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Tuesday 21 February 2006


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IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 259 for 26 November - 2 December 2005

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

CONTENTS:

ZIMBABWE: UN Emergency Relief Coordinator expected to meet Mugabe next week
MALAWI: Close to five million will need food aid, WFP
SOUTH AFRICA: National survey finds young women most at risk of HIV/AIDS
COMOROS: Grand Comore reeling in aftermath of eruption
BOTSWANA: Govt hardens stance on hiring foreigners
NAMIBIA: Germany's Herero reconciliation efforts rebuffed
SWAZILAND: New dams to be built to boost irrigation
MOZAMBIQUE: World Bank boosts conservation and ecotourism initiatives

ZIMBABWE: UN Emergency Relief Coordinator expected to meet Mugabe next week

UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Jan Egeland, who arrives in Zimbabwe on a five-day fact-finding trip on Saturday, is expected to meet with President Robert Mugabe on Monday.

Hiro Ueki, UN spokesman in Harare, told IRIN on Friday that Egeland would also make field trips to sites in the capital to assess the situation of people affected by the government's clean-up campaign, Operation Murambatsvina. A trip to Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo, and meetings with Zimbabwean ministers and members of civil society are also on the cards.

Full report

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UN launches $270 million appeal

The United Nations this week appealed for US $276 million in aid for Zimbabwe, saying the humanitarian situation in the country was likely to continue deteriorating in 2006.

The UN Consolidated Appeal (CAP) for Zimbabwe, launched on Wednesday, said the outlook for the year ahead was bleak: at least three million people would require food aid, as only an estimated 600,000 mt of maize had been harvested, compared to a national requirement of 1.8 million mt.

Full report

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Tsvangirai faction hits back

In another twist to the crisis in Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), it's second highest body, the national council, on Thursday revoked party leader Morgan Tsvangirai's suspension and "disassociated" itself from the pro-senate faction.

The MDC national council said in a statement that a disciplinary committee meeting, which suspended Tsvangirai last week, was not quorate and had not followed proper procedures.

Full report

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Drought decimates wildlife in game reserve

Vultures croak and swoop noisily on the decaying carcass of an elephant on the crusty shores of a dried-up water pan in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe's largest game reserve.

The elephant is one of the latest victims of a drought currently ravaging southern Zimbabwe that has destroyed wildlife valued at more than US $50 billion in the last five months. Authorities say the animal sanctuary is facing serious water shortages, which have claimed the lives of 43 elephants, 53 buffaloes, three zebras and a giraffe.

Full report

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Factions expected to fight over MDC name

The two factions of the Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) could engage in a war of attrition over the ownership of the organisation's name and assets, some party office bearers have predicted.

After most voters responded to Tsvangirai's call to boycott the weekend senate elections, MDC officials said the factions were positioning themselves to wrest control of the party's assets.

Full report

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NGO coalition calls on the ICC to intervene

Zimbabwe's National Association of NGOs (NANGO) has called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prosecute government officials responsible for the country's controversial urban clean-up campaign five months ago.

UN special envoy Anna Tibaijuka visited Zimbabwe in July to assess the aftermath of campaign, which began in May 2005, and compiled a scathing report that called on the government to punish those who, "with indifference to human suffering" had carried out the evictions and subsequent destruction of homes and informal markets.

Full report

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MALAWI: Close to five million will need food aid, WFP

The food crisis in Malawi has surpassed previous worst-case scenarios, with more than 4.7 million people in need of assistance until March 2006, the World Food Programme (WFP) confirmed on Monday.

Stephanie Savariaud, WFP spokeswoman in the capital, Lilongwe, told IRIN a revised Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (MVAC) report showed that "4,776,000 people will need food aid".

Full report

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World Bank grant to boost agricultural productivity

The World Bank has approved a grant of US $40 million to strengthen irrigation systems in Malawi and help raise the net incomes of 196,550 poor rural households.

The 'Irrigation, Rural Livelihoods and Agricultural Development' project aims to boost production among Malawi's subsistence farmers, who have suffered four consecutive years of drought and diminished harvests.

Full report

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Project aims to put the brakes on spread of HIV/AIDS

In an effort to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS among truck drivers and sex workers, the World Food Programme (WFP) and TNT, a Netherlands-based logistics company, have set up a counselling and treatment centre at Malawi's border with Mozambique.

The Wellness Centre, also supported by the Swedish International Development Agency and the Malawian Ministry of Health, provides counselling and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) to long-distance truck drivers and sex workers at the Mwanza border crossing.

Full report

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SOUTH AFRICA: National survey finds young women most at risk of HIV/AIDS

Over one in 10 South Africans are living with HIV, with young African women in informal settlements being at highest risk of HIV infection, a new study has found.

The survey was commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation and conducted by South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in partnership with the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Centre for AIDS Development Research and Evaluation (CADRE).

Full report

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Slow service delivery exasperates poor communities

Just over 50 years ago the historic Freedom Charter of the African National Congress (ANC) was adopted in Kliptown, Soweto. The irony of living in extreme poverty in modern-day South Africa, next to the spot where the charter was adopted, is not lost on Aletah Webster.

While all around her the construction of the R436 million (US $68 million) Greater Kliptown Development Project is underway - including the construction of 8,000 homes as well as formal and informal trading areas - locals still lack the most basic amenities.

Full report

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COMOROS: Grand Comore reeling in aftermath of eruption

Seismic activity continued on Grand Comore this week as the island struggled to come to grips with the aftermath of Mount Karthala's eruption last week, blanketed by volcanic debris that is threatening public health.

The eruption prompted a mass exodus of villagers living in the shadow of the mountain and raised widespread fears that drinking water would be contaminated by the ash and smoke that engulfed the southern part of the island, including the capital, Moroni.

Full report

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BOTSWANA: Govt hardens stance on hiring foreigners

In a further hardening of its stance against employing foreigners, the Botswana government has announced that it will not be renewing the work permits of those working as teachers and drivers and will probe the hiring of artisans in the mining sector.

Education minister Jacob Nkate told IRIN that the government had decided to freeze employment of new foreign teachers because a large number of local graduate teachers were unemployed.

Full report

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NAMIBIA: Germany's Herero reconciliation efforts rebuffed

The signing of an agreement between the Namibian and German governments concerning reparations for colonial rule is on hold until the various communities who suffered during that era have been consulted. The deal would have brought Euro 20 million (US $23.5 million) into development projects in the southern African country.

President Hifikepunye Pohamba, who ended a five-day state visit to Germany on Friday, told Germany's development cooperation minister, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, earlier this week that the agreement could not be finalised until the affected Herero, Nama and Damara groups were consulted.

Neither side explained why consultations with these groups had not taken place prior to the meeting in Berlin.

Full report

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National assembly approves 'Founding Father' status for Nujoma

Namibia's national assembly has passed a controversial new bill giving former President Sam Nujoma the status of 'Founding Father', IRIN reported on Friday.

Despite vocal opposition to the bill, 47 members of the ruling South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) voted in favour, easily beating the 10 opposition votes against it. The bill has been referred to the national council for further scrutiny, pending final approval.

Opposition parties, led by the Congress of Democrats, argued that the bill was more a SWAPO party issue than a national concern, and that while Nujoma's contribution to the freedom of Namibia was unquestionable, giving him 'Founding Father' status would overshadow the role played by others in liberating the country.

Full report

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SWAZILAND: New dams to be built to boost irrigation

Three dams are to be built in southern Swaziland at a cost of R280 million (US $44 million), in response to nearly a decade of drought that has slashed agricultural production.

The dams, ranging from eight to 48 metres in height across the Lower Usuthu river, are expected to be completed in 2008 by a consortium of local and South African construction companies.

Full report

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MOZAMBIQUE: World Bank boosts conservation and ecotourism initiatives

The World Bank has approved a US $10 million credit for the conservation of Mozambique's biodiversity and natural ecosystems through the promotion of sustainable use and the development of natural resources by local communities.

The Trans-frontier Conservation Area and Tourism Development Project, for which the bank approved the credit, represents the second phase of a 15-year initiative known as the Trans-frontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) programme, the long-term objectives of which are to conserve biodiversity in the southern Africa region and emphasise regional collaboration in the management of trans-frontier resources.

Full report

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[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Other

Other recent SOUTHERN AFRICA reports:

Policy revised to shed light on urban refugee blind-spot, 17/Feb/06

IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 270 for 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

Too white to be black - the challenge of albinism, 16/Feb/06

Remittances - curse or blessing?, 16/Feb/06

Conflict, development and natural disasters fuel internal displacement, 14/Feb/06

Other recent reports:

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Donors pledge support for humanitarian crisis, 21/Feb/06

ANGOLA: Ready to play larger security role in Africa, 21/Feb/06

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap, 17/Feb/06

SOUTHERN AFRICA: IRIN-SA Weekly Round-up 270 for 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 317 covering 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

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