusing him of corruption, state television reported on Monday. ZIMBABWE: MUGABE MAY FACE TORTURE CHARGE AT PARIS SUMMIT http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=987 The human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell will file a complaint with the general prosecutor of Paris, requesting that Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwean President, be arrested on torture charges when he arrives for a two-day summit of African leaders. The legal action, using the UN Convention Against Torture, which France has signed, is likely to be symbolic because there is no precedent of a foreign leader being prosecuted in France while in office. ZIMBABWE: NGO BODY EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER TORTURE The Southern Africa Human Rights NGO Network (SAHRINGON), consisting of human rights NGOs' in the region, has noted with "regret" the fact that the human rights situation in Zimbabwe has not improved since its March 2002 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. SAHRINGON has called on the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to take note of the various incidents of torture and increased violation of human rights in the country. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13366 ZIMBABWE: POLICE RAID REFORM MEETING http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-2402097,00.html Police raided a meeting of opposition and reform groups at a church in Zimbabwe's capital last Thursday, arresting a bishop and four human rights activists, witnesses said. Bishop Trevor Manhanga was among those arrested. Also arrested at the Northside Community Church were human rights lawyer Brian Kagoro, university political scientist John Makumbe, activist John Stewart and a church worker. ZIMBABWE: PRESSURE ON WITNESS IN TREASON TRIAL http://www.news24.com/News24/Zimbabwe/0,6119,2-259_1322830,00.html The defence in the trial of Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai on treason charges Wednesday demanded evidence that a political consultancy firm that exposed the alleged plot to kill President Robert Mugabe, is a bonafide company. Advocate George Bizos argued that the key witness Ari Ben Menashe, whom he has previously labelled a fraudster, must provide documentary evidence that his firm is not bogus. ZIMBABWE: RIGHTS LAWYER SEEKS SA ASYLUM http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/southern_africa/0,1009,52924,00.html A Zimbabwean human rights lawyer is seeking political asylum in South Africa after fleeing his country. Gabriel Shumba bears scars of brutal torture he allegedly suffered at the hands of the security forces in Zimbabwe. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 4.CORRUPTION ETHIOPIA: COURT "DISMISSES" TWO CORRUPTION CHARGES, MELES OVERRULES RULING http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=51675 An Addis Ababa court has dismissed corruption charges against Abate Kisho, former President of Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region and Ato Bitew Belay- former TPLF (Tigray People's Liberation Front- main partner of ruling coalition) Central Committee member and a dissident. KENYA: KIBAKI OPENS PARLIAMENT, VOWS TO FIGHT CORRUPTION http://allafrica.com/stories/200302190693.html President Kibaki has assured Kenyans that he was in charge of the nation and that he would lead the fight against corruption from the top. Delivering his first public address since being sworn in on December 30, Kibaki said corruption had undermined most of Kenya's important institutions and tarnished the reputations of Kenyan leaders. NIGERIA: ID SCHEME KICKS OFF http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2775695.stm A controversial and long-delayed identity card scheme is finally been introduced in Nigeria. Some northern politicians oppose the scheme, fearing it will be used to cross-check other population records, including the voters roll. NIGERIA: NIGERIA'S EX-MILITARY DICTATOR EYES POWER AS CIVILIAN PRESIDENT http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=51676 The main opposition candidate in Nigeria's April presidential elections works in an environment of arcadian plenty that belies his reputation for harsh asceticism. Muhammadu Buhari, a former military dictator famous for launching an authoritarian "war on indiscipline", uses a government-owned office whose lush gardens yield mangos, guavas and pawpaws. The view of the building from the road is dominated by a strikingly expansive tree from whose branches brown pods hang like socks on a washing line. NIGERIA: OBASANJO ADMITS PROBE OF GOVERNORS http://allafrica.com/stories/200302180308.html President Olusegun Obasanjo has confirmed that a number of governors were being investigated for corruption by the Independent Corrupt Practices (and-Allied Offences) Commission (ICPC). SOUTH AFRICA: ANC POLITICIAN GUILTY OF FRAUD http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=51656 Tony Yengeni, former chief whip for South Africa's ruling African National Congress, has pleaded guilty of fraud and was convicted by a Pretoria magistrate. As part of a plea agreement with the state, he was acquitted of the more serious charge of corruption. SOUTH AFRICA: CORRUPTION IS RIFE, SAYS REPORT http://allafrica.com/stories/200302190922.html About 60 percent of corruption in South Africa is uncovered by official processes, 18 percent by civil society and eight percent by the media, public service and administration minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said on Wednesday. According to the executive summary of a report on corruption in South Africa, released to the media by Fraser-Moleketi, whistle-blowing is crucial to the detection of fraud and corruption. SOUTH AFRICA: PARLIAMENT TO MOVE AGAINST WINNIE AND YENGENI http://allafrica.com/stories/200302190918.html The National Assembly is likely to take action against former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni for lying to Parliament when he made a special statement proclaiming his innocence to the House on March 28 last year. It is also understood that Parliament will soon move against ANC MP Winnie Madikizela- Mandela soon, despite her lawsuit. Madikizela-Mandela was guilty of contravening Parliament's code of conduct, in that she failed to disclose donations of R50000 a month to supplement her monthly income. UGANDA: FRAUD POSES RISKS http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=51649 KPMG Uganda, a professional services company, started a three-day workshop on 'fighting corruption and fraud' last week. During the official opening, Jotham Tumwesigye, the Inspector General of Government said, "It has long been recognised that corruption and fraud lurk at the very heart of our society, business and lives. If unchecked, these vices could very well undo the gains and hard work of the Ugandan people." ZAMBIA: CHILUBA LOSES IMMUNITY APPEAL http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2779615.stm In a landmark decision, Zambia's Supreme Court has ruled that parliament acted legally and properly last year in removing the immunity of former president Frederick Chiluba. This means that Mr Chiluba no longer enjoys protection from the law as guaranteed in the constitution and paves the way for an imminent arrest on charges of corruption. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 5.HEALTH ANGOLA: ECHO AID TO BOOST HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=986 Humanitarian operations in Angola are to receive a Euro 8 million (about 8.5 U S million dollars) boost from the European Commission. The EC Humanitarian Aid Office would channel the aid package through partner organisations and international agencies operating in the country, the European Commission said in a statement. BOTSWANA: LIVING POSITIVELY WITH AIDS DRUGS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=983 In a move considered a breakthrough for a country with high levels of stigma and discrimination, Batswana using antiretroviral drugs have come forward to tell their stories in a series of educational videos released this week. CONGO: EBOLA KILLS 60 http://allafrica.com/stories/200302190975.html The United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) is leading a joint team of health experts and clinicians rushing to control an outbreak of the Ebola virus, which has reportedly killed more than 60 people in the northwestern part of the Republic of the Congo. DRC: CHOLERA OUTBREAK 'ALARMING' http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32338 The outbreak of cholera in Mbuji-Mayi in the province of Kasai-Oriental in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) "remains alarming", and the disease continues to spread, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross. An update issued on Wednesday said 202 deaths had been reported since the disease broke out in September 2002. ETHIOPIA: "DRAMATIC EFFECT" OF HIV/AIDS PREVENTION PROGRAMMES HIV/AIDS prevention programmes have had a dramatic effect on changing risky sexual behaviour, authors of a five-year study in Ethiopia said last Friday. The study, which was carried out among 1,500 factory workers in Ethiopia and started in 1997, showed a marked drop in casual sex and an increase in condom use. Prevalence rates of the virus also plummeted. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13348 KENYA: CALL TO REJECT WTO PROPOSAL ON DRUGS Recent gains made in making HIV/AIDS treatment accessible and affordable to Kenyans are being threatened by a deal currently under discussion at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which would severely restrict access to such drugs, a group of local NGOs has warned. ActionAid Kenya, EcoNews and Medecins Sans Frontieres on 14 February said the WTO meeting, convened in Tokyo, Japan, was negotiating a proposal to restrict use of compulsory licensing for many developing countries only to extreme national emergencies. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13377 KENYA: MALARIA ALERT AFTER 68 DEATHS http://allafrica.com/stories/200302190897.html The minister for Health, Mrs Charity Ngilu, has led a high-powered delegation of doctors on a tour of various health facilities in Kitui District, where a malaria outbreak has killed 68 people since last month. MALAWI: EMPOWER YOUTH, WOMEN TO FIGHT AIDS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=975 The Executive Director of the National Youth Council Alex Mseka has declared that the war on HIV/Aids can only be won if the youth are sensitised on the dangers of contracting HIV. Mseka made these remarks during the official opening of the Gender and HIV/Aids awareness and capacity building workshop for NGOs organised by Counseling of the Adolescent and Youth Organisation in Mponela. MOZAMBIQUE: CHOLERA DEATH TOLL STANDS AT 33 http://allafrica.com/stories/200302170572.html Cholera has claimed 33 lives in Mozambique since the first case of the present outbreak was diagnosed in the northern province of Niassa in September 2002, reports Monday's issue of the Maputo daily "Noticias". NIGERIA: AFRICAN MINISTERS AT WTO MUST SUPPORT PUBLIC HEALTH African Trade Ministers participating in the on-going World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations have a duty to denounce any agreement which could threaten public health or undermine access to generic versions of essential drugs on the continent. Making the call in a statement released to the press, the Treatment Action Movement (TAM), a coalition of Nigerian civil society actors on access to treatment and care, said the discussions at the WTO meeting hold great significance for access to healthcare in many developing countries. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13423 SOUTH AFRICA: MBEKI 'SILENT' ON AIDS IN ANNUAL STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=16067 South African President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation address to Parliament last Friday "was silent on the key challenge of AIDS," Reuters reports. Mbeki "shrugged off" renewed demands from hundreds of AIDS advocates who marched on Parliament, calling for the government to reconsider its "go- slow" approach to the epidemic. SOUTH AFRICA: SLOW PROGRESSORS OFFER HOPE http://www.health-e.org.za/view.php3?id=20030203 Government is under increasing pressure to provide anti-retroviral drugs to people with HIV. In developed countries, the drugs have resulted in babies born with HIV now reaching university. But what about South African children with HIV? SOUTH AFRICA: THOUSANDS DEMAND HIV TREATMENT Thousands marched in Cape Town last Friday in a massive show of support for the demand that the South African government sign and implement a national HIV treatment programme. Estimates on the amount of marchers attending the march organised by AIDS-lobby group the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and taking place on the occasion of the opening of South Africa's Parliament for 2003 ranged from between 10 000 and 30 000. The material available through the link below includes a report on the march, a letter from TAC activist Zackie Achmat about the march, the memorandum presented to government and a memorandum to President Bush and Members of US Congress dealing with the Doha agreement. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13453 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 6.EDUCATION AND SOCIAL WELFARE AFRICA/GLOBAL: KEY PAPERS ON YOUTH HEALTH http://www.fhi.org/en/youth/youthnet/pubs/youthpubs.html Youth Issues Papers are in-depth reviews of critical topics regarding youth reproductive health and HIV/AIDS prevention. They include an analysis of the issue, a literature review, case studies, lessons learned, and ideas about criteria for best practices. AFRICA: DIARRHOEA VACCINE ON FAST TRACK FOR POOR NATIONS http://tinyurl.com/5yav A new multi-million dollar project has been launched to speed up access in developing countries to a vaccine against the world's leading cause of severe diarrhoea among children. The goal of the three-year US$30 million venture is to ensure that a vaccine against the rotavirus is made available to children in developing countries at the same time as it is to those living in the developed world, a move that, it is claimed, could save half a million lives a year. EGYPT: MASS ARRESTS OF STREET CHILDREN The Egyptian government conducts mass arrest campaigns of children whose "crime" is that they are in need of protection, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. Children in police custody face beatings, sexual abuse and extortion by police and adult criminal suspects, and police routinely deny them access to food, bedding and medical care. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13481 GABON: STREET CHILDREN BATTLE FOR SURVIVAL http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=16040 As night falls in Gabon's capital Libreville, 13-year-old Arthur Goma stakes his patch for scraping out an existence in a country torn apart by devastating wealth inequality. For the street children of Libreville, survival is a nocturnal struggle of begging and gangland battles in a west African country which was once considered as one of the richest in Africa. IVORY COAST: DISPLACED CHILDREN GET AN OPPORTUNITY TO RETURN TO SCHOOL http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32371 UNICEF has donated school supplies and recreational equipment for 5,000 pupils at the Ngokro School in Yamoussoukro. UNICEF plans to motivate the international community and donors to get them to contribute to the education sector and thus enable the children to enjoy one of their basic rights, the right to schooling. KENYA: MODEL SCHOOL IN NAIROBI SLUM Kibera is famous, not as a centre of learning, but as one of Africa's largest slums. The majority of Kibera dwellers have poor incomes and lack basic amenities such as toilets and clean water. But all is not gloom in the sprawling slum. A school in Kibera was last week hailed as a shining example of how children from poor communities can successfully access free primary school education. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13411 NIGERIA: EDUCATION PERFORMANCE WORST IN WEST AFRICA http://allafrica.com/stories/200302170207.html The poor state of Nigeria's educational sector has resulted in a frightening decay which has put the performance of the country's candidates in public examinations behind that of their counterparts in war ravaged countries in West Africa. This is revealed in a quarterly review of the sector by Shelter Rights Initiative. SOUTH AFRICA: WHAT ABOUT THE YOUTH IN SOUTH AFRICA? http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=966 This is a call for the South African government to start taking the issues of youth unemployment seriously. Its about time the National Youth Service is implemented. This issue has been discussed for more than eight years since the Government of National Unity took over. Since then, more 40% of the youth from age 15-35 years have remained economically inactive, unemployed, and living under extreme condition of poverty. UGANDA: CALL FOR FREE SECONDARY EDUCATION FOR NORTH KIDS http://allafrica.com/stories/200302180157.html The Reform Agenda has called for immediate free secondary education for children from war-ravaged areas because their parents are unable to raise school fees. "Their parents are in the internally displaced people's camps, unable to cultivate crops or do anything to earn a livelihood to pay fees," Reform Agenda deputy secretary Louis Otika said. UGANDA: MASS TEACHER TRANSFER http://allafrica.com/stories/200302170130.html Over 2,000 teachers are due to be been transferred in a massive shake-up of staff in secondary schools nationwide. Some 400 teachers have already received transfer letters. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 7.WOMEN AND GENDER AFRICA/GLOBAL: THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN CONFLICT AND POST CONFLICT SITUATIONS http://www.un-instraw.org/en/news2.phtml?id=493 This Occasional Paper published by the Conflict Research Unit of the Clingendael Institute in the Netherlands identifies seven different roles and positions of women in armed conflict. The institutional analysis analyzes how 16 international organisations address these roles and positions of women in armed conflict in their mandates, policies, structures, instruments and activities and budgets. It outlines specific policy options per organisation for strenghening the position of women in armed conflict and conflict-related interventions. AFRICA: GENDER AND HIV/AIDS DOSSIER http://www.eldis.org/gender/dossiers Eldis, a gateway to information on development issues, has produced a dossier on Gender and HIV/AIDS that provides narrative and up-to-date resources to guide the user through the key issues and debates on this theme. The web resource is regularly updated with new debates, case studies and research papers. Contributions from researchers and practitioners are welcomed. AFRICA: HIV INFECTIONS HIGH IN WOMEN http://allafrica.com/stories/200302170474.html Of the 40 million people worldwide who are living with HIV or have AIDS, approximately 50% of those infected are women. The percentage is higher in Africa with 58% of the total number of people that are HIV positive being women and a large number of women in Sub-Saharan Africa continue to contract the virus because of factors that they are unable to control. AFRICA: REPRODUCTIVE CHOICE AND WOMEN LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=958 One area in which stigma and discrimination affect women living with HIV/Aids is reproductive health. This report summarises available information concerning barriers and discrimination that women living with HIV/Aids face in exercising their full sexual and reproductive rights concerning pregnancy. AFRICA: WAR HITS HOME ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN http://www.unicef.org/graca/women.htm Women and girls in particular experience conflict and displacement in different ways from men because of the gender division of roles and responsibilities. Increasingly, says this UN report, modern warfare is wreaking havoc on the lives of women and girls, and on the health and educational services that are key to family and community survival and development. ETHIOPIA: WORKSHOP TO PROMOTE GIRLS' EDUCATION http://allafrica.com/stories/200302180576.html The Ministry of Education (MOE) and UNICEF began a workshop this week to develop innovative strategies and an action plan to promote girls' education in five regions that have wide gender gaps and low girls' school enrolment rates. GHANA: NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN? http://www.id21.org/society/s6aea1g1.html As gender issues and land rights assume greater importance, how are Ghanaian women seeking to redefine the terms on which they gain access to and control of land? How are women farmers being affected by growing land scarcity? Is enough being done to enable poor women farmers to gain improved access to extension services and productive assets? KENYA: CONCERNS FOR A CRITICAL LOOK AT ABORTION POLICIES http://allafrica.com/stories/200302170962.html As abortion-related mortality continues to rise, attitudes and lack of supportive policies on reproductive health are conspiring to send more young women of reproductive age to the graveyard. There is apparent need to increase the awareness on risks of unsafe abortions, but for those who abort, the intervention would be to improve post-abortion care, argues this commentary. SOUTH AFRICA: FOCUS ON THE "BURDEN" OF MANHOOD http://allafrica.com/stories/200302190962.html It is hard to be a boy in South Africa these days. A recent survey of 30 schools in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province found that, across all races, male students and teachers experience uncertainty about their role and status and a sense of displacement due to the loss of their privileged space in society. The study examined how masculinity is constructed and maintained in schools to better understand how deeply-held notions of masculinity lead to high-risk behaviour for HIV infection among men and women. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 8.REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION AFRICA: JANUARY 2003 ISSUE OF FORCED MIGRATION REVIEW http://www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR16/fmr16full.pdf Issue 16 of Forced Migration Review for January 2003, published by the Refugee Studies Centre in association with the Norwegian Refugee Council/Global IDP Project, is now available online. Entitled African Displacement: Roots, Resources and Resolution, titles of articles include 'Camps and freedoms: long- term refugee situations in Africa', 'Western Sahara and Palestine: shared refugee experiences' and 'IDP protection in Angola: has momentum been lost?' AFRICA: REFUGEES ON 'BRINK OF HUNGER' AS FUNDING STALLS, UN WARNS The United Nations has warned that the fate of more than 1.2 million refugees in Africa was uncertain due to a lack of funding which has forced the UN's lead food programme to curtail much-needed food aid. The warning issued jointly by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) comes amid growing concerns that a potential conflict in Iraq may distract the attention of donor nations from the pressing needs of millions of refugees on the African continent. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13345 BOTSWANA: WORLD BANK FINDS DIAMOND PROJECT ON GANA AND GWI LAND Kalahari Diamonds Limited, formed at the initiative of, and partly owned by, BHP Billiton, has secured US$2 million funding from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to explore for diamonds in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), Botswana. The IFC, part of the World Bank, approved the project on Thursday. This is according to a press release from Survival International, a worldwide organisation supporting tribal peoples. The CKGR is the ancestral land of the Gana and Gwi 'Bushmen' and Bakgalagadi. After a 15-year campaign of persecution, the last Bushmen were evicted from their homes in February 2002. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13386 BURUNDI-DRC: UNHCR MOVES REFUGEES TO SAFETY http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32299 Concerned for their security, the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Wednesday moved 406 Congolese refugees in Burundi farther away from the border with the "volatile" Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It reported on Thursday that the refugees had left Rugombo, a refugee reception centre located three kilometres from the border, for Cishemeye I transit centre. BURUNDI/DRC/TANZANIA: EC GIVES 24 MILLION FOR BURUNDIAN AND CONGOLESE REFUGEES http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32301 Tanzania is scheduled to receive 24 million (US $26 million) from the EC this year to help meet the humanitarian needs of Burundian and Congolese refugees in the country, according to the EC Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO). GHANA: "REVERSE DISPARITY IN TREATMENT OF AFRICAN REFUGEES" http://allafrica.com/stories/200302170950.html Participants at a workshop on the "Rights of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons to Information and Communication" held at Abokobi, have endorsed the nomination of Nii Laryea Sowah, Editor of the "Spark" and Executive Secretary of the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana as West-Africa Coordinator of the newly created West Africa Media Network For Refugees. IVORY COAST: MORE DISPLACEMENT PREDICTED http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32318 If the current situation in Cote d'Ivoire prevails, half a million more people could be displaced over the next two months, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Wednesday. LIBERIA: REFUGEES FACE HUNGER http://allafrica.com/stories/200302190707.html About 34,000 Liberian returnees and refugees fleeing fighting in neighboring Ivory Coast are said to be facing severe hunger in Maryland County. NIGERIA: UNREST DISPLACED 750,000 IN TWO YEARS, SAYS VP http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32368 Communal disturbances in Nigeria displaced 750,000 people in the last two years, Vice President Atiku Abubakar said on Monday. Atiku revealed these figures while declaring open a workshop on the "United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement" in the central city of Jos, organised by the National Commission for Refugees. He said Nigeria has had its own "unenviable share" of displaced people in recent years. SUDAN: SUDANESE DISPLACED 'DELIBERATELY' http://www.idpproject.org/weekly_news/weekly_news.htm#1 Southern Sudanese civilians have been displaced by recent fighting between warring sides in Sudan, said a US civil protection monitoring team, reports AP. In areas in Western Upper Nile, the team said many thousands of civilians were forcibly displaced by direct military attack despite a cease-fire, adding that the government bore most of the responsibility. ZIMBABWE: COUNTRY HIT BY INFLUX OF REFUGEES http://allafrica.com/stories/200302170294.html There is an unprecedented influx into Zimbabwe of asylum seekers from the Great Lakes region, a United Nations official has said. Tapiwa Huye, the assistant programme officer at the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) office, said: "The influx is unusual. The Transit Centre is full and we are looking for tents to accommodate the asylum seekers." ZIMBABWE: DISPLACED FARM WORKERS URGENTLY NEED AID http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32275 The plight of farm workers affected by Zimbabwe's fast-track land reform programme amid a serious food security crisis is being largely ignored, NGOs warn. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 9.RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA AFRICA: TUTU INSPIRES STUDENTS http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/nation/5215249.htm Archbishop Desmond Tutu delivered inspirational messages about overcoming racism in South Africa and America to two very different audiences during recent speaking engagements. He reminded students that racism not only fueled apartheid - the legal discrimination against nonwhites in South Africa - but also fueled slavery and lynchings in America and the Holocaust in Germany. He told students that skin color doesn't say anything about a person's intelligence, compassion or ability to have fun. SOUTH AFRICA: MAN HELD FOR RACIST ATTACK http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,6119,2-7-1442_1321540,00.html A 20-year-old man was arrested in Pretoria on Monday in connection with an alleged racially-motivated attack on a group of black children. A group of seven black boys between the ages of 14 and 16 were allegedly assaulted by a group of whites, police reported. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 10.ENVIRONMENT AFRICA/GLOBAL: SCIENTISTS CHALLENGE DEFORESTATION STUDY http://www.scidev.net/frame3.asp?id=1402200315192123&authors=Nicky% 20Lewis&posted=14%20Feb%202003&c=1&r=1&t=NB Scientists have criticised a study published last year which suggested that earlier estimates of worldwide tropical deforestation and atmospheric carbon emissions were too high. The original study calculated that deforestation rates were 23 per cent lower than current UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates. AFRICA: HUNGER FOR PROFIT: THE GENETIC MODIFICATION OF DEVELOPING COUNTRY AGRICULTURE http://www.id21.org/society/s2bas1g1.html Genetically modified food crops have been held up as a solution to hunger in the developing world. Are the claims of the seed companies a practical reality? Is this 'second green revolution' taking place in the interest of farmers or the multinational corporations that produce and sell seeds, pesticides and herbicides around the world? EAST AFRICA: COMMUNITY-BASED WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN EAST AFRICA http://www.id21.org/society/s2ceb1g1.html Large-scale protectionist programmes have increasingly been abandoned in favour of community-based wildlife conservation. But the huge range of initiatives makes it difficult to assess the value and impact of these. A new review of community conservation efforts in East Africa finds that much remains to be done, particularly at policy, legal and institutional levels. KENYA: PRODUCE COPIES OF ENVIRONMENT REPORT, NGO TELLS GOVT http://allafrica.com/stories/200302190808.html A non-governmental organisation has sued the Kenya government to compel it to make public the report of the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) for a titanium mining project in Kwale District of Coast Province. The case against the National Environmental Management Authority (Nema) was filed in the High Court by George Mulama Wamukoya on behalf of the Centre for Environmental Legal Research and Education (CELRE) on February 6. KENYA: WILD SUNFLOWERS ENRICH FERTILITY OF AFRICAN FARMS http://ens-news.com/ens/feb2003/2003-02-18-01.asp As African countries grapple with dwindling crop yields and famine, some farmers in east Africa have discovered a new way to replenish soil fertility and increase farm yields. Eunice Gichiku Kinyua, a 40 year old Kenya farmer, is among hundreds of farmers in rural Kenya who have discovered that the wild sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) replenishes soil fertility and helps increase crop yields. MOZAMBIQUE: CONSERVATIONISTS RAISE RED WARNING FLAGS http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=16009 How far will Mozambique go with its promising economic recovery if the price is a damaged environment, nature conservationists are asking? ''From a proposed new highway that will devastate the rainforest in the Inhambane province, to the potential destruction of coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, sacrificed to shipping, mining and tourism, red warning flags are being raised all over this beautiful country,'' conservationist Manuel Chissano told IPS. NIGER: MODERN LAW AND TRADITIONAL LANDHOLDING PRINCIPLES IN NIGER http://www.id21.org/society/s1abg1g1.html As populations rise in the Sahel and arable land degrades, is conflict inevitable? Why are reforms of tenure law, decentralisation and the creation of new land institutions failing to reduce disputes over access to and ownership of land? Could innovative forms of arbitration bring together stakeholders to settle lasting disputes and develop sustainable forms of natural resource management? NIGER: PROTECTING FORESTS IN A COUNTRY FUELLED BY WOOD http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32377 With 95 percent of Niger's 10 million people depending on firewood as their main source of household fuel, there has been growing pressure on the remaining forests in the semi-arid nation. TANZANIA: MAASAI PREDICAMENT UNDER THE RULE OF WILDLIFE PRESERVATION Locals get almost nothing out of conservation accrued benefits. There is much talk on the need for wildlife neighbouring communities to share the benefits of wildlife conservation. This loud cry is neither supported by enforceable legislation nor by clearly spelt out Government policies. To Government functionaries, it is enough to proudly talk of the earnings from wildlife and highlight it as a percentage of the national income. But if the successes of conservation in terms of the welfare of rural people in and/or adjacent to wildlife-protected areas are gauged, obviously they are failure. Yet the villages in and around protected areas have little or almost no Government- supported infrastructures, argues this commentary. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13400 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 11.MEDIA AFRICA: ARTICLE 19 - THE DRAFT DECLARATION ON THE RIGHT TO COMMUNICATE http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=962 A draft Declaration on the Right to Communicate has been prepared by C. Hamelink (Hamelink Declaration) and endorsements of this Declaration are being sought. This note by ARTICLE 19 assesses the Hamelink Declaration both for compliance with international human rights standards, in particular relating to freedom of expression, and for the contribution it makes to further developing the right to communicate. ARTICLE 19 endorses, in principle, the idea of an authoritative elaboration of a right to communicate. ANGOLA: ATTACK ON RADIO STATION A 'SETBACK' http://allafrica.com/stories/200302180458.html Human rights activists on Monday said the government's recent attack on Angola's private Radio Ecclesia, accusing it of practising "radio terrorism", was a setback for the fostering of democracy in the country. CHAD: NEWSPAPER CHIEFS FINED AND JAILED http://www.indexonline.org/indexindex/20030212_chad.shtml Nadjikimo Bnoudjita, publisher of the weekly Notre Temps, and Mbainaye Btoubam, the paper's deputy editor-in-chief, were sentenced to six months' imprisonment and fined two million CFA francs ($3,300) in damages and interest on 6 February 2003. DRC: JOURNALIST AND HIS SPOUSE ARRESTED IN KINSHASA http://www.ifex.org/alerts/view.html?id=11961 A journalist from La Tempte des Tropiques newspaper and his wife have been arrested in Kinshasa. National Intelligence Agency (Agence nationale des renseignements) agents arrested Bamporiki Chamira, a journalist with a Kinshasa- based daily newspaper, and his wife at their Kinshasa home. They are being held at the Agence nationale des renseignements prison on Avenue ex-3Z in Kinshasa or Gombe. ETHIOPIA: ARTICLE 19 RELEASES REPORT ON LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ARTICLE 19 has released a report on the current legal framework for freedom of expression in Ethiopia. ARTICLE 19 believes that the report will inform the ongoing dialogue in Ethiopia on the new draft press law. The Report presents an independent assessment of the current legal framework for freedom of expression in Ethiopia and identifies the key areas of concern in relation to freedom of expression. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13356 ETHIOPIA: NEWSPAPER VENDORS DETAINED, HARASSED Vendors of Ethiopian free press publications are being hunted down and detained, and their newspapers are being snatched from them by police, says the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists' Association (EFJA). This comes at a time when local and foreign journalists, publishers and media professionals have strongly protested against the new draft press law that have been made public by the Ministry of Information. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13383 SOUTHERN AFRICA: NEGATIVE MOVEMENT ON PRESS FREEDOM The Regional Governing Council of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), at its meeting held in Johannesburg on February 11 and 12, 2003, noted with concern the fluctuating state of media freedom in southern Africa. In a statement, MISA recognised and celebrated the unique and positive developments recorded over the last eighteen months that have upheld media freedoms and freedom of expression in the region. "Unfortunately numerous negative incidents recorded in the same period grossly outnumber the positive developments," said MISA. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13424 ZAMBIA: JOURNALIST RELEASED ON BAIL Chali Nondo, a journalist from "The Monitor" newspaper, was released on police bond on 10 February 2003, (local time), after spending about three hours in police custody. On 5 February, Nondo was detained on a charge of "publishing false news with intent to cause fear and alarm to the public". Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13380 ZIMBABWE LOOKING AT THE MEDIA LAW http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=974 President Thabo Mbeki said that Zimbabwe had agreed that changes were needed in its media laws, which critics say are aimed at muzzling the press. South Africa has been criticised for taking a soft approach with the government of President Robert Mugabe, which has been slammed by the West on human rights issues against the backdrop of a collapsing economy and chronic food shortages. ZIMBABWE: FLOWER AND OLONGO DISCIPLINED The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has issued a statement condemning the action taken by the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) to discipline two of their players who protested against the ongoing human rights violations in the country. According to media reports, the ZCU suspended Henry Olonga and referred Andy Flower to the disciplinary committee for wearing black armbands during a world cup cricket match between Zimbabwe and Namibia in Harare on Monday February 10 2002. The black armbands were a sign of protest against the 'death of democracy' in Zimbabwe. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13361 ZIMBABWE: MEDIA WORKERS AND PROTESTORS ARRESTED Three media workers were arrested on 14 February at the United Nations Offices in Harare. The three are Lloyd Mudiwa, a reporter with The Daily News, Aaron Ufumeli, a photographer with the same paper, and Tsvangirai Mukwazhi, a photographer for Associated Press. The police confiscated Ufumeli's camera and those of several other freelance journalists. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13360 ZIMBABWE: MOYO SILENT ON MEDIA LAWS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=979 Jonathan Moyo refused to comment on weekend reports that President Thabo Mbeki had said Zimbabwe would change its tough media laws, following talks with South Africa and Nigeria. But his boss in the ruling Zanu PF politburo, Nathan Shamuyarira, was surprised at Moyos refusal to comment. The Zanu PF secretary for information and publicity said Moyo should comment "since he is the one who piloted the media law". /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 12.DEVELOPMENT AFRICA/GLOBAL: WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY ON IFI GOVERNANCE The World Bank and IMF have been condemned by civil society groups for many years for their inequitable governance arrangements. Recently officials have also complained, and the Monterrey Financing for Development conference last year came up with language urging the Bank and Fund to reform in this area. Visit http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/topic/reform/r3201ifigov.html for more information and read a Draft Civil Society Statement on the issue at the link below. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13365 AFRICA: CIVICUS CHALLENGES WORLD BANK TO ENGAGE WITH CIVIL SOCIETY http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=954 The World Alliance for Citizen Participation has taken its message of support for broader civic participation and engagement in global policy-making and governance to the World Bank. CIVICUS Secretary General and CEO Kumi Naidoo, delivered an address on Civil Society, Governance, and Globalisation as part of the Banks Presidential Fellows Lecture Series. AFRICA: CONTINENT FIRST BENEFICIARY OF PILOT PROJECTS FOR REDUCING POVERTY BY HALF BY 2015 http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=968 The governing council of the United Nations Environmental Programme, which met in Nairobi last week, resolved that the continent be the core centre in implementing resolutions passed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development. AFRICA: NATIONS STILL FAR APART ON FARM SUBSIDIES, CHEAP DRUGS http://www.oneworld.net/ips4/2003/02/17-2.shtml Twenty-two countries that ended a mini-summit Sunday on trade liberalisation, including the touchy issues of agricultural subsidies and access to cheaper drugs, reached no breakthrough - and managed only an agreement to discuss the matter further. AFRICA: PARIS SUMMIT TO FOCUS ON NEPAD http://allafrica.com/stories/200302140414.html With less than a week to go before the controversial France/Africa Summit, the French government has revealed that the New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) will be the main focus. The summit will tackle issues such as the prevention and settlement of conflicts, development of natural resources, health, education and the improvement of agriculture with a view to poverty reduction. AFRICA: WHAT NEXT AFTER PORTO ALEGRE? There is need for an alternative development paradigm to counter capital led globalisation, argues an article in the latest edition of the Seatini Bulletin that reflects on the recent World Social Forum. This essentially means that non- governmental organisations, civil society, individuals and governments have to evaluate their engagement with the social and economic challenges that confront the peoples of the world. Governments particularly need to link themselves more with social movements and peoples aspirations than with big businesses and profit. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13503 ANGOLA: PUSHED ASIDE BY GLOBALISATION: WHAT HOPE FOR WAR-TRAUMATISED LUANDA? http://www.id21.org/society/s7bpj1g1.html How is globalisation affecting the lives of the 3.4 million inhabitants of the Angolan capital, Luanda? Can the state use wealth from oil and diamonds to lift the city's poor out of poverty? Can civil society release the potential of the poor to become development actors? /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 13.INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY ANSWERING QUESTIONS ABOUT TELECENTRES http://www.developmentgateway.org/ict/telecenters Individual telecenters have been shown to foster profound developmental outcomes within the communities they serve. Yet the role of telecenters in rural development and in the development of marginal urban areas is not clear. Moreover, there are many kinds of telecenters. Which telecenters are most successful in providing access to the poor and reducing rural poverty? Which business models work best? Do different countries and different kinds of communities require different types of telecenters and/or different business models? Why do so many Telecenters fail? ELECTRONIC GOVERNANCE PROJECT UNDERWAY IN ANGOLA http://allafrica.com/stories/200302130024.html A project for the launch of Electronic Governance (E-Gov) in Angola is being prepared at the National Commission for Information Technologies. E-Gov will involve a generalised use of information technologies by the public administration in relations between the government and citizens as well as between government and enterprises. SOUTH AFRICA CONSIDERS OPEN SOURCE http://news.com.com/2100-1001-983315.html?part=dtx&tag=ntop Joining a growing trend, a South African government council recommended an official policy that promotes the use of open-source software - but stops short of jettisoning proprietary applications. The recommended policy for Africa's wealthiest nation expresses a preference for open-source applications when proprietary alternatives don't offer a compelling advantage. Other nations have taken more extreme positions, mandating the use of open-source software unless no other practical alternatives exist. SUMMIT PREP MEET CAUGHT BETWEEN TWO VISIONS http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=9893 In the preparatory discussions for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to take place in December, a rift has emerged between the visions aiming to put new technology at the service of business, or of citizens. The differences were evident from the beginning, in Monday's sessions of Prepcom-2 in Geneva, convened by the United Nations to discuss how to achieve greater equality in access to information and communications technology. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 14.eNEWSLETTERS AND MAILING LISTS DISCUSSION ON AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES AND HIV/AIDS The Africa America Institute in partnership with the Association of African Universities would like to invite you to participate in an online discussion forum from 10 February - 9 March 2003. We will be exploring the theme: "How are African Universities responding to the HIV/AIDS Pandemic?" Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13405 ONLINE DISCUSSION - RURAL WOMEN AND ACCESS TO LAND The Rural Women's Network of Senegal and ENDA-PRONAT are organizing a conference on "Rural Women's Access to land" - from 25-27 February 2003 in This, Senegal. An online discussion is now open on the new Dimitra website http://www.fao.org/dimitra/ in preparation for this event. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13404 WSIS ON-LINE DISCUSSION http://www.scidev.net/notices/detail.asp?t=S&id=170220031204416 In order to consult its members and associated bodies/organisations, as well as the wider international scientific and technological community, ICSU is hosting an on-line forum to develop its main input to the World Summit on the Information Society process from 10 to 28 February 2003. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 15.FUNDRAISING ANGOLA: ECHO AID TO BOOST HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php? action=viewarticle&articleid=986&PHPSESSID=2f2dc202c3b62614d28262cf7b2966fd Humanitarian operations in Angola are to receive a Euro 8 million (about US 8.5 million dollars) boost from the European Commission. The EC Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO) would channel the aid package though partner organisations and international agencies operating in the country, the EC said in a statement. GHANA: 155 STUDENTS BENEFIT FROM SIKKENS EDUCATION FUND http://allafrica.com/stories/200302190939.html One hundred and fifteen students of Junior and Senior Secondary Schools in the Kwahu-South District in the Eastern Region have benefited from the Sikkens Education Trust Fund. OSISA EDUCATION PROGRAMME http://www.osiafrica.org/index.php The overall goal of OSISAs education programme is to empower civil society to advocate for and participate in providing better access and quality of education with special emphasis on education programmes for the disadvantaged including orphans, disabled children, street children, abandoned and abused children, children living in conflict areas, and illiterate adults. Guiding Principles OSISAs education programme will support interventions based on purpose and quality of education; inclusion and starting early. SOUTH AFRICA: A ROSE AT ANY PRICE http://www.dispatch.co.za/2003/02/15/easterncape/AHUDSON.HTM Valentine's Day fever hit Hudson Park High School when grade nine "cupids" delivered hearts and roses to classes throughout the school - raising more than R4000 for charity. SOUTH AFRICA: BANK DONATES MOBILE LIBRARY http://www.iol.co.za/index.php? click_id=105&art_id=ct20030214200029557P350564&set_id=1 Soweto pupils were further empowered on Saturday when a leading bank donated 52 mobile libraries to 26 schools in the area. The libraries, complete with the first 100 books selected in conjunction with the Gauteng Department of Education, came at a cost of R466 000 and were donated by Standard Bank. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 16.COURSES, SEMINARS, AND WORKSHOPS 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HOME AND COMMUNITY BASED CARE FOR PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS 8 -11 December, 2003, Dakar/Senegal This conference, initiated by PWAs, is convened every other year since 1993, in different countries, with different themes depending on PWA priority concerns. The theme of the Dakar 2003 Conference "More Care for Better Living" aims to highlight the priority needs of PLWAs in a situation where antiretrovirals become increasingly available in developing countries, too. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13459 ENHANCING THE QUALITY AND USE OF HEALTH INFORMATION AT THE DISTRICT LEVEL 1 4 April 2003, Eastern Cape, South Africa http://www.cpc.unc.edu/projects/measure/rhino/safrica.html Without reliable, relevant health information, health care managers and providers cannot make informed decisions to allocate resources effectively, improve the quality of health services, or address epidemics such as HIV/AIDS. As health systems around the world decentralize, the demand for sound information and the skills to use information effectively is increasing dramatically. In response, the Routine Health Information Network (RHINO) announces a technical workshop on Enhancing the Quality and Use of Health Information at the District Level. THE STATE WE ARE IN SEMINAR SERIES Programme For First Quarter 2003 Announcing a seminar series hosted jointly by the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER) and the Graduate School of Public and Development Management (P&DM). Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13422 /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 17.ADVOCACY RESOURCES AMNESTY WORLDWIDE APPEAL: PROTEST LIFE IMPRISONMENT FOR INTERNET ACTIVISTS http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/wwa.nsf/70475c6a6bece6f980256773004abe57/a0e5a716 98072e0780256c8b004dc49d!OpenDocument Businessmen Mohamed Zaki, Ibrahim Moosa Luthfee, Ahmed Ibrahim Didi and a young woman who worked as a personal secretary to Ibrahim Luthfee, Fathimath Nisreen, were arrested in January and February 2002, because of their alleged involvement with an Internet publication called Sandhaanu. While Sandhaanu publishes articles which are severely critical of the government, it does not advocate violent political opposition. In July Mohamed Zaki, Ibrahim Moosa Luthfee and Ahmed Ibrahim Didi were sentenced to life imprisonment. Fathimath Nisreen was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Please write, calling for the immediate and unconditional release of prisoners of conscience Mohamed Zaki, Ibrahim Moosa Luthfee, Ahmed Ibrahim Didi and Fathimath Nisreen. Raise concerns that their trial was not fair and that they were denied legal representation throughout. SPOTLIGHT CAST ON CONFLICT DIAMONDS http://news.yahoo.com/news? tmpl=story2&cid=655&ncid=655&e=1&u=/oneworld/20030214/wl_oneworld/1032_104523445 0 A new campaign was launched on Valentine's Day aiming to persuade consumers in the United States not to buy diamonds mined in African war zones and to urge U.S. lawmakers to quickly pass legislation barring the import of "conflict diamonds." SUPPORT ARRESTED EGYPTIAN ANTI-WAR PROTESTORS Egyptian authorities have arrested 15 persons over demonstrations against the war in Iraq. Many of them remain in pre-trial detention with some of them having reportedly been kept in incommunicado detention during this time, says the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The OMCT requests those concerned by this situation to write to the Egyptian authorities requesting that they be released and their safety guaranteed. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13407 USING THE INTERNET TO GET YOUR POINT ACROSS http://www.internetrights.org.uk/index.shtml? AA_SL_Session=67bac1830a69c2cec561a3c76caaaedf&x=603 The Internet has certain advantages over other kinds of campaign medium. It enables you to make information available to people for them to use in a number of ways; they might pass on to others online, personalise it, and then perhaps produce copies they distribute in their own area. Because of this potential for interaction and modification of information, people can participate at a variety of levels and in a range of ways with which they feel comfortable. Find out more at the web site of Internet Rights UK. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 18.JOBS BURUNDI: SENIOR FIELD OFFICER Christian Aid We're looking for an experienced and motivated individual to represent Christian Aid in Burundi. With responsibility for Christian Aid's Burundi programme, you will manage the staff and field office, develop Christian Aid's policy and programme, and contribute to the strategic planning of the wider team. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13388 CONGO: COUNTRY DIRECTOR International Rescue Committee http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/3F1963D13B2B3CBDC1256CC6005D4D4C The responsibilities for the Country Director include: Strategic planning, program implementation and evaluation; fund raising and grant management; the even and consistent implementation of IRC policies and procedures as described in the IRC Field Operations Manual; develop recommendations for policy revisions as necessitated by field conditions, and Human Resource management. IVORY COAST: CHILD EDUCATION/PROTECTION PROGRAM COORDINATOR International Rescue Committee http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/46C0F5CBC5A5FEA5C1256CC5006B17FD In the past few months Cote d'Ivoire (CI) has undergone massive unrest starting with a failed Coup in September and subsequent attacks resulting in rebel control over several important cities in the north and central areas of the country. In response to this ongoing crisis IRC will send an Education/Child Protection (E/CP) Coordinator to the region to carry out an emergency assessment. NIGERIA: DIRECTOR African Sexuality Resource Centre The purpose of this position is to provide strategic leadership, overall vision and good management in order to fulfil the goal of the Resource Centre. Duties will include leading the review and analysis of sexuality and sexual and reproductive health (SRH)/rights trends and developments in the region and directing and overseeing data gathering activities and analysis to identify and glean experience, lessons learned, and best practice related to human sexuality and sexual and reproductive health programs for dissemination and exchange. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13389 NIGERIA: PROGRAMME ADMINISTRATOR Centre For Special Studies The position provides an outstanding opportunity for the right individual to participate in the growth of a dynamic programme, and to work with a variety of medical, public health, policy, and community development professionals. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13390 SENEGAL: PROJECT MANAGER The African Women's Media Center (AWMC) http://www.comminit.com/vacancy1209.html The candidate will develop & manage a 3-year multi level campaign to enhance the quality and quantity of coverage of health issues in the African media with a focus on HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. Fluent written and spoken English and French are essential. This position requires an experienced journalist with knowledge of public health issues in Africa and a proven track record of coordination and management of media projects in Africa. SIERRA LEONE: COUNTRY PROGRAMME MANAGER Oxfam GB http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/DC34E134921913A3C1256CC600621EE2 The purpose is to lead Oxfam GB's work in Sierra Leone by working with the Regional Management Centre and other organisations to bring about change through Oxfam's programme and influence. SOUTH AFRICA: JOB OPENINGS Bridges.org Bridges.org, the international NGO that helps people in developing countries to use ICT to help themselves, is expanding its offices in Cape Town. To this end, we are currently inviting applications for the positions of business manager, technology associate and webmaster. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13391 ZIMBABWE: REGIONAL TECHNICAL ADVISOR FOR HIV/AIDS Catholic Relief Services http://www.comminit.com/vacancy1194.html The primary responsibility of this position is to provide technical assistance to the region and to country programmes to expand CRS' outreach in response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic while ensuring that the CRS HIV/AIDS programming is accomplished in accordance with CRS/USCCB AIDS policies, & the Standards Approach for CRS HIV/AIDS Programming in Africa. Incumbent will provide leadership with HIV/AIDS Strategy Development, Information Management Project Development, Capacity Building, Monitoring & Evaluation and Networking. Masters in Public Health or related field required. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 19.BOOKS AND ARTS A WORLD WITH A HUMAN FACE: A VOICE FROM AFRICA Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane http://www.newafricabooks.co.za/books_detail.asp?ID=205 Apartheid is vanquished, good triumphs over evil, the world celebrates! Now what? The Archbishop of Cape Town is deeply involved in the difficult task of rebuilding and developing the country and encouraging others to work for the future with hope and intelligence. Archbishop Ndungane begins by telling his own life story; he then addresses the World Bank, the international community, the people of South Africa, and most of all the Church showing what people are doing and what they can do to build the country to what it could be. AFRICA: MILK PRODUCER GROUP RESOURCE BOOK - A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO ASSIST MILK PRODUCER GROUPS http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=980 This publication aims to promote the organisation of small-scale milk collection and processing as a sustainable, income-generating activity for household food security. It also tries to be a means to improving the safety, quantity and quality of milk and milk products available for consumers in developing countries. ALCOHOL IN AFRICA: MIXING BUSINESS, PLEASURE AND POLITICS Deborah Fahy Bryceson Ed. Alcohol in Sub-Saharan Africa has historically been a conduit for religious and political expression controlled by male elders. Over the past century and especially during the last two crisis-ridden decades, alcohol's ceremonial role has been largely displaced. Currently, alcohol is a taboo subject for donors and African governments alike, yet it is at the nexus of many of the continent's most pressing problems. Agricultural sector decline, large-scale labor redundancy, household instability, and AIDS have cause or effect linkages to changing alcohol usage. This edited collection explores the economic, political, and social meanings of alcohol usage. Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13408 MINORITIES IN INDEPENDENT NAMIBIA Minority Rights Group International http://www.minorityrights.org/admin/Download/Pdf/NamibiaReport.pdf Minorities in Independent Namibia by James Suzman considers the extent to which SWAPOs attempts at nation-building have favoured some communities over others. In a balanced study, the author documents the constitutional and legal safeguards for minorities in Namibia, and discusses the government's human rights record. The report covers many of Namibia's ethnic minority communities and topical concerns, including: the crackdown on secessionists in Caprivi, the potential impact on the Himba of a proposed dam on the Kunene River, the extreme marginality of the San, the role of traditional authorities and leaders, and women's equality. OUR SIMMERING PLANET Joyeeta Gupta http://www.zedbooks.demon.co.uk/home.htm Heat waves in Delhi and Athens. Hurricane Mitch in Central America and tornadoes in the USA. Floods in Britain and China. All unprecedented in severity. Unprecedented in frequency. What is happening to the world's weather? What are the world's governments doing about it? This book takes us through the science, and behind the politics. PARECON: LIFE AFTER CAPITALISM Michael Albert http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/- /books/185984698X/reviews/qid=1045077155/sr=11-1/103-7547362-8471839 "What do you want?" is a constant query put to economic and globalization activists decrying current poverty, alienation, and degradation. In this highly praised new work, destined to attract worldwide attention and support, Michael Albert provides an answer: "Participatory Economics" - "Parecon" for short - a new economy, an alternative to capitalism, built on familiar values including solidarity, equity, diversity, and people democratically controlling their own lives. REVISITING THE COLONY http://www.chimurenga.co.za/content.asp?Section=185 This is an extract from a conversation between writers and artists in Nairobi, about language and literature, and the state of the arts in Kenya and Africa.On Naipaul, Conrad, Theroux, Ryszard Kapuscinsky, and what they mean to this continent. The contributors have opted to remain anonymous, and so each will be identified with random initials. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 20.MEMBERS CORNER /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 21.LETTERS AND COMMENTS AFRICA: REQUEST FOR CONTRIBUTIONS TO AFRICAN YOUTH DIRECTORY The Institute for democracy in South Africa (Idasa) has been contracted by a UNESCO structure, INJEP (the National Institute of Youth and Popular Education) to develop an African Youth Directory. The aim of this project is to facilitate contact between structures dealing with youth issues on the African continent, and between these African structures and other interested parties worldwide. The Youth Directory will be distributed through youth structures in Africa and internationally, and different structures included in the directory stand to benefit a great deal from the increased exposure. The Youth Directory aims to provide information on youth structures and policies in all member states of the African Union. If you would like to have your organisation included in the directory, or know of any organisations that we should include, please contact Nico Bezuidenhout at [EMAIL PROTECTED] GEOFFREY CHAN Communiqu Editor I refer the story which you used from the Communiqu (Pambazuka News 99: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=13274) For your information, it contains an error that we have since corrected. The journalist in question is not Isaias Afewerki but Fessahaye Yoahannes. Afewerki is the Eritrean president responsible for jailing Yoahannes and 17 other journalists! RITA NZIMBI Life Concern International, Nairobi, Kenya I look forward to being connected with Pambazuka not only to be networked with other organisations but to gain information useful for Life Concern International's objectives to be realised. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\ 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) Fahamu, Kabissa 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. /\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\
