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

Sunday 25 December 2005


Search

Regions

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 239 for 9-15 July 2005

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

CONTENTS:

ANGOLA: Health services on stand-by after reports of polio
BOTSWANA: Drought relief measures announced
MADAGASCAR: Polio outbreak reported in southern Madagascar
MALAWI: Kaunda to help resolve political impasse
ZIMBABWE: Church leaders disturbed by suffering of homeless
NAMIBIA: Caprivians could face serious food shortages
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Region attractive to terror groups, says report
SWAZILAND: Parliament told to rethink sections of new draft constitution
ZAMBIA: Growing concern that internal strife may split ruling party

ANGOLA: Health services on stand-by after reports of polio

The Angolan health authorities have intensified medical surveillance after reports of two cases of polio.

The UN's World Health Organisation (WHO) has also notified neighbouring countries, following reports of the two cases - the first since 2001.

Full report

UNHCR's voluntary repatriation programme resumes

Some 500 Angolan refugees living in Botswana are expected to return home this week as a new phase of a voluntary repatriation exercise gets underway.

Sixty-two Angolans were repatriated in December last year under a tripartite agreement between the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the governments of Botswana and Angola, but that leg of the exercise was temporarily suspended after heavy rains in Angola.

Full report

Changing role of civil society must be supported by donors, report

A new report by the World Bank says civil society organisations (CSOs), which have been forced to play a more prominent role in conflict-affected and fragile states such as Angola, need more support during the transition from an emergency to a development phase.

In the absence of credible or capable public institutions, "the development community relies heavily on CSOs to reach the poor", said the report, 'Engaging Civil Society Organisations in Conflict-Affected and Fragile States - Three African Country Case Studies".

Full report

[Top of the Page]

BOTSWANA: Drought relief measures announced

President Festus Mogae declared Botswana "drought stricken" after poor rainfall resulted in widespread crop failure, and has announced relief measures that will run until June next year.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture only 72,500 ha - a quarter of the cultivable 325,000 ha - was planted. "This year's cereal production is now estimated at about 19,000 mt, about 10 percent of the national requirement and less than half of the 46,000 mt produced during 2003/04", said Mogae.

Full report

Trade unions and president to discuss cooling labour unrest

Botswana's largest trade union federation was to meet with President Festus Mogae on Friday in a bid to tackle ongoing labour unrest.

The Botswana Federation of Trade Unions (BFTU) was expected to press the government for a review of the country's labour laws, which left employees vulnerable to abuse by their bosses, the unions claimed.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

MADAGASCAR: Polio outbreak reported in southern Madagascar

The Malagasy government and its UN partners are to launch a door-to door immunisation campaign after two cases of polio were reported in southern Madagascar in the last few weeks.

Oliver Rosenbauer, a spokesman for the polio eradication initiative of the World Health Organisation (WHO), confirmed that the cases were "vaccine-derived" and had been contracted from the weak live polio virus in the oral vaccine given to children. "These cases are very rare," he pointed out.

Full report

World Bank releases $239 million for development projects

The World Bank Board has approved US $239 million in soft loans to help Madagascar reach its development goals, fight HIV/AIDS and stimulate economic growth.

Jocelyn Rafidinarivo, the World Bank spokesman in Madagascar, told IRIN the Bank was happy with the country's progress since the political crisis in 2002.

"So far, we are pleased with Madagascar's progress and we will try to put into Malagasy minds also the importance of transparency and good governance," Rafidinarivo commented.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

MALAWI: Kaunda to help resolve political impasse

Political analysts have welcomed former Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda's willingness to resolve the political crisis in Malawi.

Kaunda arrived in the capital, Lilongwe, on Wednesday to mediate between President Bingu wa Mutharika and his political rivals, former president of the country and now chairman of the United Democratic Front (UDF) party, Bakili Muluzi, and Malawi Congress Party (MCP) leader, John Tembo.

Full report

Fertiliser subsidies come under scrutiny

The Malawian government has decided to subsidise fertilisers to small-scale farmers across the board - a decision that will benefit previously ineligible tobacco growers.

However, the World Bank has sounded a note of caution over the expense involved and the possibly negative impact on funding poverty alleviation programmes.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

ZIMBABWE: Church leaders disturbed by suffering of homeless

A delegation from the South African Council of Churches (SACC), who visited Zimbabwe this week to assess the impact of the ongoing urban cleanup campaign, were "disturbed" by what they witnessed.

Thousands of informal settlements and markets have been demolished in the cleanup campaign, launched in May, and at least 375,000 people left homeless; the authorities have claimed it was part of an urban renewal strategy that will eventually build 10,000 homes at a cost of US $300 million.

Full report

In the face of hopelessness

With a child tied on her back and a plate in her right hand, Florence Chilufya joins a winding food queue in an overcrowded yard at a township in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city.

Although children, the elderly and the terminally ill are given first preference, the 39-year-old widow is confident that she will get a helping.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

NAMIBIA: Caprivians could face serious food shortages

The almost total failure of the maize crop in Namibia's northeastern Caprivi region could have "disastrous consequences" for the area's food security, according to a crop assessment report.

"The Emergency Management Unit is yet to conduct a vulnerability assessment, so we do not know the numbers in need of food aid in Caprivi," said Lesley Losper, an agricultural economist with the Namibia Early Warning and Food Information Unit (NEWFIU) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development.

Full report

Securing property rights for rural widows and their children

The Namibian government aims to introduce a new inheritance bill to protect the rights of widows and children, who are often dispossessed of land and homesteads.

Traditional practices following the death of a husband in the rural northern areas of the country have seen women and children lose most of their assets, including livestock and household items, to their in-laws.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Region attractive to terror groups, says report

Southern African countries are vulnerable to terror groups, as many nations lack adequate resources and legislation to tackle the problem, says a new report.

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) paper, 'Organised Crime and Terrorism: Observations from Southern Africa", argues that the region could be advantageous to transnational terror groups "if it can be used as a source, transit zone or market for high value narcotics" and money laundering.

Full report

Transboundary cattle trafficking spreads disease

About half of Southern Africa's 47 million cattle are under threat from transboundary livestock diseases, despite improvements in regional surveillance and management, a new study warns.

'Livestock, Food and Agricultural Statistics' was launched by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) secretariat in Botswana last month.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

SWAZILAND: Parliament told to rethink sections of new draft constitution

Less than a month after Swaziland's new draft constitution was passed, King Mswati III has ordered parliamentarians back to the drawing board to reconsider sections dealing with women's rights, religious freedom and the recall of MPs.

Mswati urged parliamentarians, the clergy and traditional leaders to meet in an emergency joint session to iron out their differences.

Full report

Red tape thwarts job creation

A cumbersome bureaucracy is thwarting the Swazi government's attempts to attract investment and create jobs, says a new report.

"Several investors note that despite efforts to help smooth the way for investors, agencies frequently offer bureaucratic resistance and delay approval procedures," said a report by the Swaziland Investment Promotion Authority (SIPA).

Full report

[Top of the Page]

ZAMBIA: Growing concern that internal strife may split ruling party

Zambia's ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) party kicked off its 5th convention on Wednesday amid growing concerns that recent internal wrangling could cause it to split.

The high-level gathering took place in the wake of accusations that President Levy Mwanawasa, keen to retain the party's top post, has been waging a campaign to sideline potential internal competitors. As the sole candidate, Mwanawasa would automatically become the party's choice in national presidential elections next year.

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.