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Wednesday 24 August 2005


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IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 228 for 23-29 April 2005

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Re-election to UN Human Rights Commission uproar
MOZAMBIQUE: More resources needed for malaria, say UN agencies
SWAZILAND: WFP calls for holistic approach to end food insecurity
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Large cross-border informal food trade recorded
ANGOLA: More than US $2 million to tackle Marburg
COMOROS: Controversial draft bill withdrawn
LESOTHO: Opposition "disapproves" local poll conditions
NAMIBIA: BIG could be beautiful for the poor
ZAMBIA: Govt not doing enough for OVC, says official report
INDIAN OCEAN: Conference contributes to global study on child rights
SOUTH AFRICA: Switching on to 'green'

ZIMBABWE: Re-election to UN Human Rights Commission uproar

Human rights groups have called for the "immediate reform" of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) after Zimbabwe's re-election to the 53-member commission on Wednesday.

Zimbabwe was among 15 countries chosen to sit on the commission for the next three years, prompting immediate protests from the United States and other developed nations.

Full report

Food imports will drain govt coffers, say analysts

Zimbabwe has turned to Zambia, Uganda and Tanzania for grain imports as the state Grain Marketing Board (GMB) attempts to restock the country's dwindling maize and wheat stocks.

Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Nicholas Goche confirmed to IRIN that Zimbabwe had expanded its grain sources to include these three countries, in addition to South Africa, the major supplier.

Full report

Labour movement has little to celebrate on May Day

The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) remains the only credible labour movement in the country, despite facing internal strife and pressure from the government, economic and political analysts told IRIN.

Over the past month the ZCTU leadership has been challenged by factions in affiliated unions, who have accused them of misappropriating money and awarding themselves hefty salary increases without union approval.

Full report

Experts call for new assessment to determine food shortages

Agricultural experts have called for an "objective" assessment of crop production in Zimbabwe, as preliminary forecasts point to yet another year of widespread food shortages.

"There is consensus around the view that food production in the 2004/05 agricultural season will be poor, and not nearly enough to satisfy the needs of the country in the next consumption year. However, objective and transparent assessments need to be undertaken in order to determine the magnitude and geographic spread of the production shortfall," the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) cautioned in its latest food security update.

Full report

Mining decline hits workers hard

The sudden closure of mines in Zimbabwe five years ago is still having a negative impact on the livelihoods of thousands of former employees.

Forty-four year old Sara Muwati was among the 1,300 workers who lost their jobs when the Mhangura copper mine in Mashonaland West province shut down in 2000.

Full report

Call to boycott elections

A Zimbabwean NGO, the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), has urged political parties to boycott elections until the country gets a new and democratic constitution.

NCA chairman Lovemore Madhuku made the call after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) issued a press statement calling on voters to check their names on the voters' roll as the country prepares for by-elections in 17 districts and urban centres.

Full report

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MOZAMBIQUE: More resources needed for malaria, say UN agencies

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) this week appealed to development partners to increase their efforts to prevent and fight malaria, the main child- killer in Mozambique.

Malaria accounts for around 35 percent of all deaths among children under five, and the high prevalence is a major contributing factor to Mozambique having one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.

Full report

Public sector employees need more incentives

World Bank (WB) support in building Mozambique's public sector has been "satisfactory", but it has been less effective in strengthening human capacity, according to an evaluation report.

Mozambique is one of six country case studies undertaken by the Operations Evaluation Department (OED) of the WB to assess the relevance and effectiveness of its support for public sector capacity building in Sub-Saharan Africa over the past 10 years.

Full report

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SWAZILAND: WFP calls for holistic approach to end food insecurity

The World Food Programme (WFP) has called for a holistic approach to tackle food insecurity in Swaziland after four years of drought.

"We need to look at the food shortage situation as a whole, including all the factors that contribute: not just a lack of rainfall but the appropriateness of crops; the need to educate farmers on better seeds and cropping techniques; ways to mitigate AIDS, which is eliminating farmers," WFP's country representative in Swaziland, Abdoulaye Balde, told IRIN.

Full report

Business coalition launches HIV/AIDS mitigation plan

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have the potential to lift living standards and build a new generation of entrepreneurs, but in Swaziland that strategy is being challenged by AIDS.

"I am HIV negative, but my past two work supervisors left because of illness. They grew so thin that you knew the cause," said Charles Mtetfwa, a contractor in the central commercial town of Manzini.

Full report

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SOUTHERN AFRICA: Large cross-border informal food trade recorded

Some 102,000 mt of maize was traded informally across Southern African borders between July 2004 and the March 2005, according to the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET).

The latest bulletin by FEWS NET's monitoring initiative noted that 17,000 mt of rice and 17,000 mt of beans had also crossed national borders in informal trade by the end of the agricultural marketing season last month.

Full report

Uneven record of press freedom, says new MISA report

Southern Africa's media faced a mixed bag of challenges over the past year, a new report has found.

The annual publication by the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), 'So this is Democracy? - State of Media Freedom in Southern Africa 2004', published ahead of next week's World Press Freedom Day, said the status quo of either a generally free or a restricted media environment had been maintained in the countries surveyed.

Full report

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ANGOLA: More than US $2 million to tackle Marburg

More than US $2 million has been allocated by various agencies this week to help fight the Marburg outbreak in Angola.

The European Commission (EC) provided an additional $1.9 million, while the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) stepped in with over $200,000 to tackle the outbreak, the largest and deadliest of this rare disease.

Full report

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COMOROS: Controversial draft bill withdrawn

Political analysts and rights activists in the Comoros have applauded the withdrawal of a draft law allowing Union President Azali Assoumani to vie for a second four-year term in elections next year.

"By abandoning the legislation, Assoumani has shown that it is important to respect the constitution. This has set an important precedent, especially since there were expectations that he would have insisted on another term in office," local political analyst Abdorahim Said Bacar told IRIN.

Full report

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LESOTHO: Opposition "disapproves" local poll conditions

Eleven Lesotho opposition parties have voiced their "disapproval" over holding local government elections this weekend, claiming that preparations are incomplete.

"We are not boycotting the elections, as our candidates have already been campaigning for it, but we have several concerns - the voters' roll has not been updated, the final voters' list has not been released and, in some areas, voting venues have not been publicised," Kelebone Maope, leader of the Lesotho People's Congress and a spokesman for the opposition parties said on Thursday.

Full report

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NAMIBIA: BIG could be beautiful for the poor

Namibian churches and NGOs have launched a coalition to lobby for the introduction of a universal grant to provide a safety net for the country's poor.

Borrowing the idea from neighbouring South Africa, they propose that a Basic Income Grant (BIG) be paid to every Namibian citizen from birth until the age of 60, when the national pension kicks in.

Full report

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ZAMBIA: Govt not doing enough for OVC, says official report

An official report has found that the Zambian government was not "giving sufficient priority" to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) and has called for universal access to antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

The study by the Ministry of Sport, Youth and Child Development (MSYCD) reviewed the state of OVC in Zambia over the past five years and found that assistance to the children was being hampered by inadequate funding and a lack of coordination among policies.

Full report

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INDIAN OCEAN: Conference contributes to global study on child rights

Delegates met in Madagascar this week to tackle the often-neglected issue of child rights in western Indian Ocean island countries.

The three-day conference brought together child rights advocates from Mauritius, Comoros, Seychelles and Reunion to discuss ways of dealing with the causes and impact of violence on children.

Full report

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SOUTH AFRICA: Switching on to 'green'

The Pan-African parliament building in South Africa switched to 'green' electricity last week in a symbolic commitment to renewable energy by the government.

Power is being provided to the building by Amatola Green Power, one of two suppliers of 'green electricity' through the national grid in South Africa. The other company is Green X.

'Green' power, or electricity - derived from renewable resources like biomass wastes in the sugar, wood and paper industries, alongside wind and solar energy, is the way to go, according to Davin Chown, an activist with the environmental lobby group, Earthlife Africa.

Full report

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[ENDS]

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Theme(s)	Other

Other recent SOUTHERN AFRICA reports:

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 244 for 13 - 19 August 2005, 19/Aug/05

US aid arrives ahead of critical lean season, 16/Aug/05

Annan appeals for urgent food aid, 12/Aug/05

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 243 for 6 - 12 August 2005, 12/Aug/05

Report more positive about agricultural development in Southern Africa, 11/Aug/05

Other recent reports:

MALAWI: Outrage over lenient fine for trafficking boys, 24/Aug/05

BOTSWANA: Alleged crackdown on Bushmen denied, 23/Aug/05

SWAZILAND: Traditional chastity vow may have lowered teenage HIV rates, 23/Aug/05

ZAMBIA: Chiluba rejects British judge in civil case, 23/Aug/05

ZIMBABWE: UN demands unfettered access to those in need, 22/Aug/05

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