Zambia has been named among several countries in Africa that have failed to account for about US$13 million believed to have been misapplied and embezzled under the Global Fund. According to media reports, citing the November 2010 edition of the Global Fund report, Zambia is on the list together with Cameroun, Mauritania and Mali that are said to have misapplied in excess of US$25 million meant for assistance to the health sector.

ACHPR's decision to refuse observer status to the Coalition of African Lesbians is inconsistent with the established jurisprudence and work of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, says INTERIGHTS.

Marilio Wane

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers.

Patients are at risk of developing resistance to Tuberculosis medicine due to lack of access to quality treatment, according to a report presented at the 41st Union World Conference on Lung Health. TB patients should ideally receive a six months fixed dose combination regimen at the cost of around US$26 per patient but in some countries this is not the case according to 'Falling Short: Ensuring Access to Simple, Safe and Effective First-Line Medicines for Tuberculosis'.

With displacement lasting 20 years on average, displaced children’s education cannot wait until solutions are found. All people have the right to education, including IDPs in emergency settings, in protracted displacement, or in the course of finding durable solutions. This paper introduces a series of case studies looking at education for IDPs. It examines the international human rights law framework for guaranteeing education to IDPs, focusing on issues such as non-discrimination and documentation that are particularly likely to arise in this context.

'It is difficult to pin down exactly what degrowth is. It is not a model for an alternative economic system. It is more a tool for opening up a discussion on the failures of and alternatives to the status quo,' writes Glenn Ashton for the The South African Civil Society Information Service. 'For instance we need to consider whether our primary reason to interact with strangers is to exploit and extract money from them. Surely happiness is more important than exploitation? Presently both rich and poor, exploited and exploiter alike are unhappy, unsatisfied and unfulfilled. Degrowth supports ways to achieve a far more functional society than our present model, which externalises damage to both psyches and planet.'

Though basic social security is critical for mitigating the dire consequences of economic crises, it remains out of reach for most people across the world, above all in poorer countries, finds a new United Nations report. According to the 'World Social Security Report 2010-2011: Providing Coverage in Times of Crisis and Beyond', most of the world's working age population and their families lack effective access to comprehensive social protection systems. Worldwide, nearly 40 per cent of the working-age population is legally covered by contributory old-age pension schemes,

The occupation of the premises of Mine Line and TAP Engineering in Krugersdorp, West Rand, by disgruntled employees is entering its 27th day on Monday. The employees, who are members of the Metal and Electrical Workers Union of South Africa (Mewusa), embarked on the occupation of the two companies, which are under one roof, following an application for the companies’ voluntary liquidation by Mulder. The workers say they have adopted their action to secure the assets of the companies and ultimately to take over the two entities to protect their jobs, and recover unpaid wages and benefits.

A consortium of South Korean companies will seek a minerals-for-infrastructure deal in Democratic Republic of Congo that could be worth $1 billion, Congolese and South Korean officials told Reuters. The proposed deal - involving refurbishment of a copper mine and construction of an Atlantic deepwater port - would bolster South Korea's bid to secure long-term access to metals while speeding Congo's development, South Korean ambassador to Congo Kim Sung-chul said.

A new report by the World Bank and the UN says the cost of coping with natural disasters could triple to US$185 billion per year by the end of the century. The report - compiled mainly by economists over two years - said the projection did not include climate change impact costs. But added more frequent and intense tropical cyclones because of climate change could raise total costs by an additional $28-$68 billion a year by 2100.

The ruling ANC will appoint two independent researchers to investigate the nationalisation of mines, its secretary general said on Monday. 'The NEC (national executive committee) has resolved to appoint two senior researchers and a project manager to investigate successful models that could be considered on the role of the state in mining,' Gwede Mantashe told reporters in Johannesburg.

China will launch a $1 billion fund aimed at boosting trade and economic ties between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday at a forum in Macau. He did not elaborate. Wen, who delivered a keynote speech at a economic forum for China and Portuguese-speaking Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, and Timor-Leste, announced multiple initiatives to boost trade and investment between China and the seven nations.

Bangalore-based Indian company, Karuturi Global, the world’s largest flower producer, couldn’t get enough land in India to compete with rivals. So the company went to Ethiopia early this year and leased 1,200 square miles of land - larger than the State of Rhode Island - to grow flowers. After a few years, the land will become useless due to heavy use of fertilisers. Millions of Ethiopians are facing food shortage and yet the World Bank-financed dictatorship leases huge tracts of land to foreign agribusiness to grow and export flower, reports the Ethiopian Review.

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers.

The European Action Day is an initiative of the European Coalition for Corporate Justice (ECCJ – a European network bringing together over 250 civil society organisations present in 15 European countries to take measures that will stop corporate abuses and provide access to justice for victims of these abuses. 'From mercury poisoning in South Africa to child labour in India, companies, including European ones, continue to get away with breaches of environmental and human rights standards,' states Ruth Casals, ECCJ’s coordinator.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn called recent agreements reached on IMF governance reform 'historic'. However, a closer analysis reveals that the shifts in votes are smaller than claimed and though the basic power structure of the IMF will better incorporate large emerging markets, it will also continue to see dominance of the US and Europe, says the Bretton Woods Project.

World leaders have an historic opportunity to reform the global economy to ensure that the one in six people who live in extreme poverty benefit from economic recovery, international agency Oxfam said today ahead of the G20 summit in Seoul. Oxfam is calling on the G20 to forge a new Seoul Development Consensus to replace the failed Washington Consensus of the past. The new consensus should combine financial support for health, education and poor farmers in developing countries with action to make the global economy work in the interests of poor countries.

This South Centre report argues that the G20 agenda misses some of the key issues that need to be dealt with in order to effectively reform the international monetary system so as to avert future global financial crises. The missing issues include enforceable exchange rate and adjustment obligations, orderly sovereign debt workout mechanisms and the reform of the international reserves system. The paper also points out that there are no effective rules to control the unstable global financial market, no multilateral discipline over misguided monetary and exchange rate policies, and national policy makers are preoccupied with resolving crises by supporting those responsible for these crises rather than introducing measures to prevent future crises.

The United States will continue its support for efforts by the Malian government in the fight against terrorist threats in the north of the country, said the US envoy with the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), Rashad Hussain, at the end of his 5 to 7 November visit to Mali. 'We support Mali in terms of training and military maneuvers. The process that has been underway for some time will continue,' Hussain said, adding that 'terrorist threats are cross-border threats that claim victims.'