PAMBAZUKA NEWS 120: AFRICAN UNION ADOPTS PROTOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OFAFRICAN WOMEN

[pambazuka-news]

PAMBAZUKA NEWS 120: AFRICAN UNION ADOPTS PROTOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OF  
AFRICAN WOMEN
A Weekly Electronic Newsletter For Social Justice In Africa

CONTENTS: 1. Editorial, 2. Conflict, Emergencies, and Crises, 3. Rights  
and Democracy, 4. Corruption, 5. Health, 6. Education and Social  
Welfare, 7. Women and Gender, 8. Refugees and Forced Migration, 9.  
Racism and Xenophobia, 10. Environment, 11. Media, 12. Development, 13.  
Internet and Technology, 14. eNewsletters and Mailing Lists, 15.  
Fundraising, 16. Courses, Seminars, and Workshops, 17. Advocacy  
Resources, 18. Jobs, 19. Books and Arts, 20. Letters and Comments

If you have e-mail access, you can get web resources listed in this  
Newsletter by sending a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the web  
address (usually starting with http://) in the body of your message.

Visit http://www.pambazuka.org/ for more than 15,000 news items,  
editorials,letters,reviews, etc that have appeared in Pambazuka News  
during the last two years.

To subscribe to Pambazuka News, please send an email to  
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
with the word 'subscribe' in the subject line. Or subscribe online at  
http://www.pambazuka.org/

Want to get off our subscriber list? Write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]  
and your address will be removed.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

1.EDITORIAL

AFRICAN UNION ADOPTS PROTOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OF AFRICAN WOMEN
Statement By Equality Now
http://www.equalitynow.org/english/navigation/hub_ph01_en.html
On 11 July 2003, the African Union adopted the Protocol on the Rights  
of Women in Africa, a supplementary protocol to the African Charter on  
Human and Peoples' Rights, which was adopted in 1981. Advancing the  
human rights of African women through creative, substantive and  
detailed language, the new Protocol covers a broad range of human  
rights issues. For the first time in international law, it explicitly  
sets forth the reproductive right of women to medical abortion when  
pregnancy results from rape or incest or when the continuation of  
pregnancy endangers the health or life of the mother. In another first,  
the Protocol explicitly calls for the legal prohibition of female  
genital mutilation.

In other equality advances for women, the Protocol calls for an end to  
all forms of violence against women including unwanted or forced sex,  
whether it takes place in private or in public, and a recognition of  
protection from sexual and verbal violence as inherent in the right to  
dignity. It endorses affirmative action to promote the equal  
participation of women, including the equal representation of women in  
elected office, and calls for the equal representation of women in the  
judiciary and law enforcement agencies as an integral part of equal  
protection and benefit of the law. Articulating a right to peace, the  
Protocol also recognizes the right of women to participate in the  
promotion and maintenance of peace.

The broad range of economic and social welfare rights for women set  
forth in the Protocol includes the right to equal pay for equal work  
and the right to adequate and paid maternity leave in both private and  
public sectors. It also calls on states to take effective measures to  
prevent the exploitation and abuse of women in advertising and  
pornography. The rights of particularly vulnerable groups of women,  
including widows, elderly women, disabled women and "women in  
distress," which includes poor women, women from marginalized  
population groups, and pregnant or nursing women in detention, are  
specifically recognized.

Equality Now, an international human rights organisation, convened a  
meeting in January 2003 of African women's rights activists to  
facilitate a collective review of the draft and coordinated advocacy  
for the adoption of a text that would truly advance the rights of  
African women in international law. Subsequent concerted lobbying of  
African governments by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and  
networks all over Africa on a consensus text resulted in significant  
gains to the original draft. The Africa Office of Equality Now, based  
in Nairobi, acted as a liaison with the African Union to push for  
expert discussion of the Protocol as well as strong NGO representation  
in the process.

The final Protocol is indicative of the achievements that can be made  
when governments and civil society use their collective resources to  
advance the cause of human rights. "The adoption of this Protocol marks  
a significant step forward in promoting the rights of women within  
Africa and we hope lays the groundwork for further gains for all women  
around the world," said Faiza Jama Mohamed, Equality Now's Africa  
Regional Director.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS HOLIDAYS
Dear Subscriber
Pambazuka News is taking a holiday for the next few weeks. We will be  
back in your inbox on August 28. Meanwhile, we hope you have a good  
rest while we are away.
Editor
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

2.CONFLICT, EMERGENCIES, AND CRISES

AFRICA: RACISM, EXPLOITATION AND NEGLECT - BUSH AND AFRICA
http://www.counterpunch.org/honey07042003.html
Growing discomfort with U.S. unilateralism has increased anti-American  
sentiment across the continent and prompted calls for UN rather than  
U.S. leadership in the war on terrorism. But terrorism is far from the  
most critical problem confronting the continent, argues this article.  
Poverty, AIDS, protracted violent conflicts between countries, debt  
burdens, and the breakdown of states have all ranked higher on the  
agendas of African leaders and regional organisations.

BURUNDI: PEACE PROCESS FATALLY FLAWED
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307210048.html
The massive and unexpected attack, launched by the rebel  
Palipehutu-Forces for National Liberation (FNL) on Bujumbura during the  
early hours of July 7 was a rude reminder that the lengthy peace  
process has not yet been able to achieve its goal. Burundi is yet again  
bleeding.

DRC: MINISTERS FROM FORMER REBEL MOVEMENTS TAKE OATH OF OFFICE
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35585
Transitional government officials designated by the two principal  
former rebel movements in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)  
took their oath of office on Thursday in the capital, Kinshasa, after a  
modification was made in the pledge of allegiance. Fourteen ministers  
and eight vice-ministers from the two groups - the Rassemblement  
congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) and the Mouvement de liberation  
du Congo (MLC) - had refused to take the oath of office on Friday  
because it required a pledge of allegiance to President Joseph Kabila,  
but not to the institutions and laws of the country.

LIBERIA: INTERNATIONAL INDECISION AS CRISIS DEEPENS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307210520.html
The Liberian capital of Monrovia is experiencing some of its worst  
fighting in seven years, following a weekend of heavy bombardment as  
rebel forces advanced into the city centre and government troops loyal  
to embattled President Charles Taylor fought to hold their positions.  
The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), which had hoped  
to get a thousand or more troops on the ground this week, is still  
discussing how to get the force into place.
Related Links:
* REBELS REFUSE TO SIGN LIBERIA PEACE AGREEMENT
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35552
* BRUTAL FIGHTING IN MONROVIA: AT LEAST 100 DEAD
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=25077

LIBERIA: TROOPS TO LIBERIA MUST RESPECT HUMAN RIGHTS
Human Rights Watch has written to the chairman of the Economic  
Community of West African States (ECOWAS), John Kufuor, urging him to  
ensure that ECOWAS troops sent to Liberia act in full accordance with  
international human rights and humanitarian law, and with a clear  
mandate to protect civilians and to facilitate the delivery of  
humanitarian aid.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16489

LIBERIA: UN WARNS OF TRAGEDY AS FOOD SHORTAGES GROW ACUTE
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35575
Food shortages grew more accute in the Liberian capital Monrovia on  
Wednesday as rebel forces continued pounding the city centre with  
mortar fire and the United Nations warned that its one million  
population faced a humanitarian tragedy.

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: COUP LEADERS HAND POWER BACK TO CIVILIAN  
PRESIDENT
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35580
The military junta which seized power in the potentially oil-rich  
island state of Sao Tome and Principe last week, signed an agreement  
with international mediators on Wednesday to allow the reinstatement of  
the elected government of President Fradique de Menezes, news agencies  
with local correspondents reported.

SOMALIA: FOREIGN POWERS STALK PEACE TALKS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307211224.html
"People are here to pursue their own interests. In fact, one would say  
that Somalia is up for grabs," says a delegate to the Somali peace  
talks being held in Mbaghati, Kenya. The delegate is from Somaliland,  
the renegade region whose "head of State" has snubbed the Nairobi talks.

SUDAN: GOVERNMENT CONSIDERING DATE FOR RESUMPTION OF PEACE TALKS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35559
The government of Sudan is considering a date for the resumption of  
postponed peace talks with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army  
(SPLM/A). "We are still consulting on that," Sudan's deputy ambassador  
to Kenya, Muhammad Ahmad Dirdeiry, told IRIN. He said a decision would  
be made before 3 August, which the Inter-Governmental Authority on  
Development (IGAD) mediators have suggested as a starting date. The  
talks were originally scheduled to restart on Wednesday.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

3.RIGHTS AND DEMOCRACY

AFRICA/GLOBAL: ILLEGAL U.S. CAMPAIGN AGAINST INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE
http://www.iht.com/ 
ihtsearch.php?id=102817&owner=(IHT)&date=20030716134624
In withdrawing the United States from the International Criminal Court  
and in its current efforts to undermine the court's authority, the Bush  
administration has fallen far short of the high standards of justice  
that the United States has set for itself and by extension the rest of  
the world, says this commentary. The United States has also launched a  
campaign to persuade states supporting the court to sign agreements not  
to surrender U.S. nationals to it.

AFRICA: CALL FOR NEW AFRICAN COMMISSION CHAIR NOT TO LET DOWN THE  
CONTINENT
Alpha Konare, former President of Mali and newly elected Chair of the  
Commission of the African Union, has the right credentials for the job,  
CREDO for Freedom of Expression & Associated Rights says. Reacting to  
the election of the new AU Chair, CREDO’s coordinator Rotimi Sankore  
said: “As the first elected Chair of the Commission of the African  
Union, the success or failure of the entire African Union project  
depends largely on how Alpha Konare approaches the job.”
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16473

BOTSWANA: KHAMA WIN EASES MOGAE'S CONCERNS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35572
Vice President Lt-General Seretse Ian Khama this week became the new  
national chairman of the ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP),  
sweeping aside incumbent Ponatshego Kedikilwe in a landslide election  
victory. The emphatic win at the BDP's congress on Tuesday makes Khama,  
a relative newcomer to the party, an almost certain bet to succeed  
President Festus Mogae as the BDP's presidential candidate after the  
2004 general elections.

BURUNDI: REGIONAL SUMMIT SHOULD GIVE PRIORITY TO PROTECTION OF HUMAN  
RIGHTS
Amnesty International has appealed to regional Heads of State or their  
representatives meeting on 20 July 2003 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to  
inject a renewed momentum to ending the armed conflict in Burundi and  
to give protection of human rights priority on their agenda. "The gap  
between paper agreements and the situation of Burundian civilians in  
constant fear for their lives, property and security grows ever  
larger," said Amnesty International.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16491

DRC: HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS UNDER ATTACK
Human rights defenders in the Democratic Republic of Congo are under  
increasing attack, Human Rights Watch says in a newly-released  
backgrounder on freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. In the  
past few years, the main rebel groups and the previous DRC government  
have been responsible for intimidating and harassing those who have  
exposed human rights abuses. But the new transitional government in  
Kinshasa offers the chance to break this pattern, Human Rights Watch  
said.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16597

GREAT LAKES: NEW HUMAN RIGHTS RESOURCE WEBSITE LAUNCHED
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35538&SelectRegion=Africa
A non-profit charity based in the United States, the Centre for the  
Prevention of Genocide, has launched a human rights resource website.  
In a statement, the centre described the new website  
http://www.genocideprevention.org as one of the world's few early  
warning systems for the detection of genocidal activity.

KENYA: KENYA UNDER US PRESSURE NOT TO SIGN ICC PACT
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307211142.html
Kenya is under immense pressure from the US government not to ratify  
the Rome Statue on the International Criminal Court (ICC). Permanent  
Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr Peter ole Nkuraiya, said the US is  
putting pressure on Kenya not to sign Article 98 of the Statute. "We  
are left to wonder what is the way forward as regards the issue. We are  
being arm and neck twisted by the big brother," he said.

MALAWI: CIVIL SOCIETY COALITIONS - OVERCOMING FEAR, MISTRUST AND  
JEALOUSY
http://www.id21.org/society/s8crj1g2.html
Civil society networks are recognised almost universally as essential  
promoters of democratisation. What makes a coalition of civil society  
organisations (CSOs) effective? What role should international NGOs  
play in fostering alliances of local CSOs? Should local networks pursue  
international advocacy?

NIGERIA: NO JUSTICE FOR KADUNA KILLINGS
Not a single member of the Nigerian police or security forces has been  
charged with dozens of killings during the "Miss World" riots in Kaduna  
last November, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. The 32-page  
report, "The 'Miss World riots': continued impunity for killings in  
Kaduna," provides detailed eyewitness accounts of how soldiers and  
police killed people in cold blood between November 21 and 23, during  
an operation intended to restore law and order.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16559

RWANDA: FOUR CLEARED TO CONTEST PRESIDENCY
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35511
Rwanda’s National Electoral Commission has approved four candidates to  
contest the country’s first post-genocide presidential elections,  
scheduled for 25 August. The commission cleared four of six candidates  
who had declared their interest in the presidency. The approved  
candidates are the incumbent, President Paul Kagame, former Prime  
Minister Faustin Twagiramungu, a woman candidate, Alvera Mukabaramba;  
and former Member of Parliament Nepomuscene Nayinzira.

SOMALIA/SOMALILAND: POLITICAL LEADERS MUST RECOGNIZE THE LEGITIMATE  
ROLE OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
Somali human rights defenders in all areas must be given a central role  
in the difficult struggle ahead for sustained peace, democracy and  
human rights, Amnesty International has urged, as the Somalia peace and  
reconciliation conference in Kenya moves, within the next month, to  
establish a transitional federal government by selecting a four-year  
parliament which will elect the president. Somaliland is proceeding  
separately to its own parliamentary elections after the recent  
presidential elections.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16484

SOUTH AFRICA: TOWARDS GLOBAL SOCIAL MOVEMENT UNIONISM: TRADE UNION  
RESPONSES TO GLOBALIZATION
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1356
This case study surveys the response of the South African labour  
movement to globalisation. It attempts to indicate how far unions in  
South Africa have maintained their position with respect to traditional  
constituent demands, whether they are adapting to a changing  
environment by organising new constituents, whether they are addressing  
new concerns by developing new perspectives on civil society, and  
whether they are enhancing their image as a major social actor.

SWAZILAND: OPPOSITION DEMAND LEGALISATION OF PARTIES
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35515
Swaziland's draft constitution was initially greeted with relief by  
pro-democracy groups who had feared it would be far more draconian. But  
six weeks on, banned political parties have begun to condemn the  
document for its ambiguous language regarding the legalisation of  
political groups. "We will only be interested in a constitution that  
would be inclusive of the entire people of Swaziland, not just a few.  
So we reject this draft constitution with contempt," the People's  
United Democratic Movement (PUDEMO) said in a statement last week.

ZAMBIA: AGREEMENT WITH US ON ICC EXTRADITION
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35481
Zambia this month signed a bilateral agreement with the United States  
not to extradite US citizens accused of war crimes to the International  
Criminal Court (ICC), a US embassy official told IRIN last Friday.

ZIMBABWE: CHURCHES APOLOGISE FOR INACTION AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES
http://www.africaonline.com/site/Articles/1,3,53567.jsp
The Zimbabwe Council of Churches has apologised to the people of  
Zimbabwe for not doing enough to protest human rights abuses by the  
government. The apology was made in a communique issued by the Zimbabwe  
Council of Churches following its annual meeting.
Related Link:
PIED PIPER
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1358

ZIMBABWE: MDC SOFTENS STANCE TO DEFUSE TENSION
http://iol.co.za/ 
index.php?click_id=84&art_id=vn20030723043624939C106376&set_id=1
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has threatened to hit his opponents  
with "the full wrath of the law" if they tried to destabilise the  
nation. He said this on Tuesday just hours after Zimbabwe's opposition  
party offered a political truce with the government. Before Mugabe  
delivered his speech, the opposition Movement for Democratic Change  
(MDC) announced that its lawmakers would not boycott Mugabe's speech -  
as they usually do - but would remain in parliament as part of an  
effort to build goodwill to end the political standoff.

ZIMBABWE: STATE-SPONSORED RETRIBUTION TO SUBVERT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
There were 113 cases of torture recorded for the month of June, while  
political discrimination, violations of freedom of expression and  
assaults remained widespread, according to the Zimbabwean Human Rights  
NGO Forum's Political Violence Report for June. "Since the Human Rights  
Forum began documenting and publishing politically related human rights  
violations in 2000, there has been a sustained level of organised  
violence and torture, peaking at periods surrounding elections, public  
marches and demonstrations.”
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16519
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

4.CORRUPTION

AFRICA: AFRICA STILL SINGING FOR ITS SUPPER
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=225&fArticleId=192317
Wealthy nations and international institutions such as the World Bank  
and the International Monetary Fund have become the central economic  
planners for Africa. The result is sporadic project implementation;  
corruption; poor economic performance attributable to inept policies;  
political tensions as each ethnic community jostles to partake of the  
"national cake"; and disaster unpreparedness due to donor anaesthesia,  
writes James S. Shikwati in South Africa's The Star newspaper. Shikwati  
is director of the Kenyan-based Inter Regional Economic Network (Iren).

AFRICA: ONLINE CORRUPTION INFORMATION CENTRE AVAILABLE
http://www.iss.org.za/corruption/
Knowledge is key to an effective anti-corruption strategy. The Southern  
African Corruption Information Centre – Online is the first portal of  
its kind on the African continent. It aims to provide policy-makers,  
researchers, activists, academics, the media as well as public and  
private sector officials with access to material on corruption as well  
as strategies to combat graft and corruption. The centre provides  
information with a specific Southern African focus. A search function  
makes available over 500 abstracted documents which include legal  
documents, government/civil society reports, journal articles and  
conference papers.

ANGOLA: DOWN AND OUT IN OIL-RICH ANGOLA
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=70144
Gracelino is dressed in dirty rags. He extends his skinny arm into his  
pocket and produces a small plastic bottle filled with a see-through  
liquid. This is gasoline which he bought for $1 at a market, and there  
is enough here to last him for up to three days. "You put the petrol  
onto a piece of cloth and sniff it. It makes me feel high, but I know  
it's no good for me and so I'm going to stop doing it," says the  
15-year-old. Gracelino is one of many street children who are addicted  
to a by-product of the very substance that makes Angola so rich in one  
of the world's most sought-after resources.

CHAD: FEARS OF MISMANAGEMENT, AS OIL FEVER GRIPS CHAD
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19350
''They say oil is spurting out of the ground, but I haven't seen it  
yet,” says Faustin Gayande, a young man from the Chadian capital of  
N'djamena. He fears the oil revenue will not trickle down to the poor  
as a result of corruption and political repression. “There is a proverb  
from my area which says that when you catch a silurid, you've got to  
grab it by the head if you want to hang onto it; if you hold it by the  
tail, it could slip away. So Chadian oil is like a silurid because I  
haven't been able to grab it,'' says Gayande.

KENYA: I’LL BE THE FIRST TO DECLARE WEALTH, SAYS KIBAKI
http://www.eastandard.net/headlines/news24072003018.htm
President Mwai Kibaki has pledged to be the first to declare his wealth  
once the various administrative procedures are in place. "I have  
offered to be the first to declare my wealth and that is real," said  
Kibaki. The President said the Public Officer Ethics Act, under which  
all public servants are expected to declare their assets and  
liabilities, aims at bringing about cultural change in the public  
service.

KENYA: MOI SHOULD CLEAR HIS NAME, SAYS GITHAE
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=70173
Former President Daniel arap Moi has been advised to voluntarily appear  
before the anti-corruption police unit to record a statement and to  
clear his name against the many economic crimes levelled against him.  
Justice and Constitutional affairs Assistant Minister Robinson Githae  
at the same time dismissed claims that the former President was being  
harassed by the NARC Government, adding that other than the sitting  
President, nobody else enjoys immunity.

SOUTH AFRICA: BUSINESS WELCOMES CORRUPTION AMENDMENTS
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=70150
People charged with corruption can be found guilty even if the main  
charge has been disapproved in court following the amendment of the  
Prevention of Corruption Bill, security company GriffithsReid said.  
GriffithsReid managing director Jenny Reid said with the amendment  
people accused of graft could be found guilty of lesser charges even if  
not specifically charged with them and even if the evidence led in  
court did not prove the corruption charge against the accused.

SOUTH AFRICA: GOVT PROBE FOR SA COURT CORRUPTION
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=70169
Sound financial management of South Africa's courts was essential to  
maintain public respect and confidence in the country's justice system,  
the New National Party (NNP) said on Monday. For this reason, a Special  
Investigating Unit (SIU) probe -- authorised by President Thabo Mbeki  
-- into allegations of misappropriation of funds and corruption, could  
not happen soon enough, said NNP justice spokesperson Carol Johnson.

ZIMBABWE: PANICKING ZANU PF 'CHEFS' STRIP COUNTRY OF ASSETS
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=70167
Panicking high ranking officials of the ruling Zanu PF party are  
allegedly systematically stripping down the country of most of its  
valuable assets as they realise that President Robert Mugabe's reign is  
coming to an end, it emerged last week. Economic experts said the  
entire country was being methodically plundered by high-ranking Zanu PF  
and government officials who plan to eventually flee the country and  
retire in comfort with their offshore holdings.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

5.HEALTH

AFRICA: AMBITIOUS PLAN TO TACKLE AIDS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307210032.html
AIDS treatment in Southern Africa is about to explode with seven  
countries in the region accelerating access to antiretroviral drugs.  
"Very poor countries have shown they are capable of doing effective  
treatment in the public sector and that they would be ready to scale up  
rapidly," said the UN special envoy for HIV/Aids in Africa, Stephen  
Lewis. Speaking after last week's international Aids research  
conference in Paris, the executive director of the UN Global Fund for  
the Treatment of Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis, Richard Feachem, said  
that Africa was on the threshold of an explosion in treatment.

AFRICA: NEW WHO DG PLEDGES TO BOOST AIDS FIGHT
http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=18913
Dr. Jong-Wook Lee has assumed the position of World Health Organisation  
director general, saying that he will boost the organisation's  
commitment to combating HIV/AIDS by providing antiretroviral drugs to  
three million HIV-positive people in developing countries by 2005,  
Agence France-Presse reports. Lee, a South Korean physician who has  
worked at WHO for 19 years, succeeds Gro Harlem Brundtland.

AFRICA: RICH COUNTRIES STALL ON NEW AIDS FUNDING
The U.S$200 million Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and  
Malaria contribution proposed by President George W. Bush for one year  
amounts to little more than 32 hours of war expenses in Iraq. And at a  
recent meeting in Paris to consider additional funding for the Global  
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, donors added a few  
additional promises and little new funding to meet an expected  
shortfall of $500 million to $800 million this year, with an additional  
$3 billion needed to cover grants in 2004. This posting from Africa  
Action contains a press release from the Global Fund putting as  
positive a spin as possible on new promises, a June 17 letter from the  
White House explicitly urging Congress not to provide more money than  
the President's request of only $200 million for the Global Fund and $2  
billion total for 2004 funding, a brief note from Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS  
reports on the status on congressional action as of Friday, and  
excerpts from an opinion piece by Jeffrey Sachs commenting on the  
default by both Europe and the U.S.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16496

AFRICA: U.S. ANTI-AIDS FUNDING DWINDLES; BUSH BLAMED
http://ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19288
Two efforts by Democratic lawmakers to boost next year's U.S.  
contribution to the global fight against AIDS were narrowly defeated in  
a key Congressional committee Wednesday, spurring charges that  
President George W. Bush, who just returned from a five-day trip to  
Africa last weekend, had betrayed the expectations he created while  
there.

AFRICA: UK STILL POACHING AFRICAN NURSES
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3083041.stm
Nurses are still being 'poached' from Africa to work in Britain - even  
though there is a ban on recruitment from developing countries, unions  
have warned. The head of Kenya's nursing union told the BBC it was the  
most experienced nurses who were leaving.

AFRICA: WHEN MR. BUSH 'CAME SHOPPING' IN AFRICA
http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/63679/1/
Rolake Nwagwu, from the Treatment Action Movement (TAM) Nigeria, writes  
that if America says she is committed to fighting AIDS in Africa, then  
the right things should be done at the right time in the right way.  
"Don't claim to commit to PMTCT if you won't make ARVs available. Don't  
claim to support Africans using generic drugs if you go on to try  
enforcing the same laws that will make getting generic drugs almost  
impossible. Don't claim to be against stigma and discrimination of  
PLWHA (People Living with HIV/AIDS) if your staff members still screen  
their domestic workers for HIV and visa lottery winners are compelled  
to take HIV tests without their informed knowledge or consent, without  
voluntary and confidential counselling."

KENYA: FREE MEDICINE FOR MOTHERS WITH AIDS
http://ippfnet.ippf.org/pub/IPPF_News/News_Details.asp?ID=2807
Mothers infected with HIV/AIDS will receive free medicine from the  
Kenyan Government. The Health ministry has developed a programme to  
provide the anti-retroviral drugs to minimize mother-to-child  
transmission. Health minister Charity Ngilu said children had been  
neglected in anti-AIDS campaigns despite their vulnerability.

KENYA: GOVERNMENT TO HIRE 2,000 NURSES
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307211226.html
Two thousand nurses are to be hired for public hospitals this year.  
Director of Medical Services Richard Muga said this was expected to  
ease staff shortages and improve public service.

MALAWI: QUEST FOR CHEAP AIDS TREATMENT FUELS FAKE DRUGS BOOM
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19368
Many Malawians living with HIV/AIDS are forced to rely on illegal drugs  
in a bid to treat opportunistic illnesses, ease suffering and prolong  
their lives. Some of the fake drugs have flooded the country's parallel  
market with a potentially disastrous health impact.

SOUTH AFRICA: WORLD BANK WARNS ON IMPACT OF AIDS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35565
South Africa could face economic collapse within a few generations  
unless it adopts a more urgent response to its HIV/AIDS epidemic, a new  
World Bank research report warned on Wednesday. According to the report  
"The Long-run Economic Costs of AIDS: Theory and an Application to  
South Africa", most studies on the macroeconomic costs of AIDS had  
overlooked the long-term damage of the disease.

ZAMBIA: 'LACK OF HIV INFECTION AWARENESS MAY MASK PREVALENCE LEVELS'
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307170719.html
Lack of awareness of the disease and supplies for detecting HIV  
infection may mask prevalence levels in some areas of the country,  
UNICEF resident representative Dr. Stella Goings has said. Speaking at  
the regional workshop for peer educators held at Mulungushi  
International Conference Centre, Dr. Goings noted that most countries  
represented at the workshop were among those heavily affected by the  
HIV/AIDS infections.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

6.EDUCATION AND SOCIAL WELFARE

AFRICA/GLOBAL: CHILD DEATH RATES BETWEEN RICH, POOR WIDENING, STUDY SAYS
http://ippfnet.ippf.org/pub/IPPF_News/News_Details.asp?ID=2805
The gap between child mortality rates in rich and poor countries is  
growing increasingly wide, the medical journal The Lancet reports in  
the latest of a series of articles on child health. "Gaps in child  
mortality between rich and poor countries are unacceptably wide and in  
some areas are becoming wider, as are the gaps between wealthy and poor  
children within most countries," the authors of the article wrote.

AFRICA: POORER NATIONS STRUGGLE WITH BALLOONING BIRTH RATES
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=655&ncid=655&e=2&u=/ 
oneworld/20030723/wl_oneworld/4536640341058918469
Population growth rates in developed and developing countries are  
becoming increasingly skewed, posing challenges to governments  
worldwide, according to the 2003 World Population Data Sheet released  
on Tuesday. Published by the Washington-based Population Reference  
Bureau (PRB), the survey estimates a 193 percent population increase in  
Central Africa--the fastest-growing region in the first half of the  
21st century--compared to a mere 6 percent gain in Northern Europe and  
a population decline in the rest of Europe.

AFRICA: UN LITERACY DECADE - HOPE OR HYPE?
http://www.learningchannel.org/
The launch of the UN Literacy Decade was yet another in a series of  
international pledges to provide education to all. Time and again, in  
the past two decades, an atmosphere of urgency to achieve education  
goals has been created. And yet, each time, these pledges have met with  
very little commitment and action.

CENTRAL AFRICA: 'MIDDLE' AFRICA TO EXPERIENCE THE FASTEST POPULATION  
GROWTH
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307230101.html
Demographic projections by the Population Reference Bureau for the  
first half of the 21st century show that the Democratic Republic of the  
Congo leads countries in "middle" Africa that are expected to  
experience the fastest population growth in the region. The bureau's  
"World Population Data Sheet" for 2003 showed that the Congo, with an  
estimated population of 56.6 million, would have 181 million people by  
2050. Overall, the central Africa region's population will grow to 193  
percent of its current size by 2050, followed by western Africa, which  
is expected to grow to 142 percent of its 2003 population. The  
population of southern Africa, a region that has been adversely  
affected by HIV/AIDS, was projected to fall by 22 percent.

EAST/SOUTHERN AFRICA: PRIMARY EDUCATION - INCREASING ACCESS FOR ORPHANS  
AND VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN AIDS-AFFECTED AREAS
http://www.usaid.gov/pop_health/dcofwvf/reports/edreps/hepburnfinal.doc
This paper investigates the national and community level interventions  
that offer promise for increasing primary education access for children  
who have been orphaned or made vulnerable in areas heavily affected by  
AIDS in the eastern and southern Africa region. Some of the lessons  
learnt are that: Initiatives should target all vulnerable children in  
AIDS-affected areas and should create affordable schooling  
opportunities; non-formal education should be prioritised in addition  
to formal education and that initiatives should be developed with  
community participation and cater to community needs.

KENYA: STREET CHILDREN PROJECT TO GET MORE SUPPORT
http://www.childlabournews.info/clns-july-2003-details.html#18-2
Several organisations have pledged support for the Government in  
rehabilitating street children. Eleven non-governmental organisations  
dealing with children said they would begin programmes to support  
street families. Their representatives said they would form an alliance  
with private companies to ensure more than 1,500 children countrywide  
were rehabilitated.

MALAWI: DEEPENING POVERTY THREATENS HOUSEHOLDS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35546
A household-level recovery from the past year's food security crisis in  
Malawi is being complicated by deepening levels of poverty, observers  
say. In a recent interview with IRIN in the capital Lilongwe, World  
Food Programme (WFP) country representative, Gerard van Dijk, said  
"poverty, combined with HIV/AIDS" had worsened household vulnerability.

NIGERIA: EDUCATION SCHEME FOR GIRLS LAUNCHED
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307230501.html
The Federal Government has joined hands with the United Nations  
Children Fund (UNICEF) to develop the Strategy for Acceleration of  
Girls Education in Nigeria (SAGEN), a plan of action designed to ensure  
that equal number of boys and girls were in the education system by  
2005.

SIERRA LEONE: CHILD SOLDIER REHABILITATION PROGRAMME RUNS OUT OF CASH
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35553
A programme to rehabilitate more than 7,000 child soldiers who fought  
in Sierra Leone's decade-long civil war is in danger of stalling  
because of a serious shortfall in funding, the UN children's fund  
(UNICEF) warned on Tuesday. UNICEF said that US $1.4 million is needed  
immediately and a further $2.5 million would be required in the "near  
future" if their critical re-education and re-training programmes were  
to be completed.

SOUTH AFRICA: HISTORY CLASSROOM LAUNCHED ONLINE
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1354
The Department of Education, together with a non-governmental  
organisation, SA History Online (SAHO), has launched a Web site as a  
resource site and teaching aid for pupils and students.

SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA: PRIMARY SCHOOLING - RECENT TRENDS AND CURRENT  
CHALLENGES
http://www.popcouncil.org/publications/wp/prd/176.html
This paper argues that achievement of the Millennium Development Goals  
of Education for All (EFA) by 2015 will not only require a level of  
international resources and commitment not yet seen, but will also  
require better tools for monitoring educational progress at the country  
level. The authors estimate that more than 37 million young adolescents  
aged 10-14 in sub-Saharan Africa will not complete primary school.  
Their estimates are based on data from nationally representative  
Demographic and Health Surveys from 26 countries, collectively  
representing 83 percent of the sub-Saharan youth population.

UGANDA: SECONDARY SCHOOL REMAINS A DREAM
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307210924.html
As the first beneficiaries of the Universal Primary Education (UPE)  
complete the primary cycle this year, government has a challenge to  
take them on to secondary level. It is estimated that this year, 1.6  
million children will leave primary education as a result of UPE.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

7.WOMEN AND GENDER

AFRICA/GLOBAL: THE ECONOMICS OF GENDER INEQUALITY: TOWARDS GENDER  
RESPONSIVE BUDGETING
http://www.id21.org/society/s6adb1g1.html
Are budgets and revenue systems as gender neutral as they may appear to  
be? Can gender be incorporated into economic governance? How can women  
and civil society organisations be more involved in preparing budgets,  
scrutinising expenditure and collecting and analysing macroeconomic  
data that is disaggregated by sex?

AFRICA: AU ADOPTION OF THE PROTOCOL ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN WELCOMED
The African Union's (AU) adoption of the Protocol on the Rights of  
Women in Africa is a significant step in the efforts to promote and  
ensure respect for the rights of African women, says Amnesty  
International. Adopted on 11 July 2003, at the second summit of the  
African Union in Maputo, Mozambique, the Protocol, among others,  
requires African governments to eliminate all forms of discrimination  
and violence against women in Africa and to promote equality between  
women and men.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16506

ETHIOPIA: INTERVIEW WITH GIFTI ABASIYA, STATE MINISTER FOR WOMEN'S  
AFFAIRS
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35513
Gifti Abasiya is the State Minister for Women’s Affairs – one of the  
smallest ministries in Ethiopia. In this interview with IRIN, she says  
that discrimination is a result of undemocratic systems, and that  
widespread and deeply entrenched poverty is the key factor in fuelling  
arcane attitudes towards women.

GHANA: CHURCHES CAN HELP PERPETUATE EMOTIONAL VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19281
Exhilda Natogma (Not real name) is a nurse at a mission hospital of one  
of the popular Pentecostal churches in Madina a suburb of Accra, the  
capital city of Ghana. Exhilda fell in love with one of her church  
elders who was studying at a professional Institute in Accra. After six  
months of a hot romance, Exhilda discovered that she was pregnant and  
the Elder quickly suggested an abortion.

SOUTH AFRICA: GENDER RESEARCHER SEEKS ANSWERS ON SOUTH AFRICAN CAMPUSES
http://www.idrc.ca/reports/read_article_english.cfm?article_num=1125
In South Africa, post-secondary education is a privilege, and many  
students currently enrolled in universities are the first in their  
families to reach for it. Degrees are also one of only a few tickets to  
upward mobility, and students endure enormous economic and personal  
pressures to graduate. "Campus cultures are places in which the stakes  
are high," says Dr Jane Bennett, gender researcher and director of the  
African Gender Institute, based at the University of Cape Town.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: WOMEN TO ANALYSE GENDER POLICIES IN SADC COUNTRIES
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307100095.html
Women unionists from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC)  
met from 14 to 18 July in Maputo, Mozambique, to analyse gender  
policies in their countries. According to an Angolan official, because  
the Southern Africa Trade Unions (SATUC) does not have a gender policy  
as yet, discussion was based on the rate of accomplishment of the  
commitment of SADC's heads of State and Government to gender  
representation.

UGANDA: WOMEN GAIN INCH IN PUSH FOR LAND RIGHTS
http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/1456/context/cover/
A new amendment to the 1998 Land Act in Uganda takes a small step  
toward women obtaining land rights. The issue is expected to remain on  
the national agenda, however, as candidates for president position  
themselves to gain the women's vote.

ZAMBIA: WOMEN MAKE SLOW, BUT STEADY PROGRESS
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19280
In the early hours of a cold morning, the streets of Lusaka are  
thronging with people rushing to work. I pass through a coffee shop on  
my way to the office and as I sip the hot brew my attention is drawn to  
two elderly women who work as sweepers for the Lusaka City Council  
(LCC). Eavesdropping in on their conversation, I soon discover that  
they are talking about the challenges that women continue to face in  
their pursuit of equality.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

8.REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION

AFRICA: REFUGEES AND FORCED DISPLACEMENT: INTERNATIONAL SECURITY, HUMAN  
VULNERABILITY, AND THE STATE
Edited By Edward Newman And Joanne Van Selm
http://www.unu.edu/unupress/new/ab-refugees.html
The orthodox definition of international security puts human  
displacement and refugees at the periphery. In contrast, the  
publication Refugees and Forced Displacement demonstrates that human  
displacement can be both a cause and a consequence of conflict within  
and among societies. As such, the management of refugee movements and  
the protection of displaced people should be an integral part of  
security policy and conflict management.

ANGOLA/NAMIBIA: REFUGEE FOOD DISTRIBUTIONS DELAYED
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1348
The World Food Programme has warned that a serious maize meal shortage  
has delayed food distribution to refugees in Namibia's Osire camp. In  
its latest situation report, WFP said food distribution to the 18,000  
mainly Angolan refugees in Osire had been delayed until later in the  
month.

ANGOLA: MSF CALLS FOR GREATER ASSISTANCE TO RETURNEES
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35576
Médicins Sans Frontièrs (MSF) on Wednesday called for greater  
assistance to refugees returning to Angola, saying that many had  
resettled in areas lacking basic services.

KENYA: MARGINALISED TURKANA VIE WITH REFUGEES
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35535
The violence that followed a cattle-rustling incident last month in  
Kakuma refugee camp, northwestern Kenya, was unprecedented in its  
deadly impact. Displacing 30,000 people and killing two Turkana, nine  
Sudanese, and one Ethiopian caught in the crossfire, the effects are  
still being felt four weeks later.

KENYA: THOUSANDS OF REFUGEES IN DANGER FROM FLOODWATER
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35504
The lives of about 17,000 people living in the Kakuma refugee camp,  
northwestern Kenya, are in danger from flooding caused by the merging  
of two seasonal rivers, the UN warned on Monday. The two rivers, the  
Taraich and the Nakabet, are expected to merge during the next rainy  
season in October which will lead to an island in the centre of the  
camp. The camp could then collapse.

LIBERIA: CIVILIANS SEEK BAN ON NATURAL RESOURCES TRADE
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=655&ncid=655&e=2&u=/ 
oneworld/20030723/wl_oneworld/4536641011058962345
A halt to extraction and trade of Liberian gold, diamonds and timber  
would help stop the fighting that has killed at least 600 civilians in  
the capital in the past five days, according to the Environmental  
Lawyers Association of Liberia and two other nongovernmental  
organisations.

LIBERIA: SITUATION DIRE FOR HUNDREDS SHELTERING IN UNHCR'S MONROVIA  
COMPOUND
http://tinyurl.com/hw2o
Increasingly desperate for food and pleading for evacuation, hundreds  
of Sierra Leonean refugees jammed the UNHCR compound in war-ravaged  
Monrovia on Wednesday amid continued fighting between government troops  
and rebels.

SOMALIA: UNHCR RESUMES REPATRIATION TO PUNTLAND
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35534
A suspended operation to repatriate Somali refugees from Kenya to the  
self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia,  
resumed at the weekend, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said. In a  
statement, it said the repatriation restarted on 19 July after a  
two-month suspension caused by lack of funds for the flights to Somalia.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: A REFERENCE GUIDE TO REFUGEE LAW AND ISSUES IN  
SOUTHERN AFRICA
A new guide provides a comparative analysis and factual guide to  
refugee law throughout Southern Africa, including in-depth country  
guides for Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Namibia,  
Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The new  
publication 'A Reference Guide to Refugee Law and Issues in Southern  
Africa' is produced by The Legal Resources Foundation (Zambia -  
http://www.lrf.org.zm/ ), the Legal Resources Centre South Africa (  
http://www.lrc.org.za/) and the Zambia Civic Education Association. It  
is hoped that the guide will be a wealth of information in the areas of  
domestic and international refugee law, as well as the factual  
situation of refugees across Southern Africa.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16598

SOUTHERN AFRICA: MOBILE POPULATIONS AND HIV/AIDS
http://www.sarpn.org.za/documents/d0000365/index.php
This report - from the Southern African Regional Poverty Network -  
highlights the ways in which different mobile populations are  
vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, and draws together some of the policies and  
programmes that governments, employers, unions and NGOs have put in  
place. Since different mobile populations are vulnerable to HIV  
infection at different stages of mobility, the report formulates  
recommendations for each stage of the mobility process.

TANZANIA: HIV/AIDS AND STI PREVENTION AND CARE IN RWANDAN REFUGEE CAMPS
http://www.dec.org/pdf_docs/PNACS782.pdf
This UNAIDS monograph documents the first large-scale AIDS and STI  
intervention programme to be implemented during a refugee crisis. It  
describes the operational aspects of the intervention, the observed  
impact and the effect this experience had on policies and practices in  
other refugee situations, among both international and nongovernmental  
organisations.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

9.RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA

SOUTH AFRICA: HAPPY REOPENS SOUTH AFRICA'S RACIAL SCARS
http://www.guardian.co.uk/southafrica/story/0,13262,982592,00.html
Apartheid, it seems, works. Nearly 10 years since racial segregation  
was abolished in South Africa, identity is still rooted in race. Or so  
it would appear from the case of Happy Sindane, the blond  
Ndebele-speaking boy who walked into a police station last month saying  
he had been abducted from his white family by their black cleaner at  
the age of six and brought up among blacks. He asked the police to help  
him find his white parents. The story was presented, to the fury of  
black commentators, as that of a lost white boy who had walked,  
Tarzan-like, out of the jungle. The courts demolished the fantasy last  
week after DNA tests established that Happy had at least one black  
parent.

ZIMBABWE: ADMISSIONS OF GUILT
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1370
The general response by black Zimbabweans to the dire conditions in  
which they try to survive, and to the hate-speech against minorities  
with which they are daily bombarded, must constitute final, irrevocable  
proof that apartheid was unjustified and unjustifiable. The overall  
refusal by Zimbabweans to give way to hate-crimes against  
officially-designated scapegoats - whites, Jews, Asians, homosexuals -  
is the great "positive" news, to which the media do not give sufficient  
prominence.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

10.ENVIRONMENT

AFRICA: DISCOVERY OF ILLEGAL IVORY HAUL TRIGGERS POACHING FEARS
http://www.thestar.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=129&fArticleId=195213
South Africa has still not found a buyer for the 30 tons of ivory it  
wants to sell. The country was last year given the go-ahead by the  
Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) to  
do a once-off sale of its ivory stockpile. But the discovery of a huge  
illegal haul of ivory from Africa has sparked fears that poaching is on  
the rise on the continent since the Cites decision. The ivory, valued  
at more than R700 000, came from Mali and arrived at Bangkok  
International Airport last Monday.

BURKINA FASO: COUNTRY CONSIDERS USE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED COTTON
http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/interna.asp?idnews=19367
The impoverished West African nation of Burkina Faso is giving serious  
consideration to planting genetically modified cotton due to the  
destruction of nearly half its crop seeds annually by caterpillars  
resistant to pesticides.

CAMEROON: JAIL FOR CAMEROON CHIMP TRAFFICKER
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3091315.stm
A 40-year-old man has become the first Cameroonian to be sentenced for  
trying to sell a female baby chimpanzee, nine years after a law  
prohibiting trade in endangered animals was passed. Opinion is varied  
on whether the sentence will have any impact on the sale and  
consumption of bush meat.

KENYA: 10,000 FAMILIES TO SUE STATE
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307211232.html
Ten thousand families in Ewaso Narok settlement in Laikipia have  
resolved to sue the government over its eviction order. The families,  
which were settled there by the government in 2000, were recently  
directed to move out by Chief Conservator of Forests M.W. Muniu. The  
government says the allocation was an illegal encroachment on forest  
land.

NAMIBIA: FIERCE RESISTANCE TO DAM PROJECT
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3027056.stm
The proposed building of a massive dam to supply electricity for  
Namibia has met with fierce resistance from both environmental groups  
and local tribes. The proposed Epupa dam project - to be built on the  
Kunene river in the north-west of the country - would dramatically  
alter the environment by flooding a vast expanse of the region.

NAMIBIA: RESIDENTS PROTEST AFTER USAKOS WATER CUT
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1368
Usakos residents took to the streets after the water supply to two of  
the town's suburbs was cut by 50 per cent. Water debts owed by  
residents, mostly from Hakhaseb and Erongosig, already total 2,5  
Namiban million.

SOMALIA: POACHERS SMUGGLING RARE CACTUS TO THE WEST
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307230057.html
Kenyans are smuggling rare cactus plants from Somalia to Western  
countries where they are used to make body lotions. The Lusaka  
Agreement Task Force Chief Intelligence Officer, Mr Clement Mwale, said  
they are investigating the poachers whom he said are sophisticated  
operators.

SOUTH AFRICA/AFRICA: THE SOCIAL AND ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT OF AFRICA’S  
LARGEST POWER UTILITY
http://www.irn.org/programs/safrica/ 
index.asp?id=030601.eskomfactsheet.html
With a generating capacity of more than 40,000 MW, South Africa-based  
Eskom is Africa’s largest energy utility, and ranks as one of the top  
five energy utilities in the world. Eskom is a de facto monopoly in  
South Africa, and also generates over half the electricity produced in  
the whole of Africa, with operations in 31 countries on the continent.  
Because of its heavy reliance on coal, it is the primary source of  
greenhouse gas emissions in South Africa. Eskom management has also  
stated that it intends to rely increasingly on nuclear power. And in  
recent years, Eskom has begun to promote new dams and buy existing  
hydropower plants around the continent as it seeks to expand its  
influence across Africa. This paper explores the company's social and  
ecological footprint across Africa.

SOUTH AFRICA: COMMUNITY-BASED ECO-TOURISM - THE CASE OF THE AMADIBA  
HORSE AND HIKING TRAIL
http://www.eldis.org/ds/docdisplay.cfm?doc=DOC12555&resource=f1csr
This paper investigates the origins and current operation of the  
Amadiba Horse and Hiking Trail, a community-based initiative located on  
South Africa's Wild Coast. The trail project presents itself as a  
people-centred project, designed to involve the Amadiba people in all  
aspects of running a project including planning, implementation,  
management and decision making. The benefits from the project are  
intended to accrue primarily to the Amadiba community.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

11.MEDIA

AFRICA: THE INTERNET WILL SET YOU FREE
http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?a=37&o=24951
Africa's editors are today communicating more and more through the  
internet, forming members-only chatrooms to exchange thoughts on the  
issues that confront the continent. But while such an exchange is  
welcome, the editors are worried that their privileged access to the  
internet may distance them from the vast majority of Africans who  
because of poverty are excluded from the information revolution.

DRC: OUTRAGE AT FIVE-YEAR SENTENCE FOR JOURNALIST
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed outrage at the  
five-year sentence given to Donatien Nyembo Kimuni, Lubumbashi  
correspondent for the Kinshasa-based private weekly La Tribune, on a  
charge of defamation. The charge stemmed from a June 5 La Tribune  
article by Kimuni titled, "Congo Mineral: Workers Are Paid Poorly and  
Exploited." According to journalists at La Tribune, Kimuni had based  
his article on a report from a public mining firm and the testimony of  
local miners who alleged that Congo Mineral, a private mining company,  
provided poor working conditions for its employees.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16620

LESOTHO: LOCAL MEDIA DENIED ACCESS
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1362
At the expense of local media, South African media were given access to  
events during the British Princess Anne's official visit to Lesotho in  
the week of July 16, 2003.

LIBERIA: FRENCH PHOTOGRAPHER SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN FIGHTING
Reporters sans frontières (RSF) has appealed to all sides in the  
fighting in Liberia to avoid harming journalists after a French  
photographer, Patrick Robert, was seriously wounded in the chest and  
arm during clashes on 19 July 2003 between government and rebel forces  
on the outskirts of Monrovia.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16619

MALAWI: JOURNALISTS FINED FOR DEFAMATION
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1350
Three journalists have been ordered to pay a fine of K450, 000 (approx.  
5 000 US dollars) to Stanbic Bank Malawi managing director Victor  
Mbewe, his wife and Stanbic Bank as compensation for a defamatory story  
the paper ran in December 2002.

MALAWI: RULING PARTY THREATENS NEWSPAPER
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1363
The ruling United Democratic Front in Malawi has threatened to deal  
with "The Nation" newspaper reporters and warned the paper not to cover  
its convention scheduled for August 8, 2003.

ZAMBIA: EDITOR AND REPORTER RISK CONTEMPT OF COURT CHARGES
"Today" newspaper editor Masautso Phiri and reporter Wilfred Zulu may  
face contempt of court charges following a 3 July 2003 application to  
the Lusaka High Court by lawyers representing Vice President Nevers  
Mumba. The charge is connected to an article published by the weekly in  
its 11 to 17 June edition entitled, "Is Chief Justice Sakala  
compromised on Nevers Mumba?" The article commented on a High Court  
case in which an opposition member of parliament, Edith Nawakwi, is  
challenging the legality of Mumba's 28 May appointment as vice  
president.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16618
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

12.DEVELOPMENT

AFRICA/GLOBAL: LDC DEVELOPMENT IS 'HALTING'
Halting progress in the world's 49 least developed countries (LDCs) was  
reported this week to the UN Economic and Social Council, along with a  
call to set their plight higher on the international agenda. Major  
challenges cited by UN Under-Secretary-General Anwarul Chowdhury  
include the widespread prevalence of diseases in the LDCs, slow  
progress in debt relief and continuing low levels of foreign investment  
and trade - with 11 per cent of the world population, LDCs account for  
a bare 0.42 per cent of global trade, he said.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16478

AFRICA/GLOBAL: MEMORANDUM ON THE NEED TO IMPROVE INTERNAL TRANSPARENCY  
AND PARTICIPATION IN THE WTO
http://www.choike.org/cgi-bin/choike/links/ 
page.cgi?p=ver_informe&id=1272
Ten NGOs have sent a joint memorandum to World Trade Organisation  
members on the need to improve internal transparency and participation  
in the organisation. The Memo highlights many things wrong with the  
decision-making system and gives concrete proposals. This issue looms  
large as the Cancun Ministerial approaches. If not changed, the  
untransparent process will result in an anti-development outcome in  
Cancun. The memorandum was prepared by: The Third World Network, Oxfam  
International, Public Services International, WWF International, The  
Centre for International Environmental Law, Focus on the Global South,  
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, The Africa Trade  
Network, The International Gender and Trade Network, and The Tebtebba  
International Centre for Indigenous Peoples' Rights.

AFRICA: AU INTEGRATING NEPAD INTO ITS STRUCTURES
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1352&PHPSESSID=7248089c98632c6ed8 
0a2ad26fcfd749
The New Partnership for Africa’s Development is being integrated into  
the African Union in a three-year programme that seeks to synchronize  
and harmonize all the structures of the continental body. The NEPAD  
Secretariat, currently operating independently and hosted by South  
Africa, is expected to function under the AU Commission in Addis Ababa,  
Ethiopia.

AFRICA: PLEDGING ALLEGIANCE TO U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
http://www.rabble.ca/ 
news_full_story.shtml?sh_itm=151d969592a503744b40b9639c5ea986&r=1
There may come a day when the G-8 protestors who daubed graffiti on the  
Geneva headquarters of the World Trade Organisation will find  
themselves pining for the much maligned WTO. At the Doha Round of world  
trade talks, the United States is already making plans for life without  
another multilateral institution. Last month, Robert Zoellick, the Bush  
Administration’s point-man on trade relations, told Reuters that the  
U.S. is building a “Coalition of liberalizers” in case the Doha Round  
doesn’t reach fruition. The impetus for the U.S.’s new go-it-alone  
posture was a decision last August by the U.S. Congress to grant the  
President so-called Trade Promotion Authority (TPA). Armed with TPA,  
the Administration can negotiate free trade deals which Congress can  
either approve or reject, but cannot subject to amendment or lengthy  
analysis. And the new negotiating authority has freed the President to  
consummate relationships with multiple trading partners.

ETHIOPIA: MELES URGES RURAL DEVELOPMENT TO REDUCE POVERTY
http://irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=35531
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has urged the international community and  
African governments to back rural development for the continent.  
Speaking at the launch of the UN Development Programme’s 2003 Human  
Development Report in Addis Ababa on Monday, he said rural and  
agricultural development was the “quickest and most reliable” way to  
reduce poverty. Meanwhile, Patrick Asea, chief economist at the UN’s  
Economic Commission for Africa, told the meeting that cooperation  
between rich and poor nations was a litany of broken promises.

SOUTH AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICANS REACT TO GEORGE BUSH'S  
PETRO-MILITARY-COMMERCE MISSION
Patrick Bond
http://www.fpif.org/outside/commentary/2003/0307southafrica.html
In addition to the pomp and ceremony associated with the second  
post-apartheid state visit by a U.S. president, a string of protests  
greeted George W. Bush when he met South African president Thabo Mbeki  
in Pretoria on July 9. It was a complicated welcome from many  
perspectives. South Africa had not joined the "coalition of the  
willing" against Saddam Hussein, and former president Nelson Mandela  
remains a staunch opponent of Bush's foreign policy. On the other hand,  
Pretoria profited nicely from the hostilities, not merely through  
selling arms but also by taking advantage of Bush's attempt to restore  
some legitimacy on this trip. Mbeki's muddled reaction to the U.S.-led  
war on Hussein's Iraq deserves a review, because continuing ambivalence  
in the political sphere is contradicted by closer U.S.-South African  
economic relationships that threaten the rest of Africa.

SOUTH AFRICA: SPARKS IN THE TOWNSHIP
http://www.newleftreview.net/NLR25603.shtml
Activist Trevor Ngwane speaks about South Africa as vanguard of  
post-colonial neoliberalism, and laboratory of its social consequences.  
From the townships around Johannesburg, Ngwane describes the rebellion  
against the privatizations of the ANC regime, and the enrichment of a  
new political class.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

13.INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY

GLOBAL IMPACT OF THE INTERNET: WIDENING THE ECONOMIC GAP BETWEEN  
WEALTHY AND POOR NATIONS?
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1369
Does the Internet have the potential to accelerate development in poor  
nations? Or is it an innovation that will widen the gap between wealthy  
and poor countries? This paper places the Internet in a framework of  
major innovations in modern economic history that have contributed to  
increased global economic inequality.

HTML COMPLETE: A GREAT REFERENCE FOR ALL WEB DESIGNERS
http://www.tectonic.co.za/default.php?action=view&id=161
Not all HTML books are the same and HTML Complete is perhaps the best  
of what has largely become a tired rehashing of the same old tune. HTML  
Complete is refreshingly different.

OSS CONFERENCE, HACKATHON FOR SOUTH AFRICA NEXT YEAR
http://www.tectonic.co.za/default.php?action=view&id=166
The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA), the  
African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) project at the  
University of the Western Cape and the United Nations Economic  
Commission for Africa (ECA) have announced they will be hosting Idlelo,  
an Open Source conference early next year in Cape Town, South Africa.  
The conference, to be held from 12 to 16 January 2004, is aimed at  
addressing the "challenges and opportunities of the creation and use of  
free and open source software and open content and their development  
potential for Africa," according to organisers.

THE WEB REWIRES - THE MOVEMENT
http://www.africapulse.org.za/ 
index.php?action=viewarticle&articleid=1366
The Battle in Seattle brought to the world's attention a new global  
resistance movement that was not only made possible by the Internet  
but, as Naomi Klein has deftly pointed out, was shaped in its image.  
Sharing the Internet's architecture of interconnected hubs and spokes,  
the new movement was a coalition of coalitions, a decentralized network  
of campaigns "intricately and tightly linked to one another."

TOWARDS KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES: AN INTERVIEW WITH ABDUL WAHEED KHAN
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ 
ev.php?URL_ID=11958&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201
In an interview published in the last issue of "A World of Science",  
the quarterly newsletter of UNESCO's Natural Sciences Sector, Abdul  
Waheed Khan, the Organisation's Assistant Director-General for  
Communication and Information, explains how information and knowledge  
can contribute to development in a world where 80% of people still lack  
access to basic telecommunication tools.

WORLD'S POOR TO GET OWN SEARCH ENGINE
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3065063.stm
People in poor countries could soon have a new and cheap way to get  
hold of the wealth of information on the internet. Researchers at the  
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are developing a search  
engine designed for people with a slow net connection.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

14.eNEWSLETTERS AND MAILING LISTS

FRONTLINES, THE UNFPA HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE NEWSLETTER
http://www.unfpa.org/emergencies/newsletter/
The July 2003 issue of the quarterly newsletter includes dispatches  
from Iraq and Afghanistan, coverage of a new inter-agency HIV/AIDS  
initiative with peacekeepers in Sierra Leone, a new partnership with  
the World Food Programme (WFP) in Swaziland, interviews conducted in a  
refugee camp in Zambia and in an HIV-testing clinic in Zimbabwe, and  
reports from UNFPA humanitarian strategy conferences held to address  
regional crises in West Africa and Southern Africa.

THE SUPPLY INITIATIVE NEWSLETTER
The Supply Initiative: meeting the need for reproductive health  
supplies, has a new monthly newsletter that provides updates on the  
Supply Initiative activities, as well as news, materials and events  
related to condom and contraceptive shortages.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16624

ZVAKWANE NEWSLETTER 036
It's Time To Walk Your Talk
http://www.zvakwana.org/
Includes: How many portraits does a dictator need to flatter himself?;  
Rhodesians never die: they're alive and well and living in the  
politburo; POSA is LOMA's ghost, and we need to chase it out - one  
time!; Bob and Bush have more in common than we realised.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

15.FUNDRAISING

SIERRA LEONE: WALKERS RAISE FUNDS FOR CATARACT VICTIMS AND CONDOM USERS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307211211.html
A group of 767 people walked l3km to Lumley beach on May 31st to raise  
money for cataract victims and condom users. The sum of one hundred and  
nine million Leones was raised.

SOUTH AFRICA: REMOTE SCHOOLS GET AID FROM ABOVE
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307210036.html
The Mindset Network is a R225-million public-private partnership aimed  
at providing learning television channels in schools using  
Multichoice's DStv satellite network. Funded by the Liberty Foundation  
and Standard Bank, Mindset will launch an HIV/Aids education channel in  
September and a primary school channel next year. Mindset kits - which  
include satellite receivers, decoders, smart cards, teacher training  
and technological support - cost R12 000 each.

SOUTH AFRICA: SUN POWERS THE ONLINE FIGHT AGAINST HIV/AIDS
http://www.itweb.co.za/sections/industrysolutions/2003/ 
0307220915.asp?A=SCR&S=Social%20Responsibility&T=Section&O=ST
Sun Microsystems SA and its partner AL Indigo - the new, black-owned  
enterprise solutions company - have provided technology to create a  
groundbreaking HIV/AIDS portal for SA's Medical Research Council (MRC).  
The HIV/AIDS portal, which can be visited at www.afroaidsinfo.org, was  
conceived and designed to be a comprehensive resource for information  
and research for researchers, health professionals, policy-makers,  
educators and the public.

WEST AFRICA: ADB INJECTS $11BN INTO ECOWAS
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307210816.html
The African Development Bank (ADB) Group has funded activities of the  
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to the tune of $10.8  
billion as at the end of last year. The facts were made known last  
Thursday when ADB and the African Development Fund signed an agreement  
with ECOWAS, which provides a framework for cooperation between the  
bank and the sub-regional economic grouping.

ZIMBABWE: MINISTRY GETS $257M FROM UNICEF FOR IMMUNISATION
http://allafrica.com/stories/200307210688.html
The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare has received $257 million from  
the United Nations Children's Fund for the immunisation against measles  
programme. The funds will be disbursed to 16 districts that were not  
fully covered in last year's programme.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

16.COURSES, SEMINARS, AND WORKSHOPS

DEVELOPMENT LAW AND SOCIAL JUSTICE PROGRAMME
Institute Of Social Studies, The Netherlands, 17 May – 2 July 2004; 24  
May – 8 July 2005
The Development Law and Social Justice Programme is an academic  
programme aimed at strengthening capacity for lobbying, advocacy and  
networking on human rights issues. It brings together experienced human  
rights activists, legal practitioners, jurists, academics and human  
rights policy makers and facilitates their sharing of experiences and  
strategies. The Development Law and Social Justice Programme covers  
core issues in human rights. These include legal resources and  
political instruments of an international and regional nature and the  
role of various state and non-state actors in shaping international and  
regional human rights policies. They also include collective rights  
such as those of women, children, minorities and indigenous peoples and  
state responsibility for protecting them, and various strategies for  
strengthening human rights advocacy, education, communication and  
resource mobilisation.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16530

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT TRAINING FOR NGOS IN THE SOUTHERN AFRICA REGION
We are pleased to announce that Mango's highly-regarded finance  
training programme for NGOs will be returning to Lusaka, Zambia in  
August 2003. No previous financial management experience or finance  
qualifications are required for attending the courses - just a desire  
to understand how financial management contributes to successful  
programme management. Course information and contact details are  
available by clicking on the link provided.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16532

THE HUMAN RIGHTS DIPLOMA PROGRAMME
Institute For Social Studies, The Netherlands, 14 January – 26 March  
2004; 12 January – 24 March 2005
The Human Rights Diploma Programme is an academic programme aimed at  
strengthening capacity for the promotion, protection and advancement of  
human rights activities to meet a specific need in human rights  
advocacy and activism. It builds upon existing theoretical and  
practical experiences and equips the participants with the capabilities  
for protecting, enforcing and evaluating the impact of human rights.  
The Human Rights diploma programme covers a number of substantive  
fields. These include international human rights law and organisations,  
where the evolution of international human rights law and practice as  
well as its current implementations are covered. It also includes  
domestic instruments for the protection and promotion of human rights  
which seek to analyse and compare the ways and mechanisms used by  
various countries to protect human rights. It further analyses the role  
of state and non-state actors in the enforcement, promotion and  
protection of human rights, and the use of information and  
communication technologies in human rights work.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16531
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

17.ADVOCACY RESOURCES

CUT THE CORPORATE OUT OF CANCUN
http://www.wdm.org.uk/campaign/cancun03/cutcorp.htm
Big business is lobbying hard to get the outcome it wants at the Cancun  
WTO Ministerial Meeting. The World Development Movement's new action  
calls on the UK and EU to base trade policy on the needs of poor  
communities, developing countries and the environment rather than on  
the demands of big business and corporate lobbies. Join the call to put  
people before profits.

E-VOTE: DIRECTLY VOICE YOUR OPINION
http://mitglied.lycos.de/zlisiecki/evot.html
E-vote, or E-mail-voting is a non-profit private initiative. It tries  
to use the power of the internet to influence political decision  
making, bringing political leaders and voters closer together and  
giving the majority a voice. E-vote is a service and has no political  
viewpoint of its own. Participants get an easy to use medium to express  
their political demands.

LOBBY FOR RATIFICATION OF THE ROME STATUTE
On World Day for International Justice, 17 July, Amnesty International  
(AI) launched a universal ratification campaign aimed at lobbying for  
as many ratifications of the Rome Statute as possible in the next 10  
years. As part of this campaign, each month AI will issue a public web  
action calling on states that have not yet ratified to do so. The  
action includes a model letter to send to key government authorities.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16565

STOP CHILD TRAFFICKING IN WEST AFRICA
Visit http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/togo/
Child trafficking is a global human rights tragedy. Over one million  
children worldwide, including thousands in West Africa, are recruited  
from their homes each year by individuals seeking to exploit their  
labour. Extreme poverty, sometimes combined with the death of one or  
both parents, makes children highly vulnerable to false promises of  
education, vocational training or paid work. Human Rights Watch's April  
2003 report "Borderline Slavery: Child Trafficking in Togo" highlights  
Togo as a case study of trafficking in the region. Contact your elected  
representatives, your countries' embassies, authorities in Togo and  
international lending agencies urging them to condemn, monitor, and  
prevent all forms of child trafficking.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

18.JOBS

ANGOLA: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND CAPACITY BUILDING ADVISOR
Concern Worldwide
http://www.fpa.org/jobs_contact2423/jobs_contact_show.htm?doc_id=183524
The job description includes: To support the food security project  
manager in mobilising communities at grass roots level and to improve  
the effectiveness of the project by building a strong partnership with  
the extension department of the Ministry of Agriculture (at municipal  
and provincial level) and civil society organisations; To support the  
project manager (PM) in the management of project activities using  
Concern's Project Cycle Management model, policies and strategy; and To  
support the PM to prepare high quality reports and proposals.

EAST AFRICA: PROGRAMME MANAGER
RECONCILE
Applications are invited from suitably qualified candidates to fill the  
post of Programme Manager for the Programme on Reinforcement of  
Pastoral Civil Society in East Africa. The programme is implemented  
jointly by RECONCILE and the Drylands Programme of the International  
Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in collaboration with  
pastoral civil organisations, NGOs and donor projects in Kenya,  
Tanzania and Uganda.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16525

LIBERIA: TAYLOR'S CRONIES' $1,5M ASSETS FROZEN
http://www.transparency.org/cgi-bin/dcn-read.pl?citID=70189
Acting on a United Nation's (UN) request, Switzerland has frozen two  
million Swiss francs (€1,3 million, $1,5-million) in the bank accounts  
of two associates of Liberian President Charles Taylor, the Swiss  
justice ministry said on Wednesday. The move followed a request by the  
UN-backed court investigating war crimes in Sierra Leone last month,  
which triggered a search of Swiss banks for any assets linked to the  
Liberian leader.

SOUTH SUDAN: COUNTRY REPRESENTATIVE
INTERMON OXFAM
http://www.fpa.org/jobs_contact2423/jobs_contact_show.htm?doc_id=184298
Intermón Oxfam is looking for a Country Representative for South Sudan.  
Sudan has been undergoing a conflict for more than 40 years, although  
some well-founded expectations for peace process between the  
secessionist South and the North are rising today.

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  
policy and strategy for your region. Click on the link for details of  
this and other jobs with Christian Aid.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16526
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

19.BOOKS AND ARTS

ARTISTS ADVOCATING HUMAN RIGHTS
In Africa, national identity and ownership of land and other resources  
is deeply contested, largely as a result of the continent's colonial  
history. The need for art to advocate these issues and to promote  
ownership by the people of Africa of their culture, land and resources,  
is now paramount. This is according to Artists for Human Rights (AHR) a  
Durban-based non-profit voluntary association that promotes the  
international cooperation of artists and human rights organisations.  
AHR has developed a model for the use and application of high quality  
art as an effective public advocacy tool. Read more by clicking on the  
link provided.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16500

BAY OF TIGERS
Pedro Rosa Mendes
http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/travel/0,6121,1000926,00.html
Angola was still at war when, in 1997, Pedro Rosa Mendes, a young  
Portuguese writer, decided to travel by land from Angola to Mozambique,  
another former Portuguese colony that had been ravaged by war. It was  
never going to be easy; Unita also then controlled vast territories of  
southern Angola through which Rosa Mendes would have to pass. Bay of  
Tigers is a winsome, bittersweet account of Rosa Mendes's travails as  
he progresses through these countries. It is obviously the work of a  
highly talented, sensitive writer, though a preface or more detailed  
notes explaining some of the more involved aspects of Angolan history  
would have made it easier for Anglophone readers. The English edition  
could have also done with some rigorous copy editing. These faults do  
not, however, weaken the vitality of the work.

BECOMING EBONY
Poems By Patricia Jabbeh Wesley
http://www.siu.edu/~siupress/titles/s03_titles/wesley_becoming.htm
Recapturing the celebratory voice of Africa in poems that are both  
contemporary and traditional, Liberian-born Patricia Jabbeh Wesley  
weaves lyrical storytelling with oral history and images of Africa and  
America, revealing powerful insights about the relationship between  
strength and tragedy - and finding reason to celebrate even in the  
presence of war, difficulties, and death. Rooted in myths that can be  
traced to the Grebo tradition, Becoming Ebony portrays Liberian-born  
Wesley’s experiences of village talk and civil war as well as her  
experiences of the pain of her mother’s death and the difficulties of  
rearing a family away from home in the United States, and explores the  
questions of living in the African Diaspora.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE WTO: THE REAL WORLD OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE  
NEGOTIATIONS
Fatoumata Jawara And Aileen Kwa
http://www.focusweb.org/publications/Books/Behind-the-Scenes-at-the- 
WTO.html
This important book on the politics of the World Trade Organisation  
(WTO), which takes the lid off how the WTO really works, and what  
really happened before, at, and after the Fourth WTO Ministerial  
Conference in Doha in 2001, on the basis of interviews with 33  
Geneva-based delegates to the WTO and 10 Secretariat staff members.  
This is the ammunition the critics of the WTO have been waiting for. It  
reveals the systematic subversion of an ostensibly democratic system to  
ensure that the "agreements" that are reached are those the major  
powers - primarily the US and the European Union - want, irrespective  
of the views of interests of most developing countries, who form the  
great majority of the membership.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

21.LETTERS AND COMMENTS

CHRISTINA CLARK
Just a quick note to congratulate you on the new Pambazuka site and  
database -- it is brilliant!

JUBILEE SOUTH AFRICA STATEMENT ON REPARATIONS
In order to secure reparations at a level able to redress the damage of  
Apartheid and racial oppression in all its manifestations, for all  
those affected, Jubilee South Africa, together with its partners in the  
popular movement, will initiate hearings where communities can express  
and define the scale and nature of reparations that satisfactorily  
address the past. This process will culminate in a People's Tribunal  
that will determine the people, institutions and businesses that must  
make reparations and the forms that these should take. In order to  
pressure big business into meeting their responsibility to make  
reparations, Jubilee, with its partners, will undertake a name and  
shame campaign against the monopolies that were fundamental to the  
apartheid system. In addition, we will identify specific companies and  
products that symbolise the role these corporations played in  
facilitating the development of apartheid, which will be targeted in a  
consumer boycott.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16518

MARIA CATERINA CIAMPI
Philadelphia, USA
I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate Pambazuka News for African  
news that I would otherwise not have access to. I have been  
particularly interested in the Niger Delta situation as well as the  
plight of refugees in Congo-Brazzaville, as I worked with them two  
years ago. I am doing some research towards a Master of Public Health  
and am excited about the new database, as it will facilitate the task  
at hand. Again, thank you for the excellent service you provide to all  
concerned. I am very grateful for this information.

STEVE SHARRA
Humanitarian Aid Yes, But Also Fuller, More Inclusive Contexts In  
Portraying Africa
Every time my American friends alert me to an article on Africa in a  
major US newspaper, they do so with the comment that all one reads  
about Africa is grim, sad and tragic. As a Malawian studying in the  
United States, frustration over the way Africa is portrayed in the  
western media is almost cliché. The just-ended trip to five African  
countries by President George W. Bush triggered debates as to whether  
his concern for Africa was genuine, or whether it was a photo-op. Salih  
Booker, executive director for Africa Action conceded that at least the  
world was focusing on Africa and that in itself was a good thing, while  
arguing that the whole trip, on the whole, didn't amount to much. Save  
for TV and newspaper shots of the president with his hosts and his  
speeches, much of the media however was gripped by the debate over the  
White House admission earlier in the week that the state of the union  
address reference to Saddam Hussein seeking uranium in Niger,  
pronounced wrongly half the time, was inaccurate. The admission took  
the limelight away from Africa and brought it back to the US as soon as  
the president landed on the African continent.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/newsletter.php?id=16524
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\

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
1519 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 301, Washington DC, 20036 USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.kabissa.org
SUBMITTING NEWS: send to [EMAIL PROTECTED]

SUBSCRIBE
The Newsletter comes out weekly and is delivered to subscribers by  
e-mail. Subscription is free. To subscribe, send an e-mail to  
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> with only the word 'subscribe'  
in the subject or body. To subscribe online, visit:  
http://lists.kabissa.org/mailman/listinfo/pambazuka-news

FAIR USE
This Newsletter is produced under the principles of 'fair use'. We  
strive to attribute sources by providing direct links to authors and  
websites. When full text is submitted to us and no website is provided,  
we make the text available on our website via a "for more information"  
link. Please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] immediately regarding  
copyright issues.

The views expressed in this newsletter, including the signed  
editorials, do not necessarily represent those of Fahamu

(c) Fahamu 2003

If you wish to stop receiving the newsletter, unsubscribe immediately  
by sending a message FROM THE ADDRESS YOU WANT REMOVED to  
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] should  
you need further assistance subscribing or unsubscribing.
/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\/\/\//\