The governance of the WTO should be improved by developing new rules around decision-making procedures in order to ensure that multilateral negotiations are democratic, accountable and transparent. A paper produced by the International Development Committee (IDC) on the collapse of the WTO talks in Cancun last year further says that the EU and the USA must not expect to set the agenda and that the EU needs to reform its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) "more radically and more quickly".

With its successful democratic transition, South Africa emerged during the second half of the 1990s as a new political and economic factor on the continent. Within this process, Thabo Mbeki's foreign policy approach could be characterised as 'a complicated and sometimes contradictory mixture of ideology, idealism and pragmatism' (Gerrit Olivier in International Affairs, no. 4/2003). South Africa's Finance Minister Trevor Manuel, in a keynote address to the German Foundation for International Development, characterised as early as December 1998 the emerging South African strategy in a revealing way by asserting 'there is a new resilience and a new will to succeed in the African continent. We in South Africa have called it a renaissance, a new vision of political and economic renewal. It takes the global competitive marketplace as point of departure.'

Such understanding gave birth to The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NePAD), for which Thabo Mbeki and his team can be considered to be the midwives (if not fathers – due to the absence of women in the male dominated process). NePAD has managed to obtain - after some diplomatic manoeuvring and a number of strategic compromises - the blessings of the African Union and subsequently the United Nations General Assembly. It can be considered as a blue print for Africa's further socio-economic integration into the dominant global market.

Critical assessments of this strategy, which had been successfully promoted as the development paradigm by a number of African governments with the backing of the G8, have pointed out that its concept blends nicely into the neo-liberal mainstream of globalisation. It is fully in line with the economic strategy of South Africa's present government, seeking closer integration into the dominant structures of the world economy. As Ian Taylor and Philip Nel have warned (in Third World Quarterly, no. 1/2002), the inherent danger of such a strategic move might lie in the message that it serves to legitimise instead of aiming to restructure the existing global power relations, to which African countries have been a victim. They further articulate the suspicion that the driving force behind such a policy might be the 'linkage between globalisation, export-driven trade policies and a nascent transnational elite', and maintain that 'making neoliberalism somehow "work for all", rather than rethinking the overall global trading system, is the key strategy of South Africa particularly and New Africa more generally'.

As if to confirm, South Africa's Minister of Finance Trevor Manuel, in his capacity as the Chairman of the Development Committee to the International Conference on Financing for Development in Monterrey on 18 March 2002 stated: 'There is general consensus that globalisation provides an opportunity for countries to improve standards of living, but its not an end in itself … The key challenge is to attempt to manage globalisation in such a way that it does lead to poverty reduction' (http://www.dfa.gov.za/docs/ffd253b.htm). But clearly so, NePAD will not be able to replace demands for a fair share in the world's resources by those who have been the victims of domination and exploitation for far too long. At best it might be able to slightly increase the far too tiny piece shared from the global cake with stakeholders in Africa (stakeholders should in this context of course read as shareholders). Instead of a meaningful radical alternative, NePAD seems to be much closer to "more of the same" - namely capitalism as a new form of global apartheid, as Patrick Bond keeps on warning in his recent writings. Along similar lines, Ian Taylor reminds of the active role elites in the South have played in this recent process of capitalist expansion termed (misleadingly) "globalisation" by supporting the new Washington Consensus, resulting in the promotion of the liberalisation of trade and capital movements. It remains to be seen if there is from the point of view of those outside of these elites any substance in the pragmatism, which argues: better this capitalism than no capitalism at all.

Such affirmative response to re-structuring the access to potential resources among others through a "trade as aid" paradigm has been articulated by the South African Foreign Minister Dlamini Zuma in an address on 22 March 2002 to the University of Alberta, in which she had the following to offer: 'To the private sector, the continent of Africa is endowed with the human capital, mineral wealth and unlimited opportunities for trade, investment and partnership as proposed in the NePAD programme. Other countries are taking advantage of this burgeoning market; it is imperative that you are not left behind. The opportunities abound in Africa.' (http://www.dfa.gov.za/docs/unal253a.htm) She did not need to send such a message to the capital at home: the windows of opportunity had already been discovered by the big companies operating from a South African base.

There is massive expansion of South African capital into the continent of hitherto unprecedented dimensions. This is illustrated in a chapter written by John Daniel/Varusha Naidoo and Sanusha Naidu to the "State of the Nation" volume for 2003-2004, published by the Human Sciences Research Council. Its title says it all: "The South Africans have arrived". And an article in the Financial Times (17 November 2003) identifies 'a strategic shift by South African businesses' through companies 'striking out in search of bigger profit margins in their backyard'. Already since 1991 South Africa has been the largest foreign direct investor (with an annual average of $ 1.4 billion) within the continent. Large scale operations are undertaken by a variety of private companies as well as (ex-)parastatals, ranging from Spoornet and Portnet via Eskom and Sasol to South African Airways. MTN and Vodacom compete as operators in the telecommunication business also abroad and invest in the potentially huge markets of Nigeria and the DRC. Financial institutions such as Standard Bank join the "traditional" multinationals in the mining sector, which have a longstanding experience in seeking other profitable opportunities to accumulate further.

Presumably greener pastures are explored and invaded by the local giants in the wholesale and retail business. South African chain stores mushroom all over the continent, South African Breweries owns and controls large parts of the beverage sector elsewhere. This penetration of neighbouring and continental markets goes hand in hand with the particular pro-active role of South Africa in engaging in and addressing international trade issues through a strategic involvement of the ministers for trade and for finance respectively in the current efforts to modify the global economy under the WTO. It is complemented by a parallel intensification of South-South cooperation seeking the consolidation of an alliance between the economically more powerful transitional economies such as South Africa, Brazil, India and China.

The South African economist Stephen Gelb, previously member of Thabo Mbeki's team drafting the original policy documents preceding NePAD, reminded in a recent analysis published with his Edge Institute of the South African president's earlier approach. In a 1997 speech the then-Deputy President referred to the need for South Africa 'to "walk on two legs" in its foreign policy – to cultivate strong relations with the South, as well as strategic relations with the industrialised countries'. Gelb concludes, that NePAD 'is grounded in the full realities of South Africa's relations with the continent, including those beyond its immediate regional neighbourhood in Southern Africa. At the same time it is also grounded in the realities of globalisation, especially the unevenness of its impact amongst and within nations, and reflects an attempt to shift the continent, including South Africa itself, towards a more effective engagement.' More radical critics, who had opted to remain outside of the centres of political and economic power in present South Africa, speak out more directly. This is among others reflected in a number of articles published in the South African Labour Bulletin (no. 3/2003) under the thematic title "NEPAD – a wish to build a dream on". They suggest from a more or less critical distance that NePAD offers the opportunity for South African capital to expand further in Africa by creating new market access. NePAD is hence considered as a lubricant for a South African expansion into other parts of the continent, which under an Apartheid regime until the early 1990s would have not been conceivable. Almost ironically, only a politically correct post-Apartheid government allows the promotion of and greases a process, which is again (though not exclusively) to the benefit of those who already profited from the previous undemocratic system at home and can now enter spaces abroad.

Confronted with this view on occasion of a public NePAD seminar in Stockholm (held on 9 October 2003 on occasion of the 3rd meeting of the Swedish-South African Binational Commission) the South African Vice President Jacob Zuma and the Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad seemed not amused. Their responses suggested that they perceive the South African type of capitalism as better suited for African conditions than other forms of capitalism (or no capitalism at all), and by no means a problem. The suggestion that the (class) struggle continues also in democratic South Africa was brushed aside as another example of the notorious "ultra-leftism". But maybe they should join in with Robert Zimmermann (aká Bob Dylan) to intonate the meanwhile classical refrain "and the times, they are a-changing" – or, for that matter, admit that they (the times) haven't changed as much as one might have thought a couple of years ago that they would.

* This editorial is a revised short version of a presentation to the Stockholm seminar mentioned in the last paragraph. It was based on a considerably longer manuscript on NePAD for a volume on Africa and International Politics, edited by Ulf Engel and Gorm Rye Olsen, to be published during 2004 with Routledge. The author is Research Director at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala/Sweden and has been Director of The Namibian Economic Policy Research Unit (NEPRU) in Windhoek from 1992 until 2000.

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Speakers at an event entitled 'Development induced displacement: Perspective and strategies', held at the World Social Forum not only stressed the struggle for the rights of those who are displaced but also called for the shunning of the World Bank. Sharing the experience in his country, the South African delegate Trevor Ngwane said that the peasants and working class never had peace in South Africa ever since gold was discovered. "Only two per cent of land has come back to our hands," he said.

The view most people have of colonialism and imperialism is largely negative. So any charge that a group, individual or government is guilty of them is bound to be resisted strongly by the recipient. Recently, in New York City, a broad charge of eco-imperialism was laid at the feet of the environmental movement. The Congress of Racial Equality (Core ) blames government officials, aid agency bureaucrats as well as sandal-wearing greens for mass disease and death in the poorest countries of the world because they export their most vile regulatory policies.

The image of companies working hard to make the world a better place is too often just that - a carefully manufactured image - says Behind the mask: the real face of corporate social government, a report timed to coincide with the World Economic Forum of business leaders, meeting in Davos in January 2004. The report, by Christian Aid, targets the misuse of ‘corporate social responsibility’ - or CSR - which is now seen as a vital tool in promoting and improving the public image of some of the world's largest companies and corporations. But, according to the case studies in this report - featuring Shell, British American Tobacco and Coca Cola - the rhetoric can also mask corporate activity that makes things worse for the communities in which they work. For example, Shell in Nigeria claims that it has turned over a new leaf there and strives to e ‘good neighbour ', says the report. Yet it still fails to quickly clean up oil spills that ruin villages and runs 'community development' projects that are frequently ineffective and which sometimes even widen the divide in communities living around the oilfields,” says Christian Aid.

Since 9/11, U.S. immigration authorities have become increasingly reluctant to release asylum seekers on parole even if they present no security threat, according to a new report, "In Liberty's Shadow" by the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. The report found examples of those who clearly present no threat to national security and have been detained by immigration officials for long periods of time since 9/11, including a pregnant rape survivor from Kenya and a Liberian Pentecostal pastor, persecuted for his opposition to the use of child soldiers.

An essential element in the International Criminal Court's (ICC) efficient operation will be the cooperation of the States, since, orders and requests of the ICC are to be enforced through national jurisdictions. Like all international treaties, the enforcement of the ICC Statute will depend on States political will to implement it. Moreover, lack of universal support will seriously undermine the Court. Whether the ICC will develop as a truly important institution in international law enforcement remains to be seen. This is according to a paper in the latest edition of the Peace and Conflict Monitor that analyses differences in the jurisdiction of the ICC and the jurisdictions of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

The water crisis is an ecological crisis with commercial causes but no market solutions, argues Vandana Shiva, a physicist and activist who directs the Research Foundation for Science, Technology, and Natural Resource Policy. "Higher prices under free-market conditions will not lead to conservation. Given the tremendous economic inequalities, there is a great possibility that the economically powerful will waste water while the poor will pay the price. “The solution to an ecological crisis is ecological, and the solution for injustice is democracy," says Shiva, who argues that man-made water scarcity and ubiquitous water conflicts can be minimized with the recognition of water as a common resource. "The current war against water scarcity can be won only through massive movements for water democracy. People’s movements have shown the possibility of creating abundance out of scarcity."

Vitamin deficiencies are damaging the health of a third of the world's population and holding back the economic development of nearly every country in the Southern Hemisphere, according to a joint report released by UNICEF and the Micronutrient Initiative. The report, released at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, says vitamin and mineral deficiencies have left 2 billion people living below their physical and mental potential and are having devastating consequences on children.

Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Iranian human rights defender, was due to join hundreds of activists at the World Social Forum to demand universal ratification of the International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty. Ms. Ebadi's presence on a January 20 panel organised by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) was expected to raise the profile of the pro-ICC movement: a global campaign partnering grassroots activists with governments and international organisations in promoting the strengthened rule of law.

HIV/AIDS awareness campaigners from developing nations are mobilising themselves to form a strong bloc to confront the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which they claim has made it difficult for people living with the disease to access treatment. They claim that the trade body articulates interests of western nations, which have suppressed developing states, giving way to unfair trade. This, the campaigners say, has made it impossible for poor nations to obtain cheap drugs, especially antiretrovirals (ARVs).

The path of economic globalisation must be changed in order to avoid undermining social security. Otherwise it will continue to exacerbate poverty, and therefore violence, warned a number of panellists Monday that included Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel laureate in economics. "The essence of economic globalisation is that it should bring job security. If there were such a commitment, developing countries could have opened markets by explicitly tying market access to job opportunities," said the U.S. expert who served as the World Bank’s chief economist from 1997 to 2000. Stiglitz was speaking at the seminar on ‘Globalisation, economic and social security’, which drew more than 1,000 of the tens of thousands of WSF participants who came to listen to him give a critique of issues that his former employer, the World Bank, has been known to push.

The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors, media executives and leading journalists, says it is "deeply concerned" over the safety of Alagi Yorro Jallow, managing editor of the private, bi-weekly Independent newspaper. According to information before IPI, Yorro Jallow received a letter, dated 13 January 2004, in which a previously unknown group called the "Green Boys" threatened to "eliminate" him if the Independent continued to publish stories about Baba Jobe, majority leader in the National Assembly.

Is the world on track to achieve the millennium target of Education for All (EFA) by 2015? Are the six EFA commitments made in April 2000 at the World Education Forum in Dakar being met? How can we plug gaps in knowledge about schooling and improve EFA reporting, monitoring and analysis?

In a communal goat stable, children sit under a mango tree, learning to read and write. In this narrow alleyway of Mogadishu, where three or four generations of Somalis share small homes behind high white walls and dark wooden doors, education is getting a second chance. After more than a decade of anarchy, only about one in six children of primary school age attends school, according to a U.N. survey released last week. Peace talks are under way, although the men with guns have failed to reach a power-sharing agreement. Meanwhile, parents, teachers and aid agencies have managed to piece together a private education system ranging from preschool to medical school.

Lawyers defending the 18 people accused of defrauding Mozambique's largest bank, the BCM, of 144 billion meticais (14 million US dollars at the exchange rates of the time) in 1996, on Monday launched a bitter, and highly personal attack against the BCM's lawyer, Albano Silva, who is handling the bank's private prosecution. Speaking on behalf of all the defence lawyers, Fernanda Lopes accused Silva of "a vile attempt to influence the judges".

The GFO NEWSLETTER is an independent source of news, analysis and commentary about the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (www.theglobalfund.org). The GFO Newsletter is emailed to subscribers once to twice a month. To receive the GFO NEWSLETTER (if you haven't already subscribed), send an email to [email protected] Subject line and text can be left blank.

MicroSave intends to host a virtual conference on Electronic Banking for the Poor between the 16-27th of February 2004. Participants who subscribe to the virtual conference will contribute to an email based discussion of key issues in providing electronic banking services to mass markets. Key questions will be set on a daily basis that will be complemented by an overview and introduction to each day's discussion, which is based on practical experience. The conference will share knowledge and will network individuals and organisations worldwide that are working in this exciting but challenging environment. It will cover all forms of electronic banking from Palm pilots, to mag-stripe, smart card and telephone- based services.

The Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway, in conjunction with the Bank of Ireland is proud to announce a one-year fellowship in Human Rights Law for a scholar of note from a developing country. Applications for this fellowship are invited from academics from any developing country whose research output and teaching focus on the area of human rights.

More than four billion dollars in state oil revenue disappeared from Angolan government coffers from 1997-2002, roughly equal to the entire sum the government spent on all social programs in the same period, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. Meanwhile, although the 27-year civil war ended in 2002, an estimated 900,000 Angolans are still internally displaced. Millions more have virtually no access to hospitals or schools. According to United Nations estimates, almost half of Angola's 7.4 million children suffer from malnutrition.