PAMBAZUKA NEWS 104: HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNET POLICY-MAKING INAFRICA

[pambazuka-news]

PAMBAZUKA NEWS 104
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  
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1.EDITORIAL

HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNET POLICY-MAKING IN AFRICA
Heather Ford
In this, the first part of a series of articles on Internet legislation  
in Africa, Heather Ford gives a broad overview of legislation – and  
lack thereof – dealing with censorship and privacy on the Internet in  
Africa.

On first glance, the Internet in Africa seems to be coming along quite  
nicely. Access figures are rising daily, there is a broad commitment by  
governments in the region to focus development in this sector, and ICT  
national strategies are being, or already have been, developed in order  
to accelerate the uptake of communication technologies in various  
countries on the continent.

If, however, one attempts to look for legislation to deal with human  
rights issues such as the right to privacy, data protection and freedom  
of expression on the Internet, there seems to be a vacuum of  
legislation that has left Internet communities in many African  
countries open to attacks both by the authorities as well as criminal  
elements. As more governments start to recognise how the Internet is  
being used by ‘subversive’ elements within their countries, the dire  
need to formalize legal instruments to protect citizens from arbitrary  
surveillance on the Internet becomes all the more clear. As the South  
African Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA) stated in  
response to recent data protection laws in that country, ‘In order for  
the Internet to grow, citizens need to feel confident that their  
privacy online is given the maximum possible protection.’

The right to privacy of Internet users is being attacked for different  
reasons in Africa: in each case governments claim to be acting in the  
interests of protecting their citizens – either from ‘moral  
corruption’, ‘terrorism’, or ‘cybercrime’. This is achieved through the  
constant surveillance and registration of Internet users, the banning  
of Internet publications, the use of Internet filters and/or the  
imprisonment of publishers. This is not to say that Africa is the only  
continent where the privacy of Internet users is being threatened.  
After September 11, many countries around the world enacted laws that  
severely threaten a citizen’s right to privacy on the Internet. Where  
there are no laws to deal with the Internet in Africa, however,  
governments use old provisions to survey and censor individuals in  
cases as they emerge. In other countries, repressive media laws are  
being developed by authoritarian governments to attack individuals who  
publish their content on the Internet.

The dearth of laws pertaining to the Internet in Egypt has allowed the  
government to closely monitor content being published by local  
nationals and to use existing laws to stop the publishing of any  
content that intends to ‘corrupt public morals’.

In 2002 the interior ministry in Egypt set up a department to  
investigate computer and Internet crime. Before that, the government  
had issued warnings to the local Internet community to refrain from  
publishing on taboo issues such as homosexuality, human rights  
violations, criticism of the president and the army, as well as modern  
versions of Islam. Since early 2001, there have been numerous cases of  
entrapment of gay men on the Internet, as well as the imprisonment of  
webmaster, Shohdy Surur for posting a sexually-explicit, socially  
critical poem written by his late father 30 years ago. Since there is  
no law in Egypt that refers to Internet publishing, the state brought  
charges under the law on public morals which forbids possession of  
material for sale or distribution ‘with intent to corrupt public  
morals’.

Lack of legislation, on the other hand, has had a positive effect on  
opposition groups in authoritarian states, enabling them to speak out  
using a medium that resists control on many, but not all, levels. The  
internet in Egypt continues to have a positive effect on supporting  
agents of change, despite government attempts to control it. Some media  
organizations have been able to circumvent the power of the government  
to censor their publications in the traditional media by publishing  
them on the Internet. The Middle East Times publishes on its website  
all of the articles that were censored in the print edition of the  
publication (http://www.metimes.com/cens/censored.htm). On another  
positive note, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)  
recently succeeded in amending the latest Communications Bill to  
include references to the protection of privacy as well as restricting  
the right of security agencies to interfere with private communications.

South Africa is far ahead of most African countries in developing  
comprehensive laws relating to the Internet. That is not to say that  
these laws have been greeted with complete enthusiasm by the local  
Internet community. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act  
of 2002 was riddled with controversy over certain provisions, one of  
which allowed the Minister of Communications the power to declare any  
database in the country to be critical and set standards for the  
administration of that database. The act also announced the that all  
cryptography and authentication providers needed to register with the  
government, and introduced new ‘Cyber Inspectors’ who are given the  
power to aid law enforcement in criminal and civil investigations, as  
well as being granted the power to inspect and confiscate computers,  
determine whether individuals have met the relevant registration  
provisions as well as search the Internet for evidence of ‘criminal  
actions’.

The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of  
Communication-Related Information Act, 2002 has encountered a similarly  
controversial path. The act, published in the Government Gazette on  
January 22, 2003 compels service providers to retain personal data that  
they have collected from customers indefinitely, and make it available  
to law enforcement when requested to. It also makes any communication  
service which cannot be monitored by the authorities illegal, and gives  
the Minister of Communications broad powers to specify technical and  
security requirements, facilities and devices as well as the type of  
communication-related information to be stored.

Even though there are no laws that cover communications over the  
Internet in Zimbabwe, the government uses some of the country’s  
repressive media laws such as the Public Order and Security Act (POSA)  
and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) to  
prosecute journalists who publish anything "likely to cause alarm or  
despondency" (POSA) on the Internet or traditional media.

For the majority of African countries without Internet privacy and  
freedom of expression laws, it is essential that civil society act  
purposefully and initiate national and region policy processes that are  
based on International human rights instruments. The Universal  
Declaration of Human Rights states that ‘Everyone has the right to  
freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold  
opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart  
information and ideas through any medium and regardless of frontiers’  
(Article 19) and ‘No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference  
with his privacy, family, home or correspondence’ (Article 12).  
Regional charters such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’  
Rights and the African Charter on Broadcasting are strong regional  
statements that could guide new efforts by African civil society to  
press their leaders to develop, and, more importantly, to enforce new  
ICT laws that have privacy and freedom of expression at their core.

What you can do:

* Find out what laws govern the Internet and communications in your  
country and lobby governments to adopt laws that ensure freedom of  
expression and the right to privacy.
* Join the email discussions around civil society engagement in African  
ICT policy currently going on at  
http://www.bellanet.org/lyris/helper/ 
index.cfm?fuseaction=Visit&listname=aisi-l
* Visit the Association for Progressive Communications’ (APC) Africa  
Internet Policy Monitor website, http://africa.rights.apc.org and join  
the mailing list  
http://lists.sn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/africa-ir-public

* Please send comments on this editorial to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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2.CONFLICT, EMERGENCIES, AND CRISES
AFRICA: ANTI-WAR PROTESTS SWEEP AFRICA
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2873045.stm
Thousands of Muslims took to the streets last Friday across Africa to  
protest against the US-led war on Iraq.

BURUNDI: PEACE TALKS SATISFY BURUNDI'S HUTU GROUP
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=515&ncid=723&e=10&u=/ 
ap/20030323/ap_on_re_af/burundi_peace_talks
Burundi's hardline Hutu rebel group expressed satisfaction with its  
first round of peace talks with government and military representatives  
in Switzerland. "The meeting was very constructive, it laid a good  
start for the talks," Pasteur Habimana, spokesman for the National  
Liberation Forces, or FNL, said in Bujumbura. "Though it was only a  
first meeting, we truly discussed the historic causes of the Burundi  
conflict."

CAR: REBEL-LEADER MOVES TO FORM GOVT IN CAR
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=17572
This central African nation's rebel-leader turned self-proclaimed  
president named his prime minister on Sunday, charging the longtime  
opposition leader with assembling a new government in the coming days.

ERITREA/ETHIOPIA: ADDIS GRANTS US OVERFLIGHT RIGHTS
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32967
Ethiopia says it has given the US overflight and landing rights in the  
war against Iraq. Ethiopian television quoted a senior foreign ministry  
official as saying this was in accordance with requests by the US. He  
said Ethiopia had no plans to deploy troops.

IVORY COAST: REBELS BOYCOTT IVORIAN CABINET
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2868043.stm
Rebels in control of half of Ivory Coast for the past six months failed  
to attend the new unity government's second cabinet meeting.

MOZAMBIQUE: MOZAMBIQUE MAY SUFFER IMPACT OF THE WAR
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303210369.html
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano has expressed fears that the  
negative impact of the United States-led war on Iraq may divert the  
attention of Mozambique and of Africa as a whole from their main  
priority, which should be the fight against poverty, reports Friday's  
issue of the daily paper "Noticias".

NIGERIA: ETHNIC CLASHES DISRUPT NIGERIA'S OIL PRODUCTION
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303260001.html
More than a week after an outbreak of ethnic violence in the oil-rich  
Delta region of Nigeria, the army sent by the government to quell the  
disturbances claims to have tightened its control on the volatile  
conflict zone. At the heart of the conflict are youths in the Niger  
Delta from the local Ijaw community, which claims to be the majority  
ethnic group in the area. They complain that they have been  
marginalised by central government and receive virtually none of the  
benefits from the oil wealth, which they say comes from their  
traditional lands in the region.

NIGERIA: KANO RESIDENTS BACK SADDAM HUSSEIN
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303210001.html
In northern Nigeria - far away from the military action in the Gulf,  
there appears to be overwhelming condemnation of U.S. President George  
W. Bush and his intentions in Iraq. AllAfrica correspondent Ofeibea  
Quist-Arcton is travelling around the northern states of Nigeria to  
report on the current election campaign, ahead of polls next month. In  
the influential states of Kaduna and Kano, she heard the views of local  
people apparently deeply concerned about the war.

NIGERIA: US, NIGERIA TRADE HARSH WORDS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303230052.html
The US has denied that it has suspended military assistance to Nigeria  
following Nigeria's opposition to the US-led war on Iraq. US Nigeria  
ambassador Howard Jetter said: "This is not the case. The US government  
has not sought to influence Nigeria policy on Iraq through the  
suspension of military assistance. While some US military assistance to  
Nigeria has been affected by US legislation that went into effect on  
February 20, those limitations were in no way related to Nigeria's  
stand on Iraq."

SOMALIA: PEACE TALKS HAVE ACHIEVED LITTLE, CIVIL SOCIETY SAYS
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33041
The Somali peace talks currently underway in Kenya have achieved very  
few tangible results, members of Somali civil society said on Tuesday.  
According to a statement, received by IRIN, the group listed a range of  
objectives it said had not been met. These included "peace and national  
reconciliation, agreement on a provisional charter and other core  
issues, as well as the establishment of a national government".

SOUTH AFRICA: REPERCUSSIONS FROM WAR STANCE
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303210455.html
With its prayers unanswered of avoiding a war in Iraq, South Africa  
must hope for a short, sharp operation. President Thabo Mbeki's  
principled stand against the forceful disarmament of Iraq has put South  
Africa's relations with two of its most important friends in the  
balance.

UGANDA: UGANDA: REBELS KILL GOVERNMENT PEACE ENVOY
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33067
Rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) reportedly killed a  
government peace envoy on Monday, dampening hopes for a peaceful end to  
the 17-year insurgency in northern Uganda.
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3.RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY

AFRICA/GLOBAL: NEW WEB-BASED RESOURCE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS
Human rights groups around the world now have access to a forum for the  
exchange of practical information in many languages to support their  
social justice work. The Digital Freedom Network, Forefront and the  
Centre for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University have  
partnered to coordinate Human Rights Connection (HRC) at  
http://www.hrconnection.org, a web-based community resource centre that  
provides human rights activists with a place to read and post "how to"  
information, articles and case studies on a wide range of issues, such  
as working with the media, planning an advocacy campaign, establishing  
an organisation, and using technology.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14156

DRC: AMNESTY CONCERNED OVER ITURI
The Ugandan authorities should bring suspected perpetrators of the  
serious human rights abuses committed in Ituri to justice before  
Uganda's courts, Amnesty International says in a new report on the  
deteriorating situation in Ituri province in north-eastern Democratic  
Republic of Congo (DRC). "There must be no hiding place for those who  
are alleged to have committed serious violations of international human  
rights and humanitarian law in Ituri or elsewhere in DRC", Amnesty  
International said. "Suspected perpetrators, of whatever nationality,  
found on Ugandan territory or in areas of the DRC under Ugandan control  
should be investigated and brought to justice."
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14040

EGYPT: USE OF TORTURE, EXCESSIVE FORCE BY CAIRO POLICE
Hundreds of antiwar activists and demonstrators have been detained in  
Cairo and some are being tortured by police, Human Rights Watch  
charges. Hundreds more have been injured as security forces used water  
cannons, clubs, dogs, and even stones against demonstrators. Police  
have arrested leaders of movements protesting the Iraq war and Israeli  
actions in the Occupied Territories; journalists, professors, and  
students; and onlookers, as well as children as young as 15 years old.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14060

LIBERIA: ELECTIONS WILL GO AHEAD IN OCTOBER, SAYS TAYLOR
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32994
General elections in Liberia will go ahead as scheduled on 14 October  
"even in the midst of war" between government soldiers and rebels of  
the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), President  
Charles Taylor said on Friday.

LIBERIA: UN RIGHTS CHIEF CONCERNED AT ABUSES AGAINST CIVILIANS
Expressing profound concern at the continuing armed conflict in Liberia  
and its toll on the civilian population, the United Nations human  
rights chief has urged all parties to the conflict to commit themselves  
immediately to the protection of civilians. In a statement issued from  
Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), Sergio  
Vieira de Mello, said he has continued to receive credible reports of  
serious abuses and violations of human rights and humanitarian law by  
both parties to the Liberian conflict.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14067

NIGERIA: FOCUS ON POLITICAL PARTIES' CAMPAIGN STRATEGIES
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33056
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo began his campaign for  
re-election in "hostile" territory this month. Makurdi, the city in  
central Nigeria where, on 1 March, he addressed his first rally since  
winning the ruling party's nomination in January, is the capital of  
Benue State, where troops acting on his orders raided several villages  
in October 2001, killing hundreds of civilians in reprisal for the  
killing of 19 soldiers by a local militia.

SOUTH AFRICA: FIRMS URGED TO PAY REPARATIONS TO VICTIMS OF APARTHEID
http://www.ips.org/index.htm
Local and international companies that benefited from apartheid are  
likely to come under increased pressure to pay reparations to the  
victims of racial discrimination and exploitation, after the Truth and  
Reconciliation Commission (TRC) handed in its final report to the South  
African government. The TRC was set up to investigate the human rights  
abuses that took place in South African under apartheid. The final  
report documents 22,000 cases of rights abuses, although some  
community-based organisations claim that many more victims of apartheid  
were not identified during the TRC process.

SWAZILAND: RELATIONS BETWEEN MONARCHY AND BUSH REGIME WORSEN
http://www.ips.org/index.htm
Swaziland may not harbour weapons of mass destruction, but sub-Saharan  
Africa's last absolute monarchy, that rules this kingdom of less than  
one million people, is becoming increasingly nervous about the doctrine  
of United States President George W. Bush, which finds little tolerance  
for unelected regimes.

UGANDA: ETHNICITY, STATE POWER AND THE DEMOCRATISATION PROCESS
http://tinyurl.com/83vc
Is ethnicity the cause for the breakdowns in national unity, democracy  
and development in Uganda? This paper critically reviews the impact of  
ethnicity on the democratisation process in Uganda from colonialism to  
the present. The author argues that ethnicity in Uganda, as elsewhere  
on the African continent, has been historically constructed and  
subsequently reproduced. While democratisation may be problematic in  
the face of ethnic consciousness, the paradox is that the best way to  
reduce ethnic consciousness is more and not less democratisation.

ZIMBABWE: A CRISIS OF GOVERNANCE
There is a mutually destructive stalemate between Zimbabwe’s  
illegitimate government on the one hand, and pro-democracy actors on  
the other. This destructive stalemate is inimical to regional stability  
and security, says a statement issued after a meeting held in South  
Africa in early March about the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14059

ZIMBABWE: MDC COULD RESTART TALKS AFTER MBEKI GESTURE
http://www.iol.co.za/ 
index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20030327054708823C784175&set_id=1
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has given the green  
light for re-opening stalled talks with President Robert Mugabe's  
government following a gesture by South African President Thabo Mbeki  
welcoming the Movement for Democratic Change leader's apparent change  
of heart. In the most upbeat remarks he has made on Zimbabwe in many  
months, Mbeki made a dramatic and impassioned plea on Wednesday for  
Mugabe and Tsvangirai to resume talks aimed at thrashing out their  
differences over Zimbabwe's future.

ZIMBABWE: MDC ISSUES ULTIMATUM
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has listed 15 urgent issues  
that the regime of President Robert Mugabe must address to avoid facing  
popular mass action by March 31.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14056

ZIMBABWE: MUGABE UNLEASHES HIS COWARDS
Over 250 people have been admitted to the main casualty wards in Harare  
since last Thursday. Many of the victims told how they were warned,  
during their attacks, not to report the incidents to hospitals or human  
rights organisations, says Zvakwana in their latest newsletter.
Related Link:
SA finally speaks up over Zim
http://www.sabcnews.com/africa/southern_africa/0,1009,55812,00.html
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14027

ZIMBABWE: NGO FORUM CONDEMNS VIOLENCE
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, which exists to assist victims of  
organised violence, has condemned unreservedly the recent violence that  
has been perpetrated by state agents on members of the public  
throughout Zimbabwe. This follows the stay-away called for by the main  
opposition party to express its deep concern at the ongoing  
deterioration of the state of the nation.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14071

ZIMBABWE: TSVANGIRAI TRIAL WITNESS TOLD TO SURRENDER EQUIPMENT
http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2003/March/March27/3370.shtml
The High Court has issued an order compelling a state witness in the  
treason trail of three opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)  
leaders to surrender equipment used to secretly videotape a meeting at  
which the MDC officials allegedly plotted to assassinate President  
Robert Mugabe. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, secretary-general Welshman  
Ncube and shadow minister for agriculture Renson Gasela are alleged to  
have met in Canada with representatives of Dickens and Madson, a  
Canadian political consultancy they allegedly attempted to hire to  
assassinate Mugabe.
Related Link:
Ben-Menashe witness charges daily rate
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303250698.html
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4.CORRUPTION

CAMEROON: TAPPING AFRICAN OIL
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=52156
After launching the ground invasion of Iraq, President Bush paused to  
have dinner Thursday with an unlikely guest, given the circumstances.  
Bush and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell met in the White House with  
the leader of Cameroon for a discussion of "common interests." Best  
known for poverty and corruption, Cameroon is among the nations being  
courted to support the war. But the country also figures prominently in  
a monumental new initiative to tap rich West African oil fields and  
reduce U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil, an aim that has taken on  
added urgency with the conflict in Iraq.

CAR: WANTED - AN HONEST GOVERNMENT
http://www.iol.co.za/ 
index.php?click_id=68&art_id=qw1048691340620B254&set_id=1
The new regime in Central African Republic has taken on the uphill task  
of finding upstanding politicians to take part in a consensus  
government to reassure a weary donor community.

KENYA: MPS VOTE THEMSELVES MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR PAY DEAL
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=52234
MPs have voted themselves 735.9m shillings (9.2m dollars) to buy  
sparkling new cars. Handsome car grants of 3.3m shillings (about 43,000  
dollars) each - enough for top-of-the-range vehicles with all extras  
fitted - were recommended in the Cockar Report on MPs' pay and perks.

LIBERIA: CORRUPTION EXISTS FROM TOP TO BOTTOM, SAYS BISHOP
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=52230
Roman Catholic Archbishop Michael Francis says the culture of  
corruption in society exists from the top to bottom - and that nobody  
cares enough to take corrective measures. He was speaking at the  
opening of a three-day workshop organized by the Liberia Watch for  
Human Rights at the YMCA in Monrovia.

SOUTH AFRICA: BUTHELEZI LIFTS LID ON CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=11&o=17655
Home affairs minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi on Tuesday for the first  
time lifted the lid on allegations of irregular expenditure, totalling  
millions of rands, in a written reply to the portfolio committee on  
home affairs.

SOUTH AFRICA: DEPARTMENT DEMANDS STIFF SENTENCES FOR ARRESTED FORMER  
CIVIL SERVANTS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303270013.html
The Department of Social Development and the Public Service Monitor  
(PSAM) have expressed delight over the arrest by the Joint  
Anti-Corruption Unit of 19 people in Umtata, East London and Port  
Elizabeth. The department this morning called for "stiff" sentences for  
officials or former officials convicted of fraud and corruption.

SOUTH AFRICA: FOUR YEARS FOR MR FOUR-BY-FOUR
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=52146
Corruption in South Africa, gripe many locals, is as bad as in the rest  
of Africa. Poorly-paid policemen let offenders go in exchange for a few  
notes. Officials pocket pensions and other welfare payments they are  
supposed to pass on. Even the admired captain of the national cricket  
team, the late Hansie Cronje, was caught taking money from betting  
syndicates. Shady practice was long a problem during white rule, says  
President Thabo Mbeki, but he admits that it remains so today. In  
December, he promised to "fight graft and root out and defeat networks  
of corruption". This week, that promise gained some credibility. On  
March 19th, a court in Pretoria sentenced a senior politician to four  
years in jail. Tony Yengeni, who was until last year chief whip of the  
ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), was found guilty of  
defrauding Parliament.

ZIMBABWE: MORE CONVICTED AT ZIMBABWE SCHOOLS EXAMINATION COUNCIL
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=52235
The saga at the Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec) took  
another twist last week when two more employees of the beleaguered  
examinations body appeared before the Harare Magistrates court and were  
found guilty of contravening the Prevention of Corruption Act.
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5.HEALTH

AFRICA/GLOBAL: CAUSE FOR PAUSE - WHY PATIENTS PUT OFF SEEKING TB  
TREATMENT
http://www.id21.org/health/h4pgf1g4.html
Why do people with a cough delay seeking tuberculosis (TB) care?  
Research involving the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine  
and the UNZA-School of Medicine found that poor perception of health  
services in Lusaka, Zambia, is a more important cause of delay than  
people's understanding of TB.

AFRICA/GLOBAL: RESTRICTIONS IN TB CONTROL STRATEGY LEAVE THE POOREST  
UNTREATED
Whilst the World Health Organisation-embraced strategy for controlling  
tuberculosis (TB) has been successful in treating and curing TB, its  
current format restricts the extension of this success to the poor:  
although TB treatment is free, diagnosis is not, and so the first  
gateway to treatment is often shut to the poorest. The restrictions,  
caused primarily by lack of funds, are outlined in a specially  
commissioned id21 report by Dr Bertie Squire of the Liverpool School of  
Tropical Medicine, which points to the tasks ahead if the WHO target to  
halve TB deaths by 2010 is to be achieved.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14041

AFRICA/GLOBAL: WHAT THE PATIENT ORDERED - MEETING THE NEEDS OF TB  
PATIENTS
http://www.id21.org/health/h4bs2g1.html
There is a dangerous and persistent interplay between tuberculosis (TB)  
and poverty. TB infection is transmitted more readily in the  
environmental conditions of poverty: overcrowding, inadequate  
ventilation and malnutrition. Having TB makes poor people, their  
relatives and communities poorer still by preventing gainful employment  
and worsening their social relationships. Yet it is the poor who use  
proportionally more of their income in accessing treatment for TB than  
the less poor. This year's World TB Day theme is therefore welcome in  
emphasising the needs of TB patients, especially poor TB patients, in  
balance to the needs of TB services and their targets.

AFRICA: BUDGET SHORTFALLS IN GLOBAL FUND COSTS LIVES
http://www.health-e.org.za/view.php3?id=20030310
Between six and nine million people in developing countries currently  
urgently need anti-retroviral treatment while in reality only between  
230 000 and 300 000 have access to these drugs, according to a report  
by HealthGAP, a US-based human rights group.

AFRICA: MSF CONCERNED ABOUT ATTEMPTS TO WEAKEN PROPOSALS FOR CHEAP DRUGS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33098
The international NGO Medecines Sans Frontieres (MSF) expressed concern  
on Thursday that some EU member states are trying to water down  
proposals by the EC that would allow developing countries to buy  
essential drugs at prices far below the normal market rate. The EC  
proposed in October 2002 a price regulation scheme under which  
pharmaceutical companies would reduce their prices for essential  
medicines by at least 80 percent compared with the average prices in  
countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and  
Development. The reduction would enable developing countries - most of  
which are African - buy drugs at affordable prices to fight diseases  
such as malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, whose present cost is often  
prohibitive for them.

AFRICA: TB INFECTS 1.6 MILLION, KILLS 600,000 ANNUALLY IN AFRICA
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303210606.html
Tuberculosis (TB) infects 1.6 million people and kills 600,000 others  
in Africa every year, making the disease one of the most common  
preventable causes of death from a single infectious agent in the  
Region, according to a report issued on World TB Day by the World  
Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa.

CONGO: EBOLA DEATH TOLL RISES
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33043
The number of deaths from the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the  
Republic of Congo has risen to 113, the World Health Organisation (WHO)  
reported on Monday. Since Ebola was confirmed early in 2003, 123 people  
in the Cuvette-Ouest region of northern Congo are known to have  
contracted the virus.

ETHIOPIA: NEW SCHEME AIMS TO IMPROVE HEALTHCARE
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=32971
Abraham Feleke is the only surgeon at his 150-bed hospital south of  
Addis Ababa, a facility that caters for two million people. Situated  
some 300 km south of the capital Addis Ababa, Yirga Alem is seen as a  
flagship medical centre. But even there the facilities are appallingly  
inadequate. “I feel we are totally undervalued as a profession," says  
Abraham.

SOUTH AFRICA: AIDS ACTIVISTS SHOUT DOWN HEALTH MINISTER
South African AIDS activists continued a civil disobedience campaign on  
Tuesday by shouting down Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang as  
she tried to address a conference. Blowing whistles, waving red  
"wanted" posters and shouting "Murderer" and "Manto go to jail", some  
100 members of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) drowned out  
Tshabalala-Msimang as she tried to make herself heard at a public  
health conference in Cape Town.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14087

SOUTH AFRICA: ONE OF THE WORLD''S WORST TB EPIDEMICS
South Africa is facing one of the worst Tuberculosis (TB) epidemics in  
the world, with disease rates up to 60 times higher than currently  
experienced by the United States or Western Europe, the South African  
Red Cross Society (SARCS) has warned.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14038

SOUTH AFRICA: PEACEFUL PROTEST BY PEOPLE DYING OF AIDS SHOULD BE ALLOWED
The South African government should not respond with violence to  
HIV/AIDS demonstrators seeking medical treatment, Human Rights Watch  
says. Police in Durban last week opened water cannons on some 70  
peaceful demonstrators who were urging the government to provide  
antiretroviral treatment for persons living with HIV/AIDS. This attack  
took place on the eve of South Africa's Human Rights Day, established  
in memory of the victims of apartheid-era atrocities. The Treatment  
Action Campaign (TAC) has also condemned police action against  
protestors, reports IRIN news.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14032

SOUTH AFRICA: TAC FILES MANSLAUGHTER CHARGES AGAINST MINISTERS
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=16729
Members of the HIV/AIDS treatment advocacy group Treatment Action  
Campaign in Sharpeville, South Africa, have filed charges of  
manslaughter against the country's Health Minister Manto  
Tshabalala-Msimang and Trade Minister Alec Erwin over not providing  
"adequate treatment for people with HIV," the AP/San Francisco  
Chronicle reports.

SOUTH AFRICA: TREAT THE PEOPLE OR FACE ACTION
Statement For The South African Minister Of Health, Mantombazana Edmie  
Tshabalala-Msimang Or Her Representative
We are angry. According to Government's sources over 600 people will  
die of AIDS everyday on average this year. We stand here today to say  
to you that you have wilfully and negligently failed to implement the  
necessary interventions, including antiretroviral treatment, that would  
prevent many of these deaths. Also available by clicking on the link  
below are excerpts from an indictment by the TAC against two government  
ministers for culpable homicide, for their repeated refusal to act to  
provide such treatment.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14070

TANZANIA: MALARIA COSTS TANZANIA $120-MILLION A YEAR
http://www.iol.co.za/ 
index.php?click_id=87&art_id=qw1048685223372B235&set_id=1
Malaria costs Tanzania $120-million (R960-million) in treatment  
expenses and lost man-hours every year, Health Minister Anna Abdallah  
said on Wednesday. "The loss is equivalent to 3,5 percent of the east  
African country's gross domestic product and is manifested in terms of  
spending in treating the disease and lost man-hours due to illness,"  
she added.

UGANDA: 23 DEAD IN CHOLERA OUTBREAK
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33068
An outbreak of cholera has hit Uganda's western border district of  
Bundibugyo, killing 23 people over the past month, according to a  
senior health official in the district.
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6.EDUCATION AND SOCIAL WELFARE

AFRICA/GLOBAL: LACK OF CLEAN WATER AND HEALTH ROBS CHILDREN OF  
EDUCATION, SAYS UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/03pr13water.htm
Lack of clean water in households causes millions of children in the  
developing world to suffer needlessly from disease, UNICEF says, adding  
that millions of girls are deterred from getting an education because  
of a dearth of sanitation facilities in schools. UNICEF said that a  
lack of access to clean water causes waterborne illnesses that kill  
more than 1.6 million young children each year.

AFRICA: FEEDING THE WORLD'S CHILDREN
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1106
Almost one third of children in less-developed countries have  
malnutrition. A report published by the United Nations Children's Fund  
reveals new differences in prevalence rates of malnutrition, with  
almost half of all children in south Asia being malnourished, compared  
with less than one third in sub-Saharan Africa. Yet, food production  
and availability per head are about the same in sub-Saharan Africa,  
illustrating the weakness of the argument that malnutrition is caused  
by lack of food alone.

GHANA: PLANS TO ELIMINATE CHILD TRAFFICKING
http://www.globalmarch.org/clns/latest-archive.html#21-2
The government through the Ministry of Manpower Development and  
Employment has signed a memorandum of understanding with the  
International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) to  
eliminate child labour and child trafficking in the country.

IVORY COAST: SITUATION OF CHILDREN IN THE NORTHEASTERN WORRIES UNICEF
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303270019.html
UNICEF has expressed distress at the situation of children in  
northeastern Cote d'Ivoire, following a recent mission which showed  
that the area's children had paid a heavy toll in health and education  
as a result of the Ivorian conflict.

KENYA: EDUCATION BENEFITS ALL
http://tinyurl.com/89fa
The Kenyan government has devoted the largest share of its budget to  
expanding education since independence. So are the large amounts of  
resources invested in education by government and parents justified by  
the returns yielded to the individual and society? The authors claim  
that studies to date have so far been inconclusive.

KENYA: THE COST OF FREE EDUCATION
"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance." This is the new  
slogan which the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government has  
adopted in order to popularise its ambitious free primary education  
programme (FPE) policy. The free and compulsory primary education for  
Kenyan children, which was one of the key pre-election promises which  
brought NARC to power in December 2002, has proved not only to be  
expensive, but also difficult to implement.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14084

MOZAMBIQUE: FOOD SUPPLEMENT FOR DROUGHT VICTIMS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303210331.html
About 141,000 children, aged between five months and five years, and  
71,000 pregnant women in 22 Mozambican districts seriously affected by  
drought, are being supplied with soya as a food supplement, aiming to  
reduce levels of malnutrition.

SOUTH AFRICA: TEACHERS WANT GUNS FOR PROTECTION
http://www.teacher.co.za/cms/article_2003_02_14_3443.html
Terrifying incidents at schools around the country has resulted in a  
call for staff to be allowed to carry guns at school. A recent incident  
that has highlighted the vulnerability of educators involves school  
principal Lucy Lushaba (47) who was shot dead over the festive season.

SWAZILAND: POLICE TAKE ACTION ON CHILD ABUSE
In a bid to better combat child abuse, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)  
has provided the Swazi police with closed-circuit television systems to  
record witness testimonies to help in abuse cases. The 31  
closed-circuit systems and video recorders donated by UNICEF last week  
were expected to help the police build solid evidence for court cases,  
and could serve as a deterrent against abuse.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14086

ZIMBABWE: POVERTY AND NEGLECT IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1101
Porta Farm, a 30-minute drive from the Harare city centre, is home to  
among some of Zimbabwe's poorest and most vulnerable citizens. It was  
meant to have been a temporary settlement, to accommodate the homeless  
cleared out of the capital by the image-conscious authorities when  
Queen Elizabeth II visited Harare to open the Commonwealth Heads of  
State and Government Meeting in 1991.
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7.WOMEN AND GENDER

AFRICA: WOMEN BEAR BRUNT OF AIDS TOLL
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=11&o=17541
Nomvula Nhlapo fell in love at the age of 16 and, to the fury of her  
father, left home to live with her boyfriend. Four years later, she  
returned, terminally ill with Aids. Her father refused to allow her  
into the house. She collapsed under a tree and stayed there for the  
last few weeks of her life. Nomvula's lonely death sums up the course  
of the epidemic here. Compared with Aids in the developed world, in  
South Africa the disease is primarily one affecting women: more women  
than men carry the virus, they are infected at a younger age, and they  
die earlier.

ANGOLA: A VIOLENT PEACE FOR ANGOLA'S WOMEN?
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/atwork/angola/kkeleven.htm
While the team works with the children at Chissindo camp I have a  
chance to talk to some of their mothers, who have come to watch the  
activities. Many of the women we meet are widows, and all have several  
children to care for. They survive by growing food, and supplementing  
this with a small income from trading charcoal or traditional maize  
beer. Read the latest instalment in the diary of an Oxfam worker in  
Angola.

EAST/SOUTHERN AFRICA: MOBILISING COMMUNITIES TO PREVENT DOMESTIC  
VIOLENCE: A RESOURCE GUIDE FOR ORGANISATIONS
http://www.raisingvoices.org/
This just released publication, developed by Raising Voices in  
collaboration with UNIFEM and Action Aid-Uganda, sheds new light on how  
community-based organisations can design and implement a participatory  
project to prevent domestic violence. The Resource Guide describes a  
conceptual framework for preventing domestic violence and provides  
extensive strategy and activity suggestions for organisations  
interested in working systematically to affect individual and social  
change within their communities. Special features in the Resource Guide  
include: rights-based program ideas and activities; full colour  
examples of learning materials such as posters, games, murals and  
booklets; a comprehensive community activism course; and, simple, ready  
to use documentation and monitoring tools. For more information visit  
www.raisingvoices.org or email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED]

ETHIOPIA: AFRICAN UNION URGED TO BACK WOMEN'S RIGHTS
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33006
The human rights group Amnesty International (AI) has called on the  
African Union (AU) to back plans to boost and protect the rights of  
women on the continent. The call comes as a high level AU ministerial  
conference meets in Addis Ababa on Monday to discuss plans for  
strengthening women’s rights.

MALI: RIGHTS ORGANISATION CONCERNED ABOUT VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33075
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) expressed grave concern  
on Tuesday over reports of violence against women in Mali. Apart from  
forced marriages and polygamy, which are common, 24 percent of Malian  
women marry before the age of 15 years and 94 percent undergo female  
genital mutilation (FGM), OMCT said in a report to the UN Human Rights  
Committee.

NIGERIA: STONING TRIAL DELAY
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/2884283.stm
An appeal, due to begin in northern Nigeria for a Muslim woman  
convicted of adultery and sentenced to death by stoning, has been  
postponed because the judges failed to turn up. The case of Amina  
Lawal, has provoked strong opposition from human rights organisations  
across the world, many of whom sent representatives to attend the  
hearing.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: LITTLE SPACE FOR WOMEN
http://portal.unesco.org/ 
ev.php?URL_ID=10229&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1048670347
The southern African media give very little space to the views of  
women, and, when it comes to subjects such as politics, economy, sport  
or agriculture, their voice is virtually unheard. Women journalists  
are, however, given more exposure than men in reporting on subjects  
that have to do with the body, home and beauty. It is in television  
that they find the best professional opportunities – essentially as  
presenters – but they are only employed for a limited time, because in  
that part of the world it is uncommon to see women working beyond the  
age of 50 in any media. These are some of the findings of the Southern  
African Gender and Media Baseline Study.

SWAZILAND: KING'S POLYGAMY REMARKS CONDEMNED
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1102
King Mswati III has once more become embroiled in controversy, this  
time over statements he made that the custom of polygamy did not  
contribute to the spread of HIV/Aids, contradicting studies that have  
established a connection.

ZIMBABWE: 'THAT WOMAN'S TROUBLE, BEAT HER'
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=17540
It was a trip that had become almost routine. As a lawyer, Gugulethu  
Moyo was accustomed to visiting Harare police stations, but last  
Tuesday she walked into a nightmare when she attempted to secure the  
release of a photographer arrested while covering Zimbabwe's two-day  
national strike. The 28-year-old lawyer endured vicious beatings and  
two nights behind bars on the whim of the wife of Zimbabwe's army  
commander.
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8.REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION

CAR: 284 CONGOLESE REFUGEES DEMAND REPATRIATION
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33070
Some 284 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), camped  
on the grounds of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees  
(UNHCR) in Bangui are demanding that they be repatriated, the agency’s  
representative in the Central African Republic (CAR) told IRIN on  
Tuesday.

CAR: WFP RECEIVES US $1 MILLION FOR THE DISPLACED
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33010
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has received US $1 million from  
multilateral donors to buy food for thousands of internally displaced  
people and vulnerable groups in the troubled Central African Republic  
(CAR), David Bulman, the WFP representative in the CAR, told IRIN on  
Saturday.

IVORY COAST: FINDING HOMES FOR IDPS
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33058
Thousands of people in Cote d'Ivoire have had to open their doors to  
friends and acquaintances displaced by an armed conflict that broke out  
in the West African country in September 2002. From one day to the  
next, they have had to provide accommodation, food and sometimes  
clothing to the internally displaced persons (IDPs).

LIBERIA: HUMANITARIAN AGENCIES WORRIED OVER SCARCE RESOURCES
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33057
Continuing displacement of people from central Liberia due to fighting  
between government and rebels could quickly overburden the scarce  
resources of humanitarian agencies, the UN office for Coordination of  
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported in New York on Tuesday.

LIBERIA: MANY IN RAVAGED LIBERIA LONG FOR U.S. AID
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=515&ncid=723&e=5&u=/ 
ap/20030325/ap_on_re_af/liberia_fighting
Clustered around radios, thousands of hungry Liberians in a refugee  
camp devour war news from Iraq, many hoping the world will turn its  
attention to their plight. A civil war in this West African nation with  
historic ties to the United States has killed thousands and uprooted  
nearly a third of the country's 3 million people with no end in sight.

SIERRA LEONE: BRINGING FAMILIES TOGETHER
http://www.theirc.org/childsoldiers/
A man looked at a video screen on a camcorder in shock and wonder. He  
started crying. "That's my daughter in there," he said. "I had no idea  
that she was still alive." After learning that the International Rescue  
Committee (IRC) was caring for her since her release by rebel forces in  
Sierra Leone, he begged her to come home. The IRC videotaped this plea  
to show his daughter, and eventually was able to reunite them.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: NEW REPORT ON TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303250752.html
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has launched a new  
report on the nature of the trade in women and children in southern  
Africa. The report points out that Southern Africa hosts a diverse  
range of human trafficking activities, from the global operations of  
Chinese triad groups, and Russian organized crime, to the local trade  
in persons across land borders perpetrated by local syndicates. The  
region's young women and children are especially vulnerable to the  
recruitment tactics of traffickers because civil unrest and economic  
deprivation leave them with few opportunities at home.

ZAMBIA: FLOODS LEAVE 10 000 HOMELESS
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L26306436.htm
Heavy rains have destroyed crops and swept away bridges and houses in a  
hunger-stricken part of Zambia leaving more than 10,000 people  
homeless, a senior government official said on Wednesday.
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9.RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA

AFRICA/GLOBAL: COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS TAKES UP DISCUSSION OF RACIAL  
DISCRIMINATION
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/ 
94EE108BF17C3989C1256CF4002D788E?opendocument
The Commission on Human Rights began on March 24 its annual discussion  
of racism and racial discrimination, hearing a number of requests from  
national delegations for more vigorous efforts to implement the  
Declaration and Programme of Action of the Durban World Conference  
against Racism and Racial Discrimination.

AFRICA/GLOBAL: RACISM STILL A 'SERIOUS PROBLEM', SAYS ANNAN
Racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance are still  
extremely serious problems, said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the  
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which  
was observed on 21 March. "Indeed, discrimination is deeply embedded in  
the economic, social and political structures of many societies, and  
has been among the root causes of a number of violent conflicts.  
Members of particular racial or ethnic groups continue to be more  
likely to be poor and to have less access to adequate health services  
and education than dominant groups. The persistence of old patterns of  
racism condemns many people to a life of marginalization and  
humiliation. And in the last decade, new manifestations of hatred have  
emerged," said Annan.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14033

SOUTH AFRICA: IN SOUTH AFRICA, A 'SIGN' OF THE BATTLE AGAINST RACISM
http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0326/p08s01-woaf.html
Entering the Heavenly Touch Hair Studio is like taking a step back in  
time. Red plastic swivel chairs sit on a checkerboard of retro  
black-and-white linoleum. But amid the faded posters advertising hair  
straighteners and dye there is a decidedly modern South African touch.  
A small, black and orange sign warns visitors that here at Heavenly  
Touch, certain behaviour just won't be allowed. "Right of admission  
reserved," it reads. "No racists allowed." Over the past year, the  
"no-racists" signs have been showing up in business windows around this  
notoriously conservative town.
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10.ENVIRONMENT

AFRICA/GLOBAL: CIVIL SOCIETY WALK OUT AT WATER FORUM
An impromptu walkout during the launch of the Camdessus report in the  
World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure session sparked  
controversy as civil society sharply criticized the World Water  
Council's positions ranging from infrastructure and dam development to  
the privatization and pricing policies being pushed at the World Water  
Forum. The defiant act demonstrated critical opposition to the  
corporate influence.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14039

AFRICA/GLOBAL: CONFRONTING GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM
http://www.choike.org/cgi-bin/choike/links/ 
page.cgi?p=ver_informe&id=1055
In just two decades, the environmental justice movement, which has its  
roots in the United States, has spread across the globe: the call for  
environmental justice can be heard from south-central Los Angeles to  
south Durban. This grassroots movement is largely a response to  
environmental racism - any policy, practice or directive that  
differentially affects or disadvantages (whether intentionally or  
unintentionally) individuals, groups or communities based on race or  
colour, says this article.

AFRICA/GLOBAL: DECISIONS FOR THE EARTH - EARTH: BALANCE, VOICE, AND  
POWER
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/Pubs/files/wildlife_poverty_study.pdf
World Resources 2002-2004 focuses on the importance of good  
environmental governance and explores how citizens, government managers  
and business owners can foster better environmental decisions. The  
report argues that better environmental governance is one of the most  
direct routes to fairer and more sustainable use of natural resources.  
Decisions made with greater participation and greater knowledge of  
natural systems decisions for the Earth can help to reverse the loss of  
forests, the decline of soil fertility, and the pollution of air and  
water that reflect our past failures.

AFRICA/GLOBAL: ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN  
MOUNTAINS
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1105
Mountain Watch provides the first map-based overview of environmental  
change in mountain regions and its implications for sustainable  
development. New global maps are presented to illustrate selected  
values of mountain ecosystems and many of the pressures that are  
causing environmental change.

AFRICA/GLOBAL: LDC'S FACE DEEPENING WATER PROBLEMS
http://www.iied.org/docs/climate/water&ldcs.pdf
Even after the United Nations 'Water Decade' from 1981 to 1990 and Safe  
Water year in 2000, more than one billion people in the Least Developed  
Countries (LDC's) lack access to safe, clean water, and three billion  
to adequate sanitation. This paper from the International Institute for  
Environment and Development (IIED) begins by providing background  
information on LDC's which are the world's 49 poorest, and comparing  
them with other developing countries. The authors state that LDC's on  
average use per capita about 1%-2% of the water used in Canada, but  
despite this, they still face formidable obstacles with regards to  
water, and globalisation appears to be deepening their vulnerability.

AFRICA/GLOBAL: NO CONSENSUS ON WATER AS A HUMAN RIGHT
http://www.socialwatch.org/en/noticias/noticia_12.htm
A ministerial meeting tackling the world's water problems fell short of  
producing a clearly defined programme of action in its final  
declaration, which was released here in this central Japanese city on  
Sunday. Also missing in the final text seeking to achieve water  
security was language recognising the right to water as a human right.  
Furthermore, the ministerial declaration omitted mention of the need  
for a global mechanism to monitor the progress being made to solve  
water-related problems, particularly the lack of safe drinking water  
and adequate sanitation.

AFRICA/GLOBAL: WATER IS LIFE - A CIVIL SOCIETY WORLD WATER VISION FOR  
ACTION
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/Water/humanright/articles.cfm?ID=9129
Water belongs to the earth and all species for all time. It is an  
inalienable human right and a public trust to be protected and nurtured  
by all peoples, communities and nations, and the bodies that represent  
them at the local, state, and international level. Based on these  
unwavering principles, we make the following claims: Water is not a  
commodity and must not be left to the whims of the market because no  
person or entity has the right to profit from it. Water must not,  
therefore, be commodified, privatized, traded or exported for  
commercial gain. Water must be excluded as a "good", a "service" and an  
"investment" in all international, regional and bilateral trade  
agreements. Every human being has the right to clean water. We demand  
that governments of the world substantially increase spending on clean  
water and sanitation for poor people with little or no access. We  
affirm that by reducing current astronomical levels of military  
spending that clean and safe water can be provided for every living  
person on this planet. We maintain that debt cancellation is essential  
for water security in poor countries, and demand that privatization  
cease to be used as a condition on international lending.

AFRICA: IS WILDLIFE IMPORTANT TO THE LIVLIHOODS OF THE POOR?
http://tinyurl.com/89hp
The UK Department for International Development (DFID) Wildlife and  
Poverty Study aims to assess how and why wildlife is important to the  
livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable, review the key underlying  
policy and institutional issues, investigate the synergies and  
trade-offs between donor strategies and draw implications for  
appropriate strategy and intervention. The Study concludes that  
evidence indicates a significant dependence of poor people on wildlife  
for livelihood and food security, particularly through bushmeat and  
tourism.

AFRICA: NO COUNTRY IN WATER QUALITY TOP 10
Tanzania ranks 70th among 122 selected countries world wide in terms of  
water quality, a report has indicated. South Africa is positioned at  
47. The report by UNESCO PRESS, a news service of the World Water  
Development Agency on water quality indicator values released in Kyoto  
at the 3rd World Water Forum shows Finland ranking first as Belgium  
ranks last in terms of low quantity and quality of groundwater combined  
with heavy industrial pollution and poor treatment of wastewater. No  
African country is listed among the top ten, which chronologically  
include Finland, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Japan, Norway,  
Russian Federation, Republic of Korea, Sweden and France.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14035

ETHIOPIA: BRITAIN BACKS BIO-DIVERSITY SCHEME
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33045
The British government announced on Tuesday that it is backing an  
ecological scheme aimed at protecting Ethiopia’s indigenous plant life.

ETHIOPIA: PIPE AND A FEW PUMPS MAKE FARMING POSSIBLE IN AN ARID  
COMMUNITY
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/advocacy/art4390.html
The Rift Valley area of central Ethiopia is a place of chronic food  
shortage, especially in recent years as erratic rains have stunted  
crops, and diseases have killed off livestock. Years of deforestation  
have eroded the soil, and even the farmers near Ziway Lake struggle to  
find water for their families and crops. They lacked the equipment to  
move the water to their farms. But they knew that with some water pumps  
and pipes, and the technical expertise to maintain the equipment and  
grow their crops in drought conditions, they could overcome the dry  
climate.

ETHIOPIA: TEENAGERS TELL WORLD FORUM OF WATER CRISIS
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33009
Two teenagers spelt out the scale of the water crisis in  
drought-stricken Ethiopia at an international conference in Japan  
marking world water day on Saturday. Tireza Satheesh and Zerihun Mammo  
told how they witnessed first hand the suffering of communities in  
Ethiopia who have almost no access to water.

KENYA: TITANIUM MINE LICENSE ELUDES CANADIAN FIRM
http://ens-news.com/ens/mar2003/2003-03-26-04.asp
The mining of the world's largest titanium fields on the east African  
coast of Kenya appears to have hit another snag after the country's new  
government announced that it is planning to conduct a public forum to  
discuss whether Tiomin Resources Inc., a Canadian mining firm, should  
be licensed to start mining the mineral in Kenya.

UGANDA: LACK OF DEMOCRACY KILLED BUJAGALI
The controversial Bujagali dam project reared its head at the Third  
World Water Forum held in Japan last week with an expert on hydropower  
saying lack of democracy was at the heart of the project's failure to  
attract ready funding. Bujagali, which has become one of Africa's most  
controversial hydropower projects in the past few years, is already  
seven years behind schedule. The dam has stalled for seven years now  
following charges that its environmental assessments were faulty, and  
that Uganda had given too much away when it negotiated a power purchase  
agreement (PPA) with the American company AES.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14150
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11.MEDIA

IVORY COAST: BODY OF MISSING LOCAL REPORTER FOUND
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has issued a statement  
mourning the death of Kloueu Gonzreu, 51, a regional correspondent for  
the state-run news wire service Agence Ivoirienne de Presse. According  
to several local reports, Gonzreu's body was found and identified on  
Wednesday, March 19, by a team from the Red Cross, where the journalist  
also worked in his spare time.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14112

NIGERIA: COURT RESERVES RULING IN DAILY TIMES CASE
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved ruling to a later date in the  
appeal filed by the Daily Times of Nigeria PLC, challenging the ruling  
of a Lokoja High Court that issued a bench warrant for the arrest of  
its Managing Director, Onukaba Adinoyi Ojo and Sunday Times Editor,  
Tunde Ipinmisho.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14111

NIGERIA: MEDIA RESPONSE ON HIV/AIDS ON THE INCREASE, SAYS REPORT
http://www.nigeria-aids.org/MsgRead.cfm?ID=1362
A research study of media response to HIV/AIDS in Nigeria in the year  
2002 has revealed a steady increase in the quality of coverage and  
understanding of key issues by journalists. The study also found high  
levels of sensational reporting and common use of inappropriate and  
stigmatising by newspaper reporters. The preliminary findings of the  
study, covering print media reporting on the epidemic between March and  
December 2002, was presented at a ceremony marking the 2002 Red Ribbon  
Awards on HIVAIDS, held at the NiteShift Coliseum, Ikeja in Lagos on  
March 8, 2003.

NIGERIA: YOUTH ATTACK JOURNALISTS
Three journalists narrowly escaped being lynched recently by irate  
youths at the office of assassinated All Nigerian People's Party (ANPP)  
Chieftain, Marshal Harry, in Port Harcourt, in the Niger Delta region.  
The journalists, Emmanuel Ugwu of The Punch, Kelvin Ebiri of The  
Guardian and a photo journalist, Femi Makinde, had joined other  
sympathizers to keep vigil at the office located in the premises of a  
hotel. But an attempt by Makinde to take the photograph of one of the  
weeping sympathizers drew the ire of the Kalabari youth who descended  
on him. Makinde was beaten and his digital camera confiscated.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14113

SOUTH AFRICA: FXI CONVENES FORUM TO OPPOSE ANTI-TERRORISM BILL
The Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) has convened a Forum of  
Non-Governmental Organisations which has resolved to oppose South  
Africa's proposed Anti-Terrorism Bill, tabled in Parliament for debate  
on 10 March. The Bill was referred to the Portfolio Committee on Safety  
and Security on the 14 March for public hearings and deliberations.  
Public invitations for submissions on the Bill have been issued and the  
deadline for submissions is the 30 April.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14108

SOUTH AFRICA: THISDAY SOUTH AFRICA RELEASES PREVIEW EDITION
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303250447.html
In keeping with its promise to produce a quality and authoritative  
national newspaper in South Africa, THISDAY South Africa has released  
its pilot edition in Johannesburg to a Focus Group for a social  
scientific analysis.

SUDAN: TWO AL-JAZEERA JOURNALISTS ASSAULTED BY POLICE OFFICERS
On 22 March 2003, while covering a demonstration against the war in  
Iraq, Islam Salih, a journalist with the Qatar-based satellite  
television station Al-Jazeera, and his cameraman Mohammed el Hassan  
were struck by several police officers.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14110

ZIMBABWE: FREELANCE JOURNALIST RELEASED
On 24 March 2003, freelance journalist Stanley Karombo was released on  
Z$5,000 (approx. US$6) bail. Karombo was arrested on 20 March at the  
Mutare central police station at the instigation of Manicaland  
provincial police spokesperson Edmund Maingire. Karombo's lawyer, Peter  
Makombe, told MISA-Zimbabwe that his client was arrested under the  
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), for  
allegedly practicing journalism without accreditation.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14109

ZIMBABWE: PHOTOGRAPHER AND LAWYERS ARRESTED
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1103
Philemon Bulawayo, a photographer with the Daily News, was arrested  
while taking pictures of police officers beating people in the Harare  
high-density suburb of Glen View. Zimbabwe was at a standstill from 18  
to 19 March following a stay away call by the opposition party, the  
Movement for Democratic Change.

ZIMBABWE: SHOCK AT ASSAULT ON LAWYERS
The Media Defence Fund and the Media Lawyers Network has expressed  
shock and outrage over the assault on lawyers, Gugulethu Moyo and Alec  
Muchadehama. "It has never been heard before that a lawyer can be  
arrested and detained for carrying out a duty imposed on him/her by the  
Constitution of Zimbabwe that grants everyone a right to legal  
representation," a statement said.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14107
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12.DEVELOPMENT

AFRICA/GLOBAL: NO CLEAR PROOF GLOBALISATION HELPS POOR, SAYS IMF
http://www.forbes.com/newswire/2003/03/17/rtr909541.html
The International Monetary Fund sounded more like its critics on Monday  
when it admitted there is little evidence globalization is helping poor  
countries. The IMF, which has often been the target of violent  
anti-globalization protests, in a new study found economic integration  
may actually increase the risk of financial crisis in the developing  
world.

BENIN: US $460 MILLION IN DEBT RELIEF
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303260565.html
Benin has taken steps necessary to reach its completion point under the  
enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative, making the  
country eligible for debt relief totalling US $460 million, the IMF and  
World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) reported on  
Tuesday.

NAMIBIA: NEPAD HAS LITTLE TO OFFER US, SAYS NAMIBIAN THINK-TANK
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303260504.html
The Namibia Economic Policy Research Unit has become the latest  
economic think-tank to criticise the New Partnership for Africa's  
Development (Nepad). In a report, the unit said the recovery plan had  
"little to offer Namibia". Namibia could benefit, however, from a  
"neighbourhood effect". If most countries in Africa were stable,  
peaceful places, trade within Africa would increase and more investment  
would be attracted. But the think-tank said it was unlikely that Nepad  
alone could do this.

TANZANIA: A GOLDEN EXAMPLE OF GLOBALIZATION - A MINING COMPANY, THE  
WORLD BANK AND A PRESIDENT
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=3279
In the Shinyanga region of west central Tanzania, one of the poorest in  
the country, small-scale mining at Bulyanhulu once offered rural people  
an income about 6 times what they could make from farming. But in  
August of 1996, less than a year after President Benjamin W. Mkapa took  
office, that changed. According to eyewitness reports, affidavits,  
photographs, and even video by Tanzanian police, and in violation of an  
injunction from the High Court of Tanzania, eight entire settlements  
around the town of Kakola were razed, an estimated 200,000 miners or  
more were evicted from the mines, and in the process some 54 miners at  
Bulyanhulu were buried alive in mineshafts sealed by bulldozers. By  
July of 2001, the mine, now revamped as a huge high-tech operation, was  
officially opened with great fanfare by President Mkapa.

WEST AFRICA: STIFF CHALLENGES ON MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
Only about half the countries of West Africa are on track to reach  
targets set in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving rates  
of severe poverty and hunger by 2015, according to a recent regional  
forum in Dakar, Senegal, organized by the UNDP Regional Support Centre  
there.
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13.INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY

INTERNET ACCESS STILL A NIGHTMARE IN AFRICA
http://www.dispatch.co.zm/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=180
The usage of the Internet - which has been described as a possible  
engine for economic growth - is still a 'mountain to climb' in many  
African countries. According to a report published by Africa Online, of  
the 770 million people in Africa, one in every 150, or approximately  
5.5 million people in total, now uses the Internet.

SOUTH AFRICA: CAPE DEVELOPER LAUNCHES AIDS SOFTWARE
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1104
Stellenbosch-based Indutech has released what it describes as the  
world's first software solution to tackle HIV/Aids in the workplace.  
The solution, EDEN for HIV/Aids, is to be rolled out soon in the  
automotive industry.

SOUTH AFRICA: SHUTTLEWORTH IN OPEN SOURCE DRIVE
http://www.sabcnews.com/south_africa/education/0,1009,55689,00.html
IT entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth's Shuttleworth Foundation has opened  
the first of three open source learning centres in the Western Cape.  
The centre, at the Nooitgedacht Primary School in Bishop Lavis, takes  
computer access to nearly 1 000 children for the first time.

SOUTH AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICAN JUDGE WARNS OF 'GENETIC APARTHEID'
http://www.scidev.net/ 
frame3.asp?id=2103200312154352&t=N&authors=Tamar%20Kahn&posted=21%20Mar% 
202003&c=1&r=1
A leading South African judge has warned of the possible emergence of a  
‘genetic apartheid’, arguing that the scientific advances of genetic  
research have created the spectre of a ‘genetic underclass’ that is  
vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination.

SQLDESKTOP CLEANS UP
http://www.tectonic.co.za/default.php?action=view&id=115
sqlDesktop promises to clean up your life. Oh, and it also promises to  
turn your digital documents into a valuable resource, reports  
www.tectonic.co.za.

SUSTAINABLE ICT CASE STUDIES SITE LAUNCHED
http://www.sustainableICTs.org
A Sustainable ICT Case Studies website has been launched. It has been  
generated by Gamos and BigWorld as part of a research programme into  
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sustainability factors.  
Funded by the Department of International Development (DFID), the  
research programme identified activities from across the world that  
sought to benefit the poor and had an ICT component. In particular it  
considered programmes where ICTs had enhanced ongoing development  
activities, the ICT activity could be replicated without sizeable  
investment, and there was a measure of sustainability.
Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED]

TIME TO GET ONLINE WEBSITE GOES LIVE, OFFERS LEARNING MATERIALS
http://www.ttgo.kabissa.org
Kabissa has launched a new web site for its Time to Get Online project.  
It is an Internet capacity-building project for West African civil  
society organisations that was launched in November 2002. Initially, it  
targeted organisations in West Africa whose main agenda concerns human  
rights, freedom of information, responsive government and  
democratization. A set of self-learning materials has been developed to  
help civil society activists and organisers to get online and to  
integrate the Internet into their organisations. The materials can be  
used as both a self-taught curriculum and as a reference guide for  
users with varying levels of Internet experience and expertise. The  
materials are available for download for African civil society  
organisations. Local workshops serve as a supplement to the learning  
materials and give organisations the opportunity for hands-on learning.
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14.eNEWSLETTERS AND MAILING LISTS

ISLAM AND HUMAN RIGHTS WEB SITE
http://www.law.emory.edu/IHR/
The Religion and Human Rights Project of Emory University has formally  
launched the Islam and Human Rights website. The website is a  
comprehensive research resource for academics, students, policy-makers,  
mediapersons, and anyone interested in Islam and human rights issues  
around the world. The website includes: Links to articles, essays, and  
collections of documents on Islam and human rights; Profiles and  
contact information on scholars and organisations in the field of Islam  
and human rights; A discussion forum; and Regularly updated information  
on events worldwide related to Islam and human rights.

SOCIAL CHANGE EMAIL LIST
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/socialchangezw/
The Social Change email list is a continuation of Social Change  
magazine, and is intended for discussing social and economic  
development issues, especially as they relate to Zimbabwe.

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Derechos announces the creation of a new mailing list for the  
distribution of information (news, articles, commentary, documents) and  
actions concerning the threats to human and civil rights and democracy  
in and by the United States of Americas. This includes legislation like  
the Patriot Acts, projects like Total Information Awareness,  
judicial/political actions such as the denial of habeas corpus and so  
forth. The mailing list will be in English and moderated. You are  
invited to join and to contribute.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14149

ZVAKWANA/SOKWANELE: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
http://www.zvakwana.org/index.htm
Zvakwana/Sokwanele is a non-partisan, non-profit group of passionate  
people - volunteers and visionaries - working to keep Zimbabweans  
informed about breaking news, including civic campaigns and public  
meetings and events. They have an activist wing that engages in  
non-violent civic actions. The words zvakwana and sokwanele are  
vernacular for "enough is enough". Visit their web site and join the  
Zvakwana mailing list.
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15.FUNDRAISING

NIGERIA/SOUTH AFRICA: IOC BOOSTS ATHLETES WITH $75,000
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303260460.html
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) through the collaborative  
efforts of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) has boosted the  
country's athletes with a sum of $75,000 towards the preparation for  
All African Games in October.

NIGERIA: CALL FOR PROPOSALS TO PROMOTE CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN GLOBAL  
GOVERNANCE
http://allafrica.com/stories/200303260480.html
The Global Civil Society Portfolio of the Ford Foundation has set aside  
$US1 million to promote civic engagement in global governance and to  
encourage global civil society actors to address the democracy deficits  
apparent within global governance. With this call for proposals the  
Ford Foundation is seeking civil society organisations that have a  
strategic plan to strengthen or promote accountability mechanisms  
between global governors and global citizens.

SOUTH AFRICA: A R1.3 MILLION VOTE OF CONFIDENCE
http://www.nu.ac.za/nu/extra.asp?id=367&p=UNHP
Mr Sam Seepei, Manager of the BHPBilliton Trust, handed over a cheque  
for R1.334 million to the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor  
Malegapuru William Makgoba, signifying a vote of confidence in the  
University and its highly successful Science Foundation Programme (SFP).

SOUTH AFRICA: LESAOANA INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL CONNECTED ONTO THE ICT  
HIGHWAY
http://www.telkom.co.za/telkomfoundation/news/article23.jsp
Pupils of the Lesaoana Intermediate School in the rural eastern Free  
State village of Sehlajaneng have received a computer centre from the  
Telkom Foundation that is set to change their learning experience.
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16.COURSES, SEMINARS, AND WORKSHOPS

CONTINENTAL CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION COURSE
12 May 2003 – 14 June 2003
Twice a year, the Coalition for Peace in Africa (COPA) holds a 5-week  
training workshop. This course covers diverse aspects of conflict  
transformation and peace building, and is aimed at building the  
capacity of participants, mostly from the African continent, working in  
related fields. The next course is scheduled for 12th May 2003 to 14th  
June 2003 and will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Special  
facilities are available for participants with young children who  
cannot be left behind. The purpose of this course is to assist men and  
women working for development, human rights, peace and justice.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14105

INVASION OF IRAQ: EFFECTS AND CONSEQUENCES FOR AFRICA
Centre For The Study Of Violence And Reconciliation
This seminar aims to stimulate analytical debate of the United States  
invasion of Iraq and the impact it is likely to have on Africa. The  
seminar will examine this topic from a broad social justice perspective  
and will address questions of a possible depletion of aid and trade in  
Africa, and the impact of changing global power relations.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14104

LAND ISSUES IN THE POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGIC PAPERS: SUB-REGIONAL  
INFORMATIVE AND CAPACITY BUILDING WORKSHOP
Lome, Togo, 25 – 26 April 2003
The LandNet West Africa network is pleased to announce its forthcoming  
bilingual workshop in Lome (Togo) on April 25 - 26 2003. This meeting  
will be focused on the following themes: the land issues in the  
sub-region; the World Bank land policy; the PRSPs and the land tenure  
challenges with a focus on some countries experiences; and the means  
for correctly addressing land problems within the PRSP scheme.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14106
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17.ADVOCACY RESOURCES

BOYCOTT US AND UK CAMPAIGN
Drop Their Shops And Stop The War
This is a global campaign initiated by the People's Health Movement  
(PHM) on March 20, and is picking up momentum in many countries. The  
campaign was launched as a tactic to put pressure on the US and UK  
companies and thus influence their governments to stop the war on Iraq.  
Click on the link to read a list of products to boycott.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14115

HANDS UP FOR EDUCATION
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/educationnow/action.htm
In April 2002, at the Spring meetings of the World Bank and IMF, the UK  
government and other members of the G7 group of countries endorsed the  
Education for All Action Plan. If put into action, the Plan could  
ensure free primary education for every child by 2015. But, almost one  
year on, little money has been pledged to make the Plan a reality. A  
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is being lost. To join the call for  
free, quality, primary education for every child, please complete the  
form provided at the link provided.

MILLION SIGNATURES ON THE INTERNET DRIVE
The Million Signature campaign was officially launched worldwide in  
January. Tens of thousands of people have already expressed their  
solidarity by signing on. This signature campaign, initiated by the  
People's Health Movement and the International People's Health Council,  
is being endorsed by ordinary people and organisations from all walks  
of life. The campaign is designed to put pressure on WHO, UNICEF, other  
UN bodies, social and political organisations, policy-makers and  
governments. Join 'The Million Signature Campaign'.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14103

ONE WORLD, ONE WISH CAMPAIGN
http://www.savethechildren.org/owow/owow.shtml
Thirty-two wars are now being waged around the world. One in four  
children worldwide lives in one of these dangerous situations. Some  
20,000 girls and women were raped during the conflict in the former  
Yugoslavia in 1992 alone. And in Liberia, 7-year-old children were  
found fighting in combat. It is clear that a crisis of this magnitude  
requires a massive response. Save the Children is launching the One  
World, One Wish campaign to stop atrocities such as organized rape and  
the use of child soldiers by getting our government to set aside funds  
for the protection of women and children in conflicts.

TAKE ACTION ON HIV/AIDS
http://www.actsa.org/action.htm
Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) is working with the Treatment Action  
Campaign (TAC), the South African based campaign group, to demand that  
GlaxoSmithKline puts public health before patients and profits. Visit  
their web page and sign a petition in support of the campaign.
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18.JOBS

AFRICA: POLICY AND ADVOCACY MANAGER
Christian Aid
This exciting new post in the Africa Division will initiate and design  
policy and advocacy strategies on the priorities of the Africa Division  
and undertake policy work in one particular area of expertise. The  
postholder will contribute to the management of the Africa Division and  
manage staff in the Africa Policy and Advocacy Unit. Earliest start  
date 1st April (negotiable). See the link for a list of more Christian  
Aid jobs related to Africa.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14093

GAMBIA: PROJECT CO-ORDINATOR
Concern Universal
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/ 
56E81C540E780BF3C1256CEE005890B5
Concern Universal (CU) requires a Project Co-ordinator to ensure the  
effective management and implementation of its conflict prevention and  
enterprise development programme.

KENYA: DEPUTY DIRECTOR-GENERAL FOR PROGRAMS, DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC  
INITIATIVES, DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE SERVICES
The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF)
The mission of The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), based in Nairobi,  
Kenya, is to conduct innovative research and development on  
agroforestry, strengthen the capacity of our partners, enhance  
worldwide recognition of the human and environmental benefits of  
agroforestry, and provide scientific leadership in the field of  
integrated natural resource management. We are one of sixteen food and  
environmental research organisations in the Consultative Group on  
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), whose goals are to help  
achieve food security, poverty reduction, and a sustainable  
environment. Our regional programmes are active in Africa, Asia, and  
Latin America, with staff based in 17 countries. The annual budget is  
approximately $24 million.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14092

SOMALIA: HUMAN RIGHTS EXPERT
United Nations Development Programme
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/ 
91C0043E8F8A66F7C1256CE90035A783
The judiciary component supports social development based on the rule  
of law and respect for human rights. UNDP intends to recruit a  
Technical Advisor for a period of 12 months.

SOMALIA: LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPERT
United Nations Development Programme
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/ 
BACEA4CCF2A829BDC1256CE90034FF73
The Law Enforcement component aims to strengthen the establishment and  
functional capacities of both basic and specialized policing  
capabilities, enabling the civilian police to contribute more  
effectively to public security. The component will promote better  
public relations between the authorities and the Somali population.  
UNDP intends to recruit a Law Enforcement expert for 3 months.
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19.BOOKS AND ARTS

JUST SUSTAINABILITIES: DEVELOPMENT IN AN UNEQUAL WORLD
Edited By Julian Agyeman, Robert D Bullard And Bob Evans
http://www.earthscan.co.uk/asp/bookdetails.asp?key=3845
Environmental activists and academics alike are realizing that a  
sustainable society must be a just one. Environmental degradation is  
almost always linked to questions of human equality and quality of  
life. Throughout the world, those segments of the population that have  
the least political power and are the most marginalized are selectively  
victimized by environmental crises. Just Sustainabilities argues that  
social and environmental justice within and between nations should be  
an integral part of the policies and agreements that promote  
sustainable development. The book addresses the links between  
environmental quality and human equality and between sustainability and  
environmental justice.

RETHINKING THE LABOUR MOVEMENT IN THE 'NEW SOUTH AFRICA'
Edited By Franco Barchiesi And Tom Bramble
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0754619818/ref=ed_soc__3_2/ 
202-7397232-0303033
The socio-economic system underpinning apartheid in South Africa was  
based on the exploitation of black workers in the mines, the factories,  
the fields and the shops. It is widely recognized that the struggles of  
the South African black working class contributed decisively to the  
overthrow of the racist regime. In recognition of the power of  
organised labour, the democratic government elected in 1994 granted  
South Africa's unions unprecedented legal and constitutional rights.  
However, despite these gains, the country's labour movement has been  
facing a fresh set of challenges, from macroeconomic policy to the  
factory floor, many of them emanating from labour's political allies in  
Government. The purpose of this book is to examine how the South  
African labour movement is responding to these challenges in the new  
millennium.

TEARS OF THE SUN AND NIGERIA: A FILM WITHOUT CONTEXT
Problematic characterization and images of Africa resonate in the  
recently released Hollywood movie, “Tears of the Sun”, which stars  
Bruce Willis. Shot in the “jungle” of Hawaii in the US the film is  
about the rescue of Dr. Lena Kendricks, an American citizen by marriage  
who was caught in the middle of civil unrest in Nigeria after a  
military coup. Navy SEAL Lieutenant A.K. Waters and his elite squadron  
of tactical specialists were sent to rescue Dr. Kendricks from a  
village in Nigeria before a newly installed military leader, a Muslim  
Fulani, start “ethnic cleansing of Christian Igbos” in the village.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14100

THE STATE OF THE WORLD'S CHILDREN 2003
UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/pubsgen/sowc03/index.html
The State of the World's Children 2003 reports on child participation -  
the 'right' of every child at every age, the responsibility of  
governments, organisations and families, and a way to promote  
tolerance, respect for human rights, an appreciation of diversity and  
peace. The report showcases examples from every region of the world of  
how things are different when children's viewpoints are taken into  
account. Photos and artwork are by children. The report includes 9  
tables, including a new addition on HIV/AIDS, and 3 maps, which  
together present a comprehensive set of economic and social indicators  
on the well-being of children worldwide.
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20.MEMBERS CORNER
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21.LETTERS AND COMMENTS

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE TORTURERS AT THE MINISTRY OF INTERIOR IN EGYPT
To all those working at the Egyptian Ministry of Interior and who are  
involved in torture or who have ordered it or refrained from stopping  
it, although they knew it was taking place: The undersigned  
organisations know how you have spent the last three days torturing our  
colleagues, antiwar activists and other Egyptian citizens who have  
walked the same path of the millions of citizens all over the world and  
have peacefully expressed their protest of the killing going on in Iraq.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=14167

AUGUSTIN LOADA
Driector, Center For Democratic Governance, Ouagadougou
In Pambazuka News issue 103 you reproduce a copy of the article  
'Landmark elections in Burkina Faso' of which I am co-author with Mr.  
Carlos Santiso. In your introduction you mention the International  
Centre for Democratic Governance (ICDG) at the University of Georgia  
(2002). ICDG has not been involved with the Center for Democratic  
Governance (CDG) so far. As Director of the Center for Democratic  
Governance, I would like to clarify that the CDG has been established  
with the support of International IDEA, an intergovernmental  
organisation with 22 member states from all over the world with a  
mandate to promote democracy worldwide and with which the CDG remains  
working in close partnership since 1996. You can find more information  
under www.idea.int

MICHAEL CARMICHAEL
The Oxford Centre For Public Affairs, Oxford, UK
As usual, Pambazuka is essential reading. But, may I ask, why is there  
no reference this week to the political trial of Morgan Tsvangirai? As  
you know, along with several collegues in the IAPC, I am trying to  
encourage western press and media to take an interest in his case.  
Morgan ought to be the poster child of Amnesty International, but he is  
not even mentioned on their Zimbabwe webpage. Amnesty was, after all,  
established to bring to light the injustice suffered by political  
prisoners. Well, Tsvangirai and his MDC colleagues represent the most  
egregious case of political persecution taking place on the planet -  
but their plight seems to be invisible to Amnesty International, world  
press and media. Why?

There is ample media coverage of the trial in heavily censored Zimbabwe  
to feature one, two or even three items each week in Pambazuka. I am  
sure that you and your excellent staff know the relevant Zimbabwe  
websites.

I would like to thank you for everything you have done to make your  
readers aware of the trial of Morgan Tsvangirai in previous issues of  
Pambazuka News. Might I suggest that some of your readers would like to  
remain current on the appalling developments unfolding so brutally in a  
courtroom in Harare where the state is attempting to assassinate its  
political enemies by constitutional means.
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