PAMBAZUKA NEWS 118: OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH

[pambazuka-news]

PAMBAZUKA NEWS 118: OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH
A Weekly Electronic Newsletter For Social Justice In Africa
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1.EDITORIAL

OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT BUSH
Dear President Bush,
As your plane touches down in Dakar, Senegal, we welcome the  
opportunity of your visit to examine the US Africa relationship and to  
establish ties that are based on honesty, respect and a clear  
commitment to removing the structural obstacles that impede Africa's  
development. We would like to raise the following issues for your  
consideration. They are not new ones, but there is an opportunity, with  
your visit, to act decisively and change the image and relationship of  
your Administration with Africa.

The proposed visit to five African countries has been scheduled to  
clash with the Second Heads of Summit meeting in Maputo, Mozambique. It  
is unclear how the Administration could be so out of step with African  
continental institutions by not seeking to attend this important  
meeting. As arranged, the trip will rather serve as a distraction to  
the African Union meeting. ?

We notice that your planning team has omitted those countries like  
Tanzania and Kenya that have directly suffered from terrorist attacks  
against US interests and citizens. This is odd given the tremendous  
cost that these countries have borne and continue to bear as a result  
of their relationship with the US. Furthermore, the highly selective  
programme excludes civil society and the business communities who could  
have offered constructive and prepositional conversation around US  
foreign policy, aid and trade. As constructed, the agenda appears to  
offer little else than a series of photo opportunities starting with  
Goree Island and ending in a Ugandan AIDS clinic with shots of our  
Presidents in between. ?

This trip may boost the Republican campaign image among the  
African-American community before elections. However, it does very  
little to boost confidence on the continent that this is a working  
visit that will afford time and space for Africans to share their  
aspirations and engage the Administration on the need for the US to  
change its policies and practices toward Africa. There is still time  
though should you choose to act on the substantive issues we raise  
below.

?Delivery not spin on HIV/AIDS is needed:

Two thirds of the 25 million people who have died are Africans. In  
Zimbabwe alone, more than 3000 people are dying each week from the  
disease. There is no doubt this is one of the gravest issues  
confronting the continent, yet the Global Health Fund is short on  
resources. While welcoming the public pledge of US$15 billion to a  
unilateral US Global AIDS programmes, we note your Administration's  
request for 2004 is a miserly $450 million. Mr. Bush, where is the $15  
Billion that you have promised to fight AIDS in Africa and the  
Caribbean? Show us the money! ?

The quality of US health programmes have suffered from the reliance on  
patented drugs and the restriction of health programmes that promote  
abstinence from sex rather than safe sex. We call on you to heed the  
demand of African leaders and women's organisations for a change in  
these policies and those promoting health cut backs. The demand for the  
right to import and manufacture generic drugs is a moral imperative.  
This trip would be an opportunity to express your support for Africans  
to access cheap generic drugs and to promote women's rights to control  
their own fertility.

Decrease uni-lateral militarisation, facilitate regional peace-keeping:

Several African conflicts are leading to the deaths, displacement and  
impoverishment of millions of African women, men and children. African  
leaders have tried individually and collectively to respond to these  
conflicts despite the debilitating effects of structural adjustment  
policies (which the US supports) and debt servicing. ?

The US needs to provide adequate logistical and financial support for  
peacekeeping, peacemaking and peace-building in Sudan, Liberia,  
Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Burundi. It can do this through  
cooperation and collaboration with existing efforts such as the  
ECOWAS-sponsored peace conference in Liberia, the South African-led  
peace efforts in Burundi and the United Nations and French-led  
operations in the DRC.

At the same time, civil society organizations in Africa would like to  
register their unequivocal opposition to the further militarisation of  
the continent by the proposed setting up of new military bases in  
Africa as well as the expansion of others, i.e. Djibouti. We are not  
unmindful of the past US military role in Africa. In fact a number of  
Africa's civil wars are products of US military support, including  
Liberia, the DRC, and the recently ended Angolan war. The move to  
militarize the continent cannot be justified by US economic interests  
in our oil or in protecting Africa from terrorism. ?

We call on the US to roll back the current plans to create “forward  
operating bases” on African soil and desist from promoting bi-lateral  
agreements that exempt both US and African citizens from prosecution  
under the International Criminal Court. With great power comes  
responsibility for one's actions. This should also apply to the US.

?Why is Iraq's debt different from Africa's?:

It has long been established that Africa's debt burden is a major  
obstacle to Africa's development objectives. The servicing of Africa's  
debt has made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the  
continent to invest in the productive sector, health and education. ?

Mr. Bush, will you announce US support for the unconditional  
cancellation of Africa's debt while in Africa? If Iraqi's debt can be  
cancelled, then surely there is nothing to stop you from doing the same  
for Africa.

Dumping is not Fair Trade:

In your pre-visit media briefings, you made reference to free trade and  
AGOA as a panacea for Africa's economic woes, yet your Administration  
practices protectionist policies, offers tremendous subsidies and is  
aggressively promoting patents on all living and non-living resources.  
Agriculture is Africa's competitive advantage and the only form of  
livelihood for 70% of its population. Africa's poverty is the direct  
consequence of the inability to export agricultural commodities at fair  
prices and to access US technologies.

We call on you to announce a moratorium on subsidies to US farmers,  
desist from championing risky GM products and to take measures that  
will enhance market access for Africa's agricultural products. ?

Democracy is a principle, not a matter of expediency:

African people across the continent are establishing and holding  
accountable democratic governments. In these cases, US support like  
elsewhere in the world is welcome. The practice of externally induced  
“regime change” as we have seen in the recent past is not welcome.  
Africans reserve the right to elect and/or recall their leaders through  
democratic processes. We view with deep concern, the pressure that is  
placed on African Governments to adopt laws that contravene national  
constitutions and to act in a manner that strips their citizens or  
residents of their fundamental freedoms and access to the rule of law  
such as the recent case of four Moslems in Malawi suspected of being  
linked to Al Qaeda. This divides Africa along racial and religious  
lines.

We would have liked an opportunity to express these thoughts more  
directly and hear your responses. However we note with concern that the  
space for civil society in the US to comment on and/or critique your  
administration policies has shrunk considerably. We are not surprised  
that civil society in Africa as well did not feature in your itinerary.

We deeply share the pain and suffering of Americans resulting from  
September 11 events and the sense of urgency to bring this insecurity  
to an end. However, we think that US-Africa relations cannot not be  
driven by the US War Against Terrorism or US interests in Africa as an  
emerging market or as supplier of 15% of US oil. ? We make these  
appeals because we believe there are obligations that come with being  
the world's only super power. Furthermore, the people of the US and  
Africa have a history that is intertwined.? Crimes against African  
humanity were conducted during slavery and during the cold war.?? In  
that sense the US has an ethical burden to act in ways that exude  
justice, human rights and a genuine respect for democracy.?We ask not  
for charity, we seek justice. We look to your trip to to act decisively  
and change the image and relationship of your Administration with  
Africa.

Yours truly:
?Helen Wangusa Coordinator, African Women Empowerment Network (AWEPON),  
Uganda ?
Patrick Craven, Congress of South African Trade Unions, South Africa ?
Muthoni Wanyeki, Executive Director African Women Development and  
Communication Network (FEMNET), Kenya ?
Oduor Ong'wen, Director, Econews Africa, Kenya ?
Ezra Mbogori, Executive Director, Mwelekeo wa NGO (MWENGO), Zimbabwe ?  
? ? ?

c.c.Hon. Colin Powell, Secretary of State, Hon. Andrew Natsios,  
Administrator,USAID.
??
Endorsed by:
Emira Woods, Co-Director, Foreign Policy in Focus/Institute for Policy  
Studies, US ?
Salih Booker, Executive Director, AfricaAction, US ?
Bill Fletcher, President, Transafrica, US
Leon Spencer, Executive Director, Washington Office on Africa, US ?
Njoki Njoroge Njehu, Director, 50 Years Is Enough: U.S. Network for  
Global Economic Justice, US ?
Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General, CIVICUS Citizens World Alliance, South  
Africa ? ?

* Visit http://www.mwengo.org/ to endorse the open letter or have your  
name added as a signatory.

THE BUSH PHOTO SHOOT IN LINKS

SENEGAL
* Bush Discusses Liberia With West African Leaders
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080093.html
* Cooped-up locals angry about Bush  
http://www.iol.co.za/ 
index.php?click_id=68&art_id=qw1057680000828B212&set_id=1
* Senegal signs US deal
http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1382948,00.html

SOUTH AFRICA
* Anti-Bush crowd braves cold
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7- 
1442_1385104,00.html
* Bush and Mbeki have long talks on Africa
http://www.iol.co.za/ 
index.php?sf=13&click_id=13&art_id=qw1057749303683B212&set_id=1
* Mbeki and Bush present united front on Zim
http://www.iol.co.za/ 
index.php?click_id=13&art_id=qw1057749123489R131&set_id=1
* Mbeki lied to US over Mugabe talks, says opposition  
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=423236
* Protests Planned for Bush Visit
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307070898.html
* 'Texas is missing an idiot'
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Bush_in_Africa/0,,2-7- 
1505_1385148,00.html
* Zimbabwe Hot Topic for Bush Meeting in South Africa
http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=19160

BOTSWANA
* Botswana Exempts U.S. from Court as Bush Visit Nears
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=3055811
* Bush's Brief Visit to Lift Botswana from Obscurity
http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=politicsNews&storyID=3058837
* Bush heads for Aids-hit Botswana  
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3054837.stm

UGANDA
* Activist Dares Bush On Aids
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080507.html
* Bush to Museveni – No third term; no DRC meddling
http://www.nationaudio.com/News/EastAfrican/current/Regional/ 
Regional0707200335.html
* Officials Want Bush to Remove Subsidies
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307090097.html
* Reform Tells Bush to Press Museveni On Parties, Rights
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080508.html

NIGERIA
* Another day, another photo opportunity
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=24107
* Nigeria: Bush Should Condemn Police Brutality
http://www.hrw.org/africa/index.php
PETITION ON MEDIA FREEDOM PRESENTED TO AU IN MAPUTO
Active participation of citizens in shaping policy and decision making  
of their countries is impossible if their own governments continue to  
deny them the rights necessary to ensure such participation. These  
include the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, association and  
political participation, as well as media freedom to facilitate a free  
exchange of information, ideas and opinion. This is part of the text of  
a press statement issued on Tuesday at the 2nd African Union meeting of  
Heads of State in Maputo, Mozambique by CREDO for Freedom of Expression  
of Associated Rights, FAHAMU, the International Federation of  
Journalists (IFJ), World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and Media  
Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Signatories to the petition, which  
has already been delivered to key political leaders in Maputo, included  
African and international journalists/media and freedom of expression  
organisations; African and international civil society and human rights  
organisations; individual lawyers, journalists, intellectuals,  
academics and human rights campaigners. Visit the link for the full  
statement, the letter to African leaders and the full list of  
signatories. Below are links to some of the stories generated by the  
petition.
* WAN Appeals to African Union for Press Freedom
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307050003.html
* MISA supports petition to the African Union for Press Freedom
http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/media/030702misa.asp?sector=MEDIA
* IFEX members support media petition
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/51876/ 
?PHPSESSID=a629b18ed6710f3f1b813fa050f39a49
* Media Freedom Issues to Be Highlighted At AU Meeting
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35267
* Petition to the AU Calling for Press Freedom and the Release of  
Journalists
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080789.html
* Press Freedom Petition to Go to AU Leaders
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080515.html
* Malawi president to face AU press petition
http://www.nationmalawi.com/articles.asp?articleID=5110
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16295
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2.CONFLICT, EMERGENCIES, AND CRISES

AFRICA/GLOBAL: HOLDING UP DEVELOPMENT: THE EFFECTS OF SMALL ARMS AND  
LIGHT WEAPONS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
http://www.id21.org/id21-media/arms.html
Cheap, portable and readily available: every year more than half a  
million people are killed through the misuse of small arms such as  
handguns, assault rifles and grenades. Millions more are crippled. With  
poverty providing an ideal breeding ground for small arms  
proliferation, African countries are currently the worst hit by a  
global epidemic of armed violence which threatens the safety and well  
being of people in developed and developing countries alike. In the  
context of the first UN Biennial Meeting of States to discuss the UN's  
programme of action on small arms and light weapons taking place in New  
York this week, id21 explains why small arms control is such an  
important issue for developing countries.
Related Link:
* Ending the gun culture
http://www.id21.org/society/s10bundp1g1.html

AFRICA/GLOBAL: UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS LANDMARK RESOLUTION ON  
PREVENTING ARMED CONFLICT
http://www.hrea.org/lists/display.php?headline_id=394&language_id=1
After three years of preparation and five months of intensive  
negotiation, the United Nations General Assembly has adopted by  
consensus a resolution on the prevention of armed conflict, hailed as a  
landmark in efforts to move the world body from a culture of reacting  
to crises to one of preventing them reaching critical mass.

BURUNDI: FOUR DEAD, 7 INJURED AS REBELS SHELL BUJUMBURA
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35283
Four people were killed and seven others injured on Wednesday when  
rebels shelled the Burundian capital, Bujumbura, for the third  
consecutive day.

DRC: AS THE TROOPS LAND
http://www.nu.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,295
The sending of French and British soldiers to the DRC, where the most  
modest estimates suggest that around three and a half million people  
have died as a result of war in the last five years, has received  
little comment. Yet the question remains: has the problem of the Congo  
been too much intervention, or too little? The Congolese state has been  
bankrupted by the costs of war. The people survive in conditions of  
desperate poverty. Successive outside players have done nothing to  
encourage self-government or even the conditions in which democracy  
could grow. The arrival of the French troops has been met therefore  
with cynicism.

DRC: FIGHTING STOPS BUT SITUATION REMAINS "TENSE" IN BUTEMBO
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35231
Fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) town of  
Butembo had stopped on Monday, but the situation remained "tense",  
according to Hamadoun Toure, spokesman of the UN peacekeeping mission  
in the DRC, known as MONUC.

DRC: NEW MONUC HEAD ANNOUNCES 3,800-STRONG FORCE FOR ITURI
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307070259.html
A 3,800-strong force will soon be deployed in the embattled Ituri  
District of northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), as  
well as in other locations, the new Special Representative of the UN  
Secretary-General to the UN, William Lacy Swing, announced on Sunday.

DRC: WAR IS INTERNATIONAL, NOT LOCAL, SAYS NEW REPORT
The war in Congo has been miss-described as a local ethnic rivalry when  
in fact it represents an ongoing struggle for power at the national and  
international levels, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. The  
report provides evidence that combatants in the Ituri region of  
north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have slaughtered some  
five thousand civilians in the last year because of their ethnic  
affiliation. But the combatants are armed and often directed by the  
governments of the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16156

KENYA: AWASH WITH WEAPONRY: CAN COMMUNITIES DISARM THEMSELVES?
http://www.id21.org/society/s10bgk1g1.html
As a result of a combination of decades of poor governance and a  
fragile ecological system characterised by recurrent drought, the  
pastoral regions of northern Kenya are caught in a vicious cycle of  
violent conflicts that fuel poverty and diminish the prospects for  
development. This is all made worse by the easy availability of arms.  
What causes the proliferation of small arms? Can regional and national  
gun control policies be implemented in local contexts? Can grassroots  
campaigns find alternative ways of reducing the numbers of small arms  
in circulation?

NIGERIA: NIGER DELTA MOVING FROM AGITATION TO REBELLION?
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35244
On a street by the river port in the oil town of Warri, dozens of  
Nigerian soldiers and marines shelter behind sandbags, pointing their  
machine guns towards an unseen enemy. They are mounting a 24-hour watch  
on the southern approaches of the Warri River. "The situation in the  
Niger Delta has graduated from restiveness to insurrection," Enilama  
Umoku, a political science lecturer at Delta State University near  
Warri, told IRIN.

SOMALIA: CONFUSION AT PEACE TALKS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307070114.html
Delegates to the Somali peace talks, taking place in Kenya, signed what  
was termed an "historic" agreement on 5 July to set up a federal  
government, but confusion was created when some political groups  
denounced the agreement the following day.

SUDAN: GOV'T URGES AU TO SUPPORT PEACE PROCESS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35304
The government of Sudan has appealed to the African Union to actively  
support the ongoing peace process between the government and the rebel  
Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), a diplomatic source  
told IRIN.

SUDAN: PEACE PROCESS AT CRITICAL STAGE; U.S. SUPPORT VITAL
http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=1038
Sudan’s peace process is entering its final, most difficult phase. As  
President George W. Bush begins his tour of Africa, he has an  
opportunity to help end one of the world’s longest-running and most  
destructive wars, says a new report by the International Crisis Group  
(ICG). 'Sudan Endgame' says it is essential that the United States  
makes a clear commitment to its bilateral relationship with Sudan and  
to remain closely involved with the post-agreement process.
Related Link:
* Tight Security As Sudanese Talks Resume
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080050.html

ZIMBABWE: BULAWAYO WITNESSES 43 DEATHS FROM MALNUTRITION
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1306
Forty-three people died in Bulawayo in April alone because of  
malnutrition, according to an official council report on the health  
situation in Zimbabwe’s second largest city. The city’s director of  
health services, Rita Dlodlo, said in the report – a copy of which was  
shown to The Daily News – that most of the deaths were among children  
in the five to 14-year age group.
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3.RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY

AFRICA: AFRICAN HEADS OF STATE GATHER IN MAPUTO FOR AU SUMMIT
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307100010.html
African heads of state and government have a busy few days ahead of  
them, as they meet for the second summit of the African Union in  
Maputo, Mozambique, from 10-12 July. With some devastating crises  
afflicting the continent, their citizens look to them for the  
leadership to end Africa’s armed conflicts and address problems like  
drought and famine, as well as speed up development, promote democracy  
and strengthen regional integration and trade.

AFRICA: AFRICAN UNION - ESSY'S WITHDRAWAL ENSURES TOP JOB FOR KONARE
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307090022.html
The former president of Mali, Alpha Oumar Konare, looked set to become  
Africa’s top diplomat Tuesday, after the formal withdrawal of Amara  
Essy, the current interim chairperson of the African Union Commission.  
Essy said: "The Office of the President of Cote d’Ivoire, my country,  
announced on Monday 7 July, 2003, the withdrawal of my candidacy to the  
post of Chairperson of the African Union."

AFRICA: NO TO NEPAD! NO TO AN AFRICAN UNION BASED ON NEPAD!
Social Movements Indaba Statement On The AU
"We stand against the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad).  
This plan was hatched in Pretoria and imposed on the governments and  
people of the continent. It talks of partnership, but represents a  
relationship of inequality in which the weak are begging the powerful  
for $64 billion a year. In order to beg, it agrees with the neoliberal  
paradigm and commits to following the agenda of the World Bank, IMF and  
WTO...The African Union (AU) has been formed on the basis of Nepad as  
its fundamental policy. It thus compels us to stand up to the AU and  
demand that it jettisons Nepad before we give consideration to engaging  
with its structures."
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16158

AFRICA: THE MAPUTO DECLARATION
African Civil Society Statement To The Second Summit Of The Heads Of  
States And Governments Of The African Union
"We are convinced of the crucial role played by civil society in  
development and governance and further call on the AU member states to  
establish the necessary mechanisms to involve civil society in policy  
making, development planning, implementation monitoring and evaluation  
in accordance with the African charter on popular participation and  
development...Civil society shall continue to engage with NEPAD. We  
urge African leaders to partner with African civil society in all  
processes of implementation and further urge for a process that does  
not replicate structural adjustment programmes, which have impoverished  
the continent but take into consideration the views and needs of  
Africa."
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16150

ANGOLA: CONSULTATIONS OVER ELECTION DATE
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1315
Discussions are taking place in Angola over the date of the next  
presidential and parliamentary elections. Elections were last held in  
1992, but the rebel movement UNITA rejected the results and plunged the  
country back into war. Following last year's peace agreement UNITA has  
fully committed itself to the constitutional path. A dozen years after  
the last elections, the focus is turning to the urgent need to hold  
elections to reaffirm the legitimacy of the government.

KENYA: TRUTH, JUSTICE AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION RECOMMENDED
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35224
A truth, justice and reconciliation commission should be set up  
immediately to address human rights violations and economic crimes  
committed in Kenya between 1963 and 2002, a national conference has  
recommended.

LIBERIA: NO IMMUNITY FOR TAYLOR, SAYS HRW
If U.S. troops are sent to Liberia, they should not make any deals that  
involve a withdrawal of the indictment of President Charles Taylor by  
the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Human Rights Watch says. The top  
priority for any peacekeeping troops must be the protection of  
civilians, who have suffered from abuses by all sides in the Liberian  
conflict, says Amnesty.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16155

MALAWI: GIVE BACK MY HUSBAND, KENYAN WOMAN TELLS BUSH
http://www.iol.co.za/ 
index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20030708102921613C328315&set_id=1
A Kenyan mother of five appealed to American President George Bush on  
the eve of his African tour on Monday for help in finding her husband,  
two weeks after his arrest in Malawi by United States agents on an  
anti-terrorist swoop.

MAURITANIA: NEW PRIME MINISTER NAMED
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35241
Mauritanian President Maaouya Ould Sid Ahmed Taya on Sunday named his  
Justice Minister, Sghaier Ould Mbarek, as the new Prime Minister  
replacing Cheikh El Avia Ould Mohamed Khouna, the latest in a string of  
changes within the ruling establishment since last month's failed coup.

NAMIBIA: VOTER DRIVE TO START
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1316
The Electoral Commission has decided to push ahead with the general  
registration of voters. The decision was taken despite a pending court  
application by the Congress of Democrats (CoD) that could affect the  
countrywide campaign.

NIGERIA: TIME TO CHANGE THE LEADERSHIP OF THE NIGERIAN TRADE UNIONS
http://www.marxist.com/Africa/nig_strike_betrayal.html
After a one-week general strike the leaders of the Nigerian trade  
unions have called it off. And for what? The government had increased  
the price of petrol from 26 naira to 40 naira. Initially the trade  
unions has said they would stand firm, the government had to bring the  
price down to 26 naira. Then the negotiations started and the agreed  
price was 34 naira, a 30% increase. The workers and poor people of  
Nigeria had shown a bitter determination to continue the strike, but  
they have been terribly betrayed by their so-called leaders, says this  
article.

NIGERIA: UNIONS ACCEPT FUEL PRICE DEAL, END STRIKE
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080090.html
Nigerian trade unions on Tuesday ended an eight-day general strike to  
protest fuel price increases and accepted a compromise price deal  
offered by the government. Leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress  
(NLC), who met all night to consider the government offer, settled for  
34 naira (US $0.26) for a litre of petrol or a 31 percent hike instead  
of the 54 percent increase announced by President Olusegun Obasanjo's  
government on 20 June.

RWANDA: PRESIDENTIAL POLL SET FOR 25 AUGUST
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35179
Presidential elections in Rwanda will be held on 25 August and  
parliamentary elections on 29 September, the government announced on  
Thursday. The election will mark the end of a nine-year transitional  
government established after the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives  
of some 800,000 Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

SIERRA LEONE: FAILURE TO SUPPORT SPECIAL COURT WILL UNDERMINE AU, SAYS  
AMNESTY
On the eve of the African Union (AU) summit in Maputo, Amnesty  
International called on all African governments to fulfil their  
obligations under international law and to cooperate fully with the  
Special Court for Sierra Leone. "African governments meeting in Maputo  
should state publicly their commitment to cooperate with the Special  
Court; failure to do so will undermine the integrity of the AU,"  
Amnesty International said.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16269

SOUTH AFRICA: HUMAN RIGHTS POSER FOR ANTITERRORISM BILL
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307040121.html
Often it is said that the devil is in the detail. This is both true and  
not true of the new Anti-Terrorism Bill before Parliament. A week of  
public hearings recently saw speaker after speaker, including veteran  
human rights lawyer George Bizos, tear the bill to shreds and condemn  
it as an affront to the rights enshrined in the constitution.

SUDAN: CLAMPDOWN ON CIVIL SOCIETY
Amnesty International says it deplores the recent clampdown by the  
Sudanese government and security forces on members of Sudanese civil  
society solely for peacefully discussing issues related to the future  
of their country. "This can only call into question the government's  
commitment to a peaceful future for all Sudanese," says Amnesty.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16245

SWAZILAND: YOUTH DEMAND DEMOCRATIC REFORM
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1324
Swaziland may be entering a new and violent political phase with the  
proclamation at the weekend of a manifesto by the Swaziland Youth  
Congress, promising an armed response to alleged political repression  
by King Mswati's government. "We urge our members to take up arms  
against government," a Swaziland Youth Congress pamphlet was quoted as  
saying by the Times of Swaziland.

ZIMBABWE: DECISION TIME IN ZIMBABWE
http://www.crisisweb.org/projects/showreport.cfm?reportid=1041
Zimbabwe’s internal situation has continued to worsen, producing  
increasingly destabilising effects in southern Africa through refugees  
and economic chaos and damaging the entire continent’s efforts to  
establish new political and trade relations with the rest of the world.  
In this context, South Africa is the single country with the ability to  
help its neighbour through the roughest patches, according to a new  
report from the International Crisis Group. A range of other  
international players will need to play supporting roles.
Related Links:
* "I pretended I was dead"
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=24001
* Listen to me or else, Mugabe warns MP's
http://www.iol.co.za/ 
index.php?click_id=68&art_id=vn20030709044043642C989454&set_id=1

ZIMBABWE: TSVANGIRAI'S TRIAL DRAGS ON
http://zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=7156
An application by Zimbabwe opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and two  
senior party officials to have treason charges against them dropped has  
been postponed to next week, a newspaper reported on Monday.
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4.CORRUPTION

AFRICA: ANTI-CORRUPTION ORGANISATION URGES AFRICAN LEADERS TO ADOPT  
GOOD GOVERNANCE TREATY
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=70060
Transparency International, an organisation that exposes government  
corruption, on Monday urged African heads of state to adopt a  
continental anti-corruption treaty. The Convention on Preventing and  
Combating Corruption is scheduled to be presented for adoption to the  
heads of state at the African Union Summit to be held in Maputo on  
Wednesday.

AFRICA: ELF SCAM TRIAL ENDS, VERDICTS IN NOVEMBER
http://www.expatica.com/france.asp?pad=278,313,&item_id=32634
One of France's biggest ever corruption trials ended late Monday after  
four months of hearings, with top executives of the formerly  
state-owned oil company Elf Aquitaine facing prison terms of up to  
eight years. The executives are accused of presiding over a system of  
bribery and commissions that exploded out of control after Le  
Floch-Prigent took over the company in 1989 - with payments of millions  
to secure contracts in Africa and elsewhere.

AFRICA: WORLD CORRUPTION POLL FINGERS POLITICIANS AS BIGGEST MENACE
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307090362.html
Political sleaze is the biggest corruption scourge facing the world,  
according to a global survey of public perceptions released July 3 by  
an international watchdog. The poll for Transparency International  
found that when asked which area of public life they would most like be  
rid of corruption, people in three out of every four countries pointed  
to politics.

CAR: INQUIRY TEAM REVEALS 866 GHOST CIVIL SERVANTS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35176
An inter-ministerial commission set up in May to investigate the size  
of the civil service in the Central African Republic found 866 ghost  
workers in the government's payroll, the prime minister's office  
reported on Thursday. The government could save up to 265 million  
francs CFA (US $481,915) every month by not paying the ghost workers.

ZIMBABWE: LAST WHITE JUDGE BEATS ZIM CORRUPTION CHARGE
http://www.iol.co.za/ 
index.php?click_id=15&art_id=vn20030702025847471C410181&set_id=1
The South African legal fraternity has welcomed the dropping of a  
corruption charge against a 65-year-old retired judge in Zimbabwe. "The  
withdrawal of all charges against Judge (Fergus) Blackie fully  
vindicates the stance of the South African Bar," the General Council of  
the Bar of SA (GCBSA) said.
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5.HEALTH

AFRICA/GLOBAL: THE NEW PLAGUE CZAR
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=3859
Just a few days before his visit to Africa, President Bush announced  
that Randall Tobias, the former chairman and CEO of Eli Lilly Co., will  
take the new position of "Czar" in charge of U.S. global HIV/AIDS  
funding. The move to position a drug company executive centrally in  
global health policymaking is nothing new for this administration, but  
the openness of this gesture to the industry suggests that there is  
little shame in reversing the progress of the last several years,  
particularly in the realm of medicine treatment access, says this  
commentary on the web site www.zmag.org
Related Link:
* AIDS Appointee Shows That Business Still Rules the Roost
http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2003/0307tobias.html

AFRICA: AFRICAN HEALERS JOIN THE AIDS FIGHT
http://search.csmonitor.com/search_content/0630/p07s02-woaf.html
To Western medical workers, traditional African healers have become  
indispensable in the fight against AIDS in Cameroon and around Africa.  
The respect these healers garner from their communities makes them a  
key mouthpiece for passing along accurate information about how the  
disease is spread. Their holistic approach toward healing has produced  
results that impress even visiting health workers.

AFRICA: SHAPING OF DRUG POLICY BY U.S. BEYOND GLOBAL STANDARDS
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18694
The United States is helping some developing countries rework their  
drug patent laws in ways that "go beyond global standards" in  
protecting pharmaceutical companies and that could "undercut" President  
Bush's five-year, $15 billion AIDS initiative by making antiretroviral  
drugs more expensive and more difficult to obtain, the Wall Street  
Journal reports. "There are many ways that the Bush administration has  
contravened the letter and spirit of international efforts to improve  
access to drugs in developing countries,” Asia Russell, international  
policy coordinator at the Health GAP, said.

AFRICA: TALK OR ACTION ON AIDS?
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1318
As President Bush departed for Africa, key questions about his Aids  
policy remained unanswered; including the level of funding that will  
actually be appropriated. While three billion dollars a year has been  
authorized by the U.S. Congress, the president has requested no  
additional funds for this fiscal year and less than 2 billion dollars  
for fiscal year 2004, including only 200 million dollars instead of 1  
billion dollars for the Global Fund to Fight Aids. News reports say  
Republicans in the House of Representatives are planning to approve  
even less than the president's low request.

GHANA: ARV'S ORDERED FOR HIV/AIDS PATIENTS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35180
Ghanaian health authorities have ordered anti-retroviral drugs from  
undisclosed sources to cater for the treatment of 2000 HIV/AIDS  
patients for the next two years.

GHANA: HEALTH WORKERS LEAVE
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307070861.html
The brain drain of health professionals is proving to be a distressing  
economic headache for the country. According to the State of Ghanaian  
Economy Report 2002 a total of 3,157 health professionals left the  
country between 1993 and 2002, representing over 31 percent of health  
personnel trained in Ghana during the same period.

KENYA: LINKING HIV INFECTION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS
http://www.id21.org/health/h5jh1g1.html
HIV infection is a major cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. Within  
that region, existing studies have found higher levels of HIV infection  
in urban over rural areas, but no clear relationship between  
socio-economic status and risk of HIV infection. This study examined  
the link between socio-economic status (SES) and risk of HIV infection  
in an urban city with high prevalence of HIV. It found that new  
infections may be taking place fastest among women of low SES.

LIBERIA: MAIN HOSPITAL OVERWHELMED BY CHOLERA PATIENTS, HEALTH MINISTER  
SAYS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35300
Liberia's only major referral hospital, the John F. Kennedy Medical  
Centre in the capital, Monrovia, can no longer contain the influx of  
cholera patients, most of whom are internally displaced persons, the  
acting Minister of Health Nathaniel Bartee said on Wednesday.

MOZAMBIQUE: MALARIA REMAINS MAIN CAUSE OF DEATH
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307070629.html
Mozambican Health Minister Francisco Songane reaffirmed on Monday that  
malaria remains the single largest cause of death in the country.  
Songane was speaking in Maputo at a meeting between Ministry of Health  
specialists and cooperation partners under the "Roll Back Malaria"  
(RBM) programme.

SOUTH AFRICA: STATE YET TO SIGN R715M DEAL TO FIGHT AIDS
http://www.iol.co.za/ 
index.php?click_id=13&art_id=vn20030710041422915C616675&set_id=1
The ministry of health has still not signed an agreement to accept  
R715-million in international funding to combat HIV and Aids despite a  
promise earlier this year to sign the agreement by May. However, an  
announcement would be made "very shortly" about when the agreement with  
The Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria would be  
signed, a department spokesperson said this week.

UGANDA: CHANGING BEHAVIOUR, CHANGING DISEASE - THE CASE OF HIV IN RURAL  
UGANDA
http://www.id21.org/health/h6ak2g1.html
Is changing sexual behaviour an effective tool for reducing the levels  
of HIV infection? If so, how can behavioural change programmes best be  
implemented at community level? Research by the Medical Research  
Council (UK) Programme in Uganda explores the implementation of a  
randomised controlled trial (RCT) set up to study the effects that  
community Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and improved  
management of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) can have on STD and  
HIV infection rates on a rural population in south west Uganda.

ZAMBIA: HIV NO DEATH SENTENCE, SAYS KAUNDA
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1308
Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, who became the first president when Zambia attained  
independence in October 1954, told participants at a United Nations  
Development Programme meeting in Johannesburg that HIV/Aids was not a  
death sentence. “If I had been found positive, I still would have used  
that status to campaign against the pandemic, as I do now,” said the 79  
year-old former president.
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6.EDUCATION AND SOCIAL WELFARE

AFRICA: COMBATING CHILD LABOUR AND HIV/AIDS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: A  
REVIEW OF POLICIES, PROGRAMMES, AND PROJECTS
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1307
The HIV/Aids pandemic compounds the challenge of reducing child labour  
in several ways. It adds to the number of vulnerable children,  
especially orphans. It increases pressure on households, and on the  
children themselves, to have children seek income instead of attending  
school. It increases demands on public and private services, notably  
the delivery of effective health care for children and adolescents.

AFRICA: EDUCATION AND HIV/AIDS: A SOURCEBOOK OF HIV/AIDS PREVENTION  
PROGRAMMES
http://www.africapulse.org/index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1326
This sourcebook documents details of HIV prevention programmes for  
school age children in seven African countries: Mozambique, Senegal,  
South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Types of  
programmes include both primary and secondary school based examples,  
use of the media, community based and peer education programmes and  
outreach for street children.

DRC: THE IMPACT OF ARMED CONFLICT ON CHILDREN IN THE DRC
http://www.watchlist.org/reports/dr_congo.report.pdf
A new June report from Watchlist on children and armed conflict calls  
on all parties to conflict in the DRC to immediately halt abuses  
against children and uphold all international obligations to protect  
children's security and rights. It is also a call to the international  
community, particularly the UN Security Council, to work vigorously to  
ensure the end of abuses against Congolese children and adolescents.

KENYA: NEW FREE SCHOOL POLICY CAUSES HYGIENE PROBLEMS
http://www.irc.nl/source/item.php/2110
Many schools in Kenya are coping with a 100% or more increase in  
student numbers that are triggered by the new government's free and  
compulsory primary education policy. Average class sizes have risen  
while facilities remained the same. With the influx of so many new  
children, latrine use might go up to 200 pupils per latrine. Poor  
hygiene at schools may add to the region's health problems, where  
already over 85% of illnesses reported at local clinics are  
water-related.

KENYA: SCHOOLS TO IMPLEMENT HUMAN RIGHTS LESSONS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307060337.html
Human rights education has for a long time been considered the missing  
link in Kenya's education system, leading to stop gap measures like  
civic education. Teaching human rights to students can yield huge  
benefits in terms of building a culture of human rights and democracy.  
As a result, the government has now decided to incorporate human rights  
in the formal school curriculum, targeted for implementation in January  
2003, barely beating the 2004 deadline for the United Nations Decade  
for Human Rights Education.

MOZAMBIQUE: 55 CHILDREN PERISH DAILY, MILLIONS SUFFER FROM UNSAFE WATER
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/03nn57mozambique.htm
In Mozambique, unsafe water and poor sanitation is killing almost 55  
children every day. The country has one of the highest child mortality  
rates in the world: 246 out of every 1000 live births die within their  
first five years. Thirteen per cent of these deaths are directly  
attributable to a lack of access to clean water, proper sanitation and  
poor hygiene practices, says Unicef.

SOUTH AFRICA: EDUCATION IS REACHING MORE AND MORE PEOPLE
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307090174.html
The number of people with no education in SA is decreasing, according  
to the results of Census 2001, released by Statistics SA this week.  
This bodes well for the country as it shows that the education system  
is reaching more and more people.

SOUTH AFRICA: FRIENDS IN DEED - PREVENTING HIV THROUGH PEER EDUCATION  
IN SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS
http://www.id21.org/health/h5cc1g4.html
HIV is rampant among young people in South Africa, despite sound  
knowledge about sexual health risks. Levels of perceived vulnerability  
among this group are low and unprotected sex is common. Researchers  
from the London School of Economics studied a participatory programme  
seeking to empower young people to change gender norms as an HIV  
prevention strategy.

TANZANIA: CHILD LABOUR IN THE INFORMAL SECTOR - A RAPID ASSESSMENT
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1313
This report presents the findings of a rapid assessment study conducted  
in Arusha, Dar Es Salaam and Mwanza regions to investigate activities  
performed by working children in the informal sector. Some of the main  
findings from this study include that there were more male working  
children in the informal sector activities investigated than females.  
This disparity is due to the fact that most female children are tracked  
by society into domestic work as opposed to more male-oriented  
activities.
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7.WOMEN AND GENDER

AFRICA: ACTIVISTS CALL FOR SPECIFIC LAWS AGAINST FGM
http://www.eastandard.net/headlines/news03072003002.htm
Anti-Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) activists from 28 African and Arab  
countries want their respective Governments to come up with specific  
legislation prohibiting the practice. In a petition dubbed the Cairo  
Declaration, the activists want all Governments to adopt an appropriate  
law which will lead to the prevention and subsequent abandonment of FGM  
worldwide.

AFRICA: BUSH MUST ADDRESS GENDER DURING AFRICA TRIP, EXPERTS SAY
http://ippfnet.ippf.org/pub/IPPF_News/News_Details.asp?ID=2778
Experts have said that when U.S. President George W. Bush arrives in  
Africa next week for a six-day trip to five African countries, he will  
have to focus on an issue related to security, health, education,  
hunger, foreign aid and global trade — gender. Of the 30 million people  
affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, 58 percent are women. Women  
account for more than 60 percent of the agricultural labour force on  
the continent and contribute 80 percent of the total food production.  
In countries facing armed conflicts, experts predict that most of those  
affected by the war are women and children.

AFRICA: HALF THE AU COMMISSION WILL BE WOMEN
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080511.html
Half of the ten member commission of the African Union (AU), to be  
elected in Maputo this week, will be women, according to Ana Nemba, the  
permanent Mozambican ambassador to the AU.

KENYA: KENYAN WOMEN TELL OF 'RAPE AMBUSHES'
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=23773
They were "mannerless boys" for whom rape was a sport after a day on  
the army firing range and who perhaps never imagined their alleged  
deeds would come to light. But now, their victims - Kenyan Maasai and  
Samburu women who claim they were raped by British troops training in  
east Africa - are emerging from anonymity to tell of their ordeal.

MALAWI: YOUNG WOMEN LEADERS RISE UP TO CHALLENGES
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19156
Faced with a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS infection, environmental  
degradation and sluggish economic growth, young women professionals in  
Malawi have put their heads together and intensified efforts to bring  
about a major paradigm shift. The women, under a grouping called the  
Young Women Leaders Network (YWLN), want to put fellow women in the  
fore of developing this impoverished southern African state of 10  
million people, of which women make up 50 percent.

SOUTH AFRICA: SA TO RAISE MONEY FOR WOMEN IN AFRICA
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=11&o=23777
President Thabo Mbeki is to ask the government for money to help women  
to play their role in the transformation of Africa. "We have to look at  
what we can do from government's side, if we are serious about the  
empowerment of women and the involvement of women in changing the  
continent," he said.

SUDAN: WOMEN LEADERS ATTENDING PEACE CONFERENCE ARRESTED
http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/newvoices/Sudan.html
"The international community has just been informed by a number of  
organisations, among them, the World Organization against Torture  
(OMCT) and Sudanese Human Rights Organisation (SHRO) in Cairo, that the  
Government of Sudan (GOS) arrested 38 Nuba women and 3 men on their way  
to a peace conference in Kauda in the Nuba Mountains. The international  
attempts of your government to show your commitment to human rights is  
being undermined by the inhumane arrests." This is according to a  
recent letter sent to the Government of Sudan by The International  
Committee in Support of Nuba Women and Children, in conjunction with  
the Sudanese Women and Human Rights Group.

TANZANIA: GOVERNMENT BACKS WOMEN SCIENCE STUDENTS
http://www.scidev.net/News/ 
index.cfm?fuseaction=readNews&itemid=894&language=1
The Tanzanian government is to fund a highly successful initiative to  
increase the number of women studying science subjects at university.  
The 'pre-entry programme' - which gives a six-week 'booster' course to  
women who initially fail to meet the entry requirements of science  
courses - has increased the proportion of women studying science at the  
University of Dar es Salaam from three to 28 per cent over the past six  
years.

UGANDA: RIGHTS BODY AIDS WOMEN
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1314
Anti Mines Network Rwenzori (AMNET-R), a Kasese-based non-governmental  
organisation has received a donation of Shs 30 million from Human  
Rights Network to help rehabilitate formerly abducted women and their  
children.
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8.REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION

CONGO: GOVT HOPES TO HAVE POOL IDPS HOME BY END OF JULY
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35262
With the resumption of administrative activities across the troubled  
Pool Region in the Republic of Congo, the government has expressed hope  
that all internally displaced persons (IDPs) would be back in their  
homes by the end of July.

AFRICA/GLOBAL: WHEN DOES INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT END?
http://www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR17/fmr17.02.pdf
Many of the circumstances that lead to internal displacement are  
similar or identical to those that cause individuals to develop a  
“well-founded fear of persecution” and seek international protection as  
refugees. Moreover, the potential consequences of withdrawing  
protection prematurely or erroneously from IDPs and refugees can be  
equally harmful. An article in the May edition of Forced Migration  
Review examines this issue.

BURUNDI: DISPLACED CIVILIANS RETURN TO THEIR HOMES
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35173
An estimated 44,000 internally displaced people have returned to their  
homes in Kayanza Province, northern Burundi, as fighting between  
government forces and rebels has subsided, an official of the UN World  
Food Programme (WFP) told IRIN last Friday.

BURUNDI: THOUSANDS DISPLACED IN LATEST REBEL ATTACK ON BUJUMBURA
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35255
Thousands of civilians were displaced when heavy fighting erupted again  
on Tuesday between the army and fighters loyal to Agathon Rwasa's  
faction of the Forces nationales de liberation (FNL) in the  
southeastern part of the Burundian capital, Bujumbura.

ERITREA: RAINY SEASON HALTS REFUGEE REPATRIATION
The repatriation of Eritrean refugees from Sudan, which resumed last  
month, has been halted due to the start of the rainy season, the UN  
refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

LIBERIA: UN HELPS EVACUATE FIRST GROUP OF REFUGEES FROM LIBERIA
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has begun to  
evacuate a first group of more than 300 Sierra Leonean refugees from  
strife-torn Liberia, and if the ceasefire there holds the agency says  
it will broaden the repatriation effort.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16140

UGANDA: LRA ATTACKS AIMED AT DISMANTLING CAMPS - RED CROSS REPORT
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35228
The rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has intensified its attacks in  
northern Uganda in recent weeks with the main objective of forcing  
internally displaced persons (IDPs) out of camps protected by the  
Ugandan army, the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) has said.

ZAMBIA: PEACE IN ANGOLA AND DRC TO REDUCE REFUGEES IN ZAMBIA
http://www.zana.gov.zm/news/viewnews.cgi?category=1&id=1057517870
The Zambian government says the return of peace to Angola and the  
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will lead to a reduction of the  
number of refugees in the country.
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9.RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA

SOUTH AFRICA: MBEKI ASKS CHURCHES FOR HELP TO FIGHT RACISM
http://www.bday.co.za/bday/content/direct/1,3523,1384326-6078-0,00.html
President Thabo Mbeki urged religious leaders at a mass Christian  
gathering in Pretoria to actively help fight the legacy of racism. He  
said that religious bodies were in a unique position to support the  
government in the struggle against poverty and in promoting  
reconciliation. "As religious leaders, perhaps it would be important to  
take an active role in fighting the legacy of racism, ensuring that we  
find practical ways and means of reconciling our people and  
communities."

SOUTH AFRICA: RACE DEBATE CLOUDS REAL ISSUES
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=225&fArticleId=184463
Judging from their recent exchanges in parliament, the debate on race  
between President Thabo Mbeki and Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon  
is a dialogue of the deaf. Neither man seems willing to listen to his  
interlocutor. Mbeki interprets criticism of the pre-dominantly black  
ANC-led government as a campaign perpetuated to negatively stereotype  
black Africans, particularly when it focuses on allegations of  
corruption. Leon accuses Mbeki of seeking to deflect legitimate  
criticism by playing the race card and portraying his political  
opponents as people who have not excised the prejudices of the  
apartheid past from their minds.
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10.ENVIRONMENT

AFRICA/GLOBAL: MANY U.S. INDUSTRY GIANTS IGNORING GLOBAL WARMING
http://ens-news.com/ens/jul2003/2003-07-09-11.asp
Most of the largest carbon dioxide emitting companies in the U.S. are  
failing to assess, disclose and address the financial risks posed by  
climate change, according to a new study of 20 of the world's largest  
companies. Unlike many of their foreign rivals, American industry  
giants such as ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil, General Electric, Southern  
Company and Xcel Energy, continue to pursue business strategies that  
discount the global warming threat, the report details.

MALI: GOURMA ELEPHANTS FACE EXTINCTION
http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2003/2003-06-25-19.asp#anchor2
Extinction of the unique Gourma elephants "is a real possibility if  
conditions don't change soon," Vicki Huddleston, U.S. Ambassador to  
Mali, warned in a June 18 interview with the U.S. State Department  
International Information Program. If the international community does  
not join with the Malian government now to prevent their ranges from  
being taken over by human settlements, these beautiful creatures will  
die, she said.

SOUTH AFRICA: BATTLE OVER MODIFIED CROPS DATA TAKES ROOT
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080160.html
Two local seed companies are considering entering the legal fray over  
local nongovernmental organisation Biowatch's longrunning battle to get  
government's information on genetically modified crops. Biowatch  
launched a high court application last September to compel government  
to give it a list of all the genetically modified crops grown in SA,  
the locations of field trials, and information on the risk assessments  
on the basis of which government had granted permits for the crops.

SOUTH AFRICA: COASTAL MINES COULD DESTROY ENVIRONMENT
http://www.witness.co.za/content%5C2003_07%5C16565.htm
Any attempt to extract heavy minerals from the dunes along the Eastern  
Cape's Pondoland coast will be massively destructive and according to  
one South African expert, such mining operations typically wipe out  
everything in their path. University of Natal geologist Dr Ron Uken  
says in terms of the environment, mining coastal dunes for titanium  
minerals such as ilmenite and rutile "leaves nothing".

SOUTH AFRICA: EARTHLIFE WON'T BACK DOWN ON POCKET NUKE COURT CASE
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=15338
The environmental non-governmental organisation Earthlife Africa says  
it is to press ahead with a high court challenge to Eskom's proposed  
pebble bed nuclear reactor. Eskom has applied to the Department of  
Environmental Affairs for permission to construct a demonstration  
module at Koeberg near Cape Town.

UGANDA: GOVT ADVISED TO SUSPEND GMOS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307060173.html
East and Central African civil society organisations on Wednesday  
called for the suspension of the application of genetic engineering in  
agriculture. The organisations said genetic engineering would  
concentrate the means of production in the hands of multi-national  
companies with patents on the crops and disrupt farming communities.
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11.MEDIA

AFRICA/GLOBAL: NEWS AND MEDIA LAW LEADERS ENDORSE PRINCIPLES FOR  
INTERNET PRESS FREEDOM
A conference of leading journalists, media lawyers and online news  
executives, held between June 26-28 in New York, endorsed a set of 16  
principles representing fundamental guidelines for maintaining and  
protecting the freedom and independence of Internet news, and suggested  
actions to implement it.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16230

AFRICA: AU MEMBER STATES MUST COMMIT TO FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
For the African Union to succeed in its mission, member states must  
commit themselves to respect fundamental rights in their respective  
countries and ensure participation of citizens, the media and civil  
society. The construction of a long term union requires a ‘social  
contract’ based on justice, equality and free flow of information,  
opinion and ideas, says this editorial.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16242

CAR: PUBLICATION DIRECTOR SENTENCED TO SIX MONTHS' IMPRISONMENT
Michel Ngokpele, publication director of the Bangui-based newspaper "Le  
quotidien de Bangui", was sentenced on 26 June to six months'  
imprisonment with no parole for "defamation by means of the press"
and "incitement to ethnic hatred".
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16227

DRC: RADIO MAENDELEO AUTHORISED TO RESUME OPERATIONS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35269
Bukavu-based Radio Maendeleo in eastern Democratic Republic of the  
Congo (DRC) has been authorised to resume operations by the  
Rassemblement congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), the  
Rwandan-backed rebel movement announced on Monday.

MALAWI: JOURNALIST BEATEN, EQUIPMENT LOST
http://www.africapulse.org/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1325&PHPSESSID=952e398f437760067a 
2db0e7f8701d51
Daniel Nyirenda, photojournalist of the daily newspaper "The Nation",  
was on Monday severely beaten-up by suspected members of the ruling  
United Democratic Front youth wing at a mini-convention the party held  
in Blantyre, Malawi.

MOROCCO: EDITOR ENDS HUNGER STRIKE
Editor Ali Lmrabet ended his 47-day hunger strike on 23 June. Ali  
Lmrabet, editor of the newspapers Demain Magazine and Douman, was found  
guilty of "insulting the person of the king" and of committing an  
"offence against the monarchy" and "an offence against territorial  
integrity" on 12 May 2003 and was sentenced to four years'  
imprisonment. The sentence was reduced to three years' imprisonment on  
appeal on 17 June 2003.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16225

NIGERIA: JOURNALISTS ATTACKED, DOCUMENTS CONFISCATED
Police personnel in Abuja on Tuesday assaulted journalists Funmi  
Komolafe, Labour Editor of "The Vanguard" newspaper, Rotimi Ajayi, also  
a reporter with "The Vanguard", and George Oshodi, photojournalist for  
the Associated Press (AP) news agency. Two others, Funmi Komolafe, a  
journalist with the "The Vanguard", and Ola Awoniyi, local  
correspondent for the Agence France-Presse (AFP), were earlier arrested  
and detained at the regional police headquarters before being released  
an hour later.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16229

SOMALIA: TWO JOURNALISTS ARRESTED IN MOGADISHU
Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has called for the release of two radio  
journalists, Abdurahman Mohamed Hudeyfi and Hussein Mohamed Gheedi, who  
have been held by the Mogadishu police since 30 June 2003.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16216

TOGO: THREE JOURNALISTS CHARGED WITH PUBLISHING "FALSE INFORMATION"
The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN says it is "deeply  
concerned" by the continued detention of three journalists on charges  
of "publishing false information and disturbing public order." The  
journalists concerned are Dimas Dzikodo and Philipe Evegno,  
editor-in-chief and publication director respectively of the weekly  
newspaper L'Evenement, and Jean de Dieu Kpakpabia, journalist with the  
weekly newspaper Nouvel Echo.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16228

ZAMBIA: POLICE "WARN AND CAUTION" NEWSPAPER EDITOR
Police recorded a "warn and caution" statement on 2 July from Masautso  
Phiri, editor of "Today" newspaper, who voluntarily presented himself  
for questioning at police headquarters one week after he was initially  
summoned. Phiri told the Zambia Independent Media Association (ZIMA)  
that police questioned him about a story entitled "Mwanawasa paves way  
for coup?" in the newspaper's 3 to 10 June edition.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16218

ZIMBABWE: LIBERALIZATION OR FRAUD?
Although hopes were raised in the last week that new players would be  
allowed to enter the broadcasting arena before the end of the year, the  
Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe (MMPZ) notes that this announcement  
comes nearly three years after the Supreme Court struck down a monopoly  
of the airwaves. "This delay brings into question Government’s  
commitment to allow new players into the broadcasting arena. Despite  
many calls by civic organisations for Government to revisit the  
Broadcasting Services Act to bring it into line with international  
norms and standards on freedom of expression, this has not happened."
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16217
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12.DEVELOPMENT

AFRICA/GLOBAL: MINISTERIAL IN MEXICO LOOKS LIKE SECOND SEATTLE
http://www.portoalegre2003.org/publique/cgi/public/cgilua.exe/web/ 
templates/htm/1P1OO/view.htm?infoid=5853&editionsectionid=73&user=reader
As negotiations leading up to the fifth ministerial of the World Trade  
Organisation from September 9-14 in Cancun Mexico grind to a halt,  
civil society organisations are stepping up their efforts to mount  
massive mobilisations and civil disobedience in Cancun and elsewhere in  
the world during the week of the ministerial meeting. Many of the  
issues under discussion relating to agriculture and drug access are  
crucial to the welfare of the developing world. Cancun is shaping up  
not to be another Doha but a second Seattle, writes Walden Bello,  
executive director of the Bangkok-based Focus on the Global South.

AFRICA/GLOBAL: THE LOST DECADE
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=13&o=23989
The widening gulf between the global haves and have-nots was starkly  
revealed last night when the United Nations announced that while the  
United States was booming in the 1990s more than 50 countries suffered  
falling living standards. The UN's annual human development report  
charted increasing poverty for more than a quarter of the world's  
countries, where a lethal combination of famine, HIV/Aids, conflict and  
failed economic policies have turned the clock back.
Related Link:
* Human Development Report urges global compact to achieve MDG's
http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2003/july/8july03/index.html
* Full Report
http://www.undp.org/hdr2003/

AFRICA/GLOBAL: UNDERSTANDING THE AK-47 AND M-16: SMALL ARMS AND  
DEVELOPMENT
http://www.id21.org/society/s10brm1g2.html
At least half a million people are killed every year by small arms.  
What is the link between the rapid increase in these illicit weapons  
and prospects of meeting development targets? Does the development  
community understand the complex interrelationships between armed  
conflict and social violence and between small arms and development?

AFRICA/GLOBAL: US BLOCKING WORLD BANK, IMF GOVERNANCE REFORMS
http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/topic/governance/IFIgovrelease.doc
The US government is attempting to block all discussion of structural  
changes to the World Bank's governance, something which has been  
repeatedly demanded by Bank critics and promised by ministers at  
international summits, according to the Bretton Woods Project, a  
London-based World Bank, IMF watchdog group. A key problem with World  
Bank and IMF governance structures is that the 46 Sub-Saharan African  
countries have just two Executive Directors on the Bank and Fund Boards  
to represent them all, says the Project.

AFRICA: AGRICULTURAL TRADE REFORMS AND DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS
http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000388/index.php
As Africa has a strong actual and potential international comparative  
advantage in agriculture and agri-processed products, improving African  
agricultural producers’ access to world markets should benefit African  
agriculture, exports and overall economic growth significantly.  
However, developed and even developing countries generally operate high  
tariff and non tariff barriers to agricultural trade, and many  
developed economies subsidise agricultural production and exports,  
depressing world agricultural prices and undermining Africa’s options  
of pursuing agricultural export oriented economic growth. Hence,  
achieving agricultural trade liberalisation in the Doha round is  
important for Africa’s future development prospects, says this briefing  
from the South African Institute of International Affairs, available on  
the web page of the Southern African Regional Poverty Network.

AFRICA: COTTON FARMERS' POVERTY LAID AT DOOR OF US
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,993688,00.html
African leaders are expected to give George Bush's tour a rocky start  
by blaming US trade practices for impoverishing millions of farmers  
across the continent. Many African economies, especially those of Mali,  
Burkina Faso, Chad and Benin, depend on cotton for employment, exports  
and wealth creation. But many producers, mostly the small and  
labour-intensive ones, are failing because US subsidies are helping to  
depress prices and squeeze rivals out of markets.

AFRICA: THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION - A LACKLUSTER AFRICA POLICY?
The U.S. defines the most urgent international priorities as weapons of  
mass destruction, nuclear proliferation and terrorism and the G-7 club  
of wealthy countries concurs. Yet, argues Salih Booker, executive  
director of Africa Action, the rest of the world, the global majority,  
is concerned less with these potential threats than with the more  
immediate threats to human security and global stability--AIDS, poverty  
and civil conflicts. "The divergent priorities of the Bush  
administration and the people of Africa should be apparent when  
President Bush travels to Africa for his first official visit," says  
Booker. This posting also includes information from Africa Action about  
key issues facing Bush as he travels to Africa.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16152

AFRICA: WILL THE BIG PLAYERS WALK AWAY FROM WTO?
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=23872
African trade ministers have warned UK trade and industry secretary  
Patricia Hewitt that the price of a successful conclusion to the new  
round of global trade talks will be further cuts to Europe's farm  
subsidies. Agriculture ministers agreed last month in Luxembourg to  
break the link between subsidies and farm output to trim the surplus  
produce Europe dumps in poor countries, bankrupting local farmers. But  
trade ministers from Africa and the developing world meeting in London  
dismissed the deal as a fudge which leaves the worst excesses untouched.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: SADC COUNTRIES CONSIDER MDG'S
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1309
Debt is one of the reasons that hinder African countries from achieving  
the Millennium Development Goals. This observation came from the  
three-day Millennium Development Goals Forum that took place recently.  
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) brought more than 150  
SADC ministers of finance, civil society, economists, statisticians,  
and UN agencies to South Africa to report on what they have done so far  
to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s).
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13.INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY

ACADEMICS AT WORK ON MULTILINGUAL WEB DICTIONARY IN SOUTH AFRICA
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1310
An online Northern Sotho-English dictionary has been launched by a  
group of academics called TshwaneDJe to promote interest in the  
official indigenous languages of South Africa. TshwaneDJe is an  
initiative of Professor Danie Prinsloo, who also heads up the African  
Languages department at the University of Pretoria, and Gilles-Maurice  
de Schryver, a Belgian researcher of African languages. Together with  
David Joffe, who created the website AfricanLanguages.com, they hope to  
provide language reference and learning materials for the nine  
indigenous African languages in South Africa.

DEVELOPING WORLD NEEDS LINUX
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59334,00.html
To get the economy of a developing country going, its government must  
stamp out corruption, ramp up efficiency and use open-source technology  
to build a cheap, reliable information infrastructure, experts at a  
conference sponsored by the United Nations told investors and  
policy-makers this week.

DOES THE WORLD BANK REALLY CARE ABOUT SCIENCE?
http://www.scidev.net/Editorials/ 
index.cfm?fuseaction=readEditorials&itemid=80&language=1
In principle, the World Bank says that it is keen to support science in  
the developing world. In practice, its efforts to do so have been more  
ambivalent, says this editorial on the website www.scidev.net.

ICT STORIES COMPETITION 2003 - TONY ZEITOUN AWARD: NOW OPEN TO ENTER  
YOUR STORY
The ICT Stories objective is to capture the learning process that  
accompanies the introduction and implementation of ICTs in a project in  
exemplary stories. Based on a set of criteria three winning stories  
will be selected by a renowned jury. The writers of these stories will  
be given the opportunity to travel to Switzerland to present their  
findings at the ICT4D platform at the WSIS.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16276

THE WIRELESS INTERNET OPPORTUNITY FOR DEVELOPING NATIONS: CONFERENCE  
MANIFESTO
http://www.w2i.org/pages/wificonf0603/manifesto.html
The prospects of Wireless Internet are by all admissions very  
promising, offering vast development opportunities worldwide both from  
a mobility and fixed infrastructure standpoint. Wireless Internet  
technologies present very attractive opportunities for developing  
countries to leapfrog several generations of telecommunications  
infrastructure. This is according to the conference manifesto of "The  
Wireless Internet Opportunity for Developing Nations" conference,  
hosted by the Wireless Internet Institute and the United Nations  
Information and Communication Technologies Task Force.

YOUTH TECHNOLOGY FROM THE FRONT LINES
http://www.digitalopportunity.org/fulltext/greene20020814.shtml
iEARN Sierra Leone, founded in 1999, is a member of the International  
Education and Resource Network (iEARN), a non-profit global network  
that enables young people to use the Internet and other new  
technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects. The core  
activity of iEARN Sierra Leone is the participation of young people and  
their teachers sharing their talents over the Internet. They create and  
participate in online projects covering a range of issues, including  
peace, human rights, conflict resolution and sustainable development.
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14.eNEWSLETTERS AND MAILING LISTS

AFRICAN CONFLICT JOURNAL INFORMATION SOURCE
http://www.africanconflict.org/index.php
The African Conflict Journal is becoming a clearing house of  
information, events, peer reviews, online resources and discussion  
concerning the topic of African conflict. The African Conflict Journal  
(ACJ) is an independent project that utilizes the latest online  
technology for community building, resource sharing and online  
information services. Latest additions to the site include a special  
feature on the crisis in Liberia.

ARTICLE 19 FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION MONTHLY DIGEST
Volume 1/Issue 3 – June 2003
http://www.article19.org
The aim of this digest is to compile on a monthly basis the trends of  
violations on freedom of expression on the continent. It will be based  
on information gathered from partners within the IFEX network and  
elsewhere. The first part of the digest will highlight and summarize  
the regional trends and the second will take a closer look at legal  
dimension of one of the threats of the month. Email  
[EMAIL PROTECTED] for a copy of the digest.

NEWSLETTER - HEARD ALL ABOUT IT
http://www.und.ac.za/und/heard/
The Health Economics & HIV/AIDS Research Division (HEARD) was  
established in 1998 as a research and teaching organisation. Heard all  
about it is the in-house publication of the division and is published  
quarterly. To receive this publication please send an email to  
[EMAIL PROTECTED] with the words `subscribe newsletter' in the subject  
line.

ONLINE FORUM OF THE SPECIAL SESSION ON HIV, MALARIA AND TB - MAPUTO
http://www.ihn.info
The African Union Summit in Maputo will link to the rest of the world  
during the Special Session on HIV/AIDS, Malaria & TB on 10 July (1:30 -  
4:45 Maputo time, 12:30 pm - 3:50 pm, London time) There will be a live  
webcast, online survey and online discussion forum of this important  
event.
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15.FUNDRAISING

KENYA: EU GIVES SH500M FOR RECOVERY PLAN
The European Union (EU) has donated Sh500 million to the Government for  
the setting up of a recovery plan to market Kenya.

NAMIBIA: EUROPEAN COMMISSION GRANT TO ASSIST CAPRIVI FLOOD VICTIMS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080572.html
The European Commission (EC) on Tuesday granted US $112,000 to assist  
flood victims in the Caprivi region of north-eastern Namibia. On 12 May  
2003, floods caused by the Zambezi River bursting its banks submerged  
22 villages in the Kabbe constituency of the Caprivi region, some 1,400  
km north-east of the capital, Windhoek.

SOUTH AFRICA: NEW TRUST TO RAISE FUNDS FOR CHILD ABUSE VICTIMS
http://www.thusanang.org.za/ 
index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=297
The Sunday Independent tells the shocking story of the gang-rape of  
five months old Thandiwe and how it led her foster mother, Claudia  
Ford, to establish the Princess Trust. First on the list of trust  
beneficiaries are Women and Men Against Child Abuse and the Child  
Protection Unit.

TANZANIA: REMOTE AREAS TO BENEFIT FROM $5.4 MILLION GRANT FOR HIV  
PREVENTION
http://www.irinnews.org/ 
report.asp?ReportID=35281&SelectRegion=East_Africa,%20Great_Lakes&Select 
Country=TANZANIA
People living in remote areas in Tanzania are due to benefit from a US  
$5.4 million grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and  
Malaria, a public-private partnership formed in 2002 to attract  
resources to fight the three diseases.

UGANDA: EU OKAYS $8M FOR AID TO NORTH
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080207.html
The European Union (EU) has allowed the Government to divert US$8m  
(sh16b) from the European Development Fund (EDF) to finance  
humanitarian activities in the war-ravaged northern Uganda.

ZIMBABWE: LACK OF FUNDS HAMPERS URBAN FEEDING SCHEME
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307080573.html
An international NGO on Tuesday said a shortage of funds was hampering  
the delivery of assistance to Zimbabwe's urban poor. Help Germany  
coordinator Hans Sittig told IRIN: "With the limited funds we are just  
managing to provide help to those who fall under our programme. But  
that is just scratching the surface. There are many other vulnerable  
groups who are desperately in need of assistance.”
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16.COURSES, SEMINARS, AND WORKSHOPS

HOW TO WRITE A CONVINCING PROPOSAL: STRENGTHENING PROJECT DEVELOPMENT,  
DONOR RELATIONS, AND RESOURCE MOBILIZATION IN AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
October 13–18, 2003, Pretoria, South Africa
Every scientist, everywhere, needs to know how to write convincing  
proposals. In times of increasing competition for scarce research  
funding, it is vital for the staff of agricultural research  
organisations to design projects that can attract external project  
funding for specific agricultural research efforts. The skills and  
knowledge needed to achieve these aims are not difficult to acquire.  
But to date, information and exercises on what to do have not been  
brought together in a single publication or training module. “How to  
Write a Convincing Proposal: Strengthening Project Development, Donor  
Relations, and Resource Mobilization in Agricultural Research” aims to  
provide participants with a single source for acquiring these new and  
useful skills and knowledge.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16179

NATIONAL HIV/AIDS/STI/ORID RESEARCH CONFERENCE
December 2003, Gaborone, Botswana
With HIV prevalence rates in antenatal clinic attendees of 35.4 %,  
Botswana is one of the countries at the epicentre of the HIV/AIDS  
epidemic. Despite this, the role of research in the national response  
to the epidemic has continued to take a back stage. The National AIDS  
Coordinating Agency (NACA) in collaboration with all stakeholders and  
developmental partners have, as a result, found it necessary to hold  
the first ever National HIV/AIDS/STI/and other related infectious  
Diseases (ORID) Research Conference - NHASORC 2003. It will be held  
from the 7th to the 12th of December 2003 in Gaborone.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16215

SOUTHERN AFRICA INSTITUTE OF FUNDRAISING
Calendar Of Courses And Events
http://www.saifundraising.org.za/
The mission of the Southern Africa Institute of Fundraising: Education  
& Training is to raise the standard, ethics and skills of those raising  
much-needed funds in their communities and to encourage and support  
philanthropy in South Africa. With so many needs and worthy causes, so  
many people trying to attract funding for their cause is an onerous  
task. SAIF attempts to address this by running cost effective training  
courses to equip these people to use their resources and funds  
effectively. Visit their website for more details.

THE DEVELOPMENT AGENDA AND THE MEDIA: A SOUTHERN AFRICA PERSPECTIVE
Journalists, editors, media academics, researchers and development  
workers from Africa will focus their attention on the role of the media  
in development, at a conference to be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania,  
from September 10 to 12, 2003. The conference, with the title "The  
Development Agenda and the Media: A southern Africa perspective - What  
role can the media play in advancing development goals in southern  
Africa?", will be hosted by the Media Institute of Southern Africa  
(MISA), a regional media freedom and freedom of expression organisation.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16226
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17.ADVOCACY RESOURCES

TAKE A VIRTUAL JOURNEY AND PREVENT MEASLES
http://www.measlesinitiative.org/vft.asp
In Africa, a child dies from measles every minute. Spread through the  
air, measles is one of the most contagious diseases known and is the  
leading cause of death among unvaccinated children. The good news is  
that the disease is easily preventable with a simple intervention: an  
inoculation. Take a Virtual Journey at the website provided and Help  
Vaccinate Children Against a Killer Disease.

TORTURE AND DEATH IN SUDAN: WRITE TO THE SUDANESE AUTHORITIES
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture  
(OMCT) says it has been informed about the torture of Jum'a Omer Alnur  
and death in detention of Mr. Awad Ibrahim Gamar in Sudan. The  
organisation wants those concerned to write to the Sudanese authorities  
asking them to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of  
other prisoners and to guarantee the respect of human rights and the  
fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national  
laws and international human rights standards.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16211
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18.JOBS

ANGOLA: COUNTRY DIRECTOR
Concern Worldwide
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/ 
A212F083F1C06F37C1256D5600370A9A
The Country Director (CD) will join the Angola programme at an exciting  
point in its development. Concern has been operational in Angola since  
1993 and are now developing a strategic plan to focus on advocacy and  
working with partners. The CD's role will be to provide management and  
leadership to this process.

KENYA: PROGRAM OFFICER / HUMAN RIGHTS
Ford Foundation
http://www.fpa.org/jobs_contact2423/jobs_contact_show.htm?doc_id=180673
Working with the Representative in Nairobi and other Ford Foundation  
staff, the Program Officer will be responsible for the Foundation's  
Eastern Africa programming on human rights and social justice in the  
region.

SOUTH AFRICA: CHIEF SPECIALIST/HEAD OF SCHOOL/EPIDEMIOLOGIST
FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, Wits University
The Chief Specialist and/or head of school post may be filled by one  
person fulfilling both roles or by two separate people, one as the  
Chief Specialist and one Head of School. These appointments may be at  
Professorial or Associate Professorial level. The Epidemiologist will  
be a dynamic person with excellent skills in Epidemiology and/or  
Biostatistics who will lead the Epidemiological research and training  
undertaken by the School of Public Health. The incumbent will be  
expected to stimulate epidemiologic research within the School and the  
Faculty.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16208

SUDAN: DEPUTY DIRECTOR
International Rescue Committee
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/res.nsf/wDocs/ 
F92CD40881E8717BC1256D5600686635
The Deputy Director is responsible for the planning, proposal  
preparation, management and implementation, budget control, monitoring  
and evaluation of all projects and programs in the Sudan Country  
Program.

WEST AFRICA: REGIONAL MANAGER
Christian Aid
This is a new and exciting opportunity to lead, develop, manage and  
have responsibility for development, emergency, advocacy, policy and  
campaign work for the West Africa region. You would be responsible for  
the processes of developing, implementing and monitoring Christian  
Aid's policy and strategy for your region. For this and other Christian  
Aid vacancies please click on the link provided.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16206
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19.BOOKS AND ARTS

BIOGRAPHY OF BINYAVANGA WAINAINA, A FOUNDING EDITOR OF THE LITERARY  
JOURNAL, KWANI
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1311
Binyavanga Wainaina is a Kenyan writer. He lived and worked for ten  
years in South Africa and has been writing from Nakuru, Kenya for the  
past two years. Now based in Nairobi, Kenya, he has been published by  
various literary journals around the world and in July 2002 he won the  
Caine Prize for African Writing - Africa's most prestigious literary  
prize.

CHIMURENGA - NEW EDITION
http://www.chimurenga.co.za/
* Emmanuel Dongala on science, social sciences and Africa;
* Tanella Boni replies to Emmanuel Dongala;
* Robert Berold on celebrities, poets, and a week in Durban;
* Andile Mngxitama on how the rich (plan to) get cultured;
* Anant Kumar on the Mosques on the banks of the Granges.
DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA: MOVING BEYOND A DIFFICULT LEGACY
Roger Southall
http://www.hsrcpublishers.co.za/index.html?occ_papers.html~content
This collection of papers examines the political and socio-economic  
factors that contributes to and constrains upon democratisation  
throughout South Africa and the African continent. The emphasis of the  
research is on the policies and impact of government, business and  
civil society in relation to capacity to the reduction of prevailing  
inequality and poverty in communities. The paper also raises issues of  
community empowerment as a way to promote local, national and regional  
sustainable development in the African continent.

NAMING THE SYSTEM: INEQUALITY AND WORK IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
Michael D. Yates
http://www.monthlyreview.org/namingthesystem.htm
The economic boom of the 1990s created huge wealth for the bosses, but  
benefited workers hardly at all. At the same time, the bosses were able  
to take the political initiative and even the moral high ground, while  
workers were often divided against each other. This new book by leading  
labour analyst Michael D. Yates seeks to explain how this happened, and  
what can be done about it.

NO SHORTCUTS TO POWER: AFRICAN WOMEN IN POLITICS AND POLICY MAKING
Edited By Anne Marie Goetz And Shireen Hassim, 2003
http://server.ntd.co.uk/ids/bookshop/details.asp?id=744
Whatever the other shortcomings of representative democracy, one issue  
that clearly remains largely unresolved is the participation and policy  
impact of women. This comparative study examines two African countries,  
South Africa and Uganda, both of which have attained greater women's  
political participation than most African - or indeed Western -  
democracies. How did women in these countries achieve some 30 per cent  
representation in both national and local political institutions? How  
far did women's mobilization in civil society play a part? How  
sustainable are the gains? And what is the impact of women politicians  
on policy?

OUR DREAM DEFERRED. THE POOR IN SOUTH AFRICA
Abebe Zegeye & Julia Maxted
http://www.africanbookscollective.com/acatalog/pol_index.html
'If in time, the reality of the absence of fundamental change convinces  
the disadvantaged majority that we have created a political democracy  
which is unable or unwilling fully to dismantle the system of racial  
oppression and exploitation, then we must expect that the dream  
deferred will, rather than wilt in the sun, explode!' (Thabo Mbeki,  
1994). This book assesses how far South Africa has come in uprooting  
poverty since this pronouncement. It traces developments from the end  
of the apartheid economic system, that institutionalised and  
perpetuated poverty, and some of the highest levels of inequality in  
the world; to the new era, which grew out of this regime, and is  
characterised by black stratification, and an ever widening gap between  
rich and poor.
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20.LETTERS AND COMMENTS

CAROLIZE JANSEN
Thank-you for the insightful piece on the ICC and the machinations of  
the US to derail it (Pambazuka News 117). It therefore came as rather a  
surprise when I went to the link for a petition against the detention  
of African journalists and found it on a US site (with 'United States  
of America' at the top of a list of 'alphabetical' countries) replete  
with petitions such as the one urging us to slam Hollywood celebs who  
"endanger the defence of the US" by criticising Bush. There were also  
gleeful references to the hate mail Martin Sheen receives and how  
Michael Moore was booed at the Oscars. What is Pambazuka doing  
affiliated to such a site? I would appreciate a response.

Pambazuka News Replies: We hope you'll understand that we used the site  
as a vehicle for our petition and can't be held responsible for further  
postings made subsequent or prior to ours, nor was our selection of the  
site an indication of affiliation with any other petition on the site.  
Ideally, we would have liked to have set up our own site, but this was  
not possible. Quite simply, the petition site which we chose was the  
best free one available. Rotimi Sankore, the Coordinator of Credo, who  
is running the campaign with Fahamu, also points out that site  
managers, like most new media that depend on advertising revenue, run a  
policy that they will host most petitions as far as they are not  
defamatory etc etc, and not just those that project particular view  
points. We therefore have no control over what they host.

INTERNATIONAL CIVIL SOCIETY ASSESSMENT & STRENGTHENING PROJECT - CALL  
FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST
CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organisations, is inviting  
applications for national partners to implement the CIVICUS Civil  
Society Index (CSI) 2003-04. The CSI is an action-research project that  
assesses the state of civil society in countries around the world with  
a view to creating a knowledge base and an impetus for civil society  
strengthening initiatives. The CSI was successfully piloted in 14  
countries around the world and CIVICUS has launched the first full  
implementation phase in 42 countries. The CSI will be implemented by  
civil society organisations at the country level, in close partnership  
with CIVICUS. The deadline for submissions is July 31st 2003. For more  
information and application details, please visit www.civicus.org  
and/or email [EMAIL PROTECTED]

NEIL PAKENHAM-WALSH
I was interested to read your Pambazuka editorial on the ICC (Pambazuka  
News 117). I agree strongly and would like to sign a petition or  
something, but the petition URL below the editorial is for something  
else. Is there a petition on ICC?

Pambazuka News Replies: For more information on the ICC, please visit  
the website http://www.iccnow.org. The website contains news, resources  
and information on how to get involved in advocating for the ICC.

ROBIN OPPERMAN
Excellent as always.
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PAMBAZUKA NEWS IS PUBLISHED BY FAHAMU
in association with SANGONeT
Fahamu - learning for change
14, Standingford House, Cave Street, Oxford OX4 1BA, UK
620 Overport City, Durban 4001, South Africa
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.fahamu.org
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.fahamu.org.za
Editor: Firoze Manji, Fahamu
Research and compilation: Patrick Burnett, Fahamu
Contributing Editors:
Alan Finlay, SANGONeT http://www.sn.apc.org
Rotimi Sankore, CREDO [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Pambazuka News is hosted at Kabissa
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(c) Fahamu 2003

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