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Today’s Topics:
1. Pambazuka News 394: Links and Resources (Firoze Manji)
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PAMBAZUKA NEWS 394: LINKS AND RESOURCES
The authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa
Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839
With over 1000 contributors and an estimated 500,000 readers Pambazuka News is the authoritative pan African electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa providing cutting edge commentary and in-depth analysis on politics and current affairs, development, human rights, refugees, gender issues and culture in Africa.
Edição em língua Portuguesa ( www.pambazuka.org/pt )
Edition française ( www.pambazuka.org/fr )
To view online, go to www.pambazuka.org/
To SUBSCRIBE or UNSUBSCRIBE ? please visit, www.pambazuka.org/en/subscribe.php
CONTENTS:
1. Zimbabwe update,
2. Women & gender,
3. Human rights,
4.
Refugees & forced migration,
5. Social movements,
6. Elections & governance,
7. Africa & China,
8. Corruption,
9. Development,
10.
Health & HIV/AIDS,
11. LGBTI,
12. Environment,
13. Land & land rights,
14. Media & freedom of expression,
15. Conflict & emergencies,
16.
Internet & technology,
17. Fundraising & useful resources,
18.
Courses, seminars, & workshops,
19. Publications,
20. Jobs
Support the struggle for social justice in Africa. Give generously!
Donate at: www.pambazuka.org/en/donate.php
*Pambazuka News now has a Del.icio.us page, where you can view the various websites that we visit to keep our fingers on the pulse of Africa! Visit del.icio.us/pambazuka_news
Highlights from this issue
ZIMBABWE UPDATE: Opposition has "lost faith in talks"
WOMEN & GENDER: Costs of marital rape in southern Africa
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Urge Chad to free child soldiers
HUMAN RIGHTS: Report on double tragedy in Mt. Elgon
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: A new twist to SA migration debate
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: Participatory conference on democracy statement
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Angolans vote in landmark polls
AFRICA & CHINA: A guide to China?s dam industry
CORRUPTION: Corruption kills development in Africa
DEVELOPMENT: Africa?s search for collective development strategies
HEALTH & HIV/AIDS: Empower women and girls to stay HIV-negative
LGBTI: Kenyan talk show breaks the ice on homosexuality
ENVIRONMENT: EU takes a weak step against logging
LAND & LAND RIGHTS: UN to appoint mediator for Western Sahara
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Ethiopian editor freed on bail
INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY: Kenyan school books go digital
PLUS: e-newsletters and mailings lists; courses, seminars and
workshops, and jobs
*Pambazuka News now has a Del.icio.us page, where you can view the various websites that we visit to keep our fingers on the pulse of Africa! Visit del.icio.us/pambazuka_news
1 Zimbabwe update
OPPOSITION HAS ‘LOST FAITH IN TALKS’
www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=19470
Zimbabwe’s main opposition party has lost faith in power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe and will leave him to form a government alone rather than be forced into a deal, a party official has said. The official, who asked not to be named, said the Movement for Democratic Change no longer had confidence in the mediation of South African President Thabo Mbeki and wanted the United Nations and
African Union to rescue the process.
******
TRIAL OF CHIKURUBI 14 POSTPONED
wozazimbabwe.org/?p=248
Fourteen members appeared on 26th August, before Magistrate Doris Shomwe in Harare Magistrate?s Court. They had been arrested near the Zambian Embassy in Harare on 28 May 2008, where they were to hand over a petition to the SADC chair calling for an end to post-election
violence.
******
GOVERNMENT LIFTS AID AGENCY BAN
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2bf1dacc-75f0-11dd-99ce-0000779fd18c.html
Zimbabwe has lifted a ban on aid agencies that was imposed ahead of the June 27 presidential run-off over accusations that some were siding with the opposition. ?The government has with immediate effect lifted the suspension of operations of private voluntary organisations and NGOs,? said a social welfare ministry statement.
******
MUGABE GIVES DEAL DEADLINE TO MDC
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7597493.stm
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has said the opposition MDC has until Thursday to agree a power-sharing deal, or he will form his own government. “We feel frozen at the moment [without a government],” he told state media. The MDC has rejected the ultimatum and says it will not be “bullied” into signing a deal.
******
MDC ‘WILL NOT BE BULLIED INTO DEAL’
www.swradioafrica.com/news040908/mdcnotbebullied040908.htm
Zimbabwe’s power sharing talks looked set to completely collapse on Thursday after Mugabe issued an ultimatum to the MDC to join a proposed unity government or be left out. The ZANU PF leader threatened to appoint a new cabinet if the MDC did not sign up. “If after tomorrow (Thursday), Tsvangirai does not want to sign, we will certainly put together a cabinet. We feel frozen at the moment,” Mugabe told the state owned Herald newspaper.
******
2 Women & gender
SOUTHERN AFRICA: THE COSTS OF MARITAL RAPE
hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/18/zambia19649.htm
For years now, women’s groups in Southern Africa have campaigned tirelessly to ensure that the Southern African Development Community adopt the Protocol on Gender and Development. Yesterday, the SADC finally took that historic step. Member states will be obliged to amend their laws to ensure equal rights for women across a wide range of issues, from provisions that require member states to enshrine equality in their constitutions, to firm commitments to reduce maternal mortality by 75 per cent.
******
AFRICA: AID EFFECTIVENESS AND GENDER EQUALITY
West African women’s statement
We women from 15 West African countries and Mauritania, representing 33 organisations and networks of the sub region, at the West African Women’s Consultative Meeting on Aid Effectiveness and Gender Equality, organised in Lome, Togo from 25th to 27th June 2008 by Women in Law and Development in Africa, (WiLDAF) with financial support from UNIFEM Regional Office for West Africa and OSIWA (Open Society Institute for West Africa);…
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/50294
******
KENYA: HELPING WOMEN CLAIM THEIR RIGHTS
Nelly Njoki
imaginingourselves.imow.org/pb/Story.aspx?id=580&lang=1&g=0
During my studies, I went to one of the local courts to attend a proceeding for the seizure of a widow’s property. Seated in one of the benches was a frail looking woman whom I could tell had been sobbing.
When the court house was empty, as the matters for the day had been completed, I passed her on my way out; she did not even noticed my presence until I tapped her shoulder, then without lifting her bowed head she said, “I don’t have anywhere to go; they should have dug a grave for me also.”
******
SOUTH AFRICA: RURAL WOMEN AND LAND REFORM
tinyurl.com/6ea5ed
Pick up the promotional brochure of any government, NGO or corporate social investment programme and you will read that poor women are an important beneficiary group — if not the most important target of social relief and investment programmes. Many millions of Rand are raised and spent in the name of alleviating the plight of poor black women, particularly those living in rural South Africa.
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SOUTHERN AFRICA: WHAT WILL SADC FREE TRADE MEAN FOR WOMEN?
tinyurl.com/69n77a
One of the highlights of the recent Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit 2008 was the launch of the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA). Increased integration could bring a wealth of
opportunities for the region, yet for the most vulnerable, especially women, these benefits will largely depend on their access to finance, training, and productive resources needed to participate fully in the
regional economy.
******
3 Human rights
KENYA: NEW REPORT DOCUMENTS THE DOUBLE TRAGEDY OF MT ELGON
www.humanrightshouse.org/dllvis5.asp?id=6780
The Kenyan human rights organisation Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) released its final report today on the gross human rights violations conducted both by the so-called Sabot Land Defence Forces
(SLDF) and a joint police and military operation in the Mt Elgon area of Western Kenya. The report documents murder, rape, arbitrary and mass arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, destruction of
property, and cruel and inhuman and degrading treatment and punishment of civilians.
******
CAMEROON: SCNC PRESENT CASE TO EUROPEAN COMMISSION
www.thefrontiertelegraph.com/?p=127#more-127
The Southern Cameroons National Council has met with European Commission representatives and raised afresh their concerns over human rights in Cameroon. As the institutions of the European Union begin to prepare themselves for a return to business as usual after the summer months, UNPO was able to bring together members of the Southern Cameroons Nations Council (SCNC) and representatives of the Union’s Development and External Relations sections in a meeting to discuss
the current situation in the troubled country of Cameroon.
******
EGYPT: NO JUSTICE FOR 49 FACING TRIAL
tinyurl.com/6zo545
The trial of 49 people before an emergency court for alleged involvement in the violent protests of 6 April 2008 in the city of Mahalla is due to resume on 6 September. Amnesty International has
repeatedly called on the Egyptian authorities to stop trying individuals before special emergency courts that flout basic guarantees for fair trial.
******
DRC: ICC REJECTS APPEAL TO START TRIAL OF MILITIAMAN
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27929
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has dismissed an appeal by prosecutors against its earlier decision to suspend the trial of the Congolese rebel leader Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, accused of recruiting child soldiers to serve in his militia. The court announced the decision in a statement, noting that judges with the ICC’s trial chamber had made the ruling.
******
KENYA: CABINET MINISTERS DENY RESPONSIBILITY FOR POST-ELECTION VIOLENCE
www.humanrightshouse.org/dllvis5.asp?id=6813
Cabinet ministers accused by the official human rights watchdog of organising or funding the post-election violence have come out angrily protesting their innocence. In a series of interviews with the Daily Nation, the ministers accused the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights of spreading lies and rumours in the report presented to the Commission of Inquiry led by judge Philip Waki.
******
4 Refugees & forced migration
SOUTH AFRICA: A NEW TWIST TO THE MIGRATION DEBATE
tinyurl.com/64lvxw
The May 2008 attacks and the responses they have triggered from both Government and South African civil society could well transform the migration debate much more profoundly than first meets the eye, writes Aurelia Wa Kabwe Segatti.
******
SUDAN: FOOD RIOT AT DARFUR CAMP KILLS ONE, INJURIES SIX OTHERS
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27933
One person was killed and six others were injured during a food riot inside a camp that houses Chadian refugees in the Sudanese region of Darfur, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports. The agency said the incident occurred on Tuesday morning at the camp in Um Shalaya, about 70 kilometres southeast of El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state.
******
ALGERIA: NEW PENAL CODE CRIMINALISES ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
tinyurl.com/5wp79g
Leaving Algeria illegally is now considered a criminal offence. In the new Penal Code, approved Sunday (August 31st) by the Council of Ministers, harragas (illegal immigrants) may receive prison sentences
of up to six months. Penalties are harsher for the traffickers who co-ordinate the migration networks, allowing sentences up to ten years in the worst cases.
******
DRC: REFUGEES RETURN HOME
www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/48c14ecd6.html
Growing numbers of Congolese refugees like Kashindi Iddi are opting to head home from Tanzania as the situation eases in their home province of South Kivu across Lake Tanganyika. “In 1998, I fled my home town of Matongo because of the war in South Kivu. Today, I’m returning with my wife and three children,” Iddi, holding his two-year-old son by the hand, said as he waited to board a UNHCR-charted ferry at the port of Kigoma.
******
SOMAILA: UNHCR HELPS WOMEN FIND WORK, SECURITY
www.unhcr.org/news/NEWS/48bc090c4.html
When Khadra’s* husband fell sick, she became the sole breadwinner in her family. As an internally displaced person (IDP) who fled Mogadishu a year ago, work opportunities were few and she had to resort to the risky occupation of collecting firewood.”I had to walk 10 kilometres out of town every day with my two young daughters. We would collect firewood and sell it for 30,000 Somali shillings (about $US1),” she told UNHCR in Baidoa, some 230 kilometres north-west of the Somali capital of Mogadishu, adding that this income was not enough to provide for the family.
******
GLOBAL: A GOVERNANCE BLUEPRINT FOR CLIMATE REFUGEES
www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/
migration&id=36646&type=Document
Climate change threatens to cause the largest refugee crisis in human history. More than 200 million people, largely in Africa and Asia, might be forced to leave their homes to seek refuge in other places or countries over the course of the century.This paper argues that current institutions, organisations and funding mechanisms are not sufficiently equipped to deal with this looming crisis and advocates a blueprint for global governance for the protection of climate refugees.
******
GLOBAL: HOW SHOULD AID FUNDING RESPOND TO AFRICAN URBANISATION?
www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides
/migration&id=38797&type=Document
Rapid urbanisation is a fact of life even in the least developed countries where the lion’s share of the population presently lives in
rural areas and will continue to do so for decades to come. This paper examines the causes, consequences and policy implications of the ongoing urbanisation in the African less developed countries (LDCs). The authors find that the employment opportunities in either rural or the urban sector are not growing adequately.
******
AFRICA: HOW TO IMPROVE SERVICES AND PROTECTION FOR DISPLACED PEOPLE
WITH DISABILITIES
www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/
migration&id=38174&type=Document
Persons with disabilities remain among the most hidden, neglected and socially excluded of all displaced people today. People with
disabilities are often literally and programmatically “invisible” in refugee and internally displaced persons (IDP) assistance programs [adapted from author]. This resource kit provides practical ideas on how to improve services and protection for people with disabilities and enhance their inclusion and participation in community affairs.
******
SOUTH AFRICA: IS SOUTH AFRICA PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF NON NATIONALS?
www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/
migration&id=38013&type=Document
In South Africa non-nationals, refugees, asylum seekers, and other immigrants are often excluded from the services, welfare, and dignity they are guaranteed by South African law and constitutional commitments. Issued annually in commemoration of World Refugee Day (20 June), this report represents research by members of the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA), a national network of service providers and research bodies in South Africa.
******
5 Social movements
AFRICA: DECLARATION OF AFRICAN CONFERENCE ON PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY
As comrades and compatriots, gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa, August 14-16, 2008, from all parts of the world, at the African Conference on Participatory Democracy, hosted by the South African Communist Party and the Swedish Left Party under the auspices of the International Left Forum declare the following…
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/50285
******
KENYA: STOP KIBAKI AND RAILA FROM FLEECING US!
blog.marsgroupkenya.org/?p=170
Kenya?s President Mwai Kibaki, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and Prime Minister Raila Odinga will spend Kenya shillings 1.2 Billion (100 million shillings per month) on their households and press units this financial year. Considering the economic condition of Kenyans, poverty levels in our country and the country’s substantial development finance needs, can we afford to pump so much into the personal comfort of so few?
******
SOUTH AFRICA: NEW PARTNERSHIPS FROM THE MARGINS OF SOCIETY
tinyurl.com/5bhbtl
Following the election of the African National Congress to government in South Africa in 1994, there was great hope and expectation that finally the inequalities that had existed for so long along racial lines would be redressed and black people would see marked improvements in their standard of living and better access to public services such as housing, water and electricity.
******
6 Elections & governance
ANGOLA: ANGOLANS VOTE IN LANDMARK POLLS
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7599603.stm
Voting is taking place in Angola in the first parliamentary polls for 16 years. Although 14 parties are taking part, the contest is
primarily between long-term rivals, the ruling MPLA party and opposition Unita party.
******
ZAMBIA: LEVY MWANAWASA BURIED
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7595149.stm
The late Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa has been buried at a sombre ceremony in the capital, Lusaka. There was a 21-gun salute as his body was lowered into the ground in a copper-plated coffin – Zambia is Africa’s biggest copper producer.
******
KENYA: PM’S WIFE REJECTS STATE PAY
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7595743.stm
The wife of Kenya’s prime minister has turned down a controversial monthly allowance of $6,000 (£3,000) offered to her by the government. Ida Odinga thanked the state for appreciating her role, but said she did not need money for her legacy. The decision to pay hefty salaries to the wives of the prime minister and vice-president provoked public outrage.
******
ZAMBIA: VP BANDA NAMED AS PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN540264.html
Zambia’s ruling MMD party chose the country’s Vice President Rupiah Banda as its candidate for a presidential election due in November, a party official said on Friday.
******
BURKINA FASO: CABINET RESHUFFLED
www.afrol.com/articles/30661
A cabinet reshuffle in Burkina Faso saw the appointment of six new ministers and shifting of ministerial portfolios. In a presidential decree, President Blaisse Compaore has retained all officials of the 34-sized cabinet headed by prime minister Tertius Zongo.
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CHAD: COURT SENTENCES FORMER PRESIDENT TO DEATH
tinyurl.com/5byvrj
A Chadian court on Friday sentenced a former president and 11 rebels to death for crimes against the state, an official said. Former president Hissene Habre is currently awaiting trial in Senegal for torture and murder. A Chadian commission of inquiry concluded Habre killed tens of thousands of political opponents during his eight years in power until he was ousted by rebels in 1990.
******
7 Africa & China
A GUIDE TO CHINA’S OVERSEAS DAM INDUSTRY
www.internationalrivers.org/node/3160
Chinese dam companies and financial institutions are outpacing their competitors in overseas dam contracts. China’s overseas dam industry is building hundreds of dams around the world, particularly in Southeast Asia and Africa, but also in countries like Pakistan and Albania. What can communities impacted by these projects do to protect their rights and advocate for rivers targeted for dams built by China? This new guide provides useful information for groups concerned about dam projects in which Chinese companies and financiers are involved, including:
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CHINA VOWS TO BUILD 100 PRIMARY SCHOOLS, 13 HOSPITALS
theinquirer.com.lr/news_details.php?recordID=5294
The government of the Peoples’ Republic of China says it has resolved to build 100 primary schools across Africa, with Liberia considered as one of the favorites to benefit from the gesture. The special envoy on
African Affairs at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mr. Liu Guijin, said
in addition to the construction of these schools, his government has
planned to build 13 hospitals across the continent to assist with the
medical needs of the countries that would benefit.
******
8 Corruption
AFRICA: CORRUPTION KILLS DEVELOPMENT- TI
tinyurl.com/5cfl27
On the eve of the Accra High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF)
being held on 2-4 September in Ghana, Transparency International (TI)
warned that corruption would continue to undermine poverty reduction
efforts without immediate action on transparency, accountability and
citizen participation by aid recipient and donor countries.
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9 Development
AFRICA: AFRICA?S SEARCH FOR COLLECTIVE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=3502
While aiming at its unity, Africa has attempted a number of
initiatives to search for a collective development strategy. Such a
search included the Lagos Plan of Action, the African Alternative
Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes, and the New Partnership
for Africa?s Development (NEPAD)
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AFRICA: ECOBANK PLANS AFRICA?S BIGGEST RIGHTS ISSUE
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/257732c0-6f18-11dd-a80a-0000779fd18c.html
Ecobank, the African regional banking group, has announced plans for
the continent’s biggest rights issue outside South Africa as rising
wealth in the world’s poorest continent spurs demand for banking
services. The bank is seeking to raise $2.5bn on three west African
exchanges – Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast – to expand its branch
network across the continent in the first African rights issue in more
than one country.
******
AFRICA: ANGOLA BECOMES AFRICA’S LARGEST OIL PRODUCER
wsws.org/articles/2008/sep2008/ango-s04.shtml
Angola overtook Nigeria this year as Africa?s largest, and the world’s
eighth largest, oil producer–a combination of Angola’s surge in growth
and Nigeria’s decline in production following rebel attacks on its
oilfields. Angola is now producing over 1.9 million barrels per day
(bpd) of high-quality crude oil from onshore and near-shore fields, up
from 900,000 bpd in 2002 and from 500,000 bpd in 1993.
******
GLOBAL: ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO EMPLOYMENT-BASED SOCIAL PROTECTION
www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3058
Are supply-driven or demand-led approaches to employment generation
more successful in reaching poor women? This chapter in the
Commonwealth Secretariat’s publication Mainstreaming Gender in Social
Protection for the Informal Economy examines social protection schemes
in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
******
GLOBAL: SLOWDOWN ‘COULD SPILL OVER TO POOR COUNTRIES’ – UN
www.ipsterraviva.net/europe/article.aspx?id=6492
A new United Nations report on the outlook for the global economy over
the next few months indicates that the robust growth seen in
developing countries could be checked by the slowdown in the
industrialised world. “This is really a downturn after four blessed
years of relatively strong growth,” said Supachai Panitchpakdi,
secretary general of UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development),
which put out its annual report Thursday.
******
GLOBAL: STATISTICS MUST BE USED TO MEASURE AID EFFECTIVENESS
www.awcfs.org/content/view/507/1/
In order to measure progress on achievement of the Paris Declaration,
the 3rd High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness called on developing
countries to partner with donor communities to ensure good statistics
are produced to facilitate development results.
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GLOBAL: A WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY IN POST-CONFLICT COUNTRIES
www.awcfs.org/content/view/501/1/
In post conflict settings, where new constitutions are agreed upon,
national development plans and budgets drawn up, new laws adopted and
institutions rebuilt, there is often a unique window of opportunity to
advance women’s rights and gender-equality, says Joan Sandler.
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GLOBAL: WORLD BANK REVISES POVERTY ESTIMATES
www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3887.aspx
New estimates from the World Bank reveal that there are more poor
people in the world than previously thought. The World Bank has
updated its global poverty estimates, which now reveal that while
overall global poverty has declined since 1981, there are more poor
people today than previously estimated.
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SWAZILAND: DON’T BLAME DONOR DEPENDENCY
www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=43771
What happens to a nation whose people depend on the largesse of
international donor agencies for their existence, once support is
withdrawn? If forecasts for the small landlocked African nation of
Swaziland are an indication, the granting of temporary relief may be
followed by a new humanitarian emergency.
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10 Health & HIV/AIDS
GLOBAL: EMPOWER WOMEN AND GIRLS TO STAY HIV-NEGATIVE
tinyurl.com/5vaz4q
Globally half of the people living with HIV and AIDS are female.
Biologically, women are more likely than men to acquire HIV. Gender
inequalities and human rights violations heighten girls’ and women’s
vulnerability. Investing in comprehensive HIV prevention for women and
girls is also an investment in the health and well-being of boys and
men and of communities.
******
AFRICA: IS MALE CIRCUMCISION AS GOOD AS THE HIV VACCINE?
tinyurl.com/5ovzd3
This article from Future Medicine reports on research into the
effectiveness of male circumcision (MC) as a means of preventing HIV
in Africa. Findings show an average 65 percent reduction in HIV
infection as a result of MC, rising to 76 per cent in South Africa
where HIV prevalence was highest. MC has also been shown to eliminate
or significantly reduce the risk of acquiring or spreading many
sexually transmitted infections including syphilis as well as human
papilloma virus.
******
MALAWI: POOR RESULTS USING NON-MEDICAL HIV COUNSELLORS
tinyurl.com/5nvj3d
There may be limits to which medical tasks can be shifted to non-
medical staff in resource-limited settings with only limited training
and supervision, according to a report from The Lighthouse Trust in
Malawi presented at the XVII International AIDS Conference last month.
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SOUTH AFRICA: BELIEF IN CONSPIRACY THEORIES MEANS LESS HIV TESTING
tinyurl.com/58fykd
South Africans who believe in a conspiracy theory that HIV was
introduced by white people as a way of controlling the black
population are significantly less likely to have had an HIV test,
according to a study published in the September 1st edition of the
Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes. For the South African
government to restore the public’s faith in their response to HIV,
they need to “present a consistent and strong prevention platform
about the importance of testing”, argue the investigators.
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AFRICA: ‘HIDDEN EPIDEMIC’ OF HIV AMONGST MIGRANTS IN THE US
tinyurl.com/56s5d5
There is a ‘hidden epidemic’ of HIV amongst African migrants living in
the United States, according to investigators writing in the September
12th edition of AIDS. The researchers found that African-born
individuals in the US had a disproportionately high prevalence of HIV
— although they comprised only 0.6% of the study population, almost 4%
of HIV diagnoses were amongst African-born individuals. Furthermore,
the investigators found that in one health area approximately 50% of
HIV infections amongst black people were amongst individuals
originating in Africa.
******
UGANDA: HIV PREVALENCE AND INCIDENCE ON THE WAY UP
tinyurl.com/6oclfg
HIV prevalence and incidence in rural Uganda appear to be increasing,
researchers report in a study published in the August 20th edition of
AIDS. Coinciding with these increases, the investigators observed
changes in HIV sexual risk behaviours in certain groups. The study was
conducted in villages in rural Uganda and the trends it revealed
mirror other evidence from Uganda pointing to increases in HIV
prevalence and incidence.
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KENYA: ‘EXPRESS CARE’ BY NURSES DECREASES CLINIC CONGESTION
tinyurl.com/6s2rhe
‘Express care’, a new model for providing care to people starting
antiretroviral therapy in which most of the burden for seeing patients
is shifted to nurses, is associated with reduced death rates (by about
50%) and reduced losses to follow-up among people with CD4 cell counts
of less than 100 cells/mm3, according to a Kenyan presentation made
earlier this month at the International AIDS Conference, in Mexico City.
******
UGANDA: USING MOBILE PHONES TO FIGHT HIV
www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80176
Uganda’s rising HIV prevalence is forcing policy makers to look for
inventive ways of educating people about the virus. Their latest tool
is mobile phone technology, whose rapid growth has provided an avenue
that could potentially reach millions with messages.
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ZIMBABWE: UNION PROVIDES FREE ARVS TO JOURNALISTS
www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80171
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), which represents journalists
in the country, has launched a programme to provide life-prolonging
antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to its HIV-positive members.
******
11 LGBTI
KENYA: TALK SHOW BREAKS THE ICE ON HOMOSEXUALITY
www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=kenya&id=1945
Hatua, a cutting edge talk show on Kenya?s Citizen Channel, unraveled
a topic of homosexuality for the first time on Saturday 23 August.
With the topic, Hatua, a project of the Mohamed Amin Foundation,
supported by a grant from the Open Society Initiative for East Africa
(OSIEA), aimed to highlight human rights issues surrounding the
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) community in
Kenya and to open a dialogue around homosexuality.
******
BOTSWANA: BATSWANA GAYS CELEBRATE THEIR PRIDE
www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=botswana&id=1948
Locked iron gates, entry by invitation, absence of the media and
controlled noise behind one of Gaborone?s town houses appeared to be
an illustration of innate fear by Batswana lesbians, gay and bisexuals
to be outed and recognised as homosexuals during a pride party hosted
by the Lesbians, Gay and Bisexuals of Botswana (LeGaBiBo) recently.
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SOUTH AFRICA: GAY REFUGEES MEET HOSTILITY IN ‘LIBERAL’ SOUTH AFRICA
www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=southafrica&id=1943
South Africa is one of only seven countries in the world that grants
refugee status on the basis of sexual orientation. But people seeking
that relief are battling as much as other refugees in the country. In
Uganda, homosexual acts are punishable with life imprisonment; in
Mozambique with three years’ imprisonment, and with seven years in
Botswana.
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12 Environment
AFRICA: EU TAKES A WEAK STEP AGAINST LOGGING
www.ipsterraviva.net/europe/article.aspx?id=6493
The European Union has reached a new agreement aimed at preventing
import of illegal timber from Africa, but environmental campaigners
believe bolder action is needed to curb deforestation across the
globe. Under a deal reached with Ghana Sep. 3, the EU has undertaken
to establish border controls to prevent unlicensed wood from the West
African state entering the Union’s 27 countries.
******
NIGERIA: ERA FLAYS ARREST OF ACTIVISTS, JOURNALISTS
tinyurl.com/5drhr5
The Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth, Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has condemned Tuesday’s arrest and detention of its officers,
community elders and some journalists at Iwherekan community, Delta
State by soldiers guarding gas flaring sites operated by Shell. The
group demands their immediate release and an apology from the military
and Shell.
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GLOBAL: THE LINK BETWEEN ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
www.africanexecutive.com/modules/magazine/articles.php?article=3524
Development and environmental management are inextricably linked. The
Earth?s physical resources (land, atmosphere, oceans) and biological
systems provide the humans with goods (food, timber, medicines) and
essential services such as purification of air and water, soil
generation, maintenance of soil fertility and pollination of crops,
among others, says Charity Irungu.
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NIGERIA: SHOULD STOPPING GAS FLARING BE A PRIORITY?
www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80157
Environmental experts warn gas flaring by the Nigerian oil industry in
the southern Delta region causes acid rain, respiratory infections,
skins diseases and land degradation in dozens of local communities,
but some environmentalists defend the country?s right to continue
flaring.
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AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA, NIGERIA WORST GREENHOUSE GAS EMITTERS
tinyurl.com/5a2fty
Nigeria and South Africa are the main emitters of greenhouse gases in
Africa, accounting for almost 90% of the emissions in the continent,
environmental experts have said. “Nigeria produces almost 45% of the
greenhouse gas emissions in Africa from its gas flaring by oil firms
in the Niger Delta while South Africa produces as much from industrial
pollution,” said Stefan Cramer.
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13 Land & land rights
WESTERN SAHARA: UN TO APPOINT NEW MEDIATOR
tinyurl.com/5fe5j4
The Polisario Front on Saturday (August 30th) said it was prepared to
enter into “serious and intensive” negotiations with Morocco over
Western Sahara, two days after the United Nations confirmed that a new
mediator will replace special envoy Peter van Walsum, whose mandate
expired last week. The Polisario said it would resume dialogue “on the
basis of international legality on decolonisation, through holding a
free and fair referendum overseen by the United Nations”.
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14 Media & freedom of expression
ETHIOPIA: NEWSPAPER EDITOR FREED ON BAIL
www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=28317
Reporters Without Borders has learned the good news that Amare
Aregawi, the editor of the privately-owned Amharic-language weekly
Reporter, was released on 27 August. The press freedom organisation
calls on the Ethiopian government to amend the newly-adopted media law
in order to eliminate prison sentences for press offences. It also
urges the Ethiopian courts to ensure that the law is strictly
respected, and thereby guarantee the rights of citizens.
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ZIMBABWE: JOURNALISTS URGED TO TAKE LEAD IN CONFRONTING CRISIS
tinyurl.com/5zfapl
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate
the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists are calling for a new strategy to
remove harsh media laws that have been used to intimidate and stifle
independent journalism. The IFJ says the government has indicated its
willingness to have a full review of the extensive legal regulations
that have been put in place over the past five years.
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SUDAN: PRESS COUNCIL ALLOWS ENGLISH-LANGUAGE DAILY TO RESUME PUBLISHING
www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=28396
Reporters Without Borders has hailed the decision by the National
Press and Publications Council (NPPC) to allow the English-language
Sudan Tribune daily to resume publishing after being suspended since 1
September. “This is a very satisfactory decision,” the press freedom
organisation said. “The NPPC is sending a positive signal at a
difficult time for the Sudanese press.”
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NIGERIA: JOURNALIST MURDERED IN UNCLEAR CIRCUMSTANCES
www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=28261
Reporters Without Borders is saddened and dismayed by the murder of
Paul Abayomi Ogundeji, a reporter for the privately-owned daily
Thisday and a member of its editorial board. He was gunned down in
Lagos on 17 August, less than two years after Godwin Agbroko, the
chairman of its editorial board, was killed in similar circumstances.
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15 Conflict & emergencies
CHAD: URGE CHAD TO FREE CHILD SOLDIERS
hrw.org/english/docs/2008/09/03/chad19745.htm
The Security Council working group on children and armed conflict
should urge Chad to take measurable, concrete steps to demobilize
children from its armed forces and stop continued recruitment, Human
Rights Watch has said in a letter. On September 5, 2008, the working
group will discuss violations of children?s rights in Chad. The
working group asked Chad to take steps to bring an end to the
recruitment and use of child soldiers a year earlier, in September
2007, but government efforts to comply have been largely ineffective.
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BURUNDI: RESTARTING POLITICAL DIALOGUE
www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5632&l=1
This latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, points out
that disarmament has barely started, and no consensus has been reached
on integrating former rebels into state and security institutions.
Burundi cannot afford to have wasted three years in legislative
gridlock and then move directly towards the preparation of the 2010
elections without delivering peace dividends.
******
DRC: EAST CONGO RISKS PLUNGING BACK INTO WAR – U.N.
www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/KLMT-7J78PP?OpenDocument
Congo’s eastern borderlands risk plunging back into all-out war
between the army and Tutsi rebels after the heaviest clashes in
months, the U.N. peacekeeping mission chief said. The enemies fought
heavy battles last week in North Kivu province, where violence fuelled
by simmering ethnic tensions has raged despite the official end of
Congo’s broader 1998-2003 war, a regional free-for-all over the
country’s mineral wealth.
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SOMALIA: ACCORD WELCOMED
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27940
The Security Council has welcomed the recent signing of a peace and
reconciliation agreement by Somalia?s warring political groups and
urged the two sides in the troubled Horn of Africa nation to fully
implement their commitments under the accord.
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WEST AFRICA: UN AGENCIES STEP UP RELIEF EFFORTS IN WAKE OF WIDESPREAD
FLOODS
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27924
United Nations humanitarian agencies are expanding their relief
efforts across West Africa, where rising flood waters have displaced
hundreds of thousands of people in seven countries, damaged major
infrastructure and sparked the threat of widespread outbreaks of
infectious diseases.
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ETHIOPIA: DROUGHT-STRICKEN AREAS ASSESSED
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=27890
The top United Nations humanitarian official has begun his three-day
visit to Ethiopia, where he is holding talks with Government
officials, relief groups and individuals affected by the country’s
drought and food crisis. John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for
Humanitarian Affairs and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, travelled to
Ethiopia’s Konso Special Woreda in Southern Nations Nationalities and
People’s Region (SNNPR) today to review humanitarian efforts.
******
BURUNDI: PRISONER RELEASE TO HELP PEACE PROCESS
www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80145
The release of detainees suspected to be members of the Palipehutu-
Forces for National Liberation (FNL), Burundi’s last rebel group,
would remove a major impediment to the ceasefire between the group and
the government, sources said. The FNL has repeatedly demanded the
release of its detained members as a pre-condition for implementing a
ceasefire with the government, according to local observers in the
capital, Bujumbura.
******
DRC: CLASHES RESUME BETWEEN ARMY, REBELS
tinyurl.com/5pd6hs
Fighting resumed on Friday between government troops and rebels in
eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in a new breach of a truce
agreement, sources on both sides said. The governor of Nord-Kivu
province, Julien Pakulu, said forces of renegade general Laurent
Nkunda had attacked positions of the government’s Seventh Brigade at
Katsiru, about 100km north-west of the provincial capital, Goma.
******
16 Internet & technology
KENYA: SCHOOL BOOKS GO DIGITAL
www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/464696/-/tk9oqj/-/index.html
Textbooks may soon be available online if a pilot project yields
results. The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has entered into
an agreement with the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) meant to
provide learning materials to schools in soft copies as well as
online. According to the deal, the CCK will fund digitalisation of 11
Form One subjects at an initial cost of Sh15.2 million.
******
AFRICA: INTERNET ACCESS FUELS DEVELOPMENT IN WAR-TORN UGANDA
towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1381/1/
Not far from the closely packed mud huts of Pabo camp for Internally
Displaced Persons (IDP) in Northern Uganda, the Catholic parish office
lights up like a beacon in the inky night of this war-torn area; the
region has never had electricity. Last year, the Pabo diocese used a
wireless internet connection provided by an NGO called Battery
Operated System for Community Outreach (BOSCO) to apply for a $40,000
grant for solar panels. Now the health center has an internet phone
they can use to call free anywhere in the world, and students at Pabo
secondary school are sharing stories of abduction and war on personal
blogs.
******
SOUTH AFRICA: MOBILE A SERIOUS CHALLENGE FOR INTERNET PUBLISHERS
africa.oneworld.net/news/news1/
It was bad enough for web publishing when the challenge was to
persuade marketers to move money from ‘old fashioned’ magazines and
radio to the ‘new and trendy’ Internet. Now there’s something newer
and trendier! The success of MXit has been phenomenal. The instant
messaging service available via cellphones has more than three million
subscribers in South Africa.
******
AFRICA: ISLANDS AGREE ON FIBRE CONNECTION SCHEME
tinyurl.com/6ll2cw
A meeting of the members of the Indian Ocean Commission in Addis Ababa
has decided to give the go-ahead to connect their island-members by
fibre to each other and the rest of the world. The connecting cable
would be available on non-discriminatory terms and under a low-cost,
high volume regime
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17 Fundraising & useful resources
GLOBAL: IDRC DOCTORAL RESEARCH AWARDS
www.idrc.ca/en/ev-23374-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Since 1982, IDRC has assisted Canadian graduate students to undertake
their thesis research in the field of international development. IDRC
Doctoral Research Awards are intended to promote the growth of
Canadian capacity in research on sustainable and equitable development
from an international perspective. Normally, such research is
conducted in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East or Asia.
******
18 Courses, seminars, & workshops
AFRICA: PAN AFRICAN YOUTH LEADERSHIP FORUM II REPORT
The first Pan African Leadership Forum (PAYLF) was convened in Accra
Ghana 2007. The week-long, international event, held in Accra from
June 18-25, 2007 brought together a diverse group of some of the
continent?s brightest young leaders and afforded them the unique
opportunity to offer their expertise in addressing key issues relevant
to the youth, democracy, and development. The international forum was
organized by Friends of Africa International (FAI), an international
non-profit organization dedicated to promoting human rights,
democracy, good governance and social justice in Africa.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/50272
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GLOBAL: FOCUS ON THE GLOBAL SOUTH INTERNATIONAL COURSE 2008
This course examines globalization and its socio-economic
consequences. It offers an analytical interpretation of the ongoing
debates concerning the dynamics, institutional structures, and central
processes of globalization and the organized resistances of civil
society groups and networks worldwide. Inherent in this examination is
a critical understanding of the role and nature of hegemony in the
relations between countries in the institutions of global governance.
Application Deadline: September 15, 2008.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/50276
******
SOUTH AFRICA: COPA’S ADVANCED CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION COURSE
6-31 October 2008
www.copafrica.org/training.html
The Advanced Conflict Transformation (ACT) is a four week course that
is organized by COPA. This course offers diverse aspects of conflict
transformation and peace building. It is aimed at participants working
in related fields on the African continent. Although reference is made
to the impact of international political and economic events & trends
on the continent, emphasis is placed on culturally sensitive and
sustainable responses to regional and community conflicts in Africa.
******
19 Publications
ENDING AID DEPENDENCE: NEW BOOK FROM FAHAMU BOOKS
www.fahamu.org/publications/item/ending_aid_dependence/
In September 2008, ministers from over 100 countries, heads of
bilateral and multilateral development agencies, donor organisations,
and civil society organisations from around the world will gather in
Accra for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (2-4
September 2008). This meeting has been promoted as helping ?developing
countries and marginalised people in their fight against poverty by
making aid more transparent, accountable and results-oriented.? The
agenda for ?Aid Effectiveness? has, however, come under heavy
criticism from many quarters. This timely book cautions developing
countries against endorsing the agenda proposed at this meeting. If
adopted, it would subject the recipients to a discipline of collective
control by the donors right down to the village level.
******
20 Jobs
SOUTH AFRICA: AFRIMAP ADVOCACY AND COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER
The Open Society Institute?s (OSI) Africa Governance Monitoring and
Advocacy Project (AfriMAP) seeks to appoint an Advocacy and
Communications Officer, who will be based at the offices of the Open
Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) in Johannesburg, South
Africa. Closing Date for applications is 12th September 2008
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/50273
******
WEST AFRICA: INFORMATION PLURALISM AND AND MEDIA PROGRAMME COORDINATOR
The Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) is seeking a determined and
dynamic collaborator (male or female) to fill the position of
Information Pluralism and Média Development Programmme Coordinator.
The Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) is a Regional Non Governmental
Organization based in Dakar (Senegal) and operating in West Africa.
PIWA has as mission to contribute to the construction of a democratic
space of communication for change and social justice in Africa. PIWA.
The deadline for application is October, 03rd 2008
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/50299
******
Fahamu – Networks For Social Justice
www.fahamu.org
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ISSN 1753-6839
End of Pambazuka-news Digest, Vol 117, Issue 2