The authoritative electronic weekly newsletter and platform for social justice in Africa
Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839
CONTENTS: 1. Action alerts, 2. Zimbabwe update, 3. African Union Monitor, 4. Women & gender, 5. Human rights, 6. Refugees & forced
migration, 7. Social movements, 8. Africa labour news, 9. Emerging powers news, 10. Elections & governance, 11. Development, 12. Health &
HIV/AIDS, 13. LGBTI, 14. Environment, 15. Land & land rights, 16. Media & freedom of expression, 17. Conflict & emergencies, 18. Internet & technology, 19. eNewsletters & mailing lists, 20. Fundraising & useful resources, 21. Courses, seminars, & workshops, 22. Jobs
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Highlights from this issue
ACTION ALERTS: Secret draft of Canada-EU free trade agreement
ZIMBABWE UPDATE: Mugabe welcomes Ahmadinejad
WOMEN & GENDER: New law to benefit Kenya women, lawyers say
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Niger Delta amnesty at risk of unraveling
HUMAN RIGHTS: Press all sides to end Somalia abuses
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Tanzania deports illegal Somalis
EMERGING POWERS NEWS: Emerging powers news roundup
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: Social movements for system change
AFRICA LABOUR NEWS: NUM to oppose SA Eskom privatization
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Anger at Egypt MPs’ call for force
HEALTH & HIV/AIDS: Africa should unite for drug development
DEVELOPMENT: Agriculture key to Africa’s stability
LGBTI: Uganda softens stand
ENVIRONMENT: Swazi activist wins green prize
LAND & LAND RIGHTS: Grabbing Africa
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Cameroonian editor dies in prison
INTERNET & TECHNOLOGY: New Broadband network for Africa approved
ENEWSLETTERS & MAILING LISTS: AfricaFocus Bulletin: Zimbabwe: Sanctions and solidarity
JOBS: Vacancies and Christian Aid
PLUS: Fundraising & useful resources, publications, courses, seminars and workshops
*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 Action alerts
SECRET DRAFT OF CANADA-EUROPEAN UNION FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
Trade Justice Network
As Canadian and European trade negotiators gather in Ottawa for a
third round of free trade negotiations, the newly formed Trade Justice
Network has publicly released a draft text of the proposed
Canada-European Union Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The network
is raising serious concerns about the agreement’s potential impact on
public and environmental policy, culture, farmers and public services
in both Canada and Europe, and has issued a set of demands that it
says must be met before negotiations are allowed to continue.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/action/63916
******
URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO SAVE LIVES OF SAHARAWI ACTIVISTS
Letter from Y. Lamine
Almost four weeks have already passed since the six of the seven
Saharawi human right activists, held at the Moroccan prison of Sale,
began their open hunger strike. Their were arrested and detained, on 8
October 2010, on their return from a family visit to the Saharawi
refugees camps in south West of Algeria. The Moroccan government
intends to bring them before a military court on account of that trip.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/action/63879
******
2 Zimbabwe update
MUGABE WELCOMES AHMADINEJAD
zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=6599&cat=1
President Robert Mugabe welcomed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
to Zimbabwe Thursday, a meeting of two leaders united in fierce
opposition to the West. Mugabe met Ahmadinejad at the Harare airport
Thursday afternoon.
******
PM LAMENTS LACK OF PROGRESS
zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=6597&cat=1
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has lamented the failure of the unity
government to fully implement all the terms of the Global Political
Agreement by partners in the inclusive government saying this was
holding back economic revival progress. The Prime Minister said this
in his opening address of a business conference held at the Zimbabwe
International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo Wednesday.
******
SOUTH AFRICA REFUSES TO ACCEPT NEW ZIMBABWE TRAVEL DOCUMENT
www.swradioafrica.com/news220410/sarefuses220410.htm
Thousands of Zimbabweans have been left stranded at the Beitbridge
border post after South African immigration officials refused to
recognize a newly introduced Temporary Travel Document. According to
reports from the state owned Herald newspaper “South African port
officials allegedly fired their guns to frighten the affected
travellers into crossing back to the Zimbabwean side of the border
******
ZANU PF THREATENS CRACKDOWN ON MDC AFTER WORLD CUP
www.swradioafrica.com/news220410/zanuthreatens220410.htm
Villagers in districts of Mashonaland East provinces have been told to
brace themselves for more political violence, following “promises”
from ZANU PF officials they would be dealt with after the 2010 World
cup finals. Pressure group, Zimbabwe Democracy Now, issued a statement
Thursday detailing how Mike Chiwodza, a ZANU PF district chairman, has
been going around the province telling villagers “We will kill you
after the World Cup.”
******
3 African Union Monitor
AFRICA: AU COMMISSION CHIEF IN US FOR HIGH LEVEL MEETINGS
African Union (AU) Commission Chair Jean Ping is in the US for a
series of meetings, including the first annual US-AU High Level
Bilateral Meeting at the State Department here. During his trip, Ping,
who is leading an AU delegation, will discuss issues of mutual concern
with some of the most senior US officials, including the Attorney
General, USAID Administrator Raj Shah and the U.S. Trade
Representative Ron Kirk.
******
4 Women & gender
DRC: REFUGEE AGENCY DISMAYED BY IMPUNITY OR ENDEMIC RAPE
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34458
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has spoken
out against the large number of rapes in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo (DRC), voicing concern at the impunity with which the
attacks are being carried out. On average, 14 assaults have been
recorded daily over the past three months, but “we fear that the real
numbers could be much higher considering that many survivors keep
silent for fear of being ostracized,” agency spokesperson Melissa
Fleming told reporters in Geneva.
******
GLOBAL: THE BEIJING PLATFORM FOR ACTION 15 YEARS ON
www.siyanda.org/archive/april10_siyanda.html
This year marks the 15th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for
Action (BPfA). A 15-year Review of the implementation of the BPfA
(Beijing +15) has seen civil society organisations contribute numerous
studies, reports, statements and updates on whether or not commitments
made have been met and to offer recommendations on how to improve
policy and practice. This update from Siyanda brings together a
selection of these materials.
******
HAITI: SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN DISPLACED CAMPS
Since the first days of the earthquake, many humanitarian and human
rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have issued
warnings about the increased risk of gender based and sexual violence.
The risks are well founded. Thousands of displaced people are sleeping
in public spaces in just one square meter or even less; women are
obliged to bath almost naked under the eyes of the other residents and
passers-by; children sleep alone at night because they are
unaccompanied or their mothers are working outside the camps in order
to feed them.
******
KENYA: NEW LAW TO BENEFIT WOMEN, SAY LAWYERS
Women and children will benefit equitably from family and national
resources should the proposed constitution sail through, law experts
have said. Speaking at a land reform forum Friday, law experts said
the draft law guarantee equitable access to matrimonial property and
public land, and provides for the enactment of laws to govern the
same.
******
5 Human rights
AFRICA: HUMAN RIGHTS LAWS ‘SHOULD BE IN NATIONAL LANGUAGES’
The African Union (AU) Commissioner for Human and People’s Rights,
Sioyata Maiga, on Monday urged the media to publicize human rights
related issues in local languages. She made the appeal on arrival in
the Angolan capital, Luanda, at the head of a delegation of the
African Commission for Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) for an 8-day
official visit to assess the progress of human rights in the country.
******
DRC: ARMY ‘KILLED CIVILIANS’ IN MBANDAKA
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8634565.stm
The Democratic Republic of Congo army killed at least 11 civilians as
it retook the airport in Mbandaka from rebels this month, a rights
group says. The Asadho campaign group says it has confirmed 11
killings but suspects another 31 during the Easter attack. Nine of the
dead had been in detention for three months but were then accused of
being rebels and killed, it said. The government is investigating.
******
NIGERIA: GOVERNORS THREATEN TO EXECUTE PRISONERS TO EASE CONGESTION
Amnesty International has condemned a reported move by Nigerian state
governors to execute death row inmates to ease overcrowding and urged
the authorities to instead address the underlying problems in the
criminal justice system.
******
SOMALIA: PRESS ALL SIDES TO END ABUSES
Participants to this week’s international meeting on Somalia should
press for an immediate end to abuses against civilians by Somalia’s
transitional government, African Union forces, and armed opposition
groups, Human Rights Watch said in an open letter.
******
6 Refugees & forced migration
EGYPT: CAIRO REFUGEE FILM FESTIVAL 2010
Call for films
The Cairo Refugee Film Festival (CRFF) is an Initiative that started
in 2009 with the aim of organizing a film festival commemorating the
World Refugee Day in June. For more information on last festival,
please [url=cairorefugeefilmfestival.blogspot.com/]click
here{/url]. This year, the initiative is supported by several
collaborators namely St. Andrew?s Church and Congregation (Refugee
Ministry), the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the
American University in Cairo, Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights
(EFRR) and Tadamon: Egypt-Refugee Multicultural Council as well as
others.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/63961
******
EGYPT: SUDANESE REFUGEE DIES DUE TO TORTURE
The Contemporary Sudanese Centre
Mr. Isaac Ismail Matar Mohammed died in one of the secret Egyptian
security prisons where he was detained involuntarily since January 16,
2010 with two of his comrades from the neighborhood of October Sixth.
The news spread amongst the refugees that the detainees were being
subjected to various forms of torture including beatings, electric
shocks and immersion in cold water. The victim’s body was not able to
stand the torture and he died in detention three weeks ago.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/63960
******
NORTH AFRICA: ON THE EGYPT-ISRAEL BORDER, A MODERN EXODUS
www.forward.com/articles/127271/
Last month, as Jews around the world prepared for Passover, Egyptian
border guards were killing migrants trying to cross into Israel. How
many of us, as we sat at our Seder tables, were even aware of the
dramatic parallel to the Passover story taking place on the
present-day Egyptian-Israeli border?
******
SOMALIA: UN-BACKED SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS REACH OUT TO FELLOW REFUGEES
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34436
After graduating from a teacher training college in Kenya thanks to a
United Nations-backed scholarship scheme, three Somali men are
returning to the refugee camp they grew up in to help the next
generation of children. Aden Yusef Mohamed, Ahmed Aden Hasa and Hish
Mohamed Maow ranked in the top 20 among the 500 students they
graduated from the two-year programme at the Nakuru Teachers Training
College.
******
SOUTH AFRICA: HOTEL YEOVILLE
Hotel Yeoville, is a ground-breaking public art project which, by way
of freshly designed digital interfaces, keys into the diversity of
Forced Migrant, Refugee and South African experiences that make the
controversial suburb of Yeoville such a hot melting pot. This
neglected suburb on the eastern edge of Johannesburg is home to 40 000
people, 70 percent of whom are migrants and refugees from the rest of
the African continent.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/63963
******
TANZANIA: 68 ETHIOPIANS FACE CHARGE OF ILLEGAL ENTRY
The Tanzania Police Force has put 68 Ethiopian migrants in custody
pending their arraignment in court for illegal entry into the country,
it was officially reported Wednesday. According to Tanga Regional
Police Commander Liberatus Sabas, the Ethiopians claimed during
interrogation they had no intention of either staying or committing
offence in Tanzania but we retransiting to South Africa.
******
TANZANIA: GOVERNMENT DEPORTS 57 ILLEGAL SOMALI MIGRANTS
Tanzania is deporting 57 Somali migrants who illegally entered that
country last month, officials said. The migrants who were fleeing from
the war in Somalia are mostly youth and included six children,
officials said.
******
7 Social movements
AFRICA: SOUTH AFRICA’S POOR TO PAY FOR DIRTY WORLD BANK LOAN
Just how dangerous is the World Bank and its neo-conservative
president Robert Zoellick to South Africa and the global climate?
Notwithstanding South Africa’s existing US$75 billion foreign debt, on
April 8 the bank added a $3.75 billion loan to South Africa’s
electricty utility Eskom for the primary purpose of building the
world’s fourth-largest coal-fired power plant, at Medupi. It will spew
25 million tons of the climate pollutant carbon dioxide into the air
each year.
******
GLOBAL: CIVIL SOCIETY OPPOSES ZOELLICK’S GCI REQUEST
www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11857.aspx
World Bank President Robert Zoellick is expected to formally release
the World Bank Group’s request for an estimated $58 billion general
capital increase (GCI) on Sunday, April 25th at the conclusion of the
World Bank’s Spring Meeting this weekend. A broad and growing global
coalition of environmental, faith-based, human rights, community, and
indigenous rights groups are calling for an end to the Bank’s
continued financing of dirty energy projects, withholding support for
the Bank’s GCI request within member country capitals as a
consequence.
******
GLOBAL: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS FOR SYSTEM CHANGE
www.choike.org/cgi-bin/choike/2009/eng/jump_inf.cgi?ID=7847
On April 19, an Assembly of the Social Movements was one of the first
activities on the agenda at the People’s World Conference on Climate
Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia. The
Assembly highlighted the popular focus of the conference, which was
organized by the Bolivian government after the failure of governments
and industries to negotiate a plan to stop climate change in
Copenhagen last December.The conference is being held from April 19
thru 22 and is meant to amplify the voices of those who were not heard
in Copenhagen.
******
SOUTH AFRICA: ANC INTIMIDATION CONTINUES IN KENNEDY ROAD
On Sunday 18 April an ANC MP in the Provincial Parliament by the name
of Dora Dlamini intimidated Nozuko Hulushe, a Kennedy Road resident
and Abahlali baseMjondolo member, and demanded that she withdraw her
assault charge against a local ANC leader before the case goes to
trial.
******
SOUTH AFRICA: POOR PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT DRAWS GOVERNMENT WRATH
www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88883
The rise of an organized poor people’s movement in South Africa’s most
populous province, KwaZulu-Natal, is being met with increasing
hostility by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) government,
which claims to be the legitimate representative of the poorest of the
poor. South Africa has been rocked by increasingly frequent service
delivery protests – a euphemism for communities taking to the streets
to voice their frustration with the alleged slow pace of social
service provision – but it is the formation of a militant non-aligned
social movement, Abahlali Basemjondolo – shack-dwellers movement, in
Zulu – that is causing greatest concern.
******
8 Africa labour news
SOUTH AFRICA: NUM WILL OPPOSE ESKOM PRIVATISATION – KOMANE
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) would not allow for the
privatisation of State-owned power utility Eskom, deputy general
secretary Oupa Komane has said. He was speaking at the NUM’s energy
mix workshop in Johannesburg. However, deputy Public Enterprises
Minister Enoch Godongwana, speaking on behalf of the ruling African
National Congress (ANC), said that government’s plans did not involve
the privatisation of the power company.
******
TANZANIA: BUSINESS REJECTS GOVERNMENT MOVE TO RAISE MINIMUM WAGES
Tanzania’s business community has rejected the government’s suggestion
to raise minimum wages in the private sector by 100 percent, saying it
is unpayable. Employment, Labour and Youth Development Minister Juma
Kapuya early this week an nounced that the government and stakeholders
in the labour sector had agreed to the hike, but the business
community’s reaction has not been in favour of the move because it
would hurt private enterp rises.
******
9 Emerging powers news
EMERGING ACTORS IN AFRICA NEWS ROUND-UP
In this week’s roundup of emerging actors news, Moroccan prime
minister meets Communist Party delegation, China to embark on
multi-billion dollar investment in Ethiopia, South Africa boosts coal
supplies to China and India, and Korea has important lessons to teach
Africa.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/emplayersnews/64033
******
GLOBAL: IBSA – CLOSER SOCIAL CONNECTIONS, NOT JUST GOVERNMENT TIES
ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51081
The IBSA Fund, which finances anti-poverty projects in the most
vulnerable countries, is an example of the spirit in which India,
Brazil and South Africa wish to build their partnership, their leaders
say. The fund was set up in 2004, one year after the
India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue Forum was created, with
annual contributions of one million dollars from each member. It
currently supports reconstruction in Haiti after the January
earthquake, agriculture in Guinea-Bissau, and projects in other
African and Asian countries like Burundi and Cambodia.
******
10 Elections & governance
EGYPT: ANGER AT MPS’ CALL FOR FORCE
Protesters have gathered in central Cairo to condemn calls by two
Egyptian politicians and officials loyal to Hosni Mubarak, the
president, for security forces to open fire on pro-democracy
demonstrations. About 70 people joined the protest on Tuesday, the
third in two weeks calling for greater political freedoms and an end
to an emergency law that allows indefinite detentions.
******
MADAGASCAR: TALKS SET FOR APRIL 28
The protagonists in Madagascar’s political crisis have agreed to
attend talks in South Africa on April 28. President Andry Rajoelina
ousted Marc Ravalomanana with the help of dissident soldiers in March
last year after weeks of popular protests. The two have been at
loggerheads ever since as international mediators work to install a
unity government.
******
RWANDA: OPPOSITION LEADER INGABIRE RELEASED
A Rwandan opposition leader has been conditionally released after
being arrested on Wednesday. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza was accused of
collaborating with a terrorist group and denying the genocide.
******
SOUTHERN AFRICA: A TALE OF TWO NEIGHBOURS TURNING SIXTEEN AND THIRTY
Sweet sixteen and already showing signs of strain: that is the mood
that hangs over South Africa as the 27 April celebration of the first
democratic elections approaches, writes Colleen Lowe Morna. The
political shenanigans of the far right who still dream of a separate
homeland for white people and far left who insist on singing the song
?kill the Boer? even after the High Court ruled that this is hate
speech have led the Mail and Guardian to coin the term ?idiotocracy?
to describe our national politics.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/63909
******
SUDAN: ELECTION FRAUD CAUGHT ON VIDEO?
A video showing election fraud during Sudan’s election is being
circulated online. Sudan’s National Elections Commission has dismissed
it as fake. The video show election officials stuffing ballot boxes.
Oppoition groups claim that the video proves their claims of rigging
by by the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).
******
SUDAN: GOVERNMENT DELAYS RELEASING POLL RESULT
www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/904564/-/11mrk0rz/-/index.html
Sudan?s poll results, due on Thursday, will be delayed ? and a full
picture is unlikely to emerge until next week ? says the National
Elections Commission. The delay has been occasioned by the counting
that is taking longer than anticipated and other logistical problems.
******
11 Development
AFRICA: AGRICULTURE IS KEY TO STABILITY
The sixth Partnership Platform (PP) Meeting of the Comprehensive
Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) opened Thursday in
Johannesburg, South Africa, providing participants with an opportunity
for multi-partner peer interaction, review and experience sharing
among the core institutions and partners involved in CAADP
implementation.
******
AFRICA: BIG DAMS: BRINGING POVERTY, NOT POWER TO AFRICA
Africa?s large dams (more than 1,270 at last count) have consistently
been built at the expense of rural communities, who have been forced
to sacrifice their lands and livelihoods to them yet have reaped few
benefits. Large hydro dams in Sudan, Senegal, Kenya, Zambia/Zimbabwe
and Ghana have brought considerable social, environmental and economic
damage to Africa, and have left a trail of “development?induced
poverty” in their wake.
******
CARIBBEAN: ANOTHER DAGGER IN THE BACK
Renwick Rose on EPAs and the plight of banana farmers
Former regional diplomat Sir Ronald Sanders and British trade expert
and journalist David Jessop regularly take their time to write in the
press on matters pertaining to relations between the Caribbean and the
European Union, particularly in the field of trade. I am not sure how
many of us who do read really consider the implications of what they
have to say.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/development/63915
******
EAST AFRICA: GREEN AGRICULTURE GROWING IN LEAPS AND BOUNDS
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51138
Organic agriculture using natural farming methods rather than
fertilisers and pesticides has made significant gains in African
countries ? not just among farmers but among consumers too. Africa
needs to triple agricultural productivity by 2050 to keep pace with
population growth.
******
GLOBAL: 64M MORE PEOPLE TO LIVE IN EXTREME POVERTY – WB REPORT
A World Bank report said that some 64 million more people would be
living in extreme poverty in 2010 due to global recession. “The
economic crisis and recession have substantially increased the
challenge of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) targets,”
the World Development Indicator (WDI) 2010, released by the bank on
Wednesday, stated.
******
KENYA: HORTICULTURE SECTOR HARD HIT BY VOLCANIC ASH CRISIS
Volcanic ash crisis – Though flights have resumed across Europe after
clouds of ash from the Iceland volcano disrupted flights for days,
Kenya’s flower and vegetable industry has been cou nting its losses
from the crisis, amid reports that the industry was losing US$3
million per day at the peak of the flight-an situation.
******
LESOTHO: GETTING COMMUNITY CONSULTATION RIGHT
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51151
The Lesotho Highlands Water Project will move into its second phase in
2010. The first phase has been praised as a shining example of
transboundary water sharing in Africa, but community dissatisfaction
may mean a rough ride for its extension. The Lesotho Highlands Water
Project (LHWP) is the largest on the continent, transferring water
from the Malimatso, Mtsoku and Senqunyane rivers to South Africa?s
industrial heartland in Gauteng province.
******
12 Health & HIV/AIDS
AFRICA: AFRICAN COUNTRIES SHOULD UNITE FOR DRUG DEVELOPMENT
African nations must pool resources to promote local pharmaceutical
innovation, say Ibrahim Assane Mayaki and Carel IJsselmuiden. Africa
bears a quarter of the world’s disease burden, yet accounts for less
than one per cent of global expenditure on health. About half of the
continent’s population lacks access to essential medicines and the few
drugs that are available often come from outside ? Sub-Saharan Africa
imports nearly 90 per cent of its medicines.
******
AFRICA: CANADIAN GRANDMOTHERS TO ATTEND HISTORIC GATHERING ON HIV/AIDS
www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2010/19/c3710.html
The first-ever African Grandmothers’ Gathering takes place on Mother’s
Day weekend in Manzini, Swaziland – and forty-three Canadian
grandmothers will be there, representing thousands of women who form
the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign of the Stephen Lewis
Foundation. Since 2006, the campaign has raised more than seven
million dollars to support African grandmothers who are parenting
their orphaned grandchildren in the most challenging of circumstances.
******
AFRICA: CHALLENGES REMAIN IN ACCESSING HIV PREVENTION, TREATMENT
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34434
Despite the progress that has been made in the AIDS response in
Africa, many challenges remain that prevent people from accessing the
HIV prevention and treatment services they need, a top United Nations
official said during a visit to Senegal. Michel Sidib?, the Executive
Director of the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), noted that in
2008, about 45 per cent of pregnant women living with HIV in Africa
were receiving antiretroviral drugs to prevent transmission to their
children, up from 35 per cent the previous year.
******
AFRICA: FIGHT TO END AFRICAN POLIO OUTBREAK ENTERS SECOND ROUND
www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/DNEO-84SEDL?OpenDocument
More than 77 million children in 16 countries will be vaccinated
against polio from tomorrow (24 April) in the critical second round of
a synchronized effort to stop a polio outbreak across west and central
Africa. However, Burkina Faso and Sierra Leone have postponed their
campaigns until 7 May after vaccine delivery was delayed by the
closure of airspace in Europe due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland.
Existing stockpiles in the other 16 countries will allow this
vaccination campaign to go ahead.
******
AFRICA: STUDIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE OFTEN OF POOR QUALITY, SHOW LIMITED EFFECT
The quality of research examining HIV prevention programmes targeted
at young people in Africa is poor, according to the authors of a
systematic review and meta-analysis published in the online edition of
AIDS. Moreover, evidence that such prevention programmes had an effect
was limited and confined to sub-groups.
******
GLOBAL: WORLD BANK COMMITS $200M FOR MALARIA BED NETS
www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34450
Backing a call for greater action from the United Nations Special
Envoy for Malaria, the World Bank has committed $200 million to
provide people in sub-Saharan Africa with treated bed nets to protect
them from a disease that kills nearly 1 million people every year.
******
SOUTH AFRICA: KHOMANANI SHAMBLES
www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20032746
There are growing calls for a forensic audit into Khomanani,
Government’s flagship HIV prevention campaign which has cost the
taxpayer millions of rand but has very little to show for it. The
Khomanani Communication Consortium (KCC), with principal parties
Sadmon Projects and Consulting, Sizwe Ntsaluba VSP, Izwi Multimedia
and TBWA Hunt Lascaris, won the lucrative R190-million government
tender in May 2007.
******
13 LGBTI
GLOBAL: CALL TO ACTION: INTERNATIONAL PROTEST AGAINST CHILD ABUSE
ilga.org/ilga/en/article/mnWP2Sg1t3
On April 13 the number two in the Vatican hierarchy, the Pope’s
Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, claimed that there is a
link between homosexuality and paedophilia. The LGBT movement
worldwide has risen up against this false, despicable and
anti-scientific statement from the Vatican, which is trying to deflect
attention from priests? sex crimes by blaming LGBT people.
******
SOUTH AFRICA: LGBT PROTEST AGAINST US AND UGANDA
www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=southafrica&id=2569
A protest march will take place in Pretoria on Freedom Day, April 27,
to demand equality for lesbians and gays in both the U.S. and Uganda.
Organised by Up & Out, the University of Pretoria’s gay organisation,
the protestors will march from the Ugandan Embassy to the U.S.
Embassy. The U.S. has been slammed by the organisation for its
continued refusal to grant same-sex couples federal marriage rights
and benefits. “How can a supposed first world nation decide to do such
things?” asked Up & Out in a statement.
******
UGANDA: GOVERNMENT SOFTENS STAND
www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=uganda&id=2565
A Cabinet committee has recommended changes to Ndorwa West MP David
Bahati?s anti-gay legislation that preclude the possibility of
discarding it, Daily Monitor has learnt. But the report, which is yet
to be discussed by Cabinet, indicts Mr Bahati for not applying the
kind of sophistication that would have anticipated the international
condemnation that came after the draft legislation was tabled in
Parliament last year.
******
14 Environment
NIGER: LACK OF DATA ON CAUSES OF DEATH BUFFERS FRENCH COMPANY
www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51149
French state-owned company Areva continues to deny any wrongdoing
after findings that populated areas in Niger remain contaminated with
high levels of radio-activity. The company seems to be escaping
censure partly because of lack of data on cancer-related causes of
death among Nigeriens working at or living near the uranium mines.
******
SWAZILAND: ACTIVIST WINS GREEN PRIZE
Thuli Brilliance Makama is not everyone’s idea of an environmental
hero. An attorney in Swaziland, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, she
has made her name not as a conservationist but by investigating the
deaths of suspected poachers.
******
15 Land & land rights
AFRICA: GRABBING AFRICA
The continent of Africa, already facing severe food shortages, has in
recent years been targeted for land acquisition by countries from
outside the region. The trend started in the 1990s when countries such
as Sudan allowed rich Gulf countries to buy agricultural land in the
areas irrigated by the bountiful waters of the White and Blue Nile.
The oil bonanza had not yet materialised in Sudan. Under virtual
sanctions from the West, it was facing severe economic constraints and
was caught in a bloody civil war.
******
AFRICA: NEW FIAN REPORT ON LANDGRABBING IN KENYA AND MOZAMBIQUE
On the International Day of Peasants’ Struggle, April 17, FIAN
International together with many other civil society actors calls for
an immediate stop of land grabbing. A new report published today by
FIAN International documents the findings of two research missions on
land grabbing to Kenya and Mozambique, and concludes that land
grabbing violates human rights.
******
GLOBAL: WORLD BANK PROPOSAL FOR WIN-WIN LAND GRABBING DENOUNCED
La Via Campesina, FIAN, Land Research Action Network and GRAIN,
together with over 100 allies, are issuing a loud appeal to stop the
current wave of land grabbing that is taking millions of hectares of
farmland away from rural communities across Africa, Asia and Latin
America. Their appeal coincides with the release of a new World Bank
report that confirms the massive extent of of the current land grab
assault and puts forward seven “principles” to make these land deals
socially acceptable.
******
MALI: RUSH FOR LAND ALONG THE NIGER
Domestic and international investors are taking over increasing
amounts of arable land in Mali. In the Macina commune of south-central
Mali, a giant irrigation canal is in the final stages of construction.
Libya is in the process of developing 100,000 hectares of land it has
leased adjacent to the Niger River.
******
16 Media & freedom of expression
CAMEROON: EDITOR GERMAIN NGOTA DIES IN PRISON
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8639242.stm
Cameroonian editor Germain Ngota has died in prison in the capital,
Yaounde. He was the managing editor of the Cameroon Express and one of
three reporters detained in March on charges of fraud and using false
documents. An adviser to the Cameroonian journalists’ union (SNJC)
said Mr Ngota was not given any medical treatment during his
detention.
******
CAMEROON: FEMALE EDITOR HARASSED
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has denounced the
convocation on Monday in Douala, of Mrs. Henriette Ekwe, Director of
the Weekly newspaper, Bebela by officers of the Secret Information
Service, the military security and the Head office of External
Research (DGRE), over her appearance on a programme broadcast on
Equinox TV on April 6th.
******
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: AFP CORRESPONDENT HELD FOR FIVE HOURS
Reporters Without Borders has condemned the five-hour detention of
Samuel Obiang Mbana, correspondent for Agence France-Presse (AFP) and
Africa n?1 radio, at the police station in the capital Malabo on 14
April. The journalist was arrested at Malabo international airport
where he went to cover arrivals for an extraordinary summit of heads
of state of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community
(CEMAC).
******
ZIMBABWE: EMPTY PROMISES FOR FREE EXPRESSION
Zimbabwe’s power-sharing government has not carried out critical media
reforms as promised under the country’s September 2008 Global
Political Agreement, Human Rights Watch said in a report. The 26-page
report, “Sleight of Hand: Repression of the Media and the Illusion of
Reform in Zimbabwe,” says that the Zimbabwe Africa National
Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), the former sole ruling party, still
holds the balance of power in the coalition government forged with the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the former opposition movement,
in February 2009.
******
17 Conflict & emergencies
ERITREA: REBELS CLAIM KILLING 11 GOVERNMENT SOLDIERS
af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE63M0FE20100423
Two Eritrean rebel groups said they killed 11 government soldiers and
wounded some 20 others in a coordinated attack on military camps in
southern Eritrea. The groups — the Red Sea Afar Democratic
Organisation (RSADO) and the Eritrean National Salvation Front (ENSF)
— said in a joint statement that they had briefly taken control of
the camps on Thursday and seized weapons and military intelligence.
******
NIGERIA: DELTA AMNESTY AT RISK OF UNRAVELLING
www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=88906
The government?s amnesty programme whereby militants in the Niger
delta are to be disarmed and rehabilitated with a stipend, job
training and a micro-credit loan, has been linked to reduced violence
in the delta, but critics say it has made the same mistake as almost
every other disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and
reintegration (DDRR) campaign: too much ?dd? and not enough ?rr??.
******
NIGERIA: REPRISAL KILLINGS IN JOS
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8634515.stm
The Nigerian military has exhumed seven fresh corpses from shallow
graves near the city of Jos, in the latest apparent revenge killing.
There are almost daily reports of attacks on people in rural villages
and of disappearances in Jos itself.
******
18 Internet & technology
AFRICA: FOSSFA LAUNCHES THE AFRICAN FOSS REPORTER AWARD
www.wougnet.org/cms/content/view/505/1/
FOSSFA has launched the African FOSS Reporter Award Competition 2010.
The award aims to highlight the impact of Free and Open Source
Software (FOSS) on the development of Africa. It recognizes
outstanding reporting for a general audience and honors individuals
(rather than institutions and publishers) for their coverage of FOSS.
The competition is run in partnership with Deutsche Welle and
supported by OSIWA as part of an initiative to raise public awareness
of FOSS in Africa.
******
AFRICA: FREEDOM FONE V.1.5 LAUNCHED
freedomfone.org/page/now-available-freedom-fone-v15
Does your community need access to information but has limited or no
access to the internet or email? Do you want to be able to share more
information than 160 characters allows? Freedom Fone offers the
possibility to extend the reach of information to citizens and groups
presently excluded from the information loop because of lack of access
to resources such as computers and the internet.
******
AFRICA: IDLELO 4: SIGN UP FOR THE PRE-CONFERENCE TRAINING PROGRAMME
www.wougnet.org/cms/content/view/504/1/
The Fourth African Conference on FOSS and the Digital Commons (IDLELO
4) to be held from 17th – 21st May, 2010, in Accra at the Ghana-India
Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE). This
knowledge-building and sharing event under the theme: ?Development
with Ownership? is a forum for African experts and their global
partners to share experience in order to expand awareness of the
‘open’ philosophy and the creation and use of open technologies for
the benefit of our people.
******
AFRICA: THE END OF GENARDIS SMALL GRANTS FOR RURAL WOMEN ROUND III
In March GenARDIS grant winners met for the last time after more than
a year of innovative research and work to improve rural women?s lives
in countries like Ethiopia, the Dominican Republic and Zambia. With
projects as diverse as community radio drama groups, pest control
through information access and using technology to promote women?s
inheritance and land rights, projects were as diverse as the countries
they came from.
******
SOUTH AFRICA: MICROSOFT PLAY ‘BIG BROTHER’
Microsoft will want to be a player rather than just a big spender in
South Africa?s black empowerment policy, the company has said
following the announcement it would spend about half a billion rands
(about US$ 64 million) in the next seven years to boost local business
partnerships.
******
SOUTHERN AFRICA: ZIMBABWE AIMS FOR ‘KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY’ WITH ICT BILL
Zimbabwe is expected to pass legislation that could help it take
better advantage of information technology, despite the economic
crisis that has gripped the country. The Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) Bill, which would pave the way for
implementing a strategic ICT plan launched in February, is currently
awaiting cabinet approval before it goes to parliament for further
scrutiny.
******
19 eNewsletters & mailing lists
ZIMBABWE: SANCTIONS AND SOLIDARITY
AfricaFocus Bulletin MApr 18, 2010 (100418)
www.africafocus.org/docs10/zim1004.php
“In the case of Zimbabwe today, both supporters and opponents of
sanctions exaggerate their importance. The international community,
both global and regional, has other tools as well. Key issues are not
only when to lift or relax sanctions but also how much support Western
countries will provide for economic recovery. Even more decisive will
be whether Zimbabwe’s African neighbors can strengthen their diplomacy
by backing it with effective pressures, even if they hesitate to use
the word sanctions.” – Briggs Bomba and William Minter.
******
20 Fundraising & useful resources
AFRICA: CALL FOR IDEAS: “TEN IDEAS FOR TOMORROW’S AFRICA”
Within the framework of the 50th anniversary of African independence,
the Social and Human Sciences Sector of UNESCO (SHS) is launching a
?Call for Ideas? for prospective proposals in favour of Africa?s
development within the next decade.
******
GLOBAL: MEDIA LEGAL DEFENCE INITIATIVE
www.mediadefence.org/about.html
The Media Legal Defence Initiative is a non-governmental charity which
works in all regions of the world to provide legal support to
journalists and media outlets who seek to protect their right to
freedom of expression. Founded in 2008, the Media Legal Defence
Initiative was created to expand the resources available to assist the
media to defend their rights in legal cases, and to direct those
resources to areas of greatest need.
******
21 Courses, seminars, & workshops
AFRICA: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AFRICAN SAME-SEX SEXUALITIES AND GENDER DIVERSITY
First announcement
The mission of this conference is to identify and celebrate indigenous
and evolving male, female and/or gender variant same-sex sexual
practices, identities and communities, including expressions of gender
diversity, and to promote their social acceptance and their physical
and social well-being.
www.pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/63913
******
AFRICA: ZANZIBAR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
www.africancolours.com/african-colours-event.php?id=101&eid=5
The Zanzibar International Film Festival is the largest multi
disciplinary art and cultural festival in Africa. Dedicated to the
exhibition of films, music and Panorama, each year over 150 films made
in Africa, Middle East, Europe, Latin America, USA and Asia are
exhibited. Currently ZIFF is accepting applications for all African
films and films from the Dhow Countries region – South East Asia, the
Arabian Peninsula, The Persian Gulf, Iran, Pakistan, and the Indian
Ocean Islands.
******
EGYPT: CMRS COURSE ON REFUGEE PARTICIPATION
June 13-17, Cairo
The Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American
University in Cairo, Egypt is pleased to offer a short course on
?Refugee Participation in Policy and Practice? June 13-17 2010, to be
taught by Professor Barbara Harrell-Bond, one of the world?s leading
scholars and activists in the field of refugee studies.
******
EGYPT: CREATIVE WRITING COURSE – CAIRO
www.africancolours.com/african-colours-event.php?id=132&eid=7
This 10 week Creative Writing course will look at various techniques
and exercises to open up & improve writing writing skills, work with
metaphor and imagery, create texts and narratives to given themes and
word counts as well as free writing. The end goal will be to write a
1000 word short story. There is no criteria other than a willingness
to open up one’s writing; the course is designed that people of
varying writing experience can participate and each draw their
individual benefits.
******
GLOBAL: ART OMI INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS RESIDENCY
www.africancolours.com/african-colours-event.php?id=120&eid=3
Application is open to all professional visual artists from all over
the world who have been professionally active for at least the past 3
years (your resume/CV should reflect professional activities since
2007 or earlier).
******
UGANDA: CALL FOR PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
www.africancolours.com/african-colours-event.php?id=131&eid=2
Since its first edition in 2008, Bayimba Cultural Foundation has
organised a number of workshops prior to the annual Bayimba
International Festival of Music and Arts with a view to stimulate
artistic creativity and to ensure that all disciplines of arts find
their way to the Festival. For 2010, Bayimba Cultural Foundation
decided to include a Photography Workshop prior to the 3rd edition of
the Festival (scheduled for 17-19 September, 2010). The results of the
workshop will be exhibited during the Festival and in other locations
after the Festival.
******
ZIMBABWE: HARARE INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS 2010
www.africancolours.com/african-colours-event.php?id=133&eid=5
The Harare International Festival of the Arts roars into life on April
27 at venues in and around the capital. Festival organisers held a
pre-launch press briefing on Friday April 9th 2010 at the National
Gallery of Zimbabwe where they unveiled the festival programme.
******
22 Jobs
PROGRAMME OFFICER – MONITORING & EVALUATION (ANGOLA) – CHRISTIAN AID
£24,636 – ?27,642 per annum + benefits
London, Waterloo
We’re working with our partners in Angola with the focus ‘Justice in
the use of power’. Together we help communities and groups strengthen
their livelihoods, adapt to climate change, reduce the suffering
caused by HIV and improve human rights. Take responsibility for
monitoring and evaluation, and you?ll be key in helping us achieve our
aims.
About the role
Everyone from individuals, churches and businesses to Irish Aid, Comic
Relief and others, donate funds to Christian Aid. With your help we
can be sure we’re putting that money to the best use. Monitoring and
evaluating all of our Angola Programme projects and processes, you’ll
look at how we’re using our resources to identify areas of potential
improvement. An enthusiastic team player, you will contribute towards
the programme’s total quality ensuring you communicate effectively
with partners and valuing their experience and knowledge. You?ll also
take charge of administrative and finance systems making sure our
processes meet with compliance standards. You will use this
information to produce and update regular reports, budgets and other
documents and create an informative bank of resources that we can use
internally, as well as provide to external donors. You will also use
your theoretical and practical expertise to help us learn from our
partners? realities and our day-to-day work to improve the programme.
At the same time, it?s a huge learning opportunity for you.
About you
You’ll probably join us from an NGO, an association or research
centre, a government agency or the UN and you might already be a
Programme Officer, or alternatively a Compliance or Finance Officer
interested in moving into a more general development role. But no
matter what your background, you must have a proven interest in
Monitoring and Evaluation, a good understanding of the difficulties
faced in Angola, and the experience of supporting development
programmes, preferably in Africa. Liaising effectively with colleagues
and outside organisations, you’ll need to be confident in networking
and your results-orientation skills and desire to learn will help you
deliver excellent standards of administrative support, as well as act
on your own initiative. And, as you will work daily with our partners
in Angola and spend up to 30 days a year in Angola itself, you’ll need
excellent written and spoken Portuguese as well as a flexible attitude
towards travel.
About Christian Aid
More than half the world lives in poverty. We aim to put a stop to
that. So we campaign against the inequalities that keep people poor
and we work with local organisations to give people strength to find
their own solutions to the problems they face, irrespective of their
religion. If you’re as determined as we are to end poverty and
injustice across the world, work with us to make change happen.
About the rewards
We value the input of everyone who works for us. That’s why you can
expect a wide range of rewards including a generous holiday allowance,
a season ticket loan and the flexibility that helps you enjoy a good
work/life balance. To find out more and apply, download an application
pack at www.christianaid.org.uk
Reference number: 008/EC
Closing date: 12 noon, Monday 10 May 2010
Interview date: 19 May 2010
This is a fixed term contract until December 2011
******
SENIOR ADVISERS – CHRISTIAN AID
£36,554 ? £40,964 per annum + benefits
London, Waterloo
Closing date: 27 April 2010
Interview date: w/c 3 May, 2010
We aim to hit the major causes of poverty head on. Two of the biggest
are climate change and the abuse of power. Working with and lobbying
contacts at the highest level — including government, UN and EU
representatives — you?ll steer and deliver policies that tackle
environmental and governmental injustice. We’re looking for three
senior policy or advocacy champions with experience in the following
areas and we are particularly interested in candidates from the Global
South:
Global Advocacy and Alliances
Targeting international decision makers, you?ll focus on influencing
EU and international policy in climate negotiations and wider economic
justice issues.
Climate Justice & Poverty Over
You?ll investigate and steer politically-appropriate policy on climate
justice and its links to poverty eradication.
Accountable Governance
Lead and support key partners as you research and devise policy that
aims to counter inequality and promote inclusion in developing
countries. To find out more and apply, please visit
www.christianaid.org.uk/jobs
Closing date: 27 April 2010. Interview date: w/c 3 May 2010.
Christian Aid is a registered charity in the UK (no. 1105851) and
Scotland (no. SC039150).
Company no. 5171525
******
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ISSN 1753-6839
End of Pambazuka-news Digest, Vol 125, Issue 2
The New Dark Age 