"); NewWindow.document.close(); return false; } // end hiding from old browsers -->

Sunday 25 December 2005


Search

Regions

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 236 for 18 -24 June 2005

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

CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: Annan to send envoy as US, EU condemn crackdown
MALAWI: Concerns over land reform must be addressed, says civil society leader
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Civil society coalition calls for end to forced evictions in Zimbabwe
SWAZILAND: Civil servants strike for more pay
ZAMBIA: More than a million in need of food aid
MOZAMBIQUE: 70,000 mt of food aid needed - FAO, WFP
LESOTHO: Numbers of people in need increasing, WFP/FAO
SOUTH AFRICA: Mbeki appoints woman as new deputy president
ANGOLA: EC closes humanitarian aid office
BOTSWANA: Immigrants despair as news of crackdown spreads

ZIMBABWE: Annan to send envoy as US, EU condemn crackdown

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is to send a special envoy to assess the situation in Zimbabwe, where a government crackdown on informal settlements and markets has left about 200,000 people homeless.

The government has vowed to continue its 'clean-up' campaign, arguing that the operation is targeting criminal elements. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), however, has claimed that the crackdown is politically motivated, as it has focused on urban areas, where the MDC enjoys support.

Full report

EU extends targeted sanctions

Economists have warned that the recent extension of targeted sanctions against Zimbabwe by the European Union (EU) is likely to further isolate an already weak economy.

The EU bloc renewed its travel ban on ruling ZANU-PF party officials last week and extended it to senior executives appointed by President Robert Mugabe after his party's disputed victory in the March parliamentary polls.

Full report

No crop growing allowed in urban areas, say police

The Zimbabwean government has outlawed urban farming, sparking fears of a deepening food crisis, as poor families have relied on the practice to stave off hunger and generate an income.

Over the past three weeks, police have demolished illegal structures and arrested informal traders in the country's towns and cities in an ongoing crackdown the government has said is aimed at cleaning up urban centres. The operation has been condemned internationally, as about 200,000 people have been left homeless and livelihoods have been lost.

Full report

MDC renews call for "political solution"

The Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) this week renewed calls for a "political solution" to the escalating crisis in the wake of the controversial clean-up campaign, which has left thousands of people homeless.

"We have to ask, 'Where is the country going?' We have been calling for talks all along," MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai told IRIN.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

MALAWI: Concerns over land reform must be addressed, says civil society leader

The success of land reform in Malawi will depend on the cooperation of traditional leaders, who remain sceptical of the process because they believe the new legislation will erode their authority, civil society leader William Chadza told IRIN on Thursday.

Chiefs in Malawi have traditionally had the authority to allocate land to their subjects but, following recommendations by a commission of inquiry, the government plans to introduce new legislation to improve equity in land distribution.

Full report

Country may not have enough forex to import food

Malawi might not have sufficient reserves of foreign currency to import food to cover current shortages, according to a new UN report.

The International Monetary Fund has noted that Malawi needs US $80 million worth of foreign exchange per month, but is holding a reserve of about $90 million - just enough to cover a month's imports, according to the Crop and Food Supply Assessment Mission report by UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP). "This is a serious cause for concern," said the agencies.

Full report

New child welfare plan gives stakeholders common platform

Malawi has launched a comprehensive welfare plan to mitigate the impact of poverty and HIV/AIDS on its estimated one million orphans.

The National Plan of Action (NPA) for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC), launched by President wa Mutharika last Thursday, provides a common platform for the government, NGOs and donors to address the myriad problems facing children.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Civil society coalition calls for end to forced evictions in Zimbabwe

An African coalition of civil society groups appealed on Thursday for intervention by the African Union (AU) and the UN to stop the forced eviction of informal settlers and traders in Zimbabwe.

"We want the AU to pressurise the Zimbabwean authorities to stop the evictions and allow humanitarian aid agencies to assist those who have been left homeless," Arnold Tsunga of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) told IRIN.

Full report

New approach to aid required, says report

Development gains made during the 1980s and 1990s in Southern Africa are being rapidly reversed by the 'triple threat' of HIV/AIDS, erratic weather and weakened government capacity, requiring a new approach to humanitarian aid, argues a new UN report.

The 'Inter-Agency Regional Humanitarian Strategic Framework for Southern Africa' document, born out of consultations between UN agencies, NGOs and donors, noted that "every effort is needed to help stop and reverse the current downward trend in human development indicators".

Full report

[Top of the Page]

SWAZILAND: Civil servants strike for more pay

Swaziland's public schools were either closed or being run by a skeleton staff on Thursday as teachers took to the streets to demand higher salaries.

A major complaint has been the discrepancy between salary increments awarded to members of the armed forces earlier this year, compared to those of teachers.

Full report

Theft derails electrification plans

The escalating incidence of copper wire theft has set back efforts to electrify Swaziland's impoverished urban townships and isolated pockets of the countryside.

"Copper wire is used to ground the transformers as protection against lightning strikes: the energy from lightning is channelled away from the transformer and down the wire into the earth. When the wires are cut off by thieves, the transformers are defenceless. We have lost several of them," said Meshack Kunene, General Manager of Operations at the Swaziland Electricity Board (SEB).

Full report

[Top of the Page]

ZAMBIA: More than a million in need of food aid

More than 1.2 million Zambians will require food assistance for the next eight months, a senior official told IRIN on Monday.

"We will need 118,335 mt of cereal to feed the people from 1 July in 27 districts," said Dominiciano Mulenga, national coordinator of Zambia's Disaster Management Unit, after a survey conducted by the Zambia Vulnerability Assessment Committee (VAC) was released. He added that the government was finalising an appeal for food aid.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

MOZAMBIQUE: 70,000 mt of food aid needed - FAO, WFP

Food and agricultural experts say more than half a million Mozambicans face shortages unless an estimated 70,000 mt of emergency relief aid is secured.

A joint crop assessment by the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) estimate cereal production in 2005 will reach about 1.92 million mt, 3 percent lower than last year's harvest. The areas hardest hit by the downturn are mainly in the southern and central regions of the country.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

LESOTHO: Numbers of people in need increasing, WFP/FAO

Declining agricultural production and incomes have combined with HIV/AIDS to undermine the ability of Lesotho's poor to cope with external shocks such as drought, said a joint World Food Programme and Food and Agriculture Organisation report.

The recent WFP/FAO crop and food supply assessment mission conducted in Lesotho found that the country was facing a "triple threat of increasing chronic poverty, rising rates of HIV/AIDS and weakened government capacity".

Full report

[Top of the Page]

SOUTH AFRICA: Mbeki appoints woman as new deputy president

Minerals and Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was appointed on Wednesday as South Africa's second-in-command after the sacking of former deputy president Jacob Zuma last week.

Mlambo-Ngcuka is the country's first female vice-president and has been a member of parliament since 1994.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

ANGOLA: EC closes humanitarian aid office

The European Commission (EC) will close its humanitarian aid coordination office in Angola at the end of June, as the need for emergency interventions has abated, a senior official told IRIN this week.

With the closure of the office of the European Commission's Directorate General for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO), which has operated in Angola since the end of civil war in 2002, the EC would shift its focus to supporting projects related to transition and long-term development, said ECHO head Maria Olsen.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

BOTSWANA: Immigrants despair as news of crackdown spreads

A group of Zimbabwean immigrants outside a general store in Maun, a resort town in northwestern Botswana, react with shock to an article on the front page of a state-owned daily paper from home.

"What are we going to do?" a woman asks as the story in the three-day-old copy of The Chronicle grips them with despair. Instead of answering, her friend asks her the same question. A sense of hopelessness pervades the little group.

Full report

Court to decide on inspecting reserve for diamond exploration

The Botswana High Court is to consider an application to have a settlement in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR) inspected, to determine whether the government is conducting diamond mining in the area.

State attorney Sidney Pilane's application, filed in response to affidavits by 243 San Bushmen claiming that the government has been carrying out diamond exploration at the Gope settlement in the reserve, will be heard on 2 August.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Other

Other recent SOUTHERN AFRICA reports:

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 262 for 17-23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

Volume of food aid causes transport bottleneck, 19/Dec/05

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 261 for 10-16 December 2005, 16/Dec/05

Renewed calls for culling in wildlife reserves raises alarm among conservation groups, 15/Dec/05

South Africa's fuel shortage hits neighbours, could affect humanitarian operations, 13/Dec/05

Other recent reports:

RWANDA: Body found in Brussels canal confirmed that of ex-minister's, 23/Dec/05

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 23/Dec/05

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 309 covering 17 - 23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

CENTRAL ASIA: IRIN-Asia Weekly Round-up 51 covering the period 17 - 23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 262 for 17-23 December 2005, 23/Dec/05

[Back] [Home Page]

Click here to send any feedback, comments or questions you have about IRIN's Website or if you prefer you can send an Email to Webmaster

Copyright © IRIN 2005
The material contained on www.IRINnews.org comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.
All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the IRIN copyright page for conditions of use. IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.